Chapter 15
The elevator doors opened onto the bridge. We had made it to the Abregado system a few minutes ago and Master Plo had requested my presence. The scanners had detected a massive ship orbiting the system, and now the fleet was moving into attack position in preparation for the coming battle. We had found Grievous' mystery weapon, and since the ship had no escort whatsoever and needed to be taken out, Master Plo decided to engage.
"Given the past history of this weapon, i think it wise to report our location before engaging the enemy." Said my master, turning to Wolffe for his opinion.
"General Skywalker is nearest, in the Bith system. I hear he's always ready for a fight." He commented.
"No wonder he got paired up with Ahsoka, they must be made for eachother." I smirked.
"Let's hope they are both in the mood for a little bit of action then." Answered Master Plo before turning on the communications.
"Koh-to-ya, Master Plo. Nice to see you in one piece 'Ari." greeted Ahsoka as soon as the hologram stabilized.
"Koh-to-ya, little 'Soka." returned my Master. "General Skywalker, we are in the Abregado system and have found Grievous' ship. We are in need of reinforcements."
"Well, Master, I will have to speak to the Council about it. I'm under strict orders to keep my position, I'll let yo- ow- s oon-" The communication got cut short.
The enemy was jamming us. Someone reported the enemy ship had moved into position and that a massive mass of energy was building up. Master Plo called for fire, but we were not in range yet. And then, the enemy fired. An ever expanding energy field shot through the entire fleet and took out all power. We were adrift in open space, defenceless and vulnerable. It was then that the enemy opened fire on the first ship, tearing it to pieces in seconds and sending all the leftover debris flying towards us and our third ship. I was shocked, confused, terrified at how quickly everything was happening. I could not believe how easy to break a ship of that size would be when left completely bare. The canon blasts had made it crumble like dry leaves inside a fist. It was a terrible sight.
"I want everyone in the escape pods NOW." Ordered Master Plo.
There was chaos, emergency lights glowed red and troopers everywhere ran towards the escape pods. There were men yelling, cursing, some even panicking. I tried my best to stay calm and ran towards one of the pods. I had been so out of it that I hadn't realized Art had come to find me. It was him who dragged me by the arm and got me inside the nearest pod. Two other troopers got in before someone closed the door and launched us into what was soon to become a graveyard.
Outside, some pods crashed into debris, others crashed into each other, and some even malfunctioned, unable to launch at all. The force was in disarray all around me. There was so much pain, so much fear, so much confusion and anger. It was so overwhelming. But we had made it, we had made it and I would make sure we survived until someone came looking for us. I would, I had to.
"Okay men, let's get to work," I said once the pod had stopped drifting. "We'll make propper introductions later. First we need to do a diagnosis of the pod, what we do and don't have. Next we'll get the communications running and send a distress signal. Hopefully, someone out there will receive it."
No one even tried to protest, we all wanted to survive, so we got to work immediately. Art ran diagnostics while the other two tried to get the power back on and I tried to hardwire the distress call.
"Okay, so here's what we are working with," started Art. "We have no power -as we already know- but I believe that if we rearrange the circuit we may be able to get it back on. We have no life support recharge, so once the oxygen we have is gone, that'll be it. But the communications system seems intact so we can probably get in touch with other pots and figure something out."
Our prospects were not good. Our chances at survival depended on whether someone came looking for us or not. I couldn't risk that, I needed to figure out a way to keep us all alive regardless.
"Are the scanners working, Art?" I asked.
"Yeah bit they are not very powerful." He answered.
"Okay men, I need you to get the power up and running, I may have an idea that could better our chances."
While working, the other two troopers told me their names were Happy and Twitch. This was their very first deployment. Art sighted and muttered something about shinies under his breath, but I ignored him as best as I could. Shinies or not, they were here with us, and they were Pack. After a few minutes and a lot of debate, they managed to get the power back on, and so, we could now turn our communications and scanners on.
"What should I scan for, Commander?" Asked Art as he started setting up.
"Fuel cells."
"Fuel cells? What good would fuel do us in an escape pod? It's not like we can fly this thing to the nearest fleet." Said Twitch.
"No, but undamaged fuel cells are probably still attached to a ship. I'm hoping that -if we can get our hands on a fighter in good enough condition- we can use it's longer range communications system and oxygen tanks." I answered.
It was a long shot, there was nearly no chance a ship had survived that attack, but we had to try regardless.
"Wouldn't it be more effective to scan for life forms and contact another pod?" asked Happy skeptically.
"And do what?, they would have the same problem we do. Our better choice is to improve our own situation and then help others," I said. "As things are right now, if we can't help ourselves, we can't help others either."
It was at that moment that a transmission came in. One of the pods was asking for help. They were under attack, the enemy was attempting to open their pod. They weren't far, in fact, when I use the Force to bring our pod around, we saw it. A separatist ship that looked like a gigant claw manned by four battle droids attached to one of our pods. They were trying to break it open, they wanted no survivors.
"Art, you are staying in here, keep the distress signal alive," I said, grabbing one of their helmets and putting it on. "The two of you are coming with me, we are taking out that ship."
"But Commander they haven't spotted us yet." Protested Happy.
"But they will eventually, and if there are other pods out there, we seed to make sure they don't find them." I said, making sure Art's helmet fitted me and the seal was working properly. "I won't be able to last too long out there, so we need to be quick." I said.
"Well, then you better get going, Commander. They have just spotted us."
The pressure was unbelievable. I had known all along that this would be a risky choice to make, but in all honesty, it had also been the only one I could make. My torso felt like someone had landed a cruiser on top of it, and breathing was difficult. And yet, I had a mission to accomplish. We ambushed the droids from all sides, blasting two of them and making the other two retreat. But they were compromising the pod, and Art's life with it. And I could not have that. At first I had had the intention of using the pod hunter for fuel and a boost in our comms, but when they started putting pressure on the pod I knew it wasn't going to work. I cut two of the claw's metal fingers and force pushed it away, making it collide with the debris from our fleet and explode.
We were compromised, and I was almost out of energy. The pressure of the vacuum of space was getting to me, I wouldn't last much longer. My ribcage would collapse and all of my organs with it. Or so I thought.
"Commander, another pod is signalling us! It's the General!"
But I could barely hear him. I didn't feel Happy grab me and hand me over to my Master. I didn't feel how both pods were towed into a shuttle. What I did feel was the release of all the pressure I'd been under. I felt how my lungs expanded again, how my heart started pumping faster now that the blood vessels were no longer under pressure. I could feel the blood running from my nose, my ears, even my left eye. But I couldn't hear anything. The silhouettes around me were just that. The only thing I felt was the probing of the medical droid and the warmth from a hand holding mine.
…
I woke up tired, cold and with a terrible headache. When I tried to sit, it felt like someone was stabbing me everywhere. So I groaned and gave up trying, it was too painful. Someone inside the infirmary started talking to me, but I was too concentrated in trying not to cry. I felt as if a giant had tried to squeeze the juice out of me like a meilooron.
"-ari. Child. Can you hear me? Kriari." The voice to my right started to register in my head and it took all I had just to turn my head.
Master Plo was there, looking intently at me. Waiting for me to come to my senses and maybe give him a sign I could hear him.
"Hello, Master." I whispered.
Talking took too much energy, it required too many muscles that just didn't feel like working right then.
"You had all of us worried, my Child." He said honestly.
Behind him, Ahsoka looked ready to burst into tears, and Commander Wolffe looked relieved to see me breathe.
"How many survived, Master? Where are my troopers? Art, and Happy and Twitch, are they-"
I winced sharply, as a shock of pain ran from my chest, all the way up my spine and into my head.
"They are okay, Commander. They are in their quarters, resting." Answered Wolffe.
"You are so stupid sometimes, Kriari. You almost died." Whispered Ahsoka. "If you ever do that again I won't forgive you."
I smiled at her fondly. She really had been scared for my life.
"Oh, shut up 'Soka, you would have done the same."
They stayed for a few more minutes, put me up to speed, told me the new plan to engage Grievous' Ion cannon before he attacked a medical station near Naboo. All the while, I listened silently. I wanted to go and help them, but I knew I couldn't, not in the condition I was in. So I stayed silent, listened to what they all had to say. Master Plo said my actions had been brave, but to be careful in the future. A Jedi could not risk their life so readily, they had to live to fight another day, for there were few of us. Then, they all left. All except for Wolffe.
"Anything to scold me about, Commander?" I teased, but he didn't smile.
"You lied to them." He took one look at my confused expression and then clarified. "Your troopers. You told them you could withstand the pressure."
Oh, that. I looked away, not wanting to have that conversation.
"General Plo Koon told me he had been trying to teach you that technique. That as far as he knew, you had never managed to master it." He accused.
"There were lives at ris-"
"That included yours, Kriari."
In the time I'd known Wolffe, or any member of the Pack for that matter, no one had ever addressed me by my name, always my title. He was angry.
"I was trying to protect everyone, Wolffe. I may be a Jedi but my life is not worth more than that of the clones." I said icily.
"It is to the war effort."
"I don't give a shit about the war effort, Commander." I snapped. "I am in this war because I have to be, and so are you, If we are going to fight and die in the process, then the least I can do is save as many of you as I can."
He looked away. If it was out of frustration, anger or shame, I didn't know. He took his helmet from a nearby table and made his way towards the door.
"Then at least let us return the favor."