Rebels on the Run

Chapter Four

The sun burns against your back as you squint to block out the sand blowing in your direction. A lot has been happening at the Imperial base today, and although it's time to start heading back, you can't manage to get yourself to budge. Something important could be happening, and you need to make sure you find out everything that you can. The only issue with staying is Howzer.

You have no way to contact him and ensure that you are alright. All that you can do is hope that he doesn't get the urge to set out and start looking for you himself. You're always back on time, you make sure of it, so only the Maker knows what he's going to be thinking when you're late.

"Shit," you mutter to yourself as you watch a patrol group head out. If they spot you, it's all over. Your hiding and surviving will have been for nothing, and you can't let that happen. "I really am going to regret this," you sigh quietly before holding your arm out. The sand under your speeder begins to shake, and you watch as it disappears below the sediment. Before you make your next move, you scan the area to see where the troops have gone. "Just like I thought," you mumble, noticing them beginning to sweep a wide arc in your direction. You quickly place your palms on the ground, focusing on burying yourself in the gritty sand, leaving only a small pocket for you to breathe in.

Silently, you wait to hear the sounds of their speeders go by, but as soon as they get close, they start to slow down. Panic sets in as you fear that a gust of wind might have uncovered your own speeder, but it isn't possible with how far you'd buried it. Maybe they had seen you, and were about to uncover you-

"Just hurry up, Derrik. I don't want to be reprimanded for being slower than those clones."

"Oh relax, Scill. There's no way we could be slower than those tube worms."

"Yeah, but still. We're already doing this because we got in trouble, and I don't want to get in any more."

"Alright, alright, I'm done anyway. Just let me zip up my pants and we can be off again."

It takes a lot of self control not to reveal yourself and attack those troopers. You know the Empire is switching to nat-born soldiers, but to hear them talking so horribly about the clones makes your blood boil. But your safety is also a concern, and if you harm them, that could be all that's needed to hunt you down.

"I wonder if we could get them to send us out to hunt for that Jedi and clone Captain."

"What? Who are you talking about?"

"That one Jedi, it was a woman. General of the 17th battalion, I think. They found her wreck site but there was no body. She's gotta have escaped."

"There's no way she survived, I was there in the crew who found the ship. Some scavenger probably took her body."

"But none of the ship's parts?"

"Look, Derrik, I don't know. All I know is that we need to get going."

"The clone captain was Captain Howzer. He was a close friend of General Syndulla's. I wonder if some of the Twi'leks helped him. Or if he's with the Jedi."

"It doesn't matter, it's not our paygrade, anyway. Now let's go before we get in more trouble."

When you're sure that they've gone far enough, you bring the sand down around you and unbury yourself, doing the same with your speeder. You grimace as you look at your clothes, feeling the grit in your boots as well. "I don't like sand," you mutter, "It's coarse, and rough, and irritating," you continue to rant as you climb onto your speeder and start to head home, "and it gets everywhere. Especially here. I can't imagine living on Tatooine." When the words fall out, you feel a pang in your chest. You glance to the sky, watching as the stars begin to appear. "I'm sorry we failed you, Anakin," you mumble to the darkness. "I wish we could have brought you home."