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“We have this under wraps.” The words crackled over the comlink confidently. Nova grit his jaw and heaved the crate he was carrying into the lower deck, before turning around to take one more. There were only a few more left on the landing pad. A breeze picked up, and he could hear the rustle of the trees that surrounded the defeated base.
“I mean, obviously, yeah… But… Don’t you think it was too easy?”
“What?” Someone else asked and Nova watched as a few of the troopers stopped, looking at each other.
“The empire usually gives more of a fight, you know? Since they’re so stingy with losing resources and all of that… Don’t you think they would have sent some kind of force user by now?”
“Get back to work. The faster you move, the quicker we’ll be off this planet and back home.” Nova growled, picking up another crate, straining slightly at how heavy it was.
“Yes, sir!” The two troopers replied in unison, hurriedly working together to pick up the last crate. They passed him easily and Nova frowned. Was he really getting that old?
“Here, I’ll help you.” A kind voice spoke, pulling him from his sour thoughts. The commander felt himself breaking into a smile as he watched Ava take the other side of the crate from his grasp. “Is this all?” She asked as they made their way up the ship’s ramp.
“Yes.” He replied, not even bothering to be formal. They were past that point now. “I don’t think we’ve overlooked anything of importance in the storage facilities either. Besides,” He added in a lower tone as they set the crate down. “We need to leave as soon as possible. The longer we stay here, the longer we risk a second attack.”
Ava nodded, lips pursing slightly as she frowned. “Yes. I’m going to alert the pilots for departure.”
Nova nodded, turning away to begin securing the crates and trying them down.
Then suddenly, Ava was yanked screaming off the ship. He watched in horror as her body tumbled down the ramp, as if something invisible was dragging her away.
“AVA!” He roared, pulling his blaster from its holster. Nova raced down the ramp, quickly ordering the ‘troopers on board to follow. He wasn’t prepared for what he saw.
Ava hovered in the air, clawing at her neck with trembling hands. Her legs kicked desperately as she glared down at her attacker with tearful eyes. The cloaked figure who held her with such a powerful grip of the force tilted their head slightly, staring back, foreboding and cruel. Their face was covered with a mask and a large cowl helped to further disguise their features. Ava gurgled slightly, her movements becoming more jerky as her eyes began to roll into her head, face reddening into purple.
“Open fire!” Nova commanded, quickly firing some shots at Ava’s aggressor. A dark part of his mind whispered that his attack was useless. Compared to this mystery being, his attempts were nothing but childsplay. Angered, Nova quickly squashed those thoughts and moved forwards, only to roll away as the shots of his blasters were returned with the sweep of a hand.
“Goddamnit.” He snarled, squeezing off a few more shots behind a destroyed speeder, an early remnant from a battle before. Ava was still in the air, but this time, she wasn’t moving as much as she was before.
Nova’s eyes desperately flitted around as the comms grew staticky with the voices of panicked ‘troopers. There. Spying a blaster cannon lying a few meters away, the commander quickly dashed for it. He kept low, not wanting to attract the attention of the Sith individual, who was busy returning the fire of his squadron, occasionally having the chance to throw a ‘trooper aside.
Nova quickly set the blaster back up. Taking aim, he fired, hearing its dull hum and the explosion of the barrell. He watched the bolt soar. It landed besides the Sith, exactly where he wanted it to land, and watched as they were blown aside. Their grip on Ava vanished and the general collapsed on the ground, gasping as she rubbed at her throat. She sat up, choking and coughing.
Nova leapt forwards, racing for her. “Ava! Get up! We need to get on that ship!” Reaching her, he began to pull her up.
“Nova!” She croaked, shoving him to the side and reaching for the saber hilt slung at her hip. He stumbled away, watching as her yellow blade sprung to life and met the crackling red of the Sith’s own saber. The screech of the two weapons echoed in his ears, making him wince. The Sith attacker leaned forwards, using their larger height to try and make Ava buckle. Her eyes were wide and panicked, but her jaw was set with grim determination.
“Prepare the ship for departure.” Nova snarled over the comms, before beginning to fire at the Sith attacker. They forced Ava’s saber down in an arc, before jumping back to parry the bolts. Taking advantage of the distraction, Ava lurched forwards, bringing her saber down at their shoulder. They blocked, using one hand to force push her away. She was prepared and only slid back a couple of feet. Nova fired some more shots, only to feel himself be propelled backwards.
The world spun as he crashed into the ground, breath stolen and chest burning. Pushing himself back up with a groan, he watched Ava fight the Sith attacker. It was like a deadly dance, their alluring movements fluid and filled with so much power. Ava, knowing it was only a matter of time before the Empire arrived with more reinforcements, grew desperate. Her attacks became more violent, and she viciously swiped at the Sith attacker relentlessly. They danced away, grabbing a twisted piece of molten metal, and throwing it in her direction with a pull of the force.
Ava cut right through it, an angry scream tearing up her throat. Her hand snaked out, snatching onto the Sith attacker. Taken aback by such a blatant attack, they struggled to fight her invisible grasp, but as her hand curled into a fist, they began to writhe helplessly in the air. Their saber fell deactivated from their hand, clattering to the ground in an echo.
And with a sickening crack, they fell still.
As Ava let go, they crumpled to the ground. She fell to her knees, saber deactivating, and sobbed softly. Nova scrambled up and raced over to her. “Come on,” He managed gently as he grabbed her by the arm and lifted her up, draping it over his shoulders. Tears streamed down her cheeks, staining them red. Her eyes were rimmed with a sickly yellow, but the color was beginning to fade. Nova couldn’t really fathom what had just happened, but he pushed his fears aside and quickly pulled her onboard the ship.
As the shuttle roared to life and began to make its accent to the atmosphere, Nova quickly performed a mental count, relieved to find that no one had been killed, only injured. Sitting down on one of the benches, he pulled Ava closer to him. She cried softly, burying her face in his shoulder.
It would be awhile before they could feel safe again.
