Star Wars Tyranny on Teth

Chapter 27

The frigate grew smaller as the Kestrel pulled away.

The crew stood in silence, fixated on the ship, waiting for something to happen. Rhodes, Lena, and Rose stared out the ray shielded doorway while Skye and Keiran both looked out the front viewport. Kenz sat silently in the back of the ship, staring at the floor.

The Munificent drifted toward the planet, the droids inside still following Dev's final orders.

The Kestrel, now a safe distance away, sat motionless in space while the crew continued to watch.

"Maybe Twitch wasn't able to reactivate the explosives?" Skye asked.

Rhodes put a hand on his chin and walked to the cockpit. "He said he was able to. I guess we will just have to wait. Not much else we can do."

Skye glanced down at the planet deep in thought. Even if Twitch fails, the villagers are away from the village, so we at least have that victory.

Rhodes motioned for Skye to get up before attempting to take back his normal seat. The pink Gungan reluctantly agreed and gave the seat up.

"Have a little faith in Twitch," Rhodes commented. "He is a capable soldier, and I am sure he will pull through. Besides, I told him to take an escape pod. Everyone needs to keep a lookout for jettisoned escape pods. We have to be ready should he need a rescue."

Before Skye could leave the cockpit Keiran rose and offered up the co-pilot's seat which Skye quickly sat down in.

Keiran went to the back to join his wife, passing a clearly annoyed Lena. Not only was she annoyed that she was not in the co-pilot's seat, but Lena was also growing frustrated at Rhodes' continued positivity.

Before he revealed he was a Jedi, he was all negative, but something was different. It was almost as if a weight of some sort was lifted.

Lena could keep silent no longer. She barged to the front of the ship and yelled, "How can you be so calm? Are we supposed to just wait here?"

Rhodes nodded saying, "Yes, we must keep faith in Twitch. It seems to me that somebody has a soft spot for him."

Lena grunted and returned to the back of the ship, mumbling along the way.

The crew continued to wait in suspense. The seconds ticking by felt like hours.

The silence was eventually broken when Keiran pointed out an orange glow in the middle of the ship. The crew's eyes were fixated on the light that grew more intense with every passing second.

The glow eventually turned to an explosion that sent a shockwave that could be felt on the Kestrel.

Numerous other explosions could be seen throughout the frigate as they were hit with the shockwave. The ship began to split into pieces, sending debris in all directions.

"Quick! Look for escape pods!" Skye yelled.

The crew scanned the field of twisted metal hoping to find an escape pod.

Rhodes glanced down at a screen then turned to look at Hunter. The droid sat behind Rhodes' chair, the satellite dish on his head spinning in circles. The droid let out a singular low-pitched tone and Rhodes hung his head.

The rest of the crew eventually noticed Rhodes and stood in silence waiting for the Jedi to speak.

Rhodes slowly raised his head and softly said, "Scans indicate that no escape pods were jettisoned prior to the explosion."

The ship remained quiet, all members of the crew processing what they had just heard.

Rhodes stood up from his chair and walked to the cargo hold where Lena was standing. Her eyes were clenched shut and her fists were tightened into a ball.