Phoenix - Ghosts of the Past

VI

2nd, Month Grek, 15 AFGE

'Apparently they didn't...' I mutter, thinking about my claim of the imperials viewing the planet as unimportant. Force, I wanted to slam my head against the wall, repeatedly for my stupidity.

Flicking on the comms, I contacted the From the Ashes. 'Emlita, they already got us in their scanners, we're going to buff our way through. Remember we're going to deliver clothing on a hired charter.' I winked at her holoimage. 'I'm sending you the proper contract now.'

Emlita winks back. 'Got it. We should undock, for landing purposes, of course.'

The Phoenix and the Ashes decoupled and split away from each other; the Phoenix took lead while the Ash trailed behind, for I had just upgraded the Phoenix's shields, and the lack of turrets on her meant that she could not protect her back in a formation if a scuffle occurs. I switched almost all power from the weapon systems to the shields.

'We will be passing under the Star Destroyer, prepare your torpedoes, we may have to send a few if things went wrong up to their tractor beams.' I told Emlita over the comms.

'Aye aye captain.'

'Identify your purpose in visiting Raxus Secundus.' A cold, metallic voice came over the comms, transmitted from the Star Destroyer. Here we go...

'We're freighters caring clothing bound for Tamwith Bay.'

'Contracted?'

'Affrimative. I have the contract here. Should I send it over?'

'That would be unnecessary. You have permission to land.'

'Thank you, I would be going now.' I spoke, relaxing in my seat. I fiddled with the controls, adjusting the ship's trajectory to that matches the descent profile. Emlita followed suit, but her ship seemed tilted to the side a bit too much. I frowned, and commed the Ashes. Emlita affirms me all is well and righted her ship. The ships continued their descent into Raxus's thick atmosphere.

The descent was smooth and routine, until it wasn't. On the second minute into the descent, the Ashes started dropping like a rock.

'What is going on?' I shouted over the comms at Emlita, at the same time typing on the console on the side, directing the computer to display the readings from the Ashes. Two years ago, we decided that it would be a good idea to bind the two ships' computer together so that they share technical readings with each other for easier monitoring of the ships' status. The same system that allows one ship to control the other in case of an emergency. Of course, having a pilot directly controlling the ship would be better than remotely controlling, that's why we still were manning both ships' controls. Also, the system couldn't control the turret on the Ashes, another incentive to have a pilot on both ships' controls. This was the system I was using to access the readings from the Ashes. From the thousands of numbers from all aspects of the Ashes' systems, one was flashing red. It's the reading from the power regulator unit for the repulsorlift of the ship. Kriff, this is bad.

'Emlita, do you hear me?'

'Emlita?'

'Not now, I have a ship to save!' She snapped.

'It's the power regulator, reboot it.'

The Ashes was falling faster and faster, around her shields, the air was starting to burn up from the friction, turning the Ashes into a fireball worthy of her name.

'What the kriff is going on down there, Phoenix?' The imperial officer barked over the comms, noticing the fireball below his ship.

'Technical difficulties, wait one.' I replied. Yeah, a fekking fireball of a ship is definitely a 'technical difficulty'.

Meanwhile, the Ashes was continuing to fall like a rock towards the oceans of Raxus. I turned the Phoenix to follow the falling ship, hopefully to provide rescue in case of a crash. On the display, I saw the reading for the repulsorlift system disappear, then was replaced with a blinking dot, the indicator of a rebooting component. What idiot designed this ship? Why in the seven hells was there no redundant systems for systems as important as the repulsorlifts? Idiots, the lot of them.

The repulsorlift finally came roaring back online, doing its best to slow the fireball down. I saw the fires surrounding the Ashes dying down, and there she came tumbling out of the fire, like the ashes falling from an incinerator; her shields did held strong, but it did not spare her from the heat of re-entry. The Ashes' hull was glowing red hot, but it was made of durasteel, she will be fine. I was more worried about her not being able to stop in time. The Ashes certainly tried, from how the repulsorlift was straining, but I afraid it was not enough. She was going to crash, so I did the only thing I could, I reached to the side console, fingers typing rapidly on the keypad, bypassing part of the controls in Emlita's consoles, and diverted all shield power to the lower shield. There, hopefully this crash would not be that bad. For once, I could only sit tight and pray to the force that they will be alright.

The Ashes made a big splash into the oceans of Raxus. In just mere moments, she was gone from sight, sunken below the waves, only the scanners and the local maritime wildlife bear witness to her existence. I crossed my fingers and hoped that state would not be permanent.

My hopes were proven right. A few moments later, the Ashes came roaring back out of the sea and the uplink with the Phoenix was restored. Apart of the singed paintjob, everything seems fine.

'You alright?' I asked over the comms.

'Yeah, she will hold till we made to port.' Good, it's time to update our overly concerned controller.

'This is the Phoenix, crisis averted, all is fine now, thank you for your concern.'

'Alright, stay out of trouble.'

I switched back to the comm channel with the Ashes. 'We'll do whatever repairs your ship needed, meanwhile, we should be going to find some sort shelter in the wild, for hiding our ships.'

We landed gently in Tamwith Bay, and I went over with T7 to help determine the damage. The landing bay the Ashes was in was a bit smaller than the one Phoenix was in and was more cluttered with machinery. In the corner, I even saw a stack of durasteel crates. Looks like someone had forgotten their cargo... Sinya was examining the hull near the cockpit with a handheld scanner. That area was especially burned and could have structural damage, good thinking, crew.

Sinya's back was turned towards me, I didn't waste any time, I pounced at her and hugged her from behind. She struggled, obviously thinking she was being attacked, and flailed her arms. I placed my mouth just next to her, 'Don't you dare pull something like that ever again!' I whispered.

'Oh.' She deflated, 'I thought... I thought...'

'You thought I was kidnapping you, right?'

'What's going on?' Emlita descended the ramp, looking at the scene before her.

'You! You're so dead!' I shouted, releasing Sinya. 'Don't you ever scare me like that ever again,' I grabbed her collar, 'understood?' At the small nod she gave me, I enveloped her into a giant bear hug. My entire body was shaking, and I laid my head on her shoulders, unwilling to let her go.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Happy Easter pepssss

Hope ye all have a nice weekend, and as always, press that lil star if you liked this wee chappie!

-LHYT