"Tas, run!'
Tas spun around, the lightsaber clutched in his hand powerfully. He let out a deep breath through his mask, feeling the atmosphere make it extremely difficult to breathe. He swung his head around, trying to figure out who was calling him and from what direction. They needed help, he knew it.
"Tas, help me!"
Tas spun around and saw a very young Kel Dor scrambling forward. One of his legs was deeply slashed open and blood ran down his face. He stretched out a hand toward his teacher with a pleading look on his face, even though his mask distorted his face.
Tas darted forward and was about to drag him forward when a lightsaber slashed through the student's back. The student fell backwards and let out a breath before he went completely limp.
With rain now dousing Tas's face, Tas looked up to who had attacked him. He felt anger boil inside of him as he rose to his feet and faced a student that he knew only too well.
"Ben, what are you doing," snapped Tas, with his lightsaber still curled in his hand. He tightened his grip o it since he didn't think this was going to be a peaceful negation.
The cloaked and masked man standing in front of Tas didn't look like the young Ben that he had helped Luke trained. He felt his blood run cold as Ben ignited his lightsaber. Even this lightsaber looked different from the one that he had been using. This one appeared to be broken, as if he had dropped it too many times.
"I am not Ben anymore," the cloaked figure growled. The sound seemed to radiate through his mask before he finally spoke to Tas. "My name is Kylo Ren, Master Yan."
"This is not you! You can still stop this bloodshed," Tas begged.
Kylo laughed. "And why would I listen to an out of date Master like you? Get out of my way or you're going to regret it," threatened Kylo.
Tas lifted his head, defiance showing on his face. "No."
Kylo lifted his lightsaber before he thrust it in Tas's direction. Tas lifted his lightsaber automatically and blocked the oncoming attack. Kylo's strength was overwhelming with the Dark Side and Tas struggled to keep himself going. However, he still had skill and experience on his side. There was no reason that he couldn't defeat Kylo if he tried.
The two fought for a few minutes before Kylo appeared to become bored. He rolled his eyes before he used the force to push him toward the crevice in the earth. Tas lost his footing and fell backwards, his fingers catching on the side of the earth. He let out a grunt as he tried to pull himself up, but Kylo thrust his lightsaber against the edge.
Tas leaped back and landed on a small platform. Tas let out a deep breath as he watched Kylo head the other direction. Tas looked around before he used he force to leap back to where he was. His fingers dug into the dirt until his nails bled. He dug his feet into the edge of the grit and tried to haul himself up. The ground crumbled and gasped, trying to use his strength to pull himself the rest of the way.
"Master Yan!"
Tas looked around before he felt Luke grasp his arms and haul him up. Once Tas was halfway up he used his feet against the edge and hauled himself the rest of the way. The two of them sat side by side before Luke swiveled to look at Tas.
"What have we done," asked Luke blankly.
Tas gazed out at the landscape where the bodies of students littered the ground and blood covered the entire planet. Tas hung his head and was glad that he had the mask so that Luke couldn't see him cry.
"I believe we just killed the Jedi."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tas suddenly gasped as someone touched his nose. He jumped to his feet, almost in an attack position. It would've helped it he had his lightsaber, but he didn't have it.
"Dr. Yan?"
Tas shook his head before he lifted a hand to his forehead. It throbbed madly under his hand. He checked his pulse before he straightened, gasping for breath. He looked at the women in front of him and embarrassment washed over him like a wave on Naboo.
"General, I'm so sorry," gasped Tas as he coughed to clear his throat. "I guess I'm just a bit jumpy, huh? Maybe it's not just pilots."
Leia's eyes lit in gentleness of a mother. "Do you want to talk about it," she offered wit a soft whisper.
Tas shook his head. He was nearly her age. He didn't need anyone to care for him, especially when they tried to treat him younger than before. He just had to push away the hostilities for now.
"I'm fine. Do you need something," asked Tas once he had slowed his heart rate down to a reasonable rate.
"I was wondering if I could speak to Poe. Is he stable enough," inquired Leia hopefully.
Tas thought for a moment. It was quite early to start asking him questions, but he knew better tan to argue with her most of the time. "You can ask him a few questions, but only if he's awake."
Tas started to lead Leia to the room, not that she needed much leading. He opened the door slowly and waved a hand at Leia to walk through. She did with Tas bringing up the rear. Poe was still asleep when they got there, but it was time for a fresh IV anyway, so that would probably wake him up.
Tas leaned over and touched his arm lightly. Poe jumped and sucked in a harsh breath before he realized who it was. "Oh, Tas. Don't scare me like that."
"You sound like Xander," he commented as he grabbed another bad and hooked it up to Poe's IV. Poe tensed for a second before he finally relaxed, sighing heavily. His eyes turned to slits before he realized who was standing in front of him.
"General," gasped Poe as he tried to salute, but gasped in pain at the movement.
"At ease, commander," Leia chided as she dipped her head a bit to him. "I'm just here to ask you a few questions about your mission if you're feeling up to it."
"Of course, General. Anything that I can do to help," Poe told her with the seriousness that went along with being in Leia's presence.
"'If you need anything, let me know," Tas murmured as he gave a small wave to the two of them. This was probably highly classified information that Tas shouldn't hear. It wasn't that he hadn't heard things before, but it was quite challenging to never breathe a word of it or talk about it every again.
No one dismissed him, but he left anyway. He closed the door and sunk a bit against the wall. Even though he had just woken up, he felt like he had been awake for days on end. He rubbed his long fingernails deep against his rough skin on his skull. He sucked in a heavy breath as he gazed outward.
Tas had been plagued by the same memory for what felt like years. In reality it probably was only a few months, but that might explain why he wasn't sleeping well and was always exhausted. He knew that if he spoke to Leia that he would get some time off. Yet, that wasn't what he wanted. He just wanted it to be over or for him to make amends with himself. That was what becoming a healer did for him. He just hoped he could keep it up for just a while longer.
