Typically, I call upon The Maker when I need something new for my journeys. Like the satchel he just completed for me. I was picking it up when he gave me the opportunity to return to Batuu. It had been announced that the Halcyon was being decommissioned and people we flocking to be one of the last voyages on that galactic starcruiser. I too considered making that journey, but as soon as it was announced, the cabins on those last voyages filled up. I resolved that I simply would not be able to enjoy such a venture.
But there were those who were lucky enough to secure voyage on the Lady H. And some of those were clients of The Maker at Amrod’s Armory. He asked me to go and meet those that would be there on a specific date, and hand deliver a datapad that he had made for one of them.
I landed my ship outside of the rebel outpost on Batuu. It as all so familiar. The Resistance was actively recruiting from the travellers visiting the system. Tourists posed for holograms next to A-wing and X-wing fighters. There was even a special message awaiting me as I left my ship.
I continued on to The Black Spire Outpost and into the droid shop. Here I could exchange my credits into the local currency, spira. I also took the opportunity to pick up some dining utensils.
I walked a circuit of the outpost. Past the hydro station, cantina, and back into the square with the spaceport. Here sat the large correlian freighter. Unlike the last time, there were not a log of jobs available to me. Most were for the First Order, or some scandalous third party.
I received a transmission. Two of the contacts that The Maker had sent me to see where arriving shortly. I took the time to scan for frequencies not yet decoded and gather some data that I had not yet received. I spotted the local Bounty Hunters Guild. They were working in plain sight in the outpost. A public board where you could pick up assignments and a nearby door where you could collect your bounties.
I spoke with some of the locals to see what was new in the system. The Halcyon was in orbit, and shuttles were moving to and from the surface. The port was located near the First Order’s area, where their supreme leader Kylo Ren kept his own ship. Near there, I found a stand selling some blue colored “milk”, a local delicacy. It was cold, slightly creamy, with a slight sweetness and a flavor that was almost florally.
I sipped it as I made another round of the outpost, settling in the shade near the correlian freighter. A local approached me and introduced himself as “Pedro”. He asked me questions about my journey and time on Batuu. As we talked, two men came up and said “The Maker sent me”. It was my contacts. The four of us talked.
The Maker had prepared a special mission for these two.
“Do you know the story of the destruction of the Death Star?” I began.
“I don’t!” Pedro said excitedly, the “Boomer” brothers knodded their head. They knew. I call them the Boomer Brothers, for one claimed to be conceived the very night of the Death Star’s destruction. He even bore the word “boomer” tattooed in Aurebesh on his arm.
I began to tell the story, and Pedro settled down on the ground, legs crossed. Like a youngling before their master. His innocence made me smile.
“It was Luke Skywalker in his X-Wing and Han Solo and Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon, who were recognized for blowing up the Death Star…”
“Wait!” Pedro interrupted, “Han Solo and Chewbacca in THAT THING?!?!?!” The correlian freighter we stood in front of was, in fact, the Millennium Falcon.
“Well” I continued “Han and Chewbacca were there in support of the attack, but it was Luke who destroyed it.” The brothers voiced their affirmation in the telling as I pulled out an object from my satchel; a gift from The Maker. “While Luke, Han, and Chewbacca stood before Princess Leia. Only Luke and Han received medals for their efforts. Chewbacca was overlooked for the honor.” I remembered my interaction with the wookie not too long before. And how I was able to honor him with the gift of a small coin.
“I understand that Chewbacca is aboard the Halcyon. You will have access to him. You can make sure he is properly honored.” I handed them the object that The Maker had given me, a replica of the Medal of Yavin. The award that Luke and Han had received long ago. The brothers were honored by the request. With their backs straight, and chests filled with pride, they said “We will.”
I took my leave, and we parted as friends. I wanted to see what the local BHG had to offer, while I waited for the owner of the datapad to reach Batuu.
I stood befoer the board. My tracking fob was malfunctioning. I didn’t know if it was the fob, or the MB+ internals causing it no work, when I heard a voice from above call out “What are you doing?”
I looked up to see Vi (whom I had met the last time I was on Batuu) on an elevated walkaway.
“Bright suns, Vi!” I smiled. “I am having troubles with my tracking fob.” I held it up for her to see.
She muttered something about “technology”.
I laughed “It is great when it works! Am I right?”
We chatted a bit and then I excused myself, there was work to be done. I reset the MB+ after ensuring that it was charged, and reinserted it into the fob, positioning it carefully within the case, and slid the cover into position. Tapping it against the sensor on the board, I waited for a response. I had my first target!
The tracking fob made finding my first bounty east. It was a search and confirm, with no retrieval. By monitoring the lights on the fob, I was able to determine a driection and then narrow down the precise location of my bounty as the green lights blinked faster and faster until they switched to purple. Back at the BHG, I received a few hundred credits for the work. And so it went for the next while. Simply tracking down and locating my quarry. It passed the time and afforded me another drink.
Green milk this time. It offered a similar consistency but its own unique flavor. Ask me to tell you what green milk tastes like, and I will tell you “Green milk.” It helped me to keep cool under the hot suns. I had filled my hydro flask and emptied my bladder a few times as well. I made circuit after circuit of the outpost.
On one such occasion I passed by Vi, Rey, and Chewbacca walking in the opposite direction. “Bright suns!” I called out smiling and waving an arm in a passing greeting. I kept walking and turned my attention back to the fob held out in front of me.
Soon thereafter, I heard footsteps clambering after me. I turned to look into the face of the great wookie! He let out an accusatory roar. I would have understood even if I did not speak Shriiwook.
I was surprised and taken aback. “Chewbacca!” I exclaimed, though I was happy to see him again. “That’s my tracking fob. I am hunting bounties!”
Rey and Vi had caught up.
“Rey,” I said turning towards the Jedi, “I am so glad to see you.” In the moment, I had remembered another article that I carried. I began to dig through my satchel until I pulled out a leather roll. “I came across this in my travels, and I think you might be the only one on Batuu that could validate their authenticity.” I unrolled the leather revealing pages of parchment. On each page bore words and symbols of the Jedi.
“I thought that Master Skywalker had destroyed the texts!” Rey exclaimed as she examined each page. “But it would seem that these remain!”
“So they are real.” I was both relieved and worried. “What shall I do with them? Where should they go?”
“Keep them away from Kylo Ren. Keep them safe.”
“May the Force be with you” she said in parting. Vi and Chewbacca went with her.
I was eager to return to the hunt. Perhaps the future of the scrolls would come to light. Perhaps not.
I wandered close to the rebel camp. They were enlisting recruits from the travelers. The Force directed and I followed. I made my way into the line. There were about a score of us heading along to registration when we were directed into a room. A BB unit was running scans and diagnostics when a transmission came in.
It was Rey. In her message, Batuu was to be evacuated and we were to board transports to another base.
“So much for the datapad” I thought as we were ushered onto an awaiting craft. It was lightly armored and displayed only light weapons. I hoped that it was at least fast. Fast light the black X-Wing next to it. There were no seats, and we were briefed by the captain, one of the Mon Calamari.
Standing, we were airborne and out of the planets atmosphere, preparing to make the jump. to hyperspace. We would never make that jump.
First Order star destroyers had arrived, and their compliment of tie fighters were eliminating our escort. Only the last one, the black X-Wing I had spotted on the ground escaped. Its pilot, Poe Dameron, promising to bring back help.
Locked in the destroyers tractor beams, we were pulled into a hanger bay. The door to the transport was pulled open and we were ordered out. Our company, unarmed, unaware, and unknown.
In an instant, I was on the deck, my saber in hand, ready to take on the battalion of troopers in front of me. I didn’t know how many it would take to bring me down, but I knew how many they had. Fifty troopers if there was one. I thought of the people on the shuttle. I thought of the datapad in my satchel. Patience. The Force called out to me. Compassion.
I would do the recruits no good if I were dead.
In the same blink of an eye that I sprang forward, I withdrew. “Part of the crew, part of the ship.”
One officer had a puzzled look on his face as he regarded me. I wave a hand in front of his facing saying “There is nothing to see here”. With a look of astonishment, his gaze reset.
We were ushered down a corridor where more troopers watched pour every step. It appeared that our shuttle was not the only one captured. There were others fleeing Batuu that were aboard. We were all lead systematically to the detention block, processed and placed into detection cells. 16 to a room.
From the observation platform, we were interrogated and probed by no other than Kylo Ren himself. I called upon the Force to cloud his ability. He gained nothing from us, nor did he suspect anything out of the ordinary. He was interrupted by General Hux, a red haired bully whose ambition outweighed his ability. There was another matter that required their attention on the bridge.
There was no a lot of room in the cell for the sixteen of us. No cots. No chairs. If we wanted to sit, it’d be on the floor. I was at peace, knowing that this was the will of the Force. In that peace, so was there hope.
No one spoke. There was nothing to say. We were strangers bound together by fate. In the silence, I began to make out some noises. There were some bumps, clumps, and even some clanging coming from the wall to my right. Some indistinct chatter as well. A small orange glow eminated from the wall. It grew and expanded, forming a line and eventually the outline to a door. Someone was cutting an opening into our cell! In a moment the wall fell away and a man rushed into the opening. “I’m with the Resistance, I’m here to bust you out!”
We cheered and were ushered out to awaiting transports. Four to a row with two rows per vehicle. Each transport had a droid as pilot. “These R5 units are programmed to get you to the dropships and back to Batuu!”
We sped away and headed down the corridors. On approaching a turbolift, we encountered a probe droid. Calling upon the Force, I was able to distract its attention before it could detect us. R5 turned us down another corridor, where two troopers were waiting.
“Hey! You’re not authorized…” I didn’t make out the rest of what the trooper said. R5 backed us out of their view and blaster fire. The Force moved strongly around us, not a single passenger was hit.
Into a large room we maneuvered amongst the legs of a pair of Imperial Walkers. A fire fight was under way. I spotted a helmetless trooper firing at those WITH helmets. It made no sense to me.
One of the recruits called out “Finn!” and I figured this must be a Resistance spy.
Into a turbolift, we rose to be face to face with the pilot and gunner of one of the walkers. They took notice of us and began to swing its cannons towards us. As R5 took us hastily from the lift, The Force kept the powerful blast from hitting us. R5 took us stealthily into yet another room. We were on the flight deck now and overhearing a conversation between Ren and Hucks.
“Raise the shields!” Kylo Ren commanded.
“Shields? I see no evidence…” Hucks stammered.
In an instant, the viewport was filled with ships exiting hyperspace. From tiny X-Wings to large frigates and cruisers. Poe had fulfilled his promise!
“Sound the alarm! All personnel to their stations!” Hucks cried.
I smiled, hope filled our transport. We were not alone.
Kylo Ren felt it and turned towards us. “The prisoners! Have escaped!”
“R5! Get us out of here!” I shouted.
The transport sped backwards nearly colliding with our cellmate’s vehicle. We hurtled forward through a hall with the ship’s guns firing at the newly arrived fleet. Timing our movements well, to avoid collision with the massive guns as they fired and reset. Around another turn and down that hall, we were face to face with the supreme leader, Kylo Ren.
“There is no escape!” he exclaimed.
Raising and twisting his hands, he latched onto the transports. Flexing his power to intimidate us. With a flick of my wrist, I broke his connection, just as a blast from the fight outside struck the hull behind him. The breach caused the room to depressurize. As R5 took us to safety, Kylo was sucked backwards and covered in debris. R5 navigated us onto a dropship. With a reassuring click, the transport was secured in the mounts.
We could rest easy. For the moment we were safe.
I will admit the initial drop as we fell away from the destroyer was a surprise and jolted me back to the here and now. We were in the midst of a space battle and had to weave and dodge to avoid ships and fire. We kept descending towards the planet surface. Our landing was bumpy, but we were all uninjured and not too far from the location that we had taken off from.
It was an exciting diversion. Once back on the planet, I had but one task left. I had received a transmission from B’linda. They were experiencing multiple delays on reaching Batuu. I felt a twinge of annoyance and reached out to the Force for patience. Compassion too. Did I not just experience my own challenges outside of my control? And forgiveness. I am too quick to judge and to find offense. Ahhhh, we all fall short of who we can be. Once again, I found myself rooted in the peace of the Force. I have myself the grace of forgiveness and my thoughts turned to find a solution to the challenge at hand.
How could I get this datapad to B’linda?
Suddenly, I was no longer where I was.
I found myself amidst the hustle and bustle outside a large theatre. Families walked by in hurried excitement, some of them singing “Nothing can stop us now” in cheerful voices. I grabbed my comm unit and connected with B’linda. I gave them the description of the place where I stood. In a few minutes, she arrived. We shared in the excitement of meeting each other, and in seeing what The Maker had made. I delighted in the expression on her face as she opened the package. How wonderful it felt to be a part of The Maker’s work. To see the joy in B’linda’s face and knowing the joy in The Maker’s heart as he works.
How lucky was I? How fortunate!
There, in the beginning of the twilight, when the sun begins that last stretch towards the horizon, we stood and got to know one another. B’linda was a medic and still employed as such. But more recently they had found joy in droid repair and mechanics. She had two with her, accompanying her on her trip. They were bright and colorful displays of her work. Before long it was time for them to go. Their last leg of travel before finally reaching Batuu. I saw them on their way.
Datapad delivered, my work was done, and I was no longer where I was.
Two days later, I received a transmission from the Boomer Brothers. They were back at the outpost, they had found Pedro and posed for a hologram. Seeing them together brought a smile to my face.
“For the Maker!” they shouted, each shot a fist into the air triumphantly.
I laughed. “Til the Spires, my friends.”
From The Maker: Most of this story is actually true and happened on September 23rd, 2023.
