Chapter III:
At the Hands of Thrawn
As the battle commenced, Mira hoped to see the Pillar of Destruction burn up in flames. Slight tremors shook the medbay as the ship's main cannons hammered the Chimaera with incredible power, yet she felt no trace of incoming fire from the older Star Destroyer. Thrawn had to turn the tide of the battle, otherwise she would be stuck here for the rest of her short and extremely painful life.
She felt a strange presence in the Force. A man was approaching the medbay, he was angry, hopeful and oddly tenacious. There was no way he could be Ezra, yet she had no knowledge about another Force-user walking around the ship.
As the door opened, she was astonished to see Kyle Katarn, one of the last Jedi left after the assault. The tall, gray-haired man stepped into the room with haste, briefly examining the wound on her stomach.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Took you long enough," she nodded with a bright smile on her face. She didn't think anyone would come to the rescue after all that happened.
"I could go away, if you want," Kyle said jokingly. He walked to her bed, using the Force to unlock the straps that held her in place. By the time Mira sat up in bed, the man handed an old lightsaber to his friend. "That's the only one I could find. I hope it will do."
Mira quickly took the lightsaber in her hand. It belonged to her long gone friend, Noeya Adane. This was the moment when the euphoria of the rescue wore off, plunging her back to reality.
"What about Ariss?" she shot the hard question. The girl was supposed to be on a mission with him and Luke, yet she didn't feel neither of their presence in the Force.
"She is doing fine. I put her down at the regroup position with Luke. We will get back to them after we are done here," he answered, and walked out of the room, abandoning their conversation.
Mira followed the older Jedi, and quickly stopped him when he took wrong turn.
"The hangar is that way. I memorized the schematics," she said, pointing towards the other direction. There were no guards in sight yet, Kyle must have made one hell of a distraction during the battle.
"I want to teach that kid a lesson," Kyle answered.
"Wouldn't recommend it," Mira darted. "He is up against Thrawn," she added, although the course of the battle didn't change much during the conversation. The Pillar of Destruction pounded its target without facing any resistance whatsoever. At this rate, it was only a question of time before the Chimaera's shields would give in.
"So that's the ship he is chasing," Kyle answered. His face froze for a moment.
"Chasing?" Mira asked. Why would Thrawn let himself being chased? It made no sense to her, despite the fact she had been in numerous battles over the years.
"Of course, the nebula," Kyle gasped. "The Chimaera is heading for the cluster. There must be a lot of ships waiting in there. How could these guys get fooled so easily?"
"Not our problem," Mira stated. "We have to get out of here, before those ships burst out of the nebula."
"Good idea," he nodded, finally agreeing to her idea.
The two of them made a run for it towards the hangar bay. Mira continuously scanned her environment with the Force, yet she felt no resistance in their way. The more distance they made, the more worried she became. By the time they reached the hangar bay's thick door in the middle of the corridor, she was certain of the trap.
"Sure you want to head in?" she asked, as they both stopped before the entrance.
"The ship is on the other side. I'm not losing it again," he answered. She let the word again slide for the time being.
"He is on the other side with at least a dozen soldiers," Mira snapped. If Ezra was waiting for them, their chances of beating him grew thinner by the second.
"Twenty, by my guess," Kyle added. "You are not scared, are you?"
"I'm just making sure you could handle the heat," she answered, disguising her fear. Things have changed since Kylo Ren had defeated her. Death was assured at that moment, but now, in the thrill of the rescue, she hoped to live more than ever.
"Me? What's the matter with you?" he asked, showing serious concern about her.
"If you are ready, I'm ready" she nodded finally, overcoming the numbing fear nested in her spine. She wondered how Kyle could do this so smoothly. Both of them remembered Malachor, and both of them know how many times she saved him that day. Yet Kyle never seemed to acknowledge the danger they were in, still being the reckless hero she had known him to be.
"Okay then, let's teach that kid what it means to be a Jedi," Kyle answered, and opened the thick door.
They stepped into the hangar bay, facing Ezra and the two dozen stormtroopers surrounding him. Two AT-STs stood in the middle of the room, the Moldy Crow was laying behind them, safe distance from any boarding attempt.
"Should have expected you, Kyle. You always poke your nose into matters that has nothing to do with you," Ezra stated, griping his lightsaber firmly in his hand.
"What can I say? It's a hobby of mine."
"A hobby that can easily get you killed, alongside with your friend. You are a reckless fool, if you think you can always escape your fate," he answered with a wide smile on his dreadful face.
"Cut the shit, we know what's going to happen here," Mira spat with anger, sweeping their surroundings with the Force. The two AT-STs were more than a match for them, and the legion of stormtroopers didn't help much either. Luckily, the guys sitting in the walkers had nothing to do with the Force, making it easy to hijack at least one of their vehicles.
"You either die, or you surrender," Ezra answered.
"Or we just kill you," Kyle stated.
The would-be Sith laughed out loud, not even remotely considering the possibility that he could lose. But Mira did, and by this time, she had full control over the walker standing at the right side of the hangar bay. She steered the machine's thick head over its counterpart, and blew it into pieces with a single shot.
"Kill them!" Ezra yelled at the sight of the shattered wreckage. But it was too late.
Mira turned the walker towards the stormtroopers, unleashing a deadly salvo of lasers at their foes. A dozen soldiers died within a single moment, the rest tried to flee, but they didn't have a chance to escape. By the time Ezra ignited his lightsaber, ready to strike her down, Kyle was prepared to deal with him. Mira couldn't have him risk his life, thus she turned the walker on Ezra, and opened fire.
The would-be Sith flew to the other side of the room. Mira launched herself towards the Moldy Crow, Kyle followed her after deflecting a shot with his lightsaber.
"Hurry up, or I'm taking that wreck alone!" she yelled, and ran even faster towards the ship's dark hull. A rocket clashed into the walker, ripping their greatest asset into burning pieces. The reinforcements had arrived.
The two Jedi raced to the ship with a dozen stormtroopers chasing after them. Mira looked back, hearing Kyle's rapid footsteps behind her. A shot glided through the air above her head, making her forget about everything but the Moldy Crow waiting at the other side of the hangar.
Another shot was fired at her, hitting the center of her back. She collapsed on the floor in pain, the lightsaber rolled out of her hand. She thought about how silly it was to die like this, getting shot by a stormtrooper, then everything went dark.
Mira woke up aboard the Moldy Crow. Her back ached just as much as the lightsaber's crude mark on her body, and that was a good thing. Kyle must have done everything in order to heal the wound, now there was nothing left but to wait for her body to finish the rest of the job. For the first time, escaping death was a good thing, although she had no idea why.
"So you were going to steal my ship, huh?" Kyle asked with a smile on his face, as he stepped into the room.
"Possibly," Mira nodded, and started to push herself up from the bed. She stopped in the last moment, realizing that nothing covered her upper body. "Could you turn away for a bit?" she asked firmly.
It took some time for Kyle to look away. Mira quickly put her light-brown shirt on, not minding the hole on its back, where her partner had to cut off the burned fabric in order to get it down. At least, this way, it didn't apply any pressure to the wound.
"You done?" Kyle asked with haste.
"Yeah," Mira nodded after a few seconds. "I guess we escaped by now. How long before we reach the rest of the group?"
"I wouldn't call it an escape," Kyle shook his head, and started off to the other side of the ship.
Mira followed him, the shot made her remember every step taken. She froze when they reached the window. The Pillar of Destruction glided near the nebula, relentlessly pounded by the Chimaera and two Victory-class Star Destroyers. No ship could protect itself from such a punishment, not even Ezra's personal warship. Its powerful shield failed in the midst of the battle. The thick hull took one deadly hit after the other, yet the battle was far from over. Top of the line TIE fighters fought alongside the dying beast, making their last stand around the giant. They outclassed the old models in every possible way, yet numbers paired with superior tactics seemed to win the day.
A small, triangular ship glided in the darkness of space at the other side of the battlefield. It was an Immobilizer cruiser, Mira quickly recognized it by the large domes placed on the sides of the ship. The Pillar of Destruction couldn't hope to escape, and at this distance, neither did they.
"You weren't out for long," Kyle commented.
"How are we going to get out of here?" she asked. For the first time in a long time, she felt hopeless.
"We could try to make a run for it, but I think this is exactly what Thrawn expects us to do," he answered, scratching his gray beard. "I figured I will just circle around until you wake up."
"Why?" she frowned. "Don't tell me you don't have a plan."
"I do, but I will need someone for the rear gun," he answered, glancing at the window for a second.
"Why is that?"
"Because we are going to blow that thing into pieces."
Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :)