Chapter 51: Blending In, Breaking Free

Disclaimer: Star Wars and all of it's Intellectual Properties is owned by George Lucas and Walt Disney, This fictional work and all of it's original characters are however mine.

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Jake's P.O.V. :

My grip tightened on my seat as the Stellar Envoy dodged another turbolaser shot from a hostile starship. We still didn’t know if it was a pirate ship, a hired merc vessel, or another salvage crew trying to play dirty. At the moment, staying alive took priority over asking questions—though I’m pretty sure when we did figure out who they were, it would be a unanimous vote for payback.

Now, you might be wondering why we’re getting lit up by turbolaser fire. I don’t want to point fingers… but it’s totally Rina’s fault. She’d given a very convincing argument about why it might be worthwhile to check the debris field where that space station on Malachor V blew up before we left the system entirely. Her reasoning? The self-destruct probably didn’t destroy everything, and whatever survived could be worth a fortune. Plus, she argued, the other opportunists hanging around—pirates, Gardulla’s mercs, and other scavengers—might not realize that the wreckage wasn’t just another heap of junk but the location connected to the Old Republic Era Relic.

I keep calling it a relic, but it turns out it’s actually a memory chip from a droid. Specifically, it matches the design and functionality of the custom-built bodyguard-protocol hybrid droid we encountered in that same space station before it self-destructed. A relic of the pre-Ruusan Reformation Old Republic.

Anyway, Rina’s arguments were so convincing that she sold me on the idea, and I… may have sold the rest of the crew on it too. In hindsight, maybe we should’ve considered the potential for a hostile reception before diving into the debris field. But hey, hindsight is 20/20, right?

When we arrived, the situation went south fast. We spotted a corsair starship scouring the area, and as soon as they saw us, they opened fire. No warning, no negotiation—just turbolasers. Clearly, these folks weren’t interested in sharing.

Tarek’s voice came over the comms, as cool as ever despite the chaos. “Evasive maneuvers. Shields holding at ninety four percent.”

“Make them hold longer,” Kado snapped, gripping the edge of his console. “Davik, you’ve got a lock on their position?”

Davik’s response was a grunt as he adjusted the targeting systems. “Yeah, but they’re not giving us an opening. Gotta wait for the right moment.”

Meanwhile, Mira was in the back, monitoring our systems and rerouting power to the shields as needed. Rina… well, let’s just say she had the grace to look sheepish. “For the record,” she said, “I’d like to point out that this was a calculated risk.”

I shot her a look. “Yeah? Well, next time, let’s calculate a little harder.”

A sudden jolt nearly threw me out of my seat as another shot skimmed our shields. Alarms blared, and I could feel the tension ratchet up even higher. That wasn’t just a warning shot; these guys really wanted us dead.

“Jake!” Mira’s voice broke through my thoughts. “We need more power to the engines if we’re going to outrun them.”

“On it!” I bolted for the engineering console and began rerouting auxiliary power. The Stellar Envoy wasn’t a warship, but she’d been through enough scrapes that I knew how to push her to her limits.

As I worked, my mind raced. Whoever these attackers were, they weren’t random amateurs. Their turbolaser shots were precise and mostly aimed for the kill, and their ship had enough firepower to blow us out of the sky if we weren’t careful. But what bothered me the most was their timing. They’d been here, waiting, as if they knew someone would come sniffing around the debris field. Was this a coincidence? Or were we walking into a trap? Or I'm just really really paranoid? The Vault location wasn't unique information limited to us though, oh that's it! I am just paranoid.

“Brace yourselves!” Tarek’s voice rang out, and I barely had time to grab onto the nearest railing before the Envoy banked hard to port, narrowly avoiding another barrage. The sound of the shots reverberating off our shields was a grim reminder of how close we were to disaster.

I glanced at the readout. “Shields down to seventy percent,” I called out. “We’re not going to last much longer if we keep taking hits like that.”

“We just need to hold out until Davik can get a clean shot,” Kado said, his tone steely.

Davik grinned, his fingers dancing over the controls. “Almost there. Just keep us alive for another thirty seconds.”

“Easier said than done,” I muttered, my hands flying over the console as I pushed the engines even harder. The ship groaned in protest, but she held together.

As the tension reached its peak, Davik let out a triumphant shout. “Gotcha! Firing now!”

The Stellar Envoy shuddered as our cannons unleashed a salvo of fire. Through the viewport, I saw one of the enemy ship’s turbolaser arrays explode in a brilliant burst of light.

"Uh, that wasn't me." Davik's voiced out, and then Arlos' voice was heard. "Sorry for taking your shot sir"

“Direct hit! Good job Arlos!” Tarek cheered.

“They’re not out yet,” Kado warned. “Let’s not celebrate until we’re clear.”

I nodded, my focus returning to the task at hand. “Let’s finish this and get the hell out of here.”

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The chase wasn’t even halfway done when Tarek’s voice came over the comms, tinged with a nervous edge that was uncharacteristic for him. “Wide-range scanners are picking up more incoming ships.”

My stomach dropped. “Could it be just random debris or wreckage headed in our direction?” I asked, hoping against hope.

Tarek’s reply dashed that hope. “Random debris doesn’t do evasive maneuvers inside a debris field.”

Before I could respond, Mira surprised us all by exclaiming, “Wait! One of the blips just disappeared!”

“What do you mean disappeared?” Kado demanded.

Mira’s voice was quick and confident. “They’re not all on the same team. Somebody just got taken out.”

Tarek, ever the optimist, surprised us even further. “Well, with those odds, I might be able to work something out.”

I raised an eyebrow, half-impressed, half-concerned. “Really? You sound awfully confident for someone who just mentioned more baddies showing up.”

Kado wasn’t buying it either. “We shouldn’t leave it all to Tarek. Any suggestions on how to increase our chances?”

Always ready with a plan, I piped up. “We could build a camouflage module for the Stellar Envoy. It would let us blend into the debris field like another piece of scrap. But…” I hesitated, “that’s going to take time, and it definitely doesn’t help us right now.”

Mira chimed in next. “What about releasing a disruptive signal? Overload their sensors, make it harder for them to pick us out of the mess.”

Rina immediately shot that down. “Nice try, but the debris field’s already messing with everyone’s scanners. It’s like trying to add more noise to a crowded party—no one’s going to notice.”

Then I heard a small, determined voice from beside me. “We should hide in the sand.”

I blinked, realizing it was Anakin. He was seated next to me, his big blue eyes staring up with the innocent confidence of a three-year-old who believed he had the solution to every problem. Shmi, seated opposite him, gently smiled and clarified.

“In Tatooine, if you want to survive, you pretend to be part of your surroundings. You blend in, move slow, and wait for danger to pass.”

I raised my eyebrows, processing the logic. “That’s… not bad, actually.”

But seriously, hiding like that? My mind flashed to a scene from back on Earth, from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Drax watching Peter and Gamora awkwardly try to have a moment, standing completely still and insisting they couldn’t see him because he was being "invisible." I could still remember choking on my soda at the theater when I saw that—cola shot out my nose, and I couldn’t stop laughing. But pulling something like that off in space? Yeah, not happening.

Just as I was about to dismiss the idea as unworkable, I noticed Rina’s eyes light up like she’d just had an epiphany. “Wait a second,” she muttered, more to herself than to anyone else.

“What?” I asked cautiously.

She grinned. “Mira’s disruptive signal idea wasn’t bad. It just needs a tweak. Instead of trying to confuse their scanners with more noise, we use the debris field itself. Make the debris, the wreckage, and us mimic each other randomly. Scatter our signal signatures, mess with their targeting systems, and make it impossible to tell where we are.”

I frowned. “That’s… tactical stuff, not mechanical. Definitely out of my wheelhouse.”

Rina rolled her eyes. “Leave it to me, genius. Just get ready to keep us flying.”

Fair enough. Tactical wasn’t my strong suit—my Tech Savant advantage was strictly mechanical. But if Rina thought she could pull it off, I wasn’t going to argue.

“Alright,” I said, “if you can make it work, do it. But don’t expect me to understand how it works. I’ll just nod and act impressed.”

Rina smirked. “Oh, don’t worry, Jake. You’ll be impressed. Just try to have Tarek not to crash the ship while I work my magic.”

And with that, she was off to implement her plan. All I could do now was trust her and keep us alive long enough to see it work.

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A few moments later, Rina returned from the engineering bay, looking smug as ever after implementing her so-called "magic." Without a word, she made her way to the cockpit, her determined stride suggesting she was ready to prove just how clever her plan was.

From the common area, we heard the muffled exchange between her and Tarek as she patched our scanners to emit the disruptive signal she’d described. It was clear from Tarek’s excited exclamations that her plan was already showing promise.

“Alright, crew,” Tarek’s voice came over the comms. “Secure yourselves and prepare for a bumpy flight.”

As if the flight hadn’t been bumpy enough already. (Notice the sarcasm in my internal monologue.) Still, we did as instructed—well, those of us who weren’t already buckled in.

From the central data console in the common area, we watched as the situation unfolded. The corsair ship was still hot on our tail, though its firepower had been slightly diminished thanks to Davik—or rather, Arlos—taking out one of its turbolasers earlier. As we closed the distance to the additional ships Tarek had spotted, it became clear they were headed straight for us as well.

Tarek weaved the Stellar Envoy through the debris field like a fish darting through water, the ship twisting and banking so smoothly that I almost forgot how much danger we were in. Almost.

Then we saw it. Through the console feed, the visual of the new arrivals came into range, and just as Mira had suspected, they weren’t all on the same side. The newcomers opened fire on each other almost immediately, turbolaser bolts lighting up the field in a chaotic dance of destruction.

Meanwhile, the corsair’s targeting systems—along with those of the other ships—started going haywire. Turbolaser fire veered off-course, striking random debris instead of us or their intended targets. The sudden randomness of their shots confirmed that Rina’s plan had worked.

“Nice!” I said, then feigned a dramatic gasp. “I knew it! You’re a witch!”

Rina’s head popped into view from the cockpit doorway just so she could give me an exaggerated eye roll. “And yet, somehow, you’re still alive. You’re welcome.”

Despite the tension, a small laugh rippled through the common area.

With the chaos behind us and the enemy ships too distracted by each other and the false signals to focus on us, our escape to the hyperspace lane became much easier. The Stellar Envoy glided past the worst of the debris and the skirmish, finally breaking free from the immediate threat.

Tarek’s voice cut through the ship’s comms one last time as the starfield around us stretched into the familiar blur of hyperspace. “We’re clear. Malachor V is officially in the rearview.”

I leaned back in my seat, letting out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “Well, that’s one adventure I’m not in a hurry to repeat.”

Mira grinned from her spot by the console. “I don’t know, Jake. I think we all learned something important today.”

“What’s that?” I asked warily.

“That Rina’s magic is real,” she teased.

Rina, now fully back in the common area, gave an exaggerated sigh. “I’m going to regret saving all of you, aren’t I?”

“Probably,” I replied with a smirk. “But you can’t deny it—you love us.”

And just like that, our Malachor V escapade was finally over.