To begin with, I'd like to apologize for how long it's been since I uploaded a chapter. Over two months. This one was a series of frustrating revisions, cut scenes and segments, and harried re-writes. The final product is something a bit dull, much like the last chapter. There is an event hinted to at the end of this one but if I compressed it all into one chapter it would be insanely huge, and I probably wouldn't be fully done with it until mid-June.
Also, where are those reviews? I received the usual amount this time around, and in response to the guest reviewer who christened themselves 'Darth Jabba', Tadena, the one-bit name in the final sentence of chapter ten, was a completely different character left over from another incarnation of the (by now) seven chapters (there are a few dealing with Bohdi Rook's intel [the nature of which will be revealed in due time] that we haven't gotten to yet.) In that other incarnation, he was a com officer who was part of a massive network of Alliance sympathizers within Imperial ranks led ny a mysterious figure known as 'the Rook' (who was actually Bohdi). I scrapped it because it was too complicated and eventually decided to just have Bohdi be the defector Isabella and phones bring to the Freedom.
So after you finish reading, please click the review button and tell me what you thing. criticism is encouraged.
Candace and the droids escorted Liea and Bohdi through the Freedom's hallways and corridors, accompanying them to a small debriefing room. Outside waited several officers from Alliance Intelligence.
She recognized Major Hologram almost immediately. During the victory party on Yavin, Perry, who...apparently had gone and become a Rebel agent while she was off at the Imperial Academy, had introduced him as his direct supervisor. He had that twitchy cadet, Ensign Carl, with him too. She also identified General Draven, the officer who had debriefed and vetted her, Buford, and Baljeet following their defection. Draven was cold and pragmatic, but she admired that about him. The third was a younger man whom she did not know. He had shaggy black hair and a mustache. An insignia plaque on his chest denoted his rank as Captain.
"Come." Draven said, his tone calm yet cold. "We have much to discuss." Bohdi stepped inside, and the Intelligence officials and Liea followed. Candace started to enter as well, but was stopped by Liea.
"No, Sergeant." she said slowly, as if talking to a child. "This is a private briefing. You may go on break. I will call you when I need you." Candace nodded.
"Yes ma'am." she replied as the door slid shut. She turned. The droids were gone, having already dispersed to...wherever it was they went. She was alone. Candace smiled slightly. She had an idea of what she could do to entertain herself. Oh, yes she did.
The Slave 1 docked with the Light Cruiser, coming to rest in the small docking area in the middle of the wedge-shaped hull.
Inside the cruiser's airlock chamber stood a young lieutenant, dressed sharply, and eager for action. The airlock hissed open, and in stepped Boba Fett. The Lieutenant's smile faded, and he struggled to contain his revulsion.
"Greetings, Bounty Hunter." he said through gritted teeth. "My name is Lieutenant-"
"Let me make this clear, kid." Fett interrupted, his voice punctuated by static from the helmet's vocoder. "I don't like you Imperial types, I don't like your by-the-books way of doing things, and I certainly don't like you!" He jabbed his index finger at the Lieutenant for effect. The young officer scowled at the bounty hunter's disrespect, but swallowed his pride.
"Well, yes-erm, per Lord Vader's orders, we have set up a situation room directly adjacent to the bridge, and will assist you with your search for-"
"Show me to the office." Fett said. "And I want a list Skwalker sightings dating back to week, and a team of Intelligence specialists working on a net to catch Skywalker. Understand?"
"I-I don't have that sort of clearance!" the Imperial protested.
"Here's your clearance." snarled Fett, thrusting a small datachip at him. "Tell anyone who questions our motives that it's from Darth Vader!" The officer stuttered, before nodding viciously and walking off. Underneath the helmet, Bobba Fett smiled. If he pulled it off just right, this would be the huggedt payoff of his career, no-of any bounty hunter's career. If he played it right, he could not only catch Skwalker-netting him a cool 500,000 Imperial credits-he could also get Princess Liea Organa, face of the Rebel Alliance, with a price of 30 million Imperial credits on her head. And then there was Solo and the wookie.
Oh, the elusive Han Solo, smuggler-turned-Rebel-hero, Captain of one of the fastest ships in the galaxy. He was the first person to be simultaneously at Number 1 on Jabba's most wanted list, and on the Imperial Security Bureau's Most Wanted list. The cumulative bounty was valued at 100, 354 million credits, between Jabba, the Empire, and a few dozen other, smaller bounties. Fett could retire thanks to Solo.
Krennic's shuttle entered orbit above Lola Sayu. Inside the cockpit sat Krennic, brooding. Outside the transteel viewport, he could see the prison planet.
Lola Sayu was a purplish-coloured world that was somewhat serene-looking. Almost unspoiled. Well, until you looked to the southeastern hemisphere. Large chunks of the crust had broken off, exposing the orange mantle. The mantle itself was slowly being pulled out of the planet and into space. The whole thing was ringed by a massive asteroid belt.
It had a long history with prisons, starting several centuries earlier with the Citadel, a prison constructed by the Jedi Order. The official purpose of the Citadel was "to contain members of the Order who had lost their way." In Krennic's mind, that translated roughly to "We're so much better than all you non-force users that we'll go outside the law and build this illegal private prison." At least the Sith were open about consolidating power, while the Jedi prefered to lie and say they were working for everyone. Privately, Krennic cared little for either the near-extinct Order, or the Sith, let alone their millennia-old quarrel. He wasn't crazy about worshipping the Sith like Vaneé or Yupe Tashu, cult fanatics who worshipped and served Vader and Palpatine.
The a Citadel remained in Jedi service until the Clone Wars, when the Separatists captured Lola Sayu. They promptly turned right around and released all the Dark Jedi, terrorists, and other baddies, and promised to give them revenge on the Jedi who imprisoned them, as long as they pledged loyalty to the Confederacy. Which was part of the problem. Had they been in a formal Republic prison, well they never would've been released. They could've even fought for the Republic, given reduced sentences of even freedom in exchange for Military service.
During the war, the Citadel was heavily damaged when a strike team, led by the Jedi, rescued Jedi Master Evan Piell, who had the coordinates of some hyperspace route or another. Krennic honestly didn't care.
Following the war, Lola Sayu fell into the hands of the Empire, and it was ordered by the Emperor that Lola Sayu continue to serve its purpose as a prison planet. Five years after the droid armies of the Confederacy of Independent systems deactivated, ending the war, extensive ore deposits were discovered in the Northern Hemisphere, and the Empire commenced strip mining. The ore supplemented the construction of the Death Star, and even now, almost 8 months after the completion and subsequent destruction of the battlestation, the mining operations continued, with more facilities being constructed. In time, the alloys forged here would be appropriated for the second Death Star.
Krennic looked up again as his shuttle got closer to the planet. He was considering having a survey team look over the space above the planet, determine if it was suitable to be a construction site for the battlestation, and he intended to just do a quick lookover of Lola Sayu's orbital space. However, he was distracted by the planet's defense fleet.
Above the planet was a flotilla of starships, the largest a star destroyer. Accompanied by two light cruisers and a few Gozanti- class cruisers, they stood sentry, ready to scan all incoming ships, and if necessary, destroy them.
A line of transports and shuttles snaked towards the planet, waiting to be scanned and given clearance to proceed to the surfac. Krennic smirked arrogantly. His shuttle had an automatic transposer that allowed them near-immediate access to most Imperial installations. It sent an automatic, repeating signal telling anybody who listened that the shuttle carried an Imperial Advanced Weapons Director on Tarkin Initiative Business.
At the mere thought of his old rival's name, Krennic scowled slightly. Tarkin was dead, and yet they still fought. Krennic fought the man, and now he found himself fighting the man's ghost-his legacy. What was worse was that at the moment, the legacy was winning. Tarkin had statues dedicated in his name and a holiday in honor of his memory. Krennic was yelled at by Moffs Pandion and Tandent for going over budget on the new version of the shield gate, a wheel-shaped orbital station capable of enveloping entire planets in a defense shield.
Well, that was soon to change. The Tarkin Initiative-Tarkin's eponymous weapons development program-was soon to be renamed. The Krennic initiative would fix the quagmire of failures Tarkin had left. From the failed BT-1 Assassin Droid, and the First Death Star, Krennic would pick up the pieces, and between the new Death Star, and Heinz's platypus commandos, as well as a few other….surprises, soon the name Orson Callan Krennic would be known.
"Sir, we've been cleared to land." announced Captain Pterro at the pilot's station.
Krennic harrumphed, and walked out of the cockpit, climbing down a ladder into the troop hold. His squad say there, completely silent, completely still. Chained in place, sat the man and woman, Lawrence and Linda. Linda sobbed quietly, Lawrence was stone-faced, angry at the Empire or just in shock, Krennic couldn't tell.
The ship rocked as it entered Lola Sayu's turbulent atmosphere, and Krennic danced for a second, struggling to regain his footing. Soon enough, both Krennic and the ship stopped rocking, and they slowed, landing. Krennic exited the main hold, heading to the small forward cabin where the landing platform lowered. Two of the Death Troopers dragged the Flynn-Fletchers out of the hold and down the ramp.
"Well," he said to no one in particular as he began to walk forwards after the troopers. "Let's go transfer some prisoners."
"SIR." NORM-3P0 said, stepping into Darthenshmirtz's office. He found his master sitting at his desk, a couple of blueprints and datacrons strewn across the tabletop. A hologram of the first Death Star was slowly spinning. He was lazily throwing darts at a dartboard, and looked up with a bored expression on his face as the massive droid entered.
"NORM!" he groaned. "I thought I told you not to bother me while I redesign the Death Star." He grunted as he sat up, dusting the crumbs from some chips off of his cloak. "What do you want?"
"I HAVE SOME BAD NEWS SIR." The droid said. His voice betrayed no emotion, as it was programmed to, but still… The Sith Lord sensed something beneath it... "THE CHILD HAS ESCAPED." Darthenshmirtz sat up in his chair, wide-eyed. Ferb Fletcher was loose!
"Lock down our facilities." he ordered the droid. "Have Yaami compile a list of potential escape routes, after that, contact Colonel Crefet in Tipoca City Central Command. Tell him we have a security breach. Deploy two of those Death Troopers to the Cell Block. Fletcher might return for Perry the Platypus, and I don't want to run the risk of losing him too." The droid gave a curt nod, and walked out the door, but hit his head and fell. The door then began to close onto the unfortunate droid, but retreated back into the walls every time it made contact with NORM, before trying to open again. This went on for some time. Eventually, Darthenshmirtz used the Force to push the button on the wall panel, opening the door and allowing the droid to climb up and out.
"And HURRY!" Shouted Darthenshmirtz. "Every second that brat is loose we run the risk of losing him!"
Although his very presence was a security risk, they needed Ferb Fletcher alive. The very notion that they might harm the kid compelled Perry the Platypus to be more willing to submit to regular medical scans to ensure his DNA did not become contaminated with a disease or degrade.
Under normal circumstances, Darthenshmirtz would have been perfectly content to let his nemesis wither and die from some virus that attacked its victim's genetic code, but the problem was….they needed his DNA unharmed. Without it, they would be unable to manufacture more of the clones. Dr. Tanmi had been adamant the about keeping the original genetic template alive.
"We're lucky the Clone Wars ended when they did, you know." he had said. "With the death of Jango Fett on Geonosis, we were forced to take genetic samples from...the clones themselves."
"You cloned clones?" Darthenshmirtz asked.
"Yes. In time, the genetic tissue would've degraded and then…."
So they needed Perry to remain alive to continue harvesting genetic material. And they needed that genetic material to remain healthy, which required regular checkups. So, to encourage Perry to cooperate with Dr. Tanmi's checkup, they reminded him of the fact that they had Ferb. Without Ferb, they would be unable to er….persuade Perry the Platypus into submitting. Healthy Perry DNA meant healthy mutant carnivorous platypus commando clones.
Thinking of the Platypus Clones gave Darthenshmirtz an idea, and he walked slowly to the com. He pressed the button gingerly, as if he was afraid of hurting it.
"Lieutenant Yaami." he said, speaking slowly.
"Sir!" cried back the voice of his panicked aide. "He won't g-get far, I-I assure you! I'm doing the best I can! All ships have been grounded, and we have all available personnel sweeping the city."
"Not all personnel, Lieutenant."
"Sir?"
"Deploy the Platypus Commandos." At this, he heard a sharp intake of breath from Yaami. "Tell them not to harm the Fletcher kid, and make it evident that this is NOT A DRILL."
"But sir, they've never been field-tested before and-"
"Well, we have to do it eventually, don't we?" After a moment of silence, the lieutenant replied.
"Yes sir."
"And then meet me in central command as soon as you're done."
"Understood." With that, the com went dead. Darthenshmirtz smirked. Nothing would escape the platypuses. Not even a Jedi.
Ferb paused for breath. He had barely eaten in days, as Darthenshmirtz's minions hardly remembered to feed him. He had to eat eventually, but he wasn't sure when. He leaned against a crate, and glanced over the room to get his bearings. He was in a storage center, and a heavily packed one at that. It was a maze of cargo crates, and the boxes went almost all the way to the ceiling. The storage center was halfway across the city from his captor's facility. He wanted to be far from Darthenshmirtz, and he had accomplished that. His next challenge was to get off this god forsaken water-world. First though, he needed some food. With this many crates, some of them had to contain emergency rations or something like that, right?
Ten minutes later
Ferb opened the top of another crate, and, to his surprise, this one did contain food. Not good food, just standard-issue rations for the Stormtroopers. Crackers, nutritional supplements, protein powder, that sort of thing, but to the starving Ferb, it was a feast fit for the Emperor. He spent the next several minutes greedily slurping down the contents of the ration packs. He had gone through several when, to his surprise, the door opened. His eyes went wide when he heard the mechanized voice of a Stormtrooper say:
"Search in here." He then began to hear pair of footsteps, gradually getting louder. Ferb hurriedly dumped the remnants of his brief meal back in the crate, quietly snapping the lid back into place, and quickly sliding it back into the rack. The footsteps grew louder, and Ferb darted off into the shadows. He tiptoed quickly around the crates, and past a pile of grenades. The footsteps grew louder. He looked around wildly, and saw what appeared to be a ventilation duct. However, it was directly across a partition in the rows of boxes, which the two Stormtroopers were currently walking down. The footsteps were loud now, and Ferb guessed that he had less than ten seconds before the troopers intercepted him. His mind raced for a good three seconds before he had an idea.
Ferb lifted his hand, and pointed it at a box on top of a tower of crates on the other side of the room. He closed his eyes, and. The box shifted a bit, and eventually collapsed. Ferb opened his eyes, and heard more clattering, which he assumed meant more boxes were falling.
"What the hell was that?" shouted one of the Stormtroopers.
"We'd better check it out." his partner replied. The footsteps began to recede. Ferb darted across to the grate, and quickly, but silently removed it. He climbed inside, and reattached the grate. As he began to crawl, he heard one of the Stormtroopers say:
"These boxes must've been unbalanced. Come one, let's activate some load-lifters to put them back."
"Should we report this?"
"Nah. Do you know how much paperwork we'd have to fill out just for activating the load lifters?"
Inside the duct, Ferb smiled. He had evaded capture. For now, at least.
The bridge of the Star Destroyer Avenger was silent as Commander Garavle walked slowly to Captain Needa at the end.
"Sir." he said. Needa turned. "We've been temporarily reassigned." He handed a tablet to the captain. Needa looked it over.
"One of our cargo pilots has defected?"
"Yes sir, an Ensign Bodhi Rook."
"So what does the reassignment have to do with it?"
"The top brass at the ISB believe that he is bringing Intel vital to a rebel alliance strike. Admiral Ozzel has been ordered to deploy cruisers to every facility he regularly ran supply runs to."
"And we've been reassigned to guard the dismantling facility in the Armenoltoniax Cluster?"
"I believe so, sir."
"Very well." Needa then turned to a couple of officers in the starboard pit. "Navigator, plot a course to the Armenoltoniax Cluster. Com Officer, inform Admiral Ozzel that we have received his orders." The officers nodded and hurried to carry out the orders. Needa turned back to his second officer, smiling grimly.
"Commander, there is one one thing I must make clear first."
"Sir?"
"The last time you were in a combat situation, you made a decision to save your crew rather than scuttle your ship."
"I managed to save most of the crew, yes."
"But your ship was not destroyed, Commander." Needa said, raising his voice. "Tell me Commander, what happened to your ship?" Garavale shrank backwards, smiling nervously. Under his cap, his close-cropped black hair grew moist from nervous sweat.
"It...err..fell into Rebel hands...sir."
"Exactly." Needa replied, his voice quieting down again. "I need your assurances commander, that in the same position this time around, you won't make the same mistake."
"I'm sorry, sir?" Garavle asked.
"If the rebel scum attack the Armenoltoniax Cluster Facility, and I am incapacitated during the attack." He said, his voice rising again with each syllable. "And if it gets severely damaged, I want you to promise me that you will set the self destruct as you leave the bridge."
Garavle gaped at his superior officer. The self-destruct sequence on an Imperial Star Destroyer was half an hour at best, giving only a third of the crew time to evacuate. He was being asked to risk the lives of over half the crew just to keep a damaged ship out of rebel hands? Garavle wanted to shout. He wanted to resign his commission, yell at Needa, or do something. Instead he said:
"Yes sir." Needa gave a curt nod and smiled thinly.
"Good, Commander. Now go the hangar and overseer the readying of the TIEs."
"Yes sir." he replied. Needa's smile thinned even more, and he walked off the bridge. Garavle did not immediately head to the hangar, but remained on the bridge for another minute.
"What did I just agree to do?" he whispered, asking only himself. "What did I do?"
The Imperial freighter dropped out of lightspeed at Sereeda Waypoint. From inside the cramped cockpit, the officer commanding the vessel turned on the com.
"This is Imperial Freighter S8-8117 to Mining Guild Vessel Unrefined Fury. Please reply." Her upper lip curled with distaste for the Guild's mining-related choice of name. All of the ore-finding conglomerate's vessels were related in some way related to mining; Alloy of the Heart, the Orebringer, and her least favorite, the Quarrying Strike. The Mining Guild itself was an object of the officer's scorn; she detested the corporation/paramilitary group, as she felt it was better to have Imperial mining operations fully under Imperial control, with Imperial bureaucrats administering production, and Imperial Stormtroopers guarding Guild projects.
She detested even the Mining Guild's yellow-hued TIE Fighter, a specialized design from Sienar Fleet Systems, with two of the external solar panels removed. This gave the pilot a wider view, but limited their flight capabilities.
She repeated the hail; "Imperial Freighter S8-8117 to Unrefined Fury, we are here to pick up our shipment of thorilide. Please respond." It was unusual for the Guild operatives to be late; they were usually as punctual as the Empire. She had made this resupply run a dozen times, and the Guild ships were always on time. After a second of silence, the com crackled to life.
"Uh, yeah hey." came a male voice. "This is the Unrefined Fury. We, uh had a, uh small reactor leak, but uh everything's fine now.. Now cause for alarm." The officer frowned, something was definitely off.
"Do you require assistance?" she asked, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation. The Guild's ships were outdated and poorly maintained.
"Uh, yeah." the voice replied. "Could we dock to receive technicians while we transfer the cargo?" She sighed.
"Very well. You may dock with our starboard airlock." With that, she ended the transmission.
"We have them." The com officer announced suddenly. "They're half a kilometer off our port bow."
"Bring the ship around to meet them." Their cruiser turned sharply, and the vessel came into view. It was a CR90 Corvette, done up in the Guild's yellow colour scheme. The site of the vessel made her sick to the stomach; the CR90 was the model so famously used in the Rebel Alliance. There it had earned its nickname as the so-called 'Rebel Blockade Runner'. The Guild's TIE Fighters hung back, just out of range of her ship's weapons. "Prepare to dock." she ordered.
"Reactor leak?" Liea shouted at Han as he turned away from the com. "That is literally your go-to."
"It is not." retorted the smuggler, standing up. "I-" He was interrupted by Liea.
"Oh, really? What about that scouting mission in that Imperial Shuttle? Those TIEs were about to clear us and you lost your nerve and yanked on the controls, before using that as your excuse!"
"Well, uh, see you're paraphrasing me there and-"
"Shut up." those two words hung in the air, a still silence supporting them. Han's mouth hung open slightly. "Stay here."
"What?"
"You heard me." she replied. "Stay here while I hijack the freighter."
"But-"
"Shut up and sit down. And seriously, stay here. It's almost like you're worried about me or something." With that, Liea turned and strode out of the captured Mining Guild Vessel's cockpit, leaving Han there gaping.
Worried about Liea? The very thought was abhorrent to Han. He wasn't worried about her, was he?
Glossary (incomplete, only including characters and ship classes crucial to the understanding of the story):
General Draven - the Rebel Intelligence General from "Rogue One"
Tarkin Initiative - A division within the Imperial Military tasked with the development of advanced weapons. It was responsible for building the Death Star.
Vaneé - Vader's creepy aide from Rogue One
Yupe Tashu - A sith cultist and historian who feautured as a minor antagonist in the Aftermath trilogy (Good series, by the way. Part of canon.)\
Mining Guild - A network of independent mining groups that worked for the Empire, my description of them here pretty much sums them up. They first appeared in Season 2 of Star Wars Rebels. Interestingly enough, they were first mentioned in a line of dialogue from one of the original movies. I anyone can guess both the movie, and the dialogue, I'll send them a PM teasing some plot details.
CR-90 Corvette - the official name of the Rebel Blockade Runner
Goodbye and see you next time. As always, remember to review. Seriously though, review.