Star Wars: Scars

Part 4 - 1

A month and a half hadn't been long enough. By the time Creed had to leave, he never wanted to. He had a wonderful girlfriend, a warm safe home, and even a few of the neighbors knew who he was and would greet him daily as they saw him come and go. 

He did worry that Skylar might get trouble from several of the smugglers that had turned up in the early morning and evening hours, but he knew she was a capable woman. More than capable if you asked him. 

Unfortunately, he couldn't stay forever, though he wanted to. Of course, he could defect from the Republic, but he knew he could better defend his home in the event of war should he remain in good standing with the Republic. Which meant, at the end of the month and a half, he had to kiss her goodbye and head back to Kamino. Though, not without a promise to return.

He waved briefly as the ship picked up and smiled to see her wave back, then he ducked his head down and got the ship into the air, sighing. It had almost been nice having a normal life for a little while. No crazy opponents to worry about, no psychopath trainers, nobody trying to kill him, taunt him, or drive him crazy. Just a normal day to day life. He didn't even have to be an assassin, just a decent man with a regular life. 

He was gonna miss it. 

Creed got the ship through the atmosphere and punched the coordinates for Kamino into the nav computer, then waited until it had a lock. Then he angled the ship towards the proper vector and punched the hyperspace.

Yeah, I'm gonna miss it, but man it does feel good to have something to do, he thought as the stars blurred into lines around the ship. Regular life was relaxing, but he knew that too much of it and he'd go stir crazy. He was a soldier with war programmed into his blood. More than that, he was an assassin, and while he wouldn't admit it to Skylar, he was itching to get his hands around a droid's neck. 

Once he was safely in hyperspace, Creed toggled the holo communicator and punched in the frequency for the Rishi base. They should patch him through to the mission coordinator, then he could report that he was coming back.

He waited as the frequency pulsed, then eventually it came back with all static. Creed frowned and tried again. Still no signal. 

"That's not good," he muttered under his breath as he tried again. This time the line came up completely dead--No signal. 

Something was wrong, he could feel it in his gut. He frowned, his eyes scanning the computer. He needed to get to Kamino, and fast. If the outpost wasn't reporting then there was a good chance they'd been hit. And if they took down Rishi, they had a clear shot to Kamino. 

And as much as he hated that place, Kamino was still his home. 

Creed pushed the hyperdrive to it's max, causing the ship to shudder slightly. Even at max speed, he still had at least several days before he had any chance of reaching Kamino. He was halfway across the galaxy as it was. 

I just hope I get there in time, he thought silently, taking in a deep breath to calm his nerves. There was nothing he could do until he got there. He just had to hope that he wouldn't be too late.

Creed arrived a little under a week later, having tried multiple time to hail any base near the Rishi area. He'd tried to hail Kamino itself but the signal had been too weak and wouldn't patch through. He'd prepared for the worst, and as he neared the exit from hyperspace, he steeled himself. 

He was glad he had.

The minute the ship jerked out of hyperdrive he found himself nearly face to face with a Separatist cruiser. Creed shoved the ship into a dive to avoid the hull and he barely scraped underneath, managing to avoid detection. He stalled the engines under the hull until he noticed a trooper carrier slowly making its way to the surface, carrying a load of droids.