Near the asteroid belt outside the third planet of the Valk System, Jedi Knight Barloi and his troops arrived at the source of the signal aboard an Aquitenes-class light cruiser.
"General, the signal source is intermittent and appears to be weakening," a technical trooper said. "It has been confirmed as a severely damaged mining vessel. The ship has already been captured by the planet's gravity and is expected to crash onto the planet in 51 standard hours."
Barloi looked at the image of the vessel displayed on the screen. It was a mining ship manufactured by the Corellia Engineering Company. The database showed that it was a model from more than two thousand years ago, and judging by its external registration number, this particular vessel was already more than 560 years old.
The ship was roughly four hundred meters long, with an enormous cargo hold and three groups of mining equipment. It could accommodate more than a thousand crew members and 250,000 tons of cargo.
But the ship now displayed on the screen had suffered massive damage. In particular, a huge hole had been blasted through its midsection by something, while countless fragments slowly drifted around it. Its antigravity and stabilization systems had likely been damaged as well, leaving it floating at a crooked angle.
"General, scans show between five and thirteen life signs aboard. The ship's internal situation is too complex for the data to be accurate. In addition, the life-support system is leaking oxygen. Those survivors likely do not have much time left," the Clone Trooper Commander said as he walked over.
"Let's board and take a look. Hopefully, we can get some clues about the invaders from those survivors. We can't fight shadows. We have to drag these things into the light!" Barloi said firmly.
He put