Star Wars (Legends):The Eternal Conflict. Book:2

Chapter 16 ( A Bat Out of Hell)

Location: Bastion. Capital world of the Galactic Empire.

THA-THUMP... THA-THUMP... THA-THUMP...

The biology behind the phenomenon didn't make any sense to the 11 year old.

"How could someone hear their own heartbeat?"
She wondered silently.

THA-THUMP...

As strange as the sensation was, she appreciated it's presence just the same. The sound of her heart beating in her ears, reminded her that she was awake! She was alive!

She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, pulling Wynn to a halt as well. They had been running down a back-alley, and were about to cross an intersection when she felt it: A sense of Danger.

Wynn picked up on the cue, and pressed himself and Allana tight against the nearest building. He looked down at her, to see that she was silently pointing to the left. Still tight against the wall, he was able to ever so carefully, peak out into the intersection. There were 2 YVH's  running toward their same intersection. In about 10 seconds, both of them would be spotted by the killer droids.

Wynn went to pull Allana back the way they had come, be she had anchored both of her feet firmly to the ground, with the force. She then pulled away from him...TOWARD THE INTERSECTION!

Wynn tried desperately to shout-whisper: "ALLANA! ALLANA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" But she ignored him. She poised herself, close to the wall facing the continued back alley on the other side of the intersection.

He could hear the droid's heavy foot falls, approaching... closer... and closer.

That's when she reached out in the force. Just as the Droids were about to pass in front of the exposed little girl, a stack of  crates that had been placed about 20 metres into the the opposite alley, fell over in a large crash.

The attention of both droids was thus drawn to the alleyway in the opposite direction. The droids turned in the direction of the downed crates, and proceeded to investigate the mess.

Allana didn't squander a microsecond of her diversion. Grabbing hold of Wynn's hand once again, she pulled him up the street in the direction the droids had come.
Carefully, the pair negotiated droid patrolled alleyways and streets, all the while following the location indicated on Wynn's hand held beacon receiver.
In less then 2 minutes, they where there. He had spotted a particularly large, blue dumpster about 10 metres away. That was their destination!

Letting down their guard with salvation in sight, they made a dash for the dumpster. They got about 2 thirds of the way there, when Allana let out a sharp gasp.
Wynn halted their run, and quickly examined the girl for any injuries. She looked unharmed, but her face bore an expression of terror. She turned around and pointed a finger down the way they had come, and... There he stood!

Darth Thanaton. A dark twisted spectre from the past. Instinctively, Allana raised her blaster and fired!Twice!Although the distance between them was great, so was her aim.

But, her opponent was also highly skilled. A fraction of a second before she fired, his lightsaber snap-hissed to life. The evil red blade easily nullified the threat.

Wynn knew fighting that monster wasn't an option. Their only hope lay about 10 meters away. Nearly pulling the girls arm out of it's socket, he ran the distance with an iron grip on Allana's hand.

He didn't have to turn around to know that the Sith droid had not given up. The CLOMP CLOMP of running mechanical feet, seemed to thunder in his ears.
Barely a meter away away from the dumpster, he yelled breathlessly: Echo, Tycho, Zabreeni, Four, Zero, Nine.