Setia Turlough, better known by the name of Darth Craven, smirked as she saw the armor clad giant climb from the drop pod. She reached out to him with the Force, tendrils of her will grasping at his mind.

"Come to me, warrior," she called. The Knight obeyed, though she could feel his resistance; his will was stronger than she could master forever, but getting him back to her ship would be no problem. Had the pod dropped anywhere other than this area of Coruscant, the disturbance would have alerted the Jedi immediately. Even so, she had only a few moments to collect this newcomer and hope he would make up for the information source he'd destroyed upon landing.

The Professor ducked instinctively when he heard the explosion from the ship. He'd had enough experience with explosions to recognize the sound of a large ship falling out of orbit as it popped. The Jedi around him scrambled, messengers delivering orders to the panicked crowd.

Pi-edi ran up the corridor, the Professor darting after. The Time Lord had the fleeting worry that his companions might not stay in the TARDIS, but dismissed it as quickly.

"What's happened," he asked the Jedi as he followed. Pi-edi glanced back at him, seeming to think about what to tell him. Finally, he answered,

"An unknown ship has crashed just outside the planet. It's coming down now, but we have it tethered in the upper atmosphere so that we can search it for survivors."

"Good," said the Professor. "Let me go with you. I can help." The Jedi nodded once.

"Okay," he said. "We'll need all the help we can get." Pi-edi led the way to a hangar where a number of droids were being outfitted into ships. The Jedi led the way to his, climbing into it, the Professor following.

"First priority is to get the crew and passengers out, if we can," said the Jedi. The Professor nodded.

"Of course," he said. "Then what?" The ship started to ascend, moving forward and out of the hangar as the Jedi explained the plan more thoroughly. The Professor was almost forcefully reminded of Gallifrey the last time he'd seen it; he'd been coming back from a mission like this one when he had decided to run away from his home. He shook himself; now was not the time to get nostalgic about the war. Not that he was sure any time was the right time for that.

Athena sighed loudly as she paced around the control room impatiently.

"He promises to show us the wonders of the universe," complained the Slytherin. "And then he just dodges off for a bit of fun alone. Typical bloke." She twirled her wand between her fingers as she paced, her cloak thrown over one of the guard rails around the center console.

"It'd serve him right if we darted off for a bit, don't you think," Athena questioned the other girls. "Be the first to discover a strange new world and learn a new alien language. Sounds fun, doesn't it?" Billie smiled. This was far from the first adventure that Athena had suggested for them during their friendship, and she wasn't going to pass up this, more unique one.

"Well, let's go," said the Hufflepuff, grinning sheepishly. They darted for the door, but to their dismay, Rosie stood between them and their escape.

"That," she said. "Is a bad idea. The Professor wouldn't tell you to do something unless he wasn't sure it was dangerous." The smaller girl locked eyes with the two witches, making them falter.

"Whatever," said Athena, turning around. "He'd probably be back right as we stepped out the door anyway."

The Space Marine awoke in a ship. He knew the feeling of space travel after having lived on one for so long. He moved his arms, only to find them restricted by some kind of chains. It took him several seconds to realize what else was amiss; his helmet had been removed. His eyes scanned the room, seeing his bolter and sword across the room, next to where a figure was standing.

It was a young woman clad in a set of black robes, a mess of sandy hair that streamed into her face. "Nice to see you awake," she said, her voice filled with a toxic sweetness. "I am Lady Craven." She made a gesture that was almost a bow in the direction of the Space Marine.

"I'm called Stern," the knight introduced himself. "What's going on? Where am I?" The woman smiled, stepping closer to him.

"All in good time," she said. "Did you purposely intercept that fleet of Droids when you entered the Alderaan system?" Stern made a mental note that the place he'd arrived was called Alderaan, promising to attempt to chart it.

"No," he said. "Were there any other survivors," he asked, doubting that there were. For all he knew, he was the only Iron Knight that even knew his fleet had left it's home galaxy.

"No," said Craven. The light hit her eyes, and Stern tensed instinctively; her yellow eyes screamed of Chaos. Stern strained against the bindings that held him in place; the chains showing an impossible resilience to his immense strength.

"By the Emperor, release me and I might let you die swiftly," growled Stern. Craven glared at him, her eyes narrowing.

"I was afraid you'd say something like that," she said. "Well, I think you can rot down here until I can think of a better way to kill you."

The ship was in pieces when the Professor and Pi-edi approached. The Professor's eyes lit up immediately.

"Oh," he said, grinning. "Yes."

[a/n - So, I decided to split this chapter into two parts since it's important and I didn't want to butcher it getting it out when I promised. Sorry.