I felt strangely at home. I had been fighting this war on a planet lightyears away from Earth. The air here was yellow and toxic. The people, tiny with blue skin. Yet when I saw the blue child cling to his father as they reunited, I felt strangely at home.

T'ravu, the father, the only soldier on our troop who was native to the planet, was also the only one except me who had survived the 40-hour firefight to reach the bunker we were in. A dozen younglings had gathered around him, with their eyes glistening with hope. A little girl leaned onto the shoulder of another to be able to stand, her foot sliced open. A boy's back and shoulders were bare, with scars on his cobalt skin, showing how his captors had been treating him.

After having reported back to our superiors and requesting for our extraction, T'ravu started tending to the children's wounds. When I saw him tie a bandage around his son's knuckles, I was reminded of my old man.

I remembered my father as an old, traditional man with an infectious smile and tiny black eyes radiating happiness. Whenever I got injured playing on the street, he used to say to me, "Aww young man. Worry not, my Chi will heal you in no time." He used to tell me so many stories about the 'Chi', 'the energy of the soul', and about how our ancestors set the enemies ablaze with its strength and healed their brothers. I believed in none of that.

T'ravu tossed the last power core he had to me and then took off his power suit. He, being a native, needed only the suit's protection and the laser guns attached to it for combat, I needed my suit to breathe in the yellow haze the place had in the name of air.  I swapped my core with T'ravu's. The new core gleamed blue above my belt.

I heard a thump at the end of the tunnel leading to us and readied my guns. I saw two points of light approaching us and shot straight at them. The enemy leaped out of the laser's trajectory and threw at me, a spear.  The spear hit the power core and pierced a hole through my body.

I fell off my feet, the yellow air started to fill my helmet. The enemy jumped towards T'ravu and threw him to the wall. Through my blurry vision, I saw his boy run towards him shouting "Papa!". The enemy swung his arm throwing the child away.

He aimed his gun at T'ravu. "Nooooooo", I yelled. Suddenly, my suit lit up once again. And my gun shot straight at the enemy, vaporizing him.

My vision blurred into darkness... T'ravu's screeches fainted away ...  Then I heard his voice... My father... "Well done young man. Your Chi is the strongest I've seen."... I felt his arms around me... I hugged him back... And the curtain of life fell...