04ABY: Easy Credits by Paul Danner

Author:Paul Danner
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Hewlett-Packard
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

"Finished." Sconn grinned as he climbed out of the access panel on the floor of the walker.

Kalieva yawned, gesturing out at the breaking dawn and frowned. "And just in time."

Sconn's eyes widened as he rushed back to the pilot's station. "Why didn't you tell me what time it was?"

"I was asleep!"

"Great... just great." Sconn mumbled as he got the AT-AT moving. "I swear, if I make it out of this. I'll never steal anything again."

"That's a shame. You could really use an intelligence augmentation chip."

"Nothing. Especially loud-mouthed Princesses..."

There was silence as he maneuvered the walker through the immense capital city of Ryell until Kalieva finally spoke.

"Do you really think we'll make it?"

Sconn checked his chronometer. "If we can make it to the Outland Region before 1100 hours, we will."

"What happens after that?"

"The captain I paid in advance takes off in his transport with my money, but without us."

"Step on it."

"What do you think I'm doing?"

Sconn angrily maneuvered the AT-AT around a corner, and the walker stepped right into the middle of a massive Imperial parade.

There was a moment of quiet in the command deck, and Kalieva slowly turned to stare at Sconn. "Getting us killed," she said flatly.

The sides of the streets were lined with elevated repulsorstands that contained what seemed to be every citizen in the city. Sconn's walker stepped right into formation with four others, which brought up the rear of the large Imperial procession. Leading the parade was a legion of stormtroopers, various repulsorlift vehicles, and a phalanx of AT-ST units.

It was an impressive spectacle, and the gathered crowd cheered, ooing and ahhing at the assembled Imperial might. Children balanced on their parents' shoulders pointed excitedly at the sight of the massive AT-AT walkers, which moved with the same lumbering gait as the native Rythii beasts they saw in the Royal Zoos.

A stark contrast to the rest of the high technology, the royal reviewing box was a relic from another era. Constructed of bonded wood-frame, the king's grandstand towered above everything except the starscrapers surrounding it. As the visible Imperial troops passed the royal box, they saluted its occupants, which included the king, Moff Caerbellak, and Variise.

King K'ntarr glanced at the empty seat next to him and frowned in annoyance. "My daughter will pay for missing this event. She's making me look bad."

Caerbellak gazed at the slightly overweight man and his multicolored, foppish ensemble out of the corner of his eye. "I can't imagine it getting any worse," the Moff grinned.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.