The landing was uneventful, which was good considering my past landings.

The world, Raxus II, was being turned into a fortress. The Resistance had clearly been making plans for this world for months, judging from the amount of dirt they had moved, and the defenses they had built up.

On top of a very large and recently made plateau, was a massive central complex. At the north end were the landing pads, arrayed in a 3x3 pattern. The rest of the facility was covered with hyper-velocity cannons and ion cannons, all designed to destabilize and bring down cruisers of the Mandalorian fleet. To keep the Mandalorians from blasting these weapons, shield generators were distributed among the buildings. All these buildings, along with barracks, power generators, communication domes, mess halls, shower facilities, and a few other structures, made up the central facility. The facility itself was absolutely massive, maybe 9 square miles in size.

The central facility however wasn't designed to accommodate the four corps sent to defend this planet. To do that, several satellite buildings were built on mini plateaus arrayed around the central one. These facilities had only the basic buildings: showers, barracks, ammunition dumps, mess halls, power generator, and a central shield generator.

Gunny had told me those these facilities weren't designed to withstand the firepower of a Mando cruiser.

Finally, around these facilities, arrayed around the entire plateau, was a large trench system. There were three trench lines, all circling the plateau. Connecting all these defensive trenches were support trenches, running all the way from the central facility, to the very front trench line.

Four corps had been deployed here. Over 240,000 soldiers.

Artillery positions were built into the back two trench defenses, the first being defended solely by the soldiers stationed there.

Well, at least this was a nicer world to be stationed on than the bombed out city I was at last time.

8 days later

I lean back in my chair, taking a second to relax. Command was rotating divisions in and out of the trenches between the various fronts, and among the corps. Two days were spent on the front in the trenches, and the other four wherever.

For our last day of rest before going back, Dave suggest we all go to the games bunker and play some pazaak.

"Hit," I tell Tanner.

Tanner drops another card in front of me, pushing my total to 14.

"Twenty you sucker!" I yell at Tanner, dropping a six card from my hand.

"Well I still get to see if I can tie you," Tanner says.

Tanner draws a card, and lays it down, pushing his total to 24.

"Shit…" Tanner curses.

I grab the credit chips in front of us, and pull them towards me.

"I think you cheated," Tanner says.

"Not sucking at math isn't cheating," I tell him.

We all share a laugh, while I grab my credits, and walk away to make some room for Dave and Bork to play.

I feel someone bump into me. They don't even stop to say sorry, or apologize. Surprising given I was a sergeant.

I look around, and see more soldiers are running somewhere.

I grab one of the soldiers, and ask "Hey, what's going on?"

"We're getting some help, they're landing at the pads now!" He says, and runs away.

I look at Tanner, Bork, and Dave, then turn and follow the soldiers. I pocket my credits, and follow the soldiers as they run for the main installation.

I follow them to the landing pads, running through the buildings in the main complex, until we get to the landing pads.

I climb up the stairs to the top of the nearest landing pad, staring at the transport.

The transports looked strange in their design and old from the wear on their metal and the sound of their engines.

"We expecting something sergeant?"

I turn, realizing the question was directed at me, seeing a Zarbrak staring at me.

"No idea," I tell him. "Besides, they wouldn't tell me if we were anyway. You know command."

We all turn when we hear the landing gear release on one of the ships, and the loading ramp begins lowering.

I watch, curious to see what was inside.

When I see the gleam of several Mandalorian helmets first, then their shoulder pads, I panic.

I grab my blaster pistol, the only weapon I have on me, and the other soldiers all do the same in panic and fear.

"What the hell is this?!"

Burn watches as the Resistance soldiers all go for their weapons.

He wasn't surprised. Most of them had likely never seen a Mandalorian this close and survived.

Burn holds his hands up in a surrendering fashion, and hears his clan follow suite behind him.

"Remember, all they know about us is we are blood thirsty killers, so approach slowly."

I watch as the Mandalorians walk off the transport, all of them holding their hands up like they were surrendering.

One of them wearing a grey-ish armor walks forward, and approaches me.

I keep my pistol trained on him, but I could feel my hand shaking with fear.

What the hell?

Burn looks at the soldier in front of him.

He didn't understand the Resistance ranking, but this was the tallest soldier here. He would likely be highly placed in the Resistance Command structure.

But why didn't he know about the truce?

Well, regardless, the peace had to broken somewhere.

Burn stares at the soldier, and says "Hello Brother."

I stare at the Mandalorian, the sweat in my hand making the blaster slippery.

"You know basic," I ask him.

"Rough basic," he says.

I keep my pistol raised, and ask "And you're here…"

"To fight common enemy," he responds, showing his difficulty with basic.

I stare at the Mandalorian, and slowly step back, lowering my pistol.

"Put your weapons down!" I hear yelled behind us.

I look around, and see the soldiers still holding their weapons up.

"Put your weapons down now!" I hear yelled more forcefully.

"Do it!" I yell, looking around me.

The soldiers all slowly and reluctantly follow the order, lowering their weapons, and backing away.

I see an officer running up the stairs, pushing soldiers out of his way.

"Am I to assume you're the Clan Leader?" he asks.

The Mandalorian lowers his hands. "Burn, Mandalore of Clan Rition, and speaker, for Clans Berius and Trolough."

"Yes, we were told to expect you, but we thought you would give us some…notice," the officer explains.

"Mandalore the Ultimate approached us, asking assistance."

I step back, letting the officer and this…Burn…Mandalorian, or…Mandalore, whatever he was, carry on their conversation.

"Assistance?" The officer asks confused.

"They attack soon," Burn says. "They asked for assistance."

The officer stares at the Mandalorian, and I notice his eyes widen. I could even see sweat begin glistening the sides of his head.

The officer turns to me and says "Sergeant, get the men out of here, and to their post. We have…much to discuss."

6 hours later

I sit up when I see Gunny enter the barracks, and climb out of bed.

I couldn't sleep with everything that was happening, and after hearing more than I was probably allowed to hear.

"What's going on!? And where the hell did those Mandalorians come from!?" I ask him immediately.

Gunny grabs my shoulders, and stares at me. "We don't have time to discuss this. We need to get to the defenses."

"What the hell is going on?" I ask him.

"The Mandalorians are already here! They made a plan to attack us, and asked that clan, to initiate a flank attack. They were going to do a quick pincer, wipe out both the fleet and planetary forces," Gunny explains to me.

"Shit, what do we do!?"

"Get the soldiers in position, because we got," he looks over at the chrono on the wall. "Six hours."

"Yes sir!" I answer, running to my locker and grab my weapon.

9 hours later

"So, sergeant, you said we were going to be attacked in…oh, three hours ago," Tura teases me. "Anything else command lied to us about?"

I pull my helmet off, and run my hand through my hair. "Yea, and you were cute in your recruitment photo. And Atol, our sniper, wasn't missing a freaking eye!"

"So you think I'm cute?" She asks.

"Not now private," I tell her.

"You know, I bet my one eye has better vision in it than yours do," Atol says.

"How's your depth perception Atol?" I ask. "Miss any chairs lately?"

Atol shuts up, and the squad snickers about that. Atol had missed the chair in the dining hall twice now.

But the squad hadn't stopped teasing me since I wrongly told them we would be attacked in six hours. And after standing in the trenches for nine hours, with nothing but rain and fog, we were growing not only tired, but nervous.

"Hey, look at the bright side guys," Tanner says. "Another nine hours, we can go back and sleep."

Silence falls on the squad, and no one says anything for a while.

I enjoy the peace, and close my eyes, trying to catch some much needed sleep.

"KELL!"

I stand up, startled by hearing that voice.

It sounded like Louie, our first sergeant.

I run for the source of the sound, running back into the deeper systems of the trenches and find Louie staring at a holomap on a table.

"Kell, take Atol and someone, and head forward for some recon work. Some of the other lines have reported movement, so we are being told to send someone forward," Louie says. "See if you can find anything. Mando movements, camps, anything."

I look around at the sergeants, all of them staring me in the face.

I look up in the sky, and see it was grey and cloudy. "It's raining."

"Excuse me," Louie asks.

I stare at him, and then look Gunny who was standing behind him. I notice Gunny was the only sergeant who couldn't look me in the eyes.

I bite my tongue, then salute and answer "Yes sir."

Louie returns the salute, and I head back for the front trenches.

So…Atol, the one eyed sniper. And someone else.

I could take Tanner, or Bork, or Dave, but this could be a suicide assignment.

I try to imagine how they would react to me asking them.

Bork probably wouldn't care. But Tanner…would he appreciate me not asking him for a suicide mission, or would he be upset? And a suicide mission isn't the best way to start a new friendship with someone, so Dave isn't an option.

I try to go through whose name in the squad knew I could ask. Or if someone deserved to do some shitty recon work.

I get back to the front trench, and look at the squad.

"So sergeant, what's the news? The Mandalorians attacking on the other side of the planet?" Tura asks.

"No, recon. Atol, you're coming with me. And Tura, you just volunteered. Let's go," I tell them.

The soldiers snicker at that. I was punishing her for the teasing she put me through, and they knew it.

Tura bites her tongue, and looks like she was going to protest, but simply answers "Yes sir."

I walk up to the edge of the trench, and climb out. I help Atol and Tura out as well.

We then walk out into the plains.

"So sergeant, what're we looking' for?" Tura asks.

"Peace and quiet," I tell her.

"You know, I'm sure I did something to deserve this, but for the life of me, I can't remember what," Atol says.

"Shut up specialist," I tell him.

We slog through the mud, as the rain bears down harder and harder on us. It had soaked through my helmet, and I could feel the cold water on my back through the armor and shirt.

We had been scouting for 45 minutes, searching for Mandalorian activity, tanks, infantry, anything! And so far, we had found nothing short of flat plains, grass, and mud.

Several minutes later, Atol holds his hand up, motioning for us to stop.

"See the hill up ahead?" He asks.

I squint my eyes, barely seeing the hill through the rain. "Yea, what about it?"

"You two stay here, I'll go up ahead, and look down. If I walk back, we can all walk back to the defenses, and tell the sergeant we found nothing," Atol suggests. "We've covered a good five miles of territory."

"I like that idea," Tura says. "I am tired of walking through this mud."

"And if I come running back, you two sprint in the other direction, because that means I found them," Atol says.

"Well, be my guest," I tell him, motioning for him to head out.

Atol runs ahead through the rain.

"You think he'll see anything?" Tura asks me.

"We're not that lucky," I tell her.

"So who is lucky?" She asks.

"Someone born on Coruscant, and spared this war," I tell her.

She laughs at that.

I look back at Atol, seeing he has gotten to the top of the hill now.

"Looks like he is aiming at something," Tura observes.

"Why would he? He isn't to engage them," I tell her.

I am proven wrong when I hear the mighty BOOM of a sniper rifle.

"SHIT!" I grab Tura's arm and run forward. "We need help him!"

I stop when I hear "NO!" Screamed back at us.

"That was Atol," Tura whispers, trembling.

I grab my binoculars from my belt, and bring them up to my eyes.

I focus them just in time to see Atol swing his rifle at a Mandalorian.

The Mandalorian ducks down, and sticks something into Atol.

Atol hunches forward and I feel adrenaline flood my veins, realizing what happened.

The Mandalorian pushes Atol off his weapon, and turns to us.

"TURA! RUN!" I scream at her.

I drop my binoculars, and turn around, sprinting for the trenches.

All around me, I can hear the sound of blaster rounds impacting the mud around me. The ozone smell rounds give off filling the air.

I stop when I hear a pained scream.

I look back to see Tura lying on the ground, grabbing her leg.

I look back towards the direction of the defenses, then at Tura.

"Sergeant! Please!" she pleads, extending her hand.

Gunny stares out at the plains in front of the trenches.

Gunny hated trench defenses. Artillery weaponry could blast them apart, and rain flooded them. And there was no way to pump all the rain water out, short of waiting for it all to evaporate.

"Nervous about your XO?" Louie asks, walking up beside him.

"I told you not to send him," Gunny says. "I would have gladly gone in his place."

"There is a command structure to this," Louie explains.

"I'm older than you," Gunny counters. "Don't give me the military speech."

"Then you, of all people, should understand why it is this way," Louie tells him.

Gunny lets out a sigh.

If he had more time to work with Kell, he wouldn't be agonizing over this. But he hadn't known Kell long enough to teach him what he needed to know.

I grab Tura's waist, and lift her up. She was surprisingly light, which allowed me to drape her across my shoulders. I work my right arm around her thighs, while my left arm holds her upper torso.

The old fireman carry as it was called.

"Kell…"

"Shut up!" I scream at her. "Unless you see a grenade!"

I turn around and sprint through the mud, but I feel myself sinking into the mud with Tura's weight added to mine.

I am stopped when two buckets of molten lava are poured onto my back. The pain was monumental, the inertia of the rounds pushing me forward, and forces me to my knees. The rounds scorch my back, burning the skin on my left shoulder blade and lower left back.

I try to tighten my grip on Tura, making sure to not drop her, but feel my breathing constricted. The wind knocked out of me, Tura weighing down on my back, and two possible second-degree burns on my back…

I straighten my back, trying to force my airway passage open.

I stand back up, and ignore the pain.

"I can do this," I tell myself, and stare at the ground in front of me. Or the marsh and mud. "I CAN do this!"

I start sprinting back, having to high step so the mud doesn't pull me in.

Ignore the pain.

Gunny opens his eyes.

Something had woken him up. His old mercenary sense.

He looks around the trench, to see most, no, all of the other soldiers were sitting down and trying to catch some sleep. They had been stationed in this freaking trench for 22 hours now. All of it in the damn rain.

Gunny stands up, and looks out of the trench into the plains of Raxus II. The fog was starting to finally clear, but still no indication of what time of day it was.

Gunny sees something appear in the distance. It was fuzzy, and whatever it was, massive.

"What the shit…" Gunny brings his rifle up, and looks through the scope.

"You sonuva bitch…"

I march through the mud, staring at the ground in front of me.

My speed was gone, but the Mandalorian that killed Atol must've stopped pursuing.

And by now, the burns on my back felt like they had blistered over from my armor rubbing them. With all this water, and rubbing, they had likely split open and gotten bled down my back.

I look up into the sky, and tighten my hold on Tura,

I am going to make it…holy shit…

"Tura…you still with me?" I ask.

I didn't hear a response, but that didn't mean anything. She could've passed out.

"Kell!"

That sounded like Gunny…

I feel someone grab me in a bear hug, while Tura is lifted off my back.

My strength begins leaving me, like my body knew it was safe now.

"He's been hit!"

I feel my legs give out, my body finally failing.

Gunny grabs Kell in his arms, holding him up. Kell must have passed out from exhaustion.

Gunny looks at Kell's back, seeing two prominent blood streaks running down his back. Whether that was blood or from the rain, he couldn't be sure.

Kell's right arm was also soaked in blood. But that could be from Tura. Or any number of things.

Gunny drags Kell back to the trenches, and even in all this rain and cold, but was surprised by the force of will Kell displayed.

I wake up in a bed, feeling two cold packs on my back.

I sit up, when I hear "Hey, easy there!"

I look over to see Tanner sitting next to the bed.

I sit up, my back feeling stiff and sore. I groan, and ask "What the hell happened?"

"You took two rounds in the back, while managing to carry Tura back to the line."

I smile and brag "Damn I'm awesome."

"Yea, by the way, when did you get so strong?" He asks.

"What?" I ask.

"Tura, in her armor and with all her crap, would've weighed 200 pounds. You carried that on your back for at least a mile, through the mud, and whatever else. Plus your gear. I don't remember you ever being that strong on Corsin," Tanner tells me.

"I'll take that as the complement it was meant to be," I tell him.

"Well, good news is the squad now loves you," he says, getting up.

"Wait, where are you going?" I ask.

"Gunny wanted to know when you got up," he says.

"Why, to kick my ass for screwing up?" I ask.

"I don't know, you can ask him when he sees you."

"Well, stay safe out there," I tell him.

I lie back down in bed, and close my eyes.

"You're one stupid, lucky, bastard."

I wake up, to see Gunny sitting down next to me.

"Thanks," I tell him. "I noticed the first sergeant hasn't come by to thank me for getting him his freaking reconnaissance work done."

"Well, you didn't really learn anything," Gunny notes.

"How's Tura?" I ask, trying to change the conversation.

Gunny stares at me, taking a moment before answering. "Her leg wasn't too beat up. A kolto patch and some antibiotics is all she needed."

"Good," I remark.

"And don't forget what I told you," Gunny says.

"To listen to what you say?" I ask.

"About love," Gunny corrects me.

I felt uncomfortable talking about that, so I try to change the conversation again. "So…what happened yesterday?" I ask.

"The Mando's already attacked the fleet, so we're waiting for them to attack us," Gunny explains.

"Oh, I was also told to give you this," he says, reaching into his pack. I see him pull out some pastry looking thing.

He hands it to me, and I take it, staring at it. "The hell is it?"

"Mandalorian sweet cake, baked for you when some Mando heard about what you did," he says.

"Oh really? And who told them?" I ask.

"Tanner. He has a big mouth," Gunny says.

"Of course it was," I comment. There weren't any Mandalorians stationed at our position when I was there.

"Yea, they re-positioned the forces after they realized the attack wouldn't happen. And dispersed the…Mando's across the line," Gunny says.

"And they trust them?"

"I don't," Gunny says. "Anyway, I gotta get back to the line."

"Thanks for coming by Gunny," I tell him.

Gunny nods, and gets up, and leaves.

I lie back down in bed, and stare at the pastry.

Well, if they wanted to kill someone, they'd kill someone higher than a sergeant that never earned his stripes.

I take a bite of the pastry. It was hard, but sweet.

"You better finish that up quickly."

I look behind me, and see a nurse standing next to my bed. "What?"

"You get a skin-graft tonight. Then you're back on the front tomorrow morning," she says.

"Of course," I mutter to myself. "Can I get some water?"

"Sure honey," she says.