Ghost of Nightmares Past/Chapter 21

THE CALL OF THE DARKSIDE

Their footsteps sounded heavy to their ears, ignoring the Droids that turned towards them, only realising at the last minute. Sinya felt her chest straining slightly from the running, but kept going, her now useless sabre and Ventress' own on her belt, hand quivering at the curved handle in case he needed to ignite it.

Fives and Echo stopped, and she double backed, worry on her face. "Are you both alright?"

"Yes, just out of breath," Fives said, hand on his side to soothe a stitch. Sinya nodded, and stared around, glad that the corridor they were in was unattended, but with their escape, it meant that the Droids were going to be searching for them. "Where exactly are we?"

"I think we're on Durge's command ship," Sinya answered, looking around in case any droids came around the corner. "We need to get out of here, just in case they jump to hyper-space and we are stuck on board."

"But, where's the hangar? We were blind-folded," Echo said, trying to keep the fear from his voice.

Damn, Sinya thought bitterly. And the running probably didn't help; when the Adrenaline got pumping through her veins, she had to run as fast as she could to escape, but that came as a consequence now. She had no idea how to find the exit. Sighing, Sinya paced on the spot, thinking. There had to be some way of getting out of here!

"Sinya" Echo said, suddenly tensing. "I can hear a Droid."

Sinya turned around, Ventress' sabre in her hand, ignited in a red glow. Echo and Fives raised their rifles, ready to shoot to survive...

Mauris came around the corner. Sinya breathed a sigh of relief, and extinguished his sabre, smiling at the Droid. "There you are! We've been worried about you."

Mauris came to stop just feet away, and nodded. "I apologize. But something happened."

Sinya walked closer, and placed a hand on the Droid's shoulder. "Don't worry old Friend. Now, can you help us?"

Mauris paused, and, before Sinya knew what she was doing, drew a pistol, placing it against Sinya's right pectoral. "Yes. I can help you. In more than one way. I'd rather Durge killed you, but now, I can strike a blow to the Jedi for their cruelty to my kind."

He fired.

Nima suddenly felt pain rush through the right side of her chest, and winced.

Sinya.

No, she needed to remain in the here and now. She had to get there to help him, and the fighters behind her were the key to that success. "Commander, are you ready?" She spoke into her comm.

"Yes General," The Clone answered shortly, his ship appearing from her left. "I'm ready to lead the squad against the Lead Ship."

"Good, just make sure you cover mine and the boarding party's entrance onto the Separatist ship, and shoot as many Droids as possible; the less there are, the more chance of us finding Obi-Wan in the quickest time possible."

"Yes Sir," The Clone answered, and Nima disconnected, before speaking now to the boarding ship tailing behind her as well.

"Captain Rex, is your squad ready?"

"Yes General; we are ready to board." The Clone answered shortly. Nima gritted her teeth, and headed straight at the Droid Warship, sensing Sinya on it. She wasn't going to lose someone else she cared about.

The Dark side was starting to whisper in her ear, and she found herself listening to it. A Feminine Voice, speaking to her constantly, telling her to embrace it.

Good...Let it consume you. It will feel so good; only you can save them...

She had lost Siri, and she was not going to lose Sinya Kairn, the Girl she had watched grow up, and become the magnificent Jedi that sat with her on the Council.

"There has to be something we can do!"

"We've stopped the bleeding, but what else can we do!" Another voice answered the first angrily. "We destroyed that Droid, and just, and I mean just missed Ventress for the Maker's sake!"

"Hey, enough! Let's just try and get to the Hangar!"

Sinya slowly opened her eyes, hazy vision greeting him. Two dark blurs were above him, and one moved closer. "Sinya?"

Sinya groaned, and tried to sit up, but her right arm didn't seem to want to work, so she pushed herself up with her left arm instead. "What...happened?"

"Mauris shot you at close range," Echo answered, keeping him steady by having his hand on Obi-Wan's back. "He was gonna shoot you again, but we busted his wires out ourselves. We dragged you to safety before that Hag turned up."

"We managed to lose her once we closed the blast doors," Fives continued, standing up. "Then we rushed down another corridor, and I think that threw her off our scent. For now."

Sinya groaned, and tried to stand, falling back against the wall to catch her breath. Her chest was on fire just now, and she stared down to see a bandage around the upper part of her torso, a small red circle just visible. Great, Anakin is going to have a field day with this!

"We proceed with the original plan," Sinya said, and the two Clones nodded. "We head for the Hangar Bay. Got it?"

"Yes Sinya," The two Clones answered in unison. Sinya started to move shakily down the corridor, but Fives took her arm, and brought it around her shoulder, carefully leading the Jedi down the corridor. Sinya grunted with each step, trying to keep her weight off Fives.

After a few minutes, they came to a massive set of doors. No Guards, Sinya thought, frowning. Odd.

"Here we go," Echo said, activating the control panel, rifle ready.

The doors opened, revealing a mass of Droids, and, standing waiting, Durge and Ventress.

Nima piloted closer and closer to the Droid Command Ship, teeth gritted, and determination on her face. She ignored her Droid's squeals for her to slow down, urging her to wait for reinforcements to catch up. No, she was not going to lose her too!

Nima took her sabre from her belt, ready to be ignited at the right moment. Thumb on the switch, she released the controls, letting her fighter fly towards the hangar of its own accord now, with no assistance.

She could see them. A lot of Droids, surrounding three Humans in the Hangar Bay, one with a rifle, and another supporting with the other. The red hair was distinguishable, and she felt anger bite her heart to see that Sinya was being supported by the Clone, and was injured.

Now, she welcomed the Dark Side.