Disclaimer: Star Wars and its accompanying universe does not belong to me. In fact, very few things belong to me. This story is intended purely for non-profit entertainment, so please don't sue me. Jenna is my idea, but her occupation and life is not. George Lucas owns all.
Author's Notes: Sorry it has been awhile since the last post. Please, review so I know what needs fixing. On with the story!
Fifteen small bodies lie scattered about the main hold, which has been renovated into a kind of exercise area. Jenna gingerly picked her way across the hold, infinitely cautious, unwilling to disturb the silence. It had taken her two hours to get the small high-powered initiates to take a nap, and she desperately needed some peace and quiet. On cat-quiet feet, she padded out of the room and down the hall towards the cockpit. Most of the initiates were still in awe of the highly technological room, and gave it wide berth. If by some random chance the children woke up early, she should be able to remain undisturbed here. As she walked into the room she palmed shut the hatch, sealing herself in. Releasing a weary sigh, she dropped to the metal deck, gracefully folding into a comfortable meditation position.
Slowly, she traveled back in her mind over the small trials and tragedies of the day, pausing momentarily at each to release the pent-up emotion over each into the Force. Her breathing slows as she fell deeper into meditation, reaching out across the galaxy, searching for peace. In this moment, the ship is quiet, and the young knight felt herself relax. Jenna smiles. At times like this, she can see the definite advantages to this mission. They had been hiding in a backwater solar system for the last few days, allowing the children to marvel at the brilliant purple planet below, and the red giant star it lazily orbited. A sudden pang of loneliness shot through her heart as she thought of Coruscant. She had been ordered to refrain from calling the temple unless there was an emergency, and thus far, the flight had been calm. Still, she missed her friends and mentors, and longed to be home. Perhaps these thoughts were unworthy for a Jedi master, but she wearied of having only children as fellow conversationalists. Oh for some adult conversation! It had been several months since she had been able to talk about something other than the day-to-day troubles of the initiates, and that had been a short exchange of greetings with a passing cargo hauler.
Suddenly, her meditation and mournful thoughts come to an abrupt halt as the Starhawk shudders and bucks under her. She scrambled to her feet, all of her senses on alert. Mentally she can hear the terrified thoughts of the initiates. Without slowing her movements as she mans the cockpit, she sends back a soothing wave of the Force, also ordering them to find their seats. Her hands fly across the board as it comes to life. The tiny cruiser continued to vibrate, and now she can discern the terrifying sound of laser bolts ramming the ship. Finally, the scanners showed her what her ears had already identified: a small fighting ship of unknown origin. It was sleek and deadly looking, armed to the teeth, and unfortunately intent on the Starhawk's destruction. Jenna thought furiously as she brings up shields and the engines, trying to move away from the attacking ship.
"Why can't I sense them?" she worried, her searches through the Force revealing nothing. She dialed up the hyperspace computer, laying in coordinates for a short jump. There was no way she would be able to fight her attacker off, so a jump to hyperspace seems to be the only way out. However, the computer needed time to make the calculations, so she punched the sub-light engines, hoping to put a bit of distance between herself and her pursuer. Suddenly, the scanners blare an alarm.
"Not another ship, please Force not another ship." She muttered under her breath as she checked to see what was causing the mechanical agitation. When she finds the reason, a confused shadow crosses her face. Almost directly in front of the ship, a large nebula had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. As part of a science lesson, Jenna had taught the children how to run a scan of the solar system, and she did not remember any nebulas showing up. Anyway, it was exerting a strong gravitational pull, which should have destroyed the solar system it inhabited long ago. A strong pull which was quickly shifting the Starhawk into its depths. Desperate, the knight yanked on the steering yoke, trying to gain some advantage against the steady fall, but all efforts are in vain. Jenna noticed the attacking ship floundering as well, and its engines burn dangerously bright as they attempt to pull away. Her attention is brought back to her current plight as the internal sensors begin to wail, indicating immanent engine failure if she continues to run them at full throttle. Forced to choose between certain death by engine implosion and theoretical death by whatever was in the nebula, Jenna reluctantly shut down the engines. For a moment, all is silent, save the rattling of deck plates as the ship is drawn ever deeper into the glowing nebula. Then, oddly, the soft whistling of atmosphere past the cockpit reaches her ears.
The clouds part, revealing a world down below that is rapidly rising up to meet them. Jenna re-engaged the engines and turned on the repulsor lifts, hoping to prevent a crash. Her heart falls to her knees as the landing gear, including the repulsor lifts, stays stubbornly off-line and the engines respond weakly, damaged in the firefight. Maneuvering with the unsteady engines only, she aims for a large field filled with soft-looking yellow grass, which gradually fills the view screen. The knight reaches over to the comm system.
"Everyone, brace for impact, we will be making planetfall in the next few minutes." She orders, and shuts off the communication line. Following her own advise, she straps herself in to the captain's chair, still steering. Mentally she counts backwards as the ground rushes toward her.
"Ten more kilometers. Five, four, three, two…." There is a loud rending crash, then silence.