The in Between || A Star Wars Story

Chapter 15 - Altar of Mortis

Kennedy and Obi-Wan sat in the cockpit, pressing buttons as they flew off of the strange planet they had spent the night on. Thunder and lightning cracked around the ship and it was taking them extreme focus just to get out of the atmosphere. Ahsoka went to the back to check on something while Anakin laid on a bed nearby, tossing and turning.

Anakin's moans and mumbles crescendo before he jerked awake with a gasp.

Ahsoka went over and sat next to him, "Were you having a nightmare?"

He groaned softly, cupping his forehead in his palm, "Something like that."

The ship rattled and Anakin and Ahsoka lost their balance with the shift of the ship. "If you're done napping, we could use a little help here," Obi-Wan called over his shoulder. Kennedy was still trying her best to keep the ship steady.

"I'm coming." Before Anakin could stumble through the cockpit threshold, Ahsoka gasped and grunted, and his head slowly turned to see the Son with Ahsoka in his grasp. The cockpit door shut behind him and Kennedy and Obi-Wan continue focusing on flying, blissfully unaware of the trouble happening behind the closed doors.

Just a minute later, the doors reopened again to a panicked Anakin.

"What's going on?" Obi-Wan didn't break his attention away from the open planet in front of them.

"The Son took Ahsoka." His face was void of emotion as he was trying to process what had just unfolded in front of him behind those doors.

Kennedy blinked and whipped around, "What!?"

"What in the blazes are you talking about?" Obi-Wan finally broke his concentration and looked out to the room where Ahsoka had been just a minute or two ago. He was surprised to see no one there.

"Move. Let me fly." He shoved Kennedy out of the copilot seat.

Kennedy clicked her tongue, "Wha-" She exclaimed as she caught herself. But Anakin paid no attention to her and took over control of the ship. Obi-Wan was just as dumbfounded as Kennedy.

The ship jerked back toward the planet and Kennedy stumbled back into the seat behind Anakin, trying not to fall on her face from his erratic piloting.

Unsurprisingly, the Son in his large bat form came into view past the cockpit windows and Anakin's face twisted with malice as he gave chase after him. The planet was foggy so Kennedy couldn't see that far out in front of them, the Son just barely in view. Anakin weaved through tall pillars of rock with complete disregard for anyone's safety. Kennedy and Obi-Wan watched the Son weave through the pillars while trying to stay in their seats as best as they could until a green light seeped through the thick fog in the distance.

As they got closer, the outline of a tower came into view, the green orb balanced on top. But Anakin showed no intention of dodging it or slowing down, too focused on the Son in front of them.

Kennedy's eyes darted between the tower and Anakin as they got closer and closer. "Look out!" she shouted as anxiety filled her chest.

Obi-Wan took matters into his own hands and grabbed the controls, veering them out of the way of the tower just in the nick of time. With his sights still set on the Son, Anakin jerked the ship back but as they both steered in different directions, the ship lost complete control and hurled into a nose dive.

Kennedy's head spun and she gripped the console next to her, bracing for the inevitable impact. With a loud and hard crash, the ship bounced multiple times and skidded to a stop. She shot out a breath of relief and rubbed the back of her neck, surprised she didn't get whiplash from Anakin's shenanigans.