#bothan scout

[dingoat]

Illustration commission for a pal over on Discord! I had an absolute blast putting this one together, Zrask, an Old Republic era Bothan Republic Trooper, scouting out the terrain on Onderon.

[simslegacy5083]

Not So Berry (Straud Descendants) Gen 9

Today's (9/10/2024) Episode: Two For Battu

Having decided to join the Resistance, ex-employee Luigi led his wife to the apparently deserted part of the theme park that hid their base.

“Are we sure we’re in the right place?” Noemi whispered, getting into character “Pretty sure” Luigi replied “but the rebels have to be careful, if their hideout was discovered that would be the end. Let’s scout around and see if we can find someone to talk to.”

Just as they started to explore Luigi’s phone buzzed with an incoming call. Checking the caller ID, he saw it was Denton. His cousin knew they’d been looking forward to their trip, and Luigi knew he wouldn’t interrupt them if it wasn’t important. Holding up a finger to signal Noemi he picked up.

Noemi watched Luigi’s face fall. “I’m so sorry man, can we help in any way? We’ll come home if you . . . OK, well call back if you think of anything.” 

“What is it?” she asked as he disconnected. “Uncle Paul is gone”, Luigi choked out. “It was expected at his age, but Denton’s taking it really hard.”

“I’m so sorry” she said with a hug. “for both of you. I know he was one of your favorites. Do you want to go back to the hotel for a bit, take a break?”

“No. You know how much Uncle Paul loved this place.” He returned her embrace and made a visible effort to smile. “He was so excited to give me tips on  fighting for The Resistance when I told him we were coming here for our honeymoon. Let’s carry on and drink to his honor tonight at the Cantina.”

The Resistance rebels were well hidden, but the pair finally located a sim half concealed in the bushes, pretending to be busy collecting berries.

Noemi took a deep breath and approached the “strange alien creature” to deliver the special pass phrase: “We’re here to help ignite the spark”

“If you want to be of assistance first you must prove you can be trusted” their contact replied “Head over to the First Order District and see what you can discover about their transportation and supply situation. If you succeed without getting detained, then we might have another job for you.”

The couple accepted their first mission and in no time found themselves standing at the entrance to the First Order District.

“We’ll have to be careful” Luigi whispered “There’s Storm Troopers everywhere. Let’s sneak around the back way and stay out of sight. You want to start with the supply crates? See if we can get a sense of their stockpile. Then if the coast is clear we’ll try to get a look at their transport vessel”

“I like the way you think” his wife replied “start small and work our way up. Let’s go!”

Luigi kept watch while Noemi scanned a few crates, her data pad giving them credit for “collecting sensitive information 1/3... 2/3…”

After the system chimed softly to signify that she had enough intel to complete that part of the mission they stealthily made their way over to the TIE Echelon. “I wonder if this is how Papa Jack felt during his spy missions” Luigi said as they crept up the ramp towards the ship “I can’t believe that Bonnie can stand doing this sort of thing for real in her day-to-day job… I don’t think I have it in me to handle that much stress!”

This time Noemi kept watch while Luigi took care of scanning the giant vessel, gathering data on its cargo load capacity and weapons systems.

“Success!” he eventually whispered, returning to his lovely lookout and wrapping her in a big hug. “I swear, I’m literally shaking.”

“Right?!” she agreed “You did great, but we aren’t out of the woods just yet. Let’s get out of here after the next patrol goes past and get back to camp.”

The sun had set by the time they returned to their heavily costumed alien contact. “This information will avoid many Bothan deaths!” the androgenous sim proclaimed, checking the very normal looking watch under their sleeve. Luigi felt sympathy for the hard-working actor and decided to call it a night.

“Let’s hit the Cantina and return tomorrow morning to help more.” He gripped Noemi’s hand. “Bothans aren’t the only fallen allies we need to honor.”

View The Full Story of My Not So Berry Challenge Here

[thicctails]

Summer Of Whump Day 18 [Collapse/Beaten]

This one is such a mix of fluff and whump, I love it!

Ω

 “She’s so pretty! Do you think she’ll let me do her hair?”

 “He’s so pale… is that normal for humans?”

 “For some of us, yes.”

 “I think they’re waking up…”

 “Oh, Tiger’s right! Step back, little ones.”

 Omega groaned softly, blinking blearily. The Force nudged her, urging her to open her eyes. She obliged, opening her eyes and allowing her vision to come into focus. Her breath caught in her throat when she spotted a scaly, toothy muzzle right in front of her face. She yelped and scrambled back, tripping over something. She heard a grunt from beneath her, and a quick glance down revealed that it was Cal that she had tripped over. The duo quickly moved into a defensive position, her back against his as they called out to the Force.

 A group of people had surrounded them, all from varying species. They were all different ages as well, ranging from a mature adult to a young toddler. They didn’t look aggressive, but they hadn’t ended up here on accident, so Omega remained on guard. She’d learned to not trust strangers at this point, no matter how friendly they seemed. The eldest member of the group, a Togruta, if her memory served her correctly, raised her hands.

 “Easy, young ones. We’re not going to hurt you.” She said.

 Omega reeled back at first, remembering hearing that same voice when she had been grabbed, but found herself unwilling to stay angry when she felt a wave of calm being sent to her through the Force. She felt Cal relax, and decided that she would put her trust in his comfort.

 “C-crèshe Master Mirthver?” Cal’s voice held a trembling note of blinding hope. The Togruta nodded.

 “It is wonderful  to see you alive and well, young Ketsis.” She smiled, opening her arms. The padawan launched himself at her, sinking into the hug like his life depended on it.

 Omega had no idea what a Crèshe Master was, but she’d gathered enough information to figure out that the woman was definitely a Jedi. Around her, she heard the Force hiss irritably, and it urged her to get up and get away from the Togruta. But one look at Cal’s relieved expression made her decision for her. If staying with this Jedi and her little group for a bit meant that her friend got to be happy, then the Force would simply have to suck it up.

 “I can’t believe it! I- I thought for sure that you were dead!” He cried, burring himself on her robes.

 “I am very much alive, as are some of those under my care.” Mirthver’s voice turned sad. “But not as many as there should be. I was not able to save them all.”

 “You did the best you could. I know you did.” Cal whispered.

 The Togruta smiled softly, and Omega could feel her Force signature thrum with comfort. She looked towards Omega, her smile still on her face even as a tinge of confusion.

 “Who are you, little one? I don’t remember ever seeing you at the temple.” She said, looking Omega over.

 “That’s because she never was. Omega is a clone.” Cal explained, pulling back from the hug.

 “What?!” A voice snapped.

 The Force buzzed with danger as Omega heard something flare to life behind her. She leapt back, falling off of the bed she had been sitting on. Just in time too, as a bright yellow lightsaber swung down on the place where she had just been.

 “Chex!” Master Mirthver yelled, pulling Omega into her arms.

 Cal’s eyes flashed dangerously and he growled. The Force buzzed with anger, and suddenly there was a crash and a grunt. Omega looked over her shoulder to see a human boy holding his head, a discarded lightsaber clattering to the ground. Cal pulled Omega into a protective hug, and she could feel that he was shaking. Actually, they both were.

 Someone rushed over to where Chex lay, her muzzle pulled back into a concerned frown. She grabbed the lightsaber and tucked it away in a pocket before checking up on the boy. Chex groaned and rubbed his head, glaring at Cal and Omega.

 “What the hell?! Why are you defending a karking clone?!” He hissed.

“Chex Varren!” The Togruta’s voice boomed as she stood. Cal and Omega shuffled to the side, and Cal cringed in shame at the tone of her voice, even if her ire was not directed at him. “We do not attack innocents! And watch your language, there are younglings here!”

 “Innocents?!” He balked. “She’s. A. Clone! You know, the people who betrayed us and murdered our entire Order?!”

 “Does she look like a murderer to you?” The woman gestured to Omega, who shrunk back under Chex’s gaze.

 “It doesn’t matter what she looks like.” He spat venomously, getting to his feet. “A clone’s a clone, and clones are monsters.”

 “No we’re not!” Omega defended, her chest puffing up in defensive rage. “It’s the inhibitor chips! They’re what made everyone go bad! They didn’t want to betray you!”

 “Lies! You’re lying!” Chex snarled. “I’m not going to let you trick me, and I’m not going to let you hurt my family!”

 “I don’t want to hurt your family!” Omega exploded, the Force crackling around her. It wanted her out, wanted her away from the danger.

 “ENOUGH!”

 Master Mirthver stepped in between the two bristling children. She pointed a finger towards a tunnel entrance, and Omega realized that she wasn’t sitting in a room, but a well lit cave.

 “Go scout the perimeter. We need to make sure the actual threat hasn’t managed to find us.” She commanded.

 The padawan slunk away, scowling as he went. His hand raised, and his lightsaber snapped into his grasp. The furry person that had been checking him over stepped aside, scowling at him.

 “Dick.” She muttered, and Omega blinked at the insult.

 The scowling teen turned to Omega, and her face became infinitely softer.

 “Sorry about him, he’s a jerk even on the best of days.” She said, kneeling down to that she was eye level with Omega. Cal released her from his protective hold, the Force settling as the tension in the air dissipated. She had brilliant white fur and piercing blue eyes, a headpiece adorned with crystals looped around her pointed ears. “I’m Ebba Freclo, but everyone calls me Ebby.”

 “I’m… Omega.” Omega said, reaching out a hand, as she knew that was what was considered to be polite. Ebby smiled and extended her own paw, shaking Omega’s hand.

 “It’s a pleasure to meet you. The Light shines so brightly in you.” Ebby complimented.

 “Thanks?” Omega glanced at Cal, wondering if that was the right response. He nodded.

 “It’s a good thing. The Light guides us down the right path.”

 Omega nods, before looking at Master Mirthver. “Um, why are we here? I mean, you could have just came and said hello.”

 “Ah, yes, I apologize for our… less than favourable methods of getting you here.” She said, sounding a bit sheepish, “But we had to be sure that strange looking clone couldn’t sneak up on us.”

 “Crosshair? But he-” She cut herself off, taking a moment to imagine what Crosshair might do if he came back to find them talking to a bunch of lightsaber-wielding strangers. “Okay, fair enough. But we need to go back. He’s gonna be worried about us!”

 “Wait, you were with him willingly?” Ebby questioned. Cal nodded.

 “He saved our lives. We got captured by the Empire, and he got us out. His chip is malfunctioning for some reason.” He explained.

 “And now we’re trying to contact his brothers so that they can come get us.” Omega added.

 “You’re not staying?” A tiny voice piped up.

 Omega looked down and saw a Nautolan girl looking up at her with wide, sad eyes. She was a rich purple with pale cream markings, dressed in a soft green tunic and brown pants. A bracelet was fastened around her wrist, a chunk of the same crystal as the teen had attached to the simple brown accessory.

 “Well…” Omega glanced at Cal, who was giving the youngling with the scaly muzzle a hug. He mouthed “just a bit longer”, and Omega sighed.

 “Crosshair’s gonna have our heads for this- okay, we’ll stay for a little bit longer.” She conceded.

 Cheers erupted from the gathered younglings. The Nautolan girl and a young Wookie grabbed Omega’s hands and pulled her away.

 “Come on! Let’s make flower crowns!” The girl squeaked happily.

 Omega laughed and let herself be pulled away.

 “Will you train with us? Me and Tiger are gonna practise tree hopping.” The scaly girl asked Cal.

 “I guess I could. Don’t expect me to be very good though.” Cal smiled, letting himself be pulled along.

   Omega quickly picked up the skill of flower crown making, her hands easily threading the stems. The two younglings chatted on either side of her, although she needed translations for what the Wookie was saying. They told her about everyone who lived in their little hidden crèshe. There was Crèshe Master Azeu Mirthver, Ebba the Bothan, Tiger the Dathomirian, Javeri the Wookie, Xanbi the Nautolan, Chex the Human, Beska the Barabel, and Chi the Togorian. Tiger, Ebby, and Chex were padawans, with Ebby almost ready to become a Jedi Knight. Javerie, Xanbi, Beska, and Chi were still younglings, Beska being the oldest at 10, and Chi being the youngest, only a few months old.

 “What’s it like living with a baby?” Omega asked.

 “It’s hard. He’s always putting out his emotions, which means you’re either feeling really happy, really tired, or really upset. Me an’ Javeri can’t watch him for too long because we can’t put shields up yet.” Xanbi sighed.

 “And he cries when he’s upset! He’s really loud!” Javeri rumbled, Xanbi translating.

 “Sounds awful.” Omega frowned.

 “It’s not all bad.” Xanbi said, examining her flower crown. “He’s really cute, and he’s fun to play with when he’s happy.”

 “Why isn’t he out here with us?” Omega asked.

 “Chi’s too little to make flower crowns!” Xanbi and Javeri giggled.

 “Oh.” Omega said simply. “I didn’t know. I’ve never actually seen a baby before.”

 “What?” Javeri questioned. “Didn’t you see baby clones?”

 “No, clones aren’t sent out until they’re physically around your age.” Omega explained. “The Kaminoans do something to make them grow up twice as fast.”

 “How old are you?” Xanbi looked up at Omega.

 “5 and a half years old.” She replied.

 “WHAT!” Both younglings yelped.

 “You’re younger than me!” Javeri warbled.

 “You’re, like, a little kid!” Xanbi said, dumbfounded.

 “Remember, I age twice as fast as you do.” Omega reminded them.

 “Why?” Xanbi asked.

 Xanbi’s question made Omega’s face turn sad.

 “Because clones were made for war. They wanted us to grow up fast so that we could go and fight. If I was a regular clone, I’d be sent off to fight in a few years.” She said softly.

 “That’s horrible!” Javeri said. “You can’t make little kids fight! That’s a grown-up thing!”

 “It should be.” Omega agreed. “But to the Republic and the Kaminoans, the clones were grown ups.”

 The two younglings looked at each other in utter disbelief.

 “We’ll change it!” Javeri stated in a serious voice, or at least as serious as a 6 year old could be. “One day, we’ll be big! And we’ll make sure no kids ever have to fight, clones or not!”

 Omega gave them hopeful smiles. These kids were the future of the Jedi, and if they could learn from past mistakes, Omega thought that future would be pretty bright.

   Cal panted as he leaned against the tree for support. Beside him, Tiger crouched on the branch, the tree limb still shaking from when he had landed. The peach-coloured Dathomirian smiled at him, his milky white eyes shining in the mid-day sun. How a blind boy could jump and land so gracefully, Cal would never know.

 “How,” He sucked in a deep breath, “how do you do this so easily?”

 “I rely on the Force.” Tiger said with his feather-soft voice. “It guides me. I can feel it constantly.”

 “Yeah?” Cal huffed, sweat dripping down his neck. “You and Omega would get along great.”

 “The Force loves her. It sings with joy when she’s happy and thunders with anger when she’s not. I could feel its anger when Chex tried to attack her.” Tiger mused. “It won’t let you two stay, you know.”

 “What?” Confusion rippled through Cal. What did that mean?

 “It wants her to leave, to get away from us. I don’t know why, but her place isn’t here. But she won’t leave without you, and it doesn’t want her to be alone.” He explained.

 “How do you know this?” Cal asked.

 “I told you, I’m always feeling the Force. She has bonded to you, which is unheard of. Padawans don’t even form bonds like that with other padawans, let alone random Force-sensitives.” Tiger gave him a knowing look. “But you don’t seem to be to keen on the idea of severing the bond while you still can.”

 It was true, he didn’t want to loose his connection to Omega. She was a source of comfort in a sea of turmoil, a guiding star to keep him on the Light’s path. He wanted to be the same for her as well, someone that she could go to when she was at her lowest. So what if this wasn’t the Jedi way? The Order was gone, its members left scattered to the wind. The Code, he figured, could be broken a bit if it meant that himself and others might make it to adulthood, to be able to grow up and become the next generation of Jedi.

 “Cal!”

 He looks down, and there she is, holding a ring of golden and orange flowers, a crown of her own adorning her head, petals of blue and purple hues creating a halo of colour.

 “I made you a flower crown! Come down here so that I can put it on you!” She chirped.

 A warmth blooms in his chest, and he wonders how the idea of him leaving her can even exist in someone’s mind. Tiger laughs beside him.

“You’re so open around her. Perhaps Master Mirthver can teach you both to reign in your emotions.” He suggests as Cal begins to climb down. “You two are like beacons in the Force when you’re together, it’s how we found you today. If we could track you using your Force signature, so could someone less friendly.”

 Cal paused at that. Tiger had a point. If the Jedi had been able to find them, then a Sith definitely could. His stomach roiled in fear at that thought, and he accidentally sent his emotions through his and Omega’s bond.

 “Cal?” Omega called, worry in her voice. “You alright?”

 “I’m fine!” He called back, shoving his fears into a small place deep down in his chest. Hopefully, she’d think that his emotions had come from him being up so high.

 “Do you need help?”

 “No, no I got it!”

 He shimmied his way down, jumping off once he was low enough. He gave her a reassuring grin, and she returned it with a smile of her own.

 “Here!” She chirped, placing the flower crown on his head. “I made this for you!”

 He let her put the flowers on his head, bowing his head a bit so she could position it easier. The ring of bright gold and orange sat lightly on his hair, just snug enough to not slide off when he moved.

 “It’s beautiful, thank you.” He said sincerely, reaching up to feel the soft petals.

 “You look so pretty.” Omega gushed.

 Cal sputters at that, his cheeks flushing red. “Y-you don’t call boys p-pretty, Omega!”

 She quirked an eyebrow at him. “What? Says who?”

 Cal rubbed the back of his neck. “You know… people.”

 Omega snorted. “I don’t care what “people” think, Cal. I think that you’re pretty, and that’s that.” She said, booping his nose.

 He blinked, going cross-eyed as he tried to look at where she’d tapped him. Her boldness was stunning, and he found himself feeling a bit more okay about being called pretty.

 “You’re pretty too, ‘mega.” He murmured, and he felt his breath stutter at the electric burst of fondness that exploded across their bond.

 “You think so?” She asked shyly, although it seemed like she didn’t know why she suddenly felt shy.

 “Yeah. Prettiest girl I know.” He said, confident in his answer. If he could make her feel that happy just by giving her a compliment, than he would do it far more often.

 Omega beamed at him, her honey-brown eyes positively sparkling.

 “If you two start making out, I’m actually going to be sick.”

 Chex’s voice shattered their shared serenity. Cal whipped around, missing how Omega’s face wrinkled in confusion. He glared at the older boy, his green eyes turning sharp.

 “If you say something like that again, I’m actually going to punch your teeth in.” Cal mimicked Chex’s tone of voice as he made his irritation clear.

 “Oooh, I’m so scared.” Chex put his hands up in mock surrender. “Like you could even reach my teeth. You’re such a runt, you’d have to jump.”

 “That’s not very Jedi-like of you, Chex.” Cal hissed.

 “Yeah well, neither is your attachment.” The older padawan draws out the last word teasingly.

 Cal opens his mouth to retort, but suddenly he feels a sharp pang of panic ring out from Omega. Chex turned his head, raising an eyebrow in mildly disinterested confusion as he looked at her.

 “What’s wrong with yo-”

 “GET DOWN!”

 Omega launched forward, tackling Chex to the ground. A screech pierced Cal’s ears, and he stumbled back as a creature burst through the canopy, smashing into the ground where Chex had been seconds ago. Its tail whipped him, sending Cal to the ground. He grunted in pain, curling up into a defensive ball. Clutching his stomach, he could only watch as the beast reared up, snarling.

 It was a winged equine, skinny and malnourished with shining blue fur. Dark purple spots that reminded Cal of eyes dotted the animal’s body. It had three talon-like toes, and its wickedly sharp claws dug into the dry earth. A set of powerful feathered wings beat wildly, their teal and pink feathers gusting up dust. Rectangular pupils honed in on Omega and Chex, the black blocks standing out admits the creature’s yellow and orange eyes.

 The creature lunged for Omega, dragging her up by her foot and tossing her to the ground. Omega screamed, and Cal could feel his own back explode with pain as she hit the dirt. Fear drove him to try and get up, but he found himself unable to. A warm wetness was beginning to form under his hands, and he instinctively applied pressure. Helpless, he watched horrified as the winged animal kicked at her, it’s sharp hooves slicing through her shirt and leaving bloody marks behind.

 “Nrgh! Get away from her!” He shouted, trying to draw the animals attention off of her.

 The equine payed him no mind, grabbing at Omega again. It’s wicked fangs closed around her leg, and he felt himself pale when he saw rivets of blood dribble down the beast’s thick neck. Omega was howling in pain at this point, and the sound broke his heart and made him feel like the lowest scum for not being able to help her.

 “HEY FEATHER-FACE!”

 The animal jerked it’s head to the right. A dusty, angry Chex. His yellow lightsaber crackled fiercely, the glow reflecting off of a stream of blood that dripped down his face from a gash on the side of his head.

 “Eat lightsaber!” He yelled, swinging his weapon at the feathered equine. He managed to hit a wingtip, and the creature shrieked, dropping Omega. She hit the ground with a thud, and he saw her eyes go wide as the air rushed out of her lungs.

 The aggravated animal snapped and snarled at the teen, the two circling each other. Chex darted forward, slicing into the creature’s flank. It roared and whipped its head around, grabbing Chex’s arm and tossing the teen away. Suddenly, Tiger leapt out of the tree above the animal with a yell, landing on it’s back and grabbing its ears. The equine bucked and brayed, trying to throw Tiger off of its back. Tiger moved to grab his lightsaber, but the animal took advantage of his distraction and swung its tail around and struck Tiger in the head. The Dathomirian yelped in pain and fell, gasping in pain when a hoof struck him in the chest.

 The animal was heaving at this point, foamy saliva coating its jaws. It staggered in pain, its injured wing twitching as it made an odd wheezing sound. It lowered its head, growling at the ground as it continued to sway and twitch. Omega let out a high pitched whine, and the animal’s attention snapped towards her. It bellowed and reared up, its hooves poised to come down directly on her chest. Cal closed his eyes and jerked his head away, unwilling to watch his only friend in the whole galaxy die right in front of him.

 Bam!

 The beast fell silent, then Cal heard a loud thud as it hit the ground. His eyes flew open, his vision now filled with bright blue fur. The animal wasn’t breathing. As quickly as he possibly could, he lifted himself up as much as possible. His ears were full of the sound of his own heart pounding, but he was vaguely aware of the sounds of the other Padawans making noises of pain and calling out for Master Mirthver. His head tilted upwards, and he nearly sobbed in relief when he saw an armored figure crouched on a high up branch.

 Crosshair’s presence brought a sense of much needed safety, especially as fatigue grabbed Cal in its iron-clad grip. His head his the dirt again, darkness starting to seep into his vision. As the world faded away, he saw Crosshair rush towards them, unable to decide which child he should attend to first. He must have seemed more injured, because he was soon scooped up into a secure hold and brought closer to Omega. He blinked as Crosshair began speaking in Mando’a, his words too fast and Cal’s hearing too muted to be understood. His head lolled to the side, his cheek resting on Crosshair’s scuffed armor. Omega stared back at him, her eyes full of pain. She was panting shallowly, tears dripping down her face. He reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it as he slipped into unconsciousness.

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Star Wars Alien Species - Dressellian

Dressellians evolved in the sub-equatorial grasslands of Dressel's main continent, Breehara. Two centuries before the Galactic Civil War, the Dressel system was discovered by Bothan scouts. At the time, the Bothan Clan Askar decided to leave the low-tech natives of the planet alone, restricting their activities to mining the Dressellian Asteroid Belt. The Dressellians did have limited contact with the Galactic Republic, however, as a Dresselian named Reeft, was inducted into the Jedi Order and became a Jedi Knight during the last years of the Galactic Republic.

Dressel's isolation ended after the Galactic Empire took control of the system around 10 BBY. The Imperials descended on the planet, moving to set up bases and exploit Dressel's natural resources. The Dressellians, despite having only a loose political organization and barely industrial-level technology, formed a resistance movement. At first, their resistance groups had limited effect on the Imperials. As time wore on, however, the Dressellians became masters of guerrilla warfare, making the continued occupation of Dressel very costly for the Empire. Dressellian guerrillas armed themselves with a mixture of their own equipment and captured Imperial weapons and repulsorlift vehicles. Later, the Bothans threw their support behind the rebellion, smuggling equipment, weapons, and mercenaries to train the Dressellians. The Dressellian projectile rifle was designed during this period, and was produced in large numbers and used to great effect. In the end, the Imperials decided the occupation was not worth the cost, and abandoned Dressel.

The most prominent Dressellian during the Galactic Civil War was the Rebel commando Orrimaarko, a veteran of his homeworld's rebellion. Orrimaarko was present in the briefing room aboard the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Home One before the Battle of Endor, and later participated in the battle as part of General Han Solo's strike team.

After their homeworld was liberated, Dressellian society returned to its former state, with the former underground leaders becoming the leaders of Dressel's array of loosely organized participatory democracies. As they had for centuries, the Dressellians preferred to keep to themselves; they became members of the New Republic, but their Senatorial delegation frequently skipped votes unless coaxed into participating by their old Bothan allies. This changed during the Yuuzhan Vong War, when many Dressellians once again took up arms to defend their homeworld and the rest of the galaxy.

Dressellians have elongated hairless heads, wrinkled flesh, and wiry bodies. The average Dressellian stands about 1.8 meters or 5.9 feet tall. Their wrinkled skin has earned them the callous nickname "Prune Face," to which all Dressellians take offense.

Dressellians age at the following stages:

1 - 9 Child

10 - 14 Young Adult

15 - 45 Adult

46 - 59 Middle Age

60 - 79 Old

Examples of Names: Dreefa, Errillan, Leerayen, Orrimaarko, Parskeer, Pyrroon Nox, Reeft, Tremorra.

Languages: Dressellians speak Dressellese, a simple language that's evolved over millennia. As Dressellian and Bothan relations improved, many Bothese terms found their way into the Dressellese language. Since the yoke of Imperial oppression has been lifted from Dressel, the Dressellians have adopted the Bothese alphabet over their more archaic symbol-based system for written Dressellese.

[roedusk]

Maalraas Pt 1 (Knol and Savage)

So... yeah, this isn’t near done yet, but here’s the first bit of my idea for Knol that turned out to fit Knol picking up Savage as a decent guardian.  Inspired by a comment by pretzel-log1c over on blackkatmagic’s tumblr.  All spelling and grammar errors are mine.

Edit: I realized I should probably put a warning here for the existence of the parasitic Orbalisks and my attempts at medical care, including blood. I didn't go far enough into either to freak myself out but they are involved.

- - - - - - - - - -

There’s a hostility in the air on Onderon that Knol hasn’t felt anywhere else.  A part of it is the people, already vicious in their city’s endless fight against encroaching nature, now faced with a droid army poised to wipe them out in turn.  Another source is the world itself, where all nature outside of Iziz’s carefully slashed borders is violent and full of predators that can take down men with modern weapons.  Not exactly an environment that breeds conservationists.  Even the separatist droids, capable of standing against Iziz’s militias, find themselves repeatedly overwhelmed by the planet’s native inhabitants.

And then there’s Dxun.

There have always been rumors about Onderon’s moon, locked into the history of the planet as it is and home to all of Onderon’s worst monsters.  The Temple archives have oblique references to it in the oldest files.  Mentions of an assault from Onderon's moon, and the many Jedi who died preventing it.  There’s more in the restricted archives.  Sith holocrons speak of it as a site of potent dark side energy, and breeding ground of monsters perfectly predisposed for use in sith alchemy.

Knol is here chasing rumors of an ancient Sith stronghold, long since fallen into ruin.  A tomb perhaps, or maybe a temple, but definitely an ancient stronghold of the Sith.  It’s the real reason for the Seperatist presence on Onderon, and they’ve been preparing all spring for an assault on the moon, just as soon as the two spheres shifted into alignment.

Threads discovered by Clan Nari spies have led her here, too late to stop the assault, but not late enough that she can’t infiltrate the fortress first and remove anything they might be after.  Thankfully the local wildlife and the droids have been taking each other out, leaving her to make her way towards the fortress more or less unimpeded.  Even more than Onderon this moon makes her fur itch, instincts constantly warning that the jungle is hiding millions of predators of all sizes, plant and animal alike, sizing up an easy bothan meal.  And while she’ll never be an easy meal she’s learned long ago not to dismiss her instincts.  Many Jedi might see fight-or-flight as a chemical bias factor but for her the force works though instinct the same as it does everything else.

Knol would have died long ago if she stopped heeding it.

There’s an itch at the base of her skull that follows her but for once leaning on the force doesn’t reveal her watchers, just a squadron of droids sweeping the jungle nearby.  They’re wielding blasters and flamethrowers, hardly a threat of the kind to make her hair stand on end, and not close enough to stumble on her by accident.

There’s a search pattern they’re following, however, and if she uses that she can guess where she needs to go.  

It's good enough for a start at least.  Only three quarters of the moon left to rule out.  The eyes on her back fade as she makes her way around the droids, eventually disappearing entirely.  One less predator after her on a moon where even the plants try to eat you.

- - - - - - - - - -

As she scales low-lying branches, making her way through the least hostile trees, Knol slowly learns the force presences of the predators around her.

Bloodsap she learns first, needing to make sure she doesn't lean too long on a plant whose leaves and bark will try to drain her through her skin.  The Sugarleaves are safer, their sweet-smelling leaves the true trap, leaving their stone-hardened bark a safe landing zone.  Among fauna are the herds of Cannoks, terrorizing anything they can overwhelm and dying to everything else.  She can easily outwit them with a force trick easily enough, the herd would rushing off together after prey only one of them even saw.  The oversized Boma aren't so easily distracted but far simpler to simply spot and avoid.  The airborne Skreev circle the upper branches, looking for clearings with Bomu or Cannoks where they can dive down and spear themselves a meal before fleeing.  Sticking to the treeline kept her out of their way, and the single Drexl that flew overhead was happy to snatch up the Skreev eyeing her rather than the significantly smaller bothan meal.

And yet, every now and then the fur at the base of her skull will stand up, though there's nothing she cand sense in the force.  Her silent watchers are wary, never venturing close or closing in for the kill, and they always remain behind when she moves on.  

There'd been rumors in the ancient archives of Force-hunters, beasts who cloaked themselves with the Force and used it to sense their prey.  Presumed to be a sith bioweapon gone native then extinct in the pressures of the Dxun environment.  Knol was beginning to suspect they weren't nearly as extinct as she'd like.

Still, cloaked watchers or not, she was getting closer.  While the droids scout every square inch of the jungle, fighting strangling vines and varyingly deep pools of water the whole way, Knol turns her steps towards the faint increase of darkness in the distance.

But she needed to hurry.  Even without any ability to sense the Force the battledroids will eventually find the temple themselves.  It just might take longer than they'd like to navigate the jungle on the way there.

A search unit is stalled at the edge of a mini-swamp when Knol lands in their midst.  Before the droids can react the bothan is spinning into battle. The two guard units with blasters going down first, taking just enough time for the rest of the droids to level their flamethrowers at her.  After that it's a simple matter of spinning the fire out of her way with one hand while using the other to strike down each droid in turn.

In the silence that follows the feeling of eyes intensifies.  The force swirls around her still, the last of the fire dissipating in her palm, but revealing nothing of her newest watcher.  And reaching out with a more direct pulse does nothing but make the feeling peak.  Knol eyes her surroundings for a moment longer, still seeing nothing out of place, before deciding an attack still isn't imminent and sheathing her lightsaber.  This time, however, the watcher follows her when she sets out.  Every now and then she thibjs she can hear a paw hitting water, or claws digging into bark for purchase, but the monster stalking her steps remaines otherwise undetectable.

The next group of droids she funds between her and the growing darkness falls like the first.  The third group is larger and more concentrated in flamethrower droids.  A few moments into the fight there's a low snarl and one of the blaster droids around the edge goes down before it can shoot her in the back.  There are massive teeth marks on the droid's head, and clawmarks where the invisible beast tore the chassis open to finally lay it low.

Still, the creature has yet to make a move against her.  And it probably doesn't prefer droids for food over Bothan.  Knol stretches her senses again, considering every corner of the clearing.  But the monster remains hidden and all she gets for her troubles is a headache and a vague sense of motion that quickly slips away from her again.

There's something following her, she's certain of it now.  And yet, trying to lean into that primal part of the force, the one making the fur on the back of her neck stand up, proves fruitless.  

With a huff Knol turns to continue towards the growing shadow, when there's suddenly a low growl and a sizeable presense behind her.  She spins, lightsaber already activating, then looks up.  The creature is a third again her height and easily five times her length, but it's standing out of range of her blade, teeth bared as it rumbles, but making no other move to attack.

Cautiously she reaches out with the Force, and is startled when the monster pushes back.  A tug on her force presence, and she can see flickering images of a monsterois beast, covered in glittering armor and radiating pure dark.  One living in exactly the dirrection she was headed.

Knol blinks, reaching out to the beast before her again, studying it even as it prods her in return.  There's a force bond there, recently torn, and running mental fingers over it gives her flashes of fire, a cub's death scream and glittering black droids.  The droids, while not radiating the force, had the same disquieting feeling in the beast's imoressions as the glittering armor of the dark mountain she'd been heading for.  Prodding that thought with a question gets her a huff and a series of impressions of a parasitic beetle, to be killed as soon as they were discovered near the den lest they multiply and take over, devouring tree and animal alike.

Knol grimmaces at the dark side radiating from the insects in the monster's memories.  Reaching out to her surroundings she finds she can sense them now, slowly overwhelming the monster she had been heading towards.  A Zakkeg, from what she had researched, but one slowly being devoured from the outside in, and as such wearing an impenetrable hide not even lightsabers could cut through.  And she'd thought the records of Orbalisks were creepy before she bumped into them.  An Orbalisks encased Zakkeg, definitely something to avoid.

Warning successfully delivered, the monster cloaks again, but this time Knol finds she can sense just a sliver of its presence, make out just a hint of its outline.  Prodding at it with the force reveals nothing more, but it occasionally prods her back.  There's an echo in it's attention of a curious cub, always prodding it for answers, and Knol finds herself carefully separating the monster's desire to handle-the-threat, kill-droids from her own.

No longer tracing the Orbalisk's darkside presence, Knol finds she still has some idea of where to go.  There are two smaller darkside presences not much further on.  Ones she had previously dismissed due to the strength and proximity of the Obalisk infected Zakkeg.  Both are smoother, less piercing of a call,  and at the same time more disguised, distinct from the scattered Orbalisks she can sense now that she knows what to look for.

But to get to them she'll need to pass through a bog teeming with the parasitic beetles.  Knol frowns, studying the scattered pillbug shells arrayed before her, not wanting to risk the water, seeing them scuttle through it at concerning speed.  But the Bloodsaps ahead of her have hints of darkness sheltered in their withering leaves, Orbalisks happy to drain the plants trying to drain them in turn.

The Sweetsap beneath her feet is unaffected, though, dead beetles littering the ground below, clearly incompatible with its acidic sap.  And an impatient tug on her force presence means her stalker would much rather her take the long way around, sticking to safe trees, rather than contemplating racing with death.

Knol chuckles under her breath at the admonishment, surprisingly similar to the complaints of her fellow Jedi on the rare occasions she had to work together.

Following the Sweetsap around the clearing leads them through a lighter patch, trees swaying ahead of her as her stalker moves invisibly from tree to tree.  Then Knol turns away from the prescribed path, forcing her watcher to shift into following again, the waters below grew more and more deadly as dormant Orbalisks sense her force presence and beging waking in a sea of dark stars around her.  All very interested in sinking their teeth into that beconing life.  But the trail of Sweetsaps continue, happily devouring the insects that devour everything else, allowing so Knol and her stalker to make it to the far side of the bog without incident.

The trees are thinner here, interrupted by unforgiving rock and intense winds.  Ahead of them is both the towering Sith Mausoleum Knol has been searching for, and the Sith Apprentice that has been searching for it.

The Zabrak clearly senses her, head jerking towards her as he struggles against his own limbs.  On the com by his head Dooku follows the movement, eyes widening slightly as he spots her.  Then he tilts his head in greeting.

"Master Ven'nari. It would appear the rumors of your untimely death were greatly exaggerated."

"Not everyone loves the spotlight as much as you do, Count." Knol rolls her eyes, just to see the proper bastard's eyebrow twitch.  Her cover's truly blown now, might as well make the most of it.

Dooku scoffs at her grin, "I suppose some are happy to settle for obscurity."  Then he frowns.  "I suppose I must consider that the others on your mission might have survived as well."

Knol shrugs dismissively. "Wouldn't know, I wasn't there to make friends, Count.  Saw my chance to sneak away - while still buying those reckless bastards a little time to complete the mission - so I took it."

"And no doubt stripped whatever information you could find on the base's computers for your home planet's paltry spy network.  Perhaps the Separatist cause would be better served taking your people down before any more damage can come of it."

"Shouldn't you be more worried about your own people?" Knol asks, giving the Zabrak on the ground a pointed glance. "Sunshiny Stripes isn't looking so good there."

Dooku scoffs, "I have no intention to bargain for the life of a mere apprentice. Under normal circumstances were he unable to defeat you and return to me he would be unworthy of my continued tutelage.  However, he recently fell afoul of the native Orbalisks insects. Once attached any means of killing the insect in question releases a fatal dose of an incurable toxin into the host's bloodstream."  Dooku sighs, shaking his head at the broken insectoid remains laying beside the still struggling Zabrak. "He'll be dead within the hour.  A pity, I had great hopes he would prove more obedient than my previous padawan."

"Whoever let you be a teacher clearly never saw you with kids," Knol muses acidly.  "They always end up dying in some horrible way."

Dooku's eyes flash. "You would do well to watch your mouth, Jedi."

But Knol isn't paying attention to him anymore.  Instead entire attention is locked onto the rapidly approaching shadow of a Drexl.

"Know what? Call you back sometime," the bothan quips, using the Force to snap the holo-disk into the drexl's eyes and sending it careening into the trees at the clearing's edge, only a short ways beyond the Sith's ship.

Before she can finish snatching up her lightsaber there's a snarl and the stalker lunges past.  Still cloaked, she can only spot it as it smashes into the Draxl's side, knocking the oversized I sect back to the ground as it tries to stand.  

There's a split second where Knol's only impulse is to run, just leave the Sith to die and the monsters to fight it out.  She's dismissing it before it even finishes forming, however.  Not like she'd be a very good Jedi if she couldn't be a better person than Dooku.

Her lightsaber's heavy in her hand, but the stalker is winning without her hekp, and beside her the Zabrak is still struggling to rise in spite of Dooku's words to the contrary, the force singing his frustration and pain.  Fear too, but buried by something like resignation even as he keeps fighting for breath.

Knol pulls him off the ground, with the help of a force pull, and all but throws the taller sentient over her shoulders to keep him upright.  The pain radiating off him intensifies, but there's a surge of startled gratitude as well, so she figures it's fine.

"Come on, big guy, let's get you somewhere a little safer."

Which, really, can only mean the ship.  She'll have to put searching the temple on hold for now.  But seeing as she's leaving with a Sith in custody Knol's pretty sure she has time for a detour.

The Drexl is wailing now, bleeding from several gouges and only able to track the smaller monster when it lands a blow.  A part of Knol's still tempted to step in, help the monster that's been following her this whole time.  But she knows this is the only chance she'll have to get the Sith to safety, and that makes sealing the loading ramp shut easier..

It's clearly one of Dooku's personal crafts, with real wood paneling and fancy upholstery on the pilot seat.  Knol tosses the injured apprentice onto the fancy bed and doesn't regret the bloodstains for a moment.

"Stay calm and stay put," she orders when he seems ready to start struggling again. "Try to keep the poison from spreading any faster while I get us out of here."

Then she activates the anti-turbulence field on the bed and sprints over to the ship controls.  Only, there's no armaments she can find, only a handful of micro tractor/repulsor beam generators along the nosecone.  An unarmed ship? For a mission to Dxun? Really?

At least the tractor beam generators meant the nosecones were reinforced.  Firing up the engine Knol takes a moment to reach out into the Force where her stalker should be and project her intent.  Then she lifts off just far enough to spin the ship and ram the Drexl in the side.  

Fed up with this assault the airborne predator turns and throws itself airborne, limping away and skyward as it retreats into the sunset.  There's a rush of satisfaction from below, at overcoming the predator and protecting the cubs.  And for a moment Knol can almost place the stalker's outline through the viewport.

Then the trees sway and it's gone.

Probably off to hunt some Cannoks in the post-battle high, she figures.  She wishes her monster quick success, turns the ship skyward, and lifts off.

Once safely out of the shared Onderon/Dxun atmosphere Knol weighs her options.  There's no telling how much of the ship is bugged, or even how Dooku is tracking it.  Any hyperspace coordinates she types in might well have an armada waiting for them when they arrive, but it can't be helped.  Not like she can trade favors for a half-priced cabin on a spacer's ship with a near-dead Zabrak slung over her shoulder.

Medical attention has to come first, though.  So she leaves the ship orbiting Dxun and wanders back into the cabin.  The Zabrak isn't responding anymore, his force presence staying pained and unconscious when she tries poking at his mind to make sure.

There's some just-as-likely-to-kill-you-as-help antitoxin in the fold-out medical suite.  And one of those expensive nutrition replacers for rich folks who don't want to worry about what they're eating.  Knol reads the instructions on the side, then shrugs and gives him the maximum 2 doses.  If he's lucky the degradable nanites will rewrite some of the toxin into nutrients before dissipating, and if not they'll at least clean up some of the cell-damage byproducts.  By the time she needs to worry about if the nanites are really biodegradable he should either be dead or recovering.

Beyond that she needs to find the injury and see if there's anything left she can drain before it gets into the bloodstream.  Easier than she expected to find, too, from the spreading black spot on the duvet below Sunshine's shoulder.  Rolling him onto his side for a better look she finds torn armor and flesh, including a bite wound and a separate injection wound wound.  Fortunately neither the mandibles nor the stinger were left in the injuries, so hopefully the poison sack was removed when the beetle was ripped out.  Plus she doesn't have to dig them out with her bootknife, win-win.

But other than that it looks like there isn't much left for her to do.  The bite has stopped bleeding, being mostly torn flesh, and the stinger wound has shifted from black ichor to red blood.  Knol doesn't actually know if black striped Zabrak bleed some other color but red is standard for Zabrak that she's aware of.

There's a blood bag in the medical cabinet, but it's labeled human male, and Knol doesn't know enough to feel like risking it yet.  Still, the bleeding could kill her guest even if the poison doesn't.   So she wipes down the shoulder as best she can then pads it with bacta and gause before securing the arm to the Sith's chest and immobilizeing the shoulder.

As an afterthought she shifts the Sith up off the soiled duvet, stripping it off the bed before arranging him more comfortably on the sheets below.  Next she decides to strip the armor, piling it in a corner of the droid recharging station along with anything else in the cabin she wanted out of the Sith's reach.

He doesn't appear to have a lightsaber, or any weapon at all really.  Knol wonders idly if she left it behind in Dxun or if he'd lost it somewhere before she arrived.  Not like she was going to go looking for it either way, as long as it's not in some secret compartment on the ship where he can grab it and try a sneak attack.

Right after he wakes up from being near-fatally poisoned feeling like he likes his odds.

Knol finishes up by tossing the spare duvet in the closet over her guest, then heads back towards the cockpit. Sitting back in the padded pilot's chair Knol revisits the question of where to go.  The ship is almost certainly traceable, a locator beacon at minimum.  As Sith Dooku likely trusts his apprentice about as far he can throw him, and then only because using the force proves he can still overcome the younger man.

So she can't risk taking the ship to any op-fronts, not to mention the complications the Sith himself brings up.  Sunshine needs medical attention, the sooner the better.  But there's a chance he might also kill everyone involved in helping him when he wakes up, if Dooku doesn't show up to massacre them first.

Knol wants him to live in spite of Dooku's predictions.  Wants to snatch him out from under the former Jedi's nose and rub it in that he survived after Dooku decided to abandon him.  But she wasn't willing to risk a hundred lives or more to saving a single enemy.

So, no op-fronts.  Or any of the safehouses.  And no medical stations or facilities in major cities.

With a sigh she selects Manaan, hoping one of the floating spaceports will have an offworlder medical facility.  Then if the Sith tries anything he can just drown.

The glow of the universe streaming by mocks her.  It will be hours before they arrive. The Zabrak might well be dead before they even land.  And if Dooku follows them to Manaan she'll be putting the entire planet at risk just by being there.

The jungle was simple compared to this, at least there the worst that could happen was an agonizing death.  Not the destruction of millions by a petty warlord seeking retribution on a single Jedi.  She faked her death for a reason, and now that anonymity was all down the drain.

Reaching out she gingerly tapped the ball of agony that was Sunshine's force presence.  Still unconscious but he was alive, and still breathing.  A faded impression of a stalker cub, screaming in pain as it dies to flamethrower droids, refuses to leave her mind.

Knol sighes and moves to the loading chamber to work through some katas.  She needs to get her thoughts back under control before the Sith wakes up.

- - - - - - - - - -

They're a little over halfway to Manaan when a flash of terror stabs through the ship.  Anger follows it, bordering on fury, and a bitter sense of confusion.

Rolling her eyes the Bothan lowers her saber and heads for the cabin, wanting to cut that train of thought off before any revenge plots can get off the ground.  But when she steps inside the anger fades slightly, Sunshine blinking up at her as though he expected someone else.

Probably Dooku, actually, what with this being his ship and all.

Knol stalks up beside the bed with a teeth-baring stage smile.  "Nope, no self importance Counts here.  You remember who I am, Sunshine?"

The Zabrak's brow wrinkles as he squints at her.  Then he manages a jerky nod.

"You're the Jedi," He decides.  "The one on Dxun.  Where…?"

"On the way to Manaan to find you a medical facility.  You remember getting poisoned?"

A grunt, then the Sith nods again.  "Yes.  The Orbalisks.  The temple was empty and overrun.  I managed to avoid all but one, yet that was enough." He meets her gaze steadily. "You should have left me to die."

"What?" Knol demands, fur ruffling at the thought. "Because you would have, or something?" There's no self-recrimination in the injured Sith, no hatred that would mean he would rather have died than be rescued by her, just a smooth sort of certainty.

"I am your enemy," he replies. "I killed Jedi on Devaron on Dooku's orders.  Preserving an enemy life will only cause more death."

"And you're a good apprentice who always follows orders," Knol rolls her eyes at the thought.

"Yes," the Sith agrees, the honesty in the force starting her.  "The Nightsisters did not wish for me to question once they empowered me."

Knol's eyes narrow in the silence that follows, not liking the implications.  The Sith seems to sense her discomfort, regarding her unblinkingly through glowing yellow eyes.

"And if the Nightsisters ordered you to betray Dooku?" Knol asks, her ears curling back.

"I would obey," the Sith replies.  A hesitation, then he continues, "When she ordered me to kill my little brother I obeyed."

Well, shit.

There's a hollow in the force at that admittance.  And echo where there should be an emotion but nothing comes of it.  It's terrifying, unnatural, and Knol would bet that Sunshine knows it as well.

She reaches towards him on impulse, hesitates, then rests a hand on his uninjured shoulder.

"I know some people who might be able to help with that." She tells him firmly.  "Let's get you to Manaan, then I'll see what I can do to track them down."

There's gratitude at that, and a faint, fragile hope.  But the Sith still meets her eyes squarely.

"Should Dooku wish to take me back I will go with him."

And, scrap.  That means there's something bigger going on, some plan of the Nightsisters' involving a pawn bound to Dooku's service.  Knol is suddenly grateful the Zabrak's communicator never made it off Dxun.  As it is she's going to have to deconstruct the holotable in the lounge in case, no point making the Count's job any easier.

But she gives the kid her most unbothered stage-smile and a pat on the shoulder.  "We'll be on our way before he can catch up to us, no worries.  I'll handle the details, so you just focus on staying alive until we get to Manaan.  Maybe get some rest."

A nod, then Sunshine's eyes slide shut as he passes out.  Knol can already tell the stubbornness on this one is going to be intense.

She leaves him to his beauty sleep and wanders back to the loading bay.  There she sinks to her knees, gingerly rubbing her temples as she carefully raises her shields again.  Keeping herself wide open for so long was giving her a headache, but she needed to know what the force was sensing from him.  And she'd gotten everything she could have wished for and more.

What a mess.

Knol shifts back to lean against the bulkhead, closing her eyes and relaxing into the Force.

She'd need to reach out to the others for help.  Not that they'd kept in touch since Queyta.  She'd only even heard of Fay or Antilles before the mission, and only worked with Diath once.

Or, well, twice if that surprise cantina brawl counted, though it had been his attempted infiltration gone wrong and she'd only been there for a drink.

They'd talked when they met up, though.  Had to convince the cryptids to wait long enough for the temple brat the Council decided to send when Diath put in the mission request.

But they'd realized, after they finally had the mission details out of the way, that they agreed on the fundamentals.  On things the Temple seemed to have forgotten, or simply started taking for granted.  And that this mission might give them a chance to slip the noose that the Senate was slowly closing around their necks.

She hadn't lied when she told Dooku she didn't know if the others had survived.  There'd been a plan, Diath helped her death scene along, then left her there to do his part.  Knol had been the first, and when she woke up she set out to sink the fortress and make her escape.  She didn't look for the others and they didn't look for her.  For all she knows they died when the factory went down, but somehow she doubts it.

And now Knol hopes she's right because Sunshine could really use their help.

Nightsister magic, from a force cult on Dathomir she'd only read vage rumors about in the same restricted records that described Dxun.  Something that could warp and control the mind and will to such an extent…  

Master Diath might have read more of the relevant passages, obscure archives research being a hobby of his.  And he may be able to tease apart the mind altering aspects even if he hasn't studied anything like it before.  Little Tae would know where he was, if she's willing to risk the telepath around Sunshine's broken mind.  In the best case scenario he might even be able to help with the Zabrak's recovery somehow.

Fay would be better, but on a level where Knol isn't even entirely certain what she would do.  The ancient Jedi could reach in and rearrange the Zabrak's mind with no trouble at all, but what she would leave behind when she was done...?

And Knol hasn't the slightest clue where she'd even find the older Jedi, constantly wandering the furthest eddies of the Force in a way the Bothan's not sure anyone else will ever really understand.

So… leaving elder cryptid as an emergency backup plan, that makes finding Diath plan A.  And who knows, if they really need her she's sure Fay will just show up.

So, Manaan, ditch the ship, find another ride, then go grab Tae.  Kid knew enough to back out of the way during the barfight, then offered to hold her drink, even with Nico presumed dead he's probably doing alright.  He didn't even drink it, just gave it back once they were done.  No matter how bad Sunshine seems to her Tae'll probably be able to handle it.  And if he can't they'll just leave.

Course decided, Knol let herself slip fully into meditation, slowly bleeding her headache away as the stars race by.

[tehlaen]

...The Next of Us To Go (Pt. 2 of 3)

[tl;dr: Teh’laen, age 22, deals with loss of friends and loved ones as a reality of life as a mercenary. Part one is here and here’s part three.]

“They’re late.”

Teh mumbled the words into the mike. It was wholly unnecessary to keep her voice down, but it was hard to shake habits instilled growing up as a thief on the Smuggler’s Moon. She relaxed her grip on the high-powered macrobinoculars and rubbed her eyes. Without the inertia of acceleration or the small fighter’s artificial gravity, the device hung in space and started a lazy tumble along its axis. Her breath plumed in the cold of the cockpit and Teh’laen was glad she’d thought to slip a thermal wrap around her lekku.

The big asteroid on the very edge of the system’s debris field was highly magnetic and  stable, with a steady rotation that allowed her an unimpeded line of sight and provided an excellent vantage to observe the—supposed—arrival point of the 533rd Strike Wing.

To avoid giving away her position—and thus spoiling the ambush—Teh’laen had shut down all but the barest of essential systems on her Nova Dive fighter. Her cockpit had enough breathable air to last her a few more hours. With the environmental controls turned down to just above freezing, she wasn’t comfortable, but her insulated flightsuit kept her warm. 

With a minimal heat signature, practically zero emissions, and a state-of-the-art electronic countermeasures suite, her starship was practically indistinguishable from the highly-metallic rocks floating all around.

The need for secrecy ruled out using her ship’s sensors. Aside from the power signature, active scans would give her away instantly, and even passive sweeps could tip off the Imps. So here she sat—floated—waiting for their targets, keeping watch with nothing but macrobinoculars and her two eyes.

“They’re late,” she repeated, for the sixth time since the deadline expired.

“That’s inconsiderate of them.” Nay’s voice came back a couple of seconds later; even as staticky as the transmission was, the dry snark came through clear as day. “Two points here: We’re at T-plus twenty-three minutes. That hardly even counts as late.”

Teh’laen rolled her eyes, snagged the tilting macrobinocs and brought them to her eyes again. “What’s the other point?”

“Are you really gonna teach a seminar on punctuality?”

Teh could practically hear the Bothan’s grin, and she found herself mirroring it in response. “Shut up,” she shot back goodnaturedly.

Teh’laen winced as a sharp burst of static cut into the channel. Comm signals were something else that could give away her position, so instead of broadbeam transmissions, she was reporting back to the rest of the Stormriders via a line-of-sight relay. The relay wasn’t much more than a sphere the width of her shoulders, housing a drastically down-powered version of her ship’s laser cannons and tethered to her fighter like a kite. Because it was line of sight, it was functionally impossible for anyone else to detect or intercept the transmission without physically interposing themselves between Teh’laen’s ship and Nalo’s.

An unfortunate side effect, though, was that cosmic debris—dust, micrometeorites and so on—could disrupt the link, and an asteroid field by definition consisted solely of debris.

Essix squashed the static before it could leave her ears ringing, and she switched the ship’s internal link to mutter her thanks. She switched back to the relay and, after a long pause, asked, “Hey, Nay?”

He took a moment to respond, and Teh briefly wondered if the signal was delayed or if her lover and leader of her flight was going to scold her for not using proper comm protocol on a private channel while on a mission.

If he was irritated, he swallowed it. “Yes?”

Teh scanned the swath of space where the ships of the Imperial Navy’s 533rd Strike Wing were scheduled to have appeared twenty-three minutes—twenty-four now—ago. “Where does this intel come from?”

“No idea. So long as it’s good, I don’t really care either.”

The corners of the Twi’lek’s lips turned down in a scowl. “Well, that’s stupid of you.”

“I don’t—”

Teh ran him over. “If, despite appearances, this information turns out to be reliable… This is some high-level stuff, Nay. Secret bases, a rendezvous in an uninhabited system, an Imp squadron’s operational details? The kriffing coordinates where they’ll drop out of lightspeed, for fuck’s sake? You don’t get that from some pirate bragging to a joy-boy at Vethal’s place or eavesdropping on the spacers at the other end of the bar.”

Lieutenant Brosh didn’t say anything for a long moment. Was he running the numbers, seeing how it all added up—or didn’t add up, as the case may be?

Or could it be that he was making an effort not to do the math? Did he know something, something he was intentionally keeping from her?

“The captain hasn’t told me,” he finally replied, “and I don’t know if I’ll be asking anytime soon.”

The flesh around the Lethan Twi’lek’s eyes tightened. Before she could presses, the green border framing the macrobinoculars’ field of view flashed gold. Once, twice…

One Imperial fighter appeared in-system, then another. The gold frame flashed another twenty-two times, confirming her own mental tally.

“Contact.”  Teh kept her voice level, but she felt the cold spike of adrenaline flush through her bloodstream. “I count twenty-four Imperial fighters.” She read off the coordinates and heading, then added, only somewhat grudgingly, “…just like our intel said.”

“Copy, Lightning Three.” Brosh’s voice was suddenly cool and professional, but their intimate familiarity made the nervous tightness in his inflection plainly evident. “As soon as the enemy’s engaged, I want you to loop back around to our withdrawal corridor and rejoin the squadron.”

Purple eyes blinked in disbelief. “Say again, Lightning One.”

“You heard me, Three.”

“That makes no sense, Lead! They’re gonna fly right past me. I’ll have a clear shot at their backs!”

“Negative, Three,” Brosh shot back sharply. “You have your orders.”

Muscles bunched at the Twi’lek’s jaw and she gritted her teeth. “If they’re good—and by all reports, they are—they’re gonna lay down mines and drones to keep their escape route open. I power up, hit ‘em from the rear, and close off their retreat.”

“Dammit, Three, I said no. You’ll be alone and surrounded by enemy fighters. It’s too dangerous.”

Her purple eyes narrowed and her lips peeled back off clenched, sharply-pointed teeth. “That’s the job. Would you be giving that order if it wasn’t me, Nay?”

“That is an excellent question,” Captain Kranik cut in on the channel, “and one we’re going to discuss at great length. But that’s a conversation for later.”

Teh winced and swore under her breath. The relay she and Nay were using was hyperdirectional and point-to-point, sure. But in hindsight, it made perfect sense for the leader of the Stormriders’ scout flight to loop in the squadron leader via a short-range, tight-beam link.

“Aye, Captain,” Teh’laen answered, and Nalo added, “Copy, Tempest One,” a half-second later.

“Lightning Three?” Nalo ground out through gritted teeth, smoldering anger in the words.

“Three here.”

“We’ll do it your way. Once the enemy’s in the kill-box, power up and cut off their escape.”

She wasn’t sure she managed it, but Teh’laen at least made an effort to keep any triumph out of her voice. Even if she’d felt like gloating, the promised—threatened, more like—dressing-down from Selka put a damper on her mood.

And besides. I’ve got a job to do.

“Roger that, Lightning One. Lightning Three, over and out.”

Essix toodled at her over the ship’s intercom. She snorted and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, he does sound pissed, doesn’t he?” Teh snagged the binocs and stowed them, then began mentally running through a final check. “Don’t have time to worry about it now,” she mumbled. Gloved fingers tightened safety straps, then gave un-powered switches and the control stick experimental wiggles.

Last thing I need’s a frozen control panel, she thought to herself. Aloud, she said, “Reel in the relay if you can; otherwise cut it loose. Then prep for a hot-boot.”

The astromech warbled disapprovingly and she rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know it’s rough on the reactor and the capacitor. But I need engines, weapons and shields, in that order, and I need ‘em fast. We don’t have time to follow every step in the operator’s manual for a proper boot sequence. I know what I’m doing.”

Essix’s bleated, derisive reply didn’t merit a response, but Teh still found herself muttering under her breath, “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Gloved fingertips rested lightly—but no less anxiously on the switches that would bring her Nova Dive scout craft’s reactor to life. Without the magnification from the macrobinocs, the Imp fighters were hard to pick out, but the bright flares from their engines were easy enough to track. Even as battle-weary as they doubtlessly had to be, the Imperial pilots kept alert. Their scouts formed a vanguard as they made their way into the asteroid field, with the squadron’s strike fighters and bombers keeping formation in their wake.

The enemy craft passed within a hundred kilometers of Teh’s powered-down ship—spitting distance, in interstellar terms. If any of them spotted her, she’d be vaporized before she could even fire up her engines.

It was terrifying and exhilarating.

Teh’laen held her breath as the rear guard—a pair of bombers, one missing a wing and the other running on only two of its four engines—entered the asteroid field and she lost sight of them.

Not yet…

Teh craned her neck, peering this way and that, straining to see among the floating rocks toward where the rest of her squadron lay in wait.

A bright flash illuminated the asteroids all around, as if a new star had just flared to life in the center of the kill-box the Stormriders had established.

“Now!” Teh’s fingers jabbed at her control board and muscle memory took over.

The magnetic clamps securing her to the asteroid deactivated. The Nova Dive began to drift lazily away. Her control boards flickered to life and presented her with nothing but a sea of angry red warning lights. In the seat of her pants, though, transmitted through the spaceframe and the pilot’s chair, she felt the vibration as the reactor began the first phase of its ignition sequence.

Come on, come on, she thought, eyes fixed on the power readout for her engines. Red faded to yellow, then a flashing green as Essix directed all available power to the engines. The reactor, in its first stage, was only running about about twenty percent capacity, but it was enough to get her moving.

She nudged the stick and the maneuvering thrusters pointed the nose of her ship into open space. Teh’laen’s lips peeled off her teeth in a wild grin and her amethyst eyes gleamed in anticipation.

Her fingers closed around the throttle. She took a deep breath, then threw the throttle to the firewall.

The sudden acceleration threwher back into the cushioned command chair and her breath exploded from her lungs. The mouthful of pointed teeth gave her wild grin a distinctly feral edge. Grey tendrils writhed at the edges of her vision as the underpowered inertial dampeners struggled to compensate for the brutal G-forces.

The Twi’lek sucked in air, then let out a joyous whoop. She jerked the control stick and arced the fighter out in a wide loop, barreling into the asteroid field along the same course set by the Imperial ships. Dead ahead she spotted the two trailing bombers. She’d caught them in the process—just as she’d suspected—of laying down missile drones and seeker mines to cover the Imp retreat. Engines flared as the two enemy ships spotted her bearing down on them at full speed.

Even in peak condition, the bombers handled like drunken banthas compared to her nimble scout craft. They struggled to come about so they could bring weapons to bear. Graceful, they weren’t, but each of the two carried enough ordnance to reduce Teh’laen, Essix, and her ship to a rapidly expanding cloud of their component atoms.

And Teh’s ship didn’t even have its shields up.

“Essix, I need weapons!”

The flashing-gold light showing weapon charge for her laser cannons pulsed twice and burned a steady green. The crosshairs for her primary weapons blazed to life on her HUD, bracketed a second and half later by the reticle for her missiles. The button for the EM pulse projector strobed blue.

“Good boy!” she crowed. Hardly waiting for a target lock, Teh dropped the reticle for her ion missiles on the bomber—tagged Aurek by her sensors—and stroked the trigger. The projectile streaked to its target. It exploded in a miniature blue nova and took Aurek’s shields with it.

Blazing bolts from her cannons followed  the missile, chewing through already-weakened armor. One bolt found the bomber’s magazine and touched off the munitions. The black void of space turned to the brightness of the noonday sun and when the flash subsided, the enemy ship was gone.

Alarms screamed at her: Mines and missile drones were targeting her from point-blank range. She slapped the flashing blue button on her console. The lights on her control panels dimmed briefly, the alarms went silent and she grinned to herself. The EM pulse had fried the nearby automated defenses. Teh’laen snapped her crosshairs from one shorted-out mine or missile launcher to the next, grinning fiercely as she cleaned them up, one by one.

Oh, sithspit.

The other of the two bombers—Besh—charged directly at her. Heavy cannons spat hard light at her and she whipped her fighter into a tight roll. Besh’s lasers filled the space around her with hellish bolts.

All it takes is one until I’ve got shields.

As if drawn magnetically by the thought, a pair of laser blasts blazed toward her. Time slowed to a crawl. She could tell, instinctively, that they’d converge on her cockpit.

Oh, well.

Her eyes didn’t even have time to close���so she was still watching as the two bolts splashed harmlessly over her deflector shields.

“Yes!” she whooped. The two craft slashed past each other with barely ten meters between them. Teh kicked her fighter around in an almost impossibly tight turn that the heavy bomber couldn’t even come close to matching.

Cannons blazed. Laser bolts burned through shields, armor and spaceframe. The Imperial ship came apart in flight; the biggest chunks didn’t even make a dent in the asteroid they plowed into.

With the trap sprung, battle joined, and secrecy abandoned, Teh flicked her comm on.

“Lightning Three here,” she cut in on her flight’s channel. “Their escape route’s been cut off.”

“Nice work, Three.” Nalo’s voice was strained—not surprising in combat. “We left some for you.”

She smirked and cranked her sensors to their max range. The readout marked the closest six enemy contacts and she brought her fighter around to intercept. “That was nice of you.”

It didn’t last long. Teh swept her eyes over her sensors. More than half of the Imps were destroyed; the rest were being routed. She didn’t particularly like the idea of shooting up fleeing pilots, so she looked for enemy fighters still engaged. Her eyes narrowed—

“Help!”

Nay’s squawking call cut through Lightning Flight’s comm channel. Teh whipped her head around, searching frantically—then swore vehemently.

The enemy pilot, whoever they were, was good. The Imp scout clung to the tail of Nay’s Flashfire stubbornly, green lasers chewing away inexorably at the Bothan’s shields. Nay juked and spun and rolled; he might as well have tried to shake his own shadow.

He’s panicking, Teh realized. The Imp, though, knew exactly what they were doing. Lightning One’s pursuer had separated him from the rest of the squadron and was herding him toward the edge of the asteroid field. Ducking around the asteroids kept the Imp from getting a solid missile lock on Nay’s ship.

But once he’s out in the open…

“Nay!” she called urgently. “I’m coming! But you've got to turn around! Do a 180 and bring ‘em back toward me!”

If Nay had heard her, he gave no indication.

Teh’laen swore and shunted all power from shields to engines. The Nova Dive leapt forward to close the distance.

Ahead of her, Nalo’s fighter broke out of the protective shelter of the debris field. Her eyes flicked to the numbers counting down the distance between her and the Imp.

Almost in range, come on, come on…!

“Nay, turn ba—!”

Her missile reticle flashed red. Teh’laen and the Imperial pilot loosed their missiles at precisely the same moment.

The Imp’s proton torpedo streaked at Nalo’s fighter from less than a kilometer away. Barely a second passed between exiting the missile tube and entering the exhaust port of Nalo Brosh’s starboard engine. The explosive detonated an instant later and the fighter’s reactor went critical.

The flash momentarily blinded Teh’laen, and when her vision cleared, Nalo Brosh was simply gone.

Teh’laen clamped her throat around her reaction. She swallowed and it dropped into the pit of her stomach like a lead weight.

Her amethyst eyes followed her own missile as it streaked toward the Imperial fighter. The enemy pilot’s frantic juking and turning and rolling didn’t deter the ion missile in the slightest. It exploded in a cerulean burst. The Imperial fighter’s power systems—already pushed to their very limits—simply collapsed as the ion wave washed over the starship. Its engines went dark and Teh watched, numb, as inertia kept it moving along its ballistic trajectory.

Normally, Teh’laen wouldn’t even consider shooting a crippled, defenseless enemy.

Today, she didn’t even pause to consider.

Her thumbs stabbed the triggers for her laser cannons.

“Nay, baby,” she murmured softly as she wheeled her ship back toward the rest of the squadron, “at least you’ll have company.”

[generalgraceless]

Rebellion and Post-Empire Canon

I’m not sure how much of this I’ve stated explicitly over here and how much has been in vague headcanon or on my personal, so the briefest of bulletpoint run downs of my headcanons. Some of which are of course open to negotiation for specific threads or playing with specific characters:

Imperial Era:

Etain survives Order 66, which plays out rather differently than in canon, and spends a long time in recovery for her physical and emotional wounds.

~18 BBY, Etain takes orphaned Jedi Padawan Tallisibeth “Scout” Enwandung-Esterhazy as a Padawan. Etain begins working with the Altisians to resettle Force-sensitive children and to bring the cure to men formerly under her command.

~17 BBY Darman and Etain adopt Scout as their daughter. 

She and Darman abandon Kyrimorut for a safehouse in a Mandalorian district of Nar Shaddaa shortly after the destruction of the clone anti-aging cure and Mereel’s presumed death in ~17-16 BBY. 

Etain gets roped into the earliest Rebellion movements after initially finding herself in conflict with Sith Inquisitors in 16 BBY.

When Mereel reappears (~16-15 BBY), he shows up at Etain’s safehouse (as she and Dar had originally inherited it from him) and with his return, the clan starts pulling together again.

~15 BBY, Etain follows a Sith Inquisitor’s trail to the Eye of Palpatine where, working in tangent with a Fallanasi, Tisiphone, she rescues the spirit Callista Masana from the depths of the AI core. Callista ends up inhabiting Tisiphone’s body and spends the next year under Etain’s protection as she recovers.

~ 15 BBY Etain and Darman begin working more closely with a Rebellion cell operating along the Bothan Run and expanding during this time into the three principle Huttese hyperspace routes. During this time, Etain begins wearing her black Rebellion armor and more frequently using the aliases Riye Naast and Etta Ardellian.

13 BBY After an overly relaxed vacation to Gatalenta, Etain ends up pregnant and temporarily retreats from her Rebellion work 6 months later.

12 BBY, Etain’s youngest child, a daughter named Koa, is born.

~10 BBY, Etain returns to work as a freelance tracker, intelligence asset, and special forces operative working with the Rebellion. Within the next 3-4 years, she is slowly drawn into the free-standing unit of Captain Izrin Riltka, operating independently or in pairs, and only loosely inside official Rebellion channels. She continues hunting Inquisitors first and foremost.

~7 BBY, Etain is stretched thin, still operating mostly outside official commands, now working to help develop a Mandalorian resistance network that provides resources to those undermining the Imperial occupation, tracking down dangerous Imperial agents, and moving refugees through a chain of resettlement and protection efforts stretching across Hutt space and through the Llanic Run

~ 0 BBY, Etain and Darman’s granddaughter, Etta Tenau, is born to their (rather young) son Kad. The baby is Force-sensitive. Etain is only 38.

Post Empire:

Etain spends several years in the clean up effort mopping up  the Imperial remnant, goes for a time to help rebuild on Mandalore, but ultimately returns to Nar Shaddaa.

She and Darman spend a few years in semi-retirement, splitting their time between their homes on Nar Shaddaa and Gatalenta with their youngest daughter and their very young granddaughter.

Said daughter, Koa, ends up attending an aruetii university and earning dual degrees in music and science. 

Etain’s son Kad ends up meeting and marrying a Concordian man named Sivvar. He is eventually drawn into politics by his best friend and the mother of his child, Jateka Tenau, while his husband prefers a quieter life as husband/father/artist. The two split time between Manda’yaim and Nar Shaddaa.

Koa migrates to a peripheral Mandalorian, works her way into political leadership, and eventually becomes the colony’s leader, a noteable Mandalorian reformist, and an ally of Mand’alor Sabine Wren.

Etain takes time to reconnect both with her Jedi roots, training with what remains of the Altisian faction alongside Callista Masana, and her adopted Mandalorian heritage. She and Darman pay respects to the New Mandalorian, and make a tour of Mandalorian systems and colonies. Ultimately they find their own district on Nar Shaddaa suits them best.

In ~ 30 BBY, Etain accepts work from a Rebel-turned-New-Republic-Official as a favor to an old friend. Gradually, she and her family piece together their independent sources of intelligence to realize the First Order

~ 26 BBY, Etain is drawn by old allegiances into an “outside contractor” role for the Resistance at the age of 66

30 BBY Etain is officially drawn in as Special Operations staff for the Resistance on the strength of her Rebellion credentials, although her familial/political allegiances and status as an active Jedi remain a half-secret.

[patmosboy]

Paploo: was a male Ewok of the Bright Tree tribe on the forest moon of Endor. During the Battle of Endor, Paploo aided the Rebel strike team that was led by Han Solo in destroying the generator powering the Death Star II's deflector shield. Prune Face: Orrimaarko was the Dressellian governor of Sreeharlo and eventually a resistance fighter and key figure in the liberation of his homeworld, Dressel. He was xenophobic, particularly toward Humans, and when the Empire subjugated Dressel around 10 BBY, he and his fellows took up arms and fought back, becoming masters of guerrilla tactics. Aided by their allies, the more technologically sophisticated Bothans, who provided them with advanced weaponry and mercenary training, a Dressellian rebellion was formed with Orrimaarko at its helm, effectively fending off the Empire. They became embroiled in a war lasting over a decade, which mostly occurred at small engagements in the planet's dense forests. AT-ST Driver: also called AT-ST pilots, were Imperial Army combat drivers specialized in operating the All Terrain Scout Transport. Rancor Keeper: Malakili was a human male from the planet Corellia who spent much of his childhood living in the slums of the moon Nar Shaddaa. Having an affinity for animals, Malakili was hired as a beastmaster for Hutt circuses, but he was sold into slavery after a creature got loose and killed audience members. Purchased by Jabba the Hutt, Malakili served as a caretaker to the creatures in Jabba's Palace on the desert planet Tatooine. During that time, Malakili became fond of Jabba's rancor, Pateesa, and the creature saved his life during a Tusken Raider attack. Sympathizing with Pateesa, Malakili planned to one day escape with the beast. #StarWars #ReturnoftheJedi #Kenner #Paploo #PruneFace #ATSTDriver #RancorKeeper #Tatooine #Endor #RebelAlliance #Empire https://www.instagram.com/p/B7mxSyDB5TT/?igshid=1miyp3lggja7r

[keldae]

Pet

He should have known better than to think today would be an 'ordinary' day when he woke up this morning. Walking into the military docking bay showed him the error of his thinking pretty damn quickly.

Theron walked up the durasteel ramp to Admiral Aygo's command centre, the ringing of his boots on the metal decking doing nothing to distract the three men staring up at the ceiling. That was the former SIS agent's first indication that something was terribly wrong- Reanden Taerich, a longtime double-agent with SIS and Sith Intelligence, should never have been so distracted by something that he was unaware of an approaching person.

The looks on the men's faces were the second indicator that something was wrong. Reanden looked highly irritated, Admiral Aygo had an expression of what seemed to be abject horror, and Doctor Lokin just looked… equal parts amused and mildly perplexed. Although the old man had permanently worn a hint of a smug expression since he and the former Cipher Nine had arrived on Odessen four days ago, so maybe he was just closer to puzzled.

Theron came to a stop beside the older three, not earning so much as a glance or a word of greeting from any of them, and had been about to ask what the hell was going on when- was that a chittering noise from above him? The younger agent (indeed, the youngest man here by probably at least ten years) looked up, eyes widening… "... Doctor Lokin, what exactly is a rakghoul doing in the rafters of the hangar?"

"I'd like to know the answer to that myself," growled Aygo.

"He likes to perch up high. It lends him a good view of his surroundings," offered Doctor Lokin with a far calmer tone of voice than any man had a right to use when there was a rakghoul twenty metres over his head, chittering down at his audience with what Theron suspected to be a gleeful tone, if rakghouls knew what glee was.

"... It's a rakghoul. In the ceiling of the Alliance military hangar." Theron looked down from the lurking rakghoul to glare at Lokin. "You do know what rakghouls do to people, right?"

Aygo made some noise in his throat that could have been a furious, poorly-strangled snarl… or it could have been a terrified groan.

"He's quite tame, really." Lokin offered Theron a placating smile. "Scritchy wouldn't harm anyone."

There was a long pause. "... I can't believe you named your pet rakghoul Scritchy," Reanden finally growled out.

"It's a perfectly fine name!" Lokin protested.

"I can't believe that's your biggest problem with this entire situation!" Theron snapped.

Above their heads, 'Scritchy' suddenly made a louder noise, then appeared to regurgitate whatever (or whoever?) it had last eaten. The four-man audience quickly darted to the side as a small pile of rakghoul vomit decorated the deck where they'd been standing a moment ago.

"That," muttered Aygo, who appeared to be pale under his fur, "is the foulest thing I've smelled in years."

Theron gave the rakghoul a baleful glare upward, earning a smug chitter in response, then frowned at Lokin. "So, have you explained to the Commander yet why there's a virus-carrying creature running around loose in her base?"

Lokin's eyes widened. Apparently he'd neglected to warn Master Xaja of that bit of news.

"I'm not explaining this," Reanden groaned. "I'm having flashbacks to her mother learning about the gizka her brothers adopted on a whim."

"Did you just compare Scritchy to a mindless gizka?" Lokin inquired, a dangerous tone coming to his voice as he glared at his old cohort.

"The gizka wasn't at risk for spreading a plague to every single inhabitant of the base," Reanden growled. "We can't have T.H.O.R.N. out here if the worst happens!"

"Maybe we can get it out of here before the Commander finds out about it?" Aygo mused.

"Not likely," Theron muttered. "She was two minutes behind me, just got stopped talking to Lana."

Lokin and Reanden shared a mutually-terrified look before the old scientist looked back up at the rafters. "C'mon, Scritchy," he cajoled the rakghoul, and Theron secretly hoped he'd never have to hear the old agent trying to sound sweet and gentle like that again. "Let's come down before we have an angry Jedi on our hands, okay?"

Scritchy made a sound that Theron could have sworn was a cackle, and climbed to a slightly higher rafter to gloat at the humans (and one Bothan) below him.

Theron groaned, then looked to the entrance of the hangar as two lightsaber-carrying women appeared- one with short blonde hair, and one significantly shorter with longer red locks. "Blast it!"

Lokin's face paled to match his hair and jacket. "You're in on this too," he muttered at his three unwilling cohorts. "He broke out of his cage and we've been trying to corral him ever since."

"You don't even own a cage for it!" Reanden snapped.

Theron had his mouth partway open to tell both of the older agents to quit their bickering (and to tell Lokin that he had absolutely zero part in any of this mess) before Aygo suddenly clapped his shoulder. "Agent Shan," he said loudly, "I've got some new intel from my scout forces that you'll want to take a look at, right this way..." as he led the younger man away from the scene of Scritchy's escape.

"Thank you," Theron hissed under his breath as he let himself be led to safety from the rakghoul, two very irritated Imperial-trained agents, and the scene that was about a minute away from witnessing a Jedi Master's fury.

"Don't mention it," Aygo muttered. "Ever." He approached a desk on the far side of a starfighter and produced a couple of datapads, pushing one at Theron. "Besides, I actually do have things for you to look into. Ever heard of Qyzen Fess?..."

Theron did try to focus on the datapads, honest. But he was still watching out of the corner of his eye when Xaja Taerich stopped only a pace away from the rakghoul vomit that would have irrevocably stained her boots, then looked up to the ceiling, ignoring her father's failed attempts to distract her. "... Doctor Lokin," she finally said, her voice the precise level of dangerous calm that promised she was one bad explanation away from tearing the agent's head off, "what the hell is a rakghoul doing in the ceiling of my military wing?"

Four hours later, Theron was convinced he was going to be the first medically documented case of a human's eyes literally bulging out of one's skull. If he wasn't, Korin probably would be at the sight both of them were facing. "What the hell?..."

Xaja sighed as the little rakghoul capered along behind her, acting for all the world like a damned pet. "I apparently have been adopted by a foot-tall virus-carrying plague-causing critter." She looked down at Scritchy (who had come to sit right beside her left boot and stare up at her with something Theron felt he could call 'adoration'), then back at Theron and Korin with a scowl. "Not a word out of either of you."

"Not a word about what?" Korin asked quickly.

"Exactly." Xaja resumed walking, Scritchy in her wake. "Maybe I'll sic him on Vaylin…"

And so, Theron didn't breathe so much as a word about Xaja's apparent new pet to anyone (except joining with her family and close confidants when complaining about the little rakghoul, and loudly complaining every time the little creature tried to sneak into his and Xaja’s quarters). But if he did have a few holoimages that he'd taken covertly and at great personal risk of Xaja petting the little beast with something approaching affection… well, maybe he could pin them on Koth if she ever found out. But for now, he just grinned every time he saw the holos.

[dingoat]

Character meme woop woop, let’s try and get this one done before it gets lost in the endless scroll of tumblr notifications and I forget it exists haha. Tagged by @melissagt and @greencrusader13, thankyou thankyou! Maybe if I have energy to spare tomorrow I’ll do it for another character but of course I’ll start with my Number One Girl!

GENERAL

name : Ahuska Crow (in most realities), maiden name Charka, birth name Tala Kit’kota (unknown to her) gender : Female age : constantly up for debate place of birth : Ruweln, as far as she knows spoken languages : Basic, Mando’a, some sketchy Selonian and making an effort to learn Huttese. sexual orientation : Wouldn’t rule anything out, but too loyal to experiment occupation : I guess technically, as far as how she actually earns credits is concerned, she’s a mercenary? Animal trainer/stock keeper isn’t terribly wrong at the moment, either.

APPEARANCE

eye color : Sky blue hair color : Off-white height : Average scars and burn : If you shaved her, you might find a few little scars here and there, including a disturbingly humanoid bite mark on her ankle. Werewolf au, she’s positively littered with scars, with particularly nasty scarring at the back of her neck. overweight : Nah, but will quickly gain an extra soft layer if she takes it easy for any stretch of time. underweight : No

FAVORITE

color : Autumn music genre : Alternative/folk, with a growing fondness for country that she tries very hard to deny is a thing tv show : Wildlife documentaries, saturday morning cartoons, and fantasy holodramas (especially if they star Ziminder Antilles) food : hand picked wild berries, fancy chocolates, and womp rat chomps. Still chasing the ever-elusive pink iced donut. drink : CAF. Strawberry milkshakes. Sweet cocktails. book : ....this is one I’m going to have to think on! Probably some sort of animal adventure novel though.

HAVE THEY

passed university : Haha nope, no formal education had sex : Eeehehehehe had sex in public : Definitely in public places, though probably not while any general public has actually been around haha. gotten pregnant/gotten someone pregnant : Noooope kissed a boy : Yep! kissed a girl : Not that I’m aware of, but pieces of her backstory have yet to be revealed to me so who knows! gotten tattoos : A permadye job, yeah, which is the most feasible Bothan equivalent! had a broken heart : Oh, poor teenage girl, yes. been in love : HEAD. OVER. HEELS. I have yet to see a version of her that doesn’t fall HARD when she falls for someone. stayed up for longer than 24 hours : hahahaha yes and thank the stars she was caught out before it became a habit

ARE THEY

a virgin : *eyebrow waggle* a cuddler : All the time a lot a kisser : Oh yes! scared easily : Not really, but she spends so much time in harrowing situations she is nonetheless scared often jealous easily : Ahahaha jealousy is one of her defining character flaws trustworthy : If you’re someone she’s loyal to, 100%. But she’ll lie through her teeth and break promises to anyone else to protect those who matter. dominant : Sometimes *eyebrow waggle* submissive : Sometimes in love : Absolutely single : Nope!

RANDOM QUESTIONS

have they harmed themselves : Only by accident, unless you want to include her fledgeling stim habit that got nipped in the bud before she really suffered for it thought of suicide : No way attempted suicide : Hell no wanted to kill someone : Ahahahaha. Ha. Ha. Mmmhmm. Sometimes even gotten to follow through. rode a horse : She’s ridden a lot of space animals. Maybe one of these days I’ll let her go to Dathomir and she can ride an actual horse! Elder Scrolls AU owns two horses have / had a job : Sorta kinda but her lifestyle is very unconventional have any fears : Yeah, but mostly all the standard fears of loss/lonliness/failure etc and a little PTSD that can be triggered by unexpected explosive sounds and/or feelings of helplessness/loss of control of a situation. She has an irrational dislike/discomfort around a particular species of Concordian wading bird, and a very rational dislike/discomfort around Bizarre Force Related Nonsense.

FAMILY

sibling(s) : None that she is currently aware of >.> parents : Sana (deceased) and Jinn Charka (adoptive mothers). Blood relatives currently unknown, but odds are good they’re Bothans. children : Nela, formally adopted via Mandalorian tradition pets : Pexu the nexu. Boy the varactyl. Dinii and Duraan, ottas. Percival, arkanian dragon. Responsible for twelve scout varactyls in training.

EVERYONE I KNOW has probably already been tagged hahaha ummm but lemme throw in @askshivanulegacy @kaosstar @cinlat @kunoichi-ume @humanrevolt @abbienormal for good measure

[goforcechokeyourself]

Battlefront 2 Master Post

Alright so this is my master post I was wanting to make where I talk about battlefront 2, I attended the swco2017 battlefront 2 panel and was shown the “exclusive” content video after the main stream was cut to all the online audiences so I’m going to talk about that and basically everything else we current know about battlefront  

So first off the game is set to release nov. 17th 2017, the game can be played earlier by 1. purchasing the Elite trooper edition (79.99) which will allow you a 3 day early access to the game (nov. 14th) and or 2. by being apart of of ea access which is exclusive to x box one and origin on pc which will let you start playing on (nov. 9th).   

NO SEASON PASS (what could this mean?)  

    Battlefront 2 (ea) will feature a single player campaign as well as up to 40 player multiplayer. It will spread across all eras including prequel, original, and sequel trilogies. Space battles have been confirmed as well as offline co-op for console editions. Classes are making a debut in this as one of the changes from their earlier installment in their battlefront games (2015) as well as a weapon modification system and abilities customization options.  

Prequel content 

So lets get right into the mix shall we? like most of you here I assume your biggest worry was the prequel content right? Clone wars was a huge part of my enjoyment for the other battlefront games from the 2000′s and my childhood in general; so the announcement of prequels being included in this immediately spiked my interest!    

(picture below is a scene from the trailer where it shows maul and yoda about to face off)

Even after seeing this though (which is the only prequel content shown in the trailer :’/ ) I was skeptical about the appearance of the clones, ideas worked around in my head about nasty ol’ EA making a hero only mode which feature prequel characters and while that would still be a step up from not having them in the game at all it really pissed me off because I want the clones dammit and those stupid little battle droids too. So after the stream cut off at swco2017 EA’s panel for battlefront 2 they told us to turn off our phones and that they would be showing us something exclusive to us. Basically a video of the dev team and their journey making the game riddled with secrets and bits of concept art and more information about the game. They also showed a slide show before this with bits and pieces of art for the games and both of those mixed with information I’ve gathered on my own will be presented now in this post. 

So back to the clones, are they making it into the game? YES THEY WILL! 

(picture above is a piece of concept art featuring clones some sporting jetbacks fighting a battle on the water planet of Kamino) 

Yes the clones will be apart of this game thank the maker! I was a little upset that no actually footage of them is shown or any actually close up art or models for them was shown but considering the games launch is still pretty far off I understand and will be patient.   

(picture below features a battle droid from the separatists side) 

However we did get a look at a game model for a battle droid! Which I am pleased to say looks very nice indeed. 

Okay so what about planets? Well Kamino is the only one we have a visual for sadly, however in the description for the “elite” version of the game available for pre order on amazon.com it is revealed that Theed will be playable as well (will we see the gungans???). 

Phase 1 clones are the only ones shown via art so no information about if we will see phase 2 clones is available right now that I know of unfortunately. But I for one am very excited at the prospect of clones in my battlefront game once again after 12 years. 

Original and Sequel trilogy content 

Lets take a look at some of the other eras, both the original and the sequel trilogy will have maps and troopers and verticals available for play in both multiplayer and single player (it was not discussed if any prequel content would make it into the single player but we will get into that later)  

(picture above shows kylo ren leading a group of first order troopers into battle on star killer base) 

TFA & TLJ content will be available in the game little is talked about what TLJ content will be shown in game beside the pre order bonus of bonus outfits for rey and kylo and some unique abilities and skins for the falcon and a TFO fighter? 

Maybe we will see Maz’s castle as a playable map? who knows. 

As far as the original trilogy content goes for multiplayer. We have Hoth confirmed, Yavin 4, Endor, Tatooine, and the main character (iden) of the single players home world Vardos 

(pictured about the new planet Vardos) 

Also something to be excited about even tho we are in fact seeing some reappearing planets from the earlier installment (2015) is that there are new details about the planets yet unexplored by DICE. Such as being able to ride the taun tauns! this might not sound like much but I loved riding them in the old 2005 installment of battlefront so this pleases me very much. 

(pictured rebel soldier riding tauntaun into a snow trooper)  

The scout trooper and tie pilot will be available as skins (or classes?)  I assume as both of them are shown in the trailer. 

(pictured above Iden and the inferno sqaud on endor in tie fighter like apparel) 

Okay so we got the OT, PT, & ST all taken care of as far as content so what else can we expect from this game that is new? 

Whats new?

Well new ground vehicles have been confirmed yet again via amazon description   

So we have tanks, what can be expected from this some of those glorious tanks from Battlefront 2 (2005) maybe? Only the future can tell.

We have an assortment of new weapons like the A280-CFE blaster rifle (used by mr cassian andor in rogue one) 

We have the return of the class system tho not as large as the 2005′s roster. Battlefront 2 (ea) will have 4 different classes with different play styles featured in their game specialist, heavy, officer, and assault. From my assumption assault will be the regular trooper type (battle droids, clone trooper, storm trooper etc.) and specialist will be things like scout troopers, bothans, assassin droids. Heavy troopers will consist of wookiees, droidekas, tfa heavy trooper and last but not least the officer class seems pretty self explanatory. 

(pictured from left to right specialist, heavy, officer, assault)  

Abilities and Customization 

One of the other new things that will be in this new installment is abilities. This will be the answer to the power up icons found as pick ups in the last game. 

The only ability that I have heard about is reys mind trick and kylo’s “force freeze” so we will have to wait and hear more about them.

Heroes   

As far as heroes go we will definitely be seeing Rey, Kylo, Darth Maul, Yoda, and Han Solo as been confirmed as well.  

(pictured below is rey running through a jungle or forest planet shown in the trailer)

Single Player Campaign 

There will be a single player campaign featured in battlefront 2 (ea). The focus of this campaign will be about a woman named Iden who is the leader of Inferno sqaud (yes that same one). The campaign will span 30 years connecting ROTJ to TFA and will center around Idens resolve to get revenge on the rebel alliance and it’s heroes for killing her emperor an for the most part destroying her empire “this is where the real war begins”. In the trailer shows of starkiller base are shown and her and the inferno squad dispatching rebels and numerous space battles both with rebels of the OT and ST. Also a very interesting scene of her holding luke skywalker hostage? with a DH-17. So pretty exciting right? it has been announced that this story will be CANON. There is also going to be a tie in novel for the game named Battlefront 2 Inferno squad and that comes out in July. The novel will take place 4 years before the game and give some insight into Iden’s background and life pre the events of ROTJ.

Now lets get into the content that was shown after the cameras went off. 

A lot of concept art was shown for various locations via computer screens people were working on as well as actual pieces shown to us one that I would like to talk about was a scene of the rebel troopers from ROTJ in which the infamous bearded trooper is seen. I thought this was interesting because the picture seems largely focus around the bearded trooper and as it’s been made aware Dave Filoni is currently working to try to make the fan theory that, that trooper is in fact captain rex from star wars rebels. So this brings up the question will rex be playable in this game? 

another piece of interesting concept art was a sea cave map? it’s hard to tell what planet this was on if I had to guess I would say naboo? but it could very well be a new planet. this piece of art was very beautiful though so hopefully it gets turned into a good map. 

There was lots of shots of places and models very obscured because you were looking at them not directly so it’s hard to say exactly what most of them are there very well could be a video of this someone snuck so you’re welcome to look for it to try and pick through it but as for me the only 2 real things that stuck out for me I just mentioned above. I would want to bore you all with my speculations on what obscure images in concept art could mean that I barely remember so I shall not. 

To round it all up 

I am pretty excited for this game, I was not so much pleased with the last installment in 2015. I was a stalwart defender of it during the announcement stage and even during beta stage but now that it’s all said and done and all the content has been released and it’s been left to rot on the servers I find myself forever bothered by why it was even made. If you want my personal opinion I believe DICE used the game as somewhat of a tech demo not only for this game but for Battlefield 1 which irritates me because I had so much passion for it when it was coming out and the return of battlefront even in the face of adversity. At the swco2017 panel tho I saw the passion of the devs when they talked about this game and I admit even in my doubt I still hold for this game to save myself from being dissapointed I believe this game will at least right most of the wrongs that were committed in the first game. 

I hope everyone who is excited for battlefront 2 or just wanted information enjoys my post about it, May the force be with you all.

[dingoat]

[Okay so I tried just doing the normal thing and responding to the prompt, and then when I edited the post to add tags the whole thing turned into a giant mess of formatting HELL, so I’m just gonna make a whole new post and hope that tumblr doesn’t destroy it. ANYWAY the prompts worked so well together that I decided to roll them into one! Thankyou so much for sending this (and the others eeheeheehe), I hope I did alright with Der and I promise Ahuska isn’t always this stubborn! >.>]

“I just… need a minute. Not even, just half a minute…” Ahuska winced as she spoke, wishing she hadn’t tried, wishing she wasn’t here. Why the bloody hells anyone had ever seen fit to send her out with this guy again… she felt a wash of dizziness and doubled over where she stood, backed up against a wall, one hand clamped tightly around her other wrist.

She didn’t want to look at the damage. She didn’t need to look to know it was bad; she was reasonably sure she’d been stabbed at least a couple more times, but this one she was actually worried about. Everything was slick and wet and red, and even though blood continued to ooze out between her tightly clenched fingers, seeping and dripping and staining, she didn’t dare loosen her grip to try and get the knife wound wrapped up properly. Banking on the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ philosophy, Ahuska merely clamped her hand around the wound all the tighter and tried to shove both hands under her jacket.

“Come on, we’ve got a clear run down…” Derrick looked back her way, his body still flattened against the wall and tucked into shadow, but he hesitated when he saw the way she was bent double, all the colour drained from her ears. He knew perfectly well why they’d been assigned together again- his superiors would give their eye teeth for the location of the off-grid planet that Ahuska and her people had claimed as their own. The actual job they were on at the moment was in many ways just a ruse, co-ordinated with the hope that the Bothan would eventually get comfortable and careless in his company and let something slip, and he wouldn’t be surprised if she was under similar pressure to try and ease some SIS secrets out of him. He hadn’t yet decided if he was ever going to try and actually press her for information at all. .. he hadn’t quite worked her out yet, truth be told. Sometimes it seemed like she didn’t even mind his company, but then just as quickly she’d go cold and snappish, not always for reasons he could pinpoint. She came with baggage, that much was certain.

“Hey! Ahuska!” He lifted his voice urgently, knowing they only had a brief window to make the dash across open ground, anxious to get them both moving and out of harm’s way. Things hadn’t gone… exactly to plan. “Come on, can you stand? We’ve got to move…”

Ahuska drew in a breath and forced herself to straighten, ignoring just how light her head felt with every ounce of stubbornness she could summon. She nodded. “Mmhmm, yep, just… lead the way.”

She waited until he’d turned back and gone to make another quick check around the corner before she let herself wince again, determined not to let him see just how bad she felt. They just had to reach the checkpoint, Laks or Kip or someone would be there to collect her, she’d be… she’d be fine. It was only a few blocks. She hadn’t… she hadn’t lost a lot of blood, really, had she? She was fine.

But the moment she started to stumble after Derrick, she knew she was decidedly not fine. She wanted help, the pain was ridiculous and her legs were starting to feel like lead, but like hell she was going to ask for help from him, like hell she was going to owe a favour to an SIS Agent. It was the power of spite alone that kept her legs moving as long as they did, that stopped her tripping over her own toes those first few dozen steps.

“Hey, hurry it up! They’ll be scouting from the air, we’ve got to get under cover!” Derrick urged her on, pausing again with mild, frustrated irritation when he saw how much she was lagging. Didn’t she realise they were sitting ducks out here?

Ahuska dropped her gaze and bit her lip hard, focusing every bit of her strength on just taking the next step. She was fine, she’d be okay. It wasn’t far. She wasn’t going to fall to pieces in front of Derrick-fething-Kanner. So what if there was a truce, she didn’t trust SIS worth a damn, and she knew, she knew…

Stars danced in front of her eyes, and the ground rushed up to meet her.

She knew what he was capable of.

“What—whoa hey!” Der turned again just in time to see her fall, and he didn’t think twice about doubling back to be at her side. “What the hell, can you… hey, hey can you hear me? C’mon, squeeze my hand if you can hear this.” He hadn’t heard blaster fire, but that didn’t stop him glancing about frantically, expecting some hidden assailant… until he realised how wet his hand was. He pulled away, wiped the blood on his pants, and carefully peeled back the sodden mess of fabric at Ahuska’s left wrist… and then paled a little as he discovered it wasn’t all just fabric that was flapping loosely about.

“Oh. Hell.”

Just how much blood had she lost?

“Bloody hell!”

He stared her over for another half second, frowning deeply, then pulled every stabiliser he had tucked into his belt and injected her five times in quick succession, checked her pulse, and tore a strip from the bottom of his own shirt to serve as a makeshift bandage. It was a dirty job, but it’d have to do.

“Come on, you idiot,” he said with a grimace to the unconscious Bothan, steeling himself to take her weight as he slid his arms underneath her, one at her shoulders, one under her knees. He wasn’t looking forward to running for cover like this, but it’s not as though he had a choice. The sound of souped up gang speeders hummed far too close for comfort and was only getting louder. “My bosses would try to say you owe us one for this. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hold you to it. Stay the hell alive and we’ll call it even.”

[tehlaen]

...The Next of Us To Go (Pt. 1 of 3)

[tl;dr: Teh’laen, age 22, deals with loss of friends and loved ones as a reality of life as a mercenary.  Part two is here and here’s part three.]

“Sithspit!”

Teh’laen cursed—softly but no less vehemently—as she flailed at the nightstand. Slender fingers groped blindly for her angrily shrieking commlink. Her vitriol at being awoken all too soon after finally dragging herself to bed hadn’t quite spent itself by the time she hit the button and answered.

“What the fuck do you want?”

“Good morning, sunshine,” Captain Selka Kranik replied with characteristically dry humor.

The Twi’lek pilot grimaced. “Sorry, Captain. What I meant to say was, ‘what the fuck do you want, sir?” Teh’laen rubbed sleep from her eyes and glared balefully at the chrono beside the bed. “And it’s not even oh-four-hundred, Selka. That doesn’t even count as morning.”

“Sorry about that—”

“You say that,” Teh interjected, “but in a way that makes me think you’re not really.”

“You’re right, I’m not. Pre-flight brief in 15.” Selka paused. “Is Lieutenant Brosh with you?”

The lump under the covers beside Teh’laen rolled over, and the diminutive Bothan propped himself up on his elbow. Her flight leader’s sable fur stuck up in all directions and his protruding muzzle opened in a wide, sleepy yawn. His golden eyes were sharp though as he answered, “Here, Captain.”

“Thought so. Briefing in 15.”

“This intel is actionable, but time-sensitive: Unless we launch now, we’re going to miss the opportunity to hit the Imps.” Selka’s stormy grey eyes swept over the assembled flight crews. She gestured to her astromech and the little droid warbled cheerfully.

Two dozen Imperial starfighters—a mix of scouts, strike fighters, and heavy bombers—sprang to life above the holotable, rendered in shades of blue. “This,” Selka said, gesturing to the miniature ships, “is the 533rd Strike Wing. They’ve been hopping their way through Hutt Space and disputed systems for the last six months, tearing up Republic supply and troop convoys.

“At last count…” Kranik’s lips pressed to a thin line and her nostrils flared. “At last count they’ve destroyed some four million metric tons of supplies and killed over ten thousand Republic personnel.”

A low, angry murmur rippled through the Stormriders.

“In twelve hours,” she continued once the commotion died down, “the Five-Thirty-Third is scheduled to drop out of hyperspace in System Isk-4178-Kresh.” The fighters vanished, replaced by a mockup of a solar system hardly worth the title. An asteroid belt wrapped around a dull brown dwarf, and green concentric rings marked the point where the targets were—supposedly—going to exit hyperspace.

“They’ll dock at a secret Imperial base hidden here…” A red reticule bracketed and tightened around one of the slowly floating rocks. “…for a couple of hours to repair and re-arm.”

Selka took a beat, meeting the eyes of each member of her merc squadron, one by one. “We’re going to make sure they don’t make that rendezvous.

“We’ll set up a kill-box here.” She gestured and an orange cube sprang to life, just inside the outer edge of the asteroid field. “Our targets are running low on munitions, and several of their ships got torn up pretty nastily in their latest raid. We’ll wait here…” Three triangles, striped with the squadron’s blue and white, flared to life, “…and when they’re in the kill-box we spring the trap.”

Heads nodded and a low murmur of conversation broke out as pilots and flight crews started to talk amongst themselves.

Teh’laen was unusually silent, and her amethyst eyes narrowed to slits. One gloved hand shot into the air, and Selka nodded at her. “Va’shuvrk? What is it?”

“Captain, there are a lot of ifs here.” She studied the holomap, then met her CO’s eyes. “What if the timing’s off, or they plot a different route through the asteroid field? What if they’re not damaged and low on ammo? Even with the element of surprise, they’ve got twenty-four fighters to our eighteen.” The Lethan took a deep breath. “What if the intel is wrong?”

The hubbub ramped up again, louder this time, and Kranik watched her protege as she waited for it to subside. “It’s not.” Teh’s mouth opened in a protest, and the silver-haired woman held up a hand to forestall the red-skinned Twi’lek’s objection. “I trust this intel and the source. In the event that something’s wrong, we’ll abort the mission; Thunder Flight will lay down mines and drones to keep a route open for withdrawal. But we’re not gonna need it.”

Scarlet lips pursed and Teh’laen nodded—somewhat grudgingly. Kranik gave her a tiny nod, then looked around to the other Stormriders. “Any other questions?” When none came, she snapped off the holotable. “Alright, Stormriders, mount up.”

Pilots, gunners and weapons officers stood and started filing out of the briefing room. Teh’laen caught Nalo’s eye, and the Bothan made his way through the crowd to her. Teh dropped her voice. “Where does this intel come from, Nay?”

He shrugged. “I dunno, but if the Captain says it’s good, it’s good.”

Before Teh could respond, Selka’s voice called across the room. “Teh’laen? A word, please.”

Nay grinned at her. “See you on the flight deck.” Teh smiled back at him, then turned to face Selka. “What is it, Bosslady?”

Her mentor straightened up from tying down the holster on her right thigh. Kranik plucked her flight helmet from the cheap, rickety desk, then headed for the door. The older woman motioned for the Twi’lek to accompany her, and Teh’laen fell into step beside her.

“You given any more thought to what I said?”

Teh’laen arched one eyebrow. “You say lots of stuff. Any particular thing you want me to think about?”

“You and Brosh.”

“What about us?”

“It’s a bad idea to get involved with superior officers, Teh.”

Purple eyes twinkled and scarlet lips twisted in a crooked grin. “Who else am I gonna sleep with, Selka? Everybody else in the squadron outranks me.”

The squadron commander sighed heavily and shook her head. “Maybe try being celibate a while.”

The Twi’lek snorted a laugh. “Yeah, ‘cause that sounds in character for me.”

The two walked through the blast doors into the squadron’s main hangar, and Selka heaved another sigh. “Fine.” She clapped the Twi’lek on the shoulder and squeezed. “Safe skies and happy hunting, Teh.”

“Same to you, Selka.” Teh’laen smiled brightly at her and mirrored the gesture and the accompany affectionate squeeze.

The two headed in opposite directions: Selka to the left, where the pilots of Tempest Flight were doing final checks on their strike fighters, and Teh’laen to the right, toward the scouts of Lightning Flight.

Essix warbled at her impatiently from her Nova Dive fighter, and she called back, “Gimme a second!” Teh’laen veered toward Lieutenant Brosh, Lightning One, and his Flashfire. Nalo was already sitting in his cockpit, running through pre-flight checks. Teh grinned and bounded up the ladder still leaning against the fuselage of her lover’s starship.

Nay looked up at her, startled, and she gave him an impish grin. His safety restraints weren’t buckled yet, so Teh’laen hooked two fingers through one of the straps on his flightsuit.

Her head bowed and tilted almost horizontal, she tugged the Bothan into a kiss, and one of her lekku wound warmly around his neck. The Bothan lingered the kiss, and when she finally pulled away, she smiled at him happily.

“I love you.”

Her partner smiled at her somewhat sheepishly. “I know you do, and I believe you, but—we’ve talked about this Teh, I’m not ready to say it.”

Undeterred, she shrugged one shoulder and beamed at him. “No problem; I am, so I did. We’re pilots, Nay. One of us could die, so I wanna say it and make sure you know, just in case.” She pulled back, then paused before descending the ladder again. “Speaking of which, don’t die.”

Her offhanded delivery startled a laugh from him and he grinned. “Same to you.”

[tehlaen]

Day 21: “Conclusions” (Pt. 2 of 3)

Day 21 of the 30 Day Star Wars OC Challenge from @smuggler-captain that I’m doing with @lessdenied! Previous posts are tagged with #30dayswchallenge.

[tl;dr: Teh, age 21, closes the book on a particular chapter of her life. Part 1 is here!]

“Well, this doesn’t look good.”

Teh’laen bit off a shriek as she whirled, her hands coming up defensively. “Nay! What are you doing here?!”

The Bothan—now dry and dressed in a Stormriders jumpsuit—raised his eyebrows questioningly. “This is where you left me, remember?”

Teh nodded as her pounding heart slowed to something approaching a normal rhythm. “Right.” She turned back to shoving clothing and gear into a duffelbag.

“So, you gonna answer the question?”

Teh’laen looked up from checking the charge on the handful of blaster powerpacks. “What question?”

“I guess it wasn’t a question.”

“No, I guess not,” she mumbled distractedly as she turned back to her packing.

“You get why it doesn’t look good, right?”

Teh tried and failed to keep the irritation out of her voice. “Why what doesn’t look good, Brosh?”

Her partner crossed his arms over his chest, the fur covering his face and neck fluffing in indignation. “You get a message from your ex, you run out the door, and when you come back you start shoving your stuff into a bag. Wanna tell me what’s going on?”

Teh’laen stood up straight, brow knit and her lips in an O of surprise. She gave a startled laugh and strode across the small room to him, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him. “No, it’s not like—” She pulled back to look him in the eyes suspiciously. “Wait, how did you know who sent me the note?”

“Recognized the lettering.” One hand rose and pointed a clawed finger at the handwritten declaration of affection, scrawled on an expensive, ornate sheet of flimsy, tacked to the wall above Teh’s bed among a nest of other mementos and souvenirs.

Teh’laen shrugged in response and kissed him again. “No, Nalo, it’s not like that. I just have something I gotta do, and it’s gonna take a couple days, but I love you and I’m not running off on you.”

His mouth dropped open, thin lips peeling off his teeth in surprise. “This is… a weird time to tell me you love me.”

She shrugged again and let go, turning back to zip up her pack. “Seemed like a good time to me.”   Nay looked dazed as she slung the strap over her shoulder, then gave him one more kiss. “Love you, see ya soon!”

“Hey, kid. Get everything you needed from the armory?”

Teh’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of Selka Kranik—her mentor, friend and boss—sitting casually on the deck of the hangar. It couldn’t have been terribly comfortable with her back resting against the landing strut of Teh’laen’s NovaDive scout fighter. The silver-maned ace pilot, though, looked perfectly at ease with her hands clasped behind her head and her outstretched legs crossed at the ankle.

“Hey. Bosslady. Good, you’re here. I checked your office and didn’t see you…”

One snowy eyebrow slowly crept upward. “So you thought you’d come see if I was waiting for you by your ship? My, my, kid—that was prescient of you, huh?”

Essix, floating overhead and a few meters behind, showed unusual discretion and bobbed down to hide behind another craft’s fuselage. Teh’laen shrugged and let her duffel slip from her shoulder to land on the permacrete deck with a clank. “Like I said, I went looking for you.”

“Right. You did. After you stopped Berr and the other ground crew and told ‘em to prep your ship with a full combat load. And after you packed your bag. And after you let yourself into the armory.”

“Look, Selka, I—”

“You know what’s funny? I’m pretty sure you don’t have codes to get yourself into the armory. Pretty big oversight on my part, I guess. Good thing you’re clever, huh? Just sliced right right in. Word of advice, kid: If you’re gonna steal something, best not to do it in a way that nobody else in the squadron’s got the skills for.”

Teh’laen closed her mouth and watched Kranik. The Twi’lek’s face was an expressionless mask, but inside, her heart plummeted. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck-fucking fuckity fuck-fucker.

“Well?”

The younger pilot’s mouth was dry. “Captain. I’d like to request a three-day pass.” The older woman’s brows shot upward, and Teh added, in a voice that bordered on plaintive, “Please.”

Selka watched her protege with an inscrutable expression on her face. Seconds passed. Teh’laen fidgeted.

She’s sitting down. She doesn’t have a blaster. I could stun h—

Teh’laen gritted her teeth with enough force to make the muscles of her jaw bunch. No. Absolutely not, she thought to herself. Insubordination was one thing—and in fairness, it was one thing with which Teh had extensive experience. Mutiny was—well, beside the point, really. Selka was more than just her CO, more than just the woman who’d taught her to fly. She was… Teh struggled to slap a label on their relationship; Selka was more to her. And if she says no…

“Granted.”

The matter-of-fact concession startled her out of her reverie. “What?” She peered incredulously at Selka, torn between doubting and daring to hope.

Kranik uncrossed her legs, pulling them in and tucking them under herself as she rose from the deck. She ducked out from under the fighter. “Permission granted. You ‘n me are gonna talk about your ‘better to beg forgiveness’ bullshit when you get back. You’ll be grounded for a couple weeks, maybe even sitting in the brig.”

Relief flooded her, and Teh’laen gave Selka a broad smile. “Boss—Selka… Thank you.”

Kranik shook her head slowly. “Don’t thank me, Teh. I’m pretty sure I know what this is about.” The Twi’lek stooped and grabbed the strap of her duffel. She made a beeline for the ladder resting against her fighter’s fuselage, then paused and veered toward Selka. She threw her arms around the older woman for a brief, tight embrace. She released Selka; the other maintained her grip.

Warm breath tickled the side of her neck as Selka whispered, “Whatever happens, whatever you do.... You’re the one who’s gotta live with it, Teh.”