I Bet My Life

Seventeen: Round and Round

"What?"

"The Black Sun just formed an alliance with the Hutt cartel. Their forces just arrived earlier than expected and they're willing to kill anyone who gets in their way."

"He's here. I can sense it."

"Who?"

"It's not important. I'll tell everyone to get going."

"Thank you. I'll send you the garage number for the ship leaving. My friend Imran has a cargo ship and is willing to transport anyone off-world."

"Alright. Stay safe, Ry'Anne."

"You too, kiddo."

Reva turned off the hologram projector, sliding into her belt pocket. He put the palm of her left hand to her forehead. She had been feeling uneasy the past couple of days, and she wasn't wrong. In all honesty, she wasn't expecting Maul to arrive here so soon, and she really didn't think that he'd bring the Black Sun along with him. She had to find Obi-Wan and Cody. The pair had decided to search for a Jawa sandcrawler nearby to get new parts for the vaporizer, which wasn't too far from the home, but it just meant that she was in charge of Luke and Leia until then. This wasn't good by any means. Suddenly, she felt a light tug on her pant leg. It was Luke, his small blue eyes looking worriedly at Reva. He might be the quieter of the twins, but he definitely had a more heightened sense of his surroundings and the people in it. He would whisper to himself or to someone he knew something he picked up on, whether it was a Force insight he felt or just a careful observation the young child made. Reva crouched down to his level, awaiting what he had to say,

"Re-Re... I have a bad feeling..."

"You're not the only one, bud."

"What's happening?"

"Go find Leia. Tell her to pack up her belongings. I'm going to call Dad and Papa and let them know the situation."

"I'm scared, Reva."

"I know, bud. I'm scared too, but we need to leave."

Luke went quiet, but his emotions were clear. He was confused, but even Reva wasn't sure how to explain the situation to a five year old. The boy looked up at the teen, his eyes watering. Reva knew that Cody and Obi-Wan prayed that this day wouldn't have to come, but here they were on that dreaded day. She picked up Luke, allowing for his head to bury itself into her shoulder to soak up the tears of worry and confusion. She began to walk down the hall towards the room shared between the three of them, preparing herself to tell Leia to get ready to leave the only home the twins ever knew.

Ry'Anne and Imran ran for what felt like hours, both of them out of breath by the time they reached the door for the hangar bay of Imran's cargo ship. Upon stopping, Ry'Anne spoke raspily while Imran hit the call button,

"Wait... You... You don't own the hangar?"

"Are you kidding? The rates on Tatooine are outrageous... I worked out an agreement with a local mechanic."