Chapter Five

The wall above the hangar walkway exploded in a torrent of debris. Akawa showered the entrance to the hangar in blaster fire, annihilating the first wave of troopers who streamed in. She kept her assault transport in a hover, drifting above the hangar floor.

Aramis watched from the freighter's bridge compartment, the ship vibrating slightly as its engines powered on. A light flashed on the control console, indicating an incoming shortbeam message.

He hesitated for a moment, fearing it could be the clones attempting trick someone into responding and giving away their position. But, after a moment, he figured the clones had enough to worry about with Akawa raining death on them from above. He flipped the comm switch and activated a channel.

"This is Akawa, can you hear me?" came the Mon Calamari's voice.

"Yeah, I read you," Aramis answered, closing his eyes in relief. His comlink, which he had sat atop the freighters control console, suddenly gave off a burst of static. He had left the channel with Commander Yen open. As the static faded he felt an odd sensation rise into chest. He felt like something that he hadn't even noticed was there, had suddenly vanished.

"I think they've taken out Commander Yen...he broadcast through their own comm channels...apparently he had commandeered a tank. The chatter on the comms has gone silent, I think they are switching to unknown channels."

In the pit of his stomach he knew that Akawa was correct. Commander Yen was dead. "Alright…" he said, leaning over his console. "We need to get out of here." He glanced over at Kylta, who sat in the co-pilots chair. She had fallen asleep under the influence of the painkillers she had taken.

"Affirmative," Akawa agreed. "But we got a problem...the clones are pulling back and I'm scanning through the sensors. They have v-wings inbound. You'll get shot you down the moment you exit the hangar."

Aramis could only think of one way out, and unfortunately he knew he would be ordering Akawa to her death. Before he could speak she beat him to it.

"I'm going to have head out first in the gunship," she said. "I can move pretty good through the city in this thing, those interceptors will have trouble if I stay low."

"Akawa, you don't have a hyperdrive on that thing…"

"I'm aware of that," she said. "I'll head north and buzz the Senate. You head in the opposite direction and don't head spaceward until your out of the Federal District."

"Okay," Aramis agreed. "Good luck. May the Force be with you."

"Yeah, alright," Akawa replied. He could practically see her blinking sarcastically through the comm. He turned around in his seat as the last crate was loaded into the cargo bay by the load lifters. He flipped a switch, raising the loading ramp.

Aramis lifted the freighter off the floor of the hangar. He found the controls stiff and the ship's manoeuvring thrusters to be sluggish, but the ship felt solid and tough. Akawa's gunship fired one last steam of blaster fire towards the walkway and then slid her transport backwards and out of the hangar. She wobbled her wings in a sign of respect, turned, and then roared away. Aramis followed, slowly bringing the ship out of the hangar. He could fly, but he wasn't nearly as skilled as the Akawa, especially with such a clumsy vessel.

He manoeuvred into the open air and rotated his ship, gaining a view of the outside of the Jedi Temple. Smoke and fire was once again streaming from the structure's roof, likely due in large part to Commander Yen and Akawa's efforts.

He dropped his altitude until he disappeared below the street level. There was no traffic, which would have been unusual on an ordinary day. The no fly zone around the temple was clearly still in effect. He continued to descend until reached the canyon-like neighborhood that they had stayed in mere hours earlier. It already felt like an eternity ago.

He powered up the thrusters and began to move down the space between the city blocks. Overhead the howling scream of v-wings reverberated downwards, bouncing back and forth between the buildings like an endless rumble. Kylta began to stir as they reached the edge of the temple district.

"Hey," Aramis said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like someone repeatedly beat me in the head with a training saber," she answered wearily. "Where are we?"

"Outside of the temple. Trying to get as far away as possible before making it to space."

She glanced around the freighter. "Akawa and Commander Yen?"

"Yen is dead," Aramis began. "Akawa took one of the gunships and is creating a distraction for us. Nobody is going to notice a missing freighter while a stolen gunship is on the lam."

"Yen is gone?" she repeated. "How?"

"I...I don't know for sure. Akawa said he commandeered a tank and then...I don't know. I think I felt him go through the Force."

"I didn't get to say goodbye," she said, tears forming in her eyes. "For some reason I thought he would find a way to get back 'round to us."

"Yeah. Me too." Aramis kept the ship running slowly. Finally he noticed the shadows of ships flitting above them. He pulled back on the control stick and rejoined the normal flow of traffic. They would actually be less noticeable joining the other ships than if they continued flying alone through the under levels. Traffic was slower than normal.

Kylta activated the radio on the comm and scanned through public frequencies.

"...public alert has been extended," a monotone voice said before repeating the phrase in dozens of languages. It was a moment before the alert recycled to Basic and they could hear it from the beginning. "The no-fly zone around the Temple and Senate districts has been extended until further notice. A general alert for the entire Western Zone has been enacted. All unnecessary traffic should remain grounded until further notice. Hover-rail service in all security zones has been terminated. The general public alert has been extended."

"How long do think we have until the 501st notifies local security to look out for a stolen freighter?" Kylta asked.

"No idea," Aramis shrugged. The emerged from the shadow of the Federal District. Above them, for a brief moment, they could make out stars. And then they went through a tunnel and remerged in the CoCo district.

The translation of the general alert was suddenly interrupted by a new message. "All air traffic has been suspended for Boribos Prefecture and Skyroute D25D. All air traffic must land immediately." The new alert began to cycle through translations.

"She's moving north…" Kylta realized. There were now three districts separating them.

"Now is as good a time as any. If they ground all traffic across the Western Zone we might not ever leave," Aramis said. He pulled his controls back, tilting the nose of the ship upwards. He punched the accelerator forward and burned upwards through the atmosphere.

"This is Coruscant Western Zone Traffic Authority. Unidentified freighter, you do not have clearance for an exit vector. Please respond immediately," came a voice through their comm.

Aramis ignored him, continuing his upwards burn. He glanced at his sensors. The general alert had resulted in light traffic. Normally, a random shot to space like this would result in colliding with another ship...there was simply too much traffic to exit the atmosphere like one would on countless other worlds. But today his scanners showed a clear vector.

"Unidentified freighter, if you do not halt your current course and respond immediately you will be flagged. There is a general alert. Sector Triple Zero defense is authorized to shoot you down if you do not cease and desist immediately."

"I'll get started on hyperspace calculations," Kylta stated. "Any destinations in mind?"

"Anywhere that isn't Coruscant. A random spot in space will do until we figure things out." They finally emerged from Coruscant's atmosphere. Debris from the Battle of Coruscant still hung in orbit around the galactic capital, bits of Separatist and Republic warships alike drifting like a flying graveyard.

A sensor warning popped up on the center console. A squadron of V-Wings was moving on an intercept course, although the speedy fighters would have to orbit halfway around the planet in order to catch them. Up ahead another alert revealed the presence of three Arc-170 fighter bombers, but the slower craft were far out of firing range.

"I've got a route that will take us up the Hydian Way. I can take us out early so we can avoid the security checkpoints at Brentaal," Kylta said.

"Sounds good," Aramis nodded. The alert on his forward scanners suddenly turned red. One of the Arc-170s entered firing range had launched a proton torpedo. They had thirty seconds before the freighter's meager shields would be burst like a soap bubble. Aramis flipped a lever, activated the hyperdrive, and their ship vanished into hyperspace. The torpedo shot through the empty space they had just occupied, continued to fly onwards, and then struck a disabled Providence-class cruiser.

oOoOo

Aramis sat atop one of the crates, watching as Kylta rummaged through the others, checking their contents. It had been several days since their escape from Coruscant. They had bypassed Brentaal by emerging from hyperspace early and venturing galactic north through a circuitous route that took them far from the busier space lanes.

Aramis held a datapad in his hand, a datacard from one of the crates inserted in the top.

"Anything interesting on there?" Kylta asked. Aramis had been in a daze ever since Coruscant, while Kylta seemed to be carrying on like normal. He knew that she was disguising her pain...both physical and emotional. He admired her resilience...he only hoped she wasn't bottling her emotions inside of her being.

"A bunch of communications logs from Jedi fighting in the Outer Rim Sieges. If need help falling asleep, I recommend reading through it."

"I would love to fall asleep but, as you can see we, don't have a bed on this piece of junk. I figure there are at least two to three lightsabers in each crate. The crystals inside of them are valuable enough that some will be looking for this stuff, even if the rest is mostly junk."

"True," Aramis nodded. He thought about grabbing some food, but remembered they barely had any left. "The emergency rations aren't going to last much longer," Aramis sighed. "We're going to have to land somewhere soon."

"But where though? It has to be a planet outside of Republic...I mean Imperial...control."

"But we also need some place that can be found by others. If our only goal was keeping this stuff out of the hands of Palpatine we should offload them at the nearest black hole," Aramis said, placing the datapad on top of the crate.

"Then we are in the preservation business," Kylta agreed. "So...someplace that someone wanting to learn about the Jedi would look, but not someplace the Empire would know to search."

"That rules out places like Jedha...I'm sure the first place the Empire will search for Jedi that have escaped would be worlds where the Church of the Force is active."

"Shall we consult whatever meager star charts are this flying box?" Kylta asked, making for the bridge section. She took the copilots seat and Aramis took the pilot's chair next to her. The freighter's chart was surprisingly detailed. Apparently Koruf's company, Hydian Way Lines, had ambitions to serve the entire galaxy.

They immediately discounted worlds that had recently been home to active Jedi enclaves. Places like Devaron, Ilum, Lothal, and Vrogas Vas. Likewise they ruled out worlds with active temples belonging to the Church of the Force.

"So...on to worlds with pasts linked to the Jedi, but no recent activity. I'm afraid I didn't pay much attention during history class," Kylta said.

"I did," Aramis said. He typed into the navicomputer and brought up a new lists of worlds. "Alright. Nobody knows where Ach-To is, that isn't on the list. Tython is nearly impossible to get to, and that's with a decent ship and no one trying to hunt you down. Same for Ruusan. Chandrila is too close to Coruscant."

"What about Ossus?" Kylta suggested.

"It's good, but on the other side of the galaxy. That leaves...Dantooine." He brought up images of the planet, which offered expansive vistas filled with grasslands and rolling hills. "Only a couple sectors away."

"Well, at least we'll be able to stretch our legs once we get there," Kylta said, sighing.

oOoOo

Aramis pushed against a circular stone door, straining against its immense weight. Kylta joined him and together they were able to shift it into its rung, sealing off the chamber. A wave of dust reacted, rolling around them in the narrow corridor.

"That should do it," she said, wiping her hands off on her pants. Together they exited the corridor, emerging into the bright sunshine of Dantooine's expansive landscape. Aramis had spent the entirety off his life living on Coruscant, in and around the Jedi temple. The lack of cityscape crowding out the horizon unnerved him, as if Dantooine's beautiful fields were about to suck him into a vacuum.

Kylta sat in the dirt next to the entrance to the tunnel, which was, as far as they could tell, an ancient farmstead. The Jedi Order had once had a temple on Dantooine, rivalling Coruscant's in size, but it had fallen into ruins after the ancient wars with the Sith. It was the location of the ancient temple which had drawn them to hide their stash here, although hiding it in the temple grounds itself would have been too obvious. If they knew about the Temple, the Empire would too.

"What now?" Aramis asked, taking a seat next to Kylta on the ground near the tunnel entrance.

"I don't know...I wish Commander Yen were here," she began. "He'd probably have a plan."

"Even he didn't know what to do when the Order fell. I doubt he would've have any more answers than we do," Aramis said. "We could go join the Church of the Force. Or the Guardians of the Whills."

"How long do think until the Empire attacks them as well? It's the most natural place for Jedi who escaped the purge, and people like us, to run to."

"True." A light breeze blew over them, carrying the scent of pollen. Aramis sneezed loudly, causing Kylta to wrinkle her nose at him. "But I can't stay here...I think I'm allergic to all this…"

"Nature?" she asked, laughing.

"Yeah, that. It's awful," he managed to say while attempting to suppress another sneeze. They sat there for awhile in silence, watching the wind push the fields of tallgrass in waves that seemed to flow like water. It was completely alien to Aramis, who hadn't seen a single blade of wild grass before, let alone an endless expanse of it.

"Well, I think I'm going to visit Iridonia for awhile, I haven't been to my homeworld since I was a little girl." Kylta glanced at him, her remaining cranial horns glistening brightly in the sunlight. "You can come with me if you want."

Aramis held his forearm against his nose, attempting to block any further invasions into his body by the villainous spores. "I don't know if I would blend in there very well. I don't know of any dark blue Zabraks."

"Well, if Darth Maul could dye himself red we could probably dye you brown. Maybe glue some horns on top of that bald head of yours."

Aramis faked a smile so that her attempt at humour wouldn't seem unappreciated, but he didn't feel particularly cheerful.

"If you really want to blend in and disappear you could probably pass as a Pantoran, or maybe a Zeltron with a skin condition," Kylta said. "Honestly, I don't think we are very high on the Empire's list. I doubt Darth Vader will cross the galaxy for a couple of failed Jedi."

"He might if he knew what we stole from the temple," Aramis said, motioning back towards the tunnel. "This place won't be safe forever. We need to find something better, eventually."

"Is that what you're going to do, look for a better world?"

"It's something to do, anyway." Aramis stood and stared across the plains that seemed to stretch on for an eternity. He closed his eyes, testing his connection to the Force. The absence of a trillion beings living around him seemed to make the task easier. "I convinced Yen that we had to break into the Temple. If we had only just tried to get off the planet, we all probably would have made it."

"Yeah. But Yen agreed with you. You didn't coerce him into anything. He died fighting to protect what he lived his whole life serving."

"I know. That's why I can't just go into hiding and try to start a new life. I'm not done fighting for my old one."

Kylta stood as well. "I would be there fighting right alongside you. But I don't know how we do that. We can't topple a galaxy wide government, just the two of us."

"No," Aramis agreed, "but the light side of the Force won't be suppressed forever. When the Jedi, or whatever group replaces them, overthrow the dark, they'll need to rebuild. If we can keep this collection safe, and add to it, they won't have to rebuild from scratch."

"It sounds like you've found your mission," Kylta said with a smile. "Want to head back now?"

"Yeah, we shouldn't linger." Together they walked down the short hill and into the fields, the waist high tallgrass blowing around them like water. They slowly trekked towards their ship, which lay hidden in a shallow valley to the south. The wind blew their cloaks around them, and they could hear birds singing in the distance...when Aramis wasn't sneezing.