"If landings and takeoffs are the hardest, isn't that more reason to teach me?" Hera's tone had begun to border on wheedling. She already knew they were close to the landing strip, and she was desperate to learn how to land the ship. Gobi only shook his head at her with a sigh.
"You are persistent."
"We've got an Imperial ship approaching," Serin warned, seeing the dot appear on the beeping console. While both adults kept their outward composure, Hera was not so calm, her insides twisting in fear. She had seen those who spoke out against the Empire taken away and imprisoned, but she was never allowed to find out what happened to them. What they had done was much worse. Who knew what the Empire would do to them if they found out they had brought weapons back to their planet?
"Go low," Gobi instructed the woman, attempting to keep his tone even for the child's sake. It would not do for any of them to panic now. For now they just had to shake them, find someplace safe to land and act like they had never left Ryloth. "Try to lose them."
A lone sniper lay concealed within the canyon, tracking their ship with his scope raised to his eye. The lens zoomed in, until he could clearly see their engines, exposed at the bottom of the ship. An easy target.
The sniper's finger tightened on the trigger, the bolt firing from the end of the barrel. It soared, scarlet laser arcing through the air, and slammed heavily into the left engine, exploding on contact.
The ship shook violently, warning alarms going off in the cockpit and the ship's trajectory nosediving downwards, despite Serin's best attempts to pull up and keep the ship in control. There was nothing she could do. They were going down.
They were jerked roughly to the side as the freighter crashed into the bottom of the canyon. The ship's momentum carried it forward, scraping deep grooves into the dirt before it connected with the wall of the canyon, smoke, fire and destruction left in its wake. Hera was thrown to the back of the cockpit, head cracking hard against the wall. She slumped to the ground, all three Twi'leks knocked out cold.
Crosshair lowered the rifle, darkly pleased with his perfect shot, and pressed his fingers against the side of his helmet, activating the comm system.
"Move in." He was already off, making his way down the rocks, towards the criminals he had tracked to Ryloth's moon and back. The transport waiting on the other side of the canyon took off, the troopers inside gripping their blasters, waiting for the ramp to land so they could apprehend the criminals.
Gobi stirred at the sound of the Imperial gunship, peering out of the cockpit at the landing transport. Hera's own head lifted, throbbing painfully from the knock it had taken. But the pain was nothing compared to the fear. The Empire was right there. They had caught them. And she had no idea what they were going to do to them.
The troopers were off as soon as the landing ramp had fully descended, four armoured in white, three in black. Hera scrambled to her feet and was at the seats again with a fully alert Gobi and Serin.
"What do we do?" Her voice shook, betraying her panic. Gobi couldn't respond. There was nothing they could do. He shouldn't have brought her on this mission. Now Cham and Eleni would lose their daughter.
"Just say nothing," he said eventually, hearing the troopers break into the ship. "Let me handle this."
Four troopers dressed in black armour were the ones who pulled them out of the freighter, lining them up in front of the crashed ship with weapons levelled at them. Crosshair had already sent word back to Senator Taa and Vice Admiral Rampart, now they were only waiting for the large tank to roll in with the two politicians.
Rampart was the first one off the wheeled transport, the very corpulent Taa just behind him. Serin and Gobi shared a glance at the sight of them - it was going to be worse than they thought. Crosshair broke away from the group of troopers, approaching the two politicians and ready to report.
"These three were caught smuggling weapons onto the planet," he informed Rampart. His attention was caught by the Twi'lek child, much smaller than the two adults on either side of her, and much more vulnerable.
"Miss Syndulla," Rampart regarded her. "I find your involvement in such matters to be most distressing."
Hera glanced up nervously at him through her eyelashes, unsure where this was heading.
"Cham's behind this!" Taa pointed at her angrily, his three chins wobbling under the force of his outburst. "She's the proof! He's plotting an uprising!"
"That's not true!" Hera couldn't stop herself despite Gobi's warning. Her words made no difference, Taa pressed on with his made-up narrative, believing the words as he spoke them.
"You being here is enough to implicate him." Taa huffed out a breath, attempting to cross his arms over his large belly.
"The public won't see it that way," Rampart mused, deep in thought. "You said it yourself. He has influence over them. And the fact remains, Cham has not committed a crime. Yet. But this Syndulla has."
Hera flinched backwards when he leaned in, unable to hide the terror from him.
"Sir, she's only a child." The clone captain Howzer objected behind Rampart.
"She's an insurgent!" Taa insisted. "Take them away!"
The two clones on the other side of Howzer moved forward, obeying orders without a second thought. He watched them go, following after a moment's hesitation. The three Twi'leks were escorted onto the tank, hands raised in defeat. Crosshair watched them file onto the transport, before stepping forward to intercept Rampart before he could get onto the transport with them.
"I'm clocking three of Glie's fighters on the western ridge," he informed the admiral, "Should I take care of them?"
"No, let them report back." Rampart already had a plan in mind. "Just make sure you get into position."
The lead fighter on the ridge lowered her macrobinoculars. "We have to contact the general."
"Smuggling weapons?" Cham repeated in disbelief. "What was Hera thinking?"
"We must speak to Senator Taa immediately." Eleni looked worriedly up at her husband,
The droid known as Chopper wheeled in crazily, chattering in Binary and the two appendages he used as arms flailing about. Eleni's face hardened at his announcement, indignation crossing her angular features.
"Guilty of treason?! They haven't had a trial yet!"
Cham sighed in defeat. He already knew what the greedy senator would be planning, so rooted in his hatred for him. "Taa will see that they never get one."
Chopper's head spun wildly on its axis, still jabbering away. Cham nodded at the outdated astromech, agreeing with him.
"We must intercept that convoy before it reaches the capital. Where are they now?"
"Western outskirts," the fighter on the hologram reported. "Sector three."
The hologram fizzled out a second later, Cham and Eleni already halfway out the door with a quick shout to Chopper, the droid obediently following after.
The three fighters had taken up a new position in the canyon, tracking the large tank as it rolled over the rough terrain. The rumble of Cham's speeder could be heard even in the distance, yet none of the fighters got up as it neared them, none wanting to lose sight of the tank's trajectory.
Eleni had hopped out the speeder before it had even stopped moving, the lead fighter handing her binocs over to her without a second's hesitation.
"The tanks heading for the narrows," she told the couple grimly, even as Eleni peered through the macrobinoculars to see for herself. If the convoy made it through the narrows, they would never be able to stop it in time.
"We have to seize control of it before them." Cham hefted his weapon, already turning for the side of the cliff. "Split up."
He sent Eleni and one of the fighters to the Blurrgs, taking the other two with him down the side of the cliff. Chopper was left in the speeder - they would need him to be ready for their getaway.
A light flashed on and off the top of the canyon, signalling to Cham and the lead fighter on the ground. His own torch came up, sending a quick response, before the first speeder bike rounded the corner and he was running after it.
The clone never knew what hit him, the spear catching him in the shoulder and knocking him clean off the speeder bike. The trooper hit the dirt rolling, Cham leaping onto the bike and pulling it around in one smooth motion. He snatched up the spear in the dirt; the other trooper had noticed the theft of the bike, firing on the renegade Twi'lek. He too, was forced off his bike, the spear rammed into his face and ripping the helmet off his head as he toppled to the ground, unconscious. Cham's companion had already infiltrated the tank, now she just needed to stop it.
Inside the tank, Senator Taa was beginning to panic.
"What are you waiting for?" He demanded of Howzer. "Attack!"
The clone captain hesitated, the indecision clear on his face. Friendship with the Syndullas aside, this wasn't right and he knew it. They were just trying to save their daughter, found guilty of a crime she'd been given no trial for. But he had been given orders, and he had to follow them. "Yes, sir."
Hera's head raised at the sound of blaster fire from outside. She was not the only one who noticed - Rampart surged to his feet, attention focused solely on Howzer and his commlink, blaring panicked shouts from the troopers outside. "Where are our reinforcements?"
The comm channel dissolved into garbled static, cutting off the yelling trooper. The fighter on the tank had jammed the comms, fingers still flying across the controls of the ship. The entire tank ground to a halt mere moments later, main power shutting off and forcing it into emergency power, plunging the vehicle into muted red light. Howzer's blaster came up, steady and unwavering as it pointed at the door. Taa, meanwhile, backed himself into the corner farthest from the door, pressing himself into it as far as his portly frame would allow.
"You must hold them off until reinforcements get here!"
"No." Rampart settled a hand on Howzer's blaster, countering Taa's demands. He was much too calm for the situation, Hera noticed. As if he already had something planned. "It's too late for that. Tell them we surrender."
"Surrender?" Taa's voice climbed an octave. "What are you doing?"
"Keeping us alive, Senator." Even Rampart could not keep the edge of annoyance out of his voice, glaring at the spineless senator out of the corner of his eye.
The front door hissed open, both the Syndulla parents on the other side, brandishing blasters at the men in the centre of the room. Hera jumped up instantly, the tears she had been holding back finally bursting forth as she ran for her mother. "Mama!"
Eleni's weapon dropped as Hera threw herself into her arms, crying quietly. Cham remained rigid, directing the offenders out with a tilt of his gun, but even he could not stop his gaze softening when it flicked over to his daughter, safe in her mother's embrace. Gobi and Serin were cut out of their bindings, joining Cham and the other insurgents in herding Rampart, Taa and Howzer out of the tank.
The four surviving Imperials were lined up outside of the tank, blasters cocked and still levelled at them. Hera was guided behind Cham with Eleni, her mother checking her over carefully for any injuries.
"What is Father going to do?" Hera whispered, half in fear. The senator already hated her father enough. He would never forgive them after this. He would have them killed at the first opportunity. "Taa will not let this go."
"Let us worry about that." Eleni shushed her quietly, drawing the smaller girl into her arms just as Chopper pulled up in the speeder they had left behind, settling Hera into the backseat to wait for this to all be over. Even she knew they would likely have to flee Ryloth after this. If they even made it that far.
"How dare you attack our convoy!" Taa's bluster had returned upon seeing Cham in person, carrying loudly over towards the speeder. Cham made no response, only closing the distance between them to stand in front of him, towering about him. "You are all traitors!"
"You threaten my daughter and accuse her of treason?" The Twi'lek's voice was low, dangerous. Only hinting at the fury beneath. "For years, I have watched you put your greed and self interests above Ryloth. You are the one guilty of treason."
Taa had shrunk back further with each irate word, but it was nothing compared to his panic when Cham's blaster came up, poking into his chest. He shot a frightened look at Rampart, voice cracking yet again in fear. "Do something!"
The admiral made no such move, only regarding the senator with a measure of disgust. He was still too calm, showing no concern at all towards the blasters pointed at him or jabbed into Taa's chest. "He's the one holding the blaster."
"Cham, stop and think about what you're doing." Howzer attempted to appeal to the Twi'lek general, pressuring years of friendship formed over the Clone Wars. Cham didn't respond, his jaw clenching and brandishing the blaster again, finger hovering above the trigger. It wasn't until Eleni laid a hand on the weapon and pushed the barrel down that he finally relaxed,
"Taa's time will come," she said quietly, a silent reminder in her words. "But not this way."
Cham's head followed her tilted chin, where the young girl peered over the edge, eyes wide in innocent fright. She did not understand the implications of the raised blaster, of the look on her father's face, but what she did know was that he was about to do something terrible. And it scared her.
He squeezed his eyes shut and dropped the barrel, the angry scowl on his face fading. The hesitation was exactly what Rampart had been waiting for. He smirked, glancing up to the ridge on the canyon. Everything was perfectly in place.
"Thank you for playing your part, Senator."
A crimson bolt arced through the air and pierced the side of Taa's head, cutting off the senator's strangled grunt before it could leap from his throat. Cham was already whirling around as he collapsed, blaster raised again and searching for the concealed threat he had missed. Where had that shot come from?
Crosshair tilted his sniper up, eye moving away from the scope. He'd had a clear shot on the insurgent rebel, a shot he could have taken easily, but his orders had been clear. Hit the senator only, don't kill him. Make it look like a failed assassination attempt. All the easier to arrest the insurgents.
The sounds of more clone transports preceded the appearance of them, three of them closing in from different directions of the canyon. Right on top of them. They couldn't run, they would be shot down by the transports the instant they tried to move. Pinned down, with the only option of surrender.
Hera. Hera was still in the speeder. Where Eleni had put her. She could still get away.
"Chopper, get Hera out of here. Go!" She yelled now at him, the old astromech droid boosting the repulsors and sending the speeder screeching down the only free side of the canyon. Hera didn't even have time to scream an objection, a transport landing between them just as Chopper swerved around the corner violently, cutting off all view of them.
The Twi'lek insurgents were forced back to back as clones pressed in on them, more weapons than they could count trained on them. Rampart, having suddenly regained his pompous sense of authority, stepped up to them, taking the blaster from Cham's hands.
"Arrest these insurgents for the attempted assassination of Orn Free Taa," he said, voice still as calm and modulated as it had been when the blasters had been pointed at him. Cham could only glare at him as cuffs were slapped on his wrists and he and the three other Twi'leks were led away, loaded onto the nearest transport.
"The Syndulla girl won't get far," Rampart mused, holding out the blaster for Howzer to take. Reluctantly. "Have our forces find her."
He left the clone to deal with the mess of the tank, the entrance to the transport closing after him and taking off, throwing gusts of wind at the silently questioning Howzer.
Hera squinted desperately into the distance, trying to catch even the smallest glimpse of the transports she knew her parents had to be on. Just as it had been a minute ago, there was nothing, only the darkness of the night and the roaring of the speeder in her earcones. She turned back in her seat and slumped down in defeat, suddenly feeling lonelier than she'd ever had in her entire life.
The next few hours had seen Hera squirrelled away in the hideout Chopper had somehow known about. Her parents must have prepared this place in case they ever needed to find somewhere to hide. Maybe it had even been around since the Clone Wars. It seemed like it; some of the rations dated back years.
It had not taken her long before she had resolved to rescue her parents from the Empire. They had just done it for her. She had to do it for them. The smart thing to do would have been to find a shuttle off world before the Empire could track her down. But she would not leave the planet without her parents.
So, as soon as dawn had broken, Hera had forced Chopper to take her back to their home, before sending the droid to spy on the prison block where she knew her parents would be held. Hera herself had taken up one of her favourite spots that she had once used to pretend she was a freedom fighter on a dangerous mission. It provided her a complete, unobstructed view of the entire residence, all the easier to observe the Imperials crawling over the entire place.
Chopper's loud Binary warbling buzzed through the comms now, Hera quickly snatching up the comlink before the noise could carry far.
"Chopper, shhh," she hissed. "I'm right here. Hang on."
When there was no response, she clipped the comlink back onto her belt and flipped onto her stomach, crawling over the dusty rocks with her macrobinoculars in hand to peer at the troopers invading her home, turning everything upside down, most likely in search of her. One trooper armoured in black stood alone in the centre of the courtyard, three others walking from the entrance of the house to join him. Though Hera was much too far to hear anything the troopers might have said, if they were even speaking, she could guess that it was urgent.
Crosshair turned reluctantly towards the three Elite Squad troopers approaching him. They had neither the experience nor the training of the rest of Clone Force 99, meaning they were slow and clumsy, lacking the lethal swiftness his brothers had.
"We searched the house," Elite Squad Trooper 4 reported to Crosshair, stiff and formal as ever. "The Syndulla girl's gone."
"She could have already fled the planet," ES-02 interjected dubiously. One could tell he thought searching Ryloth was a waste of time.
"Not without her parents." Crosshair's conviction held no doubt, brooked no argument. "Find her."
He was already walking away when the troopers reorganised themselves, ES-04 directing the other two in different directions. One went back in the house, the other two beginning to scour the grounds on either side.
Hera lowered the macrobinoculars, dread growing within her. She had not been able to hear the words of the troopers, but it was easy enough to guess what they were up to. She crawled back behind the rock, taking the comlink back from her belt.
"New plan, Chop. Meet me back at the base. We need to send out a transmission. And fast."