I won the majority vote, yet again. I'm confident this plan will succeed, and secure the best possible outcome for the Empire. No one can see it, but I'm smiling underneath the helmet.
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I brush out of the council hall as soon as the meeting has finished. There's no point wasting time, especially when you're dealing with an exclusive trade agreement which the other party could pull out of at any time.
I'm heading to the aircraft hangar. I've been told, albeit reluctantly and with a tone dripping with malice, by Telo that there is a fleet waiting there for me and my pilots to fly immediately. I hope for his sake that it's true.
As I stride into the hangar, the pilots disperse from where they were talking in a huddle and scuttle towards their ships. They begin to perform the final checks they should have been doing before I arrived.
Telo walks towards me with a scowl. I mentally prepare myself to resist impaling him for the next few minutes.
'You leave in five minutes.' He says curtly. 'You should get in your ship now or else you might not be able to catch up'.
As punishment for his little outburst, I slip inside his mind. It's a trick I've known since childhood - even if there's no need for interrogation, it has an infamous tendency to make the subject very uncomfortable. Telo glares at me defiantly, attempting to resist the rummaging of my intangible fingers. Child. I've used the trick on him before and as long as he lives I don't think I'll be in any danger of forgetting it.
I turn away and walk to my own personal ship, chuckling under my breath. We leave in only a few minutes and the fleet will expect me to lead. I swing myself into the ship and shut the door behind me. I don't trust anyone else enough to have a co-pilot.
I flip the switches along the left side of the control panel and press the buttons along the right, and the ship whirs into life. Through the dark tinted glass of the screen I can see the other pilots inside their ships doing the same.
Up ahead the flight control stormtroopers are signalling for us to move. It's now or never. I flip the brake off, slam the ignition and we're out. In open space.
It's been a while since I've felt this free.
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hi all! bit of a short one but the last one took years and I want the story to move on! if you're enjoying the story so far please do leave a vote or a comment - it takes literally 10 seconds but it's really important to me so I can see if you're enjoying it. see ya later alligators :)