Well, here we are...the next chapter. This story has gone over better than I'd hoped, and I'd like to thank everyone for the 2000 hits the story has accumulated. Apparently there's a demand (albeit a small one)for something other than sappy, "angsty", ROTS Anakin/Padme AU's and divergences. Whew...dodged a bullet. Thanks to all the readers who have been keeping up with the story, and thanks especially to the reviewers, some ofwhom have done a great job of pointing out the little things that I can do to make this story better.

If anyone feels like adding a suggestion (no gaurantee that it will be used), or notices any inconsistencies that I need to fix, please feel free to let me know.


"Well Mr. Nalan...ready to continue with Naboo?" Laina asked spryly.

Korwin smiled pleasantly, and replied, "Whenever you are." He chuckled softly, and said, "My wife thinks this is the best post-war therapy I've ever had."

Laina glanced quickly at each of her cameramen, making sure they were all recording. Satisfied that they were, she asked, "And what do you think about that?" Her datapad was on, ready for a new day of information. To date, she'd compiled an eye-witness account of some of the grittiest, toughest, bloodiest action of the war. She knew that the Theed interviews were almost over. The rebels hadn't been able to hold the city for even a week. The other cities that had been invaded were similarly taken back by Imperial forces.

Korwin raised an eyebrow, then ran a hand over his cornrows. "I would probably have to agree with her. It's been...cathartic, you know?"

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. I'm happy to know that this is helping you." Laina glanced down at her datapad, then back up at her subject...no, her friend. It was impossible to not love these vets. Even the Imperial veterans that she'd met were hard not to like. They all had a special kind of wisdom about them. An almost ancient wisdom. Of course, many of them still had many demons as well, but that just made them all the more special. It was what made them tangible for the general populace, and was what would open eyes across the galaxy when the series of documentaries finally aired. Each vet would have an entire show dedicated to them. Certain parts of the interview wouldn't make it through the final edit, due to time constraints, and the educational narratives. But none of the content would censored. There would be real combat footage from combat cameramen who were in the campaign theaters that each vet had fought in, and in the case of Korwin's show, some footage of his squad on a combat patrol on Chandrila.

Shaking her musings off, telling herself that she was getting ahead of herself, Laina refocused, and said, "So, shall we continue with Theed?"

"By all means. After we lost Danna, we were assigned to guard duty around the perimeter of the palace. It was fairly quiet-relatively speaking-for the next couple of days. The infantry and armor on the other side of the city was still taking a pretty bad pounding, and hadn't made much ground towards linking up with us." Korwin lifted his water glass and took a sip. After setting it down again, he sighed, and said, "The patrols started heating up for the other teams as well. More and more sightings, more and more contact, you know? We couldn't figure out where they'd gotten all these troops from all of the sudden. They should have been locked up trying to stop the infantry and armor divisions, but somehow they were not only starting to push them back, but they were also encroaching steadily on the palace. It was bad enough then, but it can always get worse. And that's exactly what happened."


Korwin fought off a yawn as he felt himself being nudged awake. He blinked his eyes open and looked around. Kierse was standing over him, his face set in the same grim mask it had been since their last patrol outside the palace walls. He looked down at his wrist chrono. 0123 hours. Less than three hours of sleep. Still, that wasn't all that unusual.

Kierse said, "Cap wants us on the roof, on lookout duty."

This time, Korwin let the yawn escape without a struggle. "Which wall?"

"Southeast." was Kierse's quiet reply.

"Ave?"

Kierse looked towards their friend, leaning against a wall with a blaster rifle in hand. Since they'd been on palace guard duty, Avery had traded in his plasma shotgun for the new weapon. Outside of close quarters, the shotgun wasn't worth much. Unlike slugthrowing shotguns, the small energy lances that exploded out of the plasma capsules that the weapon fired never lost their energy, and continued traveling until they hit something. However, the damage they did at a distance was negligible, as they had spread out far too much to even incapacitate a stormtrooper, much less kill one.

Avery's eyes met Kierse's and he raised his eyebrows, before looking meaningfully at the door to the throne room. Kierse turned back to Korwin and said, "Come on man, let's go."

Korwin nodded his head and yawned again, fighting off the effects of fatigue as he slowly stood up. He grabbed his rifle and slung it over his shoulder, wincing at the tenderness still present in his underarm. Kierse and Avery fell in just behind him, and he asked, "Who's up there now?"

"On the wall?" Avery replied. At Korwin's nod, he said, "Eh, fuck. A few new guys, I think."

Korwin shook his head, and continued on. When they came to the broad stairway that led to the top of the walls and the flattened roof around the great dome on top of the palace, he turned towards the southeast section of the wall and set a brisk pace. He made sure to keep his head below the top of the wall, not particularly wanting to be an easy target for snipers. As they neared the area that they were to be watching from, he saw a group of five other young recon troops spread out along the wall, keeping watch with thermal electrobinoculars. There were no trees or buildings within six hundred yards of the southeast wall, so there was no way for the Imps to see them. At that distance, the light-absorbing properties of their fatigues made them nearly invisible to night-vision.

When Korwin reached the first troop, he said, "Why don't ya'll go inside and catch some sleep." The young man nodded, and waved down to his squadmates.

"Thanks Sarge." he said. His buddies all set the binocs down, their relief almost tangible, and started along the wall, heading for the stairs. One of them, the last one in line, stuck a deathstick in between his lips and lit it. Korwin was about to tell him to put it out, when a red bolt lanced out of the darkness and struck the kid in the side of the head, just behind his left eye. He dropped the ground, his body twitching. Korwin and all the others dropped, and he muttered, "Fuck!" Turning to glare at the squad that was racing back to their fallen comrade in a crouch, he said to them as they gathered around the body, "That's what happens when you're stupid. The fatigues only work if you don't do shit like that. No more deathsticks outside. They zero in on the cherry."

They all nodded silently, staring at their dead friend. Five of them...they'd made it this far full strength, only to lose a comrade because of his own carelessness. They waited until the body had twitched it's last, then picked it up and carried it away. Korwin watched them go for only a moment, before taking the electrobinoculars and slowly raising his eyes above the top of the wall. He scanned the binocs back and forth, trying to find the Imp that had pulled the trigger, but he saw nothing. "Fuck." he repeated.

Korwin, Kierse and Avery spent the next six hours on the wall, watching silently, not exchanging a word between them. During the first hour, they were joined by another squad that was at half-strength, thus making it a full complement of watchmen. As the early morning darkness passed into the hazy, orange-tinted light of dawn, Korwin kept his vigilance over the southeastern wall with his men. It was quiet all morning, and Korwin found that to be odd. He couldn't even hear any fighting in the distance. It was strange, but he didn't think he should be complaining; it hadn't been quiet enough lately. But it just didn't feel right. When his watch was over, and their relief came, they trudged exhaustedly back down to the throne room, where they were met by a frowning Captain Borlin.

"You hear that?" he asked tersely, his mouth tight.

"Hear what, sir?" Avery asked, an eyebrow raised.

Borlin stared past them, as though he could see through the stone walls into the city beyond. "Exactly." he said softly. "It's too quiet."

Korwin nodded absently, as his danger sense (as he liked to think of it) started with the same familiar tingle. "Something ain't right, that's for damn sure."

Kierse and Avery shared a look, and then immediately began to show signs of the same kind of stress that plagued Borlin. They knew that Korwin's instincts were second to none. If he didn't like the situation, you could trust with complete certainty that it was a bad one. It generally meant that the shit was about to hit the fan, big time.

Moments later, they were validated by a shout from the man on the radios. "Call from the west wall, walkers inbound!"

"What the fuck?" Borlin growled. Stomping over to the radio, he grabbed the small handset, and said, "This is Captain Borlin. What's going on?"

The voice that came back was a bit shaky, but was still at a reasonable volume. "Sir, I don't know if the Imps just abandoned the other fight, but they're coming...and they're coming now."

"What do we have?"

"Armor sir, and infantry following behind."

Borlin's eyes went wide, and he shouted, "Defensive positions!" As the other radio men went to work sending the call out to all the personnel inside the palace walls, Borlin got on the line again and said, "We've got men coming as we speak."

A moment later, another radio operator shouted, "We just got a sighting from the south wall as well!" Korwin heard no more, as he and his remaining two troops ran with the others towards the south wall. On the way out of the room, each of them grabbed a blaster cannon. They had been taken off of dead soldiers over the past few days, and were sitting in neat rows along the walls near the doors.

Korwin ran out of the throne room and headed for the south wall, moving as fast as his feet would carry him. His blaster rifle was slung over his shoulder, and he carried his blaster cannon in both hands, knowing that he'd not have much time to get his first shot off. His thoughts were confirmed when the palace shook with the first explosion of a turbolaser. As they reached the stairs and dashed up, they could hear the sounds of heavy repeating blaster rifles firing on full auto from the walls and the palace perimeter. As he reached the top of the stairs on the south wall, Korwin looked out over the streets just outside the palace, and a cold shiver crept up his spine.

The streets were filled with Imps, and as he looked up beyond the smoky horizon, he saw Imperial dropships bringing more, landing in the great market squares and gardens. And there were walkers. Dozens of them. Thankfully, they were AT-ST's not their larger, and more fearsome cousins. He cursed as he realized that they were well within range. Pointing to them, he shouted, "Shoot em' now, while we still can!" Several more turbolaser bolts slammed into the side of palace, one of them blowing a great hole in the wall barely thirty feet beneath where Korwin stood.

Raising his blaster cannon to his shoulder, he sighted down the barrel, zeroing in on a walker. After making sure he was braced properly, he depressed the trigger, and grunted as the strong kickback slammed into his shoulder, sending a fresh wave of pain through his wounded flank. The blue ball of concentrated energy streaked through the air, looking for all the galaxy like a tiny blue comet. It was a direct hit, and the walker exploded spectacularly, sending bits of durasteel armor plating flying high into the air. The heavy metal legs toppled over, landing on several stormtroopers. Korwin ran down the wall several feet, and fired off another round.

Avery and Kierse fired their first shots as well, but Avery's missed. Kierse's and Korwin's sent two more walkers skyhigh, and moments later, the heavy repeating blaster rifle on the perimeter below opened up on the Imps as they approached the entrance to the palace courtyards. About thirty feet to Korwin's right, a group of three recon troops manned an E-Web blaster cannon that had been taken in the assault on the palace. They opened up as well, spraying the streets and the courtyard entrance with heavy, explosive bolts of energy. At the same time, the walkers began opening up on the outer walls of the palace.

A flood of recon troops was rushing out of the stairway behind them, and several of them carried blaster cannons. Turning to them, Korwin shouted, "They're trying to breach the walls! Don't give em' any more entrances than they already have! Take down those fucking walkers!"

They did as he said, taking positions along the tops of the palace wall and firing their cannons at the walkers. Korwin fired on another one as well, and he watched in satisfaction as his shot struck home. Several others blew up as well, the results of well-placed shots from the other Larry's on the wall. He could hear the sounds of heavy fighting from the western wall, and his mouth tightened into a thin line. They had to repel this assault fast. These walls weren't made to withstand this kind of assault.

Turning to the E-Web crew, he yelled, "Let them get to the courtyard entrance!"

"What?" shouted the man firing, incredulously.

"It's a bottleneck! Let them get in there, and then let them have it! If they're gonna get in, I want them climbing over a pile of their buddies corpses to do it!"

"Whatever you say Sarge!" shouted the corporal, a newer P company troop.

Moving to another position on the wall, Korwin took his fourth, and then his fifth and final shot with his blaster cannon. The first one struck the intended target, immolating the cockpit of the AT-ST. The second missed narrowly, and instead exploded in the middle of the broad palatial thoroughfare, sending stormtroopers and body parts flying every which way, along with chunks of the stone-paved street. Imps began to boil through the main courtyard entrance, and the E-Web crew took up firing again, mowing them down as quickly as live bodies could replace the fallen ones. Within thirty seconds, Imps were climbing over a nearly three foot tall pile of white-armored corpses. The few that made it through were quickly gunned down by the Larry's that had taken up defensive positions inside the enormous front courtyard.

Korwin didn't take the time to watch, but instead dropped his now useless blaster cannon. He ran down the stairs, and made for the nearest exit into the courtyard. When he made it outside, he was greeted by a small storm of blaster bolts from a group of Imps that had managed to find cover behind a large marble fountain. He dove to his right, off the stairs and into a thick hedge. He landed hard, but rolled to his feet and dashed towards the cover of a makeshift barricade fashioned from sections of durasteel stood up on their edges and set end to end. It was only about four and a half feet high, but it provided enough cover to hide behind while reloading. Sliding to a stop on his knees just behind the barricade, he popped to his feet and unleashed a stream of bolts at the Imps that had first fired upon him. Avery and Kierse joined him a moment later, and along with the other Larry's standing behind the barricade, they opened fire as well.

Korwin's ears rang with the cacaphony of battle, and his blood sang with adrenaline, making everything that he saw and heard that much sharper. The Imps behind the fountain kept their heads down during the barrage of blaster bolts, then returned fire during the momentary lull in which most of the rebel Larry's were reloading. Korwin watched as two Larry's were gunned down by Imperial blaster rifles while he was reloading behind the barricade. Once a fresh blaster pack was loaded and primed, he stood up and returned fire, dropping an Imp before he had to duck back down behind the barricade.

As he crouched behind the cover of the durasteel panels, he heard a thunderous explosion emanating from the top of the wall. He stood for a moment and took a quick peek, only to be forced back beneath cover as a hail of blaster bolts was sent flying his way by the stormtroopers. He knew they were in trouble when the E-Web that had been set up on the south wall failed to fire again. Korwin raised his rifle above the barrier and squeezed off several shots, hoping that he hit something. Ripping a plasma grenade from his combat harness, he primed it and stood just long enough to hurl it directly at the fountain.

The grenade flew in a line drive, straight at the Imps that were still pinned down behind the water-spouting structure. He wasn't able to watch it explode, but his ears picked up the agonized screams of burning soldiers. He felt a grim sense of satisfaction at the pain he'd caused his enemies, and he stood up again and unleashed a firestorm of red death upon the archway that led from the main road into the courtyards. Several Imps fell to the combined fire of almost four squads worth of Larrys. The archway was nearly plugged with bodies, and it was quickly losing it's viability as an entrance into the palace grounds. Sure enough, the flow of stormtroopers slowed from a steady flood into a slow trickle, and then stopped, all within thirty seconds worth of fighting. Avery's blaster rifle had fallen silent, as he was busy tending to fallen rebels, but Kierse was keeping up a steady stream of fire over the top of the barricade.

Ever so slowly, the sounds of combat began petering out, and the Imps began retreating. Those that were still alive behind the fountain put up a brave fight, but were quickly killed without the support of their comrades. When at last the cease-fire had been called by an exhausted looking Lt. Drendel, Korwin stood up to take stock of the situation. Almost half of the rebels that had been defending the palace in his vicinity lay dead, with nearly as many wounded. Things were quickly taking a turn for the worst. He looked over at Kierse, and asked, "You okay?"

Kierse nodded, and said, "I'm fine. Avery's hit though."

"What?" Korwin replied, his gaze straying to his old friend. Avery was tending to a young woman that Korwin recognized as an LRIS veteran of Tatooine. Sure enough, there was a hole burned through his left shoulder. Still, Avery did his duty as a medic. Although all the rebel recon troops had received basic first aid training during their short time in the new recon school, Avery was one of the few tending wounds. Avery knew his job better than just about anyone else there, and he paid no heed to the wound in his shoulder. Korwin stayed in the courtyard, watching over the troops that were there, until Avery finally sat down to bandage his own wound.

Korwin sat down next to him and said, "You want me to do that for you?"

Avery shook his head, and muttered, "Just a quick fix. I still got work to do. You should go get some rest."

"How's your back?"

"Fine. Go on."

Korwin nodded his head, and said, "If you're sure."

"I'm sure. Go on, man. I'll meet up with ya'll later." Avery finished bandaging his wound, foregoing the eriminol syrette that would help dull the pain. He took a deep breath and slowly pushed himself to his feet.

Korwin stood up and said, "Later then." Glancing over at Kierse, he said, "C'mon Kierse." He set his course for the palace throne room, and didn't stop until he got there. When he arrived, it was to a chorus of moans and whimpers from badly wounded soldiers. The interior of the palace throne room was filled wall to wall with the wounded. Korwin strode past the numerous casualties and made his way to Borlin. The Captain was sitting on the stairs that led up to the dais that the ceremonial throne sat on, being tended to by a medic. He had a small blaster wound in his right thigh, and a bloody scratch on his right cheek. Borlin's eyes met Korwin's, and he said, "What's the situation from the south side? I haven't heard from anyone over there."

"We've repelled the Imperial assault sir, but I don't think we can take another one like that." Korwin replied, his voice terse.

"Casualties?"

Korwin wondered momentarily why Borlin was relying on him for the reports, and why he was putting so much trust in him. Then the moment passed, and he answered dutifully, "Almost half dead sir...half again as many wounded."

"SHIT!" Borlin shouted, startling a young wounded wookie soldier nearby. The troop roared at Borlin, his eyes red with rage and pain, and for once, Borlin kept his peace. He simply stared at Korwin, his eyes boring into those of the younger man, and he said, "I just got a call from Cpt. Melara of K Company. The infantrymen are on the verge of being overrun, and our armor division is nearly wiped out."

Korwin's mouth went dry at the news, and he asked, "What are we gonna do?"

Borlin shook his head slowly, his eyes closed, and he waved of the medic as she moved to begin treating the cut on his cheek. He said, "That's enough. I'm fine. There are people worse off." Turning back to Korwin, he sighed and said, "Melara is on her way, along with a couple of other high-ranking officers representing the infantry and armor units. We're going to have a quick meeting, and decide whether or not to pull out."

Korwin felt like he'd been punched in the gut. If they left, that meant the Imps would be free to take out their frustrations on the populace. It was common knowledge that such things had happened before. There was no reason to expect that it would be any different here. "Sir, I believe that retreat from the palace is necessary, but we can't just pull out altogether. The people here would be defenseless."

"Nalan, this is my home planet. The assault forces in my hometown have already pulled out, with ninety percent casualties. I know what you're feeling, and I know what you're thinking. But my first duty is to my troops, and to our cause. You should think about that. Dismissed." Borlin waved him off, and then turned to a young rifleman and began barking orders.

Kierse slapped Korwin on the back and said, "Let's go find a place to crash."

Korwin nodded and said, "Yeah." He shook his head slowly, and rubbed his eyes. Grief was threatening to overwhelm him as he stared around at the broken bodies of his comrades. For some reason, the anguish and pain was almost tangible. He could taste it, bitter and coppery like blood. Combined with the physical smell of death and burned flesh, it made his stomach roil. He shook his head again, and said, "I need some fresh air, or I'm gonna fucking puke man." His face twisted in a grimace of pain as his stomach constricted again. He turned and hurried out of the throne room, Kierse trotting behind him all the way outside. He dashed towards the gardens that overlooked the jungle and stopped, heaving and gasping in the significantly fresher air. There were no corpses here, and the wind was blowing gently from the direction of the distant lakes.

Kierse stepped up beside him and said, "You okay man?"

Korwin shook his head, and said, "We can't just leave. Borlin's wrong."

Kierse turned and looked out over the moonlit jungles and swamps that stretched out in a darkly grand vista before them. In the far distance, the moonlight shimmered off the lakes, creating a diamond-like sparkle that shimmered in an ever-changing pattern, like tiny stars trapped beneath the surface. After a few moments, he said, "If it's about Eli, I understand."

Korwin glanced at him, waiting for him to say something else, before shaking his head and muttering, "I'm sleeping out here." He laid down on a marble bench and set his rifle on the ground beside him. He closed his eyes and tried to shut out the images of carnage he'd seen during the battle, and in the throne room. He was unsuccessful. He knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep.


"I lied awake for hours. Until just after sunrise. I finally dozed off for a bit, but I was woken up by Drendel."

"What for?" Laina asked, her lekku shifting in a gesture of curiosity.

Korwin sighed, and said, "For preparations to pull out." He took a long drink of water, letting the water sit in his mouth for a moment before swallowing it. Once his mouth was wetted, he said, "They had their little meeting, secure in the palace, with no signal for the Imps to intercept. By the time I was woken up, the decision was made and the officers who'd come in by box were getting ready to head out and start their own extractions."

Laina recorded the information on her datapad, then looked back up at Korwin. "How did you react to the news?"

"I was pissed off. I knew that it was probably for the best, but I just couldn't bring myself to admit it. I really wanted to stay, see it through, despite the heavy losses we were taking. I thought that if we could get out of the palace and get mobile, we could start doing what we were really meant to do. We're supposed to be autonomous, and we're supposed to operate in small, stealthy groups. We don't operate in big units like that, sitting on the front line. It's unnatural." He chuckled, and said, "A lot of guys felt like I did, more out of stubborn pride than anything else. We were all pretty upset over being told to leave so quickly. I thought sure that if we left, they'd start killing civilians in retaliation, since their fleet wasn't mobile enough to chase us through hyperspace. I was worried about Eli and her family getting found and shot, frankly." Korwin ran a hand over his hair and scratched at the back of his neck.

"And you spoke with...Cpt. Melara, didn't you?"

"Yes...yes I did. I'd set to cleaning my rifle, just outside the throne room. I didn't really have anything to do while I waited for the order to move out, although it wasn't long before it came. While I was sitting there, Jenna walked by." He shook his head, and muttered, "It was an ugly scene. I was a complete shithead, totally unreasonable, and said some fairly insulting things, although I apologized once we were off-planet."

Laina raised her brows, and her lekku shifted in a small gesture of surprise. "Why would you act like this towards your friend?"

"Drendel told me that it was her who tipped the scales in the voting. She was the last one to vote. I was equally pissed at Borlin; he'd been the first to vote for leaving. A true recon man. When faced with overwhelming force, break contact as quickly and cleanly as possible and head to extraction. Live to fight and terrorize the enemy another day, and don't waste valuable military resources that are in short enough supply as it is."

"But you still left?"

"Of course. Half an hour later, boxes were lifting our dead and wounded down the extraction zones in the jungles and swamps. Within another half-hour, the rest of us were lifted out of the palace, and then put on a shuttle up to the Liberty. From there, we headed for a stopover in deep space, and then on to Hoth for a two month stay." He shook his head ruefully and girnned. "It was as miserably cold as Tatooine had been miserably hot. I mean, the average daily high was often no higher than -30 degrees, you know? At night, it could drop to -60. If it was stormy out, the windchill could bring it down another twenty to forty degrees. Getting caught outside in that was certain death."

"I take it you didn't find your time there enjoyable." Laina said with a small smile.

"Hell no! It was usually unbelievably cold inside Echo Base as well, and you constantly had to be bundled up, or you'd be freezing all the time. Taun-taun patrols were miserable and frigid, boring experiences. They consisted of six hour jaunts around the perimeter of Echo Base, staring at the same icy, frozen scenery all day long. Then head back to base, take off the outer layer of clothing, get some hot grub, and go sit in your cold barracks room, playing sabacc and shooting dice. Mind-numbing. Absolutely mind-numbing."

Laina nodded her head, and said, "I'd imagine so." Checking her wrist chrono, she said, "Why don't we take a break, and come back in an hour or so."

"Sounds good to me. See you in an hour." Korwin stood up and exited the room, heading down the hall towards the lift. He shivered as he thought of his time on Hoth. He hadn't seen any combat there, thank the Gods, and he'd been well off by the time the Imps invaded. Still, it had left him feeling cold for almost a month afterward. To this day, he'd never been skiing.


Well folks, there it is. Hope you all enjoyed it! If you have any comments, positive or negative, please post them ina review. Thanks for reading this far, and hopefully there'll be a new chapter up within a couple weeks.