As the light from the sun slowly faded away, Rain got her first glimpse at the ship they would be stealing hyperfuel from… and was surprised to see what she was looking at.
"Uh… that'snota ship", she said, feeling Ben's hand stiffen in her grasp. The abandoned craft they were looking at seemed to be more of a space station, easily dwarfing theCorbelan.
"Fuck, that's big. What is that?" Bjorn asked.
"Decommissioned outpost? I dunno- probably got dragged into our orbit", Tyler answered. "Okay, Navarro, let's get closer, please."
"Okay. I'm gonna match its roll", Navarro replied, carefully manoeuvring the ship towards the outpost.
As they moved in closer, an alarm started going off, and the words"asteroid proximity alert"blared around the cockpit.
"What's wrong?" Rain asked Tyler.
"Must have… bounced a bit closer than I thought", he replied.
"How long?" Navarro suddenly interjected.
"Er… thirty-six hours, give or take", Tyler said.
"Until what?" Rain was starting to feel anxious again.
"Before the station crashes against the rings", Navarro answered. Her response did not help Rain's anxiety.
"Excuseme?" Ben suddenly said.
"It's thirty-six hours. We should be in and out in thirty minutes", Tyler said to him. Rain didn't appreciate Tyler's tone toward her boyfriend, but she chose not to say anything. Now wasn't the right time to start an argument.
Instead, she chose to stand up, and pull Andy aside to talk to him in the corridor, away from the others.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked him.
Andy only smiled at her. "I have just… one directive. 'Do what is best for Rain'. Your Dad… wrote it."
"Yeah… that and too many Dad jokes."
Andy was still smiling. "I'm happy… to help."
Rain sighed, and hugged her brother close. "Be careful out there", she told him. She didn't know how she felt about letting Andy go off with Bjorn, but hopefully, it would be alright. She briefly thought about asking if Ben could go with them, but realised it would raise too many questions if her "farmer" boyfriend proved adept at using a space suit.
As Andy set off with Tyler and Bjorn, Rain re-entered the cockpit, watching the boys moving on the cameras as theCorbelandocked with the station. She noticed the three of them approaching the door to the station as Tyler used a scanner to check for oxygen.
"Compressions are good, but oxygen is too thin to breathe", she heard Tyler say, as he and Bjorn started putting on masks."Andy, you're up- it's your time to shine."
As Andy inserted his finger into a control panel, Rain was relieved to see the door open.
"Beautiful work!"Tyler congratulated Andy, as Rain laughed at the happy expression on her brother's face.
"Yeah, congrats, you're not a virgin anymore",Bjorn snorted, handing Andy a torch.
As they walked through, Rain kept watching through the cameras Tyler and Bjorn had on their space suits. As they crawled through a narrow tunnel, Rain was surprised to see a dead rat… floating in mid-air? Rain thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, until she heard Tyler speak.
"Guys, it looks like we're in zero-g", he suddenly said.
"I can feel it in my stomach",Bjorn replied, as Rain suddenly heard awhoosh,and the rat dropped to the floor.
"Wait, what's that?" Kay suddenly asked.
"Gravity generators", Navarro explained. "When they're offline, they purge themselves every few minutes."
"Prevents the place from blowing up",Tyler suddenly said over the intercom, as the zero-gravity kicked back in, the dead rat rising into the air.
"Fuck me, there goes my stomach again",Bjorn complained."I'm gonna throw up, man."
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Ben watched with fascination as he saw the other boys reach the end of the tunnel. It had been a long time since he had seen zero-gravity in action. Once, during the second year of the Clone Wars, he and Aubrie had taken part in a space battle which had required jumping from ship to ship wearing spacesuits. It had been a hellish fight, but by that point in the war, Ben and Aubrie had gotten so used to the violence it was barely a blip on their radar.
Ben watched the screen as he saw Tyler light a flare and drop it into the room he had now entered.
"According to the scanner, the fuel should be in here",he heard Bjorn say.
As they moved in, Ben and the others waited and listened.
"Alright! Great news- I've got eyes on the fuel", Tyler said, as Ben saw his body camera reveal five long tubes in the ground. Then suddenly the gravity kicked back in, and Ben saw Bjorn's camera shake wildly as he dropped like a stone to the floor.
"Fuck! I think I fractured my arsehole!"Ben suddenly hear Bjorn curse. He couldn't stop himself from smirking.
As Andy inserted his finger into a control panel on one of the walls, Ben saw the computer screens in the room begin to reactivate, as the zero-gravity came back on.
"Thank God, there's still some power left in this relic",he heard Tyler say."Okay, watch out, gravity coming back."
As the gravity kicked back in for hopefully the final time, Ben saw Tyler move over to the tubes, bringing them up from the ground. Ben was by no means a fuel expert, but as Tyler's camera moved around the tubes, Ben couldn't help but see there wasn't a lot of fuel in them.
"Oh, shit",he suddenly heard Tyler curse.
"What? What's the problem?"Bjorn asked.
"There's not enough fuel here."
"What do you mean?" Ben heard Rain ask, next to him.
"There's only enough to get us two, maybe three parsecs."
"Alderaan is TEN parsecs away, mate!"Bjorn suddenly exclaimed.
"Yeah, I know, I'm aware of that",Tyler snapped.
"Maybe you guys should just come back?" Rain suggested to them.
"No, no, we are NOT giving up now",Tyler picked up his scanner and pointed it towards the corridor ahead of them.
"I'm getting a strong reading- there must be a depot nearby. We should find more fuel there. Navarro, I'm ejecting the fuel we already have- you guys pick it up while we get the rest."
The three of them started to move down the corridor. As Ben continued to watch the monitors, he suddenly saw Andy bump into Bjorn.
Uh oh.
"Mate, chill",Tyler said, clearly sensing the trouble that was coming.
Bjorn immediately squared off with Andy."You wanna watch where you're going, fucko?"
"Bjorn, back off!" Rain suddenly called out.
"I will, as long as he stays out of my way",Bjorn spat, as he trudged after Tyler.
"God, why is he being such a dick to him?" Rain cursed, as Ben felt her getting upset.
"Because of what happened to his Mum", Kay said, at barely more than a whisper.
"What are you talking about?" Ben asked. Rain had previously mentioned that Bjorn's parents were dead, but she hadn't elaborated on it, and he hadn't pushed her.
"Just before Empire Day, there was a gas leak in the mines, so the supervisor, who was a synthetic droid, made the call to seal them with Bjorn's Mum still trapped inside", Navarro explained. "That's why he attacked Andy when he saw him."
Ben was taken aback, and judging by her reaction, so was Rain.
"I've never heard of a synthetic harming a human", she said.
"Neither have I", Navarro replied. "But sacrifice three humans to save a dozen? That they can do."
Rain looked down, and Ben felt her sadness. "That's terrible."
Ben agreed that it was terrible, but at the same time he found himself secretly agreeing with the decision the synthetic had made. As a General, he had had to make many hard decisions during the war which had resulted in the death of clones under his command, but had brought them victory in battle at the same time.
He figured it was best not to bring up that he agreed with the synthetic responsible for the death of Bjorn's mother. He didn't want to start a fight.
As Navarro started to guide the fuel canisters into the cargo bay, Ben suddenly remembered that Rain had thrown up her breakfast that morning, and he hadn't seen her eat anything since then.
"Is anybody hungry?" He asked the four girls. "I brought food for the journey."
"Ooh yes, thank you", Rain beamed at him, as Ben brought out the sandwiches and extra flask of water that was in his bag. But as he began to hand Rain a sandwich, Ben saw the colour suddenly drain out of Kay's face at the sight of the food, and she made a beeline for the bathroom, retching all the while.
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Forgetting the sandwich, Rain quickly followed Kay, seeing her violently puke into the toilet.
"It's okay, I'm right here, I'm right here", she said, holding Kay's hair back.
"I'm gonna go check on the fuel", Navarro said shortly, heading downstairs.
Once Kay had stopped vomiting, Rain helped her lie down, and put her hand on Kay's forehead, checking for a fever.
"No, no", Kay mumbled. "Don't worry, I'm not sick."
"What's wrong, then?"
"Nothing is."
Rain was confused, but as Kay moved Rain's hand towards her stomach, she immediately realised what was going on.
"Oh, Kay", she let out a breath. "Who's the father?"
"Just… some asshole."
Not overly specific, considering where we just came from.
"Just… don't tell my brother, okay? He has enough things to worry about."
I'm sure he does,Rain thought, as she felt Ben appear behind her.
"I won't say anything", Rain said to Kay, as she turned around to look at the father of her own unborn child.
At least he's not an asshole.
"Uh…" Ben said, looking at Rain pointedly, then looking at Kay and back to her, cocking his head. The message he was sending her couldn't have been clearer.
Should we tell her?
Rain hesitated, then nodded.It might help her feel less alone.
She turned back to Kay, who now seemed confused.
"Don't tell Tyler about this either, but… I'm pregnant too", she smiled hesitantly.
Kay's face lit up, then suddenly dropped.
"Is it… Tyler's, or…"
"Mine", Ben said firmly. "It's mine."
Kay seemed startled. "But… wait, how far along are you?"
"Twelve weeks", Rain said. "How far along are you?"
She could sense the direction the conversation was going in, and she didn't like it.
"Um… nine weeks, I think, but… twelve… wait… Empire Day? Is that when-"
"Just after", Rain said shortly. "AfterI broke up with Tyler."
She was not going to let Kay judge her on her actions, and she gave the younger girl a warning glare, which she seemed to pick up on.
"Oh", Kay said, and although Rain could see Kay wanted to say more, she kept silent.
An awkward tension filled the room, and Rain decided to say something else.
"Look", she said to Kay, "all you need to know is… it didn't happen on purpose, but… I'm happy about this, okay? We both are."
She felt Ben's hand on her shoulder, and raised her own to squeeze it gently, looking up at his handsome face and smiling.
"Then I'm happy for you too. I'm happy our babies will get to see the sun", Kay replied, and Rain felt her smile getting wider.
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Ben heard Tyler over the intercom, as Navarro returned to the pilot's seat.
"Okay Navarro, Airlock 5B, that's our way out once we find more hyperfuel."
"On my way", Navarro replied, as she started to move the ship.
As Ben saw Tyler's camera move about the corridor the other boys were walking down, he started to get the feeling that something was off. This place… whatever it was… it seemed unlikely that somebody would just abandon it.
"This place gives me the creeps",he suddenly heard Bjorn say.
"Did you hear about the miner who lost his left side?"Andy asked.
Ben saw Rain smile at her brother's upcoming joke, but somehow he doubted Bjorn would find it funny.
"He's alright now. Do you get it? He's all… right…"
"Can you turn yourself off, please?"
Ben winced. Maybe he should have gone with them after all.
Andy seemed hurt."You… said you were nervous, and I was just trying to…"
Bjorn stuck his fingers in his ears and kept walking away."La la la… la-la-la-la-la…"
As the ship docked at the airlock, Ben turned to Rain.
"Should I go in after them, now?" he asked her. "They might need a hand with the rest of the fuel."
And Andy might need help from Bjorn.
He saw Rain hesitate, but before she could speak up, Navarro interjected.
"No point", she said shortly. "They're almost at the fuel depot anyway. By the time you get there, they'll have everything we need."
I'm not sure that's true,Ben almost said, before he realised Navarro had picked up on his subtle message.
Alright. Let's not start another fight, if we can help it.
As Ben followed Tyler's progress on his camera, he saw the boys suddenly enter a new room.
"The signal's coming from in here",Tyler suddenly stated.
As Ben got a better look at this new, unexplored space, he was surprised at the sight of how fresh and new everything seemed.
"I thought you said this place was decommissioned", Rain said to Tyler. Clearly, she'd come to the same realisation as him.
"Yeah",Tyler said, slowly.
"Doesn't look decommissioned to me."
"No, it doesn't. But it's definitely deserted."
"Hey Andy, look at this",Ben saw through Bjorn's camera as he suddenly picked up a shock baton he'd found on a nearby table.
"I could probably fry a synthetic with one of these."
He's getting cocky again, Ben thought, as he felt Rain stiffen beside him.
"You know I might take this with me, actually. Just in case you have any fuckin' funny ideas-"
Then Andy moved faster than Ben would have thought, grabbing Bjorn by the front of his shirt and swinging him around.
What the hell?Ben thought, as Bjorn's voice went up several octaves.
"It was a joke!"Bjorn squirmed in Andy's grip."I'm just joking, man, what the fuck-"
Then Ben suddenly saw what Andy was really doing- pulling Bjorn away from a massive hole in the ground. As Bjorn's camera spun around, Ben suddenly saw something else next to the hole- the upper half of a human body.
Ben suddenly felt sick, and he started shaking.
"It's just a synthetic",he heard Tyler say.
"I thought it was a real person there for a second",Bjorn sighed in relief.
Ben, meanwhile, didn't stop shaking. It had been years since he'd seen a dead body, and he wasn't prepared for the rush of memories that flooded his brain. Jabiim, Mimban- the Jedi Temple where he'd had to walk past the bodies of children and people who'd been friends of his for years-
"Are you alright?" He suddenly heard Aubrie ask.
"I-I'm…" he stammered. "I'm…"
Then he felt Rain's warm hands in his, and he let her guide him over to a nearby seat.
Aubrie came over as well, her big brown eyes wide with concern.
"I'm sorry", Ben said. "I wasn't… it just brought everything back…"
"It's okay", Rain said, softly, sitting next to him, rubbing her hand up and down his back. "Just breathe."
Ben focused on breathing in and out. He carefully reached out with the Force… and used the sound of his child's strong, steady heartbeat to soothe his breathing back to normal.
"I'm okay", he said.
"Are you sure?" Aubrie asked.
"Maybe you should go lie down?" Rain asked.
"No… no, I'm alright", Ben said, as he saw Tyler approach a new room marked "Cryo Chamber".
As the door jammed upon opening, Tyler slipped through the gap and into the chamber, sloshing through water on the floor to look at what appeared to be fuel pods.
"What exactly are we looking for?"Bjorn called out.
"Sometimes these places use hyperfuel", Tyler replied. As he checked the pods, Ben suddenly heard him let out a gasp of relief.
"Yes! 45 Ks. More than enough fuel to get us to Alderaan. Bjorn, give me a hand with this."
As Bjorn entered the room, closely followed by Andy, Ben began to think he may have misjudged the Harrison family. Maybe their plan hadn't been quite so foolish after all.
Then as the boys attempted to move the fuel pod, a new alarm was triggered, shutting the Cryo Chamber's door and locking it behind them.
Well, there goes that thought.
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As she saw the room the boys were in turn a deep shade of red and start blaring, the relief Rain had felt at them finding enough fuel for the trip was quickly replaced with fear.
"What's happening?" She asked.
"I think we triggered an emergency lockdown",Tyler said."Andy, can you get the door?"
Rain watched as Andy inserted his finger into the chamber's control panel- and was immediately refused access.
"Shit",Tyler cursed."He doesn't have the clearance."
"What does that mean?"Bjorn asked."He can reboot a ship, but not a random door to a random room?"
"I don't think that's a random room", Aubrie said. "We need to go to them.Now."
She was looking at Ben as she said it, and Rain immediately saw her boyfriend straighten up and nod. There was no trace of the earlier fear he had shown- he looked focused and ready, and Rain saw him shift the part of his jacket where she knew he was keeping his lightsaber.
As Rain headed down to the docking bay with Navarro and the two hidden Jedi, she couldn't help but wonder just how badly this was about to go.
"Don't worry, we'll get them out of there", Navarro said, reading the expression on Rain's face as they walked through the docking bay's corridor linking it to the ship.
"If Andy can't access those doors, I doubt we'll have better luck", Rain said.
"You got any ideas?" Navarro asked.
"Ido", Aubrie spoke up, surprising them. Rain suddenly saw Ben's Padawan turn to her.
"Rain, if we get the clearance code out of that other synthetic, can you transfer it to Andy?"
"I… yeah, probably", Rain thought, impressed by Aubrie's idea… and at how calm the younger girl seemed to be in the face of their plan going wrong.
Although Aubrie was only nineteen years old, Rain was suddenly reminded of the fact that she was talking to a hardened veteran of the Clone Wars.
She may be younger than all of us, but she probably has more experience with danger in her little finger than the rest of us do overall. Except Ben, of course.
Rain then busied herself with trying to extract the damaged synthetic's clearance code, as she felt the room starting to heat up.
"It'ssohot in here", Navarro took her jacket off, and Rain did the same.
"Shit, it's stuck", Rain said, struggling to pull the chip that would hold the clearance code out of the synthetic's neck.
"Uh… what are you two staring at?" She suddenly heard Navarro ask the others.
Rain turned her head- and saw Ben and Aubrie looking right into the brightly-lit room in front of them where the boys were trapped.
"They're not alone in there", Ben suddenly said. His tone was calm, but Rain heard the intensity in his voice.
"What?", Rain asked- then suddenly screamed as the synthetic came to life and grabbed on to her arm.
Ben quickly ran over, pulling the synthetic's hand off Rain as Aubrie dug into the side of its neck, extracting the coded chip they needed.
"You good?" Ben asked, as Aubrie handed Rain the code they needed.
"Y-yeah", Rain panted, as Ben gave her a quick hug, which she returned.
"How do you know they're not alone in there?" Rain heard Navarro ask Ben.
Rain winced.Shit.
"Just a feeling", Aubrie replied, as they moved towards the Cryo Chamber.
"That's a… vague explanation."
"Good, that was the idea."
"Hey!" Rain called out to Tyler, interrupting the others. "This is from that synthetic", she added, handing him the chip through the small gap in the door. "Try putting it on Andy's module."
Tyler took the chip, then grasped Rain's hand.
"I'm so sorry."
"It's okay. Just get out of there."
Tyler quickly sloshed through the water, back to Andy. As he inserted the chip into Andy's neck, Tyler jumped back as Andy suddenly froze up.
"He's just rebooting!" Rain yelled through the gap. "It's gonna take a couple of minutes."
They stayed there for a few moments, waiting. Then Ben suddenly leaned forward, from where he was standing behind Rain.
"Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"Listen. Sounds like… something falling into the water. More than one something."
Rain pressed her ear to the gap, but she couldn't hear anything like Ben was describing.
Is Force Hearing a thing? I'll have to ask him later.
Then Bjorn suddenly fell flat on his back, like he had been pulled down into the water.
Oh my God. Ben was right. They AREN'T alone in there.
"There's something in the water!" Bjorn sputtered as he struggled to stand up.
"Stop playing around, man, just get up!" Navarro yelled at him.
"I'm not playing around, there's something in the fucking water-"
Then Rain felt her breath catch in her throat as some small, many-armed…thinglaunched itself out of the water right at Bjorn's head. Yelping, Bjorn swatted it away with the shock baton, and it bounced right off the door trapping them in the room. Then Tyler reeled away as another of the creatures launched itself at him.
"Bjorn, help him, do something!" Rain yelled. Bjorn quickly activated the shock baton and electrocuted the creature off Tyler… but accidentally shocked his own cousin as well, who fell motionless into the water.
"Tyler!" Rain called out, desperately trying to open the door bare-handed.
"Rain", she heard Ben say.
She turned around to see Navarro standing against the wall in shock, and Ben and Aubrie standing still, not moving.
"Come on! COME ON! HELP ME!"
"Rain."
"DON'T JUST STAND THERE, HELP ME-"
"RAIN!"
"WHAT?!" Rain screamed. Then she sawwhat. Ben and Aubrie were both holding their lightsabers.
"Stand aside", her boyfriend said calmly, as his blade ignited.
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Before the creatures had emerged, Ben had been quietly debating with himself as to whether he should inconspicuously open the door with the Force, and make it look like a happy accident. He could sense the creatures emerging, but he had no idea what they were. Maybe they were benevolent.
Then as he saw them attack the boys, he realised the truth. Not benevolent. Not benevolentat all. But… more than that… they werehungry.
To battle, then. It had been more than three years since Ben and Aubrie last used their lightsabers in combat. But they had made sure to keep practicing in their time on Alderaan, and as he and his apprentice activated their blades, he felt thethrumand the song of the kyber crystal within his weapon.
"I'll go high, you go low", he said.
"Yes, Master."
Ben immediately thrust his blade into the top left corner of the door, moving across to the right and downwards. Aubrie stuck hers into the bottom right corner, moving left. In mere seconds, they had cut a hole in the door, and Ben used the Force to pull the obstruction towards him and fling it away down the corridor.
As they moved forwards, he heard Navarro gasping in shock.
"Wha… you… you guys areJEDI?!"
Ben and Aubrie launched themselves into the room. A creature sprung out of the water towards Ben, and he cut it in half faster than he could blink.
"BJORN!" He bellowed. "Get to the door, NOW!"
As Bjorn gaped at the sight of Ben advancing through the water while Aubrie covered the entrance, Ben saw another many-legged creature moving towards Tyler, who was still lying on his back.
Oh no you don't, Ben thought, pulling the alien towards him with the Force and cleanly bisecting it.
As both halves of the creature fell into the water, Ben suddenly saw Andy reactivate and look around, as Tyler struggled to rise.
"What- how…", he stared at the sight of Ben's glimmering green blade.
"ON YOUR FEET, LET'S GO!" Ben yelled, pulling Tyler up with his free hand. As Andy started to move for the door, Ben shoved Tyler in front of him.
"MOVE! HURRY UP!" Aubrie roared across the room, in a voice about ten times her size.
Two creatures hurled themselves at Aubrie simultaneously, but before Ben could even shout a warning, his apprentice moved like lightning, her lightsaber a blue blur as she sliced both aliens in half with the same backhanded stroke.
Nice,Ben thought, grinning with pride despite the situation they were in.
As the boys scrambled up the steps, Ben and Aubrie brought up the rear, each slicing several more creatures apart with their blades. But it wasn't enough, as Ben heard more and more splashes into the water with every passing second.
As the group moved out of the room and towards the next door, Ben suddenly felt his heart drop as he saw a dozen more of the aliens following them.
Shit. Shitshitshitshitshit-
The door was about to close, and Ben quickly dived through it a heartbeat before it slammed shut. But in that same heartbeat, one of the creatures made it through as well, launching itself towards Ben's face. Aubrie shoved it away with the Force before it could hit him, and Ben breathed a sigh of relief.
But the creature recovered as soon as it hit the floor, scurried right past Ben- and sprung straight at Navarro.
The poor girl didn't even have time to scream as the alien latched itself to her face, curling its legs around her head and its tail around her neck as she fell to the floor, struggling.
Oh, by the Light, Ben thought, watching in horror.
What on earth do we do now?