Korlen Enassi leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. Overhead the pulsing lights against the white interior of the ship only made his growing headache throb more. In an hour, his shift would be over, and he would be free to rest at least for a little while. Despite the high profile of the New Republic's prisoner transport, it too was understaffed. He checked his screens again, but they were blank. He had recently updated the detention center of Home One on their progress and they had been acknowledged. Still, he refreshed their incoming transmissions once more to make sure that he had missed nothing.
Behind him, up on the captain's deck of the bridge, the first officer discussed something with the captain, though he could not make it out. He let his gaze wander out past the windows that provided them all with an unobscured view of space. Distant stars were nothing more than vibrant dots of light. His fingers drummed on his desk as his thoughts drifted back home to Coruscant. The Navi-computer beeped, and the Nav-Droid updated the entire crew of the bridge on their progress.
"Entering sector G-38, Captain," she said and then a familiar trill of beeps trailed after her words, "a ship has just entered this sector," she added.
"They're early," the first officer said, a note of amusement in her voice.
"It isn't Home One," the droid said, and Korlen checked his incoming transmissions for any sign that this ship was signaling them, but it was not.
The captain cleared his throat and Korlen could hear him sitting up straighter in chair as he spoke, "security alert. Comms, ask them to identify themselves and transmit their clearance code."
"Yes, sir," Korlen said as he instantly searched for the correct function.
"Ship approaching. Track distance mark eight-zero-four, six-point-seven two." As Korlen made his request he couldn't help but look out towards where the nav-droid said the ship was coming from. He could just see it though within a few seconds it was obscured from his vison as it went out of view of the bridge.
"What's the word, Comm?" the captain asked and Korlen glanced back down at his screens to see that their response was transmitting.
"I'm receiving their signal now, sir." Korlen studied the information on full display, but they hadn't identified themselves, merely transmitted a clearance code. Uncertain, he ran it through their security systems to see if it would provide any clue as to who the mysterious ship belonged to. What appeared only confused him further.
"Comms?" The captain prodded and Korlen spun around to look at both the first officer and his captain.
"They're Jedi, sir" he said and noted the mixture of confusion that ran through the other crew members.
"Say again," the first officer asked, and Korlen checked his screen once more just to make certain that he hadn't missed anything. He hadn't.
"The signal, it's an old Jedi clearance code from the days of the republic before the war," his computer beeped once, alerting him that a message had gone through. This time he turned his focus to the captain, "they say they're here to see one of the prisoners".
"Captain, who are they?" the first officer asked, and the captain leaned back in his chair, strangely relaxed.
"Fools, if they think we would fall for such a trick. The Jedi are all but extinct, and those that remain wouldn't use an old clearance code to get on board. "No, I'm calling their bluff," he scratched his chin and his eyes locked with Korlen's. "Signal them to come aboard. I want to meet these… Jedi," Korlen nodded and quickly sent the captain's message through. Behind him he could hear the captain giving out orders.
"Have security meet me in the hangar. You've got the bridge," he told the first officer and rose from his chair. His footsteps soon faded away as he left the bridge behind. Korlen checked the time once more, but time seemed only to have slowed down. Not for first time, Korlen wished he'd accepted his cousin's offer of a position for a private corporation on Coruscant.
Jakris checked his holster a final time as he formed a line with his fellow guards in the hangar. The captain arrived soon after and they saluted him as he walked by them to stand at the front. The ship lighting down was an Eta-class shuttle and when two cloaked figures exited the vessel, Jakris couldn't help but admire their determination in sticking to their disguises. The two figures were of different heights and builds and when they stopped to stand before the captain, Jakris studied them closely.
Though their hoods hid much of their facial features, he could tell that one was an older man, the other a young woman. The man's robe and garments below were black, but Jakris noted the girl's silver attire.
"Thank you for allowing us to come on board, Captain…" the man trailed off and the captain stood a little straighter as he studied the two strangers.
"Hayle. If you don't mind my boldness, I did not expect to meet any more Jedi in my lifetime. And to come across two of them out here, it's most unexpected," the captain said, not bothering to hide his suspicion of the pair. The man merely chuckled and threw back his hood. He was older than Jakris initially expected with silver hair and a neatly trimmed beard. His eyes were strangely somber though he smiled kindly at the captain.
"Our existence remains a mystery to most, Captain Hayle," he said and sidestepped the captain to continue onto the ship, but the captain lifted a hand, stopping him.
"I'm sure that it does, and you two put on a good show, but I'm afraid I don't buy it," the captain said, crossing his arms and leaning slightly back.
"Pardon," the man seemed taken aback but the captain was unfazed.
"You're no Jedi. No, you're just some overconfident Imperial trash who've just pushed their luck too far," he said and Jakris let his hand fall to the blaster at his side. Around him the tension of his crewmates was palpable.
"You're making a mistake, sir…" the "Jedi" insisted, but the captain would have none of it.
"As are you, sir. You should have surrendered when the Empire collapsed. Jakris, get RD-3 to scan these imposters for identification," Both Jakris and the astromech at his side jumped into action. But he had taken only a step forward when the man said,
"Allow me to show you our identification," before any of them had time to react, the woman unlatched a weapon's hilt from her belt and ignited an orange-bladed lightsaber. Jakris reached for his blaster, but she reached out a hand towards him. An invisible force dragged him forward and before he could do anything more the blade had found its mark within him. He collapsed to the ground, his consciousness fading as she stalked forward, leaving Captain Hayle and the older man alone, "you were right about one thing, captain. We are no Jedi," His captain's dying breaths mirrored his own as the man stepped over them, leaving them to fates.
The ship was in chaos.
"Contact Home One, Officer Enassi," first officer Jensen Corbyt snapped as she tried to maintain control of the deteriorating situation. From her comms link one of the officers said,
"They're heading to the detention level. The Captain's dead, half of the security detail were slaughtered," he said, and she could hear the panic in his voice.
"How many targets are there?" she projected a confidence she no longer felt as the ship's overhead lights flickered red.
"Two, but they've split up. One is still heading for the detention level, the other's location is unknown," the doors behind her opened and she spun the chair around to see who had entered.
"I have eyes on the other target," she told the officer and raised her blaster. The figure threw back her hood, revealing platinum colored hair. It was cut short, barely brushing her shoulders but for a single tightly braided lock that hung down to her chest. In her hands, she held a pulsing orange lightsaber. The other crewmembers grabbed their weapons and began firing but the young woman batted them away like they were thrown stones. Jensen managed to fire her weapon three times before the girl reached her.
The figure in black moved through the detention level hallways with steady strides. Nothing could halt his advance as he cut through the New Republic troops leaving only a trail of bodies. When at last he reached his mark, he opened the door with a twist of the wrist, "Lord Baylon, you are true to your word," a woman answered from within the cell. Baylon unlocked her shackles and offered her his hand,
"And well paid for it, Lady Morgan," he said as they stepped back into the halls of the prisoner transport ship.