My Dark Passenger

Stranded on an asteroid in a damaged Tie-Fighter. Waiting and hoping for something good to happen. Good, ironic, I don't deserve good for what I have done. I deserve to be entombed in this vessel for the rest of eternity.  How did I end up in this predicament? My whole life was to get justice for my parents. Justice? More like revenge.

Revenge is a powerful motivator. Ever since that day I saw my parents marched into that concentration camp with LaValle, I have had this rage. This desire to make him suffer like he made my parents suffer. Whatever emotions or feelings I had for life in general disappeared. Being a smuggler or gun-for-hire for that slimy Hutt was a way to release all that rage I had pent up inside. This rage opened up something powerful inside of me. I threw mercs and other scum with my mind off skyscrapers and against walls. What am I? I am not sure what I am. I just know there's something dark in me. I hid it. I certainly didn't talk about it, but it's there always, this Dark Passenger. And when he's piloting, I feel alive, half sick with the thrill of complete wrongness. I didn't fight him, I didn't want to. He was all I've got. Nothing else could have loved me, not even...especially not me. Or is that a lie the Dark Passenger tells me? Because lately there are these moments when I feel connected to something else...someone. It's like the mask is slipping and things...people...who never mattered before are suddenly starting to matter.

Elaiza...started to shine light on this darkness in me. She taught me the ways of being a true Jedi. Like the Jedi of the Old Republic. She taught me this code...how did it go? There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity, this is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the force.

My Dark Passenger didn't want to give up his seat so easily. This training I received from Elaiza and Zil-lan, her padawan, wasn't working as well as I am sure they wanted it to. I still did some horrible things to my enemies. I crushed a man’s windpipe and saw his lifeless body droop in the air. I vowed right there and then to never let this darkness take over the pilots seat again. I had to suppress this darkness in me.

While we were trying to escape the planet taken over by the remnants of the empire I met my unfortunate end...or so I thought. The evil jedi took me prisoner while I watched my crew fly away and hopefully escape. I figured I would be tortured and then put to death as soon as they got everything they wanted from me. This dark figure who goes by the name Krolus had other plans for me.

He wanted to show me the true ways of the powers I have. That he can make me more powerful than Elaiza ever could. He sung a sweet tune and to be honest I almost sang back. But I made a commitment that I would not let my Dark Passenger back in my life. While I was being held prisoner on the ISS Tarkin I found out that my mentor is alive and being held close to my cell. I reached out with the force and tried to communicate with her. After a few minutes of meditating, I could hear her. She sounded so weak and defeated. I told her I was to be put to death soon unless I proved my worth and loyalty to the dark jedi by killing her. I told her I have come to accept my fate and that it is for the best because of the darkness that is starting to envelope me. I vowed not to turn to the dark side and accept death.

However, she said that I had to just this once let my Dark Passenger take the controls again and do what must be done for the greater good.  I had to convince Krolus that I would be his loyal follower. God, Elaiza...what have I done? What have I done....

Nightmares of Capt. Dax Hayden

The hot air is moist with the stench of decay filling Hayden's nostrils. Dax cautiously enters the ancient shrine of unknown origin. He hears voices off in the distance. First giggling then maniacal laughter.  "Do what must be done...slaughter them...slaughter them all Dax."  More laughter. Dax comes to a T-intersection as a bead of sweat races down his cheek. He goes left. He seems to walk for an eternity until the hallway opens up into a cavern with stalactites hanging down from the cave ceiling. In the middle of the cavern is a lake of darkness. Silence. No laughter. No voices. Nothing. Dax looks down at the edge of the lake and sees his reflection. He screams at what he sees. LaValle. He splashes at the lake to disturb the reflection only to find out that the lake grabs hold of his arm with its symbiotic like tendrils and starts enveloping him. The black ooze starts spreading over his entire body as he thrashes and rips at the black substance. He starts to panic when he realizes it has almost covered him. He stumbles on some rocks and falls into the lake of blackness.

Dax wakes up in his quarters dripping with sweat. He goes to the refresher and washes his face. As he dries himself he looks into the mirror and for a second he thought he was looking at someone else. Just a dream he thought...just a dream. He tries to go back to sleep but he just stares at the ceiling pondering if he made the right decision of not going to see Bargos the Hutt and honoring his deal with the exalted one.

Ships Log 4.7.3289: Marus Grayson's Hanger

1.    Win the Grand Prix

2.    Go to the Gala/Auction

3.    Bank Job to retrieve the credit bid on the jewel

4.    Museum Job to retrieve the jewel itself

5.    Escape

6.    Profit!

That was the plan...and we didn't get past Step 2. Someone failed to put in the plan, "Fight Imperial soldiers" calling themselves the First Order. We currently sit in Marus Grayson's hanger bay getting my baby fixed. She took a beating because of my reckless piloting and I crashed into one of the cargo ships that the Imperials were trying to escape with the Tibanna gas they stole. 

This whole log should be about completing Step 1! Oh, it was glorious! Gavin and I won the Grand Prix in exciting fashion, but all the celebratory cheering was violently interrupted by this First Order. It was total chaos. People were being disintegrated right in front of our eyes. It wasn't just the Bespin Guard being shot at. It was civilians! Men, women, and even children! I thought I saw everything evil the Empire has done...but this...this was unadulterated savagery.

Gavin and I were being interviewed when it all happened. They came out of nowhere and were being air dropped onto the floating city. I quickly told Gavin to hop into the passenger seat of the twin cloud car that moments ago we just won the Grand Prix with. I punched it and we were off towards the hanger to pick up the Fortune Rises. Gavin managed to get off a few pot shots at some bucket heads on our way.

We had little resistance in the hanger where my baby was and we fired her engines and quickly got back into the fray. While we were flying we saw a whole fleet of Imperial Cargo vessels siphoning the Tibanna gas...it looks like we weren't the only ones with a heist in mind at Bespin. Damn Imps!

When we got back to our friends there was so much death and destruction. Kalthos the Hutt's barge was shot up pretty bad and was in the process in going down into the depths of the gas giant. We managed to rescue Linus, Solen, and some female Twilek named Omal'Crola. They were about to be blasted into pieces but they managed to jump off the ledge onto the Fortune Rises.

While we were rescuing them, Spree and Felix were on the barge trying to rescue as many as they could before it went down. Spree managed to high jack a round hovercraft made mainly for watching the Grand Prix and found out that Marus Grayson and his cronies were on the hover viewing ship. Meanwhile, Felix was fighting alongside a silver haired woman who we later find out is a Jedi! She is also one of the bidders for the Jewel of Yavin. They managed somehow to get on back of one of the Imperial cargo ships before Kalthos barge went down. Bad news was that the imperial ship was about to take off. I had to rescue them by coming up behind it carefully while they climb aboard the Fortune Rises, but I came in too hot! Damn it! I still go through it in my head on what I could have done differently. My crew...is all I have left...and I let one of them down. Felix is dead because of me. The silver haired Jedi, Elaiza, says it wasn't my fault and that Felix sacrificed himself for her. For surely she would of died if it wasn't for his heroic effort.

Now I sit here while I look out the view-port at Gavin barking out orders to Grayson's men on fixing our ship. I also talked that ex-imperial bureaucrat Grayson into allowing the Red Sun and her crew to dock with us. It was the right thing to do. Right now...our only enemy is this First Order.

Oh. Before I log off for today. I told everyone in our crew that I can use the force. Fun times.

Ships Log 4.5.3289: Bespin night before the Big Race

I can't sleep! I am so nervous...but excited about the Cloud Car Grand Prix tomorrow. Ever since I was a young boy I always felt a need to be up there among the clouds and stars. Even when there are explosions all around me and things are at there worse, I feel like I am at my best. We  have spent several days on Bespin mostly doing reconnaissance on the museum and the major bidders. Everyone has their part in this heist.

Linus has been busy developing an algorithm for a spike to infiltrate the banking system here on Bespin. He says he can do it but he is going to need a lot of things to go right in order to slice into the transferring account. He wants to make a "mock" Marus Grayson account so it seems like the winning bidders funds will be funneling over to his actual account, but in all actuality it will be going into our account. I haven't really known Linus for too long but he seems to get a rush whenever he is slicing into terminals much like I get that rush when I am in the cockpit of the Fortune Rises. Not only that, Linus says he will need a banking droid to actually insert the spike. That won't be easy...they are usually guarded and are very heavy we will need a repulsor lift to move it. All that is the easy part. The tricky part is to not alert Lobot, a human with a cyborg construct embedded in his brain. He is always linked into the city's central computer.

The bounty hunters and Felix have been scoping out the Museum and getting intel on a few of the bidders. Any insider gossip may help our cause to create a bidding war. They met Shreya Ordassa a professor at some university. They found out she is trying to get the jewel for the University. We also found out that this is no ordinary gem. Its a Corusca gem...legend says these types of gems are the heart of the Jedi's most trusted weapon...the lightsaber. We found another bidder at an expensive spa..Mil Mikkir, a Chagrian. I though I met all kinds of people in the galaxy but life continues to surprise me. This guy...this guy is a piece of work. Arrogant, boasting, and vain...those are the nice things about him. He the ex of one Professor Ordassa and it seems he still has his mind on her....juicy!

While we were out gathering intel Gavin spent most of his time upgrading the cloud car that Arend procured for us. This airspeeder wasn't fancy but with our credits we earned from our last delivery mission to Keeto Prime we invested in some parts to help with the handling and a added repulsor lift converter that will give us an extra boost when we need it. Gavin was working hard on the speeder while everyone else was out enjoying Bespin. I did manage to get him away for bit and scope out some of the competition of the race. There is this cantina called Grease Monkies down in the lower levels of Bespin where some of the blue collar racers and mechanics hang out. The place is really dingy and smelled like burnt hyper-fuel.

We met the owner/bartender...Ol'Saav...I think that was his name? I couldn't get by not staring at his hairy mole growing on his upper lip. Yeck. Anyway, he is a friendly sot and he gave me some insight on a few racers.

• Gerrald ("Stormhawks"): a decent gunner/pilot is the gist of this tandem. Cool name though.
• Relgar ("The Carbines"): backed by a Hutt, so they probably have some skills.
• Tarryn Rayzer: a local hero on Bespin and is probably my ultimate competition.

Well, I better get some rest. I need to have my wits and reflexes sharp tomorrow. Dax out!

Ships Log 3.22.3289: The Wheel

I am Captain Dax Hayden, ace pilot of the YT-2400 Fortune Rises and I've decided to keep a ships log during our crews travels. That way if pirates takes over my vessel and disintegrate me they can read all about my deep and dark secrets. Maybe they will write a dashing tale or sing a song of my deeds that they get from these logs. Question is...will I be famous or infamous.

"Space may be freezing, but here the action's hot, so book your trip today —  at the Wheel, where no one gets left out in the cold!"

I am so sick of that slogan broadcasting over my comm channel. The Wheel has over 300k population and most of them consists of scum and villainy. They are here either for their deathstick fix or trying their luck at one of the many Wheel's casinos. But, the space-station does have its purpose for good I suppose. The new budding republic has been using the Wheel as a central location to aid planets that have been decimated by the Galactic Civil War. Its location in the Besh Gorgon System is a good hub to many star systems in need.

If my logs are ever found by some pirate then let the record show that I have (or had?) the best crew in the galaxy. Gavin, my trusty engineer, is probably out gallivanting around the Wheel looking for action. He and I go way back, since childhood. I'd be dead in some ditch if it weren't for Gavin. More on that later.

Arathi "Spree" & Golan, two of the fiercest bounty hunters I ever seen. I just hope I never have a bounty on me because they would bring me in. They always get their man, alien, creature, or whatever species is wanted they will get it...dead or alive. They are at the bounty hub as I write this...looking for their next big score. We have a mutual relationship...they do the research on where their bounty is and I get them there. I take a very small cut of their bounties. Too small in my book...but they also help Felix protect Gavin and I from the unsavory.

Felix a soldier of fortune and a damn good one at that. He has seen a lot of action during the Civil War and he has been physically and mentally scarred from it. He is also a damn good pilot. Not as good as me though...but not many are. I think he has a death-wish though, always going headstrong into the enemy.

We are here for some easy credits...easy...right. Since the new republic can't do it all on their own they have been hiring well...about anyone with a ship to deliver supplies. We got our supplies and are about to deliver a shipment of medical supplies to Keeto Prime.

Ships Log 3.24.3289: Hyperspace to Chalacta system

A Davorian named Zun, one of Bargos the Hutts Majordomo, contacted us before we left on our delivery mission for the new republic a few days ago. It seems that a former "employee" of Bargos did him wrong in some way. A slicer named Linus...probably an alias of some sort. All slicers have alias it seems. We were to hunt him down and bring him back in one piece. Seemed to be an easy mark especially since I had two bounty hunters on my crew.

Well, I should never assume anything is going to be easy. We had a mynock of a time tracking him down. To make matters worse the Red Sun was also on the Wheel at the time and they were also contacted to hunt down Linus. Zun called "friendly" competition...yea right.

The Red Suns crew:

1. Hedosi, the captain of the Red Sun. I will admit he has some skills as a pilot but he ain't no Dax Hayden. He always seems to come a little short when it comes down to me an him. Overall, not a bad guy but we are definitley not friends.
2. Siren, a very attractive bounty hunter. I don't know what she sees in Hedosi. But, I am sure she is staying with him for the credits he is supplying her. What else could it be??
3. TX-3, a T-Series tactical doid, the brains of the operation most likely. Hedosi may have piloting skills but he has the brains of a nerfherder.
4. Lo'reon, a twilek mechanic, he only wishes to have the skills of my bud Gavin. Don't really know much about him other than he doesn't talk much. Probably my favorite of the crew because of that.

Linus must be one heck of a slicer. Spree and Solan had issues in locating this slippery fellow. He did NOT want to be found. I was not going to have the Red Sun find him before we did so I did something I not proud of. I turned to an outside source. His name is Ral, a human bounty hunter who had a beef with Spree and Solan...something about not being part of the bounty hunter guild. I told him I would try to convince them to join and offered him 500 credits to help us locate Linus.

It worked, he didn't give us an exact location but close enough. We found him in some seedy hole in the wall. We got to him just before Hedosi and his crew showed up. Like I said he always comes up a bit short. 

Ships Log 3.27.3289: Bespin

Bespin, Cloud City. A true site to behold. Even prettier is the Jewel of Yavin, which is being auctioned off by some ex-imperial named Marus Grayson. I have a few minutes to catch up my log as we sit in one of the ports waiting to be inspected by customs. We have a new member of our illustrious crew...Linus Subra. He got one more chance to redeem himself for Bargos the Hutt. It is no surprise on why Bargos gave him a second chance he knows computers inside and out and we will need him to slice the information we will need for this heist.

Arend, a Pantoran tax administrator on Bespin, and his daughter Aris contacted Bargos to "liberate" the Jewel of Yavin for Bargos. That is only part of the heist. We are to also drive up the bidding and then hack the account of Marus Grayson and siphon the credits to an third party account. That money is to go to Arend and his daughter while we get a cut of it. This all seems complicated...what ever happened to good honest living like delivering supplies. We are to meet up with them in a few hours. I need a stiff drink before we head out.

Oh yea...before I forget. The Red Sun is here too. I buzzed by Hedosi and his crew and landed first. I gave him a polite wave as we passed him. Just like Hedosi he responded with a rude gesture...he is just jealous. Bargos doesn't want any screw ups which is why he sent two parties to try to steal the gem. Fun times.