To Coruscant
He couldn’t tell how much time had passed before time slowed, the stars became dots once more and the noise had subsided. Slightly dizzy, he shook his head a little and gazed around.
Rae looked down at him with an amused smile.
“How was that?”
Pip found his mouth.
“H-h-how...how fast were we going?”
“Around 50,000 miles per hour.” Parisian was fussing around with the controls somewhat worriedly “But we’ve come out a bit soon. There’s unidentified craft in a flight path.”
“Where are we?” Rae’s tone became concerned.
“Click and a half from Kuat. Not too far from our destination.”
“Can we establish contact with the craft?”
“I’m trying...wait...”
“Sir? We’ve been locked-on.” Dusk called from the turret seat “It seems this craft has its own method of contacting us.”
“Get us a scan!” The Lieutenant yelled as Pip huddled in her lap, the confusion abound beginning to make him nervous.
“Already on it, sir...Alright, and...” Parisian mumbled as he tapped and fumbled at the controls.
“Oh dear...” Pip heard Parisian mumble as in the dark void of the space before him, the dim outline of a spacecraft glided into view.
Parisian pressed something that brought up the full view of the ship in a holographic diagram.
The ship was a sleek, streamlined, shimmering cruiser. It resembled some form of long-necked flying bird, its wings arching forward with tips that curled into a full circle which conducted its shield-generators. As it drew closer, Rae noticed it seemed silver and gold.
Tell-tale signs Imperial pilots looked out for.
“It’s a Hapan Selina-Class Noble Starfighter.” Dusk said, without even looking at the diagram.
“Oh...Fry me to Korriban!” Rae growled.
Pip looked up with concern.
“The Hapans?” Parisian asked not with confusion but curiosity.
“How much do you know about them?”
“Well, I’ve read about them. Records are rather obscure. I also know that Denwarren calls them the ‘Space-Divas’.”
“Oh really? I’ll see how funny he thinks that is when I get back.” Rae muttered under her breath.
“So are they...not-nice men?” Patch raised his brow nervously.
“Not-nice women.” Rae gripped the controls tightly with one hand and held Pip close with the other as she explained.
“You could say they’re a...vindictive bunch. According to their own histories, they were born when the Republic was young from the Galaxy’s most prestigious pirates and their most beautiful captured slaves. So that the sons died when the Jedi hunted them down, the daughters were all that was left. As such, they practice a fierce matriarchy where males are second-class citizens, basically slaves.”
“Doesn’t that make them just as bad as their former captors?” Pip asked, somewhat dumbfounded by what he’d heard.
“Well yes, but they have a very good system to deal with this serious moral issue.”
“Which is?”
“They don’t care.”
Pip thought a moment, a bad taste in his mouth.
While he learned a modest amount of history at Cheerilee’s, recently he’d begun exploring more complex studies with books at Dinky’s house that the Doctor received from his occasional work partner and Canterlot’s librarian, Purple Patch, that detailed many histories and philosophies unknown to the majority of Equestrians. The Doctor had needed to check which books were safe for foals to read but that still left quite a few.
The concept of inequality was not alien to Equestria. Many times in one era or another, stallions had seen mares as inferior, to be chained, commanded or mistreated without care. And, on a few occasions, mares had given stallions a similar treatment. But all that ended under the alicorns. Their code was a simple one. None would be superior or inferior based on gender, colour, sexuality or background, for a pony was judged on their merits and their virtues as the Cutie Marks would show. Not always a system ponies took to heart but in order to see a kingdom prosper in harmony, there was no better philosophy.
To persecute or scorn a society based on what you were born with, Pip had always been told, was an awful thing.
He’d even once read that, ages past, pintos and patch-coated ponies, like himself, were drowned at birth, believed to be an ill-omen, a carrier of some imagined disease.
Who were these Hapans? And what had made them this way?
An age-old slight was never a good enough excuse for an ages-long slight, the Doctor had once told him.
And there were few wiser ponies Pip knew than him.
“Transmission on the open frequency.” Parisian declared, once more waving his hands around the controls as the hologram changed.
The ship’s communication screen shot up as a bizarre-looking woman showed herself.
Hapans were said to be the most beautiful species in the galaxy.
Rae assumed that whoever had said that had very odd standards of beauty.
When she first looked at the Hapan, she wondered if the screen had rippled accidentally. The Hapan’s chest and hips were almost twice the size of Rae’s yet her waist was smaller than her head. Her lips and eyes were so large they appeared swollen, almost piscine. The lips, eyelids and absurdly long fingernails were painted a bright gold and her headdress and dress appeared like a set of conjoined strips of gold that rattled and rustled as she moved. Her hair was a deep cherry-red and didn’t so much flow out the back of the headdress as arch and curl, reminding Pip of the twisty tail of a pig.
This Hapan in question began speaking, her voice loud and booming, her eyes blazing at Parisian who seemed to shrink under her gaze.
“Insolent outsider! You bar the path of the noble and splendorous Olva Ba’Vira of the Primaruda?!”
“Oh this is gonna’ be fun...” Rae muttered. Parisian tugged at his collar, cleared his throat and spoke.
“I assure you, madam, this is not meant as a...”
The Hapan gave something between a hiss and a squawk, baring her spotless teeth in rage as she bellowed.
“Dog! Maggot! You dare to address me with improper salutation?! Such is to invite death!”
“I’m awfully sorry, I don’t know the proper salutation!” the nervous navigator mumbled.
“Hah!” Olva Ba’Vira tossed her head with a scoff “Such is to be expected from a crass, low-born male outsider.”
“So...why were you angry if you expected it?” Parisian was becoming ever more confused.
“Corporal, stop blathering and let me talk.” Rae sighed.
“As you say, sir.” Parisian swiped the screen and Olva Ba’Vira’s face appeared above their windscreen. Pip jumped at the sight as Rae began talking.
“Lady Olva Ba’Vira, I am Lieutenant Rae Sloane of Imperial 12th Sector Army Cerulean Spear, on course to Coruscant. We mean you no harm and have no intention of interrupting whatever journey you are heading. But please, I must kindly ask you not to verbally abuse my corporal. He’s still learning the ropes and this sort of attitude will not teach him anything.”
“Not to mention, I am technically also a deck officer, temporarily.” he added.
“Don’t interrupt, corporal.” Rae said calmly “So if you’ll please let us pass and we’ll be on our merry way, sound good?”
Olva Ba’Vira raised an eyebrow (Far higher than most humans could) and snarled.
“Hapans fly where we please, as our ancestors did. And we take what we please, as our ancestors did.”
“Is that a challenge?” Rae asked gruffly “The Empire will have quite a few things to say about that.”
“Bah!” The Hapan squawked “The Jewels of Hapes laugh in the face of your paltry Empire’s threats. Your ship, madam, will be ours and the men aboard it. You may leave with your life...” She glanced at Pip who was looking up at her with an aggressive pout he must have thought looked scary “...along with your pet, whatever it is. A walking mould from the Coruscanti sewers perhaps?”
“I’m a pony, thank you very much, Miss Meany!” the little colt retorted. Rae and Parisian managed a chuckle at the foal’s pluck. Olva Ba’Vira meanwhile drew back with a hiss.
“You insult a royal of the Hapes Consortium! Such is to invite death!”
“Miss Ba’Vira, with the highest possible respect...” Rae tightened her hold on the controls “...if it’s a fight you want, you got one.” She switched off the transmission and barked orders.
Dusk swung the turrets into life as Parisian threw on a pair of large black headphones and flipped a switch on his chair. His chair rose and arched back as various screens of the enemy craft, damage report, shield and fuel level and ammunition type switched on all around him. Pip felt himself and Rae tilt slightly diagonally as the Lupercal and the Primaruda squared off, spinning round on opposite sides of a circle.
Something beeped and one of Parisian’s screens went red.
“We’re locked-on.” he said “Dusk, you’d better be ready.”
“Of course, sir.” Dusk replied flatly, showing no sign of unease.
Pip gripped the side of Rae’s arms instinctively.
“Wh-what’s happening?” he asked with a tremble.
“Don’t worry, kid. I promise, we’ve got this all in hand. Just...be ready in case anything gets nasty.”
“Wh-what do you mean by that?” Pip asked before the ship lurched suddenly.
“Ion Blast. Just missed us.” Dusk answered their concern.
“How did the alarm not go?” Rae was close to screaming.
“They must have sensor-blocking devices. Specificity means total focus. All we have is our wits to detect when they’re firing the ion blast.
“I suppose they’re making up for what they lack.” the Lieutenant declared “The Selina-Class uses homing missiles. Solid projectiles, something our sensors can easily detect and track. Our cannons should be able to hit them in flight but one direct hit from them and we’re space-dust.”
“Meanwhile, their shield is far greater than ours and auto-repairs. Our cannons will barely dent it.”
“So what do we do?”
Rae gritted her teeth, finger’s tensing on the handles. Needing only one handle pushed forward to keep the ship turning, her other arm wrapped itself around Pip protectively.
“Keep the missiles off our backs. I think we’ll need to use our initiative.”
As if in answer, the Primaruda fired a hail of around eight missile, flying like wasps out of their great trumpet-like cannons and hovering a moment before careening towards them.
Dusk swivelled his turret controls round fiercely and fired. The sound of missiles exploding mid-flight grew louder and louder with each shot until at last the ship jolted again. Pip gave a cry as he nearly fell from Rae’s lap.
“Damn it!” Rae yelled “Dusk, shoot the bloody things?! Is that so hard?!”
“I’m working as well as I can under the circumstances, sir, and I respectfully advise not to curse in the young one’s presence.”
“Will you shut up and hit the d...darn missiles?!” she replied exasperated, before turning to her corporal “Parisian! Damage Report!”
“Superficial.” Parisian answered, his hands tapping away frantically as the screens before him flashing green, blue, red, yellow and amber “Navicomp’s haywire, slight rupture in engine...” He winced as he pulled off the headphones “...and somehow the headset got jammed on the Gamorrean Opera Channel.”
“Our speed’s down way too much to remain safe. Another graze and we’re sitting ducks.” Rae shook her head “Corporal, our defence is now a two-man job. You take the other turret, I’ll give you manual.”
“Righto sir.” Parisian rolled out from underneath the flashing navicomp and took the other turret as he and Dusk kept the missiles off the Lupercal.
“Is...is there anything I can do?” Pip asked with a slight stammer.
The colt was terrified. Terrified and confused, that was plain to see.
Yet still he was ready to help for other’s sake.
It was enough to give Rae hope.
And a spark of ingenuity.
“Yeah, Pip, can you take Parisian’s seat?”
“Um...okay.” Pip hopped over to the other side of the Lupercal and crawled into the seat, staring at the flashing navicomp system “But, uh...I don’t know how any of this works.”
“Don’t worry, just bear with me.” Rae turned on the voice command on the pilot controls and spoke flatly and clearly.
“Shut down all non-essential systems. Now, Dusk, take the controls and give me that turret.”
“What is this? Bloody musical chairs?!” Parisian was getting exasperated as he desperately tried to keep each ever-multiplying missile out of their way.
“Just shut up and work with me here! I’ve got a plan!” Rae and Dusk squeezed by each other and the Lieutenant gripped the turret handles, pulling the scope in front of her eyes.
“Now, Pip.” she said without turning “In front of you should be the exterior scan of the enemy ship. You see it?”
“Yeah, right in front of me.” Pip answered, hooves shaking “Do I press anything?”
“No, no, what I need you to do is look closely.” Rae explained, trying to keep focussed “When the ship fires missiles, the scan will show the cannons flashing red and white arrows coming out of it. I need you to tell me exactly when the first arrow is on their way out. Not when it flashes. Not when it’s heading toward us. When it’s just coming out. Okay?”
“O-okay...” Pip held his breath as the cannons flashed red “Wait...wait...Now!”
On his word, Rae’s thumbs slammed down on the homing proton missile buttons that shot like lightning bolts toward the locked-on target.
Hapan ships were notorious for their intricate design, many Imperials fearing to cross them.
But Rae had familiarised herself. Her lessons with Bannidge Holt on the key tricks of the trade of soldier and spacefarer had proven invaluable.
Hapan cannons were shielded but not shock-absorbent, else their homing missiles would risk careening into them.
They needed time for the missiles to drop out, hover a moment, pick up their target and fly. If the cannons were hit, their shields would protect them from any enemy missile...but not their own.
As the cannon shook violently, the missiles, at least three of them, broke on their way out. The great, sudden implosion took off the cannon and a lot of the wing it was placed upon. The other cannon twisted and fell limp and the bright electric-blue field around them flashed and dissipated. Smoke trailed out the side of the Primaruda as it spun round wildly, the impact sending it hurtling away.
It was out for the count.
Lieutenant Rae Sloane led loose a raucous cheer from her turret seat. Parisian sighed in relief, his sweaty hands prying themselves off the turret handles as he steadied himself on the navigator’s seat. Pip stared around breathlessly, a dizzy smile on his face as Rae reached round and clapped his little shoulders.
“Nice work, kid! You did great! Well done!”
“I...I...I just did what you told me.” the colt gasped.
“Exactly. And you did it well. No soldier could have done better.” Parisian added, ruffling Pip’s mane.
“...thanks...I’m just glad it worked.” It had been a while since Pip had felt so proud, or quite as close to death. His heart was beating fast and his hooves were still quivering.
“Lieutenant.” Dusk sounded “Transmission from the enemy.”
“Thanks, Trooper. Budge over now.” Rae retook her pilot’s seat, Pip on her lap, as the face of Olva Ba’Vira appeared again. The Hapan was in a far less-regal state than before. The side of her face was blackened slightly, her hair was all over the place and behind her smoke and bleeping computers were beset upon by frantic deckhands.
“You...you...do you not know what you have done?!” she spluttered “You have defiled a craft of the Hapan Mistresses! You have perpetrated an act of aggression!”
“Hey, you started it!” Pip piped up “We were minding our own business. You tried to take our ship and then blow us up when we said no.”
“The boy has a point.” Dusk added nonchalantly.
“I’ll say he has.” Rae chuckled.
“Listen...Miss Rae Sloane, is it?” Olva stared at the lieutenant with wide, apprehensive eyes “There is no need for this. There is no need to stay on the losing side. Bring your ship to mine. Offer it to the Consortium and we will take you to Hapes. We know how you must suffer under the Empire’s despicable male hierarchy! I can ensure you will never need kowtow to their kind again...” She held out a hand to her “You wish to be a strong soldier? You will be conqueror of all the core! The men who have spat on you shall be made to lick it from your boots! You will live as we do, free to sail and plunder and punish whomever has spited you. Come aboard, Lieutenant...And we can help each other.”
There was a pause. Rae Sloane raised one eyebrow, sighed and spoke, sincerity and sternness in her voice.
“Well...I’ll be honest, that is a very tempting offer, Lady Ba’Vira. And...after some consideration, here is what I say to that.” She cleared her throat before continuing.
“Not if you offered me every sewage-smeared precious stone in your entire inbred-haven Cluster. I say with utter certainty that the only reason I would ever set foot on Hapes is to shove angry womp rats up every orifice your bullying, self-righteous Consortium presented to me, you overbearing, tarted-up, posturing sack of Bantha droppings.”
“Wh-what?!” Olva Ba’Vira shrieked, equal parts rage and alarm “But...why?!”
“Because, Miss Ba’Vira, if there’s anything I’ve learned rising up the ranks in the Empire it’s that when a woman is faced with injustice she must fight it, she must break it, she must crush it to dust before the eyes of those who built it...What she must not do is wield it herself!” Her voice having grown into a yell, her fingers tightened on the front seat blaster controls “And that, milady, is why my ‘proper salutation’ comes to you from down a blaster barrel, proudly made in Ganthel by men and women of the Empire, and to that I say good-night!”
Pip found himself instinctively gasping, watching with horror as a pair of pale cyan spheres shot out the front of their ship and headed straight for the Primaruda.
“...Rae...what did you...”
As the sphere’s hit, the Primaruda was spent spinning wildly at every angle as every light on it dimmed or fizzed out.
Yet it stayed in one piece.
Pip didn’t want to think about how long he’d held his breath before Rae patted him on the head.
“Hey, kid, relax. That didn’t kill anyone.” she said nonchalantly “They’re concussion shots. They short-circuit every device on a star-fighter. All this means is that they can’t fight back against us or anyone else.”
Pip blinked.
“And...what happens to them now?”
Rae and Parisian gave him a slightly confused glance, as if they couldn’t understand why he’d be concerned.
“Either they wait for their systems to repair themselves and shove off back to Hapes or they drift into an Imperial fleet who’ll probably escort them back to Hapes after relieving them of anything stolen or harmful.” Parisian summarised.
“Either way,” Rae said gruffly stretched her hands and pressed down on the handles again “For at least a few days and a month at the most, they’ll float there and think about what they did. Now, let’s get back on course.”
*
The office of the Papanoida’s was a large, grand, stately suite, adorned with cream and maroon, overlooking the steamy wetlands of Pantora below.
Yularen felt small in the room. It was terribly quiet.
He felt uneasy talking in a place like this under such circumstances. Yet there seemed no other place to do so.
Chi-Eekway, draped in her Wroonian robe and hood, sat down on a settee, clutching the edges of her robe making her appear as if she were hiding in a cocoon.
“Mr Yularen...” she began “My father says that, at these times, I can trust you. I hope you can trust me and my family in return.”
“Of course, ma’am.” he and Panaka sat down opposite her “If Pantora is under threat, which it evidently seems to be, the Empire will do all they can to see its citizens protected.”
“Very well.” Her voice was quiet and dissonantly calm “I was involved in the Delegation of 2000...at first. Many of my friends stood among them. But then...Panaka and Doriana spoke to me.”
“So...you took our concerns to heart?” Panaka asked.
“Well, they made sense in the broad scheme of things. If the emergency powers went right back to the Senate, they’d just end up using them against each other. That was exactly how the Clone Wars started in the first place. And, when I asked Amidala or Organa or Mothma or any of the others, they never really answered if that would happen or not, just that it was important for them, as Senators of the Republic, as servants of democracy, to follow this course of action.” she shook her head “The way they said it, it sounded like they’d be fine with every life in the galaxy threatened with another war worse than the last, all for the sake of their ‘principles’.”
Yularen nodded. One corrupt senate had plunged the galaxy into war. Who was to say another couldn’t do the same?
“I voiced my concerns but no-one seemed to want to listen. They said the statement of goodwill alone would discourage their opposition from starting another conflict but...that didn’t sound like a lot of the opposition I knew. And when they found out I’d been speaking with Doriana, Fang Zar and Sweitt Concorkill especially, grew downright hostile towards me.” She looked downcast “When I found out they were trying to get in touch with Chuchi behind my back, I could see that I wasn’t wanted and I headed home.”
“It sounds like you did nothing more than do what you thought was right, Miss Papanoida.” Yularen said gently “But...you must tell us, how does Berec fit into this?”
Chi-Eekway sighed.
“Berec is...was...a freedom-fighter and political campaigner on Bakura who caught the eye of the Delegation. He was the son of a mine-foreman who was trying to get Bakura officially recognised and represented on the Senate. Before, most people just regarded it as a forge world where minerals and materials were crafted and transferred to the Republic’s arsenal.”
“Yes, yes, we’re aware. What happened? Who was in contact with him?”
“Zar and Concorkill, they were quite close. Bel Iblis and Organa agreed to meet him but none of them spoke about it afterwards. Bel Iblis said he liked him but Organa didn’t seem so sure. Berec was apparently training a planetary militia and...as far as I know...was asking the other Senators to send him recruits as a means to, what was it he said...” She thought a moment “...‘give their propositions weight’.”
Yularen shook his head. Militarisation and armed coercion? Exactly what the Delegation claimed to be against.
“When Mothma found out, she said that Berec could serve as a speaker but she didn’t want him representing his planet. Of course, Palpatine had to find out and he placed Nils Tennant, you remember him, as Moff of Bakura in the last years of the Clone Wars. And then I left the Delegation. I’m afraid that’s when my contact with them ceased.”
“So Berec must have been the one to head the Miner’s Revolt.” Panaka supposed.
In the first year of the Empire, Bakura had been stage to a bloody revolution where local workers and soldiers attacked the Imperial Garrison and mounted a coup. Nils Tennant and his family were executed in the city square. In retaliation, Tarkin, Tennant’s childhood friend, had led a brutal counter-revolution alongside other personal friends of Tennant such as Conan Antonio Motti, Hurst Romodi, Sander Delvardus, Bannidge Holt and Ardus Kaine, all under Tarkin’s Night Hammer Command (The HoloNet news nicknamed the Generals ‘The Hammer Bros’).
“I was told Berec and every one of his family were executed.” Chi-Eekway said gravely “It sounds as though he, evidently, survived.”
Yularen nodded, harbouring knowledge unknown to her.
As Director of ISB, he was privy to information few wanted spread.
Nee Alavar, the Lorrdian Senator, known for her outspokenness and rigid ideals, had secretly been Mas Amedda’s contact among the Delegation, feeding Palpatine’s office information. Little of what the Delegation did escaped them and Yularen was quite certain that the moment the word ‘armament’ was mentioned, the Inner Circle took the opportunity to crack down. Of course, none could know of Alavar’s involvement, so when the Delegation were branded traitors, she and all her independent associates were the first to be executed.
Yularen had always hated politics.
“That all seems fair.” Yularen said flatly, rising to his feet “I believe we can consider this a need-to-know matter among the Imperial leadership. You have freely co-operated and thus you and your family can, indefinitely, be considered an innocent party in this affair. We shall, of course, contact you or your father in any more matters that concern them.”
“Thank you, Mr Yularen. When the Empire landed on our planet, I can’t tell you how glad I was to know you were leading them.”
“Your faith in us is highly appreciated, ma’am. We’ll see ourselves out.”
As Yularen and Panaka paced towards the door, Ion Papanoida entered. To their surprise, he gave a salute.
“Director Yularen. Moff Panaka. I understand that, whatever my sister may have said, there is a chance that the Imperial leadership or inner circle may consider my family suspect in this matter.” he said crisply.
Before either of them could answer, the young Pantoran placed his fist over his chest and clicked his heels.
“Then hopefully, this will eliminate that chance. Consider this my enlistment.”
“Ion?!” Chi-Eekway stood up with alarm “What are you doing?”
“My duty as a Papanoida, a Pantoran and a friend. If you are pursuing Favon Berec with intent to bring him to justice, I have to be there. I have to be a part of his downfall and see him brought to justice, whether in the Emperor’s court or on the battlefield.” His eyes were blazing “Riyo Chuchi was the kindest, finest woman I ever knew and that murdering son of a murglak is going to burn for what he did to her.”
The two men glanced at each other a moment.
“Ion...don’t you know what you this will mean?” Chi-Eekway stammered “I mean, it’s safe here. In the garrison...there’s no telling what might happen to you.”
“I’ll take the risk.” the boy declared “I know where my loyalty lies and it is not with Riyo’s killers. If people who once called ourselves our friends have abused our trust in this way, then they need to answer for it. I need to do this, Chi...” His voice wavered “For Riyo, if not for everyone who loved her.”
Chi-Eekway, gloomy-faced, nodded slightly but said nothing.
“Very well, young Master Papanoida.” Yularen said primly “I advise you to explain yourself to Thrawn. He’ll make the necessary arrangements. Now we must depart to oversee the battles to come. Hopefully, they shall be few.”
Before leaving, he gave one last declaration.
“I promise the Papanoida’s and Pantora solemnly...justice will be done.”
*
Coruscant was unlike anything Pip had ever imagined.
In truth, he’d never liked the city. He hated the crowds and noise and confusion, it made him feel even smaller than he already was.
On an entire planet that was one big city, towering spires and funnels reaching up into the sky like claws and domes and amphitheatres as big as Ponyville and trailing caravans of ships and shuttles floating between them, he felt certain he was going to end up stepped on at some point.
The great ochre and azure haze of Coruscant dazzled them as they approached. A few TIE Fighters and a floating security platform hovered before them a moment before departing as Rae Sloane drifted the Lupercal over the cityscape.
Parisian checked the overhead navicomp and directed Rae to the rendezvous point.
It was mid-evening. The city was slow at this time of day.
“Here we are,” he said at last after much flying “Kalpana Street Mechanics.”
With a resounding hum that steadily faded to silence, the Lupercal landed on a large platform close by a modest little house. The side of Coruscant they were on avoided both the blinding lights of the industrial district, where work was constant and no-one saw anyone sleep, and the entertainment district, the depths of Coruscant providing them with an endless artificial night where vice and crime ruled all. Nearby was Dexter’s Diner, or what had once been Dexter’s Diner. Rae wasn’t sure what it was now. No-one had seen Dexter Jettster since the Clone Wars. A diner still stood but she’d never yet set foot in there.
Stretching her legs, she was joined by Pip who tottered in, followed by Parisian and Dusk with their luggage.
“Finally.” Rae sighed “Flat, unmoving ground again. So Pip, how was your first starship-ride?”
“Well...” Pip chuckled nervously “I can’t say it was like anything I can remember. I think my head’s still spinning a bit.”
“Don’t worry, Pip. Everyone needs time to get their head for space. First time I took Parisian, I had to change the seats.”
“Not true!” Parisian blurted out.
The little colt and her guardian gave a giggle.
“Well hello, Miss Sloane of Ganthel’s finest. Long time, no yelling.”
Rae gave something between a chuckle of approval and a gulp of dread as a collection of familiar faces strode in.
Eight mechanics, all young women, shapely and grinning at the officer. Five human, three alien.
Jonava ‘Smokin Jo’ Belstar, the tomboy with close-cropped blonde hair.
Ardanna Cynn, the luxurious Rutian Twi’lek.
Kandria Valouri, the crimson-haired Corellian.
Daer’ey’ath, the enigmatic Chiss beauty.
Tallisibeth Kel’Vannon, the tallest of the group with dark-auburn hair tied up behind her head.
Aleyna Ulyette-Kalosi, the lithe, slender Mirialan.
Laera Cross, bespectacled, her ponytail a rich scarlet.
And Kimmy Skylow, her blonde hair spiky and died pink in strands.
She knew for a fact some of them used names that weren’t their own. She also knew for a fact they weren’t fans of what the Empire did as a whole but they valued what few friends they had within it. Rae was one of them.
When she first met them on her first year as a patroller, they were on the run, hunted by a depraved Aqualish gang leader going by the rather unsubtle name of Gabo the Wicked.
She’d taken them in, helped them find work at the garrison and gladly aided them in persuading Gabo to leave them be.
Which he did.
Readily.
Regardless of what they got up to in their own time, she knew she alone could trust them.
More than most people she knew in the Empire.
All of them wore the usual jacket of an Imperial Servicewoman but their legs were bare. Rae tried not to look too obviously at them as they sauntered towards her, their hips swaying in unison.
“Hey...girls.”
“Rae Sloane, sweet Coronet, we’ve missed you.” Kandria sighed, slinking her arm around Rae’s and fluttering her eyelashes..
“How’ve you been keepin’?” Jo asked, clasping Rae’s shoulder “Hear you’ve got your own platoon now. Bet that’s livening things up.”
“Cute mascot.” Aleyna giggled as she bent down and ruffled the silent Pipsqueak’s mane “We got our own recently...A BD-3000, rose-standard. I think you’ll like her.”
Rae edged back slightly and cleared her throat.
“I wasn’t aware you were back on Coruscant.”
“We’re filling in jobs at Kalpana Street.” Ardanna said with a shrug “The Mechanics service is a pretty easy deal. They’re always taking volunteers.”
“And some of them actually do their job.” A gruff but not unpleasant voice sounded as a bulky, middle-aged man paced out the door to one of the houses where the mechanics dwelt beside their workstations. His hair was wheat-gold and grown down to his neck with an impressive beard. His eyes had a tired, weathered look but his smile was a warm one.
“Torland Storm.” he said “Our...resident told us you’d be here today.”
“Really? Literally today? He was sure?”
“On the hour.” Torland shook his head “I hope you’re taking him with you, he’s been insufferable.”
“No worries, sir. It’s all in hand.” Rae gave him a reassuring nod, then turned to Tallisabeth.
“As long as you girls are on your shift, my ship could need a bit of a buff-up.” she said, gesturing to the battle-worn Lupercal “Slight engine rupture, a few glitches in the navicomp, dented stern...We had a hard rub with a Hapan.”
“You lucky thing.” Tallisabeth cracked a wry smile.
“Yeah, not funny.” Rae replied flatly “I suppose I don’t get free service as an officer?”
“Dream on, girl. Rose-Quartz Bettybots don’t pay for themselves.” Laera Cross answered bluntly, checking out the ship “Though, since you’re a friend, you’re liable to receive some...perks.”
“Great. How much do you charge?”
“Seventy-eight credits an hour plus expenses.”
“Wha...just for that?!” Rae spluttered indignantly before Laera held up her hands apologetically.
“Hey, I didn’t say the perk was a discount.”
“Then what is it?”
The girls fixed Rae with a devilish smirk.
“You’ll see.”
Shaking her head, Rae budged past the throng of old acquaintances and followed Torland to his house.
“Parisian, close your mouth, your letting the flies in.”
The young corporal, his mind having been very busy up to then, mumbled and blinked.
“Yes, sir. I wasn’t doing anyone...thing! Anything!”
“Officers, please.” Dusk sighed “There’s a child present.”
“You’re not my mum, trooper.” Rae sighed as they entered a small but comfortable lounge.
A young man in a white Imperial Officer’s garb with a crimson cloak reclined on a couch, brushing through a hologram with indistinct images on it. His face was shockingly pale, almost snow-white against the cream of the wall and floor. His hair, in contrast, was a dark mahogany and hung shoulder-length in curls. The way he was, he looked rather effeminate, greener than Parisian Froul.
Yet as he turned to face them, his eyes fixed Rae with a steely glint, his chrome-coloured irises shining at any distance.
He gave a smile.
“Welcome to Coruscant, Miss Sloane, Master Froul, Master Pipsqueak.” He got to his feet and held out a hand “I’m Gallius Rax. Charmed.”
Awkwardly, Rae and Parisian shook the hand of this strange individual. Pip was quiet throughout, looking up at the man with curiosity and some amount of dread.
Thrawn had at least been easy to see how dangerous he could be, yet had proven amiable around him.
This man, though, was an even greater enigma. There was something about his eyes Pip found...foreboding.
“How was your journey?”
“As well as can be expected when-”
“Wasn’t really interested. Onto business.” Gallius interrupted, slumping back on the cough nonchalantly “Gume Saam’s here. His contacts are in with the former local authorities. We know the criminal classes are offering him protection but we can’t count on the local garrison. Discretion is key to uncovering what Saam and, by extension, Toora, are up to.”
“Very well.” Rae brushed her uniform in preparation “Will be working through the night?”
“Not this night. You’ve had a long journey and I think we could all do with some refreshment and sleep.” Gallius gestured to the kitchen.
“Storm and his family have been very obliging, despite themselves. They have drink if you like, though if you're hungry, you're out of luck. It not that they don't have any food, it's that Mrs Storm's cooking is unspeakable. I dread to imagine what unfortunate animal ended its days in her stew. All I know is that it has a lot of fat, not a lot of meat and some sort of disease. It won't kill you though you'll wish it would. Though I have often found that it is only when the dish is tempting that one must beware. Poisoners invariably choose the choicest dishes...”
He turned and saw a woman standing in the doorway looking more than a little irritated. His nonchalant expression didn't change.
“Good evening, Mrs Storm...Is supper ready?” he asked.
Tutting, the woman turned to Rae and Parisian. She was around Torland’s age but far from bulky, being of quite slim build, her blue eyes slightly tired-looking and her ink-black hair tied in a bun behind her head, fastened with a little blue-metal brooch. She gave her two new guests a gentle smile.
“Dinner’s on the table if anyone's hungry.”
“Of course. We thank you for your hospitality.” Rae said, bowing as she, Parisian and Pip headed to the kitchen, Gallius remaining in his spot, leafing through his holograms.
Dinner was a modest but pleasant affair, Pip sat on Rae’s lap and eating from her plate like the dinner at Eriadu. Contrary to Rax's statements, their cooking was excellent. Torland and Pendre Storm were a jovial couple and congratulated Rae on her efforts. Though they didn’t sing praises of the Empire, they seemed supportive enough, the planet having seen far worse days before the Clone Wars in the sea of corruption the Senate had waded in. They said they had a son a few years younger than Parisian who was out most nights.
In truth, Pip was only half-listening. He was quiet, eating slowly and his eyes were looking into nothing.
After dinner, once Rae had washed and was preparing a little fort of cushions and blankets for Pip to sleep on at the end of her bed, she turned to the little colt and asked.
“You feeling okay, kid?”
“Hm...” Pip mumbled sleepily “Sorry Rae...Just a lot on my mind. I didn't want to draw attention to myself too much.”
“I understand.” Rae ruffled his mane “Don’t worry. This won’t last forever. While you’re with me, you’re safe. And if things in Equestria are as good as they must be for you to miss it so much, they’re working on getting you home.”
“I suppose.” he said flatly “Thanks for taking care of me though...I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there on...wherever that place was?”
“Umbara.” Rae answered “Don’t worry, I can see you’ve had a pretty full day. Sleep’ll probably help a lot.”
“Rae?” Pip asked tentatively, crawling into the pillow fort “I know this might be a weird question but...your friends back there.”
“Yeah?” Rae’s tone was awkward.
“They seem very close...to you, I mean?”
“Yeah, why is it an issue?”
“Well...I don’t mean anything bad here but...are you gay?”
Rae was quiet. She wasn’t quite sure how to react.
The question wasn’t one she’d never heard before but the talking pony from yesterday’s news had so far been the only person to simply ask straight out.
“...What would you say if I said I was?”
“I’d be alright with it. I was just puzzled.” Pip gave a shrug “I mean, I know quite a few mares who like mares and stallions who like stallions...Well I don’t know them but I know of them. There’s Lyra, Tootsie Flute’s music teacher, and Bonbon who runs the Candy Store. There’s Silver Spoon’s cousin Octavia and the DJ Vinyl Scratch. There’s Perry Pace and Timber Spruce, Alma Rose and Lemon Hearts. I’m pretty sure Babs Seeds, Bloom’s cousin, has something going with Twist but no-one’s certain. And somepony said Rainbow Dash kissed Fluttershy once but I don’t think that means...”
“Okay, kid.” Rae chuckled slightly “So...you’re no stranger to the concept.”
“Course not. If you love somepony, you love somepony, that’s what we say. I won’t think less of you, it’s natural.”
“Very mature attitude...” Rae gave him a smile “Well...to be honest, I’m kind of both ways. But whatever the case, I keep my personal and my professional life separate.”
“Ah...I suppose I’ve kind of got in the way of that.”
“Pip...” Rae ruffled his mane and rubbed his cheek, a sense of fondness blooming in her, her smile wider and more tender than ever “You’re worth it. I promise.”
“Thanks, Rae...Thanks so much.” Relaxed at last, Pip nestled down and placed his head flat on the pillow.
Rae reached for the light.
“Sleep well, Pip.”
“Good night, Rae.”
*
That whistle.
That whistle of the sliding door.
It jerked Pip out of his sleep.
Where had it come from?
His head poked out of the makeshift bed as he looked around.
Quiet. All very quiet.
Maybe someone was in the bathroom.
Speaking of which, he was thirsty.
Taking care not to wake Rae Sloane, sound asleep close by him, Pip crawled out onto the floor and tottered quietly to the bathroom. Mrs Storm had pointed him to it before they went to bed, he remembered. It was through the lounge, just opposite Rae’s room.
He hoped the water wouldn’t cause any problems for him. He remembered the first time he’d stayed at the Apple family residence he’d drunk a little tap water and felt very sick.
Still, if the city had such technology like he’d never imagined, it couldn’t be that bad for him. Just to be on the safe side, he kept his drink small.
There was another whistle. Pip’s ear pricked tensely.
Silently walking back to his room, Pip noticed the next whistle was very close by.
Someone else was in the house.
And they were getting nearer.
His mind was a lightning-fast storm, glancing in every direction. There wasn’t enough time to reach Rae’s bedroom before whoever was coming opened the door.
He wasn’t sure any of the other bedrooms were unlocked.
And there was no telling which room the intruders were headed for.
The closest thing next to him was a medium-sized box. Dusk had brought it in.
Opening the box, Pip crawled into it and snapped the lid shut as the door to the lounge slid open.
In the darkness of the box, Pip lay utterly still. Familiar voices sounded in whispers.
“Right. There, so far so good.” A woman’s voice, slightly low “Just be careful with the doors, Ayy. Remember, use the manual override. It’s slower but quieter.”
“Uh...sorry, Lunae. Mine doesn’t work.” Another woman’s voice, higher and more stressed “I...kinda dropped it in the shower.”
“Oh for crying out loud. Just stick with me and shut up. Now...if this works...”
Something blinked in front of Pip, bare inches from his muzzle in the box.
He glanced at it.
It was his little pendant he’d worn around his neck at the dinner at Eriadu, still attached to its ribbon. It was blinking red.
“There, see. Let’s get this to the boss, then we’re outta’ here.”
“Thank goodness. I can’t take another day of this.”
Pip’s heart lurched as he felt the box moving.
One of the women outside had picked up the box and was taking it out the house.
He clasped a hoof over his mouth. Yet more than anything, he wanted to cry out.
But what if the intruders were armed? What about Rae, Parisian, Dusk, the Storms?
How had they even got in? What his pendant doing there and why was it blinking?
Had someone set them up?
Huddling into a corner, shutting his eyes tight and hoping the box wouldn’t sway too much for him to lose control, he gave a slight whimper he wasn’t even sure was just in his thoughts.
‘Help...’
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Hey, i worked sometimes until 4 am to Complete a Chapter. Anyway, There's nothing better for going Home From Work on a friday than a new chapter of Yours.
Nice to See that they mind their Language around pip and interesting that he understands Sexualitites at such a young Age. And understandable for curosant, still, the fact that its a giant City most be amazing for him.
And nice apperence of rax and forren's Mother.
Almost forgot, the title reminds me of that One Scene in Episode 1.
At least Pip isn’t truly flying the shuttle. That’d be weird.
Anyways, the Hapans clearly fired upon an Imperial vessel first. This would call for immediate action by the Empire. They would’ve deployed fleets to systems surrounding the Hapes Consortium and then board any Hapan ships they encounter.
This should actually be big news for the Holonet and for Imperial High Command. Doesn’t matter if it was a TIE Fighter shot at, Imperials were still fired upon.
The Hapans can say all they want, but they know they’re vastly outnumbered and outgunned. Their Battle Dragons are no match for an Imp Star one on one. I think this would be an opportunity for Palpatine to humiliate them. To lift the blockade Palpatine would sunmon the Queen Mother and for compensation, she must offer Hapas tech and apologize to Palpatine directly. This would serve to humiliate her and the Consortium. Also, this would be a propaganda boost and a reminder to the Hapes Consortium that they’re nothing in front of the Empire.
8986586
Good to know. That means a lot.
Well, I learned about it from watching that Simpsons episode (I must have been about nine) where Homer doesn't like gays and, a little confused, I asked my parents about it. Seemed fine to me at the time.
In the fanbase, Equestrian has a very large LGBT community so it would make sense for him to at least be aware (I mean, in the previous Generations, foals are born through a shower of rainbows that happen when two ponies nuzzle each other and there are no male ponies in the previous Generations.
That has homoromantic undertones written all over it)
Yeah, reference there. Best I could come up with.
About time something actually happened (To Pip) in this story I say.
8987000
Well, I don't know if I'm going to have the Hapans feature majorly (They may reinforce the Rebellion) but they won't get far.
This instance alone, Rae's prepared to just let it slide.
She doesn't want to give Yularen more work than he already has, not with two wars already in the making.
8987210
Good thought. Still, is there a reason you discribed Mr. Storm in apperennce but not his wife, or did I overlook it?
8987216
Ah, didn't see that.
Righto, I'll go over that.
8987222
Anytime, just learning from you
8987215
You don’t have to make it a big impact. Perhaps the characters heard the news on the holonet of Imperial fleets being deployed around the Hapes Consortium and Palpatine demanding rhe Queen Mother to hand over tech and apologize to him face to face. Also, Yuleran isn’t the only high ranking Intelligence officer. There’s Vice Admiral Dodd Rancit and Vice Admiral Terrinald Screed of Naval Intelligence.
8987253
True enough.
Still, one war at a time.
Rae just sees this as something they don't need to know just yet.
Though that's not to say they don't know in any case.