As fast as her mandalorian rocket pack can carry, Okha flew straight up through the Coruscant skyline. She was late to the rendezvous with her ship. Her pilot-droid, Tac, was always told by Okha that if she was not back in time after a mission, he should return to base and destroy everything. But, she headed for it anyway. This time, not only was she late, but carrying a special cargo held tightly in her arms. A little human girl she had no memory of, yet managed to call to her by name. In calling her, Okha abandoned a mission that would have been extremely lucrative.
During her ascension, she looked over where her original mission target was supposed to be. Suddenly, she saw the repulsor-craft vehicle. The same one she was supposed to tag during that mission. It too, was in-flight.
Mihllaca Mach-Taw’s ship... is it waiting for me?, she thought.
It was hovering a few hundred meters away, almost at eye-level with Okha. She slowed down, and looked over. A window on the repulsor-craft rolled down. It was him. Okha gasped, “Mihllaca Mach-Taw”. The little girl in her arms looked over as well.
He was looking - looking straight at them. If his serene look was not troubling enough, what followed was. He gave a gentle smile, a snicker and rolled the window back up as he looked away. The vessel continued its flight up and eventually became part of the Coruscant traffic pattern.
Okha couldn’t make any sense of what she just saw.
Did he know what just went down?
Did he know who I was?
It shook her to the core. Confusion. Survival. Not just for herself, but for the little one in her arms. All the basic instincts kicked in.
Suddenly, the faint roar of engines.
The Raven!
She knew exactly what her ship sounded like. Finally, something familiar. Safety.
The cargo ramp opened. Okha drifted inside with an uneasy drop she was not used to. Even Tac, the ever-silent protector had to ask:
“Are You alright, my Lady?”, in his deep, metallic, yet soothing voice.
Okha did not know how to answer. The only sounds were that of the Raven’s engines humming. Suddenly, a tear from the still frightened child hits the cargo bay floor. Okha unbuckled her helmet and immediately removed it. She looked straight into the little girl’s eyes. She had never seen such an innocent and pure gaze. Tears were still puddling around her eyes, one more went streaming down her cheeks. Nothing she could say would keep the tears from coming.
Should I hug her?
Hold her?
Tell her it’s going to be “all right”?
Before she could do anything, the entire ship shook violently. The motion sent Okha reeling back into the hull and sending her new tiny guest into Tac’s arms. Thankfully, Tac’s feet had the ability to stay in place on any surface. If that was not sufficient, his stabilizer-controls allowed him to compensate for any type of sudden motions.
The little one held onto him in an almost tender embrace that could probably melt the toughest of steels. Unfortunately, Tac was not the type to return any embraces, but held tight to her while the ship continued to rock back and forth. Okha was not prepared for this at all.
Wasn’t the cloaking device on?!
“Tac! Trade Places! Get us out of here!”
Immediately, Tac gave the girl to Okha and ran for the cockpit.
“Coruscant Security Ships,” Tac reported.
“Lose them!!”
With no need in keeping the ship cloaked, Tac turned all power to the shields and went full throttle on the engines. Okha braced herself and held on to the little guest as tightly as possible. The sudden acceleration threw them both far back in the cargo hold area against some crates. One of the crates above them rattled and began to fall towards them. Okha had already taken her helmet off and was not prepared. She knew that she had no choice but to shield the little girl from it. Again, she expected nothing but pain and potential death. All she heard and saw was the crate falling beside them. She could not believe it. Looking at the small girl, she noticed how calm she was. How the whole situation did not rattle her at all.
The ship continued to rock and shimmy. Keeping her footing was close to impossible. She knew Tac was doing his best, but the inertial dampeners must have taken a huge hit. Nothing was being dampened, every hit, every turn was felt full-force.
“Hyperspace, Tac!! Take us to Hyperspace!”
Tac had not plotted a course. Nor did he create the decoy course they normally do. There was no time. He knew that doing so could mean certain death. The randomness of potentially falling into an a blackhole’s event horizon or a star’s gravity well meant the end for all. However, he was not the type to question orders. Unlike other droids, he gauged risk extremely well and took them rather than report them. He calculated that a short enough burst would get them away from the attackers and not so far away from the system so as to regroup and figure out what was going on.
Without further hesitation, Tac engages the hyperdrive. No motion.
The Coruscant security ships had engaged a type of tractor beam that was not allowing the ship to make the jump.
Keeping the young one in her arms, Okha shouted, “WHAT IS GOING ON TAC?!?!?!”
“The attacking vessels have locked a tractor beam on us”
Okha aimed her fibercord wrist gauntlet toward the Cockpit door. She engaged it. It shot right through the bulkhead and created an anchor for the cord. With all her might, she began the trek.
“Ok, hold on really tight…”
She gave it her all and even a slight rocketpack engine burst. Suddenly, they were both by the cockpit door.
The co-pilot seat was not typically in use, but now it would be the safest place for the unexpected guest. Placing the belt around the girl, Okha looked at her and said, “No matter what happens, stay here.” The little head nodded slightly as the rest of her simply tried to keep composure and seated.
Okha left the cockpit, closed and locked the door. She immediately proceeded to the cargo hold, found her helmet and opened the large bay doors. A bunch of items that were unsettled during the initial skirmish flew out with the depressurization. Okha jumped out with the items, including the crate that almost fell on them earlier.
From the outside, the damage to the ship was visually disheartening. The situation looked as grim as she thought it would be. The ship was motionless, smoking and venting some type of dry plasma. Locked in some type of tractor-beam with the two security ships - with several more on the way.
Meanwhile in the cockpit, Tac attempted to keep the ship stable while maintaining the shields and most of the life-support online. The forward weapon systems were inoperative and were no match for the security ships. In addition, the ship would need to be facing the attackers. Tac thought of the rear turret, but there was no way he could get to it. Suddenly, the girl wiggled loose from the seat restraint. Tac turned around “Where are you going?”, but the girl ignored him completely. She unlocked the door and ran out to the upper area of the ship where the small turret was. She knew that it would not do much, but perhaps all Okha needed would be a distraction.
In flight, while dodging some of the Coruscant security ships’ fire, Okha noticed Imperial Tie-Fighters in the distance. “Womp rats! That’s all we need!”
She knew that all she had to do was take out one of those security ships and the Raven would be freed. However, the layer of the Imperials being alerted to the scuffle was about to be added to the mix.
The thermal detonator she was going to use on her mission was still on her. Reaching into her satchel, she thought: Time to put this to good use. The question became, which one had the best blind spot. And what was the best approach. There was none. She did not want to be target practice. She knew that giving her rocket pack full-throttle with the extra-burn meant getting to an enemy ship safely, but no fuel to return. It would mean a one-way trip. However, she needed to get back. She had a new, tiny reason to get back. Thoughts of her little guest filled her mind. I need to get her to safety.
In the turret, the tiny would-be warrior readied the station. She had no idea how to use it, but she flipped every switch, pressed every button and looked at every light.
Okha was ready to take the round-trip and dodge every blast. Before she did, she thought, If I only had a distraction. As if a prayer was answered, the small turret began firing the exact moment she put her jetpack engines into full throttle toward the attacking vessel on the right. At first, Okha could not believe it. She turned to look at the turret, and she saw - her! It was the little guest. Wow, brave little thing. Then, she thought, Tac!... You let her out of the cockpit?!
Although the attacking vessel on the left began to take aim at The Raven, the one on the right did not. That gunner decided to continue to follow her in flight. However, she did not hesitate. She reached into her satchel and grabbed the thermal detonator. She was spinning and weaving in flight. An attack pattern that would keep the gunner guessing and difficult to track. But, there were no blasts. She couldn't help but notice the gunner’s turret was not tracking her any longer. Fine, easier for me, she thought. Placing the thermal detonator right under the main engine driver, Okha took off and gave her rocket pack full throttle and an extra burn that would run her fuel cells dry within seconds.
At the same time, the other security ships and the Imperial Tie-Fighters arrived. The security ships were slightly larger, enhanced Firepower and capable of far more. Okha started drawing their fire as the Tie-Fighters began firing at her as well. “Common Kogonis!, Call off your goons, my fight isn’t with you!” Okha exclaimed to herself.
Right before she got to her ship, she pulled the trigger.
The engines on the right security ship erupted into a giant fireball just as the other ships arrived.
“Tac!... let me in!” The cargo hold doors opened, and Okha worked her way in. And immediately closed them “PUNCH IT TAC!!!”. Within seconds, the ship went into hyperspace, knocking one of the Tie-Fighters into a deadly spin, crashing into another. Fortunately, during the scuffle, Tac managed to enter the proper decoy coordinates.
“Tac, we need to talk…” Tac emerged from the cockpit. If the droid had lungs, it would have taken a deep breath and sighed a breath of relief.
Okha removed her helmet, looked slightly annoyed and said with a hint of sarcasm, “Great work, Tac…” She paused, looked around, “except, how did you know where we were going?”
Tac had the typical blank stare. Okha continued, “the first time I commanded you to go to hyperspace?” “I didn’t.” Okha seemed pleasantly surprised, paused and allowed for a frown, “and you let the girl out of the cockpit?” “I didn’t”. Okha did not smile often after a battle. But she could not hold back. “Like I said Tac, great work..”
The girl emerged from the turret well. Slowly, she worked her way down into the main cargo area.
Amazed and confused, Okha tried to remain calm and attempted to keep her heart cold and focused. She did not know enough about this child to let her guard down. It was bad enough she brought this outsider in her ship. She has caused enough trouble already, almost costing her life and her ship all in the span of a few minutes.
Okha crouched to be at eye-level with the child, “are you alright?” There was no response.
Conflicted, it was not easy to dismiss the fact that her touch and gaze was so familiar - as if she already knew her.
How is this possible?Okha asked herself.
The minutes that followed were difficult. Okha did not know what to say. Perhaps the child had no wish to speak or did not know enough common words to speak with her.
As Tac returned to the cockpit, it was time to start taking some of that armor off. The sound of unbuckling straps, releasing clamps and mandalorian steel clanking on the ground ensued.
Although the ship was safely traveling in hyperspace and they were on their way home, it was Okha’s home, not the little one’s. She then realized that this little person may never see her home ever again. If her parents were hunted-down, it was for a reason, Okha thought. She extrapolated that the little girl’s life was at risk if she were returned to her home.
Finally, Okha decided to ask again, “Are you alright?”
Again, there was no reply. The girl continued to look around at the honeycomb pattern of the structural steel inside the ship’s bulkhead.
Then, there was a faint whisper,
Moo...
In disbelief and confused, Okha replied,
“Moo..?”
And paused.
She decided to no longer say a single thing until she heard it from the little one.
An excruciatingly long minute went by.
Perhaps it was two. Or three. But it felt like forever.
Finally, her tiny child-like voice uttered
“Moon”
As she continued to stare into the bulkhead.
“Is that your name?” Okha calmly asked in the most delicate and unassuming manner that she could. As she took a seat across from the child, she tried to make eye contact.
Her tiny head did the slightest motion downward, and up again.
Is that a nod?
The girl finally decided to stop looking away and looked into the eyes of the woman in Mandalorian armor who had saved her life and almost gave up her own in the process. Instantly, Okha saw an unbridled strength within the little warrior’s eyes. The same thing she felt when she first saw her. As if she could look into her soul. At the same time, Okha felt something else she could not explain either. Everything became clear. She had no idea what that picture was supposed to look like, but it was clear. As if everything leading up to that moment was the will of something greater.
