Star Wars: Crash on Kessel

Chapter 01: Black Hole

The NZ-283 Starhopper cruised through the light tunnel of hyperspace toward its unknown destination. The small cockpit was currently occupied by three people, leaving only the seat behind the copilot empty.

The pilot went by the name of Rand Marburn, and in the dim light of the cockpit, his eyes glowed slightly and added a crimson tint to the dark blue skin of his face. His blood red flight suit was snug over his well-toned muscles. Even with the ship on course and able to be flown by the automated navigational systems, his attention never diverted from the display console for more than a few moments at a time.

The copilot, Voz Trelkin, was seated on the right side of the cockpit in a dusty gray flight suit with no badges, medals, or ornamentation of any kind, only a few patches over the holes acquired from years of use. The lower part of his face was hidden behind a full, rust colored beard streaked with a few lines of purest white.

The last member of the group, Miyari Dolstin, was the youngest of the three, her straight black hair appearing silver when touched by the overhead lights. While those seated in front of her conversed, she waited motionless; only her dark eyes moved, flicking between them as she listened to every word and heard more than what was said.

"Remind me again why we couldn't get a better ship the last time we were in port," Voz requested while scratching his red beard. "Walthen has been complaining about the engines needing an overhaul."

"Our chief mechanic is always complaining about something," Rand responded, his glowing eyes looking sideways at his copilot for a moment. "I'd hardly recognize him otherwise."

"Although he grumbles, it is never without cause," Miyari added in a voice barely more than a whisper, speaking up for the first time since entering the cockpit.

Rand didn't say anything but nodded in acceptance of Miyari's assessment of their mechanic.

"You see?" insisted Voz. "If our mechanic thinks there's reason to upgrade, why couldn't we get a better ship?"

"Firstly," Rand listed off, "better ships require better parts at more expensive prices. Secondly, they attract unwanted attention by those who wouldn't mind helping themselves to our vessel. And third, Starhoppers have the best sensors available. If we seek to delve into the uncharted regions of space by jumping from star system to star system while making navigational charts for future hyperspace routes, we need to be able to see as far as we can so we don't end up too close to a star or some other hazard."

The conversation ended as the ship was violently shaken, throwing them against the restraints of their seats. The hyperspace tunnel around them vanished as the stars became streaks of light before turning into distant pinpoints. As the ship dropped back into normal space, alarms sounded and nearly every indicator light on the control panel turned red.

"Sensors are picking up a massive gravity signature directly aft," Voz shouted over the alarms screaming for attention. "It looks like a black hole. I don't know why we didn't pick it up on the sensors before now."

"It doesn't matter," Rand dismissed. "Divert all available power to the engines before we get pulled in."

"Already working on it," Voz replied.

As the two men furiously worked the controls, the ship shuddered around them, metal supports groaning with the strain. Two overhead panels shorted out in sprays of white hot sparks.

"Engines are nearing overload," Voz yelled. "If we don't ease back on the power, they're going to explode."

"If we don't break free from the black hole, it won't matter if the engines are intact or not," Rand countered, bypassing the safety override and dumping the power from the weapons into the engines and causing more indicator lights to shift to an ominous red.

The Starhopper suddenly wrenched sideways as the immense gravity pulling on it was overcome for a split second, enough to allow the ship to tear free. Because of the power channeled to the engines, controlling the outbound trajectory was impossible, and the ship tumbled and spun as it hurtled away from the black hole.

"Thrust port then starboard in three second bursts," Rand ordered. "We've got to try and stabilize our flight path."

"I'll try, but some of the controller assembly melted," Voz explained. "Response is sluggish."

"Use the landing thrusters to compensate," Rand instructed.

Voz didn't answer because the moment he added the landing thrusters to his efforts, the ship began to level out.

"We're dangerously close to a large asteroid," Voz warned. "Velocity is too great to change course without tearing us apart."

"It looks like we're going to land," Rand commented.

"Crash would be a more accurate word," Voz responded. "At our current speed, and after putting stress on the landing thrusters to stabilize our flightpath, I'm not sure I have enough left to slow us down."

"Don't try," Rand told him. "Use whatever engine control remains to alter our entry angle. If we can keep from going straight in, we'll have longer to reduce our speed."

"Adjusting course," Voz replied. He grimaced. "It's not going to be enough. We're still coming down too fast."

Through the cockpit window, the crater covered landscape of the dark brown, oblong asteroid grew larger with frightening speed.

"If we can't get the nose up, we won't survive the impact," Voz said with a growing measure of panic in his voice.

"Activating tractor beam on reverse," Rand stated, throwing a control lever forward. The tractor beam pushed against the bare rock and nudged the nose of the spacecraft upward marginally before the vessel impacted hard and skidded over the rough surface, leaving a trail of broken metal and shattered stone in its wake until it finally came to a stop.

"For better or worse, we're here," Voz announced between deep breaths.

"Wherever here is," Rand added, turning his glowing gaze toward his copilot. "Let's hope the damage isn't too severe, or we're never going to leave."