Jaina realised what she had done and grabbed the hyperspace levers

Jaina realised what she had done and grabbed the hyperspace levers. She pulled them back and dropped out of hyperspace with a lurch. She checked that all systems were fully functional. She had got away with travelling through hyperspace without plotting a course and now she had no idea where she was. An enormous blue-green planet dominated her view, around which orbited several moons. The navicomputer bleeped and Jaina looked at the display. The name Karra appeared on her navicomputer.

Jaina sighed. "Great," She said to herself. "That's all I needed." Everybody she knew referred to Karra as a dump, and she believed them. Thick forests, vast lakes and hostile creatures inhabited the surface. Jaina froze, in front of her was a sight she dreaded that she would see when alone and inexperienced. An Imperial Class Star Destroyer was heading right for her, launching TIE Fighters from its hangar.

Jaina quickly told the navicomputer to plot a course for Coruscant, and charged up her laser cannons and shields. Several TIE Fighters were descending on her from all sides. She turned sharply, bringing one of them into her sights and fired several laser shots. She missed by twenty metres.

The TIEs were firing at her now and Jaina spun, jinked and weaved through the green laser blasts and checked her systems. Shields were taking it hard and were now at half strength. Jaina pulled up and reversed course, flying through the group of TIEs, scattering them in all directions and fired at one that crossed her sights. She hit this time and the Imperial craft exploded in a brilliant fireball, which caught a second that repeated the same action. Jaina was now in a very dangerous position. The fight had drawn closer to the Star Destroyer and Jaina was in range of the massive turbolasers mounted on the starship's hull.

Jaina took a gamble. She flew over the bridge of the Star Destroyer and headed for Karra, the TIE Fighters and turbolaser blasts close behind. She raced for the safety of the planet, hoping to orbit it whilst the navicomputer calculated the co-ordinates. She entered the planet's gravity field and relaxed slightly. Suddenly a huge bang rocked the craft. Another turbolaser blast hit the starboard engine. The shields failed and the engine packed up, sending her in to a spin. The moon grew extremely big, and the heat increased. Jaina managed to get the crippled craft back on an even keel and prepared for a primitive re-entry, which she no idea how to do. Keeping the A-Wing's belly facing the ground she lowered the nose and headed downwards. Pulling up slightly to stay nose-high to prevent the heat from reaching the canopy she descended into the atmosphere.

After what seemed like hours the heat subsided and the forest covered ground appeared below. Jaina shoved the joystick forward and dived down at full speed, struggling to keep one engine running and avoid going into a death spin. The A-Wing was now losing power, too quickly for comfort. Jaina knew that she would be lucky to get out of this.

Several hundred feet from the ground she lowered the landing legs and cut the other engine, engaging repulsors as she did so. The craft was still going forward towards a large clearing which seemed level. A few feet from the ground Jaina levelled off and tried to hover.

The A-Wing hit the ground reasonably level with the nose scraping along the ground. The landing legs folded the wrong way and broke off the craft to be left far behind in the mud. Not exactly a textbook landing, but one which would earn commendations under the circumstances.

Jaina woke up what seemed to be seconds later but she knew it could have been hours. The A-Wing's onboard clock told her it had only been a few minutes. Bruised and bleeding in several places she climbed out of the A-Wing – which was miraculously still intact – and proceeded to fall to the floor. She looked back along the ground. The starfighter had dug a furrow roughly seven hundred metres long along the ground, the material from which was now piled up against the A-Wing's nose.

She picked herself up and examined her injuries. Nothing major, but they would need attention. She limped around to the other side of the A-Wing, reaching inside to cut the fuel lines and power relays as she did so. She opened the small compartment inside the cockpit and withdrew a small medikit.

She examined the contents certain something was missing. "Water." She said out loud and as if on cue she heard the faint sound of a stream or a river. She made her way into the woods that surrounded the crash site. The planet was very much like Yavin 4, but slightly warmer which was good news. Her flight suit was ripped in several places exposing her wounds to the elements but they would be easier to clean.

She gathered a few things from the A-Wing: a blaster, her lightsaber and a few packets of emergency rations before heading in the general direction of the water. She walked for a couple of minutes before emerging beside a fast flowing stream. She took out a couple of bandages from the medikit and soaked them in the water. She carefully dabbed the wounds on her legs, wincing as the icy water stung as it came into contact with her skin.

She gently cleansed the wounds all over her body and managed somehow to ignore the pain that shot into her body like a knife stabbing her. She reached into the medikit and wound the bandages around her legs and arms and relaxed. She took a moment to reflect on exactly what had happened over the last few hours and in particular the presence of what remained of the Empire in the Karra system. How can the Empire be dead but very much alive? It was not possible. Emperor Palpatine had been killed twice as had Joruus C'Baoth, Grand Admiral Thrawn and all the rest but even after all this the Empire still functioned.

Jaina knew of creatures that stayed alive even after their heads had been removed. And she knew of organisations, such as Black Sun. The Empire was a lot like that but even so meeting a Star Destroyer was an almost impossibility in her or anybody's life. The wounds stung again and Jaina winced. She looked around her and surveyed in detail her surroundings. The stream flowed fast and spray was flung up by the rocks that cooled the otherwise hot and humid air. The rest of the area disappeared into a fairly thick jungle and forest-like hybrid landscape. Sounds of various animal lifeforms that could only be heard or felt through the force filled the dim spaces between the trees.

One question still bugged Jaina. If the Empire was still active, then what in the entire galaxy where they doing in the Karra system of all places. It was a dump. The only redeeming feature about Karra was that it was a quiet, out of the way system. The Empire once had a small spaceport on the planet, which was a port of call for the front line starfleets. Jaina knew that the Empire had its reasons, dark and sinister as they might be, but it had its reasons. Whatever the Empire's intentions, it was important enough to warrant a Star Destroyer and an armada of TIEs to guard it.

Jaina wondered exactly how her family would take Raiyth's news that she was missing. She shivered uncomfortably. It wasn't Raiyth's fault, but it was more than likely that he would take the blame. She shivered and looked at the sky. It was getting late. Getting up slowly and cringing as her injuries stung due to her movement, she trudged back to the downed A-Wing. She made a decision to sleep either in or next to the A-Wing that night and try to build a more permanent shelter the next morning.

Reaching the crashed starfighter, she clambered up into the cockpit and attempted to get comfortable for the night. She closed the cockpit and switched on the cabin heaters to provide some heat. The power should last, especially as heaters used so little power that you could warm somebody with them for a lifetime and never change power cells. But Jaina hoped that she would never need them for that length of time. Relaxing she suddenly felt very tired thanks to the day's activities and fell asleep very quickly.

Raiyth's news of Jaina's disappearance was not welcome news for Han and Leia. Luke, on the other hand, understood the loss but did not blame the young pilot. Han, was less gentle and he spent roughly half an hour cursing and beating up the nearest droid before going for a 'walk' in the lower levels of Coruscant.

Raiyth disappeared to find something extremely alcoholic shortly after Han left leaving Luke and Leia to cope.

"I can't believe it. I won't believe it." Leia whined, her voice barely audible over her sobbing. Looking up she turned to face Luke with red eyes. "Have I really lost my daughter?"

Luke sighed and put his arm around his sister. He couldn't help but smile however, as he looked at her. Here was the head of state of the New Republic, bawling her eyes out. But she had a good reason. Had Jaina really gone? Luke hoped not. He had lost too many of his relatives and friends during his life than anybody should. He had lost his friend, Biggs Darklighter during the battle of Yavin and he lost Obi-Wan Kenobi, his first mentor earlier than that. More tragic to Luke, however, was losing his father almost as soon as he got to know him.

Leia suddenly stopped crying. Luke perked up a bit. This was the Leia he knew, someone who would never let her emotions show even in the most difficult of circumstances. She looked at him.

"Jaina's not dead," Leia whispered, obvious joy in her voice.

"What?" Luke asked her. "Are you still feeling her presence through the force?"

Leia nodded. "I can feel her, but I don't know where she is. Does Raiyth have any idea of her trajectory when she disappeared?"

"I have no idea," Luke sighed. "He left a few minutes ago to find a very stiff drink. I don't think he will be approachable for a few days."

Leia agreed with him. She sat down in a chair and wiped her eyes.

"It may be more tactful if we let him alone for a couple of days. You know, just for him to get himself together again. And keep Han away from him in any way you can."

Luke sat down in an opposite chair then realised something. "Hey, where's Lando?"

"I have no idea," Leia replied. "He's probably gone out to strike a deal with somebody or something over something else."

They both chuckled. They both knew Lando's uncanny ability to be able to sniff out a deal and strike it with a vast profit for himself. When Lando wasn't around it was both a good thing and a bad thing. He was not boring everyone with self-praise but when he was not around, nobody was sure if he was up to something good or not.

"Well! Speak of the Devil!" Leia exclaimed as Lando, with the usual neatly pressed and bright coloured clothing, strolled into the room.

"Why the long faces?" He asked casually, completely oblivious to what he was letting himself in for.

"Haven't you heard?" Luke replied. "Jaina's missing. She jumped into hyperspace on an unknown course. Raiyth, Han and Jacen believe that she is dead."

"But you don't?"

"No. Leia can still feel her through the force, but we don't know where she is."

"I might have guessed. What are you going to do?"

"We're going to talk to Raiyth when he's settled down again." Leia explained.

Luke tactfully changed the subject as he sensed Leia's pain. "What did you want anyhow, Lando?"

"I wanted to talk to you actually."

"Oh?"

"But somewhere a little more private."

Luke considered the available options. "Come to the lounge on the Shadow Chaser. We can talk there." He said getting up. "Please excuse us Leia."

"Go on," Leia said. "Whatever Lando has to say, I'm sure it is important."

Jaina woke what was for her the next morning. She checked the clock, still on Coruscant time. It was late at night back home.

She forced her stiff limbs to move and clambered out of the cockpit. She looked around for a source of nourishment and decided to head off into the forest.

She wandered for around five minutes before stopping in her tracks. A pair of Imperial Stormtroopers were coming along the path. Without stopping to consider her actions she dived into the undergrowth, cursing as she twisted her arm on hitting the ground. She knew that it would only be a matter of time before the A-Wing was discovered by the Stormtroopers and she decided to do something about it.

She crawled through the undergrowth towards the stormtrooper, carefully unclipping her lightsaber from her belt. Crouching and using the force she sent a few sticks and stones flying in the bushes on the other side of the path. The stormtrooper were distracted from their patrol and moved to investigate.

With the speed of a cat Jaina shot out of the bushes and sliced the patrol to pieces before they even knew what had hit them and retreated into the bushes.

"This could cause a problem." She mused to herself. "If stormtroopers are down here, then they're either after me, or the base is still operational."

She retreated back into the bushes and headed back to the A-Wing. She had resolved to send a coded distress signal home and hope that a ship - preferably the Millennium Falcon - would come and rescue her. She activated the distress beacon and prayed. The Imperial forces would almost likely pick it up, but she had ceased to care. The A-Wing was a wreck, and she didn't dare take on an Imperial base in the vain hope of stealing a ship.

She sank down on to the ground beside the wrecked ship and began to cry.

"Lando, what is it that you want?" Luke suspiciously asked his friend once they sat down in the Shadow Chaser. "If it's some hare-brained business scheme of yours, I'm not interested."

"No." Lando replied. "It's a lot more serious than that, and for once it doesn't involve business."

Now he had Luke's attention.

"Alright, Lando. Spill the beans."

"I'll come right to the point." Lando began in a low voice. "According to databanks, how many classes of Star Destroyer did the Imperials use?"

Luke gave him a strange look. "You know as well as I do, Lando. Four."

"Try five."

"Five?"

"Well, sort of. The Empire used four, but they had the designs for five."

"Interesting."

"It is. The guy that I got this information off of used to be part of Imperial Fleet Command, so he knows what he's talking about."

"You might as well explain what you're talking about."

"Okay. The Empire had four Star Destroyers, the Victory, the Imperial, the Super Star Destroyer and the single Eclipse, right?"

Luke nodded.

"But there were designs for a fifth class, one that would make all other classes obsolete in one fell swoop. It would also outmatch any other starship in the galaxy but still be shorter than a thousand metres."

"So what you're saying, Lando, is that if this ship entered service, we wouldn't have won the war?"

"Frightening, isn't it?"

"You bet. Do you have any more information on this thing?"

"A little. The project was being developed by Kypras Systems, a medium sized shipbuilding firm."

"That doesn't help."

"The class name was the Devastation class Star Destroyer."

"An apt name."

"Yeah, but I found out something else too - a few technical details which will frighten you even more. The ship's drives were vastly superior to anything else, allowing it to attain a combat speed equal to that of a Y-Wing."

"Say that again!" Luke exclaimed, nearly falling off his seat. "Are you suggesting that a thousand metre long starship can outrun bombers?!"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. But there's more. Weaponry wise, a fleet of these things could take out the Death Star just by pounding it with main batteries."

"This is starting to sound very unbelievable, Lando."

"I know how you feel. I was as surprised as you when I first heard it."

"Do you blame me?"

"Not really."

"Anything else?"

"I'm afraid not. However, I do have access to the Kypras database. I'm hoping that will give us some more information."

"Hang on, Lando. Why should we be concerned about an old Imperial starship design that obviously never got off the ground?"

"Two reasons. Firstly, the Empire is still around and is looking for every possible advantage. They may try to resurrect the project."

"Keep going."

"Secondly, the project went past the design phase, to physical development."

Luke felt the realisation wash over him, and for the first time in years, his blood ran ice cold.

"Wait a minute, are you telling me that there is a complete, operational Devastation class Star Destroyer literally lying around somewhere?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Where is it?"

"I have no idea, but we need to find out, quick. The ship may fall into the wrong hands. Imagine the havoc a group such as Black Sun could wreak with the ship."

"We've got to tell the others."

Leia looked up as Luke and Lando re-entered the room.

"What's the news?" She asked.

Luke took a deep breath. "You're not going to like this." He began.

"Not going to like what?"

"There was another class of Star Destroyer being designed by the Empire."

Leia looked sceptical. "You're sure?"

Luke nodded. "Lando told me about it."

"Lando told you about it?" She asked, quizzically raising one eyebrow. "That's a trustworthy source?"

"I take personal offence at that!" Lando commented. Luke batted his hand to tell him to shut up.

"Okay" Luke said. "Maybe it isn't as trustworthy as the Bothan spynet, but it's the best we've got at the moment."

"Give me the details"