??? P.O.V
My fingers drummed relentlessly against the padded arm of the shuttle chair that I resided in, my gaze fixed dead ahead. A few of the other passengers shot me irritated looks but I ignored them merrily. The silence in the shuttle was deafening and as everyone got comfy and waited out the rest of the ride, my anxiety gnawed away at my insides and I had butterflies in my stomach that did sickening flip-flops. Considering that we were travelling at lightspeed, it was eerily quiet inside the transport shuttle. Feeling my lunch start to travel upwards, I turned my attention to the outside of the ship.
Big mistake.
Hyperspace swirled around the transport shuttle, making me feel sick with it's distorting patterns. I hated hyperspace. I was constantly scared that it's raw power was going to shred the ship. However, when I upset the Empire after breaking into a fortified vault, the Imperials weren't too impressed with me. Normally, I wouldn't go looking for trouble, but this catch was worth it. Pulling my bag a little closer, I felt if the contents were there still. Thankfully they were.
Removing my heavy black coat, I turned my thoughts to my next move. My previous location, the planet of Orto Platonia, wasn't exactly a warm place. The desolate, frozen wasteland may have provided a good hideaway, but in the end I had to move. Keep moving forward and the past can't catch you. That was my motto. Substituting the coat, I switched it for a long brown cloak that covered both my face and long blonde locks.
The transport ship shuddered slightly as it disengaged lightspeed and the planet of Lothal came into view. It was mostly covered in grassy plains but in certain areas, the climate dropped enough for vast ice sheets to form. It was winter now on Lothal, so the ice sheets had expanded slightly compared to the planet in the summer. The shuttle neared the planet's surface until I lost sight of the curvature of Lothal.
As the shuttle touched down, I rose from my seat feeling my blaster brush my hip slightly. The feeling was comforting, to know that I had some form of protection. Tapping my foot, I waited impatiently for the door to spring open. The sooner I was off this thing the better.
Wrapping my cloak around me and pulling the hood down firmly, I left the shuttle, only to be confronted by two strangers. Both looked around my age, fifteen, perhaps one being slightly older. One was a girl with blue and green short hair, dyed green at the ends with the main colour being blue, brown eyes and what looked like customised Mandalorian armour. That put me on edge alone. I didn't really have the best relationship with the Mandalorians to say the least. The other was a boy with blue hair, and deep blue eyes. He wore an orange jumpsuit and twin scars on his left cheek.
The boy came up to me and said "It's a long way to Alderaan" very purposefully and slowly, as if I was a school kid. Had I not been in a hurry, I would have probably said some smart remark or asked him if he needed his head checking, but I just looked at him strangely and shuffled past. I was about to exit the hanger before something nagged at the back of my mind. I turned slightly and looked back at the pair, before focusing on the boy.
Something was different about him.
I must have been staring more intently than I realised because he turned and searched the crowd of departing passengers before settling on me. We met eyes for a second before I realised that I'd been here too long, and hurried away, breaking his gaze.
I had a few hideouts on Lothal but getting there without being spotted was an issue. Star Destroyers circled the sky and spotlights searched the ground. It shocked me. Lothal used to be a relatively happy planet and the Empire never used to have this many patrols on it. People would talk and even the occasional laugh would escape someone's lips, but now, people didn't even acknowledge each other. Now, they kept to themselves, occasionally trading distrustful looks, or only speaking when they had to.
I eventually came to what I was pretty sure was my house and tried my passkey. Thankfully it let me in. Lothal wasn't exactly known for it's architecture and most of the house styles consisted of grey cubes with small windows that barely let sunlight flit in. Thus, after so long away from the planet, I had a rusty memory of which was mine.
The safe house was sparsely decorated, just a sofa, bed, mini-kitchen and a bathroom as well as an upstairs. The first thing I did, was open a secret compartment in the wall and place my loot from my most recent heist and it in there. I hated the thing, but for some reason couldn't bring myself to dispose of it. I then slid the compartment shut, once again locking the weapon away, like I did every time that I moved. Instead, I opened a small cupboard and retrieved a small wooden baton, about the length of a datapad. Shaking it once, it expanded into a thick wooden staff, polished and metal tipped in durasteel. I had made it with wood from Kashyyyk, an extremely strong wood that wouldn't break under the impact of most weapons, from blasters to vibro-blades. It was designed in layers, so the wood would slot into the next section, making it small, compact and concealable. I'd made a few, but lost my last one. It was a good thing that I'd hidden one in this house.
Right, I found the safe house: check. Number two: supplies.
I searched through my cupboards taking inventory. I had plenty of medicine for now but I was running low on food. Or should I say, edible food. I pinched my nose as I escorted the foul waste outside to the bins.
I never really understood where people got these delusions that the freelance life was nice, if you could even call my life that. The life of a street-rat, a runaway, isn't exactly something to be proud of. You do some pretty questionable things to say the least. You're constantly toe-to-toe with the law and Imperials. It's stressful, unrewarding and exhausting.
Sighing, I collapsed on the sofa, listening to the silence. Silence could often be your best friend, I found. It could be a way for you to let all of your emotions out, a comfort of order in this galaxy of chaos. But it could be your worst enemy. I could swallow you up, have you sinking into a pit of which you can't escape.
Today it served the first purpose.
Drawing my blaster from it's clasp on my hip, I ran my fingers over it, feeling every groove, inspecting every area where it had been worn by continuous practice against the rubber grip. I twirled it between my fingers out of habit and thought about my next move. I had a few credits. I could buy food with that and go on a theft run - just keeping an ear to the ground and stealing anything worth stealing. Grab a few things from the Empire, go to the black market, make some new connections.
Suddenly, there was a crunch outside the window, and my heart skipped a beat as I immediately crouched down so my head was out of view from the window that had been behind me moments before. Footsteps ground against the earth, uneven and heavy. Tightening my grip on my blaster, I adjusted my position onto my knees so I was in a crouching position. I could easily shoot out my window in one blast and take out whoever was out there before they had time to draw their own weapon. Steadying my breathing, I counted to three before darting up, poised to shoot, but managed to stop myself just in time.
The drunk Rodian stumbled past, mumbling nonsense under his breath and I breathed as my heart began to beat again. Then, a small growl drew my gaze to the ground and I smirked. It was a lothcat. But to be specific, a ginger striped lothcat, with white stripes across the top of it's back. Opening my door, I let it in, fussing it. I knew this Lothcat well. It belonged to one of my few friends, Fedriź Jammak. Also a runaway, he'd trained the lothcat to deliver messages, which had earned my respect alone. Lothcats were rather vicious and not easy to teach. Slipping my hand under the folds of it's neck, I found it's collar with a small roll of paper attached. The lothcat looked at me imploringly and I rolled my eyes, plopping it on the sofa before reading the letter.
Dear Uria.
I know that I have not been in touch recently, but the Imps were picking up my trail. I think I'm safe for now, but I need to get off world preferably.
This letter is just a warning. There has been an increase in rebel activity on the planet recently, so you must be careful when you arrive. Unfortunately, I am leaving tomorrow morning, as I have to dodge the Imps as well as having business to attend to on Felucia (I'm not looking forward to it), and will probably be gone by the time you get back to the planet. If you're planetside now, then send a quick note back to me.
From
Olu
Olu was the alias that Fedriź used, with Uria being mine. It was safer to communicate that way in case the Imps ever saw one of our letters. There was also a stick of charcoal to write with attached to the collar so I picked it up and scribbled down a quick note.
Dear Olu
I just got planetside this evening. Imps are also on my tail as well. Stole something I think I should have left. Empire patrols increased? Great. These "rebels" will be the end of us, I tell you. Get to safety, but be careful. If I'm correct, Jabba the Hut has bounty hunters on Felucia at the moment.
From Uria
Tying the note to the lothcat's collar again, I rubbed its head and sent it on it's way.
I didn't bother getting changed. If I had to do a runner, the white loose linen fabric of pyjamas wouldn't be much use against my black jumpsuit. The last thing I needed was loose clothes getting in the way. Sliding into bed, I sighed and drifted off into a troubled sleep.
*
Fire. It was everywhere. The smog surrounded me, filling my lungs with choking black mist. The white light shone faintly on my face but provided less than enough light to see. Every so often, I would spot a white armoured limb, staggered about on the ground; I took care to avoid them. They were close. I could feel it. I brought my weapon closer.
Then, out of the smoke, a Stormtrooper's helmet was sailed towards me randomly. I ducked and it flew back into the smoke, once again leaving me alone. I was wondering what the point of that was, until I felt something nudge my boot. Peering down, I saw a small grey sphere with a red flashing light.
I tried to run, but I was too slow as it detonated and I was blown backwards, dropping my weapon in the process. A red glow emitted from the smoke and two figures strolled out, completely oblivious to the destruction around us. A tall woman and man, the first with a mask. The world was hazy and everything was spinning.
"You've caused quite a lot of trouble youngling." The metallic voice of the woman rang out as she crouched next to my battered body. I didn't attempt to move.
"So many troopers dead... Because of you. You try to fight it but you can't. You are losing your battle. Give in. Submit." She whispered whilst dragging her sharp nails down my cheek.
I spat at her. I was pretty sure I was going to die. She unhooked her weapon from her back.
Igniting it, she raised it, preparing for my demise.
And I was ready.
*
I shot up, drenched in a cold sweat. My breathing was erratic and my heart was pounding through my chest.
Calm down.
I inhaled deeply through my nose and exhaled through my mouth and sure enough, soon, my heart returned to it's normal pace. I got up and stood, braced over the sink. I felt sick, thinking of the severed limbs in my dream. A stray arm or leg, the crimson standing out against the stark white.
I gagged.
I dared my eyes to look at myself and what little of my last meal was left almost came up the wrong way. Hair mussed to one side, knotted and frayed the stringy blonde strands hadn't been washed in weeks properly. My eyes, normally coloured a pale champagne gold, were ringed with dark circles, dull and cloudy. My skin was so pale, I was about equivalent to your average ghost. In short, I looked like I'd been to Mustafar and back.
Turning away from the mirror, I splashed some water in my face and dragged my fingers through my hair before preparing a bag. Six credits, bandages, vitamins and that was it. Clipping my blaster to my belt, I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head, tucked my hair in the cloak and headed out to the market. The day was cold but I forged on, despite my protesting bones as the cold seeped into them.
I traded my credits for three yogins, and two hunks of Bantha meat. Having used up my credits, I wandered the streets for a bit before spotting two Stormtroopers on patrol. They gave me suspicious looks as they walked past. Lowering my head, I urged my feet to go faster.
"Hey"
I froze, wincing. Gritting my teeth, I forced a smile before realising that they couldn't even see my face. "Yes sir?" I forced out the sir, but I knew how to deal with Imps.
"What do you have there?" The left one said.
I showed them my food without hesitation. If you hesitated around Imps, then they got suspicious. "What's with the hood?" The other said.
I laughed but it came out slightly nervous. "It's freezing out here. You seriously expect me to walk out naked?" I joked. They didn't laugh.
"Take it off." Leftie said with a tone that suggested not to argue.
"But sir-"
"Off." The first growled. "Now."
No thanks. That last thing I needed was the Imps knowing what I looked like. I didn't really want a galaxy-wide manhunt for me.
Breaking into a run, I sprinted into the back alleys, hearing orders being called to capture a rouge citizen fade behind me.
I was running through the alleys when a group of stormtroopers ran around the corner. Skidding to a halt and turning back the way I'd come, I tried to run but my plan was soon foiled as the two officers from before rounded the corner, cutting me off. My mind working at lightning pace, I grabbed onto a window ledge. Momentarily stopping to plan my way to the rooftops, I took off, jumping against the two walls of the alley until I reached the roofs.
Before me lay what seemed like an endless stretch of housing complexes and I started running. I leaped over gaps far bigger than should be possible without thinking about it until finally stopping half way across the city. Exhausted and out of breath, I bent down with my hands on my knees.
I was just about to start running again when it was there again. The nagging from before. Turning around, I crouched down and army crawled to the side of the building. At first, nothing struck me as strange, until I saw it. Or more specifically, him. Blue hair, deep blue eyes. Yup, it was Alderaan boy.
But he was with others. The blue and green haired girl with the painted armour was back as well as a Twi'lek with pale green skin and slightly lighter green circles decorating her lekku, a Lasat and a dark skinned man with brown hair and green eyes. An ancient looking astromech also rolled into view. They were all down in a back alley, somewhere where not many people knew about. I strained to listen to their conversation.
"We need to get that shipment out of here. Who knows what they could do with all of those hyperdrive cores?" The Twi'lek said.
The Lasat growled and replied, "Nothing good."
The girl in Mandalorian armour brought up a hologram of a valuable metal. If I was correct, it was called thenamium. It's not an easy metal to find. "Look we need to move, it's gonna be gone soon."
"I agree" The dark skinned guy said before adding, "We need-"
"Kanan." Alderaan boy said.
"Yeah?"
A pause filled the empty air.
"Can you feel that?" He asked.
Feel what? I didn't like this. Shuffling back silently, I stayed perfectly still.
"Kanan?" The Twi'lek asked uncertainly.
"Someone's here." He replied.
For the second time, my heart stopped. I didn't know how they could tell I was there, or if another person was nearby, but I didn't plan on sticking around to find out. Silently getting up, I crept backwards before running towards the plains of Lothal.
I'd heard everything I needed to know. If I kept my eyes peeled, I may be able to get some of that thenamium, as long as I'm fast enough.
*
Stormtroopers crowded the crates like fyrnocks to meat. If that wasn't thenamium, I didn't know what was. Thenamium was a powerful metal, only found in the mantle of most planets with the properties to enter hyperspace, a powerful jet-stream that circled space in the Outer Rim and beyond. Hyperspace could get you from one side of the galaxy to the other in as little as a couple of hours. It had been a rumour that the Empire had been mass harvesting the stuff, but never did I imagine in this quantity...
I had been staking out the place for almost an hour now and my legs were beginning to cramp when suddenly a new person entered the scene. Poking from one of the alleyways, I saw the Mandalorian from before. Watching, she detonated a grenade before throwing it into the fray of Stormtroopers. They didn't even know what had hit them.
Now was my chance.
Seeing more of the crew emerge from seemingly nowhere, I backed up and took a running start, before leaping and flipping, tucking and rolling on impact with the ground, a trick that had made getaways easier.
Fueled by adrenaline, I leaped onto a speeder that had a few crates already attached. Quickly unhooking my blaster from my belt, I sent sent a few shots their way to keep them thrown off before flooring the accelerator, not sticking around.
However, my ears picked up on the whine of multiple speeder engines and I turned to find Kanan and Alderaan boy after me. I leaned to the side as a few blaster bolts flew uncomfortably close to my temple. Looking ahead and almost shrieked as I made a right angle turn on the spot to avoid crashing into a wall. The streets of Lothal were dusty and dirty, which was unfortunate for me. It was a miracle that I didn't run anyone over. Clouds of beige and brown haze obscured my vision with the random wall or crate popping up out of nowhere.
Suddenly, up ahead, I saw another grenade drop onto the alleyway floor in front of me, and before I could even think to stop, I was blasted off my bike violently. My vision was hazy and warm liquid trickled down my temple, but recollecting myself, I grabbed a crate and threw the lid off before stuffing some of the precious metal into my backpack. And then I darted in the other direction, only to run straight into the squad of Stormtroopers from earlier.
Now, I was in trouble.
----Author's Note----
Hello everyone! Nice to meet you, friends old and new. So, this book has been edited, because there were a few things that I was not pleased with, so some things may not make sense to those of you who I've sent back to the start to re-read. I will try my hardest to start updating again, because I do like the book, it just needs some tweaking.
The Ghost crew will appear in this book, as well as a few faces from The Clone Wars because well, SWTCW is my life. It was such an amazing series, and Disney cancelled it. May or may not have a slight vendetta against Disney for that.
I do really hope you guys enjoy this book. I think it has the potential to become something good, but for the sake of character development and fixing the mistakes that younger me made, some things may not add up for the first few days until I fix the little things.
3587 words.
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