“Exiting wormhole now,” Jax said as the countdown on his console hit zero and the Osprey exited the wormhole she had been traveling through for three days. They were still trillions of kilometers from the planet Mariposa, near the outer planets.
Rudy rolled away from his station. “We’re about ten hours from orbit.”
Jax turned his chair around. “Skip, you got the helm?”
“Of course, I do. I have the helm even when you’re sitting at the controls,” the ship’s SI replied.
“Okay, that’s a little rude,” Jax said from the top of the stairs.
“You’re a horrible pilot,” the ship replied, “and you don’t repair dents when you cause them.”
“I’m going to bed,” Jax said, leaving the flight deck.
* * *
An alarm screamed through Jax’s quarters, causing him to damn near levitate out of his bed. “Wha—what’s wrong?” He rolled and fell out of bed.
The alarm stopped, and the lights came on. Skip said, “Nothing is wrong. We’re about ten minutes from orbit.”
Jax sat up, still on the floor. “You needed to sound an alarm for that?”
“No, but it was funny,” the speaker in the ceiling replied.
When Jax opened the hatch to his quarters, he ran into a wall of matte black combat droid. He nearly fell backward. “Damn, Bax. What’re you doing?” Jax asked.
The droid looked down. “I wanted to hear you fall out of your bed.” The droid stepped aside so Jax could pass. “You were right, Skip, that was funny.”
“Never gets old,” the speaker in the corridor's ceiling replied.
“I hate you both, stupid metal heads,” Jax said. He stopped by the small kitchenette and grabbed a beer from the fridge, checking the time on his gPhone to ensure it wasn’t too early in the day for a drink. As he entered the flight deck from the stairwell, he said, “Skip, you have the coordinates for the camp?”
“Rudy sent them over, we’re on target. Do you want to take over?” the SI asked as Jax sat down in the pilot’s chair.
Jax dropped his beer into a cupholder he had bolted to the console. As he grabbed the flight controls, he said, “Yeah, I’ll take over.” He looked over his shoulder to where Rudy was plugged into his console. “Keep an eye out. I know the Imps pulled out, but I’m guessing someone still has air- or space monitoring.” He added, “Anyone trying to talk to us?”
“Roger, Roger,” Rudy quipped.
Skip said, “Not a peep. I’m picking up chatter here and there, but looks like whoever decided the aid workers didn’t need a comm satellite also decided no one else did. There aren’t many in orbit.” He added, “Lot of debris, though.”
The Osprey entered the atmosphere with a lurch, her shields angled to deflect as much of the atmosphere as possible. Plasma streamers formed along the forward shields. As the small scout vessel pushed deeper into the atmosphere, she rattled and bumped. Jax grabbed his beer and took a long pull before driving the ship hard to starboard so they’d overfly the target area from high up. “Wonder what the Imps wanted with this place. Scrub and grassland as far as the eye can see.”
Rudy offered, “I think that’s what the Imperials wanted. According to the WikiGalaxia, most of Mariposa’s landmass is immensely arable. The colony is only ten years old, so they’ve only really settled about a thirtieth of the planet. Given another few decades, this planet should be capable of feeding a significant portion of the Empire.” After a slight pause, “Assuming they don’t annihilate themselves first.”
Jax nodded, watching the ground approach as the Osprey descended. The aid camp was just becoming visible in a valley a few kilometers from the capital. As they overflew the capitol, he said, “Damn, that’s bigger than I thought it’d be.” What the capital lacked in skyscrapers it made up for in sprawl. The city was easily two kilometers wide. “I mean, jeez, is it windy here or something? These people afraid of heights?” The results of fighting were clear throughout the mid-sized city. Several buildings were engulfed in flames. A few had collapsed. There were not a lot of civilians visible on the streets.
Rudy replied, “According to WikiGalaxia, there are three major metropolitan areas on Mariposa. The capital, Darby City, has a population of just over a million. It is the largest of the three cities.” The droid consulted the Osprey’s scanner data. “That might not be the case for long if the fighting continues like that.” An explosion on the opposite side of the city belched fire and smoke into the sky. Several hovercraft veered away in different directions, many of them exchanging weapons fire as they separated.
Jax grunted, “Well, looks like right now the fighting is on the other side of town. Bax, prep the hold for guests, please.”
From the overhead speaker, the matte black combat droid replied, “On it.”
With the city falling behind them, Jax took the Osprey in a low flyover of the camp. “Looks like that field over there is the best bet for landing.” He pointed out the window at a section of flattened earth at the outer edge of the camp. Someone had made a wobbly edged circle in white paint. The Osprey would fit but would likely cause some damage to the nearby structures. He could see the camp occupants beginning to mill around. Several were pointing at the aggressively angled Scout Ship getting closer and closer to their camp.