The Genesis Saga Chapter 209

After briefing the team on their new orders, Rann had ordered Tassie, Beor, and Eimir to take charge of procuring enough provisions to last at least half a year at the safe house. Her teammates were surprised by the amount of supplies Rann requested, but she didn’t want to take any chances. With the war in full swing, she couldn’t be certain when they would be able to safely resupply.

Rann now stood outside Jyn’s hospital room, waiting for Kell to let her in. The minutes stretched, each one feeling longer than the last, until finally, Kell opened the door and motioned for her to co in. She entered, her eyes scanning the room. Jyn’s room was a plain, standard hospital room with no extra furnishings apart from a bed and various dical equipnt. The white walls and ceiling were sterile and uninviting. The equally white curtains closed shut over the room’s only windows seed made to suck the joy out of living. Rann doubted such accommodations were what sobody fighting for their life needed to want to stay alive, so drab was the room.

Jyn sat upright in his bed at the far end of the room, the head of the bed having been raised to support him while he sat. The blank, despondent expression on his face worried Rann. His gaze never flicked towards her. It remained cented in place, unrecognizing of changes in its environnt.

Not a sound escaped Jyn’s lips. Rann studied her Captain carefully. He felt more like a vegetable now than when he was actually in a coma. Nessah’s. He’ll never be fine again, Nessah had said, the General’s earlier words roaring in the back of Rann’s mind as she beheld her friend. Jyn state of being was eerily reminiscent of Reya when she’d first woken up after being rescued.

Rann knew Reya might never return to the military, but the realization that the team would lose Jyn as well hit her like a ton of bricks. Her stomach turned at the thought. “Hi, Jyn,” Rann said tentatively, hoping dearly she would get a response.

Jyn didn’t so much as blink.

Rann frowned and turned to Kell after several seconds passed with no response. “How is he?” she asked the doctor. She wanted insight into just how unwell Jyn was.

“Not,” Kell said simply. “I’m not sure he’s aware you’re there,” he said sadly. “Or he is but just won’t respond,” he added. “I don’t know which is worse.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Rann asked.

“We believe it’s his mind that shut down after his exposure to the orange chemical,” Kell explained. “Physically, he’s fine. But as you can see, refuses to interact with anything.” Kell hesitated before continuing. “I saw the mont he woke up Rann,” he said. “He was all alone and broke down in a way I never thought I see anybody do. It was awful.”

Rann’s heart broke at the words. “Were you monitoring him remotely?” she asked.

Kell nodded. “I happened to be taking a break when it happened and saw the whole thing,” he said. “Jyn’s been in his current state ever since. I’m going to transfer him to the d bay soon and keep him confined there, under a constant watch while we’re in transit back to the safe house.” He proceeded to explain what he’d been told by Elder Orryn.

Rann sucked in a breath. “Has it happened to everybody that’s been injected?” she forced herself to ask.

“To those that outright survived the injection, yes,” Kell confird. “The gru’ul have been diluting their ammo containing the orange chemical. So far, those injected with a lower dose all survived the longest.”

“So there’s still a chance for Jyn?” Rann hoped.

“We don’t know what dose he was hit with,” Kell said grimly. “We have no way of knowing if or when he’ll try sothing.”

Rann’s brows knitted together. “What about Reya and Adrian?” she asked. “They haven’t tried anything to my knowledge.”

“They have each other and that helps them cope,” Kell said. “They know best what the experience was like and help each other work through it. I’m hoping they can do the sa with Jyn.”

“Do you really think Adrian is going to want to help Jyn at all?” Rann doubted. “Jyn hasn’t exactly been nice to him since we discovered him in the facility and brought him here.” That Adrian would go out of his way to comfort Jyn was alien to Rann. Rather, she felt it more likely that Adrian would relish in Jyn’s suffering.

Kell hesitated before answering. “I honestly don’t know,” he admitted. “But given that both he and Reya were once in Jyn’s shoes, perhaps Adrian might be more sympathetic than we believe.”

“And what exactly will they be able to do for Jyn? Just look at him!” Rann said, motioning towards Jyn, who still hadn’t given any signs of recognizing her presence or what was being discussed. He was still as much a vegetable as when she’d first entered the room.

“That will be up to them to figure out,” Kell said with a shrug. “We can ask them once we’re on the ship later.” A chi on Kell’s data slate interrupted the conversation and Kell went to go see what the notification was about. After reading it carefully, he said, “It appears that General Nessah has decided that it’s ti for Jyn to be moved to the ship’s d bay. This room needs to be freed up for other critically injured patients.”

“So soon?” Rann asked. “Jyn is hardly fit to move around right now.”

“I’ll get so help from a nurse,” Kell replied. “Together, we should be able to get him aboard the ship just fine. Are the supplies done being loaded?” he asked.

Rann checked in with the others for a status update. “Almost,” she confird. “That was surprisingly fast,” she said with a frown. She contacted Tassie again for the reason why. Tassie gave a brief explanation about how General Nessah had already prepared most of the supplies for them. All that was left to do was ensure the extra supplies that Rann had requested were accounted for and then they would be free to leave.

“Then let’s not tarry,” Kell said. He swiped at his data slate and called for a nurse to co help him transport Jyn to the ship. “I’ll handle it from here,” he intoned, giving Rann a level look.

Rann understood the hint. “I’ll go check on the ship and make sure we’re ready for takeoff,” she said awkwardly. Kell nodded and without further prompting from him, Rann made a quick exit from the room, leaving Kell and Jyn alone.

Kell focused his attention back on Jyn once Rann was gone. He eyed his patient critically. “Jyn,” Kell said carefully, “we’re going to put you in a hover chair and then bring you to the ship. Will you be able to do it on your own?” he asked.

Jyn remained mute, refusing to acknowledge Kell’s explanation. Even when the nurse arrived, Jyn didn’t so much as look at him.

Kell never got a response from Jyn and was forced to transport him without so much as a peep from his patient.

***

Thankfully, the car accident hadn’t resulted in any permanent damage. Reya thanked her lucky stars that modern dicine had been able to swiftly nd her broken bones. She still had so scrapes and bruises. But the doctors left them there to conserve their limited amount of dication. Reya didn’t mind, however.

Adrian had co back to her and that was all that mattered.

Though she could walk just fine, albeit on shaky feet, Adrian supported her the entire way to the ship, refusing to let her go. His touch was the balm that soothed Reya’s soul far more than her actual treatnts at the hospital.

In what felt like no ti at all, she and Adrian were aboard the bridge, joined by everybody else save for Jyn and Kell. Adrian had taken the ti to give a brief summary of how the rescue mission had gone from his point of view. Naturally, most of the details were missing, but Reya still learned the most crucial one.

Jyn had been shot with the orange chemical.

Despite all her frustration towards Jyn, she was shocked to her core that one of her friends had been forced to live the sa awful experience that she and Adrian had gone through. It broke her heart, for she understood the agony Jyn suffered.

It only made her hate the gru’ul all the more.

She and Adrian took a seat on the bridge, with Adrian sitting in Rann’s old spot. Rann was currently seated in the Captain’s chair, giving the order to take off and leave the main base. Ava, whose presence surprised Reya, occupied Kell’s seat.

Before she knew it, they were airborne and on their way back to the safe house. It would be a dangerous ride, and Rann ordered everybody to remain in their seats on the off chance they encountered the enemy. Though they would follow the sa convoluted flight route they normally took to go the safe house, Rann wasn’t taking any chances. She wanted everybody gathered in one spot.

Naturally, Kell and Jyn were an exception.

Once Tassie cleared the military’s controlled airspace, a quiet tension appeared. Everybody knew the risks the trip would entail. Rann eventually broke the silence and addressed the group. “We did it,” she said solemnly. “We survived the suicide mission, saved Adrian, sabotaged the gru’ul, and reunited the team.” She paused. “All it cost us was Jyn,” she said bitterly. “He’s alive, but not well. I took the ti to visit him before he was brought onto the ship and saw first-hand the state he was in. I won’t lie to you. It wasn’t pretty. Physically, he’s fine. But ntally, he’s not. Overall, we were lucky there weren’t more casualties among us,” she admitted. “Many brave soldiers gave their lives for the mission we survived. We owe it to them to rember them so that they may live on in our hearts. For without their sacrifice, none of us would be here today.”

Everybody remained silent while Rann gave her speech, not daring to interrupt her.

“When we arrive at the safe house, I want everyone to help monitor Jyn,” Rann continued. “High Command has inford that he’s at risk of hurting himself to cope. “Reya, Adrian,” she said earnestly, “please help Jyn overco his experience. The rest of us aren’t in the sa position as you two. We will never be able to fully empathize with what he went through and I fear our support will feel hollow.”

Reya and Adrian shared a knowing look. “Naturally,” Reya responded with a sad smile. “We won’t let him go through this alone. I don’t know how exactly we’ll be able to help him, but we’ll try our best.”

Rann looked towards Adrian in anticipation and he gave a slow nod. “Jyn and I may have our differences, but not even I ever wished upon him such suffering. I’m the reason he got so badly injured. I’ll do everything I can to help, although that’s only if Jyn allows it.”

Rann flashed a ghost of a smile. “That’s the best I could ask for,” she said. Her speech finished, she sat back in the command chair and carefully monitored their flight alongside Tassie. Nobody left the bridge during their ti in the air, and it was only many hours later that they arrived at their destination, safe and sound. Rann let loose a sigh of relief and imdiately ordered everybody to help unload so of the supplies. Adrian was no exception, and he helped the best he could.

Once everything was unloaded, all that was left to do was settle in for the first mont of peace the team had known in a long ti.

***

It was dawn of the second day since Jyn’s team’s return when Nessah ordered the Tribunal to et one last ti before their offensive. She waited patiently for the Elders to gather in their private eting rooms and appear before her. It was finally ti for the beginning of the end.

Darros was the last to arrive, though not by much. All the Elders were already on standby waiting for Nessah’s call. Once he appeared, Nessah addressed them all. “It is ti,” she announced. “Maraz and Darros have confird that our preparations are complete. Cyrix is on standby with the flagship that will depart with the rest of the fleet.”

“I can only hope we’ll be successful,” Orryn said sadly, fully aware of what success would an. The thought of condemning an entire species to the most horrific death possible still disturbed her greatly, but she knew they had no choice. It was kill or be killed, and right now her citizens were the ones dying in droves.

“We have no choice but to be,” Darros said grimly. “We’ll lose the war if we fail.” He let out a shaky breath. “I know I’m the one that suggested this, and though I maintain that it’s the best course of action we can take given the circumstances, I still do not wish for our soldiers to die as cannon fodder. They deserve better.” He lowered his head and sagged in his seat. “Perhaps we weren’t the best leaders our faction could have had during such a crisis,” he said, his voice thick with regret. “But we’re the ones who inherited this disaster. It’s up to us to see it through.”

“The civil governnt has been in total disarray since the war started,” Maraz said. “Frankly, it’s pretty much collapsed at this point, given the deaths of so many prominent figures during the course of the war. It’s a small blessing that they’re unable to intervene in our plans right now.”

Darros grimaced. “Unfortunately, I agree. Though we’re the highest form of authority in our faction, the civil governnt could have caused quite the headache if they’d wanted to. Luckily for us, we controlled all the weapons when we declared the war, so there was little they could do to stop us.”

“What happens to us after this?” Orryn asked quietly. “We sacrificed the lives of hundreds of millions of soldiers in a war that cost us over one billion casualties. We went digging where we weren’t supposed to and caused the chain of events that led to this. In a way, the war is entirely our fault.”

“We will answer for our cris should we live to see proper punishnt,” Nessah said. “But first, we must live. I will not address the public with the details of our plans, but I believe that a joint proclamation about the offensive after we’ve launched it is due. If only so that our citizens can understand that we’re not simply sitting idle and leaving them to die.”

“That’s going to suck,” Cirrus said, speaking up for the first ti. “People will be even less happy with us once they learn we’re sending away half of our forces. Forces that would’ve otherwise been spent protecting them.”

“They’ll be too busy surviving to do anything,” Nessah replied. A chi on her data slate confird to her that everything was ready. After relaying the information to the rest of the Tribunal, she contacted Cyrix directly. He answered imdiately, his figure appearing in the center of the room. “War Commander Cyrix,” Nessah said formally, “your final order for this war is to eliminate the enemy at all costs. You have been provided with weapons so terrible that history will believe us to be monsters for using them. Do you understand your mission?” she asked.

“I do, War Arbiter Nessah,” Cyrix replied. “I will be the sword that destroys our enemy once and for all.”

Nessah nodded. “Comnce the attack,” she ordered. Cyrix saluted and disappeared. In real ti, she and the rest of the Tribunal watched as their fleet took their positions and then disappeared into hyperspace towards their final destination. Once all the ships destined to die left Verilia’s controlled space, Nessah addressed the Tribunal one last ti. “Cyrix is our sword. It is now our turn to be the shield that will ensure our brave soldiers have a people to return to once they claim victory,” she declared. “You all know your tasks,” she said. “Now go and save our people.”