T H R E E

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Shriden
. . .

I yawn and stretch my arms as I walk down the hallway of the safe house. This is it. Today's the day. I'm finally going to meet my mom. The hallway is dark, and I avoid the creaky floorboards with practicedease.

"Shri, you're awake." My dad says, as I enter the kitchen, or at least what's left of it.

"Yeah...?"

"Sorry, that must have sounded pretty weird." He pulls out a chair and sits down, gesturing for me to do the same. I sit down and look out the window. I'm surprised to find that it's still dark out.

"Damn. I thought I slept in."

My dad chuckles. "Nope, you woke up early. Too early."

I smile a little bit. "At least I'll be able to say goodbye to Michael."

My dad gives me a sad smile. "Look hun, about that, I don't think Michael should go alone."

"What do you mean? Michaels our best fighter."

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "I know, and he's the best man for the job, but he's going in with two blasters-"

"One of which is very powerful." I cut him off.

"Yes, right, one very powerful blaster, a small T1,000, and that's it."

"What are you saying?" I ask.

"The military droids will have T5,000 blasters on them. Along with orbit blades, light grenades and possibly spring saws. Michael is going in with two blasters," he holds up a hand as I open my mouth to cut him off again, silencing me. "Even though one is a powerful blaster, he's still outmatched. We're sending in someone else to go with him. This way we have more firepower and, for arguments sake, if one person goes down, there'll still be someone left to finish the job."

I stay silent. As much as I hate to admit it, he's right. Michael is a good fighter, one of our best, but two blasters, no matter how powerful one of them is, isn't a match for the wall guards. I can tell my dad is considering going. I can't let him do that, if he doesn't come back...

"I'll go." I can't say I'm surprised by my words, I've been thinking about going, but I can't say the same for my dad.

"What?"

"I said I'll go." I repeat myself. My dad recovers from his shock, shaking his head roughly.

"No. I won't allow it." He stands and starts to walk away. I grab his arm, stopping him.

"Dad, please. I have as much training with a blaster as Michael, everyday, you drill me, you have me run laps around the ash fields, scale the ruins, train, and fire at targets. You taught me how to fight in hand to hand combat and how to use every weapon we could get our hands on."

He looks at me. Sadness so clear in his eyes it almost hurts just to look at him. He doesn't want to loose me. But I need to go, for my own sake, a selfish part of me wants to be the one to get my mom out of the Company, wants her to know that her daughter went to get her.

"Please." I say, letting go of his arm and looking down. "I know I don't have as much experience as you, but I'm younger and have more stamina than everyone else. I can move quicker. Besides, me and Michael train together all the time, we know each other's techniques and can get the job done quickly."

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