Nu-Class Attack Shuttle Requiem, on approach to the planet Enarc, Enarc System, Aliu Sector, South Midrim, Mid Rim
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Requiem drifted far above Enarc’s second moon, rolling as if under the influence of interstellar tides. The shuttle, rudderless, carelessly turned and tumbled, dragged and tugged by the gravitational forces of the four-body system. Below, the planet Enarc and its other two natural satellites slowly came out from behind the moon’s horizon, bathed in brilliant white light cast by their home star.
Kav sat in the cockpit, systems cold, as he stared out the canopy through a set of macrobinoculars. He had kept up this dance for nearly four hours now, lazily floating from one moon to another by way of gravity and momentum, producing no heat and moving unseen on long range scanners. Soon enough, he’d be coasting ashore – but he’d need the right opening.
He lowered the macros for a moment, and adjusted their settings, before putting them back up to his eyes. Glistening in the sun’s light, he could just make out the toroidal shapes of Trade Federation starships, likely Lucrehulks, in an equatorial orbit of Enarc. Perhaps a few hundred kilometers higher in orbit, he spotted large wedge-shaped hulls that could only be Imperial vessels, staring them down. He sighed. At least they seemed preoccupied with each other.
Kav had heard from the Holonet all about the Empire’s long drawn out nationalization of the Trade Federation. His education on Kamino had been lacking in the realm of galactic politics, but he had learned what he could from his General. In her Jedi way, Ama-kiedo never directly conveyed anger towards anyone or anything, but she was not afraid to let the facts speak her feelings for her. That woman harbored deep contempt for the Federation, and Kav shared in it. He had long been eager to see it fall, but subsumption by the Empire was not the fate he desired.
Adjusting his macrobinoculars once more, he trained them on the planet below. Enarc was a busy world which turned quickly on its axis, the rapid day night-schedule a perfect reflection of the Federation's fatiguing corporate culture. Despite the incredible magnification power of the device, they could not fully compensate for the scattering of light through the atmosphere. Even so, he could make out the impressive megastructures that dotted Enarc. The entire world had been molded into a Federation distribution hub, and between the narrow swaths of the original swamplands, miles tall offices and warehouses could be found on all corners of the surface.
Kav compared what he saw to the ground maps he had acquired, tracing the fuzzy lines and lights of the cities, the outlines of the massive storage units, and the flow of orbital traffic, until the details matched and he was sure he had his mark. If what Bode had told him was true, the Hutt package lay overlooked in the previous smuggler’s vessel, secured inside a Federation impound yard. All Kav had to do was get in, grab it, and walk it out of there. It was a big if. Bode had certainly already lied about the Hutt's motives. Relief for the masses doesn't come in small packages. Weapons do.
Kav put his macrobinoculars down, and double checked the map. There was a small fuel station groundside near the compound – he could buy the propellant canisters he needed and stay docked a few hours there without drawing attention. He grabbed his forged registration details out of a small compartment near the instrument panel, and confirmed for a third time everything had been entered into the ship’s transponder correctly. New codes were expensive and he only ever kept a few on hand, but in his current circumstances he felt burning one was justified.
With the worst of the orbital security already behind him, blending in with the masses of ships coming and going should be easy in a small shuttle like his. Bode had provided Kav with some basic clearance codes, but they were only for inter-atmospheric traffic. He’d need to make planetfall undetected. Luck for him, those codes could earn him authorization to depart, and he’d be able to leave Enarc legally, adorned with all the right checks and stamps.
“Okay R3, it’s time.” Kav said, his breath condensing in the cold cabin air.
He powered on his basic sensor equipment and watched the passive scopes for traders on arrival vectors. It wasn’t long before he sighted a flight of disparate ships on a suitable trajectory, a hundred kilometers or so from his current position.
“Give me engines for one short burn, just to get up to speed with those ships. We’ll let momentum do the rest.”
R3 clicked and whirred, and the engines hummed to life, operating at minimum power. Kav pushed the throttle forward, and let the shuttle softly accelerate, only making the minimum adjustments needed. The flight computer calculated the relative distances and speeds, and Kav watched the instruments closely. Once his velocity had overcome theirs, he cut throttle.
“Engines off, R3.”
The humming stopped, but they were underway, hurtling towards Enarc. Kav studied the flight computer. He would overtake them just on the edge of the atmosphere, where he could power up his engines and disappear into the clouds like any other ship. He quickly checked his scopes again – no indication he'd been scanned, no vessels on an intercept route. Satisfied, he leaned back into his seat. For now, he was safe. He just had to stick the landing.
Directory:
-Kav's story begins...
-Kav's last chapter…
-Kav's next chapter...
