Star Wars: 30 Years Later The Real Story - Chapter 51

Vergesso Asteroid Field – Unknown Asteroid – Bohiak City

All and every person who laid eyes on the Dark City of Bohiak had the same reaction that Finn and Rey had in the moment. They would be paralized and in utter shock to discover that inside the deadly and silent asteroid field they had been fighting to survive some moments ago, there would be such crazy mix of lights, sounds and people.

– “Was this always here?”- asked Finn who could not understand how something like this could be in front of his eyes.

Leia did not say anything and just as Mara, they just let the kids soak in the feeling that you could only experience the first time you arrive here. She knew perfectly how this city had come to be though. Prior to the Battle of Yavin the Vergesso Asteroid Field was home to a secret Imperial cargo depot which had been used to store many materials used for the First Death Star. However, after the destruction of it and victory in Yavin, the location of the secret depot was discovered and the Corellian scientist Ecile Vergesso was in charge of its management under the Rebel Alliance. Soon, the moon-sized asteroid pockmarked with craters was refitted to serve the Rebel Alliance as an Ororo Transportation shipyard where cruisers and fighters were repaired and maintained under the nose of the local Grand Moff, Kintaro who was absolutely oblivious of its existance.

– “I’m sure he wasn’t very happy to receive the visit of my father”- thought Leia imagining the scene of Darth Vader questioning Kintaro about the rebel base.

Some time before the Battle of Endor the Galactic Empire learned of the Rebel operations in the asteroids. Darth Vader’s Death Squadron destroyed the shipyard in the Battle of the Bajic Shipyards and left it in ruins expecting it to just be buried and forgotten. However, The Tenloss Syndicate saw the potential of the nickel-iron asteroid and made a deal with the Rebel Alliance to get the rights of the asteroid field in exchange for supplies and weaponry. The leaders of the rebellion, including her, did not give any attention to this and accepted. Leia had to admit she did not have the slightest idea of what plans the syndicate really had.

– “They played us like a fiddle”- thought Leia looking at the monstrousity she was seeing outside the Falcon.

After the liberation of the asteroid the syndicate started to influx a lot of capital into the asteroid field and especially in this specific one which now had the name of the Dark City of Bohiak since it was always night in here. The syndicate installed multiple sensors and defensive hardware which made it very difficulty trying to penetrate the asteroid field without permission. Only with its masters permission, the field was less violent and easier to navigate. Tenloss also made negotiations with many private corporations and criminal organizations which started to invest in the city heavily as if they had found a kind of hideout where they could do anything without repercusions of any kind. The New Republic had no way to control Bohiak and so they preferred to look aside and use it from time to time.

– “God knows how many higher ups of the New Republic they had in their pockets”- thought Leia knowing that if she wanted, she could find many dark and dirty secrets from practically anyone in the senate and even in her own office.

She knew that Bohiak was a den of monsters and it would be very unwise to stir trouble. As the city grew, demand for services and commodities started to appear and so bussiness started to flourish making it a megapolis which had neon and cashflow in its veins. Soon, it became overrun by corporations, corruption, organized crime and gang violence which operated as a fully independent city-state with the Tenloss Syndicate having complete control over it. Due to these conditions, it was a paradise for people with resources which wanted to stay out of the New Republic’s radar and satisfy any dark and sick fantasies they could have. As long as you had the credits, nothing was out of limits including things that would make many throw up in horror.

– “We have arrived to your destination”- said the AI which was driving the transporter they were using- “please don’t forget to recommend us to your contacts. Have a pleasant day!”

– “I’m sure that bot would have getting along well with 3PO”- mentioned Mara getting out of the transporter and making sure they were safe- “we still have some time before the meeting with the ‘Daedalus,’ should we advance our plans?”

– “No”- replied Leia advancing to some stairs which took them down until the door of a night club- “it’s better to go early to make a good impression… you don’t want a Daedalus to have too much time to think.”

As many went to find the pŀėȧsurės and dreams of their lives, the demand just created more and more offer until nothing was impossible to find and yet it was also so much offer that one could get lost not knowing which one to take. There was also the risk of falling prey to false advertisement and even more dangerous places. It was not only a question of going with your credits asking for anything, that would only make you a target and in some cases, you could end up as the things you were looking, being a victim instead of a customer. If you were not careful or had bad luck, you could end up, in the best of the cases, with a blaster on your back in any alley or in the room of a cheap hotels without organs after following a lady the previous night. There were just too many dangers and only those with good connections were able to navigate safely in Bohiak.

– “VIP only”- said a humongous bouncer who had all his limbs practically made of cybernetics, and he did not covered them with synthflesh which made his appearance even more dangerous.

– “We have an appointment with Shadow Fingers”- said Mara who prefered Leia to stay quiet since her identity would attract undesirable attention- “and don’t even try to scan us or I’ll discover if your cybernetics can still function without your head…”

The straightforward words of Mara had an effect in the bouncer whose eyes shone like little leds and seemed to be talking with someone. After a few seconds, they were given access and they went to find their Daedalus. Finn remembered the explanation Leia and Mara gave them about these people.

– “Since Bohiak is a laberynth, we need a guide to make it safe”- said Mara while enjoying the padawans reactions to the dark city and wondering where that name had come from, she only knew it was based on an ancient story of a civilization lost long time ago- “Daedalus is the name of the people who you need to call if you want a work done or a service provided in a safe way. They are kind of intermediaries between a client and the correct people depending of what you want, for a commision of course…”

– “Couldn’t they set a trap easily for their clients if they wanted?”- asked Rey who did not understand how they could be trusted.

– “They could and have done it…”- explained Leia smiling at the curious girl- “but if word is leaked and spread, their reputation wouild be ruined and nobody would do bussiness with them again.”

– “Reputation is everything for a Daedalus”- said Mara grinning maliciously- “If they want to cheat a client, they must do so in a precise and calculated manner and honestly, it would be just too much work unless there is something huge to gain…”

Mara and Leia could notice their worry looking at Leia who could be considered a huge prey for anyone in Bohiak.

– “Don’t worry”- ȧssured Mara using a confident voice- “it is not our first dance in the Dark City.”

– “Shadow Fingers is waiting for you on the VIP section room 205 in the second floor”- said the bouncer and opened the door.

They entered through the metallic door and they were immediately drowned in a chaotic mix of sounds, lights and people of different species from every part of the galaxy. All of them dancing at what sounded like punk music with tones of metal sounds which was strange but also kind of interesting. Finn and Rey would have been completely lost had they not being reminded by Leia and Mara to follow them closely. They went upstairs using a spiral staircase and were guided through the second floor until they found the designated room. Immediately the two bodyguards looked at them with their typical blinking led-like eyes and Finn supposed they were being analyzed. He immediately placed his hand on the cold but trusted grip of his blaster pistol which was once belonged to Han Solo and had saved him many times during these three years.

– “You three wait here”- said Mara to the three young padawans with a firm expression that clearly meant for them to not create unnecesary trouble. Finn and Rey looked at each other and nodded while standing near the hand rail which was in front of the room. As for Celina, she just stood up next to the bouncer which seemed the strongest and looked at Finn and Rey as if saying she had it cover if things went south.

Meanwhile, Leia and Mara found Shadow Fingers drinking with and passing his time with two female members from different species who looked at him with desiring and adoring eyes. They were clearly infatuated with the man who seemed at first sight like any normal human but then, looking at him better, one would notice how beautiful the Daedalus was. He had extremely white and fair skin and his face was almost perfect in every angle as if he had been sculpted by the best artist in the galaxy. His hair was long and black with flashes of bluish reflexion every time it moved. It was long enough to cover even his shoulder and anyone would have been lost in the wavy curves it presented if they looked too much of it. He dressed in black and with an attire which would be considered old fashioned by any standards, but being so beautiful, Mara knew that he could wear anything and it would look good.

– “Anyone would consider this person feeble and weak and easy to take care”- thought Mara remembering the first time he had met the Daedalus before him.

However, Mara knew better than this and she immediately felt a tremendous sense of danger from the person in front of him. He did not have any bodyguard present inside the room and his mannerism showed a perfect clear of mind and absolutely sense of confidence in himself, as if there was nothing that could threaten him. He then looked at Mara with a pair of shining and deep eyes which were as red as rubies and which seemed to see everything from the person who they laid their look into, this caused Mara to feel a terrible chill running down her spine. It was as if Shadow Fingers was looking at a piece of delicious meat and she hated that look of his. He then smiled showing a devilish grin which did not ease the unconfortable feeling at all.

– “Mara… my lovely child”- said Shadow Fingers whose voice was deep but soft and as anything in this person, it had a tone of seduction and charm which could capture the heart of any person who listened to it- “I doubted I would see you again after the misunderstanding we had the last time we met…

– “I wouldn’t call trying to feed on my apprentice a misunderstanding, Snot vampire”- said Mara with a very rude tone but this only made the Daedalus smiled even more widely.

Shadow Fingers was an Anzati, which was a very dangerous species who fed the vital energy of other species and were constantly looking for individuals who had a strong essence or “soup” as they called it. It was widely known that they would feed from any species but they preferred prey who had strong life essence and Force users were one of their favorite dishes. The method was grotesque since they used a pair of prehensile proboscises similar in appearance to tentacles which they kept coiled and hidden in their twin cheek pockets until they uncoiled it and inserted them into the subject’s nostrils and into the cranium, where the brain was suċkėd out of the organism.

– “I told you that it was a mistake…”- said Shadow Fingers after sipping some wine- “your apprentice came by her own volition and well, it had been a long time since I had a guest with such appetizing life essence…”

The last encounter had not been pleasant and Mara had preferred never have to cross paths with him again. As a member of the Anzati race, everything from his person exuded seduction and a natural ability akin to Force manipulation or “hipnosis,” there were very few individuals who could resist his advances. Mara had had to force his entrance to save one of her apprentices who had been been foolish enough to trust the predator who only saw the rest of individuals around him as food.

– “I’m not here to debate you low morals…”- said Mara with disgust throwing a credit chip on the table while received hateful looks from the female companions of the Anzat- “I just need the information on the contact I came to look for.”

Shadow Fingers stopped looking to Mara and changed his attention to Leia who had a robe on her, but the strong connection with the Force natural in the Skywalker line had totally captured the Anzat who looked at Leia with a salivating expression.

– “Who is this delightful guest here?”- asked Shadow Fingers and for a moment he seemed to have lost his composure- “another apprentice? I must say I have not felt such exquisite essence in a long time…”

He stood up and his eyes showed a maniatical dėsɨrė which compulsed him to advance to Leia, However, he immediately felt his body being pushed down by a terrible force which made him feel unable to move. The companions felt terrified and tried to scream but Mara made them faint before they could utter a word.

– “Hahahahaha… I must say… this is only making me more and more interested!”- said Shadow Fingers who started to pushed back the powerful grip Mara and Leia had on him- “If you give me just a sip of your life essence, I will give you even more information than we had agreed on…”

– “Not interested!”- said Leia and she started to apply more power to her push- “You know? you are not the first Anzat who I met… yours is a very fascinating species. You seemed to be extremely confident since you don’t care for anything and your so-called immortal life provides you with the time to achieve everything you want… however…”

The face of Shadow Fingers changed feeling a cold shudder which shouted warnings to his instincts refined by centuries of life. This person was extremely dangerous and she should not be messed with. Even thought they were the most delicious preys, the level of danger was also extremely high and rarely worth the risk.

– “There is only one thing you fear”- continued Leia and her hands started to move and Shadow Fingers felt his cheek bags open without his permission- “what if you can never feed again?”

Shadow Fingers looked at Leia with terrified eyes now feeling his prehensive proboscisces totally uncoiled and then he felt as if someone was pulling them with a powerful grip. Soon, the fear in him grew when he felt his precious feeding tools being about to be ripped off.

– “WAIT! WAIT! DON’T DO IT!”- screamed Shadow Fingers and almost immediately Mara and Leia heard fighting sound outside the room.

– “I always wondered if they regrow…”- said Leia with a collected and cold tone which only made the Daedalus even more terrified- “and even if they do… I wonder how many years would it take.”

The door was opened and Finn, Rey and Celina entered with their preferred weapons which were a blaster pistol, a baton and a lightsaber. Finn and Rey placed themselves at the door after moving the bodyguards inside and stayed at the door stopping anyone from entered.

– “Alright you win!”- said Shadow Fingers who seemed more amused than scared now- “you have made you point clear. I hope you understand, though.”

– “Of course”- said Leia lifting the pressure on the feeding organs of the Anzat- “Now if you were so kind to give us what we came from, we’ll be in our way with no offense taken.”

The Anzat looked Leia even more intensely as if the strength of this robed woman caused him the utmost fascination. He passed a chip which contained the information they needed slowly under the watching gaze of Mara and Celina who also seemed to bear a grudge against the Anzat who had recover his composure and had a sincere smile in his face. Leia inserted the chip card on her personal terminal and checked the information.

– “As you can see, the information is precise and includes multiple access points and things to take in consideration”- he said in a proud tone while grabbing his cup of wine and drank without any care in the world. As the Daedalus had mentioned, the information was top notch and was worth every credit spent on it.

– “You reputation is well deserved, Shadow Fingers”- said Leia putting away her terminal with a refined movement which seemed to amuse Shadow Fingers.

– “I only provide the best… at everything”- replied the Anzat with a flirting expression- “since you ended up being a fascinating client and as an apology for the misunderstanding we had a few moments ago, I will warn you… this is definitely a trap so I can recommend the services a PSC which will ȧssure your safety.”

The group seemed confused at the radical change in attitude of the Daedalus who seemed now to be eager to win Leia’s favor.

– “It would a shame that such luxurious guest… ended up dead”- Shadow Fingers said having again a mad dėsɨrė in his eyes. Mara and Leia understood then the reason for such generosity. It was obvious that the Anzat had marked Leia as his prey and he would not let anyone else have her.

– “You have my thanks, Sir”- replied Leia using her most professional tone- “but as you have seen I already have enough security… However, I must say that I am really impressed for the quality of your product and be sure that I will ask for your services again.”

– “You’ll always be welcome… but there is still time”- said the Daedalus with a glint of hope in his sight- “please join me for some drinks.”

– “I’d be honored, but I’m afraid I still have preparations to do…”- said Leia and then she make a small curtsey before abandoning the room.

– “Were you serious about contacting him again?”- asked Mara with a look filled with unbelief.

– “Do you think he’s the first individual feeling a great attraction for me?”- said Leia with a collected attitude- “those one are very easy to manipulate, believe me… I know…”

They boarded the VIP transporter and moved to their next destination. Rey looked at Leia with fascination. She knew very well that Leia had been trained by Luke in the ways of the Force and even though she could not compare to her brother in the combat aspect, it did not mean she was weak. Luke explained that she would be considered a Jedi Consular in the Era before the Empire whose main use of the Force was to sharpen her mental skills and sought to perfect the art of diplomacy and mediation hoping to calm a tense situation or mend hurt feelings through civil discourse, reasoning, and parley, rather than drawing their lightsabers and cutting down an attacker. Rey wondered if one day, she could be as strong and capable as the two women in front of her and once again her worried appeared remembering the dark presence inside her “sea of the Force” as she liked to call it when she immersed in meditation.

– “Are you Ok?”- asked Mara who had turned to look at her as soon as she had these thoughts.

– “Yes!”- said Rey who felt that Phoenix was analyzing her and had somehow read her thoughts.

– “We’re about to arrive to our destination in some minutes… Focus on the present”- said Mara with a firm tone to all the padawans but for some reason her gaze rested on Rey- “leave your worries for later and don’t let any doubt cloud your judgement. Trust in your training and let the will of the Force guide you. Is that clear?”

– “Understood!”- said the three padawans and for some reason, Rey felt much better. She controled her emotions and prepared her mind for combat. He also saw Finn doing the same and Celine just closed her eyes in meditation.

After 20 minutes flying through the city, the transporter took them to the meeting area and Rey was a little surprised due the change in environment. They had gone from a vibrant city of lights and neon to a silent and desertic industrial area full of factories and hangars that were not in operation and only could hear a spectral silence.

– “Point reached”- said the mechanical voice of the transporter- “we hoped you had the best experience. Please rate us and use our services again”

The group got down and Mara started to look in her terminal to locate the exact place they had to reach.

– “Hangar 0-00878-2212”- she said and started to look for it and found the hangar after some 10 minutes and Rey could not get rid of the feeling of danger she was having. She looked at Finn who nodded.

– “I feel it too”- said the boy using his trained eyes and senses to find any possible threats before they could act.

– “Sometimes you need to spring the trap to get results”- said Leia who seemed having a lot of thoughts in her head at the moment- “Prepare to act as we planned before.”

Rey, Finn and Celine nodded and grabbed their weapons under their robes and followed the two more experienced women inside the hangar where they immediately saw only a light in the middle of the darkness which was showing the figure of Mon Mothma who was tied and had clearly been beaten. Leia did not go immediately, though and she just showed a look of sympathy for her friend.

– “I’m sorry Leia”- Mon Mothma said with a clear look of shame on her face- “I should have known better”

– “It’s ok, Mon”- said Leia sighing and smiling to her friend- “it’s me who should apologize”

They gave each other a look of understanding and then Leia started to look around until her eyes stopped at a placed which was surrounded by full darkness.

– “Please show yourself”- she said with a smile which tried to reflect calm and confidence- “I think it’s bad manners to see a lady from a hidden place. I wish to see the face of my friend’s captor.”

Immediately, the lights of the hangar turned on and they all could see they were surrounded by at least 30 stormtroopers who were placed on the second floor of the hangar pointing at Leia and her party. Finn, Rey and Celine stepped forward put themselves like shielding Leia while activating their lightsabers.

– “Its an honor supreme chancillor”- said a man who seemed to be in his 60’s and who was dressed in full attire of an Imperial Officer. He had a very strong and commanding voice as if he were accostumed to lead and be obeyed without fail.

– “Commander Lensen”- said Leia smiling as if she were seeing an old friend- “I did not imagine it was you who would orchestarte all this plan.”

– “I must admit I’m also surprised you would bite this obvious trap”- said Lensen with the attitude of someone who had already won- “and since you are offering yourself, I can only thank you and take you to see the Supreme leader. I can’t believe your plan worked, Captain… I apologize for my lack of trust.”

From behind a container, a figure donned in full silver armor appeared with a baton in her hands. Rey could feel Finn started to tremble in anger and she understood perfectly why, since the person in front of them could be considered his most hateful enemy.

– “Phasma!”

– “We see again, FN-2187”- said Phasma using her helmet’s robotic and cold voice- “or should I call you traitor?”

Rey saw how Finn started to move in anger and she was too slow to restrain him as she saw her friend dashed against their enemy.