Post by leamur on Aug 6, 2007 9:50:13 GMT -5
Hi all, this is my first offering. A bit of an alternate aftermath to post-Imperial Star Wars (I know this sorta stuff already exists but I’ve not read any so please excuse me and let me know if I’m covering stuff that’s already been done!)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
It is ten years since the collapse of the Empire and the establishment of the New Republic. However it has not been the glorious era that many in the Alliance had dreamed of.
The New Republic has been fraught with issues and after a brief honeymoon period following the death of Palpatine, the remnants of his armed forces began harassing the fledgling New Republic.
These early raids were led by Grand Admiral Dajo Huurlek in his Super Star Destroyer, Revenge. Initially he was very successful at suppressing the spread of the New Republic, but as they gained more resources they gradually built up enough forces to confront Dajo in his stronghold system of Tirth.
In 15ABY the battle began and spanned the whole system as the Imperial forces refused to surrender. After a month of campaigning and heavy loses, the New Republic forces triumphed with the death of Dajo and the destruction of the Revenge.
As they recuperated, the Republic generals and government initially thought that they had finally defeated the ghost of the Empire but it soon became clear that they had only knocked one tooth out of a vast and terrible maw. Intelligence reported that hundreds of splinter fleets existed, some only a single Star Destroyer strong while others consist of a whole armada. Worse still, there were rumours which were subsequently confirmed, that there were more Super Star Destroyers. These appeared to act as the foci for Imperial operations, and the Supreme Council of the New Republic ordered that they be hunted down and destroyed.
Six years of near constant warfare have passed since this decree was made. No apparent gain has been made in this time and as a result, factions within the Republic have threatened to break away.
Under attack from all sides, the Republic teeters on the brink of collapse. Its only hope lies in the successful training of new Jedi knights, but this is a slow process and many question whether it is worth the resources as there will be too few of them to seriously combat the many threats the Republic will face.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 1: Capture
A jagged slither of black slid across the brilliant blue disk of the gas giant Tal Kur, slowly slicing its way through the sea of blue before coming to rest at its heart. There it stayed, a menacing blemish on an otherwise pristine surface.
Jal Terro gazed at the Super Star Destroyer with a mixed feeling of awe, dread and hatred. From his vantage point he could see the long dagger shaped hull with its layered island. He knew there was a formidable arsenal hidden within that heaped mass of metal, against which he would barely last a nanosecond. However the asteroid he had parked his X-wing on kept him obscured from its view and gave him a little comfort.
The fox glanced at his dimly lit control panel to check his location and keyed it into the code for the signal beacon to alert the fleet. The plan had been to deploy lone fighters throughout the systems surrounding those that had last been raided, in the hope that they would spot the Imperial ships responsible and then alert the main fleet.
The commanders of the New Republic forces thought that it would be an easy task to hunt down the offending ships as who could miss a Star Destroyer? In reality it was virtually impossible to track them as they always slipped away.
Jal, like many other pilots, had hastily signed up for this duty eager to avenge the losses they had suffered as a result of these surprise blitzes. However he also fought for his girlfriend Rhea Vuusen, who was a New Republic trooper and killed in the last raid.
A sudden thought crossed his mind, what if the scanners on board that Imperial ship detected him? He really did not want to think of it, but knew he was as good as dead. His finger hovered over the activate button.
Three days of waiting, with his ship running at just enough power to maintain life support so as not to be detected. The tasteless rations were getting scarce and he was cold. Nightmares of Rhea had hunted his sleep and kept him awake. He had to do his duty.
Closing his eyes he hit the button, there was a brief buzz of static followed by a whir of acknowledgement from his astro-droid. Now all he had to do was wait for the fleet and he prayed that they arrived before they found him.
The bridge of the Super Star Destroyer was tense with anticipation. Everyone on board knew that they were about to face numerous Republic capital ships and even though they were buoyant from their recent success, they still felt nervous. Their ship could easily deal with whatever was thrown at them, but they had got used to hit and run raids. For many of them this would be their first full-scale engagement and even though they did not like to admit it, they knew from previous examples that their ship was not invincible.
Admiral Tolth Pax stood alone at the forward viewports. The wolf stared expectantly into the black nothingness beyond the curve of Tal Kur. His fur was thinning and his face was ravaged by time and stress. However his eyes still shone keenly with cunning and his mind constantly turned over his plans in his head, searching for any weakness that could be amended before they arrived. He turned slightly as he noticed another reflection appear next to his own.
A silver fox clicked her heels smartly to attention. In contrast to the officer she was in her prime. Her fur gleamed with youth and her healthy figure fit her crisp uniform snugly.
“Report” the wolf growled, turning back to the viewports.
“The X-wing has transmitted a coded message revealing our location, sir” she answered.
He did not reply. She noticed his reflection give her a baleful glare and knew it was her cue to leave. Clicking her heels she turned smartly and strode back to her post.
Pax turned back to his thoughts. There was no place for a woman on his command deck or at any level in his or any other Imperial forces for that matter. He snarled and knew he was not alone in his views, but necessity had forced his hand to make the appointment. That was the only reason women were in the Imperial forces at all. It had been a bitter pill to swallow, and was still lodged in his throat, but to maintain personnel numbers it had to be done.
His snarl turned into a low growl, she had distracted his train of thought. This was why there was no place for those bitches!
“Lieutenant Yeh” the wolf barked.
“Yes sir” a Jackal snapped to attention at his post.
“Order a wing of Defenders to intercept and bring in that X-wing, I’ve just remembered something.”
“Yes sir” Yeh replied knowingly and immediately began to relay the order to his subordinates.
“Lieutenant Ordona” he growled.
“Yes sir” the silver fox said as she jumped to attention.
The wolf did not reply though and leant over the edge of the command platform instead, relaying his instructions directly to one of Ordona’s subordinates. She was used to these humiliating snubs and maintained her composure. Still her heart sank lower into her stomach and was vaguely aware of the straying eyes of her colleagues. The newer ones had yet to learn that this was a regular occurrence, while the others just looked for something to talk about in the mess room.
She felt like she had been at attention for an eternity as the old wolf took his time. What had she done this time? She could never work out why she attracted so much of the Admiral’s hate. Maybe he had got wind of some of the disparaging comments she had made about him in the mess room. It was unlikely that anyone, even Tull, who always had a withering remark to make about her, would dare repeat what she had said. Pax’s rage tended to be indiscriminate, so everyone kept their mouths shut.
A snap of heels brought her back to reality as the Admiral finished with her subordinate. Without even looking at her, he stalked across the bridge. The swish of the blast doors told her that he was gone and she finally relaxed.
The crisp mountain air blew gently against Jal’s face, lightly wafting his fur. The sapphire sky was flawless and judging by the fact that he could see nothing but the sky, he guessed he was lying on his back. There was a murmur above him and he looked up into the upside down, smiling face of his girlfriend.
Was this real?
He went to get up but a soft touch of her hand on his shoulder kept him down. She altered her position so he could see her properly and began to caress his chest. He lay there in stunned silence, expecting to her suddenly burst into flames or transform into a cadaver like she usually did in his dreams. Instead she stayed there complete and beautiful, just as he wanted to remember her. However she still wore her uniform like she usually did and she still had the ugly blaster wound in the centre of her chest.
She noticed that he was looking at the wound and quickly turned away, pulling her vest closed to cover it. Tears welled up in her lovely eyes and began to stream down her cheeks. Jal quickly sat up and threw his arms around her, as he could never bear to see her upset.
After a few moments of comforting her he realised she had stopped crying. She had become limp and cold in his arms. He knew where he was now. The smell of burnt flesh suddenly assaulted his senses, like an overwhelming wall of death. Unwillingly he looked around and saw the corpses of his friends and colleagues scattered about the landing area. The few pilots, who had been in the air and survived, were stumbling about bewildered or cradling loved ones like he was.
It was the Republic outpost on Tantor IV and it had been destroyed by Imperial forces. Everyone was dead. The few that survived had been dragged back to the Imperial ships where a terrible fate awaited them.
Slowly the sights, sounds and smells began to fade into nothingness. Jal was left alone cradling Rhea. Tears began to roll down his muzzle as he squeezed her tightly.
“Wake up” she said stiffly.
Jal stopped crying and stared at her wide eyed. She had never spoken to him in his dreams before.
“Wake up!” she repeated with emphasis.
Suddenly he was awake. The obsidian vacuum still surrounded him and his instrument panel still bathed him weakly in a dull glow. He glanced over the displays and everything seemed normal. Rubbing his eyes he was surprised to find that they were wet. Had he really been crying? He did not have time to think about it though as his X-wing began to shake.
“Stop that R-3” he exclaimed. “I’m not going to pick you up if you break your clamps and drift into space.”
The little astro-droid chirped at him noisily and continued to rock the fighter. It was only as he turned to give it a glare did he notice what it was getting so worked up about.
Two Tie-Defenders had taken up position directly over him, poised to kill. If Jal had not been deprived of sleep, cold and hungry, he would have realised that he did not stand a chance. As it was his survival instinct overrode his logic and he instantly throttled his engines, fortunately to his mechanics’ dedication, roared into life.
Instead of simply blasting off as quickly as possible he used the asteroid as a pivot to spin himself, along the piece of rock, around and away from the Ties. To his dismay another two were waiting from him on the other side. Deciding to take his chances he let go of the asteroid and hurtled off. For a split second the Ties, bemused by what had just happened, hovered in place before chasing after him.
Jal tried as hard as he could to loose them, but they stuck to his tail like glue. However many times he ducked and weaved, they counteracted his every move. He had to hand it to the pilots, they were highly skilled and their craft made even an Interceptor look sluggish. At one point in the chase he managed to through them by making a sudden change of direction, which almost made him black out. His was reprieve was short lived as they were quickly back on his tail.
In his desperation to escape he had not noticed that his adversaries had been herding him towards their mothership. The Super Star Destroyer loomed ahead of him and it was only at the last minute that he realised what had happened. He attempted another sudden turn, to try to get away from it but the Ties were one step ahead of him.
As one they opened fire and a maelstrom of green flashes pummelled Jal’s X-wing. To him it felt like the most violent hailstorm he had ever experienced. His control panel flashed at him madly. At some point R-3 must have been hit as he heard a squeal of distress over his intercom. His rear deflector shield indicator flashed red and he knew any minute now he would be blasted to space dust. Then everything stopped.
Deathly silence suddenly engulfed him, making him wonder if he was dead and now in the afterlife. The whine of the Ties’ engines as they swept past suggested otherwise. His X-wing began to list and roll under its own inertia, putting him into a slow tumble. The control panel stared at him blankly and already the air in his cockpit was beginning to get thick. He knew instantly that they had disabled him with Ion cannons and he franticly tried to reboot his computer, as the monstrous Super Star Destroyer loomed ever closer.
The dark behemoth grew larger and lager in his canopy, until it blocked out the brilliant blue disk of Tal Kur. The Ties had since disappeared from sight and he hoped that they had returned to their hangars and were not behind him, preparing to finish him off. However they were the least of his worries.
With no power or weapons he felt completely defenceless and terrified. The sheer size of the super starship made him panic and he doubled his efforts to revive his own puny vessel. He had heard the tales of what happened to those unfortunate enough to be captured by Imperial forces. Torture, rape, mutilation but the most terrifying thing of all was the Raking, where wiped your mind completely blank to fill it full of what they wanted you to know and see, turning you into a drone for their military forces.
Suddenly his whole ship juddered to a complete stop and he was thrown against his harness. The invisible hand of a tractor beam had him in its grasp and now reeled him unwillingly towards the Imperial ship. Eventhough he knew he would not be able to break out of the powerful tractor beam, he still tried to get the power back on his ship. His efforts were in vain though and before he knew it, he had been manoeuvred towards a rectangle of light.
His crippled starfighter drifted through the invisible barrier that separated the area from the void and was set down on the polished black surface of the hangar floor. On the deck around him mechanics and pilots quickly cleared the area. They were replaced by a squad of menacing looking Stormtroopers, who pointed their blasters threateningly in his direction.
Several Stormtroopers clambered up onto his fighter and gestured to him to open the canopy. He shrugged his shoulders, despite their repeated threats, as without power he could not do anything. After a couple of minutes of this, one of the Stormtroopers realised they were not getting anywhere and called for some mechanics to be sent up.
Two grey clad canids hurriedly joined the Stormtroopers and brought cutting torches to bear on his canopy. In a matter of minutes it had been cut clean off and cast to the hangar floor with a resounding clang. Jal had barely undone the buckle of his harness, when a pair of armoured hands roughly pulled him from his seat. They dragged him off his X-wing and across the floor to the feet of a black clad officer.
“Pick him up” she ordered sharply. The Stormtrooper grabbed the collar of his flight suit and yanked him to his feet.
A stern faced female Dhole, with a scar running from the corner of her mouth to her eye, stared at him furiously from underneath her cap. She drew closer and Jal tried to stand his ground, but he could feel himself begin to tremble. Her lips parted in a slight grin.
“Republic scum” she scoffed, taking another step closer.
He did not know whether it was the menace in her voice, or what he knew they were going to do to him that made him feel so afraid. Whatever it was, he could not stop himself from shrinking away. Thinking of his dead girlfriend did not give him the confidence boost he thought it would.
With a sharp exhale of air, the officer swiftly brought her knee into Jal’s groin making him doubled over. He groaned as he slumped to the floor. The others in the hangar did not react, they did not even laugh, instead they stared coldly at him.
The officer stepped over him and walked towards the entrance of the hangar. As she went she nodded to a pair of black clad soldiers who stepped forward, grabbed Jal under the arms and lifted him up.
The last thing he remembered, beside the pain, was being dragged to the bowels of the ship. Now he lay battered and bruised in a cell that was not big enough to either stand up or lie down fully. He felt as though someone had stuck their fingers in his brain and rummaged through it. Worse still there was no light in the cell and as he came to, Jal wondered whether he had died again.
Clanging footsteps outside told him otherwise and he was suddenly blinded by brilliant white light. He tried to shield his eyes from the light and was vaguely aware of someone standing in the doorway. There was thunderous crackle and a sharp intense pain shot through his chest. He screamed in agony and his whole body twisted awkwardly, as there was not enough room for his limbs to stretch out.
The Captain responsible for the prison cells stood in the door and laughed to himself as he watched the Republic pilot jerk about the tiny cell. They had got all that they wanted to know from him and now he had let the interrogator droid loose on him again. This time it was just for the pleasure of it.
After a few minutes of near continuous electrocution, the Captain called the droid off. They needed some new pilots, so he did not want to over do it and kill him. He lent in to check the pilot and convinced that he was not going to choke on his own tongue, closed the blast door to his cell, dismissed the droid and clanged back to his post.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
It is ten years since the collapse of the Empire and the establishment of the New Republic. However it has not been the glorious era that many in the Alliance had dreamed of.
The New Republic has been fraught with issues and after a brief honeymoon period following the death of Palpatine, the remnants of his armed forces began harassing the fledgling New Republic.
These early raids were led by Grand Admiral Dajo Huurlek in his Super Star Destroyer, Revenge. Initially he was very successful at suppressing the spread of the New Republic, but as they gained more resources they gradually built up enough forces to confront Dajo in his stronghold system of Tirth.
In 15ABY the battle began and spanned the whole system as the Imperial forces refused to surrender. After a month of campaigning and heavy loses, the New Republic forces triumphed with the death of Dajo and the destruction of the Revenge.
As they recuperated, the Republic generals and government initially thought that they had finally defeated the ghost of the Empire but it soon became clear that they had only knocked one tooth out of a vast and terrible maw. Intelligence reported that hundreds of splinter fleets existed, some only a single Star Destroyer strong while others consist of a whole armada. Worse still, there were rumours which were subsequently confirmed, that there were more Super Star Destroyers. These appeared to act as the foci for Imperial operations, and the Supreme Council of the New Republic ordered that they be hunted down and destroyed.
Six years of near constant warfare have passed since this decree was made. No apparent gain has been made in this time and as a result, factions within the Republic have threatened to break away.
Under attack from all sides, the Republic teeters on the brink of collapse. Its only hope lies in the successful training of new Jedi knights, but this is a slow process and many question whether it is worth the resources as there will be too few of them to seriously combat the many threats the Republic will face.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 1: Capture
A jagged slither of black slid across the brilliant blue disk of the gas giant Tal Kur, slowly slicing its way through the sea of blue before coming to rest at its heart. There it stayed, a menacing blemish on an otherwise pristine surface.
Jal Terro gazed at the Super Star Destroyer with a mixed feeling of awe, dread and hatred. From his vantage point he could see the long dagger shaped hull with its layered island. He knew there was a formidable arsenal hidden within that heaped mass of metal, against which he would barely last a nanosecond. However the asteroid he had parked his X-wing on kept him obscured from its view and gave him a little comfort.
The fox glanced at his dimly lit control panel to check his location and keyed it into the code for the signal beacon to alert the fleet. The plan had been to deploy lone fighters throughout the systems surrounding those that had last been raided, in the hope that they would spot the Imperial ships responsible and then alert the main fleet.
The commanders of the New Republic forces thought that it would be an easy task to hunt down the offending ships as who could miss a Star Destroyer? In reality it was virtually impossible to track them as they always slipped away.
Jal, like many other pilots, had hastily signed up for this duty eager to avenge the losses they had suffered as a result of these surprise blitzes. However he also fought for his girlfriend Rhea Vuusen, who was a New Republic trooper and killed in the last raid.
A sudden thought crossed his mind, what if the scanners on board that Imperial ship detected him? He really did not want to think of it, but knew he was as good as dead. His finger hovered over the activate button.
Three days of waiting, with his ship running at just enough power to maintain life support so as not to be detected. The tasteless rations were getting scarce and he was cold. Nightmares of Rhea had hunted his sleep and kept him awake. He had to do his duty.
Closing his eyes he hit the button, there was a brief buzz of static followed by a whir of acknowledgement from his astro-droid. Now all he had to do was wait for the fleet and he prayed that they arrived before they found him.
The bridge of the Super Star Destroyer was tense with anticipation. Everyone on board knew that they were about to face numerous Republic capital ships and even though they were buoyant from their recent success, they still felt nervous. Their ship could easily deal with whatever was thrown at them, but they had got used to hit and run raids. For many of them this would be their first full-scale engagement and even though they did not like to admit it, they knew from previous examples that their ship was not invincible.
Admiral Tolth Pax stood alone at the forward viewports. The wolf stared expectantly into the black nothingness beyond the curve of Tal Kur. His fur was thinning and his face was ravaged by time and stress. However his eyes still shone keenly with cunning and his mind constantly turned over his plans in his head, searching for any weakness that could be amended before they arrived. He turned slightly as he noticed another reflection appear next to his own.
A silver fox clicked her heels smartly to attention. In contrast to the officer she was in her prime. Her fur gleamed with youth and her healthy figure fit her crisp uniform snugly.
“Report” the wolf growled, turning back to the viewports.
“The X-wing has transmitted a coded message revealing our location, sir” she answered.
He did not reply. She noticed his reflection give her a baleful glare and knew it was her cue to leave. Clicking her heels she turned smartly and strode back to her post.
Pax turned back to his thoughts. There was no place for a woman on his command deck or at any level in his or any other Imperial forces for that matter. He snarled and knew he was not alone in his views, but necessity had forced his hand to make the appointment. That was the only reason women were in the Imperial forces at all. It had been a bitter pill to swallow, and was still lodged in his throat, but to maintain personnel numbers it had to be done.
His snarl turned into a low growl, she had distracted his train of thought. This was why there was no place for those bitches!
“Lieutenant Yeh” the wolf barked.
“Yes sir” a Jackal snapped to attention at his post.
“Order a wing of Defenders to intercept and bring in that X-wing, I’ve just remembered something.”
“Yes sir” Yeh replied knowingly and immediately began to relay the order to his subordinates.
“Lieutenant Ordona” he growled.
“Yes sir” the silver fox said as she jumped to attention.
The wolf did not reply though and leant over the edge of the command platform instead, relaying his instructions directly to one of Ordona’s subordinates. She was used to these humiliating snubs and maintained her composure. Still her heart sank lower into her stomach and was vaguely aware of the straying eyes of her colleagues. The newer ones had yet to learn that this was a regular occurrence, while the others just looked for something to talk about in the mess room.
She felt like she had been at attention for an eternity as the old wolf took his time. What had she done this time? She could never work out why she attracted so much of the Admiral’s hate. Maybe he had got wind of some of the disparaging comments she had made about him in the mess room. It was unlikely that anyone, even Tull, who always had a withering remark to make about her, would dare repeat what she had said. Pax’s rage tended to be indiscriminate, so everyone kept their mouths shut.
A snap of heels brought her back to reality as the Admiral finished with her subordinate. Without even looking at her, he stalked across the bridge. The swish of the blast doors told her that he was gone and she finally relaxed.
The crisp mountain air blew gently against Jal’s face, lightly wafting his fur. The sapphire sky was flawless and judging by the fact that he could see nothing but the sky, he guessed he was lying on his back. There was a murmur above him and he looked up into the upside down, smiling face of his girlfriend.
Was this real?
He went to get up but a soft touch of her hand on his shoulder kept him down. She altered her position so he could see her properly and began to caress his chest. He lay there in stunned silence, expecting to her suddenly burst into flames or transform into a cadaver like she usually did in his dreams. Instead she stayed there complete and beautiful, just as he wanted to remember her. However she still wore her uniform like she usually did and she still had the ugly blaster wound in the centre of her chest.
She noticed that he was looking at the wound and quickly turned away, pulling her vest closed to cover it. Tears welled up in her lovely eyes and began to stream down her cheeks. Jal quickly sat up and threw his arms around her, as he could never bear to see her upset.
After a few moments of comforting her he realised she had stopped crying. She had become limp and cold in his arms. He knew where he was now. The smell of burnt flesh suddenly assaulted his senses, like an overwhelming wall of death. Unwillingly he looked around and saw the corpses of his friends and colleagues scattered about the landing area. The few pilots, who had been in the air and survived, were stumbling about bewildered or cradling loved ones like he was.
It was the Republic outpost on Tantor IV and it had been destroyed by Imperial forces. Everyone was dead. The few that survived had been dragged back to the Imperial ships where a terrible fate awaited them.
Slowly the sights, sounds and smells began to fade into nothingness. Jal was left alone cradling Rhea. Tears began to roll down his muzzle as he squeezed her tightly.
“Wake up” she said stiffly.
Jal stopped crying and stared at her wide eyed. She had never spoken to him in his dreams before.
“Wake up!” she repeated with emphasis.
Suddenly he was awake. The obsidian vacuum still surrounded him and his instrument panel still bathed him weakly in a dull glow. He glanced over the displays and everything seemed normal. Rubbing his eyes he was surprised to find that they were wet. Had he really been crying? He did not have time to think about it though as his X-wing began to shake.
“Stop that R-3” he exclaimed. “I’m not going to pick you up if you break your clamps and drift into space.”
The little astro-droid chirped at him noisily and continued to rock the fighter. It was only as he turned to give it a glare did he notice what it was getting so worked up about.
Two Tie-Defenders had taken up position directly over him, poised to kill. If Jal had not been deprived of sleep, cold and hungry, he would have realised that he did not stand a chance. As it was his survival instinct overrode his logic and he instantly throttled his engines, fortunately to his mechanics’ dedication, roared into life.
Instead of simply blasting off as quickly as possible he used the asteroid as a pivot to spin himself, along the piece of rock, around and away from the Ties. To his dismay another two were waiting from him on the other side. Deciding to take his chances he let go of the asteroid and hurtled off. For a split second the Ties, bemused by what had just happened, hovered in place before chasing after him.
Jal tried as hard as he could to loose them, but they stuck to his tail like glue. However many times he ducked and weaved, they counteracted his every move. He had to hand it to the pilots, they were highly skilled and their craft made even an Interceptor look sluggish. At one point in the chase he managed to through them by making a sudden change of direction, which almost made him black out. His was reprieve was short lived as they were quickly back on his tail.
In his desperation to escape he had not noticed that his adversaries had been herding him towards their mothership. The Super Star Destroyer loomed ahead of him and it was only at the last minute that he realised what had happened. He attempted another sudden turn, to try to get away from it but the Ties were one step ahead of him.
As one they opened fire and a maelstrom of green flashes pummelled Jal’s X-wing. To him it felt like the most violent hailstorm he had ever experienced. His control panel flashed at him madly. At some point R-3 must have been hit as he heard a squeal of distress over his intercom. His rear deflector shield indicator flashed red and he knew any minute now he would be blasted to space dust. Then everything stopped.
Deathly silence suddenly engulfed him, making him wonder if he was dead and now in the afterlife. The whine of the Ties’ engines as they swept past suggested otherwise. His X-wing began to list and roll under its own inertia, putting him into a slow tumble. The control panel stared at him blankly and already the air in his cockpit was beginning to get thick. He knew instantly that they had disabled him with Ion cannons and he franticly tried to reboot his computer, as the monstrous Super Star Destroyer loomed ever closer.
The dark behemoth grew larger and lager in his canopy, until it blocked out the brilliant blue disk of Tal Kur. The Ties had since disappeared from sight and he hoped that they had returned to their hangars and were not behind him, preparing to finish him off. However they were the least of his worries.
With no power or weapons he felt completely defenceless and terrified. The sheer size of the super starship made him panic and he doubled his efforts to revive his own puny vessel. He had heard the tales of what happened to those unfortunate enough to be captured by Imperial forces. Torture, rape, mutilation but the most terrifying thing of all was the Raking, where wiped your mind completely blank to fill it full of what they wanted you to know and see, turning you into a drone for their military forces.
Suddenly his whole ship juddered to a complete stop and he was thrown against his harness. The invisible hand of a tractor beam had him in its grasp and now reeled him unwillingly towards the Imperial ship. Eventhough he knew he would not be able to break out of the powerful tractor beam, he still tried to get the power back on his ship. His efforts were in vain though and before he knew it, he had been manoeuvred towards a rectangle of light.
His crippled starfighter drifted through the invisible barrier that separated the area from the void and was set down on the polished black surface of the hangar floor. On the deck around him mechanics and pilots quickly cleared the area. They were replaced by a squad of menacing looking Stormtroopers, who pointed their blasters threateningly in his direction.
Several Stormtroopers clambered up onto his fighter and gestured to him to open the canopy. He shrugged his shoulders, despite their repeated threats, as without power he could not do anything. After a couple of minutes of this, one of the Stormtroopers realised they were not getting anywhere and called for some mechanics to be sent up.
Two grey clad canids hurriedly joined the Stormtroopers and brought cutting torches to bear on his canopy. In a matter of minutes it had been cut clean off and cast to the hangar floor with a resounding clang. Jal had barely undone the buckle of his harness, when a pair of armoured hands roughly pulled him from his seat. They dragged him off his X-wing and across the floor to the feet of a black clad officer.
“Pick him up” she ordered sharply. The Stormtrooper grabbed the collar of his flight suit and yanked him to his feet.
A stern faced female Dhole, with a scar running from the corner of her mouth to her eye, stared at him furiously from underneath her cap. She drew closer and Jal tried to stand his ground, but he could feel himself begin to tremble. Her lips parted in a slight grin.
“Republic scum” she scoffed, taking another step closer.
He did not know whether it was the menace in her voice, or what he knew they were going to do to him that made him feel so afraid. Whatever it was, he could not stop himself from shrinking away. Thinking of his dead girlfriend did not give him the confidence boost he thought it would.
With a sharp exhale of air, the officer swiftly brought her knee into Jal’s groin making him doubled over. He groaned as he slumped to the floor. The others in the hangar did not react, they did not even laugh, instead they stared coldly at him.
The officer stepped over him and walked towards the entrance of the hangar. As she went she nodded to a pair of black clad soldiers who stepped forward, grabbed Jal under the arms and lifted him up.
The last thing he remembered, beside the pain, was being dragged to the bowels of the ship. Now he lay battered and bruised in a cell that was not big enough to either stand up or lie down fully. He felt as though someone had stuck their fingers in his brain and rummaged through it. Worse still there was no light in the cell and as he came to, Jal wondered whether he had died again.
Clanging footsteps outside told him otherwise and he was suddenly blinded by brilliant white light. He tried to shield his eyes from the light and was vaguely aware of someone standing in the doorway. There was thunderous crackle and a sharp intense pain shot through his chest. He screamed in agony and his whole body twisted awkwardly, as there was not enough room for his limbs to stretch out.
The Captain responsible for the prison cells stood in the door and laughed to himself as he watched the Republic pilot jerk about the tiny cell. They had got all that they wanted to know from him and now he had let the interrogator droid loose on him again. This time it was just for the pleasure of it.
After a few minutes of near continuous electrocution, the Captain called the droid off. They needed some new pilots, so he did not want to over do it and kill him. He lent in to check the pilot and convinced that he was not going to choke on his own tongue, closed the blast door to his cell, dismissed the droid and clanged back to his post.
