Venrev clenched his jaw, fighting the sharp pain in his wrist. He was pretty sure he'd heard it snap, but he didn't much care.
He knew Zhal was dead, and with her died all the Padawan's strength.
It felt like hours had passed, and for the first time in his life, Venrev felt the true burden of defeat upon his shoulders. He tried to fight the Colonel, and failed. The mission was a failure. He was a failure. His master had died in vain. In a matter of seconds, the Padawan's hopeful future had been utterly demolished. He did not fear the Colonel's blaster; Venrev knew that he was already dead.
Venrev had been so lost in thought, fighting back tears of anguish, that it took him several seconds to notice the echo of orbital cannon fire. He felt nothing but the throbbing of his pulse, then the vessel throbbed itself.
The ship was rocking from impact. The colonel held his fire.
Guns are dangerous, but they are harder to control. They cannot discriminate between targets or illuminate a darkened path.
Zhal was dead, and everyone abord the vessel was now under attack. The very planet Zhal and Venrev had been sent to defend in the name of the Republic was now firing on the CIS vessel, this bulky ship that had finally gotten within firing range of their defensive cannons. Venrev guessed that one of the now dead rodians had been tasked with keeping the ship on a steady course.
The Challinese government had been completely unaware of their mission. It was intended to be a secret, completed just before the vessel entered Challinese orbit. Venrev would still die for this failure. His only hope was that his death would come soon, before tears of anguish could fall from the Padawan's eyes.
"Lieutenant, where do you think you are going?"
The colonel's voice halted a trembling man in uniform, someone who was clearly an inferior officer in more ways than one.
"The esc- escape pods, sir! We have no crew left to man our defenses, and-"
"You're not going anywhere without this Jedi. As our prisoner, he's the only bargaining chip we have left".
"Yes, sir!"
Venrev felt himself being lifted under his arms, and dragged across the room. He was in terrible pain, yet felt strangely numb. He didn't care the slightest bit what happened to him. The lieutenant pulled him into the stuffy confines of a conical escape pod, which was filled with a strange, stale odor.
Colonel Greck followed, carrying only his blaster and a grey supply case of some sort. He boarded the escape pod with Venrev and the lieutenant. It was cramped and uncomfortable. Venrev shut his eyes and rested as the vehicle shuddered and propelled itself away from its parent vessel.
Dioshua was a beautiful city, especially at night. Captain Thace suddenly wished her daughter could be with her, to count the specks of glowing light across the landscape. Although the curious little baby had mastered the skill of counting, she enjoyed the practice whenever she found an opportunity. Thace recalled fondly the night she nodded off with her daughter in her arms, sitting on the balcony of their home, counting the stars in the evening sky. The following morning, her daughter proudly announced that she counted over sixty stars in the night sky, and that she would try it again on a different planet.
Challina would be that planet. Dioshua would be the city. Thace had been promised a full week of vacation once the colonel made groundside. The skies looked very promising, dotted with many stars that twinkled through the atmospheric dust and heat. She was looking forward to seeing her daughter's toothy grin.
"Chief", Thace called to the non-commissioned officer who felt compelled to take both their mugs off the table after their meal had concluded. She knew the officer's loyalty ran only skin deep; fortunately, her posting was temporary.
"Ma'am?" he asked, standing at attention even though she hadn't bothered to turn from the window to face him.
"What's the status on the Colonel's cruiser? Is he still in orbit?"
"Well, actually-" he cut himself off, interrupted by a gentle beeping from his wrist comm. Thace waited patiently, resisting the urge to drum her fingers until he continued.
"Something's happened. Hold on, I'll bring it up to the table".
Thrace heard a series of clicks while she turned to the holographic emitter that rested at the center of the pristine table. The blue figure flickered to life. Audio was crisp and close. Not surprising, given that this posting was on the Challina's sunny side, and their equipment was top-notch.
"We can't raise the Colonel, and his ship is drifting out of orbit, ma'am. We're not exactly sure what happened".
"What? How could a CIS cruiser just drift off course?" she demanded a real answer.
"No distress call", he shrugged, like a boy trying to shake himself free of responsibility. The Captain took a deep breath, but allowed him to continue.
"Just before we lost contact, there was a bit of chatter going on between the techs. It sounded like someone had boarded the vessel, maybe a few stowaways, or even-".
"How many?"
"Just two, ma'am. It's hard to pick out the details, but we did notice one other anomaly".
Thrace hated the word "anomaly". Officers under her command made a habit of using it only to describe things that went wrong, which rarely happened under her watch.
"Well?"
"There was some kind of explosion, ma'am. At first we thought it might have been some ruptured fuel tank, since the cruiser sustained heavy internal damage and-"
"What about an attack?"
"There weren't any other craft detected within firing range, ma'am. Unless Challina ground forces opened fire, but the colonel wouldn't allow his vessel to stray into their range if-"
"Colonel wouldn't allow anything to go wrong, you know that as well as I do. They were either boarded by hostile forces, maybe a clone commando unit, or something must have gone wrong. Weren't they carrying a big payload of some flammable fuel, something new to scare the big guys?"
"Yes, ma'am. Damage to the loading bay would seem to coincide with a detonation of the prototype fuel, but we still don't know-"
"Is there anything you do know?" the Captain asked, straddling her seat and leaning toward the tiny hologram of a man, who retracted his posture like a rodent before a raptor.
"Nothing much else, ma'am. No. I apologize, but until the probes arrive-"
"The second you pick up something useful, you tell me. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am".
A relatively simple plan to reconnoiter and regroup. That's all this was supposed to be. Now the Colonel's vessel was drifting dead in Challinese orbit, possibly under attack, and she would have to sort the whole mess out before seeing her daughter again. Someone's face needed to be acquainted with the captain's armored fist. That much was certain.
The image faded, and Captain Thace let loose a guttural growl.
"I'll get your armor, ma'am", the operations chief offered, beating a hasty retreat before she could unleash a string of profanity upon his gentle ears. He was glad he had not left any dishes on the table. Their droids were designed for combat only, and could not help him collect fine shards from the intricately woven rugs.