Thunder Wasp, Hypori System; 3rd person POV..
Captain Thrawn stood on the bridge of his lightcruiser, staring calmly out the viewport at the two Confederacy Munificent frigates, a CR90 corvette, as well as another ship of Corellian design docked with one of the cruisers. As expected, they were in the middle of a base raid, although he was moderately surprised by the two Separatist cruisers that the rebels managed to scrounge up. No matter.
"Sir, how did you manage to predict a rebel cell would raid an old Confederacy base? Much less gain two frigates?" his aide, Eli Vanto asked with wide eyes, once again amazed by Thrawn's perceptiveness.
"By no means simple, this rebel cell is good to be sure," he comments. "But, every operation leaves behind some clue, no matter how small. The rebel in charge of organizing these missions is talented, and very skilled, however by following his pattern I could deduce what he or she, was after."
"Ammunitions and supplies?" Vanto theorized.
Thrawn nods his head. "And any vessels or weaponry they could get their hands on. The one is charge was once a key player in the Clone War, as evident by the fact they know the locations of many secret bases and munitions depot's otherwise lost to time. Hypori was known for its droid factories, and its position in Hutt Space gives the Empire less control over the planet," he informs Vanto.
He then turns to one of the officers nearby. "Inform the Admiral of our Star Destroyer escort that the rebels will attempt to flee, rather than fight. Target their ships hyperdrive," he orders.
The officer nods his head. "Yes sir," he says obediently, going to relay the report to the Admiral in command of the Imperial Star Destroyer.
Thrawn returns his focus to the small fleet of ships in front of him, assessing the situation. Two Munificent class cruiser were formidable cruisers during the Clone War's, that was to be sure. However their strength came from numbers, as the Confederacy usually relied upon in battle. With many gun emplacements on the hull, yet weak shields in comparison to most battlecruisers. Two Imperial lightcruisers would be enough to defeat a Munificent frigate, and with a Star Destroyer is was guaranteed. Still, one could not be careless in combat, as the rebels could pull of many different maneuvers in an attempt to combat their ships.
Jarik POV...
I quickly opened the comlink channel to the other cruiser. "Listen up! I need you to jump into hyperspace now, return to friendly space!" I ordered.
"But sir-" the rebel began to protest.
"Don't worry about us, we'll be fine! But the Rebellion needs that cruiser. Our ship will hold them off while you make your escape, and we'll catch up. I'd rather lose one cruiser than our whole group!" I told him firmly.
There was a reluctant sigh before he agreed. "I understand sir," he replied.
"Good," I said, ending the transmission as Ahsoka finished her call, having told the rebels on the corvette to break off from our ship and jump into hyperspace with the other frigate.
"R5, get the Knight Hawk ready to jump out of here!" Ahsoka ordered, and he immediately took off on his task, rolling as fast as he could out of the bridge and to the Knight Hawk.
"Are we abandoning this ship?" Mara asks in confusion.
"If we're going to escape, one of our ships is going to be lost, theres no getting around it Mara," I told her, in my serious battle mode.
"We'll be on the Knight Hawk to jump our of here as well sweetie," Ahsoka reassured her.
"Ok mom," she replied.
Ahsoka nodded before rushing over to where I was seated at one of the computer terminals. "You think you can get these guns working?" she asked.
"I'll try," I responded, getting to work. That's when the Imperial fleet opened fire, green laser bursts targeting our ships, and I realized they were first aiming for the hyperdrive. The corvette, being the fastest ship, was blasting off into space, being pelted with green laser bolts but luckily managed to make a jump just before it's hyperdrive was hit. Our other Munificent was slower however, but so far was taking the laser fire, although with lots of damage already to its old and weak hull. It turned slowly in the direction of where the hyperspace jump would be going, passing by in front of us while I worked on getting the cannons online.
"Oh no!" Mara cried out in worry.
We glanced up to see a large chunk of their ship near the bridge get blasted off in front of us. Luckily, the bridge itself was safe, but their shields were now most definitely down.
"Come on, come on..." Ahsoka muttered in a panic.
Just as the green laser fire began to start tearing into the part of the ship where the hyperdrive and engines were located, it jumped into hyperspace, leaving a smokey trail behind. So glad we were already in the middle of our preparations for leaving the system.
"Yes!" Mara cheered happily, pumping a fist into the air.
"We're not out of this yet," I warned her.
With the rest of the ships gone, the fleet now turned its attention to us, firing a large spread of green lasers. The ship shuddered violently when a large explosion occurred around the middle of the ship.
Mara stumbled with a cry, and grasped onto one of the terminals for support, eyes wide with fear and helplessness. She'd never been in a situation like this before, and she was still so young! Ahsoka rushed over to her and held on tightly as I continued slamming my hand on the console.
"Work already!" I said furiously.
Finally, the cannons in the front of the cruiser came online, and swiveled in the direction of the Imperial fleet. I targeted one of the lightcruisers, and opened fire. Immediately, a large hail of red laser fire streamed back at the fleet in retaliation, slamming into the shields of the lightcruiser on the right. It's shields were stronger then ours, but our ship was still bigger than the lightcruiser, and had a lot more laser cannons.
"Yes!" Mara cheered joyfully, watching as the enemy ship was pelted by red laser blasts. I smirked, brining up the heavy batteries and targeting the bridge. The two heavy cannons beneath the main gun emplacements aimed for the lightcruiser and fired a few blasts directly at the bridge. It's shields finally gave away, and the bridge was completely destroyed, disabling the lightcruiser and its shields, allowing the rest of the guns to tear it apart.
"One down," Ahsoka commented.
The Thunder Wasp then focused fire on another section of the cruiser, and alarms began to blare as the whole ship shook violently from it's barrage. Ahsoka and Mara stumbled, although Ahsoka managed to keep them up, while I almost slipped out of my chair. Our emergency shields suddenly came on, and a blue glow surrounded the entrance to the bridge of our ship. We could still walk through it just fine, but it was designed to block the vacuum of space if there was an incident.
"Take out another one!" Mara cried, breaking from Ahsoka's grip and rushing to my side.
I glanced at the ships damage report and widened my eyes in alarm. This thing was falling apart! "Well, not now, we have to go!"
"But we could take out another!" Mara protested.
"Mara, we have to go, the ship is breaking apart, now come on!" Ahsoka urged, moving towards the exit of the bridge.
Captain Thrawn POV...
I watched the battle intently, observing at the fight the last Munificent cruiser was putting up. Despite the odds being stacked against them, they managed to retaliate while allowing the other ships to escape. I was disappointed that I didn't account for them already preparing to leave the system when we arrived, as evident by how fast they made the jump, but this last cruiser won't escape. Whoever is commanding it is putting up a valiant effort to be sure, and clearly knows what they are doing if they managed to get an old warship into full working order.
"Sir, we've knocked out their engines, and the hyperdrive is long gone. They are dead in space," Eli reports.
"Very good Vanto," I say calmly in response. "Most likely the commander is still on the bridge, retaliating with their laser cannons to stall us. While capturing this individual would prove beneficial, we're under orders to eliminate this rebel cell," I remark, turning to Eli.
"Lock torpedos on the bridge and bring this skirmish to an end," I order.
"Yes sir," Eli says with a nod, moving to relay the order towards the officers while I returned to gazing out the window. As much as I would be intrigued in meeting the commander of this rebel group, there are more pressing matters to attend to, so I can spare them no delay.
Jarik POV...
The ships sensors flared in alarm again, and I looked out the viewport to see two large torpedos fire from the Thunder Wasp, headed directly for the bridge. I widened my eyes in alarm and grabbed Mara's hand, pulling her along towards the exit, where Ahsoka was waiting for us.
"Run!" I told Mara. She rushed alongside me, well more like dragged by me, but that's when the ship shuttered from another explosion, causing us to stumble. Desperate to get Mara to safety, I pulled Mara up and tossed her as far as I could, using the Force to send her over to Ahsoka, who caught her in her arms thankfully. I rushed over to the other side of the blue shield, where Ahsoka and Mara were standing, which would keep the vacuum of space away.
"Hurry!" Ahsoka exclaimed.
A massive laser blast suddenly hit the ship, and I stumbled, falling to the ground just a few feet away from the shield. Glancing back, I saw that the torpedos were almost at the bridge, too close for me to get out in time. Terror, dread, and resignation set in place as I look back over at Ahsoka with sad eyes, who widened her eyes in horror and realization.
"No…" she whispered across our bond.
"Dad!" Mara cried in worry.
I smiled sadly, a tear streaking down my face as they watched me in terror, knowing they couldn't do anything. Then the torpedos hit the bridge, causing a massive explosion that opened the entire room to the vacuum of space. I was instantly sucked out of the bridge, along with anything that was not bolted down. The air instantly left my body agonizingly as I felt the heat of the explosion before a sudden freezing cold that hurt so much.
Then there was blackness, the last thing I could hear being Mara and Ahsoka's voices screaming my name.
Captain Thrawn POV...
"Bridge has been destroyed sir. The enemy is now dead in space," one of the officers reports, and I nod my head in satisfaction.
"Very good officer," I say in response. However something doesn't seem right, and I do not believe this rebel commander would have stayed behind and what he surely knew to be a doomed frigate without an escape plan. And more may still be alive onboard, desperate to escape our grasp.
"Scan the enemy vessel for any other docked ships or escape pods attempting to flee the battle," I ordered.
Ahsoka POV…
I was in shock… I couldn't believe it! Jarik was… was gone. I could feel the life slipping away from him, his body floating slowly through space with the scattered debris. Mara was crying hysterically, hugging me tightly in desperation as I gazed out at Jarik's body.
"I'm sorry Mara," I whispered, tears flowing from my eyes as I returned the hug. The sound of laser fire pummeling our ship from the Star Destroyers was quiet and dull to me, as I was still in disbelieving shock at what happened. We were just on a simple supply mission to reinforce the Rebellion, and yet this happens. It wasn't too long ago that he mentioned the possibility of us getting married. And now Mara would be once again left without a father... twice.
Tears streaming down my face, I began to lead Mara away from the bridge. We were still in a war zone... we had to leave this place before the Empire destroyed us all.
"Oh Jarik... why is the galaxy so cruel," I whispered across our slowly cracking bond with agony, while Mara continued to sob and scream in denial. I was just quiet as I lead Mara down the hall.
Then my senses felt something strange, and with bloodshot eyes I turned my head back around subconsciously. Apparently Mara could sense it as well, as she looked over as well.
Our grief and agony was forgotten, replaced with shock at the most astonishing and mind-destroying thing I had ever seen...
Jarik POV…
There was nothing around me. I was nothing, only blackness. No sound… no sight… no sense of feeling… Only the cold, pressing harshly against me and my mind, which was slowly slipping away into slumber. I was tired... should I just rest?
Jarik…
A calming, familiar woman's voice whispered faintly from beyond the void, and I strained to listen more in the empty landscape. The void around me slowly shifted, and I saw a misty and unclear image of a woman in front of me, wearing a white dress and flowing green hair.
"Daughter…" I whisper in a trance-like state.
Your time has not yet come…
The voice speaks again, and a sudden rush of Light and energy starts to fill my body as Daughter disappears, blackness filling my view again, but feeling returns to my body. My hands shift slightly, and my newfound energy and Light within me surges forth at my command, wrapping me in a Force shield against the vacuum of space.
I open my eyes to view the cruiser and destroyed bridge in front of me, debris scattered all around. I faintly make out the figures of Ahsoka and Mara behind the blue shield, and focus desperately on them, reaching out to my family. I need to be with them again, with Ahsoka! The need is so great that the Force responds to my desperate and heartbreaking need, and I begin to move through space itself, towards the ship, towards Ahsoka and Mara.
I don't know how I am doing this, but I don't give it any thought or care. I need to be with them again… The agonizing cracks in my mind and the bond are slowly but gently being repaired by this Light as I continue on, tears on my face as I reach out for the love of my life, and the one who has become a daughter to me, defying the laws of space itself.
Before I realize it, I pass through the blue shield and collapse on the floor with a painful groan, gravity returning to my senses before I gaze up with lidded eyes, seeing a figure standing over me.
"Ahsoka…" I whisper in recognition, right before slumping on the ground unconscious, as everything turns black once more, the Light energy that helped me ebbing away into nothingness, its purpose having been fulfilled to save me…
Ahsoka POV…
"Jarik!" I exclaim in shock, rushing down next to him in a panic, my mind struggling to comprehend what just happened, only grateful that he's alive. Mara gasps in a mixture of absolute shock, relief, and bewilderment at what just happened, unable to comprehend it. I paid her no mind and desperately felt his face, felt for his heartbeat, his breathing, and probed desperately along the bond. He was still alive, but barely.
"How did he do that?!" Mara exclaims. Another explosion on the cruiser reminds me of our current situation.
"I don't know, but I don't care! We need to get back to the Knight Hawk, now!" I say heatedly in response, lifting Jarik up in my arms. I grimace slightly from the weight, but strengthen my muscles with the Force.
"It's this way!" Mara yells, pointing down the hallway before running as fast as she could. I follow after her, Jarik held firmly and desperately in my arms as we rush to our escape. My lekku sway wildly as I go, sometimes swinging against Jarik, and I can still feel how clammy his skin is. He is not in good health at all. Whatever power in the Force he used to 'fly through space' of all things severely taxed him. Not to mention the lack of any air at all for quite some time.
Finally we reach the docking tube, and Mara presses the button to open the door, rushing inside with me following after. Once we made it back onto the Knight Hawk, Mara closed the door before looking up at me in a panic. The sound of the frigate exploding next to us could be heard.
"What should I do?!" Mara asks me helplessly. "I- I don't know how to fly!"
"R5 will do the flying," I told her before yelling as loud as I could. "R5 GET US OUT OF HERE NOW!"
His confused beeps came back from the cockpit, but he was eager to comply, detaching from the Munificent frigate and gunning the engines, blasting us away from the doomed vessel at full speed.
During that, I rushed Jarik towards our medical room with Mara right on my heels, setting him on the berth before taking off his battle armor. "Mara, hand me the life support mask!" I tell her quickly.
She scrambles around, fumbling with the mask in her hands before giving it to me. I quickly place it on Jarik's face and start toe machine up, sending much needed oxygen into his lungs. Just then, our ship shook violently, and I could only guess the Imperial's had spotted us, and were attempting to take us out before we could escape. I then heard a massive explosion from nearby, followed by R5's scream echoing through the ship. I could only assume that the Munificent had finally succumbed to the barrage of laser fire and exploded.
Mara let out a quick scream of fear before clamping a hand over her mouth, eyes slightly welling up with tears in terror.
"Hey, Mara!" I said sternly, clamping a hand harshly on her should to get her attention. "You need to get a hold of yourself alright? We'll be fine, but we need to be strong for each other, and for Jarik do you understand!?"
She shudders slightly before nodding her head. "Good," I tell her, opening my comlink. "R5, are we ready to make the jump?" I ask, and the ship shakes again, having been hit by another laser. He beeps back in confirmation.
"Then get us out of here!" I exclaim, closing the transmission before refocusing my attention to Jarik. He looked a little better, but his recovery was far from over. Unfortunately I didn't know to much medical training, much to my frustration.
"Hang on to something, we're about to jump to lightspeed," I warned Mara.
She nodded and grasped onto the handrail beside Jarik's bed, doing the same as I did. I felt the same lurching sensation that signaled us entering hyperspace, and let out a sigh of relief before the ship shook violently again. A large amount of sparks burst out of the wall from across the hallway outside of the medical room, and I widened my eyes in horror. Our hyperdrive was hit!
Before I could get R5 to cancel the jump to lightspeed, the ship entered the jump, however much more violently, causing the ship to shake uncontrollably as we were forced to a random, unknown destination.
Captain Thrawn POV...
I watched the corellian freighter successfully make the jump to hyperspace, a deep frown etched onto my face. Sure, our batteries managed to score a crucial hit on the ship's hyperdrive before their escape, possibly a critical and fatal shot, but we still let them escape. Without proof of the rebels demise, I could only assume that their escape would be successful.
"Rebels have... jumped sir," an officer reports nervously. "But with severe damage to their hyperdrive. I doubt they will survive for much longer," he suggested.
I shook my head in response. "No, without clear proof of their end we can only assume that their escape was successful. Despite destroying one of their Munificent cruiser the rebels still managed to get away with one, and the rest of their ships, which leaves us at a loss," I said in disappointment.
"Yes... sir," the officer stutters nervously, and I internally shake my head at his fear.
"So, you really think that ship will survive?" Eli asks me.
"Anything in this situation is a possibility, and the real question is where the rebels would have fled too? Specifically the last vessel," I pointed out, continuing to look at the ships last position before entering hyperspace.
Hiccup POV...
Another day passed by, and more suffering from Snotlout and the Twins endured as I headed back to the house glumly. There were many time when I would wonder why I was put through things like this, and why my mother had to be eaten by dragons. Being the son of Stoick the Vast when you look like me is basically a joke. Speaking of which...
"We're you been son?" he demands as I reach the house.
"Coming back from the forge. Snotlout and the Twins keep harassing me, dad! That's why I'm always late!" I try once again to desperately explain to him, but as usual he wouldn't hear it.
"You've got to learn to fight your own battles son, you're ten years old! Otherwise you'll never be able to become chief!" he says with a frown, and I sigh dejectedly. Suddenly, a bright light up in the sky gets my attention, and I look up in confusion, before widening my eyes.
"Uh... dad?" I ask him.
However right now he was inspecting one of his axes, completely ignoring me.
"DAD!" I say loudly, and he finally looks up with an irritated glare.
"What is it?!" he demands.
"Look!" I say, pointing up to the light in the sky, which is only getting closer. He grumbles to himself before looking up, but once he does he also widens his eyes in surprise.
"What in Thor's name..." he says quietly.
Around the village nearby, I start to hear a few more of the villagers taking notice, some pointing at the sky, others calling for dragon attack, while even more rebuke them, saying it can't be a dragon attack. Finally, the light becomes brighter and turns into a a strange shape, looking like it has wings, but it doesn't, and is instead on fire, screaming through the sky. I can now hear the falling object, which sounds a large explosion of Zippleback gas, only this noise is completely constant.
A few of the villagers begin to yell out in confusion and worry, and my dad grips his axe tightly, staring up at the falling object with hard eyes. It feels like its going to hit us, but instead shoots by, over the ocean and the arena, headed towards Raven Point. Everyone watches it go in fear and wariness, some mothers ushering their children inside while a few arm themselves as a precaution. It then crashes with a loud boom, right into the forest at Raven Point, although not totally breaking them.
While it seemed like the massive object was falling uncontrollably, its crash into the trees seemed... to lighten? It had move upwards and slowed down considerably, as if someone was controlling it before breaking through the forest, the object itself disappearing into the trees far away with not too much damage in my opinion.
There was silence before dad's voice spoke up. "Hiccup, you and the kids stay here," he orders gruffly. "I'm taking a search party up there," he says.
"Are you sure that's a good idea..." I start to say.
"Do it!" he bites back sharply, and I let out a sigh before doing as he says, watching him head off with a party of his bravest and most skilled warriors, including Gobber. My eyes never leave the far shores in the distance, miles away where the strange object crashed into the ground.
Well this was certainly an intense, action packed chapter no doubt! Our favorite Grand Admiral Thrawn has arrived, although at this time during the Empire's rule he's still a simple captain in charge of the lightcruiser, the Thunder Wasp, and he managed to track down Jarik's raid on Hypori!
Speaking of Jarik... Yeah he just pulled a Super Leia, deal with it. The Light side came to his aide, wrapping him in a Force shield and giving him the power to survive. Despite what many people thought about that scene from the Last Jedi, I thought it was brilliant. Sure there were plenty of problems in the movie, Rose, Holdo, and Canto Bite to name a few, but that scene was not one of them. It expands the possibilities of the Force even more, while also giving a nice tribute to Carrie Fisher as the coolest princess ever!
And finally, the moment you've all been waiting for has arrived. Jarik, Ahsoka and Mara have crash landed on the planet of Ahch-To and the How to Train Your Dragon world! They'll need to repair their ship if they wish to return to the rebel fleet. Wonder how that will go. And how will the Vikings react to strangers from space landing on their island?!
