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Aces Over Selonia - AD Khadgar
The battle for Selonia rages on. But this battle is not for any specific territory, it is for listeners and ratings. This story is a tribute to those gallant knights of broadcast, the cavaliers of the cosmos, the Imperial Broadcasting Corporation. Without them, galactic citizens would lack weather reports, music and the traffic situation on many planets would rapidly degenerate into chaos. But more importantly, there would be one less fiction for the Daily Profit. This is their story… So don’t blame us.
On the FAC Broadcaster:
“Gentlemen, the ratings for Selonia are in, and I must say I’m just a little bit disappointed!” Hero said, exasperated, clutching a datapad ruefully.
“How did we do?” Malidir chimed in.
“Terribly! Even the shipyard dispatch got more listeners!” Hero continued.
“Well, what do the other stations have that we don’t? We’ve got everything; news, sports, weather and even hotlines!” Stukart insisted.
“What we lack is a traffic report spacecraft over Selonia itself. However, that problem is being rectified. We have a spacecraft ready to go, and a pilot from the TIE Corps is on his way.” Hero said proudly.
The IBC staff beamed, and Hero sent them back to their posts.
After the staff left, the door to Hero’s office opened again and Hero’s secretary said, “Sir, Assistant Technician Debric here to see you.”
“Who?” Hero responded.
“Debric, one of your DJs.”
“All right, send him in.”
A man walked in and approached Hero’s desk.
Hero looked up from a datapad and said, “What is it you want?” in a tone that signified he was busy.
“I’ll cut straight to the point,” Debric said, “I want to do something different!”
“What do you mean?” Hero said sharply, focusing his full attention on Debric.
“I’ve been broadcasting to Tatooine my whole career! No one ever listens to me, and no one knows me!”
“Oh, come on,” Hero said quickly, “You’re famous! Everyone knows you, Cedric!”
“Debric, sir!” Debric replied, his eyes tensing in a sort of sorrow.
“Oh, never mind, what is it that you want to do?” Hero continued.
“Anything!” Debric said, “News, sports, weather, even one of those hotlines!”
Suddenly, the door to Hero’s office swung open again, and a figure in a pilot suit staggered precariously into the room, stopped near the door, and formed into an awkward salute.
“Ah,” Hero said, “The pilot from Tau Squadron to pilot the new craft has arrived.”
Hero walked towards the man, but his face quickly turned to a grimace. “This man isn’t sober and he’s supposed to be flying!” “I’ve got news for you, he’s already flying!” Debric said, gazing at him.
The pilot started into a sort of slurred laughter, but Hero quickly pushed him out of his office and slammed the door. “This is a disaster! Who’s going to fly the new craft?”
“What about me?” Debric said cautiously.
“You? Do you even know how to pilot the craft?” Hero said skeptically.
“No, but it’s only a fiction,” Debric said earnestly.
“Oh, all right, you’ve won me over with your enthusiasm. Meet me at the hangar bay!” Hero said, and marched out of his office.
Later, in the Hangar Bay:
“All set?” Hero said.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Debric replied.
“Well then, good luck Tedric!” Hero said approvingly.
“Debric!” Debric said, grudgingly.
“Oh, just go!” said Hero, pushing Debric toward the craft.
Debric pushed a button on the side of the craft, a hatch opened, and Debric moved quickly into the cockpit of the craft.
Hero left the hangar bay, and made his way back to his office.
After waiting a short time, a red light on a panel within his office lit, and Hero pushed a button, enabling the radio feed.
“This is Debric high over Selonia. The traffic on the planet itself looks fairly calm, but it’s rather crowded up here.” He gazed around and added, “There’s a lot of spacecraft.”
Hero grinned anxiously, eager to here more from the new craft.
“Ah, one of them is coming towards me,” Debric continued, “Wait, it’s opening fire!”
Sounds of the craft rumbling and smoking could be heard over the radio.
Hero turned to his secretary, who was working in the office and said, “It’s finally come to it, open warfare between the stations. This means war!”
Hero and his secretary donned military helmets, and Hero pulled a book off his shelf, which made the book shelf slide away, revealing a secret passage to a war room.
“Gentlemen, we are facing a crisis here. We’ve been fired upon by another station! This is a day that will live in infamy!” Hero said firmly to his staff, which was already gathered in the war room.
The staff nodded, and Hero sat down at long table and picked up a microphone.
“Come in Detric, this is IBC Leader.”
“This is Debric! I’m being swamped here; I wish I could do something!”
“Push the blue button on your console.”
Debric quickly pushed the blue button on his console, and a gun turret protruded out of the hull. “Thanks, IBC Leader!” he said.
Hero stood up and gazed at a map of the Selonia area. “How’s he doing?” Hero said.
“Two enemy craft down already, two more and he’s an ace!” Malidir said.
Two more red dots faded from the map as Debric swooped in for more kills.
However, his fortunes quickly changed, and it seemed there was no escape from the red dot converging on his position. Hero ran to the microphone and shouted franticly into it, “Detric! Detric!”
Malidir slowly approached Hero and said gravely, “It looks like it’s over, sir.”
Hero winced, and then said, “Broadcasting, it’s a vicious business. What times are these when we have to send young DJs into space to die?”
Hero and the rest of the staff took off their helmets, held them to their chests and Hero added, “We’ll never forget you, Yetric!”
A man staggered into the room with bruises and cuts, and said, as loudly as he could, “It’s Debric!”
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