The Jedi's Final Stand

Ran Strikes Back- Hard

As I wake up from what seems to be an eternity, I see Bella eating some of the food by the fire.

“Morning,” she says.

“Good morning,” I reply. “I received a message telling me to check out the lake. Do you want you come with me?”

“Sure.”

I take of my Jedi robe while she places her bow, knife, and quiver on the ground. We walk out of the cave. The lake is just under the cliff edge, where my speeder is safely hidden. Once we get to the lake front, I take out the two breathing assist masks in my utility belt. They look similar to glasses upside down, but these help you breathe under water for long periods of time. I hand one to Bella, and then jump in the water. I remember when I was younger I used to go swimming all the time with Camilia. We swim pretty far enough and pretty deep enough until I decide to give up. If Ran was really trying to hide something it would be here. Wait! Carth said that my light saber can work under water! I take it, ignite it, and then use the Force to push it a distance away from us. Then, a red light flashes and sirens start to sound. An under water base? I guess Ran really is clever. I use the Force to retrieve my light saber and Bella and I speed off. Finally when we arrive on shore, we dash up the cliff. I get my robe, she gets her weapons. “They are going to launch an attack! If you are going to help us, now is the time! Hopefully I’ll see you there!”

“Wait! Atarah, your speeder is down the cliff! I’ll go. Be careful!” she says. Then, she sprints back to the direction of her tribe. With quick thinking, I jump off the cliff, use the Force to lessen my impact, and fall straight on my speeder. Then I speed off, with many thoughts in my head. Maybe I can communicate with Aayla using the Force. I concentrate on Aayla, and keep on repeating in my head, the attack is starting, send out the troops! The attack is starting!

*********

Back in the big control room, Aayla gets an uneasy feeling and thinks an attack is coming.

“Guys, send out the troops. All of them. I think Atarah is in trouble.”

*********

As I finally pull up to the hangar, I hear the deafening alarm signal. It looks like Aayla got the message. I rush into the big control room and find only Aayla and Quirlara. “Where is everyone?” I ask.

“Preparing for the attack. How did you learn to communicate through the Force?” Quirlara asks.

“No time for twenty questions,” I replied. We all run to the main hangar. Aayla and Quirlara both board a departing tank. As I head back to my speeder I am stopped by Scortch. “There you are,” I say.

“Where do you think you’re going? Pick a tank and hop on. You’re not ready for this,” he says.

Sometimes I wish people would have more faith in me. I know I can handle being in a battle without any special protection. “I can do this Scortch. Trust me. May the Force be with you.” I speed off in my speeder onward to the battle. The first group of soldiers is already off and fighting. It looks like the front flank of the enemy is droids while the back is troopers. Droids and men? That makes me sick. I thought droids fought against men, not with them. The battle is getting very intense in the front. Tanks giving and receiving blows from each other, laser bolts flying through the air, the screams of the wounded and dying.  I wonder if Bella is going to show up. Just that moment shouts and chants from the east of our side are followed by a large mass of people. It must be the tribe’s people. This really evens out the playing field. They are armed with knives, swords, arrows, and machetes.  I drive my speeder up to the front of the flank, where to my right I see Bella fighting gallantly with her bow. I also see the commandoes and wait, is that Camilia? I hop off my speeder and run to her. “What are you doing here? Are you crazy, this is dangerous!”

“It’s okay Atarah. I am pretty good with a blaster. Boggs taught me,” she says.

I can’t let my best friend get hurt. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. “I can’t let you get hurt!”

“Calm down. Everything is okay. I know you care but just worry about yourself for right now.”

Well, if she’s that confident than I guess I should calm down. I advance a little forward, having a squad of troops to my command. I go up to one soldier and ask him for a few explosives. He hands me three bombs and pats me on the back. I touch the button on the top of all three bombs which activates them and then I throw them at the closest tank. Boom! The tank explodes and this kills a good amount of enemy men. I hear a few shouts and encouragements from the soldiers behind me. Wow, I am good. Now, a concentrated amount of blaster fire is directed towards me, probably because I destroyed the tank. The commandoes, Camilia, and a few other soldiers give me cover fire as I reflect the laser bolts back at the enemy. In the midst of battle, you can not tell how long you have been fighting. Your only focus is on destroying your enemy and protecting your allies. All is well, so far. But then, the unimaginable happens. A familiar scream fills my ears. I will never forget this moment, and it is always reappearing in my nightmares. I turn around, and see my best friend, my sister, on the ground, wounded. Camilia, my oldest friend, has gotten shot in the chest, bad. Her shirt is stained with blood, and she is in terrible pain. I run to her side, put her on my lap, and try to comfort her in her last few moments. I can’t believe this, my one and only friend is dying in my arms. “Camilia!” I hold her hand, and she is squeezing it with the pain that she feels.

“Atarah. I’m sorry. I never should have gone out here. Thank you for everything. You have been a sister to me.”

No! It’s not over! She can’t die! “Camilia, don’t talk like that! I’m going to help you! Don’t die on me!” She is breathing heavily now. She can’t die!

“Take care of yourself, my friend. Protect everyone, and promise me you will protect the New Republic. I’ll never forget you. You are my sister.”

No! She can’t die! Her body is shaking a little bit now. I can only imagine the pain that she is feeling. But I can't let her down now.“I promise Camilia.” I can see the ghost of a smile appear on her face. She is shaking a lot and has a hard grip on my hand now. Then, the shaking stops. Her grip releases. She closes her eyes. It’s over. She’s gone. Dead. My best friend has just died in my arms. I start to sob. All that what was left of my family is gone. First, I feel sorrow. But then, another emotion comes over me. Not sorrow, not pain, but anger.  Rage. They did this. Ran killed her. Now they all disserve to die! I scream a shout of rage and march up to the front of the flank. I can feel the anger inside of me. I just want to explode. Then with another scream of rage and anger, I shoot lightning bolts from my bloody hands at the first enemy tank. It serves them right! Then I use the Force and pick up another tank. It slowly rises high in the air. Then, I drop it, sending it crashing to the ground, exploding, and killing many of their troops. Then, I extend both of my arms, pointing the each at the last tanks that are preparing to fire at me. I release the lightning from both my hands at the tanks, shutting down all their controls. Then, I use the Force and smash them into each other, creating another huge explosion and killing half their men. The enemy has issued a full retreat, but some men are coming towards me. They will receive my anger and wrath. I use the Force to hold one up in the air and then pull him into my light saber. I Force choke a few more. To finish them off, I jump into the air and then strike the ground, sending electricity through the last of the enemy. I turn to come back to my friend. But Bella comes up and grabs me to take me away. I shove her off and make an attempt to run to Camilia, but she grabs me again. All I want to do is comfort my friend and I am not going to let her get in the way of that! I punch Bella in the gut and then punch her face, which makes her fall to the ground. I run toward Camilia but Bella grabs me again. I scream for her to get off me. “Camilia!” But then, Bella punches me in the face which gets my attention.

“Atarah! Nothing is going to come from fighting your own side! Come to your senses!”

She’s right. It’s all over. I stop fighting and just stand there. She calls for a transport while her tribe’s men grab me and push me to it. I dont fight back this time. I just have to face reality now. I see a soldier pick up my friend’s body and walk away. I just can’t believe she’s gone.

As I sit next to Bella, I see her face is bleeding. “I’m sorry Bella. She’s gone.” I start to cry into her arms. I am a mess. My hands are still bloody, I have a black eye, and my heart is broken. Camilia, the last of my family, is gone.