The Tragic Jedi | Anakin Skywalker

𝓢𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓮 𝟖𝟕

❈✱❉✤❈✱❉

Rocks slipped and skidded down the canyon edge into which Obi-Wan's home was built as Astrid half slid, half sprinted down the rocky terrain to the canyon floor below. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her to recoil and hide away from the dark presence that had descended on Tatooine, but for Obi-Wan and her children, she would risk her life to draw the Imperial forces-- to draw Darth Vader-- away from Obi-Wan's home.

Her breathing was ragged in her ears as she finally reached the canyon floor. Her feet kicked up sand as she sprinted down the canyon towards her waiting starfighter. She heard the zoom of a spaceship above her, and she glanced up in time to see three TIE fighters zipping past her in a streak of black.

The sight of the TIE fighters set her heart racing even further, and she quickened her sprint. When she finally reached the beginning of the canyon to where her starfighter sat waiting, a wave of relief engulfed her. Astrid was almost surprised to find it intact and unharmed by the Empire, if not by the nearby Tusken Raiders.

Astrid swiftly swung herself into the cockpit and revved up the engines, heart thundering with adrenaline. Her starfighter lifted up into the air with a plume of sand, and Astrid's backside slammed into the back of her seat when her starfighter shot forward. She kept her starfighter low to the ground so as to reduce the visibility of her ship, though her efforts were probably futile since the TIE fighters were above her and would therefore be able to spot her easily.

She steered her ship away from Mos Eisley so as to put less people at risk of injury should the Empire decide to attack her. It wouldn't do anyone any good if her ship exploded from blaster fire when there was a lot of people around her.

One of her ship's rear detectors began to beep, signaling someone was behind her, and Astrid glanced over her shoulder to find a single TIE fighter trailing right behind her.

They'd already located her?

A thrill of alarm rushed through her.

Astrid executed a series of twists and turns and dives around the nearby canyon and rock mountains in an attempt to lose the TIE fighter's tail or cause them to crash against the canyon walls, but they stuck to her tail like glue. Astrid felt a flare of annoyance at the TIE fighter's persistence.

Who was piloting that thing? They were one hell of a pilot to be able to keep so tight on her tail after all of her wild maneuvers.

Astrid spotted the familiar sight of the flat-toped mountain, Ben's Mesa, around which the track of the Boonta's Eve Classic-- the podracing competition Anakin had competed in so long ago-- wound. Perhaps she could lose the TIE fighter if she flew around the podracing track, but that was only if she didn't crash, herself. She'd never flown through the podracing track before-- only Anakin had-- and from what she had seen of the race track, it looked treacherous.

But if flying through the track was the only way to get rid of this TIE fighter, then she would do it. She had to do it.

Astrid quickly swerved her starfighter towards Ben's Mesa. She glanced back to see if the TIE fighter was still following her; they were still on her tail. She smiled grimly. Ben's Mesa loomed closer and closer, and Astrid spotted a small gap to the side of the stadium stands that lined either side of the starting line.

Her starfighter shot through the gap and onto the racetrack, and she found herself hurtling across an open expanse of desert towards a narrow gap that cleaved through a vertical wall of rock. A jolt of alarm shot through her at the sight of the narrow gap through which she would be forced to squeeze her starfighter through.