Beating Heart ♔ Rey

five

Chapter Five

Almost as soon as they looked around the corner, the Stormtroopers noticed them.

Without thinking, Hester grabbed the girl and Finn's hands - she missed Finn's but managed to snatch the girl's, and without further ado sprinted away from the Troopers, Finn and BB8 hot on their heels.

"What are you doing?" the brunette yelped as Hester dragged her away from the Stormtroopers.

"Come on, we've got to move!" Hester screamed, just as the Stormtroopers opened fire. They all ran harder and yelled as they tried to outrun the blasters. People in the open screamed and stepped back, trying to find shelter behind the canvas tents and other belongings - though that offered no protection whatsoever.

"I know how to run without you holding my hand!" the girl snapped, and yanked her hand out of Hester's grip.

Hester didn't even notice; she was too busy dodging around the haphazard shops and pushing through small crowds of people, all the while trying to avoid being hit. The blaster fire rang in her ears. The heat was getting to her again - Hester knew that it wouldn't be easy to evade the Stormtroopers if they were trying to evade them in a climate she most definitely was not used to.

They needed to be gotten rid of.

Hester glanced behind them and saw the Stormtroopers, who were firing. Hester paused, a mini debate raging momentarily in her head, and then she decided the situation was worth exposing herself for. She had the girl (why hadn't they learnt each other's names yet?) and Finn to protect, too.

She pushed the both of them forward. "Keep going, I'll hold them off!" she yelled.

Without waiting for either of their responses (though she heard the girl scream "What are you doing?" before Finn pushed her onward), Hester sprinted toward the Stormtroopers, whipping her lightsaber out as she did so. She activated it and at once her green lightsaber hummed and she deflected the incoming shots effortlessly.

"Call in an air strike!" one of the Stormtroopers yelled into the comm link as Hester approached and, in two fluid strikes, ended the lives of the Stormtroopers. She bit her lip, guilt momentarily filling her as she remembered that they'd had no choice in the matter, being taken forcibly from families they'd never known and trained to obey the First Order. They hadn't asked for this to happen to them, nor had they had a single say; in a way, they were victims just as much as villagers.

But there was a more pressing matter at hand: they had called for an air strike. And she hadn't been able to stop them in time.

She might be a Jedi, she she couldn't stop an air strike.

"Well, that's terrible," Hester muttered.

She deactivated her lightsaber and turned on her heel and sprinted frantically forward, searching for Finn and the girl, ignoring the stares the inhabitants still sent her way amidst the chaos for carrying the weapon of the almost mythical Jedi.

Hester reached out with the Force and allowed it to guide her in the direction of Finn and Rey, who had taken refuge inside a tent. "Does anyone have blasters around here?" Finn was yelling, searching frantically, as Hester ran in, sweat pouring down her face. The girl was checking BB8.

Hester was panting, but had no time to stop - she could already hear the ships arrive. Finn had noticed it too; they exchanged fearful glances before Hester grabbed the girl (because she was the only one unaware of what was about to happen) and pulled her out of the tent. "They've calling in an air strike, move!"

"Stop taking my hand!" the brunette snarled, and once again pulled her hand free.

They ran once more into the open and, shortly after, TIE fighters flew overhead and started firing at the townspeople. One shot landed close to Hester's feet and she screamed, being launched into the air as though she weighed nothing. Vaguely, she noticed Finn was in the air as well before she hit the ground and pain exploded in her head. Hester kept her eyes closed and breathing shallow as she tried to ignore the throbbing ache in her head.

Hester was dimly aware of footsteps nearing the both of them .

"Hey!" the girl gasped, shaking them both. Hester could feel her hands tremble slightly.

Hester groaned and rolled on to her back and opened her eyes. The world swam before her momentarily before coming into focus, revealing the girl hovering over Hester and Finn.

Wow. She's pretty.

Hester rubbed her head. I must've hit it really hard... what type of thought is that in the midst of this crisis?

"Are you two okay?" she asked urgently.

Hester grinned wearily. "Never better."

The girl smiled back and held out both her hands. Hester took the girl's outstretched hand, and so did Finn, and the brunette pulled the two of them to their feet. They barely were standing before the girl was dashing off again, Hester and Finn hot on her heels. Hester decided that they were best to follow the girl, since she was familiar with the place and actually knew where she was going.

Behind them, explosions still fired and gut-wrenching screams filled the air. Hester glanced back, her heart breaking thinking of everyone who would end up dead just because of herself and Finn. And for the first time, there was absolutely nothing she could do to save them - not if she wanted to end up dead and see BB8 in the hands of the First Order.

"We can't outrun them!" Finn bellowed, the sounds of the air strikes echoing in their ears.

"We might!" the girl yelled, pointing at an old-looking, weathered red vehicle in front of them. "In that quad-jumper!"

"We need a pilot!"

If they hadn't been desperately running for their lives, Hester might have hit Finn. But because they were running for their lives she had to settle on sending him a glare. "Have you already forgotten I flew a TIE fighter?" she screeched.

"Anyway, we've got another one!" the girl yelled.

"You?" Finn exclaimed. Hester would've been impressed if they hadn't had more pressing matters to deal with - such as remaining alive.

"What about that ship?" Finn yelled, as they passed an old ship Hester was just able to identify as a Corellian.

The brunette glanced across at the ship in question and snorted. "That one's garbage!"

Just as she spoke the ships flew ahead once again, firing. Hester covered her head with her hands and as she did, heard something explode. Her head snapped up to see the quad-jumper had exploded in flame and a billow of smoke.

All three of them remained frozen in their tracks, staring at their exploded transport, horror-struck.

"The garbage will do!"

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anyone else think malese jow is the perfect hester i can literally picture no one else as hester but her