An Evacuation

It's after her meeting with Captain Grey and Summer is leaning on her elbows, head in her hands, staring blankly at the table. Her thoughts are flowing around Elicity, tossing her around in a sea of turmoil.

She was thinking of me, trying to tell me everything before she died. Giving instructions and staying by my side the entire time. If I was dying, I would want Elicity to be there with me. Being there for her would've been the least I could have done.

But you were there, Summer. In your dream.

No she was there for me Summer tells herself. She didn't have to implant that memory. She did that for me. I didn't do anything!

You shouldn't think like this Summer. You know you couldn't have done anything even if you wanted too. You can't change that.

But…

But you should just let this go Summer. Bad things happen. Elicity is dead and you just can't change anything about it. Let it go.

A few tears have crept into the corners of Summer's eyes and she wipes them away. She sighs sadly. She takes the com-link and the lightsaber. The com-link effectively clasps to her wrist. The lightsaber presents a slight problem. Summer carries her own swords in a double sheathed, low-hanging, gun styled belt that she'd designed herself. Elicity's twin-bladed weapon is too large and won't fit in her sheaths. Summer clips it on the left side of the belt where it'll hang until she figures something else out.

She scrapes her chair back from the table, scuffing an already scuffed floor in the process. Captain had said they would be taking off soon. Instead of moping in a dreary mess hall she should probably head over to the ship's main cabin. As she walks out, the ship wide communication system crackles on, announcing that they'll be taking off any minute, as soon as they get orders from their Commander, Captain Grey.

Summer finds her way through the windy hallways and to the cockpit in no time. The door is already open and she walks inside.

The control room is shaped like a triangle with flattened vertices. The front of the room has twin chairs and is occupied by all manners of controls and computers for the ship's systems. To the left are two more seats. Computers there are reserved for extra navigation and weapon controls. The right side of the cockpit is a station for more communications and an additional computer for the hyperdrive. Except for the pilots' hub, each station has a small oval viewport. The pilot's forward station has a large rectangular window stretched across the front. The room is lit with patchy lighting that doesn't quite cover all the corners, throwing dark shadows at odd angles. Two clone pilots turn and look back at Summer as the blast doors swish shut behind her.

"Welcome aboard, Commander" one of them says.

"We'll be taking off soon" says the other.

Summer mumbles something that sounds like "thank you" and they go back to their work.

Summer goes over to the navigation station and drops herself into one of the chairs. She's still feeling hung-over from her stay in the medical bay and really hasn't gotten the energy to carry on conversation. Her head doesn't hurt anymore, gladly, and her leg brace is not half as bad as it was before. But she still doesn't feel a hundred percent herself.

Most of what Captain had told her about the attack hadn't come as a surprise. Elicity had already told her about how he won't stop until you're dead. Apparently her father is an arch villain who was willing to wipe out an entire base; and if Elicity was correct, then things would only get worse. It's all that's been on Summer's mind lately, since she awoke. Dreams and more dreams. In her mind she endlessly goes over what Elicity told her and deciphers it. But nothing seems to fit. Quietly she tells herself everything she knows so far. Maybe she can make some sense out of it.

"A girl and her mother were hiding—from somebody—but they were found out. The girl was captured and her mother was killed." Summer feels like she's talking about someone else's life. Anybody's life other than hers. "But her father wasn't killed in the abduction…but maybe he was the one that staged it. But the same person who killed the mother is the same person who is attacking us here in Almega, and he wants the lady's daughter dead. He won't stop hunting the girl until one of them, he or the girl, is dead. But the girl's destiny is to kill her father anyway. So do they have to kill each other? And why would the Jedi go through any effort to cover that up? What do they even have to do with everything?" Summer stops and shakes her head. I probably sound crazy. She glances over to the two pilots. They're still working at the controls, raising different levers, making sure the ship is ready for a high speed escape through space. Neither one is paying her any mind.

Good.

Summer peers down on all the droids bustling around through the hanger. The window is facing the left side of the cave so most of what she is seeing are the droids teaming up to disconnect snaking fuel lines from the ship's sides. She watches them for a while as they hobble about on their stubby legs, moving this and that. It's pretty boring but at least it gets her mind off of everything else. All the prophecy and "destiny" hovering over her life.

The droids work for a while longer until they finish up final preparations. Soon the fuel tubes are gone and people are clearing away from the ship.

It's time for takeoff.

The engines let out a powerful surge of energy that sends a shudder through the cockpit. A hologram appears at each of the three stations. It's Captain Grey.

"Our units have gone on the offensive and the troopers have already pushed the lines deep into hostile territory. Those enemy gunships are going up in flames. We're way ahead of scheduled but our positions won't last long. Transport One, you're a go. You have your orders. Take the south exit. Good luck."

"Yes, sir" one of the pilot's says. "Transport One out."

The holograph fades.

"Here we go. Let's see if this girl can fly." Levers are pulled back. The control room trembles, rattling like a cage. It is a really old ship. Something beneath the floor hisses and clicks. The inside lights flicker several times before going dim.

"We won't get anywhere if this slop-bucket doesn't get off the ground" the copilot mutters. He prods a lever and a fresh wave of tremors rumbles through the frame. The clicking beneath the floor increases.

Creeeeaaaak!

Lurch!

Slowly the ship pushes itself off the ground. Metal groans. More rattling. The ship bobs into the air. Rising, rising, rising. Rock walls and metal fuel silos pass by. The cargo ship pulls above her still grounded sister and ascends about fifty meters up before coming to a standstill in the air. The pilots rotate the ship around in a semi-circle. They stop when the ship is facing a giant enclave imbedded deep in the rock walls. Lights on the front of the ship snap on and twin beams delve into the depths of a deep cavern. The cavern is a sub-system of the underground hanger.

I wonder if this one connects to the one in the forest?

The pilot fires up the thrusters and sends the ship charging forward. The cave entrance blows by and the ship is swallowed whole.

The inside of the caves is a shadowed domain of rocks cut through by white light where silhouetted stalactites reach out from darkness. The pilots guide the ship around the outstretched obstacles as they cruise along. Slowly, the farther into the cave the ship goes, the pilot's increase speed.

Summer clicks several buttons on the console in front of her-*beep*-and a holograph of the ship's escape route rises up into view. A blue triangle represents the ship's movement through the field of grey tunnels running beneath Almega. A green streak shows the intended travel path. According to the map, their flight underground will bring them above the surface twelve kilometers outside of Almega. Until then, they're safe. Once the old cruiser is up in the clear air it'll be detected by every sensor and scanner in the atmosphere.

Summer shuts off the projector and leans back in her seat. All she can do now is hope that the clone troopers with the rockets do enough damage to keep the enemy grounded for a while. Long enough for them to get to Timorn Station. Long enough for them to escape this nightmare.

Away from the black clouds drifting away from Almega and its ruins is a large pristine lake settled deep into the forest. Tall trees curve around the lakes edges, forming an un-breaking wall of green. Sunlight glints off of the water's crystalline surface.

Several birds take from their nests in the trees and glide out over the water. They call out to each other as they ride the air on outstretched wings. The birds coast for a while before they slow their flight and flutter down and paddle to the center of the lake.

The water begins to bubble.

The birds inspect the pockets of air with their beaks. More bubbles rise.

And more.

The water begins to tremor, casting deep ripples across the lake. The birds paddle away, uneasily. The ripples grow larger until they are full scale waves, pushing away from the center of the lake. A deep rumble shakes the ground. Sensing danger, the birds take the air and retreat back to the trees. From their perch, they watch as a giant bulge forms in the water. The water starts churning and sloshing from side to side. The lake begins to boil.

Suddenly a giant brown and grey object burst to the surface. With one powerful surge it pulls its long rectangular body out from the depths. Water is spaying wildly into the air as the newcomer rises up from the lake. The birds watch with curiosity until the roar grows too loud to bear. Along with hundreds of other birds, they take wing and flock away in all directions. The massive creature rears up higher and leaps up into the sky. Taking to the air, it pulls away from the half boiled lake and ascends into the clear sky.

Through water streaked windows, Summer looks at the now steaming lake disappearing below them. All over the forest, birds are flying away, framing it like a target.

It was such a nice little lake…

"This is where the fun begins" mutters the co-pilot. He checks a screen hooked into the ship's exterior sensors. "No hostiles in our immediate vicinity. But don't take that too seriously. These scanners are old and haven't seen maintenance in years. Even if they did work, just because we don't see them doesn't mean they don't see us. Could've already spotted us. Just waiting for the right moment to strike."

"Not waiting. They're striking now." says the first pilot. "I'm picking up two ships on the edge of our scanners. They're coming in fast. Message Transport Two, tell them our position and give them the coordinates of the enemy. Maybe they can bring their ship around the rear and give some cover fire."

"Yes, sir."

Summer looks down at the navigation station's controls blankly, feeling a little useless. What could she do to help? She offers a fake cough to draw attention.

"Excuse me, but…is there anything I could do to…"

"I think we've got this commander. Just sit tight. Once we get by these two ships, we'll be at Timorn station in no time."

Summer says nothing but looks away, slightly disgusted.

'Just sit tight and wait until we get there'? They probably think I'm an invalid. I must look weak to them. A little girl with a brace that just woke up from a blackout who needs to be protected. Oh, and her master just died so she's mentally unstable. What a bunch of jask! I'm not weak!

You call yourself not weak? What did you do when you couldn't figure out your dreams? You ran to Elicity. What did you do when you finally got a transport from the cave? You went looking for Elicity. That's all you've been doing your entire life. That's all you've ever done. Every time you encounter something you always go running for help—not like a Jedi knight but like an over-attached little girl who won't leave her parents! Who are you kidding? You're weak! Weak, weak, weak!

"I've contacted Transport Two" says Mumbler. "They gave us an affirmative and are on their way. What's the status of the enemy?"

"Still bearing down hard and fast. They're setting up course to hem us in from the sides." Pilot One glances back at Summer. "If they catch us sir, we'll be in for some evasive flying."

"He loves his fancy flying" mumbles Mumbler.

"It can get rough Commander."

Summer responds "I'm fine."

I'm not fine, I'm not fine! I hate flying…

Just get over it Summer. Damnit, it's not like you're going to get shot down.

As the rickety cargo ship climbs higher into the atmosphere, the two blips on the scanners draw closer. Several times Mumbler looks at the screen at reports to Summer the status of their pursuers. Summer asks him to stop giving her updates by mentioning that she has her own scanner at her station. He takes the hint and leaves her alone.

Until they reach space, Summer just sits at her station, hoping, hoping, hoping, that they can get away. Maybe, just maybe, we can make it, she thinks. There's a slim chance that we can escape.

"We're not going to make it."

Summer looks toward Pilot One. "What?"

"We're not fast enough Commander. This is an old cargo ship, not a military class attack craft. She doesn't have enough thrust to outrun them."

The other pilot, who Summer has mentally nicknamed Mumbler, interrupts his co-pilot. "Enemy craft have closed in. We're in range of their heavy blasters."

"The only way to outrun them is to drop our shields and divert all power to engines. But it's an extremely high risk. One shot with our deflector shields down…"

Mumbler: "I have them in our visuals. They're setting up for an attack run on both flanks."

Summer replies to Pilot One. "With our shields, we still won't be able to escape. Our only bet is to go full engines and wish for the best. Even if we don't make it, we can at least draw them away from Transport Two's escape route."

"True…"

"Enemy ships incoming—attack immanent!"

"Drop the shields! All power to engines."

"Here we go…"

"Deflector shields are down. Engines are a go."

"Strap in!"

Suddenly the engines are creaking and growling away as the ship jerks hard to the left, flips, and dives straight down. Lasers blur past, barely missing the clunky cargo carrier. The enemy give pursuit, spiraling down after them, blasting away as they go. The patched carpet of the ground spreads out below. Pilot One feints a roll to the right and rolls back to the left. The pursuers take the bait and are thrown off course. Pilot One yanks the ship up into the air and charges back up into the sky. At full speed, they break through a bank of clouds. The atmosphere around them begins to grow darker, transitioning into the star speckled darkness of space.

We're almost there.

Pilot One increases speed. "Prep the sub-light engines. As soon as we're free of the planet, I'll execute a mini-jump to Timorn."

"Sir, those two attack ships are back on our tail. They're coming hard and fast for another round."

"Just prep those sub-light fields!"

Summer studies the scanner screen on her console. The two enemy are bearing down on them with incredible speed. She switches her screen to the rear cams. Already, she can spot two blurs racing towards the carrier's rear. No, not again!

Summer knows they've been defeated even before the first laser rips through the rear armor. The second blast that blows out the engines only confirms their fate. The following lasers riddle the carrier, knocking it off its escape path. The ship wobbles higher up, screaming for energy but gives out. Gravity takes over. The cargo ship shudders and slowly turns before dropping back towards the planet.

Crash number two.

Summer only sits silently.

Air whistling by outside. Stomach dropping, arms rising up beside her. It's a familiar sensation.

"Damage assessment." Pilot One says slowly.

"Rear engines gone. Multiple breaches all along the rear and middle decks. Steering at twelve percent and loss of all but one thruster. All shields are gone. The generator was hit."

"How much power do we have?"

"Charts have us at about eleven percent."

"Let's make the best of what we have."

Summer glances at Pilot One. "Do you plan to land us?"

"To the best of my abilities sir." And he does. At least he tries to.

At the very beginning of the descent, the ship's reentry shields fail and the nose of catches fire. But the clone trooper doesn't quit. The ship bucks and spins like an untamed animal. Pilot One grapples with the controls, adjusting and re-adjusting his course. He brings them swooping down into the northern hemisphere of Pathar. By then the outside of the ship is a giant fireball. Pilot finally pulls the ship into a angled path over a heavy forest, stripped of color. He skims above the tree line until the entire ship gives out. At the last minute he pulls the nose up before the engines falter and the carrier drops into the sea of dead trees.

And once again, Summer is thrown into twisting and crumpling metal that falls in all around her. Transport One has gone down.

Author's Note: Burrr! It's cold! Excuse any typos from my frozen fingers! :D