"Killian, are you okay?" Aola asked as she helped her brother set up their tent, causing Killian to look up in surprise. Not far away, Alexander and the others were doing the same.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just…." Aola replied softly, "Ever since we got to this planet, you've been very on edge like something's wrong,"

"You mean besides the fact that we're literally surrounded by enemies?" Killian joked, picking up a hammer and hammering down the tent peg.

"You know what I mean," Aola smirked back, giving his shoulder a swat as emphasis and causing Killian to chuckle before his dark mood returned. Setting down the hammer, Killian stood up and turned to face his sister.

"There is something," Killian said softly, leaning close to avoid listeners, "I remember something happening on this planet, something bad…."

"You mean from your stories?" Aola asked in the same hushed voice, causing Killian to nod at her, "Well? What happened?"

"That's the thing!" Killian cried in exasperation, "I can't remember!"

"How's that possible?" Aola asked in surprise, "I thought you had an eidetic memory,"

"I do!" Killian growled, "Which is why I'm so frustrated! It's like something is messing with my memory, and I don't like it!"

"You think the Force is repressing your memory?" Aola asked,

"I don't know," Killian said thoughtfully, "All I know is that the battle that takes place on this planet is going to be bad. Really bad."

"Who wins?" Aola asked in a worried voice,

"I can't remember, and that's what's pissing me off!" Killian spat, kicking some dirt to emphasize his anger, "And if I can't remember before the battle starts, there's a very high chance that we're all going to die!"

Picking back the hammer back up, Killian began to beat the tent peg far harder than necessary, driving the peg deep into the ground as Aola watched with a worried gaze; placing a calming hand on her brother's shoulder, Aola spoke in a calming voice.

"That's not going to happen, Killian. Whatever happens on this planet, we're going to make it, okay? So, no more thoughts that we're going to die here or you'll leave me no choice but to hurt you."

Killian chuckled at that before nodding at Aola and returning to his work; as Aola walked away to start working on the other pegs, Killian swallowed nervously. Something terrible was about to happen, and if Killian couldn't remember what it was, there was a solid chance that Bomodon would be their grave.

XXXX

Terra suppressed a shudder, suddenly grateful that she was wearing her helmet, and therefore the Sith couldn't see how nervous Terra was. Not that it mattered, as the inside of the Sith's tent was nearly pitch black; though Terra could hear something moving in the tent with her, she could not see more than a few inches in front of her.

"Are you afraid, Mandalorian?" Darth Avarice's voice asked from somewhere in the darkened tent,

"I fear nothing!" Terra spat back instantly, causing cruel laughter to echo throughout the darkened tent.

"You cannot lie to me, Terra Farr. I can sense your fear of me and also your anger. Anger not just at me, but at all Sith, for something one of my people did to your son."

"Stay out of my head, witch!" Terra snarled, spinning and looking for the Sith Lord, "My son is not your concern!"

"Why would Darth Malgus take such an interest in your spawn?" Darth Avarice's voice wondered out loud, "He cares for nothing but strength and power. So, why would he care about the spawn of a Mandalorian….?"

Terra's mind was frantic now, desperate to get the Sith to stop digging before it was too late,

"My son is not your concern! You wanted warriors here to fight, and that is why I am here!"

"Mmm," the Sith lord moaned smugly, "True, that IS why you are here, but I do not like secrets among my servants, so tell me why Darth Malgus was so interested in your boy, or I will take the information from you."

"I am not your servant!" Terra snarled, ripping her pistols from their holsters and aiming into the dark, "And my son is not your concern!"

"Oh, but I disagree," Darth Avarice replied silkily, "You serve under me while you are here, and therefore anything you try to hide from me is my concern!"

Suddenly, light engulfed the tent, momentarily blinding Terra; a moment later, Terra felt something wrapping around her like a giant rope, pinning her arms to her side.

As Terra's vision returned, her eyes widened in shock at what she saw; Darth Avarice was a Thisspiasian, a serpentine species from the planet Thisspias.

Avarice's body was at least twenty feet long and powerfully built; as Terra struggled to free herself, she felt Avarice's body constrict tighter, causing Terra to momentarily gasp in pain.

Realizing that struggling was useless, Terra gazed angrily at the Sith lord; Avarice wore the traditional black robe of the Sith, which ended just above her waist, leaving only her long snake-like tail. As Terra continued to take in the Sith lord's visage, Terra couldn't help but admit that Avarice was quite beautiful in her own way; her long black hair hung in ringlets to her shoulders, and even her Sith-yellow eyes had a hypnotic beauty to them.

"Now, do you want to tell me willingly why Malgus had such an interest in your brat, or shall I take it from you?" Avarice purred.

"Kriff you!" Terra snarled back instantly, "I'm not telling you anything! And when the Mandalore discovers what you've done to a member of his family, he will have your head decorating his wall!"

For a moment, Avarice simply grinned at Terra before a dark chuckle came forth, which chilled the Twi'lek to the core; after a moment of this, Avarice leaned in close so that she and Terra were almost touching.

"I was hoping you'd say that…."

XXXX

Lieutenant Garza stared down at the holographic table with a smug smile; the trap was set, and now it was time to spring it. Turning to her second-in-command, Lieutenant Garza's face turned almost feral, making the man visibly gulp,

"Begin the attack!" Garza ordered, "Leave none alive! There are to be no prisoners, is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!" The soldier replied with a quick salute before turning on his heel and running off.

As she turned back to the holographic table, Garza couldn't help but smile as she thought of what was coming; not only would this world soon be free, but she would soon be known as the Republic officer who managed to finally give the Republic a win after so many years of losses.

XXXX

They had just finished setting up the tent when Killian's head snapped up in alarm, causing Aola to look at him sharply,

"Killian? What's wrong?"

"It's Mom…" Killian whispered as his eyes opened in horror, "She's in pain!"

Without another word, Killian grabbed his helmet from off the ground, placed it on his head, and ran for the largest tent in the area where the Force was screaming at him to go; behind him ran Aola, Alexander, Dani, and Ben, who had all seen Killian's reaction and wanted to see what had so scared the boy. As they passed other Mandalorians, Aola shouted out in a loud voice,

"Mandalorians! Your general is in danger! Follow us!"

Soon, almost the entire army was following behind Killian as they ran as fast as they could toward the towering black tent; as they approached, Darth Avarice's guards suddenly tensed and looked to be reaching for their weapons, only to stop when Alexander called out in a hard voice,

"You touch a single finger to your weapons, and by the gods, I swear you will be cut down!"

As the other Mandalorians raised their weapons, the two guards visibly gulped before raising their hands in submission; not even casting them a glance, Killian tore into the tent, only to stop as his eyes widened in horror.

Terra was currently being suspended in the air, her body wrapped by what appeared to be a giant snake; as Killian continued to stare, he realized that it was a Lamia, or whatever this galaxy's version of one was, and the Lamia currently had its hands latched onto either side of Terra's head, making Killian's mother scream in pain from whatever it was doing.

"Let her go!" Killian screamed in rage, sending out both arms out in a shoving motion which sent the Lamia hurling away from Terra, who promptly crashed to the ground. Half a dozen Mandalorians stormed the tent a moment later, weapons drawn as Killian flew to his mother's side, ripped his helmet off, and gently lifted her up, holding her against his chest. A moment later, a Mandalorian in silver armor knelt next to Killian and began to pull items from the bag on her side.

"Mom, wake up!" Killian begged, "Please wake up!"

"She's unconscious!" The medic said as she began to examine Terra, "That Sith bitch almost killed her!"

"What the kriff is happening in her?!" Ricket demanded as he strode into the tent, "What did you do to our general, Sith?!"

Cruel laughter echoed throughout the tent as Darth Avarice regained her composure and rose to her full height, standing head and shoulders above the Mandalorians, who quickly pulled out their blasters and pointed them at her.

"So, THAT'S why Malgus was so interested in you, boy!" Avarice chuckled as she stared down at Killian, "How interesting…."

"I asked you a question, filth!" Ricket spat, leveling his blaster with her head, "What did you do to our general?!"

"Oh please," Avarice sneered as she gazed at the warrior in black armor, "Save your threats. You couldn't hurt me on your best day!"

Every blaster and rifle raised as one at that, and though she couldn't see it through his helmet, Avarice was sure that Ricket was grinning dangerously at her,

"You want to find out, bitch?"

For a moment, Avarice considered doing precisely that, and her hand twitched towards her lightsaber when suddenly, a loud boom echoed outside the tent, causing the ground beneath their feet to shake and almost sending a few warriors to their knees.

"My lord!" One of the guardsmen shouted as she ran into the tent, shoving the Mandalorians out of her way, "We're under attack!"

"From where?!" Avarice demanded,

"From everywhere!" The guardsman replied, "They're attacking from all sides!"

"Kriff!" Avarice snarled, drawing her lightsaber, "Begin the counterattack! If they aren't on our side, kill them!"

"Yes, my lord!" The guardsman replied before running back out of the tent and shouting orders,

"We're not done here, Sith!" Ricket snarled, causing Avarice to look at him with amusement,

"You really want to do this now? When we're under attack by Republic troops?"

For a moment, it looked like that was precisely what Ricket would do; finally, after a few tense moments, Ricket slowly lowered his blaster,

"When this battle is over, you're a dead woman; count on it."

"I shiver with anticipation," Avarice sneered sarcastically, "But, for now, how about we focus on the enemy?"

As Avarice slithered past Ricket, casting a sneer as she went, Ricket turned to Killian and the medic, who was still holding Terra and trying to wake her up.

"Stay with the general; keep her safe; that is your mission, understood?"

"Yes, sir!" The medic replied instantly.

"Killian, you need to let the medic do her job," Ricket said gently as he tried to pull the pale boy away, "I need you out there."

"But what about Mom!" Killian asked in a scared voice,

"The medic has her under control," Ricket replied as another loud boom shook the tent, "But if we're to survive this, I need every warrior I have, and that includes you. So, get on your damn feet and do your job!"

Discipline immediately took over at that, and Killian snapped to attention, making Ricket nod in approval.

"Your mom will be fine," Ricket said gently, patting the boy on the shoulder, "The general is too tough to be killed by the likes of some Sith scum. But if we want to ensure that she stays alive, we first have to kill these Republic dogs."

"Yes sir," Killian growled back, slipping his helmet on, his fear quickly replaced with anger and excitement in equal measure.

Giving Killian one final pat on the shoulder, Ricket stormed out of the tent, Killian and the other Mandalorians following close behind; as they exited the tent, the eyes of every Mandalorian went wide in surprise. The campgrounds had turned into a battlefield; several tents were currently on fire, and the ground was littered with craters and bodies while the air echoed with screams and the sound of blaster fire.

"Mandalorians!" Ricket screamed out, "To battle! Kill anything that isn't on our side!"

"This is the way!" The Mandalorians screamed as one, causing the battle to halt for only a moment before Killian heard someone shout in the distance,

"Mandalorians! Kill them!"

Drawing his blasters, Killian ran alongside his fellow warriors, shooting at any and all Republic troops he could see; a sudden booming laughter caused Killian to look to the side where Ben was laughing in absolute joy as he fired his rotating blaster cannon, tearing dozens of Republic troops to pieces in a matter of seconds.

Dani had flown high into the air alongside a dozen other warriors, all of which were currently firing indiscriminately at anything wearing a Republic uniform; Aola and Alexander had disappeared, but Killian didn't have time to worry about them as a bolt slammed into his chest and threw him onto his back with a painful 'oomph.'

As Killian lay gasping for air, the tent beside him exploded, killing half a dozen imperials that had been taking shelter near it.

"Kill them all!" A Republic soldier screamed shrilly, "For Bomodon!"

"Oh, shut up!" Killian snapped as he rose into a sitting position and fired a single bolt into the woman's head, killing her instantly; her companions stopped in horror, which was their mistake as Killian opened fire, killing the pair instantly.

"You okay, cousin?" Alexander asked, appearing from nowhere and helping Killian to his feet,

"The Baskar might stop the bolt, but it still hurts!" Killian replied with a groan, causing Alexander to chuckle at Killian's misery.

"You can live with a bruise or die without one, can't have it both ways," Alexander laughed,

"True enough," Killian smirked back, spinning his blasters in his hands, "Shall we go and entertain our guests?"

"Do let's," Alexander smirked back; the battle was raging all around them at this point, and the bodies of both Imperials and Republic soldiers lay in heaps everywhere that Killian looked as the fire raged from tent to tent. Casting a quick gaze at the battlefield caused Killian to come to one undeniable truth: they were outnumbered by at least 3-to-1.

"We have to thin their numbers," Killian stated, "We don't have the numbers for a protracted battle!"

"Agreed," Alexander replied, "So, let's get to work!"

With one last nod at each other, Killian and Alexander charged forward into battle, not knowing if they'd see the end of it.

XXXX

Hours later, Killian was beginning to fear the worst, yet he continued to fight all the same, just as he had been taught; he had long since run out of ammunition and had cast his rifle and blasters aside, falling back onto his knives. When those had been torn from his grip, lost in the throat of some nameless Republic soldier, Killian had pulled a vibrosword from the body of a fallen Mandalorian. Thrust, guard, reverse. The bodies began to pile up around him, and a little voice in his head told him that they should break by now; they were only Republic dogs, after all. Every now and then, Killian would use the Force to blast away those who came too close, but even the Force seemed to slowly abandon him. Thrust, guard, reverse. Why wouldn't they break?! Where was Alexander? Aola? Anybody?!

Killian had lost sight of his friends hours ago, it seemed, and Killian was beginning to fear they were somewhere among the thousands of dead bodies that littered the battlefield.

Thrust, guard, reverse. Gods above, why wouldn't they break! There seemed to be no end to them, and Killian was rapidly losing strength; his arm felt like it weighed a ton, and it was beginning to become almost unbearable to swing his sword. It seemed as if they threw themselves onto his sword, which wetted itself in their blood, drenching the ground around him with the gushing fluids, drenching him. His shoulders ached; his arm was leaden. Only his legs stayed strong beneath him. They must break soon, surely? They couldn't possibly keep this up for much longer, not with the number of losses they were sustaining. Thrust, guard, reverse. He was locked in the Mandalorian's rhythm of death, but more and more were climbing over their own dead comrades to get to him as if Killian's death were some kind of prize that they were competing for.

His sword had lost its edge on bone and blade by this point, and his next cut only scraped a man leaping at him; a dagger finally managed to get past his guard and punched into his side, making him grunt in agony. With a snarl, Killian swiped at the attacker, beheading him instantly. Then, with a groan, Killian grabbed the dagger still embedded in his side and slowly pulled it out of him before spinning it in his grip and raising it at the coming attackers.

"Come on, then, assholes!" Killian roared as loud as he could, smiling as he saw the attackers momentarily pause at his challenge. Their hesitation lasted a moment before they issued a challenge of their own and charged at Killian, who once began the dance of death that he'd been taught since he was a child: Thrust, guard, reverse.

XXXX

Aola was more terrified than she had ever been in her life; it had been hours since she had seen her brother, and a small voice in her head wondered if he was even alive anymore. She had used up all of her ammunition long ago, but thankfully the battlefield was littered with blasters for her to choose from. She fired each one until it either overheated or ran out of bolts, then cast it aside, grabbed another, and repeated the process. Beside her, Ben was having the time of his life, and Aola had begun to seriously wonder whether her friend had gone insane; he had long since run out of ammunition and had opted for a large vibrosword in lieu of another blaster. Ben was currently singing a vulgar song about a market day and a pretty maid, thumping out the chorus with more volume than tune as he buried his sword into skulls and necks. Men and women fell to his blade, and his song grew more raucous as they dropped.

On her left, a Mandalorian in red armor finally succumbed to the many wounds that adorned his body, falling to the ground with a soft 'thump,' Aola shuddered as she saw it, suddenly realizing that her turn for such an end might soon be approaching.

Horror gripped Aola as she realized that a gap had opened in their lines, which the Republic troops were beginning to pour through at an alarming rate.

"Ben!" Aola screamed, causing her friend to turn to her, "The gap! We have to close the gap! Push them back!"

Nodding that he understood, Ben joined the half dozen other warriors following Aola as they charged towards the Republic soldiers,

"For Mandalore!" Aola screamed, raising her rifle and beginning to fire indiscriminately,

"For Mandalore!" Came the answering cry from those that were following her.

XXXX

Alexander knew he couldn't hold much longer. He ran himself ragged, trying to cover a gap where two other men had once stood beside him. Again and again, he spun barely in time to meet the attack of those who were creeping up on him as he killed those in front. His breath came in wheezing gasps, and for all his skill, he knew that death was close.

Why would they not break? Damn, all the gods to oblivion; they must break! He cursed Darth Avarice for not arranging some sort of fallback position, but there really was none. The flimsy walls erected around the campsite were the only real defense, and those had long since collapsed under the combined barrage of Republic troops and continuous explosions from missiles and grenades. The few remaining men fighting beside him were all breathing just as heavily as Alexander, and they were all on the brink of being overwhelmed if the Republic scum didn't break soon.

As Alexander killed another Republic soldier, he suddenly slipped in blood and went down badly, the air rushing out of him. A dagger slammed into his side, and a dirty boot tried to crush his face, pressing his head down. Alexander ripped the blade from his side and stabbed it hard into the assailant's foot, eliciting a scream of agony that made Alexander grin. He made it to one knee too late to stop two scrambling figures rushing through the opened gap, only to be shot down by his fellow warriors. Gingerly he felt his side and winced at the trickle of blood, watching it for air bubbles. There were none, and he could still breathe, though the air tasted like hot tin and blood.

For a few moments, no one came at him, and he was able to look around the defensive perimeter that he and the others following him had set up. Of the original thirty, there were fewer than fifteen left. They had worked miracles holding the ground, but it wasn't going to be enough.

XXXX

Killian fought on, despairing as his strength flowed from his wounds; there were just too many of them, and Killian couldn't keep this up much longer. His armor had blaster burns across the entirety of it, and he had been forced to take his helmet off after a grenade knocked him off his feet and caused heavy damage to it.

Ripping his dagger from the stomach of a Republic soldier, Killian instantly lost it in the chest of the next man to face him. His breath was burning in his throat, and he looked onto the battlefield, seeing the dozens, if not hundreds, of bodies that had fallen to him; he smiled, and the pride felt as if it would burst his chest. He had proven himself a true Mandalorian, and if this was how his story ended, he was okay with it. This was a good death as far as he was concerned. Someone slashed at Killian's face, making him cry out as the vision in his right eye vanished; Killian spat blood and buried his knife into the attacker without ever seeing or knowing their face. A sudden explosion threw Killian from his feet and slammed him hard onto the ground; as his head connected with the earth, it seemed a fog had finally lifted from Killian's brain, making him gasp in horror as he finally remembered what happened on Bomodon.

Bomodon was the first Republic victory. The Empire had lost and lost badly. The Empire had lost thousands of soldiers before they were finally driven from the world, and the Republic had gained hope from this victory and used that hope to fight the Empire all the harder.

"We need to retreat!" Killian thought with horror as he rose shakily to his feet, "We're not going to win this! This is going to be a slaughter!"

Throwing his last grenade at the oncoming soldiers, Killian turned and ran as fast as he could; he needed to find whatever Mandalorians were left, and then they needed to get off this planet before it was too late!