Danger Zone

Chapter 8: "My Friend's Got a Bag of Explosives"

We make a mad dash out of the building, only to be greeted by the sight of an air battle between Black Squadron and First Order TIEs; Black Squadron being run down slowly. My heart plunges at the horrific scene, hoping that my brother is still alive. But we all knew the odds and risks of challenging the First Order on their turf.

"They're outnumbered. Out powered," the eldest human commentates with concern.

Hurriedly and not taking my eyes away from the air battle, I raise the point "We need to do something. We need to help them."

It takes Han a split second to get a spark of an idea as he faces the four of us. We all look at him, wondering what's on his mind, what his sudden plan is.

"My friend's got a bag full of explosives. I suggest we use them wisely. Any suggestions of a good target?"

Finn, Rey, Chewbacca and I don't have to ask what he means by 'wisely'. Despite the vagueness of Solo's comment, all four of us seem to know exactly what he's thinking; even if two of us definitely aren't Force Sensitive. Strategy.

"The oscillator would be the only sensible target, seeing that's what we're trying to destroy. However, there's no way inside," Finn informs, a hint of discourage hidden in his voice.

I frown a little, thinking aloud "There has to be a way in. Underground. Hidden doors. There has to be some sort of entrance."

"There is one. Escaping from my cell and hiding myself until I ran into you four, I've been in and out of the walls. Literally. Therefore, I've seen the interiors of these kinds of walls. The structuring, mechanics and instrumentation of them are similar of the Star Destroyers from the Imperial era. Having spent years scouring and scavenging inside the Star Destroyers, I've figured out how each mechanics work inside of them. If you can get me to the conventional junction station, I can figure out a way in," Rey hurriedly explains.

"I like the idea. If you can get us in, we'll be ready," Solo agrees, reigniting the determination in the five of us.

We split into two groups; one of two and one of three. The older and more experienced two linger at the oscillator while us three younger ones search for a vehicle that'll get us to where we need to go swiftly. Luckily, there's a station of snow speeders that wasn't too far from the oscillator, but there is one problem; they are all two seaters and there's three of us.

"We're either going to have to squash in or take two snow speeders," I comment, studying them for a moment.

The other two nod before we have a quick debate on what we should do; eventually choosing the latter option. While Finn and Rey climb into one snow speeder, I hop into another and give the controls a quick scan to figure out what's what. In no time at all, the duo of snow speeders are fired up and racing towards our objective in the decreasing light. However, it's not long at all until trouble starts following.

A snow speeder chases us from behind, two Stormtroopers lodged in both seats with one of them shooting at the three of us.

Great (!) What a wonderful way to complicate things (!) Thank, Stormtroopers (!) We really appreciate this (!) We'll be sure to bring you a favour in return (!)

Every time I hear a shot being fired, I momentarily duck for cover while still piloting my snow speeder. Having no passenger to help me and having my allies in the other snow speeder, I have no idea who's shooting, where they're shooting or any way of defence; leaving me a vulnerable and easy target, however, less of a threat than a duo with at least one person who can return fire.

Dodging and weaving through the gaps between the trunks of trees, I a sudden thump and a lessening in shots being fired. I tense a little, my fingers gripping a little tighter on the controls and my eyes losing the ability to blink. I focus on the Force to see what happened, thankfully finding out that both Rey and Finn are fine and one of the Stormtroopers has been shot.