Beyond - Legends ORIGINAL Fan-Fiction -The Dark Planet- NEW chapters up!

The story you are about to read was written as a collaborative effort by myself and six other young authors in 1999. It has lain dormant for years without being read or enjoyed, and I have decided to present this story to the force.net for its debut. Each chapter is acredited to its author, and I have permission from them to share this story with you. Please read it, and comment as you will.

Cheers,
Tess

*Nota Bene* All characters in this story not the property of Lucasfilm Inc belong solely to the student authors of the Institute for the Study of Liberal Arts and Sciences. No part of this story may be used without the express written permission of the said authors. You may contact Myself or Ty-gon Jinn for information or permission to use our characters or any part of the story, in part or entire. Thank you.

Tess

For a brief overview, read the teaser trailer here.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

-The Dark Planet-

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Author: Courtney D
Chapter 1 - Trouble at GalactiCo

It all started out as a normal day for Das Gar'tul, a dispatcher for GalactiCo Shipping. He checked into work at 0500 Galactic Standard Time, with a box of donuts under one arm, and a data-clipboard under the other. He took a seat in his cubicle and pulled on his headset-comlink. It was another minute before he found the shipping order datapads in his desk.

Swiveling back and forth somewhat in his repulsor-chair he studied the datapads and prepared to assign the GalactiCo Freighters to the different regions of space.

"Das!" Someone called from a neighboring cubicle. Das jumped out of the chair and searched for the person who had called him. It turned out to be Kaaly Kitmer, a fellow dispatcher.

"What is it, Kaaly?" Das asked his blonde (in all senses of the word) co-worker.

"We just had the freighter, Elbow, taken by pirates in the Yettab system!" Kaaly said, exasperated, "We just got the distress call, but it has already left the system."

"Elbow? That's one of the new ones. It should have the emergency homing beacon placed on it."

"Yes," Kaaly said, checking a datapad, "I'll activate it now."

Das drew up the specs for the Elbow on his datapad. Though it was just a medium-freighter, it had top of the line defenses -- the pirates that raided it must have been good. Very good. And now they had one more weapon to use.

* * * *

"Captain O'Grell," a middle-aged man with a deep set face spoke softly to the pirate beside him, "Are you sure this is wise? Shouldn't we be concentrating on something more..." His voice trailed off as his superior fixed a stern gaze on him.

"Maybe you don't understand, Riffin. This is my ship. These are my people. I will do with them what I please." He breathed deeply, and looked back at the large viewport in front of them. "I will allow your slip of the tongue to pass -- this time."

"But, sir," Riffin said, "I don't understand what profitability this --"

"You don't have to understand," O'Grell cut him off, "Maybe, just maybe, I'll explain to you someday. In the mean time, keep me posted as to our status." Captain O'Grell, smuggler, pirate, information dealer, and all around swindling, cheating liar, left the bridge to Riffin, and returned to his quarters.

Riffin sighed inwardly; being the second in command to the irascible Captain O'Grell wasn't easy. And he was just getting used to being the scapegoat for all business failures. When O'Grell's previous second in command had disappeared while conducting a raid of some outer-rim territory, he was eager to take the job. But now... Riffin almost wished that he could disappear too.

"What is the status of our... informant?" Riffin asked a scruffy-looking smuggler at the com.

Zeter smiled, "We've just been told that there's another GalactiCo Freighter in the Marcus System. Its one of the old ones, so it would do us no use for our armada, but its cargo could be... useful."

Riffin grinned and turned to leave the bridge. "I'll inform the Captain."

* * * *

Author: Tyler W
Subject: Chapter Two- The Informant

Das Gar'tul sat back in his chair- the distress beacon hadn't returned the signal yet. The Elbow was a good ship, to be sure, but there was no other reason to attack it. And it appeared the distress beacon had been disabled as well. These pirates were good.
"Kitmer!" he yelled.
Kaaly screamed. "Just a minute!" Das could hear several drawers slamming shut. Kaaly was a typical blonde- he was probably eating something stolen from the vending machine, figuring he could never be caught. Kitmer's head finally poked its way around the cubicle wall, completely frazzled and flushed. "You called?" "You activated the beacon, right?"
"Sure I did, why?"
"It hasn't returned a signal."
"Maybe the pirates disabled it."
"Smart pirates," Das muttered under his breath. The distress beacon was a new technology, it was unlikely that a pirate would know where to find it.
"What

 

Seems ok so far, just a little confusing though.

Probably with more posts, I'll recognize the characters better, and understand it more.

But, it still seems to be a pretty good story.

 

Hmmm, this looks familiar.

Woohoo! Nice to see this again, Tessine!

 

Jedi_master_ousley, Thanks so much for your comment! lol, yes I know its confusing. Still, I'll finish it out. Glad you're kind of enjoying it. Honestly, it does get better as it goes along.

Ty, lol I'm glad you recognize it. Did you read the trailer?

Cheers~
Tess

 

I like it so far! It?s always exciting to see original characters ? sometimes they turn out to be almost better (in my opinion) than some of the ?original? Star Wars characters, and I think that your characters are on their way to that level. I love original characters!

This Kaaly Kitmer person seems interesting ? a bit of a duel personality show going on, I guess? Very interesting!

I can?t wait to see where this will go next! Keep posting!

 

This is just great Tess. I'll be looking in on this one as much as I can.

 

The story hasn't "caught" me yet, but it's probably because you're just starting it up. Half the problem is most probably because I have no background knowledge about the characters, making it harder for me to relate. But I'm sure that's coming in time.

Nice start, I'll check in on this later.

 

Very good, very interesting.

 

Jedi_Laura, Thanks for commenting! I love feedback. *smiles* Yeah.. personally I think that original characters are more fun to write, too.

Awww, thank you, Sara!!

Soulwalker~ Yes, I know it starts rather slow. I was going to post some character backgrounds, but I really didn't want to spoil the story that I'm writing right now, which is a prequel to this one. So, hang in there for a little longer and it might 'catch you' later.

Thanks Ornen~ I enjoyed writing it.

 

OK...I'm going to be gone for the weekend, be back Sunday night. I'll post the next three or four chapters before I go. Bump this every now and again so I don't have to dig too deep for it, if you would.

Cheers, and Thanks again for reading~

Tess

 

Chapter 4 - The Z-Team
Author: Courtney D

On his third box of donuts and his 20th cup of caf, Das was beginning to think it was hopeless. Every half hour, Taron checked in on Das to request a progress report. For the eighth time that night, it was "Nothing, yet."

"We're not getting anywhere, sir. I've checked surrounding systems, I've tried every locator we have on the ship; these pirates are too good. We only have one choice left." Das said, in between sips of caf.

"And what's that?" Taron asked, leaning against Das' cubicle wall.

"We need to call in..." Das cocked his eyebrows, "The Z-Team!"

"The Z-Team? Don't you mean the A-Team?" Taron asked suspiciously.

"No," Das rolls his eyes, "Listen, the Z-Team is a group of four highly trained individuals who specialize in finding what is lost."

"Uh, sure." Taron nodded, "Das, I think you need to take a rest. I'll take over here, and I'll see you in the morning."

"No, Taron!" Das shook his head, "I'm serious." Then, Das pulled a small comlink out of his pocket, dialed in a frequency, and spoke a word under his breath. "They're on their way."

"Um, ah, oh, okay." Taron stammered. "How will they get past security?"

Das smiled, "Believe me, they will."

Just then, the hydraulic door to the dispatcher unit flew open, and four figures entered. Das and Taron looked at them in amazement. One was wearing a purple cape and mask, tons of heavy artillery in his arms. Another wore a typical smuggler's jumpsuit, but wore a black and white floppy hat over her head. One had a lightsaber hung at her belt, and carried a suspicious looking black box in a straw bag. The fourth person was extremely tall, 6' 9" at least. He had tons of action figures attached to his jumpsuit.

"Uh. Hi." Taron said, and waved sheepishly. He then glared at Das. "These guys are dressed like circus freaks!"

"They might be, but they're good at what they do," Das said.

The tall member of the Z-Team spoke first. "We understand you need our help."

* * * *

Subject: Chapter 5 - Kitmer Panics
Author: Matthew W

Meanwhile, Kitmer had been talking to O'Grell inside his sound-proof cubicle.
"O'Grell! This is "The Informant"! Do you hear me?"
"Roger, Kitmer. What is it?" said the nasty voice coming out of the comlink.
Kaaly responded, "GalactiCo is looking rather seriously into the disappearance of the Elbow. They're searching the surrounding star systems."
"Bah! They'll never find us, let alone destroy us! Keep up the good work, captain."
"Captain?"
"You will be in command of the freighter Matoscha.
Continue to spy until we transport you aboard." said the raspy voice.

The comlink switched off. In Das's cubicle, the Z-Team had agreed to help find the freighter for a cost of 6,000 credits. Das hastily agreed. Before they left, one of them mentioned to Das where he could find mercenary captain Xiphod Zimjier.

They said he didn't go cheap, but his ship, the Victorie, was a top-of-the-class cruiser, and each of Zimjier's team could shoot a laser through the head of a pin. Das considered this as he watched Z-Team walk off...

* * * *

 

Chapter 6: Enter the New Republic
Author: Eileen R

Das knew his day had to end soon when he went to the vending machine and realized he had already emptied it. It had been a long day, and a nightmarish one too. Who was the Z-team? He had been given to understand they were a group of highly trained professionals. When he had seen them.... Well, they certainly had made an impression on Taron. He began to wonder if this was some sort of elaborate practical joke on the part of his co-workers. Standards really had gone down since GalactiCo had been privatized. He had celebrated at the defeat of the Empire but sometimes he couldn't help missing those days when efficiency had been the top priority, and Coruscant could always send down
someone in an official looking uniform with polished boots and a tone of command in his voice, to fix any problem. Even if that person was just Kian Lugaid, only sent by because he was annoying his more important colleagues in Imperial Propaganda.

"Oh, well. I'm going to bed," Das told his computer. Tell Taron I'll be here first thing in the morning to check up on the Z-team." He was walking to the door, when his holo beeped.

"No," said Das, "I won't take this call. I have to go to sleep." But he turned it on anyway.

Immediately, he was glad he had. For the person projected by the machine was not a co-worker, not a member of the Z-team, and not a New Republic official, well not a very New Republic type of New Republic official.

"Liefen! Liefen Pellus!" cried Das.

"Hello! I'm sorry to be calling you at this hour of the night. It is night there, right?"

"Late night."

"Right, I'm extremely sorry, but you see, I'm...on vacation, on a cruise ship, actually, and they're going to have to put into port in Arrennia there for repairs. We'll be with you in an hour or so."

"Are At'ien and the kids with you?"

"At'ien, yes. We left the kids behind with Dezzia Kerr. Probably a mistake, but she was so insistent. But at least C-NY2 is keeping an eye on them. So would it be ok if we dropped by?"

"Sure, I'm just getting off work."

"And you don't want to go to bed?"

"I did, but now I want to see you. It's too bad Ethilne and Vasily are in Balmorra for that music conference."

"Oh, I'll see them at New Years in Coruscant, I'm sure. Well, see you around!"

"I'll be at the spaceport," said Das with a smile.

The holo flickered and disappeared.

Liefen Pellus was coming here again. He would, of course, be appalled by what he found. Liefen who could be marked out anywhere as an ex-Imperial, a certain carriage about him, and a refined Coruscantian accent which was even a little too refined for Coruscant.

And At'ien Cavi, now At'ien Pellus, who had been a renowned anthropologist and written articles for Galactic Geographic before she had married General Liefen Pellus of the Imperial Army, who was rapidly moving through the ranks after leading a successful mission to Terra, and personally helping the Emperor destroy a meddlesome civilization. (There were rumors that the mission hadn't been that successful and the Emperor hadn't needed any help, but Palpatine didn't believe in announcing anything as a failure. Everything turned out fine in the end, so he handed around Order of the Empires and promotions.)

Pellus had once headed up a sort of Z-team. Oh how different those days had been. Suddenly, Das realized what the remaining Imps felt like when they followed their leaders into hopeless battles.

* * * *

Approaching Arrennia upon the New Republic corvette The Onset, Liefen Pellus grimaced at the job ahead. "Espionage is not my field," he told At'ien worriedly. "And I feel sick, spying on a friend."

Elennis Dena, Mon Mothma's aide-de-campe overheard. "I know what you feel like, but there's something weird going on here. The New Republic has to find out about it."

* * * *

Chapter 7 - Kitmer vs. the Z - Team
Author: Courtney D

Kaaly Kitmer was alone. Except for the incompetent Z-Team juggling datapads in Das' cubicle... He

 

Chapter 8: Insights into a Pirate, a General, and a Traitor
Author: Eileen R

Captain O'Grell pensively looked down on the shrouded planet below. Somewhere on that planet were two treasures: one could bring a considerable amount of money on the black-market, and the other could bring him anything he wanted. The first was
the treasure of the ancient Mikinna clan. The second was a girl who must be about 26 now.

Murien Kelsik, the daughter of Gordian Kelsik, one of the galaxy's wealthiest men and a member of the Imperial High Council. When she was 19, she had somehow, for no-one knew what reason, disappeared, and resurfaced in the Rebel Alliance, and two years later, the ship carrying her had been destroyed with no survivors.

O'Grell knew better. He had carried out Palpatine's orders himself and taken her to this planet stronghold, there to be used as a card against the Kelsiks if they ever became too powerful. After Endor, the rebels, refusing to believe her dead, had offered a substantial rewards for any information of her whereabouts. But, as far as O'Grell knew, all those who knew Murien Kelsik was alive had died at Endor.

The ushering in of the New Order had not been a happy time for the Kelsiks. No one now knew where Gordian Kelsik was, off fighting for the dying Empire somewhere. But Imperial General Pellaeon would pay; these days, it seemed he had an inordinate desire for art treasures. The Mikinna stuff might be very worth his while, indeed. O'Grell smiled. After all this trouble, he was finally going to get something out of the Empire's defeat.

* * * * *

Pellus listened sympathetically to Das's story over a glass of wine.

"Are you sure they're the real Z-team?" he asked laughingly.

"You know. I checked that out. They are!" said Das, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, if they get anything done, I won't complain." He paused for a second and added, " Besides I've already used up my quota of complaint letters on my co-worker Kaaly Kitmer."

"Kitmer.... The name sounds familiar."

"Right. He was the one who knew how to "defend" Arrennia against the rebels."

"How?" asked At'ien, smiling. "You forget I wasn't here during the brave last stand of the Empire. Such as it was..."

"Told the newspapers we were redeploying to Yettab. The rebels would fall for the trick, and then we could sneak up behind them or something like that. He reads too many thrillers."

"Well," said At'ien, "It might have worked better than just dead-point fighting."

She had obviously hit her husband's sore point for he exploded. "At'ien, do you know how long we could have held off the rebels if Ethilne Merrith had not sabotaged our shield system? Let's just say that the rebels wouldn't be holding Coruscant now."

"Would you prefer that?" asked Das quietly.

"Of course not," Pellus quickly answered. "But it wasn't my fault that the Empire lost Arrennia, and I'd like to keep it that way. I don't want people saying I bungle missions."

"What sort of stuff do you do nowadays?" asked Das, trying to restore peace.

"Nothing, if by nowadays you mean since Coruscant was taken. I'm with the NR, of course. My command team was the one of the first units down there after Rogue Squadron. But now we're just fighting skirmishes with Imperials who flash out one moment, and then fade back into the dark the next. It's not a rewarding occupation."

* * * *

Kaaly Kitmer was on his way. Finally.

He groaned as he reviewed his career. Fooling around through preparatory school had obviously been his big mistake. When he had finally put his feet down on the ground, he had to face a 58 percent mark in English, a fail in Mathematics, and various other disconcerting marks. It was a transcript the Academy would never have even looked at. In fact, the only post-secondary institution it was a pass to was the Stormtrooper corps.

Well, he had pulled the short strings he had, and got a job with GalactiCo, in which his uncle held shares. And, to the surprise of himself even, he had not done badly. Yet, he st

 

Those were great Tess. Keep them coming.

 

Confessions to all Tessine-Sabe's other readers... this was a round-robin started on a whim, though it developed into a full-fledged saga. So you're not missing anything if you don't get the characters yet... no one did.

I love seeing all this again, Tessine.

 

Z-team? Who are these guys?

 

The Z-Team is quite interesting! Comical, but efficient.

Just one question. Is Liefen Pellus an ex-Imperial who is now a ?good guy?, or does he still feel loyal to the Emperor/the Empire? Just something I was a little unsure about.

I?m kind of hoping that Kaaly Kitmer gets caught trying to steal a ship eventually...

Oh, I must have missed that it was a round robin! That?s interesting!

I?m looking forward to more!

 

JLK -- It was once a round robin, at least... that's why Tessine is including an "Author" at the top of every chapter.

I THINK Liefen Pellus was one of those who became a Republican after the battle of Endor. I believe it's full-fledged defection, though he may have some symptathies... I can't be sure, because I didn't write for him much. Tessine, do you have a good grasp on him?

As for Kitmer, just you wait. I remember writing his unfortunate tragic mistake...

 

Hi All! I'm back!!

Wow, thank you ALL for the comments. *hugs all around*

Thanks for helpin me out, Ty.

Ok...as far as the Z-team goes...yes I know that they are a little bit less-than serious and I did remove the totally absurd things about them when I edited. (Muhahahaha, bow before the pen of doom... ) There is a perfectly good explanation for why some of the characters are un-needed comic relief, at least in the beginning.

This novel is actually the second of the ISLAS star-wars novels. But the first was written sometime before I came to the school, and though I did not read it, it was apparantly a very scattered and totally whimsical story about how Darth Vader comes to earth to defeat a 'borg' and joins up with Captain Kirk *gasp* from...you know what.
The wonderful girl who started this second story, Courtney, had been part of this first improve add-on that they had jokingly called a novel. When she began and wrote the first chapter of this story and a few more in the beginning of the story before the plot began to get deep, I surmise that she expected this second novel to be another crazy nonsense saga like the first...which is why characters like Kaaly Kitmer and the Z-team were introduced. Of course, as the story progresses (as you will see) the characters become more interesting and three dimensional, and less goofy. I have (for the sake of keeping insane absurdism at the lowest possible level) edited most of what I considered remnants or tie-ins from the first 'Borg saga'. Those of you interested in how a novel can progess in its writing stages when there is no particular plan as far as plot goes, should find this an interesting piece. (If any of you WANT to see weird take outs, pm me)

Anyhow, that's some info on that. Kitmer...heheheheheh. You'll see. Of course, I don't much care for how he finally...well, you make up your own mind. ;-)

Pellus was a character created by Eileen, who was, in I think all of our minds, the head honcho and information station for Star Wars orthodoxy. She came up with him, so I don't know what she had in mind. My guess is that she wanted him to play a larger part than he actually does, because when you introduce a character into a round robin type story there is always the chance that the other authors may not want to pick him up and work with him because he seems complicated, or his personality screams "I'm Eileen's character, don't touch!!". I think that that is what happens with Liefen Pellus. Basically IMHO he is an Imperial who fought against the rebels because he didn't like their way of running things, but he wasn't FOR the 'Ideal of the Empire'... and he was just doing his job. He is pretty well-adjusted to his new job in the NR and does'nt seem to wish and sigh for the return of the Empire. I can tell you right now...Liefen Pellus is a character that becomes very minor, very fast. Don't blow your brains out trying to figure him out.

I'll put the next chapters out tomorrow morning! Thanks again for commenting!!

Cheers~

Tess

 

Author: Eileen R
Chapter 8: Insights into a Pirate, a General, and a Traitor

Captain O'Grell pensively looked down on the shrouded planet below. Somewhere on that planet were two treasures: one could bring a considerable amount of money on the black-market, and the other could bring him anything he wanted. The first was the treasure of the ancient Mikinna clan. The second was a girl who must be about 24 now.

Murien Kelsik. The daughter of Gordian Kelsik, who was one of the galaxy's wealthiest men and a member of the Imperial High Council. When she was 19, she had somehow, for no-one knew what reason, disappeared- and resurfaced in the Rebel Alliance. Two years later, the ship carrying her had been destroyed with no survivors.

O'Grell knew better. He had carried out Palpatine's orders himself and taken her to this planet stronghold, there to be used as a card against the Kelsiks if they ever became too powerful. After Endor, the rebels, refusing to believe her dead, had offered a substantial rewards for any information of her whereabouts. But, as far as O'Grell knew, anyone who knew Murien Kelsik was alive had died at Endor.

The ushering in of the New Order had not been a happy time for the Kelsiks. No one now knew where Gordian Kelsik was, off fighting for the dying Empire somewhere. But the Empire's General Pellaeon would pay to have her. And, these days, it seemed he also had an inordinate desire for art treasures. The Mikinna stuff might be very worth his while, indeed. O'Grell smiled. After all this trouble, he was finally going to get something out of the Empire's defeat.

* * * * *

Pellus listened sympathetically to Das's story over a glass of wine.

"Are you sure they're the real Z-team?" he asked laughingly.

"You know. I checked that out, and they are!" said Das, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, if they get anything done, I won't complain." He paused for a second and added, " Besides I've already used up my quota of complaint letters on my co-worker
Kaaly Kitmer."

"Kitmer.... The name sounds familiar."

"Right. He was the one who knew how to defend Arrennia against the rebels."

"How?" asked At'ien, smiling. "You forget I wasn't here during the 'brave last stand of the Empire'."

"Tell the newspapers we were redeploying to Yettab. The rebels would fall for the trick, and then we could sneak up behind them or something like that. He reads too many thrillers."

"Well," said At'ien, "It might have worked better than just sitting around and fighting."

She had obviously hit her husband's sore point for he exploded. "At'ien, do you know how long we could have held off the rebels if Ethilne Merrith had not sabotaged our shield system? Let's just say that the rebels wouldn't be holding Coruscant now."

"Would you prefer that?" asked Das quietly.

"Of course not," Pellus quickly answered. "But it wasn't my fault that the Empire lost Arrennia, and I'd like to keep it that way. I don't want people saying I bungle missions."

"What sort of stuff do you do nowadays?" asked Das, trying to restore peace.

"Nothing, if by nowadays you mean since Coruscant was taken. My command team was the one of the first units down there after Rogue Squadron. But now we're just fighting skirmishes with Imperials who flash out one moment, and then fade back into the dark the next. It's not a rewarding occupation."

* * * *

Kaaly Kitmer was on his way. Finally.

He groaned as he reviewed his career. Fooling around through preparatory school had obviously been his big mistake. When he had finally put his feet down on the ground, he had to face a 58 percent mark in English, a fail in Mathematics, and various other disconcerting marks. It was a transcript the Academy would never have even looked at. In fact, the only post-secondary institution it was a pass to was the Stormtrooper corps.

Well, he had pulled the short strings he had, and got a job with GalactiCo, in which his uncle held shares. And, to the surprise of himself even, he had not done badly. Yet, he still want

 

*Bump*

 

This is interesting. Takes a while to get used to, but with some more reading I think I'll get into it.

 

Thank you for the explanations, Ty-gon Jinn and Tess! Much appreciated!

I like the names you use for your ships and characters. Very interesting!

Another interesting post! I?ll be checking in for the next chapter(s)!

 

Author: Eileen R
Chapter 10 - Into the Silent Planet

Commander Kilprenn was losing it, no doubt about it. Every day he sat in his study and stared at the wall for an hour or so. And, so every day, Coren Loenik had to distract him from it. It was a depressing job. Sometimes, Murien Kelsik would come and help out, but that only seemed to make Kilprenn worse, being in contact with someone who seemed to be enjoying herself. Coren, playing a board game with Kilprenn, was thanking his lucky stars that she was off exploring the Mikinna ruins. Creepy places. He wondered what she saw in them. He had gone once with her, a year ago, but the stories Miri O'Grell told of the ruins had, he hated to admit it, kept him from returning again. Miri would have kept Murien from visiting the ruins, if she could have, but there was that little matter of her being a Kelsik. Slighting the daughter of Gordian Kelsik, even if she was rebel, was not a good idea. Who knew when there might be a reconciliation and then what might happen to those who opposed her?
Kilprenn had fallen asleep over that last move. Loenik quietly tiptoed out and ran straight into Miri O'Grell, the infamous pirate?s strikingly beautiful wife. If looks could kill, he would have been dead right there and then.

"I'm sorry, milady," he stammered. She said nothing and continued walking.

"Milady," he thought with a sour grin. "Why does she think she can give herself airs? I wonder where she's going. She looks determined."

* * * * *

Murien Kelsik settled down on the ancient window seat with a dusty book. Her face, which a certain Coruscantian fashion magazine had termed elfin, was consumed with interest in what the Jedi might have considered one of the driest sections of the Jedi Code, but in the massive Kelsik library, the Jedi Code had not been available, and every word of it was a yet untasted pleasure for the young rebel.

* * * * *

"Captain Zimjier. We have a message from someone called Taron Bosch. He says he was directed to speak with you by the Z-team."

"The Z-team...I haven't heard from them for a while. Have they gone legit?"

"Yes, it seems they're working for GalactiCo."

"Ughh. Well, what does this Bosch want?"

"The message says that they need someone to go after pirates who went off with some of GalactiCo's ships."

"Hmmm, we'd better investigate that before taking the job. Guys, we're off to Arrennia."

"Yes, Captain, I'll have things ready in a second."

Zimjier turned to go and get ready himself.

"And captain,"

"Yes"

"We've got a freighter on our radar, one of those Corellian junks ships I think."

"Keep an eye on it. It'll probably pass by, though."

* * * * *

"This is going too far," said Pellus with a faint smile, as they packed themselves into boxes, "And don't tell me you can't go too far for the New Republic," he warned the NR intelligent officer who was with him.

"No. I won't say it. This IS rather stranger than the usual missions I perform. I hope they pay attention to the directions to stow us right side up. I bruise easily."


* * * * *

"Who are the Mikinna?" Riffin asked O'Grell with some trepidation.

"Not heavy on history your school, was it?" said O'Grell sarcastically. "Ask any guard." and he left.

Riffin did. He asked Loman who had been an Imperial Guard. "A Jedi clan. They were destroyed about sixty years ago by a mysterious enemy. They had a hidden planet stronghold somewhere. No one knows where, though. Treasure hunters have been
searching for it for decades, with no luck. They say there's a curse on their planet and their treasure."

Author: Tyler W
Chapter 11- The Mikinna Curse

Das Gar'tul slipped into his cubicle with his coffee and box of donuts. He flipped on his computer, but the Elbow still wasn't appearing on any scopes.

"Kaaly!" he yelled. "Get in here!"

No response. Das saw Netha Yrisar, one of his other co-workers walk by. "Have you seen Kitmer?" he asked.

Yrisar thought for a second. "No, I haven't. Sorry."

Gar'tul g