Antei System, Esstran Sector
Shroud Nebula
The Slammin’ Salmon
43 ABY
The view through the cockpit was almost fascinating, if the approaching nebula hadn’t been pitch black. Instead of the mesmerizing reds and oranges of typical nebulas, the dense cloud reflected no starlight and appeared almost like a void in space. Ready to consume the Kom'rk-class Fighter racing towards it.
If the pilot had any concern for their fates, he didn’t show it. Instead, the human bopped in his seat and swayed his head, on which a set of noise-cancelling headphones blared. Enthralled by the music, the man failed to notice the door behind him had slid open but he was immediately alerted to the intrusion by a swift slap that knocked the headphones from his head.
“You need to focus, Lontra.” The words were spat by Raiju Kang, a Nautolan who dropped into the seat beside him. “The shroud is no place to fool around.”
For most, the Shroud Nebula is an unsettling area of deep space. Rumour had it that it formed through insidious means which gave the nebula its Dark Side power. Once the gateway to the ancient planet Antei, the pathway through the nebula had been controlled by the self-appointed Guardians, Clan Tarentum. Lontra Boglach only knew these things because of the undying fiend sitting beside him.
“I’m not taking a Sith’s advice on concentration,” Lontra's eyes rolled. He reached down to pluck his headphones from the floor and draped them around his neck so he could still converse while hearing the music. “If I want to know how to seethe, I’ve come to you for advice.”
“We wouldn’t be here if you ever took my advice,” Raiju grimaced.
A hush fell over the cockpit while Lontra stared out to space, his breathing deepened and slowed. The music from his headphones raged against the tranquility of its wearer, but Lontra was a distance away focused on moving the spacecraft through the black cloud while avoiding the obstacles hidden in its midst. While Raiju’s presence would tease with every approaching asteroid or wreckage, Lontra maintained an even set of breathing right up until they exited the shroud and could finally see their destination.
Immediately the dashboard squawked. The abrasive tone was quickly silenced without a glance from the pilot, he knew their fuel tanks had been approaching empty well before the shroud. Beside him, the Nautolan seethed at their poor fate.
“I’ll never understand why you always are so short on fuel.”
“Never been broke before, buddy?”
Lontra had heard of the Godless Matron many times since discovering the Brotherhood, but this was the first time he had ever laid eyes on her. A Lucrehulk-class battleship, a relic of the Clone Wars, it was once a visage of terror and an ill omen to any planet it overlooked. Now, it was a ship out of time and the decrepit hanger suggested it was far beyond its former glory.
“This place is a junkyard,” Raiju’s disdain had some merit to it. As the pair deboarded down the Salmon’s ramp, Lontra noted the feeling of abandon the hanger carried. While there was one other vessel parked there, the rest of the hanger sat unused. Half the lighting was out or faded, aged equipment was turned over and scattered across the battered flooring. There wasn’t a single crewman visible to take their request for fuel - assuming Lontra had the credits for it.
“I assume we go there,” Lontra nodded towards a spray painted wall reading ‘Enter Here’ in red and an arrow pointing to a door.
The hall they entered was caked in a heavy layer of dust. For the most part, the dust sat undisturbed aside from a single trail of foot prints that danced between debris left behind but some battle long ago. While Raiju marched through following the path of the footprints, Lontra paused at the first pile and squatted to investigate something in the debris.
“This is a B1 droid,” The Jedi frowned while thinking out loud. He noted the burn marks on the droid’s head, indicating it had taken a blaster bolt at some time.
“Are you surprised? It’s a droid battleship…” Raiju’s annoyance was followed by him waving the Jedi to hurry up and follow before he proceeded into the next room. There the pair discovered a cyan skinned Twi’lek sitting on the floor with her back to the wall, she looked like she was about to nod off when the pair stepped into the room.
“About time,” the Twi'lek's annoyance was quickly followed by a look of recognition upon turning her head to the arrivals. She jumped to her feet and snarled. “Raiju!”
“Sinya.” The Nautolan and Twi’lek each produced a pair of lightsabers and fell into guarded stances. Across the darken hallway, green and purple hues of Sinya’s weapons clashed with Raiju’s red and blue until a roar of fire settled into between them.
“Hold!” Lontra bellowed as he pointed his vambraces at each of them, ready to unleash the rest of his flamethrowers. “What the hell is going on here?!”
“Damnit, Lontra!” Raiju hissed through clenched teeth before he motioned with a lightsaber like pointing a finger. “She’s with Plagueis, kill her!”
“Like hell I am,” Sinya protested with a step forward forcing Lontra to retreat a step for safety. The man also brought both of his vambraces to point at her to stop her advance. With a look of caution, the Twi’lek addressed Lontra directly. “I call Vizsla home now.”
“Rancorsh-” Raiju was quickly cut off as Lontra stepped back beside him and held an arm across the Nautolan’s chest. Lontra took several moments to slow his own breathing, when he felt relaxed he concentrated on sending that feeling to the rest of the room. When Sinya’s lightsabers slowly tilted to the floor, Lontra turned his gaze to Raiju and held his stare. Reluctantly, the Nautolan deactivated his lightsabers.
“Hello there, contestants!” An unfamiliar voice boomed in the room. It took several moments for Lontra to find the source, but as the voice continued he noticed it came from a speaker high above them that was attached to a holocam that was pointed at the trio. “I see that we have some new arrivals, but we now have more than our game can manage.”
“Game?” Lontra shot a confused look from Sinya and then up to the camera. “I’m not here for a game, I came for the Gauntlet contract.”
“That’s what he’s referring to,” Sinya said with a look of annoyance towards the camera. “They want to send a pair in to reset the system, they’ve been having rolling blackouts with their gravity generators. But they didn’t think I could do it alone.”
“Nah, girl…” A new voice purred through the speaker. “Experience has taught us that a second set of hands is necessary to run the gauntlet, and we like to hedge our bets here.”
The voice broke into a fit of laughter before a third continued.
“We require two, and only two. So one of you will need to depart.”
“I was here first, so I’m not leaving.” Sinya was quick to snap as she looked back between the Nautolan and Lontra. “And no one in their right mind trusts Raiju.”
“Agreed,” Lontra snorted. A silence exchange happened between Lontra and Raiju before the Sith turned back to the hallway with a shake of head and an anger radiating off him.
“Good,” the first voice returned to the speaker. As soon as Raiju departed the room, a locking mechanism could be heard turning on the opposite side of the room and slowing a door rollout up to reveal another hallway with further debris and hanging wires snapping with electricity. “Now that we have our contestants sorted, a last bit of instruction. The Gauntlet will require your cooperation at times, but only one of you is necessary to switch the breakers. Whoever switches the breakers, gets the credits.”
