The smell of ozone and burnt flesh was a cold promise: the hunt was on.
Kaelen and Vexa ran, the sounds of Imperial reinforcements descending upon Plant Gamma echoing in the tunnels behind them. The escape route was the oldest part of the Xylotian infrastructure—a network of abandoned maintenance conduits and geological fault lines that ran beneath the city's toxic crust, leading toward the dilapidated spaceport on the far side of the continent.
The Deep Tunnels
When they finally rejoined the rest of the rebels and the rescued children, the mood was shattered. The initial euphoria of the strike was replaced by grim reality. The children huddled together, their small, grey bodies trembling.
"He's sealed the whole sector," Vexa reported, after checking a salvaged seismic sensor. "The Imperial presence is ten times what it was this morning. They've landed the Aegis, a light destroyer, over the capital. They aren't just looking for rebels; they're looking for you."
Kaelen knew it. Her actions had drawn the eye of the Emperor's deadliest servant. The price of her visibility was the safety of everyone around her.
"We need a ship," Kaelen stated, ignoring the sharp, throbbing pain in her ribs.
"Ships are at the spaceport," Takk, the young rebel, said. "It's three hundred kilometers and guarded by a full perimeter wall and AT-STs. We'd never make it across the surface."
"We won't go across the surface," Kaelen countered. "We'll go beneath it. Vexa, you said these tunnels lead to the old city. Does that path continue to the spaceport?"
Vexa consulted her internal mapping data. "It’s unstable. A three-day journey, maybe more. We'd have to cross the geothermal vents. But it's the only way to avoid the main military road."
"It's a chance," Kaelen said. "We split into three groups. Takk, you lead the younglings. Vexa, you and your strongest lead the rearguard. I’ll scout ahead."
Before anyone could protest, she activated a small, battered holoprojector. It displayed a schematic of the spaceport's docking bay.
"We aren’t aiming for a cargo freighter," she said, her voice firm. "We're aiming for the Imperial Yacht. It’s fast, shielded, and registered with high priority. We take that, we can outrun anything the Aegis can launch."
Vexa looked at the schematic, then at Kaelen. "And how do we get a dozen children and twenty rebels onto an Imperial yacht without being seen?"
"We create a distraction they can't ignore," Kaelen said, looking back the way they had come. "Something big enough to make them forget everything but their own safety."
The Inquisitor’s Pursuit
The chase was agonizing. For two days, Kaelen's party moved through the choking, sulfurous maze. The tunnels were hot, the air thin, and the fear was a constant, gnawing presence.
The Inquisitor, however, was not hampered by a dozen younglings. He was a shadow that didn't need water or rest.
Kaelen, scouting ahead, felt him first—a sudden, glacial coldness that cut through the geothermal heat. He was close.
She led the group into a chamber where the tunnel roof had collapsed, creating a labyrinth of broken concrete pillars and rusted scaffolding. She ordered Vexa to halt the group behind the wreckage.
"He's here," Kaelen whispered, activating her amber saber and stepping into the open. "Go. Don't look back."
Vexa grabbed her arm. "You can't do this alone! He knows your moves!"
"No," Kaelen said, a fierce, determined fire in her eyes. "He knows the moves of a Jedi. He doesn't know the moves of a scavenger."
She reached out with the Force and pulled. An Imperial surveillance drone, left behind weeks ago, detached itself from the ceiling and floated into her hand. She disabled it and kept moving.
Kaelen plunged into a side tunnel that ran directly above a massive, pressurized steam line. She had nothing but her saber and her resolve.
The Inquisitor arrived moments later. His spinning red blade illuminated the dust motes.
"Foolish girl!" his synthesized voice boomed, echoing through the confined space. "You cannot escape destiny! You cannot escape me!"
He advanced, his focus absolute. He saw the saber scorches where Kaelen had braced herself against the wall, preparing to fight. He sensed her presence directly ahead.
He charged, rounding the corner—straight into the surveillance drone Kaelen had planted at head-height.
It was nothing, a minor obstacle, but it broke his concentration for a split second.
WHUMP!
Kaelen didn't attack with her saber. She didn't use a push. She used the Force to rupture the aged, rusty steam pipe beneath the Inquisitor's feet.
A jet of superheated, contaminated steam erupted, engulfing the Inquisitor. He roared, staggering back, his armor screaming in protest as the steam cooked his life support systems. His blade wavered, dropping to his side.
"You will pay for that!" he shrieked, his voice ragged with pain and rage.
Kaelen ran, but not back to her group. She ran forward, away from the tunnels, toward the surface.
The Gambit
She emerged into the darkness of the spaceport's massive exterior sewage system, hours ahead of her group. She was exposed, but she had achieved two things: she had bought Vexa time, and she had lured the Inquisitor away from the main route.
Kaelen sprinted toward the perimeter wall, throwing herself against a service ladder. The wall was immense, crowned with laser turrets.
She saw the Yacht first: the Ruler's Hand, sleek and arrogant, docked in a segregated, fortified bay.
Kaelen climbed, reaching the crest of the wall just as the Inquisitor emerged from the sewage exit she had used, his armor blackened, steam still curling off his shoulders. He was injured, but his rage made him more dangerous.
"There you are," he rasped, activating his saber.
"This is over," Kaelen said.
"Yes. It is."
Kaelen didn't fight him. She launched herself off the wall, dropping twenty feet onto the roof of an ammo dump next to the main power junction.
The Inquisitor followed, leaping across the gap, landing on the roof to block her path.
"I will enjoy tearing you apart, piece by piece," he said, advancing.
"You won't get the chance," Kaelen spat.
She raised her saber and didn't attack the Inquisitor. She attacked the power junction. She didn't slice it—she melted the conduits, focusing her Force-enhanced heat to weld the main power relays together.
A cataclysmic surge of energy ripped through the junction. The air filled with the screech of burning wires and the explosion of transformers. The entire spaceport plunged into darkness.
The Imperial garrison panicked. The automated turrets went silent. The heavy hangar doors locked down.
Kaelen grabbed the Inquisitor's shoulder and pulled them both off the exploding roof and into the darkness. She tumbled, hitting the ground hard, the pain in her ribs a blinding flash.
She rose, ready to fight, but the Inquisitor was gone—swallowed by the sudden, disorienting chaos. He would be recovering, using the confusion to reposition.
The distraction was in place. The Imperial forces were blinded, deafened, and worried about a general insurrection.
Kaelen stood in the darkness, pulling her hood up. She had mere minutes before the backup generators kicked in.
She could feel Vexa's group emerging from a hidden tunnel, moving toward the yacht's bay under the cover of the power outage. Kaelen knew she had to get to the Ruler's Hand first. She had to secure the cockpit.
She wasn't leaving Xylos yet. She still had to face the Inquisitor one last time—not to kill him, but to ensure everyone else escaped.
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