Star Wars: Rise of the Battlemage

We left the safe house behind at nearly midnight, hoping that the city nightlife, present even during the lockdown, as well as the darkness, would compensate for the obvious suspicion of people being out so late. The distraction group, armed with a bunch of supplies from the safehouse, split off immediately, heading out to the checkpoint nearest our planned crossing point. Meanwhile, Tatnia, Sheora, and I split off not much longer after that, heading down different streets before ultimately heading in the same direction.

Now, walking around late at night was suspicious enough, but walking around with a child would have gotten us immediately run down by trooper patrols. So, we needed a way to hide the kids as we moved, at least until we were ready to cross out of the main city and into the outskirts. I had it relatively easy since Claron was still a small kid, small even for his age, an unfortunate sign of poor nutrition. With the liberal use of spacers tape, a cut-apart backpack, and some metal cable, we cobbled together a large kiddie carrier backpack. With Claron strapped to my back and some liberal use of green face paint, I looked like a large, green-faced alien with a hump pack. If anyone got close, they would see I was just a human with a painted face and probably make out the kid's form along my back, but quick, passing scans, especially in the dark? It would pass inspection.

As long as it was from a distance.

Tatnia needed a bit of a different setup since Felia was a bit too big to carry on her back. Instead, Julus stole the equivalent of a shopping cart, which we filled with trash. Reluctantly, the young woman crawled inside and constructed a cacoon of trash. It was a bit gross, sure, but now Tatnia looked like a crazy homeless person pushing around her trash.

I suppose some things were just universal.

Again, if anyone got close and poked around in the cart, they would immediately know something was up. So it was up to both of us to sneak around and stay away from roving troopers on patrol.

It took about two hours for me to reach my agreed-upon spot, taking my time and staying out of sight. Most of the trip was spent in back alleys, staying out of yet trying not to look suspicious when I slid under cover whenever Imperial air speeders or TIE fighters flew overhead.

After reaching our spot, I kept watch, looking out over the city outskirts, watching Imperial speeder bikes zip by in pairs. I was glad we could see them at all, considering how dark it was, and being able to spot them as they got close meant we would be able to dodge them better.

After about thirty minutes of waiting, our distraction finally happened.

During our time planning, we quickly realized there were two criteria we needed to meet for the distraction. One, they can't get caught. We could postpone the whole escape attempt if something went wrong and we needed to pull back. But if people got captured or even got spotted well enough to get added to the wanted list? Things would get a lot more difficult. The second was even more obvious. It had to catch and keep the Imperial's attention for as long as possible.

So, to keep things simple and keep everyone as far away from the actual incident as possible, we fell back on a tried, true and proven method. The good old weaponized speeder. The distraction group would quickly steel three speeders and pile them with fuel and some other flammable things from the safehouse, including a few fuel cells and a bunch of blaster packs, all around a core of high-powered explosives, also from the safe house.

Apparently, we were borrowing a significant chunk of what was going to be used to sabotage the Imperial production plant Sheora was originally watching.

The hardest part was waiting for the checkpoint to be clear of civilians, but when that finally happened, the speeders were sent off on their final mission, plowing directly into the checkpoint and exploding into three absolutely massive fireballs, utterly annihilating the entire setup. The explosions were big enough that we felt them from where we were and could easily see the tall billowing flames, our queue to start the crossing. I wasn't exactly happy about blowing up something in the middle of a city, especially such a soft target, but needs must when the devil drives.

Once we saw the fireballs, the speeders making one last pass as they rushed back to the site of the "Attack," we finally left our hiding spot, immediately moving as fast as possible. Trusting the attack to draw everyone's attention, we moved without concern for staying hidden, crossing streets, and pushing through crowds. More than once, we had to stop to let squads of stormtroopers hustle past, heading directly for the area around the now-destroyed checkpoint.

We kept moving for fifteen minutes, making good time with copious doses of Respite to make up for running so much with a child on my back. Eventually, we made it past the transition zone for the city outskirts, so I slowed down considerably. Now that we were past the dangerous part, it was all about blending back into the crowds. We had crossed the no man's land, and now we just needed to avoid attracting any more attention.

Carefully, we slipped through back alleys and abandoned buildings before finally meeting up with Tatnia. She was moving as well, having abandoned the stolen cart once they had started their own, separate crossing of the large transition area. Instead, she was carrying Felia like a much younger child, something Felia clearly wasn't enjoying. Thankfully, Vaz donated one of their strength-enhancing items and traded it out for one of Tatnia's dexterity enhancers.

Eventually, just before we reached the cover of the large pipeline, we caught up with Sheora as well. She looked tired, having just essentially run the same distance we did but without any enhancing enchantment. I quickly gave everyone a dose of Respite, to help everyone keep focused.

"Any troubles?" I asked as we made our way to the cover of the pipeline.

"Almost ran face-first into a patrol," Sheora admitted. "But managed to blend into the crowd before they could spot and identify me."

"We got some looks as we ran, but no one tried to stop us, and we left public spaces a while back," Tatnia explained. "As long as we keep moving, any reports of us will be far behind us."

I nodded and led the now reunited group forward. The pipeline, while also having one massive pipe, was also a conglomerate of dozens of smaller tubes and cables. Together, they created a whole network of messy, connected pathways, which were technically not open to the public. It was the perfect place to hide, especially since it was clearly not somewhere people frequented.

We continued to move away from the central portion of the city at a much less frantic pace. Our primary concern now was staying hidden and not arousing suspicion, which meant acting like we belonged. No doubt there were patrols around, though clearly much fewer than in the central city, where they were hoping to keep everything contained.

Eventually, we slowed to a stop, using a maintenance building as cover. This was our predetermined waiting point for the rest of the team, where they would eventually join us. All there was left to do was wait, several hours in fact, to give the Imperials time to stop freaking out and for the distraction team to rent a couple of speeders.

Tatnia, Sheora, and I all took turns keeping watch, letting the kids doze off along the back side of the maintenance building. We had a pretty decent view of the small building's parking lot, meaning that when, eight hours later, two speeders pulled in, I had plenty of time to gently wake the adults up.

As they climbed out of the speeders, it was clear that the second group hadn't gotten off scot-free.

Vaz, who was the first to step out of the vehicle, had a large bandage around their stomach wrapped over their clothes, while Julus had one on his leg. Nal seemed uninjured but anxious, while Ahsoka seemed unharmed but frustrated.

Quickly, I waved the group over and immediately started healing people as they reached our cover.

"What happened?" I asked once I was sure nobody would drop dead.

"We got snagged by a patrol, and something about us spooked them," Julus explained, stretching his newly healed leg. "They wanted to take us in, but since that would have likely gotten us caught, kinda forced our hands. We took them down quick, though, so with any luck, no one got any messages off."

"Did anyone else see you?"

"No one still alive," Vaz responded. "We were certain to kill the entire squad. Pola's armor kept us from being seriously injured, but the contact burns from the heated metal were unfortunate."

"Better than a blaster wound," Nal added, Vaz nodding in agreement.

"Okay… well, that sounds like it could have been a lot worse," I admitted, giving both Ahsoka and Nal some healing just in case. "Let's make the assumption that your descriptions have gotten out, but not images. Just to be on the safe side."

Ahsoka nodded in agreement before letting out a long sigh as I cast Respite on her. I gave her a raised eyebrow look, and she shook her head.

"I couldn't use my lightsabers or dip into the Force," She explained quietly, looking to the side. "I was pretty much useless the whole time."

"Next time, carry a blaster," I said with a shrug, a response she didn't like, so I continued. "You're obviously not useless. Just having you around to feel any shifts in the Force is a big plus. Plus, now you know you should be carrying a pistol."

"Should have listened to Luke," She said, shaking her head. "He took your words to heart and always carries one, even though he can deflect blaster bolts at a pretty good level now."

"He making good progress?" I asked, trying to distract her from her shortcomings.

"He is. He absorbs my teachings like a sponge. It's incredible," She admits. "Makes me wonder if... his father was like that during his early training."

"Kind of," I said, waffling my hand a bit. "He was under pressure from the prophecy, excluded 'cause his age... and he was already pretty damaged by being a slave at that point, which the order did nothing to help him through, just expected him to let it go..."

"Luke... feels guilty that he isn't quite the answer to all of the Rebellion's problems," She admitted, chewing her lip. "Without you and me helping, I fear he would have struggled under the weight."

"When this is over, maybe we could bring Luke to the station and talk about his guilt," I said before smirking. "Then we can spar. Maybe he can learn a bit."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes but smiled, giving me a small nod before we both turned back to the group. By now, everyone settling in behind the partially abandoned building, having found boxes, barrels, or a mostly clean spot on the ground to sit. The team looked tired, but happy to have completed the first half of their mission.

"Alright, we made it past the primary patrol cordon, now we need to put on some distance," I said, looking between everyone. "We have a few days of travel ahead of us, and I want to be firmly out from under the Star Destroyers before we start looking for a new ride out of here. Let's take a ten-minute breather, do some stretches, and get to it. The sooner we put on some distance, the sooner we-"

Murphy must have been listening, because they clearly didn't like how cleanly everything had been going so far.

A small shout from slightly behind Sheora caught our attention, the sound of a whimpering kid. We all turned to find Felia and Claron, the latter having slid against the wall and rolled slightly, still sleeping soundly but no longer in his sister's lap. Part of Felia must have felt her brother slide away from her, because she was shifting and twitching in her sleep. Sheora, concerned about her ward, knelt down beside her, putting her hand on her shoulder.

"Wait, no, hold-," Ahsoka started to say, but it was too late, as Sheora shook the younger girl awake.

Now, suddenly being woken up from a nightmare can be pretty disorienting, but after days, even a week of stress, about questioning your survival, and that only after years of living on the streets? I could only imagine what Felia's nightmares contained. Her reaction to being startled awake, however, I did not need to imagine, as she opened her eyes with a gasp. A Force blast whipped up and shoved Sheora back, scattering the bits of trash around the young girl as well. The Rebel agent slammed into Vaz, both of them tumbling to the ground, while Julus and Tatnia slid along the side of the building, both of them already on the ground. Even her brother slid further away, though not nearly as far or as violently. Ahsoka, Nal, and I were far enough away that we only stumbled backward, managing to stay on our feet after the first blast.

The young girl was clearly confused and disoriented, and when she couldn't immediately see or feel her brother, her panic only increased, the Force answering her panic with several more waves of force. Finally, after a few seconds, her head cleared enough for her to focus through the panic, her emotions calmed down significantly. Unfortunately, the damage was done. She looked around in fear, pulling her now awake and confused brother against her. She looked over to Ahsoka, eyes wide, her face red with embarrassment, and as she realized what she had done, fear.

"Everyone, MOVE!" I said, shouting to get everyone's attention. "Get in the speeders and Go!"

"I'm sorry! I-" Felia started to say, but I cut her off, kneeling low to look her in the eyes.

"Felia, it's okay. You've done so well staying calm and keeping your connection quiet. This is not your fault. It wasn't fair for us to expect you to have such good control with no training," I explained before looking at Ahsoka. "Can you send out a beacon? Call out to them, I mean really get their attention?"

"Yes, I can. Are you suggesting…?"

"Yeah, they need the extra time," I finished with a nod, before turning to look at everyone else. "What are you all waiting for! I can find every single one of you no matter where you are on the planet! Split up and GO!"

Tatnia, the first to pick up what was going on, nodded and quickly got up, guiding the kids to one of the speeders, while the rest followed behind. Felia looked over her shoulder at me, and I did my best to give her a confident smile before Tatnia guided them into the vehicle. She turned back to look at me, giving me a nod before climbing into the driver's seat and pulling away. The second speeder, with Nal at the wheel, pulled out behind them.

"You realize this is going to be big, right?" Ahsoka said, her eyes closed as she reached out and called to the Force. "Maybe more than we can handle."

"That's why I sent them away. But there is a window. A small window where we might survive," I explained, eyes looking back up to the sky. "They are wannabe Sith, which means their first instinct is clout, power, greed. They don't want to share with whatever Captain or Admiral is really in command. They want to claim whatever juicy little Jedi just stumbled into their web."

"That's… a reasonable assessment," She agreed with a hesitant frown. "It also hinges pretty tightly on us being able to kill the three Inquisitors. Is that your whole plan?"

"Yeah. My plan is to kill the motherfuckers, then run before the rest of the Empire lands on our heads," I explained, looking up into the sky, waiting… watching…

Sure enough, within a few seconds, I spotted them. A single transport, painted black, flying over the city, coming right for us.