A Dance of Suns

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I can claim no ownership of the Star Wars franchise, as much as I love it. I am a fan, not the creator.

Author's Note: Hello everyone! I'm sorry that the amount of time between my updates hasn't been the best, and that the first few chapters have been a bit rushed. I've been waiting to get Summer off of Earth for what felt like ages. Now, I hope that you all will enjoy this as much as I am enjoying it, because this is where the real fun begins.

Red and blue. Azure and crimson. Dark and light. The thousand-generation old dance began again. The battle is not glorious, nor is it fulfilling. It is simply an act of desperation even though it would be interpreted as so much more.

The blue one stood her ground, her blade a whirlwind, the Force whispering the tendrils of music as the steps of the dance wove around her. Dancing with her was the red one, coming closer and closer until it was too late, the final notes were played, and the blue one fell.

Red and blue. Azure and crimson. Dark and light. The dance never ended. Not really.

She didn't know how long she sat in the cockpit, her mind numb from the wave of the Force she'd felt when Ashara had died. Summer didn't even know if her mind was willing to accept what had happened. Now, she could only hope that she would happen upon the galaxy she was looking for, and that everything else would go as planned. Something told her it wouldn't happen that way. She couldn't stop thinking about how Ashara had risked everything to get her away. She knew that if she hadn't gotten away, dozens more Force users would be able to locate the planet, but there were probably others like her. What made her so different that she had to actually leave the planet to keep everyone safe?

Many of the lights on the dashboard started flashing, and she sharply stood, swearing as she hit her head on the low ceiling. She couldn't read most of the labels, as they were in the Aurebesh alphabet. While she considered herself quite a major Star Wars fan, she never had found the time to completely memorize it.

Something to her left sparked dangerously, and she swore again (she didn't remember swearing so much in her life). The stars rushing past the ship suddenly stilled as the ship jumped out of hyperspace. There was a planet there, alright, but the ship was aimed for empty space. Vaguely remembering Ashara telling her that the ship was going to tear itself apart, she bolted out of the cockpit.

"...Escape pod!" she whispered to herself, rushing around. She was thrown against the wall at least ten times, and she must have passed the cursed thing twice before she found it, but she eventually found herself jamming her fingers frantically at the controls before slipping inside. She gave a sigh of relief as the pod sealed itself, and she felt it begin to move. Then she began to panic again as turbulence informed her that she was entering the planet's atmosphere. She was going to crash.

The heat inside the pod began to rise significantly, causing sweat to form on her hairline and underarms. Summer was sure for a moment that she was going to catch on fire. Then there was a sound, a sickening crunch, and the momentum caused her body to jolt forward. She felt her head slam hard into the side of the pod before the entire reality around her seemed to flicker and become blurry. The air became shallow and she knew that the only thing she could really do about her situation was lapse into unconsciousness.

Before this happened, she had enough time to groan into her hands. "The Force is definitely not with me."

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