Last time: Von Signa plans his next move.
Now: Sasha, Oppie and Kelce finish their work on the medical center.
Chapter 19- Tricked
Sasha and Kelce helped the final group of patients inside. These patients were returning to the medical center from the temporary set up down the road as it was unsafe for their health to remain at the medical center after the attack and during the refurbishment. There were only a select few that were just too critical to move that remained in a sectioned off part of the medical center. But now that the medical center was nearing completion it could start back up again starting today as Kelce had predicted. So they helped the patients inside and towards their new rooms so they could continue treatment.
Once the patients were settled, they headed back outside to make sure that was truly the last of them. And it was, as the emergency vehicles closed up their doors and returned to their designated parking on the other side.
"Well, looks like that's it," Kelce observed as he placed his hands on his hips, satisfaction in his voice. "One week later and this place is ready to go. Thank you again for your help, Sasha."
"Of course," Sasha said, sweetly. "I'm just glad we could help." She looked around as the medical staff got right back to work and some of the construction crew started to leave for the day. "So now what do we do?" She asked Kelce.
"Whatever you want," Kelce said with a shrug. "Our job is done here. And I've got to get back to the 19th before it gets too late."
"Are you leaving now?" Sasha asked with a slight frown.
"I will be soon," Kelce said. "I just need to gather my gear and radio the Admiral then I'll be out of here."
"Hopefully, Op will be back before you go," Sasha said. "I know he'd like to-"
She trailed off as a chrome protocol droid waddled up to the two of them.
"Excuse me, I apologize for the interruption, but I am looking for the medic associated with the New Republic," the droid said in an almost feminine sounding tone.
"I'm Doctor Kelscov of the 19th," Kelce introduced. "What can I do for you?"
"I am G3-P17 and I work for a small medical unit that is currently trying to reestablish a medical base near the outer rim. The Balmorra Run area of space," G3 said.
Kelce stared at the droid in surprise. "Near Naboo? But that's an old Clone Wars facility. It hasn't functioned in years," he said simply. "Why are you putting it back together?"
"My master plans to relocate it to the far reaches of the Outer Rim so we may aid those in desperate need of medical attention," The droid explained. "We understand that the New Republic has been performing relief missions like this and I was sent by my master to ask you for your help."
"Well I'd be glad to get you in contact with some of the higher ups in the New Republic," Kelce offered. "When are you planning to start the refurbishment?"
"As early as next week," G3 answered.
"Sadly, I cannot aid you in this endeavor as I have to return to my unit today as we are going on another mission," Kelce explained. "But if you need immediate help before the New Republic arrives, my friend Sasha here can help you. She is a trained medic, works with the New Republic, and she is a Jedi. I'm sure she can aid in whatever you need."
"Kelce…" Sasha started, a little unsure and surprised by what he was saying. "I know I said I was eager to help more, but I'm not sure I can do this completely on my own."
Kelce smiled at her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You'll do great. You already know so much and have proven yourself this week with the training and rebuilding. You've got this, Sasha. I believe in you. And if you have any questions, I'm always a call away."
Sasha smiled at that. "Alright. If you think so," she said then turned to the droid. "I can help you."
"Oh most excellent!" G3 exclaimed. "My Master will be most thrilled to hear this. Would you be willing to join me in a call to inform my Master about this great news?"
"Sure," Sasha said after a moment as she shrugged.
"I'll leave you to it," Kelce said. "And if I don't catch you before I take off, I'll see you later."
"For sure," Sasha said before giving Kelce a quick hug good-bye in case they don't get the chance later.
Once they pulled away, Kelce disappeared back inside the medical center to grab his gear. Sasha turned to the droid.
"Alright, so shall we call them here or somewhere more private?" Sasha asked the droid. "I can take you inside to an empty room we can use."
"No, it is quite alright," The droid said. "I have a speeder in a nearby alley that has my commlink I was planning to use to communicate with him. It is only around the block."
Sasha nodded. "Lead the way then," she told the droid.
The protocol droid turned around and started leading Sasha down the street towards the alley in question. As they walked, Sasha sent a short burst message to Oppie letting him know that she was going to be stepping away from the medical center for a few minutes and would be back soon. After a few moments, they reached the alley in question and sure enough there was a speeder sitting in it, tucked far enough back that no one would really see it from the streets which she found a little odd.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" Sasha asked skeptically. "Can't we just call him from here?"
"My commlink to contact him is still in the speeder," G3 said. "I understand your concern regarding the alley. I assure you it is quite safe. And once we reach the speeder, I promise to deliver you back to the medical center as we place the call."
Sasha hesitated as the droid continued forward, leaving her at the alley entryway. She looked around at the people walking by just in case before looking back to the droid, who was now far enough through the alley.
"See? Quite safe indeed," The droid assured her.
Sasha took a deep breath and walked into the alley, keeping her guard up the whole time. She followed the droid towards the speeder. As they went further in, she noticed two things. One was that she heard the sound of footsteps behind her as a person or something was now following them. And two was the sudden disconnect with the Force. It was almost as if it was there one second then the next it was turned off by the flick of a switch. A sense of panic set in as she dealt with one problem at a time. Sasha turned on her heel as her hand defensively went to her saber, ready to pull it on whoever was following them.
As she turned, she only caught a quick glimpse of the towering person behind her before she was suddenly sprayed in the face with something. Something that burned her eyes and filled her senses with a strange smell. Sasha recoiled back for a split second. And before she had a chance to fight back or respond, she suddenly felt her whole body go numb as whatever she was just sprayed with took over. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was falling.
"The captain will see you now." The clerk looked up at Oppie, while he was sitting there in the lobby space again.
"Thanks." Oppie said, getting up out of his seat and walking back through the work room. Around him the space was busy with investigators and officers clearing out for the day. He had noted something interesting with the evidence that had been provided. While they were cleaning up, there was a muddy boot print that was overlooked under some rubbish and debris, and it hadn't been included with the evidence that had been on the datapad. A small thing, but something that could help, maybe.
He knocked on the door and the Captain's voice called out in response. "Enter." She looked up as Oppie stepped into the small space. "You find something?"
"Yeah." He started. "Pretty small, but thought it might be worth mentioning. There was a muddy boot print, thought you guys might find it useful. A little bit odd since there wasn't any rain for the last week or so before the attack. Also a fairly distinctive tread pattern, and there was a little bit of plant material." Oppie said, holding up a little bag with the vegetation in it, and a data card with the images of the print.
"Oh?" She said, taking the little bag and the datacard.
"It was easy to overlook, it was hidden under the rubble and some debris so it would have been hard to spot before we cleaned up. Hopefully it might prove helpful."
"Ha." She said, looking at the little baggie with the crunched leaf in it. "That case you gave me the advice on, the bit of evidence that broke it open was a bit of pollen that was only native to a couple of gardens in town, so we were able to track down the suspect from that." She said, looking back up at him.
"Yeah, it's always little things like that." Oppie said with a grin. "Maybe this will be the same thing." He said.
"Thanks." She said, putting the baggie and the datacard aside. "You handled other cases like this?" She asked.
"Yeah, quite a few. Fifteen years of doing that before we were able to settle down somewhere safe." Oppie admitted.
"You must have some interesting stories." She observed.
"Yeah, I guess." Oppie said noncommittally. "Mainly just a lot of variety, from a lot of different places."
"Well maybe we can grab a drink or something. Always fun to hear stories about other cases." She said, glancing down at the report before her as she brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face.
"Uh, sure." Oppie said, he replied with a shrug. Completely missing the intention behind the invitation.
"See you at six then at the place across the street." She said dismissively.
"Okay." He said as he took the dismissal and walked out the door. As the door closed and he took a step towards the entrance he suddenly stopped, realizing what had just happened, and he blinked in surprise. He started walking again more out of reflex than anything, as his mind raced, and he -
Sasha's presence in the Force suddenly winked out, and Op flinched as if he had been hit by a blaster bolt. Without another thought he hurried out the door, panicking because she was simply gone. He didn't have the kind of connection to her that Viran had, but he was aware of her when they were relatively close like this, like a slight, faint sound off in the distance. And she was gone. And he could only think of one thing that would cause her to completely disappear like that, and he unclipped his sabers as he ran to the medical center, hoping desperately for any other explanation.
He bound up the few steps to the entry to the medical center and threw the doors open. "Where's Sasha?" He demanded, seeing Kelce in there, speaking to some of the Medics with a pack slung over his shoulder.
Kelce looked at him startled by his sudden entrance and furrowed his brows. "She stepped away to talk to a medical official who is planning to rebuild the medical station at Balmorra Run near Naboo. She should be back here in a few minutes," Kelce said.
Oppie was already out the door before he finished speaking, looking around for some trace of her, his sabers in his hand but not ignited. He closed his eyes, concentrating in the Force, and reached out, trying to gain some sort of guidance. There was an alley down the street, about a block away. His eyes focused on it, and he sprinted down the street towards it. He arrived at the entry, and came to a halt and saw a man trying to load Sasha's limp form in the speeder like she was a sack of potatoes.
He ignited his sabers and stalked forward. "Leave her." He growled in a low voice.
The man looked up at him and sighed as he moved away from the speeder with Sasha now lying in the back. "Not a chance Jedi," he called back before he started to reach for his blaster holstered to his hip under the long brown overcoat he wore.
Oppie stepped forward and swung his sabers up. And then the Force suddenly let out, like someone had turned out the lights, and that brought him up short as he considered his opponent, and his eyes darted around, trying to understand what had happened.
"Oops, did your little powers go away?" The man taunted. He then reached into the speeder and produced a caged creature that looked like a large lizard. "I'd like you to meet my little friend here. And this little friend." With his other hand, he pulled his blaster and fired a stun shot at Oppie.
Oppie simply dropped the lightsaber in his right hand as he reached for his blaster, dodging off to the side as he brought his off hand saber up out of reflex. But without the Force everything dragged. The ring of plasma surrounding the invisible stun bolt sailed past him, and Op brought his blaster up, firing a couple of shots towards the man without really having a chance to aim. The shots were close, close enough the man set the cage back down in the speeder and barely dodged the last one. He then charged forward, his coat flapping behind him as he fired off another set of stun rings at Oppie.
Oppie ducked behind some trash bins as the stun bolts impacted the bins and sailed past him. He ducked around the side and fired off another couple of bolts in reply. The man dodged those despite the close range he was giving Oppie. He continued to move forward towards Oppie as he reached into his long coat and produced something that perfectly hid in his palm.
Oppie swept around the side of the bins as he approached and brought his offhand saber up in an attempt to gut the man. The man actually staggered back as he didn't expect that and avoided the blade, but quickly recovered by kicking out at Oppie. Oppie stepped back and brought his pistol up, leveled at the man's chest, trying to shoot him while he was unbalanced from trying to kick. The man landed from his attempt and ducked under Oppie's blaster with one hand, the one that still held his own blaster, while the other came up and sprayed Oppie in the face.
Oppie staggered back and brought his offhand up out of reflex, then his vision blurred and everything went black.
Viran sat on the floor with Lana as she crawled around on her blanket while holding onto her favorite doll's hand. She giggled as she would crawl in a circle before tumbling onto her back as if she was a cat. Viran had to guess she had been watching Reggie run around the house and was trying to be like the little white fluff ball. Viran chuckled at her.
"Look, Lana thinks she's Reggie," Viran pointed out to Cien and Kyr who were lounging on the sofa. She was in just comfortable day clothes, while Kyr was in his flight suit.
"She's doing a good impression of her." Kyr said, looking up. "Except she's not running away to hide in Sasha's bunk on the Shadow." He observed with a smirk.
Cien looked up and smirked at how cute Lana was before returning to her studies of zherry based dishes.
"That's true," Viran said as he got up from the floor. "I'm going to grab a drink of water. Can you guys watch her for a moment?"
"Sure." Cien answered, putting her datapad down and slipping down to the floor next to Lana. Which still surprised Kyr a little bit as he watched her with a smirk.
Viran nodded. "Thanks," he said, then looked at Lana. "Be right back, kiddo."
He then went to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. As soon as he filled it up, he took a long and throat soothing sip of it. He let out an audible sigh of relief before walking back to the living room with the glass in his hands.
"So, Sasha and Oppie should be getting back in a couple days right?" Viran observed as he walked back into the living room.
"I think so, you spoke with Sasha last night, right?" Kyr asked Viran.
"Yeah, she said that they were supposed to be wrapp-" Viran was suddenly cut off as something rippled through the Force. He stopped short and froze in place as a horrible sense of dread filled him, and he flinched as if someone had punched him in the gut. Sasha's presence was… gone. He couldn't explain it and he felt his heart thud as he looked to Cien. "Wh… ho…" He tried to say but his voice failed him as he tried to comprehend what he was feeling.
Cien met his gaze with her own shock as she started breathing heavily and her heart started thudding. Sasha was just… Gone.
Sasha? She called out desperately, hoping for an answer, but everything was silent.
Kyr looked between the two of them, trying to figure out what was going on. Viran felt his body go numb as he lost his grip on the cup of water. It hit the floor and spilled all over the wood planking. His breathing became labored as he collapsed to his knees and gripped his head. He thought over and over again in his head that what he was feeling wasn't real, but everytime he tried to reach for Sasha it was like trying to grab air.
"No… no, no no no no," he mumbled over and over again as he felt tears threaten to fall.
"What's happened?" Kyr said, looking between them, having no idea but able to surmise it was something horrible. His own heart started thudding, thinking of the possibilities of what could make Viran and Cien react his way.
"Sasha's gone," Viran said, his voice barely above a whisper. "She's gone." His voice broke on that and he couldn't control his body as he started to shake.
Kyr blanched and just looked to Cien, who was still on the floor with Lana, and she just nodded to Kyr to confirm it. Lana suddenly burst into tears and started to loudly bawl from her spot on her blanket. Out of reflex Cien reached a comforting hand out to Lana, trying to hold back her own tears.
"Mama!" Lana bawled out as she cried.
End of Part 1.
And my heart just shattered... review...