Diaries of a Jedi Knight: Dark Forces part 12

The Executor loomed into view, the Super Star Destroyer blocking out the stars. The refuelling ship was swallowed inside, and the cargo was taken out. I remained hidden on the bridge, waiting for the Imperial troops to finish their work and grant an easier path for me. They worked quickly, and I soon realised why: there were troops massing outside the bridge, and they were placing mines against the doors.

I opened the door and hid around the corner, setting off the mine and blasting the Stormtrooper setting it against the wall. A hail of blaster fire rained through the door, so I equipped my thermal detonators and tossed a few through the door. The screams of the soldiers bled into the explosions, and I slipped out of the control room with my blaster drawn once they had subsided. The singed white armour clattered against my foot as I snuck down towards the cargo bay.

The dividing barriers were raised, Stormtroopers walking across the top. The two closest to me took aim, but I activated the lowering mechanism knocking them off balance and it took two clean shots to knock them off the barrier completely. I snuck through the rest of the cargo bay, arcing around the ship towards the Executor’s docking bay. The loading elevator took me up into the airlock where a few Officers were working at panels, and they didn’t notice me until it was far too late for them.

It was then that I heard the unmistakable sound of a metallic droid’s foot against the plastic floor. A Dark Trooper marched through the door, turning its head towards me. It raised a weapon-heavy arm and fired a rocket towards me, but I dived to the left behind a wall. Grabbing the assault cannon, I peered around the wall and opened fire. The barrage of plasma shots knocked the droid backwards, and while it was momentarily knocked off balance I fired a rocket back at it. The resulting explosion left the droid crumpled on the floor on top of a Stormtrooper.

The next room was a holding bay, but it was empty aside from the smoking droid body. I rode the elevator up and entered a shuttle bay; with TIE fighters swooping overhead I battled with the ground troops. They had a numbers advantage but I had explosions, and I was soon sprinting into a corridor straight into a squad of Stormtroopers. I drew out the mortar gun, and a single shell decimated the squad, taking out the Officer leading them too.

I stopped to quickly grab some ammunition, and then entered a circular room. Two displays on my right showed the skeletal outlines of three Dark Troopers and several camera positions for another large room. At the other side of the circular room was a large blast door, and swiping at the displays opened it. This led into the room on the displays - it was a training room of some kind.

A Dark Trooper stood inactive in the centre of the room, inside a dividing wall. As the blast door slid shut behind me, its eyes blinked on and it immediately took aim at me. A rocket was sent my way, and I dived into the sidings to avoid it. The Trooper’s heavy footsteps told me that it was moving towards me, and I prepared the assault cannon for another droid kill. Opening fire as soon as the mechanical menace was in sight, I landed a half dozen hits before it began to fire too. I rolled sideways behind cover, and snuck around to get more hits in. One shot burned through the droid’s head, and it crumpled to the floor.

I took a long breath in, and looked to the other end of the room. The door on the far side was shut, but that didn’t matter: two more Dark Troopers stepped out of the shadows either side of the door. Another long breath in, a quick rocket to the left and a lot of backpedaling. There was only one way through for the two heavy set droids, and that would be how I could win this day. I dropped a mine in the choke point, and ran back to cover.

The mine exploded, and one droid came flying out towards me. I fired another rocket and a barrage of plasma shots and it didn’t get back up again. Its friend didn’t fare too well after taking a direct rocket hit and it must have been closer to the mine - parts of its metallic body were melted and deformed. I could see parts of the skeletal face, and one of its eyes was flickering. It moved slowly towards me, unable to raise its weapon arm. I don’t doubt that a single strike from the other arm wouldn’t wound me severely. I almost felt sorry for it, seeing it limp like that, before remembering that it was only a droid. I executed it with a plasma blast.

The droid dropped to the floor, and it fired a rocket straight at the door, forcing it open. I walked along a corridor, taking out some probe droids and a couple Stormtroopers. A window looked out to space, where a cargo crane was holding a container. The machine was inactive, but the controls on the wall were easy enough to use. The cargo container began to move along the belt, and I followed it’s progress to the docking port through several doors and some Imperial Officers. None of them expected me to get this far, not past the Dark Troopers.

The container docked with the Executor, and I heard the airlock pressurize. I set the crane to depressurize the airlock and move the container to be loaded on the Arc Hammer with a timer, and ran for the container. It was empty inside, but airtight and lit - not the highest of comforts but enough for now. The door slid shut and pressurized, and as the crane moved the container shook slightly. Next stop: The Arc Hammer, and the end of my mission.