doodly-squat – Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh your reviews and insight are always so awesome, taken as they are from a fellow Kallus fan fic writer 😉 Thank you sweetie!

storyteller2899 – Kallus is like at least 83% guilt. And how far? Not sure. Probably going to break up the Seige of Lasan into quite a few parts, then tehre will be an aftermath of him recovering, the Senate will do an investigation, then probably him first volunteering to deal with another one of those fool lasats on Lothal, then probably wrap up at the Honorable Ones. Since that's when his story really comes full circle.

Killerkitty641 – Thanks sweetie! And no prob – short reviews are still reviews! XDDD

Ahsoka9613 – I WILL ALWAYS BE HARD ON KALLUS CUZ HE CAN TAKE IT BOI.

Nonnie – Thank you, and thanks for the background! I really need to rewatch more of Season 1

xCoatl – I feel sad for Kallus too though I don't know why that doesn't make me stop being so mean to him XDD

Lynn Friedman-kinsey- Ah, yes! Thank you for what you have done for veterans - it is definitely a difficult job that leaves the care taker just as scarred. I've had my share of stories to tell, and I've listened to my fair share as well. It's extremely difficult at times, which I think writing certainly helps ^_^

AU Writer Girl – KEEP FANGIRLING GIRL!

Eirian Erisdar – Hahahhaha yes the Empire is a calloused old bastard. See what I did there? 😉 OMG I've got to put that pun in this story somewhere now.

Animal Lover-Dream Writer – YOU CRIED!? Then ready your tissues cuz you're going to cry again! MWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *cough* haaaaaaaaaaa

Kallus tried to steady himself. The shuttle was buffeted by the atmosphere, some mild turbulence. The ride mimicked his emotions. Seemingly safe, contained, controlled, but the slightest movement threw everything into a fury.

He was only minutes from stepping foot on their planet.

Kallus tried to tell himself this wasn't about revenge, but even he couldn't fool himself.

"Remember, this is a search and rescue operation," the storm trooper captain was saying. Kallus had long ago gotten into the habit of forgetting names. "From the time we left Coruscant until now, the situation on Lasan has gotten worse. There are full scale riots going on in their capital. The first troops to land have been reduced in numbers, perhaps completely wiped out. But this is a rescue op. Our shuttle will land as close to the Imperial housing as we can get, and we will aid in the evacuation efforts. But intel has come back saying riots have targeted these areas."

"Then they're already dead," Kallus mumbled to himself, his eyes glazed over, unfocused. Seeing something that was no longer there.

He closed his eyes – winced, really – as his memory kicked into overdrive. Smells – things that he couldn't possibly be smelling for real, but which his brain seemed to think were real. Memories of that day long ago.

He shook his head, or perhaps it was the turbulence which shook him – either case, he was once again in the present.

"-here has dealt with the Lasat before," the storm trooper captain was saying. "Any advice, Agent Kallus?"

"Kill them," Kallus muttered. "Without mercy. They will have none for you."

And he winced again, as a cry echoed in his memory long ago. Please...

There was an uncomfortable silence, broken by the shuttle settling onto the planet surface.

"Troopers, on me," the captain shouted. "Create a perimeter. Agents, remember to tag each residence you enter once it's been cleared of Imperials. We don't want to check the same houses twice. Time will be our biggest enemy."

Kallus laughed sarcastically.

And then, grimly, the captain added, "Leave the bodies. Once the planet is secure we will send in teams to remove them. Our focus today is on the living."

With that cheery thought, the ramp began to drop.

It was a war zone.

Kallus had never truly been in a war. Plenty of skirmishes, but mostly small scale. Chasing smugglers, or pirates, or those involved in some high-stakes criminal activity. Kallus had become dead to those kinds of encounters.

He thought he'd made his heart calloused to it.

How very wrong he was.

Kallus's eyes took in all they could. Black smoke pumped into the sky over head. The smell of burning, of smoke and dust, of collapsed buildings… and even worse, the sharp, nauseating stench of bodies... burning. Kallus remembered that smell.

There were the sharp snaps of blaster fire, interspersed with screams – guttural animal sounds, the sounds of rage, of combat, of final lines being crossed, of death and the dying. Immediately the adrenaline started to kick in. It was not even fear – it was full-fledged panic.

Work through it.

Kallus was running before he realized it. Clutching his blaster, which experience had taught him was pointless in dealing with the Lasat. The storm troopers were soon lost behind him. A shout from yards back reached him, telling him to not over extend their line, but Kallus kept running.

He got to the first house, the door was smashed, half way collapsed into the abode. Kallus kicked it in the rest of the way, gasping to regain his breath.

"Is anyone in here?" he shouted, wincing at how high the pitch of his voice had gotten. "I'm an Imperial!"

He listened for a moment, waiting for a response. He took a step into the house, looking around. It was… more horrific than he could have imagined.

It was a house – a house that had a family in it. There were cups knocked over, as if those who lived here rushed away in a hurry. Toys… there were children here. Kallus felt his stomach twist. And those monsters had come in here?

Without meaning to, Kallus heard a scream – it sounded loud and real, but Kallus knew his memory was screaming to be recognized. To be acknowledged. To be relieved.

He shook his head, trying to focus. Again, he called out. And again he listened, desperate. He took another few steps into the house, and then felt his knees give out from underneath him.

A minute later he stumbled out of the house, his face deathly pale.

And he marked the frame of the door. The number three. In case anyone really was coming to claim the dead.

The run to the next house was surreal. He didn't feel anything – no emotions, no exhaustion. Like he was suddenly outside of his body, or watching what he was doing from somewhere else.

The next house, at least the door was still fixed.

"Anyone here?" he called out, and heard scrambling. "I'm an Imperial!"

There was a girl.

"Come here," Kallus said, opening up his arms. "Where's your parents?"

"They went to go fight," the girl said, her voice startling absent. Kallus waved her over, his heart rate kicking up a notch when he heard a screaming growl outside the door. A Lasat was close. The snaps of blaster fire – more growling. They didn't have time for this.

Kallus scooped up the girl in one arm, and was outside the next moment. He tried not to focus on the details – the fire erupting from the window of a house across the street, the sort of grotesque noises those Lasat beasts made. Kallus whipped his head around – terrified of seeing one, but just as scared at the thought of being chased down and killed while his back was turned… while he was attempting to rescue a little girl from the carnage…

What kind of monsters are these.

He ran as though he had a Lasat directly behind him.

"Lura!" a woman's panicked scream pierced the battle, Kallus turned to see a woman, a head wound bleeding profusely, running haltingly towards him.

"Mama!" the little girl screamed, too, Kallus wishing they would stop because it was causing his heart to stab his chest with each beat.

"Hurry!" Kallus said, once he'd delivered the girl to her mother's arms. They certainly weren't hurrying. He knew it was shock, but sympathy would get them killed. He grabbed onto the woman's arms, yanking her towards the awaiting shuttle.

His heart stopped so abruptly he actually had to paw at his chest.

The shuttle… was leaving.

"WAIT!" Kallus shouted, but of course that was absolutely pointless. The shuttle pilots certainly couldn't hear them, and now the girl was wailing in terror.

Kallus's face paled, his eyes wide. They reached the platform, and he was somewhat relieved that there were others waiting too. Other injured civilians, other agents. Nearly everyone looking up at the shuttle. Kallus could read the looks on those faces – they were all preparing themselves for death.

The sound of blasterfire opening up shook Kallus, turning, he saw them. For the first time in years, but the old terror came back as vicious as ever. But he was standing this time… this time he wouldn't let anyone down.

Raising his own blaster, he tried to take aim, his hands shaking.

They're counting on you!

With the first pull of the trigger, the terror left him. This was vengeance… this was justice. And suddenly everything fell into place. It felt right.

He tried to block out the screams of the others who were waiting, but just as quickly as his own fear had left, it was starting to creep back. There had to at least be a dozen of them – it was hard for Kallus to focus. And the volley of blaster fire the Imperials flung at them barely put a dent in their ranks.

Kallus calmly kept his eyes on his sights, aiming for vital points… but as the beast he was aiming for got closer, somehow still rushing them after it took hit after hit after hit. Kallus pulled his face back from his sights, shooting wildly. And finally it fell. Kallus felt his heart rate climbing again.

The Imperials, stranded on a landing platform, had barely survived a couple of these monsters. Kallus looked around – the faces of the innocent, they were all the vacant kind of surrender that was common of those who knew they were simply dead men walking.

No.

Desperately looking around for a solution, seeing nothing. Trapped. And the images flooded Kallus's mind – they would be hunted down, one by one. Mutilated, tortured. Killed by animals who would laugh with joy.

NO.

There were more coming, more emerging from the smoke and the fire. Kallus set his feet firmly on the ground, anchoring himself before the innocent. If he was going to die, at least it would be like this. Standing.

"There's another transport," a storm trooper nearby said to one of his fellow troopers. "Over there, leaving the palace."

And the fellow trooper, raised a disrupter, shooting it, the energized bolt screaming across the sky and struck the starship. Kallus felt his heart soar.

"The disrupters, how many do we have?" Kallus stammered, his voice once again pathetically high pitched.

"At least twen-"

Kallus cut him off, "Use them on those Lasat!"

"But… these…. They're for machines."

"USE THEM OR WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!"

The Lasat were fast - nearly upon them – when the first one was hit with a disruptor. And Kallus didn't even try to deny the emotion. The screams – the agony – it hit Kallus as a wave of relief. They'd found something that turned the tide. They had the upper hand now.

He craned his neck upwards, watching the star destroyer high above them, barely visible through the blue of the sky. Waiting… the shuttle should be returning.

Apologies for the writing of this chapter – I know it's pretty sloppy. This one was a tough one to write. Next chapter – the Seige of Lasan… continued.