Amber crouched down next to Nathan behind the green bush. It did little to hide them but that was the plan. Amber couldn’t settle her pounding heart. She could hear the Stormtrooper’s footsteps as they marched across the landscape. When one came into view, Amber shot at him. Her blaster bolt hit him in the side and he fell. What does a trooper’s armor do? She thought. They can’t stop a blaster bolt.
That got the attention of the others and they pointed their blasters at her and Nathan. Amber ducked lower as the blaster shots sailed over her head. She fired her own shots at two other Stormtroopers. Nathan grabbed her hand and dragged her through the surrounding forest as they weaved in and out of trees, pursued closely by the Stormtroopers.
Amber glanced over her shoulder now and then to see the white armored men following them. Her eyes widened with fear as they closed in. The troopers were a lot faster than she and Nathan were. “Seraphina! Now would be a great time to jump in!” A yellow lightsaber crossed Amber’s vision as Nathan parried several blasts away. Three of the shots that were deflected hit a few of the Stormtroopers. The three that fell caused others to stumble over their bodies. But they were still too close for Amber’s comfort.
As Amber and Nathan passed a tree with vines curling around its trunk, Seraphina jumped out and ignited her sapphire blue saber. She cut through five troopers before following Nathan and Amber while deflecting the blasts that the soldiers tried to shoot at the fleeing trio. The troopers followed them. Dabir’s plan seemed to be working.
Amber stumbled on a tree root. She cringed as pain flared up her ankle but she continued on, limping slightly. Their pace slowed due to Amber’s ankle which had started to swell up and was turning a purplish-black.
Seraphina continued to deflect the oncoming shots as Dabir joined them and they began leading them away from the base. Amber could see Seraphina tense suddenly and she almost missed the red blaster bolt that would have impacted into her shoulder if she had waited another second. Amber heard Nathan scowl and she looked at him.
“Is something wrong?” Amber asked as she tried to ignore the painful throb in her right ankle. She tried to keep her face as impassive as possible.
Nathan looked at her briefly before continuing to drag her away. “I sensed that something was wrong.”
“Well we’re being chased by dozens of Stormtroopers if that’s what you mean…”
Nathan shook his head. “It’s not that. I sense…darkness.”
Amber looked up at the clear sky as the sun shone through the branches and bright green leaves. “Well, there won’t be a thunderstorm.”
A flash of red in front of Nathan caused Amber to falter. She regretted stopping when Nathan jerked on her arm, making her stumble and pain shot up her leg. A tall man dressed in black and wearing a mask stepped out from behind a tree, a red lightsaber in his hand. Amber scowled as she readied her blaster. She was starting to hate lightsabers; especially when they belonged to the man who was currently hunting them down.
Amber swayed as she struggled to remain on her feet. She raised her blaster towards Mr. Tall, Dark, and Creepy and prepared to fire when she noticed that she couldn’t pull the trigger. She was frozen. First Order officers. She thought. They don’t play fair. That and they don’t stand still long enough for me to shoot them.
Amber could easily tell that Seraphina, Dabir, and the Stormtroopers were no longer behind her. The two Jedis must’ve led them away. Nathan stood in front of her, his lightsaber held in his hands as he glared at the man. Amber watched as Nathan and Mr. Tall, Dark, and Creepy (as Amber decided to call him since the name fit perfectly.) engaged in combat. Lightsaber crashed against lightsaber. Sparks flew and the air was filled with the hissing and crackling of light swords. Red and yellow, red and yellow, red and yellow. Those were the colors that flashed across Amber’s vision.
The two Force-users whirled and moved with unbelievable speed as they continued fighting. Amber’s heart pounded; from both fear and excitement of the fight before her. The man in black swept his saber up towards Nathan’s shoulder and Nathan screamed in pain as the red beam created a laceration in his shoulder and Amber screamed his name, the Force releasing her from the man’s hold.
“Nathan!” she yelled. She turned her weapon on the man she knew she could not beat. But she didn’t care right now. She fired three rapid fire shots at the man as Nathan dropped to his knees, clutching his shoulder with his right hand.
The man simply blocked her attacks and moved towards her. She instinctively took a step backwards but fell when pain shot through her ankle. She looked up at the menacing black mask of the man who towered over her. She couldn’t move again but she couldn’t tell if it was from the man who still held his blood-colored saber or from her own fear.
A dark presence brushed up against her mind and she suddenly panicked. She had a pretty good idea at what he was doing. She raised her mental barriers as her father had once taught her to do in order to guard her mind against intrusions. She could feel the darkness pound against her barriers. With one strike against her shields, they shattered and she gasped as he flooded her mind.
He was in, and all Amber could do was stare up at his mask. She could feel him go through her memories and she tried to raise her shields but with no such luck.
What’s her name? She flinched and nausea began bubbling in her stomach when she heard his voice in her mind. It took her a second to realize that he meant Seraphina.
As soon as the memory of Seraphina talking with her in the shuttle rose up, she tried to shove it down quickly but the man caught it before she could dispose of it. He watched the memory and then spoke again.
Seraphina Skywalker. He said the name with familiarity. The daughter of Rey Skywalker and granddaughter of Luke. Fascinating.
Amber shuddered as he withdrew from her mind and she felt like crying. She tried to force her emotions down as her throat constricted, refusing the urge to sob. The man grabbed her upper arm and hauled her up roughly. Amber gasped as she put pressure on her injured ankle. A group of Stormtroopers marched over.
“Sir,” one of them said. “We lost the two Jedi as well as most of our men.”
Amber felt herself grin despite the pain. Her ankle throbbed and the grip on her arm was tight. “While I am displeased that you managed not to capture the two Jedi, we will deal with these two for now.” The man in black gestured towards Nathan who looked as if he were ready to pass out. “Take him aboard my shuttle and be careful. He is strong with the Force.”
The troopers nodded and moved towards Nathan. The man dragged Amber through the forest. She could do nothing but let him lead her away from her friends. The pain in her ankle was too much. The grip on her bicep didn’t loosen and she was pretty sure that a bruise would form from his hold.
When they neared a gray shuttle, the ramp lowered and the man dragged Amber onboard and threw her onto one of the seats inside. Amber was glad to sit since it meant relieving the pressure on her ankle. Nathan was placed in a chair a bit further from her. He was unconscious and the cut on his shoulder was red and made Amber grimace at the sight of it. Mr. Tall, Dark, and Creepy stood nearby, obviously making sure she didn’t run away, though that wasn’t going to happen. Black spots danced in her vision and Amber felt herself drift into unconsciousness.