Star Wars: Lurking Darkness

Chapter 1

The funnel of light suddenly came to a halt with a terrible jerk that almost ripped him out of his seat. The invert to real space sent a dreadful thud throughout the shuttle that now was being detained by an unseen force. All the controls had gone haywire and sparks began shooting out from all around the cockpit. He frantically looked around hoping he could spot the source of this unpleasant interruption and saw nothing.

Sleep had been on his mind ever since he had left home, but getting some now was proving to be impossible.

Dan Novak the ships pilot, desperately pushed buttons and pulled levers as alarms, and beeps of various types went off simultaneously. Each added noise pulled him further from getting any sleep.

The ship now floated in space completely defenseless. Its shields had failed due to the sudden pull of energy holding them in place.

He knew this was not a malfunction for he had checked the ship multiple times before takeoff. Only a tractor beam could have interrupted lightspeed and he knew it meant trouble especially with the contents he was transporting. Nar Shaddaa was not far from Drall and this hadn't been his first trip to the Hutt ruled system.

The jump would be less than a few standard hours and Dan would normally use that time to rest, but now relaxing would have to wait taking he would survive this ordeal. Something, or someone had brought them prematurely out of hyperspace. He knew such an event never ended well.

Pirates had been rumored to be near Drall for years, but with his fathers security forces defending most of the planet, no one dared atttack their facility without losing more than they hoped to gain. He feared desperation had finally caused someone to come this far out and take whatever they could get their hands on.

The young pilot had a slight idea of what to do in a situation like this and began shutting down the cargo ship as fast as he could. He held on tight to his dark red helmet that covered the sides of his head and forhead. The goggles attached to the helmet flew off as he quickly jumped over to his right.

Fearing he may be taken alive he hit the override button he had installed a few days earlier which managed to interrupt the tractor beam, and struck the approaching ship with a few shots in hope that they could disrupt the invisible chain that contained them.

The presumed enemy ship easily deflected the shots leaving Dan in despair. Further attempts to activate anything else, or attempt to do so could lead to more damage that he surely knew would seal their fate. If he and his crew were going to survive, they would need to do it some other way.

As he looked out into dead space he saw a ship coming in fast to his portside. They were outgunned and unquestionably defenseless.

Activating his comm he called for his crew trying not to panic, "Guys we're caught in a tractor beam and there is a ship approaching, it doesn't look friendly. I just tried scraping it off our boots, but our guns have been weakened. If they don't kill us then I'm sure Zurga will for failing to bring this shipment to him."

The Nova had been built from the ground up by Dan and his father who anxiously awaited their safe return home. It contained over a dozen secret compartments made especially for smuggling precious cargo such as the Tock spice it now transported.

The shield generator was old, but had enough juice to fend off small attacks. The rare spice was delivered in large quantities so the extra space made this ship more than perfect for this type of business.

The mighty Zurga the Hutt had recently begun purchasing the scarce and very expensive spice, but despite the high price he bought every batch that was finished each season. The rich spice could easily be stored for almost a decade and maintain its incomparable taste.