Tears started flowing down Ar’lissa’s face as the rifle slipped out of her numb hands and clattered to the ground, she shouted “Oh, no, no, NO!” as she raced over and then slid on her knees to Va’lana’s body, picking it and cradling it so Va’lana’s head was against her chest. She looked down at Va’lana’s eyes as the last of the red glow faded from them, “It was supposed to be on STUN, dam it! I can’t lose you again…not again.”
Ar’lissa, still crying, gently slid a gloved hand across Va’lana’s face, closing her eyes for the last time before just as gently setting Va’lana’s body back down on the stone floor. Her heart breaking and after everything she has gone through her will was finally starting to crumble as she meticulously laid out the body out in a peaceful pose, crossing Va’lana’s hands over her chest. She whispered, “What have I done?”
Still kneeling next to the body Ar’lissa pulled out her vibroblade and it hummed to life. She looked at it through tears for a moment before she flipped it around. Her shattered thoughts and will having retreated to something that was nearly hardwired into all Chiss who knew about the skywalkers, that it was a capital crime to kill one. She lowered her head in shame and grief as she raised the blade up high, preparing to plunge it into her chest.
