Star Wars: Sidewinder Tales
Book One: Sidewinder Rising
1:
At the outer edge of an unnamed solar system, sitting between Yag’Dhul and Kinyen along the Corellian Trade Spine, the Victory-class Star Destroyer Cassowary lurked within the outer asteroid ring as if it were a patient raptor waiting for its prey to wander by. The Cassowary loomed within a microjump of the gas giant that provided the only mass shadow the system provided, besides its own star. The ship kept its running lights purposefully dimmed, its engines running at minimum power.
Captain Penley Ozzus stared out the viewport of the command bridge, hands clasped behind his back and presenting his crew the image of a patient, calm commander. It was good for their morale, he knew, that they believed the captain to be confident and comfortable with his assignment. It kept their complaints to a minimum, at least.
Ozzus spotted the flickering light that was the drive glow of one of his TIE fighters, escorting the steadier glow of one of his gunships. They had been at this for nearly three hours, he thought. That would mean that they were the last of the listening post techs being sent to the gas giants’ moons. Beyond that and the occasional asteroid floating nearby, or being tractor beamed onto a flight path away from the Star Destroyer, there was not much to see out in this lonely part of space.
The captain held back a grimace, lest anyone observing him would make note of it. In his ten years of service with the Imperial Navy, Ozzus had had his fair share of boring billets. From patrols on the Bannistar Corridor to escort duty along the Perlemian Trade Route between Anaxes and Brentaal, Ozzus had known assignments when the most interesting thing to happen was the occasional rowdy evening with drunk crew members. At least this assignment gave Ozzus a ‘first’ on his mental list: visiting a star system that no one else ever did.
IR-M-15-3, as the system was called in the official records, was something of a failed solar system. It had a decent star, a class F yellow-white dot to Ozzus’ eyes, but not enough material at its creation to form decent planets. Aside from the gas giant, only two other planets orbited the star, and they were too close to sustain life. Beyond them, a lonely ring of asteroids flitted through the orbit of the star. The Old Republic Exploration teams made a note of the systems’ existence, but most astrogators plotted around the star to continue traveling on the Spine. In truth, Ozzus suspected that no one even looks closely at what they’re plotting around, leaving the system forgotten by all but the most studious of astronomers.
Them, Ozzus thought to himself, and Oblivion.
“Captain Ozzus?” a quiet voice asked from nearby. Ozzus turned his head to see his executive officer, Senior Lieutenant Hyatt Weatherbanks, walking across the gangway toward him. Weatherbanks stopped beside the captain and mimicked his position, which Ozzus approved of. “I’ve come to report that our TIE fighters have established their screen, and the final gunship is on its way to establish its listening post. If a pirate or smuggler arrives believing this system to be an excellent hiding spot, they’ll be in for a reckoning.”
“Very good, Lieutenant,” Ozzus murmured. “Give my compliments to our Wing Commander and remind him to keep our pilots in rotation. While I prefer having our screen vigilant, we should not overwork our pilots when we don’t have to.”
“Yes, sir,” Weatherbanks said. For a long moment, the only noise on the bridge was the ever-present, low-hum conversation in the crew pits as the servicepeople went about their tasks. Ozzus let that moment of non-conversation stretch for as long as he felt Weatherbanks capable of maintaining it.
“Do you have something on your mind, Lieutenant?” Ozzus asked. He was rewarded with a slightly uncomfortable shifting of weight by Weatherbanks.
“Permission to speak frankly, sir?” he asked. Ozzus smiled.
“Permission granted, Lieutenant,” he said.
“Sir,” Weatherbanks said slowly, getting his thoughts in order, “I have to wonder why we are here. If we were assigned to a mapping expedition, I would understand and accept that post. The Unknown Regions are vast, and in general an interesting area to explore. But we are in the Inner Rim, sir. This system is unnecessary for the Empire. So, why are we here?”
Ozzus chuckled softly. “A very good question, Lieutenant,” he said. “If we were under the command of a Fleet Admiral or a Moff, I would hypothesize that we somehow fell out of favor with our superiors. As it stands, however, we are under special assignment. This means that we are expected to go where folks usually don’t.”
“You mean Oblivion,” Weatherbanks said, lowering his voice to a whisper. “Captain, I have heard a lot of odd rumors about him, and I’m not sure I am comfortable with being assigned to him.”
“As much as our assignments are orders, we are not required to like who we are assigned to,” Ozzus said. “I understand the concern, however. I’ve heard plenty of rumors about Oblivion, myself. Frankly, I don’t think he is human. But the Emperor trusts him enough to let him operate independently. That puts him in a league of people well beyond us mere mortals.”
“I heard a rumor that he was like the Lord Darth Vader, sir,” Weatherbanks said. “One of those Jedi from the Old Republic.”
“That’s entirely possible,” Ozzus said, “but I would hope not. I’d rather not have a Dark Jedi aboard my ship.”
“Is the gossip about them true, sir?” Weatherbanks asked. “I’ve never seen a Jedi. I honestly thought they were a myth from the Old Republic days.”
“You’re fairly young, Lieutenant,” Ozzus said. “You don’t remember the Clone Wars. I do, and I’ve met a Jedi before.” The captain suppressed a shudder. “Arrogant beyond belief, but they had a right to be so. Way too much power in one individual. I personally think the Emperor was right to outlaw and destroy them.”
“But then, why is Oblivion allowed to exist, sir?” Weatherbanks asked.
“Because he serves the Emperor,” Ozzus answered. “What he does or who he may be is irrelevant after the fact.”
“Is he as dangerous as the stories claim?” Weatherbanks asked, skepticism obvious in his tone. “The Jedi could not have possibly been as strong as I’ve heard tell.”
Ozzus peered at his Lieutenant. “You’re from Contruum, correct?” he asked. Weatherbanks nodded. “So, your planet was never impacted by the Clone Wars. You never dealt with the Jedi. Trust me, Lieutenant: Oblivion is a dangerous individual if he’s anything like Darth Vader. I’ll say this much, however; Oblivion is polite.”
“I don’t see how that is relevant, sir,” Weatherbanks said.
Ozzus chuckled. “Oblivion may be powerful enough to kill us all,” he said, “but he has restraint. He sees us as useful, and his manners reflect that. Though we may never see him, even enough to know if he’s human or not, we can at least relax in that he will go out of his way to treat us with respect. At least until we fail him utterly.”
“Captain Ozzus!” one of the communication officers called. “Message from Oblivion, sir.”
“Send it to my chair, Ensign,” Ozzus said, walking over to his seat on the bridge. The message was queued and ready for him. “This is Captain Ozzus,” he said. “How may I serve, Agent?”
“Captain,” a heavily modulated voice responded from the comm system. “I wish to know if we have successfully established our perimeter screens.”
“Yes, Agent,” Ozzus said. “Our final listening post will be operational within two hours, and our TIE fighters have settled into their own patrol lines.”
“Excellent,” the voice responded. “Do be sure to not overtax our fighters, please. Also, I’d like to begin giving out my assignments to those crew members I believe best suited for the tasks.”
“Of course, Agent Oblivion,” Ozzus said, looking at Weatherbanks. “Will there be anything else?”
“No, thank you, Captain,” the voice responded. “My squad and I have been billeted and will be taking our meals separately. I will send out my assignments during the next duty shifts.”
“Thank you, Agent,” Ozzus said. “If that is all, I’ll see to my duties.”
“Of course,” the voice said. “Good night.” The comm clicked off, and Ozzus straightened from his seat.
“You see, Lieutenant,” Ozzus said, “while Oblivion is capable of killing any of us, he does go out of his way to make sure that any failing on our part is completely due to our incompetence and not out of fear of failing his expectations. He wants us to succeed, but if we cannot do so, he will remove us as obstacles to his goals.”
“Very good, sir,” Weatherbanks said. Ozzus noted that his executive officer was slightly paler than earlier. “I’ll see to the duty roster.”
“Good man,” Ozzus said. He looked back at the viewport and the vastness of space before him. “Let’s hope our people are as good as Oblivion believes, or we’re all in trouble.”
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