Part 1- Prelude to Defiance: Chapter 3 - Blue Deck

As Hopla meditates, he considers what he's learned. He suspects that either the Alderaan security force has discovered an empire mole, captured and/or imprisoned them on Felucia; or else the Alderaans have their own mole inside the empire (possibly on Felucia), who has been discovered/captured/imprisoned, possibly on Felucia. ooc

Hopla considers what he knows about Felucia, a tropical planet in the outer rim.

Over the course of the flight, Khen checks out the ship and the gear he grabbed on his way out of the bay. He then takes a nap in one of the state rooms. IG-198 has his repairs completed over the course of the first 6 hours and then takes the remaining time to recharge his batteries, as does R5. In the time before landing Crash rolls about the ship complaining about the maintenance that having this many people on the ship will incur. Hopla uses healing trances to recover from the battle, and is practically tip top when the ship drops out of hyperspace.

Mist and Captain Sironna O'Keefe have a fun time playing a very relaxed and non-competitive holo-chess and talking about life as a spacer, which Mist only has a small experience as one, but they have some shared experiences. Both women avoid conversation about their pasts, and keep the air light and congenial. Sironna pulls out some Bothan wine for them at one point and offers food to everyone at a break in their games.

As the ship alarm alerts the passengers that they are nearing exit from hyperspace, Sironna and Crash leave for the cockpit. The ship breaks hyperspace and approaches Alderaan. The ship sets down very briefly in the main spaceport to drop off the cargo of Jibba's and let Hopla deliver the crate of whiskey for R5.

The Banshee takes off again, and overflies the capitol of Alderaan in all its majesty. Flying over beautiful countryside and past huge gliding Thantra's it comes to a vast and beautiful country estate. This estate has its own landing pad and the Banshee sets down.

Captain O'Keefe comes back and announces, "Ok, we are here. Head on out and the staff will take care of you." Maya comes down the ramp and tells everyone, "Get cleaned up and ready for dinner, I've definitely got another job you might be interested in." When you disembark, there are several staff members waiting. A female leads Mist to a room to clean up and a male takes Khen and Hopla to their rooms. IG-198 is taken to the hangar where a mechanic offers any number of maintenance options, such as an oil bath.

As Hopla meditates, he studies recent events. This unlikely group of spacers is about to become an agency of Alderaan's security apparatus--which seems to be against the Empire. Fine with Hopla. Since he was taken from the cloning vats, all he's known is war against the separatists, and training as a Jedi. He flushes yet again with shame and guilt at the thought that the Jedi seem to have been duped. The Republic they fought for all too quickly became an empire. Though the Jedi won the war, they lost something far more important.

He chides himself--shame and guilt are not the Jedi way, which he seems to be having trouble following. He feels a spike of dread. Without his master Viin, he can feel himself slipping, though only slowly, toward the darkside. In their last battle he used the force to instill terror in his enemy. That, and the battle itself, were like a drug to him, filling him with euphoria. Like tasting some forbidden fruit.

Do my enemies deserve no mercy? They themselves are killers. So I kill them, but only to preserve something better. The peaceful cannot exist without defenders--defenders who must use violence. Violence for the sake of peace. The contradiction has always troubled Hopla. If I use violence against the violent, do I not become what I behold?

This story continues here:
http://www.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?t=91595

It will be up and ready shortly