Castle of Glass
Coruscant, Immediately Post-Invasion
"No."
The whispered word was more prayer than protest, desperation rolling from Brennus' split and bloody lip as he cradled the limp, broken form of a Kel Dor Jedi Knight. It wasn't real, everything around him was a nightmare, if he closed his eyes he'd be back in his bunk and Thoril would be knocking on the door to wake him instead of lying in pieces against him. Brennus forced his eyes closed, stifling the stinging flow of salty tears over fresh scrapes, but as much as he pleaded, the world around him did not melt away.
Rescue teams zipped overhead through curling black smoke, their bacta-laden dropships rushing to deliver life-saving aid to those who could still benefit from it. They'd landed and then left a few minutes before, taking the still living troopers and residents from the decimated apartment complex the Imperials had turned into a battleground, they'd even taken the prisoners. They hadn't taken Thoril though, they knew it was already too late, and they'd given up trying to pry Brennus from him. They'd send one of Brennus' own kind to get him when they could.
The Padawan rocked back and forth, his master's corpse moving unnaturally in his arms as he tried to will away the tears, to suppress his anger at the thought of the prisoners, to force himself to act as a Jedi ought. But he couldn't. Brennus felt his body seize as he choked out a sob, anger and grief warring for dominance inside his mind. He was no Jedi in that moment, just a boy robbed of a mentor and friend, no- a brother.
"No." Bren whispered again, to nothing and no one.