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A Single
Day 2002 short story by Louis Turfrey Thirty-seven
years after Episode IV – A Electronic
Journal Log of Lord Raven Daemon Garr I’m tense. I have my suspicions, but how do I prove them?
The council is unlikely to listen to an ex scout turned businessman, and I
have never openly traded in this sector. Two days maximum, just two days. I have recalled my
carriers and asked them to escort the Jedi to the Chancai
Trade Centre on Zelon. Blake De’Athe
sees through the plan and is concerned, but he will go through with it. He is
a Jedi, and a defender of the people. He knows who I really am, one of few
who truly do. Too long I have sat on the sidelines, building my empire.
Too long I have traded one quarter off against another. I have been buying
time, feeding accurate but insignificant information to the Ki-Ki while feeding better information to the Setnin forces. What a waste! Nobody uses what I give
them. I say give
because the prices I charge don’t cover the expenses. So I have had to find
other ways in which to help. Secret cargoes of supplies have been tracked by
my ships. Aggressors have been dealt with before they have had a chance to
attack the supply lines. Still, this has not been enough. In two more weeks the ISD Constance will be refitted and repaired. Nias Derril will take her back
under control and will be allied with my new friends the Setnin
Jedi. Note:
Must remember to tell them about the full role he has played and the long
thought out plans. Can’t have him blamed when he was only following orders.
Will ask my dear wife to perform that little task. I have other things to do. Word
has recently arrived that the primary build on the new attack cruisers has
been completed. Jomobol Pocock
is charging me a fortune, but then again, I have more money than I will ever
need, so why worry? All that needs to be added are the weapons platforms and
the crews. I look forward to seeing them in action, a useful asset to my
supply convoys. My wife has recently returned from her meeting with the
new Galactic council. She has finally found out the real reason why they are
refusing to aid Setnin and it annoys me. They are
scared that in doing so, they will be accused of interfering as they did in
the past. Oh well, bureaucracy was never my strong point, that’s why I leave
her to deal with it. She has much more
patience than I do Glad to know she is pregnant, five more months and I will
finally be a father. Seems a lifetime away. I’m thinking of asking her to
return to our headquarters far away in the safety of the Galactic I have just received a disturbing confirmation. There is
a build up of Ki-Ki forces on the edge of the
occupied territories. A small battle ensued, but the Ki-Ki
has been driven off. Surprising, but not unexpected. My contact has advised
me that it may be in my best interests to make sure that all my ships stay
away from the space lanes nearing Zelon today. I
know its going to happen and now I must make the decision that has been
haunting me since I got involved in this complicated endeavour. Today I must
choose which side I am going to join. No contest really. My friend and the person I owe my life
to, Jan Lomona, is heavily involved in the
resistance movement. Simply owing him a life debt binds me to his survival. I
must make sure that he and his extended family survive the conflict that is
to come, and I have asked Blake to look out for him as well. Blake feels he
owes Lomona and the sector a lot, so he will help
when he can. I have sent a Carrier ship to Chancai
to back up Captain Mendip Khan. Khan has accepted his role and works well
with the Jedi, who are onboard and ready to offer assistance. Others are
secretly starting to withdraw my staff and their families from the planet
without attracting too much attention. I have not the forces to fully halt
the Ki-Ki advance, nobody does, not at the moment,
so I must play a dangerous game and at the same time delay the inevitable. The word is that Ki-Ki forces
have attacked. I am feeding information to my second carrier and preparing
them to provide backup facilities to the escapees. I can only hope that they
will be able to defend the smaller freighters successfully. The Carriers are
designed as support small craft, not attack craft. Even then I am unsure of
just how effective they will be once the stealth shielding has been dropped.
We will see. We
have lost a ship! Captain Khan had to sacrifice the carrier so that others
might escape. The news is that he has been destroyed with his ship. I doubt
that. I have standing orders with several crewmembers, ordering them to make
sure that he survives, even if it costs them their lives. Somehow he will
have survived and I intend to find out for certain once the survivors have
been rezoned or integrated into my organisation. At least the others made the
jump to hyperspace. I have also just been informed that the new attack ships
are fully completed and will be despatched once my crews have arrived. I give
them a location in the Hellion System, and a set of orders. I would very much
like to see Ryath Centaurs face when they arrive.
If he survives his little sojourn on Zelon’s
surface that is. Apparently, he and Lomona chose to
stay in Chancai. I wonder why. I had better start making plans. My wife will enjoy this
next part; she loves to get her hands dirty. A Single
Day 2002 short story by Louis Turfrey Thirty-seven
years after Episode IV – A Histories – A brief but enlightening snippet from the
mind and journals of Lord
Raven Daemon Garr as
he watches the events of the Fall of Chancai unfold.
Told from his own unique point of view, we see the decisions processes
that go into making him and his wife decide to join the Setnin Sector instead of the more powerful Ki-Ki Sector. Cast of Characters Daemon Garr |