Elayne Starwind - Padawan of Ashoka

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Sabine's yells in my ear didn't help with the nerves at all.

"It's the kid!" She exclaimed, frustrated. "He turned you in! Why'd you confess like that?"

"I didn't confess!" I defended angrily.

"Oh yeah?" Sabine asked. "What do you call screwing up our mission then, huh?"

I bit my tongue before I could say something rude I couldn't take back.

"Just tell me what to do," I said, chancing a glance around the corner. "The troopers are getting closer!"

"You're gonna have to fight through them," Sabine said.

I was about to remind her of the fifty trained troopers ahead of me when, from the other side of the hall, a single stormtrooper came running in, holding a blaster in his hands. He looked small. Maybe a newbie. I couldn't take down an army of troopers, but I probably could take down one inexperienced kid.

The trooper saw me and immediately held his blaster up to face me. I tackled him before he could shoot and yanked his helmet off.

"Hey-" The kid pushed me back and tried to reach for his blaster, but I kicked it away from him and fit his helmet onto my head just before the other stormtroopers rounded the corner.

"Hey, you!" One of the troopers said and pointed to me and the other boy. "What are you two doing?"

"Help, officer! This kid is an imposter!" I yelled. "He tried to take my armor and disguise himself as one of us!"

I thought the older trooper wouldn't buy it since the boy was still dressed in most of the armor, but thankfully he did and ran over to help me, knocking the boy unconscious.

"Now hurry up and get your armor back on," The trooper commanded. "There's an emergency."

"I couldn't tell," I muttered to myself. I smiled. "Thanks. I'll be right there."

As the stormtrooper ran off, Sabine's sweet, loving voice returned to haunt my ears. "Hey, don't stay in one place too long. Get in that armor if you need to and get going! It's only a matter of time before the troopers recognize you as the girl who stowed away on their ship."

"For the last time, I don't think Kenth turned me in!" I exclaimed as I pulled the stormtrooper boots snugly onto my feet. "I just told that guy that I was getting robbed of my armor from a stowaway and he didn't seem interested. If they were looking for a stowaway, wouldn't he have alerted everyone else?"

Sabine stayed silent in my ear long enough for me to pull my last boot on peacefully. "Fine. But we still don't know who raised the alarm or why. Our best bet is to use it as the distraction. Maybe we can get out of here without getting spotted at all."

"Those are my favorite plans," I smiled under the helmet and finally turned the corner.

All that was left of the army was ten troopers standing in line in front of the doors.

I cleared my throat and began to speak in a deep voice. "Ahem. Excuse me, boys. Erm, men. Officers. Fellow empire fighters. I mean, fighters for the empire, not— uh, I need to get through there. Special orders from the captain. Secret mission."

The stormtroopers looked at each other, then one spoke up. "Identification?"

"Identification?" I laughed nervously and waved the idea aside. "Come on, guys. I'm a newbie. You know they don't give those to us just yet. Something about being too insignificant?"

The stormtrooper pointed his blaster at me. "We're on an emergency lookout for a kid who's sneaking around. We're gonna need to see some identification to let you pass. Otherwise we shoot, newbie."

What the heck? Now I was really confused. They were looking for a stowaway kid?

"Oh, hey, uh, why don't you tell me about this kid?" I stalled, racking my brain for a way to get through without identification or fighting. "If they're so important, shouldn't you guys be looking for them right now? I mean, that's the secret mission from the captain! He needs all hands on deck, and he personally sent me to get you guys in on the action. You ten must be real special!"

Again, the troopers exchanged glances, then nodded. "I suppose if these are orders coming from the captain..."

"Of course! Why would I lie?" I shrugged, hoping that made it look less like I was lying. Thank goodness for the helmet.

"Alright, men, let's go. These doors should be able to hold themselves," The stormtrooper in the middle said. "Go, go, go!"

The last of the ten troopers ran past me, leaving the space between me and the doors empty.

"Wow, I didn't think they'd buy it," Sabine said through my ear. "I could tell you were lying all the way from here!"

"What can I say? It's a gift. Now, where are you guys now?"

"Heading back to the ship," Sabine said. "You're gonna have about ten minutes to get what we came for and get back to the ship."

"Ten minutes?" I protested. "I have no idea what I'm walking into. At least twenty!"

"Uh oh," Sabine said.

"What?"

Sabine grunted. "I think you're about to get twenty-five."

"Don't tell me they're onto you!"

"They're onto us."

I slapped my helmet forehead.

I heard Sabine throw a kick and shoot some blasts before she said, "Get the map we need and hurry! We've been spotted now, so don't expect an easy route back. Just hurry!"

"Yeah sure, once I figure out how to get through these giant—"

The doors in front of me slid open, leaving me staring ahead and probably looking dumb.

"That work, kid?" Asked Wolffe through the earpiece.

"Y-yeah!" I stammered. "You guys were keeping so quiet I couldn't tell if you actually had an earpiece in or not!"

"I left the babbling to you two kids," Wolffe said. "Now get inside. I'll need to close the doors soon so they don't get suspicious, although it seems the bucket-heads are occupied with another stolen item."

"What—"

"No time! Get inside already!"

And on that happy thought, I ran into the room.

A/N
it's been a while since i worked on this story and i haven't had a chance to really reread this chapter for edits, but i'll get back to it when i have time 😊 in the meantime, i'm so thankful you guys have been patient (and if not, i don't blame you. i wouldn't be either)

hope you enjoyed reading,

vote, comment, and see ya later ✌️