Hyperspace; one of the most used pieces of technology in the galaxy. It's invention allowed interstellar trade and the birth of the Galactic Republic. However, it also held many dangers. A slight miscalculation by either a machine or a sentient had the potential to lead to a major accident with massive loss of life.
The white cot beneath him was only slightly more comfortable than the durasteel slab on the Banesclaw that masqueraded as a bed, yet other than the small refresher unit on the wall next to him, it was the only place to sit other than the floor. Jorec looked up at the ceiling, lost in thought. In truth, it had been the only thing to do in the past few days since the content of the nearby computer terminal had been committed to his memory.
He thought about the contents, a list of all of the other inmates in the cellblock and the crimes that they had committed yet never were tried over. The list was full of political prisoners; dissidents, a former Separatist, and actual rebels all had a cell in the cellblock, and all of them were wondering about what their future was going to hold for them.
Jorec, however, thought of the past. He remembered himself and the other younglings in the Rancor Clan learning the basics of learning the Force before the Clone Wars began. He remembered meditating in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, listening to the water as it flowed throughout the room. The vision of a Twi'lek youngling that he couldn't even remember the name of and himself arguing over whether or not Yoda was as great a warrior as all of the other Jedi in the Temple did. Noting Yoda's almost serene wisdom, he had argued against the fact. Jorec smiled remembering the feeling of disappointment and shock as he watched Master Yoda and Master Kenobi perform a lightsaber combat demo in front of several clans. The sight of Master Yoda leaping around into the air, his training 'saber seemingly in several places at once but always being blocked by Master Kenobi's blue blade, amazed Jorec. However, the downside of having to give two weeks worth of Agamarian Sweet Rolls to the Twi'lek quickly soured the amazement of seeing the wise Jedi Master unveil a more martial role.
Yet all good things weren't meant to last. The beginning of the Clone Wars brought a distant fear in the minds of the older younglings about to become Padawans, all of them hearing the horrific tales of the war from older Jedi. His own participation in the Clone Wars was glossed over in his mind, intent on seeing the happy memories of his life.
In his mind, he skipped ahead to the past five years. So much had happened in that time period that was worth remembering. In his mind's eye he saw the snow-covered trees of the vast forests near his home, the white snow often accumulating up to six inches, making walking along the nature trails a chore. The smell of the forest after a heavy rainstorm, the sounds of the local wildlife as they came out of hiding and hunted along the now flowing creeks and streams.
Despite the beauty of nature that he had seen on Selvernos, to Jorec, the most beautiful thing he had ever seen was when he had first seen Lia Garent. The sight of her in that bookstore, trying to get the rest of the customers to go about their business after a drunken Kraat had made a mess of the place, remained a memory that had crossed his mind plenty of times ever since he had awoken in the cell. More memories followed of the time he had spent with her.
A slight shudder throughout the ship interrupted his thoughts, a slight shudder that ran its way through the metal legs of the cot and reverberated through Jorec's back. As he quickly sat up in the cot, he noticed the other people in the nearby cells were reacting in almost the same way. The feeling of fear from everyone in the room assaulted Jorec, adding to his own and strengthening his own despair.
The gravity well of the planet tugged at the structure, opposing the hyperdrive's thrust for a fraction of a second before safety protocols kicked into gear and shut down the engines. With a flash of light reflecting off of its hull, the Interrogator blinked into existence near the nearly barren planet. The hull shuddered due to the violent deceleration, and the command tower on the bottom of the ship began to give way. The cracks that appeared on the blackish hull widened, sending the contents of several offices speeding away into the abyss of space. The decompression damaged the tower further; sparks flying from severed wires flew out into space only to be extinguished as quickly as they were birthed. The crewmembers aboard the bridge of the ship screamed out in horror as another series of shudders erupted beneath their feet, a few of the inexperienced crewmembers unaccustomed to the hazards of space travel fell to the floor.
The damage became worse as the decompression continued and the sudden deceleration continued. It only took a little while longer for the command tower of the ship to be completely ripped off of the hull, sending it into an uncontrollable orbit of the planet. Like an antique sailing ship without a rudder, the Lictor-class ship's sublight engines were silenced, sending it into a quickly decaying orbit. As emergency sirens roared throughout the ship, the crew of the emergency bridge raced to reach their stations as the computers attempted to bring the dying ship into an emergency landing onto the barely habitable world below.
Despite the best attempts of the emergency crews and the computers, the Interrogator entered the atmosphere of the planet at too steep of an angle, the minimal heat shields of the ship absorbing all that they could. The effort was not enough, however. Flames began to form around the outer hull of the ship, causing several of the native wildlife to gaze at the two fireballs that were falling from the sky. The main section of the ship began to slowly even out; eventually reaching angling off to a decent angle as the engine power was eventually restored.
Inside of his cell, Jorec could feel the horrific death throes of the ship. He held on to the vibrating cot with both hands, and silently hoped that the Force would grant him either survival or a quick death. The strange mixture of the weightlessness of falling and the weak artificial gravity of the ship caused many of the other prisoners in the cellblock, including Jorec, to regurgitate the meal that had been "served" only an hour previously. Jorec could see the Geonosian in the next cell attempt to stay in one place by flapping his wings futilely, attempting to stay upright while those prisoners not anchored to something floated upwards and bounced around the ceiling. Each one tried their best to avoid the red barricades that would more than likely cause serious injury upon sustained contact. His hands moistened with sweat, Jorec's grip upon the metal frame of the cot began to weaken.
Reversing thrusters fired, trying to slow down the ship as the ground rapidly approached at a slightly reasonably angle. The ship slowed considerably before slamming into a plateau. The impact sent Jorec reeling towards the red energy bars of the cell, sending a wave of pain throughout his body before his vision went black.
The Interrogator slid across the frozen tundra, carving deep wounds into the ground below. The fire-weakened hull buckled under the friction of the ground, and with a horrendous sound that nothing still living heard, the bottom of the ship separated from the rest of the ship and dug deeper into the ground. What followed was the complete rending of the ship, causing the front half to continue sliding on the ground while the rear began to slow down more rapidly. Several miles above wreckage, the command tower had just finished disintegrating, sending small amounts of ash and soot to sprinkle down onto the planet.
The dirt thrown into the air by the impact and subsequent slide of the two halves of the ship began to slowly settle back towards the ground. It would take two hours before the dust finally settled, and by then the survivors had begun to stir…