Chicken Little; Pt 01

[Captain Larraq]

Kimberly Saedo was seven. And like all of her friends, Kimberly's parents were dead. Some had been killed by Jedi. Others had been killed by Republic Troopers. Some died because of Bounty Hunters or Pirates or some other criminal... Kimberly's parents had been killed by Mandalorians. Her mother died on Aeten II... And her father died on Yaga Minor. But that was three years ago.

Kimberly still missed her parents. Some nights she cried. Other nights she woke up screaming, afraid that monsters in armor were coming to kill her too. But still, she had friends at the orphanage. Nobody made fun of her when she cried. They all cried too. Some of the older kids pretended that they didn't... But Kimberly had seen them crying sometimes.

Here, everyone cried sometimes.

 

[Captain Larraq]

She didn't wake up screaming this morning. And she hadn't cried last night. So, today was going to be a good day. She liked good days.

Kimberly and her best friend had helped each other make their beds. Kimberly had almost tied her shoes all by herself... but Mrs. Pettaway had to finish the left one. Which was kinda nice. Mrs. Pettaway was nice to her, and Kimberly liked it when Mrs. Pettaway smiled at her.

After everyone had gotten dressed, made their beds, and brushed their teeth, Mrs. Pettaway had taken them downstairs to get breakfast. Today, Kimberly had Snoke-flakes and a glass of juice. She loved Snoke-flakes. There was a big cartoon picture of Leader Snoke on the front of the box. On the back of the box, someone had said that there were puzzles. Kimberly had never seen the back of the box, she just knew that she liked the cartoon picture of Leader Snoke and that the cereal was yummy.

Mrs. Pettaway had once said that she liked Snoke-flakes when she was a girl. Kimberly said that she didn't know Snoke-flakes were that old.

Mrs. Pettaway made a funny face after that.

 

[Captain Larraq]

When Kimberly finisher her breakfast, she took her dishes to Mr. Oberliek. He was scary looking, but he was always nice to everyone. Mrs. Pettaway told Kimberly that if she didn't brush her teeth, they'd end up looking like Mr. Oberliek's teeth.

After breakfast, Kimberly brushed her teeth three times. Then she got her books and crayons and went to class with everyone else.

Mrs. Pettaway was teaching everyone about dividing little numbers from big numbers when the sirens started. Everyone looked to the windows and each other. Kimberly couldn't see anything outside, but knew that the sirens meant that the bad people were coming. It took her a moment to realize why here crayon drawing was wet. She was crying. Mrs. Pettaway was saying something, but Kimberly wasn't sure what it was. She just kept staring at the wet spots on her drawing. The sound of screaming and crying filled the room.

 

[Captain Larraq]

Mr. Oberlisk came into the room wearing armor. Kimberly didn't know why he had armor on or where he got it, but he looked brave and safe in the armor.

"Mandalorians are attacking the capital." Kimberly heard him saying to Mrs. Pettaway. Mrs. Pettaway's face was pale. Kimberly sniffed back her tears.

"Stupid bucket heads." Kimberly said out loud, a bubble of snot popping from her left nostril. Mrs. Pettaway looked at Kimberly and smiled, a her face not so pale anymore. "That's right Kimberly." She said softly. "Stupid bucket heads. No need for us to worry."

The screaming and crying got a little softer as more of the other kids looked at Kimberly and Mrs. Pettaway. "Stupid bucket heads." She heard a few of the other kids repeating.

"Everything will be alright." Mrs. Pettaway told the two dozen small orphans. "The capital is a long, long ways from here. But just to be safe, we're going to go to the bomb shelter. Ok?"

 

[Captain Larraq]

Some of the kids sniffled, others cried, but most of them nodded their heads and lined up at the door. "I want everyone to hold the hand of the person in front of you and behind you." Mrs. Pettaway said. Kimberly did as she was told. She held hands with the boy in front of her and the girl behind her, her best friend. Mr. Oberlisk stood by the door while Mrs. Pettaway stood at the end of the line.

Kimberly looked at her shoes. <Stupid Mandalorians.> She thought to herself as her hand was tugged on. Slowly, without thinking, Kimberly put one foot in front of the other and held tight to the hand that dragged her forward.

Kimberly stared at her feet. Wood floors gave way to tile, then wood again, and then they were on the stone and duracrete walkway at lead to the road. All around her, Kimberly heard the sound of shoes. Shoes on dirt. Shoes on gravel. Shoes on rock. Shoes on duracrete. Kimberly glanced to her right. There was a class of older kids walking in a line. A man in armor led the front of that line too, the teacher followed from the back of the line. Behind them, Kimberly saw a bunch of adults heading in the same direction. They weren't in lines.

 

[Captain Larraq]

Sirens still filled the air. They wailed in and out. Sometimes they were loud, other times they were kinda quiet.

Kimberly could hear some of the kids crying, but the hand she held kept pulling her forward. "A fleet's arrived." Kimberly heard a nearby adult whisper to another. She could hear broken voices crackling on a nearby radio. "Which one?" Asked a different voice... Mrs. Pettaway's voice. "The Maw Irregular Fleet." The first one answered.

Kimberly's mom and dad had both left on a fleet of spaceships. Kimberly missed her parents. She wanted to be holding their hands right now.

Kimberly hadn't realized she stopped holding the boy's hand until she had already wiped the tears from her eyes.

She had been crying again.

 

[Captain Larraq]

"Why'd we stop?" Asked a small voice from behind her. Kimberly stopped rubbing her tears away and looked up. She had stopped walking... and the boy was no longer in front of her. Kimberly turned and looked behind her. She and her friend had been the last two kids in the line. "Mrs. Pettaway?" Kimberly asked, looking around for the woman that cared for her and her class.

Adults were all around her, but Kimberly couldn't find Mrs. Pettaway. She felt like she was going to cry again.

"Where is everyone else?" Her friend asked. She sounded like she was going to cry too.

Before either of them could cry though, a pair of big, hairy hands wrapped around them both and picked them up. "Don't worry." The big man said. "Lets get you to the shelter."

 

[Captain Larraq]

The big man had a funny nose. But he was smiling like Kimberly's dad used to smile. She liked him. He made her feel safe.

"I can't find my teacher." Kimberly said to the big, hairy man.

"That's alright." Said the big man. "I can't find my sergeant. Maybe we can find them both at the shelter? Is it alright if I walk with you guys?"

"Um... Ok." Said Kimberly's friend. She still sounded scared. Kimberly just nodded.

The man walked with each of the girls in one arm, held on either side of his hips. He wore the same armor that Mr. Oberlisk had been wearing. He was really big... and he smelled like grease. But he made Kimberly feel safe. So she wrapped her little arms around his big, hairy arm and held on.

 

[Captain Larraq]

The crowd of people got tighter. The people got louder. "We're almost there." the big man said.

In the distance, Kimberly could hear broken voices on a radio again. "They left us. They left us!" Kimberly could hear a woman screaming.

"What happened?" Kimberly heard different people asking.

"The fleet." Someone said. "They fled the system."

Kimberly buried her face against the man's hairy arm. <Stupid Mandalorians.> She thought to herself as she began crying again.

"Don't worry girls." The man said as he bounced the two of them against his hips. "Everything's going to be alright."

From somewhere up ahead, Kimberly heard a voice yelling over a loud speaker. "This shelter is full. The next closest shelter is on 48th and Agamath."

Kimberly heard her friend begin to cry and felt herself crying harder. The hairy man bounced them both. She could feel him stop walking forward and begin to look around.

 

[Captain Larraq]

The man carried them through crowded city streets. Still clinging to his arm, Kimberly looked at the people around them. Everywhere Kimberly looked, people were walking in the same direction.

Sirens still rang out through the city, the sound of feet stepping on duracrete nearly drowned them out. Still, Kimberly listened to the adults that surrounded them. Some people argued, others told one another that they would make it to the shelter in time, and others cried softly to themselves. Kimberly felt safe in the arms of the hairy man. But still, the occasional tear fell from her face.

As the sky got darker and the sounds around her turned to screaming, Kimberly looked up from the man's arm and looked out at the sea of people. Some were running. Others stood still, looking at the sky with funny faces.

Kimberly looked up.

Clouds swirled and blew in pretty patterns, dancing in a way that Kimberly had never seen before. As she watched them, they grew brighter and brighter. And then they were gone, blown away and replaced by something huge and dark and covered in fire.

Kimberly screamed.