RotF Chapter 13

This has been shockingly easy.

Yeffy confidently leads the way through the vents and maintenance tunnels. They climb down ladders and creep through crawlspaces. Following the Twi’leks in sexy bodysuits has lost its novelty. Things are going smoothly, but Blu knows they’re just going deeper into the Jedi Temple. The archives are in the center of the building, far from any windows that might be used to make a quick exit.

“This is it,” Yeffy whispers, pausing over a trapdoor. “This will put us in the archives.”

“Do we need special clearance to get the information that Silvi wants?” Jayo asks.

“I don’t know. It’s just navigational data. Coordinates. Even if it’s locked behind something, I can get to it.”

“But that’ll take time,” Jayo frets.

“Don’t get cold feet now. Do we cut through?” Blu asks.

“No, we can just open it.” Yeffy pushes a button, and the door slides to one side.

“After you,” Blu says to Jayo.

“No, I insist,” she replies.

Blu is tempted to just push her through, but she holds the yellow Twi’lek’s gaze for a moment longer. Then she drops, landing lightly on top of a tall shelf. She drops from there to the floor. The archives are in a huge, spacious chamber. It’s quiet. Yeffy lands gracefully beside her, followed by Jayo.

Blu tiptoes to the end of the aisle and peeks out. “We can’t be seen here,” she mutters to Jayo.

“Too late,” the Twi’lek replies.

They all turn to see what she’s looking at. Blu stiffens at the sight of the Jedi.

It’s the thing from her dream last night. The strange little green thing.

To her relief, she notices that it’s leaning on a walking stick.

“Welcome, I would say,” the creature says, hobbling toward them. “But you are not.”

“Just stay where you are, Jedi. We don’t want to hurt you,” Jayo says, lifting her repeater.

“Don’t fire that,” Blu murmurs to her. “We can work something out.”

The Jedi halts with a groan. He’s a small species, but clearly elderly. He has wrinkled, greenish skin and big ears. He frowns at them disapprovingly.

“Looked better, you did, in your recordings,” he remarks, pointing his walking stick at Blu before starting forward again.

“OK. Cook his ass,” Blu says to Jayo. “Yeffy, get…” But Yeffy’s already run off to get the data.

“I’ll do it. But not because you told me to,” Jayo says to Blu, who snorts. She turns around and blasts the Jedi.

A green laser sword appears and deflects the bolt so quickly that Blu and Jayo are dumbstruck. The walking stick is on the floor, and the Jedi holds his sword at the ready.

“Well, shit,” Jayo says, slapping the button on the side of her repeater. She drops to a crouch and opens fire, but there’s no point. The Jedi lunges forward with impossible speed, blocking every shot.

Blu pushes Jayo out of the way and pulls her own blaster, firing fast.

This Jedi’s good, but he’s expecting modern weapons, not antiques. He might be able to block these slugs, but all that gets him is molten metal in the face.

The Jedi dodges, leaping high into the air and disappearing on top of the shelf and out of sight.

“Go,” Blu says to Jayo. She backs up, holding out her blaster, and fires a couple more shots to suppress. This noise will bring the other Jedi running. They can’t stay.

“I’ve got it!” Yeffy comes running out of another aisle. “This way!”

Blu takes off after her and Jayo, twisting around to fire at the little shape bounding across the shelves above.

Yeffy gets a door open and they spill through. Jayo slams it shut and blasts the control panel, but a moment later that green sword bursts through.

“Run,” Blu says.

“Halt!” A Jedi orders, coming around the corner. Jayo smashes him in the face with the butt of her blaster and keeps going as Blu changes magazines.

“Locks!” Yeffy warns, pointing to the control panels up ahead. They’re all turning red. The Jedi are going to close the doors. Blu fires her blaster as they start to fall, busting the controls and halting the doors halfway down. Jayo rolls under and Blu slides after her, firing back at the pursuing Jedi.

“Help!”

Blu turns back to see Yeffy lifted off her feet, suspended by the same stupid magic that Silvi likes to use.

“Motherfucker,” Blu snarls, whipping around her blaster to fire at the Jedi who just emerged. He puts out his hand, stopping the bullets in mid-air.

But he didn’t think to stop Blu. She hits him with a tackle, crashing him into the wall. She strikes him across the face with her blaster and ejects the empty mag, slapping another one in and helping Yeffy up.

They careen into a hallway along the edge of the building, and Yeffy stops at a control panel to drop a blast door behind them. Coruscant, the race, the traffic—all of it is just beyond that glass.

They are not alone. There’s one Jedi already here. He must have intended to cut them off. He’s bald, with a serious scowl on his face. The laser sword in his hand has a purple beam.

“That’s far enough,” he says grimly, advancing toward them.

“Sure,” Blu responds, chambering a round and lifting her blaster, only for it to fly out of her hand—but before it can get far, the window explodes as Silvi crashes through it in the speeder, laughing uproariously.

“You said I couldn’t win,” she shouts, holding up a massive medal.

“Shut up and drive!” Jayo yells, throwing her blaster aside and pushing her sister toward the speeder.

The Jedi sprints toward them. Blu dives to the floor among the broken glass, snatching up her blaster and firing. That forces the Jedi to roll out of the way and buys the sisters time to pile into the speeder. Silvi has it turned around and is heading out.

“Let’s go!” Jayo reaches out as Blu scrambles to her feet.

“Jump!” Yeffy shouts. There’s ****. With a running start, Blu leaps out into the Coruscant sky, reaching for the speeder, but misses. She sees Yeffy’s expression turn to horror as she falls, then stops short.

Silvi is there, standing up in the pilot’s seat, her hand outstretched. She lifts her hand, and Blu rises. She grabs the speeder and throws her blaster in, then hauls herself after it, glancing back at the outraged Jedi. Then he’s gone as Silvi goes full acceleration, bursting away from the temple and into the night.