The shuttle comes in quickly. Starkiller runs to the edge of the roof.
"Come on, kids."
He waves them towards him, and Rex helps hurry them along. The shuttle slows down, then hovers a few feet away from the roof. A hatch in the side of the shuttle opens, and Lieutenant Forbes appears in the doorway.
"Alright kids, jump," Starkiller says. "Take a running start, and jump. You can do it."
Rex organizes them, and tells one to go, then another, then another. Starkiller watches closely, ready to catch them if they fall. Soon all the children have made the jump, except Moya. She clutches Starkiller's forearm tightly, and he motions for Rex to go ahead. Rex nods, and sprints to the edge, then leaps into the shuttle.
Starkiller leans down, and helps the girl onto his back with her arms wrapped around his neck.
"Hold on tight," he says, then takes off.
He leaps the gap easily, and lands softly.
"Go!" he says.
The door closes, and they feel the shuttle rapidly accelerate. Starkiller sets the girl down, and she runs into the waiting arms of her older sister.
"Thank you," Forbes says with more than a few tears. "Thank you so much."
He nods, then heads for the cockpit. One of the Animus's crew pilots the ship. Rex stands behind the pilot.
"We've got incoming," the pilot says.
Starkiller goes to the copilot's chair, and starts looking over the controls. He brings up a map of the city, and points to a row of buildings.
"There," he says. "Fly low."
The pilot shakes her head, and does as instructed. Starkiller motions for Rex to follow, and heads to the back.
"Everyone away from the door," he says.
Rex helps back the children away, and Starkiller opens the door.
"What are you doing?" Forbes shouts, her hair blowing all over the place in the furious wind.
"We're going to buy you enough time to break atmosphere, and escape," Starkiller shouts back, his long coat blowing in the wind.
He turns to the door, and waits for the right buildings to appear. Rex stands next to him, stone faced. It's almost time, but they are too high.
"When you jump, I'll soften your landing," Starkiller shouts.
Rex nods.
"Go!" Starkiller shouts.
Rex jumps, just as tall buildings appear under him. Starkiller concentrates hard, and effectively prevents Rex from serious injury. Starkiller sees flashes of light from the ground. He rushes to the pilot.
"Flak guns. Climb, climb, climb!" he shouts.
The pilot pulls back on the stick, and gravity shifts, pulling everyone towards the back of the cabin. Shells start exploding near the shuttle with large clouds of smoke.
"Stay ahead of them," Starkiller says.
The pilot nods, then curses loudly. Starkiller looks to the screens, and sees two incoming fighters.
"I'll deal with them," he says.
He goes into the back of the cabin, and heads for the door. He hears a voice cry out behind him.
"Wait!" Moya shouts.
She runs up, and throws her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. It feels almost foreign to him. He can't even remember ever being hugged, except by his mother. He lightly pats her back, and kneels down to her eye level.
"You be good," he whispers.
She nods, and he gently removes her arms from him, and guides her back to Forbes. He heads back to the door, then turns back to Moya.
"And listen to your sister," he shouts.
She giggles. He turns, then leaps out of the door. He feels gravity shift dramatically. He tucks his arms close to his sides, and blasts energy from his hands, flying towards the fighters like a missile. He almost misses the fighter, but manages to grab a hold of the wing. He grits his teeth, and pulls hard.
He manages to get his whole body on top of the fighter, and uses the force to help him keep his balance, as he half crawls towards the engine. He sees the other fighter pull up, and slow just a tad, so that it can get a view of him, crawling on top of its friendly. He lays on his back, and reaches his hands forward, grabbing a hold of the other fighter with his mind.
He pulls his hands apart, almost pulling the wings off, then slams his hand together. The wings crumple into the fuselage. The engines explode, and the ship goes down in a ball of fire, and smoke. He carefully turns over, and draws his lightsaber. He ignites it, and slams it into the engine. He jumps away from the fighter, just before the engine explodes, and the fighter goes down.
He falls back first, looking up at the blue sky. With the force he can fall great distances without much danger, but he knows that this fall is too great even for that. The force helps him with the strain against his body, helping him to breath easily as the wind rushes by his ears so fast that it sounds like a hurricane. He closes his eyes, and a smile finds its way to his face. He's never felt anything like it before. That little girl treated him like hero.
The only time he'd ever felt something similar was when he helped the Wookies on Kashyyyk, but even then, he knew that he was only doing Vader's bidding. This time- this time he did the right thing. Not because he was told to, or that he had to, but because he wanted to. Nothing has ever made him feel quite like this.
Like he might actually be able to find some kind of redemption- some kind of peace in this life. He continues to accelerate towards the ground. The wind so loud, it sounds like a star cruiser chasing him through Hell. He turns over in the air, and sees the ground is startlingly close. He charges up, and waits, watching the ground come closer, and closer, and closer.
He releases a blast of energy. The force of the blast causes him to flip over backwards, and nearly halts his descent. He gets his legs back under him, and falls a second or two before landing lightly. He puts his head down, and assumes the walk of a man going about his business. He activates his comm.
"Rex."
"Sir?"
"I'll meet you at the ship."
"Yes, Sir."
Starkiller blends into the crowd, and slowly makes his way towards the outskirts. A while later, and he feels the city abuzz behind him, the pirates have finally mobilized, but it's too late. The shuttle is long gone, and soon enough, the Animus will be long gone too. He's made it away from the city, but fleeing the planet is going to prove more difficult. He wonders how Ahsoka, and Rex will take the news, but isn't too worried about it. It isn't like they have much choice anyway.
Starkiller's thoughts are much more occupied with how great it felt to help those kids, and just exactly how he is going to put his new plan into action. His boots crunch into the sand, and a smile finds its way onto his face. He has a time to figure out his next move. He has all the time in the world.
He takes a nice pull from his canteen, and for a second, regrets not just buying some kind of speeder, but banishes the thought, and continues on, thinking hard on the future. After seemingly forever, and nearly running out of water, he finally approaches the ship.
"I'm back. Let me in."
The ramp comes down, and he steps aboard. Ahsoka stands a ways inside, looking displeased. The door hatch closes behind him, and he's just thankful to be home. He realizes that The Rogue Shadow is the closest thing that he's ever had to a home.
"What took you so long?" Ahsoka says. "Rex got back like an hour ago."
"I had to be more careful getting out of the city."
He shrugs out of his duster, and realizes that it's covered in- well, dust. In fact, every piece of clothing that he's wearing is covered in dust, and sand.
"Well, we were worried," Ahsoka says.
"You could have used the comm."
"We didn't want to bother you, in case you were busy."
An awkward silence falls over them until he starts making his way to the cockpit. Rex sits in the pilot's chair, going over sensor data.
"So, I've got some possibly bad news," Starkiller says.
"What is it?" Rex says.
"We may be stuck here for a while."
"What?" Ahsoka squeaks.
"The pirates have mobilized with the help of The Hutts."
"So?"
"So that means Interimo is involved, and knows we're on Tatooine. His ships are probably already here."
"If he knows we're here, then we need to run." Rex says.
"Normally I would agree with you," Starkiller says. "They're probably setting up a blockade. We can't run through them."
Ahsoka sits in the copilot's chair, and starts pressing buttons.
"What about the cloak?" Rex says.
"They'll detect us when we try to break atmo. Cloak or no cloak."
"He's right," Ahsoka says pointing to a holo display. "They've already set up a blockade."
She slumps in her chair, and Rex sets his jaw.
"So what's the plan?" Ahsoka asks. "I'm assuming you already have one."
Starkiller smirks, and nods.
"We lay low, for now," he says. "That is, if you want to stay."
"What do you mean if?" Ahsoka says. "You just finished explaining why we can't leave."
"Not exactly. I just explained why I can't leave. You two can purchase tickets on any public transport, and head to the New Republic, join the New Jedi Order, or whatever it is you want to do."
"Why wouldn't you come with us?" she says.
"They're looking for me. They know you're missing, but with the chaos at the palace, they don't know we're together. You two should be able to blend in on a transport without too much trouble. Also, this ship is my home. I'm not just gonna leave it."
"So that's it? We wait here until they decide to leave, or just go on a transport?" Ahsoka says.
"Not exactly," he says with a slight smirk. "I'll lay low for now, but I want to go after the The Hutts. I intend to dismantle the whole operation. I'm going to free these people."
"Risky," Rex says.
"I know," Starkiller replies. "but if I can free Tatooine, then I believe I can do the same again. Tatooine will be a test run."
"A test run for what?" Ahsoka asks.
"For the Outer Rim- for Interimo. He is a tyrant, and I am going to bring him down or die trying. I will destroy his entire operation, one arm at a time if I have to. Starting right here, on Tatooine."
They both seem taken aback by his sudden determination. He tries to relax a bit.
"You can still leave, if you would like, I'll understand, but right now," He motions to his clothes. "I need to clean up."
A good scrubbing in the shower, and grabbing his only other fresh pair of clothes that he had brought in the bag from his cell in Interimo's palace, and he feels like a new man. He'll need to go into town, and find a tailor, but first, he needs a good meal, and some rest. The resting shouldn't be too difficult. The ship is stocked with enough food to last a long time, but the quality is nothing to write home about.
He exits his cabin, and heads for the Galley that doubles as the Mess Hall. He finds Ahsoka, and Rex already there, rummaging through cabinets.
"Can I help you find something?" he asks, leaning on the counter that separates the cooking area from the eating area.
"A frying pan?" Ahsoka says.
He points to a cabinet behind her. She opens it, and sees pots, and pans made out of varying materials, and of varying sizes. She grabs one, and places it on a burner.
"Thanks," she says.
He nods.
"What are we making?" he asks.
"No idea. Rex is figuring that out." She turns to Rex on the other side of the Galley. "How's it coming?"
"Uhhh," is the only response Rex can muster.
"I didn't realize you were a cook," Starkiller says.
"Never cooked before in my life, Sir," Rex says.
"So why are you preparing the food?"
"How hard can it be?" Rex says.
Starkiller raises an eyebrow, but says nothing. Ahsoka turns to him.
"We've decided to help you, for now." she says. "After the Hutts have been removed from power, and the blockade taken care of, I will have to report to the Jedi Council to resume my training."
Starkiller nods. Rex grumbles curses under his breath, searching for something. Starkiller pushes off the counter, and walks around it into the Galley to help.
The three of them make what someone could call a meal, if they used their imaginations really hard, that is. Though Starkiller really couldn't care less. Just being there, cooking, and enjoying a meal with his new crew, having a new purpose, and the freedom to see it through, that's a feeling some flavorless veggies, and charred meat can't take away.
He lays awake in his bed, looking out at Tatooine's night sky through the large window in the ceiling directly above the bed. He knows that there's a whole fleet of ships up there, just waiting for him to try and escape the planet. They already have all of the Hutt's local resources turning the city upside down, looking for him.
Soon enough, they'll send down squads from the fleet, and soon after that, the bounty hunters, and mercenaries will show. But not tonight- tonight he will close his eyes, and sleep. He will sleep, and for the first time, as a free man. His happiness is tainted by the pain he feels.
Not his pain, but that of his crew. He can feel them both struggling to cope with their loss, the girl especially. He can feel the conflict within her, and her great struggle against it. He sighs deeply, closes his eyes, and rolls to his side.
His eyes open to the sun rising. He sits up, and takes a long breath, stretches out his neck, then heads for his bathroom. He cleans up quick, then heads to the meditation room. He thinks hard on his options, and considers his first steps. I have errands to run.
After meditating, he can feel his crew moving about the ship. He heads to the Galley to find Ahsoka cooking.
"Morning," Ahsoka says, placing a large plate of badly burned eggs on the counter. "I made breakfast."
She smiles proudly, motioning for him to sit at the counter.
"Thanks."
He sits down, and she scoops eggs onto a plate, then hands it to him with a fork. She watches intently as he takes his first, somewhat reluctant bite. He chews, and forces a smile.
"Good?" she asks.
He nods a yes, and watches her beam at the compliment. He tries to swallow the burned, and yet somehow also undercooked eggs. She goes back to the burners. Starkiller decides that the first thing on his agenda will be to buy a protocol droid to do certain chores for them.
"So what's Rex up to?" he asks.
She turns back around to face him.
"Trying to better familiarize himself with the ship," she says imitating Rex's accent.
She turns back to the stove. Starkiller scarfs down the rest of his plate as fast as he can while her back is turned. She turns around just as he finishes his last swallow.
"Done already?" she says surprised.
"Oh... Yeah," he says. "It was really great."
"Oh, thank you," she says, blushing slightly. "There's more if you-"
"No," he nearly shouts, but manages to stay mostly composed. "I wish I could, but I need to eat light, because I'm going to cross the desert in a little while."
"Oh," she says. "I thought we were laying low?"
"I just have some errands to run."
"Oh?"
"I need to find a tailor, and I was thinking that we could use a protocol droid to help out around here, and maybe an astro-mech as well."
"It would sure be nice to not have to do our own laundry." She turns towards the sink full of dirty dishes. "And the dishes."
He nods, remembering the state of his clothes after the desert.
"Can I come?" she asks.
"I'm not expecting any trouble this time."
"So, yes?"
He nods.
"If you want to."
"No offense, but I've been dying to get out of the ship."
"I'll go tell Rex the plan. Can you be ready to go in about twenty minutes?"
"No problem."
He nods, thanks her again for the eggs, then walks out of the Galley. He finds Rex sitting behind the pilot's chair.
"Rex," he says. "Familiarizing yourself with the ship?"
Rex turns back to Starkiller, and looks down the corridor, then speaks in a near whisper.
"Trying to avoid the Commander's cooking. I wouldn't go into the Galley if I were you, Sir."
"Thanks for the warning, but you're about five minutes too late."
Rex grimaces.
"How bad?"
Starkiller just shakes his head, then tells Rex about heading into town for droids, and other supplies. Twenty minutes later, Starkiller, and Rex are both waiting on Ahsoka. Another twenty minutes, and she finally emerges from her cabin wearing a brown cloak. She couldn't look more like a Jedi, even if she tried.
"Ready," she says.
Starkiller resists a grumble, and they head out into the desert. They chat idly while they traverse the vast sand dunes of the desert.
Author's Note
Hey all
sorry it took so long to get this chunk posted. My sister spilled milk on her laptop, so I had to loan her mine. I forgot that my story files were on it. I have my laptop back now, so the next part should not take so long, and I've already started writing it.
Thank you RKF22 for another stellar review! And thank you for adding it to your favs!
Thank you Rouge Mandalorian, and Gps3 for favoriting! Thank you very much!
Thank you bobbo08, Rockobrocko, and Rogue Mandalorian for following! It really helps me to see that people are enjoying the story.
And finally, BIG thank you to everyone who read the story so far! Thank you all very, very much!
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I hope life finds you well. Until next time. Thanks again.