Chapter 33

Shili – Outer System

The pinpoints of light gradually blurred away as they dropped from hyperspace. They blended into a solitary star system; a single sun and five planets hovering around it. The five spheres glinted across the black space that stretched before the bridge's plexiglass viewport. The Restored Triumph drifted doggedly through the outer reaches of the Shili system, its engines flaring as it pushed towards the promise of fuel and food. Those inside could not yet see the planet Shili itself, as it was on the other side of the bright green star that centred the system. Only the dead worlds of the system could be seen.

A huge gas giant, named Pollis by the indigenous Togruta, sat on the outer-most rim of the system, with a massive Mining Guild space station hovering above it, a dozen frigate's surrounding it. The orange colouration of the world meant that there was probably a mixture of Tibana gas and other gasses that could be caught and purified. Mining in the planet's atmosphere would be a dangerous undertaking, but the local Togruta risked it. Even now, two of their large mining frigates were visible on the far side of the world.

A slightly smaller planet sat further in: Tinmore III, a rocky dead world with a large ring of ice and dust hovering around it. Two other dead worlds, Tinmore I and Tinmore II were even further away, both with no oxygen and made entirely of red, sandy deserts. Canyons and dunes stretched across both world's surface and formed amazingly beautiful geometric patterns. Only one world was habitable in this system: Shili itself. It was currently on the other side of the green burning sun, but would be swinging around by the time they got closer.

Stass remembered a previous mission on Shili, when she had been with her own Master, Keltr Tress. They had been busy with a diplomatic envoy, refuelling at the orbital platform of world. It was similar situation to the one they were currently in, actually. Deja vu made the hair on the back of her neck prickle. Being an investigative Jedi meant that she knew nothing was ever exactly the same.

She shook the feeling from her mind, and focussed on the technicians moving around the bridge. Mark Antilles was marking their landing zone on a holographic representation of the planet that hovered in the centre of the bridge. Two moons orbited the planet. One was the forest moon, Gutras, where many older Togruta would retire, buying mansions around the fields of Mulasit wheat or in the crystal mountains. The other was the graveyard moon, Arratak, where the locals would take their dead to bury in the family tombs. It was closer to Shili than Gutras, orbiting the planet three times a day. This caused huge tidal shifts across the planet's many oceans. Most Shili residencies were set away from the cliffs.

She stared out of the viewport, not really paying attention to the pilots and crew as he finished his briefing and released the men to continue their duties. The frigate was still on the outer edges of the system. They had to pass under the Tori Asteroid belt to reach Shili, and she leant towards Antilles in the pilot's chair. "Are you okay to get through that field, or do you want me to take us in?"

Mark gave her a cursory sideways glance. "And people say you Jedi have no sense of humour. Trust me. I can easily pilot this heap through there."

A quiet alarm sounded around the room, and Telle stormed into the cockpit, her spines half extended. She had pulled a heavy jacket over her shoulders. It only occurred to Stass now that the lieutenant had been asleep for at least a good hour. "Where's Caloc? He said he'd take over while I slept. And what is that alarm?"

Mark ignored her, slowing the ship slightly. He glanced down at the angular headed astromech clipped into a nearby dataport. "GeeTee, scan the system for the control signal, would you?"

Telle shot him an annoyed glare, "Has anyone told the Senator that we have arrived in the Shili system?"

"Of course not.", Mark replied evenly. "I figured he would realise that when we docked to the fuel station."

"Good. The man is a monster.", Telle shivered slightly, "What else did I miss?"

The radio began to crackle loudly, and their communications technician, a young, crooked-nosed man named Tut, fiddled with the controls. He twisted the dials until a gravelly voice crackled across the comms.

"Identify yourselves. You are entering restricted Mining Guild territory. Transmit your ident codes and prepare to pay the hyperspace toll before you can enter or exit the system."

A yellow and black GX-1 Short Hauler drifted towards them, three HH-87 Starhopper fighters of the same colour escorting it. The ship's seemed to be coming from Pollis, or more accurately, from one of the massive mining frigates orbiting above the gas giant. Stass looked over at Telle, who was gripping the copilot's headrest tightly. She had stopped shivering, and instead stared forward with intensity. Alarms blared as they drifted closer, signalling a weapons lock from the starfighters.

The lieutenant frowned as she ran through her options, before nodding at Tut. "Transfer the credits."

"Wait.", Stass grabbed the comm switch, stopping it from activating the transfer, "This is Shili. They have their own mining companies. If they were going to subcontract with the Mining Guild, then they would supply a copy of the contract to the Senate."

"Any outsourcing would be detrimental to their economy.", Mark nodded in understanding, "These guys are fakes. Seen this trick done a dozen times when I freelanced."

The radio buzzed again, "If you do not transfer the credits and transmit your ident, we will be forced to disable your ship and bring you in for questioning."

Lawell was rubbing her hands over her chin, "You may be right, Master Jedi. But then how do we know that the Mining Guild have not simply expanded their operations? Maybe they received permission from the Senate to join with Shili."

"Why don't we ask?", Mark grabbed the commlink, "GX Short Hauler, please identify your captain and your purpose in this sector. As you are no doubt aware, your presence in any system or sector must be recorded to the Republic via the Trust Agreement of Guild Code Nine-nine-six. Please acknowledge and transfer copies of the documentation for your presence here."

There was silent for a moment, before a loud alarm filled the cockpit. Leaning over the chair, Stass saw the weapons lock alarm flashing even brighter. The shorthauler had attempted to lock onto their hull with a tractor beam, and the starfighters had already increased their speed. She looked over at the lieutenant, shrugging as if to say, 'I told you so'. If the ships were trying to lock weapons, that meant their jurisdiction claim was definitely false. She ran through the ship's systems in her mind. The Restored Triumph had two rotary quad cannons, one on the top of the hull and the other below. There was little chance of an attack on the old ship, and so there had been no reason to commission a more heavily armed transport for the journey. She cursed whoever made that decision now. She and Yularen would be having words.

"Shields up, helmsman.", she smiled over at Mark. "Hope they have had enough time to charge after we dropped out."

Lawell was already yelling at her troops. "Deller, take the top cannon. Prune, the belly. Conto, I need you in the engine room with the tech team, just in case. Mika!"

The blue armoured Senate Guard who had followed Telle in stood up straight, half saluting. Her long tail of blonde hair hung down behind her head, and she held the blue and white helmet in the nook of her arm. "Yes, ma'am?"

"Take your team and protect the Senator. He is your priority."

Mika frowned at her, "And what is your priority, Lieutenant?"

Lawell shook her head and turned away, throwing her answer over her shoulder, "I'm trying to get us to the ground safely."

The first barrage of heavy fire slammed into the shields, and the ship rocked, tilting slightly to port. The gravelly voice of the shorthauler's captain again filtered through the comms, "I have identified you as a possible enemy of our organisation. Please transmit your ident codes or I will fire upon you again."

Stass grabbed her commlink from her belt and calmly pressed the transmission button, "Caloc, where are you and Deesix?"

"We were watching from the lower observation platform, Stass.", he answered quickly, "Deesix and I are at the airlocks. Permission jump in my fighter and shoot stuff?"

Stass looked over at Telle, "This is your mission. Do you want me in my fighter also?"

Before they had left Pantoran airspace, Stass had ordered the two Delta-7 starfighters be docked with the Tasha's two underbelly airlocks. It had been an instinctive action, and one she was glad she had taken. With the minimal protection provided by the ancient shield system, the Restored Triumph would need the additional firepower the fighters provided.

Telle considered for a moment, then took the commlink, "Blueboy One, I want you to take out the fighters, but don't attack the freighter until I give the word. If this is just a very aggressive Guild faction, we don't want to start an intergalactic incident."

A groan filled with static rumbled over the comms little speakers, but after a second Caloc stopped, "Hate that callsign, Telle, but I can definitely the distract the fighters. The hauler has the heavy weaponry and shields, so I don't know how much damage I can do until the fighters are taken out anyway."

"We need to get to cover.", Stass leant over Mark's shoulder. "Antilles, can you get us to the Tori Asteroid belt? We can take shelter in the rocks and let the shields charge up fully."

"Of course I can.", he answered, throwing his weight into the yoke. The Triumph sunk away to the left, breaking away from the tractor beam before it had a full lock.

"Not the time to show off, Antilles.", Telle barked. "Punch it."

A loud roar rocked the cabin and they watched an olive green Delta-7 starfighter zip past the cockpit, the two engines flaring bright blue as it picked up speed. The three Starhopper pilots, seeing the Jedi starfighter zip away from their target, slipped into a tight circle and took up a pursuit course. No doubt they saw the launching of a fighter as a hostile move. Any minute now, the Shorthauler would intensify it's attack.

Stass watched as they engaged in a dogfight with Caloc. The Starhoppers had been modified with speed and weapons enhancements, and their pilots were definitely skilled. Caloc had been stuck in the Temple's piloting simulators for the past six months while he healed. She pulled the lieutenant over, whispering in her eyes. "Even with your pilot's brilliant flying and Caloc's distraction, we may still need a spot of luck. What is your plan?"

"Outfly them in the asteroids like you suggested, why?", Telle asked.

Stass closed her eyes. "Just a feeling, I suppose. I had a sense of foreboding. Something else is coming. Can we signal anyone?"

"No.", Tut answered for them, "Radiation interference from Polias is jamming our main communication node. I would be surprised if they attempt to jam us too.

"Besides, I need to focus on surviving this.", the lieutenant turned back to the viewport, "We can worry about what may be coming later, when we are safely in that field. Mark, take us in."