Life Of War

Chapter 58

Upon our arrival to the location Obi Wan had sent us we found Hardeen standing over the pair of bounty hunters with a blaster aimed at them both.

"Please! Do not kill Moralo Eval!" Eval begged for his life as Windu and Skywalker stepped over, aiming their lightsabers to the bounty hunters.

"Take him and Bane into custody. And make sure the Chancellor is returned safely to the palace." Mace ordered us. "You did a good job, Obi-Wan." He stated as Anakin walked off with Eval and a clone took away Bane.

"Kenobi! I should have known. Something smelled wrong about you from the start." Bane claimed with anger towards the Jedi.

"Yes, well, spending so much time with you was no reward either." Kenobi responded back sassily, causing me to let out a laugh, seeing as my master hasn't changed.

"Reward! I'll give you a reward, when I plug you full of laser bolts!" Cad Bane snapped.

"Such a pleasant fellow. I hope this was all worth it." Obi Wan commented.

"We saved the Chancellor. That's the important thing." Mace reminded us all.

~~~

"Once again, you have all distinguished yourselves in the eyes of the Republic. The people of Naboo are in your debt." Padmé spoke to us as we prepared to leave Naboo and return to Coruscant.

"It's all part of the job, My Lady." Anakin told her as a faint smile formed on her face, me pretending to ignore the obvious couple.

"I'm not sure I agree with your orders to send the rest of the security detail back to Coruscant." Mace told Palpatine as they walked off.

"Now that the threat has passed, I think Anakin is all the security I need." The old man responded.

"You look terrible." Anakin told Obi Wan simply, our former master still wearing his disguise.

"Being a criminal's not easy work."

"If I'd known what was going on, I could've helped you. Too bad the Council didn't trust me." Anakin said with a slight pout.

"Anakin, it was my decision to keep the truth from you. I knew if you were convinced I was dead, Dooku would believe it as well." Obi Wan revealed the truth.

"Your decision?" Anakin asked with betrayal, me looking up in shock as well.

"Look, I know I did some questionable things, but I did what I had to do. I hope you can understand that."

"You lied to me! How many other lies have I been told by the Council? And how do you know that you even have the whole truth?" Anakin snapped before storming off.

"You know he means well" I tried to comfort Kenobi.

"And you are not upset about all of this?"

"We saved the chancellor and you are still alive, that's all that matters." I smiled up at him with a simple nod.

"I see I have taught you well" Kenobi shared the smile.

~~~

"Man down!"

"Move!"

"Let's go!"

"Need an evacuation?" Anakin rushed over by my side to help deflect the intense amount of blaster bolts. Gunships had landed in behind us as my men and me were rescued from the battle that we never would have won.

"Thanks for the help, Anakin" I smiled to him before continuing the fight, protecting my men and giving them time to make their escape.

"Get yourself on a gunship" he ordered the retreat.

"Not until all of my men are safe" I argued back.

"Fine, but I better see you at the end of this" he scolded, running off to gather more clones onto the shuttle. I had continued to deflect blaster bolts, losing my touch as they became too much and my body grew tired from the never ending battle.

"General, we have to go!" Rex shouted out, running to my side and shooting back at the droids to help me out.

"Not yet"

"We don't have time!"

"I'm not leaving one man behind!" I glared at him as he hid behind the rubble, taking a break from shooting over at the enemy. Going back to deflecting bolts I started to ignore the clone Captain until he had pulled be down with him.

"Lyra, we have to go now" he urged again, looking at me through his helmet.

"No" I tried to stand again, but he pulled me back down before I could get too far.

"I understand that, but they are my brothers and we were made to die" he tells me with a stern tone.

"You think you were born to die?" His words had caught me off guard. "Everyone of you soldiers is an important life and I refuse to let any one of you die without a fight!" I went off on a sudden rant. Standing up one last time Rex had grown frustrated with my stubbornness. He stood to his feet, throwing me over his shoulder in one swift movement.

"I'm sorry" he sighed, running me back onto the shuttle and leaving some troopers behind. I hit him repeatedly on the back and struggled against his hold until he had set me down on the floor of the shuttle while it took off towards the cruiser above. "Ow, Kriff you are strong" he commented, wincing as I tried to hit his chest and push him back away from me with anger controlling me. He grabbed my wrists to stop me and we both stared at each other, breathing heavy from the battle moments ago. Everyone else on the shuttle paused to see what would happen next, watching intently.

"Back to work!" Anakin ordered out to give us a moment alone.

"I'm sorry, Lyra, I really am, but I can't have you die trying to protect a bunch of men who are prepared to die in battle" he sat opposite me with a huff, releasing my hands when he knew I wouldn't hit him anymore. I refused to look him in the eye, keeping my head down. "Please look at me" I looked up to show him the tears forming in my eyes.

"My Master before Kenobi, Master Nadir, she sacrificed herself so that me and the rest of our men could escape. Ever since then I promised to never leave anyone behind"

"Oh, Lyra" he pulled me in for a hug which caught me off guard. I let out a choked sob as he held me close, rubbing circles on my back to comfort me through the memories that plagued my mind. We stayed like that for a few minutes until Anakin cut in.

"Uh, I hate to break this up, but we just arrived on the cruiser" Anakin spoke up after clearing his throat, both of us pulling apart. "Rex, I need you to give me a head count of the men. Lyra, we have to brief the council on your mission" he watched me carefully as I pulled myself to my feet, wiping away the last remains of my tears and taking in a deep breath as I put on a stern face, acting as though nothing had happened.

I walked out of the shuttle, starting towards the bridge as Anakin and Rex shared a look of worry for me.

"I'll keep an eye on her" Anakin promised his captain, jogging to catch up with me.

.....................................................

Question of the day: would you sacrifice yourself to save a bunch of clones?