Of Love and War Book 4: When Darkness Falls

Chapter 15: Into a Dark Dawn

AN:  I swear to everything in and out of creation, you guys better leave comments, because I've been crafting this last scene in my head for FOUR YEARS!!!

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In that moment, Zelina didn't care that she was supposed to be a battle hardened Jedi General. A wild sounding cry of relief burst past Zelina's usually careful but momentarily decimated control, and before she could stop herself, she wrapped her arms around Cruiser in a desperate hug.

"I don't think I've ever been so glad to see anyone in my entire life," she said weakly, realizing what she was doing and swiftly pulling away from her Commander.

"I'm sure General Skywalker has me beat somewhere in there," Cruiser quipped in an effort to lighten the mood or at least distract from Zelina's uncharacteristic action. "How can we help?"

Zelina cast her gaze towards the group that was now gathering in the Room of a Thousand Fountains through the hole the 501st had blown in the wall, doing a quick head count to see who was here.

Cruiser of course, Keen-eye, Bruiser, Dash, Nex, Var, Sentry, Hardball, Nick, Aalto, Salvor, Zedge, Darius, Trimmy, Crossbones, Canner, Click...

Everyone who had their chips removed, save a few who wouldn't be much help in a ground battle like this, such as Rider and Commy, was here. They were all here.

Zelina wrestled with her emotions to be the leader she needed to be. The sounds of a vicious fight on the other side of the room reminded her just why she couldn't effort to get emotional at the moment.

"The younglings," she said as she was painfully reminded of why she'd been running through the Room of a Thousand Fountains in the first place. "On the storage level, we were trying to get them out, there was pain and death—they're in trouble," Zelina said urgently, snapping back into full attention. The majority of the men lifted their weapons as Zelina mentioned children in danger.

"By your lead, General," Sentry said somberly.

"Should some of us go reinforce your lines, General?" Dash asked. Hardball hefted his rotary cannon at the proposition, but Zelina waved them off.

"No, not yet anyway—without me, they'll think your more troops come to kill them and attack you. Hold this position—keep them from getting flanked. The rest, with me—I don't know what will be waiting for us down in the storage level, but I'd like to be prepared," Zelina ordered. The men shifted to the two groups depending on their skills, Keen-eye taking off to find a good vantage point in the room, Hardball turning his gun on the hole in the wall...

Cruiser, Nick, Dash, Nex, and Bruiser were among those that chose to go with Zelina, with Nick nearly pouncing on Zelina.

"Is there something you have against this shoulder, General?" he asked, trying to assess the wound as they rushed through the halls.

"Yeah, it insulted my mother once—don't worry about me, Nick, I can heal myself. I've learned a few tricks. Save your supplies for someone that really needs it," Zelina informed him, covering the wound with her hand so she could start using her recently developed healing abilities to heal her own wound before it hindered her in a life and death situation. If she wasn't so high strung on adrenaline in such a dire situation, Zelina would be worried about how much she was using draining abilities in the Force.

When they reached the storage level, Zelina had to suppress a groan as she was reminded of the enormity of this level—a single hall stretched in front of them, with offshoots to the left and right stretching out in what seemed like endless rows. This was where they kept everything they used to feed an supply an entire Temple full of Jedi of various species.