I should be in there Zeshaun thought, staring after Alan as he walked into the shieldless tank. He watched as the tank floated forward, and then started to move faster and faster. The tank smashed into the other tanks and Alan's tank burst into flames.

"NO!" Lucky shouted out.

Zeshaun and Zippy both held her back. Even after all of that, the enemy tank still managed to roll away from the crash, severely damaged but the cannon was still moving. Dammnit Alan Zeshaun silently cursed to himself, for not stopping Alan. He had already, almost lost Lucky, and now, he may have lost Alan. This is not a good day for squad leaders. Zeshaun thought.

"Shields are critically low, now's the time to act." Alan's voice came in through the comm.

"Alan!" Lucky shouted happily.

"You heard him, let's go" Zeshaun said.

The squad grouped around Lucky, who lead the attack on the tank. They spread the squad around the room, they fell upon the tank in a semi-circle. Their was no way that the tank could ever hit all of them at once, before one of them got to the tank. That doesn't mean we can't get hurt Zeshaun thought, grabbing his pistols and advancing on the tank.

Zippy flanked him to the left and Alan flanked him on his right. Zeshaun was slightly surprised to see Alan by his side, but he was grateful in this situation, I wouldn't have anyone else covering for me Zeshaun thought, pummeling the shieldless sides of the tank. He heard shouts and yells coming from within the tank, he must have been hitting some of the rebels that had been manning the guns on the tank.

Zeshaun looked down to reload his pistols, when the earth in front of his feet, erupted, sending him flying backwards, onto a pile of wooden crates. Damn that hurt Zeshaun slowly got up from the crates, he had hit his back fairly hard but he was able to stand.

"Zesh, you alright." Alan's concerned voice came in over the comm.

Zeshaun looked up to where Alan was standing staring in his direction. He gave Alan a thumbs up and patted the wooden splinters off his armor. Another explosion, made him flinch and duck down. He looked up and saw Alan, covered in dirt.

"Alan, I'm alright, just watch yourself." Zeshaun said into the comm.

Alan smiled toward him and gave him a thumbs up. Zeshaun grabbed his pistols again, and ran back to fill the whole he had left in the semi-circle. They had gotten so much closer to the tank and were close to infiltrating it. In a few minutes, they were past the point where the tank could shoot them. We've got you now Zeshaun sprinted toward the door, on the side of the tank. payback

Zeshaun uplled the pin in a grenade, forced the door open with brute force and tossed a grenade into the chambers of the tank.

"Fire in the hole!" Zeshaun yelled.

He sprinted away from the tank, and dove behind a crate. The explosion sent the tank shooting up into the air, with smoke and metal parts following in it's wake. A few rebels had managed to escape the tank but were burnt beyond recognition from the explosion. Zeshaun looked over the crate and saw the flaming carcass of the tank more or less in the middle of the room.

The room was unbelievably quiet except for the crackling of the flames from the tank. Wow, that was intense Zeshaun stood from his cover, quickly checked, and found that the whole squad was alive, and they all wore large smiles on their face. Good to finally have that over with.

The squad was almost at a loss, they had been fighting tanks, rebels, and slave owners, all day and now they were in a real moment of peace. Aside from the dead bodies, three flaming tanks, and the room with blown out walls, you would have thought that they were just resting at a cantina.

"What now?" Leon asked.

Lucky smiled and turned toward the door.

"Once we strip them clean of any weapons let's get to the cockpit and fly ourselves home, shall we?" said Lucky.

"Amen to that" replied Zeshaun.

It was nice to finally have taken care of the rebels on this base.  It had been quite an intensive battle but now it was finally over.  Alan looked around at the devastation.  Smoke billowed from the destroyed tanks and the courtyard was littered with dead bodies.

Alan was sure that there were no further rebels at the base but he was certain that if there were any stragglers then they would either go into hiding or get themselves off this planet and back to the rebellion.

They searched the base for a sign of a ship that could take them back to Tadath and were happy to find a hangar bay with several ships that could do the job.  Clambering inside one of them, the ship took off with Zeshaun at the controls.  He guided the ship down to the main courtyard of the base so that the squad could gather all the rebel's weapons and stash them in the hold.

The last thing we need is for any civilian or Gungan to get their hands on these kinds of weapons thought Alan as he threw in a couple of blasters.  Soon all the weapons had been stowed on board and Alan thought back to the Gungans and wondered how they had fared after the cannon bombardment.

"Right, we're all set, let's head home" said Lucky.

"Would you mind if we made a pit stop to the Gungan's, they helped us out a lot and I'd like to say thanks and see how they are" said Alan.

"Sure" replied Lucky, "Zesh, let's see if we can find the Gungan encampment".

"Roger that" replied Zeshaun as the shuttle started to lift off the ground.

"So what exactly do we do now?" asked Njall.

"We can head home, that's what" replied Alan, "but first I want to thank the Gungan leader for coming to our aid".

Alan searched the encampment but could find no trace of the leader which perturbed him.  He asked several Gungans but they did not reply and some even seemed to be very standoffish towards Alan when he asked the questions.  He was started to wonder whether the Gungan leader did not want to see them when finally one Gungan pointed.

Alan glanced in the direction and saw a steep hill and at the top of the hill was a large tent.  Alan thanked the Gungan and started to walk up the hill.  He never realised the Gungan glaring at his back.

Alan wasn't sure what to do when he got to the tent as it wasn't as if you could knock or anything.  He decided to just enter and hope that it would not offend the leader.  Entering, he was surprised to see a circle of Gungans, none of them the leader.

"Oh, hi" said Alan, a little startled to see so many Gungans and not finding their leader, "I just wanted to say thanks to your leader, is he around?"

The group of Gungans parted and Alan sucked in a deep breath as he hung his head in sadness.  Lying on the ground was the Gungan leader.  From the damage his body had sustained, it looked like he had been caught up in one of the cannons blasts.

"I am so sorry" said Alan, "he was a great leader".

One of the Gungans glared at Alan and said "yousa bombad, yousa bringin this fate on ussin.  Yousa leavin ussin now and never commin back".

Alan could hear the hostility in the Gungans voice and could feel the hatred emanating from the rest of the Gungans.

"Like I said, I am sorry for your loss" reiterated Alan as he backed out slowly from the tent, keeping his eyes on the Gungans just to be certain they would not cause any trouble.

He returned to the shuttle with a heavy heart, saddened at the loss of their leader and worried that they felt such resentment towards them when it was the rebels that had caused the death and there would have been more deaths had the squad not intervened but he guessed the Gungans would never listen to him.

"How was he?" asked Lucky.

"He's dead" replied Alan.

The squad glanced up at Alan, shocked by the news.

"I'd better go up and give him my condolences" said Lucky.

Alan grasped her hand and shook his head, "they blame us for the death of their leader and they want us gone, there's nothing you can say that will change their viewpoint".

Alan looked at him, sadness etched on her face.  She looked over at the squad and said "into the shuttle, we're leaving".

With that, the squad started to file into the shuttle, despite the victory, Alan looked over at the Gungans with a heavy heart as he closed the shuttle doors.

Alan lounged back in the shuttle, going over the mission and wondering whether they had made the right decision in sending the Gungans away.  Whether or not, they could have taken out the cannon sooner.  So many questions whirled round his head.

“Hey” said Lucky as she sat down beside.

“Hey” replied Alan.

Lucky had seen that look on Alan’s face before as she asked “what’s going on in that head of yours?”

“I was just going over the events of the mission” said Alan.

“You were wondering whether we could have done more for the Gungans” said Lucky.

Although they were married, it still surprised Alan as to how intuitive she was.

“Yeah” he replied, “I was going over everything, trying to see if there was a better decision that we could have done that would have saved the Gungan leader”.

“Not everyone can be saved” said Lucky, “in battle people die.  It’s not a nice thought but it is a realistic one.  We got lucky today that none of us lost our lives”.

“Yeah” said Alan, “it was quite an intense battle.  I’m looking forward to getting back to Tadath and getting my lips round a tall glass of Corellian ale”.

“Oh, does that mean you’re buying?” asked Lucky.

“Why not” said Alan.

“Hey guys, Alan’s buying the first round of drinks when we reach Tadath.

A large cheer went up throughout the ship and Alan hoped his bank balance was still healthy as he hadn’t expected the squad to be joining them.  Lucky smiled at him and he smiled back.  He was glad to have her back and he wondered what the next mission the Paladins would be sent on would be.

Alan glanced out the window and watched the stars streak by and thought to himself soon we will be back on Tadath.

Alan glanced over at Zeshaun and saw him chatting to one of the new kids of the squad, Zippy.  He smiled as he saw the two of them bonding.  Lucky looked at Alan and followed his glance.

“So what do you think of the new kids?” queried Lucky.

“I think Zippy is going to work out just fine” replied Alan, “he seems to be fitting into the squad nicely”.

“What about the other two?” questioned Lucky.

“Leon and Njall” stated Alan, “well I’m hoping that they will develop more.  They have what it takes but it is up to them to make it happen”.

Alan sighed and wished he was already back on Tadath.  He knew that his Galactic Bank was going to be several credits lighter once they hit the cantina but he also knew the squad deserved it, besides which, Lucky had bought the squad a round of drinks last time.  I wonder if I can con Zeshaun to buy the next round thought Alan as he smiled at the very notion.

Lucky was about to ask Alan why he was suddenly grinning but she was interrupted by the voice of the pilot coming through the speakers informing them that they would soon be exiting hyperspace and dropping to sublight engines for their final approach to Tadath.

“Hey Alan” called out Zeshaun, “I hope you’re not going to forget that the first round of drinks are on you”.

“Something tells me you’re not going to let me forget” replied Alan.

“I know I won’t” added Zippy.

Lucky laughed and Alan smiled over at her.  I bet Zeshaun will try ordering a triple Corellian whiskey thought Alan.  It didn’t matter, soon they would be home and he would have his glass of Corellian ale and some very much needed alone time with Lucky.

Zippy kept talking to Zeshaun, before he had fallen asleep. He really enjoyed his company because he always had something nice to say.

"So, the mission is finnaly over. Are you glad we're heading back Alan and Lucky?"

"Well, I'm pretty excited about going back, but I will always love a good battle," said Alan.

"Same here," Said Lucky.

"I wonder what mission we'll get assigned to next," Zippy said in a whisper.

Zippy kept thinking about all the close calls they had over this long day. Not to mention the huge amounts of rebels, tanks, and cannnon blasts. He kept wondering though about the gungans and if they were alright.

"I wonder if the gungans got off the planet," Zippy said out loud.

"Well, the gungans are pretty crafty creatures and there was more then one ship, so i'm sure they got off safely." said Lucky.

Zippy then layed back and stared at the sealing, thinking about the exciting day he had.

Alan was the first one to arrive at the cantina.  He had been itching for a drink ever since the shuttle had landed on Tadath.  He entered the cantina and immediately his nostrils were assaulted with various smells, mostly from alcoholic beverages or from food that was being served.

Ah, this is my kind of place thought Alan as he waved at the bartender and waited patiently for him to serve him.  He ordered up a tall glass of corellian ale.  Sitting down at the bar, it wasn't long before the bartender brought his drink over.  Alan took it, savouring its sweet aroma and proceeded to take a long sip of it, savouring its flavour as it flowed down his throat.  The doors to the cantina slid open and Zeshaun arrived in next, Alan wasn't surprised that he had arrived slightly early.

"So, where's this drink you promised us?" queried Zeshaun.

"I thought you were buying" replied Alan with a smile on his face.

"In your dreams" laughed Zeshaun.

Alan beckoned over the bartender and he fixed Zeshaun up with a drink and Alan paid for it.

"Thanks" said Zeshaun as he took his drink and took a large gulp of it.

"You earned it" replied Alan.

"Shall we go get a table before the others start showing up?" asked Zeshaun.

"Good idea" replied Alan.

They moved towards the back of the cantina and found an unoccupied table large enough for the entire squad to sit at.  He hoped that everyone would attend as they deserved it after the battling they had gone through.

"Here's to Paladin" said Alan as he lifted up his half empty glass.

"To Paladin" reiterated Zeshaun as their glasses came together causing a clinking noise.

I wonder who will show up next thought Alan to himself as he took another sip.