[Solved] (Episode III, Part 1) Long Way Down

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More and more Stygian operatives seemed to be disappearing every day. The intelligence service had been working overtime to find the common thread between these coordinated attacks. Our first major breakthrough came when a pilot claiming to be from the Unistar Starfighter Corps communicated that he had valuable intel to provide in exchange for accepting his defection to an Imperial controlled world. The Imperial administrator that he had approached stated in her report that he seemed “agitated and paranoid.”

I set the meeting on Taris to coordinate with his next refuelling stop. Taris was often referred to as the Coruscant of the Outer Rim and the yellow smog that hung in the lower atmosphere certainly lent credence to that assessment. Upon landing in the Middle City, I navigated to the designated turbolift and descended deep into the vast mechanical wilderness of the Undercity. 

The doors to the service shaft whooshed open and then jammed halfway. I manoeuvred inside and was greeted to a blaster pointed at my head. I trained my own blaster on the Rodian and attempted to de-escalate the situation.

“Woah woah woah. Lower the weapon son. I’m only here cause you requested it.”

“Not until I know who I’m dealing with” he said. “Name and affiliation. NOW!”

“My name is Jacen Carn and I’m with the Stygian Caldera Society” I said not lowering my blaster an inch. “I understand you have some information for me.”

“Yeah” he replied, letting his blaster drop to his side and breathing hard. “Sorry, had to be sure I wasn’t followed.”

“It’s alright” I assured him, letting my own blaster drop. “How long have you been a pilot for the Unistar Conglomerate, Twitch?

“Se-seven months” he answered. “But listen. I don’t feel comfortable giving you anything else until I have some assurances.”

“What kind of assurances?”

“Well first of all I’m gonna need a new identity. Next, a place to live. Somewhere safe. Somewhere Unistar can’t get to me. Also, some spending money…and a ship. I am a pilot after all…can’t do without a ship…”

“Hold your fathiers” I said firmly. “Before we can commit to any of that we’re gonna need something useful. If you can’t provide some actual intel on Unistar then I’m afraid we can’t help you.”

He scrunched up his snout and hissed. “Fine. On Level 419 you’ll find a datacard containing my bona-fides and my full knowledge of the Unistar Starfighter capabilities. It’s behind the holoprojector.”

“Well okay then Twitch, I’ll bring this to the higher ups and we’ll see what we can do for you. The next time you’re on Taris, head to the noodle stand across from the Imperial Embassy and if you want to move ahead with defecting, order something. We’ll take care of the rest.”

“Can’t I just come with you now?!” He asked.

“We’ll have to check out your story first, Twitch.”

“They’re on to me” he said. “If I don’t get out soon I’m gonna be the next to disappear!” 

“Just hang on a little longer my friend. In the meantime, anything you can find out about where these missing people are going would go a long way for you.”

“It better” he said, backing up. The door whooshed open then closed and he was gone.