Automatically the telemetry she was waiting for came in as Siggy continued on their prearranged flight path. Unknowingly the O-wing followed Siggy's lead and Laura hit the thrust. Within moments the O-Wing was bombarded with Laura's carefully linked laser blasts. The fighter started to slowly drift aft as lateral controls were lost. Laura moved in for the kill when the ship danced left to avoid more laserplay on its nonexistent shielding.
"My galaxy for some Sithing concussions!" She announced on the channel and moved back in on the dying fighter. Target lock on, and in a few moments, the O-wing was disabled.
~I take it the fair lady and hero of the Rebellion doesn't appreciate the surgical accuracy that lassers demand?~ Siggy teased as he moved in as her wingmate and began haphazard maintenance on his shields.
"Stuff that!" she bit out but finally relented, "Well, if we had missiles the battle wouldn't be nearly as fair...we'd cream the Omegas. Right Leader?"
~Sure but you better check at zero-four-seven. You have a visitor.~ Darryl cut in.
Laura barely managed to miss the barrage but Siggy was put out of the battle, permanently. "Sorry Sigmeund. Who needs a partner?"
~I do!~ Thomas' voice broke in, laced with stress. ~They're all over me and they put my partner out of commission.~
"I'm on it!" Laura hit the thrust.
"I don't like it." Aria's hands were on her hip and she was once again arguing with Mehenny.
"Aria sit down. We are at meal and it shouldn't be interrupted like this." Gre admonished. They'd just started eating breakfast and got into a heated argument about Zatin.
"He's accepting gifts from Zatin and he sent over a free shipment of Bakuran Nectar. That stuff doesn't come cheap, there were about twenty bottles in that crate with a note saying, 'To friend, Mehenny. -Zatin.' He's a phony Mehenny, and you know it."
"Help me since shop almost burn down. I am not ingrate, cannot turn away gift."
"Yeah, well his gifts are a little too convenient for me. How did he know you were out of your last bottle of Bakuran? Dinorra also told me he helped refurbish the stage after a brawl four months ago. And he's given you an expensive bartending droid. It is too convenient, even Kini-sha would agree."
"I am not ingrate. Sheesh. Throw gifts in his face? Decline civility? Rude and unacceptable."
"Fine!" Aria threw her hands up in frustration. "But that crate of Bakuran isn't getting unloaded until I have a chance to check every bottle there."
"That says you don't trust. Cannot be ingrate or turn down gift."
"You are not being the ingrate, I am. If Zatin doesn't like it, then he can stuff it up his--"
"Aria Ka! Sit down and eat. Your mouth is made of the most disgusting filth on the underside of the galaxy."
Aria was about to respond when her personal commlink went off. "Rasbaen here, what's up Chaz?"
~Rasa, you gotta head over to Mehenny's. The local authorities are there and they are reporting a spice raid.~
"Spice?"
~The illegal version, they're coming after Mehenny. I gotta go. If they find out I squealed...~
"Thanks Chaz. I'll be looking out for you." She shut off the commlink and started barking out orders. "Gre, grab what ever you can't leave and pack it. Mehenny, you too. We've gotta be moving and we have about two minutes to do it."
"But I don't sell spice. Nasty stuff. Sheesh. Makes customers unbearable."
"The spice was in that crate and I have some things to take care of. Pack it up and move it out, now!"
Mehenny was too astonished to argue and scrambled to vacate his apartments.
A few minutes later, Gre and Mehenny were smuggled on board On Notice and Aria was storming towards Zatin's offices.
The two Omega pilots tailing Nro'din's ship didn't know what to make of his flight patterns.
"Is he drunk?" The first Omega pilot asked as Nro'din's ship veered lazily off to the right, jerked back left and then accelerated as if the pilot just woke up.
"Maybe he's injured. They wouldn't let him fly drunk. Would they?" Just then Nro'din's ship flipped upside down, relative to the two Omega pilots and continued to drift left.
"Should we shoot? Maybe a warning shot across his nose to wake him up."
"That might do it." the second Omega powered up his laser turrets and took a shot at the nose of the A wing. The blow scored on the shields but the pilot continued to drift, upside down.
"Let's vape him and get back in the fray. His commander will see to his drunken behavior." Targeting systems lit up as a positive lock was acquired, then never even saw it until the shriek pierced through their comms.
~YEEEEHHHHHAAAAAWWWW!!!~ Rick quickly scored four hits on the underbelly of the unsuspecting pilots and moved in to concentrate on the first one. Within moments the shielding was at 10% and dropping. The other pilot managed to keep his damage low, pull his ship out of danger, take a few pot shots at Nro'din's ship, and curse like a born and bred Corellian pilot. All at the same time.
~The Omegas have such disgraceful language.~ Jeffy could see that pompous Bothan smiling through the comm.
"Maybe I don't believe in shooting a being while they're down."
~That trick was so old. I'm surprised you fell for it.~ Nro'din was now on Jeffy's tail, trying to finish what Rick started.
His shield readouts blared at him as Nro'din scored another successful hit. "Ah man. And I was looking forward to making one of my special drinks. Might as well make this kill good." Jeffy began some offensive maneuvering but Nro'din stayed on his tail and his shields dropped to 25%.
Nro'din stared in shock as his ship gave a warning of a missile lock. Flying offensively, he quickly banked left and dropped straight down. The move made his teeth clinch and his belly protest but he maintained and was clear from danger in a few seconds.
Over the comm he heard "Thanks Sammy."
~Hey, I am not giving up the opportunity to have free Corellian lum for anyone!~ The Cat sped away instead of chasing Nro'din.
She turned to Alia and asked, "Is this permissible with you?"
Alia simply smiled and said, "I don't see why it would be a problem."
Teyan concluded the discussion. "It's settled then. You ladies get squared away in your room and join us in the main dining hall of the Academy in 70 minutes."
An hour later, Alia and Benoah were just finishing up getting settled into their room. "That's it then." Alia said. "Just in time, too. I know Master Tannis by her reputation. She likes people to be prompt." She continued as she turned to look at Benoah, "Do you know that she once...... Benoah? What is it?" The Miraluka was leaning against the wall, sagging toward the floor. "Benoah? How can I help?"
Benoah spoke, but her voice was rasping, faint. "Beware! He who clothes himself in garments drenched in blood, he who lives in secrecy and wallows in violence awaits you. He will bring you pain. He will take you to the one you fear most."
She shook her head slowly and began to tremble. "Alia, I cannot tell you what you must do, but what I have seen..... Who I have seen.... I will not allow you to be taken to your....."
"My father." Alia finished the sentence, beginning to tremble herself.
Benoah nodded. "Yes, I have seen him in my visions too. I must prevent this from happening. Regardless, I feel I must flee this place, for this man of violence is drawing near. Please come with me."
It wouldn't be easy, but Alia had some decisions to make, and soon from all appearances.
~Freighter Halfscan, this is Dantooine traffic control. We're a little busy at the moment, but if you can just wait an hour, we'll get you landed.~
The pilot double-checked his systems before replying. "I think I can wait about thirty minutes more, then I'm afraid my orbit will start to decay on its own. I got hit by pirates on the way in, and I'm in pretty bad shape. I just want to do some basic repairs, contact my employer, and try to earn some pay. Oh, and there's a girl my employer wanted me to get a message to. Could you try to find out where to find her when I get down there?"
~Freighter Halfscan, our sensors confirm that you are damaged. We should be able to squeeze you in about twenty minutes from now. We'll have a repair crew waiting for you, and we'll see what we can do about contacting the girl for you. What is her name?~
"Oh, no need for a repair crew. I'll do my own repairs. I have trouble trusting anyone on my ship, especially after being raided by pirates. I'm sure you understand. As for the girl, her name is Alia Trynyty. But don't contact her, just let me know where I can find her. My employer, General Tashannoc, said that he wanted the message to be a surprise. I think that it's actually a message from some Twi'lek pilot that was with him there."
~Alright sir.~ The traffic controller was listening with half an ear by now, because he had so many other ships to keep track of. He had begun to get suspicious, as was his nature, but he knew that General Tashannoc ran his own businesses and commonly hired freighters and smugglers to transport materials. With all the damage done to it, and the few weapons aboard, the traffic controller doubted that the light freighter calling itself 'Halfscan' was any threat to Dantooine's security. Of course he didn't think it out this far, but only said, "We'll transmit your landing coordinates soon. You'll be putting down near the new Academy grounds." Then switched off the comm and opened a signal to another newly arrived ship.
On the freighter, the pilot relaxed and got his ship ready for landing.
Neb broke hard to port, avoiding the fire that Cigna leader let loose. He brought his more maneuverable ship into a tight roll and strafed the A-Wing's upper shields as he passed by. An 'explosion' to his rear caused him to take a look at how things fared. On Omega's side, there were five ships left: Neb, Jeffy, two of the new pilots, and Sammy. Cigna had four ships left, and Neb wasn't sure who was in them.
As he looked, Jeffy and one of the newbies went after an A-wing, the other newbie was breaking off to assist Neb with Cigna leader. Sammy, on the other hand, had two A-wings right on the tail of the Cat. "Need a hand Sammy?" Neb asked.
~Nope, I ought to be okay.~ Neb watched as one of the A wing's got right on Sammy's exhaust, and looked just about to launch a missile, when he came up terminated. Sammy dove and skimmed across the hull of an MC-80, causing the second Cigna pilot to lose him.
"Hey, Sammy, that explosives package looked different from the old one. Something new?"
~Just variations on a theme, Commander. Hey, you might want to watch your own six.~
"Like I could lose track of someone who's gunning for my tail." Neb switched to squadron communications. "All right folks, let's clean this up. I'm getting thirsty."
Benoah stood up and walked to her side. "I said one who will take you to him, not him. I do not know how this one would know but...." she shook her head. "Alia, you need to leave."
"I can't leave! They told me he couldn't find me here! Not....Ibran and Tyne and... what is this supposed to mean?! That I'm not safe anywhere?! If that's it, I may as well just stay here!"
Benoah looked at her gravely. "It means to never let down your guard. He follows you, you must watch him until it becomes apparent he never finds you, and then he will give up."
Alia breathed deeply again, scrubbing her eyes. She stood up and walked to the window. "Well, if I can't stay here, where else is there to go?"
Benoah smiled, faintly, then shook her head. "The truth is that there may not be a place that is safe. But to stay here, just when we are establishing not only a good and healthy connection but what could be the beginnings of friendship is not the best answer."
Alia sat on the floor, head in her hands. "Alia, please...." Benoah compelled her. "I think there may be a place, on my world, with friends who will be able to shield you from your father."
Alia looked up at her; the look in her eyes indicated that she wanted to believe such a thing could be possible. "Shield me from Kethren Trynyty? If only I could believe it!"
The Miraluka pressed her angle. "Come with me to Alpheridies. From there we can seek safer havens. This blood-man sent by your father will never find us."
Alia felt a strong urge to concede, but not because of any outside influence. It just seemed as though Benoah was a part of her destiny.
Kam Solusar, nobody could feign annoyance like Master Solusar. "Alia, where are you? Master Skywalker is..."
"Probably going to bite my head off and feed it to the rancors next time he sees me, I know. Master Solusar, something's happened. Benoah... well..." Alia glanced around her nervously. Benoah stood behind her stoically. "I need to speak with you and Master Skywalker both...now. There's something going on and...well, I can't discuss it now. We, Benoah and I, need you both here."
"We'll be right there."
Alia sighed again. "You pack. We have to go."
Benoah cocked her head skeptically. "And you are going...?"
"To find...well...somebody."
This can't take long. The computer said this was Ibran's... "Can I help you?" A dark-haired girl looking none too happy at the interruption poked her head out.
Alia swallowed. "Is Ibran in?"
"No, he's on a forest retreat. Can't I help you?"
"Not really. Here," Alia pulled out a sheet of flimsy and jotted down a quick message. Ibran, something's happened. Be back when I can. Ask Tyne. Alia. "Can you give this to him?"
"Sure." The girl took the paper and closed the door. Tyne, and that's it.
Alia arrived back at her room with the blond trainee in tow, trying to make a show of protesting her hurried state. Kam Solusar had just arrived and said that Luke would be there shortly. "Now, Alia, Benoah...." he began in a tone to indicate his concern, "what has happened?!?"
"Sorry, no rules were specified earlier Cigna 11. I'll be more specific in the future." Darryl was busy trying to shake Neb off his tail. Nro'din broke away from Rick and took a few potshots at Neb, forcing the Twi'lek to give up on Darryl.
~ARRGGHH!~ Everyone could hear Rick banging his head on the cockpit window. ~No fair.~
~Well, if it is any consolation Rick,~ Thomas' voice broke in, ~the greenie still has wings and fire power.~ He couldn't help rubbing salt in the wound. With a chuckle he moved back in on Cigna 5, Laura's wing.
~Cignas your numbers are four to five. Anyone want to give up?~ Neb asked as he moved in on Leader's tail again.
"NO!" Darryl, Laura, Nro'din and Thomas replied simultaneously. A blast was heard through Laura's comm as she finished off another Omega.
~Cignas never say die!~ Rick cheered on, watching mournfully as his teammates tried to keep it even.
"Rasbaen, it is always a pleasure to see you. Come take a seat." The slightly muscular human waved his hand toward one of his plush seats. His appearance was chiseled and his hair cut short in a way that it complemented his jet black, wavy locks. The professional outfit he wore accented every muscle in his body while somehow managing for him to seem comfortable. Always he managed to wear the right colors to compliment the huge blue eyes of his. Aria refused his gesture and just glared at him. "Well, if you won't sit, I will not. It is never quite good to insult guests, especially you milady."
Aria bit back a grimace. She couldn't get over it, no matter how rude or insulting she was to this particular snake, he always managed to be gallant and enchanting. That did not sit well with her but what made her even more uncomfortable was the fact that she was easily swayed by his attentions before. But thirteen was thirteen and now is now. "Kill the act Zatin. You purposefully called in the patrol on Mehenny for spice you sent to him."
Somehow Zatin's blue eyes grew even larger than before, wounded by her accusation. "My dear, what would make you think I would purposefully try to implicate Mehenny in spice smuggling?" His mouth pulled down at the corners, forcing his face to scrunch up in concern.
Aria stumbled, she had no solid evidence of this slime's betrayal and her Force sense was not picking up on deceit. Perhaps she should have thought this over but it was too late. "There was no spice in the cantina until your shipment of Bakuran nectar showed up."
"Rumor had it Mehenny was out of his last bottle. I decided to ship him a portion of mine at wholesale. Is it a crime to help?"
"Only a crime when your generosity doesn't match the situation."
"Rasbaen, let us sit and discuss this. It is disturbing to know that you think so little of me."
"I'd rather not," since I only have suspicions and no evidence. "I just want you to call off the patrol."
"Drug trafficking is a severe crime, little one. Even I cannot turn the eyes of the locals from that. Besides, I had nothing to do with it. Obviously, the spice must have come from Mehenny or--"
"Mehenny hates spice!" She cut in, angrily.
"Or," he said a little louder, "the spice came from other sources. Perhaps you should check into these sources first."
"That is what I am doing."
"It looks to me like you are making a lot of assumptions and gathering no proof. I may be able to help you dig up information on who might be missing a shipment of spice."
"I'm sure you could, but I'd rather do a little investigating on my own."
"I meant no insult. Consider the offer open any time you are willing to accept." He gave her a genuine smile that made her want to retch.
Her eyes closed down to slits and voice came out barely audible. "Listen Zatin, if I find out that your greasy paws are anywhere near this and you will regret it."
"When you find out that I am an innocent man, perhaps we could do dinner?"
Aria turned and stomped out the room.
As soon as Aria was safely beyond the receptionist desk, Zatin finally spoke. "Celeste?"
"Yes, chief?" the droid answered.
"I want you to pull up all the visual records of Mehenny's clientele in the last seventy-two hours. I need a complete list of customers whose mass decreased by more than 1% after exiting."
"I'll get right on that."
Kam Solusar added, "You can say that again. Stay clear of your father young lady. He's more trouble than stampeding banthas."
Benoah turned her head toward the sky as everyone else laughed. "He comes....the blood-man is drawing near."
Luke nodded abruptly. "Right! Benoah, bring her back when you feel you can. You are powerful in the Force, I can feel it. If you have anything you wish to share with the Jedi Academy, I'm sure the students would benefit from the angle of a teacher from Alpheridies."
Grasping Luke's hand, Benoah pulled him into a friendly embrace. "Thank you Master Skywalker. Alia will not come to harm under my care."
The freighter Halfscan was just beginning to descend onto Dantooine as another freighter began to lift off of the moon. The pilot had a hunch about the freighter, but was unsure of his feelings until just before the other ship left the atmosphere of Dantooine.
Actually, it was less of a hunch and more of a voice in his head. ~Yes, oh man of blood, you shall not find what you hunt here any longer. You shall not find it at all where we go.~
"Whoever's on that ship sure made a big mistake, Jedi or not!"
No sooner had he spoken those words than the other freighter shot into hyperspace. "Ha," he chuckled humorlessly. "That does nae really make ye more difficult te foind. We'll be meeting again real soon."
All the O wings broke off of their targets, or away from their pursuers. Using their superior agility, they twisted and dove, and poured all power from their lasers to their engines and shields, away from the area of combat.
~What's the matter, Omegas, you scared of paying the bar tab?~ Cigna lead taunted.
Neb kept to his squadron's channel, but said nothing. His mates kept similar radio silence. With their faster engines, two of the Omegas made it out of combat, the third was down. Once outside of of the range of the pursuing A-wing's weapons, however, the Omega's were conveniently regrouped with Sammy flying in between them. All three started acquiring torpedo locks on the ships bearing down on them. The A wings would have a chance for missile lock as well, but their range was shorter, so they would have their chance second.
The Cignas weren't stupid, though, and started to break formation to avoid the torpedoes that were sure to come. "Slave." Neb ordered.
~Check.~ ~Check!~ Sammy and Jeffy's replies came almost at once.
All three had red flash almost at the same instant. "Fire and cycle!" Neb ordered.
The new tactic called for all of the remaining pilots to get a lock on one fighter, then slave their lock into the leader's computer. This was normally done within a flight to avoid overloading the computer, but with only the three of them left, there was no problem. Then, each would fire at his own target, then use the slaved locks to fire at his wingmate's targets as well. What this meant, in this case, was that each Cigna suddenly had eight torpedo's homing in on him or her. It was a tactic that Neb had devised himself, and had been looking forward to testing.
The danger warning sensor on his HUD flashed red: one of the Cigna's had gotten a chance to get a lock on him, and it was likely that the others had missiles incoming as well. "BREAK!" he ordered. The three ships broke in a star pattern, with two missiles coming after each. Neb extended his senses to keep an eye on the entire battle.
After launching their missiles, the A-wings had gone defensive, trying to avoid the certain doom that awaited them with even one slip. One of them was gone within moments, but so was Sammy. His ship just couldn't maneuver well enough to avoid the missiles. Neb brought himself into a tight spiral, and switched power back to his lasers. As he came around, he caught sight of one of the missiles, and peppered the air with laser fire, until one of the blasts took out the missile by chance.
He was about to look for the second, when his aft shields went out. He checked for damage. Maneuvering was at fifty percent, torpedoes were out (in more ways than one) and his left cannon was out of commission. Jeffy was toast, and Cigna leader was the only one besides Neb left, and he still had two torpedoes on his tail, but looked like he might shake at least one of them.
The comm blared. [New contact in system. ImpStar, no Rebellion markings, and won't answer hails.]
Neb brought his targeting computer onto the new ship. It was old, and not heavily armed. Also, something about the presence on the ship was familiar . . . .
Cigna leader didn't need the moment's distraction. He looked up at the new shape lumbering towards them, straitened out, and was dead as the two torpedoes struck him. ~Damn!~ he swore at himself.
Neb smiled, then signaled to the rest of the fleet as he recognized the ship, and it's owner. "All hands, stand down. The target is non-aggressive, repeat non-aggressive."
A gruff reply came over the comm. ~'Non-aggressive?' Why can't you just say friendly?~
"Because you old one-eyed coot, I didn't want people to get the wrong impression. Besides, it wouldn't be right to lie."
~Neb, is that you? It's been years, boy! And by the way, that hurt. You'll have to make it up to me by letting me win your pittance salary in a hand of Sabacc.~
"Don't worry Booster, I've got plenty. I've been raiding the pocket change of a couple of the other squadrons. Besides, I've gotten a bit better since we last played."
~Couldn't have gotten much worse. Come on aboard, we'll have a drink, you can buy.~
"Actually, I have a friend out here that owes my whole squad a drink or three. Perhaps we could buy it on the Errant Venture, rather than having to drink whatever the fleet is trying to pass off for lum these days."
~Sure, if you'll vouch for them, and get cleaned up first, I'll save you some space on the Blue Deck.~
"Blue deck? Why not Diamond?"
~You think I'd let a bunch of fighter jocks on Diamond? Especially if one of them is you?~
"Okay, fair enough. Look, we ought to be over in about an hour, how's that?"
~That'll be fine. I have some work to do, as I certainly didn't expect to come out of hyperspace on top of a fleet. Get some drinks then I'll meet up with you when I get a chance. Wait, my son in law isn't one of your friends, is he?~
"No, Booster, he's not here, sorry."
~Oh, don't apologize. I was just thinking that if he was, I'd have to ship you guys to Black Deck. But no worries. See you soon.~
The Halfscan came around tightly, and the thin metal of the hull shrieked in protest.
~Frieghter Halfscan, why are you breaking off from your current course? You are not cleared for an exit vector. Please turn around.~
The pilot ignored the traffic controller, and then ignored the pair of B-wings that hurtled up from the surface. He set his very expensive (and rather illegal) navicomp to plotting a course to follow the ship that had just taunted him through hyperspace.
~Please come around, sir, or we will be forced to disable you.~
"Stick it where the ions burn." was the pilot's reply, then he poised a finger over a button on the console. Watching the incoming ion blasts he worked his timing just right.
The blasts hit, but instead of the shorting of electrical systems, came a fabulous explosion. The B-wing pilots hadn't expected it and were momentarily blinded; they didn't see the smaller ship hurtle out of the ball of flame. As the oxygen and other combustibles were consumed, leaving the empty twisted hull, the smaller form of the Rancor's Maw had gained considerable distance on the pursuing B-wings.
"G'dbye, lads. Ay hope ye'll nae take it the wrong way." And with that, Dalon Marr was entering hyperspace, hot on the tail of his prey.
Two days after the delivery of a certain flimsy.
Kain nodded. "Cool, Ib. By the way, you got a message while you were gone."
Ibran paused in the act of dropped his bag to the floor. "What? From who?"
"Some chick who visited after you'd left," Kain said. His younger brother's face and expression were serious and for Kain to be serious meant that somewhere, something had somehow gone wrong. "It's by your nightstand."
Ibran let go of the bag he held and looked to the nightstand. Three steps took him to it, where a single sheet of flimsy lay.
Ibran, something's happened. Be back when I can. Ask Tyne. Alia.
Ibran's breath froze. This was the letter and it had arrived the same day he left. Alia had come looking for him, then gone off.
"Does it mean anything to you, Ibby?" Kain walked over from the doorway, letting the door swing shut by itself.
"Yes," Ibran said quietly. He looked down at the flimsy, then at himself. "But I need to shower and get out of these clothes first. Thanks for letting me know, Kain," he nodded at his brother.
"No problem, bro," Kain said. "Who's Alia?"
Ibran smiled affectionately. "One of the Jedi I fought beside at Fury. We both ended up saving each other's lives several times."
Kain cocked his head as he thought about it, and about something else Ibran had said. "Cool," he told his brother. "Go shower and then you can track her down."
"Right," Ibran nodded purposefully, then strode to the refresher.
"Tyne, you there?"
Tyne got up and opened the door, feeling worse (physically, at least) on the short walk to the doorway than he could remember in a while. Ibran looked pretty much the same. "Yeah? What?"
Ibran was a bit taken aback. He'd met Tyne once and seen him around several times, always playing, bubbly, just an all-around happy person. "I got...um..."
Tyne slapped his forehead. "The note! That's right! Come in, there's stuff we need to talk about."
Alia gazed from the window stoically at the starlines as the ship vanished into hyperspace. By the way Benoah had stared blaster bolts (so to speak) at the dilapidated freighter they had passed, Alia had received the impression that they were running from its' pilot. She settled deeper into her seat and continued to watch the elongated stars fly past her. 'Why does this always have to happen to me?'
Tasha didn't like that this woman had been made to wait however long just to talk with him. Tasha had been incommunicado for at least two hours practicing his lightsaber skills on about fifteen remotes. Not one had gotten a hit on him, a testament that he wasn't in the bad shape he had feared.
After pausing a moment, he finally acknowledged the young officer, strapping on his translating device. "What can I do for you?"
"Sir, Major Hendrikson and General Bel Iblis have requested your presence on the bridge."
"And how long ago was that?"
"Only about forty minutes sir."
Tasha harumphed. "Well, we'd better see what they want, hadn't we?"
"It'll give us something to talk about other than Ord Pardron, at least," the officer replied.
"Rasa, detective? Since when?" Mehenny was sulking a bit, but there was a nervous edge to his voice. Aria input the coordinates for the nearest spaceport city, where she had a smuggler waiting. "Why you go poking nose in dangerous places?"
Aria put a hand on Mehenny's shoulder. "Because you can't," she explained. "I've gotten you an offplanet visa and some friends of mine are going to take you in until this blows over."
"Why we go to Dantooine anyway?" Mehenny complained.
"Mehenny, please." Aria looked at him, but he was staring out the front window. "I know this is hard on you, but if you don't get smuggled off Ord Trasi, you and Gre could go to prison for a very long time. Or worse."
Mehenny's small hands gripped the arms of his chair briefly. "Rasa is right," he admitted begrudgingly. "But I am unhappy about this."
"Don't worry," Aria repeated. "I will find out who set you up, even if I have to stay on Ord Trasi to do it."
"Rasa will be here a very long time," Mehenny said. "You are not detective."
A flicker of fear hit Aria, but she mustered her resolve. "Then I'll learn or find someone who can help," she stated as On Notice glided in for a landing. "No matter how long it takes."
Unfortunately, Aria Ka Djo had the feeling she would be living on Ord Trasi for a long while yet.
"That's what the report was saying, sir," Silvan Regius told him. "Right off the transport. No one had a chance to do anything. Current probe scout reports indicate heavy reinforcements in both space and ground defense teams."
"Not the first time something I've set up has failed," Bismarck admitted with a quick pluck at some lint on his uniform. "But the loss of men for no reason is nearly humiliating. But that's all right."
Regius nodded. "Shall I order the preparation of our contingency plan then, sir?"
"Yes," Bismarck nodded. "Although I have upcoming business at Seleneron III, Ord Pardron is a key player in the grand scheme of things. Step up our data raid efforts. I'm certain the instigator of the Fury engagement will prove interesting."
"I'll mobilize our forces, sir," Regius promised, and left the room to issue orders.
Once he was alone, Rigel hung his head and shut his eyes. The quiet sound of several deep breaths could be heard and Rigel clenched his jaw. He did not relax his jaw, even after he stood up to resume his job.
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