Ask Bitter Peace

[Crix Aran]

Sometimes Crix wished that he had the wisdom of a Jedi Master.

He was self-aware enough to know that he had the skills to match a Jedi Master but he had never even considered putting himself forward for the actual rank because he knew it wasn't about skill or power. Being a Jedi Master was about having some wisdom to you that others could draw on, that would help make almost any situation better because... well because words of wisdom helped.

They'd helped see him through dark times.

But parroting the words said by others wouldn't make him wise and he knew it. He knew enough to know that he needed to try and find the words for himself but as he stood there, his right arm hanging limply at his side and his torso feeling like it was abuzz with static electricity? He couldn't think of anything to say. Turning to Emilia, he tried for a smile but a tired grimace was the best he could manage.

"You alright?"

He wasn't and the battle wasn't won but that would be something, right? Groaning in pain, he holstered his lightsabers at his belt with a light use of the Force before attempting to take a step away from the railing... almost immediately he found himself staggering, fumbling around in his pockets for the keys to his GX-1 transport.

@Lilith

 

[Emilia Vuth]

"Crix?" Emilia said, turning when she heard his voice. It was only at that moment that she became fully aware that her partner wasn't in the best of shape. One of his arms hung on his side in a way that she could tell something was very wrong. She'd been so focused on her target that she'd missed parts of his fight.

Without really thinking, the small sephi put her lightsaber hilt on her belt and brought Crix's shoto to her hand, before de igniting it too and also hooking it on her belt. After she made her way up the stairs towards her partner. The battle was still going on, though it seemed like the aggressors were retreating. Still, she tried to stay aware of the field once she got to his side, "I'm alright," she answered plainly, trying to keep her regular stoic voice and expression, even among all the chaos. It was harder than usual to maintain it.

She wasn't use to fighting with a partner, not since her master had gone missing. Emilia had become such a lone wolf that seeing Crix in this state, she wasn't sure what to feel. Well, she did, she felt something but she wanted to deny it. It was hard to see another Jedi hurt.

"Just hold on, alright? Let's get you some help," Emilia, said. If he let her, she'd help him get out whatever he was fumbling with and hold it for him. Which, turned out to be keys. After, she offered him to lean against her while he moved, wrapping an arm around him carefully while remaining as upright as possible. If she was being honest with herself, she wasn't sure where he wanted to go. They'd arrived on the planet in different ways, talked to different people, before meeting up. Emilia was so disconnected from the Order that Crix really was a stranger to her. "Where to?"

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

She was alright? Good. If she was alright then this hadn't been a total failure. Sure, they hadn't lost but they hadn't won either - a quick look around told him that both sides had paid a heavy price in blood and neither side had much to actually show for it. He wasn't sure how the Mandalorians might count that but as a Jedi he counted it as a loss - on a strategic level it wasn't a loss but it wasn't a win either, a stalemate. The only difference now would be how the locals responded.

He doubted they would be happy with having a butcher's bill this high with so little to show for it. It wasn't something he wanted to be known for but he had managed to survive yet another bloody battle that didn't even need to happen. Beginning to become a bit of a theme at this point he reckoned. Still, he wrapped his free arm around Emilia's shoulders and leaned on her with a hiss.

Yeah those ribs on the right hand side? One was definitely broken because it felt stabby just trying to breathe deeply.

"Parked my ship nearby at a public spaceport." he told her with a slow sigh, "Not registered as part of the Order's fleet so gives me less trouble."

As they started toward the spaceport, they would know that the fighting wasn't over elsewhere within the city as fires, plumes of smoke and screams of pain littered the air. He grimaced as he felt the emotions wash over him in the Force.

"They're going to take this as a sign that the Order failed them." he warned Emilia quietly, "Do you have a way off world? My ship can take us, my droid and crew can help us."

He wasn't sure how well Luxor and Sebastian were taking their landing pad being surrounded by a civil war but he would be sure to ask them.

@Lilith