Fallen Knights

There is no emotions, there is peace

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

Whoever wrote the Jedi code, thought Liam, never had to deal with Venator under attack. Padawan Liam Valar took a hold of a nearby console, as the massive hull of the Venator-Class Star Destroyer shook violently. The alarms were blaring, as the bridge crew tried to keep the situation under control.

Liam, only a 15 year old human, felt himself fear the outcome of this fierce battle. 'Calm yourself,' Liam thought, trying to calm his breathing, and regain his focus. 'I can't let my master down, or the clones.'

Outside the viewing ports of the bridge, Liam could see vulture droids zoom past, and the flashes of turbo laser fire. Then he saw his master, standing by the end of the bridge walkway. Jedi Master Ven Allusis was a tall imposing figure. Broad shouldered, strong looking. He had a hard face, despite the fact he was a kind and gentle man.

He stood unflinching as the battle progressed, and Liam found himself wishing he had his master's calm. In the years Liam had known his master, he was sure he had never seen his master flinch with uncertainty or fear. He was like a mountain in the middle of a roaring ocean.

A clone officer in one of the crew pits looked up at master Allusis. "General, all star fighters are secure. Hangar doors are sealed!"

Allusis calmly turned around as the clone gave the report, and he gave a firm nod in response. "Then the time has come for us to retreat."

"Yes sir!"

The ship shook again, but this time Liam managed to stay on his feet as he made his way towards his master. Today had been the hardest battle Liam had ever been in. Starting with a rescue mission, that ended up with a massive evacuation and battle.

Liam had never felt so drained, and he couldn't rest now. Not until he knew everyone onboard was safe once more. Reaching the side of his master, Liam tried to stand a bit taller, wanting to reflect the calm his master displayed so masterfully.

As the ship's bow started to turn away from the battle, master Allusis glanced down at him. "Padawan," he said in his deep voice. "You're injured. Go to the medical bay."

Liam frowned, looking up at his master as if he had just been told of. "I'm fine, master." Although as he said it, he could feel his side arche from the fall he took during the battle. "The medics should focus on the real wounded."

"Liam," Allusis said, understanding shining through his tone. "There is nothing more you can do here, you should at least rest."

Liam's frown deepened. He wasn't a child that needed a nap, did his master think him incapable of handling the situation? No, that wasn't it, his master didn't treat him like that, never. But it didn't feel right to leave the bridge right now. "With your permission master, I'd like to stay. At least until we're in hyperspace."

The many clones on duty didn't get to walk away and rest because they had a slight injury. So neither would he, not until the danger had passed.

Allusis regarded his young student for a moment, then nodded. "Sometimes I forget how much you have grown. You've become very wise, my young Padawan learner. You can stay."

Liam felt a surge of relief fill him. "Thank you, master."

He looked forward again, watching as the ship turned away from the planet, the lucrehulk in the distance, and the planet behind that. Soon enough, they would be able to jump to hyperspace, and by the will of the Force, retreat safely.

Then suddenly, the swarm of vulture droids started to turn around, and make their way back towards the lucrehulk. Liam had barely noticed it before a clone from one of the crew pits spoke up. "General, the vulture droids are retreating!"

"I see it," Allusis said, crossing his arms over his wide chest. His eyes narrowed, trying to figure out what was going on.

Liam didn't understand it as well. Their ship was damaged, and they were trying to retreat. Had the commander on the droid control ship just decided to let them go? That was certainly unusual for a separatist commander, especially a geonosian commander.

The sensor officer turned in his chair. "General, we are picking up strange energy readings coming from the lucrehulk."

Liam's eyes widened as he saw a dark purple energy beam being charged from the between the hangar wings of the lucrehulk. "There!"

"I can't get a proper reading, General!" The sensor officer reported. "It's some sort of ion blast, but I am seeing flickers of static. It's like the hyperdrive is spinning up."

Before anything else could be said, the massive lucrehulk seemed to flicker in and out, then with a massive explosion of energy, the ship just vanished without a trace. But before anyone had a chance to be shocked by that, the explosion of energy sent a wave of the left over energy build up.

Allusis turned around to face the entire bridge. "Evasive action! Prepare for impact!"

"All hands, prepare for impact. I repeat, all hands, prepare for impact!" One of the officers said into the com system.

The wave hit barely two seconds after the message was repeated throughout the ship. The Venator shook, as if a massive ocean wave had collided with it. All the lights and consoles flickered on and off, some even going black with an electrical crackle.

Then for a moment, everything was silent, and a moment after that, the power came back. Liam was just about to breathe a sigh of relief, when a crew member called once again from one of the bridge pits. "General, we have strange power surges, the hyperdrive is spinning up, we can't stop it!"

For a moment, Liam thought the ship was going to explode, but then he heard the familiar sound of the ship's hyperdrive. He turned to the viewport, and saw how the stars collapsed in on themselves, as the ship jumped into hyperspace.