The pair ran through the darkened streets, ducking in and out of cover as imperial probes and trooper squadrons began investigating the area surrounding the now well-charred factory. Every so often an explosion would echo from the building as chemical stores exploded, furthering the blaze.

Ahsoka was wary of the bounty hunter that now lead her away from the scene of their combat, though both of their weapons were now tucked away. Both of them had injuries that needed tending to; Ahsoka's head was still pounding from the injury she had sustained in the initial explosion and the chemical burn on her arm stung worse by the minute. At least the shot that had burned her leg wasn't preventing her movement.

Harena, on the other hand, was having trouble keeping pace; Ahsoka felt as though she was downplaying just how badly her injuries were affecting her. Every step caused the Chiss to wince. It was likely she was right, one of her toes was broken. Not to mention the blaster shots she had sustained. It was a wonder she was able to hold Ahsoka off at all.

As they rounded a corner to the ship depot, Harena put one hand out and pressed herself against the wall. Ahsoka could see a unit of clone troopers sweeping the area around a battered-looking JumpMaster 5000. Ahsoka wasn't certain if it was even able to get off the ground let alone into hyper space. Most notably...

"That's a single-person ship," Ahsoka hissed.

"You'll go in the cargo hold," Harena whispered back. "Let's figure out how to get over there first, you're in no condition to fight all of those troopers."

"Speak for yourself," Ahsoka snapped. "I'll find my own way out of here, you were the only reason I had to leave to begin with!"

"The empire knows you're here, Lady Tano. I was far from the only one on your trail. Now shut up and give me a minute," the bounty hunter tapped at a comm on her wrist. "X2, come in. switch comms to silent and confirm."

There was a moment of static before the familiar beeping of a astromech echoed from the commlink. Harena nodded. "Are you hidden?"

Beep beep.

"Good, we're getting out of here. Start the engines and wait for me to board."

Beeoo Boop Beep Boop.

"I don't care if they notice. Get ready to fire."

The comm went quiet. A moment passed before the ship's engine roared to life, startling the clone troopers. Laser fire rang out as the nose gun began scattering debris and troopers across the hangar. Those who remained standing took cover and began opening fire on the unmanned ship. Harena didn't give a signal as she darted into the open hangar, sliding past the off-guard clone troopers and vaulting up onto the ship's gangplank. She disappeared into the ship before the troopers could turn their blaster fire on her, shots rebounding off the ship's armored hull.

Ahsoka had hesitated when Harena bolted from their hiding spot, leaving her stranded outside the hangar. The clone troopers became further dispersed as the laser fire continued, breaking their ranks and causing chaos over the comm channels. The rockets on the JumpMaster kicked into gear as the ship lurched forward, slamming past crates and the enemy combatants in its way. The entire hangar was in disarray as the ship turned on an angle, scraping the hull against the hangar and the ground. Ahsoka saw the ship's only entryway turn towards her, giving a perfect route for her escape. She charged.

One of the few clone troopers still standing opened fire as she darted past, a blaster bolt arcing just past her as she ducked. Another she deflected into the helmet of another trooper with a quick lightsaber flick. She was on the access port of the Jumpmaster as more blaster shots fired in a volley from other directions.

"I'm on board, close the hatch," She shouted into a console alongside the entryway, using a force push to knock back three troopers attempting to advance into the hold. They clattered to the dirt on top of one another as the gangplank receded with a metallic groaning. It slammed closed, the muffled sounds of combat still coming through as the ship jolted forward, rocketing up and out of the hangar.

Ahsoka stepped through the airlock into a cargo hold, the sounds of orders being shouted coming through an open doorway ahead. Harena was at the helm of the ship yelling commands to a red and black-patterned astromech droid that was plugged into the ship's computer; the droid looked as if it had taken one too-many blaster shots to it's dome, which was marked with dents.

"Get that scrambler up, now!" Harena demanded. "We're marked!"

Ahsoka took the co-pilot's chair, beginning a quick inspection of the ship's defensive capabilities. Forward and backward shields were pulling heavily from the power supply, with the thrusters taking the majority of the rest. There was something wrong, there had to have been a breach for the ship's propulsion to be demanding so much energy. Ahsoka immediately stood and opened a grate in the floor, diving down into the ship's inner workings.

"Hey, what- Don't touch anything!" She could hear Harena's voice shouting from above as Ahsoka crawled back down the length of the ship. Before she could respond, the JumpMaster rocked with the impact of a rocket. Though the brunt of the explosion was absorbed the rear shields, the kinetic force caused the entire ship to quake. There were gunships on their tail.

As Harena began flying recklessly around the Coruscant aerial traffic, sensor warnings began going off across the cockpit.

"Breeewoooo woop woop!" the droid panicked.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear it! Lock yourself down," Harena called back. Two clawed anchors extended from the droid's legs, clamping into the floor as it attempted to maintain connection to the computer. The JumpMaster lurched with another explosion, then Harena sent it into a barrel roll.

Ahsoka grunted as she was pressed against the narrow passage with the centrifugal force of the spin. On top of the breach, there must have been something wrong with the g-force dampeners as well. Was this ship just a bunch of spare parts?

As the ship came out the spin, Ahsoka found the issue; a swarm of imperial buzz droids were ripping their way through the access tunnel, sparks flying under their saws and various probes as they tore up the ship from the inside. Ahsoka extended a hand and concentrated on them, squeezing her fist. The first droid crunched into itself as its casing collapsed with the weight of the Force around it. The other droids took notice of this. Some fled into the tunnel while a handful began approaching her, their weapons drawn. She didn't have room to access her lightsaber, but the force was still on her side; she crushed two more in one movement, then began backing up as the others redoubled their efforts.

Meanwhile, Harena had flown clear of the underside of Coruscant, now circling above the glowing golden city as she evaded the trooper gunships. As another warning bell gave a single wail, the cockpit suddenly went silent as the JumpMaster's power cut out. The entire ship stalled momentarily, stuttered in the air, then went into freefall. The two gunships went shooting past it.

"Don't you give up now you –" Harena slammed a fist onto the console, the monitors springing back to life. The engines caught and the ship rocketed forward, gaining on the gunships that had been in pursuit moments before.

"Give me a target lock," Harena shouted. X2's dataspike spun between settings as rapidly as it could until the beeping of a confirmed target lock rang out from one of the more staticky monitors. Harena slammed the console to clear it, then fired the frontal turret in a quick burst. One of the gunship's wings exploded and went into a tailspin, while the other deftly evaded the volley with a banking maneuver to the right. Harena matched it, banking to the left.

Ahsoka reemerged from the access tunnel, buzz droids at her heels. She stomped down, knocking several back into the tunnel. "You've got an infestation," she reported. "I can't repair the fuel line until they're out of there."

Harena swore. "No wonder we're having a harder time than usual. X2, overload the electrical, we'll have to flush them out."

The astromech gave a complaint.

"I realize you're connected to the electrical. Just do it!"

With a disgruntled chirp, X2 turned the dataspike again. Ahsoka watched as the ship's energy output rose drastically, the monitors flickering and the alarms becoming warped with the sudden shifting power. Sparks began to fly from the various consoles, lightning arcing within the access tunnel. Ahsoka quickly hefted the grate back to cover the hatch as the buzz droids attempted to scramble out, trapping them in with the overloading wiring they had cut moments before. X2 let out a series of whooping alarms before going silent, smoke rising from it's chassis.

"Take over," Harena shouted, motioning to the co-pilot's seat. Ahsoka dove in, beginning the process of manually returning power to normal before they stalled a second time. The whirring of the buzz droids had died off, at least. Harena brought up a hologram astrogation chart in the center console, tracing a line towards the outer rim.

Another rocket impacted, this time shaking the ship in earnest. Ahsoka twisted the controls, the engines complaining against her right turn. "Power was drawn away from the back shields, we're exposed!"

"Not for long," Harena completed the astrogation chart. "Hyperdrive route set!"

"Engage!"

As the view from the canopy arced away from the planet, Ahsoka caught a last sight of the Jedi Temple she had grown up in. She hadn't seen it in years, not since she walked away. Now what remained was in disarray, the statues of the old masters that stood watch over the sacred ground long since toppled. Now it was the Imperial Palace, seat of the Emperor. Red banners hung from all the entryways.

Ahsoka tried to ignore the pang of sadness that came over her as the hyperdrive kicked into gear, the JumpMaster streaking out of Coruscant's atmosphere at light speed.