Andean, atmosphere
As they flew through the thick cloud deck, further and further away from the planet, the starry blackness of space covered their viewport.
"What's that?" Marin asked as a bright triangular object appeared In the center of their viewport. It got bigger as they flew closer. Jes squinted his eyes to get a better look.
"No...they're here! " he said with dread in his voice. When it finally hit him the incoming comm indicator started blinking. He activated the comm.
"This is captain Erilon of the Imperial Star Destroyer Incisor. You are wanted for acts of treason against the Empire. Power down you engines and prepare to be pulled aboard."
Jes immediately closed the comm.
"Quickly Marin, strap up. This might get bumpy. "
"Where are we going to go?!" Marin asked with slight panic in her voice.
"Back to Andean. We're too close to Andean to jump to light speed and we don't stand a chance against that destroyer." Jes said.
"What about their tractor beam."
"I think they might have made a mistake by coming this close to the planet to intercept us. Andean's gravity well will distort the tractor beam's gravity field at this range. With a bit of luck we're small enough to break free. Hold on!"
And Jes frantically punched the controls for the shuttle to turn around and head back into the atmosphere at full speed.
The shuttle started to shake and slow down as the tractor beam tried to get hold.
"Marin, see those four switches near the far right? Hit the two red ones!" Jes said.
"Ok, I've got red blinking indicators here and it's asking for an override code. " Marin said puzzled.
"Enter code one, five, five, seven. It will direct more power to the engines. " Jes explained.
"One, five, five, seven, Done! " Marin said as she entered the code. The lights turned green, the shuttle started to shake harder but speed was going up again.
"Let's hope she holds together." Jes said grimly.
A few seconds later the shaking stopped and they sped forward back towards the cloud deck.
"Yes! " Jes shouted. Followed by a "Whoohoo!" from Marin.
"Wait, what's this?" Jes said looking at one of the displays.
As the shuttle punched through the cloud deck their viewport suddenly lit up with green blaster fire.
"Star fighters on our six. " Jes said. " They must have already been out there. Hold on, I'm going to try to lose them!" Jes said.
"Don't be foolish. You're in an unarmed civilian shuttle. Slow down and follow the fighters to a safe landing location." A voice cracked through the comm.
"No way." Jes said and executed a few evasive maneuvers.
Suddenly the shuttle shook violently and lights stared blinking everywhere.
"What happened!" Marin cried out.
"Damnit! They hit our engines. We've lost all thrust. I'll have to make an emergency landing!"
As Jes tried to get the shuttle under control, more and more alarms went off inside the cockpit.
"I can't get her stabilized! I'll try to slow down as much as I can and then we'll have to eject!"
Marin looked at him with terror in her eyes.
"Look, they don't have us yet! This is going to be a walk in the park compared to the escape pod landing we did back on Ba'an. Here, put on this emergency oxygen mask." And he handed her an oxygen mask from an overhead compartment.
He put his hand on her shoulder and looked her straight in the eyes.
"Marin, look at me. We just flew over Lervig's canyon. My estimation is we'll land somewhere in the forest beyond, east of the Jedi ruins. We know this ground, they don't. If we get separated, head west and make for the ruins. Remember how we navigated there?"
"Sure. Canyon, forest, east, make for the ruins. I got it Jes." Marin answered, sounding more calm and confident already. Every possible alarm was now sounding at the same time and the cockpit was covered in the ominous dark glow of all the emergency indicators.
"Ok, hold tight. I'll hit eject on one. Three, two...
Suddenly the viewport erupted in a chaos of wind and noise and she was violently thrown upward by the shuttle's emergency atmospheric eject sequence. To her surprise she could breathe easily through the mask. In a flash she saw two dark shapes pass below her. Must be the star fighters. A big orange parachute opened up over her head as she started her descent. From up here she could see how badly the shuttle was doing. The complete aft part of the shuttle was ablaze and it went down quickly toward the tree tops. The shuttle was a civilian craft. This meant that the parachutes were bright orange. and the co-pilot seat, which she was still sitting in, was equipped with a brightly blinking red emergency light so ejected pilots could easily be found. This also meant that she could probably locate Jes while she was still in the air. The ejection force and wind currents had drifted them a few hundred meters apart already. He was also descending more quickly than her. She looked around, trying to get her bearing. Right when she thought she recognized the clearing at the ruins she hit the canopy and tumbled down through the trees. The parachute and its cables caught the many thick branches of the trees which made her landing unexpectedly easy. She ended up hanging only a few feet from the ground. She unbuckled the seatbelts and quickly got out. The star fighters must have spotted the ejection and the seat was probably sending out an automated distress call telling them exactly where she landed . They had probably called in ground support already. She had to get to Jes, quickly. Marin took a quick look at the stars, determined the way east and started walking.
Andean, woodlands near Lervig's canyon
Jes' landing had been far from soft. During the ejection his parachute had ruptured. This had caused him to spin downward at a less then comfortable speed. He had hit the tree tops hard, right at the edge of a clearing where he had made a rough landing. When he unbuckled the belts and tried to get up he felt a sharp sting in his right leg. When he looked down he saw a large gash in his right calf. He'd probably caught it on a sharp branch on the way down. It was bleeding heavily. He wasn't going anywhere like this. Walking with this wound might cause the bleeding to get worse or he might pick up an infection. Luckily there was an emergency med-pack in the back of the pilot seat. He retrieved the med-pack and started working on his wound.
When his leg was bandaged up and he'd injected some anesthetics he tried to stand.
"Won't be running marathons anytime soon but it'll have to do. " He said to himself quietly. At that moment he heard the engines of an approaching craft.
"Oh, come on!" He swore under his breath and limped off into the bushes. Within moments the clearing was lit up by the landing lights of an imperial shuttle. As it approached it folded it's two bottom wings upward and landed in the middle of the clearing. Stormtroopers started emerging from the exit ramp but there was something strange about the positions they took up. It looked like they were an escort. But for who? Just when Jes wanted to move to get a better look, a tall black figure emerged from the shuttle.
"Now who in the five brothers is that?" Jes whispered to himself.
Standing more than six foot tall, wearing a black suit of armor without any visible military rank, a black helmet and... a cape. With a confident stride he walked to the center of the circle the troopers made up. Whoever that was, Jes instantly knew he was their leader. But where others would undoubtedly see a dire situation, Jes saw an opportunity. Against an force like this, his blaster wouldn't be enough and he couldn't outrun them. He needed a weapon to even the odds and these troopers had many. He just needed to plan his attack and wait for the right time. Exactly at that moment the black figure turned and looked straight at him, even though he was completely hidden in the bushes.
"Over there." the figure spoke with a heavy, metallic voice, pointing his right hand directly at Jes' position. Jes knew he'd been compromised and instinctively took a step back. One of the Stormtroopers, probably one of the less experienced ones, immediately fired in his direction. The shot was spot-on and should have made a clean hole right through his chest where it not for the fact that the blaster bolt suddenly froze in mid-air halfway to where Jes was hiding.
Jes couldn't believe his eyes. But he knew he didn't have time to think about it now. The next second all blasters were aimed directly at him. Jes saw that the black figure had raised his left hand and said "Hold your fire!"
For the next few seconds he just kept staring directly at Jes' position. Jes couldn't believe what he was seeing but knew he had to get out of there. He quietly moved backwards, further into the bushes. Then the dark figure said:
"She's not here. Just the old man. "And lowered his hand. The blaster bolt continued its path and scorched the bushes Jes had been hiding in just a few seconds ago.
"You, you," he said, pointing at the two nearest troopers.
"come with me. I need to find the girl. The rest, hunt him down and kill him. "
And with that he turned around and walked back into the shuttle followed by the two troopers. The others were starting to move towards Jes' position, blaster rifles ready. Jes knew he needed to act quickly. He moved further back into the bushes quietly and tried to find a way to recreate the element of surprise. The opportunity came when two more troopers came to the assistance of the others seconds after the shuttle lifted off. They were mounted on military speeder bikes. Just what he needed.
Andean, woodlands near Jedi ruins
It was hard to find landmarks she and Jes had used to navigate to the Jedi ruins in the dark. The only illumination was one of Andean's pale moons. She had to backtrack a couple of times to make sure she was on the right trail. And now it seemed that the wet season had started early. What had started as a light drizzle had quickly turned into heavy rain. On top of that the wind had picked up. It was almost if even the elements had turned against her.
Soaked by the rain, bruised by her narrow escape from a crashing shuttle and pissed off at the universe in general because nothing seemed to work out very well today, she moved on, determined to reach the ruins and find Jes. Together they would find a way out of this mess. A few times she heard the faint wine of star fighters flying by but none were close enough to spot her. She thought about Kinnar, Esper and Art. Were they ok? Was she ever going to see them again? She felt tears well up at the thought of losing all her friends again. She pushed the feeling aside and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. What surprised her however, was that she wasn't afraid. There sure were plenty of reasons to be. But again, she felt a comforting presence. She couldn't really place it. Though she knew she was all alone, it felt as if someone was with her.
After another few hundred meters through the dark wet forest she saw it. There they were, fifty meters ahead. The Jedi ruins! She'd made it!
"Jes? Jes?" She yelled. No one answered. No sound but the static of heavy rain and the howling wind. No sign of Jes yet, she'd have to take a look around. Maybe he was inside, taking shelter from the rain.
Just as she was heading to the entrance she saw a bright light reflecting off the wet building. When she turned around she could make out two landing lights in the distance. It looked like some kind of space craft landing on the ridge she and Jes had used to make camp the first time they came here. It was the only open place around big enough to land.
"It must be Jes!" She said to herself. "No one else knows about this place. "
What was she supposed to do? Stay at the ruins? Or head to the shuttle. She figured that shuttle might be their way of this planet and that maybe there was no time to lose.
So she started heading back through the forest, towards the shuttle. About half way there, in the middle a thick part of the forest, full of large trees, she felt a slight tingling in the back of her mind. Something wasn't right. She looked around but couldn't see anything. The rain made it hard to see in the dark and the sound made it impossible to hear anything but the loudest noises. She headed on quietly, moving from tree to tree decrease her visibility when suddenly she was hit by fear. A spirit-breaking, unforgiving fear. When she turned around she saw him. A dark shape barely visible in the pale, dim light of the moon.
"Marin Koorna. Jedi. " she heard him say in a low, metallic voice. As he spoke, she was paralyzed by a fear that flowed through her like a snake.
"Your order has fallen. " The dark man continued with an ominous voice.
"Your friends are dead. So you ran, and hid. "
"I felt tour fear Marin. You fear that you will lose everything again. "
"I felt your anger. You're angry because there was nothing you could do to help them."
"I felt your hate Marin. Your hate of the ones who did this to you."
"But what if I told you that the order you served was corrupt to its bones. That the so called wisdom they taught you was nothing but lies."
Marin winced at the bitterness in his voice. The man had stepped closer but Marin was still paralyzed. What was he talking about? The Jedi council, corrupt?
The words about her fear had hit home though. She thought back at the day of the attack on Coruscant. Images flashed in front of her eyes, the bodies of Johk and master Erad'un, the temple on fire. She shivered.
"I also felt the power within you. " For a moment all she heard was the thundering rain. Marin couldn't move and felt confused. Then he continued.
"What if I told you that they were holding you back. With the power of the dark side, you would never have to lose anyone again. Let me train you and you would never again be helpless. "
It was difficult to focus. Her mind was clouded. Could he be right? Marin thought. Was this the power she was searching for? But the thoughts quickly disappeared when she suddenly noticed something on her hand. There was something off. Something on the edge of her vision. It looked like, she was wearing a ring. It wasn't hers. She could hardly see it. But when She closed her eyes, she saw it clearer. These weren't her hands. She was also holding something. A long, metal cylinder. It was a lightsaber. It looked like the one they saw in the tomb they visited earlier. Though she knew it couldn't be real, she tried turning it on. With her eyes still closed she could see two bright golden blades shooting out from either end of the hilt. She was holding a golden, dual bladed lightsaber. Suddenly she felt more powerful than ever. She opened her eyes. The lightsaber and the ring were gone. She saw her own hands again. But the paralyzing fear was flowing from her body. And then she recognized it. She remembered the fear, she'd felt it before. She'd never felt this powerful in her life. And when she looked up towards the dark man she suddenly saw it clearly.
"IT WAS YOU! " Marin screamed. "YOU DESTROYED THE ORDER, YOU KILLED THE JEDI!"
Though the black mask showed no emotion the figure took a step back, surprised by the sheer force in Marin's voice.
"IT WAS YOU WHO DESTROYED THE TEMPLE."
"I WAS THERE!"
"I FELT IT!"
"IT IS YOU WHO IS CORRUPTED!"
It was as if the rain and the storm suddenly avoided her. Creating an invisible field around her. The man in black took another step backward and put his hand on something on his hip.
"Don't be a fool. Together we could build a new order! An order which would rule the galaxy!" The masked man said with a powerful voice.
Marin took another step forward and raised her voice even further. She noticed that when she opened her mouth it was not just her own voice that came out. Like it was mixed up with that of someone else. A woman.
"NO! YOU FAILED!"
"WE ARE ALIVE! AND THERE ARE MORE! I'VE FELT IT!"
"YOU WILL NEVER SUCCEED! AND I WILL NEVER JOIN YOU, SITH!" Marin heard herself scream.
The dark figure composed himself and with his cold, metallic voice he said in a grim tone:
"Then, Marin Koorna, you will die. "
A crimson blade shot out from his hand illuminating the dark forest around them in an eerie red glow.
"Like.. the.. rest. "
When he took a step forward the world in front of Marin blew up.
Andean, woodlands, looking for Marin
Trees were flashing by, the dimmed headlight of the speeder bike only slightly illuminating the narrow path ahead.
This was madness! Jes thought. Whoever ordered speeder bikes to patrol a forest was clearly insane.
He quickly juked to the right to avoid another massive tree.
He'd been lucky with the troopers. Their jumpy movements betrayed their lack of field experience. Most of them were probably new recruits. And they had been terrified. Whether it was of their black caped leader or that someone had told them what they were up against he didn't know. Their fear had made them jumpy and predictable. Who knew, maybe the legend of the Selonia ghosts finally did him some good.
The four remaining troopers had huddled together in some nervous version of a patrol formation and had headed of in the general direction where Jes had been hiding. It had been easy to draw them away deeper into the forest thinking Jes had made a run for it. Meanwhile Jes had returned to the two newly arrived scout troopers who remained behind as a rear guard. When the patrol had been far enough away he quietly took out one of the troopers, shot the other at point blank range and took one of the speeder bikes together with a heavy blaster rifle. He made sure to disable the other speeder bike and was out of there before the patrol could react. He had to get to Marin, quickly.
The blaster rifle he took was an E-11sg. A relatively small, mass produced, rapid fire blaster rifle. Though largely inaccurate and prone to overheat, the fire power made it perfect for when you needed to equip a massive army from scratch. The sg variant also sported an LF-2 plasma grenade launcher. In Jes' experience, some extra firepower would go a long way when facing bad odds.
He was approaching the ridge overlooking the valley with the ruins when he saw lights through the trees ahead.
He stopped his speeder bike and moved closer on foot to get a better look. The hard rain made for good cover. It was the same shuttle he'd seen before. Two guards were posted outside. He had no idea if anyone was inside but figured that if they had Marin, they would have already left. He had no time for this and quickly took out the two guards who hadn't seen him approaching.
The shuttle appeared to be empty. He took some electrobinoculars from the shuttle and scanned the valley.
The ruins were dark. Though an eerie glow seemed to be coming from somewhere in the forest, about halfway to the ruins. Could be Marin, Jes thought. He quickly got back to his speeder bike and headed down into the valley.
He'd slowed to a crawl and turned off his headlight when he approached the glow. He thought he heard a woman shout but couldn't make out what was going on yet in the heavy rain. He wanted to keep his element of surprise, so he decided to get off his bike and move further on foot.
His heart sank when he peeked around a large tree and saw the black masked man standing opposed to Marin. He immediately noticed the masked man was in a defensive pose with one foot behind the other and he had his hand on something on his hip, probably a weapon. He seemed entranced by what was happening about fifty meters away. When Jes looked at Marin he couldn't believe his eyes. The glow he'd seen from a distance had come from Marin. She was radiating. The trees around her were covered in an eerie golden glow. And the voice he heard was Marin too. At least it seemed to come from her. She didn't sound like her though. More powerful, more commanding. Jes could have sworn he heard two voices at once. One belonging to Marin and one to an older woman. He hadn't heard all they… she said but it was something about the Jedi being killed and the temple being destroyed.
Suddenly the glow that surrounded Marin's seemed to fade. Jes saw the dark man compose himself. He heard him say something to Marin but couldn't make out what it was. Then the area was illuminated in a red glow when the dark man switched on his lightsaber. Jes suddenly realized that the dark man still hadn't noticed him yet. His attention was still completely fixated on Marin. Jes knew he had no time to lose and pointed his blaster rifle directly at the dark caped figure. He prayed that his estimation was right. Though it was danger close, Marin should be just out of range. He armed the plasma grenade launcher, aimed, and pulled the trigger without hesitation. He launched a plasma grenade directly at the dark man.
Jes saw the dark man turn around and raise his fist the moment he pulled the trigger.
The shockwave of the explosion had thrown Marin to the ground. The red glow of the man's light saber illuminated the smoke. The man had been thrown to the ground but he was still there. She saw a large tree starting to fall away from where the dark man had stood. With all her concentration she used the force and focused on the falling tree to shift its momentum the other way. Slowly, the tree started falling towards the dark man. Suddenly the red glow disappeared. Marin felt a shockwave of anger as she felt an opposing force on the falling tree. He was countering. And he was immensely powerful. The broken tree lifted of the ground completely, hovering towards Marin.
Jes saw Marin sitting on one knee with her eyes closed and her hands in the air. Suddenly he noticed the tree, it was changing direction. Marin was pulling it towards the smoke. He couldn't see anything through the smoke. He survived that?!
Then Jes saw the red glow disappear and the tree started to slow down. As the smoke disappeared Jes saw the dark figure kneeling there with his hands in the air. He said to himself: "Not today!"
And opened fire at the dark man. Immediately, the lightsaber came back on and he started deflecting Jes' heavy blaster fire. This seemed to take up too much of his concentration and the tree slowly started falling towards him again and finally came down on top of him. He was down. This was their chance.
Marin saw rapid blaster fire rain down on the dark figure and felt the resistance on the tree flowing away. This place was still helping her. Letting the Force flow through her she still felt more powerful then she had ever held possible. She concentrated one more time and pushed with all her strength. The tree came down on the dark man. Suddenly she saw Jes limping towards her. He pulled her up and said: "Marin, quickly, can you walk?"
"I think I'm ok. " Marin said.
"Come, follow me, quick! " Jes said and took her towards the speeder bike.
"Get on the back, let's go!" and they sped off.
When they were on their way Jes asked Marin:
"Once we're out of here you'll have to tell me about that caped fool. Did we get him?"
"No, " Marin said. "He's still alive. I can feel his anger. "
"Yeah well, wait until he finds out we stole his shuttle. " Jes responded drily.
"We stole his shuttle?!" Marin asked surprised.
"Not yet. " Jes said with a hint of anger in his voice.
"Oh. Isn't it guarded?" Marin asked.
"Not anymore. "
"Ah. " Marin decided to leave it at that.
Once they arrived at the shuttle it was indeed deserted.
"Who's the man in black?" Jes asked as he got of the speeder bike.
"I'm not sure, but I think he's a Sith lord. I know He's responsible for killing the Jedi. I felt his presence at the temple back on Coruscant but I didn't know it then. "
"Good. " Jes answered.
"Good? How is that good!?" Marin said surprised.
"It matches my expectations. It seemed to me those troopers I fought were more scared of him then I was. If he's some big scary sith-chief in this new Empire, the people on that Star Destroyer up there might be just as scared of him. They may hesitate before disabling his shuttle or locking a tractor beam on it. " Jes explained.
"Won't they try to hail us?" Marin asked.
"They'll probably scan us first. And they'll see our comm system is damaged. "
"Is it? " Marin asked skeptically.
Jes got the blaster rifle from his back, aimed it at the antenna array on the tip of the shuttle's dorsal wing and fired.
"It is now. We just need enough time to escape Andean's gravity well. Then we jump to hyperspace. I hope their fear will make them hesitate just long enough. Come on, let's get off this planet." Jes said, sounding more tired than before and he limped aboard the shuttle.
"Won't they follow us?" Marin asked while she followed him aboard.
"I expect they won't risk leaving him here."
"What if he already reported what happened. " Marin asked.
"Then I'm afraid we're screwed. But I doubt he got a signal out from a personal transmitter in this weather. Come, let's get to the cockpit."
Marin followed him up the boarding ramp. "What happened to your leg? Did you get shot?"
"Nah, I had a rough landing. I'll be fine. How about you? What was that back in the forest. You were all lit up!" Jes asked while he started the engines.
"I...I don't know. I remember being paralyzed with fear and suddenly I could see clearly and felt strong enough to take on the universe. It might have something to do with the ruins. " Marin explained.
"Well, whatever it was, that sith was a surprised as I was. "
As they flew upward Marin looked through the side viewports.
"There's fires there! And explosions! That's where the homesteads are!
Jes! We have to go back! We have to help Kinnar and Art and Esper!"
"No Marin, we cannot. " Jes answered with sorrow in his voice.
"But we have to help them Jes!" Marin said frantically.
"Marin, look at me. We'll only cause more problems for them if we go back. The entire Imperial force was looking for us. Soon, word will get out that we escaped. The best we can hope for is that we draw a large part of the attention away from Andean and it's people when we make our run. "
Marin looked out the viewport in silence. She knew he was right. And she hated it.
As they were leaving Andean's atmosphere the imperial capital ship came into view.
ISS Incisor, bridge
"Captain, I've got Lord Vader's shuttle leaving atmosphere." An imperial officer said.
Captain Erilon looked surprised.
"Lieutenant, I wasn't aware that Lord Vader would be returning?"
"There has been no report sir."
"Hail the shuttle, lieutenant."
"Sir, they're not responding. Our scanners indicate their comm array is damaged and inoperable. We cannot hail them, sir."
"That is unfortunate." Erilon hadn't signed up for this. Lord Vader was not someone who you wanted to anger, or even annoy. He needed to know more before he fired up the tractor beams.
"Speed and heading?" He asked the lieutenant.
"Slow cruising speed sir. And it's coming straight at us. Approaching on a docking vector, ETA twelve minutes."
"Launch a fighter escort, do a visual scan. See if he needs any assistance."
"Yes, sir."
Andean, orbit
"There it is. " Marin pointed out a few moments later.
"Right, we're being scanned. " Jes said, looking at the control panel.
He kept the shuttle on a steady course towards the star destroyer.
"Remember, we're pretending to go towards the docking bay. Hopefully that will keep them from being suspicious for a while. Once we're close enough, we will pretend to have engine trouble. Hopefully that will mask us preparing a hyperspace jump. Now, we're about a million times lighter than that destroyer. So Andean's gravity well shouldn't bother us as much as it's bothering them. We should be able to jump to light speed before we'll be close enough for them to get a good visual of us."
Once they got closer and closer to the Incisor the sheer size of the ship hit Marin.
"Whoooaah, it's huge!"
"It is. And armed to the teeth. You'd need quite a force to take on one of these. "
"They're sending fighters. Three incoming. " Marin said, monitoring the shuttle's scanners.
"They'll be here in a few minutes."
When they were almost half-way Jes punched some buttons and the engines died and turned the emergency indicator lights on.
"Ok, engines offline, we're drifting. Jump coordinates calculated. Just a little longer and we're in range. "
"They'll probably do a flyby to assess the damage." Jes said.
"Almost there.…." Jes noticed he was sweating.
"Fighters closing in. They're picking up speed. They must have figured out something is wrong. I'm also getting a reading from the tractor beam projectors!" Marin said.
"Too late. " Jes said, and punched the controls to engage the hyperdrive. A moment later the viewport was filled with star lines.
"We did it, didn't we?" Marin yelled!
Slowly, a smile crept across Jes' face. He noticed he had been holding his breath for a while and slowly exhaled. He rested his head in the back of the seat and said:
"We sure did, kid. "
Marin unbuckled her seat belts and gave Jes a big hug.
"I'll even forgive you for calling me kid. "
"Hah, sorry Marin." Jes took a few deep breaths and wiped the sweat from his forehead. That had been a lot closer than he had hoped.
"We'll be making at least five jumps to mask our trail. Let's try to get some rest in the meanwhile. "