Star Wars Rebels - Gleam of Hope (English Version)

More precious than the stars themselves

Three years ago, at a secluded spaceport:

"Alright, Mia. Just one more mission. Then we'll find a way to escape", her father promised, as he had done so often over the past few months.
Miaka forced a confident nod, though she could no longer believe his words so easily. Too often he had already tried to give her hope this simple way, but they had never managed to escape. They had only caused the pirates to get even more angry at them and gained a few scratches and scuffs along the way.
She took a deep breath and stepped through the security gate. Miaka wasn't even sure what she had expected. Still, she felt a sense of relief as they passed without any problems. But even this relief could barely erase this bad feeling in her stomach. She felt uncomfortable in the strange clothes, especially since they didn't suit her very well. Apparently, she was too young for a servant at the age of fifteen - at least for this conceited snob. She had to suppress the urge to constantly pluck her clothes. It woundn't change a thing and only cause unwanted attention.
Her father now moved close to her again, shielding her from possible curious glances, as he had done since she could think. In this moment, she wasn't even angry about it. Even though she understood his motives, even Mia thought that he sometimes pushed it too far with his protective instinct. Today was an exception.
Talak had given them precise instructions and also made very clear what would happen if they dared to disobey. He didn't care that Mia had a very bad feeling about it, like he never cared about her or her feelings, unless it was of any use to him.
Her father Arek and she lined up behind other servants and waited to be let onto the ship. It would take them a little way outerspace, but before any planet would even come into sight, they wouldn't be on board anymore. The other passengers didn't know it yet, but this luxurious civilian transporter was soon to be attacked by a brutal pirate gang. Whether the ship would be found with or without any signs of life, probably depended on Talaks mood today.
 The line went ahead, one step. Then Another.
Mia wiped her sweaty hands on her pants. She felt the strong urge to run away, but she knew she wouldn't get far.
Talak and the other pirates watched them. Even without knowing their position, Miaka felt their eyes on her back and hardly dared to make a wrong move. It was hopeless. Even with her special abilities, she had nothing to oppose to the pirate gang. Sadly, they were aware of that themselves and Mia was sure they enjoyed it.
~
Finally they were let onto the ship. It was nothing like the narrow and practical pirate ship, stuffed with all sorts of fighting equipment. This civilian transporter was designed for beauty and luxury, probably appropriate to the nobility it was supposed to serve today.
While the other servants were scattering somewhere on the ship to inspect the kitchen or calibrate any decorative items, Miaka and her father felt back on purpose and crept unnoticed into a small chamber. There they would wait until the ship took off and they could start their actual work.
Mia dropped to the floor, exhausted. The past few months had cost her a lot of strength, both physically and mentally. She had been put to the test again and again and she wouldn't say that she passed them with glory.
She wished that everything could become as it was before. Not that she and her father had ever had any rosy prospects, but at least they weren't constantly threatened and pushed around.
In the past, they spent days together on their own small ship somewhere in the galaxy,  looking for a new temporary home. Mia had never lived in one place for a longer period of time. The result was that she had felt more at home on the ship than anywhere else. It had been a necessary measure and she had gotten used to it. With her father at her side, she had always known that nothing really bad could happen to her and where her place was. No matter how many times their cover was blown. No matter how hard the escape had been. No matter how long they had been aimlessly flying from one planet to another.
But one day everything had changed. In one moment they had been looking for a new home, happily and full of expectations, when their small ship had suddenly been captured by the notorious Talak Vassic and his pirate gang. Out of disappointment about not finding valuable cargo on board, Talak had wanted to kill them out of frustration and anger.
In order to save them, her father had made a deal with him. They would come with them and help them - after all, they had both acquired a very decent knowledge of technical systems and were pretty good when it came to hacking.
For that he spared their lifes.
Since then, her father has been working on an escape plan or at least pretended to think of something. So far, however, they hadn't done much more than to be pushed to one job at after another. Mia hated to be involved in this greasy games, but she had no choice.
"Are you all right, my little star?", Arek asked, sinking to the floor next to his daughter. There was still some time left for a good conversation. But the place for good had been very limited lately.
"Everything's  fine", Mia said stubbornly. She turned her head away so she wouldn't have to look her father in the bright eyes.
He gently turned her around, however.
"I see that's not true", he said.
"Why do you ask me then?"
He laughed softly. It was something he used to do a lot more often.
Now it sounded like a memory.
"So? Whats on your mind?", he tried again.
Miaka sighed. She knew it was for the best if she didn't care too much about what they were about to do. But she always found herself doing it anyway.
"Can't we prevent this somehow? Just fly with them to their destination and try to hide there? Wherever they go, we have seen worse conditions! I don't want to be ... responsible if something happens to these people, because of us ... because of me", she said reluctant.
Her father gave her a sad but soft smile and drew closer to her. "It cannot be stopped anymore, Mia. We have no choice. Even if we don't crack their security system, the pirates will somehow hijack the ship. Only with the difference that we will not end any better than the poor people in here. The only thing we can do is do a good job and hope that Talak is in a good mood. Then he will take everything valuable and leave the people to themselves. It would be best for them", he said calmly.
He grabbed his daughter by the shoulders and looked at her intently.
"But whatever happens, the blame is not on you, alright? They are the ones who conjure up this fate, we are nothing more than little figures. Besides, I am still the one who will paralyze the system in the end. The guilt would not fall back on you, but on me alone."
Damn heroism! They were both deeply involved in the matter!  Yet she was grateful for his words. They were the best he had to offer her at the moment. And as always, he didn't hesitate giving it to her.
But slowly the time had come where they had to go get to action.
Father and daughter went back to the hall and ran attentively down the hall. Luckily, they met nearly no one, although Mia's view on the seemingly well-equipped security forces was enough to reinforce her bad feeling.
Finally, they found a small corner with seating. It was unused.
Immediately, Miaka posed on the wall and looked around for prying eyes or cameras, but couldn't detect anything. Meanwhile, her father was in front of the expensive upholstery - which alone probably cost a fortune! - kneeling down and picking up the bottom plate. Beneath it was a pile of cables that kept all the ship's systems running.
"Is everything clear?", he asked softly.
"You can beginn", she confirmed. Furthermore, the hall was empty, but it could change at any moment. Miaka fought for concentration!
Behind her, her father got to work. He had to make out the right cable and then connect it to his small portable screen. Once that was done, he would hook into the ship's system and tamper with the security systems. If he made a mistake, an alarm could be activated or another reaction be generated that would give them unwanted attention. A sudden power failure or an error in artificial gravity would certainly not go unnoticed!
~
Time seemed to pass by in slow motion. It seemed like an eternity her father needed to pick the right cable and work through the systems. It really did not help to improve Miaka's restlessness.
Rather the opposite.
She flinched when suddenly a figure appeared in the hallway.
"There's someone coming!", she whispered alarmed.
It took a moment, until her father grumbled, and she was almost angry at him for taking so much time: "I almost made it! Try to distract them! "
That wasn't part of the plan! But before Mia could even come up with a plausible excuse, she had already stepped forward and ran towards the person who came down the hallway. There was a hint of relief in her when she realized that it wasn't one of the security forces, but a simple servant in the same scratchy uniform Miaka wore herself.
"I need your help immediately!", she called and brought the astonished woman to a halt. Maybe she wouldn't even have looked at Mia if she hadn't spoken to her. But she couldn't rely on the woman ignoring her father aswell.
"I have work to do", the woman said politely and tried to move on, but Mia quickly got in her way.
"But it's urgent!", she insisted.
Fortunately, the servant stopped, with her hands on her hips, a little less feminine, and more than skeptical.
"What is it?", she finally demanded to know.
Miaka's thoughts were racing. What could be an explanation? Something that could happen, but couldn't be mastered by her alone!
"I uhm ... the cushions in this corner there are damaged!"
That was a lousy excuse and that was clearly written all over the face of the woman.
"That's urgent?", she asked in disbelieve.
Quickly, Mia nodded. "Of course! Our guest noted earlier that he would like to stay there soon! In this state, we can't allow that!"
The woman seemed to think about it for a moment. Apparently, Miaka's excuse was even better than she would have ever claimed.
"I'll take a look at it", the staff decided.
"What? No! There's no need in that! I've already assessed the damage and getting a second verdict would just waste time! ", she tried to talk the woman out.
But she already marched resolutely to the aforementioned seating. Great!
Apparently Mia had taken her there! She could kick herself in the butt for that!
Quickly she hurried after the woman and was ready to shield the sight of the disassembled floor panels in a probably rather poor attempt with her body. But that would only have seemed more suspicious.
"What are you doing?", the woman finally asked.
Alarmed, Mia came to a stop beside her.
"You have heard the young woman! I've already gotten our problem fixed in time", her father said calmly, sliding beside her.
Perplexed, Mia looked into the niche, but everything looked as it should. After a moment, the woman, too, seemed to realize that and hurried down the hall to do her job.
Miaka let out a sigh of relieve.
"You did well. Now let's go in the direction of the airlock. I'm sure our involuntary roommates will be here soon", Arek said.
~
He should be right. One moment after taking cover near the airlock, the pirates appeared. Immediately there was a commotion fn the ship, which very soon turned into a screaming chaos right after the first pirates had boarded.
Miaka and her father only earned a short nod from Talak before he was joining the others on the foray. That was their only reward for this job. That and of course their spared lifes.
"Come on, let's get out!", Mia's father mumbled and pushed her out into the corridor.
 From here is was only a short walk through the main corridor and then the route through the short tube of the airlock itself, before they would be safe. At least as safe as one could be in their situation on a pirate ship.
Mia heard shots from somewhere and was startled. She could only hope that they were warning shots and hadn't been meant for an organic target.
Only warning shots, only warning shots ...
Vigorous, her father pushed her on.
The sounds in her back grew louder, with a bang one of the automatic doors seemed to break. Someone must have messed up the control unit. Without thinking, Mia wanted to turn around. She felt like she had to at least assess the danger in her back, but her father didn't allow it. He pushed her further so that his grip almost hurt.
"Stop!", someone shouted.
"Maybe we should ...", Mia started, but her father interrupted her.
"Keep walking!"
They nearly arrived at the airlock, where the pirate ship was docked. The way was clear. Just a little bit further, just a few last steps.
Suddenly she heard a shot, her father pushed her onto the other ship. Stumbling, she turned to face him, only to see the door shut right infront of her face. Paniced, she pressed her face against the small window to see what was going on!
A man with some kind of beam rifle was standing down the hall. Her father standing on the wall beside the door, slowly lowering his hand from the manual control button.
His hand rested on his ribs, Mia could see that he was hurt!
She called his name and pounded on the door, but the stupid thing remained locked!
"Jelantos! JELANTOS! Open the door! ", she yelled to the bridge. The pirate operated the controls so that they could disappear quickly, he also had to be able to open this door!
Desperately, she looked back through the window.
Her father tried to smile, but it was barely visible. The security force moved closer, didn't look as if mercy had to be expected. If only she had learned how to do something in such situations!
"Jelantos!", she called again, but the pirate just did not answer.
Furious and desperate, she made her way through the ship, fighting tears at the same time, until she finally reached the cockpit.
"Jelantos! The airlockdoor is closed, you have to open it so the others can come back in again!", she said aloud. He would do what she said to help the others.
Quickly she hurried back to the door, heard shots bouncing off it, and saw it finally open.
Immediately, the pirates rushed inside the ship, loaded with junk. Mia tried to push between them, but she had almost no chance! She gritted her teeth and when she somehow almost made it...
Her eyes fell on a motionless figure on the ground.
"Daddy!", she screamed.
Suddenly someone grabbed her by the waist and held her back before she could run to her father.
"Let me go!", she demanded and tried to free herself from the grip, but was unsuccessfull. He was too strong!
The lock closed again, no one was about to carry the man on the ground onto the ship, no one paid any attention to him. Miaka was the only one who screamed.
The door was shut between them again. With a hiss, the pirate ship dropped off and it seemed as if the civilian's ship was drifting slowly off into space.
Mia relented in her efforts to try to break free from the pirate's grip. There was no turning back.
"You are too valuable to be left behind", Talak Vassic said. There was no compassion, no sympathy in his voice. It wasn't a compliment, it was a threat.
 Finally Mia broke free from him, with such force that he hit the wall behind him. After all, no one stood in her way as she marched to the small room that was her quarters.
Once there, Mia tried to catch her breath, but as easy as it sounded, she found it to be very difficult. The tears almost stifled her, and she swallowed every sound as those cursed pirates should not hear her cry!
Slowly she sank down the wall until she fully dropped to the floor. Her father ... was dead! Dead! He had been her only family, her home. What did she have left, now that he was gone?
Her fingers found the pendant she carried hidden in her pocket. She clung to it as if it was promising her a miracle that would never come.
Mia would rather have died at her father's side than to be alone on this ship with the pirates.
But she had been too valuable to them!
She almost laughed at the irony.
Back when they hijacked their small ship, they'd been drawn to the prospect of credits and valuables, convinced they'd be able to make good loot after they realized the high level of safety that had been installed. But in the end, they had found nothing like that and had even wanted to kill Mia and her father out of frustration.
Her father had done all this to protect his most precious property. The pirates had finally taken it:
His daughter.
For Arek, after the death of his wife and the kidnapping of his firstborn son, she had been the most precious thing in the galaxy - possibly even more precious than the stars themselves ...