"How long will you be gone?" Nerian winced upon hearing these words.
"I won't lie to you Granin, I'll probably be gone a while." Nerian said as he continued to pack his bag for his journey to the frontlines.
Granin couldn't help but frown, his father was all he had left ever since his mother died in the Battle of Korriban.
"You're old enough to take care of yourself now, I've taught you everything I know" Nerian said as closed his briefcase."Ben's a good man, he'll keep you busy while I'm gone." Those words didn't help Granin feel any better.
"I just don't see why you have to go. I mean, the Republic did fine without you when you left the first time, so I doubt it will fall apart without you now." Nerian sighed knowing that no matter what he said, Granin would not accept his decision to go back to the military.
"Son, this isn't about the Republic, it's about what's right. The Republic claims to have the peoples best interests in mind, but in this war thousands of people are going to be caught in the crossfire, and I know that the Republic won't do anything to stop it. This war is going to be the most violent war since the Jedi Civil War. The Empire has come back stronger than it's ever been to topple the Republic, and the Republic is going to do everything in its power to ensure it's victorious and they will not care about the collateral damage. I may not be able to change to whole Republic but somebody has to try and protect those who can't protect themselves and if I don't step up then who knows if anybody else will?"
Granin sat down and watched his father gather the last of his things but Nerian could see the concern on Granin's face. "Granin, I'm not doing this for the Republic, for all I know they could be today's savior and tomorrows dictator. being a soldier isn't about following orders and protecting anybodies ideology, it's about protecting the innocent." Granin shot his father a confused look. "You saying you'd turn to the Empire the minute you're ordered to kill a civilian?"
Nerian paused and looked out at the all the buildings shining in the night sky of Coruscant and at Republic banners hanging on the side of Senate Tower outside their apartment window. "That might be a little extreme. I was born into the Republic but I believe that every soldier should be prepared to abandon his beliefs for the greater good. Maybe one day, if you join the military, you'll understand."
"Now," Nerian said as he gathered all his bags "I have to leave. The transport to Carrik Station leaves in 15 minutes. But before I go I want you to-" Nerain was interrupted by the deafening sound of machinery, Granin covered his ears his ears trying to figure out where the noise was coming from, when everything around started getting dragged away as the noise got even louder to point of agony, and he came back to reality
Granin awoke inside the noisy hull of a Republic troop transport en route to a hidden Imperial listening post on the jungle world of Felucia. While rubbing his eyes he caught the attention of Cpt. Jace Malcolm, a legend among the Republic military.
"You alright soldier?" Malcolm asked, leaning forward to look him in the eye. "Yeah, just fell asleep" replied Granin. Jace chuckled at his reply "I understand this is your first mission in command of your own unit, nervous?" Granin nodded in reply "Yeah..."
Granin was extremely nervous. He'd been in military for only 3 years and normally they wouldn't have considered a man as fresh as himself to lead a squad, but the nine years the war had raged on took a toll on the Republic's forces. The death toll had risen to unthinkable heights in the last 2 years, claiming the live of thousands, including his father, Nerian.
When the Empire began attacking the planet of Taris, the Republic ordered that all settlers be evacuated back to Republic space so they didn't get caught in the middle of the ground battle when the Empire landed. But while they were taking off an Imperial blockade cut off their escape route, forcing the transports to either turn back or try to push through. Nerian decided that it was his duty as a soldier to ensure that the refugees made it off planet safely, and flew his transport directly into the Imperial strike force, crashing it into the flagship and crippling it which bought the other transports enough time to escape.
Granin remembered the day the Republic broke the news too him. He was at work in Ben's mechanic shop in the upper levels of Coruscant, and Ben was working on some "vintage" Czerka landspeeder from the Civil War, when two men wearing Republic Officers uniforms came to the counter.
"I'm sorry we don't do work on military speeders" Granin told them "But if you want I would be more than happy to direct to a friend of ours in the Galactic Market sector" The two men shot each other very sad looks and turned back to Granin "Are you Granin Peacewalker?" the first man asked "We have news about your father..."
Granin became uneasy and upon hearing mention of Nerian, Ben came to the counter. "Is something wrong gentlemen?" Be asked. "We'll try to be as gentle as possible, sir" the second man said taking off his hat. "Nerian Peacewalker was killed in action yesterday while escorting a group of refugees from the planet Taris." Granin could feel the tears welling up in his eyes upon hearing these words, he lost his mother in the first days of the war, during the Battle of Korriban. she was on the orbital station when the Empire returned and only a handful of people survived their attack. Now he'd lost his father, and it seemed like there was nothing left in the galaxy for Granin to care about.
He went to Republic Military Academy 6 months later at the age of 22. By that time the war had been going for only about 5 years, but he knew it was going to rage on for a long time. using the techniques his father taught him when he was 17, he passed his peers in the academy with flying colors and found himself in the service of a special forces squad by the age of 23. after 3 years of exceptional service, and the loss of men far better fit for command, Granin found himself in control of his own five man squad.
"Alright" Malcolm raised his voice to get everyone's attention "let's go over our mission one more time before we get there. our target is a hidden Imperial listening post uncovered by the SIS. We're here under orders from Jedi Master Arrenos Talis. Our mission is to move up on the sight and neutralize all personnel inside the facility and keep it broadcasting the all clear signal. When we enter the base. we'll split up into two teams, I will lead Alpha team and Lieutenant Granin here will lead Bravo team. we'll enter the base and split up, Alpha team will assault the east wing while Bravo team assaults the west wing, we take them out before they can trip the alarm and before anyone realizes whats happening. Afterward we will secure the sight until an SIS transport arrives to send agents to move in and try to get as much intel out of the Imperial database as possible. Any questions?"
one man raised his hand "yeah, why would the Imperials bother setting up on a planet like this? It's nothing but jungle as far as the eye can see and the native wild life will leave you in pieces if you let em' get close."
Malcom shrugged saying "Who knows why they're here. it is an odd planet to set up a listening post, I'll admit. I dont know what they think they'll hear all the way out here."
While he was speaking the transport driver triggered the red warning lights, signaling that they were within 50 meters of their destination. Granin grabbed his rifle and prepared himself for the mission ahead.
The transport bay opened revealing the lush plant life of Felucia glimmering in the moonlight, the trees were towering over them and the brush was wet with morning dew. Looking around all anybody could see was jungle and mountains, no sign of the native wildlife though. Granin stepped out of the transport onto the muddy planets surface with his squad following closely.
Malcolm looked around at the jungle surrounding them, saying "The jungle will proving good cover as we make our way to the base, try to keep an eye out for it, it'll be easy to miss in this mess." Malcolm started to march forward but stopped and turned around to face everyone. "And before I forget, if you see any movement you call it out! You hear me?"
one trooper spoke up saying "Sir, with all due respect, I doubt the Imperials will have people out patrolling the jungle at night. As far as they know, their base is still a secret."
Malcolm sighed at the troopers remark, grimly saying "It's not the Imperials I'm worried about, Haven't you heard about the Acklay? Vicious creatures with armored hides? Capable of tearing a man to pieces in a matter of seconds? They run rampant on this planet, so if you see something moving you call it out!"
Both squads marched through the jungle for about 20 minutes when Granin spotted the bunker down the hill in front of them. Malcolm told everyone to lay down and pulled out a pair of binoculars and scouted the scene.
He spotted just two armed guards patrolling outside and motioned for his sniper to pick them off. The trooper drew his rifle and steadied it and took aim. He fired once and the first guard went down. "Nice shot!" said one of the troopers who got an aggravated glance from Malcolm for speaking too loudly. the second guard heard the shot but was killed before he could react.
Both teams got up and moved down the hill towards the entrance, Malcolm opened the front door and led them inside the bunker. Once inside Malcolm rallied his squad and led them to the east wing and motioned for Granin to take the west.
Both teams split up and Granin followed the main hallway to what seemed to be the communications room. Granin had his spotter make a count of the total hostiles in the room, nodding the man peered around the corner and spotted four men wearing officers stripes and three imperial troops.
After seeing the count Granin motioned for his squad to move in. the first shot rang through the air, hitting one of the officers in the head. The rest of his squad opened fire, dropping the troops before they could grasp the situation, the other two officers went for the alarm panels but were killed before they could reach them.
The last officer threw his hands up in surrender "Don't shoot! I'm unarmed!" the man yelled hoping to avoid the fate of his peers. Granin pointed his rifle at him and told his squad to secure the room when Malcolm entered the room with his squad.
"God job Lieutenant, we'll take it from here." Malcolm said, commending Granin on his work securing the room. One of the troopers pulled out a pair of handcuffs upon seeing the officer who had surrendered.
"What do we do with him?"Granin asked as the trooper put the cuffs on him "We keep a good eye on him till the SIS transport arrives, then we'll send him home with them. I'm sure they'll have a few questions to ask him."
The man panicked when he heard them mention the SIS. "The SIS?! No you can't send me to them please! They'll kill me!" Malcolm knelt down and looked the troubled Imperial in the eye "Well then, if you tell us everything you know I might be able to convince them to keep you in a nice prison cell on a military space station, far away from the SIS"
the man jumped at the offer, telling them about a second bunker hidden just a few miles to the north. "Do you really expect me to fall for that?" Malcolm laughed "If you already have this listening post out here, what would you need a second bunker for?" the officer insisted claiming it to a be a prison complex
"Imperial Intelligence takes people off the streets and takes them to a prison deep in the jungle. They use them as test subjects. Some for new uses of kolto treatment, others for new methods of interrogation. It's true, I'll take you there myself."
Malcolm stood up and walked away, ignoring the man's claims, but Granin wasn't as convinced as Malcolm was. thinking about what his father told him all those years ago before he left to join the military, Granin decided confront Jace on the matter. "Look, sir, I understand why you might be skeptical about his claims" Granin whispered, hoping that Malcolm would see the matter in the same light as himself "and I can't blame you, but if there is a chance that he's telling the truth... well it couldn't hurt to send a few men to check it out. I'll go myself if you want, but something like this can't just be ignored."
Malcolm looked Granin over and asked him why he cared so much about the ramblings of one frightened Imperial "My father told me that it's a soldiers duty to protect the innocent, so if they really do have imprisoned civilians then it's our job to help them."
Malcolm reluctantly agreed "Alright you have him lead you to this prison but when you find the prison, or if things start looking fishy you come back immediately, Understood?" Granin agreed to Malcolm's terms and motioned for his squad to follow him. He told the Imperial to stand up and had him lead them through the jungle towards the prison sight.
"How much farther" Granin asked asked as the Imperial continued to lead them further into jungle. "Just a little bit, we'll be there shortly" the Imperial replied. Sgt. Corvin, a fairly new recruit, approached Granin asking for permission to speak freely, which was granted
"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" Corvin asked "I get the feeling this guy's taking us for a ride. I mean if the SIS was able to find this secret listening post, you'd think they would have noticed a second bunker just a few miles nor-"
While Corvin was still speaking, a shot dropped one of Granin's men. "AMBUSH!" yelled a trooper as a Mandalorian death squad decended upon them. "TO ME!" Granin yelled motioning for his troops to form a defensive circle.
The Mandalorians surrounded them and started killing them off one by one when Granin yelled for them to take cover in the jungle. Granin and Corvin ran for the tree line, looking behind them they saw 2 of their comrades get decapitated by Mandalorian war blades. Granin and Corvin came to a trench a took cover in it, looking back to see if they were being pursued. Granin ducked back behind the trench and looked to Corvin.
"What the hell are Mandalorians doing here!?" Corvin whispered "Probably looking to test their survival skills in the wilds or something, I don't know!" Granin said in reply, when a vibroblade went through Corvin's forehead, spattering Granin with his blood.
Looking up, Granin was filled with terror as he saw the face of Mandalorian Commander Vorten Fett, a well known Mandalorian specializing in combat in extreme environments, who pulled him out of the trench and threw him against a tree. "you led your men admirably" Fett said "not everyone can keep a level head during a Mandalorian ambush."
Fett pulled out a small hunting knife cut Granin's right eye out. Screaming in pain Granin struggled to break free of Fetts grip, but he looked around and found himself surrounded by Fett's squad. Fett stabbed him in the stomach when he heard a war cry from the trees.
Jace Malcolm and his squad stormed out of the jungle, slaughtering a majority of Fett's forces. Fett, realizing that the Republic had the upper hand now, ordered his men to fall back. Granin looked up and saw Malcolm laying down suppressive fire, when he lowered his rifle to take a look at his wounds and he blacked out.
Granin woke up in the med bay of a Republic battlecruiser with bandages covering his stomach and the right side out his face. He groaned as he looked around the room when he saw Jace Malcolm sitting next to his bed.
"Hey soldier" Malcolm said with a slight smile "How are you feeling?"
Granin tried to sit up but was in to much pain to move. "In pain" Granin said. "It could have been a lot worse, you lucked out." said Malcolm
"The hemorrhage in your stomach was pretty bad but we managed to keep to stable long enough for a med evac to arrive. The doctors were able to stop the internal bleeding in your stomach before it got too bad, but your eye... there was nothing they could do about that"
Granin clenched his fist with anger and ran his fingers over the bandages on his face. "Fett's probably gonna make some kinda sick necklace of it, speaking of which did anyone else in my unit make it out?" Malcolm shook his head.
"I know how you must feel about this" Malcolm said "we've all lost friends in this war, but You shouldn't beat yourself up over it"
Granin tired to laugh but wound up cough up blood instead. "Shouldn't beat myself up? Jace, I led my whole team into a trap!" Granin winced in pain from raising his voice. "I watched as those Mandalorians butchered my whole team! I messed up!"
Jace looked him dead in the eye and said "You're right, It was your fault Granin, and there's no way around it. You have to accept that and try to move on. I've made my fair share of bad calls, hell, everyone who's ever had command of a unit has, even Nerian. But even though you made a bad call, you made it for the right reasons. you really are your fathers son." Granin was surprised to hear Jace mention his father and asked how he knew him.
"Because I knew your mother" Jace said "I was also on the Korriban orbital station when the Empire attacked. I was the one who had to break the news to your father, he didn't take it too well either. I was the one he contacted when he wanted to get back into the military, and I was there when Nerian almost got drummed out several times for disobeying direct orders from his superiors." Granin found the strength to sit up and said "He always told me that a soldier should be prepared to abandon his ideals for the 'greater good'"
Jace smiled and said "Your father was a good man, you take after him a lot more than you know, and that's a good thing. he was one of the most tenacious leaders I've ever seen, he refused to give up on anybody." Jace's smile slowly went away and he signed saying "In the end, it was his refusal to give up on those Tarisian settlers that got him killed."
Malcolm stood up and moved towards the door "Now, I have some bad news." Granin frowned, knowing what was coming next. "You followed your orders to the letter and showed exceptional leadership skills, and you made one bad call that could have happened to anybody. But because of that call, they're taking your rank away. So, Lieutenant Granin, you are now Corporal Granin. Try not to view this as a punishment though, try to a view it a second chance to prove yourself. You have what it takes to be a great leader, but before you can become a good leader, you need to see the horrors of war first hand."
"Now I have to go, duty calls. But think about what I said, and don't leave the army over this incident, we need more good men like you" Jace looked Granin over once more before leaving the room.