"This is a dream. Wake up."

The mud sucked at her boots.

"Wake up!"

She went through all the motions. Charging out of the shuttle. Fighting the enemy in the rocks. Learning to flank.

"This isn't real, we've already done this. It's fake. Just wake up. Please."

Despite her pleas, her body continued acting out what happened on Randon. She drew the snipers' fire, helping her comrades kill them. Foster led her men on the mad dash to the comm tower. They depended on her to flank the enemy.

Meku's conscious self started to feel more and more fear. She knew what was coming, and knew that she couldn't avoid it. Her stubborn body wouldn't wake up. She was going to have to live through this again. She steeled herself, trying to prepare.

As in reality, she sensed the rocket hurtling towards her. Vibroblade followed on his jetpack, smashing her with his landing. Picking her up by her long hair. "Why do I even keep my hair this long? So stupid." Throwing her into the deep mud puddle. Kicking her in the face.

"No, no…"

Vibroblade straddled her on his knees. He wrapped his monstrous hands around her slender throat and squeezed. Meku couldn't breathe. Even in reality, Meku struggled in her bed, unable to draw breath.

"You can breathe! This is just a dream! Nobody is choking you for real!"

Conscious-Meku's cries fell on deaf ears as Dream-Meku's vision faded to black. She was reliving this moment, where she skirted the edge of death.

Flick.

Vibroblade's jetpack activated, shooting him into the unforgiving wall. This part should have relieved her, but it only made her more anxious because she knew what was coming next. She stood over Vibroblade, watching him pull the rocket from his shoulder pack. But something was off. He didn't have pale skin like her. His skin was dark and earthy.

"No…"

Dream-Meku didn't seem to notice, holding her lightsaber over her head, wavering. Unsure. As he loaded the rocket into his wrist launcher, she swung down and beheaded him with a bloodcurdling shriek. She could see the head that rolled away. It was Sakett's. Meku shook her head quickly, as if that movement could somehow change her vision. She looked again. The head was her own. It spoke.

"Congratulations, hero."

Meku sprung out of the covers with a scream. Her chest was heaving, she was in cold sweats. Almost instantly, she covered her mouth. She didn't want to wake her squadmates. Looking around, it seemed like she was mostly successful. Jimny and Oka slept like hibernating Reeks, snoring away. Luay slept silently.

Brax was sitting up in his bed, watching with concerned eyes. He was still wearing his sleep-cap; all Zabraks wore them to prevent their horns from ripping apart their pillows. Meku backed away until her back was to the wall, and then brought her legs up to her chest, cradling herself in her arms.

"Bad dream?" His voice was soothing. Meku said nothing, just nodding. Brax nodded back. "I understand. I'm so sorry."

"I should be sorry." Meku's voice was trembling. "I probably woke you up."

"Pish posh. I'm a dad, remember? Waking up in the middle of the night is nothing new to me." Meku nodded again, unsure what to say. Why did words always come so hard to her?

"Here, this might help." Brax turned in his bed, letting his legs hang off the side. He reached into his supply pack and pulled out a massive candy bar. "Is it okay if I walk over and give this to you?" She nodded.

Brax walked over slowly, gingerly. He extended his arm, holding the behemoth candy. Meku hesitated for a moment before taking it. "Thank you, Brax."

"I'd have those dreams too, you know. When I had my first really bad battle, a few months ago. I've been in that dark place. No one should ever go."

"I wish it didn't happen. I wish I was stronger."

"Nonsense. Everyone goes through it. Strong or weak. I'm sure even tough-as-nails manly-man over there has had his share of nightmares." He gestured to Jimny. Meku nodded, she could sometimes see the terrifying memories play out in his head, and feel his mind's efforts to suppress them again. She inhaled deeply, trying to center herself.

"This bar is delicious. You know how to pick 'em."

"I sure hope so. If I can't find a good candy bar, what kinda cruddy restaurateur would I be?" Meku giggled. She was thankful for him. For all of them, even the obtuse Jimny. She looked up, into Brax's eyes.

"Thank you. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for... thank you."

"It's nothing, Meku. I'm happy to-" He didn't get to finish the sentence before Meku planted a hug on him. He embraced her. His embrace was the warmest she'd ever had. "You should get some rest," Brax suggested.

"You should too. We've got patrol tomorrow."

"I will, after a little while."

"A little while?"

Brax gave a mischeivous smile. Meku sensed that he was up to no good. She cocked her head, prompting him to explain himself. Brax didn't say anything.

"Well, what is it?"

"You have to promise not to tell."

"Sir, yes sir," she punctuated her words with a salute. Brax smiled, rolled his eyes, and walked to his bed. He rustled through the covers and pulled out something delicate and dainty-looking. Meku had to strain her eyes to make out what it was.

"A flower crown?"

Brax looked very closely at Jimny before whispering back. "Been up making it. Gonna glue it to his helmet. See how long it takes mister manly-man to notice he looks like an Alderaanian schoolgirl on a summer holiday." Meku giggled, covering her mouth.

"You evil, evil man you." she shook her head in mock disappointment.

"Hey, he started this." Brax pointed an accusatory finger at the loudly snoring lump. "He put a tizronfruit in my back pocket once. I didn't notice and sat down, splat! My butt smelled like citrus for a week." The frustration was evident in his voice, and Meku could hear the echoing laughs of the squad grating in Brax's head.

"At last, you shall reveal yourself to the enemy. At last, you shall have revenge," Meku chided.

"Oh, I'm getting him back, that son of... an ion engine." Meku chuckled. Despite being in the Navy for months, Brax still censored himself like he was around his daughters.

"He's gonna kill you for this."

"Maybe, but he'll kill me while wearing flower crowns and that might just be worth it."

"Well here," Meku got out of bed, "you're tying it like a doofus. Let me see."

The two of them spent a few minutes putting the crown together, and sticking it to his helmet. Meku munched on the candy bar the entire time, talking in furtive whispers about where best to put it so Jimny wouldn't notice on his morning routine.

Meku slept much better the rest of the night.

The next morning, the squad donned their armor. Sergeant Jimny, in a hurry, didn't notice the crown when he donned his helmet. The rest of the squad kept quiet about it, eager to also see his reaction when he found out. Their first assignment was to investigate a theft of some liquor at the bar.

"The hell is that on your head, Jimny?" Keevo, the bartender, had a perplexed look as the squad approached.

"You drinkin' your own supply? Ain't never seen a helmet before?"

"No, you got flowers ON your helmet. Supporting some kinda pacifist cause or something? Fundraiser I haven't heard of?"

Jimny froze, his face furrowed in confusion. He took off his helmet while the rest of the squad held in their laughter.

"WHICH ONE OF YOU USELESS WOOKIEE-KISSIN' BOZOS DID THIS?" The squad and Keevo erupted into uncontrollable laughter.
"Oh, funny ain't it?" Jimny fumed. "All of you 'funny' gizka-brains are gonna scrub latrines till they bury you! Laugh now, but you'll never see the outside of a bathroom again! Y'all get plenty of time in there to work on yer crappy comedy."

His body movements were huge and bombastic, pointing fingers and waving enraged fists in the air. His sheer rage just caused the rest of them to laugh even harder, some even coughing and banging their fists on the bar. After a good bout of laughter, and many more threats to send everyone to latrine duty, the squad stepped back and tried to resume the investigation.

"So, you saw the guy run off with the bottle?"

"Yeah, he grabbed it off the counter when I turned around to get the mixer."

"Can you describe what he looked like?"

"Yeah, he-" Keevo paused as Jimny held up a hand in a 'stop' gesture. He and Meku were getting a signal on their comms. Commander Foster's voice crackled in their ears.

"Squad leaders and Jedi, report to briefing room immediately."

"36 here, ma'am," Jimny replied, "We're on patrol duty and investigating a theft. Is this critical?"

"Affirmative. Report forthwith."

"Copy." Jimny turned to Oka and pointed. "You take charge from here. She and I gotta report to Foster."

"Yes, sir!"

"As you can see, the 16th is on its way to Duro." Commander Foster's voice boomed in the briefing room, she was comfortable speaking in front of a crowd. The squad leaders sat or stood around a large HoloProjector, showing the planet and its orbital cities. The Holo zoomed in, and dozens of Republic ships were in orbit, barely holding off against a much larger Mandalorian fleet.

Meku looked around - the room was sparse. There should have been 80 squad leaders for the ship's 400 marines; there were less than half that. She noticed Neff with his flight leader. She hadn't spoken to him since before Randon, but he was always hanging around his fellow pilots anyway. "Just like me, I guess." She also noticed a few mercenaries, sitting in the back and looking at Foster with cold, calculating eyes. She sensed bloodlust and greed, and could hear "this is gonna be a nice, fat paycheck" in their minds.

She turned back to her commander. "The 9th and 11th fleets are engaging the enemy force, but they're overwhelmed and need reinforcements." She used a blaster's cleaning rod to point out the positions of the fleets. "That's where we come in," she pantomimed the direction of travel on the hologram, "we jump into sector 7-33. Marines, you'll be boarding an enemy ship."

Meku could feel Jimny's hot excitement, an animal straining at the leash, betrayed also by the slightest smile on his face. He was eager for some action. Meku's heart sped up a little as well, remembering the danger and intensity of Randon. Could someone truly learn to enjoy this?

"Our last intel report said this Kyramud-class battleship was cut off from the rest of the fleet." She zoomed in and pointed at the demonic-looking vessel. "Its marines aren't on board, they left to invade an orbital city. It should have minimal crew and they should be caught off guard."

Meku had a bad feeling on hearing that. She felt it wouldn't be an easy job in the slightest.

"It's imperative that we succeed. Revan is bringing in a second task force after we arrive, with fresh troops. If we can soften 'em up, Revan can destroy the fleet more easily and relieve the civilians. Clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am," the officers responded.

"Your objective will be to capture the battleship. Failing that, try to scuttle it. But get out alive; one enemy ship isn't worth the loss of 150 troops and a Jedi. We still need you to help stop the ground forces after you get off. Clear?"

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" The reply came automatically.

"Pilots!" Her voice was now aggressive and angry, she could tell Foster was bitter at having lost two Jedi and so many troops thanks to their recklessness earlier. "You are to escort the boarders. Do not get distracted, understood?"

Neff and the flight leader replied with quiet, humiliated tones.

"Bomber pilots, you've been armed with long-range Ion Torpedoes; go ahead of the boarders and hit that ship, disable its point-defense systems so they have a clear way in. Got it?"

"What about interception," the leader of the bomber squad asked.

"Intel tells us all enemy fighters have launched and are too busy dogfighting with our own. The path will be clear."

Meku put one hand on the top of her head. There was still so much to learn. "Scuttle? Point-defense? Dogfight? Why didn't they teach us these words in the Order? Why did they only teach us stupid things like philosophy and history? And how in the blazes are we supposed to take over that ship?"

If the hologram was to scale, that thing was massive, easily twice the size of the Hammerheads it was fighting. It looked like a hard-shelled insect that was hunched over, with a front head poking out from the abdomen. It bristled with weapons and other attachments. Armor plating, sensors, and antennae, all jutted out haphazardly from the ship, making it look cobbled-together.

"Everyone clear?" She paused to allow everyone to respond. "Then get to battle stations! I want pilots ready to launch and all marines in shuttles, we need to be ready to go the moment we jump in. Well? Get going!"

Meku and Jimny briskly jogged to their quarters to get ready. Soldiers were discouraged from running full speed in non-emergencies, to save their energy. Jimny radioed ahead to warn the squad of the situation. Meku let her curiosity get the better of her.

"Sir?"

"What?"

"What's 'point-defense' mean?"

"Ships' got two kinda lasers. Turbolasers are the big guns, they hit enemy capital ships. Point-defense cannons're for fighters, bombers, small fast stuff."

"What about 'scuttle?'"

"Means 'blow up,' kid."

"Why don't they just say 'blow up,' then?"

Jimny's face went blank. She always asked hard questions. "Ionno, it's just what we say. Why'd you put flowers on my helmet, you little nerf-herder?"

Meku had to suppress a giggle, but couldn't stop a big, stupid grin on her face. "I don't know what are these flowers of which you be speak."

"Yeah yeah, comedian. When we board, don't expect me to get you outta no hairy situations. If there's a buckethead straddlin' you like on Randon, I'm just gonna be like, 'good luck flower girl!'"

The goofy smile was wiped from her face in an instant. Jimny's face cringed, and she could hear his thoughts of "Shit! No, waaaay too soon to make that joke!" She decided to tease him a bit, by growing a sullen look on her face.

"That was a joke, come on," Jimny backpedaled.

Meku's face grew an even more sly smile. "Maybe I should start deflecting blaster bolts at you. Promotion would be nice, you know."

"You!" Jimny realized it'd been a tease. "I like ya. But don't get too cocky. Don't forget I had to save your sorry ass down on Randon."

"I saved you too, sir, if you remember."

"Want latrine duty?"

"Shutting up, sir."

"Smart girl."

The squad threw their armor and gear on, and armed themselves before heading back to the hangar bay. On the walk back, Sarge briefed them on the situation. Luay put his video game down for just long enough to listen. Once the statement was over, he curtly nodded and went back into the game as he walked. Meku couldn't help but smile in endearment as he buried himself in the game.

"Maybe he has the right idea..." she was nervous enough that she had to stop her body from shivering. Luay never seemed fazed by anything. She was never one for video games, but perhaps keeping a good book on her would help calm her before battle.