Prologue
Footsteps were drawing closer, and I pressed my back against the crate. My leg was still bleeding. I felt light-headed, and there were bright spots in my vision that I couldn't blink away.
"The starboard section is almost secured. We can't get to the escape pods- the doors are sealed and we can't override them," one of the Sith Troopers was saying, probably into a comlink.
My eyes darted to a dead republic soldier a few feet away, and his blaster, still in his hand. It would take me a few seconds to get to the blaster, and then I'd have to take out however many Sith Troopers were in the room. It sounded like two or three, but I couldn't be sure.
I took in a deep, shaky breath. I had to get to the escape pods—the Endar Spire wasn't going to last much longer. Maybe before the troopers found me we'd all be sucked into space. Dying in space didn't seem much better than being shot, though. You're not going to die, I told myself. I focused on the blaster. I could get to it, even with an injured leg. I'd jump for it in three, two-
The doors opened and the sound of blaster fire followed. It had to be Republic soldiers! I dived for the gun and scrambled to my feet, but the Sith Troopers, it had only been two of them, were sprawled across the floor.
I turned to see a familiar face holding me at gun point. "Jetson," I managed to squeak out.
The scout lowered his blaster quickly. "Hakota? Admiral Onasi said that everyone else was dead."
My hands were shaking as I answered, "Not dead. Almost, though. Until you came." I couldn't think in full sentences.
His eyes moved to my leg. "Will you be able to walk?" He asked.
I nodded. "It's just a graze."
"Come on, we've got to get to the escape pods." Jetson's comlink beeped at him, and he answered. "Admiral, there's another survivor. We're almost there."
"Right. I contacted you because there's a whole squad of troopers between you and me right now. Don't get yourself killed, and hurry." Admiral Onasi's voice was calm over the comlink, but the sense of urgency was still there, loud and clear.
Jetson ended the connection and looked at me. "Ready to blast our way through?"
I felt myself blanch at the idea of more fighting. My eyes found the security terminal in the corner of the room. "I've got a way to get us through in one piece," I answered, my voice wavering. I handed my blaster to Jetson, trying to clear my head. Focus, Hakota. I stepped over the body of a republic soldier to get to the terminal, using my own ID to get access and then swiped screen after screen, entering my pass code and overriding the terminal in the next room over. I cringed as the screen showed the video feed as electricity sparked from the terminal and looked away as the lightning tendrils shot out and hit the troopers.
"That should've gotten them." I told Jetson, who had been watching me closely. He offered my blaster back to me and I took it reluctantly.
He gave me a slight smile. "Good work." He opened the doors and I limped into the next room. The terminal was still crackling as we moved around the bodies of our soldiers and the Sith's troopers. The doors to the escape pods were sealed, and Jetson pulled out his comlink. "Admiral Onasi, we're here."
With a hiss, the doors opened just as the ship rumbled with the impact of a blow on the hull. Jetson and I stumbled, and I fell into the door frame, my head hitting the metal with a dull thud. Jetson pulled me to my feet, and Admiral Onasi hurried over to us. With all systems failing, hot steam assaulted us from above.
Everything was sliding in and out of focus, but I heard Admiral Onasi say, "Bastila's escape pod is away. We're the last survivors. There's one escape pod left, and we've got to leave now."
Jetson's arm was wrapped around my waist, but I still struggled to stay upright. "We're almost there, Hakota," he told me over the blare of the emergency alarms.
The world went black just as Jetson pulled me into the escape pod.