STAR WARS: Gray Jedi

Chapter 27

Fluorescent lights flew above Destin's vision. His eyelids opened and closed as he slipped in and out of consciousness. He felt as if he was drifting, suspended in mid air, floating through what seemed a dim-lit tunnel. He laid, flat on his back as he was being pulled deeper and deeper into the void. He heard a voice calling out to him.

"Destin! Destin! Stay with us!"

He strained to keep his eyes open, but his mind was foggy, distant. He turned his head to his left and could barely make the silhouette of someone standing beside him. The figure looked at him, trying to reach him with her voice.

"Destin! "Destin!"

He recognized that voice. He tried to speak, but his words were strained and he felt so weak he could barley get a sound out. 

"Nee...Neema..." he gasped. 

Then, blackness once again. He heard Bahda's words echo in his mind once more. 

'You can help them. You can help all of them...There is only the Force...Trust in it.' 

Then, far off in the darkness, he saw Solara - his lost sister. 

She cried out to him, "Destin!"

________________________________________________________________________________

Destin woke violently. His chest expanded and contracted as he panted heavily. He felt a cold sweat dripping from his forehead. He was confused, lost. He looked around and found himself in a large room, lined with rows of beds on each side, each equipped with various medical scanners and the occasional medical droid flying by. 

"Are you ok?"

Destin turned his head. To his left was a woman standing beside him with a concerned look on her face. She wore a stethoscope around her shoulders and held a datapad in her hand.

"How are you feeling?" the woman asked.

Destin reached for his forehead with his hand. 

"My head..." he said, "...it hurts. I feel...fuzzy."

"That'll be the meds," said the woman. "Plus, you've been dehydrated for quite some time. Try to take it easy." She placed her hand on his shoulders. "Here." 

She adjusted the pillows against the head of Destin's bed and helped lift him upright so that he was sitting. Just then, another voice came from the end of the clinic to his right.

"Destin!"

He turned and saw Neema running towards him. She stopped at the edge of his bed.

"Neema..." Destin said.

"How you feeling?" Neema asked him.

"He's still a little loopy," the woman interjected, "He just woke up."

Neema smiled at him.

"I'll go and get you some food," the woman said as she left.

Neema thanked her. She then turned to Destin and walked around the bed, sitting on a small stool beside it.

 "It's good to see you awake, Destin," she said.

Destin adjusted himself. "What happened? Where are we?" he asked.

"We're on the planet D'Qar. Resistance HQ. You passed out back on Tormir after dealing with Rovan. Not surprising after what you pulled off back there. But we made it out, thanks to you," Neema smiled.

Just then, Destin's memory kicked in.

 "Neema. The holocron!" he said.

"Don't worry," she replied, placing a hand on his arm to calm him. "The information is safe. I downloaded it's files onto my communicator before Mass took it away. By the stars, how'd I love to see his face when he discovers those files are missing."

"Where are the files now?" Destin asked.

"Our intelligence analysts are decrypting it as we speak," she said. Then, a sullen look came over Neema's face.

"What is it?" asked Destin.

"Something's happened." She hesitated. "The Hosnian system...Hosnian Prime - the capital of The New Republic, it's..."

Destin didn't need her to finish. He knew. It was what he felt back on Tormir.

"It's gone...isn't it?" Destin finished. 

"Completely obliterated...there's nothing left."

Destin remembered. "Those red streaks I saw across the sky back on Tormir...," he said, "The First Order, they..."

"Made their play," another voice chimed in.

Both Neema and Destin turned their heads. Coming from the other end of the room toward them was a different woman, this one dressed in a sage-colored military jumpsuit.

Neema stood. "Destin, this is my superior officer, Commander Raquena Sloan. She's the one who recruited me when I defected to the Resistance. Commander, this is Destin Starfall."

"Pleasure to meet you," Sloan said.

"Likewise," Destin replied. He would've handed out his hand to shake Sloan's, but he still felt so weak.

"I can't believe it," Sloan remarked. "After all this time, the Jedi are still kicking around, huh? There wouldn't happen to be more of you hiding out there in the galaxy, would there?"

"Not that I know of." Destin answered, reluctantly. 

He truly didn't know if there were any Jedi left in the galaxy. Besides himself, his master Bahda Han, and the legendary Luke Skywalker, he had always assumed the Jedi were an endangered species. There were rumors that Master Skywalker was training new Jedi apprentices, but that had been some time ago.

"Well, a girl can only hope, I guess." Sloan said. She put her hands on her hips. "Regardless, I hope we can count you as our ally."

"You can," Destin assured her.

"Happy to hear it. Neema told me what you've done for the Resistance. She also told me you're looking for a sister, yes?"

Destin nodded his head.

"Well," Sloan continued, "I believe the information you delivered to us can help with that. Help the both of us. But, there are some things we need to discuss first." She looked to Neema. "Neema, why don't you bring our young Jedi friend here over to the intelligence room when he's ready."

"I will," Neema replied.

"Good," Sloan turned to Destin one last time. "Brush the dirt off your shoulders, Destin. Hate to say it, but the real fight is soon to come, and we're gonna need all the help we can get." And with a nod of her head and smile, Sloan exited the infirmary.

Destin turned to Neema and saw her face sullen. He suddenly became aware of what might be on her mind. 

"Destin..." she began. "Listen...what happened back on Tormir...about your family and all, I -"

"You don't have to apologize for anything," Destin interjected. 

He smiled at Neema, and she smiled back at him. She nodded her head, letting him know she understood, and was grateful.

"Well then," she said, "welcome to the Resistance, Destin."