Star Wars: Heroes of the Jedi Order
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic or anything else. It all belongs to BioWare and George Lucas. Well, apart from the new characters. I created them! They belong to me!
Prologue
He could hear them calling him in the distance. He could see their figure, but not make out their face. They were coming closer; their voice was getting louder. They were pushing him and moving him all around. Finally, it became so intense that it threw him out of his sleep.
"Jarek!" they said. "Jarek, get up! Now!" They were standing over him, pushing him with their arms. It was a man. He had a lightsaber hanging from his belt, and wore shabby, beige robes. His hair was straight, brown, and went down to his shoulders.
Jarek sat up, still looking at the Jedi in front of him. He could feel the ship shaking and explosions and blaster fire sounding everywhere around him.
"Jarek, it's me. Galnar. Galnar Kasra. Don't you remember?" Everything came back to him. Galnar was another Jedi who had signed up to protect Bastila. Jarek had known him ever since he had become a Jedi himself, and they were close friends. He nodded.
"Great. Hurry up and get dressed. We've got to get out of here!"
"Why? What's going on?"
"We're under attack! The Sith found out Bastila was here and appeared out of nowhere! I don't know how many of them are out there, but we need to get off the Endar Spire! The Republic's fate depends on it!" Jarek looked over to the other side of the room. A half dozen Jedi stood there, panicking, all surrounding someone Jarek could not see. But he knew who it was. It was Bastila Shan, the one gifted with an extremely rare gift, what the Jedi called Battle Meditation.
"Get dressed before we leave you behind!" Galnar yelled over the constant explosions outside. "Your footlocker's at the foot of your bunk. Get your lightsaber, your clothes, and let's go!"
Jarek got out of his bunk quickly, looking around still, and headed to the footlocker at the foot of it, next to a mirror. He dressed himself in the normal Jedi robes and quickly picked up his lightsaber. Before he left, he paused to look in the mirror.
Jarek Galon, a tan-skinned, tall Jedi in his late twenties, stood looking back into his own dark, brown eyes. He had shaved his beard and reduced it to a simple goatee now, which he felt looked good on him.
"Come on," Galnar said, and Jarek turned to see the others hurrying out through the door. He caught up with them outside in the corridor, and found dead bodies of both Republic and Sith soldiers littering the floor. But he paid no attention to them; he had to get Bastila to the escape pods. He knew how important she was.
Her Battle Meditation could turn the tables in a war. It was utterly useless in a smaller battle or firefight, but incredibly helpful in a situation like this. She could inspire her allies with this power, and give them will to fight, meanwhile inflicting fear on her enemies, and sucking their morale dry. Unfortunately, this power needed time to prepare, and time was a luxury they didn't have right now.
Jarek tried to keep up with everyone else; even Jedi were afraid now. No one is immune to fear, Jarek thought.
Past this corridor, they reached an intersection. Several Republic soldiers were finishing off a few Sith, which became much easier when the Sith were distracted by Bastila and the others.
After the rest of the Sith had been killed, the Jedi hurried down the corner. The surviving Republic soldiers, however, stayed where they were.
"Aren't you coming?" Jarek asked.
"No, there's not enough room in the escape pods left," he said, and Jarek detected a hint of fear and regret in his voice. "W-we will stay here and assist anyone else who comes along."
"All right," Jarek sighed, and continued with the other Jedi. As he was running, he saw Bastila's face for a brief moment. The last time he saw her, when he first accepted the mission to protect her, she looked very calm, sitting down and meditating. Now he could see panic on her face, and a drop of sweat slide down her temple. Then, she disappeared behind the many Jedi protecting her.
As they were running down this corridor, Galnar in the lead, there was a sudden explosion from the wall, knocking down two of the Jedi surrounding Bastila. They were dead before they hit the floor. Jarek looked up at Galnar, still running, and he gave him a firm look, which told him to keep going--there was nothing he could do.
Several Sith came in from the door ahead, and the Jedi instantly rushed forward. Jarek jumped up and propelled himself from off the wall, his lightsaber above his head, and sliced right through one of the Sith soldiers. He landed perfectly on his feet, and heard two separate thumps behind him, each of both halves of the man. Before he could do anything else, his comrades had disposed of the others. He silenced his lightsaber, but didn't put it back on his belt. Instead, he kept it held firmly in his hand, and followed the others down a few more corners and corridors until they reached the bridge door.
"What's the code for the door?" Galnar asked to the crowd.
"Six-five-eight-three," came what was unmistakably Bastila's voice, considerably calmer than Jarek would have thought. He could still tell, though, there was a slight note of panic and rush in her voice as she spoke. Galnar entered the code at the door, and it whooshed open. At once, the many Sith overpowering the bridge rushed out. Jarek drew his lightsaber, and threw it at one of them. It cut right through him like jelly, and injured another soldier behind him quite severely in the stomach. They both fell to the ground, one dead, one badly injured, and then the door behind them opened.
Jarek turned around to see a man in black robes enter. He was bald, had a plate of armor around his chest, and clutched a lightsaber in his hand.
Two of the last four Jedi protecting Bastila jumped at him, but one was slain almost instantly. Jarek heard a fight behind him in the bridge as well, but the remaining Jedi, a skinny woman with black hair and a ponytail, yelled at them, "Go! I'll hold him off! Get Bastila off of this ship!" Jarek and the surviving Jedi hurried into the bridge, where they stepped over the bodies of the Sith they had just killed. Jarek got one last look at the Jedi with their lightsabers locked together, both pushing with all their might against each other. The door closed.
A few Republic soldiers still stood, although they seemed injured. They stayed where they were, however, and did not follow Bastila's party.
Jarek and the surviving Jedi encountered no more Sith after the bridge; it seemed they were all ordered to go there to find Bastila.
After entering into the starboard section of the ship, and hurrying through a few more empty rooms, they reached a door nobody could get open.
"It's locked," Galnar sighed, clear panic in his voice now. "What now?"
Suddenly, the door opened, and a man with an orange jacket stood at a console in front of it.
"You made it!" the man said. He had greasy brown hair, and some of it was dangling in front of his forehead. "I'm Carth Onasi. There are only a couple escape pods left. You have to--" But blaster fire was heard, and two remaining Jedi protecting Bastila fell to the ground. Instantly, Jarek, Galnar, and Bastila all drew their lightsabers, and Carth hastily shut the door.
Carth looked at the monitor on the console. "Oh no," he said. "A whole squad of Sith troopers have secured the room next to us." Jarek heard him swear under his breath. "You three get into that escape pod and go!"
"What about you?" Jarek immediately said.
"I have to stay here a bit longer. There's one more survivor on this ship. I can't leave her behind. I'll be fine, just go."
Galnar approached the console at their pod and tinkered with it a bit, then they all hurried inside. Jarek sat down and strapped himself in, seeing a last glimpse of Carth before the door sealed.
"Here we go," Galnar said, holding on tight.
Jarek felt the pod shake and heard it fire. He looked out the window and in front of him he saw the planet of Taris. Behind him he heard the blaster fire of the Sith fighters and minor explosions coming from the Endar Spire. He saw the planet growing larger ahead, and closed his eyes. All he could do was hope to survive this.
Note: I know it's far from perfect, but it'll get better...I hope. But don't worry; the next chapters will be longer. Hopefully I'll be updating soon.