The bright halls of the senate were abuzz as senators and aids rushed back and forth, gathering important pieces of paper and documents. Today was an important day, as the first of seven colonization ships prepared to launch.
The colonization ships were among some of the first vessels ever to be equipped with the new hyperdrive technology. Previous attempts at faster than light travel had resulted in failure, but with the efforts of Dr. Dunir Nikolinoph, the first vessel ever to break the FTL barrier, the
Liberty's Dream, had reached the edge of the Coruscant system in less than 3 minutes.
The news had been spreading like wildfire. The
Liberty's Dream had returned successfully, and immediately plans had begun for the first vessels to actually leave the system. The Planetary Senate of Coruscant had granted funding for 7 ships to be built that would travel to unknown stars across the galaxy, searching for a place to ease the growing population of Coruscant.
Among the many senators hurrying to get to his seat was Senator Ulif Vimor. A young senator at just 35, Ulif was incharge of one of Coruscant's industrial districts, which was pushing the new colony ships in earnest, hoping to find newer, cheaper materials on planets that didn't have Coruscant's strict anti-pollution laws.
Settling into his ornate wooden chair, the senator gazed at the ship as it hung in space above the planet. Shaped like one of the ancient warships that used to plow the oceans of Coruscant, the colony ship Corellia was loading the last of it's many colonists on a one-way trip through space towards a star on the other side of the Core.
Because of the as-yet-unknown side effects of jumping through hyperspace, and because of the problems with feeding thousands of people on their way to new homes, the colonists were frozen and their cryogenic tubes were placed in racks that were then blasted into orbit and loaded into the bellies of the waiting colony ships.
Many were excited, but there was one thing that many of the senators, including Ulif, were not thinking about: the future of Coruscant. They watched in earnest as the control tower on the shipyard gave clearance for the
Corellia to leave the dock, and the many camera satelites captured the ship as it passed by it's younger sister ships, most notably the
Alderaan, which was the second ship preparing to be completed.
With a quick burst of light and a streak of psudoacceleration, the
Corellia made the jump to lightspeed, heading for it's new home.
* * *
Sitting on his bunk, Jedi Monk Jun Bilo quietly meditated. He was aboard the first ship headed for Corellia, the
Pathfinder. Beside him on the bed, lie a shiny metal sword, neatly polished and kept razor sharp. For years the Jedi had begun searching for people who had the mysterious energy of the Force inside of them, fighting the religions that called them devil worshippers.
Jun Bilo wasn't concerned about that now. On Corellia, there would still be those who followed the religions popular on Coruscant, but none of the priests had passed the rigorous health requirements imposed on first time settlers, and so the religions were stranded on Coruscant, atleast for the time being.
The Force flowed neatly around Jun, and he was the first to actually feel the pull of hyperspace around him, and he could feel the echoes of life, far from him since they were so far in deep space. But there was one group of people who kept calling... and it was this that he was going to investigate after his arrival.
For now, however, he let his mind calm, and sunk back into the gentle harmony that was the Force.
* * *
Built near the ocean, Coronet city stretched out for almost a mile from the central administration building that had been built out of the frame of the
Corellia. The dark letters that had signified the new colony's name was still marked clearly above the building's main entrance.
The spaceport was basically a strip of grass with a shack beside it. And it was here that the shuttle from the
Pathfinder touched down. Jun was among the ones aboard, having agreed to help ferry supplies to the new colony in exchange for passage. And so after a few hours of unloading, he was free to go about his business.
Jun's first stop was the cantina. Though many of the Jedi had considered following the temperance against alcohol, because of the local religions, the lack of any other drinking establishment soon left Jun walking through the doors into the poorly lit cantina.
Few patrons glanced at Jun as he first entered, many of them too drunk to get up. It occured to Jun the real reason that this colony had gotten so many willing recruits: Many had been on the run from the law, and were hiding out here on the frontier.
Jun didn't acknowledge any of them, instead sitting down at the bar and asking for a drink. The barkeep handed him a drink still warm from whatever had brewed the stuff. Jun later learned that the brewer was furbished from an old ion engine scavanged from the Corellia. Taking a cautious drink, Jun was nearly knocked off his seat by the sheer power of it, and took several coughs to ease the burning in his throat.
"Corellian Whiskey doesn't take well to ya, does it boy?" said an old man as he limped up to the bar.
"Like drinking plasma," said Jun, thumping his chest to ease the burn some more.
The old man burst out in laughter, and slid onto the seat beside Jun, "Aye, ya can still taste the left over ions, ye can. I imagine it'll go away after a few more brews." The old man sighed, disappointed, "Pity, that'll be."
Jun slid his drink across the bar, "I'm Jun, Jun Bilo."
The old man regarded Jun for a minute, then nodded and extended an ancient, bony hand for Jun to shake, "Hirum Nil"
Jun nodded, "A pleasure to meet you Hirum"
Hirum laughed again, and took Jun by the arm, "Come with me, boy. There's a few things you aught to know before you stay too much longer, or you won't be staying too much longer."
* * *
Later in the evening, with a bottle of Corellian whiskey aquired by Jun sitting on his table, Hirum settled down in the chair made from one of the nearby creatures. Jun was comfortably seated on the floor, listening to Hirum as he talked. "Now, first thing ya gotta do is stop bein so polite. This whole colony is nothin but criminals who prey on people jus like you. They're a mean bunch, who work alone and like things to stay that way."
Jun nodded, and Hirum continued, "They got no love of the odds, and they can't stand people like you who come sellin hoaky religions and ideas of all powerful beings controlling their destinys. If you're gonna stick around here very long, ya gotta learn that it isn't about how strong ya are physically, but how strong ya are mentally."
Hirum settled back into his chair, "You can stay here for a while, just try to bring home food every once in a while, and we won't have any problems. Oh, and the chair is mine. No usin it while I ain't here."
Jun could only shake his head and grin. Things were so differant on Corellia than even his wildest expectations. A planet full of criminals? An old man who would take him in and help him as long as Jun didn't touch his chair? Almost laughably easy compared to the rigorus training that had taken place in some of the worst sections of Corellia. Atleast here everyone was watching your back incase someone else tried to take you out first.
[Continued in Chapter 2] -----------------------
FM/CRW Linda_Irris/Sting6 (2-2)/Wing2/ISD-II Devastator/Offensive/VEN/VE