Promise - Anakin Skywalker

.27

Ella nervously paced the brightly lit command room, fidgeting her hands. She stared up at the clear blue positioning board in front of her and stared at the little gold dot that represented Anakin's location. Her eyes were glued to it. She hated when he went on missions without her. Hell, he'd have died today if it weren't for her stopping that bullet.

"Everything alright, Commander?" A clone trooper asked, setting down his pencil that he planned battle strategies with.

Ella sighed shakily and nodded, still staring at the gold dot. "Just nervous that's all," she replied. "His droid has some defects I didn't get the chance to fix."

"Don't worry, it's General Skywalker," the trooper said, "he's always got it under control."

A small smile appeared on her face and her eyes glinted at the trooper. No one could see through a squint and a smile. "Of course," she replied sweetly.

Suddenly, the positioning grid started to beep and flash. Green rings rippled around Anakin's dot. Captain Rex came jogging over next to her.

"His tracking beacon is on," she alerted him. "Something must be wrong."

"Maybe it was an accident?" A trooper piped up from behind them at the strategy table.

"Even if it is, we're not the only ones who see that beacon," Ella breathed, "Rex, send him as many reinforcements as we can."

"Right away, Ella!" He barked before springing into action. "You heard her, Bucketheads, let's move!"

While everyone rushed around barking orders at each other, Ella stood impatiently rocking back and forth on her tiptoes as she held down the command center. She hated this so much - standing around and not being able to do anything. They didn't need her, and she was sure in these moments that no one really did.

And when a clone trooper came jogging back into the command center, she had a shred of hope that she would get to see some action. "Yes?" She asked eagerly, already preparing herself to run off.

"Commander, I need your approval to be redeployed," the trooper said. She recognized him as Chip.

Ella stared at him, her excitement lost once more. "Oh, yes absolutely, Chip! We need our best pilot in the field!" She said, trying to act happy.

Then again, she was all alone in the midst of the chaos of preparing for a battle. That was until Rex came sprinting back towards her.

"Is something wrong?" She asked urgently, sending his distress. It radiated off of him so intensely she felt it meters away.

"The hangar doors are jammed, Commander! Our mechanics say the droid outlet isn't bypassable like usual, something activated it."

Ella facepalmed and leaned onto the battle board with a long sigh. "R3..." She groaned.

"You stay here with the Squadron, command the ship," she said, her tone of voice changing to a more serious one.

"Commander, are you sure?" Rex said hesitantly.

Ella nodded. "The freighter's not in the main hangar," she explained, "It's better if at least one ship can go help him."

"I mean this in the best way possible, Commander, but can you pilot the freighter by yourself?"

"... yes! I mean- well- definitely!" Ella squeaked, "no problem!"

Before Rex could say otherwise or make her change her mind, Ella took off running. A smile gleamed on her face as she ran up the freighter's ramp and into the cockpit.