Meranda Kull tossed and turned in her bed, she then woke up in horror. She had no idea where she was, or how she got there. But, from what she could tell by just looking around, she was on a ship being attacked, in a crew cabin, and currently in her undies.
"What the kriff? How drunk was I last night!?" She tied her hair into a ponytail to keep it out of her eyes, when suddenly, a republic soldier charged into the room. "WHAAA! Hey! I'm not decent!" She screamed, as she covered herself as best she could.
"No time for modestly, trooper! We've been ambushed by a Sith battle fleet! The Endar Spire is under attack! Hurry up - We don't have much time!" Endar Spire was ringing a few bells in Meranda's head, but not enough of them. She was way too confused for her comfort but tried to play it cool while suiting up.
"On it, who the hell are you, by the way?"
"I'm Trask Ulgo, engine with the Republic Fleet. I'm your bunkmate here on the Endar Spire. We work opposite shifts; I guess that's why you haven't seen me before. Now hurry up, we have to find Bastila! We have to make sure she makes it off the ship alive!"
"At the risk of sounding like a stupid person, who is Bastila?"
"Bastila's the commanding officer on the Endar Spire. Well, not an officer, really. But she's the one in charge of this mission. One of our primary duties is to guarantee her survival in the event of an attack! You swore an oath just like everyone else on this mission. Now, it's time to make good on that oath!"
"Groovy, why don't I have a standard uniform? Instead, all I have is this padded clothing?" Meranda held up the outfit as she asked.
"Beats me, just hurry up!" She then started to get dressed as fast as she could. Trask continued talking rather than just awkwardly glaring at her while dressing. "I've heard all about your reputation: elite combat training, top of your class. It's no wonder you were hand-picked for this mission. Word is the Officers haven't seen a recruit with your kind of potential twenty in years. But all that potential doesn't mean a thing if you can't deliver when it counts!"
"I'm dressed, I'm dressed! Don't have a kriffing nerf!" Meranda yelled as she finished getting her boots on, giving her short sword a twirl as she prepared herself for battle.
"We should stick together; you'll have more success with a party than on your own. Because of the attack, this room is locked down, but don't worry - I have the command codes."
"Cool beans, get the door, so we can bust some heads." The moment Trask opened the door, they received a transmission.
"This is Carth Onasi - The Sith are threatening to overrun our position! We can't hold out against their firepower! All hands to the bridge!"
"That was Carth, contacting us on our communicators. He's one of the Republic's best piolets! He's seen more combat than the rest of the Endar Spiers crew put together. If he says things are bad, you better believe it. We have to get to the bridge to help defend Bastila!"
"Let's get going." Meranda said as they moved only a few steps more until they found yet another problem. "This door is locked. You have the codes?"
"Sorry, no. But I can slice it."
"Well, hurry up! I can hear blaster fire on the other side." Unfortunately, when Trask finally got the door open, they were too late to save two Republic soldiers from being gunned down by Sith troopers. Meranda didn't bother listening to whatever Trask was saying, dodging blaster fire. She slashed the throat of one trooper before stabbing the other one between the eyes.
"I've got a feeling that won't be our last encounter with the Sith. Good thing we have medpacs to-"
"We're fine, Trask. Let's get back to the fighting." They then moved into the next hallway and another firefight. First, Meranda singled out a Sith trooper using a double-bladed vibro-blade. She parried a few of his strikes before, without even thinking, kicked him into a grenade another trooper was trying to throw at her allies. Next, Meranda charged the Sith lines, followed by a barrage of blaster bolts from her fellow soldiers. A few of them were killed by her shortsword, but Trask and the other Republic soldiers took out most of the enemy.
"By the stars! I have never seen someone move like that!" One of the soldiers exclaimed.
"With us, soldiers! We're needed on the bridge!" Meranda said as she exchanged her shortsword for a vibro-blade picked off an enemy corps. When they got into the next section of the ship, the four of them found a sight to behold.
"It's a Dark Jedi! This fight is too much for us - we better stay back. All we'd do is get in the way." Meranda didn't like just standing there and watching a fight and not participating. The woman with the blue laser-sword seemed to have everything under control, that is, until the wall next to her exploded. "That was one of the Jedi accompanying Bastila. Damn, we could have used her help!"
"Less talk, more firing!" Meranda screamed as more Sith troopers lined up to be taken down. They soon made it to the bridge, and it was crawling with Sith. She felt a rush of power as she charged into the crowded command center. Her movements were hard to track with the naked eye, while blood and pain rushed from her enemy's fresh wounds like water from a bursting dame. When the carnage was over, Meranda was horrified to discover one of the soldiers that accompanied her to the bridge was dead. A stray blaster bolt got him in the chest. When did it happen? How did she not notice in time? Trask then broke her out of her stunned trance.
"Bastila's not here on the bridge - they must have retreated to the escape pods! We better head that way too. The Sith want Bastila alive, but once she's off this ship, there's nothing stopping them from blasting the Endar Spire into galactic dust!"
"Right, let's move!" They then rushed over to the elevator leading to the lower level when the door next to it opened up.
"Damn - another Dark Jedi! I'll try to hold him off, you get to the escape pods! Go!"
"Trask, wait! I'm a better mala fighter than you, I should-" But he didn't listen, charging in. Trask cut the door controls so no one could follow him to the inevitable death waiting for him. Meranda felt cold. The rush she felt fighting before was replaced by dread. She didn't know Trask for very long, but from what little time she did spend with him, he was a good man. As she and the one remaining soldier with her made their way to the escape pods, they then suddenly received a transmission.
"This is Carth Onasi on your personal communicator. I'm tracking your position through the Endar Spires life support systems. Bastila's escape pod is away - you're the last remaining crew members of the Endar Spire! I can't wait for much longer; you have to make it to the escape pods!"
"You heard the man. Get your ass moving, soldier!"
"Yes, Ma'am!" The Republic soldier responded as he followed Meranda. She moved so quickly, took down foes so effectively, that the man bearly had to fire a shot. But then, they received a grim warning.
"Be careful! There's a whole squad of Sith Troopers on the other side of that door! You need to find a way to thin their numbers! You could reprogram the damaged assault droid to help you if you have enough repair parts. Or you could use computer spikes to slice into the terminal and use the Endar Spires defense systems against the Sith."
"I'm better with hardware than software. So be prepared to flank the bastards!" Meranda then used what parts were available to get the combat droid up and running, then had it join her in the assault. She let the soldier and the droid give her covering fire as she charged, the door behind then Sith opening up for Carth to start shooting them in the back.
"You made it just in time! There's only one escape pod left. Come on, we can hide out on the planet below!"
"Can the pod fit the droid to? If anything, we could sell it for supplies."
"It will be a tight fit, but hurry! We'll be blown out of the sky any moment!" Meranda then pressed the necessary buttons to get the droid to follow her into the pod. The four of them then launched from their doomed ship onto the planet. Unfortunately, the moment the escape pod hit the dirt, Meramda went out cold from the impact.