Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Star Wars characters from any of Lucas's hit movies. I do, however, own the characters that I have invented for this story.
This story is for a friend who is a big Star Wars fan. You know who you are. God bless!
The Will of the StarsBlaster-bolt fire and missile explosions had blackened the terrain around the palace. Palace guards marched to and fro in chaos, attempting to secure the building. People ran around the palace, scattering every which way. Amid the confusion, no one seemed to notice a ten-year old girl wandering about in her pajamas on her own while her mother was who-knows-where, screaming for the child.
Evadne Darren headed towards the sound of her name as it reverberated off the whitewashed walls of the interior of the palace. As she rounded a corner, she caught sight of her five-year-old sister. She quickly reached forward and grabbed her sister's hand, and both girls ran towards the sound of their mother's voice.
"Evie, I'm scared. What's happening?"
"I don't know Aiddie," Evadne told Aidia as they continued to run.
"I want Mommy." Aidia started to cry. Both girls rounded another corner and caught sight of their mother and father surrounded by a squadron of white-armored storm troopers. Evadne froze in place and pulled Aidia back, not liking the scene that was unfolding forty-five feet in front of them. "Evadne, what's wrong?"
"Shh!" Evadne side-stepped into a corridor and pulled Aidia in after her. She cautiously peered at the group that had surrounded her parents. She saw her father pull a cylinder-shaped item from a clip on his belt. The storm troopers stepped back as a thin red blade of light shot out of the ignited lightsaber. Evadne gasped as she watched her father raise the lightsaber high, turn towards her mother, and plunge the blade of light into her mother's chest.
Aidia screamed. Evadne quickly moved to clamp her hand over her sister's mouth. The stench of singed flesh assaulted their noses. Both girls watched in horror as their father stepped forward from the squadron of storm troopers. "Find those girls!" Their father ordered. Evadne took no time to drag Aidia along with her as she turned and ran down the closest corridor. Both girls' hearts threatened to beat out of their chests as they ran, not bothering to stop to catch their breaths. They could hear the clattering of the storm troopers' shoes hitting the marble floor as they followed the girls in pursuit. This pressed both girls to run faster, and to not look back to see how close the storm troopers were.
A man stepped in front of the girls as they reached the end of the corridor, and they barreled into him, not bothering to slow down. "Come with me Princess Evadne," he said as he took hold of Evadne's shoulders. Another man stepped forward and grabbed Aidia the same way. The girls at first were shocked, but then went willingly with the palace guards as they led them to the docking bay. Evadne listened as the two men discussed what was going to happen.
"The imperials have taken control of the airspace and have set up a blockade that surrounds Bespin. Before the imperials were able to jam the frequency, we set up a rendezvous with another ship that will help with the escort. We cannot afford to put both girls on the same ship to Kashyyyk, because if something happens, we may lose both of them. Since they are the only remaining members of the royal family, we can't afford to let that happen." One guard said.
"Once we rendezvous with the Victory, I will accompany Princess Aidia aboard, and will take her to the safe haven on Kashyyyk. You stay aboard the Gambit, and we'll rendezvous at Kashyyyk after we are separated." The other guard said.
"The imperial guards have been alerted to keep watch for you, Princesses. We need to get both of you out of here." As they reached the Gambit, a twenty man squadron of storm troopers appeared at the doorway from which they had just come. The palace guards pushed Evadne and Aidia up the ramp of the Gambit, and then raised it once inside. "I am going to put the ship on autopilot and man the guns until we are clear of Bespin's airspace. Both of you girls sit down and don't touch anything."
Both girls took seats and strapped themselves in. The ship rose into the air as a barrage of blaster bolts hit the bottom hull of the ship. The ship shot straight up into the air, and then zoomed out into space. Evadne unfastened her safety strap and went to the viewport to see what was going on. The ship rocked violently as something struck its right side. Several lights started blinking and an alarm sounded. "Princess, enable the deflector shields."
Evadne looked helplessly at the console. She didn't know what to do. "What button is that?" She called out.
"The flashing blue one." The other guard came up behind Evadne and hit the button. Evadne then ran over to the guard at the guns.
"Let me shoot." Evadne said. Another shot rocked the ship and Evadne fell to the floor.
"You buckle yourself into the copilot's chair and sit there silently until we are clear of this mess, Princess. Let us worry about the situation. You just stay out of our way." Evadne sighed and then went back to the cockpit, defeated. The other guard began pushing a series of buttons on the console. Evadne looked out the viewport and watched as the clouds of Bespin gave way to the enveloping blackness of space. "Stay put, both of you, until we are safely in hyperspace. The ship will rock a little, then you'll see white star lines." The guard explained. The princesses had never left Bespin in their lives, and they wondered what would be in store for them, as they were the only remaining members of the royal family of Bespin. Bespin had been ruled by a matriarchy, and their father was not really part of the royal family because he had married into it and royalty was not in his blood.
"You can never hazard going back to Bespin as long as your father is alive. You and Princess Aidia will be safe with the Wookies on Kashyyyk until the Empire has forgotten about your existence. The Wookies will take care of your needs, and you'll have a nanny droid for your studies. When it is safe, we'll return for both you and your sister. Your father is a powerful Sith and both of you need to be kept away from him. Your mother did her best to protect you from him, but now she's dead."
Evadne felt sick to her stomach. Suddenly she didn't want to listen to the palace guard talk any more. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine that she was elsewhere. The ship lurched forward as it began its jump into hyperspace. The palace guard had set the coordinates for the place where they'd rendezvous with the Victory. Suddenly alarms began to wail. As Evadne re-opened her eyes, she saw the white starlines of hyperspace. Her eyes widened in amazement. They had made it through the blockade, but Evadne couldn't help but to feel that something else was wrong. They had gotten away too easily…
When the ship came out of hyperspace and met up with the Victory, it became more apparent that they had been followed. The Gambit quickly pulled up beside the Victory and Aidia was lead aboard the Victory while Evadne stayed aboard the Gambit. Both ships were barraged with fire from ion cannons. The sirens on the Gambit wailed out in protest as the front deflector shield was lost. Evadne watched out the window as the Victory disappeared into hyperspace again.
"Princess, man the guns while I put all deflector power onto our rear shields. We aren't going to make it to Kashyyyk. We've got to head to the nearest planet." The guard said.
"Where's that?"
"The closest planet is Corellia." The guard said… Then everything went black…