Alone in the Dark

It was a dark and bumpy ride and when I say dark, I mean it was pitch black. The crate was vacuum-sealed and air-tight. I was prepared for the journey and eager to reunite with Hest. The truck hadn’t stopped moving since we departed and I was grateful that the driver made arrangements to relieve himself without stopping. As it was, I was already on my last canister of oxygen and we were still rolling steady.

As my oxygen levels slowly dwindled, I recalled the words of General Tarnok, “Quiet your mind. Slow your body.” But he was a Jedi Master! And I was nothing like his furry padawan. Nevertheless, there wasn’t much else for me to do all alone in the unlit crate. I tried to slow my breathing and let the constant rumbling of the truck calm my mind as I waited in the darkness…

…I waited in the darkness. General Tarnok was counting on me. He was doing the heavy lifting, along with his canine-looking companion. All I had to do was wait and be ready when the time came. The tunnel was pitch black and I couldn’t risk turning on my Fusion Lantern and being spotted. So I waited quietly in the pitch-black silence.

Then I saw a light, followed by another. The two lightsabers emerged from around the bend and were approaching quickly. Then the blasters. Vwoom. Vwoom. The lightsabers were a blur of light in the dark as they deflected the blaster bolts, sending some back at their assailants. They took turns rushing the Muun ambassador ahead. I didn’t know why they were abducting the ambassador. I didn’t need to. General Tarnok was a great and honorable man and I knew that whatever he was doing was for the greater good.

My time was up. The droids rounded the corner and I had to lay down cover. They were quickly in my sights. Djhiew! Djhiew! Djhiew! Battle droids fell but more kept coming around the corner. Djhiew! Djhiew! Djhiew! There were so many droids, but I was concealed and they couldn’t see me. I kept firing my blaster, the sound reverberating through the tunnel as the General led the two others toward me. Djhiew! Djhiew! Djhiew! The fallen droids were beginning to pile up toward the bend in the tunnel. “Keep it up!” the General praised as he led his small group past me through the tunnel. Djhiew! Djhiew! Djhiew! I continued firing on and on until the droids stopped coming. Then the reverb stopped and it was dark again…

…It was dark again and the truck had just stopped. I tried to open the crate from the inside, but the air-tight lid was too heavy. I heard a sound from outside. Was I hallucinating? I had run out of oxygen long ago, or at least that’s how it felt. Time was strange all alone in the dark. My blaster was ready. It seemed like a long wait before anything happened, but finally, the crate cracked and hissed as air rushed and light flooded my eyes. When my vision cleared, Hest was there at last.