Rescue
Gavyn didn't so much as wake up as he decided that six in the morning would be an acceptable time to leave his quarters. Pulling on fresh robes, he caught a glance of himself in the small mirror above the washbasin. He looked like hell. He ran some cold water, and splashed some onto his face, hoping it would make the red puffiness around his eyes less noticeable.
After a short visit to the hangar, Gavyn learned that it would still be another two hours before they could take off. Until then, the Jedi resolved to make himself useful, despite the overwhelming urge to return to his bunk and meditate on Ace and Tyro.
Meditate. Who was he kidding? He would be moping.
Instead, Gavyn worked his way to the MedBay, where he might be able to do some good for a while. Most of the patients were still sleeping, and Gavyn caught the attention of a medic, one of the handful of non-clones aboard the ship. She pointed out the patients in the most unstable condition.
Gavyn sat next to the bedside of one of them. There were more tubes sticking out of the soldier than he cared to count. Putting a hand to his head, Gavyn could feel the force ebbing like waves on a lakeshore. Gavyn could sense the areas of weakness in the body, but had a hard time focusing on repairing any of the damage. He felt like he was rolling boulders though the force, it was thick and tiring rather than bubbling and energizing. After what seemed like a long time, Gavyn returned his hand to his lap. He was drenched in a cold sweat and felt out of breath. Hopefully, the clone could feel a bit less pain while he slept, at least.
The Jedi checked the chrono on the wall. Twenty minutes had passed. An hour and forty minutes to go.
The snow covering Ace's visor glowed dimly from the blue light of his HUD. He could only hear his breath and the wind, the snow silencing all other motion. He shifted inside of his suit, but the building snow weighed down his limbs. Every time he started to nod off, this blasted planet tried to swallow him up.
Groaning, Ace pulled his hands free, spilling snow across his lap. He tried to kick the snow off his legs, but they didn't budge. With all the force he could muster, the clone lifted himself from the overwhelming snow. It crumbled off of him like an avalanche. He was not going to let this speeder become his grave.
Ace turned to Champ. The clone was almost entirely buried, unable to move much at all on his own. Ace grabbed him by his limp shoulders, pulling Champ until he was free from the heap of snow. The effort was exhausting for Ace, and they both fell back to the ground. Champ was hardly lucid. Ace suspected he was dehydrated.
Along with everything else.
The snow already started piling up on their armor again. Ace watched it as it gathered around the corners of his visor. He couldn't bring himself to wipe it away. He'd clear it off… just after another short rest.
"Can I have my clothes back now?" Tyro grumbled upon waking up.
"Already making demands I see, Commander?" Splinter grinned, "Well it's Stitch's decision. Let me go get him."
"Wait-" Tyro interrupted before Splinter could leave. He needed to know. "Sparks, have they found him yet?"
Splinter's mouth tightened into a thin line. "They couldn't leave until after last night's storm passed. They should be out there now looking though." Splinter studied Tyro's face for a moment before shutting the door behind him.
Last night...how much time had passed? How long had Sparks been out there alone? How much of a chance did they even have of finding Ace and Champ now?
The door slid open again before he could dwell too much on it.
"How are you feeling Commander?" Stitch asked, pulling up a seat next to him.
"Better, I guess," Tyro answered, keeping his gaze fixed on the blankets. "My hands really hurt though, and my feet."
Stitch nodded gravely. "Frostbite will do that. Let me see, they need rebandaging anyway." Stitch gently picked up his left hand from the blankets and began removing the heavy bandages. Tyro winced as the air hit his raw and blistered skin. "It's too early to tell, but this is healing fast, there's a good chance there won't be any permanent damage. You're lucky. Or maybe just a Jedi."
"You and the General make us look good," Splinter grinned.
Tyro looked quickly back down to the blankets. Yes, he was lucky. Not everyone had that fortune, and now more than ever he was wondering if he deserved it.
"Well, Sir, I can let you go on a few conditions. You'll need to stay off your feet until they heal, though most importantly I can't let you go out in the cold again. It would likely cause lasting damage at this point."
Tyro opened his mouth to protest but thought better of it. He wouldn't do any good out there anyway. He hadn't done one useful thing someone else couldn't have done. He only put himself and everyone else in danger, again. A Jedi like Gavyn could sense where Ace and Champ were with the living force. Tyro hadn't been able to tap into it once since…he quickly diverted his thoughts away.
Silently Tyro nodded, realizing he was unsure what he was gaining by this. He didn't want to go back out there. He didn't want to see everyone again. They hated him. They would only listen because they had to.
But he had a duty here. It wasn't his job to be their friend. His job was to carry out the mission.
Stitch helped him into his clothes while updating him on the present situation. It had been nearly twenty-four hours now and still no sign of Ace or Champ. No sign of Sparks either. Tyro didn't need reminding.
Gingerly he half stepped, half pulled himself with the force, back out into the main cabin, reclaiming his seat from earlier. Tyro didn't make eye contact with any of them as he spoke. "Thank you all for your assistance last night in making repairs to the ship."
Then he was quiet again, not knowing what else to say. He wanted to bring up Sparks, his mind kept going over way after way of putting it, but he could just not find a way to start.
They sat in horrible silence for what seemed like forever then suddenly something on the navscreen flashed. "Tracks...is that?"
"Give me a sec Commander, let me verify."
An area glowed vivid blue. An area the size of the ship...then more, the size of probe droids. "Droids look dead," Tracks quickly confirmed.
"So does that ship…" Tyro replied distantly, hoping that any moment something, anything would pop up on the infrared showing Ace and Champ were still alive. They needed a win right now. Another minute passed as they grew closer. Then suddenly, something, a flash of light, warmth. Tyro let out the breath he had been holding, they all did.
"Tracks I need you to analyze…"
"Already on it Commander."
Tyro nodded. "Does it look...safe to land?" he asked tentatively, thinking of last night. Tracks took another moment before responding in the affirmative. "Looks like we're good to land then Roller."
"Roger that, Sir."
"Okay, protocol's still the same as we reviewed earlier, only we're..switching up the rescue team. Tracks, Tar, you'll be joining Splinter and Stitch." Tyro said the words evenly enough, but they all knew what that meant. Despite being so close to completing their mission the atmosphere was heavy.
And then everything happened in a flash. Tyro sat by the comm listening intently as Stitch reported in. "Digging them out now…" then "Okay, we've got 'em. Champ's nonresponsive, Commander Ace is...hey Commander, I need you to stay awake." Ace must have grumbled something bitter because a sarcastic "Yeah, you too," followed. "Okay, we're coming on board."
So that was it then. All of the last two days had led up to this moment. Wincing slightly, Tyro pushed himself to his feet, hiding his stinging hands behind his back and went to meet them.
Ace seized the moment to shift his weight from Stitch's shoulder to the wall of the speeder as soon as he got inside. His HUD flashed at him, warning him of sudden temperature changes outside. Right now, Ace felt like he could go for a sudden temperature change. When the door closed behind him, he dropped the unfamiliar bucket to the floor unceremoniously.
The heated air inside burned his face, although it could hardly be above 60 degrees. He took a deep breath, letting it warm him from the inside, before he slumped into a chair, the snow dripping off of his suit. Ace closed his eyes as a chapped grin spread across his face. Now that he had been found, he was realizing how slim a chance he had really thought they had. His only concern had been not dying. To what end… he didn't know what to expect, until now.
Gavyn must have really pushed them to send out a crew on this kind of hopeless mission. Gavyn. Ace sat up.
"Where is Gavyn?" He asked Tyro. The two were practically inseparable now.
Tyro clenched his teeth momentarily before answering. I wish he was here too… "He received a summon from the council before we were able to begin the search operation," he responded simply and succinctly. The words hung in the air as Tyro searched for what else might be said. He considered for a moment before adding, "he wanted to be here though, he was really worried. I could feel it."
A summon? thought Ace. Half the time Gavyn complained about dealing with politics on Coruscant. He always insisted that he'd rather be out in the field, helping out, than dealing with the council. He was more of an execute-the-plan, type of guy, not really interested in strategizing himself. All of that talk, and when Ace needed Gavyn most, he had to go attend to some council nonsense. He sent his assistant instead.
Tyro was the unfortunate recipient of Ace's bitter glare. Damn right Gavyn should want to be here. Damn right he should be worried. Just not enough to go looking himself.
The fact that Tyro mentioned that he could feel Gavyn's emotional state stung Ace even more. That was one side of Gavyn that Ace would never be able to share, and the sudden presence of another Jedi served as a constant reminder.
"Yeah." Ace mumbled. He sat for a moment quietly, then stood up without looking at Tyro, muttering something about looking for food.
Tyro frowned at Ace's reaction, meeting Ace's glare with a threatening look of his own. "Is there a problem, Commander?" Why did he care so much about Gavyn? Was a lowly rescue team of seven-now six not enough to suit his official Commander-ey needs?
Ace took a step towards Tryo, dwarfing him with his genetically sculpted soldier build. "I have hardly eaten or slept in nearly 48 hours. My only shelter has been from being vacuum sealed inside borrowed plastoid armor. And I come to find out the least experienced commander was charged with the rescue op…" Ace shook his head before turning away. "But you found us eventually, so no. There is no problem." He finished as he started flipping open the drawers in search of an energy bar.
Tyro could feel Tracks, Tar, and Roller all staring at them as Ace tore his way through the cabin. He didn't even care. Keeping a stern face he sidestepped in front of Ace, blocking him from the innocent drawer of tools he was ripping through.
"Commander Ace you will not speak to me in that tone," Tyro ordered cooly. The directive wasn't that far off from giving force commands, only, without the force. "Nobody denies the hardship you have undoubtedly been through. With that in mind, you will submit yourself to Sergeant Major Stitch for medical treatment. I will not see you in this cabin until he deems you fit." He met the man's eyes, despite barely coming up to his chest, with a sharp but steady gaze.
Rolling his eyes when Tyro addressed him, Ace slammed the drawer shut. Really? Really this kid was going to give him orders right now?
Ace could feel the pressure building. There were his teammates watching, expecting him to be a professional. There was Gavyn, who Ace knew would be beyond disappointed if he had a row with his apprentice. And then there was that cursed itch in the back of his mind. The one that reminded him that he couldn't say no to a Jedi. He was there to follow orders.
He hated that itch. Loathed it. He wanted to unleash it on the brat in front of him, as if it was his fault these were the cards Ace was dealt. For a long moment he could do nothing but seethe, staring down Tyro.
Ace bit his rage back with a defiant snort, and turned on his heels. He nearly punched the door control to the medbay before disappearing inside.
Taking a slow and controlled breath, Tyro took a seat back in his chair. It felt strange giving orders like that. He wasn't sure he liked it. But that was what a Commander did, what he would have to do from now on. It wasn't about being people's friends, or feelings, it was about the mission. "Roller, prepare for takeoff."