Convoy 324 Out of Varonat

[Darth Fett]

The transparisteel porthole momentarily fogged with his exhale.

The verdant world was still in view in his periphery.

He had spent much of the first half of his life on board starships; they were a kindred presence.

The world on which he'd lived for decades, however, never truly felt as home.

Its lush canopies never could replace the endless labyrinth of the Vertical City, nor did it instill the haunted aura of Korriban where every grain of sand sought to suffocate you.

His hand swung as a pendulum to the controls.

The pair of Action V transports floated, at the ready.

[Darth Fett]

Stars unraveled into stretched ribbons, the twin freighters lurching forward as hyperspace consumed them. Fett's fingers drifted from the nav console, a slow exhalation filling the quiet. O-N0's ship maintained precise formation beside him, its automated systems ensuring the droid’s lack of deviation. Cargo manifests flickered across his screen, refined metals, fuel cells, rations, enough to supply a prolonged campaign.

The vastness of hyperspace, a churning abyss beyond the viewport, reminded him that even the most well-plotted routes remained vulnerable.
A slight tremor in the sublight stabilizers rippled through the hull, barely perceptible. Fett's gaze remained on the readings: all nominal, yet the subtle irregularity gnawed at instinct. His hand hovered near the auxiliary controls, waiting. O-N0’s voice crackled through the comm: “Unforessssseeunforforseen interference detectededed. Adjusting fffor variance.”

[Darth Fett]

Fett glared, fingers closing around the throttle, anticipation settling in his muscles.

Gravity flexed. The freighter shuddered, an unnatural ebb of hyperspace. Fett’s jaw tightened as the navicomp spat out a recalibration warning, the holodisplay washing his face in cool blue. Something outside conventional detection had scraped against reality, something large. O-N0’s ship drifted slightly off course, its corrective thrusters engaging with an urgency that sent a flicker of unease through him. His grip on the controls firmed.

“Clarify,” he ordered.

“Gravitational fluctuauauauauations inconsistent with mapped ananananomomomalies,” O-N0 replied, its voice devoid of concern but edged with processing lag. Fett’s ship trembled again, not from turbulence, but from the imperceptible pull of something shifting against the current of hyperspace. The holodisplay pulsed with data recalibrations, struggling to define what the sensors couldn’t see.

Fett disengaged the autopilot, hands steady as he nudged the controls, testing the resistance in the ship’s response. The inertia wasn’t natural, something was forcing the shift, redirecting their trajectory by fractions, subtle enough to evade standard collision alerts. O-N0’s transport adjusted, matching his movement, the droid responding in real time now.

Then the proximity alarms shrieked, sharp and immediate. A gravity well surged into existence without warning, tearing the freighters from hyperspace. Starlines collapsed into a chaotic swirl of realspace, the transports wrenched into an unexpected system. Fett’s grip never loosened as the ship spun free, shields flaring against the violent reentry. He saw the silhouette first, something vast, something waiting.

"Can Rhen Var wait? Shall we go chase the anomaly?"

Silence.

"Oh, no."

"Yes, I know your name, champ."

Fett considered.

"But then, maybe on our way home. Set marker so I know where to send you once we unload."

"Oh. Nnnnnno."

"Yes, we all know your name. We'll have to run diagnostics in port."

Fett brought himself back into hyperspace, and O-N0 followed.

[Darth Fett]

Coming out of hyperspace again, Fett prepped to dock before his eyes could even drink in sight of the station.

The Sith would no doubt be grateful for his arrival even though they would never say so.

"O-N0, ready yourself for drop off. We're going to have to run back your recording of what we saw back there. If there's something worth knowing, perhaps we'll share it with the Order while we're here. Give them a head's up."