[Hyperspace disengaged. Initiating cloaking.] Adam stated. All of a sudden, the blue-white tunnel that rapidly warped around my gunship came to a halt. The swirling streams of stars and planets in a blink of an eye ended. I could now be seen seated at the helm, Adam's control panel in front of me. My visor hummed a soft green light, hiding away my face. Adam called Ahsoka back over, and while the space inside the cockpit was a little tight, Ahsoka could still stand beside me. Her montrals were twitching around out of uneasiness. She might be young, but she's a veteran warrior. All Togrutas were. They could easily sense danger from a mile away. And at the same time hyperspace ended, my gunship began its reflective surfacing, cloaking itself from view.
"I have a bad feeling about this...", Ahsoka uttered. Whoosh!
Once our surroundings came into view, not only did I become shocked at the sight, Ahsoka was visibly stirred. A huge red star in the near distance illuminated a wreckage far beyond belief. It wasn't a sea of stars anymore. But that of a sea of ruin. Humongous remnants of Republic-styled cruisers and transport vessels floated around like unmoving corpses. Many of them were charred and inoperable. Many could be seen torn into, likely having been scavenged already. Large chunks of ship pieces drifted around, completely separate from what used to be whole. Every so often, I'd hear a loud metallic groan whenever these large pieces of metal clung against each other. Yet Ahsoka remained still, acting as if she had anticipated this scene of destruction before her.
"No doubt about it. This was their doing. Just what kind of weapon do those Separatists have to render entire fleets immobile?", Ahsoka questioned, frowning.
"I've no idea but it's enough to put the Republic into a panic. Adam, keep steady. Do not engage your thrusters. Let us drift slowly to avoid being caught. I don't know if our enemy can detect cloaking or not. Start scanning for any life forms. We'll find them one way or another.", I said.
Keeping steady, the gunship started avoiding any drifting pieces of metal, and started to scan with my ship's visor. You heard me right. The gunship has what's called the Command Visor. It's a more upgraded version of the ship's basic visor. This visor allows me to remotely call in the gunship whenever it's needed, and launch an airstrike. Not needed in this current mission, of course. But my point is, the gunship itself has a built-in scanner, just like my helmet. The best part? They're linked. If I decided to wander back into my Personal Quarters during the scanning, I could see a visible display inside my visor itself. I didn't need to remain in my seat, but this was pretty serious, and I couldn't goof around.
It was clear many lives were lost during this exchange. I frowned seeing this. I turned my seat around, and just saw Ahsoka staring out into the endless wreckage, still shocked.
"Look, I don't mean to pry into other people's business, but are you sure you're up for this particular murder mission? We're dealing with something that can destroy entire fleets. My gunship alone won't cut it.", I said, stating the obvious fact. I could probably handle myself for a while, but one wrong move and they end up detecting my ship, and it's over. I don't think Adam's shield could withstand something like this.
"I know. But why should you care? You're doing what you're paid to do. I don't have to bother explaining myself.", Ahsoka said. I mean, she isn't wrong.
"That is true. We could just go our separate ways, but you're currently working with me. We can't have any rifts, or you'll be at risk of compromising this mission. And besides, don't you Jedi have a code in place to not let emotions drive you?", I questioned back. Hearing that, Ahsoka sighed.
"We do. I'm sorry you had to see that outburst. It's just, I've known Master Plo since I was a kid. Seeing this destruction, it's hard to take in. I know he's still alive out there. I can feel it.", Ahsoka replied, taking a moment to take in a deep breath and calm down her current emotional state. Sounds like seeing this riled her up quite a bit. As we conversed, we saw a nearby pod turn around, only to reveal a clone sticking out of the broken glass. The clone's upper body was completely frozen over due to the icy cold of the vacuum of outer space. Even I wanted to turn quiet seeing this sight.
I was thrusted into the middle of a war. I'm not a soldier, nor will I ever be. If I wasn't Samus already who was a seasoned bounty hunter, I likely would have thrown up just seeing the sight of this alone. And with Jedi, they're already used to seeing deaths, so I just saw Ahsoka staring out of the cockpit after saying that. Even with this new sight, I could see she was calmer now. I knew I couldn't overreact like this. Instead, I looked back at her.
"Then keep that feeling. Hold it tight. Your Master said you can use the Force to determine Master Plo's position. We'll drift around until you pick up on something, or Adam does. You need to stay focused. And I know you don't know me, but we need to work together.", I replied, nodding my helmet.
"You're right. I can't be distracted like this.", Ahsoka responded, shaking her uneasiness aside. "And thanks. I didn't think I'd receive such a boost of encouragement from a bounty hunter like you. I can't exactly go into the details, but due to a certain event, I don't trust people so easily. I hope you don't mind.", Ahsoka said.
"It's no problem. The less distracted we are, the better.", I replied, nodding my helmet. Seeing me move my helmet like this, Ahsoka shifted her eyes, looking at me.
"May I ask a question?", Ahsoka started. "Why the helmet? It's clear you aren't Mandalorian. You don't need to hide behind one."
"It just works out like that, I guess.", I said. It's not like I could suddenly shout that I was transmigrated into Samus's body, complete with the Power Suit and everything. They'd just say that I was crazy or something. Down the line, I may talk about being sucked into a wormhole, but even that's stretching it.
"I see...", Ahsoka uttered. "Guess we both have a secret or two we can't share."
"Mmm.", I simply replied, keeping it at that. I turned my chair around again, and saw the endless destruction. It was the same no matter where I looked. The atmosphere turned somber, and Ahsoka went into her own thoughts. I considered removing my helmet, but decided against doing that. My thoughts then recalled the turned pod with the destroyed clones. My eyes remained serious without shifting my head. "It's likely we aren't alone out here."
My ship began to drift along the wreckage, blending in. It was still cloaked, so it's not like anyone could see us, unless they had special radars. I didn't want to find out the hard way, so I kept minimal levels of power usage. Time began to churn, and seconds holding still like this soon turned into minutes. Our scavenger hunt has begun.
A little while later, toward another location inside the Abregado System. A sole, undetected space pod could be seen drifting about, just like how my gunship currently was. Inside this pod, a few clones could be seen. It wasn't just them either. A species hailing from the Kel Dor race could be seen with them. Coming from a single planet, Planet Dorin, the Kel Dor species created specialized respiratory masks due to how rich the oxygen levels were on their home planet. They couldn't breathe it in without experiencing health complications, as oxygen was considered poisonous to them. Because of that, the Kel Dor have grown adapted to hiding their faces behind this mask. One such being could be seen seated alongside the clones.
This was Jedi Master Plo Koon, the very same individual who managed to discover Ahsoka Tano as a force-sensitive child, only to bring her into the Jedi Order. Presently, the clones could be seen tinkering away at what little machinery they had available to them. Master Plo watched on with both anticipation and worry in his eyes, hopeful that their communications will be restored. He needed to send word out that he was still alive.
But at the same time, Master Plo knew he wasn't alone. Let alone already having a rescue mission under way, there was a third party involved, the hunters. Time was ticking fast, and Master Plo knew he needed to act fast.