BATTLE SCARS [✓]

× Chapter Thirty Eight: Pest Control ×

A Few Months Later

"So, what's the mission, Mal?" Wolffe asked while Mal looked outside the gunship, watching as it flew past some desert canyons. "Well, Master Windu and his men need medical supplies on Dantooine. And we'll be taking a ship to the medical station near Ord Cestus."

"Doesn't seem complicated." Wolffe said as Mal nodded. "Exactly. That's why it's just you and me and not the whole Wolfpack." Mal said with a giggle before elbowing Wolffe in his ribs. Wolffe chuckled softly and shook his head. The gunship landed and the two walked off just in time to see Ahsoka and another Padawan approaching the medical frigate in front of them.

"Woah..that's huge.." Mal said while looking at the ship with wide eyes. "You're telling me.." Wolffe replied, also looking at the ship with wide eyes.

"Mal! Wolffe!" They both broke their trances and took their attention to Ahsoka and the other Padawan walking towards them. "Hey 'Soka! And you must be Barriss Offee." Mal greeted while holding out her hand. The Padawan, Barriss, looked at it for a moment before she took the hand and shook it ever so slightly.

"A pleasure to meet you, Maleshei."

"You too, Barriss. Well, we better get going before they leave us behind." Mal reminded, pointing to the clones that were heading onto the ship. "Yep, let's go." Ahsoka and Barriss walked off, Mal sighing as she looked at the ship. "We got this. What could go wrong?"

"Well, there is pirates, and scavengers, and Separatists, and-"

"Okay, you're not helping, Wolffe." Mal said while resting her hands on her hips and glaring up at him playfully. Wolffe shrugged, Mal punching his arm lightly before she walked away. "Come on! Before they leave us, slow poke!"
-

"Hi, Master." Mal greeted while settling herself down on the small bed in her quarters, a small hologram image of Plo Koon shone from her transmitter on the other end of the bed. : Hello, Maleshei. How goes the mission? :

"Eh..It could be worse. Nothing's going on right now. We got about several more parsecs to go before we reach the medical station. So, I'll be seeing you soon." Mal informed while fiddling with her hands.

: You see distressed, my student. What's on your mind? : Plo Koon asked while Mal looked down at her hands, slowly raising them and unscrewing the restraints on her mask, removing it painfully slow and resting it in her lap. "Master, my..visions..have been getting worse. I don't just see Ahsoka anymore. I see people I've never met that I will in the future, I see Rex and Wolffe and...I need help. Help to control this. I fear if I don't, it will drive me to do something horrible."

: Of course, I will help. But you must ask yourself, if my Master was gone, who could I turn to? Who will help me when my teacher cannot? : That was Mal's wake-up call. Master Plo was right. It had been a few months since he saw the scar. She didn't want him to, she didn't want anyone to know. But because the 501st medic, Kix, had to help her, she was given no choice.

He took the notice of her scar when she didn't want him to, and he accepted it. Mal thought about it a lot. What would happen of Ahsoka saw the scar? Or Anakin or Obi-Wan? Or even Rex or Wolffe or even the Wolfpack? What would they think? Would they still rely on her as much of a monster as she chose to believe she was.

Might come as a shock, but Mal thought about how since then, they were willing to do anything to protect her, even when she felt it wasn't necessary or she was suppose to protect them, not vice versa.

Everyday, she thinks back to the small conversation Kix and herself had when she recovered from the Blue Shadow virus:

"No! Nobody was suppose to know! Nobody was suppose to see to find out! Please, don't..don't look at me! Not like this!"

"Why..?"

"Because this scar is what always ruins my chances of at least having friends! This scar is what tears everyone away from me! It happened with everyone else! And it's going to be the same with them!"

"You don't know that."

"But I do! I do because it's happened my entire life!"

"Then, General Plo won't have asked for you to be his Padawan. Listen, kid, I'm a medic. I've seen worse scars than you've got. This is nothing compared to what I saw. If you're that worried about someone judging you for your scar, then move on to somebody else. You can best believe the people around you are the best ones you got. Remember that."

And she does. She remembers it all.

Out of her train of thought, she heard a knock on her door and quickly screwed the mask back on her face. "Um, thank you, Master. I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

: I will be here. May the Force be with you. : He disappeared, Mal smiling under her mask before approaching her door. It slid open and Wolffe quickly rushed in, his left arm slightly pushing her back and his blaster in his right.

"Woah, Wolffe! What's-"

"Shh!" Wolffe interrupted, pushing a finger to his lips before he stared at the door, his blaster held high. Mal heard a few rushing footsteps go past her door and then quickly depart before Wolffe had let out a breath.

"Wolffe, what's going on?!" Mal questioned softly while Wolffe placed his blaster back in it's holster. "Something happened to the men, Mal. They tried to kill Commander Tano and Commander Offee. One of them was Trap."

"What?! But Trap could never hurt a fly!" Mal exclaimed in disbelief as Wolffe sighed. "I know. But somehow it got to the other men and now, they're hunting us down. Fast."

"Well, what do we do?" She asked while looking to the door then back at Wolffe. "We have to fight our way through. We have to get to the cockpit and see if the pilots are still alive."

"They might still be alive. But still, even if we had to fight through, how can we do it without killing them?!"

"We just knock them unconscious." Wolffe suggested before Mal grabbed her transmitter. "I'm going to need this in case my Master contacts me."

"Alright, let's hurry before we reach the station."