The Final Battle: Part 15
Ahsoka, Barriss, and Tanya sprinted through the abandoned halls of Tanya's ship, the Liberty. They ran faster and farter than they had ever run and only stopped when they felt like they were about to pass out. They leaned against the walls, clutching their sides and breathing heavily. Tanya slid down the wall, took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
No, she thought. Master Li cannot, I repeat CANNOT be... dead. Tanya sighed to herself. What am I going to tell Zana... Oh no Zana! She'll be devastated! Master Li was like her mother.
Ahsoka and Barriss were finally able to catch their breath and turned to Tanya.
"Tanya?" Ahsoka asked, warily. "Are you alright?" Tanya snapped out of her thoughts and back into their situation.
Right, Tanya scolded herself. I can't get distracted. I have to focus on here and now.
"Yeah," she responded. "I'm fine."
Ahsoka did not look convinced. "Are you sure?"
"I'm always alright."
Ahsoka still knew she wasn't but didn't pry. "So, what do we do?"
Tanya turned to her, confused. "What do you mean?"
"What should we do?"
"Why are you asking me? Barriss is older and you've had more experience in these kinds of situations, Ahsoka."
"Well, you're Master Yoda's padawan and have the best leadership and planning capabilities."
Tanya looked stricken, but not surprised. "Well, our main priority is to get off of this ship. We launched all the escape pods so that's out of the question. The only other option is to try and get to the hanger and fly out of here."
"Without getting spotted?" Barriss asked.
"Well, we don't have any other choices, do we?" The padawans looked to each other.
"I guess not," Barriss replied.
"We'd better get going then," Tanya suggested. Ahsoka pulled her to her feet and they started to walk in the direction of the nearest hanger. However, they had barely gone five steps before they were knocked off their feet by an explosion. They turned around just in time to see the hallway behind them explode and open up, revealing the vast, dark emptiness of space. The padawans had to grab onto the walls to avoid being sucked into the vacuum of space. Tanya grabbed onto a panel in the wall and caught Ahsoka, desperately, trying to hold on. Barriss, however, was dragged right by them and toward the vacuum of space, giving time for Tanya to think one last desperate thought.
Barriss, NO!
Barriss caught onto the edge of the hall at the last moment and hit the button, closing the blast door and cutting off the hallway's connection to outer space. Ahsoka, Barriss, and Tanya fell to the floor, breathing heavily again.
"The ship-is falling-apart," Ahsoka gasped. "The Seperatist warships have started firing at us again."
"Why?" Tanya inquired.
"Doesn't matter at the moment," Barriss pointed out. "We just have to get to the hanger as soon as we can."
"One problem," Tanya realized. "The section of the ship that exploded was the hanger." Ahsoka and Barriss groaned. Tanya, in the mean time, looked thoughtful (as usual). "There has to be a way off this ship," Tanya mumbled to herself. Then it hit her as hard as she had hit the floor in the Mandalorian Iron factory warehouse. "The only way out is the Seperatists' way out."
"What?" Ahsoka and Barriss exclaimed.
"The only way off the ship is the way the Seperatists got on."
"But that means-"
"We would have to board the Seperatist's ship," Tanya finished for Ahsoka.
"It's not impossible," Tanya pointed out. "Senator Amidala avoided General Grievous on the Malevolence."
"True, but the Malevolence was a gargantuan ship and it was damaged."
"I don't like it either but it's a risk we're going to have to take."
Silence.
"She's right, Ahsoka," Barriss said.
Ahsoka frowned but nodded.
"Well, then, we'd better get moving," Tanya stated. "Or else we'll get blown up before we even reach the Seperatist's ship."