The Last Venator: A Star Wars Story

Part 4

The senator's yacht that the Ultimor had picked up sat in the center of the flight deck, ready to launch when the Ventaor Star Destroyer came out of hyperspace. Captain Farrow, Commander Nerris, the two senators and their aide, and a protocol droid were already seated inside. The plan was the Ultimor would drop out of hyperspace into the depths of the Jurmaer system and swing into low orbit of the farm world. The yacht would then launch with an escort of TIE fighters close behind, a stunning display of the Empire's might to this backwater farm world.

So An realized it should have come as no surprise that, once the Ultimor was ready to disgorge its passenger yacht and fighter escort, that the old ship had one of its hiccups. This time it was the hangar door. The yacht's engines were firing up, and the loading rails had cocked the TIE fighter escort into position, ready to release them as soon as the yacht cleared the deck. The Ultimor's dorsal hangar doors began to separate...and then ground to a noisy halt.

A contingent of stormtroopers were on the hangar deck to board LAATs as soon as they were given word. An and some of her fellow engineers were also on deck watching the historic moment, so a significant portion of the crew saw the old ship decide to have one of its fits just when it should have been at its best. The grinding hangar doors made a noise like a herd of stuck nerfs and protested so loudly An could feel it in her soles.

"Oh, just work you piece of -" An kicked the bulkhead she had been leaning against with her heel, angry at the Ultimor showing its age at such a pivotal moment. She knew she had just been handed several extra hours of work because of this. So much for a quick shore leave rotation, she thought.

As if in response to her strike to the bulkhead, the hangar doors ceased their groaning and resumed opening, and the yacht belatedly lifted from the deck into the blue sky peeking through. The pair of TIE fighters were dropped from their racks, hovered a brief second, and then screamed out of the hangar into Jurmaer's atmosphere.

"C'mon, Weave," An said to the astromech, rolling up her sleeves. "Better get on that hangar door before Smithy or Tenenbaum finds us."

Weave blew a raspberry and followed her.

***

Vespers and Xases sat on the edge of one of the docks near the edge of the city and watched the Ultimor sink lower into the world's atmosphere, the hulking old Star Destroyer taking up a large chunk of the early afternoon sky. Three smaller ships appeared past its bow: a luxury yacht and two squarish-looking fighters flying as escorts. The fighters made an awful screaming noise with their engines as they swooped past, drawing the eyes of anyone not already watching the Star Destroyer's arrival.

"Hmph. Bad news," said Vespers, and Xases nodded in agreement.

"We should find out what is really going on with this place," said Xases after the fighters had made another pass overhead. The yacht had landed on a platform between the continental shore and the central hub of the city, and the fighters did a couple more passes before flying back toward the Star Destroyer. More fighters were disgorging from the ship and winging out in different directions across the watery surface.

"How?" asked Vespers when the sound of the fighters faded to be replaced by the lapping of the water and the breaking of distant surf once more. The Cathar was avoiding his crewmate's gaze.

"You're the slicer," said Xases.

"Might not be wise to go poking nose into where it is not wanted."

"If we find out what is really happening around here, we can be better prepared. And if it turns out this thing stinks as much as we think it does, we can try to convince Bart to change his mind."