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"Millennium Falcon"


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Interregnum

Over time, Han had intended to find out more about the ship, but he ultimately asked himself how much he really wanted to know.  He might find out something unpleasant about her history, after all.  It would be the same as finding out something about himself.
 
chapter 23:
 
Jadak and Poste are directed to a hairstylist named Zenn Bien on New Balosar.  Rej Taunt had them dropped off on the way, telling them she’d never actually owned the ship, but could probably tell them where it went.
 
Jadak has also learned that his rival for the treasure is an attorney named Lestra Oxic whose photo he recognizes from Dr. Sompa’s office.  The lawyer has had a long history working with some of the same members of the Republic Group.  One of them might have told him about the treasure and Jadak’s involvement.  This could mean that Oxic is the one who’s been funding his recovery without realizing that it’s the ship that’s the key.
 
Jadak himself isn’t sure how, but he’s been working on trying to decipher the mneumonic phrase.  He remembers that the senators had told him an Antarian Ranger on Toprawa was expecting him and the phrase was designed as a memory aid for her.  She must have known what to do when he arrived arrived.  The phrase might be telling her how to do it.
 
The modification made by the Jedi and the phrase could be linked or some other way to help the ship do what it was supposed to do. 
 
In the Kindest Cut salon, they meet with Zenn Bien who tells them her story. She had left Sullust not realizing that she wouldn’t be treated as an equal by other beings in the galaxy. 
 
She’d gone to Tuerto where jobs were scarce and she found herself using her talents in criminal activities.  She helped steal ships for the first couple of years, working with Quip Fargil, a human who loved to joyride.  He’d hired her a couple of times, too, but she wanted to turn him down when he wanted to hire her again.
 
It was a 50-year old YT-1300 that had been in Imperial impound for a long time.  They were going to sell it for parts in the Outer Rim after meeting a contact at Sriluur who was going to ride with them to Tungra and supervise the dismantling personally. 
 
She agreed to help Quip, so they went to the impound lot where an Imperial contact makes the arrangements for the theft of the ship.  When they reached Sriluur, they get the fake registry and name for the ship Gone to Pieces from their Verpine contact, Luufkin.
 
They were only a few hours of Lutrilla when they were pulled out of hyperspace by an Interdictor Cruiser.  It seemed that the Yarith system was restricted space.  The sudden reversion to realspace damaged their maneuvering thrusters. After they were boarded, Quip asked for permission to make repairs to the ship and was given twelve hours.
 
Zenn was surprised and disappointed to find several small beings, Jawas, Squibs and Chadra-Fan hiding in the holds, having boarded at Sriluur with the intent of stealing parts from the cruiser’s hyperdrive to upgrade this ship.
 
She realized that Quip was working for the Rebellion.  She helped him get the parts he needed when they were unexpectedly told to leave ahead of time.  It wasn’t enough time for them to get off the cruiser before the sabotage was discovered, though.  Fortunately, the speed of Gone to Pieces got them away.
 
A day later, they were in the Tungra system and Zenn with to work as a freelance scavenger with some of the Jawas, Squibs and Chadra-Fan for a while.  They had intended to remain neutral, but it didn’t last long. 
 
With the Empire bcoming more brutal, SoroSuub gaining control of Sullust and other atrocities, she persuaded her team to help carrying out missions for Sian Tevv and Nien Nunb.  They became full-fledged members of the Rebel Alliance right before the Battle of Yavin. 
 
When the war ended, they came here to devote their lives to beautifying instead of destroying.  Quip kept the ship but it was blown up at the battle of Bilgbringi nine years after Yavin.
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          •    Sian Tevv was introduced in Rebel Dawn and appeared in several X-Wing books.  I’m sure we remember Nien Nunb.
          •    The Battle of Bilbringi Zenn referred to was the one that ended in the death of Grand Admiral Thrawn in The Last Command.
 

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chapter 24:
 
Han tells Leia that they could give this up and go back to Coruscant.  Leia doesn’t think she can be of much help to Luke right now anything.  It’s probably more important that they see this through to help Allana. 
 
Dr. Parlay Thorp hasn’t seen the Millennium Falcon in years.  She didn’t come up with the name, though.  Here at Aurora, they specialize in prolonging life and reducing the signs of age, but she’s glad Han let the Falcon keep its lines and dents.
 
Dr. Sompa comes along and falls for Leia’s joke that Han needs some rejuvenation before Dr. Thorp explains they are here to trace the history of their ship.  He is intrigued that the Falcon is a YT-1300 over a hundred years old and is very interested in the story of how she came to have it.  He rushes off quickly.
 
Dr. Thorp tells them how she and her medical team brought their talents to worlds ravaged by disease and natural disasters.  Becoming the owner of the Millennium Falcon gave her the opportunity to reach the entire galaxy.  With donations, she was able to add a couple of medical droids and some equipment to the ship.
 
She learned about the world of Hijado which was in need of relief.  It wasn’t until she got there that she found out why.  The Empire was still there following a terrible attack.  It didn’t seem this world would be the site of a Rebel base.  Most of the cities had been bombed back several centuries in terms of technology.  The Imperials were setting up a base down there and rescue teams were not allowed to evacuate survivors.  When the medical teams finally were allowed to land, she was greeted by a survivor named Noneen who told her the Imperials didn’t explain the reason for the attack.
 
It soon came out that Hijado was made an example because its sector governor upset the Emperor.  Noneen assured her that there was no dying here, only going.
 
She worked to retrieve bodies over the next week which were then burned ritually.  She soon realized that there were no elderly people there.  Noneen pointed out older people who didn’t look any older than she was.
 
They began rebuilding within a month, barely grieving their dead.  Dr. Thorp began compiling data that showed they had an unusual ability to heal quickly.  Noneen and some of his comrades came out of the forest with tree sap one day and painted the Falcon to look like a vicious beast to prepare it for vengeance for those who went.
 
She tried to explain that she was a healer, but he felt she could help save lives by flying them over the Imperial base.  She agreed if he would let her live among them for a time so she could learn why they lived as long as they did.  Noneen smiled and told her that there was no technique.  They just lived as long as they wished, but he did agree to allow samples to be taken.
 
She flew over the base, was fired upon and left it behind intact, despite Noneen’s insistence that it wasn’t there anymore.  The Falcon was cleaned up upon her return and she stayed to do research.  They seemed to know when someone was about to die, using leaving as the term.  Sometimes she would be looking at a person and be told they were gone.  That person would die soon after.
 
They knew that the village would be attacked because they saw it gone.  She wondered if they had some kind of precognitive abilities in the Force.  During the second year, however, her new friends became somber.  Noneen told her she was going.  Though she put herself through many tests, nothing showed.  Noneed put her through a ritual that he claimed was partially successful, but she became very ill not long afterwards.
 
She finally discovered she’d had a congenital disease that lay dormant for years.  Something was holding it in check.  She would have to stay here until she learned their secrets.  Unfortunately, Noneen told her that they were leaving long before she would.
 
After another year, they came to clean the ship up, telling her it was leaving.  Not long after that, Dax Doogun showed up with his circus and offered her more than the ship was worth.  She was able to move on then to finance the medical and research center on Hijado.
 
Her team remained there for ten years, long enough to see the Imperial base destroyed.  She wishes she could say she put her discoveries to good use at Aurora, but they never learned the key to their abilities or long life.  She never gave up on the theory that they had the Force.
 
After the base was destroyed, the Empire returned to make another example of Hijado.  She doesn’t know what became of Noneen or his people.  Someday, they may unlock the secret of long life.  Dr. Sompa himself had a patient come out of a coma after sixty years. 
 
As for how she got the ship herself, it was donated to her by a man named Quip Fargil who was on Vaced when he gave her the ship.
 
Sompa assures Oxic that it has to be the same ship.  Oxic agrees there is some circumstantial evidence, but Solo’s had that ship for a long time.  Sompa explains that the family is looking into the history of the ship.  It’s ironic, but it could very well be that Jadak is searching for the ship at the same time that Solo is looking into its past.
 
They don’t’ know where Jadak is now, though.  Dr. Thorp got the ship on Vaced by a human named Quip Fargil.  The Solos are headed there now. 
 
Oxic wonders if they can get the ship before Jadak does, forcing him to come to them.  Koi isn’t excited about stealing the ship, though.  Leia Organa was responsible for helping rescue her people.  Besides, his underlings have proven they’re not up to the task.
 
Oxic thinks it may just be an issue of supervising them.
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          •    Did Sompa eavesdrop on the conversation after he left in a hurry? How did he know what Thorp told the Solos at the end when he wasn’t there?  He could have stayed for the conversation after all. 
 
 

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chapter 25:
 
The world of Vaced is quite primitive by galactic standards.  They’ve spent two days searching for Quip Fargil with no luck.  Leia wonders why he would give away a starship with a military-grade hyperdrive. 
 
Han suggests that he might have needed to get rid of it, maybe couldn’t make the payments.  This place seems more like a world to hide, though.  Allana suggest they place an ad indicating their interest in finding him.  He might come to them.
 
Jadak and Poste are already here, eyeing the dirt lane that’s supposed to lead them to Quip Fargil’s cabin.  Zenn had remembered the man had changed his name to Vec Minim,but had no other information.  Poste points out that Zenn could have been wrong and the ship didn’t blow up at Bilbringi.
 
It could have changed hands many times and they are running low of funds.  He thinks they should go back to Nar Shaddaa, earn some money and hire a slicer to find out where the ship is. 
 
Quip reluctantly lets them in when they prove they know Zenn.  He asks if they are the ones who placed the HoloNet message.  They play along, pretending to be reporters looking for a story.  Quip is surprised that they are not aware the new owners of the ship are here.  He’s proud of what the ship can do,but admits that most of it was probably due to Han Solo’s piloting.
 
He gave the Millennium Falcon the name himself.  Poste spits out his drink in surprise.  Not getting the reason, Jadak asks for a refill.
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chapter 26:
 
Poste can’t believe Jadak’s never heard of the Millennium Falcon.  They are on a rooftop, looking down the ship now, having already watched Han Solo, his wife, a young child and a droid board.
 
Poste explains how Solo and his wife, Leia Organa, are heroes, having fought in every war since the Rebellion and were instrumental in winning them.  These are not people who should be crossed. 
 
Jadak tells him that, regardless of what’s happened in the last sixty years, that ship is the Stellar Envoy.  It’s the key to their finding the treasure.  He’s willing to take over if Poste can’t get past the identity of her current owners. 
 
He thinks they should answer the Solos’ HoloNet message and arrange to meet with them.  While he’s doing that, Poste should steal the ship.  He will have to rent a slicer droid to help overcome the security on the ship and fly it to Lesser Vaced.
 
Han, Leia and Allana sit in an eatery with a man who looks far too young to be 76 years old.  He seems to be familiar with the names connected to the Rebellion, but there’s something fishy about him that both Leia and Han pick up on. 
 
He explains away his youthful appearance to genetics.  He tells them that he flew Gone to Pieces and renamed her Millennium Falcon before giving her away.  He stole her from an Imperial impound facility where it had been after being confiscated from a crime boss on Nar Shaddaa.
 
He gave the ship away because he fell in love with her.
 
The slicer droid cannot disable the security system without a jamming device that is helpfully for sale at its owner’s shop.  It could be delivered here, but not without the owner learning some of the operation planned. 
 
Poste races back to the shop, rents the jammer, comes back  and waits half an hour while its battery starts to dim trying to get into the ship.  The droid warns him the protocol droid may raise the boarding ramp and lock it if it figures out the comm. is jammed.
 
Poste runs up the ramp to find the droid trying to call Captain Solo.  They shut him down, but the slicer droid runs into a problem.  It can pilot the ship, but the first time they try to use the sublight engines or the hyperdrive, the ship was default to the place where it came from.  It can’t get around that.
 
Additionally, there are two people boarding the ship now.  A human and Nautolan appear.  They are the same ones whose speeder Poste fired at on Nar Shaddaa.  They are Remata and Cynner.  Cynner starts to take Poste to the back when the young man breaks off running. 
 
After searching the ship, they determine he went below deck.  They can’t find him there, though.  Returning to the cockpit, they note the droid is gone, but they don’t need it or the kid anyway.  Cynner reports they have the ship and are raising it now.
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chapter 27:
 
Still posing as Quip Fargil, Jadak spins yarns about his adventures in the ship, related to him by the real Quip, and how he came up with the name.  He tells them how he had a mission to take out the Bilbringi shipyards during the Imperial years.  He was supposed to ferry a baradium missle that had been banned even by the Empire.
 
It was dangerous so he flew slowly. He was one jump shy of Bilbringi when he chickened out, afraid of seeing the Falcon destroyed.  He knows people were counting on him.
 
He also knew the Rebels would come after him for dereliction of duty, so he handed the ship over to Parlay Thorp.  At that moment, Poste comes running in and tells them the Falcon is launching.  Han rushes out the door, claiming the thieves won’t get far.
 
Poste already knows that.
 
Security meets them at the landing bay, as the Falcon returns   Han can’t help but remember when the ship went missing on Dellalt when he and Chewie were looking for the Queen of Ranroon.  This is more personal, though.
 
When they board with the security forces, they find Councilor Oxic there, admitting that he’s the lawyer for the thieves.  He’s savvy enough to not let his clients make any statements.  Oxic asks to speak with Leia alone. 
 
He points out that pressing charges will result in a lengthy arraignment and trial process that will keep them here much longer than they likely intended or want to be.  That’s if the defendants aren’t automatically given probation ahead of time anyway.  He prevails upon his longstanding association with Leia to consider accepting a plea of joyriding which will only require a small fine to reimburse the Solos for their trouble.
 
Leia suspects he’s not being totally honest with her, but she puts the offer to Han who hates the thought of letting the thieves off so easily,but doesn’t want to be here any longer than he has to.
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chapter 28:
 
Jadak tells Poste that Koi Quire visited him at the hospital, claiming to be an adjustor for an insurance company.  The man she’s with is Lestra Oxic who was representing the Colicoids on Holess and whom he also recognizes as posing with Dr. Sompa in photos at the hospital.
 
They have been following him since Nar Shaddaa and will be going after the Falcon now.
 
He wants another try at the ship.  If the Solos stay here, they can take another try at it.  If they launch, Poste will just have to follow his lead.  In fact, they can go find out now.  They walk over the ship where Han Solo is grumbling about the situation.
 
Jadak asks if he’s going to continue his search for previous owners.  If so, he would be interested in getting a lift to Toprawa to get some spare parts.  Han agrees, lets them aboard and refuses to let Threepio get in a word when the droid recognizes Poste.
 
Han gives them a brief rundown of how far back he’s tracked, including Dr. Thorp who works at Aurora Medical.  That gets Jadak’s attention.  He tells Poste to keep Solo occupied outside the cockpit after lift-off so he can have a look.
 
At lift-off, Han and Leia admit that they don’t really trust their two passengers.  There’s something off about them, especially Quip.  There isn’t anything wrong with what he said.  It’s just that his emotions rang true when he said he fell in love with the ship, but it felt like he was leaving something out about his Bilbringi mission.
 
It’s like he’s distanced himself from that part of his past.  Either that, or he’s telling a story that isn’t really his.  She’s more concerned about Lestra Oxic happening to be on the ship when it came back.  She’s known him all her life, mentioning how he represented some of the loyalists during the Clone Wars era.
 
Oxic is one of those who keep places like Aurora Medical in business.  He was a friend of her father’s who appreciated the lawyer for taking on cases that weren’t politically expedient for him.  It’s not out of the question that he would defend a couple of ship thieves, but it’s a bit beneath his usual clientele.  He recently represented the Colicoids in their case against the GA.
 
He’s also fabulously wealthy with an extensive collection of Republicana.  Han wonders if he hired the thieves to make off with the Falcon so he could add it to his collection. 
 
Poste appears and starts asking Han about the modifications he’s made to the ship over the years.  Knowing that will take time, Leia steps out as the ship goes to hyperspace.
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          •    One would think that people would learn to listen to Threepio after a few times that they’ve dismissed him while he’s trying to tell them something important.
 

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chapter 29:
 
Jadak is playing dejarik when Leia leaves the cockpit. Shortly after that, Han and Poste step out.  He hurries up and checks over the navicomputer.  He finds the original faceplate with the word Rubicon on it and tries to match it to the phrase.
 
If he can find out what the phrase is supposed to do, he can leave the ship at Toprawa and let the Solos be on their way.  He starts entering numbers into the computer when he hears a startled cry from elsewhere in the ship.
 
In the port ring corridor, Han tries to pull the old transponder out of his pocket as it tries to shock him with electricity.  Jadak runs to him, with Leia, Allana and Threepio coming from another direction.  She decides it’s time for the two passengers to tell them what’s going on.
 
Threepio explains that Poste was the one who jammed communications and shut him down.  Jadak adds that they weren’t really working with the other thieves, though. 
 
He explains how he was a pilot 72 years ago when he was commissioned to fly this ship on a mission.  Master She, a Jedi, had put something aboard the Stellar Envoy then and he thinks it might be the transponder Han is holding.
 
He worked for the Republic Group for ten years, carrying out many missions.  His last one was to deliver this ship to an Anatarian Ranger on Toprawa named Folee.  He never made it.  When they were pursued by clone pilots, he jumped to Nar Shaddaa where he accidentally collided with a ship leaving orbit.
 
He’s been in a coma for 60 years, much of it in the Aurora Medical Facility. 
 
From what he’s been able to figure out, Lestra Oxic had him moved to Aurora and has been chasing him since he left.  The two thieves they left on Vaced work for him and he believes Dr. Sompa, who supervised his recovery, does, too.
 
Leia mentions that they’ve already been on Obroa-skai and spoken with Dr. Thorp.  Jadak assumes that Sompa was able to figure out that the Envoy was the Falcon.  Oxic would have tried stealing it in the hopes that Jadak wouldn’t have a choice but to cooperate if he wanted a cut of the treasure.
 
He was told the ship held the key to a treasure sufficient to restoring Republic honor to the galaxy.  He doesn’t know anymore.  The Republic Group set it up after they saw where Palpatine was heading.  They didn’t know then that the war would end with the Jedi dead and Palpatine unmovable.
 
The treasure could be weapons or credits.  They will have to check the ship for tracking devices just in case Oxic was hoping to follow them.  Poste admits there was a slicer droid aboard, but he never saw it leave.  Han asks why the transponder started buzzing him.
 
Jadak admits he was entering a code sequence into the navicomputer.  Allana thinks they should put the transponder back where they found it.
 
After confirming there are no homing beacons aboard, Threepio reveals that there is a signal coming from the escape pod access.  They find the slicer droid there.  As an anti-theft precaution, it does have a homing beacon attached.
 
It’s been transmitting since the ship launched.  They deactivate it.  Jadak goes back to enter the navicomputer code again and the ship jumps to hyperspace.
 
At the droid shop, the owner tells Oxic that they found the obvious tracker, but there’s another one that will function even if the droid is deactivated.  The ship is nearing Toprawa, but it just jumped to lightspeed.  The coordinates correspond to Tandun Three.
 
 After Chewbacca’s death, Han had sometimes wished the ship would just stop working in protest of the missing copilot.  He’d almost put her out of service when she didn’t mourn the way Han did. 
 
Over time, Leia filled the empty seat of the ship that lost so many more.  First Anakin, then Jacen who had understood the Vong enough to end the war before falling so far he didn’t even disappear into the Force when he died.  Han would like to believe he’s been exiled to Zonama Sekot and working toward redemption.
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chapter 30:
 
Han and Jadak compare racing stories until they get to Tandun III where, despite Threepio’s description of a young world, they find one that is barely habitable.  It would appear the Yuuzhan Vong got here first.
 
Whatever was there has to be gone now.  Han is about to leave when he discovers a very faint signal.  Jadak confirms it’s an old frequency used by the Republic Group.  Something down there recognized the ship. 
 
They fly the Falcon over a mesa where Han exposes a platform. He sets the ship down as it’s scanned by something.  The ship isn’t being authenticated.  Threepio determines that the escape pods exceed the template of the YT-1300.  Han has them dropped and they are recognized.
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chapter 31:
 
Han won’t let anyone go down the mechanical lift while they are on the ship.  After they get down the boarding ramp, the ship touches down on the lift and it tips over.
 
Han can’t see more than twenty meters ahead of him.  The Falcon is not able to maintain its balance on the lift.  Leia tries to send him support through the Force and realizes he’s wishing Jacen was there.
 
Jacen, who knew the Yuuzhan Vong better than anyone.  Leia tells Allana to reach deep into herself and find her father in the Force.  He wanted her to grow up in a galaxy that wasn’t at war. 
 
Jadak works to improvise the deck and Han is able to land.  Out of the viewport, he sees no sign of Leia, Allana, Threepio or Poste.
 
Leia and Poste are about to fall when the lift deck levels out.  Leia reaches for Allana who runs to her.  She sees Jacen living on in his daughter.  Allana doesn’t think she should have been able to help, but Leia tells her she was born to do it.
 
Han comes down the ramp, looks around and tells them they can’t stay here.  Leia just wants a quick look around.
 
In a chamber, they find a huge emblem that Leia recognizes as being one that hung in the Hall of Justice on Alderaan.  It was the emblem of the Republic.  Lestra Oxic arrives, with Koi Quire and several bodyguards.
 
He tells them that this particular one was on the podium of the Senate Rotunda.  It was cast in pure aurodium, orichalum and Coruscanthium.  Known as the Insignia of Unity, it was stolen while the Rotunda was being remodeled and replaced with a counterfeit seven years into Palpatine’s term as Supreme Chancellor.
 
The Republic Group was responsible, shipping it here until it could be returned and restore Republic honor to the galaxy.  It was hoped that those who’d fallen under Palpatine’s spell would be reawakened by it.
 
The replacement was found to have been a fake when the Senate was being restored in the wake of Grievous’ attack on Coruscant.  No one ever tried to find the original.  The Emperor didn’t care and most of the senators did by then anyway.  Collectors of Republicana have been searching for years.
 
He’s known from the beginning what it was and he’s spent a great deal of time, money and effort to find it.  He feels he’s right to lay claim to it.  A probe, however, reveals that this is also a fake. 
 
He’s devastated, surmising that the emblem disappeared much earlier than thought.  Koi supplies the name of the construction company which is now run by someone Oxic knows to be incredibly wealthy.  It’s also possible the Antarian Ranger stole it.
 
Han suggests he figure the puzzle out someplace else.  Groundquakes are starting.  Oxic offers Jadak and Poste payment to help him continue the search.  Allana wants to go, too, but Leia will not allow it.
 
After one last daring escape, the Millennium Falcon leaves as Tandum III breaks apart underneath them.
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          •    I’m not saying the Senate Rotunda couldn’t have been damaged when Grievous attacked Coruscant, but it looked okay to me until Yoda and Sidious went crazy in it.  Perhaps the renovations were done then?
 

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chapter 32:
 
Han shows his granddaughter which levers do what on the Falcon.  He thinks she’ll make a great pilot, like her Aunt Jaina.  Allana asks if she’s going to marry Jagged Fel. 
 
Han offers to stop by Hapes to see her mother.  Allana is alright with that, so long as she can continue staying with her grandparents. Han tells her that they aren’t going on treasure hunts all the time.
 
Leia enters with news that the GA is going to file criminal charges against Luke for dereliction of duty.  The Jedi don’t seem to be taking it seriously, but they should be getting back.  The old freighter does its job and powers up to jump to hyperspace.
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The End

 

  • Not sure if a history of the ship was necessary, but I suppose there were some plot developments that helped move the larger story forward.  

 
 
 
 

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