Chapter 4
Mandalay showed Eron the entire estate. Unfortunately, Kota continued to avoid contact with the boy.
"I'm sorry, Eron. I don't know what's gotten into him."
They both sat outside in the garden. The rest of the team set off on their planned patrol. Eron sat cross-legged on the ground, reaching around with his power. Kota watched them. He had done the same during their previous conversation.
"You have nothing to apologize for. Kota is angry and I understand his reason."
Mandalay looked at him with interest, signaling for him to continue.
"You said he lost his parents. Something like that leaves a scar. Did you tell him how it happened that they didn't come back?"
"...Yes. Kota knows why. It was a criminal named Muscular. He killed them."
"Good thing there are no Jedi Masters here."
"Why do you say that, Eron?"
"Because those fools would say something like 'death is a part of life' or 'learn to let go….' Kota doesn't need such wisdom."
"What you think he needs."
"Purpose. He needs to find a purpose. Maybe it's revenge. Maybe something else, but the choice is Kota's. Don't try to force him to the path of a hero, even though that path may be the one that will increase his chances of revenge."
Mandalay looked at Eron in surprise… and horror.
"How can you even think that?"
"You think revenge is bad, but Kota's revenge can be fulfilled in many ways. Muscular's death is just one of them. I'm sure murderers are punished accordingly in this world."
"...Yes…..we send such criminals to a prison for people with quirks, from which there is no escape. This prison is Tartarus…..did you mention other…forms of revenge?"
"Yes. Kota can ruin this man's reputation in the future if he plays his cards right. He can make Muscular regret the day he killed his parents….or he can become a pro hero to catch and arrest Muscular. There are many possibilities and many paths Kota can take. Your task is to help him choose the right one. Notice that I said 'help' and not choose for him. If you do that, not only will you not achieve your goal, but Kota will also hate you."
Mandalay stared into her cup of tea, lost in thought and…ashamed. She hadn't thought of such an idea. Eron drank his tea, and said.
"If he wants to train, then train him. Don't reject him because of his age. As his master, you will have an influence on the intensity of his training. If the boy trains on his own because you forbid him, he can only hurt himself. I don't mean that he will hurt himself physically, but that he won't learn the right techniques, or learn something that will be of no use to him at all. Besides, you have to instill in him a very important thing. This is something that took me two years of war to understand."
Mandalay turned her head towards him. Kota leaned out from behind a tree to hear better. Eron suddenly looked straight into Kot's eyes and said.
"No man, no matter how strong, fights alone. I fought alone for four days and you saw the state I was in. If it weren't for you, my clones would have killed me… they already had me. I was injured, hungry and exhausted. No man fights alone. He needs someone to train with, someone to talk to and someone to show him his mistakes. I had someone like that. Because of him, I am who I am. I became much more powerful than I thought I ever would be. This person showed me how to properly draw on 'Power' and what it truly is."
Eron began to float above the ground. Fine sand, gravel, rocks and even two boulders began to rise and rotate on their own axes.
"I'm one with the force, and the force is with me…."
Kota was startled as he began to levitate towards Mandalay.
"Kota!?"
Mandalay walked up to Kota and grabbed him in her arms. Eron continued his speech.
"Power is everywhere and in everything around us. It is neither good nor evil. Its boundaries are not marked by life or death, for it is beyond them. He who is guided only by the light or dark side of power is a fool. He will never understand that he is manipulated by his own desires. The person who taught me… to use my own power considers 'Power' something that takes away our free will. Without its influence we would be truly free. I am far from her teachings, but suffice it to say that this person was truly powerful in the power… of her own power."
The stones, gravel and boulders slowly fell into place. Eron looked at Kota once more.
"So, Kota. You will have to choose. Maybe not today, not tomorrow or even in a year, but you will have to choose eventually. What will be your goal and your path."
Kota looked at Eron with wide eyes. Finally he exclaimed.
"I….. I want to become strong to defeat Muscular! I want my parents' deaths to have meaning! I want to give meaning to their deaths!!!"
Mandalay was shocked. She didn't know that Kota was thinking exactly that. Kota slipped out of her grip and moved towards Eron. He stood in front of him with his legs spread.
"Train me! I need to be as strong as you!"
"Do you really want me to train you?"
"YES!"
Eron crouched on the ground so that his head was at the boy's height.
"Alright then. The first lesson you need to learn is self-control over your body and mind. Look at how muscular Tiger is. Ask him to help you with strength training. See how agile Pixie-bob is. Ask her how to be as agile as her. See how composed Ragdoll is. Her quirk allows her to follow up to 100 people, but she has to focus on each person in such a way that she doesn't miss anything about the other. Ask her to teach you about concentration. See how your aunt became a leader. Ask her to teach you how to listen, how to see, how to recognize and solve problems."
Kota stood still, surprised by the older boy's words.
"And you? What can you teach me?"
Eron snorted quietly.
"I don't know. I've never trained anyone. I think I can give you some pointers, just like I did now. Just remember not to let revenge become your only goal. You want Muscular to answer for his crimes. I understand. Now tell me what you'll do when you succeed…. or what you'll do if you fail?"
Kota took a step back, as if he was afraid of what might happen. Mandalay came up behind him and hugged him. Eron spoke in a gentle voice.
"I'll tell you Kota…. no matter what you do, know this. You won't be alone. Your parents are gone, but Mandalay is here…. Tiger…. Pixie-Bob…. Ragdoll…. and you'll meet many more people along the way. Some will want to harm you. Some will side with you. There's no such thing as fate. There is a choice."
Kota began to cry. Mandalay held him to her chest. Between sobs and sniffles, Kota managed to say.
"I…..want….to be…..a pro hero..."
Mandalay herself had tears in her eyes. Eron had done something she hadn't managed to do.
"You will Kota...you will be a pro hero. I will help you."
Eron slowly backed away. He allowed his family a moment of privacy. Before he disappeared behind the house door, he looked back…. Family…. no….this wasn't for him….the only family he knew had set out to hunt him down….they had betrayed him. Eron locked himself in his room.
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Eron sat down to meditate, looking out at the forest through the open window. The sounds of birds calmed him down…. He closed his eyes....
"TRRR-TRRR!" came the sound of a woodpecker from the forest
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"TRRR-TRRR!" - Separatist missiles flew upwards, deterring Republic forces from trying to break through to the moon.
Night. The sound of enemy AA guns could be heard in the distance. The third day of the battle for the moon Yaruun 4. Forest, swamp, humidity and heat. The landing of the 336th Legion had ended tragically. Only 30 percent of the personnel had managed to get to the moon. Of course, they had been separated. Eron led about 600 clones towards the separatist fortified positions to silence the AA guns and call for support. His men were tired, but they could not rest as long as the enemy was disrupting communications and support. Eron watched the foreground... there would be about 100 meters of packed earth... and at the end, droid blasters were aimed at the forest. Eron knew. They had the advantage of surprise.... but Eron didn't want to lose half of his men in a stupid assault.... Hellbound crouched right next to him.
"Commander.... If we don't move now, they'll bring reinforcements by dawn and we won't take this position..."
"I know Hellbound.... but we'll be pushing up the hill, under machine gun fire.... We'll lose too many men...."
Eron tightened his grip on the binoculars.....
"Let's do this.... we'll move in a small group, spread out, and the rest will provide us with covering fire to finish off the enemy with fire.... Gather 50 guys.... the ones with the most strength and who aren't wounded..... "
Hellbound nodded and stood up without a word. His visor flickered in the darkness as he transmitted orders over the comlink.
Sergeants Flint, Dart, Juno, Brol, Resh and their squads volunteered for action. The clones armed themselves with extra grenades and left their heavy weapons behind to move faster. Hellbound looked at Eron, who was preparing to attack.
"Sir, with all due respect, you should stay back"
"You say that every time Hellbound. I answer you the same way every time. I will be the one who says 'follow me' not 'forward'"
Hellbound sighed heavily and nodded. He knew he wouldn't convince Eron... but it was his own fault... he and all the clones of the 336th had practically raised him. The General was..... a man of many talents, but taking care of a child was not his strong point...
Eron turned to his people... his family.
"I know you love my speeches and can't live without them."
A quiet laugh rose among the clones. Eron continued.
"It's simple. The longer those guns fire, the more of our men die in the air. They must be silenced before it's too late."
The members of the assault team fell silent.
"They don't know we're coming. We fire on command, or in response to an attack."
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Clone after clone began to rise from the wet ground and move forward, fully focused, scattered among the trees. Weapons held low, communication only by gestures. Eron was sneaking in the front line, Hellbound right behind him. The squad spread out into about 10 groups to avoid the enemy's fire concentrating on one point. Dark clouds gathered overhead, obscuring the moon... it began to rain... it seemed the Force was with them.
When they were only 30 meters from their target, gunfire came from behind the Separatists' cover.
"Move, move, move!!!!"
Hellbound shouted with an order. Eron rose from his knees and used the Force to make the heavy blaster emplacement slide down, causing a gap in the defense. A second later, blue missiles shot out from behind the forest, hitting their targets almost perfectly.
Eron rushed forward with the rest of the squad, taking advantage of the momentary chaos. The gap in the defense was small, but sufficient. The clones rolled through the gap as one, quickly taking advantage. Grenades flew toward the fortified second line of defense before the droids could even comprehend what was happening.
"Resh!!! Flank! Flint! Follow me!"
Eron shouted. His blue lightsaber caught the droids' attention.
"It's a Jedi! Blast him!"
"Eron...."
Hellbound reached the AA cannon and threw a thermal grenade under its base. The explosion tore through the air, and shrapnel flew up, tearing the rain curtain apart. Less than five seconds later, another emplacement was neutralized by Juno and his men.
"Eron"
Eron deflected incoming laser beams at the droids. He tore through the AA emplacement. He used the Force to crush the rotating mechanism.
"Eron...."
The lightsaber sliced through two more droids that emerged from behind the barricade. The explosion to the left threw Eron to the ground. He reflexively covered his head with his hand and quickly stood up, ready to fight...
"Eron, wake up...."
Eron woke up. He was sweating all over. He was shaking. Ragdoll was slowly massaging his arm. She was gentle... as if she was afraid Eron might do something to her. He lay on the floor for a moment, still, breathing heavily. His eyes wandered around the room.
Tiger had just entered the room, holding a mug of steaming liquid. He placed it near the boy and said.
"Here, young one... this is chocolate... drink... it will calm your nerves..."
Eron sat down slowly and reached for the mug a little hesitantly. His hands were still shaking slightly, but the warmth radiating from the mug was soothing... he sniffed it... and began to drink slowly.
Tiger sat down on the floor opposite him, leaning his back against the wall. His expression was calm but watchful.
Ragdoll was still kneeling next to him, silent, her hand still resting gently on Eron's shoulder. She breathed a sigh of relief as he drank the chocolate.
"Eron... you were shouting some words..."
Eron looked at Ragdoll... his eyes were telling her 'continue'
"You were shouting... blow up the cannons, follow me..... You also said... I will be the one who says behind me, not in front."
Eron closed his eyes, lowered his head and held the cup with both hands....for a long moment he didn't answer.....
"It's...nothing....a bad dream..."
Ragdoll looked at Tiger. Her gaze told him to act.
Tiger sighed heavily. He was quiet for a moment...but finally he said.
"You don't have to tell the truth if you don't want to, but don't lie to us."
Eron looked around the room...he reached out with his power to see if Kota was nearby and listening...fortunately he wasn't....
"I led...a squad through the forest and swamps for three days towards enemy fortifications...their AA guns prevented our support from landing..."
Eron told them the whole story....it lasted a good twenty minutes....not once did anyone interrupt him....
".....By the time reinforcements arrived I had lost a third of my personnel....and most of the living were wounded."
Ragdoll slowly sat down on the floor next to Eron, her legs crossed, her hands folded in her lap. She was silent, but her eyes were moist. Tiger didn't say anything either, but he nodded occasionally, confirming that he had been listening to Eron's story the whole time.
Finally, it was Ragdoll who spoke. Quietly. Calmly.
"Eron... how old were you then?"
"It doesn't matter..."
He looked into Ragdoll's eyes and that was his mistake... her pleading gaze could force a mute to speak.
"That was two years ago... I was 13."
Ragdoll inhaled through her nose. She couldn't understand what kind of psychos would send children to the front at such an age.
"Why did you do it... why did you fight?"
Eron shrugged. There was no defense or pride in it. It was a movement showing helplessness and fatigue.
"Someone had to. It fell on me."
Ragdoll shook her head slowly, as if she was still trying to understand the logic of the world that allowed something like this to happen.
"They forced... They forced you to do things that even adults shouldn't have to bear."
Tiger stood up quietly and walked to the door. He said, a little embarrassed.
"Hey kid.... if you ever want to talk... about anything... my door is always open to you... just saying...."
As he went out and closed the door. He came across Pixie-Bob and Mandalay. They had both heard Eron's story.
Pixie-Bob's eyes glazed over with tears she was holding back.
"This shouldn't have happened. No child should know what it's like to lead people to their deaths. And what's more... he told it... so calmly"
Mandalay replied to Pixie-Bob
"I think he thinks it's normal"
Tiger asked.
"So how do we get him out of this war?"
Mandalay looked at Tiger, then at the door where Eron and Ragdoll were left... Tiger decided to explain.
"Before we went in there, Ragdoll and I agreed that she would stay with him if he didn't object."
The girls just nodded...
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Ragdoll knelt down next to Eron, seeing how his hands were still shaking, she put her hand on his shoulder.
"Eron... come. Lie down in bed"
The boy hesitated. For a moment he looked like he was going to object... but he let himself be led to the bed without protest. The pro hero covered him with the blanket and for a moment remained motionless, looking at him in silence.
Ragdoll took a quiet breath. Without asking him for permission, she carefully slid under the blanket, lying down next to him. Eron had his back to her... she put her hand on his shoulder.
Eron didn't move right away. But his breath, so far short and tense, slowly began to lengthen. She felt the muscles in his arm stop being tense like a bowstring. He didn't move away... he finally fell asleep. Ragdoll quietly left his room. Allowing the boy to rest.
End of Chapter 4