reborn § cal kestis

13

Over and over again. She checked multiple times for a pulse, a heartbeat, anything. But, to her dismay, found nothing.

The entire battlefield was silent. Really, the Rebels should have been celebrating their win, but their losses were too great for it to be considered a success.

Tears rolled down Sadira's cheeks. At some point, Merrin, Aari and a few other rebels joined her. They took one look at Cal's lifeless body, and immediately knew what was going on.

Merrin knelt down beside her. "He is dead?" Sadira nodded, sniffling. "Have you checked?"

"Yeah," Sadira whimpered, her voice cracking. "A lot."

"Stand back." Sadira couldn't find the strength in her to fight against Merrin. Instead, she did as she was told.

Merrin hovered her hands above Cal. The same green cloud from before enveloped his body, lifting it from the ground. Merrin began to walk back to the headquarters, and Cal's body—as well as the rest of the group—followed after her. Sadira lifted a downcast BD-1 onto her back, then marched forward.

When they arrived at the base, the flames had been extinguished. A lot of damage had been done, but it was fixable. The majority of the rebels (which had been cut down to only half of the original amount) stood outside, recovering from the battle. A water bottle and food was passed around.

Cere stood as they approached, and Greez followed after her. "No," she muttered, then ran towards them. Merrin lowered Cal's body to the ground. "Cal, no. He's not dead, is he?"

She looked to Sadira, who couldn't find the strength within her to reply. No one could.

"No, it's not over." Cere snapped her fingers and pointed towards the crowd that had gathered around them. "Take him to the medcenter. Check his vitals. I'm sure there's something we can do."

Aari stepped forward. "Cere, our medcenter is full of injured rebels. We just don't have the people or the technology to accommodate a dead man."

"He's not dead."

"He's as good as."

Cere scowled. "What are you fighting for?"

"Cere, I-"

"What are you fighting for?" she repeated.

Aari shifted uncomfortably. "For freedom, peace, and justice."

"That's everything the Jedi stood for," Cere argued. As long as there was a small chance that Cal could still be saved, she wanted to fight for him. "Cal is a Jedi. One of the only remaining. One of the only that is willing to help. Now, I may have had my issues with the force in the past, but I know of it's importance to everyone. The force is what is going to give us a fighting chance if the Empire decide to return. He is what's going to give us a fighting chance."

"So you're saying that he's more important than us just because he's a Jedi," someone from the back of the throng yelled. A few hums of agreement could be heard.

"Of course not," Cere said. "But I believe that he is strong, and that he is not dead. If we have a chance to save him, we should. That is justice, and that is what you fight for, correct?" The crowd grew silent. They had mostly been swayed by Cere's argument, but didn't want to admit it.

"So? Are we going to stop discussing it and help him out or what?" Greez piped up. There was a beat, before a few rebels lifted him onto a stretcher and carried him towards the medcenter. Cere and Greez marched off with them, then the crowd dispersed. Ensuring that he stayed close to Cal, BD-1 hopped off Sadira's back and followed behind.

Merrin turned to Sadira. Her face was blank, but her eyes showed great concern. "Do you really think that Cal is dead?"

Sadira shrugged. "I don't know. I might have misjudged it."

"I hope that he is alright."

"Me too."

There was a pause. Then, Merrin lunged towards Sadira and wrapped her arms around her. The sudden embrace caught her off guard, but she returned the hug gratefully. Sadira was taller than average, meaning that Merrin was quite a bit shorter than her. It made the action awkward, but meaningful nevertheless.

"I am glad you have stayed with us," Merrin said, smiling faintly. Then she turned and walked away.

Sadira eyed the battlefield. It was in a much worse position than it had been before. Broken ships, engulfed in black smoke, sat like gravestones on the beaten, muddy ground. The smoke mixed with the fog to create an almost opaque wall of air. Here and there, groups of survivors were identifying and carrying away the dead. The Empire may not have won the battle, but it had gained a success.

In the corner of her eye, Aari appeared. She scanned the land with the same glassy eyes as Sadira did. "All of our hard work," she said, her voice hoarse. "Gone. Just like that."

It took Sadira a while to register what she was talking about, and then the pin dropped. She looked to her feet, and saw one of the rebel's lotus flowers, burned to a crisp. The same applied to the majority of the greenery that had been planted. All were wilted, charred or piles of ash. Like the rebels, battle had damaged them.

"What will you do? I mean, your headquarters are ruined, and the environment is unsalvageable."

Aari shrugged. "We can always rebuild and replant things."

"Surely, it'd just be easier to relocate. The Empire now knows your location."

"No, we're not giving up," Aari countered. "Potential new recruits will hear of this, and will join us." She gestured to the space around them. "We beat them with just this. Imagine what we could do if we kept building."

Sadira smiled sadly. "How do you just...believe so much?"

"You have to allow yourself to. If you stay negative, things will never change. Hope is a powerful thing."

"Too powerful, sometimes. Dangerous, even."

"Perhaps," she considered. "But it's all we know, and it's enough."

Tears welled up in Sadira's eyes again. Maybe Aari is right, she thought. I just have to let myself believe.

"Hey, guys?" Aari and Sadira looked behind them to see Greez. He seemed more nervous than ever before, bouncing on the balls of his feet and waving all four of his arms frantically. "Come to the medcenter."

Fear sunk into Sadira's bones. She worried what this could possibly be about. "What? Why?"

"It's Cal."