"I should ask you the same thing, but after you shut up that girl it's not like I have to guess." His accented voice was deep, and it sounded kinda...familiar. Erica put that thought out of her head for now.
"Look, if we're going to get what we want, we have to be fast. And for the record, she was getting on my nerves."
The Lasat looked past Erica at the wall and fired his gun. Ping. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the smoky remains of what used to be a camera hanging from the wall in the bright lights.
"She was getting on all our nerves." Both of them started for the control panel, but then the stranger looked behind him. "Get over here you rust bucket!"
Erica looked over from the screen and blinking buttons to the orange astromech, who had plugged himself into a charging station. He began beeping angrily at his companion.
"You charged back at the ship! Quit complaining and get over here." He growled. Erica could understand the droid and snickered as the astromech rolled to the panel, saying some very colorful words.
"What's so funny?"
"Your little friend has...interesting word choices."
"Ugh, of course, he does."
"Wonder where he got them from."
The Lasat gave her a pointed look.
"I'm kidding."
The astromech extended his arm into the droid port and started beeping again.
"What's he saying?"
"He's saying that the port will only let him access the system if an Imperial ID is entered."
"Karabast." He muttered. Erica thought for a moment. She didn't trust easily anymore. These two weren't with the Empire and didn't act like bounty hunters. But, that didn't mean she wasn't going to be careful about what she said. "I have one," Erica revealed, pulling out the metal ID.
The Lasat looked at her, surprised and asked, "Where did you get that?"
"Working in a bar on Raydonia. An Imperial data worker from Garel was complaining about the security there. He forgot about it after a few drinks."
"Smart move. Look, if you'll let me use that to get into the system, Chopper can help you find what you're looking for. Deal?"
"Deal." They shook hands, the Lasat's covering Erica's completely.
"Name's Zeb."
"Er-Erica." She stuttered, not meaning to say her real name. While Zeb didn't notice her hesitation, she thought she saw recognition in his eyes. That's strange.
Erica pushed the ID into Chopper. Chopper waited a moment and beeped triumphantly. The screen went to a directory, and the droid began searching.
"So, what are you searching for?"
"The reason why a bunch of Star Destroyers made cargo ships go to Lothal instead of Garel." Not surprised.
"Oh, yeah. I heard about that before the transmission." More like heard them ordered to reroute while it was happening.
"What about you?"
"There's a man I'm looking for. He's not around anymore, I don't think, but his past can help me get answers for something."
"Who is it?"
Before Erica could answer, Chopper beeped again. "He found something, a document. It's a shipment report for a...project?"
"Project?" Zeb furrowed his, well, he didn't have eyebrows. But he furrowed the part of his face where eyebrows would have been.
"Weird. Would you mind searching for someone named Anakin Skywalker?"
The robot ran a search for the name and came up with nothing.
"Oh. Well, thank you anyway."
"I've heard the name before."
Erica looked up at him. "Where?"
"My friend was a soldier in the Clone Wars. Anakin Skywalker was his general."
Erica felt a flutter of hope before it faded away. "Thanks. I guess the only place his file would be in is old Republic files, but they have to be destroyed." Another dead end.
"Put your hands where we can see them." Crap.
A squad of soldiers was standing in the dark entrance...and only exit.
"Karabast," Zeb said under his breath.
What does that mean? Erica thought as she slowly raised her hands, trying to think of a way out. The three of them were trapped.
Run through, we die, try to use guns, we die, duck, we won't die as fast...wait, what's that on the building?
On the building, right above the soldiers, was some construction equipment for a hole in the roof. Erica had an idea, one that involved her being risky. It's either we both end up in the hands of the Empire or I risk someone knowing.
Erica breathed out and moved her hand to the left. The construction equipment moved with her hand, falling to the ground. One of the soldiers looked up and said, "What the..."
Then it hit the group, knocking all them unconscious. Erica and Zeb put their hands down and looked at each other.
"What are the odds of that?"
You have no idea.
Erica felt like they weren't out of the woods yet. "We need to get out of here. They won't be the only ones coming for us."
"My friends are meeting me at the spaceport. It's not far from here."
"I could 'borrow' a ship."
Zeb seemed to debate something for a moment but didn't say anything.
Stepping over the Stormtroopers, they stepped into the street.
Ping ping ping
Red lasers flew through the empty space behind them as white-clad soldiers ran straight towards them.
The rebels ran, dodging gunshots as they ran through the dark streets.
Beads of sweat formed on Erica's back, and her ponytail and bangs were whipping in the wind. She didn't know where they were going, but this guy did. "What's the fastest way to the spaceport?" She yelled as they ran, the air filled with the sound of shots.
"It's the street that the cantina's on!" He yelled back. "We can just blend in with the crowd!"
"That's not going to happen, you're big and purple!"
"What do you know about blending in?!"
"I've been doing it for a while." She said as they slowed down, walking into a bright crowd of people. We lost them. Good.
The crowd was filled with people walking one way or another. No soldiers could be seen in the crowd, and Erica's shoulders relaxed.
Moving past people, she followed Zeb, while Chopper trailed behind her.
Then they got to the blockade. Soldiers with guns raised had the rest of the street blocked off. And at the end of the street, Erica saw the entrance of the spaceport. She silently cursed to herself.
"What are we supposed to do now?" Zeb asked, looking around.
Looking around, there were buildings with high roofs surrounding the spaceport. She nudged Zeb in the arm, and point up. His green eyes followed her finger, and he smiled. "Perfect."
They moved past several people into an alleyway. Zeb told Chopper to follow them on the street while they ran across the roofs.
"What happened to your wrist?"
Erica realized she was flexing it before they climbed, trying to get rid of soreness. No harm in telling the truth.
"It's from an accident. Chemicals burned it a few years back."
"Nasty thing, burns are. And that one looks more painful than most." He said, looking at her after he jumped on a windowsill.
Erica leaped onto a ledge. "It was classified as severe. I got to a clinic in time, and they said that I was lucky to have my hand." Erica climbed up two windowsills, trying to catch up.
Zeb swallowed, hanging on a ledge. "What kind of accident was it?"
Erica thought for a moment, resting. Not the whole truth. "Freak gas explosion."
There was a pause between them as Chopper gleefully zoomed through the street beneath them.
"You took that guy out with barely any punches," Zeb said, changing the subject while grabbing a windowsill with one hand and pulling himself up.
Erica pulled herself up with two hands, one sill below him. Did he see that? "You saw that?"
Zeb pulled himself up again, one more ledge to go before reaching the top. "On the way to the control station. It's like you knew where the punches were going."
Erica pulled up again. "I'm just...observant."
Muscles burning, she pulled up a final time, ending up on the roof. Zeb was standing near the edge on the opposite side of the roof, and she got up and walked over. Only three buildings lay between them and their destination. The two moons shone brightly in the cloudy violet sky.
"Good thing that jumping is fun, right?"
"Even more fun when bucket heads are firing at you."
"I bet, but bucket heads...oh you mean Stormtroopers. I can see that."
Erica took a running start and jumped over the dark alley onto the opposite roof. She heard a thump behind her.
"It's hard to see out of them, I've been told."
"By your friends, I'm assuming? What do you all do, anyway?" Erica braced herself for the impact as she started to run.
"Uh...we just...take supplies to people in need, mostly." He's not telling me everything, but I understand. It's his business.
"So stealing files is more of a hobby?" She questioned as she jumped again, over a glowing street.
He chuckled, landing with a thud behind her. "Yeah, and so is knocking out Stormtroopers."
"Looks like we have something in common." Erica stopped for a second, taking breaths.
"Yeah. What else do you do besides stealing files and knocking out soldiers?"
"That's actually one of the only times I've done something like that. I mostly work as a bartender or a medic." Erica looked past the third building and smiled. There was the spaceport.
"Any friends?"
"One, but I haven't seen him recently."
"That sounds lonely."
She shrugged. "It grows on you after a while."
Erica suddenly felt anxious.
"Hey, do you see anything-"
A gun fired in the spaceport, and a red laser bolt flew straight at them. Erica ducked, but Zeb sidestepped in the wrong direction. His foot stepped onto the air, and his momentum made him go in the same direction.
He's falling, a fall from that height is fatal-
"ARGH!"
Not thinking, Erica, wide-eyed, raced over to the edge and thrust her hand out in front of her.
She felt the Force run through her veins once again.