Star Wars: The Korasa Trial
Chapter One:
It was a pretty planet, Kamino; oceanic blue, distorted by the grey storm masses. Kagen Ced hoped he might see it more closely as it flashed out of view again. The pilot, a thickset human, sat intent at the controls, laser fire flaring against the ship's shields. White-blue light lanced across the transparisteel viewport as another starfighter emerged from the shadow of one of the lesser moons.
The little vessel gleamed, silver plating reflecting the dancing lights of the space battle. The transport was only lightly armed, but with a substantial shielding system. There were four of the smaller fighters on the offensive, bulbous cockpits flanked by forward-swept wings. Behind them a starship followed, its turbolasers tracking but not yet firing as the agile little ships herded the transport away from the refuge of the planet.
Kagen rocked forward in his harness, the ship shuddering despite the heavy shields it employed. Beset from all sides, under the constant fire from the agile fighters, they were beginning to fail. An adolescent Togruta, Kagen had yet to fully develop the montrals that allowed his species a unique sense of their surroundings, but he was uncomfortably aware of the closeness of the others packed around him. Outside, the starship glided in towards them, a dark blur against the stars.
A fresh volley peppered the ship - sparks dispersed across the viewport, but left ashy trails left in their wake. The pilot spared them a cursory glance before returning to his controls.
"Sir, the shields will collapse if we take many more hits," he reported with only mild unease evident in his voice. Like the guards he was a clone, identical, but for the coloured headpieces that designated his specific abilities. The letter-number codes stamped on the clone armour distinguished individual soldiers; but they none of them possessed the same degree of concern for their own preservation as other men.
"Keep flying," came the abrupt order as the warning lights began to flicker. "Kagen, Dorn; with me if you please." Extricating himself from the harness, Kagen obeyed, staggering slightly when the pilot pitched the transport out of the way of a fresh assault. One of the guards reached out to steady him, the other stepping out of the way of the Jedi Knight in charge of the mission.
Dahy Perak, built only a little less solidly than the cloned soldiers and standing perhaps a half-head taller than the ship's designers had intended, had been – was still – a relative unknown among the Order. True, after the deaths of the Enclaves former Masters, Jedi had rallied to Dantooine from a myriad of places to resurrect the training facility there to some semblance of its former self. But Dahy, taken in already quite grown by Master Ghus, had completed his training and progressed well into Knighthood without ever coming further coreward than Hutt Space.
In all honesty, Kagen could not decide whether he liked the grim-faced human. Apart from the polite introduction he had made on their departure, Dahy had retired to his quarters without two words. The clone soldiers themselves – the only other company to be had onboard – offered little conversation, except in regard to their duties.
A Jedi Padawan, Kagen had little say in the matter, but from the start, the mission to Kamino had been poorly explained, despite his Master's rare sympathy. He was sure she might have told him further, but for the rest of the Council looking on from behind. As per the meagre instructions, he was to accompany Dahy to take possession of some as-yet-unidentified matter, protecting it until they could return it to the enclave.
Jedi were taught not to dwell on such things, but Kagen had had noticed the unusual caution immediately. Students at the enclave were encouraged to study the history of the Order, at least in part; and if the accounts were inclined to be generous, they could not conceal that the Council had not always been as true and forthcoming as their supporters may have chosen to believe. He had previously adopted the views of many of the Masters; that any secrecy had been employed for the good of the galaxy and the Order, but under fire in an unmarked transport above a planet he knew nothing about, it was easier to imagine their concern for the latter.
The space battle had rendered such opinions unimportant for the present and Kagen stumbled after Dahy, suddenly grateful for the narrow corridor that had been so awkward earlier in their voyage. With both hands free to balance himself, he could almost emulate the easy grace with which the Jedi Knight navigated the small space. Over the sound of laser firing striking the hull, a mechanical wail set up; followed by a fluttering change in the ship's internal gravity.
"Tractor beam has engaged Sir, we can't outrun them," the pilot said, his voice distorted over the ship's comm system.
"Alright; we are launching the escape pods. Once we're clear get down to the planet if you can,"
Dahy said briskly, striding into the bay. "Esk, you and I will be going separately; Kagen, with Dorn. They don't want us dead – or at least they would seem to prefer that we survive this encounter, so," he paused, wincing slightly as the emergency klaxons blared.
"A ship that size can't have more than three tractor beams; if they want any of us they will have to disengage the transport. And they will go after the pods, I'm sure, but retargeting the things will take a few moments. Go for the moons." He nodded at them, stepping into one of the pods. The guards saluted; Kagen glanced between them, the characters on their headgear indistinct in the flashing light. A momentary wave of sickness rose in his throat as the gravity fluxes escalated.
The first of the clones ducked into the pod after Dahy, the Aurebesh characters E-4153 briefly defined by the fluorescent strips around the doorway. The other, Dorn, waited politely before the next pod, only moving to correct his balance with the stricken motion of the ship. Even as Kagen stooped through the frame, a queer tremor ran through the deck; this time the metal groaned in more profound distress.
Dorn followed, plugging in the launch sequence reflexively. The pod jerked erratically as the tractor beam lost its target; with the clone soldier guiding the tiny craft away, Kagen was left with little to do but stare out as one of the snow covered moons filled the viewport.
At the very edge of its range, the tractor beam found them again, spinning the pod on its axis. For a moment Kagen saw Dahy's pod, then white again as Dorn reverted almost all the power to the forward thrusters. The artificial atmosphere turned thin, uncomfortably so, but with a last twitch, the pod shot forward; then everything dissolved into static.
They were pitched downwards, white and grey flashing alternately as sparks danced across the viewport. Biting back a yell, Kagen shut his eyes against the glare, clutching his lightsaber much more tightly than was comfortable. Strangely he had no memory of having reached for it, but it was a vague comfort. Relaxing the near death-grip on the weapon, he endeavoured to find some measure of composure; opening one eye, he rather imagined Dorn was doing the same, albeit with more success. The man was breathing faster than usual, but his hands hadn't faltered on the controls.
"A deflector shield," he muttered, restoring the pod's atmosphere to normal power.
"We got through it alright – that doesn't even make sense; this pod has no systems that would break through that kind of shield," Kagen said, staring out the viewport. The snow-covered moon was gone; replaced with the dull sheen of metal.
"Never seen anything like it; it wasn't just a projector shield, but we definitely shouldn't have been able to get through it," Dorn said, bewildered.
He pulled the craft up, skimming over the surface. The expanse of grey was broken in several places, rough edges bordering deep fissures that ran down to black-grey stone. Kagen swallowed; he was dimly aware of Dahy's pod, some few hundred metres away, but his presence was fast fading. It was unlike any sensation in the Force he knew, and as their pod passed over one of the wider chasms, that presence winked out of existence.
Kagen felt it as a blow; he could see the pod, but somehow, inexplicably, Dahy was gone. Tenuous calm evaporating he cried out, straining to reach him through the Force, but there was nothing. Despair and death seemed to reverberate around him; shaking, he heard Dorn's startled yelp as if from a great distance, ion fire blossoming from heavy batteries concealed beneath the overhanging verges.
The world spun as the engines shut down, their pod spiralling despite Dorn's efforts to reengage the backup power. He met with some success; left to him the ship might have been able to land without killing them, but even as he struggled, the craft slowed, caught in another tractor beam.
It drew them back, under the cover of the third level; the two highest levels were closed off, but from there down the structure was less developed. Dorn stepped out of the pod, blaster rifle lowered in submission. Staggering after him, Kagen didn't truly register the low thud as he dropped it, nor the harsh voices of the masked warriors approaching them.
His eyes were fixed beyond them; every fibre of his being shrieked in warning, though he hardly knew of what. One of their captors started to turn, his red-striped mask painted in a savage grin. He shouted something; the others spun around, some even managing to raise their weapons as an explosion rocked the platform.
Metal squealed in protest, drowning out their panicked voices. The decking tilted down sharply, tearing away from the jagged line that had opened up before them. Kagen saw him, briefly, a black-robed man with dark hair and eyes; appallingly young for the twisted surge in the Force that preceded him; then the world fell out from under him.
A/N - I feel a bit sorry for Kagen; he's a decent main character to work with, but has such an unhappy start. This is the revised version of the story and I'm hoping it's now a bit easier to understand and read. Suggestions and feedback are very welcome, especially if I've left some staggeringly dumb spelling mistake in there.