Star Wars - Redemption
Posted: 2005-07-22 06:17am
I would like to hear peoples thoughts on this little tale I started ages ago and never seemed to get around to finishing (hardly suprising when you considered that I work 65 - 70 hours per week!). Its a a non-canon Star Wars tale but if I ever get around to finishing it, it will end with a VERY canon event?
Let me know if you think it's worth finishing.
Star Wars - Redemption (title subject to change!)
Chapter One
Why Me?
Sunlight started to blast its way through the small barred window as the planet Tatooine’s twin suns rose above the rugged horizon in the distance towards the beginning of the rocky, sand strewn and sun baked wilderness known as the Jundland Wastes. The higher the globes of light climbed into the crystal clear dawn sky, the deeper their brilliant light crept into the room.
Slowly but surely a beam of dust filled light snaked across the floor and nervously climbed the wall were its incandescent glow awoke the scruffy figure who lay sleeping on a bed suspended from the wall by chains. Startled by the light he involuntarily jumped and fell to the floor, were he landed with a winded moan before sitting upright on the floor with his head held between his hands so as to hide his face from the glare of the light.
On closer inspection the clothing that he wore, which at first appeared grimy and filthy had obviously only got into that sorry condition through the treatment he had been given by his captures, and not because of any deficiency in the owners hygiene habits. Indeed he wore expensive knee length boots, into which were tucked a pair of black flight trousers fastened with a utility belt, now devoid of all it tools and gadgets. He was also wearing a shirt of the finest synthetic Correllian silk, and if it were not for his present predicament of grime, blood, bruises, scuffs and rips you would say (as he often did!) that he was an immaculately fine figure of man.
He sat like that for what seemed to him an eternity until a wave of nausea passed, it was then he lifted his head from his hands to investigate his surroundings, it was then that his face became visible for the first time, it was then that you could see the beating that he had very recently received.
His left eye was completely closed and hideously swollen, his right carried a deep cut above the eye the length of the eyebrow that had cascaded blood down his face and onto his clothing, leaving just a fetid stinking crusted mass in its wake. The side of the mans jaw had swollen to the size of a child's ball, and all over his face, shoulders and back were huge tender bruises that ranged in colour from light blue through to purple and black.
With his only functioning eye he slowly examined the room on whose floor he now sat, it was roughly three meters in length by two wide, the walls were dark and stained by time and the far wall had a tiny barred window constructed in it “So that’s were the light came from!” he thought. He then looked up and saw the bed from which he had just fallen above him. To his left was a very solid looking door containing a view port. It did not take very long to realise that he was in a cell, he just did not know whose, as the beating he had been given was still leaving things a little blank in his mind for the present.
Deciding that he was suddenly extremely thirsty, he decided to make a start for the door and try to gain someone's attention. No sooner had he started to stand, than he found himself falling flat on his face as his legs rebelled against him. So lying on the floor of a strange cell, with a pain surging through his head like a very angry Wompa, Bujold Darklighter whispered out loud to nobody in particular “Was it something I said?”. Then his world went dark as he slipped back into unconsciousness.
It was a full two hours before the cell door opened admitting two droids. The first a barrel like FX-7 medical assistant was followed by a humanoid 2-1B medical droid, then after a short pause they were joined in the cell by a doctor and two Imperial stormtroopers gleaming in their pristine white battle armour. The 2-1B scanned Bujold's unconscious form for vital signs, then nodded its gun metal blue head at the FX-7 who proceeded to inject the prostate man with a hypo that was attached to one of the many arm like protrusions that extended from within its cylindrical torso. With that the 2-1B canted its head toward the doctor and said in a metallic monotone “The patient is coming around now sir”.
Almost paternally the doctor smiled at the droid before motioning for the stormtroopers to pick the slowly waking Bujold from the floor and sit him on the bed hanging from the wall. The doctor then moved to Bujold and examined his battered face, tutting to himself as he did so, before softly saying “Can you hear me citizen Darklighter?” there was a long pause before he received an almost whispered answer from the pulverised man in front of him “Yeah, yeah I can hear you. Now who the hell are you and what am I doing here?”
The doctor sat on the bed next to Bujold and with a sigh said “I am doctor Orvis, the Chief Medical Officer of the Imperial garrison here on Tatooine. As for your present condition, it would appear that a member of the local militia had cause to mistake your identity and got somewhat carried away when he attempted to question you. But do not worry the militia man in question is now enjoying his new post, Spice mining on Kessel!”.
Furiously Bujold screamed, “Carried away, carried away, no kidding! I feel like I've just wrestled with an irate Krayt Dragon and it won!” slowly calming himself after his outburst he continued, “Anyway who did he mistake me for?” Softly Orvis pressed on “You have a brother, do you not?” The penny suddenly dropped “Yeah, sure I have a younger brother Biggs, but what could Biggs have done to warrant a beating like this?”
“How long have you been away from Tatooine?” the doctor quizzed. Puzzled by the question Bujold answered, “About seven or eight season's I've been working as a freelance navigator on the bulk freighter Tuval. We were chartered by the Imperial Navy for long haul supply runs to the core systems, why do you ask?”. Doctor Orvis stood up and placed his hands behind the small of his back as he started to slowly pace the room before saying “Perhaps a friend of mine can better answer that question.” Turning towards the door of the cell the doctor raised his voice and said, “Come in Captain!”
As the cell door opened the two stormtroopers stood rigidly to attention on either side of it as a third stormtrooper entered. He would have been indistinguishable from the others were it not for an orange shoulder pauldron worn above his right arm, the officer strode across the cell and stood himself at ease in front of Bujold before lowering his head to gaze at him through the emotionless jet black eye lenses of the helmet he wore.
“A stormtrooper officer?” Biggs must have really screwed up this time to get one of these psycho’s on his case!” Bujold thought to himself as he waited for this frightening new arrival to speak. The vocoder in the infamous permanent frown on the stormtroopers helmet burst into life with a strangely metallic sound “Citizen Darklighter, as I am sure you are already aware your younger brother had been attending the Imperial Academy at Bestine.” Bujold quickly spoke out “Yeah sure I know Biggs was at the academy, it was all that he talked about the last time I came home, but why should that concern you Captain?”
The fearsome Captain continued “Approximately two weeks ago whilst on a routine individual training flight in a small transport, it would appear that your brother somehow managed to bypass a computer lockout on the hyperdrive system and was able to jump the transport out of the star system, before the training facility that he had launched from could despatch any fighters to disable his ship. He is therefore guilty of theft and desertion of duty from an Imperial Academy, which makes him a fugitive and a wanted man!”
Stunned by what he had just been told Bujold's mind was filling with possibilities before he decided what was probably the most feasible explanation “What if it was just a simple computer error, it is not unknown for a ship to simply hyperspace itself, they sometimes do that if a fault develops in the ships core navigation matrix. It simply fools itself into thinking it has been informed to make the jump and it uses the last course that was plotted into memory, that's got to be what happened. Biggs is probably out there somewhere stranded and waiting for a rescue!”
The Captain continued, “If only it was that simple Darklighter. The transport has since been found in the Sullest system were it was sold to one of the local crime lords, who has since been dispossessed of the vessel, his business and his freedom for buying stolen imperial property from a fugitive. He was however very forthcoming when it came to information concerning the man he bought the ship from. The description that he gave matched that of your brother exactly. The crime lord also informed us that your brother had been seen in the company of man by the name of Wedge Antilles, a known rebel sympathiser and also a fugitive of the Empire. I am afraid Darklighter that apparently we may soon be adding traitor to his list of crimes, as it would appear you brother has become a member of the rebel alliance”.
It took some time for what the Captain had said to sink in, but when it did all he could solemnly say was “Why? all he ever wanted to doe was fly fighters for the Imperial Navy”. The Captain now studied Bujold again as if seeing his condition now for the first time, he then turned to doctor Orvis and said “I think that we have questioned our guest here long enough for today. Would you please be so kind as to ensure he is moved to the infirmary and given treatment for his injuries and also cleaned and fed. I will leave these two troopers at your disposal to help you move him to his new quarters”. And with that the Captain about turned and marched out of the cell.
For a split second before the Captain had left Bujold was certain that for an instant he heard some compassion creep into the Captains voice as it filtered from the vocoder in his faceplate, then he shook his head in disbelief thinking “ A stormtrooper officer with compassion, I must have been hit harder than I thought!”
According to the chrono that hung on the infirmary wall he had been here for three days, most of the recollections for the first day were quite jaded though as he had spent the greater part of that day suspended in a Bacta tank, whilst the miraculous bacteria filled fluid ate away the bruising and accelerated the natural healing processes of his body. It did leave the patient feeling somewhat disorientated and isolated as they bobbed around in the tank.
Once out of the fluid, he had been cleaned dressed and fed. And feed he did, shovelling it down like a Hutt that hand not seen food for weeks! After all even he had to admit the food that the service droids were providing him while he rested in the small infirmary ward was pretty damned good, or as good as food can ever taste after being submerged in Bacta for any period of time.
The second day he spent talking with the 2-1B droid that was assigned to him, from it he learnt a great many things. He had been arrested by the local spaceport Militia at Mos Eisley under the false presumption that he was in fact his brother Biggs, whilst under the effect of their truth serums they had become somewhat agitated when he could not gave the answers that they required before passing him on to the imperials. Bujold’s recollections of his arrest were non-existent, but this was simply a short term amnesia caused through his beating the 2-1B reassured him.
Bujold reasoned with the droid “But surely I must have told them that I was really Biggs’s brother and that they had the wrong guy?” That is precisely what I asked doctor Orvis when I was assigned to you while you were still unconscious in the detention cell at Mos Eisley. He told me that they had beaten you because they thought you were using some form of mind block against the drug they had given you, after all they believed you to be your brother and he is a wanted criminal and suspected rebel”.
The droid seemed to genuinely enjoy its talk and continued the conversation without being prompted by Bujold “Doctor Orvis was furious with the militia when we arrived from Bestine to collect you and bring you back to our infirmary here. Apparently they had not even checked with the local Birth Register of your region of Tatooine to validate your story. The doctor did this in a matter of moments using the spaceports computer system, he then checked the spaceport manifests to corroborate that you arrived on the transport you said you were the navigator on. Once he got the conformation of your ship service he did not even tell the Chief of Militia of his incompetence he merely had him arrested by the garrison stormtroopers and that was the last anyone saw of him”.
Bujold thought this over for a second then said, “Well Militia men have never been known for their intelligence, have they?” After a slight pause the droids face turned toward its patient and said almost thoughtfully “Strange, that is precisely what the doctor said when he had the man arrested!” Looking at the droids expressionless face Bujold could not suppress his laughter, after all that was one of the funniest things he had heard in a long while, after his laughter died down he sheepishly grinned at the droid and said “ Thanks for all your help 2-1B, I feel a hell of lot better now”. The droid carried on with its ministrations after replying, “I aim to please Sir”. Again Bujold could take no more and burst into fits of laughter.
So it was now the third day and almost four hours since the last service droid had come in to feed him his breakfast. And two hours since he tried to leave the room, only to be refused egress by one of the two stormtroopers who were taking turns ‘looking after’ him. So with a sigh he decided he could take the boredom no more and turned towards the bed with the intention of stealing a few mores hours of sleep so as to fill the void of inactivity he was experiencing.
Just as he was about to lift the cover from the bed and climb under it, the door to the room slid open to admit three figures. The first he recognised as doctor Orvis, the second was a stormtrooper officer, whom he assumed was the captain he had met three days previously. But the third man he had never seen before. He was a tall slender man, dressed in the grey uniform of the Imperial Navy. Bujold was not to hot on imperial rank insignia, but could tell just by the newcomers demeanour that he was a man of some importance.
Smiling towards Bujold the doctor cordially asked of him “Do you still feel weak? we can leave and come back later if you wish?”. Bujold turned away from the bed and grinned lop sidedly before sitting on at the foot of the bed, nodding in the negative saying “No, no, not at all! To tell you the truth doctor I would be grateful of the company”. With this the doctor sat on one of the chairs that were placed around a table in the centre of the room, motioning for the others to join him. The naval officer sat down then looked toward the stormtrooper, who simply nodded his acknowledgement to the man but remained standing as he turned his helmeted head towards Bujold.
The vocoder of the stormtroopers helmet burst into life, again lending a metallic edge to the mans voice “It is gratifying to see that you look well Citizen Darklighter, let me introduce you to a friend of mine” he said as he motioned with his hand towards the naval officer seated next to him “This is Commander Miall of the Imperial Navy, he has some matters that he needs to discuss with you”.
The Commander cleared his throat before speaking “Good morning Citizen Darklighter, I am sorry but I do appear to be the bearer of bad tidings I am afraid. Unfortunately the vessel that you have been serving on the Tuval has left the system so as to complete its contract. I am therefore afraid that you are now out of job, also we now have confirmation through our intelligence networks that you brother is indeed now a member of the Rebel Alliance, apparently serving as a starfighter pilot with his new criminal friends.
Stunned by this statement Bujold sat open mouthed as the commander continued his dialogue before Bujold could interject “On the matter of you losing your job. It would appear that to some extent the Empire is to blame. That is to say that we trusted the locally sanctioned Militia too much and unfortunately look at the consequences of our trust, improper arrest, mistaking identity and assaulting a prisoner! Because of the injuries that you sustained it was necessary to keep you in this medical facility, thereby leaving the Captain of your vessel no choice other than to leave you here. As I have already acknowledged the Empire admits a degree of guilt for your situation and so we feel obliged to offer you some form of compensation, or perhaps even new employment!”
Bujold steepled his fingers in thought as he sat mulling over what he had just been told before replying, “Precisely just what form of employment am I being offered Commander?” The commander pulled a small data card from a pocket, and proceeded to punch up some information onto the small display of the card before speaking to Bujold “I see here that you are a fully qualified Astro-Navigator, he punched in another series of commands and smiled to himself before continuing “You are a qualified pilot also, completing your initial training at the Imperial Academy here in Bestine. This is very promising Citizen Darklighter, the empire is always on the lookout for good men with flight qualifications. Have you ever considered piloting imperial vessels, say Lambda Class Shuttles or perhaps if you pass the tests a TIE starfighter?”
Bujold’s eyes lit up at the thought of flying a TIE fighter, whilst serving on the Tuval they had often been escorted by TIE fighters. He had always marvelled at the seeming effortless manoeuvrability and ease of acceleration that the little fighter craft possessed, he had always harboured a secret desire to fly one ever since his academy days when he and the rest of the training squadron who were flying old Z-95 Headhunter’s at the time were systematically torn apart in a simulator mission by two instructors piloting the basic TIE fighter model. He turned toward Commander Miall and said “I would love the chance to pilot a TIE fighter sir, it has been a goal of mine to fly one for some time”.
Smiling the commander nodded at the stormtrooper captain whilst still speaking to Bujold “Excellent, I am pleased to hear that. And I am sure that your present Imperial Academy qualifications should make your entry into the ‘Imperial Navy’ that much swifter, of course you will still have to attend the initial Basic Training and flight programmes. I will have the captain here summon one of my aides, he will bring all the necessary paper work and data cards necessary for you to sign”. He smiled stood up and strode over to the foot of the bed offering Bujold his hand to shake “Welcome to the Navy son!”
The simple statement hit Bujold like a punch to the head, it took several seconds for him to fully assess what the Commander had just told him. But in the end the only reply that he could muster was “Have I just joined the Imperial Navy?” Commander Miall seemed somewhat puzzled by the response and simply nodded saying, “Yes my boy, I do believe you have”. Bujold suddenly snapped at him “No way, my father will lose his mind when he finds out, he was angry enough when I left the farm to join the Tuval. I told him that was just temporary until I got the space travel bug out of my system, joining the imperial navy is far from temporary Sir?”
The commander surprised by this little outburst simply replied, “No Citizen Darklighter, it is not temporary. Once you join the navy, you have joined for life”. The words stung as he heard them but Bujold had already resigned himself to the fact that there would be no way that he could get out of it now, that is unless he wanted to wake up tomorrow back in that cell at Mos Eisley (or worse!). Which is precisely were they would send him after all he was related to a rebel now. ‘Yeah thanks Biggs! You always did put yourself first, little brother’ he thought to himself.
Commander Miall stood himself up straightening his jacket as he did so, smiling benignly to himself he said “Nice to have you on board Darklighter, now please excuse me while I make the arrangements for your induction into our ranks. And do not worry about hurting your fathers feelings, I am sure he will be very proud of you when he hears that you have joined the Emperor in his quest for universal peace and unity. Now then I shall leave you in the doctors capable hands whilst he gives you a final once over to ensure you’re healthy enough to travel. Good day recruit.” With that the Commander clicked his heels together almost as a mocking salute to his new recruit and with a nod of his head to the doctor he about turned out of the room with the Stormtrooper Captain marching at his side like a faithful pet Vornsker.
Chapter Two
Preparation for a New Life
Having said his brief goodbyes to his bemused father and distraught mother, Bujold waved once at the entrance to their home before turning his back on the only real life that he had ever known. He walk to an armoured land speeder, the Imperial Navy driver waiting patiently by its side to take his only passenger to the spaceport were he was to be placed onto a transport for onward transmission to a Carrack Class cruiser that was on the fringe of Tatooine’s star system.
Later as they sped through the streets of Bestine, Bujold watched the scavenging Jawa’s rummaging through the city’s garbage for any bits of discarded machinery that they could get working and sell, he thought to himself “I’m glad I will never be coming back to this planet again”. Just then the speeder pulled to a stop outside the entrance to a subterranean docking bay the driver turned and said “End of the line son. Just ring for attention at the security gate show them your data card and leave the rest to them. Don’t worry in a few months you will barely remember this little dust bowl of a place”. With that the speeder sped off in the direction of the garrison headquarters leaving Bujold alone in the street wincing in the bright sunlight of midday.
He quickly made has way to the allotted docking bay and passed the cursory inspection the militia man gave his data card before being shown to the transport that was awaiting his arrival within the cavernous bay. In the centre of the bay an old troop assault transport was sat patiently on the pad whilst being unloaded by cargo droids. This battered old warhorse would be his taxi to a new life. “How very fitting, the thing looks as worn out as I feel!” he chuckled to himself as he studied its scarred and pock marked hull.
As he strode up the entry ramp to the ship a voice called out from the small cockpit area “You must be the passenger were to take to the Vigilance, just take a seat in the back there, we will be lifting off in a few moments”. Bujold could hear all the outer hatches closing and cycling their pressure systems for the flight into space. Before he knew it the transports repulsors popped into life and he felt is stomach churn as the small craft lifted a few feet from the pad defying gravity. This was followed by a small attitude change as the ion engines howled into life a short distance behind him. He quickly buckled his seat belt and settled further back into his seat. The transport then quickly adjusted attitude again as it roared out of the docking bay pit, above the streets and then skywards.
Blue sky swiftly turned to indigo and then black. Bujold looked back from the cabin view port to take in the visage of his home world for what would probably be the last time. He tried to make out any settlements but the small transport was already several hundred miles above the planet and still accelerating. Bujold’s last memory of Tatooine was to be a beautiful sun set as the twin suns dipped beyond the far horizon with a brilliant coronal flare before the small transport passed over the planets terminator and was engulfed in the darkness.
The flight passed quickly and it was not long before Bujold could clearly make out the Conqueror sitting serenely in space through the starboard view port. It was the first time he had seen a Carrack class before. Most of the Pickett ships that had been assigned to the Tuval whilst she was on her long hauls had been the older Correllian types. The Carracks were a lot more appealing to the eye and looked very business like.
The transport joined into the flight circuit of two patrolling TIE fighters that were being recalled to their docking rack beneath the cruisers hull. “Looks like we will be leaving the system as soon as we have docked, best have yourself ready to leave” the pilot called back from the cockpit. Once the TIE’s had docked the transport crept slowly into to the cruisers small docking bay. Once landed Bujold was met at the ramp by a young Naval Lieutenant.
Bujold scanned the interior of the bay as he walked down the ramp to meet the Lieutenant. “It’s not the biggest bay you will ever see is it? But most of these Carrack’s don’t even have one.” the young imperial officer cheerly informed him “Good morning Mr Darklighter, I am Lieutenant Ridian. I have been instructed to take you to your quarters, we are due to leave the system in a few moments”. “Thank you, what did you mean it’s not the largest bay? It’s by far the biggest I have ever set foot in?” questioned Bujold.
With a sly smile Ridian replied “You are to be transported to a Victory class Star Destroyer in the Redrish System. I think she has just had a re-fit in the local Kuat yards there and she is holding station until all of the latest recruits have boarded. Now I think you may be impressed with her docking bays!”. Bujold and the young officer chatted with each other on his way to the quarters that would be his for the next 16 hours of flight until they arrived at Redrish.
They had entered Hyperspace within minutes of Bujold entering the ship. Once he had stowed his belongings away a crewman came to his quarters to escort Bujold to the galley were he ate a meal with his newfound friend. After his meal he bumped into Lieutenant Ridian, they exchanged pleasantries again and Ridian decided to take Bujold on a tour of the ship. During the tour Bujold found out many things about the ship, he learnt that Carracks were as quick as some snub fighters at sublight speeds, as many pirates had found out to their cost. As the tour of the Conqueror was about to be concluded they entered the small docking bay again.
Ridian admitted that it was not standard and only a few Carracks had been modified so far, but it certainly made sense for ships on picket duty to have a bay. “Just look at the two engineers repairing that TIE fighter over there. If that was two tours ago they would both be outside the ship in Zero G suits freezing their butts off and hanging from a launch rack with a welding torch!” Bujold laughed at this statement and asked if he thought the engineers would mind if he took closer look at the fighter. “Oh, that’s right I noticed on your data pad that you are joining the pilot training programme. I tried for that myself. Unfortunalty I found even with inertial dampers set on full, I was getting very bad motion sickness. And that was only in the Sim chambers! So I dropped out and started on the command ladder instead”. “I have had extensive sim experience at the Accedmy in Bestine, however that was on Z-95’s and not TIE’s. I have always wanted to try one of those on for size” said Bujold and he walked over to the two engineers who were working on a small platform beneath the TIE. Just as they were about to climb the gantry one of the engineers shouted down “I would not come any higher if I were you, we are having a problem with the Ionisation Reactor!”.
Ridian stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Bujold and said “that’s probably good advice. Notice the heavy work gear that they are wearing it will protect them from the radiation. We on the other hand would be made sterile in moments if we came into contact with it. Just remember if you pass your flight school training you will be sat just over a metre above that reactor”. From the tone of his voice Bujold could detect that Ridian was not joking and it was a very sobering thought indeed. Ridian informed him to get some sleep and that they were due to arrive in the Redrish system in about 9 hours.
They exited Hyperspace about 30 kilometers away from the position a large triangular shape that sat on the edge of the Redrish system on the outskirts of a green nebulous gas cloud. With the green backdrop provided by the nebula Bujold could clearly see the ship. ‘It must be huge” he thought as he could start to see surface details even at this distance as they rapidly approached the ship that was to take him to the Imperial training facility.
Ridian stood next to him at the viewport and said “That Mr Darklighter is the Victory Class Star Destroyer Vigilance. She is over 900 metres long and his home to many gun batteries, several fighter squadrons and thousands of personnel. It is a very formidable vessel indeed and at a push it is even capable of atmospheric flight”. Bujold turned and asked incredulously “That thing can fly within a planets atmosphere?” “Indeed whilst it is no Air Speeder admittedly, I am sure if I was involved in a ground battle I would feel very reassured to know that one of those (pointing to the Vigilance through the viewport) was sat a few thousand metres above my head providing fire support”.
Half an hour later his goodbyes said Bujold found himself in the old transport shuttle again and on his way to the Vigilance. He stood just inside the entrance to the small cockpit area so that he could get an uninterrupted view of the massive ship that was to finally take him to his new life. The shuttle was on final approach now and Bujold could make out huge turbo laser turrets and many smaller laser cannon batteries. They were escorted by a pair of TIE’s that suddenly broke of just as the shuttle passed over the edge of the upper half of the ship and made its way to the hanger bays on the underside.
A voice crackled into life through the inter-ship comm. System “This is Vigilance traffic control, we have you now. Power down your drive systems and we will bring you in” The shuttle pilots hands pulled back on the drive levers and the ion drives quickly shut down he then adjusted his headset and responded “Conqueror shuttle - were all yours - out”. The shuttle appeared to drift for a brief moment and then steadied as they were caught in the invisible grip of the hanger bay tractor beams.
The cockpit brightened suddenly as they drifted over the energy field threshold that separated the beings within the bay from the vacuum of space. Silently they settled down onto the allotted landing area as the shuttle’s boarding ramp hissed open for it’s passenger to depart. Aghast Bujold’s jaw almost hit the floor as he took in the scale of the 25 x 40 meter, 3 storey high box like hanger area the shuttle was now neatly parked in “It’s huge!” he exclaimed. Chuckling softly to himself the pilot turned and said “Son, this is just the shuttle bay. The main hanger is through those blast doors over there. If you think this is big, your gonna love that! You best get you gear together there is a protocol droid on it’s way over for you, good luck”
As soon had Bujold exited the shuttle he was met by a gleaming chromium plated protocol droid with large bulging almost insect like photoreceptor eyes. It greeted him politely with a rasping female voice “Good morning Sir, I am C-9RZ Human/Cyborg relations. Please follow me to your allotted barrack room. You and the other recruits who have arrived from the neighboring systems are to briefed by Navy personnel officers at 10:00 hours. This way please”
To be continued....
Let me know if you think it's worth finishing.
Star Wars - Redemption (title subject to change!)
Chapter One
Why Me?
Sunlight started to blast its way through the small barred window as the planet Tatooine’s twin suns rose above the rugged horizon in the distance towards the beginning of the rocky, sand strewn and sun baked wilderness known as the Jundland Wastes. The higher the globes of light climbed into the crystal clear dawn sky, the deeper their brilliant light crept into the room.
Slowly but surely a beam of dust filled light snaked across the floor and nervously climbed the wall were its incandescent glow awoke the scruffy figure who lay sleeping on a bed suspended from the wall by chains. Startled by the light he involuntarily jumped and fell to the floor, were he landed with a winded moan before sitting upright on the floor with his head held between his hands so as to hide his face from the glare of the light.
On closer inspection the clothing that he wore, which at first appeared grimy and filthy had obviously only got into that sorry condition through the treatment he had been given by his captures, and not because of any deficiency in the owners hygiene habits. Indeed he wore expensive knee length boots, into which were tucked a pair of black flight trousers fastened with a utility belt, now devoid of all it tools and gadgets. He was also wearing a shirt of the finest synthetic Correllian silk, and if it were not for his present predicament of grime, blood, bruises, scuffs and rips you would say (as he often did!) that he was an immaculately fine figure of man.
He sat like that for what seemed to him an eternity until a wave of nausea passed, it was then he lifted his head from his hands to investigate his surroundings, it was then that his face became visible for the first time, it was then that you could see the beating that he had very recently received.
His left eye was completely closed and hideously swollen, his right carried a deep cut above the eye the length of the eyebrow that had cascaded blood down his face and onto his clothing, leaving just a fetid stinking crusted mass in its wake. The side of the mans jaw had swollen to the size of a child's ball, and all over his face, shoulders and back were huge tender bruises that ranged in colour from light blue through to purple and black.
With his only functioning eye he slowly examined the room on whose floor he now sat, it was roughly three meters in length by two wide, the walls were dark and stained by time and the far wall had a tiny barred window constructed in it “So that’s were the light came from!” he thought. He then looked up and saw the bed from which he had just fallen above him. To his left was a very solid looking door containing a view port. It did not take very long to realise that he was in a cell, he just did not know whose, as the beating he had been given was still leaving things a little blank in his mind for the present.
Deciding that he was suddenly extremely thirsty, he decided to make a start for the door and try to gain someone's attention. No sooner had he started to stand, than he found himself falling flat on his face as his legs rebelled against him. So lying on the floor of a strange cell, with a pain surging through his head like a very angry Wompa, Bujold Darklighter whispered out loud to nobody in particular “Was it something I said?”. Then his world went dark as he slipped back into unconsciousness.
It was a full two hours before the cell door opened admitting two droids. The first a barrel like FX-7 medical assistant was followed by a humanoid 2-1B medical droid, then after a short pause they were joined in the cell by a doctor and two Imperial stormtroopers gleaming in their pristine white battle armour. The 2-1B scanned Bujold's unconscious form for vital signs, then nodded its gun metal blue head at the FX-7 who proceeded to inject the prostate man with a hypo that was attached to one of the many arm like protrusions that extended from within its cylindrical torso. With that the 2-1B canted its head toward the doctor and said in a metallic monotone “The patient is coming around now sir”.
Almost paternally the doctor smiled at the droid before motioning for the stormtroopers to pick the slowly waking Bujold from the floor and sit him on the bed hanging from the wall. The doctor then moved to Bujold and examined his battered face, tutting to himself as he did so, before softly saying “Can you hear me citizen Darklighter?” there was a long pause before he received an almost whispered answer from the pulverised man in front of him “Yeah, yeah I can hear you. Now who the hell are you and what am I doing here?”
The doctor sat on the bed next to Bujold and with a sigh said “I am doctor Orvis, the Chief Medical Officer of the Imperial garrison here on Tatooine. As for your present condition, it would appear that a member of the local militia had cause to mistake your identity and got somewhat carried away when he attempted to question you. But do not worry the militia man in question is now enjoying his new post, Spice mining on Kessel!”.
Furiously Bujold screamed, “Carried away, carried away, no kidding! I feel like I've just wrestled with an irate Krayt Dragon and it won!” slowly calming himself after his outburst he continued, “Anyway who did he mistake me for?” Softly Orvis pressed on “You have a brother, do you not?” The penny suddenly dropped “Yeah, sure I have a younger brother Biggs, but what could Biggs have done to warrant a beating like this?”
“How long have you been away from Tatooine?” the doctor quizzed. Puzzled by the question Bujold answered, “About seven or eight season's I've been working as a freelance navigator on the bulk freighter Tuval. We were chartered by the Imperial Navy for long haul supply runs to the core systems, why do you ask?”. Doctor Orvis stood up and placed his hands behind the small of his back as he started to slowly pace the room before saying “Perhaps a friend of mine can better answer that question.” Turning towards the door of the cell the doctor raised his voice and said, “Come in Captain!”
As the cell door opened the two stormtroopers stood rigidly to attention on either side of it as a third stormtrooper entered. He would have been indistinguishable from the others were it not for an orange shoulder pauldron worn above his right arm, the officer strode across the cell and stood himself at ease in front of Bujold before lowering his head to gaze at him through the emotionless jet black eye lenses of the helmet he wore.
“A stormtrooper officer?” Biggs must have really screwed up this time to get one of these psycho’s on his case!” Bujold thought to himself as he waited for this frightening new arrival to speak. The vocoder in the infamous permanent frown on the stormtroopers helmet burst into life with a strangely metallic sound “Citizen Darklighter, as I am sure you are already aware your younger brother had been attending the Imperial Academy at Bestine.” Bujold quickly spoke out “Yeah sure I know Biggs was at the academy, it was all that he talked about the last time I came home, but why should that concern you Captain?”
The fearsome Captain continued “Approximately two weeks ago whilst on a routine individual training flight in a small transport, it would appear that your brother somehow managed to bypass a computer lockout on the hyperdrive system and was able to jump the transport out of the star system, before the training facility that he had launched from could despatch any fighters to disable his ship. He is therefore guilty of theft and desertion of duty from an Imperial Academy, which makes him a fugitive and a wanted man!”
Stunned by what he had just been told Bujold's mind was filling with possibilities before he decided what was probably the most feasible explanation “What if it was just a simple computer error, it is not unknown for a ship to simply hyperspace itself, they sometimes do that if a fault develops in the ships core navigation matrix. It simply fools itself into thinking it has been informed to make the jump and it uses the last course that was plotted into memory, that's got to be what happened. Biggs is probably out there somewhere stranded and waiting for a rescue!”
The Captain continued, “If only it was that simple Darklighter. The transport has since been found in the Sullest system were it was sold to one of the local crime lords, who has since been dispossessed of the vessel, his business and his freedom for buying stolen imperial property from a fugitive. He was however very forthcoming when it came to information concerning the man he bought the ship from. The description that he gave matched that of your brother exactly. The crime lord also informed us that your brother had been seen in the company of man by the name of Wedge Antilles, a known rebel sympathiser and also a fugitive of the Empire. I am afraid Darklighter that apparently we may soon be adding traitor to his list of crimes, as it would appear you brother has become a member of the rebel alliance”.
It took some time for what the Captain had said to sink in, but when it did all he could solemnly say was “Why? all he ever wanted to doe was fly fighters for the Imperial Navy”. The Captain now studied Bujold again as if seeing his condition now for the first time, he then turned to doctor Orvis and said “I think that we have questioned our guest here long enough for today. Would you please be so kind as to ensure he is moved to the infirmary and given treatment for his injuries and also cleaned and fed. I will leave these two troopers at your disposal to help you move him to his new quarters”. And with that the Captain about turned and marched out of the cell.
For a split second before the Captain had left Bujold was certain that for an instant he heard some compassion creep into the Captains voice as it filtered from the vocoder in his faceplate, then he shook his head in disbelief thinking “ A stormtrooper officer with compassion, I must have been hit harder than I thought!”
According to the chrono that hung on the infirmary wall he had been here for three days, most of the recollections for the first day were quite jaded though as he had spent the greater part of that day suspended in a Bacta tank, whilst the miraculous bacteria filled fluid ate away the bruising and accelerated the natural healing processes of his body. It did leave the patient feeling somewhat disorientated and isolated as they bobbed around in the tank.
Once out of the fluid, he had been cleaned dressed and fed. And feed he did, shovelling it down like a Hutt that hand not seen food for weeks! After all even he had to admit the food that the service droids were providing him while he rested in the small infirmary ward was pretty damned good, or as good as food can ever taste after being submerged in Bacta for any period of time.
The second day he spent talking with the 2-1B droid that was assigned to him, from it he learnt a great many things. He had been arrested by the local spaceport Militia at Mos Eisley under the false presumption that he was in fact his brother Biggs, whilst under the effect of their truth serums they had become somewhat agitated when he could not gave the answers that they required before passing him on to the imperials. Bujold’s recollections of his arrest were non-existent, but this was simply a short term amnesia caused through his beating the 2-1B reassured him.
Bujold reasoned with the droid “But surely I must have told them that I was really Biggs’s brother and that they had the wrong guy?” That is precisely what I asked doctor Orvis when I was assigned to you while you were still unconscious in the detention cell at Mos Eisley. He told me that they had beaten you because they thought you were using some form of mind block against the drug they had given you, after all they believed you to be your brother and he is a wanted criminal and suspected rebel”.
The droid seemed to genuinely enjoy its talk and continued the conversation without being prompted by Bujold “Doctor Orvis was furious with the militia when we arrived from Bestine to collect you and bring you back to our infirmary here. Apparently they had not even checked with the local Birth Register of your region of Tatooine to validate your story. The doctor did this in a matter of moments using the spaceports computer system, he then checked the spaceport manifests to corroborate that you arrived on the transport you said you were the navigator on. Once he got the conformation of your ship service he did not even tell the Chief of Militia of his incompetence he merely had him arrested by the garrison stormtroopers and that was the last anyone saw of him”.
Bujold thought this over for a second then said, “Well Militia men have never been known for their intelligence, have they?” After a slight pause the droids face turned toward its patient and said almost thoughtfully “Strange, that is precisely what the doctor said when he had the man arrested!” Looking at the droids expressionless face Bujold could not suppress his laughter, after all that was one of the funniest things he had heard in a long while, after his laughter died down he sheepishly grinned at the droid and said “ Thanks for all your help 2-1B, I feel a hell of lot better now”. The droid carried on with its ministrations after replying, “I aim to please Sir”. Again Bujold could take no more and burst into fits of laughter.
So it was now the third day and almost four hours since the last service droid had come in to feed him his breakfast. And two hours since he tried to leave the room, only to be refused egress by one of the two stormtroopers who were taking turns ‘looking after’ him. So with a sigh he decided he could take the boredom no more and turned towards the bed with the intention of stealing a few mores hours of sleep so as to fill the void of inactivity he was experiencing.
Just as he was about to lift the cover from the bed and climb under it, the door to the room slid open to admit three figures. The first he recognised as doctor Orvis, the second was a stormtrooper officer, whom he assumed was the captain he had met three days previously. But the third man he had never seen before. He was a tall slender man, dressed in the grey uniform of the Imperial Navy. Bujold was not to hot on imperial rank insignia, but could tell just by the newcomers demeanour that he was a man of some importance.
Smiling towards Bujold the doctor cordially asked of him “Do you still feel weak? we can leave and come back later if you wish?”. Bujold turned away from the bed and grinned lop sidedly before sitting on at the foot of the bed, nodding in the negative saying “No, no, not at all! To tell you the truth doctor I would be grateful of the company”. With this the doctor sat on one of the chairs that were placed around a table in the centre of the room, motioning for the others to join him. The naval officer sat down then looked toward the stormtrooper, who simply nodded his acknowledgement to the man but remained standing as he turned his helmeted head towards Bujold.
The vocoder of the stormtroopers helmet burst into life, again lending a metallic edge to the mans voice “It is gratifying to see that you look well Citizen Darklighter, let me introduce you to a friend of mine” he said as he motioned with his hand towards the naval officer seated next to him “This is Commander Miall of the Imperial Navy, he has some matters that he needs to discuss with you”.
The Commander cleared his throat before speaking “Good morning Citizen Darklighter, I am sorry but I do appear to be the bearer of bad tidings I am afraid. Unfortunately the vessel that you have been serving on the Tuval has left the system so as to complete its contract. I am therefore afraid that you are now out of job, also we now have confirmation through our intelligence networks that you brother is indeed now a member of the Rebel Alliance, apparently serving as a starfighter pilot with his new criminal friends.
Stunned by this statement Bujold sat open mouthed as the commander continued his dialogue before Bujold could interject “On the matter of you losing your job. It would appear that to some extent the Empire is to blame. That is to say that we trusted the locally sanctioned Militia too much and unfortunately look at the consequences of our trust, improper arrest, mistaking identity and assaulting a prisoner! Because of the injuries that you sustained it was necessary to keep you in this medical facility, thereby leaving the Captain of your vessel no choice other than to leave you here. As I have already acknowledged the Empire admits a degree of guilt for your situation and so we feel obliged to offer you some form of compensation, or perhaps even new employment!”
Bujold steepled his fingers in thought as he sat mulling over what he had just been told before replying, “Precisely just what form of employment am I being offered Commander?” The commander pulled a small data card from a pocket, and proceeded to punch up some information onto the small display of the card before speaking to Bujold “I see here that you are a fully qualified Astro-Navigator, he punched in another series of commands and smiled to himself before continuing “You are a qualified pilot also, completing your initial training at the Imperial Academy here in Bestine. This is very promising Citizen Darklighter, the empire is always on the lookout for good men with flight qualifications. Have you ever considered piloting imperial vessels, say Lambda Class Shuttles or perhaps if you pass the tests a TIE starfighter?”
Bujold’s eyes lit up at the thought of flying a TIE fighter, whilst serving on the Tuval they had often been escorted by TIE fighters. He had always marvelled at the seeming effortless manoeuvrability and ease of acceleration that the little fighter craft possessed, he had always harboured a secret desire to fly one ever since his academy days when he and the rest of the training squadron who were flying old Z-95 Headhunter’s at the time were systematically torn apart in a simulator mission by two instructors piloting the basic TIE fighter model. He turned toward Commander Miall and said “I would love the chance to pilot a TIE fighter sir, it has been a goal of mine to fly one for some time”.
Smiling the commander nodded at the stormtrooper captain whilst still speaking to Bujold “Excellent, I am pleased to hear that. And I am sure that your present Imperial Academy qualifications should make your entry into the ‘Imperial Navy’ that much swifter, of course you will still have to attend the initial Basic Training and flight programmes. I will have the captain here summon one of my aides, he will bring all the necessary paper work and data cards necessary for you to sign”. He smiled stood up and strode over to the foot of the bed offering Bujold his hand to shake “Welcome to the Navy son!”
The simple statement hit Bujold like a punch to the head, it took several seconds for him to fully assess what the Commander had just told him. But in the end the only reply that he could muster was “Have I just joined the Imperial Navy?” Commander Miall seemed somewhat puzzled by the response and simply nodded saying, “Yes my boy, I do believe you have”. Bujold suddenly snapped at him “No way, my father will lose his mind when he finds out, he was angry enough when I left the farm to join the Tuval. I told him that was just temporary until I got the space travel bug out of my system, joining the imperial navy is far from temporary Sir?”
The commander surprised by this little outburst simply replied, “No Citizen Darklighter, it is not temporary. Once you join the navy, you have joined for life”. The words stung as he heard them but Bujold had already resigned himself to the fact that there would be no way that he could get out of it now, that is unless he wanted to wake up tomorrow back in that cell at Mos Eisley (or worse!). Which is precisely were they would send him after all he was related to a rebel now. ‘Yeah thanks Biggs! You always did put yourself first, little brother’ he thought to himself.
Commander Miall stood himself up straightening his jacket as he did so, smiling benignly to himself he said “Nice to have you on board Darklighter, now please excuse me while I make the arrangements for your induction into our ranks. And do not worry about hurting your fathers feelings, I am sure he will be very proud of you when he hears that you have joined the Emperor in his quest for universal peace and unity. Now then I shall leave you in the doctors capable hands whilst he gives you a final once over to ensure you’re healthy enough to travel. Good day recruit.” With that the Commander clicked his heels together almost as a mocking salute to his new recruit and with a nod of his head to the doctor he about turned out of the room with the Stormtrooper Captain marching at his side like a faithful pet Vornsker.
Chapter Two
Preparation for a New Life
Having said his brief goodbyes to his bemused father and distraught mother, Bujold waved once at the entrance to their home before turning his back on the only real life that he had ever known. He walk to an armoured land speeder, the Imperial Navy driver waiting patiently by its side to take his only passenger to the spaceport were he was to be placed onto a transport for onward transmission to a Carrack Class cruiser that was on the fringe of Tatooine’s star system.
Later as they sped through the streets of Bestine, Bujold watched the scavenging Jawa’s rummaging through the city’s garbage for any bits of discarded machinery that they could get working and sell, he thought to himself “I’m glad I will never be coming back to this planet again”. Just then the speeder pulled to a stop outside the entrance to a subterranean docking bay the driver turned and said “End of the line son. Just ring for attention at the security gate show them your data card and leave the rest to them. Don’t worry in a few months you will barely remember this little dust bowl of a place”. With that the speeder sped off in the direction of the garrison headquarters leaving Bujold alone in the street wincing in the bright sunlight of midday.
He quickly made has way to the allotted docking bay and passed the cursory inspection the militia man gave his data card before being shown to the transport that was awaiting his arrival within the cavernous bay. In the centre of the bay an old troop assault transport was sat patiently on the pad whilst being unloaded by cargo droids. This battered old warhorse would be his taxi to a new life. “How very fitting, the thing looks as worn out as I feel!” he chuckled to himself as he studied its scarred and pock marked hull.
As he strode up the entry ramp to the ship a voice called out from the small cockpit area “You must be the passenger were to take to the Vigilance, just take a seat in the back there, we will be lifting off in a few moments”. Bujold could hear all the outer hatches closing and cycling their pressure systems for the flight into space. Before he knew it the transports repulsors popped into life and he felt is stomach churn as the small craft lifted a few feet from the pad defying gravity. This was followed by a small attitude change as the ion engines howled into life a short distance behind him. He quickly buckled his seat belt and settled further back into his seat. The transport then quickly adjusted attitude again as it roared out of the docking bay pit, above the streets and then skywards.
Blue sky swiftly turned to indigo and then black. Bujold looked back from the cabin view port to take in the visage of his home world for what would probably be the last time. He tried to make out any settlements but the small transport was already several hundred miles above the planet and still accelerating. Bujold’s last memory of Tatooine was to be a beautiful sun set as the twin suns dipped beyond the far horizon with a brilliant coronal flare before the small transport passed over the planets terminator and was engulfed in the darkness.
The flight passed quickly and it was not long before Bujold could clearly make out the Conqueror sitting serenely in space through the starboard view port. It was the first time he had seen a Carrack class before. Most of the Pickett ships that had been assigned to the Tuval whilst she was on her long hauls had been the older Correllian types. The Carracks were a lot more appealing to the eye and looked very business like.
The transport joined into the flight circuit of two patrolling TIE fighters that were being recalled to their docking rack beneath the cruisers hull. “Looks like we will be leaving the system as soon as we have docked, best have yourself ready to leave” the pilot called back from the cockpit. Once the TIE’s had docked the transport crept slowly into to the cruisers small docking bay. Once landed Bujold was met at the ramp by a young Naval Lieutenant.
Bujold scanned the interior of the bay as he walked down the ramp to meet the Lieutenant. “It’s not the biggest bay you will ever see is it? But most of these Carrack’s don’t even have one.” the young imperial officer cheerly informed him “Good morning Mr Darklighter, I am Lieutenant Ridian. I have been instructed to take you to your quarters, we are due to leave the system in a few moments”. “Thank you, what did you mean it’s not the largest bay? It’s by far the biggest I have ever set foot in?” questioned Bujold.
With a sly smile Ridian replied “You are to be transported to a Victory class Star Destroyer in the Redrish System. I think she has just had a re-fit in the local Kuat yards there and she is holding station until all of the latest recruits have boarded. Now I think you may be impressed with her docking bays!”. Bujold and the young officer chatted with each other on his way to the quarters that would be his for the next 16 hours of flight until they arrived at Redrish.
They had entered Hyperspace within minutes of Bujold entering the ship. Once he had stowed his belongings away a crewman came to his quarters to escort Bujold to the galley were he ate a meal with his newfound friend. After his meal he bumped into Lieutenant Ridian, they exchanged pleasantries again and Ridian decided to take Bujold on a tour of the ship. During the tour Bujold found out many things about the ship, he learnt that Carracks were as quick as some snub fighters at sublight speeds, as many pirates had found out to their cost. As the tour of the Conqueror was about to be concluded they entered the small docking bay again.
Ridian admitted that it was not standard and only a few Carracks had been modified so far, but it certainly made sense for ships on picket duty to have a bay. “Just look at the two engineers repairing that TIE fighter over there. If that was two tours ago they would both be outside the ship in Zero G suits freezing their butts off and hanging from a launch rack with a welding torch!” Bujold laughed at this statement and asked if he thought the engineers would mind if he took closer look at the fighter. “Oh, that’s right I noticed on your data pad that you are joining the pilot training programme. I tried for that myself. Unfortunalty I found even with inertial dampers set on full, I was getting very bad motion sickness. And that was only in the Sim chambers! So I dropped out and started on the command ladder instead”. “I have had extensive sim experience at the Accedmy in Bestine, however that was on Z-95’s and not TIE’s. I have always wanted to try one of those on for size” said Bujold and he walked over to the two engineers who were working on a small platform beneath the TIE. Just as they were about to climb the gantry one of the engineers shouted down “I would not come any higher if I were you, we are having a problem with the Ionisation Reactor!”.
Ridian stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Bujold and said “that’s probably good advice. Notice the heavy work gear that they are wearing it will protect them from the radiation. We on the other hand would be made sterile in moments if we came into contact with it. Just remember if you pass your flight school training you will be sat just over a metre above that reactor”. From the tone of his voice Bujold could detect that Ridian was not joking and it was a very sobering thought indeed. Ridian informed him to get some sleep and that they were due to arrive in the Redrish system in about 9 hours.
They exited Hyperspace about 30 kilometers away from the position a large triangular shape that sat on the edge of the Redrish system on the outskirts of a green nebulous gas cloud. With the green backdrop provided by the nebula Bujold could clearly see the ship. ‘It must be huge” he thought as he could start to see surface details even at this distance as they rapidly approached the ship that was to take him to the Imperial training facility.
Ridian stood next to him at the viewport and said “That Mr Darklighter is the Victory Class Star Destroyer Vigilance. She is over 900 metres long and his home to many gun batteries, several fighter squadrons and thousands of personnel. It is a very formidable vessel indeed and at a push it is even capable of atmospheric flight”. Bujold turned and asked incredulously “That thing can fly within a planets atmosphere?” “Indeed whilst it is no Air Speeder admittedly, I am sure if I was involved in a ground battle I would feel very reassured to know that one of those (pointing to the Vigilance through the viewport) was sat a few thousand metres above my head providing fire support”.
Half an hour later his goodbyes said Bujold found himself in the old transport shuttle again and on his way to the Vigilance. He stood just inside the entrance to the small cockpit area so that he could get an uninterrupted view of the massive ship that was to finally take him to his new life. The shuttle was on final approach now and Bujold could make out huge turbo laser turrets and many smaller laser cannon batteries. They were escorted by a pair of TIE’s that suddenly broke of just as the shuttle passed over the edge of the upper half of the ship and made its way to the hanger bays on the underside.
A voice crackled into life through the inter-ship comm. System “This is Vigilance traffic control, we have you now. Power down your drive systems and we will bring you in” The shuttle pilots hands pulled back on the drive levers and the ion drives quickly shut down he then adjusted his headset and responded “Conqueror shuttle - were all yours - out”. The shuttle appeared to drift for a brief moment and then steadied as they were caught in the invisible grip of the hanger bay tractor beams.
The cockpit brightened suddenly as they drifted over the energy field threshold that separated the beings within the bay from the vacuum of space. Silently they settled down onto the allotted landing area as the shuttle’s boarding ramp hissed open for it’s passenger to depart. Aghast Bujold’s jaw almost hit the floor as he took in the scale of the 25 x 40 meter, 3 storey high box like hanger area the shuttle was now neatly parked in “It’s huge!” he exclaimed. Chuckling softly to himself the pilot turned and said “Son, this is just the shuttle bay. The main hanger is through those blast doors over there. If you think this is big, your gonna love that! You best get you gear together there is a protocol droid on it’s way over for you, good luck”
As soon had Bujold exited the shuttle he was met by a gleaming chromium plated protocol droid with large bulging almost insect like photoreceptor eyes. It greeted him politely with a rasping female voice “Good morning Sir, I am C-9RZ Human/Cyborg relations. Please follow me to your allotted barrack room. You and the other recruits who have arrived from the neighboring systems are to briefed by Navy personnel officers at 10:00 hours. This way please”
To be continued....