Don't Leave Me

Chapter Two

Rupa stared up at the Separatist Senate Building, a small collection of bombs in her hands. The place looked like a damned fortress. This was technically terrorism. But, she reasoned, they'd been fighting for hours. It was nearly nightfall, so Dooku would have had plenty of time to evacuate the innocents. Or, at least, all of his favoured allies.

No one had questioned her presence there, if they'd seen it. They were too busy trying to survive. She inhaled deeply, making a decision in that instant. She grabbed a B1 battledroid by the arm, shoving a match bomb into its hand.

"Wha-?"

"Hey, throw this at the wall."

The droid looked at her, then the bomb, then shrugged.

"Okay!"

Rupa was running before it had finished speaking, forcing her sore feet to propel her away from the coming blast. There was a pop, and then a searing heat behind her. She darted behind a pillar, pressing her hands over her ears.

A sob escaped her lips as she sank to her knees behind that pillar, her heart too fast, and head too light.

"No, master, please!" Rupa fought to escape Krell's arms, as he dragged her down the hallway, but another of them caught her when she slipped the first. He didn't try to be gentle: his grip was tight enough to bruise.

"It's too late for pleading, my dear. You should never have learned the truth about me." He snarled, easily catching her when she tried to run again. Rupa sobbed, struggling desperately to get free. She had to warn the clones. She had to-

"Smokey!"  her voice cracked on the name, as Krell reached the end of the corridor, opening a door and tossing her inside. Rupa fell with a hard thud and heard her charhound barking in the distance.

The door slammed shut. Rupa pressed her hands against it, hearing Smokey scrabbling at the door, barking his head off. She tried to use the Force to open the door, but the connection that had once been so strong was gone.

"Smokey," she sniffled, trying to keep herself calm. She couldn't feel the Force, and it terrified her. "Find Rex and tell him what's going on. Don't let Master Krell catch you." 

Smokey barked, just once, before Rupa heard his paw steps padding down the corridor, slowly fading into silence. She glanced around to check for any other exit. Nothing. The room was completely bare and yet still cramped, with no window for her to climb through. 

Of course not. Krell was a brute, but he was also smart. 

Rupa closed her eyes to meditate and settle her frayed emotions. Nothing. She'd never felt that before in her life, and it frightened her. Rupa buried her head in her hands and burst into tears. What was happening to her? What had Krell done? Would the clones be safe from him? Would Smokey reach them in time?

She didn't know how long she was locked in there, trying the door over and over again, but eventually her tears dried out. How had she known of Krell's deceit? It had been on accident. Rupa had walked in on him reporting to Count Dooku of all people, when looking for Smokey.

She was about to collapse, exhausted from the intensity of it all, when a sharp pain drove itself into her chest. It felt like something raw and physical. Rupa whimpered, pressing a hand to her chest as she felt something in the Force disappear. So Krell was dead. She should have been happy about that, right?

But Rupa just felt empty. There was a gap in the Force where her master used to be. She lay there, too numb and exhausted to get up and fight for much longer.