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They searched methodically through the half-destroyed buildings.
Anakin's heart grew heavy as he kicked through the debris of ordinary lives. A pot, battered and black. A boot. A scorched roll of bedding. A toy.
There's not much to a life, when you think about it, Anakin considered. As a boy on Tatooine he had longed for nice things, expensive things, for his mother. Once a space merchant had come through the slave hovels with fabric for sale. He remembered how Shmi's hand had lingered on a rich piece of cloth. He remembered the color, a luxurious ruby. He remembered how it burned inside him that he was unable to buy it for her.
How he had vowed that someday he would…
I won't think of it. Focus.
Darra stood frozen. She gazed down at a tiny crib. A scorched piece of linen trailed on the floor.
"Darra." Soara's usually brusque voice was soft. "Come along."
They moved through to the next house. It had suffered a direct hit.
There was only rubble. Anakin could hear Darra's slow, even breaths beside him. He knew she was concentrating on her breath, slowing it down, trying to focus. Anakin also felt disturbed. It was as though his nightmare went on.
They walked back onto the street and stopped in front of the next building. Obi-Wan and Soara exchanged a glance. Anakin reached out to the Force. It always took him just a beat slower than Obi-Wan to feel it. The Living Force was here.
Obi-Wan headed left, Soara to the right. With a glance, they ordered their Padawans to follow.
Soara went first, headed through the doorway like shimmersilk. She was known for her grace and flowing movements. Obi-Wan followed, keeping to Soara's left. Anakin and Darra stepped through.
The building had once been a cafc. A long counter was charred and blackened. Some tables and chairs remained, but most had been splintered and blown apart. A very large round oven sat in the middle of the room, the size of a small landspeeder. It had been vented through the roof by a stone chimney. The chimney lay in ruins around them.
A rusty metal door swung on one hinge on the oven. Soara and Obi-Wan fa
Soara bent over and gently moved the oven door. There was a muffled gasp. A small rustle of movement.
"Don't be afraid," Soara said. "We are Jedi."
"Prove it." The voice was male and wobbled a bit, fear disguised as bravado.
In a movement so fast Anakin could have blinked and missed it, Soara unsheathed her lightsaber, activated it, and held up the glowing beam in front of the open oven door.
"Thank the stars and galaxies," the voice breathed.
A face smeared with ashes poked out from the open door. "Needless to say, it is good to see you. I am Dr. Fort Turan. Space geologist. Head of the mission. Objective is the study of the effects of volcanic activity…"
A shoulder poked out, and then an arm.
".. on planetary atmospherics… oof.." Dr. Fort Turan tried to wiggle his ample body through the small space."… within a scale three system."
The rest of Dr. Fort Turan popped out. Despite a torn tunic and a nasty scrape on one cheek, he beamed at the Jedi. "Now, meet my team."
A blue-ski
Joveh D'a Alin slid out. Another face appeared. It was another human male, this one smiling broadly. His hair was caked with dirt and stuck straight up, and his brown eyes were warm. "Dr. Tic Verdun. Practical theorist, planetary origins. Very glad to make your acquaintance. For a moment we feared we would be roasted alive."
The next scientist to emerge was a Bothan named Reug Yucon, "special training in atmospherics, trans-system and galactic." Then a slender Alderaan female named Talie Heathe, an oceanic specialist.
Dr. Fort Turan rubbed his hands together. "So. Shall we retire to your transport? The sooner we're off this planet the better."
"We can leave right away," Obi-Wan said. "We're about eight kilometers away."
Dr. Fort Turan's face fell. "Eight kilometers? So far?" "You have speeders?" Reug Yucon asked.
"No," Obi-Wan said. "Speeders would attract too much attention. We have to walk."
"That will take a long time," Joveh D'a Alin said, concerned. "We had hoped…"
Tic Verdun looked at his fellow scientists. He tried to appear cheerful. "Not so far. And we have the protection of the Jedi now. It's a fine night for a walk, I'd say."
Talie Heathe picked up on Tic Verdun's attempt to cheer them. "But let the Jedi lead, Tic. You've done enough for us."
"Tic has saved our lives many times over," Fort Turan said. "He's scouted ahead and kept us moving away from the soldiers."
"He did a good job," Obi-Wan said. "You stayed alive. But the battle is close now. We'll be walking in the opposite direction. We should be able to make good time."
"We have provisions for you," Soara said, reaching into her survival pack.
Quickly, the Jedi shared water and protein cubes with the scientists.
They looked a little better when they had finished.
A pale pink moon was rising as they left the village and entered the forest. The shelling had stopped, and the area was eerily quiet. The faint hazy light of the moon barely penetrated the thick trees. They did not dare risk a glow rod.
They walked for several hours. Soara kept track of their progress with her datapad map. "We're making good time," she murmured to Obi-Wan.
"Another kilometer and we can turn and head south."
Anakin smelled the battle before he sensed it. He breathed in and smelled smoke and fire and death. Ahead, Obi-Wan and Soara had stopped.
Darra drew a ragged breath.
The scientists had smelled and sensed nothing. They continued to walk until Obi-Wan held up a hand to stop them.
"Slowly," he murmured.
They walked, making no sound. In a few minutes Anakin could see that the light through the trees ahead had changed slightly. The smell was worse now. The wind brought it to him, and it smelled like something in a dark dream.
"The forest ahead," Soara said. "It's gone. Burned." "They must have fought closer than we'd thought," Obi-Wan observed.