A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

STAR WARS: TALES FROM THE OUTER RIM

Luck of the Draw

From the Adventures of Zac Muleer

-2-

"Trainer Six, match speed and tighten up formation. You're flying low and off about six degrees." Zac watched as the rear Z-95 altered its flight path and moved to its correct position. "Better," he said and the clicked off his comm. Pulling the headset down around his neck, he slumped back in the semi-comfortable chair in the cockpit of an older model Corellian freighter. He stretched his arms out to either side and could barely touch the walls on either side of him.

At least I have some room to move around, Zac thought. Six weeks into space training, and his snubfighter scores weren't improving as fast as he wanted them to. The original freighter pilot had taken a turn for the worst from his Talusian Fever and transferred off the station. Zac was getting better with the freighter, but his scores in the Z-95 simulations had leveled off, while his class was steadily improving. But his knowledge of the limitations and capabilities of the freighter had been vastly expanded. So much that Zac was beginning to find errors (or at least miscalculations) in the regulation manuals. May as well be a droid. I can get a job for cargo delivery.

"Zac?" Fayla's voice over the private comm channel.

He clicked over to the channel and keyed up his mic. "Yeah, Fayla. Zac here. What's up?"

"We've got a cargo shipment of crystallized Tibanna gas entering the system in a few cycles. We're at bingo fuel, so I've got to take the squadron back to the hangar, but I need you to keep flying and escort that freighter in. We'll be sending them to Docking Bay Twenty two on the far side of the shipyard, where the manufacturing takes place." Unstable gases, like tibanna, were a necessity in both modern weaponry and engine building. Tibanna gas was frequently used as hyperdrive coolant. But in crystal form they were used for a catalyst in weapon systems, increasing damage output. Unfortunately, until they were installed into the weapon systems, they were highly unstable, so the shipments usually aren't ordered until the last cycle.

Zac's mind filled with questions, but he knew he had limited time. "Why is the airspace clear?"

"Their escort was called back to Bespin, and we're out of fuel. No other ships are out at the moment, so you're it."

"No escort for a gas shipment?"

"CorSec is putting some fighters up now, but they don't see any reason they'll be needed, so they are taking their sweet time. They'll be a few cycles behind. I just need you there to ensure the pilot knows where he's going." She paused, and there was an edge in her voice. "Zac, there's one other thing."

"Fayla…."

"The administrator may not know that you are just a recruit."

"Fayla!"

"Look, Zac, it's my furry ass on the line if he finds out. I made the flight assignments and we are short on the flight roster. The lead instructor told me I had a choice – to let a trainee pilot the freighter or we put off spaceflight and keep you guys in the simulator. Only thing is, the base administrator never was told. For six weeks, the paperwork has been tied up and he still thinks the pilot of that freighter has been an instructor." There was a slight pause. "Just keep doing what you've been doing. This is nothing but routine."

Zac clicked his comlink, a sign that he had received the message, but didn't have anything to say. His ears burned under his headset and he could feel his heart racing with anger. Forcing himself to take several deep breaths, he began the rendezvous checklist and pulled back on the flight yoke, proceeding to the coordinates where the Bespin freighter was scheduled to exit hyperspace.

The comlink clicked and Fayla's voice was back, but this time is was on the broadcast channel. "Freighter Shadow Eclipse, this is Trainer Lead. Proceed to rendezvous coordinates of cargo hauler Smuggler's Vice and escort them into the station. Dual fighter escort is en route from Coronet."

Zac took a quick look out the viewport towards the planet of Corellia. A quick judge of the land masses told Zac that Coronet was on the far side of the planet. He tapped his comlink. "Roger, Trainer Lead. Shadow Eclipse headed to the rendezvous now." He hit the sublight engines and pulled toward the hyperspace lane where the gas crystal shipment would soon appear. Watching the countdown clock, he turned on his long range sensors, looking for anything. Still no sign of the fighter escort from Corellia. He watched thirteen blips disappear as the training squadron entered the hangar of the spaceyard station.

For the moment, he was alone in space. He took a deep breath and listened to the orchestra of his ship. The quiet whirring of the engines far behind him, combined with the soft popping of the air reprocessor, intermittently interrupted by beeping of the navicomputer soothed the anger he felt at being caught up in bureaucratic loopholes. At least he was flying, which was more Zac could say for the rest of his class.

A klaxon alarm jolted Zac from his trance. Proximity alarm. Zac throttled up and twisted the flight yoke hard, pushing the freighter down and away from his stationary position. He flicked the switches controlling the sound of the alarms and keyed up his comlink while watching the sensors. A single freighter appeared on the scope, but was off course. The name appeared above the blip. "Smuggler's Vice, this is Shadow Eclipse. You are exiting hyperspace at two-one-two mark five-eight. You are off by thirteen klicks. Please respond." The incoming freighter barreled out of hyperspace right through Zac's previous position and was headed directly for the planet's spaceyard dock.

Only static answered him.

Cursing – and knowing the comm was still active – Zac pulled on the flight yoke, bringing the Shadow Eclipse in line behind the freighter. He pushed the throttle up. "Smuggler's Vice, you are cleared to land in Docking Bay Twenty-two on the Corellian spaceyard. Please adjust your heading and cut your speed to prepare for docking maneuvers."

Still only static.

"Blast it." Zac hit the afterburners and closed to two klicks behind the cargo ship. He began a full scan of the vessel and adjusted his comm channel. "Corellian Spaceyard, this is Shadow Eclipse. We seem to have a problem out here with the cargo hauler Smuggler's Vice. I'm hailing them on the comm and haven't received a response. They have not verified the docking procedures and haven't cut their sublight engines." Zac quickly calculated the trajectory. "And they're still headed right for the station."

"Roger, Shadow Eclipse. We're hailing them as well. See if you can get their attention."

Zac twisted the yoke and flew the Shadow Eclipse at an angle above the Smuggler's Vice. He had closed the distance to less than a klick now, but needed to be even closer to determine if there were any life forms aboard. With afterburners at eighty-five percent, Zac wasn't going to be able to keep up for too much longer. The station was only ten klicks away.

Zac looked up through the viewport and could see the cargo freighter clearly now. Scorch marks littered the side of the hauler and the engines were sparking as they strained to keep up to speed. Zac twisted the Shadow Eclipse father around the axis so he could see the escape pods. There were no escape pods , but rather than see an empty pod bay, there was a gaping hole in the side of the ship. Zac could actually see the gangways and interior hallways.

"Uh, control, we have a problem. Smuggler's Vice looks like it was attacked before it entered hyperspace. No escape pod bays, and I can see a significant hull breach. I'm reading massive technological failures, so I'm going to assume…" Zac checked the final scan. "Yeah, there are no life forms aboard." He strained against his own seat harness to look inside the cockpit window. Zac couldn't see if anything was in the cockpit or not. Even with a hull breach most freighters were equipped with an emergency failsafe in the cockpit.

"Get clear, Shadow Eclipse. We'll have to… wait… Shadow Eclipse, please verify Smuggler Vice's trajectory." Alarms were sounding in the background of the comm and Zac knew that their calculations were showing an impact.

Zac's comlink beeped. "Roger that, calculating impact zone." The comlink showed it was Fayla. He switched channels. "Fayla, you might have wished you stayed in your ship."

"I heard, Zac. What can we do?"

Zac couldn't answer her. Closer to the station, now eight klicks away, Zac's calculations appeared on the monitor showing a direct impact with the training wing of the station. "Fayla, you can get the hell off the station!" He switched back to the emergency comm channel. "Corellian spaceyard, this is Shadow Eclipse. The Smuggler's Vice is headed for the docking platforms of sector twelve of the station, where the training school is located! You've got to blow this junk out of the sky!"

"That's a negative, Shadow Eclipse. Once it's in range of our guns, we can't guarantee the cargo won't affect the station."

By the Force, this stuff is so explosive that it would damage the station from a klick out? Zac thought.

The station communicator continued, "Are there any guns on board your vessel?"

"Negative. No tractor beam, either."

Zac's trajectory calculations came back to him with a stark warning. A mechanical voice played over his headset, "Station impact in one minute."

"What a great time for CorSec to be dragging their feet."

"Cut the chatter, Shadow Eclipse." Zac knew that he had left his comm on. He also didn't care.

Fayla's signal was beeping in, but Zac ignored it. Well, only one thing to do. "Corellian Spaceyard, I'm going to try something." Zac wasn't sure how he was going to explain what was going through his head, but without guns or a tractor beam, he had very limited options. Very slowly, he began pulling up on the flight yoke. Increasing power to the shields, he felt his freighter shudder as he pressed the shielded freighter against the renegade cargo hauler.

More alarms sounded as the shield console went blood red and screeched warnings at him. Sparks flew out of the console beside him and showered the entire cockpit, some of them stinging Zac's cheek. He was blinded temporarily, as he quickly turned his face away from the console. With a firm grip on the yoke, he kept control of the freighter and pulled up slightly harder. The Shadow Eclipse was only half the size of the Smuggler's Vice, so Zac knew it would require all of the force he could muster to shift the trajectory of the Smuggler's Vice. These shields aren't going to hold anyway, Zac thought. He slapped the shield console and directed the power to the engines. The shields disappeared and the hull of the Shadow Eclipse slammed into the hull of the cargo freighter,causing even more alarms to blare in his ears. But Zac could see the starfield in front of him begin to shift. The spaceyard grew quickly and began to fill the entirety of his viewport forcing Zac to pull even harder on the flight yoke.

The screech of straining metal filled his ears and drowned out the alarms as the communications system blew out. Wincing against the noise, Zac stared up at the ship that was blocking most of his view. He could barely see outside his viewport, but he knew the station to be close. The Smuggler's Vice was going to pass barely over the hull of the spaceyard hull, leaving no room for the Shadow Eclipse. With all power to the sublight engines and afterburners, he would never be able to stop or reverse fast enough. Zac slammed his fist down on the repulsorlifts, which were reserved for landing the large craft.

The repulsor field slammed into the hull of the station and bounced the Shadow Eclipse away from the hull of the station, a hair's breadth from colliding head on and completely destroying the Shadow Eclipse. The ship tumbled end over end, and the rear of his freighter slammed into the Smuggler's Vice, pushing the craft out and away from the station, but severely damaging both crafts. The cockpit around Zac went dark and the cockpit's emergency door slammed shut as the cabin behind him lost pressure from a hull breach.

The world around him fell silent. Zac was breathing heavily, watching the stars rotate around the cockpit and listening only to his heart beating in his chest. He could barely hear the alarms sounding from the cockpit consoles. Every few seconds, he could see the Smuggler's Vice pass his viewport, spinning out of control away from the station and away from Corellia.

After several attempt to restart what little ship he had left, Zac slumped in his seat just to watch the stars pass by the view port. In waiting, Zac looked for familiar constellations. With only several seconds to identify each group of stars, Zac's eyes quickly grew heavy. The adrenaline was beginning to wear off and he felt himself on the verge of nodding off when floodlights filled the cockpit and a rescue shuttle moved into position to pick him up.

When his hatch opened, he climbed out of the stale, warm air of the remnant of the Shadow Eclipse and took a long, deep breath of cool, recycled air of the rescue shuttle. His eyes were open for only a moment when he felt Fayla's fierce embrace. Her head was buried in Zac's flight suit, her body shaking.

"I was so worried. I thought…." Her voice trailed off.

"I know." Zac softly embraced her back.

She was silent for a while. The two other crew members worked around her awkwardly to secure the data from the Shadow Eclipse and seal up the hatch, without making much eye contact with Zac. "I shouldn't have put you out there," she finally said with an disparaging sigh.

"If you hadn't we'd both be dead," Zac replied with a grin.

She sniffed and laughed, still embracing Zac tightly. "Typical Corellian bravado."