The cold was a ravaging beast. It started off at the periphery, but invaded inexorably until it demanded my full attention. An observer would have been able to see plumes from my breath coming quickly as the oxygen levels were dangerously low. Glancing about the escape pod, most of my podmates had already drifted off, the hypoxia claiming them. Outside the window a Republic cruiser was coming apart as the gravitational tides of the system's neutron star pulled on its damaged skin, pulling men, droids and metal into an inevitable death spiral. The Sith destroyer lay dark opposite the cruiser, the hull fatally punctured in multiple locations. A debris cloud orbited the dead ship slowly. One could make out distress beacons of other escape pods that still had some juice in their reactors. They still had heat. And oxygen scrubbers.

The chance encounter surprise both parties. On the cruiser I can only imagine that pandemonium reigned as the destroyer dropped out of hyperspace right on top of them. Hasty, angry words were no doubt communicated between the two vessels before a nervous gunner on… well, one of the ships, which doesn't really matter now, accidentally opened fire. In the end, both ships ended up incapacitating the other, forcing everybody to head to the escape pods. Only, many of the pods fired off in the wrong direction, and were unfortunately unable to escape the gravity well of the neutron star. The rest of us have been floating, slowly beginning to freeze, for the past week. The end can't be far off now as the oxygen is insufficient to make it too many more hours.

I'd been making my way towards Darth Maltrix. Somehow I know that he (she?) is the one responsible for my parent's demise before the invasion commenced. Somewhere in the uncharted reaches of space they'd found him/her preparing for the invasion. Sith efficiency dictated that they be disposed of for fear of them revealing the coming onslaught. This of course kicked off the chain of events that had me placed in the custody of the Jedi temple, and in many ways shaped my life. I guess the war shaped a lot of people in ways nobody forsaw.

Luckily, the same Sith efficiency also allowed me to find Darth Maltrix, and work my way onto their destroyer. So close to resolving my quest, a quirk of fate interrupts. The force was clearly not with me, and it didn't make me strong enough. In the end, they're both wrong.

Luckily, it doesn't feel so cold anymore. I feel… almost warm.