CHASE ME | DISCON.

SEVEN

Andromeda

My fingers drum against the side of my leg nervously as I make my way through the main hangar bay. No one seems to notice me, or care about why I'm here. Everyone is tending to their own business, paying little attention to the others around them. Sometimes I wonder if it'll kill them one day.

I scan the line of special forces TIEs that line the walls, wishing that for one second, I could fly away from here and escape. I want to, so badly, but I know that I can't.

Well, not alone, anyway.

Special forces TIE fighters need two to fly well- one pilot, and a gunner. I may be a decent pilot, but I know someone who's better- someone who wants to break out as much as I do.

Dameron.

I need to get to him soon, if I'll ever have a chance at escape. Ren has no doubt interrogated him by now- possibly even gotten the information he's needed. Who knows how long I have before they dispose of him? I can't lose him. Not again.

I'm almost out the hangar door when a stormtrooper walks in. Normally, I would pay no attention to something like this, but it wasn't the stormtrooper that made me stop in my tracks.

It was who was with them.

I whirl around at the sight of Dameron by the troopers side, his expression turning fearful when he notices me. The trooper keeps walking, completely oblivious to the both of us.

The pair walk casually in the direction of the far wall by TIE fighters, and I'm almost to stricken with fear to follow. Is this a coincidence? Or did someone else plane their own escape before I did?

I pick myself up, racing after the two of them.

"Trooper!" I call, loud enough to get his attention but not anyone else's, "What do you think you are doing?" I decide to play officer, desperate to figure out what the hell was going on.

The trooper freezes, forcing Dameron to stop too. He stutters, giving a poor excuse, "Ren requested the prisoner-"

"Here? In the hangar?" I avoid eye contact with Dameron, trying my best to keep it all together as my plans unravel, "I'm in charge of this prisoner, if Ren were to request him, he would have gone through me-"

"Andi," Dameron speaks up, and I close my eyes, nearly wincing at my own name, "he's helping me escape. Please, just, don't tell anyone?"

I take a deep breaths, letting my thoughts collect until I know what I should do. I know that a) Dameron's freedom is far more valuable and attainable than my own, b) there has to be another way out, c) this trooper is not worth the sacrifice for my own personal gain- he's a real person, I can't push him aside, and, finally, d) they've already come too far.

If I turn them in, it's Dameron's execution and the trooper's harsh reconditioning. I can't do that to either of them. I have to let them pass, there's no turning back for them.

"Ok," I mumble, running my hands over my eyes, "but you owe me."

I start to move away, pausing by Dameron's shoulder, "Promise me you won't kill yourself out there, ok?"

"Promise me you'll get out of here, and I'll think about-" he replies instantly.

I lay my hand on the side of his arm, watching him tense at my touch, "You always were a smartass." I smirk a little, but it fades.

"Promise me, Andromeda." He pleads, not letting me go yet.

I pause, but only for a moment. I remember last time we promised each other, when we were still young. I've learned from that, I know better- I know they don't last, but even still...