The tremors grew more and more violent. In the distance, massive fragments of rock burst from the underground layers, crashing onto the base's roof and the landing pad, shattering into deadly shrapnel.
Hondo's shout came from the rear ramp; he had finally boarded.
"Strap in!"
Amir's hands flew across the console. The ship's systems came online in sequence—running lights flashed green, and the smooth hum of the sublight engines swirled in his ears.
It was a reassuring sound.
Finally, the engines ignited. The rear thrusters spewed blue ion flames, and the Traveler rapidly lifted off the ground.
CRASH!
A loud thud came from the Traveler's main hold.
"What are you doing back there?" Amir shouted.
"Oh! My spine! That crate isn't secured yet!" Hondo groaned over the comms.
Amir had no time to worry about the pirate's comfort. He stared intently at the rear-view monitor.
Two enormous appendages—perhaps tentacles, perhaps mandibles—erupted from the very edge of the asteroid's crust. The ground's trembling intensified as the colossal Exogorth fully awoke.
Crack!
The base's atmospheric containment field finally buckled under the vibration and shattered.
The internal atmosphere vented explosively into the vacuum of space, giving the Traveler a violent push outward.
Although this made the ship unstable, the decompression was a massive help in escaping the creature's gravity well.
"Hahaha! I'm getting old. It's been a long time since I've experienced anything this exciting!" Hondo laughed from the main hold. He had finally managed to strap himself into a crash seat.
"And with a Jedi! Haha, I thought you all had gone extinct!"
"Don't worry, I used to have a great relationship with the Jedi!"
Amir treated this as nonsense, diverting all power to the rear deflectors and accelerating away from the asteroid field.
. . .
Imperial Light Cruiser
"What is that signal reading?"
"It looks like an energy dispersal from an explosion, sir."
Moff Gideon stood on the bridge of his light cruiser. They had just arrived at the perimeter of the Hoth asteroid belt.
Even the Empire didn't have a safe hyperspace route directly to the planet's surface through this sector. They could only exit hyperspace here and move in at sublight speeds.
But during their approach, the warship's sensors detected continuous energy spikes.
"Head there immediately."
"But sir, that's on the edge of the densest part of the field..."
"Did I ask for a navigation report?" Gideon cut him off coldly.
"No, sir! Setting course!" The technician swallowed hard. He already knew this officer's temper: he did not tolerate questions; he only required obedience.
The light cruiser went to full power, skirting the razor's edge of the asteroid belt as it hurried toward the coordinates.
To seize this opportunity, Gideon had even disobeyed a direct order. Two Inquisitors were supposed to arrive at his cruiser to assist in the hunt, but Gideon had left the rendezvous point early.
None of that mattered. As long as he could capture the target...
"Detecting a ship's signal. Verifying!" a droid reported mechanically. "Verification failed. Ship transponder is not registered in the Imperial database."
"Comparing visual profile... Match successful... Confirmed as the wanted vessel."
A glimmer of excitement appeared in Gideon's eyes. "Lock onto that ship. Scramble all TIE fighter squadrons to intercept. Remember! Do not destroy it. I want the engine disabled."
"Acknowledged!"
A dozen TIE fighters screamed out of the launch bays.
"Why isn't the target fleeing? Why is it approaching?" Gideon asked, narrowing his eyes.
He saw that the distant YT-freighter, upon seeing his warship, didn't try to flee desperately into the asteroids. Instead, it had turned and begun to fly straight toward him.
"All fighters, hold fire. Prepare for evasive action. Do not engage unless fired upon!" he commanded.
Under his orders, the TIEs held their fire. They swarmed cautiously, flying in a circling pattern, completely boxing in the target vessel.
"Report: Target vessel is offering no resistance."
"Attempt to establish communications!" Gideon said with a frown.
"Unable to connect..."
"Signal blocked..."
"Suspect target vessel is using a military-grade signal jamming device."
Gideon took a deep breath. He now completely understood why he hadn't been able to track the signal all these days. The boy had simply shielded the area around his ship.
Suddenly, another voice spoke up.
"The other party is attempting to connect..."
"Patch them through, quickly!"
The ship that had been blocking all signals had suddenly dropped its jamming field and was actively hailing them. Seeing this, Gideon immediately ordered the channel open.
The technicians broadcast the audio directly to the console in front of Gideon.
A voice crackled from the speaker.
"This jammer is annoying... tap tap... Is this thing on?"
"Hey! Hello, officers!" It was an old, slightly mischievous voice.
"Your vessel is within an Imperial restricted zone. Please cooperate and prepare for boarding immediately," the comms officer recited.
"Of course, of course! I am cooperating! I am a good citizen of the Empire. I've already taken care of this wanted criminal and his ship for you!"
Gideon raised a hand to silence his officer.
"Who is this?"
"Damn droids! Is there a living person there? I've seen the bounty poster you released! You have the reward ready, right?"
"Ahem," Gideon took the microphone. "Of course, citizen. The Empire will not be short on the reward. Now, prepare for boarding immediately!"
"Yes! Yes, sir! This ship, along with its owner... that's fifty thousand credits. That is the correct amount, isn't it?"
Gideon frowned in annoyance, grunting a "Yes" to placate him.
"Also! I need a shuttle to take me to the nearest spaceport. Surely the Empire wouldn't treat a meritorious citizen poorly, would it?"
"Say one more word, and all conditions are null and void!" Gideon said, his voice low and threatening.
Silence followed.
Finally, the ship powered down its engines.
Gideon let out a long breath, a cold joy returning to his eyes.
"This is... a gift from the heavens." He turned and walked toward the turbolift.
"Sir, where are you going?"
"I am going to personally escort the prisoner."
. . .
The Brig
Amir had never let his guard down, but sometimes, you just can't defend against everything.
When Amir had seen Hondo walking toward him in the cockpit, wearing a gas mask and carrying a powered-down BD-4, an overwhelming wave of dizziness had already washed over him.
In the last moment before he lost consciousness, he heard Hondo's muffled voice.
"I like you Jedi. You always make me money."
It was at that moment the Imperial cruiser had appeared on the radar.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw greyish-white alloy walls.
Amir felt his head throbbing, as if he'd been hit from behind with a club. Disjointed images flashed unbidden through his mind.
"Damn it, Hondo..."
Amir slowly sat up, leaning against the cold wall, trying hard to piece together what had happened.
I smelled something strange...
He had smelled a faint, sweet fragrance right when they took off, but the situation with the giant asteroid creature was so urgent that he hadn't paid it any mind.
I didn't expect him to use gas right as we started moving.
Thinking back now, Amir was certain it was a gaseous anesthetic. He knew the chemical signature. It was a residue from the refining process of highly potent spice.
Compared to purified spice crystals, this byproduct had a much stronger paralyzing effect, though its hallucinogenic properties were weaker. It was often discarded by the major syndicates, but it found use among bounty hunters because it could knock out a target instantly without killing them.
Fighting the lingering dizziness, Amir used the Force to scan his body and his surroundings.
Suddenly, he discovered something.
He reached his left hand to the upper part of his right inner arm, to a place hidden under layers of his tunic. He felt the cold metal cylinder.
"My lightsaber..."
Amir let out a dry chuckle.
"Heh. Hondo."
The pirate had sold him out, true. But he hadn't stripped him clean. Whether out of carelessness or a twisted sense of pirate honor, Hondo had left him a chance.
---------------
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