Drops of sweat trickled on their skin as they frantically wandered around, avoiding stormtroopers and jawas for the sake of the droids. Their facial muscles contracted into frowns of fear and uncertainty. They were outnumbered, overpowered and at a huge disadvantage. The suns' heat and the coarse sand only added to their problems.

They were the only ones left; two out of fifty and they must get the droids out of the planet, that was their number one priority. They paled as more and more troopers were stationed in the city. When a trooper was approaching them, the younger rebel ducked to a corner, the stormtrooper passing by her.

The veteran rebel immediately went to her. The youngster had been very weak and anxious, that she occasionally fainted once or twice; he had no time to deal with it again. The youth collapsed there, out of breath and her body shook convulsively.

The pressure of the galaxy depending on her squeezed her every remaining sanity. If they lost, terrible consequences would happen, and a huge responsibility would be kept upon them. They were at a great loss and the risk they put themselves in increased with each minute passing by, and she couldn't take it anymore.

"I can't d...do this anymore, Manik. I want to leave. I want to believe that this is some nightmare I can wake up from," she said, running her hand through her greying hair and clenching it. The droids walked/rolled towards them, the astromech beeping words of impatience.

The veteran ignored them and sat down next to her, consoling her. She was tensed, he knew that. She had been trembling and weak ever since Scarrif. He would not blame her. It was the teenager's first experience in war.

"This is hopeless," she cried, covering her face as she sobbed, "I don't even know if we will get out of here alive. I...I want to see my family happy... and free from this plague that is Empire...I...I...I know it all de...depends on...us but I don't want to end up like Rogue One. Manik, I want to have a purpose...I don't wanna die like this."

Her warm brown eyes were red and moist and her voice was growing hoarse. It pained him to see the child in such a vulnerable state. It reminded him of his daughter back home, with a similar expression when he left her which morphed into one of hate. He shurgged the feeling away, wanting to remain optimistic but also realistic.

The veteran patted her back and said, "You do have a purpose. Listen, kid, we are a part of the Rebellion, fighting for the right cause. We must fight against the evil Empire to restore the Republic, but each of us must sacrifice ourselves. I know what you must be feeling now, hopeless, fearful but there is always hope if we can get past this feeling of dread. I have always faced overwhelming odds, but I get past it by this thought. If we have the determination, we can get past this one too."

He held out his hand, calling her to stand up. She stared at his hand and looked back at him. Her expression was emotionless, the girl had already given up. "How? How is there hope?" She snapped.

"Well, for one..." He pointed at a building to the left of the street, species of all kinds of creatures entered it and she saw a great deal of speeders parked nearby.

"What's in the cantina?" She asked him in a soft husky voice, caused by the crying.

"That is the Mos Eisley Cantina, a hive of scum and villainy. Many great star pilots are found here," he explained, "Watch the droids, whilst I go and find someone. How many credits do you have?"

"Not much, but maybe enough," she said and handed him a bag of all her money. She was willing to give away all she had to get out of this dust ball. Her lips curved slightly, hearing the hopes that a spacepilot might perhaps take them but her gut was still uneasy.

"You might just get out of here alive, kid," he sighed and nodded towards her, leaving. She watched him enter the cantina, hearing the music reach her ears when the door opened and it disappeared as soon as it closed.

'You'? No 'we'? Did he mean that he might never make it out? She suddenly felt ashamed. She knew that if things went wrong, and they definitely will, he would be willing to save her and the droids instead of himself. Such sacrifice, from such a noble soldier. She too wished she could be like that, but her cowardice wouldn't allow it.

She looked at the droids behind her who gave her a plain, expressionless demenour. The rebel noticed that the rambling annoying one had gone quiet, which...was...good? She sighed, "I know that after the show I've put, you'd doubt I could of taking care of you, but you're wrong."

The blue and white astromech beeped skeptically.

"He says that he is quite capable of handling himself," the golden droid translated, "Though I very much disagree with him."

She nodded, still being grave as she sat on the ground in the same corner before. She checked her blaster, which was still cooled down. The rebel youth, with her weapon in an easily accessible place, kept her mind tuned and sharp, observing the activity in the street. She hoped he would be fine in there; cantinas can be rough places.

* * * * transition * * * *

A few hours later, she was relieved that Manik came out of the cantina, unscathed. "We have got ourselves a ship in docking bay 1729, the Millennium Falcon." he informed and her hopes were raised immediately. Finally, they would get out of the Force-forsaken dustball.

R2 chirped and started moving towards the destination, followed by C3P0, after giving them an apology. It was clear that the droids hated them. Both the rebels sighed as they followed them in the streets.

"Manik?" She picked up a conversation while tying her scarf around her head properly.

"Hmm?"

"If we get out of this, what will you be looking forward to?"

"I, uh, I have always wanted to see my daughter again," he said, smiling away in the air, "She's your age and the last time I had seen her was last year. I bet she's accomplished a great deal in that time,"-he frowned-"She's the most precious thing to me and I hope I will see her again, in the afterlife."

She gulped, a pang of sadness hitting her, "You...you won't be coming back?"

"No, kid," he breathed heavily, with grief, "Someone needs to be a distraction for you to escape. You are young and have much planned ahead of your life. Imperial troopers can recognize us, so we better head on as soon as possible."

There was an uncomfortable silence, seemingly for the rebels' death. Her head was low, how could she be so selfish this whole time? She had been complaining and whining while he patiently listened and wittingly avoided stormtroopers. Nevertheless, she would try to do what she could.

"So... what's the plan?" she asked.

"You sneak the droids into the spaceport while I try to catch the attention of as many of the stormtroopers as I can, and drive them away from you."

She looked at this man with admiration. He had the greatest humility and selflessness to sacrifice himself for her, a coward. He was loyal, noble, and a true soldier, a hero. She promised that she would repay him some day, one way or another.

"But what about your daughter? She needs you," she grimaced, scrunching her face while they passed through a corner in the street.

"To be honest, she hates me after I left —"

A loud, shrieking R2D2 rolled past them, followed by a panicked 3P0, who yelled out, "Imperial stormtroopers! Ah! Save me! Save me!"

The rebels ducked from the sudden blasts. Loud sounds of blasters firing were in the air and they immediately took cover. Manik successfully shot at two troopers while more were being added to the pack. The droids were behind Lari, pestering her to shoot those men in white.

"Get to the spaceport!" He yelled at her as he fired, "Go! Don't come back!"

Lari followed and fired at the troopers behind her, dashing down the road. The droids followed suite, though at a slower pace. She slapped herself and went back, moving at their speed and guarded them. She watched him being cornered but still proving that he was still well enough to fight. Less than half of the Imperial squad were onto her now. She was on the verge of tears, knowing she would die.

"Can't you go faster?!" She pushed the droids. R2 squealed profane words at her. Two rockets emerged from his two feet and he propelled to the sky, though he stayed low to avoid getting into radars.

"Wait for me, R2!" His partner yelled after him. She swore, pushing C3P0 and blasted her way to the docking bay, where she was able to camouflage into the crowd. Her breath was shaky, and her arms and legs were tired, as if she could collapse any time. She looked up to search for the sign that said 'DOCKING BAY 1729.'

* * * * transition * * * *

Seeing that she escaped with less than half of the troopers that surrounded him, he dropped his weapon and raised his hands in the air.

"I surrender," he said, before being punched at his abdomen.

He kneeled down accepting his fate. However, there was a small chance that he might survive, and his daughter needed him, but he must die. His life signature disappeared when one of the stormtroopers hit the side of his head with the butt of his rifle.

* * * * transition * * * *

There she saw it, unguarded and crowded, just too good. She dodged people and entered the docking bay, passing through the door then closing it. Her heart dropped and she gawked at the sight of the ship they were taking; a huge piece of junk.

"Don't be fooled," a scruffy-looking man emerged from inside the ship. "She made the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs."

"I don't know and I don't care," she snapped, locking the entrance behind her, feeling the same fear again. "Are you the captain of the Millennium Falcon?"

"Yeah," he replied casually with a sense of overconfidence.

At that moment she thanked the Force, she and the droids were going to be in a journey back to the Alliance. But could she trust the man? That would be a question in a more convenient time. She directed the droids into the ship, gaining questions from the captain.

"Hey! I never said you could keep them in here!" He said, blocking her. "It's reserved."

"Do you know Manik?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips. He nodded and she replied, "Yeah, he's the one who reserved this and he told me to get here, now shut up and let's go."

He crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows suspiciously, "Mind you, I expect my payment to be —"

A red blast of energy whizzed past them, hitting the mud wall that bordered the landing platform. The Imperials had bypassed the lock and several troopers then stormed in, firing at them. They set down a temporary turret, that began charging, aimed at the Falcon.

"Someone needs to take that down!" she shouted at the Captain, shooting at them from her cover behind the landing platform.

"It isn't already obvious, rebel!" he yelled back at her. "Chewie," his speech now directed to someone else as he pulled out his comm, "Have the guns directed at this turret."

Two turrets emerged from the underside of the ship and aimed at the squad. The blasts hit the stormtroopers but not the desired target.

"I said, "the turret", you brainless hairball!" the captain yelled at his comm while ducking the blasts. Meanwhile, she could see the turret fully charged and a bright blue thing glowed at the nozzle, its size increasing in seconds.

"Uh, I think this is the point to worry more —"

"Get down!"

The blue thing shot from the turret, its size as large as the ship and it shut down everything electrical in its path, except blasters, which utilized chemical energy (tibanna gas). Her mouth flew open at the capabilities of the weapon. It was unlike proton torpedoes or even the beam of a lightsaber.

"Damn it, we have to hold on till the ship recovers, otherwise there's no leaving this place!" he yelled and blasted them. "Get inside! I'll hold them off!"

She nodded and ascended the landing platform. A Wookie wandered around the ship, smashing things with a spanner and obviously stressed out. It was totally dark; even the emergency powers were out. Sparks appeared from corners of the data pads and consoles.

After a few minutes, just as the ship came back to life, another blast hit them, shutting everything down again. Loud swear words were heard from outside. Lari peeped to see the situation that was too chaotic to understand. She managed to duck before a bolt hit her and she could see the turret charging again. Oh, what could she do? What would she do?

Anxiety invaded her mind, making her breathe irregular and her body shiver frequently. She wanted to break down right there, for what happened the past few days. The death of her friends, the tragic battle over Scarrif, the loss of her mentor and now this... She kept her cowardice aside and took a deep, shaky breath, grabbing a pack of thermal detonators from the shelf.

This new idea she just had might give them a chance. This would be her sacrifice, her act of bravery. While the troopers were busy with the Captain, she ran as fast as she could towards the turret. She ignored the shouts from the man behind her and focused on the task. The stormtroopers were stormtroopers, failing to hit their target.

When in range, she threw the pack towards the turret and took out her blaster. Just before it touched the turret, she shot two or three bolts at it. A loud, exploding sound shook the entire docking bay.

She was thrown aback but she took out more than 3/4 of the stormtroopers there. She quickly rose and took cover. She was relieved to see that the ship had come to life again.

"Go!" she yelled to the shocked captain, knowing she was not able to get past the pressurizing squad that surrounded her. "Get the droids to the destination. Don't worry about your payment, the Alliance will take care of that."

He dashed inside immediately, not caring if he heard her or not. She watched the engines start and the ship shot to the sky. Everyone paid attention to it. The plan was foolish, but heroic, and it was the only way.

Her shoulders slumped in relief and she kneeled down, finally able to release her long suppressed emotions. Tears flowed from her eyes to her cheeks once again, this time not of fear but of hope and sorrow. Sorrow that she had always ran away, that she had not done more things like this before.

"Rebel scum," she heard a trooper snarl behind her and she felt the nozzle of the blaster behind her head. She didn't resist; there was no point to fight now. There was a sense of satisfaction as she closed her eyes, releasing her last breath.

******

I strayed away from the important characters of the story for now, but this part is important to the plot. Hope you like it (tell me if you don't and how you wished it to be).