Looking out the cockpit window, Elldyn Locke was almost hypnotized by the unique swirling color of hyperspace. It was something he found oddly soothing,,,always had, actually. When he fell under its spell, it was like there was no one else there. Relaxing, meditative...he felt almost like he was one with it. Unfortunately, there always seemed to be something that pulled him out of it much sooner than he would have liked. This time it was a smack on the head.
"Elldyn...wake up! We're almost there."
Elldyn shut his eyes for a brief second, then turned his head to look at the bigger young man sitting next to him. Torrin Andren's eyes scanned the instrument panel, not even looking at Elldyn. He was a much more focused pilot than Elldyn. Not that Elldyn was a bad pilot, he just had other things on his mind, as usual. He gave a long sigh as he ran his fingers through his longish brown hair, glanced at the panel, then groaned.
"Ughhh...Alderaan. Too quiet for me." Torrin snickered.
"You always say that, but we always go back. Why is that?"
Elldyn glanced at his friend for a brief second. "Home is home I suppose. Doesn't mean I don't want to be elsewhere. As soon as we hand this new ship over to Dad...well... I don't know what I'll do. I don't want to wait around for very long, that's for sure Every time I do, he finds something else for me to do. Usually something minor and unimportant."
"Ell, having a dad who is the boss of the largest transport company on the planet does have its perks. Don't shove it off too much...you don't realize how good you have it."
"I get to fly his newest transport ship back to the planet...YAYYYY! Man, I want to do something bigger...more exciting."
"There IS something to be said for peaceful and easy, though," Torrin quickly replied. "There are a lot of people who wish they could have it as good as you guys, y'know."
"Yeah," Elldyn said with a sigh. "My sister is away at a military academy...my little brother is off-planet checking out weird animals on some backwater world. Meanwhile...good ol' Elldyn gets to deliver daddy's ships to him...as if he couldn't find someone else to do it. It's just sometimes I get tired of being on Alderaan...especially when I know how much else is out there."
His melancholy thoughts were interrupted by a slight beeping sound. They were almost back.
"We're dropping out of hyperspace in three...two...one." Torrin pulled the hyperdrive control handle back and they instantly reverted to realspace. In the distance they saw the bright blue gem that was Alderaan...something both had seen many times...something that had lost a lot of its luster in their somewhat jaded young minds. There was aslo something they weren't used to seeing. Torrin was silent as Elldyn leaned up and forward in his seat, eyes wide. Somehow, Alderaan had a new moon...or so it would appear. It didn't seem to be natural. It had a steely grey color, sinister and cold. This new "moon" wasn't as big as their home planet, but it seemed to exude a type of evil intent. Something was wrong here, Elldyn sensed. He reached out and brought the sublight engine speed to almost zero.
"What the Hell is that?" Torrin asked in a cautious subdued voice.
Elldyn wasn't quite as frozen in his seat as his friend seemed to be. "I don't know, but we're gonna find out!" He moved quickly, flipping a switch on the small com panel in the middle of the control board. " Alderaan flight, this is Alderaan Transport vessel Alpha-One-Niner-Seven-Seven, requesting..."
His words were cut short by a tremendous green beam that erupted from the top section of the ominous behemoth. The beam blasted toward Alderaan, and in a split-second that seemed like slow-motion to Elldyn and Torrin, the beam hit the calm and peaceful world the two had grown up on and known all their lives and right before their stunned eyes, Alderaan exploded and was gone, destroyed by this strange evil moon that neither had ever seen before. Debris blasted outward from where the planet had been, and front of it was a massive wave of explosive energy. The young men both knew two things at that very instant. Things would NEVER be the same again, and they had to get as far away from here as fast as they possibly could.
Both Elldyn and Torrin had tears streaming down their shocked faces as they began to hit the controls.
"We have to get out of here NOW!" Elldyn howled.
"Already there!" Torrin responded as he turned the transport in the opposite direction and shoved the sublight engines to maxumum. the vessel shuddered as they moved faster and faster, trying to outrun the concussive blast that was gaining on them.
"We have to jump to hyperspace before that wave hits us!" Torrin grit his teeth as he saw the destructive wave getting closer and closer. Elldyn's hands flew across the controls with a speed he had never known he had as he readied their jump. "Don't have time to plot a new course, so we'll just go back where we came from! Get ready Torr...this is gonna be CLOSE!"
Their eyes darted from the controls to the cockpit window...both knowing that if they didn't get this crate into hyperspace, they would be just as dead as everyone who had been on Alderaan. The wave surged through space to their rear, getting closer and closer with each passing second. Elldyn's trembling hand was on the hyperdrive handle as Torrin called off out. "If you miss this, we're dead Ell! FIVE...FOUR...THREE..TWO...ONE...NOW-NOW-NOW!" he yelled!
Elldyn's hand pulled the handle harder than he had ever pulled it before and the transport shot instantly into hyperspace. Just as they did, the concussive wave from Alderaan's destruction reached where they had been. One more second and they would have joined the debris field.
The familiar color of hyperspace travel engulfed the transport vessel, but this time, Elldyn ignored its beauty. Both he and Torrin collapsed into their seats, breathing hard, trying to fathom what they had just witnessed. The planet that had been their home for these eighteen-or-so years was gone, and everyone on it was dead. Their families...their friends...everything either had ever known was GONE. The two friends had each other and this ship...but that was it, it seemed. Moments seemed like hours as the two sat in stunned silence...until Torrin wiped his eyes and looked at his best friend.
"What now? What are we gonna do Ell?"
Elldyn was looking down, his eyes closed. He raised his head and turned to look at his buddy. Torrin saw something at that moment that he had never seen before. Although Elldyn's face was wet from the tears, his eyes were aglow with a fiery look of hate. When Elldyn finally spoke, his voice was more of a growl.
"Torr...I'm only sure of this...I am gonna find the bastards who did this and I will make them PAY! I'm not sure how yet, but I am going to make them suffer in ways that they can't even imagine!"
Torrin just looked silently at Elldyn, until Elldyn spoke.
"Are you with me?"
"Til the end Elldyn!"
Elldyn gave a quick slight nod at his friend, then wiped his eyes dry. "I am NOT gonna sit here and mourn, there'll be plenty of time for that later. We need to be smart about this. And before I do ANYTHING else, I am gonna find my brother and sister! Our first stop is going to be Ulroon. We're gonna find Jev and get him...then we will find a way to get Ellysa out of that academy. I want them with us! Then the four of us are going to unleash Hell on whoever blew up our planet!"
Torrin gave a slight snicker. "Y'know, wasn't long ago you said Alderaan wasn't enough for you."
Elldyn looked out of the cockpit. "Things change," he said quietly.