Last Stand

Escape

Darkness, not a very pleasant thing to see when you initially awaken from a deep sleep. Soon after my eyelids have opened, red dots begin to appear on the walls. About time they turned on the lights. I explode right out of my bed and put on my ragged old cloak and head out to the bridge of the Republics last Victory class Cruiser. I try and reach out with the force, not a very easy thing to do when the ship protecting you from an assured death is slowly being destroyed. Then again, I wasn't a very developed Jedi when the Great Purge had happened, it was hard for me to reach out with the force on a regular basis. I reach the bridge and am nearly blinded by the light. "Silly me I forgot that the bridge is lit, even when the rest of the ship isn't."

"Master Vladimer," I hear a clone trooper call out. I turn around and see a battle hardened clone Captain staring back at me behind an expressionless mask of white.

"Please give me an update on the situation, what's happening Captain?"

"Moments ago, 3 Imperial Vader  Class ships entered our area of operation. We tried to convince them that we were salvagers, but as you can see, they didn't take the bait," he states behind his armor of white plastoid.

"What about the other ships in our armada? What about the Enterising and the Fodin" I ask.

"They were ordered to try and flank the warships, only the Fodin survived. We are in a tricky situation with the Empire in the front of us and a black hole behind us," he responds.

I think to myself that if we could somehow lure them into the black hole...... "Aim us to the black hole, full speed, and set a hyperspace course 10 degrees port of that black hole, that should pull us right. Set the course only one quarter of a light year. Execute the jump 10 seconds to being sucked into the event horizon."

He yells the commands out. "Hear goes nothing I think to myself." I hope for the best.

Time seems to lengthen as we approach the unusually dark void in space. A slight reduction in speed leads me to believe that one of our engines has submitted to the commanding onslaught of the Empire's unforgiving lasers. I glance down at my notification band and my suspicion is supported. One minute till hyperspace. All I can do is trust the force to get us through. I begin to meditate. My heart race begins to decline in speed, my breathing begins to shallow, and the sound of battle is hushed by the peace meditation brings to me. I reach out to the force and try to see what the future holds. 30 seconds till hyperspace. Onderon. The only thing the force conveys to me. I feel disappointment start to well up in my body, I try and use the force and all it gives me is a planet. Just fantastic.

My disappointment is quickly converted into a child like anticipation as the jump is now seconds away. The Empire's ships still follow, launching harsh green plasma beams all the same. "Poor souls," I think to myself. As we approach the black hole the sensors on my notification band light up similarly to the blazing fire on our port side. I close my eyes and make one more silent prayer. The sudden acceleration commences and in no time at all we are faster than light.

When we exit the jump the tension of my ships' crew is almost non-existent. "Commander, how are those three Vader Class ships doing," I ask optimistically.

"A probe we left just moments before the jump indicates that the three ships were engulfed by the black hole. However, there was a reading soon after stating that a small ship, probably a TIE fighter, escaped. My guess is that the little bugger will report us to Imperial Command," he replies in the same way he would any other time.

"That is quite unfortunate, what were our losses commander," I ask is a inquisitive tone.

"Sir, we've lost the Enterpriseing ,the Fodin has sustained heavy damage. Our command ship has taken minimal damage in comparison to the rest of the ships. We've also lost three fighter squadrons a one bomber squadron, sir."

"Make sure that the injured a taken care of. Also, I think I know what our next destination should be. Set a course to our Outer Rim space repair center. Once our ships are repaired and our men healed, we need to set a course to Onderon."

He says nothing and begins to instruct his subordinates on what the next course of action is. I type on my notification band, a summoning for my padawan, there is much to do.