Chapitre 3: Sacrifice
The blaring alarms in the gunship's cockpit dragged me out of my daze. We were still in Felucia's atmosphere, and it seemed the Separatists weren't going to let us leave so easily. From the viewports, I saw flashes of blue energy bolts shooting up from the jungle below—anti-aircraft fire. The ship shook violently, throwing me against the bulkhead.
"Brace for impact!" the pilot's voice crackled through the comms, and before I could react, the gunship jerked, alarms screeching as one of the energy bolts hit home. We spiraled downward, the jungle rushing up to meet us.
I gripped the railing tightly, trying to maintain control as the ship crashed into the thick foliage. Metal screeched against rock, trees snapped like twigs, and everything turned into a blur of green and red.
When the world stopped spinning, I lay on the floor of the gunship, dazed but alive. My visor was cracked, the HUD flickering, but I forced myself to stand. All I could hear was the creaking of the ship's hull and the groaning of wounded brothers. The others… were they even still alive?
"Roll call!" I shouted into the squad comms, hoping for a response.
"Lucky, here," came the first reply, followed by Spark, then Gear. They were alive. Thank the stars.
I stumbled over to the rear exit, which was half buried in the ground. The gunship was a wreck, but we had to get out before more droids showed up. I slammed the emergency release, and the door creaked open just enough for us to squeeze through.
Outside, the jungle loomed around us, the vibrant colors of the foliage almost mocking the destruction behind us. We were stranded, deep in Separatist territory, with no hope of reinforcements. The mission had been a success, but the cost kept rising. Tread was dead. Our ship was down. And we were alone.
I couldn't let it break me. Not now.
"We need to move," I said, my voice sounding steadier than I felt. "Get what you can carry from the wreck. We'll head east, see if we can reach the main Republic forces."
"Got it, Sarge," Gear muttered, already gathering what was left of the supplies. Lucky was working on the ship's comms, trying to get a signal through the interference that Felucia's dense jungle created. It was a long shot, but it was all we had.
I caught Spark looking at me—his usual light-heartedness replaced with something darker. He'd seen what had happened with Tread. He knew I'd lost control back there. I could see the doubt in his eyes, even if he didn't say it.
"Anything on comms, Lucky?" I asked, trying to focus on the task at hand.
"Negative, sir," Lucky replied, frustration clear in his voice. "Too much interference. We're cut off."
"Then we do it the hard way," I said, shouldering my blaster rifle. "Stay alert. This jungle isn't friendly."
The first few hours were grueling. Felucia was alive in a way that few other planets were. Every step we took, something moved in the shadows—whether it was the vibrant wildlife or something more dangerous, I wasn't sure. The heat was oppressive, making every breath inside the helmet feel like suffocation.
But I couldn't show weakness. Not now. I had to keep moving. Keep leading.
As we pressed through the jungle, I found myself thinking about Pax. He had led us with certainty, with confidence. But now, as the squad's lives rested in my hands, I realized how fragile that confidence could be. Leadership wasn't just about tactics or orders. It was about the weight of knowing that every decision could mean life or death for the brothers beside you.
A sudden rustle to our right brought me back to reality. I raised my fist, signaling the squad to halt. Blasters at the ready, we scanned the jungle around us. The foliage was thick, the vibrant colors of the plants making it hard to see anything clearly.
"Movement," Gear whispered, pointing to a patch of oversized ferns ahead. "Could be droids."
I nodded, signaling for them to fan out and flank whatever was waiting for us. We moved in silence, our training kicking in as we approached the potential threat.
But it wasn't droids.
As we moved closer, a group of local Felucians stepped out from the shadows. They were primitive, covered in tribal markings, their weapons crude but deadly. I had seen reports about them before—the locals didn't take kindly to outsiders, whether they were clones or droids.
For a moment, we stood in tense silence, neither side making a move. I raised a hand, trying to show that we meant no harm. The Felucians, however, didn't seem interested in peace.
"They're hostile!" Lucky shouted as the first spear flew through the air, narrowly missing him.
"Return fire!" I ordered, but even as we began to fire, I knew this wasn't going to end well. The Felucians had the advantage of terrain, and we were outnumbered.
Blaster fire filled the jungle as we tried to hold them back, but they were relentless, using the dense foliage to disappear and reappear before we could lock onto them. I fired at a figure darting through the trees, but my mind was elsewhere—searching for a way out, a way to keep my brothers alive.
We couldn't win this. Not without reinforcements, not here.
"Fall back!" I yelled. "We need to get out of here!"
We began to retreat, but the Felucians pressed harder, their spears and arrows cutting through the trees with terrifying accuracy. Gear took a hit to his arm, the crude arrow piercing his armor. He stumbled, and I rushed to help him, covering him as we pulled back through the thick foliage.
The jungle swallowed us up, and for a moment, the only sounds were our ragged breathing and the distant cries of the Felucians.
We made camp in a small clearing, far enough from the Felucians that we could catch our breath. I tended to Gear's wound, doing what I could with the limited supplies we had. The others sat in silence, the weight of the situation pressing down on us.
"We can't keep running," Spark said quietly, his voice laced with doubt. "We'll never make it out of here alive if we don't figure something out."
He wasn't wrong. We were trapped in a hostile jungle, cut off from the Republic, and surrounded by enemies. But I couldn't let them see my doubt. I had to be the leader they needed, even if I wasn't sure I could be.
"We'll make it," I said, forcing a confidence I didn't feel. "We'll find a way."
But as I looked around at the faces of my brothers, I knew one thing for certain: I couldn't afford to lose control again. Not here. Not now. Because if I did, it wouldn't just be me who paid the price.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone