Broken Codes

Profitable Ventures

Corellia: 19 BBY
"Mythos"
Nakoa Sen

Nakoa deactivated the hyperdrive, dropping out of lightspeed above Corellia. He urged the Mythos down quickly, hoping to avoid interaction with the Imperial Star Destroyers that hovered above the planet. Next to him, Oni Aleu was quickly masking their signature and replacing it with an Imperial one.

She sat back once she finished. "There. They shouldn't bother with us now."

"Good. The Imperials are getting too nosy in this sector," Nakoa replied.

Only a few months had gone by since the Clone Wars had ended. The Empire had quickly let the galaxy know that there were changes in order. People were no longer allowed to come and go as they pleased. Everyone required identification forms and transcripts of some sort. The Empire was cracking down hard on Corellia, especially. In fact, any planet that produced ships of any kind were now under an Imperial occupation.

Nakoa maneuvered them away from the busy airways. Their usual docking bay wasn't too far. As usual, it was unoccupied when they arrived. They landed and disembarked shortly. Nakoa grabbed a sack of credits before sealing the boarding ramp.

Oni crossed her arms, watching the Mythos. "She's seen better days."

"She looked worse when I bought her. The YT-1760's are an older model and I bought her from a scrapping yard. What did you expect?"

Oni followed him out of the docking bay, her blue metal armor clanking a bit with each step. "When you said you bought a ship, I thought you meant a fast one. You know, so we could avoid Imperials?"

"The Mythos is fast. She'll be a lot faster when I'm done with all of her modifications."

"How do you plan on paying for all of them? Most of our credits go to the Clan."

"Bounties are easy to come by these days. If I save up and do what I can myself, it shouldn't be too hard."

Oni inclined her helmeted head, but said nothing more. Nakoa glanced at her curiously. He'd always wondered what his companion looked like. He was certain she wondered the same about him. Not that he was much to look at anyway. Dark brown hair, amber eyes, tanned skin...Nakoa didn't mind not showing his face to anyone. At least his orange and black armor was well suited to him, although no one but he and Ketei knew it.

At first, always wearing his helmet had bothered him. Learning the ancient ways had taken time. Ketei, the woman who had found and raised him, had allowed him time to adjust. She taught him the Code first, then the Creed.

"You are Mandalorian by blood. The Code is the root of our beliefs. Anyone can follow the Creed, but only a true Mandalorian can live by our Code," she had said. Even as a young boy, Nakoa wasn't sure he agreed with that statement. To him, both items seemed like something that anyone could be true to, if they were dedicated.

"Hey," Oni elbowed him, drawing him out of his thoughts. "Are we taking a break for a few days or getting straight back to work?"

"Which would you prefer?"

"I'd rather get back to work. I don't want to stick around here longer than I have to. Who wants the Empire breathing down their neck all the time?"

Nakoa chuckled to himself. "All right. I'll see if Ketei found any new bounties."

They continued walking until they reached an old storm pipe entrance. Once, Corellians had filled the pipes, creating a vast network of tunnels and chambers beneath their cities. Now, only the scum of the planet inhabited them. It made a safe place for their covert. They were hidden from the Imperials above and they ruled the vagabonds below.