Corellia: 19 BBY
"Mythos"
Nakoa Sen

Nakoa deactivated the hyperdrive, dropping out of lightspeed above Corellia. He urged the Mythos down quickly, hoping to avoid interaction with the Imperial Star Destroyers that hovered above the planet. Next to him, Oni Aleu was quickly masking their signature and replacing it with an Imperial one.

She sat back once she finished. "There. They shouldn't bother with us now."

"Good. The Imperials are getting too nosy in this sector," Nakoa replied.

Only a few months had gone by since the Clone Wars had ended. The Empire had quickly let the galaxy know that there were changes in order. People were no longer allowed to come and go as they pleased. Everyone required identification forms and transcripts of some sort. The Empire was cracking down hard on Corellia, especially. In fact, any planet that produced ships of any kind were now under an Imperial occupation.

Nakoa maneuvered them away from the busy airways. Their usual docking bay wasn't too far. As usual, it was unoccupied when they arrived. They landed and disembarked shortly. Nakoa grabbed a sack of credits before sealing the boarding ramp.

Oni crossed her arms, watching the Mythos. "She's seen better days."

"She looked worse when I bought her. The YT-1760's are an older model and I bought her from a scrapping yard. What did you expect?"

Oni followed him out of the docking bay, her blue metal armor clanking a bit with each step. "When you said you bought a ship, I thought you meant a fast one. You know, so we could avoid Imperials?"

"The Mythos is fast. She'll be a lot faster when I'm done with all of her modifications."

"How do you plan on paying for all of them? Most of our credits go to the Clan."

"Bounties are easy to come by these days. If I save up and do what I can myself, it shouldn't be too hard."

Oni inclined her helmeted head, but said nothing more. Nakoa glanced at her curiously. He'd always wondered what his companion looked like. He was certain she wondered the same about him. Not that he was much to look at anyway. Dark brown hair, amber eyes, tanned skin...Nakoa didn't mind not showing his face to anyone. At least his orange and black armor was well suited to him, although no one but he and Ketei knew it.

At first, always wearing his helmet had bothered him. Learning the ancient ways had taken time. Ketei, the woman who had found and raised him, had allowed him time to adjust. She taught him the Code first, then the Creed.

"You are Mandalorian by blood. The Code is the root of our beliefs. Anyone can follow the Creed, but only a true Mandalorian can live by our Code," she had said. Even as a young boy, Nakoa wasn't sure he agreed with that statement. To him, both items seemed like something that anyone could be true to, if they were dedicated.

"Hey," Oni elbowed him, drawing him out of his thoughts. "Are we taking a break for a few days or getting straight back to work?"

"Which would you prefer?"

"I'd rather get back to work. I don't want to stick around here longer than I have to. Who wants the Empire breathing down their neck all the time?"

Nakoa chuckled to himself. "All right. I'll see if Ketei found any new bounties."

They continued walking until they reached an old storm pipe entrance. Once, Corellians had filled the pipes, creating a vast network of tunnels and chambers beneath their cities. Now, only the scum of the planet inhabited them. It made a safe place for their covert. They were hidden from the Imperials above and they ruled the vagabonds below.

They turned down a few tunnels until they reached the covert at last. Foundlings chased each other around, vibroblades in hand. There wasn't a bare head to be seen. A few of his clanmates nodded as Nakoa walked past. He tipped his head back to them but continued on. Oni broke off as he neared Ketei's chambers.

Nakoa knocked on the metal door and waited until he heard a muffled admittance. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Ketei sat at her work bench, hammering out a few pieces of armor.

"Practicing your armoring?" Nakoa asked.

"It's what I do in my spare time. Someone has to fix and build things for us now that Quintan is gone."

"You were unable to find him?"

Ketei set the shoulder plate aside and nodded. "Galaar and I searched at his last known location. We sent patrols out at night to search as well. There's no sign of him. He either abandoned us or was taken."

"Quintan was loyal. He loved forging armor and weapons for us. Maybe Oni and I should try to look for him."

"No," Ketei said firmly. "I will not risk losing you two to the Empire or the gangs. I will continue to send patrols out for him, but if he's not found within three weeks, the searching will stop."

Nakoa gritted his teeth and nodded. He handed the sack of credits to Ketei and turned to leave. She placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"I know Quintan was a good friend to you, Nakoa. I'm doing all I can but ultimately, the Clan must be my first priority. Things are not like they were before the Empire. Sometimes, difficult choices must be made."

"What if I was the one who disappeared? What would you do? Would you choose the Clan over me?"

"I pray I never have to make that decision because I will always choose you, my son."

Nakoa closed his eyes at the familiar words. Ketei had never taken the place of his mother to him, but to her, he was her son. He allowed her to call him as such. She had raised him, taken him in, and he was forever grateful and indebted.

"Oni was hoping there'd be some new bounties for us."

Ketei laughed a bit. "I'm not surprised. No one wants to be tied down by the Empire. You're in luck." She grabbed a bounty puck off her work table and tossed it to him.

Nakoa snatched it out of the air and switched it on. A hologram of a Shydopp appeared. "Baja Haap?"

"He currently works for the pirate Hondo Ohnaka. His bounty is high."

"Why don't I just take Ohnaka?" Nakoa scoffed.

"Because you will fail. Everyone does."

Nakoa inclined his head and switched off the puck. "All right. We'll have Baja and the credits as soon as possible."

"Take care." Ketei returned to her seat and began hammering at the shoulder plate once more.

Nakoa stepped out of the room and quickly searched for Oni. She wasn't difficult to find. "Well? Where to?" She asked.

"We'll start our search on Florrum. We're looking for Baja Haap and he's working for Hondo Ohnaka. Ohnaka has some operations on Florrum still, so we might learn something there."

"Then let's get going."

Kessel: 19 BBY
Rigger Class Ship
Lesia Mirri

Lesia gave a groan of frustration and flipped her junky ship back over. Her white lekku fell over her shoulders as she was returned to a normal seated position. "Curse these Imperial dogs," she growled.

Beyond the ship's viewport, Kessel was still in the distance. There was no opening in between the Imperial Star Destroyers as far as she could see. There was no way this spice shipment was making it.

Lesia frantically began flipping switches and calculating her jump coordinates back to Nikana. Another blast rocked her ship, slamming her forward against the console. "Kriff!" She muttered another insult under her breath and glanced at a button.

"Hondo is gonna kill me," she groaned. Lesia reached across the panel and slammed the button down. Instantly, the ship's magnetic lock broke and four spice containers went flying into space. She maneuvered her now lighter ship away from the Star Destroyers and prepped the navicomputer. Her only option was to go over Kessel and hope its  gravitational pull didn't mess with her jump.

She gritted her teeth and activated the hyperdrive, praying that it wouldn't fail again. To her surprise, the stars blurred around her and she rocketed into lightspeed. Lesia released a sigh of relief and leaned back in her seat.

"There's still Hondo to deal with, but at least I've got the Imperials off my tail," she said to herself. "Though I doubt the Pykes will be too impressed. I'm sure the Empire will be investigating why they ordered smuggled spice."

Lesia slid out of her seat and headed into the ship's small medical bay. She sat down on the hard bed and crossed her legs. Her eyes closed as she called the Force to her. She calmed her mind in its soothing presence and quickly focused herself.

She withdrew herself a moment later. She never stayed in a meditative state for long. One, she didn't know how long she could stay there safely. Two, she didn't like how the Force tended to dredge up memories she'd rather forget. Lesia returned to the cockpit as the navicomputer began beeping.

She dropped out of hyperspace above Nikana, where Hondo's newest hideout was located. The blue and green planet was temperate, covered in grassy plains and large rock formations all over. It snowed occasionally, she'd been told.

Lesia approached the pirate's stronghold and set the ship down. Hondo was already waiting for her with his first mate at his side. Les stood and jumped off the ship. "I trust the Pykes gave us a valuable sum today?" Hondo held out an expectant hand.

"There's no profit. The Empire has Kessel surrounded, which you conveniently forgot to tell me. I had to drop the spice and leave."

Hondo's mouth dropped open. "You did...you...what? There's no profit and no spice? This," he pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is not a good day."

"I didn't get captured so I'd call it a fairly good day."

"In terms of business, today was terrible," Hondo replied. He shook his head and clicked his tongue. "Lesia, you're one of my best. If you had to drop the shipment, I believe you had probable cause. All the same," he draped an arm around her shoulders and started walking, "you cost me a lot of spice and a lot of credits."

"I'll make it up to you."

"You've said that in the past and I've let you. I can't keep cutting corners for you." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "The men are starting to notice. I can't let them think I choose favorites."

"You do choose favorites," Lesia pointed out.

"Yes, but they don't know that." Hondo chuckled and stroked his chin with a free hand. "I'll tell you what. I do have a way for you to make it up to me."

"I'll do it."

"It's risky."

Lesia smiled at him coyly. "Anything involving you is risky."

"Right you are, my dear. This, however, will also involve the Hutts." He smirked as her arrogant smile lessened a bit. "They stole some spice from me a while back. Baja here told me where it's being kept. I want you to steal it back and deliver it to the Pykes. They'll never know the difference. We'll both get paid and we'll be able to forget this mess."

Lesia glanced back at Baja Haap. The Shydopp had joined them only a few months before she had. He had immediately disliked her. She guessed it was because Hondo liked her more than him.

"All right, Hondo. I'll get that spice."

"Good, good. I'll expect you back in a day or so. Meanwhile, I get to explain to the Pykes why their shipment is late." Hondo thought for a minute. "Oh, and don't mention this to the men. I'd hate for them to think I like you more than them."

"Admit it. You do like me more than them."

Hondo flicked her nose and continued on without her. "Only a little bit, and only because you don't smell like a pirate."

Lesia rolled her eyes and smirked. Well, that went better than I thought. Hondo didn't kill me. Let's hope the Hutts don't either.