Hangar and Garage

A hail from orbit. A shuttle descending after making clearances with the Safe Haven. Some small measure of hope had been rekindled within Bruce when he had learned of its pilot and point of origin: Joey Dionne of Deralia. So there were survivors of whatever massacre happened there. And yet, as Bruce stood at the foot of the shuttle's ramp, looking over the three gathered, he could only stare past them hopefully. After a moment, he, defeated, asked, "Is this it?"

The human man with straight hair that reached shoulders solemnly nodded, answering, "'Fraid so, boss."

Bruce looked over each of them. Joey Dionne, headstrong-yet-unorthodox Jedi Master, brash and direct... but his demeanor and silence said it all. Maggy Dawson, an optimistic young girl, but her soul spoke of turmoil and her expression was that of one who was lost. Shari Zel, a cheerful, outgoing Hapan girl who was inseparable from Maggy, but now she seemed only shocked and bitter.

Less than a tenth of the Academy's population now stood before Bruce as its only survivors. Artura, Damian, Tom Mark, the others... friends and comrades he'd known for more than a decade, some multiple... gone.

His hands curled into fists, but he barely managed to stabilize himself. Jacob was a traitor. He had known the others almost as long as Bruce had... and he'd helped destroy them. An old ally, turned foe. "The dark side is a vile trickster indeed..."

"I should have done him in myself!" Joey growled, his own fists clenched as he shook in place. "I don't care if I was outnumbered, but if I'd only been able to put down that rodder—"

"You're no good to us dead."

"Yeah? Nor's Jacob to his side! Oh, I'm sorry, 'Soku Ren'! Even if I went down, I could've taken one of their big men with me!"

Bruce wanted to retort, but Joey had a point. Sometimes, sacrifices were necessary, but as it stood, Bruce was just grateful one more survivor had made it free of the slaughter. But then he glanced at the two girls standing beside him... "You're wrong. Maggy and Shari would not have made it here were it not for your efforts."

Joey froze, neck slowly turning toward his young charges. He grit his teeth, then turned away, grimacing. "... fine. You got me. You're right. Not like her dad would've brought 'em."

"Joey, please, be sensitive."

"No." Surprisingly, the voice came from Maggy, whose expression had taken on one of both anger and betrayal. "He's right. Dad wanted to take me away, but he did it! He was the one who told them to attack the Jedi! He..." She trailed off as her expression contorted into sorrow before she threw herself at Shari, who held her friend close.

Frowning, Bruce looked at Joey incredulously, the latter only nodding, answering, "Hard to believe, but she's right. I don't get what happened, I didn't really have a chance to figure out, but some unidentified figure and one of our Jedi were seen making a ruckus in the city. ... as in the kind where people die. We got the blame for it and that—" He managed to stop himself; for all his disgust at the sheriff's actions, he didn't seem able to slander his name, at least in his daughter's presence. "... the sheriff loosed the hounds on us. There was little we could do. I got the girls and got out of there."

Bruce could infer the rest of the story. The three of them clearly needed rest, though whether they could find it so easily was... unlikely. "Let's not waste anymore time here. I'll provide you a place to stay, then get in contact with Aerandir immediately." The mention of Aerandir's name seemed to draw Maggy's attention, and a glimmer of hope could be seen in her eye. Right, Aerandir had been the one to introduce her to the Jedi in the first place, after rescuing her from a random act of violence... Hearing his name probably did great things for her psyche at the moment.

Bruce turned, leading the trio away from the hangar. On the way out, he, unsurprisingly, passed Janie and Hssan, who had been listening in. The pair had taken a liking to Bruce, especially after he had rescued them from the cougar attacks. Bruce only regarded them with nods as he continued onward to the Academy proper, the two children deciding to quietly follow behind them and see what else they could pick up on about their distraught new guests...