Chapter 32: Asir Kroy'lya
Aboard the Fensk, Tawa Asteroid, Dressel System
If one word could describe the current climate in the Spynet, it would be fluid.
Vasa Ro'val had been retired. Somewhere on Kothlis a settlement had gained, as a resident, one neurotic ex-Director of Coruscant operations. An entire thinktank had been created on Kothlis to develop a strategy to handle the Tarkin threat. The head of the thinktank, a retired Admiral, Director Urwin Tal'fey, was Asir's new handler.
Asir had been promoted from Captain to Major, and put in command of three more operatives, transferred in from Atzerri.
Two of her new operatives, Shkon Ar'fey and Polo Tor'yi, were put in bunks in Arakh's old room. The third, Zandir Num'lab, got her own room—converted from a storage closet.
As the four Bothans sat in the makeshift ready room, Asir could sense that Arakh was deeply suspicious about the whole ordeal.
"So Arakh, have you donned an EVA suit before?" Polo asked, gesturing to a diagram of the Bisectrix.
Arakh scowled as he stared at Polo. "Yes."
"I will go," Asir said firmly.
Polo's fur gave away one nervous swirl, then stopped. "Ma'am, respectfully, you belong on the ship. I have the technical expertise—"
"—You're still coming," Asir interjected. "It will be you and me. Arakh needs to improve his element coordination skills." She turned to Shkon Ar'fey and narrowed her eyes.
Shkon nodded, acknowledging that he understood. Arakh will be monitoring everyone's progress, but he will have backup and oversight.
Zedena's fur now swirled with suspicion now as she looked at Arakh, who was staring at Shkon and Polo.
Asir opened her mouth to ask Arakh a question but stopped. Her ears perked up at a banging noise on the hull. As the banging devolved into a horrid screech, she winced. The screeching noise continued for a few seconds. Asir did not uncovered her ears until she was certain the noise was over. When she was, she growled nervously into her wrist comm. "Is everything all right out there?"
Now docked at Tawa Asteroid, the Fensk was undergoing important modifications.
"Kiz. Esh fine," a nervous Askar accent growled through the static. "The platform… Well, now your ship got a scratch, but esh fine!"
"What do you mean by a scratch?"
o.o.o.o.o
Fur standing on end, Asir's calm was broken. The four Bothans and one Defel stood in the airlock.
"Ma'am," Zedena suggested, "we could go in space suits and observe it from the hull, no need to go into Tawa."
"No sense in that, Lieutenant," Asir growled, slamming the airlock button furiously. "We can observe it from the observation—SHTAK!" she yelped suddenly remembering why she had not yet left the ship. Wafting onto the ship was the stench of motor oil, rotting garbage, Kavris vines, small amounts of food and drink, and even worse, the scent of four million Bothans and a couple hundred thousand humans wafting into her ship.
Sighing, Asir now remembered why she had not left her ship since docking on Tawa. The environmental infrastructure had to keep up with an entire city of breathing beings in a closed space.
She looked ahead, across the sphere's interior, beyond the spiderweb of cables connecting the city. Outside the ship's airlock, and unused trolly was parked ten meters away, at the edge of the sidewalk. A cable connected it through the spiderweb to an obscured location, kilometres away on the other side of the city.
"Well, no sense in standing around," she grunted gruffly, stepping out of the airlock and walking along the sidewalk until she came across a set of stairs. "The observation platform is… here." Facing away from the cityscape directly opposite, Asir climbed up the stairs, stepping out onto a lounge. A dozen tables, each with two to six chairs, were positioned along a vast transparisteel window. Directly below, their AEG-77 Vigo Gunship was now covered in a mess of scaffolding, with several figures in spacesuits floating around it.
Two cranes had been affixed to each of the Fensk's wings, and a variety of makeshift repair equipment was now attached to the top of the vessel. The multicoloured array of attachments were clearly recycled from older ships. The Fensk no longer looked like a sleek new escort gunship, but an old second rate Askar repair vessel.
"It looks… Hideous…" Polo growled, then, upon seeing Asir's expression stammered "No offense, ma'am."
"None taken," Asir sighed. "Where we're going though, it has to."
o.o.o.o.o
Jazal
Botha'ahir
The Republic Acclamator Assault Ship Nestril was probably the first armed alien ship allowed within the Botha'ahir Military Exclusion Zone in decades. It was certainly the first to be allowed to orbit the mean red planet.
After being granted clearance, the Republic ship cautiously approached the planet and began orbit. Shortly thereafter, Jazal, Kev, and Bask's team of Special Operation Troopers descended into the thin atmosphere, following the designated flight path to Dome 52.
"I am sorry about them," Taniar sighed, seated next to Jazal on the LAAT.
"Sorry about who?"
"My people," Taniar growled quietly. A few of the other freed prisoners shot her dirty looks. "They are so…"
"Suspicious," Jazal blurted out, finishing her sentence.
Taniar scowled. The way Jazal sensed Taniar hold her face—the disgruntled expression—remind her of Itoll.
Sighing, Jazal sat up in her chair. "I am…" Jazal started, then corrected herself, reminding herself that she was representing the entire Jedi Order. "We are not offended."
"Master Jedi," the pilot said, "how are we—Oh. Receiving instructions."
As they neared the planet's surface, Jazal could sense a thin layer of organic life, plant life of some sort, encrusted onto the planet's surface. Well, the terraforming project must be going well.
o.o.o.o.o
Upon passing through a shield, the LAAT landed in an assembly area, near the transparisteel wall of the dome. Jazal continued her interested curious reaching out to the plants, or perhaps fungus, beyond the dome.
Until the LAAT door opened. Outside the door, a few uniformed Bothans held back the highly emotional crowd, who Jazal surmised were the families of the rescued prisoners. A whiff of musky Bothan smell blew into the LAAT, not as bad as she expected.
I have better get up. "Kev?"
Kev was already unbuckling and beginning to stand.
"Let's give good first impressions," Jazal suggested with a fake serenity amidst the the screams, sobs, and excited yips.
"Very well, Master."
"Kriffing hell," Bask muttered under his breath as he stepped out, the first one off the LAAT.
"Master Jazal," one uniformed Bothan growled in an extremely thick accent. He flashed an odd salute with his thumb touching his right ear. "On behalf of all Botha'ahir, I wanted to thank you for rescuing our people."
Jazal sensed his fur twitch with slight annoyance. So, he is uncomfortable with us doing the rescue… Interesting. "It was the least we could do," Jazal replied. She started to give a polite Jedi bow, then decided to salute back in the Republic fashion.
After she returned his salute, he lowered his arm, and gave a hand gesture towards the group of Bothans holding the crowd back. The excited crowd rushed forward, approaching the much calmer rescued prisoners.
As Jazal walked away from the scene, alongside the uniformed Bothan who had yet to introduce himself, she sensed Taniar smile weakly as three Bothans hugged her. Lokesk had much the same reaction, except he blinked stupidly, as if unsure how to react. Gurosk's fur was swirling nervously as spoke with a female amidst the cacophony, Zrask was sobbing—It was all far too overwhelming.
Reaching out, instead to the presence of the uniformed Bothan walking next to her she spoke as calmly as she could. "I have two questions. One, what is the genus and species of the plant beyond the dome? And two, have you had contact with Master Ras Andromias?"
o.o.o.o.o
Two days later, when the Fensk was finally ready, Asir could not wait to get into hyperspace. She could sense the same of Arakh. Other than creaking slightly with all of the new attachments, the Vigo gunship entered hyperspace without incident.
Asir stood in front of the mirror in her quarters, whitening her teeth with a gizmo she had purchased on Tawa. A few hours earlier, she had dyed her blonde fur a dull cream colour in the shower.
"Nokiz ko ravo za." ["I don't like it,"] Arakh said scoldingly. Folding his arms, he sat on Asir's bed, propped up against the wall with pillows.
Snorting for a moment at that, Asir continued whitening her teeth.
o.o.o.o.o
At the familiar shudder of exiting hyperspace, Asir snapped awake and hit the comm button above her bed. Arakh too woke up and began dressing up in the background.
"Report," Asir spoke into the comm.
"Sorry to wake you ma'am. I was about to tell you," Zedena stammered. "The Republic told us all contractors to exit hyperspace at Duro for inspection, before clearing the Corellian Security Zone."
Groaning, Asir rubbed her eyes. Well, I was only woken 15 minutes early, she thought as she stared at her chronometer. "We're on our way to the bridge. Take us in for docking with the Republic vessel."
o.o.o.o.o
"What the kriff?!" Polo yelped; his eyes wide as he stared at Asir.
"I am just trying to look more like a Spacer, kiz?" Asir growled, flashing a Spacer hand shrug.
Zedena yipped with laughter as she sat at the controls. "Holy kriffing shtak that's offensive ma'am! I love it!"
Asir scowled. "I don't look like a Spacer. I am simply trying to play the part. I am not being offensive."
"I haven't done anything!" Polo growled nervously. He opened his snout and began playing with his teeth, mumbling in a panic "My teeth! They are dull—If the Republic checks my teeth—"
"—Calm down," Asir interjected. "That's an order. We're not getting a visit from the dentist. I just thought I would need to look a bit more like an Askar. Polo, you already look Askar-ish enough to fool a human."
"I do?!" Polo exclaimed indignantly.
Ignoring his outburst, Asir approached the controls at the front of the bridge.
"Two minutes till docking," Shkon growled, gesturing out the window towards the Republic blockade. Six Acclamators, three Venators, and several smaller cruisers sat between them and Duro. Beyond the fleet were several huge discs Asir knew were the orbital cities most Duros inhabited.
An entire species of mostly Spacers, Asir thought with fascination and, in a dark corner of her mind, slight revulsion. But no, we are not going to step out into another stale-aired space city today. "Shkon, you have the conn. Arakh, Polo, Zedena, we're going to meet our guests."
o.o.o.o.o
"Huh," muttered the Republic boarding officer, a red-haired freckled human, staring incredulously at Asir's ID. "This can't possibly be you Captain!"
Shtak. How could I be so stupid? Asiri's now cream coloured fur swirled nervously.
Behind Asir, Polo and Zedena shifted uncomfortably. Two Clones, standing behind the boarding officer in the airlock, stood still, eying the Bothans and Defel suspiciously.
"Well, it's—"
—The boarding officer held Asir's forged Dressel System ID next to her face, comparing the two. Her ID card was forged a week ago, back when her fur was blonde. "Hmm… I do see a slight resemblance. Do you see it Rasher?"
"Maybe," the Clone replied, scratching the back of his head as he leaned in closer to Asir, then stared at her ID card.
"Lieutenant, sir," Asir stammered nervously in her normal accent, completely dropping her fake Askar accent. "I dyed my fur."
"Oh, uh…" the human replied, blushing slightly. "I see. Very well then, show us to your safety equipment."
Safety equipment? "All right," Asir sighed in relief. "Follow us."
The Republic inspection team followed the Bothans and Defel into the corridors. The Clones' scanning equipment beeped noisily as they swept their gizmos over the walls, ceiling, and floor. The Boarding Officer walked besides Asir and Arakh, asking constant questions.
When they finally arrived in the spacesuit storage compartment, the Clones brushed past the group, vigorously scanning the suits from head to toe. One of the Clones banged on the visor with his gloved hand.
The other Clone rubbed another spacesuit's visor with his thumb. "Everything seems to be in order, sir. These suits… Did you patch up the transparisteel on this visor instead of buying a new one?!"
"I—uh," Asir gulped, completely at a loss. The Askar equipment the Spynet purchased had not come with a detailed history.
"Yes sir," Zedena spoke suddenly. She added, in a proud tone, "I patched it up myself."
Snorting at that, the Clone began vigorously scanning the visor.
"Does it conform to Republic regulations?" the Boarding Officer demanded in a stern tone. "A simple yes or no would suffice."
"I think so, sir," the Clone answered. "Definitely not something I would do."
"Spacers," the Boarding Officer muttered under his breath. "Very well, everything checks out. We have a dozen more safety inspections to conduct."
"I wouldn't want to waste any more of your time," Asir growled consolingly. "Arakh, Polo, could you show these men back to the airlock?"
"Yes ma'am," Arakh replied, sounding happy to be helpful.
o.o.o.o.o
Shortly after crossing through the orbit of Selonia, the Fensk, now operating under the false name Serendipity, crossed into in the Corellian System Security Zone. Traffic increased as they drew nearer to Corellia.
Eight minutes from the Republic fleet, a pair of Torrent starfighters showed up and said they would be escorting the Serendipity in.
Before long, Tarkin's Venator, the Bisectrix was not only visible on scanners but visible to the naked eye. Dozens of tiny civilian vessels hovered around it, making various repairs. Officially, the Serendipity was here to paint the vessel's exterior.
Just a hundred kilometres away, Asir thought determinedly. Then, we will be in position. "Polo, let's suit up. Zedena, you have the conn. Arakh, you know what to—"
"—Waxer Five to Serendipity, change of plans. You are going to apply protective paint to the R/AAS Gambit follow us in."
"What the kriff?!" Zedena snarled, muting her mic.
Out the cockpit window, the Bisectrix continued growing bigger as the Serendipity drew nearer.
Asir's fur swirled with nervousness. "All right, we'll… Zedena—"
"—Serendipity, halt your approach immediately!" the Clone's voice yelled angrily through the comm. "If you do not change course, you will be fired upon."
"Change course!" Asir yelped.
"Changing course," Zedena grumbled, grabbing hold of the yoke. "Calm down Waxer Five, we are changing course. Just had a slight bit of confusion over the sudden change in orders."
"Follow us to the Gambit," the Clone voice ordered. "Do not deviate from your designated course."
Asir gestured the Spacer sign for mute the mic. Arakh tapped Zedena's shoulder to get her attention. They both stared at Asir as she continued furiously gesturing. Zedena's face bore a strained look.
"Asir…" Arakh growled cautiously. "I don't know what that means."
"The receiver is on!" Asir snarled, fur twitching with impatience.
"Oh sorry," Zedena muttered, turning her open comm link with the Clone pilots.
Shaking her head, Asir looked the two in the eye, and spoke swiftly. "We don't have much time. Stick to the plan as if the Gambit were the Bisectrix. Hopefully, it will still do some good." She turned to Polo, scowling angrily. "You know Spacer hand gestures, right?!"
"Of course," Polo growled defensively, then glowered at Zedena and Arakh. "Everyone who's EVA qualified should."
"Good," Asir snorted, turning towards the turbolift. "Don't do anything to make the Republic antsy, got it?"
"Yes ma'am," Arakh and Zedena said in unison, facing away from the transparisteel window. Beyond it, the Acclamator Assault Ship Gambit was now drawing nearer.
Once Polo was beside her, the turbolift doors shut, and the two were on their way to the airlock.
o.o.o.o.o
Now in the deep darkness of space, Asir stared uneasily at her visor. It had a warped look. The Clones were right. The visor has been repaired. The kriffing Askars. The helmet blew in space once and they just repaired the transparisteel. Someone—Someone might have died in this space suit! Her fur fell flat.
"Is everything all right Shadow Blue?" Arakh's voice growled worriedly into her helmet comm. "I am detecting an increase in heartbeat."
"Everything is fine," she gasped. "Just… Please don't use my designation."
"Oh sorry," he stammered, then used the name on Asir's falsified Dressel System ID card. "Won't happen again Filipa."
"Hey Captain, is everything, all right?" Polo asked earnestly.
Asir turned around, looking for Polo. After a moment, she saw him twenty meters away, operating the external coating crane. A spray of grey paint exuded from a nozzle mounted at the tip of the crane, coating a section of the Gambit's hull. "Yeah… Well, my helmet's warped slightly."
"There were four suits, you know."
"Yep," Asir muttered bitterly. "I should have seen it in the airlock." Deactivating her gravboot, she took a step along the hull of the Serendipity, on its wing, towards the painting crane she would be operating.
Polo spoke calmly. "I think it'll be fine, ma'am. It probably would have burst already, just don't play with your suits pressure."
Zedena's voice now came into Asir's helmet comm. "Captain, how long till I can move the ship into position. These fighters are making me a little nervous."
Asir looked up away from the Gambit's hull. Three Torrent fighters were flying by, illuminating the darkness. "I am just starting now," Asir replied. "Probably an hour till we can move on to painting the bridge tower."
o.o.o.o.o
An hour and a half went by before Asir and Polo finished painting the hull section over the Assembly Hall. Now, the Serendipity was ascending to where they wanted to be—to where the Spynet wanted them to be. Or, more accurately, to where the Spynet wanted them to be if the Gambit were the Bisectrix.
Floating just under the Gambit's Bridge and Battle Operation's Room, the Serendipity was close enough to the Bridge Tower for Polo and Asir to paint it without needing to leave their cranes.
Four minutes into painting, as planned, Asir twisted the cap at the top of her paint canister, positioned below her seat. The next second, in the vacuum of space, it shot backwards from between her boots, out from under her seat, and rammed the side of the Gambit's bridge tower, right on top of one of the ship's external cameras. A trail grey paint blobs now floated between Asir's crane and the bridge. The white boots and legs of Asir's spacesuit were now Acclamator grey. The lense of the Gambit's external camera was now just as grey as the rest of the ship.
Asir sat still for a moment, clenching her teeth, fur dancing with anticipation. Then, a human voice spoke into her helmet comm.
"Gambit three-one to crew of the Serendipity, our scanners have detected an impact on our hull."
And, your external camera is now out. Asir pressed the button on her wrist to speak into the channel. "This is Captain Filipa. We had a slight paint malfunction. I am moving to the hull to retrieve our equipment if that's all right with you."
"Very well, you are clear to approach the hull of the Gambit."
Without another word, Asir stepped from her seat, pushing off from the crane. She floated through space, clearing the distance between the crane and the Gambit's hull. Rather annoyingly, a few tiny specks of grey paint clung to the exterior of her vizor. Ten seconds later, she banged onto the hull with a thud. Less than a meter to her right, was an access port to a comms array. In the centre of the access panel was a scomp link.
Reaching into her pocket, Asir withdrew a jet-black AC-3 data spike, and grabbed the tube of paint in her arm. She pulled herself up, crawling along the hull, making it look—she hoped—like she was trying to get the best angle to jump back to her crane without spending any fuel.
As she crouched like a frog, she surreptitiously inserted the dataspike. Three seconds later, the program designed by Alya Analytics was transferred to the Gambit.
"Gambit to repair crews," a voice said impatiently into Asir's comm. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes sir," Asir said with an exaggerated pant. "Just getting a little tired is all. Your ship is big."
A moment later, she pocketed the dataspike, pushed off the hull, and floated back to the Serendipity.
Zedena's voice yipped excitedly into Asir's helmet comm. "We are go. You'll never believe this."
"Zedena," Asir snarled, then switched to Bothese. ["Secure channel. Change to a secure channel."] A two-toned beep went off in Asir's helmet, indicating that she was now speaking on a secure line.
"The Gambit," Zedena stammered breathlessly in Basic. "The Gambit's next assignment is in the Deep Core. They are jumping in twelve hours."
