3. R&R

I carefully pulled the kyber crystal out. The guts of the lightsaber and its internal organs were strewn across the table. I could take it apart and put it back together in my sleep if I wanted to. About thirty minutes ago, I was scared to even touch it, afraid I would press a wrong button and curse or impale myself. I was also apprehensive about the gift itself, surely a jedi would be taking it off my hands when they get word they were not being sent it in the mail.

When I first saw it, I was shocked. I had stopped my heart thinking the woman was alive and would think I was dead, but that didn't seem the case. Playing back the recording immediately, I watched as the woman hobbled toward her grounded ship, barely alive. She was holding her right arm, which she lost up to the elbow. She fell to the ground, eating dirt as she fell unconcious. Imperial troops touched down, creating a firing line and moving toward her body. As I was grabbed by my allies and dragged to the shuttle, she was grabbed by hers. The moment she was in, her shuttle closed and quickly flew off. The recording picked up a familiar voice, clearly present with the troops, shooting at the imperial vessel as it flew off. The voice of the commander, yelling orders at a soldier to pick up the sith's weapon.

After watching that, I looked back at the datapad, it was a personal one, with my own name on it. It had the commanders personal number, and a message from her.

'Do your best to use as much of it as possible before the jedi come'

When I read it, I immediately got to work. The externals were fried, but the interior components were in good shape. Other than a few wires busted, everything was fine. It was a testament to the material used, which amazed me alone. Even just the wiring was as expensive as his pay check, let alone everything else.

I immediately started transplanting the parts into my assault cannon. Taking the focusing crystal out of my cannon, I replaced the immediate parts around it with everything I could with what came from the light saber. After inserting the kyber crystal in, I replaced the parts and even used the hilt of the lightsaber to replace a handle. The lightsaber was gone, nowhere to be found, and in place of it was a bunch of spare parts from a modified personal assault cannon.

My cybernetics scanned the cannon for a final time. It gave me a diagnostic after comparing it to the saved schematics of the previous version.

'Efficiency improved by 100%, Power improved by 50%'

The words flashing across my hud put a wide smile on my face. Just by using higher grade materials for a few parts, it had improved by this much. The real good part was the ammunition counter, it read 100%, and it was not even loaded. It was an exhilarating sight, such a powrful weapon was made by me, and for me alone.

I could not stop at just my weapon though. The fights I take part in the future could be just as dangerous, or even more so. The firepower issue has likely been solved already, my explosive rounds will likely be enough to tear the life out of the sith, not just her limbs, if she got hit by one again. The problem is, will I always be able to achieve that.

The lightning, and their tendency to throw things through the air concerned me. If she had opened with a blast of lightning, I might be dead already. Even though my cybernetics reportedly improved throughout the experience, something he still could not understand, he wasnt willing to subject himself to it for better wiring.

I brought up his hud, activating a schematics mode. My body, as my cybernetics understood it, showed up. Zooming in and out, I played around with the idea of grounding himself. If I could redirect the lightning out of his body through a safe pathway, I would at most be restrained by the sith magic, not incapacitated. It might even have the added benefit of improving my cybernetics safely.

Standing up to search for an appropriate material. Phrik aluminum wiring, was piled in the back. It was one of the most conductive materials in the galaxy, with a great ductility. Polysteel copper was its only competitor, but it lost to Phrik in terms of resistance. With this as a base, I could easily create something to prevent anything from giving me a nasty shock again.

I sat back down, pulling up the schematics and planning. Creating a ground would also require contact with my boot, which would need further modification. So, I decided on implanting a metal heel. It would connect to a wire running through my body to points that should attract and absorb the force lightning. It should then be safe to move to my defibulator, weapon cells and cybernetics for quick charge, before leaving my body harmlessly. The only flaw would be the lightning that it didn't absorb, it would hit my body and shock me, but the quantity should be far less and far more managable. Now, all I needed was simulations, perfections, and surgery. Thankfully, I could manage two inside my head.

I got up from the chair, noticing the time had passed quite quickly. Setting my my cybernetics to run simulations of the current design, I head for breakfast. The mess hall was close by, and my plate was soon filled up with meat. It was good to be a carnivore.

I passed the time with exploration, allowing my body to recover. The base was partially civilian, so there was plenty to look at and experience. The natives were mostly rodian, by the look of it. Many humans were mixed in too, of course. Soldiers did the same as me, exploring the civilian side of the base and drinking or playing. Considering the recent development, they would likely be put in a battle or mission soon, and they knew it too.

After a few hours of killing time walking around and thinking about upgrades, my brain had finished with the schematics. I went straight to the engineering lab and pulled them up at a desk. They had changed from the original design quite significantly. It achieved the same result, but had far less errors and risks asociated with it.

I submitted the design to the medbay, waiting for approval. It immediately went through, and came back positive, which was a far cry from the typical procedure. It typically involved me making an indepth demonstration and presentation on my current cybernetics and why I should have the implanting done. It was a worthy price to pay for having the surgery paid for by the military, and having it done by trustworthy droids. And it got easier the more you did it, or if you have an extensive histroy with cybernetics.

As I arrived the medbay for my quickly timed appointment, I was approached by a surgery droid.

It answered my questions before I asked, "The commander notified us that you would be sending in submissions, and that we should forgo everything but the simulations."

It quickly turned into the surgery room, and I followed. When I stepped back out, I would be a stronger, better, being.

-Later

I walked through the hallways, finding my way to the commander's office. My days of resting were over, it was time to be briefed and introduced to my team. The door opened when I walked up to it. The commander, and four others were waiting inside.

Trying to avoid staring, I stood at attention in front of the commanders desk. She stack back in her chair, taking all five of us in. Seemingly happy with her decisions, she nodded and smiled to herself.

"Good morning sergeant. I see you are looking just as spry today. I hope you are excited, you will have a lot of opportunities to improve yourself in the near future." she said, smiling at me.

And just like that, over two days, she already had a read on my motivations. She certainly deserved the ranking. The keen commander placed a holo device on the table, it lit up with a hologram of the planet.

"Once that shuttle you were on crash landed we got vitals back that the entire crew was dead. Not a single heart was beating, then after five minutes, your hearts started beating again. We thought a sepratist put on your gear, but then we got a distress signal that was personally linked to you. Imagine our suprise when that signal moved to a sepratist controlled anti air installment and took over." She paused to breathe, likely trying to drill his accomplishments into the head of his team.

Another voice cut in from my right, a confident and feminine one, "Sir, we have heard extensively about sergeants accomplishments, and watched the videos ourselves, could we please-"

"Ah tut tut tut Ensign Errim, im telling a story, do not interrupt me. I know you are a fan, you've watched the video quite a lot recently so im sure you would not mind a retelling." the commander retorted, and I couldnt stop the smile from spreading across my face. The girl had not responded.

"Right, so shortly after reports of explosions in the anti air installment, we watch as the turret points toward the ground instead. Soon, all the installments they control are obliterated and we start preparing to bring a hero home. Then, to our suprise, as we fill up a shuttle with kolto, expecting a heavily wounded soldier, a great big bolt of plasma cleaves through the side of an imperial ship in orbit. Now im commanding far more people to move their asses and get the situation under control, taking half the kolto out and replacing it with soldiers. Half a click later and I find a by all definition a dead man and a dead to rights sith. The next minute, the man is alive and still able to walk." She finishes with a breath of air and a drink.

She continued while looking at the holo of the planet, "Now, I am getting more messages than a holodancer and three sith are breathing down my back."

I felt the need to ask, "There were more, sir?"

She nodded, "There are always more, hell, there are way too many. Like, two at most should be the limit." earning an honest nod in agreement from me.

The commander zoomed in on the planet, showing a local map of the area, including the ridge I fought the sith on.

"After you shot half the thing down, all of the sith inside went nuts. The only one outside the thing was the one you fought against. Three were spotted leaving the area with escort, headed towards different sepratists hotspots. Another one tried their luck in the area, getting shot down after taking ten of us with them."

Another person spoke up, "Sir, what happened to the sith sarge fought with?" it had a thick togrutan accent, and it was a very calming tone.

"She is alive, but barely, and probably dead soon. Their leader, and the captain of the ship, is a sith lord, the rest are his apprentices." I nodded at the commanders words. Even though I would disagree, losing to a single republic trooper would probably be the largest embarassment for a sith. The sith did not reward punishment.

A voice to my right, a man with a deep voice, "Whats our next job?"

The commander ignored the lack of respect, "Well there are certainly lots of things for sergeant Rhodium to pick from. I recommend something sweet to start off, with a heroic undertone to it."

I felt their heads turn to me, "Can I have the opinions of my team sir? And perhaps a proper introduction." She laughed at my comment, nodding her head.

Scanning the crowd she began, "Ive chosen them for two purposes. Firstly, I needed very capable people that could give a sith a fight, while maintaining the ability to do something unique in the field. Secondly, they needed to be diverse so that we can appeal to as many citizens in the world." I agreed with her choices, though I was not sure how becoming a flag team for the military would affect my missions.

"Are we just political toys?" An overly aggitated voice said to my right. I felt the need to look, so I turned my head. It was a rattataki man.

His white skin had a tone of grey, and the black tattoos reminded him of the sith's. The dark black colour and thick contrasting lines is where the resemblance ended though. He had two large irregular circles around his eyes, following with the curves of his face. Four lines were above each of them, like the shrapnel of an explosion. Then, two lines ran down from the corners of his mouth like blood, going down his throat.

The commander ignored him, "Sergeant, this is specalist Onar, he is quite talented in everything except hierarchy."

She pointed to Onar's side, "That is ensign Errim, a fan of yours and a deadly sniper. She is quite impossible to spot, and harder to run down."

Errim was a nautolan. She had a yellow skin tone, and her tentacles were lightly patterned. One of her large black eyes was covered with a leather eyepatch, which was strapped to her head.

The commander continued to my left, "This nice man is sergeant Desro, he is wondeful with a blaster, and a genius with a vibroblade."

It was a togruta, with painted white patterns on his white lekku, and more on his orange face. He turned to me, smiling peacfully and nodding his head. I was worried at first he might be annoyed that I would order him around, but he seemed comoletely content.

The girl between him and I caught my eye. Her flawless crystal blue cheek was not a racial characteristic I have seen before. She was a short lady, so I towered over her as she only came up to my chest. Not thin either, she had plenty of muscle on her, and large legs.

The commander elaborated, "That is Pawn, a chiss from recently discovered space. Her skills in infiltration are only matched by sith assassins, according to the bounty the empire has on her head, that is."

The team was full of talented individuals, that is for sure. They clearly spare no expense in giving me the best treatment, I only had to preform up to their expectations. Im glad the team isnt too big either, I had trouble remembering names.

I tried to break the ice, "It is nice to meet you all, I hope we get along."

Desro was the only one to verbally respond, "It is good to meet you sir, I cant wait to be in the field with you." The rest just nodded, some more earnestly.

I took the initiative to scroll across the planet with the holo. Everything stragetically important was saved and marked. Refineries, industrial areas, residential, depots. Anything that could be useful in war.

I first paused on a sepratist controlled ravine. It was the largest and straightest road to a large part of the planet controlled by sepratists. Lots of resources dotted the area and it was surrounded by lots of high mountains. It would have already been taken, if it wasnt for the thick anti air installments covering the entire place. Any ship that peeked a head over the place would be turned into rubble.

"Lets take the ravine, the only chance we have of taking that place is ground support. You can get tanks through when we finish and help us clear enough anti air to touch a base down."

The commander seemed to think of it for a moment, "Alright, approved. We can spin it and get more higher ups to support you, that way they wont think of selling you to the empire any time soon. Ill send you all the details later." She shut off the holo and handed it to me.

We exchanged goodbyes and well wishes before I left. The rest of the team followed behind me silently. We were all quick to arrange a rendevous point and head our seperate ways. I went directly to the armoury to ready my gear. My personal locker was untouched, but it should already contain my armour. I would just need to commission grenades or ammunition with the quarter master.

Clicking my code into the keylock, I slid the door of the locker open. My helmet was laying on the top shelf. I always considered it the most important piece, so I inspected it first. Something struck me as odd, it was certainly not standard issue. Horns, just like the ones on my head, ran across the crown of the helmet. Even the visor had been modified to look just like my eyes. To top it off, everything was a higher spec than a field sergeant is supposed to get. It was a lot more orange and intimidating looking. It intrigued me, so I sent the commander a message. Apparently it had been a gift I was supposed to find yesterday, but no time like the present.

I almost started modifiying it to my liking, but held back. Leaving the armoury, I walked deep into the residental area. Errim had told us directions to a bar, but it led straight down an alley, with stairs leading down into the ground. If there wasn't a well dressed chiss I recognised standing at the stairs and waiting, I would have tried a different street.

She waved at me, "Good afternoon sir, forgive my accent." it was an imperial accent, a distinct one that many of their higher standing citizens had.

"It's perfectly fine Pawn, I only have issues with people who shoot lightning out of their fingers." I responded, even more curious about how she ended up here.

She chuckled with me, "I came out to make sure you did not miss it. Everybody is inside, it is a nice place." She turned and walked down the steps. Her dress hugged tightly to her figure and her hair was done in an amazing bun. It made me feel severely underdressed.

It was a nice and quiet bar, free of the smells that usually accompanied a bar. The group was sitting in a booth, chatting with drinks.

"Sarge! Can you get drunk?" The rattataki asked, dissapointed when I shook my head. He already had a few empty glasses around him.

Desro was sitting in the back of the booth, "We cut Onar off a few minutes ago, so dont let him convince you that he should have another." he told me, sipping his own colourful drink.

I noted it and sat down next to him, "How did you find this place Errim?" I asked her, as she shifted deeper into the booth to let Pawn in.

She seemed distracted because she did not notice I asked at first, "Oh, well I have to sneak back in to the barracks after going out for a while." She went back to focusing on something else and her drink. I felt the need to look, and saw a group of guys at the other side of the bar, one of them liked to look back at her once and a while.

Getting the clue, I nodded my head at her, Pawn quickly got up and let her out. All four of us watched her grab the man by the arm and pull him up. He quickly grabbed a coat and they left together.

"She had been staring since we got here." Desro said.

Onar nodded while trying to get the last drop from the bottom of his glass, "Yeah, did not even say a word to him either, I swear she must have used the force on him or something."

"Anybody trained in the force wouldnt abuse it like that." Desro retorted.

I jumped in, "What about the sith breathing down my back?"

He looked a little hurt, "Well, I meant jedi, you know that."

"Hah, no force user would try to seduce someone like that, their lightsabers have more than one use im sure." Onar added.

Desro looked a little perturbed, "I hope you dont have this kind of mouth in the field. If I get shot because you cant help but remark about the shape of a sepratist's ass, I will haunt you."

They continued their back and forth, when Pawn spoke up to me, "Sir, why did you join the military?" the sound of her question pulled the other two into the conversation.

"Uhh," I started, unsure of what I should answer with exactly, "I want to make more cybernetics and improve myself, I can do that best with military support." She did not nod at my words, but the others were satisfied.

"No."

"Huh?"

"If you wanted that you could have just joined a funded lab,"

Her pale red eyes bore into me. It was impossible to tell where exactly she was looking at, but I knew they were seeing through my lies.

She continued, "you have more than enough talent to make and sell your work. It would be plenty enough to get you the materials you need."

The others were staring at us now.

"Something must have convince you that the military was the only way you can do what you actually want to do, the cybernetics are just your way of getting it done or an added bonus." the chiss finished.

Despite her beautiful face, her observations were like venom. Never had someone I talked to for five minutes been so right about something regarding me. I was not angry, but it irked me that it took this long to find another person who understood this well.

"I was on Coruscant." I muttered.

Desro and Onar were silent at my words, and Onar finally took his hands off his empty glass, immediately sobering up a bit. Desro just closed his eyes, clearly more touched about it than Onar.

But Pawn just looked puzzled, "What happened that day?" she questioned.

I had not been expecting to ever explain it to someone, but I had to understand that her accent meant she was around others that didnt talk about it, "The world was sacked. By the sith. By the empire."

Desro sighed, "I have the same motivation. I was in the temple when it happened. I understand your pain."

I just sat back in my chair, taking that in. I had met many people who were there that day, but it wasnt supposed to be possible to meet one who was in the temple.

Pawn, ever inquizitive, "Were you a padawan?"

Thankful the conversation shifted off of me, I paid my attention to Desro. The togruta's lekkus were downtroden, and his expression was too. Clearly he had not mastered controlling his emotions before the sacking.

He worked up the courage to answer, "I failed my training, I was about to go home. Thats when they attacked. I hid in a broom closet and I just-" he stopped when I placed my hand on his shoulder. Another of his fruity, colourful drinks landed on the table. The bartender solemly said it was on the house and slid it over.

For a soldier, Desro cried hard. The new drink was clearly quite a bit stronger. He calmed down quick as Pawn kept apologizing incessantly. She seemed annoyed with herself, her hands constantly fixed her hair despite it being perfectly done.

"Welp, I should go, my hangover wont cure itself. See you at sunrise sarge." Onar quickly escaped the situation and left the bar with an excuse.

Pawn had a guilty look on her face, "Im sorry sir, this is my fault."

I shook my head, "Nonsense, you did nothing wrong, its just an emotional subject. Lets get him to the barracks."

I clapped the sad man on his shoulder, back into awareness of his surroundings. He got up, eventually, and we escorted him out after paying the bill. As we walked the through the street, Pawn followed behind, still dissapointed.

"Dont be down Pawn, your dress and hair look far too great to make this a sad day." I commented, fully meaning what I said.

She almost talked, but stopped and said something else, "Thank you sir, I only wish we could have enjoyed the night longer."

"No time like the present, it wont be curfew for a few hours. Lets get some drinks and you can tell me about yourself."

Getting Desro to the barracks was a blur. We were arm in arm as we walked. I took her to a fancy place, the bonus for promtions were no joke. We ate local food, and only talked about our early childhood. Whenever something touchy came up, we waved it off casually and just enjoyed each others presence. The drinks came, and the empty glasses went back. Even though I could not get drunk, enjoying food and drink was easy with good company.

We left before curfew, and arrived just in time. She stumbled through the hall with my help, and I escorted her to her room. When the door swooshed open, she pulled me in, and the door quickly closed behind me.