𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓 ── ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɴᴅᴀʟᴏʀɪᴀɴ

1.0

TEN.
the ice cave

🔹️🔹️🔹️

The room was filled with the frog lady's horrific screams as Din piloted the ship down towards the nearest planet at full speed, the X-Wings following close behind. I took a deep breath in, not expecting the chase to be this intense. I briefly looked out a window and studied the clouds. I couldn't see the planet at all -- we were too up high to see the land below.

"Razor Crest, stand down. We will fire," One of the pilots said. "I repeat, we will fire."

Din ignored their warnings and continued to swerve the Razor Crest around hastily, trying to get the X-Wings off our tails. Suddenly, Din started steering the ship downwards, leaning into the rudder.

My pulse began to rush, "Din, this old thing's not gonna--"

"I know what I'm doing..!" He snapped.

As if on cue, he stopped the ship, causing the ship to drop at a rapid pace. The frog lady held onto the walls of the ship and screeched. I held my breath, feeling my heart fall to the pit of my stomach.

Once the Razor Crest was close enough to see the ground, Din adjusted his grasp on the accelerator and stabilized the ship, piloting it towards a nearby canyon. From what I could see, the area was filled with snow and ice; icicles and sharp edges were all over the ravine on this Hoth-like planet. 

The X-Wings were slowly inching towards our ship with their blasters prepared, persisting with the chase,"Come on, Razor Crest, don't make us do it."

Din was quick to improvise, though. 

He navigated the ship around a sharp corner and through a narrow ice cave, losing the X-Wings. He grunted, using all of his strength to maneuver it inside the cavern. The ship was barely able to fit through, and it crashed into several ice barriers while sliding across the slick floor.

"Hold on..!" Din exclaimed to both me and the frog lady. 

Din held onto the rudder, the Razor Crest sliding through the ice at an alarming speed with the top of the cave exposing our position. He pushed on different controls; the ship bumping into rough stone on the way.

Almost immediately, the Razor Crest crashed into the back of the cave with a loud thud, the top of the cavern hiding the craft -- the X-Wings flew right past the damaged ship's location. The three of us exhaled and stayed still, steadying our breaths.

"I've lost visual, he's gotta be around here somewhere," Carson said into the com's channel, his voice cutting out. "You head north. We'll cover more ground."

Din glanced behind at me and whispered, holding a hand out in front of him, "You okay?"

"Yeah," I replied softly, brushing my fingers across his palm. "You?"

"I'm fine." He muttered under his breath, turning back around to meddle with the controls on his ship -- he was planning to flee the planet, out of sight from the X-Wing pilots.

I closed my eyes for a brief second, processing everything that had just happened inside my mind. I peered at the frog lady, listening to her cries. She took off her seatbelt in a hurry, seemingly wanting to check on her eggs in the lower level of the ship. But at that exact moment, a deep grumble could be heard outside, making her freeze.

The Razor Crest was sinking into the ice.. into the abyss below.

The frog lady gasped, holding onto the walls of the ship once more. She looked around anxiously while Din frantically studied his control panel. I cursed under my breath.