Starweird: A Star Wars Short Story

Lost.

It was a quiet night aboard The Manufacturer. Not a single sound could be heard. The ship's engines were running at full speed for it had jumped to hyperspace a couple hours ago. Tyber Zann had always found something quite relaxing about space travels as they allowed him to get some rest in-between deliveries. Zann was indeed a smuggler who had established his own criminal organisation, also known as the Zann Consortium, which consisted of a network of mercenaries whose main occupation was to steal to steal Imperial weaponry and smuggle it off-world where they would be auctioned off before ending up on the black market. Many citizens of the Empire secretly approved of these activities, even though they knew that the Consortium was affiliated with Jabba the Hutt himself.

On this particular day, Zann had decided to take on a job by himself instead of coordinating the deliveries as he would usually do. He took a particular interest in this day's package which contained a number of holodroids which had been deactivated prior to being put in the cargo hold.

"I could make a hell lot of money out those things" he thought. As a criminal formerly affiliated with the Empire, he knew very well that holodroids were worth a lot. There were indeed a lot of profits to be made. A single processor was worth a hundred thousand credits. The idea of just running away with all this money crossed his mind like a blaster bolt. However, the people he worked for that very particular day were not to be trifled with. He would likely be found before having the chance to make a successful escape. And god knows what would happen to him if this were the case.

The flight was unusually long, although it was common for ships of this size to be equipped with a low-class hyperdrive that would take hours to reach one's destination. It was Zann himself who chose to travel with such a poor hyperdrive for fear of being caught by Imperial forces. "There's no way they're gonna catch me" Zann thought to himself before dozing off.

He woke up an hour and a half later.

Something was wrong. 

The thing with most hyperspace travel, as Zann himself was very well aware, was that there was were huge risk associated with space jumps. Indeed, hyperspace courses had to be plotted with great caution. Failure to do so could result in terrible consequences for both the ship and its crew. Even the most experienced pilots had heard of stories of pilots getting stuck in-between dimensions, without mentioning the black holes that were scattered throughout the galaxy. Those who were unfortunate enough could even experience a quick jump forward in time. 

Zann froze almost instantly. What could have possibly happened? He took a look at the main window and immediately noticed the absence of stars. Everything outside the ship was pitch black. Every single engine seemed to have mysteriously went off. The only traces of light that remained were that of the dashboard. 

-"Screw this. I'm not getting lost anywhere today". 

Zann took a look at the holomap and saw that the ship was nowhere to be seen on it. There was no marker at all which led to his mind being even more confused. He then pulled out a lever, to no avail.

-"What the hell is going on? I better go check on the droids" he said as he made his way to the cargo hold.

Everything was in place. Zann took a moment to realize what exactly was it that caused the ship to be stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no company. 

Or so he thought.