The Dark Side

~27~

Time never moved so slow. The thudding noise of Neri'el's foot clashed with the metallic ring of her metal one on the tile floors. Several storm troopers came to escort her to her execution. They were there to ensure that she would not escape.

Not that she was planning to. She had given up. The Dark Side had won. It was only a matter of time before they discovered the map, killed Luke Skywalker and ended the Jedi. Why not speed up the process and just die? There was nothing left to live for.

A blaster was suddenly jabbed in between Neri'el's shoulder blades, its message clear. Hurry up.

Neri'el shot the soldier behind her a dirty look before turning back around and deliberately slowed her pace. She was about to die, could she not get a few extra moments of life before resigning herself to this fate?

Another sharp poke was her answer.

Grimacing, Neri'el shuffled forwards and nearly tripped over her metal foot as it got caught in a loose floor tile. She bumped into the storm trooper on her left, successfully breaking through the ranks of her entourage.

This was it. Her chance. If she side stepped to her left, the trooper behind her would fumble for her and miss, which would cause even more confusion which would provide her with the opportunity to escape. She could Force Push all the soldiers back and buy herself enough time to get into another hallway and-

And what?

Spend her last few minutes in the galaxy, being chased and finally shot down by a group of brainwashed buffoons? Be caught once more and tortured by her childhood best friend before being murdered?

No.

She would stand tall and accept her fate with dignity.

As the storm troopers regained their balance and order (by grabbing her by her arms and dragging her back into the center of their little square), Neri'el felt a small voice rise within her and quietly speak.

'Is this what your parents envisioned for you, Neri'el? Is this the kind of role model you wanted to set for Jempa? Is this what Tekka expected you to become?

A former Jedi, so sick of failure that she gave up and turned into a spineless coward?'

Neri'el felt as though she was being dragged from a deep sleep. Everything was disproportionate and wrong. Her life was upside down. Was it right or wrong to submit to death? She certainly wasn't greeting him as an old friend but she wasn't fighting to escape him either.

Blinking quickly, Neri'el took a sharp breath. A sick feeling writhed in her stomach like a Sarlaac, twisting and squirming this way and that. She didn't have a plan. And more importantly, she didn't know what to do.

Everyone surrounding her came to a sudden halt, tearing her violently from her thoughts.

The door to the execution room was straight ahead of her.

Her time was up.