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Synopsis:
On Morado, young Nyo loses another hand of sabacc to
the Herglic gambler Doune. Down to one credit, he is
ready to give up, when a mysterious figure enters the
room and challenges Doune to a hand. The man reveals
himself to be, by all appearances, the legendary Kinnin
Vo-Shay, who should be over 100 years old, or dead. With
no credits to wager, Vo-Shay is snubbed by Doune, but
Nyo tosses him his last credit. The game is on. When the
final hand is complete, Vo-Shay and Nyo walk out with
nearly 250,000 credits. Vo-Shay gives Nyo 200,000 of it,
since it was based on his credit, and talks with the
boy. Nyo had been in the game in order to win enough
money to buy a lightsaber, a link to the Jedi he so
admires, from a black marketeer on Nar Shaddaa. Vo-Shay
confirms that he is the Vo-Shay of legend, but does not
reveal any more. The two head together to Nar Shaddaa to
purchase Nyo’s lightsaber. En route, Vo-Shay speaks
with a mysterious disembodied voice, which Nyo will
later hear but receive no explanation for (until later).
After leaving Morado, they, aboard the Ashanda Ray, are
attacked by forces loyal to Doune, but Vo-Shay and Nyo
escape unscathed to Nar Shaddaa. On Nar Shaddaa, they
find that the lightsaber has already been sold . . . to
Doune. Doune challenges Vo-Shay to another hand of
sabacc. If Vo-Shay wins, Nyo gets the lightsaber. If
Doune wins, Doune can have the pendant that Vo-Shay
wears and which is rumoured to be the source of his
amazing luck. Knowing that even if they win, they won’t
be allowed to leave with the lightsaber, Vo-Shay throws
the game. Victorious, Doune simply tosses away the
lightsaber (which Nyo retrieves) and heads out with his
new pendant. Later, Vo-Shay comments that it’s not a
lucky or mystical item at all, but his fiddling with it
was simply used to distract his opponents. Doune will be
in for a rude awakening when he tries to use it in a “sure”
win. Nyo and Vo-Shay return to the Ashanda Ray, where
Vo-Shay explains that when the Ashanda Ray was lost in
the Tyus Cluster, back when he supposedly vanished for
good, it was trapped between the black holes of the
area, stuck in a place where time as we know it did not
exist quite right. Others had been trapped there as
well, including a Jedi Master named Aryzah, who helped
Vo-Shay escape. Aryzah’s spirit is the ghostly
companion Vo-Shay was speaking with, and she travels
with him, continuing beside him on a spiritual plane, so
to speak. After Vo-Shay tells Nyo this, he offers him a
position as first mate. Aryzah welcomes with a kind “May
the Force be with you,” to which Vo-Shay replies “ .
. . you’re gonna need it.”
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