Diaries of a Jedi Knight: Dark Forces part 11

The nava card wasn’t the good news we had been hoping for. The smuggling route didn’t lead to the Arc Hammer, but instead to the Executor - Vader’s ship. The Arc Hammer never stayed in the same place for very long and the only place in the galaxy that knew where it would be was the Executor, so we had no choice. Vader’s flagship is known to be restocked from Fuel Station Ergo and it was decided that our best bet for infiltrating the biggest Star Destroyer ever constructed would be through there.

Jan landed the Crow under the guise of the smuggling ring, and we said our goodbyes - I wouldn’t see her again until the end. I entered the outer ring of the station, stealthily killing the Imperial troops on board. I looked out of the window and saw the cargo ship I needed to hijack. It was docked on the other side of the station - the pathways would need to be moved to give me access. I headed down towards the central ring and pulled out the repeater - this would be one hell of a firefight.

The door slid open and I was greeted by very confused Stormtroopers. I knocked out half of them before the rest could aim their blasters - an energy canister behind the remaining soldiers exploded, blowing them far against the wall. This place was littered with both soldiers and energy canisters, so I would desperately need to watch my shots or be blown up myself. I moved around the ring, and entered the central room on one corner of the station.

I had entered a large rotating room with only one access point. It looked like it was designed for multiple people to operate at once, but I’ve used more complicated systems since I started chasing the Dark Trooper project. The first switch was on the ground below the south-west column, and I broke into a sprint as I pulled it. Jumping on the elevator back up, I leapt across from and just landed on the platform as it slowly swung to the south-west.

There was another switch on the wall in front of me as the platform reached the column. I flicked it and the room began to rotate around back towards the south east. I jumped back on and rode it past where I had entered and towards the north east. The north-east corridor was well guarded, with a squad of Stormtroopers hiding in the circular corridor. They stood so close to each other that a single thermal detonator took them all out, the small explosion also revealing a hidden armory. I restocked, then returned to the platform and activated the last switch.

This took me to the north west corridor, which led up towards the control room. Taking the elevator up, I was greeted by a half dozen soldiers who were completely unaware that galactic criminal Kyle Katarn was murdering his way through their space station. With a few more kills added to my wanted poster, I moved the boarding platform to the refuelling Imperial ship that was due to leave for the Executor shortly. Satisfied with my work, I walked back into the inner ring and headed up towards the other docking port.

There was an elevator at the top of the stairs which took me down to the boarding corridor, and the airlock at the end opened up granting me access to the cargo ship. There were only a few thugs on board, and a single Imperial Officer who had the key to the bridge. I punched him through a door, took the key and headed straight to the bridge. I then radioed Jan to let her know the mission was successful so far, and that I would be leaving Ergo shortly.

Staring out into the inky blackness of space, I had plenty of time to think back on the events that had led me there. I hadn’t been particularly stealthy, and I doubt it would take long for my exploits on Ergo to reach Mohc. The closer I got to him, the more I telegraphed my movements.