The Weaving Force: Chapter 62 (Patreon)

Chapter 62:

Taylor:

I marched through the droid army.

My bugs screened the forces ahead of me, blinding them, distracting them. Bug marionettes confused them, and what few insects could effectively chew through their environmental seals to bite into the insides did so with gusto, making dozens of droids sputter and die in place.

They seemed to have lost coordination and efficiency. Up above, I could sense the distant specs of life drawing further and further away, and could only assume the fleet of Lucrehulks was pulling back, abandoning their cheap droid army to die now that they lacked coordination and unifying command structure.

Their deadliness was cut almost in half, now doing little more than marching forward to die.

Even so, there were still millions of them. And those that got too close, past my screening of insects, I melted to slag with fire.

There was a trench of metal corpses left in my wake, fires raging through the street and the sides of the Corellian buildings. The collateral was immense, but I was too tired to try and control the conflagration. I’d never used the Force so extensively in all the time I’d been here, and I found my head pounding.

I wasn’t sure if it was the aftereffects of my actions with the Queen Administrator or genuine exhaustion from Force manipulation, but all I could do was keep planting one foot in front of the other, each step drawing me closer and closer towards the Green Jedi barricade.

As they slipped into the range of my bugs, I pushed myself even further, forced my mind to cooperate, once again picking up the discarded lightsabers of fallen Jedi, forming a ring around the survivors.

It wasn’t much, barely a dozen blades in comparison to the literal hundreds I’d manipulated both here and in the temple minutes earlier, but the pain in my skull almost brought me to my knees;

But I wouldn’t let up, I couldn’t. Vicky was there, my kids were there.

So I kept going.

Step after lurching step, my bugs and my flames let me focus on simply forcing my body to move.

Finally, as I reached the barricade and the Corellian Jedi muttered and whispered almost fearfully amongst themselves, I climbed over the debris and corpses of fallen droids and Jedi.

“MISS TAYLOR!”

I’m not sure which one of my kids screamed out my name, but at the sound of it I pulled off my mask, almost falling to my knees as the children rushed forward. Tenhu was the first to get to me, his long legs almost making him jump with every step; Karla and Zai weren’t far behind him as they crashed into my arms.

They cried. I clutched them close, fingers grasping at the back of their heads as I leaned into the embrace. Iskt, Decimus and Zaisk reached me last and soon joined the hug pile as I tried to open my arms to embrace them all.

I’d known they were ok for most of the battle. I’d never sensed any of them being hurt or worse during the fighting, but the relief I felt at seeing them with my own eyes and touching them with my own hands was almost crippling in and of itself.

I swallowed down my tears, and opened my eyes when I felt the last person approach.

Vicky’s smile was gentle, but tremulous, tears lingering in her… eye. The ruin of torn flesh that was her right eye cast red tears down the right side of her face.

“Tell me I’m still pretty, honey.” She tried to joke, but I could sense the pain in her voice, the false bravado as we both recognized what had almost happened.

One inch. One inch to the left… and I would have lost her.

I extricated myself from the hug, forcing myself to my feet on exhausted legs as I marched forward.

“Do you know what happened with-”

I didn’t let her finish.

The kiss I gave was desperate, a confirmation to myself that she was alive, that she was here and with me. I felt the warmth of her blood touch my skin, followed by the touch of her tears on the other cheek.

Some of the kids gasped behind me, Zai’s hand’s smacking loudly against her own lips in shock, whispers breaking out amongst the surrounding Green Jedi. No doubt word would spread everywhere soon, but I didn’t care. If the Jedi had a fucking problem with it, it was their problem.

Vicky’s hands rose, trembling as they threaded through my hair. The brave face cracked for a moment before it reasserted itself. I could almost hear the faint whispers of apology echoing from beyond, through the voice of the Fragile One, before I pulled away, her forehead resting against mine.

“I’m ok.” She said and I could hear her choking down the sobs.  “I’m ok.”

Whether she was talking to me, the Fragile One, herself, or all of us, I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t care.

Percolating tears finally fell from my eyes, and I didn’t know what to say. Everykind of sentence was stuck in my throat: apologies, reassurances, promises. I couldn’t get the words out through shuddering breaths.

“I’m okay.” She repeated, her voice almost pleading for it to be true, or for me to believe her.

Someone else approached.

“Ma’am.” 853191417 said solemnly, his armor cracked and broken, thick layers of bacta slathered bandages covering his chest. He tried to salute but his body let him know it wasn’t a welcome gesture judging by his recoiling from the motion. “Comms are coming back up. Cor-Sec is confirming the enemy fleet is pulling back; Duros reinforcements and air support inbound.”

I nodded, hearing similar calls through what few comms were still active amongst the green Jedi around us

—

The fighting took another four hours.

The Duros had touched down with several thousand infantry, and heavy weapons. Air dominance was rapidly shifting in favor of the Corellians and Duros pilots, but even so, millions of droids took time to kill, even as diminished as they were with the absence of the Lucrehulks.

As such, the sun was already beginning to set by the time we returned to the ruins of the Jedi temple.

Strewn with the corpses of clones, droids, and Jedi, I was glad that I’d left the kids behind with a contingent of Cor-sec relief and rescue forces.

The Green Jedi took it the hardest.

That wasn’t a surprise. For all the Jedi professed detachment as a virtue, seeing your home so devastated… it would be hard on anyone.

Some fell to their knees, it wasn’t uncommon to see tears, or hear cries of pain as they discovered the corpse of what must’ve been a friend laying amongst the dead.

For myself, bugs couldn’t identify corpses. I held Vicky’s hand as we moved through the ruins. Familiar and unfamiliar faces staring up at us.

The six clones followed after us, grave in their silence, I could sense the bedlam of emotions running through them as they looked upon the bodies of their ‘brothers’. White armored bodies filled the spaces like lillies; stark and contrasting amidst the blood, and Jedi robes.

“No word?” I heard one of the clones ask- realizing he wasn’t exactly talking to any of us.

“No.” Another answered. “I… think we’re the only ones left.”

They were. I knew the truth of those words- but I couldn’t bring myself to confirm it. I couldn’t be that cruel.

‘

Two thousand clones had been standing in this temple less than six hours ago.

Now there were only six.

And the only reason they were even alive was because I needed someone to help guard my kids.

They’d died, almost to a man.

We made our way deeper into the temple, and the inner halls were no less corpse strewn, more than once we’d actually needed to use the force to… clear a path. Gently lifting or dragging bodies out of the way as we made our way deeper in.

“How many?” Vicky asked me, her voice a whisper.

“I lost count.” I answered just as softly. “But…” judging by the number of Sabers I’d been controlling in the temple grounds. “I think it was almost half.”

It was a sobering reality.

Many Knights and Masters had come to Corellia for the conclave, nearly a thousand.

The Jedi, even with recent expansions had few numbers to begin with. To lose so many, and for the losses to mostly be senior Knights and Masters…

The leadership of the order had damn near been decapitated here.

I heard the whispers through my bugs first, again, a sense of relief cutting through me as Master Plo approached, the Green Jedi that recognized him bowing in respect even as they struggled to contain their own emotions and retain their composure.

He was making his way inside from the north. It’d likely meet at the inner Council chambers.

Vicky sensed his presence, squeezing my hand in an almost reflexive gesture as she did.

The council chamber… was intact.

No droids had breached it.

A victory in a sense. As small, as insignificant as it was… I wondered if the green Jedi would see it that way, if they’d take some comfort in it.

The six clones fanned out around us, eyes on the entrance, guarding the door… guarding us.

Master Plo entered the chamber just a minute or two after we did. “Taylor-” I heard his breath catch, surprise and sharp worry cutting through his emotions. “Victoria.” He breathed out at the sight of her. Vicky’s grip tightened on my hand as she offered our teacher a small, sad smile.

“It's not as bad as it looks” She tried to assuage.

Master Plo stepped forward, if he noted our clasped hands he pretended not to. “There are many injured.” He said softly. “But I will see if Master Allie can aid you soon.”

“Others are worse off-”

“Let her try.” I interrupted, “If she can do it.” I swallowed thickly “Then let her try.”

Vicky didn’t speak, but she did nod.

The silence that hung between us all was a heavy crushing thing. The enormity of the last few hours becoming somehow… real.

It felt like the hours after an Endbrijnger battle from what I remembered. The shock, the pain, the realization of how bad things were, how much worse they could be.

“Where are the ones who escaped?” I asked, they were still out of my range.

“We decided to split up even further in the tunnels.” He explained. “Three groups. Just incase they pursued. “Many followed me, we emerged near Axial park.” He explained. “The others will emerge soon I trust; Cor-sec and Duro forces found us. They’re escorting the Padawans further away, Knights are joining clean up or rescue operations… There are thousands dead.” He shuddered. “Hundreds of thousands injured. Civilians.”

He shook his head. “Why?” He demanded. “Why do this!? It was…”

Cruel? Horrible?

I knew what he wanted to say. I could even answer him with that cold, detached logic of pragmatism that told me exactly why they’d targeted civilians in the way they had.

But I didn’t, I stayed quiet. Because the fact that I could answer bothered me.

“I know.” Vicky whispered instead, filling the silence.

…

Yeah. It definitely felt like the end of an Endbringer fight.

“What is the state of the Green Jedi?” He asked after a moment, seemingly trying to… distract himself.

“Devastated.” Vicky answered. “Less than a hundred are left.”

“By the Gods. Who… who is their ranking master?” He seemed almost afraid to ask

“I think they’re trying to figure that out.” Vicky winced. “There… aren’t any Green Jedi Masters left.”

The emotions that roiled within our teacher could very easily be called tortured, he almost visibly sagged, as though he’d been physically punched in the stomach.

“We must contact Coruscant.” He determined. “Master Yoda and Master Windu-” He breathed. “They will…” He trailed off, as if realizing that no, Master Yoda and Windu wouldn’t necessarily know what to do here.

He shook his head.

“It’ll be ok Master.” Vicky said, her hand reaching out to rest on his shoulder.

He reached for it, clawed fingers wrapping around hers in gratitude.

He turned, looking towards the clone troopers.

“Clones.” He called gently. “Which of you is the ranking trooper.”

Each of the clones looked to each other before they collectively settled on 853191417.

The trooper with a blaster gouge along the ridge of his helmet; his breastplate pitted and scarred. It was almost a miracle he was alive too.

He  looked at his brothers with clear, befuddled surprise. “Guess I am?” He shrugged. “Our CO’s standing right there though.” He gestured.

It took a half second to realize he’d gestured at me, finding myself having a similar experience to him from just a second earlier as Vicky and Plo turned their heads to look at me.

I blinked. “Pardon?”

853191417 shrugged… very loudly. “You gave us orders… and if I’m guessing things right your Jedi tricks helped keep us alive down in those tunnels. If… well… if I get the luxury of choosing my CO ma’am- it’d be you.”

I… wasn’t really sure what to say to that.

Vicky leaned over, whispering in my ear.

“Technically they’re ten years old right? You are a creche master.” She smiled just a bit; But a smile nevertheless.

It was so good to see her smile; so good I couldn't even pretend to be annoyed at the joke at my expense like I usually did in our games.

One inch… just a single inch-

I squeezed her hand tightly, she squeezed back, reassuring each other that yes… we were both here.

Then, I looked back at the clone.

I opened my mouth… then closed it.

Finally; I offered a helpless shrug. “If that’s the case- then first things first. We’re giving you all names. Fair to say; you’ve earned them.”

(X)(X)(X)

Ok so this one was short, a bit of a palate cleanser if you will, going over the immediate aftermath of the battle itself and the most immediately proximate parties involved. And we will continue to see the "ripples" outward from here, Next chapter we'll see the Temple Jedi and Mandalore, then the wider Republic/Galaxy and so on. I figured this was the more 'organic way' of doing it rather than just lumping everything together.

Now for the pleasant surprise I mentioned last chapter-

You all get to vote on the names of Taylor's six man squad of clones :D

And to be clear this is *going to be* her personal Six man Squad of clones That means all the roles you'd typically see in a squad are being "filled out"

Squad Leader, Medic, Close assault, Sniper, Heavy Weapons/Demolition and Comms/tech/slicing if that affects your naming conventions at all.

I will be making a preliminary poll very soon atm I have two "groups" of naming categories for the Clones

A) Old Earth "Heroes" (Achiles, Hector, Lu Bu that sort of thing)
B) The Undersiders/Boston Wards from Taylor's memories.
C) Spiders from earth. Trapper, Wolf, Goliath, Hawk etc.

If there are other suggestions feel free to post them cause the most popular suggestions get the last two spots on the Poll :D

If you'd like to discuss potential options in the discord for a more fluid discussion with myself and others here's the link for that

https://discord.gg/PuavXdwG