THE FATE

CHAPTER 12

The smell came back to me. That very familiar smell of burning flesh and wood. The sounds of charred wood and agony from the wounded. I stood frozen in the hallway outside the command room. Unable to move my body and breath correctly.  

Help me, please. I whispered under my breath. I clench my jaw at the pain that is ravaging throughout my body. I feel the gritty pieces of dirt and blood throughout my mouth, and I wiped my mouth. The air is empty. The smoke is settling on the plateau of Anoat, I plant my hands underneath me and grab at the dirt to lunge forward. Pain. Utter pain. I screamed out. I see the entire wood line covered in orange flames and bodies. What the fuck happened. I lift my wrist to call out in our radios to Kor, "Kor, come in." There was no tone that came across the radios. I looked to my left and there was a crashed X-Wing, with its pilot leaned over with blood dripping down their helmet. I readjusted my eyes and looked around the aircraft, more bodies. Where is Kor. 

I once again attempted to plant my hands and pull myself up, this time I gritted through the pain. On my knees, I looked around. The smoke from the X-Wing was beginning to fill the sky again, I knew I needed to leave immediately. I felt an awful feeling around. I was hearing shuffling behind the X-Wing, I called out "Kor is that you?" I pivot myself and attempted to walk over to the downed aircraft. I had to step over charred bodies, bodies that I couldn't even recognize their face. I groaned. I slipped in a puddle of blood mixed in with petrol leaking from the aircraft. Pain. I grabbed at my stomach as I started to feel severe pain, "Kor?" I kept calling for him as I staggered around. 

I approached the person responsible for the movement, "Kill me, kill me...." with his gurgles of blood escaping his mouth, unable to finish his words. I assessed him, he was grabbing at his stomach. I jumped down to his aid, I was pushing his stomach contents back into his body. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry" was all I could gather to say. I hovered my hands over his body, to attempt to heal him. I looked over at his uniform, the resistance. I had no energy left in me to heal him. As I was trying to heal him he was screaming. I'm doing this wrong. "Just stay with me," I said to him. "No, stop," he said with spitting blood at me. "I want to help you, please," I said, he tried to push my hands off of his body. 

"Please!" I pleaded with the resistance soldier. He lifted a blaster to my face. This was it. These were my final moments. I somehow had a feeling I would leave the world like this. Trying to save someone who doesn't want saving and they would turn on me. "Fuck the Sith," he spit out with more blood running down his cheek and puddling on his neck. I stood frozen. My hands still hovering his body, still trying to save him. If I healed him enough, maybe he would spare my life. I shut my eyes. I let the force take me like a gentle tug on the strings. I had given up. I heard the blaster. And I kept my eyes shut. 

I felt hands around my waist. I turned around and immediately began trying to escape the grip. I started smacking this stranger on the chest but was met with hard beskar. I looked up and saw a familiar Mandalorian helmet. My eyes started to flood. I felt so burdened. Kor yet again has come to save me. Would he ever grow tired of this? I know he eventually would tired of catching me every time I fell. 

"I heard you through the force," Kor said through his voice decoder. 

I started to uncontrollably sob in his arms. "Come," he whispered. He swooped me up and took me into my office which was a short walk down the hallway and across from the hangar. The doors hissed open and he swung his arm around to lock the doors. He held me as he walked over to the couch just across from my desk. I curled up in his lap, unable to control my crying. I heard another soft hiss as he took off his helmet and placed it on the ground. 

"I don't know what happened, it was like I was there," I said to him. 

"I could see everything. You showed it through the force," Kor said as he adjusted me and put his hand over my waist to hold me closer. In this moment, I wanted to be home. I wanted to be away from this place. I wanted to be away from the First Order. Since being here, all I have encountered was death, heartache, and pain.