The Warlock Runner shuddered as it reached the end of its journey through hyperspace. Rhenn Lok paid attention to the screens in front of him as the blue-white streaks of hyperspace slowed and he found himself drifting in Hebekrr space. Nothing on sensors–good, Rhenn thought.

Hebekrr is technically in Republic space, but everyone knows the Ashiga Clan holds the real power here. There’s always a chance you might run into some Ashiga thugs looking to make a quick stack of credits.

Rhenn checked his bounty puck once more. Unfortunately, the only lead he was given on his target, Varnis, was that he was known to work in the Hebekrr system. Not much to go on.

Rhenn pulled up the Warlock Runner’s database on the main console and did a quick search on the Hebekrr system. There were two habitable planets here–Hebekrr Major and Minor. There were also some moons, and a couple of known space stations.

His console pinged with a search result from the Holonews Network. Apparently the Republic had recently set up a trade blockade in the system due to a large volume of smuggled goods being traced back to Hebekrr. The Ashiga sure aren’t happy about that, Rhenn murmured to himself as he continued reading.

The rest of the article talked mostly about the current politics behind a few senators that were lobbying for a more structured Republic military. Currently the Republic kept order through the Republic Defense Coalition, a loose band of people from each sector that all agreed to help defend Republic values.

With the Republic being here in force, I’m sure Varnis will have gone into hiding. I’m going to need to dig up some leads.

Rhenn decided the best place to start was a nearby space station — The Control Nexus. He set his destination coordinates for HR-05 and punched his sublight drives. While in dead space on his way to the station, Rhenn tested the Runner’s systems, using the computer to bring up a combat simulation that he could complete along the way.

Everything seemed to be green, and in no time he found himself within visual of The Control Nexus. Allegedly the station was supposed to be a neutral party in the system, but as Rhenn docked he noticed above-average surveillance in the bay. He put on his helmet and armor before getting out of his ship, then gave some credits to the maintenance droids for fuel and set off into the station to try and find some leads.

The station was noisy–ships coming in and out, people everywhere, droids running various errands, nearby shops blaring advertisements, it was hard to think. Rhenn noticed more than a few Ashiga enforcers–their allegiance to the Clan obvious with their visible armbands. I guess the station isn’t that neutral to have Ashiga enforcers blatantly out in the open.

Rhenn made his way to the nearby cantina–always a good place to look for leads. As he walked through the automatic doors to the cantina, the noise of the docking bay followed for a moment before being replaced by the noises of conversations, clinking glasses, and music coming from the DJ droid in the back of the main room.

Looking around, Rhenn checked for any threats, but instead found that most of the people were focused on their own conversations. Workers coming off a shift most likely, Rhenn mused as he noted their grease-stained overalls and dirty appearances.

One person stood out, however. It wasn’t her clothes that made her stand out, she was in similarly plain-workgarb that blended in with the rest of the crowd. She was Evereni.

Rhenn had actually never met an Evereni in person before–he had only ever heard stories of their people. The stories said they were a ruthless species, that they destroyed their homeworld and would betray any “allies” if it benefited them.

But to Rhenn, she looked almost shy. She was sitting in a way that made her look withdrawn–back slumped, elbows on the table, just staring into her drink before glancing at people around her then back to her drink again.

Rhenn decided to approach her, maybe she has heard of Varnis before.

As he neared the table, she looked up almost taken aback, but then gave a friendly smile. Rhenn was glad he wore a helmet that shielded his facial expressions, because he hadn’t heard that Evereni have naturally sharp teeth. If it weren’t for how genuinely friendly her face looks, I’d think she was trying to threaten me.

“Hi!” The Evereni woman said. She tilted her head towards the chair across from her and continued, “care to take a seat? I could use some good conversation.”

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This episode compiles play from the ASTROPRISMA system. You begin the game at the center of an unexplored star system, then move throughout the map, rolling on tables for what you find in each hex. We’ll be searching for one of the planets in the Hebekrr system where we’ll try to find Varnis, Rhenn’s target.

When you find a space station (settlement in ASTROPRISMA language), you can take a few types of actions: you can run combat simulations, you can go to stores, you can meet the residents of the station, among a couple other options. I’ve worked those options into a narrative as I take them!

Next week episode, we’ll see who this Evereni woman is and if she has any information for Rhenn!