A/N
Okay so I think this will be my final edit of this chapter. I'm pretty sure it's as good as it's going to get.
Thanks to 'Guest' for pointing out a couple of my mistakes, I'm in the process of doing minor rewrites to better edit my earlier chapters.
Last thing, as I complete my rewrites I'll be both updating the chapters on and uploading them to AO3, under the name Reven_Onasi. Everything I write from here on will be available on both sites just in case I get 'no lemon' ban hammer.
Chapter 1
Awakening
The hum and hiss of lightsabers flashed back and forth across the dim cavernous bridge, the multicolored streaks of the flashing weapons providing odd bursts of color striking a surreal counterpoint to the screams of pain and frustration from the combatants below. The scent of ozone, blood and cooked flesh filled my nostrils. Bodies lay everywhere across the decking, some wore the robes, both the brown and tan of the Jedi and the black and grey of the Sith. Still others wore the red and silver armor of Sith troopers. Some were missing limbs, some were burnt and charred, others lay at unnatural angles, their bones shattered. Scorch marks and deep half melted cuts marred the floors and walls. I was seeing not a battlefield, but a slaughterhouse.
There in the midst of the chaos and screams of the surviving Jedi, a lone figure in black flashed across the room dancing between opponents as though he were performing, rather than slaughtering some of the most dangerous beings in the Republic. He seemed nothing but a black blur at times. Moving so fast that the vibrant purple lightsaber he wielded seemed to be a solid sheet of light as he flashed past, cutting through the slower and weaker members of the Jedi's boarding party. The Jedi were fighting with all they had, shouting orders to each other, trying to organize into a united offence, but it was no use against the black robed Sith Lord. He dove and spun between them with ease, taking and arm here, or a leg there, only to reappear moments later to end the wounded Jedi's life. He never stopped, never slowed, his dance of death was endless and seemingly unstoppable.
I watched as the unnaturally graceful figure continued his relentless destruction, killing more than a two dozen Jedi single handed until there was only one left standing. There alone in the middle of the chaos, a beautiful brown haired young woman in a form fitting cream colored outfit under a simple brown robe. She stood with her palms pressed flat together and her eyes closed. When the last of her comrades fell she seemed to let out a deep shuddering breath, but made no other movements.
Suddenly the Black Robed figure seemed to materialize out of the gloom to stop in front of a beautiful brunette Jedi. Her eyes snapped open and her double bladed lightsaber flew from the clip on her belt and into her open palm. She seemed far too young for the look of utter defeat that flashed across her face. Yet despite that, she ignited and raised her Double bladed Saber only pausing long enough to narrow her eyes in determination before flashing forward with incredible speed. She chased the black robed figure across the deck, the blades of her lightsaber flowing into a single two meter wide disk of deadly golden light.
If the Sith lord was startled by her sudden attack he made no sign of it. He simply retreated back, seeming to disappear from before her to reappear a few feet away. No matter how fast the young Jedi moved she simply couldn't hit the black robed figure. She continued undaunted, steadily chasing the figure across the deck and back. It was obvious that he was toying with her, and she seemed to know it as well, her face stayed impassive at first but by the second time she chased him the full length of the bridge she was gritting her teeth in frustration.
By the third pass across the deck, three Jedi stragglers rushed onto the bridge looking tired but determined as they surveyed the scene before them. Pausing only a moment to take in the utter carnage of the bridge, they rushed to the aid of the young Jedi who was still chasing the Dark Lord across the bridge. I couldn't hear it, but I could swear the black robed man was laughing.
The three new Jedi were all older than the young woman. Two males and one female. The men wore the robes of Jedi, while the woman wore black battle armor. The two males were both human, one dark skinned, black as ebony in the dim light of the bridge with a bald head in his mid fifties. The other was much younger and light skinned with blond hair and bright green eyes flashing with repressed rage as he charged head long at the black clad Sith lord. The female was a deep violet skinned Twi'lek with matching violet eyes who looked no more than thirty. Of the three she was by far the most dangerous, she carried two silver bladed Shoto sabers marking her as a Jedi Weapons Master, the most skilled combat experts of the Jedi Order. Mastering all seven traditional forms of lightsaber combat was only the beginning of the requirements of joining their legendary ranks.
Apparently the Dark Lord recognized the danger, he disengaged the young Jedi he was amusing himself with by slamming her in the chest with a force push powerful enough to send her flipping end over end several meters back straight into the oncoming Jedi. The older man deactivated his saber at once and leaped into the air, letting her slam into him and sending them both sprawling across the deck stunned.
The younger man distracted for the merest moment was brought sharply back to attention by the sudden arc of terrible force lightning that caught him square in the chest. The blast hit him with such force that he went flying across the bridge to slam into the bulkhead fifteen meters away with a sickening crunch. The young Jedi with the golden saber looked up just in time to see his lifeless body fall to the deck, nothing more than a smoking ruin of broken flesh.
All at once I was in the body of the dark lord looking out through his eyes at the oncoming Weapons Master, cold determination in her eyes. I could feel the burning rage churning inside filling him with power and purpose.
No not 'Him'. Me, I was the dark lord in that moment I could feel the unbridled power burning through every atom of my body. The hate I bore these pitiful Jedi was overwhelming, the sense of power intoxicating. I stood completely still, deep purple lightsaber humming softly at my side. I waited patiently for the weapons master to reach me, the fierce joy of the hunt intertwining with my overwhelming rage at her challenge. This woman posed no threat to me, not with the power of the Dark side so utterly under my command. Her arrogance at believing she could stand against me was laughable. She was a bug buzzing around my head, a mere annoyance and nothing more. Some hint of my emotions must have bled through my control, because her confidence faltered. Resignation slowly built up to strangle her resolve as she fell upon me, she was still determined to fight, but any hope that she would survive slowly faded.
Disgusted with her complete lack of self preservation, I easily avoided her attack, batting aside her most powerful blows one handed without budging an inch. Despite the fact that I single handedly killed dozens of Jedi in the last few minutes, she would still walk headlong into death. This was one of the many reasons that I despised the Jedi, their absolute inflexibility. There was no room in their order for compromise, no thought to adjusting course. Just a headlong sprint forward, confident that they would win, or that their death was destined by the Force.
Enraged beyond what I should have felt towards the woman I pulled the one the Dark Side with all my will. The force flowed through me in a torrent of power, filling my limbs with limitless burning energy as time seemed to slow. To an outside observer she would have moved with such speed as to be nothing but a blur of limbs and continuous streaks of silver light, but to me each of her strikes seemed to take forever, it felt as though I waited minutes for each attack to find my own blade.
I could have finished her in the first second of the engagement. Or for that matter, I could have simply snapped her neck with the force before she ever got near me. But I waited, toying with her. Feeding off her feelings of frustration and hopeless resignation, delighting as her confidence was crushed beneath my unstoppable power. One more piece of proof that the Jedi were a failed organization.
Not realizing the situation for what it was, the beautiful young Jedi jumped up and sprinted toward the battle, the dark skinned man right behind her. They moved with pitiful slowness, each step seeming to take forever. Although they were probably running five times faster than the most elite human sprinter alive.
Abruptly I was out of the Dark lord looking down on the battle once more. The sudden change in perspective and perception of time, jarring me for a moment. Suddenly the two Jedi were flying forward with incredible speed covering the remaining distance in just under a second, their Lightsabers flashing with blinding speed. The fight dissolved into discs of light and blurring motion.
Gradually my eye was drawn away from the fighting and out through the bridge's huge viewport. A fierce space battle was underway outside, strange that I hadn't noticed it before. The Capital Class Dreadnought out the view port swiveled it's turbo laser batteries directly at me. The Massive barrels seemed to gape open like a black holes, infinite destruction hidden in their depths.
Then the whole world exploded as dozens of red streaks of light slammed into the hull all along the ship's side, several of them smashing directly into the bridge's view port. The explosion launched the Dark lord, the Jedi and a number of the dead across the bridge to slam into the opposite bulkhead. Atmosphere instantly flew out the huge hole left by the barrage of laser fire, carrying with it a swarm of corpses and debris into space. Only scant seconds later an emergency force field sprang into place sealing the damaged viewport and stopping the gale.
I could see the young brown haired Jedi slowly get to her feat, fumbling her lightsaber onto her belt as she staggered about looking for survivors.
Another Huge explosion rocked the ship and I felt like I was being shaken about in a bottle. But the young Jedi didn't seem affected as she went over to check her two comrades for life signs. Apparently finding none, her shoulders shook in a single silent sob as she got back to her feet; and walked to the dark lord. He lay there, seemingly lifeless on the deck, laying completely still. A good sized piece of metal stuck out of his back a good fifteen centimeters long, and jagged from being ripped from the wall and propelled as shrapnel. Blood soaked into the cloth around the wound, turning the purple designs black where his blood was absorbed.
As she leaned down to check his pulse, another massive shudder went through the ship, the last thing I saw were her eyes popping, open wide, with either astonishment or alarm, I couldn't tell.
The next thing I felt was deck plaiting slamming hard into my left side. My eyes sprang wide at the shock and pain. I was laying on my side on the cold deck of my bunk room. For a moment I was completely confused, trying to pull my mind out of the dream. It had been so vivid and real, I couldn't recall ever having a dream that felt so real. It was deeply disturbing to watch one of the greatest enemies of the Republic annihilate Jedi like that. But before I could spend too much time contemplating the dream another loud boom of metallic thunder rang through the ship. Reeling on the floor for another moment, I focused on my assignment to distract myself and pull my focus to the here and now. I was on the Endar Spire, a Hammerhead Class battle cruiser for the Republic. We were heading to Taris, an Ecumenopolis just off the Hydian Way. We were scorting a Jedi, Bastila Shan, a Jedi that was especially gifted in battle meditation. A shiver ran down my spine as I realized that the Jedi in my strange nightmare was Bastila. If I survived this I would need to talk to someone about that dream, it was uncanny.
Apparently our mission to rendezvous with a small Republic fleet and break the Sith blockade around Taris, was not going to plan. Getting to my feet I looked around my bunkroom still slightly dazed by the dream and the sudden attack. Something must have gone wrong, we shouldn't have been in combat for another two days. I was on board specifically to advise Bastila during the battle, and there was no way they could have readied an attack in just a few hours from when I went to sleep.
While not the sort of mission I was normally assigned to, I was quite adept with battle strategy; and I doubted anyone on board would have been so reckless as to attack without informing me. I had no hands on experience with space combat but my orders were specific and had come from the top. I was supposed to be involved in all strategy planning from the moment I came on board, not even a Jedi would ignore orders from the Admiralty. At least I hoped they wouldn't.
Just then another 'Boom' sounded somewhere farther aft and the deck shook beneath me, causing me to lose my balance and crash back down. Deciding I didn't have the luxury of speculation at the moment, I rolled back to my feet and went to my equipment locker, rapidly pulling on my gear. I was half in and half out of my armor when the hatch behind me made a loud 'clunking' noise. I spun blaster in hand, balancing on one foot. Half my body was covered in Battle Armor, the other half including one buttock hung free in the open air. Trask Ulgo stood in the open hatch, despite the strain lining his face a small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth seeing me balancing there on one leg half naked.
"Don't say it." I snapped, glaring at him.
A tall thin man in his late forties Trask had gone almost completely grey making him look much older than he really was. Despite that he was still a handsome man with high broad cheekbones, a straight nose and square jaw. A classic soldier, Trask had been in the republic navy since he was nineteen years old. So for him to have that almost panicked look on his face, it must be very bad.
"What's happened?!" I asked putting the blaster down and getting my battle armor on the rest of the way.
"We're dead in space, the Sith interdicted us just above Taris. We've been boarded, Sith troopers are flooding the ship." He replied, looking completely exhausted as he turned and closed the hatch behind him.
"What about Bastila?" I asked, pulling on holsters for my blaster pistols and slinging my twin Vibroblades across my back.
"Last I heard Bastila and her Jedi were making a stand on the bridge." Trask said leaning against the wall to catch his breath.
"So we don't have any chance of escaping with the Spire?" I asked, finally getting my Helmet locked into place. I booted up my wrist comp and my visor's HUD, as the possibilities ran through my mind.
We were going down, that much was obvious. Once I was on the ground what would I need more than anything else in a hostile but civilized environment? I pulled on the last of my gear and grabbed a couple of large equipment bags out from under my bunk.
"No, the last order I received was to abandon ship." He said, straightening up, confirming my own conclusions.
"We aren't going to the escape pods" I said, tossing him a bag. "Take any weapons and equipment you can grab on the way."
"What! Why? We don't have time for this, we need to get to the escape pods now!" he said, looking at me like I'd lost my mind.
"Look, my mission is to protect and advise Bastila, until I know where she is and if she's alive I'm not going anywhere." I said pushing past him and smacking the door release.
I stepped out into the hall, heavily modified blaster carbine at my shoulder; scanning down the passageway for Sith. I could almost feel Trask's disapproval behind me but he didn't argue as we approached the hatch at the end of the hall.
The Spires layout was a pretty simple arrangement, Hammerhead class cruisers were on the smaller side of the Republic Navy, it had two parallel sets of three decks, separated in the middle by it's massive engine core. Designed as fast attack vessels they were built for speed and maneuverability, not size or firepower. Fortunately for us, we were in the senior crew quarters, which shared the same deck as the bridge, unfortunately we would have to make our way down the whole length of the ship to get there.
I moved smoothly up to a hatchway that led to one of the central throughways connecting the port and starboard decks. Crouching down to the side of the hatch I hit the release with my carbine at the ready. The hatch released and slid back with a loud metallic 'clunking' sound. Just beyond the door were two Sith heavy troopers, blood red armor gleaming in the bright overhead lamps, heavy repeating blasters pointing straight down the hall.
They saw us crouched to the side almost at once, but they were just a little too slow. The moment they came into view I opened up on them with my specialized blaster carbine. It's modified focusing lens and overcharged emitter shooting out short bursts of laser fire strong enough to cut through fifteen centimeters of Durasteel. The thin armor of the heavy troopers did almost nothing to protect them. In less than two seconds I put half a dozen bursts into them, each hit burning a number of two centimeter holes clean through them. They folded up and crumpled to the floor like puppets with their strings cut.
I waited another thirty seconds to see if they had any backup nearby. Nothing but silence interrupted by the rumbling shudders of the ship reached my ears through the sound enhancing sensors of my helmet. After all, my blaster carbine was an infiltration model, it made almost no noise when fired.
Deciding that nothing was coming I moved forward as quietly and quietly as I could, stooping down to take their weapons and gear storing it in my duffle before continuing on toward the bridge.
We came into contact with another four squads of Sith before reaching the bridge, between Trask and I we took them down quickly and efficiently. Trask objected to scavenging their weapons, but after I explained the benefits of having weapons to sell on a blockaded world, he fell silent and helped gather their gear as we went. Though I could tell that he was getting progressively more upset with each stop to scavenge.
When we came to the bridge Trask and I dropped our bags, now heavy with spoils from the fallen. Silently I set my blaster rifle down on top of the gear bag next to the hatch and pulled my Vibroblades from the scabbards at my back. Trask followed suit by activating a Sith personal shield he pulled off a corpse and drawing his own Cortosis alloy longsword. I glanced at him gauging his readiness as I listened to the fighting just beyond the bulkhead. He nodded to me, nervous tension lining his face outlined by the faint glow of the energy field around him. Even so I could almost feel his determination despite his nervousness.
I waited another three heart beats to steady myself and slammed my hand down on the hatch release. It smoothly and quickly slid back with loud 'clunking' sounds, revealing pandemonium. The bridge was quite large, about eighteen meters across at the stern, slowly tapering to about eight meters at the forward viewport. The transparisteel view port at the bow was large and looming black with a sliver of the system's star in the corner shining bright across the bridge. The walls were lined with smaller view ports, and duty stations. Swivel chairs were bolted to the deck every few feet, large bright display screens flashing crimson behind them. Alarms were blaring with startling volume making it difficult to hear anything over the klaxon shrieks.
At the far end of the bridge near the viewport, a Jedi from Bastila's party was dueling a Sith furiously, outlined in the blackness of space beyond them. While I recognised her face from seeing her around the Endar Spire we had never been introduced. Sparks flew from their blades as diminutive honey blond Jedi fought with a furocity that I never would have guessed before that moment. She had seemed quiet, reserved and almost shy the few times I'd seen her. Yet now as they battered each other back and forth across the deck, she looked like some kind of battle maiden out of ancient legend, meeting the much larger Sith with calm precision and matching him strike for strike.
Around them Sith and Republic troopers were locked in savage close quarters battle. Vibroblades and Cortosis daggers flashing back and forth in a desperate bid to acquaint each other's vital organs with the deck plates. While at the same time trying just as hard to keep said vital organs right where they were.
The sound of battle and sirens were so loud that only a couple of Sith facing the hatch noticed it open. They immediately disengaged with the few Republic soldiers they were fighting and charged us blades held high hoping to catch us off guard and end the fight before it began. One of the Republic soldiers turned, saw us and then ran after the two Sith obviously intending to take one of them from behind and help us with the other.
I was already running. The moment the hatch opened I charged in, taking in the scene of carnage and chaos on the run. I met the two Sith at a sprint, they slowed down quickly, readying themselves for my attack. They weren't ready. I didn't slow; instead I slammed into the closer of the two at a full sprint my not inconsiderable weight bowling him to the floor. I continued with my momentum rolling off of him to the side, right into the legs of his companion before either of them could recover. The other Sith taken off guard tripped over me and fell face first right on top of his comrade. I was already moving again, rolling back toward them. Dropping my right blade, I took the left in both hands raised up onto my knees and brought the Vibroblade down with all my strength driving it down through both men, the tip of the blade sticking into the deck plates.
They writhed on the ground for a moment as blood slowly pooled out around them. They made no sound at all, their helmets holding in their dying cries. I twisted the blade hard to the left exacerbating the wound before pulling it free. I left them where they lay, grabbed up my other blade and stood, to find the Republic soldier who had come to help, looking down at the two dead Sith with wide eyed astonishment.
Leaving the man to deal with his own shock I glanced around to find Trask in a fierce battle with two Sith of his own. He was obviously a skilled duelist but so were the Sith and they were pushing him back steadily toward the bulkhead. I could see him slowing under their combined onslaught, already flagging with fatigue. Without thinking I flung the sword in my right hand as hard as I could at the Sith closer to me.
I ran after it as fast as I could, legs pumping hard and adrenaline singing in my blood. I switched my remaining blade to my right hand, readying myself to strike the moment I was in range. I watched as the other Vibroblade hit its target, the flat of the blade slammed into the Sith's left arm hard enough to knock him off balance and make him swerve into his partner. Surprise and confusion froze the two Sith for a moment, just long enough for Trask to break past the guard of the other Sith and drive his long sword into the man's stomach, the shriek of metal piercing metal, barely audible above the sounds of battle. Then I was on the second Sith, I went into a back spin to help break my forward momentum, my sword held out at neck height. I felt a slight resistance then the sword slipped free of it's target and I jerked it to a stop. The Sith stood stock still for a moment one hand up raised towards me, palm out as if asking me to stop. Then his helmet toppled off his shoulders to thunk down solidly against the deck, the now headless body fell twitching to the ground small gouts of blood spurting across the floor.
I bent to retrieve my discarded sword as Trask yanked his own free of the other Sith and let him slide down to the deck. He was panting with exertion. After taking a couple shaky steps forward, he stopped and leaned on his sword, the point stuck into the deck.
Before us the bridge battle was waning, only the very best and the luckiest combatants still standing. All around them bodies littered the decking. Crimson pools of spreading blood covering most of the floor. Severed limbs and weapons scattered everywhere.
Holo-dramas like to make out battles as long, drawn out, elegant things. Where the hero valiantly faces the villain in honorable combat and when one of them falls there is no blood and the body's of the dead look almost asleep, eyes closed and peaceful.
That is not reality. Fights to the death only lasted a few seconds in my experience. In a normal fight if you made a mistake you got hurt, but usually kept going. In a fight to the death however, your first mistake was usually your last. Neither was battle a graceful thing, even skilled fighters often looked like nothing more than drunken brawlers. Smashing into each other tripping over corpses, then rolling around on the ground trying desperately to gain any advantage over their opponent. This left every corpse not only with wide staring eyes, but also with strange wounds as well, like bite marks, scratches and missing pieces; like an eye or an ear. The full helmets of the Sith troops didn't help. In my mind's eye I could still see their eyes, wide and staring behind their visors. The scent of blood and excrement filled the air. Not something usually mentioned in the Holo's. The dead always shit themselves.
We watched the last few men fight over near the starboard exit off the bridge. One of the Republic soldiers slipped in the blood at his feet and fell forward right onto the Vibroblade of the Sith in front of him. The Sith jerked with surprise and backpedaled trying to get away from the corpse falling toward him. He tripped over the corpse of a republic soldier and fell backward. He landed hard on the back of his neck, hitting a kick plate at the base of a console. I could hear the sickening crunch of bone clearly as his neck broke. I wondered idly if the man would have been pleased that he took one more Sith with him to the grave after he died? The Sith lay dead, his victims face in his groin a disturbing parody of lovers.
War and battle are many things but one thing they most certainly are not, is elegant.
With the crunch of the Sith's neck I realized that I could hear clearly. The sirens had stopped. I had no idea if that was good or bad, but one way or another we needed to move. Besides the blond still fighting the Sith, there were no other Jedi alive or dead on the bridge so I was going to assume that Bastila and the rest of the Jedi had evacuated.
Deciding that my only real option was to escape and hope Bastila had as well, I ran back to the port side bridge hatch, flicking blood off my Vibroblades as I ran. Sliding to a stop at the gear bags I sheathed my swords, shoved my blaster rifle into one of the bags. Slung them up over my shoulders, tightened the straps and ran back to Trask. Grabbing his arm, I pulled him stumbling after me, while he tried to sheath his own sword.
Still dragging Trask stumbling behind me, I headed for the starboard bridge hatch. By that time only two men were left standing. Both Republic soldiers, they were leaning against consoles panting open mouthed watching the Jedi Knight and the Sith warrior, still battling with seemingly endless energy. Sabers flashing through the air so fast that they appeared to be nothing but streaks of light zipping back and forth with incredible speed meeting with such force that sparks went spraying off over the floor.
Just as we made it to the port hatchway I felt a cold shiver of fear run down my spine. Acting on an instinct I couldn't understand, I wrapped one arm around Trask's chest and dove to the floor next to one of the console swivel chairs. Ignoring his startled 'yelp' of surprise I clutched it's solid base with my free arm and glanced back to the Jedi and Sith by the main view port just as they, by unspoken agreement, jumped apart and ran for the exits. They only made it two steps before the world exploded.
A blinding flash of light like a miniature sun appeared outside the main view port. An explosion rocked the bridge, it was so loud and jarring I thought the whole ship must surely be blown apart. Then wind was rushing by us like a hurricane threatening to dislodge my grip on the chair. It's more than a little weird that I just had a dream about something very similar to this. I thought, holding onto the chair's base with the desperate strength of the damned. I glanced over to my other side. Somehow I had managed to keep a hold of Trask as well. I wasn't sure but I thought I could hear him screaming.
The two surviving Republic troopers had been sucked out into space at once. Smashing into consoles and screens on the way. But the Jedi and the Sith were standing in the middle of the bridge bent over in a sprinter's stance. I watched in slack jawed amazement as they started to walk forward, their robes whipping back and forth wildly, in the hurricane force of the atmosphere being sucked past them into space. Incredibly they made slow progress forward. Looking for all the world to be in some kind of fantastical time dilation effect. Bent forward with the exaggerated movement of slow motion sprinting yet with their robes whipping around them crazily as if moving at incredible speed. The effect was one of unreality brought into stark relief against the life and death stakes of the situation. But then a secondary explosion erupted next to the Sith. This was apparently too much and he was yanked off of his feet flying back flipping end over vainly grabbing at everything he passed, before smashing into a number of consoles that seemed to stun him for just an instant. As he went past the edge of the view port however he regained his senses and spun to face the Jedi still moving toward us slowly one step at a time.
Everything seemed to slow, events moving at only a fraction of normal. In that moment I could see everything. The Sith's face, twisted with rage and fear, dotted with perspiration. A very handsome, black haired man with startling bright hazel eyes that seemed almost to glow with malevolence. Olive skin gleaming against the glare from the tiny sliver of the sun shining in the corner of the view port. He reached out a hand to the Jedi with exquisite slowness before making a fist and yanking it back with a triumphant gleam in those hate filled eyes.
The Jedi was startlingly beautiful, petite, pale skinned with high cheekbones and a long straight nose. Waist length honey blond hair whipping back and forth in the wind. Light blue almost silvery eyes, looking straight back into mine. The look on her face went from one of intense concentration, to surprise followed quickly by a small peaceful smile as her eyes closed.
Then she was falling backward towards the gaping black maw of endless space. Unlike the Sith who had grabbed for everything he passed in a vain effort to save himself, she held her arms tight at her side, lightsaber hilt glinting silver in her hand as she flew back. She reminded me of a missile, heading for a target with single minded grace and purpose. What a waste! No wonder the Sith are winning, if the Jedi all meet death with such easy acceptance. I thought to myself feeling a wave of deep sadness at the injustice of it.
Just as she passed the rim of the view port, the ship's emergency life support panels activated slamming down over the gaping hole into space and catching the Jedi just behind the shoulder blades. The wind stopped rushing abruptly leaving only a high pitched whistling noise in its wake.
Slowly I unwrapped my arm from around the chair base then let go of Trask, ears ringing terribly in the sudden silence. Getting to my feet slowly, feeling shaky, my arms burning terribly from the strain of holding my own weight, as well as Trask's against the gale. Trask slowly sat up gasping and shaking from shock and terror.
On wobbly legs I walked slowly to the body of the Jedi. She was quite dead, the emergency panels had cut cleanly through her torso. Everything below her breasts, laying on the deck at my feet oozing blood. Her severed right hand still held her intricately designed silver and gold Saber hilt. I bent down on a reflex and picked up the lightsaber. Gently pulling it free of her still disturbingly warm yet lifeless fingers. It was made of a silvery metal with golden filigree wrapping around the hilt in an intricate and delicate pattern of veins and leaves. If you had just the smallest will to live… Half a second and you would have survived! The thought filled me with a burning, frustrated anger at the injustice of it. But more than that it was her weak willed acceptance that truly burned in my gut. Making me feel almost light headed for a moment with its intensity. Startled by the intensity of my emotions, I slipped the Saber hilt into a pocket on my thigh, turned away from the corpse and walked back to Trask trying to push down the unreasonable anger. People die everyday and I didn't even know her, why am I so upset?
"What were you doing?" he asked, obviously still shaken as I helped him to his feet.
"Paying my respects." I said flatly my voice sounding strange to my own ears, the effect being made worse by the slight distortion of my helmet speakers. Grabbing his forearm I pulled him along after me. "Bastila isn't here and I don't see any Jedi corpses, she's either been captured, or she made it to the escape pods. Either way it's time for us to go."
"You won't hear any arguments from me, that's what I wanted to do in the first place." He said as I pulled him out the starboard hatch and down the corridor to the first junction.
Turning left I hit the hatch release on the wall and waited. A loud clunking sound mocked me from within the inner workings of the bulkhead, but otherwise nothing happened. I sighed, the feeling of frustrated anger blooming up in my chest again. This really just is not my day. I pulled the interface cable from my wrist comp and plugged it into the socket just below the hatch release. I then spent a few tense seconds looking for the override command, my blood pounding in my ears and a feeling of increasing urgency building up inside me.
By the time I found the command I was so wound up that I slammed my finger down on it and almost cracked the screen of my wrist comp. Another loud clunking noise followed by an unnerving grinding noise and the hatch cycled, sliding slowly open.
At the same time a hatch to our right slid open to reveal a tall bald man in full black battle armor, with a grey pallor to his skin and tattoos on his scalp. He smiled exposing sharpened canine teeth and ignited the saber staff in his hand, the dual blood red blades sliding out as he spun it lazily around himself advancing on us.
I grabbed Trask and yanked on his arm trying to pull him after me through the hatchway. But Trask resisted with surprising strength. He jerked his arm free and drew his sword with a grim smile.
"Trask don't be stupid we can't fight him we need to go!" I said my voice booming out of my helmet speakers loud and tinny in the corridor.
"I know," he said, smiling sadly, "Get to the escape pods. Live to fight another day." With that he pivoted slightly and straight kicked me in the chest hard enough to send me stumbling back several feet. Before I could run forward though, he drew his heavy blaster and shot the door controls. The last thing I saw of Trask Ulgo was his sad smile as the hatch slammed shut with a loud grinding 'Bang!'
"Damn it Trask we could have made it. Bastard, I didn't ask you to do that!" I growled the fury and unexpected feeling of loss almost choking me for a moment. With a vicious curse I slammed my fist into the bulkhead, then turned and ran down the corridor heading to the escape pods.
The corridor curved at a 90 degree angle, as I rounded the bend I ran smack into four Sith troopers standing about, weapons at rest against their shoulders. I didn't slow, drawing a blaster with one hand and a Vibroblade with the other, I bellowed a wordless war cry of rage, the sound echoing down the corridor with tremendous volume. I fell on them, blind fury driving me to destroy these monsters, utterly and completely. The first two were so startled by my appearance and the volume of my helmet speakers that they froze solid. I cut them down barely breaking stride. A third man yelped in fear and turned to run. He went down with a couple quick shots to the back slamming into the deck blaster rifle spinning away, as he slid down the corridor carried by his momentum. The fourth pulled a blade and swung hard for my neck. I blocked the strike with my own blade then put two quick shots into his left knee. As he fell clutching at the wound and screeching in agony, I whipped my Vibroblade forward and sunk it deep through his neck the point gleaming a bright vibrant red, as it exited out through his spinal column.
As I yanked my blade free of the last man's throat my wrist comp buzzed loudly. The icon for an incoming communication flashing on the small screen. I whipped my sword down quickly, most of the blood sliding off and spattering to the deck at my feet, slipped it back into its scabbard and punched the icon. A small face appeared on the screen. A brown haired, brown eyed man in his mid thirties blinked at me with a look of surprised relief plain on his face.
"Soldier are you a member of the Endar Spire's crew?" the little man asked his voice coming through loud and clear in my helmet speakers.
"Sergeant Rorick Jager, Republic special forces, and you are sir?" I responded as I started moving down the corridor again.
"Lieutenant Carth Onasi, Republic Navy, how close are you to the escape pods?"
"In the corridor just outside the Evac station." said coming up on the hatch to the Evac station as I spoke.
"There are two Sith heavy's in the station and six in escape pod block Alpha." he said typing into the station console he was using.
"I'll be there shortly." I said and smacked the hatch release both blasters drawn and ready.
The hatch slid back with the customary 'chunking' noise and I stepped in firing quickly putting four shots into both men before they had even raised their weapons. I stepped over their bodies and walked toward the next door before an idea struck me and I paused. Glancing over to a maintenance terminal in the corner of the room a cruel smile spread across my face.
Moving quickly I stepped over to the terminal and connected it to my wrist comp. It only took me a few moments to find what I was looking for, a low wattage power coupling. Once I found it I went about rerouting all that power from that section of the ship. When it was ready I executed the command. Instantly hundreds of kilowatts surged into the tiny circuit on the other side of the hatch, the circuit I chose was only designed to power the life support systems, less than a kilowatt in total. The sudden overload flash fried the casing around the circuit and the surrounding conduits. Everything in the room besides the security systems shut down, in the sudden darkness the Sith only had half a second, not even enough time to realize something was wrong. Arcs of bright white electricity exploded from the wall, jumping from one trooper to the next. Their armor acted like a conduction oven, super heating and boiling the men in their suits while the armor itself became red hot and started to melt. When the emergency cut offs activated five seconds after the first arc broke through containment, only half melted and charred remains were left in the room.
I watched this happen through the security cam feed, a dull feeling of satisfaction slowly blooming in my gut. Once the electricity abated I opened the hatch with a command from my wrist comp and quickly moved through the room stepping over the corpses and heading to the far hatchway that opened to Escape Pod Block. Just as I reached the hatch it slid open to reveal Carth standing blaster in hand watching me warily.
He looked me up and down taking in my Mandalorian armor and weapons, before focusing in on the large duffles slung over each shoulder his eyebrows rose but when he opened his mouth he didn't mention them.
"We need to go. More Sith are on the way and I have the main computer set to scuttle the ship as soon as we launch, everyone else is gone already." he said heading back down the line of pod berths to the last one in line.
"Did Bastila make it off the ship?" I asked, clambered into the tiny pod and bumping into every surface on the way to one of the seats. Catching my bags on something, I yanked them loose and sat down in the first chair I came to. I strapped myself in, the bags still on my back. Waiting patiently for Carth to get up front into the pilot's chair.
"Yes she was among the first to be evacuated." he said, climbing in after me with considerably more grace and slid past quickly making his way to the front of the pod. He slipped into the pilots chair and started flicking switches and pressing buttons with one hand, while getting himself strapped in with the other. His movements were quick, sure and confident. He obviously knew what he was doing, so I settled into my seat and relaxed waiting.
Satisfied, I leaned back and closed my eyes, feeling the little pod come to life around me. Small vibrations shivered through me as its engine powered up. Then suddenly a terrific force slammed me back into my seat like a Ronto had just sat on my chest. Black spots swam before my eyes and the last thing I saw was the vast blue and grey disc of Taris sliding across the main view port. Then with a feeling like relief I fell gratefully into the blackness.