Private Rescue on Carlac

[Inanna Harth]

Rumor had it the Maw was trying to rise again, this time under a new name. Inanna was determined to hamper their efforts at every turn. The masters of the Vonnuvi Jedi Enclave picked up on her interest and sent her on a mission to Carlac. It was to be her first assignment with her new apprentice, Gatz Derrevar.

They arrived on the snow-covered planet by stealth. The temperatures dropped to dangerous levels at night for a Human; for a Shi’ido, the danger was doubled. Inanna had no choice but to don an environmental suit, hampering her ability to shapeshift but ensuring that she didn’t freeze to death.

“There was a village just north of here,” she explained as they left their hidden shuttle behind. “They burned it to the ground. Reports of survivors have been floating around, but information is scarce. We need to find them and get them to safety.”

The landscape in all directions around them was blanketed in endless white. They wouldn’t get very far relying on their eyes. She turned to Gatz. “Can you sense anything?”

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

Gatz wasn't much of a history buff, but he was pretty sure that the Maw was supposed to be laid to rest. Naturally, like all fascist movements, they refused to stay dead. Usually, he could appreciate a little tenacity, but not in this case. Gatz wasn't fond of killing—even if he was pretty good at it—but if they had to put a few Mawites down for the good of the galaxy...

Well, he supposed old instincts would come in handy today.

In most cases, Gatz would have preferred to take The Red Night, especially for a stealth mission. But she was... in disrepair at the moment, and so he and Inanna had to make do with a Jedi shuttle. No style, clunky to fly, and generally a poor excuse of a vessel, but it had done its job of getting them to the surface without them being made.

Carlac was a cold planet, though not as much as Hoth, in his experience. He'd still had to don his old grey parka, and his Master was straight up in an environmental suit (were Shi'ido susceptible to the cold? He'd have to ask later.). And if they had to do that just to make it through a few hours in the frigid weather, Gatz couldn't imagine they'd find many survivors. Or, at least, many survivors who hadn't already frozen to death.

“Can you sense anything?”

Gatz closed his eyes for a moment. Sensing presences in the Force was one of the few things he was handily capable of. The Force was teeming on this world—frozen, but plentiful with hardy life. Most of it felt dim and small. Standing next to him, Inanna felt like the beacon of a lighthouse. But if he focused a little harder...

"I feel something," Gatz spoke at last, "but it's faint. Northeast of us. Maybe our survivors?"

 

[Inanna Harth]

Even encased in her environmental suit, Inanna was uncomfortably chilled by the biting wind. It made concentrating harder, but she managed.

"I feel something, but it's faint. Northeast of us. Maybe our survivors?"

Gatz spoke at around the same time she sensed the same presence. “We won’t know unless we see for ourselves.” Glancing at her compass, she turned until they were facing northeast. “Let’s go. Try to stay focused. Don’t rush, or you’ll tire yourself out too quickly. Keep a steady pace.”

She started out, leading the way. It was difficult to gauge how far they traveled, since there were no recognizable landmarks to break up the endless white all around them. Even her sense of time was affected. Had they been walking for an hour, or just a few minutes?

Eventually the vague feeling resolved itself into multiple individual presences. They were dealing with a group of beings, all of them very much alive. As they ascended a snowy hilltop, sounds of blaster fire could be heard on the other side…

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

Gatz almost offered to take the lead, if only to be a human windbreaker for Inanna. But she stepped in front of him instead, and frankly, she was the Master here. She probably should go first. The only thing that concerned him was the environmental suit she was wearing. It was cold, even dangerously so for a human, but between long johns, a parka, and snow pants, he was fine.

She looked like she was still freezing.

"Master..." Gatz hesitated for a moment, before for continuing, "are you... susceptible to the cold?"

He held pace with her easy enough—the one good thing about all the near death experiences he'd endured was that they, well, taught him how to endure. Slogging through the snow was miserable, but nothing compared to acid, or getting his entrails ripped out. It was almost a walk in the park, though Gatz would never actually voice that out loud. That was just asking for a jinx.

Naturally, that was when they heard the blaster fire.

"So... do we rush now or..."

His gut instinct was to sprint, or stagger through the snow, but when had running into a firefight ever worked out for him? Far better to follow Inanna's lead, even if that mean holding their current pace.

 

[Inanna Harth]

"Master... are you... susceptible to the cold?"

“Hm?” Inanna glanced back at him. “Oh, yeah. I’m used to a jungle climate, so it’s hard for me to tolerate the cold. But don’t worry, I grew some fur under this suit to keep warm.”

She grinned—just in time to hear blaster fire. Dropping to the ground instinctively, once she realized where it was coming from she hurried up to the top of the snow drift to get a better look.

Sith Imperials were facing off against rival fighters dressed in white. She couldn’t see any recognizable insignia on their uniforms, so it seemed a fair assumption that these were members of a local militia. Even though the planet was considered already taken, they were still fighting. It reminded her of what had happened to Lao-mon under the Maw.

"So... do we rush now or..."

“Good question,” Inanna said. “I don’t know.”

She continued to scan the battlefield, looking for answers. As the militia employed guerilla tactics against the Imperials, she had an idea. “I’ll create a commotion to distract the Imperials. Then we go in together and take them out. Sound good?”

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

Gatz almost questioned her ability to create fur for herself... but he supposed it made sense. He could scarcely remember it—having been overwhelmed with pain at the time—but he knew Inanna had been the one to drag him into the underbrush after his leg had been hit with acid, and she almost certainly hadn't been in a humanoid form at the time. It shouldn't have been surprising that she was capable of taking on more bestial aspects, and not limited to just typical near human bodies.

That said, he still had a hard time picturing his Master—as he knew her, wearing her typical appearance—covered in fur. He was kind of jealous, actually. He'd kill for a little fur right now.

“I’ll create a commotion to distract the Imperials. Then we go in together and take them out. Sound good?”

Crouched at the top of the snow bank, watching the Imperials shoot at what seemed to be resistance fighters out of their depth, Gatz figured Inanna's plan was the best approach. If she could keep them occupied for half a minute, he might even be able to sneak up and take a few out before they knew what was going on.

"Seems like our best bet," Gatz unclipped his lightsaber from his belt, "I'll make my move once they're all staring at you."

 

[Inanna Harth]

Gatz agreed to the plan. Inanna opened her mouth to do a countdown, but then remembered that her apprentice wouldn’t be going with her this time, so what was the point in counting out loud? She counted the numbers down in her head just for herself. Three… two…

Using the Force, she flung up a sudden wall of snow in front of the Imperial troops. Amid the chaos, she leaped down into the fray and joined the battle. Her yellow lightsaber cut down the Imps, slicing through stormtrooper armor and environmental suits.

Blaster bolts flew through the air, turning snow into steam. She deflected them with her blade, just as she had practiced in training, and continued her assault on the enemy.

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

When Inanna had proposed her plan, Gatz had been expecting... well, he didn't know what specifically, but he'd been looking forward to some crazy unorthodox means of distracting the assaulting Imperials. Something that most Jedi wouldn't consider, because like him, she wasn't most Jedi. She was a shapeshifter, so maybe she'd do something like morph into a polar bear. Or like a giant bird that attacked from the sky.

Or like a giant bird that then shapeshifted again and dropped from the sky as a polar bear. No one expected an orbital drop polar bear.

He wasn't expecting her to fling up a giant wall of snow. But, to be fair, it was certainly the most practical choice available. With one simple motion, she'd effectively eliminated their ability to see. She'd also eliminated his ability to see... but a Jedi knew better than to rely on sight alone.

Lightsaber in hand, Gatz sprinted into the haze of sleet and snow, and delved into the Force. His blue synthetic blade came to life, and before the Imperials knew what was happening, he'd already cut two of them down. A third caught onto the fact that they were now facing Jedi, and let loose a blaster bolt in his direction.

Gatz deflected it with lazy ease, and the man crashed into the snow, killed by his own pull of the trigger.

He leaped forward onto the next target, but by now their enemies were aware that they were being assaulted by Jedi. So after striking down a fourth, Gatz worked his way toward Inanna—because Jedi worked in pairs for a reason, and he figured they'd fare better together.

"You know, I didn't really consider what our plan was beyond 'distract and whack with lightsaber.' Do you have any other ideas, or are we just winging it?"

 

[Inanna Harth]

It wasn’t long before Gatz joined her on the battlefield, deflecting blaster bolts and cutting down Imperials.

"You know, I didn't really consider what our plan was beyond 'distract and whack with lightsaber.' Do you have any other ideas, or are we just winging it?"

“Just winging it!” she exclaimed back, turning to face a trio of stormtroopers. She threw her lightsaber like a boomerang, using telekinesis to guide the weapon as it sliced through all three foes before they had a chance to shoot her.

The rebel militia continued their guerilla tactics, picking off enemy soldiers, and before they knew it the battlefield was strewn with dead Imps. One of the rebels, a man with his face fully covered by protective gear, approached Inanna and Gatz. “Thanks for your help. Are you Jedi?”

“Yeah,” Inanna replied. “What gave us away?”

The rebel snorted faintly. “We’ve been entrenched here for the past three days. Thought help would never come.”

“Well, we’re here to evacuate survivors.” When he didn’t respond, she tentatively added, “Is there a hidden base that you can take us to?”

He shook his head. “We’re all that’s left.”

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

Gatz stood amidst the remnants of their carnage—and it was carnage. Bodies of soldiers, dismembered or otherwise marred by their lightsabers, were strewn about in the snow. He'd killed before, dozens and dozens of times, but it had always been a one-off and then run kind of deal. Never had it been on this scale: cutting down man after man in the heat of conflict.

“Thanks for your help. Are you Jedi?”

Gatz barely heard the conversation his Master had with the man.

He looked down at the lightsaber in his grip. Was this how it was always going to end? Would he ever be able to solve a problem without the solution being a loss of life? The taking of life? Logically, he understood what they'd done: the Imperials were an invading force, hellbent on ruining the Carlacian way of life. The guerilla fighters were fighting for their very freedom, from an oppressor who would gladly see them all dead. They were fighting an enemy who had been in the process of exterminating them.

They'd done the right thing. Gatz knew better than most that not everyone could be reasoned with, and that killing was often necessary. But even so, Gatz didn't want to accept that taking a dozen lives was the "right" thing to do. Perhaps that was a naïve and idealistic viewpoint, but he'd returned to the Order to be better. To be different from the scoundrel who'd taken life simply because it was the convenient choice. Who'd killed because it was easier than showing mercy.

Just now, he'd been that man again. For altruistic reasons, yes, but it still left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“We’re all that’s left.”

"Then we ought to get moving," Gatz forced himself to focus—he could dwell on his distaste for what they'd done later, on his own time, "the longer we stay, the more we risk Imperial reinforcements. We've got a shuttle to the South. It's the only ride out of here for miles, as far as I can tell."

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna’s heart sank at the news. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting to find out here. Refugee families from the settlements, maybe. But to hear that this small group of soldiers was all that was left was a gut punch.

Yet she didn’t dwell upon it the way her Padawan seemed to. She had grown so accustomed to seeing entire populations slaughtered and planets conquered that she no longer felt shock or horror—or at least, not as vividly as she had when these things were fresh to her. Instead, she felt her nerves harden like steel and her heart pump blood and adrenaline, ready to do what had to be done to ensure these people made it to safety.

“Right, let’s go.” She turned to go back the way they had come… and noticed tracks in the snow alongside theirs. Someone else was headed back for their shuttle. “Feth!” she swore, breaking into a run down the slope. “Make it double! We’ve got company!”

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

Though it didn't erase his guilt completely, hearing that these soldiers were all that remained of the village did make him feel as though the Imperials had earned their death. He'd never feel good about cutting them down, but they'd taken civilian lives. Probably killed children. They were butchers and monsters, but now they'd never kill again.

There was some comfort in knowing that, as small as it was.

He let that carry him, as they led the soldiers stomping through the snow. They couldn't restore what these survivors had lost... but they could ensure they wouldn't lose anymore. Maybe even give them a chance at rebuilding what remained of their lives. Though Gatz suspected that, right now, they probably didn't feel like there was much point in trying to stitch their lives back together.

He'd lost enough to know how empty the galaxy felt when loved ones were dead and buried. Like a hollowness in his chest that threatened to consume him. Gatz wouldn't wish that on anyone, but he imagined that many of these soldiers would struggle with just that in the days to come.

“Make it double! We’ve got company!”

Dammit. Just once, Gatz would have liked for an assignment to be simple.

He sprinted after his Master, fearing the worst: that their shuttle would be missing by the time they got back to where they'd parked it. Thankfully, once they'd rounded the last snowbank, Gatz spotted their ride exactly where they'd left it, without so much as a scratch on it.

It was just surrounded by a group of rather curious Imperial troops.

"Think we'll get off easy with a parking ticket?"

Bad jokes were really all he was good for.

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Less talking, more killing Imps!” Inanna replied to her apprentice’s quip. She was already plunging down into the fray, the Force keeping her from sinking into the snow as she deflected the blaster bolts that came screaming her way.

The rebels made full use of the high ground, firing down at the Imperials from atop the hill. Several shots hit the hull of the shuttle, but without dealing significant damage. What was far more concerning were the Imps running into the ship. Inanna stormed up the loading ramp just as the engines rumbled to life. They were trying to flee Carlac, using a Jedi shuttle as cover for their escape!

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

“Less talking, more killing Imps!”

Bitter anger flooded him as Inanna commanded him to kill. Gatz had to literally bite his tongue, fresh blood spilling into his mouth, to stop the harsh retort he wanted to bark at his Master.

No one. Told him. To kill. Not her, not even Valery Noble , not anyone. No one would ever have that power over him ever again.

As furious as he was in the moment, he sprinted alongside Inanna. The resistance fighters at their back hefted their weapons and fired on the imperials. But they couldn't do a thing against the Imps already on the ship. As the engines screamed to life, Inanna sprinted up the boarding ramp, but Gatz had a different plan.

He let the ebb and flow of the Force pull him along with it, and used that energy to leap onto the cockpit glass. His boots hit transparisteel with a resounding thump, and he was greeted with the sight of one soldier sitting in the cockpit on the other side of the glass, a dumbstruck expression on his face.

"Hey," Gatz realized he probably looked stupid, with blood trailing from the corner of his mouth, but oh well, "I'm gonna need you and your buddies to not steal our ride."

With a small motion of his fingers, Gatz compelled the Force to flick the fuel prime switch off, and the engines came to a sputtering halt.

"Also, fair warning: you have about three seconds—if that—before my Master comes barging in that door. Have fun with that."

With their shuttle securely on the ground, Gatz backflipped off of the cockpit glass, back down to the snow below.

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna didn’t notice her Padawan’s anger, her attention preoccupied with stopping the Imperials from taking the ship. She made her way into the shuttle, and was immediately confronted by stormtroopers left to guard the ramp. They opened fire in a salvo that would’ve vaporized any other lone fighter. Using her lightsaber to block the shots, she felt some of the bolts hit her, causing her skin to blister. Unwilling to die, she sent out a blast of telekinetic energy which knocked the troops off their feet, then swooped in to finish them off.

Adrenaline and her unique physiology allowed her to ignore her wounds for the time being. She didn’t hesitate to cut down everyone in her path to the cockpit. Given the circumstances and the lives relying upon her protection, there could be no quarter given to the enemy.

From outside, Gatz managed to stop the engines. The Imperials made another attempt at escape after he jumped off the window, but by then it was too late. Inanna forced the doors to the cockpit open and sliced through the blaster—and the fingers holding it—which pointed at her before it could fire. The Imperial officer collapsed to the floor, screaming in agony as he clutched at the charred stumps protruding from his smoking hand.

The rebels swarmed the shuttle, finishing off anyone else they found hiding in other parts of the craft. Soon the corridors were strewn with corpses, and the ship was once again at their command. “Everyone get ready,” she ordered over the intercom. “We’re leaving now.” They would dump the bodies out the airlock once they were off this frozen rock.

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

Gatz stepped into the shuttle, and grimaced at the bodies sprawled out on the deck.

Logically, he understood the need for their deaths. What were they supposed to do, bring the Imperials with them, and hope the two groups didn't shoot each other? There was no galaxy in which that was an actual choice. And with them being moments away from stealing the ship, they didn't have time to try the diplomatic approach—which would have failed anyways.

Sometimes, the only choices you had were bad ones, but you still had to choose. It was a concept he was quite familiar with.

But Gatz still felt as though they had missed the mark. Today, he didn't feel like a Jedi.

Inanna informed them that they were leaving Carlac behind. Good riddance, as far as Gatz was concerned. He grabbed a few of the resistance fighters who looked in the best shape, and told them to start dragging the bodies near the airlock. Then he made for the cockpit. The door slid open, and Gatz stepped over the remains of the man who'd been on the other side of the glass from him.

"One more in here!" Gatz called out down the hallway.

He moved on and plopped himself into the co-pilots seat, and spun himself to face his Master. He didn't miss the various wounds she had sustained from blaster fire.

"Master, you should let me take a look at those wounds. I'm sure one of the rebels can handle getting us back to The Vonnuvi."

 

[Inanna Harth]

As she piloted the shuttle into outer space, Inanna’s adrenaline waned and the pain of her injuries became more noticeable. Gatz arrived in the cockpit, having sent two of the rebels to drag the bodies into the airlock. She watched out of the corner of her eye as he sank into the copilot’s chair, her focus primarily on the controls.

"Master, you should let me take a look at those wounds. I'm sure one of the rebels can handle getting us back to The Vonnuvi."

“There’s no point,” she replied, flicking switches. The stars glowed more brightly, then blurred into white lines as they shot off into hyperspace. “My physiology is different from yours, so my wounds don’t need to be seen to. They’ve already sealed. The best thing I could do for myself right now would be to take a nap.”

Alas, she didn’t fully trust the rebels to stay the course back to the Vonnuvi. Many were no doubt in a volatile emotional state after losing their homes and loved ones. If she slept, they might do something crazy like try to ram an Imperial ship in a suicidal last stand. No, it was best for her to stay in command, for everyone’s safety.

“So,” she began, hoping to fill in the time with some conversation. “Any thoughts on our first mission together?”

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

“My physiology is different from yours, so my wounds don’t need to be seen to. They’ve already sealed. The best thing I could do for myself right now would be to take a nap.”

Oh, that was cool. With as many wounds as he typically received, Gatz wished he could boast an inherent power like that. Instead, he was a plain ole' human, not special in any particular way. He wasn't usually envious of other species, but his Master was capable in ways he simply never would be, all because of what she'd been born as.

"Maybe you should find a spot and take that nap then," Gatz offered, "we're in hyperspace. And I could fly this thing even if I'd been struck blind, deaf, and stupid."

A pilot was the first thing he'd ever really been. A skill that had once been integral to both his career and who he was as a man. That skill saw little use these days, much to his disappointment.

But then Inanna asked a question that put a frown on his face. How did he feel about this mission? The truth was: conflicted. That was less his Master's fault, and more the fault of the situation though. His foolish burst of anger had long since faded, and he understood why Inanna had been so quick to jump to action against those Imperial soldiers.

And... she couldn't have known his history with killing, and being made to kill at another's command, because he hadn't shared that with her. It wasn't fair to be angry with her over a choice of words that had been harmless.

"I wish we could have saved more, and killed less," Gatz said honestly, with a weary sigh, "but truth be told... I don't see how things could have gone differently. We were just too late, and the Imps forced our hand."

Maybe, in a perfect galaxy, they'd have saved everyone who'd been displaced from that village. And maybe, in a perfect galaxy, they could have tried talking to the Imps before drawing their weapons.

But they didn't live in a perfect galaxy. Never had.

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna snorted. “Well, I hope I never have to see you do such a thing.”

She was still a little reluctant to sleep, but her hesitation was eroding. Once she finished talking to Gatz, she would go find a flat surface to lie on and get some much needed rest.

"I wish we could have saved more and killed less, but truth be told... I don't see how things could have gone differently. We were just too late, and the Imps forced our hand."

“You’re going to feel that way a lot,” she said, half warning and half reassuring. “But it won’t be all bad. The people you save may surprise you with their gratitude and kindness. And you’ll surprise yourself that you can feel such care and affection for perfect strangers.”

She spoke from experience, with a faint smile on her lips. Only a few years of her long life had been given to helping others, rescuing, serving, and protecting them. But her time as a Jedi felt like a continuation of that tiny, recent chapter of the greater story. A plotline that she intended to drag out for as long as possible.

"Do you have any questions?" she asked, inclining her head.

Gatz Derrevar​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Inanna Harth

Inanna snorted. “Well, I hope I never have to see you do such a thing.”

"Eh, you're gonna see plenty of stupid," Gatz shrugged, "but I'll try to avoid being struck blind or deaf. But, considering my track record..."

He had a very bad habit of getting injured on these missions. It was probably only a matter of time before someone made him lose his sight, or his hearing. That wasn't a reassuring thought, but there was no point in dwelling on it. He'd managed to get through this assignment without getting hurt... well, unless he somehow managed to injure himself sitting here in the cockpit.

Gatz was pretty sure he was safe, though.

What Inanna said next had Gatz furrowing his brow in thought. He was always going to think that he could have done more. He was always going to mourn the people he couldn't save. It was a harrowing prospect. Maybe that was the true burden of a Jedi: being able to save some, but never enough. Gatz could imagine how that could be taxing on the mind, given enough time and losses.

But it was still better than the life he'd led before all of this. And they had saved people today. Maybe it wasn't enough, and maybe it shouldn't be... but it was better than nothing at all.

"I don't think I have any questions," Gatz stared out at the stars streaking by them, "I just wonder what these people are supposed to do now. How they're supposed to go on living. I've lost my family and my home just like they have... and I still don't know the answer."