Lieutenant Mathis

Dread Maiden (under bombardment)

They continued down the stairs rapidly in the flickering light of the damaged stairwell. The steady booming coming from the hull of the ship told Mathis the shields were back up and holding. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as the deck rumbled below his feet. The General led him out of the stairwell and into a long passageway that connected to the maintenance bay. He continued at a quick trot until reaching the door where he stopped before turning towards Mathis.

"Prepare yourself Lieutenant, I sense many droids inside. I will attempt to reach Darth Rena, you will stay near the door to cover our escape."

"Yes Sir!" Mathis responded but everything seemed to be going in slow motion for him. General Scourge locked eyes with him and began courting backwards slowly.

"Three."

Mathis drew his pistol from a holster at his belt, readying the weapon was second nature to him and took only a split-second.

"Two."

Concentrating on the battle ahead kept him calm, he had personally dispatched more droids than he could remember. With his General by his side he felt confident facing any number of the metal bastards.

"One!"

General Scourge then flung the door open and jumped into the room, his lightsaber in hand too quickly for Mathis' eyes to follow. Looking past Scourge he could see dozens of war droids bearing down on Darth Rena, attempting to surround her. She fought them off in droves in front of the shield generator, their broken bodies littering the floor around her.

Mathis began attacking the droids on the left flank as General Scourge charged the right flank. He advanced as quickly as possible while destroying any droid between him and his apprentice, taking them down in pieces with his lightsaber.

Mathis continued to attack any droid he could safely fire on without endangering his allies. Darth Rena seemed to be running out of steam, she tripped over a broken droid and the remaining droids swarmed her instantly. Her lightsaber could be seen flashing amidst the chaos of the battle as more droids switched to melee weapons.

"Master! My holocron! It's.."

Those were her last words before the force staves of several droids pierced her lungs and everything became unintelligible gurgling. General Scourge continued fighting until he reached her body, the droids attempted to overwhelm him the way they had Darth Rena but he used a shockwave that sent them flying in every direction. Lieutenant Mathis had to duck to avoid being hit by still living droids which exploded when they hit the far wall. He stood back up straight in time to see General Scourge walking back towards him, carrying Rena's lightsaber and holocron.

He looked tired after the short fight, or perhaps it was remorse for his lost apprentice. Mathis couldn't be sure.

"We need to move Lieutenant, our shields won't hold forever. When they fail the Dread Maiden will be torn apart. Follow me to the escape pod bays!"

He then took off at a run into the passage they had just left, destroying any droid he encountered on the way. It took him but a flick of his wrist to tear them apart with his lightsaber.

Mathis brought up the rear from a short distance to avoid being hit by any backswings, his blaster still at the ready.

Escape pods were only a short distance away, there were bays on nearly every floor of the ship.

The General turned to him,

"Lieutenant, what's the status on that evac order?"

Lieutenant Mathis checked an electronic device with a holographic screen strapped to his left arm.

"Sixty percent Sir."

"Good, that should be enough. All pods are to be routed to the planet below, I intend to fly the Dread Maiden into the atmosphere and attempt to land her."

The General spoke adamantly, his voice firm and resolute.

He then began prepping the nearest escape pod, his fingers moved nimbly over the buttons of the glowing interface.

Lieutenant Mathis was in a daze but relayed the route and general orders of reconnaissance and muster to all escape pods, whether out and away or still docked on board the Dread Maiden.

He then swallowed out loud before speaking,

"Your orders have been relayed to all personnel and pods General. Perhaps we should all board the pods? The Dread Maiden could be destroyed by enemy ships and scattered to space at any…"

"I will not leave my ship here to be captured or destroyed!" General Scourge cut him off vehemently before he could finish.

"Yes Sir. Or no Sir. Of course not Sir." Mathis scrambled to find the right words, so he simply stood at attention.

"You will descend to the planet below in this pod. Gather intelligence, rally any of our men you can find and await my signal. It will be quite some time before we see each other again I think."

"Sir! Yes Sir!" Mathis responded before snapping a crisp salute, standing at rigid attention.

A second later the escape pod doors slid open with a hiss of air and Mathis turned to enter the pod.

"Hold a moment, Lieutenant." General Scourge put his hand onto his shoulder when he spoke.

"Yes Sir?"

"Kneel."

The General was standing with his arms folded across his broad chest when Mathis turned to face him. As he knelt on the metallic surface of the ship all he could think of was how powerful his General looked standing there. He longed to be like him.

"John Mathis, you find yourself at a crossroads. For many years you have served me as an asset of the Collective, but we find ourselves surrounded by enemies on all sides and descending to an unknown and potentially hostile planet. We can not trust anyone. Events suggest that the Collective wants me dead. Do you understand that?"

"Yes Sir." Mathis responded without raising his head.

"Good." General Scourge was pacing back and forth in front of him while he spoke.

"Do you swear to serve me and only me? To have no other master and to take and enforce my will as law?"

"Yes Sir, I will continue serving you diligently with all that I am."

"Do you accept to become my padawan learner, to learn the ways of the dark side and become more powerful to further "my own" influence and power?"

Lieutenant John Mathis paused for a moment before answering, he knew that the General was giving him a choice. He had to choose to become his apprentice or choose to make his own way from here. Either way afforded him many risks and opportunities.

"Yes Sir." Mathis responded after deciding he would be much better off still allied to the most powerful man he had ever met. A man he idolized and aspired to emulate.

"Good. I will place a spark of my power within you, use it to find your own power. Over time you will learn to use it to communicate with me."

The General placed his hand over his forehead while he knelt on the ground. He could feel a burning sensation force its way into his skull, burrowing to the back of his mind. He attempted to break away from the General, to thrash about and screech in pain, but an invisible force held him too tightly to move or cry out.

After what seemed to be a long time the pain subsided to a dull ache, leaving Mathis feeling light, almost euphoric. The General was speaking again.

"That is power you feel Mathis, pure unbridled power in its truest form. Feel it, hunger for it. It will be yours at my side. Rise Mathis and call me General, no more."

He remained kneeling for a time, he could still feel the power the General had put inside of him. It no longer hurt but he could feel it and when he followed it he could feel his own power. He would gladly serve General Scourge in the pursuit of this power, it was an intoxicating experience.

Mathis then rose from the floor, ever so slowly, feeling every bit of the power still inside of him.

"Yes Master."