After some distance, Mona began to adjust and managed to break into a light jog.
"Thank you for trusting me," Amir said to her as they turned a corner.
For some reason, Mona seemed to have resisted the effects of the mind control. Amir didn't believe for a second that Tullio would let two test subjects go out of sympathy.
If Mona had refused to follow him from the start, they would've wasted precious time.
"There was no worse option than staying here," Mona replied between breaths. "So why not take the risk and trust you?"
For both her and Milisen, remaining in that place was unbearable. The moment even a sliver of hope appeared—no matter how faint—they would chase after it without hesitation.
Because they were different from the other children. Whether clones or abducted since infancy, the others had been like walking corpses—obediently undergoing procedures and participating in experiments. But Mona and Milisen had grown up hearing their older sister tell them stories about the outside world—how wonderful and vast the galaxy was.
Even if that sister had never seen much of it herself.
Suddenly, two combat droids appeared ahead. This time, they didn't ignore Amir. Red lights flashed in their eyes, and they raised their blaster arms to open fire.
"Get down!" Amir shouted as he turned to shield Milisen and called to Mona.
His lightsaber ignited with a hum, the green blade deflecting the incoming blaster bolts with precision.
This likely meant that Tullio had regained consciousness and realized Amir's betrayal, revoking his clearance for free movement.
"As expected… Jedi mind tricks don't last long enough."
The reflected blaster fire struck the droids' alloy plating, throwing sparks—but failed to penetrate.
Unaffected, the battle droids pressed forward, maintaining a steady stream of fire.
But the closer they came, the more it played into Amir's plan. Once they were close enough, he surged forward, blade sweeping out in a clean arc—severing both droids' firing arms.
With one fluid motion, he widened the swing and sliced the still-moving halves cleanly in two.
The danger passed. Amir waved to Mona, and they kept moving forward.
"Reinforcements from the nearest fleet have been called," Gideon's adjutant reported.
"Why won't this damn creature leave?" Gideon snapped.
The space slug clinging to the ship's hull was scorched all over. The damage was worsening under constant fire from the surrounding TIE fighters. The creature wailed in pain but showed no intention of retreating—as if it bore a personal grudge against this cruiser and wouldn't stop until one of them was dead.
It had already circled the ship once and now moved its head beneath the vessel, locking onto a specific section. It began ramming it with violent force.
"It's attacking the crew rest area—the one with the test subjects!" the adjutant shouted, staring at the holographic display.
Gideon lunged forward. "Get me the surveillance feed—now!"
The technician moved quickly, pulling up every available camera angle from the rest area and the adjacent training field.
Gone. All of it—gone.
Gideon felt his heart seize in his chest.
What happened? What the hell happened? No—wait—there was one left. Subject 032 was still in his medpod, unconscious.
But what did that matter now? 032 had already been drained of nearly all his value. He didn't matter. What mattered were the two dozen new, talented test subjects!
The cruiser rocked violently again. Surveillance feeds flickered. In one view, the two combat droids guarding 032 had been knocked over by the tremors, and cracks were spreading across the medpod's casing.
Gideon no longer cared. Even if the pod broke and 032 died, it didn't matter. He had to salvage whatever he could—minimize the loss!
Just then, the adjutant handed him the commlink. "It's Tullio!"
"Put him through!" Gideon's heart surged with desperate hope.
But that hope was crushed immediately.
"Amir was faking it! He was never brainwashed—he… he's escaped!"
For the first time, Gideon found Tullio's voice utterly grating.
"Where is Amir?" Gideon's face turned ashen. He'd been played—completely. He'd thought victory was within reach, and now he looked like a fool.
Then it hit him: none of the test subjects matter anymore. Only one thing could redeem this disaster—Amir. If he could capture Amir and uncover the full extent of his secret, no one would care about the failed experiment. All they'd remember was Gideon's success.
"Pull up all surveillance feeds. Find him!" he barked.
The technician finally located Amir—rushing down a corridor with two children in tow.
"Send every combat droid to intercept them!" Gideon shouted, steadying himself after another tremor. He seized a blaster rifle from a nearby stormtrooper and stormed out. "Everyone with me!"
A sense of foreboding tugged at Amir's gut.
He deactivated his lightsaber and looked around at the mangled remains of the battle droids. The resistance was mounting. He felt like every robot on the ship was converging on him.
No time to ponder why. These machines' clunky firing stances and easily read patterns posed little threat—unless they surrounded him from multiple directions in large numbers.
"Ahh!" Mona's scream came from behind.
Amir turned to see her tripping over a fallen droid limb, barely catching herself on her elbows. That wasn't too bad—but then she glanced back at the wreckage and saw something that made her blood run cold.
Flesh and tissue—embedded in the droid's severed joints.
Mona screamed in terror.
These weren't just machines—they were cybernetic hybrids, built from living beings!
Suppressing her revulsion, Mona scrambled back to her feet and ran toward Amir.
Amir had seen it too. But he simply turned away, silent, and kept moving.
A group of children made their way toward the docking bay. Battle droids passed them on either side. The kids were frightened, but they knew—unless it was during training sessions, the droids wouldn't attack them.
Then—a violent tremor shook the corridor.
The children lost their balance, falling and crashing into walls. The hallway was chaos for a moment—but they didn't stop. Clumsily, they climbed to their feet and resumed their march.
The port was just ahead. Maybe once they reached it, the shaking would stop—some of them dared to hope.
Soon, they reached a large open space beneath the cruiser—its central underside. This was where most ships were raised into the interior and docked.
But now, every TIE fighter was gone.
Only one vessel remained: a disc-shaped medium freighter.
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🌌 Star Wars: Relics of the Past
📢 The Force Calls! 📢
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Uncover ancient Jedi relics before the galaxy does.
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