Talus - The Plains outside of the City of Nashal

Mallie Nion strode briskly through the lines of prefabricated barracks. The fighting had once again ceased for a few hours. This happened occasionally and the Separatists would shell the Republic shields, trying to drive them back into the city of Nashal. This last engagement had been particularly vicious. Separatist artillery and bombing runs had shelled the trenches and positions in advance in hopes of driving away or killing all the defenders while the Separatist infantry, armor and mechanized forces advanced. The shelling ended just in time for the droids to reach the trenches. Immediately, the Republic forces were forced to retake their trenches. General Kento Marek had led the charge himself to retake the positions and it was brutal indeed. The only thing that had allowed the victory was Mallie leading a massive bombing run from one end of the line to the other. Gunships had immediately followed expending all ordinance and deploying troops rapidly into the fights. To follow up, Republic mechanized reinforcements had marched to the trenches. AT-TE tanks and heavy weapons units moved in quickly and set up as soon as the enemy was moving off.

As Mallie made it to the front lines, she looked from one side to the other. There were troops sitting and some were even lounging in the trenches. Moving over to Commander Razer, she said, "Good evening, Commander. How are the troops looking?"

"They're doing good, Sir;" he replied crisply. "The injured are in the hospitals and we are ready in case the clankers try that again."

Mallie smiled. "That's good, Commander. Have you seen General Marek?"

"No sir; which is surprising because he usually comes out here and points to the enemy lines and says something like, 'there's the enemy, boys! We'll get them tomorrow and teach them that they can't program a droid that can make war like the GAR can!' I wonder what he's up to."

Mallie chuckled. "Yeah, me too, Commander. I'll go find him."

Turning away from the front, Mallie pulled her comlink and broadcast over all Republic military channels being used on the planet, "Does anyone have eyes on General Marek?"

There was a string of negatives before one clone trooper replied, "He's at the extreme rear, General Nion - behind the munitions and fuel depots. He's uh... meditating or something - just staring at Nashal."

"Acknowledged, Trooper; thank you;" said Mallie with a frown.

That wasn't like Kento at all. Hurrying, she made her way to the spot mentioned by the trooper. There Kento Marek stood. He certainly wasn't meditating. He was gazing back towards the city with an empty look in his eyes. "Kento? Are you alright?"

"Hmmm? Oh, Mallie! Yes, I'm-I'm alright. This last engagement just hit me a little harder than previous ones have."

Mallie stepped up beside him and gently ushered him back against the wall where no troops or lookouts could see them and took his work and battle-worn hand. "Tell me about it;" she murmured gently.

There was a long silence and at first, Mallie thought that Kento hadn't noticed what she said, but finally he slowly began to speak. "At first, it was a battle like any other. As soon as I heard that bombing runs and artillery barrages were beginning, I guessed what the Seps were up to. I pulled all troops just inside the shield. My thought process was that they could rush out and take positions immediately after the bombings stopped. I knew that the Separatist ground forces would be right there and ready but I figured we would have armor and mechanized help to retake the trenches immediately."

"What happened?" Mallie asked.

"It was more vicious than I thought it would be. The droids poured heavy fire at us and dozens were cut down before we made it ten meters outside of the shield. Our mechanized units were slow to get moving and it took a beating as it emerged to. Even when we made it to the trenches, there was barely enough of us to hold them until you led your bombing run and the reinforcements arrived in the gunships. I expected the droids to be sluggish, inaccurate and slow to respond. But this time, they had begun firing almost before we had left the shields and the troops - my troops - were cut down."

Mallie listened sympathetically and rubbed his hand with her thumb as she did. When he finished, she gently replied, "I've read the casualty report, Kento. Yours were no greater than any of your previous battles. This time, because of the shock of the initial engagement and the fact that there was no single hot spot but the whole battle was hot, it seemed like it was worse. I've looked into the holo footage from the battle field as well. You and your troops did exceptionally well at holding the trenches."

He was silent. Mallie smiled and gave his hand a gentle tug to get his attention. "You were incredibly impressive as well. Do you know why I think you see things differently?"

Kento looked into her eyes. She smiled and said, "You left your pride and personal glory behind the shield and now have more sympathy for your men and their lives. Even though you lost no more than was warranted and no more than such a battle would cost and yet, you are certain that it was. You are considering others more than yourself now, Kento, and it suits you. This compassionate and sympathetic side suits you more than that of a glory seeking and arrogant young Jedi Knight."

"In other words;" he said as he took both her hands, "I'm becoming more like you."

"You are becoming a wiser and more mature man. You are turning into a better Jedi as well and I-" and she trailed off.

A glimmer shined in Kento's eyes and he smiled, a glimmer or the dashing and daring young man that he was when they first met. "I-" and he paused with a smile, "you too."

Maliie pulled a hand free and smacked him on the chest. "Blasted scoundrel! I take back every nice thing I said about you!"

Kento chuckled before sobering again just a little. "Thank you, Mallie and not just for your kind words. I've learned from you and I can see the war through your eyes. It changes how I see things a little."

"But don't change everything about yourself. Your troops need your confidence, your valor and even your bravado. They are waiting for you on the front lines to give one of your rousing little speeches. Go talk to them and then come and find me in the command center. We need to send a report to the senior general in the area."

Kento chuckled and nodded. Looking around to ensure no one could see them, he leaned in and kissed Mallie. She gave a quiet sigh into the kiss and returned it lovingly. Then he hurried off.

At the front, Kento pulled a pack of nicotine sticks from his pouch and passed them around to Commander Razer and those in his staff who liked them. Then, lighting up, he said, "They thought they nearly had us but those cheap toys need to step up their game if they're going to get one up on us. Tomorrow, we'll teach them how to really fight a war. Tomorrow, we're taking the fight to them and we'll demonstrate how an army takes a fortified position."

All the troops within the area yelled, "Sir, yes sir!" enthusiastically.

Kento smoked half of his stick before flicking out the end and tossing the remnants into the disposal unit. On the way back to the command post, he drank strong cold caf out of a canteen and ate a couple of breath refreshers. He even spread richly scented cleanser over his face and splashed water to rinse it off. Stepping into the command post, he saw General Mallie Nion and the holographic images of Jedi Masters Windu, Yoda and Kenobi. "Apologies for my tardiness, Masters;" he said briskly to them, "I had to check on the front. After the sudden attack today, I wanted to be sure they were all right."

"It's quite alright, General Marek;" said Master Kenobi with a reassuring smile. "General Nion has already caught us up on the situation. You've both done will but how do you plan to push the Separatists off Talus? Having them so close to Corellia is making the Chancellor uncomfortable."

"I understand completely, Master;" said Kento with one of his trademark smiles. Turning to one of the nearby technicians, he said, "Corporal, bring up the holos from the most recent recon flights."

The flights were taken by modified Z-95 Headhunters with high resolution sensors and scanners replacing the warhead launchers and magazines. They took images and holos of the enemy lines and fortifications in high speed flyovers. The holos presented sped by until Kento said, "Stop! Perfect Corporal."

It showed fortifications not completely different from those of the Republic forces. Tanks were dug in as were heavy small arms nests. Behind the lines were considerable artillery emplacements as well and, as a shock to no one, there were plenty of battle droids. Kento pointed to locations on the holos. "As you can see, their lines are almost as well laid as ours. A frontal assault would prove costly at best and futile at worst unless we had a skifter in the hole."

The masters looked back and forth before Master Windu motioned him to continue. "I propose a full forward assault with the majority of my and General Nion's forces. Advancing heavy tanks, fighter tanks, infantry and our own artillery will draw all the focus of the enemy's rigorous defense."

"Didn't you just state a recognition that such a move would be disastrous?" asked General Kenobi. He was not being insulting, Kento knew that. The tone was far more quizzical than anything.

Kento smiled and said, "Yes I did, Master. I will lead the forward attack myself. But, while this assault is going on, four companies or our best men will be dropped from just with orbit - out of range of the enemy fleet and too far away from their fighter base to reach them. They will land behind enemy lines and move in with recon walkers and target the shield generators and artillery emplacements first and foremost. With them gone, the casualties of our forward assault should decrease significantly. Once the emplacements and shield generators are down, the airborne units will retreat to the insertion points and our artillery will immediately begin shelling the front lines while the rest of the main force advances. As soon as the ground force is near the blast zone of the artillery, they will cease fire and immediately, the infantry and fighter tanks units will charge as quickly as possible and take the trenches, holding them until heavy armored units can move in to assist."

The masters looked at one another. It was very risky, of course. The main force would be under constant and heavy fire. However, given the terrain, the resources and the manpower available, options were also limited. "A sound plan, this is;" said Master Yoda. "Rest yourselves, young Jedi. Tomorrow, you will drive the enemy from Talus."

"As you command, Masters;" they both murmured.

The holocoms were cut and Kento sighed tiredly. "They're right. I'm exhausted."

Mallie smiled. "Are you turning in then?"

"No;" he replied, "I think I'll take a stroll behind the lines to unwind before sleeping."

"Very well;" said Mallie, pretending to continue studying the holos of the enemy lines. Just before he exited, Kento and Mallie shared a secret look.

Kento was strolling towards an abandoned manor less than a hundred meters outside of the city. It was a beautiful structure that had been half destroy by Separatist shelling. Who the family that owned the manor was and where they had gone was unknown but Kento had found it when establishing defenses and, as the battle of Talus had gone on, had made use of it.

Kento stepped through the open doorway and went up the stairs. On the second floor was a room that he had discovered was untouched by the damage to the rest of the manor. When he reach the room and brushed aside the blanket that he had hung there. Inside, standing at the window stood Mallie Nion. She had shed her cloak and taken off the gauntlets and greaves she had been wearing as well. As he entered, she turned and smiled. "I was hoping you would head this way."

"I wouldn't dream of missing a rendezvous before a battle;" he said as he shrugged off his cloak and began working on his armor components. Mallie left where she had been at the window and folded herself into his strong arms, loving the comfort in the strength in the muscles of his arms and chest. Looking up, she kissed him, ignoring the prickle of his stubbly chin and face. Kento was gentle with her, tenderly returning her kiss. One hand was wrapped around her lower back while the other pulled the ties out of her hair, allowing the black locks to cascade down her back.

They didn't talk. Words would get in the way. Mallie, still kissing him, allowed him to remove her utility belt, mantle and outer tunic. The thin undershirt beneath did not hide her shapely, athletic body. His hands moved under the shirt, enjoying the soft flesh beneath. Mallie moaned into the kiss as his rough hands caressed her. She lifted her arms, allowing him to remove her shirt. "Boots;" she said and they gave themselves enough room to remove their boots and socks.

Kento knelt down and lowered Mallie's trousers and undergarments but when she stepped out of the pooled clothing, Kento put his hands on her hips and kissed her just above her naval. Mallie shivered in delight as his hands moved down her legs and back up and he kissed first one of her hipbones and then the other. Suddenly, he stood, scooping her up as he did. "Kento!" she laughed, "what-"

"Here;" he said, carrying her to the wall at the head of the bed and setting her down and kneeling back down. "Lean back against the wall."

"Oh!" she gasped as he spread her legs. "I love when you do this."

Kento gave a deep chuckle as he kissed her below her naval. Lower and lower, he gently kissed her until his lips pressed against her heated lower lips, drawing gasp and shiver from her again.

There relationship was still quite new and neither of them had any experience. They had quickly learned about the other person and what they enjoyed. Mallie thoroughly enjoyed the intimacy and even vulgarity of Kento using his mouth to pleasure her. She writhed and moaned and used a hand to pressed him up and into her. She wasn't a verbal participant but she moaned a great deal and his tongue and lips quickly brought her to a quivering climax. Mallie quivered against him and covered her mouth with one hand to muffle her exclamation of pleasure. Kento pulled away and gently lay her down on the bed. "I love you;" Mallie said blissfully.

Kento smiled and kissed her. "Mmm;" said Mallie, "I taste good on you."

He laughed in reply and kissed her again. They got comfortable on the bed made up of two cots as Mallie enjoyed the after affects of her orgasm. Fairly soon, however, she was as ready as he was for more. Pushing him back, Mallie kissed him and took hold of his partial erection, stroking it into full readiness. Kento twitched and jerked a little and his kiss became more insistent and hungry. When she judged him ready, she pushed him down and swung her hips over his. Taking a deep breath, she eased herself onto him. It was an indescribable feeling, the sensation of his member intruding, filling and then pressing up into her body. A thousand jolts of pleasure caused her to bite down on her finger, stopping a wanton moan. Kento placed his hands on her hips and pressed into her, urging her to move.

Mallie leaned down, kissing him earnestly. He bucked again and she moaned before straightening. With her hands resting on his shoulder, Mallie began to raise and lower her hips. Each time she sank onto his pulsing manhood, she uttered a muffled moan. Kento's strong, rough hands firmly held her hips and urged her up and down and thrust his hips up to meet her. At first, they moved together at a slow pace, blissfully enjoying the love-making. At first, Mallie held Kento's gaze lovingly, enjoying the expressions he made and the look of tenderness and hunger in his eyes.

But as their bodies would not be denied the constant friction-induced pleasure, they let go of restraint and gave into the love and passion they felt. Kento sat up and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her with heightened passion. Mallie continued rolling her hips as best she could, not wishing the pleasure to end. As she did, Kento's mouth traveled down her neck, kissing and nipping along the pulse of her artery and loving that it made her gasp and crane her neck to give him better access to her pleasure points. Hungrily, he kissed and licked and nibbled wherever he could reach. When he kissed and sucked on her small but perky breasts, Mallie giggled huskily. It felt good, yes, but she knew that he enjoyed more than she did. Kento nearly worshipped her body. Sometimes, when they had their clandestine trysts, he would take a good deal of time kissing, nibbling and tasting her soft skin.

Suddenly, Kento rolled her over and continued tasting and kissing whatever his could reach. As he did, however, his hips began to buck and thrust into his. "Kento;" she gasped. "Kento!"

He lifted and looked at her flushed face. "Less tasting and teasing, more kriffing, please!"

Kento grinned and began to thrust into her. He moved faster and thrust harder than they had before and Mallie's moans began to get louder and wilder and she covered her mouth to prevent drawing attention to the old structure. With each thrust, her eyes began to lose focus and roll back. Her legs began to tremble and straightened, squeezing his hips. Their bodies began to glisten with perspiration as Kento moved faster and harder. Their hips smacked together softly and Mallie's legs continued to tremble and the rest of her body began to as well. Her body squeezed hard around Kento's manhood like a soft, velvety vice and the pleasure caused Kento to groan as he climaxed. His mind went blank with pleasure and he gasped, still not used to the overload of sensation. He pulled out of her warm body and collapsed beside her. Mallie was still shuddering with pleasure, her legs still shaking as her own orgasm finally receded into blissful post-coital glow. "Oh my stars;" she whispered.

Kento chuckled and said, "You can say that-" but was suddenly interrupted by a tingle in the force. Someone was coming. Using the force to enhance his hearing, Kento listened. "The sensor officer said there is a heat signature in here."

"Sergeant, it's probably just some vagabonds looking for a place to sleep."

"Even so, we need to clear it - just in case."

Kento was already half dressed. He had pulled his trousers and undershirt on and didn't bother putting his socks or boots on despite the chill. Grabbing his lightsaber, he hurried towards the door. "Kento! You aren't going to kill them, are you?"

"Of course not;" he whispered, "but I want to look surprised and alarmed - like I was just asleep."

He went down and met the troopers at the bottom of the stairs. "Block? Cable? What's going on, Guys?"

Sergeant Cable looked abashed, even with his helmet on. "UH! Sir, are- are you sleeping here?"

"I do sometimes - gets me away from ten thousand snoring clones from time to time. Why? Is there a problem?"

The two troopers looked behind him up the stairs before the saying, "No, no problem, Sir. Go ahead and go back to sleep."

Kento yawned convincingly and said, "You two do the same. We have an attack tomorrow and I want everyone well rested."

"Sir, yes sir;" they said in tandem. As they walked away, Kento didn't hear Block ask his sergeant, "Sarge, didn't the sensors pick up two life forms in there?"

"Don't ask, Block; when it comes to Jedi, it's best not to know.

Kento entered the bedroom and was immensely gratified to see Mallie with a blanket covering her bottom half but her top half totally exposed. "Well that is a beautiful sight;" he said with a chuckled as he pulled his shirt back off.

Mallie smiled and said, "Did you convince them to leave?"

"No, I invited them to join us;" laughed Kento as he kicked off his pants and climbed back in the bed. "Of course I did."

Mallie grinned and reached beneath the blanket, taking hold of his manhood and saying, "Well then... shall we continue, or maybe start again is more accurate?"

Kento rolled her over and kissed her passionately. Mallie giggled into the kiss, returning it passionately has his hands wandered her body. She loved how much he enjoyed her body. She never got tired of the feeling of being desired and loved. "I want to try something new tonight;" she gasped as he kissed a trail of fire down her neck.

"Hmm?" was his questioning response as he kissed her collar bones.

"First, I want to suck you until your as hard as you can be." That caused him to freeze. "And then;" she continued, "I want you to push me up against a wall and pound me hard from behind. I want you to pound me so hard that I have to cover my mouth to keep from screaming."

"Okay;" said Kento hoarsely, "lets try it out."

Mallie grinned and pushed him back and bared him. His member was already very erect but that wasn't going to stop Mallie from trying something new that she wanted to do. Lying down, she stroked his member before taking it into her mouth. Strictly speaking, she wasn't sure of what she was doing. Mallie had only read about it and seen some lewd footage that her clone commander Spanner had confiscated from some of the troops. Using them as an example, Mallie took it slow. First, she got used to have a thick, throbbing phallus in her mouth. Then, she began moving slowly, running her lips up and down the length and using her tongue to caress around the tip. Kento groaned, "Damn, Mallie! I don't know what you're doing, but it feels incredible!"

Mallie worked his manhood deeper and deeper into into her mouth and down her throat. It took a conscious effort to keep her throat relaxed and not gag but she loved how he was reacting. Finally, wanting to feel him in her womanhood rather than in her mouth. She pulled off of him with a lingering caress with her tongue before standing and going to the wall. Looking over her shoulder, she said, "I'm waiting, Kento. My body is burning for you."

Kento was up and behind her in an instant. He began by kissing the side of her neck again before using one hand to line himself up with her and thrust upward and inward. "OH!" said Mallie before covering her mouth. After a moment, she managed to whisper, "That's different but I like it."

Kento slowly began to move his hips; first down and back but then quickly up and in. Mallie moaned again. His hands suddenly came up and cupped her small but perky breasts, gently pinching and teasing the aching tips. "Oh stars!" Mallie gasped. Somehow, all of her nerves seemed to back become hypersensitive and she had to cover her mouth again to prevent moaning too loudly.

He began to increase the speed and force with which he thrust his hips, reveling in her muffled moans, her soft breasts, the softness of her rear as his hips slapped against it with soft slaps. Suddenly, his hands dropped and grabbed her hips, moving with even more desperate force. He was getting close to completion. Once again, Mallie began to moan and her body began to trembled. Her legs buckled and she was only held up by Kento's strong grip and the support of the wall. She didn't stop moaning either and didn't stop trembling out an incredible, mind numbing orgasm all way through Kento suddenly stiffening and groaning as his manhood pulsed and emptied into her.

On shaky legs, Kento managed to carry Mallie back to the bed. They lay together covered by thick military blankets. After getting comfortable together, Mallie asked as casually as her pleasure-induced haze could allow, "So the wall, for or against?"

Kento chuckled and said, "Oh that was something else. I'm all for doing that again."

"Good, I'm glad. I enjoyed it pretty thoroughly myself;" said Mallie as she snuggled down to get some much needed sleep.

Kento was silent but, after a moment, could not help but ask, "Which part?"

Mallie chuckled and said, "Not sure. I certainly enjoy you slamming into me against the wall but, I must admit, there was something so hot about sucking your thick, hot manhood. Next time, maybe I'll finish you that way first, just to see what it's like."

Kento groaned. "If you talk like that, I won't be able to sleep at all."

Mallie laughed more. "I'm sorry. Let's get some sleep. It's going to be a hard day tomorrow and we'll both have to be up early to make sure our parts of the mission are ready."

Kento nodded and pulled her more securely against him. "Goodnight, Mallie. I love you."

"I love you too, Kento. Goodnight."