Chapters (57)
- Cover
- Doctor Aphra
- DRAMATIS PERSONAE
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- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Ark Angel fires on the queen’s chamber, causing the whole lair to cave in—rocks crash to the floor. Vader uses Force energy to protect himself and Aphra from the avalanche.
APHRA (narration):
It was…wow. Rocks falling everywhere. Vader throwing a hand up, summoning an invisible field of Force energy to surround us. I’d like to say I was right there, fighting alongside him…somehow.
But I actually threw myself to the ground, arms flying up instinctively to protect my head.
And through it all, I could still hear the screams of the Geonosian queen…
GEONOSIAN QUEEN:
My womb! My children! Bring me back my children!
APHRA (narration):
As her empire crumbled around her, Vader’s ship swooped through the now exposed Geonosian sky above us—no, not the TIE fighter, his other ship, you think Darth Vader only has one ship? We knew this mission would require multiple ships, and luckily the Dark Lord still possessed a few of the luxuries Dark Lords enjoy.
Vader’s ship lowered an electromagnetic crane through the newly formed hole in the cave’s ceiling. I attached the crane to the womb-slash-droid-factory, and we all hopped on board.
I spared a glance at the graceful, elegant lines of Vader’s ship above us —so shiny, so regal…
APHRA:
Are you sure your ship can lift this? The Ark Angel is a heavy-duty lifter. Yours looks like a pretty little thing, but—
DARTH VADER:
Do not worry. She’s stronger than she looks.
APHRA (narration):
The queen never stopped screaming. Not even as we were lifted to the sky.
GEONOSIAN QUEEN:
My empire is forever! My empire cannot end!
APHRA (narration):
Sometimes I can still hear her screaming. Sometimes I think maybe I was screaming, too.
But…whatever. We did it! My first successful mission with the one and only Darth Vader. My first step in gaining his trust…so I could use it to my advantage later.
What a triumph, right?
As we soared over the crumbling ruins of the queen’s lair, towed by Vader’s ship to safety, I looked out once more at the desolate landscape. I thought maybe the fact that I’d just led a high-stakes droid factory heist that culminated with a lot of stuff blowing up would change my feelings toward the place. Maybe it would now appear more…exciting?
But, nah. Same old desert. Same old boring.
We were taking the most exciting parts with us.
SCENE 8
INT. THE ARK ANGEL. LATER.
APHRA (narration):
Back on the Ark Angel, I used the incredible mechanical expertise—
you know, the expertise Vader had taken special note of—to power up our brand-spankin’-new droid factory. The factory spoke to me in that secret language—it told me it was just ever so grateful to be part of our sure-to-be-galaxy-shattering mission. And, like magic—or the Force, I guess?—it started spitting out perfectly formed commando ’bots.