Inevitable {Tech}

Chapter Fourteen: Escape

Cass grit her teeth in the cold as she squatted at the top of the ridge, right above where Tech told her to go. There were fewer ships stationed there, most likely because she was last seen on the other side of the mountain and troops had been sent that direction. She scoped the terrain and to no surprise, there were a few clones patrolling the area. If she caused a scene and couldn't get away before the troopers reported her, she was dead. Getting off the planet unnoticed was going to be a difficult feat, but she had no other option than to be successful.

She wove through the trees and came across an MTT in the distance, sitting lifelessly in the rubble. It was directed towards the troopers, who saw no harm in it since the droids were all deactivated. She had an idea, and it wasn't exactly as stealthy as she planned. But perhaps a distraction was all she needed.

She slid further down the mountain, and braced herself against a tree. She reached a hand out and closed her eyes, then reached for the armored assault ship. It slowly cranked to the right, aiming right past the troopers. She felt the interiors scuffling and metal scraping against metal, her skin raised at the sensation. With a concentrated exhale and a squeeze of her hand, the tank blasted and hit the mountain behind the squadron. All their heads turned around, searching for the the source, but they all mumbled between each other when no other blasts ensued.

So she shot again. At the second blast, the troopers rounded together in search of the origin. They scattered around, laced through the opposite trees, and left an opening for Cass to slip through. She didn't have time to choose a specific ship, but rather she hopped into the closest one she could get to. She flung the hatch open of an ARC-17 and powered it up as quickly as her fingers could flip switches and turn knobs. Her breaths were heavy as she closed the top and fired up the engine. As the ship lifted and she throttled it through the air, a twittering beep passed through the comms. She pulled back on the steering and glanced hurriedly over her shoulder, only to find a red astromech droid planted in the hull.

"ALERT! ALERT! JEDI!" the droid bleeped in its own binary code.

"Dank farrik!" she growled and slapped her hand against the eject, sending the droid out into the thin atmosphere. She turned on the thrusters and rocketed into the black of space in hope that she raced out fast enough for the droid's message to be worthless. She shut off her locator frantically, just as she had done with her comms system, and input a course to Saleucami. Without checking her fuel tank, she frantically yanked the hyperspace lever and watched as the empty black became blindingly blue.

She slumped into her seat and rested her head back, then tried to slow her breaths the best she could. She prayed to the Maker that she was quick enough to shut down her tracker, for she knew she would immediately be shot into oblivion when it came time for the ship to halt. She angrily hit the dashboard, cursing at herself for letting the mistake slip. She should have checked. She should have known the droids were loaded. It was so simple.

And now she was sure there was a Republic alert for a reconnaissance starfighter being manned by an idiot who didn't double check for any kriffing astromechs.

She stretched her hands over her face and rested her elbows on her knees, then ran her trembling fingers through her frizzed hair. She tried to reach out in the force but only felt disturbance and turmoil. She feared for the worse and imagined how many had fallen already. How many Masters like Depa Billaba were killed though they were strong? How many young ones were slaughtered because they were too weak?

Caleb.

At the thought of him, she keeled over and her heart heavied with anguish. She shouldn't have left him. She thought going along with Tech's rational commands was the best option for her survival—and she indeed was still alive thanks to him—but at what cost?