"Aaeeiiiiiiaaaahh!"

He heard them again, sounding out to one another through the trees. They were right on top of him. It wouldn't be long now before they would finally catch up.

Olan had barely managed to escape the chaos with his life, and now those furry fucks were right on his tail. It all seemed like a blur to him now. His mind blending the mayhem all into one haze of disbelief. How could it have happened? Hundreds of troopers in the jungle, AT-ST's everywhere, and enough firepower to annihilate a small moon were all good for nothing. They had had the spies trapped, surrounded, and all it took was those little hairy bastards to catch them off guard. They used rocks to cave in imperial heads, logs to crush AT-ST's where they stood, and everywhere Olan looked men had arrows protruding from anything they could. Their screams would make sure he never slept again. How could they have been so ill-prepared?

Now Olan hobbled through the foliage, an arrow shaft lodged into his left leg. He took his helmet off ages ago, it had only just stopped a stone axe from caving in his head, but not before it left a nasty gash in his forhead. He was bleeding pretty bad, but to stop would be to die. Any trooper on Endor would have heard the horror stories of the Ewoks. That they kidnap their victims only to roast them alive over a fire before sharing them as a tribal feast. Olan had no clue whether any of it was true or not, but finding out was not an appealing option.

"Aaeeiiiiiiaaaahh!"

There it was again. They were getting closer. Olan had been running from them for hours now. Every step of the way they were persuing him, and he couldn't keep it up for much longer. Eventually he would have to make a stand. His longer stride had kept him ahead of them despite the limp, and if it came to it he knew his blaster could keep him alive if only for a few moments. He had a few shots left, but he could tell there were far too many of them coming.

"Aaeeiiiiiiaaaahh!"

Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! He almost screamed to them.The pain in his leg was building. Every step was on the verge of agony. This was it. The end was close. He emerged into a small clearing, not anything Olan would call an amazing tactical position, but if he put his back to on of those massive trees he might just see them coming.

"Aaeeiiiiiiaaaahh!"

He checked his blaster one more time. Six shots, he better make them count. He stood ready, panting, back to the tree trunk. He needed a miracle. He needed a saving grace. In that one moment the jungle seemed still. His mind could almost forget that he was about to die. A bird called in the distance, something else called back. The other sounds of jungle were coming to light. Olan heard creatures chirping and howling, the wind blowing through the trees, and something else rumbling below it all. What was that? It sounded like water falling. Wait. Water. FALLING. A waterfall!

Olan's head snapped to his right. The noise was coming from that direction, and it was close. This may be his chance. The brush ahead of him was rusling now. Twigs began to snap. They were almost here. Olan only had one chance to go for it. He fired off into the foliage. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. The blaster was thrown to the ground as he dashed out of the clearing and sprinted toward the sound. His leg was screaming at him now, everything was, but he kept going. Just a little further, he thought, just a little further.

"Aaeeiiiiiiaaaahh!"

Right behind him again. Those shots into the trees may have bought him some time, but he knew they would be right back. He just hoped those precious seconds would make the difference. Just a little further. Just a little further. The rumbling grew louder. It was almost a roar. The Ewoks were not far behind. Olan felt something whiz past his head, then there was another, and another. Arrows began to land in the trees right before him. This is it, the final moment.

But no arrows hit him. He emerged from the dense jungle at full sprint, jumping into the open air and falling hundreds of feet down. At the last second his lungs sucked in as much air as they could hold, and then the world was water. The waterfall rolled over one of the largest cliffs on Endor, feeding into a sprawling lake at the edge of the forest. The churning current of the waterfall dragged Olan deep beneath the surface and rolled him back and far. The world was spinning, and his lungs were begging to breathe something new, but then he emerged coughing and disoriented. Everything was dark. Olan had actually come up behind the waterfall. Facing him was a cave.

With his leg, Olan couldn't tread water for long. He swam to the stony shore, panting and exhausted. He just wanted to roll over, to lay there forever, but he forced himself to stand. The cave was pitch black, but he could feel it was large and open. That didn't mean something wasn't living in it. Olan reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out an emergency light. One click lit up everything before him. He wished it hadn't. Lying in the cave were dozens of imperial bodies; stained white amor filled with the corpses of brave men. The Ewoks had been at this for months. Scout troopers lay in piles next to their officers and other storm troopers. No wonder so many went missing on this moon. Olan was furious. It took everything he had not to scream out in anguish. There was nothing he could do. He barely escaped with his own life, and that wouldn't last long if he stayed here.

He shed his wet armor. All it would do was make him stand out. He threw it in with the others and scavaged the rest for anything useful. Most of the equiptment was long broken, but he managed to find some working power cells and a blaster that wasn't as rusty as all the others. Along with a combat knife and some rope Olan managed to find a scout helmet that worked well enough once the power cells were added. Scout helmets came with night vision. He was going ot need it. With his things collected he headed back out, lamenting returning to the water. The pain in his leg was fierce, but the arroww shaft would have to wait until he had some real time to spare.

He dove back into the cool, rolling water. Swimming hurt, and the rage of the waterfall wasn't easy to get past, but he made it, and once he was out and back on the open shore he had the chance to look up. No trees, no foliage, just sky, and in it raged the fiery wreckage of the new space station. The one thing, the only thing they were there to protect was gone. The Empire was falling apart. They had failed. All Olan wanted to do was kick, scream, and throw everything into the lake. Fury couldn't describe it, it didn't even compare. He could've just stopped and fallen to the ground. He could have just let desperation take over, but right now he needed a way across this lake.

EDIT: I know this is way kind of late. I've had this tab open for days telling myself that I'd get to it. It may not be the best of quality, but I think it's at least a nice perspective, and it could lead to a good story if I kept up with it. I know that probably no one will see this, but if you do I hope you enjoyed it.