Star Wars: Vode An (closed for Apollo Wilde and BewareTheDream)

[BewareTheDream]

Dreamy music emanated from Tonny’s bedroom. If Raeth had noticed it, he would have recognized it as a song by Helyna, a Twi’lek famous for her mezzo-soprano singing voice and a distinct, soothing musical style that was well-suited for coffee shops and office lobbies. Raeth became a fan of Helyna only recently, after he started playing her music while meditating.

He did not notice the music tonight, though, for he was captivated by Saudaji, who was now completely nude and pinned beneath him. He was always captivated by her, especially when they made love, but it was different at that moment. Saudaji was roleplaying a character she had never played before, and immediately he liked what he saw. His phallus throbbed toward Saudaji’s extended tongue, telling her how much he liked where she was going with this.

For precious seconds, he was rendered speechless. He could do naught but breath heavily and then inch his dick’s head closer Saudaji’s mouth so she could finally lick it and suck on it. Absently, he let go of her wrist, which freed both of her hands; she could now press both of her breasts together and give him a real titty fuck.

“Yeah, you’re right, I do like it,” Raeth finally said, referring to how he—or rather his character—liked fucking another man’s wife. He still spoke in his rendition of Tonny’s voice, but it cracked a little, so he cleared his throat and licked his lips before continuing. “And you’re right about everythin’, darlin’. I want to fill your gut with my cock. I want you to scream, an’ I want you to beg for more. Ohh ungh!”

He nearly came because of the combined ecstasy of fucking Saudaji’s wonderful tits and her oral loving. She gave the best blowjobs he had ever experienced. More than that, Raeth had never known the true heights of ecstasy until he made love to Saudaji. He had to shut his eyes, concentrate, and flex the muscles of his gut and thighs to prevent himself from hosing her throat, face, neck, and tits with his cum.

“Angh! Yeah!” Gasping, he needed several seconds before he could once again form words. “Yeah, I’ve never had a woman like you before, darlin’ The closest I ever got was a pretty Togruta who I took to the barn danced when I was just a few years past bein’ a youngling. I only got to second base with her.”

Raeth was making it up, and he had no idea how close he was to describing something that happened in Tonny’s teenage years.

Opening his eyes, he watched what Saudaji was doing with her mouth, which made him shudder. By rubbing his meat pillar between her heavy breasts, he shuddered even more.

“I’m not gonna miss out again. I’m not gonna miss out on you. I’m already way past second base, and soon I'll be racin' home.” When he spoke, his words were faster than how Tonny spoke; Raeth couldn’t help it, for his mind, his heartbeat, and his words were all racing. At least he maintained the accent.

It wouldn’t take long for Saudaji to get Raeth to cum again, and when he did, he saw stars. He also made a mess. He spurted onto her jaw, cheeks, and neck. His jizz dribbled down to the slopes of her breasts, and some of it stained the bedsheets, too. Raeth didn’t scream, even though he tried to. The sound he made instead was between a groan and a gurgle. What Saudaji did to him felt so wonderful, it nearly silenced him, and it paralyzed his body, too.

Raeth was not paralyzed for long, however. Although he had just cum, he was strangely invigorated. With a surprising strength, he flipped Saudaji over. Both hands sought out her hips, and he raised her ass toward the ceiling. Suddenly, he spanked one of her thick, jade ass cheeks. He didn’t hold back; the impact of the ass slap was as hard as a sparring session strike.

His still turgid rod found Saudaji’s snatch from behind. He pushed the fat head inside, paused to shudder and moan, and then he proceeded to pound her with wild abandon. He pounded her into a bed that wasn’t theirs, making it creak loudly.

One of his hands slid up her spine, maneuvered between her head-tails, and grasped the back of her neck. He didn’t apply much pressure with his fingers, but he did shove her face against the mattress more firmly. He held her down like this as he fucked her. His pelvis slapped her ass, his ball sack slapped the back of her thighs, and his crotch slapped hers so wetly, so lewdly. Almost every impact was punctuated by moan, growl, or near yell.

He did not last long, for fucking Saudaji like this felt far too good to last long. On top of that, exhaustion was setting in. Sweating profusely, he kept on stuffing her oh so tight, pink cunt until a fresh orgasm abruptly overwhelmed him. Engaged in a full-body flex, he stopped moving, hunched over above and behind her, and came within her once more. He yowled and shuddered as he splashed his wife’s treasured folds with seed.

Thoroughly spent, he collapsed onto his side, yanking his soaked and rapidly deflating dick out from her. Even more of a liquid mess was left on the sheets. For a long while, he was unable to do anything but lie there, try to breath, and soak the sheets with his sweat.

When he eventually regained the ability to move, he reached over to run his fingernails over Saudaji’s skin. Scratching and tickling, he stimulated her back, her ass, her sides, or her thighs.

He regained the ability to speak not long after. “I just realized...” He stopped when he realized he wasn’t speaking in Tonny’s voice, so he had to get back into character. “I just realized, darlin’, that I don’t know your name.”

Her character could have been a different version of Saudaji. It could have been a variation of Lula-Lee. It could have been an entirely new creation. Whatever direction Saudaji chose, Raeth would love her new character, and he would insist she play it again when they made love in the future.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

The ethereal distant music still managed to worm through the sound of fucking - a surreal, gentle counterpoint to the battle of wills and bodies taking place. It didn’t take long for Raeth - who was he pretending to be? - to give in, let her give him a proper tit-fucking, arching and craning her neck to be able to turn it into a blow job. His filthy words only caused her to smirk up at him, a pitying, awww, I’ll help you, poor farm boy that wouldn’t have been out of place on the face of a high end escort, full of salty-sweet sayings and knowing just how to comfort those who were far from home.

As he exploded across her face, neck, and shoulders, she let out a hum of approval, congratulations. “There’s a good boy,” she cooed, “Give it to me~e!” the latter word ended on a high squeak of surprise as she was flipped, her ready laughter breaking her character. She hadn’t expected that; Raeth was rarely, if ever, rough with her. Not that he minded taking charge (and had in the past), but this amount of sheer, rough eagerness was new. And, if she were going to be honest with herself, perhaps…yes. In her mind, that’s what she could smell easing off of Tonny - the hard work put in on the farm, a man of few words and speaking through action rather than words. Gentlemanly when he had to be, but behind closed doors, all of that control completely slipping away. And rather than being reverent, he would be someone who would see something that he wanted, and simply bide his time before he was good and ready to take it -

Raeth’s hand closing at the back of her neck, forcing her down, sent a shiver through her by the likes she’d never experienced before. If that wasn’t enough of a surprise, the firm slaps delivered, one for each cheek, certainly capped it all off. She came before she realized it, shrieking at a volume that seemed to rattle the modest glass windows. Collapsed face down into the mattress, she felt her face grow hot as she slapped her hands across her mouth. There was no point; the fathier had escaped the barn.

The soft thud of his body hitting the mattress beside her was her cue to turn over. She knew she should. Instead, an idle flex of her well-fucked cunt sent a thick burst of his cum out of her to trail down her thighs, pool in the emerald of her pubic hair. Undoubtedly Raeth would get some on his fingers; it was that thought alone that finally let her collapse onto her belly, face still turned into the mattress.

He was talking to her. Asking her something. Still with that accent. Her lekku twitched - something she instantly reached behind her to stroke.

“…Does it matter? My name.” The words were scraped from her throat as she slowly turned to lay on her back - then shifted to face Raeth. There was still a hint of that smirk from before, the slightly pitying, slightly maternal look of a woman who has heard the same tale many times. Her head was spinning.

What…just happened?

She’d been the instigator; she knew that much. She’d needed Raeth in those moments; to be close to him, to reaffirm their bond and know that whatever happened, they’d move forward together. But here she was, humoring fucking his clone. And why? What was happening? She wanted to curl up into a ball, into herself, figure out what in the hells was going on. How she could be feeling like this, and even worse, how Raeth could still tap into it.

“…After all, you never told me your name,” was what she finished. Her blood chilled.

She’d called him Tonny.

Raeth hadn’t said that was the name he’d adopted.

She’d heard the accent and just assumed. And not only assumed; had gone all in with it. Spoken those things that she thought she’d trapped. That she had firmly placed under the “This man is a potential threat” label that she’d pasted onto Tonnover.

Dew wiped from a window - her expression changed from that smirk, from whatever character, whatever aspect of herself that had been, to Saudaji - and that face was one full of concern.

“Rae’ika,” little more than a whisper, scared. “What…just happened?”

 

[BewareTheDream]

“You already know who I am, darlin’,” Raeth responded when the character Saudaji roleplayed said he hadn’t told her his name. That was the last thing he said before he dropped his character. They were once again Raeth and Saudaji, husband and wife.

Their fun came to an abrupt end. The wonderful noise they made ended, too. Moments ago, they were filling the room (if not the whole damn house) with their laughter, dirty talk, and ecstatic outcries. But now they were silent. For a little while, the only things they could hear were raindrops pattering the house, as well as the beating of their own hearts.

There was heaviness in the silence between them. A seriousness. Even in the dim light, Raeth could see his beloved Saudaji’s face clearly. He had seen that expression multiple times before—it’s what she wore when they were about to enter a dangerous situation or already in the middle of one, and she was concerned about the outcome. He had seen that look on her face on the battlefield, but seeing it in bed was new.

She asked him what happened, and he could hear the fear in her voice. It made his heart drop. Not only did Raeth’s heart drop, but his hand dropped from her naked body as well. Touching Saudaji’s lovely, green skin was one of his favorite things, but this wasn’t the time to indulge.

He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stared at her face for a few seconds before looking down and thinking. Like rewinding video footage and playing it back, he replayed what had just happened in his mind.

“I don’t know what to call it, Daji’ka.” Raeth whispered in his own voice again, although he sounded a little hoarse. “Inspiration? A whim? I don’t like the guy, but I really like the way he talks. I wanted to try it out myself. Whether you want to call it inspiration or a whim, I decided to roleplay as him just now.”

His eyes found hers once more. “You were really into it.” The evidence of how into it Saudaji was stained the bedsheets. The addictive scent of her arousal still hung in the air, and her cream still felt sticky all over his shaft, sack, and the front of his thighs.

“Don’t get me wrong, I was really into it, too. The character you chose to roleplay…Wow…I want you to play her again.” Daring to touch his beloved again, he cupped her cheek and traced her thick lips with the pad of his thumb. Resisting the sudden urge to kiss her, he stared at her mouth instead.

“Would you like me to roleplay as Tonny again in the future, Daji’ka?” It was a loaded question that Saudaji could see through in a second. What Raeth was really asking her was if she wanted to fuck Tonny.

Their gazes met again. “I’d like that. Would you like that?”

 

[Apollo Wilde]

It wasn’t often that Saudaji was shocked into silence. Not in her line of work; not with all she’d seen in her years. The silence between them was deafening, though she thought her heart was pounding loud enough to bridge that awkward gap. Her pulse was caught between thrumming up into her throat and slowing down, the post coital calm threatening to bring everything down. How easy would it be to act like nothing happened, that it was just…another random thing, fling her head down into the pillows and finally go to sleep?

He doesn’t seem to be putting that much thought into it - why should I?

Because what just happened wasn’t normal.

But what is ‘normal’ around here lately anyway? So your husband decided to take on the persona of his clone whose house we’re in right now. Who probably heard all of this. Who you’ve been thinking about fucking as well and you know you shouldn’t because it’s just wrong -

Okay; there’s that word again, ‘wrong.’ But why? Why is it wrong? Who said it was?

“I’m getting a headache,” she suddenly groaned, rolling over to her side. Looking at Raeth was only making the thoughts spin round faster and faster in her head - and physically, she wasn’t up for another round of distracting sex. “I…yeah…” she trailed off, rolling onto her back and pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes. Blinked against the forced darkness, tried to focus to listen in on the soothing rain around them. It seemed that the storm had increased in power, wind blowing firmly enough to rattle the panes. “I don’t know if I was playing a character, Rae’ika. I really, really don’t.” Her words were forced out of her as if by a gut punch. “And I keep feeling like something is wrong, like this is wrong, and I don’t know why and I think I’m making too much of a big deal out of it but I also want to fuck Tonny-”

O’sik.

She said it! And like a di’kut, she just kept talking: “I sort of wanted to fuck him since I saw him and I don’t know why and I know I shouldn’t and all of this is so insane because I want to make sure you’re okay but I don’t know what to do; it’s all strange and nothing I have done in this life has even remotely prepared me for this.”

She was getting up now, rolling to her side before sitting up, leaning over to furiously fish for the nightgown. She had to get away. Not because she wanted to leave Raeth, but because she desperately needed to clear her head and couldn’t bear facing him after she’d said all of that. It was absolutely monstrous, the implications stretching further and faster through her mind than anything else. “It’s like wanting to fuck your older brother which has got to be some sort of weird incest but I’m also here for it and want to be sandwiched between the two of you and I have no idea if it’s gonna be like this for all of your clones, o’sik, I meant, brothers, stars, I don’t even know what to call them, and I don’t want to talk about it because it’s got to be weird and hard for you to keep seeing the same face and know it’s not you and now I’m making it worse-”

Her volume rose and fell uncontrollable as she struggled to pull the gown overhead, going between muttering to herself and having the bravery to state how she felt out loud. “I need a drink. Something.”

Suddenly, she stopped and turned to face him. Closed the distance with the same deadly proficiency she used when working. Grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him so hard into her that their teeth clacked together. Clumsy kiss, but one meant to be reassuring - and with the same fluidity, she’d let him go, and was headed down the hallway.








It wasn’t her house, but it might well have been with the ease in how she moved around in it. A few open cabinets, pulled drawers, and she’d found what she was looking for. A simple glass (and sated curiosity), and she opened the fridge door. For long moments, she stood in front of it letting its harsh light wash over her and throw long distorted shadows across the floor. It was as neat as the rest of the house, meals perfectly portioned away in glassware, nothing went to waste here, and that Jun-lime pie, cut as perfectly as a picture, dressed in whipped cream with deep grooves, the crust golden brown. She spent more time looking at it until her vision began to blur.

What was it with this guy and green?

From a bland nothing, she felt surrounded by pale echoes of her skin. It creeped her out; further prodded that door she was trying to keep closed. What if this had been a set up - yet another one? Why couldn’t she shake that? Before, it had simply been the assumption of working with the Sith - now it felt deeper. But if Prime was correct - and this was all some sort of experiment, why wouldn’t she be part of that? Was there plans to clone her as well, as some sort of control to keep Raeths compliant?

Her head spun, and she sunk down heavily to her knees, the fridge door protesting as she put her weight on it. At what point would this all be considered ridiculous; the product of an overactive imagination, worse, crimes of the ego, thinking that she was important enough for someone, anyone, to take notice of her. She was a Mandalorian brat, a failed sex slave, from the middle of nowhere, the boonies of the boonies, and had left home due to her own personal trauma -

She leaned forward, touching her forehead to one of the metal racks within the fridge. What had she gotten herself into? It’d all started off as a simple, albeit, childish revenge wish: to hurt those who had taken something from her. Even after all of that, could she even say that she’d changed? If something happened to Raeth, who was to say that the rest of her life wouldn’t dissolve into another revenge quest - wanting to wipe out all those who had threatened him, the happiness she’d found?

Lifting her head, she was face to face with the too perfect Jun-lime pie. It’d be too sweet for her. Too sweet and too sour and overall disgusting. But it was the only thing that she thought she could vent her frustrations on. Moving robotically, she put the empty glass in the fridge and took out the whole pie, the thick glass platter it was in super chill to the touch. Making her way to the modest dining table, she scraped back one of the solid wooden chairs, and sat. Stared at the pie sitting in front of her, steady and pale green even when carelessly illuminated from lighting outside. Folding her hands under her chin, she continued to stare at the whorls of whipped cream and slightly glistening flesh of the pie itself.

She stood up, pushing the chair out behind her with her rear. She was upset, but she was still no savage. She’d at least need a fork.

 

[BewareTheDream]

Seeing Saudaji hurry away from him was a nightmare.

When she rolled out of the bed and stood up, he rolled right after her. “Daji’ka, wait! Please!” He practically cried out. He was about to put his hands on her upper arms, but before he could, she spun around, grabbed the back of his head, and drew him in for a kiss that hurt. Their kisses never hurt, but this one did.

Saudaji then left the bedroom. Naturally, Raeth wanted to go after her, but he only took one step before he stopped. He was confused, and the front of his teeth hurt because of the way their mouths had bumped together. The sound of Saudaji walking away made him hurt more—each step delivered a new pang of pain. Yet he was able to peer through the confusion and hurt to see that Saudaji wasn’t leaving him. No, she just needed time to herself. So he just stood there while his thoughts and his heart both raced.

They had been inseparable for the past year, so even a few minutes away from her felt like an eternity, especially when she was upset with him. What he wanted to do was find his wife and talk this over, because he thought he was able to talk his way out of any bad situation. But at the same time, he knew Saudaji needed time to process whatever was going through her mind.

What IS going through her mind? She said she wants to fuck Tonny. She wants to fuck me and him at the same time. That sounds hot as hell, but it upset her, and I don’t know why.

Suddenly feeling exhausted, Raeth took a seat on the edge of the bed they had messed up. He was only half aware of the rain drumming on the house, for he was busy puzzling out why the thought of having a three-way with him and Tonny upset her so much. Then it occurred to him that what he should consider is why the thought did not bother him.

Maybe I’m being a weirdo about this. Well, of course I’m a weirdo. And this situation is, without a doubt, utterly bizarre. I shouldn’t have sprung the idea on her like that…

Now wracked by guilt, Raeth once again resisted the urge to follow Saudaji downstairs and apologize to her. Instead, he closed his eyes and utilized some of the meditation techniques To’a taught him. He was partially successful. The steady rhythm of the rain helped him calm down.

Raeth gave Saudaji some time alone—enough time to finish eating the slice of pie she found in Tonny’s fridge. But it wasn’t long after that when his will faltered and he followed her downstairs. Dressed in pajama pants that weren’t his and a white t-shirt that was, he peered into the kitchen and found her seated at the table with a small plate covered in crumbs in front of her. She was not looking in his direction, but he had no doubt that she knew he was there. Several seconds of heavy silence hung between them until he finally stepped closer.

“I’m sorry, Daji’ka,” he whispered from a few feet away. “That thing we talked about, it clearly upset you, and I’m sorry. I won’t bring it up again.”

More silence between them. It was almost too much to bear, but he said nothing else to break it. Instead, he stepped closer, pulled out the chair across from her, and sat down. If Saudaji let him, he took her hand in his. The silence became much more tolerable if he could hold her hand.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Her gut instinct was to assume it was Raeth; she’d lived with him long enough to know his tells, whether he was conscious of them or not. But what if this Tonny had the same signature? She couldn’t trust her gut - not here, not yet. So before he spoke, she’d turned in her chair, just to make sure it was actually Raeth. The tension in her shoulders melted as she was reassured - and she shook her head in a negative.

“No, Rae’ika…it’s fine.” A huff. “That’s not true. It’s not fine. It’s friggin’ weird, is what it is,” and there was that slightly nasal laugh of hers, as if it was possible to laugh in the heavy Mandalorian accent she had when assuming casual speech. “I feel like some sort of monster,” a deep inhale. She was preparing herself for what felt like the verbal equivalent of jumping off of a cliff into darkness, having no idea if there was anything to break her fall. “Because I’m taking this, this…situation, not seriously enough, not if I’m thinking about being between you and him. I look at him and I know he’s not you. I know he isn’t. But it’s…” she trailed off, biting her lower lip. The hand he’d reached out to her, she’d grasped with a quiet desperation. Her other hand pressed between her breasts, sandwiching the gown closer to her body. “Something in here makes it feel like I’ve known him for years. He’s a stranger but not. Different from how we first met. And I don’t know if it’s because he’s a clone or because that the Sith are pulling all of our strings. Don’t you..” she looked at him squarely in the eyes, “Don’t you ever feel like someone’s created the illusion of freedom this entire time? Why should either one of us fall for each other so quickly? We’ve been here, there, everywhere - met a lot of ready and willing sentient creatures. But here we are. And I’ve been scared and horrified for you, for going through all of this, and I wanted to keep you safe, and now, I see an older version of you and I just want to fuck him like crazy-”

A maddening chuckle as she let go of his hand, only to press the heels of her palms into her closed eyes. “Stars, what is wrong with me? Are you doing this, humoring being with him, because I said it? Isn’t this odd? Aren’t you repulsed by it, by me?”

She pushed the plate aside in order to clear space on the table between them so she could take both of his hands in hers. Thread their fingers together. “I’ve been in a lot of odd situations…but nothing like this. And not a desire like this, either. It’s got me on edge. Part of me feels like there’s got to be something real behind all of this, like a gas.” Another soft laugh, trying to dispel the tension she’d stirred up, “If he’s anything like you, maybe he set off a seduction gas bomb. This is all part of his strange plan - to get us to lower our guards by fucking like lepi. And maybe through natural reproduction…” She trailed off, her nose wrinkling. She sounded insane; she knew she did. “But it’s odd….all odd, don’t you think?” She loosened a hand from his, only to knock on the table in her vexation. “I want to get to the bottom of this. Don’t you?”

 

[BewareTheDream]

Raeth opened his mouth to say he did not think the Sith were pulling their strings, but he stopped, shut his mouth, and reconsidered. This wasn’t the first time that Saudaji had shared her theory that the Sith manipulated them into a relationship and continued to manipulate them now. In the past, he had dismissed it. But tonight, he saw how much this bothered the woman he loved, so he considered the possibility. He held her green hand, stared at her face or her hand, and truly considered her concern.

Saudaji asked why the two of them fell for each other so quickly. “You know, I never wondered why. I over-analyze everything, but I didn’t analyze that, because it felt so right.” He lifted his gaze from their intermingled fingers to her eyes. “It still feels right.

“I’ve been obsessed with you ever since you took your helmet off and I saw your face for the first time. You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen. And as I got to know you, I learned you’re the most wonderful person I’ve ever known. I couldn’t help but fall for you.”

He picked up her hand to kiss her knuckles, the ones closest to her nails. “Your instincts are strong, and I normally trust them, but I didn’t trust them about this. I suppose it’s because I don’t like the idea that the best thing in my life is part of some Sith plot. But maybe it is. And if it is, does that sully what we have…? I don’t know.

“What I do know is that I love you, Daji’ka. And I should listen to you more. If you feel like something’s wrong, then we’ll get to the bottom of it, together.”

Wood screeched softly against wood when Raeth pushed his chair back and stood. “C’mon, let’s get dressed and get back to the Pylat. We’ll talk more there.”

In silence, the two killers went back upstairs and got dressed. Raeth even fixed the bed they had messed up with their love making and ill-fated roleplay. Once dressed, they made their way outside. There was no sign of Tonny, who must have still been in his bedroom, and nothing stopped them from leaving the house.

The storm had abated. Instead of getting pelted by fat droplets, they walked through gentle, lazy rain. It felt like the storm clouds had become sleepy in the late-night hour. Raeth was covered from neck to toe in layers of inclement weather clothes, plus he wore a wide-brimmed hat. On the way to the ship, he tilted his head up so that he could feel the cold drizzle on his bare face for a few seconds.

Sebastian-v2, who never slept, lowered the smaller of the Pylat’s two ramps, the one closer to the cockpit.

“Were the accommodations not to your liking, Master?” the battle butler droid asked Raeth once he was onboard.

“The accommodations are fine. Saudaji and I need to use the medbay.”

“Are you injured? Should I have the guns ready to fire at anything that approaches?”

“Sure,” Raeth replied. “But leave the cattle alone, and don’t fire on anyone who looks like me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Master.”

“Heh, sure.” Raeth was not in a good mood, but he cracked a smile anyway as he made his way to the medbay with Saudaji.

In the medbay, Raeth instructed his medical droid, Miss Wellspring, to draw blood from both Saudaji and him and perform a toxicology analysis.

“Oh dear, do you think you’ve been poisoned?” The floating, multi-armed droid spoke with the voice of a middle-aged woman. “I was under the impression this would not be a particularly dangerous mission, but evidently I was mistaken. What symptoms are you two experiencing?”

“I feel fine,” Raeth responded. He gave Saudaji the opportunity to tell the medical droid she suspected they had been gassed in the house, if she wished. “This is just a precaution, Miss Wellspring.”

“Very well. Please have a seat.” Miss Wellspring used her syringe arm (with replaceable needles) to draw blood from the patients’ arms, one after the other. As she ran the blood through her internal scanners, Raeth and Saudaji each sat on a narrow hospital bed and waited.

Wellspring played some calming ambient music through the medbay’s speakers while she analyzed. A soft bell rang when she was done a couple minutes later. “I have good news! I do not detect any toxins or any other foreign agents in either of you. You’re both clean!

“But Mr. Raeth, I do detect a noticeable spike in your glucose levels since your last bloodwork. I’ve told you before that you should eat sweets in moderation.”

“A sweet tooth is hard to get rid of,” Raeth said with a smile. “But I’ll keep working on it. Thanks for the warning, and thanks for the test.

“Would you mind leaving the medbay for bit, Miss Wellspring? Saudaji and I need to discuss something in private.”

“Of course.” The droid hummed to herself as she floated out of the room and down then corridor. It was the same tune that was playing on the speakers.

Raeth met Saudaji’s gaze. “So Tonny hasn’t gassed us. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t believe you when you say something’s off about him and this situation. I’ll be more on guard, I promise.” He got up off his hospital bed and had a seat beside her on hers. He just wanted to hold her hand and sit close to her.

“I know this whole thing is weird. You’ve been taking care of me, and I thank you for that. But I was so preoccupied with myself that I didn’t consider how much of a toll all this weirdness is having on you. I’m sorry.”

Sitting beside her, he leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers. “I’m thinking about what you said about an ‘illusion of freedom.’ You’re right, we’re not free. We’ve been running errands for Prime without much to show for it. The situation is shit, I admit.

“But will you stick it out for a while longer, for me? The more we do his errands, the more we learn about what’s going on, and the more we learn about him. Eventually, we’ll figure out how to get to him and what his weakness is. Then we can take him down.

“Will you do this with me? I can’t do it without you.”

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Despite the turmoil in her head, she still found a chuckle, buried deep under the pile of emotion that had been building. “It’s easy to go back and romanticize it all,” softly said as she un-threaded her fingers from his, only to re-thread them to pull them free again. One by one, she touched the pad of her fingers to his, an elaborate game that she only knew the rules to. Her dexterity was such that she didn’t have to look at her hands while she did it; her deep brown eyes were locked on his. “But it’s a good reminder. It would’ve been easier for the Sith to make us unquestionably draw together instead of nearly murder each other for a while. It was easy at first, to think we were just using each other sexually. After all,” she slipped her pointer finger down his, through the dip between his pointer and middle finger in a way that couldn’t be anything else but suggestive - if not made more so by the slow, meandering way she drew her finger up again, “we’re two reasonably healthy, potentially oversexed sentient beings. It was bound to happen. The fact that it took time…” Back to innocent threading of her fingers through his, “that’s reassuring. It doesn’t sound like it; maybe it didn't seem like it…but it makes a little more sense.”

A small, lopsided grin fighting against the gravity of her face. “I might be overthinking it all. Questioning things that feel too neat in a life where that never happens. I guess…” she sucked on her lower lip, looking out at the long trails of water on the window. “I’m happy with you. I shouldn’t question that.”

It seemed that though they’d taken different roads, they’d ended up at the same destination in the conversation. It was reassuring - as these talks often were with him - and she’d take his hand, standing when he did.





Her version of “getting dressed” was considerably sloppier than his - a few coats thrown over the nightgown - still sans underwear. No point to it - and she liked the feeling of the cool air between her legs. She walked by his side, occasionally holding her breath only to exhale it out into a great cloud just to watch it dissipate. It was childish, she knew it, but it was a great distraction. It felt like each exhale was forcing more of the worry out of her body, and each great breath in was a way of cleaning out her mind. Not like she got that far with it; she kept turning over the same thoughts in her brain -

I want to fuck Tonny. It’s wrong to want to fuck Tonny. This situation is fucked. I really want to fuck Tonny. I shouldn’t fuck Tonny. Why do I want to fuck Tonny. Why can’t I get past this.

- and so on, so on, until she felt that her brain very well might melt and dribble from her ears. It wasn’t like her to be so fixated. Ever. The fact that she couldn’t get over it was subject for (obvious) concern; to think it was outside meddling. Too many coincidences, or simple the product of an overactive mind trying to find anything else to grasp onto.

She’d follow Raeth back to the ship, into the med bay, willing for her thoughts to quiet down so she could at least act like she was focusing on what was going on. Not so much as a wince from her when Miss Wellspring drew blood, no favoring of the crook of her arm. Just a small nod as the droid cheerily announced the results.

When it was the two of them again, she eagerly welcomed his presence next to her, instantly scooting closer so that they were shoulder to shoulder. It seemed the contact was enough to somewhat quiet the voice in her head on its eternal loop, so she closed her eyes, focusing on the feeling of air entering her body, the way her chest rose and fell, the heat of him beside her.

“…I’m probably being paranoid,” softer now. “Questioning something that feels too good to be true. Just…what are the odds, you know?” So soft now as to be imagined - too many conflicting thoughts. “…If we were put together by the Sith, then to what ends? Is this some round about way of getting to Prime…? How do we know he’s not working with them?”

She broke the flow of the conversation long enough to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. Left, then right, then center. The kiss ended on its own - with her nose to his. “Of course I’ll see it through with you. We’re together, no matter what.” A thump of her forehead against his. “But I have so many questions. Surely the Sith know we’re not doing their task. I haven't had any check ins - they’re…” she grimaced, did a wave of her hand, “Know everything, or something like that. Is this side trip part of it all as well? Agh. Too many questions - not enough answers.”

 

[BewareTheDream]

Raeth believed that his perception of their history together was accurate. “I’m not romanticizing it,” he said to Saudaji while she was still playing her suggestive, sensual game with their fingers. “I fell for you fast. But you took a lot of convincing.”

Later, in the medbay of the Pylat, they resumed their conversation about paranoia and the different threats they faced. Saudaji suggested that Prime was working with the Sith. “It’s possible,” Raeth replied. “And it could explain why the Sith haven’t been checking up on us or trying to ‘tie up loose ends.’ Prime supposedly arranged for a distraction big enough to keep the Council distracted, and after considerable digging, what I found supported that claim. But it could all be a ruse.

“I have no evidence to support it, but I believe Prime truly does hate the Sith. It’s like I can feel his hatred for them. I don’t rely on my gut that often; not like you do. But my gut tells me he wants to hurt them, badly.”

Gingerly, Raeth touched his fingertips to hers, mimicking what she did earlier that night. Their foreheads were pressed together, and the two used soft whispers to discuss such heavy matters.

“I don’t think they’re working together. But because you suspect they are, I’ll keep my eyes open for any signs.”

He closed his eyes and smiled when Saudaji said she would see this through with him. “I know you will, Daji’ka. I just wanted to be reminded.”

The two held each other for some time. If not for the subtle beeps and hums from the equipment around them, the medbay would have been quiet. Raeth wanted to sit on this narrow, uncomfortable bed and enjoy Saudaji’s closeness for hours, but he reminded himself that they had work to do. Delicately, he cupped her head between both of his hands, rubbed the tip of his nose against hers, and then pressed a kiss to her forehead before pulling away.

“We’d better get back to the house before our host thinks we’ve abandoned him. I’m going to freshen up, first.”

Raeth went to the quarters they shared aboard the Pylat to have a quick sink bath and then change into a fresh set of clothes. He hoped his wife followed him, because there was more that he wanted to say, and all of it had to do with her admission about wanting to fuck Tonny. He wanted to tell her that he was not only okay with the idea, but he was also turned on by it. That realization weirded him out, and he wanted to talk to her about that weirdness, too. If the situation was weird for him, then it must have been significantly worse for her.

But Raeth said none of it. He knew if they started talking about it, then they’d keep on talking about it and wouldn’t leave the ship for a while. Or worse, he’d upset her again and she would rush out of the room like she had in the house. So, he kept the floodgates of his mouth shut, got changed, and then headed for the exit.

“Stay on the scanners, Sebass, and alert of anything noteworthy,” he ordered his favorite droid on the way out. “And be ready to light up the engines at a moment’s notice.”

“Of course, Master,” Sebastian said. “I will remain ever vigilant because you are always in trouble.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Raeth replied. He chuckled, but there wasn’t much mirth behind it.

*****

It had finally stopped raining, but the dark clouds that still hung in the sky promised to dump more rain on the land before the day was through. Raeth and Saudaji’s ponchos, which Sebsatian-v2 had dried while they were being examined by Miss Willspring, were only lightly misted when they reached the farmhouse’s wrap-around porch. Out of habit, Raeth paused to check for traps, something that Saudaji probably did as well. Neither of them saw anything new, so they proceeded.

Raeth thumbed the doorbell, and after a brief wait, Tonny opened the door for them. Although it was early, their host was already dressed and smelled like he had showered. He wore a long-sleeved t-shirt that was tight around his barrel chest, denim overalls that sported years of wear and tear but looked like they could last for several more years, and thick work boots that looked new.

“Welcome back,” Tonny said with a smile. “C’mon in.” He looked Raeth and Saudaji in the face for only a second before dropping his gaze to the floor. Raeth interpreted this as awkwardness caused by what transpired last night.

Raeth glanced at Saudaji before stepping inside. “Thanks,” he said, tersely. He hadn’t felt any awkwardness during the walk from the ship to the house, but now that he was once again staring at that familiar face and thinking about last night, he started to feel it.

Tonny shut the door and then gestured for them to follow him. “I’ve started makin’ breakfast. Why don’t y’all make yourselves comfortable in the kitchen while I finish up?” His steps were unhurried, like his words. But when a whistling kettle announced that it was ready to be removed from the stove, he said, “Oh! Please excuse me,” and then broke into a jog.

The two guests joined their host in the kitchen. Raeth scanned the room for a moment before taking a seat at the room’s lone table. A pleasant, floral scent permeated the air. It reminded him of jasmine, but that wasn’t it. Raeth guessed it was a flower that was indigenous to Taanab, a flower he was not familiar with.

But damn, does it smell like jasmine, Raeth thought.

It was then that Raeth noticed there was no other strong scent in the kitchen. Tonny had mentioned that he was making breakfast, but there was no smell of anything cooking. There was nothing on the stove and the oven wasn’t on. However, there was a bowl of blueberries on the countertop by the sink and strawberries on a cutting board beside the bowl.

Maybe Country Raeth is making parfait. I haven’t eaten that since before Mandalore.

Tonny prepared a cup of tea for both Raeth and Saudaji. When he poured hot water from the kettle into their cups, it created a fresh explosion of the floral scent. Raeth wasn’t in a hurry to drink the tea, but he saw no harm in enjoying its aroma.

“Thanks,” Raeth said, not quite as terse as before.

Tonny set the kettle back onto the now inactive stove, picked up a knife, and then stepped in front of the cutting board to resume cutting strawberries. “I’m makin’ a simple breakfast that my mama loved to make for me and my siblings. It’s called urobro ‘round these parts. It’s made of strawberries, blueberries, and granola mixed with yogurt.” His words wrapped around the sounds of his knife slicing strawberries and tapping the cutting board.

“If y’all would rather have somethin’ more substantial—like some omelettes or sausages—let me know, and I can whip that up instead. I can also make a mean pancake casserole, if I do say so myself.”

“No, the urobro will be fine.” Raeth imitated Tonny’s accent when he said the word ‘urobro.’ Their host gave no indication that he had noticed.

“Okay, then,” Tonny responded. “I figured we should eat somethin’ light in case we were busy today. Speakin’ of which, what are y’all plannin’ for today? I’ve got a full day of chores ahead of me, so are you gonna watch me? Help me? Or will we be doin’ something else entirely?”

The answer to Tonnover’s questions came in the form of something crashing through the window above the sink and landing on the kitchen floor between Tonny and the kitchen table.

“Agh!” Tonny cried out, for some glass was flung in his face.

The object on the floor was a grenade. Instantly, Raeth recognized it as a flashbang. “Take cover!” he shouted as he flipped the kitchen table, sending everything on it crashing to the tiles and giving himself and Saudaji something to get behind.

The flashbang detonated a second later, flooding the kitchen with blazing light and deafening noise. Raeth was able to shield his eyes, but his ears were left ringing. When blaster bolts from at least a half dozen different rifles began to pierce the kitchen walls, he didn’t hear them at first, but he could smell them, for nothing burned the air quite like blaster bolts.

He hoped that the only thing the bolts burned that day was the air.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

“Oh, I dunno if ‘convincing’ is the right word for it,” and she smiled, the sort of turned down at the corner, holding onto something smile that usually meant laughter. In the moments that their fingers played together, she ran through the memories of them together. Still raw after the endless quest for Mahoroba, the things she told herself to keep going, to keep feeding that dying fire in her belly to do something, anything, with her life, to find a justification for the wandering that itched at her. The wandering that still itched at her now, though it’d grown quieter.

Proximity bore quieter words, but no less of a severity in the conversation. Between sneaked kisses, she whispered her thoughts against his lips. Astounding how far they’d come, that she’d allow herself not open-ness, but to voice her thoughts about their mission, free of the fear that he’d look down on her for being ‘dumber’ than him. “I might be overly cautious,” bottom lips touching, melting into a kiss, parting again, speaking directly into his mouth, “but you don’t live long in this game without developing that. You know that as well as I do. I don’t think it should be something we can overlook. The darjetii are not to be trusted.” A beat. “The jetii aren’t, either. Hell, no one is to be trusted!” A bit of that gallows Mandalorian humor, even as she allowed herself to start to slide away, to slowly break that close contact. Worse case scenario, they could converse in Mando’a if they needed a bit more privacy. Even surrounded by translators (and the ease of getting one), it wasn’t a commonly heard language, and that wasn’t taking into account all of the nuances that came from regional dialects, things that could further vary from ethnic group to ethnic group. No doubt in their time on Mandalore, Raeth had not only learned ‘standard’ Mando’a, but the nuances between the elegant sing-song-y language of Yukaku natives and the more nasal song of Saudaji’s tribe.

“You wanna go back to that?” Brows raised, her thumb jerked back to the home. A snort. “Surprised he didn’t move to the barn. We weren’t exactly the most quiet guests last night.” That twinge of discomfort; the tugging at the pit of her stomach. She hadn’t wanted to think about it - wanted to think that she’d gotten to the bottom of it. But the idea of Tonny’s body twining round hers, rough hands against her skin, Raeth a smooth counterpart behind her, was enough to send blood rushing to her cheeks. But that’d be the last she spoke of it, opting to get up and follow him to the refresher. Maybe when things settled down, became a bit less shocking, it’d go away. Or maybe this was…normal, really. A carbon copy of her lover, her husband - it was reasonable to be attracted to him as well, right?

Right?





When Tonny opened the door, Saudaji’s eyes went straight to his crotch. It was none too subtle - only made worse when her eyes moved up to his chest in that near painted on shirt and stilled.

She hoped that it was masked by the yowl of annoyance she made as she looked directly up into the sky, ending up with eyes full of light rain. A complete mood breaker in her sleek appearance - considering that unlike the farmer-esque apparel of the night before, she’d dressed in her usual “assassin” under-suit: a second skin black affair that covered her from her throat to her ankles. Raeth’s tinkering had modified the integrity of it; resulting in no small amount of being blaster proof and able to handle moderate concussive blasts - more to protect her internal organs from those impacts than anything else. She’d completed the look with forearm gauntlets, thin and dully gray metallic in the muted rainy morning light. She’d made sure that Raeth had added those as well, thinking about how she’d gotten shot in the hand all those months ago. Knee high flat boots, also black, with sleek hidden compartments - giving the false impression that she was entirely unarmed.

She followed Raeth into the home, muttering a soft, “Thanks” in deference to Tonny’s welcome in addition to his general unflappable hospitality.

Wonder if he’d be that chipper when he has to wash those sheets.

Like Raeth, she allowed her gaze to drift around the kitchen. There wasn’t too much difference from the night before, except for that strong floral scent. Maybe a candle, something like that - maybe the smell of sex had permeated the entire place. The thought made her chuckle, something she hid behind a cough, partially muffled by a raised fist. Made easier when the tea was set down in front of her, though she was feeling particularly…curious. If that was the right word. Whatever it was, it felt like a pinch of the devil when she looked up at him, letting her eyes drag slowly up the musculature of his arm, the grip of his fingers on the mug handle, the way his pectorals shifted. She was giving him the eye - even a blind man would be able to pick up on the smolder she was sending off.

She took the cup as nonchalantly as possible from him, not a single change in her expression as she mouthed a silent ‘thanks,’ keeping those dark eyes locked on his. It was only when he turned back to the cutting board that she allowed herself a secret laugh. She deigned to answer his question about breakfast; food wasn’t quite on her mind at the moment. And, truthfully, in yet another way that Raeth had spoiled her, unless they were dining out, she preferred (read: wouldn’t) to eat whatever he cooked. The tea would be enough to hold her until later, anyway. Time to turn her attention back to the banality of the conversation, though she felt there was something else beneath it all. No one could be this unflappable under such circumstances. Was Tonny just that easy going, or did he have some sort of damage? She took the first sip from her cup experimentally. Jasmine - her favorite. And a particularly good grade, too - clearly the man didn’t count credits when it came to tea. A slight sigh of contentment as she let the tea sit on her tongue, the slight acrid bite of the tea soon overtaken by the smoothness of the jasmine. He clearly knew how to brew a cup - the water wasn’t so hot that the tea released all of its tannins and made it bitter, but not so cool as to be lukewarm.

In other words, the perfect brew.

She was about to say as much before the window shattered.

If she had been interviewed afterwards, with someone who had a play by play holovid of her movements, she wouldn’t be able to explain her movements. How do you explain breathing? You just do it. And it was the same with her - she just moved.

The time on Mandalore had honed Raeth’s hand to hand skills, so it was in a deadly unison that the table was flipped and both had taken cover behind it, almost as if it was a part of a rehearsed and calculated dance. It was in the heartbeat between that she was moving again, Raeth understanding her unspoken request for him to stay put. He had gotten better, that was an undeniable fact, but her personal feelings put him before herself, always, when it came to these situations. It would be something that he’d just have to get used to; an unspoken law of their relationship, of her love for him.

There was also the simple fact that she was faster - due to biological differences; not much could be done about that.

Streaking forward, she tackled Tonny about the knees, knocking him down. It was a rough landing, despite the twisting of her body to have her avoid the worst of the scattered glass. The air was smoky and filled with the bite of ozone, of singed curtains, full of biting bits of broken wood and the dull heat of blaster bolts. In this maze of chaos, she maneuvered Tonny, keeping them both low, to cover behind the table.

“You good?” It was less a question and more of a statement as she got him against the table, a hand on top of his head to keep him shoved down. “Stay down and shut up.” A little less kind than she would’ve been inclined (if ever), but Raeth would be able to recognize the “General Saudaji” tone to her voice. No more playful banter; all focus was on what was happening. Counting blaster bolts, straining hearing for voices, the hiss-psst of com communications.

“Can’t get a read on how many there are,” she shouted at Raeth, unzipping the front of her suit. Rather than walk into Tonny’s with a visible blaster, she’d simply had pieces of it stored in her suit. Another one of Raeth’s clever ideas. She assembled the smaller firearm with a startlingly fast expertise, without once looking at what she was doing, her eyes darting back and forth between Raeth, Tonny, and the trajectory of the blaster bolts raining down around them. There was no break between shots; the barrage was unrelenting and the air was growing all the more smoky.

Blaster put together now, she popped over the edge of the table; took quick aim - squeezed off a volley of shots. At least one hit the mark, if the resounding “Agh!” was any indication. “Haar’chak,” she snarled, doing a mental count. “I couldn’t tell how many were out there.” Another lifting from behind the table, this time, her left hand planted firmly on the top of Tonny’s head to keep him down. It seemed that her responding blaster fire had only sparked further retaliation - Saudaji winced as a blaster bolt skimmed the top of the table, a hair’s width away from her lekku. Her response was something guttural as she quickly sat up again and fired off a few more shots in the direction that the blaster bolt had come from.

“Raeth, you getting any kind of reading on what’s happening?” Ah, the usual - buying time for him to get scopes on what was happening while she provided cover. “I think I got one, but that didn’t seem to do a whole hell of a lot in deterring whoever’s left.”

 

[BewareTheDream]

“I can’t see!” That was the only thing Tonny said before Saudaji told him to shut up. The face that looked so much like Raeth’s was covered in a red mask of blood, and there were shards of glass jutting out from his skin. Most of the blood poured from a wide cut above his brow that looked much worse than it was. There did not appear to be any glass in his eyes, but a closer inspection would be needed to confirm.

The blindness was likely caused by a combination of the blood in his eyes and the flashbang that detonated a few feet from his face. If he was lucky, it would only be temporary.

Tonny lay flat on his back where Saudaji had deposited him. His hands were shaking as he tried to pull glass from his cheek, but he barely made any noise aside from some gasps of pain. He wasn’t going anywhere.

Raeth also stayed put, but for different reasons. The countless hours of training with Saudaji reinforced something he was already inclined to do during battle: hunker down behind cover and gather intel. While blaster bolts pierced the walls from multiple angles, causing cups and plates to shatter and cupboards to explode, he sat with his back against the overturned table and his eyes on the screen of the datapad built into his bracer.

“I’m on it!” he yelled to Saudaji after she asked him for a reading. His voice could barely be heard over the sound of blaster fire and splintering wood. Fingers flying on his datapad, he connected to the Patient Pylat’s scanners and punched up its readout. The scanners were picking up all the blaster fire, and they also detected the beginnings of a fire there in the kitchen. Raeth started to smell the smoke from that fire. What the scanners did not pick up were any life signs besides those of Raeth, Saudaji, and Tonnover.

“Fark! They’re wearing stealth gear! I don’t have a number!” he yelled at Saudaji. He was ready to blame Sebastian-v2 for screwing up and not alerting them of an impending attack, but if the attackers really were wearing stealth gear, then there was no reason to blame the droid. Whoever these killers were, they came prepared.

Raeth activated the communicator attached to his collar so he could call Sebastian. The droid didn’t prevent this attack from happening, but he sure could end it. “Sebass! Come in! The house is getting shot up by unknown hostiles!”

“I’m aware of that, Master,” the droid replied, calmly. “I’m about to go airborne and will provide you with air support.” If not for all the gunfire, Raeth would have heard his ship’s vertical thrusters firing up outside.

“Good! Get me a sit-rep while you’re up there. You’re clear to use the turrets, but no cannons no torpedoes! Blast anything that doesn’t look like a staga!” Raeth paused to reconsider. “On second thought, blast the staga, too, if they look at you funny!”

“As you wish, Master.”

Raeth jerked his right wrist, which caused his hold-out blaster to pop out from its hidden holster and into his palm. He wished he had a heavy blaster or a rifle instead, but his heavier guns were all on the ship. He would have to make due with the hold-out and the variety of gadgets he had stashed in his many pockets.

Before he could try popping up to shoot out a window, like Saudaji had done, the blaster fire abruptly stopped. When the cacophony ended, everyone inside the kitchen could hear the Pylat’s hovering thrusters as it circled the farmhouse so Sebastian could get a visual on the attackers. To their right they could hear muffled bleating from the staga, who clearly weren’t pleased with all the violence.

The gunfire started up again, but instead of the unknown assailants resuming the destruction of the kitchen, they shot at the ship. In response, Sebastian opened fire with the Pylat’s upper and lower turrets. The noise of much larger blasters and small explosions outside drowned out the noise of small arms fire.

Raeth glanced at Saudaji and grinned. “This should be over soon. How’s Ton…?”

Raeth spoke too soon. Glass shattered nearby—it sounded like a window in the living room had broken. A second later more glass shattered upstairs. After that there was the sound of heavy boots hitting wooden. The enemy were now inside.

Using hand gestures, Raeth indicated to Saudaji that he was going to check the living room while she checked upstairs. The two had to leave the injured Tonny in the kitchen while they sought out the home invaders and dealt them in close quarters.

Saudaji likely left the kitchen first and made her way to the stairs. Raeth exited next, hold-out blaster aimed forward as he padded down the hall, toward the living room.

Reaching into one of his many pockets, Raeth retrieved a tiny rebreather and then put it into his mouth. From a different pocket, he took out a handful of little, black pellets. He squeezed them all together in his palm before chucking them around the corner and into the living room, where they released a cloud of noxious gas that quickly permeated the room.

With his shoulder against the wall right beside the entryway to the living room, Raeth waited. He heard coughing—it sounded like two humanoids coughing, one male, another female. He let them cough for a couple more seconds before he whipped around the corner and started blasting.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

“Oh, well, that’s convenient, isn’t it?” Was that a hint of amusement in her voice? It was, ironically enough. They’d been in worst situations. And, well, she had to do something to keep their spirits up. Not that herself or Raeth really needed it, but hey, there was a civilian in the midst of all of this. If Tonny was some sort of Sith sleeper agent or the result of someone playing a grand trick on them, he was committed to the part, what, with how helpless he was being. “Stealth gear. What will they think of next?” She popped up, squeezed off a few more rounds. “We’ll have to take some off of their bodies, so you can update the scanners.” Another pop up, another few rounds. “Still spray and pray here,” more in slight annoyance. Blaster fire fights like this had the potential to drag on for hours - or until whoever’s blaster ran down their charge first.

Right then. No number, potentially one down. Blasters. Haven’t heard anything else - but that doesn’t mean o’isk. Rae’ika’s called in air cover; that’ll ferret out the lot of them, push them our way. Right. Oya!

A deep sucked inhale, the lifting of her hand from the top of Tonny’s head, coiling of the tight muscles in her legs, then -

The blaster fire stopped - replaced by the dull thoom thoom thoom of the Pylat’s guns. She grinned over at Raeth, giving him a thumb’s up. Turning back to Tonny, she gave him the once over, shifting her blaster from the right hand to the left as she ran her hands quickly over his body. Save for the blood on his face and the random bits of glass, he at least wasn’t shot, and appeared to be no worse for the wear. Uncomfortable, sure, but breathing.

She was preparing to raise Tonny up, but the sound of breaking glass stopped her. “O’sik,” she growled, her left hand landing firmly on Tonny’s arm, keeping him down. She dropped further to the ground, nearly on her belly as she moved closer to Tonny. “Look,” and her voice bore no lightness as it had with Raeth. It was a tone that was meant to be obeyed, and not one to be argued with, “They’ve just broken into your home - and they will eventually make their way here, if they don’t come in through this window. I need you to go hide - find a bathroom, closet, squeeze into one of these cabinets if you need to. Raeth and I are gonna take care of these guys, then I’ll come get you.” She stressed the I’ll - not that he’d have any reason to trust her over Raeth. Call it a ‘gut feeling’ - there would be no mistaking her, with that milky jade skin, for an attacker. “Okay?” A softer tone to her voice; she couldn’t help it. “You’re gonna be okay. We’ll get you outta here, yeah, and get you cleaned up. There’s a good boy,” a light punch to his shoulder, and she was up - and it was like she was never there to begin with, so quiet was her departure.

Ascending up the stairs, she kept her back close to the wall, taking one step at a time. Listened for any sound - and save for the sound of booted feet on the floor, there was little else. Whoever these guys were, they were good. No extra chatter, no hiss of coms.

Element of surprise. Right.

Pausing as she got to the top of the stairs, she pressed herself firmly against the wall, took in a breath, and held it until she could feel her heartbeat in her ears. That deep underwater calm that preceded an attack, that glorious rush that came when she barreled in. God, it was so sweet; she could almost taste it, feel the way her mouth came close to watering. Downstairs, she could hear coughing, catch the faintest trace of something nasty. Well, she didn’t want to be anywhere near that.

The door sat before her, open. What would be the best way to handle this? Ducking behind the open door, she waited - exhaled, then came round the door firing. Enough to lay down cover - she needed to keep this upstairs. At least for herself; she didn’t want to experience whatever Raeth had laid down down there.

“Agh!” Duplicate of what she heard earlier - good thing to hear. Blaster fire splintering the wood of the door as she dove forward, arms and hands over her face, blaster tossed to the floor. If these people had any sense, they wouldn’t try to fire further, not in this room, not for risk of hitting the other. A deft leg sweep from her, and one of the attackers hit the floor with a heavy thud and the clanking of armor. Grey armor. Not something she recognized, not immediately. The groan the armored figure made when they hit the floor was a masculine “Oof” - so, one male humanoid -

The high pitched whine of a blaster bolt near her ear. “You idiot!” she snarled, her surprise feeding into her rage. She couldn’t try another sweep kick; Number Two would’ve seen her fell the first one with it. Armor meant that punches wouldn’t do much; fine, knife it was. Slipping her hand into her boot, she was up again, moving in an upward thrust that saw her right hand drive the small stiletto into the small gap between the end of the helmet and the start of the chest guard. There was always that small gap; a flaw in the armor, if anyone asked her. She supposed that the theory was that they’d always be facing blaster fire, and as such, wouldn’t bother to add any additional support (or weight) to the neck. And, to be fair, it would be a hell of a target to hit, small and moving as it was, and nearly invisible if one didn’t know what they were looking for. Little tender spot, a finger tip’s length away from the bottom of the ear, one of her favorite spots on Raeth to kiss, the way his flesh was warm and silken there, feeling the extra jump in his pulse when her lips closed in -

Arterial blood spurted - shockingly bright red against the muted tan of the wallpaper, scattering across the dusty pink patterned roses. Number Two grasped at his throat, the blaster dropping from his hand. He could hold onto his neck for as long as he wanted; there would be no stopping that flow. She could hear Number One getting to their feet, fumbling for the blaster, a muffled curse, fear making their hand sloppy. She was up and in Number One’s face in a split second; it would be all downhill from here. A deft kick to the throat - high and hard, catching the bottom of the helmet, knocking him back and into the wall. There was a scorch mark from her blaster fire on the left side of the chest - would’ve been a kill shot. Something about the armor was stronger than she would’ve anticipated. Had to see if the smaller blaster could be upgraded; this would’ve been over if her blaster fire could’ve penetrated it - but then again, would it be as fun if it didn’t?

Now she was being cruel, and she knew it - Number One had to have known it, too. There was a slump in the shoulders, unspoken resignation as he pulled himself up from the impact in the wall, from the shattered frames and photos and glass and wood, still fumbling for his blaster, still finding that primal desire to live against overwhelming odds, and in theory, there was no reason for him not to think he could’ve made it out of this, he had a full body of armor, still had his blaster, and Saudaji, this green skinned alien, was in front of him with a bloodied knife and no armor and a blaster somewhere - if he could just get to his blaster, had he dropped it, where was it -

Warmth pressed against his throat - and it was much much harder to breathe, and when he tried, there was bubbling, deep and salty and metallic -

All it had taken was that split second for him to look away, to look for that dropped blaster, and Saudaji had closed the gap, and, like Number Two, inserted her blade into his throat, arm holding him securely against her. Like Number One, he fell, first to his knees, then to the ground, wine dark blood pooling onto the carpet beneath him.

Saudaji took in a breath, let it out in a long sigh. Almost too easy. Outside, she could still hear the distant thunder of the Pylat’s guns. Two here. Whoever else would’ve come in to shelter from the fire. Maybe avoided the kitchen, thinking we were still holed up there. Dunno what Rae’ika used down there. Don’t wanna find out.

Idly, she flipped the stiletto, the bloodied end tumbling end over end, before she caught the handle. She did it again, hardly paying attention as she crept closer to the window. There were ropes dangling down either side of the window, blowing loosely against the broken window. Would there be more? Something to consider. As quick as ever, she tucked the stiletto back into her boot and crept across the floor, reaching for her blaster - and one of the dropped soldier’s blasters. If hers wasn’t strong enough, maybe this one would be. Inching closer to the window, she waited. There were a few ways this could go, depending on how many people were a part of this. Those scattered outside - those who came in. Potentially those who could come in through the window, drawn by the now quiet room, too quiet.

 

[BewareTheDream]

Down in the living room, Raeth peppered two hostiles with bolts from his hold-out blaster. Each impact created pretty, little sparks, but he could tell his shots weren’t getting through their thick armor. That was fine, because the gas did the trick. The male hostile sank to the floor and tried to crawl to the shattered window but collapsed inches away. The female dropped to one knee and tried to raise her rifle at Raeth, who shot the weapon out of her hand before she, too, collapsed. Both invaders were racked by brief coughing fits, and then they died.

Their helmets don’t filter out gas or have their own air supply, Raeth thought. That’s either a design flaw or the result of a cost-cutting measure. Either way, these poor saps paid the price for someone else’s mistake.

Those mistakes were made by someone from the Sphere of Imperial Intelligence. Raeth knew this because he recognized the armor. These were soldiers of the Sith Empire, specifically from the SOII.

It’s a good thing they’re from Imperial Intelligence. If they were from the Sphere of Military Offense, they might have been more of a challenge.

Raeth aimed at the window for several seconds and kept his eyes and ears open. All he saw was the noxious gas begin to waft outside. No one else broke into the house, at least not yet. Through the ceiling, he could hear a struggle upstairs and bodies hitting the floor. Saudaji was the deadliest non-Force-using combatant he had ever known, so he wasn’t worried about her. He did feel sorry for whoever it was she fought, though.

An explosion from somewhere outside caught his attention. Crouching, he crept toward the window, crawled over the body there, and then carefully peeked outside. The Patient Pylat was doing a sweep of the farmland, its turrets firing at retreating targets.

Good, they’re withdrawing. Still gotta keep alert, though. Reinforcements may be on the way.

Suddenly, a surface-to-air rocket was fired at the ship. Raeth watched it soar toward the Pylat as unconcerned as he was when he heard Saudaji fighting The rocket detonated against the ship’s shields, and even before the smoke cleared, Raeth knew the hull had sustained zero damage. He engineered the ship too well for hand-held weapons to pose a serious threat to it.

Raeth would have smirked if he didn’t have a rebreather in his mouth.

Satisfied with what he saw, he took an egg-sized, motion detection mine from out of a hidden pouch, pressed a button at the top, and hid it on the body by the window. Then, head down, he rushed out of the living room before the timer ticked down and the mine became primed.

Raeth readied his comm. “Daji, the soldiers are Sith,” he said, even though he suspected Saudaji already knew. “The first wave is withdrawing, but we should get the hell out of here before reinforcements arrive. Or worse, before an actual Sith arrives.”

He had overheard Saudaji giving Tonny instructions to hide until she retrieved him. But considering the time crunch and the fact that Saudaji was still upstairs, it made sense for the closest one to grab the farmer.

Raeth returned to the kitchen, where a growing fire had engulfed part of the wall and counter closest to the sink. Smoke filled the air, so he kept the rebreather on. Scanning the room quickly, he didn’t see Tonny or any suitable hiding place, so he spun around and was about to check someplace else when he spotted something: a bit of blood on the doorhandle of a closet in the hallway.

Raeth removed the rebreather. “Frimkin, are you in there?” He knocked on the closet door casually, as if the house wasn’t on fire and there weren’t Sith soldiers trying to murder everyone inside. “I’m opening the door, okay? If you have a gun, don’t shoot me.” He turned the handle, opened the door just a crack, then took a step back with his blaster aimed forward. Nobody took a shot at him, so he used his foot to nudge the door open more. Tonny was inside with a torn strip of plaid cloth wrapped around his eyes like a lumberjack’s blindfold. He held an upside-down trophy in his hands, ready to use it like a cudgel. Although the text on the trophy’s plaque was upside down, Raeth could still read that it was an award for “biggest squash.”

“Raeth?” Tonny asked. “Saudaji said she would come get me.” His voice sounded strained, and he spoke quicker than normal, but not by much.

“Change of plans,” Raeth responded as he grabbed Tonny’s arm and hoisted him to his feet. “You can trust me, though. I’m her husband.”

Raeth readied his comm again. “Sebass, land in front of the house and lower the cargo ramp. Daji, we are leaving.”

Blaster in one hand and the collar of his blind clone brother in the other, Raeth moved toward the main door. He stopped right in front of it to wait and listen. The engines of the Patient Pylat could be heard overhead a couple seconds later.

Sebastian-v2 contacted them over the comms. “The front is clear, Master. Landing now.”

Wasting no time, Raeth opened the door and stuck the blaster outside first. Even though the battle droid said it was clear, Raeth checked anyway. Once he was satisfied, he urged Tonny forward. The Pylat kicked up a cloud of dust as it landed about thirty meters away from the porch. The cargo bay was open and its ramp began to extend even before the landing gear touched the earth.

“I smelled smoke,” Tonny said before he nearly stumbled down his front porch. “Is my house on fire?”

“Afraid so, Frimkin,” Raeth responded. “The whole place will likely burn down.”

Tonny was quiet as Raeth guided him to the ramp. Suddenly, Raeth felt a pang of guilt, something he rarely felt. He considered who he was talking to, and what it would be like to lose all his possessions except for the silly trophy that Tonny still clutched with both hands.

Using a softer tone, he told his clone brother, “I can help you build a new house. It won’t be on this planet, though.”

Raeth guided Tonny into the cargo bay and carefully deposited him behind some cover. “Wait here,” he ordered. Then he rushed back to the ramp. Along the way, he retrieved a blaster rifle from a weapon rack on the wall. Now better armed, he assumed a firing position at the top of the ramp and waited for Saudaji, ready to cover her escape.

“Hurry outside, love,” he told her over the comms. “Your chariot awaits.”

 

[Apollo Wilde]

“Roger,” short and crisp was her response.

Stairs or the window? She’d heard the blaster fire downstairs - it wasn’t too much longer after she’d finished with her two that it’d stopped. And since she heard no more breaking glass, her assumption that Raeth was done with whoever he’d run into. “Yeah,” came a nasal response from her, as she took a look at the ropes again. Might be the best way. It seemed like whatever they were attached to wasn’t budging. Quick calculation; ropes should hold her weight. She wasn’t as large as these humanoids, but the armor was lighter than it looked. Back to the window, she gave one of the ropes a cautionary tug - then grabbed it. It held fast.

“Coming down out the window; meet you out front,” a faint hint of strain in her voice as she repelled down the side of the house. The following thumps of her feet against the sides of the house, deliberately made loud, then nothing.

It seemed that she simply materialized as they ran from the house, blaster in hand but silent. The cover fire from Sebastian and the effectiveness of the Pylat’s shields bought them time - as had the relatively quick dispatching of the other soldiers. “Fancy meeting you here,” a bit of humor - unlike her under the circumstances - and she was on Tonny’s left side, offering support as they moved forward, only the slightest hesitation in her pace as she adjusted for the additional weight of Tonny’s blind form. He was the same height as Raeth, true, but wider, in the stocky, muscular way that farm work packed on flesh over time. Funny, the variances between the same base.

It was with the occasional stray blaster bolt that the trio clambered onto the ramp, Saudaji returning fire with scarcely a glance backwards. As the ramp began to close, Saudaji bumped her shoulder as a shrug, shaking Tonny loose from Raeth’s grasp and into hers entirely. Her left hand placed firmly over Tonny’s chest, her lips were close to his ear, “I gotcha,” calmly enough, soothing a small child who’d gotten spooked. She wouldn’t go so far as to say that they were safe now; felt like it would be asking for trouble - never mind the fact that their escape could be buying the enemy time to regroup and bring out bigger fire.

“Next move?” called up to Raeth as she helped Tonny to a seat, keeping a hand on his shoulder. She was reluctant now to leave his side - some sort of compassion, as she reached inside of one of the hidden pockets of her suit, dabbing at the worst of the bleeding spots on his eyes. She didn’t have the right tools at the moment to start getting at the glass - and the flash bang, she’d assumed, was the true reason behind his blindness. Temporary, she hoped.

 

[BewareTheDream]

“Take Frimkin to the medbay,” Raeth said as he held down the trigger of his repeating blaster and sprayed orange bolts outside. The enemy soldiers were firing from cover, so Raeth barely bothered to aim. He was in spray and pray mode, providing suppressing fire to Saudaji and his clone brother and rapidly draining the rifle’s power pack in the process. After the two of them were up the ramp, Raeth slapped the button to close it.

He fired one more quick bolt spray outside before the ramp closed, not really because he thought it would do any good, but because it’s fun to fire a repeater. The last thing he saw before the ramp clanged shut was Tonny’s burning house. It was an unfortunate time for the rain to finally stop.

The thought of watching the house he shared with Saudaji on Mandalore burning like that crossed his mind and sent a shiver down his spine. Quickly, he brushed the thought away and activated his comm.

“Seabass, get us airborne,” he said, making his way toward the cockpit.

“Roger, roger,” Sebastian-v2 replied. His response was a battle droid verbal quirk that Raeth had thought he had programmed out ages ago. He made a mental note to check Sebastian’s code when he had a chance, but for now, they had to escape this farm planet, alive.

Raeth’s boots clanged rapidly on the metal floor as he jogged down a corridor. On his right, he passed by the medbay, where Saudaji had just helped Tonny onto a cot. The multi-armed medical droid hovered close.

“Thank you, Mistress Saudaji, I have it from here,” the droid said in a soothing, feminine, voice, which Raeth designed to sound motherly. She then focused her main, orb-shaped optical unit on Tonny’s injured bandaged face. “Hello, young man. My name is Miss Wellspring, and I’ll be attending to you today. Just relax and I’ll get you patched up in a jiff.”

The Patient Pylat shook and shifted a bit, and everyone inside could hear the sound of its thrusters powering up mere moments before the ship lifted off the ground. During take-off, Raeth had to pull himself around the pilot seat before sitting down and strapping himself in.

“I’ve got it from here, Sebass. Man the main weapons.”

“Of course, Master,” Sebastian said. Raeth was glad he didn’t say ‘Roger, roger’ again. The droid didn’t need to switch seats, for he could control the Pylat’s main guns from the same console.

Raeth grasped the controls, then got on the comm with Saudaji. “Daji’ka, my love, I need you in one of the turrets.” A short distance from the medbay was an alcove with two ladders—one that went up to the roof turret and another that went down to the belly turret. Saudaji would have known that the belly turret would be the better choice against ground targets.

Immediately after he said that, the ship was rocked by another surface-to-air rocket detonation. One glance at the status display showed that the shields were still holding. Sure, the shields were now represented by a yellow-green instead of the usual, solid, ‘Everything’s a-okay!’ green, but yellow-green meant the shields were holding between 70-90% strength, so Raeth wasn’t worried.

Instead of cranking the throttle up and getting the hell out of there, Raeth chose to keep the Pylat hovering in place. “’Daji, if you see any soldiers with rocket launchers, light ‘em up.”

“Shouldn’t we hurry, Master?” Sebastian asked.

“Are you picking up any enemy ships?” Raeth replied.

The droid consulted the scanners. “Two ships are in orbit. One ship is on the ground approximately 4,000 meters south of us. Its engines are idle.”

“If any of those ships approach us, then we’ll hurry. Until then…” Raeth gazed out the viewport at the overcast sky. There was barely any mist, so he could still sort of see purple mountains in the distance. This was a beautiful planet, he now realized, and he almost felt bad that he and Saudaji had to leave it before they could see what it looked like under clear skies. And once again, he felt a twang of guilt about Tonny’s home, more than half of which was now engulfed by flames.

Frimkin probably won’t see this planet ever again.

Rather than dwell on that thought, Raeth checked the monitors to see if Saudaji gunned anyone down. He gave her about a minute to have some fun.

“I really do think we should make our escape, Master,” Sebastian insisted.

“Fine, fine. By the moons of Iego, you nag worse than a grandmother.” Finally, Raeth gripped the throttle and eased it forward.

But the Pylat didn’t fly forward. Instead, it hovered in place and started to shake. The entire interior of the vessel shook as though it were being rocked by a low-magnitude earthquake. Some flashing, yellow lights on the console and an accompanying, low-intensity noise warned that the engines were beginning to get strained.

“What the fark?!” Quickly reading the different displays before him, Raeth soon realized that there was nothing internally wrong with the ship, which led him to think something external was preventing them from flying.

Saudaji witnessed what happened moments before: On the ground, a lone, masked figure had stridden in front of the burning house and then raised her hands toward the Patient Pylat. That figure held the ship in place by harnessing the Force. This woman who was powerful enough to stop a light freighter in its tracks was Caethia Yavariik, the apprentice of Darth Azamin. Saudaji had never seen Caethia before, but she likely recognized her based on Raeth's description of her. Many months ago, Raeth gave Saudaji a report he had composed on Caethia, which included her most impressive or horrific accomplishments (the ones that Raeth knew of, anyway). But Saudaji didn’t need a dossier to know that the apprentice of a Dark Councilor was among the most dangerous adversaries they had ever faced.

On a monitor, Raeth eventually saw what Saudaji saw. “Oh shit!” he blurted out over the comms. “Shoot her! Shoot her now!” Saudaji was likely in the process of doing so, already.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Insects.

Maybe that was entirely too generous - insects, while small and insignificant to humanoids, served a purpose. They could poison, they could band together to create great mounds, they could be beautiful.

Hm. So maybe these creatures, here in the laughable safety of their ship, could rightfully be called insects. Raeth, she was more than familiar with. The thought of him, that smug smile of his, was enough to cause fresh rage to flow through her veins. Positively energizing - warmth that flowed through her body, caressed her closer than a lover. So delicious, so never-ending - a flex of her fingers, and the Pylat jerked, a barely audible whine of the ship’s engines fighting against her draw.

She almost allowed herself the small pleasure of a smile.








O’sik! Fear pooled, overflowed, cold in the pit of Saudaji’s stomach; coated the back of her throat with sour bile. Jedi had their own presence about them - a pleasant mundane nothingness, looking at the surface of a still pond. Calming but nothing beneath the water. ‘Calming’, perhaps, to others. For Saudaji, that preternatural calm always set her on edge. This, though, this was different. Like the pool of water opened, revealing itself to actually be the great maw of a fanged beast, its throat opening into an infinite void. The fear of absolute dark, of silence, the primal fear passed down genetically through every sentient being. Fear that paralyzed, stripped away all elements of Saudaji leaving nothing but a trembling child, hiding beneath the fabric of her mother’s dresser, watching as her mother was slapped, pummeled, forcibly coupled with.

Raeth’s voice over the comms would go unanswered, the turrets stilled, rotating idly as the control dropped away. For a moment, Saudaji felt intangible fingers brush against the corners of her mind, a delicate touch. One she’d sensed before, had even welcomed in the past.

Get out of my head, you witch!

Such language, came the response, flavored by a deep chuckle. Voice like it was drawn across hot coals and hadn’t recovered. Confident and calm, unhurried. But I’ll be on my way. Give my regards to the Copy.

You’re doing this to catch me off balance. It won’t work. Somewhere in the waking world, bile had been replaced with the hot metallic salt of blood.

Hardly. I simply wanted a different perspective of what’s been going on. A precursor, if you will. I’m going to have all the time in the world with you here shortly.





In another corner of Caethia Yavariik’s mind, she simply filed away the surface thoughts that she’d scraped from Saudaji’s mind. No more complicated an act than skimming the fat off of the surface of a soup. Deeper down, Caethia knew it had been…foolish, perhaps. Overeager, for sure. But this close and so off guard? Of course she was going to take the opportunity to see for herself. The reports she gotten from her Master were enough to tell her what she wanted, but there was nothing better than seeking information for herself, by herself. Besides, the files glossed over the sheer amount of deviancy that the those two had gotten up to. Not that it was any of her particular interest, but -

Well. She certainly has a soft spot for the Copy. Or should I say, ‘copies’…

And no small amount of talent otherwise.

Saudaji gasped, surfacing from the depths of her mind. And instinctively reacted - turning the missile towards the cloaked figure. Sheer fear, anger, hesitation - all combined into the pressing down of her thumb, the futile release of power.

Caethia suspected - no, anticipated - such a reaction, and, allowing herself that small smile, simply let go of the Pylat. Better to escape now, now with the new information that she had. Information that could be stored away and gone through at a later time. She hadn’t spent all that much time in the Twi’lek’s brain, but Mandalorians - always emotional creatures, regardless of their actual species. Everything sat right at the top, if one knew how to look.

Till we meet again, Saudade…








A slow trail of blood leaked from the corner of Saudaji’s mouth. Lazily trailed down the side of her chin to pool beneath it before dropping, silently, on her collarbone. Her short nails bit into her palms. The distant call of Raeth’s panicked voice, slipping into preparations. Hold was gone. Something like that. They were able to leave. Leave. But go where? This wasn’t like before; she couldn’t risk bringing that….that creature, to Mandalore. To her family.

Not like she couldn’t find you if she wanted to.

How do I make her not want to?

Folly. There would be no shaking of that witch’s interest - but it could be delayed. The fact that their interaction was a handful of moments should be encouraging. ‘Should.’

Dazed, she pulled herself away from the controls. Mechanically, her body started to move, bringing her through the ship that had become her second home, back to Raeth. When he saw her, she would look dazed, lost.

Scared.

“She was in my head.” Flatly said, as she grasped her temples. “In my head. Not long. But…” She’d been caught off guard - all of the advanced techniques learned from Mahoroba completely lost. Not that it would’ve mattered much; it would’ve only been a matter of time before that witch had been able to completely crack her mind open like an egg. There was no way to not have a presence in the Force -

Unless you were Raeth. And now they were after him, or Tonny, or Prime? Why? They hadn't deviated from missions; it wouldn't have been any small surprise to know that her and Raeth were intimately involved. So why, then? Was it just a ploy to knock her off her feet, to remind her who was in control? That, unlike in the past, she had more to lose now?

 

[BewareTheDream]

Once the Sith apprentice released the Patient Pylat from her telekinetic grip, the vessel shot forward like a bolt from a blaster.

“Hrrk!” Raeth, his jaw clenched, was squeezed against the pilot chair by the g-force. Behind him, he heard some loose items clatter onto the floor. Despite the strain, he maintained control of his ship and angled its nose up toward the sky and beyond.

“Strap in,” he warned Saudaji and Tonny over the comms. “We’ll jump to hyperspace immediately after we leave the atmosphere. There may be an ambush waiting for us, so prepare yourselves.” Checking the scanners, he saw only two ships in orbit, neither of which were heavily armed or close to each other. Scanners could be fooled, however, so he was ready to evade a fight.

“Sebass, divert all power from non-essential systems to shields and engines.”

“Yes, Master.” Sebastian did as he was ordered. He was plugged into the Pylat, so he was able to execute commands through thought instead of using his relatively clumsy, metal fingers.

The panic Raeth had felt moments before dulled into a familiar coolness, the same coolness he had felt before the Pylat got caught in an invisible grip. It’s funny, I never felt panicked before…not until I met Saudaji. Although his heart still raced, he was now able to control his breathing and concentrate on flying. Through the viewport, he watched as the ship soared into a dark cloud—an intentional move meant to throw off the targeting of anyone on the ground who was still trying to shoot them down. The Pylat burst out of the clouds seconds later, revealing a beautiful and clear morning sky. Raeth didn’t spare the time to admire the scene, however, and instead he kept the ship flying upward. The blue of the sky soon receded, giving way to dark purple and then the star-speckled blackness of space. Before they were free of the planet’s atmosphere, he punched some coordinates into the nav computer while simultaneously checking for any signs of attack.

No one’s shooting at us. That’s a good sign.

“Here comes the jump,” he said over the comms, giving the others one final warning before he grabbed the hyperspace lever and pushed it forward. The Pylat rumbled softly and then burst forward at an impossible speed, leaving Tanaab and the Frimkin farm behind, possibly forever.

The Pylat was enveloped by pulsating blue and the cosmic hum that always reminded Raeth of happy times. Even though he knew Caethia and the Sith were on their tails, he allowed himself to relax, for nothing was ever really that bad in hyperspace.

Checking the console displays, he confirmed that his ship was in good condition. The shields held against the surface-to-air rockets, and there was no apparent damage from the Sith apprentice’s Force snare. When I get a chance, I’ll inspect the hull myself. That bitch better not have hurt my baby!

Raeth activated the comms again. “We’re clear, and we’ve got a little less than 2 hours before we reach our next destination. We’re likely being pursued, and we’ll be doing a lot of hyperspace hopping to lose our tail, so don’t get too comfortable yet.” He trusted Saudaji to always be ready for anything, so that message was mostly for Frimkin.

“Miss Wellspring, how’s the patient?”

“Resting comfortably,” said the droid with the sing-songy voice. “He’ll be fine after I remove some glass from his face. I’ll give you a full prognosis when you stop by the medbay.”

“Understood. I’m on my way.” Raeth got up off his chair and approached the cockpit door, but Saudaji entered before he could exit. Right away, he could tell something was wrong. His heart sank and his extremities grew cold, which was a sensation he had never felt before meeting her.

“What is it?” Rushing to her, he checked her for visible wounds, but there were none. Before he could ask another question, Saudaji explained that the Sith had been in her head. He took both her hands into his and raised them to his lips so he could kiss her knuckles. Because no Force user could use their abilities on him, he had never had his mind invaded. He didn’t know what it felt like. Reading about it or hearing accounts from those targeted by Force users answered some questions, but he couldn’t truly understand what it was like without feeling it. So he would never truly understand.

But judging by Saudaji’s behavior, it was bad.

“But what?” he asked her. “What did she do to you?” He rubbed his wife’s hands between both of his, as though he were warming them up after she had been out in the cold. As he did this, he watched her face and tried to make eye contact with her.

I’m going to make Caethia suffer for what she did to Saudaji. Even though he didn’t know what happened, he knew enough to want to make the Sith pay.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

She let herself melt into Raeth’s hands. He could feel most of the tension leech from her, steam from heated ground. The kisses to her knuckles - she drew her hands from his, only for her own to engulf his to place them on the sides of her face. She would do the same to him, pressing their foreheads together.

“That witch was in my head,” she repeated, impotently angry now. Teeth ground together. “And I couldn’t stop it.” Anger, now, ready to boil over. How had she, how could she, be so weak? No, maybe ‘weak’ wasn’t the word. Unprepared. Completely and utterly unprepared. For all of her training, her skill, her years thrown into the nomadic life, her previous bouts with Force-users, and look at her. Weak as a youngling.

“There was no way to stop it,” tight words between tighter teeth. “She just flipped through my memories like it was a child’s book. Because she could.” Her eyes, which had been tightly closed, flared open. Her breathing was labored, but her eyes were clear, deadly flat with her rage. A face Raeth rarely saw - indeed, it was rare for Saudaji to be this angry. “I didn’t expect it. I didn’t expect any of this. And because of that, I’ve failed,” and the last was a long, soft whine, the final bay of a defeated dog. “I’ve failed you - my people. Everyone.” A sharp intake of breath. She was fighting off tears now, and failing yet again at it, for they spilled over, hot and fat across the bottoms of rapidly swelling eyelids. For as green as her skin was, the irritation of the tears tinted the skin a pale red.

“I don’t know for sure what she saw. I can’t say it wasn’t much because she wasn’t there long. I’ve been Force-Touched before,” the words halting now, as she was struggling to piece together enough Basic, the desire to lapse into Mandalorian for sheer comfort growing overwhelming. So she gave up, and began to speak again, the Mandalorian flowing from her river water over stones. “But this was different. This had spite, pettiness. Because she could, not because she wanted to get closer, for-” Still bittersweet memories there - lacing fingers with Mahoroba, head to head, as he poured himself into her and her into him, until they ceased being two people and became one, and even beyond that, the lines of their bodies, all of what made them them completely dissolving until she was inhaling galaxies and was the smallest grain of sand on a distant beach -

Suddenly, she broke free of Raeth’s grasp, and slapped herself firmly across the cheek. Hard enough for her palm print to register once her hand was gone. Then she did it again. And again. And again, until her cheek began to swell. And when she looked up again, her eyes still were unnaturally bright from unshed tears, but some rationality had returned there. “I can’t break down like this. I can’t be sorry for myself. I have to protect you. I have to protect my home, my family.” Sucked air between her teeth with a smack. “I don’t know what they want. I don’t know what any of this is anymore. I was hired to do a job with you - but it seems that the rules have changed, and I don’t know where the ground is beneath my feet. If she looked through my mind because she could, she has to know something that we don’t.”

She placed her forehead against Raeth’s shoulder, still speaking in Mandalorian, her voice partially muffled by his body. “We’ve been following Prime’s…direction so far, right? Is it possible that they know, those…Sith, and are trying to use us to get to Prime? You’ve been loyal so far. What do they want now, to simply kill us, and start over?”

She looked up to him now, her swollen face looking for answers. “…I just wish I could be pointed somewhere and unleashed. Long plans have never been…my thing.” The shadow of a smile there, shaky, but trying. “That’s why we work so well together.”

 

[BewareTheDream]

Raeth watched Saudaji’s face as best as he could with their foreheads touching. He saw the unshed tears and the pain on her face as clearly as he could hear the anger in her voice. Ever the problem-solver, he began to dig into his knowledge of the Force and formulate plans to block a Force User’s telepathic probing.

There are mental exercises that Sith agents have used to resist telepathic interrogation. They aren’t reliable against Force Users of tremendous talent, like that asshole Caethia, but they might still be worth practicing. I can find those files and show them to Saudaji.

There’s also an old report of some sort of lizard creature that suppressed access to the Force around it. The report was never confirmed, but it could still be worth investigating. The last investigation ended in the Cademimu Sector. I’m sure Saudaji is worried about our village, so we can swing by Mandalore on the way if she wishes. But she would know as well as I do how unwise that is.

Before Raeth could tell Saudaji about any of the ideas rocketing through his mind, she pulled away and began to slap the green cheeks he had been cupping mere seconds before. Seeing her harm herself was shocking; he had never seen act this way before. He was so stunned he could only watch her do it. Before it occurred to him that he should intervene, she stopped herself and pressed her forehead against his shoulder. After a few more seconds of lingering shock, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

When he spoke, he spoke in Mandalorian. Most languages came easily to him, but although he had become fluent in Mandalorian, he still had a hint of an accent he couldn’t quite shake.

“You said so yourself, she didn’t probe your thoughts for long. Sith need lengthy interrogations to glean useful information, even when they’re as powerful as Caethia.” The more he thought about what Caetha did to Saudaji, the more angry he became, but he told himself to remain calm for Saudaji’s sake. He could plot Caethia’s torture, later.

Tenderly, Raeth lifted Saudaji’s chin so he could examine her cheeks. Some red had mixed in with green, but she didn’t do any serious damage. He cupped her cheeks once again and pressed a new kiss to her forehead. “Please don’t do that again, Daji’ka. You hurt me when you hurt yourself.” He stared at her face for several seconds before pulling her head back to his shoulder and just held her.

While Raeth held her, Saudaji asked him what the Sith’s intentions were. Before he could answer, Miss Wellspring contacted them over the ship’s comms. “Master Raeth, the patient is asking for you.”

Raeth responded without letting Saudaji go. “Okay, Miss Wellspring. Tell him we’ll be there soon.”

“Acknowledged,” the medical droid responded, cheerfully. A click told them that the comms were off again.

Raeth made eye contact with Saudaji once more. “I think the Sith are trying to kill us, and Tonny, too. We’ll need to jump around for a while to lose them. And we’ll have to lay low. If you want to stop by Mandalore to check on our people, we can. But it would be safer to contact them from afar using encrypted channels.” Without saying so explicitly, he was telling her that it could be a long time before they could return to Mandalore. And he was checking if she was okay with that.

“Maybe Tonny knows how to contact Prime so he can explain what he expects us to do next. If not, then avoiding the Sith will be our top priority for the time being.

“Are you ready to talk to him? If not, then we can just stand here hugging.” He flashed her that smile that was only for her. “I would love nothing more.”

 

[Apollo Wilde]

In Raeth’s arms, he could feel her slowly relax. Her fingers curled against his chest as she pivoted slightly, to nestle closer. Closing her eyes, she listened to the dull pulse of his heart. “I’m overreacting,” she said at last. “Acting like a youngling. I have to focus. And I knew at the beginning that the darjetii weren’t to be trusted. In that moment, it’s like I forgot absolutely everything that’s happened in my life.” As much as she could, she shook her head in disbelief.

I know what all of this is. I’m scared of losing him. More than anyone else I’ve had in my life. I’d normally be entirely more calm.

That much, she wouldn’t say aloud. But having admitted it, realizing it fully, she let it all out in a long sigh, collapsing further into him, confident that he could be strong enough for the two of them. At least until she got her wits about her.

“…I do what I need to to focus,” a muffled laugh as she pulled away enough to look up into his eyes. Always such a vivid green, shifting with his moods and the fall of the light like the dense canopies of her village. “But I’ll save the hitting for a better time.” Playfully, she slapped his rear, loud enough to be an audible “pop”, but not hard enough to hurt. But as he spoke again, her hands moved to gently grasp his rear, slim fingers digging into the flesh as she pressed him against her. Sexual and not, comforting and desperate - her grip eased until it felt that her hands were a mere ghost across him.

“I don’t want to go to Mandalore. That’ll be the first place that they look. And though my family is brave, strong - I can’t run the risk of exposing them to anything like this. Not on this scale.” A chill ran through her. “…It’s possible that they would attack them to draw us out. They know. They know they have that leverage. If they attack, I’d go for them.” Her jaw tightened, the muscle twitching below the milk jade skin. “So we need some sort of plan. I think as long as we keep moving, if they know, or assume, that we’re after Prime, I think that would keep them on us, and away from Mandalore. That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

She moved her hands away from his rear, running them up his sides to his waist. Squeezed, and then lowered her hands to lace her fingers through his, touching her forehead to his. “I think as long as we have Tonny, and some contact to Prime…we can get to the bottom of this. All of this.”

…If I have to deliver Prime into their hands to keep them from us, to leave us in peace, I’ll do it. Maybe Prime knows that as well.

Looking up into Raeth’s face again, she parted her lips, daring herself to follow through on her thoughts, to voice them to give them weight and and reality. But she didn’t. She gave him a small, wry smile, and finished with:

“I don’t mind talking to him. Although I’m sure that we can’t be too much of a welcome presence for him. We show up on his doorstep, loudly fuck like we’re teenagers, and then the next morning his house gets burned down. Helluva way to introduce ourselves.”

 

[BewareTheDream]

A thrill raced up Raeth’s spine when Saudaji spanked him. “Ah!” Caught completely off guard, he yelped and jumped. And when she dug her fingers in, he couldn’t stop the moan that slipped past his lips, nor the shivers that spread throughout his body. Saudaji could feel him tremble against her. Just like that, she had him at her mercy.

But then her grip eased and she spoke of their people in danger. Like a bucket of cold water dumped onto a fire, the conversation doused his libidinous thoughts. However, Saudaji could still feel her husband’s growing erection against her, for it would take time for his body to catch up to his mind.

“Agreed,” he whispered after they had resumed holding each other, their foreheads touching once more. “We’ll stay on the move instead of going back to the village, and keep the Sith’s attention on us. We can at least warn them, tell them to be on their guard. You can write up the message, then I can encrypt it.”

Saudaji spoke of Tonny and Prime, and then the two stared into each other’s eyes. For a moment, Raeth lost his train of thought. From her wide, brown eyes, his gaze traveled down her pale scar to her full lips, which were parted. She was so beautiful, and he wanted so very much to kiss her—a desire that was ever-present in his heart. It took a moment for him to realize that she was about to say something, so his gaze returned to hers and he waited for her to speak the words that had faltered. Saudaji then made a joke about Tonny, and Raeth smiled, not realizing that she had wanted to say something else.

“I should feel bad that he lost everything right after we arrived. But then again, he’d probably be dead if not for us, so that should even things out. And considering all that’s happened, I suspect what he heard us doing in his guest room is the last thing on his mind.”

No longer able to help himself, he inched his face closer to hers. “You were wonderful that night, by the way.” Finally, he kissed her, and for a moment all his worries disappeared in the softness of her lips and the comfort of her love.

Raeth was trembling again when their kiss ended. He held onto her until the trembling eventually subsided. Licking his lips, he savored the lingering taste of her. Then he gently grasped one of her hands and took a step back before his resolve could fully fail him. “Let’s go see how he’s doing.”

Hand-in-hand, the two exited he cockpit and walk down the corridor to the medbay.

The medbay doors hissed open, and Miss Wellspring was right there, hovering near the entrance. Tonny lay motionless on a cot, clean bandages around his eyes and his breathing even. Wellspring shared Tonny’s diagnosis immediately after Raeth and Saudaji entered.

“The patient will be fine; no permanent damage, and thankfully no glass got into his eyes. I’ve extracted every shard. Give him at least an hour with the bacta-soaked bandages on his face, and all his cuts will be healed. He shouldn’t have any scarring.”

“Thank you, nurse,” Raeth said. “That’ll be all for now.”

“Very well, Master. I’ll be here if you need anything.” The floating droid hovered to the corner where her charging unit was installed. Raeth watched her gradually land onto it and then seemingly shut herself off. It occurred to him that at that moment, Tonny and Miss Wellspring were fundamentally the same — they were both seemingly asleep but actually conscious and listening.

“Hey Frimkin, are you awake?” Raeth asked just to be sure.

“Yes, sir, I am,” Tonny replied without sitting up or even turning his head. “That nurse of yours did a bang-up job. If you’re still listenin’, Miss Wellspring, thank you again.” Tonny sounded nonplussed, especially for a man who had nearly been killed.

“How are you feeling?”

“Whatever is on these bandages is makin’ my face tingly. Itchy, too. It’s an interestin’ sensation—not entirely unpleasant, though a bit worrisome. But Miss Wellspring assured me that the tinglin’ means I’m healin’.”

Raeth didn’t know what to say next. Standing next to a cot with his injured clone brother in it was an alien experience, to say the very least. Thankfully, Tonny spoke again before the silence could become too long and awkward.

“What happened to my home? I couldn’t see nothin’, but I could smell smoke, and through all the commotion I think I could hear a fire.”

Raeth glanced at Saudaji. For a fraction of a second, he considered having her deliver the bad news to Tonny, but he realized that would be a cowardly thing to do. “I won’t sugar-coat it, Frimkin. Your house burned down.”

Tonny swallowed before nodding, solemnly. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

Because of the bandages, Raeth couldn’t see if Tonny was crying or not. But he saw his clone brother’s lower lip quiver. He considered patting Tonny’s shoulder, but that thought was quickly dismissed. That’s when the awkward silence happened.

“As long as you’re with us, you’ll have a place to stay.” Raeth eventually said. He sounded reassuring, which surprised even him. “We have a spare room aboard my ship. Consider it yours.” The Patient Pylat had two individual crew quarters and one room with multiple cots. The room that Raeth referred to used to be Saudaji’s, but she had long since moved her things into the quarters they now shared, so that second individual room had been empty for quite some time.

Tonny swallowed again. Raeth guessed he had to compose himself before he spoke. “I appreciate that. I really do. If it’s all the same to you, I’ll rest here ‘til I can take the bandages off, then I’ll check out that room you’ve so kindly offered.

“Tell me, are we in space right now?”

“Yes,” Raeth replied. Now is as good a time as any to explain what was going on. “You’re on my ship, the Patient Pylat. We’re being chased by a bunch of bad guys known as the Sith, so to elude them, we’ll need to make multiple jumps and then lie low for a while.”

“Jumps?” Tonny asked.

Raeth blinked in surprise for a second, and then it dawned on him that Tonny had never been in space before. Oh, shit, he's a groundling. It had been a long time since Raeth had met a groundling.

“Yeah, hyperspace jumps. We’re traveling through hyperspace right now, and we’ll need to use hyperspace to ‘jump’ between multiple points in order to elude anyone trying to chase us.”

“That’s fascinatin’. So what you’re plannin’ on doin’ is kinda like using animal trails or doubling back on your own tracks to confuse the hounds comin’ after you.”

Raeth was quickly growing tired of this conversation. “Sure, it’s just like that, but in space.”

“Well, then, I’m excited to see hypersace with my own eyes. I spoke with a trader once who said it’s colorful and pretty. Where are we ultimately gonna go? Will it be anything like Tanaab, or entirely different?”

Raeth looked toward Saudaji, wordlessly asking her to save him from this chit chat.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

“Safer not to. And somehow, I think they’ll have an idea of what’s going on.” She wouldn’t need to elaborate further. Saboten always seemed to be a thought away; the information network of Yukaku stretched invisible fingers throughout the whole galaxy. The whisperings of a thousand a thousand men, women, sentient beings in the throws of pleasure kept mouths working. “But I do love that you would think of them. The less they know, the better.” The soft press of her lips to his forehead, before their lips touched. Reassurance passed from one heart to the next.

Her fingers were laced tightly in his, a soft squeeze before they entered the Medbay. Another slip of comfort before she let go, all the easier to move around. And to move away from Miss Wellspring. Even though she herself had been at the healing hands of the droid, it didn’t make her feel any easier around ‘her.’ But as she moved around, she reached out and gently squeezed one of Tonny’s feet. Figured it was the least that she could do, considering how much destruction that they’d wrought on the man.

As Raeth spoke, she moved to the opposite side of the bed. She had a small flash of uncertainty: if she were to suddenly ‘wake up’ and have herself caged in on both sides, it would’ve been a fight. While she initially felt that Tonny posed no particular threat (even as she eyeballed shamelessly), she wanted to be in a position to put him down quickly if things went sideways. A small glance up to Raeth to let him know - if he moves in any way I don’t like, I’m putting him down.

Unspoken vow aside, she picked up the thread of the conversation easily. “We don’t know yet. And we don’t have any particular ideas.” A raise of her eyebrows to Raeth. There was truth there; they hadn’t discussed any particular destinations. And it wasn’t that they could spend the time lounging out on a beach. “Though I suppose to find your… ‘Father’ would probably be best. You said that you communicated with him on occasion - and I’m sure he’s clever enough not to tell you precisely where he is. And if I recall, you said he contacts you first. Is there a way that we can send a message to him?”

 

[BewareTheDream]

With only a look, Saudaji told Raeth that she was ready to put Tonny down if need be, and Raeth received the message loud and clear. In return, Saudaji could tell by her partner’s relaxed stance and demeanor that he did not consider Tonny to be a threat at all.

Tonny barely moved; he really did look the part of helpless patient. His body language suggested he was tense, which wasn’t surprising considering the circumstances. Even though he was blindfolded by bandages, he still turned his head in the direction of Saudaji’s voice to answer her question. “What I told you earlier wasn’t entirely accurate. On the few occasions when Father and I spoke face-to-face, he was the one who initiated contact by sendin’ me a little holo device. However, that wasn’t the only way we communicated.

“You see, he taught me a code and asked me to incorporate the code into the produce ads I post to The Tanaabi Tribune every Benduday. Each ad had a secret, one-world message in it.”

“Sounds archaic and simplistic,” Raeth commented. “But sometimes simple can work just fine. What did Prime do with that one word? Was it just a status update?” He refused to refer to Prime as ‘Father,’ and it still annoyed him whenever he heard Frimkin refer to him as such. But he brushed his annoyance aside so he could focus on this code.

Tonny turned his head toward Raeth. “Yes, that’s it exactly. There was a word that meant ‘I’m fine,’ a word that meant ‘I’ve noticed something suspicious,’ and other things. The way it works is like this…”

Raeth interrupted him. “Stop right there, Frimkin. Don’t tell us how the code works; I want to figure it out for myself. This tribune, is it on the HoloNet or is it a physical paper?”

“Both,” Tonny replied.

“Good. You put out these ads in your own name?”

“Not my name, exactly, but ‘Frimkin Farm.’”

Raeth used his forearm-mounted datapad to search for The Tanaabi Tribune’s netsite and Frimkin’s ad. “Okay, got it. How many ads did you post for Prime?”

“Six in total.”

“That’s enough to establish a pattern.” It only took him a few moments to find the latest produce ad from Frimkin Farm. Feeling excited about having a new puzzle to solve, he quickly gave the ad a once-over before lifting his eyes off the pad to look Saudaji in the face. “We’ll be in hyperspace for another hour and a half. Daji’ka, you’re welcome to join me in breaking this code. If not, then I’ve got some reading material that should be of interest to you.” He was referring to the anti-Force research he had collected as a Sith agent, which he hadn’t yet told her about. If there was a way to shield Saudaji’s mind from future telepathic invasions, they would find it together.

He glanced at Tonny. “Frimkin, you can take it easy. If you need anything, just ask Miss Wellspring. Or if you want to talk to either Saudaji or me, Wellspring can page us.”

Without waiting for a response from his clone brother, Raeth turned around and exited the medbay. His eyes were once again affixed to his datapad. Saudaji was left alone with Tonny. For a few moments, it was silent except for soft beeps from the medical equipment and the incessant hum of hyperspace

Tonny turned his face toward Saudaji. “He’s very driven, isn’t he? And I’m guessin’ you’re very driven, too.” Although his body language was tense, his voice remained as easy as a lazy Benduday.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Her brows lifted, ever so slightly, at Tonny’s admission. So he hadn’t been entirely honest. Resisting the urge to pinch him (at the mildest), she carefully eased her features back into neutral. It could’ve been something that he honestly missed - and given the circumstances in which they showed up, it could’ve been days, perhaps weeks, before they’d gotten all of the truth out of him. Maybe his being stuck in hyperspace with them would loosen his tongue further. For the time being, she decided to let it go.

As he and Raeth talked, her eyes drifted from one man to the other. Part of her thought of how foolish it was; the men were identical. But that wasn’t entirely true. There was a difference in their movements (obviously), and musculature. And that sneaking, nagging feeling behind her eyes that registered Tonny as older. Her attention shifted back to Raeth as their conversation came to a close.

A slow inhale. “…I’ll stay here.” Not that breaking the code or seeing what reading materials he had didn’t hold interest (anything to help give her a leg up) - she wanted, needed, to know more about this man in the bed. Get him used to her presence; daresay comfortable around her. The sooner that it happened, the sooner she could find out more. However, as quickly as Raeth left, her answer didn’t seem to matter. Not that she took offense to it. Instead, she eased her way closer to the bed, shifting to side-saddle on the edge, parallel to his elbow. Surely he’d be able to feel the way that the mattress sagged under her weight, the faint heat from her body, the scent of smoke, plasma, wet earth.

“Something like that.” The soft smack of her pulling her tongue away from the roof of her mouth, vaguely sexual, inviting. A suggestion of possibilities, so faint as to be imagined and easily dismissed. The scent of her eased closer, bringing a wave of body heat. Calloused fingertips adjusting the edge of the bacta bandage across his eyes so that it covered them better. There were faint scratches around his eyes, no traces of dried blood. “So, tell me, Tonnovar - it sounds like you’ve never been in space. Perhaps never left the planet. Where would you want to go?”

For her own edification, certainly - but there hadn’t been a time in her life that she had ever been tethered to any planet’s gravity. She might as well have been born in hyperspace for as much time as it felt she’d spent there between planet hopping. It was morbid curiosity as well; would it be possible, if perhaps he thought hard enough, to find some sort of chip in that polished implanted memory of his? It wouldn’t do to go at it with a hammer. If she’d learned anything from Raeth within the last few cycles, it would be to dig deeper into her patience store. Sometimes things would reveal themselves if she just waited.

“Haven’t you ever wondered about anything outside of the farm?” Soft nudge in her voice there. She couldn’t imagine being…simply content with what was in front of her. Though… “I’m from a place that most beings would consider a literal paradise. Beautiful oceans and jungle. The sea that goes on forever into the horizon, the night sky unclouded by city lights. But it wasn’t enough for me. I had to see what else was out there. Itchy feet, I guess. Maybe if I’d been born there, it would’ve been different, but I wasn’t. And since then, I’ve seen so many different things. Deserts, mountains, forests that are so dense and deep that no one knows what is on the ground. Planets of water, planets of ice.”

Raeth had been “pre-programmed” with a sense of rebellion; exploration at the very least. Talking to Tonny like this now would help her to determine if it was programming or his actual personality - or, and the thought made her grit her teeth - if it was something that Prime possessed and a trait that was so deeply entrenched in the man that it couldn’t be pried out.

 

[BewareTheDream]

It was impossible for Tonny not to notice when Saudaji sat on the cot beside him. Not only did one side of the mattress sink, but it also made a rubbery scrunch that was brief but clear in the mostly quiet medbay. Instinctively, Tonny stiffened when he felt her sit so close. Her backside nearly touched his elbow, so he draped that arm over his abdomen. A second later, he placed his other arm on top of the first in an attempt to look natural.

Saudaji smelled of plasma and violence, neither of which were familiar to Tonny. She also smelled of smoke, which served as another reminder that his boyhood home had just burned down. Despair flared within him, but he fought it. Steadying his breath and squeezing his eyes shut beneath the bandages, he resisted the urge to weep, but his lips quivered enough for Saudaji to notice. He was thankful that the bandage was there to soak up his tears.

He flinched when she adjusted his bandage, but relaxed a second later. Some of the scratches around his eyes were revealed. Unsurprisingly, the bacta had done a fine job of closing the wounds; the moisture also concealed his freshly-shed tears.

Saudaji addressed him by his full first name, and the sound served as a pleasant distraction. He had never heard his name, ‘Tonnover’, spoken in her accent before. She made it sound different, exotic.

She asked him about space travel. Tonny took one more moment to compose himself before answering. “I’ve thought about goin’ into space now and then. But there was always work to do at home. Always somethin’ to fix. Always a sick animal to nurse back to health. Always somethin’ I could not pry myself away from. On the rare occasion when I had some time off, I used it to go fishin’ or to visit my friends in town.” None of this sounded like complaints. On the contrary, he sounded wistful as he spoke of work.

Tonny thought about his staga. He hoped the people who attacked them and burned down his home wouldn’t do anything to his cattle. They had plenty of grazable land and a creek to drink from that wasn’t far from the farm. He hoped they would be fine roaming on their own, or that one of the nearby ranches would find them and take them in.

Saudaji then spoke of her homeworld, which served as another distraction from Tonny’s sad thoughts. He listened attentively to her description of Mandalore and of the other planets she’s seen. They sounded amazing. Her use of the word ‘paradise’ immediately reminded him of someone who was once quite important to him.

“There’s a Togruta who I’ve known for many years. Since we were kids, in fact. But she lives on her homeworld now. I’ve read all about it, plus she’s told me a lot about it, too. It doesn’t have jungles like your world; it’s got grasslands and pine forests instead. I thought about movin’ there. Once. But that was a lifetime ago.

“Naw, I’ve never left Tanaab. Everything I need is there. Just about everybody I know is there, too.”

A troubling thought crossed his mind just then. It was so troubling, it made him sit up abruptly. His bandage would have been flung off if it wasn’t wrapped around his head. “Do you think my friends are in danger? What about my family? My siblings have all moved to other worlds, but could the people who attacked us find them?”

Tonny didn’t blurt these words out in a panic, but he did speak faster than Saudaji had heard him speak before.

“I have to warn them. Please, help me message them.” He swung his legs over the side of the cot and began to climb out.