The Dark Side

~13~

The shrill screech of the T.I.E. fighters mingled with the heavy blasts of its lasers. The sound split the air and Poe instinctively ducked. He peered up at the heavy tarp ceiling obviously not comfortable with the collapsibility of the refuge, before trading nervous looks with Tekka.

"That'll be The First Order," he said stating the obvious.

Tekka wasted no time and shoved the hologram chip into the dark haired man's hands.

"Evacuate the village," he said to Neri'el, "But do not play hero. You must leave this planet tonight."

Neri'el nodded and vanished out of the tent.

Tekka's old grey eyes filled with ferocity as he stared down the young man standing before him. He grasped Poe's smooth hand within his own that sagged with age. The firm grip brought Poe out of his rapidly formulating mind.

"You will protect her with your life," Tekka said firmly; still clutching Poe's hand tightly. He folded the man's fingers down around the cartridge and held on. "You will keep her safe and become her new protector."

Poe blinked at him but nodded, knowing that this might be the old man's final wish.

"I will," he said slowly, "I'll take her right to General Solo."

Tekka smiled faintly.

"General," he chuckled, "To me she is royalty."

A distant scream brought them back to their senses. The sound of explosions surrounded them and rocked the tiny tent. It wavered dangerously and the lantern hung from the ceiling post wobbled.

"Go!" Tekka commanded shoving the man from his tent, "Get to your ship!"

Poe Dameron did not need telling twice as he raced from the old tent. He hesitated momentarily outside to see the destruction of the village. People were running and screaming which confused him but then a huge cloud of fire and smoke exploded from the center of the village. The shock wave forced him backwards and he ducked again.

The screams of the T.I.E. fighter engines was deafening when accompanied by the piercing cry of the lasers. Green and red beams showered the tiny village with destruction sending the whole settlement up in flames. Heartbroken cries pierced the air and Poe had to force himself to look away.

His muscles burned as he ran for his ship. BB-8 came rolling after him as he forced himself closer and closer towards the trusty X wing. The closer he got to it the harder he prayed Neri'el would come soon.

But she wouldn't.

Because, Neri'el was in the midst of evacuating all of the village children from the burning area. She had about a dozen kids following her towards the desert when The First Order ships began to land. Instantly, she changed paths and ran in a different direction. But another ship landed before her and began spilling out white storm troopers.

The dark aura that had attacked her so viciously in the tent came back in a rush as she ran towards another of the ships.

"We're surrounded!" one of the older boys yelled.

Neri'el came to a stop, breathing heavily. She clutched her chest and glanced around. The kid was right. Everywhere they turned there were more storm troopers. They were rounding up the kids' parents. There would be no escape.

Her flesh calf burned in pain as she pivoted on her metal foot trying to figure a way out. But the more she looked the more desperate she became. T.I.E. fighters flitted around like moths around a lamp. Everywhere she looked there were more white plated soldiers. Storm troopers now had every last villager congregated in the center of the village. That included...Tekka.

The old man stood straight and bold, refusing to cower away from the men before him, who kept flaunting their blasters trying to terrify the villagers even more. A couple of the white armored men saw Neri'el and began shouting.

"YOU THERE!"

Neri'el tensed as several storm troopers ran over towards her little group and began grabbing the children. The kids began fighting back and weakly tried to throw the storm troopers off of themselves. A couple of the older ones managed to target one in particular and got his blaster off of him. A tousled haired boy raised the back of the gun to the trooper's face, aimed and-

"NO!" Neri'el screamed.

But it was too late.

A laser bolt rang out and the boy's lifeless body hit the ground, a gaping hole through his chest. His gun fell from his limp hands and was instantly snatched up by the storm trooper who had shot the boy from behind.

The other children stopped fighting immediately after seeing their comrade fall and were easily herded into a group by the troopers.

Two white clad soldiers came up to Neri'el and grasped her arms tightly and began pulling her towards the group of villagers. Her metal foot dragged in the sand, leaving a slightly deeper groove than the one created by her flesh foot.

Her emerald eyes stayed fastened on the lifeless boy who lay on his side in the sand. His brown eyes were dulled and empty. The fight that he had shown was gone. Like the light taken from a candle, his life was just as easily snuffed out.

A shout erupted in the night as a child broke free from the assembly of kids. The little girl flew out of the storm trooper's reach, her small ratty black pigtails flying.

A storm trooper raised his gun and aimed it at the child's back.

Her mother screamed from the group of adults as the little girl ran towards her.

White hot anger licked the insides of Neri'el's stomach and she felt a burst of power surge through her. The storm troopers' hands snapped free from her arms as they flew backwards away from her. The blonde stretched out a hand just as the trooper let off his shot.

The mother screamed again as the laser tore through the air towards her little girl.

But the laser never reached the child.

Instead, it stayed frozen in the air. It fizzled angrily and tried to skip ahead but Neri'el refused to let it. She held her focus, feeling the strain begin to pulse through her.

As the tiny child leapt into the sobbing woman's arms, she peered over her shoulder. Almost immediately, she buried her head into her mother's neck.

Tekka's heart sank as he saw the bolt shudder to a stop in midair.

His hope was gone. It crumbled like the village around him. Poe was too late or dead. As they all would be soon.