The Star Wars Adventures: A Problem with Daleks - Series I

Moff Yage

The Shuttle streaked through the starry blackness of space, hurtling toward its destination, the monolithic Imperial Star Destroyer, Empire's Pride.

Its passengers did not notice the starry view outside the viewports however, as they had bigger problems on their mind.

"Where did it all go wrong, Corporal? Everything was going so well..." Moaned the Captain of the Empire's Pride, Captain Johnson.

"Well," replied his adjutant, Corporal 33, "It all started when you bought that planet for... over a million credits, without first sending a squad of the Imperial Geological Division to inspect the planet, Sir."

"How was I to know the auctioneer was crooked?" replied Captain Johnson crossly. "Moff Joyee wanted an untouched planet, full of resources, and I had very little time to procure one."

"I believe that High Command will be most displeased about this, Sir."

A pilot entered the room, and saluted. "Sir, we've arrived."

"So soon?" Captain Johnson looked out the side viewport, and indeed, they had docked in the Ventral Bay of the Pride, with refueling teams already rushing to refuel the Shuttle and technicians hurrying to make whatever repairs were necessary.

Corporal 33 and the Captain stepped out of the Shuttle. Captain Johnson breathed in deeply, taking some small comfort at the smell of the Bay. The spicy smell of the Starship Fuel, the metallic (and yet comforting) recycled air of the Pride, the faint whiff of Armour Polish, - undoubtedly from the Row of Stormtroopers on both sides of the Bay - everything was as he had left it.

"Captain! Captain!"

Captain Johnson snapped back to reality, recognising the voice as belonging to his Senior Lieutenant, Kassius Myles. "Lieutenant, I trust nothing out of the ordinary happened while I was away?"

"No Captain, but Moff Yage has been calling you for the past half hour, Sir. I believe he is most anxious to get a report about the planet." Lieutenant Myles mopped his brow.

"Thank you, Lieutenant, I'll take it in my Ready Room. Go report back to the Bridge, I'll join you shortly."

"Yes, Sir!" Lieutenant Myles saluted, and Captain Johnson returned it. As Lieutenant Myles hurried away, the Captain and Corporal 33 strode to a Turbolift in the Southern area of the Bay. After entering it and pressing a few keys, Corporal 33 asked, "What are you going to tell Moff Yage?"

"Whatever he wants to hear."

"But.. surely that's... that's treason!"

The Turbolift doors opened, and they walked out into a long Hallway. "Nonsense, Corporal, I'll find a way to make whatever I say... come true. Er, somehow." Captain Johnson finally stopped at a metal door, and from his left breast pocket, took out a Code Cylinder. After taking the top off it and inseting a cord into a jack in the side of the wall, the doors opened with a hiss.

A wave of cool air hit Captain Johnson in the face, as he entered his Ready Room. The Ready Room, located directly under the Bridge, was quite bare, as most Captains' Ready Rooms are. There was a table in the middle of the room, with a Holoprojector capable of connecting to the Holonet to make instantaneous transmissions to anywhere in the Galaxy, even when in Hyperspace. Apart from the table, several chairs, of varying softness, a Refresher, two Vidscreens on the walls, and a closet full of spare uniforms, filled the room up somewhat.

For the moment, the only thing Captain Johnson was interested in was the Holoprojector. "This won't take long, Corporal; have a seat, out of the line of view, if you please."

He activated the Holoprojector, and tapped a few buttons on the inbuilt Keyboard in the table. "Sector Code... System Code... Planetary Designation Number... ah, it's ringing."

The table made a few noises, and then the Holoprojection cam activated and an empty blue image with a blue filter hovered over the table. The image flickered, and then a man appeared in it. At first glance, one could see he was a rather portly man, for his uniform strained to cover his body. He looked to be in his late 40s, with a hint of Black hair under his cap. He seemed to be in good cheer however, and smiled generously when he saw Captain Johnson.

"Captain Johnson," He rumbled, his voice distorted by the quality of the Transmission. "I trust you have something to report about this planet?

Captain Johnson opened his mouth, said nothing, then shut it again. 33 couldn't quite see Moff Yage properly, but he thought he saw Yage's smile fix.

"Yes, Moff Yage, the planet is very, very..." Johnson swallowed, then began again, "I'm compiling my report, Moff Yage, but I can assure you, the planet is everything Moff Joyee is looking for."

"Excellent!" Said Moff Yage. "That's all I wanted to hear from you, Captain. To be honest, I was willing to give you some extra time to make your report, but Admiral Andro'oz was most anxious to keep to protocol. I suppose he's right, after all. When will your report be ready, Captain?"

"Two weeks?"

Moff Yage frowned. "Two standard Weeks? Surely it should only take a few days, perhaps a week at most to review the planet's assets."

"This is a special case, Moff Yage!" Captain Johnson said hurriedly. "This planet has some odd... Er, properties. And the geological team wants to make some extra surveys! So, you see, Moff Yage," pressed Johnson in a morose voice, "It will take two weeks, perhaps longer, to make my FULL report."

"Very well, Captain. But be as quick as you can. Notify me of any anomalies the Geological Team finds. Continue to orbit the planet."

"Yes Sir." The Holoprojection shut down, and Captain Johnson walked over to where 33 was standing. "Well, that went well." he said tiredly.

"Went well?" echoed 33. "You deliberately lied to your Commanding Officer, that's punishable by Death!

"I already told you, Corporal, I'm not lying to him. I'm going to have that report ready by the end of this month! Oh yes!" He exclaimed, seeming to gain some energy. "I'm going to send a team down there, alright, but it won't be a scout team, it'll be several battalions of Stormtroopers to wipe those Daleks off the face of this planet!