Gravity. One of the true constant forces in the Galaxy. Pulling Okha ever closer to the surface of the planet. Just about a few hundred meters away, her ship, the Raven continued to fall apart.It, too had succumbed to gravity and will pummel to the planet surface in minutes. Inside the ship, the Duro prisoner, Eeloh Ssaah will likely suffer the same fate as the vessel unless he manages a way to get a hold of the key Okha tauntingly dropped on the cargo area floor as she left.
Love. Another constant force. A force that drove her to Moon despite the circumstances. She knew there was no reason for the bond to exist between them, but it suddenly did. It transcended space and time. Although there was also no reason for Moon to call to her, she did. Okha might have heard it with her hypersensitive sound-capturing hardware - but she felt it within her heart. Something she could not explain at the time, however, if what Eeloh was saying is true, and Moon was her daughter, it would make sense. Now, there might be a legitimate reason for her inability to remember her.
The Force. Binds and connects all life in the galaxy. It connected Okha and Moon for brief moments. Moments that changed the entire situation. And, their bond. Okha could not ignore the fact that their bond must have served as some form of a conduit for their force connection. She knew what she did to the super battle droid was beyond her physical capabilities.
Just as gravity continued to pull her closer to the surface, Okha began to look back on her life. That it was all potentially a lie. That she was only a clone. A life not worth living. But her thoughts and feelings dwelled on Moon. She knew life was worth living for her. The bond she felt was beyond the force. It was beyond gravity. It was love. For that love, everything became clear. It was all worth it.
Without further thoughts, Okha removed her rocket pack in mid-fall. From her gauntlets, she extended two close-range mandalorian steel blades that are typically concealed. The last time the blades were used, they saved her life in battle. Now, she hopes they will once again save her life in a very different manner. She carefully managed to pry open the intermix chamber. She spotted the break in the fuel line. She knew she needed to wrap it with something. Without hesitation, she proceeded to use the blades once more to slice through the her belt and blaster holsters. Suddenly, there was blood. With the turbulence, and adrenaline rushing, her movements lost accuracy and sliced her thigh wide open. The pain began to take over, but she ignored it. Grabbing the rocketpack in one hand and tearing the holster belt with the other, Okha found herself struggling through fuel, blood and if not careful, fire. She wrapped the rocketpack with her legs and with the holster straps freed, Okha began to tie a piece around the damaged intermix fuel line. The warning alarms in her helmet began blaring as she began to fall farther and faster.
Nearing terminal velocity, Okha had nothing else to do but try a cold-start of the rocketpack. She did not even have enough time to try to fasten the rocketpack back on her. All she did was hold onto it for dear life, and ignite the engines. A loud Whiiiiirrrrrr…. BAM! WhoooooSH and the rockets ignited. She had to now compensate for the imbalance of her body being on top of the rocketpack, not next to it.
“Common you worthless piece of Bantha poodoo…! Work!!” Okha yelled.
Suddenly, her velocity slowed and continued to slow. However, she had a lot of momentum and needed to steer her decent onto something that could break her fall - not her bones. With all the smoke and debris from her falling ship, visibility was a challenge, but she managed to spot a small lake. Just as the engines began to sputter, she let go. The rocketpack continued to a few seconds and splashed a few meters away. Okha held her breath as she pummeled into the water.
SPLASH!!!
Darkness. For the longest, she believed it was her ally. Silence. Her only refuge. Now, she wants nothing more than to see the sunlight, reach the surface and get Moon. Within a second, Okha began to unbuckle her armor and remove every piece of her flight suit that could be weighing her down. Swimming was not her strong suit, but she did not give up. She needed to breathe. Three, two, one…
GASP
Okha took a deep breath as she broke through the surface. In the distance, she could make out the remains of the Raven engulfed in flames. She looked around and made a mental note of where she was. She knew she would have to return to retrieve her armor.
If things were not bad enough, Okha realized her blood began tinting the water. Typically, it was not a danger to swim in the lakes of Takodana. Unless, the lake happened to have a Sangispera bloodsnake which are attracted to blood. Swimming was not her strong suit, however, if her suspicions of herself being a clone where true, she should have the skill within. She tried to clear her mind and let her instincts take over. Taking a deep breath, she propelled herself as quickly as possible to the shore.
SPLASH!!!
Immediately upon reaching the shore, she took a deep breath and leveraged her body with her arms. Just as she was about to raise her injured right leg onto the shore, she feels something wrap around her left leg and tug it back into the water.
SPLASH!!!
No armor. No gauntlets. No weapons. She felt the scales from the creature coiling around her body. The last breath she took before being pulled into the water was beginning to get pushed out as the bloodsnake began constricting her torso. It got darker and darker as her body got pulled further and further down into the lake. Suddenly, the sharp teeth sank into the open wound. With it, the remainder of her air bursted out of her lungs.
In what would be her final moments, her thoughts were of Moon. How she longed to see her one last time and share a tender embrace. To think that she may actually be her child from a life forcibly forgotten. She knew she would never breathe again. Okha accepted that. But she could not accept that she would never see Moon again. That hurt more than the teeth in her thigh. That scared her more than death itself.
MOON!
In that instant, she could see her eyes in the darkness. As clear as day. As if she was with her. Her life. Her energy. It coursed through Okha’s mind and body as it did in that lab on Kamino. Suddenly, she did not need to breathe anymore. She could clearly see the bloodsnake and it’s razor sharp teeth digging deeper. In a split second, Okha spread her arms and untangled herself. Grabbing the bloodsnakes head, she spread its jaws open, pried it off her thigh and continued to spread them. The bloodsnake’s body began re-wrapping around Okha, but to no avail. It tried fighting back and constricting, but it got nowhere. Such snakes had dislocating jaws, which allowed for the extreme extent at which it had been opened. However, it did have a limit. Okha’s power fueled by anger suddenly had no limit.
CRACK!
The bloodsnake’s jaw got ripped off completely by her right hand. A second later, its head was completely crushed with her left. The bloodsnake’s body went completely limp as the lake filled with a cloud of its blood. Despite the low visibility, Okha regained her composure and swam to the shore, with no need for breaths. Slowly, she regained her footing. She knew the force-connection with Moon was now over. As she stood on the edge of the lake’s shore, she looked back and could not believe what had just happened.
“I should have died. I should have died twice today,” Okha softly said to herself. Looking to the mountain range behind her, she continued, “I cannot yet..”
Okha began racing toward the mountain range where her once-called home resided. Accessing it via starship was difficult, getting there by foot was almost impossible. She knew she had to make it home and confirm Arla’s threats were empty. She knew she had to make it home, and find Moon.
