The corridors felt narrower on the way back, mostly because I was under the impression that we, or I, was being watched by that mad Sith... Vila didn't slow down once, feeling the same way through our connection, even picking up speed, pulling on my hand.
"Move," she ordered over the comms, pushing off walls and gliding ahead in the zero gravity, often looking back at me, blinding me with her headlamps.
She didn't need to tell me twice, and I followed close behind her, still shaking the lingering sensation of coldness from my thoughts. Brr... It was not the same as in the Rakatan world, but it was just as bad. The chair's presence was gone now, but it left an unpleasant echo behind, feeling like there was static running through my veins, right under my skin. Unpleasant... and uncomfortable because I couldn't even scratch myself with the suit on. As for Sareh, she came after us, lagging behind a bit. I could tell that she was more than unhappy, because originally, she would have been stopping every ten meters, scanning something, taking notes, exploring the ship in even greater detail, but... now that was off the table. At least, if one thing I had to praise was that she wasn't complaining and said nothing as she kept floating after us, even if keeping her distance.
While I was thinking about it, we reached the breach faster than I expected. The reinforced opening in the meditation vessel's punctured hull was much brighter, thanks to the Vindicator's lights, its hatch open, waiting for us to use our suits' thrusters to head back. That was when HK's voice came through the comms from the ship...
[Statement: We detected an increased gravitational disturbance in the wreck field.]
"Adrian," Vila snapped, opening the Imperial-made doors, pushing me forward, not waiting for Sareh, already jumping after me, "Explain!"
"I was about to call you," Adrian said in a hurry, "But HK was faster." As he spoke, his tone was suddenly far more serious than ever before. "You need to get back here. Immediately!"
"What happened?" I asked, reaching out with the Force, feeling it just as he continued.
"Something just entered the system."
"It has a bad feeling about it..." I murmured.
"I agree, that's a... An... unknown ship." He continued, "It is not in any of our databases. I can't identify it."
By then, we had floated out of the breach and into open space quite a bit, as the wreck field stretched around us again, but something about the scene had changed and changed for the worse... It didn't happen yet, but before my eyes and senses, I could already see chaos... I knew that we had to go, and go now, or join the debris field!
"There," Adrian said over the comm, "I am transmitting our data to your helmets," He said as a faint icon appeared on my visor, pointing deeper into the debris field, towards our right.
From the Vindicator's sensors, I watched the model of a small vessel slip between the wrecks like a key slipping into its hole, perfectly fitting through it all. It was maybe the size of a light corvette, but its shape was nothing I had ever seen. According to the readings, the ship's hull curved inward at odd angles, its armor plating giving the impression of a weird partiality, as if wrong parts had been put together in a hurry. Along that, there were long, narrow protrusions that ran along its spine like skeletal fins. Yeah... it was like some kind of weird space-fish... thing.
"Unknown emissions, wait... No... Or?" Adrian continued, "No matter! It is definitely armed, because it's gathering energy!"
As if to prove the point, the ship fired at once, letting loose a thin crimson beam that lanced through space in an instant and struck one of the tethered wrecks. The impact didn't destroy the ship, but it cut the anchoring cable, holding it in place, letting it loose.
"Oh no," Sareh whispered, finally speaking up, and I knew exactly what she meant.
Another shot flashed next, then another tether snapped, and just like that, the carefully balanced graveyard began to move. The massive wrecks that had been held in stable positions for centuries began drifting free, their enormous mass slowly accelerating as the momentum of the snapping cables and from the continuous attacks, tugged and pushed them into new paths... It was totally random and chaotic.
"We go, now!" Adrian yelled, and just as I felt that he was about to set a course, we heard HK's voice.
[Statement: Press that button and I will blow your head off, meatbag.]
Vila didn't yell this time around, but I could feel her anger, so we ignited our suits' thrusters to the maximum and shot toward the Vindicator. Behind us, the wrecks were already starting to collide in silent explosions inside the vacuum of space, creating an eerie copy of the chaos I had felt before. Getting very close to the Vindicator, I watched as a shattered cruiser spun sideways and slammed into another hull, tearing off entire sections of plating that began tumbling through the others like shrapnel, the size of buildings. Accompanying it were more shots from the unknown ship, as they flashed through the darkness, painting the dark with a strong red light.
I could tell and see that it wasn't trying to hit us, because we were, in a weird way, shielded by the wrecks. But that was also what trapped us, as it was turning the graveyard itself into a weapon, using it to smash us into pieces.
"That thing is destabilizing the entire field!" Sareh yelled, catching up with us.
"Obviously," Vila replied. "That's why I said to move!"
The Vindicator's ramp was still open as we approached, its lights glowing like a beacon when we slammed into the airlock seconds later, hearing how the hatch sealed behind us and the ship's atmosphere rushed in, stabilizing the pressure. I barely got my helmet off before the ship lurched violently, and Adrian's voice echoed through the interior.
"Sit down if you like your bones intact, we are fleeing!"
The Vindicator accelerated, and did it so hard, I was flung off my feet. Climbing back up, wanting to head to the breach, I looked through the viewport and saw how the wreck field had turned into a storm. Entire dreadnaughts were drifting free now, colliding and breaking apart, causing a cascading effect as massive slabs of metal pieces spun through space like spinning blades.
Then, the unknown ship's weapons flashed again, and a beam sliced through a drifting frigate, sending fragments scattering directly into our path.
"Adrian—!" Vila shouted, and I was surprised that the inner coms were on and he heard us.
"My ship had already seen it."
By then, the Vindicator had begun rolling sharply, and I felt the artificial gravity struggle to keep up as the Vindicator slipped sideways between two massive pieces of wreckage with barely meters to spare. I had to give it to him, the autopilot reacted faster than any human pilot ever could, but I was sure that I would be faster... But I'm not here to throw a fit about who is better, a computer or the Force. Doing its best to escape, our ship twisted, rotated, and darted through gaps that looked impossibly small for something of our size.
"Shields dropping!" Adrian announced. "Thirty percent... Damn debris field!"
Another collision rocked the field behind us when we reached the bridge. It was a broken destroyer that slammed into a drifting battleship, exploding into a cloud of junk that surged toward us like a tidal wave, made out of metal. Watching it get nearer and nearer, Sareh grabbed the nearest console just to stay upright.
"I withdraw all previous objections to leaving," she said quickly, "Fuck..."
"Good timing, but we will talk about it later..." Vila muttered, "Adrian! Get us out of here!"
"I'm doing that, no need to yell!" he grunted, his fingers tapping quickly at his chair's armrest.
The Vindicator's engines switched to full power as the ship dove through the wreck storm like a dart thrown by a Noghri assassin. We could hear the debris scraping past the shields, then, against the hull, showering us in a rain of sparks.
"Fifteen percent," Adrian said with an angry tone, "And they are scratching up my baby..."
"Don't mind that, we have a bigger issue!" I scoffed because the attacking vessel fired again, and this time, the beam passed close by us, in fact, close enough for the shields to react to it.
[Statement: Shields at ten percent.]
Another massive slab of hull spun across our trajectory after Hk spoke up, and the Vindicator didn't slow down at all. It rolled ninety degrees, slipped under the rotating wreckage, and shot through a gap that collapsed behind us as two ancient cruisers smashed together.
"Are we out?!" Sareh yelled, and the fact that red beams were now passing by us, over and over again... Yeah... We were... And we were pursued by the unknown vessel!
"If it gets in a hit, we are toast," Vila grunted, but then, I saw how the stars ahead stretched into streaks.
"Hold on," Adrian said, now grinning and then... the hyperdrive engaged, and we were off.
The blue swirl of it swallowed the viewport as the ship jumped into hyperspace just as the shield alarms began screaming that it was about to go out for good. The sudden silence afterward, right with all that was happening just a moment ago, it... It was almost deafening, but... haaah... we were out. For a few seconds, nobody spoke, then Sareh slowly sat down.
"I would have died," she admitted quietly, "Haaah... I hate it when I have to say this, but... Thanks. I was wrong." She looked at Vila while saying.
"At least you didn't complain much, which was... good." Vila nodded as she crossed her arms.
As for me, I looked back toward where the graveyard would be, far behind us now. He wants me to find him... why do I hate the idea so much? Brrr. Shaking myself, I turned forward, knowing that we had to find him. That was inevitable; we had to get to that Sith bastard and end whatever he was planning. Reassuring myself, I exhaled slowly and refocused my thoughts.
"Adrian," I said.
"Yes?" He asked, turning towards me.
"That wasn't a random scavenger."
"I know," he replied, rolling his eyes, "The weapon schematics alone told me that. Those beams were for sure military-grade, and although I can't identify them, I can tell you that they are a few millennia behind our current turbo lasers."
"What do you mean?" Sareh asked, suddenly interested again, already fighting down the feeling of dread, brushing against death, replacing it with her usual curiosity.
"I mean," Adrian continued, pulling up details of the ship's scanners, "That they used energy variables that are long considered, well, obsolete. I know this because the ship itself had drive emissions that, after looking at it more closely, are standard variants. What I'm saying is that the ship's engines were from this era, just as its power source... but not the ship or its weapons. I already detected signs of strain, and if it had continued firing, it may have torn itself apart. The twists on the hull were also from that; it wasn't built to withstand the output of a drive from this era."
"So it was a haphazard retrofit?" Sareh offered, making Adrian nod.
[Statement: Meaning, it was either a suicide warrior or automated.]
"Probably," Adrian smiled, "You are the Jedi, you tell me."
"I felt nothing." I said after a pause, "I don't think anything alive was on it, but that means... little."
[Observation: That ship won't be able to follow us. If what meatbag Adrian is saying is right, it would tear itself apart trying to come after us again.]
"Pretty much," Adrian nodded, "And there is more." He grinned, "Because of that... I think I can trace its signals and vectors back to its origin... Give me a few hours and... I will see what I can come up with."