Bounty hunting is a complicated profession

Silver lining

Hope and joy filled you. Din was not only safe but also had reinforcements – although you had no idea who the man in black or the unseen sniper were, not that it mattered as long as they were allies – and at this rate they'd take care of the troopers in no time. You looked triumphantly at Moff Gideon but found him with quite a calm expression on his face, not at all as distressed as you had expected given the situation.

"Don't look so happy." He said condescendingly while grabbing your arm and pulling you away from the window. "Soldiers are expendable and by the time your friends make it here, we'll be long gone."

"Let go of me!" You yelled, struggling and trying to make him release his grip on you.

"Enough!" He snapped, grabbing you by both arms with unexpected force and shaking you violently, his fingers squeezing you so hard you knew you were bruising already. "I've told you before girl, I act on my own self-interest and I don't give a damn about your well-being! Do as I say or you'll suffer the consequences." He added in a soft yet terrifying tone that sent a chill down your spine. "Now, MOVE!"

He pushed you forward, making you almost fall down when a trooper grabbed you, handcuffed your hands behind your back, and along with another one, dragged you away – your feet barely touching the ground – while Moff Gideon followed right behind you. He was giving orders to the rest of the soldiers, looking calm and collected as if there was no imminent danger, as if the base wasn't about to blow up or they weren't being attacked. Without your powers you couldn't tell if he was truly feeling that confident or if it was just a façade.

"Follow us with the Tie Fighters, I don't want any setbacks."

As you processed that sentence and what it implied, a door slid open and you found yourself inside a docking bay and in front of an Imperial shuttle. You fought against the troopers who were dragging you inside the shuttle to no avail as they forced you to sit down and fastened you to the seat.

"Don't make me repeat myself." Moff Gideon warned you as he entered the shuttle and sat down in the seat in front of yours.

The Imperial officers who had ignored you until then all saluted him and, as he gave the order, the ship took off. As much as you fought against your restraints there was nothing you could do to free yourself and the ship was slowly gaining altitude. You knew that as soon as you were outside the planet's atmosphere you would be able to make the jump to hyperspace and there would be no way for Din to find you, but you couldn't think of anything to do to stop that from happening.

You felt useless without your powers and despair filled you as your eyes welled up with tears of frustration and anger. How could this have happened? Just a few hours ago you were alone in a room with Din, peacefully enjoying each other. Now, all of that seemed so far away. Kriff! This was supposed to be an easy thing, an empty base, in and out. How had it come to this?

"We're being followed, Sir." The pilot informed calmly.

"Follow the planned course and jump to hyperspace as soon as you can. The Ties will take care of them."

From where you were seated it was hard to see much, but you managed to catch a few glimpses of blasters being fired. Was Din following you? If he had managed to get his jetpack back, he could have made it back to the Crest and catch up with you. That thought lit a little spark of hope in your chest.

As you craned your neck in an attempt to see something more through the window, one of the Tie Fighters flew past you – missing you by a hair's breadth – with smoke coming out of it while it spun out of control.

"Stay on course." Moff Gideon ordered when the ship jolted as if you had been hit.

The only way to stop the shuttle without killing you all would be damaging it enough so it couldn't make the jump to hyperspace but, unlike the Tie Fighters, the shuttle had built in shields and it would take a big amount of firepower to damage it. Unfortunately for you, the other Tie Fighters seemed to be keeping up against the attacker because you had only been hit twice more when the pilot announced that you were almost ready to make the jump.