Star Wars fic- Pioneer

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you like my story.

Star Wars story: Pioneer

Starlight gleamed brightly off the majestic craft as it swept silently through the vacuum of space. The ship, Pioneer, was the result of an experiment conducted by some of the finest scientific minds in existence. It promised new horizons for the Republic. Virtually instantaneous travel to any point in existence. The exploration of previously unreachable star systems. The possibilities were staggering.

Several kilometres away, the Republic observation ship Oracle monitored the Pioneer with powerful scanning equipment. On the bridge was a gathering of scientists, dignitaries and Jedi. The atmosphere was charged with anticipation as they watched the other ship on a view-screen.

“How exactly does this device work, doctor?” asked the Supreme Chancellor.

The scientist in charge of the project was a twi’lek named Oss Raska. He gestured excitedly with both his hands and head tentacles as he spoke.

“The Pioneer uses a prototype drive. It focuses a narrow graviton beam using a retaining magnetic field. It folds space so that the starting point and the destination point temporarily co-exist in the same space and time. Once the destination is reached, space returns to normal.”

The Chancellor nodded. He turned to look at Master Yoda. The green-skinned Jedi watched the proceedings silently, a troubled expression on his face.

“What troubles you Master Yoda?”

“Not right, something here feels” he replied.

Dr. Raska laughed slightly. “With all due respect Master Jedi, there is no cause for concern. All of the simulations we ran worked out perfectly. The ship’s systems are fully functional. Nothing can go wrong.”

Before Yoda could reply, the image on-screen changed to show the bridge of the Pioneer. The bridge crew worked diligently at their consoles.

The ship’s captain was a Cerean, To-Ami-Nal. His high-domed head glistened brightly under the harsh fluorescent lights. He wore a dark blue uniform with polished black boots and gloves.

Next to him stood Jedi Master Derek Zeko. He was a tall, strong-looking man with brown hair, thin stubble and a look of intensity in his eyes.

“Oracle, this is Pioneer,” said Captain To-Ami-Nal. “Request permission to begin the experiment.”

“Permission granted,” replied Dr. Raska. “Time to make history.”

“Indeed. Initiating space-fold.”

The image of the bridge reverted to that of the Pioneer in space. As they watched, a ball of intense white light appeared in front of the ship.

Dr. Raska could barely contain his excitement as the white ball expanded into a circular vortex; it’s edges rippling with brilliant colours. Although silent in the vacuum, it was undeniably a wonderful spectacle.

The Pioneer cruised into the vortex. As it did so, the captain’s voice came over the comm. “All systems green. Readings indicate nothing unexpected.”

The ship was almost completely gone by now. Then the voice of Captain To-Ami-Nal was heard once again.

“What in the galaxy is that? Wait, what! Nooo!”

Screams of pain and terror issued forth from the speakers, accompanied by bestial howls.

“Captain, come in” said Dr. Raska frantically. “What is it?”

Abruptly the line went dead. At the same time, the vortex disappeared, leaving no trace that it had ever been there.

For a moment there was only silence. Then the various scientists and dignities all began talking at once, demanding to know what had happened, where the Pioneer had gone, what had they heard.

Oss Raska looked like he was in shock. He dully murmured something about how it couldn’t have happened.

Master Yoda alone remained calm. He stood watching the confusion and briefly closed his eyes in contemplation.

“A dark day this is,” he said.

End of Part 1

I can't believe noone posted in here!

This is one of the most readable works in the forum ATM!

Damn, I suppose it's probably because other people aren't so lazy they refuse to get off the computer and do coursework...

Nonetheless, it's rewally good piece of work!

Trickster: Thank you very much. I'm glad you like it.

NOTE: This story is EU. I hope that doesn't spoil anyone's enjoyment. It also includes a same-sex relationship. I hope this doesn't bother anyone.

Part 2

5 years later.

“Tell me again why you’re going.”

The speaker was a Jedi Knight, a young woman named Bellan Kotle. Curly black hair framed an exotically beautiful face with sensual features and dark intelligent eyes. She was of average height, with a charming, easygoing manner that had earned her many friends.

She was speaking to another woman, Lissa May, her girlfriend. Lissa was two inches taller than her, with blue eyes, blonde hair and a willowy build. Her face wore an expression of wry amusement.

The two of them were alone in the living room of the apartment they shared. The room was spartan but elegant, decorated mostly in white with soft pastel colours. Framed paintings adorned the walls.

Right now Lissa was packing a few items into a bag. Smiling gently, she looked up at Bellan.

“I’m going because I’m a search and rescue officer. The Pioneer has been missing for five years. Then suddenly it’s sighted out in space, far from any habitable planets. You know the drill, rescue the crew and salvage the ship.”

“But it could be dangerous” Bellan protested. “You’ve heard about what happened when it disappeared.”

“Honey, how do you think I feel whenever the Jedi Council sends you off to some trouble spot or another?”

Bellan hesitated, knowing she couldn’t answer that. “Something about this doesn’t feel right,” she said finally.

“Is that a Force premonition?”

“I don’t know.”

Seeing that her girlfriend was genuinely worried about her, Lissa walked up to her and placed her hands on her shoulders. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

Bellan nodded, “okay.” She smiled. “I’ll see you soon.”

Lissa returned the smile and kissed her. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

A short time later, Bellan was hastily making her way through the Jedi Temple. A few of them called out greetings to her, but she was in too much of a hurry to respond with anything other than a quick smile and a wave.

Finally she located the subject of her search in the vast Archive Hall. Master Yoda was studying a lighted computer screen as she approached. He turned to her. “Bellan, a pleasure it is, to see you.”

“Master Yoda” she said, bowing slightly. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but there’s something I must ask you about.”

He nodded understandingly. “Concerned for your love, you are.”

“Yes. Master, you told me about the Pioneer’s disappearance. I don’t like the idea of Lissa going onboard it.”

Yoda agreed with that. He had been deeply troubled to hear of the mysterious return of the prototype ship. “Disturbing, this is. Most unexpected.”

Bellan went on. “I request your permission to join the search and rescue team.”

“Permission granted. Go with her. Find the answer to this puzzle.”

She had known what his answer would be, but nonetheless her relief was palpable. “Thank you Master.”

“May the Force be with you both.”

Lissa stood on the landing platform with the rest of her team, waiting patiently for lift-off. She glanced up at the sky. Considering the number of ships that were always coming and going from Coruscant, the air traffic control was highly efficient. However they still had to wait to receive flight clearance.

“Room for one more?” asked a familiar voice from behind her.

Smiling, she turned around. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Bellan replied. “I went to see Master Yoda. He pulled a few strings.” She paused briefly before continuing. “Lissa, I know you can look after yourself, but I need to come with you. Please understand.”

“It’s okay, I’m glad to have you here. I always feel safer with you.”

“Thank you.” They kissed affectionately.

Lissa called to her crew, “everyone, there’s someone I’d like you to meet. This is Bellan Kotle, my girlfriend. Bellan, this is my crew, Adam, Zale, Quinn, Salla and Una.”

Bellan smiled warmly and shook hands with each of them. “Hi. I’m so glad to meet you all. Lissa has told me so much about you.”

“She told us about you too,” replied Una, a Malastarian. “I’ll admit, I didn’t think she was serious about seeing a Jedi.”

Zale, a black-furred Wookie, growled something. Adam Fenson, a human, translated.

“We’re clear for take-off. We can talk once we’re in the air.”

End of Part 2

You're pretty good at these names! I have soooo much trouble making a name up from scratch!

Also, I'm reallt liking the story itself! Are you writing as you go or have you got it all stored somewhere?

Was this plagiarized?

Captain REX: No it is not plagerised. What gave you that idea? At most, the line about how a 'space-fold' device works is similar to one in the movie "Event Horizon", but even then, I changed it considerably. I did not copy it word for word and I did not copy ANYTHING from another fanfic writer.

Trickster: Thanks, I'm glad you are enjoying it. Yes, I have the whole thing on my computer; I'm always worried that if I write it as I go, I might lose heart and it'll go unfinished.

I'm glad you like the names, I was very pleased with them. If you're curious, 'Bellan' was inspired by one of my favourite actresses, Rachael Bella, and 'Lissa' by Melissa Lee. They appeared together in the series Tru Calling, in the episode "Star-crossed." When I imagine the story as if it were on TV, that's who I think of.

My bad, ChilledMonkey...I misread Trickster's comments for sarcasm...

Sorry Rex, I was just liking the story a lot and I wanted some people to read it. Re-reading what I wrote, I sound like I'm either being unnaturally enthusiastic or very sarcastic... Sorry 😉

Anyway, keep going chilled monkey!

No problem, misunderstandings happen. Anyway, here is the next part. Thank you again for your kind feedback.

Part 3

Later, the search and rescue team were in hyperspace, heading towards the last known co-ordinates of the Pioneer. Bellan and Lissa sat together in the meeting room.

“Okay, what do we know?” Lissa asked.

“Not much” replied Quinn, a Falleen rescue officer. “The Pioneer was sighted by a freighter, apparently drifting. There’s no apparent sign of damage. It’s not responding to any hails.”

Lissa nodded. “Alright. We’ll follow standard procedure, at least until we know more.”

For a moment, no one spoke. Then Salla, a Kubaz, said, “we’re a little nervous Captain. You know the stories about how that ship disappeared.”

“My Master was there when it disappeared” Bellan commented. “He told me all about it.”

“It’s unnerving to be sure,” Lissa agreed. “But we have no reason to assume that it’s dangerous now, and we can’t just leave it floating about aimlessly.”

The crew all murmured agreement. “Meeting adjourned.”

Soon, the rescue ship exited hyperspace. Lissa looked at the vast ship warily. She turned to the pilot. “Anything?”

“It’s drifting. The engines are dead. It’s not responding to any hails.”

He studied the bio-scan readings. “No trace of any harmful viruses or bacteria. Scan shows no life signs.”

Lissa nodded. “Okay, prepare for docking.”

“Yes Captain.”

The airlock hissed open as they stepped aboard and looked around warily at the dull grey metal of the walls. The lights were on, indicating that the ship’s power source was functioning normally. However, the various data consoles were dark and useless.

“Alright” said Lissa. “Adam and Zale, I want you two to head down to Engineering. See if you can find out why the engines are down. Everyone else is with me. We need to check the logs. They might say what happened here.”

Adam and Zale both nodded. As they started off, Lissa turned to Bellan. Her lover was frowning as she looked around.“ Is something wrong sweetie?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I can feel something but I’m not sure what it is. It’s not like anything I’ve sensed before.” She shrugged, “it’s probably nothing.”

“Okay” Lissa replied. “If you start to feel ill, you tell me right away.”

“You got it.”

“I tell you Zale, old buddy, it’s a little weird having a Jedi with us,” Adam mused as he and his Wookie companion made their way down to the engineering deck. “I mean you hear all kinds of stories about them, but you never expect to actually meet one.”

Zale muttered a reply.

“Yeah I gotta agree with you on that one. I’d have expected a Jedi to be all austere and emotionless, you know? But Bellan’s really nice. Have you seen how she and Lissa look at each other? I always said our captain had good taste.”

At that point, the lights flickered and dimmed. “Damn!” Adam exclaimed as he drew a glow-rod.

As they proceeded, neither of them noticed something watching them from the darkness.

Lissa, Bellan and the rest of the team had reached the bridge. Lissa winced as she saw that several of the consoles were covered in dried bloodstains. More bloodstains were on the walls and floor.

“What happened here?” asked Quinn.

“Let’s see if we can find out. We need to get the computer back online and retrieve its logs.”

Bellan watched as her girlfriend and her team went to work. Despite her growing unease at the situation, she was intrigued by what she saw.

Adam and Zale had made it to the darkened engine rooms. Adam looked around at the banks of machinery.

“I don’t get it. There’s no sign of damage or tampering. It seems just fine. So what happened to the lights?”

Then he noticed something, a white stick of some kind. As he trained his light on it, he realised with growing horror that it was a bone from a humanoid arm. Next to it were other scattered and broken bones.

He staggered back, overwhelmed. As he tried to calm down and slow his racing heartbeat, he heard the sounds of something moving.

“Zale, is that… ARRGH!”

Adam screamed as something slammed into him and sharp teeth bit chunks out of his flesh. His cries were silenced as his assailant tore out his throat.

Zale roared and ran at the creature. With his Wookie strength, he lifted it into the air and hurled it into a wall.

He looked down at Adam, but it was too late. His friend was dead, blood pooling from his awful wounds.

As Zale looked up to face their attacker he heard a soft fwit noise from behind him. Before he had a chance to turn, three barbed harpoons pierced his back. He bellowed in pain and scrabbled for his communicator. He had to warn the others of this.

Another harpoon fired, piercing the back of his skull. Death was instantaneous.

Damn, I was getting to like those two.

Also, I only just realised Lissa wasn't a jedi.

Sounds painful...

Sorry, I just thought it worked better dramatically to have not all of the 'good guys' make it.

Sorry if I didn't explain things clearly enough. Lissa isn't a Jedi; she's the captain of a search and rescue team. I did consider making them both Jedi at one point, but I thought it worked better to have only one. That allowed more variety.

Part 4

Lissa and the rest of her team watched as the ship’s logs that they had retrieved began to play. Captain To-Ami-Nal appeared on the screen. His expression was of puzzlement, rapidly changing to horror.

“What in the galaxy is that? Wait, what! Nooo!”

The image became one of chaos. The lights flickered, creating a strobe effect, so they could only see glimpses of what was happening. Monstrous shapes raced across the screen, savagely attacking crewmembers.

The image changed to show the Captain in what appeared to be the ship’s hold. His clothes were torn and bloody and he looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. He stared wild-eyed at the screen.

“They came aboard so fast we didn’t have a chance. They slaughtered many of the crew, only a few of us managed to get away. We managed to seal ourselves off in the cargo bay. We have sufficient stores of food and water for now, but it’s only a matter of time before they find their way in.”

The log then jumped to a few days later. The Captain looked even worse, his eyes darted about frantically.

“The Jedi Master who accompanied us, Derek Zeko has begun acting strangely. He says that the creatures are talking to him. He says that they have shown him ‘the way’.”

Bellan frowned. She had never met Master Zeko herself, but she had known him by reputation. Supposedly he had been unusually driven; determined to prove himself. Despite that he had been at heart a mostly good person and also a strong-willed one. He had not seemed like the type to give in to delusions, even under pressure.

Again the image jumped. Now the Captain looked absolutely panic-stricken. “Someone opened the door,” he cried. “They’re…” Then the screen was nothing but static.

For a long moment, no one spoke. Then Lissa said, “alright, don’t worry, whatever those things were, they’re gone now. The ship is…”

She broke off abruptly as Bellan’s eyes widened, her expression turning to one of shock.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” asked Lissa in alarm.

“I just felt something. It came out of no-where.”

“What was it?”

“Hated.”

Everyone froze as they heard footsteps approaching. “Adam, Zale, is that you?” Lissa called.

Four shapes lurched around a corner. The sight of them caused the rescue officers to recoil in horror.

The creatures looked as if they had once been human, but clearly they were not now. Their olive-hued skin was leprous and shrivelled and their hair was nothing more than a few thin wisps. Crazed eyes bulged out over sickly grinning mouths full of broken, uneven teeth. The remains of their uniforms were filthy and rotting.

In a heartbeat, Bellan had drawn her lightsabre, its green blade humming as it flared to life. She stepped protectively in front of the others.

Two of the creatures’ mouths gaped impossibly wide. Metal barrels extended from between their jaws and shot bolts of glowing energy.

Bellan snapped her lightsabre about, deflecting the bolts harmlessly. The creatures’ fired again, this time she sent the bolts back the way they had come. The heads’ of the attackers exploded and they toppled to the ground.

Undaunted, the other two advanced, their hands gripping cruelly barbed harpoons. The Jedi easily sidestepped a thrust and sliced off the head of one of them. The remaining creature tried to block a downward slash to no avail. Her blade sheared through the metal shaft and into its skull. The smoking remains fell.

Bellan reached out with the Force. Satisfied that there were no other attackers close by, she shut down her blade and turned to the others.

“What’s going on?” asked Quinn. “The scan showed no life signs.”

“Well those things didn’t look alive to me” Una responded.

“I think they were in some kind of suspended animation,” Bellan said. “That’s what I felt when we came on board.”

“We have to get out of here,” said Lissa. She held up a communicator, “Adam, Zale, come in.” The only response was static.

Bellan closed her eyes and again reached out through the Force. All over the ship she felt minds coming to life. Minds that, like the strange creatures that had just attacked them, were utterly consumed with hatred for living things. Of Zale and Adam, she could sense nothing.

She opened her eyes. “I can’t feel them,” she said gently. “Lissa I’m sorry, but their gone.”

Lissa nodded sadly. “Alright let’s go.”

As they turned back towards the exit, the doors slammed shut and a wall of red light enveloped them. At the same time, more footsteps were coming towards them.

“This way!” Lissa led them down another corridor. They ran as fast as they could.

In the darkened engine room, he hissed in satisfaction as he sensed the fear and confusion of the prey creatures. Soon he and his followers would kill them all.

Lissa is a guy, right? I'm picky with names, Lissa sounds feminine...this is what taking Spanish does to you!

sounds good to me but this story is a very horrible story due to the fact you killed a wookie shame on u. Sike nah im intrieged by it but i still dont like the fact u killed a wookie

Captain REX: No, Lissa is female. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got the name from 'Melissa'.

Stealth Agent: Sorry. If I do another Star Wars story, I'll try to include a living Wookie.

Oh, alrighty...

And Bellan? I think you are writing this very well, I'm just confused with some things...

yes im also confused with the fact that you would want to kill a wookie, Chewbacca would be very pissed off if he were to see this.

Rex, they're both women.

Trickster: Thank you very much.

Stealth Agent: I am sorry if there is anything you don't like about my story. I have nothing against Wookies; I like Wookies. As I said, if I do another Star Wars story, I'll try to include a living one.

Captain REX: Bellan's name comes from Rachael Bella. She's one of my favourite actresses.

Part 5

“I think we lost them,” Lissa said as she leaned against a wall. “Those creatures don’t seem very fast.”

“Captain, what’s happening?” asked Quinn.

“The Pioneer was created to travel instantly to any point in space” she replied. “I think that somehow, it opened a doorway to another dimension. The creatures that killed the crew must be native to that dimension.”

“They’re animals” said Una darkly.

Bellan shook her head. “Animals don’t hate,” she said softly.

Salla’s eyes were wide with panic. “W-we’ve got to get back t-to the ship he stammered.”

“We will” Bellan said calmly. “We just have to…”

She was interrupted by a new sound. A horrible high-pitched rasping whine that echoed down the corridors.

Salla screamed and ran.

“Stop!” Lissa cried as she realised the direction he was running in. “You’re heading right towards it!”

Salla ran blindly onwards. He ran headlong into something, which stuck fast to his skin and clothes. The strands of sticky white material stretched like elastic and then snapped back to their original position. He struggled desperately, getting more and more enmeshed as he did so.

Something dripped on to his shoulder. He glanced up and screamed again as he saw what it was. Then sharp fangs pierced his flesh and he fell silent.

Bellan, Lissa and the others came running up. They halted as they saw what was ahead of them.

Salla was stuck to an enormous web. Perched above him was the web’s monstrous owner.

The creature was vast, almost five metres wide. Its armoured body was coloured a shiny black. Eight multi-jointed legs, ending in scythe-like talons, clicked as it moved. Thick spikes jutted out of its bulbous abdomen. Eight small, black eyes glittered malevolently. Yellow venom dripped from the thing’s mandibles.

“Stand back” Bellan warned. She stepped forwards, reactivating her lightsabre.

The monstrous arachnid curled its abdomen under its body and fired thick gooey strands of webbing. Bellan raised her hand and the webbing seemed to hit an invisible wall. It fell harmlessly to the ground.

The spider screeched and sprang off of the web, diving right towards her. Bellan sidestepped and slashed with her lightsabre. The spider hit the ground, two of its legs and most of its head sliced off.

Bellan hurried to Salla. Even as she checked for a pulse, she knew what she would find. His eyes were fixed open, froth coated his lips and there was a faint bluish tinge to his skin. An ugly red twin puncture mark on his neck showed how he had met his end. She gently closed his eyes.

She turned to the others and sadly shook her head.

Lissa closed her eyes briefly and then opened them. There would be time for grief later, for now they had to focus on escape.

They quickly retraced their steps. As they did so, Lissa drew a small holographic projector from her belt and called up the blueprints of the Pioneer.

“Okay, we should be about here” she said, pointing to a spot on the map. “The quickest way to the ship is here. We’ll have to move quietly to avoid attracting the creatures.”

Before anyone could reply, they once again heard footsteps. Advancing slowly but surely were four more of the zombie-creatures. Two new monsters accompanied them. They consisted of basically a large mouthful of sharp teeth, balanced on two thick trunk-like legs. Their skin was coloured a dull grey and was slick with mucous.

Before Bellan could draw her weapon, Lissa gripped her wrist and pointed at the web. Bellan understood at once. Nodding at Lissa, she used the Force to rip it from the wall and hurl it at the monsters. They went down in a heap, giving Bellan, Lissa and the others time to run.

Keeping to the shadows and making as little sound as possible, they managed to avoid further confrontations.

“I think we’re going to make it” Una whispered.

“I’m not so sure” Quinn replied. “You heard what that log said. There was a Jedi on this ship when it disappeared. He went insane and helped those things to kill the crew. How do we know the same thing won’t happen again?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m just saying…”

He realised that Lissa had turned to look at him, her eyes blazing. He shut up and looked at the ground.

“I’m sorry about that,” she whispered to Bellan.

“It’s okay. Lissa, he may have a…”

“No” she said firmly. “Bellan, I know you and I trust you with my life. I know you would never do anything like that.”

Bellan smiled. “Thank you.”

They held hands.

Finally the airlock came into view. Lissa hurriedly keyed in the access code. The airlock door opened with a hiss. She gestured to the others to enter.

Just as it seemed they were out of danger, a turbolift door opened. A nest of long thin black cables shot out, writhing and twisting like enraged serpents.

One of them wrapped around Quinn’s neck, breaking it with a sharp Crack! . He fell, dead, to the ground.

Another wrapped around Lissa’s waist and a third around her ankle. Before she even had time to scream, she was dragged into the turbolift. The doors slammed closed.

“Lissa!” Bellan cried. She turned to Una. “Get on the ship and stay there,” she ordered before sprinting to the doors. She opened them with a lightsabre strike and leapt into the shaft without hesitation. Catching hold of the support pole she began to quickly climb down.

She knew that Lissa was alive; she could feel her in the Force. Although her lover was afraid, Bellan sensed that she was unhurt.

She would not let her come to harm. Nothing else mattered.

im just playin around with you i very much like ur story