The wooden door creaked open as Cooper entered. He quickly stepped aside to make room for Lyra, her husband's arm draped around her shoulders. By now, Silas had regained consciousness, making it easier for his wife to guide him over to the couch. The pieces of furniture in the center of the room and the holo-terminal in the right corner did their best to make the unfamiliar territory more comfortable.
"Come on in. Make yourself at home," Lyra insisted, moving toward the couch. She removed her husband's arm from her shoulders and set him down quickly, the older man groaning as he leaned back.
Cooper glanced around at the unfamiliar furnishings, hoping to distract himself from worrying about Silas. "You're sure no one will know where we are?"
"Trust me, we won't be noticed," the Tethan reassured, moving toward the holo-terminal. "The owners are friends of mine, and they're gone for the week, so they won't mind. I checked the landspeeder for tracking beacons, and I didn't find any. In any case, this place is as remote as the jungle itself. We'll be safe."
"But for how long?" the boy wondered aloud, taking a seat beside Silas. "What did that guy even want?"
Silas groaned as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a wad of scrap metal. "Does this answer your question?" he replied, his voice reflecting his discomfort as he handed the scrap to Cooper. The former cadet stared at the remains of the object, reaching up to scratch the top of his head.
"Found a tracking beacon on the hull of your ship while I was working," the mechanic wearily explained. "Whoever planted it there must've really wanted to keep an eye on you."
The teen's eyes widened as he stared at the beacon's remains. Sawyer. Figured you of all people would send someone after me. It all made sense now. The crushed tracking beacon, the way that Jedi hunter was pulling punches where he should've left fatal wounds. Guess the Empire's nothing if not relentless.
The young clone's eyes glanced up to the faces of his companions, their eyes glazed with confusion. "I've got some explaining to do," Cooper wearily sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
"You think?" Silas retorted, face crumbling up like flimsiplast as he tried to sit up. His mouth opened briefly before a series of raspy coughs halted whatever the mechanic was attempting to say.
Lyra turned toward the rogue cadet, taking the opportunity to speak for her husband. "Cooper, what's going on? What exactly happened to you that caused some stranger to come after us?"
Cooper's eyes lowered, his face flushing red with shame. Stupid. Should've figured I couldn't keep everything hidden forever. As harsh as his inner critique was, however, a part of him still thought he deserved it. He had thought that lying about why he ran away would keep Silas and Lyra from danger. I should have known better.
"That guy wasn't kidding when he said there was a Jedi sympathizer here," Cooper reluctantly started, reaching into his backpack and pulling out the datapad concealed within. He wasted no time in pulling up the damning message and handing the datapad to Lyra.
"My name is Harlow Thornton," the message replayed. "I'm a Jedi on the run, and if you're receiving this message, then you're one of the only people I trust with it." Listening to Harlow's panicked words caused the boy to dig into his palms with his fingernails. He wouldn't have winded up where he was now, lost and with a Jedi hunter on his tail, if he hadn't even received the message.
Lyra, meanwhile, listened further, her eyes narrowing with confusion as the message played out. Once the holo-screen went blank, she turned to face the clone. "So, that guy is after us all because the Empire saw you, of all people, as a threat?" the slicer inquired, eyes staring quizzically at the boy.
"Apparently," Cooper shrugged, shifting uncomfortably on the couch. "Look, I'm sorry for dragging you guys into this, I swear it. I just…I didn't think they would…what else was I supposed to do?" He ran his hands through his hair, nails digging into his scalp in frustration. As he looked to the two for guidance, Cooper noticed Silas shift his eyes to his wife.
"Cooper," Silas started, eyes never leaving Lyra as he fully sat up. "Go on and get yourself patched up. Lyra and I need to talk."
The clone nodded his head in response, and quickly left the two in peace, fishing the medkit out of his backpack. The moment he closed the refresher door behind him, he discarded his shirt, finally getting a good look at where the blaster bolt had singed his shoulder. The skin around the charred hole was an angry shade of red, and fresh blood oozed from the hole itself. Cooper shakily placed a hand to the wound, reflexively pulling back as the burnt flesh stung with the agitation.
In a way, though, Cooper couldn't help but feel proud of his injury. If anything, the wound made him feel just a little bit more like the soldier he could have been. Granted, he had been wounded by blaster bolts before during training simulations, but those times were during training. This wound was received as a result of an actual battle.
As he carefully wrapped a bacta-soaked bandage around his shoulder, the teen couldn't keep his thoughts from wandering back to Harlow. More importantly, he couldn't keep those same thoughts from wandering back to the Jedi hunter. It was clear now that the hunter saw Cooper as a means to an end. The mask which hid the assassin's face appeared in Cooper's mind, causing him to shudder. The faux Jedi had practically wiped the floor with Cooper and Silas. If he could beat us both that easily, how exactly is Harlow going to fare against this guy? She probably doesn't even know he's after her.
With the bandage secure, the young clone put his shirt back on. He took in a gulp of air to calm his pounding heart. The fear which had been present before was gone now, chased away by a desire to save those he cared about, no matter the cost.
I have my orders now. I can't let that Jedi hunter kill Harlow. And I won't.
Silas had barely heard the refresher door click shut before he turned to face his wife. No doubt that what I'm about to ask is insane, but we've got no choice.
"What are you thinking?" Lyra's voice brought the mechanic back to reality.
"You told me to give it time when I suggested we get off this planet," Silas started, wincing as his bruised ribs briefly flared with pain. "You remember that?"
Lyra hesitantly nodded her head. "What's that got to do with this?"
"Well, our time's up," her husband bluntly replied, suppressing a groan as he stood up. "Way I see it, staying here any longer is only going to put us and the kid more at risk."
The slicer stared at her husband as if he had just tried to explain hyperspace theory to her. "Absolutely not," Lyra huffed, her blunt tone and stern gaze sealing her answer. "You're asking us to leave our homes behind for a stranger. We can't do that."
Letting out a groan of dissatisfaction, Silas continued to pace around the living room. He ran a hand through his hair, sucking in oxygen as he attempted to calm his anxious thoughts. Figured Lyra would say no. Wish I could too, but…we have to get off of this rock.
"Why not?" the mechanic countered, eyes looking to his wife for support. "The kid needs help hiding from the Empire. We need a way off this planet. I see it as a win-win."
"And Cooper's our problem, how, exactly?" Lyra responded, her gaze unwavering. "We don't even know the full story here. We have no idea who this Jedi is, where she is. We have no idea how far the Empire's willing to go, or how strong they are. I mean, you saw what that rogue Jedi did to you and Cooper back there. If we go out of our way to help, that little concussion you got is going to be the best case scenario."
"Well, we can't stay here, either," he deadpanned, letting his arms flop by his side. "The Empire's likely gonna come after us for sheltering Cooper, and Taddeo probably wants both our heads mounted on a wall as it is. Let's face it, sweetheart. We're out of time, money and options. We can't take any more chances here."
"All the more reason to not help him," Lyra argued, her voice rising to match Silas' own. "You're right when you say we all have targets on our backs, but…" she wavered off, rubbing her temples with her fingers before continuing. "We made the mistake of trusting those clones the last time they came here, and look where that got us!"
Silas completely understood where his wife was coming from. After all, the galaxy-wide conflict that had plagued them the past three years ripped family after family apart, and the Mercier family was no different. I wonder what you would do if you were here, Torvald. The mechanic let out a stress-filled sigh as he sat down next to Lyra.
"We're gonna get through this," he reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'll be fine. The kid will be fine. There are a million impossible odds that could've crushed us in the past few years. But we made it work. And we'll make it work here, too."
The two of them sat there on the couch, the holo-terminal's glow acting as an island of light in the ocean of darkness. Though he couldn't bring himself to admit it, Silas shared his wife's fears. All these years, the couple had tried to keep their walls from caving in. If they left, they would be leaving their old lives behind as well. A necessary price to save our skins. I lost my son. I won't lose Lyra too.
The creaking of the refresher door alerted the two to Cooper's presence. The boy's exhausted face served as a consequence of the events of the past few minutes. Silas couldn't help but cast a worried glare at the bandage peeking out from underneath the clone's shirt. I guess it's official: Cooper's just as stubborn as I am.
"Hey," the clone nonchalantly greeted, taking a seat by the holo-terminal and tenderly rubbing his shoulder. He cast his eyes toward the couple, the brown pupils showing nothing short of guilt and concern. "Look, I just wanted to point out, I…" His eyes lowered to the floor as he fumbled with his words. "How's Silas doing?"
The mechanic scoffed in response. "I'll live, kid. I've suffered bruises worse than this before. Last I checked, you're the one wearing a bandage."
"I swear, I never meant for you two to get caught up—"
"Cooper," Lyra cut the boy off with a wave of her hand. "Neither of us blame you for what happened tonight. If anything, it's Taddeo and that Jedi who have some answering to do."
The renegade clone shook his head violently from side to side. "That was no Jedi! I've never heard of a Jedi being that cruel toward anyone, let alone anyone as innocent as you guys."
"If he's no Jedi, then why was he attacking us?" Silas asked. "What does he want?"
Cooper took in a deep, shuddering breath. "You guys saw that message involving Harlow, right? If I had to guess, I'd say he's trying to use me to get to her." The clone sat down on the couch next to Silas. "Maybe she knows he's after her, maybe she doesn't. Either way, I think we should do something about it, shouldn't we?"
"That's not the best idea," Lyra said, shaking her head in disapproval. "If this Jedi hunter is using you to get to your friend, then searching for your friend would just put her at risk."
"Staying here's only gonna put you guys at risk, though," Cooper insisted. "That hunter could've killed Silas back there. Harlow and I can come up with a way to get out alive if we get found, but you guys…I don't think you two would be as lucky. Besides, Harlow's my friend. Last I checked, friends don't turn their backs on one another when they need help."
"You know," Silas started, groaning as he got up from the couch. He ignored his wife's worried stare as he continued. "All this talk of helping others, it got me thinking of earlier. You remember how you stood up for me back when Taddeo was bullying us at that shop?"
"You looked like you were doing a good job with that on your own," Cooper nonchalantly pointed out.
"Yeah," Silas waved off the remark, "but you didn't flinch. I've seen Taddeo use that gun of his before, Cooper. Every time I see him threaten someone with that blaster, I can't help but flinch. And when I saw you just stand your ground against him, something inside me snapped. I've never thrown a punch at Taddeo before, but that day, I just didn't care. Lyra and I, we spent three years, three kriffing years, being treated like that pirate's doormat and getting very little respect in return."
"I don't know about Silas, but I'm thinking it's about time we took control of our lives," Lyra spoke up, her voice laced with resentment. "And it's about time we got off this planet while we're at it. Right now, that's our main priority. We get off this planet alive, and maybe, we can turn our attention to helping you find your Jedi friend."
Cooper scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "How are we gonna escape? My ship is in pieces," he pessimistically deadpanned.
"Taddeo's got a ship resting in some spaceport he took over recently," Silas explained, his anticipation matching his wife's resentment. "I say we hit that spaceport dead on, steal this ship, and high tail it off this rock."
"And if Taddeo tries to stop us?" Lyra inquired.
Taddeo's been biting our asses for too long. "It's about time we cut this kriffing deal short," Silas answered, his tone devoid of any form of emotion. He turned and sat back down on the couch. "I say we lay low here for the night, head to the spaceport first thing in the morning. I'm certain we could all use some time to breathe after what happened."
Lyra nodded her head in agreement. "I'm gonna go gest some rest, then," she told the men, craning her neck to look them both in the eye as best as she could. "You both better be careful now with those injuries of yours, you hear?"
"Yeah, I hear ya," Silas called back, rubbing his tired eyes. Cooper nodded his head in reply.
The moment Lyra shut the bedroom door behind her, the mechanic turned his weary face to the young man beside him. Cooper's face mimicked Silas' exhaustion, but even through the weariness, Silas could tell something was off with the way the clone seemed to stare into space.
"Something on your mind, kid?" Silas finally asked.
The teen nodded. "I might be bred for battle, but…I don't have much experience with battle. If Taddeo comes out shooting, then I might not be completely sure what to expect."
"Then I guess we better roll with the punches life throws at us tomorrow. That's all anyone can do, ain't it?"
The teen nodded his head, his eyes solemn as he took in the Tethan's words. "I guess you're right." Cooper abruptly stood up, and began to stroll toward the bedroom opposite the one Lyra was in. "I'm gonna get some shuteye while I can. See you in the morning."
Silas offered a quick wave in reply, before resting his head on one of the pillows. Though he wouldn't openly admit it, he knew Cooper had a point. No one had any idea what the next day would bring. That didn't mean, however, that Silas wouldn't take the chance life was offering him, a chance to start anew and finally piece together his family's lives after so long.
Lyra's right about one thing. It is time we took our lives back.
Hey guys. Hope everyone's staying safe wherever you are.
I just wanted to clarify that I changed the rating for the story due to some of the violence displayed in the last chapter. I also write in detail, and that includes scenes involving action and violence, so I felt like changing the rating just to stay on the safe side.
Anyways, that's all I wanted to share. Thanks for the support, and have a great day!