Star Wars: New Age

Chapter 20

The Behemoth's First Bite

They stood in the silent hangar, dwarfed by the immense bulk of the dormant mining vessel. The successful flight of the Echo felt like a distant memory, a child's game compared to the challenge that now loomed before them. The ship wasn't just bigger; it felt denser, its sleeping systems possessing a weight and complexity that was intimidating.

Zana looked from the massive ship to Jax, her expression clear. There was no need for a long speech, no need for a detailed plan. There was only the task.

"Jax," she said, her voice echoing slightly in the vast chamber. "It's time."

Jax nodded, a new confidence settling over him. He stepped forward, placing his palm flat against the cold, seamless hull of the behemoth. He closed his eyes and reached out with the Force, connecting directly to the main Nexus Core on the bridge. The Warden's presence greeted him, not with instructions, but with a simple, powerful affirmation of the principle he now understood.

[THE RIVER IS VAST. THE RIVERBED IS DEEP. OPEN THE GATE. GUIDE THE FLOW. DO NOT LET IT OVERFLOW ITS BANKS.]

He understood. He was the gatekeeper.

Taking a deep breath, Jax mentally opened the sluice gate. A river of pure, raw energy, far greater than anything he had channeled for the Echo, surged from the station's main Core down the conduits toward the mining vessel. He felt the torrent in his mind, a deafening roar of power that threatened to overwhelm him. He gritted his teeth, his entire consciousness focused on a single task: control.

He didn't let the energy flood the ship. He guided it, diverting the first powerful wave into the vessel's primary systems. A deep, bone-shaking hum filled the hangar as the ship's internal lights and life support flickered to life, visible through the thick viewport of its industrial bridge.

The heart is awake.

Without pausing, he split the river of energy, channeling it into the sublight engines and the massive inertial dampeners. The hum deepened into a steady, powerful thrum, the sound of a sleeping giant taking its first conscious breath in fifty thousand years.

The lungs are breathing.

He then directed the remaining flow into the vast array of industrial systems—the articulated manipulator arms, the powerful tractor beam emitters, and the colossal mining lasers mounted to the chassis. The exterior of the ship came alive with a web of glowing conduits as the tools of the trade powered up, settling into a state of readiness.

The limbs are strong.

With all systems active and the flow of power stable, Jax gave one final, focused command. A command to the ship itself. Open.

With a powerful hiss of hydraulics that echoed like a sigh of relief, the heavy main ramp of the mining vessel lowered, coming to rest on the hangar floor with a solid, definitive CLANG. The interior was lit, its systems humming with stable, contained power. It was waiting for its new crew.

Jax stumbled back, his connection severing as he gasped for air, his forehead slick with sweat. The effort had been like holding back a flood with his bare hands, but he had done it.

Kael was staring at his datapad, his face a mask of disbelief. "All systems are green," he whispered. "Power flow is stable across the board. The whole ship. He did it in less than five minutes."

Zana looked from the open ramp to Jax, who was leaning against a support strut to steady himself. The look in her eyes was no longer just respect. It was a profound, almost fearful awe.

She gave him a single, sharp nod. "Good work, Jax," she said, her voice all business, though he could hear the tremor of excitement beneath it. "Let's not waste it."

She turned to the open ramp. "Gear up. We're going to work."

They boarded the mining vessel, its interior ramp leading into a spacious, industrial bridge. It lacked the sleek elegance of the Echo, favoring function over form. There were three distinct stations, each with its own set of glowing, minimalist consoles. The air hummed with the thrum of immense, contained power.

"Practical name for a practical ship," Zana said as they strapped into their seats. "We'll call it the Quarry."

Jax took the pilot's chair, placing his hands on the contact panels. The connection was immediate, but vastly different from the Scout. Piloting the Echo was like wearing a glove; this was like trying to shake hands with a giant. The sheer scale of the power he was now connected to was staggering.

"Kael, coordinates for RX-981, Moon B-7," Zana commanded from the tactical station behind Jax.

"Coordinates locked," Kael confirmed from the navigator's seat.

"Take us out, Jax," Zana ordered.

Jax focused his will, and the Quarry responded. There was no silent grace this time. A deep, resonant groan vibrated through the hull as the massive ship lifted from its cradle. He guided it out of the hangar, its bulk filling the corridors, and into the silent void of the Rykon Belt. He engaged the hyperdrive, and with a gut-wrenching lurch that felt far more powerful than the Echo's jump, the universe folded.

They arrived in orbit above the pale, cratered moon.

"Landing zone is marked," Kael reported.

Jax piloted the behemoth down through the atmosphere. The landing was heavy, shaking the cockpit as the massive gear absorbed the impact, but it was secure. They were down.

"Kael, confirm the primary vein," Zana said. "Jax, deploy the mining assembly."

Following the 3D map Kael had created, Jax positioned the ship directly over the richest deposit. With a mental command, massive, articulated arms extended from the ship's underbelly, anchoring them to the rocky ground with heavy, thudding impacts. Then, the primary mining laser array deployed from the ship's dorsal spine, a huge, complex piece of machinery that hummed with terrifying energy.

"All targets locked," Kael confirmed.

"Fire when ready," Zana said.

Jax took a breath and unleashed the laser.

A thick, searing beam of pure, white-hot energy lanced from the ship, striking the moon's surface. There was no sound in the vacuum, but the visual was apocalyptic. Rock and ice were instantly vaporized, carving a deep, molten trench into the crust and exposing the gleaming, silvery veins of pure Iridium beneath.

"Incredible…" Kael whispered.

Next, Jax activated the tractor beam emitters. A shimmering blue field enveloped the newly exposed chunks of ore. Rocks the size of their transport van were lifted effortlessly from the ground and guided into the Quarry's massive, open cargo bay at the rear of the ship. The process was brutally, terrifyingly efficient.

For the next two hours, they worked. They moved from one deposit to the next, carving up the moon's surface and filling their cargo hold with an immense fortune in raw metal.

"Cargo hold at ninety percent," Kael finally announced. "We can't carry any more."

On a monitor, Zana watched the live feed from the cargo bay, now filled with thousands of tons of high-purity Iridium ore. A look of fierce, undeniable triumph was on her face. Their in-game poverty was about to be solved in a single, overwhelming blow.

"That's enough," she declared. "More than enough. Retract the assembly."

The massive mining laser folded back into the ship. The anchoring arms retracted with a series of heavy clangs.

"Jax," Zana ordered, a new, hard edge of command in her voice. "Take us home."

The Quarry sliced silently through the void of the Rykon Belt, its cavernous cargo hold filled with a fortune in raw Iridium. The mood on the bridge was electric. They had proven the concept, validated their assets, and now held the means to solve their greatest remaining problem.

"Alright," Zana said, her voice cutting through their triumphant thoughts, bringing them back to the mission. "We have the product. Now we need a buyer. And it needs to be the right buyer." She looked at Kael. "Get on the Galactic Trade Network. I want to see standing buy-orders for high-purity Iridium ore. Filter it. I only want to see major, NPC-run corporations. The player guilds won't have the capital for a haul this size yet, and I'm not interested in their drama."

Kael nodded, his fingers already flying across his console. The main viewport, which had been showing their flight path, changed to a complex, data-rich interface—the official commodities market for New Age. A list of buy-orders scrolled by.

"Filtering now…" Kael muttered. He immediately dismissed a low-ball offer from a Cygnus Minerals subsidiary. "Not a chance," Zana said at the same time, their thoughts perfectly in sync.

After a moment of sifting through various contracts, Kael isolated one. "Here," he said, his voice sharpening with interest. "This is our best bet."

He highlighted a massive, open contract on the screen. "The Red-Forge Shipyards on the industrial world of Hesperos. They're a Tier-1 NPC corporation. They build the 'Stalwart-class' freighters that are already becoming the workhorses of the new player economy."

"I've seen them," Zana confirmed. "Reliable. Unexciting. What are their terms?"

"Standard NPC contract," Kael reported, bringing up the details. "They have a standing, unlimited buy-order for bulk Iridium at the galactic standard market rate. It's a fair price. Not the premium a desperate player would pay, but it's solid." He pointed to the fine print. "Terms are simple: deliver the certified ore to their primary materials depot at Hesperos Port. Their system automatically scans the cargo, verifies the quantity and purity, and the credits are instantly transferred to the seller's account. It's all automated. They don't care about flight plans or ship registration. They're a factory; they just want the metal."

It was the perfect solution. Safe. Anonymous. Professional. It allowed them to liquidate their assets without putting themselves in the middle of a pirate den or under the microscope of a corporation actively hunting them. It was a clean business transaction.

Zana looked at the contract on the screen, a rare, genuine smile of satisfaction touching her lips. "That's our move," she said. "It establishes 'The Warden's Echo' as a legitimate, if mysterious, bulk supplier. It gives us the capital we need without the risk."

She looked at her crew, a new sense of command in her voice. They were no longer just survivors. They were the founders of a new enterprise, about to make their first sale.

"Kael," she ordered, her voice ringing with purpose. "Plot a course for Hesperos."

She turned her gaze to the star-dusted view ahead.

"Let's go get paid."