Star Wars Character Cafe -

TRIX

CHAPTER 3

As soon as Maxx sat down in the captain’s chair, he felt the ship lift up.

“Easy buddy,” he said, “Lo is still on her feet.”

Trouble beeped a quick apology and alerted Maxx to the number of swoopers posted below the Nerf. Maxx peered out the canopy and winced. On the pavement below the Nerf were hundreds of swoops, their riders were shouldering heavy blasters that were either aimed at or firing on the Nerf.

“Thanks buddy!” Maxx called out as he started a few of TC-23J’s more intense breathing exercises in an attempt to clear his mind. It wasn’t easy, his encounter with Lo had excited him in a way he hadn’t felt in years. Thankfully, Maxx’s years of training came through and he felt ready as he grabbed the throttle and slammed it forward.

As the Wild Nerf hurled skyward, Maxx glanced at the ship’s holographic display and saw something that made his blood freeze. A pair of sleek fish shaped vessels was bearing down on the Nerf.

“Skiprays!” Lo screamed.

“Fraid so,” Maxx replied quickly. “Arm the aft torpedoes and see if you can keep them occupied until we’re in space.”

The Skiprays were definitely bad news. While the Nerf’s up rated shields were able to shrug off laser canon fire and more than their fair share of proton torpedoes and concussion missiles, there was little they could do to protect the ship against the Skiprays’ ion canons. One good hit would cause charged particles to caper all over the hull, shutting down systems as they went. That was the last thing Maxx wanted to see while he was still in a planet’s gravitational field. Unfortunately there was no point in attempting to take on the Skiprays while the Nerf was screaming through the planet’s atmosphere. Improved control system or not, the Wild Nerf was no match for the sleek assault ships in atmospheric conditions. Maxx’s hopes lay in the thought that the Skiprays would wait until Maxx was out of Etti IV’s gravitational pull so as to not risk crashing the Nerf while Trix and Aayla were still on board. If that hope proved false, he had Lo and the aft mounted proton torpedo launcher to fall back on.

Maxx started swinging the Wild Nerf up and down and from side to side. He had to be careful, too much maneuvering would cause the atmosphere to catch the hull’s edges and throw the Nerf out of control.

“Ease up on the acrobatics!” Lo yelled, “You’re making it hard for me to get a lock!”

“That’s ok,” Maxx replied calmly, “It should make it hard for them to hit us too.”

Maxx’s lips curled into a grin as he felt the drag on the hull weaken and the ship leap forward. “Time to turn the tables,” Maxx thought as he threw the Nerf into a quick series of turns, rolls and loops. In the vacuum of space, Lo’s modifications turned the bulky looking freighter into a ship that could be tossed around in ways that would make the pilot of a TIE fighter envious. It wasn’t long before Maxx had managed to slip behind one of the Skiprays. The pilot cursed as he attempted to lose the freighter. He couldn’t understand why his evasive maneuvers were useless against the tub that was chasing him. Maxx fired a few shots with his ion canons and watched with satisfaction as blue lightening capered all over the Skipray’s sleek hull.

Suddenly, Maxx saw a couple of blue ion bolts fly overhead. He quickly shoved the side stick forward and resumed his maneuvering. This second pilot was a lot better than the other one. “Obviously had some combat experience in starfighters,” Maxx thought. Still, Maxx was not without experience. He had several engagements with the Corporate Sector Authority’s top of the line IRD fighters and he knew how to put the Wild Nerf’s advantages to good use. It wasn’t long before he slipped behind the second Skipray and fired his ion canons. “So much for that,” he thought.

Maxx breathed a sigh of relief and glanced across the cockpit. As he saw Lo give him a wide grin, it occurred to Maxx that he hadn’t seen her sit down. He checked the holo display and made a few quick turns to see what lay between the Nerf and her jump to hyperspace. He saw two very sleek looking light cruisers. “Marauder Corvettes,” he sighed. The Marauders were so common here that he would have been surprised if he had seen anything else. As he focused on the large ships, Maxx cold see that they were surrounded by tiny motes. It looked like the Corvettes had launched their fighters per standard Authority procedure.

“Jay, report!” he called out.

“The Corporate Sector Authority insists that you terminate illegal operations immediately and return to Etti IV,” TC-23J reported.

“Stall!” Maxx commanded as he took another deep breath and focused on the task at hand.

As he turned towards the two large ships, Maxx knew what he needed to do. There was no point in engaging the fighters. Lo’s new engines allowed the Nerf to comfortably outrun any standard fighter Maxx found himself up against. All he had to do was race through the swarm, avoid too much damage and then slip past the Marauders without getting hit or snared in a tractor beam. Maxx smiled grimly as he threw the ship into a series of up and down and side to side oscillations that fighter pilots called a weave. “How hard could that be?” he thought.

One squadron of fighters abandoned the two corvettes and raced toward Maxx’s old YT-1300SP, spreading out as they went. As they approached the gyrating freighter, the fighters tried to hit the ship with laser cannons and proton torpedoes. They had little success. Maxx’s maneuvers were too erratic for any of the fighters to get a torpedo lock and the shields easily absorbed the few glancing laser shots that made it anywhere near the Nerf’s bow. The fighters swung around and tried to hit the Nerf from behind, but the light freighter effortlessly pulled away.

Lo’s smile blossomed as she watched the ships, top of the line IRD fighters, fall behind. She imagined the pilots staring at the retreating ship and wondering how any light freighter could be moving that quickly.

The two Marauder Corvettes had moved apart and the remaining Authority IRD fighters raced towards the Nerf, this second wave tried to perform a quick strafing run on the Nerf, but they fared no better than the first wave. Unlike the first squadron, the second wave didn’t bother trying to chase the freighter. Maxx took a deep breath and struggled to remain calm as the Nerf approached the two Corvettes. The Marauders had turned so that they were facing in the same direction as he was and had moved apart so that his best path was to fly between the two ships, even though that meant being caught in the crossfire.

“Trouble,” Maxx called out, “how far to our jump point?”

The droid hooted that they would be far enough from the planet’s gravity well to attempt a jump two hundred meters ahead of the Corvettes. Maxx frowned, he didn’t like the idea of attempting a hyperspatial jump while dodging crossfire.

“Program the navicomputer for a jump five kilometers ahead of the ship’s anticipated turbolaser range assuming that the Marauders are traveling at maximum speed. Shift shields full aft as soon as we pass.”

Trouble hooted a quick affirmative as Maxx weaved the Nerf towards the two warships.

The two Marauder Corvettes had rolled onto their sides so that they could use their dorsal turrets to best effect. Maxx frowned, he knew that this wasn’t good; still, the worst of it would be after he passed the two ships and he would be facing a combination of turbolasers and tractor beam projectors.

***

Maxx was half way between the two ships when he felt something slam against the top side of the hull, rocking the ship. He ignored the claxons going off all around him and quickly changed the maneuver. There might be time to think about the damage later, but only if he avoided a second hit. He quickly rolled the ship so that he presented the gunners with the smallest cross section and continued to weave the Nerf up and down. Lo shut down the claxons and checked her monitor. The shields were fried, but the engines and control systems seemed to be unaffected. Lo smiled grimly, she had been wise to make certain that the wiring for the deflector shields were isolated from the other systems. It was a constant headache that demanded lots of rewiring every time they modified a system, but at least she didn’t have to worry about damage to the shields causing burnouts in other systems. They’d be alright as long as the Nerf wasn’t hit a second time.

Maxx threw the Nerf into a complex series of reversing spirals as he passed the two warships. He focused every ounce of energy into making the ship’s flight path as erratic as humanly possible. The seconds seemed to drag on as the ship raced ahead of the two Corvettes, seeming to duck the energy bolts that rained down on any possible location that the small freighter might occupy. When Trouble finally hooted that the ship was ready for her first jump, Maxx couldn’t afford to change his focus to the ship’s control panel. Lo quickly moved the slider that engaged the hyperdrive.

***

Maxx didn’t relax until the stars had stopped streaking across the canopy and the Nerf was safely in hyperspace. He took a deep breath and exhaled before turning towards Lo. She was leaning forward, checking the monitor that was connected to the cockpit’s engineering station.

“Thanks Lo,” he said gratefully.

“Just looking after my own interests,” Lo replied distractedly. “Want to know the damage?”

Maxx nodded gravely.

“How bad is it?” he asked.

“I think we lucked out,” Lo said with a sigh. “The shields are a total loss. The turbolaser hit blew out the shield generators and slagged the power converters, but the two sets of breakers we installed seem to have prevented the damage from heading upstream.”

Maxx bowed his head to Lo, it was her idea to install those safeties.

“I owe you one for that,” he said.

“It looks like we’ll both owe the Nerf a serious going over once we land on Tapan, but I think our greatest concern will be hull damage.”

“No kidding,” Maxx replied as he looked out of the left side of the canopy and stared at the crater that the turbolasers left in the upper hull. “Is there any sign of a leak in the forward starboard hold?”

Lo frowned thoughtfully as she examined her monitor.

“No, why?”

“Take a look at the crater over the forward starboard hold,” Maxx answered, “We’re not going to Tapan, at least not yet.”

Lo frowned as she stared at the damage.

“But we’ve got to get Trix and Aayla home,” she replied.

Maxx frowned and shook his head.

“I know,” he said grimly, “believe me, I know. Still, there’s no way I’m flying into Tapan with a crater the size of a gas giant in my hull plating. The last thing I need is to invite a little Imperial attention on THAT world.”

Lo frowned, she was painfully aware that Maxx’s career as a ship owner began when a ryll overdose by the son of a prominent Imperial official led to an Imperial death mark being placed on the young pilot’s head.

“If I bring the Nerf to Tapan looking like this,” Maxx continued, “The Imperials are going to start asking questions. I’d be surprised if they didn’t insist on giving the ship a thorough inspection.”

Lo gasped in horror. Her initial modifications had pushed the Wild Nerf outside of what the ship could be legally certified to. By now, the Nerf was so wild that the two of them broke dozens of laws every time they powered her up.

“Trouble?” Maxx called out after switching on the ship’s intercom, “We have a slight change of plan. I need you to plot a route to Ord Mantell.”

The droid hooted a quick affirmative. He had already anticipated this.

***

“Gotcha!” Victor Tekel exclaimed as he gleefully examined the security hologram that he had obtained from the Bantha Trax.

He had wanted a chance to bring his half brother to justice ever since Imperial intelligence had assigned the young cadet to work with the Corporate Sector Authority. Inspector Telares had frowned on his obsession but when he learned that Trix, Marcel’s Twi’lek girlfriend, was traveling to Etti IV to bid on a Twi’lek slave girl, she allowed Victor to follow the Twi’lek’s movements on his spare time. There were times during the past few days when Victor wondered if Inspector Telares wasn’t right, that he was on another wild bantha chase, but there it was. The security holo showed the two Twi’leks leaving the Bantha Trax with Marcel and an unidentified human female. Victor smiled as he noted the expression of disgust on the woman’s face. He probably wouldn’t have any trouble convincing her to testify. Now all he had to do was trace the robohack that they had climbed into and convince Inspector Telares to release a couple of Espo troopers so that he could make the arrest.

“I see that Cadet Tekel was still on his wild bantha chase.” Lewella Telares did not condone vendettas. Still, she couldn’t help respecting the cadet’s determination. If he applied that dedication to a more useful cause…

“It’s not called a ‘wild bantha chase’ when one gets one’s man,” Victor replied triumphantly.

“You’ve found something then?” Inspector Telares asked.

Victor smiled; this was going to be sweet.

“See for yourself,” he said gesturing towards the hologram. “This is a security hologram from a nightclub. The man standing next to Trix and her purchase is none other than Marcel, former swoop courier, convicted murderer and bearer of an Imperial death mark.”

Lewella Telares bit her lip; she didn’t want to deflate the young man in his moment of triumph. Still, setbacks were a part of life in this business.

“So you believe that this Marcel and Trix are still together?” she asked.

“I think so,” Victor replied. “It was over twenty four hours ago, but those two were pretty close, so I’d be surprised if she still wasn’t on his ship.”

“In that case,” Inspector Telares replied coolly, “your target is probably leaving the Corporate Sector as we speak.”

“What!” Victor exclaimed. He couldn’t believe that his prey had managed to escape so quickly.

Inspector Telares did her best to look severe.

“A little over four hours ago, a band of mercenaries rode swoops into the main spaceport and surrounded the Little Bantha, a YT-1300 parked on the spaceport’s ramp. The captain, one Morel Trellat, blasted off without clearance, evaded our forces and slipped into hyperspace.”

“That’s impossible!” Victor yelled. He couldn’t believe that Marcel had just managed to slip away like that, not after he had labored so hard to find him.

Inspector Telares sighed.

“I’d like to agree with you,” she replied, “but I have seen a dozen reports that say that this is exactly what happened. Mind you, I wouldn’t mind having THAT ship at my disposal.”

Victor sighed.

“Oh?”

Inspector Telares smiled grimly.

“In escaping from Etti IV, the pilot disabled two mercenary Skipray blast boats using ion canons, evaded two squadrons of IRD fighters and slipped between two of our Marauder Corvettes. Furthermore, the ship was able to make good its escape even after taking a hit from a pair of uprated turbolaser canons. Initial reports suggest that this ship had a level of agility previously thought impossible for a ship that size.”

Victor smiled sadly.

“Marcel always was full of surprises,” he replied glumly. “Before I entered the Imperial Academy, father had borrowed a couple of TIE fighters from Tapan’s home defense squadron so that I could prepare for my career as an Imperial pilot. I may have never gotten the better of Marcel in a fight, but thankfully flying against him was tougher than any opponent I faced during my year as a TIE pilot.”

Inspector Telares nodded gravely, it wasn’t unusual for TIE pilots to be killed in combat before completing the required year in service.

“Then you owe this Marcel a debt of gratitude,” she replied.

“I owe him NOTHING,” Victor replied coldly. “The man is a stain on my family name. He’d better pray that I never get my hands on him.”

“And you’d better be on your guard if you ever get the chance,” Inspector Telares replied sharply. “I think you’ll understand what I mean in a few hours.”

Victor gave her a puzzled look.

“Why do you say that?” he asked.

“Because you’ll be pouring over the sensor data showing the Little Bantha’s escape,” she replied. “My superiors want a holographic representation of the freighter’s escape first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Yes Ma’am,” Victor Tekel replied crisply.