Crossroads

Survival

This is NOT how I thought my day was going to go. My plan to fix my ship and fly out of this system to a planet in the Outer Rim seemed to be a good plan at the time. It did not end in me having six blasters pointed at me. 

"You're confused. I am not a Jedi." I said simply. Talking my way out of this would be easier than fighting. If I fought, citizens would have to get hurt in the crossfire. And I would likely have to kill some of these men. 

"Witnesses at the pub last night said otherwise." 

I knew that one Trooper was suspicious of me. He likely brought it to his colleagues, and that's why I am here right now. If I had just stayed out of it, I would be lighyears away from this place right now. 

"I don't know what they thought they saw, but I didn't do anything. The girl grabbed the credits and ran, and the Trooper missed when he fired at her." 

Stick to the facts, Rayya, I told myself. 

"Funny how a bullet misses a target by a few feet.  I've seen my fair share of missed targets. None of them miss that badly." 

"Perhaps the man who fired was a bad shot," I remarked, a grin tugging at my lips. Antagonizing them right now was probably not helping me, but I had to throw every possibility out there.

"Perhaps. If we hadn't run your name through an Imperial database, Rayya Sena." 

That as impossible. When I was hired at the pub, I gave fake information. Fake name, fake last name, everything.  I went by Bo at the pub, that was what everyone knew me as. 

"Many Jedi have used fake names during their hiding. This isn't the first time." 

So my smart idea to have a fake identity was used by hundreds of other Jedi across the galaxy. 

My only option was to keep denying. "I have no idea what you're talking about. My name is Bo." 

The lead Trooper pulled out his hologram, pulling up what was surely an information sheet on me. I could see my face on it, the face of a twenty-year-old woman who had gone into hiding. 

"Says here you've been wanted for the past three years. Elluded capture all this time would surely mean hiding out on a remote planet."

"I've been here all my life. I lost my parents when I was a child." It was the only lie I could think of. 

At this point, villagers were starting to notice the interrogation basically taking place in the middle of the street. Many peaked out from buildings and homes, while others gathered a few yards away. Children pushed to the front of the crowd, craning their necks to get a look. The blonde girl stood at the front, her eyes connecting with my gaze for a moment. She looked scared. 

"This certainly looks like you." I didn't look the exact same in the photo as I did now. I was skinnier, smaller, with haggard eyes and almost a sunken looking face now. The woman in that photo was strong, confident. But it was enough of a resemblance to make me reach slowly for my pants where my saber was tucked away. 

"Again, I don't know who you are looking for. But I need to get back to tend to my dwelling." My hands closed around the hilt, ready to whip it out if the Troopers looked like they were going to fire. 

"You're coming with us."

I would have no choice.  I would have to kill these Troopers if I had any hope of escaping. This was about survival now. 

Before I could pull out my saber, one trooper gunned me down with a stun. I didn't think they were here to stun me and haul me away-- I thought for sure I would be killed on the spot. It was too late, of course. My body felt like dead weight as I sunk to the ground, my knees slamming against the dirt.

"Get her on the ship." 

My hand slipped away from my saber as darkness swallowed me.