Post by claudis on Aug 25, 2014 16:56:05 GMT -8
Author's note: Due to the sheer size of what was supposed to be a short story turning into something far greater than expected I have opted to place this story outside of Cantina Tales with Inig's permission. Hope you all enjoy the ride, I apologize in advance if this work of fan fiction does not reek of awesome. It's been a long while since I've written anything of this length. Anyway, enjoy.
Chapter 1:
To most the planet would have been a waste of time. Scans would ultimately reveal no life signs or indications of civilization or advanced technology. A preliminary scouting report submitted by an imperial archeology team outline that the planet had once sustained life and was at a one point habitable, placing its peak of civilization sometime after the Infinite Empire of the Rakata but prior to the second great schism of the Jedi Order. As part of that imperial report, it was concluded that the devastation of the planet was not due to some natural cataclysm but instead it was the direct result of a massive weapon they believed was manufactured by the native species of the planet. To that end, the Imperial Reclamation Service had invested a substantial amount of time and resources into discovering this supposed super weapon. But after five years without producing anything valuable or viable, the project was shut down.
The planet, now classified as IP-2481, was determined to have no military or commercial value and was designated a dead planet.
Despite its classification, the rumors of some hidden wealth of treasure or alien weaponry of advanced technology continued to persist. Though Imperial regulations demanded the detainment of any non-imperial vessel within orbit of IP-2481, the truth was that no one really paid much attention to the occasional scavenger or treasure hunting ships that attempted to find what the Empire could not. But as the population of failed expeditions mounted, so too did the myths and legends of what truly lay upon the planet’s surface.
Nomi’jin Soze had spent the better part of an Imperial calendar year hopping between hyperlanes and backwater smuggler routes, crisscrossing the galaxy on a rabid hunt to find the woman who had altered her fate. Nomi’jin owed the space pirate, Zealyt Liedje, her life after the pirate had done the unthinkable. The pirate princess had willingly held the line on her own against an impeding force of Republic troops against a small contingent of Imperials on the war torn world of Balmorra. Zealyt’s stand bought Nomi’jin and the Imperial troops enough time to escape. Nomi had return to the war torn planet, to the sight of the battle and could only find the discarded twin swords that were so closely associated with the space pirate. Yet Zealyt Liedje’s body was not counted among those recovered from the dead, nor was her name present on any list regarding prisoner exchanges or prisoners or war. Thus began what some would call “the mad quest”, Nomi’s search for the space pirate who saved her life.
Nomi’s contact on Coruscant, a stout fellow by the name of Krupo Knax, had mentioned in a previous dossier about the rumors of a prison planet used by the Republic within Imperial space. An outright laughable notion, but since the prison planet Belsavis had been compromised it was a notion not completely without merit. Where better to hide than in the lair of the beast itself? According to the dossier, to avoid detection from the Empire no direct route was ever taken and the planet was never expressly identified. All supplies and personnel were delivered via intermediaries, assuring that there was no visible Republic presence. Nomi had originally scoffed at the absurdity of the idea, believing it nothing more than a conjured fable. But when her droid’s research uncovered the existence of IP-2481 as well as the documented traffic logs of unaffiliated ships whose course directed them to IP-2481, even Nomi’s curiosity was piqued.
She skimmed over the initial planetary reports on her datapad as she reclined in her chair. As always the reports made by the Empire were concise and thorough, yet Nomi’jin could not shake the feeling that the field reports regarding IP-2481 were incomplete. Or more to the point, the reports were too generic in their assessment of the planet. It was as if someone had gone to great lengths to ensure that IP-2481 remained buried in a catalog of useless planets and that there would never be any reason to ever revisit the need to re-categorize its classification. The documented ships logs of commercial vessels to the planet dated back to shortly after the planet was deemed a waste by Imperial command and the Dark Council. Paranoia could lead one to believe that the Republic had swept in like a thief in the night after the Empire had departed. The adamant belief that the planet was worthless also contributed to the fact that the Imperial Commander in charge of the small fleet patrolling this sector of space did nothing to detain vessels en-route to IP-2481. The commander merely documented the classifications and call signs of the ships heading to IP-2481, allowing them further unhindered passage.
Nomi’s ship, Ulic’s Redemption, sat in stationary orbit above the planet. For the past few hours she had been conducting sensor scans of the planet’s surface, searching for any clues as to what may exist but her readings proved fruitless. No life signs or indications of technology registered with her instrumentation. The readings made no sense, especially if a prison facility or otherwise existed planet side. An energy source of some kind should have registered. Her frustration was further compounded by the fact that the planet’s surface wasn’t visible. A swirling black could of miasma engulfed the planet in its entirety. Nowhere in any of the official documented transcripts submitted to the Imperial Archives had any mention of this phenomenon been noted. Though she was no scientist, she believed the planet spanning miasma could somehow be masking the readings of her scans thereby negatively impacting the results. The only thing she was certain of, was that the planet itself was a focal point for the Darkside of the Force. But unlike Korriban or Dromund Kaas which had been tamed by the Sith, IP-2481 seemed to seethe with a raw, primordial, essence of the Darkside that may very well even bring the Emperor to cower for but the briefest of moments. For such a place to exist, one where even the might of the Emperor might falter, what chance would she have?
She forced the question, the doubt, from her mind. She was, after all, the last of the Knights of Ziost. If the sensors aboard her ship could not penetrate the miasma than she would have to venture down to the planet’s surface herself to find what she was looking for.
Breaking the planet’s atmosphere proved to be more difficult than anticipated. The heavy miasma provided nothing but frustration as Nomi’s ship forced its way to the surface. All instrumentation failed and it was only through her mastery of the force that she was able to land her ship at all. Even with the force guiding her, the feat proved arduous. As if the very nature of the planet itself meant to reject her.
She could feel the instability of the surface as her ship’s landing gear struggled to find level and secure footing. She had made it planet side and now that she was there a more tense and potent dread began to assault her senses. If breaking past the miasma that covered the surface was that difficult than it would be nearly impossible for anyone to land. Only those attuned and trained in the force would have any real hope of doing so. There was simply no way a normal individual could pilot safely down to the surface. If such was the case than the possibility of there being a Republic facility, prison or otherwise, upon the planet was highly improbable. Furthermore, though far surpassing the skills of Republic pilots, Imperial pilots would also be unable to make a landing. Meaning the documented reports from the archives were nothing but false accounts of events that did not happen. Zealyt Liedje was not on this planet. Yet the Empire had gone to enough trouble to try to bury its existence. Something was on this planet the Empire sought to contain or ignore. Despite her better judgment, Nomi’jin opted to try to find out what.
Though all sensors remained ignorant to the majority of the planet, it seemed that beneath the miasma there was a sustained breathable atmosphere. Further examination and tests done outside her ship were conducted by here assassination droid which confirmed the existence of a very thin yet breathable atmosphere. She instructed her astromech droid to keep the ship powered up and ready to depart at a moment’s notice before beginning her preparations to explore the immediate area outside the ship.
The hatch to her vessel hissed as the seal on the airlock broke, allowing the recycled air of her ship to meet the atmosphere of the planet. Though her assassin droid’s reports on the sustainability of the planet’s air were confirmed, Nomi wore an oxygen mask all the same. The Empire had sought to hide something here. Better that she err on the side of caution. Exiting the ship with her was, as always, her HK series assassination droid and a volatile little ball of fur from a forest moon called Endor. The little furball had attached itself to Nomi’jin after a skirmish on Corellia, to which the ewok professed a life debt owed to Nomi. In their subsequent travels the ewok had proven very useful despite the fact its grooming habits drove Nomi’s protocol droid into fits.
Strangely the planet’s surface was not engulfed in darkness. The miasma which comprised the upper atmosphere denied any light from the stars, yet an ambient blue glow seemed to emanate from all around. It was just enough light to give one hope and yet not enough to sustain the feeling for too long. While the soft blue glow helped to alleviate the darkness, it also revealed the presence of a thick fog. Again, no mention of this planet side phenomenon was documented in any of the Imperial reports. This continually led Nomi’jin to the conclusion that the reports had been falsified to hide some greater truth about the planet. She motioned with a gauntlet clad hand to her companions and the trio pressed on.
Their excursion was slow and trying. Footholds proved to be scarce as the ground beneath them was alarmingly uneven and bumpy. Their forward progress remained hindered for a time and any chance of a discovery of some importance continued to slip away as the prevalent nothing that surrounded them continued to hide the planet in the embrace of the planet’s fog. More confounding to Nomi, was the multitude of whispers she had started to her shortly after leaving the immediate area of her ship. They were mostly unintelligible or in an alien tongue. But it seemed with each step she took, the whispers gained in number and intensity.
The three continued their trek for a short while before Nomi halted them to consider her options. The whispers, which she believed were through the force, were becoming unrelenting and a feeling of paranoia was creeping steadily into her mind. Yet before she could give the order to return to the ship the fog before them lifted, as if the planet conceded to her frustration. One might consider themselves lucky with such a thing. Nomi’jin at that moment considered herself to be prey.
Indeed the fog lifted, revealing the remains of a crashed starship. From the decay of the wreckage the ship had clearly been on the planet for a great long while. Preliminary inspection of the outer hull, cross referenced with known ship classifications in her HK’s data files, indicated the ship to be an early model of a Corellian Corvette. The presence of the ship confirmed a possible Republic interest in the planet. However, due to the approximate age of the remains of the crashed vessel and its rate of decomposition, it was clearly evident that this corvette pre-dated the Imperial classification of the planet and more importantly it pre-dated the return of the Sith Empire ten years ago. Nomi’s instincts told her to run, to return to her ship and leave this desolate world behind. But she had fled once before and it had cost a woman dearly. The last Knight of Ziost would not waiver in the face of adversity again.
The trio found a breach in the hull that led to a mostly intact interior section of the ship. Upon entering the vessel the soft blue glow left them completely and the interior of the ship greeted them with darkness. Nomi drew her lightsaber and ignited it, illuminating their immediate area by the pure white light of her blade. For a fleeting moment Nomi thought she saw movement fleeing from the light of her blade and the whispers in her head mutter in even more hushed tones: “Je’daii”.
The vast interior of the ship seemed mostly intact. The pilot must have been exceptionally force sensitive to land while keeping the damage to a minimum. Nomi’jin decided to forgo the investigation of the crew quarters, opting to head to the bridge instead. It wasn’t until her ewok companion mentioned it that Nomi also took stock of the oddity. Even if the crew had not perished in the crash landing there were no bodies aboard the ship and there were no noticeable grave markers outside the ship. It was possible the crew had managed to get to escape pods, but only accessing the ship’s datacore would provide any reliable information. They continued through the corridors, their path illuminated by Nomi’s lightsaber till they came to their destination.
The doorway leading into the bridge had been sealed behind blast doors. Curiouser still, was what looked to be like faded scorch marks from blaster fire on the surrounding walls and possible scratch marks on the floor. Both of her companions shared suspicion that a fight of some kind had erupted, though the details of just what happened were clearly beyond them. Having long since lost all power, opening the blast doors seemed out of the question. But lightsabers sometimes can prove to be a skeleton key, so having her two companions stand watch, Nomi drove the blade of her saber into the reinforced durasteel blast doors. Sparks flew and a dim orange light began to flare as the smell of molten metal began to fill the air. With a methodical, workman like, approach Nomi rotated the hilt of her weapon as it superheated the metal of the door and cut its way through, until finally after what seemed to be an indiscernible amount of time the blast door yielded in defeat.
She had created a small doorway and the bridge welcomed them with silence and the aroma of a musty old tomb. Nomi’s lightsaber once more served as their only source of light as they entered the bridge. It would seem even the bridge would not supply any answers. Emergency power was certainly depleted by now and the datapads that appeared to be intact would no doubt be suffering from sort of system failure due to prolonged power deficiency. Even this ship would provide no answers to the questions surrounding this planet. Frustration gripped Nomi’s thoughts. She had chased down yet another false lead in her search to find Zealyt Liedje. Nomi raised her saber high over her head to further illuminate the bridge only to find herself stumbling backward.
There, sitting in the captain’s chair facing the once sealed blast doors with an archaic looking blaster pistol in each hand, sat the lifeless decayed body of what Nomi’jin could only assume to be the once and former captain of the crashed vessel. Amazingly, despite the age of the ship combined with its estimated time of residency upon the planet coupled by the ship’s rate of decay, the cadaver of the captain appeared to be remarkably preserved. The remains of the skin was dull and gray, stretched taught over the joints and angles of the bones that now threatened to puncture through the veil that covered them. Muscle and tissue had long since deteriorated and the eyes of the very humanoid-esque corpse had long since rotted away. Still one could not shake the feeling that the captain, even in death, sat in watch of the blast doors. Eternally waiting. A quick inspection of the bridge revealed the captain to be the only body accounted for. Had the crew made it to the escape pods and jettisoned to safety? Without power to the datacore Nomi would never know, though considering how long the ship’s datacore had been without power the information contained within was no doubt corrupted beyond repair.
Was this wreckage the thing the Empire sought to hide? But why? A worthless Corellian Corvette whose model and classification predated the return of the Empire made hiding the ship and an entire planet seem trivial. She motioned for her companions to begin preparations to depart, her mind sifting through the multitude of questions and theories that she completely missed the slow clenching grip the corpse now held its blaster pistols with. It was only through her training in the force that she sensed the incoming blaster fire and instinctively altered the angle of her lightsaber to deflect the blaster bolt into the side wall next to her.
Her initial surprise was quickly replaced with shock and horror as the visage of the captain’s corpse now standing with blasters raised greeted her. It wasn’t possible. The captain was dead. The power cells in those blasters were dead. The whole planet was dead. It was no hallucination, her companions were seeing the same thing. The laser sights from her HK’s rifle dotted the corpse’s head and she could hear the ewok’s bowcaster hum with a surge of power as the little mercenary clicked off the safety. Nomi held her lightsaber before her, at the ready, her eyes never leaving the seemingly re-animated corpse.
Chapter 1:
To most the planet would have been a waste of time. Scans would ultimately reveal no life signs or indications of civilization or advanced technology. A preliminary scouting report submitted by an imperial archeology team outline that the planet had once sustained life and was at a one point habitable, placing its peak of civilization sometime after the Infinite Empire of the Rakata but prior to the second great schism of the Jedi Order. As part of that imperial report, it was concluded that the devastation of the planet was not due to some natural cataclysm but instead it was the direct result of a massive weapon they believed was manufactured by the native species of the planet. To that end, the Imperial Reclamation Service had invested a substantial amount of time and resources into discovering this supposed super weapon. But after five years without producing anything valuable or viable, the project was shut down.
The planet, now classified as IP-2481, was determined to have no military or commercial value and was designated a dead planet.
Despite its classification, the rumors of some hidden wealth of treasure or alien weaponry of advanced technology continued to persist. Though Imperial regulations demanded the detainment of any non-imperial vessel within orbit of IP-2481, the truth was that no one really paid much attention to the occasional scavenger or treasure hunting ships that attempted to find what the Empire could not. But as the population of failed expeditions mounted, so too did the myths and legends of what truly lay upon the planet’s surface.
Nomi’jin Soze had spent the better part of an Imperial calendar year hopping between hyperlanes and backwater smuggler routes, crisscrossing the galaxy on a rabid hunt to find the woman who had altered her fate. Nomi’jin owed the space pirate, Zealyt Liedje, her life after the pirate had done the unthinkable. The pirate princess had willingly held the line on her own against an impeding force of Republic troops against a small contingent of Imperials on the war torn world of Balmorra. Zealyt’s stand bought Nomi’jin and the Imperial troops enough time to escape. Nomi had return to the war torn planet, to the sight of the battle and could only find the discarded twin swords that were so closely associated with the space pirate. Yet Zealyt Liedje’s body was not counted among those recovered from the dead, nor was her name present on any list regarding prisoner exchanges or prisoners or war. Thus began what some would call “the mad quest”, Nomi’s search for the space pirate who saved her life.
Nomi’s contact on Coruscant, a stout fellow by the name of Krupo Knax, had mentioned in a previous dossier about the rumors of a prison planet used by the Republic within Imperial space. An outright laughable notion, but since the prison planet Belsavis had been compromised it was a notion not completely without merit. Where better to hide than in the lair of the beast itself? According to the dossier, to avoid detection from the Empire no direct route was ever taken and the planet was never expressly identified. All supplies and personnel were delivered via intermediaries, assuring that there was no visible Republic presence. Nomi had originally scoffed at the absurdity of the idea, believing it nothing more than a conjured fable. But when her droid’s research uncovered the existence of IP-2481 as well as the documented traffic logs of unaffiliated ships whose course directed them to IP-2481, even Nomi’s curiosity was piqued.
She skimmed over the initial planetary reports on her datapad as she reclined in her chair. As always the reports made by the Empire were concise and thorough, yet Nomi’jin could not shake the feeling that the field reports regarding IP-2481 were incomplete. Or more to the point, the reports were too generic in their assessment of the planet. It was as if someone had gone to great lengths to ensure that IP-2481 remained buried in a catalog of useless planets and that there would never be any reason to ever revisit the need to re-categorize its classification. The documented ships logs of commercial vessels to the planet dated back to shortly after the planet was deemed a waste by Imperial command and the Dark Council. Paranoia could lead one to believe that the Republic had swept in like a thief in the night after the Empire had departed. The adamant belief that the planet was worthless also contributed to the fact that the Imperial Commander in charge of the small fleet patrolling this sector of space did nothing to detain vessels en-route to IP-2481. The commander merely documented the classifications and call signs of the ships heading to IP-2481, allowing them further unhindered passage.
Nomi’s ship, Ulic’s Redemption, sat in stationary orbit above the planet. For the past few hours she had been conducting sensor scans of the planet’s surface, searching for any clues as to what may exist but her readings proved fruitless. No life signs or indications of technology registered with her instrumentation. The readings made no sense, especially if a prison facility or otherwise existed planet side. An energy source of some kind should have registered. Her frustration was further compounded by the fact that the planet’s surface wasn’t visible. A swirling black could of miasma engulfed the planet in its entirety. Nowhere in any of the official documented transcripts submitted to the Imperial Archives had any mention of this phenomenon been noted. Though she was no scientist, she believed the planet spanning miasma could somehow be masking the readings of her scans thereby negatively impacting the results. The only thing she was certain of, was that the planet itself was a focal point for the Darkside of the Force. But unlike Korriban or Dromund Kaas which had been tamed by the Sith, IP-2481 seemed to seethe with a raw, primordial, essence of the Darkside that may very well even bring the Emperor to cower for but the briefest of moments. For such a place to exist, one where even the might of the Emperor might falter, what chance would she have?
She forced the question, the doubt, from her mind. She was, after all, the last of the Knights of Ziost. If the sensors aboard her ship could not penetrate the miasma than she would have to venture down to the planet’s surface herself to find what she was looking for.
Breaking the planet’s atmosphere proved to be more difficult than anticipated. The heavy miasma provided nothing but frustration as Nomi’s ship forced its way to the surface. All instrumentation failed and it was only through her mastery of the force that she was able to land her ship at all. Even with the force guiding her, the feat proved arduous. As if the very nature of the planet itself meant to reject her.
She could feel the instability of the surface as her ship’s landing gear struggled to find level and secure footing. She had made it planet side and now that she was there a more tense and potent dread began to assault her senses. If breaking past the miasma that covered the surface was that difficult than it would be nearly impossible for anyone to land. Only those attuned and trained in the force would have any real hope of doing so. There was simply no way a normal individual could pilot safely down to the surface. If such was the case than the possibility of there being a Republic facility, prison or otherwise, upon the planet was highly improbable. Furthermore, though far surpassing the skills of Republic pilots, Imperial pilots would also be unable to make a landing. Meaning the documented reports from the archives were nothing but false accounts of events that did not happen. Zealyt Liedje was not on this planet. Yet the Empire had gone to enough trouble to try to bury its existence. Something was on this planet the Empire sought to contain or ignore. Despite her better judgment, Nomi’jin opted to try to find out what.
Though all sensors remained ignorant to the majority of the planet, it seemed that beneath the miasma there was a sustained breathable atmosphere. Further examination and tests done outside her ship were conducted by here assassination droid which confirmed the existence of a very thin yet breathable atmosphere. She instructed her astromech droid to keep the ship powered up and ready to depart at a moment’s notice before beginning her preparations to explore the immediate area outside the ship.
The hatch to her vessel hissed as the seal on the airlock broke, allowing the recycled air of her ship to meet the atmosphere of the planet. Though her assassin droid’s reports on the sustainability of the planet’s air were confirmed, Nomi wore an oxygen mask all the same. The Empire had sought to hide something here. Better that she err on the side of caution. Exiting the ship with her was, as always, her HK series assassination droid and a volatile little ball of fur from a forest moon called Endor. The little furball had attached itself to Nomi’jin after a skirmish on Corellia, to which the ewok professed a life debt owed to Nomi. In their subsequent travels the ewok had proven very useful despite the fact its grooming habits drove Nomi’s protocol droid into fits.
Strangely the planet’s surface was not engulfed in darkness. The miasma which comprised the upper atmosphere denied any light from the stars, yet an ambient blue glow seemed to emanate from all around. It was just enough light to give one hope and yet not enough to sustain the feeling for too long. While the soft blue glow helped to alleviate the darkness, it also revealed the presence of a thick fog. Again, no mention of this planet side phenomenon was documented in any of the Imperial reports. This continually led Nomi’jin to the conclusion that the reports had been falsified to hide some greater truth about the planet. She motioned with a gauntlet clad hand to her companions and the trio pressed on.
Their excursion was slow and trying. Footholds proved to be scarce as the ground beneath them was alarmingly uneven and bumpy. Their forward progress remained hindered for a time and any chance of a discovery of some importance continued to slip away as the prevalent nothing that surrounded them continued to hide the planet in the embrace of the planet’s fog. More confounding to Nomi, was the multitude of whispers she had started to her shortly after leaving the immediate area of her ship. They were mostly unintelligible or in an alien tongue. But it seemed with each step she took, the whispers gained in number and intensity.
The three continued their trek for a short while before Nomi halted them to consider her options. The whispers, which she believed were through the force, were becoming unrelenting and a feeling of paranoia was creeping steadily into her mind. Yet before she could give the order to return to the ship the fog before them lifted, as if the planet conceded to her frustration. One might consider themselves lucky with such a thing. Nomi’jin at that moment considered herself to be prey.
Indeed the fog lifted, revealing the remains of a crashed starship. From the decay of the wreckage the ship had clearly been on the planet for a great long while. Preliminary inspection of the outer hull, cross referenced with known ship classifications in her HK’s data files, indicated the ship to be an early model of a Corellian Corvette. The presence of the ship confirmed a possible Republic interest in the planet. However, due to the approximate age of the remains of the crashed vessel and its rate of decomposition, it was clearly evident that this corvette pre-dated the Imperial classification of the planet and more importantly it pre-dated the return of the Sith Empire ten years ago. Nomi’s instincts told her to run, to return to her ship and leave this desolate world behind. But she had fled once before and it had cost a woman dearly. The last Knight of Ziost would not waiver in the face of adversity again.
The trio found a breach in the hull that led to a mostly intact interior section of the ship. Upon entering the vessel the soft blue glow left them completely and the interior of the ship greeted them with darkness. Nomi drew her lightsaber and ignited it, illuminating their immediate area by the pure white light of her blade. For a fleeting moment Nomi thought she saw movement fleeing from the light of her blade and the whispers in her head mutter in even more hushed tones: “Je’daii”.
The vast interior of the ship seemed mostly intact. The pilot must have been exceptionally force sensitive to land while keeping the damage to a minimum. Nomi’jin decided to forgo the investigation of the crew quarters, opting to head to the bridge instead. It wasn’t until her ewok companion mentioned it that Nomi also took stock of the oddity. Even if the crew had not perished in the crash landing there were no bodies aboard the ship and there were no noticeable grave markers outside the ship. It was possible the crew had managed to get to escape pods, but only accessing the ship’s datacore would provide any reliable information. They continued through the corridors, their path illuminated by Nomi’s lightsaber till they came to their destination.
The doorway leading into the bridge had been sealed behind blast doors. Curiouser still, was what looked to be like faded scorch marks from blaster fire on the surrounding walls and possible scratch marks on the floor. Both of her companions shared suspicion that a fight of some kind had erupted, though the details of just what happened were clearly beyond them. Having long since lost all power, opening the blast doors seemed out of the question. But lightsabers sometimes can prove to be a skeleton key, so having her two companions stand watch, Nomi drove the blade of her saber into the reinforced durasteel blast doors. Sparks flew and a dim orange light began to flare as the smell of molten metal began to fill the air. With a methodical, workman like, approach Nomi rotated the hilt of her weapon as it superheated the metal of the door and cut its way through, until finally after what seemed to be an indiscernible amount of time the blast door yielded in defeat.
She had created a small doorway and the bridge welcomed them with silence and the aroma of a musty old tomb. Nomi’s lightsaber once more served as their only source of light as they entered the bridge. It would seem even the bridge would not supply any answers. Emergency power was certainly depleted by now and the datapads that appeared to be intact would no doubt be suffering from sort of system failure due to prolonged power deficiency. Even this ship would provide no answers to the questions surrounding this planet. Frustration gripped Nomi’s thoughts. She had chased down yet another false lead in her search to find Zealyt Liedje. Nomi raised her saber high over her head to further illuminate the bridge only to find herself stumbling backward.
There, sitting in the captain’s chair facing the once sealed blast doors with an archaic looking blaster pistol in each hand, sat the lifeless decayed body of what Nomi’jin could only assume to be the once and former captain of the crashed vessel. Amazingly, despite the age of the ship combined with its estimated time of residency upon the planet coupled by the ship’s rate of decay, the cadaver of the captain appeared to be remarkably preserved. The remains of the skin was dull and gray, stretched taught over the joints and angles of the bones that now threatened to puncture through the veil that covered them. Muscle and tissue had long since deteriorated and the eyes of the very humanoid-esque corpse had long since rotted away. Still one could not shake the feeling that the captain, even in death, sat in watch of the blast doors. Eternally waiting. A quick inspection of the bridge revealed the captain to be the only body accounted for. Had the crew made it to the escape pods and jettisoned to safety? Without power to the datacore Nomi would never know, though considering how long the ship’s datacore had been without power the information contained within was no doubt corrupted beyond repair.
Was this wreckage the thing the Empire sought to hide? But why? A worthless Corellian Corvette whose model and classification predated the return of the Empire made hiding the ship and an entire planet seem trivial. She motioned for her companions to begin preparations to depart, her mind sifting through the multitude of questions and theories that she completely missed the slow clenching grip the corpse now held its blaster pistols with. It was only through her training in the force that she sensed the incoming blaster fire and instinctively altered the angle of her lightsaber to deflect the blaster bolt into the side wall next to her.
Her initial surprise was quickly replaced with shock and horror as the visage of the captain’s corpse now standing with blasters raised greeted her. It wasn’t possible. The captain was dead. The power cells in those blasters were dead. The whole planet was dead. It was no hallucination, her companions were seeing the same thing. The laser sights from her HK’s rifle dotted the corpse’s head and she could hear the ewok’s bowcaster hum with a surge of power as the little mercenary clicked off the safety. Nomi held her lightsaber before her, at the ready, her eyes never leaving the seemingly re-animated corpse.