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Chapter One: New Journey
Chapter One: New Journey
Post One: A New World
Core World of Alderaan
The 1st Galactic Empire
Date: Days before the Battle of Yavin
The snowcapped Juran Mountains loom across the horizon. Despite the warm temperatures, crisp cool air swoops down from the mountains. Through the mountain pass, an air speeder whipped through the scene. Tree tops bent as the air speeder rocketed passed at tree top levels. The air speeder cleared the trees as slowly descended over a mountain side lake. Ripples on the water followed the air speeders sped its way towards a lone cottage on the other side of the lake.
As the speeder approached the long dock, it started to slow down. The speeder started to spin in the air as a side door slid open. Even before the speeder landed, a figure leaped from the craft and rushed in to the cottage. While his garb was more Alderaanian, the lightsaber on his hip slipping from under his clothing indicated his true identity.
The door swung open as Nontho Truer walked in to the small cottage, a female Twi'lek rose from her chair. “Master Nontho” she said in surprise to his arrival. Like Nontho, she wore a lightsaber on her hip. These two weapons of the Jedi Order were two of the four lightsabes the entire group had.
Nontho Truer was not a true Jedi Master so to speak. However, as the ranking Jedi, the others often referred to him as Master. What made Nontho Truer special was the fact that he was one of very few remaining persons alive who had been trained within the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. At the time of the historical betrayal of the Jedi Order, Nontho Truer was only a Padawan of unremarkable talent but with superb ability to find trouble. Padawan Nontho and a lone astromech droid were ordered to travel to the Mid-Rim to pick up a group of younglings and escort them to Coruscant when Order 66 had been issued.
Spared the horrors of Order 66 because of what had been seen as a punishment Truer was unaware of the trap he was leading his charges in to on their return trip. When Truer’s transport exited hyperspace as it was approaching Coruscant he detected Master Obi-Wan’s warning of the trap waiting them. It was at that moment Truer ordered the transport to conduct radio silence and flee Coruscant. It wasn’t long till Truer discovered the lies of the Empire and the fate of his beloved Order. After wondering the core worlds for days, Truer found safe harbor on Alderaan.
Since that fateful week, Nontho Truer set out, more from guilt than anything else, to ensure that the teachings of the Jedi were not lost. Gone was the screw-up Padawan, and Truer reinvented himself in to a Jedi that the Order could be proud of. Using Holocorms that he was bringing back to the temple, Nontho continued his own training as well as carrying on with the training of the younglings.
Protected by the extreme elites of Alderaan, Nontho and the other children became a closely guarded secret across Alderaan. Often known as the School because of the lack of adults, Nontho and the children existed in shadow of the Empire for years. As the Empire started to clamp down on those who were force sensitive, many powerful families searched for places to hide their children. It was come to pass that Alderaan’s secret School would become save haven for these children as well.
“Nalan,” Nontho said with haste in his voice. “We have to get them ready to leave,” he said to the Twi’lek.
Knight Nalan Passik had a look of shock on her face as she stood there for a moment. Like Nontho, Nalan was only a Padawan who had just started training with her Master when Order 66 was issued. During that fateful day, she and her Master were returning from the Jedi Temple on Lothal. It wasn’t long till Imperial forces were on the pair’s tail. After dodging Clone pursuit for days, the pair were forced to set down on Pantolomin in hopes of repairing their ship. It was on Pantolomin that Clone troopers caught up with the pair. After a heroic battle, Nalan’s Master gave his life so that Nalan could escape Pantolomin.
It was because of a fateful encounter with noble family, Nalan heard about the School on Alderaan. She was expecting to find a well-established Jedi Enclave on Alderaan. Instead, she found Nontho and a rag tag group of children. Nalan saw in the eyes of these children the future of the Jedi Order, and chose to remain and help Nontho with training.
The look of concern crossed Knight Passik’s face, “what is going on?”
“The Empire is coming” Nontho said as he walked over to a cabinet and opened it. “I had a vision while I was in town. I saw a dark cloud slowly engulfing Alderaan,” he explained as he pulled a small case from cabinet and carried over to a table. After he set the case on the table he continued to walk over to a door and opened it. “Padawans” he commanded and motioned them to enter the room, “please join us.” They left their tablets behind as they moved in to the center room.
As the Padawans gathered around the center room, Nontho walked in to the room and picked up a Holocron that was on a table in the room. Nontho continued, “Within that cloud I saw a large dark moon filled with hate and evil. It was coming for Alderaan and if we don’t leave, our fates will end here. We have to leave Alderaan before the Empire arrives.”
Knight Passik nodded, “okay” she said then turned back to their charges. Seen as the only mother many of them had ever known, Passik carried a great deal of respect among the Padawans. “We are going to relocated. I need everyone to get their things packed up” she said. With that, the Padawans moved for their rooms. While they were packing Knight Passik turned back to Nontho, “so um, where are we going to go?”
Nontho opened up the case to reveal five Jedi Holocrons. He placed the sixth Holocron with the others. “I have heard rumors about a place in the Outer Rim. Yavin," he said calmly. "we will find safe haven on Yavin.”
“Yavin? Are you sure,” Knight Passik questioned.
Nontho closed a locked the case, “no, I am not sure. The vision is confusing” he said as he took the case and walked over to her. “I do know that Alderaan is doomed. Those I have spoken with friends back on Coruscant, there are whispers that the Emperor has grown tired of Alderaan.”
She put her hand over her mouth, “you don’t think the Empire will invade Alderaan.”
The look of dread on his face answered her question. He lifted the case and handed it to her, “I need you to protect this case with your life.” He looked in to her eyes with complete trust. “The future of the Jedi Order might be in this very case.”
She knew that he had spent the past decade hunting down these Holocrons and safe guarding them. For Nontho, collecting these Holocrons had become a personal mission to safe the teachings of the Jedi Order. He had used them to help train the younglings as well as to continue their own training. Nontho’s determination to continuing the ideals of the Jedi Order was just another reason why the small group of refugees referred to him as Master. This simple act of handing her the case was more than significant. It spoke volumes to the seriousness that Nontho took the situation.
“I have contacted Nines” Nontho said speaking of the groups droid. Nines or R9-N9 was the Astromech droid originally assigned with Nontho on his fateful mission that would spare him the horrors of Order 66. In all truth, Nines was much like Nontho and Knight Passik, a refugee and survivor of the long lost Jedi Order. “He is getting the ship ready to depart” he said calmly. “You must safe guard the case and the Padawans” he said then reached out and grabbed her arm. “Promise” he urged as he held her arm.
Nervous now, Knight Passik nodded, “yes, I promise Master.”
After hearing her promise, he let go of her arm and gave her a nod. On that note he turned and started to walk for the door. “I will be waiting outside for you guys. Make haste, I don’t know how long we have before the Empire arrives.”
As Nontho walked out of the small cottage he saw a second air speeder on the ground. It must have just landed because the armed group were just making their way towards the cottage. Nontho knew who they were as they walked up. “Bounty Hunters” he said softly as he made sure that his lightsaber remained out of site. They had tried to hide their true objective but Nontho knew one of the men as a well-known and respected bounty hunter. He was Giui Catulos. The man was no fan of the Jedi or the Empire. He worshiped the all mighty credit and that was it. More importantly, Giui was thorough to a fault. This was probably the reason why there wasn’t stroomtroopers storming the cottage. Giui most likely wanted to verify the group was here before calling in the Empire.
Nontho knew all too well that the Empire had placed a bounty on any Jedi who survived. He held his near his lightsaber as he turned to intercept the new group. “Greetings Friends” he yelled towards them as he waved with his other hand. At the moment the five bounty hunters appeared more relaxed and that was where Nontho wanted them. ‘That’s right, be calm, be relaxed’ he thought as he calmly walked out to meet the bounty hunters.
At the same time, he activated his communicator which was hidden just below his collar. Being under the ever present threat of the Empire Nontho had been to become a bit paranoid. “Passik!” he whispered as he slowed his pace towards the bounty hunters. “There is no time. Get everyone out through the back door now,” he commanded. His voice left little room for debate. Being paranoid as he was, he had long built a secret tunnel, called the back door. This tunnel ran three hundred meters to a hidden cave where their second air speeder was hidden.
He continued to whisper “I will buy you guys time to escape. Get to the ship!”
He heard in his ear Knight Passik’s voice filled with fear, “what about you?”
The distance was closing as Nontho walked right towards the bounty hunters. “Don’t wait for me. Get to the ship and head for Yavin. I will meet you guys there.” With that, he flicked off his small communicator.
“So how can I help you guys?” Nontho said trying to remain calm.
The bounty hunters laughed as the group of five formed a half circle. If Nontho had actually been a real Jedi Master, the five bounty hunters wouldn’t have stood a chance. However, seeing how Nontho barely had the training of a Knight, this was more of a fair fight. A fact that Nontho wasn’t happy with. Giui placed his hand on the grip of his blaster but didn’t draw it. “So I hear that there are Jedi hiding out here,” Giui said coldly. A protégé of Cad Bane, Giui knew how to deal with Jedi.
“Jedi?” Nontho said trying to play it off and failing at it. “No….no Jedi here”
“His lying!” one of Giui men said. The man looked more like a droid than a man. Under his hat was a highly sophisticated electronic ease dropping gear. “He ordered the others to head out the back door!”
Before Giui or his men could react, Nontho reached out with the force and picked up his own air speeder. With sheer force of will, Nontho hurled the air speeder at the bounty hunters’ speeder. The massive explosion caught even Giui by surprise. The blast knocked all five bounty hunters off their feet. He didn’t expect the young Jedi to act so rashly. “That was foolish” Giui said as he looked behind him to see his air speeder was in flames.
“yeah, I know,” Nontho said as he reached for his lightsaber, “but I was never known for level headed thinking or rational actions.” On that note, Nontho activated his lightsaber and prepared for battle.
The sound of the explosion told Knight Passik that things behind them had turned serious. With the group of padawan’s ahead of her, she rushed the group down the tunnel. Her eyes filled with tears as she so badly wanted to turn around and run to Nontho’s side. As she ran down the tunnel she held the case tightly to her chest. Her lightsaber illuminated the path before them as they ran down the dark, wet tunnel. Before long the sounds of combat were nothing more than a distorted echo behind them. For a moment, Knight Passik thought that the battle was over. However, when she reached the exit of the tunnel, she could hear the sounds of combat in the distance.
Before she allowed the padawan’s to move forward, Knight Passik searched the surrounding area. Master Nontho had made sure that they practiced such evacuations monthly. Master Nontho had never hid his fear of the Empire coming to Alderaan for them. He had always made sure that they were ready for this very day. That practice was now paying off. Knight Passik searched the area before motioning for the padawans to follow her to the air speeder that was hidden under camouflage. Even though battle was several kilometers away, Knight Passik still used all the skill she could to keep the padawan’s quiet as they readied the speeder for takeoff.
Once the air speeder was ready, Knight Passik took the controls and brought the machine to life. Within seconds Knight Passik pushed the controls and air speeder rose in to the air. As they cleared the tree tops Knight Passik could see the wreckage of the two air speeders by the cottage that had been their home for nearly two decades. She could also see the combat between Nontho and the bounty hunters. It was clear that Nontho wasn’t holding his own against the bounty hunters. A tear slowly dripped down from her eye as Knight Passik turned the speeder away from the desperate struggle and pressed the throttle.
With the bounty hunters behind them, Knight Passik pressed the air speeder for a nearby cavern system. As the air speeder rocketed through the mountain passes, Passik kept the speeder low to avoid further detection. She turned the speeder hard in to the mouth of the large cave. As she turned on the lights of the speeder the form of a large old Consular-class space cruiser took shape.
Knight Passik didn’t even wait to power down the speeder, “Everyone OUT!” she commanded to the children and teenagers under her care. “Get to the ship!” she added. While they had drilled this before, never once had the situation or urgency been so clear in her voice. Knight Passik rushed behind them ensuring that no one was left behind.
Halfway to the ship, Knight Passik grabbed her stomach as if something hammered her with enough force to cause Knight Passik to fall to her knees. She couldn’t put her finger on the source of the pain she now felt. Her eyes watered as she felt loss like never before. She fought for breath trying to cope with the feelings that surged through her. She fought to get back to her feet as her eyes watered. She leaned forward desperately trying to get up, only to land back on her hands. The waves of sadness and loss were unbearable for her to cope with. It was in that moment Knight Passik realized the source of the pain. Master Nontho had been slain!
With time running out, Knight Passik forced herself back to her feet. She ran for the ramp that led in to the ship. “Nines, get us off the ground!” Within moments, the mighty engines of the Consular roared to life. Knight Passik rushed through the ship. She passed her charges along the way to the bridge. “Wait here in the crew lounge and buckle down. This could get rough” she ordered.
It was Mykala who asked, “Wha....what about Master Nontho?” Mykala was a Force Sensitive young noble in hiding with the group of refugees.
Knight Passik paused long enough to look each of them in the eyes. “Master Nontho has been cut down by agents of the Empire” she explained with sadness in her heart. She reached forward and handed the case, the single most valuable thing the group owns, to Elden.
Elden was the oldest of the Padawans and one of the original younglings brought to Alderaan by Master Nontho. Mykala on the other had was brought to Alderaan by friends of her family at a young age. Their hope was to protect Mykala from the Empire. Both Mykala and Elden had surprised expectations during their training. In keeping with tradition, Master Nontho made the pair their own lightsaber from shards of his own force crystal. The pair wore their lightsabers with pride and used them to help train the others. The two became the mentors and tutors for the rest of the Padawans and other children safe guarded with enclave.
“Elden, safe guard our legacy” she said with trusting words. She then turned to the rest of the group. “We don’t have much time to flee if we wish to avoid the same fate” Knight Passik explained. It was always a fear that the Empire would find them, and now that fear has been realized. “Now go to the crew lounge and get strapped in” ordered once more as she turned for the bridge of the ship.
As Knight Passik reached the bridge, their astromech droid, Nines, already had the ship climbing for space. It was in that moment that Knight Passik froze in fear as she looked out the main window.
“What the hell is that?” she said in terror. As her searched over the large object, her mind attempted to rationalize what she was seeing. If it was a moon, then why was it so close to Alderaan? If it was manmade, who would make such a large thing?
As the droid spoke in its beeps and whistles, a large sphere engulfed the main windows of the ship. It quickly became clear that this was no moon, it was a space station! The sphere was larger than anything they had ever seen before. The pair became transfixed on the massive thing as the small cruiser continued to climb higher away from Alderaan. Horror crossed over Knight Passik’s face as she saw a number of energy beams being emitted out from a point on the sphere. “Nines! Get us out of here!”
The old Republic Cruiser turned trying to escape, its engines glowed white hot. A massive energy beam from the sphere reached out for Alderaan causing the inside of the cruise to actually glow in a blinding green/white light. Screams echoed from the halls of the cruise as everyone was caught by surprise. It was as if light, sound and even time itself came to a stop. As everyone seemed frozen in place, the horrors linked to the death of Alderaan flooded their minds, as the screams of millions were heard then suddenly silenced. At the same time the old cruiser slipped in to hyperspace and vanished from Alderaan.
Sometime later, the sounds of birds chirping in the distance filled the wreckage of the old cruiser. As those who survived started to regain consciousness, it was clear that the cruiser had crash landed somewhere. Sunlight pierced the shadows from where the haul had been ripped open like a tin can. Around the crew lounge, located aft of the flight deck, lights flickered. The doors in the rear of the lounge were dented and buckled from the force of impact. The sounds of burning and heat told the survivors that a fire was building somewhere within the walls of the ship.
Thick smoke hung in the air with the smell of both burnt flesh and wiring chocked the survivors. An account of those alive was taken. To the horrors of the survivors, both Elden and Mykala were dead. Their bodies twisted and burned till they were hardly noticeable as being humanoids. Of the survivors, panic stated to set in as the two oldest and most qualified to lead had been killed in the crash. Calls for Knight Passik echoes only to be answered by the crackling of sparks blowing out from a nearby panel.
From a five-meter-long by quarter meter thin rip in the haul, the sight of a dense jungle could be seen. It was clear that the cruiser was resting precariously along a cliff’s edge. The gaping hole that once was the multi-comm room crushed all hopes of reaching the flight deck. Forward sections of the ship appeared to have been ripped from the cruiser. Walking through the destroyed remains of the multi-comm room, the survivors could easily see the terrain around the wreckage of their cruiser.
From the gapping opening that is the multi-comm room, the survivors could see a large winding river valley far below from where the cruiser was resting. For as far as the eyes could see, thick jungle blanketed the landscape. Far below the ship and half submerged in the river, the Salon Pod could be seen. It was clear that the upper forward section of the ship was still attached to the Salon Pod. Sections of the pod that was not submerged were engulfed in flames. Thick black smoke bubbled up around the Pod indicating that the fires consumed the entire section. The forward section of the cruiser had been crushed under the weight of the pod when they both landed in the river below.
Looking back towards the remains of the cruiser, flames from fuel had spread across the skin of the ship, threating to cook those inside alive. Any possible escape by leaping down to the valley below would be suicide. Crossing the surface of the ship was impossible due to the flames and heat. With toxic smoke slowly filling the crew lounge, escape has become a matter of life or death. Through the smoke and flames, a path to escape is spotted.
The starboard docking ring had been ripped open from the crash and was currently shielded from the fire by the port side engine, which had been ripped from its moorings. The path would not be easy, but must be follow if survival is to be assured. The survivors much climb two levels down via the remains of the lift located at the rear of the lounge. Transition through the port side mid-deck corridor to the rear of the cruiser would be hard because of the heat but not impossible. Then cross the ship between the two docking rings and exit the cruiser through the starboard docking ring. It is the only way to escape the ship and survive the crash!
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