The mutants and the undead moved in close to the cocooned crew of the Nova Star, but just before the freaks could infect the others, Aleah and Dray arrived with their lightsabers ignited. The Bothan and Nelvaanian struck down the mutated Ember Moon crew closest to their comrades. Jens and Fang rushed in and quickly began to cut the others out of their cocoons. The second Siv was free, he quickly used his suit's wrist Flamethrower to keep the mutants back. As soon the others got free, Dray reached into his satchel and pulled out a small silver box.
He pressed a button on it and threw it into the center of the cargo hold. "Lets go, or we're going to be space dust in ten minutes!" The Bothan shouted, using the force to push two mutants out his way.
The Nova Star crew ran as fast they could, trying desperately to get back to their ship. Aleah and Dray led the way as Fang and Siv kept them covered from behind. The minute they reached the airlock that connected their ship to the Ember Moon, Clank punched in the access codes for entry.
Mutants appeared to be coming out of walls, from the shadows and the monster was heard approaching from the ceiling. Siv and Fang started blasting everything that they saw, while the others kept Clank covered.
Jens looked over at Clank. "Get the door open!" he shouted at the droid.
Just then, the ceiling above the captain was torn open and the monster reached down to grab Jens. Before the human was grabbed, Aleah used the force to push the monster backwards, causing the beast to be impaled on a metal beam. The monster was wound but quickly retreated back to the cargo hold in hopes of recovering from its wounds.
As the door opened, Princess jumped into her brother's arms, as her sister hugged her as well. Jens and Fang felt overjoyed that they were able to get Princess's brother and sister back safely, but now they only six minutes before the bomb Dray set detonated. Both the captain and his first mate rushed the Star's bridge, jumped into their seats and quickly took off. However, just as they were pulling away from the infected freighter, three big Imperial cruisers came out of hyperspace.
"Oh great," Fang said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "First monsters and now the Empire!"
"Shut up, Fang," Jens growled as he put the Nova Star in full power forward. However, as the ship flew away, the Imperial cruisers opened fire. Their turbo lasers were locked onto the Star. Jens and Fang quickly turned the ship in the direction to Alderaan, but as they were about hit the Hyperdrive trigger, a stray turbo laser bolt hit the Nova Star hard. The ship shook hard as smoke filled the engine room.
"We're hit!" Siv shouted.
"Can we still fly, Siv?!" Jens asked frantically while trying to maneuver the Nova Star.
"Yes, but it will be about five minutes before we can jump into hyperspace."
The three Imperial cruisers continued to fire at the damaged Star. It would be easier to destroy the ship, but do to the orders from Darth Vader, all they could do was try and disable ship. Still, the Star was about to jump into hyperspace, leaving behind the wreckage of the Ember Moon and three Imperial cruisers. However, as two of the cruiser took off to search for the location of the Nova Star, the other stayed to board the Ember Moon.
And that would be the last time anyone heard from that cruiser again. The bomb Dray set went off, blowing both the freighter and Imperial cruiser up, leaving behind nothing but twisted steel and burned up wreckage.
As the Nova Star raced through hyperspace, the crew rushed to keep the ship together. Lyra looked at her screen. "We are falling apart!" she screamed, but Jens looked at her with a frown.
"We can't stop! We have to make to Alderaan!" he shouted back at the Chiss.
"We won't make it to Alderaan if the hyperdrive breaks down!" Siv protested.
"Still not stopping!" Jens said.
Another explosion shook the ship. "Engine power dropping Jens!" Dray shouted as he and Aleah used the force to try to keep the ship from falling apart.
A beeping was heard coming from Jens computer. He found himself smiling. "We're almost there!" he shouted. The Nova Star came out of hyperspace as a trail of smoke followed the ship down to Alderaan.
Feline quickly activated the emergency landing gear as Jens and Fang fought with all the strength to keep the Star level. Down on the ground, workers scrambled to their posts to be ready to receive the damaged ship. The Nova Star landed, but the ship shook violently as the crew fled.
Jens turned and watched sadly as the Nova Star burst into flames, reducing the once great vessel to nothing more than a smoldering wreck. As fire crews rushed to extinguish the fire, Alderaan's leader, Bail Organa appeared with his wife and secretly adopted daughter, Leia.
"Captain Jens, are you and your crew alright?" he asked Jens, but the captain shook his head.
"I had her for thirty years," he replied sadly. "The Nova Star was home to many," then Jens looked at Aleah. "She had also just become part of the crew."
"MY CHILDREN!" came the overjoyed cries of Princess, Jared and Donna's father. All three kids turned and ran into the arms of the father. The family was now reunited with each other and nothing was going to ruin their moment.
Princess looked over at Aleah and the others, seeing how sad they were over the loss of their ship, the little girl whispered something into her father's ear.
Several hours later, after Bail Organa had been briefed about the Ember Moon and what caused it to disappear, the Aldraan leader thanks Captain Jens for the information, but it was mainly Feline who had copied the date from the ship's mainframe computer before it blew up that was the one who was the real help.
Now with no ship, the Nova Star crew went to the nearest bar to drown their sorrows in alcohol. While they drank, Jared came in and with a smile on his face, the young teen called them to a landing platform. A CR90 Corvette was being fueled, loaded with cargo, and the a new crew consisting of Alderaanians was standing at attention.
Jens looked Jared. "On behalf of the Bail Organa and my father John Caldans, we offer you this new CR90 Corvette as a reward for saving me and my sisters." the young teen explained to a shocked Jens.
Siv turned to his captain. "Could use a paint job," the Mandalorian joked, but the captain took as a suggestion. He did indeed think that the common red and white was just kind of dull. Turning to Fang, Jens gave the order of finding a new paint color and pattern. And as for the rest of the crew, they hurried in to find there place in the corvette.
Danny found the kitchen and was instantly head over heels for the how much cleaner and bigger it was. Siv found the main tech room where he could keep an eye on all the systems. Feline found a nice place to set up her lab and all her gear for studies of things they might find. Kenna was very pleased to see that the medical room was well stocked and even came with three fully equipped bacta pods.
The rest of the crew found a place to call their own, but what really made the crew happy was the briefing room. It would be perfect to plan out their next move if they ever found the other holocrons. Soon, Bail Organa came to see them off.
As Jens got ready to get inside his new ship, the Alderaanian leader stopped him.
"Jens, I know you never seen eye to eye with me, but I must say you have a fine crew."
"Thank you, Bail," Jens nodded. "Lead your people well," he said hurrying up the ramp.
"You too, Jens," Bail replied, but then called out before the ramp closed. "May the force be with you." As the CR90 Corvette lifted off from the ground, the Alderannian leader looked up at the new name painted in red on the side of the ship. It read: Nova Star 2.
Looking back, Jens smiled as he left his home planet behind once more. He could see the Caldans family waving farewell to them, but that was the hardest part of being an explorer, you had to leave friends behind. Jens had really grown fond of Princess and it warmed his heart that she was going to safe for her here than in space. Throwing one more glance back, Jens activated the hyperdrive, launching the ship into hyperspace. It was time to head to Tatooine.
Well, the old Nova Star has served its crew well, but all good things have to come an end, but now the crew have a new and better ship now. Still what adventures await them on Tatooine? Find out next time.