This was their first day on the job. Wilzak the Rodian was so excited. He had been hired on by the Coruscant Police Station #1138 as an officer. And not only that, but after the past few months, he was promoted to the SAR team, which meant that he was moved to a special teams unit. It meant that he replaced his Ishi Tib partner with a dog. The K9 unit. And he was being deployed this day because of the attacks that were on going. Apparently there was a duracrete accident that caused a family speeder to be crushed over at the McYodas on the corner of Shield Boulevard and Fourth. The McYodas was in a unique area, but really, the franchisee saw it as a way to make money. That Credit Menu was a cash cow especially for the imported alien species that were there working on the shield equipment. Yeah, equipment, Wilzak wasn’t quite sure what it all entailed, he was in law enforcement, not engineering.
But this story wasn’t about Wilzak, oh no. This was about the dog, Jaeger. Jaeger was from a long line of police dogs and knew exactly what was going on. He hopped into the kennel in the speeder with the unbridled joy of a work dog doing what it was bred for. A quick pat from Wilzak and Jaeger laid down in the back. He was a quiet rider but he knew when the sirens were on they were going to work. And that was all it took to make him excited. The speeder was heading towards the McYoda’s and when the sirens came on, the dog, Jaeger, was whining to get out. He wanted to help.
When the speeder finally came to a stop, he was pacing in his kennel, and then Wilzak opened the door and put the leash on.
YAY!
Time to work. Jaeger waited obediently at Wilzak’s side as he was walked around the site. There was a lot going on, a lot of noise, people clamoring, someone with a selfie-stick (silly Neimodians that was Wilzak’s thought, not Jaeger’s) and smells. Oh, the smells! Food, that iron-smell of blood, that sweet scent of antifreeze leaking. And that chemical smell of flame retardant sprays. Jaeger knew that meant. There wouldn’t be a chance of fire here. No. That was good.
People would be safe. Jaeger looked up at Wilzak who nodded and rubbed the dog’s neck. “Ready boy? Go!” And he unhooked the lease. Jaeger went to work. Pacing the lot, the dog was excited, the smells, the commotion, but he knew what he needed to do. Find people in need. And not blow them up, for funsies. No, Jaeger was here to protect and serve. There was nothing that could be done for the man in the speeder, but the dog did walk over and laid down whining to get Wilzak’s attention. There was only one body in the speeder. But a lot of food. And that one meal, that had a second toy in it. Jaeger had no idea that this man had a family that was now in tears, the mother and oldest son consoling one another while the other four children slept soundly.
The other four would wake up and be given the news. They would cry, they would skip school, the second child, Pell, would reconsider everything, the twins, they’d help one another out, but who knew about Timmy? He was the youngest of the five, and the one closest to Dave. It would be the most hard on him. He was going to have trouble adjusting.
But Jonny, the oldest, he was going to work through. He was going to seek revenge. That child, he was going to grow up to hate the Rebel Alliance, and the Sith, and everyone and their war. All that was going to matter to that child was revenge. Revenge against the pilot who was responsible for disrupting his life, who ruined his family, who murdered his father, all for what? So they could be a hero and wave the Rogue Squadron flag on a government that did not make life that terrible for the people under their umbrella?
Right, real hero. All the heroes that Jonny knew now, they were dead. His father was dead. That was the real hero. The man who worked long hours to support his wife and five children. That was a hero. Not some hot-shot ace. That was just a target now. Jonny would fall in with the right and wrong crowd. Learn to shoot a gun, learn to street fight, learn to pilot, and learn how to find the right people to find him who he was after. Naiveté destroyed.
Family broken.
Who was going to watch Janet when Jonny left? Would anyone step up? The first and second children would be out, they would be on their own, with the twins needing to watch their mother and Timmy.
These were not the thoughts of Jaeger, though. Jaeger was waiting, he wanted Wilzak to acknowledge the body and do what he could. It was sad. The dog enjoyed it when he could save people. Not be here for the aftermath. It was his sole purpose in this life, to save people, to rescue them and they would be so excited, so fething thankful to see Jaeger, and he would be petted and called ‘good boy’ and he would bring people to save them.
And they would go home, or they would go to the hospital, but he would see them again, and that was what mattered. The man in the speeder? No one would see him again.
Wilzak did come and Jaeger could feel his sadness, Jaeger was sad as well, but he was still called ‘good boy’ and given a pat. From there, Jaeger was instructed to keep searching and the dog made his way around the wreckage. He could hear noises. But one noise was different. He didn’t identify the language, as dogs were not always the best at understanding the difference between basic and Huttese, though he did receive most of his orders in Rodese, this was still a word he recognized. It came out to the same meaning.
“Help!”
Jaeger perked up and he could hear Wilzak clap and follow. The dog made his way through the wreckage. The building was partly destroyed, but there were people inside, and the smells of a kitchen filled his nose, but Jaeger understood he had a job. Finding the two bodies, two living bodies, they called for the dog, wanting help, knowing what the dog was doing. He gave a quick bark then another one. He had found people!
Living people!
This attack didn’t only have a sad ending. Jaeger lay down next to the two beings, both Humans, and let them pet him. He was trying to comfort them, he could smell that iron-scent, blood. He didn’t realize that one would have to have a leg amputated, and the other would walk with a very serious limp, and have burn scars on half their face, all he knew was they were alive. And he had found them.
Wilzak had approached and called for help. Droids would show up to extract the people from the wreckage. They would be safe. And the story about them?
Well, I’ll tell you.
The one with the leg amputation pending was a student at the University of Coruscant. She was majoring in humanities, and how the One Sith were bringing their own unique brand of justice and aid to the galaxy. A unified galaxy would help overall, as opposed to governments bickering, and with the other nations under an alliance with the One Sith or eradicated by the One Sith, the galaxy would find peace. People, given a few generations wouldn’t realize that there was anything worse or better, they would just know not to ignore the Dark Lord’s curfews. They would behave, and all would be good.
The other, was a male. He and his girlfriend had recently bought a house and were planning on getting married, but the burns and the limp, who knew where that would go. Their story was still unwritten.
Unlike the story of Dave’s children.
But more on them later. Because Jaeger’s story was not finished. Not yet.
Jaeger would be making it to the funeral for Dave. Wilzak always took Jaeger to the funerals of the people he couldn’t help. And that was a good feeling. Well, not for the funeral, but because Jaeger could help the family a little bit. He could be there. He would get the tears, and the hugs, and he would be there to do what dogs did: comfort.
For now, he had one last mission to do. Jaeger needed to make sure that Wilzak was okay. Because Jaeger could hear it, the building was breaking. Duracrete was starting to shift. Barking and tugging at Wilzak’s shirt, he was trying to move his partner away from the building, but Wilzak didn’t understand Jaeger’s idea and moved to slow. The crete was falling. And it was falling ON Wilzak. Barking in a clearly panicked mind, Jaeger was making a scene, people were starting to arrive and they were pulling Wilzak’s body out.
Jaeger ran to his partner’s side as the medics began checking the body. Jaeger didn’t understand the medical terms of ‘pulse’ and ‘no’ and not the order they were in. He was licking the Rodian’s green face. Jaeger was pacing along the body as the other medics were moving a body – Dave’s – and putting it in a body bag. The black bag would zip up as two droids moved the body into the back of a van. It was unceremonious, but so was rebellion.
So, was mass destruction with no care for local civilian populations.
So, was the way that Janet would take a liking to tequila to get over the fact that her soulmate was no longer there. The times walking campus, and passing by her old school, they would be filled with a somber thought for now until the end of her days. On one trip, Janet was away from Coruscant and her ship was ambushed by Vong. And they had performed experiments on her, scarring her, until the One Sith had rescued her from the wayward Yuuzhan Vong shapers. Most men would turn and leave, but Dave? No, Dave stayed.
Just as Jaeger would stay by Wilzak’s side as the police officer was loaded into the ambulance.
