Title: Descent
Summary: A citizen's reaction to the fall of Coruscant. (NJO)
A/N: Written around Sept. 11 or 12, 2002. (Call it my way of coping and remembering.) I didn't post it for a long time for obvious reasons.
Feedback is, as always and ever, treasured. :)
*~*~*
It was such a shock.
When the war with Yuuzhan Vong began, I suppose you could say I felt an instant of panic, of knowledge that it would be life-changing. Then it rather faded into the background, passed away from my attention. I went along with my daily routine as if everything was the same.
I used to live and work on Coruscant. One of billions, perhaps trillions of people. I lived in a lower sub-quadrant of the planet with my wife and children in a tiny apartment that was typical for someone with my pay. I didn't make much by Coruscant's high standards, being only an accountant, but I did my job well.
That day started out normally, for me. My two children were sent off to school. Jenna, my girl, was twelve and my boy, Danin, had just turned eight. They were both perfect images of their mother – happy and carefree, with flying blond hair and sparkling blue eyes compared to my brown hair and eyes.
I grabbed Danin and pulled him to a big hug. He laughed, squirming in my arms and said, "Dad!" I let him go, smiling fondly. I ruffled his hair and he immediately tried to push it back into some semblance of organization.
Jenna protested when I hugged her. "Dad, I'm too old for that!" she protested.
"Oh really?" I asked. "Do you have a husband and kids yet?"
She frowned.
"Then you aren't too old," I said, smiling. She rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag with her schoolwork datapads.
My wife came up to me. "Have a good day," she said simply, smiling at me. I kissed her, grabbed my coat and left.
I took one of the huge flyer-buses to my work and leaned against the foggy window, not really thinking about anything. The other people on the bus, Rodians and Twi'leks and such, ignored me. I paid them no mind.
My workplace was one of Coruscant's many large, dark buildings. Everything was congested and crowded. Sometimes I truly missed my homeplanet, a farming world. But I had wanted to see the galaxy and the different species and cultures that existed. I suppose I had, I mused while looking at one of my non-human busriders, in some sense.
I got to my small office in nearly record time. Aliens and humans of all kinds gave me friendly greetings as I walked past them to begin my day.
I sat at my desk and sighed at the huge amount of work that had collected on it. But I simply pushed that away as I set myself to start working. Within fifteen minutes, I was engrossed in numbers.
Then, some time later – I can't remember how long – one of my co-workers, a human woman, burst in. Her dark hair was flying out of a clasp. Her dress looked rumpled. But it was her eyes that captured me most. They were wild and they had this look of such pained confusion, and I thought she looked as if something precious had been lost.
I didn't know then how true my first thought was.
"Oh Force, Alec, we've been bombed!" she panted. "Get out of here! We've been bombed," she said, her words coming fast and nearly incoherent. Her hands gripped the frame of my door with desperate strength.
"What?" I gasped. Stumbling, I got out of my chair and pushed past my desk. My children – my wife . . .
My co-worker left without another word, half running away. I followed her. Outside of my office were dozens of desks that subordinates used. Most were empty. Some stood by the chairs and stared up at the viewscreen on the far wall. There was almost complete silence. Distantly, I heard quiet sobbing and accelerated breathing.
I followed their eyes to the viewscreen. The first words I heard from it would forever impact my life.
A Twi'lek man shown on the screen. His face was mostly controlled, from years of doing live broadcasts, but something showed through his red eyes. Some kind of distant disbelief. A corner of the image was devoted to images of Yuuzhan Vong warships attacking Republic vessels and Coruscant itself.
"Coruscant is being invaded by the Yuuzhan Vong and right now Republic forces are attempting to keep the invaders at bay . . ."
His next words were lost to muffled roar of my own thoughts. My mind jerked like attempting to get out of a loop, by one thing just kept repeating over and over: my wife and children. My wife and children.
Without another thought, I started running towards the exit. I had to get home. As an aside, I wondered if I would be fired for leaving. I instantly decided I didn't care.
I ignored crowded buses with sentients at the entrances shouting to be let in. Attempting to get home that way would be useless. Coruscant is not made for walking, but I ran anyway, using lifts and passageways that I learned from years of going the same route.
As my shock bled away, terror replaced it. My eyes stung and I knew I was panting from a combination of exertion and near-hysteria. My chest felt tight with panic. Images of my children and wife flew across my mind as quickly as thoughts of an uncertain future did.
I don't know how long it took me to reach my home. Hours, probably. I have little recollection of it. Dirty corridors and suspicious aliens are a blur in my mind – inconsequential.
I remember pulling open the door and my wife being there. And suddenly we were embracing each other – not an embrace of love but of clinging desperation.
I pulled away slightly, coming to myself. "Jenna – Danin –"
"Here," she gasped quietly and burst into tears. I wiped her tears away.
I called out. "Jenna – Danin – come here!"
My two children came running down the hall. They were crying, their eyes red and noses running. I let go of my wife and opened my arms to them. They fell into them as they would not have that morning. Jenna clung to me as if she were a child.
"We have to leave," I said, the realization coming to me as soon as the words left my mouth.
My wife nodded. Jenna started to cry again and Danin just stared blankly.
I was the man of the household. My responsibility. "Get a change of clothing," I ordered, my tone firm and steady after years of dealing with defiant children. My children obeyed.
My wife nodded again. I pushed my children towards their bedrooms. Almost instantly, the organizational instinct that all mothers seem to possess kicked in for my wife. Within minutes she had organized the kids and gotten a change of clothing for both me and her.
I was busy making calls. I called in old favors and blackmailed. I didn't care that I was being ruthless, though only hours before I probably would have. Nothing beyond the present seemed to matter.
We left our other belongings and home without a second thought. We took off down corridors leading to landing spaces where ships lay. I held my son's hand and my wife held my daughter's. I think I might have been hurting him, I was holding on so tightly, but he didn't complain.
The thing that alarmed me the most during our run to the space ports was the silence. Coruscant is one big, busy city. The chatter and energy never stops. Yet now that was different. I was reminded of a tale my father had told me, of when the Emperor died. The shock and disbelief that he had described to me had seemed unreal. But once this faded, I knew that this time there would be no celebration. Just a quiet descent into horror.
I think it was miracle that we made it aboard the ship. So many had tried to leave – why did we succeed? The ship was cramped, normally more of a luxury yacht than a transport vessel. I could tell that from the newness of the ship and the windows that dotted the sides.
I remember looking down, out the window we were smashed against, as the ship took off. I glanced down at Coruscant. I expected to see a normal, silvery sheen but that wasn't the case. It was silver touched with red. Huge fires burned on the planet – the bombs that my co-worker had spoken of, I suppose.
As I watched, towers fell.
My eyes rose to space. I could see military vessels fighting the massive, living ships. Even I knew that much of the Vong. Our ship was escorted away by a few X-wings. I remember thinking, bless them. I was so thankful for them in that moment, as I had never been before.
I think it was then it really hit me, truly sank into my heart that things would never be the same again. I remember looking forward, trying to imagine in my mind what the future could hold. And all I could imagine was death.
I turned my face away, my eyes brimming with tears. I hugged my children tighter and kissed my wife desperately, my tears mingling with hers.
That was the day that changed my life.
[fin]