The Wolf Pack

Chapter 44

Obi-Wan Kenobi was not one to despair easily, if anything he found inconveniences to be the Force's way to keep his life interesting. Trust the Force to make this little inconvenience a crash landing that would take out almost the entire crew of the gunner he was on. The only survivors had been himself and a clone on his first deployment. A shiny he believed clones called them. Rather fitting and quite amusing.

Either way, this was a pinch he found himself in at the moment: he was sure he had broken a few ribs, and a blow to the head had made sure he wouldn't be seeing straight for quite a while. He was certain both his commander and his Padawan were aware he had gone down, but he was less concerned about Cody's composure that Kriari's. The teen had a knack for letting her feelings get the best of her, and he wasn't quite sure how losing her master would settle with her.

Apparently, his concerns had been in vain, because not long before he regained consciousness, did he feel three Force signatures making their way across the mayhem that was the battlefield and towards his position. He sighed, he should have known better than to expect Cody to continue the assault and leave them there, he was too loyal for that. Obi-Wan guessed he couldn't have expected any less from the man who had time and time again recovered his lightsaber in the midst of battle or saved his stranded self on some rock in the middle of a pursuit.

And he should have expected the same from his own Padawan.

Obi-Wan almost wanted to laugh when the blast doors were forced open, but his throbbing side would not let him. He wanted to sigh in exasperation too, but fondness won the battle as he smiled up to his Padawan. Kriari was standing with her back to them while Waxer and Boil rescued both him and his injured companion.

"By the Force, am I glad to see you three," he said as his troopers hauled him up to his feet.

"By the way, have you lost your lightsaber already, my young apprentice?"

Kriari, bless her, laughed as she held the blaster close to her and covered her companions from enemy fire.

"Not at all, Master. I found myself in need of a lesson, so I gave it to Commander Cody."

Obi-Wan was quite puzzled by the answer but decided getting out of there was far more pressing than asking her about it. Besides, his ribs were making an ordeal of breathing and he didn't want them to continue to poke at his lungs if he could help it. Internal bleeding and organ damage was not something he wanted to suffer from at the moment, or ever for that matter.

Cannonfire echoed around them and blasts of plasma flew about, barely missing all three of them. The Jedi Master had not been fond of the planet before the very first assault, and he was even more inclined to dislike the planet in his current circumstances. Geonosis had been clearly expecting them, and it was clear to him it would not be a planet easily taken.

But even in the midst of such chaos, Obi-Wan noticed there was an order to the madness, and even when he felt lost and adrift in a raging sea, Kriari's Force signature felt almost at peace, tranquill, like a pond undisturbed by a storm. His apprentice navigated the violence and terror of the battlefield like he had been born to it, like using the Force to remain untouched by it was second nature. But there was not an ounce of malice, not a drop of resentment, just acceptance for what was, and concentration on the task at hand.

Kriari was shaping up to be a brilliant Jedi.

...

ShitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitSHIT

Kriari was NOT calm, she definitely was not in her element and she most definitely did not appreciate the lack of her lightsaber. She was glad for plastoid armor and she now had a new appreciation for the clone's sheer guts. Being this exposed was not fun, and it took both courage and a special brand of crazy to even get to enjoy this.

"Step lively, Commander! Holding the line isn't as easy as it looks!" Yelled one of the troopers stationed at the cannon when they approached the square.

"I'm starting to realize why you guys are all a little off in the head! I miss my lightsaber!" She yelled back as she turned to cover both her master and her comrade's retreat into the square.

"Dodging blaster fire is almost a sport to us clones, kid. Welcome to a day in the life of a proud member of the Republic's clone army!" He cackled as the force of the cannon shook his body back and forth.

"You guys don't get paid enough for this!" She answered as she took aim once again.

She hadn't missed a single shot yet.

"WE DON'T GET PAID AT ALL" Answered Waxer from behind her as he set his General on the floor for a medic to examine. "Maybe you could run that by your council, aye?"

"Last time I tried I got suspended for months! I need a different strategy." She shot back, finally turning around to look at her master with a sly smile, "Maybe we should ask our General for guidance."

Obi-Wan sighed both with fondness and exasperation.

"First Qi Gon, then Anakin, now you, Kriari? When am I going to get a break from all of you rule breaking enthusiasts?"

He had meant it as a light joke, but it seemed to have the opposite effect on his apprentice. Kriari looked solemn, more than he had ever seen her so. It weighed heavily on her, the fact that the clones weren't free men, he realized. It pained him as well, but he had learned to look past the means in order to accomplish the goal. And it wasn't like the Order could admit they hadn't known about the clones until there was an urgent need for them.

He understood her reluctance to accept a system that went so clearly against everything they were supposed to stand for. He understood her hunger for justice, for equality in the name of her comrades, her friends. He had those very same reservations, but he was bound by the structure and the order in the institution he was a part of. He also believed firmly that the Council had their best interests in mind only, an opinion Kriari did not seem to share.

"Well, given the situation we find ourselves in, this might just be the day, Master," said Kriari as she watched another clone be felled by enemy fire. "Is it not funny how we Jedi refuse to acknowledge the clones assentient human beings deserving of rights and now, we are about to meet our ends right by their side? Death has a way of humbling all living beings, does it not?"

She smiled sadly at the men around her, but the fondness in her eyes needed no words in order to be conveyed. There was no other place she would rather be in the end other than by the side of the men who had earned her loyalty, compassion and even love.

"It comes for all of us in the end."