Well-Known Member
Rumors could be powerful. Maybe that was obvious to some, less so to others, but they could very literally start a war. Audren hadn't been present for it, but he'd heard firsthand reports how the rumor of the Galactic Alliance finding and restoring the World Razer to galactic power had allied nearby worlds into a rebellion. Actual violence, lives lost because of nothing more than unsubstantiated rumor.
This rumor wasn't quite so malicious. This one was based on Seltos, one of the few worlds in the galaxy that produced the Phrik ore. It was one of the few producers of the ore that wasn't controlled by a major player in the galactic struggle either, which made it closely watched and highly protected. The ore was valued for its resistance to energy weapons, lightsabers included. The rumor? Something had come from a new vein, something that rampaged and killed anyone nearby without taking a scratch. It was no surprise to anyone that mercenaries flocked to the planet when the call went out for added escorts, with promises of prompt payment in credits or phrik itself.
Then the call came again.
The repetition caught Audren's curiosity. He was not a mercenary, far from it, but if the first batch hadn't been able to contain whatever the root cause of this rumor was, maybe there was something else to it. More than greedy miners or creative pirates. Yet he held off, other mercenaries were already on their way to answer the call. Known names in the business, not the inexpensive thugs one could get from any bar on Nar Shadaa. Drawn by the intrigue as well as the increased payout. Few returned, those that did spoke only of a metallic beast that shrugged off their blaster bolts with ease and killed anyone who came near.
There was no mention of Sith. Not a hint of a Force user, glimmer of a lightsaber. And yet he was even more interested than before. The 'beast' could well be a droid, though such a droid would be incredibly dangerous. With a shell of phrik, a droid backed by competent programming and hardware would be incredibly dangerous. Something to stop now, before whoever was running it decided the testing phase was over. And if it wasn't a droid, then he wanted to know all the more what was going on.
That was why he found himself diverting from his planned hyperspace journey of Sullust to Voss in order to stop at Seltos. His own ship - unmarked, resilient, and extensively armed though it was - would not have been his first choice. He would have preferred to have something that could carry more than the heavy fighter; he'd have to hold any phrik he was rewarded in trust or have it shipped, both of which could swiftly eat into the reward garnered.
[member="Kelon Amadis"]
This rumor wasn't quite so malicious. This one was based on Seltos, one of the few worlds in the galaxy that produced the Phrik ore. It was one of the few producers of the ore that wasn't controlled by a major player in the galactic struggle either, which made it closely watched and highly protected. The ore was valued for its resistance to energy weapons, lightsabers included. The rumor? Something had come from a new vein, something that rampaged and killed anyone nearby without taking a scratch. It was no surprise to anyone that mercenaries flocked to the planet when the call went out for added escorts, with promises of prompt payment in credits or phrik itself.
Then the call came again.
The repetition caught Audren's curiosity. He was not a mercenary, far from it, but if the first batch hadn't been able to contain whatever the root cause of this rumor was, maybe there was something else to it. More than greedy miners or creative pirates. Yet he held off, other mercenaries were already on their way to answer the call. Known names in the business, not the inexpensive thugs one could get from any bar on Nar Shadaa. Drawn by the intrigue as well as the increased payout. Few returned, those that did spoke only of a metallic beast that shrugged off their blaster bolts with ease and killed anyone who came near.
There was no mention of Sith. Not a hint of a Force user, glimmer of a lightsaber. And yet he was even more interested than before. The 'beast' could well be a droid, though such a droid would be incredibly dangerous. With a shell of phrik, a droid backed by competent programming and hardware would be incredibly dangerous. Something to stop now, before whoever was running it decided the testing phase was over. And if it wasn't a droid, then he wanted to know all the more what was going on.
That was why he found himself diverting from his planned hyperspace journey of Sullust to Voss in order to stop at Seltos. His own ship - unmarked, resilient, and extensively armed though it was - would not have been his first choice. He would have preferred to have something that could carry more than the heavy fighter; he'd have to hold any phrik he was rewarded in trust or have it shipped, both of which could swiftly eat into the reward garnered.
[member="Kelon Amadis"]