Talis knelt behind a large boulder with the rest of his squad. His first day and he had let his squad get pinned down by a marksman. Talis heaved a heavy sigh as he shook his head and passed his gaze upon the three remaining members of his squad. Corporal Clevis’ aura was drenched in red and Talis could hear his strong breathes as the rage filtered through the man. The two privates were both pretty worse for wear as Private Gillis’ aura was turning blacker by the second. He was slowly dying from the blaster shot that had hit him in the chest.

Talis knew it was only a matter of time and so did his third comrade, Private First Class Tawney, the squad’s medic. His aura was a swirl of yellow and orange. He was nervous about Private Gillis and his anxiety was mounting. Talis knew he had to muster them or they would not win out the day. A scream from the field on the other side of the rock broke his attention away from his squad mates to the wounded man out in the field.

Talis turned towards the noise ignoring their cover and looked straight through it at the man laying a few meters from the bombs they had laid to clear out a rocky path. Sergeant Palov laid with the contents of his stomach in his hands as a rainbow of emotions swirled over him. Above him, ten meters, was the sniper that had dropped a frag grenade upon the unsuspecting squad.

If it had not been for Sergeant Palov’s quick actions, the entire squad would be out there mortally wounded or dead. Talis took a deep breath of the sulfuric air and calmed himself as he devised a plan to take down the sniper. It came to him suddenly and it was so simple he couldn’t help but laugh. The three remaining squad members looked on in bewilderment.

“Young Master Jedi?” Gillis rasped out through a cough that covered his hand in blood.
“I know what we need to do,” Talis replied with an evil grin.
“I don’t know if I like this idea already,” Corporal Clevis retorted as he adjusted his rifle uncomfortably.
“Just follow my lead,” Talis paused and pointed at Clevis, “You come with me Corporal and stay close.”

Talis stood and made his way to the edge of the rock and began reaching out with the force towards the swirling pools of water just below the surface. He kept his gaze turned towards the ground for a good minute as he watched the swirling energy of the planet. Corporal Clevis knew he was waiting for something so he stood close to him and readied himself. With a rumble and rush of steam, a geyser about ten feet away and off to the left a bit exploded with energy. Sending a plume of hot sulfuric water into the air.

Talis bounded to the base of the geyser and looked up at the ledge where the sniper was perched. The shot that Talis had been expecting never came, confirming his suspicions that the marksman had an infrared scope. He was clearly waiting for the cloud to dissipate. Talis would use that moment to remove the sniper from the equation as he began pooling the force in his right hand while brandishing the hilt of his lightsaber in his left. He tossed a smirk at Corporal Clevis.

“You might want to cover your eyes Corporal.” The Corporal looked confused at first until Talis lifted his right hand. As soon as Corporal Clevis’ eyes were shut Talis jumped through the cloud activating his lightsaber and took a defensive stance. A blaster bolt echoed down at him causing him to leap to the side as he batted the shot away from his concealed companion. Talis knew the sniper was looking at him and was not going to be expecting what was coming. With a snap of his finger the Miraluka summoned a bright, blinding flash. The exclamation of surprise and pain that followed told Talis that his gamble had worked.

He cleared the last twenty meters quickly as he scooped up Sergeant Palov in his right arm while deactivating his lightsaber. A few more paces put him at the detonator. He slammed his fist down on the trigger detonating the blasting charges that were set in the mountain side. One after the other the explosives detonated like a stairway up the mountain. A yelp of fear cascaded down at the squad as Talis turned and summoned what little bit of the Force he could muster into his legs and feet. He sprinted back towards cover past Corporal Clevis who provided rear security for the duo. Talis came to a sliding stop behind the rock and a few moments later Clevis came trotting around the stone.

The look of the squad improved immensely and then dropped heavily as the realization of the Sergeants predicament washed over them. Talis could feel their fear and sorrow at the sight of their mortally wounded squad leader. Immediately Private First Class Tawney set to work on putting Sergeant Palov’s stomach back together. The sight was too much for the other two as they both fell ill in unison. Talis shook his head as he tried to push through the pain and sorrow. He had to keep the squad in the fight. The medivac would not approach without a safe landing zone.

This was supposed to be a simple mission. Go in and secure a viable landing zone for an expeditionary force to set up an outpost. Now he was down to one combat effective squad member and two wounded. Tawney wasn’t going to be much use and Talis wasn’t sure if Clevis was going to be able to pull himself together to finish the fight. Talis could hear the landing shuttle off in the distance holding its flight pattern. Something would have to be done and it would have to be done soon. Talis felt the exhaustion creeping over him with every breath. He only had one more trick up his sleeve. Talis turned to Corporal Clevis.

“Corporal I need you to help me finish this fight,” Talis forced a smile through the fatigue. He felt the sweat dripping down the back of his neck and the burn in his lungs. He had to push through like so many days he had spent training with this squad.
“Yes sir,” The corporal wheezed out, “What do you need?
“I need you not to miss.” The statement clicked as a dark blue wave washed over the corporal. Talis nodded as he looked through the stone for his quarry. The sniper hadn’t moved very far from where he had been dropped to. He was perched on the rise of some stones with a minimal silhouette showing over the rocks.
“He is about ten meters out from us on the rise of some rubble.” Talis paused before he looked back at the Corporal. “Don’t miss Clevis.”
“I won’t,” The tone was calm and the aura was focused. He was more ready than Talis for this escapade. The Miraluka smiled and drew strength from the man’s feelings as he prepared himself. Talis positioned himself just behind the sergeant as he began pooling the Force in his hand again.

With a nod to Corporal Clevis, Talis stepped out from behind cover and threw his hand out. Instead of the brightness of a thousand stars erupting from his hand, a few feet in front of him a small black orb popped into existence. It was blacker than a cloudy moonless night. Talis began pooling more of the Force into his arm as he took off sprinting. The sniper cursed and shifted for a better shot. Talis tossed up his hand and reached out with the Force. The black void of unconsciousness met him before he hit the ground.

After what seemed like an eternity Talis awoke to two figures kneeling over him. A Kel Dor draped in near black Jedi robes and a human Talis had only ever seen in fleeting glimpses. His short military style hair and thin beard made him unmistakable paired with his broad shoulders and overall height. Seraphol’s robotic hand that was pressed to Talis’ chest had a slight golden glow to Talis’ sight. He felt his vigor restoring as the Kel Dor next to him stood and looked back toward the collapsed hillside.

“You made quite a mess with those explosives Padawan.” Sa Ool stated flatly as he gazed across the battlefield.
“How are?” Talis was stopped by Seraphol’s raised hand.
“Sergeant Palov didn’t make it.” The grief struck Talis’ like a mountain at Seraphol’s words. As he felt the tears dampen the cloth that covered his vestigial eye socket Talis heard a familiar voice.
“But you saved Private Gillis’ life with your quick thinking,” the Miraluka’s gaze was tore from Seraphol’s upraised hand to the Togruta woman standing over the covered remains of the enemy sniper. Aaleesha’s visage was stern as she ran the battle through her mind.

“So why did you waste an entire armament of explosives on that one sniper?” Sa Ool cut in. Talis paused as he tore his gaze from his battle team leader and looked at the alien aura for a moment before answering.
“We didn’t seem to have much of an option with Palov screaming in agony and Gillis moaning in pain,” Talis stuttered out before he paused and sat up to better talk with the Sentinel. “My primary job was to get my injured behind cover while providing any form of cover I could find.”
“And what cover did you use to accomplish your mission?” Sa Ool’s tone turned to ice as he stared down the Miraluka.

“I utilized the geyser to bring up a rear guard to a point, then I broke cover drawing his fire towards me and blinded him.” Talis paused as he looked from Sa Ool to Aaleesha, then to Serephol who stood up. His gaze came back to Sa Ool after he rose to his feet and wobbled a little. “Then I detonated the explosives and ran with Palov in my arms. We utilized what little power I had left to distract the sniper and then I stunned him giving Corporal Clevis a shot.” There was a long pause as the three Equites stood there silently.

“That was reckless and stupid,” Sa finally broke the silence, “There were multiple other avenues of approach, that could have gotten you to the assailant that would have mitigated the damage to the squad and yourself.”
“I didn’t exactly see them while I was being shot at,” Talis paused for a moment before muttering under his breath, “not to mention I don’t have eyes so I can’t see.”
Talis’ statement drew a laugh from Seraphol as he walked towards the dropship.
“What was that?” Sa demanded sternly.
“Nothing Master Sa Ool.” Talis replied quickly.
“I thought so,” Sa leveled what Talis reckoned what was a glare in his direction. “Did you learn anything from this?”
“Be patient?” Talis answered sarcastically as he tromped past the Kel Dor. His exhaustion still present, but lessened by Seraphol’s assistance.
“Where do you think you are going Padawan?” Sa shouted as the engines of the drop ship spooled up to speed. Talis just pointed and continued towards the ship. He was too tired to argue with anyone. If his master could have been here for this moment Talis would never have lived it down. He could just hear the Zabrak’s voice now. Talis missed his master dearly, but this was war and their enemy would require both of their full attention.

Talis deposited himself on the bench in the dropship and looked over at Corporal Clevis.
“Good shot Clevis!” Talis yelled over the hum of the engines giving the Corporal the thumbs up.
“It wasn’t me sir.” Clevis was barely audible over the engines as they revved a little.
“What!” Talis shouted at the Corporal over the roar of the engines. Clevis pointed at a figure hunched over Private Gillis. Private first class Tawney held in one hand the clenched fist of his friend and ally and in the other, the rifle of the late Sergeant Palov. A little shocked at the news, Talis just smiled and sat back as the dropship lifted off.