*Sol System, Uncharted territories*1750hrs local time*2000hrs standard time*
"This is Brick Strum, captain of the Dusk Bringer, asking for permission to board the Flagship Odin" The system surrounded by the strongest human fleet, headed by the most advanced, best armed ship in the galaxy, the reason why the mandalorian wars, then later the republic vs. Revan war, had not even touched planet Earth.
"State your business, Strum, or give the proper landing coded" the radio operator on board of The Odin transmitted.
"The Trade Federation leader hired me to tell the UN leaders that he wanted a meeting, and I also want to cash in a bounty on Honka'tis, the twil'ek that infiltrated the system last standard month."
"You can board The Odin, Strum, but your non-human crew must stay on your ship at all times," The General of the Odin swapped places with the radio operator, the ologram going from a slightly round face to a diamond shaped one, "a twi'lek, a zabrak, a wookie, a togruta, a nautolan, a zeltron and one droid have to stay, the two humans with you can come"
"Understood General, but my ship is not getting near yours, I'm going to board in a fighter," Brick smirked at the hologram as it showed discomfort.
"Very well, I assume then, that the droid will be on it," the General said.
"Aye, a TD-R4, trusty thing, though it can't do anything but repairs," The transmission ended.
"Which one are you taking?" The togruta asked, she was red, like most of her people, and her lekku reached her waist, and the horns on her head were a foot long, getting her total height to 2 m.
"I'm taking the dart, she's our fastest," Brick was very image of the human warrior, 1.80 m, his height making him look as if he had less muscle than he actually did, all of it was hid during combat by his mercenary armor.
"Think Tronk has it ready?" Tronk was the wookie and engineer of the crew, the tallest of them all standing at 2.50 m, he never went anywhere without his bowcaster and fusion cutter, and he had figured out how to make the engine run fully on hydrogen or methane, depending on the system and route.
"He always does, I wouldn't have hired him if he was not, you know that Niteko," All of the crew had been hired at first, and then just stayed with Brick, liking it better than hunting alone.
"Yes, you have mentioned that you only travel with us because of our talents," Niteko was the best pilot of the crew, she had made the cockpit of the Dusk Bringer her personal quarters, and it was because of her that they had yet to make a serious repair to the ship.
"Oi, Brick, you taking off or what?" the twi'lek of the crew, also the navigator and planer, she was 1.68, making her the second shortest, purple, lean, and easily the smartest of them all, her lekku reaching to just under her chest, giving her the thinking capacity to plan a perfect attack route in seconds.
"Right, Amela, plan a slingshot, I want to get out of the system as soon as possible," The twi'lek nodded and set herself to work on the navigation computer.
The Dusk Bringer was not a large ship, divided in living quarters; which included a kitchen and dining room, cockpit, training area; this included an obstacle course and a shooting range, hangar; where the four space fighters were, and the cargo hold in the belly of ship, accessible only by the kitchen or a trapdoor on the underside.
"Ryakki, I'm taking the Dart, magnetize everything else, and keep her magnets ready, we're doing a slingshot out of here," the wookie said something in his native language, "It's not that I don't trust my specie, but you have to remember that military intelligence is an oxymoron," A laughing statement, "It applies to every being."
The dart was shaped like its namesake, a long, thin nose, the pilot position just wide enough for Niteko to sit a bit hunched, its fins were long, two meters each near the engine, which was able to produce enough thrust for three minutes in the hyperspace before it ran out of fuel.
This did not mean that it was defenseless, as it had a laser cannon at the nose, its rate of fire as fast as common infantry assault rifle, making it the perfect fighter for chasing a target.
Booting up the fighter, Brick shot off the hangar of the Dusk Bringer at a speed most would be surprised for a human to fly at. The human eyes, after all, got tunnel vision at a mere 150 kilometers an hour.
It was a quick flight, little more than a minute, just enough time to admire the enormity of the capital class space station, large enough that it did not need magnets for the repair robots and personnel. Holding thirty eight landing bays along its equator, the Odin was roughly circular in shape, with a hundred times more firepower than a normal capital ship.
It was visible at night from Earth, a single star as visible as Mars, twice as far from the Third Rock.
"D-459, land in hangar 28, it is the closest to bridge," Came the order, and Brick did not hesitate, doing a maneuver and landing with the nose pointing outwards.
"Who's taking me to the General, the Trade Federation wants me to deliver the message before the Naboo year is done" A single soldier clad in a green armor with yellow stripes stepped forwards "Sargent."
"Roger Davis, British Airborne Division," The soldier, head covered by the helmet/HUD device, "General Patton tasked me to take you to the bridge."
"Then let's go, I still gotta cash that bounty," Brick, like a true hunter was already assessing every possible way out, the threat level around him, and whether or not he could get away with taking a hostage on his way out.
"General Patton said that you can cash it in with him, as long as you have the head, sir," Davis said, his finger near the trigger of his rifle.
"Something on your mind, Davis?" Brick asked the soldier after some uncomfortable moments of silence.
"Sorry sir, but I was wondering…" Davis trailed off, continuing only after Brick waved him on, "I was wondering why a bounty hunter of your caliber would travel in a group, I mean, I understand why you would want a twi'lek or a zeltron, but it is odd for a bounty hunters to travel in groups for more than one job."
"First of Davis, if you dare talk about my crew as if they were animals or toys then I will make sure that you live a life with terminal pain," Davis clutched his rifle tighter, "Second, I have a member of specie nine and ten in the ten most dangerous, zabrak and wookie, the perfect seductress, zeltron, the smartest woman in the galaxy, according to me, a twi'lek, a venomous togruta, a force using nautolan, and two humans, a telekinetic one and a sharpshooter of Mandalo," Brick smiled dangerously, "Want to tell me something is wrong with my crew?"
"No, sir, sorry for the disrespect," the rest of the trek was spent silence.
"Brick Strum, number thirty eight most successful bounty hunter, Jango Fett, the number one in the list, has expressed that you and your crew are the most organized he has seen, and that your teamwork makes up for what you do not have in fire power, and now you have business with the UN, so, what brings you here?"
Brick raised his left hand, "Connect to the cargo bay, show them Honka'tis, the corpse," the hologram distorted the color of the corpse, but one could not deny that the twi'lek, once green, now was a pale color, paler than what the usual hologram did, "I'll take my cash first, unless you want me to drop the corpse from the bay so you can pick it up."
"Not needed Strum, just take this," Patton handed Brick a card, "Fifteen thousand standard credits in it, I suppose you have an exchange terminal in your ship," All hunters did, even the rookie ones, never know when someone paid in cards rather than cash.
"Next, the leader of the Trade Federation wants to know if you would like to join the Confederacy of Independent Systems, even though Earth is an independent body with no ties to the Republic," Brick fished something out of his robes, briefly showing the armor he had underneath, "here's the holocron he gave me, I'm out, unless you want to hire me to deliver the answer?"
The General shook his head and waved him away, "I will send a courier of my own, first to the UN, then to them, you are free to go Strum, do whatever you want with the twi'lek's body, I don't care," Brick nodded and left the dark bridge, Davis trailing behind him. Ten minutes later he was back on the Dusk Bringer.
"The Dart is magnetized in, we're moving, set course to Courscant, I believe Master Yoda wanted to talk about Stax, can't let Master Fisto's brother be a bounty hunter after all," They went past Jupiter, using its pull to get them out of the Sol system.
"My brother and I have different morals; he believes in justice, I believe in money," the Nuetolan was green in color, standing ten cm shorter than Brick, his sensory tentacles never stayed still, always giving something away, or finding it, "He was taken, my parents did not want the same for me"
"Yes, you've told us before, Stax, we lost count already" the Zeltron of the crew was pink, with purple eyes, but her pheromones made her the most attractive on board, but she was only 1.59 m, making her the shortest too.
"Do not antagonize him Aela, he is a force user," the Mandalorian merc came into the cockpit, standing at 1.78 m, with twin disruptor repeaters strapped to his waist, short brown hair covering his scalp, "Sugi and Lydia are in the shooting range," the Mandalo sat himself next to Niteko.
"Do not touch the computer," Niteko said to him, "I don't want any trouble until we're out of the system."
"She can still throw you out the window Loki," the zabrak, Sugi, all 1.83 m of her, leaned on the blast door's frame, "where are we going after Courscant?"
"1313, see if there is any job, if not we go to Tattooine, see if the Hutt have any job, otherwise free some slaves," The captain of the Dusk yawned, "Set the auto pilot Niteko, tomorrow is a busy day, everyone else to sleep now, I want us at our best for sector 1313."
"Understood Cap, understood"
Encyclopedia Galactica, Atmospheres
Of the nearing to a billion planets of the galaxy, only a quarter are of an atmosphere type I or II, that is to say, planets that have only oxygen (Type I) or enough oxygen and a low level of pollution (Type II)
There are planets, like Coruscan, that on the upper atmosphere there is pure oxygen, but as one goes lower the atmosphere starts getting thinner on oxygen and thicker with non-breathable gases. Once one reaches sector 1465, the atmosphere is the same as a type IV planet.
Of the quarter billion planets in the galaxy with breathable atmospheres, only a third of that has a type one atmosphere, all planets in which life is indigenous, and some like Kamino.