The Young Republic | A Star Wars Story

Chapter 32

F a l l o u t

"Understanding is honoring the truth beneath the surface."

This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The voice of the General had sounded so hollow from wherever it was heard.

I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and The Republic have fallen. With the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place.

It didn't make any sense. It didn't even sound like Master Kenobi's voice.

This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi. Trust in the Force. Do not return to the Temple, that time has passed. And our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged. Our trust, our faith, our friendships... But we must preserve. And in time, a new hope will emerge.

May the Force be with you. Always.

And the sorrowful voice, that was supposed to be familiar and solid, was sucked away back into the cracks.

Coric was just about to get to his General - the one who was supposed to be in a severe condition and needed immediate healing - when the cracks appeared. After a minor freakout, he managed to get to the hangar, where he was about to cuss out the other field medics for just standing there instead of carrying Skywalker in faster. The hangar doors had shut about a minute after the cracks disappeared, and the familiar pull of shooting through hyperspace came a second later.

A clean evacuation. They would celebrate afterwards. After Coric had cussed out the medics and his General.

But after he stomped through the bustle of distraught Clones, Coric was surprised to see that it wasn't Skywalker who needed immediate help.

No, Skywalker was standing up. Or halfway up. At the moment he was crouching down, and his breaths were somewhat calm, and despite the shake in his hands, seemed much more lucid than was told over the comm. His eyes were red, and tears were going down. He didn't cry - not with sound or action. But Coric would connect the unease and tremors to Skywalker's obvious emotional distraught rather than anything medical. Coric will still check; he always double-checks.

But first, it seemed Kenobi was the one who needed attention instead of Skywalker.

This is a sentence Coric never thought he would have thought.

Kenobi was - not okay.

His face was pale, and there was terrible anguish twisted up on his face. It was so different from Kenobi's calm and collected stance compared to Skywalker that Coric had to do a double take.

Kenobi was clutching at his chest - a sudden heartstroke or something? It would explain the paleness, the perspiration, the heave of his chest like all the wind was punched out of him. It explained the pain, and it explains the shake of his hands as he tried to rip his heart out.

...I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and The Republic have fallen...

Untrue. It was clear as day that whatever nonsense everyone heard was completely untrue. Did General Kenobi really say that? Coric didn't hear his comm - or anyone's comm - sound off. Or was it just the strangeness of the Jedi and their splitting space that had carried over such a mind trick?

"General Kenobi," Coric set his emergency kit at Kenobi's feet, already looking for signs of a heart attack other than what he's seen so far. "I need you to tell me what you are currently-"