The New Adventures of Nomi Darklighter

Chapter 101 - Jedi on the Run

Nomi moved slowly, using any cover she could to avoid being noticed. Wherever she went, she influenced the surveillance cameras and the minds of the stormtroopers she passed.
But she was sure it wouldn't stay that simple. When they realized that she was no longer in her cell, the hunt would begin. Then she would be the prey and every single crew member would be a danger to her as well. It wouldn't be easy or nearly impossible to manipulate all those minds with the Force. The Jedi Master slipped into a storage room as the siren began to blare.
Obviously they had discovered her escape earlier than expected. She cursed inwardly as she heard the heavy footsteps of the stormtrooper boots.
The commander looked around the storage room, but there was nothing that could help her in any way. There wasn't even any access to the vents.
The footsteps passed her hiding place and moved away. Using the Force, she made sure the coast was clear before sneaking out and continuing on her way to the hangar.

On the bridge, Canady stared at the stormtrooper who had told him that the prisoner had escaped while the sirens blared. The commodore struggled to keep his composure and not yell at the trooper. He turned his back to him and barked orders into his comm. It was hard for him to believe that the woman had managed to escape from the cell where she had been held prisoner.
Something must have been wrong with the ysalamiri he had placed near the detention block and the interrogation room. Now the Jedi was on the run and in a position to use her full power. Sweat poured from his forehead and spittle flew as he barked more orders. He wouldn't let the commander escape, not if he had the chance to catch her husband, who was also her second-in-command. His subordinates hurried to carry out his orders.

Meanwhile, the Jedi Master continued to walk towards the hangar. She would have laughed if she had known how worried the commodore was about her escape.
As she moved forward, Nomi kept an eye on her surroundings, constantly in danger of running into a stormtrooper squad. All her senses were on high alert and adrenaline was coursing through her body.
She used a relaxation technique that Luke had once shown her and calmed down. It was better to keep a level head.
Nomi reached out with the Force. There was a trooper up ahead, just one. Time was running out and the stormtroopers stationed aboard the dreadnought were closing in, threatening to cut her off from the hangar and the Aquarius, her freighter that would be her path to freedom.
She decided against influencing the trooper's mind and drew the vibroknife she had taken from the armory.
Her future victim was completely unaware of the imminent danger he was in. As he passed the corner where the Resistance fighter was hiding, he was suddenly attacked. Nomi jumped on him and, after a brief fight, cut his throat.
She cleaned the knife in haste before continuing on her way. The sirens were blaring in her ears and she was aware that the whole ship was now in turmoil.
Nomi turned the next corner and saw the entrance to the hangar in front of her. It was heavily guarded. Canady wasn't stupid and expected her to go there. Inside the hangar were her only chances of escape. Either the battered freighter she had used to get to the pirates who had betrayed her, or one of the TIEs or shuttles. The commander unhooked her lightsaber from her belt and switched the blaster to her left hand.

As Nomi prepared to fight her way to the Aquarius, the rescue fleet re-entered real space just a few kilometers from the First Order dreadnought. All the ships were cloaked and would show no signature on the scanners. Tasherit grinned as her fingers danced over the Trader's Luck's weapons controls. The enemy would pay dearly for holding her mother captive. She reached out with the Force and nudged her mother for a brief moment, unaware of the situation she was in. Nomi smiled as she felt the subtle touch in the Force and nudged her daughter in the Force as well. Tash turned her head and looked at Jaden.
"Mama is here and alive," she told her fiancé and called her brothers in the Force to tell them the good news.
It was the only way to communicate, as all the ships had to keep comm silence until they would decloak and attack.
No sooner had the triplets received the good news than Dash Jr. tapped his father on the shoulder. The former mercenary was busy getting the Outrider ready for battle and looked up from his work. He saw his eldest's smile and knew he had good news. The young Jedi nodded his head.
"Yes, Mama is alive. Tash just told us through the Force and we can sense her presence too."
"That's good news, Junior, it means she must already be out of her cell," his father replied, continuing his preparations with stoic calm.
He didn't want to be distracted, because there was too much at stake. The pilots of his assembled fleet had their first orders, so far, so good. He would decide everything else as the situation arose.

Aboard the First Order dreadnought, Nomi moved without a noise, using the Force to attract the attention of the troopers guarding her freighter. Most of them left their posts and searched for the source of the noise they had heard from an adjacent room. The commander holstered her blaster, tightened her grip on her lightsaber and moved forward, taking advantage of any cover she could find.

Just a few steps and she would have reached the means for her escape. There were only two troopers left, still standing guard at the Aquarius, who could foil her plans. Sneaking up on the first trooper, the Jedi Master activated her lightsaber, which came to life with a snap hiss, and drove the blade through his back and straight into his heart. She caught him so that he made no sound as he fell to the ground dead. Before the second trooper realized that his comrade had just been killed, the commander sneaked up, swung her lightsaber and the man's head fell to the polished hangar floor.
Nomi deactivated the lightsaber and punched in the access code. The hatch of the Aquarius opened and the ramp lowered. Smiling, she ran up, entered the ship, retracted the access ramp and closed the hatch.
It was just in time.
As the commander hurried to the cockpit, she heard screams and blaster fire. She lowered herself into the pilot's seat and activated the engines and shields. Looking out the cockpit window, she turned pale as she saw the troopers bring up an E-Web, followed by Commodore Canady barking orders.
Her fingers flew over the controls on the console as she activated the on-board cannon. She pressed the fire control button, destroying the E-Web and killing the troopers operating it. At the same moment, she took off and told her children in the Force that she was on her way. She strapped herself in as the Aquarius shook violently breaking through the magcon field.

Canady cursed as he watched the freighter enter space with his prisoner on board.
"Deploy the TIEs!" bellowed the commodore and his subordinates hurried to carry out his order.