CHAPTER 4: The Corellia Star
Ash and Raa'chel proceeded from the tavern after Ash had paid the barkeep for the mess he'd made of Ratchet. Ash had cautioned Raa'chel to keep her blaster on her belt, as opposed to her pack. That way, the street predators knew not to mess with her, and if anyone spotted her, she'd be able to get her weapon quickly.
Raa'chel was grateful for Ash. As it turned out, Ash was indeed a pilot. A freighter captain, to be exact. His ship was, as he described, "a real piece of work. The Corellia Star."
"What a nice name for a ship," she thought. She had this image of a highly decorated ship, almost regal, like her.
She was very disappaointed.
The Corellia Star was an old YT-1210 freighter, and it certainly looked "highly decorated", if "decorated" meant scorch marks, graffiti, blaster holes, and micrometeorite pockmarks. In fact there was only one word to sum up the Corellia Star.
"Trash!"
Ash looked affronted. Raa'chel immediately closed her mouth. This was the man's livelihood after all.
Ash then said, "Look, it's not exactly pretty, but she's paid for. And, there's a few extra features that'll make anyone think twice before they attack us. Like for instance, see that?" Ash pointed to a nasty looking gun turret on the roof of the ship. It looked a litle too large for the vessel, and Raa'chel was just about to say as such when Ash continued, "Imperial Turbolaser. Capital ship grade. Takes up a whole hell of a lot of energy, but punches a big hole in any local cruisers and gives Star Destroyers a few dents as well. Add to that a triple blaster battery under the cockpit for the starfighters, and extra shielding all around. Proton torpedo launcher concealed on the aft section for pursuing hostiles."
He paused and looked at his ship as if surveying a work of art. Raa'chel couldn't see what he saw, but respected it all the same. Ash sighed and the went on, "You see, some captains pay for hyperdrive overhauls that don't work half the time. But I'd like to see the Falcon go up against the Star." Ash looked at the princess and saw her puzzled look.
"Who are you talking about? The Falcon?" she asked.
Ash cleared his throat and said, "Long story. Ready to disembark?"
Raa'chel nodded and climbed aboard. The interior was a mess. It looked like someone had strewn food wrappers all over the entryway, the hallway, the kitchen; practically everywhere! It was something the Princess couldn't abide, royal courtesy or not.
"Ash!" she called, "Do you always keep it covered in trash and half-eaten food?"
"What?" Ash called from below her. "What are you- oh yea. That would be Kowe. Don't mind him, he's always been a slob." Ash walked on board himself and looked around the hallway. "Wow, he's been at it today! Kowe!" he called, "Come out and meet our passenger!"
Suddenly, a door erupted at the end of the hallway. Half-tumbling, half-falling out of the open door (which appeared to lead to the head), came a short, furry creature. He couldn't have been anymore than three feet in height. Shaggy brown fur covered his body, and a crown of bones and feathers adorned his head. That might have made him intimadating on his homeworld, but his near resemblance of an overgrown teddy bear dispelled any of that here.
Kowe chirruped, "Grunda, se kiatha."
Raa'chel giggled when she looked into those big, button eyes of his. He was adorable, there was no doubts there. Ash folded his arms and said, "Been in the food preparation unit again, Kowe?"
Kowe stood up and brushed himself off of the bits of food wrapper still clinging to his fur. "Hetha! Esch khardyo! Esch khardyo!" he yelped.
Ash put up his hands in surrender and said, bemusedly, "Relax, old buddy. That's why I have my own food stores locked up, where you can't get at it. Now, Kowe, come over here and meet the Princess, Raa'chel Kalaador. And after that, start getting this bird up and running. We have a few light years to cover."
With that, Ash headed off down the hallway, presumably to the cockpit to begin the preflight.
Kowe dropped the last of his food wrappers and ran over to the Princess. He barely reached her stomach. He stuck out his furry paw and said, very slowly, "Pleased-tooooo-meet you!"
Raa'chel laughed out loud. Kowe smiled up at her, his paw still outstretched. She took it and shook it vigourously. "Hello there, Kowe. Aren't you just adorable?" Raa'chel reached out and scratched behind Kowe's ear. Kowe seemed to enjoy that much more than the handshake, as he let out what was unmistakably, a low purr.
Raa'chel called to Ash down the hall. "Where'd you find him? I don't think I've seen his species before, " she said, still stroking Kowe's ear.
Ash called back, "I was hiding on this little forest moon of a planet called Endor. The planet's full of them, and I think they're called Ewoks. Anyway, I had pulled up stakes because an Imperial Star Destroyer had come out of hyperspace near the planet. I guess the Imps weren't looking for me, since they let me go when I know they scanned my ship."
Ash paused for a moment. "What were they doing there?" he thought. "That moon wasn't good for anything, except hiding."
Raa'chel's call broke him out of thoughts. "You still haven't explained him."
"Oh yea. Well, after I went to lightspeed, I heard this noise coming from the kitchen. I checked it out, and there he was, eating my sugar treats. Came close to shooting him, cause I thought he might have been a predator," Ash continued.
Raa'chel laughed, "Yea, some predator, aren't you?"
Kowe continued to purr from the attention.
Ash smiled and continued, "Anyway, I couldn't take him home, and he seemed to have a blast on my ship. Maybe he likes blinking lights, I dunno. So, I made him my first mate and gunner. He's a quick study too. Good with cooking, and a damn good shot. Here soon, he'll be learning the navigation controls. Speaking of which, I thought I told you start the preflight? Get to it, furball."
Kowe brushed Raa'chel's hand away and called to the front of the ship, "Jespa ne chu!" He then walked to the gangplank and the left the ship. Raa'chel walked up to the cockpit and settled into the chair behind Ash as he made the preparations to leave Kalaador.
"I'm really leaving," she thought, "I'll come back with help, Father. I promise."
+
+ ***
+
+ "Are you sure?"
After several reports of blaster fire from this very establishment in the last week alone, Captain Jesko was unsure as to whether this latest report would yield anything positive. Still, this sort of smoky bar that he and his stormtrooper squad currently occupied would certainly be a good place to find a pilot, reputable or otherwise. He hoped Raa'chel Kalaador had thought along the same lines. Sure enough, their posters and the reward money of ten- thousand credits had paid off.
The bartender replied, "Yea, I'm sure. He blasted Ratchet's face off, and took the girl you're looking for to his ship. Heard the whole conversation, I did."
Captain Jesko breathed a sigh of relief. Soon, the princess would be back in their hands, and Lord Von Rubin would be pleased. "Where is this 'Ash Jerjerrod's' ship?"
"Always parks in the same docking bay. Bay seventy- one," the bartender replied.
"Thank you," the captain said, and turned to leave.
"Ahem, my reward?" The bartender stretched out his palm.
Jesko took a disgusted look at the bartender's outstretched palm and replied, "When we have the princess, you will be paid. Not before." He then motioned to his troops and they all filed out of the bar behind their captain. The captain picked up his comlink and activated it.
"Squad Beta, come in."
The comlink soon replied with the squad leader's voice, "Yessir?"
"We have a report. Proceed to Docking Bay seventy-one and detain any ships and crew there until my arrival. Understood?"
"Yessir! Beta, out."
For the first time today, Jesko smiled under his helmet. Maybe he wouldn't be cleaning the Iron Hand's exhaust pipes for the next four-thousand seasons "Only a matter of time now," he thought.
***
Ash flipped a few switches on his console, and the engines began to hum. He looked out of the cockpit and flipped on the loudspeaker to tell Kowe to get aboard. It was then that he spotted the Imperial Stormtrooper squad entering his docking bay. "Oh, dammit! Kowe, get in here, now!"
Kowe whirled around and spotted the stormtroopers moving toward the ship. "You there! Halt!" one of the troopers called to him, but Kowe turned and sprinted for the gangplank.
"Fire!" the trooper ordered. The stromtroopers unleashed a barrage of blaster fire on the Corellia Star. Kowe yelped and ran for dear life, his padded feet finally carrying him up the gangplank. Once aboard, he yelled, "Go!"
"Don't have to tell me twice," Ash thought. Grabbing the yoke, he pulled it back and the ship began to ascend out of the open-topped docking bay. Raa'chel began to lock herself into her seat as Kowe sprinted into the cockpit.
"Shupa ne chago!" he yelped.
"Yea, yea, just strap in, furball," Ash replied in a hurried tone.
Kowe hopped his furry bulk into the copilot's seat and belted himself down. Raa'chel watched as the blue sky of Kalaador began to evaporate, and soon the cockpit was filled with stars. She felt a twinge of guilt leaving everyone behind, but she knew what she had to do.
Suddenly a shrill beeping noise filled the cockpit. Kowe bent over a flashing display on the console in front of him. His eyes widened with fear and he turned to his concentrating captain. Jabbing at the display with his fuzzy forefinger, he said, "E yapa destroyah!"
"Yea, she's closing on us fast. Damn!" Ash exlclaimed.
"What is it?" Raa'chel asked.
"She's deploying her fighters. Kowe, get on the gun! This could get ugly, Princess. Shields up!" Ash threw a few switches near his head, and Kowe had unbuckled himself and had scampered out the cockpit door.
Kowe continued to rush down the hallway until he reached the gun turret. Quickly, he climbed up the ladder and heaved himself into the gunner's chair. He activated a few panels and the large turbolaser came online. A few more panels, and the point defense guns were also at his command. Kowe drew in a sharp breath as he read the TIE's closing in on them. He swung the point defense guns around and took aim.
+ Kowe squeezed the trigger and launched a volley of
blaster bolts at the TIE. The pilot wasn't quick enough
on his dodge, and his unshielded ship exploded in a ball
of green fire.
In the cockpit, Ash and Raa'chel could hear the Ewok's yelp of triumph, and Ash confirmed the kill on his radar. "Good job, little buddy! Still three more!"
Kowe refocused his energy on the guns as Ash continued to weave in and out of the TIE's weapons fire. A stray shot grazed the bow of the Star, and Ash cursed aloud. Kowe, desperate to make good his captain's escape, unleashed another volley on the closing TIEs. Kowe began to lead one of the fighters with his lasers, and finally caught the fighter on the starboard solar panel.
The disabled TIE fighter careened dangerously out of control. Back and forth it swerved, until a cascade of energy coursed over the insectile craft, disentegrating it.
Aboard the Star, the crew felt a sudden lurch. The ship shuddered for a moment, then resumed it's normal status. "What the hell was that?" Ash wondered aloud.
Just then, a klaxon signaled the crew that the hyperdrive engines were ready to engage.
"Hallelujah!" Ash whooped, "we're outta here!" Ash pushed the hyperdrive switch forward and the Corellia Star shot into hyperspace, away from Kalaador, and away from Sabre Von Rubin's wrath.
***
On the planet, in the throne room, Sabre Von Rubin watched the starship battle's progress with baited breath. Everything hinged on this. His plans would be for naught if she escaped him now.
And then, just that happened.
Sabre sunk back into his throne when the old freighter went to lightspeed. All was lost. Vader would most certainly kill him now.
"Unless-"
Sabre switched the holoreceiver to the captain's frequency. Captain Stavro's bloated face appeared on the screen. This man revolted Sabre. The captain of Sabre's command ship, the Iron Hand, was almost the size of an AT-AT walker, and he ate like a condemned Hutt. Worse, he didn't have the Hutt's ability to lead. "He will not be missed," Sabre mused.
The captain flicked his bushy moustache when he saw who was communicating with him. Sabre could taste his fear from the planet. It was a wonderful sensation, fear. "Fear leads to anger", Sabre remembered, "anger leads to hate, hate leads to power." The code of the Dark Side lingered in his head for a moment. And to think, it almost never was.
It had been many years since Vader found him, and made him into what he was today. "No," Sabre thought, "not Vader. Him."
Sabre's thoughts drifted away to that lonely hut on the hill. The planet Soren was once Sabre's home, that much he remembered. He then remembered the man he called father.
***
"Mithrandir?"
The old man looked up from his studies at his young pupil. The former Jedi master knew what was coming. His pupil, his second pupil, had always asked the same question.
"Yes, my son?" he said with all the patience befitting a Jedi Master.
"Why can't I move on in my studies? How is it that he-" the boy asked.
Mithrandir put up a hand to silence his student. It was a shame that the boy continued to compare himself to Mithrandir's first student. He who had finished his studies and left Soren to make his way in the galaxy many months ago.
Mithrandir gazed into the boy's ice-blue eyes. "Such potential," he thought, "A pity."
"I told you, dear boy. You must learn control. He understood control, and therefore he advanced," Mithrandir explained, for whatever time this was for the subject.
"But it's so hard to focus when I have his success over my head! There's too much to-"
Suddenly, the door to the hut crashed inward. The student had returned, with death on his mind.
***
Sabre awoke from his trance. He looked at the holoprojector.
During his repose, he had failed to notice that he had hemmorhaged Captain Stavro's brain with his command of the Force. The immense man lay dead on the Iron Hand's deck, blood and brain matter leaking from his nose. The next in command, Commander Daegon, stared blankly at his former superior's limp body.
Without blinking, Von Rubin said, "You are hereby promoted, Daegon. Your first order is to increase the Princess' bounty to fifty-thousand credits. Then, track the freighter's telemetry." He leaned in at this pause, so that the newly appointed Captain Daegon couldn't miss his next words.
"Let Stavro's incompetence speed your hand, Daegon. I want her found."
Captain Daegon's life had just become a lot more complicated.
Ash and Raa'chel proceeded from the tavern after Ash had paid the barkeep for the mess he'd made of Ratchet. Ash had cautioned Raa'chel to keep her blaster on her belt, as opposed to her pack. That way, the street predators knew not to mess with her, and if anyone spotted her, she'd be able to get her weapon quickly.
Raa'chel was grateful for Ash. As it turned out, Ash was indeed a pilot. A freighter captain, to be exact. His ship was, as he described, "a real piece of work. The Corellia Star."
"What a nice name for a ship," she thought. She had this image of a highly decorated ship, almost regal, like her.
She was very disappaointed.
The Corellia Star was an old YT-1210 freighter, and it certainly looked "highly decorated", if "decorated" meant scorch marks, graffiti, blaster holes, and micrometeorite pockmarks. In fact there was only one word to sum up the Corellia Star.
"Trash!"
Ash looked affronted. Raa'chel immediately closed her mouth. This was the man's livelihood after all.
Ash then said, "Look, it's not exactly pretty, but she's paid for. And, there's a few extra features that'll make anyone think twice before they attack us. Like for instance, see that?" Ash pointed to a nasty looking gun turret on the roof of the ship. It looked a litle too large for the vessel, and Raa'chel was just about to say as such when Ash continued, "Imperial Turbolaser. Capital ship grade. Takes up a whole hell of a lot of energy, but punches a big hole in any local cruisers and gives Star Destroyers a few dents as well. Add to that a triple blaster battery under the cockpit for the starfighters, and extra shielding all around. Proton torpedo launcher concealed on the aft section for pursuing hostiles."
He paused and looked at his ship as if surveying a work of art. Raa'chel couldn't see what he saw, but respected it all the same. Ash sighed and the went on, "You see, some captains pay for hyperdrive overhauls that don't work half the time. But I'd like to see the Falcon go up against the Star." Ash looked at the princess and saw her puzzled look.
"Who are you talking about? The Falcon?" she asked.
Ash cleared his throat and said, "Long story. Ready to disembark?"
Raa'chel nodded and climbed aboard. The interior was a mess. It looked like someone had strewn food wrappers all over the entryway, the hallway, the kitchen; practically everywhere! It was something the Princess couldn't abide, royal courtesy or not.
"Ash!" she called, "Do you always keep it covered in trash and half-eaten food?"
"What?" Ash called from below her. "What are you- oh yea. That would be Kowe. Don't mind him, he's always been a slob." Ash walked on board himself and looked around the hallway. "Wow, he's been at it today! Kowe!" he called, "Come out and meet our passenger!"
Suddenly, a door erupted at the end of the hallway. Half-tumbling, half-falling out of the open door (which appeared to lead to the head), came a short, furry creature. He couldn't have been anymore than three feet in height. Shaggy brown fur covered his body, and a crown of bones and feathers adorned his head. That might have made him intimadating on his homeworld, but his near resemblance of an overgrown teddy bear dispelled any of that here.
Kowe chirruped, "Grunda, se kiatha."
Raa'chel giggled when she looked into those big, button eyes of his. He was adorable, there was no doubts there. Ash folded his arms and said, "Been in the food preparation unit again, Kowe?"
Kowe stood up and brushed himself off of the bits of food wrapper still clinging to his fur. "Hetha! Esch khardyo! Esch khardyo!" he yelped.
Ash put up his hands in surrender and said, bemusedly, "Relax, old buddy. That's why I have my own food stores locked up, where you can't get at it. Now, Kowe, come over here and meet the Princess, Raa'chel Kalaador. And after that, start getting this bird up and running. We have a few light years to cover."
With that, Ash headed off down the hallway, presumably to the cockpit to begin the preflight.
Kowe dropped the last of his food wrappers and ran over to the Princess. He barely reached her stomach. He stuck out his furry paw and said, very slowly, "Pleased-tooooo-meet you!"
Raa'chel laughed out loud. Kowe smiled up at her, his paw still outstretched. She took it and shook it vigourously. "Hello there, Kowe. Aren't you just adorable?" Raa'chel reached out and scratched behind Kowe's ear. Kowe seemed to enjoy that much more than the handshake, as he let out what was unmistakably, a low purr.
Raa'chel called to Ash down the hall. "Where'd you find him? I don't think I've seen his species before, " she said, still stroking Kowe's ear.
Ash called back, "I was hiding on this little forest moon of a planet called Endor. The planet's full of them, and I think they're called Ewoks. Anyway, I had pulled up stakes because an Imperial Star Destroyer had come out of hyperspace near the planet. I guess the Imps weren't looking for me, since they let me go when I know they scanned my ship."
Ash paused for a moment. "What were they doing there?" he thought. "That moon wasn't good for anything, except hiding."
Raa'chel's call broke him out of thoughts. "You still haven't explained him."
"Oh yea. Well, after I went to lightspeed, I heard this noise coming from the kitchen. I checked it out, and there he was, eating my sugar treats. Came close to shooting him, cause I thought he might have been a predator," Ash continued.
Raa'chel laughed, "Yea, some predator, aren't you?"
Kowe continued to purr from the attention.
Ash smiled and continued, "Anyway, I couldn't take him home, and he seemed to have a blast on my ship. Maybe he likes blinking lights, I dunno. So, I made him my first mate and gunner. He's a quick study too. Good with cooking, and a damn good shot. Here soon, he'll be learning the navigation controls. Speaking of which, I thought I told you start the preflight? Get to it, furball."
Kowe brushed Raa'chel's hand away and called to the front of the ship, "Jespa ne chu!" He then walked to the gangplank and the left the ship. Raa'chel walked up to the cockpit and settled into the chair behind Ash as he made the preparations to leave Kalaador.
"I'm really leaving," she thought, "I'll come back with help, Father. I promise."
+
+ ***
+
+ "Are you sure?"
After several reports of blaster fire from this very establishment in the last week alone, Captain Jesko was unsure as to whether this latest report would yield anything positive. Still, this sort of smoky bar that he and his stormtrooper squad currently occupied would certainly be a good place to find a pilot, reputable or otherwise. He hoped Raa'chel Kalaador had thought along the same lines. Sure enough, their posters and the reward money of ten- thousand credits had paid off.
The bartender replied, "Yea, I'm sure. He blasted Ratchet's face off, and took the girl you're looking for to his ship. Heard the whole conversation, I did."
Captain Jesko breathed a sigh of relief. Soon, the princess would be back in their hands, and Lord Von Rubin would be pleased. "Where is this 'Ash Jerjerrod's' ship?"
"Always parks in the same docking bay. Bay seventy- one," the bartender replied.
"Thank you," the captain said, and turned to leave.
"Ahem, my reward?" The bartender stretched out his palm.
Jesko took a disgusted look at the bartender's outstretched palm and replied, "When we have the princess, you will be paid. Not before." He then motioned to his troops and they all filed out of the bar behind their captain. The captain picked up his comlink and activated it.
"Squad Beta, come in."
The comlink soon replied with the squad leader's voice, "Yessir?"
"We have a report. Proceed to Docking Bay seventy-one and detain any ships and crew there until my arrival. Understood?"
"Yessir! Beta, out."
For the first time today, Jesko smiled under his helmet. Maybe he wouldn't be cleaning the Iron Hand's exhaust pipes for the next four-thousand seasons "Only a matter of time now," he thought.
***
Ash flipped a few switches on his console, and the engines began to hum. He looked out of the cockpit and flipped on the loudspeaker to tell Kowe to get aboard. It was then that he spotted the Imperial Stormtrooper squad entering his docking bay. "Oh, dammit! Kowe, get in here, now!"
Kowe whirled around and spotted the stormtroopers moving toward the ship. "You there! Halt!" one of the troopers called to him, but Kowe turned and sprinted for the gangplank.
"Fire!" the trooper ordered. The stromtroopers unleashed a barrage of blaster fire on the Corellia Star. Kowe yelped and ran for dear life, his padded feet finally carrying him up the gangplank. Once aboard, he yelled, "Go!"
"Don't have to tell me twice," Ash thought. Grabbing the yoke, he pulled it back and the ship began to ascend out of the open-topped docking bay. Raa'chel began to lock herself into her seat as Kowe sprinted into the cockpit.
"Shupa ne chago!" he yelped.
"Yea, yea, just strap in, furball," Ash replied in a hurried tone.
Kowe hopped his furry bulk into the copilot's seat and belted himself down. Raa'chel watched as the blue sky of Kalaador began to evaporate, and soon the cockpit was filled with stars. She felt a twinge of guilt leaving everyone behind, but she knew what she had to do.
Suddenly a shrill beeping noise filled the cockpit. Kowe bent over a flashing display on the console in front of him. His eyes widened with fear and he turned to his concentrating captain. Jabbing at the display with his fuzzy forefinger, he said, "E yapa destroyah!"
"Yea, she's closing on us fast. Damn!" Ash exlclaimed.
"What is it?" Raa'chel asked.
"She's deploying her fighters. Kowe, get on the gun! This could get ugly, Princess. Shields up!" Ash threw a few switches near his head, and Kowe had unbuckled himself and had scampered out the cockpit door.
Kowe continued to rush down the hallway until he reached the gun turret. Quickly, he climbed up the ladder and heaved himself into the gunner's chair. He activated a few panels and the large turbolaser came online. A few more panels, and the point defense guns were also at his command. Kowe drew in a sharp breath as he read the TIE's closing in on them. He swung the point defense guns around and took aim.
+ Kowe squeezed the trigger and launched a volley of
blaster bolts at the TIE. The pilot wasn't quick enough
on his dodge, and his unshielded ship exploded in a ball
of green fire.
In the cockpit, Ash and Raa'chel could hear the Ewok's yelp of triumph, and Ash confirmed the kill on his radar. "Good job, little buddy! Still three more!"
Kowe refocused his energy on the guns as Ash continued to weave in and out of the TIE's weapons fire. A stray shot grazed the bow of the Star, and Ash cursed aloud. Kowe, desperate to make good his captain's escape, unleashed another volley on the closing TIEs. Kowe began to lead one of the fighters with his lasers, and finally caught the fighter on the starboard solar panel.
The disabled TIE fighter careened dangerously out of control. Back and forth it swerved, until a cascade of energy coursed over the insectile craft, disentegrating it.
Aboard the Star, the crew felt a sudden lurch. The ship shuddered for a moment, then resumed it's normal status. "What the hell was that?" Ash wondered aloud.
Just then, a klaxon signaled the crew that the hyperdrive engines were ready to engage.
"Hallelujah!" Ash whooped, "we're outta here!" Ash pushed the hyperdrive switch forward and the Corellia Star shot into hyperspace, away from Kalaador, and away from Sabre Von Rubin's wrath.
***
On the planet, in the throne room, Sabre Von Rubin watched the starship battle's progress with baited breath. Everything hinged on this. His plans would be for naught if she escaped him now.
And then, just that happened.
Sabre sunk back into his throne when the old freighter went to lightspeed. All was lost. Vader would most certainly kill him now.
"Unless-"
Sabre switched the holoreceiver to the captain's frequency. Captain Stavro's bloated face appeared on the screen. This man revolted Sabre. The captain of Sabre's command ship, the Iron Hand, was almost the size of an AT-AT walker, and he ate like a condemned Hutt. Worse, he didn't have the Hutt's ability to lead. "He will not be missed," Sabre mused.
The captain flicked his bushy moustache when he saw who was communicating with him. Sabre could taste his fear from the planet. It was a wonderful sensation, fear. "Fear leads to anger", Sabre remembered, "anger leads to hate, hate leads to power." The code of the Dark Side lingered in his head for a moment. And to think, it almost never was.
It had been many years since Vader found him, and made him into what he was today. "No," Sabre thought, "not Vader. Him."
Sabre's thoughts drifted away to that lonely hut on the hill. The planet Soren was once Sabre's home, that much he remembered. He then remembered the man he called father.
***
"Mithrandir?"
The old man looked up from his studies at his young pupil. The former Jedi master knew what was coming. His pupil, his second pupil, had always asked the same question.
"Yes, my son?" he said with all the patience befitting a Jedi Master.
"Why can't I move on in my studies? How is it that he-" the boy asked.
Mithrandir put up a hand to silence his student. It was a shame that the boy continued to compare himself to Mithrandir's first student. He who had finished his studies and left Soren to make his way in the galaxy many months ago.
Mithrandir gazed into the boy's ice-blue eyes. "Such potential," he thought, "A pity."
"I told you, dear boy. You must learn control. He understood control, and therefore he advanced," Mithrandir explained, for whatever time this was for the subject.
"But it's so hard to focus when I have his success over my head! There's too much to-"
Suddenly, the door to the hut crashed inward. The student had returned, with death on his mind.
***
Sabre awoke from his trance. He looked at the holoprojector.
During his repose, he had failed to notice that he had hemmorhaged Captain Stavro's brain with his command of the Force. The immense man lay dead on the Iron Hand's deck, blood and brain matter leaking from his nose. The next in command, Commander Daegon, stared blankly at his former superior's limp body.
Without blinking, Von Rubin said, "You are hereby promoted, Daegon. Your first order is to increase the Princess' bounty to fifty-thousand credits. Then, track the freighter's telemetry." He leaned in at this pause, so that the newly appointed Captain Daegon couldn't miss his next words.
"Let Stavro's incompetence speed your hand, Daegon. I want her found."
Captain Daegon's life had just become a lot more complicated.