Aftermath

It was a chaotic scene in the hangar of the Defender, despite its size there were still over 10,000 people walking around. Many of them trying to find family or at least anyone they knew. From their perspective they'd just left a doomed planet, they all felt the earthquakes, and how bad they were getting. They didn't know that Jaden and Aubrie had managed to reverse the damage somewhat and stop the planet from imploding. To them, if someone they knew wasn't here then they were dead, and that was a devastating feeling.

The Clone Troopers tried to organise and calm the Jabiimi, but they were having a difficult time of it. There were many people who were injured and needed medical attention so their priorities shifted toward them and getting the more seriously injured to the med bay, something that wasn't easy when you had 10,000 wandering refugees in the way. The ones that weren't seriously injured would have to wait until the medics arrived and even then it would be difficult to get help in this crowd.

The ship was still on high alert, they had no way of not knowing if the Separatists would follow them, while it was unlikely it wasn't impossible. Until they were back in republic space they wouldn't take any chances, and that meant fewer people to take care of the new additions to the crew.

Scout and Zule had attempted to calm things down and help organise the refugees but even the presence of Jedi couldn't stop them from despairing. Even when they were offered reassurances that the planet was still okay and that they weren't the only ones left. The mass hysteria in the hanger bay would only continue to get worse and none of them were sure what to do which only made them feel worse.

Jaden and Aubrie could only watch from the ramp of his ship as the Jabiini below were hysterical. "Master, what do we do?" Aubrie asked. She felt exhausted, like gravity had increased tenfold on her body, less than an hour ago they were in battle against a Sith, and before that Aubrie had been in an intense battle.

"Sit down," Jaden said as he almost collapsed on his feet.

"Master?! Are you okay?" She asked as she knelt beside him.

"I'm fine," he said tapping her shoulder. But it didn't stop her from pulling him his robe. Her eyes widened when she saw the entire right side of his body was bruised, his ribs were sunken in and he was bleeding. "What happened, Master?!" She asked in shock.

"When we were falling, I got hit with a few stones that had been blasted up with us," he replied with a slight grimace.

"We need to get you to the medical bay," Aubrie said in a slight panic as she tried helping Jaden up.

Jaden shook his head. "I'll be fine, nothing vital was hit, they need you more than I do," he asked.

Aubrie looked conflicted she knew he was right but she still didn't want to leave him. "Will you at least let me heal you," She asked.

Jaden grabbed her hand. "I will be fine, save your strength for those in danger, now go," he said to her.

Aubrie nodded and then looked out to the crowd, she looked back at Jaden. "Be careful, I'll be back here soon okay?" She said before walking down the ramp and through the crowd trying to find some of the others. Meanwhile Jaden lay there on the ramp, breathing was a little difficult now that the adrenaline had run off. The pain wasn't too bad though, nothing compared to when he'd broken damn near every bone he had back on Coruscant.

With a little effort, he pushed himself back to his feet and walked up the ramp of his ship. He went into the ship's cockpit and collapsed into one of the seats, SD8 quickly joined him climbing up the console.

*Beep Beep BAP Boop*

"I'm fine buddy, just a little injured," Jaden said putting his hand on the small droid's head. He was happy to see him again, with how things turned out back on Jabiim he thought he'd never get to see his first friend again.

*Beep Boop Boop*

Jaden rolled his eyes. "Yes I know I've said that before, it's true this time," he replied.

"MMMMMHNNN!!!"

Jaden looked behind home when the muffled screams echoed through the room. When he turned he saw Aurra was awake, and was struggling against her bindings. Jaden sighed. "What am I gonna do with you," he said to himself.

"While I can't blame you for running, you're too dangerous to let go, and I have no doubt you'd break out of whatever confinement they stuck you in on the defender," Jaden said as he gestured with his hand and lifted Aurra up and slid her over in front of his seat.

*BEEP*

"Maybe it would be better to kill her now," Jaden said considering SD8's words. He didn't want to, she posed no threat to him anymore, but she was dangerous and she couldn't be allowed to run free, especially on a ship full of refugees.

"SD8 is the medical droid online?" Jaden asked.

*Beep Boop*

"Good, we are going to induce a coma and keep her asleep till we return to Coruscant," Jaden said before standing up and lifting Aurra with him. She started thrashing and screaming as he took her to the medical bay, but in the end, no matter what she did she couldn't fight again the force constricting her.

"This is for your own good," Jaden said as he placed her on the table and the medical droid activated.

"Keep her asleep until the Defender reaches Coruscant, then she's their problem," he said before leaving the room. He stumbled slightly as he did, grunting as he made his way to the captain's quarters so he could meditate and try to heal.

...

It had taken hours before Aubrie had gotten enough clones together that they could start to organise the crowd and try to reunite people who may have been lost. Many children had been separated from their families when they had gotten on separate transports, sadly not all the families made it and this left quite a few children with no one. Aubrie took it upon herself to organise these children who couldn't find their parents. While she was doing this, the others started getting filed out of the hanger bay, while there wouldn't be enough rooms for all of them if the crew doubled up there might just be enough.

"AUBRIE!"

Aubrie turned around just in time to get crushed by Scout who had jumped into her arms making them both fall to the floor. Despite the jolt of pain it caused her Aubrie was happy to see her friend again. "Scout, I am most pleased you're okay, is Zule with you?" She asked as she moved to her knees. Scout who was still rubbing her face against her chest shook her head. Aubrie smiled softly as she stroked her friend's head, she imagined it must've been difficult. Jaden and herself had expected to die on Jabiim, even when they managed to reverse the damage to the planet, they would've been deserted in a now separatist-controlled world.

Scout moved her head back. "Are you okay? Do we need to go to Medbay? Where is Jaden?!" She asked questions in quick succession. Aubrie squeezed her cheeks as she talked which made her voice come out distorted. "Calm down Scout, I'm fine just feeling tired and Jaden is okay too, he's resting in his ship," she said reassuring the younger Padawan.

Scout breathed a sigh of relief but still hadn't let go of Aubrie yet, something the older girl didn't mind. "Where is Zule?" Aubrie asked again which snapped Scout out of her thoughts.

Her eyes widened. "She's in the medbay! They found Master Leska, she was badly injured they're in surgery now," she said as she pulled Aubrie up.

As Scout pulled Aubrie to the medical bay she stopped the younger girl. "Wait! We can bring Jaden! He'll be able to heal her," she said which caused Scout to change directions and pull her towards the ship.

...

Up on the bridge, Admiral Novak stood looking out of the viewing port, he was just as exhausted as the rest of his officers but he wouldn't let it show. He was the commanding officer and he was to lead by example, it's why he took control of the ship and why he took off. 'Never ask anyone to do anything you would not do yourself.' Those are the words he lived by, words he believed everyone should live by.

He turned around before going to the holo table bringing up the camera feed for the hanger bay, this was a shit show that would be difficult to deal with. He'd already got his senior officers to start reassigning rooms and converting the conference rooms and other non-essentials into places where they could sleep. He didn't know what they were going to do with over 10,000 people once they got to Coruscant, but he knew for sure that he wouldn't let the Senate fuck them over. They were citizens of the republic and they deserved the protections and benefits that came with that.

Of course, he was likely going to be demoted to ensign after this if not dishonourably discharged, or at worst sent to a military penal colony. He couldn't say he cared too much, he was getting old now... he felt tired. He could feel it in his bones, the stiffness in his bones, the slight pain in his muscles. 'Maybe it was time for some new blood,' he thought to himself. As he was lost in thought Captain Darklo approached the holo table.

"Sir, with the help of the Jedi and the Clones we rescued we've managed to create a manifest for all those we rescued off Jabiim," Darklo said as he handed a data pad over to Novak.

Novak took the data pad and quickly skimmed through it, he could always appreciate how efficient Darklo was as he'd separated the manifest into different categories, such as Clones, Jabiimi Non-combatants, Jabiimi Militia, and Jedi. He found it sad to see that out of all the Jedi that went to Jabiim, only five survived. So many children were sent to war never to return, it was the way of the Jedi and had been for thousands of years but he still felt saddened by it.

"Where is Master Leska now, can she debrief us?" Novak asked.

Darklo shook his head a grimace making its way onto his face. "She's in surgery at the moment, when she was found by one of her ships she was already dead, they managed to resuscitate her, the medical officers don't know how long she'll last," he explained.

Novak breathed out before putting the datapad down. "I'll be in the medical wing, hopefully, to wish her a swift recovery or to pay my respects," he said as he walked past Darklo.

"Keep working situating the refugees, he's any resources you need," he said before leaving the bridge and heading down to the medical bay.

The Defender was still in a state of chaos as he walked down to the medical bay, the corridors full of officers rushing to their stations, of clones leading Jabiimi to their temporary accommodations. None even stood to salute him —not that he cared about anything like that. He usually liked a nice and orderly ship, but he didn't mind seeing it like this. They had escaped Jabiim, they had done the impossible. For weeks now it had felt like he'd been holding his breath, and only now had he released it. While he still mourned those who had never made it home, he couldn't help but feel relieved that they were done with this planet.

Walking into the medical bay he was greeted with quite a few people, all of them at the window outside the surgical room. The officers inside all turned to salute as he walked in. "As you were," he said giving them a lazy salute back. There were more important things to focus on at the moment. Standing at the edge her eyes firmly on the medical droids that were working to keep Leska alive was Padawan Xiss, she didn't say anything and she ignored those who tried to talk with her. The only thing that mattered right now was Leska surviving.

"Doctor, status report on the patient," Novak asked as the on-ship medical doctor observed the surgery. Since they had medical droids doctors weren't needed to perform the actual surgeries, but they were needed on board in case of emergencies where medical droids could not be activated and first aid was not enough.

"It's not looking good Admiral, she is suffering from multiple organ failures, her liver is burnt black as are her lungs. Her entire rib cage is crushed and her spinal column is severed, third degree burns across her body, we had to remove her left arm as it had been crushed and was pinned beneath a large rock," the Doctor said before listing other minor injuries.

*Crack*

The glass in front of them cracked as he spoke and the metal groaned around them. "Calm yourself Padawan, we are all worried but losing control of yourself won't make anything better," Novak said with a calm expression.

Zule controlled herself, but it was hard. No matter what anyone said this was her fault, she had seen Kass be killed by the Sith warrior, she knew how powerful he was and yet she left Master Leska to face him alone. Even if it was Leska who told her to leave she shouldn't have listened, she should've stayed and fought. If she had then maybe Master Leska wouldn't be in this position. The worst part was they'd left behind the only two capable of helping her now.

'Just to save us...' Zule thought to herself as she clenched her fists —the metal of her prosthetic creaking. They were useless, or at least she was, Scout would make an amazing Jedi Knight one day, but she... she should've been the one left behind. Her feelings only got worse as she heard Leska flatline once more.

"Put the droids into assistance mode, I'm taking over," the Doctor said to one of the medical officers before they went into an adjacent room.

...

Taking a deep breath Leska opened her eyes, she moved quickly up to a sitting position as she looked around. She was on a green field, with rolling hills as far as the eyes could see. 'Where am I?' She thought to herself. The last thing she remembered was fighting against the Sith warrior and then falling, but everything after that was dark like she'd been falling through a void.

She looked up towards the crystal blue sky feeling the warm sun on her face. She stood up to her feet and realised she wasn't wearing any shoes, in fact, her entire outfit had changed. She wore a simple white gown, her feet were bare, but most importantly she wore her necklace from the agricultural corps. She held it in her hand, a small smile crossing her face as she looked at it.

"Leska!" A voice shouted from behind her which prompted her to turn.

Her eyes widened as she saw Kass Todd, Tae Dith, and Windo Nend, approaching her. Leska found herself speechless as they came closer, Kass giggled when Leska raised her hand up to touch her face as she wasn't convinced it was real. "How are..." Leska tried to say but found her voice coming up short.

Kass took her hand and smiled. "We are all here," she said gesturing further away from them. Further down the fields was a beautiful village, and in that village, she saw familiar faces. Master Norcuna and several other masters who'd died on Jabiim. More than that though she saw faces that she hadn't seen for years, those who'd died fighting pirates in the agricultural corps.

'Everyone looks so happy,' she thought to herself.

"We are master," Kass said as if reading her thoughts.

"We are all happy," Tae Dith said before taking her other hand.

Leska found herself being overwhelmed once more, by the guilt that had accumulated over years of seeing those close to her dying, of seeing those she was responsible for being killed. Even seeing them so happy, she couldn't help but think of how young they were.

"We all come here eventually, and I can't wait to see you again when it's your time," Kass said as she hugged Leska.

"What do you mean when it's my time?" She asked.

"It's not your time yet, you need to go back," Kass said with a sad smile.

"But... it's so beautiful here... can't I stay? Please?" she asked.

"Your world can be just as beautiful if you try and make it so," Tae Dith said as she held Leska's hand.

"Don't be sad about us passing, look how happy we are, one day you'll see us all again, but for now you have to go back," Kass said as her and Tae Dith let go of her.

Leska didn't want to leave, she felt so relaxed here, so at peace. "When you see Mak, tell him to live on for both of us and that I'll see him again one day," Kass said before everything turned white for her.

...

"We've lost her again!" One of the medical officers said as he began trying to restart her heart.

"MD-8 administer hydropectaline at five-minute intervals while MD-9 manually moves her heart," the Doctor instructed as he tried to keep her body alive. They'd injected bacta throughout her body and while it worked to repair the damage it was too slow, her heart kept giving out before her body was strong enough to keep it going.

The doctor breathed heavily before talking into the intercom. "If we can't keep her heart functioning itself soon then we have no choice but to let her pass," the Doctor said.

"Fuck that!" Zule shouted as she bent the metal with her prosthetic fist.

"Don't you have an artificial heart you can transplant," she shouted.

"We don't, this medical bay isn't made for advanced surgery, we carry just above the essentials," Novak replied before the doctor could.

"There must be something..." Zule said her voice weakening.

Novak approached the Padawan putting his arm on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, but it won't help her to leave her in this state, we won't be back to Coruscant for a month, there's nothing we can do."

Zule wanted to fight and argue, but she couldn't, she was tired. She shoved Novak's hand off her shoulder and just slumped to the door. However, before she succumbs to despair she sees the door to the medbay open. Her eyes widen as Scout walks in with Aubrie and Jaden. She's on her feet immediately crossing the distance and engulfing both of them in a hug. "You're alive!" She shouted as she hugged them tighter.

Scout giggled watching their normally stoic and unlikable friend lose it and nearly hug Aubrie and Jaden to death. "Zule... watch the arm please," Jaden said as he struggled to breathe. She moved back noticing her metal arm had been tightly squeezing Jaden. She moved back her cheeks slightly darker, something which Scout started to tease her on.

Meanwhile Jaden moved forward to get a good view of the surgical room. "Jedi Knight Jaden Katarn," A familiar voice said to him.

Jaden turned to see Admiral Novak who approached him. "Or is it just Jaden, I hear a lot of things these days," he said.

"After what you did you can call me whatever you want," Jaden replied.

"I only did what I had to do," Novak replied. "I'm sure you know what I have to do now," he added.

Jaden nodded. "I know and I won't resist, but just give me a few moments with Leska," he asked.

Seeing no harm in it he nodded. Jaden then walked straight towards the airlock that kept the surgical room a clean environment. "What are you doing!?" Novak asked and went to stop him out Zule grabbed his arm and stopped him.

Jaden entered the environment not even bothering to close the door behind him. "You can't be in here you'll contaminate everything!" The doctor said as he tried to stop him.

Jaden moved him aside with the force and then moved the medical droids to the side. He had never seen her look so pale before, he put his hand on her cheek. "I'll bring you back," he whispered before he started healing her.

The first wounds to close up were the surgical wounds, the next was the skin that had been burnt with force lightning. After that it was the arm that they had amputated, it grew back. One by one her wounds disappeared, the doctor could only look on in shock as could the rest of them observing outside. Jaden felt a slight strain on his body but he pushed himself, he didn't stop until her entire body had been healed.

He stepped back a bit before taking a deep breath and falling to the ground. It wasn't the healing itself that exhausted him, but the force itself. Every Force-sensitive was capable of channelling the force in some way, but that would always cause strain on both the mind and body. That's why Jedi were always at the peak of physical fitness it allowed them to use the force for longer periods of time before succumbing to force fatigue. It wasn't as big a decider as say Midichlorian count, but it was enough that it could decide the outcome of a battle.

Jaden slowly moved himself up until he was standing. He looked over to the doctor who was in shock. "Can you check on her? How are her vitals?" He asked. The doctor didn't reply and was still looking at the wounds that no longer existed as if expecting them to reappear.

"Doctor!" He shouted.

This snapped him out of his shock and he began running a few diagnostic scans on her. "She's... perfectly healthy," the doctor said as if not believing his own words.

"Why hasn't she woken," Jaden asked.

"She's asleep," he simply replied.

Jaden nodded, his shoulders slumping in relief. He left the surgical room and moved back into the observation room where people looked at him like he was a mythical creature. "Jaden... that was the most incredible thing I've ever seen," Novak said slowly. He faltered slightly, he knew what he had to do but after seeing something he could only describe as a miracle, he couldn't.

"It's fine Admiral, you know what you have to do," Jaden said.

Admiral took a deep breath and then nodded. "Take him to the brig," he said gesturing to the clones in the room with them.

"What!"

"You can't do that!"

"I won't let you!"

The Padawans said in quick succession as they moved to stand between the clones and Jaden. "Enough," Jaden said which silenced them.

"I'll be fine, now keep an eye on Leska for me will you," Jaden requested.

"I want to go with him," Aubrie said to the Admiral.

"Absolutely not, you three and the rest of your senior officers will be in my office debriefing me on what the hell happened on that planet, now say your goodbyes and go find your officers," Novak said sternly. Novak then ordered the rest of the room to clear out with the exception of the doctor who was still in the surgery room.

Jaden smiled at the Padawans who all looked defeated. "Come on we both know what would happen when I came back here," he said.

"Why don't you take your ship and leave?" Scout asked in a small voice.

Jaden scratched his face. "I'd thought about it, but the situation gotten more complicated... I can't leave anymore," he replied.

Aubrie moved quickly and hugged Jaden tightly. "I'll see you soon master, I won't let them imprison you forever."

"I'll need a pretty good representative when we get back," Jaden chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'll do it!" Scout said before Zule slapped the back of her head.

"I'll see you guys soon," Jaden said his farewells to them and left with the guards who led him all the way down to the brig. As brigs go it was pretty good, when he was younger he'd been imprisoned by a crime syndicate for trying to steal a military-grade targeting system they'd got their hands on. Their idea of a prison was a hole in the ground.

He walked through the door of the cell which closed behind him. He then sat on the bed and started to meditate, his injuries still hurt and he wanted to be in good fighting condition. Until they were back on Coruscant he wouldn't discount the possibility of another attack.

(AN: Not a very important chapter, just showing the aftermath of everything and basically leading into the next arc. Novak at the moment doesn't know that Jaden is basically a hero, he likes him due to their previous interactions but right now he doesn't have much information. When he gets that information I imagine his mind will change. I hope you enjoyed the chapter)

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