One small thing before we get this show on the road, I hope you guys enjoy the story and I'm always open to constructive criticism. Also just to clarify, this takes place alongside the Sequel Trilogy. So it's not directly about the sequel characters, but they will be in here so I can try to ver fix the sequel trilogy.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Star Wars and everything goes the monster mouse himself.
One moment extended across a millennium. A disaster in slow-motion. One moment that the universe had jumped leaps and bounds to ruin the short, meaningless life of one person.
A kriffing stormtrooper.
There was a sharp pain in Cora's side, something she'd become frequently accustomed to after years in the First Order's army. She frantically pressed one hand to her abdomen, plugging the wound if only for a moment before thick red blood began to ooze out the crevices and coming to coalesce in a pile on the floor next to her. Her legs wouldn't move, having crumpled to the ground only moments earlier. Cora stared down at the blood in shock. The air gone from her lungs, her lips twitching ever so slightly at the sight. Yes, she'd been shot before, Cora had the evidence to prove it. But never before had there been so much blood.
The sound of screeching metal filled her ears, bringing her back to reality. Cora looked up, the AT-AT Walker quickly eclipsing the bright industrial lights, causing the world around her to go dark. In a feeble attempt to protect herself from the falling AT Walker looming directly overhead, she raised one arm up, closing her eyes before the end.
"NV-153!" Her arm stopped, the tip of the glass on her lips as she drifted her eyes away from the drink in front of her to a figure standing near the front of the room. She recognized that voice. Now she rolled her eyes, sighing as the glass returned to the table, and she stood up. There was only hate in Cora's voice, "Cruise Verona." Her fellow troopers stared at her, wary of disrupting the showdown that had quickly brought the small back alley bar to a halt. Cruise gave her a smug grin, the rebellion in his eyes shone menacingly. Her stomach twisted in disgust, a sneer rolled its way onto her face.
One stormtrooper, RB-763, stood up. He was one of the more level-headed ones of her squad. They called him Petre. Although that wasn't really saying much. He reached one hand out towards Cora, in an attempt to calm her down. "NV, maybe you should wait-"
Before Petre could finish his sentence, Cora reached down the side of her armor, grabbing the blaster in the pocket there and shooting point-blank at Cruise. She held the blaster there, smoke pouring out, her finger trembling against the trigger. Unafraid of pulling it again, if need be.
The smoke cleared, a bright smile glowing through the mist. Cruise stood proud, much to Cora's dismay. He held an orange shield in front of his face, transparent in material and strapped to his arm. Yellow and opaque, but slowly fading away in the place where her blaster had hit. She frowned, having never seen something like that before, but growing more interested in it by the second. Cruise knocked against the shield with his fist, an air of arrogance surrounding him as he spoke, "A little something that the scientists back on Hosnian Prime thought up," he leaned in teasingly, just as several more rebels appeared behind him.
"Before well…," he looked over to the side and his smile stretched downwards into a frown, "...you know."
They blocked the only exit out, looking at the bar occupants with hard expressions on their faces. The stormtroopers slowly stood up, a brief hesitation in their movements as they prepared to leave the bar a lot bloodier than they'd anticipated. Cruise gazed at the shield, pride gleaming in his eyes, "One of a kind. Thought you might like it."
Cora took a step back, the odd circumstances causing a little voice in her head to unexpectedly go off. Why are the rebels picking a fight? This isn't like them. But she didn't think too much about it before her anger overtook her, and she saw red.
"You know what? Yeah, I do."
The glass of liquid courage forgotten, she charged at Cruise, letting out a war cry that seemed far too extravagant for a bar fight. Punching him in the nose, she caught a glimpse of the other rebels advancing as well, some grabbing glasses only to smash them on the heads of the troopers. Cruise pushed her back, using the shield to prevent her from trying to shoot him again. The other troopers joined in. They threw glasses and chairs at the rebels, in addition to brawling in a manner that would've made even the most low-ranking Imperial General roll in their graves. Cruise suddenly grabbed a blaster from inside his jacket, firing on Cora. He watched as the bullet simply deflected itself off her modified stormtrooper armor, but not before making a noticeable dent. Cruise glanced at the weapon, confusion filling his face.
"Huh," he looked at her, "Usually, that works."
It was Cora's turn to look arrogant. She shrugged, her face contorting into a what can you do? expression, "Sorry."
Finally, Cruise threw his blaster aside, instead opting to grab a still full glass and smash it against her unfortunately unprotected head. Cora let out a cry, shaking the glass from her hair and the water from her eyes. Her face growing in fury as she let out something akin to a growl, teeth clenched in anger.
Cora and Cruise continued to spar, with Cruise using her armor to throw her over a table, hitting the wall as a result. Her back cried out in pain for a moment when she stood back up, quickly closing the distance between them again as she stepped on his foot. He looked down for a moment. She grabbed his shoulders, using them as leverage as she kneed him in the groin. He let out a pained cry that sounded just a few octaves higher than what he usually sounded like. Cora let out a chuckle as she repeated the motion again for good measure. He wheezed, his hands on his knees, but surprisingly not down for the count. In between pained and choked breaths, he spoke, "So you wanna play dirty, huh?" Cora's eyes went wide. He reached for her legs, using her arms on his shoulders as an anchor to throw her up and over. Cora went crashing to the ground, now out of breath herself after having it flung out of her. She regained her energy, using her leg to sweep Cruise's out from under him. In desperation, Cruise scrambles to grab his blaster lying a few inches away before shooting Cora again. This time successfully hitting her in a chink in the armor on her abdomen. Cora screamed, her eyes going wide in pain as she struggled to keep herself from bleeding out. Cruise goes quiet, a remorseful look suddenly overtaking his features. She stopped herself, unable to comprehend that the rebel in front of her almost looked like he regretted that shot. She regained her composure quickly, smiling at his foolishness.
Cora reached out, throwing herself on top of Cruise in his moment of weakness. She landed a few good punches to his face before stopping, her fist just inches from pummeling Cruise's pretty arrogant face into oblivion. An idea forming her head, Cruise simply laughed. Blood stained his clothes, and he looked like he was going to have a few good bruises in the morning. He wiped a trail of blood from his mouth, looking up at her. "You know," he gestured to his compromised situation, "Maybe you should invite me on a date first." Cora didn't even acknowledge him as she took in the room. At the mess the rebels had decided to make. For a reason that hadn't become clear to Cora until this very moment. She looked down at Cruise, a smile of realization on her face, "You're here to distract us, aren't you?"
Cruise didn't even deny it, he simply smiled and shrugged a little, "Well, we figured if we're going to blow up your ship, we might as well prevent some unneeded casualties." Cora's eyes grew wide at the reply, her heart sinking as she realized the gravity of the situation. Her eyebrows furrowed as her eyes grew dark in anger. She put all the strength she had into one last hit before knocking Cruise out cold. Cora caught her breath, a little feeling of victory passing through her thoughts before she quickly moved on, heading for her helmet in the midst of the chaos. She put it on running back to the exit, but not before stopping to remove the shield Cruise had on his arm. A victory prize, she thought. She kicked him in the arm, watching as he lied motionless on the dirt floor.
Cora sneered, "Rebel scum." The trooper rubbed her hands together in satisfaction, taking only a few steps outside the bar before her eyes rolled back into her head and Cora's knees fell out from under her. The darkness quickly crowded in around her. The adrenaline in her veins had run out when she crashed to the floor. The wound in her side providing a dull distraction to the feeling of cold concrete hitting her square in the face.
It would be several minutes before Cora would move again.
There was a sudden jerk in her body, before she sat straight up. Heart pounding in her chest, her eyes were wide and face unnaturally pale in shock. Cora placed a hand above her heart, desperately trying to calm down her breathing. In her haze, she stood up, looking down at the place where Verona had lain unconscious. Gone. There was a sudden spark of anger in her chest that only increased when she noticed the shield she'd taken off him was gone too. Cora groaned in annoyance, looking up at the perpetual pink-orange sky above her. A thought suddenly came to her as she remembered the rebel's confession. Another rush of adrenaline pushed her to run in the direction of the doomed cruiser, The Eclipse.
The fight had started to spill out on the streets now. An amalgamation of flying armored fists, sweat, and broken glass.
She looked back at her fellow stormtroopers, "Hey guys….?", Cora's voice faltered. A small look of amusement passed across her face as she weakly pointed back at their ship.
Cora then realized they wouldn't hear her, too engaged in the fight and their inebriated state to realize there was more sinister work at play. She ran into the city, hoping to find a shuttle to the Eclipse before it was too late.
The city of Nagato was a combination of unbridled capitalism and a timeshare ad for Tatooine that Cora had seen somewhere. And overpopulation, lots of overpopulation. People practically poured out of windows, which all oddly resembled upside semi-circles. A detail that Cora had pondered when she'd first arrived on the planet months ago. The odd geometry of the city was nothing like she'd seen before. The structure was very grid-like, but the buildings were all shaped like triangles. There was a plaza at nearly every major intersection, with small lush parks being the only thing that could be described as nature in this duracrete jungle. Holographic billboards seemed to be up on nearly every wall that Cora passed, changing her blank armor into a canvas of unmitigated color. There were also bridges and ladders, connecting every building and stretching far up into the clouds. It was one of these bridges that Cora came across as she moved higher up the city, crisscrossing quickly through dank back-alleys and warm, bright food markets. Her boots clanked against the metal floor beneath her, echoing across the tight valley's between the buildings that seemed to amplify the sound further.
Cora climbed up another set of stairs, finally reaching the top of one building where there was a shuttle station. She placed a hand in front of her face, keeping the blazing dusk out of her eyes as the sun stayed fixed on the horizon, a red fiery ball in the distance that would never rest. Another interesting feature of Nagato, the planet was a bizarre anomaly in that it didn't rotate, meaning that it was always dusk. A peaceful mix of colors mixed with the blinding orange sunlight that shone to the west. Cora made her way to the platform, stepping into the small shuttle and finding it surprisingly empty. She took a seat on a cold plastic chair, the artificial fluorescent lights calming her for a moment as she stared straight ahead. There was a tinny robotic voice coming from the pilot's chair, "Credentials?" Cora shook her head, her eyebrows lowering as she leaned in to the sound, "What?"
The pilot's chair spun around, revealing a small pilot droid, holding its small hand out. "Credentials?" Her eyes squinted in disbelief, she gestured toward her stormtrooper armor, "Wha- Can't you see I'm obviously supposed to be on this shuttle?" The droid seemed to process that for a moment, before spouting out a phrase that sounded oddly more robotic than usual, "Miss, I am a Class 5 Public Pilot Shuttle Droid, I must follow protoco-" Cora waved a hand, "Yeah, whatever." She passed him her id reluctantly as the droid scanned it, a series of beeps and whirs and a quick look at an anxious Cora before finally the robot quieted.
"This is sufficient," The robot spinned around in its chair and blasted off the station platform quicker than Cora could sit back down. She flew backwards, landing in her chair only out of pure luck instead of going splat against the back of the ship. Her hands went white as she gripped the chair. Cora's shoulders were tense around her ears as she tried to yell over the roar of the engine, "Could you maybe slow down?!"
"Slow down, you say? Well, my sensors indicated you seemed to be in a rush but alright then." The robot sounded inquisitive of her request as it took its hand off the accelerator. Cora practically screamed as she fell forward, falling at the feet of the robot who had its hand gently on the accelerator. Apparently, now it wanted to go for a leisurely drive. Cora looked up, a groan crawling out as she looked through the front viewport of the shuttle. The Cruiser, intact. She laughed, picking herself up off the ground to stare at the ship. Maybe they failed? There was a small flicker of hope that sparked in her chest at the sight.
The smile immediately faded from Cora's face when she heard a loud boom that echoed across the blue. The large explosion that rocked the ship afterwards didn't much help either. The hope fluttered from her chest. There was a longing, a piece of her heart on that ship, her identity even. It was like watching her parents die in front of her all over again. She looked away from the mesmerizing trance of the ship starting to fall from the sky and grabbed the robot's pseudo shoulder, pulling the droid to look at her.
"I need to be up there now."
"I can't do that."
Cora was taken aback by this answer, her anger only growing stronger, "Why not?"
"I am a Class 5 Public Pilot Shuttle Droid. I must follow protocol. And protocol says I cannot endanger the life of a living being."
"But I want to go up there!"
"I am sorry."
Cora groaned again, pulling her hands down across her face in frustration, before glancing at the panel of buttons that controlled the ship. She looked up to the heavens and winced, her mouth curving into a frown. Then, she looked at the droid before making up her mind. "And I'm sorry for this, rustbucket." She grabbed the droid out of his chair and placed him in her chair, rushing to the controls. The shuttle's alarms screamed as its sensors realized no one was piloting the ship, before Cora sat down and pressed a small button that placed seatbelts on all the passengers. Essentially keeping the robot where it was. Cora was sure the robot was protesting her actions, but she couldn't hear, too busy trying not to crash. She could hear the blood running in her ears, the sweat on her hands and the anxiety of the task in front of her causing her hands to shake violently, unable to keep the shuttle steady for more than a few seconds at a time. "It's just like a rocket-pack, Cora. No big... No big deal."
She took a breath, gripping the control wheel as best she could. Flying toward the cruiser, she quickly flew straight up at an angle that seemed to send the robot into a tizzy. As the ship grew closer and damaged more apparent, Cora felt relief, being so close to the object of her desire and thankful that the small transport shuttle hadn't come apart at her hands. A thought that was quickly replaced by a sheer panic as the engine quieted, making noises that simply didn't sound right. The engine had stalled. The robot let out a shrill scream, something matching Cora's own as she felt gravity leave her for a second and the ship got farther away instead of closer. She looked down at the controls, several lights and buttons were blinking as she realized that the only button she actually knew was the one for the automatic seatbelts. Cora's eyes only reflected defeat, "Maybe this wasn't the best idea."
The shuttle continued to fall, thankfully the cruiser was so high up in the atmosphere that it would take the small shuttle several more...seconds to crash to the ground. Cora only stood frozen, her hands hovering above the controls in fear of making it worse. Any noise she made was quickly suppressed by the sounds from the Eclipse and the robot's screams. Amid the chaos, Cora placed her hands over her ears to attempt to quiet out the noise, think of something, anything that would save her. There were several huttese curses that ran through her mind as she regretted leaving her rocket-pack behind on the ship. Cora was one of the best jetpack troopers the Order had, she never went anywhere without it. But the recent weeks had seen such low rebel activity that when Cora had decided to go down the surface, she'd gone without it. A small lesson about letting her guard down that she would never forget again. If she even had the chance to.
Nothing came to Cora that would help her. Nothing. And in a fit of rage so fleeting, Cora slammed her fists down on the control panel, "Just WORK!" The hit must've done something, as the engine miraculously started to power back up, lifting the stormtrooper and the droid out of certain doom.
Cora looked down at the controls, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion, "Huh. That's not supposed to work."
But she immediately looked past it, grateful for the small gift from whatever celestial being had decided to be nice to her today and fly on. This time in a way that wasn't as damaging to the engines as flying straight up was. The Cruiser had taken even more damage now, with fuel leaking out the bottom, showering the city below and fire nearly engulfing the entire front portion of the ship. Since Cora didn't know how to enable the landing gear, she gently crashed in the nearest landing zone that wasn't already ablaze, leaving the shuttle behind as she made her way to the living quarters.
There were screams, the sounds of alarms and parts of the ship creaking and collapsing altogether filling her ears as Cora weaved her way through the halls. The hallways were so crowded, filled to the brim with people trying desperately to evacuate. She stepped over more trampled bodies than she could count. Finally, Cora reached the living quarters, turning a corner into a hallway that was practically empty. She ran to one of the doors on the left-hand side, swiping her ID against the terminal to enter. The room was small, but comfortable. A desk and lots of storage units on one side and the bed against the wall farthest from her. Everything was a cold durasteel material, the only warmth being a small viewport directly above the bed that filled the room with a pink dying light as the ship swirled further and further into oblivion.
Cora ran and jumped onto her small bed, leaning over the edge and grabbing a small duffel bag she'd concealed under it. This had everything she owned, or anything that mattered to her. She frantically unzipped the small bag and reached inside, feeling around for an item before pulling it out. A necklace, dainty and too small to wear around her neck. A circle pendant made of beskar metal was the only accessory to it. Cora turned the pendant around in her fingers, reading the tiny words inscribed on the back:
We'll always love you, Cora. - Mom and Dad
Cora's breathing shook a little as she closed her eyes, tightly pressing the pendant to her lips as she kissed it. A small amount of hope and relief filled her chest, the words seemingly calming her for a moment. Bringing the world around her to a halt, so she could savor this one moment of peace.
Then, she stood up, placing the necklace back in the duffel and placing it over her shoulders. Cora's face went blank, her mouth set in a hard line. She wasn't out of the black hole yet. She quickly grabbed up her rocket-pack from the corner of the room and placed that on her back too. Cora looked around the room that had been her home for months and moved on, running out to catch the last evac shuttle before it left.
As Cora made her way out of the small corridor where her squad had lived, she briefly looked back, glancing thoughtfully at each of the doors. Others had chosen not to join them on their little traipse to the surface for a drink. A tiny voice in the back of her mind hoped they'd made it out.
Hope.
Now that was a dangerous thing to have in the First Order.
The ship tilted violently, causing Cora to slide to the right, colliding with the wall. She hung there for dear life as the ship slowly balanced itself out. The engines probably working overtime to compensate for the damages done to the ship. The cruiser would not last long. There was a voice over the intercom guiding all personnel to find the nearest landing bay to evacuate. For Cora that was the one she'd come in from. Bay 18.
The lights shut off, replaced with an overpowering red that consumed the corridors. The sirens only intensified as Cora continued on.
Cora held on tightly to the walls for support, feeling the corridor shake as the ship took a few wheezy breaths. The halls were nearly empty now, most people having evacuated. Although the people that Cora did happen to come upon didn't even so much as look at her. The infrastructure of the ship collapsing beneath her feet. She was starting to feel the effects of the blaster-shot now, her breathing becoming heavier and heavier in time with the ship itself. Sweat made its home on Cora's brow. There were a few times when she threatened to collapse again. But for nothing more than the simple thought of how nice it would be to sleep once this day was over, Cora kept on.
Finally, with a sigh of relief, she reached Bay 18. The red sun on the horizon warmed her skin, obliterating the cold left behind by the practically below zero temperatures the ships operated in. As quickly as she could, Cora ran for the one evac ship in the landing bay, the ship filling up fast. The ship screamed, there was an explosion from beneath the ship when 2 of the cruiser's engines gave out completely. Cora went flying as the ship continued to turn, her back hitting the wall taking the air out of her lungs entirely. She saw stars, her vision gone black. Cora crumpled to the floor, a sickening screech assaulting her eardrums from above her. The detail and color in her eyes started to return, her eyes going wide as saucers when she stared at the walker directly above her. Before she knew it, her breath caught tightly in her throat, her eyes closed tightly in defeat, she extended an arm out to brace herself. Cora heard the walker fall down around her. She expected to feel the various metal pieces impaling or worse maiming her at any second. She hoped it would be quick.
Nothing.
Her death never came.
Her whole body shook furiously, her eyebrows knitted in pain.
Nothing.
She heard the metal creaking dangerously above her. Cora opened her eyes.
The metal of the walker was screeching, bending safely around her arm. The walker now leaned/floated on its side, held up by some magical force that protected Cora from going splat. Frantically, Cora kept her arm up for as long as she could, before rolling out from underneath the walker's crushing weight and watching as the walker finally collided with the floor. There was now a small fire in what would've been the cockpit. And her final resting place.
Cora backed away from the wreck, her eyes wild and barely glistening with tears. She ripped off her helmet, allowing herself to breathe in the Nagato air mixed with the fumes from the fire. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked down at her hands, scrutinizing them fearfully. Someone yelled at her, but Cora couldn't hear. The blood rushing in her ears drowning out the sound of anything for a few seconds. She couldn't move, her body and mind reeling from what the small action of holding her arm up had done.
And Cora didn't notice it at first, but as time went on, as slowly as it seemed to move for her just then, there was something new in the recesses of her mind. There was power there, but also a new connection that anchored her to everything around her and also something unknown. An intruder that Cora quickly shied away from.
Finally, someone grabbed underneath her arms, dragging her towards the ship as it breathed its last. Cora didn't even react, too caught up in her own mind to notice the cruiser falling apart around her. They dragged her onto a small bench in the crowded shuttle. Someone yelled at the pilot to leave. Her eyelids were getting heavy. The sudden desire to sleep filling Cora's mind.
Cora arrived back in her reality, watching the doors close and the shuttle fly away from the Eclipse. Her last moments of consciousness consisting of the cruiser exploding, breaking apart and burning up in the blue.