The Mutineers
of the
Far Orbit
(Second Part)
The Mutineer officer was a young man in a technician's uniform with a lieutenant's rank plate (two red rectangles, two blue rectangles). Leaning nonchalantly against a wall, he observed the work of two of his subordinates. At the time when Captain Kenit was running the Far Orbit, his casual attitude would have earned him a severe punishment. But things had changed since the mutiny. The rules were much less strict onboard a privateer ship.
The corridor was illuminated by light strips in the walls, the ground vibrated slightly and one could hear the hum of the hyperspace thrusters while the Far Orbit was traveling across the galaxy.
The officer was looking at two men also wearing the technical service suit. They had just removed the outer coating of a section of a power supply column. The older of the two technicians was now standing, by leaning one hand on the column and he looked without intervening at the younger crewmember who was working.
Of the three technicians, he was the only one who actually worked. They were lazy? No, this young recruit was still in training and his elders had explained the work to do, he now had to show them what he understood.
Holding a tester in one hand, the second-class technician fixed the clamp at the end of the red wire at a positive pole, and then the clamp at the end of the blue wire at a negative pole... He looked at the numbers that appeared on the small screen, memorized them, and started again in another place of the column.
After a while, he disconnected the wire that allowed the column to supply the tester and started again the measurements.
He shook his head and turned to the young officer.
"Sir, this is totally absurd!"
"Be more explicit, second-class technician Cee Kardid."
"Well..." Cee Kardid nervously scratched his head. "I measured values eight times higher than the norm in this column, but only as long as my measuring device was supplied with energy to this same column. As soon as I took the power cable off, the meter didn't detect any energy."
"Did you test the measuring device?"
"Yes sir! The self-diagnostic system ensures that the device is working perfectly. I also took a device that had never been used and was still in an antistatic bag. So there's little chance that he was affected by the... peculiar conditions... prevailing aboard the Far Orbit."
The officer was about to answer, but a screen lit up in the wall as Dhas Vedij's voice was heard all over the Nebulon-B Frigate.
"All hand, this is your captain speaking."
Sitting in the command chair, Captain Vedij stood up and looked at his subordinates. Two meters in front of him, consoles formed a circular arc interrupted in two places. Officers in grey uniforms and Fleet Soldiers, dressed in black and wearing shiny helmets, were seated. All those who did not have an urgent task in hand had turned to their commander to listen. The windows were only showing the glittering lines of hyperspace. Their workload was reduced.
"First, I would like to give you the result of the election of the commander."
Per the tradition of space pirates, the commander of a ship was elected at the beginning of each Tour (1).
"Out of 502 voters, 308 voted for... Dhas Vedij, that is me."
In a crew station with walls covered with posters of Twi'leks, a group of pirates began to swear. They belonged to different races of aliens often little-known. Unless being an expert, any human from the Core would only recognize a Zeltron and a Rodian.
They got up from their bunks where they rested, dropped their sabacc cards, and began to protest energetically speaking of "vote rigged" and "injustice".
What was perfectly absurd... the crew was mostly made up of Mutineers who had chosen a few days earlier to follow Vedij in this adventure. They had obviously all voted for him.
The briefing room was quite sinister with its black metal walls and its large circular table in equally dark and shimmering metal. The edge of the table was lined with screens and control panels while a holographic projector was in its center.
Flimsiplast sheets (2) and maps of the same material were rolled out on the table, alternating with datapads, while several flat holograms floated at various heights showing charts and interactive maps.
Around the table, imperial officers in uniform were sitting without any concern for the rigid decorum of the Empire, one even had his feet on a console. They shared the room with three pirates... one of them was Shiraz... and Major Cet Willak, the Alliance Observer.
The former imperials applauded when they learned that their candidate had won the election. But they were silent as the hologram of Vedij spoke again.
"Prince Shiraz had the highest score among the other candidates, with 74 votes. As a result, he is given the position of First Officer."
Shiraz stepped out of his chair and took a few steps, raising his arms like an athlete receiving a medal, but he smiled spuriously... well aware of his comparatively low score. The Imperials clapped again... out of politeness... and the faint noise of their hands contrasted sharply with the resounding deluge of their enthusiasm for their leader.
Only Cet Willak had been sitting for the whole announcement, completely impassive, apart from an expression of contempt and boredom. He hated pirates, low-life thugs who attacked innocent civilians. He hated the Imperials, monsters who destroyed planets to rule by terror... even though he could not dispute that they were the legal government. In his view, the Mutineers were the bottom of this barrel of garbage, Imperials who had rebelled against the legal government to become pirates.
In another crew compartment, a droid sweeps the floor. Three berths were occupied; two by Fleet Soldiers, one of whom was in a T-shirt. Lying on his back he looked at the lit screen listening to Vedij. The other one, sitting on his bed, ate a tray of heated ration without much enthusiasm.
The third crewman present was a Rodian dressed in an old spacer's jumpsuit. He too was lying down.
"I promise to do everything in my power to bring you back alive and... rich. Since we are talking about the Tour that we have just begun, perhaps it is time for me to tell you what mission the Rebel Alliance has entrusted us with."
The image changed, showing a small part of the galaxy.
Vedij's voice commented on this map.
"You see a representation of two sectors that are part of the Core Worlds: The Darpa Sector and the Bormea Sector. The main worlds of the Bormea Sector are Corulag (its capital) Chandrilla and Brentaal. The main worlds of the Darpa Sector are Esseles (its capital) Rhinnal and Ralttiir."
As the commander paused, the soldier lying on the bunk stood up sharply.
"But... the Alliance is sending us there? But this is crazy! Coruscant is only a few hours flight away from Corulag!"
The Rodian nodded.
"And Ralltiir is surrounded by an imperial war fleet charged with suppressing an 'insurrection'."
The Darpa Sector Moff had proclaimed that the famous banks of Ralltiir supported the Rebellion because they refused to let the Empire inspect the numbered accounts of its customers. It was said that a large part of the money had ended up in Moff's own bank account after the capture of Ralltiir... and that was the real purpose of this invasion.
Vedji's voice resounds again.
"I know what you all think! Yes, it is the heart of the Empire. Yes, it is extremely risky... But remember, we're on an IMPERIAL frigate, and we have IMPERIAL access codes, and a crew made mostly of men trained in IMPERIAL academies and in IMPERIAL uniforms. We know all the procedures in use; no one will ever suspect us of being pirates because we are a real imperial ship. No one expects an escort frigate, the ship developed by the Empire to escort convoys of civilian freighters, to be in the hands of Alliance's privateers and used to attack these very same freighters! I can assure you that our initial actions will not face any opposition. The Empire is unprepared for privateers in imperial uniform operating so close to its capital. I would never have accepted a suicide mission. Our goal is within reach and I have every confidence in you to succeed."
The two men and the Rodian exchanged glances.
"Ah... yes... that's right. We just have to get near a convoy and say 'Follow us, we are your escort'..." one of the soldiers began.
"... and capture them all when they are not suspicious! Easy and without risk" ends the Rodian.
They had just forgotten an old Wookie saying: "A prudent hunter does not sell the skin of the katarn until he has killed it."
In the infirmary, a 'medical technician' in a white blouse adorned on the left side with a red band gave new instructions to two medical droids.
Dr. Shandar turned his head to look at the screen where a cluster of a hundred stars appeared as the commander's voice sounded again.
"Our mission is to attack the ships belonging to any planetary governments and corporations supporting the Empire"
The image on the screen was replaced by a list of names. The doctor frowned, recognizing well-known corporate names such as Aether Hypernautic, Gowix computer, Sienar Fleet System, Arakyd Tech, Kuat Drive Yard...
"All these corporations are valid targets, but remember that our real target is the shipments. As privateers of the Rebel Alliance, we must act following their rules... To harm or injure innocent crewmen, even worse, to kill them would cause our Letter of Mark to be revoked. I expect responsibility from each of you. We are the enemies of the Empire but not the enemies of the people of the Empire. Don't ever forget it."
Doctor Shandar nodded sharply; the Empire was gangrene that had to be excised without damaging the remaining healthy tissues.
On Deck 11 was the officer lounge, the relaxation area reserved for the Far Orbit's officers.
Strictly speaking, Galiria wasn't an officer. But since her cabin was on that deck, she had a right to be there. A few minutes earlier, a sabacc party was raging around a table. Ten officers were either participating or watching as a droid brought drinks. Of course, Galiria played... and won, except the game had been interrupted by a flat hologram of the frigate's commander.
Vedij spoke again.
"Of course, our task is not without obstacles. The two sectors where we are going to operate are patrolled by many agencies whose role is to combat pirates. I am referring to the Imperial Custom, the Sector Rangers (3), the Ringali Shell Security Force (4), the System Patrols (5), and the Navy. The first four agencies have only light patrol vessels in service. The Navy, however, often sends capital ships to train these sectors... ships with crews of greenhorns. They're doing military exercises in isolated planetary systems, away from the main communication lines. They're not a big risk because they're not anti-piracy forces or even operational fleets. However, the Empire has a permanent presence in both Bormea and Darpa. First, an Imperial I Star Destroyer patrols the Ringali Shell. Alliance intelligence also noted the presence of three other Stardestroyers participating in the Raaltiir blockade... Fortunately, the Alliance has removed Raaltiir from our list of targets. We even have orders to stay away from the planet."
Laying her sabacc cards, Galiria nodded without even realizing it. The Alliance was not stupid enough to send the Far Orbit to hijack ships within gun range of a trio of Star Destroyers... it would be suicidal.
But the young redhead didn't have time to think about the situation on Raaltiir, Dhas Vedij kept talking and she concentrated on keeping track of the explanation.
"Two space stations are positioned at the boundary between the two sectors, on the Darpa side, Station 2LC/Blue and Station 1B6/Green. These two stations are well armed and have TIEs, usually fighters and bombers as well as some light warships like minelayers, Lancer-class frigates, and assault gunboats. I think, however, that the main danger for us is a Victory-class Destroyer, the Scourge. This ship, though of an outdated model, has an experienced crew and is led by Admiral Alpiett Gredge. This highly decorated officer is a native of Brental IV and was once the commander of Station 1B6/Green. He knows the Ringali Sheel very well. Although the Scourge is nominally part of the fleet deployed in Raaltiir's orbit, the ship patrols between that planet, Brentaal IV, and Station 1B6/Green."
The comparison between the firepower of all these ships and a simple frigate Nebulon-B was... chilling. Nevertheless, the space stations were stationary; the Star Destroyers were slow and visible from afar. Most importantly, they could only be in one place at a time. The two sectors were made up of about 100 star systems. Only an incredible level of bad luck could lead to a meeting with a Star Destroyer.
As Vedij had reminded them at the beginning of his speech, their best protection in case of an enemy's encounter was their IMPERIAL ship... There was nothing that the military feared more than friendly fire. They would never open fire without first questioning the Far Orbit and thoroughly checking the story that Vedij could tell them. The biggest problem was that the frigate had not received any updates since the mutiny. As of now, the programs running on the Far Orbit computers, as well as Navy regulations and all procedures, are up to date. However, with each passing day, they will become more and more obsolete, to the point where the frigate can no longer be considered an Imperial ship in active service. But there was an even more crippling problem. The Far Orbit was not a ship operating in the Ringali Shell. The codes used by the Imperial Fleet varied from sector to sector and were frequently updated. Fortunately, the Far Orbit's encoding/decoding matrix was an imperial one using the latest imperial algorithms. It would be easy to break the codes used by local forces using this computer.
Without listening to their commander who continued to explain their mission, Galiria had opened her datapad and started to program an automatic search for a transmitter using imperial frequencies.
After a long journey, the Far Orbit emerged from light speed into a planetary system known only by an alphanumeric code. Devoid of habitable planets and profitable resources, this planetary system was in the Bormea Sector (grid square L-9) not far from Ganthel.
The frigate positioned itself in the shadow of a gas giant to escape detection and began listening to the whispers of the hyperspace radio, spying on the Imperial Holonet and the Imperial Computernet (6).
Days passed in a mixture of nervousness and feverish waiting. The pirates knew this feeling well. That was the feeling of a predator watching for prey. Pirates were very superstitious; they thought the first Raid foretold how a Tour would go. For a pirate captain, missing his first Raid could have had very negative effects on the morale and discipline of the crew.
The siren that sounded had something ominous.
In the crew room, the gunners dressed in black stood up, picked up their gloves and egg-shaped helmets, and rushed outside, finishing dressing while running.
Faster than them, Space Ishtar crossed the room molded on the shape of the outer hull and passed near a gunner standing in the middle of a console ring. She walked past a large screen that showed the Far Orbit's maneuvers, trying to stay out of range from another Nebulon-B frigate that was dropping swarms of TIE fighters.
The goddess from the Servant Universe passed behind two other gunners sitting in front of a control panel. She climbs an iron ladder and sits in a chair in front of a screen. After having fastened the safety harness and laid on her head a headset combining an earpiece (left ear) and a microphone, Space Ishtar connected the intercom and grabbed the joystick that was used to direct the laser gun.
"Battery 5-B, operational."
The soft voice of Lieutenant Grev Stabbel, the officer in charge of the Far Orbit's artillery answered immediately.
"Enemies have located us, repel the attack."
Ishtar's eyes creased maliciously.
"And how did they find us? Would you not have inadvertently forgotten to turn off the 200-kilometer wide neon sign 'Here is the Far Orbit an Alliance's Privateer, gentlemen of the Imperial Navy: Shink us'. You know, I told you it was a rather ostentatious ornament for a corsair ship and..."
Stabbel answered in a voice that appeared to waver between laughter and tears.
"Ishtar, follow the script!"
As laughter resounded on the gunner's intercom, lieutenant Stabbel uttered a swear.
"Get serious! Act like this is a real attack!"
Since they left Star Forge, the crew had been training almost constantly. On the one hand, it allowed the Mutineers and the Pirates to learn how to work together, then the crew needed distractions to forget the nervous atmosphere that reigned in the corridors.
The bridge, half an hour later.
Standing in front of the commander's chair, Gev Stabbel lowered his datapad.
"That concludes my report on surprise exercise number 12."
Hands crossed on the knob of his vibrorapier, his cape spread out over the command chair, Dhas Vedij had listened in silence. He finally nodded.
"What do you think of our gunners?"
"We have 48 gunners... 47 are good, and one is excellent, except that her presence harms discipline in the artillery section. She mocks, jokes, and has fun, never taking her duty seriously."
Vedij turned to the First Mate. Standing by the command chair, his Mandalorian helmet under his arm, Shiraz had listened while giggling, amused by Ishtar's many impertinences.
"Comment?"
"Since the arrival of Corianna..." Shiraz coughed in his fist. "I mean since the arrival of Space Ishtar, the morale of the gunners has been up. Her temper, youth, made her one of the most beloved people on the crew. One of the few 'Pirates' accepted by the 'Mutineers'. Her shooting excellence helps to reassure our men."
"I see."
Vedij paused for a moment. Space Ishtar was well-known among the entire crew of the Far Orbit but for two different reasons. Firstly, she was in the final stage of Eleven Grade Syndrome, claiming to be a goddess and asking for worshippers. At least a dozen mutineers would give her "offerings" such as sweets or other small gifts... because she was funny and endearing.
The crew members were also amazed by Space Ishtar's performances as a gunner and at the gym. Her speed, agility, and strength were off-charts, and her reflexes were astounding.
Even though she appeared to make fun during the tests and exercises, Space Ishtar always emerged as the top performer.
Stabbel hesitated for a few seconds before answering.
"Shiraz... you are right, she is a lovely little girl... but the artillery department of a warship should not be a little girl's playground!"
Until then silent, Brock spoke.
"She's been also selected to be in the Boarding Party, if you don't want Ishtar, I'll take her."
Vedij and Stabbel turned to the old Clonetrooper and looked at him in horror. The commander was the first to calm down.
"She would be even more out of place in the Boarding Section."
"You only say that because you've never seen her fight, Commander. This girlie is more dangerous than a section of Spacetrooper armed to the teeth!"
Deck 1 was the least extensive deck of the Far Orbit. Located just below the main communication antenna, it housed the Primary Communication Section.
In addition to a maze of narrow passages that allowed technicians to move between the antenna elements and several rooms filled with computers and complicated equipment, this deck was formed of three offices, a room little different from a holovision room where all long-distance communications were managed, a room housing a separate holopod for secure communications... a room filled with computers for coding communications, and an almost identical room for decoding.
For three days, Galiria had not left this department except to sleep a few hours in her cabin. Her eyes were red and she yawned looking at the screens. Lines of code were scrolling. Sometimes she stopped scrolling, checked some values. After rewriting a line of code, the young hacker compressed the file and loaded it on a datacard.
The two Mutineers who were working in the same room were surprised to see her get up to activate the intercom... In the last three days, she had not once responded to their attempts to socialize. She was focused entirely on her work as if it were a kind of duel. It was visible that the challenge was exciting.
"Galiria, decoding section, I'd like to speak with the commander."
Vedij blinked.
"Excuse me? Can you repeat?"
"I found a way for the Far Orbit to receive an update of the codes used by the Imperial Navy, including the Ringali Shell's codes."
"It seems impossible to me, the Far Orbit was removed from the Navy's roster."
"That's why we're going to have to impersonate another Navy ship to receive the codes that the Navy sends to it."
Vedij turned to Senstrum, the sub-lieutenant who ran the small encryption/decryption department (6 people) of the Far Orbit.
"Is that possible?"
The young officer was just thinking about it. Slowly, he nodded.
"Yes, but first we would need to obtain an access code to connect to the Navy mainframe on Coruscant."
"Done!"
Brandishing her datapad, Galiria pressed the 'send' key. As a diode lit on his datapad, Senstrum frowned and consulted the document he had just received: lines of complex code... many lines... he swallowed.
"... uh... how did you get that!?"
"Three days of effort, and it hasn't been easy even though I'm good!"
The young man shook his head.
"But we also need the access code of a Nebulon-B frigate in service in the Ringali Shell."
Information for another region of the galaxy would be unnecessary, and it was better to receive programs and regulatory updates valid on board a ship of the same class.
As the 'Reception' diode flickered again on his datapad, Senstrum opened the file that the hacker had just sent him and swallowed reading the identification codes of an Imperial Navy vessel.
"Red Harvester?"
"This is a Nebulon-B-class frigate of the 633th Independent Pursuit Line, stationed in the Bormea sector. Once I have access to the Navy mainframe, I will use the ID of the Red Harvester for the updating connection."
The solution was simple and elegant, except that...
"But the Red Harvester won't receive code updates anymore, it will inevitably attract attention!"
Galiria smiled at the commander.
"Do you play video games?"
Vedij shook his head. With a grimace of disappointment, Galiria turned to Senstrum.
"How about you?"
"Uh..." Senstrum gave his superior a slightly guilty look, blushed, and bowed his head." Yes... when I have free time."
"So you probably saw this bug, a duplicate object in an inventory of a character."
"Oh..."
Then the young officer's eyes widened.
" You mean that..."
"Exactly."
As Dhas Vedij frowned, having understood nothing of the conversation between the two computer specialists, Galiria raised her eyes to heaven.
"Captain, computers do not exchange information as humans do. An example? Senstrum give your datapad to the captain."
Without noting that the teenager did not give him his rank, the young officer handed the small computer to his superior.
"If a human gives you an object, he loses it. However..."
Quickly, Galiria drew a caricature of herself making the sign 'peace' within a bubble the phrase "I'm the Best!" on her datapad screen and then pressed the 'Send' key.
"... a computer sends a duplicate of the file. One or..."
She changed the variable. Sending several caricatures.
"... a hundred or a thousand. Bugs on these kinds of variables are common and difficult to eradicate. The Red Harvester is going to receive the message that's intended for him... except from now on, there are two Red Harvesters in the Imperial Navy. And here comes the second..."
Galiria smiled, pointing to the ship's logo on the bulkhead behind the captain's chair.
Senstrum thought for a moment.
"The computer specialist at the Imperial Center will eventually find out that there are two Red Harvesters."
"Yes, and they will remove this 'bug'... except that they won't even understand that they were hacked and the second ship use a false ID."
Vedij smiled.
"Nice work, Galiria"
Suddenly embarrassed, the young privateer vigorously rubbed her ginger mop.
(1) Pirate slang: a suit of Cruises (a Cruise is an extended period of raiding). A Tour ends with the sharing of the spoils between the pirates/ privateers and the (eventual) dispersion of the crew.
(2) Star Wars equivalent of paper.
(3) The Sector Rangers are... a bit like the Far West Marshals. Although very competent and notoriously determined, they are under-equipped to deal with a warship like the Far Orbit.
(4) As I already had the opportunity to explain in a previous chapter, each sector has its own Self Defense Force (SDF). Before the Clone War, they were the only armed force of the Republic. After the rise of the Empire, the SDF became mere anti-pirate and anti-criminal forces, also in charge of rescue operations in space. The Imperial Navy took charge of the space defense (and the Imperial Army took charge of the planets' defense).
Normally, it is one SDF per sector. Except that the Bormea Sector and Darpa Sector share the same SDF, the Ringali Shell Security Force (RSSF). The name of this organization comes from the Ringali Shell, a nebula that separates Bormea from Darpa. To understand this particular case, we have to go back more than 10,000 years, just before the founding of the Republic. At that time there was a nation that covered these two sectors... the Esselian Empire.
Esseles agreed to join the Republic and that her Empire would be split into two sectors on condition of retaining some of her privileges. One of them was that both sectors have the same SDF. At the time of the Galactic Civil War, Esseles remains the most important world of the Ringali Shell. Theoretically, Corulag (as the capital of the Bormea Sector) has an equal rank... theoretically... because Corulag is so close to Coruscant (the Imperial Center) that the planet remains in the shadow of the galactic capital. Even Jansom Caglio, (the Bormea's Moff) never stays on Corulag, he deals directly with his business from the Imperial City on Coruscant. If I went so far as to explain what may seem like little details of no importance, it is because the political situation of the Ringali Shell will play a key role in the future story. You must understand that although the Ringali Shell is divided into two sectors, Corulag has no political influence. Everything that happens in these two sectors is decided by Coruscant or Esseles.
Mon Mothma, a native of Chandrilla (Bormea Sector) understands this well. She sent the Far Orbit into the Ringali Shell to ensure that the presence of a rebel's privateer makes a direct impact on Coruscant, and is felt as an embarrassment to the Imperial government and therefore to the Emperor.
(5) As a defense force protecting a planetary system, its role is usually limited to pursuing smugglers and local criminals. They only have authority in their home system... Nevertheless, they have better ships than the RSSF. When the RSSF has to face well-armed pirates, they are forced to commandeer ships from local forces... which is a humiliation for them.
(6) Equivalent in the Star Wars universe of the Internet or Intranet (the precursor of the Internet developed by the military). Computernet is a network that uses holonet transmitters to connect the Galactic Empire's military and administrative computers.