The Unchronicled Adventures of Ahsoka Tano, Book Eight

Chapter Fifty-Two: Radioactive

LUX BONTERI

Lux pelted down the hallway, then whipped around a corner. He arrived at the outermost layer of the ship's reactor core within minutes, a little out of breath and his body on autopilot. His mind was racing too fast for the rest of him to keep up, therefore he handed control over to his subconscious self.

Calling up what Saw had told them on their tour of the base, he looked over the core's layout in his mind's eye. This was an earlier version of the now-common Imperial Star Destroyer that everyone had come to know and fear, and therefore had a different design than most Imperial ships, but it wasn't too difficult to understand.

As far as he knew, there were three layers to it. The innermost one was where the main reactor was, and it was huge. One needed a lot of space for the reactors that powered the entire ship. The next one served as emergency containment in case there was a breach, but was only fifty percent effective if the locking mechanism hadn't been activated.

"Which is exactly what I'm setting out to do," Lux said to himself, as he took off his big coat and snow pants so that he could fit into the pressurized life support suits that would keep out any leaked radiation. It actually looked a little like a flight suit. He put the large helmet and air supply on, and then pulled on the gloves and boots, making sure that there was nothing wrong with the seals.

Then he crossed into the third and final layer, which was a decontaminator for the people who went in and out of the reactor area. There wasn't much time.

He ran down a walkway high above the reaction generators and over to the keypad. Thankfully, it bore resemblance to his computers back on Cialone, and he had a basic understanding of the interface. He tried turned on the systems that would initiate the decontamination sequence, but his efforts were rewarded by a dull beep and a flashing screen that read:

PLEASE ENTER SECURITY CLEARANCE CODE FOUR.

"Damn!" he hissed. "What could it be?"

Lux then tried several combinations, but none of them worked. After the tenth try, the screen informed him that he had five minutes to enter the correct password, or an automatic shutdown would begin.

Suddenly, with his limited Force-sensitivity, he felt another presence in the room. His eyes widened. He jumped to the side just in time to avoid a red lightsaber and its owner coming down on him.

But, sadly, he didn't move in time to get part of the sleeve on his bulky suit out of the way. With the containment breached, the radioactive particles rushed inside. He could practically feel his skin soaking all of the lethal stuff up.

Jumping to the other side of the circular platform that overlooked the reactors, the Sith missed hitting Lux again by a margin too close for comfort. Lux took off the helmet on his suit. It was too late for it to do any good now.

He looked at his attacker, and his attacker looked at him. There was a moment of perfect silence and stillness, before the Sith disciple rushed him again.

He darted underneath the incoming blade, amazed at how quietly his opponent moved. If he had known less about the nature of a planet's gravity, he would have thought that the man walked half an inch above the ground. He dodged another blow, this time jumping up as the Sith went for his legs. He was beginning to feel dizzy from the radiation poisoning, but he couldn't let it affect him. Otherwise the fight would be lost before it began in earnest.

Lux used the Force to jump over his adversary, using the momentary distraction to unzip his suit partway to get his vibroblade out of his sweater. He had his blasters as well, but he couldn't risk using anything that would emit an electromagnetic pulse; rhydonium wasn't entirely stable in a gaseous form, and a pulse like that created a possibility of making it blow up.

He was starting to regret having given his lightsaber to Jani. Lightsabers didn't emit an electromagnetic pulse of any kind that could be a danger.

But, as the situation was far from ideal, he did the only thing he could. He continued fighting. He dodged and weaved around, over and below the crimson lightsaber, taking care not to get too close to the Sith disciple to get kicked or hit. But there was one thing that Lux couldn't avoid: the Darksider's use of the Force.

A variety of blows from an unseen source were pummeling him, and if there had been things other than the controls – which were too well attached to be worth the trouble – to throw at him, then he could easily be pushed off the platform.

He danced towards the edge of the platform, catching himself just before he took a step too far. But, as if reading his earlier thoughts, his assailant suddenly hit him with the most intense Force blow that he had ever felt. He stumbled, tripped...

And fell.

*Lux now finds himself in terrible danger, both from radiation exposure and one of the Sith disciples, who is apparently trying to blow up the entire Rebel base. Will he succeed in his mission? Or will he waste away from the effects of the radiation? Will the others reach him in time to assist him? Or does Lux Bonteri stand alone? You'll find out in the next thrilling chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano!

If anyone's feels died with that last line of the chapter... Sorry :)

OMG TODAY IS THE DAAAAAYYYYY STAR WARS REBELS SEASON 2 IS COMIIIIIINNNGGGG!!!!! * fangirl shriek* I ABSOLUTELY CAN'T WAIT!!!! AHSOKA IS GONNA BE BACK AND I CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO START BOOK NINE!!!!!!!!!!!! *arms flail wildly*

Okay, fangirling fit over. I'm going to work on the next chapter... FINALLY I can use this part I've been planning since the beginning of book!!! So excited! Bye!

Become a Jedi like your father before you and may the Force be with you,

Sharron