"The Federation of Rochtaa, the ruling government of the Qiilura, Tyan and Dohu sectors, has requested an additional 25,000 Republic troops to Farrackge as tensions and skirmishes continue to mount on the archipelagic planet…" Galactic North Mid-Rim HoloNet Broadcast, Day 120, Year 21,410 ATF/3644 BBY

SPACE ABOVE FARRACKGE, QIILURA SYSTEM - DAY 155, 21,410 YEARS AFTER THE FOUNDING OF THE GALACTIC REPUBLIC - 0443 HOURS ORHLE-TV'HA TIME


Kat woke up to the long tone of the klaxon.

Typically, if a klaxon had pulsed off onboard ship, it was an alert call to general quarters and meant their ship was engaged in combat and every single sailor onboard was to go to "general quarters - all hands to battlestations!" while the passengers (typically Marines and Republic Army Soldiers) put on their battle gear just in case.

But the long tone signaled either a new day for her and the rest onboard, or a drop out of hyperspace. She guessed it was the latter, and checked the onboard chrono. 1212 HOURS CENTRAL STANDARD TIME. "3 hours estimated time to arrival..." They were briefed that they would be geared up and ready to board dropships by 1700 hours CST.

She got up, still in her physical training gear - the Marine's sleepwear - and jogged off towards the mess hall. There was a moderately long line, packed with off-shift sailors and Marines hungry for some chow. On a sign above the line it read - "TODAY'S LUNCH MENU - ROASTED MEAT WITH PEPPERED SAUCE - BUTTERED BREAD - LIWI FRUITS - MIXED VEGETABLES - MARINES ONLY"

"Our execution meal." Kat grimly thought as she entered the back of the line. She recognized a few from Headquarters and Weapons Platoons whom she remembered the faces of, but not the names, chowing down at a table nearby, also in their PT gear. The rest of her platoon were either in the nearest gym, or in their racks, which are the only things to do aboard.

She picked up a large piece of meat and as much sauce as possible, then took a couple slices of bread, a lot of liwi fruits and only a little vegetables - she didn't trust those as much - finalled out with a nutritional drink. She then headed out towards her company members.

When one of them - newly promoted LCPL Pevrou Crick - an ammo bearer on one of the 60mm mortars of Weapons Company, acknowledged her with a "Kat from 3rd Platoon, right? Have a seat with us!" She was overly jovial, with dark brown eyes and a thick-lipped smile that seemed to shine, and though her job meant that she was always at least a standard kilometer behind the line platoons, she was instantly familiar to everyone in Fox Company.

"How are you feeling, Kat?" he asked as she sat down. "Hungry." she bluntly answered as she struggled to cut the overcooked roast meat with the blunt cutlery. "Well, don't let me keep you from feasting out!" he said cheerfully before he turned towards his platoonmates.

"This meat is so tough! Damn blasted cooks!" she said as she spooned out some extra sauce to put in her mouth for extra moisture. Her jaw hurt. Her throat hurt as it struggled to roll down her esophagus. She tried to wash it down with the drink. It worked. "That's enough for the meat now." The bread was much better. "The butter tastes cheap and poorly stored, but who the hell cares?" She decided to dip it in the peppered sauce.

"You browsed through the HoloNet on what's happening there?" asked SGT Fenney Kevohachikv seemingly to no one. He is from the heavy cannons' squad of Weapons Platoon, and is an avid armchair enthusiast of galactic affairs.

"No, replied Crick. "It's a wild ride planetside… Last week a bomb ripped through a market in the local capital- 15 civilians died, 80 injured. The 2 weeks before that we have an army trooper that died from gunfire on patrol. Two were injured from roadside bombs. Not even permacrete and steel could help - another two were mortared on-base. One had their brains blown out, the other lost their right foot." he said solemnly.

Kat felt her appetite wane. "Damn." She said.

Will I even make it back alive?


AIRSPACE ABOVE ORHLE-TV'HA, 1600 HOURS LOCAL TIME


The whine of the dropship engines and the soft red compartment light is the only thing accompanying the Marines as they sailed towards their area of operations (AO). In typical military fashion, they had their flight planetside delayed so they could get extra transport ships to lift the mass of massive shipping containers that held their heavier vehicles and equipment.

So when she got on the Osprey in full battle rattle (all new gear included and tacked on!) with her two large duffel bags, it was a relief. "It'll be great to breathe actual, fresh air again!" The other 24 Marines with bags of weapons, clothing and gear were tightly squeezed into a space that typically fit 40. She felt the shift of gravity as they entered the atmosphere. "We're here." GYSGT Wojhee loudly said, barely listenable over the ship's engines.

Kat wondered how the planet is actually like. Sure, she had seen holos and photos during pre-deployment briefings, but as she had learnt, nothing prepares like the real thing.

After a few minutes, she felt the sudden stop - they're here. She lifted her hand to shield her eyes as the Osprey's doors slid open. As she stepped out, she was greeted by a makeshift dropship landing zone, surrounded by tall ferrocrete walls and smaller duracrete cubes, making two layers of square perimeters.

A Marine with worn combat gear came up to them with a datapad in her left hand and carbine in her right. Kat's helmet heads up display shows her as a Command Sergeant Halle."Fox Company, 605th Marines?" "That's us, Command Sergeant!" said 1LT Fletcher. "Alright, sir. Follow me Marines. Welcome to Joint Base Orhelayn. Keep your distance." Halle then broke out into a jog. The rest of the Marines followed suit, with Fletcher up front.

"When we start to receive indirect fire and the siren starts, I want all of you to start running towards these bunkers, see?" she said as they jogged past a simple concrete bunker. There were no firing ports to the outside. Kat started looking around - she noticed many such structures around the base. "When?" she asked.

"We take mortar fire once a day, maybe two days. Longest we've went without for this year so far is… 5 days?" Kat felt a shiver up her spine.

The base had some pretty unexpected amenities - a large post exchange, a Coruscant Chicken - one of the largest chicken chains in the Core and Mid Rims - and a holocall center with galactic-wide access. It was a far cry from the bases she's read about with no-frills.

They arrived at a roofed and covered motorpool with bunkers scattered around. Marines and droids of all kinds were repairing vehicles, turning wrenches, lifting crates, carrying various things and checking electronic systems. The place emitted an air of business and misery.

"You'll have to wait for the rest of your company to arrive here," Halle said before she started jogging to the landing zone again. The Marines sat down. Kat looked around and saw 1LT Fletcher kneeling with his left fist parallel to his chest while whispering something. Curious, she approached him.

"... keep her strong. " The gears in her brain clicked.

"Praying, sir?" He nodded. "May I join?" He nodded again as she asked as she sat beside him and joined her fists together, the Brentaalian religion stance for prayer as Fletcher continued his prayer.

"...Oh God and Goddess of War, as Your humble servants of this vast and diverse galaxy, as we head into our duty, we ask of You to grant us mental and physical strength to carry out what we are asked to do to the best of our abilities. May You protect us from evil and carry us to victory here, for the sake of all those on this planet, this Republic and this galaxy. May you hear our prayers, Oh Lords." he ended it with a slight thump to his chest before he stood up.

"I never took you as a religious person, Merrick." he said. "I… believe, sir. Not strongly, but… I still believe… if that's what you're wondering." he nodded and rubbed his chin. "What religion, sir? I'm curious." she asked, not able to hold in her curiosity anymore. "Cerent'Dethiansm. An old-timey religion from Coruscant." "Ah, I see." Kat remarked. "How's your family, sir? Back at Coruscant?" she tried to continue the conversation. "Ah, doing fine. My wife is pregnant, so it's a bit hard on her. Thankfully, my family is there to support her. We're a tough bunch, so you see..." "Your family has a history of service, sir?" she quizzed, raising her eyebrow.

"Not continuous, but we had people fighting all the way back to the first ever Republic-Imperial War. Believe it or not, that's not the craziest achievement my family have." "Then, what is it, sir?" her interest was now piqued. "My family was the leader of the Outbound Initiative. You ever heard of it?" Kat suddenly remembered, "Ah, of course... a million humans got sent out for an extragalactic expedition, right?" "The very same!" he smiled. "Never knew... all I heard from a lot of people is that it's either a pipe-dream or a human-supremacist colonization project..."

Cal laughed. "We only sent humans because as much as people don't like to admit it, we have more genetic diversity and more numbers. Makes things more likely to succeed." "It's been a hundred years since the launch, hasn't it? And no one knew if they even..."she trailed off. "You want to know a secret, Private First Class Merrick?" he leaned in closer. "We received one transmission ten years ago. It says 'We found it!', but nothing further since," Kat was astonished. "At least... there's progress. I hope they're fine at their new home.

She was in deep thought when the lieutenant asked her, "What's your family like, Merrick?" "Average. My parents worked desk jobs. My father is very open minded. My mother is the same, but... religious." "Well... what are your beliefs, PFC Merrick? "That there is a creator, somewhere. I pray for help sometimes, but after being burnt out on… too many things in my life, I'm not quite the believer anymore, sir." "Understandable…" he said as the conversation awkwardly ended.

The rest of the company and the majority of their heavy equipment and vehicles had arrived by that point, but they still had to wait for all to arrive before moving out. Kat leaned back on her pack to take a short nap - it's possible they all might not be able to do so after. She didn't know how long she slept, but she will always remember being rudely awoken by the boom of an explosion. Sirens blared all across the base. "INCOMING! INCOMING! INCOMING! SEEK COVER!" yelled out the intercom.

She shot up, and saw that her fellow Marines were scattering towards the bunkers. She decided to head to the nearest one she saw first. "Is it really incoming or outgoing? What if-" The whistle followed by another explosion answered her question. Then another followed, this time in her sights. It exploded around 150 meters away, she estimated, but that is still too close.

The barrage continued as she entered the bunker and hunkered down. Occasionally, a round would explode close enough for her to feel the shockwave. Her heart pounded fast and hard, she felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. She collapsed onto the ferrocrete.

"Blasted bastards!" cussed out Wolverton. "Does this happen often?" LCPL Bea Argyll asked, lighting a cigarette. The smell permeated the tight space. Kat felt sick, but didn't dare to tell the recently demoted Marine off, so she took short breaths. "Sure does," answered another Marine, picking at his dirty, stained coveralls.

The mechanics chatted amongst themselves, while the Fox Company Marines kept silent, gritting their teeth. "Hey, open your mouths a bit. The pressure will blow out your eardrums if you keep it shut," said one of the mechanics. They opened their mouths, stupid as it may look.

After 10 minutes, the shelling stopped. The Foxes started to get up and move but the mechanics yell out, "Are you insane? Wait for the all clear!" they whispered, so they sat back down. Kat picked out at stones embedded in the brown road.

"This is the command post. Alarm yellow, alarm yellow. Only post-attack-reconnaissance teams are released for UXO checks and mission-essential personnel are authorized to return to duties. Flight line released. All other personnel are to remain in cover. Command post - out."

"Can we go now?" asked Wolverton. "No, that's not the all clear!" one of the mechanics whispered angrily back. Kat sighed and continued digging until she picked out a nail-sized pebble and threw it at the roof of the bunker, then dug for another, this time throwing it at PFC Sylven Deuwr, one of the new admin Marines. "Hey!" she yelled back as she reached down and shot back a pebble at her. A chain of events transpired that led to everyone throwing stones and pebbles at each other.

"This is the command post. All clear, all clear, all clear. All personnel are to return to their duty stations. Command post - out."

"Well, that's our cue. Let's get out of here." said Deuwr.

As they walked to their vehicles, Kat thought,

So that's how it's like to be fired upon.


OUTSKIRTS OF KDARSAC, DAY 156, 1200 HOURS LOCAL TIME


The planet looked vastly different from in the briefings. Hills provided variation to the terrain elevation. Thick trunks up to fifty meters in height gave way to strong, large branches with leaves in various colors from green to blue to purple. Foliage grew around the bottom of the trunks and roots.

Kat looked out of the rear left window of the Lynx, rifle at the ready in her lap.

Looks like a rainbow spilled over the leaves. This place looks beautiful.

But it was also prime territory for an ambush - anyone could shoot them from the treetops, and hidden explosives could be lurking amongst the foliage.

The jungle then gave way to a city nestled amongst the trees and hills, with resident dwellings built amongst the trees while larger commercial and apartment buildings stood on ground level. Speeders zoomed along them in roads and designated invisible highways in the levels above them.

Kat counted three distinct levels, with the bottom most level being at least four standard Coruscanti stories high.

The architecture was oddly Core World-like, with commercial buildings using lots of glass, transparisteel and natural lighting. Dwellings were as colorful as the trees that held them. But closer inspection revealed grimmer details - blaster bolt and bullet hole marks in the walls, with the occasional blood splatter. The ground streets were filled with trash and craters of various sizes. Some stores were boarded or armored up due to danger.

They stopped every time a they saw suspected improvised explosive - in the trash filled environment, that meant getting out the explosive ordnance bot, and at least another 15 minutes to the travel time.

Every single hair on her body stood up. Kat started to practice controlled breathing.

Focus.

The citizens were milling around about their day despite the the political and sectarian conflict. The citizens' militia provided law and order, citizens were walking to and fro and drivers buzzed around and above them, either oblivious or willfully ignoring the fully armed military convoy.

Huh… If I were to see a hawk's eye view holo of this place without knowing, I would never know this place is at war.

They exited the city into a hilly suburban area, with more dwellings, some larger than others, but still held all the telltale signs of conflict. Then, they went into a minor roadway and travelled up the roads along the beach, up some hills and past some minor settlements before going off the roadway. Finally, they went up a small hill and reached a small complex fenced with guardposts, turrets and ferrocrete walls. The improvised sign at the entrance read -

"WELCOME TO FORWARD OPERATING BASE APALIS"

They were waved in by the gate guards and directed to the base motorpool. The Foxes exited the vehicle to a modestly sized base. Their vehicles didn't fit into the motorpool - there were too many. The bunkers had more shrapnel marks than at the airfield.

It was then Kat realised that there were two layers of walls protecting the compound - the innermost layer had crudely drawn art on them, the most striking one being a hooded human skeleton brandishing a red lightsaber - above it, was emblazoned the word "I AM DEATH".

A female Twi'lek CPT came up to them and shook Vlogel's hand. "CPT Torina, from Ion Company, 3333rd Marines. Welcome to Kdarsac - we have a lot to discuss. Let's get indoors - don't want to attract shelling now, do we?"


BRIEFING ROOM, FOB APALIS, 1400 HOURS LOCAL TIME


"... So the situation here has been steadily improving, though it's still bad from an objective perspective. Biggest problem on-base is we have is indirect fire from mortars, umanned drones, and snipers - last drawn out firefight we have was about three weeks ago." briefed Ion Company's XO as he swiped on his datapad.

"Off base, we have mostly improvised explosive attacks on vehicles, and snipers. Civilian population is… co-operative, but there's been no actionable intel from them this week. The citizens' militia has unfortunately been of little help in solving the intimidation, kidnapping and murder issues from the insurgents." he continued.

"Have we ruled out possible inside collaboration from within the citizens' militia?" asked Vlogel.

"Yes, and they have promised to conduct an internal investigation on that. You'll just have to wait." said the XO frustratingly, the Mirialan's forehead tattoos creasing with his frustration.

"Great. That means it'll never get solved." Kat thought.

"We'll start with the left-seat/right-seat training tomorrow. Two squads from each platoon will go along with us for each rotation. For today, it's better for you to settle in." remarked the XO before he closed his speech.


GROUND LEVEL, KDARSAC, DAY 157 - 0900 HOURS LOCAL TIME


"How long have you been out here?" asked Lovell to the Marine Corporal driving beside him. "Five and a-half standard months? I haven't counted..." he said, staring ahead. "Is it bad?...I want to hear it from the actual boots on the ground, not from some officer who probably went outside the base five times…" Lovell insisted, momentarily grabbing the Nikto's shoulder.

"... Yes." "How?"

"Lots of senseless things going on. It's one thing to have someone shooting at you, but we're Marines. To see a youngling chained to a dwelling attic just because their family belonged to some political group… it's savage." he replied with a strong tone of sadness.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. We're here to do a duty. Plus, I'm going home soon."


MARDRIK SUBURBS, KDARSAC - DAY 160, 1300 HOURS LOCAL TIME


Kat struggled to drive the Lynx. She preferred to be up on the turret, but orders are orders. She scanned the terrain for improvised roadside bombs, which could be hidden in trash, or for suspicious things or beings. In a neighborhood like Kdarsac, that could be anyone.

Previous patrols have been relatively silent - 1st Squad, 1st Platoon had a sniper or two taking potshots on one rotation, while 3rd Squad, 2nd Platoon had a small IED explode near their lead vehicle, thankfully with no injuries. The assault cannon platoon of Weapons Company (which has been reformed into Mobile Mounted Platoon 1) found two bodies on the roadside with a bullet in the head of each during one of their rotations. It was contrary from the starfighters and walkers that they mostly trained for.

As she maneuvered through the streets, she counted an average of… 8, no, 10 civilians, that she could at any given time from her position. Too little for a city of a quarter of a million people. There was also the speeder roads - traffic laws were non-existent here, as she found out.

Speeders would swerve onto oncoming lanes to avoid her convoy, and due to the rules of engagement, they couldn't shoot lethally - unless they had determined that the vehicle had carried explosives or weapons, meant harm, and have given escalating warnings.

The veteran Marines accompanying them told them to let the vehicles go most of the time.

"Hey, Marine, nice gear you got there," said a veteran sergeant on the other side of thee seats. "Thanks - got it just for this deployment," replied Kat. "Take it from me, you'll ditch it further along. All that equipment will weigh when you're doing 8-hour rotations. You'll see." he said.

THWUP!

Kat was thrown back on her seat as the Lynx thumped onto the road. The inside of the vehicle was filled with smoke. Kat's ears rang, unable to hear anything. She could see the Kaleesh Sergeant right next to her opening his mouth, but she couldn't make out the words.

The front door of the Lynx opened, and the Kaleesh went out.

"... kay?"

"...you okay?"

"Merrick, are you okay?!"

It was Lovell, knocking on the door and screaming at her.

"I'm okay,Sarn't!" she mumbled out to him as she exited the vehicle. The Kaleesh ran to him. "Just a little bodywork damage - we only need to reactivate the repulsordrives." he said. The other occupants had also gotten out, all thankfully unhurt.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked while checking her body, looking concerned. "A little shaken, but fine, Sarn't!" she replied, knees shaking. "I'll get someone else to trade places with you. You're not driving anymore… Caford! Take the steering!" "Aye!" he said as he stoically stepped into the vehicle."Go." he ordered her.

Suddenly, a shot rang out and impacted near the lead vehicle, letting out a loud ping, followed by more. Caford got out and took cover next to her. "We're taking contact, take cover! Scan for muzzle flashes!" yelled out a veteran command sergeant named Juol. Kat hugged her body against the Lynx. She pointed her blaster rifle in all directions, trying to find the offender.

I'm being shot at. I'M BEING SHOT AT! BLASTED INSURGENTS!

"Flashes, bearing 340, 200 meters! At the red building with the cave-in!" yelled out Lovell. "Positive ID? No civvies?" asked CSGT Juol firmly. "Aye! All clear!" "Let them have it, dammit!" he bellowed. Kat turned to the call-out bearing with help from her HUD compass, then quickly but carefully rose, aimed and fired in rapid succession at the offending building as her Marines did the same. The vehicles' repeating turrets roared as they shot alongside the Marines.

A flurry of ocean blue bolts flew and impacted against the painted red duracrete. The shooting stopped. "Cease fire, cease fire!" yelled out Juol. "Illum 6 Concord, this is Illum 4-2. We just engaged an enemy west of Route Jalrek, over." he radioed in calmly.

"Alright, let's continue our patrol. Be on extra alert this time." said Juol in a grave manner. They all started to mount up. As she stepped into Caford's vehicle, she thought,

Oh hell. I just survived a damn firefight.