Falling Star.

[Nicky Raine]

She was falling fast this piece of crap ship Nicky's brother had commandeered for her. Nicky was not the expert pilot her brother was and she could not react fast enough to the planets pull. She shot through the upper atmosphere like a falling star heading straight for a planet she did not know. Her systems registry had no listing for it, which meant it either didn't exist or the system was busted.

She had last total control of the ship.

"Son of a......"

She punched the distress signal button on the panel and prepared for a crash. The Ship crashed into a groove of tree in a fiery inferno. As it hit the Impact dislodged Nicki from the cockpit out the front glass that had already been shattered and into the groove. She laid there Unconscious and Bleeding.

[Jecht Tar]

"Sir, something in the sky," The sentry said, causing Captain Jecht Tar's dark haired head to turn and cast his eyes skyward. There, in the sky, a metalic object trailing fire. A missile, perhaps? No. Not even the Mandalorians are so crude and primitive to use old fashioned rockets when they could just as easily use photon torpedos. "Sound the alarm and post more guards on the walls, and put the fire control team on stand-by," He commanded as he walked along the length of th wall, watching the tumbling fireball. Eventually it came to earth, disapearing into the tree line. The thud was heard by everyone in Iziz, and the shockwave of the crash shook the trees.

"Sir!" Someone called from below. Jecht quickly tore his eyes away from the treeline and looked down upon the sentry guard standing far below on the ground. "Sir we have picked up a distress call!" Ah, so the mystery is solved. The falling object, not a rocket or projectile, but a ship. Pity so many trees had to perish for such an insignificant cause. "Get two patrol squads, a few medics, and the fire brigade. We're going out to that ship."

Fifteen minutes later the group set up, each mounted on their beast of choice, while others rode giant winged reptiles. Jecht's mount of choice was a might Boma Beast, big and strong. Not the fastest, but certainly one of the most fierce. They group headed in the direction of the down ship, the air units heading towards the smoke trail while those on the ground were content with plowing their way through the brush with directions from those above.

It did not take long for them to reach the fallen ship, and once they reached it the fire brigade began to train to tools on the burning ship. From their hose and tube tools spilled form fire suppressant foam, which was used to coat the ship were fires were burning. The rest of the squad spread out around the wreck. The Mandalorians could attack from anywhere if they wanted. Jecht lead his Boma around the ship, looking for any means of entering the ship. There could be people dying in there, burning alive.

And then something caught his eyes as he neared the front of the ship. A body lying in front of the ship. He called a medic over to access the young woman. She was alive, but she had sustained broken bones and was bleeding from several nasty gashes all over her body. "We'll need to take her back to Iziz, captain. We do not have the means of treating her here." The medic said as he waved over more medics to help him bandage up the woman and lay springs to those bones which were broken. "Very well." Jecht stood up and watched as the doctors moved the girl on to a stretcher, which was then set atop a special wheel wagon attached to one of the animal mounts. Half the medics left then and there, leaving only three left to deal with whoever might be trapped inside. The first ones were always the lucky ones.

[Nicky Raine]

As the Hatch to the ship was forced open smoke poured out from it's innards. The smell of fried wiring and burnt silicone felled the nostrils. Only an eerie silence came from inside the ship interrupted only occasional by the occasional hiss of busted wiring. It was dark inside requiring the excavators to have to bring in artificial light to see properly.

The inside was almost in worse shape then the outside. All the ships computer screens seemed to have been bust by the impact. Wiring was gutted from the ceiling, tools and paper and other parts scatter all across the floor. This YT-1200 corrielian knock off was never going to fly again the best one could for was a few good salvageable parts. There where no survivors other then the girl then again there was only one other body besides her own actually found on the wreckage. However quick study of the other male body on the ship quickly showed it had been dead for several days due to the long gash mark cut in his neck by a serrated blade.

Also to be found among the wreckage inside the ship was the cargo of Blastech blaster rifles. Rifles that where outlawed on most planets due to the firepower they packed in one punch. Each rifles serial number had been etched off but still on each rifle was a label that said property of the Imperial Army.

Towards the front cockpit which was totally smashed the built in flight recorder was still there. The recorder was in good condition and perhaps it might be able to shed some light on what this ship was doing on onderion.

----------------

Nicky shifted in and out of consciousness as the medics carried her back to the city only mumbling mostly incoherently. But there where a few decipherable words in her speech.

"Jason you Idiot.....Graves no more....Father I hate you....Not yet Allex....He is dead.....all alone now."

[Jecht Tar]

Jecht surveyed the inside of the ship himself, while the brigade tried to battle down the flames around them. He could feel the intense heat on his arms, he felt the hairs burning away, he felt skin singing, but he did not mind. The fires were not going to stop. A fuel line was broken and feeding the flames. They needed to abandon ship. The corpse was taken out, as was the cargo of blasters, and everything else of value. Right before they left the ship, Jecht ejected the flight recorder and took it with him. An action most of the men with him would be incapable of doing. They were not unintelligent, it was simply that technology on Onderon was not the greatest, and they were unfamiliar with starships in general. Jecht, however, was not from Onderon. He was from Ord Mantell, not that anyone here on Onderon knew of his past. And he intended to keep it that one. His past was his own affair.

The fire team remained behind to keep the fire contained while several of the gaurdsmen were employed to cut back the brush in the case that the fire escaped. Jecht took the corpse and the flight recorder, loaded them the back of his Boma beast, and along with three other guardsmen, headed back toward Iziz. He had other business to attend to.

Later

Jecht watched from the corner was the girl was operated on. Her wounds cleaned and bandaged, her body washed, and then clothed in fresh clothes. She was placed in a resting room until she awoke. Normally such injuries warranted bed rest in a hospital room, but Jecht had things to discuss with this woman before the doctors could be allowed to put her into an induced coma-like sleep to heal from the burns. Instead, she was simply filled with painkillers to keep the pain away. Jecht had questions, questions that could not be answered because he had no way to read the flight recorder unless the necessary bits of her ship survived the fire, and the chances of those were few.

[Nicky Raine]

Nicky's eyes blinked open into the blinding light. The mind was unaware of the pain at first but as it reached conscious state it felt the full brunt of the pain that had been inflicted on the body. Nicky screwed out at first.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

Then the mind began to come itself as the drugs kicked in to alleviate the pain. Her mind was jumbled mess as the drugs affected her thought process and the pain that still lingered didn't help. She wasn't aware of where she was or how she got there confusion settled in then thoughts that this might be her purgatory.

"Wh..where am I?"

[Jecht Tar]

"Iziz city, on the planet Onderon," Jecht replied as he watched the woman from his position leaning against the wall. He nodded to the doctor, who walked out of the room, passing by Jecht in the process. While Jecht and the Onderon doctor looked similar, the differences could be seen easily. Onderons have dark skin, but Jecht's was a bit darker, and his hair, dark and curly, rivaled the Onderon straight hair. Why? Because he was not from Onderon, but no one had ever stopped to really asked where he had come from, and if they had, he would have lied his way out of it. He had mysteriously shown up in Iziz, but had enlisted in it's military to hide himself.

Now he was here, ready to interrogate physically injured woman. He could only hope that her mind was not dulled by the medication and pain.

"I am Jecht Tar, captain of the royal guards of Onderon," He said, patting the red sash that circled his waist. It was informally become a symbol of his position. The blood red cloth stood out among his clothing of brown leather and cloth. "I am curious as to the nature of your crash landing here on Onderon, as I am also curious as to the corpse and blaster weapons we found in the cargohold of your ship. Could you be as kind as to clear up these matters for me?" He spoke slow and gently, yet there was a sharpness hidden within his words. Like a knife hidden within a pillow.

[Nicky Raine]

"Iziz city? Onderon?"

Nicky had never heard of place before. Although this really shouldn't have come as a surprise since her Uncle use to tell her the Galaxy was a big place and there where thousands of hiding place to run to where no one could ever find you again.

"You don't look like an Imperial Royal Guard?."

Nicky tried to position herself so she could sit up a bit not realizing the extent of her injuries. She winced horribly in pain and fell back down to the laying position.

"In fact to me you sound more like an Imperial Integrator. I won't tell you anything I Know my rights as an Imperial citizen."

[Jecht Tar]

"That is because I am not an Imperial Royal Guard. Onderon is not an Imperial controlled planet. I serve only the Queen of Onderon. You are correct, though, I am something of an interogator, but do not expect me to stick any needles under your nails. We are not barbarians. As far as your rights as an Imperial Citizen, you lost those the moment you exited Imperial controlled space and since you are not a citizen of Onderon, you have no rights. Now, would you care to answer my previous question?"

He was not a harsh man. He would not torture any answers from this woman, nor would he punish her. She had committed to crimes, save for landing on Onderon without permission, but that can hardly be pinned due to the nature of the planet and it's government situation. She was just lucky that he got to her before the Mandalorians did. He could almost shudder at the thought of what Legion would do to this starfallen damsel.

[Nicky Raine]

"Queen of Onderon? So you are a planet full of rebels trying to claim your independence from The Imperials then?"

In truth this could only be expected since they where very few rebel controlled planets. Oddly though most rebel planets operated under a bit of the Imperial law so not to draw to much attention to themselves. It seemed to Nicky this Onderion didn't follow the normal rebel code of conduct. She shifted uncomfortably again.

"As for the nature of my crash well it's a machine. Machine's malfunction and such Machine's like a ship when they malfunction have a tendency to crash. Find a ship mechanic or something they would have a better know as to what went wrong with my ship then I would. I just know how to fly one is all."

There was a hint of anger in her voice. Mainly due to here mass confusion about where she. Also due to the fact that this intergator must not have been a good one because well he didn't even try to figure out what went wrong before try to ask her. Rule number one of intergation she learned from her father learn all you can before you ask the first question. So it left a question why did he not have a mechanic look over the ship first because that would have answered his first question with out having to ask it? Since Nicky knew nothing mechanically about a ship she could not answer such a question unless she lied.

[Jecht Tar]

Jecht chuckled, but it was a short, dry chuckle that indicated an absence of humor.

"No, not rebels. We here on Onderon possess a royal family not unlike those found on many other planets. We are not fighting for our intependence, there is nothing here the Empire wants. Onderon is a forested wilderness filled with deadly animals and only a single city. Plus the threats of the Mandalorians on our surface and moon are too much for the Empire to deal with. So, unwanted, we are left alone. We are not rebels, we are simply free people who live our own lives. Our Queen rules us, and that is sufficient.

We have mechanics and engineers already looking into your ship and the interspace 'Black Box' nav recorder. The truth will be known soon enough, but I do not trust these machines to hold the answers I desire. Machines are too easily twisted and broken, and rewritten to decieve. I would much rather get the answers from the only survivor of the crash. You.

You are in no danger, you are not a prisoner. All I want is the answers to the problems you have dropped into our laps by the crashing of your ship. I will not force the answers from you, but I can say that you will get off this planet faster if you cooperate."

[Nicky Raine]

"The Mandalorians?"

Nicky spoke with surprise in her voice. There weren't many true blood mandolorians left in the galaxy. The only reason Nicky knew anything about them was through her teaching of history in school. The mandalorian war was nothing but a blip in the galatic history books. Yet still in her the books she learned from there where almost none of them left.

"The Imperial war machine afraid of an almost exstinct race of humans not likely. I would go more with this planet isn't worth taking. Wich makes it a good place to hide."

She might have let to much slip with that last comment but she couldn't take it back now. She was indeed looking for a place to hide and keep away from the prying eye's of the empire.

"I will co-operate and give you the answers you desire if and only if I can be granted citizenship here? As a sign of good faith my name is Nicky Mc...er Raine, Nicky raine."