“Master?” The young Padawan cried out, noticing during a break in the onslaught of deadly mercenaries and pirates that her Master had disappeared, not even her unconscious figure in sight.
She took a long breath, which was hard to do past her already racing heartbeat and sudden shakiness. Being only seventeen standard years old, she was still young and inexperienced, both by human and Jedi standards. I can’t do this on my own!
A horrible grinding noise suddenly filled the empty air around her, and she looked to the crag where the men had retreated to see… a… beast? Climbing out of it.
“I’ve been wanting to try out my new toy,” The Trandoshan manning it announced, the metal fingers of the machine spreading out on the ground.
Taska watched in pale fear as the thing revealed its full height, a mech suit with giant metal limbs mimicking the movements of the man inside. She took a few quick deep breaths, trying to push the fear out of her and harness the calm of the Force. I will win.
She was not the one to rush forward, or to make the first blow. She was, however, the first one to duck out of the way, the first one to get in her opponent’s blind spot. This, understandably, was most frustrating to the bloodthirsty pirate.
Blasters shot at her from slots in the machine’s forearms, but she slid through all the defensive forms she knew without much trouble, her mind running calculations on their trajectory without her having to think about it. Even as a few brushed across her side, she grit her teeth against the burn and readjusted her stance.
When she spotted an opportunity, she vaulted into the air, flipping to land on the mech-suit's shoulder, where the arms would have a more difficult time reaching. They flailed in the air, trying to dislodge her as she sliced across the latch of the “cockpit”, allowing her to grab onto the Trandoshan and remove him from the suit. She threw him to the ground, hoping against hope that her master had disappeared because she was going to free the hostages.
Freed from control, the suit began to collapse from its contorted position. A large hand slapped Taska down to the ground, and she screamed as pain exploded across her back.
She tried to scramble backwards as she saw the droid falling toward her, rapidly seeing that it would crush her, but she wasn’t sure if she had the strength to move fast enough. Instead, she tried to slow its descent, keeping her eyes off of the Trandoshan now unconscious and just in the path of his weapon, as she dragged herself to a space she hoped would protect her.
“I… can’t…” she whispered frantically to herself, pulling herself once more before her grip on the mech-suit failed, and it fell to the ground with a mighty crack.
It was only when she tried to move again that she realized she had not been safe, and the suit had not only crushed its owner, but her leg as well.
The pain took time to make itself known, and it reached her at the same time her Master did. Shaak Ti suddenly burst into view, lightsaber deactivating as she ran.
“Master!” Taska screamed.
“Padawan,” she called back, sliding to a stop at her side.
“Master, why… why did you leave me?”
“I had to, Taska, I had to.” Those were the last words that Taska heard before the world began to fall black.
I had to. The thought danced on the back of Taska’s eyelids, and she wondered about it as she woke up.
Why did you have to?
There was probably another group she had to deal with. She might’ve found the hostages on the way and had to rescue them, she reasoned. That’s why she couldn’t help me. That’s why she didn’t come for me right away.
It was the best reason she could come up with, the one that fit with her vision of her wise and compassionate master always being ready and willing to rescue anyone in need. So when Shaak Ti appeared at her bedside, seemingly well rested and without a single scar like the ones she now had, all she did was close her eyes again.
* * *
“I have good news and bad news,” Master Che, the master of the Halls of Healing, told both Shaak Ti and her Padawan once Taska was able to stay awake. “The damage to your vertebral column is not permanent, and in fact, you barely suffered a fracture. You will regain full feeling and motion in your body after a rigorous program of rehabilitation.”
“So I’ll be grounded for a few weeks,” Taska frowned, although ready to accept the ruling.
“It may be longer than that,” the healer said, giving a gentle glare for being interrupted. “The damage to your spine may not be permanent, but the prognosis on your leg is worse. The bone has been completely crushed, and even if I were to find some way to reassemble the pieces, it would never be restored to its complete weight-bearing integrity.
“I think the best decision at this point would be to amputate it.”
I had to.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but they were almost immediately quelled by knowing that she couldn’t show attachment even to her own limb.
“If you think that’s what is best, Master,” she nodded, kepeing her eyes on the blanket between her fingers.
“I’ll schedule the procedure as soon as possible. Only the best healers will be helping you,” Master Che reassured her. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other patients to attend to.”
“You are brave,” Shaak Ti told Taska once the healer was gone. “You accepted the facts without hesitation. I am proud, my Padawan. This has certainly been a great Trial.”
Taska knew that she should've felt excited. A trial, complete! Knighthood cannot be far off. But she couldn't find it in herself to feel much more than empty.
She hoped the pride would come with time.
* * *
22 BBY
Ace looked over and noticed his General, for the second time that day, shifting uncomfortably on her feet, glaring at the ground. “Is everything alright, General?”
“Hm? Oh, yes, I’m fine, it’s just that, uh, I’ve lost a bit of weight recently, and now my foot isn’t fitting like it should, but I keep forgetting to readjust it,” she said casually, moving to sit on a nearby bench.
“Do you, uh, mean your… boot, sir?” Ace asked, confused.
“No, my foot, see?” She slid off her left boot and rolled up her pant leg to reveal her prosthetic leg attached at the base of her thigh, gleaming in the ambient light.
“Oh, I see,” he said, his eyes wide. “I didn’t, uh, know that--what?” He responded to a faint call from someone across the camp, though she was fairly sure the clone had called for a captain and not a commander. “Coming!”
Taska stifled her laugh until he was a respectable distance away. She glanced over her shoulder at A’den, who had come up behind her and also seemed to be quite amused. “You know, of all the things that I thought would put steel-stomach Ace off, it wasn’t that,” she laughed, tuning the upper brace.
* * *
“Did you, uh, did you know that the General was missing her leg?” Ace asked A’den as he slipped into the medbay later that night.
“Of course, I have access to all her previous medical records, since I’m essentially her primary care physician, and I conduct periodic physicals--”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ace asked plainly, clearly frustrated with his earlier reaction.
A’den laughed and shrugged. “I don’t know, it just never came up. You never asked, either.”
“Oh, yeah, I just go around asking everyone and their medics if they’re missing a limb,” Ace rolled his eyes. “It just would’ve been nice if I had known! I feel like I made such a fool of myself,” He buried his face in his hands. “I hope she didn’t think I was being mean.”
“She laughed about it, Ace,” A’den reassured him, still smiling. “Didn’t bother her one bit.”
---
A/N: Woo boy can I just say I love being critical of the Jedi Order? Like no offense but I feel like a lot of their traditions and rules, especially the Knight Trials, are way out of line with what they’re supposed to stand for? Also absolutely no shade on Shaak Ti, we love her in this household, but what’s not really presented outright in this chapter is that the council most likely gave her instructions to place her Padawan in a situation of extreme danger so that she could pass one of her great trials. This ends up covering the trials of Courage, Flesh, and Skill.