Entry 76
Dad is out of the bacta tank. Mom gave him a big kiss and then she immediately pulled away gagging. I guess she forgot how bad bacta tasted. Ha! The medical technicians were talking about the cybernetic foot and ankle they are going to put on dad. After weighing him they realized the foot would have to be special made. Dad is as tall as a Wookiee and actually weighs more than Chewbacca. He would need a fortified cybernetic foot. Until the technicians could get one made they wanted to give dad a Wookiee cybernetic foot. HA!
Dad was not amused. They told him it would be over a month before his foot was special made and if he could use a temporary Wookiee foot for his physical therapy. Now I am not talking about a hairy foot. It is just the foot without the outer skin/hair, so it wouldn't be that bad. It probably would just be a little wider than his other foot. Dad refused though and asked for a conventional non-cybernetic prosthesis. It is basically a solid piece of foot-shaped plasteel. He was limping around and grousing about the false limb. Until his permanent replacement was constructed and fitted on him he was out of commission when it came to missions.
We're going home.
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Entry 77
When I got home to Coruscant I met up with Nalli'ti. She was happy to see me at first, but then frowned. "You look different," she said to me.
I wasn't sure what she meant. I hadn't changed my appearance since I last seen her. "How so?"
She shrugged as she walked around me while gliding a caressing hand over my shoulders. "You don't have the same spark in your eyes."
I pulled her into my arms. "I just came back from combat Nalli. What do you expect?"
She gave me a light kiss on the lips and then a sad smiled. "You're right. I can't expect my lighthearted young man to come back the same way he left."
I grinned. "Give me some time to relax, decompress and I am sure that happy-go-lucky man will return. My father is able to pull it off."
She wrapped her arms around my neck and smiled. "How about a rubdown? I can work out the stress in your sore muscles and help you relax."
"I'm sure you can," I said with a playful smirk.
She is pretty good at relaxing me and I'm sure her method is much more pleasant than the Umgullian blob massage therapy that my mother raves about.
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Entry 78
My family and I were invited over to the local GA Jump Trooper garrison for a Combat Wing ceremony. The Combat Wing Badge is a way for Jump Troopers to show who has been in combat and who hasn't. After a successful tour in a combat zone a trooper qualifies for the distinguished badge. I became eligible for the award, but since I left the battlefield early due to my father's injury, the higher-ups waited until dad was out of bacta to conduct the ceremony. In addition to my award of the CWB my father was to be awarded the Medal of Sacrifice because of his severe injury. My dad has been injured multiple times in combat, but nothing severe enough to qualify for the award previously. Usually you have to have a horrible injury such as a loss of limb or internal injuries or traumatic brain trauma to qualify. The loss of a leg was enough to get him put in for the award. That is one medal I don't want to get.
My family and I reported to a big auditorium on the base. My dad and I were wearing a modified version of the GA dress uniform.
We get there and there is a short ceremony telling the audience about the battle. I was called up along with my mother and father who were to pin the Combat Wings on me. My mother pushed the metal pins through my jacket and my father was to place the metal backings on …instead he smirked and then looked up at the Captain running the ceremony. The officer gave my father the most evil looking grin and said, "You have the honors Jedi Tantiss."
My dad drew his hand back and then yelled out, "Blood wings!" He then punched me hard in the chest forcing the little metal spikes on the back of the badge into my skin. I tried to keep the look of shock off my face as the troopers in the audience gave a loud, "Hurrah!" I also heard a snicker from my brother and a horrified gasp from Nalli'ti who accompanied us to the ceremony.
My mother's hands flew to her mouth as she tried to suppress a shout of surprise. "Why did you do that?" she asked my father angrily.
My dad laughed. "It's a tradition." He gave me a wink. "I didn't want the boy to feel left out."
Great, I bet I am now bleeding all over my undershirt. I force a smile on my face. "It's okay, mom."
She doesn't look mollified and kept scowling at my dad. Finally the time came for my father to receive the Medal of Sacrifice. The Garrison Commander came over and presents the medal to my mother for her to pin my father. She repeats the pinning motion she did for me, but then slammed the medal pins forcefully into my father's chest.
He grimaced. "Kira, you don't do that for the Medal of Sacrifice!"
Mom makes a good show at looking horrified at her mistake. "I'm sorry, I thought that's how all the medals go on."
Ha! Mom is lying! She was doing a little payback for me and I think dad got a bargain. I know I'm going to have a bruise the size of my dad's palm on my chest for weeks to come. I am sure Mom, didn't do much damage…although it did look like she really put her weight into that punch.
Force, I love my mom! She doesn't take any crap from anybody, especially the men in the family.
Afterwards we had a nice reception. I went to the 'fresher to pry the badge out of my skin and slapped on a bacta patch. It was nice being about troopers again. All of us had a good time.
