== Chapter Twenty-Six ==
A lonely planet closely circled a bright, hot star in a remote region on the border between the Corporate Sector and Trianii space. Even from a far orbit, it was evident that the planet bore very little in the way of significant physical features on its surface. This star and singular world was all that comprised the Atsu system.
The Y-Wing Lucky Star and Murttannel's Trianii RX4 patrol ship exited hyperspace near Atsu and entered into the final approach corridor for the planet's singular spaceport. Surprisingly, the traffic in and out of the spaceport was fairly heavy. Being that the entire complex resided below the planet's surface, there were only a few points of entry, which caused queues of ships to form both into and out of the spaceport. These lines of vessels could easily be seen from orbit.
Aboard the Lucky Star, a mechanical voice came over Ja'Ina and Kurloh's headsets. "Approaching Y-Wing fighter, this is Atsu Spaceport Control; you are not transmitting an identification transponder signal. If you wish to land, please provide proper identification."
Surprised by the unexpected request, Ja'Ina opened the channel. "S-sorry about that, Control. This is the Lucky Star. We're bounty hunters." She turned her head back towards Kurloh and shot her a slightly nervous look. Kurloh merely shrugged, not seeing the point of mentioning anything more than the ship's name.
"Acknowledged, Lucky Star. Please tune to directional beacon three-point-zero-five and follow the signal to enter inbound lane Delta-nine. Deviation from the lane will result in loss of queue position."
"Got it, Control. Thanks."
Kurloh whistled. "Wow, that was quite the serious spiel there for an out-of-the-way, less-than-savory spaceport."
Fitty whooped and beeped. "Even a shadowport needs to have orderly traffic control if it is going to exist on such an inhospitable world."
Ja'Ina read the astromech droid's translation screen. "Fitty's right, Ku. The more people they can get in there, the more business can be conducted. We don't have open skies to find just any old place to land, unlike most worlds. Look there."
She pointed out the starboard viewport. The only artificial constructs that could be seen on the planet surface far below were four large portals, each one twenty kilometers from the next, laid out as the corners of a roughly-square pattern. The lines of vessels could be seen distinctly leading to these portals like ants going into their underground hive.
As Ja'Ina settled their ship into position, Murttannel hailed them. "Ja'Ina, we're entering through the port on the on the far end from you. Once we're planet-side, keep in touch via comlink until we meet up."
"We got it, Murttannel. We'll keep our ears on when we're in the spaceport."
"And for space's sake," the Trianii growled, "try to keep yourselves out of trouble. This is a dangerous place, especially for young females."
Kurloh punched into the conversation, offended by Murttannel's comment. "I assure you, we've been through plenty of dangerous places. This is nothing new to us."
Murttannel chuckled. "We'll see. You haven't been to this dangerous place before. Murttannel out."
Fitty squawked. "I find his lack of faith in your abilities most disturbing," the translation screen read.
Ja'Ina smiled. "Don't worry about it, little guy. By the time this is over, he'll see how wrong he was about us."
"Yeah, we'll be serving him his words for dinner on a silver platter!" Kurloh proudly exclaimed.
"Still," Ja'Ina added, "we mustn't let overconfidence get the best of us. Atsu is terra incognita for us, so we need to keep our senses and wits about us at all times. We must assume that the Anzati are more familiar with the spaceport than we are."
"Heh, you're always the voice of reason, Ina. You're sounding more like Berini every day."
As the Lucky Star continued descending along the queue to the spaceport, Ja'Ina and Kurloh could begin to see just how large the ingress/egress port was. With the amount and variety of business conducted on Atsu, it was necessary to accommodate many different classes of vessels.
Ja'Ina whistled as she looked down at the portal. "Lookit that, Ku! You could fit the Queen Valkyrie through there!"
Kurloh sighed. "Yeah, I just wish Berini and the others came with us."
"Well, they're not here, so you need to get over it. Besides, we don't want to risk any of our friends' lives when we know the Anzati want only us, do we?"
"Hrmm," the Togruta grunted in reply.
After some time, the aged Y-Wing became the next in line to enter the enormous portal. The mechanical traffic control voice once again broke over Ja'Ina and Kurloh's headsets.
"Attention Lucky Star, this is Atsu Spaceport Control. In a few moments, your astromech droid will receive navigation data necessary to land in your assigned bay. Once the data is downloaded, transfer control of your ship to your droid so it can safely guide you in."
Ja'Ina nodded, "gotcha, Control."
Fitty let out two heinous blats in rapid succession. "It? The controller called me an it?"
Kurloh leaned forward to look straight at the orange-trimmed astromech right outside of the rear-facing viewport. "Don't worry about it, Fitty. That machine head doesn't know just how special you are." She smiled at the droid.
Fitty chirped in reply and the display read, "You are correct, Kurloh. The controller has insufficient data on my programming." The astromech then whistled. "Navigation data download is complete. Please allow me to take over the piloting functions."
Ja'Ina flipped a couple of switches on her console. "Sure thing, Fitty. You've got the stick."
"Thank you."
Fitty held the Lucky Star in place for a few moments to allow a large freighter to exit the portal. The freighter reminded Ja'Ina of the slaver Mehar's ship, which brought back many unpleasant memories. Through the Force, Kurloh recognized the dark sensations of her friend's memories, having also lived through Mehar's abuse.
"Hey Ina, don't worry about it," Kurloh said. "I'm sure there's no slaves on that big boat."
"Maybe," Ja'Ina replied as she watched the bulky vessel pass by them. While she didn't share the Togruta's optimism, she knew she had to drop it and focus on why they were there.
Once the freighter was clear of the portal, Fitty guided the Lucky Star down through the vast opening into the planet's surface. The Y-Wing gently rocked as she passed through the magnetic shielding that held the spaceport's breathable air in and kept Atsu's harsh atmosphere out. Ja'Ina and Kurloh scanned out the cockpit's viewports all around them, in awe of the sheer number of ports that filled the entire inner surface of the round portal. The ambient light in the cylindrical bay gradually faded to black as it extended hundreds of meters into the planet. All that could be seen in the darkness below were the marker lights of the ports and the anti-collision strobes of the vessels within. The ports came in many sizes to accommodate the vast array of ship classes ranging from compact, single-seat star sleds to small capital ships.
The cylindrical space was packed with slow-moving vessels heading in all directions, through all three axes, their paths interwoven in a sort of controlled chaos. If it weren't for their automated navigation systems, be they astromech droids or fully-integrated navcomputers, the portal wouldn't be able to safely support such a dense volume of traffic.
Fitty continued to guide the Y-Wing through the programmed course with mathematical precision. There were many times that the ship glided by another so closely that it seemed to be within arm's reach. Needless to say, Ja'Ina and Kurloh were equally nervous and fascinated by the sight.
The Lucky Star approached one of the smaller ports and smoothly glided into it. Inside, the corridor was further lined with single-ship bays sized for small craft like the Y-Wing. Using the data he had received, Fitty turned into their assigned bay and gently set the ship down.
Once all of the Y-Wing's systems were powered down, Ja'Ina and Kurloh egressed from the cockpit with Fitty lifting out of his socket at the same time. Ja'Ina strapped her scimitar's baldric across her back, with the sword's hilt at her left shoulder. She also donned a long dark cloak over her crop top and harem pants which featured a slit at the shoulder to allow her weapon to protrude from it. Kurloh strapped a utility belt around her waist and holstered her heavy blaster pistol with several spare power packs mounted along the length of the belt. She also wore a black flak jacket over her tube top and a holdout blaster in a boot holster for a little extra protection. Ja'Ina and Kurloh's appearances clearly showed that they were not women to be trifled with.
Once Ja'Ina deposited the required entrance fee in the panel on the wall, an encoded key card slid out of a slot and the door opened to allow them access into the city. She stared out the door without moving from the pay panel, but she could barely make anything out in the dimly-lit environment beyond. A slight frown formed on her honey brown-complexioned face as strange odors, most she found unpleasant, wafted from the doorway and hit her nostrils. Ripples in the Force carried similarly-unpleasant sensations, adding to Ja'Ina's hesitation. It reminded her too much of the slave markets on Orvax IV.
Kurloh stood next to the young woman. She too sensed the disturbances in the living Force. "C'mon, Ina. We've come here to take care of the Anzati, and we can't do it from the hangar."
Ja'Ina turned her dark eyes to the Togruta and raised one corner of her mouth in a half smile. "You're right," she said with a sigh. "Okay, let's do this."
Fitty let out a triumphant-sounding whistle, clearly in confident agreement – no need to read his translator screen.
The pirates and astromech left the hangar bay and the door closed and locked behind them as they entered into the city.
Atsu's subterranean spaceport was larger than it seemed from the surface. There were many specialized sections, partitioned by function. Some were for residence, some for commerce, some for dining, and so-forth. Each section had numerous levels and sub-levels, some of which extended well over a kilometer below the planet surface.
The city was dimly lit at best. While there was a vast system of area lumas, many of the light sources were inoperative which left many dark spaces throughout the settlement. This gave the spaceport the impression of a perpetual dusk. Use of flame-based lanterns or torches was not unheard of throughout parts of the city, lending something of a low-tech feel to the place.
While the spaceport was crowded with beings of all kinds, there was no overt Espo presence. This was a lawless shadowport, where illegal transactions of all kinds were the norm for business. Save for those who ran the taverns, clubs, hotels and various shops, there were no permanent residents of Atsu's spaceport. Beings came, stayed for a while as they conducted their business, and left again. The city never slept, especially since there was no way to witness the rising and setting of Atsu's sun from beneath the planet's surface. One needed a wrist chronometer to keep track of time.
As Ja'Ina, Kurloh and Fitty pushed their way along one of the crowded streets, their comlinks rang out. They made their way to the side of the street before responding.
Ja'Ina looked at Kurloh, and then answered. "Ja'Ina here."
Murttannel's deep voice replied, "I assume you've made it into the spaceport."
"Yeah, we have. Have you?" Ja'Ina winked at Kurloh, who shot her hand to her mouth to stifle her snickering laughter.
The Trianii answered with string of harsh grumbling growls. While it was incomprehensible to the pirates, they correctly figured he was cursing them out for Ja'Ina's snarky reply.
"Okay, okay," she said with a big smile, "I'll take that as a yes. Where do you want to meet?"
"The main plaza in Sector Delta, Sublevel Five," he angrily replied. "Think you can find it?"
Not wanting to worsen Murttannel's ire, Ja'Ina kept her sarcasm in check as she replied, "Yes we can. We'll be there."
"Out," was all the irritated Trianii said before quickly breaking the connection.
Kurloh raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. "Well, let's find a data terminal so Fitty can get the info we need."
The astromech squealed in reply as he started rolling down the sidewalk. Ja'Ina and Kurloh had to walk briskly to keep up with the exited droid.
Within a few minutes, the trio found a data terminal. The machine had a prominent sign indicating the charges for using the port.
"Fifty credits a minute?!" Ja'Ina yelped incredulously. "You gotta be kidding me! That's blatant robbery!"
"Makes sense to me," Kurloh said as she put her hand on the young woman's shoulder. "This place is one big den of crime." She smiled as Ja'Ina looked at her.
"I suppose you're right, Ku." Ja'Ina brushed the dust off of the terminal as she deposited the payment. "Looks like it hasn't been used in a long time."
The Togruta laughed. "Maybe because most everyone here already knows how to get around this place! We're practically tourists."
Fitty plugged into the data socket on the terminal and proceeded to download the complete maps of the spaceport.
Ja'Ina impatiently patted the astromech's orange-trimmed domed head. "Fitty, please hurry. I don't wanna have to put in another fifty."
Fitty emitted a rapid stream of beeps and whistles. "The map files require a large transfer of data. It will likely take more than one minute for the download to complete. I suggest you deposit payment for a second minute. Based on the rate of data transfer, two minutes should be adequate to complete the download."
"Noy jitat!" Ja'Ina exclaimed as she deposited more money. She then crossed her arms and continued to wait impatiently, fidgeting like she had ants in her pants.
Suddenly, Fitty sounded an alarm of two loud blats.
"What is it, little guy?" Kurloh said as she took a look at the translation screen mounted on the droid.
"There is an error with the map file transfer. Some of the data was corrupted. Therefore, I will need to restart the download."
After reading Fitty's response, Ja'Ina raised her hands in frustration. "Oh c'mon! This thing is just scamming us!"
Kurloh shrugged as she deposited another fifty credits. The astromech then resumed the download.
After a short while, Fitty sounded a two-tone whistle alert. "Download is complete. We may now resume our travel to the plaza in Sector Delta, Sublevel Five."
"Great!" Kurloh replied. "Please lead the way."
With that, Ja'Ina, Kurloh and Fitty left the data terminal and headed off to meet up with Murttannel and Siqu'ael. Once they were all together, they would wait for the Anzati to show themselves.