“Let’s get out of here!” she shouted to BB-8 as she cranked the accelerator.
The engine rose to a whine as they picked up speed, the orange sand flowing like a rippling ocean beneath them.
BB-8 beeped to her over the sound of the engine.
“Glad you like the speeder!” Rey yelled. “I built it myself! I don’t think anyone else could drive it—it’s really cranky!”
She shot a glance over her shoulder.
The thugs had gotten on their own bikes and soon both they and Teedo were catching up fast. The whine of their smaller speeders rose to a scream as they pushed the vehicles to their limit.
BB-8 beeped frantically. All his lights were on and his body was whirring pointlessly in the net.
“Stop fretting!” Rey punched the accelerator and her speeder shot ahead. “I’ve got this covered.”
The speeder couldn’t go faster, though. There was no way to outrun them.
“Hang on.” She slowed, bouncing BB-8. He beeped indignantly.
Teedo and the thugs swung up on either side of Rey’s speeder, yelling at her in their gruff tongue. Rey glanced left and right. The smaller speeders swung in to ram her.
“Here we go!” she shouted, and bracing herself, she hit the brake hard.
The speeder dropped downward sharply and the thugs crashed into each other. Rey shot ahead just above the sand, glancing behind her. A thrill of satisfaction rose in her when she saw the wreckage of the two small speeders piled like so much twisted metal, black smoke rising from the mess.
BB-8 beeped encouragement from his net.
“Thanks,” Rey exhaled. “I didn’t think it was a bad job, either.”
She straightened up a little, keeping the speeder on course, and wiped her forehead with her sleeve.
“That’s two down. Now it’s just Teedo left.” He was following on his speeder not far behind. Unfortunately, he was a much better driver than his buddies.
“Come here,” Rey murmured. She powered down the speeder slightly, hoping to get Teedo to come closer. At the same time, she cruised toward a crashed Star Destroyer just ahead.
Lured by the slower speed, Teedo sped up until he was just behind them.
“Now, how about this?” Rey muttered as she suddenly accelerated.
The big speeder shot forward, dangerously close to the edge of the destroyer.
Rey aimed her speeder along the perimeter and grabbed her staff from the net. She dragged it along the edge of the destroyer. Zing A piece flew off and crashed into Teedo’s speeder. She heard him curse as he ducked, but he held his course. Zing She knocked another chunk of the ship toward Teedo, then another.
BB-8 let out a warning alarm as metal bounced off his head.
“Sorry, buddy,” Rey answered.
Just ahead, a big panel hung loose. Rey kept the speeder steady with her knees and gripped her staff in both hands.
“Uggh!” she grunted as she knocked the panel off with the help of the speeder.
The panel fell onto Teedo, almost knocking him off his bike and forcing him to slow down.
“Finally!” Rey guided her speeder ahead, with the wind whipping through her sweaty hair.
“Turns out you’re quite a popular droid! Everyone wants to either eat you or take you apart.”
The droid beeped at her.
“Yes!” Rey said. “Exactly like with that nightwatcher worm. Let’s go pay him a visit.”
BB-8 beeped nervously.
“Yes, I’m sure it’s the best idea. And Teedo’s right behind us, so let’s go.”
Rey leaned into her speeder, swooping around the big hull of the Star Destroyer, looking for an opening.
“There!” She spotted a black hole and swooped through.
It was quiet and shadowy inside the ship’s hull. Wind whistled through the opening above. The sand had blown in for many years, making a thick bed inside.
“Don’t panic, but this is a nightwatcher worm den. One of the old scavengers told me about it.”
Rey circled slowly above the ground.
The droid whirred loudly in his net.
“I am your friend.” Rey brought the speeder down gently on a metal outcropping just above the sand.
“Trust me. Didn’t I rescue you before? You think I’m going to just let you get eaten after all that trouble?” Rey crouched beside the speeder.
“Just wait for it! And don’t make any more noise. No sense in attracting a nightwatcher before we have to.”
Just then, a crashing, clanking noise came from overhead, along with the brrrr of an engine. A shadow darkened the entrance and Teedo tore down into the ship. He pulled up short when he saw them, and Rey leapt down from the ledge.
She put her hands on her hips.
“If you want the droid, Teedo, you’re going to have to come and get him. Let’s see if you can,” she goaded.
BB-8 let out several loud beeps from his net.
“Shhh!” Rey hissed. “Didn’t I say to trust me?”
Teedo lowered his bike to the sand and parked it, watching Rey all the time. She could tell he suspected something—he just didn’t know what. Slowly, Teedo walked toward the edge where BB-8 dangled in his net. A blaster was in his hand.
“Come on,” Rey breathed. “Come on, little worm. Nice junk for you here. Nice junk.”
If her plan was going to work, a worm would have to detect their presence before Teedo reached BB-8. She had made the droid a sitting duck. Teedo walked a step closer, never taking his eyes off the droid. He raised the blaster. The sand under Rey’s feet stayed still.
“Come on,” she whispered. Teedo took another step. He suspected a trap. Another step. Rey’s heart pounded in her ears.
Then, under her feet, a ripple, then a rumbling. A worm!
“Time’s up, Teedo!” Rey shouted, just as the worm burst through the sand, mouth gaping, and jerked Teedo’s speeder into its jaws before slithering back under the sand.
Teedo scrambled up the hull, frantically clinging to the bits of metal and wire as he grappled toward the opening overhead.
He pulled himself up and out, and a moment later, his footsteps pounded on the outside of the hull over their heads.
Rey smiled as she mounted her speeder and kicked it into high gear.
The droid let out a string of loud beeps at her side.
Rey did a loop around the side of the destroyer and shot out into the sunlight.
“Teedo will be fine!” she yelled to BB-8. “But he is going to need a new bike.
“Thank you!” Rey called back to the worm. “Enjoy your meal!”
She aimed the speeder at Niima Outpost, and together, she and BB-8 flew over the sand, straight toward the rising sun.
A Message from Maz:
Here, let’s have another cup of tea. See? I finished mine so quickly. You too? Let me heat the kettle again on the coals. Now hold out your cup. I’ll fill yours, then mine. Oooh! Too hot! I’ve burned my tongue. Here, I’ll put our cups in the grass. The night dew will cool them. It just goes to show you, sometimes we need to be patient, when dealing with tea—or with our friends. We want the best for them even when they can’t see it themselves. But letting them make their own decisions is what a true friend does, no? And sometimes just being a friend can make you a hero….
“Ketsu Onyo!” Sabine Wren whirled from the Ghost’s control panel and stared at Hera, the Twi’lek leader of Phoenix Squadron.
“Ketsu is willing to help us with this mission? Great! We could use her skills.”
Ketsu was Sabine’s oldest friend from the Imperial Academy, but they hadn’t parted on the best terms. Ketsu took up with a criminal group called Black Sun—a rough crowd. She showed up trying to steal a droid carrying intelligence while Sabine was on a rebel mission. In the old days, the two of them had worked like one mind in separate bodies. But Ketsu seemed different when Sabine saw her again—harder, angrier. They almost dueled, and Sabine had wondered if Ketsu might really kill her.
But then they were discovered by Imperial forces. With their old combination of guts and brains, they had escaped—together.
Ever since, Sabine had hoped that Ketsu might come back, work with the rebels. She’d been pressing Hera to get Ketsu on a good rebel mission—to convince her that she had a place in the Rebellion.
Hera turned from the radar screen, her brow creased.
“Ketsu has left Black Sun. I know her skills are considerable. But you will remember that Ketsu was not ready to join the Rebellion when we last met her. If she has changed her mind, she hasn’t told me. She is willing to help us with this mission. But that’s all she would commit to.”
They were nearing Garel City, where the mission was to secure food rations for those in need.
“I’ll drop you near the spaceport. You’ll meet Ketsu there.”
Sabine nodded and sighed. “All right,” she said. “I understand.”
Hera calmly steered the Ghost through space. Below them, the lights of Garel twinkled brighter and brighter as they approached the planet. She kept an eye out for a hangar where she could set down the Ghost and spoke without turning.
“It is not always easy to convince someone to join the Rebellion, Sabine. Remember that. Remember how you yourself had to be convinced. She must have the will to join with others to increase her strength—something you need to remember, as well, since you hold yourself away from others so often.”
She spun around and fixed Sabine with a stern look. Sabine dropped her eyes.
“Ketsu is used to working alone, and only for profit. I don’t know if she will give that up—yet.”
Hera turned back to the controls.
“Garel City approaching. Prepare to land for mission drop-off.”
The crates were poking her in the back. Sabine reached behind her and shoved one out of the way. That entrance to the Garel City Spaceport was fairly deserted, which was good because there weren’t many places to hide. Sabine turned the thought of her old friend Ketsu over in her mind. Ketsu was tough, unapologetic, and ruthless. She’d bounced around plenty—working for the Empire, then as a bounty hunter, and finally for Black Sun. Maybe this mission would convince Ketsu that the next group she should be a part of was the Rebellion.
Sabine scanned the area. A cleaning droid whirred by, carrying a mop. She looked at her chrono. Ketsu was late and Sabine was getting more and more cramped in her hiding place behind the crates. Maybe Ketsu wasn’t going to show. Maybe she’d decided she didn’t want to be part of the mission after all. Sabine sighed. Maybe she wasn’t going to get to work with her old friend again.
The cleaning droid finished whatever it was doing and whirred off. The place was empty, and still no Ketsu. Looks like this’ll be a solo mission after all, Sabine thought. She activated her comlink to let Hera know. Her fingers felt heavy, like her heart. She raised her wrist to her mouth. Then a slender figure clad in black suddenly landed beside her in a graceful crouch.
“Ketsu!” Sabine resisted the urge to throw her arms around her friend. Instead, she slapped her on the back. She looked the same as the last time Sabine had seen her. Thin and tough as wire, with her dark hair shaved on the sides. “I didn’t see you coming in.”
Ketsu gave her usual grin.
“That’s because I’m good.”
“Black Sun taught you that?” Sabine asked.
Ketsu’s mouth twisted. “Let’s just say, their methods weren’t always ones I prefer. I figure I work best alone. But I wanted to help on this mission.”
Sabine pretended to be checking her blaster.
“You know, Ketsu, you don’t have to work alone. You can join the rebels. We want you in the family.”
She eyed her friend sideways. Sabine had always been able to see the softness under Ketsu’s hard surface.
Ketsu’s brow furrowed and she stuck out her jaw.
“I’m fine. I don’t need another family, okay? Let’s just get on with the mission.”
Sabine grinned. “All right. All right. Let’s see if we still have that old magic.”
She stepped out from behind the stack of crates and, with Ketsu close behind, gingerly pressed a button for the door set into the back wall of the spaceport. Ketsu motioned to the door—which remained closed.
“It’s not opening, Wren,” she whispered.
Sabine glanced around to make sure no one was watching them. They had to get through this door, then into the restricted section inside. That was where they would find their target. But the place was crawling with stormtroopers. She glanced down at her and Ketsu’s scarred and dented armor. Sabine’s was covered with her own wild designs. They didn’t exactly blend in. Sabine hoped they could do this without being spotted.
Sabine thumbed the door’s activation button again. Nothing. It was locked, of course.
“Hang on, let me try to bypass this.” She crouched by the panel next to the door and started pressing buttons.
Ketsu looked left and right.
“Forget that. Stand back, will you?” She pulled out her blaster. A flash of blue light exploded from the end, leaving a neat smoking hole in the door. “No code needed.”
“Not when you’re around, apparently.” Sabine put her hand through the hole and activated the door from the inside.
“Now let’s get in there before someone comes to investigate.”
They walked inside the spaceport, the door sliding shut behind them. They were in a central holding area, vast and stacked with more crates on all sides. The place was deserted—for the moment. Almost immediately, Sabine spotted a restricted door with a bright-yellow emblem at the end of the enormous space. Blasters out, she headed toward it, with Ketsu covering her back.
“This is feeling pretty familiar, doing this together,” Sabine said. She advanced steadily on the door.
“Just what I was thinking. Some things you never forget.”
Something skittered in the corner, and Ketsu swung around, staff ready.
“Ahhh, just a mouse or something.”
Sabine punched in the activation code on the keypad beside the door that led to the restricted area.
“Now that you’ve left Black Sun, your armor will need a repaint.”
The door beeped and slid back. “I could do that for you.”
She’d always painted her own armor. Ketsu would remember.
“You’ll need it if you do join the Rebellion full-time, you know.”
“I appreciate that, Sabine. But like I said, I’m just not sure I’m ready to join the rebels yet. I’m used to working on my own, you know. That’s a hard habit to shake.”
Sabine looked around. The room was filled with more boxes, but she still didn’t see the mission target. A dark, narrow hallway led away from the room. It looked like they’d have to enter it to find what they were looking for.
“Easy now,” Sabine murmured.
They both knew that the deeper into the spaceport they moved, the more stormtroopers would be around.
They stepped into the hallway, but immediately Ketsu yanked Sabine back. Two heavily armed stormtroopers passed across the end of the hall. When the stormtroopers were gone, Sabine nodded at Ketsu and they entered the hallway once more, making their way down the passage into a small room with armored walls and loading doors at one end.
“We’re here. Hera said the cargo would be at loading bay nineteen.” Sabine eyed the doors. “We’ll have to get through the doors to get the food.”
Ketsu came up beside her. “Food for the Rebellion? I’ll admit this isn’t the kind of mission I had in mind. I didn’t exactly picture myself liberating some food scraps. How about taking down some Imperials instead?”
Sabine inspected the doors. They were heavily fortified with strips of durasteel across a thick frame.
“Well, it’s not always about combat. Sometimes the mission is about helping people in need.”
She eyed the activation panel. There was no telling what would be behind the doors. They’d have t
o be ready. She drew her blaster.
“Next time, pick a mission with a little more kick,” quipped Ketsu.
“Okay, this is it.” Sabine punched in the activation code. The doors hissed open.
The mission target, a specific crate, was there, all right, just like Hera had said. And so was a group of stormtroopers, surrounding the crate and pointing blasters straight at the women.
“Maybe I spoke too soon about that kick!” Ketsu shouted as they both flung themselves sideways behind a pile of metal panels.
Pew! Pew The stormtroopers fired, the blasts ricocheting off the panels. Ketsu stuck her head up for an instant, fired off several blasts, then ducked down.
Sabine aimed at the lead stormtrooper and hit him square in the back. He fell to the floor with a clatter.
“Nice!” Ketsu yelled.
The troopers rushed the pile they were hiding behind and Ketsu rose up, Sabine right behind her, firing with two blasters now. Ketsu moved across the floor, blasting bolt after bolt. She caught another trooper under the chin and he crumpled.
Sabine grabbed one of the metal panels and held it up as a shield as she fired at a trooper moving in on Ketsu. The blast caught the edge of the food crate and the front of the crate fell open.
The crate wasn’t just full of rations. A little refugee Chadra-Fan boy crouched inside, his eyes wide with fear, a half-eaten ration bar dangling from one hand. He must have been in the middle of his snack when the shooting started.
“A stowaway! Oh, this just got a lot harder!” Sabine yelled to Ketsu.
Sabine eyed a trooper circling her slowly, aiming his blaster.
“You wanted exciting, old friend? Now it’s a rescue mission! That do the trick for you?”
“Absolutely!” Ketsu suddenly rushed the group of stormtroopers, getting one with a roundhouse kick.
“Sweet dreams!” she grunted, elbowing another in the chin. He hit the floor hard, his helmet clanging against the ground. A trooper fired and Ketsu’s blaster arced through the air. She was disarmed!
The stormtrooper laughed. “Too bad,” he said, and took aim.
Star Wars Forces of Destiny: Daring Adventures, Volume 1 Page 2
