Last time: Cien sacrificed her life to save Sasha. Cien and Kyr also spent on beautifully final moment together.

Now: Time to escape the Bloodstorm.

Chapter 9- Destruction of the Bloodstorm

Around them the ship started shaking with the sounds of far away explosions. Lights started flickering, the ship was under attack.

"You guys need to go." Kyr whispered finally.

"What about you?" Viran asked. "We are not just going to leave you here."

"I need to stay," he said, his voice breaking. "I promised her she wouldn't be alone." He looked up at them, at Viran, and Op, "she gave me another way off the ship. I just need to stay with her a little longer." He said, turning away from them, tears in his eyes.

Viran frowned at Kyr, a bit confused by his reaction, before sharing a glance with Oppie. Oppie met his gaze, and then looked back at Sasha and Kyr kneeling next to Cien. Sasha looked up at Kyr, her face wet with tears.

"Kyr…" She started to say, her voice breaking too, but she couldn't find the words.

Kyr looked up at her. "It's okay Sash'ika. Just go, be safe. I'll be right behind you."

Sasha looked him in the eye and slowly nodded. Viran placed a hand on her good shoulder.

"We need to go," he said gently as knelt down, saber still active and cut her free of her bindings.

Sasha looked at Viran, at the binders as they broke away and freed her wrists, and then back to Kyr and Cien. "Please… be careful," she said softly before turning back to Viran.

Kyr looked back at her with a broken smile. "If I have to be."

Sasha slammed her eyes shut as she hated that sentence and it told her deep down what that meant. Viran then helped her to her feet and held her up with an arm around her waist. They then started making their way towards the exit to the throne room.

Oppie knelt next to his brother, as he watched Sasha and Viran going. "We can take her with us," he said quietly.

"Op just go." Kyr said. He looked over at his brother, his face oddly peaceful. "I'll be right behind you guys. It's okay." He said, turning back to Cien. "It's okay Op."

Oppie knew his brother was lying. "Kyr…"

"It's okay Op." Kyr whispered. "It's okay, just go. Keep our family safe."

Oppie put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Thank you for everything, Ke'vaan." He said around the tears that were threatening to fall.

Kyr just nodded and closed his eyes. Around them the ship shook more violently, and the explosions that had seemed so distant were now much louder, and echoed through the ship, and it shook, violently with each impact and explosion.

Oppie got up, and sprinted after Viran and Sasha. At the door, he turned, and looked back at Kyr kneeling at Cien's side. Taking what he hoped was not, but was more than likely, his last look at his brother. He turned and went to go find his little brother and sister on their way to the Shadow Runner.

Viran and Sasha ran through the corridors and the lifts down towards the Shadow. Viran led them the whole way, while Sasha was keeping up despite her current state. However, once they reached the lower level where the hatch was located, Sasha slowed and rested against one of the walls. She was panting, her head was spinning, and her legs couldn't hold her up any longer. Viran slowed when he realized she wasn't right behind him anymore. He stopped and turned to see her, partially hunched over as she leaned against the wall. Viran moved back over to her and grabbed her arm.

"Come on, hun," Viran said as he wrapped her right arm around his shoulders, being careful of her broken wrist. "You can make it. We are almost there."

"I'm sorry," she panted, her voice hoarse. "I can't…"

"You can. I've got you," he said as he started helping her towards the hatch. Viran and Sasha slowly moved towards the hatch, but as they moved, he could feel her full weight weighing on him as she started to go limp. "Come on, stay awake. We are almost there."

Oppie sprinted around the corner and saw them. Seeing them, he moved up and he took Sasha's other shoulder and helped support her. She winced slightly at her left shoulder being moved. "We're almost there." He said.

"Oppie..." Sasha said weakly as she looked at him with a slight turn of her head.

They reached the hatch and Viran pulled the door to it open. He then looked at Oppie. "One of us needs to go down first while the other helps her down," Viran explained.

"Go ahead Vir." Oppie said, around them the Bloodstorm was shaking apart. He shifted to take Sasha's full weight.

Viran nodded and released her arm. He then climbed into the hatch and descended down into the Shadow. Once he was down, he looked back up into the hatch.

"Alright, help her down," he called up to Oppie.

Oppie gently helped her onto the ladder, supporting her as she tried to catch her footing. With her injuries; the burned shoulder, a broken wrist, and the limp she walked with, she moved carefully.

As she climbed down, she winced with every movement. Once she was within reach of Viran, he wrapped his arms around her and helped her down into the small bay at the bottom of the ladder. She collapsed against him as he stepped away from the ladder.

"Clear." He called up to Oppie, who immediately slid down the ladder.

Tac came around the corner, excitedly whistling.

"He said he had another way off." Oppie said, responding to the droid, as he took Sasha's other shoulder again to help her and Viran get to the bunk where she could rest. Once they reached the bunk room, Viran and Oppie helped her down into the lower bunk.

Viran then looked to Oppie, "Let's get out of here before we go down with the ship." He said as he grabbed a blanket to lay on top of her.

"No argument from me." Oppie said, leaving Viran to take care of Sasha, he ran back to the cockpit. Since they were still docked, the Shadow shook along with the Bloodstorm as it took more and more damage. Tac was already back in the cockpit at his second favorite data port, and Oppie jumped into the pilot's seat. He hit the release switch, setting them free and he ramped the engines to full speed and they shot away.

"Viran…" Sasha said as she looked like she might pass out at any second.

"Shhh.." He said soothingly. "It's okay, you're safe now," Viran said as he brushed back her hair that had fallen into her face. "Just rest. We will be home soon." He placed a kiss on her forehead, before turning and running for the cockpit to help them get out of here.

Sasha watched him go. Once he was gone, Sasha took a moment to calm her breathing and get her head to stop spinning. Then a moment later, Sasha pushed herself up into a sitting position with a series of winces. She knew she couldn't just lie there. She needed to go help them get away from the Bloodstorm. She threw the blanket away and moved off the bunk. When her feet hit the deck, her knees wobbled, but she held herself up using the edge of the bunk. She then moved very slowly towards the cockpit, using the walls as her support as she walked. She reached the cockpit a little bit later and leaned in the hatchway that connected the cockpit to the rest of the ship, her breathing heavy. She then looked up and out of the viewport.

They were away from the battlezone, in the storm of fire in the space outside they had been able to slip away and get to a safe vantage point and the ships in the sector had not noticed them. Outside a dozen star destroyers were pouring fire into the Bloodstorm and its hull was a burning wreck, explosions ripped across its surface. On one of the twin prows, three star destroyers concentrated their fire on a weak spot and it exploded off, and the three of them watched in horror as the blade of the ship rotated off and back into the central superstructure of the ship, and it cut through, deeply. Through the hangar bays, through the bridge, through the hull as it swept through like a scythe blade.

On its drive through the ship the prow breached the reactor core, and the Bloodstorm exploded, finally dead. The three stared in horror as it exploded in a bright flash of light, and a cloud of debris expanded outward.

Tac started screaming, wailing. There was no other way to describe it. Oppie and Viran looked back at the droid in shock, and finally saw that Sasha was standing there. Sasha looked down at the droid in confusion, but also horror after watching the ship fall apart.

"What did he say?" She asked before either of them could question why she was up and not resting in the back. She could tell that it wasn't good whatever it was that Tac was saying as she only caught a couple words.

Oppie looked like he was about to answer, and then turned away, closing his eyes. Viran's eyes filled with tears as his voice shook.

"Tac said… he said his feed has cut out. He's gone… Kyr's gone," Viran brought a hand to his mouth as emotion flooded over him.

Sasha felt her heart stop as he translated for the droid. She just stood there frozen as the words sunk in. Then her eyes rolled back and she started sliding down the wall as she started to faint. The weight of the news and her injuries being too much for her to even remain conscious anymore.

"Sasha!" Viran cried as her vision started going black.

She was consumed by darkness before she even hit the ground, seeing nothing but black.

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