Brothers in Arms

Ulric always found himself being the black sheep of the family.

It didn't help that his older brother, Carth, was a big hotshot pilot in the Navy.

It had always been like that since they were young boys. Ulric found himself living under the shadow of his brother, who achieved all the athletic awards, trophies and even moved on up to taking over the family legacy in the Republic Armed Forces.

It hardly mattered that they were a year and a month apart.

Carth had always been the one to get all the attention and it had always bothered Ulric that he was stuck with nothing in the end.

Their father had given Carth tips on being the best pilot in the Republic Navy.

It so happened that their old man was also a pilot within the Navy.

Their mother, as usual, seemed to be the one who attempted to pay attention to Ulric, but she just never really tried her hardest.

As always, Ulric was the outcast.

Now here he stood, twenty years later and having to salute to his older brother who smiled at him gratefully and appreciatively.

Ulric's hair was cropped closely to his scalp, as was uniform amongst the Republic infantry. His jaw was more squared than Carth's and he knew that the older man had gotten most of his looks from their mother. He returned the smile to his older brother, knowing full well that it meant so much for him to be there.

It gave the hotshot the feeling that someone was there looking out for him.

Even if that meant it was his younger and green brother.

"Do the family proud, Ulric," he said, as he clasped both of his hands on his brother's shoulders. "I always believed in you and I'm glad that you're here with me."

Ulric flashed him that signature Onasi smile. "Well of course you're happy," he whispered, "you've got someone to watch your back."

The older man hugged Ulric warmly. "It doesn't matter because I'll be the one ensuring you get to the ground in one piece."

"Yeah, don't try to get me killed or something, what with that sibling rivalry," he snorted, hugging Carth back with just as much strength as Carth had to him. Ulric found his ribs hurting shortly after they had let go of their embrace.

"Yeah well, the folks will kill me if they hear something happening to you."

"And what do you think Morgana would say?" He shot back, ruffling Carth's carefully styled hair. "Besides, my favourite nephew would kill me too."

"Dustil's your only nephew, Ulric," Carth pointed out.

"Yeah, well, it's all the same."

Before the pair could go on further, a klaxon roared to life and that meant anymore reminiscing was at its end. The austere and neat barracks within the cruiser filled with commotion as both grunts and Ruperts alike clambered about to get to their stations.

The battle was just beginning.

Carth clasped his younger brother's shoulder tightly.

"Don't worry," Ulric said, taking some sort of grim satisfaction that his older brother was scared and he wasn't, "things will turn out fine."

"It's not 'things' I'm worried about, Ully." His face shifted to the younger man. "You just take care of yourself down there, ok?"

Ulric sighed, nodding and understanding where his brother was going with his train of thought. "You take care of yourself too. I won't let anything happen to me—and you make sure you come back in one piece."

Carth grinned. "Deal."

Both dark haired men scrambled to their stations, throwing on their uniforms in the process.

Carth had jumped into his orange and crimson vest, with his dark brown trousers, while Ulric threw on his own uniform.

The pair looked at each other one more time and made their way out, as their pistols dangled on their belts.

Ulric paused for a moment, removing his pistol and admiring its quality and workmanship.

The pistol was black, with a slightly curved handle for its contoured grip. Etched into the handgrip was the Onasi family crest.

I won't let you down, he swore, holstering the blaster into its berth as he raced out to get to his station.

He weaved through the traffic of people that were racing through the hallways, eager to get to their own stations, as he barely managed to get into his turbolift and ride it all the way to the locker room.

He opened his locker, nodding to several fellow officers who were already clad in their full body armour and helmets.

"Late again, eh, Onasi?" Came the voice of one of his companions.

"Look, I was just having a brotherly moment with Carth."

"Ah, yes. What a man," came the voice of another. "If only you were half the man he is."

Ulric cast the woman an amused glare. "Actually, if it weren't for me, he'd never be in the Navy. But thanks for thinking so highly of the soldier who gets to watch your back."

She quieted down and stuck out her tongue towards him, moving off to don her own suit of armour, as she was clad in her undergarments.

Ulric let his gaze stay for a moment longer before he threw off his uniform and clad himself in the gold, orange and burgundy armour of the Republic soldier.

"Listen up!" Came a halting voice of their platoon commander.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to face the gentleman who stood before them.

He had a scar running down across his right eye to his jaw line. His hair was snow white and his face was filled with stubble and a roughness that could only have come with years of war. He walked slowly towards the center of the collected group of soldiers.

Ulric looked at him, while continuing to don his armour, knowing full well that he just had to strap his boots on and attach his holster that carried his family blaster.

"We have word that the Mandalorians have begun to hole up their forces on Dxun and Onderon. Revan has decided that now is the time to assault the Mandalorian headquarters and that it will scatter their fleet and buy us more time to reorganize a full war machine under Revan's banner." His eyes shifted about, looking at every soldier in front of him. "It seems we're the lucky bunch that gets sent to Dxun. So pack your things, and make sure your weapons are fully loaded. We'll deploy at 1130 hours Galactic Standard."

Great, that means we were in hyperspace for almost three hours! We're deploying in half an hour? Ulric bit his lip and checked his chronometer to ensure he was right.

It was confirmed: thirty minutes until deployment.

He sighed and threw his former attire into his locker. His hands moved to the edge of the locker and he paused, staring at the small holoimage of he and Carth standing together on the shores of Telos, smiling and happy.

I won't let you down, Carth, he swore. You do your job up here, I'll do mine down there. He closed the door and picked up his GR-2012A Republic Blaster rifle. He removed the power pack, ensuring it was fully charged and slapped it back in. His hands went over to his belt, checking for a set of power packs.

Normally power packs would last one an eternity before it ran out.

Ulric never took chances, especially when it came to brutal battles like the one he was sure they were about to walk into.

It took him almost fifteen minutes to run through his equipment, making sure everything was in working order. Satisfied, he hooked a group of plasma grenades to his belt as he picked up his rifle and joined the procession that moved towards their dropships.

He noticed the two soldiers who were jesting with him earlier and he stood beside them, waiting patiently as their commander eyed them thoroughly.

"Ah, fresh meat for the grinder," he said approvingly, his eyes meeting Ulric's before he turned and walked off. "Get yourselves to your dropships and standby for the drop. Secure your gear and hope that the Force loves you today!" He entered his own dropship, followed by platoons entering their own, shortly thereafter.

Ulric entered his own ship, finding a seat in his pod and sliding the guard over his chest and stomach. He eyed his companions, knowing that they sat on his left and right sides, facing him.

Dropships were terms they used for the three-man pods they dropped.

Ulric never fully developed any love for the pods.

It certainly didn't help that they were being deployed via troopships and by Jedi who weren't even combat experienced.

The man to his right closed his eyes, praying to whatever Force he prayed to.

The woman on his left, however, grinned at him.

Oh for Frack's sake. I have a religious fruit and some she-warrior over here as my support. Ulric closed his eyes for a moment. Carth that promise might be harder to keep.

There came a sudden whoosh of air, followed by a hiss and a loud clank, as the pod shuddered, leaving Ulric to wonder whether or not their carrier had been shot down or if they had begun their descent.

"Whoo!" She screamed out, as the pod continued to shudder and alarms began to blare.

"May the Force be with us. May the Force be with us. May the Force be with us," the other one repeated, as his words slowly began to pick up a frantic pace.

Ulric gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the pod continue to shudder into its freefall as his head began to shake, throwing about his brain and eyes. I hate this! He felt his bones begin to shake and his muscles tense as the pod continued its fall. Beads of sweat now began to drip on his forehead, reminding him of the heat that was beginning to build up.

He could only hope that the pod didn't shatter or get hit by a stray blaster bolt.

The slightest tap on these things tended to cause pods to collapse and detonate, killing all occupants.

The pod began to shudder and shake, as klaxons began to blare, signaling that the alarms had failed and several internal systems had blown off.

"We will become one with the Force and bathe in its glory," the man continued, his panicked voice attempting to be calm.

"Let it burn! Let it burn!" she screamed.

Hold together you rust bucket! Ulric screamed in his mind as the pod continued to shudder. Just make it for this drop and you can die later! I have a battle to fight!

The pod's outer hull began to groan in protest, almost as if it had heard Ulric's internal command.

Don't you dare do it!

The groaning of superheated metal continued.

Don't you do it!

It continued to groan, as alarms blared and acrid smoke began to fill the small space.

His companions, as usual, were screaming for their lives and enjoyment.

And then there came an internal whoosh of air as the pod doors opened, followed by a loud thud and a disorienting crash.

Ulric's world was filled with intense pain, as his head shook about and the pod continued to stumble about.

It continued rolling, as the pod continued to be filled with their screams until it came to a deadening halt.

Ulric's body lurched and he felt his body scream in protest as the guard kept it in place, while his body felt like it was going to fly across the other side of the pod. He gasped for pain, hearing the whimpering prayers of his one companion and the dark glee of laughter in the other.

Why do I always get the freaks? He groaned and slapped the guard back up, causing him to slink out of his chair, rubbing his chest. He removed his rifle and checked to see if his pistol was still holstered to him.

He smiled, feeling the reassuring grip of his blaster.

He turned to face his companions, who were already out and picking up their gear. "All right crew," he said, "let's move out."

They nodded and they left the pod, crouching as they heard distant blaster fire and explosions that raked across the landscape.

The planet was a war zone, and the wildlife scrambled to get out of the way, as dense green foliage and quadrupeds were cut down by the beams of energy and the occasional energy shelling of a mortar team.

Blast, we're behind the lines. He bit his lips and looked about, watching a few streaks of scarlet tear through a few trees several hundred feet before him. He turned to face them, crouching down under the dense greenery. "All right, we need to regroup with command and then follow their orders."

"I don't know if you've noticed, Onasi," the woman, Gen, pointed out, "but we're in the middle of a fracking war!"

The darker coloured human, Dolan, nodded. "She's right. There's no way we can get to command unless we shoot our way there. " His eyes shifted around. "And from the way I see it—we're probably going to be doing a lot of shooting."

Ulric sighed. Great, just what I need: teammates who don't want to follow my orders. "Well what do you suggest we do? Run out there and show ourselves? We're going to get cut down by friendly fire and the enemy."

"Better to go down in a blaze of glory," Gen suggested.

"Stow it," Ulric replied sharply. "Look, we're stuck here, whether we like it or not. We either go to command and take orders or we fight our way through towards Mandalorian HQ."

Before anyone could reply, their open comlink went off the wire, with a distinct voice of the Jedi General in charge of the battle's efforts.

"This is General Oberon Kisho to any units outside of friendly lines. Those of you who haven't been captured or killed, need to get to the Mandalorian HQ, as located on your datapad schematics. I trust you're all well. We're pinned down and we need you to eliminate those headquarters so we can send their groups into disarray. They're too coordinated. I repeat: eliminate Mandalorian headquarters at all costs."

"Well, it looks like we're going in the opposite direction," Gen said cheerfully, a bloodlust glimmer in her eye.

Ulric didn't like the idea of fighting alongside her. He wasn't worried about her killing more Mandalorians than him; he was worried that he'd get caught in her indiscriminate range of fire. He glanced to his darker skinned compatriot, who answered him by nodding. "All right," he said reluctantly, "we're going to take out that HQ."

Gen smiled, cocking her rifle.

Ulric suddenly wished he hadn't woken up at all.

The trio crawled from their fallen pod and raced along a dirt path, ignoring the cuts and scrapes of the foliage, as their hearts pumped rapidly.

They continued racing through the path until they reached a pod in front of them.

The round extravehicular unit was scorched, with its own panels and compartments submerged into itself.

"Any survivors?" Dolan asked, as Ulric moved to check the door of the pod.

All the young man could see was a dark smeared substance covering the transparisteel view in the door. "I don't know," he shrugged, slinging his rifle across his shoulders as he bent down to open an emergency compartment.

Gen stood in front of the door, as he moved away, her morbid curiosity getting the better of her.

The small panel opened up with a hiss and a metallic pop, as he touched a lever and pulled it. After another moment, they heard the groan of metal as the door popped, flying away, causing Gen to jump away, cursing under her breath.

Ulric paid her no mind, knowing full well that if she were caught under that, she would be better off dead.

Dolan and Ulric were nowhere near as strong as was needed to lift the thick door from her. It would be too late if they had even attempted to help her.

Ulric, grabbing his rifle, entered the pod, only to see what the dark smear was.

The pod had decompressed sometime during its descent.

No one had survived.

He shook his head sadly and moved away from the pod. "It's a tomb."

Dolan closed his eyes, muttering a few prayers before he turned and left.

Gen looked at the pair incredulously. "Hello! You guys are muttering prayers to the dead when I almost got crushed by that door!"

Ulric shot her a glare. "Who was stupid enough to step in front of the door as I pulled open the manual switch?"

She was silent.

He shook his head, "just watch it or you'll get us all killed."

She scowled, swearing under her breath once more, as the trio continued their trek down the sweltering jungle.

The sounds of support ships and explosions could be heard some distance away from them.

"How do you think the fight's going?" Dolan asked, as they continued their trek down the path that had become nothing more than just foliage and young trees.

Ulric wiped his sweat from his nose, feeling the heat as badly as his partners. "Well, from the sound of things, it seems like the Republic is taking a beating from the well-entrenched positions of the Mandalorians. I think the Mandalorians are enjoying this more than we are."

"What was your first clue?" Dolan asked sarcastically.

Ulric allowed himself a smile. "Well, with the exception of our female counterpart," he nodded, indicating Gen, "I say we're probably going to be screwed."

She replied by smiling widely and cocking her blaster—again.

She's only going to bring that weapon to ruin if she keeps that up, he couldn't help but think. He looked around and back at his weapon. On second thought, her blaster will probably survive this, rather than its masters. Ulric nodded in a direction. "Let's move."

Before they could move a foot further, they heard the cocking of several blasters followed by, "hold!"

Out of nowhere, a group of orange and red clad Republic soldiers appeared.

Ulric noticed they had come from within depths of the foliage. How thick is this jungle? Of course, he knew the answer: the entire moon happened to be a jungle.

Another sweat-stained officer moved towards him, extending a hand and recognizing the young man. "We're glad to see you—we've been holed up here since the deployment. I'm Ensign Jarek Grenn. You're Onasi, right?"

Ulric nodded. "The younger of the two, that's right."

"It's good to see another Telosian."

"What's the situation?" Ulric asked, knowing full well that this was hardly the time for pleasantries, despite the mutual feeling of each other's presence.

"We were on board the Vagrancy, which was shot down. We barely managed to get into our pods in time."

"How many of you are there?" Ulric asked, his mind finally registering that there was quite a bit of fellow Republic officers.

"21," came Grenn's reply.

Ulric just inhaled sharply. "All right, we'll need to move--," he was cut off as he was hit by a brown-orange blur.

A growl followed and it was then that a pack of hungry cannoks leapt at the group, who was quick to open fire and duck out of the way.

Ulric held his blaster rifle up to his chest—the only thing between him and the hungry maw of the ugly, bulbous eyed canine.

It continued to snap at him, its breath rancid, as its saliva dripped onto Ulric's chin.

"Get this thing off me!" He screamed as its weight continued to bear down on him. He felt his arms buckling and it's mouth coming closer.

For a compact animal, it was by far one of the heaviest things he had ever encountered in his life.

He could hear the others scrambling and shooting at other cannoks who had surprised them. No help would be forthcoming now. He continued to feel it bear down on him, as he struggled to keep his blaster in between him and the cannok.

The creature continued to growl and bark as it tried to gnaw at his flesh, only to be held by the blaster rifle.

Struggling with his foe, Ulric pulled his legs closer to his body in an attempt to tuck it to his chest and throw the animal off.

Suddenly, the animal squealed and shifted for a moment.

Ulric's foot had hit the animal in a far more sensitive spot than he had anticipated.

The creature whimpered for a moment and then grew angry, renewing its attempt to maul him.

The lurch in the animal had bought young Onasi the time he needed to tuck his feet to his chest as he kicked out and sent the animal back.

He felt the great weight fly off of him and felt a wave of relief and soreness in his muscles. Not allowing his body a moment of rest, he rolled to his right and then rose pulling his rifle up and squeezing the trigger as the cannok raced into him again.

The cannok merely squealed and let out a low whimper as Ulric rose, eyeing the dead animal for a moment before his gaze met Grenn, who had just turned away from his own dead cannok.

Grenn merely nodded, his cheek scratched with minor blood pouring from his cheek.

They heard the cutting and slicing of an animal, causing them to turn around to see Gen removing a cruelly serrated blade from her latest victim.

The animal was terribly carved up.

"What?" She asked, as she looked at them in curiosity.

Ulric shook his head and turned to Dolan, who was tending to a wounded officer.

So far, there had been no sight of a Mandalorian and the sounds of battle could still be heard.

"We need to get moving to take out that Mandalorian HQ."

Grenn nodded sourly. "I heard the reports before we went down. We're getting hit hard."

"I know," Ulric returned. "We have to go now."

Grenn nodded. "You've got the seniority, we'll follow."

After a moment longer, the entire group began their trek towards the enemy headquarters, hoping that they were not too late.

Countless lives depended on them.

Carth, I hope you're doing well, Ulric couldn't help but think. His older brother was an ace pilot, however Ulric knew that there were times when there was always a better pilot. He could only hope that the brother he had sworn to look after would make it out of the war safe and sound.

He couldn't live with himself if Carth didn't make it out of the war.

Ulric knew Carth felt the same way.

His thoughts were cut short as his keen eyes picked up a clearing ahead of them. Ulric raised his hand in a fist, signaling to the group that they should stop. He could hear the bustling of someone moving up behind him and towards him.

It was Grenn.

"What's going on?"

"Small clearing just up ahead," Ulric said in a low voice. The entire group had crouched, so as not to be seen by any snipers.

Orange and red uniforms found in a dense green landscape wasn't hard to miss, but thankfully the Force was with them this day. They had entered an incredibly thick patch of foliage that had covered them.

It was the only thing saving them from any potential snipers.

He narrowed his eyes. "Something's not right."

"What do you mean? I see nothing." Grenn rose to move towards the clearing, only to be pulled back by Ulric.

"Get down!" He hissed to the older but inexperienced man. "There are mines! If the Mandalorians have snipers, they'll hit you from here."

Grenn crouched again, and reluctantly said, "I've never heard of a Mandalorian sniper."

Ulric shrugged. "Neither have I, but one can never be too certain. They have been known to use mines, Grenn. Just stick with me, and you'll make it out alive."

The officer nodded sullenly, "all right."

Ulric rested a hand on Grenn's shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about it. You're new to this military, aren't you?"

He nodded. "I used to be in the TSF. Back there, it's different."

"I know," Ulric whispered. "Things were far more different before this war. You'll get the experience and I have no doubt you'll make it out alive."

"If we get out of this one, you mean," Grenn pointed out.

Ulric didn't acknowledge the remark, though he silently conceded it. I can only hope that we do.

Before anyone could say anything else however, Dolan moved up towards them. "We've got a problem, Chief."

Ulric shifted his weight and looked at the darker man. "What do you mean?"

"Gen's run off."

Ulric's face paled. "Ran off where?"

To answer his question and sudden fear, a mine detonated, followed by several more. His eyes went wide with horror as a group of Mandalorians decloaked in front of the clearing and cut her already flailing form down.

Someone must have seen it too because in that one moment, the Republic soldiers rose and charged the field, screaming and firing at the Mandalorians.

"Sithspit!" Grenn hissed as the three men joined their companions, firing their blaster rifles with deadly accuracy.

The Mandalorians, however, were by far the more dangerous.

The Republic soldiers continued to open fire, taking cover within the foliage, but also taking hits.

Few Mandalorians collapsed under the firepower, as they unleashed large and heavy repeating blaster carbines into the greenery.

Ulric, Dolan and Grenn took cover behind a fallen tree.

It was at that moment that Ulric spotted several other forms decloaked with large serrated blades.

Blood was spilled while screams and discharging energy and explosions filled the cacophony of the scene.

Ulric and Grenn fired their weapons, while Dolan screamed out prophetic words from the Jedi Code as he dropped one Mandalorian after another.

Onasi continued to squeeze the trigger, as rapid energy slammed into the chest of his one target, sending the fanatically armoured soldier back. He ducked and narrowly missed the energy that crashed into his cover.

He felt the spattering of blood at his left cheek and knew that Dolan had gone down.

The darker man had stopped his prophetic screaming as he took a massive burst of energy sear through his chest and burn it.

Grenn continued to fare well, as he fired his rifle at any walking blue and silver armoured soldier.

Ulric turned around and taking aim for a moment, he drew a bead on the one who shot Dolan and squeezed the trigger.

The crimson bolt slammed into the visor of the Mandalorian, who screamed before he collapsed.

Feeling a tingling sensation, Ulric spun about, as a whoosh of cool air brushed his left ear. He brought his rifle up and felt a metallic blade hit it, shortly before he rolled to the ground and brought it back up to deflected the metallic blade that came down to cleave him again.

He knew Grenn was under fire and couldn't help him.

He was on his own.

The Mandalorian continued to chop his blade down, forcing Ulric to roll away until he was caught in between the heavily armoured man's legs.

"You're going nowhere," he said smugly through his faceplate.

Ulric looked up at in horror and with all the force he could muster, he slammed the butt of his rifle into the Mandalorian's knee, causing the man to howl in pain.

Seizing the moment, Onasi pulled out his family blaster and fired it into the man's groin.

The Mandalorian fell back, howling in more agony. He didn't notice the soldier rise and level his blaster at him.

Ulric squeezed the trigger twice. He looked about and watched a squad of Mandalorians moving from a fallen soldier towards another. Not wasting a moment, he removed a plasma grenade from his belt and hurled it into the group.

Reputed to be powerful warriors, this particular group was especially slow-witted.

A crimson ball of energy vapourized a few of the soldiers and its waves sent the others flying away, landing into trees and floors as crumpled, lifeless forms.

Now bereft of his blaster rifle, Ulric relied on his lighter, but no less deadly, pistol. He drew a bead on a Mandalorian who was rising from the explosion and fired several times, hitting his mark at the base of his skull.

His eyes caught Grenn, rising with a sword and fighting against a Mandalorian who accepted the non-spoken challenge.

Ulric's eyes shifted to the others, watching as some were either shot down or were sliced open. His sight shifted to the base.

Taking a step towards it, the younger Onasi failed to realize another Mandalorian who had moved away from his latest victim.

A sharp pain had driven itself into his back, shooting all over the soldier's body. Ulric felt his legs become weak and all the warmth in his body flow out of him as he hit the ground. All he could see was the Onasi crest staring at him from his cold, pale hand.

Carth, I'm so sorry.

A metallic foot stepped down on his forearm, blocking the family crest.

I failed you.

Another metallic foot kicked at the fallen man's chest, causing his gaze to see a red and silver armoured Mandalorian looking down at him.

I couldn't keep my promise.

The Mandalorian brought his blaster up to Ulric's eyes.

I just couldn't keep my promise.

The last thing Ulric heard was the snap-hiss of something, and the shifting in the Mandalorian's gaze.

Then he knew nothing more…

13 Years Later

Admiral Carth Onasi walked into the TSF Station and sat down on his desk, running through his daily list of tasks to accomplish.

There was still the mystery of that bounty hunter who had tried to kill the Exile on this station and Lieutenant Grenn's missing officer.

As always, he was stuck with reports of the Republic's shaky infrastructure.

He looked up and found his thoughts turned not towards his journey-bound love Revan, but towards his lost brother, knowing full well that he had gone missing during the battle on Dxun. He knew that Ulric had ran headfirst into a mission to eliminate the Mandalorian HQ that was coordinating the devastating strikes against the Republic lines. He also knew Grenn had taken part in that particular battle.

The mission had been an utter failure.

Grenn had been one of the few who survived due to the fact that the Jedi had finally breached the enemy's line and had managed to intercept that ambush in time.

"Sir," came the voice of his secretary.

He depressed a button. "Yes? What is it?"

"We have received a parcel that has been specified for you."

"What is it?"

"It's in a box and it's a blaster, sir."

Who in the blazes could have sent me a blaster? He sighed, bringing his index finger and thumb between his eyes, rubbing the edges. "I'm on my way."

He rose and walked out of the office and saw his secretary, who was dumbfounded.

"It's been addressed to you, sir," she said, not quite knowing what else to say.

Carth furrowed his brow and picked up the silver box. It wasn't large, but it was just the right size to carry a blaster pistol and a datapad. He opened it and saw that it was, in fact, a dark, worn blaster pistol and a datapad.

He narrowed his eyes, picking up the datapad with a message meant for him.

Dear Admiral Onasi,

I trust that you are well. I regret that I must write to you like this, but until I solve that mystery for you, I will be unable to return to Citadel. On my journey, I've found something that has brought both you and I memories of the Wars. I have no doubt that you will be more than glad to have it in your possession once more. I acquired it on Dxun, where it had been left for almost thirteen years. Take care, Admiral, I trust that we will meet again soon.

Sincerely,

General Oberon Kisho

Carth's eyes went wide as he picked up the worn blaster and saw the Onasi family crest.

The Jedi Exile had been the one who had led the assault and had been the one to save Grenn. Unfortunately, the Exile hadn't been able to save Ulric Onasi.

Ulric, he thought. I have missed you dearly. I know you would have wanted me to keep this as a reminder of all that we had been through. I know the folks would have been proud of you. I know I always will be.

He inhaled sharply, wiping away a forming tear, and returned with the box to his office. He looked out at space and remembered his last encounter with his younger brother. We'll rebuild like always—your sacrifice will never be in vain. Years from now, people will still recall all of us as Brothers in Arms.