When She Was Gone

Chapter 30

"Ahsoka! I need you down here!"

Ahsoka stared at her comm in confusion for a split-second before yelling, "Why?"

"Kaivo's alive, and he's here!"

Both Ahsoka and Leia froze for a moment in disbelief. Then, without even speaking a word, the little human swerved the X-Wing and dove for the surface.

Ahsoka's heart was hammering frantically in her chest as they neared the base, but there was no time to think; before she knew it they were touching down and she was leaping out of her seat. They drew their lightsabers and ran into the fray.

Blaster bolts whizzed left and right and it was nearly impossible to go ten feet without being tripped. Ahsoka didn't even realize she had lost Leia until she shrieked for her to watch out and noticed she was not behind her. She panicked for a moment, then spotted her some distance away, locked in combat with Stormtroopers, Barriss at her back. Ahsoka hesitated, wanting to help, then almost got shot, ducked and ran. Leia would manage. She had to find Kaivo.

So engrossed was she in her world of running and dodging she did not notice the crack in the paving, and consequently tripped, flew about six feet and landed hard on her side, then skidded a few more feet.

Ahsoka knew instantly something was wrong: her left arm was already throbbing and her hip felt like it was made of jelly. She was having trouble breathing.

Slowly, she managed to sit up, wincing as she did so. Blaster bolts whizzed around her, but she was too dazed to notice, and she had a vague sense that something was probably broken. Or fractured.

Someone knocked into her, and a fresh wave of pain cascaded through her body. She yelped and twisted around.

A dead Stormtrooper lay against her.

She shrieked, pain forgotten, and scrambled to get him off her. Now more properly aware, she realized she was in the middle of a No Man's Land. Somehow she got to her feet and half-limped, half-ran to relative safety behind a pile of crates. It may have been a battlefield, but it was still a landing zone, and for that much she was grateful as she prodded her wounds.

Her hip was dislocated; with a twist and a hiss of pain she popped it back into place. Her left arm was skinned and bleeding, and seemed to be between a fracture and a sprain. She ripped off her right sleeve and wrapped a makeshift sling, binding her arm to her chest. One lightsaber would have to do.

She exhaled and steadied herself, drew a lightsaber, leapt over the crates and ran into the crowd of Stormtroopers.

She tried not to pay attention to what she was doing as she cut through Stormtrooper after Stormtrooper. She had watched as these squads had gone through their training, had even lead some of their routines when she was bored. She winced as one tried to fight back. She quickly overpowered him and pressed on.

~

Leia swung her lightsaber desperately, made contact with plastic, swung the other way, made contact with plastic there too.

The Stormtroopers just wouldn't thin.

Barriss seemed to be tiring too: Leia could sense her actions becoming more and more sluggish. And where was Ahsoka? Leia could only hope she had gotten through all right.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a blood-curdling scream. Everyone froze, even the Stormtroopers; no one had ever heard something so agonizing. There was a small yelp and a scuffle, then someone laughed coldly, and she knew it was Kaivo. Then she was swinging her lightsaber again, trying to stay alive.

~

Ahsoka seemed to be frozen.

She was curled up in a little ball on the ground, watching Kaivo approach, the sounds of battle filling her ears. She couldn't move, couldn't think, could barely breathe.