It's hard to believe that it came to this

[neverlosemyfocus]

Everything changed for Siri on Mygeeto. The mission was supposed to be.... not routine, exactly. But it was a battle, same as any number she’d been in since the Clone Wars began. More important, perhaps. Or so they’d been told. She’d been sent, along with her ARF troopers (lead by Sergeant Boomer), to assist Master Mundi in the assault on the planet. Master Mundi and his marines were going in loud, and Siri and her troopers were going in silently, keeping as many as they could off of Ki-Adi and his men. They had several AT-RT’s at their disposal, but Siri kept them at the back; they would no doubt need them by the time the mission was over, but until then she was keeping them watching their flanks.

The battle was long, and exhausting, and she lost too many men; any men were too many. She hated it, hated the pointless loss of life. She didn’t care whether or not they were clones. That didn’t matter. They were living beings, they were HER men. And they were dying. And she could feel every single one of their deaths. She pushed herself harder, doing what she could to protect them. No matter whether or not it was the proper thing to do. She deflected the flurry of blaster bolts that would have killed Boomer, reaching out with the Force and shoving the attackers, hard, against the rocky, icy wall, knocking them senseless. He gave her a nod.

“Thanks.”

She nodded, giving him an exhausted, crooked smile before turning her attention back to the mission.

It was only what Master Adi called her extraordinary sensitivity to Force warnings that saved her life, later. She was pivoting sharply, her lightsaber at the ready before she even knew WHY, as Boomer and the rest of her ARF troopers opened fire on her. Shock and betrayal tightened her chest, and sorrow (Master Mundi was dead, she felt it, felt him die), but she deflected the blaster bolts and took off at a run. Drawing on the Force, she leapt off the edge of the cliff. Blasts from the AT-RTs hit the ground behind her, the force of the explosion sending her flying, her controlled leap across the chasm no longer controlled at all.

She felt something snap in her left arm, her shoulder, pain coursing through her body as she impacted with the cliff face. She only just managed to get a handhold on the rock and ice as she began to fall. No matter how much it kriffing hurt she couldn’t let it stop her; Boomer and the others were pursuing her. She could sense it. Letting go of the pain, she tried to climb the rest of the way up. But her arm wasn’t in any sort of shape for her to make it. So she made the decision, letting go of the rock face and plummeting into the freezing water below.

It was cold enough to steal her breath away, and she knew she didn’t have much time to pull herself out before she would freeze. She forced herself to swim, even though every movement of her shoulder sent white-hot agony jolting through her body, moving through the water rapidly toward a crevice carved into the ice wall. Pulling sharply on the Force, she launched herself out of the water, catching a hold of the ice with her good hand.

She was moving sluggishly now, the wet and the cold and her injuries taking their toll. But she opened herself to the Force, let it fill her, and she pushed herself onwards. She needed to find a ship, get off Mygeeto and find the rest of the Jedi. Let them know what had happened.

She needed to find Obi-Wan.

Shivering, she let the Force guide her as she made her way cautiously and silently to where she’d be most likely to find a ship.

That ship ended up being one of the very fighters her troopers had piloted to the planet; the battle to reach it was short and to the point. She couldn’t afford anything else. With her lightsaber temporarily out of commission due to her plunge into the lake, she didn't hesitate in picking up a blaster. As much as she mourned the necessity of it, she took out the troopers she needed to, before sprinting up the landing ramp and slamming it closed behind her. Piloting wasn’t any easier than climbing or using her lightsaber with her injured arm, but she no longer noticed the pain; the ice cold water had numbed it thoroughly. Pushing the ship as hard as she could, she blasted off the planet.

The ship was damaged in the ensuing fire fight. Despite her skill, she wasn’t piloting in top form, and there were hits taken. But she managed to take out enough of them to make it to hyperspace with no pursuit, which she considered a gift from the Force. It was only when she was certain she’d made it safely away from Mygeeto that she began attempting to tend to her injuries.

Siri didn’t expect the incoming communication from the Sundered Heart, but hearing Senator Organa’s voice was something of a relief. As was learning that both Master Yoda and Obi-Wan had survived. She, in turn, told them what she knew, what had happened on Mygeeto. What happened to Master Mundi. It took her longer than she liked to reach the Sundered Heart, with the condition of her ship deteriorating the way it was, but she did, landing her damaged fighter in the hangar bay. It wasn’t until she managed to painfully extricate herself from the fighter and her boots made contact with the the Sundered Heart's deck that she allowed herself to breathe a little easier.

Comments

[ihateflying]

He has had time to do nothing more than clean up in an onboard 'fresher, and change into clean clothing before he meets her in the hangar bay.

He has gone from Grievous, to his troops turning on him, to getting off Upatu, to meeting with Yoda, to the Temple to have his heart torn out of his chest and to change the false recall beacon to a warning for any survivors to run and to hide, to his confrontation with Anakin on Mustafar, to -


It's been a very, v

ery long 'day' (and it has, surely, been more than one), and an emotional one. He is clean - no longer sooty, singed, and bloody - but both his arms are lined with green-stick fractures, there was a living, decidedly handprint shaped bruise around his throat and wrists, and was otherwise battered and banged, and exhausted.

It didn't matter at all. His body was in better shape than his heart, and seeing Siri alive was-

He felt guilty. He felt responsible. He was responsible.

He still met her to help her finish leaving the cockpit, and his first action was just to wrap her in a warm, gentle, hug. "I'm sorry."

[neverlosemyfocus]

Siri needed the help more than she liked to admit; her body was protesting HEAVILY the lengths she’d gone to in finding her way off Mygeeto. If not for the Force and sheer kriffing stubbornness she probably would have collapsed by now. And she accepted the help silently, without argument. Seeing Obi-Wan for herself, devastated and radiating guilt but alive was... something she needed more than the help from the cockpit.

She would deny how easily she fell into his embrace, but she did, hugging him despite how badly it hurt. She’d made it this far. Her injuries would be fine a while longer. She could feel his guilt, had felt it before she saw him, almost. And she held on until his words made her pull away, just enough to look at him.

“Kriff, Obi-Wan, what are you apologising for?” She was pretty sure she knew, but she asked anyway.

[ihateflying]

He kept one arm around her to make sure she would not actually collapse now, after having come this far.

"That depends: would you like the apology as a Master or from my position on the Council?" They overlapped, a lot, but we're not the same. "I'll give it to you while we attempt to treat your injuries. How bad are they?"

He had a ... feel for them, in a vague sense, but she certainly knew more than he did.

[neverlosemyfocus]

She frowned gently, at him, understanding in her blue eyes. “Neither, because you don’t need to apologise.” It was the truth. He didn’t need to apologise to her.

“My left arm and shoulder aren’t much in the way of functional at the moment.” She’d been forced to use them too much in her escape off planet and she was paying the price, now. She could, if she needed to... but quite frankly she’d rather pass on that. “Broke some ribs, and did something to my knee.” It was a matter of fact recitation of the injuries she’d received. A tired smirk flickered across her face. “But other than that...” It was an exhausted, weak attempt at humour but it was what she could manage, currently.

[ihateflying]

He didn't apologize because she wouldn't accept it. That didn't mean he didn't feel it.

He nodded in understanding. "All right. Let's get you somewhere warm so we can handle the ribs, at least." Those had the potential to turn life threatening. "Pain medication and rest will make the rest easier to address."

He sounded kind of... cold, at the moment, but even when he turned to walk he kept a hand lightly on her. He wasn't cold - he was shocky and shut down and exhausted, and doing triage on all levels, not just her physical injuries. "I'll be able to be more help once we've both managed sleep."

[neverlosemyfocus]

Later, once they’re both less... whatever they are, they can talk more in depth about that. Because she meant it. He doesn’t owe her an apology. She just has to help him realise that. Which will have to wait until they’re in any sort of shape.

“Warm... would be nice.” She hasn’t felt warm since she watched her troops turn on her. “So would the rest, too.” Not that she thinks it will come easily, rest. But pain medication will do for now.

He keeps a hand lightly on her and it’s a reassuring reminder that he’s there. That she’d found him. That something, at least once, had gone right. Everything else might be gone to hell, but there’s at least that. It’s something. “Have you taken care of yourself?” Because it’s easier to focus on that then everything else. Let alone her own injuries. And she knows him.