Star Wars: Aftermath

[Founder]

Story

One year has gone by since the end of the Clone Wars. Count Dooku and General Grievous had been defeated by two Jedi heroes, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The end of the Clone Wars was supposed to herald an era of peace within the Republic, but the exact opposite happened. Taking advantage of corruption and fear, chancellor Palpatine declared himself emperor and remade the Republic into his Empire. The birth of this dreaded Empire was consummated with the blood of the Jedi Order. Palpatine�s first act as emperor was to declare the Jedi Order an enemy to his new order and ordered their immediate execution through his clone army. Jedi after Jedi were killed all over the galaxy by clone troopers they served with during the Clone Wars. None of them could conceive of such betrayal. To make matters worse, Anakin Skywalker, the chosen one meant to bring balance to the Force, led the clone troopers into the Jedi temple and slaughtered his former brethren in the name of the Emperor. A titanic battle was waged between Emperor Palpatine and Yoda on Coruscant, while Anakin Skywalker fought his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar. Sadly, both Palpatine and Anakin managed to survive and ensured the Empire would forever thrive, while the remaining Jedi have been forced to hide. Now, the galaxy is under the tight grip of a Sith Lord and his authoritarian government. There are some who will not accept this�some who will resist the aftermath�

Characters


Name: Janna Core (Human)
Profession: Repair Shop Owner/Engineer


Name: Jome Yi (Human)
Profession: Jedi Master


Name: Chai Kahan (Arkanian)
Profession: Jedi Master


Name: Jak Cale (Human)
Profession: Jedi Knight


Name: Andee (Formerly known as CC-448) (Clone)
Profession: Storm Trooper


Name: Arthaz Keejn (Zabrak)
Profession: Bounty Hunter


Name: Siro Coron (Human)
Profession: Imperial Diplomat


Name: Ytrin Saja (Twi'lek)
Profession: Pilot/Smuggler


Name(s): Set and Kek Njij (Jawas)
Profession: Scavengers


Name: OOM-15 (Droid)
Profession: Battle Droid/Mechanic


Name: R2A-D5 (Droid)
Profession: Astromech Droid/Mechanic

Additional Characters


Name: Gadar Magnus (Human)
Profession: Imperial Admiral


Name: Ian Kynen (Human)
Profession: Imperial Captain


Name: Eeyah Hytir (Clawdite)
Profession: Bounty Hunter


Name: Sayj (Dug)
Profession: Engineer/Mechanic


Name: Mor Phyus (Human)
Profession: Imperial Ambassador


Name: Unknown (Miraluka)
Profession: Seer


Name: Cas Modahn (Neimodian)
Profession: Crime Lord


Name: Hymo Crool (Twi'lek)
Profession: Majordomo


Name: Unknown (Unknown)
Profession: Assassin

Ships

Hidden Fortune


Conquerer

[Founder]

Episodes

Episode I
1) Recording I
2) Recording II
3) Recording III

[Founder]

Star Wars-Aftermath-Episode I

Prologue

A small device, made to store vital information, sat in the empty and quiet corridors of an abandoned ship. This particular recording device seemed to not store information, but an important story. A story about a group of individuals who would help shape a future where the Sith ruled no longer and the return of the Jedi was possible. The device was recorded at some unknown point and by an unknown figure. After some time of isolation and un-use, it begins to stir and activate. A small hologram of a robed figure appeared from the diminutive object. Its gender and species could not be determined so easily due to the heavy robes it was adorned in. However, based off of the clothing, it was possible the figure was a Jedi. It looked up to reveal haunting eyes that could not hide a deep pain.

�Welcome,� The hologram said, �I am pleased that you have found my recording. I can only hope that you are a Jedi or strong in the Force. However, I have learned that is not a requisite of being a hero. The Force selects a great many and diverse people to carry out its will.�

The holograms voice revealed that it was a Human, but his or her accent could not be narrowed down to any specific planet. The hood covered its head, but its eyes could be seen and they were gripping enough.

�I can not reveal who I am for now,� He or She said, �Because I fear that agents of darkness may find this recording too early and use it to hurt those that I seek to protect. You could be an ally or an enemy, I can not be sure. For now, I can not risk that. I have prepared this because I wanted others to know the story of group of unlikely warriors. I can not let their saga fall into obscurity, because their sacrifices were far too great to ever forget. I can only hope that by the time someone discovers this recording and activates it, the Empire will be gone and the Jedi Order will be returned to its former glory. I�apologize. I�ve gotten ahead of myself. I will start from the beginning, although in this story, it is hard to say where it all truly began. It started differently for all of us��

The holographic figure looked pained from the sudden onrush of memories as it thought about how to structure the narrative. It was obvious that it lived in turbulent and hard times. The voice was calm and collected though, but it was something in its eyes that revealed how he truly felt at that moment.

�It all began on Coruscant,� It continued, �One year after the Clone Wars had ended. What was supposed to be a victory turned out to be the bitterest defeat in Jedi history. The Galactic Empire had risen into power and the Jedi had become endangered. The galaxy works to adjust to this monumental change. We all had our roles to play then and the Force saw it fit to put us all in position at that moment��

Recording 1

Janna Core-Unknown

Trouble. That word ran through Janna Cores mind over and over, non stop. The Force was "screaming" at her that she needed to beware and be mindful of her surroundings. The mission to rescue the captured Jedi and senator had taken a turn for the worse. Battle droids, created by the newly created Confederacy of Independent Systems, were pouring out of every open door and flooding the massive sand filled arena. The Jedi numbers were dwindling fast, way too fast. With every one droid destroyed, ten more would take its place. However, that was not something to focus on if she wanted to survive. Relying on the Force was what truly mattered. Only through the Force would she and the other Jedi get out of this debacle. Janna was not fighting this battle alone though. She was fighting alongside the chosen messiah of the Jedi Order, Anakin Skywalker. He was still just a boy, no older then twenty years old, but he was amazing. It showed with every droid he cut down and every laser that he deflected back. The Force was flowing through Anakin, guiding his actions just as they were for Janna. Although, she knew Anakin was far more powerful then she would ever hope to be. Once more, idle thoughts like those were best ignored during the present situation. She turned around and deflected an incoming laser from a blaster. It connected with her lightsaber and bounced off, flying back into the battle droid that had attempted to shoot her. She twirled the lightsaber around her back, masterfully deflecting another shot without even looking at it. Janna didn't need eyes if she let go and abandoned herself to the Force. While she controlled the Force, it partially controlled her. The two would then move in a graceful, symbiotic way that would not allow anything to harm her. However, this took concentration and it is hard to concentrate when a massive droid army is flooding the battlefield and firing at you from all sides. Her fellow Jedi continued to drop everywhere and there was nothing she could do. Desperately, Janna reached out with the Force and threw damaged Super Battle Droid at a group of Droidekas. It did very little. There were far too many.

"Fall back!" Jedi master Mace Windu ordered.

His purple blade twirled in the air at lightening speed, blocking any incoming blaster fire. Jedi knight Obi-Wan Kenobi was fighting side by side with council member and doing just as brilliantly. Even the senator from Naboo, Padme Amidala, was holding her own with just a blaster. Although, Janna noticed Anakin was sticking close to her, defending her from any stray shot. Janna blocked another incoming shot, but her concentration was waning. She was no longer masterfully deflecting the blasts back at the droids, but randomly swatting the incoming fire away. The sounds of Jedi screaming as they were hit, the hum of the lightsabers, and the multiple sound of blasters discharging were deafening. Janna's hands became sweaty and her grip on the lightsaber lessened considerably. By this point, there were now over 100 droids forming a surrounding circle around the Jedi. They weren't going to win this...

"Janna, help!" Anakin shouted.

She turned to look at Anakin and suddenly saw that their surroundings were different. They were no longer in the Genosis Arena, fighting for their lives against a droid army. Now, they were in some vast desert that Janna did not recognize. Anakin was lying on the sand, clutching a hole in his stomach.

"No!" Janna screamed.

Deactivating her lightsaber, she turned and ran towards Anakins dying form. She knelt at his side and placed a hand over his.

"Hang on Skywalker..." She whispered.

If Anakin died, then Force would never be brought back to balance. His survival was all that mattered to her, even if it cost her life. She gently pried his hand from the wound and saw that it was a cauterized wound, made by a lightsaber. Janna looked back at Anakin, but his face was now covered in a blurry, dark mask and his breathing become mechanical in nature. She jumped back in surprise and covered her ears when she heard the sounds of a woman crying during labor, a baby screaming and crying, people yelling for help, and explosions....

Janna immediatly sat up in her bed, screaming as she pulled herself from the latest nightmare. Sweat poured down her tanned face, while her dark hair stuck closely to her skin. Despite the room being really warm, she felt cold all of a sudden. It was as if a malevolent force was haunting her in that very room. She got up from her small bed and walked towards a mirror. Janna looked at her reflection and recoiled in surprise at how pale and sick she looked. No doubt it was from the lack of sleep. She hadn't slept properly in a long time due to the nightmares she always seemed to have. Janna shut her eyes and pressed her head against the mirror.

"Please," She whispered to herself, "Just...sleep. Try..."

Weakly, she walked back to her bed and sat against the wall. The ruse of adrenaline from the nightmare would not allow her to sleep now. With a sad sigh, she got out from the bed and headed towards the hangar bay for work. Something she did frequently...

Arthaz Keejn-Tatooine

It was the hunt that made everything worth it. Well, that and the credits gained from succeeding in the hunt. The prey was always some fool that made a mistake and didn't take responsibility for it. Now, he or she would pay for whatever it was they did. They would run through the dark streets, hoping that maybe the night would hide them from their adversaries, but that was not the case this time. This time, night was actually an ally to the hunter, rather then the hunted. A dark skinned Zabrak jumped from roof top to roof top, slowly following after a drunk Devaronian that was walking the empty streets of Mos Espa. He was moving slowly, using the wall to keep him from collapsing to the floor. This made the chase all the more easy for the Zabrak bounty hunter.

"Too easy." He thought to himself in a bitter tone.

This bounty was put out by a Neimoidian on Coruscant a week ago. It was beneath most bounty hunters, but not this one. He enjoyed the thrill of the hunt, even if it was for couple of hundred credits and an easy mark. He stopped when he noticed the Devaronian trying to enter a nearby building. The bounty hunter waited until he walked inside and then jumped onto a nearby pole, sliding to the ground level. He was completely silent in doing so and didn't even stir the homeless man on the street corner. His hands gripped the Bryar pistol in its holster and readied to pull it out if the situation called of it. He approached the door and was prepared to slice the lock with a computer spike, but the door strangely opened. Now, he knew better then to just walk in, smelling a trap, but he would attempt to risk it if not for the sake of some excitement. He took a careful step in and cringed when his heavy boots crushed broken glass. So much for being silent and stealthy. The Zabrak rolled to the floor and scanned the dark room, but saw nothing. He yanked the Bryar pistol out when the doors suddenly shut and the lights switched on.

"Well, well, well," A voice said, "I believe I have an unwelcomed guest in my house."

The Zabrak bounty hunter looked up to see the Devaronian pointing a CDEF carbine at him from across the room. A Rodian and a Duros were standing next to him, pointing blasters of their own. If the Zabrak was right, the Devaronian was a talker and that would buy him time...

"And who might you be?" He asked.

The "hunter" smiled, not deterred by the sudden change of events. It was obvious the "prey" had pretended to be drunk in an attempt to lure the Zabrak into the house where an ambush was waiting. It was clever, but not the first time he ran into a problem similiar to this. He tossed his own blaster to the floor and held his hands up.

"My name is Arthaz Keejn," He introduced, "I'm a bounty hunter from Coruscant and you are Higurt Col. I've been...looking for you."

Higurt smiled and ran his free hand over one of his horns.

"That's funny," He said, "I've never heard of you. You must be terribly unpopular or simply...terrible at your job. I take it this bounty was placed by Cas Modahn?"

Arthaz slowly nodded his head, but made no other movement. All he needed was time to think of a way out of this.

"That disgusting frog like creature is a coward!" He shouted, "And of all the insults, he sends a two bit, no name bounty hunter to capture me?"

He erupted in laughter as did the Rodian and Duros. Arthaz had a big urge to fling a thermal detonator at the horned alien, but knew that would result in his death as well since he was locked in the house. Fortunatelly, he figured out another idea.

"Laugh all you want," He said, "But that bounty said "dead or alive" and right now, you're dying."

The Devaronian stopped laughing immediatly and eyed Arthaz in suspicioun.

"Really?" He asked, "How so?"

Arthaz motioned behind him, explaining what he meant by the comment.

"When you went to the cantina for a drink," He said, "I poisoned the drink and you didn't even know it. Right now, it's slowly making its way towards your organs, desperate to destroy them. Can you feel it? Burning within...?

Higurt Col, nervously looked at his own stomach in fear of what was inside. The Rodian and Duros looked back at him for a second, but that was more then enough time for Arthaz. He jumped forward, rolled and retrieved his weapon, as soon as he came up, he opened fire. The trio attempted to shoot him, but missed because he was ducking. Before they could aim lower, Arthaz had shot all three of them. He killed the Rodian and Duros, but he was careful to only shot the arm and leg of Higurt. The Devaronion was on the floor, clutching his wounds in pain. Arthaz slowly approached him, kicking the blaster the prey was wielding earlier to the side.

"By the way," He said, pointing the blaster to Higurts head, "I never even entered the cantina..."

The silence of the room was broken by the sound of one blaster shot...

Janna Core-Coruscant

The loud sounds of machines deafened the massive hangar bay, filled with starships. Droids rushed back and forth, running to repair and service the various vessels docked inside. The hangar bay was big, but not in comparison to many others on Coruscant. This bay was only able to fit about ten ships at one time, depending on the size of course. The business was called �Core�s Repair Haven�. It was owned by Janna Core and run by her as well, along with her business partner, Sayj. Sadly, since the business was so small time, not many came to repair their ships and the few that did were difficult and cheap. Pilots always yelled at the droids to hurry up so they could get back on schedule. One pilot was being especially difficult and screaming her head off at one of the droids. The small astromech droid, R2A-D5, rolled away in fear and rushed towards a woman bent over a massive engine. It beeped loudly, yelling for her attention.

�Not now Tooay!� She yelled, calling him by his nickname �I�m trying to fix this. I�m nearly done��

The small droid continued to beep until she paid attention. The woman sighed in exasperation and dropped the tool she was using to repair the ship�s engine. In an acrobatic way, she flipped off the ship and landed on the ground level. She looked down towards the small droid in slight annoyance.

�This better be good,� She said, �This ship needs to be repaired by tomorrow morning!�

The droid beeped loudly and altered its pitch tone as if it was literally talking. From a certain point of view, the droid was sentient and trying to speak to her. It rolled away, leading her towards the angry customer. Janna slowly followed, visibly fuming that there was another problem. She stopped suddenly when she noticed her friend and co-owner, Sayj, working on one of the ships. The alien was trying to repair one of the landing struts on a fighter.

�(No! No! No!)� She shouted to him in Huttese, �(You can�t use that tool to repair that type of damage!)�

The diminutive Dug looked back at her and cursed in the same language. She waved him off dismissively and rushed to catch up to the droid. Janna had not told her Dug friend about the latest nightmare and had no intention to do so. He worried about her enough. She looked back at the droid. He was �parked� in front of a Gotal female that had an angry look on her face. Janna approached her with an equally angry and annoyed look.

�(Is there a problem?)� She asked in Huttese.

Janna assumed the Gotal spoke in Huttese as some of them did. Many of her customers spoke the language and she spoke in it so often that when she spoke in Basic, a slight accent could be heard. The Gotal motioned towards the large ship behind her. It had been docked in the hangar bay for two days. Janna remembered when it first landed; she had yet to have a chance to look it over. Even though the captain of the vessel demanded it be serviced fast. All of the spoiled brat captains demanded some kind of time table in the repairs or upgrades.

�(Yes!) The Gotal shouted, �(My ship has not even been touched since I landed! Why not? I have a shipment to make in two days! How can I possibly make that now? I wanna speak to the owner!)�

Janna held her hands up to silence the woman and allow for a moment to speak.

�(I am the owner, Janna Core,)� She introduced, �(And you are?)�

The female alien looked surprised that Janna was the owner. She probably had expected some grease ball male to be running the shop. However, she quickly recovered from her surprise and responded in an irritated tone.

�(I am the captain of this vessel,)� She replied, �(Jeon Cait. I demand to know why this vessel has not been at the least fully fueled.)�

Janna motioned around the hangar bay with a quick wave of her hand.

�(You�re not the only pilot who dropped their ship off here,)� She replied in the alien tongue, �(I�m trying to get to every ship as fast as I can, but some of these vessels were here before yours, you know?)�

Captain Cait cursed loudly in Huttese before finally responding.

�(Forget it!)� She said, �(I�m taking my vessel to another shop! Give me my credits back!)�

Janna sighed and moved towards an area in the back where she could retrieve the monetary units. Losing this money was bad and Sayj would not doubt complain as only an angry Dug could. She scooped the small bag of money and brought it back to the captain only to have it snatched out of her hands. The Gotal gave one last curse and ran back into her ship, quickly powering it up. Like clockwork, the Dug jumped down from the ship he was working on and approached Janna, waving the engineering tool in his hand the entire time.

�(Not again,)� He said, �(Another customer left? Why? We needed that money Janna!)�

Not wanting to hear it again, Janna held her hand up to silence the Dug.

�(I don�t want to hear it Sayj,)� She said firmly, �(Do you hear me? Not. Now.)�

Dugs were interesting creatures in the sense that they walked on their arms and used their legs to manipulate objects. Despite the awkward appearance, they were pretty fast and acrobatic. He jumped in front of her, stopping her from walking away from him.

�(No!)� He yelled, �(I always drop it. I won�t do it anymore. This is important. We�re in the red, do you hear me!? Red! We have no money left. The same dead beats keep coming back and paying us next to nothing. We�re losing our business to other, bigger businesses nearby. Ever since the formation of the Galactic Empire, business just hasn�t been good. You wanted us to go legitimate to protect ourselves from the Empire. Fine, then we should go somewhere where their sphere of influence doesn�t reach! We�re good at illegally modifying ships. We-)�

Janna quickly interrupted the Dug before he could utter another word from his dog like mouth.

�(Quiet!)� She yelled, �(The Imperials could be listening to us!)�

Sayj shook his head sadly, perturbed by her warning.

�(Don�t you think this is a sad state of affairs when we actually have to limit our vocabulary in fear of the government?)�

She looked back at him, pointing the tool she had been carrying earlier before being interrupted by the droid.

�(I don�t want to hear talk like that,)� She admonished, �(The Imperials don�t like dissident talk and you know it. We�re staying legit and that�s that.)�

Sayj stepped aside as she brushed past him, heading towards the vessel she was working on.

�(What if we were really careful and secretive?)� He asked.

�(No.)� She replied forcefully.

He hesitated before revealing something that had occurred earlier in the day while she had been gone.

�(Cas Modahn tried contacting us earlier,)� He divulged, �(He wanted to know if we were interested in some�work.)�

Janna froze in her tracks and looked back at her old friend. Her eyes squinted as she began to interrogate him.

�(What did you tell him?)� She asked suspiciously.

Sayj sighed and climbed up a docked fighter.

�(I told him that I�d speak to you first before making any decisions,)� He replied, �(Do you know how much he would be willing to pay us?)�

Janna shook her head, not interested in the monetary figure that the Neimoidian crime lord threw at them.

�(It doesn�t matter,)� She said, �(We�re not doing anymore work for him. Not anymore, not if we want to survive. Is that understood?)�

Sayj reluctantly nodded and slowly moved off to continue his work from earlier. Janna felt slightly bad for him, not liking that her paranoia was keeping them in poverty, but it was better then rotting in an Imperial prison. She knew that the Emperor meant business and going against his rules was not intelligent. A quiet sigh escaped her pink lips as she stared down at the droid, R2A-D5. It beeped and then suddenly began to shake until finally it slumped over, disabled once more. The droid was an older model and it took everything Janna had to keep it running.

�The day keeps getting better and better.� She muttered in Basic.

She dropped to one knee and began to work on repairing the damaged astromech droid...