TheCommanderpursedhislips,shookhisheadslightly,perhapsabitsympathetically,asheconsideredthewoman。Shelldiebeforeshegivesyouanyinformation。Vadersreplywaschillinginitsindifference。Leavethattome。Heconsideredamoment,thenwenton。Sendoutawide-banddistresssignal。4 a0 [8 q3 N. Z4 l, i
IndicatethattheSenatorsshipencounteredanunexpectedmeteoriteclusteritcouldnotavoid。Readingsindicatethattheshiftshieldswereoverriddenandtheshipwashulledtothepointofvacatingninety-fivepercentofitsatmosphere。InformherfatherandtheSenatethatallaboardwerekilled。Aclusteroftired-lookingtroopsmarchedpurposefullyuptotheirCommanderandtheDarkLord。Vadereyedthemexpectantly。" t5 N4 n/ Q& H( ^
Thedatatapesinquestionarenotaboardtheship。Thereisnovaluableinformationintheshipsstoragebanksandnoevidenceofbankerasure,theofficerinchargerecitedmechanically。Norwereanytransmissionsdirectedoutwardfromtheshipfromthetimewemadecontact。Amalfunctioninglifeboatpodwasejectedduringthefighting,butitwasconfirmedatthetimethatnolifeformswereonboard。Vaderappearedthoughtful。Itcouldhavebeenamalfunctioningpod,hemused,Thatmightalsohavecontainedthetapes。Tapesarenotlifeforms。Inallprobabilityanynativefindingthemwouldbeignorantoftheirimportanceandwouldlikelyclearthemforhisownuse。StillSenddownadetachmenttoretrievethem,ortomakecertaintheyarenotinthepod,hefinallyorderedtheCommanderandattentiveofficer。Beassubtleaspossible;thereisnoneedtoattractattention,evenonthismiserableoutpostworld。Astheofficerandtroopsdeparted,VaderturnedhisgazebacktotheCommander。 ( D0 \6 n. y/ l6 Z! d/ h Vaporizethisfighterwedontwanttoleaveanything。Asforthepod,Icannottakethechanceitwasasimplemalfunction。Thedataitmightcontaincouldprovetoodamaging。Seetothispersonally,Commander。Ifthosedatatapesexist,theymustberetrievedordestroyedatallcosts。Thenheaddedwithsatisfaction,Withthat TheCommanderpursedhislips,shookhisheadslightly,perhapsabitsympathetically,asheconsideredthewoman。Shelldiebeforeshegivesyouanyinformation。Vadersreplywaschillinginitsindifference。Leavethattome。Heconsideredamoment,thenwenton。Sendoutawide-banddistresssignal。 6 d* d0 ]/ o+ [5 J7 X( ~; q IndicatethattheSenatorsshipencounteredanunexpectedmeteoriteclusteritcouldnotavoid。Readingsindicatethattheshiftshieldswereoverriddenandtheshipwashulledtothepointofvacatingninety-fivepercentofitsatmosphere。InformherfatherandtheSenatethatallaboardwerekilled。Aclusteroftired-lookingtroopsmarchedpurposefullyuptotheirCommanderandtheDarkLord。Vadereyedthemexpectantly。- e2 e% ?0 i+ T) {
Thedatatapesinquestionarenotaboardtheship。Thereisnovaluableinformationintheshipsstoragebanksandnoevidenceofbankerasure,theofficerinchargerecitedmechanically。Norwereanytransmissionsdirectedoutwardfromtheshipfromthetimewemadecontact。Amalfunctioninglifeboatpodwasejectedduringthefighting,butitwasconfirmedatthetimethatnolifeformswereonboard。Vaderappearedthoughtful。Itcouldhavebeenamalfunctioningpod,hemused,Thatmightalsohavecontainedthetapes。Tapesarenotlifeforms。Inallprobabilityanynativefindingthemwouldbeignorantoftheirimportanceandwouldlikelyclearthemforhisownuse。StillSenddownadetachmenttoretrievethem,ortomakecertaintheyarenotinthepod,hefinallyorderedtheCommanderandattentiveofficer。Beassubtleaspossible;thereisnoneedtoattractattention,evenonthismiserableoutpostworld。Astheofficerandtroopsdeparted,VaderturnedhisgazebacktotheCommander。. d' Q0 L- y; f+ k8 G v( z0 z
Vaporizethisfighterwedontwanttoleaveanything。Asforthepod,Icannottakethechanceitwasasimplemalfunction。Thedataitmightcontaincouldprovetoodamaging。Seetothispersonally,Commander。Ifthosedatatapesexist,theymustberetrievedordestroyedatallcosts。Thenheaddedwithsatisfaction,Withthat accomplishedandtheSenatorinourhands,wewillseetheendofthisabsurdrebellion。Itshallbeasyoudirect,LordVader,theCommanderacknowledged。Bothmenenteredtheaccesswaytothecruiser。 ' l P b: X* M( K2 E Whataforsakenplacethisis!Threepioturnedcautiouslytolookbackatwherethepodlayhalfburiedinsand。 , [: g/ B# P# G5 _: d" h! d Hisinternalgyroswerestillunsteadyfromtheroughlanding。Landing!Mereapplicationofthetermundulyflatteredhisdullassociate。; L/ V* U2 Q+ q( x# s. g4 k
* w1 n4 L+ c. e1 x Ontheotherhand,hesupposedheoughttobegratefultheyhadcomedowninonepiece。Although,hemusedashestudiedthebarrenlandscape,hestillwasntsuretheywerebetteroffherethantheywouldhavebeenhadtheyremainedonthecapturedcruiser。Highsandstonemesasdominatedtheskylinetooneside。Everyotherdirectionshowedonlyendlessseriesofmarchingduneslikelongyellowteethstretchingforkilometeronkilometerintothedistance。Sandoceanblendedintosky-glareuntilitwasimpossibletodistinguishwhereoneendedandtheotherbegan