Trooper

A Game of Sabacc

Tatooine: 13 BBY
"Broken Remnant"
Jess

    Jess picked up the small disk that Ryn had left on the ship's console. He switched it on and began to examine the information. A twinge of worry distracted him from the disk. I hope she's all right. It's like she wasn't even here anymore. Jess kept the information displayed and slid into Ryn's vacated seat. He deactivated the hyperdrive shortly.

    They arrived in front of a dusty brown planet. Several ships flew around the atmosphere, though there was no sign of any Star Destroyers. On one hand, we're lucky the Empire hasn't challenged the Hutt's territory here, Jess thought. On the other, it might turn out worse. As he entered the atmosphere, a red dot appeared on the disk's display.

    Jess narrowed his eyes and began to follow it. With a second thought, he pulled the displayed coordinates up on the navicomputer. "Mos Espa?" He'd heard all sorts of things about the space port, and the majority of them were bad.

    At last, they reached the city. The transmitter light began flashing. Jess leaned over and switched it on. "Nu Shuttle, identify," a voice ordered.

    "This is the Broken Remnant, requesting docking," he replied.

    "Proceed to Bay 12." The coordinates flashed onto the navicomputer as the transmitter turned off.

    Jess glanced back as Ryn returned to the cockpit. Her gaze was somewhat haunted. He began to stand, but paused as she waved him down. "It's fine. Just land and let's go," she said softly.

"Are you ok?"

She looked away before answering. "I'm fine."

Jess let out a sigh and landed in the docking bay. He grabbed the disk and slipped it into his belt before following Ryn off the ship. He put on his helmet once they were outside. "I think Qi'ra is tracking Han somehow," he said. "The disk has some coordinates marked."

"If she was tracking him, wouldn't she have captured him by now?" Ryn pointed out.

"You'd think so." He pulled the disk out and activated it. Ryn studied the dot, raising a hand to her chin. Her gaze darkened suddenly.

"I know where that is," she sighed.

"Where?" He returned the disk to his belt.

"That's the arena where the Boonta Eve podrace is held. It's possible there's a race there today."

"And he's a smuggler so I'm willing to bet he's also a gambler," Jess added.

"Betting is big at the races. I guess we should check it out."

    "Good thing I brought some credits."

    Without warning, Ryn took off running. Jess narrowed his eyes and chased after her. "We've got to hurry or the race will start without us," she called. "Once the race starts, you can't sit in the arena and I guarantee that's where we'll find the smuggler."

    He nodded wordlessly as they turned and headed through an alleyway. Shouts and roars began to echo, the closer they got to the arena. Ryn skidded to a stop before the ticket booth just as the manager was leaving.

    "Wait!" Ryn shouted. She slapped some credits onto the counter. "Two tickets, please?"

    The manager gave her a disgruntled look and rolled his eyes. "I swear, this is the last time I'm letting anyone in last minute." He stamped two wristbands and tossed them to her. "Go on. The race is starting."