The Adventures of Nomi Darklighter

Chapter 27 - Imperial Entanglements

Nomi sat in the pilot's seat and stared at the whirls of hyperspace which cast an eerie light in the cockpit. There were only two more micro jumps left and she would reach her destination. Everything went well so far and the Rogue Squadron pilot had way too much time to brood about what had happened. She opened a ration pack, took a bite of the protein bar and downed it with some water. Only a few minutes later she pressed a hand against her mouth, jumped out of the seat and ran for the refresher where she threw up. Nomi wiped her mouth and walked slowly back to the cockpit. There she sat down in the pilot's seat again, feeling awful.

Suddenly the Aquarius gave a jolt and the whirls and streaks of hyperspace resolved into the darkness of space dotted with stars. Nomi summoned the readouts to check on the hyperdrive, when she saw out of the corner of her eye an Imperial Interdictor Cruiser. Now she knew that it wasn't a faulty hyperdrive motivator which caused the freighter to fall back in real space. The young woman gasped as she saw a flicker near the cruiser and a Super Star Destroyer appeared. "Kark, this is a bite I can't chew," she said silently, while thinking of a possible escape route. But it was too late already. TIEs were launched and a transport of which she was pretty sure it would carry a boarding party. The same instant the comm came to life and she was hailed. "Unknown freighter, prepare to be boarded," the former smuggler heard a voice with a Coruscanti accent. "Comply or you will be destroyed." Nomi cursed and let her hands dance over the console; she won't let them get her without a fight. In a fraction of a second the Aquarius' weapons system came to life. Soon the targeting computer had a lock on the leading TIE, but the pilot didn't come to push the fire button. Everything went offline as the freighter was hit by an ion beam fired from the Super Star Destroyer. Nomi jumped out of her seat, drew the blaster and hurried to the hatch. Minutes later she heard the noise when the troop transport docked and that was working at the access panel. The young woman took the blaster in a firm grip and prepared for combat. As the hatch opened with a hiss Imperial stormtroopers began to enter the Aquarius. Nomi managed to shoot down two of them, but then a stun shot hit. The pilot's body was engulfed by blue light. She blacked out and fell to the ground. One of the troopers shackled her hands with stunner cuffs behind her back and motioned two of his comrades over, who carried the woman out of the freighter and onboard the troop transport. When they were on their way back to the Destroyer, the Aquarius was pulled in with a tractor beam for further investigation.

After a standard hour Nomi regained consciousness, finding herself in a cell. When she tried to sit up, she noticed that her hands were shackled behind her back. Her head hurt and she felt thirsty. Slowly she remembered what had happened and was glad that she had deleted the flight data of the Aquarius before being boarded. So the base would be safe. She finally managed to sit up and looked around. There wasn't much to see in the small cell, which only had a niche where she was sitting now and was meant as her sleeping place. Besides this there was only a refresher. Clearly the Empire didn't bother to make somebody comfortable. Nomi sighed and leaned her head against the cold durasteel wall. She wondered how long it would take until the interrogations would begin. Several hours passed and the young woman's fear had increased with every minute. Every time when she heard the heavy footfalls of stormtrooper boots she expected the cell door to open and to be brought for interrogation. But so far the footfalls had passed her cell and nothing happened.

Again she heard footsteps, but this time they stopped and the cell door opened with a hiss. Two stormtroopers entered the cell and one of them approached the prisoner while the other kept a watchful eye at her.
"Rise," the trooper commanded and grabbed Nomi's left arm to pull her up. "Don't touch me," she said, hiding her fear and tried to throw the trooper's hand off. The man was totally unimpressed, tightened his grip, forced her to stand and dragged her out of the cell. His comrade followed them, pushed a button and the door closed.
"Move!"
The order came in a harsh tone, after one of the troopers took the lead and the other made up the rear with their prisoner between them. They marched her through many hallways, passing troopers and officers. Nobody showed any interest, nobody cast a glance; everybody went about their business. Finally they had reached their destination, but it wasn't an interrogation room as Nomi had expected. The stormtroopers had brought her to the Super Star Destroyer's bridge. They walked over the polished command catwalk and their prisoner cast a glance down into the crew pit. Then she looked up and straight forward to the viewport where a man was standing. He looked out of the viewport, hands clasped behind his back. As the troopers and the prisoner approached him, he turned.
"The prisoner as ordered, Admiral," the leading trooper said in a respectful tone and stepped aside and snapped in attention. Admiral Piett sized the shackled prisoner up. Nomi didn't flinch. She wouldn't beg for mercy.
"I didn't think that we would catch you this fast, Lieutenant Darklighter," he said after he finished the examination. "And I must admit that I had expected more by a woman who outsmarted our forces so many times."
Nomi looked in shock at the admiral as he even knew the rank she held. How could he know? But there was no time to ponder this over, as Piett continued to speak in an almost polite manner and with a slight Coruscanti accent.
"Either way, Lord Vader will be pleased that we were able to carry out his order this fast. You will be brought to Bast Castle, his Lordship's residence on Vjun."
The Rogue Squadron pilot looked at the admiral in disbelief. Lord Vader? She had no idea why the Emperor's enforcer could want her.
"Set course for Vjun and inform Lord Vader that we have the one he had sent us to find." Her musing was interrupted by Admiral Piett's order he gave to a deck officer, before he turned his attention to the stormtroopers.
"Bring the prisoner back to the cell."
The troopers followed the order suit and what Nomi saw the last, before she was marched from the bridge were the whirls of hyperspace after the Destroyer made the jump. Her heart sank as she knew that there would be no escape from the fate which was awaiting her.