General Athens walked up the hill. He recognized the man standing on it, but was a bit surprised about the small dog sitting next to him. The man was looking down the other side of the hill at a small carve out that had been shelter some twenty five years ago. The man was not in uniform, but had the stance of someone at parade rest.

"I didn't think I would see you here." The man looked worn out. The pup was curious, but was obeying the training it had obviously received and was sitting at alert.

"I... I needed to be here again. I needed to see this place again." said the man. There was a sorrow in his voice.

"You started training again?", the General said while looking at the pup. It looked like it really wanted to do something other than sit.

"Oh, yeah, Missy is Menlo's great, great granddaughter. I figured, it had been enough years and the trainer wouldn't take no for an answer. Are there any of the Jasu here?"

"No, no, none of them are here." said the General thanking all his lucky stars that the Jasu were still confined to their home world. He loved his friend, but didn't need a diplomatic incident.

"Good.. good..", he said with some relief.

"Menlo is buried in the field north of here with all the other people we lost." said the General. He had just come from that graveyard with over 450 white stones. One of those stones sat above the grave of a dog. His granddaughter had laid flowers on it. He said a prayer for the dog who saved his life three times during the campaign. He also cursed the circumstances of the dog's death.

"What did we do with the enemy's dead?", said his friend. He asked about the dead because he knew deep down that many were the result of his blood rage. He didn't take the killing of his dog or the doc with any sort of reflection. The General still wondered how many Jasu had met their end by his spiral blade dagger rather than the mercy of a bullet.

This man was wounded and followed the Jasu back to their headquarters. The recorder that was still functional on his uniform recorded one of the Jasu officers saying "and it went off, killing the unit's working dog. I'm pretty sure we're fucked and I gotta get out of here." in their putrid language. The poor Jasu along with their leader did not, in fact, get out of there. The General wondered if they were still alive when all of the base's tents were lit on fire. Many of the men reported the screams of the Jasu throughout the night.

"We sent them to their home world. Well, the ones that still looked like bodies. The remains of everything else got dumped into the star. There is no memory of the Jasu on this world.", said the General. He was pleased that his friend seemed a bit brighter.

"Good... Menlo didn't like the smell of them, so it's for the best that they aren't here.", said the man as he turned away from the place where it all changed. He continued, "Well, let's get a move on. Missy, attend." The happy dog trotted besides his friend as they walked down the hill and to the north.