Chapter 76

AN: Sorry for the long wait, I hope everyone enjoys!

Moving through unfamiliar corridors amid panicked civilians, Ari soon find herself lost, though she did not want to admit it. She had spent days training with two Jedi Knights and she found herself growing frustrated because she did not know the way to go.

"Ari, remember what you have been taught," she muttered to herself and stopped in the hallway. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, searching for her connection to the Force. She found it after just a few moments and let out her breath she had been holding. She knew each being had a Force signature. The difficult part was picking out one signature from the others.

One came to her so hard it was like being hit by a speeder. It was one that was familiar, but one she never wanted to have to sense again. It was the cold feeling that made her feel colder than she ever had on Hoth. Ari was certain that there was only one being like that who would be here. Darth Vader.

That must have been why Luke was here. She was not certain how all this had come about, but she was certain this was the reason. Luke had faced Vader before, and now he was facing him again. Vader had taken so much from Luke. First his father, then his aunt and uncle, then Ben Kenobi. Ari had lost her family as well, but for some reason, it seemed right that Luke was the one to face the Dark Lord.

Siri had taught the young woman how to follow Force signatures, but for some reason, she could not sense Luke's, and Vader's seemed to be radiating from different directions, making it almost impossible.

Her thoughts were cut short as she heard blaster fire, and smelled the carbon that came from the weapons. If there was a fight, she knew it had to be against stormtroopers. She was not about to let them hurt anyone else. Dashing down the hall, R4 followed, beeping, clearly questioning what she was doing.

Ari did not answer though, too focused on the other surroundings, such as the fog that seemed to be filling the corridor as she rounded another corner. She instantly put one hand over her mouth, trying to control the coughing fit that overtook her. Whatever the substance was, it was not fog.

So, half blind from the mist and teary eyes, she took the chance to move and started to shoot at the white, helmeted figures. One gave a cry as he fell, causing the others near him to glance at where the shots had come from. Ari shot a few more times and she knew she had hit one of them when she heard him fall.

This would have worked for Ari, being able to shoot from a relatively safe place, if it hadn't been for the sound she heard next. The now all too familiar sound of armor clad men running down a hallway, and the sound was getting louder. They were getting closer.

She could not go back the way she came, so she had to take a chance and run, unprotected, the other way, which would give the troopers a chance to shoot at her. "R4, move fast," she warned the droid, and then dashed across the archway. For a moment there was no sound, then blaster fire was all around her, seeming to come from all over. She shot wildly once, and was about to pull the trigger again when a sharp, burning pain ran through her upper arm, causing her to drop the blaster. Tears came to her eyes as she made it across, breathing labored from the chemical in the air, the pain, and how fast her heart was racing.

She stole a glance at her arm, relieved to see it was still attached, but not to see the blaster shot that had grazed it. It was hurting, and without a blaster, she knew she could not do anything else to help fight the stormtroopers. She had to get out. When she saw R4 beside her, and saw how the droid had also been shot, she knew that the two of them alone could not face all the stormtroopers that seemed to be swarming the city.

Once again, Ari found herself racing through the city that was quickly becoming deserted, very few beings were left, and they were running carrying boxes and bags of personal items.

Ari knew what she needed was a ship. Either one that had some kind beings who were willing to take her and R4 abroad, or one that she could pilot without assistance, neither of the options seemed likely.

As she ran, breathing evenly to not get so winded, she felt a pain in her wrist, much like what she had felt earlier, when she had been meditating. That is when she knew then what she had seen before, Luke facing Vader had been a vision of the future. She wanted to go to her best friend then, to help him beat the Dark Lord and to escape the city. Something kept her from doing that though. She could almost hear what Luke would say to her, and she knew that if she went to find him, it could endanger both of them even further.

Feeling torn, she forced herself to continue toward a few of the landing platforms, the same ones she had just left. Most of the doors were opened and she saw a very familiar fighter on one of the platforms. An X-wing that had clearly seen its share of fights. It could only be one person's. Luke's. She started to race toward it, and then paused. How could she take it? Luke would need it, wouldn't he? She could not longer sense him near Vader. Siri had taught her to talk to others via the Force. 'Luke?' she managed, uncertain if it worked. 'Ari…' he sounded in pain, with only a hint of surprise. 'Leia coming…' was all he said. Then she saw the Millennium Falcon in the distance, coming toward the city again, TIES following, their engines screaming. She knew what he meant now. He was safe, or at least would be.

Then she came to the next problem, which was getting R4 into the fighter. They did not have the usual equipment for loading droids in the near vicinity and Ari knew she did not have time to go looking for something.

That left only one other option. She was going to have to get the droid into the fighter by herself. She could not pick R4 up, even if she was uninjured. She bit her lip, trying to come up with a plan, knowing she was running out of time. It had been easy enough to get the droid out of the fighter, even after the crash. She wondered if there was something from the fighter that she could use. Nothing came to mind though. She the bare essentials, a small tow cable, a small medical kit, a canteen of water, rations. All of a sudden, she knew what she could do.

"Arfour, keep quiet please, I need concentration," she told the droid and reached out with the Force. She connected to her surroundings slowly, trying to ignore the sounds of ships around her and to stop herself from getting too worried. She had to relax, and it was a task that she finally managed, taking deep cleansing breaths, eyes closed. She could feel the air around the droid and could imagine the droid slowly rising into the air and onto the wing of the fighter. Her head started to throb from the effort and when she opened her eyes, she saw R4 on the X-wing, already going to slide into place behind the cockpit.

"It worked…" she murmured, shocked. Rations were one thing, but somehow, she had managed to get R4 onto the fighter. It had been her greatest accomplishment yet. She was not able to enjoy it though. Her head was throbbing, as was her injured arm. Ari was also exhausted from using the Force to get R4 onto the fighter, and from running around Cloud City.

"Stop!" Ari turned when she heard this and she saw three troopers running towards her, weapons raised and she was sure they were fully charged.

"Time to go," she muttered and used the ladder that was already leaning against the fighter to clamber into the cockpit, not even bothering to put on the helmet that was sitting on the seat. There was no time. R4 was already powering up the fighter and Ari closed the cockpit canopy as the troopers started to fire at her.

"R4, I hope you know how to handle an X-Wing," she announced and started to pull the fighter back, and it lifted into the sky. The controls were different from her Y-Wing, but Luke had been right, it was a lot like a T-16.

After taking about half a minute to glance over the controls, she started to fly away from Cloud City. She looked over her shoulder for a moment, and noticed that even though the city was occupied, from the outside, it still looked beautiful. Looks truly could be deceiving.

R4 let out a scream and Ari saw three TIE fighters coming straight for her. Ari had no other choice than to shoot at them, hitting one dead on while the others screamed by. Then Ari forced the fighter to fly faster. She had not any time to practice in this fighter yet, and while it was similar to her T-16 at home, she did not want to enter a dogfight without some practice with the controls.

Ari entered a few coordinates as she flew near some Star Destroyers. She held her breath, waiting to be shot at as she went underneath one of the massive ships, but no shots were fired at her. She did not know if it was because she was under their sensors, was too small to worry about, or if they were preoccupied elsewhere. All she knew was that she was successful in getting away from Imperials once more.

As the ship entered hyperspace, she let out a deep sigh, leaning back in her seat. She came out of hyperspace a few minutes later, and then entered in the coordinates to the rendezvous point. She had heard that a small jump could help confuse any ships that might try to follow. She was fairly certain no one had, but she always wanted to be safe.

Jumping into hyperspace once more, she was finally able to relax. It would take some time to get there. She was sore all over, especially her arm as well as physically drained accompanied by a headache. Sighing, she felt eyelids getting heavy, starting to close.. "Arfour, wake me two minutes before we arrive," she requested. "I am putting you in control," she told the droid who beeped a confirmation. Mere moments later, Ari gave another tired sigh, and feel into a deep sleep.

AN: Please read and review! I love feedback!