Resilience

One

The snaphiss of Master Uwali's lightsaber igniting broke Calen's meditation swiftly.

Something was wrong. The sudden disruption led them to immediately grip for the calming sensation of their own saber where it sat in front of them. The familiar feel of the energy and length adjustment nods, their satisfying light textures provided grounding and they traced one finger up over the blade shroud. Time seemed to stretch as they focused in on the lightsaber and they let the Force take their mind.

No, everything was wrong. The Padawan had come with their master to meditate on a strategy to retake the separatist redoubt here on Maltar. They were to spend three days in the mountains communing with the force while the clone forces under Master Uwali's command held the Republic battleline a dozen miles to the north. But somehow people with hostile intent were nearing - and Calen could only feel the minds of the clone soldiers that had been their surrogate family.

Uwali looked back at their padawan of the last three years and gave only the slightest of nods. The soft glow of the blue lightsaber illuminated the patient man's features tinged with sadness. The Cerean had sought guidance through the Force each night since being chosen to be a guide to a young one. He had not in a thousand nights of seeking guidance from the Force expected it to end like this.

"When I give you the gesture, you must run. As far and as fast as you can. Do not look back. Today is not the memory I would have you carry, Calen."

Calen wanted to make the words go. Wanted to ask questions. There were so many different thoughts going on all at once that it was almost impossible to find one to hold onto. One to push through. And then the roar of the large repulsor engines of a LAAT/i gunship drowned out every space in their mind. Green laser fire lit up the sunset on the mountain top and explosions threw rocks and debris into the air.

Amidst the dust and debris, the more faint sound of ARC Trooper jetpacks could be heard as Calen activated their lightsaber as well. They reached out, expanded their senses and closed their eyes from the sting of the dirt in the air. It kept them from seeing Captain Andy's face at first as the seasoned clone officer barreled down at the padawan.

The clone threw a grenade first and began a series of rapid carbine shots through the air. Calen shifted, pushing up and lifting themselves far higher in the jump than a human could, but without their footing - deflecting the blaster shots was more challenging. Three met the green blade but the fourth lanced into their left shoulder. The smell of flesh burned and sizzled through their nose.

So much attention was devoted to just staying alive, to staying focused, it took a moment to realize what else what happening. The way the repulsor whined and pitched higher. Even as it tried to land to disembark the other clones, their minds focused on the elimination of the Jedi, its engines seemed unwilling to comply.

9628, a relative rookie on the team and without much beyond his designation yet, had moved behind Calen as the padawan landed. The two troopers fired rapidly at Calen, keeping them alternating back and forth. It dawned on them, with a heavy resignation, that they could not simply parry bolts away and hope whatever madness had taken the men would pass. Fighting purely defensively as they had been would get them killed.

It was not just in constructing lightsabers that Calen was gifted. Creating illusions through the Force was considered a rather rare gift to master but it is one that had been useful time and again. Even as they continued to retreat, to give ground on the dusty mountaintop, reflecting shot after shot, they reached out with their mind.

They focused back to a battle on Felucia, when Master Uwali was to help rescue embattled forces from the surface of the planet. To how scared they were and how Andy had sung a song to try and cheer them up. They focused on that moment of closeness, of warmth from the man now trying to kill them. It let them slip inside his mind - confuse his senses - and divert his aim toward 9628.

Not even the well built clone armor could survive five shots in a tight cluster like that. It was a testament to Andy's marksmanship. With his fire diverted, Calen rushed forward their lightsaber out before them in a high crossguard. They had never used a lightsaber on something other than a droid before. The way the solid emerald energy blade sliced through the breastplate and into flesh, cauterizing the wound as it went was nothing to the way the act of attacking felt wrong. Perhaps it was because they were still affecting Andy's mind or the closeness. Or maybe it was simply that they had been taught so long to be a defender of life. But they felt sick. Their body ached as they could see the life drain from the clone captain's eyes. The image burned into Calen's mind's eye even as tears started to roll on their cheeks.

And then there was no more time to grieve, process. The sound of a dozen boots of clone troopers settling around them and their master. Uwali looked back toward Calen, nodded and extinguished their lightsaber.

The air grew heavy - pebbles vibrated on the ground as Calen began to run. Behind them, Uwali channeled the Force through them like a tidal wave. The heavy lander ripped from the sky in a hail of metallic shards as the engines exploded - trailing fireballs into the reinforcements working up the mountain. A maelstrom of plasteel and ceraglass fragments spun around the Jedi.

Calen heard the screams - both those of the clone troopers crushed or consumed and that of their master. The way the cry undulated in that moment, the way they pushed the Force through their anger at betrayal. One more memory to imprint if they lived through this day.

They did not look back - but their imagination filled the details in well enough. Tears stung as they ran, as they drew breath and energy from their connection to all living things. Even still, their lungs stung from the way they forced their body. As far and as fast as you can is no small thing for one of the Jedi. The battalion had committed their force to a frontal assault and did not properly encircle all the exits. Calen ran until their feet bled, through the night and into the next sunrise. Even when they did not know why they continued to run, or where they ran toward they proceeded. It was their Master's instruction and they were a good padawan, a good pupil.