What the Dog Doin?

Over the next few hours, countless images, audio clips, and videos flashed through my senses. It was genuinely overwhelming and I honestly wasn't even sure how I would comprehend any of it.

I internally shrugged, wanting to at least try what she said. Thus, I focused, attempting to hone in on some of the things that flashed through.

Suddenly, the flashing stopped and a scene started forming in front of me. From all black, the surroundings became bright. I tried closing my eyes to stop the brightness and surprisingly, it worked.

Slowly opening them, I noticed the tan colored surroundings. Looking at the ground, there was sand everywhere. All around me were buildings, mostly one story but some two, made of sandstone. There was the occasional antennae in the street I was on and on the roofs of the buildings.

The doors and windows of some of the buildings had tapestries hung over them to keep out the blaring sun. Others had metallic doors with security panels adjacent.

The most jarring thing about the surroundings was that there were no people. A place like this should have plenty of people living there but there was no one. It didn't look like ruins, it looked fresh. It was as if the people that were here stood up and left.

A voice came from behind me. "Sergeant, have you found anything?"

I turned towards the voice, swiveling my head to the right. Behind me was a female human dressed in military garb. Her uniform was beige and she was holding a blaster rifle that was strapped to her chest. On her back was a large rig that appeared to be very heavy.

As I was looking at her, a few memories flashed through my head. This was Captain Ireena, my commanding officer. We were currently on a mission near the front lines. This location was suitable to set up a forward operating base and we were sweeping for bombs and improvised explosive devices.

While I was processing this information, I felt a tug from my right hand. Looking back towards my front, I noticed that I was holding a leash that was attached to a quadrupedal creature. It had short and rough looking gray fur, a stubby neck, and a long snout. It was currently pulling me towards a building that was at my 1 o'clock.

I glanced towards Ireena. "Captain, looks like he's found something in this building."

As I spoke, I realized that I had no idea why I was saying those words. It was almost instinctual. I mean, I didn't even know what the dog's sex was.

Ireena nodded. "Very well, let's do a tactical sweep."

I nodded, pulling another leash from my waist. It was made of an elastic material and was only 3 feet long unlike the 15 foot leash the dog was currently on. I pulled the dog in, attaching the clip on the elastic lead to its collar.

Looking down, I had a blaster rifle clipped to my chest. I wrapped my right hand around the grip and unclipped the rifle with my left hand. I then started walking towards the building in question.

This particular building had a metallic sliding door and a security panel. The light on the panel was red, meaning that it was locked. The panel was on the right side of the door so I mounted up on the left, leaning my shoulder on the wall.

Ireena did the same next to the panel before pulling a small device out of a pocket on her abdomen. It looked similar to a restraining bolt for a droid.

She placed it onto the security panel and it stuck there. She then pressed a button in the center of it and the device started blinking yellow.

After a few seconds, the device's light turned to a solid green, and so did the light on the security panel. Ireena held up three fingers.

Three… two… one… she pumped her fist and pressed the large white button on the security panel. The door slid open.

*Whoosh*

I pivoted around the corner of the wall, revealing the inside of the building to me. Immediately, I noticed that the lighting was quite dim.

A loud and menacing voice yelled from inside. "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?"

Instinctually, I turned towards the source of the voice and saw a man dressed in ragged robes scrambling towards a blaster. I pointed my rifle towards him and pulled the trigger.

*BYUM*

A blue blaster bolt illuminated the dark room as it hit the man clean in the chest. He immediately fell to the ground dead. As he fell, I heard noises from other rooms of the building. There were muffled voices and faint footsteps.

I swept my vision to the left, my blaster following my gaze. All over the room were crates. Some of them were open but now wasn't the time to check out the contents. There was an open doorway next to the man's corpse so I started moving towards it.

There was a wall next to the door frame so I mounted up on it. I grabbed a cylindrical object from my chest and then pulled the dog-like creature into better cover. I wasn't sure why I did this but I did it nonetheless.

I pressed a button on the top of the cylinder and then tossed it through the doorway.

*PING*

A deafening noise came from inside the room and I followed it in. Inside the room was more of a living area with couches and a kitchen. There were three men with blasters covering their eyes and struggling to keep their balance.

Once again, I aimed my rifle and pulled the trigger.

*BYUM* *BYUM* *BYUM*

Three blue lines exploded through the air, hitting two of them in the chest and the third in the head. Accompanying the flashes of blue light, three dull thuds sounded out as their corpses hit the floor.

I swept across the room with my eyes, my blaster once again following my line of sight. Seeing that the room was clear, I lowered my blaster slightly.

*BYUM* *BYUM*

Two shots rang out from the other side of the building. I recognized this sound as Ireena's blaster so I wasn't worried. Looking around, I saw more crates stuffed under a staircase on the far side of the room.

I moved towards the crates and my companion got excited, pulling me a bit. Removing the lid of one of the crates, I found that it was packed with explosives and ammunition.

Smiling, I reached down and pet him. I reached to my chest, and pulled another cylindrical object. This one didn't look like the other one. It appeared to be just a piece of plastic piping. Lowering my hand, the dog-like creature grabbed the pipe excitedly and then laid down on the floor, gnawing on it and pushing it with his paw.

Footsteps came from behind me so I gripped my blaster. Turning around, I saw Ireena entering the room. "All clear in here."

She nodded, glancing towards the open crates. "These supplies should be helpful."

I chuckled. "Yep. It should probably last us a few days."

As I finished speaking, Ireena quickly raised her blaster and pulled the trigger.

*BYUM*

In the dimly lit room, the blaster fire was slightly disorienting. I looked down at my body, but there was no wound.

*DDDDDTHUD*

Some muffled banging and a dull thud came from behind me. Turning my head, I noticed another insurgent behind me, now dead at the bottom of the stairs. I turned back to Ireena and smiled. She nodded.

Then, everything went black. It seemed that the scenario I was in had ended. It was a weird experience. I had no idea how I knew to do any of the things I did there. It was all instinctual and felt natural. I had just completed a tactical sweep of a building.

A faint voice that was quite soothing called out. "Soryn… Soryn, wake up."

I was suddenly able to feel my body again so I started to open my eyes. Slowly, to avoid getting blinded, the lecture hall came back into my view.

In front of me, Omira was standing there with her datapad, smiling. "Good, are you feeling alright?"

I nodded, nothing was wrong. "Yeah, I'm fine." My voice was raspy and tired sounding.

She reached over to me, unstrapping the head-gear and then the waist strap. "Just sit there for a few minutes and you'll be feeling better."

I nodded, closing my eyes. I started to process what I had just experienced. As I was doing so, more memories that I knew I had never actually experienced flashed through my head. While the scenario I had focused on was in the forefront, I was able to recall bits and pieces of other scenarios. Interrogations, tactical planning, stealth operations, and hostage situations.

Then, one flash caught my attention. It was a memory of a strike team that was targeting a Sith. The vivid imagery of the crimson blade cutting down my comrades was instantly ingrained into my very being.

Every bit of that memory was covered in a veil of uneasiness. This dark side felt cold, it permeated through the memory and now my body felt cold. It was slightly suffocating.

I suddenly felt a piercing gaze from across the room. I opened my eyes, ending the flashback, and looked towards the source. At the front of the room, Master Yolar was staring at me with a curious expression. His eyes appeared to see through everything.

He tilted his head slightly, his expression tightening. This only lasted a moment before he turned away and closed his eyes again, returning to his meditation.

Surprisingly, I already felt better. I peeled my back off of the chair, sitting upwards with my own strength.

Still feeling alright, I swiveled, letting my feet drop to the floor as I stood up. While I was able to stand just fine, my mind felt exhausted. I just wanted to log out and go to sleep.

Omira came over as she noticed that I was standing. "Is there any discomfort?"

I shook my head slowly and sluggishly. "No, just really tired."

She nodded. "That's normal. Just get some sleep and you'll be feeling better."

I nodded, wanting to do exactly that. "I think I'll do just that. I'm gonna head out."

Omira smiled and nodded. "Very well. See you tomorrow morning!"

I nodded, walking towards the exit. I was going to find somewhere to log out and take a nap.