I clear my throat, and open my eyes.

"Good, you woke up," I hear a voice say.

I look over and see Sanity sitting in a chair, looking at me.

"What happened?" I ask.

"We all took a nasty shock from that pool. And passed out. I woke up first, and dragged you and Mark over there to safety," Sanity says, and motions to Mark, who was sitting in a corner.

I sit up, and look over at him. "We safe?"

Sanity looks around, then says "For now. That won't last long though." Sanity stands up, and grabs his rifle laying next to his feet. "We need to get back to the Resistance."

"So…we're not dead?" I ask.

"No," Sanity says.

I look over at Mark. He hadn't said anything yet.

"What's with him?" I ask.

"The accident….did more damage to him than it did to either of us."

We continue walking through the planet, but my curiosity gets the better of me so I ask "So…what happened?"

"I was the most dry, so luckily, I wasn't cooked to a crisp. You, because your armor isn't metal, got a nasty shock, but you're still here. So count your blessings," Sanity tells me.

"I was sopping wet," I tell him.

"And you're alive," Sanity counters.

"And Mark?" I ask.

Sanity bows his head. "Well, he was wet, and his armor was metal. He…won't be the same."

I jump when I hear "Only part of me," from behind us.

I look back at Mark. The shock must have ruined his vocal cords, or voice box, or whatever else made us speak. His voice was raspy, broken, and sounded like a garbled transmission over an old communicator.

"So…where are we?" I ask.

"Neutral territory, looks like," Sanity tells me.

"What's that mean?"

"If we were going to die, you'd hear battle," Sanity tells me in a bland tone.

"So we're safe to talk?" I ask him.

"As safe as you can really be outside of a base," Sanity answers.

"So…mind if I ask you a question?"

"Shoot," Sanity tells me. "Well, not literally, but you know what I mean."

"What are you doing out here?" I ask.

Sanity wastes no time in answering the question. "Part of a regiment that was sent this way to flank a Mandalorian position. Only Mandalorians knew this, and maneuvered to catch us. Mandalorians are better than us, so we were cut to pieces."

"So coming to our rescue? Was that planned?" I ask.

"Well, not exactly. We got the orders after we were cut off from the brigade. But we were told that you were all soldiers. Not green recruits that have no training."

"How many soldiers did you lead?" I ask.

"Over 4000," Sanity tells me.

"What!? Then where are they?" I ask.

"Most are dead," Sanity tells me.

"What?"

"Those of us that found you was what was of a couple battalions I used to try and flank a Mando position. Failed, got cut off, and cut down," Sanity tells me. "Losses like that, while not typical of every squad, are expected in some. You just hope it's never your soldiers that take a hit like that."

I say nothing as we continue walking through the building.

We managed to work our way back to the Resistance base camp with no incident after the shock.

When I thought of military bases, I thought of a large sprawling complex, with barracks, a communications hub, several landing pads, a hospital, depots, and ammunition dumps. This was a base was a mess. A messy landing pad built on rubble, soldiers sleeping in make-shift tents or shelters, another larger duracrete building that had Communications on a sign above it, and several large tents that I assumed had ammunition and whatever else. This base looked over 500 years old, yet here it was.

"I am not a sergeant, should I take the armor off?"

"Leave it on," he says. "Whatever unit you join, they'll need sergeants. And let me do the talking, don't talk."

We walk through lines of soldiers, who looked like they were standing around and doing nothing.

Then we get to a table with several people sitting at it.

It looked similar to the tables they set up when I was recruited on Corsin.

Sanity walks forward, and says "Connell Sanity, reporting in."

The clerk at the table looks up, then says "Surprised you're alive. And who is this?"

"Found him on the field," Sanity says. "He suffered an injury, and can't talk. Same with the big guy behind me."

"Can they not type their names?" the clerk says.

"Battlefield promotion," Sanity says.

"Oh," the clerk says, "Proceed."

Sanity motions for me to follow him past the tables, and I do.

When we are out of ear-shot of the clerks, I ask "Why did you stick your neck out for me?"

"You clearly know very little about this war," Sanity says. "Chances are, we'll be dead in a month. Promotions don't mean what you think they should."

"But, what about officers? And the rest?"

"Also not very useful," Sanity says. "I have been fighting since I was 16. In the Republic most soldiers that are my rank, are in their 40's. I am 24."

I walk through the camp, when I hear "Kell!"

I turn and see Tanner and Bork, both looking over at me.

I run over to them, and we all embrace in a large group hug.

"I thought you were dead!" Tanner says, staring at me.

"Same for you!" I tell them.

"How'd you survive?" Bork asks.

"Got lucky," I tell him.

"And a promotion?" Tanner asks, looking at the arm patch.

I lower my head, and mutter "Got it from a dead soldier. He uh…didn't need it, and the Colonel that brought me back told me to keep it."

I look around, as silence falls down upon us, and I break it by asking "So…where can I get something to eat?"

Tanner grabs my shoulder, and says "Food court."

Gunny stares at the recruit Sanity had brought back.

The relation to his son…it was there. It wasn't his son, but it was….it was something.

Gunny walks up to the Colonel that had brought back the recent sergeant. "Colonel, sir! If I may!"

Sanity turns around and sees an older gunnery sergeant, saluting him.

Sanity returns to the salute. "Go ahead."

Gunny lowers his arm, and stands at attention to the Colonel. "The recent sergeant you brought back."

Sanity quickly tries to deflect the question. If a gunnery sergeant found out he had lied to clerks, he would be reported. This gunny's arm badge also showed he wasn't part of his regiment. Sanity had to be very careful.

"Excellent man. Saved me and my capt'n today," Sanity quickly says to deflect a question.

"What's his name?" Gunny asks.

"Kell something," Sanity answers. "Why?"

"Nothing, just…looks familiar," Gunny answers.

Sanity looks at Kell, then at Gunny.

"Is that all?" Sanity asks.

Gunny salutes him, and responds "Yes sir."

I look over at the equipment I had being given from the equipment tent.

I was named a Sergeant, a NCO would lead soldiers into battle because of lies. From what Sanity had hinted at earlier, it seemed this army took extensive losses. I had sneaky feeling every position in this army had a fast turnover.

My helmet had an outside canvas, with an inside mesh, and I could feel a hard interior plate between the two fabrics.

The armor had been styled to fit the planet I was fighting on it looked like. A loose and long fitting grey shirt, with equally loose pants. The shirt fit over the pants with a belt that had pockets and containers. It was designed to hold a water canteen, a knife, likely a few blaster clips, and grenades. The pants had more pockets than I could count, likely to carry what the belt couldn't. But none of these things would provide even basic protection against a blaster rifle.

For that, I was given what was called a combat jacket. It was designed to slide over the body, and come to a rest, with thick straps covering the shoulders, and wrapping most of the torso. Additional eight inch flaps went down covering groin, ass, and sides. The flaps were likely designed to provide protection while allowing movement. Further protection was afforded by elbow pads, forearm pads that stretched into fingerless gloves, thick shin guards, and heavy boots.

I look at the boots that I would be wearing.

They were tall, and thick. The interior was padded, while the exterior was a basic leather. The boots also didn't have a flap like most shoes, but instead, had an expansion in the front, that was tightened with straps.

I put them away, and grab my weapon. A blaster rifle.

It was a basic looking weapon. Then again, it was the first blaster I ever owned. And I would be expected to use in combat. The sights on it were basic, and didn't offer any zooming capabilities. The rifle accepted some basic blaster clips that I could load into a loading chamber in the main body of the rifle.

I wasn't sure what the names of these weapons were though, or their parts.

I look at the backpack, and begin exploring the compartments in it.

The main bag had the sleeping pack. The sides stored excess ammunition, ration bars, another water canteen, and whatever else.

And here it was.

This was my equipment. The material I would wear into war against the Mandalorians.

I lay in my bed, staring at the bunk above me.

The tent we were in was circular in design, and had bunks and lockers stuffed into it. At its maximum capacity, it was likely stuffy, and over crowded. Now though, it was mostly empty.

The bunks were 3-5 high, and likely built for their modular design, and ease of deployment. I just wish the beds could have been somewhat comfortable. I would rather sleep on grass and dirt. Too bad this city didn't have any of that.

The soldiers here were also diverse. I had seen a host of aliens. Twi-leks, a few wookies even, humans, Duros, and others I didn't recognize.

I close my eyes and try to fall asleep.

I might as well get a good night sleep.

"Kell, time to get up."

I open my eyes, and look to see Tanner shaking me.

"What the hell is it?" I ask.

"We're being folded into a unit," Tanner tells me. "Get up."

"What?" I ask, still trying to wake up.

"We're being put into some new task force. We need to get ready," Tanner tells me.

I feel my blood start pumping in my body, and sit up.

We all start opening our footlockers, and pulling out our equipment.

I gram my armor, and begin putting it on. The boots, the jacket, the suit, the helmet.

Then my belt, my backpack, and the other equipment.

I finish and run out of the tent.

We fall in after a quick breakfast, of mostly inedible matter, and stand in a line.

I wanted to look around and see who else was there. The line was at least 20 long, and I imagine several deep, but I couldn't look around. None of the other soldiers standing at attention were moving, so I took my lead from them, and didn't move.

Then several soldiers step in front of us. I couldn't recognize ranks, nor did I know the ranking system. I knew there were majors, captains, lieutenants, but I didn't know who was above what. Nor who commanded what.

"Alright soldiers! We got some troubling news! The Mandalorians are making a push. And we need to stop them. You are all being deployed to specific fronts to deal with exactly that," the officer says.

I notice the officer was a Twi-lek.

"The first five rows will follow 2nd lieutenant Lua. The next five rows, 2nd lieutenant Cam. Everyone else, you're with me!" The officer yells.

Gunny stares at the recruit in the front line.

He was the same man Sanity had brought back.

Then he heard Lua getting assigned the first five lines. This was his chance.

Gunny leans over to Lua, and whispers "That sergeant in the front row. Tall skinny dude, he is mine."

Lua looks at Gunny, but decides to say nothing. She didn't need to start an incident in front of the soldiers to make a statement about the chain of command.

I watch as the officers disperse, raising their hands, yelling their names.

I look for my lieutenant, and see it was a human female yelling Lua.

I run over to her, as does the entirety of the first five lines, as we all envelope her.

"Everyone shut and listen!" She quickly yells. "Follow my orders, and maybe half of you will survive this! Now, sergeants! Work the crowd, and take your pick! Outfit them, and I expect you all back here in 10!"

Nervousness builds up inside me, and I begin to feel my palms go sweaty and clammy. Was I expected to make some type of…squad? Or team? I was a sergeant, wearing the stripes, but I had no idea what to do.

"Pretty disorganized," I tell Tanner. "I thought the Resistance, you know, would be organized, and…bureaucratic."

"Probably for the best," Tanner says. "Besides, shouldn't you be working the soldiers?"

I feel someone grab my shoulder, and tug on it.

I turn to see an older looking man. I was surprised he was a sergeant, tugging on my uniform.

"You're with me Kell," he tells me. "Stay with me."

I was taken aback that he knew my name. None of these uniforms had our names on them. I didn't even had ID tags should I be killed. Then again, I didn't have anyone that would want to identify my body. Or even care if I was dead.

I follow the sergeant, and he walks through the crowd, picking more soldiers.

"Everyone form up!"

We all turn and run over, forming a half circle around Lua according to the sergeants that led us.

"All right, here are the plans. There is a small Mando pill box about 6 clicks over there," Lua explains, pointing behind her. "That pill box is also a communication center. We need to take it, or destroy it. Everyone here is going to do that. The way we get there is different."

Lua kneels down, and rubs her hand in the dirt, making a basic patch of dirt. She draws a circle in the dirt, and says "There is the pill box, our target."

Then she draws a large K off center in front of it. "That is the front line. There are gaps in it, but we aren't going into that. Instead, we are passing by through here," she explains, pointing at the very edge of the K.

"There was a large plaza here, that has since become a barren field. A small enough team can sneak through, and get around to the pill book. That team is us. We flank, while the other lieutenant, Cam, keeps the focus on the pillbox on them. Understood?"

We all nod our heads, and she says "Outstanding! Now let's go!"

Once she finishes, Gunny pulls me close, and says "You stay with me. I want to be able to reach out and grab you if I need to. Understood?"

"Yes sir," I tell him.

"Don't call me sir, call me Gunny," he says.

"Yes..Gunny," I say.

The lieutenant marches us through the city, and I wondered how she knew where to lead us. Everything seemed the exact same to me.

After two hours of painful marching, we come to a large, open, and barren area. I assumed it was the plaza that we had been told about.

The lieutenant didn't led us into the field, but had stopped us and told us to take positions and wait for further orders.

I take my position behind a piece of a wall that had fallen over.

I was no military genius, but if we were going to be hit with an ambush, it would be out there.

I notice Gunny walking over to me. He grabs me and says "Stay here and keep your head down. I'm going to see the lieutenant."

I nod my head, and don't move, feeling the wall behind me.

I grab my canteen, open it, and take a long cooling drink of water.

I wonder what was going through Tanner and Bork's mind.

Hell, I wondered what was going through the mind of a sergeant that actually went through basic and got his rank the normal way.

Gunny walks up and sees several other sergeants already talking to her.

Lua looks at him, and says "Gunny, you and Rus will take your men and advance."

Gunny looks at the sergeants, then at Lua. "That is a funny joke. What are your real orders?"

Lua looks at Gunny with anger in eyes. "You and Rus are advancing. I am not sending the company out there without knowing if we are walking into a trap."

"Why not send the snipers forward?!" Gunny argues.

"Gunny!" Lua yells.

Gunny bites his tongue, then asks "Where is Rus?"

"Getting his squad. He'll meet your squad, and you'll advance."

Gunny curses, and walks back to his squad.

This would be an unpleasant day.

"Form up!"

We all turn and get up, hearing Gunny's voice.

I walk over to him, taking my spot next to him. "All right. We are advancing into that field. We'll be getting mortar support, and repeater support, assuming we're attacked within their range."

"Just us?" One of the privates ask.

"No, you'll notice another fire team behind me. They'll be coming with us," Gunny answers.

I take a deep breath, and try to relax. This might be my first taste of real combat. With a gun.

We slowly advance through the rubble laden field. Craters, pits, rubble, destroyed walls, and building pieces littered it.

None of us were talking, fearful of what was coming.

We had gotten halfway through, my heart was pounding in my chest.

BOOM!

I look around, and find a crater ahead of me to my left, and jump into it, grabbing my helmet.

I see Gunny jump in behind me, and ask "What the hell was that?"

"Sniper! Anyone see him!?"

No one answers.

I let out a sigh.

"So what do we do now?" I ask.

"We call back, tell them we need mortar support, and ask for some snipers," Gunny says.

"And how do we do that?" I ask.

Gunny is already busy with his belt, opening a small compartment, and pulls out a small shiny cylinder.

I notice it was dented on one side, and ask "Is it suppose to be dented?"

Gunny looks at it, then turns it over, seeing the dent. He then tries to flip a switch, I assume which makes it turn on, and nothing happen.

Gunny curses, and throws it on the ground. "Rus! You got a comm?!"

We hear nothing for several moments.

Then a "Yea!" yelled back at us.

"Call Lua! Tell her we need some mortars, or something to clear ahead. We got at least one sniper!"

I twitch when I hear the sound of a round hit the ground near the crater.

Gunny looks at me, then says "You're a twitchy one aren't you."

I say nothing. I wanted to fight. I wanted to show him I wasn't afraid.

Gunny leans in, and sternly rebukes me. "Listen to me. You're going to get scared. That is a fact. I am scared right now!" Gunny stares at me, his stern look burning into me. "But you have to work through it. The Mandalorians know you're scared. There is no point in denying it!"

"Why are you telling me this!?" I finally ask.

"Because you need to think! You're mad! Scared. Want to know what angry and scared people do? They are either paralyzed by their fear, or they make dumb decisions, and get themselves killed!"

"So what is the right decision?!" I ask.

"Think Damn it! Five seconds of thought before doing something can be enough time to make you realize your first reaction was stupid enough to get you killed!"

I say nothing, looking at Gunny, he looking at me.

Then we both hear "Gunny!"

Gunny crawls to the rear of the crater, and yells "What!?"

"They are dealing with a C-A-T! We're on our own!"

I feel ice fill my blood, and work its way down my spine.

"So what's that mean!?"

"I don't know!"

Gunny curses, then looks over at me, and says "Get comfortable. We might be here a while."

I look up at the sky as it changes from day to night.

"So Kell. You got any family?" Gunny asks out of the blue.

I look over at him as he sits, playing with his knife.

"No," I tell him, being short.

Gunny looks up at me. I turn away, turning my back towards him, and lay on my stomach on the front of the crater.

I hear him move, and see he lays down next to me.

He plants the knife in the ground, then says "You may think I am being hard on you, but it is because I want you to survive."

"Don't you want the others to survive just as much?" I ask.

Gunny stares at me, with a 'I can't believe you just said that,' look.

I lower my head, then say "I'm sorry."

Gunny looks at me, then grabs his knife, and puts it back in his sheath, and goes back to the rear of the crater.

"If you need me, wake me," he says.

Gunny stares at Kell.

He wasn't like the other Resistance soldiers.

Most of them were willing to take advice. Likely because they heard the horror stories while they were training. But they rarely acted on the most vital of it.

Gunny had told several to never follow their first instinct. Several recruits had not followed his rule of not charging into a room without first lobbying a grenade into it. He had seen several recruits killed that way.

Gunny then wonders if he made a mistake.

Kell looked like his son, but he was…head strong. Different. Gunny had wanted to take Kell under his arm, teach him what he knew, do what he could to keep Kell alive.

And he wanted to bond with him. But Kell was proving less…social. Surprising given that, as a mercenary, he was the epitome of anti-social.

Maybe he would have to open Kell up.

I crawl out of my crater as night falls on us, making it dark and hopefully safe to move. I crawl through the field, heading forward, until I find the furthest forward crater with a soldier in it. He was by himself though. I crawl in and slide down next to him.

The soldier quickly salutes me, and I return it. "Sergeant," the soldier says.

"What's your name private?"

"Lam," he says.

"Kell," I tell him.

"You know the Gunny?" Liam asks.

"No, he just picked me at random," I tell him.

"Huh, the body language and tone between you two suggest, just, well, you know."

I lay my rifle down towards my feet, when Lam jumps forward, pushing it away. "Careful! Trying to shoot our feet off?"

I was taken aback by him. I didn't know how to fight, or even carry these weapons properly. "Sorry," I quickly stammer. I didn't like being showed up by a private when I was trying to act like a sergeant.

"Where they train you?" He asks.

"It's a long story," I tell him.

"We got time," he says.

"And painful," I quip, looking into his eyes. That puts a stop to the questions.

He leans back, taking his helmet off, and runs his hand through his hair. His hair was short and cropped, like I would expect from a soldier. His eyes were a mix of brown and grey.

We sit in silence, and time begins to pass by.

Then I hear several distant FROOM sounds.

"What the hell is that?" I ask Lam.

"MORTARS!"

I turn and see Liam laying on his stomach on the slope of the crater, and I follow suite, laying down.

The shells begin raining down on us, pounding the landscape, exploding, and destroying the dirt and rock around us.

I shut my eyes and grab my ears, trying to push out the sound of the mortars as they rain down. The explosions were easy to block out, but once I hear a mortar hit a crater where soldiers were located, and the screams that followed…I couldn't block those out.

Suddenly I feel someone grab and pull my right shoulder.

I look and see Lam crouching in the middle of the crater.

"Be ready! Counter attacks usually follow a-"

Suddenly I feel myself pushed into the walls of the crater.

My ears start ringing, my eyes are forced closed.

I open my eyes and blink, Liam no where to be seen.

I look at the other side of the crater, and see blackened ground. A mortar round must have gone off there.

I look down at my body, and see blood, skin, little scraps of organs, all of it is covering my body. My armor, my gloves, my belt, everything was covered in blood, scraps of cloth and modular pieces of armor, hair.

I fall to my knees, and feel my stomach clenching, wanting to hurl up breakfast.

"Stay down! Everyone, stay down! They'll be here soon enough," Gunny yells.

He looks around the craters and positions, wondering where Kell had gone. He had told him to not move!

Gunny pushes the thought from his mind.

IF he survived, so be it. If he didn't, there was likely another Kell somewhere in the galaxy.

I lean back, and grab my rifle, and try to calm myself.

I try to catch my breath, and get my thoughts together.

Didn't he say something?

The mortars stop firing, and I look around.

Then I hear Gunny yell "Get ready! They're coming!"

I take a deep breath, but stay down. I was paralyzed, and couldn't move.

Then I heard the muffled sound of a single rifle firing.

Then several more rifles joined in.

Gunny takes a deep breath, and hits the release on his rifle.

The blasterpack pops out, and he grabs it, putting it in a belt pouch. He grabs another from his belt, and loads it into the firing chamber.

Gunny looks around, seeing soldiers getting hit and wounded. Their pained yells and pleas starting to drown out the rifle fire.

This wouldn't be easy.

I slowly crawl forward and see several Mandalorians running toward our position. Some were firing their weapons, others were charging, who knew what the rest were doing.

I duck back down, fear and panic starting to overtake me.

I couldn't do this.

Gunny drops back down into his crater, and hits the release on his repeater. The blaster pack drops to the ground, thick smoke coming off of six empty energy cells that were held in the blaster pack.

He grabs his second to last blaster clip strapped to his belt, and slams it into his rifle.

Gunny pushes himself back up, and looks out.

Then he hears the distant yells of "ARMOR!"

My hearing begins sharpening, as I could hear the soldiers screaming. Some yelling for more fire support, others for grenades, the desperate screams for a medic, the amount of rifle fire increasing and getting louder, everything.

I slowly build my courage back up, and crawl back up and peek out and look around. I could see five Mandalorians in front of me in a line, but none of them paid me any attention.

The nearest one was at least 15 yards away, and ahead of me, his back to me.

I had never seen the Mandalorains in real life, and no holo had them this close.

Staring at the Mandalorians made me realize why the Resistance was failing to stop them. The Mandalorian looked to be maybe six feet tall, but was wearing blue armor. And real armor. A large and thick metal helmet encased the entire head, down to the lower back. More plates protected the rest of the body. The armor protecting the Mandalorian's limbs looked heavier and stronger, than the main piece of armor I was wearing to protect my chest.

I couldn't imagine how difficult it would to be kill one of them.

Then I began to hear a low rumbling of something.

Whatever it was, it must have been massive. The engine to it sounded old, and underpowered, having to work overtime to push whatever it was powering. Plus I could hear the squeaking and grinding of mechanical gears.

I slowly look out of my foxhole, and saw at first what I thought was a fossil from a museum. But it didn't take long for me to realize, it was a Mandalorian tank.

The tank used treads to move, and had a rotating turret, with a large cannon fixed to it.

I stare at the lumbering behemoth, as it slowly makes it way over the barren waste land.

It looked like a tank I would see in old war holo's, yet here it was.

The turret of the tank shoots, and a shell flies through the air and strikes the ground. Where it hit was far behind anyone's position, but the payload the shell delivered was far more powerful than I expected.

I duck back down, and look at my belt.

I stare at the grenade in my hand, and try to think. Lobbing it at the tank would likely do little. Older tanks like that, like the ones in the holo's, were built to withstand rockets. A grenade would do little.

Unless…

I close my eyes and listen to the engine.

It wasn't the typical small engine used in speeders that I worked on. It was a far older engine. An antique engine almost.

Those old engines had problems because the several moving parts would break or malfunction, but these old engines were also easy to fix and maintain.

But these engine relied on an old cooling system too. They weren't like the modern engines that had cut-outs to prevent overheating. They would overheat, catch fire, and that fire could follow the fuel in the engine back to the tank.

Ok, so if I can find the engine, I can lob a plasma, and overheat the engine.

I crawl out of the crater slowly, and could see the Mandalorians advancing.

I was behind their far right flank. The tank was at least 30 meters away.

Well, this would never get easier.

I crawl out of the crater, and begin crawling forward, slowly, hugging the ground like a worm.

Gunny drops back down into his crater, cursing his luck.

10 Mandalorians weren't easy to deal with. A Mandalorian tank was a trump card at this point. If the lieutenant was here, with all the other teams, they might have a chance, but she wasn't.

Gunny tries to think of a plan. Surviving this wouldn't be easy.

First goal would be disabling that tank.

I slowly inch forward, heading for the tank.

The Mandalorians didn't seem to think it was possible that someone would be behind them, none of them looking back to make sure no one was flanking them. Or maybe they didn't care. Their armor could likely withstand a flanking attack.

I crawl forward until I was only 10 meters away now, and could get a better look at it now. The tank wasn't big like I imagined, but smaller. Smaller than the tanks of old I saw in the war holo's. But it was surprisingly similar.

I look down at my belt, and see a frag grenade. It wasn't a plasma that would overheat the engine, but maybe it could do something.

I grab it, and take a deep breath. I wouldn't get another chance at this.

I pull the pin, stand up, and toss it at the tank, and cover my head.

Gunny slowly stands up, and sees two Mandalorians within 10 meters. One was taking cover, while another one was rushing forward.

Gunny lifts his repeater and fires at him, trying to kill him.

The rounds spew out of his rifle and hit the Mandalorian, throwing him on his back.

Several other soldiers take aim for the downed Mandalorian and fire at him.

Gunny sees the second Mandalorian that had been taking cover stand up and take aim.

The Mandalorian takes aim at the soldiers shooting at his brother, but turns back when what sounds like a frag grenade goes off behind him.

Gunny stands up slightly more, and sees the back of the tank was smoking.

The tank's turret was rotating to the right, to fire at something.

I hear the mechanical gears working overtime, likely the turret moving, and I slowly turn around and crawl away.

I look back and see the tank's turret has turned, and is facing me.

It fires its cannon, and a shell whizzes past me, exploding at least 20 meters ahead.

SHIT!

I was going to die here.

I quickly get up and begin sprinting.

I wasn't going to die laying down.

Gunny watches the tank shoot at something in the right flank.

Four Mandalorians on the right flank turn back and run over to the tank. Something was wrong.

The tank suddenly explodes into flames, the explosion swallowing the Mandalorians, and the tank itself, in red and orange flames.

Gunny ducks back down, wondering what the hell did that.

I jump into a crater, and take several deep breaths.

Did I really just do that?

I slowly build up some courage and look out to see the tank had exploded. The chasis was all that was left. The turret had been blown off, and was laying upside down next to it. Several corpses in blackened armor surrounded the tank on this side, which surprised me. I didn't remember seeing that many of them when I threw it.

I see behind the tank, four Mandalorians that were retreating.

I slide back down into the trench, and take a deep breath.

Was my grenade the thing that took out the tank, or was it the tank commander trying to load another round into the barrel when something went wrong.

Well, it didn't matter.

My first battle.

I hadn't even fired my rifle.

Gunny stands up, and sees the few remaining Mandalorians run back, retreating.

Relief floods his veins, and he drops back down into his crater.

Whatever it was, someone had saved him, or something.

Gunny closes his eyes, and tries to relax.

He was used to feeling the kiss of death, but that didn't mean he felt no fear.

I crawl through the ruined landscape back to Gunny's foxhole, and slide in.

Gunny looks up at me, and acknowledges me, then says "I'm surprised you survived."

"Thanks prick," I tell him jokingly.

Gunny looks me over, then leans forward, noticing blood stains covering my armor. "You get hit or something?"

"Guy next to me did," I admit.

"How bad?" He asks.

"Real bad."

Gunny then turns back to his rifle, cleaning dirt off it.

We begin to hear thunder, and a light rain begins to fall.

I look up in the sky, and see rain falling down, feeling it fall on my face. It was refreshing and cooling to feel.

"So, how was your first taste of combat?" Gunny asks.

I drop my rifle, and grab my head in my hands, and take deep breaths.

"Yea…it gets better," Gunny says.