A Gift Before I Go

[Matthew Calderon]

The commando would brink his head back down to the earth. He looked down to here his brother was crouched and smiled. The fight had obviously taught him something, and blown the wind out of him. The more he knew the better. He then responded to Matt's statement about bringing girls over. He would laugh at his brother's response. Valkren was a sharp one, he definitely picked that up from their father. He would smile.

"Haha, so what your saying is you didn't roll over and ignore it...But watched!" Matthew said with rapid laughter following the statement.

After a few seconds Valkren would use Matt's hand to get up. After a few minutes of catching his breath, he was ready. He observed the younger as he winced in pain as he stood up straight. The man would walk past him and pat him on the shoulder as he went to pick up the rifle. He then looked to his brother. "Let's drop this off at the house first, then we could take the speeder to someplace." He would say as he started to walk back towards the farmstead.

[member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Valkren rolled his shoulders, the bruise on his stomach aching, but he had regained all of his breath at this point and was ready to move.

"Lead the way, brother." He'd state. He enjoyed going on trips with his eldest brother, especially on the speeder. Piloting speeders was yet another thing that he had been taught by his brother, when it should have actually been his father teaching him. Could he really blame his father though? Protecting his family was one of the most honorable jobs that one could obtain, but at what cost? At what sacrifice? Hardly ever seeing his family had to do a number on himself, not only their family. But ofcourse, his father's pain didn't cross his mind nearly as much as their own pain

[member="Matthew Calderon"]

 

[Matthew Calderon]

The trek back to the house was quiet, the sky had began to grow brighter signaling the new start of a new day. The commando would look at his watch, it was almost 4 A.M as they got farmstead. The steps on the porch would creak from Matt's weight. He would open the door to the homestead and the hinges would sqeek. He would make his way to their shared room, trying to be as quiet as he could. He would turn to Valkren and smile as he set the blaster by the door. He would make his way to their closet and open it. "Might want to grab a jacket Young Valk. I don't know if you're warmed up from the sparring, but it might get cold." He would pull out a plain blue hoodie and slip it over his tight shirt. The commando would then stretch his arms as he waited for Valkren's response.

The commando walked to the foot of his bed and opened the footlocker. He would dig through it, finally finding a smaller chest. He would open it and grab a handful of credits then close it and throw it back in the footlocker. He would turn to Valkren. "You better not be going through my stuff while I'm away... Don't want you finding anything ment for men." He would say as he closed the locker. He stood up and walked out of the room, he looked to Valkren. "Meet me at the speeder when you're ready," he would say as he exited the house, he then walked to the speeder and hoped into the passenger seat.

He touched his dog tags again. "He's doing good." He would say to himself. As he waited for Valkren to come out and take them to an early morning eatery.


[member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

"I am eighteen you know? Kinda'...'legally' a man? Ever heard of it, the law?" Valkren chuckled as he jeered at his brother, picking out an assortment of clothing to stay warm and look atleast somewhat appropriate for a diner at this time of day.

Because I certainly haven't..

This thought would childishly cross his mind as he pulled on his coat, following after his brother. Being sure to remain silent in their escape, mainly to not wake their younger sister, Erin. The young Valk' would cock his brow, attempting to see exactly what Matthew was doing with his dog tags.

"You alright there?"

[member="Matthew Calderon"]

 

[Matthew Calderon]

Matthew would smile as he felt the grooves on the tags. He would read his blood type and run his fingers over it. He thought of his mom, brother, sister...Even their father, every time he was out on the field in a dangerous situation. There as always a chance that he would come home in a casket, the family knew that...Deep down, it may not have been wanted to be brought up, but...The man sighed as he continued to run his fingers over his dog tags. Suddenly Valkren appeared from the house. The teen would ask if Matthew was okay, Matthew looked up and forced a smile.

Only if he knew.

Matthew closed his eyes for a second as he let go of his tags. He leaned back in the seat and let out a long sigh as he looked up to the stars. "Sit down bro." Was all he said as he tapped the driver's seat of the speeder. "There's always a chance I won't come back...A mission could go wrong." He paused as he felt his eyes start to water. He would feel a few tears fall down his face. He looked over to Valkren.

"I've been hearing talk....Talk of getting deployed, just rumours...while I don't know all the details but..." His voice trailed off as his nose began to run.

"But they say it's gonna be dangerous. I'm going to be on the field with one other person. Supposed to infiltrate some pirate cell and get something." He said as he wiped his nose with his shirt sleeve. He was usually okay with doing missions...As long as it only took a few days tops, but there was no telling on how long it'd take to gain a pirate's trust, anything could go wrong. He could end up with a knife in his gut at the utter of a wrong word.

He would close his eyes allowing the tears to fall. "Honestly little brother, I'm scared...Scared of what might happen, scared of coming home in a casket, the look on his family's face.

[member="Valkren Calderon"]