ZADJERIS- SPICE CITY
SOUTHERN DESERT REGION
SEVARCOS II
TWO DAYS AGO
The Southern Desert regions. Clan Narcos territory. That was not at all where Shar had wanted the trail to go. But she should have guessed that. That was how the investigations had been running over the past several years. All trails led into Spice City.
And there they ended. Witnesses disappeared or suffered amnesia. Pieces of evidence disappeared. This time it was two dozen children who had disappeared suddenly and unexpectedly from one of the equatorial mining colonies, with only sand-trails from the wind-sailers left behind.
Her lekku twitched in frustration and she pursed her lips. Sev Narcos was a powerful man, even among the Spice Lords.
The other Spice Lords were hesitant to directly cross him, or obstruct him, despite the efforts of the League to work with them. She didn't know why. But she hoped to never met the Spice Lord. Not without at least half a company of Rangers and a few platoons of the defense forces they were working on training. Most of them had been slaves, or in debtors' mines, so she could at least rely on them.
Everyone else was... questionable. Easily bought off or loyal to their clans first. It was a nightmare to work with, despite things ostensibly improving since she had grown up in the debtor's colonies.
Debtor. The word stuck in her throat even as she thought about it. Her parents debt had not existed, except that a Hutt decided it could make more money by selling them than by collecting their rents.
Sevaracos would have to change. No credits were worth the suffering the world used to squeeze wealth out of its victims It had burned her parents out until they fell dead from exhaustion. She readjusted the mask across her face, adjusting the slugthrower over her shoulder and the pistol at her hips.
Blasters were unreliable on Sevaracos. It was the dust and the spice particles in the atmosphere. It messed with the gases, she'd heard. The trainers had pointed out they could even explode.
"This is pretty much it," Shar said, kicking the dust with one booted foot. "We can't pursue this further on our own. Not into Spice City."
"A-firm, corporal," a grizzled ex-slave responded, reloading his slugthrower. He was a solid man and she figured he would make a fine sergeant eventually once he had more experience and training. "It may be time to start playing by Spice Lord rules."
In other words, with no rules.
Shar chewed her lip again. "Let's get back to HQ. Get in touch with RANCOM. See if they can send some specialists and... freelancers our way."
Unorthodox, perhaps, and would undoubtedly cause a fit in the League Council, but they didn't have much choice. It would always eventually come to this. Everyone in the Sevarcos ranger company knew. No cases could be closed or issues resolved until Spice City was cleaned out.
And the thought of those kids getting snatched from their school and sold to who-knew-where, to be Maw slave-soldiers or Hutt slaves, made her blood boil.
NOW...
SEVARCOS RANGER COMMAND
Shar fiddled with the straps on her gun-belt, tightening it down over the new fatigues and ponchos that had arrived with the latest supply shipment from CENTCOM. A holomap of Spice City hovered in the center of the room, filling the dimly lit area with a green glow.
Her request had been approved, from the highest levels, she had been told, although who that meant was unclear. The other Spice Lords? The League council? Ranger command? It had been left ambiguous.
It was time to clean out Spice City. And they'd have to be as adaptable, cunning, and relentless as the slavers who evaded the law and circumvented all other attempts to shut them down. An unconventional war against unconventional enemies using unconventional means.
That was what the Ranger Corps was about. Feth, that was what the League was about.
"Here's the situation," Shar said at last, highlighting a series of locations along the map. "Three days ago, two dozen children disappeared from an equatorial settlement. Evidence was scant, but we tracked a wind-rider to Zadjeris before we had to call off the search. Good news is that a sandstorm has kept them from doing much business."
She shrugged after a moment, looking up and down the folks who had come to assist. "That means we can still get in there before the kids get auctioned." Bile rose in her throat at the words, but she kept going. "We suspect Sev Narcos, the local Spice Lord, is behind the abduction. He is very powerful and has a fanatically loyal militia. Local authorities will not be helpful."
She let that sink in for a moment. "Kanjiklub, Zygerrians, and Hutts also have a presence in the city. That means there are more suspects than we can count. And if we do this, we're going to be inviting some powerful retaliation."
"Any questions so far?"
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