Had to re-post this chapter because is deleting spaces in my sentences, creating these weird run-on words. Hopefully this fixes it. Once again, please take a couple minutes of your time to post a review. They're very helpful in the writing process.

Thanks to ConstantineXI for a couple of very helpful reviews that reminded me of some loose ends in the plot, and to Black Scorpion for a good critique of the earlier chapters. Hopefully I'll see a few moresoon. Thanks for reading. On with the story.

Korwin settled into his seat, his belly full and a smile on his face. "Okay then, I'm ready."

Laina returned the smile, and said, "Good. Why don't we continue with your furlough to Theed."

"Sounds good. After that first night there, Eli and I toured around the city a little bit, doing this and that, you know? Eventually, she decided that it would be a good idea to take me to her home and introduce me to her parents, so that's what we did."

"And how was that? Did you feel comfortable doing that?" Laina asked, her writing stylus poised over her datapad's touch screen.

"You know, it wasn't bad. Her father really was a big fan. It was kind of flattering actually."

"Kory, this is my mother, Karia." said Eli, gesturing to a beautiful, middle-aged woman with long auburn hair. She was taller than Eli, though not by much, and wore much the same style of elegant, gossamer gowns in the warm spring air. She was seated at a low table on the large back patio of their palatial (at least to Korwin) house. Pointing to a short, wiry man with graying dark brown hair, she said, "This is my father, Verus." Smiling prettily, she said, "I believe you've already met Corle."

Korwin shook each of her parents hands, and said, "It's nice to meet both of you."

Karia said, "Why thank you dear, it's a pleasure to meet you too."

"Yes, why don't you sit down?" Asked Verus, gesturing to an empty chair. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Sure." Korwin replied, feeling a bit unsure of himself.

Turning to his youngest daughter, Verus said, "Corle, why don't you go in and get Korwin and Eli a glass of tea." His youngest daughter stood obediently and went inside to get the requested beverages.

Korwin seated himself gratefully, and said, "Thanks." He glanced over at Eli, who sat down beside him and took his hand, and then back to Eli's parents. Not being quite sure what to say, and never having been particularly good with parents, he said the first thing that came to mind. "Well, ya'll do good work together." He looked meaningfully at Eli, causing her to blush.

"Kory! Stop that!" She whispered, a little too loudly.

Her father chuckled, and said, "It's alright dear, no offense taken." Korwin swallowed uncomfortably, realizing that perhaps he shouldn't have said that. Verus turned his gaze on Korwin, and said, "So, Korwin. How are things at the front? Where are you stationed exactly? Eli didn't tell us that."

Korwin fought off a wave of suspicion, and forced himself to remember that this guy wasn't some Imperial agent trying to sniff out rebels. Besides, they wouldn't bother with him anyway. They only worried about finding one thing, and that was high command. They knew perfectly well where the various Alliance Armies and Naval forces were fighting. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "I'm fighting on Tatooine right now, sir."

The old man's eyes opened a bit larger, and he said, "We've seen holonews reports about some of the fighting on Tatooine. I hear it's bad."

Korwin nodded his head, and said, "Yeah, it's getting ugly. I'm not getting it as bad as the infantry though. I'm a Larry."

All of the people present looked at him with confusion, and Karia said, "I'm sorry, but I don't understand."

Korwin chuckled, and said, "I'm a specialized soldier, not just an infantryman. I'm the squad leader of a five troop combat reconnaissance squad called an LRIS. The initials stand for Long Range Intelligence Squad, but the abbreviation is pronounced Larry's. So that's what everyone else started calling us."

Everyone nodded their understanding, and Verus said, "I've heard a bit about the LRIS'. I have a few friends who are...in contact. I make donations every now and then, and they keep me abreast of what's going on. What is it you do exactly."

Korwin waved his right hand dismissively. "This and that. We mostly do long range reconnaissance patrols in enemy territory. Occasionally we'll conduct ambushes. That kind of thing." Corle returned with the drinks and set them down in front of Korwin and her sister. "Thanks." said Korwin, as he raised the glass to his lips and drank. It was iced, which was pleasant, and he found that it had a flavor that was simultaneously sweet and tangy. It was almost like a citrus tea, but there was a hint of spice in the aftertaste that he couldn't place. Nonetheless, it was quite good. After drinking a few sips, Korwin set the glass down.

Eli smiled at him, and then said, "So why don't you tell them where you're from?"

Verus and Karia looked at him curiously, and Korwin said, "I was born and raised on Juno IV, in Celka City."

Karia's eyes lit up, and she said, "My father was born there! He came here very shortly before he met my mother." Happy to have finally met someone who knew the place, she said, "He used to take me there with my Uncle to go visit my grandparents in Celka City, back when I was a little girl. What part of the city are you from?"

Korwin shifted uncomfortably, and frowned. He grabbed his glass and took a long swig from it. As he set it down, Eli nudged him in the ribs, leaned into him, and whispered, "It's fine."

He cleared his throat quietly, and then said, "Tides."

Verus didn't seem to understand the connotations of that word, but it was plain to see that Karia certainly did. Realization dawned on her immediately, and her next words were, "What did you do there, before the war, if you don't mind my asking?"

Korwin now knew that he had put himself between a rock and a hard place. If he told the truth about his gang background, even Eli might be upset. It was something he'd yet to tell her. He couldn't see her parents being particularly pleased either. Then again, if he lied, he'd have to fess up eventually if he ever wanted to really...settle down with this girl. Deciding that Captain Borlin's old advice to always be truthful with his woman was probably correct, he uttered a soft sigh, and said, "I was a gang member."

Eli's head swiveled so fast that her hair whipped him in the face. Surprisingly, her mother seemed to take it in stride, albeit with a bit of strain on her good humor, while her father merely looked thoughtful for a moment and then shrugged. Eli said, "You never told me that!"

Karia looked as though she were about to intervene, when Verus said, "Dear, don't you think it's about time to start preparing supper? Come on, I'll help." He stood up and left the table in a hurry, his wife following on his heels, seeming flustered at the mere suggestion of him helping her. Corle lingered a moment longer, her pretty face betraying her curiosity, before her father called, "Corle, you can set the table and get out the good tablecloth...and go into the cellar and pull out the Karindian silver...the ten year old, not the fifty!"

Corle sighed, and said, "Have fun you two." She walked inside, tossing a glance over her shoulder at the couple.

When they were finally alone, Eli said, "Why didn't you tell me that?"

"Well, because, you know...I don't know, okay?" Korwin shrugged. "It didn't seem that important."

"It didn't seem that important?" Eli demanded hotly, turning in her seat to face him head on.

"No. Not with-"

"Not with what?" She interrupted.

"Not with the fuckin' war!" He snapped at her. "It didn't seem that important with the war, okay?" He slammed down the rest of his tea, and then put the glass on the table in front of him. Standing up, he said, "I'm gonna go for a walk."

As he turned away, he felt a hand on his arm. "Wait...I'm sorry." He stopped, and looked at Eli. "It's just...did you really think something that wouldn't be important?" she asked, her voice soft.

Korwin sat down again, and said, "I didn't mean to snap like that. And I guess it really didn't. I mean, with all the shit going through my head, between the war, and you, and my family back home...I just never thought about it. I'm sorry, I should have told you."

"Forgiven." Eli said with a smile. Giving him a brief kiss, she said, "Why don't we go inside and sit down?"

"Fine by me."

"The rest of the evening was pretty relaxed. We had dinner, which was nice. It was my first real introduction to home-cooked Nabooan food, and I was hooked from the word go. After eating, we all talked for a while about this and that, and then Eli and I headed to the inn to check me out and get my belongings. I ended up just staying with the Orlane's for the rest of my leave. It was all pretty relaxed, and they managed to avoid asking anything that would have been too forward of them. We talked about my family, and I told them about some of my friends in the unit...although none of the action, really. It just wasn't something I was comfortable talking about at that time."

"I understand...so what did you spend your time doing?" Laina asked.

Korwin chuckled, and said, "I probably slept for...oh, close to nine hours a night, which was unheard of on Tatooine. Then I'd sit around and do nothing for a few hours after waking up, before Eli and I went out for the day. I got to see a great deal more of the city than I did the last time, and I met a few more of her close friends. It was a good time."

"After being there and leaving once, and experiencing what you had between those two furlough's, how hard was it for you to leave again?" queried Laina, her head tilted inquisitively.

"It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I guess that when it really came down to it, I just wasn't ready to leave my squad. I wanted very much to be with Eli, and to make a life with her on Naboo...just not right at the moment, you know?" He chuckled, and a few others around the room did as well. "I had different priorities at the time. I loved Eli deeply, even then, but I think that I loved my squad more. Honestly, if she'd asked me to choose, I probably would have chosen Recon over Eli." He looked directly at the holocamera, and said, "I'm sorry baby, I know I done put my foot in it this time."

Another wave of laughter passed through the room, and Laina said, "Why don't you tell me a bit about that last day?"

"Eli and I spent most of the last day walking around the city, seeing the sights that I'd missed the last time around. When we were done, we went back to her house to spend another evening with her family. Her mother made another lovely dinner for us, and then we spent the rest of the evening looking at some of the holo's that I'd brought of the Tatooine base camp and some of the soldiers there. I remember the favorites were a pair of holo's that Corle picked out. One of them was the five of us - my squad that is - relaxing outside the mess tent on a pile of crates. It was taken a couple days before the ambush in the desert. We were in our fatigue pants, bare feet, and nothing else...well, Kreth had a tanktop."

Korwin took a sip of his water, and said, "The next one she grabbed out was a picture of us in combat readiness. It was taken at night, in front of the box we were about to get on for a ride to our AOO. It was before the fatigues came in of course, so we were in combat jumpsuits and bush hats, unmarked, with full harnesses, packs and ammunition pockets. We were armed to the teeth, like any good recon patrol is, and we were all done up with our greasepaint camo. The thing that Corle liked was the contrast between the two.

"In the first one, we were all clean, no weapons, sitting around in the middle of day with big smiles on our faces. In the second, we were in our combat uniforms in the dark of night, with grenades and blaster packs all over our chests, knives at our backs, blaster rifles, blaster pistols...Kierse had a blaster cannon strapped on the top of his pack, and Avery was carrying a plasma shotgun, with his blaster carbine on a sling over his shoulder. Not one of us was smiling in that holo. Everyone had that same hard-eyed combat stare." He blew out a breath, and said, "I remember that Eli was fascinated with that last one as well, as well as a bit disturbed by it."

Laina nodded, and said, "I can imagine."

"So, the next day, I packed up, we headed off to the spaceport, and I said my goodbyes to her family. This time, I promised that I'd be back when the war was over, and that I'd stay with her there. Still not engaged, but there was a commitment to something deeper." Korwin said wistfully.

"I love you Kory." Eli said, standing on her toes to kiss Korwin on the lips.

When the kiss ended, Korwin smiled at her, and said, "I love you too baby. I'll write soon, okay?"

"Okay." She kissed him again, and then stepped away, towards her waiting family.

It was the same ship that he'd come in on, and the co-pilot stood on the open loading ramp and called, "Let's go Magic! We're out of here in five, and we've gotta get everything secured and ready to go."

Deciding not to ask how they'd discovered his nickname, Korwin tossed one last wave to Eli and her family and walked up the ramp. "Let's move out." He said with a grin.

The co-pilot followed him inside the ship and closed the ramp. "How was furlough Corporal?" He asked with a suggestive smile.

Korwin licked his lips slowly, then smiled lazily, and drawled, "It was laid-back...nice, you know?"

The co-pilot grinned, and said, "Yeah, I know." Korwin followed him to the cockpit and watched as he and the pilot went through their final pre-flight checklist.

In no time, they were airborne, and a short time later they'd passed through the upper atmosphere and into the deep, dark void of space. Korwin watched until they passed into hyperspace, and then wandered back to the hold and pulled the small holoframe that Eli had given him his fifth day there out of his duffel. Turning it one, he was greeted by Eli's smiling face. It was a picture they'd taken outside the palace. He'd taken a guided tour with her and a small group of tourists, and had loved every minute of it. By the time he and Eli had left, he'd decided that he would go into architecture and construction when he left the Army. He wasn't sure exactly how to go about doing it, but do it he would.

After turning the holoframe off and tucking it back into his duffel, he laid down, head on his back, and closed his eyes. He slept for most of the relatively short ride to Tatooine, waking up periodically before forcing himself into unconsciousness again. When they finally arrived in system, Korwin woke up and rode the rest of the way in the cockpit. After transferring to a smaller shuttle onboard one of the battleships in orbit around Tatooine, he was flown down to the base camp that the 1st Light Infantry regiment shared with the rest of the 22nd Infantry Regular Division.

He stepped into the blistering midday heat, and headed straight for his tent. After changing into his fatigues, he pulled his combat boots on and headed to the Company CP to check in with Captain Borlin.He tossed a quick salute to the Sergeants standing MP duty outside his tent, and then stepped inside. The Captain looked up from a pile of after action reports he was going over, and he smiled at Korwin. "Ah, Corporal Nalan...good to have you back. How was leave?"

"It was good sir."

"Excellent. Well, I know that none of your squad has arrived back yet...you're the first on the ground at least." He reached over to the corner of his desk and picked up a datadisc. He tossed it to Korwin and said, "Read up on that. You guys have an op tomorrow morning. I'll warn you right now that it's not gonna be a fun one."

Korwin raised an eyebrow and said, "What are we doing, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Bomb damage assessment."

"You're fucking shittin' me, right?" Korwin asked.

"Nope. We've been bombing the shit out of the canyon for two days now, and the Y-wings are making a final pass tonight. You guys are going in four hours later to check the damage to the enemy positions in the Jundland wastes."

Korwin shook his head, and said, "Couldn't the Navy just fly some fighters over?"

Borlin shook his head. "That's a negative. We need to know what's been accomplished exactly, and it's impossible to properly assess damage from the air. You can't see tunnel systems that have been collapsed, you can't see enemy dead, or destroyed equipment that's hidden underneath outcroppings, or has been blown into small pieces." He put his feet up on his desk and leaned back in his chair. "So we need you guys to go in."

Korwin pocketed the datadisc and said, "Was there anything else sir?"

"Nothing. Dismissed."

Korwin saluted his CO and left his tent, heading for his own. When he got there, he found Avery sitting on his cot, dressing in his fatigues. Avery glanced up, and said, "What up big man?"

"Not a lot. Go check in with Borlin, and make sure you're around camp when you're done. We've got an op early tomorrow morning."

Avery laced up his boots, and then stood up, "Yessir...you know me...Doc Azen, always reliable." He laughed as he walked past his friend, and Korwin shook his head and chuckled. All joking aside, Avery was one of the most reliable soldiers he'd seen under fire. And although he'd run a couple missions badly hungover at the start, he'd never actually been drunk. Korwin was okay with that. He'd run an op or two himself fairly hungover.

Removing his datapad from the lightweight fieldpack next to his bed, he turned it on and inserted the datadisc that Borlin had given him. As he read over the mission details, he found himself shaking his head in disbelief at what he was reading. Expect possible heavy resistance near cave entrances...enter all caves marked out on the satellite map and check for hostile presence...Canyon LZ expected to be cold. Rolling his eyes at the last, he thought to himself, At least we have that.

He greeted his incoming squadmates briefly as they arrived, but kept his focus on his work, murmuring only the barest explanations and warning them to stick nearby and keep their comlinks handy. After nearly three hours of reading, he finished, and began going over the few aerial recon holos they had. Each one had been taken from the lower atmosphere, just out of range of the short-wave ground-to-air radar that was all the Imps supposedly had left after the repeated bombings.

After finishing up, he called all his squadmates and told them to meet him near the firing range. He made the fifteen minute walk alone, and found everyone else already assembled at the top of a small dune that ran nearly the length of the range. Haslin spoke up first. "So what's going on boss?"

"We have an operation to run tomorrow morning at 0300. The mission objective is bomb damage assessment."

"What the fuck is that?" Avery asked loudly, his face twisted in a grimace of displeasure at the sound of the mission.

"Exactly what you're probably thinking." He held up his datapad, and said, "We're going to assess bomb damage. They've been running squadrons of Y-wings over the Jundland Wastes and the Xelric Draw for a few days and nights now. Tonight is the last bombing run the Navy does. The attack will begin at 2300 hours tonight. We'll go in four hours later at 0300 to see if they got anything useful. We'll be looking for Body Count, damaged and destroyed equipment, and collapsed access tunnels and caves." Handing the datapad to Kreth, he said, "Kreth take a look at the holo's. Everyone else, gather around her.

"What you're looking at in the first one is an aerial grid map of the section of the Jundland Wastes we'll be operating in. Aside from the incidentals I just mentioned, we're going to be specifically checking out each cave that is marked on that map." When they'd finished going over the holo's, he said, "We need to expect heavy resistance around cave entrances, where possible survivors could be gathered, and if we find any hostiles in any of the caves we enter, we're to clear them out."

Kreth looked up at him, and said, "Magic, this just sounds stupid. We know they're going to be crawling out of the woodwork."

Kierse looked at her, and said, "Don't tell me you're going soft on us now, Kreth."

"I'm not going soft, you laser-brained nerf-herder, I'm going sensible." Looking back at Korwin, she said, "Seriously, they really want us to do this?"

Korwin nodded his head, his expression firm. "They really want us to do this. So we're going to do it."

Haslin grinned, and said, "Don't you worry about a thing Kreth. We'll have your back."

"Gee, thanks." she muttered, drawing a chuckle from the entire squad.

"Okay," Korwin said, "we're going to take a few hours to rest, and then we're getting up at 2000 hours to start planning this out. We don't have much time, so we have to make it count. Understand?" Everyone nodded their heads, and he said, "Let's go get some sleep. We'll need it."

Korwin sat on his cot in full combat gear, his fieldpack sitting next him on the ground. The sleeves of his fatigue top were rolled up above his elbows, and he had just finished applying the finishing touches to the greasepaint on his hands and arms, and was starting on his neck and face. Avery sat across from him, applying the last bits of the light brown greasepaint to the top of his bald head. When he was done, he picked up his bush hat and put it on. Grabbing his plasma shotgun, which he'd chosen for the high likelihood of close combat on this op, he stood up and said, "See you at the box Magic." He slung his field pack over his shoulder and nestled his shotgun in the crook of his arm, walking out of the tent.

Korwin continued applying greasepaint, until he was satisfied that he'd covered everything. Smearing a bit of lighter brown greasepaint into the parts of his hair that would show under his bush hat, he then settled said headgear on his head and grabbed his gear. He walked at quick clip towards the waiting black box, and arrived just in time to hop on board. He was the last one on, and he shouted up to the pilot that they were ready. The box lifted off, carrying the small squad of soldiers to their Area of Operation.

As they passed over the edge of the Jundland wastes some fifteen minutes later, Korwin surveyed the damage of bombings in days past. The sound of the previous night's bombing had been terrific even from nearly sixty miles away. It had lasted for nearly an hour, the powerful plasma bombs that the Y-wings were dropping lighting up the night sky above the winding canyons and plateau's of the Wastes.

As the box approached the LZ, Korwin checked his blaster rifle to make sure that everything was functioning properly. They'd had precious little time to test-fire their weapons before gearing up, but they'd managed it anyway. The box came to a hovering stop nearly five feet off the ground, and Korwin pushed himself off the edge, landing lightly on the ground below despite the gear and pack that he carried. Once his small squad was assembled around him, the box lifted off and jetted off towards the base camp.

Using hand signals, Korwin ordered his squad to the shelter of a large overhang in the canyon wall some sixty yards away. There they remained, completely still, for nearly fifteen minutes. Finally, Korwin began inching out of the hide. After checking to make sure everything was clear, he waved his squad out as well. Signalling for Kreth to take point, he waved his hand forward in the signal to move out.

They hadn't gone more than thirty feet when a deafening BANG rang out in the canyon. Korwin heard a soft moan behind him, and a body hitting the ground. A moment later, blaster fire and lead began pouring in from all around. Korwin felt a burning pain on his left flank, and returned fire at what looked like a tan rock firing a slugthrower rifle at him. He struck his target, and the thing toppled from behind the scant cover it had been using...revealing itself to be an Imperial Commando. He heard Avery shout, "Haslin's down, Haslin's down!"

Korwin saw Kreth and Kierse hurriedly backing towards their original position of cover, and a pile of toppled boulder's nearby. He risked a quick glance behind him, and saw Avery dragging Haslin to the same pile of rocks. Haslin was clutching at wound in his lower abdomen, blood welling up quickly between his fingers and soaking the front and sides of his fatigues and combat harness. "Give them some cover, dammit!" he shouted.

Turning his attention back to the enemy, he picked out several other Commando's who were running from cover to cover, firing at them. Stepping into their fields of fire, he switched his firing mode to full automatic and sprayed the canyon ahead with red energy. A hail of fire returned his way, and he felt another searing pain flair in his left hip. He was satisfied to note, as he retreated expediently to the cover of the boulders, that he'd left three of the bastards lying still on the canyon floor.

Once all of them were behind the rocks, they took up positions from which they could fire on the slowly advancing enemy. Kierse took a moment to call for an emergency extraction, and fairly begged for an additional box to provide cover fire for them as they lifted off. They were pinned down by a withering hail of enemy fire, and Korwin felt the icy grip of fear take hold of his heart and squeeze. He continued firing, and then noticed a small, round object hurtling towards them. "Grenade!" he shouted, and everyone dove to the ground.

The grenade landed right next to him, and he gave off a choked yell. Thinking quickly, he grabbed the grenade and hurled it back the way it had come and then dropped flat. It exploded a second later, and he felt the sting of a piece of shrapnel creasing the flesh of his back. Luckily, it wasn't more than a deep scratch. He could feel it. Popping to his knees, he grabbed his own grenade off his harness, primed it, and hurled it at four approaching Imps. They noticed it too late, but Korwin was suddenly stunned into a moment of stillness as he watched one of them shove a comrade out of the way and dive on the grenade.

It exploded, killing him instantly, but he'd saved his three compatriates, who quickly retreated under the covering fire of a few remaining Commando's. Korwin realized as he began trading fire with them again, that they were almost as few as his own squad, and hadn't outnumbered them much to begin with. The thought provided no comfort for him, and he forced it out of his mind and ducked behind a boulder as a slugthrower's shot rang out again. The ground where he'd just been standing kicked up a puff of dust, and a divet appeared in the hard-packed dirt.

Removing another grenade from his harness, Korwin hurled it over the rock pile and hunkered down, waiting for the explosion. It didn't come...he peeked over his cover to see his grenade sitting impotently in the dirt, clearly not exploding. A third shot rang out from the slugthrower as Avery exposed himself for a moment while pulling a large bandage out of his fieldpack, and Avery slowly slumped over on top of Haslin, a bloody hole pumping life-fluid steadily out of his back. "Avery!" Korwin shouted.

He glanced quickly to the overhang, and yelled, "Fall back! Fall back!" He grabbed hold of Avery, and was nearly pushed backward as Avery pushed himself to his hands and knees of his own accord. Korwin watched as his badly wounded friend grabbed hold of Haslin and, heedless of his own wounds or safety, stood in the line of fire and began dragging him to the overhang. Korwin stepped in front of them, firing as he slowly retreated backward. "Kierse, Kreth, go now!"

Kierse peeled away from their cover first, running back behind Korwin, near the overhang, and taking up a firing position on one knee. He began sending streams of fire towards the Commando's, dropping one of them, and sending the rest scurrying for cover again. Kreth went next, lining up near Kierse and sending her own hail of blaster bolts at the enemy. Korwin then turned and sprinted for his friends. As he reached them, their black box shot past overhead, banking around to allow the starboard door gunner a shot at the Commando's on the ground. A moment later, Korwin's earpiece crackled to life with the voice of Captain Borlin. "Larry 3-K, you there?"

Korwin ducked behind his friends, and grabbed his comlink with one hand. Sending a stream of fire towards the enemy, he shouted, "Here sir! We're retreating and we'-" A shot rang out from behind him, and he jumped, startled, looking behind him. Up on top of the canyon wall, standing on the plateau, were several Commando's, lying prone and firing on them. "Check that, sir! We are surrounded! We've made heavy contact with Imperial Commando's and we are pinned down! Requesting immediate gunship support sir!"

"That's a copy 3-K. Your transportation should be in the vicinity now, and we have two gunships en route, ETA twenty-five minutes."

"Twenty-five minutes? I can't wait that damn long! My sniper is gutshot with a slugthrower! He'll fucking bleed out!" Korwin screamed into the comlink, anger welling up inside him like fire. He and his comrades dashed to another pile of boulders directly next to the overhang. It provided excellent cover from the guys up top, but only a small amount from the oncoming Commando's in the Canyon. Their advance was slow but sure,and they didn't seem particularly worried about ammo. Korwin gave a silent cheer as the black box blasted two Commando's, and then shouted into the comlink, "Can they get here faster?"

Borlin's only response was, "I'll get on em'...now you hang tight, soldier, and keep your godsdamned head about you! Understand?"

"Yes sir! Out!"

"Out."

Korwin clipped his comlink on his harness, and fired a few rounds at the enemy. He held his breath in anticipation as the black box came around for another pass, and found himself horror-stricken as a Commando carrying a blaster cannon dropped to one knee and fired a round off at the black box. The ball of plasma struck the machine directly in the cockpit, and it flew straight into the canyon behind the Imps, exploding into a great cloud of fire and debris when it struck. The commando turned his blaster canyon towards the rebel recon squad's place of cover, but Kreth sent a trio of bolts into his chest, knocking him dead before he could fire.

Korwin looked to Avery, whose normally dark skin was beginning to look ashen and grey. Despite his obvious pain and bloodloss, he was diligently working on a badly wounded Pvt. Haslin. Haslin was staring at Korwin, a smile on his face, and he gave him the thumbs up sign. Korwin smiled faintly, and returned the gesture. "It's gonna be okay, Has. We're gonna get you out of here!"

"I know boss." Haslin replied, just loud enough to be heard over the sounds of battle. Korwin shot down another Commando, and then another. He was looking for his third target, when the Imps suddenly stopped firing and began retreating into the canyon. He looked around, instantly suspicious. A moment later, his earpiece opened spoke.

"Larry 3-K, this is Big K. Find a cave, and find one now! Reconnaissance troops are tops on the Imp's shitlist on this dustbowl, and they've got a flight of TIE bombers inbound. Calling for immediate air support."

"Copy that!" Korwin turned to his squadmates and shouted, "Under the overhang, now! TIE bomber's inbound!" They quickly squeezed under the overhang they'd first waited under, trying to avoid ambush. And that certainly went well. Korwin thought bitterly. He looked over at Haslin, and his stomach lurched. His skin was alabaster-white, and his eyes were half-closed. Blood saturated every inch of the front of his fatigues, and his hands were covered in the stuff.Avery was staring at Korwin, tears in his eyes. "Haslin, open your eyes up." Korwin said.

Haslin's eyelids fluttered open, and he looked over at Korwin. "S-sor...sorry boss. I fucked up."

Korwin choked back the lump in his throat, and said, "Sithspit, man...you didn't fuck nothing up Has. You keep them eyes open, you hear? We're all gonna be just fine." He spoke with a calm assurance that he did not feel, and he knew as he met the eyes of each of his squad members, that none of them felt it either. None of them but Haslin.

"It's okay boss." His voice was a hoarse whisper now, and his breathing was ragged and shallow. "I know we're okay. We got Magic on our side." He grinned, and then choked violently, a bloody bubble welling up in his mouth.

"Haslin, don't do this! Hang on!" Kreth cried, tears rolling down her face. The sound of Twin Ion Engines began to echo through the canyon walls, and she crawled over to Haslin. "Keep your eyes open, listen to Magic!"

"I..s-sor-" Haslin tried to speak again, but blood was seeping up into his mouth. He choked, and began coughing hard, spraying blood on Korwin's and Kreth's faces. He convulsed once, and gave another sobbing cough.

Korwin grabbed hold of him and pulled him close, wrapping his arms around him tightly. He felt Haslin's arms go around his torso, and Haslin buried his face in Korwin's shoulder. Korwin could feel blood soaking his fatigues, seeping from Haslin's mouth onto his shoulder, and gushing from his stomach wound onto his chest and stomach. "Has, c'mon man...please stay with us." Korwin pleaded. A moment later, the first bomb dropped, drowning out all other sounds.

For ten minutes the Imperials dropped blue fire from the sky, altering an already altered landscape, and choking the air with dust. All throughout, Korwin held on to his friend, his despair growing as he felt his friends grip become weaker and weaker, the sobs and coughs fewer and farther between. After five minutes, he wasn't crying at all anymore, and after three more, he was barely breathing. When the last echo from the last bomb finally faded, Korwin pulled back from his friend and took his pulse. There was nothing. There they lay, the five of them, four living and one dead, for an indeterminate amount of time. When at last they heard the engine wash of the two heavily armed "gunship" boxes approaching, they crawled from beneath the overhang and looked around at the further devastation that had been wrought by the Imperial bombs.

Korwin turned and watched as Kreth helped Avery extricate himself from underneath the overhang, his face twisted in a grimace of pain. His front was soaked with Haslin's blood, his back with his own. Kreth helped him limp over to the one gunship that touched down in only corner of the LZ that was still flat after the bombs. The gunners both leaped off the box and dashed over to Kreth and Avery, taking the wounded man from Kreth. It was only then that Korwin noticed that Kreth was limping as well, and had a small bloody hole in her leg, right next to a blaster wound.

He turned to help Kierse pull Haslin out, and found the task already completed. Silently, he took Haslin's feet as Kierse took his arms, and they lifted him up between them. Korwin grimaced, as a lance ofwhite-hot pain shot through his left leg and hip. He pushed the pain aside, and forced himself to start walking, one foot in front of the other.Korwin and Kiersecarriedtheir fallen brother in armswordlessly to the box that waited on the ground,while the other one circled protectivelyabove. When they reached it, they laid him gently inside, and thenwere helpedin themselves. As the box lifted off, Korwin noted that even Kierse had not gotten away unscathed. His left shoulder bore a blaster wound, and the same arm another.

Avery lay back against the wall, his eyes closed, and it took Korwin several moments to realize that he was praying out loud, something he hadn't done since he was a child. It was an old Junoan prayer, one that was traditional during times of need. Just as he finished, Avery's left eye cracked open, and he muttered, "Don't worry shithead...you ain't gonna get rid of me that easy." His eye closed again, and he took a deep, slow breath. "Hurts though."

Korwin looked down at Haslin, and said, "Yeah." He could think of nothing else to say. Picking up his comlink, he called in to the base camp. "Big K, this is Larry 3-K. On our way home now...four wounded, one KIA." His gut clenched tightly as the last three letter's exited his mouth.

"Copy that. We'll have stretchers and medical staff on site...I'm sorry soldier."

Korwin turned off his comlink, and rode the rest of the way home in silence. There was nothing more to say. When the box finally touched down on the airfield in the center of camp, Korwin was all too ready to get off. He and Kierse gently removed Haslin from the box and laid him on a waiting stretcher. He was taken away towards the morgue tent, to be processed for his death certificate and his shipping orders. They'd be sending him to his family on Dantooine, of course. He turned and helped Avery off next, andguided him onto a stretcher, helping him lie down on his stomach. Avery gripped his forearm tightly, and Korwin saw tears glittering in his eyes. "I'm sorry I couldn't save him Magic. I tried, man. I really did." Avery said through his unshed tears.

"I know man. It ain't your fault Ave. Now you go get right, okay?" He looked up at the nurses, and said, "Get him out of here." They took Avery away as well, leaving three more stretchers...one for each of them. Korwin was helped to one as well, his hip becoming painfully stiff,and he settled himself gratefully onto it. Fatigue was seeping in now that the adrenaline from the battle had run thin in his blood, and he was starting to really feel the pain of his numerous wounds. Then Haslin's face flashed through his mind.

He closed his eyes, and finally allowed the silent tears to fall. He opened his eyes to see a young Twilek nurse approaching him with a syringe in her hand. As she cleaned off his bicep with antiseptic rub, he felt a wave of deep sorrow wash over him. He'd never had another sniper in his squad, and he didn't care to. Avery had made a quick transition in only because he was such an old friend of Korwin's. Haslin's death left a void in the unit that would be impossible to fill. "Damn Has...what the hell are we gonna do without you?" he whispered to the early morning air.

And as the nurse injected the painkillers into his arm, and the euphoria took over, he felt an oddly cool breeze wash over his pained body. As the breeze ghosted by, he heard a soft voice whispering in his ear. We're recon, boss. We never leave a man behind.

"I'm sorry." Korwin said, quickly wiping tears from his eyes. "I can't talk anymore now."

Laina set down her datapad, and said, "I understand Mr. Nalan. Thank you for your time today."

He stood up abruptly, and nodded his head perfunctorily. "You're welcome." He said tonelessly. "Tomorrow morning then." He turned and walked out the door, leaving the room in an awkward silence.

No one broke the silence as they shut down their equipment and prepared to leave for the evening. It was almost as hard to watch someone start to break down like that, as it was to do it in front of people yourself. Laina saved the information she'd recorded, and shut down her datapad. Tomorrow would bring a new day, and hopefully a happier ending.