Veronica caught the leaping BD and burst out the door, Amir right on her heels.
With Amir no longer in sight, the remaining bounty hunters realized they'd been played. They turned their focus to the ventilation shaft, splitting up and rushing toward the exit point.
"Stormtroopers?! Why are there stormtroopers surrounding the place?" Veronica shouted.
Amir, having cleared the entrance as well, spotted the tightening formation of white-armored troops. They were closing in fast.
Veronica slammed her palm against the red button on her mechanical arm. With a whir, the entire limb unfolded outward, revealing two rotating blaster cannons.
"This way!" Amir scanned the area, picked a safer route, and called out while letting BD latch onto his back.
"If we start blasting stormtroopers, we'll be stuck on Tatooine forever. You really want to sleep in sand the rest of your life?" he joked.
"One day I'm going to kill them all," Veronica said coldly, eyes burning with hatred.
"You should be thanking me for dropping out," Amir said. "If you ever shot a stormtrooper and it turned out to be me, you'd cry."
"Cry? Me?" Veronica scoffed. "Even if you took off your helmet and begged, I wouldn't flinch."
"There's more troopers around this corner," Amir whispered, stopping short and peeking ahead. Three bounty hunters were also crouched there, eyeing the incoming soldiers.
"The vent exit's right here. If they come out now, it's over," Amir muttered.
Right then, a mesh grate popped open near the wall. Rango crawled out, green-skinned and long-braided.
A dozen stormtroopers snapped their weapons toward him. The nearby bounty hunters tensed, preparing for battle.
Another head emerged—then a case. Unaware of the danger, Little Jay shouted, "Move, Rango! Don't block the way!"
But once he stepped out and saw the scene, he froze. Rango immediately shielded him with his body, glaring at the encroaching troopers. There was nowhere to hide. One wrong move and they'd be riddled with blaster fire.
"Officer! I'm a cadet at the Imperial Military Academy, currently on leave," Amir said, stepping forward with a pleasant smile. He flashed the uniform under his coat and raised both hands. "These are friends of mine. Jay, hand the case to the officer."
The stormtroopers hesitated, slightly lowering their weapons. But Jay, stubborn, glared at Amir, clutching the case with white knuckles.
"Rango," Amir said calmly.
After a heartbeat of hesitation, Rango turned and reached for the case.
That's when it happened—a blur leapt from the vent. A strong arm locked around Jay's neck, while the other yanked the case from his grip. A swift leg sweep dropped Rango hard to the ground.
Amir instantly raised his blaster toward the trench-coated figure—but the man shielded himself with Jay, keeping Amir from firing.
The stormtroopers looked on, unsure whether the newcomer was friend or foe.
"Hey! Toss the case over here!" one of the troopers shouted.
"As you wish," the man said, dragging both Jay and the case toward them.
"BD?" Amir edged closer, trying to get a clean angle—only to spot BD sprinting toward the man. Rango's skin darkened, pupils constricting like sharpened needles, locked on the man holding Jay.
"What the hell is he trying to do?" Amir thought.
The man took about ten steps. By then, the stormtroopers had fully encircled him.
The bounty hunters hadn't retreated. Instead, they began inching closer, hands twitching near their weapons.
The blaster barrels on Veronica's arm started spinning. She looked like a predator seconds away from the kill.
The man glanced back—and saw BD charging straight toward him.
"Goodbye, my friend," he whispered, eyes flashing with exhaustion and grim peace.
"No!" Amir's instincts screamed. In an instant, his mind was consumed by fire. Jay, Rango, BD, the trench-coated man, the bounty hunters, the troopers—gone in a blinding explosion.
He saw Rango's scorched body twitching. Jay's mangled remains. Veronica sobbing beside him.
It was all fake.
Amir clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his palms, drawing blood. The illusion shattered—everything popped like a bubble.
The man was still there, staring at BD. He hadn't finished speaking. Rango remained poised to strike. BD kept running.
"Gah!" the man cried out. Jay had bitten down on his arm. With a snarl, the man hurled him backward—straight into BD.
Ignoring the pain, Amir surged forward. He had never moved so fast in his life.
The man turned back to the stormtroopers—and pressed the case's trigger.
BOOM!!!
The explosion tore through the square. Scorching heat rippled outward. Veronica's red hair whipped wildly in the blast. A blinding white light erupted at the epicenter.
Veronica didn't even blink.
"No, no, no…" she murmured, then screamed and charged forward. The thick smoke felt like a bottomless pit. She was falling endlessly, the light completely gone. The world around her turned to black and white.
She tore through the smoke, stumbling blindly, her mind blank.
Then—she saw it.
A faint blue glow.
Weak. But still pulsing.
A spherical shield.
From within came a weary but lighthearted voice:"Jay, why are you so heavy…"
Tears welled in Veronica's eyes. She burst out laughing, half crying, and ran to them. She slammed her mechanical arm into Amir's chest.
Still kneeling, Amir collapsed backward from the blow, cradling Jay. The shield shimmered—and vanished.
"Ow! That arm's not for punching people. One misfire and I'd be toast," Amir groaned.
Rango staggered to his feet. Half his green braid was singed. He wiped his face, hoisted the unconscious Jay, and said, "We need to move."
Veronica helped Amir up, wrapping his arm around her shoulder as they followed behind.
BD stepped out from the shield's radius. He stared at a torn piece of trench coat on the ground. The carbon-scored edges still smoldered. He raised one leg and stomped out the ember.
And then he stood there, frozen.
Until a voice called behind him—
"BD, let's go."