Chapter II Ben Skywalker

The gigantic enemy ship dropped out of hyperspace and immediately fired a let loose a broadside of laser fire. Ben Skywalker was on the bridge of Sliding Panda when the main power went offline.

"Master Lahim!" Ben Skywalker called out, "are you all right?" Ben knew the Jedi master was in the sleeping quarters, but he could not raise him on the comms. Everything is black. Ben tried again.

No response.

Ben tried to remember the steps to cut into auxiliary power in case of engine failure. Step One the red button. Two, find key put into slot that says power line one, turn counterclockwise five times. Three...The Panda shook violently. The gravity went out.

Ben used the Force to hold his feet on what he thought of as the ground. The key floated past his vision.

What was supposed to be a simple sightseeing and discovery mission was quickly turning out to be a nightmare. After reports of a possible Jedi sighting on Jakku, his father sent Master Lahim, a newly minted Jedi Master on a reconnaisance mission. His father the Grand Master must have sensed Ben was still occasionally feeling melancholy over his mother, felt it was a good idea to send Ben away from the temple on Coruscant.

Ben met Tor Lahim on landing pad 14 at 0600 Galactic Standard Time and left Coruscant 15 minutes later. Two days later they were just orbiting Jakku and haven't even landed before being attacked.

By a kriffing dreadnought. Ben had never seen such a monstrosity. Only in auntie Winter's old stories had such a huge monster appeared. But it was no legend firing on them, it was the real thing. And it just fired a broadside. The bridge of the Sliding Panda spun in front of Ben's eyes.

He had to get to the engine room for the final step. Ben, with the help of the Force walked slowly as debris flowed past. He was just steps away from the engine room door when he heard the lightsaber. He dodged and watched as a line of red flashed past. Tresses of red string started blinding Ben before he figured out it was his own hair. The lightsaber hummed. Getting louder by the second.

"Down!" a deep voice was in Ben's ears. He obeyed instantly as the sound of lightsabers striking eachother reverberated in the corridor. Ben crawled forward toward Master Lahim and standing up only after hearing a huge crash.

The engine room door was just gone. In its place was shreds and bits of durasteel. Bits of what must have been the door only a few seconds earlier flew everywhere. In the center of the maelstrom, a black shadow launched itself at Ben. A tip of Red was at its head. The lightsaber at Ben's side flew from his belt and activated with a snap hiss, and only the speed of which it did saved Ben from being becoming a human pincushion.

Ben blinked, In front of him stood a thin figure all in black, taller than him by an razor's edge. In the right hand was a light shoto, he didn't have a left hand, instead it was a hook. As Ben tensed for battle, the figure advanced, the shoto's humming was deafening, and the enemy's hook was moving in such a way as if painting a picture. Ben developed a migraine looking at it.

With a shriek the figure started trying to poke Ben's abdomen with the shoto. He dodged like an eel and the enemy missed by microns and the shoto cut into the bulkhead.

Ben heard a grunt nearby. Lahim was fighting his own battle with a bald woman, also clad in black. Neither Lahim nor the woman had the advantage.

While Ben was thinking about Lahim's situation, Shoto man's hook grazed into Ben's shoulder. The enemy grunted with effort as he tried to cut a piece of flesh from Ben's body. Ben headbutted the shoto man, which appeared to daze him. In any case he was five feet from Ben now, having been Force pushed. Shoto man limped slowly toward the engine room, his mask lay askew, and Ben's saw for the first time that shoto man was actually a girl, auburn tresses escaping from the side of her grotesque facade.

Ben gasped with effort for more oxygen. Tor Lahim's fight with the bald woman seem to also have ended. Turning to look at Master Lahim, Ben noticed a bald head, decapitated by the Master's feet.

Lahim was standing near the wall in the crossidor, his magnetic boots powered on. He gestured toward the engine room with his yellow lightsaber, "our friend is still in there."

The Jedi advanced into the engine room. Sitting by on the far side with a her right leg stretched and left side in a parody of Jedi meditation position, was shoto girl. She had taken the mask off entirely, it laid on her chest, which moved quickly up and down with each of shoto girl's shallow breaths. Ben closed the distance and took the helmet off the body. Shoto girl resisted, her hook moved toward Ben, who held her helmet. But before she could reach the helmet she moaned and her eyes shut themselves. They didn't open again. Kriff.

"What do we do?" Ben asked Master Lahim.

"What we must, even though she's obviously a Sith, we Jedi cannot leave her to die. Killing the unarmed is not our way."

"But Master!" Ben protested. "She almost killed me!"

"It is your anger talking." Lahim said, "Ask yourself what the Grand Master would do."

"He would help her."

Yes, We must do what we can, little enough that it may be." Lahim said, pointing to a utility box, "strap her down while I get the auxiliary power online."

While Ben worked on the unconscious girl, Master Lahim managed to get the auxiliary power up online, an orange tinted light filled the room, the gravity returned.

"The shooting seem to have stopped. Let's go to the bri". Lahim said. He was interrupted by a gruff male voice. It was in Bocce.

"[We know you are in there. You are outnumbered and surrounded. Just surrender and make it easier for everyone]."

"Who are you?" Ben replied in Basic.

"[Dead or alive you are going to make us rich!]"

In response three thermal detonator rolled into the room. Or tried to. They reversed course as soon as they came into the engine room. Seconds later explosions were heard. There were no time to celebrate however, as a large irregular hole was sucking air and anything near. Screams were momentarily heard, then silence.

A force field must have held, or I would be dead, Ben thought.

The ship rocked again, and again, and again.

The floor bucked and an entire boulder came off. The straps came off violently as the unconscious intruder was throne into the air and began to float away. Ben used the Force to lift her toward him and then held her with his hands.

"Ben?"

"Master Lahim?"

"We are going to crash. Hold on, Kid, hold on!"