Sparks

Chapter Two - The Lost

The young woman looked out from behind the large dusty crate she was hiding behind. It was an older woman who manned the old cargo ship. The ship itself wasn't big. It was just one big area with a cockpit and cargo hold with no individual rooms. It was shipping medical supplies for a small company that worked for the Empire. Fortunately, it was exactly where the Erica, the young woman, was wanting to go. The ship's destination was Garel. It was easy to get on. All she had to do was create a distraction. She knocked several crates away from the pilot's hands as she loaded the ship, and slipped inside. The pilot wasn't happy about it, cursing at the wind and Raydonia's weather patterns. Even better, Erica used the Force to pull off the distraction.

Erica had been able to use the Force for most of her 22 long standard years. It wasn't in the temple before the fall of the Republic, but she was trained to be a Jedi...and that story took some time to tell, and dark memories.

Erica brushed back some stray dark hairs on her forehead back into her ponytail. She didn't like being a stowaway, but she had to get to Garel. She had spent too long in Raydonia, and she got all the information that she needed. Declared traitors, the Jedi were murdered by their comrades who were ordered by Palpatine. The plan was too perfect, too precise. The destruction of the Order made way for the downfall of the Republic, but there's something sinister...I can feel it.

After the death of her master, finding out the plan became a mission, a goal. The truth was what she wanted, and she would get it. Alone.

BEEP BEEP! BEEP BEEP!

The sound of an alarm shook Erica out of her mind. What's going on? Erica thought.

Attention all cargo-carrying spacecraft, redirect to Lothal, or else you will be destroyed. A crisp Imperial voice announced through the dirty communication device. Cursing, the pilot flipped several switches, and the small cargo ship was sucked into hyperspace. Erica rubbed her temples as the cockpit filled with bright light.

How am I supposed to get to Garel now?

~<-*->~

I'm walking through a familiar part of the city. It's an endless maze leading to only one place no matter how far I walk, or how many different directions I take. The sky looks scary, a dark green dome. It's dark out here, not a star in the sky. I can't even see the moon. All I can see in front of me is the old cracked road and the metal walls of the buildings surrounding me. Don't. Freak. Out. The walls are not closing in. They are not closing in. I turn around and take a left at an intersection, then a right at another one. I need to get out. I know what's coming. I see it every time I wake up. I'm forced to come to a stop in front of a house. My old house. I can't move at all, I'm trapped.

WAKE UP!

My eyes open wide, the image coming into my mind. I jerk forward, panting. And also sweating. Gross. Frantically looking around, I try to get my bearings.

My home, I guess you could call it, is pretty small. It used to be a cargo hold where stuff would go before ships would take it away. Old and musty, there's blankets that I sleep on, a smoldering campfire, and my radio and stuff near my head. There's a window covered with a blanket above the door because I don't want people seeing me in here. It's not much, but it's what I've stayed in for about five years now. I rub my forehead because I've given myself a headache after sitting up too fast.

Ow.

Flipping over on my stomach, I reach for my datapad next to me. The screen blinds me when I turn it on and I squint to read the text. It's 01:37. "Ugh." I groan. I shut it off and set it down next to me. I flip my blonde hair behind me and flop back down on the worn blankets. I'd cut my hair because it's long and annoying, but I don't have scissors. Too many memories with it, I guess. Laying back down, I stare at the ceiling. "It's just a nightmare, it can't hurt you," I whisper to myself. But it's the memories in it that do.