"Vasili! Luke! Somebody!" Sindo's cries of alarm rang through the cramped cockpit. "Those Y-Wings are going to swing around and-"

"We're here," said Luke, dragging Vasili along. "What about the children?"

"Right here, sir!" young Paul's voice answered through the comm. "We're ready to lift off!"

Luke dropped Vasili into the co-pilot's seat, then leaned against the wall. "Then let's go," he said.

The ship lurched upward with surprising speed. Vasili gripped his chair, groaning in pain. He suddenly looked around as if waking up from a dream. "Where's the Sergeant?!" he said.

"He's here," said Sindo. "I put him in the lounge. One of those aliens... they really hurt him, Vasili."

Vasili groaned again, then turned it into a growl. "Just get us off this dump, Sindo."

"Realistically?" she said. "I don't think I can."

Vasili turned to her. Her jaw was clenched as she directed all power to the engines, blasting the Righteous through the fog and into the dreary yellow skies of Dagobah.

"Paul? You with me?" she asked.

"Y-yes!" came the young man's reply. "I see you! I'll keep up!"

"Good," she said. Despite her response, Vasili heard the note of defeat in her tone.

"What are we going to do about those Y-Wings?" said Vasili. "They'll be on us in a minute. We can't outrun those fighters!"

Sindo said nothing.

"I'll get on that gun," said Vasili. "I'm sure it can..."

"Relax," said Luke. "We can't fight our way out of this."

"What?!" Vasili snapped.

All at once, the three Y-Wings appeared on their starboard side. One suddenly slowed and disappeared behind them.

"That one's gonna blast us!" said Vasili. "Gun it, Sindo!"

"I already am!"

"I'm getting on the gun," Vasili muttered, forcing himself up from his seat. He hissed at the stabbing pain in his ribs.

"Please sit down," said Luke.

Vasili sat without thinking. Turning to Luke, he saw him staring at a small, round communicator - which he had taken from Lucitor Reo during their battle. Vasili opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he saw that Luke was concentrating as if summoning the force of his will. Finally he activated the communicator.

"Y-Wing pilot?" said Luke.

"Who is this?!" a voice immediately responded. "Identify yourself!"

"You need to check on Lucitor Reo. If he's been harmed, you will be in trouble."

Vasili and Sindo shared a look.

"We need to check on Lucitor Reo," the voice on the comm repeated. "If he's been harmed, we'll be in trouble."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

One of the Y-Wings turned away, then another followed.

"Sir, they're gone!" Paul's voice rang through the control panel communicator.

"What did you just do?" said Sindo. "Or... do I really want to know?"

She turned to him, expecting to see the Jedi looking cocky. Instead, his face hung slack. He looked gray and bloodless, blinking slowly as if unable to concentrate. Disturbed at being so close to someone whose strengths and weaknesses were so strange, even inhuman, she decided not to press him further. She turned to face front as Dagobah's sickly yellow sky was replaced by the darkness of space. The ship's sensors chimed, revealing nearly a dozen blips lying in wait for them.

[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/7e0cf033-9c86-40bd-9040-391f4df623be/d8jp2v9-d6c5eb15-6eef-443c-b614-592e6434eed7.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwic3ViIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTpmaWxlLmRvd25sb2FkIl0sIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiIvZi83ZTBjZjAzMy05Yzg2LTQwYmQtOTA0MC0zOTFmNGRmNjIzYmUvZDhqcDJ2OS1kNmM1ZWIxNS02ZWVmLTQ0M2MtYjYxNC01OTJlNjQzNGVlZDcuanBnIn1dXX0.MXoV-L7nCn5Z9-dAgKBfz96F7rvoR4YzZLCqAZjJuQI]

"Looks like even more have shown up!" said Sindo. "I'll start calculations for the jump to hyperspace. Kid, do you know where you're going?"

"Yes, ma'am!" said Paul. "We're calculating, but it's taking forever!"

"Be patient with it," said Vasili. "She'll get it done, just don't go pushing random buttons!"

"Here they come," Sindo said through clenched teeth. "If we don't... wait, the calculations are done? How is that possible?"

Artoo beeped in response, standing at the rear of the cockpit with his probe extended into the ship's utility interface.

"Good job!" she said, flooded with a sense of relief she had not felt in years. She reached for the hyperdrive activator. "Let's get out of here!"

"Wait!" said Luke, suddenly waking from his stupor. "Wait for the children to go first."

Sindo's hand hovered over the activator as her gaze fixed on the approaching fighters. "Paul? Any updates?"

"I... well..." his tinny voice stammered over the comm. "It says it's still working! But I don't know how long it will take!"

"Damn it." Sindo grasped the flight controls, adding, "Strap in, everybody!"

"I'll get on that gun after all," said Vasili, forcing himself out of his seat.

Sindo redirected power to the engines and gunned it straight into the approaching fighters, rolling aside as a blue X-Wing streaked past. The blinding flash of plasma beams lit up the cockpit windows as other fighters banked to get a bead on the freighter's tail. Though she had been dreading taking the oversized vessel into a fight against more nimble craft, her worries suddenly ceased as she felt the ship responding to her control. Even as a blast struck the ship's side, rocking her against her seat, she felt the intense surety of knowing that her life was in her own hands. Even though she danced with death in the void of space, there was no room for fear or dread when her life was her own.

Vasili's thoughts were not so transcendent, as he merely concentrated on breathing through the pain as he shuffled down the hall with one working leg. Coming to an open door, he looked within. He froze in his tracks.

"I've got it, ma'am!" Paul's voice on the comm echoed through the narrow hallway. "Hyperspace calculations are complete! We'll wait for you at the meeting place, Master Luke!"

"Good job!" said Sindo. "Now let's get out of there!"

Vasili heard their own engine shift into a low hum as they sped into hyperspace. Though Vasili knew they had finally escaped, he felt nothing but dull, burning anger. Dragging his leg into the dim lounge, he stood over Regis. His old commander was laid out on a couch, his eyes swollen shut, lips split and dark with blood.

"You awake, Sergeant?" Vasili said quietly.

Regis did not stir, though Vasili could see his chest rising and falling.

"They got you good," Vasili continued. "And I have to admit, a part of me wants to wrap my hands around your throat and finish the job. Today was about the worst day I've had in a long time. Lost my job, lost my reputation, nearly got killed, and all my old plans... straight out the airlock."

Vasili hauled himself over to a chair and sighed as he fell into it. He shifted his weight painfully and looked down at Regis.

"But I see what you meant, about... what it felt like to light up Mos Eisley," Vasili continued. "I've had to put on a fake smile for so long, and put up with their jokes, and their snide remarks, about me being human. Put up with them letting me know I owed them. Owed them just for letting me work!" Vasili shook his head. "Maybe you ruined my life, sir, but I guess it wasn't much of a life, anyway. And besides..."

Vasili smiled, then laid his head back against the wall. He closed his eyes as exhaustion overcame him.

"... I have to admit, it felt damned good looking at those aliens through the scope of a rifle!"