“What do you think I’m trying to do, taking in the view?”, retorted Barak, her right-hand man.
“Before all hell broke loose down there, this was just a simple gear drop and run, now we could be trapped here with a load we shouldn’t be carrying”
All Barak could do was shake his head as he powered up the thrusters to catapult them out of the hangar bay. Once airborne, Dana took a huge breath and stared out at the scene unfolding. Imperial Star Cruisers still descending on Coruscant, the Republic Capital. She looked down at the various dials and screens in front of her.
“They’re trying to blockade the whole planet”, she whispered in disbelief.
Barak simply nodded, his expression seemingly vacant. His mind was whirring, trying to find a way through this unplanned interruption in what should have been a nice illegal drop of Spice in one of the back alley Cantinas. It wouldn’t have mattered half as much if the Spice was just illegal, but it had also been a heist lifted from one of the Hutt families, after they had backtracked on an agreed deal. In one sense, the Spice was just payment for services provided.
“Let’s hope the authorities are too busy with the Imps invading to notice an unmarked freighter leaving the system”, Barak suggested.
“Look,” Dana gestured at one of the monitors, “The Imperials have left a space there between the transport and that destroyer. If we can avoid a front-on encounter, we could slip by them”
“That’s pretty much our only chance. I doubt they’ll let us through if we ask nicely”
“I don’t want direct communication with anyone until we’re free of Coruscant, Barak”
Good luck with that one, soft thing. Barak thought.
In one of the back compartments, a young girl slept underneath one of her mother’s jackets. Despite being the daughter of a Smuggler she always found Space flight too cold. Under her pillow lay the hand blaster given to her by her mother’s latest suitor, a gift to try and include her in the new-found romance. The sudden jolt of the craft hitting full acceleration woke her.
Pulling the coat around her, she holstered the blaster and inched her way to the cockpit.
“Are we ready for the jump to Lightspeed, Barak?” – Dana asked, nervous about their sluggish advance through the blockade
“Just about”.
Here goes nothing, thought Dana, taking a deep breath.
More From Sjani Arcturus
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About the Author
I have been playing MMOs for about ten years and began writing guides to The Lord of the Rings Online in 2017. I've only been creating content about Final Fantasy XIV since 2022, but I am glad for the mix. My current games include LOTRO, FFXIV and the occasional Palia session too.
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