Of Love and War Book 4: When Darkness Falls

Chapter 12: Strafed

After what happened with Gambit, a trip to visit her men was long overdue. Despite all of her training and teaching and, regrettably, hiding, Zelina made it a point to slip away from the Temple so that she could see the 105th. Yoda had advised caution while traveling outside the Temple, considering her current social status, but he hadn't forbidden she step outside of the Temple-otherwise she wouldn't have been allowed to go say goodbye to Obi-Wan as he headed for Utapau.

That didn't mean she was going to be stupid and reckless while out and about Coruscant-she was well aware that some people believed her to be a traitor, and considering she'd seen the Ruusanian prisoner transport blow up right before her eyes, she was also well aware of the fact that the people weren't going to be shy about acting on their frustrations if they felt strongly enough about it.

Considering the outcry that was currently plaguing her, there were plenty of people on Coruscant who felt strongly and negatively about her.

With that danger in mind, Zelina made her trip to Coruscant's military base quick and to the point, avoiding the more populated routes and traffic to the best of her ability without exposing herself out in the open too long. She hadn't realized how paranoid she was over this mess until she found herself watching any speeder that came within a hundred mile radius like it was a droideka she'd just spotted headed in her direction.

Even at the base, she wasn't oblivious to the looks she received from soldiers who had never worked with her, who didn't know her outside of the recent accusations surrounding her. It made her uneasy, something she never thought she'd feel around the Republic's soldiers, and she doubled her pace to the section of the base that housed her 105th.

She was spotted as soon as she walked through the door into the first section of hallways bunking the lower ranking soldiers. A cacophony of 'General' followed her, and she made it a point to give a warm smile and a nod to every soldier she passed, murmuring her own greetings. The sudden switch in atmosphere, from constant, suspicious eyes, sometimes even accusing, to warm welcome, acceptance, and trust, was one she hadn't even realized she'd been so devoid of recently.

She kept going until she reached the officer and arc-trooper quarters, unable to help her gaze from drifting in the direction of Gambit's quarters.

"General Du'ahn!" came a familiar voice, and Zelina turned to see Cruiser approaching her with deep-seated concern etched on every feature. "We weren't expecting you here-has something happened?"

"No more than what's becoming the usual," Zelina said with a grimace. "I found time to slip away from the Temple so I could come visit the men. I've been wanting to ever since what happened to Gambit," Zelina finished quietly.

Cruiser's countenance softened considerably. "It's much appreciated, Ma'am."

Zelina nodded towards the few who had stuck their heads out of their rooms to see what was going on. "Why don't you scrounge up a sabacc set and whoever wants to come, and we'll go have a night out on me to celebrate him?"

"Sounds like the kind of night out he'd want us to have," Cruiser remarked, and he left the room to start gathering some attendees and the sabacc set she'd requested.

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Zelina had a limit for how many drinks she could buy for her men before she couldn't afford it anymore—or rather, before she reached the point she'd be receiving a scolding from the Council over how much of Jedi finances she'd spent on drinking and leisure time for her men. It had already been agreed that was about the point that the betting would start to include exemption from the bill. Zelina was already exempt considering she'd already be paying the majority of the bill. Her men were picking up anything that went over her limit.