Head Through the Door
Corik watched as Jethra hit the open button on the control panel next to the door. It swung open and Jethra walked inside. Corik followed, and he saw that his guess was correct. They were on the catwalks of the hangar that stretched from one end to the other. Corik peered over to see the enormous floor 20 meters below. It was largely empty compared to the few times he had seen it before. Generally it was packed to the bone with merchants and their merchandise, as well as cargo equipment and warehouse goods. However it seemed as if most of it had been taken.
Voices below caught his attention. Two men stood across the hangar, one was shouting commands to the other, though they were not audible. Before Corik could say anything, Jethra was heading over on the catwalks to get a better look. Corik followed in response.
Almost directly above the two, Jethra and Corik looked down at the men. They seemed to be carrying crates over to their ship; perhaps that is where most of the merchandise had gone. The ship had a symbol on it, a yellow half oval in the shape of a ‘C’, which didn’t mean much to Corik being that he had no idea what it stood for. The men themselves wore black and gray robes; one seemed to be much taller and more built than the other, but both seemed fit. One their belts they carried metal rods that looked almost like…
Lightsabers Corik thought, the weapons of Jedi. Some said the mystical weightless beams could cut through anything, except another lightsaber perhaps. Corik wasn’t sure, but he would rather not find out from these men, and he turned around. He wanted to head back and find a ship to get to safety, wherever that may be. Just then he heard something.
A unique sound, something similar to tearing paper followed by a deep wavy humming, hit his ears. He looked back to see the taller of the Jedi standing with his lightsaber on and ready in front of him. Before Corik could react, he threw the beam in the direction of Jethra, and hit him straight in the chest from nearly 60 feet below. The lightsaber returned to his hand like a boomerang flying straight, as Jethra’s corpse fell over the rail and onto the floor below. Corik was breathless.
Maybe he had made too much noise or had come too close, but he didn’t care. Water began to blind his vision as he watched the smaller of the two Jedi jump and fly up to the catwalk next to where Corik stood.
“Lucky for you I’m here to make sure you never have to think about what just happened to your friend or what is happening to your insignificant little planet.”
Before he could get another word in, a shockwave big enough to level a building sent him and Corik grabbing for a rail. Simultaneously a huge fireball formed as the ceiling in front of him blew. Debris crushed the supports of the catwalk he was on and sent him and the Jedi for a ride to the ground below. He saw the Jedi leap to avoid more debris as he and Corik crashed to the ground.
Corik stood and up and without thinking ran towards one of the docked ships. He knew that was just one of many more bombs about to hit the hangar. Climbing the ladder he threw the window of the cockpit open. In three quick successive movements, Corik popped the ignition switch, pulled the lever back, and punched the afterburners, sending him flying out the newly formed hole the bomb had made in the hangar.
He had no chance on this planet. It would be completely overrun by this invasion soon enough. He needed to find somewhere safe. Without hesitation he set course for space, and leaned back, trying not to think about what had just happened.