Elayne Starwind - Padawan of Ashoka

Chapter Thirty

The only thing on my mind was how it could've been worse.

Thank goodness Kenth and I were on the other side of the crates. The fire radiated unimaginable rays of heat, but we weren't burnt to a crisp. We had what little protection was available from the crates.

Kenth and I both ducked our heads to shield our faces from the burning heat. I could feel my heart pounding against my chest. What happened to the others? Did they explode in the fire?

Thinking about it made the guts in my stomach twist and turn. I felt sick, and I what I wanted more than anything else was to hide in a corner and cry in an attempt to wash out my fear. But that wasn't possible right now. I was stuck in the middle of raging flames with only a few crates and an injured boy.

It felt like forever, sitting there with my arms over my head, until finally the fire died down. There wasn't much in this space to keep it alive, anyways. I pulled my trembling arms down and quietly peeked over the crate.

Our ship was a wreck. Scorch marks covered the once beautifully polished metal, and one of the wings was now half way across the room from the actual ship. I felt my heart drop. There was no way my friends could've survived that.

Beside me, Kenth managed to pick himself up and grimaced at the sight of our escape. "So, we're on our own, huh?"

I couldn't bring myself to answer. Saying it would be accepting it was true, and I wasn't about to do that. Ahsoka was smart. She must have sensed that they were in trouble and come up with some way to avoid it, even if it didn't mean saving the ship. I stared at the remains hopefully, but that hope continued diminishing the longer I watched for any sign of life.

"I don't think those fighter jets have any doubt they didn't finish the job," Kenth said, looking behind the ship. "Must be sending in some troopers to clean up their mess at this point. We need to get out of here."

"And go where?" I asked. "They know our faces, so there's no point in pretending we're still students. I don't suppose you have a ride out of here, do you?"

"I wasn't expecting such a sort trip," Kenth said, still holding his shirt to his bleeding shoulder. "But then I ran into you and... well, I figured I would have to make this quick."

"What about seeing me made you speed up your plans?" I asked.

"Your earpiece," Kenth said. "And bad lying. You're a rebel, aren't you?"

I opened my mouth to respond, then hesitated. Was I a rebel? Ahsoka and Sabine definitely were, and I'm sure Rex and Wolffe had at one point accepted the title. But what about me? I was just a girl who happened to be some kid Ahsoka wanted to train in the ways of the Force. Did that make me a rebel?

Kenth saved me from answering. "It's fine. Anyways, you obviously weren't for the Empire like you claimed, so I had to assume you were here to do something against the Empire. Which would raise alarms. And I didn't want to get stuck in the middle of your chaos, so I made my own."

"And how were you planning to escape?" I demanded.

Kenth sighed, which looked like caused more pain in his shoulder. "Well, that's where the problem began. I couldn't contact my escape. I don't know if the Empire halted radio communication temporarily while they looked for the intruder or what, but all it meant for me was that I wasn't getting out. So I started running around, trying to just lose the stormtroopers, when I ran into you."

"But I was able to communicate with my friends," I said. "So they couldn't have stopped all communications."

"My guess is it was probably real sloppy," Kenth said. "They didn't have much time to think about it, anyways. And Empire folk aren't the brightest around here."

"Yet it didn't matter," I muttered. "I still got you shot."

"Yeah," Kenth admitted, not at all comforting me. "But if it meant a chance at getting out of here, I decided to brush past it and focus on escaping. Until..."

"Until my ship got blown to pieces," I finished dejectedly.

"Yep," Kenth glanced back at the ship. Still, no one was coming out. "Well, whatever the case, we need to get out of here before the clean up crew gets here."

I nodded numbly and forced myself to my feet. Ahsoka and Sabine. Rex and Wolffe. I let them all down. If I had just stayed on the stupid floor, or gotten that map quicker instead of giving up and sitting there, maybe we would've been out of here already. But then what about Kenth? He wouldn't have a ride. But what did it matter? I didn't even know him. As much as Sabine and I fought, we were friends. And Ahsoka had taken me in. Rex and Wolffe... they were friends of Ahsoka and Sabine's, which meant they were friends of mine. And look where I got them. Dead.

Was this really the end of the line? We didn't even get that much time together. The thought made me feel even worse.

I allowed Kenth to put his arm over my shoulder so I could help him walk. We were about two steps in when the ringing started. Faint, familiar ringing in the back of my head. I looked over my shoulder desperately. Still nothing.

"Do you hear that?" I asked Kenth.

Kenth looked around. "Hear what?"

My heart started racing so fast I nearly dropped Kenth. It was the same feeling I had when I was looking for the weak spot in the force field. It was guiding me back to the ship. I couldn't even hear Kenth's urges to keep moving over my excitement.

There, emerging from the wreckage, was Rex, pulling a half-conscious Ahsoka, followed closely by Sabine and Wolffe.

My friends weren't dead.

A/N

HeEhhEE how do you think they survived?

vote, comment, and see ya later <3