Beyond the Brink - A Star Wars OC tale

Chapter 2

The trip to Mygeeto was a little less eventful than she'd hoped. Not that she had been hoping for any kind of turbulence or issues with the flight, but it was her first mission out of the temple and although the mission was of a serious nature, and although she needed to make a winning impression, she couldn't deny that she pined for just a little excitement.          
  Not that she would ever say it aloud, but her training had gotten just a tad monotonous.
  She'd even hoped there would have been a window to peer out of as they touched down on the planet. She'd longed to see the snowy mountains ranges and crystalline shards from above.
   She'd had no such luck.
  They all stood in their commanded positions, the students falling behind Lee and her on parallel sides of the precious cargo box, Master Rhee at the head of the envoy and Chen tailing the end.
  Like a wolf, Tzofi realised. The strongest always held the back. The position that posed the weakest.
The moment the boarding ramp started to descend, the frigid air surged into the bay and bit the only skin she had exposed to the elements. Her face.
  Pulling the thick woolen scarf over her nose, shifting her goggles down to defend her eyeballs from being frozen in their sockets and tightening the fluffy hood round her face helped less than she would have hoped.
  She'd be fortunate if she left the planet with all the digits on her feet and hands attached.
  Chen had explained the routine transportation of the crystal explicitly before arrival and her role was to monitor half the group of students, while Lee monitored the other.
   Typical that he had been chosen as the other leader. Her whole training experience consisted of her achieving her newest goal to then look over and find he had crossed the metaphorical finish line at the exact same time. She was sick of being equally matched with him. She needed to exceed his capabilities and prove to the Masters what she was worth.
  The Mygeeto mission was a routine trial Master Rhee took his students on before final padawan selection. The crystal had been procured years beforehand and was now used as a mock test for the newest student body in the act of protection and transportation of valuable goods.
  Metal screeched as a handful of the students broke their positions and all tried to collectively pick up the case.
  She spied Chen in the background, rolling his eyes, and took the opportunity before her. "Kareen, Rollo, you pick it up. Everyone else, create a barrier around them for protection and be on guard."
  Chen looked at her and gave her a nod of approval. She almost skipped past Lee as she went down the ramp. It only grated on her more that he seemed to find it funny.

  That enthusiasm of hers was short lived as they navigated a sub-zero tundra with no other transportation method other than the legs they were born with.
  Why had she thought this was going to be fun?
  The test had been designed to show the jedi students that they could not always rely on the comforts of society, such as vehicles, maps and technology to assist in their tasks.
  Her skull rattled as her teeth chattered relentlessly.
  At least the students were managing to keep to their roles now and were making a decent speed across the snow drift. Maybe it was because she was concentrating too hard on keeping that pace that she didn't see the loose lump of snow that gave way beneath her foot.
  And just like that she was careening towards the edge of the snow drift, seconds away from a hundred foot fall. Everything inside her choked.
  But before she could slip over the edge, something pulled her back, steadying her back onto her feet. Swinging her head back she found only empty space, but as she looked back at the group, she found Lee with his hand outstretched towards her and she almost stopped breathing.
  The force. He'd used the force to save her.
  She hadn't even known he was capable of manipulating the telekinesis aspect of it so skillfully.
  They stared at each other for a moment and everything else seemed to go silent as an electric sensation danced through her limbs. Lee shifted on his feet, his brow creasing. She wondered if he felt it too.
  No one had used the force on her like that before. It was as though the residue of it still ran through her veins.
  "Tzofi," Master Rhee was before her, blocking her view of Lee suddenly, hands tight on her shoulders in case she were to faint. "Are you alright, my dear?"
  Jolted out of her reverie, Tzofi straightened her spine and realised the entire group was watching her with concern. Her cheeks burned with rage at the negligence she'd just shown everyone, and at the adeptness her constant competitor had just displayed. An exhibit of raw power. One she knew she didn't possess.
   The high ground had been lost and she couldn't even appear irate because he'd saved her damn life in the process.
  "Yes," Tzofi gathered herself. "I'm fine. Let's keep going." Was all she said as she moved back into position and ordered the group to carry on.
  She didn't dare look Lee's way and let him see the vulnerability that she was trying to keep from spilling out down her cheeks.

  Master Rhee had been kind enough not to organise the entire mission without  transportation. Tzofi almost sighed aloud in relief as the large steel cargo train pulled into the small station which consisted of a tiny one room building that had a droid perched behind a basic desk.
  They'd all huddled into the room upon arrival, apart from Chen. The light was fading and the temperature had dropped with the threat of nightfall on the horizon, but he remained outside, utterly unfazed, monitoring the haunting blizzard that was making its way towards them.
  The train pulled up just in time and within minutes they had loaded the crystal onto the carriage, secured it and were making their way along the track.
  As far as she was aware, there were no civilians on the train with them, only goods being transported to the main city. That certainly explained the lack of heating facilities in the carriage. She could still see her breath as a corporeal wisp in front of her, but at least she could remove her goggles and scarf enough to draw in some more oxygen.
  A shadow loomed over her gloved hands as she rubbed them together and she looked up to find Lee staring straight at her.
  Her heart cinched at his closeness. His striking features a little too close for comfort.
  Opening his mouth to speak, she didn't know why, but she feared what words were about to come to fruition.
  But she never got to find out because Chen suddenly spoke over everyone in the carriage, voicing the words that had never been spoken on any Mygeeto Mission before. "We're about to be attacked."