The Hope, a custom built Sekotian speed ship, blared through the whiteness of hyperspace towards Tholatin. Its occupants sat calmly debating topics of semi interest as they flew harmlessly through space. The owner, Kamon Vondiranach, was wrapped up in a conversation with Corran Horn. The two were good friends and had not talked in quite some time.

Towards the back of the ship, Republic Senator Radon Mont was wrapped up in a conversation with Nathaniel Detrick and Caren Freeman. The later two were military position holders that had needed a ride home from Zonama Sekot. Kamon had offered them the last spots on the shuttle since none of the military vessels were heading out for a couple of days.

None of them noticed a proximity warning blinking until they were jerked forward in their seats by the sudden drop from hyperspace. An interdictor cruiser of unknown origin loomed before them and immediately opened fire. The switch to activate the shields was right by Kamon and he flipped it immediately. They began to take hits as everyone turned to their stations to monitor things.

"Corran, shield status!"

Corran had so far been enjoying the ride. The last time Kamon and Corran had talked had been when Corran had resigned from his position as Grand Admiral of Tholatin's fleet. Corran was tired with all the killing that had been such a large part of his life. His tenure with Echo Squadron, then the battles with the Rogue Jedi. So Corran had left both the Rogue Jedi Order and the Tholatin Fleet. Know it appeared he would be driven into another battle.

"Corran, shield status!"

Kamon's order sent his eyes sweeping over the various guages and readouts on the display.

"80% and dropping. Next time you get a shuttle give it some real shields Kamon."

Corran frowned as Kamon maneouvered the ship to the best of his abilities. The ship danced all over space but the volume of fire guaranteed a number of hits.

"75%, Kamon let me take over. I'm a better pilot than you."

Without even waiting for Kamon to acknowledge his words Corran grabbed the Control stick and sent the shuttle in a sharp dive that ended in a barrel roll. The number of hits lessened but there were still a few. Even with Corran's and Kamon's force senses there was no way they could run away.

"Kamon you better either think up something fast or find us a place to land. We're not going to be able to run from this."

An explosion rocked the ship and Radon looked to his screen. The damage was svere and he had no idea what he was looking at. He hadn't been one of the low totem pole people that had monitored the screens. He'd started as a captain and worked his way up to Admiral.

"We're hit!"

He looked around, fearing the worse. Then he heard something the brought a sigh of relief to his ears. Caren had manned her station and was watching the scope. SHe looked up and spoke.

"We're through the gravity well! Jump now!"

Kamon examined his screen to be sure then looked to the nac computer. Frantically he tried to think of a safe planet to go to until they could repair the ship. Nathaniel yelled at him to hurry and he shouted for Nathaniel to shut up. His fingers frantically tapped the keys, entering a destination.

"Here goes!"

He pulled the lever back and the stars outside the viewport elongated and turned into a mottled whiteness. Kamon sat back and breathed a digh of relief. Looking to the others he smiled weakly.

"I'm getting a shield upgrade."

Corran sighed as the familiarity of hyperspace returned outside the viewport.

"Wow. I didn't think we would make it out of that one. And while you're upgrading get some guns for this crate."

Corran stood up and let the force wash over his tense shoulder muscles making them looser.

"I wonder who they were? There isn't that many pirates just hanging around in the middle of nowhere. They must have been waiting for something or somebody."

"Beats me. There have been people trying to find out where we are coming from for some time. That's a regular route used by non-capital vessels. At least it was when I was an Admiral."

He turned to face the front from his position at the control board. The white mottled appearance of hyperspace stared him in the face for a moment before he was suddenly jerked from his seat and slammed into the back of Corran's chair. He looked up to see the whiteness of hyperspace go back to pinpoints as a planet loomed before him.

"Hyperdrive malfunction!"

He heard one of the others yell it as they careened uncontrollably towards the planet's surface, He watched in horror as the planet loomed ever closer. He stood and went back to his seat. Putting his belt on he looked horrified.

"Belt up!"

"They must have hit the hyperdrive when we were hit!"

He strapped on his belt and grabbed the stick. He pulled back hard and just in time too. They slammed into the ground on this planet that from space none of them knew. He was slammed forward by the impact and heard the ship complain. Kamon reached out with the Force to sooth it but found that he could not draw on the Force.

"Brace yourselves!"

They slammed into a tree and Kamon was pitched forward where he slammed his hea don the console and blacked out. The ship came to rest a few meters later but Kamon was out and so were the two military personnel. THe other two seemed to be awake.

The second they dropped out of hyperspace Corran felt the blankness. He'd never experienced something like this before.

After the crash Corran rose from his chair feeling rather unsteady. Then he noticed that Kamon and two of the others were knocked out. The only person left standing besides himself was the Senator Radon Mont.

"I'll check on Kamon you check on the other two."

Reaching out in the force he found that he couldn't sense either Kamon or any of the others in the force. Drawing on the emergency first aid he vaguely remembered from military training he checked Kamon's pulse and breathing. It seemed fine but Kamon could have a concussion or internal injuries. He hoped not, those were both beyond his skill to heal especially without the force.

"How are the other two Radon?"