Order 66

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut passed out early this evening. The masters are relentless in his martial training, never allowing him to decide all is 'good enough'. That, on top of taking on training the younger acolytes despite his protests leads to quite a lot of bruising and a worn-out Chirrut at the end of the day.

Most would say this is a good thing.

The midnight bells had just chimed when Chirrut sits bolt-upright in his bed, screaming loud enough to wake the dead.

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[iprotectyou]

"Chirrut!" Baze says, falling out of bed in his haste to comfort his friend. The older Guardian scrambles to Chirrut's bedside, taking him into Baze's arms and holding on tight. "Chirrut, what's wrong? I'm here. You're safe. Everything will be okay."

[idontneedluck]

All across the temple, variations of the scene break out - some screaming as if the world was ending, some inexplicably crying, some feeling as if something was desperately wrong. Alarms and running footsteps in the hall further add to the chaos. Chirrut latches on to Baze like a drowning man, his muscles rigid with terror.

"The Force... the Force is screaming." He gasps. "Make them stop, please make them stop."

[iprotectyou]

Baze clings to Chirrut, rubbing his back. "Ssh, you'll be all right," Baze says, his eyes wide and his mouth dry. He licks his lips. "What's going on?"

[idontneedluck]

"I don't know. I don't..." His answer devolves into babbling, and then into a wild grieving keening, Baze's robes caught tight in his hands.

At the doorway Master Sheotar appears, looking harried. When she sees Baze is already at Chirrut's side she nods as if satisfied, and hurries off again.

[iprotectyou]

Baze doesn't even notice Master Sheotar's appearance. He's focused on Chirrut, but is helpless to comfort his friend. Baze cleaves to him, pressing a kiss to his forehead and patting his back.

"Oh, Chirrut, Chirrut, I'm sorry," the older Guardian murmurs, knowing the younger man will be exhausted once the terror passes and his muscles go slack.

[idontneedluck]

It takes some time for Chirrut to calm. Almost in inverse, the temple seems to be ramping up for something - voices in the hall become louder, more forceful, and there's a sense of urgency entirely unheard of for this hour of the night.

No one comes to bother them - Sheotar has already spread the word that Chirrut was one of the effected, and Baze was at his side.

Minutes pass, and while Chirrut's grip doesn't loosen, the desperation in his frame weakens and fades.

"So many... Baze, so many, how?" The question is incoherent, but so is Chirrut's perception - he knows the Force is screaming, wounded, bleeding. There are gaps, bright stars gone throughout... everything, or so it seems. He has become used over the years to the low grinding rumble of the Force in wartime, but this...

This is so much worse.

[iprotectyou]

"What's happened?" Baze says, holding fast to his friend. He smooths a hand over Chirrut's hair, resting a meaty palm on the back of his neck. Baze draws the blankets around Chirrut's shoulders. "What's going on, Chirrut?"

[idontneedluck]

Normally Chirrut would be praying, if something hurt this badly. Not that it would lend him any special strength, but being able to feel a little more of the currents in the Force would be comforting, would give him something to lean on.

With the Force against him, Chirrut is lost. For once, he looks as helpless as some would erroneously label him.

"There is so much death." He leans heavily into Baze's hand, seeking warmth. "It is as if... someone has torn holes into the Force."

[iprotectyou]

"Oh," Baze says, and it's all he can think to say in the face of that statement. He presses his cheek to Chirrut's forehead and chafes his arms, trying to give him all the warmth Baze has. "We should watch the HoloNet. They'll have news we can rely on."

[idontneedluck]

Normally Chirrut would give Baze grief about his ability to watch anything, but for now he nods, silent. He tries to loosen his grip on Baze's robes... it proves harder than he would have believed. While he wants to know what caused this, the idea of losing contact makes panic flutter in his mind.

"Sorry, I..." He trails off again, shame and need and pain a hopeless tangle. Chirrut spends so much of his life being fiercely independent that he doesn't entirely know what to do with this.

[iprotectyou]

Baze gathers the helpless Chirrut into his arms again, pressing cheek to cheek. "Don't be," he says gruffly, grief thickening his voice. "It's okay. You're going to be okay. We can watch the 'net anytime. Whenever you're ready. We don't have to move just yet."

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut sighs in relief, taking the offered balm. He's not alone, and that is... that is the best thing, right now. He cannot imagine riding this out alone.

Reassured, he harnesses his habitual irritation at what others might see as weaknesses, and uses it to do his best to control his shaken nerves, to ignore the aching gaps across the universe.

"No, we need to know. I..." He stops, with a grimace. Then he swallows hard and sacrifices his pride to the greater good.

"I need help to get there. I can't focus."

[iprotectyou]

"Then I will help you," Baze says, his strong arms encircling his friend and holding him tight. The older Guardian stands up from the bed, making sure the blanket is tucked around Chirrut's shoulders before cupping his elbow. "Are you ready to walk?"

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut nods, holding himself firmly upright despite the urge to curl up and hide from whatever caused this waking nightmare.

"As I'll ever be." He tries, he does, to sense the echos and remember the pattern of the floor, but the Force is distracting. It rips at his ability to focus, leaving him turned-around and lost.

[iprotectyou]

Baze snakes an arm around Chirrut's shoulders, tugging him close. Together, they slowly make their way down to the stone common room, where many of the Guardians surround the temple's sole holoprojector. Whispers scatter about the room; many have tear-dust trailing down their faces.

Baze chases a young acolyte out of a seat and guides Chirrut to it, making sure the blanket doesn't slip off.

A grim-faced reporter on the holovid relays the news. "... Order 66, which started the destruction of the Jedi traitors, due to their contributions to the Clone Wars. Emperor Palpatine has declared a New Order, stating that the Jedi created a clone army without the approval of the Senate..."

[idontneedluck]

Heated commentary fills the room. Some are almost eager to believe the Jedi are traitors - grown too big, too militaristic, too far away from the will of the Force. Others refuse to believe that their brother order could fall so far, and question what right Palpatine has to name himself emperor. Other, quieter voices wonder just how far the designation of 'Jedi' will go - are the Force-sensitives here safe?

Chirrut, pale and still, gropingly reaches for Baze. With the Force and the temple in chaos, Baze is the rock he chooses to cling to.

[iprotectyou]

Baze takes Chirrut's hand and chafes it between his own, intending to keep him warm. The tide of opinion seems to slant towards the Guardians being in danger, and Base silently agrees. He itches to go pack his and Chirrut's things, to take his friend and flee across the galaxy to a place where the new Emperor will never find them.

"Chirrut," Baze whispers to the younger Guardian, kneading his shoulder. "Do you want to go back to our room?"

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut nods, unwilling to draw attention now that he has been lumped into a 'them'. With some time to acclimate his steps are surer now.

"Baze, they weren't traitors." He declares, low and fierce, once they are away from the others.

[iprotectyou]

Baze guides Chirrut to their room before the older Guardian responds, leading the younger one to the bed should he wish to sit down.

"I know they're not," Baze says eventually. "Traitors are often declared when someone comes into power, and that's what's happened. Their deaths were senseless."

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut sits down with a thump, frowning. All of this, all of the pain and confusion and worry... Senseless.

That almost hurts worse than the deaths themselves. All of that should mean something other than a political coup.

"Do you think they'll come to the temple? The Emperor's new troops?"

[iprotectyou]

Baze lets loose an explosive sigh. "I don't know," he admits, rubbing his temples. "I sure hope not. What will we do if they come? They'll probably try to kill us."

[idontneedluck]

"Probably." Chirrut agrees, his brow still creased. "But we cannot leave. Who would keep the lore, or protect the kyber, now that the Jedi are..." He leaves the last word off, because it's just too new.

"Pilgrims will still come. This new Empire will not change that."

[iprotectyou]

"Chirrut," Baze says, kneeling before his friend on the bed. The older Guardian takes the younger one's hands in his own. "We should leave. The kyber..."

He sighs again, gnawing on the inside of his cheek. "I don't want to risk your life."

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut frees one of his hands to feel the expression on Baze's face, his touch feather-light.

"Baze..." There is heavy reluctance in his tone. Reluctance, and stubbornness, and pride...

"If you will it." And his voice has gone hollow. He doesn't know what the right answer is, and right now Baze is his strength. "But I do not know who I am, if I am not a Guardian."

[iprotectyou]

Baze lowers his head, pressing his cheek into Chirrut's hand. "Yes. I know. If we leave, if we go to the Outer Rim territories, we might be safe," he says, his words halting and slow, as he chews over the problem. "But we'd be adrift. We'd have abandoned our posts. I don't know what to do."

[idontneedluck]

"I... I would stay." Chirrut admits, lowly. "I know the danger, and I would not risk you either. But this is our home, Baze. This is our home, and these are our people. I would not abandon them out of fear."

[iprotectyou]

"I won't leave you," Baze says fiercely, jerking his head up. His words are clipped and sharp, and drop one by one, like key pins in a lock. "They'll have to pry your hand out of my cold, dead fingers."

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut shudders at the mental image that brings up, his grip suddenly like steel around Baze's hand.

"If it does come to that, we will have joined the Force together." He cannot imagine surviving without Baze at his side. It just seems... wrong, after all of these years. "I can't just let you go wandering off on your own."

[iprotectyou]

Baze clings to Chirrut's hand, grasping at the warm palm and cooler fingers. "Then I'll face this threat by your side. Whatever may come, we'll see to it together."