Star Wars: The Great Awakening (Book I)

Chapter 24 - Aftermath

The colors of the evening sky filled the horizon as the group of survivors held onto the Krayton. The dragon skimmed through the air just below the clouds as Jolis took stock of everything that had happened on the mission.

To the best of his knowledge, the control signal for the Xirus devices had been eliminated. That meant there would not only be numerous Atophi people from several tribes returning to reality, but also several other species from unknown worlds—much like Zekiel—who would be here as well. The two ships which landed were evident of that.

The ones who would be trained to pilot said vessels would still have that knowledge stored in them. If the trandoshans and anyone else who was an actual enemy had been overpowered by the freed captives, it would be reasonable to assume that they would've landed the ships.

There was also the matter of the ship they saw escaping back into space. Would they return with reinforcements? Did they have enough fuel to make it back to their homeworld? It was an unknown which Jolis didn't have the answer for.

This was all a mental distraction, however.

As the dragon continued to fly, Jolis mentally instructed it to turn directly towards the smoke that everyone had now noticed. There was no sense in flying all the way back to the salt plains and having everyone make the trek back to the village.

Shayla and the other freed prisoners—the six and only surviving captives from the command vessel—remained silent throughout the flight. Jolis stopped to check on each of them but none had anything to say.

He recalled Zekiel's reaction to having his device removed. Although his was a much more intense case, it was presumably because they had physically removed the device while it was still operational. Having the signal cut off while the Xirus devices were still in place seemed to have a far less complicated effect on the freed captives.

Even so, there was undoubtedly a lot on their minds. Each of them had missed roughly 10 years of their lives and they were now re-entering a world which was vastly different from the one they remembered.

As the dragon continued to approach the smoke cloud, however, Jolis feared it was about to get even worse.

It was Keszen—who'd also been unusually quiet—that first noticed the land features around the smoke.

Rising to his feet, he leaned to the side to see around the dragon's massive neck and head.

What he saw confirmed his fears.

"The village," he said with tears in his eyes. "It burns!"

A grim reality landed upon Jolis' shoulders. The words spoken to him by the trandoshan were indeed true.

Approaching the village, the dragon circled above it just around the smoke. Several of the huts were still on fire but more than that, the bodies of the surviving villagers could be seen strewn about the grounds. Along with them, the remaining guards Keszen had left behind lay motionless as well.

"I left them to their deaths!" shouted Keszen.

"We didn't know," replied Zekiel. As he spoke again, his voice was noticeably quieter.

"We didn't know."

"So much death," Keszen uttered as he sat down and placed his head in his hands. "So much destruction."

As the Krayton circled downwards, it landed with a heavy thud before coming to a stop a few steps later. Lowering its wing, it allowed its passengers to disembark before letting out a massive roar and taking off once again.