Cole was awakened by a loud, repeated banging sound. Looking around, he realized someone was knocking on his door. Ever so slowly, he stood up and made his way across the room.
Opening the door, he met face to face with a rather oddly shaped creature. "What do you want, Ved?" Cole asked rudely.
"We are approaching our destination, sir. I was told to gather everyone in the leisure room," the creature answered.
"Oh. Al-alright. I'm sorry," Cole responded groggily, rubbing his eyes. "I'll be there shortly."
The creature nodded, and proceeded to wake up the rest of the passengers. They were on a ship headed to the planet Destaliss. Cole Freerath was a Jedi, as were four of the other ten beings on board. They, along with a clone trooper, were to act as bodyguards to an ambassador on a diplomatic mission. While one or two bodyguards would have easily been enough, the others were along for the ride because the various terrains on Destaliss would provide for excellent training exercises in their spare time.
Once Cole was presentable, he made his way to the leisure room. Upon entering, he looked around to see how many of the others had made it there before him.
The first being he saw was Dellin Arkbarra, a Twi'lek girl about his age. She, like Cole, was a Jedi Knight. The two had practically trained side by side, as had their masters before them.
Scanning the room, he saw two figures playing at a Dejarik board. The first was Regulos Arvi, an aging human Jedi Master. The other was ADR-52, an even older brown astromech droid with white panels, and a drum-shaped head.
Sitting in another corner, having a conversation, were Madam Imalda Reen and her assistant. Madam Reen was another human, and the aforementioned ambassador. She was the representative for Destaliss in the Republic. Her assistant, Don Grit San, was of a species with which Cole was not familiar. His body somewhat resembled that of an Ithorian, but he had a birdlike face and shorter arms and legs.
Finally, resting against the wall, there was Samson Gunno, a Weequay. He was the Jedi Master who had trained Dellin.
Taking a seat between Dellin and Regulos, where he could see the Dejarik game, Cole patiently awaited the rest of the passengers. When they did finally arrive, they were accompanied by Ved Kay Don, the creature who had awoken Cole. Ved was Don Grit San's son, and was acting as an intern of sorts to both Don and Madam Reen.
With him was another Jedi, and a clone trooper. The Jedi was Vivix Pazra, Cole's old master. He was a Togruta, with orange colored skin, and a scarred face. The clone was Commander CT-4259, nicknamed "Max" by the other clones. He was under the command of Regulos.
Cole himself was a human, although not one hundred percent. His eyes had a tendency to slightly change colors depending on his mood, leading him to believe he probably had a non-human ancestor.
The only person missing was the pilot, Kayna Dego. She was the owner of the ship, as well as the owner of ADR-52. Like Imalda Reen, Kayna was a native of Destaliss. Most of the passengers had only glimpsed her briefly upon boarding, so the only thing they really knew about her was that she was a human.
After a couple of minutes, when Kayna did show up, Cole saw that she was quite beautiful. She had pale, almost white skin, bright green eyes, and hair that was just the right color that it appeared red in some lights, and brown in others. "Five-Two, come to the cockpit," she said.
The droid responded with beeps and whistles, letting her know that he was in the middle of a game.
"Well, I can't land this massive ship by myself. I need your help."
ADR-52 looked back and forth between Regulos and Kayna, then let out a sound resembling a sigh. Forfeiting the game, he followed Kayna to the cockpit.
"You were probably going to lose anyway," she said to him, before letting the door close behind them.
"So," Dellin spoke up, "I've never been to Destaliss before. What's it like?"
"About a third of the planet is uninhabited," Imalda answered. "Water, forests, jungles, and the like. A quarter or so is farmland, and the rest is urbanized."
Dellin thought for a moment. A literal description of the planet's environment was not exactly what she had been expecting to hear. Then again, she didn't really know what she had expected to hear, so she just smiled.
"The forests are where we will be spending much of our free time," piped Samson from his corner.
"Samson, I thought you were asleep," Regulos answered, looking up and smirking.
"I was simply giving my eyes a rest," came the reply.
Suddenly, the ship shook violently, causing most of the passengers to fall out of their seats.
"What was that?" asked Max, standing up.
"Cole," said Vivix, "let's go check on Kayna and Five-Two."
The two of them quickly made their way through the corridor and into the cockpit. "Kayna," Vivix said with caution.
"I'm fine," she responded, turning around in her chair.
"What about Five-Two?" asked Cole.
"He's headed to the lift. He went to see-"
She was interrupted and thrown from her seat when the ship shook again, this time more aggressively.
"Bra'ch!" Kayna cursed. Standing up, she pushed the intercom button on the dash. "Five-Two! What the hell is happening?"
The droid responded, but not through the intercom. Instead, the whirs and beeps came from down the corridor.
"What do you mean you didn't make it to the lift?" she shouted angrily.
Before ADR-52 could answer, the ship shook a third time, even harder.
"Look!" Cole pointed out the window.
Vivix and Kayna looked up to see what appeared to be some sort of small, contained force field drawing them towards it.
"Is it a tractor beam?" asked Vivix.
"No," answered Kayna, "I don't-"
She was interrupted again by the most violent shake yet. This time, the trio looked out the window just in time to see the energy field collide with their ship. It sent a shockwave over the entire vessel, which was the last thing any of them saw before blacking out.