Prologue
I was left, lying on the library floor with a gaping wound down the right side of my body.
To this day I will never understand how I survived such a strike.
I remember voices, his voice in particular as he hovered above me and yelled out orders in the same rich baritone I knew and loved.
I was picked up and taken to an apartment.
There I could smell her familiar scent and caught glimpses of the gold strands of her hair. There was lots of movement and whispers as they discussed what to do with me.
There wasn't enough bacta patches.
It's funny isn't it? The things you remember, the words that stick in your mind.
The Jedi weapon had sliced me open from under my right arm down to my hip. The energy pulse had quarterized the vessels, leaving them open and weeping plasma.
I was then pulled to my feet and stood limply as they wound something around my torso.
Poor Olphina, she sounded so desperate.
"We need to get her out of here Fox," I heard her say, "they'll hunt her down. Where's Rex and Piia?"
"Dead."
That was the first word I had spoken.
And I swore it would be my last.
"Reed, we need to get onto Reed. He'll be able to airlift her somewhere, anywhere." Fox was watching me for any sign of reaction the whole time he spoke.
"Oriis is too obvious." She was right of course.
My body had been moved and they would be back to find me; to make sure I was dead.
I wanted to say 'leave me, let them come,' but again, I wouldn't talk.
Jesse on the other hand was an entirely different matter.
The Force choking hold had obliterated his voice box completely.
We made a fine pair, the two of us.
The one who wouldn't and the other who couldn't…
Talk.