4 BBY
Core Worlds, Ord Mantell
Some cantina… somewhere…
Music blared from speakers above, and the smell of cheap alcohol and sweaty drinkers wafted through the air. A young girl weaved through the crowd, a dark brown robe covering her, hood over her face. A tan face with bright green eyes could be seen under the hood, and she scanned the crowd, eyes widening once she saw the white plastoid and the silence coming through the room.
The stark white armor with bright blue paint stood out in the crowd, and the Stormtroopers of the Imperial Army's 501st Legion formed up inside the cantina. A few patrons slipped aside quietly, only to be shoved back in by more Stormtroopers outside. A trooper with a pauldron stepped forward, and his distorted voice came through his helmet.
"Citizens, we are looking for a rogue Jedi," he stated, pulling up a holoprojector and activating it. "Her name is Deriyas Xiaoph. We have received information that she may be here, on Ord Mantell," his visor swept the crowd, trying to make someone confess. Deriyas backed away, hand involuntarily going to her lightsaber.
Someone abruptly shoved her to the clones, her hood falling off. E-11 blaster carbines were leveled, and a yellow beam of energy lit up the cantina. Deriyas gulped- this was very one-sided. The sergeant spoke slowly, "Surrender, Jedi scum."
She lashed out and decapitated him, then fell back and rapidly swung her lightsaber to deflect the lasers flying her way. Soon she was backed against the wall, and was crouching down. Deriyas cried silently- she failed her Master, her friends, and now she would pay for it. She never wanted it to end like this.
From somewhere behind the Stormtroopers, a few people were roughly shoved aside by an armored figure. The rest cleared out of their way. The helmeted face stared at the troopers firing pack after pack of ammunition at the young Jedi. A gloved hand pressed a few buttons on his wrist-mounted control rig. A slit in a gauntlet opened up, and he pointed it to the Stormtroopers.
One turned around, and began to say, "What are yo-" before getting sprayed with a liquid. More specifically, oil- flammable oil. Soon the whole squad was covered, and they turned on the assailant.
One blast caught him in the faceplate. His head jerked back, and then turned back to the Stormtroopers. A single scorch mark was the only evidence of the shot's damage.
"Bad choice, attacking that young lady, bucket heads," the evidently Mandalorian growled. He shot a little pool of oil near his foot with a DC-17S, lighting it on fire. Soon, the flames spread to the Stormtroopers, who swatted at the flames in vain.
The Mandalorian shot his flamethrower into the squad as well. Melted armor and roasted flesh was all anyone can smell, and the screams of the dying soldiers drowned out everything.
He walked through the flames, and jerked his head towards a door in front of Deriyas. "Let's go," he stated, offering her a hand. She stared at him, before deactivating her lightsaber and grasping the armored limb. His armor was black, when she looked at it, with seemingly random red and grey stripes and patterns. A white krayt dragon skull adorned one shoulder guard, symbol of the Mandalorians.
He blasted the door off its hinges with a rocket, and dashed into the street. He upholstered both pistols at his belt and let loose into the guards outside the cantina. "MOVE!" he barked at Deriyas. She needed no motivation, and dashed across the street, lasers flying in both directions.
People emerged from their homes, donned in motley green combat uniforms, random pieces of armor, or just plainclothes. They started shooting at the Imperial troops, allowing the two to dash off into the urban sprawl.
Deriyas's lungs burned, lack of air and exercise making her weak. The Mandalorian seemed to notice, and held her in front of his body, bridal style. He glanced at her face, and simply stated, "Hold on."
His jet pack roared to life, and they took off into the Ord Mantellian night. Down below, Imperials and guerilla forces clashed, and lasers and rockets tore through the city. Deriyas watched with sick fascination.
She turned to the random mercenary, and screamed to be heard above the wind, "Why are you doing this!?" He looked at her, then evened out and began to descend. He landed on the roof of the spaceport, next to an opening hangar. She heard snippets of conversation, before he ripped off his helmet.
Underneath lay a tan, young man, no older than her- around 17. His black hair was cut short, and the tips were dyed red. He held up a comlink, blatantly ignoring her again, much to her chagrin.
"Yes, Ex-three, get the ship running, NOW!" He yelled into the communications device. A warbled reply came back, and the ship below them roared its engines to life and a hum filled the air. "Damn droid," he muttered.
He turned to her, smiling awkwardly, "Sorry 'bout that," he apologized, before gesturing to himself. "Name's Pontum," he stated, before jerking a finger to the ship. "That's my ship, the Disaster. Corellian YT-1300," he boasted. Just then a shot landed at his feet, and he glanced up. "That's our cue to go."
Deriyas muttered a soft, "Yeah," before being grabbed again, and they jumped into the hangar. Pontum slipped his helmet on again, this time audible on the comlink. "HK, warm up the guns, we might have company!" An eerily excited droid responded, "My pleasure, master!"
He dragged her towards the lowering boarding ramp of the ship, grunting, "C'mon!" An Imperial Star Destroyer dropped out over the system, TIEs already deploying. Several Victory-class frigates also appeared, forming a blockade.
"Dammit," Pontum muttered, shoving Deriyas up the ramp, before twisting and tossing a few thermal detonators towards approaching Stormtroopers. They tried to vainly evade the explosives, but ultimately got blown to tiny bits. Pontum dashed up the ramp, dragging Deriyas to the cockpit.
She panicked, screaming, "What's going on!?" He replied, "Imps pulled a blockade!" A grey and green R2 astromech wheeled in, and Pontum immediately ordered, "Ex-Three, get Ewil on the comm! Say I got a priority package, level Juliet Echo Delta India!" The little droid beeped before plugging itself into a nearby console.
"Strap in," Pontum barked, turning switches and the lot, pulling the ship up. Deriyas hastily did so, leaning back as the YT-1300 rocketed into an oncoming swarm of TIE fighters. Pontum got up, and calmly stated, "Deriyas, take the controls, I'm joining HK on the guns." She looked at him bewildered, gasping, "Wait, WHAT!?"
Too late, he was already sliding down to the bottom gun well. His voice blared over the comm unit, "Keep us straight, and put all power to forward shields and engines. We're gonna blast our way through." The confused Jedi looked at R2-X3, as if saying, "What do I do!?" The droid twisted his computer arm and suddenly the ship went faster, lights dimming and a diagram showing massive blue energy in the bow of the starship.
Deriyas looked at it, smiling, "Thanks, lil guy." X3 beeped happily, before screeching as the TIEs opened up. Green beams of energy flew around and at the ship, causing it to shake slightly. Deriyas grabbed the controls, sending them into evasive maneuvers.
Feeling a slight chill in the direction of her upper left, she saw a TIE Advanced Fighter hurtling straight towards them. Anger, hate, and the general feeling of the Dark Side reverberated throughout that cockpit. It was a Dark Jedi, she realized. She'd heard the stories, but... Her eyes widened as she pitched the ship forward, narrowly avoiding a burst from a frigate's turbolasers.
Meanwhile, in the Fun Zone
"HK, FIRE!" Pontum roared, blue/white lasers streaking towards the incoming ships. Three TIEs vaporized immediately, and the rest broke formation. The Dark Jedi weaved around the shots aimed at him, and Deriyas heard who she only knew as HK exclaim, "Praise: the meatbag is an excellent pilot, master. My targeting matrix cannot formulate a pattern."
Pontum destroyed a TIE bomber, swiveling his gun to the Dark Jedi's fighter. Green lasers flared from his cannons, Deriyas's Force-enhanced piloting managing to evade most.
"Focus up front, HK, I got this bugger," he said. He leveled his cannon at him, and opened up. As expected, he weaved and evaded the lasers. "Saber jockey," he muttered. He closed his eyes, and fired at him, then again, his hands guided by something else, in a split second at his left. He opened his eyes and saw the flaming wreck of a TIE Advanced plummet to the surface.
"Nice shooting, back there," Deriyas called out. Pontum grinned; he loved using these guns, so. Back in the cockpit, Deriyas noticed something strange- there were white and red fighters weaving through the Imperial formation, along with old Z-95 Headhunters and ARC-170 fighters.
"Teardrop Squadron," Pontum informed her, "part of the Rebel Alliance. Oughta meet'em, squadron lead served with General Plo Koon." Plo Koon- that name sent stabs of pain to her heart and tears to her eyes. She unconsciously guided the ship with her hands, though her heart was on other matters, while HK and Pontum blasted Imperials to smithereens.
"Hey, P, we gotcha'ur six, head in on vector 281, clear skies over there," came the twangy voice of Teardrop's CO. Pontum threw off his headset and clambered back out of the gun well, and bounded to the cockpit. "Thanks, Teardrop One," he breathed, switching controls back over to his side.
Two ARCs fell in behind them, the rear gunners assisting HK, who had also begun firing at pursuing fighters. Pontum threw the ship in a barrel roll, straight at the ISD.
Deriyas unconsciously clutched her seat, glancing nervously at the evidently insane pilot. "What the hell are you doing," she whimpered. He merely grinned, flicking on another two switches.
"Teardrops Four and Seven, you two ready?" Pontum asked. "Been waiting a long time for this," a deep voice growled. "Oya, for Mando'a," replied a woman. The 3 leveled out, and they fired concentrated bursts at the shield generators of the ISD. As they got closer and enemy fire got heavier, Deriyas began regretting trusting this guy.
She closed her, waiting for the inevitable crash. However, two explosions, and Pontum yelling, "Now," made her look up. Purple, pink, and blue streaks hurtled from the starships toward the bridge, and the proton torpedoes punched giant holes in the hull.
A TIE Bomber also fell, port wing gone and the hull aflame, the smoke trail hurtling towards the middle of the huge destroyer. It crashed in the center of the capital ship, all of the unexploded ordnance causing a massive explosion. The ship started falling toward Ord Mantell, lighting aflame from re-entry.
"This is TD One, we gotta go now!" Teardrop One frantically shouted. Multiple ISDs dropped out of hyperspace, and a huge almost city like ship. "The Executor," Pontum mumbled, "Darth Vader's personal flagship; a freaking Super Star Destroyer. I thought it was just a legend."
Deriyas gulped, and suddenly both cried out as the dark side emanating from the ship struck both of them. Teardrop Squadron began jumping to light speed. Pontum slipped from his seat, clutching his head. "Ex-Three," he croaked, "jump, no-o-o-o-ow..." He collapsed onto the durasteel deck, Deriyas falling next to him. X3 hastily plugged himself in and made the jump to hyperspace. Just as the Death Star appeared...
And then there was darkness.
HEEEEEEELLO RANDOM READERS WHO ACTUALLY BOTHER WITH THIS
ANOTHER ANONYMOUS SKRUB WORK FROM LE IPAD WHILE IN SCHOOL
I KNOW IT'S BAD BUT PLS REVIEW
I'LL PROBABLY EDIT IT LATER
PS: I HAVE WAY TOO MANY WIPs RN LIKE SRSLY
PPS: I HAVE AN IDEA FOR DEVIL TEAM WHO WANTS ME TO SPOIL THE PLOT?
PPPS: MANDOS ARE KOOL K AND I LIKE CORELLIAN SHIPS
PPPPS: I ALSO LOVE HK DROIDS THEYRE LIKE UBER AWESOME