No time like quarantine time for a long chapter.
"So I figured, if those two were getting on the subway in Coronet City, either they had business there, or that's where they left their ship."
As the landspeeder sailed through the clear Corellian night, Security Officer Rosado spelled out his plan to the inquisitor.
"We already checked all of the spaceports and repair shops in Coronet," the inquisitor reminded him sternly. "And we didn't find that ship or any record of a Lucy Lucille Lucitor."
"True. But if their Jedi friends aren't with them, I figure they must have made another stop before coming here. If that YV-560 they fled Coruscant in was badly damaged, they could have scuttled it."
The inquisitor nodded thoughtfully. "That's true. We could be looking for the wrong ship entirely. But if they did switch ships, how are we supposed to know what we're looking for?"
"Good point. But regardless, they had a reason to be here on Corellia."
The inquisitor looked over the landspeeder's windscreen at the lights of the city approaching in the distance. What possible purpose could they have had here?
"If we can figure out what they were doing here, it may lead us back to them, or maybe even...give us some clue as to where their Jedi friends are located." Rosado spoke those words hesitantly. He felt guilty just saying that. But, it was still his job, and at the moment, anything he might say to keep the inquisitor from killing him was a necessary evil.
"And how exactly do you plan on accomplishing this?"
That was a question Rosado had been dreading. He didn't quite have a solid plan in place just yet. He did, however, have an idea of where to start.
"First we're going back to the Juni Street maglev station."
"What for?"
Rosado looked further down the street ahead of the landspeeder into the growing lights of Coronet City. He nodded semi-confidently. "You'll see."
With a great a heave, Tom managed to compress the pair of unconscious stormtroopers into the refresher enough for the door to close when he pressed the button. "Whew!" he gasped, sliding against the door down to a sitting position on the maglev's dirty floor. Though the train had very few passengers at this time of night, there was still the human woman and her small child, the Twi'lek, and the elderly man that the same pair of stormtroopers had been harassing riding in this car. Each had watched him silently as he stuffed the Imperial soldiers into the tiny refresher, but none had offered to help. The Twi'lek, however, gave him a nod of approval once he had finished his daunting task.
Janna and PY-HD entered through the opposite end of the car.
"Oh, there you guys are," Tom said, breathing heavily but with a nervous chuckle. "Don't worry, I took care of the stormtroopers...all by myself."
"Nice going, Lucy. Pony and I checked the rest of the train. They were the only two aboard."
"Speaking of which," Tom said, turning to the astromech, "Pony, can you deactivate this door in case our, uh, *friends* happen to regain consciousness?"
The droid beeped a condescending affirmative and rolled back up to the lead car, Janna and Tom following close behind. Once there, PY-HD plugged into the computer terminal and accessed the maglev's systems, disabling the door to the refresher in car 2.
"So what's the plan now?" Tom asked as the pair of smugglers sank tiredly into some nearby seats. Aside from them, the front car was now completely empty.
Janna rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Well...the station after next has a branch where we can switch trains. The branch bypasses a big section of the CMTS loop and goes right up to Kor Vella. That's only two stations away from where we docked in Clefttorch."
"That's great," Tom said with a yawn. "Anything to cut down on the time it takes us to get back to the ship."
The yawn was contagious. Janna yawned as well before continuing. "Yup. Hopefully we can make it all the way back without being intercepted. If we're really lucky, we'll make it by sunrise." She looked out the window, not that there was much to see out there besides the subway tunnel wall. "Oh, and we're just jumping trains. Obviously not gonna buy a ticket."
"Right. Why risk being seen or give the Empire a way to track us?" Tom closed his eyes and leaned back deep in the seat. "Man, it feels like it's been forever since I've slept."
Janna could not help but yawn again. "I know. I think we've got time for a little loth-cat nap."
The servos and solenoids inside the ticket clerk droid buzzed and clicked as it dutifully went about it's work. For nearly a century it had stood behind that counter, receiving only the most basic of maintenance since it was technically owned by the Corellian government, and they weren't about to shell out taxpayer money to follow the manufacturer's recommended service intervals to the letter; not when they had far more expensive and unnecessary things to waste money on.
The droid didn't really care. It had had the self-preservation protocols wiped from its memory banks long, long ago. It just stood behind the window, listening to travelers' intended destinations, taking their credits, and printing their tickets. Day after day, month after month, year after year, the same old thing.
Until today.
"Yes, sir, one ticket for Zucktha Yard. That will be sixteen credits, sir," the droid droned.
Even at this late hour, there was still a slow but steady stream of travelers lined up before the ticket window in the darkness. The ship yards' never ending production line was about to cycle shifts, and laborers from all over the planet were commuting into work.
The man removed the credits from his pocket and set them on the counter, sliding them beneath the transparisteel window with his palm.
"Thank you, sir." The old protocol droid carefully stacked the credit chips and dropped them into the sorter. It entered the sale information into the computer through the scop-link in its right index finger. "Please stand by while your ticket is printed." The ticket machine spat out a single ticket. The droid plucked it from the slot and held it out to the customer. "Here you are, sir. Have a pleasant ride."
The man reached up to accept the ticket, but just as his fingers were about to close upon the paper, he was roughly shoved aside and knocked to the ground by a figure clad entirely in black and who's features were hidden beneath a helmet. "You. Droid. We need to see your security recordings. Now."
The droid was not phased. "You have interrupted the cue. Please return to the end of the cue at your earliest convenience."
No sooner were the words out of the droid's vocabulator, the crimson blade of a lightsaber suddenly shattered the ticket window, the tip barely grazing the metal between the droid's photoreceptors. The people in line gasped and shrank back, the man who had been knocked to the ground rushing to his feet and breaking for the street. "Listen here, droid! I am an agent of Emperor Palpatine himself! I don't have time to wait in your kriffing line!"
The whirring of a few servos reached the inquisitor's ears, the protocol droid's head tilting slightly as if analyzing the situation. "You have interrupted the cue. Please return-"
The inquisitor swung the lightsaber back, prepared to slash the droid's head off in anger.
"Inquisitor! Stop!" The yell came from Security Officer Rosado, rushing to catch up.
The inquisitor waved its blade at Rosado. "Every second we stand here wasting time, those fugitives are getting further and further away! We don't have time to be polite!"
"But Inquisitor, stop and think for a second!" Rosado begged as he caught his breath. "The droid clearly does not understand. You're waving your authority around like you expect this old class three to know who you are." He pulled his Imperial credentials from his pocket and showed them to the droid. "Imperial Security Officer Rosado," he said as authoritative a tone as he could muster. "I am on extremely urgent Imperial business of the highest importance."
The droid scanned the credentials. "Yes, sir. How may I be of assistance to you, sir?"
The inquisitor growled and switched off its lightsaber. Rosado couldn't help but smile to himself.
"My associate and I need to see your security recordings as soon as possible."
"Yes, sir, right away, sir." The droid reached beneath the counter and pressed a button. "I have called for a replacement droid to relieve me." It gestured to the left. "This way please. I will meet you in the corridor."
"Thank you."
As the droid passed through an interior door on its way out to meet them, Rosado smiled at the inquisitor as they headed in the same direction. "See?"
The inquisitor did not even look at Rosado. It just pushed in front of him. The Security Officer scrunched up his lips in disdain and followed.
"Now arriving: Core-ell Junction."
PY-HD swiveled it's head to look at its organic companions. Their heads leaned against each other as they soundly slept on the otherwise empty bench seat in the maglev car. The automated station alert from the public address system did not even remotely rouse either of them. It was time for them to disembark and change trains. Tom and Janna needed to wake up. So, the droid jabbed Tom in his side with its sharpened horn.
"YOW!" Tom leapt from his sitting position, his abrupt motion knocking over Janna onto the seat, waking her as well. "Pony Head!" Tom growled as he rubbed his sore side. "What was that for?"
The droid bleeped indignantly that if they wanted to sleep through their station stop, that was just fine, too.
"Oh, we're here?" Janna groaned sleepily as she picked herself up off the seat. "How long was I out for?"
"No idea, I was asleep, too."
"And Pony jabbed you with her horn to wake you up?" Janna chuckled. "Nice. Good job, Pony."
The astromech bleeped happily and Tom scowled with annoyance.
Once again, they carefully watched the platform as the maglev glided into the underground station and, thankfully, spotted no security forces waiting to intercept them. That didn't mean no one was there, though, as the pair of still-unconscious stormtroopers had managed to board the train earlier without ever being spotted. The two smugglers and their astromech hopped off when the automatic doors slid open and headed for a set of stairs in the middle of the platform. The stairs climbed to a walkway that passed over the maglev track they had just been traveling on and it's parallel opposing track to an island platform on the other side. This platform serviced both the opposing track and a third track on the far side, which terminated in a safety buffer and a wall. This was the subdivision line that bypassed roughly half of the main CMTS circuit, heading directly to the city of Kor Vella.
Climbing the stairs was very slow going for PY-HD, having to very awkwardly hop up one step at a time with its single front retractable leg. Nervous at lingering in the open for too long, Tom and Janna picked up their droid and carried it all the way across the walkway and down to the other platform as the train they had just disembarked glided silently beneath them and out of the station.
"Made it," Tom gasped as they set down PY-HD on its feet at the bottom of the stairs. He glanced at the empty Maglev track. "How long until the train gets here? I don't like standing out here in the open with no cover."
Janna shrugged. "I don't know the train schedule. It gets here when it gets here."
"Oh, that's just great."
An empty bench provided a spot where they could sit and await the arrival of the train. All three kept their heads on a constant swivel (one more literally than the other two) keeping careful watch for any sign of potential threats. There was nothing else they could do.
They could only wait.
The old protocol droid led the inquisitor and Security Officer Rosado to the Juni Street Station video surveillance room. The space was small, only barely large enough to accommodate the three of them. The rear wall contained a desk control panel below a dozen monitors, each showing a live feed from a different security camera located around the train station. "Here you will find all security recordings from the station," the droid droned. "If you inform me of the subject of your search, I can assist you in locating it."
"That would be very helpful," Rosado said.
The inquisitor leaned a shoulder against the wall, arms crossed, and scowled beneath its mask. It watched as the droid took a seat at the control panel and plugged its scoplink into a port in the center, bypassing the physical controls. "What location would you like to observe, sir?"
"The ticket window where you were stationed."
The droid commanded the electronics and the monitors ceased to show their individual views. They instead cooperated to show the front counter view blown up as large as possible.
"What time would you like to observe?"
"About an hour or so before sundown."
The droid rewound the recording while Rosado scanned the people milling about in reverse and regressing in the ticket line with his eyes, searching for the fugitives.
After three minutes of rewinding, he spotted the inquisitor sprinting backwards from off-screen. "Slow it down," he said. "Right about here."
The droid complied with the request and the recording's rewind speed slowed. The inquisitor stepped forward for a closer look. It watched itself return to the ticket line, slowly stepping backwards as the passengers in front of it returned. There was that strange blue-and-pink astromech droid with the spike on its dome, the fire-haired demonicite, and the human girl.
"There they are!" the inquisitor growled loudly.
Rosado nodded. "Yup. Droid, based on the time stamp on the recording when they made their transaction, can you look up their tickets and tell us their destination?"
"Of course, sir. One moment, please."
"Identifications, too, droid," commanded the inquisitor menacingly.
"I will obtain that information, as well." After about ten seconds of silence, the droid relayed what it had found. "Only the female's identification was scanned as she was the one who conducted the transaction for the tickets."
"Who is she?" the inquisitor demanded.
"Her identification lists her as Banana Lucitor."
Rosado gave a sarcastic chuckle. "Wow. What a name."
The inquisitor frowned beneath its helmet. "Hang on. Lucitor? Wasn't the ship that helped Butterfly and Diaz escape Coruscant registered to someone named Lucitor?"
"I think you might be right." Rosado pulled his datapad from his shoulder bag and tapped the screen a few times. "Yeah, here it is. 'Lucy Lucille Lucitor.'"
"It's definitely them, alright. What was their destination?"
"The electronic transaction receipt shows the tickets purchased were for Clofttorch." The droid paused. "The system shows that two more tickets were purchased by the same customer early last cycle at Clefttorch Terminal."
Rosado thoughtfully stroked his short beard as he contemplated this information. "If they came here from Clefttorch, and now they bought tickets to head back there...There's a public docking bay in Clefttorch. That must be where their ship is!"
"Right...back...where we started." The Inquisitor silently stared straight at the wall for a few seconds. Rosado wondered what it was thinking.
Then the protocol droid floated up out of its chair and launched backwards out the door, smashing against the wall on the opposite side of the corridor. Rosado was shocked.
"Inquisitor!"
For the second time that night, a red-bladed lightsaber was suddenly aimed between his eyes. "Why didn't you catch that name when we checked that docking bay the first time?" the inquisitor snarled.
It was difficult to remain calm. "I-I-I swear, Inquisitor! 'Lucy Lucille Lucitor' was not anywhere on the roster when we checked the Clefttorch docking bay! I know I would have noticed it! They must have arrived after we left!"
The inquisitor growled and switched off its lightsaber again. "We're wasting time. Call the ship to come pick us up. If they're still traveling by ground we should be able to beat them back to Clefttorch and head them off."
The inquisitor stormed out the door, not even sparing a glance at the broken body of the protocol lying in the hallway as it stalked past.
Rosado took a deep breath, sighing in relief that he had talked his way out of being murdered by his partner yet again, before pulling out his commlink and hailing his troops waiting on the ship in orbit.
After what seemed like an anxious eternity of waiting, the maglev finally arrived, slowing to a stop just a meter or two before the safety bumper against the wall at the track's end. Janna, Tom, and PY-HD wasted no time in climbing aboard with the few other beings taking the subway in the middle of the night. Even once aboard the train, they refused to relax until it reversed direction and pulled out of the station, heading back along its route to Kor Vella.
"Whew!" Janna gasped. "I was so nervous, I felt like I had to remind myself to breathe that whole time we were waiting."
"Me too." Tom wiped a nervous bead of sweat from his brow. "If we ever actually get back to Mewni, I'm gonna sleep for a week."
"Same. I hope King and Queen Butterfly will put up with us for that long."
Tom leaned back in the seat and looked out the window across from him on the opposite side of the maglev car. There wasn't much to see besides the tunnel wall. "I think they would. They seemed like very nice people. Especially as far as Royalty goes."
Janna smirked at him mischievously. "Well, you would know-"
"Shut it!" Tom warned through clenched teeth.
Janna chuckled. "Sorry, Lucy. I forgot how much you despise that subject."
"Just drop it."
Janna leaned back and crossed her arms, looking out the same window opposite them as her partner. "Fine."
On through the night, the maglev raced. Due to the long distances between station stops and nearly straight track on this subdivision route, the train could travel at a much greater rate of speed than the main line CMTS trains. Even so, to the fugitives on board, the trip seemed to take an excruciatingly long time.
When at last the maglev slowed on its approach to Kor Vella Station, Janna and Tom breathed a sigh of immense relief, knowing that their journey was nearly over. They would change trains one final time, with only a short ride remaining to return them to Clefttorch.
"I almost can't believe we made it all this way without running into any more Imperials trying to find us," Tom mused as they crossed the walkway from one platform to the other. "I thought for sure they'd have every trooper in the system scouring the planet for us."
"I was thinking that, too..." Janna thoughtfully put a finger to her chin. "This almost seems...too easy..." She slowly stopped walking. Tom and PY-HD looked at her, wondering what was on her mind.
"Janna?" Tom asked. "What are you thinking?"
Captain Ordonia didn't answer. She stared at the maglev train they had just disembarked as it glided almost silently back out of the station. Abruptly, she spun on her heel and faced her companions again. "Is there any possible way they could have figured out where we left the ship?"
"What, you think they're waiting for us?" Tom asked.
Janna shrugged. "Why else would they not bother to send more stormtroopers after us? There's enough security protecting the ship yards on this backwater trashdump to capture Naboo, they could have easily had a few dozen stormtroopers waiting at every station to completely overwhelm us."
"Unless they just think we'd be too stupid to keep riding the maglev and disappeared into one of the cities along the way."
Janna waved her hand in a circular motion, mulling over Tom's suggestion. "Yeah, I guess that could be, too."
Tom considered their adventures on Corellia for a moment, wondering how the Imperials might have possibly figured out where their ship was. A realization struck, and his three eyes went wide. "Your identification. You had to scan it when you bought the subway tickets. Your ID is in the system, so if that...thing...went back to the station, it could have looked you up in the system to see who you are."
"Nah. My ID has a fake name."
"Oh. Right. Well, they still could still have linked it to the name on the landing permit at the spaceport."
Janna shook her head. "Nope. I never use the exact same fake name twice."
"Really? Why didn't I know that?"
Janna shrugged. "You obviously need to pay better attention to my buisness practices. Either way, I still don't like this. That thing tried to kill us, there's no way it isn't trying to track us down. Even if we can't figure out how it might be tracking us, that doesn't mean it doesn't know where we're heading."
Tom leaned against the walkway railing. "You're probably right. This was way too easy."
PY-HD whistle-beeped a very short comment consisting of a mere three words.
"Yup. Almost definitely." Janna pulled off her hat with one hand and scratched her head with the other. "The question is, where is the trap? Can we make it back to the ship without somehow springing it?"
Tom shook his head in frustration. "I guess we have no real way of knowing."
Another series of bleeps came from PY-HD. It's organic companions gave it a questioning look.
"Pony Head? You have an idea?" Tom asked.
The droid whistled an affirmative.
Janna knelt down in front of it. "Let's hear it."
Sixteen stormtroopers comprised the entirety of Security Officer Rosado's task force. They were under his direct command, answering specifically to him and not acting as a part of any other company. Up until now, they had never been on a real assignment. That quickly changed when they were hailed from orbit to pick up Rosado and the inquisitor in Coronet City and fly them back to Clefttorch.
Rosado had never actually had a reason to command his troops in any kind of real-life battle scenario before. During the cross-planetary flight, he was nervously trying to remember his Imperial training and how properly to command his force.
Fortunately for him, when they reached the spaceport, he didn't even need to.
"All troops, fan out!" the inquisitor barked. "Alpha squadron cover the north end, Beta squadron covers south end! Keep yourselves out of sight until I give the signal! And all troopers set to stun! I want them alive!"
Rosado watched from the bottom of the ship's boarding ramp as the stormtroopers split into two groups and headed toward opposite ends of the spaceport. He couldn't help but feel bad about what they were doing. They were just kids, after all, no different than the pair of Jedi their capture would hopefully lead to. He felt guilty.
Even if the girl had stabbed him in the leg.
Walking up beside the inquisitor with a slight limp from said injury, he cleared his throat. "Um, so...do you want me to have a look at the landing permits again? See if I can figure out which ship is theirs?"
The inquisitor didn't even look at him as it dismissed the question with a mocking wave. "What for? The troopers are covering all entrances. The instant they show up, the troopers will stun them! There will be no escape this time."
Rosado rubbed the back of his head. "Sure. Right. I guess...I'll just sit here and wait then."
"Yeah, you do that."
"This is awfully risky," Tom said, crossing his arms. "Sending an un-encrypted message like this. Someone could pick it up."
"I don't think we really have time to worry about that that," Janna replied as she fiddled with some of PY-HD's settings. "If they are waiting for us and we take too long to show up, then they might start actually looking for us."
"I guess so. But I still don't like it."
"Oh, hush. We don't have time for full encryption, but I'm changing some settings to Pony's broadcast signal so the Empire at least shouldn't notice. Hopefully."
PY-HD concurred with a condescending bleep.
They had left the subway station and taken refuge in a nearby alleyway where they could not be seen from the street. When Janna had finished making her changes, all that was left to do was broadcast the transmission and hope for the best.
"Okay, Pony," Janna said as she got back to her feet. "Let's hope that worked. Send the transmission."
PY-HD shuttered slightly as it replied and then began sending a holotransmission request signal to the frequency Janna had provided.
"It is the middle of the night, you know," Tom reminded her. "He may not answer."
"Shut up."
For two agonizingly long minutes, there was no response. Tom and Janna were beginning to worry that he wouldn't answer. Then, just when they were prepared to give up and consider other options, PY-HD twittered that it was receiving an incoming transmission.
Janna pumped her fist victoriously. "Yes! Put it through, Pony!"
The droid chittered and the holoprojector beside its photoreceptor illuminated, projecting a miniature three-dimensional graphic of Han.
"Han!" they chorused with thankful excitement.
"Hey, guys." The kid rubbed his eyes sleepily as he yawned. "Did you finally make it back to your ship?"
"Not quite," Janna explained. "We think we're walking into a trap at the spaceport. We were wondering...is there any chance that you could, like, do a flyover? See what might be waiting for us where we parked?"
"I'd be happy to, Janna, but I don't have a ship."
Janna snapped her fingers in annoyance. "Rats. Well...couldn't you borrow a ship from anyone?"
"I honestly don't know anyone who would be willing to let me just borrow their ship."
"Well, you still got that big case full of credits, don't you?"
"Yeah, I still have it."
"Can you bribe someone to let you borrow a ship?"
"Hmm..." Hologram Han thoughtfully touched his chin. "You know...I think I may know just who to ask..."
Rosado had been watching the inquisitor stand motionless for what felt like ages. Sitting on a crate near the Pelta-class frigate Mentis Mal assigned to his task force, a leftover from the Clone War, he checked his chronometer. "Sun will be up in about an hour," he said to himself with a yawn. "Can't believe I've been up all night."
The Clefttorch spaceport was pretty quiet for the most part. There was a small cargo ship on the landing pad opposite the Mentis Mal, the trio of Gotals loading it paying no attention to the stormtroopers laying in wait. There was a beat-up light freighter landing three pads away, and a CSS-5 light shuttle noisily buzzed overhead at a very sluggish pace.
"Sure hope they show up soon so I can take a nap," Rosado muttered to himself.
Han looked out the large viewport of Reflectacorp's CSS-5 light shuttle. In the lights of the spaceport below, he could see the obviously-Imperial ship, the inquisitor still standing at the top of the boarding ramp. He pressed his macrobinoculars to his eyes, switching them to heat vision. Outlines of reds and yellows amongst the sea of green were obviously stormtroopers, hiding in the shadows and behind crates and boxes, awaiting the arrival of their target.
"Yup. It's a trap, alright. Seahorse, take us up to an altitude where we'll be out of sight while I contact Janna again."
"Here at Reflectacorp, customer service is our number one priority," the protocol droid at the controls cheerfully replied. It hauled back on the control yoke and flew the ship up into the clouds while Han reopened the communication line from the shuttle's transmitter. Six-inch-tall holographic images of Tom and Janna appeared on the holoprojector in the center of the control panel.
"What's the word, Han?" Janna asked.
"You were right. They're waiting for you at the spaceport. I counted sixteen stormtroopers, plus their commander. You never would have made it to your ship."
"Dang it."
Tom asked, "How in the galaxy did they figure out that's where our ship was?"
"I have no idea, and I don't really care at the moment," Janna said. "The question is how are we supposed to get our ship back and pick up our parts?"
Han nodded sarcastically. "That is a problem, isn't it?" He looked out the viewscreen at the dark night sky, puzzling over the dilemma in his head as he scanned the stars. "Say, Janna...which ship is yours?"
"The red Sheathipede-class Separatist shuttle from the Clone War. Why?"
"I may have an idea. I'll call you back."
Han killed the transmission and the holoprojector blinked out. "Can you do another fly-by, Seahorse? I want to check something out."
"Certainly! At Reflectacorp, customer serv-"
"Please stop talking," Han begged rubbing his temples. "I cannot listen to you say that again."
"Your credits are paying for this surveillance," C-HRS3 said, "and at Reflectacorp, the customer is always right. I will engage quiet mode and perform another fly-by of the spaceport."
"Thank you, so very much," Han quipped as the droid pushed the yoke forward and the long cylindrical ship dropped through the clouds once more. The spaceport lay ahead, a very brightly lit pool in a sea of mostly-dark buildings.
As they did a second slow pass over the spaceport, Han caught sight of the tall dorsal structure of a Sheathipede-class shuttle, the fresh red paint glistening in the bright lights. It was parked on a landing pad right in the center of the spaceport. His macrobinoculars showed no Imperials hiding anywhere close by.
Ah...so the Imps know Janna and Tom landed there, but they don't know which ship is theirs...
"Seahorse, I need you to let me out. Set this thing down somewhere no one will see."
The purple protocol droid did not reply. It just kept flying the ship straight ahead.
"Seahorse?"
Nothing.
Han stood up and took a step toward the droid. "Hey! Are you listening to me?"
"I was respecting your request that I remain silent," C-HRS3 answered as cheerfully as ever.
Han rubbed his eyes in annoyance. "Did you hear what I said?"
"I did. I am currently searching for a landing pad that suits your needs."
"We don't need a landing pad. Just put me down in the middle of the street or something. Anywhere so long as no one sees us."
"My programming dictates that I cannot land in unauthorized-"
"Oh for the love of- Fine! Can you hover close enough to the ground for me to jump out?"
Han could head the droid's processor whirring, analyzing the request. "That is something I am capable of acquiescing."
"Thank you." Han quickly hopped back into the copilot's seat and rang up Janna and Tom one last time. They appeared on the holoprojector yet again. "Guys, I've got a plan. You're still in Kor Vella?"
"Yeah," Janna answered, "near the subway station."
"Good. Wait for me by the station, somewhere I'll be able to easily see you from the air. I'll be there shortly to pick you up."
"What are you-?"
But Han cut the communication line before Tom could finish his question. At C-HRS3's command, the CSS-5 was descending toward the street about a klick from the spaceport.
"After I jump out, head back to Coronet and bring Captain Ordonia's parts to the Reflectacorp docking bay. We'll be there soon."
"I will do as you have instructed!" C-HRS3 replied cheerfully. "At Reflectacorp-"
Han quickly sprinted from the cockpit before he would be forced to listen to more of the droid's ramblings. He lowered the boarding ramp, and C-HRS3 lowered the ship until the end of the ramp was about a meter above the duracrete street. Then he hopped off, turning and waving toward the cockpit to let the droid know he was away. Through the cockpit viewscreen, C-HRS3 waved back and commanded the shuttle back into the night sky. Han watched as it turned toward Coronet City and flew off into the darkness.
"Alright," he said confidently to himself. "Time to see just how convincing an actor I am."
Another yawn escaped Rosado's lungs. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open.
I gotta stay awake...There's gotta be something I can do to keep myself alert.
His eyes drifted down to the carry bag he still wore over his shoulder. He reached inside and extracted his datapad.
I'll try to figure out which ship belongs to those kids.
He called the saved data from their earlier visit to the spaceport on screen.
...even if the inquisitor told me not to bother.
Stormtrooper SF-435 scanned the area beyond the spaceport's north entrance through the sight of his blaster. A slim few beings roamed the street outside, and none seemed to be even remotely interested in approaching the spaceport.
"This is such a waste of time," said SF-437, crouching beside him. "Sitting here waiting for a couple of stupid kids. They probably won't even show up."
"Well, we aren't the ones in charge," 435 reminded his compatriot. "If the inquisitor believes those kids are headed back here, there must be a good reason or we would still be waiting on the ship up in orbit." The trooper lowered his blaster and watched a pretty Twi'lek woman casually stroll past their hiding spot. "And frankly, I prefer this to sitting cooped up on the ship. The view down here is better."
437 shook his head. "Can't really say I agree with you."
"Don't tell me you don't find tailheads attractive."
"No, I can't see anything out of this stupid new helmet. And the new protocols won't let us take them off outside the barracks. Our old armor was so much better."
"Ah, you'll get used to it. I can see...you know...okay." 435 lifted his blaster and peered through the sight once more. A lone male teenager was walking toward the spaceport's main entrance from across the street. "Hey! 437! You see that kid?"
The other trooper looked toward where 435 was motioning with his blaster. "That's not one of them."
"How do you know? How many teenagers do think could be walking around at this hour?"
"Because the inquisitor said the girl was human, and the guy was a Demonicite."
"Oh. Yeah, you're right."
437 stood up. "Protocol does state that anyone entering an Imperial Secured Area must present identification. Come on."
435 quickly grabbed his commlink. "Alpha Squadron, this is SF-Four-Three-Five. Four-Three-Seven and I are moving in to intercept a civilian in accordance with protocol seven-two-point-one. Stand by."
The teenage boy slowed when he saw the pair of stormtroopers moving to block his path into the spaceport.
"Halt," commanded 437. "This is a secure area. State your business."
"I'm just meeting my uncle," said the kid, his voice unnerved, confused, and slightly frightened. "He's fixing the trans-induction coil on our ship in there and I went to get him more solder." The kid opened his hand, revealing a spool of soft metal wire.
The stormtroopers glanced at each other.
"I'll need to see your identification," 435 told him.
The kid turned slightly pale. "I...I don't have it. My uncle is holding onto it because I...I always lose it."
"I'm afraid I cannot let you pass without your identification."
"But my uncle has it. In there."
"Sorry, kid. No exceptions. I'm gonna have to ask you to move along." 437 motioned with his blaster for the kid to leave.
The teenager, however, was not deterred. "Wait, hold on. My uncle is literally right over there on our ship." He pointed toward one of the landing pads. "Let me just run over there and grab my identification from my uncle and I'll come right back. I won't be gone a minute."
The troopers looked at each other again.
"Please, sir?" the boy begged. "My uncle really needs this solder."
Another silent exchange. 437 looked at the teenager. "What's your name, kid?"
"Needles, sir," Han lied, using the name of his street racing pal.
"Needles, I will let you pass to get your identification, but I want you to come right back here immediately, understand?"
Han flashed a thankful and trustworthy smile. "Oh, thank you, so much, sir! I promise, I will come right back!" He jogged past the two stormtroopers, thinking Ha ha, suckerrrrrrrs.
"What did you do that for?" 435 asked as they watched Han run past several ships parked on their respective landing pads.
"Because we're standing out here in the open instead of remaining out of sight to ambush the targets. The longer we spend arguing with that kid, the more likely the targets will show up and see us and the whole operation will be blown."
"You should have just sent him away."
They watched as Han stopped before a landing pad in the middle of the spaceport on the right side and walked toward a shiny red ship with a massive dorsal stabilizer.
"I know. But he's just a kid. What harm is it really going to cause? He's going to come back with his ID, so we're still following protocol. From a certain point of view."
"I guess so. But if the inquisitor asks, I'm saying it was your idea."
Han hurried up the Sheathipede-class shuttle's boarding ramp and closed it behind him. He wasted no time, darting into the cockpit and hopping into the pilot's seat. The Hoar Chall Engineering control layout was a bit foreign to him, but it still didn't take him long fire up the converters.
The engines roared to life. Han gripped the control yoke. "And away we go!"
Rosado blinked, both trying to clear his tired eyes and reacting in surprise to what he was seeing. The Aurebesh text on his datapad made no sense, and yet, somehow, was perfectly logical.
Clefttorch Spaceport
Landing Pad 19
Landing Permit Number: 721310
Permit Issued to: Wrathmelior L. Banana
Banana? There's no way that's a coincidence... Wait, Docking bay 19? That's right-!
Rosado's train of thought was interrupted by the sound of twin sublight engines roaring to life just to his left. He jumped to his feet.
"Uh...Inquisitor?!" he called.
"What?" the black-clad Jedi hunter yelled back in annoyance from where it stood atop the Mentis Mal's boarding ramp.
"Remember how you said it didn't matter which ship belonged to those kids?"
"Yeah?"
Rosado pointed to a red Sheathipede-class ship rising up off the landing pad just beside them. "Well...it's that one..."
The Inquisitor could only watch as the ship belonging to its quarry rose into the air and flew away. "Idiots!" it yelled, and sprinted into the frigate.
Rosado quickly hurried up the ramp after it. "Oh, boy."
Programming in a comm frequency while flying was not the easiest of tasks, but Han was no ordinary pilot. It took only a few minutes for him to contact Janna and Tom through PY-HD's transmitter. The little holoprojector on the control panel lit up with their miniature images.
"Hey! You guys still by the subway station in Kor Vella?"
"Yeah, we're here," Janna replied, "Where are-?"
"Coming in hot!" Han said, cutting her off. "You'd better be ready to jump in when I get there, I'm sure they're tailing me!"
"Wait, wha-?!"
Han killed the transmission. The scanner did not pick up any ship tailing him, but he knew the Imperials would not be far off. He took a deep breath, but smiled confidently nonetheless. "This is gonna be some rescue."
Janna hurried toward the subway station with Tom and PY-HD hot on her heels.
"What the heck is Han doing?" Tom wondered aloud as they ran. "What did he do? Steal our ship out from right under the Empire's nose?"
"No idea! We'll ask him when he gets here!"
In a few minutes they had made it back to the front of the subway station, joining the slowly increasing gathering of early morning commuters. No more than thirty seconds later, their red Sheathipede-class shuttle came soaring over the tops of the buildings at high velocity.
"Guess that answers that question," Janna muttered. "Taxi!" she called sarcastically.
The ship shot toward the ground, causing the commuters heading for the subway station ticket window to scatter, most of them crying out in terror as they ran. Janna, Tom and PY-HD, however, held their ground, and sure enough, just as the ship reached them, it abruptly slowed and spun one-hundred-eighty degrees, the stern boarding hatch now facing them as it hovered half a meter off the ground. A second later, the hatch doors opened and the boarding ramp extended, the ship hovering so low that the tip of the ramp actually contacted the street.
"Ride's here," Janna quipped, wasting no time in leading the charge up the ramp.
Han shoved the throttle forward before his passengers had a chance to grab onto anything, the shuttle jumping forward so quickly that Tom and Janna nearly fell out of the still-open rear hatch. Had PY-HD not had its magnetic feet activated and been behind its organic companions to catch them when they stumbled, the smugglers almost certainly would have tumbled out.
"Han, you idiot! Close the back!" Janna yelled.
"Whoops!" Han activated the ramp control and retracted it, the hatch automatically closing with it.
Janna stood and offered Tom her hand. He took it and she helped him back to his feet. "Thanks, Janna. And we both owe you for the save there, Pony Head," he said to the droid.
"Yeah," Janna agreed. "It's a really good thing we brought you along on this one. We may need to have you with us more often."
The astromech bleeped faux-modestly.
They made their way up to the cockpit. Han flashed them a dashing grin over his shoulder. "Hey guys. You had quite an adventure, huh?"
"You could say that," Janna said sarcastically. "How in the world did you manage to get this bucket away from the Imperials?"
Han smirked. "Well, it was quite a brilliant plan, if I do say so myself..."
As Han regaled his tale, he pointed the ship toward Coronet City. On the horizon, the sun was rising over one of Corellian Engineering Corporation's ship yards. And somewhere, just out of sight, an old Pelta-class frigate was being piloted into the air, a very agitated Inquisitor at the controls.
Quick shoutout to Lord of the Storm, being the only one who actually replied to my inquiry if anyone had been following along since the very beginning of this fanfic. (Looks like you've been following along for about two months. Thanks for reading!)
Hope everyone stays safe and healthy during this pandemic.
Next: Tom and Janna Return to Mewni
