Sand had gotten in my mouth from the speed of the speeder. As I turned to look behind us, I saw three bikes on us, and more noise behind them, but I couldn't really see because of the sand they were kicking up behind them.
I had turned my head back and noticed Shmi's arm was around Father's waist. A bolt tore the bag behind me, and the tools inside went flying. Two riders came up on our right to try and pinch us.
"Hold on tight," Father said, low. He let the bike drift as he took a turn. The lead rider on the right reached with a hook at us. I wasn't sure what he was planning to do with that. But instead of waiting to find out, I reached with the Force and yanked his arm the wrong way at the elbow. Something popped. He screamed and dropped the hook. Father slammed our tail into his bike, it rolled, caught, and went end over end. While I ended up shaking from the force of that hit.
The second rider slid closer. He leaned in to sideswipe at father. So I shoved his front strut sideways with a force push. The bike knifed into the sand and dug itself under. He went flying face-first and got crushed under the speeder.
Shots came from our back, one clipped the seat near my leg. The heat still hit me, and I lost my hold and ended up slipping. Shmi's hand yanked me back in. I got my hands back on her belt and kept them there. "t..thanks"
The skiff dropped lower. A gunner on the bow spun a repeater and fired a rapid burst at us. Father flared to throw up a wall of dust to give us some kind of cover. The first burst chewed the space we'd been in. Father had cut left and skimmed a dune edge.
Another pair of bikes came from behind the skiff, full throttle. One tried to pass on our left and line up his shot straight into Father's face. Father extended his hand and pulled the rider off his seat. The body bounced a few times on the sand and didn't move again. The empty bike veered and smashed into its friend. Both went down in a small explosion.
We pushed deeper into the flats. And the skiff kept coming. The gunner was aiming at us again. I reached out with the force and forced his aim away. His burst sprayed across a dune instead of at us. He tried to push back, so I shoved harder and pinned him to the side with the gun.
Something heavy thumped behind us. A fresh skiff. Father took us over a low ridge and straight toward a shallow sea of vaporators and junk. I recognized the skyline. Mos Espa. We just had to thread it without getting boxed again.
A speeder moved to our side, trying to force us toward a field of rocks. Father moved his hand and pushed, which took both rider and bike up and over. The bike landed wrong and snapped.
Two more tried a classic cross at the town edge. One from left, one from right, two skiffs behind to close the door.
Father dropped speed a hair, and the right rider misread it and committed too early. I reached out, grabbed both front forks, and pulled. The two bikes snapped together like magnets and hit hard. One exploded and destroyed both speeders.
We made it into the city, and the skiffs couldn't follow us in cause of its size. A bolt from up left spat sparks off the hood. I turned to look at where the shot had come from and grabbed the shooter's ankle and took him off the roof. He ended up falling into a fruit cart.
We cut down a narrow line between buildings. The bike barely fit. Sand turned to dust. The engine whined. I could hear bigger engines coming in from a wider street. Shmi leaned in against Father as he threaded us through a gap. A bounty pair on foot stepped into the alley mouth ahead, one with a shoulder tube of some kind. I took the tube out of his hands with the force before he could fire and threw him into his friend. Father extended his arm with his lightsaber in hand and cut into them as they were trying to get back up. I turned around and saw speeders on us again.
We burst back into the open near the secondary market. I grabbed a canvas awning with a pull and dropped it on three riders coming fast. Two broke through while one got wrapped and crashed into a wall.
"Can you see the ship?" Father said.
"I see it," I said and told him where. We cut across a line of moisture farm parts. A vendor threw a tool at us and shouted something. A bolt from behind took out his sign instead. He dove under his table.
The two speeders came tight on our flanks, shooting. Father lifted his hand. The left rider hit an invisible wall and went backwards off his seat. The right rider got yanked forward over his own bars and pinned under his bike.
We skidded to a stop near our ship. " Go!" he barked, and that wasn't a request.
We ran for the ramp. Shmi first, then me. A bolt chewed metal by my foot. I jumped the last meter. Father turned at the bottom, saber up, and reflected three shots with his blade. The next man who tried to rush got slammed into a crate.
I hit the control inside, and the ramp kept dropping. Father backed up, cutting a pike head, then a rifle, then some fool who tried to rush past him. Father finally came on the ship and closed the ramp.
"To the cockpit," Father said, already moving, then stopped when he saw me slide into the pilot's chair. "I can do it," I said, hands moving across the control panels. "Please."
He held my eyes for a second, reading me. Blaster hits thumped the hull somewhere aft. Shmi flinched in the corridor and kept running for a seat. "This is not the time to—"
"I've got it," I said, steady as I could make it. "Just trust me. Besides, we will need someone at the Gunner station father."
He looked me over hard, and I noticed that he knew I was right, we would need cover fire.. "Fine, Strap in, I'll clean our back."
"I'll let you know if any ships appear coming after us," I said.
He was gone. I punched the start-up. Systems came alive. I remembered my selfish wish I had made before coming to this body.
"Shmi?" I called.
"Im in my seat," she said, a little breathless. "Just… go."
I lifted us clean off the pads. "Contacts?" I said into the intercom.
"Three at our two o'clock, climbing. One above, cutting across," Father said from the gunner seat. Calm voice, tight wording. "They mean to herd us."
"I see them." I didn't look at the sensors long; I looked at the sky. A skiff with rigged thrusters floated up from a lower platform and tried to turn in. Two light fighters and above us, a third ship broke from a landing stack and rolled to get guns on.
"Stay out of that turn," Father said. "They'll pin you to the tower."
"I got this," I said, and shoved us forward. The skiff shot and missed, but the fighters didn't. Two bolts hit our aft shield, and the ship sensors lit up.
"Shields aft is still good to go," I said. "I'm going to turn as we rise to give you the chance to shoot them down."
"Good."
I yawed hard. Father lit up the first fighter he saw. The nose cone went black, and the engine coughed fire. The ship spun away and hit a wall.
"Two remaining," Father said.
"I can count, Father."
"Then move us until it reaches zero," he said, dry.
The second fighter dove to take our top. I kicked us down and right, let him overshoot, then pulled up under his belly. Father didn't waste the chance. One clean burst took the belly plates off, and the ship exploded.
Father ordered. "Get us out of here."
The city dropped under us in a smear of roofs and dust. "Two on our six," I said.
"I see them," Father said from the turret. As he started opening fire on them. "Shmi, you good?"
"I'm fine. Just fly," she said. She sounded scared.
A bolt hit our top shield. The panel beeped and blinked yellow. I rolled a touch to spread the hits, then pushed the throttle. The engines complained as we shot past the last tower and out over the flats.
"Airspace clear in ten," I said. I could feel the column ahead where the sky thins. "Then we'll get real speed."
I angled us around a weather balloon, skimmed its tether by too little, and kicked us vertical. Gravity sat on my chest. Shmi made a small sound and then went quiet again. The town fell away fully. The shield panel blinked a little less angrily.
"Two on our tail still trying," I said.
"I make sure they don't make it," Father said. A burst from the turret. "One less."
"Last one's stubborn," I said. I jinked right, then left, just enough to keep him guessing without bleeding speed. The sky went thin-blue, then dark. The last fighter tried a dive shot. I rolled under it. Father took his wing off clean. He spun out and dropped.
"Clear behind for now," Father said. The hyperdrive plotter was already warming. "Course is set for a short jump."
"Good," he said.
"Five," I said. "Four… three…"
"Two more coming low," Father said. "Ignore. Go."
"Two… one."
I pushed the lever. The stars smeared. I let out air I didn't know I'd been holding. My hands were still on the controls. They wouldn't stop shaking yet.
"Good job, dear," he said. A pause. "You flew well."
"Thanks," I said. My hands were still shaking. I kept them on the stick