Okay, so this story is a new one for me. It is technically a cross over with the novel Lords of the Sith and How to Train your Dragon but as it is only a two to three part story and will be placed here along with other such crossovers, we're just going to leave it as it is. If you haven't read Lords of the Sith, there may be characters or situations you may not understand but it shouldn't be central to the plot, although I do highly recommend the book. Now, on with the story.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

The Perilous was burning.

The mines, the Vulture Droids and the explosive Buzz Droids had done their jobs well. The mighty Star Destroyer had been rocked to her bones but she was still afloat. Gaping wounds had been torn into her superstructure but still the great ship was flying. She had lost countless hundreds of her crew to hull breaches, secondary explosions and the initial explosives of the Buzz Droids themselves. But she and what was left of her crew were still standing.

It had been Astrid's first assignment after the academy. An exceptional shot, the newly minted Stormtrooper had been offered any posting in the Galaxy as a reward for finishing at the top of her class. She could have chosen Coruscant, or Alderaan or any other plush, cushy posting she had wanted, but no. She had chosen the flag ship of the Emperor's right hand, the tip of the Imperial Spear, the Perilous.

She was beginning to question her decision. Astrid had been off duty when the Perilous first jumped into Hyperspace, just settling into the mess for a quick lunch and maybe a nap before her duty shift. But all that had changed when the first of the mines exploded on the hull.

Now, almost an hour and a half later, SF2187 was armed, armored and at her post. She had been put on security detail to keep an eye on just one of a hundred different Twi'lek repair crews dotted throughout the ship. The Damage had been bad, too much for the remaining crew to handle on their own and the Empire didn't have the resources or the man power in system to manage on their own. They had had to call for civilian aid or they never would have been able to get the Perilous back in working order.

In truth, SF2187 was glad for the work, it took her mind off the crewmen, the comrades, the friends that she had lost in the last hour. SF2187 hadn't had a chance to meet most of the people she served with, mostly just other troopers she was posted with, but she had already made friends among the engineers that she had been posted with. It deeply troubled her to know that most of the few people she knew on this ship were probably already dead. She wondered how the other Troopers handled it, if indeed they did.

The com in her helmet crackled.

"Bridge to all security teams, Twi'lek terrorists have infiltrated the Perilous via the civilian repair crews. Execute every civilian repair team immediately. I repeat, Twi'lek terrorists had infiltrated the Perilous, execute ever civilian repair crew immediately! These orders come from Darth Vader himself."

The com shut off with a crackle of static. Astrid wasn't sure she fully registered what she was supposed to do. Without really thinking about it her rifle came up, safety off. The repair crew didn't seem to notice, they were too busy working on the power conduits. They wouldn't even see it coming. Maybe that was best…but was she really supposed to just gun these people down? What if they were innocent, what if the reports were wrong? Hell what if the terrorists weren't really terrorists!?

"We have our orders," the voice of her CO came over the com, loud and clear in her ears. "Weapons ready."

"Sir…"

"Not now SF2187!" Astrid shut her mouth tightly, arguing would do no one any good. Her CO was right, they had orders, it was not their place to argue. "Aim." Six blaster rifles leveled at the Twi'leks, still completely ignorant of the fact their lives were about to end.

"Fire."

The air exploded with the sound of blaster rifles firing, Astrid hesitated for only a breath. Her finger twitched on the trigger then pulled it hard. Her rifle spewed red plasma bolts that tore through the unarmored and apparently unarmed Twi'leks like drops of acid through tissue paper. The five man crew barely had time to scream before their bodies were cold and smoking on the deck.

The more veteran Troopers stepped forward to collect the corpses while SF2187 ducked around a bend in the corridor and tore her helmet off. She dropped to a knee and promptly emptied the contents of her stomach onto the deck. She'd never had to kill before, she had been trained too, to do so without pity or remorse, but all those training simulations had been against armed combatants, not unarmed civilians. That hadn't been combat; that had been murder! That was…

Astrid was pulled from her thoughts by the heavy thud of steel shod boots and monotonous rhythm of a respirator, loud in her ears. She looked up just as a huge, black figure stalked around a bend in the corridor. Darth Vader stood before the kneeling trooper and stared down at her. Astrid stared back, forgetting her helmet as she looked into those empty, black lenses that just stared right back. For a long time all she heard was his breathing, the empty faceplate of his helmet staring back at her in silent judgment. In that moment, Astrid understood the awe and revelry the other Troopers held for the Emperor's enforcer.

"Put your helmet back on Private" he said, his voice hollow and empty like a black hole. "And stand." Astrid didn't think, didn't need too. Lord Vader had given her an order and it brought her whole universe into clarity. Her face fell into a tight frown of determination and she rose, wiping her mouth on the back of her gauntleted fist.

"Yes my Lord," she said, replacing her helmet. She was SF2187 again, and again she knew her duty.

"With me Trooper, I have a task for you."

Vader strode passed her around the bend in the corridor and Astrid found that she had to hust after him to keep pace. He moved surprisingly fast for a man incased in what looked like a literal ton of armor. He brushed passed the other Troopers and the corpses of the work crew like water passed dead leaves, brushing them aside like smoke on the wind. "Sargent" he said without breaking his stride. "I am commandeering your squad, you are with me."

"Yes my Lord" snapped her Co, the entire squad falling into step behind Vader in neat Ranks.

Their journey and Vader's presence brought everything into clarity for SF2187. The Civilians had to be sacrificed. It would have taken hours to hunt down and deal with the terrorists. Not to mention the sheer number of men and resources that would have needed to be diverted from other, vital tasks. It was just tactics, cold and calculated. But that was what the brass was for, for making the hard calls, for giving the hard orders. That was their role. It was a Stormtrooper's role to follow them, so Astrid would. She would never question an order again, to do so would mean that even more lives could be lost somewhere down the line. She was not trained to see the big picture, so she would need to deal with what was in front of her. That was all she could do.

The terrorists had chosen to hole themselves up in the Hyperdrive core, and sealed the entrance. Not an altogether poor plan, the Hyperdive boasted the heaviest doors on the ship, but when Vader rounded the last turn he was a man on a mission, nothing was going to stop him. A group of Stormtroopers commanded by a lieutenant had rigged up a crude battering ram and were trying to beat the door down.

As if that would ever work.

"Stand Aside" came Darth Vader's voice, deep and oppressive like his presence. An electric hiss filled Astrid's ears as an angry red line of plasma birthed from what looked like Vader's fist.

His Lightsaber.

Astrid had heard stories about the legendary weapons but she didn't think they actually existed. Lord Vader hesitated a moment, pointed the end of his blade at the door and, with a grunt, shoved the blade into the door as deep as a man's forearm! The blade hissed and crackled as the metal under its fiery glow withered and succumbed to the heat.

Astrid was in awe, the door to the Hyperdrive core was melting before her very eyes. In a sixty count the door had gone from impenetrable barrier to molten pile of slag on the deck. Darth Vader stepped through the hole he had melted in the door with Astrid and several other troopers hot on his heels. Literally. The Core was empty. Save for a few scattered bodies. Astrid knelt to examine one of the engineers. She knew her, she'd eaten with her in the mess not three hours ago. Astrid strangled a sob in throat before she dared give it life. Her name had been Heather, beautiful woman and so smart. She had come from a long and proud family that had been all but destroyed in the Clone Wars. She was so sure that she would revive her family name, bring it back into the light of power and prestige and glory. And here she was, lying dead on the deck of the Hyperdrive core with a blaster bolt burnt through her chest. They had been so alike, in time the two could have been the best of friends. Astrid was glad for her helmet, for it hid the tears that absolutely could not be seen. With a gentle motion, Astrid ran her fingers over Heather's staring eyes. She looked so confused…and afraid. Astrid squeezed her eyes shut and stood up, mastering herself and her emotions, pushing them to the back of her mind until she could grieve quietly and in privet.

"Damn Rebels…traitors" she muttered, letting the sadness give way to rage.

"Steady private," said one of the sergeants. Of course Astrid couldn't be sure given their helmet coms made them all sound the same, but Astrid was almost sure that the Sargent who had spoken had been a woman. Just something in the tone. Astrid took a surprise amount of comfort in that, knowing that there were other Troopers that understood and could relate to her and still keep themselves together. If they could do it, so could Astrid.

Meanwhile, Vader had leapt down the Hyper Drive well to the Core platform. After a few moments, he returned to the deck…somehow. The well was roughly three meters deep and Vader had traversed it in a single jump. He shouldn't be able to do that, never mind the fact that he was encumbered by his armor. What was he?

"Evacuate," his voice cut through Astrid's thoughts like his lightsaber. "Now. They Hyperdrive is rigged to explode. Nothing can stop it." He got on his com to Captain Luitt as the Troopers and officers scattered like mice…all except Astrid and two other Troopers. Vader turned back to them after he delivered his message to the bridge.

"Get to an escape pod. Now."

"Sir" Astrid said without thinking. "We should insure you reach an escape pod safely."

"That won't be necessary, I'll find my own way off. Now, get to your pods. That is my order." Astrid and her fellow troopers snapped a sharp salute and about faced, retreating back into the hall, albeit with some reluctance.

The three Troopers raced down the hall as fast as their boots would carry them. The corridors were jammed with crewmen scrambling to get off ship.

"Where are your pods?" Astrid asked the two Troopers behind her.

"Section B, bay 34" answered the one to her right, his fellow echoing him.

"That's on the other side of the ship," Astrid said, more to herself. "Take that hallway, don't stop until you are in your pod, go!" She wasn't sure why she had taken control, wasn't sure why the Troopers had been following her. They must have been young, like her. Her companions peeled off as the hallways intersected and she silently wished them luck

Astrid pressed on by herself, shoving passed the crew that wouldn't get out of the way. It wasn't fear that motivated her, exactly. She was afraid to die, afraid to be trapped on the ship when it blew, but that's not what kept her moving forward.

Get to your pods. That is my order.

Darth Vader's words rang in her head like a gong. It wasn't fear that motivated her, it was his command…

Before she knew what she was doing, Astrid found herself in front of her designated escape pod, plugging in commands to prep it for launch. She tossed her rifle inside, hit the launch button and dove inside, strapping herself down just as the thrusters fired and launched the pod into space. It was a full two minutes before Astrid could pry her head off the seat, the thrusters burning themselves out to give her distance from the ship. With a grunt she pried the restraints off her shoulders and stood up, looking out the rear window.

"Now get off that thing…" she muttered to Lord Vader, still racing through the doomed ship. There was nothing to do but wait now, she couldn't navigate, couldn't signal, just wait for rescue. She sighed and settled back into her seat, trying to catch her breath.

Nearly half an hour passed and nothing, maybe the ship hadn't been doomed, maybe Lord Vader or Captain Luitt had been able to disable or disarm the bombs? Maybe…

Suddenly, the Perilous belched a huge ball of flame as the first of a series of explosions shook the ship. Then, after a brief moment of peace, the Perilous disappeared into a blinding, white hot ball of heat that looked like a miniature star. The ship was just…gone. But that wasn't the worst of it.

Astrid could actually see the wave of energy that spread out through space from the nova that had once been the Perilous. Astrid blinked and raced back into her seat. She reached up to secure herself into her seat again but was a second too slow. The shock wave hit the escape pod like a charging Bantha and hurled the pod hard to the side, dumping Astrid out of her seat and into the bulkhead. From there everything became spotty. At one point Astrid knew she had been upside down, thrown into the bulkhead a second time, seeing Ryloth grow closer and closer though she only ever saw the planet for a fraction of a moment before the view port was filled with space. Her pod was tumbling end over end. Then, everything went black.

When Astrid came too she was in an Imperial hospital. Her armor was gone, so was her weapon and she couldn't see out of her right eye. She gingerly touched her face and found that the right side of her head was wrapped in a bandage.

"What the?" Astrid groaned as she tried to sit up, her whole body ached. She gave up on sitting upright and let herself lie back on the bed. She tried to piece together what had happened after she blacked out in the pod.

It was a mess. Just spotty images and out of context thoughts. She remembered landing on Ryloth. Or, rather, crashing on Ryloth. She had been thrown clear of the pod…and then unimaginable pain. Her bandaged eye screamed in agony, causing Astrid to mewl and curl in on herself. She heard an alarm go off, summoning a nurse. The nurse didn't talk to her, just checked her vitals.

"What happened to me?" The nurse looked at her briefly, then went back to checking the machinery that Astrid was hooked up too. "What happened to me!" Astrid demanded a little more forcefully. When the nurse ignored her again, she reached out and took hold of his arm, squeezing hard. Or at least as hard as she could. "What happened to me?" she demanded. The nurse sighed and took her hand from his arm.

"Your pod crashed on Ryloth after the Perilous was destroyed. You were pulled out of the jungle 16 hours after you crashed. You were unconscious and near death, your right eye was destroyed by shrapnel. We replaced your destroyed eye with a cybernetic one, it will take some getting used too, but you will recover."

Astrid blinked and settled back down onto her pillow. It was all too much.

"Lord Vader, did he…"

"The Emperor and Darth Vader made it off the ship fine, they're both back on Coruscant now."

The Emperor? The Emperor had been on the Perilous when it went up? This was bad…really bad. If the Perilous had been an elaborate assassination attempt on the Emperor...it would mean a Galaxy wide crack down on everything the Empire deemed unacceptable. And worse, the bell couldn't be unrung. Someone had made an attempt on the Emperor and taken out a Star Destroyer in the process. This would mean greater unrest and maybe even a full blown rebellion.

"I'm going to give you something to help you sleep. Don't worry SF2187, you'll be out of here in no time, just try to relax and sleep."

Astrid started to drift off almost immediately, despite the tumultuous thoughts that raged in her head. The darkness closed in around her…and then everything went black and she sank into unconsciousness.