Narrator of The Galactic Alliance
THROUGH THE FIRE
A SECOND HYPERSPACE WAR STORY
FOLLOWING THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE MAW’S ATTACK ON JEDHA
As soon as their evacuation shuttle had touched down on the impressive Jedi station, Prosperity, medics and healers had swamped the hangar. Bacta patches, bandages, crystals, all sorts of medicines were being distributed amongst the new arrivals. Those who couldn’t walk further than the ship’s entryway were strapped to a gurney and trotted to the halls of healing.
“Sir, do you need this?” A woman in white asked, breaking through the cloud that had made his observation purely objective, unthinking. He moved his dark eyes from the swarms of people, soldiers, citizens, neighbours, friends, strangers, Jedi, to the batca patch being held out to him.
“N-no, thank you.”
She made a face that suggested he should have accepted the offer but didn’t force it on him. She simply moved on to the next person who might need assistance. There were many far worse than he. Physically worse, at least. His mind —
— was trembling. He hadn’t stopped shaking since he’d witnessed his girlfriend’s body crushed beneath one of the massive stone pillars that kept their shop upright. Her eyes had been soulless voids. The moment he’d called her name, and she hadn’t responded, and he’d seen where she’d been and no longer was, Rhugo had reeled backward and lost all sense of normalcy. The colour still hadn’t returned to his skin.
Jedha had long since been on the border of The Brotherhood, he should have been prepared to be brave.
“Rhugo?” A small voice asked, tugging on the hem of his sleeve. “You’re shaking.”
Blinking back to the present, the former shopkeeper looked down at his girlfriend’s son, wearing a discoloured blanket with a Starbird emblem stitched on it. It was ragged like it had seen war before. Maybe the threads themselves had survived the Third Imperial Civil War — from the frontlines. It was hideous, but… it was all they owned now. The boy beneath the fabric was only seven years old, and he’d had to..witness the end of everything he knew.
Rhugo’s face tightened with the grim reality of psychological trauma. He forced himself to look away from the dirt-stained youth and away at anything else. At neighbours, at soldiers, at everyone that had lost their homes. A loss that would be embedded in their core for years to come.
“Are you scared?”
His hands fidgeted, and he dropped to a knee and placed both palms on the shoulders of the little boy. Ruto’s shoulders.
Ruto’s gentle face mirrored Rhugo’s own trepidation, the innocence of his big, searching eyes clouded with the reality he’d just witnessed. He was probably trying to seek a way for this to be nothing more than a dream. Or a part of one of his spectacular imagination games. If Rhugo was a dishonest man, he would have lied. Feigned courage for the benefit of this child’s own resilience and fortitude in the face of the future.
So instead of lying, he said nothing and simply held Ruto in his arms. Distantly, in his silence, Rhugo promised retribution. They had survived, and thus far, survival was the premiere foray into the resilience and fortitude the future demanded.
“No.” He finally whispered. “Not scared, son. Angry.”
I
I HATE SAND
After their planet was ravaged by The Brotherhood of The Maw, several Alliance citizens have lost their homes, their history, their livelihoods.
Help the refugees from Jedha to situate themselves on Ponemah Terminal. Provide relief wherever and however you can to the citizens that survived the attack to the Holy Quarter. Some may be restless, riled up with belligerent emotion and confused, others may be broken and devastated while trying to navigate through loss.
II
PAY YOUR TITHES
PAY YOUR TITHES
Jedha saw conflict beyond The Brotherhood’s might. For the first time since the attack on Coruscant, The Senate, The Defense Force, and The Jedi acted as a united force against a common enemy.
Can the Jedi and those who condemned them on Coruscant put aside their differences and reconcile for a stronger response to The Brotherhood?
III
JEDHAMOUR GRIEVE
Jedha may be devastated, but it is not lost. It remains protected from The Brotherhood’s onslaught.
Some families and citizens are choosing to remain on their home planet, work with them to restore areas, establish medical sites, or purge any remaining Mawites.
Mercy only for those of The Alliance!
IV
BYOO
Do what you need to do to see your story through.
BYOO
Do what you need to do to see your story through.
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