Worth: A Star Wars Story (ON TEMP HIATUS)

9. The Tragedies of Having Families

I remember when I first saw the Jedi. We had been on Kamino when they came. There had been whispering that they had chased Jango off-world, and when he was gone, then came the others.  They looked so different from us in our sterile white armor, all of them unique in ways that I hadn't ever seen before. There were aliens that had colors beyond my wildest imagination, their presence wholly singular compared to any being I had ever seen, and when I was first exposed to them, it was easiest to say that I was in awe. Not that it lasted long before we were shipped off to Geonosis and the war began.

The bitterness followed. The sting whenever I would think of Jedi in their temple, lauded for their bravery while my brothers and I were branded as unnatural. We could barely even eat in a restaurant without being kicked out. Nobody ever railed against the Jedi like that, nobody exiled them to their barracks and the surrounding area while they were fighting and dying for their home. I hadn't met a single Jedi that I felt was worth fighting for...

Not until Tal. 

I slammed the door open to the center to find the Beroyas waiting. Ros was the first up and he walked over to me with a furrowed brow. He caught me by the shoulders and raised his eyebrows inquiringly as I tried to get my thoughts together. That wasn't like me at all. "They got him. They got the kid. I have no idea if he's alive or dead or..."

"Steady, vod'ika," Ros' firm grip on my shoulders was keeping me on the planet, and he reached up to pull my helmet off. He tossed it on the ground and grabbed me by the sides of my head, "We'll get him back. He's more valuable alive than dead. Those cats wouldn't have killed him. I need you to stay focused, yeah?"

I took a breath and locked eyes with him as a sensation of unsteady calm began to fall over me. I nodded as he gave my cheek and affectionate slight slap and stepped away. "Where would he be?" Tor asked, his voice calm and level as always as he walked up to stand beside me. I could feel his elbow knock against mine as he did. A little gesture, but one I appreciated. 

"There's a landing platform near an old lake," Grek piped up as he marched forward and pulled up the holomap. I joined him, surprised to see a freshly updated area map. "Red snagged it while he was hacking the door console."

"That's new..." I heard Tracyn mutter as Bev nodded along, both of them leaning forward on the holotable as their eyes traced the shapes.

"I think that's where they're offloading the captive to get them off world, meaning if Talen is anywhere, he's going to be there," Red nodded and turned to me, "which also means that is where we need to go."

"With us, right?" Orar asked as his head whipped around at the others in the room. "We're helping him out, right?"

Kote turned expectantly to Ros, who raised his eyebrows and looked around like he was surprised, "Well, yeah. Why wouldn't we?"

"I can think of a few good reasons." All eyes in the room fell to Wylan, who was pushing himself off of the wall at the back of the room. "Ros, why are we involving ourselves in Republic business?"

"They helped us," Kade cut in, "and the kid shouldn't have even been here without-!"

"Then maybe," Wylan's icy voice made Kade stop mid-sentence and click his mouth closed, "he should have listened to his Master and stayed put."

"Wy, what's gotten into you?" Ros turned to him, and I think the entire squad agreed to just shut up and not say a single thing while this exchange was going on. "We are the ones who asked for help!"

"Oh, no!" Wylan pointed an accusatory finger at Ros, "You were the one who decided to drag a Jedi into this! The Clones, I can accept. You know that I would die for my nephews, but I cannot accept asking them to die for that hu'tuun!"