Here's the last chapter! Hope you enjoy reading it. On with the finale!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Wars. It belongs to the brilliant George Lucas. May he live long and prosper.
The sound of the laserfire grew louder. The padawans scrambled to their feet.
"Let's get out of here before they see us!" Tanashi said. Forgetting their injuries for a moment, the three padawans took off into the jungle once more. Branches slapped at their faces, arms, and legs, scratching their skins. They ran as fast as they could. However, the clones were getting closer. Now they had no choice but to hide.
"Quick! In here!" Jennassa pointed to a group of large, thick bushes. The three scrambled to hide themselves beneath the foliage. Jennassa pulled the branches of the bushes in front of them. Then they sat and waited. They did not have to wait for long.
A group of clones emerged from the forest and began searching the area. The padawans sat as still as stone in their hiding place, hardly daring to breathe. The clones walked around the bushes, but did not look in their hiding spot. The group began to walk away. The padawans breathed a sigh of relief. Jennassa started to move to crawl out, but suddenly stopped. A clone was walking in their direction. She hunched down again, eyes wide with fear.
The clone stopped in front of their bush. He stood for a minute and peered through the leaves. Then he set his rifle aside and pushed the shrubbery aside. The padawans glanced at each other in fear. Jennassa reached for her lightsaber, and then remembered it was useless. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yara slowly slipping her hand toward her own lightsaber. Suddenly, the clone pushed the last of the shrubbery aside and peered directly into the padawan's faces. Before he could yell for reinforcements, Tanashi calmly reached up and waved her hand in front of the trooper's face.
"There are no Jedi here." she spoke, her voice trembling somewhat. The clone stared. For a moment, she thought the trick wouldn't work. Then he repeated what she had said.
"There are no Jedi here." he obediently replied. Tanashi breathed another sigh of relief, steadied her trembling voice, and then waved her hand again.
"You will leave this area immediately and search deeper into the jungle." Again, the clone repeated what she had said. Then she waved her hand a third time. "You will not return until you have found the Jedi." The clone obediently repeated the statement. Her hand waved a fourth time. "Now, you will go."
"Now, I will go." The clone repeated, then pushed the shrubbery back in place, picked up his rifle, and left. Seconds later he was gone. The padawans did not move. It was a few moments before they could breath normally again and calm their racing hearts.
"A close call, that was." Yara muttered. "Good thinking, my friend."
"Thanks, but let's get out of here before others show up." Tanashi replied.
With that thought in mind, the padawans crawled out of the bush and started off for the hanger once again.
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Two more hours later, the padawans had reached the hanger. Fortunately, they had not run into any other monsters or clones. Now, they were looking into the hangar from behind a clump of bushes not too far away. Tanashi squinted, looking at thevarious ships. She turned towards Jennassa. "Where's ours? You don't think the destroyed it, do you?"
"Not likely." Jennassa replied. "They know that we're still out here, and that we might come back for the ship."
"Oh, great. So we could be walking into a trap, then?"
"Possibly. Let's get closer."
The three girls crawled on their bellies through the bushes towards the hangar wall, and then crawled towards a back door. They froze when a few clones walked out, and then kept going. Jennassa and Tanashi peered around the corner of the door while Yara kept an eye out for troopers.
"I see our ship, but it's on the side farthest from us. It's right next to the exit and its being guarded by a couple of clones. How do we distract them?" Jennassa said.
"I'll handle that." Tanashi whispered back. She looked to see if any soldiers were watching, then snuck in the hanger behind a ship. She motioned for her friends to follow. Slowly, the girls snuck behind ship to ship until they were hiding behind the ship that rested next to their own. Tanashi peered around the ship. The clones hadn't noticed them yet. Then she spied a large pile of crates about thirty feet away from the clones. She flicked her hand in that direction and the crates toppled to the ground with a loud crash. Just as she had hoped, the clones ran over to investigate. "Let's go, now!" she whispered. Jennassa ran first, followed by Tanashi and Yara.
They were almost to the ramp when one of the clones yelled, "It's the Jedi! Blast them!" Yara whipped out her lightsaber. When the clones opened fire, she deflected their shots back at them, strikinga few of them downin the stomach. Suddenly, more laserfire cameasanother group of clones rantowards their ship.
"Jennassa, get us off the ground!" Yara cried. She blocked a few more shots before the ramp closed. Yara ran to the cockpit. Jennassa flipped a few switches and grabbed the controls. The ship began to move. The Zabrak girl steered the ship toward the exit. They began to move faster, and in seconds they were airborne. However, they were not out of danger. As they pulled into the atmosphere, Jennassa noticed five incoming starfighters. A few seconds later, the ship was bombarded with laserfire.
"Strap yourselves in!" she snapped. "We're gonna do some flyin'!" With that, she cut sharply to the right and made a U-turn. The fighters followed, still firing. Jennassa gritted her teeth withdeterminationand put the ship into a spin. She flew up around, sideways, and down. She leveled the ship out again. "Yara, prepare to make the jump to hyperspace!" Yara reached for the controls. Jennassa brought the ship to almost a dead stop and sped up again as the fighters flew past her. She grabbed the trigger and fired on one of the fighters. The fighter exploded, and she turned the controls towards another ship, firing again.
"Ready to jump to hyperspace, we are!" Yara said. Jennassa turned the ship away from the fighters and towards open space.
"We're ready to make the jump to hyperspace…in three…two…one!" Yara hit the button and waited. Nothing happened.
"What!" Jennassa cried. A red light appeared on the screen. "There's something wrong with our hyperdrive!"
"I'll handle it!" Tanashi jumped up from her seat and ran to the back of the ship to examine the hyperdrive. Jennassa continued firing upon the fighters, but now they had managed to come behind her again. She growled in frustration. Hurry, Tanashi!
Tanashi sat in the back and hurriedly examined the hyperdrive. She then noticed some loose wires and some switches that appeared to be dead. The clones must have done this, she thought. Quickly, she reconnected the wires and flipped the switches. Nothing happened. Groaning, she reconnected the wires and flipped the switches again. Still nothing happened. She tried again. Nothing. In a fit of frustration, Tanashi smacked theannoying machine a couple of times. Suddenly, the hyperdrive hummed to life and the lights flashed on. She grinned and ran back toward the cockpit. "Jump to hyperspace! Now!" she cried as she strapped herself in. Yara pushed the button again, and the stars became blurry. A second later, they entered hyperspace.
Jennassa collapsed against the back of her seat. "We made it. I don't know how we did it, but we made it."
"What went on down there? Why did they turn on us?" Tanashi asked.
Yara reached over and flipped another switch. "Perhaps some answers the holonet will have." When the holo flickered to life, Yara flipped through the channels. She stopped on what appeared to be coverage of a Senate hearing. The chancellor was speaking. As they listened to his speech, their mouths dropped in horror.
"I assure you, the Jedi will not be granted exemtion fom punishment! These Jedi murderers left me scarred, left me deformed, but they could not scar my integrity! They could not deform my resolve! The remaining traitors will be hunted down and rooted out wherever they may hide, and brought to justice, dead or alive! All collaborators will suffer the same fate. Those who protect the enemy are the enemy! Now is the time! Now we will strike back! Now we will destroy the destroyers! Death to the enemies of democracy!"
The Senate roared, bursting into a wild round of applause and cheering. The padawans stared dumbly at the holo in utter shock, and then turned to face each other.
"Why is he saying that?" Yara cried, barely able to keep her anger restrained. "Enemies to the Republic we are not and never have been! The defenders of the Republic, we are!"
"There's something very wrong with this." Tanashi muttered. "First, the clones turn on the Jedi. Then, the chancellor declares the Jedi enemies of the state."
"Don't you see?" Jennassa stared at the holo. "Do you see what he is?" Tanashi and Yara stared at Jennassa. Jennassa sighed. "The Jedi have been searching for the Sith for thirteen years, and he's been under our noses the whole time. Palpatine is Darth Sidious. The Chancellor is the Sith Lord we tried so hard to destroy. But he destroyed us." She shook her head and gave a sad chuckle. "Now it all makes sense. The Blockade of Naboo, the war, the executions...It was all a trap..." she trailed off. The padawans turned their attention back to the holo. The chancellor was speaking again.
"Never again will we be divided! Never again will sector turn against sector, planet turn against planet, sibling turn against sibling! We are one nation, indivisible!" The Senate roared again. "To ensure that we will always stand together, that we will always speak with a single voice and act with a single hand, the Republic must change. We must evolve. We must grow. We have become an empire in fact; let us become an Empire in name as well! We are the first Galactic Empire!" Yara reached over and switched the holo off.
"Stand it anymore, I cannot." she whispered.
"What do we do now? Do we just go into hiding?" Tanashi asked. Before anyone could respond, Jennassa pointed out a flashing light on the controls.
"Look, it's a message from the Jedi Temple!" she said excitedly. Quickly, she played the message. Yara and Tanashi leaned forward. "It says to return to the Temple immediately." She frowned. "I don't like the looks of this. It could be another trap."
"It probably is, but what if some Jedi left there are? Need to help them, we do!" Yara said.
"What chance would we have? The Temple is probably swarming with clones. We'd never get out alive." Yara bit her lip and looked away. Jennassa continued. "It would be better if we tried to stay alive. Then we have some chance of defeating this evil in the future."
Yara sighed. "Right, you are." she said softly. The padawans sat in silence again.
"Well, then!" Tanashi turned and flipped on a map of the galaxy. "I guess we'll have to go into hiding. Where do you guys want to hide?"
After going over various planets that could be possible hideouts, the girls decided upon a planet on the Outer Rim that was not a part of the Republic and was not rich in resources, which would keep the interests of the Empire away. Jennassa reset the ships course for the chosen planet.
"Now we have nothing to do but wait, and hope that there are other Jedi out there." Tanashi said. Jennassa nodded.
Yara sighed as the three padawans turned to look at the holo of their chosen planet. "May the Force be with us," She said quietly. "Always."
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What was once day has been consumed by the darkness of night.
No matter what, there was no way to stop the night from approaching.
It is overpowering. It cannot be stopped.
But there is hope.
In the night's greatest strength lies its greatest weakness:
a single light is enough to hold it off.
Love, even the love of friends shines as bright as a star,
a single point of light in the darkness.
Love is more than just a light.
It is a light of hope.
Well, that's the end! I hope you all enjoyed this story! I'm not sure what I'll be doing next. It might be either Star Wars or A Bug's Life. Or perhaps it will be a sequel or prequel to this story. Who knows? Only time will tell. I'd like to thank my reviewers, Kawaii Spinel Queen of Evil and mastercontoro for their wonderful reviews and tips. Thanks, your comments mean a lot to me and I apprecieate you guys taking the time to read this and help me out. Thanks again, and I hope to see you all soon!
jla2snoopy