took a reading of the wound. “Um, I have some bad news. That bug had venom. Very bad venom.”

This statement made Balto and Jenna look up. “How bad is it?” asked Balto slowly.

“It's interfering with your body's ability to heal. Meaning that this wound will become infected very soon. It could be infected right now. The venom is also acting like any other venom. It's poisoningyou. If we don't get you to a real medic soon, it could become fatal.”

Balto didn't like this at all.

 

They marched for a week. Along the way they lost 8 more men and Balto's shoulder had started to bleed again and he was getting weaker. He got so bad that Jenna took over command of the soldiers. Finally after marching for 9 days, Jenna got something on her transmitter. The 'Anchorage' had arrived. She quickly got it to come down thru the atmosphere and it landed right in front of their little party. Everyone got on board as quickly as they could, in fear that the Vong would detect, and come after them. Everyone except Jenna blew a sigh of relief. She still had Balto to worry about.

One of the soldiers had managed to pick up the Holonet news and hear what had happened in the galaxy. Mon Calamari, Ryloth, Rodia, and several other planets had fallen to the Yuuzahn Vong. There were even rumors of them advancing on Coruscant. Yuuzahn Vong: 230. New Republic: 4. That was the score in the number of battles won.

Within a few hours of leaving the planet, Jenna got Balto to a real doctor. He was in the hospital for almost a month. Finally the doctor, a Saint Bernard named Doc, contacted her and told her the news.

“He will be okay but, I had to remove his left arm from the shoulder down. I replaced it with a robotic one. I also managed to stop the venom.”

“When will he be able to get up and move around?”

“I would say about two months.”

“You mean he has to stay inside for two whole months!?”

Doc was amused by this. “Miss, people generally say that about children, not their husbands.”

“Yeah, well, YOU aren't married to him.”

Doc laughed and started to walk away when Jenna said “Hey Doc. I have something I want to talk to you about.”

Doc turned to her and said “The bill will be around 300 credits. Thanks for reminding me.”

Balto learned he didn't like hospitals, medicine, doctors, and most importantly, laying in a hospital bed for two straight weeks.

“This is crazy” he complained to Jenna. “I have to get out of here.”

“I don't think that would be a good idea. Doc said that if you get out before your healed enough, you could spend another month in here.”

Balto sighed and changed the subject. “How are the rest of the men doing?”

“See for yourself”. She gestured behind her. The ten soldiers were sitting playing a game.

Balto nodded and turned to Jenna. “What about you?”

“Oh I'm fine. I got a few bruises and a scratch or two. I'm pregnant...”

Balto just about jumped out of the bed. “You are!?”

She smiled and said “I admit that being pregnant during a war isn't the best of ideas but, oh well.”

Balto didn't really know what to say. “This... this is wonderful. How far along are you?”

“If I remember correctly, Doc said I have around 7 months.”

 

Two months later, Balto was up and moving around. He had just been contacted by a superior officer and had been ordered to return to duty.

Jenna didn't like this idea. “Their ordering you back? Now? You just got out of the hospital!”

Balto lowered his head and said “I am really mad at authority right now. I want to help beat the Vong but, being a Lieutenant in the New Republic and a Major in the Empire presents a unique challenge.”

Jenna looked at him and said “Can we just, kind of disappear from the Republic and Empire. Go solo?”

Balto smiled. “That is one of the best ideas I have ever heard.”

He and Jenna rounded up the ten soldiers who deserted with them, as well as Boris, Muk, and Luk. Boris was ecstaticat hearing that Jenna was pregnant. “Now I really will be an Uncle!” he had said.

“So, what exactly are you planing on doing?” Balto asked Jenna.

“I was thinking on fighting this war guerrillastyle. Hit and run attacks. Like the Rebel Alliance did.”

“There is only one problem with that.”

“Whats that?”

“The rebels had an army. We have, including us, 15 people. We have no real command. And how are we going to stop the Yuuzahn Vong? I'm starting to think that they Can't be stopped.”

Jenna sighed and walked in a little circle. “Where are the Jedi when you need them? I mean, sure we have Luke Skywalker and his Academy and without them we would be in an even bigger mess but, we need more.”

That got Balto thinking. “Yeah, a Jedi. C'mon Jenna. Let's go see an old friend.”

The Dorin System. One of the few places untouched by the Yuuzahn Vong. Sure they had tried to attack Dorin, but the two black holes on either side of the planet had claimed more than one fleet. Plus, even if they had managed to land on the planet, the atmosphere is breathable only to the native Kel Dors. So, black holes and all, it wasn't a place many species visited.

'And yet, here I am. Dumb enough to come back' Balto thought to himself. He hadn't been to Dorin since he had dropped off Jedi Master Plo Koon 3 years ago. He had helped Plo out. Balto hoped he would return the favor.

Jenna was speaking to the flight control manager, “This is the New Republic frieghtor 'Anchorage'. Request permission to land.”

There was a second of silence. Then the operator said “Permission Granted. You are cleared for landing pad 12. Here are the coordinates.”

Jenna quickly put the ship down. “Okay. Now that we're here let's get out the masks. (meaning, they wear them so they could breathe.)

Luk walked out of the cargo hold and mumbled something. Muk translated saying “We don't have any.”

“What?”

Muk shuffled his feet nervously and said “Luk found out that we don't have any air masks. Sorry.”

Balto quickly got out of the cockpit. He had never seen Jenna so angry. “You mean we flew all this way, and we forgot the stuff we need to SURVIVE on this planet!?”

“Um, yes.”

Jenna's face was almost purple. Her baby kicked. “Knock it off!” she shouted at it. “I'm trying to keep myself from killing him with my bare paws. You kicking doesn't help very much!”

While Jenna was ranting, Balto got out his comlink and called the dock manager.

“How may I be of assistance?”

“Um, we forgot our air masks so I was wondering if you could contact a certain Kel Dor for me.”

“I suppose I could. What is his/her name?”

“Plo Koon.”

“And do you have a message for Mr. Koon?”

“Just tell him an old friend is here who needs his help.”

Plo Koon grumbled to himself as he walked toward the docking area. Who would want to talk to him right now? As he approached the dock herecognized the 'Anchorage'. “Well, well. I wonder what their doing here..” He reached out with the force and sensed the presenceof everyone on the ship. 'Okay. There's Balto, Boris, crap I was hoping he would not be there, Muk, Luk, Jenna and...” Plo smiled. “The little one on the way.”

As he approached, he saw that the people in charge had connected an airlock to the ship so he could board safely.'I can't believe Balto was dumb enough to come here without a breath mask.' As he got ready to go aboard he wondered what he was needed for.

Balto was walking thru the ship when someone grabbed his shoulder from behind.

“YYEEEOUCH!!” 'Man!' thought Balto. 'That's worse than a sunburn.' He turned to see who had grabbed him.

“Hello 3PO. Got a little injury I see.”

“Plo! Boy am I glad to see you.”

Plo sat down on a nearby couch. “Sorry about grabbing your shoulder like that. Didn't know you had got a razor bug in it. Now, what can I do for you?”

“I'll get straight to the point. We were hoping you could join our little band here.”

“And what exactly is your little band going to be doing?”

“Umm... Fighting the Yuuzahn Vong?”

Plo stared at him for a moment. “Fighting the Vong. What's the punchline?”

“There is no punchline. I mean this seriously.”

“Balto, do you have any idea what you are getting yourself mixed up in?”

“Yes. Me and Jenna are the first two to see them in action. Then we were appointed as Majors in the Imperial Army and put in command of 108 troops specifically trained to battle the Vong.”

“I see. And how many of those fights did you win?”

“Um, maybe 3 or 4.”

“Uh, hu. And how many of these soldiers are left?”

Balto hung his head. “Ten.”

Plo sighed. “You my friend, need more help than I thought. I'm in.”

Over the next few days, Plo got several Kel Dors together to show Balto something. (They got their air masks) Balto

Jenna, and the others all walked into a nearby building that Plo had told them to go to. As they walked in, they were surprised to find almost fifteen Kel Dors in there.

“Hey Plo, what's going on?”

Plo turned to the Kel Dors and nodded. Fifteen lightsabers came to life.

“Balto, I want you to meet, my apprentices. Actually their Knights now.” He turned back to Balto and said “You needed help beating the Vong. Will sixteen Jedi work?”

With that Plo ignited his own blade.

Balto nodded and said “Yeah. I think this might help.”

Jenna spoke up and said “I don't think there's going to be enough room on the

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