But that didn't mean Amir was out of options.
By now, BD-4 had reached Ahsoka's side. It extended its discharge electrode toward Ahsoka—who seemed to have sensed something was wrong and was already starting to sway.
Bzzzzzt—!
A hard jolt. Ahsoka's startled cry rang out from behind Amir.
Seizing the moment, Amir quickly tossed Ahsoka an identical filter.
"There's a hallucinogen in the air!"
Ahsoka still looked a little dazed, but the instant she heard Amir, she caught the filter on reflex. After a brief, puzzled pause, she put it into her mouth.
"What happened?" Ahsoka asked. She had clearly experienced a different hallucination herself and still hadn't fully reconnected with reality.
"We just got pulled into an illusion—probably the work of those dragon slugs. They use the hallucination window to hunt us," Amir said.
At that moment, No. 32—who had been standing motionless—also seemed to "wake up." But it was obvious he wasn't truly awake. More like sleepwalking, he started drifting toward that doorway.
So they lure prey into that room and feed there… but why? If they just rushed out, we'd have a hard time stopping them anyway, Amir thought.
Then something clicked.
He raised his right hand and lit the nearest lamp. That area immediately brightened.
As if hit by a harsh stimulus, the dragon slug that had crawled out shrieked—and actually recoiled back into the room.
"They're afraid of the light!" Amir said quickly. "I'll stop No. 32—go find Millisyn. Her dark side is flaring again!"
He reached out with his right hand and yanked the wandering No. 32 with the Force. The iron-brick droid immediately tripped over himself—left foot catching right—and faceplanted right where he stood.
The instant No. 32 hit the ground, a denser surge of dark side energy rushed through—passing straight through Amir and continuing forward.
Amir's heart clenched.
Millisyn…
He spun around and saw it: near a lamp that had just been lit in the distance, Ahsoka was moving toward Millisyn, who was kneeling on the floor. Tears streaked the Twi'lek girl's face.
A nameless anger rose in Amir's chest.
She had been so close to forgetting those painful memories. Her heart had been filling with joy and hope. She shouldn't have had to be trapped by the past anymore…
The time hadn't been long, but Amir had already come to see Millisyn as a little sister. Seeing her dragged back into pain by the hallucination—so sad that the dark side erupted out of control again—made Amir's expression turn colder and colder.
Inside the room, the dragon slugs grew restless. Whether it was the turbulence in the Force or simple impatience at prey repeatedly refusing to take the bait, several huge bodies began to loom at the doorway again, peering out—like they'd turn into vengeful wraiths and pounce on Amir at any second.
Amir felt only disgust.
"Come on, then."
He thrust out his hand and yanked hard. Two dragon slugs at the threshold were dragged forward uncontrollably, flying straight at him. In an instant, the hunter became the hunted. Amir's lightsaber ignited the moment they reached him—green light crashing into their mud-slick bodies and flaring in a blinding burst.
Two agonized shrieks cut through the air.
The two slugs—too slow to react—were cleaved cleanly in half. The cut surfaces were perfectly smooth, still glowing with heat where the blade had fused and seared.
Even split in two, they weren't dead yet. But they couldn't move anymore, only howl in pain.
That sight completely enraged the slugs inside the room. At once, they surged toward the doorway in a rolling mass. Yet instinct still made them recoil the instant they touched the bright edge of the lamp light.
"So you're scared of the light, huh?"
An idea sparked in Amir's mind. He reached out again. A nearby lamp stand began to wobble—straining under the heavy pull of the Force—until it finally snapped, tore free, and rose into the air, flying into Amir's hand.
In that instant, it felt like he'd just gotten his hands on the perfect tool.
Lamp stand in his left hand, lightsaber in his right, Amir strode toward the doorway. On the other side, the furious dragon slugs writhed in frenzied fear, surging forward and jerking back again and again.
"Catch!"
Amir hurled the lamp stand straight into the room. Oh, you're afraid? Then I'll put it right in your faces.
Shrieks, writhing, chaos—everything tangled together as the room boiled with movement.
A surge of confidence rose in Amir—so strong it edged into arrogance.
They're just bugs. I can kill them easily…
With lightsaber in hand, Amir leapt in right after the thrown lamp stand—like a shark diving into a school of fish. His blade carved through the writhing bodies in an unbroken screen of green, cutting again and again. With each sizzling hiss, a choking, fishy stench spread thicker through the room.
But none of that mattered.
All Amir saw were their fleeing shapes. He pushed his speed to the limit—sliding, pivoting, striking. The panicked dragon slugs tried desperately to escape, and any that attempted to fight back were simply cut in half even faster.
Ahsoka could clearly feel the dark side energy inside Millisyn—just as clearly as she felt Millisyn's pain and sorrow spilling out.
Millisyn was like a wounded little animal, instinctively resisting anything that came near.
Ahsoka extended her right hand and guided her own connection to the Force into Millisyn—pure, steady, luminous—linking the two of them and dissolving, thinning, washing away.
The dense dark side presence in front of her seemed to weaken slightly. Encouraged, Ahsoka focused harder and poured more of that light-side strength into the bond.
Cruiser.
Millisyn stared blankly at Sian in the medbay, silent.
She couldn't believe it. The person closest to her—Sian, who was like a sister—had just been declared dead.
She couldn't imagine life without Sian. Just her and Mona, alone, suffering in isolation.
They'd promised they'd come back safe every day. They'd promised no one would be abandoned. They'd promised they'd escape together—travel together…
A single tear slipped down her cheek against her will. Then it became a flood—breaking loose like a dam, unstoppable.
She didn't know how much time passed.
Everything went numb.
Every day was pain. Mona grew weaker with each passing day. Sorrow drowned Millisyn until she couldn't breathe.
Cold.
Despair…
It never stopped.
Until, suddenly, a ray of sunlight shone onto her forehead—and she opened her eyes.
She had never seen sunlight before. But she knew what warmth was.
So she stood up and began to run after that warmth. She kept running—until she saw flowers and grass, until she experienced flying and playing, until everything started to become beautiful.
And Mona was there too—smiling at her from not far away, always there whenever she lifted her head.
"Mmm… Mona… Amir…"
Millisyn opened her eyes.
Her tear-streaked face slowly formed a smile.
Something in Amir's heart was suddenly tugged. He stopped mid-swing. A wave of absurdity crawled up his spine and slammed into his mind.
What am I doing…?
His body was spattered with the fluid that burst from the dragon slugs when they were cut apart. The floor was practically carpeted with writhing severed bodies.
At some point, No. 32 had also woken up. He walked to the doorway and asked—awkward, still not used to speech—"You… I… what happened?"
Amir gave a faint smile, deactivated his lightsaber, and said, "It's over. We're fine."
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🌌 Star Wars: Relics of the Past
📢 The Force Calls! 📢
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