Star Wars Galaxies

The adventures of Renn Jeret

Episode I - The Cries of Alderaan: Act I

Renn Jeret, gunrunning smuggler, was enjoying a leisurely day in Coronet. A little work on his weapon crafting skills, a few customers wanting certain... modifications to their weapons, things were quiet, peaceful even. There were rumors floating around, something to do with the Empire and that Rebellion going on, but nothing to concern an honest smuggler.

Standing at the edge of the city near the starport and a fountain, one of the places people congregate, Renn glanced up as a glint off something metallic caught his eye. A moment later, the sound reached him and the thing making the noise came into view around the starport. An Imperial AT-ST.

The large machine lumbered into the square and began firing at the people standing around! Renn got under cover and watched as the Imperials blasted people seemingly at random. A few shots rang against the AT-ST's armor, but it was futile. One person trying to help one of the victims was gunned down right in front of Renn.

The AT-ST turned and began to leave, an amplified voice filling the air, "This is how we deal with Rebel scum."

As he helped clean up the mess in the aftermath of the attack, Renn thought to himself, "Sure, there were Rebels on Corellia, where weren't there? But an attack like this, so destructive and seemingly random..."

The next day, in the cantina, Renn overheard something about Alderaan, the planet destroyed by the Empire. Talk about a destructive attack...

Troubled by where this may be taking him but more troubled by what he'd witnessed, Renn left the cantina and found a comm terminal. A little creative slicing and the terminal was secure, safe for the conversation he would be having. He contacted a Bounty Hunter he'd had dealings with before, some of those weapons modifications, and asked him about the rumors.

Not long after, he met the bounty hunter, who handed over an encoded disk. It contained part of an encrypted message, presumably Imperial in origin. It was then he found out that the bounty hunter was a member of the Rebel Alliance. There were three more parts to this message; they'd work together to find them. It seems some gangers had been hinting they had these disks, so they split up and went looking.

The next day, the bounty hunter had returned with one of the 3 remaining disks. Renn had found out where some of the gangers were hanging out, just outside the city, near the Starport. He left to check it out, ready for trouble. He'd had dealings with these people, too, but not the friendly kind.

Sure enough, as soon as he came into view, before he even had the chance to say anything, the gangers attacked. There were three of them, two closing in with drawn blades, another with a blaster pistol. Renn moved to keep the close-in fighters between him and the shooter, drew his blaster and fired, taking down one of the gangers closing on him. The other moved in on Renn, swinging the long blade at his head. Renn ducked under the attack and brought his foot up into the ganger's midsection, doubling him over. A sharp blow to the back of his head from Renn's pistol butt took the ganger down for good. A blaster bolt screamed by near Renn's head as the last ganger fired, his line of sight cleared. Renn dove and rolled into cover behind a nearby tree.

"You won't get away with this, Jeret!"

"Sure I will. I have every time you idiots have tried to ambush me before!"

Renn dove from cover, blaster bolts tracking him. He rolled to a kneeling position with a clear shot and dropped the last ganger.

"Stupid MeatLumps." Renn muttered, "Stupid name, too."

He slowly approached the dead gangers, and noticed another person standing a bit off to the side. Renn saw he wasn't a ganger and nodded. The other returned the nod, and Renn knelt down to check the gangers, still keeping an eye on the stranger. Sure enough, the shooter had a disk on him. Renn stood up, examining the disk when the stranger spoke up, "He dropped another of those disks over here when you came up on them." and handed Renn a second disk.

"Thanks." Renn said, and gave a wave as he walked off.

Once back in a reasonably safe, less populated area, Renn used his datapad to combine the contents of the 4 disks onto a single one. Looking at the code, he figured he could slice it given time, but maybe he was better off not knowing...

He contacted the bounty hunter again, and was led to a meeting with a Rebel operative. Renn handed over the disks, and the man said, "We sure could use someone like you, Renn."

Renn wasn’t sure this was where he was going. This was a huge step for an independent smuggler to take. He considered a moment, thinking of the things he’d witnessed, and even closer to home, he’d heard the Rebel Alliance may be taking an interest in the terrible conditions on his parent’s home-world of Xa Fel. Anyone who would work to right the wrongs on that planet deserved some of Renn’s time.

Finally, Renn said, "Ok. I'm in. But I'm keeping it under wraps. It's better that way."

A little more talk, and Covert Rebel Operative Lance-Corporal Renn Jeret went back to business as usual. For now...