Star Wars - Empire of the Innocents

20 - Rescue on Bespin

After months on end, traveling from one planet to another, following clues that mostly led the Shadow Phoenix to smugglers' hideouts, the search for the rebel command base had been successful. Akdron had lost count of how many smuggling facilities his platoon had to invade and destroy after initially believing them to be secret rebel bases.

The rebellion had suffered a devastating attack, forcing them to hastily abandon their military installations on an inhospitable ice planet that was largely absent from most star charts. The intense blow resulted in significant losses for the revolutionaries, who were now scattered and hunted across the galaxy.

Faced with this new perspective, following direct orders from Darth Vader, the Shadow Phoenix was heading to a planet called Bespin. There, the platoon would carry out a joint operation with Imperial intelligence in a mining complex known as the "Cloud City."

According to the information provided, the Empire had traced a small group of rebel high command members of the revolutionary Alliance to Bespin, where they sought refuge. The rebels were already under siege, and a battalion of stormtroopers was waiting in the city for Vader to take action.

The Shadow Phoenix's mission was to provide specialized support to Imperial intelligence in collecting information that could lead them to the location of the other Alliance leaders.

"What? Niles Ferrier is here in Cloud City?! Double the security!"

If Lando Calrissian's assistant had claimed to have seen the ghost of Grand Moff Tarkin wandering the city, he would not have caused as much astonishment in the administrator.

"I want agents to follow him wherever he goes. Inform the monitoring personnel. I want the city's cameras focused on Ferrier specifically. He prefers larger, more expensive ships. He steals them to order." Calrissian trembled with such a lack of control. He had probably been harmed by the ship thief's actions or at least knew of his dreadful reputation.

His assistant, a human with cybernetic implants embedded in the back of his skull, turned around and left the improvised imperial command center in a not-so-spacious room in the central building. That room was originally one of Cloud City's monitoring centers, opportunistically taken over by the operation's Bespin command and converted into a small imperial outpost.

From there, it was possible to maintain constant surveillance over various regions of the city, including the one where the rebels were staying.

Calrissian approached one of the monitors, politely excusing the imperial officer sitting in front of him. Then he switched observation channels until the location indicated by his assistant, Lobot, appeared on the screen.

"There he is, exactly where Lobot said he would be!" The man was sitting at a table in a restaurant that occupied part of the sidewalk, offering its customers the opportunity to savor their meals while enjoying the beautiful view of Bespin's sky with its pleasant hues.

Ferrier had chosen the location well. This way, he wouldn't be embarrassed if he had to leave in a hurry. In his line of business, unexpected situations were quite common.

"There's that scoundrel!" Calrissian continued, clearly indignant about receiving a visit from the sophisticated thief. "With the same beard, smoking the same type of cigar, and as brazen as ever!" Lando didn't hide his frustration at seeing the notorious ship thief. "He doesn't even bother to disguise himself!" Indeed, Ferrier showed a lot of audacity. Perhaps because, despite his notoriety as a ship thief, no physical evidence had ever been found to incriminate him. His actions were swift, precise, and he took advantage of this to enjoy his freedom, using it as a challenge to those who wanted him arrested, like Lando Calrissian himself.