Clouded by the Dark Side

Chapter 42 - On The Run

Alema Syndula

The next evening, the four of us stay perched in the trees near the coastline, concealing ourselves as best we can.

"They'll be here soon," whispers Ahsoka suddenly.

"You can hear them already?" I ask. She nods.

Finally, from through the fog over the water, the lights of an approaching craft come into view.

"Get ready, we'll have to be swift," she warns.

Together, we take off, Ahsoka in the lead. She scrambles up a tree, Force-jumping off the top and lands gracefully on the window of the ship. I jump a little farther, landing atop the ship as do the other two younglings. Ahsoka climbs up the side onto the top, and we stand together watching as the door opens and one of the Trandoshans clamors out.

He raises his blaster, but I Force-shove it aside instantly. He lunges at us, only for Jinx and O'Mer to tackle him to the ground.

"We'll take the pilot!" Ahsoka shouts, running to the opening and jumping down. I follow without a moment's thought, leaving the boys to fight the other hunter alone. Together, we creep through the darkness. Just as we get into the main part of the ship, the pilot spins around, blaster in hand. He fires, and we each jump separately onto the sides. We jump at him again, throwing him back onto the control panel. I do my best to ignore that it starts sparking from the weight. I can feel the ship start spinning out of control, jerking as part of it breaks right off.

The hunter throws me back into the wall, my head crashing against some of the lighted controls. Stars swim in my vision, but I blink them away, jumping to the center of the room when he shoots at me. Ahsoka throws his blaster to the right, then the left. I stumble to my feet, throwing him hard enough for the viewport behind him to shatter, and he falls through. His body slumps motionless onto the outside of the ship.

We run forwards to the controls. "There's nothing left of this thing," I grumble, scanning it desperately. We came here to get the prisoners out, but it doesn't even seem that's possible anymore. The ship is in shambles.

"Get out of there, come on!" Jinx shouts suddenly, landing on the front of the ship just in sight of what was formerly the window.

"But the prisoners! They'll die!" Ahsoka yells back.

"We can't just leave them here!" I protest.

"Hit the release, hurry! There's nothing else we can do!" he calls back. Ahsoka slams her hand down on the controls and jumps through the opening, me right behind. The four of us jump to the ground below as the ship crashes just safely away from us.

"Well, I guess we won't be escaping on that ship," Jinx mutters, standing up.

"Don't worry, we'll find another way," Ahsoka assures him.

"We've proved ourselves and them that we can fight," I add. I'm just afraid that might have made them more on edge, to pay closer attention to us now that they know we're fighting back. Even so, there might be something from the ship we can salvage. Maybe.

A sudden rustling sound pierces through my thoughts, followed by a howl.

"What was that?!" hisses O'Mer.

"A survivor," Ahsoka replies, running forwards towards the source of the noise. I can see a dark figure moving through the shadows. It's not one of the Trandoshans, I know that much. It's too dark, even through the shadows of night.

"Probably one of the prisoners," I suggest, "Maybe one of them survived the landing."

The four of us run forwards, stopping a safe distance away just in case its unfriendly. Suddenly, the dark figure crawls out from beneath the ship and stands at its full height.