Public transportation

Using your vibroknife, you strain a crate open, hop right in, and close it back behind you, hoping all will be well on the way. Soon, a loader droid comes, picks the crate up and takes it into the ship's cargo hold.

Lana (to yourself): Alright, I'm on the ship, I only have to pass the scan and I'm all set.

You hear the ship's engines being ignited, but it doesn't move yet. A scan must be taken before it leaves the surface, according to usual Republic protocols. At the centre of the cargo station, the overseer checks the dock workers.

Overseer: Is everything in order?

Worker: Yees, except that we have an unregistered lifeform in the cargo bay of ship 97537CF.

Overseer: Indeed? Where is that ship headed? Who's the owner?

Worker: It is headed to Eriadu, Tarkin Mining Company.

Overseer: I see, Admiral Tarkin must have forgotten to mention that in his "special requests". Alright, better not be on his wrong side, let it take off.

Worker (onto his comlink): Ship 97537CF, take off permission granted, safe journey.

The ship takes off and as soon as it hits orbit, it jumps to hyperspace. It will take a few hours to get to Eriadu, you take a nap in your crate to pass the time, this was a tiresome day, being a renegade is exhausting. To your annoyance, the minute you would be falling asleep, your holocommunicator beeps and Drek's holoprojection appears.

Lana: Drek! It's so good to hear from you! Guess what has happened to me when I got to the temple...!

Drek: We know, I'm calling through a secure channel, I had to make a few precautions before contacting you. Entire Coruscant is hunting you as we speak, where are you? Do you need help?

Lana: Eh, I'm fine, spending my beautiful youth in a dark crate being transported offworld... But I'm okay, I might have found a way to get back to Mandalore until this madness is resolved. Do you know why they want me arrested? Master Ki-Adi-Mundi was mentioning something about me killing Jocasta Nu, the Jedi librarian and a handful of padawans... I wasn't even in Republic space at the time!

Drek: I know, this is pure madness! Someone must have set you up! There really was a break in into the Jedi vault, Jocasta found the thief but she was killed in combat just like the few padawans who were nearby in the archives and tried to help her. The culprit escaped... After your escape, Master Ki-Adi-Mundi was sent to Mygetto to fight the CIS there for a few weeks, the council was displeased with him letting you escape.

Lana: He deserved it! But more importantly, how in the Mustafar am I being accused of that?!

Drek: Well... You see... There's this... I'm sending you a file, please check it out before we continue.

Lana: Drek you are frightening me... What's in that file?

Drek: See for yourself, I found it just as impossible to believe as you will.

You open the file, it's a holorecording, showing you breaking into the vault in the archives, when you are discovered, you fight and **** Jocasta and a few younglings who tried to rush to her assistance and stop you together.

Master Jocasta Nu is the chief librarian of the Jedi temple, an elderly lady who's been focusing on sharpening her mind lately, rather than her fencing skills. Few know as much about the Jedi archives and its secrets as her.

Lana (not believing your eyes): But... That's impossible! The recording must be fake!

Drek: I thought that at first, too, but... It's original, unedited. I have triple-checked it with all the programmes I have. You were there Lana. And yet, you weren't.

Lana: That just simply cannot be!

Drek: Whatever happened, me and Ranvi are on your side. We will help you clear your name, you have our word! I also tried to petition the council to start an investigation and don't just brand you traitor instantly, but... The evidence convinced them rather quickly to ignore my opinion. Not to mention our personal bond, which clouded my judgement, they said.

Lana: Pff, I cannot believe the Jedi are lead by such people!

Drek: Nobody is perfect, true. Lana... I must ask you. Have you... been possessed by the dark side recently or something?

Lana: Drek why do you ask? Do you suspect me too?!

Drek: Of course not! But we must find a logical explanation to this. Maybe it really was you, you just don't know or remember it.

Lana (angrily): I know exactly where I have been for the last few weeks, I would remember suddenly forgetting many hours of space travel and slaughtering my brothers and sisters in the temple!

Drek: Okay, calm down! I have been possessed, I know what it's like. You do things you don't want to, despite doing your best to avoid it... Maybe Ragnos had an effect on you too... Maybe he has gone further and...

Lana: That's enough Drek, I'm not possessed! End of story!

Drek: Alright, than how do you explain that?

Lana: I don't know... But I will find out!

Drek: We'll do everything with Ranvi to find something useful to help you. You should lay low until then. Where should we look for you once we have our evidence to prove your innocence?

Lana: I'm currently on my way to get out of Republic space by switching planets regularly and I'll be picked up by my people and taken to Mandalore afterwards. That's the plan basically. The less you know about me, the better at this point.

Drek: I concure, the masters have been asking us frequently about everything we know about you, didn't tell them anything so far. Pretty good plan by the first look of it, changing your location frequently will ease your way of getting away. I'll contact you when I have something, I would advise you not to contact us until we contact you, okay?

Lana: Certainly, I wouldn't want you to get into trouble.

Drek: Good luck and may the **** be with you Lana! You'll be needing it.

Lana: Thanks, you too Drek!

You try to sleep, but all you can think about now is the holorecording you have seen. How can that be, you wonder. Eventually, you fall asleep and rest until the ship docks on Eriadu. When that happens, you hear the crates being loaded off one by one by the droids. As yours his the ground at the mining facility's stockpile, you cut yourself out of the crate and using **** projection, slip out of the place into the bustling streets of the capital city of Eriadu. You grab a taxi and get to the transport station to catch a ship to Fondor. The station is filled mostly with poor citizens and a few dozen beggars. You have rarely been visiting sites like this before, having your own starship to fly with.

Lana (saying to yourself as looking around): These people are far away from the shining skyscrapers of Coruscant. I wonder if they are as patriotic to defend those senators there as the Republic news claims them to be. These ordinary people might have the same life under CIS government without much of a change. It must be hard to justify the war to them, even if it is fought for these people, taxing them to fund the ever-growing war effort can't be bringing much happiness here. Anyway, back to my own problems.

As you walk through the station, you notice your face on a wanted list on a holoterminal.

Lana (to yourself): Oh come on, I look way better in real life! This holopic must be at least 4 years old, I'm wearing my hair differently these days!

You walk past it and find the extraplanetary departures panel and go through it.

Lana (quietly to yourself): ... Carida... Thyferra... Mygetto... Heh, definitely not going to go there, Master Ki-Adi-Mundi would be furious if he met me there! Back to the topic... Bothawui... Fondor! Let's see... The ship leaves from platform 35L in two hours. Great, I'll have to be waiting here... I don't have anything better to do anyway, soo...

You head to the platform and sit down on a bench until the ship arrives. Three clone troopers arrive at the platform to do a quick survey and potentially fine or arrest any criminals or lawbreakers. They check the ID's of the citizens they come across, you pull your hood over your head, turn and walk away. You hear somebody running behind you and the clone's shouting.

Trooper: Hey, you there! Stop!

You turn and a Rodian in his late teens runs towards you, pushing everybody aside as he tries to flee the troopers.

Rodian: Help! Somebody help me!

Trooper (aiming his rifle at him): Halot or I'll shoot! Last warning!

The alien boy just keeps running until the clone trooper shoots a stun shot in his leg, incapacitating him. He falls next to your feet and can't walk any longer due to the shot. The three troopers run towards him, he looks up at you, attempting to crawl past you.

Rodian: Help me girl, please! They want to kill me!

Trooper (as they arrive): Don't listen to that scum ma'am, he's a wanted smuggler, he and his crew have been smuggling contraband goods into the Republic for months now. We finally found him.

Rodian (crawling behind your legs): Please, please, I'm innocent! Save me, I'll repay your kindness, I swear! I have credits, a ship, anything you want!

Trooper: Please step aside ma'am, we are putting him under arrest.

Lana (thinking): Great, what am I getting myself into this time?! I should just walk away, pretending I haven't seen anything. He seems to be a smuggler who deserves to be arrested. But that's what they want to do to me too... Maybe he could help me get away unseen... Or by defending him, I'll just get myself arrested as well...

Trooper (after waiting and pointing his rifle at the Rodian): Ma'am?