They had been running non-stop for several minutes. Ken slowly felt his lungs begin to ache and he began to feel dizzy. The hot temperatures here weren't exactly ideal conditions for a long run.

"Stop!" he roared, panting, and came to a stop. "We will no longer be persecuted! Enough now!"

A sigh of relief came from everyone and they sat down in the middle of the forest. Apparently their strength was also at an end.

"And you're absolutely sure about that?", Ornan asked him.

"Yes," Ken confirmed. He took a short breath. He knew because Cuyaes sacrificed himself for them. And it wouldn't have been in vain. But now came the hardest part for him. To tell them.

"Cuyaes sacrificed himself for us," he said dryly.

Absolute calm immediately set in. Ken could see from their faces that no one really wanted to believe it.

"Please what?" Duke asked, trembling, as if he had misheard.

"He stood in the way of the enemy and blew himself up to destroy the tank and allow us to escape."

Duke knelt down and began to mourn his comrade. The others did the same, only Iasa still had that fixed look that she had ever since they fled.

Ken, on the other hand, was afraid of himself. He felt almost no sadness, neither when he told them this nor when he saw it. Did he didn't care about Cuyaes? Or was he already too used to others dying for him and he already saw it as necessary?

Duke straightened up again. "So be it now," he said firmly. "We still have to keep going. So? What has to be done now?"

He seemed to have dealt with this blow quickly. But Ken already thought that Duke was someone who, at least on the outside, didn't show any grief.

"How far is it to the base?", Ken asked Ornan.

"If I remember correctly, about a day's walk."

"Iasa!", Ken called in her direction. She just raised her head and stared at him. Ken still couldn't figure it out. What happened? He slowly walked over to her.

"Is everything OK with you?"

Iasa just nodded slightly. "Yes, everything is fine," she said dryly.

"Are you sure?" Because Ken wasn't.

"I told you, everything is fine," Iasa suddenly snapped back aggressively.

Ken was slightly startled.

"Sorry for trying to help," he said accusingly.

Iasa sighed. "Excuse me. Yes, everything is fine with me," she answered more gently again.

Ken was now certain that this was definitely not the case. But he didn't mention it any further for now.

"What is it?"

"Ornan just said that we are still about a day's walk from his base. However, the men are pretty tired from the fight and we also have to regroup. After all, we lost twenty warriors."

Iasa straightened up and resumed her determined stance, albeit briefly. "We retreat deep into the forest and set up camp there. We'll continue tomorrow."

"Shouldn't we go a little further now? Then we won't have to go that far tomorrow," said Duke.

"We cannot rest so close to the enemy base. We'll do it here, regroup and get everything ready for the fight tomorrow. Let's go! Let's go!"

Everyone started moving and marched one by one into the forest. Iasa stayed back a little. Ken decided to keep an eye on her.

….

Night had fallen over the jungle again. Scattered throughout the forest, between the trees and bushes, stood the many small tents of the Blan Flos warriors. It was late now and everyone had gone to sleep to have energy for the battle tomorrow. But before that, things got wild again. Iasa's men spent this last evening celebrating one last celebration, in memory of all the dead comrades and as a brief calm before the storm. Actually, Iasa had forbidden them to drink alcohol in the evening because it's not good to fight when you're hungover, but she wasn't there today anyway. She has lost her appetite and all desire. She was still sitting outside, wide awake, thinking about today.

Since then, she hasn't been able to get the child she killed out of her mind. Nor what it had said to her.

Was this really what Mandalorian culture was leading to? Yes, of course it was. She knew it very well. Those who are weak will be dominated by the strong or die. But was it like that everywhere? No! It is a world created by war. That's why she always believed that, because the Mandalorians lived in a world of war. If there were a world of peace where there was no war, then everyone could live in harmony, without fear, suffering and death. But as long as there are too many living beings this will never change and those who seek power will always rise up. That was the world in which she now lived.

But could she really drag her child into this? It's like Ken said, she only wanted the best for him. She always thought the best way to prepare him was to make him a strong warrior. But now she saw what this could lead to.

She herself had spent her entire life fighting, constantly striving to become stronger and looking for new challenges. She had completely overlooked the fact that there were other things in her life. Namely people she loved. But she always put them aside for her ideology.

When she closed her eyes briefly she saw something. She was lying on the ground and a young man was standing over her. Iasa didn't have to think long to recognize him as a youthful version of her son. He looked down at her with a determined expression and the tip of a blade came down on her.

Then she opened her eyes again. What was that just now? A vision? A mirage? Or even the future? That couldn't be allowed to happen. She could never allow something like that.

Completely irrationally afraid that this was about to happen, she ran into her and her husband's tent to make sure that her son was still sleeping peacefully. Her pulse slowed again when she saw his small body lying in the small basket.

She slowly stroked his head, brushed aside the little hair he already had and kissed him on the forehead.

No. She would never let that happen. She silently promised herself and him that she would make amends for her mistakes while she still could. She would never go to war again and offer her son a world of peace. And if it didn't exist, then she had to create one herself. But that would mean that she would now be abandoning her comrades. The warriors who had fought loyally by their side for months, who gave her the hope of giving her life meaning again. But she had to go now. If she were to stay here now and fight just one more time, there would be a danger that she would continue on this path forever, and for real this time. She couldn't allow that. Not for her sake, but for her son's. But she couldn't abandon the Blan Flos either. She had to choose the middle path. And she knew it was the right one. She now knew that he was the only one willing to take her place.

She walked over to her husband and shook him awake.

"What is it?" he asked slightly annoyed and blinked his eyes awake.

"Gather your things. We're going."

He was confused. "Where to please?"

She smiled softly and hopefully. "To a new world."

….

Flanked by two Mandalorians, Cuyaes walked quickly through the corridors of Ornan's base. He was quite impressed by the sight of them when he arrived. It was probably as well endowed as they always said. Heavy cannons, a good position and the high building made this fortress truly impregnable.

He was still annoyed with the warriors. Things almost went wrong and they killed him. Luckily, he was able to immobilize them with his two explosions and had enough time to reveal the brand on his back, which identified him as a spy from Mandalore.

They came to a door that led into a darkened room. As he entered, his escort stayed outside and the door slid shut. In front of him was a large pedestal, which began to glow blue at the push of a button and the image of Mandalore the Ultimate materialized. Cuyaes knelt in front of it.

"Cuyaes?" Mandalore said. "Nice to hear from you again. What do you have to report?"

"The Blan Flos is planning to attack and capture this base," he reported with his head bowed. He tried to hide his fear from him, but he was sweating from every pore. He knew Mandalore wouldn't like the next news. "And they have help… from Ornan."

He waited for a strong reaction and narrowed his eyes. But nothing happened.

"How can that be?" Mandalore said calmly, but with a coldness that gave Cuyae goosebumps.

"I don't know," he replied. "But I assure you they won't make it. They have a plan, which I am also privy to. What's more, they have no idea that I'm still alive."

"Then I will leave you the defense of this base and the task of finally destroying this wretched band of rebels," Mandalore ordered him.

Cuyaes bowed even deeper. "Yes indeed."

"You did a good job," Mandalore praised him. "If you are successful, I will declare your debt paid once and for all and your family will be free again."

"I thank you."

Mandalore stepped closer and extended his holographic face towards him. "And we don't need to talk about failure."

….

When Ken opened his eyes, the first light was already shining through the treetops. He was happy to finally have a good night's sleep after a long time, after barely sleeping lately. But today was even better. Today was finally the day of the decision. The day he would finally escape from here. And yes, he would. Even if the mission fails and everyone else dies, he will make it out of here, along with Shesprer. He had to. Failure was not an option.

He got up and went out of the tent to freshen up at a small stream nearby.

Then a flash of red caught his eye. It came straight from Iasa's tent. Ken rubbed his eyes again to make sure he didn't make a mistake. When it was still flashing he decided to take a look, but carefully. It could be that someone had kidnapped her and planted a thermal detonator. Above all, he hoped that he wouldn't catch her in any unpleasant situation now.

When he went in, however, there was no one there, nor was there a dangerous object that made itself noticeable. It was a small holo-projector. At first, Ken really feared that she had been kidnapped and that her captors had left a message, perhaps in the form of an ultimatum or a threat.

Ken couldn't wait any longer. He had to be certain. He picked up the projector and turned it on.

Contrary to all expectations, however, a small image of Iasa herself appeared in front of him and began to speak.

"Whoever finds this, this message is intended for Ken first. I therefore ask you to pass it on to him before listening to it yourself."

Ken was surprised. That was probably the last thing he expected. But now he continued to listen even more excitedly.

"Ken, I know this will probably come as a surprise to you, but I just have to tell you. You were right."

A short pause followed. This made her visibly uncomfortable, but Ken was proud of her for realizing it and for having the courage to admit it, even if it was only in the form of a hologram.

"As you can see, this is hard for me to admit, as is this decision. But like you said, I did it for my child. I realized that constant fighting leads to nothing and that my child deserves a real childhood. It should experience love instead of violence and joy instead of suffering. That's why I set out, forever. I won't say where, but in the end it doesn't matter because home is where my family is. My only regret is that I didn't tell you personally, but I definitely didn't want to change my mind. I have only one final order: you, Ken Rav, are to become the new leader of this squad. It's not an order, but a request. Because I know that you are best suited for this. Well then, farewell. I wish you all the best. May the force be with you."

She winked again and then the recording ended.

Ken was stunned. He wondered if he had really just heard Iasa here. But above all, he also asked himself how this could have happened so quickly without him noticing.

But actually that doesn't matter now. She was no longer here, he sensed that. And now another burden has been placed on him again. The leadership and responsibility within him would be tested again, not just for a small Jedi, but for an entire company. And he also knew that it had to be him. Because as the others had already said, Iasa wouldn't just choose him.

She saw something in him, something no one, not even he, had ever seen before.

But as he thought about what she had seen, he also saw it in his mind. He was a true warrior, a symbol of justice, a sign of hope, a leader.

He had finally found what he was looking for. He was born to fight for justice if he had to. Even if sacrifices were necessary, they all had a purpose. Without them he wouldn't be where he was now.

He was sure that the others would trust Iasa's judgment and therefore also him. But most importantly, he now trusted himself.