Short Stories

No Mercy

This short story is based off of one of my Star Wars OC Characters, a human named Jordan Mandala. He is 19 years old, (17 during this story), with brown hair and green eyes. He is 5'8" and a skilled pilot.

    Jordan stood up, his back aching from hoeing in their small field. The hot Dantooine sun blazed down. The planet was in the middle of its summer cycle and the heat burned with intensity. Jordan brushed hair and sweat from his eyes and stared up at the sky. Somewhere out there, in the vast expanse of space, the Galactic War was taking place. Jordan had grown up hearing stories about the Rebellion and the Empire. He had never thought much of the stories. The war seemed so far away from his peaceful home planet.

    "Jordan, what are you looking at?" His little brother, Alder, asked. "Dad wants this field done before supper." Jordan glanced towards the sun and realized it had sunk lower than he had realized.

    "We're almost done. We can finish it if we hurry," Jordan replied, digging into the ground with his hoe. He quickly uprooted a few weeds. Alder followed suit.

    "Could you tell me a story while we finish?" Alder asked.

    "Which one?"

    "I want to know about when Dad served in the Clone Wars."

    Jordan continued to hoe as he contemplated how to start. "Well, you know I wasn't alive then so I can't tell you like Dad can."

    "Tell me anyway. Dad always says it's too painful for him to talk about whenever I ask him."

    "Mom told me all the stories I know, but all right. Dad served under General Secura. He said the hardest battle he ever went through was the Battle of Felucia."

    "Isn't that the one where the General was killed?" Alder asked.

    Jordan nodded and continued to work. "I'm not going to talk about that one, though. Dad doesn't like it when I do. The Battle of Geonosis was the first battle in the Clone Wars. Dad was just fresh off of Kamino and had no idea what the brutalities of war truly were. He fought alongside many honorable Jedi that day, like Masters Windu and Kenobi. Dad said that the fighting was brutal. Many clones in his battalion were killed. He was lucky to have survived."

    "How did Dad meet Mom?" Alder asked, uninterested in the rest of the story.

    "After the war ended, Dad came here to Dantooine. He had never fought here as a soldier and it held no memories. He met Mom when he was employed by another farmer." Jordan straightened as he finished his row. Alder wasn't too far behind him. "Come on. Let's go get some supper."

    Jordan grabbed his brother's hoe and started walking back to their small land speeder. Alder hopped in behind Jordan and they took off. Jordan savored the feeling of flying over the grassland. If there was one thing he truly loved doing, it was flying. He had flown everything from the speeder to his father's small cargo ship. He dreamed of flying big Corellian ships someday. Alder jumped off the speeder before it had completely stopped back at their home. Jordan parked it inside their small shed and made his way into the house.

    Inside, the spicy smells of supper wafted through the air. Alder was already playing with Nima; they were fighting with their stick lightsabers. Of course, whenever there was company, Ronan always made the children hide them. It was forbidden everywhere to talk about the Jedi. Jordan's mother, Sybella, looked up from the small stove. "Get the field done?" She asked.

    "Yeah. It didn't take as long as the other one," Jordan replied. He stepped through a doorway into the refresher to wash his hands. He heard his father come into the house and begin to speak with Sybella in hushed whispers. Jordan stepped out of the refresher, but remained in the hallway, listening.