Silence settled over the bridge.
The captain and his adjutant stared out at the empty void where the shuttle had vanished, neither one willing to speak first.
They exchanged a glance, and something like relief passed between them, unspoken.
Rough one.
Glad they got away with it in one piece.
The adjutant finally broke the quiet.
“Their firepower was well beyond standard.
There had to be a Jedi Master aboard that shuttle.”
“Agreed.
A powerful one, at that.”
“Captain, I’d wager there were several.
Three, maybe four.”
The two of them settled into the story together, seamlessly, each adding just enough to inflate the threat and soften the blame for a failed intercept.
Commander, I gave it everything.
The enemy was simply overwhelming.
Just as the tension started to ease, the comm officer’s voice snapped it right back.
“Sir.
Admiral Rampart is calling.”
Inside the tunnel of hyperspace, the Havoc Marauder cruised on steady, undisturbed.
Lance sat back, eyes shut tight.
Don’t let the display back there fool you: pulling that off had cost him nearly everything he had left.
Reading dozens of fighters at once through the Force, precisely enough to land every shot, meant pushing his perception past its limit, and the price for that had come due.
Right now his skull throbbed, a deep weakness crawling through every limb.
The last time he’d felt anything close to this was after Cato Neimoidia.
At least this time it’s just exhaustion.
He rubbed his temple, letting his reserves slowly refill on their own.
After a while the pain started to fade.
“You okay?”
A calm voice, close by.
He opened his eyes to find Omega and the others watching him with obvious concern.
He shook his head slightly.
“I’m fine.
Just tired.”
Relief passed through the group visibly.
Tech, Echo, and R4 went back to their repair work.
Lance glanced over at Omega and Grogu.
“Thanks for keeping an eye on him.
Seems like he’s taken a liking to you.”
Grogu’s ears twitched, small hands still clutched tight around the little ornament.
Apparently that had been all it took to buy his loyalty.
“Patu.”
He waved the trinket a little, clearly showing it off.
“I’m honoured you trust me with him.”
She hesitated.
“Would it be alright if I held him a little longer?”
“Sure.
As long as he’s fine with it.”
Young as he was, Grogu read emotion better than most.
The fact that he hadn’t resisted her at all told Lance everything he needed to know.
Omega’s face lit up.
“I’ll take good care of him.
Promise.”
Lance nodded, letting them settle back into their seats, then let his attention drift across the cockpit.
Tech and the others were elbow deep in repairs, R4 with both arms extended, welding a section of exposed wiring.
“Tech.
How bad is the damage?”
Tech held up a burnt out component he’d just pulled, adjusting his glasses without missing a beat.
“Nothing too serious.”
“Full diagnostic shows several burnt circuits, an overloaded shield generator, and some damage to the radar and navicomputer…”
Lance cut in, surprise creeping into his tone.
“You call that not serious?”
Tech kept working, unbothered.
“The critical systems are intact, so it shouldn’t impact—”
The ship lurched hard.
The blue tunnel snapped into streaks, then scattered into stars.
Red emergency lights flooded the cabin, alarms shrieking.
Flame licked out from the rear of the ship, black smoke trailing as it plunged toward the planet below.
“Whoa!”
R4 nearly toppled, letting out a frantic burst of alarmed beeping.
Everyone else grabbed for whatever they could to stay upright.
Lance pulled Grogu tight against him and yanked the restraint bar down over both of them.
Hunter did the same for Omega, then dropped into the seat behind Tech, grumbling.
“That’s not a small issue.”
Tech’s hands never stopped moving, expression unreadable, running through gauges and trying to restore power.
“Life support’s unaffected.
We’ll be fine.”
Hunter smacked his own forehead.
“Are you serious right now?”
“The capacitor’s blown.
We need to set down immediately.”
Echo’s report tightened everyone’s chest all at once.
A flash of alarm crossed Tech’s face before he steadied himself fast, both hands locking onto the stick, eyes hardening.
The ship dropped into atmosphere fast, storm clouds boiling dark below, lightning cutting the sky in every direction, visibility gone entirely.
Clang.
A sharp collision cut through the alarms, followed by Wrecker’s pained yell.
Omega gripped the restraint bar tight, eyes shut.
The loose power droid tumbled across the floor, sliding straight toward the cockpit along with R4.
Lance caught them both mid slide with the Force before impact.
Grogu clung to his lapel, curled into as small a shape as he could manage.
Chaos, wall to wall.
Then, all at once, the shaking eased.
The Marauder broke through the cloud layer, and visibility snapped back into focus.
Below stretched jagged terrain, deep gullies cut between rising ridges, all of it lit in dim, grey light.
Tech locked onto a wide valley and angled the ship down toward it, retracting the wings at the last moment and hauling back hard on the stick.
Engines groaned in protest as the descent slowed sharply.
Not quite enough.
Bang.
The hull hit ground with a heavy thud and skidded, dust billowing up in a wide cloud around them.
The violent shake and sudden weightlessness left everyone reeling.
A few minutes passed before anyone fully came back to themselves.
“Where…
are we?”
Omega stared out at the grey white haze beyond the canopy, unease colouring her voice.
Tech was already on his feet, datapad in hand, fingers moving fast through the database.
“Ordo Moon.” He pushed his glasses up.
“A rocky moon, out in the Borter Sector.”
He glanced over the environmental readout.
“Thin atmosphere.
We’ll need breathing gear outside.”
Then he paused, something curious flickering behind his lenses.
“Interesting.
There’s a native species here.
Ordo moon dragon, nocturnal, feeds on raw energy.”
Hunter hauled both droids upright without much ceremony.
“Fascinating.
Fix the ship first, worry about local wildlife later.”
Echo checked the console, brow tightening.
“The storm took out the comm array on the way down.”
Tech kept working the datapad, and a full diagnostic populated the screen seconds later.
“Capacitor got damaged in the fight.
Without a replacement, we’re grounded.”
A beat, his tone easing slightly.
“Good news is, we’ve got a spare.”
Lance’s eyes snapped open without warning.
Somewhere out in the Force, something shaped like a large predatory cat was closing in, quiet and deliberate.