Big DLX Gold and pink painted the eastern sky as a stranger arrived on a Aratech 2-Z speeder at the south edge of Cold Water. With only a couple people and vehicles scurrying about, the stranger parked near a walkway with no other vehicles nearby. A smooth dismount brought forth a small dust cloud where the stranger’s light tanned rider boots landed on the hard dirt. Square buildings in town and farm fields to the distance covered the landscape. Occasional small animals went about as the speeder no longer hummed. The round light tanned speeder helmet with dark visor concealed the stranger, except for wisps of ginger hair protruding out. Scanning the surroundings, the stranger moved to the walkway then strolled it towards the center of town. More people came out as the sky brightened, interested in this new visitor. Murmurs came forth, the stranger’s an outlaw that’s going to do some mean business. Tight leggings of light tan with a matching midthigh miniskirt stood out. The accompanying poncho came stone colored, decorated at the edges with diamonds of the same light tanned color. The stranger wore a color scheme that accentuated the attire, despite the occasional dirt and pieces of plants on the outfit from the couple hours ride through the farmland. The poncho covered the front and back of the torso, only allowing a light tanned hood to stand out in the back. It did not, however, cover the large DLX blaster that slung at the right hip. Approaching an elderly Mirialan gentleman, green of skin with grey of hair, the stranger brought forth from underneath the poncho a round object with black edge and white sides. A small hologram popped up from one side, displaying a human man blond haired. Brown eyes stared menacingly. A scar from plasma heat shown at the right temple. Numbers and words also displayed. The age 24, and a name. Hutta Red. “Looking for him. He around?” came muffled from behind the visor with the slightest of accent. “Fraid don’t know” came with slight high pitch from the Mirialan. The stranger gave a slight nod, then proceeded down the walkway, satisfied with the answer not spoken. The air warmed as the sky brightened. People whispered, with occasional words reaching the stranger of big blaster, Red, and nasty business. “Stranger. Don’t want you hurt. Best you leave.” A young Twi’ lek woman, rocking back on a chair in the shade of a roof, twitched her blue fingers intermittently, her eyes darting about. A long sleeve shirt with rugged slacks and boots gave away her occupation as a farm worker. At least she did not dress skimpy for the fields. “Won’t be long. I’m looking for someone.” The stranger brought out again the round object that displayed the hologram. “Named Hutta Red. Seen him?” “Not today. I mean. No, don’t know him.” The Twi' lek jerked her head about, as her blue prehensile tentacles swayed with the motion. The helmet moved slightly with a nod, then the stranger turned and proceeded back down the walkway as the poncho moved slightly about. Continuing on, the stranger noticed then focused on a young man with blue and white striped montrels and head tails. A Togrutan, standing by a door, stared at the stranger then tried to look away. “You probably don’t know much about this town, nor if Hutta Red is behind that door.” “Been here many years, stranger. And I certainly know Red is in the saloon down yonder.” He pointed further down the road, then scrunched his face as the stranger started back towards the speeder. The Togrutan couldn’t understand what caused him to reply that way. “That felt good” whispered underneath the helmet for only the stranger to hear. The stranger didn’t have to see but felt the presence of the Togrutan running down the road towards the center of town. Continuing back on the walkway, the stranger soon came back to the speeder. Doors slid open, the Togrutan burst into the saloon. “Red! Some stranger lookin for you. Think for a bounty.” The blond man placed his sabacc cards down on the table. Taking a swig of his ale, his right index finger slid over the twenty notches on his DC-2 blaster. “Where?” “Down towards the south side of town.” The Togrutan pointed from whence he came. Hutta Red exhaled a long sigh. A smile came to his face, with a couple spaces where teeth used to be. After he finished the ale in his mug, he stood as he knocked his chair back, then shambled to the door as he ignored the stares from the saloon patrons. “Hi stranger. That’s, um, a nice speeder.” A human girl, probably not even ten years old, stood at the edge of the walkway, holding a bottle of dark carbonated liquid as she gazed at the stranger in marvel. In one smooth motion the stranger pulled off the helmet while she knelt by the girl. Green eyes peered back at the youngster from a young lady with light skin under a head of ginger hair. An exquisite braid laid on the right side of her head. “Hi there. Yes, it is. How bout you do me a favor? Go inside the building and keep a watch on it from that window, and I will buy you another one of those.” She pointed at the bottle. “Deal?” With a broadened smile, the girl enthusiastically nodded her head then proceeded inside. Standing up, the stranger went to the speeder then placed her helmet inside the speeder’s back compartment. Peering down the dirt road towards the center of town, the stranger focused. Not on a sight, a smell, nor a sound. The stranger focused on the energy from all living things. Numerous flows of light, but the harm of fear from so many people also came to her attention. Hutta Red exited the saloon and shambled out onto the dirt road. Slowly he made his way south, staring at the young woman on the dirt road while the townsfolk scurried off into buildings. With a slight strut north, “Red, you can come in body temperature or air temperature, but you’re coming in for your crimes.” She perceived the focus of his eyes, the big DLX blaster at her side. “Someone needs shut yer yap.” His right hand moved slightly towards the DC-2 blaster hanging on his hip. Her breaths even, focused on all around, she picked up the slight twist of his head as the front of her poncho moved to the left side, without either hand touching it. Hutta Red now eyeballed her chest, or more specifically the metallic cylindrical object on her chest. Sitting vertically in a small pouch on the front of her tunic, the object came with buttons, switches, and a handle. His head moved up a little, eyes staring at hers, until he squinted with a gritting of his teeth. He must not have appreciated the brief lift of her eyebrows. A quick jerk of Hutta Red’s hand, the DC-2 cleared the holster. Two bolts of orange plasma sped with death towards the stranger. Yet back they came, rebounded from twin green blades of plasma emanating from the cylindrical object. Quicker than any eye could see the stranger brought forth the cylinder with the blades. The orange plasma bolts zoomed back, grazing Hutta Red on the outer part of his right wrist, and the inner side of his left knee. Down Hutta Red went with a scream as the stranger gracefully moved towards him. As she neared, he lurched his left hand towards his DC-2, greeted by green plasma sticking through his palm. Profanities bellowed from Hutta Red towards the stranger, who responded with a smile. “Ya know, you must be so tired, overwhelmed by such a presence. A couple days sleep would do you well.” No more profanities, Hutta Red fell to a slumber with accompanying snores. Focused on the speeder, a whistle left her lips. The Aratech 2-Z roared to life. Moving towards its owner, the speeder halted beside the stranger. She removed cuffs for wrists and ankles, and a gag that went into his mouth. A few stares came to her attention. She couldn’t help but smile. With ease she lifted Red’s body and placed it onto the back of the speeder, then tied him into place with enjoyment. Walking to the south side of town with the speeder moving besides, the stranger stopped then gazed into a window. The girl staring, the stranger motioned for her to come out. “You did great.” The stranger pointed at the bottle. “And you’ve earned another one of those. Which store?” “That one” the girl replied as she pointed to a nearby general store. “Say, you one of those space angels?” A slight laugh escaped. “No, I’m not a space angel.” The stranger entered the store, then found a bottle of dark carbonated liquid. She moved to the counter and placed the bottle down. “On the house, stranger.” An older man, probably four times her age, nodded as he pushed the bottle towards her. The stranger smiled as she dropped a card with credits double the price of the bottle into a tips jar. “Appreciate the house.” The stranger strolled outside as she gave the girl her new bottle. The energy felt different. Reduced fear, less corruption. The force flowed. Comments made their way back and forth about the speed of the stranger as she approached the speeder. She brought out her helmet as the elderly Mirialan gentleman came up to her. “Stranger, much obliged what you did. But you don’t look like any Marshall. What are you? Some bounty hunter?” The stranger gently shook her head a few times as her ginger braid moved about. Before she placed her helmet, she blinked then spoke “Jedi.”

Thank you for spending the time to read this short story. I tried to have In the Mountain as one thread. However, it was not accepted due to having too many characters. Because of that, it became two threads, part 1 and part 2. Again, thank for for spending the time to read this fanfiction tale of Padawan Furia.

In the Mountain with Padawan Furia Part 2 Docking Bay Seven, Six, Five, Furia approached the destination with her master. Two guards stood outside the entrance of Docking Bay Three, and each possessed SC-2A carbines. She leisurely strolled towards the closer one while she pulled the cart. “Hey” Furia stated as she opened up her robe for the guard to view the new mining clothes. “I need to get your measurements for your new outfit.” She let go of the cart in between herself and the guard farther away. “Get. You don’t belong here.” The guard moved his right hand towards her left arm. Furia swiftly moved her left arm towards her, as she pivoted on her right foot. Her quick spin around brought her right elbow onto the temple of the guard’s head. The padawan knocked him unconscious with a concussion. “What!” exclaimed the other guard. The padawan pushed the cart, and slammed it into the other guard’s legs.he ran towards the other guard. A knee from her hit him at the chin, and knocked him unconscious. She caught him as he fell, then laid him down on the ground. “I didn’t give you permission to confront the guards.” Pricilli’s cowl could not hide the frown to her padawan as she moved towards the door of the docking bay. "You never said I couldn't." Furia moved close to the control panel of the door, then turned towards her master, with the panel behind her. "Wonder if it would make any difference. Do you ever listen to me, Furia? Did you even listen when you were in my class?" The padawan stood with calm, as she blinked with her long eyelashes a couple of times to her master. Lights and sounds came from the panel, then the door opened, without the panel touched. “All right, Furia. You made your point. Thank you for remembering my lessons on door locks. I’ll get the one near the door. You get the other one.” Furia followed her master through the open doorway. The sound of a lightsaber came from Furia’s side, as at the edge of her vision she noticed the blue blade of her master deflected a shot, which returned to the shooter at her chest. In the center of the bay, Furia’s target, an older man, stepped towards the padawan, as he grabbed his carbine. Right foot, left foot, right foot. Furia pushed off the ground, and went into the air. Before the man could aim his carbine, her left knee flew into his forehead. He fell back and hit his head on the ground of the bay, the victim of a concussion. “Is he alive?” Furia glanced at her master when Pricilli asked the question. She saw the body near Pricilli, then the crates at the far end of the docking bay. “Still alive, Master.” Furia moved towards the crates. “The blast was on kill, Furia.” As she moved away from her master, she noticed all the crates came labeled with TIN. “If I did that, you’d be criticizing me, Master.” “No I wouldn’t.” The sigh from her master was not a slight one. “You have before.” Furia opened one of the crates. “Now we know how they’re getting doonium off the planet.” She turned towards her master. “Only the top layer is tin. The rest of the crate is doonium.” “So that’s how they do it.” Her master gazed at the dead body for a bit. Furia leisurely strolled across the bay towards the unconscious man. She brought lines out from her belt, then tied up his hands and feet. The padawan noticed a small datapad on him. As she picked it up, Furia noticed something on his collar. When she turned up the collar, the insignia of a captain in the Sith Army showed. A gentle toss, she gave the datapad to her master. “Oh, my head” Furia heard as he tried to move his right hand, while she stepped away from him. She moved her lightsaber, and attached it to her belt. “Must be nice to take in the aroma of those ships parked here. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll get more responsibilities.” Furia kept her leisure pace towards her master. “I certainly know Lord Dodir’s plan to retrieve the doonium without it being noticed. I’m in charge of loading the doonium onto the smuggler vessels in this bay.” Furia did not hear anything for a couple seconds, then listened to that familiar phrase. “Jedi witch!” She kept her facial muscles still, but the glee erupted inside Furia. “How you?” Pricilli squinted her eyelids at the padawan. “Furia! You are not to do a mind trick unless instructed. I’ve told you that, young lady.” “Just trying to get the info, Master. Plus, I need the practice.” “That is one of the few things you don’t need practice.” Furia kept her pace towards the door. “You getting the other two?” “Yes, Master. Bringing them in the docking bay. Although people might like watching it out there, I think it would be better for me to tie them up in here.” Furia did a quick spin, then beamed a quick smile to her master. The response was as expected, another sigh. She turned back around, and walked outside. In a little bit of time, the two unconscious men floated into the docking bay, as Furia followed while she focused. She gently lowered the bodies onto the ground, not close to one another. She brought out more lines, then tied them up like she did the captain. “I’m notifying authorities. When they arrive, we can proceed.” Furia glanced at her master touching the wrist comm, when the padawan heard something else. "I shall look forward to your defeat by Lord Dodir.” Furia strolled a little closer to the tied up captain. “Ya know, it wouldn’t bother you so much if you weren’t squirming, like if you were asleep.” The captain soon fell asleep. “Furia!” “Less irritating.” Furia strolled back to her master. “Law enforcement should be here in a bit.” Voices could be heard outside. “Ahh, that’s them now.” Furia stood while her master moved towards the door. “Thank you, Master Jedi. We’ll take it from here.” The man that appeared to lead the group of six law enforcement officers bowed his head to her master. Furia stood, waited for the instruction from her master. She observed Pricilli went to the doorway, as her hand bumped into the edge. Perhaps it was from age, an accidental contact into the doorway. Furia knew better. The padawan also noticed the tense muscles and increased eye movement of the law enforcement members. With no effort at all, she felt the tension in the Force. “Come, Padawan.” With the repetitive curling of the Togrutan’s fingers, Furia followed Pricilli out of the docking bay. She took her standard position, to the right and a little behind her master as they walked away from the docking bays and towards Solitary Mountain. “Did you notice, Furia?” “Without the Force, it stood out. With it, blatant tension.” “We need to resolve the issue in the mountain. That right now is our primary concern. But I did secure the monitoring device.” Furia followed her master to a spot on the ground worn down from many boots. “We shall use the miners’ transportation to travel to the mountain.” In a few minutes, a transport emerged, as it traveled to their position. It stopped in front of the two Jedi, then opened its doors. No one occupied the compartment. Through the side window, Furia noticed a cylindrical droid in the cab. “At least it’s a droid driving.” Furia followed her master inside, then sat beside her. “What’s wrong with sentient drivers?” Furia watched her master glanced at the back window of the cab, then to her, then back to the window. “Droids don’t use stupid pickup lines.” Furia moved her eyes around, as she assessed for any potential threat. “What?” Furia observed her master shook her head a little with the question. “Sometimes sentient drivers are trying to ask us out. A few do it, even if they realize we’re padawans. A few weeks ago Dantella and I got a ride to the restaurant district after we did a test. This idiot guy was trying to ask both of us out. Dantella was ready to headbutt him with her horns.” Furia noticed they came closer to the mountain. “Well. I’m grateful she restrained herself.” The transport came to a stop. The doors opened, then the two Jedi departed. The mountain loomed in front of Furia, with its dark rock and snowcapped peak. The padawan followed her master up the short trail. Once they reached the top, Furia gazed around. The lake shimmered its dark blue, as its small waves hit the beach. Nock displayed its numerous square and rectangular buildings, as its populace moved about its dirt roads like small animals. The mine entrance gaped in front of them. It could have held four doors with its width. Lights inside penetrated the dark. Furia felt the two sources of cold in the Force nearby. “Don’t know how long our presence will go unnoticed, Furia.” The padawan followed her master to a mine shaft elevator. “We’ll go to the next lower level, then proceed from there.” The elevator came with railing that went up to the hip, and metal at four corners that connected the floor to the roof. Furia went onto the elevator after her master, who pushed on a control panel. The mine elevator went down, as Furia observed the dirt and rock sides of the elevator shaft. It stopped at a mining tunnel. She allowed her master to step out first, then the elevator suddenly dropped. Furia focused with the Force. She concentrated on the four sides of the mine shaft, as if pulling up. That slowed the decent of the elevator. An opening to a mining tunnel neared. As the elevator came by it, Furia jumped. She landed on the dirt floor as the elevator plunged into the mountain depths. The padawan picked herself up, then brushed off the dirt from her robe. “And Master is concerned about crumbs.” At the edges of the ceiling, numerous lights illuminated the tunnel. Furia took a couple steps, then the familiar voice sounded from her wrist comm. “Furia, are you there? Are you all right?” “Yes Master. I’m fine. I’m in another mine tunnel.” “Try to find a way up to me. I would prefer there be a passage than you climbing up the elevator shaft.” “I will, Master. And I think the Sithies know we’re here.” “Be careful. I will contact you to check up on you. Only contact me if needed. May the Force be with you.” “Force be with ya, Master.” Furia glanced at her wrist comm, and confirmed Pricilli ended the signal. She glanced back towards the elevator shaft, then proceeded forward. The cool air of the tunnel felt damp. Little dust filled the air, most likely no one traversed it lately. Furia felt with the Force. She sensed her master, the two Sith, and others. Nowhere did she feel increased tension. The Force flows. The Sith and their slave underestimates. Furia found the times she conversed with herself an interesting pattern. Totally haphazard. She never found a pattern. Sometimes it reminded her of Pricilli or her mother telling her something. Nevertheless, the statement seemed correct. The tunnel came to an end, and Furia viewed a large chamber. No sound came forth. Her face felt the dampness of the still air. Stalagmites pointed up from the rough floor, with a few puddles nearby. Stalactites hung from the ceiling. Rare columns of rock occupied the chamber. A light shown above an opening in the rock on the far side to illuminate the chamber, at least part of it. The Force flowed, and aided her perception of the two sentients. She moved into the chamber, and avoided the stalagmites as she kept her footing. “Did you think your trespassing would go unnoticed?” The male voice came from near the light. “Trespassing? I’m here to take your measurements for your new attire.” A few small steps around puddles brought Furia near a column. “I seriously doubt that, considering the concussions you caused the two.” She moved her hands in random directions, to her hair, her chest, her waist. She noted he mentioned two, the two outside the docking bay, but that could be him manipulating. He is not manipulating. “But I am. Knocking them out simply improved their personalities. Certainly better than listening to them gabble. Now, why don’t you come down here so I can make sure your sleeve length is correct.” “Why don’t you go back. A new elevator will come by, and take you to a safe place.” “Your lost. Get better fitting clothes than what you have right now, and more durable.” With even breaths, Furia felt the Force in the chamber. “In case you think you will proceed, you will be stopped before you get to that opening.” Furia felt the calmness in the man up on a ledge. She also felt in the Force someone else focused on her. “Really? Now why would you do that? What ya hiding?” Furia made sure the column stood between herself and the man that spoke. “This is a mountain. The ores one would expect.” Furia sensed the focus on her still. The thought to pull a trigger twice. “Tin, for manufacture.” The pull of the trigger twice, after she ignited one of her green blades and did a slight step. Two red plasma bolts came from behind and above Furia. Aimed at her back, without effort she deflected the first back with her lightsaber at the source of the shot. An exhaled grunt notified her of success. The sniper laid dead with a plasma burn above his left eye. She deflected the second shot up to the ceiling ahead of her. “Nice trick, Jedi.” This time Furia noticed he did not sound happy nor smug. “I thought Jedi respected life.” “Defense and knowledge.” Furia also noticed he still seemed certain of himself. “He chose to take the shot. He chose the kill setting. Even in your despot kingdom, there is individual responsibility. He could have left. He could have surrendered.” “You’re not one to talk about what kingdom to serve, Jedi. You listen and follow the orders of your Senators that are easily bribed, and your out of touch Jedi Council. Come on Jedi, is it really worth it to serve your Republic? Can you actually think of something worse for your Jedi than using your talents to satisfy the whims of your bureaucrats?” “Ahh, yea. Reading a bad story about Jedi with a stupid plot.” A chuckle came from the man, as she sensed with the Force his focus on her, his full focus. “You up there, serving the desires of your lords and ladies, working for a failed system. You shoot and kill people that can actually make this galaxy a better place. You can use your talents for a better purpose. Come down, and I will take you away from the Sith Empire. You can spend your life in better ways. A surveyor. That sounds good. Checking and measuring the land to make sure the foundation of a building is sound.” “Come now, Jedi. You can do better than that. A member of special forces, and I’m to make sure land is level?” Furia noticed he still had full focus on her. “Improve your life. Come down. If you surrender now, you will not be harmed. Yea, the Republic has its faults. A bunch. But it’s still better than a tyrant commanding what is best for you. Do something better. And just for you to know. I’ve seen glimpses into the future. The Sith will end, but there shall always be Jedi.” “More like you had wishful thinking, Jedi.” Furia’s slight mind trick kept him focused on her, although he kept free will to leave or surrender if he wished. “And just for you to know. You might be able to deflect my shots, but that entryway you see is surrounded by explosives to prevent someone getting inside. Although you would probably perish if you went inside, perhaps you would live. I would die, but the resulting cave-in would prevent you from proceeding further.” Although she sensed others in the mountain, including her master and the two Sith, no other close presence. “Something material so valuable you would sacrifice your life for? Must be something really special to do that. But really, nothing is so valuable to do that. Just come down.” “How little you know, young Jedi. And in case you think you can try the fabled Jedi mind trick, I have been trained by my lord to resist that.” Furia did not try to get him to lower his weapon. She did not try to get him to move. She simply used the Force to keep him focused on her. “So now we are at an impasse. If you go forward, Jedi, there will be the explosion. If you try to jump up here, you don’t have much room to maneuver, and before you slay me with your lightsaber, again there will be the explosion. You can wait me out, but that will be many days, and again you will not proceed. So take my advice, Jedi, just turn around and.” Furia heard the sound of a crack then break in rock that distracted the man. Above him, a stalactite fell from the ceiling. A quick scream, then the sound of rock hitting rock came forth. No longer did the man lecture. No longer did he make a presence in the Force. “His choice” came from her lips as she proceeded across the chamber. She went through the opening. Furia disconnected the explosives, then took apart the switch as she broke apart a few of its pieces underneath her boot. She noticed another doorway ahead, then proceeded. The open doorway gave way to a chasm, a deep chasm which the padawan could not see the bottom. The control panel to the door came with controls for operating the bridge. She touched the control panel, then nothing happened. “Wonderful. Technology at its finest.” She glanced around the chasm, then fixed her attention on a transponder above. The device was held in place above the chasm by wires that went to either side. Furia studied the distance to the other side, then glanced back at the transponder. She walked back a short distance, then turned back to the chasm. The padawan sprinted a short distance then jumped. With the depths of the chasm below Furia, a line flew out from her belt, which she controlled with the Force. The metal hook at the end of the line secured itself onto the transponder, as the Jedi padawan swung across the chasm. As she came near the far end of her swing, the hook came off. Furia landed on the far side with ease, while the line retracted into her belt. She touched a control panel, then the door in front of her opened. A lighted metal passageway with a doorway at the far end presented itself to her. She took a few steps through it, then suddenly the door in front and behind her closed. Yellow-green gas spewed forth, as the padawan spotted a camera on the ceiling at the far end. Furia stopped her breathing as she jumped. The gas would kill anyone that breathed it after a short time, but Furia followed her training. Pricilli trained the padawan several years ago to significantly increase the amount of oxygen in her body for such situations. Furia argued many times with her master over the years, but she also listened to her. As the passageway filled with the gas, the padawan braced herself by the ceiling, as she used her hands and feet on the walls. She focused on the camera with the Force. It shook for a few seconds, then made a loud sound as it yanked out of the wall, then sailed across the passageway. Furia waited a few seconds, then noticed her reward. The far door opened. Two figures walked in, then the door slid closed. Both gazed around in their chemical suits without making the effort to look up in the yellow-green gas. Furia dropped to the floor as she brought forth one of the green blades from her lightsaber. Before the two could bring up their weapons, Furia swung her blade with precision. The blade cut through the suits, and the jaws of her two targets. The two breathed in the gas meant for her, for they could not close their mouths, with their jaws burnt away from the plasma blade. Furia watched them drop to the ground, moved around a bit as they tried to cover up their exposed throats with their hands, then they ceased to move. She moved her hand close to the control panel, then felt the heat from it and the door. Heat flows. Where did that thought come from? She wondered. Furia focused, and with the Force felt the heat with its vibrated molecules. She imagined a stream of heat from the door through the passageway. As she concentrated, the door cooled. She touched the control panel, now cooled to room temperature. The green blade of her lightsaber followed the door as it opened. Two men stood in the blade’s way. One held a blowtorch, the other a carbine. Nothing impeded the blade as it burned through their chests, and left large cauterized wounds within their hearts and lungs. Furia strolled by them as their corpses fell to the ground. “Furia, you there?” Pricilli’s voice came through the wrist comm. “I’m here, Master. You doing all right?” Furia hiked up a passage towards an open doorway. “Don’t worry about me. Are you all right? “Yes. I’ll get up to you in a bit.” Furia kept her upward path. “By chance, have you used your lightsaber?” “Course I have.” Furia wondered what this next lecture would be about. “I said no saber.” “I don’t exactly have one of those metal gloves that can deflect plasma shots. And it be a bit difficult to float one of those by my back to deflect a sniper shot. Better a saber than me dead, Master.” “Just get to me when you can.” The comm signal ended, as Furia came up to the doorway. She felt the numerous sentients in the Force, then they came into sight. A squad of ten soldiers for the Sith Army stood within a large chamber. Before they brought up their carbines, her second green blade of plasma came forth. Furia ran a few steps towards them as plasma bolts came her way. The Force flowed through her, as she deflected the bolts back with her double-bladed lightsaber. Bodies began to fell from the deflected bolts as she jumped into the air. As her body spun around, her feet moved above her head in the path of a circle. The double green blades spun with her, as they deflected back any shots that came near. Furia’s feet landed on the ground on the other side of the soldiers. What few soldiers stood, they became the recipients of the green blades that blazed through their shoulders. Their bodies dropped to the ground, burned in half. Crates occupied the chamber, labeled TIN. Piles of doonium occupied numerous areas of the chamber. A few pieces of another metal caught Furia’s eyes, and she moved towards them. Pieces of aurodium littered the ground. She knelt then retrieved the pieces for herself. As she stood, Furia felt the conflict in the Force. Her master battled the Sith, but did not seem in distress. Nevertheless, Furia knew the sooner she could aid Pricilli, the better. Up the incline she went in the chamber. She left it at the top, and entered a passage that went forward a short distance. A quick jog brought her to another chamber. Some parts of the new chamber displayed a relatively smooth floor. Other parts showed rocks protruded up, the remnants of stalagmites. Numerous ores littered the chamber floor. However, the geology did not occupy Furia’s attention. The saber battle her master took part did. The Togrutan faced two humans, both male, on top of a ledge twice as high as the padawan’s height. One appeared older, and a little more skilled with a lightsaber than the other. The pair protruded red lightsaber blades. They wore kaftans with black and red vertical stripes, complete with a v-neck collar; a truly dismal display of clothing taste. Furia glanced at the older man, then the younger one. Naturally, she turned towards the more skilled Sith Lord. She viewed with a little amusement at the Sith Lord, who appeared a little startled as his eyes darted from one green blade to another as he jumped down. He struck with his lightsaber, however she easily blocked the swing with one blade then brought the other blade forth and made contact with the outer part of his right elbow. A scream came forth from the Sith Lord, then he advanced toward her, and forced her to retreat over the chamber floor where rocks protruded up. So he wished. Furia with grace stepped around the rocks as she retreated. The Sith Lord did not, as he stumbled to his detriment. A swung green blade caught him at the edge of his left ankle, another burned through his shoe and right big toe. Another stumble, then another scream as Furia touched a blade to his right hand. A grimace, with a stare of his yellow eyes, greeted the padawan before he stabbed forward with his red blade and gave a yell. A turn of her lightsaber, the retraction of one blade, Furia then pushed out with the remaining lightsaber blade pointed upward. No more screams, not even a sound, came from the Sith Lord, just the sound of cauterized flesh. When Furia brought back her lightsaber, she witnessed half a cylinder burnt into the Sith Lord, from the top of his head to the upper part of his chest. No nose, no mouth, no middle part of a forehead, but burnt flesh greeted the padawan. She quickly noticed the inside of the Sith’s brain. However, Furia needed to address more pressing matters than her handiwork. She glanced up at the ledge. Pricilli parried attacks, then tried to catch the Sith apprentice off guard. She didn’t make contact, but did held her own. Furia focused on the Force. “Hey Sithy! Time to check the want ads for a new apprentice!” The yell startled both combatants, then a stream of purple lightning shot forth from the apprentice’s right hand. With a small step to the side, Furia deflected the lightning towards her by using the Force and the aid of her double-bladed lightsaber. For several seconds the lightning coursed through the Sith Lord’s corpse on the ground. Then, the lightning stopped. Furia glanced at the turn of her master’s forearms, the failed parry of the Sith apprentice, then Pricilli’s blue blade burned through the Sith’s left arm and entered his chest. She pulled back the blade as he fell lifeless onto the ground. Furia knelt by the Sith Lord, concentrated on his lightsaber with the Force, then took apart the pieces until she found the kyber crystal. She floated it into the air, then placed in her hand. The padawan felt the pain of the crystal, then it lessened as the crystal broke away into fine particles and floated to the ground. Furia felt the relief as she stood up. “How did you?” The padawan subsequently felt once again the anger from her master. “Furia! You! Are! Not! To use a mind trick unless I’ve commanded you to.” “I didn’t want him to harm you. His master was a nice target to divert him.” “I had the situation under control. He wasn’t going to harm me.” Pricilli retrieved the kyber crystal from the apprentice’s lightsaber, then allowed it to dissipate in her hand. Furia tilted her head to the left, then to the right. “True. But I’d rather have him distracted than get a lucky swing.” “Your concern is noted, but you didn’t need to help. And what was that about you going after the Sith Lord? You could have been killed.” “Really? From Darth Doofus? I owned him.” Furia pointed at the corpse of the Sith Lord, then waved her hand near her nose. An aroma emerged from the electrocuted corpse. “Now if you said don’t get a Sith to shoot lightning at another Sith, that I’d agree. They stink.” The padawan moved away from her kill. “Own your space. I knew he wouldn’t be that good moving around the rocks. That dancing around glasses on a table is good practice.” Furia didn’t have to see the scowl on her master’s face, for Pricilli projected it so well in the Force. “Furia, you manipulate with the skill of a Sith Lady.” Furia noticed her master squinted at her. “You all right?” “Yes. Feel good.” The padawan took a quick glance of her body. “No injury.” “Furia, it’s like you’re pulsating.” “I feel fine, Master. I don’t feel it.” Furia picked up the slight shakes of her master’s head. “It went away. If you ever feel different with the Force, I want you to notify me.” “Ahh, yes, Master.” Furia noticed Pricilli went to inspect some boxes on the ledge, so the padawan knelt and picked up numerous pieces of aurodium. Soon Furia jumped up onto the ledge. “We ready to go and notify the authorities?” She started to walk towards the opening on the ledge. “I will do that. That is not your concern.” “But I need to learn by watching you.” “Another time, Furia. This one is a bit complicated. I will meet you back at the docking bay. Let’s say in three hours. “Yes, Master.” * * * Rays of the sunset colored the sky above her. A bit of dust lingered in the air above the road, its scent mixed with the aromas she smelt from food carts to the side. Dampness refreshed her face as a slight fog made its way from the lake. The hustle and bustle of sentients, with their lively conversations, energized the dirt road. She felt the joy and energy from the populace in the Force, and again she thought herself blessed that she felt it. Furia and Pricilli no longer needed the cowls over their heads. They strolled with their Jedi robes open. The master and padawan revealed Jedi walked amongst them. “Good evening, Master Jedis.” “Thank you for visiting Nock, Jedis.” “Anything you would like, Master Jedi and Master Padawan? It’s on the house.” Furia observed head nods and bows in her direction, with smiles from all around. The people of Nock beamed joy. Mission accomplished. “Don’t let this get to your head, Furia.” “Master, I will let it get to all of me. To feel their joy, there’s nothing like it.” “True, my padawan. We are blessed to feel it.” The padawan walked by more greetings with her master as they made their way back to their hotel. “You haven’t told me yet about your chat with the authorities.” Furia beamed a smile and waved at all that greeted her. “I needed those three hours. My monitor picked up the most interesting conversations. Most, not all, but most of Nock’s law enforcement were on the take. They knew smuggling came out of that docking bay, not realizing the doonium was smuggled in the tin crates. They took their payments and looked the other way, not realizing the smugglers were under the command of the Sith. The ones that took the bribes are now under arrest, including their chief. I notified the Republic to send new officers.” “That part I know, Master.” “How did you?” “Master, I’m your padawan. Unless need to know, you said I can look at your communications. I added a clothing store to your order, with a couple tailors and supporting droids.” “Furia, you what? Who gave you the authority?” “You did. I’m your padawan. The miners need better work clothes, you saw that. What I made works. The tailors know they’ll be employed by the Jedi. They get paid jobs, miners don’t get holes in their clothes, more joy.” “I wished you would have talked to me before you did that, young lady. And what do you plan to do with the profits, more clothes for you?” “Them.” Furia motioned her head in the direction of the children shelter they went by before. “These are fun!” “This is the best day of my life!” “I bet that redhead space angel got them for us.” “She’s not a space angel. She’s a Jedi!” “She’s not a Jedi. We didn’t see her lightsaber. She’s a space angel.” “She’s a pretty Jedi. You can tell without her lightsaber.” “I hired a droid repairer to fix their toy droids. There were a couple lying about on the street no one wanted, so he fixed those and brought them to the shelter. Children really like him. Building will get repairs. Badly needed. Especially the two leaks in the ceiling. Exterminator came by to clear out the creepy crawlies. Healthier food will be coming to them three times a day, every day.” “This is going to bring that shelter some attention, maybe unwanted attention, Furia. How are they going to be safe from someone wanting to take protection money from them?” “Ahh, I thought of that, Master.” Furia turned her head, as her ginger braid moved for all to see, then waved at the man in the armor. “He liked the job. Better than working for a cartel, getting money from people that took out personal loans. He got the security contract.” The Mandalorian briefly glanced at the wall of the shelter, then turned to the ginger haired padawan, and nodded his head with a bow. “Not to mention he liked the idea of helping the children in the shelter, he said the pay would help him get something Mandalorian armor.” “You mean beskar, Furia?” “That’s it. He said just having that on him will reduce the risk of the shelter getting extorted.” “The payment. Is that what you did with the aurordium?” “Yes, Master” the padawan replied without hesitation. Furia noticed at the side of her vision the turn on her master’s head, with the movement of Pricilli’s montrals. “Wait. You knew I saw you do that.” “You stalled for a second when I picked them up.” Furia noted her master did not say anything for a few seconds as they got close to the hotel. “So no clothes? You always want something new after a mission.” “The tin that was replaced by the doonium was hidden in another part of the mountain. Since no one had ownership, I sold it to the droid repairer at discount. He’s going to make droid parts out of it. Some parts really needed. I’ll think of something to buy back on Coruscant.” “Padawan Furia Tormenta. You truly manipulate with the skill of a Sith Lady.” “I’m just glad I’m not one, Master.” “So am I, Furia. So am I.” * * * “Bless you. Good morning. Thank you for being part of this wonderful day.” Furia greeted the sentients that went by in the plaza, with the Jedi Temple behind her, as she sat crossed legged on a bench. A slight breeze, cooler than expected, swayed her ginger padawan braid a little. “Blessed are all of you, for you help bring life and energy to the Force. I know these are trying times with this awful war.” Furia noticed none that walked by ignored her. Some smiled as they walked by. Some glanced at her Jedi robe, then scampered off quickly. Some stood and watched her for several seconds. A few sat there, as joy emanated from them that they could actually hear a Jedi speak. “It’s not easy living in a war. In fact, it could be pretty horrible. Yet even in such bad times, joy and good can come from it. When given the opportunity, the results of the bad work of some can be used to help the needs of others. When given the chance, any of us can find someone to help. More than just Jedi can bring joy to others. And we all together can make this galaxy a better place.” She may have been the only one speaking to others in the plaza, but Furia Tormenta knew she was not alone. Close by she could feel in the Force the presence of her three friends: Mecina, Dantella, and Stacy. Her fellow padawans watched and admired her for speaking to the populace. Furia returned to Coruscant with her master the previous evening, after another successful mission. With no classes at the temple for a couple days, she will celebrate with her friends at nighttime by clubbing, which they always do as a tradition when one of them comes back from a mission. They will sing, and dance, and be merry to the beat of the music and the Force. Yet Furia did not forget the life of the galaxy. It’s life that brought the Force she felt so blessed to be in harmony with. Her friends knew she did not take life for granted, and loved her for that. She knew that of her friends, and as much loved them back.

In the Mountain with Padawan Furia The Force flowed here, and it felt good to her. Thud. The accompanied slight shake notified the young lady, and all inside, that the transport shuttle landed on Fodienda. Double doors opened, which allowed her to smell the air with its slight dust from the docking bay mingle with the recycled air of the shuttle. She stood a little behind and to the right of another figure. As the crowd slowly dispersed out of the shuttle, the young lady followed the other as the two figures flowed with the crowd in an unassuming manner out of the craft and onto the floor of the docking bay. The young lady followed obediently in step with the other figure, as she stayed slightly back and to the right. She observed her surroundings, with the occasional glance at the other’s inconspicuous dark robe. The cowl hid the striped montrals and head-tails, as it effectively concealed a Torgrutan walked amongst the crowd. Brown tunic and trousers, with matched calf high boots, stayed hidden underneath the robe, as did the other’s lightsaber. The robe effectively concealed the identity of Jedi Knight Pricilli. The young lady thought of one word to describe her master’s attire. Boring. She obligingly wore the same designed dark brown robe. The body of the robe covered her black crewneck shirt. The shirt was covered by a dark brown blouse with ruffles at the V-neck collar, and ends of the cuffs. Her outfit came along with dark brown ankle high boots, matching dark brown belt, and black tights. The cowl hid her ginger hair, and the braid on the right side of her head, with the result it concealed her as a Jedi padawan. The robe hid the hilt of a double-bladed lightsaber, and a dark brown mid-thigh skirt, with the result it concealed Furia Tormenta. Furia retrieved her large black backpack from baggage after Pricilli, then strolled out of the docking bay in lock step with her master. With purpose the padawan traversed over the dirt roads, as she avoided speeders that moved carefully or recklessly. The conversations and sqabbles of the citizens filled the air, as did the variety of sounds from the two story buildings that lined the roads. How fortunate she felt that she did not wore light-tanned clothes, for dirt soon displayed on her attire. Yet the feel. This mining town came with life. Again, she felt so blessed she could feel the Force. The energy from all the living beings of the town, no feel could ever match it. The walk did not take long until Furia reached her destination with her master. The Grubby Inn. Not original, but she admitted a catchy title to grab the attention. The two story building occupied a long chunk of land on one side of the dirt road. She followed her master through the double doors into the lobby, then waited at her position as Pricilli checked them in. The force flowed bountifully and freely, the energy that surrounded and bounded all life at the inn, town, and this part of the planet. A slight smile emerged on her impassive face, unseen by others because of her cowl. Two sentients. Hate. Cold. Her master did not explain the mission so far, but Furia knew she must be at the right place. She sensed two Siths nearby on Fodienda. Pricilli turned to Furia, then the padawan tilted her head a little and gave a slight nod to her master, who immediately recognized the gesture. Furia followed her master up the steps to the second floor, then down the hallway to an insignificant door. Room 217. With the wave of a rectangular key in her master’s hand, the door slid open. Furia followed Pricilli into the room with two single beds. Thank the Force Furia praised quietly, that she did not have to sleep in the same bed as her master. The accompanied bathroom came with a shower. “Nice job perceiving them, Furia.” A nice compliment from her master, Furia decided this will be an uncommon day. The Togrutan placed her pack on the floor, then took off her dusty robe. “Thank you, Master.” It took little effort from the padawan to perceive them, but she appreciated any compliment from her master. She disrobed herself, then immediately glanced at the squint of the Togrutan’s eyes. “You wore that?” Pricilli pointed at the ruffles of her blouse. Furia focused on her master’s face. “Yes. Why not? At least it’s cloth instead of showing skin.” “You know better, young lady. You’ve studied the dress code more than anyone else. The Council hasn’t banned that from official Jedi attire yet, but keep on standing out by wearing that, you know they will.” “The Council more concerned about ruffles than Sith on Coruscant? Really? And those two Sithies why we’re here?” “Not specifically. We are to find out about a significant reduction in”. Furia picked up the knowingly smile from Pricilli. Furia didn’t divert the subject matter of the conversation unnoticed by her master. She needed to work more on that. “Significant reduction in shipping of doonium recently. Soon there will be a stoppage of warship construction in this sector. We are to find out why, and get the shipments going again.” “Master, since we’re not going in with lightsabers blazing, how are we to do this covert mission?” Furia glanced at the room and felt with the Force. She didn’t perceive any recording devices. No one outside the window looked into their room. “We are bringing a new style of clothes for the mine workers. Tomorrow we give our proposal to the administration of the mine, then pick up a supply of fabric at the docks to make into the clothes.” Pricilli made the same check of the surroundings as did her padawan. A broadened smile appeared on the padawan’s face. “New fashion for the miners. This ought to be fun.” Furia’s smile dropped when she spoke again. “Wonder how long it will take before we’re picked up in the Force.” “If not already, won’t be long. Question is will they attack, or sneak away? But are focus is the doonium shipments. The Sith are a secondary concern.” Pricilli replied to Furia with that look on her face, don’t question this. “So what now?” Furia wondered if the afternoon and evening would become interesting, or an outright bore. “We meditate. Then we shall go to dinner. And not make a scene.” The corners of Furia’s mouth rose quickly, then came back down to their previous positions. She knelt down, as her toes touched the floor. Her eyes gazed down as she closed her eyelids. With even breaths, the padawan meditated near her master. The Force flowed through them, as Furia felt the joys, fears, excitements, and sorrows from the life around. Furia easily sensed the Force coming from her master, and the slight increase of it that flowed between herself and her master. Again, she felt the two figures of hate, cold. They continued until dinner time, when the padawan noticed Pricilli opened her eyelids, which Furia quickly followed. “Master, I would think my left side gets braided?” “Most would not know the symbolism of the hair braided on the right side, but a few would. That would be prudent, Furia. Need help?” “Not sure. Let me try on my own.” Furia closed her eyes, then three sections of her ginger hair floated on the left side of her head. Sections weaved from near her scalp down the hair strands. A nearly invisible band floated from her backpack, then tied the sections together. “Good job, Furia. Nice fine control.” “Thank you, Master.” This will be a day long remembered for Furia. Her master complimented her twice in one day. “Secured?” “Underneath my blouse, Master.” Furia studied her master’s glance at her, vision briefly fixed on the ruffles without noticing the metal handle concealed by her attire. She followed her master out of the room, where they left their dark robes, dirtied from the road. Down the stairs, Furia followed Pricilli through the lobby to an adjoining room. A host seated them, as the padawan perceived several pairs of eyes glanced at her and the Togrutan she followed. Soon a waiter came to their table, dark hair with a matching beard and moustache. “Welcome. Would you two ladies like to start with something to drink?” Furia always allowed her master to order first, out of respect. “Starblossom nectar.” “Rishi punch.” Furia grabbed every chance she had to order her favorite drink. “The young lady will have a hyperdrive.” Furia wrinkled her nose, her only display of contempt for her master changing her drink order. Furia noted she needed more practice to control her emotions. “You don’t need alcohol.” “The body makes the equivalent of two drinks in a full day.” Furia accepted her master changed her drink, but won’t back down on her reason to want one. “Coruscant doesn’t allow serving seventeen year old’s alcohol.” “Doesn’t allow, but some do. And other planets do allow. Fact, some planets don’t even have an age. Been there.” Furia easily picked up the squint of her master’s eyes again. The padawan won this argument. “Got the taste of Starblossom from Gianna?” Master Gianna, the master of her friend Stacy Organa of Alderaan, also came from that same planet, and enjoyed its fine tastes. “Good” whispered back her master. Furia avoided the title Master Gianna, and thereby avoided the exposure that came from using a Jedi title. The waiter brought their drinks, then went to serve another table. “I got it on my own. But it is nice to share a drink with her on occasions.” The Togrutan took a sip, and savored the drink. Furia picked up a laminated sheet in front of her, then gazed at the menu on both sides as she took a drink of the hyperdrive. Pretty good taste. Definitely came with the berry flavor. “Know what you want to order?” “Grilled lake fish. With the veggie beans as a side.” Furia took another drink, as she observed her master’s eyes fixed on one part of the menu. “Tomorrow morning, we give our presentation. I expect they will accept. Afterwards, we retrieve the fabric from the docking bay, then find a location to start making their new clothes. Furia glanced with the corner of her eye as the waiter came back towards their table. “Have you ladies decided what you want to order? “The young lady will have grilled lake fish with the side of veggie beans. I will have the shaak roast with the fruit salad side.” “Would the young lady like a refill on that hyperdrive?” The waiter turned back to Furia. She appreciated the waiter paid attention to their table. “Yes please.” The waiter went away to place their orders, as Furia pondered what to discuss without giving away themselves as Jedi. “What look do you think will grab their attention?” “An outfit has been designed.” “Hmm.” Furia wondered what the design would be. “By the way, what is the name of this town? I didn’t get a chance to notice at the docks.” “Nock.” A smiled emerged, then broadened, on the face of the young lady with a ginger hair braid on either side of her head. “For real? That can have more than one meaning. Perfect for a mining town.” A quick frown came upon her master’s face, which Furia easily picked up. Pricilli finished the drink in her glass. The waiter brought their dinners, and placed the plates in front of them. “Would you like another glass of Starblossom?” “Yes I would. Thank you.” Furia observed with calm as Pricilli took her first bite. “What?” “Really? You complain of me having a drink, yet you order two.” Furia took a bite of the beans, then cut off a piece of fish. “I will be fine, Furia. And if I happen to consume too much, and in a disadvantageous position, I’m sure you’ll try to defend me.” The smile reemerged on Furia’s face. “I’ll try.” She placed the piece of fish in her mouth, moved it around with her lips closed, tilted her head a little back and forth, then swallowed the piece. “Not bad.” Furia focused back on Pricilli. “I don’t take going to The Grille every month for granted.” “I know, Furia. It’s a treat you well deserve.” Pricilli ate a couple pieces of the fruit salad, next a piece of the shaak steak, then nodded after she ate them. Furia deduced her master accepted the chef’s skills. The padawan and her master ate the rest of their meal with little discussion. They desired not to give away themselves as Jedi, and didn’t want to extend the time needed to eat dinner. Furia observed Pricilli’s eyelids rose when the padawan said no to dessert. After the master paid for their dinner, they proceeded up the stairs to room 217. “We checking anything tonight, Master?” “We shall rest tonight. Tomorrow we will be fresh and well energized when we give our presentation.” Furia kept her composure, able to hide her brief disappointment of not having a potential adventurous night. More meditation. Furia felt the flow of the Force, the strength of it from her master, the many ebbs and flows from the populace, and the two blotches of cold, hate. They didn’t seem to notice her, nor her master. Immediately after her master finished meditation, Furia followed. She changed into a Barbados sea colored silk nightshirt, then proceeded to her bed. “Where did you get that, Furia?” “What?” She glanced at her attire, then faced her master. “This? Mecina and I ordered one each, so we got a deal. And there’s no Jedi rules on what can be worn to bed, as long as wearing something.” She went under the blanket, and snuggled herself in for a night’s rest. “Please don’t push them to make more rules, my padawan. You most certainly can do that.” Pricilli settled herself into the bed, then turned off the light. “Good night, Master.” “Good night, Furia.” With a full night of restful sleep, Furia woke up refreshed and ready to take on the day. Her first sight of the morning entailed her master finished getting dressed. Again, Furia thanked the Force she did not have to sleep in the same bed as her master. After she finished dressing in the same attire she wore the previous day, which actually didn’t disturb her, Furia went out the door after her master. Again they went to the restaurant at the inn. Pricilli ordered fruit with cream, while Furia picked grain flakes with breakfast milk. The padawan noticed her master stared at her while she picked a small lifeform off of one of the flakes. “You’re not going to complain to the management, are you?” “Nope. I know this isn’t like the fancy restaurants near the Senate Building.” Furia looked up from her food to her master. “Can you see all those politicians freak if they had to pick something out of their food? They’d all panic that they were poisoned.” Pricilli sighed. “You should have more respect for our representatives in the Senate.” “Fools of a bantha’s backside, that’s what they are. Be nice if they got out of their aurodium bubble and spent time with the populace.” Furia began eating her breakfast. “Although I have to admit, a few actually care and have a clue.” Another sigh came from Pricilli as she shook her head a little. Furia noticed her master went back to her breakfast, probably to avoid another argument. After the two finished their meal, Pricilli paid then the two left. As the two strolled towards their destination, Furia focused on the mountain in the distance while she kept her appropriate position in relation to her master. It stood majestically by itself, not far from the town, its top covered with snow. “I thought mountains were in chains, like volcanoes in a line or edges of tectonic plates.” “I’m glad you learned something from your classes other than sentient behavior. It’s called Solitary Mountain, but the chain of mountains extend away behind it.” “Ahh.” Furia heard the sounds and viewed the sentients as they traveled to their occupations. The slight scent of dust permeated the air. The hard dirt moved a little under her steps. The cowl of her robe kept the dust out of her eyes when she needed to use it as a shield. The padawan observed several miners as they traveled to their work. Hard hats laid on top of their heads. Goggles covered their eyes. Yet the work clothes kept Furia’s focus. Holes at the knees and elbows. Pockets laid partly ripped from trousers and shirts. Olive and white pin striped colored. Blah. It did not take long before Furia sighted their destination, The Solitary Mining Company. Unoriginal name, but the padawan focused more on what needed to be conveyed at the upcoming meeting. “Let me do the talking, Furia.” “Of course.” What else was new. Furia followed her master into the building, the proceeded to the uniform office. She stood again slightly behind and to the right of her master, as they both faced a desk. Behind the desk, sat the man in charge of uniforms. A Balosar, with his twin antennae on top of his head, she examined him as he took in the view of Furia and her master, as his eyes moved up and down. At least he wasn’t a Gungan. Furia didn’t want to practice at the moment her skills at patience. “Welcome. Welcome to Nock, you two. I’m Ash. So, what is it you bring me today?” Furia noticed he sat without squirming in his seat. He put out the vibes of being confident and a little arrogant. “Thank you for allowing us to visit you. As my message stated, we are from the Togrutans of Coruscant Clothing Company.” Pricilli stayed calm stating that company name. Furia thought her master should have vomited after stating that. If Pricilli drank a bottle of Rishi rum, she probably would have come up with a more original name. “My apprentice and I wish to improve the attire of your workers. We want to make them something that makes them comfortable at work.” “You.” Ash pointed straight at Furia. “You are a human. You work for this Togrutan clothing company?” “It’s a multicultural corporation.” Furia kept her composure, as she noticed with the Force that her master’s skin stayed relaxed while her skeletal muscles tightened from the padawan’s last comment. Pricilli brought out an information chip, then placed it into a slot on a projector on the desk. The device displayed above it a picture of a male miner. The one piece black suit came with a zipper in front. It tightly clung to his body. It appeared tight to move in, and difficult to kneel. Furia summarized the suit must have been created in the halls of the Jedi Temple. That would explain why it looked so stupid. Jedi had no idea of fashion, and Furia continued to relish that she went by her own fashion tastes. The padawan noticed with ease the Balosar also disapproved of the look. “This, this is no good.” He turned to Furia. “You. You think you could do better?” Furia stood still, kept her slight smile as she motioned her left hand towards her master. “The young lady will try. Perhaps she can make an improvement.” The padawan wondered why her master’s head tails didn’t turn red in anger from having to make that statement. Furia kept her slight smile without uttering a word as she bowed her head, as she knew if she made another statement her master would probably become more irritated. “Good. Good. Come back in four hours.” He turned his head downwards to read a datapad, without saying goodbye to the two ladies. It confirmed to Furia that Ash was an arrogant fool of a bantha’s backside. Furia followed Pricilli out of the office, then out of the building. “Multicultural corporation. Can’t believe you said that.” Furia noticed her master’s muscles still seemed a little tense as Pricilli shook her head. “Got to admit it was funny.” “No it wasn’t Furia.” “Yes it was. Where is this shipment of fabric? I need a good look to see how to modify it.” “Why do you need to modify?” Pricilli grimaced again. Furia recognized her master noticed the padawan once again deftly changed the subject of the conversation. “Docking Bay Twenty.” “I’m going to need to do something on the knees and elbows.” Images popped into Furia’s imagination of different designs. The padawan did not view it, but she sensed her master’s eyelids went up, as the Togrutan realized the Jedi order did not think through the new clothes for the miners. Furia stayed in step with her master, as they walked closer to the docks. Solitary Mountain loomed ahead on the horizon, and a large lake covered the terrain to the right of the mountain. Furia tilted and twisted head to her left, then viewed a man in durasteel armor, with a T-shaped visor, as he pushed a Rodian male into a wall. Furia sensed with ease in the Force fear, but also greed, from the Rodian. Hopefully the Rodian wasn’t a relative of Grand Master Wassach; that would have been an embarrassment. With her right hand, the padawan wiggled her fingers in a greeting towards the man in armor. He briefly turned to her and stared as she continued towards the docks. “Focus.” Furia picked up the slightest irritation with the one word from her master. “I’m just greeting the Mandy. Maybe he could use a nice greeting from someone.” “Focus.” The irritation went up slightly. Furia did as instructed, but for only a brief time. A clamor of voices, children and adult, came from a yard walled off from the road. Furia began to veer towards the voices. “Focus Furia.” “If I can feel it, you can feel it. Their hurt, their pain, their fear, their loneliness.” Furia’s cowl successfully hid her clenched jaw.” “Unfortunately they are not the only ones. But we have a mission to fulfill.” Pricilli continued on to the docks, unimpeded by the hurt she felt in the Force. “Yes, M.” Furia caught herself and did not say Master. Eventually Furia came to the dock with her master. She followed her to Docking Bay Twenty. Pricilli went up to a large crate, then pressed a panel several times. As it opened, it displayed its contents of dark blue cloth. A smile emerged on the Togrutan’s face. However, no smile came upon the face of the ginger haired padawan. “No good.” “What?” “No good. This stuff will get ripped. Need to make these threads more durable. Boss” Furia turned in her robe and displayed her teeth to Pricilli in a widened smile. Furia made sure she didn’t say Master. She also didn’t mind one bit using a term masters didn’t like to hear from their padawans. With the extended sigh from Pricilli, Furia got her little bit of fun. “So, what do we do with it?” Furia observed without trying her master kept her breaths even. “Need to find a tailor that can mix this with other threads. Then can make some good work clothes.” Furia glanced around the dock. “I’m guessing some equipment is somewhere around to help us move it?” As she turned to face her master, her eyebrows quickly went up and down. Furia could easily lift it and bring it with them using the Force. After all, she lifted a starfighter a few times. However, that would easily blow their cover. “In there.” Pricilli pointed to a door on the far end of the docking bay. Furia strolled over to the door. She touched the control panel, then it slid open. She turned around and saw her master on the other side of the docking bay, with a smile and tightness of her facial muscles. “You’re kidding.” “Get it assistant.” Furia easily picked up her master’s enjoyment on forcing this upon the padawan. She picked up the object, then Furia turned the object on its side. She brought it out then set it down. A cart with two wheels and a long handle sat parked in front of Furia. “Going for the nostalgic presentation? Bound to get better sales than that clothing design.” Furia turned from her master to the cart, then grabbed its handle and pulled it across the docking bay. She may of had to use the cart to move the crate, but at least she got to put in her little revenge of the padawan. Furia parked the cart by the crate. “You can do it. You’ve got the muscles.” Pricilli finished her comment with another smile which Furia deduced came with a complete lack of sincerity. By stating Furia had the muscles, her master concealed the command Furia could not use the Force. That would be difficult, since like the other Jedi, Furia came with the potential to use the Force without realizing it at times. The padawan put the cart’s stand up, which let it sit upright. Next, she picked the crate, then placed it on the cart. Pricilli moved and placed straps over the crate, which secured it. “Why, so helpful. Thank you.” Furia effectively did not sound sarcastic, but her master squinted her eyes. Pricilli knew. Furia picked up the handle of the cart, then followed her master out of the docking bay. “Let’s try that road” stated Pricilli as she pointed. Furia followed the direction her master pointed, to a different road. She pulled the cart as she followed her master, as they passed numerous docking bays. “Go on. Nothing to see here” ordered a man. Near the end of the row of hangers, a few human males that treaded around one docking bay wore unassuming clothes of slacks and long sleeve shirts. The colors did not stand out. Brown, dark blue, grey. What they held, however, did stand out. SC-2A carbines. Standard issue for the Sith Army. All possessed one. Different clothes, but same firearm. Furia dutifully followed her master as she pulled the cart, away from the docking bays as they traversed a new dirt road. “That’s it” came softly from her lips. “Not now, Furia. Let’s find a place to make your outfit.” After passing a few buildings, Furia observed her master pointed at a particular building. “That should do.” Mountain Tailors. The painted sign above the door didn’t stood out, but that did not matter to Furia. She wondered how good the tailor would follow her instruction. She parked the cart outside the door, then followed her master inside as she carried the crate. A modest sized lobby allowed Furia to put the crate at the side. She glimpsed her master’s face and picked up the little frown. She followed her master’s gaze, then broadly smiled at the lettering of a sign on the wall. Huttese. Slightly taller than Furia, a grey droid shuffled out, as its head moved back and forth between herself and her master. “Hello. Can you help us?” Furia picked up a bit of hesitancy from her master’s voice. “I do not understand your language.” Furia observed the increased tension of her master’s muscles, as the droid continued to turn back and forth from Pricilli to herself after it spoke in Huttese. “We wish to pay for your services to create new wardrobe. Also, the fabric we brought along needs modification.” With the slightest Stella III accent, Furia spoke Huttese effortlessly. She moved over to the crate, opened it, then retrieved a piece of fabric. “This needs to be improved. Three by one right hand twill. Can it be done?” “It will be an extra cost, but it can be done.” The droid extended out four hands to retrieve the fabric from the padawan. “Of course” Furia replied. She went over to a holoprojector control, then began to push different parts of it. “I should never have allowed you to take that class, Furia.” “What? Huttese? What’s wrong with that? It’s a regular language class taught at the school. And I already knew a little bit from living on Stella III.” “I’m so grateful we took you away from there. But I’m not fond that my.” Pricilli restrained herself from saying padawan. “My assistant easily speaks a cartel language.” A hologram popped up of a female mannequin. Pants emerged, blue of color, with metal rivets at pockets and buttons on the front. Next, a long sleeved shirt appeared of the same blue color, buttons down the front, collared with a pocket on either side of the chest covered with a flap. Each sleeve ended with a couple rivets that allowed the thickened cuff to be openend. Finally, a jacket emerged over the shirt, also with its pockets accompanied by flaps, an elongated collar at the back, and riveted buttons down the front. “Shoes.” Furia looked around the room, then glanced through the window as a miner walked by. “That won’t do. Actually that would some of the time.” She turned back to the droid then spoke Huttese with ease. “You make shoes here?” “Of course” the droid replied in Huttese with a matter of fact tone. “Of course you do” she spoke in the basic language as she tapped on the control. “Anything for a Hutt to make credit.” She duplicated the form. On one she put the design of the heavy work shoe at the feet. On the other, a boot not as thick covered the ankles, high enough so the jeans went over the tops. Finally, she popped up male mannequins and did the same design. “There” she spoke again in Huttese. “How much?” “With the fabric modification, two hundred twenty five galactic credits.” Furia reached inside her robe to retrieve her card to pay, then her master spoke. “I will get this Furia.” Pricilli took out her card then moved it above the payment machine. “What measurements do I use?” asked the droid as it confirmed the payment. “What?” Furia realized Pricilli did not know that phrase in Huttese. “Mine. Scan me.” Furia took off her boots, let her robe slide off onto the floor, then undressed herself until only her undergarments stayed on. “Furia!” Furia became amused as her master went behind her to block the view from the window, as the padawan stood there while lasers came out of the droid’s eyes, and scanned her form. When the droid appeared finished, she turned around so it could scan her other side. “Can’t believe you just did that, young lady!” Furia didn’t need the Force to sense the anger from her master, with Pricilli’s voice raised. However, the padawan easily confirmed it with the emotion sensed through the Force. “We need the sell. I’m going to be the model.” As the droid finished the scan, Furia began to redress. “Please stay here to allow fitting.” The droid appeared oblivious to the drama between the two customers. “It needs me to stay. Can you come back in an hour with a bite to eat?” Furia observed the usual sigh before her master answered. “I can do that. In an hour.” She watched her master leave the store, then went into a fitting room. The hour passed, then Pricilli returned with a package of nuts with dried fruit, and a bottle of mineral water fortified with vitamins. “Blue is not your color, Furia.” “Wonderful.” Furia retrieved the package and bottle. “Thanks.” She ate some of the snack, then took a swig of water. “This should work, though.” The blue attire with jacket came with reinforced elbows and knees. Furia definitely displayed the miner look. Furia collected the new cloth, then placed it into the crate. “Thanks for the new threads.” Furia finished her statement in Huttese with a slight nod to the droid. She moved the cart, then the crate out of the building. She followed her master as they proceeded towards The Solitary Mining Company by a different road. “When do I get to store the cloth and this helpful cart?” Furia finished eating her lunch, then wiped her hand on her Jedi robe. “In due time.” Furia noticed her master became fixated with her hand. Fortunately, Pricilli was not about to walk into something. “What are you doing?” “What? I’m walking with you and having a drink of water.” Furia took another swig of water after she brought out the bottle from a pocket in her robe. “You know that’s not what I mean. You just wiped your hand on the outside of your robe.” “And?” Another issue Master Pricilli picked to have an argument over. Furia wondered when in the future they will have an argument about how to slay a Sith. Pricilli leaned in close to Furia. “You know better, young lady. It’s simply not appropriate for THAT type of robe.” “Pulling this cart around is inappropriate. These robes have seen fire, ice, acid, and shocky over the years. And someone is concerned over crumbs? Bring a fire to it, and that will get rid of any stains. Not to mention a good cleaner works. And I’ve seen several you know who wipe their hands or appendages involuntarily on their robes.” “They are no longer apprentices.” Pricilli sighed, then noticed their destination emerged. “Like that should make a difference.” Furia followed her master as she crossed the dirt road to the building. “I don’t want to hear about it, Furia.” Pricilli pushed the door ringer, then the control to open the door. Furia parked the cart in the lobby, then followed her master back to the office with Ash the Balosar. “Have? Have you come back with a new look for our workers?” Furia noticed him turn his head back and forth from her to Pricilli. He started the move of his head back to see her. She pulled back her cowl, tilted her head back to allow her ginger hair to hang down behind her, deftly moved her hands to her robe at the shoulders and gave a gentle pull, then allowed the robe to slide off her. “Wow!” came from Ash, as Furia observed his antennae stood up, while she twirled a couple times around slowly. She finished then gazed at his eyes, and noticed his slightly opened mouth, his quickened breaths. Success. “This. This will be good for the miners. I’ll buy.” Furia could not help but notice his dilated pupils as he took in the look of her jacket, shirt, and jeans. She also could not help but notice her master’s eyelids stayed raised for a few seconds. “We need to get measurements of your workers at the mine and docks in order to proceed.” Her master turned back to Ash, and kept a controlled pace with her breaths, probably with effort. “By. By all means.” He touched a control panel a couple times, then a card came out. “Here is your pass. Thank you.” He handed the pass to her master, as Furia nodded her head to him in unison with her master. She picked up her robe, then slid it back on. After retrieving the cart, she followed her master outside, then down the dirt road towards the docks. “While you were being, fitted, I had the chance to ask around. Metal is moved on transports from the larger docking bays, which are the lowered numbered ones. I sensed hesitancy when Docking Bay Three was mentioned.” Furia occasionally glanced at her master, who looked straight ahead and not at all at her. Furia’s smile beamed from her master’s behavior, as she proceeded ahead while she pulled the cart. “By the way, Furia. No saber unless instructed.” “Really?” Furia controlled her frustration. Barely. “Really.”

Cutie Cuddlees “May I order Kowakian monkey Master?” The Togrutan woman, in her dark brown Jedi robe, looked from her menu shown on the tabletop to her fourteen-year-old padawan. The two waited for their Onodone waiter while the green planet Onod One, with all its flowers, spun on its axis through the window. “Why couldn’t you Furia?” Jedi Knight Pricilli Tonna prepared herself for the unusual answer that may come from her padawan of nine years. It happened before. It will happen again. “Some people think they are sentient beings with their own language and culture. That they are advisors to the Hutts.” “Irritating things more likely. They don’t have a language. They don’t have their own villages or other social gatherings. Someone is fooling you Furia. They are pets of Hutts, not advisors. Who told you that?" “Padawan Jankin. He told me one time when I was practicing in the martial arts training area.” Furia referred to an older padawan that recently passed his survival test, and will soon take part with his trials. “Well, I need to talk with his Master. The only people you need to learn from are either myself, or one of the teachers in the classroom. And back to your question. Yes, you may have Kowakian lizard monkey.” “Thank you Master. Ho ho ho.” Pricilli narrowed her eyelids as her padawan just replied in Huttese, using the Force to perfectly sound like a Hutt. People around the café glanced over at their table. Pricilli felt grateful Furia had an interest in the Huttese language. The ginger haired padawan will most likely take the class when she is older. It was just Furia picked wrong times to speak it. The waiter eventually came to their table, with a floating small spherical translator droid. An Onodone from the planet below, he portrayed brown skin with a very long trunk for a nose. His trunk filtered out pollen when breathing on the planet below. An individual experienced a beautiful sight walking on the planet, gazing on all the colors of its flowers. In addition, colors moved about with all the little creatures pollinating those flowers. However, because of all the flowers, Onod One had the title of the allergy capital of the galaxy. Most sentients needed to wear a helmet to breathe due to the abundance of pollen. “Welcome to Onod One Space Station Café. Would you like to start with a drink?” The droid spoke in basic after the waiter talked in his language, with an extreme nasal sound due to his long trunk. “We are actually ready to order. Padawan, you may proceed.” Pricilli responded while looking at the face of the waiter, not distracted by the long trunk since she observed so many different species of sentients from all her years as a Jedi. She then turned to Furia to see what she would order. Wearing a forest green long sleeve shirt and tights, with a dark brown miniskirt to go along with a narrow belt and ankle high running boots, nothing was the typical look of a Jedi for Furia other than her mandatory Jedi robe that showed the same dark brown color as her own. Her padawan loved pushing the boundaries of what attire would be allowed. Perhaps this was Furia’s way of acting out since they recently moved from Tython to Coruscant. “No” Pricilli thought to herself. Furia displayed this behavior even before they moved to Coruscant. “Grilled Kowakian lizard monkey, medium well, with sweet vegetable side and prohibitionist Rishi punch for the drink. Pricilli wrinkled her face a little. How did this fourteen-year-old know the term prohibitionist punch? “And you ma’am?” The waiter asked as he turned to the Togrutan. After a little sigh, Pricilli responded. “Dinner plant with Amanzi nuts and a glass of blue milk.” Pricilli wanted to make sure her meal had plenty of protein. She did not need the extra lipids and sugar. Furia had a little grin on her face. “Those nuts are soooo good. Mecina gave me some the last time I visited her home at the temple. Her family sent them from her planet.” Furia referred to one of her three great friends, the one from the planet with a lot of water and an overabundance of daylight. She was her padawan friend whose parents once upon a time were Jedi, but decided to resign from the order so they could have a romantic relationship and have a family. “Glad we again have similar tastes Padawan. Where did you learn about prohibitionist Rishi punch?” Furia moved up her hands a little as her jaw dropped a bit. “Rishi? It’s near Stella III. I learned it on the pathways. And no, not the singularity pathways. I know not to have those two carbon units right now.” Furia mentioned the pathways, the information system anyone can access from a monitor, datapad, or another device. She also mentioned the singularity pathways, the illegal information system used by the underworld and by others. Then there was the fact the ginger haired padawan mentioned alcohol. Pricilli could tell with the Force her padawan once again was not lying. With how much information on the pathways, and with Furia’s ingenuity, it didn’t surprise the Jedi Knight that her padawan acquired this knowledge. “How are you doing with that time we spent on Onod One?” “Fine Master. Those outfits worked. No problems breathing. No watery eyes. No pollen on my clothes.” Pricilli nodded. Their mission, ordered by the Jedi Council, was to help the local government on Onod One find and apprehend the planet’s White Worm set. Pricilli succeeded, with some unexpected help from Furia. Her padawan deduced the crime syndicate’s location, underneath an old spaceport with numerous caverns below the surface. The members of the set were all arrested without any violence. “A mission success” Pricilli thought to herself. She was impressed by Furia’s investigative skills; however, she was troubled when her fourteen-year-old padawan looked forward to go to battle with them. Then there was the last thing Furia said. Her clothes. Furia so much focused on fashion. “When we get back home, what are you going to do with your spare time?” Pricilli anticipated all types of answers from her padawan with this question. “Martial training. Work on my lightsaber moves. Also work on my moves when not using a saber.” Furia definitely enjoyed learning about combat. She was the rarity for a padawan that felt comfortable with the double blade. “You’re already one of the better students at martial combat. You should work on something you are weak at.” “Yea, but I can be better at combat. And I am going to work on something I am weak at. Dosh. Taking it the next cycle of classes. I want to know how to speak to that nice Sergeant at the front desk of the military hospital without using a translator.” Furia referred to the Transdoshan language Dosh, spoken by the reptilian sentients. The Sergeant she mentioned was Sergeant Crassi, who worked the front desk of the military hospital after many years on the front line for the Republic military. Pricilli thought that Furia once again showed perception of her situation, and being a caring person. She then wondered when they get back to Coruscant, if she would be assigned to a military unit to defend Kashyyyk or Mon Cala, and whether that was with Furia or without her. This war with the Sith. War was never easy on a person’s life. It was especially not easy when one is trying to train a teenage padawan. “In a couple cycles, I’m hoping the four of you will take my Mechanics class.” “Oh, definitely plan on it Master. Dantella, Mecina, and Stacy all plan on taking it with me. Maybe I can build a speeder bike and hook it up to the wall outside the window.” The Togrutan raised her eyelids. “Hang a speeder bike on the outside wall of the Jedi Temple? Furia.” “Must admit would be quick to get a ride.” “No.” Pricilli would have been surprised by anyone making such a suggestion. However, this was her padawan, who came up with these wild ideas all the time. She looked at her padawan have a dejected look on her face, but the look only lasted a second. Furia continued to improve at controlling her emotions. After a few minutes their drinks were brought to the table. Pricilli drank a little of her blue milk while noticing her padawan savor the taste of the non-alcohol Rishi punch. “Padawan, we will be waiting here after dinner until our transportation arrives. It may be several hours.” Furia put her glass on the table. “Yea, I know. Wish we had our own ride. Some Jedi do. Like a nice Corvette with a bunch of closet space and a martial training room.” Pricilli sighed. The ideas her padawan came up with. “Jedi are not supposed to have private possessions, or at least minimize it. We are supposed to share with other Jedi.” Furia grabbed hold of her forest green shirt with both hands and shook it a couple times. “Share my clothes with Master Wassach or Master Ratcher so they can wear it. Kree. Pee.” Pricilli could not avoid making another sigh. She had no argument for what her padawan just stated. “You made your point Furia. But we still at least for now don’t have our own ship, and we need to wait for the Jedi to send a ship.” “At least a shuttle one of these days Master. Make your life easier if you had your own.” “Can’t argue against that Furia.” It did not take long for their dinners to be brought out. The waiter put each of the dinners in front of Pricilli and Furia. “Is there anything else I can do for you?” the translator droid interpreted after the Onodone spoke. “Let me pay now in case we need to leave early.” Pricilli brought out her identification card. As the waiter put the check device on the table, she moved her card near it and pushed for a fifteen percent tip for the waiter. The waiter picked up the device, then looked at each of the Jedi. “Thank you. I hope you enjoy the rest of your time at Onod One.” After the droid translated, the waiter bowed a little then left to get an order from another table. Furia took a bite of the grilled Kowakian lizard monkey, chewing it slowly while relishing the taste. “Oh, this is so good. Thank you Master.” She finished the bite then drank from her glass. “You’re welcome Furia.” Pricilli smiled, noting how her padawan did not take the meal for granted and appreciated it. The Togrutan began eating her meal, eating the plants and enjoying the nuts. Amanzi nuts were possibly the tastiest nuts in the galaxy. The Jedi Knight and her padawan continued eating their dinner, each enjoying the tastes of their meal and drink. A little over halfway done with their meal, they noticed a medium sized transport come into view, then docked at the station. Both of them noticed a leak of hypermatter particles coming from a crack in the back of the hull. Furia took a sip of her punch, then narrowed her eyelids and opened her mouth a little as she turned to look at her master. “Cold” she stated softly. Pricilli did a small nod of her head, then got up out of her chair. Furia stood up and followed her master out of the café, walking towards the gate the transport docked to. The transport connected to the space station by a boarding bridge. As the two came towards the open doorway to that bridge, an Onodone with the uniform of an employee of the station moved from a lectern near the door to stand in the middle of the doorway. Again, a small droid floated in the air near the Onodone, being the translator. “You are not allowed to go in there. It is restricted.” The droid translated in basic after the Onodone spoke in its language. Before Pricilli could do anything, Furia stood in front of the Onodone. “She and I need to check the hypermatter leak.” Without Furia moving her hands, the master could tell through the Force that her fourteen-year-old padawan just did a perfect Jedi mind trick. “She and you need to check the hypermatter leak.” The Onodone spoke, then the droid translated as he stepped aside from the doorway, allowing the two Jedi to pass. Walking with a brisk pace down the boarding bridge, Pricilli darted a brief look at Furia. “Too good.” Furia raised her eyebrows as she shrugged her shoulders, wondering why her master seemed to be complaining when she just helped them get through the doorway unimpeded. Pricilli had more pressing issues with the cold feeling from the transport at the moment, than to speak to Furia about how she as a teenage padawan just did a mind trick better than many Jedi Knights. Over halfway down the boarding bridge, Pricilli became aware of an immediate pressing issue. The hatch door to the transport opened, and in a second blaster fire came at them from two individuals wearing unassuming grey one-piece work suits. The Jedi Knight turned on her lightsaber at the same time, the blue blade emerging a meter in length. She immediately deflected what plasma bolts she could. Concern then gripped her as she noticed the two assailants now shot at her teenage padawan. Soon a different concern caught her focus. In one quick fluid motion, Furia brought out her double-bladed lightsaber while extending both green blades. As if her motion flowed in harmony with the Force, the plasma bolts fired at the padawan became all deflected back at the shooters. One that knelt received a couple bolts deflected directly at the blaster, causing the power cell to explode, killing the shooter. The other shooter tried to get cover with the hatch doorway, but it was to no avail. One plasma bolt hit the left shoulder, one the left knee, but a third hit the left part of the chest, killing the shooter with a smoldering wound where the heart resided. “Furia, we are Jedi. We are supposed to stop them and capture them, not quickly kill them.” Concern shown on the Togrutan’s voice as she looked at her padawan’s face. Pricilli next looked at the boarding bridge, making sure the exploding power cell did not cause a leak in the structure. “I was aiming for shoulders and knees. Need to work on my deflection Master.” Furia did not sound troubled one bit that she just ended the life of two people. The padawan looked down at the bodies and the one firearm not destroyed. “Sith Serenno blaster. One of the standard issues.” “Just stay behind me.” Pricilli went through the hatch, then turned to head towards the bridge. “Yes Master.” Furia followed her master through the hatch, staying a little more than a meter behind the Togrutan while keeping her lightsaber on, just as her Master did. Down the hallway a door opened in front of them. Through the doorway Pricilli glanced at seven individuals with the same grey work suits and blasters. Firing away, they hoped to keep Pricilli on the defensive and distracted. Pricilli readied for what happened next. Furia also readied. Behind them, another door opened towards the back of the ship. Two people came with blasters pulled, ready to shoot as the door opened. However, they were not ready for the blazing speed of the padawan coming upon them with green lightsaber blades, burning completely through both shoulder joints and both thighs of each shooter. Screaming, their torsos fell to the ground, their wounds completely cauterized, as the two assailants now had no arms and no legs below midthigh. The seven shooters in front of Pricilli stopped firing for a couple seconds, stunned by seeing this ginger haired teenager cause such violent trauma. Pricilli quickly came close to them. One pulled out a thermal grenade and activated it. Tossing it at Pricilli, the Jedi used the Force to keep it from getting to her. The seven shot at her, ready to die in the explosion as long as they could take the Jedi with them. Pricilli moved her lightsaber as quick as she could to deflect the plasma bolts coming towards her. While holding the grenade in the air, she couldn’t get all the bolts. She didn’t need to. Furia came to the aid of her master, once she knew there would be no attack from the back of the transport. The green blades moved effortlessly through the air, deflecting plasma bolts to the ceiling. Pricilli held the grenade in place for three seconds, then it exploded. With all her focus with the Force, she kept the heat blast and shockwave away from herself and her padawan, keeping both safe. The remaining shooters were not so lucky. Trying to kill the Jedi Knight, they killed themselves instead in the explosion. The master and padawan looked in the direction of a sound they heard at the upper part of the hull. Air leaked out of a crack in the hull. “Wonderful” the padawan stated, knowing the two of them needed to get to the other side of a door or else they will be without air soon. The two turned a corner and came near a double door. The padawan and her master felt the cold in the Force, and when the double door opened, they found out why. A middle-aged man stood there, with a slight balding of the scalp to go with a dark moustache and goatee. Yellow eyes stared at the master and padawan. Purple, maroon, and a touch of black colored his shirt and trousers. His trench coat and tall boots came with the same colors. A Sith lord. Furia felt the sudden pull of the Force from him, as he tried to pull her to his red lightsaber blade. The ginger haired padawan resisted by holding her place, prepared for the move. She practiced this move before in the martial training area of the Jedi Temple. The Sith, however, did not prepare for what happened next. From around the corner a large piece of flesh, from one of the bodies, flew towards the ginger haired padawan. Manipulating the Force pull from the Sith, Furia flung the piece at his head. Brining his single red blade up, he cut through the piece, with the resulting pieces hitting his face and upper chest. Enraged, the Sith lunged at Furia with his lightsaber. Pricilli easily deflected the swing. Foretelling the Sith’s next move, Furia brought one of her green blades in between her master and the Sith, preventing his backswing from hitting Pricilli. Furia swung towards his left thigh with her other blade, yet the Sith brought his blade to stop her assault. Furia planned perfectly. She quickly swung with her other blade towards him, forcing him to quickly defend that blade. Furia continued her swings. When one blade became impeded by the Sith, she came immediately with a swing from the other. Pricilli stabbed with her blue blade while this kept on, forcing the Sith to move away from her attacks, making it more difficult for him to keep his balance. Pricilli focused on the control of the double door while stabbing, closing the doors to prevent the air from leaking out of this area of the hallway. With the difficulty of keeping his balance and having to defend against Furia’s quick swings, the Sith began to tire. Even while using the Force, he became more exhausted than he expected. It felt as if less of the Force flowed to him, and he could not fully control it. Another stab from Pricilli caused him to move back, his right foot planting firmly on the deck of the transport. “Back Furia!” Pricilli tried to warn her padawan, anticipating what the Sith would do next. However, it became too late. Too late for the Sith, that is. While using his lightsaber to make a feint attack towards Pricilli, he kicked up with his left foot towards Furia’s face. Fast he moved, yet nowhere near as fast as the padawan. Turning off one of her blades, she stood the other one up in front of her. Before he realized what was happening, the Sith’s left foot kicked into the blade. The loudest scream came from him, as he felt such an excruciating pain. Furia swiftly moved her blade forward, as the intense heat of the blade, the heat of the center of a star, carved through his leg without resistance. The blade moved through his tibia, knee joint, and femur, until the tip of the green blade came inside his hip joint. Immediately she moved the tip of her blade through his hip, bringing the tip into his other hip joint. Furia immediately brought the blade back, positioning herself in a defensive position. Falling hard onto the metal floor of the transport, the Sith lord shot lightning out of his left hand at the padawan, hoping he could have a shot killing this youngster that injured him severely. Pricilli moved in the way, positioning her blue lightsaber blade to block the attack. She stood ever determined. This Sith will not harm her padawan. Lightning leapt from the Sith lord’s left hand towards the two Jedi, mainly to keep his enemies at a distance. With his right hand still holding onto his lightsaber hilt, he retracted the blade, quickly moved the hilt so the aperture laid on his chest, and turned the lightsaber back on. Neither Pricilli nor Furia impeded his move, both waiting for an unexpected attack. The red blade extended from the hilt, burning a hole through the Sith’s chest and heart, continuing to blaze its path through the metal floor underneath the Sith’s body. Looking at Pricilli, he shook his head a little, then stopped breathing. His heart burned through by the lightsaber blade, he died there on the floor, making sure he would not be captured by this Togrutan woman nor her ginger haired apprentice. Pricilli picked up the Sith’s lightsaber, putting it in a pocket of her Jedi robe. She could smell the burnt flesh on his cadaver made by the lightsabers of the Sith lord and Furia. “You all right?” Pricilli asked as she turned towards Furia. “Yes Master.” The Jedi Knight did not notice any fear nor revulsion coming from her padawan. In fact, Furia appeared unmoved for someone that just did a brutal injury with a lightsaber. Her padawan did not feel cold through the Force, but seemed to be pulsing as if on fire. Pricilli never noticed that with Furia before, and the master did not like the feeling coming from her padawan. At least the feeling seemed to be going away. “Let’s find out what this transport is carrying. What do you notice?” Pricilli wondered how in tune Furia was to the Force, now that the fight with the Sith finished. “The cold is gone. But there’s like a bunch of fear, causing the creation of a little more of the dark side.” Furia displayed her strong perception with the Force, as usual. Pricilli touched a part of her wrist communicator. “Onod One Space Station. This is Jedi Pricilli Tonna. There was a Sith on board the transport docked here. Repairs will be needed for a hull breach at the forward section. There’s also a hypermatter leak.” A droid’s voice responded after she heard sounds from an Onodone. “Jedi Tonna. Understood. We will immediately bring security and repair on board.” “Understood Onod.” Pricilli turned off her wrist communicator and looked at her padawan. “Let’s see what’s on board.” The Togrutan Jedi noticed a stairwell, and proceeded to it. Furia blew on the green plasma as if blowing on a flame, then retracted her lightsaber blade. She followed her master down the stairwell, coming upon a locked door. “Let’s see if you’ve been practicing.” The Jedi Knight recently taught her padawan a few ways one can use the Force, including opening locked doors. She wanted to see if Furia listened and practiced. Furia turned to look at her master, with her back to the door. “Really? What you think I’ve been doing. Watching reality shows?” Furia did her best to minimize the frustration look on her face. Pricilli looked at her padawan’s face, wondering if they were about to get into another useless argument. In the corner of her vision, she saw lights flicker on the control panel, then the door opened. That was not the teacher opening the lock with the Force. That was her padawan, opening the lock without looking at the panel nor moving her arms. “Oh she’s good” Pricilli thought to herself. Pricilli held back a sigh, and instead went through the open doorway. A short walk with Furia behind her master brought them to another door. Pricilli noticed lights blinking on the control panel, and the locked door slid open. “Thank you Furia.” The master did not want to sound sarcastic that Furia opened the door without being asked to, but instead wanted to show she appreciated her padawan’s skills. It concerned Pricilli though, that her padawan’s skills displayed better than she expected. Pricilli no longer thought about Furia when the door opened. Looking at the transport’s cargo hold, she became occupied at what she saw. Many small creatures occupied the hold. Smaller in stature than either herself or her padawan, there were perhaps a hundred of them sitting on the floor with the appearance of dejection on their faces. Fur covered their entire bodies, brown and black in color. A hooded gown covered their torso and heads, with holes allowing their furry ears to stick out. Their eyes were a solid shade of brown. Nothing attired on their feet. Their hands appeared to each have a thumb and two fingers. Cuffs enclosed all of their wrists and ankles. The master and the padawan felt the misery coming from all of them. “Aww, they’re so cute.” Furia looked around, surprised and excited at what they found. “Focus Furia. Try to get their cuffs off them. Try not to startle them. We don’t need them to attack us in desperation.” “Focus. Like this?” Furia looked at her master, keeping a calm look on her face despite being ready to argue. One click, then another, came from the furry sentient closest to Furia. The cuffs came off his wrists, then he shook off the ones on his ankles. The little furry creature stood with a stunned look on his face, but easily through the Force the padawan and her master could tell he was now happy. “Where did you learn that? I’m supposed to be in charge of your learning.” A stern look came over Pricilli’s face, wondering what her padawan was doing without her knowing. “Ahh, mechanics, you teach, I live with you?” Furia moved her hands outward, losing control of her frustration with her master. “Master, I haven’t taken your class, but you would think after living with you for nine years I would learn something.” “All right Furia. You’ve made your point.” Pricilli knew she should not have been surprised her padawan learned that, considering Furia at times was very resourceful. The furry creature pointed at his companions, grabbing Furia’s left hand and gave it a slight pull, then gave the padawan a quick hug. “Free the rest. Please watch out that you don’t scare them. I’m going to the bridge to find out what this is all about.” “Yes Master.” Pricilli’s gaze followed her padawan as Furia walked with the creature, holding his hand as they went to the closest one cuffed. Pricilli turned and walked out the doorway, with the door sliding close behind her. Pricilli went up the stairs, hearing the noise of the repair on the transport. Proceeding to the bridge, the double doors opened. She walked in, noticing no one occupied it. Going to navigation, she looked to see where the vessel came from, and where would be the destination with its cargo. “Endor” the Togrutan noted out loud to herself. She never heard of it. It was a moon that orbited a gas giant planet of the same name. Endor was located in the outer rim, in a part of the galaxy far from the planets she knew. Heading is towards a planet Chil Vol, somewhere in Sith space. Pricilli looked around to see if she could find more information. On the captain’s chair laid a datapad. She focused on it for a few seconds, making sure it did not contain a trap. “There they are” she stated softly to herself as two needles came out of each side. Feeling with the Force, she noticed the poison on each needle. “Glad Furia listened to me when I taught her this.” Focusing on the needles, all four came out of the datapad, floated in the air, then put in a waste container. She brought out a small device from her belt, one that she designed herself, and touched the datapad with it. In a few seconds, the digital lock opened. Putting the device back, she looked at the information on the datapad. “Lord Gavstin. Seems he had only one name, not a first nor a last.” She read the datapad out loud so she would remember its information better. “Chil Vol has many resources under its surface.” She looked further down the passage of words. “Due to its cold climate, servants will be needed that can do their duties under the environmental conditions.” She paused her reading. “He doesn’t even have the decency to call them what they are. Slaves.” She went back to the passage. “A species has been found suitable for this working environment. There is a moon named Endor that orbits a gas planet of the same name, in a binary star system with stars of the same name, Endor One and Endor Two.” Oh, how glad Pricilli felt that Furia did not read this right now. Her padawan would start making comments about how unoriginal those names were. “The species is named Ewok. A short primitive sentient, they are covered with fur and have strong padding for feet. They would be able to tolerate the weather conditions, and can work in small spaces that are part of a mining environment. Due to their primitive nature, they would be excellent specimens to make into a subservient condition.” Pricilli never heard of Ewoks before. Pricilli concluded what this transport was about. Taking these Ewoks from a mostly unknown world would be unnoticed. The species would have great difficulty defending themselves against Sith technology. The Sith would look like some deity to them, and being away from their homes on a different planet would take away all their spirit to be independent. Plans changed for Pricilli and Furia. These Ewoks needed to go back to their homes. The sooner the better. She will have to contact the Jedi Council about the situation so the delay on returning to Coruscant will be justified. Also, their ride needed to know they can skip picking up Pricilli and her padawan. Perhaps Furia would be better off taking the ride back by herself. No, the Togrutan thought to herself. She would be able to learn something being exposed to these Ewoks and where they live. Also, she was too unpredictable to be left on her own. A powerful padawan on her own was not something Pricilli wanted to deal with later. She needed to check on how Furia was doing, being left alone with these Ewoks. They might be scared and try to corner her or attack her. Touching her wrist communicator, “Onod One Space Station, this is Jedi Knight Pricilli Tonna. Bridge and transport are secure. There are sentients that were taken from their world by the Sith, and will need to be returned. Once repairs are done, I will be using the transport to take them back home. What is the situation with repairs?” She heard an Onodone make the sounds of its language, then a droid spoke. “Jedi Tonna, we are currently working on repairs on the hull breach that caused part of a deck to lose air. We know of the hypermatter leak. Once repairs are completed and inspection is done, this vessel will be under the supervision of Onod One. You will depart the vessel once repairs are completed." That did not sit well with the Jedi Knight. “Onod One Space Station, this is Jedi Knight Pricilli Tonna. Under the authority of the Jedi Order, I hereby notify this vessel is under command of the Jedi. I will be taking the sentients aboard this vessel back to their home world. Any interference will be considered a hostile act.” It was a little elaborate for Pricilli to state that, however the main meaning became accurately conveyed. A pause for numerous seconds, then Pricilli heard the droid translate after its owner spoke. “Jedi Pricilli Tonna. We are sorry for any misunderstanding. Once your transport is repaired, you will have an unobstructed passage out of the system.” “Thank you. Please let me know when the repairs and refueling are completed. Jedi Tonna out.” She won that unnecessary battle. She wanted to make sure she didn’t need to do another one for the fuel that will be needed. She will have to go back on the station before they depart to report the situation to the Jedi Council. A message from an unknown transport that happened to have a Sith onboard would probably not be believable. “Time to check on Furia” she stated for only her to hear. She left the bridge, hearing the repairs on the ship in the hallway. Going down the stairwell, she came upon the first door and opened it. She thought she heard sounds beyond the second door, as if a mostly rhythmic beat being made. She opened the second door, then looked wide eyed and dropped jaw at the scene. “What are you doing!” Pricilli could not hide her surprise and anger from what she gazed upon. Smoke wafted through the air. A metal sheet, probably used for hull repairs, laid above a fire made from burning refuse. Numerous plants and premade meals rested on the sheet. Numerous of these Ewoks appeared to be dancing, others were hitting different objects in close unison to make sounds, and a few stood by her padawan helping her. Furia cooked at the fire, appearing to broil the food she could find, causing a scene of jubilation. None of the Ewoks wore cuffs, as the Jedi master noticed the cuffs piled at the side of the cargo hold. Smoke concentrated at the ceiling, where vents took it away. “Cooking. Give me a couple minutes then you should try some.” Furia continued cooking without being bothered the slightest by the anger coming from her master. It occurred before numerous times, and she became used to it. The padawan was having too much fun with the Ewoks to get in an argument with her master. Furia went back to flipping and moving the items she cooked on the hot metal sheet. Pricilli stood speechless. She could not think of any response to Furia. Her padawan did get all the cuffs off the Ewoks, and the primitive creatures were no longer in any distress. In her own unique way, Furia made the little furry sentients at ease. “So you know padawan, these are Ewoks.” The furry sentients stopped what they were doing and looked at the Togrutan. They knew that name she surmised. “They are from a moon called Endor.” The Ewoks looked at each other. “Once this vessel is fixed, we are going to take them back home.” “Aww. Can we keep one? As a pet?” Furia rubbed behind the ears of one near her, causing him to express a joyful look on his face as he appeared to purr. “Padawan Furia Tormenta. These may be primitive, but they are sentients. Even if one liked it, you certainly cannot keep it as a pet. That would be like slavery, which is what the Sith planned to do with them for mining.” The disappointed look on Furia’s face shown only for a second. “I understand Master. I’m grateful we did save them.” She looked at the metal sheet, got out from a crate near her a plate with a Sith Empire insignia on it, used the Force to move some plants from the metal sheet to the plate, then offered the food to her master. “Try some Master. Not bad.” One of the Ewoks came up to Pricilli. “Chu chu” she heard from the friendly furry creature as he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the food being cooked. The Togrutan could not help but smile as she allowed the Ewok to guide her towards Furia, and took the plate from her padawan. The Ewok pointed to Furia, then spoke “Furya”. Pricilli took one of the cooked pieces of plant off the plate with her fingers and took a bite. After chewing it for several seconds then swallowing it, she looked at her padawan and smiled. “Pretty good Furia.” She ate the rest of the cooked pieces on her plate while the Ewoks went back to making their music and dance to the beat. Eventually they all finished eating. Pricilli went back up to the main deck. She talked with the Onodones once the hull repairs became completed and that section of the deck pressurized with air. She went onboard the station to send a report to the Jedi Council on Coruscant about all that transpired on their mission to Onod One. She walked with a few maintenance workers and a delegate from the planet government throughout the transport, making sure everything was repaired. The delegate wanted to make sure the Jedi received assistance any way possible. The last thing his government needed was a Jedi poorly treated after the help they received with the White Worms. Furia looked around the ship to acquire bedding for all the Ewoks. What she could not get on the transport, she acquired from the Onodones, who appeared very willing to help anyway they could. She also received different foods to cook for her new furry friends. With the transport ready to travel, Pricilli and Furia said their goodbyes to the delegate and the director of the station, who both were emphatic to tell the Jedi master and her padawan how appreciative Onod One was for their help, and apologizing for any inappropriate behavior from their staff. No one mentioned the mind trick done on one of the staff by Furia. Once back on the transport, Pricilli went to the bridge while Furia went back to the cargo hold. The Jedi Knight set the vessel’s course for the moon Endor, detached from the space station, moved away from the planet to be free of its gravity well, then put the transport into hyperspace. She stayed up on the bridge for most of the trip, making sure the transport did not get damaged. She did take brief breaks to check on her padawan, and to eat. Furia spent the whole trip with her new friends. She learned to make the sounds of their music. She learned a few words in their language, like “yub yub.” She cooked with them, and slept with them. The Ewoks enjoyed themselves immensely being with the padawan. This girl they just met naturally interacted so friendly and personable to them. After a night of sleeping on the bridge, and eating the breakfast Furia and the Ewoks cooked with all the smoke, Pricilli took the transport out of hyperspace into the Endor system. She noticed the two stars for the system in the distance, and the gas giant planet getting ever larger as she brought the ship closer. With ease she piloted the transport to the other side of the planet, where the moon Endor orbited. Furia spent some time with the Ewok that helped most with the cooking, the one that earlier grabbed Pricilli’s hand to bring her to the food. She went to a monitor in the cargo hold to study the moon and the stars around it. Using the Force to help go through the memories of her new furry friend, with looking at the landscape and the stars at night in the memories, she was able to narrow down the location of their home, a large land mass at the southern hemisphere. Pricilli allowed Furia to bring the Ewok onto the bridge with her to gaze out the bridge window. The transport moved not far above the ground. The three looked at the trees and the ground to find where the home was. In under an hour, the Ewok jumped up and down, shouting “Aiyee!” “Think we found their home Master” Furia stated with a broadened smile on her face. “Yes we did padawan. That was good work you did with the Ewok.” Pricilli slowed the transport, looking for a leveled area to land. “Thank you Master.” It was nice for Furia to hear a compliment from her master. She thought it should happen more often, however she will enjoy it whenever it happens. She gently held the hand of her new friend, then proceeded to the cargo hold with him to try to get all the Ewoks ready to leave the transport once they landed. Pricilli lowered the landing gear, gently landed on the planet, then turned off the engine. After a long sigh, she got out of her seat and went down to the cargo hold to help her padawan. After dealing with the smell of smoke and fur in the hold with all the Ewoks, she helped Furia get them all to disembark. Calmer than Pricilli expected, the Ewoks walked to their homes, going into their buildings and getting situated back to their daily lives. Furia sat on the ground by the last one with them, the one that went on the bridge with her. “Furia” she said in a friendly way as she pointed to herself, “Rahwah” as she pointed at the Ewok. She took her two index fingers and hooked them to each other. “Rahwah” he pronounced as he pointed to himself. “Furya” he exclaimed before he hugged her. As they broke their hug, Rahwah walked confidently back to his home. Furia got up and brushed the dirt off her. Pricilli looked at her padawan. A tear started forming from the inner part of Furia's left eye. This mission became more than expected, but it was a resounding success. The White Worms became eliminated from Onod One. A Sith lord was thwarted from using the Ewoks as slaves. The Ewoks were safely brought back home. Her padawan handled herself mostly well. Furia showed much better skill than expected with her lightsaber. She used the Jedi mind trick with the skill of a Jedi Master, which concerned Pricilli since Furia was only a padawan. Nevertheless, Pricilli did not feel any cold nor hate coming from her padawan. Furia worked exceptionally with the Ewoks, and figured out approximately where their home was. “Furia, don’t cry. You did it. You helped them get back home.” “I know Master. It’s just. It’s just I’m going to miss them.” She turned to look at her master. “Time to go back to Coruscant?” “We need to first look over the transport to make sure everything is working properly, but yes.” Pricilli wanted to make sure none of the repairs broke during the spaceflight. “When we get back, you know how it’s inconvenient to wear the Jedi robe in the pool, and you’ve made comments that drabby dark brown swimsuit of mine is getting too small?” “Yes” Pricilli stated without emotion, afraid where this conversation would head to. “There’s this hot pink two-piece water suit with a front tie. It's being sold at a store near the restaurant district. May I get it to help with my water training at the Temple pool?” The Togrutan Jedi master looked up at the sky, seeing a few clouds and the large shape of the gas giant planet hovering near the horizon. “Why me?”

NIce story. It would be interesting if these characters were introduced into a flashpoint.

Specialist Jon Ferma scanned the area around him with his macrobinoculars while lying on the crest of a hill, making sure no one was slipping past that would be able to attack from the rear. Easily fitting the binoculars to his helmet, he looked for movement or signs of the forces from the Sith Empire. Nothing so far. Reports came in that the Sith Army landed on the planet. His scout squad was ordered to confirm they are here. He wore the standard full body armor of a Republic scout, made of plastoid and covering every part of him. The issued armor was painted to camouflage with the environment of their location. As a scout he knew that would only work with regular infantry. He used clear adhesive to attach foliage to his armor to blend in better, then had his battle buddy add modifications for the parts he wasn’t aware of. As a battle buddy, he did the same for his fellow sniper. Here. Al Saltu. An outer rim world not far from Mon Cala. The third planet for the star Al Setta. A world with much water and a lot of plants. The poles of the planet had frozen icecaps on oceans, and icy plains that became cool forests while moving closer to the equator. Then jungle. Lots and lots of jungle. Most of the land mass was covered with jungle. Some places less dense, some more dense. Oceans, inland seas, and numerous lakes covered where the jungle didn’t. It was hard to walk easily in this place. Tall trees with vines, bushes where they could find light to grow, holes in the ground to easily sprain an ankle, and the wildlife. Then there’s the bugs. Bugs. Bunch of bugs. They went from the tiniest ones that cannot be seen with the naked eye, to ones taller than a person. It was bad enough to have to deal with the bugs, but then supply forgot the bug repellant. A deployment to a planet with all the bugs, and no repellant. It was bad enough there was a shortage of food so only two meals were served per day, and that came with a breakfast served at room temperature when it was supposed to be cooked properly. But no. Let’s be in a symbiotic relationship with these beautiful life forms in this expansive tropical rainforest. It’s a jungle! Fool of a bantha’s backside for someone to think this is some wonderful place. Let someone else try to eat or go to the restroom without bug spray. The planet doesn’t even have any sentient life forms. Any sentients that would try to live here would get bitten so much their skin would wart, or get sick from the bacteria the bugs carry. Nothing with hair lives here. Certainly nothing with tendrils lived here either. Join the Republic Army. Protect the Galactic Republic. Explore exciting worlds and meet intriguing people. A chance to get away from Forty-Nine Ninety-Four of the undersurface of Coruscant. Experience daylight. Experience daylight all right. Got a sunburn training at Ord Mantell. The mission was important, the people in his squad and the rest of the brigade were told by their superiors. If Al Saltu came under the control of the Sith, they would have a planet that can be used to launch a successful attack on Mon Cala or Lothal. Sith already controlled Felucia and Karkaris. If this planet fell to the Sith, then the Mon Calamari, the Quarren, and the sentient life of Lothal could end up getting subjugated to the Sith lords. Those people do not deserve that. Sith can keep Karkaris. Water freaks that like to bite people. They can go ahead and be Sith slaves. Nothing was showing up on infrared nor ultraviolet. Specialist Ferma attached the macrobinoculars to his belt, then turned his head one way then the other, trying to find something out of the ordinary he could not pick up with the binoculars. The ground did not show any displacement of plants from someone walking. Ground is just awful for a tank to move. A walker would even have problems unless it had wide feet. He observed that the wind was going from front left to back right. “Check.” Staff Sergeant Beihei wanted the roll call to make sure all were safe, and for any info not called in. The Iridonian wasn’t the nicest of sergeants to serve under, but Jon Ferma had seen worse. There were a few times he felt like grabbing the horns on the sergeant’s head and shake them. He listened to the numbers being called in with report. Finally, his turn. “Gundark six, clear.” Gundark. Why did they have to name their squad after those ugly gundarks? Why couldn’t they be loth-wolves? The numbers went through twelve. All clear. A majority of the squad were together in groups of two. Specialist Ferma and his battle buddy, Specialist Justin Mintu of Corellia, preferred to be alone. The sergeant allowed it. No one would disturb their concentration, and they were not that far from each other if help was needed. Both of them were snipers, the snipers for the scout squad. Each had a Kuat Stealth Scout for their sniper rifle, in addition to the BlasTech DT-2 sidearm, and the Republic vibroknife. All weapons were inspected before the deployment. No irregularities were found with the knife. The sidearm shot with precision up to twenty-five meters. Three shots within a square of three centimeters per side at the distance of one hundred meters showed that the sniper rifle was zeroed. There was an instant memory. Jace receiving the Stealth Scout. He looked revolted for a second when he was told the name of the weapon. Here he was, a guy from the starship land of Corellia, getting a weapon from the planet of Corellia’s rival shipbuilder, Kuat. However, Jace found out that the Kuat sniper rifle was an excellent firearm. Jace was the oddball of his family. The others in the family that were in the military went Republic Navy, just like most of Corellia. Jace instead went Army. Then there’s himself. A boy from Coruscant’s undersurface told time and time again by family and friends that he won’t come to anything special. Yet he became one of the best shots in the company. Most scouts applying for the sniper position don’t make it. He did. Maybe the jungle isn’t so bad. It’s definitely better than Forty-Nine Ninety-Four. Ready to grab his binoculars, something looked off in the distance. Some leaves in one tree moved right to left, when the wind was going the opposite direction. Goggles back up, nothing infrared nor ultraviolet. Some spots on the tree he observed had a little bit of starlight reflected, but one spot over a meter tall was dark. “Six. Tree. Dark spot. Probable jetpack.” “Six. Take the shot.” Sergeant Beihei’s voice came over the speaker calmly in the sniper’s helmet. Grabbing Sue, the name he gave his Kuat Stealth Scout sniper rifle, he brought it to bear. It was named after the nice brunette he met while he was in basic at Ord Mantell. The cute gal worked at the diner he and the others went to when done with a section of basic training. She was so nice and friendly. When he was done with basic and wanted to go out with her, she said sorry. She was being friendly because she just wanted nice tips. Slowing his breathing, slowing his heart rate, he looked in the scope. He wasn’t looking for any person. He was looking for the darkest part of that particular tree. Something that would absorb light in a tree was probably a Sith jetpack trooper in all black armor to conceal oneself. They were known to move in trees to take advantage of the foliage while staying off the ground. Yet through training, a Republic scout learned to pick up where there was no light but should be. There. Upper middle part of the tall tree. The dark area. He studied what he could of the wind in the dark between himself and the target. Wind caused less deviation with plasma bolts compared to solid projectiles, but there still was a little. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out all of the air. Specialist Ferma pulled the trigger, hearing the plasma bolt as his finger continued moving, having steady pressure until it came fully to rear, then released. The tiniest of recoils moved the sniper rifle back into him, keeping the scope looking at the same location. There was no need to readjust the rifle later. The dark figure moved down slowly a little, then dropped. It did not move from its own volition, but from gravity. Once the body was found, the kill would be confirmed later unless the recipient of the plasma bolt happened to have survived the shot and the fall. “One fall” he spoke inside his helmet. That gave the alert to the squad they had unwelcome guests in the area. Specialist Ferma observed the surroundings again then brought out the macrobinoculars to get a detailed look. “Engagement. Look for targets” he heard over the speakers in his helmet. At a further distance than his target, he began to notice heat signatures of some devices. He then noticed the outlines of the devices that appeared cylinder shape until they moved and he couldn’t see the devices anymore. His helmet covered up the raising of his eyebrows and slight opening of his mouth as he calmly stated “not good.” He backed away with his belongings as quick as he could on the ground, crawling away from the crest of the hill. Explosions commenced around him from the projectiles fired. Shockwaves were around him and came at him. Luckily the plastoid armor protected his body and especially his ears. Also, this seemed light artillery fire. Still deadly, but not as powerful as heavy artillery. As he backed, he thought he saw something in the air. “Airborne troopers” he heard from the voice of his battle buddy Jace Mintu. Looking up he noticed a few stars were blocked by some flying objects. Specialist Ferma knew there were probably eleven in the air. Twelve for the amount in a typical Sith squad minus the one he shot. Below the horizon of the hill, he got up in a crouch and started going to his right. The fire of some Republic assault cannons could now be heard. “Ground troop movement away from target. Two trailer speeders damaged.” That was two speaking, Sergeant Sinclair from Alderaan. Basically, he was the second in command of the squad, and would take over if something happened to the staff sergeant. Those were noble people from Alderaan, he had noticed on more than one occasion since being active duty. Each one of them devoted to the ideal of the Galactic Republic. The speeders reported must have been the vehicles pulling the cannons. With those Sith troops moving, this firefight was about to explode he concluded to himself as he moved forward to his right. He followed his order to go to Point Cookout when there was engagement. It was the spot where the battalion would meet up for an advance, and if by chance he and the other scouts could drag some of the enemy into the area, easy targets. But who thought of the name Cookout for the spot on the battlefield? Idiot. “Ten. Empire brigade spotted. Right ten degrees at one point five kilometers. Saturated ground with numerous roots. No identifiable traps.” Specialist Duran, the sole Devaronian of the squad, found the main body of the opposition. That would be the main target, but he and the other scouts knew to look for loose squads that could circle around. A long time ago in the Galactic Republic Army the personnel of a squad was determined by what species and gender someone was. Unfortunately, that brought about bitter rivalries, harassment, and conflicts between the squads. That was not an issue currently with the mixed squads. Now there was just that occasional problem of those pregnancies. Specialist Duran was the first to spot the main body of the enemy, but it wasn’t quick enough. Plasma fire from cannons began hurling toward the spot of the Republic assault cannons, and other spots in the large area. The Sith Army knew of one spot where the Republic was, and was trying to blanket cover the remaining area with artillery area. In the speaker of his helmet, he heard two screams. Members of his squad, but Specialist Ferma could not tell who. Republic artillery fire began. Most of the Sith cannon fire missed Republic positions, not knowing exactly where they were. Republic artillery was not perfect, but had the advantage of knowing where the opposition was. Specialist Ferma proceeded to Point Cookout, crouching so he would not be an easy target to shoot at in the dark. Moving amongst the trees, he went as fast as he could with his crouched form, making sure he didn’t trip over a root or put his foot in a hole in the saturated ground. Coming upon the position of the assault cannons, he went to it, hoping the Sith Army would not shoot at that location since it was already pummeled from cannon fire. Several Republic soldiers lied dead in their armor, including the ones possessing the assault cannons. The assault cannon did have enormous firepower as a handheld weapon, but it was so bulky and heavy that hydraulics was needed in the armor to be able to wield it. A sniper rifle had less firepower, but was more efficient. He did remember though that one time he saw someone quite proficient with the assault cannon. A Pheo woman that was recently promoted to captain of the Dragon Company. She was cute too for an older woman. “Oh, don’t go there” he thought to himself. There was no good being attracted to an older officer. Some in the position were uninjured, some were seriously injured and started to be cared for by the medics, and others who were slightly injured were given quick care and told to go on their way. He went back to proceed towards Point Cookout. He saw a Republic infantry squad ahead of him. What caught his attention though was in the air. A moving black silhouette, blocking briefly the stars above as it moved, flying towards the squad with flames shooting behind it. Falling to the ground in front of him, he made a little splash from the few puddles of water he fell in. He brought his sniper rifle Sue to shooting position, looking through the trees with his scope, hoping the flying silhouette would come to a stationary position. Tree in the way, spot for second then moves, tree in the way, moves and another tree in the way. He brought out his sidearm while lying in place. Breathe in, breathe out, target moving while breathe in, breathe out, target still moving while breathe in, target aiming while breathe all air out, steady pressure he pulled the trigger all the way back. The plasma bolt went through the right side of the chest below the armpit. Head slumping over, the jetpack started moving the body forward and upward in an uncontrolled path. Another kill. Specialist Ferma knew he had no time to celebrate with the battle continuing on. When he heard what sounded like the rocket from a jetpack above him, he really knew he had no time to celebrate. “No good” he said out loud, mainly for himself. He quickly rolled to his right then got up to get behind a tree. Blaster fire from a sidearm followed him, trying to get him while lying on the ground. When he got up, the airborne trooper tried to shoot ahead of him, trying to predict where he would go. The shots would have succeeded in hitting him, except the tree he was behind got in the way, wood chips flying everywhere from the impact of the plasma bolts hitting the trunk. Bringing the sniper rifle up, he made his shots while moving on the ground, trying to make it more difficult for the airborne trooper to shoot him. Without the time for proper aim, he was at best a stalemate with the Sith trooper in the sky. Continuing moving and using the trees for disruption of the line of sight, he at least made it more difficult for proper aim on him. He then saw the Sith trooper put the side arm in the left hand while grabbing a circular object with the right. His eyelids raised behind the visor, he jumped to his right in the middle of the motion of his opponent’s right arm. Water, mud, and his armor helped lessen the impact of the grenade as it hit the ground. He got up, but not as quick as he could from the dazed effect of the grenade. The Sith airborne trooper saw the advantage, coming to a hard landing on the ground with the jetpack turning off while bringing out a Sith vibroblade. Coming upon the specialist, Jon Ferma brought up his sniper rifle, holding on with both hands. He was able to deflect the lunge of the blade, however the vibroblade was able to make a large cut into the barrel of the rifle. The airborne trooper tried to grab the sidearm with the left hand. Specialist Ferma shoved the rifle into the visor of his assailant. Moving to his right he was able to use his left hand to grab the left wrist of the Sith trooper. The right foot of the trooper got stuck under a root, losing balance and unable to stab effectively with the vibroblade, having it deflect off the left arm instead of a stab to the torso of the specialist. With his right hand free, Jon Ferma grabbed his sidearm, and quickly brought it up and shot at the head of his opponent. Plastoid armor and flesh came flying from the impact of the plasma bolt. The airborne trooper’s body slumped to the ground, with the top left part of the head blown away from the plasma bolt shot at point blank range. Shaking his head for a few seconds, being dazed from the impact of plastoid pieces hitting his helmet, he soon noticed the cracks on the left side of his visor. He grabbed the two sidearms of the dead airborne trigger to see if he could use them, but noticed they did not activate. “Signature firearms” he stated to himself softly. He surmised the damaged visor wouldn’t be good if there was a chemical attack. He quickly looked at his surroundings, seeing between the trees trunks the flying plasma bolts near Point Cookout. An artillery projectile from the Republic side fell onto the area, coming with it the loud explosion. He heard another person scream in his helmet. Looking at the point, less movement was seen and the faint shape of figures lied on the ground, from both Sith and Republic side. The artillery came too close to the Republic troops. He then thought he saw something in the distance moving to his left. Putting on infrared, the cracks in the visor distorted the view. Nevertheless, a small line of heat chest high was moving. That wasn’t an insect. It was most likely a Sith trooper that got the chest armor cracked, and body heat was coming out. Specialist Ferma moved to his left, crouched to try to minimize the chance he would be detected. Finding a spot between a tree and a bush, he laid forward into the mud, bringing out his sidearm. The sniper rifle would not be safe to use with the cut in the barrel. Waiting patiently, the targets began moving closer, unaware of him lying there in the mud at night. He wanted a chance to have several shots in short succession to get as many targets as he could with surprise. He also wanted to have a decent view of the targets, made more difficult with the cracked visor. Coming closer, coming closer, there. A Sith squad of infantry, probably of twelve soldiers, trying to flank the Republic. He may die from the retaliatory fire, but he had the advantage of some cover, and it will eliminate their chance of circling and having the jump on Republic troops. Several came under twenty meters away. Focusing on the targets as best he could with the cracks in his visor, he aimed his pistol. Two steady pulls of the trigger, aim for another, two pulls, aim for another, two pulls. Two Sith troopers fell to the ground, one yelled while getting on knees as the shoulder was grabbed from an injury. The remaining troopers responded with return fire, aiming for chest high but missed due to not knowing he was lying on the ground. Two more shots he let loose, then rifle fire from elsewhere sent plasma bolts into the now exposed Sith squad as his target went down. More of the squad went down as a few retreated. “Lucky” he stated calmly to himself, fortunate of the situation. He got up then walked a little to his left. He saw the Republic squad with their rifles, and gave them a little salute with two fingers from his right hand. He then saw past the squad a medic, a red stripe across his arms and chest of his armor to designate he was medical, moving toward a trooper on the ground. A plasma bolt went that direction. The medic, while grabbing the right arm, went down onto the knees. Specialist Ferma evaluated the situation. Unusable sniper rifle, no long-range weapon, damaged visor, and others were in need. Unable to use his sniper skills, he would be more of a benefit to the brigade by helping others accomplish their roles. Watching for plasma bolts, he moved over to the medic. Seeing the medic on the ground panting hard, the sniper’s focus went to the right arm. Armor and flesh from the outer part of the arm was burned away. At least the wound wasn’t so deep that it got to the bone. “What can I do?” Specialist Ferma asked as he lowered his head to the level of the medic. “Bacta. Gel. In pack” the medic answered in between large breaths. Opening the pack on the medic’s back, Specialist Ferma brought out a tube then spread it on the injury. “Ouch” came from the medic when the gel was first put on, then his breathing slowed and evened, as his body appeared less in pain. “Let me get you back to the field hospital” responded Specialist Ferma as he helped the medic onto his feet. “Aid station. Pain is getting better. I can at least help some with my left arm.” The medic put his left hand on the sniper’s right shoulder to help with balance. Eyebrows were raised behind the visor so they weren’t seen. This medic was a brave one. Eventually the two made it to the nearest aid station. The medic took off his helmet, showing his chestnut hair cut short. “Thank you” he said as he bowed his head a little to the sniper, then went to work helping with triage and minor wound care with his left arm. Looking around, he saw another medic in armor, ready to head out. “Need help?” he asked, noticing this medic was a woman from the shape of the armor. “Always” she responded, as she started to walk out of the aid station. The sniper came up to walk beside the medic. “Specialist Jon Ferma” he stated as he looked to see that she had no firearm. Some medics were willing to work for the military but didn’t want a firearm. Some were honored to help save the life of someone in the brigade, but felt with their role they should not carry a weapon. Some medics were willing or happy to carry a firearm, but had no business since they were such lousy shots. “Second Lieutenant Rosie Sanguine. Nice to meet you specialist. Let’s get to some of the wounded.” The two walked away from the aid station, trying to find the nearest wounded. Both could see plasma bolts flying through the air, and hear the cannons firing away. It was definite the Republic was not losing, but there was no way to tell if they were winning. It was difficult to see the wounded on the ground, with their armor covering up their heat so infrared setting would be no good. Finally, they found someone on the ground, moving a little and in exquisite pain. “Blast got the left hip.” Lieutenant Sanguine looked at where the armor came apart. The left side of the hip was bleeding, and the way the bones looked it was evident the soldier had a hip fracture. She got some bacta gel and applied it to where the bleeding occurred. “It’s said that stuff can fix anything.” Specialist Ferma scanned the area, making sure there wouldn’t be an attack soon. “It helps, but nothing cures or fixes everything.” She got up and did her best to check the soldier’s condition with his armor on. “Won’t cure that hip fracture. Need to get the trooper to the field hospital.” She knelt down to pick him up to put over her shoulders. There was no stretcher available, nor a craft that could move him. “I’ll do that lieutenant.” Specialist Ferma knelt down, ready to pick him up. “Let me give him a pain med. Make the pain not as bad. Could you please take off his helmet for a bit Specialist?” “Yes ma’am.” He put his hands on either side of the soldier’s helmet, and released the locks. Slowly he took it off, showing the agony on the face. “Take this” ordered Lieutenant Sanguine in a gentle way. She squirted some purple liquid from a small bottle into the soldier’s mouth. With a little difficulty, the liquid was swallowed. After a minute, the soldier appeared more relaxed. The helmet was put back on. Specialist Ferma squatted down. With some help from the lieutenant, he picked up the soldier, put him over his shoulders, got up, then started walking the direction of the field hospital. Lieutenant Sanguine was able to do the triage in the field. When they got to the field hospital, he was put on a bed and started getting prepped for his surgery when the battle ceased. The two went back to look for more. They searched, then eventually found another body. Specialist Ferma raised his eyebrows behind his visor, looking at the markings on the armor. The markings were for a sniper from Gundark Squad. “Jace Mintu, my battle buddy.” He was unconscious from a concussion that his helmet could not protect him from fully. The area looked like it got hit by a projectile. Numerous bodies and body parts were around in the mud. Specialist Mintu was breathing, but when Jon looked over at the right leg, it looked like a bloodied heap. “I’m sorry Specialist Ferma. Let’s get him ready then we can take him to the field hospital." “Helmet off?” Specialist Ferma was wondering if his battle buddy would also get pain medication. Now he knows why he didn’t hear for a little while his buddy’s voice. He was knocked out of action. “Yes please.” She squirted some purple liquid into his mouth, then put some bacta gel around the edge of the part of the leg that wasn’t injured. “It will lessen the pain when he wakes up, like giving pain medicine while in surgery.” The helmet was put back on, and Specialist Ferma got his battle buddy over his shoulders. The two of them practiced this with each other in case it was needed on the battlefield, but Jon never thought he would have to carry Jace like this. Eventually they made it back to the field hospital, and Specialist Mintu was put on a bed to get prepped for his surgery. Both the sniper and the medic still had energy, but they were starting to get exhausted. They went back towards the action to see if there was anyone else. As he observed the battle, there still was the plasma bolts flying towards their targets and cannons still making their sounds, but no lightsabers. That means no Sith. That was good since there was no chance now of troops getting overwhelmed by one of those Sith lords. That also meant the Sith troopers would be more likely to retreat, and try to escape to an unchartered planet if they were losing. When a Sith lord was present, retreat was not an option. Since no lightsabers, that also meant no Jedi. Too bad. Jedi would be an asset right now. They were famed in the galaxy for how helpful they were, and their ability to turn the tide of battle. There were stories recently going around with the Republic troops of four padawans that have been fun to work with, especially that over-the-top redhead that was wicked on the battlefield. Looking around, they stayed together as they walked and surveyed the battlefield. Hearing something whizzing in the air, Specialist Ferma pushed the medic onto the ground then got on top of her. A second later an explosion went off near them. Mud and pieces of trees went through the air as the explosion was followed by screams. The shockwave mostly went over them, but a little of it hit the sniper. “Specialist, I appreciate your valor, but you can get off. I’m not more important than anyone else here.” She felt a bit uncomfortable with the man she just met lying on top of her on a battlefield. “Your very important Lieutenant. You’re keeping some of us alive.” He scanned the situation, then got up when he realized for the moment it was safe. He put out a hand, and she grabbed it in appreciation as he pulled her up. Walking closer to the area of the explosion, a quick loud breath came from her. On the ground was another medic, however the armor was wrecked at the head and chest. She quickly went up and knelt by the figure. “Alex Hippo. From my unit. Chest wounds with suction indicate lungs punctured. Pupils of different sizes, stiffness of neck, in stupor. Probable intracerebral hemorrhage. Not good.” She took out more bacta and put it quickly on the numerous sites of bleeding. Specialist Ferma started kneeling down, then she put a hand on his knee. “He’s my unit. Let me.” The sniper nodded to her as he helped get the injured medic up on her shoulders, then helped her up with keeping her balance. With a little stumbling and a hand to help with balance from Specialist Ferma, Second Lieutenant Sanguine made her way close to the field hospital. When they got within twenty meters, Second Lieutenant Hippo began seizing on her shoulders. Jon held out his hand again to help with her balance. “Really not good” she expressed in a mostly calm way. Around ten meters away the seizing stopped. Going through the entrance, she found the nearest bed and put him down, with her sniper companion helping. She took off the wrecked helmet and the rest of the armor. Grabbing an oxygen tube, she put the cannulas in each of his nostrils. After she hooked up equipment, she saw the vitals were unstable. She began putting in data needed for head surgery to stop the internal bleeding, then an alarm went off as his heart stopped beating. Hooking up the cardiac restarter, she made sure people kept their distance as an electric charge dispensed into Alex Hippo’s chest. No change. He was not breathing. Another charge. There still was no heartbeat. A third charge went. There was no change. His body lied there lifeless. She looked at the instruments and noticed the time. Oh Two One Four. Time of death. She put the numbers into a datapad next to the bed. Taking a deep breath, she took off her helmet then looked at Specialist Jon Ferma. He took off his helmet to get a better look at her. Easily he could tell she was a Pantoran. Blue skin with light blond hair and golden eyes. “A beauty” he thought to himself. A few tears strolled down her cheeks. She looked up at the human a little taller than her while holding onto her helmet. Light complexion, dark chestnut hair with brown eyes, he stood there with his chiseled chin as steady as steel. “Lieutenant Sanguine, you’re now off duty.” Coming into the triage room, an older human male in his late fifties walked towards them, noticing how exhausted his medic was and knew she wouldn’t be able to do her duties for long. She already did much, and he didn’t want her to fall apart. He has seen that before with his medics, doctors, nurses, and techs. He has seen that all too often over the years. She turned to look at him, the tears starting to dry up. “Yes, yes sir. I will go to the break area in a bit.” He then turned to look at the sniper. “Specialist, what’s your name?” “Sir, Ferma. Jon Ferma sir.” The sniper looked at the coronel while standing tall. “Thank you for your help Specialist Ferma. I would think you have your duties that need to be finished. Again, thank you.” The older man nodded his head a little, then left. “Thank you Coronel” he responded as the doctor left the triage area. Specialist Ferma looked back at the medic. She went to a pack on her belt and brought out a small piece of ancient plant paper and a writing instrument. Writing for a few seconds, she put the instrument back, then stuck the small piece just inside his armor at the top of his chest. With the look of hesitancy for a couple seconds, she tilted her head up and gave a quick kiss on the lips of the sniper. “Contact me when this madness is over.” She turned and walked with a quick pace out of the triage area. Eyelids raised for a few seconds, he watched the lieutenant walk out of the area. “Wow” he said with little emotion, stunned from the experience of the whole night. He put on his helmet, then walked out of the field hospital and proceeded to the firefight. It was quite obvious the first thing he noticed. There was no longer any cannon fire. He then gazed at the swath of the jungle, noticing the amount of plasma bolts was decreasing rapidly. Republic troopers were sweeping the area, looking for any Sith troopers that planned on a late attack. The plasma bolts stopped. More wounded were being taken away. He saw a few of them were in Sith trooper armor. Movement at a distance indicated some Republic infantry was advancing, making sure none of the Sith troops were reforming for another attack. “Clear.” In his helmet he heard the single syllable from the brigade commander, Colonel Orio, an older Lasat, who was indicating the conflict was over. He waited for his squad leader to speak to check on the members, but didn’t hear anything. “Sergeant Beihei? Staff Sergeant Beihei?” Specialist was a little nervous that there wasn’t a response. “Sergeant Sinclair?” No response from either sergeant. The sniper shook a little for a second. “This is Gundark six. Check.” “Gundark four, clear. Three sent to hospital.” “Gundark five is at the hospital. Six clear.” There was a pause for several seconds. “Gundark nine, clear.” “Gundark ten, clear.” “Gundark twelve, clear. Eleven is dead.” Specialist Ferma took a big sigh. Five in his squad were still on duty. Two were in the hospital, and he knew Justin Mintu would be in the hospital for an extended stay. Five were most likely dead, including the two sergeants. “Meet up at the battalion spot.” Specialist Ferma waanted the squad to gather up so they can go over what occurred and the results of the mission. As he headed to the spot, he looked around. The Republic won, but it looked like they took heavy casualties. An outright majority of the Sith force was dead. Rare ones were injured but still living and now in the hospital. No one was captured unharmed. The Sith troopers were trained to never, never surrender. A few retreated. If they went back to Sith space they would be executed for retreating. Specialist Ferma knew what the retreaters would most likely do. Some would find an obscure planet far from Sith space that had no inhabitants, or one with a sparse sentient population. They would lie low so not to catch the attention of the Sith Empire. They would try to make a new life for themselves. Others would go the mercenary route, and then be hired by the Hutt Cartel or go to other bidders. A few would become pirates. He came to the site by the tree where he took out his first target. There, lying on the ground, was his first kill of the encounter. The Sith airborne trooper lied there, dark armor with a jetpack, and a hole in the left side of the chest. The sniper crouched down and took off the armor. Lying there with no life was a woman, light complexion with sandy brown hair in a ponytail and bangs cut short. “What a day” he commented for only himself to hear. The woman looked similar to Sue, the woman he knew from the diner on Ord Mantell. Specialist Ferma made it to the rendezvous point. He was the first one of his squad at the spot, which gave him a chance to observe the troopers from the different units. All were exhausted. A noticeable few looked numb. Numerous trees had their tops blown off. Gundark twelve came first. Specialist Bush, the Mirialan from Mirial, took off his helmet. He stood there stunned with his green complexion and chopped dark hair. He said nothing as he stood there facing the sniper. Gundark nine came next with the unique shaped helmet. It had a place on either side to stick the Twi’lek’s lekkus, the tails coming from the head that helped so much with balance. Private Cassandra took off her helmet, showing her blue complexion. Although a Twi’lek, she was born and raised on Coruscant just like Specialist Ferma. For being inexperienced and new to the Republic forces, she did appear calm. Right behind her was the Pheo Private Evora Castellano, Gundark ten, taking off her helmet. Pink was her skin, amber was her eyes, and what little there was of brunette hair was in a buzz cut. She also seemed unscathed from the battle. The sulfur smell, well known from the Pheos, was evident from her. No one cared. She was alive, that’s what cared. The two women definitely were great battle buddies that supported each other. Finally, Gundark four. Specialist Bombus, a Duros that was born and raised on Ord Mantell, the planet they all did their basic training at. He was the munitions expert for the squad. Taking off his helmet, he nodded a little to the sniper, then went to checking his equipment. Although victory, the Republic forces sustained heavy losses. There were the two thousand four hundred twenty that were not hit or only received minor injuries. One thousand four hundred and fifteen lost their lives, including five in their squad. One thousand nine hundred and thirty-six were injured and hospitalized, including the squad’s two. For the next several hours, the squad went to officially identify the five Gundarks that lost their lives, including their two sergeants. They helped set up tents and beds in the new camp, one tent for the males and another for the females. They finally crashed, falling on their beds exhausted after taking off their armor. The remaining squad members slept through the night, knowing there were fresh guards able to patrol the camp. Waking up the next morning, they reported to the second lieutenant for their platoon, then rested for the day while checking on their gear. The camp, now named Camp Al Republica, was starting to transform into a permanent camp. The second day after the battle was reserved for the funeral. A raised large plot of land that sustained damage to the trees was cleared and made into a cemetery. All of the fallen were given a large service, the sermon done by the colonel. Afterwards, each trooper was given a small funeral with members of their small unit in attendance. The squad knew this would likely happen after a battle, but they never expected funerals for five squad members in one day. The third day became a more joyful one. Medals for recognition were given to the squad by their company’s major, Eric Thom from Alderaan. “Next we recognize Specialist Ferma. For your success at the last engagement, I am honored to present to you the Republic sniper commendation ribbon.” Claps came from the people around as the ribbon was put on his uniform. Later, he will get another of the same ribbon for his formal attire. “Also, for actions beyond the line of duty, medical has awarded you the medic meritorious ribbon.” Louder claps and a few cheers came from the crowd as the second ribbon was put on, with one of those clapping a Pantoran lady who was in the back. “Because of your service Jon Ferma, you are now promoted to Sergeant Jon Ferma, in command of your scout squad. Jon Ferma smiled and raised his eyebrows. He did not expect this. His battle buddy Justin Mintu smiled and cheered from his bed in the field hospital, watching the live ceremony as it was being transmitted to his monitor by the bed. Sergeant Ferma saluted the major while responding. “Thank you sir. It is an honor to lead this fine squad.” For the next few days, Sergeant Ferma fixed his armor and realigned his weapons. He spent a full day with Sue, repairing the barrel and realigning the scope. It took hours with readjusting the sniper rifle before he had it the way he wanted, three shots in a row within a square three centimeters per side at a distance of one hundred meters. His battle buddy Justin Mintu was there that day, now with a cybernetic right leg, helping him readjust the sniper rifle. Less time was needed to work on his own rifle. Although he was still a specialist, he was now second in command of the squad, assigned to help the new sergeant and to continue his sniper duties. Also coming back to the squad from injury was Gundark three, Specialist Chi from Denon. He was injured from a plasma bolt hitting the edge of his left shoulder. He would still need physical therapy to get back into top shape, but he was enthusiastic to be back. However, he was no longer Gundark three. He was now Loth-wolf three. Sergeant Jon Ferma was allowed to change the nickname for the squad, and all were happy about the change. Five privates fresh out of basic training came to the squad. Each of them was given a sponsor from within the squad to help acclimate to active duty life. They were then paired up with each other as battle buddies, except one Togrutan was given to Specialist Bush. Through training together, the Loth-wolf scout squad became a well-oiled machine. Camp Al Republica became Fort Al Republica, with a village that became a town to support it. Al Saltu became a successful defense point for the Republic in the outer rim. It was not all work and no play for Loth-wolf squad. Ten days after the battle of Al Saltu, they were given a fifteen-day block leave to relax and enjoy themselves. * * * Sitting in a restaurant overlooking the vast ocean of Mon Cala, Jon Ferma enjoyed the view of the water with the puffy clouds in the daylight sky. His forest green sweater kept him warm and dry from the Mon Cala weather. The brown trousers, with matching belt and boots, did the same. A large animal jumped out of the water in the distance. He hoped his order of mollusk soup with broiled krakana was the right choice. Although he enjoyed the view of Mon Cala from outside the window, he enjoyed the view from across the table even more. There sitting across the table from him, in a maroon dress with gold jewelry, was a Pantoran medic, just recently promoted to first lieutenant. “So, Rosie, what type of music do you like to listen to?”

Chapter 12 The Call

Chapter 11 part 2 Time at Alpha Templi

Chapter 11 Part 1 Time at Alpha Templi

Chapter 10 Arriving at Templi

Chapter 9 The Trip to Templi

Chapter 7 The Hospital Then the Plaza

Chapter 6 An Interesting Day on Coruscant

Chapter 5 Coming Home