Author's Note: Dearest readers, thank you for your patience during this two week delay. My new job at Disney proved to be harder to manage than anticipated! I still had more training and my schedule was leveling out. I wrote when I could, but ultimately reached the decision to postpone the chapter until today. It would be better to take my time with this then to rush it and deliver a mess. On the brighter side, I want to take a moment and say thank you all for helping this story reach 80,000 readers as of this week! This being said, I hope you enjoy today's chapter!
~ Sparks
ADVISORY: The following chapter contains sensitive material relating to: Violence and drug usage. Remember to practice self care before, during, and after reading.
Chapter: 124 Fallen Order (Part I)
- ACCESSING IMPERIAL NETWORK -
Haven: Imperial outpost codename Haven calling in to High Command.
IHC: This is High Command, go ahead.
Haven: The surviving officer from Dantooine, Sola Ruvé, is in good health. We've arranged a transport to take her back to Coruscant.
IHC: Excellent. Expect an increase in patrols throughout the sector. Also, clear your hyperspace lane.
Haven: Why? Should we be expecting reinforcements?
IHC: Imperial transportation will be passing through to Dantooine. Its passengers are classified above your clearance level. Just make sure your lane is open or your outpost will be put under new management.
Dantooine was known for its scenic and rural views. Its moisture farmers often basked in the quaint sight of a calming sunrise, but the past week's thunderstorms had made things much more difficult. In fact, anyone on an irregular sleep schedule could hardly tell the difference between day and night. For a solid week, Dantooine's gentle skies had been replaced with seemingly endless stretches of silver. Thunder boomed over the horizon, heralding another plethora of storms to keep travelers indoors. Wild briths sought shelter in nearby caves while kath hound packs took to the forests. And while many found cover during the storms, there were still those who ventured out.
Rising before any of her companions, Anna emerged from her dampening tent. She hardly slept anymore anyway, so taking advantage of her awareness helped her stay productive. Checking for any other liveliness in her encampment, Anna rejoiced in the silence. She lost herself in the ongoing patter of rain and made her way onward. Clutching her satchel, she ensured that she wasn't followed and delved deeper into the forest. Anna tugged her hood down further and used its green hue to blend with her environment. Keeping off of the main forest trail, Anna used whatever sunlight crept through the clouds to light the way. She was still waking up, and found herself irked by the mud splattering against her boots. She found solace at a peculiar landmark. The likes of which consisted of two trees toppled into one another. Their splintered branches would've grown over each other in time. Instead, all efforts for new life had been killed when both trees were uprooted in the collapse. Now, the dead trees pressed against each other at a morbid crossroads. Their lanky remains drooped into nothingness as Anna stood beneath the rotted collision.
"Come on," Anna whispered to herself. Impatience was catching up with her as she peered around the area. Frustratedly tapping her boot, Anna grew antsier with each passing moment. "Where the hell is he?" she murmured. As Anna's stress increased, so too did a nervous twitch in her eye. It looked as though someone was chiseling away at her mind, frustrating her the longer the contact took to arrive.
A snapping branch had Anna's head darting towards a mossy incline. There stood a tall and lanky Trandoshan, still shuffling his way down to her. Even with scarlet eyes, his golden scales seemed faded under Dantooine's rainfall. Several spines atop the reptilian's head quivered as he waved down to Anna.
"Tizu," she scolded. "You're late."
"No," the Trandoshan hissed. "You're early. You're not my only client, you know."
"Would you keep your voice down?" Anna grumbled while swiveling her head around the forest.
"Take it easy," Tizu assured. "We're alone. I'd smell if either of us was followed. I did hear some blasterfire the other day though. Your handiwork I take it?"
Anna nodded subtly. "Another Imperial convoy."
"Kriff," Tizu jested. "You really are fearless, woman. You keep attacking the Imps like that and it's gonna cost you."
"Well right now, those attacks are filling your pockets." Anna jeered and plucked a pouch from her satchel. Its joyous jingle was enough to have Tizu's tongue flicking hungrily. "Do you have it?" she asked.
"Always," Tizu assured. "New stuff straight from the Mid Rim. Real hard goods."
Anna untied the pouch and revealed the high value, Imperial credit coins she'd taken from Captain Stasio during the raid. "All of this for all you've got," she said.
"That's some big league blood money," Tizu hissed. "You've got yourself a deal." He snatched up the coins and unzipped his pack. Anna leaned in with as much hunger as she had curiosity. Several clinks sounded from within a tightly packed, leather wrapping. Tizu cautiously unraveled his collection, allowing Anna to glimpse an assortment of multicolored vials. "When it comes to death sticks, the Dugs of Malastare don't mess around."
Anna didn't even let him finish and snatched the drugs from his claws. Hurriedly wrapping them back up, she barely uttered, "We're done here. You can go."
Tizu scoffed while stashing his coins away. "Look-" he added. "-I don't know what kind of trouble you're in that you've been hiding out on Dantooine of all places, but you and I both know you can't keep this up."
"It's worked well so far," Anna glowered.
"Yeah, but the Empire's a machine. And it just keeps growing and growing. They'll just replace any parts you break. You keep causing problems in one spot and it's gonna snuff out the issue. What I'm trying to say is...you clearly have skills if you're hitting entire convoys. My employer deals with a lot more than just death sticks and never operates on just one planet. She's always hiring, and the pay is good. We could use someone like you."
Anna huffed at Tizu's offer and tucked the death sticks into her satchel. "Pass," she grumbled.
"Suit yourself," the Trandoshan said. "But I know wasted talent when I see it. I also don't think people just meet by chance."
"We met to trade supplies," Anna corrected.
"And my time on this rock is almost over before I'm moving on," Tizu answered. "Just-" He tossed Anna a spare communicator. "Think about my offer." Anna peered down at the triangular, bronzium device. She noted its jagged markings and by the time she peered back up, Tizu was gone.
Anna would be lying if she said Tizu's offer wasn't tempting. To join his merry band of renegades and whoever their employer was. Endless coin and death sticks sounded all too easy after everything she'd been through. And yet, departing made her think about those she'd stuck with for years. They'd never agree to leave with her, let alone get into smuggling. Anna didn't know what to do if they merely found out about her death stick usage. But the drugs had helped her over the years...just as alcohol had. Helped her in moments where the sensations became unbearable. Where the pain of all she'd experienced came crushing down on her shoulders. After eighteen years, she still heard the blaster shots from the temple attack. Still felt her stomach drop along with Hans' body as he descended into flames. All of that grief and guilt came for her, jabbing like daggers to the mind as she dropped to her knees. Anna shoved a hand into her satchel and snatched up one of the death stick vials. With each passing moment, she could feel the voices and memories getting louder. She whimpered, desperately cracking a vial open and releasing crushed...red granules into her hand. With a heavy snort, Anna inhaled the death stick in its entirety and fell back against the dead trees.
"Kriff," she barely croaked as both excitement and bliss blasted her senses. Painful memories seemed to explode within, as there just wasn't time for them. There wasn't a chance for pain to form...only nothingness. Anna propped herself up against the tree, her nose feeling like it had been set ablaze. Her pupils dilated as the world briefly spun, yet no sadness followed. Anna sat in her high, watching the rain change speeds. The clouds didn't thunder, and instead rippled into broad...glass panes. These glistening stretches of silver were as hypnotic as they were euphoric. Anna found herself staring at them...awestruck as they swirled into different colors and directions. She was in her own special world. One without war...without loss...only peace.
The Imperial encampments were always haunting after a raid. Mattias' group would follow procedure as they always had, waiting at least a day for things to quiet even further. Yet even as he weaved between eerily vacant tents and unmanned tables, he couldn't escape a sense of foreboding. Mattias peered up at the inky Imperial banner as it waved over the partly cloudy skies. The distant rumble of thunder was countered only by a sharp snap as Sven severed the halyard with his antlers. Mattias watched the flag plummet into dampened soil, where Kristoff gladly walked over it.
He heaved a thick satchel and nodded to the Jedi. "All clear on this end," Kristoff said and pat his belongings. "Fresh ammo charges and food ration packets. Sven even found a power cell big enough to charge a motivator."
"Charging is fine," Mattias remarked. "It's fuel that's hard to come by. Been a while since we've flown anywhere."
"I want to check their comms tent for parts again."
"Perhaps-" Mattias sighed. "-those necessities you have are enough for us."
Kristoff paused, glancing at the cautious elder. "Our comm scanner is on its last legs," he said. "That thing goes down and we're completely cut off."
"But no one is even contacting us-"
"It's not about receiving a signal," Kristoff implored while making his way to the comms tent. "It's about staying informed. You can pretend that we're alone all you want. But there are rebels out there. There are people taking a stand." Kristoff dropped his voice to a whisper. "And they need our help." Sven mooed in agreement and joined him, leaving Mattias to search another tent. Before doing so, he gestured to Elsa...who was idly seated at one of the trooper's long tables.
"I'll be right back," Mattias assured her.
Elsa gave him a sheepish nod and resumed her statuesque stance. Her somber gaze fell to a stormtrooper helmet, left behind from the field of battle. She gazed into its soulless, black visor until blasterfire echoed in her memories. The thought had her shuddering and peering off in a different direction.
Mattias entered the tent and observed far more accommodating living conditions. Instead of the standard cot given to all stormtroopers, this quarters looked like a portable office. A rectangular holoprojector sat atop a miniature nightstand, prompting Mattias to activate it. He tilted his head as a young boy flickered into his palm. Giddy and boisterous, the small child dashed across the virtual plane and into a loving mother's arms. Their tender embrace was enough to prompt an impulsive smile on Mattias' face. The kind that slowly simmered away as the mother placed an Imperial officer's cap on the child's head. They giggled together when the hat was far too big, yet still practiced saluting.
"Hail Emperor Palpatine!" the mother said. "Now you try."
"Hail Emperor Palpatine!" the boy shouted with pride.
In those moments, Mattias was warped away from the projection. While his eyes remained focused on the child, he recalled the officer that Anna had killed during the raid.
"N-no," Pav had uttered. "No. Please! Mom!" he wept as Anna raised her saber. "Mom!"
The projector rattled in Mattias' hand. The boy might've grown into an agent of the Empire, but he was still a person. And by the Jedi Code, an unarmed prisoner when Anna had cut him down. He had a life. A family. Mattias felt himself on the verge of tears...until he recalled his own family. Memories of the dead officer faded into images of Zodra. Her lifeless body laying beside him...Yelena lost forever. That grief pulled Mattias further, and anger took hold. So much so, that he began to grit his teeth. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he squeezed the projector. Thinking of those he had lost, it mattered not what kind of family the officer had. He was a part of the Empire all the same and paid the price. Giving in to his anger, Mattias heard a great crunch. And as he snapped out of his moment, he had only a stinging sensation and dented metal fragments in his palm. By the time he sensed another presence, he turned to see his old apprentice rummaging through cabinets.
"You good?" Anna murmured.
"Where have you been?" Mattias followed up.
"Around," she scoffed and continued her searching. "You all left without me. But what does it matter? I'm here, aren't I?"
Mattias glowered at her attitude and raised a brow as she trudged about. She could feel his lingering gaze and loosed a heavy sigh. "What?" she grumbled and tossed an empty can of rations across the tent. "This place is full of junk anyway. Sven's already got the rations taken care of and another storm is brewing. So can we just go or-..."
"Anna," Mattias huffed. "Can you at least-" He paused, initially thinking she'd be any semblance of help to her sister. Seeking to spare Elsa additional stress, he gestured to the comms tent outside. "Why don't you help Kristoff if there's any tech to carry."
Anna rolled her eyes and and strutted out of the tent. Feigning a salute once out of view, she took her sweet time making her way over to Kristoff. Humming an off tune beat, she was still riding the remnants of her death stick high. The world around her flickered, and Dantooine's sky was so unusually bright despite its silvery clouds. Distant thunder sounded more like glass cracking. And if Anna stared long enough, the separation between the clouds looked more like fractures in a surface. She felt that if she stayed in one place too long, the entire sky would fall and that she'd have to keep moving. Rushing into the comms tent, she found Kristoff hunched over several interfaces.
His blond locks swayed as he glanced at her. "Where have you been?" he murmured.
"Not you too," she griped.
"Easy," Kristoff responded to her sharp tone. "Help me get this monitor unplugged." He patted the rectangular device and sighed. "If we can get this back to our camp and hooked to the old scanner, it'll boost our signal way beyond the Outer Rim."
Anna chuckled, yet humored his willingness and knelt to assist. "Still trying to find your rebels?"
"They exist, Anna." Kristoff implored. "We've...I've heard the calls in the Outer Rim alone. You can't tell me that people haven't been fighting the Empire across the entire galaxy. Maybe even from within."
"Okay that part-" Anna grunted while trying to unplug the terminal's bulky cord. "-that's too much. The Empire stocks its ranks with mindless drones who haven't had a free thought since they were born."
"I don't believe that," Kristoff doubled down. "I know it's easy to forget when you're in a shootout with faceless hordes of them. But there's still people beneath those helmets. I've heard the officers over the scanners. Some of them...especially the younger ones sound...scared."
"They should be."
"That's not the point, Anna. The point is, that fear is just one of so many reasons why people leave something they don't want to be a part of. Maybe not everyone in the Empire wants to be there. Anyone can rebel. They just need the right...push."
"Careful there," Anna griped. "You're starting to sound like Elsa. If she ever spoke." Kristoff huffed, and was about to reprimand her when the monitor suddenly powered up. Red bars brightened between its black grates as Anna and Kristoff backed away.
"What did you do?" Kristoff snapped, defensively putting his arm over her.
"I didn't touch anything!" Anna fired back and shoved him off. "What the kriff is-"
Kristoff's eyes widened as the rest of the connected devices powered on. "By the stars. It's...receiving a transmission."
"Well don't answer it!" Anna snapped.
"It's coming through on an open frequency," Kristoff realized as the upper indicator flashed solid green. He brought a finger to his lips as the duo crouched in silence.
"Imperial Outpost Epsilon," a distorted voice spoke. "Imperial Outpost Epsilon. Captain Stasio come in." Anna and Kristoff shrugged at one another as the voice persisted. "This is Admiral Tino. You've failed your mandatory checkins for several rotations. By order of the regional governor, I am sending a squad to inspect your position. ETA 19:00 on your rotation's time. Should you receive this transmission, respond effective immediately. Admiral Tino out."
The terminals powered down, leaving Anna and Kristoff to sit in the darkness. While his face teemed with dread, an eager...almost hungry smirk crept across her lips. She practically lunged out of the tent and bolted to the others. Mattias was helping Sven stack rations for their trip back when he heard the thud of Anna's boots. While she envisioned herself to be dashing in a straight line, she was actually listing back and forth between the tents.
"Reinforcements!" Anna blurted. "Reinforcements are coming tonight!"
Mattias' heart sank as his nostrils flared with frustration. Just the sight of Anna's panting, grinning self was enough to have him growling. "This is what I was afraid of. Would you wipe that smile off your face?"
"Come on!" Anna countered. "We're getting better and better at these. We've proven how effective we are at taking out Imps-"
"And yet we never let someone go," Mattias said. "Search your feelings, Anna. Something is amiss. From the moment we let that officer live, all of this has been amiss." Mattias stepped away, gripping his chin and delving into deep thought. As his fears were realized, he took a moment to collect himself before accepting the inevitable. "We need to leave."
"Wait, what?" Anna blurted. "No!"
"Yes," Mattias affirmed. "Sven...Kristoff, gather what supplies you can and run it back to camp. I'll help as best I can. Don't even bother stashing it in the tents because we'll start packing the ship anyway."
"We can't just leave again," Anna stamped. "Dantooine's been home for longer than anywhere else."
"Well maybe you should've thought about that before you let an Imperial officer go!" he bellowed. Realizing his tone of voice, he lowered it with a sigh. "We attracted too much attention. We did better than previous locales...but it was only a matter of time."
"So...where from here then?" Anna scoffed. "Dantooine is remote enough. You want to start picking populated planets? Cities with Imperial eyes on them?"
"I will not be made the enemy in your folly," Mattias answered, jabbing a trembling finger at her. "This is your mess."
Silence fell across the encampment, leading Anna to believe the others agreed with their elder. "Then let me fix it," Anna declared. "I'll destroy these reinforcements just like I-...we did the others." Kristoff was about to interject when she raised a hand. "You wanted to rebel right? Well? This is how you keep making noise and attracting attention."
"Anna-" Kristoff huffed. "This isn't-...What if this is more than even we can handle?"
"You said it at dinner the other night," she recalled. "This is no way to live. To be hunted over and over again. Plus, what if we leave and there's a trail for them to follow? If we're fleeing anyway, we're better off striking first and delaying their investigation."
Kristoff's concerned gaze fell to Mattias, who was grimly shaking his head. "I've grown more and more concerned with each passing attack," the elder said. "And while I've had my rage to carry me through, there are glimpses where it doesn't blind me. And in those moments I wonder how long we can outlast what's coming next."
Stepping towards him, Anna reiterated Mattias' own rhetoric as well. "You said we're stronger together. That we're all we have. I understand if we need to go. But then let's do it on our terms. We hit this last unit, take whatever they have, and send a message to show the Empire who they're kriffing with."
Mattias closed his eyes, slowing his breaths and doing what he always had to make it all bearable. He thought of losing Yelena and Zodra, letting those losses carry him as they had for years. "If we do this-" he began. "Elsa waits on the ship."
"It's not like she does anything anyway," Anna groused while staring at her mute and indifferent sister. "Deal."
"So what's your plan?" Kristoff inquired as Anna raised an inquisitive brow.
Thunder boomed overhead as storm clouds surged over Dantooine's skies. Its grassy fields rustled beneath howling winds, making the abandoned Imperial camp appear even ghostlier. Some tarps came undone with the gusts while other tents collapsed entirely. The Imperial banner sank deeper into the soil as several raindrops pattered against it. A flash of lightning streaked overhead, highlighting a triangular vessel soaring through the clouds. Its silhouette changed shapes as it descended towards the planet's surface. Tumultuous thunder and lightning strikes obscured the ship's roaring engines. The forward lights of an Imperial shuttle flickered through the rainfall as it found a safe landing zone. A hatch hissed from beneath its viewport, making it appear as though the ship was opening its metal mouth. Instead, a boarding ramp lowered into the chilled and blustery night.
Despite the ongoing storm, a pair of clamoring footsteps could be heard descending from the ramp. Pale plastoid emerged under the shuttle's overhead light as two stormtroopers secured the zone. Their paired formation was tight enough for Kristoff to keep both in his blaster's sights. Raindrops doused his weapon's muzzle as it poked from between a tent's tarp. In any other circumstance, the sound of beating rain in a tent would've been comforting had he not been prepared to take a shot. Kristoff's brows furrowed with confusion. "Something's not right," he whispered into his comlink, wondering where the rest of the rescue unit was.
"Standby," Mattias insisted from an adjacent spot. "Wait for them all to disembark."
"Unless that's it," Anna considered, watching from beneath several piles of cargo netting further back. "Empire couldn't even spare proper reinforcements."
Sven grunted over comms, keeping his blaster trained on the troopers from the comms tent in the far back.
"Sven and I have a shot on both," Kristoff confirmed.
"Do not engage," Mattias implored. "There could still be more landing craft."
"Let's get this over with," one of the troopers groaned while barely glancing over the area. "We just need to look over enough to file a report."
"Stay focused," the other stormtrooper asserted.
The longer Anna watched both men search the camp, the more she felt that they were the only two. Frustration set in as her scowl deepened. "Whoever was here is long gone," the first trooper hollered over the storm. "Not worth muddying our armor over."
Fury got the best of Anna as she crawled out from the netting. "Anna!" Mattias whispered sharply, but she was already setting off.
With a furious tug of her hand, she Force-pulled the blasters out of both stormtroopers' grasps. Their E-11s went swirling into the darkness as lightning flashed over Anna. The troopers gasped, eyeing her as she ignited her green lightsaber. "I assure you," Anna jested. "There are far worse things in these fields than mud."
To Anna's surprise, neither stormtrooper panicked. Instead, they lowered their initially startled arms and stood tall. "Surrender," one of them said. Anna's smirk was matched by an intense threat. "Surrender now! Drop your weapon and come quietly!"
"You guys are even stupider than I thought," Anna mocked until a third set of footsteps echoed from the shuttle. They were bold, thick...and heavy. Sharp enough to echo through the storm, and forming a shadow as dark as nightfall itself. With each passing step, Anna felt her offensive stance loosening up. Her warped mind was fixated on the shuttle's ramp as the shadow stretched towards the darkened camp. Black boots heralded the arrival of a swaying cape as a helmeted being descended. It offered an eerie bit of applause before standing ominously at the ramp's edge.
"You're right," the entity spoke in a grizzly and modulated voice. It slightly tilted its horned head and said, "There are far worse things." Anna found her reflection in its thin, scarlet visor as her clouded senses plunged further. Despite coming down from her death stick high, Anna felt like her senses were spiraling in the being's presence. Familiarity clashed with fright, creating a daunting chill that had her breaths shortening in its presence.
For Hans Westgard, seeing Anna again brought him a spark of surprise. He'd thought of their reunion for years. And yet with each passing time, he'd come to find more pain in that memory, focusing on how he'd slipped out of her grasp...how she'd left him to burn and suffer. That rage...that agony...was all he could focus on as he stared her down. So he saw her not through the eyes of Hans, but as Vader's Wrath. As the Dark Lord's servant and executioner. Anna and all who stood with her, would suffer just as he had.
Mattias' senses fluxed out of control, causing him to clench his aching temple. "Anna," he warned via comlink while wincing. "Get out of there." She was frozen in the moment, staring down the dark adversary. Mattias' fears had come to pass. While he'd been grateful to never run into the Inquisitors, he'd heard the stories. He knew they were commonly the result of surviving Jedi who weren't careful enough to hide their whereabouts. The Red Blades...the Hunters...the Terrors of the Night. "It's an Inquisitor," he explained. "Anna, get out of there!" Realizing she was stuck as the rain picked up, Mattias took matters into his own hands. "Boys," he called in. "Clear your targets and retreat."
On his command, Kristoff and Sven fired their shots. Each shooter's respective laser gunned a stormtrooper down, leaving Hans alone. Kristoff fired at him next, but the Inquisitor was quick to activate his blade. The sharp crackle of scarlet plasma beamed through the air as Hans deflected his shot. Rain had his saber sizzling as Hans advanced on Anna.
She had no time to process her bizarre feelings and instead rose her blade to defend. Anna hadn't seen a red lightsaber since the Clone Wars. She'd barely devoted time to duel practice, and the sound of sabers clashing was equally foreign. Sparks flared betwixt the rainfall as Anna staggered back. Hans kept his strikes slow, yet calculated. He paused between each attack, observing her steps and mirroring them. In his own ways, he was in as much disbelief as she was.
"Kristoff," Mattias panted while advancing. Despite his spinal hindrances, he crept behind the tents in an attempt to flank the Inquisitor. "Go back with Sven and get the ship. Fly low and get us out of here." Kristoff didn't question his orders, for he knew there wasn't a moment to waste. Him and Sven fell back, dashing through the storm and back into he woods.
Anna winced as her faulty Force senses pulsed within. She still found it in herself to attack and grind her blade against Hans'. "So much fear," he hissed. "Torment. The years haven't been kind, have they...Anna?"
Anna's eyes widened through the rain as her foe steadied himself. "H-how do you-"
In that moment, Mattias rushed in from one of the side tents. He sparked up his saber just as Hans prepared to counter. Without disengaging Anna, the Inquisitor simply activated the other end of his lightsaber and shifted. Both sides met green sabers as he blocked Anna and Mattias. "Age has made you weak," he taunted his elder.
"Get away from her," Mattias growled and pressed his saber to divert focus away from Anna.
Instead, Hans set his blade to a spinning configuration to repel them both and gain space. Anna and Mattias staggered back, neither in full dueling position after years of disorder. The Jedi exchanged concerned looks. For while they upheld their bravado, there was no denying how out of form they were. Hans, on the other hand, remind fresh and bloodthirsty. With a furious spin, he sent a Force push into the ground. This burst of energy kicked up dirt and grass while turning raindrops into disorienting projectiles. Each droplet felt like a sharp needle against his opponents' faces. The nearest tent came undone and glided towards Anna and Mattias.
"I got it!" she shouted over the ruckus and sliced through the tarp. As soon as she did so, she found Hans lunging through the cover he'd created. He took them by surprise and forced them on the defensive.
Mucky puddles splashed across the deeper parts of a forested basin as Kristoff and Sven sped inside. Thick layers of moss and vines still covered most of their Jedi corvette, which had been repainted over the years to hide from Imperial eyes. The once noble cream colors had now been replaced by a deep charcoal coating. Elsa was right where they'd left her...sitting alone in the ship's lounge. She barely reacted as Kristoff sprinted by.
"Strap in!" he shouted to her and practically dove into the cockpit. "Come on...come on," he whispered to himself while powering up the dashboard. The corvette hummed briefly before all of its internal lights powered down. "No! Not now!" He frustratedly slammed on the dashboard and yelled over his shoulder. "Sven! Engines need a recharge! Hook up that power cell! Hurry!" Sven scrambled into the storage unit to grab the power canister they'd scavenged from camp.
Mattias was getting winded as Hans kept up the intensity. Had it not been for Anna's repeated interference, Mattias' feared he would've been struck already. And while she was proving herself to be formidable, Anna's endurance was nowhere near what it was eighteen years ago. "This is just sad," Hans taunted and elbowed her in the chest. He relished in listening to her wheeze and hunch over his towering stature.
"How are we looking Sven?" Kristoff worried while desperately trying to get the dashboard online.
The Cevrian nervously grunted back while pressing his hoofed digits to the power cell. He pushed as hard as he could, desperate to lock the heavy gear into place. Elsa watched from down the hall, immobilized as a prisoner of her own thoughts. Her hand twitched, as if to assist Sven with a simple Force push. That's all it would take...and yet she couldn't find it in herself to be enough. Biting back a hushed whimper, Elsa bowed her head in shame and walked away to her room. Shutting the door, she dropped to her knees and listened to Sven struggling to get the power cell connected. Kristoff's exasperated shouts had her grimacing and clasping her ears in defeat.
Realizing Sven couldn't do it alone, Kristoff ran to the storage unit and helped him push the power cell. They gritted their teeth as a single unit, heaving through the rusted gears in an effort to lock it in.
Anna carried all of her strength into a swift, Ataru strike. Hans easily ducked under her blade and then batted it away. "This is what the great Anna Dellian has become?" he jeered.
"How do you know me?" Anna snapped through heavy breaths. "Who are you?"
"Who am I?" Hans growled, fed up with Mattias' interventions. He weaved away from his incoming attack and kicked him in the back. The blow was heavy enough to have Mattias howling in pain and tumbling across the ground. His deactivated weapon rolled to his side.
"Mattias!" Anna called out until a scarlet blade came swinging at her.
Singling her out, Hans repeatedly bashed his weapon against hers. Unprepared, her defense began to falter. "A-Anna!" Mattias croaked from the ground and tossed her his weapon.
Anna activated it and brought both green sabers against Hans'. With a single, swift spin of his double blade, Hans knocked both weapons from her hands and kneed her in the face. The throbbing ache in her nose was insurmountable as Anna stumbled back. "Are you serious?" Hans continued. "Anna, you know you can't dual wield." He brought his weapon to a single blade and closed in. "You were too pompous to ever learn!" With a quick jab, Hans let the tip of his saber scorch across Anna's shoulder. "Too good for all of us. Too perfect. Well who's perfect now?"
Anna fell back, feeling the mud drench her body as she inched away. Panic set in as she briefly became entangled in the fallen Imperial banner. She clasped her stinging shoulder and observed the Inquisitor. "Us?" she questioned before wincing.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" Hans said, getting angrier with each passing moment. "Knowing you're not the golden child!" He kicked her in the stomach, making sure she stayed down. "Cause how could you ever know pain like me? How could you ever suffer-" He couldn't hold back any further and furiously ripped his helmet off. "-like me!" Hans bared his teeth on the final words, glaring down at Anna like a rabid beast. He let the rain drench his hair until each strand looked like a tentacle reaching down to her. Lightning flashed overhead...and as it faded, the only flicker would be that of Hans' yellow stare atop his crimson blade.
Anna's heart felt as though it would simply evaporate. As if all air would flee her lungs and she'd collapse further from the terror above. "H-" she could barely croak. "Ha-"
"Say it," he demanded for his name. "Scream it!" he stomped and made her shutter. An impulsive smirk snuck onto his lips when he could make her do so. "Everything you're feeling is very real."
"How, Hans?" Anna uttered as the rain drenched her swelling and bleeding face. "You fell. H-...how?"
"You did this," he answered and nodded his head sadistically. "You made this happen." He jabbed a gloved finger at his armored chestplate and brayed, "You left me! And now we can suffer together." He raised his lightsaber to her just as a pair of lights shined on him from afar.
The Jedi corvette glided in from the woods and primed its laser cannons. While Kristoff's jaw dropped at who was across his viewport, he didn't hesitate to take aim. As Hans looked up, Anna took the opportunity to hastily crawl away. Kristoff fired, sending blue beams darting towards Hans. He rolled away, letting the blasts scorch the terrain in his wake. Kristoff took his shots a step further and blasted the Imperial shuttle to pieces before moving in.
While Sven waited at the lowered ramp, Anna hobbled over to help Mattias off of the ground. She recovered their lightsabers and helped guide him to the vessel. There was no way for the ship to fully land, so they'd need to use a guided Force jump. "Stay with me, Mattias." Anna told him. "We need to time this right." He exhaustedly nodded while slowly squatting with her. "Together now," she implored as the ramp passed by. "Jump for it!" The duo propelled themselves several feet towards the ramp. Given their injured states, their Force jumps were faulty and sent them crashing into the ramp.
Hans emerged from a collapsed tent and found himself taken back to that horrid night in the temple. He scowled at the sight of Anna helping Mattias onboard. Preparing to jump after them, Hans was stalled by Sven shooting down towards him. While he was able to block the shots, it had bought the group time to ascend out of reach. All Hans could do was stand amidst the wreckage of his shuttle and stare up at the storm clouds. He knew his hunt was only beginning as he deactivated his lightsaber and recovered his helmet.
Kristoff maximized the thrusters and tilted the corvette further upward. Rain streaked crossed the viewport as they soared through storm clouds and breached the upper atmosphere. "Where am I going?" Kristoff asked as the controls rumbled in his hands. The silence was daunting as he hollered, "Someone talk to me! Where am I-"
"ANYWHERE!" Anna roared. Her harsh shout was followed by a several splatters, prompting Kristoff to glance back. Tears ran down her reddened eyes as her nose continued to swell. Blood trickled from where Hans had kicked her, as an overwhelming sense of disbelief continued to reach her in waves. "An-..." she murmured. "Anywhere."
Her state and the horrid foe he'd seen confirmed his their very real situation. Kristoff sank into that moment while flying them out of Dantooine. They weren't just on the run again. They were being actively hunted. Dread struck Kristoff as he eyed the limited fuel their corvette possessed. Any Imperial convoy's they'd raided were typically dropped off and never left ships to syphon fuel from. Their situation took Kristoff back to the darkness of escaping the Jedi Temple. Accepting that his friends were counting on him, he charted a course for another Outer Rim sector.
Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading this week's chapter of "The Frozen Force." Once again, I appreciate your patience and support of this story. Ideally, there should be a new chapter every Friday. But with my full time job at Disney and my side job of TikTok as a content creator, it can be difficult sometimes to keep up the pace. If you're new to the adventure, you can follow me for story updates at Sparks Gavilan on both Twitter and Instagram. But as of right now, I will still keep the goal to get the next chapter to you on Friday, August 25th. So I'll see you then for Chapter: 125 - (Fallen Order: Part II). In other Star Wars news. Get excited because the first two episodes of Ahsoka arrive on Disney+ this week!
Long Live Imagination and May the Force be with You,
~ Sparks