MAIL CENTER, FORWARD OPERATING BASE APALIS, 30KMS NORTH OF KDARSAC, ORHLEAN ARCHIPELAGO, FARRACKGE : DAY 182 , 2300 HOURS


"Dear Father and Mother…

I hope you are well and happy at home. I'm joyed to hear that Uncle Cawynn has finally remarried. I remember having him visit with his then-partner during school holidays years ago and they seemed to love each other deeply. Send them my congratulations.

I know you must be wondering...I'm well, we've been searching our city for enemy activity and help the Civil Affairs Marines with the local population. Questioning civilians, knocking on doors, guarding Republic projects, getting into shootouts with whatever anti-Republic militia/terrorist/rebel group that wanted to fight, checking for roadside bombs, looking out for booby-traps in houses and buildings, giving out toys and holobooks to younglings…We have a lot to do these past weeks. We are guardians as much as we are warfighters. We fight our enemies in one street and play with the younglings in the next.

That being said...I think I killed someone. Last week here, we were ambushed. One of our Lynx Lemvees (Light Military Vehicle) exploded, then they hit us with small arms fire. I'm not allowed to release any casualty details. I will spare you the explicit details, but I returned fire. I took aim at the treetops above through the turret optics. I picked one out that was firing wildly - and squeezed out a burst. Then again, again and again. One missed, but the rest impacted him and he fell to the ground. If I didn't kill him, the drop will.

After a short battle damage assessment, we quickly headed back to base, and it took a while for me to realize what I've done.

I regret taking a being's life - that was some being's loved one, and had their own lives, thoughts, dreams and families. But this being was a combatant that had shot at me and hurt my fellow Marines, so I returned the favor.

And for that, however, I regret nothing.

Your loving daughter,Cathria. "

Kat hesitated at first. But then, she pressed "send", donned her rifle and plate carrier (PLCR) and got out of the computer room, filled with Marines trying to write or read mail from home. There were small displays of sadness and joy as Marines received news from outside the war theater.

The door hissed shut behind her as she put on her digital-woodland wool hat under her helmet and started jogging back to her platoon barracks. The night was almost silent around the FOB, with ambient noise from chatting troopers, beeping and whistling droids, and the loudest of all, Kat's plate carrier jangling and rustling from the various items being carried, She wondered why did the base commander order them to wear protective gear at all times outside - Indirect fire was regular, but never accurate. She wore them begrudgingly, not wanting to attract the ire of some senior NCO always on the prowl for minor infractions. She preferred the extra weight to the trouble.

She walked past the two Echo Company barracks. On the ground level, Marines in a combination of PT and protective gear smoked whatever few narcotics were allowed (most chose cheap cigarettes and vaporators) and talked amongst themselves.

"Echo! How's the things on your warfront?" she called out to the nearest group. "Doing as well as it could be in this waste-hole. We bagged a crate of illegal sniper rifles from some worker's home." "That's pretty grand, Echo! Hell of a job!" Kat cheered and clasped the nearest E. Co. member. His PLCR tag read "Doatarke" and the Quarren bore the rank of LCPL.

"What about you, Fox? Did anything of note? Or just sitting on your behinds while we do the work?" He smirked as he let cigarette smoke out through his nose. Kat knew it was banter between warfighters and let it slide - as long as they didn't cross a line, it would be fine. "No major ones in our AO yet. Our platoon beat an ambush yesterday. Lost one of ours to an IED." The smirk disappeared from his mouth. "Dammit, sorry to hear that - must've been difficult. We lost two of ours three days ago from a road bomb." "I'm sorry for your losses." "Don't worry about it. We knocked on some doors and found bomb-making materials in one of the abandoned shops. What's your name, Marine?" "Merrick." "Merrick from Fox Company. Nice to meet you. Stay strong and get some out there!" "Hells yes! Hang tough, Echo Company… Gott-"

An explosion rocked the ground. It exploded twenty meters away from Kat, and the impact knocked the wind out of her as she was slammed into the ground. A second later, another came in. Then another, followed by a disjointed cacophony of shells. The indirect fire alarm sounded.

"INCOMING! INCOMING! INCOMING! SEEK COVER!"

Kat laid as low as possible as she tried to locate the nearest shelter bunker. It took her two seconds. She ran behind other Marines who had a head start. A rocketl exploded in front of her and as she dove for the ground, the Marine closest to her went down with a scream.

She ran towards the Marine. As she hoisted him on her shoulder, she realised it was LCPL Doatarke.

The orange-brown Quarren had his face and uniform specked with blood. He was in whimpering from the shock and pain. He was taller and larger than her, and between both of their gear, Kat struggled to carry them both into cover

Another shell exploded too close for comfort for them. The shockwave hit her like a punch as Kat kneeled to avoid the slicing shrapnel. It wasn't enough, but at least none had hit them. Yet.

She summoned all her strength and willpower to carry him to the bunker, now meters away.

I'll be damned if I die this close.

She gave out one last burst of energy to carry them through the narrow bunker doorway.

"Is that Doatarke?" "Hey, hey, someone get him!" "Aye, CSGT!" Kat felt her body shiver from relief as she dropped against the bunker wall. She looked over to Doatarke as his company members struggled to treat him. He had been hit by shrapnel in the face, torso and right shoulder. Dark purple blood quickly seeped through the bandages, even after they wrapped torniquets on his limbs and sprayed him with kolto solution, which was supposed to slow the bleeding and provide partial healing.

"Hey, need some help?" Kat asked as she got up. "No need, we got this. Sit down, you've earned it. You're a damn hero."

Kat immediately bristled at the h-word. She had seen a couple of incidents where Marines helped wounded out of the line of fire. That was expected of any Marine, and especially combat arms Marines.

I'm not a damn hero. I'm just doing my damned job.

She silently sat as they continued to try stabilizing him. There was no corpsman in the bunker, so they had to rely on the basic medical skills they were taught.

Kat realised that the shelling and rocketing had stopped. One of the E. Co. Marines keyed her commlink. "Eagle 6-Concord, this is Eagle 4-2, Echo-3 Bravo - We have a critical casualty in a shelter bunker outside our barracks. We need a medevac now, over!" After a few seconds, Kat saw her breathe out a sigh of relief.

"Alarm yellow, alarm yellow…" said the base intercom.

"Well, looks like evac's on their way. The rest will have to wait until the all clear, though."

Kat laid herself against the bunker walls, then closed her eyes. Her arms and legs trembled and felt like there were pins and needles inside them. Her ears rang and with the shelling stopped, there was nothing to drown it out. Her heart rate was through the roof. She felt like blacking out.

Someone leaned over her. She opened her eyes. "Hey, buddy. You alright?... Hey, Marine, are you fine?" She could hear voices, but it was as if it is underwater, hundreds of miles away. The Marine that scooter and leaned over her looked like a black featureless blob through Kat's eyes.

After 10 minutes, the evac teams arrived. Two stretchers arrived. One for LCPL Doatarke the Quarren Marine, and the other one for PFC Kat Merrick.

Kat closed her eyes. She didn't want to bear this exhaustion any longer.


BASE AID STATION, GREEN WARD 1, FOB APALIS : 5 HOURS LATER


She woke up with a catheter in her right hand. It was connect to an isotonic saline solution.

"Ah, stang. I've always hated being pricked by these blasted things."

Her eyes mind then veered towards another thought? "Why am I here? Am I hit?" The lack of bandages, kolto and pain answered her latter question.

But not the former.

She recognized the place - it was the FOBs aid station. The room looked as sterile as it supposed to, even through the dim lighting. Medical equipment neatly lined up near the walls. She saw that the room had 15 hospital racks. Only her and another Marine occupied it. He had his left leg in a kolto tank tube and was fast asleep.

The door hissed open, and a doctor - an actual doctor, not the corpsmen or medics that every Marine calls doc - came to check on her. "Ah, Private First Class, you're finally awake." the Bothan doctor said. He wore the doctor's version of the Marine combat uniforms - almost skin tight, fluid resistant, regularly treated with an anti-bacterial and anti-viral coating, and had a small and light but loaded plate carrier with a variety of doctor's tools. A high-cut helmet (without any attachments minus a flashlight and a Medical Enhanced Vision Device - MEV-Dee) covered his head. He didn't look like a typical Marine, nor a typical military doctor.

"Why am I here, Doctor?" "You blacked out - one of the Marines said they found you unresponsive and pale. We checked and saw you had a high heart rate and blood pressure. We think it's the strain and dehydration. You dragged and carried a Marine to safety, correct?"

No. I know what's the actual reason. I can't tell, or they'll bump me off combat arms, or worse, medically separate me.

"Er… I guess so, Doc." "Hell of a job, Marine. We'll check your vitals and fluid levels. If all is well, we'll release you in a couple standard hours. We've informed your command,so don't worry."

"Thank you, Doctor… Uh, where's the Quarren? The one with shrapnel wounds?"

"He's fine. We had to immerse him in a kolto tank after the surgery, but things are looking up for him. You did a great thing."

She leaned back on her hospital bed and stared at the ceiling. As she was started to relax, she heard the door hiss.

The first thing Kat saw when the ward door opened was SGT Rorry Wolverton and the company XO, 1LT Cal Fletcher. She stood up and tried to snap a salute with a catheter in her hand. A pain shot up her hand and arm. She regretted it immediately.

"At ease, and sit down. PFC Merrick… How are you holding up?" "As fine as I could be, sir. Not a scratch." "We've heard everything. You have done a hell of a job. Captain Vlogel has put you in for the Combat Bravery Medal. I'm sure that the regimental S-1 section will approve it." "I can't have it, sir. I was doing nothing special." "Merrick, a word." said Wolverton in a serious tone. "Can we have some privacy, sir?" He nodded. Fletcher nodded back and left the room.

He sighed. "Listen, Merrick, you just take the damn medal if they do give it to you. This is probably going to be the fifth gallantry award given out for this tour so far. If you reject it it'll set a precedent where the bar will be too high, and some other poor bastard has to take on the whole Imperial military, kill the Emperor and the whole Dark Council and then jump on a thermal detonator to get the big brass to have their actions and sacrifices recognized and validated. Just accept it."

Kat sat there in silence. He's right. I don't like it, but this is bigger than myself. This is not just about me.

"Alright. I'll accept it."

"Good. And Merrick… They'll send someone to interview you. Don't inflate or downplay. Just tell it like it is."

Wolverton turned towards the door and knocked on it. It hissed open again as Cal re-entered the room.


FOX COMPANY BARRACKS ROOM, FOB APALIS - 4 HOURS LATER


"Kat! You're alright!" Xand cheerily said as she pulled her into a tight hug. She held on to her as she entered the 3rd Platoon enlisted room. "Hey everyone! Kat's back!" Everyone present greeted with whoops and cheers.

"Great work, Kat!"

"You did grand!"

"Raar, Marine!"

"Hell of a job, Kat!"

She felt uncomfortable but let them say it… for now. She took off her gear and lied down. Her brain was wracked, and her body spent.

"Don't wake me up until 2 hours before tomorrow's briefing. I'm done."


FOX COMPANY BRIEFING ROOM : DAY 183, 0600 HOURS LOCAL TIME


"Good morning, Marines!" "Good morning, sir!" CPT Vlogel gestured his hand for the Marines to sit down. They all sat facing him in he briefing room.

"Ey, Marine! Sit up straight! We don't slouch in here." the captain yelled at CPL Torran from one of the anti-ship rocket teams. The entire company of 222 Marines cringed in fear as Torran quickly corrected himself.

"Now, back to more important matters... We will be moving out of FOB Apalis and into Combat Outpost (COP) Byhill, just two standard kilometers west of Kdarsac. Command needs us to be closer to our AO, so that's where we'll go. Pack everything up into our containers and vehicles. We'll move tonight. Now... Let's get into more details..."


ROADWAY HERF-23, EN ROUTE TO KDARSAC, 2112 HOURS

Fox Company's convoy were joined by another company of transportation Marines who are supposed to help them along to their new home. They had spent 8 hours packing and checking for accountability of their weapons, gear and equipment onto vehicles and trucks. Then they had to clean their previous lodgings before leaving, as usual is with the Republic military - that added another 2 hours. Then, 80-plus vehicles began slowly rolling out of the FOB and towards the COP. They moved single file up the roads and over the bridges. Double checking routes and vehicle breakdowns have slowed them down into a glacial pace.

Kat sat looking out of the window, weapon on hand but not on the trigger. They were by the oceanside, and she looked at the reflection of the moonlight on the water, and the foam of the waves slowly flowing and seeping onto the sand. She missed the beach.

Isn't it ironic that this planet is full of islands and beaches, but none of us are able to enjoy them... here and now?

She heard a rumble. Out here, that could only mean one thing. The convoy stopped. "What's going on?" asked Xand. "I think we hit something. Weapons ready." remarked Lovell gravely. Xand solemnly checked the weapon's action and put her trigger finger near the safety.

The vehicle's radio crackled to life. "This is Falcon 1-Concord. We just hit an IED. No serious injuries, just a bunch of shaken transpo Marines. Recommend we ready to move again, out."

As soon as the repulsors began to push the vehicle's moving again, Kat heard a small thump. It was followed by another

thump. Kat saw four thin streaks of smoke very rapidly travelling towards the snaking convoy. Small arms fire started erupting.

"AVRs! Anti-vehicle rockets incoming!" Kat yelled. The four rockets impacted various distances from the vehicles, but no direct hits. "Get the blast out of the kill zone, or we all die! Step on the acceleration, move!" the transportation Marines' captain yelled in panic.

Kat heard shots from the radio. Everyone was firing, including her, though the narrow window port made it difficult. She squeezed off bolts of fire in the general direction of where the rockets fired from.

"Blasted mareds!" cussed out Xand on the other side of the vehicle. She switched to full auto and emptied a magazine towards the enemy.

The vehicle's were all moving at full speed, but the long line meant even that speed wasn't fast enough. As rounds kept pinging off of the vehicles' thin armor, she thought "When are we going to outrun them?"

The convoy continued to speed ahead, not wanting to be caught in more ambushes.

When they finally reached the new COP, it was 0200 hours - early morning. Kat was astounded upon realizing they fought against a complex ambush with anti-vehicle rockets, roadside bombs and small arms fire, and yet... no Marines have been wounded.

"How did we even manage that?"


Author's Notes : Finally back after long COVID! I'm still busy due to work, but I promise to get at least one chapter out every month.