There used to be some beauty in visiting new systems, seeing new planets and stars on the various voyages around the galaxy. Somewhere along the line, Zaira Akashi lost that. She had visited so many stars, so many planets, that the natural beauty of them slowly became lost to her.
Take this one, for example. A small desolate rock in the Deep Core, Maraj was seen, up close anyway, by perhaps a few hundred people. While perhaps not as pretty as Alderaan or Corellia, she knew that back when she started, she wouldn't be able to get enough of it. Now it was just another planet. Just as well, she supposed. Best not to get distracted.
They had jumped into the system approximately five minutes previously. Vespasian was late.
Just then, a small freighter jumped back into realspace, a few kilometers behind Vega's ship, the
Avalon. It had to be Vespasian. "Vega, get me on the comm. Best for Vespasian not to know you're here." Zaira said.
"Roger that." Vega responded. He turned the commlink over to her.
"I've never known Vespasian Legatta to be late. You had problems?" Zaira asked.
"I had hyperdrive problems. Don't worry about it. I'm here now." Vespasian noted.
"So, where's this proof you had for me?" Zaira asked. This was it. If it was true, the time was now.
"It's on the surface. Just follow behind me." He answered.
Vega's ship blasted off towards the planet. The
Avalon followed behind at a safe distance.
He entered the atmosphere, and she followed behind. The world had large brown clouds, obviously some byproduct of a strange mixture of gasses and the dust of the planet. "There's a reason no one found this place. It's so covered by the clouds and storms of the planet that no one would ever think to look here for anything resembling treasure." Vespasian said.
"How'd you find it then?"
"Followed up a rumour I heard on Nar Shaddaa."
The clouds were getting thicker. It was almost impossible to see Vespasian, let alone their destination, within the gloomy depths.
Suddenly, an alarm started blaring. "Zaira, we're not alone." Vega said. "I'm seeing half a dozen fighters and a small corvette., coming up from below."
Zaira instantly knew what had happened. Vespasian had set her up. And she fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. She made a mental note to ensure that Vespasian Legatta would never live long enough to regret this, then went back to the controls. "Vega, get to the weapons systems. We'll probably need them."
"You can fly this thing?"
"About as well as you can. Now get up there."
While she probably couldn't fly as well as he could, she could fly well enough. She would need every trick in the book though to avoid this.
She immediately pulled up, and began heading for space. The trap was not yet sprung, her attackers never figured that this ship would have good enough sensors to detect them until it was too late. She didn't know for sure, though. She didn't plan on sticking around long enough to find out.
The fighters were coming up on her quick. While the corvette wouldn't be able to catch up at this point, the fighters probably would. Them, and Legatta, if he decided on showing his face. They moved in a fairly sloppy formation, typical of a pirate style. They weren't worried about their prey shooting back. They figured it would be an easy kill.
"Vega, hold fire. We'll lure them in with the promise of easy prey, then hit them when they're exposed." Zaira said.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Akashi. This ship's my baby, I wouldn't want to lose her." Vega replied.
"Me too." She muttered to herself, too low to hear.
The fighters had nearly closed the distance, they were only a kilometer or so behind them now. It was now or never. "Vega, you ready?" Zaira asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be, I suppose." Vega answered.
"Then open fire."
Immediately, two dual laser turrets began to lay into the squadron. The fighters, evidently not expecting such resistance, were taken aback. Two were immediately hit, and exploded. Another one was hit, and started into a tailspin. The ship was impressive enough.
The others had realized their mistake. They regrouped a few hundred meters outside the turrets range, then came in for another pass, going around the firing arc of the weapons. "Zaira, flip 90 degrees!" Vega exclaimed. She didn't know what he was up to, but she did so.
The fighters realized their mistake too late. Vega opened fire with another turret, hidden so well even Zaira herself didn't know about it. Another two fighters were caught in the fire and destroyed. The last one saw the damage his team had taken, and fled.
"Great job, Vega. Now let's get out of here." Zaira said to Vega, then switched the comm over to a local frequency. "Vespasian, you better hope I never find you as long as I live. I swear, I will get you for this."
"You have to catch me first." Legatta replied. "Money is money, and I don't have to work another day in my life. You've got nothing on me."
"I'm very good at finding things, Vespasian. And I'll find you. And I'll find the bastards that hired you, too. I'll get you all." Zaira said.
There was no reply.
* * *
She was played. Played better than she had thought possible. She should have known it was a trap, all the signs were there. She let herself be blinded by greed, she thought this might be real. It didn't help that they used Vespasian Legatta, a man who she had trusted well. To betray her this way, there must have been a lot of money involved. But the question is, who? Who could have done such a thing? She made a point not to make enemies. Enemies cost money. If someone wanted to kill her badly enough to buy off a trusted friend, they must either hate her pretty badly. Whoever it was, she would find them, and they wouldn't live long enough to regret it.
