Star Wars The Clone Wars: A Galaxy Of War

Chapter 7: Boarding the Providence

Hey guys! This chapter is longer than normal for no reason. It just turned out this way. I DO NOT OWN THE IMAGE. All rights to its owner. Oh, and that's how Lance's armor looks like. . . With a few tweaks I'll add later
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Lance did not understand the order he was given. "You want me to board it?!?" The general says, his face in shock of the order he received from the Jedi Council. "That is correct." Kenobi replies, his tone being that of a serious one. "With all do respect, why can't we just destroy it? This is our chance." Lance asks, for he was right. The Providence is in critical condition and its hyperdrive has been destroyed. "We believe that sending you inside that cruiser could be a wise decision. The separatist could have plans on other matters that can help us win this war." Master Windu says. Lance prepares to argue on the decision, but he knows that any further argument would just show that he isn't capable of being a General or a Jedi Knight. "As you command." Lance ends the holographic transmission and sighs. Immediately his mind begins to at least view the matter from the Council's point of view. They where correct to thinking that plans might be inside the cruiser. But the point was that he just captured a separatist base in Hypori. And much to his surprise, there really wasn't much besides the providence.

"How many of us will go?" The clone captain asks, already knowing that his general will not fail his task. "Breakfall squad, Jelia, and I." Lance answers. "Sir, Shouldn't we send more men to the enemy cruiser?" Arc asks, not understanding why just one squad, a Jedi, and one warrior will clear the whole enemy cruiser. "We aren't going to capture the ship. We just need to take control of the bridge for a few minutes, download their information, and leave." Lance explains his plan.
"And then we blow up the cruiser?"
"Correct." Lance replies. He walks down to the armory, passing several clones, pilots, and other personal. Once inside, Lance looks at the purple hair warrior inside the armory, sitting in the center on top of a crate, her back facing the Jedi Knight, and is all by herself.

"Is everything alright?" Lance asks, worried that something happened to her that he was unaware of. Jelia turns around and smiles a bit. "No, everything's. . .fine." She states, sounding slightly unconvincing. Lance nods, knowing that if something was indeed wrong, she would've told him. "May I ask why you are in the armory....alone" he says the word alone, which he notices right after that the word alone could've been a mistake to say.
     
       "Because I'm exactly that. Alone." She says, her elf like ears drooping down and turns back around, facing the wall and not the Jedi. Lance then walks to her and places his left hand on her right shoulder. "You're not alone. I'm here." Lance says with a smile of comfort. She softly chuckles once. "That's not what I meant." Jelia replies. It then hits Lance like a brick. She's  alone because of the incident that occurred on her planet. Lance sits on the crate next to her, and looks at her. Jelia, however, isn't looking at the general, just the wall in front of her. "Most people would say they understand. That they've been though something similar. But I can't lie. I can't even begin to imagine what you are going through." Lance says as he looks down into his lap, for he can't help her. He can't bring them back. He can't do anything. "Why?" The warrior asks. Lance looks up to the wall. "Because I've never been alone-"
"No. I mean why did this happen?" Jelia interrupts. Lance struggles to think of an answer for the question. But he realizes that the answer he says is closer to being wrong than being right. There's only one answer that is right. "Because I was a 10 minutes late. Because I didn't make it." He blames himself. This answer causes Jelia to look at the general straight in the eyes, and much to her surprise, Lance has tears forming around his eye. "How could you say that?" Jelia softly asked, not understanding why he's blaming himself and not the separatist. Lance stays silent for several seconds before he answers. "Because it's the truth. The only truth I know." Lance begins to stand up. He doesn't want to comfort a person who's situation couldn't be compared too, not because he doesn't want to, but because he doesn't know how too.