Officer's Billets, Imperial II class SD- Quill, Edge of OverSector Outer
The Commander had awaken several hours before his assigned shift and listened to the low hum of the sublight drive engines taking the starship out of the Horuz. The Fleet had fully assembled sometime after midnight and Yutu had thought it wise to grab a few hours of rest before the 'big jump'. As much as he had tried to sleep, the stress and anxiety of steering the entire Fleet into one of the maw's many black holes tore at him. Several times he had contemplated taking a sleep aid, but feared sleeping through his duty in the morning.
Yutu had risen and spent a half hour staring out of his viewport at the assembled Tarkin's Fist. It was an awe-inspiring sight as he had never heard of so many starships being assembled in one system since the days of Outer Rim Sieges of the Clone Wars. To think the Emperor didn't even know that Tarkin and Isard had stolen them from right under his nose. The thought of Palpatine discovering them at this stage in their plans turned Yutu's blood cold.
Yutu rose from the viewport, he was dressed in only his shorts and a t-shirt that commemorated his graduating class from the Imperial Naval Academy on Prefsbelt IV, where he had graduated the year after the Clone Wars ended. Yutu entered his refresher and shaved himself, checking several times to make sure he was cleanly shaven. He had started a sonic shower, but thought better of it. As an officer he had the option of an actual water shower and felt that one of those would better help him focus his thoughts for the days. He stood under the warm water, letting it cascade over his shoulders, and thought of everything he could have possibly missed or forgotten about the experimental slave rig. The charts of the maw formations was ingrained in the deep recesses of his mind, and Tarkin had loaned them a personal nav computer that would check and recheck all his navigational plots in the Quill's own nav computer when he punched up the hyperjump. Everything should be fine he told himself for the hundredth time that morning. Tarkin's Fist would drop out of hyperspace before entering the maw's asteroid field, they weren't coming anywhere close to a wondering comet or star, and he was ninety percent sure Captain Daala would stand down when they entered the formation. The woman had been an explosive enigma when he had met her on his trips through the maw for the Grand Moff. He wondered how she would take the news of being relieved of command when the Fleet Admiral gave it to her.
Yutu dressed himself in the crisp brown uniform of Imperial Intelligence that he had cleaned and pressed the day before by the ship's laundry. He looked at himself in the refresher's mirror and straightened the code cylinders around his rank insignia. He wanted everything to be impeccable today, as he felt today was the day that made or broke his career. He used his sonic brush to clean his teeth and then gathered up his cap and left his quarters.
Several other officers in the hallways outside saluted as he went past. Yutu was so preoccupied with the day's events that he barely noticed the men. The truth was, outside of Signals Interception, Commander Yutu had never had the chance to make a friend or meet another colleague. The lonely life of a spy, he had told himself, was to be eternally vigilant while avoiding all personal attachment. It sounded like some nonsense one of those old Jedi would have spouted off about before the Empire had exterminated them, he told himself.
Still several hours from the up load of the slave rig, Yutu entered his inner sanctum of SigInt. First Lieutenant Knebler was already there. Yutu remembered the man had volunteered for a double shift and had picked up the night shift before coming on during the day. Second Lieutenant Murp, the regular third shift officer was there as well. It seemed that all of his crew were as excited about today as he was.
The compartment was bathed in its normal red light and over twenty crew technicians manned the stations around the compartment. State of the art HoloViewers, map readers, and communications gear filled the walls and open spaces.
"How'd you sleep. sir?" Knebler asked as he handed Yutu a warm cup of caf.
"Fitfully, you might have to add some stim sticks to this by the time the day is through." He walked with his junior officer behind the seated ranks of his crew, checking each sailor's monitor and equipment for changes in the Fleet's status.
"I hear you. sir, going to be a busy one for all of us. The communication blackout's still in effect, it's been holding for about twenty hours now."
"Even Culter?" Yutu raised an eyebrow and both men grinned. Their battle with the Moff over comm security for the past week had only been decided when the Grand Moff himself had intervened. Since then the electronic spies had imagined the terraforming Moff as sulking on board his flagship.
"I'm as surprised as you are. sir. Will you be attending the handover ceremony this morning?" Knebler queried.
"No, I'll be a little too busy preparing the up load of the slave rig at that time. A couple of Kuat's engineers are standing by to help with the installation. Plus it'll be nothing but a bunch of pomp and bootlicking, not exactly my idea of a good time."
"That's good. Are the Kuati the one's that designed the snarkin thing?"
"Evidently, but I heard scuttlebutt that the things based on some older designs."
Knebler gave him the most concerned expression he could muster. "Not the Katana Fleet one is it?"
"I don't know, but I wouldn't bet against it."
"Space it, sir, I know you'll get us through."
"Then it's a ten year paid vacation in the maw, till Tarkin's little project is done." He really hoped the Death Star was done before that, but you never knew.
"My career in the navy will be half way through without ever getting shot at. You can't ask for better service than that." Knebler looked less worried than he did a moment before.
Yutu turned towards the communication man in the room. "Get me Quill's comm."
"Raising comm." the crewman responded
A blue image of another officer rose from the rooms HoloVid. "Comm here, this is Lieutenant Crop."
"Lieutenant, this is Commander Yutu in the Signals Interception shop, are you prepared to get readiness confirmations from the rest of the fleet."
"Aye, Aye"
"Lieutenant, remember to only use Laser Aimed Flash Ship to Ship commo. I don't want any signals leaking out." His reminder masked an order.
"Been using LAFSS all night, sir, seems it's getting a bit busy with a bunch of shuttles launching from all those ships and heading this way." Yutu had forgotten all the dignitaries that would be attending Yos's little ceremony this morning. "That's fine, Crop, leave them be and can you pipe the readiness signals down to me here as you get them."
"Copy that. sir."
"Thank you, Lieutenant, Yutu out."
It was the matter of seconds before a computer generated voice cut over the compartment's address system. "Corellian Dream reports ready status." A cargo hauler was the first to report; the Navy would never hear the end of that. On the HoloVid of the Fleet one of the thousand tiny red ships in the formation turned green in color. They all had to change before the Fleet could launch. "Kuat Driveyards 1138 reports ready status, Rancor's Bite reports ready status, Bespin's Luck reports ready status." Great a mobile ship yard and more cargo haulers turned green before any of the Fleet's Star Destroyers.
His First Lieutenant read his face. "I think it's because all the big girls are sending their Captains over to us for the Admiral's ceremony, probably won't report ready status till after their little shindig." Yutu cursed himself for not thinking of it himself. The men passed the time betting on which squadron would report ready status the first, or which Star Destroyer would check in before the others. Yutu lost twenty credits when the Purgatory in Seco's squadron reported ready status.
Yutu received notice, after several hours, that the handover ceremony down in the Alpha Hanger was starting. He told Knebler that he had the station and excused himself for the bridge deck. He found the two Kuati engineers waiting for him in the hallway. One of the men carried a large silver briefcase that was shackled to his wrist. The other scientist was armed and looked more like a bodyguard than an engineer.
"Ready, Gentlemen?" Yutu asked them and both men nodded. They fell in line behind him with the Kuati with the case in the middle and the bigger one bringing up the rear. Several Navy Troopers gave them a curious look as they moved towards the bridge. A mouse droid squealed as it moved out of their way.
The officer of the deck greeted them as they entered. "Gentleman, we have been expecting you. The Captain awaits you at the helm." He motioned in the proper direction and went back to his duties. Captain Nake had commanded the Quill since she had slipped her moorings at the driveyards around Kuat. He had been friendly towards Yutu since he had come on board a week ago, and seemed to exude the same old school charm that Fleet Admiral Yos had shown him. Standing next to the captain was Major Figh, the ships quartermaster. Usually it would have been one of the ship's CPOs or another enlisted man, but this was not an occasion for error and the ship's Chief Navigator had taken the helm. The men all greeted each other and made way for the Kuati to lay out their case.
Several security codes had to be entered for it to open, but the two men were soon plugging in several connections to the ship's helm. The three Imperial officers chatted to themselves, but never for a second took their eyes off the two engineers as they checked and rechecked information scrolling across their datapads.
"The device had been installed; it just waits for the command to up load." The smaller man told the assembled men.
Captain Nake spoke for them. "We thank you gentleman, your assistance is greatly appreciated. Will you be returning to your ships now?"
"No, Captain, we will be staying here, until the program runs its course. In case any problems arise." The smaller man appeared to be their spokesman reasoned Yutu. The bigger one just nodded along whenever the other one spoke.
"Any idea on how long the up load will take." Major Figh asked. Yutu just bit his lip. If the man was going to put himself in charge shouldn't he already have gotten these answers for himself?
"A little over ten minutes, Sir." The smaller scientist answered again. The men excused themselves and took up station in a quiet corner of the bridge. The three officers talked small talk and scuttlebutt as they stared out the bridge's viewport. There wasn't much to see as the Quill had lead position in the line and the rest of the fleet lay behind her. The sheer vastness of space continued to captivate these men whose careers had been spent amongst the stars.
Another Lieutenant approached them. "Commander, all ships report ready status except the Wilderness and the Quill. Moff Seco's shuttle left Hanger bay Beta three minutes ago." Yutu recognized his voice as Lieutenant Crop's as soon as he started to speak.
"The Wilderness will change her status as soon as Seco's on board. Change the Quill's status to ready the second Admiral Yos steps onto the bridge. No need to report them, son, our slave rig here can't engage until all ships are green." The captain pointed to the bridge's HoloVid that mirrored the one Yutu had down in Signals Interception. Now the fleet was a sea of green with two specks of red near its lead. Lieutenant Crop acknowledged and returned to his station.
The Admiral entered a few moments later trailing a small army of aides who retreated when Yos entered the bridge. The Admiral asked him about the slave rig status and then talked to Captain Nake about fleet operations until every ship turned green. The appointed moment came and the Admiral ordered the up load to commence.
Silence engrossed the bridge as Yutu waited for the program to start. Several seconds later a tiny whir started in the nav computer. In the crew pit the electronics and commo officers gave him the affirmative hand signal that the slave rig was traveling throughout the fleet. It was an anxiety filled fifteen minutes, as Yos felt the eyes of every member of the bridge crew fall upon him. "Slave rig has been successfully up loaded." He announced when the slave rig's housing indicated it had been installed.
"Congratulations, Commander." The Admiral asked how long it would be, and then left to take care of other duties. The stress levels lowered amongst the crew when the old man left. Yutu wondered why he wasn't there hours later when the hyperdrives finally engaged. Every ship in the fleet made a perfect jump in the direction of the Kessel System, where the maw was located. The bridge was a hive of activity as the crew performed their duties. Everyone was preparing for the possible battle when they would drop out of hyperspace in the middle of the maw.
The Admiral returned after a few moments and checked the status of several stations around the crew. An indicator light appeared on the slave rig's housing. "Commander, could you look at this?" Major Figh asked with a concerned tone. Yutu stepped away from the strange light on the device and stood next to the helm. The monitor was going bezerk. One moment it showed their destination to be the maw, then for a heart stopping moment one of its black holes. After that it showed they were heading for the Core Sector, followed by Wild Space and the Rishi Maze. A second later they were heading towards Centerpoint Station in the Corellian System, then Balmorra, and then Imperial Center itself. The two men looked at each other, each officer's face drained of its color. Yutu turned and got the Fleet Admiral's attention.
"Fleet Admiral, there's something wrong with the nav computer." Yutu noticed how shaky his voice had become. He glanced at the controls again. They were still flying through destinations as Major Figh tried to fight the loss of control. He noticed the final destination was some mysterious extremely high coordinates that he wasn't sure was even in the known Galaxy.
Yutu swallowed hard and then everything went black.