Author's Note: In which things start to change. ;D
~ Amina Gila
Without wasting another moment, I bolt out of the command center, towards the ship, Artoo and Threepio on my heels. As I slam to a stop next to the others, the strikingly familiar sound of lightsabers clashing reaches my montrals.
Spinning towards the source of the noise, I spot Ben swinging his blue blade at a towering, armored figure. And it's... it's him. The person I was just sensing.
"Look!" exclaims Luke, catching sight of the scene the same moment I do.
"Now's our chance!" hisses Han, "Go!"
"We can't just leave Ben behind," I protest.
"Hurry if you don't want to get left behind," the smuggler snaps.
I can't say why I don't run, gaze still lingering on the cyborg. Why does he feel important?
His helmeted head turns suddenly, and I could swear his gaze locks with mine even if I can't see his eyes.
"Ashara!" Luke yells, simultaneously getting the attention of a bunch of stormtroopers, who instantly start shooting at us.
This is bad. How are we ever going to get out of here now? I need to focus. I whip up my blaster, firing back at them, as we break for the ship.
Up ahead, I see Ben lash out with the Force in the cyborg's momentary distraction, hurling him back into the wall. And then, he runs for the ship too, cutting through the stormtroopers in the way. The cyborg instantly gives chase, except the blast door between him and Ben slams closed before he can get through, though a red lightsaber instantly plunges through, cutting a hole.
I pull the trigger again, trying to dodge out of the way of several more shots, but a second too slowly. A bright light explodes in my vision, followed by a burning pain tearing across the side of my head. I vaguely register hitting the ground as my head screams with pain, the constant blaster shots ringing out around me only serving to worsen the pain.
I can hear someone yelling my name as the din continues full intensity around me. The jumbled thought manages to form in my mind that whatever injury I have must not be extremely serious if I'm still alive. The fight... I need to help. Forcing my eyes back open again, I see the others still exchanging fire. Then out of the corner of my eye, the flash of a spinning blue lightsaber.
I hastily close my eyes again. The blinding lights are only serving to increase the pain and pounding in my head. Suddenly I feel someone grab ahold of me, before large furry arms pick me up, quickly carrying up the ramp into the Falcon.
I open my eyes again for a moment, the darker atmosphere and more muffled sounds of battle finally allowing a slight respite in the pain in my head. I manage to catch a glimpse of Ben deflecting blaster bolts near the edge of the closing ramp as the ship blasts off.
The Wookie deposits me on a cot in one of the side rooms of the Falcon before bounding out of the room, presumably to the cockpit. I hear the others moving about in the ship before the faint sound of Han's grumbling reaches my montrals – which I'd prefer would pick up no noise at all right now. Every noise seems to only be making the burn hurt even worse.
A soft groan escapes me as I bury my face against the rough blanket of the cot. How deep is this wound? I can hear more distant talking before footsteps rapidly approach the room.
Moments later, Luke and Leia enter and hurry over to me. Leia kneels next to me to inspect the injury.
"How bad is it?" asks Luke, concern in his voice as he hovers on my other side, resting a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
"A bacta patch should take care of it," Leia decides after a moment, "It's not that deep, but the location of the injury definitely makes it a lot more painful."
"Is everyone alright?" I query anxiously. Agh, if my head would just stop hurting for literally one second and let me just think again.
"Yes," Luke replies, as Leia crosses the room to where several boxes of what appear to be supplies are sitting, "I think Chewie was grazed but nothing too serious. He seems to be doing just fine helping Han fly the ship."
"Do they have any medical supplies around here or what?" grumbles Leia from across the room where she's rummaging through some things. She finally stands up, returning with a bacta patch and applying it to my head.
Her touch is soft and gentle, and I don't know why for a fleeting moment she reminds of someone. Or why I was expecting a princess to not know how to do something so practical.
"Thank you," I offer, giving her a small smile as she finishes, and the pain starts to dissipate.
"How is it?" Leia asks.
"A little better."
"Good," she replies, sitting back, "And thank you for coming to rescue me."
"We're coming up on the sentry ships," I hear Han say in the distance, "Hold 'em off! Angle the deflector shields while I charge up the main guns!"
"We're being followed," I inform them worriedly, pushing myself into a sitting position, trying to ignore how the sudden move jars the injury.
"To be expected," Luke says, worried gaze flicking towards the viewport. I look out to see several TIE fighters rapidly approaching the Falcon. Before we know it, they're going to be within firing range.
"Come on, buddy!" Han suddenly yells, poking his head into the room, "We're not out of this yet!" I wince, a flash of irritation rushes through me as the sound promptly makes the pain in my head surge again.
"Hey, you could at least try to keep your voice down," Leia chides, obviously noticing my discomfort.
Luke hesitates, looking at me with concern. "You better go," I warn. It's not like I'm gonna die in here while he's out there fighting. With a nod, he dashes out of the room after Han. Leia pauses for a moment, glancing back at me before hurrying out also.
Time to begin the long painfully deafening wait for the battle to be over. Hopefully all of Han's boasting at the speed of his ship will help us get out of here alive.
"Here they come!" Leia calls. Seconds later, laser beams are flying everywhere outside, bombarding the sides of the ship which trembles from the fire. The power suddenly dips, completely blacking out the room for a moment before flashing back on again.
A blast strikes the side of the Falcon, shaking it violently. Smoke billows in from the hall and I can hear Threepio exclaiming something in alarm. Really, I should be out there helping instead of just sitting here lazily. My injury isn't that serious.
"We've lost lateral controls!" yells Leia.
"Don't worry, she'll hold together," Han replies, just as another explosion hits the ship.
I stand up, hurrying into the cockpit to see that the smuggler and Chewbacca are in control of the ship, Artoo sitting nearby. Leia is standing behind their chairs. Luke and Ben must be at the guns.
TIE fighters zoom by outside the front window of Falcon. Our ship suddenly fires several laser blasts at them, one hitting its mark and the TIE fighters explodes in flames. Two more fighters fly into view, firing back at the Falcon. Our ship fires again, the blast striking one of the fighters dead center.
