Saga Battlefield Lesson (a Jedi remembers what the war is really all about)

No, I'm not dead... I'm just trying to survive high school! I finally got around to writing another story, so check it out!

The Jedi stands, her casually firm pose a clear, yet unconscious, echo of the attention position. The twin suns of this planet sink past the edge of the horizon, their rays painting vivid crimson across the sky and the flat landscape. In the dusky twilight, the shimmering river appears bloody as it snakes across the plain.

The Jedi remembers a river ? not this one, another, not even on this planet ? running red with blood and fire. She remembers the screams, the harsh, pitiless cries that even the Force could not calm, the taste of burning ashes hot in her mouth, the smell of death and pain as thick as the smoke in the air?

The sound of a voice draws her back to the present. A soldier she recognizes as Republic kneels by the side of a fighter she has never seen before. It is from the known one that the voice comes. Too far away to make out more than the sound of the words, the Jedi settles for watching. It doesn?t take the training of a Jedi to see that the fallen soldier will never rise ? why else would he still be lying on this long-abandoned battlefield, the shells on the ground having grown cold many hours before? ? but he lives, at least for the moment.

The Jedi remembers standing by the bodies of too many comrades, on too many worlds, for too many of the wrong reasons.

A few traded words, and the Republic soldier hands his canteen to the other, helps him to drink one last time. The fallen one shivers once and lies still. Silently, the other removes his helmet in a solemn salute. He stays there for a moment before pulling himself to his tired feet again. As he passes the Jedi, he nods to her: the acknowledgement of a superior?s presence.

She remembers a time when she would have scolded him for doing so.

?Soldier.? She speaks without turning, senses him stop.

?Yes, ma?am?? His voice is pleasant, polite, carrying none of the fatigue she knows his body holds.

?Was he one of us??

?Republic? I don?t know. I doubt he knew, either.? There is no asperity in the words.

?What was he saying to you??

?He? wanted me to contact his parents for him.?

?Thank you, soldier.?

She hears his footsteps resound off the rocky ground as he disappears into the darkness, and she remembers what they are fighting for.

******* fin *********
r and r please?

 

Good to have you back! (I sympathize with your school woes--I've two college finals left.)

I really, really liked this story. The memories were well sketched, and the fact that nobody knew who the fallen soldier was for made everything fall into perspective.

Raptor517

 

war is horrible and you have captured some of it in this piece.

 

Thanks for the reviews you two! I am sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this post to check the replies, but I was at first a victim of a very bad Internet connection, then grounded and then sick, leaving no time for Internet. Sorry! Thanks for replying and hopefully more stories will come from me soon. Happy holidays everyone!

 

Wow - that was extremely powerful and the voice you wrote in was superb. Magnificent job!

 

a sip of water and a message home

last rites touchingly portrayed

nice work

 

Great job- you got alot across in a very short piece.