Medical Bay, Charon Station…
To say Kaeden Larte was thrilled would be an understatement. They had been stranded and isolated on this dying space station for weeks and rescue had arrived. It wasn't only that they were being rescued, it was who was rescuing them.
Henry's message had said that a togruta identifying themselves as 'Fulcrum' was on the station. She had heard the name 'Fulcrum' before, in transmissions with her sister Miara. Miara had joined a squadron of fighters and had received several missions from a mysterious Rebel Intelligence operative known only as 'Fulcrum'.
And now this mysterious 'Fulcrum' just happened to show up in the command center of a stricken and dying space station. And now Fulcrum was standing in the middle of a throng of survivors excited at the prospect of rescue.
Calling them off of their new arrival wasn't as easy as Kaeden had hoped, but she managed it nonetheless. It was then that Kaeden got her first good look at their 'rescuer' and the thought crossed her mind that she had become one of a few people who knew 'Fulcrum's' face and importance in the Rebellion.
Standing before her was a female togruta who appeared to be in her lower thirties or so. There was something familiar about this togruta, something that Kaeden couldn't yet place. She didn't know that many, and those she did know she hadn't seen in years. The togruta had orangish skin with white markings on her face. She could instantly recognize where the shape of Fulcrum's insignia had come from, so she had no doubts that this was truly the Rebel Spymaster in the flesh. The togruta had blue and white striped montrals that made her taller than Kaeden was.
As she locked eyes with 'Fulcrum' and saw those beautiful blue irises, something clicked in Kaeden's mind and instantly Kaeden recognized who she was looking at. She had seen those beautiful eyes before, on a small farming moon fifteen years before. She now noticed the two lightsabers that hung from 'Fulcrum's' belt and she instantly recognized those hilts as well. They had been modified since she had last seen them, the hilts made smoother and more ergonomic, but she knew that if they were ignited they would cast a brilliant white glow across the room like they had in the prison corridor of the Imperial compound on Raada.
Ahsoka Tano.
Ahsoka kriffing Tano was 'Fulcrum'!
And Ahsoka Tano was standing right here. Here! Right here in front of her!
They spoke as one: "Ahsoka?" "Kaeden?"
Kaeden had often asked herself the question of what she would do if she had ever seen Ahsoka again. Her sister Miara had often teased her for the crush she had developed on the togruta girl when they first met on Raada. Ahsoka had gone by the name Ashla back then and had offered her services as a mechanic, quickly becoming a part of Raada's small community despite her reclusive nature.
And then the Empire had arrived and Ashla had revealed that she was much much more than a mechanic looking for a quiet place to set up shop. Kaeden's mechanic friend Ashla was actually Jedi fugitive Ahsoka Tano. She had been forced to flee Raada, going who knows where for months while the Imperial Inquisitor slaughtered her fellow insurgents and subjected her to even more torture.
But Ahsoka had come back for her, not only killing the Inquisitor to save her and Miara, but evacuating the entire farming settlement on Raada.
And then Ahsoka had disappeared again. This time for over a decade.
Kaeden had never figured out where her friend had gone or if she was even still alive. Miara had found nothing and begged her to move on, but Kaeden had always continued to hold onto the hope that she would see Ahsoka again. And now, Ahsoka was here before her.
There was a saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder. In this moment, Kaeden believed it completely and launched herself at her old friend, wrapping her in a massive hug.
Ahsoka tensed slightly, obviously shocked to see Kaeden here and at the impact, but she then cracked a smile and laughed, returning the embrace.
"Ahsoka? What are you doing here? You're Fulcrum?" The questions flew out of Kaeden's mouth almost faster than she could talk.
Ahsoka laughed again and Kaeden's heart filled with joy at the sound. Oh, she had missed that beautiful noise so much over the past decade. "Yep, it's me, and I came to investigate the distress signal."
Kaeden stepped back, her face falling slightly. "It's just you?"
"So far," Ahsoka nodded, "Yes, but I can comm for a ship to get out here to evac you all."
"Damn it!" Yelled one of the survivors on the other side of the medbay. "I told you it was too good to be true!"
Kaeden whirled to face the speaker and she yelled back: "That's enough, Palmer! We're alive and have contact with the outside galaxy, so we have a chance!"
Ahsoka looked between them with a concerned look on her face. "Is something wrong?"
"Yeah, we don't have that long!" Palmer yelled again.
Kaeden sighed and brought a hand to massage her temples. "Follow me, Ahsoka."
Kaeden guided Ahsoka through the throng of survivors in the medbay, introducing them. Ahsoka had met Henry the security officer, but there were six others besides Kaeden and Henry. "The shouter over there with the heartwarming personality," Kaeden pointed at the human male leaning against a wall, he had cropped black hair and tanned skin, "is Louis Palmer. An engineer for the Rebellion recuperating here after being caught in an explosion. We think it kriffed up his head a bit." Palmer made a rude gesture at that which Kaeden shrugged off with a chuckle.
"We've got two more engineers," Kaeden indicated a fair skinned human male with brown hair and eyes who held himself in a slight aristocratic way, "Nathan Girard. He's Alderaanian which explains the stick up his ass. And then there's Charon Station's Chief Engineer, Hoop," a dark skinned human male looked up from working on a bundle of wiring at the sound of his nickname being called and nodded at Ahsoka before returning to his work. "They've kept this part of the station livable so far, so you have them to thank for the electricity and heating."
Kaeden then led Ahsoka over to two females, a human and a twi'lek, who were currently stooped over a few datapads and calculations. "Ahsoka, this is our science officer, Aola Rynn," Kaeden indicated the blue twi'lek with who was fidgeting with her hands, "and Malana Hunter, one of the mining engineers." Hunter was short, but lean with short cropped blonde hair. Her eyes were tired, but haunted. Kaeden knew why they were, she had been the one to discover the ship. The ship that had brought this doom upon them all.
Rynn handed Kaeden a datapad. Her voice had a nervous pitch to it. "The latest telemetry data, Kaeden. It doesn't look good."
Kaeden glanced over it, heart sinking with every line. She was no pilot and didn't understand the ins and outs of it all, but she had learned some from Miara. She handed it to Ahsoka, who still had a confused look on her face. "You could call for a rescue vessel all you want, Ahsoka, but it'll do no good," she said. "When the dropship crashed into Charon Station, it knocked us into a decaying orbit. We're only a couple days away from nosediving into the surface of Tartarus. Any rescue ship will get here too late to find anything but twisted shards of debris in the sand and possibly a few scattered flecks of body matter."
"That's a wonderful image," Ahsoka said, studying the telemetry data.
"Well, when you've been stranded on a dying space station with killer alien lifeforms for weeks, everything doesn't appear all rainbows and green grass fields." Palmer called from across the room.
"What about escape pods?"
Kaeden shook her head. "They were destroyed when CS-02 crashed into the station. Took them all out. They're nothing but shrapnel surrounding the station now."
Ahsoka was silent and had her eyes closed as if she was thinking hard. Suddenly, they snapped open, "Wait. There's another dropship, right? Not the one that crashed, but one that docked safely. Can't you use that as a lifeboat until an evac ship arrives?"
The survivors in the medlab all fell silent and stared at each other. Ahsoka stood there, looking back and forth between them all in confusion. Kaeden guessed her eyebrows would have been furled if togruta had hair.
Hoop made eye contact with her and nodded slightly. "Show her."
Kaeden look around at the others and they also nodded. Turning back to Ahsoka, Kaeden took the datapad and navigated through the files until she found what she wanted. Kaeden pulled up the video file and paused before handing it to Ahsoka, looking around at all the other survivors. "If any of you want to leave the room before it starts, leave now. You don't have to reexperience this."
None of them left, but Kaeden could see the sadness in their eyes. To be honest, she didn't want to play this video, but she had to appear strong. For all their sakes.
Kaeden handed the datapad to Ahsoka, who hesitantly took it. She pressed the play button and Kaeden prepared herself to endure those awful events again.
The video file Kaeden had pulled up on the datapad happened to be a recordings from the dropships. The one for CS-01, which was currently docked, had audio from the dropship. The one for CS-02 did not, but did have a voiceover from the Charon Station crew monitoring it at the time.
Ahsoka played the one for CS-01 and a blurred image of the pilot came up. It was hard to see anything past him, the vibrations from pushing the dropship to its limit blurred the image. The pilot was yelling into the radio and Ahsoka turned up the volume.
"The other crew found something. Something horrible! Few of them… the others are okay right now, but… for the love of! Need to get to dock!"
"Jones, what about zero-two?" Came a female voice that Ahsoka didn't recognize as one of the survivors. From the authority in it though and similarity to the logs she had discovered, Ahsoka guessed it was the voice of the Rebel officer in charge, Lucy Barnes.
"Zero-two? Left the same time, but… something got on board, and…"
The screen and audio dissolved into static. Ahsoka queued up the next video, for CS-02, and a split screen video came up with views of the pilot and passenger compartment…
There was blood. The pilot was screaming silently in her seat, terrified but determined at the same time. Her eyes were glued to the windscreen. Behind her, shadows thrashed and twisted. Three miners knelt behind the elevated cockpit, holding mining picks before them. They were waving and lashing out at something, but their target was just out of sight. There was a fourth miner who held a small plasma torch.
Ahsoka could hear Hunter's voice: "They can't use that in there. If he does he'll… he'll… what the kriff?"
The camera panned to show several of the miners strapped into their seats. Their heads were tilted back, mouths frozen open in silent screams of agony. Their chests were a mess of blood and ripped clothing, fractured ribs protruding through mutilated flesh. One of them, a Nikto, still writhed and shook as something burst out of his chest. Pulling itself out, a smooth curved image glimmered in the artificial light, shining with blood.
There were other miners splayed on the floor of the compartment, seemingly dead. Small, cat-size shapes darted over and around them. Blood was splashed everywhere: the floor, the walls, it even dripped from the ceiling.
Towards the back of the dropship, three of the strange shapes were charging again and again against something. A door or a bulkhead, maybe? The door was denting already, one part caving in from the other side while the things pounded the opposite.
"That's two inch durasteel!" said one voice that Ahsoka didn't recognize, probably one of the crew who had died in the command center.
"They need help." "I think they're beyond that by now." Ahsoka recognized the second voice as Rynn's, but not the first. Probably one of the ones who died in the command center.
"Turn it off." Came someone's voice, but the video stayed on. Ahsoka understood why: morbid curiosity. It was like a repulsor-trainwreck. They couldn't look away even despite knowing that it was going to be gruesome. Ahsoka found that she couldn't turn it off either.
The door or panel that the shapes were smashing against gave in and something burst out of it. One of the miners holding a mining pick jerked and was lifted off the ground, blood flying from his back as something impaled him through the chest and threw him unceremoniously into a wall. The miner with the plasma torch jumped to the side, away from the thrashing shadows. Something scuttled over the camera, blocking everything from sight.
When the camera was clear again, the plasma torch had been ignited. The torch flared brightly and a jet of fire erupted from the nozzle spewing burning plasma in a stream before it. The jet of fire surged across the cabin, engulfing the strapped-down bodies of the miners. Clothes burned and flesh charred. One of the miners writhed in their bindings and the thing bursting from his chest became a mass of flame streaking across the compartment.
Then the plasma jet pivoted up and around, right at the camera. Everything went white and Ahsoka turned her attention to the cockpit view. The pilot was on fire. Both cameras were shut off almost instantly and Ahsoka was thankful for that, but the voiceover did not.
"Barnes! We can't let those ships dock. There are things on board! Monsters! Everyone's dead on zero-two."
"Oh no… too late!"
"Barnes! Fazio! Get out of there! Get as far away from the docking bay as you can now! Run! RUN!"
The file ended with the sound of an explosion and the groan of metal as the stricken dropship CS-02 ploughed into Charon Station. And unleashed hell.
Ahsoka fell back into a chair and let the datapad fall into her lap. She had been expecting something terrible from Kaeden's actions before the video was played, but this… this! This was much worse.
Kaeden broke the silence that had ensued. "CS-01 somehow managed to dock. We got footage from CS-01 shortly after that, the miners were all dead, and there were three of the creatures in the back behind the pilot. After a day… one of those things erupted from Jones' stomach and they dragged his corpse out of view.
"We prevented them from boarding; Hoop, Palmer, and Girard disabled the airlock's locking mechanism and pulled out the power source. They did the same for the docking arm door and made the whole thing vacuum. We doubt those things can breath in vacuum, but who knows?
"What we didn't know was that a couple of the things on CS-02 had managed to make it onto Charon Station, somehow. I have no clue how they did. People started disappearing and we decided to split up. All civilians were to come here to the medbay while the rest holed up in the command center. The wounded rebel soldiers on station were given the option to stay with us here, but no one did. They all volunteered to hunt the aliens. Henry drew the short straw of standing as protection from aliens, scavengers, pirates, and whatever else might prey on a stricken space station. We bled the atmosphere from all compartments leading from the alien infested areas to the medbay and welded all the doors and vents to prevent them from getting in.
"The others systematically flushed the aliens towards the command center. After they cleared a section they would bleed it into vacuum and move on. They didn't count on how many aliens were left alive though."
"I know what they did," Ahsoka said, "they decompressed the command center and spaced everything, themselves included."
"Heroes, all of them," Henry nodded, his voice sad. "But even if we restored air to the depressurized holds, there are still four of those aliens in the dropship. All we have for weapons are my blaster and a couple plasma torches and mining charges that are in Hold 3."
"But now you can add the Force and my lightsabers to that arsenal," Ahsoka held up one of her lightsabers and ignited it. She noticed the white beams reflected in Kaeden's eyes as Kaeden grinned at them. No doubt, Kaeden was having a bit of déjà vu, when Ahsoka stormed into an Imperial compound to rescue her. But this time they were on a crippled space station and they would be fighting an unknown alien species instead of Imperials. "So here's my idea. I'll call for an extraction ship. While we wait for it to arrive, we rid the dropship of the aliens and use it as a lifeboat. How long can life support in that thing last?"
Hunter answered. As a mining engineer, she made the most trips in the dropships and was the most knowledgeable about them. "We can store food and extra oxygen tanks in it, plenty of room for eight or nine people. Those things were designed to carry a couple dozen. Should at least last for more than a few days, perhaps even a week."
"Only problem," came Palmer's voice, "how are we gonna clear those things out of zero-one?"
"Well we can't use plasma torches or mining charges inside it. We all saw what happened to zero-two," said Henry.
"What about the blood?" That comment came from Rynn, and Ahsoka wasn't surprised that the science officer knew something about the biology. She was surprised about that little factoid, however. "We can't kill them in zero-one. It'll make it incapable of space flight."
"What about it's blood?" Ahsoka asked.
Rynn sighed. "We believe its blood is some kind of toxic or caustic agent."
Ahsoka's mind immediately flashed back to the damage she had found elsewhere in the station: holes seemingly burned in the floor and the blast doors pitted and corroded. "So… acid for blood?"
"Yeah, I guess," Rynn laughed slightly.
"So we need to lure them out of the dropship? That shouldn't be too hard. We just need to give them some bait," Ahsoka said, trying to find an answer to the problems that plagued them. "I'll do it. With the Force, I can hold my own."
"You sure about that, Ahsoka?" Kaeden asked, her eyes filled with concern.
Ahsoka nodded and she could feel Kaeden's nervousness and fear for her wellbeing abate slightly, but it was still there.
"But how do we get rid of them?" came Hunter's voice. "Just try to shoot them?"
"No," said Hoop. "If any of that blood melts through the floor, it could cause an explosive decompression that could completely shatter and disconnect the docking tube. We need some way to get them into the airlocks for Bay 1 or 2, where zero-two crashed into the station and space them."
"One or two I might be able to immobilize with the Force," Ahsoka said, shaking head. "I doubt I can take out four by myself."
Girard spoke up for the first time since Ahsoka arrived. "Why don't we trap them?"
"Trap them? Trap them how? Do we have a box we can put some cheese under to draw them out?" As usual, the retort came from Palmer.
"What about cargo nets?" There was a groan from Palmer accompanied by a yelp as Hoop smacked him upside the head and Girard continued. "We have some high-strength cargo nets in Bay 3 for securing heavy mining loads. They hold tons of equipment and mining yields. Twisted steel core. We could trap the aliens in them and drag them to the airlock with mining picks to space them."
Nobody provided a counter. Ahsoka looked around at the others, who all turned to Kaeden and nodded and she did in return. "It's settled then," Kaeden said. "Get started on preparations immediately."
Ahsoka grabbed Kaeden's shoulder before she could walk off. Something was bothering her, so she asked her old friend. "Hey Kaeden, you said there were eight survivors including yourself. There are only six others here. Where's the last?"
Kaeden's brow furled and she turned to the others. "Hey guys, where's Salvia?"
Hoop pointed through a door. "I think she's in the kitchen preparing food or something like that."
"Thanks, Hoop," Kaeden called as she and Ahsoka walked through the door. "Salvia's a medic," Kaeden said to Ahsoka, "Works with me. Don't really know much other than she's a healer from Mirial, but she does her job and does it well."
Ahsoka nodded, but something still felt off. There was something… familiar in the Force. Almost like a presence she hadn't felt in years had come back and was near her. But who from her past could it be?
Kaeden opened the door to a makeshift kitchen and called out to whoever was inside. "Hey Salvia, you in there?"
A soft voice called back. "Come in. What is it, Kaeden?"
"I've got good news!" Kaeden said, beaming as she walked in. "We're getting off this forsaken piece of bantha shit."
"Hey, this piece of 'bantha poodoo' has kept us alive for I don't know how long at this point. Don't be so quick to insult it," came the reply with a light chuckle.
"Yeah yeah," Kaeden laughed at Salvia's retort. "But rescue's finally here!"
Salvia turned around and Ahsoka got her first look at the medic. She was a Mirialan slightly older than herself and Kaeden, but was slightly shorter than Ahsoka. She had long black hair and blue eyes that had long been dimmed by past trauma. Her light green/yellow skin was dotted with black diamond tattoos.
Ahsoka frowned, her brain processing. Suddenly, it all came crashing down upon her who Salvia really was. The familiar appearance, especially of the tattoos on her face and hands. But the kicker was her presence in the Force, dragged down and haunted by guilt and trauma.
Salvia… she was…
A harsh chill crept down from her brain as she recognized where she had met Salvia before. It slithered along her spine down towards her heart and ignited. Anger flared up in her stomach in a red-hot churning wave getting hotter and hotter, more and more potent. It boiled over, burning behind her eyes in a white-hot inferno that clouded her vision with red smoke.
Ahsoka snarled, baring her canines. "You!"
Kaeden nearly jumped at the pure hatred and malice that filled Ahsoka's voice. She had never heard something like that, especially from Ahsoka. Hell, Kaeden thought the room had chilled by a few degrees.
Ahsoka's eyes blazed with rage as she glared daggers at Salvia, who was frozen to the spot in shock and fear. But it didn't seem like she was shocked by Ahsoka's outburst, but more of a shock of seeing someone you would never think you'd see again.
"What the kriff are you doing here you backstabbing traitor?!"
"Ahsoka, I-" Salvia tried to respond but Ahsoka cut her off, stabbing a finger in Salvia's direction.
"No! I don't want to hear it! I thought you cared about me! But no, I was no more important to you than my life was to the Jedi!"
Ahsoka's hand dropped to her belt and Kaeden was afraid that Ahsoka would grab her lightsaber and try to strike Salvia down. She saw Salvia visibly tense… the poor girl. Kaeden stepped in between them.
"Calm down, Ahsoka! What's gotten into you?"
But she might as well have been talking to the void, for Ahsoka didn't seem to hear her. She just yelled at Salvia again, eyes glistening with unshed tears. "You betrayed me! I trusted you and you betrayed me! I should… I should…"
Kaeden saw Ahsoka's hand twitch up, as if she wanted to extend it, but she stopped immediately, her expression now one of shock and fear. The tears burst from Ahsoka's eyes and she ran off back into the medbay.
Kaeden turned to Salvia, who was still stunned speechless. She had known Ahsoka's name though, so the two of them must have some history, but what it was, Kaeden could only guess. "We'll talk about this later, I'll be back."
Salvia only nodded weakly as Kaeden took off in search of her togruta friend.
Sadly, my Winter Break has ended and I start college classes again on Tuesday. I'll still update as often as possible, but probably not as often. Apologies in advance if my update schedule is erratic after the next chapter.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter comes the action, and boy is it fun to write! As always, feel free to comment on anything (criticism is welcomed and encouraged) and spread the word to anyone you think may enjoy this story.
And if you want to, feel free to visit my Tumblr page to find sneak peaks, teases, or other random fun with me and my friends!
