A few months later…
Esinon walked down the halls of the Senate building, after another meeting with her parents, she needed a break, and one of Echo's famous pep talks. The Chancellor pushing the thing with her parents was getting exhausting if only she could get a mission and get off of Coruscant and away from them. It was getting easier though, and she was warming up… just a little bit. As she walked down the halls, the lights flickered going out and was flooded with red light.
"What the-" she looked around the hallway, the senate building was on lockdown. She pressed her comlink,
"Master, come in, there is an emergency at the Senate building. Master?" someone must have blocked all communications, "Srapa." she concentrated centering herself in the force, she could hear voices, she followed the noise, crawling into a ventilation duct. She poked her head around a corner, there was a person sitting there, "Master Skywalker?"
"Speedy?" he turned around, he waved her over as they both listened to the conversation downstairs, she could see about twenty senators, including her parents, and five bounty hunters including Cad Bane and Aurra Sing, she had escaped Republic custody recently. This was a bold move for her, but then again she was Aurra Sing. Esinon shouldn't expect any less.
"I suggest you release us now. The senate will not treat with terrorists." Senator Amidala's voice echoed, they peeked out the ventilation shaft,
"Ain't you awful young and pretty to be a Senator." Esinon saw Padme's eyes shift up to their position, Bane whipped around as well, firing several shots as Esinon and Anakin ducked out of the way.
"Skywalker? After him!" Bane shouted, the two Jedi got separated, taking off in different directions of the hallway, she could already hear the pounding of assassin droids feet. She turned a corner running into the droids, she pulled out her lightsaber deflecting their blasts. She took off running around another corner dodging lasers, she ran past a room, she yelped as Anakin grabbed her hand and pulling her inside. He put a finger to his lips as they ducked behind a communication pod. A searchlight flashed overhead from the assassin droid, her heart pounded as they waited for the droid to leave. Anakin peeked over the pod, before signaling the coast was clear. He quickly opened the pod, and snapped his comlink in half hot wiring it, she could hear more footsteps,
"Hurry," she whispered,
"Calm down, I almost got it." he connected two of the wires, the comlink flickering back to life. "This is General Skywalker and Commander Windcaster. Chancellor Palpatine, are you there?"
"My dear boy, I'm glad to know you're there and alright." Chancellor Palpatine said Esinon rubbed her fingers over her crystal. Something about the Chancellor just still threw her off.
"What's going on?" Anakin asked,
"They sealed the entire building, no one can get in or out. It's up to you, you have to get to the power control room and turn off the security seal." the footsteps were growing closer. Anakin pulled out the wire as they both dove behind the pod, searchlights flew over their heads, Esinon reached out a hand,
"You have two more floors to check," she whispered calmly,
"Come on, we have two more floors to check." the weequay repeated as he and the assassin droid walked out of the room. She sighed in relief, Anakin tugged on her sleeve, dragging her into the hallway. They peeked around the corner to see the Weequay and droid down the hall.
"You go downstairs, I'll go up. We'll meet on the other side." the weequay instructed, the droid nodded moving down the set of stairs.
"I'll follow the droid, you follow the weequay," he said, already taking off down the stairs,
"Ok then," she tiptoed up the stairs, following at a safe distance from the weequay. She waited, closer, closer, she jumped tackling the weequay to the ground. She punched him in the face, he retaliated by throwing a kick into her chest. She grabbed ahold of his blaster as they wrestled for it, the weequay ran her into a table, knocking over vases. She grunted in pain, throwing a kick into his chest, pulling out her lightsaber deflecting the blaster fire. She used her speed to tackle him again, punching him in the jaw, she could hear someone coming, she grabbed the weequay's feet pulling him into another room. Esinon poked her head out of the door, the coast was clear, she dashed out through the corridors headed for the control room. She skidded around a corner, almost losing her footing. She spotted a little fish-like creature coming out of the room, she ran, trying to catch him, he quickly locked himself into the control room.
"Srapa," she grumbled, Anakin soon came running around the corner as well.
"What happened?" he asked, trying to open the door,
"The thing locked himself in there, here, I'll phase us through," she said, grabbing Master Skywalker's hand and placing the other on top of the door.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here? I see you have a friend Skywalker," Aurra said, Esinon ignited her saber, and Anakin called her blaster out of her hand, she put her hands up in surrender before ducking down. A barrage of fire rained down on the two Jedi, the blast door opened up the little fish creature, stabbing an electrical probe into Esinon's neck and then into Anakin, she groaned in pain before passing out.
Aurra placed her foot on top of Skywalker's chest,
"Tie them up, we'll bring them back to Bane," she said, the assassin droid picked up Anakin's foot, and Aurra, Esinon's as the dragged the two Jedi. They dropped them at Cad Bane's feet, he picked up Esinon's lightsaber,
"Young Skywalker and Windcaster, not so impressive without your lightsabers are you, Jedi?" he tossed Esinon's saber aside, it has no value to him. He would be long gone before she could get to it, "Toss them in with the others." the bounty hunters threw the two Jedi roughly to the ground with the Senators, Daniel knelt down next to Esinon,
"Esinon, Esinon, can you hear me?" no response, he picked the girl up, making her as comfortable as she could, her body hanging loosely in his arms. Her mother, stroking her hair gently. He could see the bounty hunters setting up some sort of machine around the room.
"Turn on the field," Bane instructed, red lasers flew across the room. "Anyone of you as much as breathes on those, the whole room goes boom. Well, Senators, Jedi, I bid you farewell, let's go." agonizing minutes passed as Padme tried to get Anakin to wake up, Esinon's father shook her slightly,
"Come on Esinon, time to wake up." she stirred slightly, rolling over,
"Waxer… pranks can wait until morning," she mumbled,
"No Esinon, it's me, you're a dad." her eyes opened looking up, Anakin noticed her shift uncomfortably away from her father and mother, looking around for him.
"Is Master Skywalker ok?" she asked, sitting up,
"I'm fine Speedy, we have to get out of here." she spotted her lightsaber lying on the ground outside the ring of lasers, she carefully called it to her hands, Senator Amidala handing Anakin his, the two Jedi started in the middle of cutting a hole in the floor all of them falling through as the room above them exploded. Esinon turned in the air, using the force to catch her extremely pregnant mother and lower her to the ground safely. She then crashed into the ground, she rolled over to her stomach groaning,
"Is everyone ok!" she shouted, a chorus of yes's echoed through the room, she laid back down, sighing tiredly. One more glorious day in the Republic.
A few days later…
Esinon was supposed to be on her way to Nal Hutta to recapture Cad Bane and Ziro after their recent escape, instead, she was sitting in Coruscant's hospital trying to shut out her dad's growing anxiety as he paced the room. Her mother had gone into labor a few hours ago, and now she was waiting outside her mom's hospital room, able to sense her dad's growing anxiety. Her comlink buzzed,
"Blur,"
"Hey Taz, you want us to pick you up yet?" Fives asked, she chuckled to herself,
"No, I'm alright here. Besides, my dad's a mess," she replied,
"Well, we're free until Rex finds something else for us to do."
"Hi, Commander!" Attie called from the other end,
"Hello Attie, how are you?" she asked,
"Good sir," he replied, "Why is Fives all worked up?" Fives sighed,
"Shove off Attie,"
"Fives is all worked up because I'm at the hospital with my parents, my sister's being born." she heard a cry, the cry of a baby, her sister. She could sense the life in the room, the new life. "She's here…" she whispered, "Gotta go," she cut off the transmission and waited for the nurse to open the door, after what felt like an eternity the nurse finally opened the door.
"Commander Windcaster, we're ready for you." She followed the nurse into the hospital room, where her mom was holding a bundle of blankets, sweat dripping down her forehead. Esinon can already feel the baby's presence, she wondered if her new sister would be force sensitive.
"Esinon, meet your new sister, Thea Lynn." Esinon peered at the baby, her face all red and scrunched with large Scipian markings that covered most of her face, but they would stretch out and grow over time. Thea blinked big brown eyes, staring at her sister, Esinon waved slightly,
"Hi Thea," it was insane, sitting here with her parents, and her new sister. Esinon was mostly here for her sister. At least that's what she kept telling herself, in reality, she had started caring for her parents. With the constant visits and calls, she found herself ignoring her mom's hailings less and less, and visits were less awkward. Her dad was actually pretty cool and was a lot like her. He shared her interests in the big galaxy around them, he knew multiple languages just like her and rivaled her in sabacc. Her mom was the best cook and was so sweet. Sometimes the thought of abandonment would drift to the back of her mind, and her life would mirror something of normality. But at the end of the day, she would return to the temple or the Negotiator to live her life as a Jedi and Commander.
The next morning…
Esinon rolled over as sunlight started to drift over her face, burying it in a soft pillow. Hang on. Her pillow wasn't this soft in the temple or the Negotiator. Come to think of it, the bed underneath her felt way too comfortable. She blearily opened her eyes, surveying her surroundings, she was in her parents' apartment, she vaguely remembered leaving the hospital, her dad saying she needed to sleep and they could come back in the morning. She shot up out of bed, Obi-Wan! He was probably worried sick by now, wait- was he still on Nal Hutta? She spotted her gauntlets not far away, folded neatly on top of her robs. Now that she had thrown her blanket off to retrieve it, she found herself in a shirt that was far too big for her and a pair of athletic shorts. She grabbed the gauntlet pressing her comlink,
"Master?"
"Good morning Esinon, how did you sleep?" he asked cheerfully,
"Hey! Is that little blue?" Vos asked, maybe from the cockpit, there was the distant rumbling of a ship.
"Hello Master Vos," she greeted, "and Master, you knew I'm not at the temple?"
"Your father called Anakin and I last night, said that you had fallen asleep at the hospital. So, how's your baby sister?" he asked,
"She's… incredible." Esinon breathed, "I can't believe I actually have a sister."
"Esinon! Are you up?" her father called from the kitchen,
"Yeah, dad!"
"Well padawan mine, you probably should get some breakfast," Obi-Wan said,
"Yes Master, I'll see you when you return," she replied, hanging up the comlink, her feet silently padded along the marble, advantages of being a soldier. Her dad was already in the kitchen with two bowls of oatmeal on the counter,
She was cradling a small baby in her arms, big brown eyes blinking up at her. This wasn't Thea, she tried to turn her eyes to look around the room, but found them glued to the baby. It felt like she wasn't in her own body,
"Hello Peanut," the voice of her father said, gently stroking the baby's cheek, was this a memory? She could feel tears rolling down her cheeks. "I love you Esinon,"
She fell out of the memory, ok, she needed to talk to Master Yoda about this, and soon. If this was a force power, she needed to learn how to control it. She looked up at her father,
"Esinon, you alright?" he asked,
"Uh- yeah, could sense something." she quickly lied, had she seen a memory of her father holding her? He didn't seem to want to give her up…
"I made oatmeal for breakfast, I don't know what they serve at the temple…" he said, holding out a bowl.
"Master Kenobi usually cooks, Anakin can't cook to save his life," she said, gratefully taking the bowl from his hands. "So when does mom get to come home?"
"Not for a few days, the doctors have to give Thea all her shots and make sure she's alright." her dad paused for a minute, "And will Thea get to meet her big brothers?" Esinon froze mid stir of her oatmeal, "Fives and Echo? Right?"
"Yeah," she replied,
"Any family of my daughter is family of ours." he said, happily, "I would love to meet them,"
"I can see what I can do," she replied, Fives still was extremely hostile towards the topic of her parents, but that was just his personality. He was overprotective of anyone he cared about, which included her, she was torn from her thoughts as her comlink buzzed,
New orders: 212th and 501st are to be shipped out to Aargonar to destroy a newly established base.
"What is it?" Esinon set her bowl down on the table,
"I've gotta go, the war calls," she said, running back to the room she had woken up in changing into her robes at super speed,
"Stay safe peanut!" he called,
"I will!"
The Negotiator…
Esinon stared at the star maps of Aargonar, trying her best to keep her mind off of her parents. Her Master and Cody were busy battle planning for their assault when her comlink buzzed, she glanced down to see the frequency coming from Mandalore. Korkie.
"I gotta grab something from my quarters, be right back," she excused herself from the commander center, using her speed to quickly arrive at her quarters. She answered the call, a hologram of the Mandalorian prince appearing, "Hi Korkie, are you alone?"
"Yep, still don't understand why we can't contact each other in public." she sighed, for a man studying politics, sometimes he just blatantly forgot.
"Oh I dunno, probably the fact that you're a prince of a neutral world and I'm a Commander in the grand army of the Republic?"
"No need for sass," he said, folding his arms over his chest. She laughed to herself, she and Korkie had been having these calls for a few months now. She pulled some strings and got his com frequency after her mission on Mandalore. He was about the only thing she tolerated on the planet, but she was starting to warm up to Satine,
"So how was class?"
"Boring, where are you headed?" he asked, recognizing the bleak gray walls of her quarters on the Negotiator.
"Confidential," she replied,
"Worth a shot," he said, chuckling, she rolled her eyes at the fifteen-year-old, well more close to sixteen. Their life-days fell around the same day, so she was about to be fifteen. "Anything exciting happen recently?"
"I have a sister now, Thea Lynn," she replied,
"That's so exciting!" Korkie exclaimed, "I've always wanted siblings, but I don't know who my parents are. It's always just been me and Aunt Satine."
"I only met my parents, maybe… six months ago?" she guesstimated,
"Mmm, whenever I ask Aunt Satine about my parents, she just ignored me or tried to change the subject. I stopped asking after a while," he admitted,
"I used to do the same thing when I was little. I would run away from Master Fisto and find Master Windu and ask him when my parents were gonna come to get me," she said, Korkie knew about her past. He was really her only friend outside the temple and GAR. It was nice to not have the war hanging around their conversation, they could just talk. About anything really. A knock came at her door, "Srapa, I gotta go."
"Same time next week?" he asked hopefully, it was obvious he valued their friendship just as much as she did.
"We'll see, bye!" she quickly hung up as the rapping sounded again on her door. "Coming!" She opened the blast door to see Cody, "Hey Codes, are we coming up on the planet?"
"Yes sir, General Kenobi wanted to finish briefing you on the plan," he replied,
"Yeah, sorry about disappearing. It was important,"
"No problem sir," Cody didn't probe further, but she could tell that he was curious about why she kept disappearing, but being the soldier he was, he wasn't gonna pry. They walked in silence to the command center, where Master Kenobi was waiting,
"Good Esinon, you're back," her Master greeted,
"So what's the plan?" she asked, staring at the holo map of Aargonar,
"Anakin's force will take care of the local militia over on the west while we force the Separatists out of the base towards him, and clear it in time to blow the base," he explained,
"Got it," she said, a loud alarm blared signaling they were dropping out of hyperspace.
"Let's head to the hanger," he said, his padawan already bounding ahead of him. She certainly had a lot of energy, whatever she had disappeared for had certainly put her in a better mood. She, Cody, and Obi-Wan loaded into the gunship,
"You certainly are in a good mood," Waxer remarked at the grinning, bouncy, padawan,
"Yep!" she said, grabbing the strap above as they eased out of the hanger. Talking with Korkie always put her in a better mood, her happiness was rudely interrupted by the reality of war. Flak explosions pounded outside the unship, rattling the passengers. Soon they arrived on the planet's surface, the gunship doors whooshing open, she jumped out, blue blade blazing. She deflected the red plasma bolts back at the droids in front of her, protecting her troops as well as she could. She quickly took cover with her Master behind a rock formation,
"Alright, we'll need to split up to break their forces apart." her Master said,
"I'll take the left, you take the right. Meet in the middle." he nodded as they darted off in opposite directions, "Let's go men!" she shouted, Waxer and his platoon took off after her, she slashed through a few B1s and B2s as the whine of Bingo's Z-6 took residence in her ears along with pounding of droid and clone feet alike. She could see the base and her Master not far from meeting her there. She had to get there at the same time to overwhelm the base, "We have to hurry! Master Kenobi's almost there!" They all took off at an even faster pace, Esinon's lightsaber only a blue blur as they finally met up with Obi-Wan at the doors.
"On the count of three, three, two, one," he pressed the button to the blast door as the two Jedi leapt out to vanquish the droids in the lobby, they pressed onto the control center and took care of the droids manning their stations.
"All sectors clear?" she asked into her comlink, a chorus of yes's filled her ears, "Alright, every man, clear this base so Oddball can blow it up."
"Yes, sir!" Soon all the troopers had come back, but half of Boil's platoon was missing, they had gone with Obi-Wan.
"Master, where's the rest of Boil's platoon?" she asked,
"Anakin needed reinforcements, so I sent them that way. We'll be headed down there next, the local militia and the droids are putting up more of a fight than expected," he explained,
"Alright men, let's move out!" she ordered, all of them cleared the base, as soon as they got to a safe distance, Obi-Wan signaled Oddball and her best pilot came flying over in a squad of y-wings bringing the base to its knees in a thundering blaze of glory. She smiled in satisfaction, every planet they took back brought them closer to the end of the war. They were now trekking towards Anakin and Ahsoka over the sandy rock formations. Aargonar was tough terrain, where your boots could slip out from underneath you from the thin layer of dust that covered the rocks. Cliffs could be seen in the distance as the land went from flat to increasing to decreasing and she was getting tired. As soon as she heard the sound of blaster fire and explosions, she knew they were getting close. She took off sprinting into the battle, jumping in front of a few injured men, defending them as Kix and Coric got busy. Her blue blade a spinning blur, soon the two medics had gotten the wounded to a safe distance, so she could move again. She sprinted across the field, taking out droids along the way when she met up with Ahsoka. The two padawans were back to back as they defended one another,
"Split up!" Ahsoka shouted both of them sprinted away from each other as a bolt fired where they had been standing. Esinon vaulted herself over a rock joining a group of her men, all dressed in 212th orange. She spent the next few minutes, dodging blaster fire and destroying as many droids as possible when she heard a shriek,
"ROCKET!'' Before she could react and hit the dirt, the missile came whizzing past, hitting a rock that was right next to her and the men. She was roughly thrown to her feet, shards of the formation falling over her as she protected her neck. The ringing in her ears was deafening, she was a little sore, but she didn't seem to be too injured. She slowly sat up, grabbing her lightsaber which was nearby as the ringing was replaced by screaming and explosions. She got to her feet, scanning the area when she spotted a dust-covered man, a pool of blood starting to form, she ran over rolling him over gently. A large gash had formed in his shoulder, she pressed her hands over it, trying to staunch the bleeding. She tried to ignore the warm feeling of blood seeping out over her fingers and robes,
"Hey, do you have a name?" she asked, using one hand to pry the trooper's helmet off. He was awake, but not responding, she needed to try and get him to talk and stay awake until Drummer got here.
"Get away from him!" another voice cried, another trooper was sprinting towards them. As soon as he arrived, he tried to pry Esinon off of the trooper in front of her,
"Hey! I'm trying to save him! Stand down trooper! That's an order!" she yelled, seeing he wasn't backing down, she sent a well-placed kick to the clone's chest, she felt bad, but she needed to save this clone's life. The clone who had run over finally stopped struggling, "Do you have a name?"
"Sketch," he said shakily,
"Who's this?" she asked, nodding towards the trooper,
"Punch,"
"Ok, I need you to take a deep breath," she turned her attention back towards Punch, "Punch, is that your name?" he nodded weakly, "Ok, I need you to stay awake until a medic gets here, can you do that?" He nodded again, "Sketch, where's your Sargent?" The poor trooper was shaking, still looking like he wanted to pull Esinon away from his brother.
"Dead sir,"
"Look, I know you're scared, but Drummer will be here soon. Call him, now," she ordered, a few more troopers rushed over while Sketch was busy calling Drummer.
"Punch, Punch are you ok?" one of them asked,
"Is Punch part of your squad?" she asked, readjusting her hands over the wound.
"Yes sir," one of them replied,
"ETA on a medic is five minutes sir," Sketch said, Esinon's brain started turning, Punch wasn't going to last five more minutes if she didn't figure out a way to stop this bleeding, or at least slow it. She glanced down at her robes, her blue tabards soaked in crimson blood. She could make a tourniquet with them!
"You, help me get some of his armor off," she pointed at a trooper using her foot, "You, apply pressure to the wound. You keep him talking until Drummer gets here. " The two got to work as she began stripping the outer layer of her robes, leaving her in her tunic. She grabbed her tabards, tying them just above the wound. She noticed that one was still staring her down, while simultaneously comforting Sketch. What was with these troopers? Had they never had a Jedi help them before? She was gonna make sure to find them later and question them about why they were all staring at her like she was going to kill Punch at any second. She took a deep breath as her tunic clung to her body, sticky with Punch's blood and her own sweat.
"Sketch?" a hoarse voice asked, she looked to see Punch was beginning to come back. She scrambled over to him, only to be shoved back by the one who was glaring at her earlier.
"Stay back," he growled, she was about to give this trooper a piece of her mind when Drummer came sprinting over.
"How is he?" he asked, dumping his medkit on the ground and starting to look Punch over who was looking less and less pale with every growing second. Drummer inspected her handiwork, as he began to properly tend the wound, "Nice work with the tourniquet Commander,"
"Thanks," she tried to scoot towards Punch, only to be shoved back again, Cody came sprinting towards them, the blaster fire seeming to finally start to dull.
"General Kenobi has finished pushing the clankers towards General Skywalker. We're in the clear for now," Cody glanced down at the blood-soaked padawan, a feeling of panic and concern passing through her head from the trooper. She motioned towards Punch, making Cody realize, the blood wasn't hers. She decided that the latter of her robes could stay here, they were mostly destroyed anyways in her hurry to get them off. She grabbed her belt and her lightsaber, still watching carefully over Punch, the angry one shooting her a glare every time he decided that she was getting too close. Cody had caught the glares, and she was pretty sure that he saw her get pushed too, and the Captain was fuming but had seemingly made the decision to deal with later.
"Punch is gonna make it, thanks to you Commander," the medic said, smiling at his young Commander,
"That's a relief to hear when we get back to base, keep me po-" she froze, her mind-warping into a memory,
"Vaize!" Fives's voice shrieked from her mouth, she lunged at the trooper, throwing him out of the way, a detonator went off right next to her and the world went dark.
"Commander? Commander, can you hear me?" Cody asked, she blinked her eyes a couple of times, she reached out for Fives, no, no, no, she couldn't lose him. She struggled to find concentration in her panic, she reached further and further, she could feel his force signature pulsing, but weakly. She pressed her comlink, calling Hawk,
"Hawk, are you getting the injured back to the Resolute yet?"
"I'm two minutes out from general Skywalker's position sir," he replied, the roar of the gunship audible in the background.
"Good," she needed to get to Fives. Now. "Cody, you're in charge, tell Obi-Wan I'm going to the Resolute,"
"Yes sir," Cody replied, as the speedster took off soon arrive on the scene with Anakin,
"Speedy? What are you doing here?" he asked, she didn't answer, scanning the crowd for Echo and Fives. She spotted a stretcher being loaded into a gunship with the bloody form of Fives, most of his armor missing, she sprinted over joining them on the gunship. Echo looked mostly fine, only a few bumps in bruises, but Fives… his blacks were mostly cut from his body exposing burnt and bloody skin. His tattoo was completely obscured by the blood leaking down his face, multiple lacerations oozed crimson blood all over the floor of the gunship as Kix frantically tried to staunch the bleeding, with the help of Coric and Rex. She could feel Echo's emotions swimming with panic and anger as he attempted to lock them back in his iron ARC box.
"What happened?" Esinon asked,
"Shiny tripped a wire, he didn't make it. Vaize got a little too close, and Fives tackled him out of the way." Rex explained, "Vaize is a little crispy, but he'll be alright."
"He's gonna need a blood transfusion," Kix said, his white armor now ruby red,
"Me, I'll give him one," Esinon said, she was a match to the clones, AB positive.
"No, you've lost enough blood-"
"Kix, this blood isn't mine, and I'm not asking. I'm giving Fives the blood transfusion," she said, switching to her Commander voice trying to hide the scared child that stood next to Echo.
"Yes sir," the medic replied, they finally made it to the Resolute, the five of them sprinting towards the medbay, Esinon kept herself tethered to Fives's force signature, as long as she could feel it pulsing, he was still alive. She, Rex, and Echo were pushed out of the medbay so they could put Fives into surgery before the transfusion happened. She bit back tears, she couldn't let anyone see her like this. So afraid to lose. So un-Jedi like. Just a scared little girl, who didn't want to lose her brother. Echo's face had steeled over, she hated watching them do that. After every battle, the two ARCs would shove their emotion away with their training… kind of like she did.
"Esinon, where are you? Cody said you took off in a hurry for the Resolute." Obi-Wan's worried voice asked through her comlink,
"I-" she paused, biting the inside of her cheek, "There was an emergency," she mumbled,
"What kind of emergency?" he asked in a more stern tone,
"Fives… I sensed he got injured, and I need to give him a blood transfusion," she said,
"And how exactly did you sense he was injured?" Obi-Wan asked,
"It's… complicated. I've been meaning to talk to Master Yoda about it and I haven't had time with all the missions and my sister and I don't how to control it and-" she stammered,
"Esinon, take a deep breath, focus on helping Fives for now. We'll talk about this later," he said, softly, sensing his padawan's raging ocean of emotions.
"Ok," she whispered shakily, the comlink going dark. She sank down against the wall, her hands trembling as she tucked her head between her arms, to hide silent tears slipping from her eyes. She wasn't acting like a Jedi, she should be able to let go. Why couldn't she just let go Fives? The Fives who told the worst jokes, but always made her laugh. The Fives who carried her on his shoulders. The Fives who had been there for her whole journey as a padawan this far. The Fives who wore her markings over his heart with pride. She couldn't lose him. All of her memories of Sarrish came ripping back through her mind, couldn't save them- couldn't save them- she should have been there! My fault, my fault, my fault, should have been faster, better, stronger. She felt an arm come to rest around her, the dam broke. All the emotions she had been trying to push away came flooding out in muffled sobs,
"I'm scared too vod'ika," Echo whispered, resting his on top of hers.
"I'm a terrible Jedi," she choked, burying her head in his chest, wrapping her tiny arms around his torso.
"You don't need to worry about that right now," he said, she could feel tears dripping onto her head. She drew in a shaky breath, everything still smelled like blood, sweat, and smoke, she wanted to shower, but she needed to stay right here. She wasn't planning on moving from Fives's vicinity until he was back up and moving. She finally gathered herself together enough to pull away from Echo's hug, wiping the tears from her face, streaking it with ash and dirt. The door to the medbay whooshed,
"Fives is out of surgery, and it was successful. Commander, we're ready for you." Kix said she nodded, squeezing Echo's forearm in reassurance, Rex taking her place next to the ARC. Kix led the young Jedi through the medbay over to a sink. "Ok, so a blood transfusion isn't overly complicated," he said, taking a pair of scissors and cutting off her dirt and ash covered sleeve. "We're going to insert the IV into your arm and it will feed blood into Fives." He took a sponge and gently rubbed away all of the grime from her arm, he then stared at her face, frowning. He began running the sponge over her face, washing away layers of grime and tears. "We'll check up on you guys every once and awhile, the transfusion takes between one and four hours." he explained, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes, aliit ori'shya tal'din." she replied, Kix nodded, he quickly pricked her finger testing her blood for any impurities, once the test was completed she was cleared to go. She did her best to keep all the tears on the insides at the sight of bruised and battered Fives laying on the medical bed. She could still sense his force signature, and it was pulsing stronger than before. She sat down in a chair next to the bed, Coric inserting the IV into Fives's arm first, she took a deep breath, trying not to tense up. She hated needles, but she needed to relax her muscles so that Coric could get the IV into her arm. She resorted to clenching her opposite hand over the chair, scrunching her eyes shut as she felt the needle hit her skin. In a second it was over, fresh blood was flowing into Fives's body. At this point, all she could do was wait, and beg the force to not take Fives away. Soon Echo arrived, sitting down next to her chair,
"Kix said Fives is most likely gonna pull through, but we'll have to see," he said, she wrapped an arm around him, placing her small hand in Fives's bandaged one.
"He's gonna make it," she whispered, "And we'll be back to normal and no time." Echo nodded sleepily, she sent a suggestion to her brother through the force to sleep, and he passed out against her leg. She gently squeezed Fives's hand, "Come back to us ori'vod," she whispered,
The Negotiator…
Cody had been replaying the scene in his mind, Commander Windcaster scooting towards Punch and being roughly shoved away by Chopper. He had been waiting patiently outside the medbay for Drummer to finish tending to Punch so he could talk to the whole squad. Even if Esinon hadn't disappeared to the Resolute, she wouldn't have reprimanded the squad for their actions. She would say that people act out during battle and tell him to leave it alone. But she wasn't here, and he was going to get some answers. He pressed his comlink, a very sleepy looking Esinon Windcaster appeared,
"Hello Cody," she mumbled,
"Are you alright sir?" he asked,
"Yeah, sorry to disappear, it was an emergency," she said, her usually bright eyes looked guilty and exhausted,
"No problem sir, I knew whatever it was it was important. I was calling because I saw Chopper push you, and I wanted to ask if anything further happened," he said, she sighed, running her free hand over her face.
"It wasn't that big of a deal-"
"Commander please, I really need to know," he said, she sighed,
"I was fighting when a rocket hit on my position when I got back up, I saw Punch was injured. I didn't know him at the time. I saw blood and acted, I was trying to get him to respond to me when Sketch came running over, he tried to pull me off of Punch. When he didn't listen to my order to stand down, I kicked him in the chest and he finally stopped struggling. The rest of them came rushing over and I made a tourniquet with my tabards. After I applied it, I gave them a little space, but when I heard Punch start talking again, I started to make a move for him, but angry eyes shoved me." she explained, "Is that good?" she asked with a yawn,
"Perfect sir, get some rest," she nodded before ending the transmission, Drummer came out,
"Punch is stable, awake, and responsive sir. I've taken the liberty of calling the rest of his squad here so that you could get some answers." Drummer said, leave it to Drummer to be able to read every trooper in that battalion.
"Thank you, Drummer," Cody said, giving Drummer's shoulder a squeeze. He entered the medbay where Punch was laying, surrounded by his squad. They all straightened to attention at the sight of their Captain, "At ease gentlemen. I've come to talk to you about the recent happening of the battle of Aargonar."
"Is something wrong sir?" Gus asked, the most innocent of his squad,
"Yes, I wanted to talk about all your behaviors on the field. Especially you, Sketch and Chopper." The two troopers straightened further, "I just finished a com call with Commander Windcaster, where she reported that you," he motioned to Sketch, "tried to physically remove her from Punch. And you Chopper shoved her back, twice."
"Sir, there is an explanation," Sketch said,
"Well, I would certainly like to hear it," Cody replied coldly, everyone knew he was fiercely protective of Esinon and anyone that messed with her had to deal with him.
"I… I don't know what came over me, sir. I honestly thought she was trying to hurt him. I didn't want to lose my brother sir," Sketch whispered shakily,
"Now why in the name of the force would you think that Commander Windcaster was trying to hurt Punch?" he asked, no one spoke, Cody's cold amber eyes searched the squad members until they fell upon Chopper.
"Slick," he growled, this was Slick's old squad. Cody had almost forgotten about them after the whole fiasco. "Slick used to tell us stories of the Jedi. How they wouldn't protect us. How they didn't care. He told us that one time he saw a Jedi kill a brother who was injured, but still alive. Being not exactly shinies, but not exactly veterans, we believed him. We've gotten used to taking care of ourselves, so when we saw Commander Windcaster getting close to our brother, we feared the worst." Chopper explained, an angry glare trying to cover up the pain in his eyes.
"What else did he tell you?" Cody asked, his eyes softening,
"The stories were endless," Gus said with a shudder,
"Either way, your behavior on the field was inexcusable. I won't put anything on the record if you apologize to Commander Windcaster as soon as she returns," he said, firmly,
"Yes sir," they all replied,
"Get some rest men," he said, leaving the room.
Back on the Resolute…
Rex finally got a chance to return to the medbay after a way too long conversation with General Skywalker about logistics, upon walking into the sterile environment he found Esinon passed out in a chair next to the bandaged form of Fives, with Echo passed out against her leg. Her small hand loosely holding one of Fives's fingers, like a baby, would after just being born. He grabbed a blanket, gently resting it over her, before leaving to find Kix.
"How's Fives doing?" he asked,
"Looking like he's gonna pull through," Kix said, with a sigh, busy scrubbing his armor, the red of Fives's blood disappearing into the sink. "Commander Windcaster and Echo are doing better if you were curious." To be honest, Rex had been worried ever since she broke down in the hallway and kept rambling about how she was a terrible Jedi.
"Thanks Kix,"
"No problem Cap, you might want to get some rest though, you're looking a little worse for wear," he said, Rex sighed with a small smile, he knew better than to argue with the medic, but he didn't want to leave Fives… fortunately for him, the medic could read his face. "If there's a complication with Fives, and there won't be, but if there is you'll be the first to know." Rex nodded, before making for his quarters, for some much-needed rest.
A few minutes later…
"Alright Commander, you're all set," Kix said, removing the IV. She yawned sleepily, scrunching her fingers a couple times to release the tingling sensation, "Don't get up too fast, you'll be a little dizzy from giving all the blood." he offered her a glass of water,
"Thanks Kix," she said, downing it in one gulp. She looked down at herself, still covered in dried blood, dirt, and dust. She sighed, looking over at Fives, she really didn't want to leave, but she really needed a shower and a change of clothes, especially since she didn't want to contaminate the medbay. "I'm going to get cleaned up, I'll be right back,"
"No need to hurry Commander, everything is under control. Fives'll be alright 'till you get back." he said, she nodded, glancing back at Fives and Echo one last time before leaving.
Her soiled clothes were in hamper, all the blood, sweat, and grime washed down the drain, her muscles had relaxed from the hot water and for a brief moment, the panic from her growing powers, losing Fives, trying to be a Jedi, washed down the drain with the dirty swirls of water, but once she got out, it was quiet around her. Yet it felt like someone was yelling as her thoughts pounded in the silence. She didn't like quiet, she never had. Quiet meant allowing all your thoughts to come to the forefront of your mind and just letting them be. Her muscles tightened as her panicked thoughts screamed in her ears in the midst of silence. She took a deep breath, It'll be alright, one step at a time. A few minutes later, she finished tying off her braid, dressed in Republic, gray, military-issued sweats, her bare feet on the cold durasteel.
She pressed the button to the door, not really caring that Anakin would reprimand her about needing to wear shoes, it was a short walk to the medbay. She was making a beeline for her brothers, when she felt a distress call in the force, except this wasn't from a Jedi. It had the familiar underlying tone that every clone had, she took a detour towards the call, letting force guide her. She walked down the hall, her bare feet silent against the durasteel, searching for the distress, it only grew as she continued her search. The feeling led her all the way to the mess hall, she pressed the button, the blast door whooshing opening. Only a few soldiers were present, she quickly motioned for them to sit back down when they tried to stand at attention. She scanned the men, trying to figure out which one had unknowingly sent a distress call.
"Fives, Fives!" her head was pounding as she rolled over in the dirt, the bloody form of Fives laying a few feet away from her. She scrambled over trying to shake him awake, "Come on Fives," she pleaded with the voice of a clone. This wasn't her memory,
She fell out of the memory, still standing at the entrance of the mess hall. When she had gotten the memory from Fives, he had shouted a name. He had saved someone, who was it? She racked her brain trying to remember the name, Vay? No, Vex? No, it started with a 'v' though, she pushed further into her mind, flipping through 'v' names until she finally reached the correct one, Vaize. That was the trooper's name, Vaize, she scanned the room,
"Are you looking for someone sir?" Jesse asked,
"Um, yes, actually. Have any of you seen Vaize?" she asked, a trooper on the right side of the room raised his hand slowly,
"I'm Vaize sir," he said, his face was all puffy and red, with a bacta patch over his cheek. She didn't know how to ask this question, since explaining the force to non-force users was diff- "I'm so sorry sir," he blurted, "It's my fault that Fives is injured,"
"Your not the one who tripped the wire," she said, sitting down next to him,
"I should have been faster," he muttered, running his hands over each other, "Fives shouldn't have had to tackle me." He rubbed his eye, she realized he was trying to hide tears, "If I noticed the wire sooner, Fives wouldn't have had to go into surgery, and you wouldn't have to have to give up your blood, and-"
"Hey, don't blame yourself, Fives will always look for his brothers, and that includes you." she said, she grabbed his shoulders forcing him to look at her, "Listen, I don't blame you, and neither will Fives. He will sacrifice his life for any of you guys, and you know that, okay?" he nodded, she opened up her arms, "C'mere," he tentatively accepted her hug, she gently rubbed his back, trying to relax his muscles. "Fives would do anything to protect you, he will do whatever it takes to make sure all of you make it."
"But what if that means he's not gonna make it?" he asked in a hushed whisper, her heart clenched at the thought,
"Then I know he died protecting who he loved," she said, releasing Vaize, she saw Zeer and Attie hovering not far away, she quickly made the connection that Vaize must be a part of Blitz squad, she gave nod to them as she stood up, and the two troopers swept up their younger brother. She silently got up and walked towards the door, not paying attention she slammed right into Rex. "Ow," she grumbled, holding her head, "Sorry,"
"It's alright," Rex said, he paused looking over her shoulder, "I was looking for Viaze, he's been beside himself."
"I know, he, kinda broke down in my arms." she mumbled, Rex sighed,
"I'll go talk to him, Echo's been asking for you." he said, "Poor thing is delirious and half asleep." She sighed, running a hand down her face,
"Stupid ARC box," she mumbled to herself, "Alright, I'm gonna head back to the medbay, thank you, Rex."
"Of course sir," he paused as she started to walk away, "Commander, can I ask you a question?"
"You just did," she teased, "But yeah, quickly though," She was anxious to get back to the medbay, she'd been gone long enough already.
"Why give Fives your blood? You know that we're clones are all compatible for each other," he said,
"I know, but you guys sacrifice a lot, and it's only fitting that I'm able to give something back. You guys have saved my life more times than I can count, so I owe you."
"You don't owe us, anything Commander, you've saved all of our lives more times than I can count, but thank you."
"You're welcome Rex, now you better not keep Vaize waiting, you know how uncomfortable Zeer gets around emotions," she said,
"Yeah, I'm gonna go handle that," he said, hurrying into the mess hall, she laughed to herself before speeding off to the medbay.
A few minutes later…
The first thing Fives became aware of upon waking up was that his body hurt. A lot. Everything ached even on this soft bed, hang on. Soft bed?
"It's about time you woke up," an all too familiar voice teased, he forced himself to open his eyes, blinking aware the blurriness.
"Hey Taz, Echo," he murmured, he reached out a hand towards his siblings, his eyes taking in the sight of bandages all down his arms and torso.
"You just had to be the hero didn't you, you big di'kut." Esinon said, with a teasing but sad smile.
"I had to get Vaize," he mumbled,
"We know," Echo muttered, gently gripping his hand, "You scared us bad,"
"I scared you? I scared me," he muttered sleepily,
"That isn't funny Fives," Esinon said, in a stern tone, he looked over to see tear tracks on her face, it must have been serious if Esinon was crying.
"I'm sorry Taz, but I had to get Vaize,"
"We don't blame you Fives, it was just close. A lot closer than it has been in a while." Echo said, sure Fives had been in a few scrapes, but nothing this bad. Fives gave his brother's hand a squeeze,
"I'm sorry Echo,"
"Don't worry, I forgive you vod," he replied, Fives looked around the room,
"Is Vaize ok?" he asked,
"Yes, he's a little burnt, and his face is pretty puffy and bruised, but other than that, he's ok," Esinon reassured him,
"That's good," Fives murmured, sighing tiredly. For the time being, Esinon could push thoughts of seeing memories, new force abilities, attachments, and every other stress that came with war to the back of her mind and enjoy this rare moment of peace with her brothers.
A few hours later…
Esinon walked through the halls of the Negotiator trying her best to write up a mission report for Aargonar, but her mind was as tired as her body was so it was getting increasingly difficult. Her comlink buzzed,
"Yeah?"
"Sir, can we get you on the bridge?" Cody asked, she stifled a yawn,
"Sure," she made her way to the bridge, finding a squad of troopers standing with Cody. "Hey, what's all this?"
"They have something to tell you," Cody said, she looked at the troopers, none of their armor looked very unique, the same orange triangle pattern over their chest plates. She didn't recognize any of them by looks, but she could tell it was the squad from Aargonar.
"Commander, we're very sorry for our behavior on the field." Sketch said,
"We should have known you were only trying to help," Angry eyes added,
"It's alright, panic sets in on the field, and sometimes we can't control ourselves," she replied,
"Thank you, for saving my life Commander." Punch said, she nodded and smiled,
"While you're here, I'd like to know your names." she said, cheerfully, trying to hide her exhaustion.
"I'm Gus, this Jester," he pointed to the trooper next to him, "and that's Chopper." he pointed at angry eyes. She paused, she recognized those names, they were the names floating around the troopers the days following her arrival on Christophsis, with the word aruetyc trailing them.
"You guys are Slick's squad… aren't you?" Chopper flinched,
"We were," he said, coldly,
"Being betrayed hurts, I would know," she said, running a finger along the controls of her datapad, thinking about Clovis. "Um- you guys are dismissed." They gave her and Cody a nod before leaving, "Cody, what does aruetyc mean?"
"It means traitor."
That night…
Esinon rolled over on her bed, finally finding a comfortable position, after the day she had, she needed the sleep.
"Ani! Bedtime!" a female voice shouted, Esinon surveyed her surroundings, she was in a clay brick house of some sort. A woman walked past her, peeking out the door, "Ani, I'm not going to tell you again." Esinon walked towards the door to see the man and a little boy,
"What are you doing?" the boy asked,
"I'm checking your blood for infections," the man replied, pricking the boy's finger. "Now go on, you have a big day tomorrow." the little boy nodded before running past her and into the house. "Sleep well Ani," As soon as the boy disappeared around the corner he raised the comlink to his lips, "Obi-Wan?"
"Yes Master?" the younger voice of her Master replied,
"I need an analysis of the blood sample I'm sending you."
"Wait a minute," the clicking of buttons sounded on the other end,
"I need a midi-chlorian count," The man plugged in the blood sample and waited,
"The reading is off the charts, over 20,000." Esinon's jaw dropped, that rivaled Master Yoda's. She rested at about 16,000, which was a lot for a Jedi, but over 20,000? She had never heard of a Jedi with that many before except for… Anakin. "Even Master Yoda doesn't have this many,"
"No Jedi has," the man replied,
"What does that mean?" Obi-Wan asked,
"I'm not sure," the man ended the transmission to see Esinon in the doorway, "Hello little runner,"
"It was you on Mandalore," she murmured,
"Yes, indeed it was."
"But how?" she asked, taking a seat next to him.
"You wear my crystal around your neck, do you not?" he asked, she clasped the necklace in her hand,
"You are Qui-Gon," she whispered,
"Yes, you figured it out on Mandalore, you are as smart as I thought," he said,
"But how? Why?" she asked, in disbelief.
"I am not sure at the present moment, but somehow, you seem to have bonded with my kyber crystal, and my memories are being presented to you in dreams," he said, looking up at the starry sky.
"More memories? How come I'm seeing people's memories?" she asked,
"I don't know little runner, I don't have all the answers, but the best thing to do would be to talk to Master Yoda," he said,
"Should I tell him about you?" she asked,
"That is one thing I do know, I can't be revealed yet. Which might make things a little complicated, because I think your new-found ability to see memories might be attributed to me," he said, scratching his beard. "I used to have the power of psychometry when I was alive."
"Then what am I supposed to tell him?" Esinon asked in exasperation,
"Just tell him that you've been seeing other people's memories since, what? Rishi?"
"Yeah… how'd you know?" she asked,
"A bond works both ways, my little runner," he said, she sighed, pulling one of her knees up to her chest.
"But why me? I don't have time to learn how to use a new power. I've got enough on my plate as it is." she said tiredly,
"I don't know why the force has chosen you, but I know that it has a will. You need to have faith in the force," he said, resting a hand on her shoulder. She sighed,
"Being a Jedi is hard," she muttered,
"You're still learning, it gets easier with time." he said, she nodded, "Don't worry, just talk to Master Yoda and learn to gain control."
Some translation for yall-
aliit ori'shya tal'din- family is more than blood
aruetyc- traitor
di'kut- idiot
That moment when you remember that Slick's squad still exists and they were part of the 212th. *face palms* It's ok, you'll be hearing more from them later.
So we finally learn who the mystery man is, thank goodness. And psychometry is sense echo, what Quinlin Vos uses when he touches the cup. Or for my Flash fans out there, when Cisco vibes something. The technical term is psychometry.
Next up on let's make this canon corner: Satine and Obi-Wan definitely know about Esinon and Korkie's 'secret conversations', but they let them have them anyway, because they're not hurting anyone. (They might have some secret convos of their own.) ;)
Thank you all for reading! Make sure to leave a review!