Serran

Chapter 16: A Trooper Gone Rogue

Atrus Coomes sat crosslegged on his cot in the barracks. He had his white and orange helmet sitting in front of him. The mission had been a success in the Republic's eyes; all the terrorists were imprisoned and were being held a trial for their crimes against the Republic. In his eyes though, the mission had failed.

Every person in his squad had died. Three of them had been killed without knowing where the terrorists were and the other had died fighting with his all.

"Sher Stasyen, Zeke Poore, Zephyr Espolin, and Min Beyk. I swear that I will avenge your deaths. The republic we fought for doesn't care about its soldiers dying so I'm..." He paused, making sure that his decision was the right one. "I'm going to leave. I will find a way to avenge all of you. I'm leaving the republic once and for all." He finished saying to himself.

Atrus stepped off of the cot and picked up a large backpack from under the cot. He stuffed as many things as he could into it which included clothes, a com, a holo, his military blaster, and a pouch of credits. He made sure to wear something blank and basic to not draw attention to himself.

He zipped up the backpack and put it on. He sighed. He wouldn't be able to show his face to the republic anymore. To anyone, really. His desertion would make him live a life in the shadows and he was fine with that.

He felt a hand being placed on his shoulder. He jumped back and blocked his head with his arms. He saw that it was Snyder.

"What are you doing up so late?" Snyder asked.

Atrus looked at the floor. "I'm leaving." He whispered. Out of everyone in the barracks, he knew that Snyder would understand his reasons the most. "Sorry." He added.

Snyder nodded his head. "I see why. Be safe out there, man." He approved. Atrus turned to leave but Snyder stopped him. "Stay out of trouble. I heard that a Sith was captured a few days ago and was being transferred to a high-security prison here on Coruscant."

"Just get to the point, I don't have that much time," Atrus argued.

Snyder glanced around himself. "The ship transporting the Sith didn't arrive on schedule. They haven't arrived at all and no one can get through to the pilot."

"Wait, what you're saying is-"

"Yeah." Snyder interrupted. "The Sith probably escaped and killed everyone on board. It seems like he has it out for the republic. So, I just wanted to warn you about that." He finished.

Atrus nodded. "See ya." He finally said, leaving the barracks and his whole life's purpose behind him.

This would mark the start of a new life for him. He needed to get off Coruscant and find a new job as soon as he could.

~

Serran sat on a cot in the medical room on the ship he had taken control of. He had spent the last couple of days drifting in the middle of space. During that time, he had been focusing on healing himself and regaining his strength.

Right now, he wanted nothing more than to kill. The action of taking one's life felt delightful and strengthening to him. It was weird. He was never like this before being his late master's pupil. Sure, he didn't mind killing before now but now he fed off of it. He needed to kill as if he were some sort of wild beast.

He ignored his bloodlust and let the medical droid finish examining him. He had been severely wounded in the fights before. He had been shot in his thigh, shot in the shoulder, his cheek and upper lip had been sliced almost completely through, and the stab wound in his stomach had opened up. Now though, thanks to the bacta tank, he was almost completely healed back to the way he had been before. He only had a few scars to prove that he had fought.

"You have no other major injuries that need to be tended to. Be sure to rest carefully and do not put pressure on your body." The medical droid informed. Serran stood up and grabbed his dark blue shirt and black cloak and put them back on and over his thin, pale body.

He exited the room and headed to the cockpit. He had gotten rid of all the bodies that littered the halls and had discarded them into the vacuum of space the day before. Even though the bodies were gone, the stench of the corpses still lingered in the air.

Once in the cockpit, he noticed that the ship had started drifting into an asteroid belt. The asteroids were small but large enough to cause lots of damage.

Serran marched to the pilot's chair and quickly sat down. He examined the area in front of him. Tons of asteroids blocked the exits out. He was trapped. He looked down at the panel in front of him. There were multiple buttons and levers that he didn't know how to operate.

He reached out with the force and let it guide him. He felt the familiar feeling course through him and guide his movements. He pushed multiple white buttons and felt the ship shake and start to move quickly. He pulled a lever to his right and the ship moved upward. He flew the ship in between asteroids and dodged and weaved through the large rocks.

He wasn't a trained pilot though. As he was attempting to exit the asteroid belt, one of the asteroids slammed into the side of the ship, taking out an engine and making a door into the vacuum of space. He reached out a hand behind him and sealed the cockpit shut. The ship automatically shut off all entries to the opening in the ship.

He was truly trapped now. The ship was barely functional anymore and his escape had disappeared. His method of survival had disappeared and there was nothing that he could do.

He noticed a red button off to the side. He figured that it would send out a distress signal. His only choices were to die in the middle of space or potentially get captured again and have to make another escape. Survival or death?

He hit the button and sent out a distress signal. Soon after he hit the button, alarms started going off throughout the ship. The lights flashed their red glow. "Oxygen depleting. Exit the cruiser immediately. Oxygen depleting. Exit the cruiser immediately." A robotic voice repeated over the coms.

Serran didn't have long. All he could hope for was a ship to see his distress signal. It was starting to feel slightly harder to breathe. Everything was going awfully.

"You laserbrain." Serran cursed at himself. He lowered himself onto the floor and crossed his legs. He took several deep breaths and closed his eyes. He completely opened himself up to the force and reached out with it. He searched for anyone nearby to help him.

"Notice the distress signal," He mumbled. It was getting harder to breathe with each breath. If he waited any longer then he would certainly suffocate. With a final push of the force, he reached someone. He didn't know who but he knew for certain that he had reached someone.

He opened his eyes to a blurry and dizzy world. His lungs refused to take in any air and his eyes were pulsing with red veins desperately needing oxygen to flow through them.

He didn't fight this feeling though. He already knew that someone was coming to save him from his demise. The strength to stay awake left his body and he collapsed onto the floor. Soon enough, he would be saved.

~

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Author Note: There will be no chapter update next week due to a delay in writing the chapter. See you in two weeks!