I leave the cell door open as I begin my escape. If I wanted to kill those troopers, I would have done it myself. If I locked the door, the one whose ribs I'd broken might die before he could get medical attention.
They were misguided, but I had no quarrel with them. They were only obstacles to me. Obstacles I've overcome.
The alarm's wail was a steady noise in the background. I ran, ran up. I had to get to Porsek before he got to the 'galcomm'. I reasoned that any device for communication with the galaxy not-so far, far away would be on the roof, or surface, or whatever.
I opted not to take the turbolift. Elevators, and GFFA-equivalents, are death traps. When you get where you're going, it announces its presence with a loud noise. Then you get blasted into last week. Instead, I took the stairs. A squad of stormtroopers rushed me on the way up. Their blaster bolts spun off into the walls. I fired burst after burst of stunbolts from my borrowed rifle.
As I reached the top, a spherical device bounced down the stairs.
Thermal detonator.
In the blink of an eye, I leapt up the stairs. Behind me the detonator went off, and I threw myself to the ground. A wave of heat washed over me, and I could hear the staircase collapsing.
I looked up and saw a pair of white boots. I flipped up and stood face to helm with the stormtrooper officer who had thrown the detonator.
Before I could react, I hit him fast. Too fast.
Whatever the maximum force the human wrist can absorb is, I just exceeded it. This time, the crack came from my body.
Clutching my now-broken wrist to my chest, I looked around. To the left, an imposing blast door with "EXIT" written on it in Basic. To my right, manned blaster turret. Ahead, an interior door marked "GALCOMM". Behind me, wrecked staircase.
The crew of the turret reacted to my appearance by firing enormous blaster bolts at me. I was exposed, with no cover. I grabbed the prone form of the stormtrooper officer and cowered behind it. The turret fire slacked off, having already gouged massive holes in the metal floor.
That cannon fire had come way too close for comfort. The bigger the bolt, the harder it seemed for my field to affect it.
If the officer had one bomb, he may have had more. I found two more thermal detonators in a pouch, handily marked "Explosives".
I didn't wait for the turret crew to decide killing their own CO was not just necessary, but something they'd wanted to do for a long time. I lobbed the thermal detonators with my good arm. They exploded with a satisfying boom.
I dropped the officer. With the threat gone, the adrenaline pumping through my system began to slack off, and the throbbing pain in my wrist began to intensify. I made my way to the comm room and opened the door.
It hissed open. Porsek was waiting for me.