Phoenix - Ghosts of the Past

VIII

3rd, Month Grek, 15 AFGE

Sinya was thrown clean off the bike and splashed into the creek with the creature, while her bike spun and crashed into a tree, softly plopping down to the ground. I turned my bike towards Sinya and pulled out my pistol, intending to help, but Sinya was already struggling wildly, limbs flaring, I would have to be very careful...

The beast's maw was steadily approaching Sinya's throat, only delayed by her hands struggling against it. At that moment, Sinya let her head flop to the ground, seeking to be further away from the beast, at the same time presenting me with an opportunity. With a wave of my hands, I force pushed the beast off Sinya, taking care that it did not hit anything too hard. Although it was unlikely, I don't want even a tiny chance that the imps finding the body and concluded that the beast was killed by anything but a blaster. The force push surprised the beast, and it was dazed for a while before turning on me. Before it could take a step, two blaster bolts impacted its head and it fell ungracefully into a heap on the ground. I dismounted and helped Sinya up. 'You alright?' I asked.

'Yeah, thanks.' Sinya replied breathlessly.

We walked towards the carcass. This animal was a relative to the vine cats commonly seen in the jungles of the Outer Rim and was apparently as deadly as them. Thankfully it was much easier to take down, unlike their relatives. Still, we must be more careful from now on, where one would appear, more will follow. Our pace was slower from then on, both of us on the lookout for hidden dangers, and soon we reached the first cave.

We manipulated the controls on our speeder and raise up to the mouth of the first cave. The mouth itself was large and can easily allow the Phoenix or the From the Ashes to pass through, but it was too shallow. The cave could contain only one of our ships, and the ship wouldn't be deep enough to be hidden. In short, this cave is useless.

We dropped back to the ground and headed in the direction of the next cave. Our route was a zigzag through the ranges of Southern Mycera, with the first cave being the furthest away from the city. We reached the second cave, leaving a trail of bodies of the local wildlife behind, and only to find a cave that considerably narrows a hundred or so meters from the entrance. So, we set off to the third cave, leaving even more bodies behind and similarly, finding an undesirable cave. Time flies, and soon Dusk was smiling down at us.

'Let's continue this tomorrow, they check and question everyone entering Tamwith Bay after sundown.' Siya said.

'Right, let's go.'

14th, Month Grek, 15 AFGE

We searched the thousands of caves day after day, while Emlita and I took turns 'repairing the ship' with T7. It took a while, but finally, cave #857 showed promise. In the meantime, we slowly bought farming equipment from different remote worlds we visited with the Phoenix. We kept to the more remote and corrupt worlds, hoping to avoid detection. We were successful in that regard. Anyways, we have enough equipment to set up a sustainable farm that can provide our little hideout twice the required amount of food and water. We only have to verify with survey equipment that the cave was suitable.

'What do you think of this place?' I asked the girls. This time, only T7 was left behind to watch the ships, while we three went to do the final inspection before moving in.

'Not bad, we will still have plenty of room. Hell, they won't even see our ships from the entrance! For the normal passer-by, this cave is just a dark, ominous cave.' Emlita expressed, looking at the tunnel at the back of the cave. Cave #857 had a large and shallow mouth, at the back of the mouth, there was a tunnel that could fit the ships. The tunnel was a dead end on the appearance, but upon close inspection with a scanner, it was revealed that there was another massive cavern behind the thin layer of stone. We could easily rework that stone wall to become a gate into the inner cavern.

'We better get started with that wall, wouldn't want you to be out there taking risks, would you?' Sinya comments.

16th, Month Grek, 15 AFGE

With the Ashes fixed, both ships now set out to trade, carefully sticking to the Outer and Mid Rim, avoiding planets with heavy imperial presence, and using Raxus as a home base. It took an entire month with the help of some construction bots, but it was finally done, all under the scanner, too. I had set up a bug in the local imperial comms, not once did they mention the unsanctioned building project. We were home-free. We promptly moved into our hideout and disappeared from plain sight.

The ground was just enough to accommodate the ships, but the cavern was tall enough to have another level. The second level housed our farm and generator. Our ships have waste disposal facilities, so we didn't build toilets in the base proper. We had also piped water from the creek nearby for the farm, we even managed to put up some perimeter sensors near the creek and the cave. Theoretically, we could stay here forever, but of course, we had to get out once in a while. As for the construction bots? They were reduced to spare parts.

I found Emlita sitting outside the farm, transfixed by the currently lifeless plantation pods. I plopped down next to her, leaning back on my arms. 'A credit for your thoughts.' I said.

'I was just thinking, what's the point of hiding here? Are we just going to stay here for the rest of our lives, always fearful of the imperials? Why not take the fight to them?' Huh, apparently, she wanted to fight the imps. I would have to dwell on that.

'All that talk is god and well, but let's face it, we have three people, they have millions, we wouldn't be able to do much.'

'Anything is better than just wasting away here.' She glumly said.

'Let's talk about it tomorrow with Sinya, alright? For now, let's get some sleep.'

The next day saw us three sitting around the table on the Ashes. Predictably, Emlita brought up the topic of fighting the imperials again. Knowing Sinya, she would agree immediately, but urge caution That was just her. She decided to help a complete stranger from being robbed by her masters, knowing full well she would earn a beating, or worse if her plot failed, at the same time, she acted cautiously to conceal herself and wait for an opportunity. That girl had some fight in her, she would not sit back and hide.

'So I was thinking...' Emlita began, 'you know how we were already being chased by the Empire anyways? And how...'

'Just say it, Em, don't go round and round.' Sinya interrupted. 'Yes, we know the Empire wants her dead,' She pointed at her. 'What is your point?'

'My point is, we should raise hell for the Empire for their troubles.'

'You do know how ridiculously outmatched we are compared to the Empire?' I butt in.

'I know, but that wouldn't matter if they couldn't find their enemy.' Emlita said, sipping her caf.

'True, but we still have to be careful.' Sinya replied. 'Let's see if there're other people who are also pissed at the empire and are also causing troubles. We are going to be put down real fast if we were the only one causing trouble.'

'Alright.' Emlita was really bummed out by Sinya's words, but she did saw sense in them. Good, that way didn't have to knock sense into her. That girl was too rash for her own good, I'm thankful that Sinya serves as a counter to that trait of hers.

'Alright, now we got that out of the way, we have other things to discuss. First thing first, any complaints, comments or opinions on this base?' I asked.

'Nope.'

'No.'

'Good, now, Emlita, would you oppose having a co-pilot? We have the droid parts for it, and T7 could handle the programming part....'

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This chappie is mostly filler and base building, the plot will start up soon.

Until then, I bid you a fair day! :)