Sparks

Chapter Twenty - The Hunt

It was almost dawn on Atollon. Everyone was in their quarters, resting before another day of work. The Ghost hummed quietly, careful not to wake her crew. In Hera's cabin, she rolled over, asleep. Chopper sat at the foot of her bunk, deactivated. Besides the muffled snoring from Zeb and Ezra's cabin, all that could be heard was silence.

BEEP BEEP! BEEP BEEP!

The holoprojector lit up, the display reading of an oncoming transmission. The beeping was loud and annoying so Hera woke up, confused. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and squinted into the darkness. "Chopper?"

After looking at him in his unpowered state, her attention went to the source of the noise. She padded through the cabin over to her desk, yawning. Accepting the transmission, the Fulcrum symbol came up with the planet of Raydonia.

"I am sorry for waking you up. The Imperial scanners are at their weakest right now." The filtered voice sounded more like a droid's.

"What do you have for me?" Hera asked, trying to stay alert.

"It's more of a um, personal matter. If possible I need to get two citizens off the planet."

This was the first time that Hera ever had a Fulcrum agent bring up something like this. They were mysterious messengers, nothing more. But the hint of desperation that he was trying to hide made her decision. "Who are they?"

"Two girls. The Empire has one in custody and is hunting the other. I would tell you more but," he sighed. "Someone is always listening."

"Is it possible for you and your crew to break someone out of Raydonia's Imperial Complex?"

Hera thought for a moment about Lothal's, since they would be similar. "Yes. I have faith in our capabilities. What about the other?"

Fulcrum sent over the coordinates and gave her the time. Ending the transmission, Hera yawned again and looked over at her astromech. "I guess we'll have to wake up a little earlier than normal." She opened her cabin doors and went over to the intercom.

~<-*->~

Everything hurts. From the running, and the uncomfortable position that I slept in, I'm very sore. I stretch out behind the almost collapsed wall that shields me from the broken windows. The cold feels good on my muscles.

I found this place last night. There's nothing here; abandoned buildings, silent streets, from the times of the Republic. Stormtroopers don't patrol around here, so it's the perfect place to lay low. For the past couple days, I've kept moving, following Jack's advice.

I reach into my pocket and pull out a protein bar. Biting into it, it's tasteless but it'll fill me up for the rest of the day, so I'm not complaining. I grabbed a bunch from my food stash as part of my necessities. Along with the bars, I have my datapad, my jacket, my stun gun and my bow and arrows. Only the things I need. I'll thank Jack for the good advice when I see him later today. He didn't give me a time but I'll go after his shop closes, which gives me some time to kill.

I look at the clock on my datapad for the hundredth time. Even though I've been running around, I'm antsy today. I just have to do something.

Hunting? I'll end up wasting the kill because I can't sell it.

See friends? The only one I have is arrested.

Stay here? If I don't do something I'm going to freak.

Hmmm...I walk over to the window and lean out. The Imperial Complex towers over the buildings around it. Hmmm...

I guess I should start heading over to Jack's. Going by the Complex is faster than going around it, and I don't want to waste time. Gates at the Complex close soon.