Under Fire

As usual, all rights belong to George Lucas and his crew over yonder horizon. I'm not getting any profits (or sudden ideas, for that matter) for this story. Please review and let me know what you think. Chapters will follow as soon as I figure out where I'm going with this. Thanks.

Chapter 1

She pounded down the hall, heartbeat throbbing in her ears. The blaster in her hand was slick with sweat, and she feinted, avoiding a shot that crackled past her left ear. Coughing, eyes watering, she continued to run, knowing that giving into her legs' cries to stop would mean death.

Screams of pain and fury echoed in the hallway, and suddenly, the door she was searching for passed her by. She skidded, backpedaled, and slapped the palm entry, skidding inside ahead of her pursuer.

The lock closed with a comforting solid thud, and she slumped against the wall, heaving great lungfuls of air. One of the shots had found its mark, searing through her right sleeve and into the flesh of her bicep. Where were her guards? Were they dead already?

Holding the blaster was a sudden agony, and she unwillingly switched it to her left hand. Looking around the room, she noted the familiar clutter of items on her desk. Wait, "her" desk? Blinking suddenly, she rubbed her face, and winced, having temporarily forgotten her wounded arm.

This wasn't right. She didn't have an office. Especially not an office this luxurious. "How is this mine?" She asked herself. There were no guards to protect her…wasn't she a guard herself? Before she could sort out the –wrongness- of the room, the reinforced door blew in from the force of a thermal detonator, and she only had enough time to put her hands up before-

Sabé sat up quickly in bed, still reflexively crossing her forearms in front of her face. Shuddering, she tried to slow her breathing, and pushed her sleep-tangled hair out of her face. The simple nightgown clung to her back as she pushed aside her bedcovers and swung her feet over the side.

Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she whimpered softly to herself, "Only a dream. Only a dream…" Rubbing the phantom pain in her right arm, she could still hear the echo of blaster fire, even in the quiet room she shared with Rabé.

Judging from the darkness of the room, Sabé guessed that it was still quite early in the morning, but she knew she wouldn't be able to fall asleep again. Sighing, she stood, shuffling over to the chair where her robe was draped. Careful not to disturb the other softly snoring handmaiden, she slipped through the door to their bedchamber and into the main corridor of the silent Nubian palace.