OOM: Battle of Tenupe
Jaina cradled the tiny Killik in her arms, watching with sad eyes as the last of the insect’s lifeforce trickled out of her fragile body. Slowly, she pulled back on the Force energy she had been feeding the Wuluw to keep her alive long enough for Jaina’s message to the Great Swarm to be sent.
Jaina bowed her head, whispering something inaudible to the dead body as she rubs her forearm gently against her antennae one last time. Then, she placed Wuluw on the ground alongside the piles of chitin and Killik gore littering the fields. One last long glance toward her friend and Jaina walked away, not looking back.
She had a battle to oversea, and a dam to help construct. Flooding the Chiss off the surrounding islands seemed like best idea at the time and so far, the wisest course of action that she had taken all day.
“Ruru bu burru?”
Jaina stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of a Killik inquiry. She cocked her head and listened as the Mollom continued his message. A small grin filled her face and she patted the insect’s head before continuing along a new path.
After a couple minutes hike, Jaina emerged into a clearing and the grin widened as a dark haired man stepped out of his StealthX. The barrier of her mind began to weaken, and everything Zekk had seen and thought began to flow through. Contact with the only available member of her nest. It was what she had been craving since Zekk had flown into the mountains, too far for Jaina to feel him within her mind.
She ran over to him and Zekk wrapped his arms around her torso, giving her a big Wookiee hug. Jaina broke away, brown eyes meeting green ones. “We’re-”
“-flooding the river. I saw.” He grinned wryly. “Smart move.”
“Thanks. It should stop the-”
Zekk nodded. “Yeah. And help to save more Killiks.”
“That too,” Jaina responded softly, tearing her eyes away from Zekk to study all the dead Killik bodies scattered on the ground around them. She continued her scrutiny of the battlefield, eying the Chiss clawcrafts flying overhead. For a moment or two, she wondered if Jagged was in one of those clawcrafts. Or if he was dead, body strewn out in a pile of wreckage, much like the dead Wuluw she said goodbye to earlier.
Still staring, Jaina considered which option would be worse: her fiancée dead, or facing the disdain she was certain that Jag felt for her right now. Either would hurt her more than Jacen’s prior betrayal, something she still couldn’t believe. Jacen, her own twin, had used her and Zekk at Thrago as easily as Kyp did at Sernpidal all those years ago. Something had changed in her brother; he wasn’t the person she and Zekk remembered.
“Everything will be all right,” Zekk reassured as he stopped behind Jaina and placed a hand on his mindmate’s shoulder. He gave it a small squeeze and sent feelings of comfort through their connection. “We’ll win this, Unu will be proud, and life will return to the way it was with the Colony.”
Jaina tilted her head upward, the wry smile still in place. “Since when did you get to be so optimistic?”
Zekk chuckled. “Since spending time with you. That and that kriffing huge vocabulary of swear words in your head.”
She batted at his arm in annoyance and a playful smile made its way on to Jaina’s face. At least she had Zekk, even with all the other Taat trapped in the Utegetu Nebula. It made her not so alone, despite a weakening in their mindbond. He smiled back at her, sensing her thoughts and pulling her into another hug.
“Promise you,” he whispered into the mess of her long brown hair before UnuThul’s Will to begin the attack in space became too overwhelming for either of the Joiner Jedi to handle. “We’ll be done soon enough.”
Jaina bowed her head, whispering something inaudible to the dead body as she rubs her forearm gently against her antennae one last time. Then, she placed Wuluw on the ground alongside the piles of chitin and Killik gore littering the fields. One last long glance toward her friend and Jaina walked away, not looking back.
She had a battle to oversea, and a dam to help construct. Flooding the Chiss off the surrounding islands seemed like best idea at the time and so far, the wisest course of action that she had taken all day.
“Ruru bu burru?”
Jaina stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of a Killik inquiry. She cocked her head and listened as the Mollom continued his message. A small grin filled her face and she patted the insect’s head before continuing along a new path.
After a couple minutes hike, Jaina emerged into a clearing and the grin widened as a dark haired man stepped out of his StealthX. The barrier of her mind began to weaken, and everything Zekk had seen and thought began to flow through. Contact with the only available member of her nest. It was what she had been craving since Zekk had flown into the mountains, too far for Jaina to feel him within her mind.
She ran over to him and Zekk wrapped his arms around her torso, giving her a big Wookiee hug. Jaina broke away, brown eyes meeting green ones. “We’re-”
“-flooding the river. I saw.” He grinned wryly. “Smart move.”
“Thanks. It should stop the-”
Zekk nodded. “Yeah. And help to save more Killiks.”
“That too,” Jaina responded softly, tearing her eyes away from Zekk to study all the dead Killik bodies scattered on the ground around them. She continued her scrutiny of the battlefield, eying the Chiss clawcrafts flying overhead. For a moment or two, she wondered if Jagged was in one of those clawcrafts. Or if he was dead, body strewn out in a pile of wreckage, much like the dead Wuluw she said goodbye to earlier.
Still staring, Jaina considered which option would be worse: her fiancée dead, or facing the disdain she was certain that Jag felt for her right now. Either would hurt her more than Jacen’s prior betrayal, something she still couldn’t believe. Jacen, her own twin, had used her and Zekk at Thrago as easily as Kyp did at Sernpidal all those years ago. Something had changed in her brother; he wasn’t the person she and Zekk remembered.
“Everything will be all right,” Zekk reassured as he stopped behind Jaina and placed a hand on his mindmate’s shoulder. He gave it a small squeeze and sent feelings of comfort through their connection. “We’ll win this, Unu will be proud, and life will return to the way it was with the Colony.”
Jaina tilted her head upward, the wry smile still in place. “Since when did you get to be so optimistic?”
Zekk chuckled. “Since spending time with you. That and that kriffing huge vocabulary of swear words in your head.”
She batted at his arm in annoyance and a playful smile made its way on to Jaina’s face. At least she had Zekk, even with all the other Taat trapped in the Utegetu Nebula. It made her not so alone, despite a weakening in their mindbond. He smiled back at her, sensing her thoughts and pulling her into another hug.
“Promise you,” he whispered into the mess of her long brown hair before UnuThul’s Will to begin the attack in space became too overwhelming for either of the Joiner Jedi to handle. “We’ll be done soon enough.”