Chapter 17
DISCLAIMER: I am not good (at all) at dealing with technology let alone hacking and at writing fight scenes, so if for any reason you are good at either of those things and think of a way to help improve this chapter, please leave a review/ shoot me a PM. It would be greatly appreciated.
Allana closed her eyes as she sat cross-legged on the floor of the First Order Transport ship they had stolen in almost a prayer-like state. Her fingers rested lightly on the top of the large box in front of her which contained all of the tech she was using to hack the base. Allana's hair was uncharacteristically loose, obscuring her face and grazing the floor, and her entire body was completely and totally relaxed. Ami and Melia emerged from the storage room they had used to change into their disguises and balked at the sight of her sitting there. They stood there, along with Finn, unsure of what to do. Before they could make a decision, a small alarm went off and her eyes snapped open.
"Pulling myself together." She said by way of explanation once she caught sight of them. "That was our two minute warning."
"We're ready," Melia said with Ami nodding next to her in confirmation.
Allana turned to Finn. Without prompting, he nodded, resting his hand on the blaster attached to his hip.
"Alright," Allana said smiling, "You guys can leave in thirty seconds. Move fast but be careful."
"May the force be with you," Melia said as she exited the room.
Ami followed close behind, pausing to hug her brother and give Allana's shoulder a squeeze.
"May the force be with us all," Allana called after her.
Moments later the sound of the ramp lowering and the door hissing open filled the silence. As soon as their footsteps no longer echoed throughout the ship, Allana entered a combination and the box sprang open.
"Okay Finn," She said pulling her long hair up into a messy top not, "It's go time."
…
The black, shiny rock that made up the base contrasted against the rough, red sand of the planet. The tall, black tower had virtually no windows on the front and tall columns of a slightly lighter rock midway up the building made it look like a giant mouth. It loomed over Ami and Melia as they tried to discreetly approach it.
"It looks like Vader," Ami said, a hint of unease creeping into her voice. "It gives me the creeps."
"This whole place gives me a bad vibe," Melia said softly. "I keep getting the feeling that something is going to go horribly wrong."
"Don't think like that," Ami murmured under her breath as they stopped in front of the looming doors. "Everything is going to be fine."
They scanned the I.D. cards they had been given in the slot by the doors. A second passed, then two, before the great doors slid open revealing a sterile, pure white hallway. They exchanged nervous glances before stepping inside.
"We're inside," Ami whispered softly in the commlink embedded into her collar. "We need directions."
"Great. I see you," Allana answered. Her voice was being fed through tiny undetectable earpieces. "I got into the security cameras. Take a right at this next corner and go straight until I say. I'll keep an eye out for anyone."
Ami and Melia walked briskly down the hall, careful not to go too fast. Their eyes nervously scanned the hallways, looking for any stormtroopers and other First Order personnel.
"Turn left," Allana's voice said suddenly. "There's troopers headed your way."
Ami and Melia's hands automatically went to the carefully concealed blasters on their waists. The pair held their breath as they passed the group of six stormtroopers. They both visibly sighed once they turned the corner and were out of site.
"Act a little more natural next time," Allana said with a hit of teasing in her voice. "Alright, you're going to take the elevator up to the top floor. When you get out, there's going to be a checkpoint. You two are technicians checking out a problem with one of the monitors. That should get you in."
"He'll know if there's not a problem," Ami said as they stepped into the elevator.
"That's why I'm causing one right now."
The doors to the elevators slid open with a ding and the two girls stiffened. The room they entered was pure white like all the others, but two of the four walls were sheets of glass that offered views of the red, sandy wasteland surrounding them. One side showed the tall, jagged mountains, and the other offered views of the Valley of the Dark Lords, which was dotted with tombs of old Sith Lords. Doors made from a grey stone were directly across the room from them, but in their way was a large black desk with a man in a grey First Order uniform sitting behind it.
"Can I help you?" The man asked in a bored tone, not even looking up.
"We're here about a technical problem," Ami said.
"I.D. cards."
The two handed him their I.D. cards. He scanned the briefly.
"You two are not authorized to be here," He said, handing the cards back.
"We were the only one's available," Melia said quickly. "We could go back and send someone else up, but that could take a long time. I'm sure Admiral Nosek will be very displeased to hear about the problem."
The officer looked back and forth between the two girls. It took everything they had in them to keep their faces blank. Eventually, he pressed a button and the doors opened.
"Hurry," he said waving the girls through.
They rushed past him and shut the door behind them.
"Allana," Melia said taking a seat at the main monitor. "I'm ready."
"I'm manually overriding the lock on the door. No one will be able to open it. Let me know once you're in."
"On it."
…
The comm that lay on the floor the ship buzzed. Allana scooped it up and pressed on.
"What's up Finn?"
"Stormtroopers approaching. I think about five or six. You need to disable their sensors."
"On it. The girls are in and starting the process. If all goes well, we'll be blasting out of here in an hour. Alright, sensors are off. Only comm me if there's an emergency. I need to focus on hacking."
"Got it."
No sooner had Allana put the comm down did her earpiece crackle back to life.
"Ready for you Allana," Melia's voice said over the comm.
"Perfect. Disabling restrictions now. I'm keeping an eye on security cameras for you."
A few seconds of silence passed before she spoke up again.
"I've got the files open, but I need a special code to access the folders."
Allana quickly entered a couple of keys.
"You in now?"
"Yeah. There's hundreds of folder though. It's going to take hours to go through all of them."
"Well hurry. We've only got fifteen minutes."
"That one," Ami said, looking over Melia's shoulder pointing to one labeled Tatooine.
"Why that one? All of them are labeled after planets. Why this one?"
"Vader is from there. Kylo Ren is obsessed with honoring his memory."
"Did you find it?" Allana asked urgently.
"We think so," Melia said clicking on it. "It's documents and drawings."
"That's it. Starting encryption in three, two, one."
At the same time Allana and Melia began typing franticly. Ten minutes of identical clicks echoed throughout the command room and the ship.
"I'm transmitting it to you now," Melia said. "What's our status?"
"Not good. The meeting ended early. She's on her way."
Melia and Ami stared at each other.
"Kriff," they said in unison.
"Stay calm," Allana ordered. "Don't make eye contact and don't say a thing. You'll be fine. I just got the transmission. I'm unlocking the doors now."
Melia quickly began turning off the monitor and putting things back in their place.
"She just got off the elevator. Leave the room now!"
They pulled the doors open and found themselves face to face with Admiral Nosek.
"What are you two doing in here?"
"Fixing a monitor Admiral," Ami said keeping her eyes lowered.
She studied the two of them for a long moment.
"Alright. Get going."
Ami and Melia rushed towards the elevators and hastily pushed the button for the bottom floor. As the doors closed, Admiral Nosek pressed the comm button.
"Initiate lockdown sequence. There are intruders in the building."
…
"Allana," Ami asked nervously, "What the force is going on?"
Allana switched screens from the plans she had been sent to the one displaying the security cameras on the base.
"Kriff. The Admiral saw through your disguise. The base is going into lockdown."
"What do we do?" Melia asked.
"You try to get out of there. I don't care how. I'm going to try to bypass the security system."
"You don't have time," Melia whisper screamed into the comm link. "You have to decode the plans and download them onto the data pad."
"I'll make time. Just do what you can."
Allana began attempting to simultaneously decode the plans and override the security system. The comm link that connected her to Finn buzzed making her jump.
"What?"
"We've got a problem over here," Finn said with blaster shots in the background. "There's at least twenty troopers surrounding the ship and more are on their way!"
Allana cursed under her breath.
"They caught the girls. I'm trying to override the security system and download the plans. Once I'm done, I'll come help you."
"You can't do that! The whole point of me being here is so you wouldn't have to do that!"
"Yeah well that plan has gone out the window. Keep me updated."
"I don't think this is a good plan."
"It's the only one. I'm signing off now."
Allana threw the comm link on the floor and rubbed her face with her hands. Then she got back to work. She frantically switched between screens and typed so fast her fingers were a blur.
"You almost done there?" Ami's voice asked. "We're running out of places to hide."
"Can you see the doors?"
"Yes."
"Okay, I think I can get them open, but I'm not sure for how long."
"You get them open, we'll get out."
"Good luck Ami."
…
Ami and Melia slowly began to creep towards the doors when the sound of heels clicking against stone filled the room.
"Did you really think you could come in here without me finding out?"
The two of them slowly turned around to find the Admiral standing at the other end of the hallway holding a blaster in each hand. They exchanged glances and slowly began backing towards the door.
"No one gets in or out of here without me knowing."
"It doesn't matter," Melia said, her voice shaking slightly. 'We got what we needed."
"You mean the plans you stole?" The Admiral asked, a cruel smile forming on her face. "We found your ship. Your friends are surrounded. They'll be dead in moments."
Ami and Melia were now backed into the door, the cool stone pressing into their backs. Admiral Nosek kept advancing towards them.
"I am the best Admiral in the First Order for a reason. You are not getting away."
"If you kill us," Ami said reaching for the blaster hidden in her boot, "they'll just send more. You might beat us today, but we'll win eventually."
"Look at how naïve you are. Your little Resistance will be crushed, and there's nothing you can do about it."
She raised her blasters and aimed it square at their chests. Right as she fired, the door swung open causing the girls to fall backwards and the shots to miss them.
"Run," Ami said scrambling to her feet. "Run."
Melia pulled herself up and chased after Ami.
…
Allana slammed the box closed and unplugged the data pad. She rushed to her feet, grabbed the spare blaster that was sitting on a bench, and rushed out to help Finn. He was standing at the base of the ramp trying to fend off blaster fire from all direction.
"What are you doing?" He asked barely glancing at her.
"Helping you," she said while shooting at and killing two stormtroopers.
"What about Ami and Melia?"
"They're out of the base. There's nothing more I can do. The plans are downloaded, and I wasn't just going to sit there!"
The two preformed a silent dance of shooting and dodging shots from the stormtroopers. One grazed Finn's shoulder and another grazed Allana's neck causing her to fall to her knees in the sandy ground.
"Are you okay?"
"Fine," she said pulling herself to her feet, "just a graze."
"You fell."
"I said I'm fine Finn!"
"You're still not cleared to be doing this. Go back inside!"
"Look," Allana said gesturing to two figures appearing over a ridge, quickly trying to change the subject, "it's Ami and Melia."
The two girls starting running towards them, shooting at stormtroopers the whole way. By the time they reached the ship, most of the stormtroopers were gone, but the sound of TIE fighter engines filled the air.
"Get inside," Finn yelled.
Finn, Melia, and Ami sprinted up the ramp but stopped when they noticed that Allana wasn't with them. She was leaning heavily against the side of the ship with a hand over her heart.
"Allana," Ami called out rushing over to her. "Come on, I'll help you inside."
"I don't need help," Allana said shaking Ami's arm off. "I just need a moment."
"We don't have a moment!"
Ami grabbed her friend by the arm and dragged her inside.
"Let's get out of here," Ami yelled.
…
When they arrived back on the base, it was the middle of the night. Only Leia, Rey, Luke, and Lando stood there to greet them. Ami rushed immediately into her father's arms, and Finn quickly embraced Rey before hugging his father as well. Allana gave her uncle a brief hug before moving to stand in front of her mother next to Melia.
"Well?"
Melia handed Leia the data pad with the plans on it.
"This is it General."
"Thank you Captain. Did things go smoothly?"
"Mostly," Allana said quickly. "They got caught, but we managed to get out alright."
"The ship also got ambushed by stormtroopers," Ami interjected. "Your daughter here thought it would be a good idea to go and fight them."
"I did fine!"
"You almost passed out!"
The two girls stared at each other until Leia cleared her throat
"It seems we have a lot to talk about. Captain Antoniou, please head to the command room so you can write up the report. Everyone else, go to bed. It's very late."
They started walking towards the door, but Leia grabbed her daughter's arm making her stay behind. Once everyone left, Leia turned to face her.
"You thought it would be a good idea to jump into a fight!"
"Mom."
"You can barely walk on your own!"
"Mother."
"Do you have a death wish?"
"It was my only choice," Allana said loudly. "If I didn't help, we wouldn't have made it off planet. Look I didn't die. I'm fine."
Leia reached out and lightly touched the mark on her neck where the blaster had grazed the skin.
"Then what's this?"
"I got grazed by the blaster. Mom, I'm fine."
Without warning, Leia pulled her daughter into a bone crushing hug.
"I worry about you a lot Allana."
"I know you do Mom."
"You are as stubborn and as reckless as your father."
"As you've often told me."
"Allana," Leia said seriously, "I need you to understand me. I can't… I can't lose you too."
"I know Mom," Allana said softly, "but we're in the middle of a war. You can't wrap me in a protective bubble. I promise that I will try my best to stay safe."
"Good," Leia said kissing her forehead. "Now go to bed."
AN: As I said at the top, this is not one of my best chapters, so please leave a review!
