Yes, a third story by ForceFight, and one that I actually intend to finish. :D
The intro is inculded below. Enjoy!
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a240/BastilaRevanforever/Random%20Stuff/426px-Shadows_and_Light.jpg)
DATAPAD XT-14092-RECORDING 296-337
TRIALS
I have recorded this tale entitled TRIALS for one reason and one reason only: remembrance. Remembrance of a great man – remembrance of a great danger. Remembrance of a great mistake. Remembrance of the great men and women who no longer live. Remembrance of their great deeds, recorded here. Remembrance of the lives of friends as well as enemies. Remembrance…of a legend.
For several years now I have compiled this data. As I am the last surviving member of these adventurers and friends, it is my agreed-upon duty to record the details of our trials, so that the same mistakes may not be made again.
BEGIN FEED
FOLDER 77-82
SECTION ONE
Space. The final, supposedly ‘conquered’ frontier for the people of the Republic, and yet it was almost completely unexplored. The Unknown Regions and beyond...one could only guess at the wonders that lay undisturbed and just waiting to be discovered past the reaches of charted space.
Billions of stars watched the lone Republic capital ship as it scuttled across the voids, winking at the veteran soldier who stood before the viewscreens on the Command Bridge. The crew’s mission was a simple one – and for that reason it was all the more dangerous. As the constellations stood a silent vigil, the soldiers aboard were deathly silent as they went about their chores. They had taken a mistaken course…one that would doom their mission.
“Captain.” one of the men sitting at a nav console waved a hand, flagging down the veteran soldier, who dutifully strode to the man’s side. “Hyperspace ruptures.”
Carth Onasi peered over the man’s shoulder, his trained eyes quickly scanning the data displayed on the screen.
“Identified?” he asked, stroking his close-shaven goatee.
“No, sir.”
“Keep an eye on them. They’re not close enough to do damage yet.”
“Yes, sir.”
Moving back to the center of the deck, Carth called out more orders. “I want military personnel brought up to alert. Keep those turrets warm.”
As a chorus of affirmatives reached his ears, the senior officer turned back to the viewscreens, pulling up several magnified feeds of the hyperspace ruptures. He had a bad feeling about this…
A moment later, the proximity alarm blared, renting the silence with its loud, clear screamings.
“What’s going on?” Carth barked.
“Proximity one breached, sir!” a soldier answered, his console flashing red, “Sith warships en route!”
“What the hell??” he dashed to the console, staring hard at the information scrolling across the screen. “We’re way too far out for their sensors to pick us up. How the hell did they know we were here?”
“They were waiting, Captain.” came a woman’s voice, and Carth spun around, coming face-to-face with Jedi Bastila Shan. Her cool blue eyes watched the viewscreens solemnly for a moment before turning to meet his chestnut-brown. “It’s an ambush.”
“Sh*t.” he swore in a whisper, breath hissing from between his teeth. Then he was a whirl of action. “Combat teams to full readiness! Scramble the fighters, ready the turrets! I want this ship fully armed ASAP!”
“It’s too late.” he heard the Jedi whisper, “It’s far too late…”
His brows furrowed. What she had said was the truth…pulling up the radar trackers on one side of the viewscreen, the man could see that enemy fighters had already far outnumbered their own – and they were still multiplying.
“I want all shifts up and ready! All fighters are cleared to launch! Get our Jedi passengers on the Bridge, now! Arm the podbays! Defense, I need those turrets!”
“Turrets 15 through 25 ready, sir!”
“Ammunition in ‘bays A and B readied, sir!”
“Here they come.” Bastila murmured.
“Proximity ring 2 breached!”
“We got fighters on all sides! Boarding craft!”
“Fighters launched! Echo, Beta, and Gamma Squads engaging enemy!”
“Turret bays occupied! Awaiting command!”
“Open fire!” Carth shouted, “Blast them with everything we’ve got!”
“Proximity 3 breached! Boarding craft approaching docking bays 3 and 4!”
“I want troopers down in those docks!” Carth shouted, “Be ready to repel boarders!”
“Beta squad’s in disarray! There’s another break in the defenses!”
“If they board us we’re done for.” he said, and turned to Bastila. “I need command of your—”
He broke off as he saw the Jedi sitting on the floor of the bridge, a strange light playing about her body. She was using her powers.
It may be too little, too late. he found himself thinking as he turned back to the viewscreens. A large explosion wracked the exo-skeleton of the ship.
“Shield cores have spun to zero! We’ve been boarded!”
“Hull breach in sector 4-A, sealing off!”
“There’s too many of them, sir! They’re picking our turrets off like flies!”
“Fire the Hellfires!” the Captain commanded, “I don’t care where, they’ll do damage wherever they hit!”
“Turrets 13 through 34 are down! Podbays A and D are empty!”
“They’ve knocked out our communication arrays!”
Another set of rapid explosions sounded, causing the man to stumble.
“Engines three and four spun to zero. We’re drifting!”
“Stabilizers disabled!”
“Boarders have penetrated initial defenses! Sectors 6-D through 8-A are overwhelmed!”
“I want all reserve personnel up immediately! I’m ordering a full evacuation of the Endar Spire!”
- - - - - - - - -
Explosions rocked the very frame of the ship, jolting Terrick to wakefulness with a painful crack of the head. Sitting bolt upright, the soldier rubbed the back of his head as the ship rumbled again. He could see smoke and blaster fire out the window.
Sh*t! was the only thing that crossed his mind as he watched thousands of Sith fighters dart nimbly through the wreckage of hundreds of Republic hulls.
A beep and a hiss announced that the lock on the door to the dormitories had been accessed. Whipping around, Terrick dropped into a fighting stance, expecting a patrol of Sith troopers to come barging in at any second.
“Up and at ‘em, kiddies! Captain Onasi’s ordered a—” the Republic soldier stopped as he noticed the crouched man in the room, his eyes surveying the man’s jumpsuit and bare hands. “How exactly were you planning on killing any Sith like that? Shock ‘em to death?”
Terrick frowned. “I just got up.” he explained.
“‘Just got up’?? You mean you slept through all this??” the second soldier motioned around the room with his blaster, indicating the explosions, alarms, announcements and blaster fire. He was right. It was a hell of a lot to sleep through.
“Look, can we talk about this later?” he grumbled, moving to the footlocker across the room and keying it open, beginning to pull clothes out, “I can’t imagine you came just to wake me up.”
“You’re right, I didn’t. Code red has been issued.”
Terrick paused, his hands in the middle of loading a blaster, and turned to the soldier. “We’re evacuating?”
“You got it.”
He couldn’t move. Rather, he just stared at the other man, his eyes empty.
“Well, c’mon! We got other priorities too! Bastila’s on the bridge, and it’s our first priority to be sure that she gets off the Spire in one piece!”
Swearing under his breath, Terrick continued to dress. He had completely forgotten about the ship’s Jedi occupants.
“You got a name?” he asked, strapping on his belt and blaster.
“Trask Ulgo, ensign with the Republic Fleet. We’re on different shifts…I can see why we haven’t met before.”
“Terrick Yuri.” he answered, standing and hefting a blaster rifle, “A pleasure. Now, if you wouldn’t mind…”
Having the pass codes, Trask had quickly cut through the lock-down sequence on the door, and they were out into the corridor. Slicing through many more locked doors and blasting their way past advanced boarding parties, the duo slipped through the Sith-infested sections of the ship, finally reaching the cross-point between the starboard and port sides of the ship.
“Why do I have a bad feeling about this place…” Terrick asked no one in particular, quickly wiping sweat from his brow and adjusting his blaster.
Crossing the room quickly, Trask put his ear to one of the doors.
“There’s something behind there…” he said, and stepped back. Extending and waving two fingers, he signaled for his companion to seek cover. Dodging beneath a table, Terrick lay on the ground, his blaster at the ready.
Seeing Terrick ready, Trask punched in the lock code, and the door hissed open.
“****.” the soldier growled, and strode into the room, calling over his shoulder. “You get out of here! They’re waiting for you in the escape pods!”
“Trask?” Terrick popped up, and saw the flash of a red lightsaber. Oh no…
“Trask!!” Running forward, he reached the door just in time to run into it as it locked closed.
“You stupid bastard!” he shouted, pounding hard on the metal. The door wouldn’t open, no matter how many times he tried to crack the lock. Sighing, he gave up. There was no time to waste.
- - - - - - - - -
“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon…” Carth said under his breath, his eyes following the dot that was the last surviving member of the Endar Spire as the soldier made his way through the corridors.
“It’s about fracking time!!” the Captain shouted as the lock was accessed and the door hissed open.
“Sorry, sir,” Terrick answered automatically, clutching at his wounded arm, “The ship’s full of rats, if you know what I mean.”
“It’s fine, now let’s just—”
“You’re…you’re Carth Onasi, aren’t you?”
“Yes, now please can we get the hell out of here!”
Sliding quickly into the last escape pod, the two Republic soldiers took their last look at the Endar Spire.
“Hang on to your hat.” Carth murmured, pulling the hatch closed and entering the launch sequence. “Taris, here we come.”