Padmé's Knight dropped out of hyperspace.. Right in the path of an
Imperial Star Destroyer.
'That's funny,' Ani thought. 'The Errant Venture wasn't scheduled to be here.' A squadron of TIE fighters emptied the holds of the ISD before him. A sure sign of the Empire. 'Okay, not the Venture.' And he rolled the Knight in defensive maneuvers. As his fingers and senses flew over the helm controls, he had the ship's computer calculate a series of hyperspace jumps from several lanes in the area. That way, once he had a clear path, he'd be able to beat a hasty retreat.
TIEs swarmed the Knight, causing him to spin and dive on many different planes to avoid missiles, lasers and even other ships as they tried to blow him out of space. The dogfight soon went from a neatly organized formation against a lone ship to chaos as the solitary vessel weaved through the meticulous arrangement, confusing pilots and sensors alike.
Ani was taking care not to annihilate any of his enemies. Sometimes a stream from his lasers would clip the solar panels of a TIE, or an ion blast would freeze a hostile into helplessness, but none of his opponents actually died. Killing was a tactic appropriate to dark Jedi, and Ani didn't want to take any risks.
Besides, Ani hadn't had a chance to practice some of his favorite maneuvers in a long time. And even Jedi had to keep skills in practice.
Unfortunately, this display of superior flying caught the attention of the commander of the Star Destroyer. In a number of subtle ways, the tactics of the swarm changed and more ion weapons were being fired now, as they deftly herded the freighter towards their mother ship. The heavy weaponry aboard all classes of Star Destroyer were enough to turn a world to slag; Ani didn't want to get anywhere near it.
If Ani had been any other person, the ion web would have creased his ship, killing its power, leaving him and the Knight helpless. But, he was Jedi, able to anticipate minute changes in the Force; and against impossible odds, he was winning.
Adding a Force-enhanced burst of power to his thrusters, Ani risked dancing just inside the destroyer's range to outrun the main force of TIEs to the other side and a clear hyperspace jump. As good as his ship was, and as fast and coordinated as the droid-programming that ran his customized navicomputer was, despite the advance calculations, it still took a minute for the systems to align. Thinking he was safe, Ani turned his attention away from the Imperial forces.
BAM! The collision rocked the Knight out of its selected path. 'What?' Ani, confused now, brought his mind back to his present predicament. A TIE-like vessel had hit him and was now flying around for another pass. 'But TIEs should not be able to survive high-speed collisions! They don't have shields.' The standard design didn't have tractor beams either, but that wasn't stopping the pair of strange TIEs from locking on to his freighter and dragging him inexorably towards the Star Destroyer. Where in the name of the Force had they come from?!
?Unidentified freighter, you are in violation of Imperial space and are being detained for questioning. Any further attempts to escape will be considered a criminal act.? the text feed ticked by on his screen. Ani switched it over to audio.
?Imperial vessels, ? he addressed back to his captors. ?Respectfully, I have done nothing wrong-.? A new voice cut him off.
?I am the commander of the Star Destroyer Chimaera. I would request your presence aboard my ship to discuss your, ? There was a pause. ?singular evasion strategies.? The note of finality left no room for argument. The comm turned off.
'He's "requesting my presence"? This was new. As far as he knows, I'm a smuggler. Why isn't he shooting me?' Ani had devoted time to studying typical tactics of the Imps, especially since his alter ego had shaped most of them. He had also listened to tales of older spacers' encounters with the Empire. From what he knew, this had never happened before.
The two unique TIEs guided both the Knight and their vessels into the docking bay. Settling down in an escort formation, Ani made sure he exited the Knight first. This way he could lock it with the hidden lever in the door's mechanism that only Force adepts could reach without dismantling the door. This meant the ship stayed his and couldn't be entered by his enemies.
The two escort pilots and a squad of stormtroopers marched over to where he was waiting in the shadow of Padmé's Knight. "It is required that we confiscate all weapons you may be carrying, pilot." They did a quick scan and search. His blaster was removed from its holster. His lightsaber, which was, as always, attached to the back of his belt, was also found and removed. None of these Imps turned it on. Satisfied that Ani was unarmed, the escort pilot who had first run into him spoke up.
"You will come with us please." The eight of them waited until Ani had taken two paces down their ranks before they started moving.
They led Ani to a small lounge off the main hangar. A window afforded him a full view of the Knight. Two men were seated at a utilitarian conference table. The pilot placed Ani's blaster and saber in front of the man seated at the head of the room. The pilots and two of the troopers took stations around the room, their eyes missing nothing.
There was a moment of dead silence while Ani stood patiently, as Jedi were apt to do. Taking in the details of his situation, Ani noticed that the man everyone seemed to defer to was not human; an oddity amongst the Empire. This man's skin was tinted blue, with eyes that glowed solid red. The eyes unnerved Ani a little, but he didn't show it. Maul had always appeared to him with a similar visage. The worst thing about the man though, was not his alien-ness, but his uniform. The crisp white of an Imperial Grand Admiral was intimidating for the fact that Palpatine had hand picked these men to be the leaders of his military. They were all loyal, and all of the same brilliant militant mind.
"Where did you learn to fly that way?" The precise voice was clearly the voice of a commander.
"I have always been able to fly well. How may I help you, Grand Admiral?"
"You know my rank." It was a statement, not a question. A blue- black eyebrow raised in slight surprise. Nothing else about the man betrayed his feelings. Ani could have kicked himself. "What else do you know?"
What a question. Ani debated for a moment whether or not to divulge any more information. Showing that he had too much knowledge could be very costly. However, something in the Force told him to trust this man; Imperial or not. "I know that Palpatine must have hand-picked you for this job because of your skills as a leader in battle. And I know that because you earned such distinction, you are a dangerous man." Ani spoke with a serene calm, as if knowing so much about the Imperial hierarchy was common.
The Admiral seemed to ignore his answer. "You took care to make sure none of my pilots were killed. Why?"
"It is not good to earn Imperial enmity."
"Most smugglers don't care about that."
Ani didn't need to reply, 'I'm not most smugglers' it was already implicit with what the Admiral was saying. The blue man continued. "Who are you?"
Now, usually, Ani would not have been quite so truthful with the Imps. But again, the Force was telling him that this was the right decision. And he was calm; the Dark Side of the Force was not a factor at the moment. Still, he didn't have to tell the Admiral everything. "My name is Ani. I have worked for Ships and Services. And I'm currently on a private trip."
"Where are you headed?" The man sitting uneasily beside the Grand Admiral spoke. He wore a captain's uniform.
"Simarill, sir." Ani was putting a lot of faith in the Force to guide him properly.
"That's in Wild Space." The captain sounded surprised. Ani nodded. "What is your business there?"
"I am visiting friends."
"You are very laconic for a man in your position. Do my men need to persuade you to be more forthcoming with information?" The Admiral did not raise his voice. A normal commander would have.
But that didn't mean he would not put Ani through a sifter interrogation. A procedure better avoided. "With all due respect, sir, I have not hurt your pilots. I have not broken any laws of Imperial Space, and I have answered your questions as well as I could. How may I help you?"
The Force rippled with the disbelief of the men stationed along the walls. The Captain glanced surreptitiously towards his commanding officer. Ani was on thin ice.
"I find you an interesting puzzle. You have no last name that you will divulge, no records in the Imperial database, a piloting talent to rival Baron Fel's and working knowledge of the command hierarchy of the Imperial Navy. And then, there is the little matter of your choice of weaponry. You do not match Luke Skywalker's description. He does not have your stature." A blue hand indicated Ani's lightsaber. "One might be led to believe that you were also hand-picked by our late Emperor. Dark Jedi, perhaps?"
"I am not a dark Jedi, sir." If it hadn't been for the Force telling him to stay, Ani would have called his weapons to his hands, busted through the door to the hangar and lifted ship as fast as he could.
"Then what are you?"
"I am a pilot. Please, tell me what I can do for you, so I can leave." There was a long pause.
"Have a seat." Ani had been left standing all this time, and the command left him a little uneasy. But the Force was still encouraging him to go along with this sentient. Gingerly, he sat down.
Once he had done so, the Admiral addressed his forces. "Leave us. Captain, you have the bridge." The squad, pilots and Captain all froze for a moment. Their loyalty to their commander was absolute and they did not want to put him at risk. The only way Ani knew this, was through the Force. Their obedience was just as unquestioning and the group left.
All the while keeping his eyes on the Grand Admiral, Ani reached out through the Force, keeping tabs on the troops that had now stationed themselves outside the door. Bringing his attention back inside the room, Ani noticed that they weren't totally alone. A gray skinned alien waited quietly in the shadows. A Noghri bodyguard. No wonder the Admiral was confident. The Noghri were a private people; if you heard about them at all you heard first about their skill with knives and tracking. Even for Jedi, an engagement with a Noghri would be a delicate operation.
"You are wondering why I did not simply shoot you out of the sky once you had entered the range of the Chimaera's turbolasers." Ani admitted that this was indeed foremost in his mind. "You employed a tactic in your evasion of my squadrons unique to Lord Vader. The maneuver is so difficult, that when Baron Fel, the Empire's second best pilot attempted it, he nearly died. You execute it flawlessly and in conjunction with a series of equally complex tricks also favored by Vader. Add this to the information I already know about you-." The Grand Admiral let his voice trail off.
"So, I'm a good pilot. You know that. Why bring me aboard?"
"The Empire needs good pilots."
"I'm not flying for the Empire." Ani's response was so quick and so vehement even Ani was surprised.
"What is your grievance?" The Grand Admiral's question was sincere.
"Grievance?"
"All of you pirates and rebels seem to have some personal injustice to avenge against Palpatine's Order. What did the Empire do to you?" His voice could have been equally sarcastic or serious.
"If so many feel so wronged, what does that tell you?" Ani could feel the anger in the man rising at the cheek. "In answer to your question; it gave me life. May I leave now?" The Grand Admiral didn't answer or show his rage. Instead, he merely tilted his head to one side, considering him.
"I never said I wanted you to serve the Empire. Congratulations on your skills as a pilot. You may leave the Chimaera now." There was an edge to his tone that was clearly a dismissal.
But Ani still had a few questions. "What model were those TIEs that brought me in?" Ani had risen and was walking towards the Admiral. Through the Force, he felt the Noghri tense to spring. The Grand Admiral remained still, watching him.
"You expect me to divulge Imperial secrets?" The alien voice was calm. Ani had approached the end of the table and was reaching for his blaster and lightsaber.
Once he had them in hand, he could easily kill the Imperial Admiral. "No." Ani's voice was just as calm, despite the knife sliding silently from the bodyguard's sheath. "Thank you for your hospitality." Ani turned and strode from the conference room, with his weapons, heading for Padmé's Knight. Two minutes later, the ship rose in a successful completion of the startup sequence and sailed through the magcon field.
As the freighter left his docking bay, Grand Admiral Thrawn casually flicked the internal ship's com. "Captain, is the tracking device in place?"
"We have it on the ship, Admiral, but we had to weld it to the topside of the hull. We were unable to get inside. It is unlikely that he will see it. May I have a moment of your time, Sir?"
"Very well." Captain Paelleon re-entered the conference chamber and stood at attention.
"Yes Captain?"
"Sir, is it wise to let him leave with knowledge that you live as well as having seen the new TIE design? He may turn that kind of intel over to the Rebels."
"Who in the New Republic hierarchy would believe a lowly shipping pilot?"
"Forgive me sir, but as you were saying, there is much we don't know of him. Perhaps he has connections that we don't know about."
The Grand Admiral smiled at Captain Paelleon. "That is why we are not letting him get in touch with the New Republic. We will allow him to finish his 'private trip'. This will give me time to research his history more thoroughly. Then, we will pick him up."
'That's funny,' Ani thought. 'The Errant Venture wasn't scheduled to be here.' A squadron of TIE fighters emptied the holds of the ISD before him. A sure sign of the Empire. 'Okay, not the Venture.' And he rolled the Knight in defensive maneuvers. As his fingers and senses flew over the helm controls, he had the ship's computer calculate a series of hyperspace jumps from several lanes in the area. That way, once he had a clear path, he'd be able to beat a hasty retreat.
TIEs swarmed the Knight, causing him to spin and dive on many different planes to avoid missiles, lasers and even other ships as they tried to blow him out of space. The dogfight soon went from a neatly organized formation against a lone ship to chaos as the solitary vessel weaved through the meticulous arrangement, confusing pilots and sensors alike.
Ani was taking care not to annihilate any of his enemies. Sometimes a stream from his lasers would clip the solar panels of a TIE, or an ion blast would freeze a hostile into helplessness, but none of his opponents actually died. Killing was a tactic appropriate to dark Jedi, and Ani didn't want to take any risks.
Besides, Ani hadn't had a chance to practice some of his favorite maneuvers in a long time. And even Jedi had to keep skills in practice.
Unfortunately, this display of superior flying caught the attention of the commander of the Star Destroyer. In a number of subtle ways, the tactics of the swarm changed and more ion weapons were being fired now, as they deftly herded the freighter towards their mother ship. The heavy weaponry aboard all classes of Star Destroyer were enough to turn a world to slag; Ani didn't want to get anywhere near it.
If Ani had been any other person, the ion web would have creased his ship, killing its power, leaving him and the Knight helpless. But, he was Jedi, able to anticipate minute changes in the Force; and against impossible odds, he was winning.
Adding a Force-enhanced burst of power to his thrusters, Ani risked dancing just inside the destroyer's range to outrun the main force of TIEs to the other side and a clear hyperspace jump. As good as his ship was, and as fast and coordinated as the droid-programming that ran his customized navicomputer was, despite the advance calculations, it still took a minute for the systems to align. Thinking he was safe, Ani turned his attention away from the Imperial forces.
BAM! The collision rocked the Knight out of its selected path. 'What?' Ani, confused now, brought his mind back to his present predicament. A TIE-like vessel had hit him and was now flying around for another pass. 'But TIEs should not be able to survive high-speed collisions! They don't have shields.' The standard design didn't have tractor beams either, but that wasn't stopping the pair of strange TIEs from locking on to his freighter and dragging him inexorably towards the Star Destroyer. Where in the name of the Force had they come from?!
?Unidentified freighter, you are in violation of Imperial space and are being detained for questioning. Any further attempts to escape will be considered a criminal act.? the text feed ticked by on his screen. Ani switched it over to audio.
?Imperial vessels, ? he addressed back to his captors. ?Respectfully, I have done nothing wrong-.? A new voice cut him off.
?I am the commander of the Star Destroyer Chimaera. I would request your presence aboard my ship to discuss your, ? There was a pause. ?singular evasion strategies.? The note of finality left no room for argument. The comm turned off.
'He's "requesting my presence"? This was new. As far as he knows, I'm a smuggler. Why isn't he shooting me?' Ani had devoted time to studying typical tactics of the Imps, especially since his alter ego had shaped most of them. He had also listened to tales of older spacers' encounters with the Empire. From what he knew, this had never happened before.
The two unique TIEs guided both the Knight and their vessels into the docking bay. Settling down in an escort formation, Ani made sure he exited the Knight first. This way he could lock it with the hidden lever in the door's mechanism that only Force adepts could reach without dismantling the door. This meant the ship stayed his and couldn't be entered by his enemies.
The two escort pilots and a squad of stormtroopers marched over to where he was waiting in the shadow of Padmé's Knight. "It is required that we confiscate all weapons you may be carrying, pilot." They did a quick scan and search. His blaster was removed from its holster. His lightsaber, which was, as always, attached to the back of his belt, was also found and removed. None of these Imps turned it on. Satisfied that Ani was unarmed, the escort pilot who had first run into him spoke up.
"You will come with us please." The eight of them waited until Ani had taken two paces down their ranks before they started moving.
They led Ani to a small lounge off the main hangar. A window afforded him a full view of the Knight. Two men were seated at a utilitarian conference table. The pilot placed Ani's blaster and saber in front of the man seated at the head of the room. The pilots and two of the troopers took stations around the room, their eyes missing nothing.
There was a moment of dead silence while Ani stood patiently, as Jedi were apt to do. Taking in the details of his situation, Ani noticed that the man everyone seemed to defer to was not human; an oddity amongst the Empire. This man's skin was tinted blue, with eyes that glowed solid red. The eyes unnerved Ani a little, but he didn't show it. Maul had always appeared to him with a similar visage. The worst thing about the man though, was not his alien-ness, but his uniform. The crisp white of an Imperial Grand Admiral was intimidating for the fact that Palpatine had hand picked these men to be the leaders of his military. They were all loyal, and all of the same brilliant militant mind.
"Where did you learn to fly that way?" The precise voice was clearly the voice of a commander.
"I have always been able to fly well. How may I help you, Grand Admiral?"
"You know my rank." It was a statement, not a question. A blue- black eyebrow raised in slight surprise. Nothing else about the man betrayed his feelings. Ani could have kicked himself. "What else do you know?"
What a question. Ani debated for a moment whether or not to divulge any more information. Showing that he had too much knowledge could be very costly. However, something in the Force told him to trust this man; Imperial or not. "I know that Palpatine must have hand-picked you for this job because of your skills as a leader in battle. And I know that because you earned such distinction, you are a dangerous man." Ani spoke with a serene calm, as if knowing so much about the Imperial hierarchy was common.
The Admiral seemed to ignore his answer. "You took care to make sure none of my pilots were killed. Why?"
"It is not good to earn Imperial enmity."
"Most smugglers don't care about that."
Ani didn't need to reply, 'I'm not most smugglers' it was already implicit with what the Admiral was saying. The blue man continued. "Who are you?"
Now, usually, Ani would not have been quite so truthful with the Imps. But again, the Force was telling him that this was the right decision. And he was calm; the Dark Side of the Force was not a factor at the moment. Still, he didn't have to tell the Admiral everything. "My name is Ani. I have worked for Ships and Services. And I'm currently on a private trip."
"Where are you headed?" The man sitting uneasily beside the Grand Admiral spoke. He wore a captain's uniform.
"Simarill, sir." Ani was putting a lot of faith in the Force to guide him properly.
"That's in Wild Space." The captain sounded surprised. Ani nodded. "What is your business there?"
"I am visiting friends."
"You are very laconic for a man in your position. Do my men need to persuade you to be more forthcoming with information?" The Admiral did not raise his voice. A normal commander would have.
But that didn't mean he would not put Ani through a sifter interrogation. A procedure better avoided. "With all due respect, sir, I have not hurt your pilots. I have not broken any laws of Imperial Space, and I have answered your questions as well as I could. How may I help you?"
The Force rippled with the disbelief of the men stationed along the walls. The Captain glanced surreptitiously towards his commanding officer. Ani was on thin ice.
"I find you an interesting puzzle. You have no last name that you will divulge, no records in the Imperial database, a piloting talent to rival Baron Fel's and working knowledge of the command hierarchy of the Imperial Navy. And then, there is the little matter of your choice of weaponry. You do not match Luke Skywalker's description. He does not have your stature." A blue hand indicated Ani's lightsaber. "One might be led to believe that you were also hand-picked by our late Emperor. Dark Jedi, perhaps?"
"I am not a dark Jedi, sir." If it hadn't been for the Force telling him to stay, Ani would have called his weapons to his hands, busted through the door to the hangar and lifted ship as fast as he could.
"Then what are you?"
"I am a pilot. Please, tell me what I can do for you, so I can leave." There was a long pause.
"Have a seat." Ani had been left standing all this time, and the command left him a little uneasy. But the Force was still encouraging him to go along with this sentient. Gingerly, he sat down.
Once he had done so, the Admiral addressed his forces. "Leave us. Captain, you have the bridge." The squad, pilots and Captain all froze for a moment. Their loyalty to their commander was absolute and they did not want to put him at risk. The only way Ani knew this, was through the Force. Their obedience was just as unquestioning and the group left.
All the while keeping his eyes on the Grand Admiral, Ani reached out through the Force, keeping tabs on the troops that had now stationed themselves outside the door. Bringing his attention back inside the room, Ani noticed that they weren't totally alone. A gray skinned alien waited quietly in the shadows. A Noghri bodyguard. No wonder the Admiral was confident. The Noghri were a private people; if you heard about them at all you heard first about their skill with knives and tracking. Even for Jedi, an engagement with a Noghri would be a delicate operation.
"You are wondering why I did not simply shoot you out of the sky once you had entered the range of the Chimaera's turbolasers." Ani admitted that this was indeed foremost in his mind. "You employed a tactic in your evasion of my squadrons unique to Lord Vader. The maneuver is so difficult, that when Baron Fel, the Empire's second best pilot attempted it, he nearly died. You execute it flawlessly and in conjunction with a series of equally complex tricks also favored by Vader. Add this to the information I already know about you-." The Grand Admiral let his voice trail off.
"So, I'm a good pilot. You know that. Why bring me aboard?"
"The Empire needs good pilots."
"I'm not flying for the Empire." Ani's response was so quick and so vehement even Ani was surprised.
"What is your grievance?" The Grand Admiral's question was sincere.
"Grievance?"
"All of you pirates and rebels seem to have some personal injustice to avenge against Palpatine's Order. What did the Empire do to you?" His voice could have been equally sarcastic or serious.
"If so many feel so wronged, what does that tell you?" Ani could feel the anger in the man rising at the cheek. "In answer to your question; it gave me life. May I leave now?" The Grand Admiral didn't answer or show his rage. Instead, he merely tilted his head to one side, considering him.
"I never said I wanted you to serve the Empire. Congratulations on your skills as a pilot. You may leave the Chimaera now." There was an edge to his tone that was clearly a dismissal.
But Ani still had a few questions. "What model were those TIEs that brought me in?" Ani had risen and was walking towards the Admiral. Through the Force, he felt the Noghri tense to spring. The Grand Admiral remained still, watching him.
"You expect me to divulge Imperial secrets?" The alien voice was calm. Ani had approached the end of the table and was reaching for his blaster and lightsaber.
Once he had them in hand, he could easily kill the Imperial Admiral. "No." Ani's voice was just as calm, despite the knife sliding silently from the bodyguard's sheath. "Thank you for your hospitality." Ani turned and strode from the conference room, with his weapons, heading for Padmé's Knight. Two minutes later, the ship rose in a successful completion of the startup sequence and sailed through the magcon field.
As the freighter left his docking bay, Grand Admiral Thrawn casually flicked the internal ship's com. "Captain, is the tracking device in place?"
"We have it on the ship, Admiral, but we had to weld it to the topside of the hull. We were unable to get inside. It is unlikely that he will see it. May I have a moment of your time, Sir?"
"Very well." Captain Paelleon re-entered the conference chamber and stood at attention.
"Yes Captain?"
"Sir, is it wise to let him leave with knowledge that you live as well as having seen the new TIE design? He may turn that kind of intel over to the Rebels."
"Who in the New Republic hierarchy would believe a lowly shipping pilot?"
"Forgive me sir, but as you were saying, there is much we don't know of him. Perhaps he has connections that we don't know about."
The Grand Admiral smiled at Captain Paelleon. "That is why we are not letting him get in touch with the New Republic. We will allow him to finish his 'private trip'. This will give me time to research his history more thoroughly. Then, we will pick him up."