The Hydian Way is the trade corridor along which Far Ranger carries out a covert supply journey, using routine cargo stops to conceal its contacts with resistance groups. It gives the crew both a practical route for moving ionite and a plausible reason to appear in Imperial ports, though traffic and rival ships also impose limits on how safely they can travel.

A Route for Concealment

Thi Xon Yimmon chose a course that would make Far Ranger look unremarkable: a freighter stopping at familiar ports to load and unload cargo. The ship traveled along the well-used Hydian Way toward the Corporate Sector, although the crew had no intention of making that destination. Instead, they planned to stop at Bandomeer, contact the nascent resistance cell there, and then proceed through Botajef, Celanon, Feriae Junction, and Toprawa to reach a surviving resistance network.

The route's ordinary commercial character was part of the cover. In Imperial ports, Far Ranger could pass as one more working cargo ship rather than a vessel carrying subversives. The strategy depended on appearing mundane, not on disappearing entirely: the crew hoped that a sequence of commonplace stops would attract less suspicion than an unusual or direct journey.

Cargo and Resistance Contacts

At Bandomeer, the Imperial presence included one or two Inquisitors, so Jax Pavan and Laranth Tarak remained aboard Far Ranger in dormancy. I-Five and Den Dhur went ashore under the pretense of bartering for ionite. Their transaction also brought contact and an exchange of information with members of the local Whiplash group.

Ionite made the passage more than a means of reaching allies. Because it cancels either positive or negative charge, it could be used against shield generators and communications grids; it had also proved useful in weaponry. After loading ore and ingots, Far Ranger continued along the Hydian Way with enough ionite to meet the needs of its allies on Toprawa. The ship reached that world ten days after leaving Coruscant, having made several intermediate port calls.

Traffic and a Change of Course

The Hydian Way was not free of opposition. In a later conversation, Aren Folee described the trade route between Toprawa and the Telos system as recently overrun by ships belonging to the resistance's competitors. Those vessels were substantially larger than the modest cargo ships used by the local Rangers, making the route a place of fierce competition rather than a neutral passage.

Since Far Ranger's cargo holds were modest, Folee advised Jax Pavan and Laranth Tarak not to continue farther up the Hydian Way, but to replot their course where they were. They arranged instead to off-load as much ionite as their Toprawa allies could use. The route thus changes function over the course of the journey: it first provides cover and a chain of supply stops, then becomes a constraint that forces the travelers to reconsider how much farther their ship can safely go.