The general alarm rang out that night. The Endar Spire was under enemy fire.

The shrill sound of the alarm roused us all from our sleep. When I opened my eyes, I immediately noticed that the windows had been covered with the security shielding that was supposed to be triggered automatically by events like the one we were apparently experiencing.

In the quarters I occupied, five of us, including Hannah and Harden, were suddenly awake. My comrades did not wait to know what was going on before acting. As if by magic, they all left their bunks and ran out of the dormitory to the room where we were to store our equipment. Still not fully aware of what to do in such situations, I needed a few more long, too long seconds to imitate my companions. As I reached my own locker, I heard Harden yell in my ear:

"For gods's sake, get a move on! This is a general alert, this is serious!"

I didn't answer, and tried to pick up the pace, fearing that my inexperience would jeopardize the integrity of the group to which I belonged. With great haste, I put on my combat gear and firmly grasped a basic sword that had been entrusted to me. I had not been officially authorised to fight with a ranged weapon. Although I was not entirely unfamiliar with their operation and use, my short training had not allowed me to learn how to use these weapons under the infinite safety conditions imposed by the Republic. I knew how to use them, but I was not allowed to. So I had to rely on melee weapons. As I strapped the scabbard to my belt, a saturated voice was heard from all over our quarters, and was probably echoing throughout the ship:

"General alert. Mobilisation of the fighting force. General alert. Mobilisation of fighting force."

In a hurry, I joined my colleagues who were about to leave the quarters. I saw our Lieutenant Trask Ulgo in the distance, who had already started to brief us:

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Here's the situation: the Sith have intercepted the Endar Spire. They want Commander Shan. Lieutenant Onasi has already tasked a team to accompany our Commander to the western escape pods. As we speak, they should be close by. You will neutralise any Sith you encounter as you make your way to the pods. We must protect Bastila Shan, whatever it takes. Is that clear?"

"Aye Sir!" The whole group shouted in unison.

"Then let's go!" Trask Ulgo finished in an inspiring voice, then took the lead of our small unit, and headed towards the destination we had to reach. When he unlocked the airlock of our quarters, which opened onto a huge corridor, the sounds of battle could already be heard. As soon as the door was opened, shots were flying across the corridor in all directions. We all stayed under cover for a short time, and when a relative calm returned, we went into battle. I soon saw five Sith soldiers who had obviously just incapacitated two companions from another quarter. Ulgo and my comrades all found corners to protect themselves from the coming Sith fire, and all prepared for their future response. I, on the other hand, found myself at a loss with my simple blade, and my great inexperience. A little further on I saw Hannah beckoning me to join her, which I did.

"Here Corem." She says, handing me her backup blaster pistol. "The rules, let's square them away where I think they belong. The Sith are here, and there's no way I'm leaving you on the front lines unarmed just because the Republic won't let you. If we survive and they come after you, you'll say I threatened you."

Somewhat stunned, I nevertheless grabbed the weapon she was holding out to me; a weapon that brought me some unexpected but legitimate, comfort.

"Thank you, Hannah." I said gratefully

The Sith then began to fight, and streams of lasers were again flying down the corridor towards us. Hannah bent down and returned fire, hitting one of the Sith in the shoulder. My other comrades did the same, killing two of the soldiers. As they began to initiate another attack, I decided to lean in slightly and aim at one of the Sith, the one who seemed to be going after the Lieutenant. I switched my weapon to its most powerful mode and fired the only shot that mode would allow. The power of the laser caused smoke to rise from the barrel of the gun, obstructing Hannah's and my view for a short time. When the smoke cleared, we could see that I had hit the mark. The soldier was on the ground, his skull smoking. Hannah quickly turned her head towards me and I saw a huge smile on her face, admiring. She elbowed me knowingly before saying:

"I knew I was entrusting this weapon to a reliable person."

I returned a measured smile, shocked by the appalling sight of the soldier I had just killed, and then reset my weapon to its standard function. Within seconds my companions had killed the last two soldiers, who seemed to have been thrown off balance by the particularly violent death of their mate.

"Come on, let's keep going!" Lieutenant Ulgo shouted, waving his hand and telling us to follow him. When I had joined him, I saw him stop at the sight of me and, with a hand on my shoulder, he said gratefully:

"Thank you, soldier."

Then he took the lead and continued on to the nearest escape pods. About ten minutes passed, during which time we fought handfuls of Sith soldiers. All of them perished in the face of our group, although some of us suffered a few injuries. In another corridor, we were caught in a pincer movement. On one side, Harden, Hannah, and another comrade engaged four Sith soldiers. On the other was Trask Ulgo, a very young, almost teenage Midshipman, and myself; we instinctively took on the other three soldiers close to us. Only, as we approached our enemies, a deafening explosion sounded, shaking the whole ship. In the next second, a huge part of the metal structure making up the corridor collapsed and came to separate our group much more concretely. Without worrying about that for the moment, I took advantage of the thick particle emanation that this collapse had caused to launch myself at my opponents. This time, I decided to use my saber to further surprise the Sith, who seemed to be in disarray. Within seconds, I neutralized the soldiers, one by one, with the edge of my blade. Once I was sure there was no one left, I turned back to Trask, who was kneeling by the wreckage with his smoking blaster in his hand. I took the ten steps or so that separated me from him, and saw the young Midshipman, bathed in blood, his trunk, pelvis and legs crushed under the thick metal plates. I also noticed a small round circle of blood streaming from the unfortunate young man's skull. Ulgo gave me a sorry and disillusioned look: he had finished off the boy. Then, without saying a word, the Lieutenant got up and moved a few steps away from the lifeless body of our companion. We should not let our emotions get the better of us, our mission was not over. Suddenly we were called out by voices from the other side of the collapse:

"Lieutenant! Can you hear us?" A frightened Harden asked.

"Yes, Second Class. I can hear you. What is your situation?"

"We're fine. We were able to neutralise the Sith. We're going to try and clear the way."

"No, Second class!" Ulgo replied. "We don't have time. You'll have to take an alternate route. Go to the East Wing capsules, that's the best you can do."

There was an awkward silence. I found myself uncomfortable with such a decision, which many would call cruel. However, from a military perspective, it was entirely reasonable. We could not afford to waste time. The priority was Bastila Shan. Not Hannah or Harden, or any other ordinary soldier.

"All right, Lieutenant. We're leaving." Hannah's voice said. She sounded resolute and particularly professional, as usual. The order had not been given to her, but I was certain that she would now be the leader of their little group. At that moment, a wave of anxiety went through my whole body. I was afraid. I was afraid for Harden. I was afraid for Hannah. I was afraid for her husband and daughters, who might soon be told some very sad news.

"Come on!" the Lieutenant urged me. I struggled out of my stupor and walked on with the man.

We were not far from the pods. Fortunately, we had not encountered any more Sith groups, only a few individuals here and there who seemed to be avoiding combat. We had to fight them, though, and we had finally taken out about six more soldiers. We were close. We had to hold on. The pods were only a corridor and a few rooms away. As we passed through a small infirmary, we were stopped in our rush by a particularly frightening looking man in metal armour. He was rather tall, slender built. His face was almost sickly pale, particularly accentuated by the absence of hair, and he had two dark eyes. He did not pay us any immediate attention. When we passed him, he seemed rather preoccupied with something on the ground. Or rather someone. Then I saw him raise his head towards us, and after running his fingers along his black goatee, he smiled in satisfaction.

"Gentlemen." He greeted in a deceptively warm voice. "That makes one." The man continued, pointing to what he was interested in before we entered. It was a corpse. A woman. A Jedi. The one who accompanied the Commander. "Where are the others?" the man asked, and then he started toward us. With his right hand he lifted a remnant of cloth from one of the metal straps of his armor and picked up a cylindrical object. "Where is Bastila Shan?" He asked in an impatient voice this time, still moving towards us. Without missing a beat, I saw my Lieutenant stand between me and the man. He grabbed my sword and took up an offensive position in front of the opponent, which made him laugh.

"Take the right-hand chamber!" Trask Ulgo said to me. "It will make the journey a little longer, but you should reach your destination very soon. I'll lock the door as soon as you get away. Find your Commander, soldier! Go!"

Despite the shock of the moment, and of my superior's announcement, I decided that there was no longer any question of thinking about my actions. I had received an order, I had to obey it, and that was all. Without wasting a second, I started running at a steady pace and left the small infirmary, leaving Ulgo to face this stranger. As the door closed behind me, I could hear an unusual, yet telling sound: the unmistakable whir of a lightsaber. So that's what he had taken off his belt. Trask didn't stand a chance. And I had to hurry, or the Sith would get me too. I ran with all my might through the maze of rooms. I put so much energy into it that when I opened the very last door to the capsules, I collapsed from exhaustion. A pressure on my shoulder, however, shook me out of my torpor. I instinctively grasped the source of this sensation and prepared to confront this mysterious individual whom I had not even noticed. Only, when I looked up, I recognised the somewhat surprised face of Lieutenant Onasi. With a delicate movement he knelt down to my level.

"Calm down, Galhor, calm down." He said soothingly. "I was waiting for others to join the capsules. Are you alone, Galhor?"

I looked at the man helplessly, my eyes lost. I nodded in response. I saw him give a defeated sigh, and then stand up.

"Then I think we should not stay here any longer. Come on, Midshipman. There are still a few pods left, we must leave the ship once and for all. Bastila has apparently made it to our wing. The last pods were released about twenty minutes ago. They must have reached Taris by now. Let's not waste any more time, let's get Bastila."

The man came up to me and held out a supportive hand, which I immediately seized. Panting, I followed my superior into one of the remaining capsules. We sat down and strapped ourselves in at full speed. Then Carth unlocked the safeties and our capsule was almost as quickly ejected from its metal cell, slamming us violently into our seats. Before the capsule entered the atmosphere of Taris, I was able to witness the sad scene of the Endar Spire slowly but surely falling apart. I had high hopes that our comrades would be able to reach the east wing, and the capsules that awaited them. However, part of me was sure that the answer would never be known. Another minute passed, and more violent shaking brought me out of my thoughts. We were entering the atmosphere. In the row of seats opposite me I could see Carth clinging as tightly as he could to his safety collar. I tried to do the same.

But suddenly everything went black, silent, non-existent. After all these perils, to die like this, it was very ironic.