C8-42 BI-P1-C1

Part 1 - Chapter 1: Attack on the Endar Spire
“This is the captain. All hands abandon ship! Repeat: all hands abandon ship!” Carth Onasi’s voice rang over the speakers, drowned out by the sound of lightsabers, blasters, and grunts of death. The constant rain of turbolaser fire rocked the ship back and forth. The deck pitched and rolled, knocking Lieutenant Starfall of his feet more than once. Struggling to maintan his balance, he braced himself against one of the bridge’s computer terminals. “Bastila’s escape pod is away!”

“Then there’s nothing to stop the Sith from blowing us into space dust. Come on!” The two soldiers dodged blaster fire from the Sith boarding party and avoided return fire from the Endar Spire’s crew. Two by two the Republic numbers dwindled, as soldiers either climbed into escape pods or were struck down by their adversaries.

Captain Onasi blasted the door controls, temporarily shielding them from the Sith fire. “There’s only one active escape pod left. Come on, we can hide out on the planet below!”

Nik winced as he crawled into the musty pod, trying his best to squeeze in room for the captain. The two soldiers braced themselves as the stanchion unclamped and released the pod. The metal seat scorched Nik’s exposed skin as the vessel burned red-hot, descending through the planet’s atmosphere. The small pod blazed across the Tarisian sky, stealing the stage from the already magnificent sunset. The passersby that weren’t frozen by the beauty of the sight took cover from the falling debris; the screech of the pod’s hull against the metal structure struck the rest out of their daze. The last thing Nik remembered was the tickle in his throat from the column of smoke and the cool feel of metal against his skin as he collapsed onto the cold streets of Taris. Everything went black.

Images flashed before his eyes, whispers in his ears. The whole experience was surreal, and yet familiar. He could recognize the ship he was on, a Sith Interdictor-class cruiser. A shadow approached; Nik strained his eyes to see who it was, but the figure was too dark, too distorted. Suddenly the room glowed a brilliant ambience of crimson, emanating from the form’s sleek blade. More figures approached; a blinding aura engulfed each of them. The woman in the lead ignited her own lightsaber, an amber glow augmenting her spiritual halo. She floated towards the dark figure and the two dueled; her graceful movements outmatching his unsophisticated, overpowered blows.

Nik stared into her deep, dark eyes, fearing he was next.

Previous...

Next...