0500 hours, Downtime before Squadron Missions
Orbital Platform Epsilon – Abrae, Vectra SystemSaul sat on his bunk, awaiting word of the next mission. He was ready, still a little green but ready. In the meantime he would clean his blaster pistols. He rarely got a change to use his DT-57 pistols anymore, as they were not a Naval issued item it could not be carried onto a fighter, but it calmed him to clean them. He then heard his wrist communicator chime; it was sitting in his foot locker. Saul jumped from his bunk, and pulled out it. There was no ID on the call, so it had to be a call from within the Vast Empire Imperial Navy, those calls always lacked an ID. He pressed the button to answer the call.
[[Delta Two, this is Alpha One; Meet me in Hangar Three.]]
“Aye, Sir!” he replied.
He grabbed a few items, his Sonic Screwdriver, and some other commonly carried items. Though he left his weapons behind, he thought it was doubtful he would need them. Saul walked over to the door, pressed the panel to open it and began to make his was to hangar three. All the while he wondered what exactly they would be doing. As he walked, he looked out the viewport into space. A strange craft flew past him, towards hangar three. He could see it enter the hangar, but could not make out what kind it was.
He approached the door to the hangar, and saw a man exit from the door. It closed behind him, and he walked off down the hall, and into another corridor. Saul walked up to the door, and pressed the button on the panel; nothing happened. The door panel button was red, it was locked. He debated to himself whether to break in or not, but instead he just knocked first. The door slid open, and his commanding officer, Hunter Morrell, stood at the opposite side of the door.
Saul saluted “Reporting as ordered, sir!”
“Come inside, we have a job to do.” Hunter said to which Saul walked inside, the door closed and locked behind him.
Looking inside the hangar, he saw a craft he never thought to see in his wildest dreams. A modified V38 Fighter – The TIE Phantom. A dual pilot stealth interceptor, with one major and rare advantage; a functional cloaking device.
“Sir, where did this come from?” Saul asked, in awe of the fighter
Hunter looked at the Phantom, “VE Naval Intelligence brought it over, as well as all that gear.” Hunter pointed to a pile of armor, weapons, and communication / surveillance equipment.
“I don’t follow, why is all this here?”
“A few hours ago, I received a call from Commander Rite of Naval Intelligence. He informed me that I was to find a second pilot and proceed to this hangar. He then went into detail about the job that we have to do.”
“Which is?” Saul questioned.
“All in good time. I will explain after we take off. Suit up into the gear, and get the Phantom loaded. We lift off in thirty.”
“Yes, Sir!” Saul said with excitement, not knowing what he was getting into.
He walked over to the gear and looked at what it was; two sets of Storm Commando armor, a case of medical treatment devices, Food rations, Com-links, Silenced slug thrower pistols, small sized vibro-blades, explosive charges, and various other items.
“What the hell did I just get myself into?” he asked himself, hoping Hunter did not hear.
“What you got yourself into, is a Eyes-Only VENI operation. If we do this well, there may be nice rewards in the end.” Hunter said, standing on the deck above him.
“And what if we fail? What if we die, what then?”
“Then as far as anyone will know, we just vanished. As far as anyone knows, until we return, we are already dead.”
“Great.” Saul said, a little more nervous now than before.
Saul slid into the commando Armor, and strapped the holster for one of the pistols on. He then slid the vibro-blade into his boot, and began to move the gear into the Phantom. There was not much to move, but as he entered the TIE, he noticed there was other gear in cased marked “Do Not Damage or Open.” He thought it would be best to leave those be.
About ten minutes later, all the gear was loaded into the Phantom. He exited it, and walked over to Hunter.
“Alright it is all loaded.” He reported.
“Good, get in and prep for departure.” Hunter replied.
“Any particular course?”
“I will let you know that once I do.”
“You don’t know?”
“VENI takes a lot of caution. The Phantom is dampened from communication interceptors and computer hacks. They will transfer the mission details once we lift off with it.”
“Alright then.” Saul said as he and Hunter headed for the Phantom.
Saul did just what he was told, he prepped the Phantom and got it ready. Hunter walked into the cockpit, sat down, and strapped himself in. He then pointed over to a console.
“Do you know what that panel does?” He asked Saul.
“Never seen anything like it, the readouts are strange.”
“You’ve never seen it before, and probably never will again. It is for the Stygium crystal cloaking device.”
Saul looked in amazement, he had heard of such thing but never knew they still existed.
“Where the hell did VENI get this thing?” Saul said with a laugh.
“The depths of hell; Who really knows? Start final launch prep, we lift off in five.” Hunter said, and sat back in his seat.
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- 950 Words
