Author's Games: Star Wars

Task Five: Jenaara

I have to apologize on this one - the formatting didn't work out and all the italics were lost. It's entirely wattpad's fault, but CCWinters had them in there. 

There were only four of them left.

As Jenaara was dragged out of a transport and towards whatever nightmare the Emperor had prepared for them, she looked at her companions. A female slaver whose name she had yet to learn, holding a small child's hand. Mayek, the male trader, his two children limping by his side. Yuurei, the Sith, looking at the ground with deadened eyes. Kanan, who stared straight ahead with a clenched jaw. Each of them had been broken.

The stormtroopers led them into another arena. As they entered, the jeers of the crowd grew louder, screaming for the death of the rebels. Jenaara closed her eyes. They're right, she thought. I deserve to die.

At once, her father's face filled her mind. It wasn't alive and smiling like she had known him for most of her life, but covered in blood with empty eyes staring at nothing. The worst part was that she knew it had been her who did that to him.

They were led into the center of the arena where ten machines were set up. Jenaara had never seen anything like them before. A flickering red shield of light stretched between two metal rods, which were stuck into the ground. A droid stood nearby holding spear an inch away from the red light. Electricity flickered at the ends of it.

Jenaara looked at the droid again and did a double take. It was N-3, but not as she had known him. This version of her protocol droid was stiffer. His electronic eyes were somehow less bright. The Imperial seal was painted on his chest. They reprogrammed him, Jenaara thought. She expected herself to feel angry about this, but all she felt was an eerie numbness.

The same numbness stayed with her as she watched the slaver and the trader's execution. She felt no revulsion as their heads rolled into the sand. Even as their children were killed brutally, there was no feeling inside her. She looked over at Kanan and saw that he was feeling the exact opposite way. His hands were shaking and his eyes were wide with horror.

One of the droids walked slowly over to his machine. It stretched out a metal hand to activate it.

Kanan suddenly screamed. The Force exploded out from him. The moment it touched her, Jenaara could feel it. It was warm and pleasant, like sunlight after a rain shower. It called to her, and something deep inside her answered. In that moment, she knew that the Emperor, liar that he was, had been telling the truth when he had told her she had the Force in her. She could feel it, and she basked in its power. Her energy joined Kanan's, causing the droids around her to be thrown backward.

More energy joined theirs, but this had a darker feel to it. Jenaara looked over at Yuurei and saw that he too was using the Force to escape. Both him and Kanan had broken free of their cuffs.

In that moment, all the pain came crashing back into Jenaara's system, driving the numbness away. You killed your father, the voices in her mind hissed. You don't deserve to be freed. You deserve to die. You killed him!

Her hands dropped out of the cuffs that had bound them. Kanan had freed her. He spoke to her, but she could barely hear him over the voices in her head. "We need to go, Jenaara."

She shook her head, the emotions threatening to consume her. "I don't deserve to be free," she whispered.

Kanan placed a hand on her shoulder, comforting her like a father. "I do too. In some way, we all do. But Adaara would have wanted me to live. She gave her life to give me freedom. I need to honor that sacrifice, and so do you. Think of your brother's sacrifice."