[RommieSG]

This is a backstory that I started writing for my Star Wars Galaxies character. A Sith Lord named K'yehlar. Thought I'd post it here as well in case anyone was interested in reading it.

Chapter 1

K'yehlar was born in a small home outside of Tyrena, not long after the Galactic Empire was formed by Emperor Palpatine following the apparent Jedi betrayal on Coruscant. Her parents, Bomar and Kestra, were simple people who didn’t understand what was happening with the Republic. They didn’t like what the Empire represented, and mainly kept to themselves, not drawing any attention to themselves in their daily lives. This was all about to change.

K’yehlar’s intelligence blossomed at an early age. By the age of two, she was already speaking Basic, and reading as well as children who were already in school. She also showed a tendency to see things before they happened, to avoid injury or simply to anticipate things. After what happened on Coruscant, her parents grew concerned. They took her to a friend, who was a doctor, and had her tested for midi-chlorian count. As they feared, her midi-chlorian count was extraordinarily high. Her abilities weren’t mere coincidence. She was showing the abilities of a Jedi.

They did their best to keep K'yehlar's talents hidden from the eyes of the Empire. Schooling her from home, to keep outside contact in a controlled state. But one day they learned that their doctor friend had been visited by Imperial Stormtroopers, and his records had been ransacked. They knew that they had to take K'yehlar away and into hiding.

They put her in the safe keeping of a reliable family friend. A Twi'lek and his family, who could take her far from Corellia, and to the outer rim. He took her to his home, to get her settled in. He had two daughters of his own, Trista and B'Elanna. The three of them quickly took a liking to each other, and the Twi'lek girls accepted her as their adopted sister.

When K'yehlar reached the age of 25, she learned that her parents had been killed while attempting to escape from an Imperial Star Destroyer. With K'yehlar being taken care of, they decided to join the Rebellion, and fight against what they thought was the tyranny of the Galactic Empire. At this time, she was also taught about her Jedi abilities, and what they meant. And why her parents decided they had to put her into hiding.

Later that night, confused about who she was, and what she was, she snuck away from her adopted home, and stowed away on a cargo ship heading for Moenia on Naboo. When she got off the ship, she couldn't believe how many people there were in the starport. All the different kinds of aliens that she'd never seen before. Why did her parents feel as though they had to hide her from this? What were they so afraid of? She decided to explore the area, and in her travels she got lost in the forest.

After a few hours, she sat down on a rotted stump, and held her head in her hands. She was trying to think about what was going on, when she heard a voice come from behind her. "You're not crying, are you girl?"

She got to her feet and turned around, facing a man in black hooded robes, flanked on either side by tall guards in red. "I can't cry. I never have cried." The man turned his head up, and she could see a heavily deformed face. "Tears show your passion, your strength, your capacity for emotion. Never be afraid of these things. Tell me, what brings you all the way out here?"

K'yehlar shrugged, "I got lost. I just arrived here, and I don't have anywhere to go. I'm trying to find myself, and who I am. I don't even know what the hell a Jedi is!" The man's indented eyes grew wide before he closed them tight, "Yes......yes.....I sensed something powerful inside you." He opened his eyes, and smiled with discolored teeth. "If you want to learn who you are, and what you are, then come with me. I will teach you what you want to know."

She paused for a moment, and then straightened her posture. "Yes, I'll come with you. I want to learn."

"Good......good........."

This post has been edited by RommieSG: 09 November 2007 - 06:50 PM

[RommieSG]

Chapter 2

K'yehlar followed the man and his guards up the mountain path. As they got closer and closer to their destination, she could sense that area was not normal by any means. Several times she felt as though they were being watched from somewhere off in the distance. It wasn't until they finally arrived that all this became apparent. When they reached the top of the hill, they came to a clearing that was inundated with troopers in white armor, large mechanized walkers, and in the distance she could make out a couple TIE fighters being worked on.

"You're with the Empire, aren't you? Some sort of high official or something?" For the most part, K'yehlar had been kept away from much of the Imperial side of things. So this was all still very new to her.

"My dear...I AM the Empire." She thought for a moment, and then a sudden realization came to her. "No....you couldn't be. You're..."

The man turned, and she could see his yellow eyes peering at her from underneath his hood, "Emperor Palpatine, yes my child. But do not be frightened. There will be time for that in the near future."

What had she gotten herself into? One moment she was running away from home to Naboo, and the next moment she was right in the heart of the Empire. Following the Emperor himself! He led her into what looked like a retreat of some sort. The view, when not laden with armored troopers, was quite stunning. This must be where he came to get away from it all, so to speak. He said very little, so she kept following him as they made their way within the retreat.

They came upon a door down a nondescript hallway, and they opened to reveal another girl, oddly enough with red hair, sitting at a desk reading the holonet. "Mara Jade, I want you to take care of this young girl. See to it that she is cleaned up and given fresh clothing. See to it personally. And then see to it that she is brought before me."

The girl stood up from the desk and bowed deeply to him, "Yes, my lord. It shall be done.

The Emperor didn't give a second look to K'yehlar as he made his way back down the hallway with his guards on either side in tow. The one he called Mara Jade looked her up and down. "So what's your name?" She folded her arms while she waited for a response, "My name is K'yehlar." Mara raised an eyebrow, "Is that a first name or last?" K'yehlar shook her head, "I've only known this name. If I had a last name, I've never known it."

Mara shrugged, "Well, K'yehlar, let's take you to the baths. We can get you cleaned up." She came closer to her and sized her up and down. "There's not much in the way of clothing for women here, but I've got a few things that should fit you." K'yehlar grinned, "Thank you for your help." Mara smirked, "Don't thank me. Thank the Emperor for not having you shot on sight."

She went through the whooshing doors, and started going down the hallway, "Come, K'yehlar." She was a bit startled at Mara's previous statement, but then fell in line behind her. The bath that she was in was the size of a swimming pool back home. It was then that she started to think about what she was doing. Leaving home, and her sisters Trista and B'Elanna behind. Are they worried about her? What were they doing right now? Would she ever see them again?

She then thought to herself that if she was ever going to discover who she is, and what it is she's destined for, that this was the place in which she was going to do it.

After getting cleaned up, Mara took her to her personal quarters and showed her a few items that she could wear. Surprisingly they were very similar in size, so everything fit, if just a little snug in certain areas. She decided to go with a black ensemble. The pants were a little tight fitting, but her top gave her a bit more breathing room. A black pair of boots completed the look. Mara smirked, "Not bad, K'yehlar. If you're not careful, you'll turn a few heads. And not in the good way, either."

K'yehlar didn't know exactly what she meant, but shook it off. She followed Mara once again, and was taken to an elevator in the main chambers of the house. "Okay, the Emperor requested I bring you to him after you got cleaned up. Just press the button here, and you'll be taken to him. Remember to show him the proper respect."

K'yehlar nodded, "Thank you for your help, Mara." Mara smiled for the first time that she could recall, "Don't think about it." She turned away and disappeared into the retreat. K'yehlar pushed the button on the elevator and the doors closed around her. Before she had time to think, they opened again and she was in a dimly lit room. There the Emperor sat in a high-backed chair with his guards flanking him. Were these the same guards as before?

She entered the room, and knelt before him. "Summoned, I come, my Lord."

"Rise, my dear, and let me look at you." She stood up and tried to look eye to eye with him, although it was impossible as his eyes were hidden in the darkness of his cloak. "You are lost, wandering around trying to find out who and what you are in the universe. What is your purpose? Do you even have one? Do you wish to learn the answers of these questions?"

K'yehlar took one deep breath and nodded her head, "Yes I do."

The Emperor started laughing, and his laugh grew louder and more sinister as it progressed. "Good. Goooood. Tomorrow you will begin a journey that will teach you your true purpose in the universe. You will learn what it is to be....a Sith......."

[RommieSG]

Chapter 3

K’yehlar tried to sleep that night, but it was difficult. She was given a small room with little in the way of furnishings, but that was not the problem. Her mind began racing about what she was doing, or what it was that she was about to do. What is a Sith? Does it have anything to do with this Jedi stuff?

After a restless night of sleep she got up and made her way to the training room. To her surprise, Emperor Palpatine was there waiting for her. “I see you are eager to start your training. Very good. Tell me, child, do you know the difference between the Jedi and the Sith?”

K’yehlar shook her head in the negative. “To tell you the truth, the first time I ever heard the word Jedi was just a couple of days ago. It confused me. What are they?”

Palpatine’s voice took on an air of disgust, “The Jedi would have you believe they were the guardians of peace in the galaxy. Using their powers to defend and to protect, rather than attack others. Respecting all life, they served others rather than rule over them, despite their so called ‘council’. Emotionless, no passion.”

He removed his hood to show his disfigured face, “This is what the Jedi did to me, when they attempted to take over the Republic. A man by the name of Mace Windu. Had my Apprentice, Darth Vader not have arrived I may have been killed, and the Jedi would now be in control of the galaxy, spreading their foul hypocrisy across the stars. Protect rather than attack….fah!”

He replaced the hood over his head, and shifted his weight onto his cane. “The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power. The only difference between the two is that the Sith are not afraid of the dark side of the Force. That is why they are more powerful. The Sith rely on their passion for their strength. They think inwards only about themselves."

K’yehlar cocked her head to the side, “The Force? What is that?”

“The Force flows through us. It binds everything together. It is a pathway to many abilities that some consider to be unnatural. Have you not seen these abilities in yourself? As if you see things before they happen? The ability to move things with merely a thought?”

K’yehlar nodded, “Yes, there have been times as though I saw something before it happened, and I was able to avoid it. And sometimes things that I thought were in one place, were actually closer…was it because I had ‘thought’ they were closer and they became so?”

Palpatine reached out his hand, and from across the room a small device flew from a table and into his hand. “I believe your question is answered, my child.”

The device floated from his hand until it came in front of K’yehlar. She took it from the air, and felt the curvature of the device in her hand. She pressed the button, and a beam of red light shot out from the aperture.

“That is a training lightsaber. The weapon of a Sith. It will not kill you should you make a mistake. You will learn to wield this weapon. And in doing so you will train your mind as well.” Several other devices sprang to life. Spherical objects, taking position around her.

“Hone your instincts, and learn to protect yourself.”

One of the devices shot something out of it, and it struck K’yehlar in the side sending a shock. “Ahhh, that hurts.” Palpatine’s voice became stern, “Then don’t let them hit you.” Another shot came out and she fluidly moved her lightsaber to block the attack. More shots came out, and she effortlessly blocked each attack.

“I will leave you for now. Continue this part of your training.”

Palpatine left the training room, and went down the hallway. At the end of the hallway, stood a towering figure in black. “Master, are you sure this is wise. I’m sure you can sense how strong the force is with her.”

Palpatine smiled with a grotesque grin, “As were you, my friend, at her age. That is why we will not fully train her. If she were to become more powerful than either one of us, I could see your concern. But if she is shaped how I want her to be, then she will be a powerful tool for my bidding.”

The towering man folded his arms, “And if she evolves beyond your expectations?”

The Emperor’s grin turned into a grimace, “Then she will not live long enough to realize it. Now, Lord Vader, have you been able to retrieve the stolen Death Star plans?”

“Not yet, My Master, but I have traced the rebels to Senator Leia Organa of Alderaan. She is scheduled to be returning home there today. I was about to head her off and search her ship. I’m certain that the plans are somewhere on that ship.”

“Very good, Lord Vader. See to it personally, and keep me updated on your progress. I will be here for a few more days before returning to Coruscant.” He spoke no more, and began heading back down the hallway.

“Yes, My Master.” Vader began walking the opposite way and stopped in front of the entrance to the training room. K’yehlar was still training, blocking rapid-fire attacks effortlessly, as if they were natural movements to her. This troubled Vader, but he had faith in his Master…for now.

[RommieSG]

Chapter 4

K’yehlar’s training progressed rapidly over the next several months. Her hand-eye coordination accelerated rapidly. The training spheres could not fire fast enough to keep up with her. She destroyed several devices before this was realized. She was able to move several objects at once with her mind as well. Moreover, she was also able to destroy objects with her mind as well.

Aside from Force training, she was also trained in piloting. She first trained in the standard Imperial TIE fighter, and then was also trained to fly an X-Wing fighter as well. She was told that the reason for this would become apparent at a later date.

She was also taught basic calisthenics, and rhythmic dancing. Perhaps as a fitness method? The reason for this, she was not told. From time to time Mara Jade would train with her, including lightsaber dueling, dog fighting, and at times she would join her in the calisthenics training. Mara became the one friend she had made after leaving home. And she was also someone that K’yehlar could look up to and emulate as well. She embodied everything that she wanted to attain.

She had learned that Mara was known as one of the ‘Emperor’s Hands’. One of the Emperor’s trusted operatives to handle his personal bidding. This is what K’yehlar wanted to be. This is what she wanted to do. For the man who brought her from the brink, and taught her just who exactly she was. This was how she would repay him.

Several months after she had come to the retreat, something tragic had happened in the Empire. The Rebellion had destroyed the Emperor’s coveted Death Star in a battle in the Yavin System. Thankfully, The Emperor was not on board at the time of destruction, and Darth Vader had also escaped certain death.

It was not long after this event occurred that The Emperor returned to the retreat, and requested that K’yehlar meet him in his chambers.

She came to his chambers at the precise time requested, and knelt before him. “What is thy bidding, My Master.”

The Emperor motioned for her to rise, and she stood in front of him with her hands clasped firmly behind her back, “I’m sure that you have heard the news about what happened in the Yavin System recently. It has been all over the holonet.”

K’yehlar nodded, “Yes, Master, the destruction of the Death Star. It is all that has been talked about for the last couple of days. How could this have been done? Have the Rebels massed a large enough fleet in this short amount of time?”

Palpatine grimaced, “The Rebellion was able to obtain the technical readouts of the station, and found a weakness. A weakness we thought to have never been possible to exploit. A single Rebel pilot fired a proton missile into a shaft that was no more than two meters wide. Unfortunately it led straight to the reactor core, and it caused a chain reaction destroying the entire station. It happened seconds before they were able to fire on the small moon that the Rebel Base was on. The Rebellion would have been crushed in one shot. If it weren’t for that pilot!”

K’yehlar shook her head, “Who was the pilot? For someone to pull off a shot like that, they’d have to have…” Her eyes widened as she realized exactly what it meant. “Jedi?”

Palpatine nodded underneath his hooded cloak, “Your instincts serve you well. The pilot had to have had those types of abilities to make that shot. Several fighters attempted to make the shot before, and only impacted on the surface, from what Lord Vader has told me.”

“What would you have of me, My Master?” Palpatine smiled, “I like your eagerness, child. I am sending you on an assignment to infiltrate the Rebellion. You will take the X-Wing in which you have been training to fly, and go to the Corellia System. There you will go to the city of Coronet on Corellia, and infiltrate them by posing as an entertainer at the cantina there. Make it known that you want to join the rebellion. I will give you the proper materials that will ensure that they accept you. What I want from you, is to learn who this pilot is. What his name is. Learn all you can about him. He must be dealt with.”

K’yehlar nodded, “I am ready, Master. I will not fail you.” There were certainly butterflies in her stomach. This was her first assignment given to her by The Emperor. If she succeeded, she would certainly be known as an Emperor’s Hand. This is what she wanted, and what she wanted to do for him.

Palpatine slinked back into his seat, “See to it that you don’t. Prepare yourself. You leave first thing tomorrow morning. You will be given more information at that time, with contacts, and your identity. Force be with you, my child.”

K’yehlar bowed deeply showing respect, “Yes, My Master.” She returned to the elevator and the doors came whooshing around her, taking her back down within the retreat.

Out of the shadows, Darth Vader came out beside the Emperor. “She has grown strong. Perhaps beyond the scope of your expectations?”

Palpatine nodded, “I could sense that she was quite strong when I first met her. Perhaps I underestimated just how strong she actually is. It is of no matter. Once she has completed her task, we will dispose of her. It is as I said, she will do my bidding, and then her usefulness will end. You will see to that, Lord Vader.”

Vader nodded, “Yes, My Master.”

[RommieSG]

Chapter 5

K'yehlar woke the next morning and gathered all her gear. There was no telling when or if she'd return to this place, so she took her time. This had become her home over the last several months. True, her Sisters were no longer with her, but Mara had become very close to her during this time as well. With one last look of her room, she threw her pack over her shoulder and headed for the fighter bay.

Waiting for her there, next to her X-Wing, was Mara. A pack was sitting next to her at her feet. "Don't tell me you're coming with me."

Mara shook her head, "No, I'm being sent to Tatooine. I'd tell you where I was going, but I'm afraid I can't."

K'yehlar nodded, "I understand. Well take care of yourself. I want to see you again." She held her arms out to hug her.

Mara nodded, "I hope that someday we can." She embraced her, and the two girls held each other tight, as if they'd never see each other again. Then Mara pulled back for a moment, and leaned back in. She placed her soft supple lips upon K'yehlar's and kissed her. K'yehlar was alarmed at first, but for some reason it felt natural and she kept going with it.

The two pulled apart, and K'yehlar raised an eyebrow, "Why did you do that?"

Mara shrugged, "Why not?" She picked up the pack that was at her feet, and grinned, "Take care, K'yehlar."

K'yehlar watched as Mara disappeared into the flight bay, leaving her standing alone by the X-Wing. Pulling herself from the shock, she stowed her gear and then climbed into the cockpit. After a brief checklist and final checks, the fighter took off from the bay, and ascended through the atmosphere into space.

As she began the hyperspace calculations for Corellia, she traced her fingers along the curves of her lips. "My first kiss, was with a girl...it felt so....right." She pondered for a few moments more, until her navi-computer bleeped at her alerting that the hyperspace calculations were complete. She braced herself, activated the hyperdrive, and as the stars turned to lines, she was propelled towards her destination.

Landing at the starport on Coronet was an adventure in and of itself. She went through so many checkpoints, it was as though she were running a marathon. It was just as tiring. Thankfully the Empire gave their operatives excellent credentials, and she had no problems with her identification.

Her first stop after making her way through the starport was the cantina. She had to secure a job, whether it be dancing or playing music, she had to get her foot in the door somehow. After a short walk, she found herself in front of the Coronet Cantina. This was the hotspot here on Corellia. Although at this time of day you couldn't tell by looking at it.

She walked in, and could smell the Shisa smoke as soon as the door slid open. "Cantinas never change." The place was practically empty, save for a couple of people towards the back of the bar. One was the bartender, and the other was a blue Twi'lek. This must be Kestra, her contact. She dropped her gear, and headed towards the two.

"Hello, I'm Andromeda. I believe my agent spoke with you about a possible position here at the cantina?"

The blue Twi'lek turned and then smiled, as only a Twi'lek can. It made her miss her sisters all of a sudden. "Andromeda, of course. You came at a great time. We lost one of our dancers recently, and need a replacement. Can you start tonight?"

K'yehlar feigned entheusiasm, "Of course, I'd be more than happy to. And please, call me Rommie. All my friends do. I've kinda gotten used to it."

Kestra nodded, "Well you should know what's expected of you. You dance for the patrons of the cantina. You provide them with company. A shoulder to cry on, an ear to bend. They give you their tips, and at the end of the night, cantina gets ten percent. The only service we don't provide is sex. You want it, fine, just don't do it on our time. You got all that?"

It all came at her so fast, but it was exactly what she needed. She nodded, "Of course. I just need a place to get changed."

Kestra nodded with a grin, "Employees get their own apartment in the building out the back door. Yours is room #7. It's unlocked, and the key is on the table just inside the door. Be back here in one hour. You won't recognize the place the next time you see it. Be ready for a busy night."

K'yehlar grabbed her gear and went out the back door. The apartment building was right behind the cantina. Nothing too fancy, but one wouldn't expect much for free. She went down the hall to room #7 and opened the door. A modestly small apartment was accentuated by the sunlight shining through one of the windows. Sure enough the key was sitting right where Kestra said it would.

She unpacked a few of her things, and then decided what she would wear during her first night. A little black dress that flowed naturally across her body, and showed off just the right areas. A pair of long black gloves and suede boots completed the ensemble. She looked at herself in the mirror, and grinned, "They won't know what hit them."

[RommieSG]

K'yehlar spent several days working in the Cantina. Surprisingly she made a lot of credits in tips. Way more than she would have thought. Even Kara commented that she was surprised how well she did for such a beginner. When she could out do a Twi'lek in such a thing, that's saying something.

Unfortunately the reason that she was there in the first place, obtaining information about the pilot who destroyed the Death Star, had not paid off. Several pilots had come through, and some of them definitely showed signs of belonging to the Rebellion, but none of them let any information slip.

But perhaps tonight her luck would change. Two men walked through the hazy fog in the cantina and looked around. “Geeze Wedge, when you said you'd show me your home planet, I figured you'd show me things like Vreni Island, or the waterfalls.” The one referred to as 'Wedge' shook his head, “Come on Dack, we just got here. And after what we've been through, I could use a little down time.” The one called Dack's eyes wandered until they became fixed on K'yehlar. “You know buddy, you're right.” He slapped Wedge on the chest a couple times and walked over to where K'yehlar was leaning up against the bar.

“Um...excuse me, miss?” K'yehlar put on a her fake smile, which she had almost perfected, as many times as she's had to use it. “Heh, you don't have to call me Miss, flyboy. My name is Andromeda...but you can call me Rommie.” Dack had a sheepish grin, and his cheeks became flush. He was definitely green in more ways than one...maybe this was the one she had been waiting for. “Why don't you come over here, and we'll talk a while.” She leaned back and turned her attention to the bartender, “Kawark, would you bring our drinks over to our seats?” Kawark was a Rodian, who despite his small stature, seemed to be protective of Kara. Always there if some poor schmuck had a little too much to drink and got a little 'handy' with her. Pushing herself off the edge of the bar, she wrapped herself around Dack's arm and led him over to an alcove off to one side of the cantina. She sat him down, and then sat down next to him. She crossed her legs, one over the other, and over one of his as well.

“I couldn't help but overhear that you and your friend needed a little relaxation. Tough times out there in the black?” Dack chuckled nervously, “You don't know the half of it. Day in and day out, you wouldn't believe what the Empire can throw at ya.” K'yehlar's eyes lit up in fake enthrallment, “Oh, you must be a Rebel pilot. You know, I heard that it was only a fighter that took out the Death Star a while back, and not the fleet. Can you believe that? But you know better, right?”

Dack almost snorted in his drink that had been brought to them by Kawark. “Are you kidding? The fleet couldn't stop something like that. That and we barely had any fighters come back from that in the first place.” K'yehlar chuckled, “Oh now you're just pulling my leg.” She looked down, as Dack's hand had made it's way onto her thigh. He pulled it back as his cheeks flushed again, “No fooling. Hell my Squadron Commander was the one who took it out.”

This was it! She had finally found what she was looking for! She looked over to where Wedge had saddled up to the bar. “Him? He doesn't look anything special.” Dack shook his head, “No, not Wedge. I'm talking about Commander Skywalker. He was the one who destroyed the Death Star. Would you believe it was his first time in an X-Wing?” He started laughing, and K'yehlar joined him almost out of pity. “I'm going to be just like him. People already say I remind them of him a little.” K'yehlar grinned, “Well I'm sure you're a great pilot. You'll probably have your own squadron before you know it!” Dack blushed again, “Y-y-you really think so?” She grinned as she took a sip from her drink. Just then, Wedge came up to them, “Sorry to interrupt you two, but we've gotta move out. I just got a signal. They need us.” K'yehlar took her leg of Dack's as she uncrossed them, “But you boys just got here. Can't you stay a little while longer?” She really didn't want to go on playing the role now that she had what she wanted, but she didn't want to blow her cover either. “I'm afraid so Miss.” Wedge took her hand, and placed a creditchip in her palm, “Thank you for a lovely evening, but I need Don Juan.” She nodded, as Wedge dragged Dack away with him. She could hear him complaining all the way to the door.

She got up and went over to Kara by the bar. “I'm actually glad they left, I'm not really feeling well.” Kara gave her a smile of concern, and placed the back of her blue hand on her forehead, “You do feel a little warm. Go ahead and knock off for the rest of the night. It's nothing we can't handle around here.” K'yehlar smiled, “Thank you Kara. For everything. I appreciate it.” Now that she had her information, she probably wouldn't see her again, so she chose her words carefully. She placed the creditchip that Wedge had given her on the bar, and headed for the back entrance. Instead of going back to her room however, she went to a secluded place not too far away where she had a holo-transmitter set up for just this moment.

A few adjustments, a flick of a switch here, and soon she had the visage of Emperor Palpatine, as if she were standing in front of him. “My lord, I have the information you requested.” Palpatine flashed the hint of a grin, “Excellent, young one, I knew you would not disappoint.” K'yehlar blushed slightly, but did not hesitate. “From what I am told, it was a pilot by the name of Skywalker. He didn't give a first name, only that he was the Commander of his squadron.” Palpatine's eyes widened in the deep pools of his skull, “Are you certain you heard that right? Skywalker?” K'yehlar nodded, “Yes My Lord, quite certain. He said that it was his first time in an X-Wing as well. I realize that it sounds somewhat unbelievable, but I could sense that he was being truthful in what he said.”

Palpatine was silent for a moment, as if contemplating this new information. It felt as though he was hesitating for some reason. “Very well. You have done exemplary, young one. I shall see to it that you are taken care of. Stay where you are, and my agents will be there shortly.” K'yehlar nodded, “Yes, My Lord.” After his image vanished from the holo-transmitter, she couldn't help but smile to herself. He seemed pleased with her work, and perhaps she would be given what she had hoped for. A place by his side, as one of his 'Hands'.

A half hour went by. She took this time to slip into some less-revealing clothing that she had in her bag. She looked good in it, there was no question, but frilly revealing clothes just didn't suit her. As she was slipping on her boots, she heard noise in the alley. She jumped up onto a crate near one of the high windows, and looked to see a small Stormtrooper squad approaching. They came through the entrance, and K'yehlar smiled. “Boy, you guys don't waste any time, do you?” Without a word, the Stormtroopers raised their rifles, and pointed them at K'yehlar. “Wait a second, I'm one of you guys. Lord Palpatine said you guys were coming for me.” One of the Stormtroopers spoke through the comm system of his helmet, “His Excellency ordered us to this location to execute Order Sixty Six.” Sensing they were going to open fire, she jumped off the crate and hit the ground behind some other crates just as they opened fire, turning the crates into splinters. “What the hell is Order Sixty Six!!” The Stormtroopers responded only with more bolts from their blasters.

Curling up into a ball behind one of the larger crates, which must have had something stronger inside it, she was full of emotions. What was going on? Did the Emperor do this? What is Order Sixty Six? Why are they firing on her? She balled up all of her emotions, and using her force powers as a protective reflex let everything out at once with a scream. Her force powers pushed everything away from her with a powerful force, knocking everything including the Stormtroopers up against the wall. The troopers fell to the ground unconscious. K'yehlar was shocked at what she just did, but she didn't have any time to question it. She ran towards the door, picking up one of the troopers' E-11's from the ground. She probably couldn't do that push thing again if she tried.

She couldn't stick around here any longer, and if she tried to hide, she knew they'd find her. Her only chance was to make a break for the Starport, and try to make it to her X-Wing. Once she was out in space, she'd have a better chance of escaping. She took a deep breath, and sprinted towards the starport, keeping her eyes and her senses open for anything trying to stop her.

Surprisingly the streets were relatively empty, but not unexpected for this time of night. Perhaps Palpatine had sent an entire squad after her, and there was nobody left to stop her. This supposition was quickly put to rest when she got in sight of the starport, and saw the number of sentries guarding the hangar. She ducked behind a wall and calmed her breathing. This was the real thing...there was no do-overs, and if she was shot, it wasn't going to just sting. With one deep breath, she swung around the wall, and started firing. With two precise strikes, she caught two Stormtroopers with shots in the helmet. With an almost gymnastic-like quality, she dodged and avoided incoming blaster fire, shooting back with her own. How she wished she would have brought a lightsaber with her, even a training saber, to deflect back the shots. Miraculously, she made it to where her X-Wing was berthed, and climbed the rungs up to the cockpit. Before she was able to make it into the safety of the cockpit, a shot came out and hit her in the left shoulder-blade, causing her to scream.

Not even thinking, and merely reacting, she turned towards where the shot originated and with another scream thrust her right arm forward, as lightning shot out the palm of her hand, electrocuting the stormtrooper that had shot at her, as he writhed in pain on the floor of the hangar. With labored breath, she looked at her hand, wondering how the hell she did that...but had no time to further contemplate what was going on with her powers. She climbed as carefully as she could into the cockpit, and closed the hatch.

Firing up the repulsorlifts, the X-Wing lifted off the ground, and with a touch of the thrusters, it began moving forward out of the hangar, just as more stormtroopers arrived, and began firing at her. They were too late however, as she pushed the thrusters on full, and shot out of the hangar bay, towards the sky, ascending towards space. She bit her lower lip as her shoulder throbbed with pain, but she didn't have any time to think about it, for no sooner did she break through the atmosphere into space, than she had three TIE Fighters encroach her. They did not hail her, they did not signal her, rather they opened fire on her without so much as a word.

K'yehlar hoped that none of her powers would suddenly manifest themselves here in a dogfight. She had no flightsuit on, no helmet, and her left arm was barely useable at the moment. The last thing she needed was for one of her powers to tear her own ship apart while fighting off bogeys. “Okay boys, you want to play? Let's see just how good you really are.” Killing all forward momentum, and firing her retrothrusters, she essentially braked in space, as the TIE's rushed past her. She homed in on the right-most fighter, and locked on. She pulled the trigger to fire the blasters...and nothing happened. All her instruments were telling her that everything was in the green, but nothing was firing. “Damn you Palpatine!” As the other two fighters were coming back around, there was nothing she could do. She closed down her S-Foils, and pushed her thrusters to full. So far, at least they were working.

She couldn't fight, so escape was her only option. She quickly pulled up the navi-com, and started warming up the hyperdrive. But where would she go? She rubbed her lips on her forearm...and it hit her, “Mara...” She pulled up the hyper computations for Tatooine. She didn't know where she was on Tat, or who she was, but if anyone would help her, it would be Mara. During this whole time, she was also flying evasive maneuvers, attempting to stay out of the TIE's line of fire. Her wings were strafed a couple times, but for the most part she was able to avoid them. After a few moments, the navi-com beeped at her, signaling that the hyper computations were complete. She pulled the fighter straight, punched the hyperdrive......and nothing happened. With yet another scream, she bashed her fist on the flight console, and as stars turned to lines, the hyperdrive kicked in and she was hurtling towards her destination. “Can this day possibly get any worse?”

[RommieSG]

K'yehlar stirred back to consciousness as her navicomm beeped at her, indicating that the ship was about to exit hyperspace. Hopefully it was working well enough that she had actually made the Tatooine system, and didn't end up smack dab in the middle of Coruscant.

The ship came out of hyperspace, and the swirling vortex reverted back to the familiar panorama of empty space. Flicking a few switches, she confirmed that she had arrived in the Tatooine system, but before she could breathe a sigh of relief, warning indicators began to light up. The engines were beginning to fail. With everything else disabled, the Engines were the one thing left that was working, and now they're going out. “Damn, I've gotta remember to stop tempting fate.”

The engines weren't completely dead yet. She began maneuvering towards the primary planet in the system, Tatooine itself. If she could get the ship down, and find Mara, everything would be all right...she hoped.

“TRD-3471, this is Tatooine Space Dock. State your business.”

She was so busy trying to keep the engines going as long as she could, that she hadn't realized that she had come into range of the Space Dock. “Space Dock, this is TRD-....whatever! I have engines failing, and if things don't start going right, this ship will be making a crash landing somewhere on the planet.”

In a clearly apathetic voice, the Dock Controller replied, “Well that'll certainly save you on docking fees. Look, I'd love to help you, but this isn't exactly Ord Mantell here.”

K'yehlar rolled her eyes and thumped her head on the back of her flightseat. “This day is getting worse all the time. Okay, then you'd better let someone know down there that I'm coming in. Because it looks like I'm coming whether anyone likes it or not.”

With the same apathetic tone, the Dock Controller replied, “Hell, nobody cares who comes and goes down there, so long as you don't land on a house. Best of luck to you, Space Dock out.”

She looked at her comm system incredulously before her flight stick started jerking in her hands. She had begun entering the atmosphere, and with failing engines, it was going to be a bumpy ride. “I don't suppose that inertial dampeners would be working would they?” It was just then that she realized that she hadn't heard a peep out of her astromech this entire time. That would explain a lot. She pulled as hard as she could on the flight stick to alter her descent angle to keep from burning up in the atmosphere. It was more of a struggle since her shoulder was now throbbing with pain. “Oh yeah, now the adrenaline has to wear off. Couldn't you have waited five minutes!”

She struggled to keep the ship at it's angle, but finally made it through the atmosphere. She started to breathe a sigh of relief when she remembered that she now had to land the ship, which was falling at an incredible rate of speed. “Oh smeg.....” Before she knew it, she was rapidly approaching a landing. She activated the retro-thrusters...but nothing happened. “Oh no, don't do this to me.” She hit the button over and over again. “Work you frakking piece of dreeeeennnn!!!!!” Moments before touchdown, the retro-thrusters finally kicked in. It wasn't fast enough to slow her down significantly, but it was enough to slow her down enough to where the impact wouldn't kill her. As she approached the surface, she pulled up on the flight stick, and the belly of the ship slammed into the sandy desert that Tatooine mostly consisted of. The ship skipped a couple of times like a stone over a pond, and finally came to rest in a sand dune. K'yehlar banged her head on the forward console, and she fell unconscious.

When she came to, Tatooine's binary suns were beginning to set, not leaving much time to prepare before nightfall. She unstrapped herself from the cockpit and cringed as she felt a new pain in her forehead. She gingerly brushed her fingers along it, and winced at the stinging sensation of the open wound. She would have to find a medic somewhere to have her wounds treated, before they got too bad. Normally she'd meditate to block the pain, but she didn't have the time or the patience for it right now.

She stumbled her way out of the cockpit, and took a look at what damage her ship had taken. The S-Foils looked to be intact, save for the attached weapons. No big deal there, since they didn't work in the first place. She looked up at the lifeless astromech in it's dockport, and growled. “Lot of good you were up there.” She opened the external bay and grabbed her pack. It was filled with a few supplies but not much. Surprisingly everything was still intact even after the crash. She pulled out a datapad, and activated it. She sighed relief when it blinked to life. A few strokes here, a reroute there, and she was connected to the planetary system. “Okay, where am I?” A few moments after submitting the inquiry she was given her GPS location. “Closest city is.....Anchorhead. Let's hope there isn't an Imperial Squad on patrol there. 4 klicks...” She turned with the pad as if it were a compass, “...That way.” She put the pad back into her pack, and slung it over her good shoulder. She pulled camouflage netting out of the hold and covered up the ship as best she could with her arm the way it was. With the suns quickly setting, she began her journey to Anchorhead.

Tatooine was a desolate planet. Nearly the entire planet was covered in desert terrain. She remembered from reading up on the planet, that they had to farm moisture from below the surface. Water was a precious resource on the planet, more than tibanna gas or spice, to them. If only they could export the sand that was starting to fill up in her boots. They clearly had enough of that. The walk seemed to get longer and longer as she pressed on. Her strength was diminishing, and the sun had nearly set. She felt as though she were about to pass out when she came over a sand dune to see the lights of a small town up ahead. This encouraged her to go on, and she willed herself to press on. She eventually made it to the outskirts of Anchorhead, and didn't see a soul. Her vision was becoming blurry with each passing step. Turning down one of the streets, she found a woman walking up one side, and K'yehlar headed towards her. K'yehlar stopped in front of her, and just before her eyes rolled up into the back of her head, she was able to get out, “Medic....” and then collapsed at the woman's feet.


When she woke up, she found herself in a bed somewhere. An IV was in her left arm, and she could feel some sort of bandage on her forehead. “Ah good, you've finally come to. I was beginning to wonder about you. I'll let your friend know you're awake. Uh..don't try to sit up. With those painkillers in your system you're liable to fall out of bed and bust your stitches. You wouldn't want to make have to do those all over again would you? I didn't think so. Now be a good girl, and lie still.”

K'yehlar did feel a sense of lightness, almost giddyness. Whatever the doctor had given her, she gave her something good. The doctor returned with another woman by her side. The doctor nodded at the woman and then left her alone with K'yehlar. “You certainly know how to make an entrance, don't you? Doc says she's surprised you made it as far as you did in your condition. Why you had to do it on my boots is another matter, but it looks like you're going to be all right.” K'yehlar grinned almost too happily, most likely because of the drugs, “Sorry 'bout that. I'm K'yehlar, what's your name?” The woman chuckled, “The name is Ni'Kol, Ni'Kol Everbright. I run a shipwright business over in the City of Angyls. I just happened to be here in Anchorhead on a supply run when you fell at my feet. All the times I dream of girls falling at my feet, the one time it happens has to be a casualty.” K'yehlar smiled, “Well thank you, Nicole, I 'preciate it.” Ni'Kol grinned, “No cutie, not Nicole, Ni'Kol...oh what the hell I guess they sound the same. Chances are you won't remember this conversation in the morning anyhow.” K'yehlar grinned and then peered at Ni'Kol, “Did you say you fix ships? My ship is broken. I crashed it...somewhere around here.” She looked around and saw her transponder on one of the nearby tables, “Over there, the little blinky thing. That'll show you where it is. Can you fix it?” Ni'Kol rolled her eyes, “No matter how cute they are, in the end, all they want is to have their ship fixed.” Ni'Kol took a long look at K'yehlar and then sighed, “Tell you what. I'll have it taken to my ship in CoA, and see what I can do. But it won't be for free.” She picked up the transponder and sighed again, “I'm only doing this because of how cute you are. I'll make sure the Doc gives you my info. Just rest up for now. Hopefully next time we talk you won't be quite as loopy.” K'yehlar grinned, “Thank you, Nicole.” She chuckled and pulled her covers up tighter around her. Ni'Kol shook her head as she walked off, “The things I do for cute girls...”

[RommieSG]

K'yehlar woke up and rubbed her eyes. They took a few moments longer to adjust to the light than usual. How long had she been asleep? She slowly sat up, which may have been a mistake as she felt somewhat dizzy, and her mouth felt completely dry.

“It's about time you woke up. I was beginning to think I'd have to install bunk beds in here, just to accommodate you.” The doctor was holding a glass of some liquid which he handed to her, “Drink this slowly. We wouldn't want you throwing up all over the floor now, would we? If you didn't catch that, please don't throw up on my floor.”

K'yehlar chuckled as much as she could with a dry throat, as she took the drink from the doctor. She sipped it slowly, and almost laughed as the carbonation tickled her nose. When she was lubricated enough to speak, she asked the obvious, “How long have I been here?” The doctor looked up at the wall chronometer, “Let's see, Nik brought you here about...six cycles ago. A little less than six galactic standard days, if that helps.”

K'yehlar shook her head, “Nik? Who's Nik? I'm afraid I don't remember much.” She tried her best to remember the last thing that happened before waking up...”Is Nik who I fell onto when I came into town? Oh no, she isn't mad is she?” The doctor chuckled, “Mad? No, actually she thought you were kind of cute. I was afraid you wouldn't remember your conversation with her with all the pain medication I had to put you on. Here, lean forward, that bacta patch should be ready to come off now.”

She leaned forward as the doctor sat next to her on the bed. He pulled down one shoulder of her gown, and slowly peeled off the bacta patch that had been placed on her shoulder-blade. “Honestly I'm surprised you made it as far as you did. You lost a lot of blood from this wound, not to mention the concussion you sustained. I can only assume from your crash.” The doctor's mention of the crash caused K'yehlar to suddenly remember crash-landing her X-Wing, and slamming her head against the console as the ship slammed into the surface. She placed her hand on her forehead, surprised to only feel a few scratches. “The gash in your forehead actually healed quite nicely. This however needed more delicate work on it.” The doctor finished removing the bacta patch, and ran his hand gently over the area, “Do you feel any sudden pains? Any numbness?” K'yehlar slowly shook her head negatively, “No, just your hand rubbing against it. Which actually feels kind of good.” The doctor chuckled again, “Remarkable. You may have a small scar from it, but you've healed better than I could have imagined from when Nik brought you in here.”

K'yehlar took another sip from her drink, and then cleared her throat, “Does Nik live here in town? I'd like to thank her for helping me the way she did.” The doctor seemed to chuckle a lot for some reason, “No, she doesn't live here in Anchorhead. She runs Angyl Industries over in City of Angyls, not far from Mos Entha. Seeing as she's working on your ship, your best bet is to probably take the local shuttle over there.” She looked around the room for her belongings, looking for the transponder to the X-Wing, “Don't worry, you gave it to her yourself. Granted you were jacked up higher than a Hutt on Boonta's Eve, but you can trust Ni'Kol. Best shipwright in the quadrant if you ask me.”

K'yehlar took a deep breath, “Thank you for taking care of me Doctor...” The doctor nodded and finished her sentence, “...Kindred. And that's what I do.” K'yehlar shook her head slowly, so as not to give herself another headache, “Thank you Doctor Kindred, but I'm not sure how I can repay you. I have no credits.” Kindred shook his head in return, “To know that you've recovered is payment enough for me. But I'm afraid that won't work with Ni'Kol. Though I'm sure the two of you can work something out. I'll be in the other room. Your pack with your clothes is over there. I'll let you get dressed. Be sure to finish your drink, and get re-hydrated.”

Doctor Kindred left the room, and K'yehlar sat up fully, this time with less of a headache. She pulled off the covers and swung her feet around and onto the floor. She was surprised she came away as unscathed as she did. Only the blaster wound and a nasty gash to the head? Was it her force powers protecting her again? There's no way of telling now, with as little as she could recall. She drank the last of her drink, and then tended to getting dressed. She didn't have anything fancy left. A pair of loose black pants, a white camisole top, and standard issue combat-style boots. She looked around and looked at herself in a mirror. Her face was relatively clear of bruises and scratches save for a a couple on her forehead. A thin white line ran a couple of centimeters across, undoubtedly the scar left from the gash. It wasn't even noticeable unless you were looking specifically for it. A constant reminder for her, of a very bad day.

She picked up her pack, swung it around her shoulder and walked out of the room into the outer office. She thanked Doctor Kindred once again, and he gave her enough credits to get a shuttle to City of Angyls. From what he said, once she got there, she couldn’t miss Ni’Kol’s shop. It pretty much ‘was’ the City of Angyls.

She made her way to the shuttleport from the Doctor’s office, and waited only a few minutes for the next shuttle to arrive. The few people who were waiting with her, climbed aboard quickly, and without hesitation the shuttle departed for its destinations. City of Angyls wasn’t the shuttle’s first stop, but everyone got on and off efficiently, and no more than half an hour later, she was stepping off the shuttle in the City of Angyls.

She was the only one who got off the shuttle at the port, but sure enough as Kindred had told her, off in the distance was a large hangar, and she could hear the whine of machinery from where she was standing. A short walk, and she was at the outer doors of the hangar, looking in at all the ships and ship components laden throughout. She looked around and could see her X-Wing further back towards the other end of the hangar. She walked around the building and came to the other side, where someone was hip deep in the X-Wing’s underbelly.

“Uhm, excuse me. I’m looking for a Ni’Kol Everbright?” K’yehlar realized she sounded like some lost little girl the way she talked. But that really wasn’t far from the truth right now. Once again in her life, her entire world had been turned upside down. “Yeah, just a minute.” The surprisingly female voice came from the chassis of the X-Wing, and from underneath crawled out a lanky brunette with the top of her coveralls tied around her waist. She wore a simple white top, which was smudged here and there with a glob of engine grease. The woman smiled when she seemed to recognize K’yehlar, “Well cutie, I see you’re back on your feet. Quicker than I would have figured, too. You look good for someone who looked like she’d been through hell.”

K’yehlar blushed slightly, “Thank you. Both for the compliment, and for helping me. Doctor Kindred said that we had a conversation, but I was pretty drugged up at the time. I can see though that I did indeed give you my ship’s transponder.” Ni’Kol glanced back at the X-Wing, “Oh yeah, this thing…what a piece of junk. The wiring inside was shot all to hell. Your astromech was deader than the Krayt Dragon, and your weapons weren’t even hooked up. Wouldn’t matter though, because they were obsolete pieces of junk probably wouldn’t have fired anyway. Only thing you had going for you were the engines, but now they’re fried. To put it simply, you got a chassis here, but not much else.”

Every time Ni’Kol had told her of the components that had failed, stabbed at K’yehlar like a finger in an open wound. The wiring was probably set up to make it look as though she were running at one-hundred percent the entire time, when in actuality, nothing was working at all. She was set up to fail from the beginning. Before she even left the retreat… “Why…”

Even though K’yehlar didn’t mean to ask that question out loud, Ni’Kol answered her anyway, “Judging by the blaster marks on the S-Foils, I’d imagine because someone wanted you dead. Now it’s not my place to ask who or why, but I’ll do what I can to make her flyable again, and set it up to where you can protect yourself. Not gonna be cheap by any means, but you’ve got a better shot with me, than you would with Watto in Mos Espa. That little bug would gouge you out of house and home to line his pockets.”

K’yehlar slumped down to her knees, looking down on the floor. “I was afraid of this. You don’t have any credits do you? You fled wherever you were coming from, and all you have is the blouse on your back.” K’yehlar nodded, slightly, not making eye-contact. “Gah, why is it always the cute ones who never have any credits.” Ni’Kol sighed for a moment, and scratched her head. She looked the X-Wing over from bow to stern. “Okay, I can cut a little off if I trade in some of these parts that are on her already. Hell, maybe I can try to swindle Watto out of a few credits if I’m lucky. But I’m not a charity case. I will need compensation. So you’re gonna have to get a job.”

K’yehlar looked up at Ni’Kol. “I’ve been an entertainer before. Know any cantinas around that are hiring girls?” She saw a hint of a smirk form across Ni’Kol’s lips, which quickly disappeared. She was thinking something naughty, but it was too quick for her to catch it. “It just so happens I know of a cantina in Mos Eisley. Wretched town, but the cantina is always busy, and always looking for a good looking girl. I know a couple of the girls there, and Wuher owes me one for setting him up with those droid detectors a while back. I’ll send a comm. over and set things up.” K’yehlar got to her feet, and without even thinking gave Ni’Kol a big hug, “Thank you Ni’Kol, you’re amazing.” Ni’Kol started to blush, as she returned the embrace, “Yeah, I know, I know. At least you stopped calling me Nicole.”

Ni’Kol contacted Wuher in Mos Eisley, and arranged for K’yehlar to start working there the next day, since it was already getting close to when the twin suns were about to set, and the place was already packed. Nik even went so far as to drive her to the Mos Entha Starport and front her some credits so she can find a place to stay in Eisley. Most of the time she was shaking her head, as if saying ‘I don’t know why I do things like this.’

She took the direct shuttle to Mos Eisley, and was able to find a modest one room, one bath apartment close to the cantina. It had just previously been rented to another former entertainer at the cantina. To her surprise some of their clothes were left behind. The landlord said she could either keep them or throw them out, as the previous tenant would not be coming back. Something about leaving for Coruscant for her ‘big break’. Judging by the Lekku wraps and the see-through body wraps, the previous tenant was a Twi’lek. For a moment it brought her memories of her sisters Trista and B’elanna. It had been some time since she had left them, but she never meant to hurt them. Hopefully they were doing well, and nothing has happened to them. Someday, she’ll have to go back and see them.

She went through the rest of the clothes, and found some modest dresses, casual clothes, and surprisingly everything fit her, if just a little snug in certain areas. Even the shoes and boots fit her, which was a relief, since all she had left were essentially combat boots. She laid out a dress to wear to the cantina the next day, and got some rest.

She was woken up the next morning, not by any alarm, but by a heavy-cruiser taking off out of the starport, which was also closeby. She hadn’t realized just how loud it was, but it was a good indication that the day had already started in the town of Mos Eisley. She got up and took a quick shower, which felt like heaven to her. Not counting the time she spent on Corellia, it had been some time since she had a hot shower. She put on a dark purple dress, which fit snugly around her figure. It showed all her curves in all the right places. She put on a pair of matching bracelets, and slipped on a pair of black leather boots, zipping them up along the sides. A quick check in the mirror, to make sure her hair was presentable, and she left her apartment, locking it up behind her. Not far from her door was one of the many vending machines she had seen throughout the major cities, and grabbed a nutrient bar with a couple of her spare credits. She wolfed it down before she got to the main entrance of the Cantina where she was set to begin work.

She entered through the sliding doors, and past the droid detectors that Ni’Kol had mentioned. Something that the proprietor, Wuher, had against druids. He didn’t like him, he wouldn’t serve him, and if he saw them he kicked them right out. With some druids looking more and more like real people, better safe than sorry. She went up to the bar, and the gruff bartender looked as though he hadn’t smiled in decades. “Oh yeah, you’re the one Ni’Kol told me about. Said you’ve done this before, so you know how it works. Go find yourself an alcove and do your thing. Place is about to pick up here soon.”

One thing about Wuher was, he was a no nonsense guy. He hated druids, blasters, and was in it pretty much for the money. The clientele was also much more diverse than what graced the Cantina on Corellia. Aliens from all corners of the galaxy were here. Ithorians, Wookiees, Humans, Bothans, Jawas…and the band seemed to be made up entirely of Biths. They were playing a jazzy little tune that was a little too fast to what she preferred, but she found an alcove and started dancing anyways. Not long after, she was already starting to attract customers. People laying down credits for her to do this, that, but for the most part just keep on dancing. She could sense and feel people watching her. One was stronger than any others, but with so many minds and activities going on, she couldn’t pinpoint who it was. She could tell it wasn’t hostile…if anything, it was…almost erotic what she felt…

After what seemed like forever it was time to take a break. She grabbed some blue milk, and sat down in the back of the cantina where the rest of the girls had congregated. She started thinking to herself, as she figured how many credits she had already made, and how many more she was going to need. Then she started thinking about what she was going to do after that. Has the Empire already stopped, or would they keep coming for her…

“So you’re new here I see.” K’yehlar had been so deep in thought about this and that, that she was caught completely unaware that someone had sat down next to her. A somewhat tall Zabrak woman, just slightly shorter than she was, with brighter red hair that was tied back in a braided ponytail. “Huh? Oh, yeah. I kinda got stranded here recently. Figured until I can get off I need to do something to earn credits.” She kept her wits about her not to give away too much information, just in case someone was an Imperial Spy. The woman giggled, “My name is Kili'kaa. Most people call me Kili.” K’yehlar grinned, “Nice to meet you, Kili’kaa. I’m And….” May as well use her real name. If a spy does come, it’s best to learn who they are now rather than later. “I’m K’yehlar.” She stretched out and felt Kili’s force aura, and looked her up and down. No sudden changes, so either she’s really good, or she wasn’t a spy at all.

“So, how are the patrons here treating ya K'yehlar?” She rolled her eyes, “Eh, alright so far. Definitely a far cry from the clean cantina in Coronet, on Corellia.” This caused Kili to almost choke on her drink, as she started to chuckle, “You have no idea how bad this place can be. Don't worry though, you'll be fine. Just remember to always have a blaster of some kind handy.” She stood up and pulled her skirt back off her right leg, revealing a thigh-holster and a hold-out blaster. “Dancers best friend in this place. Keeps the creeps honest, most times.” K'yehlar glances at the blaster, but for some reason she finds herself slowly eyeing up Kili's leg. Setting her leg back on the floor Kili grabs her empty mug and heads for the main bar area. “Come on newbie, break's over.” K'yehlar gathers herself and gets up to follow Kili out of the break room. They entertain people for a few more hours before calling it a night.

Kili headed towards the starport to catch a shuttle to where she lived, while K’yehlar headed to her apartment. She took all her clothes off and placed them aside for cleaning later. She hopped into the shower, and turned the water on. She leaned up against the wall of the shower and thought about her first night at the Cantina. She certainly had respect for those who did this for a living. And then her thoughts turned to Kili…the one she had met at the Cantina. For some reason she couldn’t stop staring at her legs ever since she showed her the hold-out blaster. And her eyes, grey with just a hint of green to them, seemed to sparkle at her while they talked. “What the hell am I thinking. Girl that good looking probably has a boyfriend or something.” She chuckled to herself as she thought of various things. “I’ve been around Ni’Kol too much.” She turned the water in the shower cold for a few brief moments before jumping out and dressing in some loose fitting clothes, and then fell into bed.

Over the next few days, K’yehlar and Kili spend their breaks talking. She still can’t take her eyes off of Kili’s, but it only goes to help strengthen the bond that she feels that she’s forming with her. With all that she’s been through as of late, she needs all the friends she can get, because who knows what could happen from day to day.

One day, she and Kili both had the same day off, and Kili suggested that the two of them go around and do some shopping. K’yehlar dressed in some modest clothes. A v-neck long sleeve black top, loose flowing slacks, and a pair of boots with a heel to them. Oddly enough she had gotten used to the temperature of the planet, and wearing black didn’t effect her anymore. She preferred to dress in black anyway, so all for the better. She checked the chrono inside the starport, and tapped her foot when she noticed that Kili was already five minutes late. It wasn’t until she was nearly half an hour late before her stomach started to rumble a little. She went outside the starport to grab a nutrient bar from the vending machine when Kili came running out, and quickly spotted her.

“Sorry K'ye. I got to working on Death Note and lost track of time.” Just as K’yehlar had gotten used to calling her Kili, Kili’kaa had started calling her K’ye. “Death Note? That's the name of your ship?” Kili blushed slightly and grinned at her. The next couple of hours, the two girls did some shopping throughout Mos Eisley. Despite it’s horrible reputation as a hive for scum and villainy, the commerce market got the short end of the stick because of it. There were many little trinkets strewn throughout the various little shops, and some items seemed like rare treasures. K’yehlar kept her purchases light, as she really didn’t have much in the way of ‘petty cash’.

After a while, even though it was their day off, the two stopped into the cantina to have a drink. After a while, a young man, who couldn’t have been more than twenty tops, came up to where they were sitting in one of the alcoves. “I don't mean to interrupt, but would either of you be a woman named Kili'kaa Fly-Hyte?” Kili’kaa seemed to be surprised, and answered, “Yeah, I am. Who wants to know?” The man looked around as if not wanting to be seen or heard. Not hard to do in a place like this. So many time had she overheard or sensed something a little less than legit taking place just in the short time she was working there. “I'm Luke Skywalker. I was told you were a very capable pilot and I could use your help.”

It couldn’t be. Right here in front of her, as plain as day, was the man whose name she was sent to find out. Essentially the entire reason why she was in the predicament she was in. If Kili hadn’t said something right then and there, K’yehlar would have probably gone catatonic. “K'ye, I don't wanna disappoint ya by cutting the day short, but, well, can I get a raincheck on the rest of the day?” K’yehlar put on the quickest fake smile you’d ever seen, and did her best to hide her emotions that were welling up inside her. “Sure Kili. It's all right. Never turn down helping someone when they ask politely.”

Kili stood from the table and followed Skywalker out of the cantina. As soon as they were out of sight, K’yehlar stood from the table herself and left through the back door. She reached behind her, and tucked into her pants, pulls out her datapad. She syncs the pad with not only that Tatooine system, but all planetary and space identification systems. Once she had connection confirmation, she punched in the name “Death Note”. She went to a back alley and leaned up against a wall, while waiting for a hit.

Her thoughts were probably broadcasting to any force sensitive in the city, but she wasn’t even considering that at the moment. Her thoughts centered on Kili. Someone she had become very close to lately, she hoped that she wouldn’t turn out to be an Imperial Spy under and alias. A little less than half an hour went past, and her pad began blinking at her. She quickly glanced through the important elements of the report. “Let's see here. Death Note… Incom X-Wing fighter… Heavily modified… Pilot unknown but apparently badly wanted. Hmmm, dozens of TIE kills… Recently believed to be responsible for damaging and chasing off The Instigator.” She could feel a wave of relief wash over her, as it turns out that she’s not an Imperial Spy…moreso, it appears she may be a part of the Rebellion. “It pays to have a backdoor to Imperial records. I owe you for that, Mara. Alright Kili… now that I know who you really are, what should I do about you?” K’yehlar sighed to herself as she placed the datapad back where she had retrieved it. “It’s never easy.”

This post has been edited by RommieSG: 24 September 2009 - 02:56 PM

[RommieSG]

K’yehlar spent the next few days essentially alone. Aside from Kili, she hadn’t really made any other friends, unless you counted Ni’Kol. She spent this time thinking to herself, while dancing and entertaining in the cantina. Especially on her breaks, which she used to spend talking to Kili. Now that she pretty much knows that she’s a Rebel, what does she do? Can she even still consider herself aligned with the Empire after what’s happened to her? The only constant she could agree with, was that she could trust Kili. That much she believed in. As for Ni’Kol, it was about time that she paid her a visit, to see how her ship was coming along.

Her next day off came up, and she took the shuttle to the City of Angyls. The same hustle and bustle was taking place at Angyl Industries, although some of the ships had come and gone since she was here last. She went around to the backside of the hangar where her ship was last being worked on. Surprisingly she found it sitting outside, with its landing struts out. K’yehlar could tell that it was Ni’Kol hanging over the side of the cockpit with her long legs dangling over the side. She had forgone the worksuit today, and seemed to be wearing a pair of shorts that showed off her well-toned legs. K’yehlar couldn’t help but stare, but then soon remembered why she came. “So how’s she coming, Nik?”

Ni’Kol peered over the side of the cockpit and grinned at the sight of K’yehlar, “It comes and it goes, unfortunately.” She hopped down from the cockpit and wiped the sweat off her brow. “I was able to get some parts, but the wiring is proving to be tricky. It was shot all to hell when I started working on it, but some of these parts aren’t exactly designed for the X-Wing. I’m having to modify both your ship and the parts to get them to work.”

She looked over her ship, and saw that the weapons had already been upgraded, as well as the astromech. Instead of the R5 unit that she used to have, an R2 unit was now in the docking slot beeping away. It was a cute one, with a purple trim to it. “Nik…call me crazy, and with all I went through you wouldn’t be to far off the mark. But…was this ship purple when you started working on it?”

She climbed up the rungs next to the cockpit to find that many of the panels on the ship had been painted purple. The astromech was purple. There was a lot that was purple. “Well after our last conversation, I figured you needed to change the look of your ship, to avoid being picked out by any blockades along the way. I even changed your transponder code, so they couldn’t fix on that either.” K’yehlar scratched her head, “But why purple?” Ni’Kol blushed slightly, “Cause….I thought you’d look good in purple?” K’yehlar looked down at Ni’Kol, and grinned slightly, “Well it doesn’t look so bad. I mean it’s not like the blasters shoot purple bolts as well.” Ni’Kol had an expression like a Kima caught in headlights. “You’re kidding me, even the blasters fire purple? You certainly don’t half-ass anything, do you Nik?” Ni’Kol just grinned, “I do my best.”

The two of them retreated into the hangar, and Ni’Kol showed her some of the other jobs that she had been working on for other people. There were a couple other X-Wings around, as well as some ships that she wasn’t exactly familiar with. Being mainly used to Imperial and Rebel used ships, she wasn’t surprised at how many others there were. As Ni’Kol was running through some of the modifications she had made to a Kihranx Light Fighter, K’yehlar noticed a small cylinder sitting on one of the workbenches. It didn’t look like any ship part that she was familiar with, so she picked it up to look at it. It was heavier than it looked. She started shaking it, but couldn’t hear anything inside. When she looked into the tip of the cylinder, Ni’Kol shouted at her. “Don’t look into that! I’ve had to send two technicians to Kindred for doing that.” Shocked, K’yehlar held the object away from her. “Press that little button on the side, and shake it twice.” She found the small button, and shook it twice. Instantly, the cylinder telescoped into a metal staff. It reminded her of one she used to train with back at the retreat. “Unbelievable.”

She stepped back from the workbench into a more open area, and began swinging the staff around. The staff moved effortlessly through her hands, and felt like an extension of her body. “Found it wedge under the seat of an M-1 Gunship that I salvaged. I’m not even sure where something like that would come from.” Ni’Kol watched as a virtual ballet ensued between K’yehlar and the staff. It was as if the two were dancing together right there in the middle of her shop. “I don’t know where it comes from. But I think I know where it belongs.” K’yehlar stopped ‘dancing’ with the staff, and breathed excitedly, “Really? I can have this?” Ni’Kol nodded, “I have no use for it. I’m usually up to my elbows in ship chassis. Watching you with that, though, it’s like it was made for you.” K’yehlar pushed the button and shook it a couple of times again, and the staff retracted back to the cylinder. She ran up to Ni’Kol and gave her a hug, “Oh thank you, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.” Ni’Kol blushed and returned the hug, “Just make sure you pay me for your X-Wing, and I’ll be satisfied.”

K’yehlar pulled back, and looked back at her ship. “How long until you get all the bugs worked out?” Ni’Kol took a deep breath and blew it out her cheeks, “Should only take a couple more days. Then I’ll take her out to Lok and back for a test flight, make sure I got all the bugs worked out of the system. Then she should be all good to go.”

K’yehlar looked at her X-Wing from bow to stern…realizing that this was ‘her’ ship now. Outside of the staff Ni’Kol had just given her, and some of the clothes she had liberated from her apartment, she didn’t have anything else. “I’m going to stop back by in a couple of days to put some things in the storage compartment, for safekeeping. Who knows when I may get robbed or whatever living in Mos Eisley.” Ni’Kol nodded, “I know what you mean. I actually had my first shop in Mos Eisley. Figured it’d be the perfect place to set up shop being the busiest starport on the planet. But you wouldn’t believe how many people tried to swindle me or rob me blind there. So I came out here, built my own hangar and shop, and I don’t even have to advertise.” K’yehlar grinned, “Your reputation speaks for itself it would seem. You’ve certainly helped me more than anyone else would have.” Ni’Kol simply blushed. K’yehlar could sense that she wanted to say something naughty, but kept herself reserved. K’yehlar chuckled slightly.

“Well, I’ve got to get back to Eisley. There’s something I need to pick up before work tomorrow. Speaking of which, have you been getting the credits I’ve been sending you?” Ni’Kol shook herself into focus on what K’yehlar was saying, rather than certain body parts. “Oh…yes, they’ve been coming in. I’ve already used some of it on picking up a part here and there for the ship. Same goes for the astromech. I was able to pick it up, and already have it programmed. She’s been helping me with the wiring, which has sped things up tremendously. Her name is Luna…and no I did not name her that. It was already pre-programmed into its personality chip. Thought it was cute, so I left it.” K’yehlar looked back at Ni’Kol who merely shrugged at her.

She climbed up the rungs on the cockpit once again to get a closer look at the purple-trimmed astromech. “So you’re Luna huh? Ni’Kol is right, it’s a cute name.” The R2 unit beeped and chirped in response. She looked to the console in the cockpit, which had also gotten an upgrade, and read the response, “Thank you Master. I hope I’ll be of some help.” She grinned, “I’m sure you will, but don’t call me Master. Just call me K’yehlar, or Kye, if you can’t spell it. Not many people can, actually.” Luna chirped, “As you wish, K’yehlar.” She grinned, “Very good, you certainly are cute.” She climbed down from the cockpit, and looked back at Ni’Kol. I’ll see you in a couple of days. Thank you again for the staff. I’ll be sure to put it to good use.” Ni’Kol grinned and nodded as K’yehlar departed.

“There’s something about that girl. I can’t quite put my finger in it…err…on it.” Ni’Kol blushed redder than she had before. She was only thankful K’yehlar had gotten out of earshot before she had said it. Luna chirped something, and Ni’Kol looked up at her and huffed, “Oh shut up!!”

[RommieSG]

Tatooine Star System, six days after meeting Alliance High Command...

As the stars return to their normal state the pilot does a quick scan. Finding no sign of Imperial ships she angles the X-Wing down and accelerates towards the planet below. Breaking through the atmosphere she drops down till she has the fighter flying five hundred meters over the surface. After spending the previous 4 days in the cockpit of her craft Kili'kaa Fly-Hyte cannot wait to land and climb out. That is if she has the strength to do so.

City of Angyl's - Ni'Kol's Shop...

As promised, K'yehlar was returning to Ni'Kol's shop to drop off some supplies in her X-Wing. She played it off as if she were afraid of where she lived, but truth be told, she didn't know just how long she would be staying here. With the people she had met, this would be a nice place to settle down.

She was just coming up to the massive hangar doors, when she heard something off in the distance. An incoming ship, except it looked like it was coming too fast.

Kili smiles as she sees her home, the City of Angyls, rising up over the horizon. Her smile turns into a wicked grin as an idea pops into her head. "Ni'kol is going to be pissed, but this is going to be so worth it." she thinks to herself.

Jamming the throttles to their bumpstops the dark red X-Wing surges forward, breaking the sound barrier twice in the process. Dropping the ship lower till it's barely a hundred meters off the deck, Kili zooms ahead, planning to fly right over the city.

K'yehlar's eyes grew wide as she realized the ship wasn't slowing down, and in fact, had dropped in altitude. She turned to where Ni'Kol was standing, fiddling with a component. "Uhm, Nik...." Ni'Kol turned and smiled, "Oh hey K'yehlar, didn't see you come up." K'yehlar shook her head fast, "Never mind that now. You might want to duck." She ducked below a workbench and covered her ears.

As the X-Wing reached it's maximum speed it was blasting over the city. A large ship hangar flashed under the belly. All the buildings shook. The hangars walls vibrated violently, sending tools and parts crashing to the floor. Even the ships in the hangar started rocking as the fighter flew overhead. Satisfied with herself Kili pulls back on the throttles and pulls up, gaining altitude.

Circling around the city to make sure she dropped enough speed, Kili'kaa carefully puts down next to a pair of A-Wing interceptors and a group of four X-Wings. Popping the canopy she carefully climbs out, wary of becoming cramped up.

K'yehlar climbed out from under the workbench, as tools and ship parts were still falling off of walls. "What the smeg was that?"

Ni'kol Everbright lets out a sigh and looks around at the mess. "I kriffing told that bitch to never do that again. Of all the frakking pilots I have to deal with that one is the most frustrating."

K'yehlar looked out to where the ship, which she could now make out as an X-Wing, was landing. A dark red X-Wing, and she immediately thought of one person. "Wait, that's not Kili'kaa is it?" She watched as the pilot climbed out of the cockpit, and removed her helmet, letting the red hair she had come to know shake loose.

"Yeah, the one and only. Crazy bitch. She's the only one insane enough to pull that sh*t. I am going to have it out with that woman. She better not come in here or else I'm chucking a wrench at her head." fumes the mechanic.

K'yehlar put her finger up, as for Ni'Kol to hold that thought. Turning back towards Kili, she started running towards the hot dog pilot. "Kili, glad to see you back, but you might not want to go in there."

Kili smiles at her friend, happy to see her again. Unzipping her pink flightsuit part way she replies "Heya, K'ye. I'd give ya a hug but I really need a shower first. And why wouldn't I..." Her words are cut off and replaced by a shriek as she enters the building. Flying towards her is a wrench. It goes whizzing by her right ear.

K'yehlar catches the wrench as it passes by Kili's head, and shows it to her. "This is why. You kinda pissed Nik off with your little fly-by a minute ago." She realizes that she caught the wrench without even thinking about it, and simply shrugged at Kili. "To think the two people I know the most here on Tatooine, and you already seem to know each other."

Kili takes the wrench from K'yehlar and starts flipping it in the air and catching it. "Yeah, we know each other. She helps keep my ship in excellent condition. But she needs to lighten up." Ni'kol looks at Kili'kaa and frowns. "You need to stop that flyover sh*t, missy. Don't you realize the damage you can do in here? Not to mention the bodily harm that you could cause. Reckless little brat."

K'yehlar steps in between the two women, as she could sense Ni'Kol wanting to charge Kili to the ground. "Okay you two. Nobody was hurt, the mess can be cleaned up, there's no reason for you two to go after each other like slaves in Jabba's Palace. For one thing, there's no paying audience, but that's beside the point." She looked back and forth between the two, hoping for a hint of a smile from one of them.

"Ah, Nik talks tough but she's too easy to make happy. All I gotta do is this..." Unzipping her flightsuit further Kili pulls it back to reveal her breasts. She shakes them for a few seconds then covers them up again. This produces a sigh from Ni'kol, who then rubs her temples with her hands.

K'yehlar caught herself staring a little too long, "She's not the only one." She blushed as she realized she had said it out loud. "Anyway, how about she goes to take a shower, and I help you clean up. Does that work for you, Ni'Kol?" She looked back at Kili and grinned, hoping she could get her out of this literal mess.

"Alright, fine. Go get cleaned up you frakkin' brat. You're starting to make my shop smell like a decaying Hutt." quips Ni'kol. Kili shoots K'yehlar with a quick grin and a even quicker brush of the cheek. Then she turns around and heads over to a house several doors down for a shower. Ni'kol looks at K'ye and shakes her head. "That woman is crazy I tell ya. Just plain crazy."

K'yehlar smiled, "Yeah, but there's something about her. Can't quite put my finger on it, but I think it's a good kind of crazy." Ni'Kol shook her head some more and turned away, "At least you did better with that sentence than I did. Come on, let's get this place cleaned up."

Kili spent a good thirty minutes in the shower. All the sweat from the long flight home combined with the sand and all the aches from being cramped in a starfighter cockpit seemed to fade away as the hot water ran over her naked body. When she was done, she dried off and went into the bedroom. Tossing the towel aside she climbed into bed and fell asleep. When the sun rose the next morning she was still asleep. Until someone came in and kicked her out of bed that is.

"So this is why you didn't come back to help me." K'yehlar stood there with her arms folded, and her foot tapping like a bad cliche. "Ni'Kol is understaffed. Do you realize how long I was there cleaning up that mess? The one that you made, I might add."

Feeling groggy and very hungry, Kili sits up and rubs her eyes. Tilting her head back she squints as she tries to focus. "Oh, K'yehlar, it's you. Ugh, what time is it?"

K'yehlar sighed, "I don't know, it's morning. Nik told me where you lived, so I thought I'd come and see if you were all right." She opened up a drape, letting the twin suns of Tatooine shine through.

Kili covers her eyes so that they dont get burned as she slowly becomes accustomed to the light. Rising to her feet she walks over to the dresser and pulls out some clothes, not caring that she's naked and her friend is in the room with her. As she dresses she says "Sorry, K'ye. I was so damn tired I didn't have the strength to get dressed, let alone walk back to the hangar."

K'yehlar blushed and tactfully turned around, "Oh, don't worry about it. I can tell now that you were exhausted. The good thing is that Ni'Kol isn't going to kill you. I'd keep an eye on your calibrations though, cause she's still a little pissed." She peeked behind her as Kili was getting dressed. She didn't know why, she just...did.

Pulling the tank-top shirt over her head, Kili notices in the mirror that K'ye is peeking. Grinning, she pulls up her shorts, then laces up the ankle boots. "I'm not too worried. Kilala, my astromech, always runs a check before each launch. And I know Nik. She might be mad but she'll just charge me two or three times the price for parts for a while. Small price for having fun in my book." she says.

K'yehlar turned back around and smiled, "Well so long as you know what you're doing. It's good to have you back. It hasn't been the same around here without you. Kinda got used to hanging around with you." Her smile slowly went flat, "Did everything go all right with Mister Skywalker?"

Suddenly realizing that K'yehlar was there when she left with Luke Skywalker, Kili thinks frantically about what to say to her friend. "Yeah, everything went alright. He needed to make sure his cargo got to it's destination safely. Since you know I fly an X-Wing you can guess I was his escort."

K'yehlar could sense that she wasn't telling the truth, but she didn't feel any malicious intent. She regained her smile quickly, "Seeing how you did that maneuver, I can only guess how you fly out in space. He got the right person for the job."

Getting to her feet Kili flashes her friend a grin. "Let's just say it would take a hell of a pilot to beat me. And most pirates you can't consider coming close." Finishing her statement, she suddenly gets an embarrassed look on her face. A loud grumble fills the room. Kili covers her stomach with her hands and lets out a slightly humiliated giggle.

K'yehlar joins in the giggling with her friend, "What do you say we go grab something to eat." Before Kili could say anything she pointed at her, "Your treat." Her grin turned into a sort of smirk.

Grabbing her friend by the shoulder and turning her around, Kili pushes K'yehlar out the bedroom door. "No problem. Since our last day together was cut short. Now let's go already. I'm so hungry I could eat a whole bantha by myself."

Leading K'ye by the hand, Kili takes her friend to the local diner. Walking in the owner, male Bothan named Caspen, greets the two women. "Ladies, come in. Have a seat wherever you like. I will be right with you." Taking a seat at the counter, the red haired Zabrak looks up at the scrolling holovid menu. "MMMM, I could eat everything on that right now"

K'yehlar squinted at the menu and tilted her head to one side, "I don't even know what half of the things on that menu are." Her eyes widened, "Please tell me that's not Bantha Steak with the eggs." She slowly felt as though she were losing her appetite.

"Sure as hell is. CASPEN! Give me a double order of the steak and eggs. And a large bottle of your best fruit juice, chilled. I'm freaking starving today!" calls out Kili. rotating the stool to look at her friend, Kili asks "What about you? There's gotta be something up there you like."

K'yehlar breathed a sigh of relief, as she was starting to think she was ordering for herself as well. "Oh what the hell. I'll have the same....but not a double order!" She turned to Kili, "Seeing as I don't know what half of that stuff is, I'll trust your judgment on this one. Why have I never seen stuff like this in Eisley?"

"Well, the cantina is not the kind of place for good food. Another reason might be half the menu is Bothan cuisine. Not something you'll see much of in Eisley. There just aren't any Bothan chefs there. We made out when Cas here decided to setup shop in our city. Damn good move too. Lot's of people come here to eat. Ain't that right Caspen?" answers Kili.

Caspen turns and faces the women as the steaks begin to sizzle. "You know it, Kili'kaa. I can cook better than just about anyone on this planet. Anyone running a diner or restaurant that is." replies the tall, red and grey furred Bothan.

"Well that would certainly explain it." K'yehlar smelled the air, "It certainly does smell good. I may have to come here more often when I come into town." She grinned as she could almost taste the steak. "Of all the things she showed me, why has Nik never told me about this place?"

"I don't know. My guess is since you probably never mentioned you were hungry she never thought about it. Trust me, once you taste the food you'll never eat in Mos Eisly again." Patting her friend on the back, Kili turns her head and finds the first plate of her steak and eggs sitting in front of her. Without hesitation she begins to scoff the food down to satisfy her empty stomach.

K'yehlar looked at her friend as she began to scarf down her food, "Where do you put all that? You've got such a good figure." She blushed again as she turned her attention to her own plate which had just arrived. She salted the eggs, and started with them first. They practically melted in her mouth, which gave her a look of ecstasy on her face. "This has got to be better than sex."

The remark caused Kili to hold back a laugh, which in turn nearly caused her to choke on her food. After taking a drink of her juice Kili replies "I told you the food was good. But better than sex? I wouldn't go quite that far. Nothing personal Caspen. You know I love you and your food."

K'yehlar shrugged as she worked on her eggs, "Never had it, so I couldn't tell you. All I know is that these eggs are exquisite. Hey Caspen, on second thought, I'll take another order of the eggs." She took another bite, as she noticed Kili had stopped eating and was staring at her. "What?"

"You're kidding, right? You've never had sex?" asks Kili'kaa. Moving her head up and down slowly she takes in K'yehlar's looks. "You have to be kidding me! With a body that well defined, hair that shiny, and eyes that sparkle like yours do? I don't believe it."

K'yehlar blushed, something she seemed to do frequently, "It's just....never come up. I spent most of my life with my foster family. They're Twi'leks, and even though I've learned it's somewhat common with Twi's, it just.....never came up." She didn't want to give too much away, but really, what more was there to tell? "Are you saying....that you...?"

Finishing off her first plate and grabbing the second, Kili takes two mouthfuls of food and swallows them before answering. "Am I saying that I what? Have had sex? Honey, I lost my virginity back when I was only seventeen. I have had sex often. You would probably blush at the number of women who hit on me." says Kili without a second thought. Cutting off another piece of steak she shoves it in her mouth.

K'yehlar cut a piece of steak and put it in her mouth, before she realized what Kili had just said. With her mouth full of steak and a raised eyebrow, "Wait a minute, did you say women?"

Taking another gulp of her juice to wash down the meat, Kili nods. "That's right, I said women. I never told you about my sexuality since it never came up. K'ye, I'm a lesbian."

K'yehlar shook her head as she swallowed her steak, "I thought you were a Zabrak. Where do lesbians come from?" She was truly confused as this was all new to her.

Kili looks at her friend with both eyes wide in disbelief. The she bursts out into laughter. "No way! You have no idea what a lesbian is? You lived a sheltered life back home, didn't you?" asks the Zabrak, not intending to be mean but asking a simple question.

K'yehlar nodded, "Actually, yeah, I did kind of live a sheltered life. You could say I didn't get out much. Spent a lot of time with my Sisters, but I've never heard of lesbians before. Could be because we lived out on the outer rim." She shrugged and sipped on her fruit juice.

Putting her left hand on her friends shoulder Kili says "Well it looks like there are things I'll have to teach you. First thing is what a lesbian is. Which is simple enough to explain. A lesbian is a female who is sexually attracted to other females, but not to males. Simple enough explanation for ya?"

K'yehlar snorted in her juice bottle, "You mean...it's normal when a woman is attracted to another woman?" If that were the case it would explain things. Why Mara kissed her, why she couldn't keep her eyes off of Kili when she was naked. "That.....would certainly answer a lot of questions."

"Some people think it's un-natural for two people of the same sex to be together. But most people accept it. I never questioned it. Always seemed right to me. And I think it'll help you figure out exactly who you are." Returning her attention back to her own plate she finishes her breakfast. Setting a chip on the counter worth sixty credits Kili pats her stomach. "That sure hit the spot."

K'yehlar picked up the last bit of egg with her fingers and dropped it in her mouth, washing it down with the last of her juice. "Compliments to the chef, Caspan" She nodded at Caspan and then swiveled to Kili'kaa. "Kili, are you saying that I....I mean....how can you tell?" She had only heard this word for the first time a moment ago, but it made sense. Males in the cantina never attracted her, she had noticed women more than anything. "I mean...does it show?"

"Yeah, it kinda does. I noticed you eyeing up my leg the first day we met when i was showing you my thigh blaster. You try hard to conceal your gazes, but I pick up on em. Nothing to be ashamed of though. I'll admit, I've been eyeing you up as well. Hard not to look at someone as beautiful as you are." replies Kili, with a wink.

K'yehlar blushed yet again, but she didn't hide it this time, she looked right into the unique eyes of her friend that attracted her in the first place. "Thank you Kili. What do you say we get out of here before we start eating the rest of the menu?" She grinned at Kili'kaa, feeling a little more free.

Taking another look at the menu Kili points. "I don't know, that there sounds good also." She holds a straight face for two seconds before she starts giggling. Sliding off the stool she nods at the door. "Come on, let's see what trouble we can cause."

K'yehlar shook her head, "I swear I don't know when you're playing around half the time, or if you really could eat more." She hopped off the stool and followed Kili out into the streets of the City of Angyls. "Are you sure you should be causing more trouble after what happened yesterday?"

"Ah, Ni'kol will get over it. Besides, I was thinking of going somewhere else for a little while. Some place a lot more scenic than this sandbox of a planet."

K'yehlar checked her watch, "Don't we have to work tonight? Wuher'll be mad if we both don't show up, won't he?" As much as she'd like to get off of this 'sandbox', she didn't want to attract attention to herself either.

Letting out a sigh, Kili turns to her friend and looks her in the eyes. "K'ye, sometimes you just have to stop worrying about things. Wuher won't care. We work tonight, tell him we are heading off world for a couple weeks. He won't be paying us while we're gone so he won't care much. Ya gotta live a little hun."

K'yehlar took a deep breath and let it out, "You're right. What is there to worry about, eh? Nik is almost paid off, I can live a little. Haven't done anything for myself in a long time." Her usual grin broke out into a smile, as she began to feel a weight lifting off her chest.

Nudging K'yehlar's shoulder and ruffling her hair, Kili replies "That's the attitude I want you to have. Come on, let's go pick out our outfits for tonight. Then I gotta talk to Nik and see about getting us a yacht for our trip."

"Just so long as you don't do anything that'll get a wrench thrown at you. I may not be there to catch it next time." K'yehlar winked at Kili as the two walked down the street.

Kili asks K'yehlar to go and pick out an outfit for her. Kili herself goes to see Ni'kol, who is working in the hangar as usual. This time when Kili enters, she does so very carefully, alert for flying objects.

Walking through the hangar Kili is surprised to find no sign of the mechanic. As she stands there scratching her head, something hits the floor behind her. Jumping and letting out a shriek like a little child, Kili spins around, a horrified look on her face. Standing before her was Ni'kol, an evil grin on her face.

"DAMMIT NI'KOL! You nearly gave me a heart-attack." Her grin growing into a smile she says to Kili "Good, that'll teach you to stop that high speed fly over crap. What do you want now? I know you want something, you kriffing brat."

"Hey, I'm not a brat. Anyway, I'm gonna need a yacht for a trip. Me and one other person. Got anything I can use?" Ni'kol nods and waves for Kili to follow. They head out back. Sitting there is a recently rebuilt YLK-37 Nova. "You can take that thing. Fully stocked for passenger travel. I tried selling it, but no takers."

Kili spends a half hour inspecting the ship. When she finished she nodded. "Ok, looks pretty good. If you can't get rid of it I'll take it off your hands. Five hundred thousand sound good?" Ni'kol didn't even hesitate at the offer. "SOLD! I promise you will have no problems with it for quite a while." "Yeah, we'll see about that." quips Kili, with a hint of sarcasm. "I gotta get ready to go dance. Thanks Nik. That's a pretty nice ship right there."

K'yehlar went back to Kili's bedroom and began rummaging through her closet. It didn't take her long before she found a little red ensemble that went along with her red hair, and would hopefully bring out her eyes. As she looked back in the closet, she saw a purple dress hanging towards the back. Being her favorite shade, and with a mischievous grin, she decided to try it on. They weren't too much different in figures, so it would hopefully fit.

Slipping out of the clothes she was wearing, she stepped into the dress and grinned as while it was a little snug, she thought it looked great on her. "I hope she doesn't mind. It might even make her look twice." She giggled at the thought as she modeled for herself in the mirror.

Once she paid for her new ship Kili walked back to her small home to check on her outfit, and her friend. When she walks into the bedroom she finds K'yehlar there wearing one of her purple dresses. Kili stops at the door and quietly takes in K'yehlar's beauty. For two minutes Kili admires the woman before K'ye realizes she is being watched.

K'yehlar spinned on her heel, and as she came around she was startled by Kili standing there watching her. "Gah! How long have you been standing there?" The blush had returned as she realizes that she had practically been dancing with herself in the mirror.

"Oh, about a minute or two." answers Kili'kaa with a hint of seduction. "You look good in that old thing. No, I take that back..." Kili walks over and adjusts the way the shoulders sit. In doing so she presses her breasts against K'yehlar's back for a few moments. When she is done and steps back she says "You look absolutely stunning."

K'yehlar felt a sudden wave of pleasure as goosebumps ran down her arms. "Something told me you wouldn't mind. It's my favorite color, and I couldn't resist." She looked over at the red outfit laying on her bed, "And something told me you'd look gorgeous in red." Her seductive smirk returned as she locked eyes with Kili.

Now it was Kili's turn to blush. Looking down at the red outfit, one that is somewhat revealing but not too revealing, she nods. "Red is my favorite color. Red and pink. You have a good eye for clothing. This will do nicely. By the way, I bought a new ship from Ni'kol. We have a nice vessel to travel in. If it's alright with you, I say we leave in the morning."

K'yehlar smiled, "That works fine for me. It'll be nice to get off of this oven planet. Do you realize how long it's been since I've seen a tree?" She laughed at wanting to see something so trivial.

Removing her shirt and her shorts, standing naked in front of K'yehlar once again, Kili picks up the red leotard and examines it. "Hmmm, been a while since I wore this thing. Hope it still fits me." Pulling it over her light brown skin she finds it fits well. Adjusting it in a few places she turns to K'ye and holds out her arms. "Well? What do ya think?"

K'yehlar shook herself back to reality as the visage of Kili's well toned, perfectly shaped body, was once again presented to her in it's most simple, yet eye-catching form. "It's just as I thought, you look gorgeous in it. Looks like it's snug in all right right places." She walked over to her Kili, and placed her hands on her friend's hips, smoothing out a few of the ruffles. "I'd say it still fits."

"Good, it may be a dump but there's no reason we can't look good." Kili puts her hands on K'yehlar's and grins. The she pulls away and heads for the door. "Come on sexy lady, let's get this shift over with."

K'yehlar takes a deep breath and then smiles, "Right behind you." She follows Kili out the door, and the two walk together to the shuttleport. A short hop, and they were in Mos Eisley, heading straight for the cantina. Kili explained to Wuher that they would be off planet for a while, and true to her word, he simply shrugged as though he didn't care.

The next morning Kili is checking out the ship, making sure it has everything necessary for space travel. Food packs are full, kitchen is stocked, refresher unit fully functional. Kili even found an entertainment center in one compartment. Satisfied that her new craft is ready for flight she makes her way to the boarding ramp.

K'yehlar was double checking her bag as Kili came walking down the ramp. "Everything good to go? You haven't told me where we're going yet either. I hope it's somewhere with water." She chuckled, as she was truly looking forward to getting away from the desert heat.

"Well you are in luck." replies Kili'kaa. "I am taking you to where I have lived for several years. I don't make this planet my permanent residence. My real home is on Talus." Walking past K'yehlar Kili checks the fueling droid. Finding it in the process of disconnecting the line she jumps and spins around. "Alright, put your stuff onboard and get ready for liftoff."

K'yehlar smiled as she picked up a pack, slung it over her shoulder, and then picked up another bag. "Hey, that's in the Corellian system isn't it? If it's anything like Corellia, then I'm sure it's going to be gorgeous." She secured the bags in the hold and then jogged up to the cockpit to prepare for takeoff. "Ready to go!" She sat in the co-pilot's seat, and fastened her seat belt.

Flipping a series of switches over her head, Kili pushes the starter button and brings the ships engines to life. Once all the other systems came online she kicked in the repulsors, raised the landing gear and angled the big ship skyward. Minutes later they are punching out of the atmosphere into the black, cold void of space. After double checking the coordinates Kili pulls the levers and they shoot off into Hyperspace. As the stars elongate Kili looks at her friend and smiles. "You're gonna love Talus. The cities aren't as big as say, Coronet, but the landscape outside them is breathtaking."

K'yehlar nodded, "I was actually born not too far from Tyrena. I don't remember much of it, but what I do remember were the big skyscrapers you could see from kilometers away, pretty much just like Coronet." She breathed in and let out a sigh, "It'll be nice to 'get away from it all' as it were. Just a lot of things happening in too short a time for me."

Leaning back in her seat Kili lets out a sigh. "I know what you mean, K'ye. I left home eleven years ago. I've gone through a lot since then. Some of it came as a rude awakening too. I don't regret a moment though. Well, that isn't entirely true. There is one thing I do regret about leaving." Not saying anymore, Kili just stares out the viewport at the lines of stars that represent hyperspace travel.

K'yehlar's smile returned, "All the more reason to live it up, as you said. Make up for all the smeg we've endured." She looked at Kili and pounded her fist on the armrest of her chair, "We've earned it, wouldn't you say?"

Still watching the starlines Kili nods in agreement. "Yeah,we have indeed. It's been a long time since I took the time to go back to Talus." Kili goes silent for a few moments. K'yehlar looks over and can see that her friend is thinking. When Kili speaks again it's in a more quiet tone, as if she were saying out loud what she was thinking. "It's been too long since I have been home."

K'yehlar matched her friend's tone, "You're not talking about Talus anymore, are you?" She reached her hand over and placed it on Kili's which was setting on her armrest.

Kili looked down at her arm when she felt K'ye touch it. Raising her head she caught her friends eyes. "Huh? Oh, sorry. I was thinking out loud again, wasn't I?." Turning away from K'yehlar she clears her throat, then rises to her feet. "Forget it for now. Still a bit of a touchy subject that I don't want to talk about."

K'yehlar nodded and gave Kili an encouraging smile. She knew all about touchy subjects that she didn't want to talk about. Not because of what those subjects were, but in some instances she still didn't know how to explain it. The best thing to do right now is just spend time with her friend, and have fun. "Well, not much else to do while we wait in hyperspace. You wanna play a game?"

"Sure, you decide what we'll play, I am going to get us a couple drinks." Walking out of the cockpit she heads into the kitchen area. K'yehlar, making sure the ship is on auto-pilot, heads to the rear compartment where the entertainment center is located. The two women will spend lots of time there in the next few days as they hurtle through space.

A few days had passed with K'ye and Kili treating every day as if it were a slumber party, complete with a pillow fight one night. The navicomm indicated they were about to come out of hyperspace, and K'yehlar walked to the cockpit to watch their approach. As the vision of hyperspace reverted back to the familiar starline, a green and blue planet quickly came into view. "Pretty...." Her eyes sparkled with wonder as she took it all in. "You weren't kidding were you?"

Flashing a grin Kili goes about readying them for re-entry. "Nope. I told you this planet is beautiful. Wait till you see where I have my place. You'll fall in love with the area." After talking to the space controller and receiving clearance for landing, Kili drops out of orbit and breaks into the atmosphere. Roughly fifteen minutes later they are over the city of Nashal. Kili finds the berth she was given and sets down. Despite the size of the ship she sets it down so gently K'yehlar didn't even notice they were down till she heard the ramp open.

K'yehlar simply shook her head, "I was about to ask how you did that, but then I remembered who I was talking to." She flicked some switches on her console, shutting systems down, and then stood up to stretch. "It'll be good to have ground under my feet again. I don't know how some people live out in space for so long."

Making sure the shutdown procedures have been completed and the ship is on standby, Kili leaves the cockpit and stretches. "I love space. I think I was born to fly. Even since I was ten and took my dad's private yacht for a joyride. Flying is just in my veins. I love it."

"Ah, I see, it's all so clear now. You've been pissing people off since you were a child. No wonder it comes so naturally to you." She stifled a giggle, and ran to the cargo hold to start gathering their luggage.

"HEY!" yells out Kili, turning to watch her friend duck back into the ship. "Yeah, that's right. You better run!" Despite her best effort she can't hold a straight face. Kili'kaa starts laughing as K'ye comes back. "I never set out to piss anyone off. But you should have seen my father that day when I brought the ship back."

K'yehlar grinned, "If it was anything like what happened with Ni'Kol, I'm sure it involved flying wrenches." She handed Kili her bags, and started walking down the loading ramp. "Or did it involve a spanking?" Her grin turned in to a mischievous smirk as she looked back at Kili.

Kili's smile disappears. Hearing the word "spanking" brought back the memory of her father trying to slap Jaye'naa. A slap that Kili stepped in front of to protect her sister. None of this K'ye knows. But now her curiosity is sure to be sparked. Kili gives her friend a sideways glance.

K'yehlar shook her head, "Why are you looking at me like that?" Her smirk disappeared, as Kili's smile had. "Hon I'm sorry, I didn't mean...if I said something wrong." She looked into her eyes, searching for what Kili was feeling, but couldn't pick up on anything. "I was just playing Kili..."

"It isn't your fault K'ye." Kili begins to explain her upbringing as the pair walk through the starport. “Everyone thinks growing up in a rich family is great. It was horrible. I was spoiled and smothered by my parents. My baby sister, Jaye'naa, was completely ignored by them. It was up to me to protect her as we grew up."

K'yehlar wanted to share with Kili about her childhood as well, but what was she going to tell her? That she was sent away because she could move things with a thought? That recently she was training in the ways of the Sith until recently? Just what does she tell her? "My parents couldn't take care of me when I was young. I never found out why. But they sent me to live with friends, the Twi'leks that I told you about earlier. Their two daughters, Trista and B'elanna, became my Sisters. But....not long ago I went through some problems....so I left...." She started thinking about her Sisters, and her true feeling of regret that she had left them. "I do miss my Sisters though. But...I just can't go back..."

Kili puts a hand on K'ye's shoulder. "There we share something. I regret running from home for one reason...I left Jaya behind. Leaving was the right thing for me to do, but leaving her behind..." Kili wipes a tear from her eyes as they come out of the starport.

K'yehlar drops the bag she was carrying and swings around to embrace Kili. "Listen Kili. Let's make a promise here and now. Some day we'll make it up to our Sisters. We'll see them again and make up for all that lost time." She held her head side by side with Kili's, "But right now, we came to enjoy ourselves and get everything off our chest. So that's what we're going to do. All right?"

With a smile returning to her lips, Kili lifts her head up. "You're right. I'll see Jaye'naa soon, I know it. Come on. I have a speeder kept in the garage here. We'll head out to my place. You wont want to leave once you see the area."

K'yehlar smiled, "You're probably right. You have been so far." She followed Kili to the garage and helped put their luggage in the storage compartment. She hopped into the passenger seat and leaned back into the seat.

Pulling out of the garage Kili drives slow and careful through the city Once out of city limits though she opens up the throttle and speeds through the countryside. The wind blows through their hair as Kili removed the top."Isn't this great? The air is so much cooler and fresh then it is on Tatooine. And everything is so colorful. I really missed coming here."

K'yehlar poked her head above the windscreen and smelled the clean air as they drove through the high grass and trees. "I've never felt anything like it anywhere I've been. Closest I've come to this is Naboo...but even it's nothing like this."

"Naboo has it's spots though. The waterfalls of Deeja peak are gorgeous." says Kili as she manuvers around some creatures that suddenly appeared in her path. "Theed is actually a beautiful city. I don't say that about many actual cities either. You'll have fun here." Kili points ahead as they climb over a hill and a lake appears on the other side.

K'yehlar's smile grew wide as the lake glistened in the sun ahead. "You don't know how much I was hoping there'd be some sort of lake where we were going." She sat back down in her seat and turned to Kili, "You do swim, don't you?"

Rolling her eyes, Kili brings the speeder over the lake as she heads for her house on the far side. "Of course I swim. I wouldn't live near a lake if I didn't. That's the reason I chose this spot to live. The hills, lake...it just called to me."

"I can see why, this is simply gorgeous." K'yehlar poked her head over the side of the speeder and looked into the water as the speeder zipped by. "The water is so clear too. It's just....gorgeous!" She laughed as she couldn't think of any other word to describe what she was seeing.

Kili says nothing, merely smiles at her friend's obvious excitement. Instead she watches as her house, which is really more of an underground bunker, gets closer. Barely a minute later she is parking the speeder a scant four meters from the door. Closing the roof before getting out, Kili sees her friend already walking towards the lake. "Hey, I know you want to go swimming and all, but don't ya think that you should put on a swimsuit first?" jokes the Zabrak.

"Are you kidding?" K'yehlar pulled her top off and shimmied out of her pants to reveal a black bikini underneath. "I was hoping there'd be a lake, so I planned ahead when I got dressed this morning." She grinned at Kili and started jogging towards the water.

Kili starts laughing as she removes K'ye's bags from the speeder. She takes them to the door and sets them down. Entering her secret code, then having her hand print and retina scanned the security system is deactivated and the door slides open with barely a sound. Placing the bags inside she walks back out and the door closes behind her. Then Kili walks down to the lakes edge and watches K'yehlar.

K'yehlar picks a spot, steps back and jumps into the water. After a couple seconds she emerges from the rippling water, "Smegging hell! Kili, why the hell didn't you tell me the water would be so smegging cold!" Her eyes were wide, but she was still splashing around like a kid.

“Well considering it probably rained last night and dropped the temperature, and the sun hasn't been shining as brightly today as normal, I guess it would be a little cool. Give it a day or two and the water should be it's usually warm temp. This lake isn't normally so cool as it you say it is." Kicking off her shoes Kili starts to wade in. Her skin begins to form goosebumps from the cool water.

"You're used to it. I haven't been in a lake since." She thought about for a moment, "Come to think of it, I've never swam in a lake before. Nobody ever let me. It's always been a community pool or what have you." She clasped her hands together and started squirting water towards Kili.

"HEY! Im still wearing my clothes. Cut it out." cries Kili playfully. With the cool water spraying her she begins to shiver a little. "Seriously now, cut it out. I don't take to the cold too well." She tries to sound serious but the playfulness in her voice betrays the serious tone. Instead of pleading any further she lunges at K'yehlar, trying to grab and dunk her friend like kids would do.

K'yehlar sees Kili lunging for her, and grabs her arms, pulling her into the water with her. The two pop out from the surface, and she's laughing uncontrollably, "It looks like...you'll have to change then..." She's still laughing as she sees the look on Kili's face.

Shock. Thats the look that had spread across Kili'kaa's face after she popped back to the surface. The cold water plus her friend managing to turn her attack against her surprised the woman. As she tries to adjust to the temperature, Kili points at K'yehlar. "BRAT!" she calls out, the she sticks her tounge out before smiling. "I'll remember that, you know." she says playfully

"Takes one to know one." K'yehlar laughed for a few moments as the two of them splashed water at each other like a couple of kids in a pool. "Okay, what say we go dry off before you catch a cold. I won't want to spend my vacation playing nurse-maid." She sniggered as she started making her way back to shore.

When she reaches the bank and steps out of the water Kili shakes her head. The action sends her wet flinging excess water. Grabbing her shoes she walks towards the bunker, passing K'yehlar and slapping her on the butt in the process. Spinning around Kili flashes a wicked smirk, then she spins back around and disappears inside.

"Ouch! You know it hurts more when you're wet!" K'yehlar flipped her hair behind her, feeling it slap against the back of her neck. She picked her clothes up that she had discarded next to Kili's speeder and followed her into the bunker. "Swimming will keep our tone up since we're not dancing, you know. Plus it's more fun."

"Yeah, it'll help. But I also have a routine when I'm here where every morning I strap some weights to my arms and ankles and go for a run. Usually about4 kilometers." Opening the door she lets K'ye walk in first, and she nearly trips over her own bags.

K'yehlar turns her head back to Kili and squints at her. "You're going to enjoy getting even with me, aren't you?" She picks up her bags and simply watches her friend as she drips all over the floor.

"Maybe. Come on, I'll show ya the bedroom where you can put your clothes. Then you can check the place out." Activating the lift door, Kili steps in. K'yehlar follows. Pressing the bottom most button the lift takes them down. Seconds later the door opens into a short hallway. Kili walks down it and turns left into a well decorated bedroom.

K'yehlar smiled, "This place is awesome. How long did it take you to build it? It's probably a hell of a hiding place if it's underground." She put her bags down, unzipping one to pull out a towel, she began drying her hair with it.

"Took roughly six months to have it built to specs. It was well worth the time and money. When I'm here I want my privacy. This is my escape from the galaxy." Kili disappears into another room. Seconds later she comes back out with a large towel. Removing her wet clothing she too begins to dry off.

K'yehlar unties her bikini top, and slips out of her bottoms, drying herself off as she goes, "You know, I've seen you naked....well several times now, but I think this is the first time I've ever taken my clothes off in front of you." She blushed as she realized she was there for all to see.

Draping the towel over her shoulders, Kili stands there and studies K'yehlar. Her heart beats a little faster as she takes in the sight of her friends naked body. Knowing better but unable to help herself, Kili licks her lips. "Wow! you are more beautiful then the landscape."

K'yehlar turned crimson, "Stop! You're making me blush. All the blood's going to rush to my head if you keep that up." She took her towel and wrapped it around her body. "Besides, this is the most beautiful landscape I've ever seen." She tried hard not to stare at Kili as she was also standing there with nothing to hide.

Letting a giggle escape she says "By now you have learned I am not shy in the least. Better get used to it. When I'm here I spend a lot of time naked. Follow me, I'll show ya the refresher." Dropping the towel Kili grabs K'ye by the hand and leads her to the refresher, which is fully equipped for taking showers or baths.

K'yehlar felt a chill as Kili took her by the hand and led her to the refresher. "We probably should warm up before we catch a cold. Should feel good. I kept taking cold showers on Tat, since it was so hot."

That statement causes Kili to giggle more. Nearing the door it slides open, allowing access. When the women step inside K'ye finds the unit to be fairly large. Separate shower stall and bathtub, highly polished sink, several mirrors placed around. The walls and floor and ceiling painted in soothing colors. Even a holovid screen is mounted in the room.

K'yehlar's eyes grew wide. "Dear Goddess, have we died and gone to the Coruscant Arms? This is like a luxurious retreat!" She started looking around and then turned back to her friend, "How can you afford all of this Kili? I've never seen anything like this before." She walked over to the sink and ran her hand over the finish.

"I told you my family was rich, didn't I? Well I was the heir to the family fortune and business. But when I ran away I was cut off. I planned ahead well in advance. I setup a secret account for my sister and another for myself. Money isn't a problem. I don't have to work for the rest of my life."

K'yehlar shook her head, "Then why do you? You dance in a run down cantina, you fly escort runs in your x-wing..." She looked up at Kili with a quizzical expression, "What's the point if you don't ever have to worry about working ever again?"

Kili leans up against the wall and crosses her arms. "The cantina gig is to pass time. I travel to other planets and dance now and then. I fly because I love it. I'm good at it. Same with dancing. I just love it. I don't do those things cause I have to. I do them cause I want to. I'm not gonna sit around and be some lazy, stuck-up little rich bitch. I want to experience life."

K'yehlar nodded, "Well you have a point. I guess I'd go nuts too if I weren't doing anything. Then again, I don't really know what it is I want to do. I dance because I can, and need the money. But after that....." She shook her head and looked down at the tiled floor. What was she going to do? She never thought about her next step. This was more a layover than anything because of her ship repairs. Does she stay on Tatooine? Does she move on? She looked back up at Kili, who had become very close to her over the short time that she's known her.

"Listen, you'll figure it out. I'll help you. You've become a great friend, and a very close one. You'll be fine though. You are beautiful, kind, intelligent, though naive, but that isn't your fault. Just keep your head up high and never doubt yourself."

K'yehlar grinned and nodded at her friend, who has always been encouraging her. "You're right, as always. Let's take those showers before we get cold, eh?" She took her towel off and draped it over one of the towel rods and walked over to one of the shower stalls.

Kili considers joining K'yehlar but thinks better of it. She steps into the other stall and washes up. After they are done that Kili decides to be a bit more humble and puts on a pink skinsuit. Then she gives K'ye a tour of the rest of the bunker. She shows K'ye everything she has done to the place. And K'yehlar is amazed by how much work had been done.

K'yehlar pushed the sleeves up on her black pullover as she shook her head in awe of Kili's bunker. "You certainly spared no expense on this place. It's an underground paradise. And you have a gorgeous landscape outside. I can completely see why this is the kind of place you'd never want to leave. I'm surprised you can pull yourself away from it when you do."

"It can be hard. But I just look forward to returning and it makes it special when I do. I'm glad you love it here as well. A far cry from a place like Tatooine. You have free reign of the place. Nothing is off limits to you. My home is your home, so feel free to do whatever you want. We are here for roughly 10 days so enjoy it hon."

"Well we can't just hang out and swim for ten days. What are we going to do for fun?" Her eyes were filled with excitement, like a kid who wanted to play.

"Nashal and Dearic, while not as nice as Coronet, are pretty decent cities we can visit. And Corellia isn't but a few hours travel so we can head there and do things. Plus there are some cool areas to explore here on Talus. We'll have plenty to do"

When Kili mentioned Corellia, a chill ran down K'yehlar's spine. The stormtroopers, being shot, her escape... "Dearic and Nashal sound nice. I don't think we need to go all the way to Corellia. I'm sure Talus has plenty of things to offer a couple of girls looking to have some fun." She gave Kili a hesitant smile, hoping she hadn't noticed her initial reaction.

"Your call. I know in Doaba Guerfel on Corellia the theater puts on some excellent shows. I performed in one for a short time there." replies Kili, not noticing K'ye's reaction. The rest of that day and into the evening Kili showed her friend the surrounding area. They watched the sun set and even stayed out to watch the moon rise and stars come out. When it was time for bed Kili got undressed and sat on the left side of the bed.

K'yehlar came out of the refresher in her underwear and a tank top. "You even sleep in the nude? Your parents must have had a hell of a time keeping clothes on you when you were a child." She sat on her side of the bed on the end, and tied up her hair.

"Ironically I didn't get into this habit until I was out on my own. Hell, I don't even wear anything under my flightsuits. Nudity, like flying and dancing, is just natural to me. If it makes you feel better though I'll put something on. Don't wanna make ya uncomfortable."

K'yehlar grinned, "No, I'm getting used to it. I am the guest after all. Just to warn you, I sometimes toss in my sleep. So if you find a hand in any certain spots when you wake up, don't say I didn't warn you." She turned to Kili and winked.

Kili shakes her head, grinning. Pulling down the covers some she slides into bed. K'ye quickly finds out how comfortable the bed and sheets are. But she finds out that Kili falls asleep even quicker. Considering the long day it isn't suprising that Kili passed right out.

K'yehlar grinned, "Good night, Kili'kaa." She pulled the covers up over her, and shut off the light, falling asleep nearly as fast.

Over the course of the next 8 days the two women do what they set out to do, they relax. As promised the lake had been warmed by the sun and was more comfortable to swim in. Kili did her morning runs and K'yehlar joined her. They traveled to Dearic and Nashal to shop and check out shows in the theaters there. They traveled the countryside, exploring caves and finding scenic areas that just fascinated the human woman. They stayed active. But like any vacation the time seemed to fly by too quickly. So on the last night Kili decided to setup a campfire and cook dinner on it.

K'yehlar felt like a little girl. At least...the little girl she felt she should have been, had she not been kept away. "You're going to laugh, but this is the first time I've ever 'camped out'. I feel like a kid again."

"I can believe it. You did tell me how you were raised. And I dont care how old you are, when you experience something for the first time people should feel like a kid." says Kili'kaa, in a happy tone but no hint of a giggle.

Since Kili was doing the cooking K'yehlar helped as she could by getting the plates ready and keeping the fire going. "I picked up something for dessert while you weren't looking too." She reached into one of the bags and pulled out a bag of Talusian Marshmallows.

Kili's face lights up upon seeing the sweet treats. She snatched the bag from K'ye's hands and sniffed it. "I have not had these in a long time. MMMM! They smell as good as ever. You sure know how to make a girl smile."

K'yehlar's grin was uncontrollable, "It's something I've always wanted to do, and when you said you were going to do this, I grabbed these when we were at the market."

Setting the bag down Kili turns her attention to the food she is cooking. Wild rice, sweet corn, seasoned sausages and a creamy, sweet gravy. Kili takes in the aroma. She can't wait till it's all cooked and ready to serve. Her stomach begins to growl as the food is nearly ready.

K'yehlar gets the plates ready and hands them to Kili for when the food is done. A few moments more and Kili is dishing up their dinners, practically drooling. Kili hands her a plate, and she sets down and takes a bite. Her eyes nearly roll back up into her head as she moans in delight. "No....THIS has to be better than sex."

"I'm not a terrible cook. I'll admit I had to teach myself to cook. And I was horrible for a while." Kili takes several bites of her dinner, chewing them slowly, savoring the taste. "This is also my favorite dish. I call it Kili's Kalamity. Everything just gets mixed together. But it comes out pretty good if done correctly."

K'yehlar grins as she takes each bite. There's plenty made so they each take seconds, while Kili has thirds. Where she puts it all is a mystery. Once they had finished off the Kalamity, K'yehlar went to find a couple of sticks for the two to roast their marshmallows with, and comes back with the straightest ones she could find.

Gladly taking one of the sticks and placing a marshmallow on it, Kili holds it over the fire. When it's raosted enough for her she pulls it out and begins to chew on it. As she does she begins to get lost in her thoughts. She gets so lost in them she didn't hear K'yehlar asking if she wanted more marshmallows till K'ye hits her with one.

K'yehlar chuckled, "You okay over there? It's as though you're parsecs away." She tilted her head to one side as she tries to get a sense of what Kili is thinking.

Kili lets out a sigh and looks up at the stars. "I was just thinking how it would have been nice to do things like this with my family. My parents would never allow it though. I was their little princess. Always smothering me, telling me what to wear, how to act, who my friends should be. Yet they treated my baby sister like such crap. Simple things like this weren't possible when I was younger."

K'yehlar nibbled on her marshmallow as she thought back on her own childhood, well what there was of it. "I can relate. I was sent away when I was young. Never told why, really. But I didn't 'do' much while I was with the Twi'leks. They kept me indoors mostly. Only friends I had were B'elanna and Trista." She realized she had nibbled down to the stick and laid it in her lap, "I just found out a few months ago that my birth parents were dead. I never really knew them."

"At least you didn't live with parents who treated one daughter like she was a queen and totally ignore the other. Hell, I couldn't get them to ground me for anything. It was always Jaye'naa's fault. Even when I took dad's yacht out that first time. He blamed Jaye for giving me the idea. I hated my life back then."

K'yehlar sighed, "You're right. I'd rather have no parents at all than to have mine treat their daughters differently. I can't imagine how hard it was on you, let alone your Sister. How long has it been since you've seen her?"

With her Rebel allegiance still a secret Kili can't tell K'yehlar that she had recently seen Jaye'naa while on a mission. So she tells her the closest thing to the truth that she can. "Eleven years. That's how long it has been since I left home. Eleven long years. I often wonder where she is and what she is doing. I don't even know if she even left Iridonia. I miss her so much. Leaving her like I did is the one thing I will always regret. I swore to protect her as she grew up and I ran away the first chance I got."

K'yehlar got up from where she was sitting, and walked around the fire, sitting down next to Kili. "I'm sure if you and your Sister were as close as I think you are, then she understands. Who knows, maybe she got inspired to stand up for herself and fight back, and earn some respect from your parents. If she's anything like you are, she's got some fire under her." She gave her friend an encouraging smile as she put her arm around her.

"I know Jaye'naa well. She has courage and determination to do anything. She's strong and independent. I sometimes wonder if I even needed to protect her." Kili looks at K'ye, then leans her head on her shoulder. "Thank you K'ye, for listening and for your words."

"Hey, what are friends for?" As she smiled, she brought her hand up and started stroking Kili's hair. She didn't even think about it, she just started doing it.

Kili didn't even say anything. She let K'yehlar stroke her hair for a little while. Slowly she picked her head up and look into K'ye's green eyes. Without thinking about it she leans he head close to K'yehlar's. Tilting hers slightly she puts her lips on K'ye's and kisses her.

K'yehlar's eyes went wide, but only for a moment. Somehow it wasn't as surprising as when Mara had kissed her. She closed her eyes and leaned into Kili, wrapping her arm around her and holding her closer.

With her arms slipping around her friend to embrace her Kili and K'yehlar get as close as possible. As they kiss Kili'kaa slowly sticks her tounge into K'yehlar's mouth, taking the kiss to the next level. Soon she is kissing and nibbling on K'ye's neck

K'yehlar tilts her head back, shivering with delight each time Kili took a little nibble. Never again would she tell her friend that food was better than sex. Her hands went up underneath Kili's top, all her shyness completely fading away.

Moaning softly at K'yehlar's touch, Kili knows what has to happen next. Pulling away she gets to her feet, reaches down to take her friends hands. With a soft, seductive smile on her lips and gleam in her eyes Kili pulls K'ye to her feet and leads her to the bunker. "Come on, honey. I think it's time you discovered yourself."

Kili had the sparkle in her eyes that attracted her in the first place. Except this time that sparkle was just for her, no one else. With a smile, K'yehlar follows her friend into the lift of the bunker. As the lift reaches the bottom level, the doors open up and Kili leads them down and to the left. Same path as they had taken the last eight days, yet this time it was a different journey.

Entering the bedroom she leads her friend to the large bed. Leaning in she kisses K'ye again. The Kili'kaa slowly removes K'ye's shirt. The unbuttons her pants. Before long the two women are laying on the bed, holding each other tightly. This night love is in the air. And for K'yehlar it was a long time in the making.

This post has been edited by RommieSG: 19 October 2009 - 02:54 PM

[RommieSG]

The next morning K'yehlar opened her eyes, she was laying in the arms of Kili, who hadn't yet woken up. She never watched her as she slept before. She was cute, yet there was a hint of sadness. After what she had told her the night before, how could she blame her. Gently she brushed stray strands of hair out of her face and smiled as she gingerly kissed her on the forehead.

A dream, it had to be a dream thought Kili'kaa. As she lay in bed, her arms holding K'yehlar, her head on K'ye's chest, all that went through Kili's mind was that she dreamed up the night before. That was until she felt something touch her forehead. As her eyes open her other senses awaken. Suddenly she feels K'ye's soft skin, hears the woman's heartbeat, smells her intoxicating scent and sees her nearly perfect stomach. Raising herself up on her right elbow she looks at K'yehlar. "MMMM, so I wasn't imagining last night then. How are you this morning my love?"

K'yehlar took a moment to think before she responded, "I feel...like a new woman. As if awakened to who I really am." Her jade green eyes looked into Kili's sparkling diamond eyes, "And it's all thanks to you, my dear friend." No thoughts, no hesitation, no sense of embarrassment, K'yehlar leans in and gives Kili a good morning kiss.

Kili returns the kiss. Sitting up in the bed she stretches her arms. "You, my dear, were amazing last night. If that was any indication I think our flight back to Tatooine will be a fun one." says Kili with a smile. After kissing K'ye again she then adds "I think I have fallen in love with you, K'yehlar"

K'yehlar didn't need to use the force to tell that Kili was sincere. "Ever since I first saw you, I felt something. Every time I looked into your eyes, every time you took your clothes off in front of me." She stifled a snigger. "I know now, that I've loved you since the first day we met."

Those words put a smile on the Zabraks face. She lays back down, resting her head on K'yehlar's chest. She knows they have to get ready to leave for Tatooine, but Kili wants to savor every moment she can before getting out of bed

K'yehlar wraps her arms around Kili, stroking her hair as she had the night before. "You were right the first day we got here. It's like I never want to leave this place."

One hour later both women finally get out of bed, cleaned up and dressed. K'yehlar packs up her belongings. When both women leave the bunker for the last time on this trip Kili sets her security systems. With K'ye's luggage stowed away in the speeder she and K'yehlar head for Nashal. Forty minutes later They are boarding the YKL-37 Nova that Kili owns and are preparing for take off.

"Let's make a promise, Kili." As she flicked some toggle-switches above the co-pilot's seat, she turned her head and smiled, "We'll come back here someday and spend the entire vacation as we did the last day. As it should have been."

Kicking in the replusors and shooting skyward, Kili replies "That's a promise. And we'll stay a lot longer than we did this time." Breaking out of the atmosphere and into space Kili heads out of the gravity well of Talus as K'ye programs the hyperspace coordinates into the navicomp. "I told you you'd love it here." says Kili'kaa as they are hurtled into hyperspace.

The trip through hyperspace took just as long as the first did, if you were looking at a chrono. But to the two women on the Nova, it passed far too quickly. As the navicomm bleeped at them, indicating they were about to come out of hyperspace, they fell over each other as they scrambled to get their clothes on. They made it to the cockpit just in time to revert to normal space. "You talk to the dock. Last time I talked to him, I could have strangled him."

"Gave you a hard time while you were crashing? Typical of the idiots out here. I don't even bother comming them. Not many people do." True to her word Kili doesn't bother calling the station. She just pilots the ship down into the planets atmosphere and sets off for City of Angyls. Less than an hour later the ship lands near the hangar.

K'yehlar helps shut the ship down, and then goes to retrieve her bags from the cargo hold. Hitting the release for the loading ramp, the hot Tatooine winds come blowing in. "Ugh, I did not miss that at all." She rolls her eyes and walks down the ramp, shuffling her boots in the sand.

Several minutes later Kili exits the ship and shuts the ramp. She goes through several stretching motions. Letting out a sigh she decides to head to the diner for a cold drink. "Hey, I'm going to get a drink at the diner. Meet me there if you want."

"I'll be right there. I'm just gonna put these in my ship for now. Don't wanna go lugging them around with me in the diner." Kili goes off in the direction of Caspan's diner, as K'ye goes to where her X-Wing is. She doesn't see anyone around, not even Ni'Kol, so she quietly puts her bags in the hold, and then goes off to meet Kili at the diner. "Funny, it seems quiet around here for some reason."

When K'ye gets to the diner she finds Kili sitting at the counter sipping on some iced beverage. Instead of finding Caspen working she finds a serving droid. "Hey, you gotta try this. Something new on the menu. It's a creamy blend that's chilled so it gets thick. Perfect on a hot night on a desert world"

K'yehlar grabs a seat next to Kili and the serving droid brings her a drink without even asking. She takes a sip and grins, "Mmm, that is good. Not as good as sex, but it's good." She sets the drink down and starts laughing until she gets a pain in her temples, "Ow, I think I drank it too fast." She massages her temples until the pain goes away.

"You gotta watch it, they call it brain-freeze. It isn't far from the truth either. You know, the day after tomorrow I have to go to a town called Mos Venus. A shop there is getting a set of brand new power couplings I ordered for my speeder. Why don't you come with me? They have this cafe there that has some terrific sandwiches."

K'yehlar sat back up and grinned, "That sounds great. When it comes to food you haven't been wrong yet." Her grin softened as she began contemplating. "Kili, where do we go from here? I mean, you and me. What do we do now that we've..." She looked into her friend's eyes as she had many times before, except this time she was looking for answers to questions in her own mind.

"Kili raises a hand and caresses K'yehlar's cheek. "We take it one day at a time and strengthen our relationship. You've discovered something huge about yourself recently. Together you and I will discover more. More about each other. I won't leave you, K'ye. I love you."

K'yehlar puts her hand on Kili's as she takes deep breaths, "I love you too Kili. It's just...it's as if every time that things seem to be going right for me. Every time things look as though they're on the right track, something happens and everything is thrown all to hell. And I don't want that to happen again. Now that I've found you."

Finishing off her iced, creamy treat Kili leans into her friend, pressing her forward against K'ye's. "Nothing will happen, I swear. Whatever occurred in the past is just that, the past. We have a future together, you and I. Don't dwell on past events like that. Think of what we will do together in the future. Like right now I foresee us going to bed in the next hour."

Slowly a smile returned to K'yehlar's lips, as she licked them. "You're right. We'll focus on the here and now. I could go for another creamy treat." The serving droid wheeled forward but K'yehlar put a hand up to stop it. "Not that kind of creamy treat." She looked to Kili and smirked at her. "Let's get out of here."

That night the two friends got to know each other a little more. The next day K'yehlar had left to go do her thing in Mos Eisley. Kili'kaa stayed in City of Angyls and helped Ni'kol check out K'ye's X-Wing. After taking it for a nice, long test flight Kili announced that it was in top condition. After being told that some parts had to be removed and replaced, at added cost, Kili paid Nik and told her not to mention the extra cost to K'yehlar. When K'ye came back that evening Kili took her to check out the ship for herself.

"It's finally all finished?" K'yehlar ran her hands along the fuselage of the snubnose fighter, as she felt a sense of relief. Now she didn't have to dance at the cantina because she had to, she could do it because she wanted to. Because Kili would be there. "Nik, you're amazing!"

"I put an upgraded set of engines and thrusters on her. She'll maneuver better and run faster. You'll still be out matched going against Kili's Death Note but you will be more than a match for anyone flying an interceptor type. Everything else is equal to or a step up compared to a stock X. She was a mess but she's ready to fly now."

"Thank you Ni'Kol" She ran up and gave her a hug. Ni'Kol blushed and hugged her back, "Hey, it's what I do." Letting go of Ni'Kol she ran over to Kili. "It's finished! She's all fixed up!" She wrapped her arms around Kili and leaned in, kissing her passionately. Ni'Kol's jaw dropped as she muttered to herself, "I get a hug, and she gets tongue. All I did was bust my ass fixing the ship. No, it's fine. Kili gets the girl, I get a hug and a thank you." Nik walks off mumbling, "Damn Zabrak, always getting lucky. One of these days..."

Once K'ye let go of her to check the ship more closely Kili grinned. "I took if for a flight earlier today, put her through the spectrum of maneuvers. Definitely handles better than a stocker. Speed increased enough to make people notice. Even the droid is faster then what you normally see on these things. Blasters are more powerful too. You find any trouble in this thing you'll get out easy."

"I hope to never come to that situation again. But it will certainly be nice to know that when I pull the trigger, something's going to come out of the guns." Luna started bleeping up in the astromech port, "And that the droid isn't dead. But coming from you on how she handles, I'm sure she'll handle great." She turned to Kili and started giggling like a little schoolgirl. She was like a kid
with a new toy.

"Go on, take her up and give it a test flight. Have fun with it for a while. I have a little work to do on mine. After my last job I never got a chance to o perform maintenance on my scanners and weapons systems”

She ran up, gave Kili another quick kiss, and with a giggle ran back to the X-Wing, quickly climing up the ladder and into the seat of the cockpit. She couldn't believe it was the same ship that she had crashed with all those weeks ago. She flicked a few switches, and with the help of Luna, in mere moments the repulsorlifts were lifting the fighter off the ground. She kissed her hand and then placed it up against the side of the window towards Kili, before turning her attention towards the atmosphere.

Watching as K'yehlar fired up the fighter Kili thinks back to the first time she climbed into the cockpit of her own X-Wing. As the ship makes it's way towards space she grins. "I know how you feel, K'ye." Turning on her left foot she heads over to her own X-Wing. Climbing into the cockpit she begins to work on her scanners from the inside out. By the time she would get to her weapons K'ye would most likely have returned. So Kili figure that she could at least get something done.

It didn't take K'yehlar long to break through the atmosphere, and into Tatooine space. As soon as she hit open space, she jerked the control stick left and started doing barrel rolls. Kili was right that it certainly handled better. With a smirk, she took a deep breath and pushed the throttle to it's limits, and laughed out as the g-forces pushed her into her seat. She pulled back on the throttle and then chuckled as a mischievous thought brewed in her mind. "Luna, set the shields to double-front. Just to be safe." The droid bleeped frantically, and K'yehlar laughed as she read her response. "No, don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Just a little something Kili taught me."

Pulling the ship around she headed straight for the Tatooine Space dock. She realized that local traffic was light so if she was going to do it, now would be a good time. As she lined things up as best she could, she opened the throttle full-bore, and the X-Wing began heading straight at the spacedock. She could hear faint chatter over the comm speakers as her engines drowned them out. Just before the ship would have plowed into the docking bay, she pulled up hard on the flight stick, sailing the fighter right over the control room. "Serves you right, you filthy smeghead!" She laughed as she slowed down, and began her descent into the Tatooine atmosphere, and back towards the City of Angyls.

Checking the scanners didn't take Kili nearly as long as she had though, since everything was working properly. So she turned her attention to the weapons. After her droid, Kilala, ran a diagnostic check a problem with the inboard guns was found. While she was trying to pinpoint the problem she heard the sound of an approaching fighter. Knowing who it was she didn't bother to look up. Instead she focused on the problem with her ship. And sure enough she found it, just as K'yehlar was landing nearby.

K'yehlar set the fighter down where she had taken off from, and climbed out as the canopy opened up. "Shut her down for me, will you Luna?" The droid bleeped an affirmative, and K'yehlar jogged over to Death Note, where Kili had her head stuck in an access panel. "You know, from this angle you make a gorgeous grease monkey."

Letting out a muffled snort Kili pulls her head out. Closing the panel she leans against the fuselage and sighs. "It's a good thing those couplings come in tomorrow." she says.

"So your ship still needs some work done on it huh?" She walks over and runs her hand along the fuselage. "Do you do most of the work yourself, or does Nik work on this ship too?"

"I do most of the work myself. Jobs that require more than one person is when Ni'kol gets her hands on it. I may just have her install the new power couplings for my inboard guns though. I was wondering why I wasn't getting power to them. Damn coupling burned out. Fried some wiring too." Wiping her hands with a rag she steps away from the ship and heads for her small house. "I need a shower."

K'yehlar grinned at Kili, "Yes, we do, don't we?" She smirked as she follows Kili to her home. "You know you're really rubbing off on me. I just buzzed the Tatooine Spacedock Control while I was up there." She couldn't control her giggling at the thought of the controller ducking under a desk somewhere.

"No way! You really did that? Those guys are going to scared for weeks every time they see an X-Wing now." Laughing as she walks, Kili nearly falls as she trips over a rock. Regaining her balance she looks at K'ye, blushing. "So much for being a graceful dancer I guess."

K'yehlar smiled as she put an arm around Kili, "No, that's just me rubbing off on you is all. It's a give and take thing." They entered Kili's home, and quickly helped each other take their clothes off. The two jumped into the shower together and had a little fun while helping to get each other clean.

The next morning Kili woke up before K'yehlar did. Heading over to the diner she ordered two breakfast platters, one a double for herself, to go. By the time she got back to the house K'ye was waking up. After setting the table and placing the food Kili calls out "K'ye, breakfast is ready babe."

K'yehlar walked into the dining area, pulling a shirt over her head, the hem falling just below her waistline. She rubbed her eye as she smiles, "Morning, love." She smells the food and her smile grows wider, "Those are Caspan's eggs!" She kisses Kili on the cheek and sets down at the table, fumbling with her fork to get a bite of eggs.

"I remember how much you enjoyed them the first time. Figured it would make a good breakfast before we head to Mos Venus today. We'll be driving there from Eisley. That will take about an hour and a half each way."

"This should definitely tide me over until then." K'yehlar's grin seemed to grow wider with each bite. "We'll have to find out what he does to these things to make them so good. You know, for future camping trips." She looked up at Kili and winked at her.

"I'll ask him when we return. I just know the little Bothan can cook. I've eaten many things off his menu. Some I had no idea what it was. Have yet to find something I wont eat again."

K'yehlar snorted, and almost choked on an egg. She pointed at Kili and raised her eyebrows, "I knew it! You didn't know what half that stuff on the menu was either. You just point and tell him to make it, don't you?" She stuck her tongue out at her, and then washed her eggs down with some juice.

Kili'kaa shrugs and continues to eat. It doesn't take her much time to finish both plates. Satisfied she has a full stomach she gets up and stretches. "We'll leave soon as you are done. I'm eager to get those couplings so I can get all my guns working again. Those Im...infuriating pirates won't know what hit them should they mess with me." Spinning around she hopes K'ye didn't pick up on the change to her sentence. Last thing Kili needs to do is let her girlfriend know she is a pilot for the Alliance.

K'yehlar licked up the last of her eggs off the plate and went in to get dressed. She couldn't very well go out and about in a t-shirt and panties, although Kili probably wouldn't have minded. She kept it simple, black formfitting pants and a black v-neck top. She slipped on her boots, and as she was putting the left one on, felt something in the toe. She held it upside down, and the staff that
Nik had given her fell into her lap. "Was wondering what I did with that," she thought to herself. She slipped into the boot, and put the cylinder in her pocket. A quick check of her hair in the mirror and she went out to where Kili was waiting for her. "All right, ready when you are."

Giving a curt nod Kili picks up her holster with her twin blasters in one hand and a bantha hide coat in the other. As they walk to the shuttle she straps on the belt, adjusts the pistols and then puts on the coat, which is long and conceals the weapons. As they wait for the shuttle she notices K'yehlar staring at her guns. "Never hurts to walk around Tatooine armed." she says.

K'yehlar raised an eyebrow, "Yeah you told me the first time I met you, I've just never seen you with those before is all. Don't worry, it doesn't bother me. So long as you know how to use them." The shuttle approached and landed on it's platform. Two people disembarked, and luckily enough their seats were right next to each other, and the two redheads scrambled to get to them. K'yehlar got to the window seat first, Kili a moment too late, falling on top of her. "Ha ha, you get the aisle seat."

After giving K'ye a friendly noogie Kili sits down. Two minutes later the shuttle operator shuts the hatches and takes off. Little more than an hour later the shuttle lands in Mos Eisley. Kili leads the way as they head to the parking garage to rent a two seat speeder. Five minutes later they speed off, on their way to Mos Venus.

K'yehlar sat somewhat fidgety. Her hand waved in the hot Tatooine wind as the speeder ran over the sand. "How come you didn't just have Nik get you the parts? Or are these 'special order'?" She brought her hands up in quotation marks as she spoke.

"While Ni'kol can get just about any part these couplings are very hard to come by right now. Brand new on the market and the Empire has nearly cornered the entire market. I had to use some favors to get a few of these things. They are worth it though."

K'yehlar sat and thought to herself. She was the real deal Rebel pilot all right. But it didn't matter to her. Kili was Kili. What she did behind the scenes was her own business. She looked over and eyed where she knew the blasters were under her coat. What would Kili do if she found out she was Imperial...well...ex-Imperial. Even she wasn't sure where she stood in that regard anymore.

Just as she had said at breakfast the drive from Eisly to Venus took ninety minutes. Parking near the cafe' she told K'ye about, Kili hops and looks around. Making sure her blasters are secure she turns to K'yehlar, pointing over her left shoulder. "There, that's the shop that'll have my parts. I'll be in there for a little while. You can look around if ya want." Kili pulls out a credit chip worth five thousand credits and hands it to K'yehlar. "Don't argue, take it, spend it. Just don't argue about it."

K'yehlar grinned as she takes the chip from Kili. "I think I've learned that arguing with you is a waste of my breath." She leans in, gives Kili a kiss, and then steps back smiling. "I'll see what this place has to offer." She tilted her head towards one of the shops across the street.

"So you're saying these are the genuine article, old man? If you're takin' the smeg with me..." The elderly Twi'lek put his hands up and grinned a toothless smile, "I would not think of such a thing with a pretty girl such as yourself. Look closely, and you can see they are the real thing." K'yehlar didn't sense any deception from him and nodded, "Then I'll take them both." She handed him the credit chip that Kili had given her and he deducted the credits from it, handing it and her purchase back to her.

Sitting on the nose of the speeder Kili scans the area, keeping her hands on the grips of her pistols. Several minutes go by when she notices a woman in black emerge from a shop to her left. Grinning, she blows a kiss to the red haired woman approaching. "There you are."

K'yehlar grabbed the floating kiss and rubbed it up against her cheek. "You told me to go shopping, so I went shopping." She gave Kili a kiss on the cheek and then put her hands on her hips, "Now someone told me something about sandwiches to die for. And I'm guessing that someone is already hungry again."

Laughing, Kili gets off the vehicle. "Yes, I did mention something about sandwiches. And yes, I am getting hungry. I always ate a lot, even as a kid." explains Kili'kaa as she takes K'ye to the cafe' she talked about. Entering the front door, cool air sweeps over them. Despite the plain appearance of the exterior, the interior is pleasantly decorated.

"Where do you find these places?" Astonished, K'yehlar looks over the interior of the cafe'. Her eyes wander over to where the menu is scrolling through it's entrees, and she grins, "At least I can read what's on the menu here."

Kili walks over to a table near the back wall. "Yeah, they run the main menu in galactic basic. You can get personal menus that will scroll in any language you want. Try any of their sandwiches. Even the ones that sound alien are very good. And don't give a surprised look. You should know by now I am an eating machine." she says jokingly.

"I wasn't going to say a word...at least not until I saw what you were going to order." She giggled as she sat down at the table. She ordered a sandwich that was called 'The Trash Compactor'. Putting her trust in Kili she figured the one with the horrible sounding name, would be delicious. "Dear Goddess, I must be mad ordering something like that."

"Thats a good choice actually. Started out as left over parts from other meals. The sandwiches were originally made for poor people on...well, I don't remember the planet but that's how it got the name. Good stuff though."

It wasn't long before their sandwiches were brought to the table by one of the serving droids. Closing her eyes, K'yehlar took a bite of hers, which made her eyes open wide with delight. "I keep eating like this Kili, and I'm gonna get fat. Then you'll start looking at other girls." She winked at her as she took another bite.

Kili has to stifle a laugh or she would have sent food flying at K'yehlar. Swallowing the food and taking a drink she is about to respond when the doors burst open. Turning her head she spots a male Falleen being followed by at least eight stormtroopers. She watches as the Falleen scans the room. He snarls when his gaze appears to fall upon her.

Hearing a snarl, she turns her head to see what Kili was looking at. When she saw the white armor of the stormtroopers that flanked the tall Falleen man, her heart felt like it had stopped. "Oh smeg, not again."

His eyes fixing on the table at the back with the two red haired women, the Falleen points. "There she is. Make sure you idiots DON"T kill her. She's worth more alive right now." Guessing the man was a bounty hunter and that he and the troopers were there for her, Kili jumps to her feet, opens her coat and pulls out her pistols. At the same time K'yehlar rose to her feet. In unison they both say
"FIERFEK! THEY FOUND ME!"

K'yehlar looked at Kili and raised an eyebrow. She knew she was a Rebel pilot, but who could she have pissed off to warrant this? No, they had to be here for her. "Actually Kili, I think they're here for me." She reached into her pocket, pulling out the cylinder and did her trick to extend it into a staff.

The Falleen growled, "You mean to tell me I come all the way to this kriffing sandbox to track down a Jedi, and she doesn't even have a lightsaber? Do you have any idea how much it cost me to have my weapons coated with Cortosis?"

Kili looks at K'yehlar in disbelief. She would have forgotten the stormtroopers if the bounty hunter didn't brandish a sword and tell the troopers "The human is mine. You take care of that Zabrak woman." As the troopers begin to open fire Kili ducks, flips over the thick metal table and takes cover behind it. "Dammit K'ye, who the hell did you piss off?"

K'yehlar lunged at the bounty hunter with her staff, which was easily parried by the man with the obvious reach advantage. She brought the staff back and parried his attack in return. "Would you believe me if I told you it was Palpatine? He's the only one I can think of." She ducked under a sweep from the man's sword, and hooked the staff behind his left foot sending him backwards. "You see, I kinda used to be one of his agents. Well, training to anyway." This wasn't the setting she had planned to tell Kili this, but she really didn't have a choice. There was no sense in hiding it now.

"You're a kriffing Imperial?" yells Kili over the incoming blaster fire. Popping up over the top of her cover she fires several shots, sending the stormtroopers scrambling for cover of their own. "Of all the people I have to fall in love with it had to be a Jedi that Palpatine wants dead. I can see this is going to be an exciting relationship." Firing several more shots she hits one of the troopers killing him with two shots to the chest. Ducking back under her cover she replaces the power packs in her weapons and opens fire again.

The bounty hunter forward-flipped back onto his feet and thrust his sword towards K'yehlar. She spun around and thwacked him in the back of the head with her staff sending him stumbling forward. "Don't act as if you're all innocent in this. How do you think I felt when I first found out the woman I was falling for was one of the most wanted Rebel pilots in the quadrant." The Falleen was visibly angry as his attacks towards K'yehlar became more erratic.

"How the hell did you find that out? I thought I kept that secret pretty well hidden." remarks Kili, snapping off more shots and taking out another stormtrooper. "Kriffing Imperials and their damn rifles. WHY DON'T YOU GUYS LEARN TO SHOOT STRAIGHT!?" The insult was spewed out of frustration as she was pinned down by the heavy fire of the E-11 rifles. Draining her power packs she frantically replaces them. "I never said I was innocent by the way. I just didn't tell you that I am more than just a mere pilot." She ducks as the Imperials pour more fire at her position. "Yeah, I'm a pilot for the Alliance. Sorry I never told ya. Thought it was for your own good."

"Well, that's why I didn't tell you what I was either. I didn't want to get you caught up into this, even though it looks like I did anyway. I'm sorry hon." The Falleen pulled out a second sword and was alternating attacks against K'yehlar. She was doing all she could to parry his attacks, remembering her training with Mara at the retreat. This guy was good. If she wasn't careful, he was going to get a lucky hit in, which he did as soon as she thought it. A knick across her right shoulder, the fabric of her shirt falling to the floor.

"You're good, K'yehlar. But you will fall to me, Duras. Remember my name, for I will be the one to take you to the Emperor and present you to him. Perhaps he will give me the honor of killing you." Pressing his attack he begins to slowly back K'ye up. Kili notices this and takes a shot at him. She misses, but backs him off. It only makes her situation worse as the distraction allows the troopers to move in closer. With no obvious way out Kili drops her left hand pistol and reaches into her coat. Peeking around the table she spots K'ye again. "K'YEHLAR, COVER YOUR EARS!"

"Don't count on it, greeny." Just as Duras was coming at her she heard Kili's cry, and quickly covered her ears.

Thumbing the arming switches, Kili throws a pair of grenades. Ducking behind the table she clamps her hands over her ears. Two seconds later a pair of loud explosions rock the cafe'. The six remaining stormtroopers and the bounty hunter are on the floor, screaming and holding their ears. Holstering her blasters Kili jumps over the table and grabs K'ye by the arm. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here before more show up."

K'yehlar followed Kili out the door and into the street. They ran to where the speeder was parked, and in moments they were speeding away. "Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why now, why now of all the times did this have to happen now?!?" She slammed her fists on the dashboard of the speeder.

As they race towards Mos Eisley and the shuttle port there, Kili tries to calm K'yehlar down. "K'ye, listen. Those guys will be hurting for hours yet. Their hearing won't return for days. We'll be fine, we just have to hide out in CoA for a few days. It'll be alright, I promise."

K'yehlar shook her head, "No, no it won't be all right. You know what I am now. This is how I came to be here in the first place. I was sent on a mission, and when I completed it, I was rewarded by a squad of stormtroopers sent to kill me under Order Sixty-Six, or something like that. They're not going to stop coming for me, Kili. Who knows how many others like Duras are after me." She shook her
head more as she looked down at her lap, "No...no I have to get away from here before anyone else figures out I'm here."

They reach Eisley without incident. Kili returns the speeder. Grabbing he pack with the parts she and K'ye head to the shuttle. Seventy five minutes later they land in City of Angyls. Walking from the shuttle port Kili begins to plead with her lover. "K'ye, you don't have to leave. They'll assume you left the planet. You'll be safe here. Please, trust me. You don't have to leave."

K'yehlar turned around and put a hand on each of Kili's arms. "Kili'kaa, listen to me. I love you very much. I wouldn't know who I was without you. I don't know what I'd do if anything were to happen to you because of me. I know you can handle yourself, but I won't take that chance." She took a deep breath and looked down at the ground for a moment before continuing to speak. "This is Palpatine we're talking about here. And for some reason he wants me, and he won't stop at anything until he gets what he wants." She looked into Kili's eyes, but the sparkle was gone. "This is what has to be done."

Tears replace the sparkle in Kili'kaa's eyes. "NO! Don't leave me. For the first time I found someone I truly love. I don't want to lose you now. We can face whoever comes for you together. We can both go and hide. Just don't leave me K'yehlar. Please, my heart will be broken if you leave." Tears flow down her cheeks as she loses her composure. Kili'kaa grabs K'yehlar and buries her head into K'ye's chest. She starts to cry, not caring how pathetic she might look.

K'yehlar holds her lover as she runs her hand through Kili's hair. "What we faced today was nothing. He'll send more, stronger people to come after me until he gets what he wants. I need to get out of his reach, and become stronger. You've taught me who I am, but I still need to learn what I am. When I have, I'll come back to you. When I know we can be together without worry." She didn't know what else to do. She had to protect Kili the only way she knew how, and that was to get away.

Kili pulls away and stares at K'yehlar. With her voice breaking Kili says to her "Promise me you'll come back. Promise we will be together again. I...I love you so much, K'yehlar. Why of all people did I fall in love with you?" Covering her face with her hands Kili begins to cry again, harder this time.

K'yehlar took a deep breath and placed a hand on Kili's shoulder. "I promise, my love. I will return to you. We made a promise to return to Talus together, and I intend to keep that promise." She took her hand from Kili's shoulder, and placed it under her chin raising her face to look at her. Tears were streaming down her face, she herself was dying inside, but the tears would not fall. She had no more words. She put her arms around Kili, pulling her close, and kissed her with every ounce of passion and love that she had for her.

Kili closed her eyes and savored the kiss, knowing it was their last moment together. When it was over she whispers to K'yehlar "Go. Go before this gets any harder. Thank you for entering my life. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Kili'kaa." She turned and walked with purposed towards her X-Wing. "Luna, get her started up. We're leaving." The astromech bleeped in response and the engines began to come online. She climbed into the cockpit and flicked switches bringing various systems online. She brought the repulsorlifts online and the X-Wing was lifting off the ground. She looked out the side window of the cockpit and placed her hand against the glass.

Watching as the X-Wing hovers, Kili gives K'ye a weak smile. Raising her right hand to her lips, she kisses it and holds it out, mimicking K'yehlar's motion. As the fighter begins to rise skyward Kili'kaa crosses her arms and watches as the ship fades away. "Goodbye my sweet Jedi. May the Force always guide and protect you." she whispers. With a sadness deeper than anything she had ever felt Kili
slowly walks home. Her love for K'yehlar runs so deep she doubts she will ever love anyone again. Kili's heart is broken, and who knows how long it will be before she recover?

As the X-Wing was exiting the Tatooine atmosphere, K'yehlar was already bringing up the navicomm. She had to go somewhere far. She brought up the section for the outer rim, and simply picked a planet. She was in no mood to care which one. As the computations for hyperspace began, she reached into her right pocket and pulled out a small black box. Opening it revealed two gold rings with exquisite etchings marked over them. She feels something on her cheek, so she wipes it with her hand. It felt wet. It was then she realized that, for the first time, she had shed a tear. "Smeg..." The navicomm bleeped at her, and in seconds the stars turned to lines, as the ship entered hyperspace.

[RommieSG]

Duras stood from the floor of the café, clutching his head. His mark was nowhere to be seen. He looked at his chrono, and it had been hours since their confrontation. “No…no this can’t be. How could this have happened!?” This was the first time he had ever lost a mark, and it was not a normal mark either. He had taken a bounty from the Emperor himself. Failure was more than just a slap on the wrist. Palpatine had a way of having his failures disappear.

One of the stormtroopers that Kili’kaa hadn’t taken out was beginning to stir awake. Panic began to flow through Duras, as his inevitable fate was beginning to set in with him. As the stormtrooper sat up, Duras quickly picked up one of his swords from the ground. In one quick fluid move his sword came across, and the stormtrooper’s body no longer had a head on it. He picked up the stormtrooper’s nearby discarded E-11 rifle, and began riddling the remaining armored bodies with blaster bolts.

Retrieving his own weapons, he stumbled out into the streets of Mos Venus. There was no way he could track the Jedi now. And who was the frakking Zabrak that was with her? It was futile now. She would be long gone, and if he didn’t move fast, he would be as well.

“Mark my words, K’yehlar. If it’s the last thing I do, no matter what it takes, I shall have my revenge!!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With a gasp, K’yehlar shot forward in the cockpit of her X-Wing. Breathing heavy, and feeling sweat on her forehead, she looked around trying to get her bearings. In the depths of hyperspace, there was little to give her bearings as the hyper-swirls surrounded her. She didn’t have much time to catch her breath either, as the navicomm was bleeping, and the swirls of hyperspace quickly reverted back to starlines and into the familiar blackness of space.

Wiping the sweat from her brow, she quickly focused on the task at hand. She began trying to work out just where it was she had hypered to. She was too distraught at the time to pay attention, nor care what her destination was. All she knew was that she chose a planet far away from where she had been. Back where she left…

“ZGMF-X42S, we have you on our scopes now. Please state your business in this area.” K’yehlar fumbled about before she got on the comm. “Uhm…that all depends on where ‘here’ is. Navicomm malfunctioned and I just came out of a blind hyperjump. Where am I?” The male voice sounded a lot more helpful than the Tatooine controller could ever dream of being. “This is Iskalon starport. If you need assistance we can send an escort if your navicomm is malfunctioning.” Iskalon…another planet she’d never heard of, but wouldn’t matter for as long as she intended to stay. “Uhm, yes, that would be very nice. Thank you for your assistance.” The controller came over the comm with a warm tone to his voice, “Understood. Maintain your current heading, and Iskalon fighters will be alongside momentarily.”

Luna, her astromech, bleeped at her from behind with her query showing up on the panel below her. “K’yehlar, the navicomm is showing fully functional.” She grinned, “I know that Luna. But I had to say something quickly and that was the first thing I thought of. Thank you for staying on top of things. It looks as though I’ll be looking to you for help along the way.” Luna responded with a short bleep that showed up on the panel as “^_^”. That caused K’yehlar to grin, just slightly. Just then two Kihraxz light fighters pulled up on either side of them. The pilot on the right made eye contact with her before giving a small salute and pulling ahead of her by a shiplength. She locked in on the fighter, and began following it to Iskalon starport.

They soon came into range of a planet unlike any she had ever seen before. The planet was almost entirely covered by water, and very little land, at least from an orbital view. The fighters entered the atmosphere and began their descent towards the surface. As they dipped below the ionosphere and below the cloud cover, Iskalon control came on briefly. “You’re clear to land at docking pad gamma. Bravo-two-zero will escort you there. Welcome to Iskalon.” K’yehlar nodded, even though she knew he couldn’t see her doing it, “Confirmed. Thanks for all your help control.”

A few moments later, the Kihraxz’s peeled off as she hovered over a docking pad with the Gamma symbol marking it. She kicked in the retrothrusters, and fired up the repulsorlifts. A bit bumpy, but she brought the fighter down on the docking pad. She flicked a few switches on the panels, and powered down the ship. “Luna, I want you to stay with the ship. We won’t be here long, and I want you to have the ship prepped just in case. Okay Luna?” Luna bleeped a positive response, and K’yehlar opened up the canopy.

Rain fell on her as she climbed down the ladder of her X-Wing. With a planet covered mostly in water, it was sure to throw the meteorological system completely out of whack compared to other planets. Pretty much like Tatooine never seeing rain. The rain was coming down hard, and in mere moments had K’yehlar completely soaked. It didn’t phase her though, as she felt numbness not only from sitting in the cockpit for a few days, but her state of mind as well.

As she was pulling one of her bags out of the cargo hold of her ship, what seemed like a technician began walking towards her from the interior of the starport. She slung the bag around her shoulder as the man came up to her. He was somewhat shorter than she was, but very well built. He had some sort of contraption hooked up, and was wearing a helmet. Perhaps it had something to do with his species, as he was something she had never seen before either.

“Welcome to Iskalon. We were told your navicomm was malfunctioning. Would you like us to take a look?” K’yehlar shook her head, “No that won’t be necessary. Luna will be able to fix that with no problem. She will need refueling though, and I’ll need to find a place to stay.” The man nodded, and she could hear a distinct sloshing sound. Perhaps it was a breathing device. Could very well be he was a water-breathing species, given the nature of this planet. “Of course, we’ll take care of that for you. You can find lodging nearby here in Pavillion. You may want to do that soon, so you don’t catch a cold.” K’yehlar nodded, “Thank you.” She looked back at Luna who seemed to wink at her in response as her light flashed on and off, and then headed into the starport.

She took a nearby transport tube, and began her descent down into the city of Pavillion. It was a magnificent looking city built underwater. She could see what almost looked like fish swimming by, but when she looked closer, she could see that they were people. If she didn’t have so much on her mind, she would be pressed up against the glass, like the little schoolgirl she was on Talus, full of wonder. But right now…she couldn’t care less.

The transport tube reached its destination and she stepped out looking around. She didn’t see many humanoids walking around other than what appeared to be the indigenous water-breathers of the planet. Thankfully many of the signs were also written in Basic, and she recognized one that said ‘lodging’. She walked in and set her bag down at the front desk, “I need a room for the night while my ship is refueled. Preferably one with a shower.” The receptionist was another with the water-breathing device, but this one seemed to be female. “All rooms have refreshers. It’ll be five-hundred credits in advance.” She dug into her pocket and pulled out a credit-chip. She held it in her hand, looking at it, and thinking about Kili, who had given it to her. “Ma’am, you’ll have to hand me the chip if you want the amount deducted from it.” K’yehlar shook herself back to reality and handed her the chip. The receptionist deducted the credits and handed it back to her with the keycard for her room. “We have an excellent House Doctor, if you’d like him to attend to your wound.” K’yehlar noticed her eyeing her shoulder. She had completely forgotten about the wound that Duras had made. “No need. Nothing a hot shower won’t fix. Looks worse than it is.” With a half-hearted grin, she picked up her back and headed for the lift.

A short ride in the lift and a walk down the hall, and she was in front of her room. She slid the card past the reader, and the door slid open. She walked in and dumped the bag just inside. She looked around and sighed. She had gotten used to either sleeping in her bed in Mos Eisley, or in City of Angyls…with Kili…

She walked into the refresher and stripped off all her wet clothes, setting them in a nearby hamper. She walked into the shower stall and turned the water on. She just leaned up against the side of the stall as the water ran down her body, as the rain had in the starport. Her mind was still back on Tatooine, with the woman she left standing in the middle of the desert with tears streaking down her face. With the woman she loved, and gave her heart to…

After a few minutes she turned the water off, and began drying herself off with one of the complimentary towels. As she walked into the bedroom, she didn’t even bother with putting on any clothes to sleep in. She just climbed into bed and shut off the light. As she lay there, she felt empty inside… the bed felt empty. She grabbed the other pillow and clutched it tightly as she curled herself up into a fetal position. No tears fell from her eyes, but slowly, K’yehlar cried herself to sleep.

When she woke the next morning, at least what she assumed to be morning, the covers had been kicked off the bed, and she was lying in the middle, still clutching the pillow she had grabbed before she went to sleep. She sat up and swept the hair out of her face, some which had soaked with sweat and dried to her forehead overnight. She stumbled into the refresher, and took another shower. Since she hadn’t bothered to dress, she merely had to walk in and turn on the water.

After the brief shower she dried herself off and went to her bag that she had dropped inside the door. She put on some heavier clothes due to the weather of the planet, and who knows what the weather would be like on the next planet she was on. She packed up everything, slipped on her boots, and checked her hair in the mirror.

Just as she was about to step away from the mirror and towards the door, she stepped back and took a closer look at herself. Her focus was on her red hair, which was her most notable feature. “Can’t afford to play it safe…not anymore…” With one last look she picked up her bag, slung it over her shoulder and walked out the door. As she came to the receptionist desk for checkout, she inquired where the nearest supply shop was. After a short journey, she came upon the shop that the receptionist had directed her to. Searching through the aisle of this and that, she found the color-crawlers that she was looking for. There were so many colors to choose from, but one jumped out at her, and she bought them. “Do you mind if I use your ‘fresher?” The clerk pointed the way, and she headed towards the back.

She walked to the sink and opened up the package. They looked creepy, but hopefully they’d do the trick. She dumped the package on top of her head and watched as the crawlers crawled through her hair, leaving streaks of color behind them. They even went so far as to crawl over her eyebrows and change their color as well. After a few minutes, she looked at herself, and had a full head of purple hair. She grinned, as she almost didn’t recognize herself.

She combed the crawlers out of her hair, and as she was giving herself one last check in the mirror, she started giggling, feeling something in her underwear. “What the smeg is that!” She undid her pants and reached in her underwear, pulling out an errant crawler. “How the hell did you get down there? Wait…you didn’t…” She pulled on the elastic of her underwear, and her eyes went wide at what she saw. “You cheeky little devil you. Well, I guess that completes the disguise at least.”

As she walked out of the shop, she thanked the clerk, who did a double take as she went past. Perhaps turning a head or two wasn’t such a good idea, but hopefully she wouldn’t be turning any Imperial heads. As she took the lift back up to the surface, she pulled on her jacket that she had unpacked. She pulled the hood up over her head as the lift doors opened to the falling rain of the surface.

Her X-Wing was just where she left it. As she approached, the technician that she had spoken with before came up to her. “She’s all fueled and ready to go. Here’s the invoice for you to look over.” K’yehlar looked over the invoice and merely nodded, paying for the work done and handing it back to the technician. “Thank you for all your help, I appreciate it.” The tech smiled and went back along his way. K’yehlar stowed her bag in the hold, and climbed into the cockpit, closing it down and out of the rain. “Everything go all right while I was gone Luna?” The astromech bleeped her response, “Aside from being left out in the rain all night, sure, no problems.” K’yehlar sighed, “I’m sorry Luna, I promise to get you an oil bath soon, okay?” An excited chirp came from the purple R2 unit, as systems started coming online.

A few minutes later, the X-Wing was out of Iskalon’s rainy atmosphere and back into the blackness of space. “Okay, this time let’s take a little more care in where we’re going. Preferably something not so wet, eh Luna?” She brought up charts on the navicomm, and looked to see where she was, and what was around. She saw one that jumped out at her as previously having a Republic base on it. Maybe there’d be something there that could help her in her journey along the way. “Rishi it is then. Get set Luna, we’re going into Hyperspace.” A few moments later, as the ship automatically corrected its course, the stars turned to lines, and the ship entered hyperspace on it’s way to the planet Rishi.

Several days later, the X-Wing emerged from hyperspace. This time K’yehlar felt no surprise, no anxiety…she was too groggy to feel any of those. The trip was a little longer, and being in that cramped cockpit, she didn’t have much to do aside from sleep. As she rapidly approached the planet, she could already make out that it was nothing like Iskalon. For one, she could actually see land already, which made a vast difference.

The docking controller was more straightforward, and soon she had docking clearance on the planet in one of the larger cities. Once again she had Luna stay with the ship. By the condition the starport was in, she wasn’t confident in what she would find on the outside. She made sure that she had her staff in her inner pocket before leaving.

As she walked through the streets, the odor that waved about into her nostrils was nauseating. Thankfully she wasn’t here for the food. It would be a miracle if even Kili would eat around this place. She heard loud roars of laughter coming from what seemed like the local cantina, so she walked in the laughter’s direction. Sure enough as soon as she walked in, she could tell she was in a cantina. It almost looked as bad as the one in Mos Eisley, except the music was worse, and the bartender looked like a short white-haired Wookiee with a flat-top.

She ordered Blue Milk, which earned her a raised eyebrow, and sat back at one of the corner tables to observe her surroundings. The place was filled with different humans and aliens, all with disreputable looks about them. If she had to venture a guess, it was a smuggler’s retreat, which was perfect for what she needed. Smuggler’s thrived on having information. She didn’t have to wait long as a group came over to where she was sitting. A Human, a Twi’lek female, a Bothan and a Rodian.

The human spoke, “Well hey there pretty lady. Want some company?” K’yehlar looked at the man and sneered, “You must be joking.” The red Twi’lek woman slipped onto the bench next to her and rested her head on her perched hand. “Maybe she’s more interested in a woman’s touch.” She smiled, revealing green crusty teeth…well what was left of them. “Actually I’m looking for some information. I heard there used to be a Republic base around here. I’m trying to find it.” The group looked at each other and the human spoke again, “What would someone like you want with a Republic base? The place was abandoned, but it’s still locked up with Imperial security codes.” K’yehlar smirked, “Let’s just say I have my reasons, and my methods.”

The group started moving around attempting to corner K’yehlar to where she couldn’t get away. This didn’t go unnoticed to her, but she played innocent. The man spoke, “What if we took you there, you use your…’methods’, and we share in the benefits?” The Twi’lek licked her lips, “All the benefits.” K’yehlar’s eyes slanted and she put on a half-hearted grin, “Thanks, but I don’t play well with others. The location will be enough.” The human smiled, showing more teeth than she would have imagined for this group, “I don’t think you understand Violet. We’ll take you there, and you’ll get us in.”

You could almost see a fire lit in K’yehlar’s eyes as she tilted her head down and glared at the man. “No, I don’t think you understand. If you don’t give me what I want, in five minutes, I’ll be the only one at this table still standing.” The four of them started laughing uncontrollably. In a lull, she continued, “Five minutes after that, I’ll be the only one in this cantina still standing. So why don’t you be a good boy, and just tell me where the base is.”

They started laughing even harder, and K’yehlar slowly reached into her inner pocket and grasped the staff. “Well, if that’s the way you want it…” She did her little trick and the staff extended, smacking the Twi’lek upside the head, knocking her to the floor. “Shall we begin?”

More people started becoming aware of what was going on and started getting to their feet. K’yehlar stood up in the booth and hopped on top of the table, swinging her staff knocking blasters out of hands, and slapping them upside the temple. K’yehlar fought like a woman possessed. It was as if all her repressed emotions were being released, flowing through her and her staff. She sensed a blaster being pulled on her from behind by a Devaronian. Instinctively she thrust out her arm, and the blaster was yanked out of his hand and it flew across the room, striking another person in the face. She spun around and thwacked the devilish looking man in the head, breaking off a part of his horn.

Soon there were only two people left, as they stood side by side: the white-haired Wookiee bartender clutching a bottle of Vasarian brandy, and a nervous-looking male Twi’lek. “Look lady, I don’t know anything. Why don’t you just get the hell out of here?” the Wookiee spoke in clear Shyriiwook. “But you know somebody, who knows somebody, who knows. Who? Where?” In a panic the Wookiee swung the bottle at K’yehlar, which she ducked, causing him to smash the Twi’lek in the face. She retaliated by bringing her staff upside his temple, knocking him to the floor as well. “Aw Smeg…now I have to wait for someone to wake up.” She retracted her staff, and jumped up on the bar, crossing one leg over the other and sipped on a nearby drink while she waited for someone to regain consciousness.

After a few minutes, she heard some faint groaning. She hopped off the bar, and walked towards the sound, finding it being made from the red Twi’lek woman she initially knocked out. As the woman sat up, K’yehlar slipped in behind her, wrapping her legs around her waist, and her arms around her arms and neck. “Well hey there pretty lady. Say, you wouldn’t happen to know where that base is, would you? We wouldn’t want a repeat of earlier now, would we?” She licked the tendril on the side of the Twi’lek’s head where a human ear would be. The woman cringed in K’yehlar’s grip. “I’ll tell you what you want, just…don’t hurt me, please!” K’yehlar grinned mischievously, “That’s a good girl.”

The Twi’lek woman gave K’yehlar the location of the Republic base, which was located on the orbiting moon. She thanked her by tightening her grip and putting her into a sleeper hold, lulling her into unconsciousness. She looked around the cantina and realized she had better leave before anyone else woke up. As she walked by the leader of the group she noticed the blaster belt he was wearing. There may come a time where a staff wouldn’t be enough to protect her. She unstrapped it from his waist, and put it around her own. “Thanks again, pretty boy.”

As she left the cantina and was walking through the streets on her way back to the starport, she fell to her knees clutching her temples. A throbbing pain had suddenly started pounding and felt as though her eyeballs were being pushed out from the inside. The pain lasted for only a moment, and as she opened her eyes, she looked around. “What the…what the hell just happened?” She had just realized that she had single-handedly cleared out the entire cantina. How did she make that Devaronian’s blaster fly out of his hand? And she practically accosted the Twi’lek to gain the information. “What the hell is wrong with me…” She didn’t have time to waste. She got to her feet and started making her way back to the starport.

Twenty minutes from the time she had cleared out the cantina, she was back in space, and heading toward’s Rishi’s lone moon. The Twi’leks coordinates were correct, as she was coming up on what looked like an old Republic base…but it was only partially finished. “I guess with the Death Stars, he really doesn’t care about a place like this anymore. Perfect…hide right under his nose.”

She began her descent and landed in the open landing bay next to the main building. She climbed down the ladder, making sure to grab her datapad from behind the seat. “Come on Luna, I may need you.” The purple astromech ejected from it’s docking port and rolled to the starboard wing. She turned and rolled off, small retrothrusters shot out of her feet, bringing her to a safe landing. K’yehlar shook her head and grinned at the little R2-Unit.

Coming up to the main entrance she smiled as it had been fit with an Imperial coding system. “This should be cake. And if I do it right, there won’t be any indication that we’re even here.” She hooked her datapad to the port and started pushing buttons on her pad. “Now if we re-route this here…bypass that…bring that around over here…but where does this go? That’s not supposed to be there…”

As K’yehlar worked over the security codes, Luna wheeled up to the other side of the door, extending a scomp link and accessing the terminal. After a few turns of her cylinder, the doors swooshed open. “What the…I didn’t do anything!” K’yehlar looked down at Luna and couldn’t hold back a laugh as she realized that it was Luna who had opened the door. “Bless you Ni’Kol, and you too ya little sneak.” Luna bleeped a response as her scomp-link retracted, and she wheeled herself through the door. “To the control room with you.”

As the door closed behind them, the musty smell that permeated through the halls was indicative that nobody had been there in a very long time. “Well it doesn’t look like we’ll be jumped by any guards here. This place is completely abandoned.” They made it to the control room, and Luna wasted no time in hooking up to the computer terminal. “Don’t power up the entire facility. Just power up the control room and close off the landing bay. No sense letting anyone in we don’t want.” A few moments passed, and consoles started lighting up around her. A monitor showed that the landing bay doors were closing around her X-Wing.

“Okay…now that we have the place to ourselves. It’s time I learned some information.” K’yehlar dusted off a chair and seated herself at a console. With a deep breath she ran a search: ORDER SIXTY-SIX.

Order 66: In the event of Jedi officers acting against the interests of the Republic, and after receiving specific orders verified as coming directly from the Supreme Commander (Chancellor), GAR commanders will remove those officers by lethal force, and command of the GAR will revert to the Supreme Commander (Chancellor) until a new command structure is established.

K’yehlar stared blankly at the screen as she read what the order entailed. She was labeled a Jedi…and as such, subject to elimination. But why? Why had Palpatine done this to her? She did nothing but try to please him the entire time she was there. Could it have been Vader? Of the entire time she was at the retreat, she could sense that Vader did not like her. Possible…but doubtful. There was a reason Palpatine had done this…but she was never going to learn until she became stronger.

“Luna, power up the sleeping quarters…no…Officer’s quarters. Might as well use this place to it’s fullest while we’re here. Tomorrow we’ll see what else we can find around here to help us.” Luna bleeped cheerfully, as K’yehlar stood from the console. “Keep an eye on the approach sensors, just in case we need to make a quick exit. And don’t forget to recharge yourself.” She patted the little R2-Unit on top of her dome, and walked down the hall to the Officer’s quarters. A quick change of linens from a nearby closet and she was ready for a night of sleep. She stared longingly at one of the larger beds, but instead chose to sleep in one of the smaller ones. Someday…she’d sleep in a larger bed again…when she was able to share it again with Kili’kaa…

The next few days were like a scavenger hunt for K’yehlar. She spent most of her time rummaging through the halls of the expansive base, for anything that may have been left behind that would be useful in her journey. There were some rations packs that came in handy since she had none with her at all. The thing that caught her eye however, was a TIE pilot flightsuit. She’d never worn a suit before, but perhaps it would come in handy.

She slipped out of her clothes, stripping down to her underwear. She stepped into the flightsuit and pulled it up around her, zipping it up just below her breasts. She slipped on a pair of boots that were a little snug, but slowly formed to her feet. She looked down at the helmet and shrugged as she picked it up and placed it on her head. “What the…how the hell does anyone see in this bloody thing?” The eye-screens were well above her eye line, and felt clunky around her head. She pulled it off and threw it back in the locker. “Clearly not made with women in mind.” She grinned at herself in a nearby mirror, and then picked up her discarded clothes off the floor.

The next two weeks went by rather routinely. Luna kept watch over things in the control room, and K’yehlar returned to her training in one of the larger halls. She hadn’t trained since she left the retreat on Naboo, and had started to get rusty. Sometimes she would try to recreate things she had done before out of instinct. Lightning out of her hand, the force push…but all she could do was what she had been doing since she was little. Move something here and there with a thought. Nothing spectacular, and nothing along the scale of what she had done back at the cantina with the blaster.

As she was sitting there concentrating on moving a desk lamp, she heard the alarms go off. Her concentration broken, the desk lamp fell to the desk and toppled to the floor. She jumped from her seat and jogged down the hall to the control room. As she entered the room, Luna cut the alarms. “What’s wrong Luna?” In response the R2-Unit brought up the proximity sensors on the main screen. A ship, YT-1300, was on approach and would be there soon. “I guess I should have expected a retaliation of some sorts after what I did down there. Okay…” She thought quickly, and devised a plan, as she was almost certain that it was the group of four smugglers she initially encountered.

“All right, here’s how it’s going to work out.” She started pressing buttons on the console, talking to Luna as she went, piecing together her plan. “Okay Luna, I’m counting on you.” She pulled the blaster, which she had taken off the lead smuggler, and checked to make sure it’s power pack was charged. She re-holstered the weapon, and jogged out of the room.

The YT-1300 landed just outside the landing bay of the base, and the loading ramp descended to the ground. Out came, as expected, the quartet of smugglers from the cantina. The Rodian and Bothan each carried carbines, looking around as if scouting the area. Next descended the Human with the Twi’lek close behind. “All right. She’s obviously been here for some time. Its time that bitch pays for what she did to Glitter.” He brought his hand up and gingerly brushed her cheek, which was still rather bruised. The Bothan chimed in “Not to mention stealing your blaster, Boss. Didn’t you take that from Han…” The Human glared at the small furry man and barked, “Never you mind what she did to me! You just worry about parking a carbine shot between her eyes. Now come on, let’s find the bitch.”

As they approached the base, the large doors to the landing bay began to open, revealing the interior. “Well…I guess she’s expecting us. Okay you two take point. We’ll take rear. Keep your eyes open. Who knows what she’s capable of.” The group moved from the large Corellian freighter and into the landing bay, walking past her X-Wing. The human couldn’t help but eye it before they entered through an open hallway and into the base.

They tried accessing several doors, but many of them were locked. Main hallways were open, but only in certain areas. “She could be hiding behind any one of these doors. So keep your…” Before he could finish his sentence a bulkhead slammed down in front of him, cutting the group off. The Rodian and Bothan were on the other side, and he could hear them pounding on the door. He pulled out his commlink, “Kangal? Kangal you hear me?” Due to the thickness of the bulkhead, the Bothan was barely audible. “Jisk! We’re cut off. The bulkhead on the other side dropped too. We’re boxed in.” The human slammed his fist on the wall, “Damn that kriffing bitch! Come on Glitter, let’s keep going.”

The two turned back the other way, and took one of the other routes. The human was grumbling out loud, “Nobody gets the better of Jiskori Voka. Not like this. Nobody!” The Twi’lek, known as Glitter, was following timidly behind as they entered the dark mess hall. “Baby, let’s just get out of here. She’s obviously…what the? Oh hell, not again.” As Jiskori turned the lights came up in the mess hall. There was K’yehlar with her leg wrapped around Glitter’s, an arm around her neck, and his blaster pointed at her temple.

“Damndest thing. You’re the most disgusting Twi’lek I have ever met, and twice you end up in my arms. Funny how things work out, isn’t it?” Her jade green eyes locked on the unshaven man with long hair. His eyes were piercing at her, filled with anger. “You kriffing bitch. What have you done with Kangal and Jindo?” K’yehlar smirked, “They’re just enjoying a cell together. One they’ll be released from as soon as you agree to get the hell out of here.” The man chuckled, “You think I’m just gonna walk out of here, after what you’ve done? Not only what you did to me, but what you did to Glitter?” K’yehlar looked at the red Twi’lek and raised an eyebrow, “Your name is Glitter? You’ve got to be kidding. With those teeth?” The Twi’lek was shaking in K’yehlar’s grip. “It’s actually Gli’tor…but he calls me Glitter.” K’yehlar rolled her eyes, “That is so sweet it’s sickening. You, drop your guns.”

She turned her attention back on the man who was slowly dropping his dual holstered blasters, “Your name is Jiskori, yes?” The man simply nodded, “I’m sure you came for your revenge, but you’re not getting it. Not today, not any other time. Now what we’re going to do is take a walk back out to the landing bay, and you’re going to get on your ship and get the hell out of here.” His eyes looked from K’yehlar’s to Glitter’s, and then back. “It seems I have no other choice, do I? You’re holding all the Sabacc Cards.” She backed up with Glitter in tow, motioning for him to start walking down the hallway. She released Glitter and motioned for her to follow as well. “Tell your men to drop their weapons where they are, and I’ll open the bulkheads.” Jiskori got on his comm. and relayed the order. Soon after she got on her own comm. and had Luna drop the bulkheads and route them to the landing bay.

A short walk with K’yehlar holding the blaster to their backs, and both parties reached the landing bay. Just as they were about to exit the Bay, Jiskori pushed Glitter forward and spun around catching K’yehlar off guard with a roundhouse left hand to her jaw, knocking her to her back on the ground. She quickly flipped up onto her feet, only to find that the men had shot from their sleeves holdout blasters and were quickly taking aim at her. She gasped, and began doing backwards handflips as blaster bolts started coming her way. She was able to duck behind the fuselage of her X-Wing, which would protect her from stray blaster fire. The hull of an X-Wing wasn’t much against starfighter weapons, but handheld blasters just seemed to bounce off.

“If there’s one thing I should have learned from Kili, it’s that smegheads like this would have holdout blasters.” She strafed to one side, and shot out a couple of blaster shots in the direction of incoming fire. A couple minutes passed like this before the booming voice of Jiskori rang out. “It’s no use, Violet. You don’t have anywhere to go. So why don’t you just throw out MY blaster, and come out with your hands behind your head.” This whole situation was starting to piss K’yehlar off. “And just what happens to me if I do?” She could hear a chuckle, “Oh we’re not gonna hurt you. You see…despite what happened…Glitter likes you…and she wants payback in her own special way.” The disgusting giggling of the red Twi’lek made K’yehlar want to vomit.

The fire returned to her eyes, as a ball of rage felt as if it were building inside of her. She then replied with a scream, “I’ve got a better idea!” She bolted from her cover behind the X-Wing, and began running. She was running so fast that she could hardly be seen. The men started firing at where they though she was, but by the time the bolts reached she was already far ahead of them. She came around to where the Rodian and Bothan were huddled together. She leaped in the air, hooking her arm around the Rodian’s neck, swinging herself around and planting her right foot against the jaw of the Bothan, knocking him sliding back on the landing bay’s floor. Spinning around the Rodian’s body, she brought her knees up and against his yellowish-green face. She leaned forward, and brought his head down hard against the deckplate with her body helping to deal the knockout blow. She got to her feet and slowly turned her head towards Jiskori and Glitter. Glitter was hiding behind Jiskori while he stood there in rage.

“You kriffing…what the hell are you? Some kind of Jedi?!?” As K’yehlar slowly approached, she smirked, “Some have called me that. And if that’s what I am?” In the time it takes to blink an eye, K’yehlar was face to face with Jiskori, hands on his blasters. “Then what are you gonna do about it?” Her eyes blazed as she stepped back, hands still on his blasters and kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying back in the air and onto his face on the deckplate. She turned to Glitter, who looked so frightened, she was beginning to turn pink with paleness. K’yehlar grabbed the front of her leather corset, and pulled her forward, planting her lips against hers, and drove her tongue inside her mouth. After a moment she pulled away and grinned at the red Twi’lek with an almost evil gleam in her eyes before she shoved her on the deck towards Jiskori. She pulled the power packs from the blasters, and dropped them to the deck. “Attend to your lover.” She turned and pulled her commlink out of her pocket, “Luna, scramble the database, and then get up here. We’re leaving.”

As she clicked off the commlink, from behind she heard some movement, “Not like this…NOT LIKE THIS!” Jiskori had risen to his knees, and had yet another holdout blaster in his hand. She turned around and was met with a blaster bolt, grazing her left shoulder, slashing the material of her flight suit. Her eyes went wide, and with a scream she extended both her hands, and lightning emanated from the tips of her fingers and encompassed the man, causing him to scream out in pain as he was being electrocuted. After a moment, the lightning stopped, and he fell face first to the deckplate. Glitter moved to him, with tears in her eyes. “Baby…baby are you all right?”

Luna wheeled herself into the landing bay and started heading towards the X-Wing. K’yehlar turned once again and began walking towards the ship. As she was climbing up the ladder into the cockpit, Glitter screamed as she cried, “You kriffing bitch! You killed him! You kriffing killed him!” K’yehlar paused, but didn’t look towards the direction of the screams. She simply continued her ascent into the cockpit of her fighter.

As Luna docked herself in her port, systems began coming online. K’yehlar ignited the repulsorlifts and throttled the ship forward and out of the landing bay. She brought the X-Wing up and over the YT-1300 as she pulled back on the control stick bringing the fighter to a steep climb. Without hesitation, and no second-guessing, she brought the ship around and locked the s-foils open, bringing the weapons online. The fighter descended towards the freighter, and she pulled on the trigger, sending purple blaster shots into the hull of her target, riddling it with explosions. As she pulled up hard on the flight stick, she pushed the throttle forward and began ascending through the atmosphere. As she began to bring up the navicomm, her head started pounding, worse than it had done on the planet below. After a few moments of intense pain, she fell unconscious, her head propped up against the cockpit window. Her hands fell to her sides, and as they did, one grazed the navicomm and inputted her next destination. As the stars turned to lines and into the swirling unknown of hypserspace, K’yehlar slept with her mind racing full of nightmares…nightmares of herself…

[RommieSG]

The Twi’lek’s golden eyes sparkled, yet not with happiness, not with glee, they sparkled with the tears of pain. Pain caused by the death of her love. She nudged him, but he would not move. As she stood to look towards the rest of her group, the sounds of explosions echoed through the bay, as their freighter was being destroyed. She sank to her knees and held her head in her hands, tears streaming down her face. She dropped her hands, tilted her head back and screamed into the night.

K’yehlar bolted upright, screaming as the images in her mind frightened her into consciousness. Images of her confrontation with the smugglers, flashing the encounters, the Twi’lek woman screaming in her mind, “You killed him! You kriffing killed him!” She looked at her hands…the hands that killed the man with electricity…lightning she had no idea how she produced. She didn’t even realize until then that she was no longer in her X-Wing, but was in yet another hospital room, as she held her head in her hands.

Just then the lights came up and a woman walked into the room, most likely a nurse by the way she was dressed. “You’re finally awake. We were starting to wonder whether you’d wake up at all.” K’yehlar shook her head and spoke in a broken voice, “W…where am I? How long have I been here?” The nurse gave a soft smile, “Well you’re in the General Hospital here in Aroo, on Manda. According to my chart, you’ve been here for…six days.” K’yehlar shook her head again, “How did I get here? I don’t even remember…” That wasn’t entirely true…she remembered getting in her X-Wing…destroying the freighter…and then leaving the moon’s atmosphere…everything after that was a blank.

“There’s actually someone just outside that knows more about that than I do. I’ve just been taking care of you physically.” The nurse, who was apparently the doctor, smiled at K’yehlar and checked some of the readings on a monitor. “I was worried about you to be honest. There were times you sparked a fever, as if you were in pain, but none of your pain receptors were being stimulated. It seemed to be all cerebral.” She looked back at K’yehlar, “You must have been dreaming some painful dreams.” K’yehlar sighed, “If only they were dreams, Doctor…” The woman with abnormally large eyes blushed, “Oh my, where are my manners. The name is Miya.” Her smile was warm, which caused K’yehlar to smile in return, “K’yehlar…just K’yehlar…” Miya grinned, “Well it looks as though you’re going to be fine. We’ll keep you overnight, and then tomorrow you can be released. I’ll send in the Major.”

K’yehlar’s heart rate shot up, causing her monitors to beep faster. “Imperial?” Miya scoffed, “Of course not. Not on Manda. And we just call him ‘Major’. He works for the Baobab Merchant Fleet.” Miya turned towards the door, and K’yehlar’s heart rate started returning to normal. She had heard of the Baobab Fleet, one of the most well known merchant families on the outer rim.

An older man walked into the room, wearing a blue flightsuit. “Good to see you awake. The name’s Solie Burning…most people around here call me ‘Major.’ I led the team that brought you and that X-Wing in.” K’yehlar nodded, still feeling somewhat groggy, “Thank you Major. Who knows what would have happened to me if you hadn’t.” He grunted an acknowledgement, “You came out of Hyperspace and just started drifting, and you drifted into Manda airspace. When you didn’t answer the control, we were sent out to determine the situation. Your droid…Luna…sent me a message asking for assistance. It had completed your navigation route, and then ran out of fuel. Said her pilot was unconscious, so we brought the fighter in, and brought you here.”

K’yehlar kept her eyes on Burning while thinking of a response, “I have history sometimes of blacking out. Been that way since I was a kid. I think I climbed too steep out of the atmosphere on my ascent, and just…blacked out.” Burning grunted again, “You were wearing an Imperial TIE Flightsuit. But they generally don’t fly Incom fighters. And we don’t much care for the Empire out here either.” K’yehlar put her hands up, “That makes two of us, Major. I was wearing the suit, because it fit, and I thought it looked good on me. Purple and Black are my favorite colors after all.” Burning seemed to think for a moment, and then nodded, “I can usually tell if someone’s lyin’ to me. Your story about the blackouts was a boldfaced lie, but I know you’re telling the truth about the Empire.” K’yehlar shook her head, “How did you…” Burning pointed to the monitor tracking her vitals, “Your heart rate went up when you told your little story back there, but not when you talked about the Empire.” K’yehlar looked up at the monitor and couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Don’t matter to me how you got here, that’s your own business. Miya said you were gonna be kept here overnight. I’ll come by tomorrow and take ya to where your fighter’s being stored.” K’yehlar smiled and nodded, “Thank you Major…for everything.” Burning grunted and nodded, “G’night miss.” As Burning left, K’yehlar keyed the lights down. She laid back and stared up at yet another unfamiliar ceiling.

The next morning she was released from the Hospital. Miya almost seemed sorry to see K’yehlar go, as she thanked her for taking care of her. She had dressed in her flightsuit, as she had no other clothes with her. Thankfully she hadn’t unpacked much from her ship at the Republic Base, so she could eventually change clothes. As promised, Burning was waiting for her outside the Hospital to take her to her ship.

The speeder ride was silent as the two drove into the Baobab Merchant Fleet facilities located towards the edge of town. He pulled the speeder around towards the hangar bays, where various types of fighters were being worked on. “This is where we maintain our escort fighters. The main fleet operates further to the south in the staging area.” K’yehlar looked to the south and could see the outline of Nebulon frigates in the distance. “Come on, your fighter is in here.”

The hangar was bustling with activity. At least a dozen mechanics were working on this or that. Ni’Kol would be green with envy if she could see the type of operation going on here. They came up to the X-Wing where a technician was up with Luna. “Don’t tell me you’re still having problems with that astromech.” A young man with blonde hair and glasses scratched his head. “It’s the damndest thing, Major. No matter what I try, this R2 unit won’t come out of it’s port.”

Burning glanced over at K’yehlar, and she knew exactly what he was silently saying. “Luna, it’s all right. Come on out.” Luna bleeped in response and ejected herself out of the socket, knocking the technician back on his behind. She rolled down the wing, and retro’d down to the deckplate, rolling towards K’yehlar, who looked up at Burning, “She’s uhm… shy.” She shrugged as Luna came to a stop at her side. “We’ll run some maintenance on her, make sure she’s in good condition.” He looked up at the technician and nodded, giving yet another silent order. “It’s all right Luna, go along and get fixed up. Maybe they’ll give you an oil bath.” She smiled at her little purple R2, as she left to follow the technician.

Burning shook his head as he folded his arms, “As far as we can tell your ship is in tip-top shape. Whoever your mechanic is, knows their stuff. Nothing like what the Rebellion has in weaponry, but you could probably handle yourself in a fight.” K’yehlar smiled as she thought back to Ni’Kol…and Kili…working on her ship together. “I’ll…tell them the next time I see them.” Burning grunted, “That just leaves the matter of maintenance fees. The Baobab Merchants aren’t a charity group, ya know.” K’yehlar looked as though she just snapped back to reality. “Oh…of course.” She reached in the pocket of her flightsuit…and nothing…the other pocket…nothing. “Oh smeg…”

She ran over to the cargo hold of her ship, opened it up, and pulled out one of her bags. She dug through it, and sighed relief when she pulled out the clothes that she was wearing while on Iskalon. She reached in the pocket and pulled out the creditchip…and the little black box. She opened it to make sure the rings were still inside, the pain in her heart subsiding when she confirmed that they were. “Looks as though that’s important to you.” She slapped the box shut and looked up at Burning who stood there with his arms crossed, “Yes…more than you know…Oh…” She handed up the creditchip as she started putting things back into her bag. “Uhm…hate to break this to ya, but there’s nothing left on this creditchip. Maybe twenty, thirty credits.” K’yehlar’s eyes shot wide, she got up on her knees and waddled over to him. “That’s impossible! There was…” Then she remembered the maintenance fees and lodging on Iskalon. “Smeggin’ hell…”

K’yehlar flopped back down, feeling as though the entire universe was out to get her somehow. Burning crouched down in front of her and rubbed his chin. “You know how to fly that thing? I don’t mean just to get around, I mean can you fly that thing?” K’yehlar looked back at her X-Wing and then back to Burning. “I’ve had basic combat training, yes. And I know how to handle myself in a furball, if that’s what you’re asking.” She didn’t mention that she fought that furball with no weapons. Last thing he needed to hear was bragging. “There’s something about you. I dunno what it is, but…I’ll tell you what I’ll do. We lost some pilots recently when they left to join the Rebellion in the core worlds. Seeing as I have my own squad…I’ll take you on in the fleet. You can fly for the fleet to pay back your debt. After that…well that’s up to you. What do you say?”

K’yehlar looked into Burning’s eyes, and saw kindness. He didn’t let it show in his facial expressions, but that’s what she felt when she looked at him. The two of them stood, and K’yehlar couldn’t help but smile. “Looks like I’m your girl, Sir.” She brought her hand up to salute, and Burning slapped it away. “Don’t salute me, and don’t call me sir. You wanna call me anything, just do what everone else does. Call me ‘Major’.” K’yehlar shook her head, “But…what’s the diff.” Burning barked, “The difference is, I work for a living! Now come on, grab that gear out of your ship. I’ll take you to the pilot’s dorms.” K’yehlar did as she was told, and grabbed her gear out of the hold, putting it in the back of the speeder. Another silent speeder ride, and they were in front of a large building near the main hangar. “Once your ship has been fully checked out, it’ll be brought here with the rest of my squad.” K’yehlar simply nodded and followed Burning with her gear slung over her shoulder.

They walked into the building and down the hall until they came to a door. He opened it and brought up the lights. “You can stay here. Mess hall is down at the end of this hallway. ‘Fresher is upstairs, ya can’t miss it.” K’yehlar nodded, “Thank you Major, I don’t know what to say…” Burning grunted, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of things. Report to the main hangar at 0600. I wanna see what you’re capable of.”

Burning left without another word, leaving K’yehlar to her new room. She walked over to the window to look at her view, which had turned to night now, as the sun had set. She wasn’t feeling hungry, so she slipped out of her flightsuit and underwear, and into some loose fitting clothes. Climbing the stairs to the next floor, she decided to take a shower, and get an early start on the next day.

She walked into the Refresher and found it empty. She pulled off her clothes and laid them on one of the benches next to the lockers. She stepped into the shower stall, and turned on the hot water. The water quickly turned hot, and washed over K’yehlar’s body. She leaned up against the side of the stall and just let the water fall on her. She winced as she felt pain in her left shoulder. She had forgotten that she was shot there once again. Miya seemed to have done a good job tending to it, but it was still tender. “Why it is everyone keeps seeming to aim for that shoulder?”

“I’d personally aim for that ass.” Without warning, K’yehlar felt a hand slap her in the ass. She turned to see a woman slightly shorter than she was with short black hair grinning mischievously at her. She was completely naked, and noticeably trying to stifle a laugh. K’yehlar folded her arms across her chest and backed up against the wall, “Who the hell are you?” The woman smirked, “I could ask you the same thing.” Her eyes glanced downwards, “Damn, I’ve never seen a natural purple before. Where did they grow you at?” K’yehlar blushed as she quickly covered her crotch area. “I’m K’yehlar. I guess you could call me a new recruit.” The woman grinned, “Well then, that must mean we’re wingmates. The names Caylo.” She started to laugh, “If we’re gonna be wingmates, you’re gonna have to learn not to be shy around me. I’m sure we’re gonna be taking lots of showers together.” K’yehlar’s eyes went wide as Caylo shook her head, “Don’t worry darlin’ I didn’t mean that way.” K’yehlar dropped her hands and stood up straight, shutting off the water. “Though it might be fun to try…” K’yehlar blushed and grabbed a towel, drying herself off and then wrapping it around her torso.

“How many others are in the squad?” As Caylo was starting to take a shower she answered K’yehlar, “Well I’m guessing you already met the Major. Aside from myself there’s Kou, and there’s Cima. They…usually butt heads but damn good pilots. Jodi used to be my wingman, but the bitch ran off to join the Rebellion. I guess that means you’re my new wingman.” K’yehlar asked more questions as she got dressed, “Do you guys usually run into much trouble?” Caylo scoffed, “I wish! Its boring escort missions. We escort the freighters as they make their runs. Every so often someone gets dumb enough to try and hit a shipment, but that’s pretty much the only fun we have.” K’yehlar shook her head, “Isn’t the idea to get the shipment from one port to the other without incident?” Caylo rolled her eyes, “Well yeah, but every so often don’t you just wanna get into a furball and blow sh*t up?! I mean, we’re fighter pilots for kriff’s sake!”

Caylo turned the water off and grabbed K’yehlar’s towel that she had laid next to her on the bench. “If you want a fight, why didn’t you go with Jodi and join the Rebellion against the Empire?” Caylo rolled her eyes, “Pfff! That’s their own little problem. If that bitch Jodi wants to go off and fight for someone else’s cause, that’s her problem. I have a good life here, I can do what I want, and that’s all I want.” Caylo flipped her hair back, letting the wet strands slap against the back of her neck. She winked at K’yehlar and grinned, “See you in the morning, sweetie. Looking forward to see what you can do.” She turned, and walked out of the ‘Fresher. “And I thought Kili was bad about being naked…wait…she didn’t put any clothes on…does that mean she walked in here like that?!?”

The next morning, K’yehlar woke up at 0530. She hadn’t woken up so early in a long time. At least… not on purpose anyway. She didn’t count the times she woke up screaming in the middle of the night because of the visions that played havoc in her mind. The part that scared her, was that it was becoming harder to tell what was fiction, and what was reality. She wiggled her way into her flightsuit, and slipped on her boots. She eyed the gunbelt that was slung over one of the chairs for a long moment before picking it up and strapping it around her waist. She pulled her staff out from her pack and slid it into one of the slots generally reserved for other weapons.

A light jog through the grounds, and she was out in front of the main hangar. The sun had barely risen above the horizon, and the light was still dim. She could make out Caylo speaking with two other people. She could only assume these were her other wingmates. “Morning sleepyhead. These are your other wingmates. Kou, and Cima.” She motioned to the man and woman respectively, “Guys, this is the noobie, K’yehlar.” Kou gave her a warm greeting as he extended his hand, “Kou, Zeta Two. Welcome to the squad.” K’yehlar shook his hand, and looked towards Cima. She just stood there with her arms folded. Kou slapped her in the shoulder and glared at her, as if to say something. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Cima, Zeta Three.” Kou shook his head, “You’ll have to forgive our Ice Queen here. She takes…well she doesn’t really warm up to anyone really. But you wouldn’t want anyone else flying with you.” K’yehlar nodded and allowed herself a grin. “And of course you already know me. I’m Zeta Four, which will make you Zeta Five.” Caylo seemed to be full of herself as she was in the shower the night before. She was wearing a black and white flightsuit with the zipper down to her navel. There was no way you couldn’t tell she wasn’t wearing a bra, almost as if she wanted it that way. Kou wore a white flightsuit with black shoulders, while Cima’s was red with black shoulders.

“All right everyone, line up.” The gravely voice of Solie Burning cut through the low fog as he walked towards the group, as everyone lined up in order of their callsign. K’yehlar fell into place next to Caylo. “Dammit Caylo, how many times do I have to tell you to zip your kriffing flightsuit up?” She rolled her eyes, “Fine, whatever.” She zipped the suit up just past her nipples showing off just the right amount of cleavage. There was a difference between her and Kili…Kili didn’t try to hide her body, but she didn’t really advertise it either.

“All right, I see you’ve already met K’yehlar. She’s going to be taking Jodi’s place in the squad. I was going to take us all up on a test flight, but there’s a shipment due out today, and they need an escort wing. We’ve got the call, so you’re going to be jumping right into things.” He nodded at K’yehlar, to which she simply nodded in return. “Everyone to your ships, and meet at the designated coordinates. They’ve already been uploaded to your navicomms.” Without another word he turned on his heel and started walking towards the hangar, with everyone else following.

The hangar was more spacious than the first hanger than she had seen the day before. Off to the left were five ships, with hers being the last in the row towards the back. The lead ship was an old Z-95 Headhunter, still in remarkable condition. Burning was already climbing up the ladder into the cockpit of that fighter. It fit what she saw of him so far. The next two ships were Kihraxz fighters. She recognized the type from when she was escorted by them on Iskalon. But the fourth one was a newer design…similar to the Kihraxz, but more advanced. It had to be one of the newer Vaksai fighters. K’yehlar nearly did a double take when she saw Caylo walking to the fighter.

“Okay, Major fits the headhunter, and those two fit the Kihraxz’s, but you in a Vaksai?” K’yehlar’s eyebrow was prominently arched in confusion. Cima was the one that answered, “She can thank her Daddy for that one. It helps when you have that kind of money.” “Cima!” Kou gave Cima a discerning look as he strapped on his helmet. “Hey, it’s not my fault I was born a Baobab. But since I was, I use it to my advantage.” Cima scoffed as the canopy to her cockpit was closing, “You mean Daddy’s credit card.” K’yehlar’s gaze turned to Caylo who simply shrugged at the top of her ladder, “Don’t worry, I don’t let it go to my head.” She slid into the seat of her cockpit and began closing her canopy.

“Knock it off! K’yehlar, get into your fighter. We’re taking off.” Burning barked at the squad before slipping a black helmet over his head. It wasn’t open-faced, but was much smaller than a TIE helmet was. She jogged over to her X-Wing and quickly climbed up the ladder. She was happy to find Luna sitting in her port, shining in the light. “I see you got your bath after all.” K’yehlar smiled at her little droid as she got situated in the cockpit, and closed the canopy. All five fighters lifted off from the ground simultaneously, and followed Burning’s Z-95 out of the hangar and ascending into space.

The formation in orbit was routine. The Nebulon Frigates were slowly moving away from the planet and into position for hyper-jump. Burning took point in front of the convoy, Kou and Cima on either side at the midway point, while K’yehlar and Caylo brought up the rear. Burning sent the signal to the squad and the fleet, and in moments, stars turned to lines, and they jumped to hyperspace.

As Caylo had noted in the shower the night before, escort missions were relatively boring. Jump here, recharge the jump engines, recalculate the jump, jump. K’yehlar was almost ready to echo Caylo’s sentiment for some sort of confrontation. Little did she know, she would get her wish. As they exited hyperspace on their next to last jump, they had a longer layover than the previous jumps. As K’yehlar was spacing out, she was alerted by her lock-on warning signal. “Ha ha! Tag, you’re it!” Caylo’s Vaksai streaked past her, and underneath the belly of one of the freighters.

“Caylo what the hell are you doing?” Burning sounded more annoyed than pissed. “Hey, you wanted to see what she’s got, didn’t you? Why not burn some time while we recalculate?” She could hear Burning’s grunt over the comm., “K’yehlar you have until the time we jump to get a lock on Caylo. You have five minutes.”

K’yehlar simply grunted in response and pushed her throttle forward and began her pursuit. The Vaksai was an agile fighter, and Caylo handled it surprisingly well. The fighters weaved in and out of the flightpaths of the freighters, rolling, ascending at steep angles…still unable to get a lock on her. The time was beginning to tick away. Caylo pulled up and away behind Burning’s Z-95. K’yehlar gritted her teeth, and closed the s-foils, cutting the corner, by blasting right through the s-foil of Burning’s fighter, gently nudging his fuselage. She opened the S-foils, and got a lock on Caylo’s Vaksai immediately after regaining firing control. “Gotcha!”

Caylo was almost livid as she spoke, “How in the…there’s no way you could have done that move…what did you do, fly right through Major’s ship? That’s…” Burning interrupted her, “That’s enough Caylo. She was showing me exactly what she’s capable of…but you still need work. Your ass is mine after we get back to base.” “Yes, Major.” Caylo and K’yehar fell back into their positions. She looked over at Caylo’s fighter, and could make out a few gestures, but nothing pleasant or congratulatory. A few moments later, they re-entered hyperspace on the last leg of their journey.

The next several months went by routinely. K’yehlar spent her time under Burning’s wing as he taught her the art of flying a fighter. Little tricks here and there to boost what she had, to make the most out of it. Thanks to Burning and Keith, the mechanic she first met when she arrived, they tweaked the fighter to suit her flying style. She could have left the fleet after two months, but she stayed on for several reasons. Not only to build her funds back up again, but she was learning a lot by staying where she was, and as much as she moved around, the less likely another bounty hunter would have tracked her down.

But once again, fate would not be kind to K’yehlar, as she would face yet another trial and tribulation.

It started out just as any other day. Kibitzing back and forth with Caylo, as she had apparently become the new ‘Jodi’. Kou and Cima were their usual selves, as was Burning. They were on a routine four-jump route to protect the freighters’ path from being jumped. But when they exited on the third jump, things weren’t routine at all.

“Whoah, I’m counting multiple bogeys on approach. Counting five…no six fighters in formation on intercept course with the convoy.” Kou’s account was crisp, and straight to the point. It was as though this force was waiting for them here. “This is Zeta Leader of the Baobab fleet to approaching vessels. What is your intention?” There was a long moment of silence, and Kou repeated Burning’s inquiry in Bocce, an interplanetary trade language that most traders knew for those who didn’t speak Basic. Once again there was no reply. K’yehlar’s eyes went wide at what her readings were showing her. “Lead, I’m showing weapons hot, and they’re accelerating.” Burning’s grunt was much more audible than it usually was. “Break formation and attack. Don’t disable, blow them out of the stars!” Caylo interjected, “Uh, isn’t that a little extreme?” Burning snapped at her, “It’s the Black Sun dammit! They won’t hesitate to do the same to you!” Burning broke left and banked right as he peeled off from his position.

The Black Sun. One of the most well known criminal syndicates in the entire galaxy. Even on the Outer Rim their presence is felt, and this was a clear indication they had knowledge within the Baobab fleet. Burning had obviously encountered them before, if he were able to identify them so quickly. Kou and Cima broke from their positions, as did K’yehlar and Caylo. “It can’t be that bad. They have six, and we have five. We can handle this.” Burning snapped at Caylo once again, “You idiot, you think this is all they’re going to send? They’ve already alerted the rest of their squadron, and they’re on their way here. Take these out now!”

Burning had definitely seen this before, and it must not have gone very well if this is how he’s reacting. Kou and Cima maneuvered precisely as the various fighters weaved in and out of the flight paths of the Nebulon freighters. The Black Sun vessels, which looked to be modified Kihraxz fighters, seemed to be ignoring the freighters and concentrating on them. If Burning was right, this could merely be a distraction while the rest of the forces would concentrate on the freighters.

Caylo stayed on the tail of one of the fighters, but she concentrated too closely on it, as one of the other fighters snuck up behind her. “Sithspit…one of the little bastards snuck up on me!” Her comm. crackled to life, “Caylo break right…now!” Not even hesitating, she pulled the flightstick hard to the right, and just as she vacated her position, K’yehlar brought her X-Wing streaking through head-on firing all blasters at the ship that had tailed Caylo. The Kihraxz exploded, and the X-Wing blew through the debris. “Where the hell did you come from?” K’yehlar chuckled, “Come on, every girl has her secrets. Now pay attention!”

The odds were now even; five on five, and it wasn’t long before Zeta Squadron took out the other fighters. “Bravo Convoy, this is Zeta Lead. Hyper to Emergency Point Delta. The second wave will be on us any moment, and we need that shipment delivered.” The lead freighter responded, “Roger that Zeta Lead, calculating for Emergency Point Delta. Hyperdrive in thirty seconds.”

They seemed to be the longest thirty seconds that there had ever been. Each second ticked slowly, but the convoy blinked out of eyesight before anything came into range. And they came just like Burning said they would. Eight Kihraxz fighters, four Vaksai’s, and their command ship; an AEG-77 Vigo Gunship.

“Smeg, Major, we’re in over our heads. Shouldn’t we go for help?” Burning snapped back, “We leave here, they’ll find our convoy. There’s a leak, and they’re bound to know where our emergency points are. We have to take them out now, before their hyperdrives recharge.” There was a pause, “Don’t worry K’ye…I know you can do it…” That caused her to pause for a moment, as he’d never said over the comm. anything of that nature to her before. “Yes, Major…I’ll do what I can…”

Burning took a deep breath, and barked over the comm. “Zeta Squadron, on my mark, break formation and attack. 3…2…1…NOW!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“At that moment, we broke formation and engaged the Black Sun. It wasn’t easy, sir. But we were able to take out the fighters, and then cripple the Vigo’s engines. I believe our fleet should be commandeering her by now.” K’yehlar stood in front of the director of flight operations for the entire Baobab Fleet, Emerick Batali. “Yes, I just received word they arrived at the coordinates. I don’t know how you did it, little lady, but you should not have survived those odds against a superior force.” K’yehlar was trying to stay focused, her mind was still on what happened, “With all due respect, sir, we were merely outnumbered. A superior force is only superior if they can outdo you in skill, which they could not.” Batali grinned, “Sounds like The Major all right. He taught you well.” K’yehlar nodded, “Yes sir, and if you don’t mind…” Batali cut her off, “Go, I’ve got all I need for now. Take one of the speederbikes out front, go see him.”

With a quick nod of the head, K’yehlar turned about-face, and ran out of the building. She hopped on one of the speederbikes, and sped off in the direction of the hospital. In moments she was parked out front and racing into the emergency area. The rest of her squadron was already there, sitting in the waiting room, their knicks and bruises already taken care of. The only exception was…

Miya came down the hall, and looked exhausted. “K’yehlar, I’m glad you’re here. He’s asked for you. Well…not exactly…but…” She was almost to tears, when K’yehlar put her hand on her shoulder, and walked past her towards post-op. There he lay, hooked up to monitors, which were beeping slowly. The man who had taught her practically everything she knew about the art of flying a fighter.

“There you are…I was starting to wonder if you were coming.” K’yehlar forced a smile, “Well…someone had to give the debrief since you couldn’t…” Burning grinned, and then motioned her over. She walked up to his bed and knelt down next to it, taking his hand into hers. “You’re the reason we got out of that furball back there. You’ve taken what I’ve taught you, and become more than I or your mother ever thought possible.” K’yehlar grinned…and then raised an eyebrow… “Mother?” Burning shook his head, “She never approved of you learning how to fly, let alone joining the fleet.” He squeezed K’yehlar’s hand, “But you proved today…that you have every right to be in that cockpit Kira. You should be proud…and I know your mother would be too, if she were alive today.”

K’yehlar looked back towards the door, to where Miya was standing with tears in her eyes. She looked to her for some kind of sign, but Miya could only shake her head before walking back out. She turned back to Burning who was smiling at her…and she didn’t have the heart to contradict him. From the condition that he was in when he was pulled from the cockpit…he couldn’t have much longer… “I am…Dad…and Mom would be too. But you need to get some rest.” Burning chuckled, which caused him to cough…”Heh…I’ll rest when I’m dead…don’t you worry about me.” That caused a tear to roll down K’yehlar’s cheek. “Dammit Dad…listen to me for once, will you?” Burning looked into K’yehlar’s eyes, and then smiled, “Okay Kira…you win this time…I’ll get some rest…”

K’yehlar let go of Burning’s hand, stood up, and leaned over to kiss him on the forehead. Forcing herself to smile, she walked out of the post-op and into the waiting room. She consoled Miya who was fighting back her tears, and then she looked each of her wingmates in the eyes. The look in her eyes said more than anything mere words could convey. She then walked past, and out the front door. She sat on the front steps and held her head in her hands.

Solie Burning died that night. His injuries from the firefight were too severe, and they caused complications, which were too much for ‘The Major’. There was a ceremony the next day on the Fleet’s Flagship, where his body was shot into space towards the sun. K’yehlar stayed after in the observation dome slumped down against the large viewing window barefoot, and stared out towards the sun.

“I trust I’m not intruding.” A tall, slightly gray-haired man stood at the entrance with a box under his arm. “Dome’s big enough for everyone, isn’t it?” K’yehlar turned her attention back towards the sun.” The man entered and stood next to her, looking out as well. “Solie was a good man. It’s a damn shame what happened. He deserved to live a life of retirement somewhere.” K’yehlar didn’t look at the man as she spoke, “His life was strapped in the cockpit of a fighter. Doing what he did day in and day out. That’s how I’m going to remember him…not…what happened after…” The man nodded, “Yes, I read Miya’s report. You think he was delusional, don’t you?”

K’yehlar looked up at the man, “Who are you?” The man looked down and grinned, “My apologies. I generally don’t go out in public. The name is Baobab. Anavel Baobab. I’m Caylo’s father.” K’yehlar started to stand, and he put up a hand, “Please, there’s no need. Actually, Caylo told me I’d probably find you here. You know Solie and I had known each other for a long time. I was the one he came to when he told me of a young woman he wanted to join his squadron. I’m glad to see that gamble paid off.”

He sat down cross-legged and pulled the box he had brought with him closer. “I want you to take a look at this picture.” He pulled a picture out of the box and handed it to K’yehlar. It was of Burning, surprisingly with a smile on his face. And a young woman who had her arms around him, smiling as well. If she didn’t know any better…she could swear the woman looked like… “That’s Solie and his daughter…Kira Burning. She was also a pilot. She and Solie actually flew for us together…until one day one of the convoys was jumped by the Black Sun.” K’yehlar looked up from the picture into the dull hazel eyes of Baobab. “That’s why Sol knew what was coming when you were jumped yesterday. Because it had happened before… only that time… it didn’t turn out quite so well. Kira’s fighter was strafed by one of the Black Sun’s fighters, and a shot hit her cockpit. Her body blew out into space. The rest of the squadron was taken out as well. Sol was the only one to make it back.”

She could tell it was hard for him to tell her what had happened. As close as he and Burning were, it stood to reason that he might have been a pseudo Uncle to Kira. “When I first saw your file, and saw your face…it was as though Kira had been resurrected somehow…which is why Sol took such a liking to you. You reminded him of his daughter…she was a good pilot…but he always blamed himself for her death. For not training her well enough…but even then, there was nothing he could have done.” K’yehlar shook her head, “But it did happen again, didn’t it? I mean…he’s dead.” She fought back tears as she looked at Baobab. “Not quite, my dear. True, Sol’s gone…but you saved the rest of your squadron. You and your squadron took out the attacking fighters, and disabled their command ship. Which is why I’m somewhat concerned to hear that you’re resigning from the fleet.”

K’yehlar nodded, “I’m sorry Mr. Baobab…I can’t go out there and escort freighters again…knowing what happened out there…what I went through…I just can’t live with the possibility that it would happen again…” Baobab nodded, “I won’t talk you out of it. You’re still young…there’s a lot out there for you still. Sol stayed because his wife had passed…and then Kira…all he had left was flying. But I do have something for you…something that I think Sol would have wanted you to have.” He reached into the box, and pulled out a black helmet with red trim. “Wait, isn’t that? I thought that was in his casket.” Baobab smiled, “Yes, it was only fitting that he would be sent out with his helmet. This isn’t his. It belonged to Kira.” He handed the helmet to K’yehlar, who gave it a good look. It was different than Burning’s. The circular symbol in the middle was definitely different. “Sol has held onto this for a long time. But with him gone, and no heirs to pass it on to…I can think of no one else more fitting.” She looked into the eyes of the helmet for a few moments, and then brought it to her chest in an embrace. She looked up at Baobab with shimmering eyes, “Thank you…” Baobab smiled, and then got to his feet. With one last look out the dome, he left K’yehlar alone in the observation dome.

This post has been edited by RommieSG: 08 January 2010 - 05:39 PM

[RommieSG]

It had been two months since K’yehlar left Manda, and the Baobab Fleet behind her. The friends she had made…the friends she had lost… She had spent most of the time between ports contemplating exactly what she was doing. She had left to become stronger, to learn more of who she was, and what she was. She had spent months flying escort flights for a merchant fleet. Sure, she had become a better pilot…but at what expense? Time away from the woman she loved…did Kili even remember her at all? The death of Burning left a hole inside her as well. He truly had become a father figure to her…it was like dealing with her parents’ death all over again.

K’yehlar angled her descent and began her entry into Nexus Ortai’s atmosphere. A few minutes later she was landing her purple-painted X-Wing at the Spaceport of the nearest major hub. The canopy rose, and K’yehlar, dressed in her black flightsuit and black helmet, climbed down the ladder to the deckplate.

“Would you like any maintenance performed on your fighter?” The technician had run up to the snub-nosed ship almost as soon as she fired the retro-thrusters. K’yehlar removed her helmet, and shook her violet hair loose. “No thank you, just fuel. Luna says that everything is in the green.” She looked up to her purple R2 Unit and smiled. “I do need somewhere to grab a shower and a bite to eat. I’m starving.” The technician gave her directions to the local inn and cantina. She pulled a bag out of the cargo hold, and slung it over her shoulder. “Stay with the ship, Luna. I’ll be back by morning at the latest.” The astromech bleeped her response, and K’yehlar walked towards the main terminal of the Spaceport.

She followed the tech’s directions, and came across the inn with no trouble. She checked, in, and went to her room. In her normal fashion, she dropped her bag at the door, and walked into the ‘fresher. Heating up the water in the shower, she slipped off her boots, and unzipped her flightsuit, allowing it to drop to the floor. She removed her underwear, and stepped under the water of the shower. After letting the water soak her head, she leaned back against the wall and slid down to the floor. She sat there with the water falling on her, with her head in her hands. A familiar pose for her as of late. After a few minutes she stood, turned off the water, and dried herself off. She dressed casual. Black form-fitting pants, and a purple top, which may have revealed too much of her midriff for the cold weather outside. She slipped into her black hide-boots, and slung her gun-belt around her waist. Completing the ensemble, she grabbed a black jacket, and threw it on.

A short walk through the cold, quiet streets of the city, and she came upon the cantina that the tech had directed her too. The atmosphere was almost as quiet as the streets outside. The place was virtually empty, save for a few people scattered here and there. The bartender, a green-skinned Twi’lek man greeted her, “Something I can do for you, little lady?” K’yehlar kept looking around, “Where is everyone?” The bartender chuckled, “Heh…we don’t usually get much of a crowd until after midnight. People around here work very late into the night, so we get an unusual crowd. I’m guessing you’re not from around these parts.” K’yehlar shook her head, “I just dropped in to grab something to eat.”

The bartender motioned her to one of the tables off to the side. She ordered the Kommerken steak with eggs, and blue milk. He gave her a raised eyebrow when she ordered blue milk, but she merely ignored him. As she ate her dinner, the midnight hour approached, and slowly the cantina started to fill with people. She didn’t feel like going back to her room, so after finishing her meal she grabbed a seat up at the bar and decided to have a drink. “I’ll have a Jawa Juice.” The bartender gave her a quizzical look, “What the hell is a Jawa?” K’yehlar shook her head. It had been a while that she forgot that she was no longer on Tatooine. “Right, uhm…Spice Tea then.”

She sat there for a while nursing her drink while she thought about what her next move was going to be. She had basically been wandering around the outer rim ever since leaving Tatooine…since leaving…

Just then, she felt as though someone were watching her. She looked around the cantina, and didn’t see anyone that stood out. There was a raven-haired woman across from the bar, that seemed to be nursing a drink of her own, but she…

“You ain’t from around here, are you, hot stuff?” A disheveled man, obviously intoxicated sat down in the stool next to hers. This must have been where she was getting the feeling from; yet another drunk idiot attempting to hit on her. She decided to be somewhat congenial this time. The last time didn’t exactly turn out quite so well, with Caylo bringing the last man back to their room with her. “No, just here for the night while my ship is being fueled.” The man grinned, “Heh…that means you’re free tonight, aren’t you?” Inside K’yehlar was rolling her eyes, outside she played nice, “Afraid not. I’ve got a lot of sleep to catch up on.”

The man wobbled in his chair, and then two other men came up behind her. “Zylor, what you got here? Another one of your conquests?” The man, who’s name was apparently ‘Zylor’, flailed at the two men, surprisingly without falling off his stool, “You idiots, what’re ya tryin’ to do? Block me here? I was about to seal the deal.” K’yehlar chuckled, “No…you weren’t little man.” Zylor looked offended, “Little? Hey! I work out all the time! I’ve got muscles on muscles. And as for my…” K’yehlar put a hand up, “Okay, stop right there. Don’t even start with that.” Zylor’s brow furled, “Frak…she’s nothing but a kriffing dyke! Kriffing lesbians…”

K’yehlar didn’t even hesitate before she reached out and grabbed Zylor by the throat. Without even thinking about it, she was using the force to lift him up above her head while she squeezed. The two men attempted to charge her, but she merely glanced in their direction and they were sent flying backwards to the floor. She turned her attention back to the muscular man who was gasping for air. Her eyes, glowing slightly red, could have pierced a hole through the man.

“Yes, that’s right, I’m a lesbian. I prefer the sensual touch of a woman to that of a man. Look at you, with your bulging muscles. Do you really think that’s what a woman wants? You probably don’t even know, do you? You’ve never felt the soft touch of a woman against your body, feeling her heart beat with your own. It’s frak em’ and be done with em’ for you, isn’t it? Men make me sick. And you know what…you make me sick.”

She tightened her grip around his throat, and she could feel the life draining from his face. But she held back. For some reason, she was aware of what she was doing. She felt control over her actions. She loosened her grip around his throat and pushed him away, sending him back several feet across the cantina before falling to the floor. She looked at him gasping for air for a few moments before turning back to the bar. The cantina had gone silent, while the altercation transpired. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a few credits and placed them on the bar counter. “Sorry…for the trouble…” The bartender said nothing, and neither did anyone else in the cantina.

As she turned to exit the cantina, she could hear Zylor yelling at her in a raspy voice, “You kriffing dyke! Why don’t you go back to Hapes where you belong, where all the rest of you kriffing bitches come from!” K’yehlar stopped and turned her head to the side, glancing behind her. Zylor’s cohort’s scrambled to help him to his feet, and the three hurriedly ran in the opposite direction. She then continued along her way and exited the cantina.

She walked slowly through the streets after she left the cantina. She would just try to sleep, and leave early in the morning, as she had several times before since leaving Tatooine. As she walked through one of the dimly lit alleys, she felt as though someone were watching her again…as though she were being followed. Her hand slowly went to her staff located on her left side. In one effortless motion she extended the staff, pivoted on her right foot and brought the staff to bear in an attack. The staff came within centimeters of striking a target.

It was the raven-haired woman from the cantina. She didn’t blink; she didn’t even flinch at K’yehlar’s sudden attack. She merely glanced at the weapon and smiled. “A Sebacean Fighting Pike. What a unique weapon to be carrying around.” The woman spoke in a thick Coruscant accent. It was the kind of accent you couldn’t miss. “You know what this is? I’ve never been able to find out.” K’yehlar asked, still keeping the weapon next to her head. “Well I should know, since I used to have one myself.”

K’yehlar pulled back the weapon and held it at her side. She looked the woman over. She wore a black camisole top, black leather pants, black boots, and a long black duster-like coat. Black certainly suited this woman. “I remember you…from the cantina. Look, I don’t want any more trouble. I just want to go back to my room, try to sleep, and then get the hell out of here.”

The woman smiled, “More trouble you say. You would have been in a lot more trouble had it not been for my intervention. You nearly killed that man back there, simply for hitting on you.” K’yehlar shook her head, “What do you mean intervention? I handled those men on my own. And it wasn’t because he was hitting on me, it’s because…” The woman nodded, “Yes, because he pointed out the fact that you are a lesbian. Does that bother you? Preferring women over men?” K’yehlar looked into the woman’s eyes, which seemed to be fixated on her the entire time, “No…I mean…no, it’s just that…you wouldn’t understand.”

The woman paced from one side to the other as she spoke. “I believe I understand that you’ve been through quite a lot. I’d imagine it hasn’t exactly been easy for you. What with being unable to control your Force Rage on your own.” K’yehlar’s eyes went wide, “How do you…know about that?” “I know, because it nearly happened in that cantina had I not helped you. I reached out and calmed your mind. Granted, I didn’t stop you, because I think the wonko needed to be taught a lesson. But I kept you from killing him.”

The feeling that she had in the cantina, the person watching her, wasn’t from Zylor after all. It was her all along. “Just who the hell are you?” The woman smiled brightly, “Aeryn…Aeryn Mal Doran. I can help you. I can help you not only with your control issues…but probably with a lot more as well.” K’yehlar shook her head, “Look, I appreciate the help, with whatever you did, but I just need sleep, and then I’ll get out of here.” She turned to walk away, retracting her pike, when Aeryn called behind her. “I would think it be difficult to sleep while being plagued with nightmares.” K’yehlar stopped dead in her tracks. The nightmares that had plagued her for well over a year, never allowing her to sleep in peace… How could she have known… K’yehlar spun on her heel and came face to face with Aeryn. “How did you know about those?” Aeryn’s smile dimmed, but did not darken, “Because I’ve had them myself. I’m simply offering to help you. You look like you’re searching for answers. I believe I can help you find them.”

K’yehlar turned away and contemplated for a moment. She had been wandering for so long, and maybe this was the sign. Perhaps this was the opportunity she was looking for, to find all her answers. “Okay…I accept. I’ll…” She turned around, and Aeryn was gone. There was nobody in the dimly lit alley but herself. “Smegging bitch. How do I know where to find you?” After a moment she felt in her mind…”Search your feelings…you’ll know how to find me. I’ll be waiting.” Aeryn’s voice was clear in her mind, as if she were standing next to her, whispering in her ear. There was nobody around in the alley to be seen. She hesitated for a moment, and then continued her journey back to the inn, and to her room.

She removed all her clothes, except her underwear, and put them away in her bag, ready for the next morning when she would leave. She slid under the covers of the bed, and almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was asleep. Her sleep, which was normally filled with nightmarish visions of death by her hands, and the hardships she’s had to endure recently, did not come to haunt her. Her dreams felt peaceful. She dreamed of being in Kili’kaa’s arms. Holding her body against her own. Spending a life together free from all the pain they’d had to live with in their lives. For once, in a very long time, K’yehlar…slept.

The next morning, K’yehlar arrived at the Spaceport with her helmet under her arm. Off in the distance at the terminal, she could see Zylor and his two cohorts at the ticket terminal. They turned around and caught sight of K’yehlar, who simply winked at them. They each got frightened looks in their faces, and ran off in the opposite direction. She couldn’t help but giggle as she headed for her own ship.

After paying for the refueling, running checklists, and being cleared for takeoff, K’yehlar departed the Nexus Ortai Spaceport, and ascended through the atmosphere towards the familiarity of space.

Luna bleeped a query, which came across the translator, “Where are we going now, boss?” K’yehlar grinned at her astromech’s question, and then thought for a moment. “Search my feelings…” she thought to herself. She brought up the navicomm, and punched up the charts. “Luna…we’re going to the Hapes Consortium.” Thirty seconds later, the X-Wing blinked off of Nexus Ortai’s tracking system, and was speeding off towards it’s destination.

[RommieSG]

The violet-clad X-Wing emerged from hyperspace, and K’yehlar immediately took control. She had woken up mere moments before reverting to normal space, as if in anticipation of the event. As she surveyed the surrounding space, she was literally in awe as the space lanes were full of ships that she had never seen before. Beautiful ships, albeit laden with visible gun turrets all over. These must be the Hapan Battle Dragon she had heard about during her time with the Baobab fleet. While nowhere near the size of an Imperial Star Destroyer, they were still quite impressive.

As she was looking at the ship in awe, she noticed two small fighters deploy from one of its hangar bays. They maneuvered around, behind, and on either side of her X-Wing. “This is Lieutenant Cera Zabiav of Hapan Battle Dragon ‘Eragon’ to X-Wing Pilot. Identify yourself, and state your intent.” The pilot was another female, which wasn’t surprising considering Zylor’s implication. “Hapan Fighter, this is Bao…sorry this is K’yehlar, civilian pilot. I’m…looking for someone on Hapes. Request navigation beacon, and permission to land.”

“Stand by…” K’yehlar held her speed and awaited her reply. “X-Wing pilot, set navigation beacon to two-two-seven-point-three. You are authorized to land at the starport in Ta’a Chume’Dan. They will instruct you further. Do you require further assistance?” K’yehlar shook her head, even though she knew they couldn’t see it. “No, thank you very much for your help.” “Acknowledged, Welcome to the Hapan Consortium.” The two fighters broke off, and returned to the Battlecruiser. K’yehlar set the course provided, and soon she was in visual range of Hapes.

The planet had a beautiful blue hue to it that gleamed as the sun shone over it. Not as deep a blue as that of Corellia, but beautiful nonetheless. After following the instructions from the port control, another female voice, she had landed in the capital city of the planet, Ta’a Chume’Dan. She used one of the nearby ‘freshers and changed out of her flightsuit. Nothing too fancy; black slacks, a purple camisole, and a light jacket. She stowed her gear back in the ship, and decided to start exploring. “Now the fun part. Just where the hell do I find you?”

The city was beautiful. As soon as she stepped out of the starport, the view was inundated with architectural wonders of buildings, fountains, and the lush landscapes off in the horizon. It was more beautiful than anything she had ever seen on Corellia… or even Talus. Children were playing here and there…musicians in the street…it was almost a paradise. What would someone like Aeryn be doing in a place like this?

She wandered around for what seemed like hours, taking in the wonders, even stopping to play with some of the children in a game of Allamaraine. She saw no signs that led to the mystery woman. She couldn’t even sense her. Granted she wasn’t adept at sensing people, and she disappeared right under her nose. But she had to try.

Mid-afternoon had hit the planet. At least it felt like mid-afternoon. She knows that hours had gone by, but the daylight had barely changed throughout the time she had been on-planet. She came upon one of the lush parks on the outskirts of the city, overlooking the gorgeous Crystal Palace in the distance. She lay back in the grass, clasped her hands behind her head, and looked up towards the sky. “Why the hell can’t I find you?”

“Perhaps it’s because you’re not looking hard enough.” The thick unmistakable Coruscant accent sounded as though it was coming from behind her. She looked up, and there was Aeryn Mal Doran, sitting behind her, looking down on her. “Taking in the sights, were you? I’ll bet that game of Allamaraine brought you back, didn’t it?”

K’yehlar sat up and got to her knees, facing Aeryn. “You’ve been following me this whole time. No wonder I couldn’t find you anywhere. You were always one step behind me.” Aeryn smiled, “I wanted to observe you. See how you would handle these unnatural surroundings. What you would do, given these lush surroundings. What you did, was you let your guard down. You were in so in awe of your surroundings that anyone trained in the art of the Force could have killed you before you even knew what happened.”

K’yehlar’s breath was shallow. Aeryn’s assessment was cold, but true. In her search, she took in the sights, and was completely unguarded. “That’s what I came to you for. What I came to find you for. I need to be stronger. I need to be able to take care of myself…to take care of others…” Aeryn arched an eyebrow, “Take care of others? Now that’s a noble thing. Is there someone in particular you’re referring to, or are you speaking of the greater good?” K’yehlar attempted to guard her thoughts, “Does it matter? You saw what I’m capable of…if left unchecked. I need to be able to control my actions. You offered to help. Are you rescinding that offer now?”

Aeryn grinned, and got to her feet. “No, my offer still stands. But I’m not sure if I know what you’re truly capable yet, and worthy of my time.” K’yehlar got to her feet and shrugged her shoulders, “So how do I show you what I’m capable of?” Aeryn smirked, and without warning brought both fists to bear at K’yehlar’s chest and with a force push, knocked her back several feet. “Come on…get up…show me what you are capable of.”

K’yehlar got to her feet again, clutching her chest, “So it’s a fight you want, is it?” She lunged towards Aeryn, aiming for her midsection. Aeryn simply sidestepped her, pushing her back down to the ground. “What sort of training have you had? If I were to guess, it would be…none.” K’yehlar growled, “I was trained in hand to hand combat by the best instructors the Empire has to offer.” Aeryn scoffed, “Pff, no wonder. Genetic drift over the years has degraded their skills immensely. It’s a wonder they can even shoot straight…oh wait…they can’t.”

K’yehlar attempted a leg-sweep which Aeryn simply jumped over. She came up throwing punches left and right, but Aeryn kept blocking or ducking every attack. “This isn’t showing me what you’re capable of. This is merely showing me just how pathetic you are. Is this all you’ve become in your travels? This weak husk of a woman? Where is the fire that I saw on Ortai?” Aeryn grabbed K’yehlar’s arm as she threw a punch, pulled her off balance, and knocked her backwards with and elbow to the solar plexus. K’yehlar lay on her back gasping for air. Aeryn noticed something about K’yehlar as she lay there, she crouched down, grabbed her necklace, and pulled it off.

The necklace had two gold rings with exquisite etchings marked over them. “So now I get it. You’re weak from the loss of a loved one. Or is it more complicated than that?” She looked K’yehlar over, squinted her eyes, and then grinned, “I see, I should have guessed earlier. That behemoth back on Ortai was right. You’re a lesbian…and you never got to express your feelings to your true love. Aww…that’s just so touching.” Aeryn rolled her eyes and got to her feet and turned away. “If I had known you were this pathetic, I wouldn’t have even bothered with you in the first place.”

K’yehlar’s eyes began to glow red. Insulting her was one thing, but when it came to her… She springboarded to her feet with the reflexes of a cat. One swift motion to her side, and she pulled out the Sebacean Fighting Pike from her belt, and extended the staff. “You wanted to see what I’m capable of? You want to see me pissed off; well you’ve done it now. I don’t care what the smeg you have to say about me, but when you go so far as to…” Aeryn interjected, “Go so far as to what? Insult someone who apparently has your mivonks wrapped around her finger? You go completely insane whenever the slightest insult is hurled your way about your relationship with her. Is she really that important? Is she really worth it?”

K’yehlar stood there, eyes glowing; staff in hand ready to pounce. She stood there…thinking… “She’s everything to me…I wouldn’t know who I was if it weren’t for her. When I’m with her, it’s as though I don’t have a care in the world. I’d give anything…ANYTHING…to be able to spend the rest of my life with her in peace.” Aeryn scoffed, “Heh…then why did you leave her standing in tears on Tatooine?”

With a scream, K’yehlar leapt in the air, staff in attack posture, bringing the full force of her body weight into her strike. Aeryn swung around, fortified her position, and brought a weapon out. The sound of a snap-hiss, the brief whiff of ozone, and a purple light blade extended from one end of the small staff, blocking K’yehlar’s attack. K’yehlar stood there, pushing her staff against the lightsaber, red glowing eyes…meeting blue glowing eyes. “It seems I’ve finally got your attention…”

Aeryn had a completely different feel about her now. She was exuding a sense of calmness…of peace…yet still able to repel K’yehlar’s attack. “Well now that you’ve got my attention, what are you going to do with it?” Aeryn smiled, “I’m going to help you, my dear. But for now…I think you need to sleep.” K’yehlar’s vision began to blur, she fell to the ground, looking up at a pair of glowing blue eyes, and a purple lightsaber retracting…then she fell unconscious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

K’yehlar woke staring at yet another unfamiliar ceiling. You’d figure by now, she’d become accustomed to staring up at a new ceiling, but it never became customary. As her vision cleared she sat up and looked around at her surroundings. It wasn’t a hospital bed this time. It was a regular bed…in what looked like a woman’s bedroom. The view changed, as there looked to be…some sort of forest out in the distance.

“I see you’ve woken up. It’s about time… I was beginning to wonder. I’m fairly certain that I wasn’t that harsh.” Aeryn walked in the room. She was wearing very little, save for tight fitting top and shorts. Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail. “It seems that with you I’ve been getting more sleep than I have in a long time. For that, I guess I have to thank you.” Aeryn looked down at her, and grinned, “Well you’re certainly not shy, are you?” K’yehlar raised an eyebrow and then looked down at her exposed breasts. Her eyes went wide, and she frantically covered herself up. “What the…where the hell are my clothes?” Aeryn chuckled, “They were filthy, and I wasn’t going to put you in my bed when you’re that filthy.”

K’yehlar looked around…her instinct was right when she thought it was a woman’s bedroom. She just never thought that it would be hers. “Where are we?” Aeryn was looking through boxes on her dresser, “We are in my home on the neighboring planet of Gallinore. I brought you here in my craft. Don’t worry; I’ll take you back to get your X-Wing. I’m sure that little droid of yours will get lonely before long.”

Aeryn finished fidgeting at the dresser and came to sit next to K’yehlar on the bed. “Here, I owe you a necklace. I’m afraid I couldn’t repair the one you had. A Nightsister Priestess gave this to me. I hope it makes up for what I had to do.” K’yehlar took the necklace from her and examined it. The beadwork was beautiful, and the necklace itself was finely detailed. Dangling from it were the two gold rings… “Are you sure? This is…” Aeryn shook her head, “I insist. After what I said to you, it’s the least I could do.” She took the necklace, sat behind K’yehlar, and fastened the necklace around her neck. She grinned, “Besides, it looks much better on you than it ever did on me.”

K’yehlar looked at herself across the way in the mirror and smiled. “Thank you…but now I think I’m due some answers. Like…who are you? Really… There’s no sense in hiding after flashing your lightsaber.” Aeryn sat at the foot of the bed, and looked out of the large bedroom windows into the forest. “I am Aeryn Mal Doran…that is who I am now. But the more appropriate question, is who I was.” She looked down, and then up into K’yehlar’s eyes, “Aeryn Mal Doran…Jedi Master.”

K’yehlar shook her head, “That’s impossible. All the Jedi Masters were taken out, that…Order Sixty-Six, or whatever it was. I read the file on it.” Aeryn grinned, “Well you’re still here aren’t you? You think I don’t know that you’ve also had that order issued against you?” K’yehlar squinted, “You read that from my mind as well?” Aeryn shook her head, “No, I still have some contacts here and there, information hubs keeping me informed. Why do you think I was on Nexus Ortai?”

“So how are you still alive? Vader went out to exterminate all the remaining Jedi in the galaxy.” Aeryn took a deep breath, “I was originally with the Jedi Order on Coruscant. I apprenticed under Master Windu. Later on though, when I was twenty, I went off with the Altisian Sect. They are more lack in their restrictions when it comes to beliefs…family…relationships. While I was with the Jedi Order on Coruscant, I made it known that I disagreed with their way of life. Rather than lose me completely, Master Windu arranged for me to be taken in by Master Altis. I spent two years with them before Order Sixty-Six was issued…” Aeryn looked back out at her vista, tears began welling up in her eyes, “I felt Master Windu through the Force when he was killed…” She wiped her eyes, and then forced a smile, “Anyway…I was here in the Hapan System when I got the signal to go to ground. I requested asylum from the Queen Mother, and she was gracious enough to grant it, and helped me build my home here on Gallinore. She’s provided me with everything I need…and in return I help her from time to time with whatever she needs.”

K’yehlar sat there. She clutched the sheets to her chest, and could feel pain coming from Aeryn. “If you know who I am, and you know what I am…then you know I need help. I recently discovered who I was…but I still don’t know what I am. I can’t keep going on with that uncertainty.”

Aeryn smiled at her, “What’s her name? The one who ‘lights your fire’ as it were?” K’yehlar blushed and fiddled with the rings on her necklace. “Her name is Kili’kaa…she’s a pilot for the Rebellion. Wait…” She sat up and leaned closer to Aeryn, “How did you know about my leaving her behind on Tatooine? Nobody knows about that.” Aeryn scoot closer to her and put a hand on her bare shoulder, “Because I could feel it. It’s a deep pain in your aura. I didn’t have to dig for it. It’s the foremost thing on your mind. It eats away at you, doesn’t it?”

A single tear streaked down K’yehlar’s cheek. “I never wanted to leave her…I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her in my arms. The Empire could fall and I wouldn’t care so long as I had her. She helped me discover who I was. But…at the time…I thought it was the best thing to do. I couldn’t put her in danger. I’m not strong enough to protect her. Hell, she’s strong and she can take care of herself, I know that. But…Palpatine wants me…and you know what he’s capable of. I can’t put her through that.”

Aeryn’s smile grew warm. Her blue eyes glistened as she listened to K’yehlar. “I’ll help you. I’ll give you guidance, and I’ll give you training. But it’s not going to be easy. Master Windu wasn’t easy with me, and I damn well won’t be easy with you either. Do you understand?” K’yehlar straightened up and nodded, “Yes, I understand, Master.” Aeryn put a finger up, “No…don’t call me that. I will train you, but I will not have you calling me Master. Just call me Aeryn.” K’yehlar’s eyebrow raised, but then she smiled, “Okay…Aeryn. Thank you.” Aeryn smiled her toothy smile, “Don’t thank me yet. I haven’t decided whether or not I’m going to give you clothes yet.” Aeryn stood and then left the room. K’yehlar sat there with her mouth gaping open…she couldn’t tell whether Aeryn was kidding or not. It didn’t matter though…finally after all her wandering; she was on the right path. K’yehlar looked out towards the forest vista and sighed, “Finally…”