Dustil Onasi tapped his fingers on the desk in front of him. The chronometer on the wall ticked off the minutes slowly until the final class in his day could be let out. The teacher droned on in his regular monotone. Dustil wondered why all teachers seemed to be eternally boring. Well, there were a few that led exciting classes. Like Mr. Lombeux, for one. He was the instructor for the strategy class that all the boys looked forward to so much. He was a retired general from the wars, so he knew a thing or two about strategy. He had lost both his right leg and right arm, but his mind was intact. He loved to think of thrilling drills, most of them difficult, but not so complicated as to frustrate the students. Dustil wasn't particularly good at strategy, but he enjoyed the class nonetheless. He preferred to race land speeders after school. But, he thought with an aggravated sigh, "after school" seemed so far away.

His friend and sometimes rival, Jake Blanche, had acquired a new speeder from his off-world uncle. It was a dandy thing; all black and very shiny, having not yet been driven. Jake had brought a datapad full of images to school, only to have them confiscated. The instructors at the school were not very lenient when it came to "all work and no play". They did not agree with the idea that it made Jakk a dull boy. But once school was over, Dustil would see it. Life sized! He could hardly wait…

--

The school bell rang at its exact time and the children poured out of its doors like ants whose nest had been stepped on. The day was a beautiful one, with white clouds riding high in the sky. Jake led half of the boys to see his new speeder. The other half, however, included Dustil. He wanted to get a head start to the plains. He had his own speeder to bring out. It wasn't new like Jake's, but he was hoping that his experience would boost his little speeder. Unfortunately, he knew that Jake had been racing along the plains almost as long as he had. Still, he knew that Jake was going to want to race, and he was ready to comply.

Dustil pushed the door open to his house, slamming against the wall. His Mother, Morgana, leaned around the corner of the kitchen. "Dustil, how many times-"

"Sorry, Mom!" He said, tossing his school bag to the side. "Jake got a new speeder, and I was excited."

"So I assume you're going out to the plains the race this afternoon?" Morgana's question was accompanied by a smile.

"Yeah, we are," He said, quickly grabbing a piece of fruit. Morgana handed him a bit of the meat she had been frying as well.

"You might as well take that," she said. "You'll likely be out until the stars climb, no matter how much I threaten." She winked at him. Dustil took the meat gratefully.

"Hope that wasn't Cannok leg. Bye Mom!" He called as he ran out to get his speeder. Morgana rolled her eyes with a slight smile and went back to work.

Dustil pulled the dust blanket off of his speeder and filled it up with fuel, sticking an extra cylinder of fuel in the back just in case. And soon he was off. Heading toward the plains.

And he was not a minute too late, for as soon as he stopped his speeder, he could see the rest of his friends-those of them that had speeders, and even some who didn't-speeding their own vehicles over the grasses toward him.

Jake was the first to arrive, of course. He carried himself and one other boy in his speeder. It was every bit as flashy as the images had shown, and then some. Dustil admired it; he was not above showing Jake how beautiful he-Dustil-thought his-Jake's-speeder was. And Jake was not being overly prideful of it, although he was obviously pleased to have the best speeder.

"Race you?" Dustil said, loking up from the shiny black metal.

Jake's lips curled in a smile. "Sure thing." He looked around at the other boys. "Could we have a one on one race? Just me and Dustil?"

The other boys looked at each other. They wanted to race too.

"I know you guys want to race, too," Jake said. "But I want to race Dustil alone. Just this once?"

The boys shrugged and headed back to their own speeders, ready to watch whatever part of the race was in their line of sight.

Dustil hopped into his speeder, after making sure it was fully fueled up. Jake also fueled up his speeder and jumped in over the door without bothering to open it. Dustil powered up his systems, and Jake did the same. The boys bickered over who would start the race, but soon they appointed a starter. He stood up on a big gray rock and waved his arms to get our attention. Once Jake and I were ready, he lifted his arm.

"Ready?" He yelled. "Then go!"

Jake's speeder shot ahead, and so did Dustil's. Jake's speeder was obviously faster than Dustil's, but he didn't really know how to handle it yet. Dustil pulled ahead for a brief instant. He felt the cold autumn Telosian wind whip his brown hair around. It made for an exhilarating ride. He laughed as he passed Jake's speeder. But his happiness was short-lived. Jake pulled ahead just as a cloud passed over the sun. Dustil frowned, the sky had been so perfectly clear when the race had begun. It would be hideous if the sky dumped rain on them now. He looked up.

Something like a strangled cry jerked from his throat. He turned his speeder in a sharp, curving turn. Jake followed him after a brief glance at the sky.

For up in the sky, they could see the underbellies of space ships. And not just any space ships, Sith star cruisers. They could tell by the way the ends were shaped. Their darkest nightmare was coming to life. The Sith were attacking Telos, and all the fighting men were away fighting another battle. Dustil couldn't think, and he couldn't breathe. He could feel his hear hammering in his chest, but it meant nothing to him. His only thought as he watched the first bomb drop on the city he loved so well was that he had to get to his Mother.

He kicked the land speeder into full gear. Jake was already far ahead of him, but it didn't matter any more. All the other boys were either frantically scrambling into speeders or staring-totally dumbfounded-from the rocks. Soon, however, they were all yelling and running toward the speeders. They piled in, not caring how many there were in one speeder. Jake and Dustil passed them without stopping. Neither one gave the other boys a second glance, hardly even acknowledging their presence.

The speeders delivered the boys to an already dead city. By the time they reached the shattered town, the Sith had already dropped four more bombs. Dustil ran blindly through the streets, calling his mother's name over and over. He approached their house, or what had previously been their house. He stared at the smoking ruins. Only one wall was left standing. His room had been completely destroyed. And the kitchen… The kitchen was a pile of dust. Dustil couldn't find his Mother's body anywhere.

"Oh Mother, why did I leave you?" Dustil clenched his fists.

"Son?"

Dustil whirled on his heel. He ran towards his mother, hopping over large obstacles. "Mother, I'm so glad you're all right!"

And indeed, she was all right. Except for a badly sprained ankle and blackened face, Morgana Onasi had survived the bombing with much more luck than over half the city. Tears leaked out of her eyes and she winked them away. They slowly rolled down her cheeks, leaving marks in the dust that had collected there. Dustil pulled her up.

"Mom, we have to get out of the city," he said. "Now. The Sith are coming. It won't be long until they get down here. My speeder's still got some fuel. We have to get out of the city." Morgana nodded, but she still seemed to be in somewhat of a daze. Dustil led her to the speeder and pushed her in. He climbed over the door on the other side and started the engine. Luckily, the race between Jake and himself had not been long-lived. He still had sufficient fuel to get away from the city, and then some.

Little did he know of the Sith's real plans. They were not just bombing his home city. Instead, the scene that would be locked into his memory forever was being repeated all over Telos. He had no idea that there were thousands of other boys trying to evacuate what was left of their families.

But none of that occurred to Dustil at the moment. He had no way of knowing that the whole planet was going up in flames. All he could think about was that they had to get out onto the plains. The speeder quickly wound it's way through the rubble. Dustil heard someone shouting behind him.

"Dustil! Dustil! Wait, Dustil!"

Dustil halted his speeder instinctively. He saw Jake pulling his little sister along the street, and his little brother came hobbling along behind him, favoring an arm that looked like it had nearly been snapped in half. Jake lifted his dazed little sister into the back of Dustil's speeder without asking if it was all right. Then he pushed his little brother up before climbing on himself. Dustil did not object, even though his speeder wasn't designed to carry five people. There were only two seats, but as long as Jake and his siblings could hold on, they would be all right. Dustil didn't even bother to ask Jake where his new speeder was. Dustil started the engine again and the speeder zoomed off.

Suddenly, another blast shook the ground beneath the speeder. The road cracked, and a deep fissure into the earth was formed. The speeder thrashed and jolted. Dustil saw Jake being thrown clear, and he watched as Jake's little brother slid off the back. The little girl, who was sitting in Morgana's lap, made no cry as she was throttled. Morgana cried noiselessly. Then the speeder rammed headfirst into something and Dust felt himself being flipped over.

Dustil didn't remember hitting the ground when he woke up, but he could tell that not much time had passed. He saw Jake sprawling on the ground a ways back, his back broken and sightless eyes staring at nothing. Jake's little brother had been burnt to cinders by the flame coming from the back of the speeder. The little girl was fine, but her fall had obviously not broken her trance. She was staring up at the sky aimlessly. But none of these were the person that Dustil was looking for. He searched around frantically for his Mother.

Then he saw her. She was lying on her side, seemingly unhurt. Dustil crawled over to her. "Mother?" He said in a cracked voice filed with the vile dust in the air. He carefully turned her over, and drew his hand back in shock.

Having been thrown out of the speeder with much more force than the rest, Morgana had been tossed onto a pile of rubble and had actually been spitted on a sharp stick of wood. The wood had driven through her stomach, but had not come out her back. She was still alive, but barely. Dustil knew she wouldn't live long. An hour more at the most. She couldn't speak, nor could she move anything but her eyes. But the message that Dustil read in them made him love her all the more-and hate the Sith all the more- in those last few moments. He couldn't bring himself to touch her. Not even he hand. He drew away as she stared at him and lay back down on the ground. Was there anything to live for now?

Jake's little sister crawled up to him, her eyes still cloudy. She pushed one of his arms up and crawled under it. Dustil wanted to push her away. The Sith would surely bomb them again in only a few moments and he wanted to die alone.

But he didn't push her away. She was cold and trembling. He sat her up and pulled himself up as well. She didn't respond much. She just stared up at the sky. She and Dustil sat that way for hours. Dustil kept expecting to see another bomb drop from the sky but no more did, at least not in his sector.

Instead, the next thing he heard were shouts from Sith soldiers. The next thing he saw was a pair of shiny boots. The next thing he felt was the tip of the barrel of a blaster rifle pressed into his forehead.

"Get up, boy," the Sith soldier said. We'll move you to a ship where it's safe."

"Safe?" He grunted. He looked at Jake's broken back. He looked at Jake's little brother's burnt skin. He looked at his mother, who was still staring at him with tears in her dying eyes.

"Safe." He repeated.

"Yes, we'll keep you safe," the Sith soldier sounded almost gentle. He could see that it would take work to keep the boy from loosing his mind. He lifted the little girl out of Dustil's lap and handed her to another soldier. She did not resist.

"Safe," Dustil echoed one last time. Then, he fell into the Sith soldier's arms.