One Fateful Day

A New Beginning

No More Hiding Myself!

Being Neighborly

Yeah, That Just Happened!

One Life Ends, Another Begins

A New Friend

Twi'leks, Tattoos, and Tequila....Oh My!

All Birds Eventually Leave the Nest

I Hate This Planet Already

I'd Rather Make Out With A Wookiee!

Temper, Temper, My Dear

This Is No Island Getaway

Well That Really Sucks!

Girl Talk

Love and Hate

You Want Me To Do What?!

Who Can You Really Trust?

We Make A Great Team!

A Role Reversal

They're Not Our Boyfriends!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

Welcome To Coruscant

The Chase Is On!

A Lot Can Happen in a Day

Never A Dull Moment

The Start of An Interesting Friendship

I Told You Not to Eat That!

Friends Shouldn't Let Friends.....

Uh....Good Morning?!

The Morning After Can Be Rough Indeed!

My Sweet Serendipity

Striking the First Blow

The Hunt Begins

There's Nothing Easy About Taris.....

Welcome to Taris.....Nothing to See Here

Please Don't Feed the Animals

Surviving Taris

Uncharted Territory

Worth the Risk

That's Not Funny!/The Scenic Route/Once Bitten....

What's Gotten Into You?!

Some People Just Need to Die

Okay....Out with It!

A Chaotic Symphony

Satisfying My Curiosity

Finders Keepers

A Man Down

It was quiet on the Rydel family farm. A small figure was approaching the house under the cover of darkness. Sixteen year old Belladonya was sneaking in in the middle of the night, having been out with Jackson, a smuggler she was sure she was in love with. Jackson was new to the area, but his rugged good looks and exciting, adventurous tales quickly got vivacious teenager’s attention. Bella was a little surprised when he started paying attention to her. She was a beautiful young woman, but Jackson was a bit older and way more experienced.

Despite the age difference, they were soon spending a lot of time together, or at least as much as they could without her parents finding out. Bella felt a little guilty for all the sneaking around, but she knew her parents wouldn’t like Jackson because of his profession and would insist he was too old for her to be going out with. Most of their time together was spent on his freighter, in cantinas, or just walking in the beautiful parks around town.

Bella was climbing into the window of her room when she heard a harsh whisper, “It’s about time you got home!” It was from her sister, Mallayse, who shared the bedroom with her. Bella heard a click and one of their lamps came on.

“Relax, Mallay, what’s the big deal?” Bella asked quietly.

“The big deal is that one of these days, Mom and Dad are going to catch you sneaking out and I’m going to get into trouble right along with you,” Mallay hissed, trying to keep her voice quiet despite her annoyance at her sister, but she absolutely hated getting into trouble! “Dad had to go out on patrols tonight and you’re lucky that he was in such a hurry that he didn’t come to check in on us.”

“Oh Mallay, it would be worth getting caught. I’m soooo in love with Jackson!” Bella told her sister with a dramatic sigh. “I think he may be the one!”

Mallay rolled her deep blue eyes at this. Her oldest sister was known to be a little ‘boy crazy’ as their Mother liked to put it. “Didn’t you say that about Tegan Wynn last summer? At least Mom and Dad would have approved of him.”

“Yeah, well, Tegan was different…Jackson is so much more mature than the boys our age. Besides, I never wanted to give up my virginity to Tegan, “Bella started, “However, with Jackson….”

Mallay choked, “You didn’t?!!”

“I did,” Bella laughed.

Mallay forgot her annoyance and replaced it with both curiosity and worry. “What was it like? I don’t think I’ll ever want a boy enough to……you know….”

“Well, he’s a man, not a boy, and that makes a huge difference. Sure, it hurt the first time, but it was fun after that and let me tell you, he was very thorough!” Bella laughed, “Someday, sister dear, you’ll want to give it up to a man, too. Then you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Mallay wasn’t so sure about that. While she was starting to notice boys, and have thoughts of kissing and boyfriends, she was extremely shy around them and very self-conscious about her body. Unlike her, beautiful, well developed sister, Mallay was very thin and had only recently started to develop a more womanly figure. Unfortunately, like the rest of her frame, her breasts were shaping up to be on the small side, too. Bella and Mallay were similar in height, with the same deep auburn hair and light skin tone as their father, but that was it. Bella was slender, but already had voluptuous curves that attracted a lot of male attention. Mallay wished she would develop like that, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen.

“I don’t know Bella,” she sighed sadly, “I don’t think I’m going to be the type that boys are going to fall over themselves to be with.”

“Nonsense Mallay, you’re cute in that pixyish sort of way, a little thin perhaps, but you’re starting to develop a figure……just gotta give it time. You also need to learn to dress a little better……..make use of what you got!” Bella assured her, amusement showing in her dark green eyes, “Besides, tomorrow’s your fifteenth birthday, maybe you can wish for some breasts!” Bella laughed as she was hit with a pillow.

“Goodnight Mallay, love you!” Bella whispered, yawning as she tossed Mallay’s pillow back to her.

“Love you too, sis, ‘night,” Mallay whispered back, turning off the light.

The next morning, Bella and Mallay bounded down the stairs to see their mother and sisters waiting. There was a cake and presents on the counter, breakfast was on the table, and the ten year old twins, Allissya and Roslynd were already eating. Four year old Kitannya, who loved birthdays, was clapping excitedly at Mallay.

“I’m a little surprised you slept so late on your birthday, Mallay,” their mother shook her head in amusement before sobering a little, “I’m sorry, but it looks like your father’s going to be late getting home. We can have breakfast and wait for him for the rest. As soon as he gets home, we’ll do cake and presents, then I’m sure he’s going to head to bed for some much needed sleep. We’ll have a picnic the park this afternoon while he sleeps.”

Shortly after breakfast and several shouts of “Happy Birthday!” to Mallay, it was time for Kit’s nap and Mom took the tot to her room. Lissa and Ros were watching kids shows on the HoloNet , singing and dancing during the songs. The twins weren’t identical, but close and would both be beautiful young women someday. They had white-blonde hair and tanned skin like their mother, with the most striking silver eyes. Ros was a little bigger than Lissa and likely would have a similar build to Bella and their mother whereas Lissa was going to be more slender like Mallay.

Mallay and Bella were chatting about boys and clothes, especially things Mallay could wear to enhance her tiny figure when Bella got a Holo call from Jackson. He was ready for her to meet him and bring him to meet her family. They’d discussed bringing him to meet her family last night, but Bella was a little surprised he wanted to so soon. Mallay had met him already, during one of their walks in the park, but she’d been sworn to secrecy. Bella asked her mom if that was okay for her to meet a friend real quick and their distracted mother gave permission. Bella hurried off before her mom could change her mind, anxious for her family to finally meet the love of her life.

Sidra was starting to get a little worried that Jonah still wasn’t home from patrols yet, but tried to keep her anxiety from the girls. They had a small farm, but Jonah also volunteered with the local law enforcement. There’d been a few issues lately with pirates and the wildlife so the security team asked for volunteers to patrol during the night. Jonah volunteered since his military background was a big asset and so far, there hadn’t been much trouble. The wildlife was starting to move on and the pirates were inexperienced and easy to take care of. Still, it’s not like Jonah to be late, especially when it involves any kind of event related to the kids, Sidra mused as she looked out the window, he probably got wrapped up in talking about his old military days again and will likely get here soon.

Bella had been gone a short time and Sidra was watching for both Jonah and Bella now, her deep blue eyes shining with worry. She wasn’t too happy about this ‘friend’ Bella was meeting and was well aware that her oldest daughter had been sneaking out to see him. She hoped Jonah would get here soon so they could have a talk with Bella and this Jackson guy together. Sidra didn’t know much about him other than what folks around town had said, but she felt he was much too old for their daughter and didn’t think Bella was mature enough for a serious relationship. She’d had married Jonah young and he was older than her nineteen years at the time, but Sidra was always more serious minded, much like Mallay, and Jonah was a good, hardworking man. He didn’t hesitate to retire from the military when they found out they were pregnant with Bella and they moved to his small farm where they’d been happy for the most part since. While they loved their five daughters completely, Sidra was a little sad that she hadn’t given Jonah a son, but he’d always reassured her that he was happy to be surrounded by so many beautiful girls. She smiled weakly as she patted her still flat stomach, maybe this time we’ll have a boy. They had yet to tell the girls about the pregnancy, having only found out a few days ago.

Lissa and Ros were still singing and dancing to their cartoons and Mallay was coming back downstairs from checking in on Kit when they heard shots fired outside. Sidra grabbed a small pistol from the drawer and rushed outside to investigate, telling Mallay to watch over her sisters. Mallay, Lissa, and Ros raced to the window in time to see their mother running toward two soldiers, the gun secured behind her back. As the soldiers got closer, Mallay noticed two things, they were dragging someone with them and they were wearing Imperial armor. A noise in the back of the house startled her causing her to knock over the glass vase on the stand next to the window.

Outside, Sidra ran to the soldiers, quickly noticing their uniforms. She saw that they’d killed one of the farmhands and were dragging someone between them. A chill ran down her spine as she got closer and realized the figure the Imperials were dragging was her husband.

“Now maybe you’ll start talking,” One of the soldiers said to Jonah, who was barely able to stand, “Otherwise, your lovely family will pay the price.”

“Don’t know what…talking about,” Jonah grunted and was rewarded with a rifle stock to the ribs.

“Dad!” Bella screamed, having just arrived with Jackson. “What’s happening here? Mom?” Bella’s frightened gaze darted between her parents. Her dad looked like he’d been tortured and her mom was definitely scared. Then one of the soldiers nodded in her direction and a second later, Bella felt a blaster barrel touch her temple.

“Now, Agent Rydel, maybe you’ll start knowing exactly what we’re talking about because if you don’t, then you can watch your pretty little girl here die!” Jackson sneered. Only it wasn’t Jackson’s voice as Bella knew it…..the smooth talking cadence that whispered such tender endearments in her ear as they made love last night. No, it was a colder version of her sweet Jackson with a heavy Imperial accent.

“Jackson?” Bella cried, her voice wobbly with her confusion and disbelief, tears forming as the shock and horror of what was happening hit her, “Why?”

“Let me guess, you had fantasies of happily ever after. Well, sorry to disappoint, my dear, but that isn’t going to happen. I needed information about your family and to know your father’s routines. Thanks to you, I got what I needed,” he sneered at her, turning her to face him. “Shagging you was a bonus for me. After all, you are beautiful and as it turns out, very passionate and adventurous in the sack. I was actually hoping to **** you again, but plans got stepped up.”

Rage welled up in Bella and she could hear her mother crying softly, how could he use me like that?! She was crying openly now, angry at Jackson for duping her so badly, angry at herself for falling for him, scared of what would happen to all of them, and ashamed that it was all her fault.

“Awww, don’t cry sweetheart,” Jackson chuckled coldly in her ear, “It was nothing personal, just my job and you were fantastic last night. Definitely one of my more pleasurable assignments.”

Bella glared at him through her tears, noticing that he’d relaxed his grip on the blaster. Her rage boiled over and before any of them realized what was happening, she grabbed the vibroknife from Jackson’s belt and sank deep in his gut, spilling blood everywhere.

Things quickly came to a head as Jackson collapsed to the ground. The soldiers let go of Jonah and brought their rifles up, Sidra grabbed her pistol and started firing at the soldiers. Jonah made a grab for one of the soldiers’ weapons but was shot in the process. Bella grabbed the pistol Jackson dropped after she stabbed him and started shooting at the soldiers with her mother. In just moments, the soldiers were dead. Sidra rushed over to her husband and Bella walked over to Jackson. She looked down at him as he lay there, blood staining the ground around him. She had never hated anyone as much as she hated him at that moment, but she was strangely calm. Jackson was going to die and Bella stood there, eagerly watching his shaking body as it slowly bled out. His painful grunts got to her after a few minutes however and Bella charged the blaster, pointing it at his face.

“Hey, it’s nothing personal,” Bella sneered with a cold smile as she looked down the barrel at the traitorous man she’d so willingly given the last vestige of her innocence to last night, “I just want to make sure you’re really dead.” With that, she spent the charge, firing several shots at point blank range into his head, his face no longer recognizable when she was finished.

Her mother’s sobbing reached her ears and Bella rushed over to where her father had fallen. Her mother was clutching his hand, tears flowing freely with the knowledge that her husband was about to leave them all forever. Jonah looked at his wife and oldest daughter and whispered, “I love you all so much and I’m so very sorry to have brought this on us. Bella, none of this is your fault, always remember that. The blame is mine and mine alone.” Then Jonah Rydel closed his eyes and took his last breath.

Sidra rested her head on his chest and sobbed for the loss of her beloved husband. Bella knelt next to her parents, leaning over to kiss her father’s cheek and whispered repeatedly as tears fell how sorry she was. Finally, she called out for her sisters who were still in the house.

Mallay turned sharply at the noise coming from the back of the house, immediately looking around for a weapon. She heard shouts outside, but was afraid to turn her back to whoever was inside the house and a moment later, two Imperial soldiers appeared in the doorway from the kitchen. Mallay positioned herself in front of Lissa and Ros, shielding them as best she could with her small frame as the soldiers slowly approached.

“No need to be scared little girls,” one of the soldiers said, keeping his tone soft and calm, “We won’t hurt you.”

Mallay was small for her age, so the soldiers probably thought she was only a year or two older than the twins. That was to her advantage since they obviously thought they were dealing with three scared children. They were scared, but Mallay had always been intelligent and quick to think on her feet. Also, despite her small size, she was strong and very athletic. Her father always told her that she might make a good soldier someday. Think Mallay, you need to keep your sisters safe, what can you do to make that happen. She felt Ros press a small object into her hand, a shard from the broken vase, and something clicked inside of her, she had a weapon. Feeling more confident, she assessed their surroundings, careful not to let her face show anything other than a scared child as her mind frantically worked to find a solution that would get them all out safely. Ok Mallay, use the shard, distract them, take one out if you can. That should be enough for Ros and Lissa to get outside. That will just leave you…and Kit! Oh, no….Kit’s upstairs! You have to take them both out in order to save Kit. Unfortunately, the bedrooms were all upstairs and Mallay fervently hoped the soldiers didn’t know about her yet. She needed more than a quick distraction, she needed them out of commission long enough to get upstairs, grab Kit, and get them both out of the house. Think Mallay……weaknesses, what are their weaknesses? Both soldiers had their weapons holstered, they were wearing armor, but no helms, a weakness for her glass shard. If she was fast enough, she might be able to take one out before they had time to draw their weapons.

One of the solders crouched down, trying to appear soothing. “Why don’t you come with us so no one gets hurt,” he said soothingly.

Right, Mallay thought, he isn’t fooling me, I heard the shouts and shots outside. Mallay could feel the adrenaline pumping through her. Okay Mallay, she told herself, knowing what she had to do, It’s now or never! Mallay approached the crouching soldier, gripping the shard in her hand, hiding it as best as she could.

“That’s a good little girl,” he sneered, reaching out, “What do you have there?”

As he reached out for her, she swiped the shard across his throat, slicing it open, then grabbed for his blaster. His partner was too fast though and snatched Mallay up to him before she could get the weapon.

“Oh, that was a bad little girl….oh, maybe not such a little girl after all,” he laughed as he felt her developing chest. “You might provide some fun for us later! Maybe I’ll take a turn now and your little sisters can watch. I don’t mind younger girls at all.”

Mallay struggled as he started ripping at her shirt, fighting harder when she felt rough hands on her breasts, squeezing hard. She turned to the twins, standing frozen with fright and shock by the window, and shouted, “Run! Get Kit and get out of here!”

“I don’t think so,” the soldier barked, clutching Mallay closer to him, one strong arm wrapped around her waist while the other held a blaster to her head, “Either of you move and I spray her brains all over this lovely wall……now where were we, my bad little girl? That’s it, keep struggling, I like it.”

Mallay felt bile rising to her throat as she felt the physical evidence of his intentions. Don’t cry out, Mallay told herself, not wanting to give the sick man the satisfaction of breaking her in front of the twins, Close your eyes, think of something else……don’t feel. Mallay bit back her disgust as he continued groping at her, pretend it’s a nightmare……don’t let yourself feel……shut your body off……don’t make a sound. It took every ounce of strength not to scream he bared her from the waist down and she braced herself for what was sure to come next as she heard him unzip his pants.

All the sudden he was thrown to the wall by an invisible force that knocked her over as well. As he started to get up, Mallay saw a tiny figurine go hurling through the air to strike him back down. Mallay quickly stood, pulling her pants up as she did so, and looked over at the twins, who were both crying.

“I know we are not supposed to do that, but he was hurting you,” Ros cried and Lissa nodded, tears in her big silver eyes.

“It’s ok,” Mallay reassured them as she tried to cover herself with her torn shirt, “They’re bad men, you can use the force on them. You did a good thing.”

Mallay assessed the room, thanking the stars no shots had been fired, hoping their fight hadn’t drawn any attention. The soldier the twins had dealt with was unconscious and the other was lying in a pool of blood, dead from the wound Mallay had given him. She could hear Bella hollering for them and grabbed the rifle the solder dropped when he was thrown.

“You guys go to Bella, she wouldn’t yell for us if it wasn’t safe,” Mallay told the twins. “I’ll go upstairs and get Kit.”

Mallay hurried up the stairs to Kit’s room, alarmed at the empty bed until she found the tot hiding under her it, tears in those big blue eyes. “It’s ok sweetie,” Mallay soothed, “We’ll be ok, I promise, but we have to get out of here right now.”

Mallay took Kit’s hand and led her baby sister down the stairs. They were heading to the front door when she heard the unconscious soldier coming to. She pointed the rifle at him, more than ready to kill the disgusting man that tried to rape her. He looked at her and laughed just before uttering a single, horrifying word, “Boom!”

It was then Mallay noticed the small remote clutched in his hand. She picked Kit up and ran as hard as she could out the door, only getting a few steps away when the house exploded. The force of the blast knocked her down and she covered Kit, shielded her as best she could while stinging bits of hot shrapnel cut into her. She screamed as she felt the searing agony of the flesh on her back and left side of her face burning. Another explosion went off and a sharp pain cut into the burnt side of her face as a large piece of shrapnel embedded itself near her eye. I’m going to die, was her last thought as the welcoming blackness came.

Mallay came to moments later, her ears ringing as thick, black smoke swirled around. She felt a warm trickle of blood running down the side of her face and wasn’t able to see out of her left eye. Kit began wiggling under her so Mallay tried to get up, screaming as pain ripped through her with the slightest movement. After an agonizing few seconds, Kit finally crawled out from her and Mallay vomited, then lie still, nearly blacking out again. The next thing she knew, Bella and her mother were helping her up, both of them softly crying. They steered her away from the burning house, trying to be careful but needing to hurry, finally getting her over to where the twins sat with Kit, the three of them huddled together with silent tears streaming down their faces.

“Is Kit ok?” she whispered, hoarsely.

“Yes, she’s fine thanks to you,” her mother assured her as she gently helped her wounded daughter sit down. “You saved her life. She has a few cuts, but minor.”

Mallay looked at a pale Bella, “How bad is it?” she asked, knowing her sister wouldn’t keep anything from her and needing to keep talking so she wouldn’t black out again. She was careful to sit as still as possible to keep as much of the burning pain at bay as possible.

“Oh, Mallay, it’s bad,” Bella admitted, her voice shaky as she wiped the tears from her eyes, “You have burns and shrapnel all over your back and the side of your face. Stay strong, sis, we’ll get you help. You’re going to be ok, I promise you.”

“I thought I heard Dad,” Mallay started.

“They killed him,” Bella interrupted, bowing her head, “He died holding Mom’s hand. He said he was sorry and that he loved us very much.”

“And Jackson?”

“I think he was an Imperial Agent……he’s dead now,” Bella said flatly. She looked over at her injured sister and admitted, “He used me, Mallay. I fell in love with him and he was just using me all along! He was after something the Imperials thought Dad had.”

“Not your fault, Bella,” Mallay whispered, gasping as a fresh wave of pain hit her, “How could you possibly have known?”

“Girls, we need to get out of here before more soldiers show up. I’m assuming that plan A was to get the info your father had, but if that wasn’t possible, plan B was to destroy it and all of us,” Sidra told her children, then turned to her oldest, “Bella, you come with me, the rest of you girls stay here. I need to grab some things from the tool shed.”

Ros and Lissa sat on either side of Mallay, trying to support her small frame and keep her still. Kit sat on the ground at Mallay’s feet, the frightened tot trusting that her big sister would keep her safe. Mallay focused on breathing, the simple task made a lot more challenging as her pain intensified. Finally after several minutes, Sidra and Bella came back on speeders with a large travel case and a datapad.

“This is what they were looking for,” Sidra told their daughters, patting the case, “There’s no time for me to fill you in, but your father was prepared for something like this and made sure I was as well. Now we just need to secure transport off planet before the Imps realize things didn’t go as they planned. That won’t be an easy task with Mallay so wounded.”

“Mom, I have an idea,” Bella offered and went on to explain that she’d piloted Jackson’s ship a little and since he was dead, it was theirs for the taking. The ship was at a launch pad not far from the farm and they wouldn’t need to be seen by many people, just the crew taking care of Jackson’s freighter.

“That’s a good idea, Bella, and might be our best bet. I may not have liked you seeing that scum, but at least you learned to fly and that knowledge is going to save us,” Sidra admitted, hugging her daughter. “Bella, give your cloak to Mallay, we’ll need to cover her up so we don’t draw any attention.” She turned to Mallay, tears filling her eyes they took in the damage done to her, “We can just say that we’re keeping you blinded because it’s a birthday surprise. Will you be able to walk when we get to the launch pad if you have help?”

Mallay nodded, not wanting to speak and risk giving voice to the agony she was in, so Sidra and Bella helped her put the cloak on and get into one of the speeders. Sidra climbed into the speeder with Mallay and Bella tucked Kit between them then climbed into the other speeder with the twins and they set off for the launch pad.

When they arrived, there were very few people around. A stroke of luck, Sidra thought, silently praying to the force that they’d make it to the ship without being stopped. She helped Mallay get out of the speeder and the group casually walked toward the ship as if they belonged there, Sidra holding Kit, and Lissa’s hand, Bella and Ros supporting Mallay whose face was hidden under the hood of Bella’s cloak.

They made it to the ramp without incident and were getting ready to board when an attendant stopped them. Bella smiled radiantly at him and poured on the charm, explaining that they were taking her sister flying for her birthday and that Jackson should be along shortly. She slipped him a cred stick for good measure and asked if he could have the area ready for launch since they’d like to take off as soon as Jackson arrived. The attendant, having seen the lovely young woman with the freighter’s owner a few times, thought nothing of it and completely enthralled by Bella’s smile, he pocked the cred stick and promised that they’d be ready for launch momentarily.

They boarded the ship and Bella immediately made for the cockpit. The C2 unit followed closely, begging them not to damage anything because the master would punish him horribly. Bella told the protocol droid that Jackson was dead and she was the new master of the freighter. She assured the droid that she wasn’t going to punish him then asked for his assistance in getting the ship ready for launch. Ros and Sidra took Mallay to the med bay and got her laying on her stomach on the bed.

By then, Mallay’s pain was so intense that she vomited again, whimpering as waves and waves of searing agony washed over her. A teary Sidra fought to remain calm and assured her daughter they’d get her into the kolto tank as soon as they were in hyperspace. Bella came in and told them it was time to take off and she and her mom headed into the cockpit while Lissa, Ros, and Kit went to the rec area. Lady luck seemed to be on their side because Bella managed, with help from the droid and Sidra, to get them launched and off the planet without being stopped.

“Set course for Coruscant,” Sidra told her daughter, “That’s where Jonah told me to take his things if something happened. When we arrive, we have to contact an Agent James O’Ryan.”

“I hope you plan to tell us what’s going on at some point,” Bella snapped at her mother, the stress beginning to get to her, “I know that I’m to blame for letting Jackson into our lives, but he targeted me for a reason.”

“I promise, I’ll tell you the whole story…….you and Mallay. I don’t think the twins and Kit need to know everything until they’re a little older,” Sidra sighed, “For now, we need to focus on getting to Coruscant and Mallay needs serious medical attention.”

“I’m sorry Mom, I didn’t mean to lash out. We’re all in shock and worried about Mallay,” Bella admitted as she complied, setting the course.

As soon as she got the ship in hyperspace, Bella set some cartoons on the HoloVid for the kids in the rec room and she and Sidra went to the med bay to see what they could do for Mallay. They entered the room, shocked at what awaited them there.

Mallay’s condition had grown exponentially worse. She’d finally succumbed to the pain and was unconscious. Her tiny frame was lying in her own fluids, the angry burns raw and beginning to ooze. Bella stood in the doorway, frozen with fear for her sister, who was also her best friend, and guilt that she was partly to blame. Sidra had a little medical training, but since she left school when she married Jonah, it wasn’t much. Thankfully, there was a kolto tank on the ship because Mallay was going to need it to survive long enough to get her to a proper medic. Sidra pushed aside her emotions as she approached her wounded daughter and instructed the C2 unit to start getting the tank ready.

“Go see if you can find something to keep her sedated,” Sidra told Bella as she looked her daughter’s prone figure over, “Removing her clothing alone is going to be painful for her, not to mention tending to her.”

Sidra found some scissors and began carefully cutting away the tattered remains of Mallay’s shirt, fully exposing her back. She stopped when Mallay’s body began to shake, waiting for a sedative to continue. A moment later, Bella’s search was fruitful and Sidra injected Mallay. They gave the sedative a few minutes to take effect, then Sidra continued cutting away Mallay’s clothing, taking care when peeling it away from the damaged skin it was stuck to, calling out to Bella what supplies they needed. A little while later, Mallay was stripped to her underwear and they got their first good look at the damage.

The left side of Mallay’s back and face were burned badly and there was shrapnel embedded in as well. The worst was a large piece next to her left eye, and Sidra decided to assess that situation after they took care of her back and rolled her over. They dug out the shrapnel carefully, cleaning the burnt flesh of her back and shoulder as they went. Once Sidra was satisfied Mallay’s back was clean and clear, her and Bella carefully rolled her over so they could check the front of her for any wounds and deal with the shrapnel embedded near her eye. Bella pulled off the clothing that Mallay had been lying on and they spotted bruises and scratches on her breasts.

“Mom?”

“My baby,” Sidra seethed, having a good idea what those marks meant, “Those bastards tried to rape her! My fifteen year old girl!”

“Did they…..” Bella couldn’t finish the sentence, feeling sick at the thought of what happened inside the house while they were dealing with everything outside.

Once again, Sidra tramped down her emotions and checked her daughter for the telltale signs, “No……she’s still untouched, but someone tried. See those bruises on her breasts? Look carefully, they’re the size of fingerprints, and the scratches…..someone was handling her roughly.”

“That explains why her shirt was so torn up,” Bella nodded, relieved Mallay hadn’t been raped, and angry at those who tried, “The rest of her clothing had holes, but wasn’t ripped.”

Sidra finished scanning Mallay, then her and Bella cleaned her off before treating her face. Sidra studied the shrapnel carefully, but was afraid to remove it, finally choosing to leave it in until they could get her to a real medic. It had taken them 2 hours, but they’d done everything they could for Mallay. The C2 unit had the tank ready by then so Bella and Sidra prepared Mallay for it, fitting a breathing mask over her eyes, nose and mouth, taking care not to bump the shrapnel. Bella affixed an earpiece on her right ear in case Mallay woke up so they’d be able to talk to her, then her and her mother lifted Mallay off the table and with great effort, managed to get her into the tank. Sidra kissed her daughter and she and Bella lowered her in, then C2 sealed it. Bella left the medbay to check on the twins while Sidra watched over her daughter’s floating body, Stars, I hope we have done enough because I can’t think of anything else we can do for her.

While in hyperspace to Coruscant, Sidra talked to Bella while they sat in the med bay keeping an eye on Mallay, explaining everything that she knew. She knew Jonah had been in the military since he was still active when they met, but she’d only recently found out that he was former SIS. Sidra was only 19 at the time, but fell hard for the handsome, kindly soldier while he was stationed on her home planet, Dantooine. After only a few months, he proposed and they married. She became pregnant with Bella soon after so Jonah retired from the military and they moved to Telos where he had a small farm. A few months ago, Jonah made a trip to Nar Shaddaa, supposedly going to a memorial service for a former squad mate. In reality, he’d been called on for an assignment for the SIS. It involved a contact he’d worked with years ago that refused to work with anyone else. Sidra didn’t know any details of the mission since it was classified, but apparently things went wrong and the contact was killed. Jonah got some sort of information, but was unable to take it to SIS, so he kept up the pretense that he was going to a service and returned home with the information. He made contact with the SIS and hid everything in a secret underground compartment of the tool shed. That’s when he confided in her, telling her about his time in the SIS and warning her that there could be trouble ahead. He showed her the case hidden in the tool shed and gave her instructions in case something happened to him. Wanting no more surprises for them, she also told Bella that she and Jonah found out a few days ago that she was expecting their sixth child.

After their talk, Bella and the twins took a tour of the ship while Sidra stayed in the med bay, watching over Mallay, and Kit napped on the bed in the Captain’s room. Bella had instructed the C2 unit to work on cleaning up the ship, starting with the sleeping areas. Apparently, Jackson wasn’t a very clean person….one of the many things that love had blinded me to, she thought, feeling the shame and remorse coming back to the surface.

However, as soon as they reached the cargo hold, Bella had something to distract her from those emotions. Much to her surprise, she found several crates in the hold. Bella hadn’t expected to find any real cargo since the smuggler persona was just a cover. She opened the nearest crate and saw that it was spice. Leery of that shady trade, Bella worried about what to do with it once they reached Coruscant. She grabbed the manifest clipped to the lid and from what she read on it, the spice was going to an Imperial lab and used to manufacture painkillers. A relieved Bella figured the Republic might be interested in it for the same purpose and decided to look into that once they landed. They had some money, since their father had made that secret account, but more wouldn’t hurt, especially considering that Mallay was going to need serious medical attention.

By the time they reached Coruscant, Mallay’s vitals were at dangerous levels and she wouldn’t survive much longer without a real medic. Worse still, they were out of sedatives, so she was in and out of consciousness for the last hour of the trip. They tried to reassure her as best they could over the earbud Bella put on her, but she was delirious with pain. Sidra contacted Agent O’Ryan and told her he’d meet her at the spaceport. After hearing about Mallay’s injuries, he promised to bring a medic with him. She went back in to sit with Mallay, her small frame thrashing inside the tank. A teary Sidra sang to her daughter, calming lullabies she sang to them when they were little and had a nightmare.

Alarms began sounding off as Agent O’Ryan and medic arrived. The medic introduced himself as Sergeant Yung and rushed over to the kolto tank to assess her condition.

“She’s dying,” he told Sidra when he finished looking Mallay over, “We need to get her out of the tank and change the kolto immediately. O’Ryan, can you help them start draining the tank? I’m going to call a couple of friends to come and help.” The agent nodded and went over to help Sidra start the process while Yung made his call. Once he was off the Holo, he and Agent O’Ryan pulled Mallay out of the tank.

“Those burns are becoming infected, and your daughter’s body temperature is dangerously high. I’m injecting her with an antibiotic and sedative now,” Yung informed Sidra as he disinfected a spot on Mallay’s arm and stuck her with an injector, “Once the sedative takes effect, I’ll start running scans on her. I want my friend to look at that shrapnel next to her eye before we remove it.” He then ran scans and looked over her back where the burns were, finding a few more pieces of shrapnel that needed to come out. When he finished removing those last bits on her back, he put a thick layer of kolto gel and a pad over it. With the agent’s help, they turned her over so he could work on her face as soon as his friend arrived. Moments later, Mirialan and a Twi’lek showed up carrying a large case between them.

“I’m Sergeant Velo and this is Master Ny’laan,” the Mirialan told Sidra before turning to Yung to confer.

After a few minutes, they turned back to Sidra and Velo spoke again, “The case we brought has supplies we need to repair her face. That long piece of shrapnel embedded near her eye damaged some facial nerves as well as the optic nerve, so right now she’s blind in her left eye. She’ll need a cybernetic implant, but luckily the eye itself is intact so we can save it and she won’t need a cybernetic patch. The implant will curve around her left eye from mid forehead to temple.” Sidra nodded and they got started.

“I’m a healer,” Master Ny’laan said. “I can to use the force to heal her as best I can while they are working if that's alright."

Sidra nodded, tears falling and the Jedi was surrounded with a bright golden aura as he began to heal Mallay. The medics continued to work on her implant, undisturbed by the force healing. Bella came in and out, checking in on the twins and Kit every so often. Sidra didn’t want them in the med bay in case Mallay didn’t make it. Once Mallay was out of the woods, Bella stayed to watch over her while Sidra stepped out to speak with Agent O’Ryan.

After a couple of hours, they'd done everything they could and Mallay was back in the tank, sedated. She'd have the cybernetic implant as well as burn scars on the left side of her face and back, but she was alive and that's all that mattered to her family. She'd need to spend a few days in the tank and would require a lot of therapy after. The medics made sure the ship had everything they would need for her and left Sidra with instructions.

Bella took Yung and Velo to the cargo hold and showed them the spice crates. After seeing the documents Bella found, they confirmed that it could be used to manufacture pain meds and agreed to buy it from her. She only took half of what they offered, saying the other half was payment for everything they did for her sister.

Master Ny’laan refused payment, but asked to talk to Sidra before he left. Sidra knew before he asked that Master Ny’laan sensed the force sensitivity in Lissa and Ros.

“I don’t want to have them taken away from me, especially after everything that has happened,” Sidra admitted, tears in her eyes. “Jonah and I talked about this when we started seeing them using the force a year ago. We just didn’t want our children taken away from us. I suppose that's selfish, but…”

Master Ny’laan interrupted, wanting to ease her mind, and quickly assured her that didn’t necessarily have to happen, “Where are you going after this?”

“My family is originally from Dantooine, so I'm taking the girls to the small farm I was left by an aunt,” Sidra explained. “We'll live there.”

“We have a small group of our Order stationed on Dantooine. The girls could probably study there when you get your family settled,” He informed her, “However, they will need to go to on to Coruscant or possibly Tython at some point when they're more advanced, but that's several years ahead.”

Sidra was relieved to what was a perfect solution and took the contact information for the Jedi Temple on Dantooine. Master Ny’laan and the medics left then, after getting many thanks from Sidra and Bella.

Agent O’Ryan told the others to go on without him and turned to Sidra,“Your husband was a good man and I feel bad for everything that's happened. I wish the SIS hadn’t involved him in this mission.”

“No one forced him, Agent," Sidra assured him, tears in her eyes once again, "Jonah wanted to help.....he could've said no."

Agent O'Ryan assured her that he'd looked the ship over to make sure there wasn’t anything that could endanger the family and said the ship was theirs to use or sell as they saw fit. He also recommended that they change their family name, just as a precaution. Sidra agreed and told him that was one of the things she and Jonah discussed when he came clean about everything. They decided that she and the kids would go back to her maiden name of Lauren and that's the name he used on the account he'd set up. Before leaving, Agent O’Ryan gave Sidra his contact info in case there was anything she needed and asked that she contact him when they reached their home on Dantooine.

After Agent O’Ryan left, Sidra and Bella went to the rec room where the twins and Kit were watching cartoons. Sidra turned the HoloNet off and addressed her children.

"I know we've all been through a lot and it will take us a long time to work through it. One positive thing we can look forward to is a new baby. I'm pregnant and will be giving you a brother or sister in just a few months. Your father loved us all very much, but also loved the Republic. He made the choice to serve the Republic one last time. While he's no longer with us, his spirit lives on in all of you and in his unborn child. I know he would be very proud of all of you today. Bella stopped an Imperial Agent from getting vital information they wanted. Mallay risked her life to save Lissa, Ros, and Kit. Lissa and Ros have a very special gift. They're Force sensative and used it to help Mallay. Kit was a smart girl, staying hidden and quiet when faced with danger. Now we're going to our new home on Dantooine. I have a small farm there left to me by an aunt. When you are ready, Lissa and Ros, we will contact the Jedi there and you will be able to study with them. Your father and I agreed that if something like this happened, we would need to change our family name. It will take time, but you need to think of yourselves as Lauren instead of Rydel. Agent O’Ryan is going to fix our records. As for Mallay, she'll be okay but have scars and a cybernetic implant. We'll all need to help her deal with those things when the time comes. For now, she'll be kept sedated in the kolto tank for a few days. You can go see her if you would like, but you mustn’t touch anything. However, right now we need to get the ship ready to travel again so we can get settled in our new home. Please know this, I love you all and am here for you anytime you need. Always remember, the love of family makes us stronger and although we will no longer carry his name, we are your father’s legacy."

Sidra looked up from her task and glanced out the window, deep in thought as she watched her daughters outside. Three months had passed since Jonah had been killed and they still missed him terribly, but were doing their best to make a new life on Dantooine. They’d settled in to their new home, a small farm left to Sidra by an aunt several years ago that’d been closed up and dormant since her death. The account Jonah had set up after the failed mission on Nar Shaddaa was just enough to get the farm up and running again. It was late spring when they arrived but they were able to get a few crops in before the planting window passed. Sidra, Bella, Lissa, and Ros did a large share of the work since they only had enough credits to hire a couple of farmhands. Kit was too young to help, of course, and Mallay had only recently been able to begin doing more physical tasks since she’d been recovering from her injuries. After harvest in the fall, they might have enough to hire more help for the following spring.

Luckily Sidra and the girls were no strangers to farm labor despite the fact that their former farm on Telos used hired help and droids for most of the manual labor. Jonah had always insisted that once the girls were old enough that they learn how to work the land. ‘You never know when you’ll have a bad year and be unable to hire hands to help,’ he’d always say, ‘and you should always know what you’re doing so you can oversee things properly.’

Sidra’s gaze traveled over to where her second born was resting under the large shady tree. Mallay’s burns had healed, leaving a small portion on the left side of her face and the top left half of her back permanently scarred. The small cybernetic implant that curved around her left eye restored and even improved the sight she’d lost when that shrapnel damaged the optic nerve. The cybernetic could also give her enhanced sight if she chose to activate it, which she hadn’t done yet out of spite. Her physical recovery had been a long and painful process since the scar tissue was very sensitive and easily damaged. The raw skin needed constant care in the beginning, meaning no exposure to sunlight, applying thick lotion several times a day, and restricted movements until the skin regained some of its elasticity.

Always one that enjoyed the outdoors and physical activity, Mallay resented being cooped up inside and she felt guilty for not being able to help out with the planting and maintenance of their crops. As the scar tissue healed and grew stronger, she was able to begin physical therapy exercises. These were excruciating at first since her body had spent so much time at rest and the new skin had to get used to the movement, but Mallay was determined and plugged on despite the pain. She pushed herself as far as the therapist her mom hired would allow. Finally, after two months, she was able to do a little work on the farm and it cheered her a little to feel her small, athletic body returning to normal.

Sidra was relived Mallay had recovered so quickly, physically at least. Mentally was another story. She’d always been a shy child, trying her best to follow rules and hating to get into trouble despite getting dragged into it on occasion by her older sister, Bella. She was always willing to help people, whether it be helping out around the house, or volunteering in town or at school. Despite her somewhat reserved demeanor, Mallay was very close to her family and the few people that got past her shyness to become her friend. As she came into her teenage years, Mallay became terribly self-conscious of her looks, thinking of herself as too thin, awkward, and plain to ever attract boys. Now with scars and the cybernetic implant added into the mix, she dreaded seeing her reflection. Mallay desperately wanted to hide her face, which wasn’t easy given that most of her thick auburn hair had been burned off, so she resorted to wearing hooded tops, wishing her hair would grow faster.

Mallay had a nagging feeling she was being watched and looked up to see which one of her well-meaning family members was there, relieved when she saw Bella playing with the twins and Kit. She loved her family, but preferred her solitude these days and wished they’d quit treating her with kid gloves and leave her alone. Mallay had a lot of anger and resentment inside as a result of what had happened. She was ashamed of the way she felt, but couldn’t help it. She hated anything and everything Imperial. She was angry at the SIS and to some extent, her father for keeping such a secret from his wife and children. She was angry at Bella for falling in love with Jackson and letting him into their lives. She resented her oldest sister being so beautiful. She didn’t want to be so angry, but she didn’t know how to get rid of it. She worked hard to keep the anger and resentment bottled up and secret, but with such a close knit family, that wasn’t easy. Her only outlet was the physical work on the farm and the Yoga exercises she had been given to help heal her body, both of which were calming, strengthening, and would help her achieve her new goal. Mallay wanted to hone her small, athletic body and her already quick thinking and intelligent mind in order to join the Republic military as soon as she was old enough.

Bella paused in her pursuit of tagging Ros ‘it’ to glance over at the lone figure resting under the shady tree. Mallay had to watch herself in the sun and took breaks frequently whenever outside. Like Mallay, Bella also carried scars from that fateful day three months ago. While her scars weren’t physical, they were just as permanent. She was still her happy, outgoing, charming, flirtatious self, but she’d become hardened. She loved her family and was as affectionate and playful with them as ever, but she was no longer so quick to trust outsiders. She wasn’t shy like Mallay, quite the opposite in fact, but she was more cautious when meeting new people now. Bella had made a few friends in town since they’d gotten settled in, it just took a while and even then, she didn’t open up much. She was more careful with her relationships, not allowing herself to become too emotionally involved with anyone outside the family. This was especially true with men and Bella swore she’d never allow herself to fall in love again.

Despite her father’s last words to her, Bella blamed herself for what had happened that awful day. She was the one who fell for Jackson, she was the one who kept their steamy romance a secret, and she was the one he’d used like a tool to get to her father. The guilt was consuming and there were so many thoughts of what if running through her head that it kept her awake some nights, staring at the ceiling, wishing she could turn back the chrono.

One good thing that came as a result was that Bella found that she loved flying and had a direction in her life for the first time. She convinced her mother to let her keep Jackson’s freighter and had been teaching herself to fly it whenever she had spare time. Luckily, the small farm had once been part of a much larger operation long ago and had its own landing pad for transporting the surplus goods off world. When the original owner died without an heir, it was split up into three parts and sold off. The launch pad was on the portion that their family now owned and was big enough to hold Bella’s ship. Bella wanted to go into the trade business since she loved flying, and had a ship. It would be a good way to earn credits and see the galaxy, something Bella had always dreamed of. She just had to figure out how to break this new path to her mother. She didn’t intend to start her new career anytime in the near future. School would be starting after harvest in a couple of months and she’d only be seventeen this winter, so she’d still have one more year of school after this one. There was no way her mother would let her quit school and Bella was okay with that. Bella was fairly intelligent, earning respectable marks in her classes, and she wanted to finish her education.

Bella’s full lips curved into a grin as another valid reason to stay in school occurred to her. There was bound to be a lot of cute boys in school and although she swore to never fall in love again, Bella was definitely interested in pursuing flings. After all, she was good looking, with forest green eyes and thick, wavy auburn hair, both of which she’d inherited from her father. Between her good looks and natural charm, she was a girl who attracted a lot of boys and it would be a shame to waste that talent. A squeal of laughter broke into her thoughts and Bella turned her attention back to the game of tag.

With a smile on her face, Sidra watched Bella chasing a giggling Ros around for a moment, then she went back to getting things ready. It was a beautiful summer day and Sidra, who was just starting to show her pregnancy, was busy in the kitchen. It was the twins’ eleventh birthday and the first celebration of any sort since Jonah had been killed. Sidra knew in her heart that Jonah was with them always, but she missed her beloved husband deeply. She stayed strong for their children, only allowing herself to shed tears at night, but she knew today was going to be difficult. Their family was always so close and birthdays were a big event for the kids. Jonah would be greatly missed today, but Sidra vowed to make it a good birthday for Lissa and Ros despite the void she’d never be able to fill. She smiled again when she thought about the surprise that was in store for them later.

Lissa and Ros had begun showing outward signs of force sensitivity a couple of years back and their abilities had greatly intensified since they’d used them to save Mallay from that Imperial. They wouldn’t be going to school after harvest this year. Instead, they’d be going to the small Jedi Temple on Dantooine. Both girls were eager to learn about the force and their abilities after meeting Master Ny’laan, the Jedi who’d helped heal Mallay. He’d sensed the twins force sensitivity immediately and after he’d helped stabilize Mallay, he spoke with Sidra about it and offered her a more palatable solution to her dilemma of having two of her children taken from her, there was a small Temple on the planet they were destined for. Once they’d arrived on Dantooine and settled into their new home, Sidra spoke with the twins about training with the Jedi. The twins were eager to learn more about the Force and Sidra decided they could begin after the harvest instead of going to school with Bella and Mallay. Sidra contacted the Order on planet and the arrangements were made for Lissa and Ros to begin their training.

Bella and Mallay were outside, setting up the picnic table while Lissa and Ros continued playing tag with Kit, when they spotted a speeder in the distance. Mallay ran into the house to let their mother know they had a visitor.

“Oh, he’s a little early,” Sidra murmured.

“Who is it?”

“Its okay honey, I was expecting him. It’s a surprise,” she assured her anxious daughter who was pulling her hood back up in an attempt to hide her head and face. Mallay didn’t trust strangers very well as a result of what had happened and hated anyone seeing her shorn head and scars, “Come….let’s go out and greet him.”

They went outside just as the speeder came to a stop. An average sized male in plain brown robes, Jedi judging from their appearance and the saber hilt hooked to the belt, got off and approached the family, lowering his hood and smiling.

“Master Ny’laan!!!” Lissa and Ros’s gleeful squeals echoed, both immediately recognizing the violet eyed, blue skinned, Twi’lek. They were surprised and excited to see the Jedi Master who had inspired them to learn about the Force.

He grinned at the twins, those violet eyes dancing, “Hello, future young Padawans!” He could easily feel how much they’d grown in the Force in the short time since he’d met them and was doubly relieved their mother had gotten over her trepidation about allowing them to be trained.

“It’s nice to see you again, Master Jedi,” Bella smiled warmly in greeting. Then she turned to see her mother come out of the house with Mallay.

“Master Ny’laan, it’s so good to see you! The girls weren’t expecting you since I had kept your visit a surprise.” Sidra explained, “I figured you’d want to share your news with Lissa and Ros yourself.”

Mallay stepped forward and bowed, “Master Jedi, I’m honored to finally meet you. Thank you so very much for your help in healing me.”

“You are most welcome,” he replied, bowing to her, noting that she appeared to be nearly healed, at least physically. “It was an honor for me to heal such a strong, courageous, young woman.”

“What news do you have, Master Ny’laan?” Ros asked, and Lissa nodded, curiosity shining in their silver eyes.

“Now girls, let’s give Master Ny’laan a chance to get settled. Lunch is ready, so we can all sit down and hear his news then,” Sidra told them, “Lissa, Ros, and Kit, you can set the table. Bella and Mallay, you can bring the food out, and I’ll show Master Ny’laan where he’s staying tonight.”

A short time later, everyone was sitting down and enjoying lunch. The twins kept staring at the Jedi Master, waiting. With their white blond hair, light tan skin, and big silver eyes, they were very hard to resist when they ‘worked the cuteness’ as Bella called it.

“I guess I better come out with it,” the Jedi relented with a chuckle, “I’m not just visiting this lovely planet, I’ll be staying on Dantooine. Another Jedi Master at the Temple here recently became one with the Force. Her abilities were similar to my own and when the Order contacted Tython to request a Jedi healer, I volunteered to become an instructor here. I’d been wondering how you all were faring when the request came in and I knew that the Force was guiding me.”

“Will we be your Padawans then?” Lissa asked, her face hopeful. She wanted to learn to use the Force to heal ever since Master Ny’laan healed her older sister.

“I cannot answer that for certain, but I have a feeling I will be one of your instructors, Allissya.” He replied, smiling at her. “Your abilities are similar to my own and as they develop, it is likely that you’ll be able to use them to heal as I do. You already have a very strong ability to sense emotions in others and help when you can.” When he’d been healing Mallay, Master Ny’laan noted Lissa’s presence in her sister’s mind and why she was there. He also sensed the toll Bella and Mallay’s emotions were taking on the young empath.

“How long will you be staying with us, Master Ny’laan?” Ros asked.

“I’ll be here for a couple of nights,” he replied, “Normally, a Jedi is sent out to assess Force sensitive children before they go to the Temple for instruction. I had just been assigned to the Order here on Dantooine when your mother contacted them. Since I’d intended to stop in and see you on my way to the Temple, I agreed to do the assessment. We’ll do that tomorrow, however, because I was told that we’d be celebrating your birthday today.”

They finished lunch and Sidra, Bella, and Mallay went in to bring out the cake and presents. The twins were playing with Kit while they waited and Master Ny’laan used the time to quietly meditate under the shady tree. He was glad he’d be here for a couple of days and hoped to do more than assess Ros and Lissa’s abilities. He sensed so many strong emotions coming from young Mallay and Bella as well as from their mother and was hoping to help them work through some of them. He also noted Sidra’s pregnancy and wanted to make sure everything was well with her after everything they’d been through.

After the birthday celebration, Sidra took Kit inside for her nap, and the twins were looking over all of their presents. Bella and Mallay had given them lockets with a tiny picture of the family inside. They got several HoloVids from their mother along with a framed photo of their father. She’d also set up credit accounts for them since they’d be living away from home. They shouldn’t need much at the Temple, but Sidra’s mind was at ease knowing the accounts were in place just in case. They wouldn’t be going shopping for clothing as they usually did after a birthday since the twins would be dressing in Padawan’s robes at the Temple. Master Ny’laan brought them a set of Padawan robes, pants, and shoes, having gotten their sizes from their mother when he’d originally contacted her.

While the twins were admiring their birthday loot, Bella and Mallay were sitting under the same shady tree that Master Ny’laan had meditated under when he approached them.

“May I sit with you?” he asked softly.

“Sure,” Bella told him, “This is a favorite spot outside this time of day.”

Master Ny’laan looked at both girls. There was so much anger, fear, and resentment coming from Mallay and the guilt and fear coming from Bella was just as powerful. He also know how hard each was working to keep those emotions bottled up, which only makes it worse so I must get them to let their feelings out. With a sigh, he began.

“As you both are aware, I can sense emotions in others, just as your sister, Allissya, can. The two of you have so many negative emotions pouring out of you that it’s deeply troubling to her. I’d like to help you if you’ll let me,” he turned to Mallay, “Mallayse, you’re such a strong young woman, but you have so much anger, resentment, and fear inside that it hinders your ability to accept and move on. You need to let it out so you can fully heal. Your anger is justified, but if you continue to try and hide it, it’ll eventually consume you. The same can be said for your fear and resentment. You should never hide your feelings from your family, especially since yours is one of the most caring, affectionate families that I have had the pleasure to come across.”

Before either girl could speak, he turned to Bella, “Belladonya, your guilt eats away at you and will eventually consume you as well. You cannot continue to blame yourself for everything that has happened. Your family certainly doesn’t.”

“But it was my fault,” Bella interrupted, angrily, “I’m the one who let that bastard, Jackson, into our lives and I’m the one who kept it a secret,” she bowed her head, her voice a quiet whisper when she continued, “Besides, you’re wrong, Master Ny’laan…….Mallay blames me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mallay denied, not quite making eye contact with her sister.

“Oh please, Mallay,” Bella spat, standing up, “I may not be Force sensitive like Lissa and Ros, but even I can tell you are angry at me as well as everything else these days!”

“Well I’m so sorry that becoming hideously scarred makes me angry,” Mallay retorted, getting up herself, “You’re so beautiful that it must be awful to have someone as ugly as me around to cramp your style!”

“Get over it Mallay, at least you’re alive. We’re all safe and we keep telling you that you’re not ugly. The only one who thinks that is you and I’m getting tired of it!” Bella snapped, her usually even temper reaching breaking point. “So you can quit being a martyr any day now!”

Mallay’s anger boiled over, “Are you serious?!” Mallay screeched, her anger boiling over, “I’m being a martyr?! Have you ever had a man try to rape you in front of your ten year old sisters? Have you ever had to pick up your four year old sister and run as fast as you could out of a house you know is about to explode? Have you ever felt your flesh tearing and burning away? Do you have any idea what that pain is like? Well, I do and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone! And you tell me I’m being a martyr because I’m angry about what happened. Look at me, dammit! Every time I look in the mirror it all comes back to me! Of course I’m angry!”

Sidra heard the arguing from the house and ran over to where Bella and Mallay were fighting, but Master Ny’laan stopped her.

“They both need to get this out so the real healing can start,” he told Sidra gently, “They’ve been holding their feelings inside, letting them fester. Eventually, it would’ve eventually caused a serious rift, which would’ve been a tragedy since you are all so very close with one another.”

Mallay was still shouting at Bella, “You wouldn’t know what it’s like to be ugly or even plain looking. Before I started developing, there were times that I was mistaken for a boy by strangers! You, on the other hand, were always pretty and popular, always surrounded by a crowd eating out of your hand.….especially boys!” Mallay paused a second, lowered her voice and sneered, “Maybe you should’ve been a little more careful and stuck to boys sister dearest, because your first man conned you out of your virginity and brought Imperials to our house! So, yeah, I do blame you. Maybe if you would have used your head for once instead of blindly falling in love with the new flavor of the week….”

Mallay’s words stung and Bella didn’t wait for her to finish that last insult before slapping her as hard as she could. Mallay was stunned for a brief second, but recovered and reacted faster than Bella anticipated, slugging her so hard, Bella nearly fell. Bella steadied herself, then tackled Mallay to the ground and within seconds, the girls were yelling horrible insults at each other as they wrestled, Bella trying to use her weight to subdue Mallay. However, Mallay, who was much stronger than her size let on, managed to get out from under Bella and onto her back. She grabbed Bella by the hair and slammed her face into the ground. Bella screamed as she felt her cheek tear open.

Sidra moved to intervene, but Master Ny’laan stopped her, “No, you’re with child, I’ll stop them.”

However, it wasn’t necessary for anyone to step in. When Mallay heard her sister cry out in pain, it was enough to hault the rage inside her. She moved off of Bella and buried her face in her hands, ashamed of the things she’d said and done. Bella got up, tears streaming down her face, blood running down from her cheek, and looked over at a sobbing Mallay. That was enough to cool her own anger since Mallay rarely cried.

“Oh, Mallay, I’m so sorry. I started this….” Bella sniffed as she sat down next to her sister.

“No Bella, I’m the one who should be sorry,” Mallay admitted hoarsely, tears glittering in her deep blue eyes as she looked first at Bella, then the rest of them. She saw her mother who was crying, Lissa and Ros who looked upset, and Master Ny’laan who seemed calm. “I didn’t mean what I said, Bella. I know that none of this was your fault. There’s no way you could’ve possibly known who Jackson really was. Even if you had figured it out or decided not to pursue him, he’d have only found another way. Please stop blaming yourself, I don’t really.I was just angry. I’ve been angry since I woke up here. Angry at what happened, angry at the Imperials, angry that I had ugly scars, a cybernetic, and almost no hair. I guess part of me has always resented you for being so pretty and that made me angry at you.” Then she looked over at her mother, “I feel a little angry at Dad too. I hate that I have these awful feelings, but I didn’t know what to do about them.”

“Talking about your feelings is the best way to start dealing with them,” Master Ny’laan told her, reaching out with the Force to sooth the troubled young woman. “That’s one of the reasons I came over to you and Belladonya. I apologize for allowing things to get so explosive, but I can already sense a calmness in you both now. With everything out in the open, you can both go forward and work together to move past everything that’s happened.”

Bella sighed, “You have no need to apologize, Master Ny’laan, you were right. We’ve both been avoiding this, keeping our feelings bottled up.” Then she looked at Mallay, “and you aren’t the only one who’s angry at Dad, I am, too, and like you, I feel terrible about it.”

“Girls, there’s nothing to feel bad about,” Sidra sighed as she came over and sat with her daughters, “Part of me is angry at your father as well, but he was a good man who was trying to protect us by keeping a dangerous part of his past a secret. It’s alright to be angry that he kept things from us and it doesn’t mean we love him any less. Now that we got it out, maybe we can move past it now. I’ve been so worried about the two of you and I hate to see you fighting with one another. You’ve always been so very close……we all are and it hurts me to see that change.”

“It isn’t going to change, Mom,” Mallay told her, “Bella and I just needed let off some steam, that’s all. I’m sorry for trying to keep to myself so much, I just felt ashamed of the way I felt and didn’t want anyone to know.” Bella nodded in agreement.

“I don’t want you girls to ever be ashamed of your feelings or afraid to talk to me about it,” Sidra told them, tears in her eyes. “We’re a family, through thick and thin…..always remember that. I love all of you girls,” she patted her growing abdomen, “and this little one as well and there’s nothing in this galaxy that could possibly change that.”

Bella hugged her mother, “I know that, Mom, and nothing will ever stop me from loving any of you either.” She touched her bloody cheek as she pulled back and giggled, “That includes Mallay, despite the fact that she’s marred my awesome beauty.”

“Oh, no, whatever will the local boys do?” Mallay gasped in mock horror, “Who will they worship now?!”

“Hey, I’m not worried, I still have other assets you know!” Bella laughed as she got up, helping her mother.

“Belladonya Lauren!” Sidra cried, looking embarrassed, “You should’t talk like that in front of Master Ny’laan, or anyone for that matter!”

“Yeah sis, way to embarrass the family!” Mallay smirked, getting up.

Master Ny’laan laughed, happy to see the girls acting like, what he assumed was, their normal selves. “Not to worry, I’ve heard way worse on Nar Shaddaa and it warms my heart that you girls seem so much happier than just a short time ago,” Then he turned to Sidra, “Now you should rest, the baby is making your body tired. Let me help you inside and if you’re alright with it, I can use the Force to check you and the baby over to make sure things are going well.”

“What about Bella? Her face is bleeding,” Sidra protested.

“Don’t worry, Mom. Mallay can help me clean it up. You haven’t gotten checked out by a medic yet and I know we’d feel better if Master Ny’laan can do that for you,” Bella assured her mother and Mallay nodded. “We’ll also keep an eye on these two monsters as well,” she gestured at Lissa and Ros who looked happier now that they’d stopped fighting, “and Kit will probably sleep for at least another hour.”

Sidra finally relented and let master Ny’laan lead her into the house. Lissa and Ros decided to pick some wild flowers and after promising not to wander too far, scampered off.

Mallay hugged her sister then, “I’m sorry for the things I said and did. I love you and I always will!”

“Love you too, sis. Nothing in this galaxy will ever change that!” she hugged Mallay back, “But you are wrong you know. You’re not ugly and you never were. You’re figure is developing, it’s just petite like the rest of you. You’ll probably have a body like a dancer or acrobat and guys totally love those!”

“Thanks Bella, but there isn’t much I can do about this metal on my face or the scars and I don’t think guys will love those!” she sighed, patting her short cap of auburn hair, “I just wish my hair would grow back faster.”

“It will,” Bella promised, “but you’re done hiding! We’re going shopping tomorrow and get you some new clothes. No more baggy pants and shirts and absolutely no more hoods! You have a cute face, and beautiful blue eyes. We’ll get you a little makeup too. Mom probably won’t let you wear a lot, but some eye color and lip gloss will look nice.” Then she sobered, remembering something Mallay had admitted to earlier, “I’m sorry that you’ve felt resentful of me…..I had no idea, but I’m proud to call you my sister you know.”

“Thanks Bella. You’re a wonderful sister. I just wish I could be a little more outgoing like you, and yeah, I’m jealous of your figure too!” Mallay looked sheepish, “and you’re right, I need to stop hiding. I know I’ll never be pretty like you, and I’ll always be shy, but I need to accept who I am and embrace it.” She grinned at Bella, “Besides, I’m definitely more athletic than you are….that attempt to subdue me was pathetic!”

When the twins came back with a huge bouquet of wildflowers, Bella and Mallay took them inside. Bella found a vase to put them in and the twins sat at the table and arranged their flowers. Bella and Mallay went upstairs to find their mother resting and Kit starting to wake. After cleaning up Bella’s cut cheek, Mallay went in to get Kit and Bella went downstairs to get dinner started. A short time later, Master Ny’laan had come out of his room where he’d been meditating and immediately noticed the happiness and calm coming from the girls. He also saw that Lissa seemed more at peace since the turbulent emotions of her older sisters dissipated.

“I hope we didn’t disturb you, Master Ny’laan,” Mallay winced when she noticed how tired he looked. “Sometimes it can get a bit noisy just before dinner.” She gestured at Kit singing loudly with her cartoons on the HoloVid, and the twins playing games.

“I could never find such a joyous, loving family to be disturbing,” he smiled, “I wasn’t sleeping, just meditating, and it does my heart good to sense how much calmer and happier you and your sister are. I will rest well tonight.”

“How are Mom and the baby?” Bella asked him, concerned since her mother hadn’t seen a medic yet.

“I’ll let your mother talk to you about that, but I can assure you that everything is as it should be. Your mother just needs some extra rest.” He replied. “Now is there anything I can do to help? I'm afraid that I am no cook, but I do know how to set a table.”

“Stars, girls, I didn’t mean to sleep that long!” Sidra exclaimed when she came downstairs a little while later to find dinner ready and the table set, “Thank you for getting dinner ready.”

“It was no trouble, Mom,” Bella shrugged, happy to see her mother looking better rested, “Mallay helped me fix dinner and everyone else set the table.”

“Master Ny’laan said you needed extra rest and you know that we don’t mind pitching in with the cooking.” Mallay giggled, “and Master Ny’laan has an interesting way of setting a table! I think Kit is going to be disappointed when he leaves.”

“Momma, Momma, he made the dishes fly!” Kit clapped excitedly, joy shining on her cherubic little face.

“I’ll bet that was fun to see! Now, where did all these beautiful flowers come from?”

“We picked them, Mom!” Ros told her, beaming with pride.

“Do you like them?” Lissa asked, always eager to please.

“Yes I do, very much so. Now let’s sit down to eat this wonderful dinner Bella and Mallay fixed for us.” Sidra told her daughters, “I have some news to share while we eat.”

They all sat down to dinner and Sidra told them Master Ny’laan figured that she’d have the baby this winter shortly after Bella’s birthday and that both she and the baby were perfectly healthy, a marvel considering all they’d been through.

“Also girls, Master Ny’laan said he’d be able to tell me the gender if I wanted. I asked him to wait until I talked to all of you,” Sidra grinned at her daughters, fairly certain curiosity would get the better of them, “So, do you girls want to know if you’re getting a brother or sister, or do you want it to be a surprise? I’m fine either way.” As Sidra expected, it was a unanimous decision…….everyone wanted to know. Sidra smiled and nodded at Master Ny’laan.

“Well, this winter you will all be blessed with a baby boy,” he announced, seeing the joy in all of their faces.

“Oh, I wish Jonah were here, he loved all of his girls, but I know that deep down inside, every man wants a son,” Sidra sighed, a tear falling at the thought of her husband taken before he could know his son.

“Your husband is one with the Force,” Master Ny’laan reminded Sidra, “He will always be with you and I’m sure he knows.” Then he turned to Lissa and Ros, “The two of you will probably be able to sense him through the Force at some point when you have been trained a little.”

“I’ve felt him already,” Lissa admitted quietly, “I talk to him in my mind, often. I wasn’t sure how that was possible, but I never doubted that it was really Dad.”

Master Ny’laan looked at her in surprise, “Your abilities are strong then and developing quickly, young one. You’ll likely be very powerful indeed when fully developed. I’m eager to assess you both tomorrow.”

“What will you need from us to test the girls?” Sidra asked.

“Nothing really, just a place where they can focus,” Then a broad grin crossed his serene features as he remembered his own assessment as a child, “and preferably somewhere where nothing can get broken. It turns out that I was very good at projecting objects as a child.”

They all laughed at that image, Sidra and her daughters finally at peace for the first time since arriving on Dantooine.

The next morning, Bella and Mallay got permission to go to the nearby town to visit the clothing shops. It was the perfect time for them to go since things were slow on the farm until harvest time began next month and the twins would be busy with Master Ny’laan. Mallay still had her birthday credits, having put them in her pocket right after she’d gotten them. None of the cred sticks had been damaged when she’d been burned in the explosion. Sidra and Bella were excited that Mallay was finally willing to stop hiding under baggy clothes and hoods and Bella was eager to help her sister pick out some new stuff that would show off her lithe little body to its advantage.

They set out just after breakfast, taking one of the speeders since they would be coming back with multiple packages.

The trip into town was short by speeder and fifteen minutes later, they could see the outskirts in the distance. The town itself, Meadow Springs, had sprung up several decades past in the center of several farming communities similar to the one their family shared with the Mirrens along with the empty ranch. Meadow Springs started out as a simple trading center, but grew into a thriving town with a huge shopping complex. When they arrived at the shops, Bella parked the speeder and immediately headed for the lingerie boutique.

“Sister dearest, it’s time to introduce you to proper bras and underwear,” Bella grinned, “Nothing fancy for you yet because you need to save as many credits as you can for pants, shirts, and shoes, but you definitely need something better than a sports bra and let’s face it, your panties are a bit….uh….well a bit too much like something Mrs. Mirren would wear!”

“Bella!” Mallay cried, blushing a little when a few people looked over at them. She lowered her voice as she went on, “Are they really that bad? I mean she’s ninety!”

“Trust me, once you see some of the stuff in here, you’ll be happy I brought you in!” Bella assured her as they went inside, “As I said, we’ll keep it simple for now, the fancy stuff’s a lot more expensive, totally worth it, but expensive!”

Mallay had to agree with her sister as she looked around at the sea of pretty colors, soft lace, delicate shimmersilk, and cool satin, but felt a little lost as to what she should get. However, Bella knew the store well and steered her awed sister to the more affordable stuff.

“Do you young ladies need help?” a sales woman asked as she approached a few minutes later, smiling at them.

“I certainly don’t need help, but my sister sure does,” Bella smirked at Mallay, “Seriously, she wears a sports bra every day!”

The sales lady cringed and turned to now red faced Mallay, “Oh, no more of that! Let me take your measurements…..this way, dear.”

Bella and Mallay followed the woman to a fitting room where the she asked Mallay to take her shirt off as she grabbed the measuring tape. An anxious Mallay looked to her sister, hating for anyone see her scars, especially strangers.

“It’s alright, Mallay,” Bella assured her, then turned to the sales lady, “Sorry, my sister’s a little shy.”

“She isn’t the first,” she said kindly, giving Mallay a reassuring smile, “Nothing to worry about, you can keep your bra on and it is just two quick measurements.”

A resigned Mallay swallowed her nerves and removed her shirt, opting to hold on to it so she could put it back on in a hurry. The lady went take the measurements, but gasped when she saw Mallay’s back. Mallay immediately stiffened and started to put her shirt back on.

“Oh, no……I’m sorry, it isn’t that,” she sales lady was quick to reassure Mallay, “Sweetie, when’s the last time you used lotion on your scars? They look horribly dry and irritated!”

“I use it every day,” Mallay admitted with a sigh, “It just doesn’t seem to help anymore.”

“Here, let me get your measurements,” she replied as she did so, being careful around the sensitive scar tissue, and wrote them down. “Ok, here’s the size that would fit you best. Now while you’re picking out stuff to try on, I’m going to call a friend of mine. She’s in the military and was in an accident a couple of years ago. She has burn scars similar to yours and found a lotion she swears by. I can’t remember the name of it though so I’ll see if I can reach her.”

“See, not everyone is going to think your scars are horrible.” Bella assured her sister after they left the fitting room to find Mallay some bras to try on, “I saw your face when she gasped at your scars, you were going to put your shirt on and leave without even giving her a chance to say anything. You do need to learn to stand up for yourself and not be ashamed, but you also need to realize people are going to notice and not all of them will judge. You’re a pretty girl who had something terrible happen to her. That’s what most people will see.”

“I’m sure that it isn’t always going to be that rosy, sis,” Mallay retorted dryly.

“No, I’m sure you’ll run into plenty out there that will be judgmental a*sholes, seeing only ugly scars and a cybernetic. Those are the people who think they’re perfect and expect everyone else to be the same,” Bella rolled her eyes and gave a mischievous grin, “You just need to help those people get over themselves! I find that a good kick in the junk helps a lot with the guys! If a girl gives you crap, just tell her that outfit makes her look fat……that’ll make any prissy snot shut up real quick,” then she sobered, hugging her sister, “just don’t ever let those idiots make you think less of yourself.”

The girls spent the next several minutes picking out a variety of bras, different colors, materials, and styles then headed back to the fitting room. Mallay seemed to favor the lacy ones, so they put the rest back, choosing three colors in the lace that she liked best, and found matching panties, definitely ones their ninety year old neighbor wouldn’t be wearing.

The sales lady rang them up and handed Mallay a slip of paper, “This is the stuff my friend uses. She said to start out using it every day, but after the dryness and irritation is gone, you can go to every two or three days.”

“Thank you, and please, thank your friend for me,” Mallay told her, smiling gratefully, blue eyes glittering with tears, “I didn’t expect a stranger to be so nice about seeing my scars.”

The sales lady nodded, “I remember my friend felt the same way. I know there are people out there who will judge and I figure there’s a special place in the nether for them! Besides, you and my friend are so much better than those snobs because they could never handle what you’ve gone through.”

Bella and Mallay left the lingerie boutique and headed off to the clothing stores, Bella advising her sister to make sure to always keep her new underwear separate from the rest of her clothing, “Those are delicate cycle only items, the regular wash would tear those lacy things to shreds! I usually just hand wash mine….I think Mom does too.”

They passed a small skin care shop and went in. Mallay found the lotion the sales lady had written down and grabbed a jar. She opened the lid and took a sniff, finding the light spicy citrus scent pleasing and much better than the antiseptic smell the one she was currently using had. She put another jar into her basket as well as a small sample size tube she could keep in her purse or backpack, then her and Bella headed for the makeup counter.

Mallay’s skin was still too sensitive for heavy makeup even if their mother would allow it, but Bella helped her find a few different eye shadow colors and some lip gloss that complimented her coloring without looking flashy. The girls took the basket to the checkout counter, Mallay already deciding to have Bella help her put some on later.

When they arrived at one of the more popular clothing shops, catering to high school and college girls, Bella immediately took charge. “No offense, sis, but your fashion sense stinks!”

Mallay nodded her agreement and watched as her sister immediately began pulling various pants, skirts, and tops off of the racks. Pretty soon both girls had a huge armful of clothing and they headed back to the fitting rooms where Mallay began trying on the mountain of stuff Bella had picked out.

“Hey, isn’t this a little short?!” Mallay protested at one of Bella’s favorite skirts.

“Definitely not! You have great legs, Mallay and should show them off! This is all about accentuating what you’ve got, remember!” The skirt went into the keep pile.

“Oh, I don’t like this color, Bella.”

“Yeah, don’t know what I was thinking with that shirt….reject pile!”

“Oh, these pants are cute!” Mallay exclaimed, admiring herself in the mirror, a rarity for her. “Ugh, this tank top shows my scars though.”

“Mallay, you can’t cover them up forever, let ‘em show. No more hiding, remember?! That top goes great with those pants and you can wear a short jacket over it when it gets cooler out.” Both items went into the keep pile.

Pretty soon, Mallay had tried on all of the clothes and the keep pile much bigger than the reject pile, a first for Mallay since her tastes greatly differed from her older sister. She had to admit though, Bella certainly had a good eye for clothes and for once, Mallay actually liked that the clothes were more form fitting. She still wished she were built more like her voluptuous sister, but had to admit that her figure wasn’t all that bad now that she’d started developing, it was just petite like the rest of her. She was eager to make her purchases until a thought occurred to her.

“Oh, Bella, I’m not sure I have enough for all of this,” she moaned, sadly, a hint of regret in her voice, “We might have to put some of it back.”

“No we don’t,” Bella grinned as she held up a small card, “Mom gave me access to her credit account.”

“How’d you manage to talk her into that?!” Mallay narrowed her gaze at her sister, shocked that their thrifty mother would send Bella, a notorious shopaholic, out with access to her credit account.

“She made me swear that I wouldn’t blow it all, but she wanted to make sure you had enough to get whatever you wanted,” Bella replied as she helped Mallay hang up all the rejects on the rack by the fitting room entrance, “Honestly, she was so happy you were finally willing to stop wearing all of that shapeless, baggy, hooded crap!” Once they’d hung up all the rejects, Bella helped scoop up the keep pile and the girls headed to the register.

After they paid for the clothes and left the shop, Mallay decided she wanted to wear one of her new outfits home so they found a public refresher for her to get changed in. For once, she was really excited about her new clothes and couldn’t wait to show them off. Bella could hardly contain her excitement and wiped a tear from her eye, relieved and happy that her sister was finally starting to come out of her shell a little.

“Now, we need to get you some new shoes to go with this stuff.” Bella snorted as she went on, “Mom said no more than two pair, so we have to choose wisely. Then we can stop by the sweet shop and head home.”

“I think two pair is more than enough,” Mallay told her shoe obsessed sister, giggling at the incredulous look on her face.

Again, Bella took charge when they got to the shoe store, finding a cute pair of boots and a nice pair of shoes that went with just about everything they had gotten at the clothing shop. Then they made their last stop for some sweet treats, picking out something for the twins, Kit, their mother, and Master Ny’laan, before heading home.

“Thanks for coming with me, sis,” Mallay told Bella as they secured the packages in the speeder, “I don’t know about clothes and makeup like you do and I appreciate the help picking stuff out.”

Bella hugged her tightly, “I’m glad you finally let me.”

There just HAS to be an equivalent to Victoria's Secret in the Star Wars universe!!!

While Bella and Mallay were off shopping, Master Ny’laan took the twins outside where they sat under that same shady tree that Bella and Mallay had fought under the day before. He explained what he would be assessing and that he would be testing them individually. First though, he had them describe what they felt, knew, and were able to do with the force. As they talked, he made separate notes for each girl on a datapad. Then he showed them how to meditate, explaining that it was a way that Jedi could connect with the Force to calm, recharge, prepare for battle if necessary, and even commune with those who’d passed away. He admitted that it would take some practice to be able to effectively, but it was important for them to start learning right away. After he showed them how to enter a meditative state, he had Lissa remain while he took Ros into the yard to assess her abilities.

In just a short time, Master Ny’laan could already tell that Ros was definitely more physical in her abilities. She was quick and agile with a heightened awareness of her surroundings. He’d given her a training blade and covered her eyes. Then he grabbed the basket of spoiled fruit and vegetables he’d gotten from Sidra and began projecting them at the blindfolded Ros. She was able to block or dodge nearly all of them, giggling almost mockingly as she did so. The Jedi shook his head, a broad grin crossing his face as he realized the impish youngling was going to give some of the older masters fits. He then had her remove the blindfold and asked her to call on the force to try and throw him back like she did with the soldier hurting Mallay. He assured her that he’d be able to block it, but he needed to know if she could use that ability regularly or just under duress. Ros complied and was able to force push at Master Ny’laan, but it wasn’t nearly as strong as when she threw the soldier. At that point, Master Ny’laan noticed Ros was starting to tire so he instructed her to meditate while he worked with Lissa.

Lissa’s abilities were already showing themselves clearly, so Master Ny’laan knew Exactly where to start with her. She was able to easily use the force to move the fruit and vegetables that Ros had blocked and dodged back into the basket. Master Ny’laan had already spoken to the gentle natured girl about her abilities to sense emotions and thoughts in others, explaining that she would eventually learn to manipulate them if need be or shield herself from them if they were too overwhelming. He told her that he’d noted her presence in Mallay’s mind when he’d healed her older sister back on Coruscant and was aware of why she was in there.

A tearful Lissa was distraught at that, “I promised Mallay I’d never tell! Her pain was so bad and I tried to help her.”

“You did more than most Padawans twice your age would’ve been able to do,” he assured her gently, “and you did help her. You couldn’t take her pain away, but you were able to help calm her. Someday, you may be able to siphon off pain and emotions, but that will take a lot of time, focus, and practice.”

Then he took out a small knife that he’d gotten from the kitchen and cut his arm. He asked Lissa to try to use the force to heal him. After focusing for several moments, she was able to stop most of the bleeding, but couldn’t close the cut. He quickly healed himself and made a note in her file, letting her know she’d made an exceptional effort and would likely develop as a healer in time. His praise made the quiet youngling smile shyly at him before she went to meditate with her sister.

The three of them were sitting quietly under the shady tree, enjoying the peace when they heard a speeder approaching. The twins jumped up, thinking it was Bella and Mallay back from shopping, but realized there was only one person on it. Master Ny’laan noted the lone rider as well and reached out with the force to sense who was approaching.

Sidra heard the speeder from the house and came out with Kit, ready to greet the girls. Then she noticed the single rider and took Kit under the tree with the twins and Master Ny’laan.

“Are you expecting anyone?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the approaching vehicle.

“Only Bella and Mallay, but that certainly isn’t either of them,” she replied, her brow furrowing as the it got close enough that they could see that the rather large rider was a man.

“I don’t sense any negative emotion, so I think we can assume it is a friend for now. If we find out differently, get the girls inside quickly.”

The speeder stopped near the house and a towering Zabrak got off. He spotted the group under the tree and approached. His broad frame was intimidating, but as he got closer, Sidra could see that he had a kind, friendly face and was smiling at them.

“Hello!” He called out jovially, “I’m looking for Mrs. Lauren. Is that you?”

Sidra raised a brow, “That would depend on who’s asking.”

The big man grinned, his light green eyes crinkling at the corners, the laugh lines there indicating it was something he did often. “I’m your new neighbor, Derek Kalov,” he told her, holding out his hand, “I only moved to the ranch a few days ago and finally got settled enough to come out and introduce myself to my neighbors.”

“I’d heard that someone just bought the ranch,” Sidra smiled warmly as she shook his hand, “I’m Sidra Lauren. These are my daughters, Lissa, Ros, and Kit,” she told him as she indicated each girl.

Master Ny’laan stepped forward and bowed, “and I am Master Ny’laan, a friend of the family.”

Derek bowed in return, then addressed Sidra, “I’d heard that you were a widow, ma’am and wanted to let you know that I’m available to help out if there’s anything you need done around here. I moved in too late to plant any crops or get any livestock. I have plenty to do before next spring with repairing the house and fencing, but I know Harvest time can get busy so I’m around if you need an extra hand on deck.”

“That’s most generous of you, Mr. Kalov and I’ll definitely keep that in mind. I know Mr. and Mrs. Mirren, who own the orchard that borders my farm and your ranch, could use an extra set of hands during Harvest time as well.”

“Oh, please call me Derek! I planned to head over to the orchard next. I apologize for just dropping in on you like this, but I confess that I’m not used to being alone,” he admitted, a blush coming over his tan face. “I recently retired from the Republic military and am used to being surrounded by soldiers most of the time. The solitude was starting to get to me a little.”

Sidra laughed, gesturing at her three youngest girls, currently playing a game of tag, “I think I understand. I’m so used to being surrounded by the girls that I don’t know what I’d do if I were suddenly on my own!” Then they heard another speeder in the distance and Sidra saw two riders on it as the vehicle got closer. “That will be my other two daughters, Bella and Mallay. They were out shopping for school clothes.”

Bella and Mallay approached the house and immediately noticed the large stranger. They got off their speeder cautiously, the latter palming the blade she’d kept hidden in her boot after the Imperial attack. Bella’s hand reached for the rifle they always kept on the speeder in case they came across any kath hounds, but she halted after seeing that her mother and Master Ny’laan both appeared calm and relaxed. Mallay noticed that as well and returned the knife to where she got it as she looked the big man over, carefully studying him. Neither girl trusted strangers easily, and both were always prepared for the worst now, especially Mallay. Her quick thinking had saved her and the twins when the Imperials came to their house and she vowed to always be ready, just in case.

Having served many years in the military, the older girls’ tension hadn’t escaped Derek’s attention. He saw their eyes dart toward their mother and the Jedi for a brief second before they relaxed and headed towards them. He noticed Mallay still looking him over and was intrigued by that, wondering what had happened to make her so cautions and if it was related to the scars he spotted on her. He was also curious to know what she’d found in her assessment of him.

“Stars girls, did you buy out the shops?!” Sidra exclaimed, laughing as she saw the bulging bags. “I love your new outfit, Mallay…..you look fantastic! I’m glad you girls had fun shopping.” Then she nodded at Derek, “Girls, this is Mr. Kalov. He bought the ranch next to us and came over to introduce himself.”

Bella spoke up first and held out her hand in greeting, “Hi, I’m Bella!”

Derek took her hand and smiled. Then he turned to a now blushing Mallay, who looked as if she wanted to hide, “You must be Mallay then. I noticed you looking me over as you approached…..it’s alright, caution isn’t a bad thing. Tell me, what did you see?”

His good natured demeanor eased Mallay’s nerves a little she raised a slender eyebrow in question, speaking up when Derek gave her an encouraging nod.

“Well, since you insisted,” she smirked, “I see a very large male Zabrak, appears to be late thirties to early forties, scarred on one side of his head, likely burns. Judging from the build, you’re no stranger to activity and your stance and quick assessment of me indicates possible military or former.”

Derek nodded, “Good,” Derek nodded, impressed with her keen eye, “How about weaknesses?”

“You appear to be unarmed, but could have hidden weapons. The scars on your face are older, but you’re favoring your right side a little and I can tell your weight is planted a little more firmly to your left. You have a recent injury, most likely to the leg.”

“What would you do if I attacked?”

“I would try to distract you if needed and I’m prepared for that. Your size, training, and obvious intelligence would make it impossible for me to subdue you,” She nodded at Master Ny’laan then, “However, the Jedi would be able to take you out of the equation easily.”

Derek chuckled, “Oh, you are a very bright young woman and have such a quick mind,” He held out his hand, which a beaming Mallay quickly shook, “Reminds me of a former squad mate from my early military days.”

Bella laughed and slung an arm around her sister, “Oh, Mr. Kalov, you just made her day! Mallay wishes to go into the military academy when she is old enough.”

“How’d I do?” Mallay asked, looking hopeful.

“You did extremely well and could have a promising career in the military if that’s your intention. Your small size might make some wary, but judging from what I can see of you, you appear to be athletic, which is an asset, and your keen insight and awareness are boons. As for me, I am former military, retired now. I’m thirty-nine, and injured my leg a couple of months ago in an assault op on one of the Black Sun gangs. I decided to retire since I was looking at a long recovery and would never be one hundred percent,” A sheepish smile crossed his features, “and to be honest, after twenty-one years of service, I was ready. I’m unarmed, but there’s a rifle on my speeder. Being new to the area, I didn’t know what the wildlife, if any, is like and it’s better to be prepared than not.”

“You shouldn’t encounter anything more than Kath hounds in this area and they aren’t usually aggressive, but we typically make sure to have a rifle or blaster on our speeders as well,” Sidra told him before turning to Mallay and Bella, “Why don’t you girls leave your packages here and the twins and I can carry them in. Mr. Kalov hasn’t met Mr. and Mrs. Mirren yet, so you two can take him there and invite them over to dinner later.” Then smiled at Derek as the twins scampered over with a sleepy Kit, “We’d love to have you to dinner as well, Derek. It would be a great opportunity for you to get to know everyone and we can get to know you.”

“I’d appreciate that ma’am, thank you.” Then he went to his speeder as Bella and Mallay got back on theirs and the three of them headed for the Mirren Orchard.

Master Ny’laan approached Sidra as the speeders disappeared over a small hill and smiled, “I think you have a very good neighbor with Mr. Kalov. I sensed no deceit from him, only a genuine interest in being a good neighbor and helping wherever he can. I’ll check in with Agent O’Ryan if you wish, to verify who he is.”

Sidra sighed as she picked up her sleepy toddler, “I feel terrible doing that because he truly seems to be such a nice man, but after what happened with Jonah, I think I would feel better having Agent O’Ryan verify his story.”

“No reason to feel guilty,” Master Ny’laan countered, “You have every right to be cautious after what you and your daughters have been through.” He smiled at the tot sucking her thumb then went into the house to make the call.

Dinner was a joyous affair. Mrs. Mirren brought Muja fruit tarts that she’d baked and Derek brought some sparkling juice, having noticed Sidra’s pregnancy. Everyone was sitting outside, enjoying the pleasant evening after filling themselves on so much wonderful food. Sidra decided to let the C2 unit from Bella’s ship clean up and much to Kit’s delight, Master Ny’laan made the dishes fly again. Sidra felt at ease since Agent O’Ryan had verified Derek’s background, saying that he was a very heroic man who had went above and beyond the call of duty on more than one occasion during his tenure in the Republic Military.

Mallay was asking Mrs. Mirren how to make the tarts she’s brought, having eaten a large portion and loving them.

“I tell you what, why don’t you come over tomorrow and I’ll show you!” the elderly woman told Mallay, smiling. “It will be nice to pass on some of my recipes.” Mallay graciously accepted the offer and Helena turned to Sidra, “Thank you for having us over to dinner, Sidra dear. We enjoyed the wonderful company and would love to have you all over next week, you too Mr. Kalov!”

“Please call me Derek, and I’d love to come and as soon as I get the ranch house in order, I would like to take a turn and have everyone over.”

“Oh, Helena, that would be great, the girls and I would love to come,” Sidra replied, “and Derek, please let me know if there’s anything we can do to help you get your house in order.”

“Thank you, and I may take you up on that since you have such a nice home. My house is a little sparse on the decorations,” he admitted, blushing a little, “Oh, and I forgot to mention earlier, I have some medic training, so if you have an emergency, don’t hesitate to call on me. I’m not an expert doctor or anything like that, but I can patch up cuts and set broken bones.”

“I hope we never have need of you for that, but it’s good to know you have the training. Especially with those two,” Sidra pointed at Mallay and Ros, “I always thought boys were supposed to be the daredevils, but Mallay and Ros are determined to prove me wrong! A couple of days ago, I caught them trying to see who could climb to the top of that tree the fastest and Mallay actually got there!”

“Oh, Mom,” Mallay rolled her eyes, “I’m as healed as I’m gonna get and the exercise is good for me.”

“The activity is definitely good for you,” Bella giggled, “Especially since you eat enough for a Huttball team and never gain weight!”

“Jealous much?!” Mallay smirked. Bella nodded and both girls burst into giggles.

“Yeah, and the only reason I didn’t get up to the top was because I tore my pants on a branch,” Ros grinned, “I was keeping up until that.”

“Well, I’ll have plenty of use for those tree climbers in a couple of months,” Josef told them, “Its difficult to find help that’s willing to climb the trees to pick and the droids can’t. Most only want to gather what falls on the ground or what they can reach from the ladder and anything on the top half of the tree ends up being wasted.”

“Can we, Mom?” Mallay asked and Ros nodded.

“As long as we’re keeping up with our harvest here, sure.”

“Don’t forget, I won’t have anything to harvest, so I can certainly help out wherever I’m needed.” Derek reminded them, biting back a groan as he slowly got up. His leg still ached whenever he stayed in one position too long and they’d all been sitting on the deck for the past hour. His pain must have shown on his face because Master Ny’laan came over.

“Allow me,” the Jedi spoke softly, his aura glowing white as he slowly moved his hand over Derek’s injured leg. A moment later, the light receded and Master Ny’laan stood, “The damage is permanent, but I was able to heal it enough so you shouldn’t be pained as much by it.”

Derek bowed, relief showing on his features, “Thank you Master Jedi, it already feels so much better that I might actually be able to sleep through the night for once.”

“It was the least I could do for one who sacrificed his life to save children,” Master Ny’laan bowed.

Everyone’s attention was on the two of them at that point, curiosity shining on all their faces.

“How did you know?” Derek whispered.

Master Ny’laan smiled, “When I use the force to heal, I make a temporary connection to the one receiving it, allowing me I see their thoughts. Your aches and pains must bring the memory of what caused it to the surface so I saw how you were injured,” he explained then turned to Lissa.

She replied before Master Ny’laan asked, “I felt his emotions, fear, pain, and relief.”

“Oh, you totally have to spill, Mr. Kalov!” Bella grinned and Helena eagerly nodded her encouragement.

“Yeah, I can’t sense thoughts and emotions like Master Ny’laan and Lissa can, please tell!” Ros implored, used to sharing everything with her twin.

“Girls!” Sidra cried, sternly, “Derek may not like to talk about what happened. It isn’t polite to push people like that!” She turned to Derek, “I’m so sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about, Sidra. It doesn’t bother me to talk about, really.” He blushed a little then, “I’m just not one for attention or fanfare.”

“Sorry, son, but I’m old and have to enjoy adventures and excitement though you younger people, so start talking!” Helena, a notorious gossip, insisted, her eyes twinkling.

Everyone laughed and Derek shared his story, telling them how there had been a group of kids hiding out in an abandoned building in Black Sun territory. When his squad raided the territory, one of the Black Sun’s rocket launchers misfired and hit the building. He saw a couple of kids run out as the building started to collapse. The kids were screaming that there were more inside. He ran into the collapsing building and got the remaining four children out. As he was coming out with the last child, the building fell. He shoved the child as hard as he could as the building came down on him, crushing his leg.

Everyone was in awe of such a courageous act and told him so. Derek just shrugged, saying he was simply doing his duty. An exhausted Master Ny’laan excused himself then, saying he needed to rest since he had a long day of traveling tomorrow. He thanked Sidra for dinner, Mrs. Mirren for the wonderful desert, and went into the house. Helena and Josef thanked Sidra and the girls for having them to dinner and reminded them and Derek that they would be having everyone over to dinner next week.

Josef clapped Derek on the shoulder, “You’re a credit to the Republic military, son. That was more than just duty…you’re a good man and it was a pleasure to meet you.” Helena nodded and the Mirrens climbed into their speeder and made their way home.

“I’m going to go as well, Sidra. Thank you so very much for having me to dinner. Its been a long time since I’ve been around so many wonderful people and I really enjoyed it.” Derek told them, then got on his speeder and headed home.

Sidra and the girls watched their company go and sat a little longer outside, enjoying the evening sunset and the peace that they had in their new home.

“Hey Fuzzball, I’m talking to you,” came a mocking voice down the hall from Mallay’s locker.

Harvest was over, Mallay and Ros having spent most of it at the Mirren’s Orchard since they were ‘professional tree climbers’ as Josef Mirren liked to call them. Derek Kalov helped out with harvest at the Lauren farm since he’d moved into his ranch too late to get any crops planted and had to finish repairing fences before he could get any livestock. Bella made a few deliveries in her freighter before school started and had gotten good prices for their produce as well as making some valuable contacts in the shipping business. The credits would be enough for them to hire a couple of more hands to help with planting in the spring and Sidra had given Bella enough to get new clothes for school.

It was the end of the first week of school. Sidra had left that morning to take Lissa and Ros to the Jedi Temple where they would be essentially living from that point on, only coming home one weekend a month. The Temple was a day’s travel and Sidra wouldn’t be home for a couple of days. Helena Mirren, who’d become like a grandmother to the girls, was staying at the farm while Sidra was gone. Kit, who would turn five next month, was too young for school so she was home with Helena.

Bella and Mallay had adjusted to their new school quickly, Mallay liked her classes and the local boys loved Bella. Mallay was happy Bella had taken her clothes shopping because for the first time ever, she was as ‘in style’ as the rest of the girls at school. Much to Mallay’s surprise, there were even a few boys that had noticed her, something Mallay found she liked, and the shy fifteen year old planned to ask her sister what she should do next. Her hair was growing back quickly and Mallay was able to style it enough to cover her cybernetic and scars a little. That combined with the lip gloss and eye makeup Bella had taught her to use made Mallay a little more confident about her looks. She still didn’t think she was pretty, but she no longer thought she was disturbingly hideous.

“Did you hear me, Fuzzball?!” that mocking voice called out again and Mallay could hear laughter from the small crowd that was gathering.

Mallay’s eyes narrowed as she turned towards the voice’s source. Mitch Davies, resident superstar jock and total jerk, was picking on little Krista, a sweet, quiet, Cathar that was in a few classes with Mallay. Krista had a lot of similarities as Mallay, both being petite, shy girls that were the same age and they’d become fast friends over the past week. Even from the distance, Mallay could see tears in her new friend’s golden eyes. Krista and her family were the only Cathar in the area and Krista always felt self-conscious of being different. Mallay could sympathize, since her scars and cybernetic made her stand out as well.

“Ugh, that guy is such a complete tool! I can’t believe I considered going out with him,” Bella snorted as she came up to Mallay’s locker.

“Your hormones were probably doing the thinking, sister dear.” Mallay snickered.

“You're probably right about that….he's quite good looking and boy does he know it!”

“Yes he is, but he's such a bully!” Mallay seethed, feeling her temper rapidly rising as Mitch continued harassing Krista, “You know, I think it's time he gets bullied.” Mallay decided, stalking toward the crowd. She might be a shy girl most of the time, but once her temper was riled, Mallay was fierce.

“Go get him, sis,” Bella grinned wickedly, following her Mallay, “I have your back!”

Mallay marched right up to Krista, stepping in front of her to face Mitch. “Has anyone told you lately what a complete pile of bantha droppings you are?” Mallay asked him with a smirk. “Why don’t you just leave Krista alone, or do you need to belittle her some more to make yourself feel special?”

“This coming from a little girl who looks like she was beaten with the ugly stick.” Mitch laughed, snickers coming from the crowd. Then he stepped closer to Mallay, easily towering over her as he leered at her, “So, little freak, what are you going to do to stop me?”

Mallay hated being the center of attention, but she could feel Krista shaking behind her and Mitch’s harsh words made her temper boil over. She knew Bella was in the crowd ready to help if needed and a dangerous look came across Mallay’s scarred face as she slowly smiled, “I'm going to make you kiss the floor.”

Before he had time to react, Mallay punched him in a highly sensitive area, making him double over. While he was bent over, she got behind him, hooked her leg on his and tripped him. Mitch fell face first onto the floor and Mallay climbed on his back, grasping his throat tightly. The athletic bully struggled, but Mallay had her knee in his back and a tight grip on his voice box.

“Don’t struggle, turd, it'll only hurt if you do.” She chuckled, clearly enjoying herself. “Now why don’t you, for once in your sorry existence, be decent and apologize to Krista.”

“Why you little bi…” Mitch yelled, but was cut off when Mallay squeezed his throat.

“Now, now, that wasn’t nice.” Mallay taunted and the crowd was laughing at a red faced Mitch. “I'm not asking you to become her best friend because let’s face it, Krista is too good for you really, but you definitely owe her an apology. So, either we sit here, you getting further humiliated and possibly injured, or you apologize and I let you up.”

Mitch struggled more, red-faced and cursing his outrage, but Mallay was ready and dug her knee further in his back, causing him to cry out in pain. Then he stilled, relenting finally, and muttered an apology.

“I don’t think she heard you, a bit louder please, and like you….”

“Miss Lauren!” a stern voice called out. Mallay looked over her shoulder to see one of the assistant deans glaring at her. Damn, she thought, a shiver of trepidation running down her spine, I didn’t plan for this! She absolutely hated getting in trouble and normally didn’t do anything to warrant it. She was always a model student and rarely broke the rules, but this time her temper got the better of her.

“Let Mitch up this instant and come with me!”

“I guess it’s your lucky day, superstar. Mr. Moore just saved you.” Mallay whispered in his ear as she got up, unable to resist one last dig at the bully.

“Have fun getting suspended, hothead!” he retorted.

The crowd was still gathered and Bella stepped forward, grinning, and looked Mitch over, her green eyes sparkling with amusement. “You know, Mitch, I don’t think I can go out with you now.”

“Why not, beautiful?” he asked, incredulous that any girl would turn him down, “We could have fun together!”

“Well, for starters, you’re a complete jerk, and you just got your butt handed to you by my little sister.” Bella smirked, “Not exactly a turn on, superstar!” She and Mallay laughed, along with the rest of the crowd, as they followed Mr. Moore to his office. The adrenaline was wearing off and the closer the girls got to Mr. Moore’s office, the more anxious Mallay felt. Bella noticed her sister’s hand shake as she reached for the doorknob to the office and wrapped her arm around Mallay’s shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze before they sat down in front of the large, very pristine desk.

After the notoriously strict dean sat down, Bella explained that their mother wouldn’t be home for a couple of days but that Mrs. Mirren was staying with them. Mr. Moore looked over Mallay’s records, noting that she was a model student and this was the first time she had ever got into a fight. Regardless of that, rules were rules and he informed them that he’d have to suspend Mallay for three days, starting with this one and that he would need to speak with their mother when she returned.

“I know this isn’t a normal occurrence for you, Mallayse, but a three day suspension is school policy for fighting,” Mr. Moore explained as he began dialing in the com frequency for the Lauren farm, “Judging by your past grades, I don’t think you’ll have a problem making up the work and I truly hope this is the last time you have to be in my office for something like this.”

When Mrs. Mirren’s image appeared, Mr. Moore explained what had happened and that she’d need to come and get Mallay from school. Mrs. Mirren told him that she needed to stay with Kit, but that Derek Kalov would come and get Mallay. Since Derek’s name was also on Mallay’s contact info, Mr. Moore agreed and signed off, turning to address the girls again.

“Belladonya, you need to get to class now and Mallayse, you can go get your things from your locker and come back here to wait for Mr. Kalov.”

Derek heard Helena talking to the dean on the Holo and when she signed off, he was stunned to see the little elderly woman laughing so hard tears threatened.

“Oh, I wish I could've been at that school to see Mallay give it to that snotty punk!” She grinned, wiping at her eyes, “The Davies family owns several of the local shops in this area and they're quite wealthy with the attitude to match. I've heard several complaints of bullying from that boy, but nothing has ever been done about it since he's one of the star athletes on the school Huttball team.”

“It sounds like Mallay decided to knock him down a peg.” Derek chuckled, “I'd better go get her then. What do you suppose we ought to do about it though?”

“Well, Sidra has to talk to the dean when she gets back, so she'll need to know what happened,” Helena sighed, hating the thought of the quiet young girl getting in trouble for something that boy probably deserved. “As for punishment, I don’t know.”

When Derek arrived at the school, Mallay was waiting with Mr. Moore in his office. She had her head held up high, but he could tell how upset she was. The dean showed Derek a HoloVid of the incident and gave him a copy to have Sidra watch when she returned.

“Mrs. Lauren will need to bring Mallayse to school and speak to me before she’ll be able to go back to class.” Mr. Moore told Derek, “It’s school policy with fighting.”

Derek nodded, agreeing that Mallay earned her punishment, but he’d been paying close attention to the footage and felt that Mallay wasn’t the only one who should be in this office. “However, I have a question before we leave. Is it also school policy to allow a student to get away with bullying?”

“What are you implying, Mr. Kalov?” Mr. Moore sputtered, his face turning red.

“We just saw the HoloVid, and you can easily see that large boy that little Mallay ‘so viciously attacked’ was bullying that Cathar girl,” Derek told him, a hard look on his usually kind face. “Turn up the volume, and listen to it again.”

Derek Kalov was a large Zabrak and when that look came over the former soldier’s heavily scarred face, he was an intimidating sight to behold. The much smaller Mr. Moore paled slightly, but also recognized the other man had a valid point. There had been complaints in previous years, but little had been done about it for obvious reasons, him being an all-star athlete and his father being on the school board being the top two. However, the dean had a feeling this family might not be the type to cross either and he had to admit that he was tired of some of the things the wealthy board members’ students were allowed to get away with. “I suppose I can listen to it again,” he finally admitted grudgingly.

“I hope you do, for your own sake.” Derek replied, “No one’s going to argue that Mallay was wrong to attack that young man the way she did, but you can be sure that Mrs. Lauren will be looking over the school policy on bullying after seeing this footage and expect some action to be taken against him for his part in what happened.” Mr. Moore nodded and Derek left with Mallay.

As soon as they got outside, Derek finally addressed his young charge directly, “I know you intend to go into the military, Mallay, and I want to give you some advice,” he started, “You’re going to encounter many people like that young man, unfortunately, so you need to learn to control your temper because you won’t go far if you openly assault your fellow soldiers.”

“I know, and that hasn’t been happening as much since Bella and I had it out a couple days before you introduced yourself,” Mallay sighed, “I guess I still have a lot of anger over what happened and every once in a while it surfaces.” Having come to trust their neighbor, Sidra eventually told Derek what happened the day her husband was killed.

“No one understands more than I do what that can be like,” he told her, touching his own scarred face. “Two good men died the day I got this, all over carelessness. I held a lot of anger over that for a long time and got into a fair share of trouble. Eventually I got lucky and was transferred to another unit where I had a patient and wise CO. He helped me deal with and control my temper, telling me to use it on the enemy instead of taking it out on allies. Just think of things that calm you until you can let the anger out constructively. For me, that was physical labor,” he smiled then, “and usually a punching bag.”

Mallay nodded, “I know the Yoga exercises I was given to help my body recover are calming…...running helps too. I guess I just have to find things to think of when I feel the anger coming until I am alone.” Then she grinned up at the softhearted Zabrak, “Maybe I’ll ask Mom to get me a punching bag.”

“That sounds like a good plan to me,” Derek chuckled then, his bright green eyes twinkling, “I’ve got to admit though…...you did a fantastic job taking care of that idiot. If you show that HoloVid to any military recruiter, your small size won’t be an issue at all!”

“Thanks!” Mallay beamed, “That guy’s a total jerk, he deserved what he got and I don’t think he'll easily forget it.”

“No, I don’t think he will,” Derek agreed, “Let’s not tell your mother that I praised you for your butt kicking skills though. Somehow, I don’t think she'd see it the same way.”

“It'll be our secret,” Mallay promised, giggling. Then she sobered, “and don’t worry, I know I'll have to be punished for being suspended. I'm sure Bella will bring me my assignments so I plan to keep up with my studies while I'm stuck home. Mom would probably ground me to the yard and not allow me to call any friends.”

“I know,” Derek shot her a sly look, "Maybe you should be confined to the kitchen with Helena and forced to bake us all treats with her as punishment!" Mrs. Mirren made the most wonderful tarts and pastries and she had taught Mallay well.

Mallay raised an eyebrow, "and just how is that punishment?"

"You're only allowed to eat one item!"

"Oh, that's torture for sure!!"

They were both laughing as they got on their speeders and headed back to the Lauren farm.

“Stars Mallay, that cake looks fantastic!” Bella told her sister, “Helena definitely taught you well! Derek better hurry or I’m going to start eating it without him!”

“It isn’t like him to be late.” Sidra commented, her blue eyes full of concern as she walked to the window again, feeling a little restless, “I hope nothing happened to him.”

They were celebrating Bella’s birthday. She’d actually turned seventeen three weeks ago, but had wanted to wait until the twins had their weekend home to celebrate it. They invited Derek and the Mirrens to dinner as well, but the Mirrens had to decline since Josef had recently broken his hip and it wasn’t easy for him to get around yet. Derek was overdue and there’d been no word from him.

“We might as well start dinner,” Sidra sighed, and called for the twins and Kit to come downstairs, “Hopefully whatever is keeping him isn’t bad.”

“He probably was just using every last bit of daylight to work on the fencing,” Mallay assured her mother. A harsh blizzard had torn through the region the week before, downing several trees and even a few small buildings. Derek had lost a few trees along one of his fence lines and wanted to get them repaired as soon as possible since he planned to start bringing in livestock at the first signs of the spring thaw.

They’d just sat down and started eating when there was a knock at the door. Despite protests from the girls, Sidra got up to answer it, the advanced stages of pregnancy making her movements slower. The truth was, she wasn’t that hungry and had been feeling restless all day so she assumed that the baby would be making his appearence within the next day or two.

“Hello Sidra,” Derek greeted her, his usual jovial voice was absent, replaced with a somber one. “I apologize for being late, but I got a call from one of my brother’s friends just as I was leaving.”

“Is everything alright?” Sidra asked him, noting the troubled sadness in his eyes as they went into the dining area.

“No, it isn’t,” he sighed, emotion thickening his voice. “My brother and his wife were killed this morning in an accident.”

The girls gasped in shock, except Lissa who’d sensed Derek’s great sadness before he’d even knocked on the door and had a glimpse of his thoughts. Sidra hugged the big man, sympathetic tears in her own eyes as she remembered their recent loss.

“Oh, Derek, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?” She knew that his brother was the last of his surviving family. He had lost his mother to illness when he was fresh in the military and his father had died when he was little.

“Oh, stars…..I really need your help! I’m the only family their daughter, my niece, has left,” he told them as he paced, running his hands through the horns on his bald head. “She’s coming to live with me in just a few days.” He stopped, his light green eyes filling with tears, “Sidra, I don’t know the first thing about children and I’ve only met her twice. Where do I start? What do I need? What if she hates me?”

“RIght now, you need to sit down and try to calm yourself,” she told him softly. “You’re a good, kind, caring man and your niece will love you. Don’t worry about the rest, just let yourself grieve and we can help you prepare,” she smiled warmly at him, giving his broad shoulder a squeeze, “I just happen to know quite a bit about raising girls.”

Derek relaxed and for the first time since he got that call, he didn’t feel lost. They sat back down to dinner, Derek a little subdued still, but smiling. Sidra told him that they’d all come over tomorrow and start helping him get his house ready. His six year old niece, Zaryn, was staying with the friend that had contacted Derek and he’d be bringing her to Dantooine in less than a week. She’d be bringing a small trunk with some clothes and a few stuffed animals, but other than that, Derek would need to get anything else she might need.

After they finished eating, Sidra brought out the cake and everyone sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Bella. They all praised a beaming Mallay for the wonderful job she did with the cake. An eager Bella opened her presents. Mallay got her an outfit she’d wanted after seeing it advertised on the HoloVid. The twins had given her a new makeup case and a gift card to the local beauty supply shop. Kit made her a cute card that Bella promised she’d give a place of honor on her dressing table mirror, and their mom had given her a new datapad, specially designed for logging cargo and keeping track of deliveries, prices, and accounts. It was perfect for Bella to use when she started making more deliveries after school let out for the summer. Sidra wasn’t thrilled with her daughter’s choice in careers, but had to admit, Bella had a knack for it and clearly happy. Along with the datapad, Sidra had also given Bella the usual credits to go shopping. The extremely fashion conscious Bella loved clothes and always strived to keep up with current trends. Derek’s present was last and Bella gasped when she opened it. Their thoughtful neighbor had bought Bella a brand new blaster pistol, one of the latest designs from the Czerka catalogue.

“When your mother told me what you had planned to do, I figured you should have your own blaster.” Derek explained, “This one’s smaller and lightweight, but very powerful and as soon as it warms up a little, I’ll help you learn to shoot better with each hand. Hopefully you’ll never have reason to use it other than target practice, but it never hurts to be prepared.”

“Thank you for thinking of that, Derek!” Bella told him, knowing the former military man had a vast knowledge of weapons, “Thank you everyone. I’m so glad we waited to celebrate until Lissa and Ros could be here.”

“I’m actually shocked you were able to wait three weeks to open your presents,” Sidra teased her oldest daughter who was notorious for trying to sneak peeks at gifts.

Her smile didn’t quite cover up the tension in her body, though, and Derek had noticed. Sidra had been pacing, rubbing her back the whole time Bella was opening presents and seemed a bit off. Derek had been watching her and was growing concerned with each moment that ticked by.

“Sidra, are you alright?” he finally asked, wondering if they needed to contact the village medic.

“Yeah…..I just feel so restless today…...unfocused,” Sidra nodded, rubbing her protruding belly as she began pacing again, “I think the baby may be coming soon, possibly as early as tomorrow. I’m not having any contractions yet, just back aches, so nothing to be too worried about. With the girls, I usually started getting fidgety and having contractions the day before they were born. I didn’t feel quite this restless though,” she admitted, “I just can’t sit still and it’s starting to irritate me to be honest.”

“You’ve got everything ready?”

“I do,” Sidra smiled as everyone began getting up from the table, “Bella and Mallay picked up some extra groceries on their way home from school, baby clothes are washed and put away, the bassinet is set up and waiting, and Mrs. Mirren is waiting for my call whenever I need her while the girls are at school.”

The girls and Derek started clearing the table and taking stuff into the kitchen. Sidra went over to help and was picking up the water pitcher when a huge contraction ripped through her. She dropped the pitcher, shattering it, and grasped the back of the chair as pain shot through her back. A second later, she felt her water break.

Derek and the girls came running in when they heard the pitcher break. Sidra looked at Derek, her anxiety showing on her face.

“I guess I was wrong,” she gritted out, clenching her jaw as another painful contraction gripped her, followed quickly by another, “this little one isn’t going to wait for tomorrow!”

“Mallay, go call the medic and tell her to get here quickly!” Derek told her, quickly taking charge. “Bella, let’s get your mom to her room and you can help her get changed.”

A burning sensation told Sidra she didn’t have long as another contraction hit her hard, “Stars, Derek, I don’t think I can make it up the stairs, this baby is coming now!”

Derek quickly scooped Sidra up and carried her to the guest bedroom. Ros sat and played with Kit while Bella and Lissa followed Derek into the spare room, Bella carrying plastic trash bags that she quickly covered the bed. As soon as Bella had a blanket covering the plastic, Derek lay Sidra down.

“Don’t worry Sidra, we can do this,” he assured her gently, his medic training taking over. “I need to see where we’re at, is that ok?”

Sidra nodded, tears glittering in her eyes, the pain making her unable to speak just then. Bella and Lissa were holding her hands, the latter using the Force to relax her mother as much as she dared. Derek carefully undressed Sidra and with Bella’s help, they got her covered with a sheet. Then Derek rolled up his sleeves and knelt down examine Sidra to how far along things were. He was shocked to see the baby crowning already.

“Okay Sidra, this baby is coming, right now in fact,” Derek told her gently, “Don’t worry, I’ve actually delivered a baby before and we can make it through this. Lissa, I need you to get some towels and the medic kit I know your mother keeps in the house…..quickly please. Bella, you need to get behind your mother and sit her up a little.” Both girls did as he asked without question and Derek got Sidra ready, bracing her feet on his chest and putting a hand on her abdomen to feel for the next contraction.

“Sidra, when I tell you, you need to push as hard as you can. Bella, you need to brace her as she pushes.” Then he chuckled, “Having been through this four times already, you probably know what you’re doing a bit better than I do.” He saw Sidra smile at that and noticed the awareness in her eyes, letting him know she was ready. He felt the next contraction start and told her to push. With a shout, Sidra complied, pushing as hard as she could just as Mallay and Lissa came in with the towels and medic kit.

“Mallay, open the med kit and bring it over here, and I need the towels too.” Derek instructed, “Hang on Sidra, the head’s out, don’t push anymore until I tell you.” He gently moved the cord away from the baby’s neck and grabbed an aspirator from the med kit. After he suctioned the mucus out of the baby’s nose and mouth, he waited for another contraction and told Sidra to push, guiding the baby as she did.

“That’s it, shoulders out, one more time Sidra,” he told her and with a fierce shout from Sidra, the baby was born at last, crying loudly. Derek suctioned more mucus, clamped the cord off and cut it. After he wrapped the baby in a towel, he handed him to his smiling mother, “you have a beautiful son, Sidra.”

There were tears in Sidra’s eyes as she smiled at her son, “Welcome home, little Jonah.” Upon finding out from Master Ny’laan that she was having a boy, Sidra and the girls all decided to name the baby after their father.

There were a lot of cheers and joyful cries then, Ros and Kit had entered the room when they heard the baby cry and both were alternately hugging their mother and cooing at their baby brother. Bella and Mallay were cleaning their mother up and Derek was delivering the afterbirth when they heard the knock on the door. Lissa answered the door and brought the medic into the guest room.

Dr. Bryce laughed when she saw Sidra holding her new baby, “I guess I took too long, but my speeder only goes so fast you know!” She went over to examine Sidra, shaking her head, “so tell me, what happened here? Mallay called me only twenty minutes ago!”

While Dr. Bryce examined the baby and the afterbirth, they gave her a rundown of what happened and the doctor in turn told Sidra that she’d been in labor all day. The back aches Sidra had been feeling were actually contractions. Then Dr. Bryce kicked everyone out of the room so she could examine Sidra and repair any damage. Mallay went upstairs and got a change of clothes for her mother. Bella found a change of clothes Derek had left behind when he and Helena had stayed with them while Sidra took the twins to the Temple and he gratefully accepted them before heading into the fresher to wash up. Derek had just finished when Dr. Bryce came out of the guest room.

“Well, Mr. Kalov, you did an excellent job delivering that baby.” Dr. Bryce announced, shaking his hand, “Both he and Sidra look great! She needs some rest now though, so if you can help her up to her bedroom, that’d be much appreciated.”

Derek went in, gently picked Sidra up, and carried her to her room. Bella followed with baby Jonah and handed him to his mom to be fed. Derek and Bella left the room, giving Sidra some privacy to nurse.

“Thank you, Derek. I don’t know what we would’ve done without you!” she hugged him as soon as they were in the hallway, noticing how worn out he appeared, “I’m so very sorry about your brother and his wife. I don’t know how much Mom will be able to help now, but Mallay and I will come over and help get things ready for Zaryn.”

“I really appreciate that, Bella,” Derek nodded, “but I don’t want to take away from your studies…..”

“You’re not taking away from that at all,” Bella assured him, “We just had mid-terms, so things will be slow this week and we can do our homework while we take breaks from getting stuff ready.”

They went downstairs to find Dr. Bryce had left and Ros was on the Holo with Master Ny’laan, telling him the news and letting him know that Sidra wouldn’t be able to bring them back to the Temple.

“Tell your mother not to worry, I will come and get you,” the Jedi smiled, “That way I can meet your new brother!”

Ros thanked him and signed off, then went over to help Mallay finish picking up the broken glass and mess from the pitcher Sidra dropped when her labor started. The C2 unit from Bella’s ship was already cleaning up the guest room, so Bella took a sleepy Kit upstairs to bed and checked in on her mom and brother. Baby Jonah was fast asleep in his bassinet next to the bed and Sidra was sleeping as well. Bella went downstairs to find Ros on the floor in front of the HoloVid, her eyes drifting shut, and an exhausted Derek softly snoring on the couch. A pale Lissa was sitting next to the large Zabrak, her aura glowing bright and tears in her sleepy silver eyes.

“Oh, Bella, he had so many emotions running through him that it was overwhelming for me so I tried calm him a little,” she whispered, her abilities having grown even more since arriving at the Temple. “I think I might’ve overdid it though ‘cause he’s out!”

“Why don’t you and Ros go upstairs to bed? I checked in on Mom and both she and baby Jonah are asleep. As soon as SeeTwo finishes in the guest room, I’ll get Derek to go to bed.”

Lissa yawned, getting up, “Yeah, Mallay figured he would be staying so she went out to put his speeder in the barn since it started snowing again. ‘Night sis.” Ros, having heard the conversation, got up as well and followed her twin upstairs to their room.

Mallay came back in the house, looking a bit frosty. “Stars, it’s getting nasty out there!” she muttered, shivering as she brushed the snow off her jacket before hanging it up, “I’m going to take a warm shower and go to bed. ‘Night Bella!”

A little while later, the C2 Unit came out of the guest room and told Bella it was all set. She thanked the protocol droid, then went over to the couch and gently woke Derek, telling him the guest room was ready. He murmured his thanks as he staggered into the room and practically fell into the bed, asleep as soon as his head settled on the pillow. Wow, Bella thought as she covered him up, Lissa really cratered him!

Then Bella finally went upstairs to the bedroom she shared with Mallay, who was already borrowed under a mound of blankets, sleeping, and got ready for bed, quickly drifting of herself. It had been an emotional day for them all, sadness at the loss of Derek’s brother, and joy over the birth of Jonah. One life ends, another begins.

The next morning, Mallay was the first one out of bed. Both she and Bella had gotten up with their mother during the night, helping her as needed. She went downstairs and got a fire going in the fireplace and was just starting breakfast when she heard a speeder. At first, she thought it was Derek heading home, but she never heard him get up. Curious, she peeked into the guest room and saw that the large Zabrak was still asleep. Then she realized the speeder was getting closer so she grabbed the blaster Derek got Bella for her birthday, charged it up, and went outside. Her breath froze in the chilly air as she looked out at the lovely scenery. Everything was blanketed with new snow that was just beginning to sparkle with the dawn’s light. The speeder was close enough by then that Mallay was easily able to recognize the driver, his familiar brown robes easily standing out, especially against a the crisp white backdrop. She waved at him, then pointed to the barn when he noticed her. The driver nodded his acknowledgement and turned the speeder to park it there as Mallay went back inside. A few minutes later their guest entered the house and Mallay couldn’t help but smile as the Jedi lowered his hood.

“Good morning Master Ny’laan!” She greeted him, “How'd you manage to get here so quickly?”

“I had just enough time to catch the last shuttle from the Temple after Roslynd contacted me,” he answered as he brushed the snow off in the doorway.

When he was certain he wouldn’t track snow all over the house, Master Ny’laan removed his heavy cloak and went to warm up by the fire. He smiled at Mallay as he rubbed his cold lekku, “It has been a while since I’ve experienced the winter season on a planet.”

Mallay giggled and told him to take his time warming up. Then she returned to the kitchen and found Bella cooking the breakfast she’d started getting together.

“Already borrowing my new toys, eh?” Bella smirked at her sister when she noticed her new blaster on Mallay’s belt.

“Oh, stars, Bella, I forgot I grabbed it. Sorry, just being cautious when I heard Master Ny’laan coming on the speeder.”

“I thought I heard his voice. He sure got here quickly,” Bella nodded as she turned the nerf sausages over in the frying pan. “I came in here to see breakfast started and decided to finish it. I figure you and I can head over to Derek’s house with him after breakfast. Master Ny’laan will be here with Kit and the twins and they can help Mom if she needs anything.”

“Sounds like a plan, sis,” Mallay agreed as she started cracking eggs into a large bowl.

By the time they started bringing stuff out, everyone was up. Derek had helped Sidra downstairs and Master Ny’laan was holding baby Jonah. Kit, Ros, and Lissa got up when they saw the food ready and started setting the table. Soon, everyone was eating breakfast, baby Jonah in the portable bassinet. Bella and Mallay told Derek they would go home with him so they could start getting a room ready for Zaryn. He looked a little less subdued this morning and was smiling when he thanked them. Lissa had confessed to Derek what she’d done, worrying that he’d be upset because she ended up going a little overboard in her efforts to calm him the night before and accidently knocked him out.

“I could never be upset with any of you, especially such a sweet youngling who helped me so much,” he reassured her, “I appreciate what you were able to do for me and hope the effort didn’t cost you too much.”

“I think I took some of your feelings on, so I was a little sad, but it passed quickly,” Lissa admitted, “and I was really tired after.”

“Your empathy is indeed growing stronger and rapidly,” Master Ny’laan mused. “I think I will need to work with you on shielding yourself so you can block out overwhelming emotions. We can start on that when we get back to the Temple tomorrow.”

“But isn’t it good that I sense emotions and can help people? Should I shield myself from that?”

“It is a good thing,” he agreed, “but you don’t want them to overwhelm you. There will be times when there are several at once, such as in a crowded room. Also there will be certain emotions that you will want to shield yourself from, such as anger and hate.” Then he nodded at Derek, smiling, “You will also need to control your calming abilities so you don’t take on too much of a persons’ feelings or render them unconscious.”

Everyone laughed at that and the twins and C2 began cleaning up the table. Derek, Mallay, and Bella bundled up and left for Derek’s house. Baby Jonah was asleep in his bassinet so Master Ny’laan helped Sidra upstairs to her room where he used the Force to heal her from Jonah’s birth. A little while later, the sore spots and bruises were healed, and the stretched skin and muscle was tightened back to what it had been to begin with.

“Stars, that's amazing!” she exclaimed, laughing. “I hardly feel like I was even pregnant! I don’t think I could possibly thank you enough for that!”

“I was more than happy to help,” he assured her, “I could sense your desire to help Derek get ready for his niece and frustration that you couldn’t because your body needed to recover. You still need to rest a little more, but should be back to your usual self by this afternoon.” Over breakfast, they had filled the kindly Jedi in on what happened to Derek’s brother and that his niece would be coming to live with him in just a few days.

“I did want to help him so very much, especially since he was so wonderful helping me deliver Jonah,” Sidra smiled gratefully, noting how tired he looked, “I really appreciate you healing me so I can help him, but I can see what it has cost you. Please, go rest now. The twins can watch over Kit and the baby so I can wash up and I will nap between feedings.”

Master Ny’laan nodded, exhausted from travelling through the night and healing Sidra. He was swaying a little as he made his way down the stairs to the guest room and much like Derek the night before, he was asleep as soon as his head was resting on the pillow. Sidra showered and dressed, marveling at the fact her body was already back to what it was before she’d gotten pregnant, something that usually took her weeks to achieve. Her body was nearly identical to Bella’s in build and she ended up having to go to her daughter’s closet for clothes to wear since her own pants and sweaters were way too big now. No wonder he looked like he was ready to pass out, she thought, it must've taken a great deal of energy to heal my body that much!

The day passed quickly, Sidra resting on the couch whenever Jonah slept, Kit and the twins taking turns watching over their new brother, playing games, and watching cartoons on the HoloVid. Master Ny’laan slept until mid afternoon, then helped Sidra get dinner ready. Bella and Mallay returned just as the twins finished setting the table. They bolted upstairs to wash up and when they got downstairs and finally saw their mother, they were shocked at her appearance.

“Wow Mom! You don’t even look like you were pregnant!” Mallay exclaimed, “I don’t remember you recovering that fast after the twins and Kit were born.”

“You look great, Mom!” Bella grinned, then those green eyes narrowed when she noticed what her mom was wearing, “Hey, did you raid my closet?!”

“Yes I did, Bella, and since I paid for most of that stuff, I didn’t think you'd mind,” Sidra smirked at her oldest daughter. “Master Ny’laan used his healing abilities to help me recover faster so I’d be able to help Derek get ready for Zaryn. But don’t worry, Bella, I won’t be borrowing your things for long. As soon as we get everything ready for Zaryn, I'll go shopping for new clothes. Until then, we'll just have to share since no matter how proficient with the Force he may be, there's no way Master Ny’laan can make me small enough to fit into Mallay’s stuff!”

“Oh, I wish he could…..at least below the chest,” Bella sighed and everyone laughed.

Sidra asked the girls why Derek didn’t come to dinner, a little surprised by that. Bella and Mallay explained that they had been busy making a list of things they needed then Derek took them shopping so they could help pick out things a six year old girl would be happy with. They were able get most of it right away, only having to order a few things. They got everything home and unloaded before the sun started getting low. The furniture would be delivered in a couple of days and Derek had wanted to start getting stuff washed so they could paint the room tomorrow. There were also a few repairs needed to make in the house before his niece arrived.

“We also got the feeling he needed some time alone,” Mallay admitted and Bella nodded in agreement. “We invited him to dinner, but didn’t push when he declined.”

“He’s had a lot come at him all at once,” Master Ny’laan said quietly, “he needs time to process everything. Derek is a strong man with a good soul and he will be fine.”

After dinner, the twins went upstairs to pack, since they’d be leaving with Master Ny’laan first thing in the morning to return to the Temple. Master Ny’laan was holding Jonah, enjoying the peace he always felt when visiting this family. Sidra was on the Holo with Helena, telling her about baby Jonah arriving, Derek’s part in that, the sad news of his brother, and that his niece was coming to live with him. Helena said she would send some cookies over to Derek when Zaryn was due to arrive and would visit as soon as Josef was a little more recovered. Bella was sitting on the floor, braiding Kit’s long black hair as she told her baby sister about the new friend that was coming to live with Derek. Mallay was mentally inventorying everything they had bought, trying to figure out if there was anything they had forgotten for Zaryn. Soon, they were all heading off to bed, anticipating a busy day tomorrow.

*****

The next morning, Mallay and Bella ate quickly, said their goodbyes to Lissa, Ros, and Master Ny’laan, and headed over to Derek’s house to help him paint Zaryn’s room. They wanted to get finished so it would have time to dry before the furniture arrived the next day. Soon after, Sidra and Master Ny’laan secured his and the twins packs on the large speeder he had arrived in and the three of them left for the shuttle pad. Sidra brought her own speeder up to the house, loaded the portable crib and a few supplies on it, and after bundling Kit and baby Jonah up, made her way to Derek’s house to help him get ready for Zaryn.

Derek, Bella, and Mallay had half the room painted when they heard Sidra’s speeder approach. The girls grabbed their coats and went out to help unload it. Derek was about to go help Sidra into the house when she came in with the baby. His heart stopped at the sight of her, Bella’s clothes showing off her slender, yet voluptuous figure. He’d barely registered that she had spoken to him, his face heating up she laughed.

“I guess you aren’t used to seeing me like this,” she smiled at his embarrassment. “It usually takes a lot longer for me to get back to normal after having a baby, but Master Ny’laan gave me a little help with the Force so I’d be able to help you this week.”

“Yeah and now she’s raiding my closet,” Bella snorted, smiling as she set up the crib so Sidra could put the sleeping infant down. Mallay and Kit came in a moment later carrying the rest of the stuff.

“I didn’t know if Zaryn would have warm clothes, so I went through some of Lissa’s things and brought a coat, some pants, shirts, and boots. Lissa is small for her age and her clothes might fit Zaryn, at least enough for her to get by until you can take her shopping if needed.” Sidra explained, pointing at the large bag Mallay had set down.

“Thank you Sidra, all of you, for everything.” Derek sighed, “I don’t know how I would've gotten ready without your help.”

Sidra hugged him, “You've done a lot for us, its the least we can do. I don’t know what I'd have done when Jonah decided to make his fast appearance if you hadn’t been there.”

Derek tried really hard not to notice how good Sidra smelled, or how soft her long, wavy, white blond hair felt against his cheek as she hugged him. She's a widow who is still getting over the loss of her husband, he told himself. Thankful when she stepped back since he was having a difficult time controlling his body's reaction to having those soft curves pressed against him.

They all went upstairs to finish painting, Kit staying downstairs to watch over her baby brother, promising to come and get them when he woke. Derek put cartoons on for her to watch while she kept an eye on Jonah.

*****

The next few days passed quickly, Sidra, Kit, and Jonah spending most of the day at Derek’s house getting everything washed and put together. Bella and Mallay came after school to help out as well and by the end of the week, everything was as ready as it could be. Zaryn’s room was perfect for a little girl. Derek had made repairs to the refresher and repainted it as well. The kitchen had also needed updating and the pantry was now stocked with food which was appealing to both adults and children. Helena had sent over a large batch of cookies, promising to visit once Zaryn was settled in.

Sidra and the girls left for home that last evening with plans to return the next morning to wait for Zaryn to arrive. Sidra intended to wait until after Zaryn arrived to visit, but after seeing the worry that had come over Derek’s face when she told him, she changed her mind, promising to come in the morning instead.

Derek slept little that night, many emotions racing through his mind. He was still grieving for his lost brother, but glad the group responsible for the transport crash that killed him and his wife had been caught. He was nervous about Zaryn’s arrival. It had been three years since he had last seen her and he was worried she wouldn’t even remember him. What if she hates me? What if she's afraid of me?

Those anxious thoughts were foremost in his mind this evening. He was a large man with half of his face scarred from an explosion early in his military career. His appearance might frighten a young girl which was one of the many reasons he wanted Sidra there when Zaryn arrived. That way if she was frightened of him, Sidra could help calm her.

Sidra was such a wonderful mother….a wonderful woman altogether. A really attractive woman who was occupying his thoughts a lot these past few days and he was a bit embarrassed to admit he wasn’t thinking about her motherly qualities most of the time. Exhaustion finally took over and Derek fell asleep for a couple of hours.

****

Sidra and the girls arrived shortly after breakfast and they all waited in the living room for Zaryn to arrive. Derek was pacing when they heard a speeder in the distance. Sidra, Mallay, and Bella got up and put their coats on so they could help unload Zaryn’s stuff. The speeder stopped in front of the house and a tall Mirialan male got off, holding the hand of an adorable Zabrak girl, who had the same tan skin as her uncle and golden hair. Sidra smiled at the little girl and told her to go inside where her uncle was waiting for her. The Mirialan introduced himself as Rand, explaining that he was a friend of Derek’s late brother. Sidra told Rand she was Derek’s neighbor and Bella and Mallay were her daughters.

“Let’s get this stuff in the house, it's still freezing out here!” Bella cried, the rest agreeing with her and they hurried to unpack and went in the house.

They found Derek, tears in his bright green eyes, holding a crying Zaryn in his big arms, softly telling her that he would do anything and everything he could to make her happy. Sidra heard Jonah waking, shrugged her coat off, and took him into the spare bedroom room to change and nurse him. Bella, Mallay, and Rand took Zaryn’s things up to her room. Kit walked over to Derek and looked up at Zaryn.

“Hi!” she chirped, “I’m Kitannya, everyone calls me Kit though. I'm five.”

Zaryn sniffed, and looked at Kit who was smiling up at her, “Hi,” she replied softly, “I’m Zaryn and I'm six.”

Derek put her down and Kit gave her a hug. “You crying 'cause you miss your Momma and Daddy?” Kit asked.

Zaryn nodded, tears in her honey colored eyes.

“I miss my Daddy too, but Master Ny’laan says he's with the Force. I don’t know what that means, but it makes everyone happy so its gotta be good. Maybe your Momma and Daddy are with my Daddy.”

"Maybe," Zaryn murmured, “Who's Master Ny’laan?”

“He's a Jedi!” Kit exclaimed, her face lighting up with excitement, “He made Mallay's boo-boos all better when our old house got blowed up and he can even make our dishes fly!”

Zaryn’s eyes got big, “Wow! I've never met a Jedi before!”

“My sissy Lissa and my sissy Ros are going to be Jedi too,” Kit boasted proudly.

"You’re so lucky!" Zaryn looked at Kit in awe, tears forgotten, “Are they here?”

“Nope," Kit shook her head, "Master Ny’laan took them back to the Temple to learn the Force this morning but they're gonna back next month.”

“Can I meet them?”

“Sure,” Kit told her, then her blue eyes widened, “Guess what?”

“What?”

“My Momma got a baby!” Kit announced, “Your uncle Derek helped the baby come out. I'm not sure how it got inside Momma's tummy, but he must've gotten super stuck. I think it scared Momma because she went pee on the floor! Derek took her into the guest room after she did that. And then Momma was screaming and Derek kept telling her to push. And then the baby came out and was crying a lot!”

Zaryn’s eyes were huge by the time Kit finished telling her version of events. “Oh, I like babies, can I see it?”

Rand, Bella, and Mallay had come down the stairs and witnessed the interaction between the children along with Derek and Sidra, who had come back in from feeding Jonah.

Kit looked over at her mother, who was shaking with laughter along with everyone else, “Momma, can Zaryn see the baby?”

“Sure,” Sidra smiled, her eyes still dancing with amusement, “go ahead and sit on the couch and I'll show you how to hold him.”

Zaryn and Kit took turns holding Jonah until he fell asleep, then Kit took Zaryn upstairs to play in her new room while Sidra, Bella, and Mallay went into the kitchen to fix lunch, leaving the guys to talk and watch over Jonah. Sidra was just about to let them know that lunch was ready when Derek came in to tell her that Jonah was awake, startling her.

“Careful there, Derek,” Mallay smirked, “You don’t want to make Mom pee on the floor!”

“Yeah, especially since those are my pants she is wearing!” Bella giggled.

They all laughed and Derek went up to tell the girls it was time to eat. They all enjoyed a nice lunch together, then Rand had to leave to catch the last shuttle to the spaceport. Sidra decided to take the girls home when Rand left so Derek could have time to get to know and bond with his niece.

“If you need anything at all, please call, but I think the two of you are going to be just fine" Sidra assured him.

“Can Kit come over to play again tomorrow?” Zaryn asked, the two girls best friends already.

“How about your Uncle Derek brings you over to our house after lunch tomorrow and you both can have dinner with us?” Sidra suggested, happy that the girls were getting along so well.

A hopeful Zaryn looked up at her uncle, who accepted the invitation, glad that his niece found a new friend in Kit.

“Thanks again, all of you for everything you did this week.” Derek told them as they got on their speeders.

“Hey, Derek,” Bella called out, her green eyes sparkling with amusement, “Thanks for getting that stuck baby out of Mom!”

Derek was laughing as he took his niece inside the house, and for the first time since he’d gotten the news about his brother, he felt like everything was going to be fine.

I have to admit, I really enjoyed writing the interaction between Kit and Zaryn....especially Kit's version of Jonah's birth!

“It’s time,” nineteen year old Bella told Mallay, “I have to leave for Nar Shaddaa in a couple of days to deliver some wine and liquor to two of the casinos there.” Several of the local vineyards and distilleries had been having Bella make their deliveries off planet for the past year. The deliveries were typically easy and the pay was good, so Bella never turned them down unless it was harvest time when she was needed to help out on the family farm.

“I don’t have anything going on until I have to leave for the academy,” Mallay shrugged, “So it works for me.”

It was a warm summer afternoon and the girls were returning to the house from swimming at the pond that bordered the Lauren farm, the Kalov ranch, and the Mirren Orchard. Mallay turned eighteen a couple of months ago and had just graduated from secondary school. She’d been accepted into the Republic Military Academy and would be heading off to Coruscant as soon as harvest was over.

Bella graduated the year before and had been making deliveries in her freighter ever since. She was enjoying herself and her business savvy combined with her good looks and natural charm made her quite successful in her endeavors so far. She almost saved enough money to do a little redecorating to the inside of her ship, intending to remove all traces of Jackson and make the freighter truly hers at last.

Derek kept his word and taught Bella how to shoot a blaster with each hand. She proved to be a natural with it and could easily use two blasters at once. It wasn’t very often flirtatious beauty had to use her blasters, but when she did, her target deeply regretted getting her to that point. Their retired military neighbor had also taught Mallay to shoot as well, a skill she would certainly need to enter the military herself. He’d also put in a good word with some of his old military contacts about Mallay and that as well as her good grades and athleticism was more than enough to secure her a spot at the acedemy.

“Do you think Mom’s going to be upset?” Mallay wondered out loud, glancing sideways at her sister.

“Eh, I’m sure she won’t be thrilled, but its your choice and you are an adult now.” Bella admitted, “Are you sure you still want it?”

“Absolutely! I love your design and I think it’ll be an adventure,” Mallay beamed, “and let’s face it, it couldn’t possibly make me look any worse!”

“It’s settled then. I’ll contact that tattoo artist I met on Nar Shaddaa and make the arrangements. From what I’ve read, he’s the best on the planet and even sought after by celebrities. The deliveries won’t take long at all and as soon as the cargo’s picked up, we can head to the Promenade.”

When they got back to their house, they saw that Derek was there with Zaryn already. The three families still took turns every week having dinner at their house on the weekend. The Mirrens, who never had children of their own, had become like grandparents to the Lauren siblings and Zaryn. Kit and Zaryn were best friends, Zaryn being only a year older than Kit. Sidra and Derek had become good friends with each other and with Josef and Helena Mirren. The four adults often got together to watch movies and play cards.

“It’s about time you girls got back,” Sidra told them, “I just heard from Lissa and Ros. They’ll be coming home for their birthday in two weeks and will get to spend the entire week here.”

“That’s fantastic news, Mom,” Mallay smiled. They hadn’t been sure that the twins would get to spend their usual week home from the Jedi Temple during their birthday because it was around the same time as their trials that year.

“Hey Mom, Mallay’s going to come with me to Nar Shaddaa to make a delivery in a couple of days.” Bella told her mother.

“Uh-oh, the two of you loose on Nar Shaddaa,” Derek chuckled, “someone should warn the Hutt Cartel!”

Bella smirked at the large Zabrak, “Trust me, that won’t help! We are talking about Nar Shaddaa here, you can’t go far without running into something totally fun!”

“Just don’t have too much fun, girls, I want you back in one piece by the time Lissa and Ros get here.” Sidra muttered as she ran after two year old Jonah who had recently taken to shucking his clothes and running around naked.

“Aww Mom, don’t be such a buzzkill! Trust me, we will be back in plenty of time and I swear we won’t do anything illegal.” Bella assured her mother.

“Is anything actually illegal on Nar Shaddaa?” Derek asked, earning a grin from Bella and Mallay.

“That isn’t funny!” Sidra retorted, dragging the naked tot back to the house.

“Now that’s a boy who knows the simple pleasures,” Helena’s jovial voice called out, her and Josef having just pulled up in their speeder. Then she looked over at Bella and Mallay’s bikini clad bodies and laughed, “I swear, their bathing suits get skimpier every year! In my day, we kept ourselves covered better than that, at least until we were someplace private, like the house, or a barn…..sometimes a speeder….”

“Helena!” Josef cried out, shaking his head, “You don’t need to be telling them that!”

“Oh, Josef, when did you become such a prude?! I mean just this morning….” Helena started, but was interrupted when Josef covered his feisty wife’s mouth with his hand.

Everyone else was laughing at that point, happy for the couple who was still so obviously in love after all of their years together.

Two days later, Bella and Mallay were on their way to Nar Shaddaa. Bella contacted the Star Cluster and Club Vertica casinos, letting them know they were on the way with their cases of wine and liquor, then carefully plotted the course in the freighter’s navacomputer, noting that they’d have to jump hyperlanes twice, and finally put the ship on autopilot. They’d arrive on Nar Shaddaa in roughly thirty-six hours. The first lane jump wasn’t for another ten hours, so the girls headed to bed. They’d gotten a late start that evening since the vineyard was a little behind getting the order together and it was dusk by the time they left Dantooine with the cargo.

Bella reluctantly woke to her alarm eight hours later, shaking her head at her sister’s empty bunk. Bella had stripped the Captains quarters of all Jackson’s things not long after the family had settled on Dantooine, piling all the clothes together in the fire pit and setting it ablaze. She sold most of the furniture and few decorations, but the bed and wardrobe were still the original ones as well as the wall coverings and sheets. Since they served as a reminder to losing her virginity to a man who betrayed her so badly, Bella couldn’t bring herself to sleep in the quarters until she was able to paint the walls and buy a new bedroom furniture. She’d be able to do exactly that with the credits from this delivery, but until then, she’d slept in the crew quarters.

She found her sweaty sister in the rec room in her exercise clothes, eating a huge bowl of Fruity Stars. She couldn’t understand how someone could rise and shine like her sister did, not to mention exercise. Not that Bella had anything against that, in fact she regularly did yoga with her sister in order to keep strength, balance, and maintain enough flexibility for those adventurous lovers. She just didn’t feel the need for strenuous activity first thing in the morning…..unless it involved a bed and a hot bodied man.

“Did you save me any?” Bella called out as she headed into the galley.

“Mmmm-hmm,” Mallay answered, her mouth full. She swallowed, then shot her sister a cheeky smirk, “There’s at least half a box left for you.”

“How can you just get up and be so karking chipper?” Bella muttered, pouring herself a bowl of cereal, “I can barely resist smashing the alarm and you’ve already had a workout and breakfast.”

“I made caf too, grumpy,” Mallay grinned, “Should be ready now so bring me a mug, will ya?”

“Just because I don’t act like someone shoved a bottle of sunshine up my butt doesn’t make me grumpy,” Bella shot back, pouring her sister some caf.

“Nope, but the whining does,” Mallay snickered, “Tell you what, I’ll cook us breakfast tomorrow morning and if it makes you happy, I’ll bake some cookies later.”

“I feel better already,” Bella smiled, handing over the caf. Both girls were good cooks, having learned at an early age when their mother needed help after having the twins, but Mallay was definitely the better of the two, especially with deserts.

The following afternoon, Bella contacted the casinos when they landed and within an hour, their cargo was being unloaded and Bella had the payment. She locked down the ship as soon as all of the cargo was unloaded and tipped the spaceport security well to ensure no one entered the hangar after she left. They were familiar with Bella and liked the pretty, young spacer who often played sabacc with them and shared the wonderful treats her family always sent with her. Sure enough, she had a large box of cookies for them.

“Where do you manage to get these fantastic cookies?” one of the security officers asked her, eagerly opening the box.

The girls giggled and Mallay admitted, “I made these yesterday.”

“Yeah, Mallay here likes to bake and made enough to feed a small army. Plus our neighbor usually sends food as well despite the fact that I’m usually on my own,” Bella rolled her eyes.

“We’re definitely happy to take anything you don’t want!” the officer assured her, his partner nodding.

“Thanks guys!” Bella laughed as they left the hanger, “Now we are off to get me some new stuff and Mallay tattooed!”

They took a taxi to the Promenade and since they had an hour before Mallay’s appointment, the girls went shopping for new bedroom furnishings for Bella’s quarters now that she had enough credits to remodel them. Luckily, Bella knew exactly what she wanted and placed the order with the merchant after confirming they still had her choices available for immediate sale. Since she figured she’d be spending a lot of time on her ship, she spared no expense in comfort and luxury, choosing her favorite colors and fabrics.

After she arranged for delivery of the furniture, paint, and bedding, Bella and Mallay walked to the tattoo parlor. They were a few minutes early, but saw no one else in the colorful waiting room. Bella asked for the owner, Ty, telling the girl at the counter they had an appointment. She nodded as she pushed a button and a moment later, a large, well built, light green Twi’lek came out.

“Pretty Bella!” he called out smiling, “and this lovely young woman must be Mallay! I finished up with the last guy early so come on back ladies, and we can get started.”

The girls followed Ty back to his work area and Bella took out another copy of the design she’d created. She already sent one to Ty when she made the appointment so he’d have time to look it over, but wanted him to have a hard copy as well.

Ty asked Mallay to remove everything from the waist up and to lay on the table. Mallay did as he asked, also putting her thick hair, which now reached the middle of her back, into a ponytail. Ty brought the overhead light down closer to her back, wanting to study the area he’d be working with.

“This should work just fine,” he told them, studying Mallay's back and Bella's design side by side, “I may have to make a few minor changes in the patterns when I get to her scar tissue in order for everything to blend well.”

“I expected that might be the case,” Bella assured him, “and that’s fine. After we met the last time I was here, I did my research and you certainly are the best around so I trust your judgment.”

“Thank you,” Ty beamed, “and you are truly gifted with designs, my dear. I was really excited after you sent me the copy on my datapad.” He admitted, “Now Mallay, this’ll probably take about five hours to complete so if you need to use the ‘fresher, now’s the time. I can stop if needed, but its best if I don’t have to.”

Mallay nodded and got up to use the refresher. When she got back out, Ty had everything ready to start. “Also, and I warned your sister of this when she first contacted me, its going to get painful when we get to your scar tissue, so you might want to be sedated for that part.”

“Yes, Bella told me and we came prepared.” Mallay replied and he got to work.

Mallay had a high tolerance to pain as the result of what she’d been through, so she was easily able to keep still through the tattoo process. Ty had given her a small mirror she could use with the larger one attached to the overhead light to see her back as it was being tattooed. It was turning out very nice by the time the talented artist got to the scar tissue and he paused for a brief moment while Bella sedated Mallay.

The whole time Ty was focusing on tattooing Mallay, Bella was focusing on the very good looking Twi’lek, regretting that she didn’t have time to hook up with him when they’d met that last time she was on planet. A couple of hours later, he was finished and they both admired his work for a moment. Then he cleaned Mallay off, applying kolto after the excess ink and blood had been wiped clean, and turned to the very attractive young red-head.

“Well pretty Bella, how much longer is your sister going to be out?” he asked, a teasing smile on his handsome face.

“Oh, about an hour. Do you need me to wake her sooner so you can close up shop?” she asked, already having an idea what the answer would be. Ty, Bella, and Mallay were the only ones left in the shop and Ty was definitely showing the signs of a man who was interested in having a little fun.

“Not at all, you can let her sleep. I was merely wondering how I could best entertain you while she sleeps.”

“Well, what did you come up with?” she purred as she slowly sauntered over to Ty, a suggestive smile on her face as those green eyes boldly appraised the tall male.

“How about I just show you,” he murmured as his lips met hers. They wasted no time, quickly making their way back to his office, shucking clothes as they went and shut the door.

Mallay woke, startled, feeling drugged and groggy. She swore she’d a scream and looked around, confused about where she was for a moment. She sat up, then everything came back to her when she felt the soreness on her back. Suddenly she heard Bella cry out and Mallay jumped up off the table, grabbing her shirt to cover herself and arming herself with the small blade she always had tucked in her boot. She ran to the closed door and when she heard her sister cry out again, she kicked it open, gasping at the sight in front of her.

“Oh stars, Bella, I thought he was attacking you!” Mallay cried, blushing. Mortified, she quickly shut the door so Bella and Ty could finish enjoying each other’s company in private.

“I so did not need to see that,” she muttered to herself as she walked back to the table, snatching her bra off the chair before going into the refresher. She carefully dressed, the soreness making her movements a little shaky, then splashed some cold water on her face to ward off the effects of the sedatives. After she finished, she went to the waiting room area, not quite sure how she was going to face either of them after what she’d walked in on.

A little while later, Bella and Ty came out of the office, smiling. Mallay’s cheeks grew hot again when she saw them, but she managed to stammer out an apology.

“Think nothing of it,” Ty chuckled good naturedly, “I can call a friend to keep you company if you’d like.”

Bella, who thought another round with Ty would be fantastic, silently pleaded with Mallay to accept Ty’s offer. However, the sedatives had worn off and Mallay was feeling a little too sore to be ‘entertained’ by one of Ty’s friends.

“Uh, thanks Ty, but I’m not really feeling up to that right now.” She admitted.

Bella sighed, her disappointment obvious, “I guess we’d better settle up for Mallay’s tat and let you close up shop.”

“I understand,” Ty told Mallay and they settled the bill, which was a bit less than he originally quoted.

“No ladies, I didn’t take off for that,” he assured them after seeing the incredulous looks both girls were giving him. “I quoted the price before I’d actually seen your back and I’m hoping you’ll do me a small favor. If its okay with you, I’d like to display the photo I took of your back before and after your tat here in the shop,” he gestured at the wall where several samples of his work were displayed, “I get a few people in here with scars and it would be a tremendous help if I had something to show them. This is also probably one of the best works I have done in a very long time. I could credit you with the design of course, Bella.”

“I have no problem with that,” Mallay shrugged, turning to her sister who nodded her acceptance.

“Is there any way you could send me a picture after your tat heals?” Ty asked.

“Sure,” Mallay replied, liking the big, friendly Twi’lek and she took the card he handed her with his info.

The girls left the shop so Ty could lock up, Bella promising to look him up the next time she was on planet. They stopped at a liquor shop on their way to the taxi, Bella buying two large bottle of Hutt Tequila. She gave one bottle to the security guys at the hanger, thanking them for watching over her ship. She also told them she was expecting furniture to be delivered in the morning. They thanked her for the tequila and noted the morning delivery on the log for the next shift.

The girls boarded the ship and changed into their sleep clothes before settling in the rec room where they queued up an old favorite romantic comedy. Bella opened the other bottle she’d bought, taking a large swallow before passing it to Mallay.

“How ya feeling, sis?” Bella asked her, laughing as Mallay sputtered after taking a large swallow of the tequila.

“Sore,” Mallay croaked after she stopped coughing, “not too terribly though.”

“It looked painful to me, but I think it turned out gorgeous!” Bella told her, taking another swig of tequila, “I can’t wait to see what it looks like after the redness goes away.”

“I think I’m glad you knocked me out when he got to my scars,” Mallay admitted, “although I wish I hadn’t been so abruptly awakened!”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Bella grinned sheepishly, “Ty is a very skilled man!”

“Um….yeah, I heard….and noticed. I’m not sure there’s enough alcohol to purge that image from my mind,” Mallay snorted, taking another swallow.

“Oh, come on Mallay, you have to admit, Ty has a fantastic body,” Bella giggled, feeling the effects of the tequila, “and boy, does he know how to use it!”

“I gotta give ya that much, sis,” Mallay smiled, a little hiccup escaping as she noticing a pleasant warmth spreading through her, “Ty does have a nice bod! How come you two didn’t hook up when you met?”

“No time,” Bella sighed dreamily, recalling that first meeting, “I met him at the Club Vertica casino, we literally bumped into each other. Ty was on his way to tattoo a wealthy performer that asked for the tat to be done in his suite at the casino. I was there finishing a delivery. One of the small cases of liquor had been left behind and I didn’t want the casino to think I was cheating them, so I was delivering it myself. I wasn’t paying attention and crashed into Ty at the door. He flirted with me a little and introduced himself, asking me out for a drink after he finished with his client. I had to turn him down, because I had another delivery to make off planet. I took his info card, promising to get in touch with him the next time I was on planet.”

“That sucks, but at least you got to enjoy that fab bod this time!” Mallay giggled, “Stars, he was built so nicely…...very hot. I’m soooooo sorry about busting in on you, but hey, what would you do if you awoke in a strange place, drugged, and heard me cry out?!”

“Yeah, sorry about scaring you like that, but as I already said….Ty is very skilled and thorough with that fine body of his! And you should’ve seen what he was packing below the belt….”

“I got a fair idea,” Mallay nodded, looking wistful as she sighed, “It’s alright sis, I envy you actually.”

Bella groaned, “you should have taken Ty up on the offer to call his friend….I would’ve loved another go with him!”

“I’ll bet, judging from the noises coming from his office.”

“Hey, I’m sure you would’ve enjoyed it.” Bella smirked, “Besides, it is about time you do the deed, you know. You don’t want to be a virgin forever!”

“What makes you think I’m still a virgin?”

“Are you telling me you’re not?!”

“No, sister dearest, I’m not!” Mallay told her, laughing when Bella choked on her tequila.

“Oh, you better spill right now! When? Who? And why am I just hearing about this now?!”

“Actually it was just recently….right before graduation. You were on a delivery, and Brent Wilkes and I decided to go for it.” Mallay admitted, then took a drink, feeling a little lightheaded.

“Wait, isn’t he friends with that jerk I graduated with, Mitch Davies, you know...that stupid jock you took down our first year on planet? I didn’t know you were going out with him.”

“I wasn’t going out with him, still not in fact, but we got to be friends during Track season. He wasn’t that good of friends with Mitch, they just were on the Huttball team together.”

“So….” Bella prompted, taking another drink, her focus starting to waver.

“So, Brent snuck over one night and I met him at the pond. We went skinny dipping and one thing led to another….”

“How was it?”

“Eh, nothing spectacular. Honestly, I don’t see what all of the fuss is about. It hurt like hell but luckily it was over really fast.”

“Wow, sis….uh…..that sucks!” Bella smirked, hiccupping, “Maybe I should’ve let you have Ty. He knows what he’s doing with a woman and you’d certainly know what the fuss was about!”

“Maybe I’ll find someone who ish better at th’acadamy,” Mallay sighed, slurring a little.

Bella hiccupped again and giggled as the room began to spin a little, “I think we’re getting tipshy, letsh goto bed.” She capped the half empty bottle and they staggered to the crew quarters, Mallay falling into her bunk. Bella hollered for C2 and told him to wake her when the furniture arrived, then promptly passed out.

Sidra sighed as she signed off of the Holo, feeling both proud and sad, I knew it would eventually come to this. Her twin daughters Lissa and Ros, who just turned nineteen this summer, had called to tell her they would be leaving for Tython in two months to finish their training.

One by one, her babies were growing up and leaving the nest. Twenty-three year old Mallay was currently stationed in The Outer Rim, serving in the Republic military. To no one’s surprise, she’d finished top of her class at the academy in several areas last year and was quickly advancing through the ranks. Derek commented often that she’d pass his rank at retirement well before she hit thirty. Sidra was proud of her daughter, but like any mother she worried about Mallay being a soldier. She knew Mallay was happy where she was, but she often prayed for her daughter to be stationed somewhere safer like Coruscant.

Her oldest child, twenty-four year old Bella, was travelling all around the galaxy hauling cargo in her freighter and was rarely at home for more than two days a week. She made all the deliveries for their farm, the Kalov ranch, and the Mirren Orchard and several other local businesses had contracted her as well. Bella had already used a large portion of her earnings to gut the interior of her ship last year, wanting to remove the last traces of its former owner, Jackson, but now she was saving up for a place of her own. Sidra had been relieved when Bella started looking locally for land of her own and hoped she’d end up staying on Dantooine.

With the twins going off to Tython in a couple of months, Sidra would be left with only two of her babies at home. However she knew they would leave home someday as well, but thankfully Bella still lived at the farm, and Mallay came home as often as possible. Sidra hoped Lissa and Ros would be able to do the same once they finished their final trials on Tython.

The sound of a speeder approaching broke into her musings and Sidra called out for Kit, who just had her thirteenth birthday last week, “Hurry up Kit, Derek and Zaryn are here!”

Derek was taking Kit and his fourteen year old niece Zaryn to a sleepover at one of their friend’s houses. He’d volunteered to take the girls since Sidra had to take seven year old Jonah to a birthday sleepover at another house.

Kit bounded down the stairs as only an excited teenager could do. Her long black hair was swaying in its ponytail and blue eyes dancing with excitement as she rushed out the door. Kit always loved parties and both she and Zaryn were popular girls at school. Sidra waved at Derek as he helped Kit secure her pack on the speeder, tucking an errant lock of silvery blond hair behind her ear as she once again found herself thinking of the tall, good looking Zabrak more as a man and not just her neighbor and friend. When she’d first started realizing her attraction to him, it had scared her a little, not to mention the guilt she’d felt. It took Sidra nearly year before she finally admitted her feelings to her elderly neighbor Helena. A smile curved her full lips as she recalled that conversation earlier this Spring

“Sidra dear, you are only forty-four years old. You’re still a young woman and Jonah has been gone for eight years now.”

“I know, and for the most part I think I’ve moved on,” she admitted, “But there’s still a small piece of me that feels like I’m cheating on him when I think about Derek.”

“I think most young widows feel that way and some never get over it enough to love again,” Helena patted her hand, “but I really hope that doesn’t happen with you.”

“I just don’t know if Derek feels the same attraction for me that I feel for him,” Sidra sighed, giving voice to another fear causing her to hesitate, “He’s been such a good friend to me and the kids….and the only father figure Jonah has known. I don’t want to do anything to ruin that.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure he has had feelings for quite some time now,” Helena snorted, the familiar twinkle in the elderly woman’s eye appearing as it did whenever she knew some big secret. “I’ve caught him looking at you and not as your neighbor either, but as a man looks at a woman he wants.”

“I just don’t know what to do, Helena.”

“Well, I can tell you this,” she started, “From what you have told me through the years, Jonah was a good man and I’m sure he wouldn’t want the woman he loved so much to spend the larger portion of her life alone. Derek is a good man, both in looks and personality and at forty-seven, he still has a long life ahead of him. Think about that, Sidra. You could both make each other very happy.” Then an impish grin crossed her wrinkled face, “As for what to do…..well you do have six children my dear so I think you know how to have sex, but if you need a reminder…..there are some channels on the HoloVid that might help.”

Her feisty friend had passed away quietly in her sleep a week after that conversation and her beloved husband Josef followed just a few days later. The couple had left their orchard to Mallay since she’d often spent her summer days there and they had no children of their own.

Sidra had given a lot thought about what Helena had said for a long time after. Deciding to take the risk, she started shopping for clothes that showed off her slim, voluptuous figure tastefully and had even bought some racy underthings from Bella, Mallay, and the twins’ favorite lingerie shop. So far, Sidra hadn’t done anything about her attraction to Derek yet since summer kept them both busy, her with the twins’ birthday and having both Kit and Jonah out of school, and Derek had the demands of the ranch taking up his time, routine maintenance and getting livestock ready for market, plus Zaryn was off of school as well. However with the kids now back in school, Harvest nearly over on her farm, and things slowing down on Derek’s ranch, Sidra decided it was time to take the plunge and act on her feelings. Her thoughts were once again interrupted, this time by the Holoterminal in the house and Sidra hurried back inside to answer it as Derek, Zaryn, and Kit.

“Hey Mom,” Bella greeted her, “I just wanted to call real quick to let you know I won’t be home until late tomorrow. A last minute delivery came up and I decided to take it since it’s on the way.”

“No problem sweetheart, thanks for letting me know. I do have some news though, Lissa and Ros are going to Tython in a couple of months to finish their training there.”

“That’s great!” Bella grinned, then her expression sobered as she remembered how much her mother missed missed Mallay after she left for the academy, “How are you holding up?”

“Fine for the most part,” Sidra sighed, “I always knew they would end up leaving Dantooine at some point. It’s just hard seeing my babies growing up so fast!”

“Well, I’ll make sure that I stay home a little more for the next few weeks to keep you company until you adjust.”

“Bella, you don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine,” Sidra insisted, not wanting to hold her daughter back, “Kit and Jonah are still here and I have Derek and Zaryn to keep me company as well. You have a life to live, don’t put it hold for your mother!”

A buzzer sounded in the background and Bella told her mother she needed to get going so the men who’d just arrived could load the cargo onto her ship. Sidra signed off, then noting the time called out for Jonah to come downstairs.

“It’s time to go, Jonah! Are you ready?” Her answer came as a small clone of her late husband racing down the stairs. A few minutes later, Sidra had loaded her son’s pack on their speeder and they took off for his friend’s house.

A little while later, Sidra was just walking back into the house from dropping Jonah off when the Holoterminal chimed again. Stars, that thing is busy today, she mused as she answered it and much to her surprise, Mallay’s image came into view.

“Hey Mom, I don’t have much time,” Mallay spoke up first, sounding a little rushed.

“Are you okay, sweetie?” Sidra asked, worry furrowing her brow.

“Fine, Mom…...actually great in fact,” Mallay explained, a broad smile lighting up her scarred face, “I just got promoted to Sergeant and reassigned to Spec Forces!”

“That is great news!” Sidra told her daughter, desperately trying to hide her anxiety. Spec Forces meant Mallay would be going into more dangerous situations, something that no mother wanted for her child.

“Yeah, I just got my orders an hour ago and I still don’t know exactly where I’m going yet. They just told me I have two hours to pack up and move out, so I really need to keep this short.”

“I understand sweetie, and I have news too,” Sidra told her daughter, “The twins will be going to Tython in a couple of months to finish their training and have their final trials.”

“You going to be ok?”

“Bella asked me the same thing and offered to stay around for a while,” Sidra rolled her eyes, those blue orbs identical to the daughter she was speaking to. “Do I really come across as being that needy?!”

“No you don’t…..we just know how much you love us and worry about us when we’re not at home,” Mallay assured her mother as she glanced down at her wrist chrono, “Oh geez…..sorry Mom, I hate to cut this off but I really have to get moving!”

“It’s alright,” Sidra smiled, “You be careful Mallay, and call me when you can!”

This time it was Mallay who rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face remained, “I’ll be fine, Mom. I don’t know when I’ll get the chance to call, but I should have time after reach my destination and check in with my new CO. Love you Mom!”

“Love you too, Mallay”

Sidra signed off and was headed to the kitchen to check on the food when she heard a speeder approaching in the distance. Derek was coming over and the two of them were going to have dinner and watch a movie. She’d gotten everything ready for dinner while the kids were getting packing for their overnight stays, leaving it to keep warm in the oven until Derek arrived. Feeling a bit of giddy excitement, Sidra ducked into the refresher to give herself a quick look over before Derek got there. By the stars, I’m starting to act just like Bella, she mused as she dabbed a little more gloss on her lips. She was satisfied with her reflection when she gave a final check in the mirror and glad she’d given her wardrobe some much needed attention for despite having borne six children, her figure was still pleasing to the eye and like her oldest daughter, she enjoyed showing it off for a handsome man.

“Just in time,” she told Derek when he came in a few moments later. She’d just finished setting the food out on the table so they sat down.

“Zaryn is going to call in the morning when her and Kit are ready to be picked up,” Derek told her, then mischief sparked in those bright green eyes, “I can’t imagine what those parents were thinking having that many teenage girls over for a sleepover!”

Sidra grinned, “I’ll bet it’ll be a long time before they’re willing to do it again!” Then her expression sobered a little as she told Derek about hearing from the twins, Bella, and Mallay.

“Mallay’s going to go far,” Derek nodded, momentarily dazed by that dazzling smile. Then he managed to focus, “She’s pretty young to be tagged for Spec Forces, but they wouldn’t assign her there if she wasn’t ready.”

“I just hope she can stay in one piece!” Sidra’s voice cracked as she gave voice to her biggest fear.

“Mallay is a strong and very talented young woman with a good head on her shoulders,” Derek grasped her hand across the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze, “She’ll be fine Sidra…...Mallay’s a born survivor.”

“I know, “ Sidra sighed, wiping a tear from her eye, “But I’m her mother and will always worry. No matter how grown they are, they’ll always be my babies!”

“I understand,” he admitted, “She may not be my biological child, but I feel the same way about Zaryn.”

“Your niece is such a sweet young lady,” Sidra smiled, “Her temperament is so much like yours and I’m truly happy that her and Kit are such good friends. Bella and Mallay were always very close and the twins were inseparable. I felt bad that Kit didn’t have that. We are all close as a family, but I’m glad to see Kit having that special bond with Zaryn.”

“Me too,” Derek murmured thickly, “I was worried when she came to live with me…...a single man who knew next to nothing about kids. You guys were lifesavers and I don’t know how I could’ve managed without you all these years Sidra. But Kit…..that very first day she got Zaryn to smile and for the first time since finding out about Darryl’s accident, I felt that things might be okay.”

They finished dinner a little while later and Derek helped Sidra clean up and put everything away, trying hard not to notice how well her shirt clung to her curves and failing badly. He was well aware of the fact that for the first time they were completely alone, and thoughts of what he would like to do with the beautiful woman in front of him had him shaking a little as they finished up in the kitchen. After everything was put away, Derek turned on the HoloVid to watch a movie while Sidra brought out a big bowl of popcorn. Derek immediately spotted one that he wanted to see.

“How about that one?” he asked, a pleading look on his face when he spotted one he’d been wanting to see. Sidra didn’t care for action movies that much, but agreed to it since they watched one of her favorite sappy love stories the last time.

Sidra found herself more keenly aware of Derek as they sat next to one another and found it difficult to focus on the movie. She hadn’t been with a man since Jonah died and was nervous. Thoughts like, what if I’ve forgotten what to do?! and what if he isn’t interested?! kept racing through her head and all too soon, the movie was over and Derek was getting up to leave. It’s now or never time…..

“I don’t know how I’m going to sleep in this empty house tonight,” she murmured, hoping her voice didn’t sound as shaky as she felt.

“If you want, I can stay in the guest room,” Derek volunteered and much to her relief he looked a little hopeful.

“No,” she responded softly as she stepped closer to his broad figure and all traces of doubt were gone when she noted the disappointed look on his handsome face. Feeling bolder now, she went on, her voice a little husky, “I don’t want you to stay in the guest room Derek, I want you to stay with me…...in my room.”

It was the opening he’d waited for all these years and Derek didn’t hesitate, bringing his mouth down on hers and kissing her as he’d wanted to do for so very long. No words were spoken as Sidra kissed him back, none were needed. Both were quickly swept away by the intense desire no longer held in check and after several heated moments, Derek gently scooped Sidra up and carried her to her room, where they slowly peeled away the barriers of their clothing. Derek nearly lost control when he saw the tiny scraps of pink shimmer silk that Sidra was wearing under those curve hugging pants and sweater until she lay back on her bed, pulling him down with her. They spent the night making love, slowly discovering and savoring each other, and sleeping very little. The new lovers were so focused on each other that neither heard the speeder coming, their moans and cries of fulfillment drowning out the sound.

As dawn approached, Sidra snuggled up to Derek, her head on his chest, the sheets tangled around them. Derek wrapped his arms around her and decided to tell her what he’d wanted to tell her for years.

“I love you, Sidra,” he whispered huskily, “so very, very much…..I have for a long time now.”

Sidra raised her head to look into those bright green eyes and smiled, “I love you too, Derek.” Then she kissed him and once again, sleep was forgotten.

*~*~*~*~*

“Mom is going to be so surprised,” Ros giggled as she and Lissa got off of the speeder they’d rented at the village shuttle pad.

“I can’t wait to tell her that we’ll be home for the next two months!” Lissa smiled, knowing how much their mother loved having her children around. “Maybe Mallay will be able to get some leave time and visit before we go to Tython.”

“That would be nice,” Ros agreed before giving into a yawn as they left the barn and started up towards the house, “Stars, I can’t wait to get into my bed! I couldn’t sleep at all on the shuttle.”

“Me either,” Lissa yawned, then stopped suddenly with a gasp.

Ros turned and a broad grin curved her lips when she saw her twin’s face. Lissa’s light tan skin was flushed enough to show in the moonlight. “Uh-oh, I know that look! Bella must be enjoying a man again!”

Lissa shook her head, “It isn’t Bella this time,” she paused, closing her eyes and focusing for a moment, “Bella isn’t here, in fact, Kit and Jonah aren’t around either…...oh stars, it’s Mom!”

“Mom?” Ros raised a slender brow at her twin.

“Yes,” Lissa whispered with a shy smile, “and she’s with Derek.”

“It’s about time they got down to that,” Ros smirked, happy for both her mother and the kindly neighbor who’d been so good to them all these past eight years. “and judging from the look on your face, I’d say they are having a great time!”

Lissa nodded and the girls went back into the barn to sleep in the small bunkhouse they had for planting and harvest times when extra help was hired.

A few hours later, the sun was up so the twins decided to go to the house and make their presence known. Ros was still sleepy having been too cold to sleep that well due to the bunkhouse heater being on the fritz again. Lissa was exhausted, having spent the last few hours focusing really hard to block out her mother and Derek instead of sleeping. Both girls were more than ready for their own warm beds as they stepped up onto the large front porch. Despite knowing what their mother was up to, neither was prepared for the sight that greeted them when they opened the door. Derek was standing in the foyer, shirt unbuttoned still and kissing their mother, who was clad in just a satin bedsheet, so intently that neither noticed they were no longer alone until Ros cleared her throat rather loudly.

“Girls!” Sidra cried, her tan cheeks turning a brilliant shade of red.

“Uh….hi Ros…..Lissa,” the shy Zabrak looked sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Hey there Derek,” Ros flashed him an impish smirk as those silvery eyes flicked down slightly, “Nice chest ya got there…..and way to go Mom!”

“Come on guys, give it a rest, will you?” Lissa whined irritably, the lack of sleep making her grouchy. “You two kept me awake for the past few hours!” Before either could respond, she staggered up the stairs to go to bed.

“You’ll have to forgive her,” Ros laughed as her twin disappeared up the stairs, then she caught her still shocked and embarrassed mother in a fierce hug, “you know how she is with feelings and emotions. She’s used to Bella, but I guess she had a really hard time blocking you the two of you out and wasn’t able to sleep.”

“When did you girls get here?” Sidra asked, “I had no idea you were coming home! We never heard anyone come to the house.”

“About five hours ago…...we decided to surprise you and caught the last shuttle from the Temple,” Ros answered, “and judging by the flush that came over Lissa, you were too busy to notice our arrival. Don’t worry…...we didn’t see anything. Lissa sensed you while we were still at the barn so we just crashed there until the sun came up.”

“Oh, wow, I feel bad about that,” Derek admitted as he pulled on his jacket.

Ros hugged him then, “Nothing to feel bad about Derek. We’re both happy for you two. Lissa’s just cranky because she’s overtired. The shuttle was packed so we weren’t able to sleep on the flight over from the Temple. Oh, and the heater in the bunkhouse isn’t working either.”

“I’ll take a look at it when I drop Kit off,” Derek offered.

“You do look tired, sweetie,” Sidra told her daughter, “Why don’t you go upstairs to sleep. Derek was just about to head out to pick up Kit and Zaryn from their sleepover and I need to go get Jonah from the birthday sleepover he went to.”

“Now that’s an excellent idea,” Ros yawned as she turned towards the stairs, “You should probably think about putting some clothes on though Mom. Oh, and ease up on the hanky panky stuff for a little while…...Lissa really does need to get some sleep.” She laughed at the blush that came over her mother’s and Derek’s faces again. “Tell you what, how about Zaryn stays here tonight with us and the two of you can get busy over at Derek’s house. That way, you should be far enough to give poor Lissa some peace until she gets better at tuning you guys out.”

“I swear, she sounds more and more like Bella all of the time!” Sidra shook her head, smiling as Ros trudged upstairs.

“A Jedi Bella, now that’s a scary thought,” Derek chuckled, “I do like her idea though…..wanna have sleepover at my house tonight?”

“Oh, absolutely!” she whispered just before she kissed him again, then they both laughed as they heard Lissa shout from upstairs.

“BY THE FORCE, WILL YOU TWO KNOCK IT OFF FOR A BIT?!”

After fighting her way through air defense fire, twenty-four year old Belladonya Lauren finally landed her ship on Ord Mantell, and descended the ramp to get her first look the planet. It looked like a war zone and she hoped this delivery would be quick so she could get out of here. A man approached her, introducing himself as Skavak and telling her that he was there to pick up the weapons. He was impressed by her flying and told her so, explaining that Separatists were in the area and that is why she had to fly in under fire. He admitted that they should probably hurry and get the cargo unloaded before the Separatists get any closer. Bella agreed and took his payment. She really wanted to get out of there and she had an odd feeling about this Skavak guy. He seemed a little sleezy to her, but she would make nice until she could leave.

Suddenly another man ran in yelling for Skavak. This man seemed upset about something. He is kind of cute though….maybe I don’t need to hurry up after all, Bella thought to herself, It's been a while since I had a little fling. Bella liked brief, uncomplicated flings. She didn’t do relationships and avoided them like they were a disease. Her thoughts were interrupted when she realized there was trouble. The new guy, Corso she thought she heard Skavak call him, was telling them that Separatists took over the air defense cannons and would be able to use them to fire on anything coming or going from Drelliad Village.

“That means trouble for you, Captain,” Skavak explained, “With those cannons, the Separatists can take out your ship as you're lifting off.”

“Can’t the local troops do something about this?” Bella asked, upset at the thought of being stranded on this planet.

“The troops have their hands full right now,” Corso told her, “The air cannons took out a Republic troop transport and rocket launchers hit a walker.”

Bella reluctlantly agreed to go into the village and take out the remote control stations and the targeting computer while Skavak and Corso unloaded the weapons. She just wanted to get out of there fast, her previous thoughts of having some fun with Corso forgotten. I don’t care how nice his backside is, I just want the void off this karking planet! She thought as she headed into Drelliad Village. I should've never agreed to do this run.

Bella quickly fought her way through the village and knocked out the remote stations. She was just disabling the targeting computer when her Holo went off. It was Corso and she could hear blaster fire over the Holo. He explained that the hanger was under attack and she needed to hurry back.

She rushed back and found Separatists in the hanger and Corso unconscious. She killed the Separatists and went to check on Corso. She was helping him up when she heard her ship taking off. She ran to it, but it was too late. Her ship was gone! Her shock and anger must have shown because Corso looked anxious as he approached her. He explained that separatists got in the hanger and the next thing he knew, Skavak was hitting him over the head.

“Skavak let the Seps in here. They must've been planning this for a while,” he told her, then realized his blaster was gone. “He took Torchy! She was my best blaster!”

Oh stars, he's one of those types. Bella thought, shaking her head. Probably kisses it goodnight too! Bella felt bad for him, but her ship was worth a lot more than his frakking blaster! Corso finally managed to get Skavak on Holo, but all Skavak did was laugh, thank them for the ship and blasters, and he cut them off.

“I'm sorry, Captain. You should head up to Fort Garnik and see the boss, Viidu. He has a lot of connections and is going to want to get Skavak every bit as badly as you for stealing those weapons.” Corso told her gently, “I've got to lock this hanger down and will head to Viidu’s after.” Corso told her where to go and Bella headed out.

Bella arrived at the fort after fighting more Separatists on her way and was completely shocked to see a familiar face at the entrance. Her twenty-three year old sister Mallayse is there talking to another soldier.

“Mallay!” she called out.

“Stars Bella, I didn’t expect to see you here! Last I heard, you were heading home to stay with mom for a while.” Their force sensitive twin sisters, Allissya and Roslynd had just turned eighteen and were going to be leaving home to finish their Jedi training on Tython. Their mother was happy for the twins to have the opportunity, but was sad to see them leave Dantooine, just as she had been sad when Mallay left for the military. They were a close family and missed each other when gone. Kit, who just turned thirteen, and seven year old Jonah were still with their mother, but Bella was going to stay close to home for a few months to keep her company, making only occasional, local deliveries.

“I could say the same thing Mallay! I thought you were going to be stationed on the Outer Rim for some time still. Last time I was there, you hadn’t said anything about leaving.” Bella usually looked Mallay up when she made deliveries in her area.

“Yeah, I only heard about my transfer a few days ago, I barely had time to pack my stuff and holo Mom to tell her about it. I can’t complain though, I got a promotion and am in Spec Forces now!” Mallay looked excited at that, it was what she always wanted, but hadn’t expected it this young.

“That’s great news!!! Congrats little sis!” Bella hugged her sister, “Mom probably couldn’t reach me. I was actually headed home when I got this last minute job. I took it since it was a simple weapon delivery and it was on the way home. Unfortunately, it's been anything but simple. Damned Separatists attacking and the scumbag who I was delivering the weapons to stole my ship!”

“Oh Bella! What are you going to do? Is there any way I can help?”

“I'm headed into the Fort here to talk to the guy who was in charge of the delivery. Hopefully he'll know something about what's going on and how to find Skavak and my ship. As soon as I find him, he's as good as dead!” Bella noticed her sister looked a little rough, “what about you, you look like your day hasn’t gone much better. Did you have problems with the Separatists too?”

“You might say that. I'd just landed, was picked up by one of my new squad mates, and we were heading here when the walker we were in was shot down by Separatists. The driver was killed, but the rest of us were okay. I got sent out to destroy any remaining rocket launchers the Separatists had left while the rest tried to get the walker running again. Unfortunately, the walker is history, but they're going to salvage anything they can from it. My squad mate told me to head to the fort and report in.”

“Well, you better get moving then, Sergeant!” Bella smiled, “I am going to go check in with this Viidu guy, let’s try to meet up in the cantina when we're done checking in. I have a feeling I'm going to need a drink and you can just say you needed to stop in for food.” Mallay agreed and headed into headquarters while Bella went to the warehouse.

A little while later, Mallay walked into the cantina and spotted Bella waiting, a huge nerf burger in front of her. Mallay asked the bartender for some bottled water and juice to take with her and sat next to her sister.

“You know you want to share that with me right?!” Mallay smirked, reaching over and taking half.

“I ordered the biggest they had figuring you'd swipe some.” Bella watched her sister bite into the huge burger and shook her head, “I swear, if I ate like you, I wouldn’t be able to fit through the door and you never gain a thing.”

“Yeah, well, I'd rather watch what I ate and have a figure like yours.” Mallay said thickly, her mouth full. “At least then I'd have a shot at guys finding me attractive! Instead, I'm too thin, with no breasts, ugly scars, and metal on my face!”

“Oh Mallay, you're pretty, and you've got an athletic figure that many girls would love to have. Your tattoo conceals the scars on your back and your hair helps cover up the cybernetics and the scars on your face. Also, you have breasts,” Bella giggled, “guys just need to look really closely to find them!”

“Oh HAHA!” Mallay rolled her eyes as she kicked her sister and swiped some more burger.

“Hey, so how did the check in with your new squad go?”

“Ok I guess. I have never really cared for nicknames, but they apparently like to use them. My CO, Tavus, seems decent, older guy, my XO, Wraith, seems to dislike me already, but I think she's sleeping with Tavus so that could be why. Not that she has anything to worry about, he's definitely not my type,” Mallay started, “The medic, Needles, is kind of creepy, I'm not sure I want him touching me. Gearbox, the guy that picked me up in the walker earlier, seemed okay, he kept calling me ‘kid’ though. The last member, Fuse, he seems nice, kind of shy like me, so maybe we'll get along. The worst is a Lieutenant stationed here that's working with my squad.” Mallay sighed as she took a drink.

“Oh, what is so bad about him? Is he good looking at least?”

Mallay rolled her eyes, “I suppose Lieutenant Jorgan is good looking, he is a Cathar, good build, gorgeous eyes…”

“Not hearing the bad part yet,” Bella interrupted.

“I was just getting to that. I had barely noticed his looks when he opened his mouth to give me instructions and treated me like I was a wet behind the ears idiot and referred to me as ‘rookie’. I got my orders though and got out of there fast, before I said anything that could get me into trouble. I swear, that man acts like he has a rifle jammed up his….”

“Sergeant!” a deep voice growled out. The girls turned towards the voice, Mallay immediately knowing who it was.

“Oh, that must be him,” Bella laughed as she watched her sister jump up and salute.

“Any reason you're sitting in a cantina chatting instead of being on your way to Talloran?”

“Sorry sir, the meet isn’t for a while yet, so I stopped in to grab food and some water to take with me.”

“There is nothing wrong with being a little early Sergeant, so grab your stuff and double time it to Talloran. Try not to screw this up!” he bellowed, grabbed a package from the bartender, dropped a cred stick on the bar and turned to leave.

Bella watched Lieutenant Jorgan leave, “Well, he does have a nice backside.”

“Shut up!” Mallay hissed, “What if he heard you?!” She really hated getting reprimanded. She turned and got her bottled drinks from the bartender, dropping a cred stick on the counter. “I'd better get going.”

“Hey, want some company? I have to meet someone in Talloran too.”

“Eh, sure, why not…as long as you can keep up.” Mallay grinned, “You can tell me about your meeting on the way there.”

Bella and Mallay made their way into Talloran Village. On the way, Bella told Mallay about her meeting with Viidu.

“He wants Skavak as badly as I do. Apparently, those weapons that were stolen with my ship were for a guy called Rogun the butcher and he isn’t going to be too happy about losing his shipment. Luckily, this Reki guy in Talloran Village should have some information for us on how to find Skavak.”

The sisters split off to go to their respective meeting spots. Mallay was glad they had made it early after getting reprimanded for making a stop for food and water before heading out of the fort.

“Good luck sis,” she called out, “I hope you get the information you need!”

“You too, let’s meet back here when we’re done.” Bella called back.

A little while later, Bella watched as her sister approached, noticing that Mallay looked upset.

“I take it things didn’t go very well?” Bella asked.

“You could say that, the guy I was supposed to meet had been killed waiting for me, I got chewed out for taking too long to get here, had to tell the guy’s wife her husband was dead and ask her for his field box.”

“Weren’t you a little early?”

“Yeah, but apparently so was he, so I was right to get chewed out. It was my fault and I feel awful about it. I hated having to tell that woman that her husband had been killed. I think that was worse than any punishment I'm likely to get.” Mallay admitted sadly. “Anyways, what about you? Are you any closer to finding your ship?”

“I hope so, I have another lead at least. That Reki guy was quite a character though. He had a horde of widowed women hiding out with him! I didn’t know whether to be disgusted with him or those women!” Bella snorted, as they left Talloran Village. “I know I tend to move on with men quickly, but I'm at least honest about my views at the start and I've never had a fling with more than one man at a time!”

“Seriously?! He doesn’t….you know….with all of them does he?” Mallay asked, a bit disturbed by the thought.

“I don’t know and I want to keep it that way!”

“Speaking of flings, you still planning on having one with that Corso guy?” Bella had filled Mallay in on Corso during the trip to Talloran.

“I don’t know, he's kinda sexy, but I'm not sure about him yet,” Bella admitted, “and honestly, I can’t wait to get off this planet so I'm not sure I want to stick around, even for a brief fling.”

“Same here,” Mallay sighed, “The sooner I can get away from that ball busting Cathar and his superiority complex, the better I'll feel. I hate those types that feel like they have to treat the younger troops like they are wet behind the ears. I swear, it's all I can do to hold my tongue around him. I mean, I know I'm not as experienced as his highness is, but that doesn’t make me stupid.”

Bella looked at Mallay thoughtfully, “You know, the last time a guy got under your skin this bad was Zach Waverly.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Well, you were going off about him to me, just like this, and about two weeks later, I caught you making out with him in the barn.”

“Oh please!” Mallay snorted, “Trust me, that isn’t going to happen with Lieutenant Jorgan….I’d rather make out with a Wookiee!!”

Bella giggled, “You know we aren’t in the fort right?”

“So?”

“Didn’t you tell me that your armor cam activated whenever you left the fort?”

“Dammit!” Mallay blushed.

“Hey, you're done with your mission right? Maybe no one was paying attention.” Bella looked thoughtful, “You know, you could try flirting a little. I usually find men are a lot more eager to please when I flirt a little.”

“You know I'm not good at flirting right? Besides, I don’t exactly have your assets, sis.” Mallay retorted as they approached the entrance to Fort Garnik.

Bella laughed, “You just have to learn to use what you’ve got! I have been telling you that for a while now!”

They parted ways, promising to contact each other when they were finished and Mallay headed in to the base to face the music. I really hope no one was paying attention to what I was saying!

Aric Jorgan watched Sergeant Lauren enter the room, trying to decide on just how to pay her back for that little outburst to her sister. Luckily, Fuse had been the only other one to hear it and they agreed to keep it between them. For some reason, the whole ‘rather make out with a Wookiee’ comment bothered him the most. He thought he was a reasonably attractive man and he didn’t think he'd been that hard on her, no more than any other hot shot, spec forces rookie. He caught her eye and noticed her blush immediately, shocked to realize that he found that attractive. Easy there Jorgan, she isn’t for you.

“Sergeant, I hope you have the field box!” he barked at her, “Maybe next time you can bring in a live agent.” Oh, I'm going to enjoy this, he thought as he noticed her hands shaking a little as she handed him the box. “Something bothering you, Sergeant? You look a little anxious. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“No sir! I'm fine, nothing wrong here, nothing at all.” Mallay stammered, a little thrown off by his concern. Stop babbling idiot, she told herself.

“You sure Sergeant? You’re looking a little red. Maybe a drink,” then he gave her a wicked smile, “or perhaps I can find you a Wookiee to make out with.”

Mallay felt her face grow hot and stammered out an apology. From now on, I'm going to just keep my mouth shut she thought to herself as she got her next assignment from Fuse.

Aric Jorgan really irritated me in the beginning, but he did eventually grow on me! I think they did a great job with him though. Mallay's reactions are pretty close to what mine would have been. I don't think I would ever have survived the military!

Mallay left HQ and made her way to the refugee camp just outside of Fort Garnik. A Twi’lek named Mirru had gone to HQ earlier saying he had information for them about a bomb. Since a lot of refugees came to HQ claiming to have info in exchange for credits, which turned out to be bogus most of the time, the soldiers had chased him off before he got a chance to talk to anyone. However, with everything happening with the stolen ZR-57, Lieutenant Jorgan and Fuse decided not to leave anything to chance and wanted her to speak with Mirru while they went through Bellis’ field box.

Mallay was still feeling sick over Bellis’ getting killed while he waited for her and that was weighing heavy on her as she walked through Fort Garnik. She was also feeling embarrassed over Fuse and Jorgan hearing her little outburst to Bella while they were returning from Talloran and irritated at Jorgan’s overall attitude towards her. What's his karking problem with me anyways?! Then she sighed as she approached the camp, Bella is right though, he does have a nice backside….even if he does act like he has a rifle jammed up it!

She spotted a small, pink skinned male Twi’lek at the far end of the camp. He appeared nervous as she approached.

“Oh, no…no you don’t, not again.” He stuttered, “didn’t you guys rough me up enough when I came to HQ?”

“Are you Mirru?” Mallay asked and he nodded anxiously eyeing the blaster at her hip. “Look, I'm sorry about what happened earlier, but my squad just heard that you had information about a bomb for us.”

“Oh, so now you want my help, well I might've been more willing before that savage beating I took.” Mirru told her, a look of greed coming over his face.

“Please, sir, a lot of lives are at stake…” she started, her temper rising.

“What about my life, huh? Things aren’t that easy here, it’s been rough for me lately….”

Mallay’s temper exploded, “Oh, it’s been rough has it? Well, let me tell you about rough! Since I landed on this lovely planet this morning, I got to see the transport I arrived in get blasted out of the sky as it was leaving, then the walker that was taking me to the Fort was taken down by a Separatist rocket launcher, killing the driver. I got to kill my way through Drelliad Village to find and destroy any remaining rocket launchers. After that, I got to fight my way through more of those karking Separatists to get to Fort Garnik where I barely had time to catch my breath before being sent to beautiful Talloran. Oh, and so much fun I had there, I got to kill even more Separatists to find that the man I was supposed to meet was dead. I got to tell that man’s wife that her husband was killed while he was waiting for me to arrive. Then I decided to vent my frustrations to my sister as we walked back here and forgot about my armor cam that activated whenever I leave the fort, so a couple of my superiors got to hear my embarrassing rant, including that ball busting Cathar, who the rant was about, that's been giving me crap since I met him. So you'll have to excuse me for not being overly concerned about how rough it's been for you!”

Mirru looked like he was about to wet himself by the end of Mallay’s tirade and she felt bad about going off on him like that. It wasn’t his fault she was in such a craptastic mood. She took a deep breath to calm herself.

“Hey, I'm sorry for going off like that,” she sighed, “and I'm not completely heartless. When I was in Talloran, I acquired some med kits that had been stolen from the fort by the Separatists there. I ended up giving them to a Cathar refugee in one of the tents at the other entrance to the fort.” Mirru stopped shaking when he noticed Mallay had calmed down.

“That's actually pretty decent of you, most soldiers wouldn’t care enough.”

Mallay shrugged, “Now, I was told that refugees got credits for their information, so I'm sure if your information checks out, you'll be paid.”

Mirru relaxed and told her of an ambush the Seperatists had for troop convoys coming to Fort Garnik. They had bombs with remote detonators along the road leading into the fort. They could hide in the hills and set them off as the convoys passed through.

“Thank you for telling me.” She smiled, then jumped as her Holo went off, startling her. It was Jorgan, probably to tell the stupid rookie to hurry up, she thought.

“We heard everything Mirru said and we want you to act on it now!” Jorgan barked.

Mallay swallowed hard, “You heard the conversation, sir?”

“Yes, the refugee camp is outside the fort, Sergeant.”

“Oh, damn,” she muttered, covering her face with her free hand.

“Hey, is that the ball busting Cathar?” Mirru whispered, noticing her embarrassment.

“Yes, that would be me. However, I fail to understand why that is such a threat to Sergeant Lauren since she's obviously female and doesn’t have any balls for me to bust!” Jorgan replied, sounding a little amused.

Mallay felt her face heating up and figured it was probably the same shade as Mirru by that point when Jorgan went on.

“Now, Mirru, you can come back to HQ for your payment and Sergeant Lauren, you need to move out and take care of those bombs, double time it! Jorgan out.”

Mirru bade her good luck and she headed out to disable the bombs. They were not too difficult to find and Mallay used her rifle to vent out her frustrations on any Separatists she found along the way. Soon, the bombs were permanently disabled and Ord Mantell had fewer Separatists to worry about, and Mallay was making her way into HQ when Private Farn stopped her.

The private looked nervous and Mallay smiled at him and having sensed his crush on her, hoped that would calm him so he could get out whatever he stopped her for. Apparently, there was an officer making those serve under him bribe him for assignments. Those that paid, lived, those that didn’t pay up, ended up with assignments that were a guaranteed death sentence. Private Farn had just lost a buddy that tried to tell a higher up about Virk’s activities and was worried that he was next. Mallay, who detested corrupt officers, assured him that she would let her superiors know about what was going on. She promised to leave his name out of it so he would be safe from Virk until he was dealt with. Then she headed in to report to her squad and Lieutenant Jorgan.

Bella was a little lost in thought as she made her way to Mannett Point. After she returned to Viidu’s from Talloran, she found a young woman, who introduced herself as Syreena, waiting for her. She explained that she was Viidu’s girl and was concerned about what was going on with the stolen shipment. Bella wasn’t too sure about Syreena, but made small talk to reassure her that things were going to be fine. Then she went up to Viidu’s office where both he and Corso were waiting for her. She explained that Reki had a way to get into the Separatists database, but she would need to go to his house on Mannett Point to get it. She knew from the look on their faces that her day wasn’t going to be getting any better.

“It isn’t going to be easy to get there,” Viidu finally admitted, “for one thing, you will have to swim.”

“Separatists blew up the only bridge to the island,” Corso explained, an intense hatred showing on his handsome features. “I'd love to come along and help you take some of those scum out.”

“No, Corso,” Viidu ordered, “I need you to get ahold of the best slicer kit you can find. If what Reki says is true, then that data is going to be heavily encrypted and we need to get it decrypted as quickly as we can.” Corso nodded and left the room and Viidu muttered, “The last thing we need is Corso going all commando on the Separatists.”

“What’s his story anyways?” Bella wondered. She hadn’t missed the look that had come over Corso’s face when he mentioned the Separatists. His hatred for them was more than anger at them stealing from his boss, it was personal.

Viidu sighed, sadly, “A few years ago, Separatists killed his family. Corso hadn’t been there, which is why he's still alive, but he's the one who found them. I don’t know what happened after that but eventually he came to work for me in the warehouse, moving cargo. However, he took to fighting like a Firaxan shark to water and has been doing mercenary work for me ever since. He has a special enthusiasm for killing Separatists.”

Bella couldn’t stop thinking about Corso as she got her first sight of the island. She knew what it was like to lose family to violence and felt bad for him. At least she still had her Mom and siblings, he had no family left. I’ll be sure to take out as many of those bastards as I can while I'm there. She found a shallow, sandy area to make her way across to get to the island. She didn’t end up having to swim at all, the water only coming mid-thigh at the deepest point.

She kept her promise and killed many Separatists on the way to the power relays she needed to disrupt before going to Reki’s house. After she knocked out the last one, she went to Reki’s house and found a datapad on the desk upstairs. She sat at the desk and began reading the Treatise on Bird Watching, using the code Reki had given her to decode its true meaning. Ugh, this is an awful way to get information!

A long, boring, hour later, Bella had what she needed. There was a back way in to where the Separatists mainframe database was. There would be little resistance since they wouldn’t be expecting anyone to come in that way, Reki’s basement entrance being the only way to the path that led to the back door. The datapad also told her how to slice into the computer to get the files she needed.

Bella studied her notes one more time, then went downstairs to the basement. She put in the code to unlock the door stepped outside. She walked along the small path, only running into a couple of Separatists, two more dead for Corso, and was at the back door. She slipped inside, being cautious as not to draw any attention to herself. She only ended up having to quickly kill a few more before she was at the mainframe. She carefully sliced in and started downloading what she needed when she heard someone approaching. She looked up to see a kid, probably no older than her sister, Kit, with a droid. Stars, I don’t want to kill a kid!

“Hi! I’m Gorry and this droid is ForSen. Hey, are you almost done? I need to access the computer, we had some alarms triggered.” The boy, Gorry asked her. 4-SEN spoke up then, calling attention to the bodies on the floor at the other end of the room and Bella’s weapons, which were still warm.

Bella thought quickly, then gasped, “By the stars, Republic troops have invaded the base!!!” She really hoped Gorry was gullible because she didn’t want to kill him.

“Oh no!” Gorry cried, “We have to rally our forces! Let’s go ForSen!”

“Master, I am detecting no hostile forces in the area!”

“When's the last time you had that droid’s sensors calibrated, kid?” Bella asked, relieved that Gorry seemed a little naive.

“Note recently enough to take any chances,” he admitted, then handed her a small vibro knife, “Here comrade, take this and use it on any Republic scum you come across. Come on ForSen, let’s go rally the forces and get your sensors looked at.”

Bella sighed as Gorry and 4-SEN left, then she saw that the files had finished downloading to her data pad. She unplugged it and made her way back to Reki’s house. She was glad that she didn’t have to kill that kid. Despite his choice to serve with the separatists, it would've haunted her. She went upstairs to leave through the front door and had just stepped outside when she spotted Mallay.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Mallay thought to herself as she double timed it to Mannett Point. Luckily, Commander Tavus wasn’t angry with her over her latest outburst. Quite the opposite, he looked like he was trying not to laugh. He did tell her that he was a little surprised though, since her records show her to be a very thoughtful, intelligent, quiet individual who gets things done. She apologized to both him and Lieutenant Jorgan and assured them she conduct herself better from now on. That wasn’t going to be an easy task, especially when she noted the smug amusement showing on Jorgan’s face and immediately felt the urge to break it.

What is it about him that pisses me off so badly?! She wondered. He certainly wasn’t the first person that annoyed her or treated the lower ranking, younger officers like they were stupid grunts. Maybe it was because she expected better treatment than that by now. Does that make me such a bad person?! No, it doesn’t because at the level I've reached, I expect some amount of respect from my fellow officers and NOT to be treated like I'm an idiot that just got her first post! Oh well, hopefully Tavus was correct and that they did find the stolen ZR-57 on Mannett Point. Then they would be able to leave Ord Mantell and she would never have to see Lieutenant Jorgan again!

Mannett Point came into sight as she passed a group of soldiers whose walker had been taken down. She stopped to see if there was anything she could do. The leader told her what happened and asked if she could take out some of the rocket gunners at Mannett Point. Since she was already going there, she assured him that it would be taken care of. She made her way to the beach where she found a shallow, sandy area to cross. The water only came mid-thigh there and she crossed quickly.

She would be rendezvousing with Wraith just inside the base. Wraith had breached the base but was unable to get into the secured area where the weapons were kept. Mallay would be helping her with that. She sighed, not knowing which was worse, creepy Needles, or Wraith, who seemed a bit cold and likely to quietly put a knife in someone’s back. Maybe after they got to know each other, they wouldn’t be so bad. At least the rest of her squad seemed alright. Fuse was nice, quiet and shy like she was so they would probably get along. Gearbox had been nice, very easygoing and despite the fact that he kept calling her ‘kid’ she liked him well enough. Commander Tavus seemed like a reasonable man, the type that wanted to get the job done and keep his people safe, even if it meant bending the rules a little.

Mallay already knew in her short experience that sometimes you needed to go outside proper protocol to get things done and was happy to be under command of someone who felt the same way. She had been under the command of a strait, by the book sort before and it was disastrous. He got the entire squad killed because he wouldn’t stray from his orders, even though there were signs of an ambush everywhere. The only reason Mallay survived was because she had been injured while scouting mere hours before. Her partner took the sniper out, but Mallay had been shot in the leg before they knew he was there. They are the ones who alerted their CO that it was an ambush and told him that they needed to revise their plans. He refused to deviate, saying he had his orders and moved the squad out. Mallay was still recovering in the infirmary when the news came in that her entire squad was gone.

Mallay brought her attention back to the present and found the rocket gunners near the entrance to Mannett point. She took out every one that she found and went on to meet with Wraith. She needed Mallay to enter the main complex and disrupt the force field generator, allowing them both to get inside the secure area. Mallay acknowledged her XO and left immediately. She encountered resistance getting inside, but nothing she couldn’t handle. She found the room where the generator was located. She had to pass through the infirmary to get to it and took pity on the unarmed injured, allowing them to go if they could do so quietly. The generator was well guarded, but a couple of stickies thrown in helped to even the odds a little and created some panic, making the rest easier to take out. She stepped over the corpses, took out the generator, and headed into the now unsecured weapons room.

She found an officer there and asked him to surrender. Wraith showed up then and when the officer refused to talk, ordered Mallay to kill him. She shrugged and raised her blaster up when the officer quickly changed his mind. He told them the bomb had been moved, but he didn’t know where. Well, that really sucks! She thought, there goes my chance of getting off this planet and away from that irritating Cathar anytime soon! When asked about the extra security, the officer admitted it was for the three Seperatist Commanders, Saphrro, Vyru, and Bol, who were meeting there to share their data on the different Separatist organizations and movements. Wraith shot and killed the officer then and ordered Mallay in to kill the commanders. Jorgan came over her ear piece to confirm the kill order and asked her to download their data and bring it to HQ. She acknowledged the order and went in to the small meeting room where the commanders were having their meeting. She killed the one at the terminal, Bol, when the others shouted for him to wipe out the data. Saphrro and Vyru were better prepared, but she was able to eliminate them as well, taking minimal injuries. She downloaded the data Jorgan had requested and made her way out of the base.

It was getting late by the time she found herself heading down the main road through Mannett Point and she was feeling the fatigue from the harrowing day she’d had. She was wondering how Bella was doing and where she was when she heard her sister holler out. Mallay turned to see Bella running towards her and couldn't help but smile. Somehow, seeing Bella made things on Ord Mantell easier to tolerate.

Mallay had just finished dealing with Saphrro, Vyru, and Bol, three Separatist leaders who were now dead, and took their data for Lieutenant Jorgan. She was making her way out of Mannet Point when she heard her sister call out.

She turned around to see Bella running towards her, “Hey Bella! I was wondering when I'd see you again.” She hugged her sister, “So I see you got to visit lovely Mannet Point as well.”

“Oh yeah and I'm just in awe of its quaintness and beauty!” Bella snorted. “Are you finished here then?”

“I am. You?”

“I’m done. I had to decipher a data pad and hack into the Separatists computer for some files. Corso and Viidu are going to slice into the files to hopefully find out where Skavak took those weapons in my ship.” Bella explained as they left Mannet Point.

“Good! Hopefully you'll have your ship back soon.” Mallay noticed that it was starting to get dark. “Although, you may have to wait for morning to go chasing him down. Do you have a place to stay the night?”

“Corso offered to let me stay with him if I needed.” She giggled at her sister’s expression, “No Mallay, unfortunately, he didn’t mean it like that. He said he has an extra cot that he can set up. I don’t think Corso is the brief fling type. He's more like the sappy relationship kind.”

“Only you would be disappointed in that, sis!” Mallay shook her head, “Poor guy wants to be nice and proper and you just want sex!”

“Hey, I can’t help it if I'm not the relationship type. There’s nothing wrong with no strings attached sex, sister dearest. Brief, uncomplicated flings are very nice actually. Also, I'm always honest about the way I feel, if the guy doesn’t like it than it doesn’t happen.” She smirked her sister, “Besides, when's the last time you had sex? Fifty credits says you weren’t in a relationship either!”

“Not going there, Bella!” Mallay retorted, pointing at her armor. “My little outburst on our way out of Talloran was heard.”

“Oh relax Mallay, who cares if anyone is listening in right now. You aren’t talking about any of them. I'm sure they don’t want to hear about your sex life….or lack of….” She giggled as Mallay shoved her.

“Hey, I have sex!”

“When was the last time?”

Mallay sighed, “It has been a while and no, I wasn’t in a relationship.”

“Uh-oh, why do I get the feeling things didn’t go that well.”

“Because things didn’t go well. It was shortly after I started my previous post. He and I were getting along well and decided to go for it one night. As it turns out, the guy was a jerk and got all freaked out about my scars. He wanted the lights out. It was the most boring thing I've let myself go through. Stars Bella, I made a mental inventory of my foot locker while we…”

“Wow Mallay, he sounds like a real winner! Why would you even sleep with that guy?”

“Well, I didn’t think it would be that bad. He was totally hot and it’s not like I have men banging down the door to sleep with me you know. Between my scars and cybernetic and the fact that I'm a bit on the small side, I'm really not that attractive.”

“Nonsense Mallay, you are attractive. If a man can’t see past your scars and implant, he isn’t worth your time. So what if you're small, I have seen your lithe little body do things that I could never do! Remember when that jerk on Hutta stole my cargo and we broke into his warehouse to get it back? I would've never been able to get through those infared beams without setting one off and you just made it look like a dance!”

Mallay smiled at that memory, “That was an exciting adventure. Remember what you did to that guy after I shut the beams off?”

Bella laughed, “Yeah, I don’t think I've ever had a man beg me to put his clothes back on before.”

“Well, you did leave him tied naked to his bed with ‘I am a dirty thief who likes to sleep with animals’ written all over him.”

Bella shuddered, “I think I washed my hands at least 10 times after touching his nasty body!”

The girls could see Fort Garnik in the distance as the last of the daylight faded and started moving a little faster.

“You know, just once, I'd love to have complete mind blowing sex with a hot bodied man,” Mallay sighed. “Is that really too much to ask for?”

Not at all, sis. You just need to be a little more outgoing! Part of the problem is that you're so shy about approaching a man you're attracted to.” Bella smiled, “Hey, remember that Twi’lek on Nar Shaddaa that did the tattoo on your back? Now that was fantastic sex!”

“Oh, I remember alright.” She snorted, “You knocked me out when he got to the part of the tattoo that was going over my scars because it was getting painful. I came to hearing you scream and thought you were being attacked!”

Bella laughed, “The look on your face when you busted in and saw us was priceless!”

“The image is burned into my mind forever. He did have a great body though.”

“Oh did he ever!” Bella sighed as they entered the fort. “Corso looks like he may have a great body, hard to judge without seeing him naked though. Too bad he isn’t the fling type.”

Mallay hugged her sister and the girls split off for the night, Bella wondering if she could change Corso’s mind and Mallay hoping that no one had been listening to the sex talk.

Lieutenant Jorgan and Fuse were the only ones in the Command Center when Sergeant Lauren entered with the data she’d downloaded after killing the three separatist leaders. Fuse noticed that she was studying them carefully as she walked in and figured she was wondering if they’d been listening in while she was talking with her sister. Fuse was careful to keep his expression normal. He’d been the only one in the room when the topic of sex came up. He was a little ashamed at himself for listening, but he had wanted to know more about the pretty Sergeant. She seemed like a nice girl for the most part, a little shy like he was, but no pushover as clearly indicated in the way she handled Mirru. He even liked hearing her lighthearted banter with her sister. It really troubled him that she thought so little of her appearance. He thought she was beautiful and was smitten from the moment he saw her walk into the Command Center this morning. He found himself wondering what she thought of him, then sadly realized that it didn’t matter.

“Welcome back, Sergeant,” he told her, “Nice job at Mannett Point!”

“Thank you, sir!” she replied, saluting.

“Do you have the data for me, Sergeant?” Lieutenant Jorgan growled at her.

“Yes, sir.” Mallay replied and handed the data over to him. Egotistical jerk….too good to compliment a lowly rookie, she thought, I really can’t wait until we finish on Ord Mantell and I can get away from Lieutenant Jerkface for good!

“By the way, Gearbox returned earlier and had your duffle bag. Unfortunately, your trunk was destroyed.” Fuse told her, “He took it to the room you will be staying in. Sorry about your trunk.”

“Thanks, sir. I have enough clothing and toiletries in my duffle to get me through a couple of days. Hopefully, we'll be done with our mission by then and I'll have time to shop for more things.” She sighed, “I'll miss my cannon though.”

Fuse spoke up again, “Oh, and I almost forgot, we sent some stuff over to Viidu’s warehouse for your sister.” He looked a little embarrassed as he went on, “From what we overheard from your armor cam earlier today, we figured that she might need a change of clothes and some toiletries.”

“Thank you so much, sir! That was very thoughtful of you!” Mallay smiled at him, “I know she'll appreciate it and want to thank you herself!”

Fuse felt his heart skip a beat when she smiled at him. “Actually, Lieutenant Jorgan is the one who found the stuff and knew where to send it. I just came up with the idea.” He admitted.

Mallay stared at Jorgan, not even trying to hide her surprise, “Uh…thank you, sir. That was nice of you.”

“You’re welcome, Sergeant.” Jorgan muttered, heading for the door, “I'm going to bed. Sergeant, your room is down the hall from mine, so if you want, I can show you the way now.”

“Thank you, sir.” Mallay replied, then turned to Fuse and smiled, “Good night, and thank you again for thinking of my sister.”

Fuse bade her good night watched her follow Lieutenant Jorgan out of the room. If only things were different, he thought sadly.

***********

The next morning, Mallay went into HQ to find Needles and Jorgan waiting for her. Needles explained that there was a man and wife who had fallen ill with what seemed to be radiation sickness. Since they were day laborers, the only way they would have been exposed to enough radiation to cause the sickness was if they had been handling the stolen ZR-57. Needles described their symptoms with disturbing reverence, as if he were enjoying what they were going through. The thought of that made a chill run down Mallay's spine, I really don't want this man touching me.....ever!

“I want you to go talk to them, Sergeant. Get them to tell you where they took the bomb.” Needles instructed, “Their illness is very painful and we didn’t have the right meds to cure them, only to stop it from worsening. If you could find the correct ingredients, you could offer them a cure for illness in exchange for their information.”

“Do we know where these ingredients are, sir? Mallay asked him.

“A storage building was recently raided by scavangers. Most likely the scavangers will still have the stuff we need. They have a camp west of Oradam Village.” Lieutenant Jorgan explained, “We've known about their camp for some time, but haven’t had the manpower to clear them out.”

“Once you have the cure, take it to Zak’s house in Oradam Village.” Needles told her.

“Nothing fancy on this, rookie,” Jorgan barked, enjoying the murderous glare she gave him, “just get to the camp, retrieve the ingredients for the cure, take it to Zak in Oradam Village, and find out where they took the ZR-57! Think you can handle that?”

“Yes, sir!” Mallay replied and quickly left before her rising temper got the better of her. Stars, I would just love to kick him in the junk, just once…. ok, maybe more than once!

Mallay set out for the scavenger camp. She found herself missing her sister and hoped that she was doing alright. She smiled and wondered if she tried to seduce Corso. Hopefully, she would run into Bella later.

She located the camp rather quickly, took her anger at Jorgan out on the scavengers, and found what she needed for the cure. She wanted this assignment over quickly so she could join her squad in finally recovering the stolen bomb. She was also eager to actually feel like part of Havoc Squad. So far, she hadn’t really gotten the chance to work with any of them, just the brief rendezvous with Wraith on Mannett Point. This bothered her a little. She could handle herself just fine, but how was she going to learn to work with them if she was sent out alone all of the time? Oh well, she thought, it could be worse…..they could've stuck me with Lieutenant Buttnugget!

Mallay made her way through Oradam Village and went into Zak’s house. She found Zak and his wife, Jallar, upstairs. They looked awful, and Mallay felt bad for using the cure to get information from them. However, she had her orders.

Mallay told them that she was here with a cure for their illness, but they would need to help her first. She explained that they had radiation sickness from handling the stolen bomb. Zak didn’t know anything about the bomb, but admitted that they both got sick soon after helping to move a large crate for the Separatists. He said that he never saw what was inside the crate and the Separatists didn’t tell them, but that had to be what she was looking for. Despite his wife’s protests, Zak told Mallay that they took the crate to the Separatists main stronghold, located inside the volcano.

“Thank you for telling me this,” Mallay told Zak as she administered the cure to him and Jallar, “You should start noticing improvement within the next hour. Take it easy for a few days if you can. This might be a good time to reconsider who you work for.”

Zak thanked her for finding the cure and assured her that they would be rethinking their involvement with the Separatists. Mallay heard her Holo, and left the room to answer it. It was Lieutenant Jorgan telling her he had put out the call and Havoc was assembling at HQ. She quickly signed off and headed out for Fort Garnik.

A very tired Bella entered the warehouse to find a couple of guys harassing Viidu’s girl, Syreena. Bella may not have thought much of Syreena, but she wasn’t going to let those men hurt her either. She was tired of shooting people today so she decided to try and talk to the guys first.

“Throttle down boys, you know Rogan has his eye on Syreena, right? Do you really want to mess with her?” She gave the men a radiant smile, “I hear Rogun can get pretty upset when people try to take what’s his.”

“Figures. Just goes to show that Viidu’s not long for this world.” The Zabrak snorted, then turned to his partner, “Let’s get out of here.”

Syreena looked relieved when the men left. “Thanks, Captain. I'm glad you came in when you did!”

“Luckily, those two fell for it. I really didn’t feel like killing anyone else today.” Bella admitted.

“It might actually be closer to the truth than I want to admit!” Syreena muttered, “I really hope you have a lead on those stolen weapons, Captain.”

“I have something for Viidu that should help us.” Bella told her as she started up the stairs toward Viidu’s office. “Just watch out for yourself though.”

“I will and thanks again.”

Bella went into Viidu’s office, finding both Viidu and Corso there. She handed over the encrypted data she took from the Separatists’ computer.

“Looks like Reki came through. He was right about the data being heavily encrypted though.” She told them.

“I got ahold of a really good slicer kit and I should be able to take care of that,” Corso assured her, noticing how tired she looked, “It can wait for morning though, we should get some sleep.”

Bella sighed, “Sleep sounds wonderful. You sure you don’t mind me staying with you, Corso?”

“Not at all, Captain,” he replied, “Oh, and this bag came for you earlier. You must have a friend at the military HQ.”

“My sister, Mallay is here and her squad is at HQ. She arrived around the same time I did this morning.” Bella explained, taking the bag and laughing when she saw who sent it. “Lieutenant Jorgan is working with her squad and annoying the crap out of Mallay.” Then she opened the bag and saw what was inside. “Oh my, there are clothes and toiletries in here. That was really nice of him!”

Viidu spoke up, “I've heard his name before. He has a reputation of getting things done, but being a bit harsh sometimes. Anyways, you two go on. I get the feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day so rest up while you can.”

Bella and Corso left the warehouse and made the short walk to his small place. “It isn’t much, Viidu owns it actually, but rents it to me.” he warned her as they went inside.

“Thanks for letting me stay here, Corso, and it's a nice place.” Bella assured him.

“You take the bedroom, Captain. I just changed the bedding and you can have some privacy.”

“I don’t want to kick you out of your room, Corso!” she protested, “I don’t mind sleeping out here. I'm grateful for a bed at all!”

“Please, Captain, I insist. That way, I won’t wake you when I get up and leave for Viidu’s in the morning. You can sleep as long as you need.”

Bella smiled gratefully, “Well, thank you again, Corso, and please call me Bella.” Then she went into Corso’s bedroom to finally get some sleep. “Goodnight!”

“Good night, Bella.” He told her softly, realizing he was quickly becoming smitten with the lovely captain.

****************

The next morning, Bella woke up in a strange bed and had a moment of panic. Then the events of the previous day came hurling back to her. She buried her face in the pillow, not ready to face what this day would bring. She could smell Corso on the pillow and found it to be pleasant. Good looking and smells nice, she thought, maybe if I'm here another night, I'll seriously attempt to seduce him.

Bella stepped out of the bedroom to find a plate of sweet rolls and a note on the table. She picked up the note and read it.

Bella,

I didn’t know what you liked to eat so I hope this is ok. There's caffa in the pot on the counter and you can find juice and milk in the refrigerator. Help yourself to whatever you want and head over to Viidu’s when you're ready.

Corso

She was startled when her heart gave a little flutter. Good looking, smells nice, and is extremely thoughtful….oh girl, you could be in trouble! She pushed those thoughts out of her head. She didn’t do relationships, with good reason, and despite his great qualities, she just wasn’t ready to change her mind.

She was starving and the sweet rolls smelled wonderful. She grabbed a mug of caffa, and sat at the table to eat. She smiled then, wondering if anyone overheard her talk with Mallay on the way back from Mannett Point. Bella planned to go over to HQ on her way to Viidu’s so she could thank Lieutenant Jorgan for the things he’d sent over. Hopefully Mallay would be there as well. She enjoyed spending time with her sister, something they had done little of since Mallay had gone off to the military.

Bella finished eating and took the bag into the refresher with her. She noticed the refresher was spotless. Good looking, smells nice, thoughtful, and clean!! How is he still single?! She quickly showered and dressed. She searched the cabinets and finally found a small hair dryer that looked like it had never been used. She dried her hair quickly and checked her reflection. Luckily, Bella usually didn’t need to wear much makeup because hers was on her ship, blasted Skavak, and Corso certainly didn’t have any. She usually carried a tube of lip gloss in her pants pocket though. She found it and put some on, checking her reflection again. Not bad, girl, not bad at all.

She packed her things in the bag Jorgan had sent and left it on Corso’s bed, cleaned up from breakfast, and headed out. She stopped at HQ first, wanting to find her sister and thank Jorgan for the clothes. She went inside and immediately spotted a young private.

She flashed a smile at him, “Hey there, cutie, I am looking for my sister, Sergeant Lauren.” She winked at him, “think you can help me?”

Private Farn blushed and stammered, “I…uh…” Then he finally gave up on trying to speak to the vision in front of him and pointed to the Command Center.

Bella thanked him and went into the room he’d pointed to. She found three men in there, one of which she recognized. She decided to have a little fun. “Well, isn’t this a welcome sight,” she drawled as she leaned against the doorway, in her most seductive pose, letting her gaze slowly travel over each of them, “Mmmm, so many possibilities, so little time. So, which one of you handsome men wants to help me find my sister?”

She studied them carefully, the Zabrak blushed a little, the smaller man, whose face was covered in cybernetics, leered at her, and the Cathar looked amused.

The smaller man approached her first, “I would love to help you out. Maybe we can go somewhere private and discuss it.”

“You might want to watch yourself around this one, Lieutenant Dorant. This is Sergeant Lauren’s sister and from what we've seen, she can be a bit feisty.”

Bella pouted, green eyes dancing with amusement, “Oh, Lieutenant Jorgan, you just had to ruin my fun!” Then she smiled at him, “Thanks for the clothes and toiletries you sent over. I really appreciated it!”

“You’re welcome, Captain.” Then he nodded at the Zabrak, “It was actually Lieutenant Basren’s idea. I just found the stuff and sent it over.”

“Well, thank you for thinking of me, darlin’” she addressed Fuse, who blushed. “So where is Mallay anyways?”

“You just missed her. She left about ten minutes ago to take care of something for us.” Needles told her, his eyes obviously not on her face. She couldn’t blame him for that, the shirt was a little snug and she did have some good assets. Still, he did seem a little creepy to her.

“Hey, you guys didn’t give her too much of a hard time last night, did you?” Bella asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

“About what?” Jorgan asked.

“Oh, you didn’t hear our little chat on the way back from Mannett Point…..umm, nevermind then.”

“No….why?” Jorgan asked, curious now.

“Eh, forget I mentioned it….it wasn’t important.”

“Oh, come on, Captain, you have to tell us now.” Needles demanded, and Jorgan nodded in agreement. Fuse just blushed a little more.

“Well, can you keep a secret?” Bella asked them in a hushed voice, looking around. They nodded and she smirked at them, “Good! So can I!” Then she turned and left them staring after her.

She headed to Viidu’s next and found him and Corso in his office upstairs.

“Good morning, Captain. I hope you're well rested, because I have a little adventure planned for you.” Viidu told her.

“Hey, I forgot to tell you last night, some of the guys were harassing your girl when I got back from Mannett Point. I convinced them to change their minds, but she was a little shaken.”

“Want me to have a talk with them, boss?” Corso asked.

Viidu shook his head, “We can deal with them later and clean house if we need to. For now, we need to stall Rogun while we decrypt that data.” He turned to Bella, “That's where you come in, Captain.”

“Are you out of your frakking mind?!” Bella yelled after he had explained what the ‘little adventure’ was. Viidu wanted her to get some chemical canister from a crazy scientist and of course she would have to fight through Separatists to get to him. Fighting the Separatists wasn’t the issue, after all she had been doing a lot of that since landing on this nightmare of a planet. The problem was that this chemical that Viidu wanted her to get was highly unstable. Why in the void did I agree to make this weapon delivery to Ord Mantell?! Bella thought, not for the first time.

“Not the Big Boom run?!” Corso exclaimed.

“Have you got something better to do?” Viidu asked, ignoring Corso and looking a little irritated himself.

“Yes I have something better to do….not getting blown up!” Bella retorted, “I mean come on….Corso just called it ‘the Big Boom Run!’ That doesn’t exactly make me want to run out and fetch it for you!”

“It is pretty risky boss,” Corso admitted. He hated the thought of something happening to the beautiful young woman in front of him. She could obviously handle herself, but he was the type of man that didn’t like women being in danger, and he really felt a strong urge to protect her.

“Look Captain,” Viidu told her, “if we can’t stall Rogun and he finds out about his shipment being stolen, we're all as good as dead. He isn’t going to care that it wasn’t our fault. These chemicals will make him very happy and hopefully buy us some time.”

“Yeah, provided I don’t get blown up while getting them here….” Bella muttered, seeing that she had little choice in the matter. Corso and Viidu needed to get that data decrypted so they could find Skavak.

“Did I mention this job pays very well?” Viidu told her.

“Fine!” Bella spat out, “just tell me where to find this scientist and you had better be right about the pay!”

“Trymbo can be found in Oradam Village,” Viidu explained. “You should have little trouble getting there, just be careful with the canister when you get it.”

Bella got the coordinates and left Viidu’s office. She went downstairs and headed for the door when Corso stopped her.

“Here Captain, I want you to take this. You are bound to run into trouble at some point and I would feel better if you have this.” He handed her a nice looking blaster. “This is a SoruSuub SSK heavy blaster. Its cut for a quick draw and got a hair trigger. I call her Flashy. Flashy’s the first blaster I ever owned and I want you to have her.”

Stars, does he have a name for all of his weapons?! Then she felt bad for her thoughts, after all, he'd been nothing but kind to her. She smiled at him, “That's very nice of you. I was in the middle of cleaning out my good blasters when I came out of hyperspace and found myself having to dodge fire. When I landed, I grabbed this old thing.” She strapped Flashy on the left side of her belt and moved the old one to her right. Then she hugged him, kissing his cheek. “You've really been a tremendous help to me since this whole mess started. There aren’t many that would go out of their way to help a stranger the way you have without expecting something in return. You're a good man, Corso Riggs, I hope you realize that.”

Then she left a blushing Corso and headed to Oradam Village. She’d found the trip to be shockingly uneventful for the most part. I guess the Separatists sleep in, she thought. As she got closer to Oradam Village, she did run into a few Separatists, but now that she had two blasters, Flashy being a very nice blaster indeed, they gave her little trouble. She made her way to Trymbo’s house and went in, wanting to get this over with. Unfortunately, Trymbo wasn’t there but his wife was. She explained to Bella that her husband was out fishing at the beach.

“Fishing?! The beach is like a war zone! Why in the void would he be going fishing?!”

“Hopefully catching dinner!” his wife answered, then went back to her cooking.

This guy must be a total whackjob to be fishing on this beach, Bella thought as she fought through scavengers to Trymbo’s fishing spot. As soon as she found him, she knew that her assessment was correct. He kept going on about Alderaanian stew and thought the Separatists were Ugnot assassins. Bella finally managed to get the chemicals from him and very carefully made her way back to Viidu’s.

Bella called out as soon as she entered the warehouse. She wanted to put that frakking canister down and get away from it. Viidu had a secure case that could contain an explosion and instructed her to put the canister inside. She had never felt more relieved as she did when she put that unstable canister in the case and Viidu sealed it.

“Never again!” she insisted, shaking a little.

Corso came in and told them that he had a location from the data. He was relieved that Bella had made it back in one piece. He was thinking of her the whole time she’d been away, wishing that he had gone with her.

“Apparently, Skavak has a deal to sell the weapons to one of the Separatist leaders, Dareg. Skavak was to take the weapons to their main hideout.” Corso explained. “The deal is supposed to happen soon. If we hurry, then we might be able to get Skavak before he can unload the cargo.”

“That's fantastic news, Corso!” Viidu shouted, looking relieved, then turned to Bella. “The Separatists main holdout is in an inactive volcano a little ways past Oradam Village. It won’t be easy getting in, so take Corso with you. He's a walking dictionary about weapons and knows how to use them well. When the two of you return in your ship with the weapons, we can all celebrate!”

Bella looked over at Corso and smiled, “It'll be nice to have some back up. You ready for this?”

Corso nodded, the look on his face showing that he was more than ready to kill a few Separatists. He touched the large vibroknife on his belt, “Me and Hewie are ready. Hewie here's great for chopping Separatists off at the knees.”

Bella smiled, Stars, I should've seen that one coming!

“Everything ok in here? I thought I heard shouting.” Syreena asked from the door. “Remember, Viidu, you aren’t supposed to overexcite yourself.”

“Things are looking a lot better, sweetheart.” Viidu assured her, then turned back to Bella and Corso. “You two be careful in there, and hurry before that slime ball Skavak gets away!”

“Oh, I can’t wait to blast his sleazy head off!” Bella said, darkly, as she and Corso were leaving, “No one steals from me and gets away with it.”

As soon as Mallay entered HQ, she was stopped by a large Zabrak who introduced himself as Lieutenant Virk. Mallay noticed that Virk’s cronies were holding Private Farn who looked as if he’d been beaten.

“I hear little Farn here decided to tell you about my little operation and that you reported it to your superiors. Now I've got people looking into my business.” Virk sneered at her, “Well, let me tell you something, Sergeant, this is my world and you can be sure that I'll see to it that you come back from your next assignment in a body bag. No one messes with me and gets away with it. I've made tons off of boys willing to pay for their safety and I don’t intend for that to stop anytime soon.”

“Officers like you make me sick,” Mallay retorted, disgust and loathing written all over her face. “You're a coward, simple as that. You use your position to bully those under your command into either paying you or doing the work you should do yourself. If you were a real man, you'd face me on your own. Instead, you'd rather sneak around and have your little cronies do your dirty work. They may try to sabotage me at some point, but if they're anything like you, they'll fail.”

“You little punk!” Virk spat, “What are you waiting for, boys, kill this little upstart.”

Virk’s men were hesitant to attack another officer while in HQ, but Virk threatened to punish them unless they followed his orders to attack Mallay. They went after her and Farn tried to stop them, but he went down fast. Mallay dodged them and as she did with Mitch Davies back in school, she punched Virk in a highly sensitive area and while he was doubled over, she got behind him, swept his legs out from under him causing him to fall face first to the ground. She stepped onto his back and pressed her rifle to his head.

“You’re done,” she spat, “Tell your buddies to let Farn go, now!”

“What are you going to do, Sergeant? It’s just your word against mine and I outrank you. I'm going to make sure you and Farn here pay for this!”

“Actually, it'll be my word against yours,” Lieutenant Jorgan growled from the doorway, “and I have the footage from this little incident that'll clearly show that you attacked Sergeant Lauren and Private Farn. It also includes that part where you admitted to taking kickbacks for safe postings. Sergeant Lauren is right, you’re done.” Two more soldiers came in and arrested Virk and his cronies.

Mallay urged an injured Farn to report to a medic, then followed Jorgan into the Command Center.

“Thanks for standing up for me back there, sir. I know you can’t stand me so it must've taken a lot to do that.” Mallay told him, “How did you know though?”

“After you told us what you had heard about Virk, I did a little digging and found enough to make me suspicious. I had a couple of soldiers that I trust keep tabs on him and they alerted me when he and his cronies came into HQ. I was listening when he admitted what he’d been doing, and as soon as I heard that, I headed down to stop him. By the time I arrived, he was on the floor and you were putting a rifle to his head.”

“I am just glad Farn took a chance and told me what Virk was doing.” Mallay sighed, “I hope he'll be okay. Thanks again for what you did back there, sir.”

“Knowing how you feel towards me, it must be killing you to thank me for something!” Jorgan chuckled.

“I may never recover, sir.” Mallay smirked.

“We have a problem, Lieutenant,” one of the technicians called out from his terminal.

“Talk to me, Ensign,” Jorgan barked out.

“It’s Havoc, sir, we’ve lost them.”

“Get back on that terminal and keep trying!” Jorgan ordered.

“Wait, they went in already?” Mallay blurted out, her shock making her forget the ‘sir’ part.

“Yes, Sergeant, they wanted you to stay here and observe with me.” Jorgan told her, “I'm kind of surprised by that to be honest. I actually thought you were finally starting to come along.”

Mallay was livid, “After everything I have gone through to find that thing, I should at least be in on retrieving it!”

“Maybe next time, Sergeant.” Jorgan told her, watching as she paced, her anger making her shake a little. He was impressed that she was controlling it fairly well though.

“Still no trace of Havoc, sir,” the technician called out. “Beacon signals and their armor cams….everything is gone, sir. It’s as if they vanished into thin air!”

Jorgan knew in his gut that something was off. Things hadn’t felt right since Sergeant Lauren had gotten the information from Zak and Jallar. He’d put the word out and Havoc had quickly assembled. After Tavus had ordered him to keep Sergeant Lauren at HQ no matter what, they left without their newest member. He may not have thought much of the rookie, but he had to admit, she got the job done quickly and efficiently. He thought it odd that Tavus would leave her behind, but he had his orders. He looked over at the petite Sergeant, and for the first time, he wasn’t sure what the right thing to do was. Do I send her in against Tavus’ orders? Do send her alone or do I get General Vander down here and go in with her?

Time was running out and someone needed to get in there. He didn’t know how long it would take General Vander to get down here or if he would even be able to get ahold of him right away. Someone needed to keep an eye on things here and with the way things were going, he only trusted that to himself and the General. He needed to send her in now and if he could get General Vander here quickly, he would join her.

Jorgan sighed, having made his decision. “We are not going to fail this mission on my watch! Sergeant,” he growled, startling a still pacing Mallay, “you’re going in.”

Mallay stopped pacing and calmed herself, “yes, sir.”

“We were hoping to retrieve the ZR-57, but we are way south of that scenario now. Our only option is to disarm it, leaving the Seps with nothing but a radioactive paperweight.”

The technician came over from his terminal with a data spike, “Here, Sergeant, you will need to use this on the communications console inside the Separatist holdout. It will broadcast the disarm code throughout the base, so where ever the ZR-57 is, as long as it's still inside the base, it'll be permanently disarmed.” Then he looked thoughtful and turned to Lieutenant Jorgan, “Sir, what if we lose her signal and cam as well? Whatever is blocking Havoc’s equipment will likely block hers too.”

“Damn,” Jorgan growled, “I am not sure what we can do about that. You tried all of the signals on Havoc’s stuff and they're all blocked?” the tech nodded, “Hers will be the same. Do we have anything with different technology on it?”

“No, sir.” The tech responded, looking anxiously over at Mallay.

Mallay sighed, “I do.” She went over to the terminal and started having it search for technology signatures. After a moment, it found her cybernetic and she brought up the access screen. The tech and Lieutenant Jorgan came over and she spoke again. “I'm giving you access to my cybernetic. You'll be able to use it as a camera and it also gives off a signal beacon. It requires a password to access. I'm putting it in now so we can test it.” She put in her password and felt a sharp jolt in her eye as the terminal gained access. She gripped the terminal to keep her balance and a moment later, the disorientation passed. She hated her enhancement, but at times like this, she was glad for it. Then she pointed at the terminal screen and turned to face Jorgan.

Joegan saw his image on the screen and was relieved that they had a way to watch over her. “Good thinking, Sergeant.”

“Thanks, sir. I hate this damn thing, but it has its uses.” She admitted. “Now, I'm not sure if it’ll still work if I have to activate any of my vision enhancements, but hopefully it doesn’t come to that. I'm going to deactivate my cybernetic now. If my signals go out like the rest of Havoc, then you can reactivate it. However, you'll need to reenter the password.”

“I hope you plan to give it to one of us, Sergeant.”

Mallay nodded, “May I have your datapad, sir?” When Jorgan handed it over, Mallay put her password on it. “I'm putting a lot of trust in you with this,” she admitted, hoping she wasn’t making a mistake “Please, don’t activate it without warning me first. It tends to disorient me for a moment and I don’t want that happening if I’m in the middle of fighting Seps.”

Jorgan had noticed her discomfort earlier and assured Mallay that he would contact her if they were losing her armor signals. “Now, Sergeant,” Jorgan began, kindly for once, “You know what their security has been like so far. This is their main holdout, most of their forces are likely going to be there. Get to that terminal as quickly as you can, but watch yourself in there.” He saw her raise a slim eyebrow in confusion at him and for the first time, he felt a little guilty for how harshly he’d treated her.

“I haven’t failed a mission yet and I don’t intend to start today, sir.” She replied, saluting.

Jorgan nodded, “Good luck, Sergeant, we’re all counting on you. Dismissed.” He watched her leave, hoping it wasn’t the last time he would see her and went to contact the General.

**********************

Bella looked at the volcano she and Corso were about to go in, “Stars, we must be nuts to go in there! I'm going to hurt Skavak badly for making me do something as stupid as going into a volcano!”

Just as they were about to go in, having killed the guards, an SIS agent stopped them and asked for their help. He told them there was some important Separatist splinter group leaders in there and asked if they could access the computer with their location and take them out. He wasn’t able to breach the stronghold on his own, but he saw that they were having little trouble. Bella agreed and she and Corso went in.

Bella and Corso fought their way through the stronghold, stopping to access the computer for Agent Burne. Once Bella had the location of the leaders, they continued on. Viidu was right, Bella thought as they fought their way to the rendezvous point for Dereg and Skavak, Corso is a good fighter. They found the splinter group leaders and Corso rushed them, getting their attention while Bella picked them off easily from under cover with her blasters.

“We make a pretty good team, Farm Boy,” Bella smirked as they looked over the corpses. Bella checked the list over on her datapad and nodded, “Looks like all of them. Now on to that bastard Skavak!”

“Lead the way, Captain.” Corso told her, trying to calm his racing heart. He couldn’t help but feel excited that she thought they made a good team. Relax Corso, he told himself, just because she thinks you work well together doesn’t mean she wants anything more.

By the time they reached the rendezvous point, alarms were going off. The base was under attack and Bella desperately hoped that wouldn’t cause Skavak to leave early with her ship. “We better get in there fast! You ready, Corso?” He nodded and they went into the storage area.

*************************

Mallay made it into the stronghold with little resistance. She had noticed some corpses nearby and wondered if it was her sister’s work. She didn’t have time to get a good look though, since she needed to get to that communications terminal ASAP. She only stopped to slice into the security terminals for Sergeant Vandal. He'd stopped her as she went through the republic outpost on the way to the stronghold. He needed Mallay’s help in securing the landing zone inside the stronghold so Republic troop shuttles could land and make their assault on the base. Mallay had agreed to help him slice into the security terminals and take out the anti-aircraft guns on the launch pad.

She made it to the area where the communications terminal was and found her first surprise as she entered…..there were Imperials in the Separatist stronghold. Jorgan was right, she thought, the Seps are getting Imperial help! Mallay was glad she raided the supply room before leaving HQ. Her weapons belt and backpack were fully stocked. She wanted to conserve the grenades as much as possible, not knowing what else was in store for her. She took the Imperial soldiers and Separatists one small group at a time. When she was finished, she was the only one alive and still had a decent stock of grenades. She uploaded the data spike into the communications terminal and the disarm code went out. I hope that damn thing is still here to be disarmed! Her holo went off, it was Jorgan telling her they copied that the spike had been successfully uploaded.

“Sir, I encountered Imperials working with the Seps!” Mallay told him.

“Copy that, Sergeant, we saw it as well.” Jorgan replied. “Now that the bomb has been neutralized, I want you to go further in and see if you can locate your squad. We have the coordinates of their last known point and I am sending them to you now. Be careful, Sergeant, we have no idea of the extent of the Empire’s involvement here so there's no way to know what you'll encounter further in.”

“Copy that, sir. If my squad is here, I'll find them and bring them back.” Mallay assured him and they signed off. She checked her datapad, found the coordinates Jorgan sent, and headed further into the stronghold to find her squad.

Mallay had two more security terminals to slice into before finding herself walking out to the landing pad. She saw that anti-aircraft guns and they were minimally guarded. She quickly took out the Seps and blew up the turret guns. Alarms began going off at that point, but one Republic troop shuttle was already landing and another was overhead. The assault had begun!

Mallay quickly made her way further into the base to the last known location of Havoc. She hadn’t encountered anymore Imperials, but plenty of Seps. She noticed a large corridor off to her right and was starting to head in when her holo went off.

“Sergeant, we just lost your feed and we need to switch over to your cybernetic. Is it safe to do so?” Jorgan asked her.

“Copy that, sir. I'm ready.” She assured him and a few seconds later, felt the jolt in her eye as he accessed her cybernetic. She leaned against the wall to keep her balance.

“We have you, Sergeant.” Jorgan informed her, “Are you alright?”

“Fine, sir.” She gritted out as the discomfort subsided, “I was about to head into this corridor in front of me. You contacted me about the loss of my feed as I was about to go in so it seems like a good place to start. Also, it's a wide corridor, definitely capable of having a large orbital strike bomb pass through it.”

“Copy that, Sergeant. Watch yourself in there and good luck!”

Mallay signed off and headed down the corridor, finding Imperials with the Seps once again. She could feel in her gut that she was close to finding her squad.

**************************

Bella and Corso fought their way through the storehouse where the rendezvous point was only to find Dareg with his bodyguards and no Skavak! Dareg and his bodyguards attacked, but Bella and Corso were indeed a great team. Corso again rushed in while Bella found cover. As Corso drew their fire, Bella picked them off with her blasters and soon Dareg and all but one of the bodyguards was dead.

“Please don’t kill me,” the remaining guard pleaded, “I have a family that depends on me.”

“Separatists killed my whole family and I promised myself I'd make every one of you scum pay.” Corso told him, a cold, deadly look on his face as he raised his rifle. “and that includes you.”

“I never killed anyone’s parents. I've only been here a couple of months, I swear!” the guard cried.

Bella was shocked at the change that overcame Corso. She could understand his pain, but hated to see him become a cold killer. She had walked that line several times, but thoughts of her family kept her from crossing it. She didn’t want Corso to cross that line either so she stepped in front of him.

“No, Corso, you don’t want to do this.” Bella told him, softly. She held her ground as he glared at her. “Think about it, if your family was anything like you, they were good, kind people and they wouldn’t want you to become a cold blooded killer. Please, Corso, don’t do this.”

“I have no idea what my family would've wanted me to do,” Corso snapped, “because Separatists killed them all!”

“I know, and believe me, I understand how you feel.” Bella admitted, “I have lost family to violence, but I'm lucky, I didn’t lose all of them and that keeps me from crossing the line you're about to.”

Corso looked at the beautiful woman pleading with him to spare his enemy. Then he looked at the guard, who appeared to be his own age, asking for another chance to keep providing for his family.

Corso sighed, “Okay, Captain, I'll let him go. I hope I don’t regret it.”

“Thank you…..and I can help. Dareg and Skavak were warned that you were coming. Skavak rushed out of here with some old droid that had been in Dareg’s family and took off in your ship before we could unload the weapons. He betrayed us too. Skavak has a girl at the warehouse, Syreena. She's the one who said you were coming. She might be able to tell you where he's going.” The guard told them, “I wish I could do more to help.”

“You did what you could, thank you. Now, please go before Corso changes his mind. We'll deal with Syreena.” Bella assured him.

The guard thanked Corso and Bella again and assured them that he was done with the Separatists. Bella hugged Corso, feeling him shake a little and was happy she stopped him from killing that man in cold blood.

“Come on, Corso, let’s go have a chat with Syreena!” Bella smiled, darkly and they left the storehouse only to have Corso plowed into by a petite soldier in a Republic uniform rushing out from a corridor off to the side.

*************************

Mallay was in for her second shock as she rounded the corner into a small hanger to find the stolen ZR-57 being loaded into an Imperial transport shuttle, a small Imperial squad, and Havoc working with them! She felt sick, but was determined to find out what was going on. They had no way of knowing that Jorgan and the techs at the Command Center were watching through her cybernetic and she could at least let them know what was going on, even if it meant she would be killed in the process.

She approached her squad, Tavus spotted her first and the Imperials brought their weapons up.

“Sergeant, I thought I'd given orders for you to stay at the Command Center.” Tavus told her as if everything was normal and she had simply disobeyed orders, “You aren’t supposed to be here.”

Wraith stepped behind Mallay and she felt a rifle point at her back. “I’ll take her,” Wraith softly insisted, sounding pleased at the thought.

“You better shoot then, because I'm going to slit your throat and relish watching you die if you don’t!” Mallay promised her, a deadly look on her face.

“No, Wraith, stand down.” Tavus ordered, “Sergeant Lauren deserves better than that. We owe her an explanation at least, then she can have the chance to join us or die like the warrior she is.”

“There's nothing to explain, Tavus.” Mallay retorted, disgusted with him and the rest of Havoc. “You're working with the Imperials and that makes you nothing but a cowardly traitor.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to understand,” Tavus told her, “but the Republic betrayed us first. They sent us to Ando Prime and left us to die when things went wrong. They wrote us off, not caring what happened to us. The Senate wants peace and warriors like us threaten that. We give the people victories and that gives them hope that the Republic can defeat the Empire. That threatens the peace that the Senate wants. There's no way they will let Spec Forces and the military keep having success. So we decided to go somewhere where we had value.”

“Do you hear yourself and the paranoid nonsense you are sputtering out?!” Mallay shook her head, still in shock, “There's no way I would ever join you and betray the Republic. You all make me sick!” A loud clank echoed through the hanger as the large shuttle doors closed, they had finished loading the bomb.

“Thank you, Sergeant, for helping us find the ZR-57,” Fuse told her softly. “I'm so sorry things came to this.” He actually looked sad as he headed into the shuttle.

“Yes, Sergeant, thank you for finding our present to the Empire.” Needles sneered.

“Too bad I deactivated it, now it’s worthless! Good luck explaining that to your new bosses.” Mallay laughed coldly, “I hear that the Imperials aren’t very forgiving of mistakes.” Needles and Tavus looked nervous at that but were interrupted before they could get an explanation from her.

“Hey boss, we need to make atmo in the next few minutes or it will be too late,” Gearbox interrupted, “The Republic is taking over this stronghold.”

“You aren’t going anywhere, traitors!” Mallay snapped.

“You never lacked courage, Sergeant. It was truly an honor to watch you work. You would've made a fine addition to Havoc had things been different.” Tavus told her as Needles, Wraith, and Gearbox boarded the shuttle. As he started up the ramp, he turned to the Imperials, “Colonel Vorr, give this Sergeant the warrior’s death she deserves.”

“Run while you can, Tavus!” Mallay shouted as she dove for cover behind a stack of crates, “I won’t rest until every one of you traitors is dead!”

“Goodbye Sergeant,” Tavus called out as the shuttle door closed and it took off.

Mallay ripped off her pack and set it behind a crate, then grabbed a flash bomb and smoke grenade from her belt. She hurled them both at the Imperials and activated one of her vision enhancements on her cybernetic, the adrenaline pumping through her and her rage helping her overcome the disorientation. The flash bomb blinded the Imps long enough for the smoke to thicken. They couldn’t see her but she was able to see their heat signatures through the smoke. She took out Vorr first, quietly getting behind him, and slitting his throat. Then she went after the rest, killing them one by one.

When the smoke cleared, the Imperials were all dead and Mallay was a bloody mess. She knew she needed to get out of there and back to the Command Center quickly. She grabbed her pack from behind the crate and ran out of the hanger, deactivating the vision enhancement. She ignored the disorientation as her sight returned to normal, and in her rush, didn’t see the couple until she literally ran into the man.

Corso caught the petite soldier as she plowed into him, the impact knocking them both over. He was grabbing for his rifle when he heard Bella shout.

“Mallay!” Bella cried, “Stars, are you alright?!”

Mallay nodded and shoved Corso away as she vomited. “Can you get me an icepack, Bella?” she asked as she crawled away from where she’d gotten sick and lay down. She looked over at the man with her sister, recognizing him from her sister’s description, “You must be Corso, sorry about running into you like that and almost getting sick on you. I've had to use my cybernetic enhancements a lot more than I'm used to in such a short time and it can mess me up a little.”

“It’s alright, Sergeant.” Corso assured her, “Are you okay?”

Bella handed Mallay the ice pack and she immediately put it over her forehead and eyes. Bella had noticed the blood all over Mallay’s armor and looked her over for any injuries, putting kolto on the few cuts and blaster burns she came across.

“What happened to you, sis?” Bella asked.

Mallay sighed, “This stays between us, okay? I'm sure my superiors don’t want this getting out.” Bella and Corso nodded and Mallay went on, “I was ambushed by Imperials and my own squad that turned traitor.”

“No offense, but how did you survive that?” Bella asked, concern for her sister shining in her green eyes.

“My former squad escaped in a shuttle with the stolen bomb that I located for them and the Imperial squad was small.” Mallay explained, “With the help of my enhanced vision and some nice grenades, I managed to survive the encounter. I was rushing out of there to get back to HQ when I ran into Corso. How about you, did you find that turd, Skavak?”

“No,” Bella snorted in disgust, “The slimeball escaped. It turns out he had a mole inside Viidu’s and we're headed back there to have a little chat with her.”

“You going to do the talking or do your blasters get that honor?” Mallay smirked.

“Probably both!” Bella admitted. “Now, if you're feeling better, I think we should get out of this place…..crazy bastards putting their base inside a karking volcano!”

Corso helped Mallay get up and steady herself. The three of them made their way out of the base, their way being much easier now that Republic troops were assaulting from the sky and the front. They took speeders to Fort Garnik. As they approached the warehouse, Mallay hugged her sister, telling her to be careful and promising to contact her as soon as she could. Bella and Corso went in to confront Syreena and Mallay went on to HQ, wondering what was in store for her next. At least Lieutenant Jorgan can’t blame me for this!

Bella and Corso entered the warehouse in search for Syreena. They found her talking to Skavak on the holo in Viidu’s office. Viidu was lying dead a few feet from her. Skavak hung up on Syreena and Bella coughed to announce their presence. She hadn’t thought much of Syreena, but helping Skavak was something Bella wasn’t going to let go unpunished.

“Captain! I…uh…suppose you heard that,” Syreena started nervously. “I can explain…..”

Bella interrupted, “You know, I really don’t care at this point. The fact that you told the Seps that Corso and I were coming and that you killed Viidu is enough for me to want to waste you. Knowing you're Skavak’s stooge only adds to it.”

Syreena looked scared at this point. “He fooled me too! I thought he loved me and that he was going to take me with him!” she cried, looking anxiously at the blaster in Bella’s hand. “I know where he's going. Skavak had a deal on Coruscant and that's where he is headed now. Look, Rogun has put a price on your head and there'll be bounty hunters coming for you. You don’t have much time. The spaceport has just been opened back up, and you can take my shuttle passes and get out of here. Please, you don’t have to kill me! I'll just disappear, I swear!”

Bella sighed, “I know all about falling for the wrong man and being blinded by love…I get that and I feel for you. However,” Bella’s green eyes turned cold as she charged her blaster up, “you killed Viidu, and you nearly got me and Corso killed as well. I’m afraid that I can’t just let that go, nor can I possibly trust you.” With that, she shot Syreena, killing her.

Bella turned to Corso, who looked troubled. “I take it you don’t approve…”

“I just don’t think you needed to kill her. What makes that different from that guard back at the stronghold that we let go?”

“What makes that different is that the guard was no threat to us,” Bella explained. “He never tried to be anything he wasn’t, he was a simple guard who was trying to provide for his family. Syreena pretended to be Viidu’s girl so she could spy for Skavak. She let Skavak and Dareg know we were coming so he could escape and she killed Viidu. After everything she’d done, there was no way I was going to trust that she'd just quietly disappear. She could’ve given us the shuttle passes then contacted Skavak to let him know we were coming after him. She also could’ve contacted Rogun and his bounty hunters to tell them where I was headed. Unlike that guard, she was a threat that needed to be eliminated.”

“I’m sorry, and you probably think I‘m just an old fashioned farm boy, but I have a problem with hurting women. However, you have a point.” He admitted, sadly. “Anyways, I believe what Syreena said about bounty hunters coming and I think we should take that shuttle.”

“Does this mean you're coming with me?” Bella asked.

Corso nodded, “I’d like to….that is if you don’t mind.” He replied, looking hopeful.

“I don’t mind,” Bella told him, then gave him a questioning look, “but why?”

“Well, with Viidu gone, there’s nothing left for me here on Ord and I owe Skavak a little payback for taking Torchy,” he admitted, then looked at the ground, not wanting to make eye contact, “Also, I feel responsible for your ship being stolen and I want to make up for that.” He slowly looked back up at Bella, wondering what she thought of that.

“Why in the void would you feel responsible for Skavak taking my ship?!” Bella asked, shocked that he thought that. She hoped she hadn’t said or done anything to make him feel that way.

He sighed, “Because I was there and didn’t stop it! I should've never trusted Skavak….I didn’t like him. I should never have turned my back to him. I should've fought harder. I sh……”

“Corso, stop right now,” Bella interrupted, gently touching his arm. “You had no way of knowing what was going to happen. You were just doing your job. You couldn’t have fought harder because Skavak knocked you out, otherwise I'm sure you would have! I’m so glad that Skavak only knocked you out and didn’t kill you! Please don’t blame yourself…..I don’t.”

Corso was having a difficult time thinking clearly with Bella’s hand on his arm, but he finally managed to nod at her and ask if it was alright for him to go to Coruscant with her.

“Of course you can come with me, Corso.” Bella assured him, smiling. “We make a great team and I'd love to have company….especially such good looking company!”

“I……uh….thanks, captain….err…Bella…” he stammered, blushing.

“Come on, Farm Boy, let’s get off this damned planet!” Bella grinned, tugging at his arm. They stopped at Corso’s place so she could grab the duffle that Jorgan had given her and Corso packed some clothes, toiletries, and a few personal items in his duffle and filled his backpack with his favorite weapons. Then they headed to the spaceport.

When they got to there, a shuttle was just arriving and Corso and Bella rushed to the hanger to try and get on it. They noticed that the hanger was empty and only two passengers had gotten off the shuttle, which immediately left. Bella then realized that they were in a private hanger and the two passengers looked like bounty hunters.

“Well, well, what do ya know,” the Mon Cal drawled, “Our target is right here waiting for us. I was hoping to walk around a bit though, I’m tired of being stuck on shuttles.”

“No problem Kindin, I’m sure you’ll have time to walk around some after we subdue the pretty captain here.” The Kel Dor told his partner, then addressed Bella. “Rogun wishes to speak with you and asked us to bring you to him. We get paid extra for bringing you in alive, so be a good girl and sit still.”

“Rogun can get spaced!” Bella retorted, charging up her blasters, “and if you idiots think I’m going to just let you take me, think again!”

“Oh, you really should have come quietly, Captain Lauren,” Kindin laughed, “but I'm so glad you didn’t. Let’s get her Xo’ru!”

Corso charged Xo’ru, drawing his fire while Bella kicked Kindin in a sensitive spot. While the Mon Cal was doubled over, Bella shot him several times in the head, killing him quickly. Then she dove for cover and started firing at Xo’ru. The Kel Dor was tough and Corso took a beating before he finally went down. Bella looked around and seeing the hanger empty still, went over to help Corso. She found some kolto packs in her duffle and quickly patched Corso up.

“I’m alright, Bella, but I think we should get out of here.” Corso gritted out as Bella finished putting kolto on a nasty cut he’d gotten on his side.

“I agree, hopefully we'll be long gone before anyone else comes in here.” Bella told him as they hurried out of the hanger.

They made their way to the main counter at the spaceport and saw that there was a shuttle leaving for Carrick Station in just over an hour. They would be able to get a shuttle to Coruscant from Carrick. Bella had just exchanged their passes for tickets on that shuttle when she heard her sister call out.

Mallay was in shock. The fallout from her former squad mates’ defection was bigger than she had imagined. She figured she would have to report to Spec Forces division on Coruscant, give her account of what happened, and that she would be reassigned. She had hoped that she would be involved in hunting those traitors down because she owed them some major payback. She would’ve never predicted what had happened when she got back to HQ.

Mallay had entered the command center to find Lieutenant Jorgan in a heated discussion with an older officer. She figured it must have something to do with the Havoc traitors and approached them, eager to get the debriefing over with and get her new assignment.

“That’s enough, Sergeant, the powers that be demanded someone swing for this and unfortunately that someone was you. There was nothing I could do about it.” the older officer told Jorgan, then he spotted her. “Ah, you must be Sergeant Lauren. I’m General Vander and we are both relieved that you survived the ambush. I would like to congratulate you on successfully deactivating ZR-57 and bringing Havoc’s activities to light. Your actions saved countless innocent lives.”

“Thank you, sir.” Mallay saluted, shocked. Did I just hear right? Did Jorgan get demoted over this? “I take it you were able to witness what happened at the stronghold, then.”

“Yes, Sergeant, your cybernetic feed worked up until you attacked the Imperial squad, then we lost you. I arrived just as Sergeant Jorgan activated it.” General Vander explained as Jorgan angrily paced nearby.

“You lost me because I activated a vision enhancement.” Mallay explained.

General Vander nodded, “Sergeant Jorgan mentioned that you’d warned him about that possibility. Anyways, due to your exemplary service and recent actions, I hereby promote you to Lieutenant, effective immediately. Also, as the last remaining member of Havoc, you are now in its command.”

Mallay was speechless, “Thank you, sir. I am honored.”

“You earned it, Lieutenant.” General Vander assured her, “Now, it will be up to you to rebuild Havoc, but I am going to help you get that process started by assigning Sergeant Jorgan to your squad.”

“WHAT?!” Mallay and Jorgan cried at the same time.

The general actually smiled, “I’m well aware that the two of you haven’t exactly gotten along, but you will need to work through that yourselves. Sergeant Jorgan, you are a good man and this is the best I can do for you. Lieutenant Lauren, Jorgan has leadership experience and will be a very valuable asset in tracking down your former squad mates.”

Mallay nodded, “I will be happy to have his help, sir.” About as happy as I would be if I had a stomach virus, she thought, this is so not fair!

“I will be happy to take the Havoc patch and Sergeant stripes if it means I can grind them into Tavus’ face when we catch up to him!” Jorgan growled. Great, the little upstart outranks me and now I am stuck under her command!

“Good,” General Vander nodded, “Now we have no way of knowing where the former Havoc members are or what they are up to, but it will be up to you to apprehend them.”

“I'm going to kill every one of those traitors if it's the last thing I do!” Mallay promised, a dark look coming over her face.

“Just don’t underestimate them, Lieutenant,” General Vander warned her, “At any rate, your job here is done. You both need to head to Coruscant and report to the head of Spec Forces division, General Garza. You'll be under her command from now on. Go gather your belongings and get to the spaceport to catch the shuttle. Lieutenant, Sergeant, you're dismissed. I wish you both the best of luck and I hope to see you again someday.”

They both saluted the general and left the room. Mallay went to her room to pack her things, Jorgan doing the same. Mallay’s few belongings took little time to pack and when she finished, she lay on the bed to try to get rid of the headache that had been plaguing her from using her cybernetic so much in a short time. The headache had finally subsided when she heard a knock at her door. She answered it to find a big, seething Cathar with a large assault cannon strapped to his back waiting for her. This sudden role reversal was definitely going to cause more tension between them. They needed to have a talk and get things out into the open before they would be able to work together. She knew that it was time they have it out and asked him to come inside.

“With all due respect, sir,” he growled, “I’d rather just get going.”

Mallay didn’t care how pissed he was, she hadn’t exactly had the greatest day either so she snapped at him. “Well, that’s just too bad, Sergeant, because I don’t recall asking you what you’d rather do. Now get in here and shut the door!” Oh, stars, she could just feel the anger radiating off of him as he complied, setting his duffle and cannon down next to the door.

“Is there any particular reason you wanted me in here, sir?” he demanded, as he stood, arms crossed, those green eyes glaring at her.

“Yes Sergeant, there is. I’d like to know exactly what your problem with me is!” She told him, glaring right back, her temper quickly rising.

“Permission to…”

“By all means dammit, speak freely….out with it!” Mallay interrupted, wanting to get this over with.

“My problem is that this morning I woke up a Lieutenant, overseeing a Spec Forces operation. I most likely would have been made Captain after its completion. Instead, your former squad mates decided to turn traitor and defect to the Empire. For some reason, despite years of excellent service, I take the heat for their defection and get demoted! Now I’m stuck serving under some young, hot shot rookie upstart who has no leadership experience at all! I’m sure you’re very excited to be able to order me around, but that doesn’t make you a leader.” Jorgan had started restlessly pacing as he ranted and Mallay could feel her temper reaching explosive point as he went on, “Void knows what kind of trouble you’ll get us into because you didn’t plan properly. I’ve seen you be a little reckless, you have a very short fuse, and you obviously feel that you can take your sweet time getting ready to leave. Next, you’ll be ordering me to carry your stuff for you like some little princess! So I’m so very sorry that me being angry bothers your delicate sensibilities, but you’re going to just have to deal with it, sir!”

Never in her life had she ever wanted to hit someone as badly as she wanted to hit Jorgan right then and her temper exploded. “Well, Sergeant, have you ever thought that maybe you deserved to be demoted?! Let me tell you, I sure have…”

“Why you little son of a…..” he growled as he grabbed her by the arm.

“Oh, hit a nerve did I?” she retorted, wanting to piss him off as much as he did her, “Think about it. Who was the one who was overseeing Havoc’s operations? You honestly didn’t suspect anything at all? Maybe you did and didn’t do anything about it or maybe you were completely fooled. Either way, you’re partly to blame and they were right to demote you so you can get down from your pedestal, stop being a frakking martyr, and quit treating me like I am something nasty you stepped on.”

“I swear if you were a man….”

“You would what?” she interrupted, the adrenaline pumping through her making her itch for a fight, “you'd hit me? Hey, don’t let my gender stop you, Sergeant. You want to go, we can go. You may be a man and a bit bigger than I am, but I’ve taken plenty of men your size down before. Besides, I’m younger than you and haven’t been sitting at a desk for the past few months.”

Jorgan’s temper exploded and he hauled her up against him intending to teach her a lesson, “You may be younger, my dear, but that doesn’t mean you’re faster. I’m a lot bigger than you are and could easily subdue you, even if I haven’t been out in the field much recently. Maybe you need to focus on that nasty temper before you bite off more than you can chew. That’s another problem I have with you, you have a tendency to let your temper override good sense and one of these days, it’s going to land you in serious trouble.” He sneered as he felt her trying to move, “so what now little princess, you ready to admit that you’ve been bested?”

A wicked, dangerous smile crossed her face as he heard a click and felt a point in a very sensitive part of his anatomy. “Don’t ever underestimate me again, Sergeant, or next time it may cost you. Now, please let me go and sit down.”

Much to her surprise, he complied without comment. She put her blade away and sat on the bed across from him.

“Now that we have that out of the way, we can move on.” She started, calming a little, “First off, I am well aware of my many shortcomings. You haven’t said anything that wasn’t true. I am young and I don’t have any leadership experience. However, I’m not an idiot and I’d appreciate it if you could at least acknowledge that.”

Jorgan sighed, his anger deflating, guilt replacing it, “No, you’re not an idiot and I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel that way. You’ve proven several times just how intelligent and quick thinking you are. I guess you aren’t the only one whose temper gets the best of them.”

Mallay smiled, “I think everyone lets that happen. I probably do more than most, and I promise I’ll work on that.” Then she sobered, “I’m sorry for what I said about you deserving to be demoted. I didn’t mean it really. I just wanted to piss you off as badly as you did me. That was selfish on my part. I saw you try to bring up concerns of the possibility of Imperials being involved with the Separatists to Tavus and he pushed it off, ordering you to focus on the mission. They were so tight knit that it was easy for them to hide their intentions, you were an outsider….so was I.”

“I could have tried harder though, but never in a million years would I have ever suspected something like this would happen.” Jorgan admitted, “It has taught me something though. If something feels off, I’ll make sure to look into it no matter what. Never again will I just blindly follow orders!”

“Good! I wouldn’t want you to blindly follow orders, and I won’t either anymore. If you ever have a concern with something I’m doing, please bring it up. I don’t have your experience and am counting on your help with this." Mallay told him, "I know that we are going to disagree on things. All that I ask is that you are there to back me up and if you have a concern, treat me with respect and talk to me rationally about it. Can you do that?”

He nodded, relieved that he had been wrong about her. Despite her short fuse and inexperience, she was an intelligent, reasonable young woman, “You can count on me, sir.” Then he looked troubled, “I wouldn’t have hurt you. I hope you know that. I’m sorry I let my temper bring me to the point that I grabbed you like that…..I should never have touched you.”

“Please, there is nothing to be sorry for, you didn’t do anything terrible. I goaded you to that point. We both said and did things we shouldn’t have, but it needed to come out.” She gave him a shy smile, “I shouldn’t have threatened you with a knife like I did either and I assure you that I would’ve never have gone through with that.”

Jorgan snorted, “I sure hope not!” Then he smiled back at her, “I think you'll do fine. You just proved you have some leadership ability. You knew that we needed to get this all out and work past it before we could work effectively together.”

She stood up and held out her hand, “Partners?”

“Partners,” he agreed, shaking on it. “Now let’s get to that shuttle and start hunting down those traitors.”

“Sure thing, Sergeant……now get my bag and do try to keep up!” she smirked at him using her hautiest tone, amusement shining in her deep blue eyes, then she picked up her duffle and winked at him, “just kidding!” She laughed and rushed out the door, Jorgan grabbing his stuff and quickly catching up to her.

“Disrespectful brat!” he muttered.

“Grouchy old crank!” she retorted, nudging him.

“Little Rookie Princess!” he smirked, pushing back.

“Crybaby!” she giggled, shoved him, and took off running down the street towards the Spaceport.

“Cheater!” he yelled, grinning as he chased after her.

I have often wondered why Jorgan didn’t figure out what was going on with the Havoc traitors. He was supposed to be overseeing their operations after all. I was tempted many times to call him out on it at the Senate inquiry on Coruscant, but I never did.

Also, I always felt that that first conversation with Jorgan after he becomes the trooper’s companion was too nice and calm. Between Jorgan’s attitude towards the trooper earlier on, his bitterness at being demoted, and the role reversal, I expected that conversation to be a lot more explosive. Mallay may be shy about some things, but she does not back down from an argument and prefers to get things out in the open rather than letting negative feelings fester. She also knows how to push a person’s buttons….a trait she shares with Bella.