Disclaimer: I do not own any character mentioned in this story, nor profit from them in anyway. Star Wars world and characters are owned by George Lucas and LucasArts, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer world and characters are all owned by Joss Whedon.
Ahsoka Tano's ship sped through open space. It was a modified CloakShape Fighter; an ugly, older ship that first came on the market decades before the Clone Wars. Even though their technology was outdated they still appealed to a certain demographic, pirates and smugglers particularly, because of its easily customizable design.
Ahsoka choose this ship for exactly those reasons. Hers was adapted, converted and tweaked for speed and stealth. She had been on the run for nearly four years, since the Clones had gotten their 'Order 66' and destroyed the Jedi's; her colleagues, masters, and friends.
Her ship had served her well, better than she could ever hope for, but her luck was running out. The constant jumps into Hyperspace had taken their toll on the Hyper Drive, and with the Clones actively hunting all the remaining Jedi, of whom she was sure she was the last, she never stayed in port for more than a day or two, therefore she seldom got the time to properly maintenance it.
"C'mon baby," she pleaded with the ship. "I promise if you jump for me once more I'll get you something special. Maybe that new auto-turret I know you've been wanting. Pleeeease."
She flicked the switch to prepare the jump, but the responding grinding sound told her it wasn't going to happen.
She was suddenly knocked out of her seat when the whole ship shuttered violently and went dark. She thought this was it, the blast that destroyed her.
When the lights came back on she climbed back into her seat. That had sounded bad. Her ship couldn't take too many more like that.
She glanced into the small flickering screen over her dashboard that showed her rear view, and the Star Destroyer that was slowly gaining on her. She scanned the view through her pilot windows, looking for a gas cloud, an asteroid field, anything where she could possibly hide, but there was nothing. They really had her this time.
She flicked the switch again, but was answered once more by the empty grinding sound. A tear ran down her face. "Pleeeeeease baby," she begged the ship again, trying the Hyper Drive once more, to no avail.
"No," she sobbed. She wasn't afraid to die, not really. But to be the last Jedi, to be on the run for years, never a moment's rest, then to die in such an empty, meaningless way, shot down in deep space because her Hyper Drive stopped working, broke her heart. She wasn't even a full Jedi, just a Padawan without a master.
There would be no one to oppose 'Emperor' Palpatine and his pet and her former Master, Anakin Skywalker. She could never forgive him for what he'd done, turning his back on the entire Jedi Order to become a Sith. Disgusting. She had heard some locals on some nameless Moon somewhere saying he was called Darth Vader now. To think she had trusted him so entirely, had believed his every word as law. He had been a different man then. She didn't know this Darth Vader. But she hated him.
Her ship rocked violently again as another of the Star Destroyer's blasts found its mark, and she was thrown forward, onto her control console.
When she righted herself she could feel that her lip had been cut on impact. She took her hands off her steering controls and sat back, sinking into her seat. She could taste the metallic taste of blood. Her cheeks were wet with tears that were streaming freely now.
"This is really it," she said, her voice cracking. "No last minute escape. No 'live to fight another day'. The next blast from that destroyer is going to do me in. I'm about to die."
She closed her eyes and waited. She wished she had someone to fight. To go out in a blaze of glory, swinging her lightsaber against an army of Sith. Instead she was going to be shot down by a Star Destroyer in deep space, alone and forgotten.
She sighed deeply and tried to focus on her surroundings, to control her emotions, instead of anxiously awaiting her doom. She concentrated on the sound of the engine, the familiar smell of her cockpit, the constant beeping of her warning signals telling of the extensive damage done to the ship, the hum of the HyperDrive...
...the hum of the HyperDrive...
...the hum of the HyperDrive...
"THE HUM OF THE HYPERDRIVE!" she scremed, her eyes shooting open. The yellow indicator light was steady, signalling that the HyperDrive was ready. She must have hit the switch when that last blast had thrown her onto the controls.
She sat up, quickly reaching out to the Drive's lever and pushing it forward. She feared the HyperDrive still wouldn't be completely operational, but as the lever went forward the blackness outside her window became familiar blue and white streaks, growing steadily until it hurt the eyes to look at.
Hyperspace. Home free.
"Thank you!" she cheered to her ship, kissing her control gently. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
She leaned back in her seat, content, and suddenly tired. She let her eyes drift closed. She didn't know where she was going, but she didn't care. 'If the Force wasn't going to kill me back there than it certainly wasn't going to throw me inside a planet in a stupid Hyperspace accident'.
She heard a crackling sound, and opened her eyes instantly. Hyperspace didn't make noises.
When she looked outside there was the familiar blue and white that she was accustomed to, but also brilliant reds, oranges and purples that seemed to explode into each other.
"This isn't good..."
Willow's eyes opened, her concentration broken. She had been trying to open a portal to a lower plane for hours now, she knew a minor demon there that needed interrogating, but it simply wouldn't work.
She blamed it on the meteor shower that was going on in the sky tonight; for some reason they always threw off her magic, but normally it magnified it, not stopped it from working entirely. She rolled her eyes and decided to give up.
Buffy, Xander, Dawn and some of the Slayerettes were outside watching the Shower, and she decided to join them.