Chapter one: All Hell Breaks Loose
I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose,but that a PART of hell will break loose...it'll be much harder to detect.~George Carlin
The all too familiar smell of recycled air greeted the Captain as he boarded the Endar Spire. He'd wasted no time getting back on board, happy he'd piloted his own fighter down to the base instead of having one of the two orbital shuttles take him. He'd chosen to stay in orbit over the base, though he could have landed the Endar Spire. It saved the Commander a lot of time doing it this way. Besides, he loved piloting a fighter and never missed an opportunity to do so when he could. The Republic Captain still saw himself as a stick jockey and continued to be one of the best.
Walking through the many corridors of the Hammerhead-class cruiser, he continued talking into his wrist, giving orders to his First Lieutenant Jake Stephens, while slowly making his way to the bridge, a task that was impeded by numerous staff members taking the opportunity to speak with him. Carth normally loved the opportunity to chat with his crew, but not today. He was late for a meeting he called of the Senior Officers.
Captain Onasi wanted to make sure everyone was as prepared as they could be. The experienced Commander wasn't leaving anything to chance. With a compliment of 300, able to house 400 passengers comfortably; turbolaser cannons, quad laser cannons, point-defense laser cannons, 12 Aurek-class tactical strike fighters, able to hold 4,000 tons of cargo, and 8 months worth of consumables, there was a lot to nail down before their departure.
When he finally made it to the bridge, he was met by his First, Jake, with a crisp salute, a hot stimcaf, and a loud "Attention on deck."
"Welcome back, Captain," Jake greeted him.
"Thanks, Lieutenant. Good to be back; let's have it, " the Captain said returning the salute, waiting for the soldier to give him the low down on what he needed to know without wasting his time on the less important items.
"At ease," Jake called loudly, before following his Captain to his war room as they'd come to call it. Some others called it the hot room, short for hot wash-up room. This was the place they'd always evaluate and review the failures of any given mission, all in a larger-than-life holographic image, making mistakes that much more agonizing.
The north end of the room contained a desk with several chairs in front of it. The center of the room had a large see-through conference table, which held view screens and had a holocron in the center, allowing for a 360 degree assessment of any past, present or ongoing action.
"Lot's of excitement on board with Bastilla's arrival," the shorter, stouter version of the Captain began. "I know you wanted to keep it quiet, but she's not, um exactly..." the Lieutenant paused, searching for the appropriate word.
"Unostentatious, subtle, low-key, quiet, understated…" the Captain offered and took a deep breath. Giving his head a shake, he took off his flight jacket.
"Don't worry about it, Jake I knew it was too much to hope for, but it was worth a try," throwing his jacket in a practiced move into his empty chair, he leaned back onto the front of his desk, waiting for his First to continue.
"She's brought a couple of, um, assistants, by the looks of them. They're Jedi too..." he trailed off.
Carth's brow puckered at that, "Assistants? Yeah, right. Body guards," he grumbled. "Did they all have security clearances?" he asked.
"They all checked out," Jake replied.
"What else?" Carth responded.
"All systems are a go and are fully operation, well except that the port hyperdrive compensator burned out during our last jump-" he paused as Carth interrupted.
"Doesn't sound like allgo, sounds like a broken ship to me, the opposite of a go, get it fixed Jake, before you call a green board," the Commander ordered.
"Yes Sir, of course, it's being replaced, the ECT is 30 minutes from now," the Lieutenant put a datapad into his CO's outstretched hand.
Carth jabbed at the screen, taking sips of his stimcaf as he could. Jake continued to report on the Spire's mission readiness. The Captain looked up suddenly, staring at the Lieutenant, an unspoken question in his eyes.
"I postponed your briefing for you when I saw you weren't going to make it on time. They should all be here in the next five minutes," Jake replied quickly.
"Thanks, Jake. Don't know what I'd do without you," the Captain said as he finished gleaning the information he wanted from the datapad and handed it back to his First. "Oh, I didn't notice," he said using his head to gesture toward the datapad, taking a deep draw off his stimcaf.
"Did Kerkes and Ulgo make it on board yet? Hey, and forward their records to me for review," he was very interested to see what he could extract from those.
"Yes Sir, they're on board and I've sent you their records...now," he paused. "Wow, these are the nav points we're going to? Haven't been there in a while, Captain" Jake said surprised, punching busily at his datapad.
"The Outer Rim Territories, Taris system, the 5th planet in orbit," Carth paused thinking of the last time he'd been to the planet.
It had been the turning point of the Mandalorian War; he was a Lieutenant at the time for Saul. Taris had been the hub of the Republic defense because of its strategic importance being so close to the war front. The Republic had built a huge base on it and it was a flurry of activity.
The planet was also the unofficial headquarters of the Jedi dissidents who had joined in the war effort against the Mandalorians. It had been the secret home base of Revan and Malak during the entire war.
And it was now a Sith planet… with a Sith base on it. They were heading into extremely unfriendly territory to the Republic.
"Taris," he said thoughtfully, wondering what the sam hill the Jedi was hoping to accomplish here.
"Jake, as I recall there's an asteroid field there; we'll have to be extremely cautious. The scanners will be useless, we'll have to send out the fighters to do recon for as long as we're there," the Commander noted.
Punching at the console, he activated the holocron. The room lights dimming somewhat, it first showed the Outter Rim Territories, then the Taris System, then Taris itself, ending with the asteroid field. When he finished, the room was now full with his Officers reporting for their Mission Status Briefing with the Captain.
"Okay, you are all the best at what you do and I'm going to require that from all of you on this mission, and more. Before we start with our status briefing, I want to acquaint you with your first challenge. I want an action plan for a defense coming out of FTL near an asteroid field in hostile territory," Carth met the eyes of everyone in the room as he spoke.
It was many hours later before the exhausted Captain found his way to his quarters. It had been more than two days since he'd slept, living on stimcaf and adrenaline. The harsh bright illumination as he entered caused him to rub his eyes that already felt like they'd been stabbed with shock sticks. "Lights, night time setting," he said tiredly.
Grateful for the dim lighting, the Commander walked over to the small galley area of the large room. He picked up the coffee pot, his preferred beverage, and gave the metal container a shake. Empty. Water would have to do for now. Picking up a dirty glass from the tiny sink, he gave it a hesitant sniff. Satisfied it was clean enough, he opened the small fridge. Empty. Tap water it was. He'd had way worse, that's for sure. He downed it greedily, and after refilling the glass he made his way toward bed. The disciplined military man laid his jacket onto the back of a comfortable looking arm chair, retrieving his datapad.
Carth eyed the bed enviously, knowing how good it would feel to rest, if only for a few hours. He tossed the datapad on the bed, and sat the glass on the bedside table. Reading with interest as he unbuttoned and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, he took a slow sip of the water as he digested the information. He sat the water down and fell onto the bed, datapad in his hand, leaving one foot on the floor. Every fiber of his body cried out in relief, and he allowed himself to enjoy it for a moment.
He'd left instructions with his First for a wake up in no more than three hours. The Commander wouldn't need it. He could never sleep before an important mission, no matter how tired he was. This was as close to sleep as it would get for him, at least for a while.
He rolled over for his water, took a sip and sat the fat glass on his chest.
"Well, let's see why the Jedi wants you on this mission, Privates", Carth said aloud. He found the files he wanted. One hand holding his water, the other hand his datapad, he read with great interest the record of Private Kerkes.
It didn't have much biographical information; she was an orphan. It did contain a military transcript of her highly specialized training, but because she'd worked for Intelligence everything else was a black hole, just as he suspected. Private Ulgo's file was just as bare, but it was because he was a raw recruit.
It was a mystery, and he hated mysteries. The Commander liked cold hard facts. He let the datapad fall beside him, deep in thought, sipping his water distractedly while lying down. It was like a kinrath pup chasing his tail; one fact led him to another, but never any answers. It was a never ending circle; nothing made sense. There was only one person who had the answers, and that was the evasive truculent Jedi. She was the key, and the Commander was determined that she would eventually have to give him more details. Until then he'd just have to wait, but he would be watching her very carefully.
"Jake?" Carth asked, punching at his comlink.
"Affirmative, sir," Jake responded, the sound of the bridge crew bleeding through.
"Assign a special liaison to Bastilla's party," the Captain ordered. That was their own code for an armed surveillance guard, someone who would watch their every move and report back to the Lieutenant periodically. He knew Jake would understand what he wanted without clarifying the order further.
"Understood, sir. Anything else, sir?" Jake asked.
"No, I'll join you in a few. Onasi, out," Carth said rising from the bed. He stretched and headed for a shower, anxious to feel the hot water on his aching muscles.
Plenty of time for sleep when this was all over, or when he was dead. He wasn't entirely sure which was more likely, given the uneasy feeling he had about this assignment.
The Commander let the scalding water run on his back for several minutes, lost in his thoughts. It felt even better than he'd anticipated.
Didn't matter if he died in the line of duty, he was a soldier's soldier, a patriot, so that was fine by him. In fact that's how he wanted to meet his end. Just so long as he was able to end Saul Karath first. That's all he lived for, the day he'd catch up to Saul and get his revenge.
He turned off the water, now ice cold. The soldier grabbed the nearby towel and dried off quickly, wrapping it around his waist on his way to the sink.
Carth quickly lathered up his face with the shave cream sitting on the counter a razor nearby at the ready. When he'd finished, he rubbed a hand over his face, testing his work. Satisfied with the job, he quickly dressed into his flight uniform. The Commander preferred this less formal way of dress; it was more practical, battle ready.
"I'm going to catch you this time Saul, and when I do you're going to regret what you did," Carth said to the empty room.
The Captain's chrono beeped at him, reminding him of the time. He shook off the dark shadows of the past, his thoughts now on the Endar Spire and her crew. Carth grabbed a bag from his closet, and picked up his flight jacket from the chair where he'd left it just hours before. The Commander emerged from his quarters anxious to get the mission underway, making for the bridge of the Endar Spire.
A tremendous flash of light blinded Traviata, her attempts to move her head futile as she violently tried to wrench her body free from an invisible force that was effectively and completely immobilizing her. Her eyesight returned, though hazy. Movement drew her eye. A dark haired woman, wielding a light saber, inched closer.
Two men flanking the woman dressed in tan tunics, carrying the same weapon, followed suit. All three apparently Jedi, she reasoned.
Again, a burst of splintering light, the air crackled and hissed. This time the brightness diminished, but still caused a mad dance of color before the soldier. The Jedi in tan raised their light sabers higher, seeming to repel the electrified air back at the source, followed by a loud agonizing groan.
Then all hell broke loose.
The frantic wail of klaxons, amidst the loud pounding of laser canons shrieked harshly around her. The acrid smell of burning electronics hung heavy in the air. Dust and smoke swirled about, looking magical in the flashing red lights now illuminating the space. The two Jedi in tan where sucked out of where a wall once was as an ear-splitting explosion rocked the room. The Republic soldier turned to run toward the door, relieved she was free from her sightless bonds.
It didn't matter. The ceiling collapsed and debris rained downed on her, cementing her to the floor.
Abruptly her body was slammed into the wall by the door, accompanied by the sound of her cracking bones at the force with which she made contact.
She was free once more. Again, it didn't matter; she couldn't move. Her body non-responsive, wracked with pain. The soldier lay there, impotent, gasping for every agonizing breath.
The room began to blur and her own heartbeat became the only sound she heard. Through a haze, the Jedi's face hovered over hers. Then blackness.
The Republic Private bolted upright in her bunk, gasping for air. The unmistakable smell of melting equipment burned her nose. She didn't care, her panting continued. Her eyes quickly surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings, wondering if the Jedi was still there.
That wasn't right though, this room was intact. It was also full of bunks and lockers. It looked like barracks. The bed shuddered violently under her while flashing red lights and shrill alarms began going off.
Bare feet hit the cold floor as she stumbled to the center of the room. The entry door snapped open with a noisy hiss. She stared at the tall, wide-shouldered, male profile in the doorway for a moment. The soldier's eyes searched the room frantically, looking for anything to defend herself with.
She grabbed the closest object her eyes came across: a black boot. Vee pointed the makeshift weapon at the door, trying to keep her balance as the ship shivered under her. Smoke wafted in behind the man, his head cocked a little sideways now.
"Really Vee? A boot?" the man said. "Blast it; don't you have your comlink? I've been lookin' all-" he started walking further into the room punching at the control behind him, shutting the door. The rest of his words were cut off by what happened next.
Vee's reaction was faster than lightening. Throwing the boot at the intruder's face, she was beside him before he could even think of dodging it. The startled soldier had him in a chokehold, one hand pinned behind his back, as his identity sunk in.
"Trask?" she asked, freeing her friend abruptly.
"Ye-ah," he cleared his throat, rubbing it.
Then the rest of it all came rushing back to her; she was on the Endar Spire.
A shuttle had brought her and Trask up to the Spire mere hours after their victory at the Academy.
After getting her official duty assignment, she'd met with her Squad Leader and was assigned to help out in the cargo hold. It was controlled chaos there. They'd had to haul jets to get everything stowed away before entering hyperspace. Once that was done, she'd been told to get some chow and rack time. The Private was new to the Spire; they were in a time crunch and didn't have the luxury of showing the ropes to the noobie.
She got it and it was fine by her, at the moment anyway. The soldier had stopped by Trask's quarters since they weren't too far from hers. The soldier had arrived with her friend, but they had been assigned to different squads. They'd parted company both promising to contact the other when they could.
She'd chanced upon one rushing crewman on their way out the door. When the soldier had asked about Trask, he said the new guy had just left, hurrying to his station. Satisfied it would many hours before Trask was free, she'd left. Exhausted, she'd skipped the chow hall and opted for a shower and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.
"What the frak is going on?" she asked, now foraging for her uniform, quickly getting dressed.
"Hells if I know," he muttered. "I think we've been boarded, Vee. Dead bodies everywhere... the blood. The Spire's a mess, debris all over, ship's on lockdown. Captain's given-" he stopped, his eyes meeting Traviata's as another huge shudder of protest erupted from the bowels of the mammoth vessel, the sound of screeching metal echoing throughout.
A ventilation cover fell down between the two of them with a loud thud. Smoke began pouring in from the opening. The pair glanced at the cover and then at the hole, producing the noxious fumes.
"-the abandon ship order, Vee," he finished.
"No defense? No other orders? That's it?" her eyes narrowed, surprised it got that bad so fast. She was moving swiftly around the room now as she spoke. The soldier retrieved her comlink from her bedside table, using her teeth to pull the strap, grabbing a boot with her free hand.
"Overwhelming force, no hope, the ship's a total loss," Trask quoted parts of the last orders he received.
"Got it," the astute soldier said with a firm nod. The distinct sound of distant blaster fire drove home the point. She now fully understood the gravity of their situation.
They'd be lucky to make it out alive.
"Let's go," Traviata shoved her foot into her boot as she moved to the door, clearly in survival mode.
"You have any weapons?" she asked looking around the room for her missing shoe. Recollection lit her eyes when they came to rest on the contents of Trask's hand.
"Just your boot," he replied with a grimace, eyeing the offensive object she'd thrown at him earlier, beaning it at his friend. "We need to find the escape pods."
"We'll have to find whatever weapons we can along the way, in the mean time we'll have to go hand-to-hand," she said more to herself than to Trask, walking to the door.
The Republic pair darted down the first passageway, its floors slippery from fire dampening foam. Their urgent retreat was interrupted by a massive blast door. Not unexpected but inconvenient. Unruffled, Traviata hastened to the nearby control panel followed by Trask. She began to bypass the controls, her fingers flying, recoding the security before the system locked her out.
Success! The door opened with a whoosh.
Her friend's eyebrow arched in response. Traviata ignored her friend's surprise; she wondered what he'd think of all the skills she'd picked up over the years in Black Ops. She'd chosen not to share her considerable experience with him, with anyone at the Academy. Didn't matter at the time, it would only have made it harder to fit in.
It probably wouldn't matter now either, it was going to take a miracle to get them off this ship, she thought. The soldier eased her way forward, and then crouched at the sound of boots on deck plates.
She turned to Trask, motioned for him to wait.
Soundlessly the woman inched along the steel, pock marked panels, coming to a stop at the corner.
The sound of a blaster sizzling as it charged, was very close. Her muscles tensed, ready to spring.
The Sith trooper rounded the corner, his pistol raised. A swift forward kick to his chest sent him careening backwards, another to his weapon, sent it sliding across the floor.
The trooper quickly regained his balance, swung his arm and caught Traviata on the cheek, his significant armor tearing her skin where it made contact.
The Republic soldier staggered back, but quickly found her footing again. Aiming for the trooper's head and summoning all her strength she moved into a spinning side kick. The Sith grunted loudly, rocking back.
A loud whoomph accompanied the trooper crumpling to the ground.
Traviata's eyes darted to the source and there was Trask. She hadn't noticed him retrieving the pistol in the heat of the fight.
"Thanks, I owe you one," she said, crouching to the ground, relief flooding her.
Trask sped to his friend. Before they could take inventory of each others injuries, the ship lurched violently, sending them both crashing painfully into a doorway.
"I'm pretty sure that's not a good sign," Trask said.
"Agreed," Traviata replied, breathlessly.
Then the Spire went dark for a moment before the emergency lighting kicked in.
The pair exchanged startled looks, their blood rushing; they quickly righted themselves and tore toward the next set of blast doors. They didn't have much longer if they were going to escape.
"Enough! I'm not arguing about this anymore. You have to go now, this is not a council or a discussion," Carth shouted grabbing Bastilla by the arm.
"There's still time," the Jedi said breaking the Commander's hold on her, walking meaningfully to a large control console filled with monitors. "I will stay with you Captain, you may need help," her eyes scanning the myriad of readings flashing before her.
The Starship Captain's anger flared, briskly walking after her. "Believe me, the one thing I do not need is any more of YOUR help," he yelled.
"Besides, your assistants are doing the only thing we can do at this point, which is to hold off the scouts and help any of the crew escape that we can," Carth finished.
He'd been pleasantly surprised when Bastilla had offered the help of her Jedi companions to aid with fending off the boarding party. Many of his crew had escaped that wouldn't have stood a chance without them.
Of course the Jedi were the reason they were in this predicament. He'd had quite enough of the Jedi; the Sith Ambush confirmed every one of his misgivings about the mission. If he was going down with his ship, then so be it. But he was going to take as many of the Sith with him as he could. The Commander couldn't do that with the Jedi on board. His priority had to be in her protection, he had to keep Malak from getting his hands on her. Apparently they wanted her pretty badly judging by the amount of resources they were throwing at this attack.
There had been an armada of Sith vessels waiting for them when they came out of hyperspace, as well as an Interdictor-class ship he recognized as Saul's. Maybe he couldn't prevail against Saul with such overwhelming force, but he could keep him from his objective of capturing Bastilla.
The engines whined loudly, the ship pitched, and the emergency lighting flickered on.
The Commander let go a heaving breath as he debated picking up the woman and forcibly putting her into one of the few functioning escape pods still left on the Spire. He quickly cast that idea aside; would never work, she was a Jedi.
The sound of the automated warning system spurred Carth into action, causing him to switch tactics.
"Okay, Bastilla. You win. One condition though, you wait in an escape pod. You'll be available if I need you but it will give me peace of mind," he held a hand up as she opened her mouth.
"Now it's the only way I'll go along with you staying on board. You have to agree that Malak cannot be given the opportunity to get his hands on you," he paused at her begrudging nod. "I need to check on a few things, make sure everyone's off who has a chance to make it, and so on. The escape pods are just through there," he motioned with his head, and then walked the short distance to the companionway.
The Jedi hesitated, but followed. "Fine, Commander. As you wish," she said with unflappable poise.
Once they'd made it to the loading area, she stood outside the pod peering in quickly, but not entering the small vessel.
"Go on in, I want to make sure you know how to operate it," Carth encouraged.
"Really Commander, it's just one button operation`" her words were cut off as the pod door sealed. Surprise, understanding, anger, and fear played across the woman's face.
"I know. Sorry, but you'll thank me later, or not," he said with a shrug, pushing the com button. "Just stay out of sight until someone comes for you," the Republic soldier watched her give a frustrated pound to the port hole as the pod rushed out of sight toward Taris.
Feeling like he'd accomplished something monumental, the determined Commander hastened back to command. Never underestimate the resolve and creativity of a career soldier, he thought.
"Wait, I need a minute," Vee said breathlessly, her hands leaning on her knees trying to get some air. The O2 scrubbers were definitely not working and they'd been at an all out sprint through the ship.
Her friend stopped, putting a hand on her shoulder, "We're almost there now. Just through here, then a stairwell and we're on the command deck. At least, I'm pretty sure," he hesitated. "Maybe we need to check a map; next control panel," he finished, breathing heavy himself.
The whirring crackle of electrified air caused the private to stand upright. A brown clad man backed into visual range, expertly twirling a light saber. His eyes met hers, and he held up a hand, signaling them to wait.
A large, menacing, black robed figure came into view. He brought down his light saber. The Jedi countered and a fierce battle commenced between the two adversaries, their swords moving in tandem.
"I think we should do what he said," Trask whispered into Traviata's ear, his friend nodding in agreement.
It was over in seconds, the Jedi finishing off his opponent quickly. The man spoke into his wrist, his words unintelligible from where they were. He waved for them to join him. A huge jolt, followed by a thunderous boom, then a large steel girder fell on their protector, extinguishing both he and his light saber in one heartbeat.
The Republic pair stood momentarily shocked at what they'd just witnessed.
Traviata's hand found Trask's, as the possibility of their escape lessened with each moment that passed their precarious position never more evident than now.
"Trask, you know I love you, right?"
"Of course, I love you too. I've loved you from the moment I met you," he said giving her hand a squeeze, neither of them taking their eyes off the fallen Jedi.
Without further words the two hastily made their way around the rubble, racing once again for the command deck.
Carth flinched as the Jedi fell. The Commander had been gearing up, preparing to defend the bridge, when the man had briefly contacted him, notifying him that he was escorting two crewmen to him. The commander had brought up the surveillance images for that area in time to witness the Jedi's demise. Those two were all that remained of his crew, the rest were either MIA or dead, if they hadn't escaped already. The Republic soldier was going to do all he could to get them to safety. He wouldn't leave them behind if there was anyway possible to save them.
The Captain followed their progress with interest on the view screen, cycling through locations between them and the bridge. He paused now at the sight of a menacing Sith, his light saber attached to his side. His dark robe flowing, he made his way down the passageway where the two soldiers would soon enter.
The ship stuttered, causing Carth to grab the smooth cool metal of the console he was at. That would be the repulsor lift engine overheating; the seasoned pilot knew instantly by feel what was wrong without the need of the instrumentation. He jabbed busily at the panel, able to bring the repulsor back online, at least temporarily. Then brought up surveillance feed closest to the command deck blast doors.
"This is the Captain. I'll override the door for you, but be cautious. There is a Sith just around the corner as you enter. You'll need to go east, and then take the long way around to command," he paused at their startled expressions.
"Blast, what the hell?" Vee asked of no one really, looking around to determine where the voice was coming from.
"I've given you access, bring up the communications screen," he instructed, noting her confusion.
The Republic soldiers eyed the console warily, taken off guard by the unexpected assistance.
"What? Who is this," she asked as a fuzzy picture came up, making it difficult to make out his face.
"Captain Onasi," he informed her, wishing the interference wasn't so bad. He could barely make out their shapes, much less their faces or ranks.
"Oh, sorry sir," she said with a grimace, saluting the monitor, slipping back into military protocol.
"Don't worry about it. Did you get those instructions?"
"Affirmative, sir. Enemy to the west, avoid by going east, and take the long way home, got it sir," Kerkes acknowledged.
Carth smiled slightly. "Contact me when you've made your way around, and good luck."
They were all going to need it he thought to himself, his attention now drawn to the surveillance camera just outside the bridge entry. Several troopers had just poured into the area with heavy artillery. He glanced quickly at his chrono, then at the video feed showing Traviata and Trask taking the long way around to the bridge; he was going to have to buy the soldiers some time.
Traviata and Trask made it to through to the east side of the deck, only to be cut off by the dark cloaked figure just ahead of them... again. He must have doubled back and cut through one of the several rooms in the area. Vee's head craned up, mouthing several obscenities while Trask silently beat his forehead against the smooth metal of the wall. This was the second time they'd made the trek, only to have to turn around and double back again trying to avoid the malevolent being.
With a shrug, the woman turned walking the other direction, motioning her friend to follow. It was as if the Sith were toying with them, enjoying a game of cat and mouse.
"We'll just have to try again and hope he doesn't double back this time," she whispered when they were a safe distance away.
Trask just gave a slight nod as they back tracked, slightly trailing his friend. The sound of metal grinding against metal washed through the area as a large explosion rocked the deck. They carefully navigated their way around the fallen soldiers strewn all over. They'd seen them throughout the ship, but the command deck was hit the worst by far. The sickly sweet smell of spilled blood mixed with the acrid smell of melting steel permeated the air with the noxious odor.
Vee padded noiselessly down the corridor. Coming to a doorway, she paused, looked in to make sure it was clear, and then continued on to the corner. If it didn't work this time she was going to have to take drastic measures. She knew she was no match for the dark robed figure, but perhaps she could distract him long enough for Trask to make his escape.
The soldier held her breath and braved a look. She let go the breath when the hallway was empty of the Sith. The woman turned to her friend with a smile, surprised he was not right behind her. He was standing at the doorway, staring in the room at something. Then as if sensing her gaze he turned his eyes on her.
His eyes telegraphed it all to her; shock, fear, sadness, regret, love, acceptance and finally determination.
"No," she said barely audible. Trask took a step forward.
"NO, TRASK let me. He's too much for you," she shrieked, tearing toward him. He took a step into the room.
"RUN NOW, VEE," her friend yelled, the door shutting behind him.
Traviata raced up to the door and began punching at the controls madly. It wouldn't open. She had no time; she had to get in there.
"Captain?" the Private asked, punching up the com screen.
Carth had been busy himself, trying to protect their means of escape and keep the Spire in the air. Time was up on both counts now. The static over the com lines was so bad it was hard to hear or see anything. He punched at the controls, looking for a non-essential system he could re-route power from. Finally he decided to take it from life support, wouldn't matter soon anyway.
"Commander! I need your help. Please," she finished, wondering if he was even still alive.
"I hear you, crewman. What do you need..." he trailed off bringing up the cameras in the area. He saw Traviata at the control panel, obviously distraught.
"Open the door, I need to get in now, Sir," she stood up straight readying herself to speed through the door. "There's a soldier trapped in there who needs my help," she explained further.
Carth's brought up the camera for the room she was trying to gain entry to. His eyes narrowed at what he saw behind the door. He backed up the time sequence a bit and then played it through. The Commander watched it unfold from the time Trask had stopped in his tracks at the doorway. He flinched when he watched the young man meet his death at the hands of the dark Sith.
The Captain's muscles turned to granite, a muscle in his jaw twitched when he'd finished. He toggled the camera view back to the soldier; all he could see was her profile now as she stood expectantly at the doorway.
"No, he doesn't need your help," he said letting go a deep breath. "I won't open the door, you will only die too. I'm sorry to have to tell you that your friend is dead.
"I want you to listen to me very carefully. Your buddy, was an honorable Republic soldier and he gave his life to give you the chance to live," he paused a moment to let his words sink in.
"You owe him not to waste that chance; he made the ultimate sacrifice for you. If I open that door, you die, end of story. Then he sacrificed himself for nothing," Carth punched at buttons closing the blast shield at both doors, trying to buy her a few more moments. It wouldn't hold the Sith for long, not one as adept as he appeared to be.
"Crewman?" the Commander asked. "Crewman," tersely this time, hoping to snap her out of her lethargy.
"Yes, Sir," she replied automatically.
"You haul jets over here now; you've got no time, soldier," he shook his head slightly, cursing under his breath as he lost picture. He thought he made out her acknowledgement before losing sound.
The ship lurched forward violently, the Spire groaned from deep within, followed by a thunderous explosion. The bridge went silent, all the screens dark as the ship breathed it's last breath. The emergency lighting flickered momentarily, but stayed on.
And that would be the repulsor lift engine exploding and the ship would fall into an uncontrolled spiral now, Carth acknowledged to himself. The Commander flipped a screen that was not dark, it's independent power source keeping it functioning. Punching in a code, the silent self-destruct sequence had begun.
He dashed to his war room, retrieving his flight jacket and go bag sitting ready on his desk. He allowed himself one last lingering look, pausing at the doorway. He ran an affectionate hand over the arch, and sent out his silent thanks to the faithful ship.
The Commander threw his stuff in the one remaining escape pod without a backward glance and headed for the blast doors to the bridge. He could hear the sound of a fierce battle commencing on the other side. The Republic Captain jabbed at the controls, retrieving his blaster from his holster with his other hand. He dropped to cover as ricocheting blaster fire filled the tiny space, and his pistol shot a barrage at anything not in a Republic uniform. The Sith troopers didn't know which way to run; they were exposed on both sides.
"Come on, I'll cover you," the Captain shouted in the direction the crossfire was coming from, taking aim at his next target.
In response Traviata dove from cover, her stolen Sith blaster blazing, feeling a slight sense of satisfaction when she saw a Sith soldier fall. She began running full out now for the door where someone, she guessed the Captain, was covering her hasty retreat. The Private lunged onto the bridge, the blaster door shutting instantly behind her. The woman lay there for a moment heaving breaths, until she was offered a hand.
"Thank you, Sir," she said accepting his hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet. The soldier staggered slightly, her head throbbing, vision blurry. She wiped at the source of pain her fingers coming back covered with blood. That Sith she'd fought earlier must have gotten her worse than she'd thought, or she'd sustained injuries in the firefight she hadn't realized.
"Not a problem, glad you made it-" Carth started, his attention on holstering his pistol. Then his eyes swept her appearance, frowning slightly, when they came to rest on her face. "Private Kerkes, I believe?"
"Yes, sir," Traviata responded with a salute. She wondered how he knew her name; she didn't think she'd mentioned it earlier. Who knew though, with all that had been happening?
Carth's gaze narrowed, two people had died, one of them a Jedi trying to protect this woman. Now here she stood before him, the one Bastilla had specifically wanted for her special skills.
Sparks began flying from the blast door.
"Sir, I think we should get you to safety. Now," Traviata announced her gaze shifting from the door to the commander.
"Come on, Commander," Traviata said heading for the passageway that led to the escaped pods; she picked up a blaster from a nearby console, charging it. "We can't let the Sith capture you, Captain. We have to get you out of here."
"You need to stand down, Private. I don't know who you think you are, but I am still the frakin Captain on this ship and I'm the only giving orders on the frakin bridge," Carth's voice shook with fury, his eyes cutting into her with angry disbelief.
"Yes, sir, of course, sir. I didn't mean - it's just – I was only trying," she finally just gave up trying to explain, the look on his face told her he didn't want to hear it. "Yes, sir," she took a long breath.
He walked over to the only working control panel in the room once again. Carth shortened the countdown sequence, wanting to make sure that the Spire had the chance to take as many of the Sith with her as she could.
A large explosion shook the bridge as the blast doors finally gave way.
Carth covered their retreat, his blaster sending a spread of high powered blaster bolts into the throng of troopers. "Go," he shouted to the Private.
They took turns covering for each other, making their way to the escape pod.
The Endar Spire shook and rumbled as the explosions began in her core. The pod teetered, its seal with the ship coming loose. Realizing they were about to lose their only ride out of there, the Captain shoved Traviata forcefully into the pod, following behind her. His fist slammed the eject button, the door sealing instantly. The Spire let loose of the pod, propelling them toward the surface of Taris.
Carth looked at the unconscious form sprawled beside him, wondering if she'd been injured by the Sith or when he'd pushed her into the tiny vessel. He tried to reach some safety webbing to wrap around her, but they were pulling too many g's. He buckled himself in; the best he could do for Traviata was to wrap an arm around her, pulling her close to him as he tried to brace for what he knew would be the worst landing of his life.