Disclaimer: George Lucas owns all, I am just a mere mortal that snuck onto his playground.
This plot bunny has been driving me crazy, so I had to start it in order to maintain my sanity, lol. Things will make more sense as the story progresses, but here is a little tidbit of backstory: When Anakin Skywalker was discovered in TPM, the Jedi immediately accepted him because they realized he was the Chosen One. Since he was the prophesized child conceived by the Force and born to a descendent of Kaja Sinis, the first Jedi (he was a Civian, but for the sake of this fic let's assume Civians were a type of human, lol), and an ancient Jedi king. At nine years old, Anakin was made the new king, with Obi-Wan Kenobi his guardian, and the first thing he did was abolish the "attachment" rule so that Jedi could have families.
Now the story begins many decades later, around the timeframe of the NJO, when a Jedi Knight named Kyp Durron gets a surprise that changes his life forever when his path crosses that of King Skywalker's granddaughter...
Prologue:
The cockpit shuddered violently as the ship lurched.
Tonim jerked in the pilot's seat, clutching the controls tightly as his co-pilot hit the flashing display console, crash-webbing barely saving him from fatal injuries.
"We can't hold much longer, sir," Bren cried. "Our shields are failing!"
"I know, shavit!" Tonim cursed, shoving the throttle into reverse and kicking the etheric rudder to the right, pulling the Sky Blazer into a sharp turn to evade some of the laser fire raining down on them.
A trio of Z-9 Headhunters swooped in to block any escape vector, and the rest of the attack party quickly fell into place behind their ship, weapons blazing. The ship groaned as its fragile shields took the bombardment of hits, and the glow-panels lining the cockpit began to flicker, signaling that they had only moments before the power died.
Slapping his hand on the comm-unit, Tonim shouted, "Fesk, tell me that escape pod is ready..."
"Preparing to launch all-"
BOOOOOMM!
Tonim's chest slammed into the console in front of him, ribs erupting with hot fire, and he swallowed back a string of Huttese curse words that he'd overheard one of the Corellian Masters use once during his days as a Padawan, a lifetime ago.
"Did you get that distress call sent?" Tonim snapped over his shoulder.
"It's sent, sir," the young Twi'lek technician reported weakly. "But it's too late, there aren't any Republic ships in the sector, and even if there were, help couldn't arrive in time."
"Not for us, maybe," Tonim grunted, struggling to keep the trembling ship under control as the Headhunters pounded through the last of their shields. "But if Fesk got that escape pod launched, then they might get here in time to rescue her."
If not, then it was probably a good thing that they weren't going to survive.
He wouldn't have wanted to be the one to tell the Temple that they'd lost her, especially not once the king found out.
The comm-unit speakers crackled, and Fesk's voice filled the cockpit right on cue.
"I've launched all twelve of the escape pods," he announced from the docking bay. "Eleven are decoys, the princess is in pod Zero-Five-Six. I activated the homing beacon before launch, so the Temple should be able to find her, even after we're blown to pieces."
Small comfort, Tonim thought with a groan.
Three well-placed laser blasts later, the Sky Blazer exploded in a shower of embers.