A Dark Path pt 7

Shawn and Victor received information they needed on a datapad from the Zabrak woman. They left Shoova's and called for transportation to the Iron Raven. Shawn contacted R7 and asked him to do systems diagnostics check and get the repulsor and sub light engines started. Shawn paid the lot attendant and ignored his inquires into their travels.

The pointed flat nose of the Iron Raven came into view. The sensors, life support systems, and crew cabins were kept in the bow of the ship. The cargo compartment ran the center of the ship. It had an engine pod on each side that had a sloping design almost the length of the ship. The cockpit sat on top just behind where the slope of the ship's nose ended. And of course the cargo ramp was located in the stern. The entire hull was painted various patch work colors in standard bland shades of gray. Shawn and Victor entered the freighter through the captain's door on the starboard side.

"Lemme see what you brought" Victor said. Shawn pointed and said "In there. Two duffle bags." Shawn began checking the rest of the ship. When he was satisfied that everything was in order he took the ship off of the landing pad. They dropped the Iron Raven at the shop that Shoova had provided. Victor and R7 took a speeder and Shawn took the bike to a temporary storage unit. "We gotta rent a larger place soon" Shawn said to Victor when they met back up. It would take a full day for the new nav computer to be installed with a bill of six thousand credits. Shawn and Victor used the time to pick up supplies for the trip to Nubia. After a stop in with a gun smith Shawn added a Merr-Sonn LD1 sniper rifle to the arsenal. A few hundred more credits got a night vision scope screen mounted on the weapon with galvanized coils for better velocity. Shawn and Victor spent the rest of the day on the holonet researching information on Nubia. The next morning Shawn, Victor, and R7 took their supplies to the repair shop to pick up the Iron Raven. They inspected the work and loaded their items into the ship when satisfied with the work. They took the Iron Raven to be loaded with crates of fungus from that had been brought in from Nal Hutta to support the pallet of Hutts on Nubia and close by planets. Soon thereafter the Iron Raven and its occupants were lifting off of Nar Shaddaa.

The trip to Nubia would take four days and several jumps. Even though the new nav computer would make sure they stayed on course and receive the latest chart updates Shawn let R7 make the astrogation calculations as he still didn't have enough skill to be confident in his own abilities. Shawn and Victor spent time in the small lounge brushing up on their pazzak skills when Victor asked the question that was hanging between them "Do you consider what were doing as murder?" Shawn took a breath before replying "Yeah. But I think of it this way. Shoova ordered the hit and asked us to do it. Now he has enough credits and power to have a warrant issued to classify him as a criminal and therefore a legal target. Then he would be probably be picked up by planet security and killed in jail, or some bounty hunter would track him down and get paid. Anyway you look at it the guy is gonna wind up dead. He signed his own death warrant when he pissed off the Hutt." "So did you figure all this out while we were sitting here?" Victor asked. Shawn laughed lightly and played another card "No no. Its something I've been thinking about since we took this job. I mean its not like I'm new to killing. Who knows how many Imps we killed with spec force. Even if it was for a cause it was still killing." Oh I agree. But is contract killing something you want to do for a living? By the way I'm staying with eighteen. Catch me if you can." Victor said. Shawn played his next card then said "I'm busted. Your Hand." He paused for a moment as he picked up the cards to separate the side deck. "No. Nor do I want to be a career criminal. But I can't see myself running a droid shop like my father. I really don't know where my future is."

They had to jump outside of Toydaria then Osarian, and Rhommaool. They put them on the Hydian way. A frequent shipping lane that took them to apart of the galaxy known as the core worlds. One more junction put them on another ancient and very busy route known as the Correllian Run. Nubia was located directly on this trade route. Victor joined Shawn in the cockpit before they were due to exit hyperspace. Shawn checked the systems of the sub light engines and did a pre warm. The buzzer went off to announce that only a minute remained until they were supposed to exit the clouded blue tunnel of hyperspace. Shawn rested his hand on the hyperdrive lever and watched the chronometer count down to zero. A feeling of dread overwhelmed Shawn just as he was pulling the lever to dis-engage the hyperdrive As the stars faded into view with the planet Nubia Shawn's dread was warranted. Off the port bow about thirty kilometers was the distinctive wedge shape of an Imperial Star destroyer. Shawn's eyes widened as adrenaline flooded his body. He yelled "R7 get me an exit vector". "Those are imperial customs cruisers with that SD" Victor said speaking of the three ships supporting the Star Destroyer. "Wait a sec" Victor said. "Look, there's a bulk tanker tethered to that SD. Its fueling. And I bet those customs ships are waiting their turn for a drink. This could be better for us. Just punch those sub lights and get us planet side. I don't feel like an Imp inspection today and if we sit here any longer its just gonna draw attention to ourselves. We can do this." Shawn throttled the ship up and said "Okay." "Listen Shawn, we knew this place had an Imp presence and we've been in Imp territory a hundred times over." "Yeah but it never hurts to have an exit strategy before they can get a tractor beam on us." Shawn replied.

Shawn contacted planetary control for clearance to enter the atmosphere. After transmitting their cargo manifest they were cleared. Next he contacted the receiving port and got instructions to land at an unloading dock. The Iron Raven punched through the fiery entrance of atmosphere and they found themselves soaring over an ocean of Nubia. As they descended through the upper cloud cover Nuba City and the mountains that bordered the eastern side came into view. Skyscrapers and air speeders littered the smog filled sky of Nubia's capital city. The Iron Raven dropped into a traffic lane and Shawn piloted the ship toward their co-ordinance. The repulsor engines kicked in as Shawn leveled the freighter off. A large set of doors opened below the ship. Yellow and purple marker lights flashed around the opening. Shawn lowered the ship down inside of the warehouse. A controllers voice came over the comms and instructed Shawn to keep the repulsors at five percent. The Iron Raven sat suspended just over the floor with its landing gear down. It pitched and rolled slightly while a droid powered by its own repulsor circled the freighter. It attached itself with magnetic clamps to the front of the Iron Raven. It slowly tugged the ship into a docking area with about sixty other freighters getting loaded and un-loaded. The droid maneuvered the ship gently between two other freighters. Shawn was asked to shut down his engines, open the cargo hold, and bring his manifest to a dockworker. While Shawn dealt with the freight, Victor was on the holonet researching.