Mesmer:
Water, cold as ice and dark like the space between stars, seeped into his armor, pooling in his boots. In seconds it was swirling around his hips. He tried to shout, to cry out for somebody, looked around but even then the dark liquid seemed to just pull him in and it wasn’t long before it crashed over his head, sending him down down down into a deadly silence.
Frantically he tried to claw himself out of the hellhole he sank into, deeper and deeper, his fingers fruitlessly scratching over smooth stone, never finding something to grip, to hoist himself up.
He could hear the screams of his brothers for him, could see dark shades on the surface of the water, which got further and further away from him. He was breathing frantically, using up his last reserves of air as he screamed for help, for somebody to get him, to save him. Cold liquid started to seep into his helmet, the seal somewhere broken and Mesmer started sobbing loudly as he sank deeper down, far above him two hands reaching for him in the cold.
The Blackness slowly rose, kissing his cheeks in remembrance, caressing his temple even as it blocked him from his last air.
He couldn’t feel his arms and legs anymore, he was so heavy and the only light dancing over the waters surface was so far away now.
And then he had to open his mouth, his lungs screaming at him to breath, to get air, to LIVE!!! - and the cold stormed down his throat, numbing him from the inside, tearing him-
Mesmer shot up from his bedroll, gasping for air and wildly flailing his arms around, his legs constricted in his blanket. Short puffs of air were all he was able to get into his aching lungs and he could feel tears streaming down his face, dropping into his blacks. He was so alone! It was so dark here! He needed - he needed!
With sharp movements he lost his blanket around his feet, untangling himself from his bedroll and hastily crawled out of the dark tent he had slept in. Panicky his eyes wandered over the barren landscape, finally landing on the one thing he needed the most right now. With a barely suppressed sob and still wheezing breaths he stumbled to his feet and then literally pounced on the figure sitting by the small fire.
His hands were desperately gripping onto soft fabric, his body pressing against the other as best as he could, longing for the warmth he knew was there.
Just seconds after he rushed into the lap of the the other living being, strong arms wound around him, pressing him further into the soft body. One hand was rubbing his back and the other softly stroked over his head, again and again and again.
It took Mesmer a few minutes to calm down enough to understand where and with whom he was now. He was sitting in his Jedis lap, curled up like a fresh out of the tube Batchling, still crying softly into the uniform, staining it.
Shame crept into him, his cheeks gaining a deep red tint, and he tried to get away, to apologize, but the arms around him just tightened and he could finally hear the rumbling, shushed words for him.
“Hush now, all is well. I am here for you, don’t worry. I will not leave you alone. Breath for me Mesmer, just deep breaths. All is well. I am here for you, don’t worry."
Mesmer clung harder to his Jedi, for once happy that it was just the two of them, and after some time, even fell asleep again, still curled up in his Jedis arms, safe.
Kin:
There was a burning sensation in his right hand, burning like fire and ashes, like sulfur and acid dripping into an open cut.
"This clone is defective. We can’t condone that he works on on the battlefield. He is just a burden for the others.”
The words cut him deep as he refused to stare at the Kamionian being in front of the Council.
“We will take him back with us, reuse him for something he doesn’t need his hand for.”
Kin stared at his right hand, or better the stump, where his hand used to be.
“We still think that your healer made a mistake in healing something like the clone, it was just a waste of energy and time better spend elsewhere.”
He can feel himself shudder and cringe under the harsh words, all of them cutting him as deep as the shrapnel from the bomb he had endured to safe his brothers. All of his fresh scar tissue is now throbbing painfully, his whole body pleading for him to do something against it.
“Matter of fact, we will dispose of the clone, he has no use any longer to any of us”
Kin’s eyes snapped up to the Kamionian, her own eyes boring into his with a malicious glint. Her long hands were reaching for him, he couldn’t move, couldn’t move his legs and the claws were-
“Uff!” Kin tumbled out of the small bed, hitting the ground gracelessly with his face first. His hands pressed against the cold, metal floor. Both hands.
The one of his own flesh and the other, his main hand, build from silvery metal and golden circuits, gifted to him from his savior. The jedi who stood before the Council and the Maker, spitting nails and cursing every last one of them for a clone.
For him.
“Kin? Everything all right?” the softly spoken words were a harsh contrast to the venom he had dreamed of. Slowly he pushed himself upwards, his eyes finding the slender form of his Jedi General right in front of him.
“Th-Thank you!” Kin was biting his lips as he came to his feet again, one hand outstretched for his General, for something he didn’t know himself.
Another hand caught his, pulling him into a smaller frame and arms wound around him for a hug he really needed.
They just stood there for a while, Kin breathing in the spicy scent of his Jedi.
Wolffe:
The dark expanse of space was around him, chilling him to the bone as he drifted along a current he couldn’t escape. He was tumbling all alone in space, facing stars and suns and most importantly rocks and melted metal parts.
And between the rocks and the metal, there were tiny white figures, drifting aimlessly, like himself, turning with the flow. He knew what those figures were, knew it with all of his still beating heart. They were his men, stolen from life pods and left in the endless black space to die.
His troops, they had followed his words like law, even when the times were rough and not all of them would be coming home again. They were his brothers, dearly loved batchmates, his family.
Lifelessly drifting, haunting him even when his heart throbbed in his chest and the cold seemed to freeze his lungs. At least he wouldn’t leave them alone for long.
The Hunter-Droids had made sure of that, opening the Escape Pods one after another and all he could do was watch as he held his dead General in his arms.
The Blackness was spreading now, infecting not only the vast space around him and stealing the light of stars, but also spreading over his eyes, leaving behind a dark web of pulsating black and red.
“Not long now, my Brothers,” he thought. And then the pressure in his chest was just too much, something red and still beating exploding out of his ribs and shattering into tiny little specs of dust.
Wolffe woke up slowly.
He felt stiff, like someone put him into a freezer and left him there for a few hours. With deliberate movements one of his hands pressed against his chest. He could feel his heart still beating, could feel his blood pumping through his veins and he could hear the snores of Brothers around him. Not loudly, but at least something to ground him.
His free hand dug into his leg, bringing him even more out of the nightmare, the loneliness and hurt he had dreamed of.
Wolffe turned his head to look at the wall, his eyes resting on the figure next to his own bed, guarding him and his Brothers silently. His General stood beside him, one hand slowly pressing on his forehead and Wolffe could feel calm and warmth enter him, lulling him back to sleep.
Rex:
“No, General. Please not again!” he pleaded with the Daredevil in front of him, tried to appease the impish grin and the glint in deep eyes.
Once again he tried to escape the harsh grip on his shoulders, tried to step away from the side of the cliff and from the whipping winds.
“Don’t worry Rex. I will not let you fall.”
But alas, he was too slow, his General already had his hand outstretched and Rex could feel an invisible force wrapping around him, like cable. It was restricting and felt like someone wound liquid fire all over him.
And then the cables yanked him up, straight up into the air, flying over the cliff side and wobbling around in nothing but air. He couldn’t move anymore, every twitch he wanted to make hurt him more. His eyes were focused on the floor, deep deep down beneath him. Heavy rocks were strewn about the rocky cliff side, making it look like the arse of a hedgehog.
Slightly beneath him he could hear General Skywalker huffing and puffing, deep breaths, somehow labored, leaving the Jedi.
“General? Can I come down again? Please General, let me down. Please!” His voice was not steady anymore, it was shaken and whinny.
A deep laugh sounded under him and the constricting cables of Force now felt like flimsy paper as he drifted farther and farther away from the cliff.
“Oh yes Trooper, down you go!” That was not his Generals voice! It was the voice of the Traitor Jedi! But before he could say something, cuss out loud or even demand, the Force flimsy around him ruptured and he went ass over teakettle, whirling around, hitting some of the stone outcrops, down down down.
A strangled scream left his lips as the rocks and earth came nearer and nearer until-
Rex exploded out of his bed, his feet hitting a cold metal floor. Instantly he could feel the soft tremors and humming of machines right beneath himself, giving him something to concentrate on, something to tell him that he would not go flying again.
His breaths were short and he had to fight his own body to not hunch over, kneel down and just feel the floor with as much of his body as he could.
He was alone in his Captains Cabin.
That wouldn’t do. Stealthily he made his way out of his Cabin, walked down a few corridors, opened a metal door and slipped inside. Soft snores greeted him, slight whimpers occasionally and his eyes drank in the form of his Brothers, deeply sleeping and alive. Still short of breath Rex made his way over to his old bed, still free from other occupation, and slid under the threadbare blanket. For the moment, he felt safer with his Brothers.
Far away from the Daredevil.
He had his hands quite full. Like always after a skirmish. The battlefield around him was quite lax in difference to some others he had been on. At least here, on this one, there were no dead Brothers which he would have to mourn. But, and that gave him pause, there were some flecks of red, droplets of fresh Blood, decorating the stony ground around the camp. He placed the three Blasters he had collected on a conveniently placed container, his eyes never leaving the droplets.
Slowly he followed the track, walking by some of his Brothers, walking by the medical tent (and he was very put out that the track didn’t end here!).
The track went further, leaving the small camp and then into a small forest of half-dead trees.
And something was glinting softly at the base of the first tree.
Cody bent down, exasperated as he saw what he had in his hand. A lightsaber, a well known lightsaber.
His General seemed to have lost it again!
“Someday I will put a cable on this thing! He loses it every damn time!” Cody grumbled some expletives under his breath and followed the trail again.
The droplets were getting bigger and fresher.
And then he found a small part of fabric, a crème colored part of his Generals clothing, slightly dipped in blood, right next to a boot.
He grabbed the boot too, his heart beating faster and heavier in his chest.
This was not right. His General lost something each fight, but until now, never his boots!
He found the other one just a few steps later under another tree. And there was the person he had looked for.
“General! You seem to have lost a few of your things again! Are you all right?”
His General stood with his back to Cody, slightly swaying in a wind that Cody couldn’t feel. His head was tipped back and slightly lent to the side so that the flesh of his throat was exposed.
Something was wrong with that…
“Cody…” The Generals voice was soft and husky, slightly raspy and it sent shivers down Codys spine.
“Cody… I seem to have lost something…”
“Yes, General. I have your lightsaber and your boots right…. here…”
At his words his General turned slowly and unsteady, one leg somehow seeming heavier than the other.
All of a sudden Codys hands felt like lead, his cargo tumbling from his hands, his eyes stared at the horrific sight in front of him. His Generals torso was littered with scratches and holes but there was one hole quite a bit bigger than any other. A fist sized hole was directly where his Generals heart should be, blood still dripping out of the wound and there was something dark and pulsating there.
“Cody…. Can I…. Can I have yOUrS?”
Cody shireked as his General came to him, his mouth wide open and his teeth going for -
Cody shrieked as he shot up, the small desk rattled as his thighs hit the Durasteel plate. His mug with caf drenched some Datapads he had been working on, shortcircuiting it.
His breath was fast and his heart beat like a jackhammer.
Before he could gather himself the door to his Office opened up, and a soft voice entered his ears, even over his rushing blood.
“Cody, I seem to have lost something. Can you help me look for it?”
Cody shrieked again (he would forever deny anything like that!) and jumped to the door, slamming it shut and locking it in one move.
