Horizons of Hope

   

 Prologue 

The horizon was illuminated with an endless variety of beautiful colors. The ringed planet Hudalla seemed distant as sunlight reflected through the planets rings and added more color into the moon's horizon. The sun began to dip behind the huge red spire of rock, casting a long shadow over Wexford City. More of a small town that was tucked into the valley of spires, set perfectly into the burnt orange landscape around it. The whole moon had this natural beauty, rugged with burnt orange rock formations. It gave the moon the name Red Moon of Hudalla. The spire's long shadow cast over the city and lights from people's homes began illuminating. And then, it all changed. With a deafening boom, the light of the sunset was taken away from the moon and the city was plunged into an unnatural darkness. Civilians looked up terrified as in place of the sun's light and warmth, an imperial star destroyer loomed over the city, taking up the entire city. The air filled with the screams of ion engines and the sound of cannon fire, and the air filled with green laser fire.

 Chapter 1 

 1 BBY 

An old dilapidated U-wing wove through the red spires. It's pilot, a boy of only fifteen, was exhilarated at the idea of finally having the ship off the ground. His name was Jaden Garsea, and he was born for the stars. As a young child, he had spent hours watching ships take off and leave the atmosphere and he could only dream of what laid beyond. And dream he did. He planned glorious adventures with him and his best and often only friend, Diana Bloom. They were going to go across the galaxy. Until the black day came. He watched the Empire burn the only home he had ever known 4 years previously. He was one of the few survivors of that black day. At the age of six, he and Diana had to learn to survive on their own. They stole whatever they needed and almost got thrown into the imperial prison at the age of 12. That was when Zed had found them. Zed was an older boy, about 20 when he took Jaden and Diana under his wing. He hated the imperials who had invaded their home. And he was willing to act on it.

It was under Zed's direction that Jaden had built from scrap metal. One wing was shorter than the other, with metal panels missing all over the hull that were sparking and sent out puffs of smoke. It wasn't beautiful or the best, it couldn't leave the atmosphere, but she flew. And Jaden loved the ship. To him, it represented a better future. He worked on it for days. He studied starships for 2 years just building it and trying to get it to work. Most people saw trash when they looked at that old, mostly scrap metal U-wing, but not Jaden. Jaden saw freedom. It was his ticket to freedom.

"Keep her low." Zed told Jaden. Jaden decreased the throttle and slowed the ship to keep the ship below the tips of the red spires. "We're almost there." He turned and faced the 8 or 9 kids in the seats in the U-wing. Each had a tight grip on a blaster and had sweat dripping down his or her forehead. Nobody would have ever expected a group like this to pull off what they were about to try. Zed turned and faced the young squad of his own uprising. "This is it. 8 years we've been living for this." He paused and took in a breath. "Ok, I'm not going to lie. This is terrifying. I had this whole grand inspirational speech planned but… I just want you all to know, no matter what happens today, I am proud that I had the honor of knowing each and every one of you. We may only be a small group of kids avenging our home, but we're going to hit them hard. Hard enough for that moof-milker Palpatine to know that the galaxy is not going to bow down and surrender before him! We'll put up every fight we can!" He put power into those words. Anyone who heard him couldn't help but know he was fighting for something he believed in. Zed drew in a long sigh. "And in the end, I'm glad that I get to fight alongside my family today."

One of the young recruits slowly rose to his feet. He said in a quiet voice, "Every last one of us is with you until the end. This was our home. Let's at least start to take it back." And one by one, every young recruit stood. The sight brought tears to Zed's eyes. They were all so young and all so willing to fight for their home.

"May the Force be with us." Zed said. All the recruits nodded in affirmation. "Now let's go blow up the Empire that took our home."

Jaden could see their target in the dirty windshield. The massive research facility that stood where Wexford City once had. The Empire did not have the same respect for the surroundings that the locals had. Spires were completely demolished instead of built around and with the land. The base seemed to take away the warm natural colors that the moon had and replace them with a cold, harsh gray. The facility itself was a large pentagon, with each side coming up and forming a large pyramid. A long hallway wrapped around the outside of the facility and left a line running through the outside of the building. It stood towering over the imperial base beneath and the large shadow seemed to seep fear into the band of uprisers approaching the base.

Zed took a deep breath and they went over the plan again. Jaden would drop them off on one side of the base and half behind the largest spire and then distract the imperials in his U-wing while the group placed charges throughout the facility. Then they'd light the place up and go to the roof where they'd meet Jaden and fly away. In order to succeed Jaden would have to draw almost all of the fighters and troopers outside. That was the only part he was worried about. His ship was barely holding together as it was, and he'd never flown against imperial TIE's. There was a pit in his stomach and a part of him was telling him to turn around and save them while he could. But he ignored this and kept flying. He knew he could do it. Flying was all he ever wanted, and he could finally do it. He wasn't going to let it get taken away without a huge fight.

The U-wing kicked up a cloud of dust as it landed behind Wexford Spire, the largest spire in the valley. The recruits left Jaden alone in his U-wing. Diana was the last one out. "Hey." Jaden called before she left. She looked back at him. "Come back" he told her.

She gave him a smile and said, "What, you think I'd leave you here? You promised me adventures and I've never been off moon. I'll come back." Jaden smiled at her. He had promised her adventures. She was his best friend and most days the only thing he had anymore. He never felt he fit in Zed's group. But Diana always made him feel at home. He shut the door and slowly took off, leaving the others behind and wondering if he'd ever see them again.

Diana watched his ship leave. She was worried about him. It wasn't very hard to see that Jaden didn't want to be here. He wanted to just run. And part of her wanted to run with him. He never felt at home here, he was different from the rest of the group. They all wanted revenge on the Empire for their home, Jaden just wanted to live in peace. And while she understood that, she couldn't leave. She lost almost everything when they destroyed her city. Sometimes she felt bad for Jaden. She knew that she was the only thing keeping him in this fight. But still he fought. She sighed, thinking about her best friend in the whole galaxy. And then the imperial alarm went off, signaling the group to enter the base.

Jaden wiped the sweat out of his eyes. He activated the shield generator and shot out of the cover of the spires. He flew straight at the base and opened fire. It didn't have a massive effect, but it got the point across. An imperial siren sounded, and the scream of imperial TIE's filled the air. Jaden dove down and pulled up almost hitting the floor. Green turbolasers zipped by his side. He spun and pitched into a roll. One of the TIE's hit him and his ship lurched. Jaden pulled up into a loop and opened fire on the TIE strikers following him. One exploded and Jaden flew through the flame. He kept pulling maneuvers to survive and give the group time to fulfill their mission.

Diana's knuckles were white on her blaster pistol. They had already encountered double the amount of stormtroopers they were expecting for the entire mission and they weren't at the doors yet. They waited for the patrol to pass their location behind some crates near the entrance to the facility. The troopers passed and they all jumped out from their hiding places and ran to the door. They tucked inside the space between the wall door and outside edge of the wall as Zed tried to get the door open. Jaden's U-wing zipped past them as he dove. Laser fire hit the ground behind him and then a blur of TIE's raced past the group. "Well looks like Jaden's taking care of himself." Zed said. Diana smiled. Somehow that sentence brought hope to her heart. They might make it out of here and she could run off with her best friend and have grand adventures with him. '''We'll be friends for always! We'll run off and I'll get a ship and we'll have adventures all across the galaxy together!' ''she could hear his voice promising her all those years ago, before the imperials invaded their moon. She smiled at him pulling maneuvers far above their heads as the door behind them slid open and they all ran inside.

Jaden hollered in delight as he pulled up and a TIE fighter behind him crashed into the floor. He dodged in and out of laser fire, maneuvering his U-wing to get into position to stall for time and take out TIE's at the same time. He rolled, flipped and dove at the top speed his U-wing gave him. He knew he had wanted to fly but this was better than anything else he had ever imagined. This was his first steps into a bigger galaxy. All the dreams he had of exploring the galaxy and adventures with Diana felt possible now. Adrenaline surged through his body as he soared over the imperial base. He flew high above the base, nearly touching the clouds, as high as his ship would let him, then killed the engines and began freefalling towards the TIE's following him. He opened fire and several of the TIE's exploded. He surged his engines again and raced toward the canyon floor. His wings opened into cruise position and he pulled up, a dust cloud rising behind him. The TIE's continued to pursue him, and he didn't know how much longer he could keep it up. At the very least he needed cover. And he was so glad to have been born on the moon he was on. Because the entire surface of the moon was cover. He smiled and made a sharp turn and headed right into the spires.

Diana found herself, once again, hiding. They had made it almost halfway through and run into countless stormtroopers. She looked at Zed and mouthed 'too many' he nodded, and they waited for the current squad to pass. Their footsteps faded and the group came out of the shadows, bins, anywhere they could find that they could hide in.

"We need to go. Jaden can't hold up forever." Diana told Zed.

"He's doing fine, he's giving us the time we need." Zed reassured her.

She sighed and looked down the hall. "Let's just get this done." She said as she placed a charge on the wall then began down the hall to continue their mission. Then it happened. There was a shout from behind the group and blasters began firing. Diana jumped and rolled over to a doorway and fired at the stormtroopers that had found them. 3 of the recruits were already gone with smoking holes in their back, chest, and forehead. Diana ignored the sight and fired at the troopers. Another alarm sounded and Zed cursed under his breath. "Run!" He yelled and took off down the hallway. The remaining recruits ran behind him, firing back as they could. The hall was filled with blaster fire. Diana was struggling to catch her breath but kept going. The recruits began randomly dropping charges in the hope of their mission still succeeding. They ran, not daring to look behind them as they knew there would be dozens of stormtroopers behind them. And Zed's team began to dwindle. One at a time, Diana's friends fell to the ground with burn marks and blaster holes in them. Diana continued to blindly fire behind her, just hoping she would hit some. She watched her new family fall one by one. And in a matter of minutes, it was just her and Zed. Somehow neither had been hit. But they were all alone now. They just had to hope that Jaden was still flying to take them away from this awful place.

The old U-wing's console sparked. Jaden's pursuers continued to increase their firepower and determination. He flew around the spires, giving him the most amount of cover possible, but still he got hit. And no matter how many TIE's he destroyed; it was never enough. Fighters, strikers, interceptors. He just needed to hold out until- now. His commlink beeped. Zed and the group needed a ride out of there. And he needed to get back as soon as he possibly could. He pulled up out of the top of the spires around him and spun right back down. He fired at a spire and flew right under it, crashing the TIE's behind him in a stroke of luck. He wheeled around a spire and blew up the last two pursuers and made his way back to the base.

Zed and Diana crouched behind some ventilation shafts on the roof. It was a miracle that they were still alive. "Come on, Jaden." Diana whispered to herself. She ducked from an incoming blaster bolt that missed her head by about an inch. She fired back at the mass of stormtroopers. They didn't have much time. The timer on their explosives was counting down. They hoped they had enough explosives in the base to bring it down, but after the bad luck they'd had with this mission, they didn't know anymore. They just needed Jaden to get here before the timer hit zero. They didn't have very long. Zed called out "40 seconds!!" Diana took a deep breath. And then a single noise grew louder than the blaster fire. Jaden's U-wing was incoming. He opened fire on the troopers and managed to stop the blaster fire. He brought the ship down to the roof and opened the side door. Diana ran to it and jumped inside. She turned around to welcome Zed, but instead found a stormtroopers still standing with his gun pointed at Zed's head. Jaden saw it too. "No!" They both yelled as Zed looked up from his knees. He gave a slow reassuring nod and closed his eyes. The timer hit zero.

The research facility erupted into flame. The explosion shot out the hallway wrapping around the facility and the doors at the bottom. It swallowed Zed and Jaden flew as fast as he could away from it. Unknown to Zed's group, the Imperials had been developing an alternative to Coaxium. It left their labs extremely explosive. The initial explosives had ignited it and done much more damage than they had intended. The explosion climbed higher than Wexford Spire and continued. It climbed higher and higher and left nothing but destruction in its wake.

Jaden yelled as the flames caught up to his ship. The ship was already shaking, and pieces were falling off. It wasn't meant to go this fast. And then the ship jolted, and the power all cut off. Jaden couldn't figure out what was going on. Until he looked back. The engines had fallen off and were somewhere in the flames. He sighed. His only shot at exploring the galaxy had just fallen in half. The U-wing began to dive. He got out of the pilot's seat and went over to Diana. She sat in the back, curled up and shaking. The air around her seemed to shake. He sat next to her and she looked up at him. "I'm sorry," He managed to tell her, "I'm sorry we couldn't go on all our adventures."

"Don't," She said, "we're surviving this."

Jaden didn't argue. "Alright, where do you want to go first? Whole big galaxy, you pick where we start."

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Naboo."

"Ok we'll go to Naboo." Jaden responded, looking through the window. The spires were getting close. He felt Diana press into his side, bracing for the coming impact. He reached over and clenched her hand; glad it was her she was spending his probable final moments with. They braced as much as possible as the U-wing hit the spires. It took about 20 spires to stop the U-wing. When it finally stopped, both of its passengers were unresponsive but alive. They were both unconscious as the day turned to night and imperial search crews scanned the wreckage.

 Chapter 2 

"The boy's aptitude is… remarkable." The officer told Admiral Harris. He showed him a hologram of an old U-wing, dilapidated to the point it shouldn't have been able to fly. "He built this thing from scratch and got it to fly." The officer was clearly impressed. "We tested him, and he scored higher than anybody has in a long time." The Imperial Admiral studied the ship. He was impressed. It looked like a scrapyard had taken flight. "How good of a pilot is he?" Harris asked.

"He managed to destroy 2 and a half dozen of our fighters." Harris looked up at the officer’s comment.

"30? With this scrap?" The officer nodded.

"31." Admiral Harris was quite impressed indeed. This boy showed remarkable potential. "What's his name?" He asked the officer. Looking at his datapad, the officer said, "Jaden Garsea."

"How many others survived?" Harris asked him.

"One girl. Jaden got her out with him." The officer said

"Anything about her I should know?" The admiral questioned.

"Well it appears that Jaden would go to great lengths to keep her safe. That could be used to our advantage. But there is something about her. Our initial tests showed her to be more… well, far above average. We're not entirely sure what it is. Perhaps we could manipulate that, and she could be a great asset to us." Admiral Harris pondered this for a moment. This Jaden boy could potentially double the amount of fire power of the imperial navy. He could create starships that would crush any talk of rebellion. Harris just had to get him to work for him. That can be arranged, Harris thought to himself. He looked at the hologram of Jaden Garsea and Diana Bloom. Even in the projected image, there seemed to be a bond. He could use that.

Jaden and Diana stayed close in their cell. Neither said a word. They didn't need to. The mood in their cell wasn't disputed- despair hung in the air all around them. Jaden softly drew in a sigh. "I'm going to do my best to protect you through whatever's next." He told her. A quiet moment passed.

"I'm sorry I kept you in this mess. You deserve so much better." She told him.

Jaden shook his head. "No. I'm staying with you. You're all I've ever had." He looked at her again. "I'm not just leaving you." He managed to smile at her. "We still have to go have adventures together." She just sighed at his comment. It was clear that wasn't happening anymore. But the cell walls weren't going to stop Jaden from dreaming. He looked out the cell door and dreamed of the horizon beyond the hull of the star destroyer. The sun setting behind the spires and revealing the galaxy beyond his moon. Diana leaned over and laid her head on his shoulder, snapping him out of his daydreaming.

"I'm glad I'm with you in this" she told him. "I don't think I could handle it with someone else."

He put his head on top of hers and said, "I'm not going anywhere. Don't worry about it." She grasped his hand and they stayed in silence until a stormtroopers opened their cell and demanded that Diana left. Jaden didn't want her to go. And Diana didn't want to go. The stormtroopers got mad and physically pulled her away from him. Jaden stood up to go with her but one of the stormtroopers held a blaster inches from his nose.

"SN-1618! Stand down!" A gruff voice barked from the cell door. The trooper put down his blaster and stepped to the side. The imperial officer who gave the order stepped into the cell. Jaden saw that he had achieved the rank of admiral. "My name is Admiral Harris of the First Galactic Empire." Jaden didn't say anything. He just glared. "I want to recruit you."

Jaden glared harder, " Why would I ever work for you?" The admiral sat down and then looked up at Jaden.

"Because I can give you everything you've ever wanted. To see the galaxy. To fly. To be with your beloved." He told him.

"What are you talking about?" Jaden asked.

Harris laughed. "Your oh so special Diana. I'll let you stay together. We'll marry you and you can see the galaxy together."

"Diana's just a friend, why would I want that?" Jaden said.

Harris laughed again. "Just a friend? My dear boy, you have no idea. You risk your life to save nobody but her, you fight for her, take care of her, promise to adventure with her forever!" He said this last bit in a mocking tone that made Jaden clench his fists. "At least admit to yourself that you love the girl. And we don't care how old you are. We'll protect you both in exchange for your services." Jaden contemplated this. He would probably never get another chance to see the galaxy, and if he refused, they'd surely kill both him and Diana.

"What would I be doing?" Jaden asked, pondering the decision.

Admiral Harris smiled. "What you do best. Developing, building and flying starships." Jaden didn't want to admit it, but that idea excited him. Not working for the Empire but surviving and going on to build starships and have adventures with Diana throughout the galaxy. What would she think though? There was only one way to find out.

Jaden ran to Diana's cell. She met him on the other side of the bars. "Jaden, what are you doing out?" She asked him. "How did you-" she stopped when she saw the admiral behind him. He looked at Diana and mouthed, 'it's this or die' she looked at him completely shocked at what he'd done. How could he work for these monsters? He reached through the bars and touched her hand. His expression told her the answer. This was the only way to explore the galaxy together. She nodded and understood. She sighed and touched his hand. They would survive.

   

   

 Chapter 3 

 4 years later 

 3 ABY 

Jaden wandered the imperial headquarters on Corellia. He passed a window and took a moment to stare out at Coronet city. Starships and freighters roared overhead and soared through the sky. Many carried large sheets of metal on their way to assemble them into the newest might of the imperial navy. Jaden had been the one to design many of the new might’s of the sky. His mind spent hours designing the best ships and weapons for the Empire. He watched a command bridge be airlifted and assembled onto a brand-new star destroyer. And then his nightmares came true. The centerpiece to Jaden's designs for the Empire appeared in the far distance. The Dagger, a S-750 class Dreadnought. Jaden had worked for a year and a half on creating an unstoppable warship, and this is what he had built. It had 3 hangars with hundreds TIE's, and an additional 2 hangars for entire Star Destroyers. It could theoretically take planets in a matter of hours without once using its own cannons, of which it had many. 20 turbolasers lined each side and of the massive dreadnought. 3 separate shield generators protected it. The main element that sent Jaden's heart into a fearful frenzy. Based off the eclipse-class Dreadnought, a long triangular tooth jutted down off the front. Along the front edge of the tooth, a red vibro-voulge glowed and illuminated the buildings around it in an eerie red glow. It's 10 engines pushed the ship forward and it cut through a building, sending it tumbling to the ground in two halves. The dozens of cannons all targeted the city and rained fire. Jaden watched a green laser blast fly at him and with a flash of green, Jaden was gone.

There was a feeling of floating. Jaden looked around and found his surroundings to be orange, pink and gray clouds of mist. There was a loud ringing and all of his senses felt fuzzy. A distorted, echoing voice rang in his ears and seemed to be calling his name. Jaden began to drift away, and the strange reality began to shift in and out of focus. The strange echoing voice became just noise and Jaden wanted to close his eyes and never wake up. "JADEN!” the noise came into focus and he felt a hand on his shoulder. He snapped back to reality and found Zed's eyes staring at him. Jaden was breathing heavily. Zed stared at him for a moment and let him catch his breath. "What are you doing?" Zed said, his voice cold and yet somehow caring. Jaden took another breath.

"What do you mean?" Jaden asked him. The colorful mists shifted around them and formed the hall of an imperial star cruiser. Trapezoidal windows ran down the wall, revealing the familiar blue patterns of hyperspace outside of the ship's hull. Zed stood next to him as Jaden inspected his surroundings.

"What are you doing?" Zed asked him again. "You are meant for more than this." Jaden looked at his old friend.

"What?" Jaden asked, clearly confused. The ship came out of hyperspace. The Dagger loomed in the window.

"Better than this" Zed said. The Dagger lurched forward and the vibro-voulge sliced through a Mon Calamari cruiser that was dwarfed by the sheer size of the Dagger. It ripped in two and fire exploded across the tip of the ''Dagger. ''Somehow the view in the window changed to show entire worlds falling to the Empire. Jaden saw oppression and pain. He heard people screaming and children crying. Cities burned and star destroyers dominated skylines. Jaden took in a deep breath and looked at Zed.

"Then what am I meant for?" The ship jumped into hyperspace and 20 seconds later came out of it. In the window Jaden saw the moon he had grown up on. The ship flew in-between two of the rings orbiting Hudalla. The cruiser flew low between the red spires. Jaden recognized it. There was an old abandoned building in the spires. Where Zed's small group of rebel’s hideout was. Jaden could hear laughter from inside. Although Jaden hadn't entirely fit in with that group, it was the happiest he had ever been. They flew around it and then a spire passed by in the window. He saw his quarters on Corellia. In the window he saw Diana and himself laughing and smiling. He recognized the day. Admiral Harris had married them. This was a couple months after, the first night he had really wanted to be married to her. They had talked to each other and laughed together for hours, long into the night. He still remembered the feeling when she laid her hand on his as a lover that night. He smiled at the memory. He had really fallen in love with her that night. Deeper than he ever thought he could. The cruiser circled the building and when it came back around to Jaden and Diana's windows the scene had changed. The orange setting sun reflected through the window. He saw Diana waiting on their bed. He knew the day this was. It was nine months ago. He watched himself come through the door and Diana came up and hugged him. They kissed and started talking. Although Jaden couldn't hear them, he knew what they were saying. This was the night that Diana told him that she was pregnant. And there it was. A big smile spread across Jaden's face and he wrapped her up and hugged her and picked her up and spun her around. Jaden watched the scene with a quiet happiness. The baby was due next week, and both Jaden and Diana were excited.

“You’re better than everything the Empire stands for.” Zed said, “better than terror and control. You fought before, fight again.” The task seemed impossible to Jaden.

“How?” Jaden asked.

“You’ll find a way.” Zed said as he put a hand on Jaden’s shoulder. “You’re a smart boy. Just use that brain for good.”

The ship began the jump into hyperspace again, and Jaden gasped and bolted upright. It had been a dream. He looked at Diana and at her large rounded belly. Jaden was getting his family out of this, if it was the last thing he did. He’d find a way to get them free.

   

   

   

 Chapter 4 

It had been a week since Jaden had his dream. His ambition to get away from the Empire had been set aside, as Diana had started having contractions the evening after his dream. And now they were sitting on their bed with their brand-new baby boy. Jaden held little Adam Garsea in his arms and for the first time in a very long time, felt whole. Adam wrapped his tiny fingers around Jaden’s pointer finger and Jaden smiled. Diana laid her head on his shoulder and Jaden kissed her forehead. She reached her hand over and let Adam grasp her finger as well. Jaden had done nothing but work for the Empire and design ships of war for them for years. And now he felt he had something he had done right over the past 4 years. He had this little baby, and that was all he’d need. He looked out the window, which showed a view off the prototype S-750 Jaden had designed. The sight usually made Jaden nervous and queasy. This was the only one the Empire planned to build. It had already cost nearly as much as the death star had, and after the Battle of Yavin, Jaden had worked for months ridding it of any flaws to reassure his superiors it would perform better than the death star had. But today the sight didn’t fill him with dread, but instead the sun glinted off the white metal of the Dagger’s hull and filled their room with beautiful orange rays of light.

The door slid open and an imperial officer and two stormtroopers entered. Jaden stood and straightened up like he had to anytime an outranking officer addressed him. "Garsea." The officer said with an obvious tone of disdain.

"Yes, sir?" Jaden said.

"You missed your post today." The officer told him.

"Acknowledged, sir. My wife just had a baby and I needed to take care of them both." Jaden said.

The officer slapped him. "This is unacceptable. If this child is going to keep you from your duties than it will be taken. And have you applied him for the stormtrooper barracks yet?"

Jaden just stared in disbelief. "He's not even 36 hours old." The officer slapped him again.

"Jaden Garsea, it is imperial law to register your child for the stormtrooper barracks. You are a traitor to the Empire. Because of this infringement I am forced to take your child and double the amount of work you will be expected to do and double the amount of security in your daily dealings. The stormtroopers came forward and went for little Adam.

"No!!" Jaden screamed. He jumped on the officer and brought him down to the ground. He punched the officer in the face before being pulled off by one of the stormtroopers. The officer had blood streaming down his face from his nose. The stormtrooper restrained a struggling Jaden and the officer stood and came up to Jaden. He spat in Jaden's face and punched him in the gut.

Jaden struggled to breathe as the officer said, "you will always be scum. But perhaps your child has the potential to be what you never could." Diana cried as the other trooper ripped a screaming Adam away from her. She stood about to fight back. But the officer pulled a pistol on her and she stayed. The trooper dropped Jaden and the officer kicked him in the face and the troopers left the room. The officer shot at the window making both of them jump. It shattered and the officer turned and left the room. Diana fell over and there was a dark feeling in the room. She screamed and everything got thrown against the wall. Glass shards flew against the door and the lights along the wall and ceiling exploded. Jaden crawled to her and held her.

"I'm so sorry." Jaden held her for a moment and then in his mind made a resolution. They were getting out of this hell. Not only that, they were going to hurt the Empire when they did.

   

   

 Chapter 5 

Jaden held Diana for hours. They both sobbed all through the night and into the morning. It came to be the required time for Jaden to be at his station, and he took the hardest steps of his life, leaving his sweetheart, his whole galaxy crying on their bed. He continued to work on designs for the Empire, but in his mind, he planned their escape. When he got off, he went to Diana and found her still laying on their bed. She lay in the same position. The only thing that had changed from when he had forced himself to leave is, she was now holding a small stuffed Ewok they had gotten for Adam. Jaden touched her and after he laid in front of her, he whispered, "We are getting out of here." He felt himself start to cry again. So, he took a deep breath and looked back at Diana, who's eyes were still red and puffy. He took her into his arms and said, "and we're going to make them pay for this."

Diana, after a moment, said, "How?"

"We fought them before we'll do it again." Jaden said before adding, "only this time I won't have a pile of scrap metal to fly."

Diana managed to get out a laugh. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. And we're going to hit them hard." Jaden said.

"What are we going to do?" Diana asked.

Jaden looked out the window at the ''Dagger. ''"They were only ever going to build one, right?"

Diana looked at the massive white hexagonal command bridge being sealed onto the curved neck. "Ok. What's the plan?"

Jaden and Diana walked down the hallway. His fingers were intertwined with hers and he could feel her heart pumping rapidly. His heart was racing as well. Part of him couldn't believe what they were about to try. It had a lot of room to go wrong. They turned the last hallway, and both took a deep breath. They could see the hangar- and their way out. A TIE Punisher. Built for 2, it was meant as the Empire's response to the Y-wing. Jaden had developed a system for it to be able to fire both turbolasers and explosives in 360 degrees on each axis, making it very hard to get in its blind spot. It had positions for a pilot and a gunner and was equipped with light shields and a hyperdrive. It was perfect for their needs. Jaden felt Diana squeeze his hand.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Diana asked.

"There's not exactly time for that question, is there?" Jaden responded.

"No, not really." Diana said.

Jaden looked at her before saying, "We're going to do this. We'll be fine."

Diana stayed quiet and simply nodded as they entered the hangar.

Jaden slid into the pilot's seat as Diana took the gunner position. Nobody had noticed them.

"Well, step one's done." Jaden said.

"Only a million more to go." Diana responded.

Jaden smiled. "Yeah it's gonna be fun." He heard Diana, which only made him smile more.

It had been months since he had flown, and it felt good to be back. He detached the ship from the docking clamps and instantly kicked the ship to nearly it's full speed. He felt himself be pulled back into his seat from the inertia of the sudden acceleration. He did a little flip and enjoyed the moment of being behind the joystick of a starship.

"Love, you can show off later. Let's do what we came for." Diana told him, snapping out of his distraction.

"Yeah, yeah. Just getting used to it.” he said in a mocking tone. He turned his attention to the star destroyer taking off for the first time, having just completed its construction a few hours previously. It was called the Monsoon, and neither Jaden nor Diana wanted to see it leave the atmosphere, where it was built for. Destroyers didn't operate well in atmosphere, any interruption in the power supply could be catastrophic to the ship and send it down to the ground. Jaden and Diana didn't have very much time to hit the reactor and interrupt that power supply.

“Ready for this?” He asked her, the initial adrenaline had worn off and left worry that this might not work.

“As I’ll ever be.” Diana said.

Jaden took a deep breath. “Here we go.” He whispered to himself. He increased the ion engines and with a roar the ship accelerated towards the rising destroyer. They zipped between the command bridge and the main hull and Jaden realized just how much they had the element of surprise. Jaden directed more power to the engines and raced along the destroyer. He got far enough away to turn and come to attack speed and switch on the deflector shields.

He piloted the ship under the destroyer, and he felt the gunner orb rotate and point the cannon at the reactor. Then cannon fire sounded, and green laser blasts flew to the reactor. It didn’t have a huge effect on the destroyer, but it was enough to slow the destroyer’s engines and an alarm sounded. The roar of ion engines filled the air as TIE fighters flew out of the destroyer’s primary hangar. Jaden dove toward Correllia's surface and let the TIE’s chase him. He pulled up and spun back towards the destroyer. The ship vibrated with Diana’s continual cannon fire at the TIE’s following their ship.

“I’m coming around. All we need to do is disrupt the energy cycle. Don’t miss.” Jaden said to Diana as he pulled the ship up again for another round at the reactor. He leveled the ship under the destroyer’s hull and then kicked up the speed, blowing right past the reactor and sending presumptuous TIE pilots flying into the dome. He dropped the speed back down and felt the gunner orb rotate and vibrate the ship again. He flew from side to side in order to evade the laser fire and as he reached the stern of the destroyer, Jaden quickly pulled up and felt Diana fire laser blasts and rockets at the lower small engine on the port side. Jaden saw the engines flicker and the star destroyer slow, but they hadn’t done it yet. Jaden increased the speed and flew back under the command bridge. The star destroyer’s turbolasers batteries began firing on Jaden and Diana. More TIE fighters appeared from both sides of the bow of the star destroyer.

“Well, we lost the element of surprise.” Jaden said as he dove again towards the surface of Corellia. More TIE’s approached from the planet’s surface. Jaden looked and felt a pit in his stomach grow and it dawned on him that this task was likely impossible. Time seemed to slow as he sighed and, in his mind, flashed an image of Adam. Of Zed. Of all those they’d lost to the Empire. Their families. Their friends. A tear fell from Jaden’s face and onto his lap. A new resolution hardened in Jaden’s eyes, planted years ago by the loss of his home. Jaden was a dreamer. He also kept his eye on the horizon. And the Empire did everything it could to block out the horizon, the hope. But they couldn’t take it all away. Jaden was going to beat this monster over the galaxy. He looked at the swarm of TIE’s approaching them. And Jaden dove. Right towards the enemy. He fired and he felt Diana fire. There was a massive exchange of green laser fire and Jaden swooped and spun to avoid catastrophe. He managed to survive and get through the storm of TIE’s. He swung around and pulled up through falling debris. He spun and faced the swarm again. He looked up at their target and decided it was now or never. He switched more power to forward deflectors and pushed the TIE punisher as fast as it could go. The ships around him became a blur as he spun to avoid crashing into them. He made it through again and knew they’d be turning around to fire at him again.

“We can’t do this for much longer.” Diana’s voice said in his ear. “The ship’s practically on fire, and a few pieces are missing. I’m pretty sure that’s bad.”

“I’m coming back on the Monsoon. Just fire at the engine again.” Jaden said as he looked up at their target again. It was moving quickly. Their chances were collapsing. Jaden directed their TIE at the stern of the Monsoon. He again pushed the ship to its limit. Jaden was pulled back into his seat as they flew through the clouds and green laser blasts fired through the atmosphere around them from their pursuers. “Right down the throat of the engine. We got one shot.” Jaden said as he leveled the ship at the stern of the destroyer. He still evaded the lasers from the pursuing TIE’s but gave Diana her shot. He got closer and closer when he stopped evading the blasts from behind them. The ship rattled from the roar of the destroyer's engines when he finally dove. Diana let loose a storm of rockets at the engine. Lasers from the pursuing TIE’s flew into the engine, and with an explosion, the Monsoon’s engines all cut, and the destroyer began falling through the atmosphere.

“Yes!” Diana yelled, making feedback so loud Jaden’s ears rang. He shook it off and smiled at the falling star destroyer. Then the engines on the Monsoon roared back to life and Jaden watched in terror as the destroyer began rising again.

“What? How-?” Diana asked.

“I- I don’t know. It should have worked.” Jaden stammered in response. “The destroyer is in-atmosphere. It should be falling.”

“Well, it’s not.” Diana said.

“I can see that, thank you.” Jaden said.

He didn’t know what to do. He still had to out-maneuver all these TIE’s and- these TIE’s. A memory floated into Jaden’s head. Flying from TIE's back home. Weaving through spires. Getting pursuing pilots to crash. He remembered the moves and saw potential. He smiled and then dove down towards the Monsoon.

His angle was right. The timing was perfect. He pulled up at the last second and several of his pursuers crashed right into the destroyer's damaged engine. This time the engines all surged. The turbo cannons rapidly fired at nothing in particular. Pieces of the ship began to fly off and Jaden and Diana watched the bright blue engines push the destroyer right where they wanted it. It veered to the right and crashed down right towards the unfinished shape of the ''Dagger. The Monsoon crashed into the large command tower and slid across the hull of the Dagger.'' The top layer of hull was ripped away and the unfinished inside left exposed. The reactor was damaged and exposed. The Dagger’s vibro-voulge equipped tooth was cut in half and the ship fell further forward. Both ships were left in near devastation.

Jaden brought the ship around.

“What are you doing? We can leave now!” Diana called in his earpiece.

“Not yet. That main reactor is already on the brink of destruction. I’d rather leave them with a pile of ash than scrap they can recycle.” Jaden told her.

He leveled the turbo cannons on his TIE Punisher with the Dagger’s massive reactor. There were 2 other reactors, each by a separate shield generator. Jaden had designed it to be indestructible. He opened fire on it. Green laser fire poured from the small fighter to the reactor below. The gunner orb rotated around, and Jaden saw more laser fire go towards the reactor. The reactor began to flame. Jaden saw bits of the ship start to spark where the leftover energy began to surge. He fired a little more and pulled up just as the ship exploded into a massive explosion. He diverted all power to auxiliary engines. The ship began shaking and Jaden flashed back to his old scrap pile of a U-wing. The growing explosion began to catch up to Jaden and Diana’s TIE. He turned off the lights and forward shields and diverted that energy to the engines as well. He squeezed every amp he could out of their ship and still the explosion was catching up. And over the rattling of the TIE’s hull, a distant booming was heard. A star destroyer had appeared over the atmosphere. There was no possible way for them to survive a fully equipped star destroyer, out of the atmosphere. Jaden booted up the hyperdrive. A billion stars, nebulae, or other obstacles could sit in their path. But it was a higher chance than this.

“Jaden… what are you doing?” Diana asked when the ship slowed.

“Running.” Jaden responded has he prepared for the jump to hyperspace.

“Where?” Diana asked him. He faltered for a moment over the control to have them jump into hyperspace. He looked at the switch. There would be nowhere where the Empire couldn’t find them. They would be wanted everywhere. He didn’t know what to tell her. Out of the corner of his eye, light reflected from the sun. Rays burst through the smoke that Jaden and Diana had left. The light twisted into a beautiful collage of orange, red, yellow, and various other colors. The sight left not only a sense of humility and peace in Jaden but resolve. They could survive anywhere. They would see the beautiful binary sunset of Tatooine. The sun glinting through Christophsis’ crystals. They would survive anywhere. The Empire couldn’t take their hope anymore.

“Naboo first. Then the rest of the galaxy.” Jaden said. He pulled the switch and the stars lengthened into lines, and the blurry tunnel of hyperspace appeared around their ship.

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<p style="text-align: center;"> Chapter 6 

Admiral Harris watched the TIE Punisher disappear into the stars from his Lambda shuttle. He yelled and threw his datapad across the room. Garsea. He had watched a single fighter destroy both a brand-new Star Destroyer and the Dagger. The Emperor would want his head for this. The Dagger would have brought a swift end to the Alliance. The Death Star had failed. The rebellion had started to win. Harris growled. The Empire would never build another S-750. The Lambda landed on the Destroyer that Garsea had run from. Harris stormed to the Admiral’s headquarters. He pulled up a hologram of the Garseas and sent it to the Empire’s wanted list. They wouldn’t be able to go anywhere without being recognized. He would have Jaden back, and he would make him suffer.