Reesha made her way out of the city, heading north. The hulking Trandoshan rode at a stately, almost sedate pace, straddling a speeder bike that was clearly not made for someone of her stature. It had been cheap, though, and light enough to hoist by hand, at least for her.
Reesha had asked around for Abero and his pink friend, but she soon discovered she need not have bothered. The pair had left a trail wide enough for a GONK droid to follow. Reesha clicked her tongue at the clear display of carelessness. There was a reason she tuned her bike to hover so high. Hover trails like these are unmistakable through the tall grasses of the Manowa prairie.
The upbraiding Reesha was mentally composing for Abero was interrupted by a loud noise. The bike drifted to a stop as she searched for the source of the unmistakable screech.
There, near the northern horizon she spotted them.
TIE fighters. Four of them, flying a reconnaissance formation.
Doubtless the TIEs hunted the same quarry Reesha herself did. She began to wonder what Abero had gotten himself mixed up with when she noticed the ground.
A second hover trail joined Abero's near to where she had stopped. Apparently the boy is more popular than I thought, she thought. The trail was faint, imperceptible to anyone less skilled. And it disappeared entirely within Abero's wider track. The work of a patient and skilled hunter.
But the Empire was the more immediate concern. The TIEs flying in recon formation meant they hadn't found him yet. And the Imperial fighters were anything but circumspect. With speed, Reesha would find her quarry before the Imperials did. Hopefully she would be prepared for whoever else had found him. She stood up beside the speeder bike and lifted the seat, removing a modified blaster rifle that nevertheless appeared toylike in the Trandoshan woman's hand. Good thing I am always so careful, she thought, as she strapped the massive weapon into a hip holster.
Reesha remounted her bike and sped northwest, abandoning any attempts at stealth.
But as she accelerated, she couldn't help thinking,
I have a bad feeling about this.
"Oh great, now there's TIE fighters after us!" Abero groused.
D'nia looked over her shoulder briefly. She heard the TIEs, but could only see them by the light from their engines. The mist obscured all else. Hopefully it worked the other way around. D'nia veered the skiff southwest and accelerated.
"Where are we going?" Weram and Abero asked almost in unison.
"I know a place we can lay low for a bit if we can get there without being seen," D'nia answered.
"Wait, we?" Abero asked. "You're coming with us?"
"I don't have a choice. All of us are fugitives now, no thanks to you." D'nia snapped.
Weram's gaze swept from D'nia to the sky behind them, the lights from the TIE fighters' engines faintly winking in the distance. Finally her eyes settled on the floor of the skiff.
"You can't blame us, D'nia!" Abero bulled ahead. "We didn't ask for help!"
D'nia spared a moment to look sharply at Abero.
"Not that we aren't grateful, of course!" He added hastily.
Placated, D'nia returned her attention to steering the craft.
"Yes, thank you for saving us," Weram muttered. She was still for a long moment, eyes still fixed on nothing in particular. A long moment became several long moments, until she spoke again.
"Why did you do it, though?" She asked.
D'nia thought for a while before answering.
"Honestly?" She paused, choosing her words carefully. "I've seen-"
The roar of a TIE, too near for comfort drowned out her answer. D'nia cut the throttle completely. The group drifted silently in the mist, hoping to avoid discovery.
P-0 was the first to break the silence, whirring indignantly and making a rude gesture at the retreating spacecraft.
"You said it, P-0, this-" Weram and her droid stilled abruptly as a second TIE, nearer still, followed the first. Everyone scarcely breathed until it had passed. D'nia stood from a crouch she didn't realize she'd been in as the TIE flew away.
They all listened for several tense minutes, straining to hear the approach of another craft. D'nia finally judged the two TIEs that had passed by sufficiently distant after another moment and started the skiff moving forward again.
Abero gasped, his face a mask of anxiety. His hand was outstretched to the sky overhead, pointing.
"I don't see any ships-" Weram began.
"Not ships," D'nia pointed out, "Stars. We've reached the end of the mist." She turned to the others.
"We're going to have to make a break for it," D'nia intoned grimly. "I'm going to divert power from the hover cells to the thrusters. We'll be faster, but it's going to be a rough ride."
She looked to each of them. "Weram, I need you as lookout. Keep an eye out for Imperials. Not just in the sky either." Weram nodded seriously.
"Abero, I need you to make sure nothing falls out of this skiff. If we drop something it will lead them right to us, got it?" Abero's eyes widened, but he nodded also.
"Then get ready." D'nia tilted her head upward, listening again for the telltale sound of the searching TIE fighters. She held up a hand then slammed the accelerator down.
The skiff shot forward and immediately sank, it's hull skimming the ground, jarring it's passengers mercilessly. Soon they were free of the mist. The last embers of twilight glowed in an otherwise clear sky, thankfully free of hostile spacecraft.
The highlands soon gave way to scrubland. The land becoming more arid as they headed west. There were few obstacles to hinder their passage, but scant cover. D'nia gunned the throttle, rattling her passengers terribly.
D'nia had just caught sight of the abandoned settlement she was heading for when Weram called out.
"Something is coming towards us from the south!"
Sure enough, a lone vehicle was headed straight toward them. No way they hadn't been spotted. Flying flat out they had almost reached the settlement when P-0 began beeping excitedly.
"You recognize them?" Weram said incredulously.
D'nia let the skiff skid to a stop in front of the building, a settlement that had obviously not seen use for some time. Abero was already holding D'nia's slugthrower, taking aim. D'nia had reached into her bag and was nervously fingering the lightsaber.
Weram had found D'nia's macrobinoculars and spied the approaching vehicle.
"Don't shoot!" she exclaimed. " P-0 was right! It's not the Empire!"
D'nia heaved a sigh of relief. She put her bag down in the skiff.
"I think it's the big lizard woman from the bar," Weram continued.
Abero groaned miserably.
