Clouded by the Dark Side

Chapter 7 - Two Paths, Two Sisters

Ahsoka cringes. "They must think this grease bucket is an enemy ship." Great. Just what we need right now. Being fired on from both sides.

Hastily, I contact the ship. "Jedi cruiser, hold your fire!" I order.

"Who is that?" a voice comes over the comm, "Incoming ship, identify yourself."

"This is General Skywalker. We have Jabba the Hutt's son," I inform hastily.

"He needs medical attention. We must board immediately," Aniya adds.

"Stand by," comes the reply.

"Stand by?" cries Ahsoka in frustration, "That's helpful."

"Even though we're being shot at from all directions," grumbles Alema worriedly.

"Hang on!" groans Aniya. I circle the cruiser, dodging the firing from the droids. Our ship spins around, turning all the way upside down as we circle the cruiser.

"General Skywalker, we think we can lift the shield on the lower rear hanger," a voice comes over the comm again.

"Finally!" exclaims Alema, sounding downright relieved. They're probably panicking. This is still practically their first mission, after all. I hate how fast they're being forced to get used to things like this.

"We're on our way," Aniya calls. Right ahead of us, the hanger doors slide open.

"We've made it. We've made it!" exclaims Ahsoka with relief. I'm about to refute the statement, but I don't even have a chance to do so.

The droids, however, instantly notice the open hanger and fly towards it, shooting every which way. Flames burst out of the ship and I can hear the explosions ripping apart the hanger. Instantly, I grab the controls and spin the shuttle to safety, diving beneath the cruiser. I do my best not to think about how many lives were just lost over such a careless mistake. I should have known that would happen. I should have. And now – now... I hastily try to force back those thoughts. I can't dwell on it, or even more people are going to die. "That changes our plans," I state, exchanging a glance with Aniya.

"Looks like we're gonna have to take this bucket of bolts all the way to Tatooine," she sighs, "Hopefully it'll hold together through hyperspace."

"It better," Alema says from behind us. "Because if not, we just might be stuck in the hyperspace lanes forever."

"Sounds exciting," replies Aniya dryly. "Would you like to try it?"

"Sure. Doesn't sound like we have a choice."

"We're clear to make the jump to hyperspace," I declare as we continue flying out of the atmosphere. It looks like the entire battle was down by the cruisers. I just hope our masters are alright. "Artoo, program the navicomputer," I command.

"I don't think he's gonna make it, Master," Ahsoka calls to me worriedly.

That's not an option. The Huttlet can't die on us on the way to Tatooine. "There's gotta be something we can do for him," I insist.

"Try taking a look in the back," suggests Aniya, "See if you can find some medical supplies. And when you're done... I think we all have some much-needed talks to go through."

"Sure," replies Alema, jumping up.

"I'm on it," Ahsoka says, walking over to Anya and passing her the Huttlet before the two walk out of the room.

I'm far from a fan of Hutts, but I can't deny honest concern for him. I don't want to see him die. Besides, we don't need to deal with the mess if he did. I reach over and gently put a hand on his head. His fever has clearly gotten a lot worse, and I can't imagine the battle is making him feel any better. Or the strange surroundings. He probably needs to rest. "Don't die on me now, little guy. Just hang in there."