Prologue
How they ended, how it began
"My body will die, but I don't mind. I'll probably go to heaven, after all, there's such a good friend of mine and a good daughter to remember me whilst I'm gone. Oh, and by the way, how's Leo? I haven't heard from him ever since he went to Kuat to study ship-design, yes? -*Cough* I think it's only best that you give me some rest, nurses. After all *Cough, cough, cough*, my daughter and friend are c-c-c...coming in a few minutes, right?"
-Keans, a few minutes before his death
Keans lay in his bed on a med-center in Coruscant, looking towards the ceiling, trying to remember the good days of his life, gone like the autumn leaves. By now he'd grown accustomed to the constant 'beep...beep...beep' sound of his heart, and the chatter of the nurses, the robotic sounds of medical droids monitoring him. He knew he hadn't had much life left in his withered old body, he knew that he'd neared his end of the rope, but suddenly, there was a new sound in the room.
It was that of his daughter, a sweet feminine voice resembling his wife, who herself passed away two years ago. He looked towards the door, where two familiar faces with broad smiles waited for him to notice them. The other was the same as Keans, old, shriveled and wrinkled, holding two clutches in his elbows and a cybernetic leg made of durasteel that shone even in the dim light of the table-lamp beside Keans's bed, whose name he recalled after a few minutes. 'Rainer' flashed in his mind, along with his whole life with the man, going through high-and-low to achieve what they needed, and what they desired.
The two sat beside him on a chair, Rainer putting his clutches on the table beside the bed. Looking at the ailing old friend of his, he finally broke the silence. "Same old, same old, eh, Keans? You sure have grown, hell, you look like Yoda when he was young." Hearing this, Keans almost jumped from his bed. He let out a hearty laugh, only to end up coughing after a few seconds. Rainer eased him, patted him on the belly and helped him lay on the bed again. "Martha, my child...You've grown up to be so beautiful, just like your mother...If only she could have come today, if only..." Keans stopped to take a breath, then closed his eyes. Martha ran her hand along Keans's bald head, caressing his cheek before pulling back at the jawline.
Smiling like a Cheshire cat, Keans sensed some sort of darkness falling over his vision. Knowing what's next, Keans pulled him his sheet all the way over his head, and then turned over, facing opposite to Rainer and Martha. The 'beep...beep...beep..' continued. Rainer signaled Martha that he wanted to get up. Grabbing hold of his clutches, Martha helps him stand up, before comfortably positioning the clutches on both of his elbows. "It's best we leave him alone, for the moment, for the last..." Tears welled up in his eyes, as Martha helped him out of the door and across the hall. The elevator reached the third floor, when there was a long and flat 'beeeeeeeeppppppp...' heard from the room that held Keans, now no more...
The next day, Martha and Rainer stood arm-in-arm, as the New Republic Officer shouted to the gunmen, "Present arms!", "Aim!", "Fire!". All of the 21 blasters fired blank rounds into the skies, a sad theme played in the background. The firing continued for 3 more volleys, until it was time to launch away the body. Rainer opened up a sheet of paper, where his will was scribbled with a poor handwriting and a cheap ball-point pen, that read at the bottom "P.S, if I ever die, send me where Rainer's son died, at Fondor. Then atleast I'll be able to rest with my friend's blood", finishing with a big winking smiley-face at the bottom right corner.
A tear-drop fell on the paper, and Rainer folded up the sheet, pocketing it before taking out a handkerchief to wipe his sorrows away. The metal casket was launched from the ship towards the purple planet, shining brightly in the light of the Fondor star, with tall columns of black smoke from the Yuuzhan Vong's invasion still clearly visible. It was 34 years after the Battle of Yavin, 6 years after the Yuuzhan Vong War, where Rainer's son gave his own life in service to the Galactic Alliance and to save the galaxy from total control by the Yuuzhan Vong.
After the body was launched and the launch-door closed, all men and women present gave a salute. Rainer himself stood erect and gave a trembling and shaky salute, shouting "GOODBYE, OLD FRIEND!" at the top of his lungs. Martha, seemingly trying to calm him down, called for help from the audience. A few Alliance troopers held Rainer, while Martha explained him to calm down, for it's bad for his health to do such as stunt at this age. "He's MY best buddy from birth, and if this 'stunt' makes it easier for me to give my life and go to him early, then so be it!" After an hour or so of struggle with the old man, they managed to calm him down, only for him to cry his heart out and almost fall down crying. The whole episode ended with all the 40 sad faces leaving the room, some with tears in their eyes and some with a nostalgic feeling of Keans's company. An eerie silence fell over the room...