Killing Strangers (Leave Me Alone) [Star Wars Rebels Fanfic]

We're Killing Strangers

Ezra's hand automatically grabbed onto Kallus' shoulder the moment he reported to his superiors and was assigned his next mission.

He was going to Lasan.

She knew what was going to happen, what mission this was. And she was also seeing that, despite how calm Kallus looked outside, she knew better. No matter how normal he looked, she could actually feel his uneasiness.

"I understand," Kallus stoically replied. "When will I be deployed?"

"You will be deployed immediately. You will be the commanding officer in charge of the Pacification of Lasan, and lead the units of Stormtroopers into battle against the Lasat species. Success is not questioned. Subdue them at all costs. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"You'll win," Ezra said quietly as he walked passed her and out of the room. "You'll win, but it won't be pretty."

And she knew that this was going to be a war that neither side will be happy to be in. She could already see Kallus' steps become heavy and his gait reluctant once he was alone, and there was just a minute slouch in his shoulders.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered because she knew that somehow, even if not for his side but just him, things were going to go wrong. So many on either side was going to be affected.

She went with him as he got ready, putting on another uniform and slipping on his helmet, grabbing standard issue blaster rifle and pistols and strapping them on. If he didn't look at himself, she knew why and understood. He went to meet his men and soon enough they were on their way to Lasan.

Ezra was horrified at how it had gone from the moment they landed. The first day had been a mess.

Kallus' ship had been shot down, though he and his men in it survived. The Lasat people had been prepared and were giving as good as they got. Kallus, unsurprisingly, was a well-oiled, well-trained machine that made it harder for the Empire to be brought down by the renegade race. It wasn't so incredulous to think now that he was one of the singular Imperial soldiers instrumental in helping to mow down the Lasat species. It was amazing in a horrifying way to watch him work.

But then there was Kallus at night, and there was nothing either of them could say about it.

She's with him as he soldiers on through the battlefield, but she's also with him at night as he lay in bed and stares blankly up at his ceiling. It wasn't long until he started to stop going to bed and keep on through the battle, allowing his men to take their quick sleep while he preferred to stay up and keep watch.

Insomnia becomes a quick friend, Ezra noted, and Kallus doesn't rest until he's practically exhausted and passes out. He can't rest otherwise.

"There's only so many times you can clean your blaster rifle," she told him on the fourth night there, when he was sitting on a seat outside his company's camp and going over it again and again. "You need to sleep," Ezra pleaded, but he instead took a rag and went over the rifle again.

"Without me, my rifle is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy, who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will. I swear this creed: my rifle and myself are defenders of my Empire, we are the masters of our enemy, we are the saviors of my life. So be it, until there is no enemy, but peace," Kallus muttered under his breath, a mantra Ezra had unwillingly learned alongside him back in the program.

"That's Imperial poodoo for you," she glowered at him, sitting down by his feet while he meticulously cleaned his blaster rifle. "You need to stop looking to them. They're all crud!"