Star Wars logs

[dakota]

As Karen collapsed, Raljar felt everything. The freezing shock of the blast, the blanket of darkness that came down over her like a leaden weight, and he stumbled back as the skin of his abdomen bruised and split at the exact point she had been shot.

It saved his life. Hoskel's Stortroopers opened fire, and the bolts winked through the air where he had been standing. Sirea double-tapped, both troopers collapsing with a clatter of armour as her shots nailed home, but she herself fell with a badly scorched shoulder.

That left Hoskels.

Raljar surfaced from the linked agony only to experience the concussion of a rifle butt to the side of his head. He fell half-stunned, gritting his teeth as he eyes swam with tears and his head with pain.

"You worthless alien." Hoskels hissed as he circled Raljar, the Cathar trying to stand on legs that felt like jelly. "You remember me, don't you, Cathar? Oh yes." He drove the rifle butt home again with savagery, and Raljar collapsed again, utterly winded.

"You marked me, you xeno bastard. Me!" Hoskels took the moment to put the boot in, Raljar feeling his conciousness fading as he lost the ability to breathe. Carney watched Raljar writhe, winded and concussed. "You should have died with the rest of the idealistic fools."

He walked towards Karena then, smirking down at her form. "A pity she chose the wrong side, really. She should have known better." His smile twisted, darkness falling over his eyes. "She should have. But she chose the fool's path."

"And now...she pays." He turned and cocked his blaster. "But luckily for you, Raljar, you won't have to see her broken." He knelt then, and patted the wheezing Cathar on the shoulder almost affectionately. His face, though, was malice distilled to its essence. "A pity, really. You deserve it. You really do."

His face twisted then, and he gripped the Cathar's throat savagely. Dragging Raljar's ear to his lips, he hissed, "She should have been mine, you xeno filth!"

Raljar could barely hear Carney over the heartbeat pounding in his ears. His hatred for the killer threatened to choke him completely, and it rushed into his blood through the haze of concussion. He felt a terrible oppressiveness draw tight around him, dark and heavy and oh, so powerful. Hoskel's face loomed huge in his vision, and he didn't think. He focused his rage and hatred on the Imperial traitor, focussed with a murderous intent the oppression exulted in and drank deep from.

"Now, Raljar, you die." Said Hoskels lightly, companionably, as he ground the blaster barrel into Raljar's chin.

The blow that struck him shook the whole annex. Raljar screamed with rage as he lashed out with his hatred, the boiling emotion translated full-force into an invisible physical blow so strong that it catapulted Hoskels down the corridor, crushing his blaster into a paperweight and warping the walls with an erupting screech of tearing metal. The telekinetic wave exploded down the narrow walkway, blowing out every lightstrip down its length and hurling rubble aside like confetti.

Hoskels coughed and twitched, numb incomprehension in his eyes as he stared at the mangled remains of his blaster. Down the corridor, Raljar rose to his feet. Vitality rushed through his body with every beat of his pounding heart, and black rage boiled at the edges of his mind as he rose. Never had he felt such strength, such utter implacable power. It suffused his body, feeding off his rage and his hatred and channeling it back to him in a terrible cycle. Faced at last with the sum of all his pain and suffering, his nightmares and fears and desire for revenge, Raljar opened his heart and drank deeply of its dark energy.

From beneath shadowed, burning eyes, the Cathar stared at Carney Hoskels as the man tried to stand. His purpose narrowed, and all thoughts in his mind bent towards fulfilling a single, terrible desire. A desire that felt right. Felt good. All thought of his sister and his lover fled.

Hoskels looked up blearily, his breath catching in his throat at a sudden upwelling of nameless dread at the sight of Raljar. The Cathar clenched his fist, every sinew and tendon popping as he examined at it like he had never seen it before.

Then, with a glance so hate filled and contemptuous it chilled the blood in Hoskel's veins, Raljar began to advance.

"[Raljar! What have you done ?]" Siraea snarled against the pain of her wound and shock of the savagery of Raljar's attack. The horror in her eyes mixed with contempt as she dragged herself towards Karena's fallen form.

Hoskels started to backpedal until his back pressed against a wall, his face filled with terror. He slid to a seated position in what looked like defeated position until it was realized too late. A viscious looking weapon had appeared in Carney's hand, a snub nosed disruptor pistol. Carney made a throat clearing chuckle," You may kill me, but I've been studying you, beast. I know your weakness." He leveled the illegal weapon at Kar , Siraea at her side. " This blaster has a dead man's trigger. Go ahead monster, rip me to shreds in a rage, and when I take evrything you hold dear with me to the grave, you'll go mad with grief and die alone. Either way, the Inquisitor will be disappointed I didn't retreive his prize, but there will be others."

Siraea called after her brother. " [Raljar, let him go. Karena needs medical attention now. Her pulse is weak and she is barely breathing.]" she waited a moment before adding with a growl,"[ Help me, or you're no better than Father.]"

Carney waivered the pistol a bit as he started to inch away, a slight smirk on his face," You're choice, Cathar."

The words reached Raljar distantly, the red tunnel closing around his intended prey. The dark blanket of power muffled sounds, made them meaningless and inimportant. Yet, as his sister spoke, part of Raljar subsumed beneath the red haze of rage tried to make sense of what it was seeing.

Hoskels. The worm waving a pistol. His sister shouting. His victim should have already been dead at his feet, but somehow, it wasn't happening...

At the mention of his father, one side of Raljar ascended as the other raged at the image of his hated sire, creating for a moment a literally split personality.

"WHAT did you say?!" Raljar spun, his hunched form so terribly primal that Siraea's words dried in her throat. What was standing there for a moment wasn't her brother.

The sight of his two loved ones seemed to have a sanity-preserving effect on the Cathar. The parasitic Dark Side energy melted from his mind leaving behind only gaping emptiness and a sense of profound violation; and for a moment he stood frozen, jaw working like a beached Mon Cal lungfish.

He glanced down at his hands, then remembered where he was. His head snapped around-

Hoskels smiled.

"You trusting fool." He said, affably.

The last thing Raljar saw was the flash of the disruptor. Siraea screamed as her brother dropped to the deck, Hoskels scrambling and stumbling for the corridor as she fired after him. The shot went wide, and Hoskels was gone.

Raljar's body twitched, smoke drifting from his badly-burned mane. Before everything went dark, he heard his own heartbeat and Siraea calling his name.

[dakota]

A steady humming ausaulted Karena's ears as she slowly came back to conscousness. She squinted her eyes open against a bright white ceiling as a familiar voice spoke to her, " Welcome back, Luietenant. We almost lost you, again."

She sat up slightly as her eyes adjusted, much to the discouragement from an MD droid and looked at Tycho standing there, Vaig a few steps beyond him. " Commander? how did I end up here?"

" Your lucky you and your wingman ended up anywheres. Vaig filled me in best he could with Raljar's sister's help. Seems that point blank stun blast you took scrambled your nervous system and caused your body to shut down." Celchu explained, shaking his head. " You must have more lives than a cat Kar, the med techs can't figure out why it didn't kill you.

Vaig saw the look on Karena's face. " Don't worry, he's okay too. Ralj needed a bacta dip to patch him up." He smirked, knowing Ralj was within earshot. " did you know Cathar smell like a wet dog when they come out of a bacta tank?"

Tycho shook his head and then patted Kar's foot. " Rest up, I need both you and your partner flight ready as soon as possible. I'll get a full report later, right now I'm nearly late for an important assembly aboard Home One." He turned beckoning Vaig to follow.

Vaig nodded and started to follow Celchu out, " I'll check in later before I head out."

Stiffly, Kar nodded to both before sitting up to look around despite the twittered protests of a FX droid that had rolled up to check her bio scan. She waved off the droid. " Ralj?"

"Hey." The soft rumble of Raljar's voice came from the next cot over. He was lying with a thin covering pulled up around his waist as a medtech checked his readouts. He smiled at her. "Good to see you're awake."

There was a slashing line of pale, downy fur along the line of his cheekbone, thin and straight. As her eyes drifted to it, he grinned gently. "Disruptor blast. Vaporized it to the bone. Corrective surgery's the only way it'll ever grow back fully."

He lay back, muttering as the medtech spoke briefly and left. Ne nodded, and rolled his head back at her. "You know you gave us quite a scare, right?" He smiled tightly. "Siraea kept you alive after I..." His cheek twitched, and he cut it short. "Well, after I was useless."

"I did, brother of mine." Siraea looked around the room partition, her eyes twinkling warmly. She was dressed in a crisp jumpsuit and boots, and a utility belt and blaster rode her hips. She looked a damn sight better than when Karena had last seen her, clean and well-groomed. Raljar growled softly and rolled his eyes, and Siraea shook her head.

"Males." It said it all, and she rested her hand on her brother's shoulder as they shared a sibling moment. They looked so alike it could have been a picture, and even though his male pride showed its disdain at having to display positive emotions, Karena noted how her partner still rested his hand atop his sister's.

"How are you feeling, Karena?" Siraea said quietly after a moment, as they both looked at her.

" I'm okay I guess. " Kar replied, sitting up despite a slight tenderness around thewhere the muzzle of the blaster had been jabbed in her stomach. She noted how brother and sister wereholding hands, but mentally wrote it off as nothing more than reconnecting after their seperation. " Other than I feel like an idiot for letting Hoskels get the drop on me. I should have seen that ambush coming."

She swung her legs over the edge of the cot and started to reach for the personal locker as the medtech droid warbled a warning to stay in bed. she glared at it and let her annoyance out at the droid. " Shut up, or I'll disassemble you with a laser scapel."

As she opened the locker an pulled out her clothes, she looked at the cathars," So I guess this means I owe you my life, Siraea." She paused and smirked," I'm not gonna follow you around mindlessly like a wookie though."

"I wouldn't expect it. If you don't mind, I think we should...talk." She glanced at Raljar. "Do you think you can be trusted to be left alone?"

Raljar smiled, and gestured with a hand. "I'll be out as soon as they've checked the anoxia damage."

"Yes. A certain male kit has not been taking his drugs in his pursuit of family, has he?" Siraea said seriously.

"I'll be fine, sisari. I'll link up with you both soon." Raljar lay back, wincing.

Siraea waited for Karena to collect her things, before leaving the medical bay with her. They walked in silence for a time, past technicians working on exposed cabling and guards going about their duties. The familiar thrum of an Alliance spacecraft was an immensly comforting presence around Karena; the military efficiency and sense of purpose in stark contrast to the grimy, polluted chaos of Taris.

"It was Vaig, you know." Siraea spoke as they reached the turbolifts. By the looks of the interior, they were aboard a Zebulon-B medical frigate. "He was the one who arrived in time to rescue you both. I...thought I had lost everything again. Leave it to...Human flamboyancy to bring hope."

The turbolift hummed quietly as they descended decks. "Vaig has told me about you and my brother. About the details of your...relationship." Siraea smiled, though she didn't look Karena in the eye. "I...it is not easy, you understand; for a Cathar to apologize. We do not forgive easily...and we have long memories."

She sighed as they watched the decks flash past. "Yet, I have realized that it was never your fault. I confused you with Mendez, and that is a fault I must face. I know my brother, Karena, I know him well. Since our mother died, he has been a proud male; never one to...link, to react to others well. To form relationships. I found it hard to believe at first what Vaig told me." She chuckled. "My brother, bonding? Impossible. With a Human, I could not believe. But..."

She sighed. "I ramble. I love my brother, Karena. He is all the family I have left. If he is to take you for his life partner, it is not my place to say otherwise. I have seen what you will do for each other with my own two eyes."

Karena felt a twinge of a memory not her own, then. A dark power feeding her mate's fear and anger, drawing away from her to him.

She reached out to rest a hand on Karena's shoulder, looking her in the eyes; and Karena saw shame there, and emotional turmoil. "Linked as we are by my brother, you and I will be sisters. I do not wish to leave bad blood behind me; my brother and you are my only family now. I am sorry, Karena Therez; I fear I cannot repay the blood-debt I owe you for my freedom. For everything I have done...said. Can you forgive me?"

Karena used the silence to prime herself for another sparring match as they walked, but as Siraea explained and apoligized, it drained from her quickly. She was first about to speak when the chill of raw power ran down her spine. It took her a moment to realize it was not her own as it coursed through her body, and her head turned back the way they'd come. Only the touch of Siraea's hand on her shoulder brought Kar's mind back to the turbolift they rode.

" Of course I can forgive you, [sisari]." She replied, reaching up to place her own hand atop the one placed on her shoulder. she knew her pronounciation of the few Cathese words she knew was poor, but the look it usually produced was worth it. " There is no blood debt owed. If not for you getting ahold of Vaig, Ralj and I would both be dead or worse. Why Carney would waste time stuning me is what concerns me, unless it has something to do with the bounty Vaig told me someone put out there." she shrugged," Maybe the dikut wants to work on the side a bit. Who cares for now I guess."

As the lift stopped, Kar looked at Siraea." Vaig has a big mouth, but he means well. He's right about Ralj and me though. We haven't formally bonded yet, but he's taken me as his [partner]. Don't expect either of us to explain why or how, because I'm not sure either of us know. It just happened after all the time together. And I understand why you didn't trust me at first, but that's dust in the thrusters now. I never took offense." She smirked," well, not much anyways."

The smirk faded to a more serious look. " Sir, what happened after I was incapacitated? I guess it's these , "she covered her mouth to muffle the word 'force'," powers that seem to be waking up inside me, but I felt something from Raljar as we left the medbay. If I knew better, I'd say something almost... dark."

Siraea opened her mouth to replay, and paused noticeably. After a few moment, she looked aside, saddened and worried. "You are perceptive, Karena. Just like Vaig said you were."

She tapped her claws on her holster as the descended, her eyes narrowing at the memory. "Something happened to my brother when he confronted that Hoskels figure. Something dreadful. I saw his eyes, his intent. I have never seen anything like that before. He was a beast, a cruel and terrible beast. Our Ancestors only know what pulled him back from whatever...thing had possessed him."

She rubbed lips suddenly dry, her eyes on the decking as she remembered. "He would have killed Hoskels, then and there, with tooth and claw like an animal. It was like every shadow there clung to him; warped him, twisted him to my eyes. Some awful power. The sight of him terrified me."

She looked up and clenched her fist, popping the tendons of her hand absently. "It was only for a bare few moments, but Ancestors it was terrifying. It was...hateful." She purposely did not mention the damage to the corridor, but Karena could feel an impression of it; so powerful were the memories.

"I never want to see that again." She looked at Karena. "What happened to my brother, Karena? I...I do not know."

***

Back in the medical bay, Raljar looked up from the datapad he was perusing. He had felt...different, since Taris. Tenser. A sense of dark intent lingered in his mind, an unpleasant sensation he nevertheless found it hard to ignore completely. A sense of power. He put it down to letting Hoskels slip through his fingers, though he was still a little hazy on the details.

"Probably brain damage." He muttered, perusing the reader. The darkness retreated as he relaxed, the horrors of Taris fading like a bad dream on waking to be replaced with a sense of hope, of accomplishment, of purpose, and the gentle contemplation of his mate now they were out of danger. But though he might forget it, the Dark Side would not yet forget him. It coiled like a metaphysical serpent, invisible, mindless...watching.

*****
Karena felt herself tense. She could share her somehow share her ability enough that Raljar could hear her thoughts, could she also infect him with her delving into the dark side? she tried to force herself to relax, " I'm not sure, Siraea. Prehaps his emotions just overcame him when I collapsed. Hoskels has been the bane of both of our existance since we both met. He's responsible for the destruction of both the Krayt gang Ralj had joined and an entire alliance fleet. He's used me for years to hide that he was a double agent for the empire. Both of us would kill him in an instant if given a chance, just as you would with Mendez. Ralj got his chance first."

Karena swallowed. " I can't promise you that he won't lose control like that again. For that matter, I'm not sure I'm any better, in fact I'm probably worse." she made sure no one else could hear. " The dark side of the force has flowed in my family, and I touched it back on Taris. Or rather it consumed me in a way I can't describe. I need to talk to him, but if he's touched it as well, then I'm also afraid." she admitted. " I wanted to talk to Commander Skywalker, but I'll have to wait until we sort things out for ourselves."

She placed a hand on Siraea's shoulder. " I can promise you this though. No matter what happens, we'll get passed this. Both of us are too kriffing headstrong to let something like the force stand in our way, light or dark. We are [family] no, nothing comes between that." After a moment, she raised an eyebrow at sir," speaking of family, just what did my brother in law have to say on the trip from Taris while the two us were out of it?"

*****


" So what you are saying is that you let your personal vedetta cloud your judgement." Inquisitor Tosk grinned evilly at Carney Hoskels as he sat staring at the Intelligence Agent. " You were ordered to bring Therez and her cathar companion to me. instead, you admit you failed after attempting to kill the Cathar after incapacitating the woman.And were severely injured in the process I might add."

Carney stood at attention, his eyes averting the Inquisitors. " Yes sir, I admit it. My lord, I..."

" I am not your lord." Tosk corrected sternly.

" My apoligies, Inquisitor, I meant no offense." Hoskels apoligied. " There was no warning that the beast was a force user until hit me with some sort of blast when he lost his temper. If the other had not distracted him, I would not have escaped.

Tosk drummed his fingers against his chin. " Are you certain it came from the Cathar and not Therez?"

" Positive."

" Very interesting. I had not forseen this." The inquisitor stood and walked to his window, overlooking the hidden Imperial shipyards of Xarbareth.

" Is it possible?" Grand Admiral Hoursk broke his silence near the door.

Tosk thought for a moment before nodding. " It is not unheard offor the force to draw individuals together. That might explain these two." He turned to face Hoursk. " Now I definitely want the pair of them captured. Have you had any problems explaining to your captains why we have ignored the fleet summons to assemble outside the Sactuary moon's system?"

Hoursk shrugged. " a few, but I informed them that the Emperor himself sent this fleet our here with a purpose. I also reminded them that I outrank Fleet Admiral Piett and under no obligation to respond to his summons. I also told them that our mission is important to the Empire, otherwise we would not have such a formidible fleet out here in Wild Space. What shall we do with Hoskels?"

Tosk chuckled, " I beleive all the medical treatment he required was punishment enough."

Hoursk nodded," Agreed. You are dismissed Major."

Carney saluted and left the room, doing his best to hide his burning desire for vengence.

*********

[dakota]

Siraea smiled, raising a silvery eyebrow in the arch feline way her brother did. "He did not go into details, only to say that you were mindlessly besotted with one another...and that your love was as sincere as anything he had ever seen."

The lift stopped, and they disembarked on the hangar deck. "He's a strange one Vaig, no? Old and wise, but with the energy and humor of a man half his age. I can only hope that I am so fortunate." They passed technicians, pilots, and space crew. "He has offered to let me stay with his family until I can find my way again." She looked to the starry expanse of the void beyond the docking fields they passed. "It is an offer I may well take him up on, I think."

They approached the shuttle dock. "Vaig wishes to meet with you and Raljar before he...and possibly I as well...leave." She smiled. "It would be good for all of us, I think. A severing of lingering threads before the unknown future may commence."

Karena's commlink bleeped for attention then, and a familiar voice crackled:

"<Karena, it's Raljar. I'll meet you back at our quarters soon; the medtechs have given me the all-clear.>" A pause for an off-commlink curse. "<...droids. [Soon-we-meet], [Partner].>" The comm clicked off, and Siraea shook her head slightly.

"I still have trouble believing it." She appraised Karena openly, and tapped her cheek. "Is it true what my brother told Vaig? That Cathar and Humans are sometimes capable of interbreeding?"

She saw the expression on Karena's face, and held up a hand. "I do not mean to intrude, it is simply...unexpected. Vaig tells me that he and my brother talked for a time on the subject. I understand if you do not wish to talk about such things, we Cathar understand and value privacy on such matters also."

She cocked her head, regarding Karena curiously.

Karena shrugged. " Your brother beleives it, and claims a member of your mother's clan did so, so I'll at least humour him. " She smirked. " I'm not ready for a family anyways so we won't take any chances. I think you'd be happy staying with Vaig, and his son Kammie is a real sweetheart. Trust me, you'll be welcome there at least long enough to decide what you want to do. And he's not as old as he looks."

She glanced at the commlink, trying not to show her eagerness. When Siraea chuckled and shook her head. " Go, I can find my way back to my quarters."

Karena smiled warmly and hugged Siraea. " Thanks, I'll see you later, [sisari]."

It took her longer than she wanted to get to their assigned quarters, and she wasn't surprised the lights were lower than standard levels. Despite the urges she could hardly contain to throw herself at Raljar, she let the door slip shut behind her. She dropped her blaster belt and flight jacket onto a chair and stood there with her arms folded. " You know I've got half a mind to crawl into bed and fall asleep on you. I do owe you that you realize." She couldn't hold back a giggle as she locked the door.
Raljar was fresh from the fresher, a thin wrap around his waist. He caught Karena into an embrace as she giggled, chuckling deeply himself as they kissed.

"It's been far too long." He raised her chin with his fingers, his smile showing a faint glint of sharp teeth. "You get more beautiful every time I see you, you [temptress]. Your eyes are shining. Did something good happen on the way here? Or were you anticipating my invigorating company?"

He sobered a little. "Before you begin, I owe you, darling." He kissed her deeply, his fingers twining with hers. As they broke apart, he continued. "You saved everything I had left, spilled your own blood to save mine. I can't repay a debt like that, Kar, not with all the credits on Coruscant. To you and your family, I owe more than my own life. Amongst Cathar, blood bears the benefit. You and yours, Kar. You have only to say the word."

He nuzzled at the hollow of her neck, enjoying the ticklish reaction it engendered as he rubbed her shoulders. "Now, before I must force myself to perform my shameful duties..." He chuckled with her, hunching down to Karenas height and embracing her close. "Tell me the good news."

***

Aboard the Mon Calamari Cruiser HOME-ONE, 21.00 Coruscant Standard Time.

Tycho looked up sideways from the console to Captain Antilles, his face incredulous. "So it's true."

Wedge nodded. "The fleets begin mobilization at zero hour Standard. Within days the assembly will be complete."

Tycho raised an eyebrow and cocked his head, eyeing the console. "I never thought they'd actually do it."

Antilles patted his shoulder, flashing the brief smile of a professional. "Enjoy the peace whilst it lasts. We'll have our work cut out for us now."

About them, the activity of the bridge continued unabated.

*****

" You owe me all right." Kar smirked devilishly as he hand slid beneath Raljar's towel. " and if you think it's so shameful, I'm sure I can find someone else to preform them for you and save some embarassment."

She released her grip and wrapped her arms over his shoulders. " Good news, you mean besides we both cheated death several times and your sister has accepted your choice of [partner]? " Can kissed his forehead. " Can't think of any other than we're still both on the unactive list until Tycho tells us different."

Her eyes got a serious glint to them. " Now, are you just to just stand there or what? It's been too kriffing long. We can talk later." The devillish glint returned.

Karena lay quietly next to Raljar, using his arm to keep her warm as she snuggled tight against him. Time seemed to stand still in these rare moments they had together, and she cherished every second. She lay there looking at ceiling, not wanting to have to relive her latest vision for fear that Ralj would somehow pick it up. His uncanny ability to read her was sure to pick up how much it disturbed her, yet she accepted what was to be her fate.

She rolled over, using his other arm as a pillow as she cuddled in, listening to the rhythmic purr of the Cathar's breathing in her ear. She found it relaxing and was about to doze off when the chime of the room's commlink chimed. Slipping out from under Ralj's grasp, Kar wrapped herself in the sheet they weren't using and slid to the edge of the bed. She sighed as she saw it was Tycho and answered." Hello Commander. what can I do for you?"

" Sorry Luietenant, I thought I had called Raljar's quarters first." Tycho said after a slight pause awkwardly.

Kar leaned to the side so Celchu could see Ralj behind her on the bed. She smirked slightly. " You did."

Tycho scowled. " You two could at least try to be discreet." He cleared his throat. " I've got good news and bad news. Good news is both of you are cleared for flight duty."

A nervous pang tugged at Kar when he paused. " What's the bad news?"

" I need the two of you to shuttle over to Home One. We have a briefing in 45 minutes. "

Kar nodded. " We'll be there." She replied as Tycho broke the connection. She resisted the temptation to crawl back onto the bed a threw the sheet at Ralj playfully. " Rise and shine furball. the Alliance needs us to come to the rescue again."

Reaching for her clothes, she began to dress, her light mood slipping as an unavoidable subject finally came up. " Ralj, what happened on Taris while I was stunned? Siraea was frightened and wanted me to talk to you."
***

Their previous night had been intense, exhausting...and memorable.

Given the time they had spent without each other, the constant danger and emotional stress of the job, and the inconvenience of having to fight for their lives in the course of their duties, it was understandable that both of them, Raljar in particular, were willing to throw inhibitions and consideration for such things as noise and decorum out the airlock that night. The bulkheads were fortunately very thick.

It was a night of shared pleasures and the release of weeks of pent up tension and fear. Raljar seemed more passionate than ever, his devotion to Karena's wants and desires mingling strongly with a distinct lack of interspecies modesty, a thing already withering between them. He was not afraid to test barriers that night, breaking the last lingering taboos and restrictions between them; her Cathar lover was alternately passionate and forceful, submissive and servile, and there was little middle ground for Karena to catch her breath. They indulged in a deep and extremely enjoyable exploration of the similarities and differences between Human and Cathar lovemaking, and impulsive ways to mix the two into exciting and exotic new forms of sexual play.

During their coupling, Karena felt something link with her subconcious. It was almost like she could feel what Raljar was feeling as they mated, and it felt like the clicking of a puzzle piece into place. Raljar had stared dumbfounded into her eyes at the precise moment, put off his rhythm and stroke, but it was washed away as another wave of intense pleasure inspired the two lovers to forgo concious thought for a while longer.

When at last they had collapsed, satiated, into each others arms, Raljar had brushed the sweat-slicked hair back from Karena's face and smiled. They were exhausted and dishevelled, yet the energy that hung about them both was almost tangible as they lay together in their shared afterglow. Their cabin looked like proton torpedo had struck it; as far as both were concerned, it might as well have done.

"[We do go well together, darling. You had a word for this, that we never shared.]" He had murmured, licking the sweat from her brow tenderly, cradling her close as he glided his razor-sharp nails over her sweat-sheened skin in a way that he knew drove her wild. Grinning at her reaction, he had pressed his cheek to hers. He hadn't spoken a single word of Basic all that night, coaxing Catharese words from her between gasps and soft moans. Their shared language, together, not the crude and universal Basic. The plateau they occupied they had never reached before, and the lingering sensation of their minds touching, the jolt that Karena had felt, lingered in a way that was profoundly intimate.

"[Happy honeymoon, Partner.]"

*****

Raljar inhaled and yawned hugely, patting the bedclothes dramatically."I'm awake." *hrr* "I'm awake. Curse it, my [pillow] has gone. It follows to the call of the Alliance, and this poor pilot must don flight suit and follow, ah?" He grinned and stretched, arching his back and cracking every muscle as he reached for his own uniform hanging ready nearby.

As Karena pulled on her pants and boots she felt Raljar's strong arms around her, enfolding her as he ran his tongue affectionately over her neck and shoulder. At her words though, he stiffened noticeably. Karena could feel the tension in his body through her own uniform jacket, and the soft rumble rising from her mates chest ceased as though switched off.

A few silent second passed, the only sound the rumble of the ship's life support systems, before Raljar spoke quietly, darkly. "Frightened? I...I don't..."

He broke off with an exhalation, and he glanced away, his hands falling from her shoulders. "We...we should talk about it later, Kar. Not now, we have a shuttle to catch." His voice carried a shadow of dark recollection as he grabbed his blaster belt from the dresser and buckled it on. His mouth was set in a grim line and his eyes glittering as he snapped the mag-buckle into place. Glancing at her, he smiled, but it was forced. "Later, Kar. It can wait for now, okay?"


" No Ralj, we need to talk about this now." Karena could read Raljar well enough to know he was trying to hide something from her. Her tone was tender and reassuring as she sat on the edge of the bed. " We have plenty of time to shuttle over to the rest of the squadron. Not keeping things from each other was your idea, remember?" She kept her best sabacc face as a pang of guilt twinged in her stomach. She wanted to tell him about her last vision, but couldn't for fear he'd try to stop it. " siraea wouldn't have told me if she thought it was nothing to worry about, [partner]. Now what happened?"

Ralj paused, hands on his gunbelt as the blurred memories swam back ino the fore. After a long pause, his eyes narrowed.

"I wanted to kill him."

Crawling, fleeing, echoing in vision blurred by blood and hate.

Raljar glanced down at his hands, the shadows of the room gathering darkly in his grasp. His voice was quiet, slow; as if he were recalling facts from memory that were blurred or distorted. "I remembered his face, and his voice. I remembered what he had done, and I remember..."

Metal tearing, crushing under weight of boiling red-

His face screwed up as darkness came back to the edges of his vision. Terrific power. All there, do with what he wished. Karena felt it; a looming brooding hanging over her mate then, like a cloak about his shoulders.

He closed his hands.

"...nothing."

He looked over his shoulder at her, and smirked. "Guess I went a little crazy. Maybe Sir's not used to that side of us anymore." He turned, and knelt in front of Karena, resting his hands on her thighs. "You know what he did to us, and not just us. You know that kiltik deserves nothing but death for what he's done. I..." He glanced away, feeling uncomfortable for a reason he didn't understand. "I just might have let that go to my head."

He smiled up at her, and there he was; Raljar, the man Karena had known for years. "Hey, don't worry about it. I won't let whatever it was happen again, ah?" He reached up a hand and cupped Karena's cheek, rubbing his thumb softly over her eyebrow. "I wouldn't-"

The chrono bleeped then.

"Urgh." He made a disgusted noise, and shot a foul glance at the offending instrument. "Come on, the faster we get there the faster we can get something to eat. I don't know about you, but after last night? I'm starving."

He grinned and patted her knee, pulling her to her feet. "Come on. Duty calls."

Letting his explaination sink in, Karena nodded as she rose to her feet. " Okay, let's get going then. I could use come caf." She smirked," That's no excuse, you're always hungry." She replied and gave him a peck on the cheek before opening the door.

as they passed through the corridors towards the hangar bay, she finally said. I.. I was worried that somehow our bond had let some of my...," she paused as a crewman passed them," my newfound talents were somehow sharing acrossed the bond. I got a hint of something..." pausing again to pass more crewman, " dark when I first woke up in the med bay but it quickly faded. Maybe I should talk to Commander Skywalker once whatever Tycho needs us for is over. After all the stories about him that floated around Echo Base, he might be able to help me."

[dakota]

Raljar glanced at her as they jogged. "You're serious? Kar, don't go getting involved with Commander Skywalker. Besides, word is he's part of some Into-Ops junket High Command's been cooking up. No-one's seen him for weeks."

They slipped past gleaming droids and showering sparks, stopping at a cafeteria to grab some hot caf and trays of what vaguely resembled food. Raljar muttered about "survival pack specials" whilst he prodded at the varicoloured sticks and blocks of everything a sentient needed to survive, except taste and palatability.

Within 30 standard minutes, a shuttle made its way to Home One. Aboard were the pair of them, their fellow pilots, and miscellaneous personnel of various species. As always, though, Humans were the overwhelming majority.

In the gem-gleaming darkness of the transport bay, Raljar leaned to a black-haired, skinny pilot sitting to their left and muttered "Any idea what this is all about?"

The pilot smiled tightly. "Word is, it's something big. The fleet's mustering support elements I haven't seen before. A few of the old Gallofree's arrived in-system from Kuyper an hour ago, rumour has it those things haven't been used since Hoth."

The murmur of conversation swirled around them as Raljar leaned back. "Something big, ah?"

The shuttle swooped down towards the gaping mouths of Home One's docking bays.

" Haven't you looked outside?" Kar asked, " Just about every ship in the fleet is out thereby the looks of things. " She'd already seen where they were going in her nightmares, she just didn't know where the little green moon was. She wanted to rest her head against Raljar's shoulder, bu tknew that they couldn't be that open about their relationship yet and sighed while leaning back to look at the ceiling. " Ralj," she said lowly, " you never answered me when I asked you to promise to stay on Tycho's wing no matter what happens ." She turned her head just enough to look at him, but was interupptted by the pilot over the intercomm, " Sorry folks, we're in a holding pattern until they can clear enough hangar space for us."

She turned to look her partner in the eyes," This is one of those times you have to trust my ...... intuition." She fumbled with her words, nearly blurting out about her newly surfaced abilities. She placed her hand on his and gave him that familiar Corellian 'trust me' look. " Promise me you will."

The shuttle began to move towards the Mon Cal Cruiser's hangar once again.
" You know what, forget it. I know you'll do the right thing when the time comes." Kar squeezed Ralj's hand as the shuttle started into the hangar again. It was plugged beyond capacity already with every manner of starship the Alliance had. It set down between a pair of y-Wings and a battered x-Wing. As they disembarked, several of their squadmates were waiting for them. Obviously they were all glad to see the pair had returned in one piece. there were some faces missing, and a trio stood back like wall flowers, obviously replacement pilots. Nine broke up the mini celebration. " Commander Celchu is waiting to brief us as soon as you got here. He's waiting for us now."

" Let him wait." Kar said with a smirk, motioning to the newbies, but sounding guilty. " I take it things haven't gone so well?"

Seven nodded," We got ambushed on an escort run. We held them off long enough for the frigate to jump, but the TIE's had us outnumbered three to one."
Raljar nodded smobrely. Of the absent pilots, Three was most sorely apparent. The old fighter jock had been a fixture in the squadron since their arrival; his absence was apparent and cold.

Seven noticed them noticing, and nodded slightly, biting at his lip. "Yeah. He held them off long enough for us to jump. We waited for him. He...didn't make it."

Raljar remembered something about the "fate of the weak" from old Rodian philosophy, and pushed the unbidden and distasteful thought away in disgust. Where it had come from, he had no idea. "Sorry."

Seven smiled slightly. "No need to be. We-" The tannoy announced the call to briefing then, and he broke off. "That's it. Let's hustle."

As the squadron filed out, Raljar gripped Karena's shoulder. "Come on."
Once all were present, Commander Celchu slid from his seat on the desk, looking like he had a weight weighing on him. As he did, the deckplates shuddered slightly as the ship slipped into hyperspace. "First , I want to welcome home Therez and Raljar. From what I'm told, we had a much easier go of it than they did so take it easy on them, folks. They'll fill you in when they're ready to." A few of the other pilots gave them a peculiar look, but no one interrupted.

" Now for the real reason we're here." tycho cleared his throat. " command is throwing all of it's resources into this one. The imperials have started construction on another Death Star and it has to be destroyed. Our job is to be a screen for the B and Y-wings right now, but I expect that to change. As far as our intel shows, they don't have much for defenses in system and the station is not yet operational. A commando team is ahead of us to land on the moon it's in orbit around to knock out the defense shield defending it. Any questions?"

The others fired off the usual pre mission questions, but Karena sat quietly, something obviously eating at her.
As the murmur of comments and backtalk flowed around the briefing room, a pilot raised his hand. "What about anti-fighter ships?"

"We're expecting light corvette coverage..." A Celchu spoke, Raljar leaned across and murmured in Karena's ear, "Something wrong?" His amber eyes were focused on the holo-screen, but the tone of his voice told Karena that her mate was at least aware of her emotional disquiet.

The meeting continued around them as Karena answered lowly so only Ralj could hear," It won't be as easy as it sounds. I've had another one of my....... dreams." She turned enough to glance up at him. " Things are gonna get real hairy on this one, [partner]. I saw Star Destroyers closing in."

" Do you have something to add, Luietenant?" Tycho asked, looking annoyed about the side conversation during his briefing. The rest of the squad turned thier attention to ralj and Kar.

She shrugged and sat up. " I was just telling Raljar how I thought that it was pretty optimistic that command thinks we canamass a fleet like this without the Imps knowing something's up."

Tycho didn't look impressed by her optimistism. " Not our concern, that's what we have military intelligence for."

" There's an oxymoron if I ever heard one." She said with a scowl, and the other pilots broke into chuckles , much to Celchu's chagrin.

Celchu eyed the squadron with a scowl, and raised his chin. "Okay, Lieutenant, stow the attitude if you would? I know, I know." He looked around the room. "Intel is as reliable as the info it recieves; we can only hope they're accurate this time." He glanced at Karena as he re-ignited the laser pointer. "Anything else, Lieutenant Therez?"

Raljar rubbed his eyes. Karena had a suspicious feeling that he was hiding a smirk.

" No sir." Karena replied, holding in a smirk. She knew better than to disrupt the briefing any more.

" Good. Now for assignments." Tycho began, looking directly at Kar and Ralj. " Due to some new arrivals, I have to shuffle a few of you. Raljar, you'll be moving to Green 3 in first flight to give 4 a veteran wingman." He glared at Kar, as if expecting an arguement. " Therez, you'll be moving to Raljar's place in 12 and taking over third flight." She bristled, but only nodded as she set her hand on Ralj's where none of the others could see. Celchu finished off the rest of the assignments and then ordered mandatory simulator time for the squad.

Kar didn't move until all the others were out of the meeting room. " Tycho, what are you doing? No offense Ralj, " she glanced at him before continuing," but he's not a veteran yet."

" I beg to differ. His flight recorder from the Hoth evacuation confirmed six kills. That's more than he needed to be an Ace. That's more than every one else except you and me, Kar. And if I have to take green pilots into this, I need to pair my senior staff with the newbies."

Kar gave Raljar a bit of a look. She elbowed him with a smirk, " You could have told me." She turned her attention back to Celchu. " fine, if you think he's ready for this."

Tycho nodded. " I do. Now," he pulled out a sheet of flimsi," I'm glad the pair of you hung back. I want to know the real story about what happened to you two, and not the load of mopek you put in this report."

Karena rolled her eyes up to Raljar and swallowed.

Ralj had been drifting, Tycho's words running in circles around his head until Karena's pointed look jerked him back to reality.

"Huh? Sorry." The Cathar met Celchu's implacable gaze, and swallowed. "No mopek, sir?"

"No mopek, Lieutenant." Celchu raised an eyebrow as Ralja scratched behind an ear.

"Well, sir...it's like this..." Raljar launched into a candid report of the precise happenings on Taris, in as far as he could remember, supported by Karena's own recollections; both knew that trying to sandbag Celchu would only make things harder for the both of them. From the attack on Vaig's homeworld, to Taris, the trouble in the Undercity and Siraea's rescue, to the final Imperial attack on Yogga's palace, Raljar's recollections were broken from the battle on the overpass; to which he handed the story over to Karena. Karena noted, though, that Ralj left out any mention of Force influence, or Carney Hoskels in Yogga's Palace.

Celchu listened impassively, not speaking until the pair had finished their tale.

"That's the whole of it, sir." Ralj met Celchu's eyes, and swallowed. "My memory isn't perfect; but that's what I can recall. Lieutenant Therez can tell you more. Sir."

Celchu eyed the Cathar a moment, before turning his gaze back to Karena. "That's the whole of it, Therez?" Celchu's body language gave little away; whether he was understanding, impassive, or on the verge of court martialling both pilots, they couldn't really tell.

Kar shrugged and nodded, " Sounds pretty accurate to me." she replied. " Of course he left out all the naughty parts, since our relationship in none of the Alliance's concern other than it has no influence on our abilities as officers, sir."

Tycho rolled his eyes with a slight shake of his head," What am I going to do with you, Therez?"

" Demote me and send me home?" Though it sounded like a joke at first, there was slight hint of sincerity in her voice. " Tycho, I've got a bad feeling about this one."

" Don't we all." Celchu replied. " You've got a couple hours before preflight and squadron launch, so make the most of it but I suggest you spend some of it checking your fighters thoroughly. You know how I feel about ferried craft going into a fight."

" I remember." she replied, and then waited for the commander to leave. Once they were alone, Karena's hand rested on Raljar's knee and she spoke lowly. " He knows we left something out. He's too kriffing smart, but won't pry too hard with an op coming up."

Her resting hand turned to a playful smack as she stood up quickly. " So, how do we kill ...," sees paused a moment , then quickly corrected herself," how do we spend a couple of free hoursbefore the biggest battle the Alliance has ever initiated?"

[dakota]

Ralj tapped a few buttons on the seat-console. "We schedule a preflight check with the greasemonkeys down in maintenance..." He smirked, and glanced up at her. "Then we hit the fresher. If we're going to die, we die clean...and with a few good memories."
" Stop worrying, I'm gonna be fine." Kar snapped, far too quickly. She sighed, knowing far too well that she might as well tell Ralj everything before he started to prying into her, and slumped into her seat. she laide his head on her shoulder and began. " I had another one of those sithspit premonitions. This battle is gonna be alot harrier than anybody thinks. It's too blurry to give you details, but their's gonna be alot of Imps. Then I heard Tycho call you to take his wing just before I got clipped. I'll be okay as long as you stay with Tycho. " she didn't realize it, but Kar was pleading with Ralj to do what she was telling him.

" If you don't...," she gulped at the knot in her stomach, " just do it, okay?"
As Karena brushed past him, Raljar caught her arm. "Subtle" He smirked, but his expression was a little haunted. "Come on."

A few minutes later, he pulled them both into a fresher, smothering her protests with his lips. As they kissed, he fumbled with the magnetic seals of her uniform.

"A few good..." *mmsmack* "Memories." He paused, breath hot on her lips, and ran his fingers through her hair. Their eyes met and locked; and Karena saw love there, and fear; and something else. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Conflict?

"One last good time before the fireball." He nuzzled her neck deeply, hands running down to her belt. "Spend it with me, [partner]. And tell me again...what you need me to do."

At first Kar's heart wasn't in it, but she was soon caught up in the heat of the moment. Though he had asked her to talk, but all she could manage was the few phrases of Cathese he had taught her when she had the presense of mind to say anything at all. Gone was her trepidation about the upcoming mission, of her exchange with Commander Skywalker and his cryptic warning. The only thing she did manage to whisper in Ralj's ear was a Cathar phrase she had been secretly teaching herself for the right moment, [ I love you. ]

Far longer than they should taken, Karena felt drained yet re-energized as she pulled Raljar out of the fresher with a giggle, her fingers fumbling to fasten her uniform. Outside, a pair of corpsman passing by whispered to each other knowingly as they eyed the pair, but Kar didn't care. Catching her breath, for once she didn't wait until the corridor was clear, she kissed Raljar, " You always know whats best for me. I don't care if the whole fleet knows anymore." she took his hand in hers. " Besides, this will get Tycho a little more wound up. You can tell me what's bothering you on the way to the hangar."

[dakota]

The largest battlegroup ever assembled in the annals of the Rebellion's history. Zero-hour; the mustering of the fleet near Sullust is complete. Mere minutes remain before the jump into hyperspace.

The Millenium Falcon, combat flagship of the Rebel Fleet, weaves its way through the armada of capital ships. Strung out behind it are a hoard of fighters, following the refitted transports lead as the Fleet approaches the jump coordinates./i]

Lando keys his communications array, linking directly to HOME-1. "Admiral, we're in position. All fighters accounted for."

Ackbar swivels in his command chair. "Proceed with the countdown. All groups assume attack coordinates."

Raljar glances up to an overhead control panel and flips a few switches. To his two o' clock, Tycho Celchu's A-Wing is visible against the armada. The Cathar glances to the side, watching the gleaming hulk of HOME-1 pass by.

In the Millenium Falcon, Lando Calrisien's alien co-pilot Nien Nunb gabbles something in Sullustan. Lando grins confidently. "Don't worry, my friends are down there. They'll have that shield down on time."

Nunb grunts an alien comment.

Lando seems to acknowledge the comment with grim irony. "Or this'll be the shortest offensive of all time."

Ackbar signals the fleet. "All craft, prepare to jump into hyperspace on my mark."

"All right. Stand by." Calrisien pulls a lever, and the stars beyond the Millenium Flacon's cockpit begin to streak. As the Falcon leaps into hyperspace, the entire armada follows one after the other in a rapid-fire blur.

They're on their way.

As the Alliance fleet began to slip into hyperspace, Kar made on last quick comm call to third flight, with had been assigned to her," Remember folks, once we drop back into realspace, form up on the Y-Wings first. We're their screen. Let's not get left behind." She punched the controls and the A-Wing jumped into hyperspace.

As she reverted, Karena couldn't help but be amazed at the size of the Death Star as it hung in orbit over the moon of Endor. She checked her screen to see the other three Awings in her group had all jumped in. " " Three flight all accounted for."

Once acknowledged, she switched to a private channel. *" Ralj? Be careful, okay?"* Her voice was full of concern.

" Nine, this is Ten. You're on the wrong channel you know."

Kar scowled, realizing all of three flight had heard.

The fleet split, fighters peeling off and arcing away from the looming hulk of the battle station. As they raced across the arc of Endor below, scopes across the fleet lit up with warning signals.

Aboard home one, a frantic sensor operator shouted, "Admiral! We have enemy ships in sector three-seven!" The Admiral turned to the viewport, where beyond, terrible shapes materialized from the starfield beyond the Death Star.

"IT'S A TRAP!" Ackbar's shout crackled across the comms as the A-Wings of Green Squadron raced towards the distant, malevolent spearheads of a fleet of Star Destroyers and the waiting armada of Imperial fighters.

"Fighters, coming in!" Space lit up with the green tracers of TIE fighter cannons. Explosion shook their ships as the A-Wings peeled off, TIE fighters flashing past.

"There's too many of them!"

"Hold together!" Celchu barked over the comms. Raljar threw his A-Wing into a snap-roll, following Celchu's engines. His forward deflectors shook, his vision filled with brilliant emerald death.

An explosion rocked his A-Wing, as Green Three dissolved into a cloud of superheated gas.

"Accelerate to attack speed! Draw their fire away from the cruisers!" Calrisien's order cut across the comms.

"Copy, Gold Leader."

A fierce dogfight erupted in and around the giant Rebel cruisers as the Imperial and Alliance fleets engaged
Banking hard vertically and inverting, Green Nine and barreled headlong into the oncoming angry cloud of TIE's, green bursts of energy passing all around Karena's cockpit as the A-Wing's led the Alliance fighters into the fray. Her own lasers cycled rapidly as she fired without targeting at the ripest screen of targets she had ever seen, and didn't care if she hit anything as she accelerated. As she passed the first wave unscathed, she keyed her comm," Ten, tuck in and stay close.

A panicky reply from Ten, a man barely out of his teens Kar had just met before they launched she thought was named Huzant replied, " There's too mant of t..."

Ten had tucked too much, and as the TIE interceptor's quad blast had penetrated the A-Wing's shields, the resulting explosion jolted Kar's shields from behind and caused her to rock forward against her restraints as Green Ten's marker faded from her tactical display. She didn't have time to think about it as she dove headlong through the next oncoming wave, trading indisriminate laser bolts, but she managed to sputter a " Fierfek", as she began a hard roll to make herself a harder target even if it made her more than a little queasy.

As the blasts around ceased again, she stopped her roll, and after looking at nothing but a blockade of Imperial warships, she came around hard and headed back into the fray in search of a wingman.

" The force better be right, because right now my vision isn't to sithspawned believable," she sputtered as she began being a little more selective of her targets, using her speed to hunt the deadlier interceptors. even as she did, she had to fight the urge to reach out to Raljar, wherever he was out there.

Outside Tycho Celchu's cockpit, the batte raged as he led the remaining fighters of Green Group on a low-altitude sweeping run of one of the giant Rebel cruisers, space criss-crossed with laser fire.

"Green group, set course for Holding Sector MV-7." TIE's crossed his cockpit, evading Alliance gunfire. He reached up and flipped switches. "Engage jamming systems."

The sleek little fighters arced away from the Mon Calamari cruiser. Flight elements split off, pursuing straggling TIE Fighters between the deadly cannon fire from the cruiser point-defence batteries.

Raljar checked his scope, adjusting controls. "Green four, form up. Stick close, we're a way out of this yet."

"Copy green two." The three remaining fighters of Celchu's lead flight broke off in pursuit of TIE Interceptors that had managed to penetrate a cruiser's kill-zone. The deadly four-tined fighters dived towards the superstructure of the great ship, closely pursued by the weaving A-Wings.

A TIE pilot looked over his shoulder as the A-Wings swooped in. Before he could shout a warning, his fighter erupted into a fireball. Two Interceptors peeled off.

Celchu's jaw was set. "Engage left, let the other one go."

Raljar's eyes followed the fleeing TIE Interceptor for a split second, before the three A-Wings rolled to pursue the remaining Interceptor.

***

"We lost ten!"

Karena's flight split from the group on an attack vector across two Nebulon-B frigates. Explosions dotted space.

Green Group was two fighters down, and the battle had only just begun.
" Eleven, Twelve, I'm forming up on you." Kar announced as the remaining pair of three flight cut passed her through the maelstrom of laser bolts.

" Copy Nine." Twelve replied as Kar twisted to match their course, spotting a pair of TIE's vectoring in on them. " Imcoming on our six." She burped the throttle, causing heer to decelerate rapidly, then regain speed. Her vision blurred as her body struggled to stand up to the g forces exerted on her, but she kept from blacking out as she saw her maneuver had worked and she opened up on the TIE's. Her blasts stiched the solar array of the leader, causing it to break away and send the rest of the fighter pinwheeling towards the lush green of the moon of Endor below. the other TIE peeled away before she could line it up.

" Thanks Nine." Eleven called out as the three sped towards MV-7. " Watch it, more coming straight in on us."

" I see them. Call your play, I'm just a tag along here." Kar replied as the interceptors opened up at maximum range. The shots never came close, even as the closed rapidly , and the TIE's had to wheel hard to try to fall in behind, but it brought them acrossed the path of a pair of X-wings.

Kar knew she now owed a couple of Red squadron pilot's a drink, provided they all came out alive.

" MV-7. Now where's everyone else?" Twelve asked.
A burning TIE Interceptor tumbled out of control, spitting sparks as it plunged towards the superstructure of a Calamari Cruiser. As it impacted on the shields, Tycho Clechu's A-Wing swooped down to follow the smooth curves of the great ship.

"Green group, set for point one-oh-six. Stand by."

Celchu frowed, his face illuminated by the flares of combat and battery fire filling the void between the huge ships. "That's not right."

He reached across and flipped unseen controls. "Home One, this is Green Leader."

"This is Home One." A Mon Calamari comptroller pressed his hand to his "ear." Outside, the battle bathed the bridge of the Rebel fleet's flagship in bright flashes.

"Situation under control, request update advisement." He glanced to the space around the great ships. The skin on his neck began to crawl. They were facing a battle line of Imperial Star Destroyers. Where were all the fighters?

"Acknowledged, Green Leader, divert to point six-seven to assist, target group designation black two-two."

"Copy Home One."

The three A-Wings swooped out, into the dangerous space beyond the point defence batteries of the mother ships. Celchu adjusted controls. "Green Group, form up. Set course for point six-seven, designate target group black two-two. Stay alert."

"Green Two to Green Leader."

"Go ahead Green Two."

Raljar gritted his teeth as the fighters swooped for the hulk of a Gallofree Heavy Transport. "Those ImpStars haven't engaged. They're still out there."

"Save the scuttle, Green Two." Celchu glanced down at his scope. He knew his wingman was right. The fighters should have covered the assault of the heavier ships; without the firepower of the SSD's, the Imperial fighter squadrons would sustain terminal casualties before inflicting serious damage on the Rebellion's battle-line.

Suddenly, a panicked voice crackled over his comms. "Stand by Green Leader-"

"Say again Home One?" As the words left his lips, a bright green flare swelled on the distant, sinister moon of the Death Star. Celchu felt his insides turn over. "What-?"

A brilliant lance of green energy speared from the Death Star. It pierced through a Mon Calamari cruiser like the wrath of God, sending the ship and her crew to oblivion with a blinding flash. The cataclysmic explosion swelled in Clechu's vision as Green squadron arced straight into the sphere of the cruiser's annihilation cloud.

"Green Group, take evasive action! NOW!"

Kar, with Green ELeven and Twelve in tow broke hard away from the spreading debris cloud left of the Mon Cal Star Cruiser, was shaken slightly. Her visions hadn't fortold that the Death Star was operational. she was starting to question whether what she'd seen was going to unfold when the order for the fleet to move closer to the Imperial capital ships came through.

" They want us to do what?!" Karena voiced her disbelief as the order for the fleet to engage the Star Destroyers came through.

" You heard the order, Nine." Celchu's voice came acrossed the comm. " Green squadron, go for the shield generators on that lead ImpStar. First flight will make the first pass, Second flight follow us in. Third flight keep any fighters off our tails."

" copy Green Leader." Kar replied, as she changed frequencies. " Eleven, Twelve, back it down a bit and keep a close eye."

A pair of double clicks of acknowledgement replied before she went back to the squadron channel in time to hear Tycho," First Flight, here we go. Two, stay tight."

[dakota]

The A-Wings of Green Squadron arced from the cover of the Mon Cal cruisers, heading with deadly purpose for the Imperial ships. The two fleets had begun to collide; Under the orders of Ackbar, the Rebel fleet was forcing the Imperial battle line into a furball, the most deadly and potentially suicidal fleet tactic known to capital ship crews. No tactics, no precision, no backup plan, a free-for-all brawl in which every ship fought its own battle and chaos and annihilation ran hand-in-hand. With the Death Star's deadly energy cannon active, however, it might be the only chance the rebel fleet had. Desperation lay thick on every soul.

Raljar felt Karena's thoughts, a warm presence in the tight, frightened confines of his heart, and he tapped his helmet twice in acknowledgement. Beyond his dashboard, the cold grey of Imperial ships began to emerge from the maelstorm of explosions and energy fire.

Karena did her best to keep her anxiety in check, at least enough that Raljar wouldn't sense it, instead concentrating on her feelings for him. Commander Celchu led the A-Wings towards a swarm of incoming TIE's sent out as a screen for the capital ships. " fuul speed, Green Squadron. We'll blow through the TIE's and make a path for the rest of Gold Group behind us.

Kar boosted her forward shields and didn't bother targeting. she merely held down her firing button as they a-wings slashed throuugh the imp fighters. They were just clearing the wave of fighters when General Calrissian's triumphant cry came over the comm. " The shield is down! Red Group, Gold Group, were going after the Death Star!"

Tycho came over the comm," Green Squadron, you heard the general. Let's go."

Karena swallowed hard. It was playing out exactly as her vision had. " Copy lead."

The other A-Wings had already made the turn and were cutting through the fighter swarm headed towards the battle station, but Karena hesitated, her mind racing as she second guessed if she could escape fate as Tycho's voice came over the comm," Green Squadron, you heard the general. Let's go." Nine? Your falling behind. Keep up"

" Understood." Karena replied to Green One's command as a fluttering started in her stomach. This is it. Good luck Ralj she thought as she watched Ralj and Commander Celchu streak off towards the Imperial's battle moon before pulling her own craft into a sweeping arc back towards the waiting pair of Y-Wings. She saw the TIE heading for her path just as it had in her vision. The great battle seemed to become slow motion as Kar switched her remaining shields to full forward and veering pointlessly to avoid the interceptor's solar array. The sudden jolt of impact slammed her forward in her crash harness. Both vehicles spun wildly out of control just as the galaxy seemed to speed back up.

*****

Another green dot on Raljar's tactical display disappeared along with a red one. Tycho's voice sounded mournful as it came over the private channel. " I'm sorry Ralj. Kar will be a big loss to all of us." Before what had happened could set in, Kar's voice came to him, strangely calm Remember the promise I asked you to keep on Taris. You have to stay with Tycho, no matter what happens and I'll be waiting for you when this is over . The massive battle station loomed closer as the fighters neared their target, a massive gap in the Death Star's superstructure. Some of the other ships that had been closer when the call came had already entered the superstructure, including Red and Gold leaders.

A strange sense of calm filled Raljar. The cool tone of his own voice surprised him as he heard himself reply. "Copy green leader."

The fighters swooped down into the jagged superstructure of the battle station, weaving between incoming battery fire that came thick and fast. "Stay low," said Celchu.

Hugging the surface, the A-Wings flashed towards the gaping portal that led into the Death Star's interior. Raljar's scope began dual-toning. "Fighters incoming."

"I see them." Replied Celchu. Closing in on the upstart rebels were TIE fighters, swarming like insects to defend their nest. "Watch your six. This is it."

The A-Wings arced and dived into the port, their world becoming a blurring tunnel of exposed power conduits and superstructure. Ahead, Wedge Antille's led the headlong plunge into the Death Star's vitals. "Form up and stay alert, we could run out of space real fast."

Something inside Raljar was cold and focused. There was absolutely no time to think, only trained action and reaction; his eyes following the engines of the fighter ahead of him, knowing that a single mistake or wrong maneuver on his part or his leads could spell doom for both of them. A bright flare behind him signaled the end of a TIE fighter that had misjudged the last turn.

The rear X-Wing exploded, the pilot's scream cut off abruptly as the pursuing TIEs closed the gap. No space to maneuver. Calrisien signaled the fighter group. "Split up and head back to the surface, and see if you can get a few of those TIE Fighters to follow you."

"Copy, gold leader." The tunnel branched; Raljar rotated his fighter and followed the right branch, narrow and red-banded. Behind them, the pursuing TIE's split up, and the chase was on.


An explosion close behind told Raljar just how close the Interceptors were as Tycho slipped slightly ahead as green laserfire glanced off the commander's rear shields. There were six blips on Ralj's sensors behind them, and only he, Tycho and Gold 4 were the only fighters still leading them on.

" I can't stay with you two." Gold Four said, his X-wing trailing behind A-wings, but somehow outpacing the TIE's for now. " You two keep pouring it on, I'll buy you some time."

" Don't do it, Four." Tycho shouted, but it was too late. The X-wing had cut his throttle, and into the path of the oncoming Imperials. Gold Four and two more of the TIE's vanished for Ralj's screen, leaving only four pursuers.

Despite the laserfire dancing around them, and off thier shields, Tycho keyed his comm. " Ralj, we're up the creek and I'm running out of idea. I'm open to suggestions."


*****

Alarms blared at Kar throughout the cockpit as she came back to reality and fought to regain some control of the spinning A-Wing. The computer's finally came back on line and she adjusted the inertial compensators to max, finally slowwing the corkscrew maneuver and bringing the craft to a halt. She left most of the snubfighters other systems to keep from drawing the attention of curious TIE pilots looking for an easy kill. In the dim glow of the console, she surveyed the damage. " This is not good." she sputtered, as she was all but disabled. She glanced at her emergency beacon, but knew better than to key it. The last thing her fellow pilots needed was another distress call to distract them, bad enough there were too many of them sounding already. Once the nausea subsided, she put the A-Wing in a lazy spin so she could she what surrounded her. Not far off hung a B-wing missing one of it's attack foil, but she could see the pilot moving around in the cockpit. Her spin continued past until a huge shadow blocked out Endor below. Karena gasped.

A few thousand metres off hung the bane of rebel starfighters, an Imperial Lancer Frigate. The anti-starfighter capital ship had been damaged, but was still intact. she let the spin continue until the frigate was out of view. Just before completing her rotation, she spotted a second cripple B-Wing further away than the first. It seemed to be undamaged, except dead in the water. " Must have caught an ion blast." She said aloud. And suddenly, the Lancer's position made sense. She slowed her rotation once she was lined with a view of the first B-Wing and chanced a tight beam transmission. " B-Wing, do you copy? This is Green Nine."

*****

The two A-Wings flashed through the superstructure, trailed by a Y-Wing. Behind, the TIE fighters inexorably closed the gap.

Raljar glanced at his scope's readings. "I'm reading a power junction up ahead." He keyed his controls. "Set concussion-whoa!" Raljar and the Y-Wing behind him barely cleared a bright flash of energy as the TIE's guns tore open power relays.

Celchu glanced across his readouts. "Set concussion missiles and target the junction!"

"Copy." Celchu knew immediately what his wingman was about. It was crazy dangerous, near suicide, but they were rapidly running out of options and maneuvering space.

The thoughts blinked through his head with the speed and precision of a blaster bolt. He just hoped the plan was crazy enough to work.

Behind the A-wings, the Y-wing was struggling to keep up, barely keeping from being overcome by the TIEs. " You two plan to stop waiting around?" Came a voice over the comm Ralj recognized. One of Kar's recently defected friends Cameron spoke again. " Pretty soon I'm gonna have to pass you otherwise. The engine cowlings on this garbage scow make it pretty racey too." Over his voice came the staccato of ion cannon fire and he could also hear Cameron's partner Rem tell him," There, got it working again."

" Y-wing, you better push it then if you see a passing lane. " A trace of a tense laugh edged Tycho's reply. " Coming up on the junction. On your mark, Raljar. Y-wing, dump your bomb load to buy us some time on the way ..."

Tycho paused at the same time Raljar's control panel started registering all sorts of odd readings. " Are you picking up some massive power fluctuations coming from behind us?"

" GOGOGO!" Came Rem Karsin's panicked voice over the ion cannon's firing. " MASSIVE EXPLOSION. WHOLE TUNNELS GOING! GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS THING, NOW!"

As they made it to the junction, the power fluctuations were growing exponentially. On the other hand, his readouts told him that somewhere straight ahead was their escape.

******

After a moment, a booming reply echoed through the still of Kar's ship. " Rancor 3 acknowledges Green 9. My wingman is the other B-wing behind you. Are you injured?"

" Negative. " She answered. " But alot of our fellow pilots will be as long as this Lancer keeps using us for bait. Are you still armed?"

" Got a full load torpedoes, but no way to get clear once I launch. Both of us just launched right into this Lancer's grasp. The force was against us it seems. "

Kar thought long and hard before responding. " You and me both, friend. But I have an idea if you're wingman can get back online."

" Quarn already is. Just playing possum for now." Two answered. " What's your plan, Nine?"

" Karena. If I can draw the Lancer's attention, their shields are weak enough that you should be able to sink your load into their engines." She explained.

Two was slow in responding. " Call me Treego. How do you intend to get their attention?"

" Leave that to me, Treego. Just be ready." Kar replied, not wanting to reveal her near suicidal plan.

******

Even as the explosion tore open the tunnel behind them, Raljar's targeting computer registered a lock. "Mark!"

Missile streaked from the A-Wings, impacting on a massive power relay junction. The three fighters shot past, throttles wide open as a crackling detonation shook the whole tunnel and swallowed the pursuing TIE's in a wave of blazing energy.

"What do you mean, the whole tunnel's going?!" Behind them, a terrific explosion tore the heart out of the Death Star.

"Cut the scuttle, accelerate to maximum!" Snapped Celchu as the superstructure shook. The three fighters flashed through the Death Star's guts, dangerously fast ahead of a blast wave that devoured the passage behind them.

Across the distance between their ships, Karena felt Raljar's mind. She experienced his thoughts as a terrible sense of imminent destruction and terrific speed. Somewhere between the unthinking pilot operating on instinct and the terrified exultation of a living being's last few seconds in the face of death, she saw her mate's face as oblivion closed in on him.

A double click of the radio replied. She could see the orientation of the B-Wing changing slowly and assumed the other had as well. Arming her remaining concussion misslies still in her tubes, Karena sealed her EV suit and checked her air supply before blowing the seal on her cockpit. As she started to release her crash harness, she heard Treego yelling at her at the same time she felt the terrifying sensation from Raljar. She ignored it and through her engines to full power as she floated clear. The galaxy seemed serenely calm despite the greatest battle since the Clone Wars as she watched her ship zoom towards the frigate.

The Imperial's guns opened up on the unmanned A-Wing. They managed to hit the fighter, but not destroy it before it hammered against their shields and detonated the armed missiles. Off to both sides of her, twenty proton torpedoes in paired salvos streaked at the frigate, it's shields overloaded by the blast. She watched as the helpless capital ship's engines went critical and exploded, sending her spinning with the shock wave of the blast. She fought to stay conscious. She couldn't respond, but Treego's voice crackled in her ear. " Karena? Can you hear me? You're kriffing plan worked , you maniac! We'll send a recovery team."

A smile crept on her face as she hung there, and forced Treego a thumbs up as his B-Wing limped towards the fleet. She watched ships in the distance fleeing the massive battlemoon like mynocks from a crashing starliner. I knew you guys could do it, Ralj. Now come find me, partner She smiled despite an alarm ringing in her ear and she felt her leg turning cold. She her fingers down her leg and found a pinhole in her suit below her knee, venting her bodyheat into space, though the mag field would hold in her air supply.

*****

The remaining TIEs didn't stand a chance against the detonation of the Ywing's ordinance, and they were swallowed up by the chain of explosions. Ahead, a distant speck of black appeared against the grays of the superstructure. Another explosion shook the walls around them as they shot forward. Tycho came over the comm, " Drop your shields to boost power to your engines, Y."

" Already..., stang, A's all shields rear, quick." Rem replied the trailing Ywing that was steadily loosing ground. Tycho had already switched his shields as for a split second, Ralj was bracketed by the Ywing's targeting.

" What the sith are you two doing?" Tycho bellowed.

" Shut up, Commander, this is a hard enough shot as it is without you yelling in my ear." Rem replied deathly calm.

An ion pulse shaved between the two Awings, barely missing both to continue ahead and strike a barely visible conduit that hung directly in thier path. The ion blast de-energized the conduit by the time they were on top of it milliseconds later. Had it been charged, even passing near it would have fried the inner workings of the fighters.

" Good shooting." Tycho complimented, impressed.

" Umm, his targeting computer has been out for a while." Cameron interjected. " That was free hand."

" Cammie, shut up and fly." Rem cut in. " There's a really big fireball crawling up our six. Alot faster than us."

Ahead, Raljar could clearly see thier escape.

This is it!" Engines blazing, the Rebel fighters cleared the superstructure as a gout of plasma erupted from the shaft behind them, boiling off into space. As they cleared the surface of the Death Star, Raljar's triumphant roar cut across the comms.

Across the Death Star, twinkling explosions blossomed as the apocalyptic energy built up in its innards. Already the fleet had began pulling as far away from it as it could; turning for the distant moon, Rebel and Imperial fighters from across the battlestation's dread silhouette began to flee its death throes.

"Form up, we're not out of this yet." Celchu keyed his scope, setting course for the Rebel battle line.

As the snub fighters fled the battlestation, Raljar's guts finally turned over. Exultation warred with adrenaline and sheer white-edged terror for supremacy, and the Cathar slumped in his seat, letting out the breath he had been holding since the explosion. He realized he was exhausted.

***

Red Leader Wedge Antilles cleared the Death Star. Behind him, the Millenium Falcon raced for freedom, the final pursuing TIE interceptor swallowed by the pursuing firestorm.

As the explosion blasted from the tunnel's mouth, the Millenium Falcon shot clear into space through the boiling energy and General Calrisien's rebel yell became the death knell for the Empire's superweapon. With a brilliant flash, the Death Star exploded, the blast lighting the sky and chasing the fleeing ships from both navies into the arc of Endor. On the surface, a princess and a smuggler looked up as whooping cheers arose from the galaxy's most unlikely freedom fighters.

The whoops of excitement over the still open channel coming from Cameron made up for Raljar's body crashing, even as the shockwave from the blast buffeted their shields from behind. even as Rem was telling his partner to be quiet, the channel was cut off as Tycho cut in on an encryption squadron channel. " I know it doesn't make things any easier with your loss, but Karena would be proud of you for what you've done, Raljar. If there's anything I can do...., "

There was a pause, " Oh for the love of sith, how does she do it?" A tight beam transmitted message popped up on Ralj's comm board, a notice to Tycho that one of his pilots, designation Green Nine, had been picked up extra vehicular and was currently being transferred aboard the medical frigate Bright Hope . " Ralj, you're released. I'll keep these two menaces on my wing. Go to here." As he cleared off the signal, Rem and Cammie on the open channel were still yammering away.


*****

Kar's eyes hurt a little from the blastflash blindness she'd momentarily suffered from being foolish and watching the explosion of the Death Star. Luckily, a beat up recovery shuttle had tractor beamed her aboard before the shockwave caught her. She remembered feeling the sensation of being brought aboard, and the medtech onboard talking to her about how lucky she was the hole in her suit wasn't any bigger, but nothing else until she came to aboard the frigate.

She lifted the sheet to see the bacta bandage that covered the puncture wound and surrounding frostbitten area on her shin. It felt strange, still cold even though the med bay was warm. Flagging down a passing corpsman, she asked, " How is the battle going?"

The corpsman smiled," no one told you? The Imps broke off shortly after the Death Star blew. We won."

In disbelief, Kar slumped back and the corpsman continued on to other patients. She closed her eyes, and seemed to drift off into a dream.

" Renie?" Came a eerie yet familiar voice from the darkness Kar found herself standing in.

" Sis?" Kar asked, looking around, then flinched as a figure appeared to walk up in front of Karena. A little older, and hair blonde, the new comer was a spitting image of Karena. " Lesa, how..?"

" Silly Renie, always questioning." Came the reply. " I don't have much time. You have to be careful touching the force. You are too reckless, and the dark side runs too close to the edge in our family. Tread lightly, sis, or you'll end up keeping me company." she warned


Kar nodded," I know, but it's hard with no one to teach me how it works."

Lesa smiled," All in good time, you'll know when the time is right. I have to go. Be careful, and watch over little Cammie for me."

" I will, I promise." Kar stepped forward to hug her sister, but she faded away before Karena could reach her.

Next thing Kar realized, a protocol droid stood over her, " I do apologize, but you're wounds are not that severe, and the medical staff require this bed for someone more seriously wounded."

Karena nodded and slid from the bunk," Of course." no one had rescricted her, so she decided to roam the corridors a bit.
*****

Across the Fleet the elation of victory, whilst still very strong, was coloured by the heavy cost in lives. In the bellies of the Rebellion vessels great holoscreens had been set up, the names of personnel killed, injured or missing in action scrolling across them as information poured in. Rebellion staff, from pilots and gunners to greasemonkeys and ratings clustered around the screens, looking for information on comrades and loved ones. Amongst the throng clustered around the screens in HOME-1's docking bays was Lieutenant Raljar, helmet under his arm.

"Too many" commented a man beside him, and Raljar growled agreement. He was dirty and bruised and tired, like most of the fighter pilots there. The names of warriors he had known scrolled past, and each one killed was a cold lurch in his insides.

When the name "Lieutenant Therez, K." scrolled past marked as "Injured", he let out a rumbling sigh of relief and rubbed his eyes. The crewman patted his shoulder and Raljar smiled. "Good news eh, son?"

"The best" replied Raljar. He clapped the crewman on the shoulder and departed for the locker bays. Relief warred with fatigue, but he decided to skip crashing in the cots; he wouldn't be able to sleep until seen his mate's condition for himself anyway.

And so, an hour later, Raljar arrived with a shuttle full of other personnel onboard the fleet's Nebulon-B medical frigate. A brief computer check revealed Karena's updated "walking wounded" status, and Raljar felt a weight lift a little from his shoulders as he presented his rank and ID to the guards manning security for the medical decks.


A quick computer check cleared Raljar, and a security officer directed him to deck seven, Karena's last recorded location, but he did inform Ralj that she was free to roam the deck.



Karena stood alone in a small observation lounge just off the turbolift platform, he arms wrapped tightly around her as she looked out at the carnage of the aftermath of the battle, a chill through the flimsy medical gown she wore amplified by the exposure from going EV. She knew it could take a while for the effects to wear off, though the only real physical harm she'd suffered was the severe frostbite to her leg and a slight concussion. But at the moment, it was the least of her worries, her thoughts slplit between the troublesome visit by her sister and not knowing what had become of Raljar.
The crowd came and went from the observation lounge, bringing with them the energy of victory. From the viewport, Karena could see the devastation of one of the greatest battles in galactic history. Debris twinkled in the void, the burning hulks of ships drifting where they had been destroyed. The light of Endor's primary bathed the whole vista in its golden glow, making the whole scene somehow eerily beautiful.

As she watched, Karena felt a familiar presence before she heard him say "Kar!"

Pushing his way through the crowd was Raljar. Before Karena could say a word he swept her into his embrace. For long moments he held her close, and Karena felt tension bleed from his body as he sighed in relief.

"Don't do that to me again." He murmured into her ear.

Karena heard her name called, but had been caught up in Raljar's arms before her head had cleared enough to realize it was him. The warmth of his embrace seemed to melt away both her chill and troubles, so much so that she didn't want to let him go. With her head buried beneath his chin, she replied softly," Ralj, I have to tell you something."

She lifted her head to look at him to pause for a moment as if finding the right words, then her infectious grin appeared. " You stink like a wet sandhound." she reached up, and ran her fingers along the edge of cheek and down along his jawline. " No you understand why I wanted you to stay with Tycho?"

Behind them, a corpsman cleared his throat. " Luiet. Therez? Sorry to interrupt, but your tests came back clear. You are released back toship, but your flight status won't be decided until you get re-evaluated in fourty eight hours."

Kar nodded, " Did you happen to find out that other information I asked you for?"

" Yes ma'am. Four killed in action, two injured and one still missing in action. I'm sorry ma'am looks like your squadron took some heavy losses."

Kar held Ralj much tighter, " Thank you." She didn't want to let go as the corpsman left.
Ralj shook himself. "Whu?" He blinked, and looked down at Karena, before sighing and resting his chin on her head. "Hrr, no. I'm not hurt. Just tired." He smiled, tilting her chin up so he met her eyes. "It's probably going to take a while to sink in, you know? We changed the galaxy today."

Wrapping his arm around her, the two looked out across the vista of the battle.

Then:

"Kar? You should probably get off that leg."

Karena nodded, then spoke softly," You're right, on both counts. Take me home furball. I little rest would do us both good."

After a shuttle ride swapping tales of what had happened to them during the battle back over to Home One , Kar led Raljar back to the quarters they shared, to happily fall asleep cuddled into his arms after they both showered. Her body was so tightly pressed against him, that Ralj more likely heard the moan that escaped her rather than heard it when the door chimed. " I'll get it." she said, sliding out of the bed and pulling on a housecoat before answering the door. She would have sputtered if she hadn't noticed that they had already slept eight hours.

Outside it stood one of thier fellow Green squadron pilots. He handed Kar a flimsi," They've disbanded us, Luietenant. Sorry to bother you like this, but I had to see someone."

Kar quickly glanced over the flimsi from Tycho and sure enough, Green squadron was being disbanded because of the heavy losses and damages to the surviving A-wings. It went on to include an apology from Tycho for letting this happen, but he had already been given a classified mission and would be gone by the time the rest of the squadron got it. "she cleared her throat and looked up at the other pilot, who sadly she couldn't even remember his name other than Green 4. " I'm sure starfighter command will find a place for us."

4 nodded, but didn't look convinced. " I tried to drop a copy off to Raljar, but he wasn't in his quarters."

Kar had to force down a smirk, " I'll see him later, so I'll pass on the news."

4 nodded, " Okay luietenant. Sorry to disturb your rest."

" Dust in the thrusters." she replied, silently cursing Ralj for teachiing her that saying as she closed the door and crawled back into bed after dropping the housecoat. Wide awake now, she grinned playfully as she slid back in next to Ralj and was about to wake him when the door chimed again. She sighed and let her head hang. " I knew we should have stayed in your quarters," Kar sputtered slipped on her house coat again and went to the door.

Opening the door, she tried to hide her suprise as a Chevin male wearing a Commander's unform filled the doorway. Kar carefully saluted while making sure of her attire, " Sir, can I help you?"

When the Chevin spoke, Kar instantly recognized his voice, " No need to salute, Luietenant. I wanted to speak with you before the official ceremonies and offer my thanks, and ask something of you. May I come in?"

" Ah, uh, ... well, you see Commander...," Kar was about to explain when Ralj gave himself away.

" No need to worry, Lt. Therez, I had heard the scuttlebutt concerning you and one of your fellow pilots." the Chevin smiled, which was an odd sight," Not to mention Cathar have a very distinct scent. My request actually concerns both of you."

" Umm, Raljar," she said over her shoulder, " you better get up.We have company. Meet the Treego I told you about on the shuttle ride over."

[dakota]

"Wstfgl." Raljar mumbled from the bed. He cracked one amber eye, but came fully awake at the sight of the unusual officer stood in the doorway. "Sir, ah...this isn't what it looks like."

In the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the statement withered in the air. The Chevin surprised them both by chuckling, an unusual sound. "Don't worry, lieutenant. Even if I did have the desire right now to enforce regulations, I lack the neccessary disciplinary forms right at this moment. So forgetful these days, you understand."

Raljar pulled himself upright, tying the loose sheets around his waist as he saluted. The Chevin nodded, his nostrils working. "Yes, distinct."

Raljar ran a hand through his rumpled silver mane, eyeing Karena. What was going on?
Kar passed Raljar the flimsi concerning Green squdron's fate as she replied, " I think it has something to do with this."

" yes it does." Commander Treego Lum replied, nodding his massive head. " Your squadron's misfortune is to my advantage I am afraid to say. I'm not sure if you are aware, but the sullustan government has just sent three Quasar-Fire class capital ships to the Alliance. They arrived too late to assist with the defeat of the Empire, but they have each been given subsequent missions. One of them is prepping to leave for an Imperial world of Bakura as we speak. A second one, will be leaving tomorrow morning for Pzob to track down a dissappearing Imperial convoy. I will be in charge of the fighters on board, and the pair of you have been assigned to my group."

Kar raised a brow slightly, " Of course, sir. but why us?"

" I requested it. I like crazy pilots." The chevin chuckled and headed for the door. " There is a briefing in two hours in conference room 6. That should give you plenty of time to get into uniform." the door closed behind him.

Kar looked at Ralj in disbelief before sitting down to lean against the Cathar. she looked up at him," So much for a little recovery time..., wait, why did he call you luietenant?"
Raljar sat heavily on the beat with an exhalation as the door slid closed behind Lum. He brushed his hand over his eyes, and yawned hugely before rolling back onto the bunk with a groan.

"Pzob can go kiss my exhaust," he grumbled. He still looked exhausted. "If I die in the next two hours, I'm coming back to haunt them all."

He cracked an eye and ran it over Karena. "A loving mate would feed me fruit and sing to me right now, you know. Maybe bring me a double shot of flameout and a blaster." He yawned again and blinked glassily up at the ceiling.
“ You want what?!?” Karena replied, her fists planted on her hips. “ How about I feed you my foot up your [ass], furball. The day I turn into some sort of servant girl for some self absorbed wannabe flyboy,” despite her rant, a smile was tugging at the corner of Kar’s lips,” is the day I hang up my blaster and become a Tatooine moisture farmer. How could you even say such a thing? “ she picked up his shirt from the floor, lobbing it at his face before proving how much her Cathese was improving by stringing off a profanity laced insult regarding his heritage, but she couldn’t finish it without breaking into laughter.

She crawled onto the bed and into Raljar’s arms. “ So what do you think? It isn’t often a Commander comes to your door and tells you they requested you join his squadron.” She laid her head against his chest and then looked up into his eyes. “ I don’t know why Ralj, but I want to do this. It’s up to you, I won’t go alone. You say no and we stay here and I’ll tell Treego we appreciate the offer, but we'd be of no use to him. Allthough," she grinned again," Pzob is awful close to Tresn, where your sister is. I might be able to convince a local pilot to resupply us when we get there."
Raljar snorted the shirt out of his face and pulled Karena into his embrace, grinning up at her. "I know, darling, I know." He brushed errant strands of her hair aside, his expression becoming melancholy. "I'm being selfish. There's a lot of friends we left behind today." He winced. "I guess I thought we'd have time to say goodbye."

He sighed, the rumble passing through them both. "Ignore me. I'm tired. Special task forces don't wait for mortals to wrestle with their feelings. We'll be at the briefing. Maybe earn a few more medals before we get shot down, ah?" He cradled her head and kissed her then, his free hand running down her spine; the tips of his claws brushing her skin. "Put up with me for a while longer, [partner]." He murmured into her ear. "I'll be fine. We both will."
" I know this is still all new to you," Kar said softly, not wanting to break the embrace, " but you don't let it affect you after a while. You sort of get numb to it." She shrugged slightly," Maybe that's worse than letting it get to you, but I'd be a basket case ovtherwise, instead of the pain in the ass you love so much." She grinned.

She snuggled tighter. " what do you mean, shot down? At least you still have a ship. mine is nothing but scattered ions on the hull of a downed Imp cruiser." He leg throbbed as she thought about her crazy stunt. " and we aren't gonna see any replacement A-wings for a while. Unless....," she got an impish grin and kissed Raljar's cheek before getting up quickly and putting on a clean uniform, " I gotta go see someone. I'll meet you at the briefing, okay?" The look in her eyes was one he'd seen many times as she was headed for the door.

It meant she was up to something.
Raljar listened to the door close, then collapsed back to the bed. Scratching his eyes wearily, he let out a heavy breath and willed himself to relax. He was still tense, still edgy from the engagemrnt, riding high on victory and injured by the loss of friends and comrades. Good ones. The best.

His thoughts ran in circles, and it was some minutes before he hauled himself out of the cot and headed to the fresher. Surrounded by steam and the low hum of the hygiene systems, he stared into the mirror, barely recognizing the scruffy veteran looking back at him. Nothing had changed; not physically, but there was something about his eyes that hadn't been there before.

He splashed his face with cold water, relishing the shock it sent through his system, the clarity it afforded his mind. As he dried, he pointedly ignored the slight shaking of his hands. It would pass. Questions ran through his head as he cleaned himself up; Pzob, the new taskforce, what would happen to the galaxy now that the Emperor was dead. For a moment he yearned for the simplicity and brutality of his swooper days, and he suppressed the thought with a surge of anger.

He had avenged his old gangmates a hundred times over on the Imperium. The thought didn't bring him any peace. He should have been feeling better. He just felt worse, hollow. As the cleanser sluiced over his body, he rubbed medicated gel into his mane. He wished the hot steam would carry away his jumbled thoughts. Somehow, he didn't think it would work.
* * * * *

On the uncharted planet of Xarbareth...

" Are you certain?" Came a raspy voice from the shadows cast by Xarbareth's third moon shining into the chamber as it began to rise.

" Yes sir. Our agents have positively identified both of them as surviving the Endor conflict." replied the officer at attention in the center of the room. " Apparently both of them distinguished themselves during the battle."

A whirr of servos echoed in the otherwise empty chamber as the Inquisitor stepped into view, his interest peaked," Oh?"

Major Carney Hoskels adjusted his collar slightly. " With all due respect, my lord, but I think there are greater issues at stake than two rebels...."

A tightening around Hoskels throat happened so quickly that he hadn't even seen Kaivun tosk's fist close. " Do not trifle me with your petty feud, Major." Hoskels was raised three feet in the air gasping for air before being dropped. Tosk's cybernetic leg motors filled the room as he paced around the major." Our fleet could not have reached the Sanctuary Moon in time to make a difference in the outcome. Lord Palpatine had a plan when he entrusted this mission to us. Now that he is gone, we must carry his legacy onward."

" But my Lord, with the Empress to lead us, we can smash the last of the Rebel fleet before they can rebuild it, and ..."

" silence," Tosk snapped. " I have no desire to take the Emperor's place. And milady is not ready to face our enemies yet. She still requires month's of trials even if her weaponry is functional. Now," he helped Hoskels to his feet with an open hand under the chin," tell me of their escapades."

Carney swallowed hard." Yes, Lord Tosk. The beast..."

Tosk warned with a raised finger and the major corrected himself." The Cathar was part of the force that partook in the attack within the Death Star's superstructure that resulted in it's destruction. Therez rescued many of the Rebel's pilots by destroying one Lancer starfighter trap using her own damaged snubfighter."

" Resourceful." The Inquisitor nodded, rubbing his chin." And both of them are unharmed?" when hoskels nodded, " Tosk drummed his fingers together and seethed with a wicked grin." Excellent. then my plan continues. Now, " he motioned towards a third figure near the door.

Moff Tarcic strode in respectfully. " Inquisitor. I'm afraid there is an issue with the laborers. The Cathars you obtained for me are beginning to show their wear, my lord. Worse, the Gamorreans are too stupid to preform anything but rudimentary tasks in the yard. I seek your guidance."

" You trifle me, Moff." Tosk scoffed. " Use the Cathar more wisely. Let the Gamorreans do the hard labour. We are close enough to obtain more if need be. The major will reach our contact on Cthar and see if more labourers can be obtained."

" Yes, my lord. I will see to it immediately." Hoskels scurried from the room, eager to escape.

Tosk chuckled. Tarcic shook his head. " Inquisitor, why to you tolerate that one?"

" He amuses me. " tosk replied. " And when Therez comes to me, his death at her hands shall be part of her becoming my protoge on the dark side. I have forseen it. Now, return to Engineer Haiburr and pass along my suggestion, I have to contact Admiral Keevz so he can begin his preparations for another test for the Empress to make sure she is prepared."

" And what of her Cathar companion?" Tarcic asked curiously.

" That will be his decision as her chosen. He can stand by her at my side as well." Tosk replied, matter-of-factly." Or he shall die. Now, return to Enginner Haiburr and explain his issues shall be resolved. I have to speak with Admiral Keevz about the Empress' next test."


* * * * * *

When Raljar arrived for the briefing, Karena still hadn't shown up, and wasn't answering her comlink. Whatever she was up to, she was certainly taking her time. A few more pilot trickled in, including two more of the survivors of Green Squadron, who immediately took seats by Ralj . The Rodian pilot looked around and then back to Raljar, " Therez still in sick bay? I heard she caught a pretty bad void burn on her leg from that stunt she pulled to blow up a Lancer." Acrossed the room, Cammie and Deke had taken seats as well, and moth of the waved to Ralj when they spotted him.

The other pilot, a human female, shook her head. " I saw her in the corridors on Home One about a half hour ago. She was pleading her case to some guy I didn't recognize. Whatever she was up to, he wasn't biting."

Lt. Commander Treego Lum's immense presense loomed through the doorway, followed by a human female that to Ralj looked like she could be Kar's relation. Both of them stepped up to the podium at the front, and Lum began to speak. " Greetings, gentlebeings. I have met each of you, but I wish to introduce Captain Shayne Santanis of the Shady Past . Captain Santannis' ship will be our base of operations for the coming months until command changes it's mind. Not that such things occur." The Chevin grinned as several pilot's chuckled. " I would also introduce our XO, but other circumstances have prevented them from joining us until later."

" Now, the business at hand. Firstly, you will notice that there are an odd number of you for a squadron. this is because there was supposed to be two full squadrons, but due to the urgency of the response to Bakura, we are undermanned and will operate with eigtheen fighters. Your craft are being moved aboard the Past as we speak, along with parts to repair them and a repair crew. Our mission is fairly straight forward, but everyone of you know there is no such thing. We are to locate an missing Imperial supply train that was last seen near Pzob. There are no Imperial bases in that sector that command knows of, so a supply convoy escorted by a pair of Victory Star Destroyers has no business out there. Our job is to find them, what they are up to, and report back. The problem is that beyond Pzob lies a vast area of uncharted space, so it could take us a fair amount of time. there will be further briefings when we get underway. right now, we have some other business to attend to."

Lum began to call out names, and as each one came forward to be presented with promotions and/or medals for their actions during the battle. He was partway done when his commlink chirped. " Pardon me." He said and stepped aside for some privacy. When he returned, he looked up into the seats directly at Raljar. Flight Officers Raljar, Karsin and Ridgechaser. The three of you are to report to conference room seven immediately. When you are done there, gather your belongings and ferry over to the Shady Past "

Cammie and Rem stood up with puzzled looks on their faces, and both of them turned to Raljl for answers as they started for the door.
Ralj caught the eye of the two aces, and made a universal "I'unno" motion. As the crowd fanned out around them, the three huddled momentarily.

"What's going on?" murmured Cameron.

"Probably something official." replied Rem, an ominous forshadowing in his voice.

As the trio piled into a packed turbolift, Ralj found himself crammed behind a female Mon Calamari, Cammie's face almost crushed into his chest.

"Yeah," grumbled a similarly compacted Rem. "Real official."

When the doors to the conference room opened for the trio, they could see Kar talking lightly with a security cheif while standing at ease. when she saw Raljar enter, she smiled lightly. Before any of them could speak to one another, the chief spoke up, " All pilots, attention!"

As the doors closed, Admiral Ackbar steped in, joined by Generals Reekian and Madine. Ackbar cleared his throat." It is rare that a private ceremony like this is conviened, but then again the circumstances require special attention, especially with your commanding officer being wisked away on a top secret mission. So I have the great honor of doing this myself. Luietenant Raljar, step forward please."

Once Raljar was clear of the others, Ackbar took his time in attaching Ralj's luietenant bars to his uniform. " For your part in the daring raid that resulted in the destruction of the Death Star in the battle of Endor, I hereby raise you to the rank of Luietenant, with it all the privileges you are entitled to with it. I also present you with the Star of Alderaan Medal of Valor for your selfless actions , offering to sacrifice yourself to lure several enemy fighters away from the rest of the attack force. Your actions are to be looked upon as a selfless act of bravery, and to be commended by all your fellow pilots."

The Admiral also presented Deke and Cameron with promotions and medals compriable to Raljars, with Deke also being bestowed the True Gunner award for his miracle shooting during their escape.

Karena watched Raljar snap off a salute as the Admiral awarded him the Star and the two-pip rank insignia so familiar to her. From a two-cred street racer to a lieutenant in the Alliance Military, her mate had come a long, long way from their fateful meeting on Taris, and the slight raising of his chin told her more about her mate's pride than any words or emotional displays could ever have accomplished.

Then, Admiral Ackbar moved on to her, his aide bearing the padded award case

"Lieutenant Karena Therez, stand to." It was odd that a Mon Calamari could seem paternal, but the Admiral seemed almost so in that small briefing room. Twisting his head as he spoke, the Admiral addressed the room, not just her alone.

"Lieutenant Therez, in recognition for your actions during this Battle of Endor, for your part in the destruction of the Imperial Death Star battle station, and for continued exceptional service through danger and adversary to the Alliance Navy and the cause of the New Republic, I hereby raise you to the rank of Captain, and so doing grant you all attendant privileges and responsibilities. It is rare that a being demonstrate the qualities required for high command, Captain. Continue to do the uniform proud."

The Admiral inclined his head to his aide, and the man stepped forwards, releasing the ornate containers pressure catch. Inside were the tri-pip insignia patches of her new rank, along with several gleaming medals.

"Furthermore, Captain Therez," intoned the Admiral, "it is with great honour and pride that the Alliance bestows upon you recognition for your valor and selfless devotion to duty in this aftermath, of one of the most momentous engagements in Galactic history. You are to be rewarded first with the Redbird, in recognition of injuries sustained in the field of battle." Karena recognized the small, blood-red pin in the shape of the symbol of the Alliance.

"Secondly, you are to receive the Alvace Star in recognition of your actions taken in securing the safety of fellow pilots, with superior tactical consideration and regardless of personal risk, above the surface of the Death Star."

The third medal, the Admiral removed personally, as it hung on a ribbon and with some formality placed it ceremoniously around her neck.

"And finally, it is the decision and regard of this Navy, that you recieve the Kalidor Crescent, in recognition of your collective actions, above and beyond those required of an officer of the Alliance Military in the field of battle." The Admiral stepped back, and regarded Karena with one of his great golden eyes. "Wear it with pride, Captain Therez."

The aide handed her the case containing her awards, and Admiral Ackbar nodded. Turning his head to regard the pilots, he spoke. "Now, with the ceremony concluded, we all have duties to discharge. Dismissed."

As the Admiral and his aide departed, Deke and Camreon grinned and patted each other on the back. Deke gripped Raljar by the shoulder; her mate had had eyes only for Karena during the whole exchange, and they shined with pride. Nodding in unspoken agreement, the three pilots saluted the new captain.

"Guess this means we have to start respecting you, Captain, " quipped Rem, but in his eyes he was no less delighted. The grimmer Deke nodded approvingly.

Karena was awestruck as she held up the Crescent and looked at it, completely missing what the others were saying. " Huh?" she replied,snapping out of her daze," Oh, congratulations, guys." she turned to Ralj, and with everyone else vacating the room, she wrapped her arms around the Cathar and kissed him, then spoke softly," and congratulations, Luietenant."

" Hey, there's one more thing," Deke said, pulling a box from his pocket and handing it to Kar. " Celchu said to give you this after you were promoted."

she looked at Raljar, then opened it to reveal a note...

Congrats Karena

Sorry I couldn't be there to do it myself, but my mission is high priority, so I hope the Admiral was a suitable replacement.the Alliance doesn't recognize this, but a general and a commander I'm friends with concurred you earned this, but only get half because of your heritage. Wear it with pride, but you owe a couple drinks for it, Captain. and try to stop losing snubfighters, you're supposed to set an example now.

Tycho

Kar lifted the note and pulled out a thin strip of red material, her eyes wide in disbelief. Cammie looked at it, puzzled. " What is it?"

Deke looked at his partner and shook his head," It's a Corellian Bloodstripe, the highest honor a Corellian can get." He looked back at Kar," and you earned it, but I'm still gonna think of you as the Kurse." He grinned.

" I wish we had time to get a drink, but we've got a pocket carrier waiting on us. can you guys give Raljar and I a minute?"

" sure Kar..., I mean Captain. We'll see you aboard the Past" Cammie grinned and the pair left

Kar looked at Ralj and smiled," You know, now that you're an officer, we don't have to hide things anymore. No one will say a word about a Captain seeing a Luietenant. We need to get going too, but," she switched to Cathese, broken but understandable,"[I'm very proud of you, my love]" She embraced him tightly. " I found a replacement for my A-wing with alot of convincing. I have to go pick it up and fly it over to the Past. Try not to laugh when I get there."

The transfer to the Past took two hours; between packing their meagre possessions, official updates and spacelanes cleared for rescue and salvage crews; small shuttles had a time finding space in the flight schedules. However, eventually, Raljar, Cameron and Deke disembarked with several other pilots and personnel in the Past's landing bay.

"Tell me again about that bloodstripe thing?" Raljar looked over his shoulder at Deke. The entirety of his personal possessions was held in the maglocked duffle he had slung over one shoulder.

Deke looked Raljar in disbelief. " You serious? Thought everyone knew what bloodstripes are for. It's a medal of valour amongst the Corellians. They're all crazy, so that makes it harder to get. Usually it comes from courage under fire. but not for sponateous ideas. Instead it has to be something they take the time to plan out." He looked up as the shuttle's maglocks released and the hatch began to open. " Rumor has it most bloodstripes are awarded posthumously."

He looked back to Ralj," It's a big honor for her."
The hangar was a mess of damaged fighters, some of them good for nothing but to strip for parts, and only a few looked space worthy. In the far corners of the hangar, away from the Alliance fighters, racks used to house the pirate fighters from the Past’s previous journeys still hung. The mechanics bustled about, but all of them eyed the pilots like they didn’t belong here, or that they felt some disdain because of the damage caused.

Deke looked at Raljar as they passed through, “ Pretty sad that this is the best we have left.” He was about to say something else when a klaxon began to blare, indicating a ship about to pass through the magcon field. Deke turned as the unmistakable roar of ion engines echoed within the bay an oversized TIE with canted wings swooped in slowly and docked in the near racks. Raljar had seen the strange TIE before, and as the rear hatch popped open, he could see why Karena hadn’t told him all the details about her new craft. She stepped onto the racks catwalk wearing her standard pilot uniform with a modified Imperial helmet and pulled out a duffle as she exited the TIE.

She spotted Raljar in the hangar before she climbed down the ladder, and headed towards him with a big smile. “ so what do you think? I need a good shakedown, but between this thing’s punch and you’re a-wing’s speed, the Imp’s won’t know what hit them.” Her grin was that of a kid in a candy store, tickled by her new toy. “ It’s a good thing these TIE Hunters never made it past the prototype phase, those capital-grade laser cannons would have ripped us to shreds.”

The three pilots eyed the new arrival.

"Looks like a Bomber's bigger, meaner, inbred cousin," quipped Cameron.

Deke cast a glance at the technicians, a few of whom had gathered tools and were heading to square away the new arrival. "Are those grease-hounds going to know what to do with her?"

Raljar indicated for Karena to hand over the modified TIE helmet she carried, and turned it over in his hands. "Where did you find this?"

As the technicians extended mag-ramps and started working on the strange TIE, Cameron and Deke began an in-depth discussion of the weapons visible on the fighter's hull. Raljar ran his eyes over the weapons on display, then handed Karena back her helmet. "Do I even want to know where you found this?"

He draped an arm around Karena's shoulders as they gazed at the hangar's newest acquisition.

"I'll give it one thing." They both heard Deke say at that moment. "She's one of the only things in this hangar which isn't a bucket of bolts."
Karena grinned. " Not to worry. Captain Santannis' crew knows al about TIE's, since they used to carry them before they mutinied against the old captain and switched sides. The Shady Past used to be an Imperial Privateer, thats why she still has the TIE clamps. Our techs can focus on putting these scrap heaps left of our fighters back together."

She handed off the the helmet. " Commander Varth gave it to me. Apparently his people used them in some crazy scheme the other side of the Isis Corridor. and you should recognize the fighter, you helped me steal it." she grinned again, but it faded quickly," You're okay with this, right [partner]?"

" Kar, this thing is almost as crazy as the Hybrid of yours. You still smugg..."

Karena cut Cameron off with a harsh glare and a finger to her lips. " Would you watch your mouth? Anyone finds out about that and I could have alot of explaining to do, not to mention lose by Luietenant pips."

Cam shut up quickly, even as Deke intervened," Kar, you don't have Lt pips anymore."

Clearly distracted, Karena looked at Deke in confusion," Huh?"
"I think Deke means you're a captain now, captain. Three pips." Ralj murmured in her ear.

"Huh. If a captain can't remember her rank, Force help the poor slots under her command." Cameron grinned. Deke just raised an eyebrow.

As the two went back to their comparison of the strange TIE bomber, Ralj switched smoothly to Catharese. "*You were a smuggler?*"
" Luietenant, Captain, whatever." Karena looked guilty. She did her best to reply the Cathese, showing her understanding was better than her pronounciation, " [ Not you what think. Both be ...... imperial and rebel, I ...... smuggle parts to Tresn, .....build ship. I..., " frustrated she switched back to basic," I didn't show you the Hybrid because, well, it's an ugly in every sense of the word. That and, well, when we were on Tresn, things were too busy." she grinned teasingly," That and I didn't want it to end up like by swoop."

An announcement came over the ship's comm, and each of the pilot's comlinks. " All squadron members report to ready room. Briefing in ten minutes."

" we better hurry." Deke said," The Hybrid might be an ugly, but it's the fastest anything from Koensayr's factories has ever beenshort of lightspeed. Probably be the toughest if you get the shields figured out. too. What happened to the swoop?"

Kar looked a Raljar as she answered," It got sacrificed for a good cause. nothing tha can't be fixed though. You know Ralj would probably like that relic you've got hidden back home too, since your scared to fly it. Deke here has a Clone-Wars Republic ARC-170 he's fixed up." She said as they walked. " got it flying, one test run and scared the mopek out of himself."

Deke shrugged, " I prefer toughness over speed. Besides, that thing has to be as fast as one of your A-wings, with alot more punch. Probably sell it if I can find a buyer."

" Yeah right, like you'd get your credits back out of that." She laughed again. " That's how Deke and I became friends, then bribed our way to get assigned to the same squadron. not sure if you noticed way out on the edge of the hill behind Tessa's farm there was another barn built into the hillside?" She said to Ralj. " That's where the ships are hidden, along with the rest of the tools and enough room for Vaig to lay up the Familiar if he has to. It's also sort of a safe house if you don't mind roughing it, but anyone looking, it just looks like a hay barn. Everything is hidden behind a false back wall built into the mountain." she explained as they walked. Kar took Raljar's hand in hers, and her thoughts came to him .o0 I'm sorry, I honestly just didn't think to tell you about it. Please forgive me [Partner]?

She quickly dropped his hand as a pair of Techs came around the corner
Ralj had looked interested during the swoop talk, and the mention of an ARC-170 had indeed pricked up his ears; the mention of the mysterious Hybrid though had thrown him a bit of a curve-ball.

As the technicians passed them on their way to some obscure and arcane task, Ralj smiled down at Karena and grasped her hands in his. "Forgive what? We're *partners* Kar, that doesn't give me a right to all of your little secrets. I've probably got a few in my closet too."

They began walking again, tannoy annoncements echoing about them. "So, what is this thing? It looks like a skeleton; the bay's open to space, it's ugly as sin..."

" I know you do, Ralj. and I don't expect to find out every little secret you have either." Kar replied with her slight smile returning. " It's just, well, the Hybrid has been a pet project for a long time, and I should have shown you. Probably would have if the Imps hadn't shown up. But after your reaction, you'd probably be more interested in the 170." she grinned a little more." Amazing how interchangible T-65 parts are with them too, alot faster though, be right up your alley."

As they continued on towards the briefing room, she shrugged," You have to remember this originally was a cargo hauler that was converted. And the Captain is just supposed to dump her fighters and break for open space. The Past will never be much good in a stand up fight with the Imps. I kinda like how it's a little rough around the edges, it suits us."

She chuckled," tell you what. after the briefing, if we get some free time, I'll show you the holos of hybrid , but you better not make fun, got it?"

Ralj grinned and chuckled. "Okay, okay. I promise. But you'll have to do something for me." He leaned down and nuzzled her neck playfully, momentarily disregarding his officer's dignity and the scandalized glances fo the tech crews they passed.

As they travered the vaulted interior of the Past, he talked about how he had heard of the ARC-170's but never actually seen one except in pictures and holograms.

"Even on the underside we heard about the old classics like the 170." He gestured with his hands for emphasis, eyes bright with enthusiasm. "Two-seater, six wings. All the old history stuff <mother> made me and Siraea read had pictures of them." He grinned wistfully. "I couldn't believe anything could go that fast, y'know? That was the kinda stuff that gave me a taste for speed."

Their boots echoed down the metal tunnels of the Past's interior. "Then I grew up, and...well. The Imperium wants nothing to do with a no-good furball with a record, so I figured space was closed to me forever. If I couldn't have the stars, then I'd have the next best thing."

He sighed. "Back in the Krayts, there were a lot of guys who tried for the Imperial forces. Blood is one thing, but staying stuck in the Undercity wasn't an option for the older ones. Gangs down there lose elders all the time; they get killed, get employed, or ship off world."

Karena knew what Ralj meant by "employed"; working for larger and far less savoury organizations.

"But," he continued, "I got lucky. I found a purpose, found adventure, found money..." He wrapped and arm around her shoulders and pushed his nose behind her ear with a grin, tickling her. "Found a <partner>. The guys would never believe it if they could see us now."

[dakota]

Karena wiped at Raljar's chin playfully, " Down big guy, you're drooling." she teased at his talk about the ARC-170. " Wait, you grew up? Look," she grinned, looking up at him as she flinched away from his tickling," it you had been anything other than that miscreant swooper I got tangled up with on Taris, we wouldn't be here now." She gave him a light kiss on the cheek as they reached the briefing room door. She led him in to a pair of seats behind Kammie and Deke.

" Allright people, settle down." Lt. Commander Treego Lum ordered as he took the podium at the front of the ready room. Despite being a formal ampitheater setting, Karena sided in as close as she could to Raljar and her hand slid down to rest on top of his. Her nervousness showed a side of her to him that he hadn't seen before. Whatever had suddenly shaken her normally solid demeanor made her hand tremble slightly on top of his.

" I'll try to make this as short and painless as I can since it's our first meeting as a squadron." The Chevin said, looking very uncomfortable wearing a uniform as he tugged at the collar. " First off, I welcome you but I wish it were under better circumstances and I pray none of us ever have to see another battle the scale of what took place over Endor. But another way to look at it is that we are blessed that every man and woman in this room is an experienced veteran and a proven survivor. For now, command has graced us with the unimaginable name of Brown Squadron. Any pilot who can come up with better is asked to submit suggestions to myself or the XO by twelve hundred tomorrow. The selection chosen will earn a three day furlow once the current mission is completed.

Treego cleared his throat. " Now, the roster. Each of you are asked to stand and be recognized so your squad mates know who you are. I'll be Brown One, and our other B-Wing pilot will be Flight Officer Daryn Kwana in Brown Two." A young human male with burn scars to the side of his face stood up.

" Brown Three will be Flight Officer Hesp Rus'trk from Bothawui, and his wingmate is Flight Officer Shelby Vagnarrso from Naboo. both of them will be flying x-Wings" A petite human female and a bothan male stood up at their names being called.

" Brown Five will be Flight Officer Benn'Yeez'Ekko from Kinyan and,"

" Sir, everyone just called me Benny Zeko. It's easier." A Nikto stood up and said with a soft tone that did not match his appearance.

" Very well, Benny. and his wingman in Brown Six will be Luietenant Arlon Trassk from Utapau. If we get into any dirtside action, Trassk will be our sniper. " A tall thin man with a piercing stare stood up at his call. " Brown Seven is second squad's leader, Captain Rem Karsin from Circarpious Six, and Brown Eight will be our demolitions specialist if need be, Flight Officer Allie Tran from Alderaan." A sullen looking woman and a handsome male with a impish grin were recognized." second Flight will all be in X-wings. something to say, Captain?"

" No sir. just happy to be here." Karsin replied, retaking his seat." allthough I'm glad I don't have to hold Kwana's hand anymore."

" Stow it, Cap." Kwana replied, catching himself from making a gesture while grinning. " I seem to remember it was my torps that sacked those ausault shuttles because my wingman wasted theirs on TIEs in the Isis Corridor, before he wimped out and transferred to X-wings."

" Enough, we can be one be happy dysfuntional family in the pilot's lounge. now shut it so I can finish." Lum cut in, and both men settled." Now, Third squad is led by Brown Nine, Captain Trin Canarr from Coruscant. On his wing will be Lieutenants Cameron Ridgechaser and Deke Warsit from Drall. they fly our only Y-wings." both Cam and deke looked back at Ker as Canarr was named squadleader, causing her to shrug as if she didn't know despite her nervousness." Warsit, I don't have a gunner for you yet, but I'm working the crewlist to find you one."

" I'd sooner you find me a pilot, sir." Deke replied, " I'm a better gunner than flyer."


"So your record from Endor shows. A True Gunner's award is hard to earn. Now, Brown Eleven will Flight Officer Yanni Wesk, and she is also our corpsman if need be." A collerian female stood and was recognized. " On her wing is Flight Officer Burji Kollie from Rodia. They will be in A-wings." Kollie stood up, looking a little burned out, but still the wingpair were familiar faces from Green Squadron.

" Last but not least, Brown Thirteen will be our XO, Captain Karena Therez of Contruum, flying whatever that contraption of TIE is that she brought on board." Treego smiled.

Cammie grinned and turned around," Ship? I thought she stole an amusement park ride."

Kar glared at Ridgechaser." Eat mopek, Cammie. Would you like me to make that an order." Her replied was flat and serious, silencing the laughter in the room.

" Allright, and covering the XO with his A-wing will be Luietenant Raljar from Taris."

Kar released Raljar's hand as she stood, kicking the back of Deke's seat when he muttered under his breath," Not just her ship he covers." Her kick only made him laugh more. She leaned down to whisper in his ear, loud enough everyone nearby could here her, " you know I used to like you, Deke. Sir," she looked up at Treego," I know that the Alliance starfighter command took a kicking, but only fourteen fighters on a pocket carrier is a bit foolish. even with the armament enhancements I saw on the way in."

" You are correct. As you might have heard, the Past is a former privateer vessel for the Empire, complete with her TIE racks still intact." Treego replied. " and the crew includes 11 TIE pilots, including five veterans. we will be making our first stop at the Imperial outpost in the Malastare system to acquire some TIEs for Captain Santannis's crewman as well as any of us that may have use for them. The goal will be to grab at least eight to bring us up to two full squadrons, but we will take what we can get." the Chevin emphasized the words 'acquire' and 'take', much to the smirks of the pilots. " Details will be forthcoming after I have a planning session with our squad leaders. we'll have another briefing in three hours, after which I'll lay out the details of of mission. I suggest the rest of you hit either the sims in the pilot's lounge or your bunks. One rule, no gambling on dogfights in the simulators...."

Things seemed to fog over for Raljar He was no longer in the breifing ampitheatre. Instead Raljar was in a dimly lit featureless room. His hands were in front of him, shackled securely to a T-shaped bar that came up from the floor to waist and his wrists bloody from struggling against the restraints. He was tired and sore, only his willpower keeping his standing when the door slid open. Two grey armored stormtroopers came in, dragging Kar who looked in worse poor condition than he felt. They restrained her to a similar T-bar, but also secured her feet slightly apart with leg shackles. She finally made eye contact and was about to say something as the stormtroopers took up guard positions opposite the door and facing Raljar.

The door slid open and Carney Hoskels, clad in his Imperial Luietenant's uniform, a smug look on his face. " I should have made sure you were exterminated long ago, vermin. Kurse would never have been so resistive before she was beguiled by a creature like you. And she doesn't want to co-operate with the Grand Admiral's requests. So maybe it's time I ask her beast the same questions. And I shall give you some incentive to answer quickly."

He activated a remote, and Kar's restraint lowered so she was bent over. " Carney, what are you doing?!?" She demanded.

"Something I always wanted, and your pet gets to watch, unless he tells me wear the rebel attacks are coming from." Hoskels grabbed Kar by the hips and dropped her trousers. she looked a Ralj in terror, unable to see Hoskels unfastening his belt behind her , laughing as he spoke...

" Wake up, furball." Kar whispered as she nudged Ralj from the too-real dream. The other pilots laughed as they stood and began to shuffle out, except for Trin Canarr, Rem Karsin and the Luietenant Comander. Kar spoke up," sir, I'd like Raljar to stay."

Treego shrugged his massive body, " From what I've heard of your exploits, you two work better together anyways, you may stay if you like, Luietenant.If the two of you are anything alike, more off the wall tactics I've witnessed may be what we need."

"<I'LL KILL YOU!>"

Raljar's roar cut off all noise in the chamber; in the split second before dead silence struck, he had leapt to his feet, pulling his hands against something.

As the other officers stared in shock, Karena could see clearly that something had happened to Raljar; his eyes were glassy, his emotions very real, terror and rage dispersing like steam.

The Cathar stumbled, then collapsed back into his seat, caught by one of the pilots next to him. As the pilots glanced at one another, Commander Lum's voice cut through the still air.

"What in the Alliance is wrong, Lieutenant?!"

He sounded indignant and more than a little angry, but the pilot being waved off by Raljar looked down. "Sir, I think something's happened."

Kar could hear Ralj mumbling that he was okay, his pride and dignity wounded as he rubbed his face, hard. Though he was blushing with shame and chagrin, Karena could see that his hands were shaking slightly.

Karena had no idea what Ralj had shouted, but she hadn't seen him react like this, and her worry was evident in her eyes. " We'll be right there, Commander." she said before she retook her seat, sitting sideways to face the Cathar.

" Get things sorted." Treego replied, " I need both of you with your heads on straight."

"Yes sir." Kar replied, her voice softening so only Raljar could hear the concern in her voice." What's wrong, [partner]? I, never seen you react like this before. You scared everyone in the room with that warcry of your. I couldn't even make out what you said. Talk to me, partner."

"I'm okay...I'm okay."

Raljar rubbed his eyes like he was trying to scrub something away, and took a snarling breath. The pilot on his arm glanced at Karena significantly.

"I'm fine." The Cathar cleared his throat, and waved off the pair, his dignity needing a little space. He looked up at Commander Lum, and his nose flushed again as he swallowed. "Sir, I'm sorry. I-" He coughed. "I don't know what came over me. It...won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't." Lum scowled, as much as his species could scowl.

"I'm all right, Kar. It's nothing." Ralj mumbled as a few pilots murmured to each other.

" very well, Luietenant." Lt.cmdr Lum replied, his long Chevin face studying Raljar for a moment. " Please save your outbursts for private moments then." He returned his attention to the holomap display with the flight leaders.

Karena wasn't as easily convinced as she stood up. her voice snuck into his thoughts .o0 You're lying, but I'll wait until we're alone. Something scared you Her actual tone was lighter and less concerned," Come on, furball. Keep the growling down and I'll feed you when we're done here."

Approaching the other officers, Trin Canaar nodded. " I was aboard the Shining Path when we pulled out of Hoth. You two mynocks have to be the luckiest pilots I've ever heard of." He clapped Ralj on the shoulder in respect. " Sith, the fact anyone was crazy enough to fly in there in a Y-wing was bad enough."

" you haven't heard half the stories then." Kar interjected with a smirk.

" Allright people. Let's get to work." Treego butted in. the holomap showed a standard Imperial garrison, with one minor difference. It was surrounded by multiple layers of perimeter fencing. " The base has a history of issues with locals infiltrating. So it will make life a little more intersting, but the interceptors they have make it worth it. Suggestions?" He looked up at the others.

Kar's eyes hadn't left Raljar as she tried to get a read on him.

Raljar cleared his throat. He was still blushing across his nose and the insides of his ears, and Karena could feel the twisting, roiling knot of anger and fear still inside her partner through her empathic link with him. Cathar had powerful emotions; and though Raljar was fairly relaxed as his species went, by human standards he could be intensly emotional and passionate. It was difficult, almost impossible in fact, for him to conceal his emotions from her; and as time went on, he had only become easier to read.

He struggled briefly with his turmoil before speaking; an effort. Whatever it was, it had clearly disturbed him. "Sir, permission to speak."

Treego indicated that Raljar had permission; and so the Cathar outlined a plan.

"Sir, if locals have been infiltrating the base, that means they have reliable access or the Imperial garrison would have shut down their paths and leaned hard on the community. In my experience, reliable access to an imperial garrison means two things; inside help and outside...uh, less-than-legal interests." He rubbed his nose; Karena got the intense feeling he was at least familiar with the setup he was propositioning.

"Imperial kit is worth a fortune on the undermarkets; and the slugs know it as well as anybody. Rotten Imperial personnel sell their grek on the outside; that means using go-betweens. Locals make good go betweens, especially if they're paid well. You want inside, we could have sniffers check out the local undermarkets, see if they've got an operation set up for tapping the goods from the base. If they have, it'll make getting in a lot easier."

" I told you we wouldn't regret if you let him stay, sir." Kar smirked, her worries subsiding a bit.

Lt.Cmdr. Lum flashed his immense toothy smile. " " I expect as much from you two, Captain. the problem is we'll be in the system in two days, and there's no time to get General Cracken to sent out a team of his Infiltrators to assist us.."

Trin Canaar spoke up," We could always go in and do the ground work ourselves. We could put a team dirtside while the rest standby in case they need backup. One flight should be enough for the groundwork, and the other two rotate standby in case the Imps catch on to us."

Karena glanced at the other flight leaders, before rolling her eyes to Raljar. " You realize what your big mouth has gotten us into, furball?"

Raljar flashed a quick, weak smile, but he still looked troubled. As the discussion opened up to include the rest of the squadron, it became apparent that both Karena and Raljar themselves were amongst the most experienced field personnel the group possessed. It also became clear that the logistical requirements of such an infiltration operation could be met by the Past's own resources, though it would compromise the carrier's ability to launch a sustained defense should the need arise.

As the banter flowed around the chamber, from pilot to pilot, Karena was called upon to offer her opinion and situational insights.Raljar and a few others had also contributed their experiences; the general flow seemed to be one in support of the infiltration effort.

Lum gestured to Karena. "Captain, your input, if you please."

Karena knew it was coming, so she didn't hesitate to reply." Well sir, I think hitting might be a mistake." she waited a moment for her answer to sink in with the other officers before continuing, glancing at her datapad. " Our resources are limited right now, and the TIE's are a reasonable choice to reinforce ourselves, but let's face it, not many of us are qualified to fly TIEs, and we all know they are disposable. I think we should go after the local defense craft."

She keyed a button and transferred her information to the display. Another airfield showed up, though it was listed as under lockdown by imperial order." The locals have outdated craft, but they are Headhunters, so they should have hyperdrive and shields. In my opinion, we'd be better served by both, not to mention we could keep the Past safe from engagement zones as much as possible. Not to mention I'd sooner try to outsmart a local militia than some trained stormies. they do get lucky sometimes." she flashed a smirk Raljar knew too well.

Lum stroked his low chin. " Trin? Rem? You're thoughts?"

Rem nodded," I'd feel safer with Z-95's backing us up."

Trin grinned," Now I see why she's XO."

Kar looked at Raljar," Think we can pull it off? Got to be easier than that shuttle we stole." she chuckled.

Raljar cracked a smirk. "Headhunters are outdated. Seriously outdated. If the base has a wing of Interceptors...they're better ships. Even without shields and a hyperdrive."

Raljar rubbed his chin. "Far as I can see, we've got two choices; outdated but versatile, or modern fragile predators if they have Interceptors there. Most of us here are good pilots; we *could* pull the 'ceptors off. Problem is, TIE's don't have life support systems, and we've got a few crew here who won't fit into one of those black gas-suits easily."

The Cathar cracked his fingers. "I know which one I'd like to get my hands on, but a two-cred swoop jockey ain't the one to ask about this." He glanced at Karena "In my opinion."

Karena couldn't hold back her suprise that Ralj wasn't supporting her, letting it slip out in a snide comment," Yeah, if it's shiney and goes fast..." SHe let trail out under her breath and turned to address Lt. Cmdr Lum. " You're call, sir. I know I can pull off the double grab with the right people on the base team." she said confidently.

" I'll have to consider it and talk it over with Captain Santannis." Treego replied. " If nothing else, go get some rest, we'll begin simulator squadron training in a few hours. Study your unit briefs I've transmitted to your datapads. Dismissed ."

Kar didn't wait around much, and was the first one out the door. she wasn't in a hurry, but Raljar knew the body language, something was on her mind.

Raljar caught up with Karena in the corridor.

"Hey...what's wrong?" He murmured, as their crewmates filed past. He was still self-concious over the outburst, glancing away from the few curious glances he recieved and directing her into a small side corridor.

It was only a little privacy, but better than nothing. Small panels set into the walls blinked with red status lights. He rubbed his nose, staring at Karena intently. "Was it about the Headhunters? Or have I done something else wrong?"

He glanced over his shoulder, and back to her. "You know that was only my opinion, Kar. The commander asked for it, I gave it freely. I'm not doing it to annoy you." He smiled, and gently took her chin in his hand. "I know where that path leads."

Karena took a moment to compose herself. " That depends, do you want me to start with the fact that wingman, especially [partners] back each other up, or the fact that you flat out lied to me about whatever that outburst in there was?" She folded her arms, and made no attempt to return his affection.

Her brow was knitted with concern. " You scared the sith out of me, whatever that was. you scared everyone in the room for that matter, but I felt your rage." She said a little softer so no one would hear her reference to her slight force sensitivity. " what the mopek was that all about?"

Raljar's face fell; and for a moment, he couldn't meet her eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out; and his eyes flickered about, as if he were seeing something. "It's..."

A pause, and he looked into her eyes. A moment passed between them, and he exhaled with a growl; and Karena felt it again, the burning heat of the rage and anxiety returning. "I..." He sighed, his breath rumbling with agitation. "I saw something, okay? Something..."

Without warning, Karena caught a flash of something. Images echoed inside her mind; shadowy and indistinct, like a bad spice trip.


-should have made sure you were exterminated long ago, vermin-
-would never have been so resistive-
-Carney, what are you doing?!?-
-something I always wanted, and your pet gets to watch-
-NO!!-

The flickering thoughts flashed red and raw, and suddenly, she was back in the corridor. A moment had passed; the after-effect of the images felt like waking from a nightmare and carried a distant, though profound, sense of violation and fear.

Raljar's face was creased with anger as he wrestled with his emotions. He appeared to be grasping for the words to articulate whatever was on his mind without...

...worrying her...

[dakota]

Karena's eyes grew wide as she tried to make sense of what she saw, then she threw her arms around him. " Oh Ralj, I'm sorry." she apologized, her voice barely hiding her emotions. " what have I dragged you into? I had no idea my little touch of the force could be transferred." She half sobbed, blaming herself. " Oh dwang, I wish this had never happened to me. To us." she buried her head his shoulder, not caring that passerbys were staring.

She snuffed and looked up at Ralj, her eyesred rimmed," I'm sorry I got mad at you, and I'm sorry I've infected you with this.... this curse. They had the name right al along, they just didn't know the context." she rubbed her eyes. " Maybe Skywalker knows a way to bury this, or suppress it so it will stop screwing up our lives."

She rubbed her eyes, but made no mention of what she actually saw or felt, as if she was trying to deny it.

Raljar was taken off guard by Karena's sudden embrace, and stared, his arms wide as he tried to make sense of what just happened. As she spoke, his expression shifted from anger to pain; as she finished, he drew her close.

"Why do you do this to yourself?" He sighed into her hair, his eyes narrow. "You're not a curse. Stop injuring yourself, [Partner], please." He still wasn't entirely sure what had happened; but he knew when his love needed his support. He gently took her chin between his fingers and raised her gaze to meet his. "Whatever this gift of yours entails, if it...transferred...from you to me, then I embrace it." His voice was firm. "We're two as one, Kar; it's part of you, so how could I not?"

He wiped away her tears with a claw; the liquid sparkled on the razor-sharp appendage, shining like a ruby with the pulsing of the corridor's criticals. He held it up before her eyes, for her inspection. "Part of you. These injure me more than anything else."

He sighed. "Also...you're right." He drew her back into his warm embrace; though she couldn't see it, Karena felt the pang of guilt stab through him. "I should have backed you up, [Partner]. I'm sorry. I lied to you and I didn't hold to your lead. I failed. Forgive me."

Crewman were starting to stare now, the rumors not yet spread throughout the Past of their coupling. Karena noticed, and snapped at them," What? It's none of you're sithspawned business, so shove off!" Her snap lost some of it's effect thanks to the tears, but the other crewman caught her warning and moved on.

she looked back at Raljar and softened again. " Don't call it a gift. I'd do anything to make this stop. Especially now that it's affected you too. " She snuffed, regaining her composure enough to force a smile. " Good thing Tycho can't see me now, and what a big softie you've turned me into." She wiped her eyes. " Who would have ever thought a furball like you could turn me into a blubbering idiot. and I guess I'm not really that mad at you for what you told Treego, it just suprised me that you doubted my plan like that. We have done worse you know." She took his hand in hers. " I need a cup of caf, then some sim time once I get a tech to configure a simulator to the Hunter's specs. and then," she looked up at Ralj," you can tell me what you saw, because I couldn't make any sense out of it, other than Carney was with us and I was screaming at the end of it."

Raljar exhaled grimly. "You...won't like it, Kar. I'm not sure...not sure how to tell you what I saw, but I know it was...real..."

He sighed and shook his head. "If you want caf, we'll get caf, hit the sims. Get settled in." He looked around the corridor, and Karena could swear she saw her mate shudder. She realized that, more than anything, he was seeking a way to take his mind off what was troubling him.

He was silent for a moment; then he kissed her forehead. "Come on. Let's get that caf."

" Ralj, it's okay." Karena tried to comfort him. " I've seen my own death twice, What could really be worse than that?" She asked rhetoricaly as they entered the mess deck. she left his side long enough to retreive two mugs of caf and a small plate of meat rolls.

She glanced towards the simulators in the back of the room. " If you want to do something else, that's fine. I doubt the mechanics have my program uploaded yet anyways." She offered before taking a sbite of one of the meat rolls and washing it down with caf.

Raljar toyed with his mug of caf, his appetite gone. Around them, the ceasless bustle of the cantina, all bare metal deck plating and a mixture of dispensary, heavy industry and pilot lounge, continued without pause.

After a few moments the Cathar took a long drink from his mug, the buzz of the hot stimulant behind his eyes helping him to focus. The exhaustion of the transfer and no bunk-time following the Battle of Endor was starting to take its toll again.

He regarded his mug, savouring the mild high, and sighed. "You know I said that gift of yours didn't worry me? It does when my [mate] starts talking about her death."

A long moment. Almost too long, but before Karena could interject he took another gulp of his caf.

"I lied to you back there, [partner], and it hurts. Hurts deep, y'know? I've lied, lied more times than I can remember, but to you?..." He shook his head, and Karena noted that his silver mane was in need of grooming; it had been a while since he had taken care of himself. "No secrets. I'll tell you what I saw, but later. Not here. This...isn't the place for it. Meantime, we got sims to run."

And I hope you're still able to look at me after I tell you, he thought grimly to himself as he downed the rest of his drink.

Karena dumped the leftovers as they headed towards the simulators. she knew whatever had shaken her Cathar partner had to be serious, so for that reason alone she didn't get upset about him hiding the truth. " For now it's enough to know you only did it to protect me. We can talk later when we're alone, followed by a little makeup [mating] to smooth things over, okay?" She flashed a grin, though it was forced.

several of the simulators were in use as Kar steered them towards the end of the row. Kar chose one that was round like the cockpit of a TIE, and looked at Raljar," Try to focus for now. A few good runs will make you feel better. Just remember you're my wing and try not to let my TIE get kriffed from behind by someone supposed to be on our side while I make them look bad." she grinned and closed the simm cockpit. By the time Raljar was in his, he could see on the status panel that ?Kar was in standby, waiting for his simm to activate.

Raljar had winced at Kar's comments, but she hadn't noticed. Settling himself into the sim, the Cathar rubbed his eyes and flipped a few switches.

"Commence loading program A-12." The words were routine, response without thought. As the simulator loaded, his mind ran down two paths; one dedicated to learning the unfamiliar controls set out before him, and the second...elsewhere.

The Cathar's performance in the simulator was, by all accounts, exceptional; but Karena had flown with Raljar for a long time, knew his flying style intimately. His tactics and response times were aggressive, even by her mate's usual standards.

As a flyer, Ralj favoured a mixture of extremely aggressive gunnery mixed with quick-strike ambush tactics and white-knuckle, seat-of-the-pants maneuvers that only the reflexes of a Cathar could keep up with. Whilst his technical flying was exemplary, Raljar tended to apply conventional tactics only when it suited him; an infuriating, dangerous approach that nevertheless suited his instincts and temperament so well that opponents were frequently left second-guessing, clutching at vapour and fatally outmaneuvered. His wingmen were often terrified by his performance; but neglecting wingmates was not usually Raljar's blind spot when it came to combat flying, rather, his tendancy to focus on a single target to the exclusion of all else.

During the simulator runs, Karena noticed that Raljar was favouring the gunnery side of his tactics and neglecting his maneuvering. It was a distinct possibility that her mate was simply adjusting to the unfamiliar controls; but as the simulations ran their course, Karena became certain that her mate's aggressive flying was not simply linked to the unfamiliarity of the simulator vessels.

Kar considered saying something to Ralj by the time they started the fourth program about his aggression. She could almost feel it, as well as see it in the simulations. she reached out to touch his mind Relax [partner], whatever is bothering you is eating you... Hey!

Her connection was suddenly cut off, and at the same time Karena's TIE went ballistic, like she had gone dead stick. It was followed by a heated arguement outside the sims, and it was obvious Karena was part of it.

Raljar watched the simulated TIE spin off, out of control.

"End sim." He exhaled and toggled the simulator's release switch. As the holo-screens fell dark, he listened a moment to the muffled sounds of Karena's rage and unbuckled his harness, sliding the canopy back.

He emerged into the light of the sim array, blinking, as the focus of the argument came into view.

" Get your kriffing hands off me." Raljar heard Karena exclaim and his eyes adjusted in time to catch the aftermath connecting with an Aqualish crewman's crotch.

"Then get out of the sssimm, whoman." Replied a menacing Barabel, snarling at Kar where she stood blocking the simm access.

Kar snapped back. " Back off. I don't see your names on them."

" then look clossser." Replied the lizard man. " Thesse are Passsst pilot'ssss ssssimulatorssss. Alliansssse pilot now have own near hangar bay. You stay out of ours."

simm cockpits began to open and other Brown squadron pilots began to emerge, and more of the Past's crew were also taking interest.

" Look, we're supposed to be flying together soon. so can we cut this bravado and move on?" Kar offered a handshake.

" No." the Barabel replied, grabbing the outstretched hand and yanking her out of the way.

As Karena was yanked aside, the Barabel looked up in time to catch Raljar's haymaker. The impact spun the Barabel around and he crashed onto a table, scattering trays and mugs of liquid everywhere. The injured Aqualish honked loudly and reached for Raljar, but the Cathar gripped its wrist and snarled into its face, teeth bared. The Aqualish' eyes went wide and it stumbled backwards.

The Barabel was clutching one side of its face, hissing and spluttering as it tried to stagger back to its feet. Ralj stepped forwards, intent on continuing the violence, but one of the Past's crewmembers had grabbed a serving tray, and he smacked the Cathar over the back of the head with it. Raljar lurched forwards and staggered, and a pair of burly crewhand grabbed his arms behind his back. Raljar struggled mightily, freeing one arm long enough to splatter one of the heavy's noses across the man's cheek with a vicious stab from his elbow, but by this time other crewhands had leapt in and Ralj was wrestled to the ground.

"Holllld the sssssson of a mynock therrrrre!!" hissed the Barabel. The plates of armour beneath its swollen eye had crumpled and shattered, and thick blood oozed from the impact point where the scales had been driven into the soft flesh.

The huge lizard stepped forwards, towards where Ralj was face-down, head held back painfully and spitting snarled curses at his captors, and at the sight Benny Zeko and Arlon Trask involved themselves, Arlon yanking a smaller Human crewhand off of Raljar's back and Benny interposing himself between the struggling pile of sentients and the enraged Barabel.

"Ssstep asssside, Nikto." The Barabel flexed its jaw, the scales crunching softly.

"This needs to end now." Said Zeko levelly. "Look, everyone's under a lot of stress..."

"I sssaid move!" The Barabel made to shove Beny aside, but the Nikto's soft words stopped it dead in its tracks. "If you thought my colleague caused you pain, then rest assured, I will teach you a whole new definition of the term. Now back...off."

The Nikto's confidence and the set of his stance spoke volumes to the Barabel; and the huge lizard glanced around uncertainly, wiping the blood from its chin and hissing in anger. The air was thick with tension, deckhands and crewmembers beginning to pick sides, when security troops entered the canteen; a pair of officers, both Human, one male, one female; older hands with the distinctive helmets and uniforms of the Past's security troopers.

"Alright, back off. All of you." The man said firmly, his colleague resting her hand on her blaster. The thick tension began to subside, crewmembers stepping back and lowering improvised weapons. "What the fiirfek is going ON here?!"

A commotion began as people tried to get their accounts in, accusations levelled in both directions at Raljar and the Barabel, as Trask hauled the Cathar to his feet.

The security officer held up both hands. "Alright...alright. ALRIGHT." He looked around in exasperation. "One at a TIME."

Karena had felt the whole fight rising like a rushing red-edged torrent of hot gas in the room; Raljar and the Barabel seemed to be strong focal points for it, their anger palpable in the eddies and swirls of emotion about her; the crewhand with the broken nose didn't seem so calm either. She became aware of a dull throbbing from her hand; the same hand Ralj had used to punch the Barabel with.

Karena finally spoke up. " Chief, I think I can clear this up. It started with a difference of opinion between myself and our Barabel friend here. He and his Aqualish companion sought to kick me out of the simulator I was using and I wouldn't give in. I through the first punch.., well, kick and it escalated from there when my wingman came to my defense."

She glared at the Barabel. " Now, if they let Lt. Raljar's attack drop, I won't press charges for ausaulting an officer," she tugged at her collar to show off her captain's pips," and we chalk this whole thing up to as a learning experience. Deal?"

" Take the deal Snit. I don't need you in the brig." Said one of the human Past crewman, one with Colonel insignia" Not to mention I think the Nikto will kick your shebse."

" Fine. " The Barabel snarled. " Thisss wassss jussst a misssssunderssstanding, Chief."

"Good." The security officer gave Karena a hard look. "Keep your men under control, Captain." He also shot a glance at the Colonel who had spoken. "You too, Colonel." The man looked around the room. "Get this mess cleaned up."

As security departed, someone in the crowd said "Okay, you heard the man." The crowd stirred and began to disperse, some bending to pick up fallen utensiles and right overturned tables. A few filthy looks and mutters were exchanged on both sides, but for the moment the situation had been defused.

Trask was examining Raljar, who looked dishevelled but unrepentant. A patch of blood tangled and stained his mane where the tray had connected with his skull, and whilst he was waving off the attention Karena noticed he wasn't favouring his punching hand at all.

Raljar looked over at Karena. "You okay?"

"Hold still." Trask's tone was no-nonsense as he finished checking Raljar's wounds. "Yeah...get yourself down to medical, Lieutenant. Yanni, go with him."

"I'm okay." Ralj protested, but Yanni Wesk moved him towards the door, purposefully keeping her eyes off his head wound. "No arguments, sir. Let's get that hand looked at."

As the injured departed, Trask moved back into the crowd. Benny Zeko watched them leave, shaking his head. "You've got a hot one there, Captain." Karena got the distinct impression the Nikto was referring to the briefing as well as the brawl.

He cracked a smile, almost out of place amongst the heavy armour and spines of his face. "Still...off the record, I can't say I'm disappointed. Snit's had it coming since we got here. Bad temper and worse mouth on that one." The Barabel had lumbered out, the Aqualish and another crewman in tow. Zeko continued; "Takes guts or stupidity to swing for a Barabel like that. I'd say the Lieutenant's probably broken his hand. Barabel armour plates aren't just for show."

The Nikto looked down at Karena. "Are you okay, sir?"

“Go Ralj, I’ll be along in a few minutes. And behave yourself.” Karena called after him as he departed with Yanni, sounding like a mix of concern and order. She looked up at Zeko, and took his hand to pull herself up to her feet. “I’m fine. A little annoyed I let this happen, but physically I’m okay.”

She looked at her new squadmates with a bit of surprise at how fast they bonded together, though nothing brought pilots together faster than a fight. “You obviously weren’t paying attention to Deke or Cammie during the meet and greet. Ralj is more than a little protective of me, and not just because he’s my wingman.” She smirked lightly. “ It’s kind of complicated.”

The Past’s colonel approached with a dour look. “My apologies, Captain. Snit will be dealt with in short order. This isn’t how I wanted your squad to meet my Rancors.” He held out his hand. When Karena started to salute, the colonel stopped her,” You do that and you’ll start another fight. Rancor Squadron adheres to Alliance rank, but we are strictly no decor off duty. I’m Tranis Steranku, flight leader.”

Introductions were made, with Karena barely remembering the names of the pilots she served as executive officer. “I don’t think anyone really wanted this, but it’s not unheard of. I was just the lucky target to start it.” She looked at Benny,” what do you think, should the no décor rule be a ship’s law?”

Benny’s smile was an odd thing due to his natural protection. “Whatever you say, Karena. I think we can sell the luietenant commander on it.”

“I prefer Kar.” She replied before looking at Trassk,” Arlon, how do I get to medical?”

After getting directions, she turned to Tranis,” We need to get together with our other officers. Both squadrons need to work together. Might as well do it in the sims.”

“ Agreed. Tell your pilot he’s earned himself a drink next time we make port. He’s the first person to draw blood on Snit without a weapon. The sad part is despite his attitude, he’s one of my best pilots.”Tranis replied. “ I could show you to Medbay?”

“ Thanks, I’ll find it.” Kar grinned, realizing Steranku was flirting. “You have a Barabel to calm down.”

After a few wrong turns, Kar eventually found the medical bay. She announced her arrival by speaking out loudly enough Raljar would hear her arrive,” I’m looking for a genius of a pilot who’s pea sized brain got stuck in some of the mopek in his skull and tried to beat it loose with a tray from the galley.

The 2-1B medical droid that was applying a bacta patch to the back of Raljar’s skull paused to look in a mirror at the Cathar’s reflection ,the droid’s head tilted slightly,” I do not believe that is how you obtained this injury. It does not look self inflicted.”

Raljar's expression in the mirror darkened. "Are you a medic or an investigator?"

The droid whirred. "Sir, I am an Industrial Automaton 2-1B series medical droid. My current specialities include-"

"I thought so. Patch."

"Yes, sir." The droid continued applying the medicated patch as Raljar grimaced at his reflection and called out; "Over here, Captain."

Raljar was reclined on a flexible examination slab, his left hand enclosed to the wrist in a clear plastic bacta gel support. As Karena approached, the medical droid finished applying the patch and stepped back as Raljar brushed his hair back into place, the small square of medicated material amost hidden under the sweep of the Cathar's mane.

"Done, sir." The 2-1B turned, one servo-claw raised, and its metallic skull face looked at Karena. "Good morning, sir."

"Hey." Raljar grinned faintly at his mate as the droid left. He held up his injured hand. "Bruised knuckles, sprained tendons, two dislocated fingers. Not bad for a city boy, ah?"

His eyes flickered, looking her up and down, before meeting her gaze. "You okay?" he murmured.

[dakota]

Karena smiled as she approached and sat down next to her wingman. " You're lucky that's all you got, that tray would have cracked a normal skull." She teased as she took up his other hand in hers and tried not to bungle Cathese phrase " [my guardian]. Now, will you tell me what you saw in that vision."

The FX-7 medical assistance droid trundled in, two of it's servo arms extended towards Raljar's injured hand. Kar waved it off," Just give us a moment."

The droid blatted a negative and pressed forward.

" I said buzz off, or I'll rip those arms off and stick them in your dataport." She threatened, and the droid warbled as it backed away and moved away. She turned back to Ralj and dragged her hand along Ralj's cheek, Now, where were we?"

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“You wanted to see me, Captain?” Treego Lum stood to the side of the Shady Past’s bridge, his hands folded in front of his massive frame as Captain Santannis conversed with one of her bridge officers.

“ Yes I did, “ shatne replied, shooing away her officer. She beckoned the Chevin closer so she could lower her voice. “ What kind of screw ups have you brought together aboard my ship and called it a squadron, Lt. Commander?”

Treego was taken aback by the accusation, “I recommend you explain yourself, Ma’am.”

“ I mean I’m getting reports and complaints from all over my ship, and they all have to do with your people.” Santannis replied, offering a datacard. “ I’ve got two of your pilots and a mechanic locking themselves aboard a shuttle, promptly followed by the cockpit windows steaming up and a bare foot pressed against it. Or how about two more of your pilots rigging the simulators down on the hangar deck then betting on dogfights with my crew members.” She scowled and looked at Lum. “ and your officers are no better either. This XO of yours incites a brawl in the galley between your squadron and my Rancor Squadron, and now I get a report from a medical droid complaining she threatened to damage it because it interfered with her playing touchy feely with the Cathar pilot. We can’t have this kind of chaos if we’re supposed to bond together.”

“ sounds like several of them are bonding already.” The chevin guffawed. When he saw the captain wasn’t amused, he cleared his throat. “ I will see to my people and try to rein them in, but you have to understand Captain. Everyone of these pilots were involved at Endor. Some of them lost nearly all of their squadrons, others never should have lived through the ordeal and only did because of sheer refusal to die. You and your crew never made it in time to take part, so do not even presume to tell me how to handle them.” Treego’s voice dropped to be menacingly soft. “ The fact that none of them have burned out is a testament of their character in itself. None of them had chance to recouperate before being assigned to me, and they all need some downtime. Once my people steal ship craft for your so called squadron, I intend to find them a excuse to take some time to unwind.”

“ Now you wait a minute.” It was Santannis’ turn to become angered. “ I don’t have any snubfighters because I had to sell half of them to a Hutt to repair this ship after our last mission. When the call came in for the rendezvous, we were in Corellian drydock fixing the holes a pair of Strike cruisers put in us, and I voluntarily gave up my last remaining spaceworthy fighters to help rebuild squadrons like your own. If we had a choice, we would have been there with the rest of the fleet, so don’t you dare throw it in my face.”

Most of the bridge crew was forcing themselves to not stare at the officers feud, but the tension hung in the air heavily. Treego’s eyes narrowed. “ Then I believe we understand each other, Captain. The entire compliment requires some downtime. Perhaps once we liberate some fighters for your people, the Past should find a neutral port to put into for a day or two to fix that harmonic imbalance in the engines I felt before we went into hyperspace?”

Captain Santannis’ grim look softened. “ I suppose that wouldn’t be a bad idea. Once we clear Malastaire, we’ll find a suitable planet that can provide the necessary repairs.”

“ Very well, I have some children to chastise.” Treego turned and stalked off the bridge.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Across the comlinks of each member of Brown Squadron came a message. “ Meeting, conference room 2, hangar deck. Attendance Mandatory.”

Karena looked at Raljar, “ I don’t need the force to know that doesn’t sound good.”

A short time later, Karena and Raljar arrived at Conference Room 2. Inside, the pilots of Brown Squadron were sitting, leaning on the walls, or standing as personal preference dictated. Eyes turned their way as the pair stepped inside, and a few nods and mutters greeted them.

"Just in time. The Commander's on his way." Rem grinned at Raljar. "Busted up already, and you ain't even been here a day. You move fast, Lieutenant."

"Ah...yeah. Thanks Captain." Raljar flexed the stiff fingers of his injured hand, his jaw muscles twitching at the painful twinges that shot up his arm at the motion; though thanks to the combined miracles of bacta and Cathar healing, he felt only a deep and painful ache rather than eye-watering agony from the action.

The quiet conversation flowing around the room stopped as Commander Lum entered, and cast a baleful eye on proceedings. Even Ridgechaser fell silent; the Commander's face, whilst not precisely thunderous, was set into a grim and heavy cast; a thing his face was well suited for, even by Chevin standards.

Commander Lum swept the room with his glare, the pilots before him shuffling, looking resigned, or concealing their expressions. The general concensus in the room was that this had been a while coming; and no-one interrupted the Commander before he began.

Lum placed his large hands on either side of the podium and leaned on it. " Allright people, because of your acting like a bunch of spiced up street punks, I just got my butt chewed off by the captain, no small feat for a human to do."

Several pilots cracked a smile or chuckled, but the LT. Cmdr was not one of them. " The actions of this squadron have been unbecoming to the point of intolerable. We'll start with the easy one. Ridgechaser, Warsit, just how many credits did you scam off of crewman after rigging that simm?"

Cammie gulped as Deke replied," Uhh, all total, about three hundred between the two of us, sir."

" Make sure you lose it back to the same people playing sabacc tonight, and reset the simm setup, understood?"

Cammie nodded," Yessir."

" Canaar, Tran, I don't care what the status is on your relationship, but next time the pair of you want to make out, stick to your quarters and leave the crewman out of it. Apparently they are pressure washing the cockpit of that shuttle as we speak. Clear?"

Despite a few chuckles and Trin's blushing, Allie nodded," Yessir. We thought we were discreet, sir."

" Not when you press your feet against a viewscreen in a busy hanger you aren't." Lum replied. " Now for the big one. Captain Therez, what were you thinking?"

" I wasn't. The two Rancor squadron pilots ambushed me and I reacted, sir. They were looking for a fight and I started it. My wingman came to my defense and some of the others stepped in pretty quick, sir." Karena replied.

Lum paused a moment. " And then susequently threatened a medical droid with dismemberment? Unbecoming, Captain, don't let in happen again, understood?"

" Yessir, try not to let it happen more than once a week." Kar smirked.

Treego shook his head," Tycho warned me about you two." He turned back to the entire squadron. " Now let me make this clear to all of you. I don't have time to babysit, so from now on we will present ourselves in a suitable manner and stop acting like a bunch of pirates. What happens in private is no one's business, but if you make it public, it becomes my business. And none of you want it my business. mission planning at 0620 for those involved. Squadron simm at 0710, attendance mandatory. Dismissed."

There were groans about the early start as pilots filtered out of the room. " Therez, you and Raljar hold up. "

Kar was just starting to rise when Treego spoke, and retook her seat, no mean feat considering she was hiding her back was sore from being knocked down in the galley scuffle. Once all the others were out, Lum approached, his tree trunk arms folded. " I was warned that you two might have something going, but no one would confirm it. If this is just being kriff buddies, that's fine and have fun. Otherwise, I want to know. Also," he grinned," Raljar, you must have one hell of a right cross to crack an exoskeleton. How bad is the hand?"

Raljar held up his hand, the bacta gel in the wrap flowing and gurgling. "Kriffed, sir, but it'll heal."

He glanced at Karena a moment, before coughing and looking back at the Lt. Commander. "We're, uh...mated, sir. In the Cathar sense. The word is [Partners]." When Lum raised his eyebrows, Raljar nodded and cracked a faint grin. "It happened a while ago. I realized that Captain Therez was the female I wanted for my mate, so I popped the question. She accepted; only the [Ancestors] know why. It ain't registered, far as we know; but any Cathar would understand." He grinned at his mate, before looking back to Lum. "We...ah, we try and keep it off the scope, though it'd be great if we could get a twin bunkroom assigned." He nodded. "Single racks are [Hell] to sleep two in."

Upfront, unashamed and direct; her mate all over.

Treego let out a long sigh, then rubbed his chin. " That isn't the answer I was expect, and it complicates things a bit, doesn't it? Regs clearly state that spouses can't fly together except under extenuating circumstances or by the consent of the commanding officer."

Karena nodded. " Yes sir, but that is to get married, which we have not done. Right now it's more like an engagement, which is sort of a grey area. allthough if you'll condone it, then we won't have to sneak around behind closed doors."

" Did no one explain this ship's 'no decor' rule to you Karena? " Treego flashed abroad smile." You refer to me as sir once more and it wil cost you a drink. Now, I'm pretty unorthodox as a commander, so Iwon't break the two of you up, mainly because I'm short on pilots and from what I'm told, the two of you need each other. But, if it interferes with the squadron, I won't hesitate to ship the pair of you to the opposite ends of the galaxy. Now, as Captain, Karena you are entitled to an officer's wardroom, which is more than large enough to put two bunks together. Unfortuately that is the best I can offer, there's only one oversize bunk on this ship as far as I know, and that's because I require it."

" Thanks Suh..., Treego." Karena smiled. " We'll still try to keep it down played in public."

" Oh please, you let Ridgechaser know, so have the ship's compliment knew twenty minutes after you came on board." Lum scoffed. " Now I have to ask, can you....? " He paused to collect his train of thought. " They don't make maternity flight suits." He finally came out with awkwardly.

" We don't know." Karena said, glancing up at Raljar next to her. " But Raljar is taking medication from home to prevent that."

" Good enough. by the time you get back to your quarters, I'll have the arrangements made for the larger quarters by the time you repack your things. I appreciate your honesty. Dismissed, unless you have anything else to share." Treego said.

" Nope, not really." Kar replied and got to her feet. " C'mon furball, let's get out of here so he can get back to work. In Raljar's mind, she added I'm not ready to tell him about this yet. Not until we understand it better

Raljar nodded, and stood. "Thanks, Treego."

"Don't mention it. And I mean that." Lum smiled ruefully. "Get out of here."

As the pair made their way through the Past's corridors, Raljar grinned at Karena. "That coulda gone worse, ah? And yeah, you don't have to mention that."

He draped his good arm around her, and Karena realized he'd been in a better mood since the fight in the galley. The incident seemed to have released a lot of pent-up pressure in the Cathar. He seemed to have forgotten his jarring experience earlier in the day, though that might be because of the drugs they had shot him up wih in medical.

The transfer of their belongings didn't take long; there wasn't that much to move, though Raljar only had the use of one hand. He stubbornly refused any help offered, insisting on moving his own kit himself, and Karena knew that his pride wouldn't have it otherwise. The officer's wardroom she had been assigned was aft of the ship, near to the engineering section, and for a vessel like the Past it was actually fairly spacious, though it still looked like the inside of a mining hulk.

Raljar smirked at the sight of the two bunks dragged side by side. "You know that's gonna get the crew talking, Cammie or not." He pulled Karena close and rested his forehead on hers, eyes closed as they savoured the quiet peace of the room. He grinned faintly. "Dust in the thrusters, huh?"

The scent of his mane was warm and comforting, but Raljar was smelling a bit musky. He kissed her forhead. "I'm gonna hit the fresher. I'll get clean before duty if it kills me."

***

In the medical bay, Snit was having his eye examined by a medical technician. The orb was swollen and bloodshot, and the wound had turned an ugly bruised shade. He squinted, finding the light painful, as the tech pulled the last piece of broken scale from the impact site and dropped it into a bloody tray.

Two of Rancor Squadron's human pilots poked their heads in. One grinned and the other winced theatrically at the sight. "Hot damn, Snit, would you look at that? What happened, you headbutt a land speeder or something?"

"I heard he got stepped on by an At-At." The second pilot chuckled, and Snit snarled.

"Enough! It'ssss none of your damn businesss, you hear? I'll sssseee that whoman and her thugsss pay for thissss disssgrace..."

The Barabel trailed off, and the two pilots turned to see Tranis Steranku stood in the doorway, arms folded and his expression stony.

"You two. Out." The Colonel's voice was flat, and the two pilots left hurriedly. Snit swallowed and glanced about nervously as the Colonel stared at him. "Ahhh...ssssomething you needed...sssssir?" His growl tried to present a confident facade, but an undercurrent of chagrin gave the game away.

The medical technician had seen the writing on the hologram, so to speak; she made an excuse and left the med-cubicle, leaving the pair alone. Tranis watched her leave, then turned his glare back on the Barabel and tapped a control panel, closing the door behind him.

***

An officer's fresher. Raljar luxuriated in the warmth, recycled water sluicing over his body as he leaned against the cubicle wall.

He knew he had to tell her. He held his face up to the spray, letting the hot water pound his jumbled, chaotic thoughts into nothingness, leavingly only the moment and the sensation of the hot spray. It was a luxury that couldn't last, and he savoured every second.

The Cathar flexed his injured hand, the heat dulling the pain, and reached for the cleanser. His first hot shower since Endor and the end of the world.

There was a noise from outside the fresher as Raljar was rinsing. The screen moved slightly as Karena slid in be hind him, her playful half smirk appearing. " Though we've save a little hot water this way." she said.

She moved closer to embrace him beneath the spray, resting her head on his shoulder. Kar spoke softly, partly muffled by the noise of the sprayer," whatever it is that's bothering you, it's okay, I don't need to know. We'll always have little things that we keep to ourselves. I just don't want them to come between us."

Kar didn't realize she had even done it, but her hand had slipped into Raljar's injured one and gripped it softly. but instead of pain, his hand felt warm and tingly, like it was asleep and had to move to work away the sensation.

Ralj grunted and reflexively tried to pull his hand away, but he stopped and stared in mute incomprehension as the tingling numbed the pain in his hand.

"Kar, what are you..." His eyes narrowed as the sensation began to spread up his arm. His look of suspicion slowly turned into a faint grin borne of wonder, though, as the sensation began to bring with it a sense of vitality and euphoria. He glanced into her eyes and back down at their clasped hands, and gasped a short laugh.

"Feels...feels good. What...?"

" What?" Karena looked up at Raljar, in confusion. " What's wrong? Oh my sith, I wasn't thinking." She started to exclaim, getting upset with herself as she released her hold and backed to the back of the shower.. " Calm down. I'll call the med techs! Oh Sith, the pain is making you delerious!"

" Ju..ju... just try to calm down Ralj, I'll get help." She stammered as she stumbled out of the shower, nearly slipping on the now wet floor as she grabbed for a towel while pulling her comlink from her uniform pocket.

Rljar stared at his hand in amazement, flexing his fingers, turning it this way and that. The tingling had faded, replaced with a warm feeling of wellbeing, and there was no pain. Even the feeling of injury had gone.

"Kar? Kar, how did you do that? Kar...?" He emerged from the fresher just as she was pulling out her commlink.

"Hey!" Kar, it's okay!" He gently took the commlink from her just as she keyed it, and tossed it onto the bunks. He was grinning. "It's okay, I'm not delirious. Look!"

He held up his hand for her inspection, flexing and twisting the appendage so she could see how freely it moved.

He shook his head in amazement. "That's incredible. What'd you do? There's no pain." He laughed; he couldn't help it. "It doesn't even feel injured." He swivelled his wrist and cracked his knuckles, staring at his hand. He seemed oblivious to the fact he was still naked and soaking wet, water pooling from his dripping body onto the deck plating.

[dakota]

" What? How?" Karena asked in confusion, staring at his hand. " I don't understand how that's possible. all I did was touch your ...."

Her entire body seemed to quiver as her eyes rolled up to meet his, her face paled. Are you sure it was me? Ralj, I've never done anything like this before. Visions and a little bit of tele-whatever they call it to pick stuff up is one thing, but this, this is a big deal. I didn't even know I was doing it, let alone how or why it happened. Not to mention how do we explain this to Lum?" Her tone held more fear than anything as she trembled, partially caused by the goosebumps beginning to overtake her skin.

Raljar disappeared into the fresher for a minute; when he returned he had wrapped a towel around his waist and brought a second, which he wrapped around Karena's shoulders as he sat with her on the bunk. The rough material was warm; fresh from the sanitizer.

The Cathar wrapped his arm around her, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. The two sat like that for a few moments, Raljar's warm presence a bulwark against the fear inside her. He closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of her damp hair. "It's easy, [partner]. We don't."

When she looked up at him, he smiled grimly. "I'm serious. Does Lum need to know? Yanni's a good intern; most of the squadron have experience with treating wounds. What will you be telling Lum that's going to change that significantly? You don't need the hassle right now. If something happens that we need to tell him...we'll tell him then. Ah?" He grinned. "[Ancestor's], but you're full of surprises."

He stroked his claws through her damp curls, untangling knots and smoothing her hair, working with practiced care and precision. As he groomed her, though, a realization began to dawn on him; like a few pieces of a dark and occluded puzzle clicking into place. Eventually he stopped, and was still for a time. When he spoke again, he sounded unsettled, sombre.

"This..." He growled. "This could change everything, though. Maybe...maybe it's why I saw..."

He was quiet for a few moments; then, he began to speak. Not looking at her; rather, like he was watching a memory play out in his mind, and describing what he saw. His voice was low, and he spoke slowly as the memories played themselves out. He left out nothing; and as the story came to its conclusion, his voice began to shake slightly as the emotions rose up to grip him by the throat. The conclusion he could barely utter, and as he finished with Careny's last few words...

"...and your pet gets to watch, unless he tells me..."

...his hands began to shake. He clenched them into fists; and Karena could feel the rage rising from her mate like a bloody mist.

"He laughs." Ralj managed to choke out, his voice shaking like his hands, so clear had the memory become as he spoke. "He's going to...to..." His voice sinks to a ragged whisper. "Violate you...and he laughs." The last word is a curse, an epithet filled with raw loathing and hatred, painful to hear.

Karena sat quietly for a moment. She stared at the floor for a moment, unable to do anything to calm Raljar. She swallowed hard as she spoke, barely a whisper. " I've seen that vision before. I thought it was a nightmare. I couldn't tell who my ...attacker was because he was behind me, and you weren't in my version. I saw it long before we... oh, I'm gonna be..," She darted for the fresher, and the sounds of her stomach divulging echoed off the empty walls, followed by sobs.

she came back in, wiping at her face with the towel. Her scared expression made her seem vulnerable in a way Raljar had never seen. Swallowing hard, she wiped at her eyes as she let the towel drop to the floor. She drew out fresh clothes and began to dress. Her voice was choked up as she began to dress," We're going to be late squad sims." she was obviously trying to hide her feelings by changing the subject." You better wrap your hand or something to at least hide it a little so no one gets suspicious."

Raljar rubbed his face, hard. The sound of Karena vomiting, and her sobs, pained him terribly. Fear and rage warred with the need to comfort his beloved, and quickly gave ground.

As Karena dressed, he took her shoulder and turned her into his embrace, folding his arms about her as a shield against the darkness without and the fear within. He rumbled into her hair, his eyes unfocused; looking beyond her. "It's not going to happen. I won't let it."

He closed his eyes, and rested his chin on her head. His strong, steady heartbeat was a metronome against her skin; and he released her enough to allow her to look at him. His eyes were narrow slits of amber fire in the gloom. "He won't get the chance, Kar. I promise. He's not going to hurt you. Not whilst I live and breathe."

He brushed her cheek with the fingers of his freshly healed hand. "I love you. You know what that means to a Cathar. I'll die killing him before he'll ever lay a finger on you again."

The amber slits narrowed. "Siraea would understand, and if she were here, she'd do the same for you. You're my blood...our blood...now, Kar. Our kin. Even if it meant nothing to our sire, it means everything to us. [Mom] would understand...and she's watching over you, too. I know...I can feel it."

He smiled then, eyes misty for a moment though Karena couldn't see it. "I wish you could have met her, Kar. She'd have been thrilled to meet you. She always said I was good-for-nothing; that the racing would be the death of me before I found my [partner]." He grinned into the darkness as tears cut their way down his cheeks. "She'd have loved you like her own daughter. She does love you."

He snuffled, rubbing his nose. "Hah! You think Hoskels should be frightened of me...[Mom]? The [ancestors] won't be getting in her way if he comes anywhere near you."

Kar was content to just stand there in Ralj's arms. she said nothing, and eventually the trembling stopped. "[Thank you, my love]" was the only thing she managed to say for a long time, until a comm call to remind them they were late for squadron sim practice. " We better go." she said with a sigh, and continued getting dressed.


[You want a skip, here you go....]

[Next morning]

“ All right people, settle down.” Lt. Cmdr Lum said as he looked around the room. The pilots had segregated themselves as expected, with Brown Squadron on one side, and Rancor Squadron on the other. “First off, I’ve had chance to review the plans submitted for the mission on Malastaire, and after conferring with Captain Santannis and Major Steraku, I’m going to green light the plan suggested that we steal both the TIEs and the Z-95s. Major Steraku assures me his Rancors have experience in obtaining replacement fighters this way,” he paused a moment until the Rancors stopped snickering amongst themselves,” and they seem eager to become an active fighter squadron again, so the Headhunters will be their responsibility. Brown squadron will split our attention between obtaining the TIEs and providing air support if needed.”

Karena looked over at Raljar long enough to gloat about her plan being approved, but said nothing, merely letting her hand rest upon his recently healed one. Here comes the good part

Treego continued. “ Captain Therez will be in charge of the ground forces from Brown Squadron, while I will supply the support flight with Benny, Allie and Raljar.”

Karena’s grin faded and she had to fight the urge to stand up and protest. Whether it was their bond, the force, or just her woman’s prerogative, the fact that she was unhappy with the decision was impossible to miss. By the looks shooting their way, more than a couple members of the squadrons picked up on it too.

Treego made eye contact with her for a moment himself before continuing on,” The ground team will recce the garrison, then infiltrate and commandeer as many craft as they can. Once airborne, they will signal the pilots of Rancor to proceed in their own half of the operation. Tranis, how many pilots will you be putting on the ground?”

Steraku looked at his motley crew of pilots and shrugged,” All of them, plus a couple of the ship’s crew as well. Intel says the militia maintains three squadrons in the two hangars, so I plan on taking as many as possible.” His pilots all laughed amongst themselves as he added, “Pirates always say come big or stay home, commander.”

Treego shook his huge head. “ Very well. Might be overkill, but it is your portion of the operation.” He turned his attention back to his own squadron and waited for the Rancor’s to settle. “Now, logistics out of the way, we have a couple other items to settle. Thanks to Lieutenant Raljar, we are no longer Brown Squadron effectively immediately. Rather fitting, considering our counterpart squadron’s name. From here on, we’ll be known as Krayt Squadron. Once we have opportunity, Raljar is entitled to a three day pass. “

Pats on the back came from behind from Trin and Deke as Kar averted her eyes, trying to hide a sheepish grin. You can yell at me later if you want, but you’re the last Krayt, so it’s only fitting you carry on their name. I thought it would be a show of respect

“ Lastly,” Treego spoke up, “as we speak, maintenance crews are moving all shipboard simulators to what was storage room two. From now on, the sims will be shared and both squadrons will train together. If we have another disagreement over sim usage, I will be the one to settle it.” He held up a fist, which was larger than a human head.

“ You have no authority over us.” One of the Rancors complained.

“ On the contrary. I am the ranking pilot on board, and the Past is aa Alliance vessel. Tranis is in agreement, so take it up with him if you don’t like it. Otherwise, you are dismissed.”

As everyone started to stand, Kar sputtered. “time to start a fight.” She started to the front of the room. “ Lt. Commander, I want Raljar on the ground. You know he and I always work together.”

Treego sighed, expecting this. He counted his points on his fingers. “One, you’re sneaking onto an Imp base, so you need human pilots. Two, as far as I know, he’s never even sat in a TIE, let alone steal one. Three, I need at least one A-wing’s speed in the backup team to make up for my B-wing. Four, thanks to his gallantry coming to your rescue, I don’t even know if he will be fit to fly in time and I may have to put him in gunner in a Y-wing to even take part.” He looked at Raljar, “ Did I miss anything?"

Karena had vented most of her emotions on their poor squadmates in the sims the night before and before the meeting, but it was clear she found some reserves to take out on Treego.

Raljar's eyes flickered between Lum and Karena, and he swallowed. "Uh...no, nothing."

The room began to clear, a few pilots patting Raljar on the back or sharing words of congratulations. The Cathar returned them distractedly, making his way down the isle as the two squadrons filtered out.

Treego looked between the pair as Raljar joined them on the podium. "Therez, we spoke about this. The second your relationship gets in the way of squadron operations, my hands are tied. Now I understand..." He held up a huge hand to forstall her outburst "...that you both make a highly effective team, but this mission requires humans on the ground. Maybe not for the militia, but that's Rancor's job." He glanced at Raljar, raising his heavy brows. "Now our task is going to be the hard one; I don't think I have to explain that. Lieutenant, how is the hand?"

Raljar held up his hand; he had replaced the bacta wrap for appearances sake. "It's fine, s...Treego. I...uh, that is, my kind heal up fast, and the bacta's doing miracles."

Genuine miracles... Karena picked up the trailing edge of Raljar's wry thought.

Lum nodded slowly. "Just be sure it is." He looked back at Karena. "This mission is going to run like a computer program, or things will get very hard very fast. Aside from the fact that Raljar can't pass for human except under exceptional circumstances, he isn't qualified to fly a TIE. Any TIE."

Treego looked at them both. "I'm sorry. Believe me, I know how hard it is to break up a winning team, but we need Raljar in the air. He's our only pilot qualified to fly an A-Wing under combat conditions with you on the ground. Our resources are limited. I can't risk the loss of operational effectiveness to keep you two together on this one. Now, are there any other questions?"

" No sir." Karena replied, practically spitting it out. " It's just..., well he'll be in trooper armor anyways, so I could use Benny's skills on the ground too. Not to mention you're letting me take a near sighted Arconan and a Bothan, but not Raljar" she was grasping at straws.

" Therez, you're trying my patience. They have TIE experience." Treego warned.

" That's the XO's job. Tycho warned you I was a pain in the ass." Kar shot back.

" You are bordering on insubordination." Lum's eyes narrowed.

" I like to live on the edge. It's my corellian side." she countered.

" You are one step away from being releived of leading this away mission." he pointed at Kar.

Karena's temper was raging, fueled by her fears. She took a step forward.

Lum's eyes widened in disbeleif. " Good enough. You are releived of duty until further notice and excused from sim training."

Kar saluted and spun on her heels, exiting the room and turning right towards the hangar. Before Raljar could react and follow after her, Treego laid a massive hand on his shoulder. " Raljar, let her go. Right now if you chase after her, she'll vent on you just like she did in the first squadron meeting. Yes, I know about that. Something is wrong with her. she doesn't have her head on straight and I need you to fix it, or at least try. Otherwise she's going to get herself killed. trust me, I've seen this before, and I can't afford to loose the pair of you like that. Can you at least give me something to justify her actions so I don't have to do up a report or send her for a mental evaluation?


Karena was furious, not only at Treego, but with herself for losing control. She passed by Allie and Hespi talking, but didn't acknowledge their hellos. She made her way up the gantry and into her fighter, flopping down into the seat. she leaned back to look at the open hatch above her, then focused herself, knowing full well that only two things would calm her down, and Raljar's voice of reason wasn't there.

**************************

" So?" Asked the cloaked figure seated facing the viewport.

Carney Hoskels stood in the dim lights of the small observation room, the corridor lighting spilling past him into the room's darkness. He swallowed before replying," Yes, Lord Tosk. We received a signal from our operative that your quarry is in hyperspace."

" and their destination?"

" Unable to confirm due to the relay system the signal uses, but sources within the Alliance fleet say they were aboard the Shady Past which departed two days ago for Wild Space." Hoskels replied.

" Exactly as expected. Your team is ready to intercept them?" Inquisitor Tosk said without turning.

" Of course, milord. They are waiting on Malastare as you instructed."

Tosk turned, only his wicked smile visible. " Excellent. They are to be delivered in one piece, Hoskels. Forget this vengence you seek and bring them to me."

Carney nodded. " Yes Milord. Shall I pass along this information to the Grand Admiral to deal with the rest of the rebels?"

Tosk laughed, an evil sounding noise that echoed within the small chamber. " Of course not. Hoursk has his own sources, he will discover their presence soon enough. Be gone now before you miss your shuttle through the Lobas Corridor." The chair swiveled away from Hoskels to face the viewport again, and watched the pair of massive Super Star Destroyers being built in the orbital shipyards below circling the unknown planet of Xarbareth below. A shipyard that would rival Kuat if anyone knew about it. Beyond them, the swirling mists of the Lobas Gas cloud that hid the largest asteroid field in the galaxy and no one knew it existed filled the viewport.

Carney nodded and left the chamber, visibly shaken as he doubletimed to the Belligerence's hangar bay.

****************

Raljar watched Kar leave, then closed his eyes and spat a curse. As Treego's hand laid on his shoulder, the Cathar shook his head.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked sharply. "We've been together for years now. I'm the one who sleeps with her; I'm the one who gets woken when she's had a nightmare; I'm the one who has to listen when she cries in her sleep fighting...things that aren't there." Raljar held up his hands, then let them fall in a gesture of helplessness. "And I can't keep those things at bay for her. I can't keep her safe from them."

He sighed, his stomach feeling like it was filled with lead. "And I know what causes it. That's what makes it so kriffing hard to stomach. That I know what's hurting my [Partner], but I can't fight it. It can't be fought."

Treego's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about, son?"

Raljar felt like someone had clamped their fist around his heart. For long moments he wavered between his loyalty to his mate and his desire to explain her actions and keep her from suffering the consequences.

Flickers of memory-

-I'm not ready to tell him about this yet. Not until we understand it better-

-We'll always have little things that we keep to ourselves. I just don't want them to come between us-

-How do we explain this to Lum?-

-It's easy, [partner]. We don't-

He let out a breath, unclenching his hand where it had balled into a fist. Treego had noted the Cathar's tension; but he remained quiet, giving Raljar the space he needed to speak.

"Sir, I...haaah. I can't tell you. Please, trust me." Raljar held up a hand to forstall Treego's response. "Karena...she's..."

Treego watched the Cathar struggle with himself.

"...sir, please. Trust me. Put this one down to...exhaustion, or combat shakes, anything."

Treego sighed and shook his ponderous head. "You know that's not enou-"

"Please!" Raljar growled, rubbing his face. "Sir, trust me, this can't be helped. Not with a psyche-test, not with brig time, not with..." He let out an explosive breath. "I can help her..."

Treego's voice was calm, understanding. He had gained an insight into Raljar's conflicted loyalties; and he felt a certain degree of sympathy. "You just said you couldn't, son. Which am I to believe?"

When Raljar couldn't answer, Treego patted him on the back. "You're loyal to her; and you're used to dealing with situations on your own. I respect that." He watched Raljar closely. "But understand; I can't let her fly like this. She's a damned good pilot; it would be a crime for her to be grounded, but I won't risk her instability causing problems. I certainly won't risk it getting her killed, because it will."

"That was ruthless." Raljar's voice was bitter.

"I know." The Chevin said simply. "But it's also true. I know you care about her; but whatever burden you've shouldered for her, it's too damned heavy. For the both of you. Isn't it?"

Raljar was silent.

"Come on, son." Treego gripped Raljar's shoulder. "I think, whatever it is, you've both carried it too long. It's starting to hurt."

"What's your interest?" Raljar was angry; angry at Treego's insights, angry at himself, but a part of him was listening to the Chevin's words, and he hated himself for that all the more.

"My interest? I'm selfish. I want an officer with Karena's record under my command and on duty." Treego briefly cracked a half-smile, though his face remained serious. "But I won't have her insubordinate. I won't have her risking herself or my pilots because of whatever it is you're carrying. Talk to me, Raljar. My hands are tied, but you can help her here. I can't."

Under his haze of torn loyalty and self-anger, Raljar was beginning to understand why the Chevin had risen as high and as fast as he had from his days as a gun runner.

***

As Karena walked past without acknowledging the pair, Allie Tran huffed. "What's crawled up her exhaust port?"

Hespi Rus'trk shook her head. "Whatever it is, you can probably blame that male of hers."

As Karena entered her fighter, however, Tran's face became concerned.

Alone, undisturbed, Karena began to calm down. She took out her datapad and called up a personal file. The screen displayed some sort of ugly contraption that at one time may have been a snubfighter. she began reviewing the files, at the same time taking notes on a pad from her file.

* * * * * **

Treego gave Raljar a moment to think. " Let me put this to you another way. I know the two of you covered up something with that outburst of yours yesterday. I let it slide. But, in doing so, I could have ground both of you from lying to me. Officially I could order you to start explaining yourselves, but that would get me nowheres."

His eyes narrowed. " That would just drive you two further away from the others, so I would rather have you volunteer the information. Then you can go to her and try to work things out again. Reading her file, since you are still here, she's in the hagar somewheres."

Then Lum jumped to a conclusion that was wilder than the truth of the matter. " Son, if she's with child, I need to know. I can't have a pregnant pilot out there."

[dakota]

Raljar shook his head. "No. She can't be. I'm taking contraceptive meds; Kar's adamant that we-"

-A Cathar youth with Human eyes looking up at him, whilst an old man tells the story of how the boy lost his parents-

Raljar blinked, then grimaced; he could feel a splitting headache coming on. "...we, uh, that is, she isn't ready."

Treego nodded slowly, then cleared his throat. "None of my business at any rate. I'm amazed it's even possible. Back to the question at hand, though."

Raljar rubbed his temples, fighting a battle between conscience and loyalty. Silence and honouring his lover's wish versus...what?

Her breaking down. Or worse. Much worse.

"It doesn't have to happen." He muttered to himself.

"What?" Said Treego. "I don't understand. What doesn't have to-?"

Raljar turned, and he looked weary. "I'll tell you what's going on, what you need to hear, but this goes against my mate's wishes. I'll pay for that if I have to; but before I tell you what's going on, I need a promise from you. What I tell you don't go further than this room."

"Son...this isn't about secrecy, it's about the fitness of Karena to serve-"

"Promise me.Sir."

Treego stopped; and he and Raljar looked at each other for long moments. The Cathar's jaw was set defiantly, and something about his tone of voice told the Chevin that the matter he was pressing on was remarkably sensitive. More so than he had suspected.

"Alright, son. I promise, though as your superior, I really shouldn't have to." His tone was stern. "Go on."

Raljar looked out the room's viewport onto the hyperfield beyond. "Have you heard of the Force?"

Treego's sputtered for a moment, then managed; "What?"

Lum's eyes narrowed. " That's nothing to joke about, son. The force is a strange and powerful thing, and not something to be used as an excuse." Not only did he not beleive Raljar, he almost seemed offended by the answer.

" Uh sir, it's true, or at least me and Cammie have suspected it as long as we've known Kar." Deke said from the doorway. " Not that she ever did anything to comprimise herself, but little things over the years that an average person could never do, not to mention that damned uncanny intuition of hers." He looked to Raljar," Cammie shadowed Kar. She's hiding out in the cockpit of that monstrosity she lugged here with her. Sorry for poking my nose in, but squad mates have to back each other up." He smirked.

Raljar and Treego both fixed Deke with a hard stare, and Deke held up his hands defensively. "Sorry I interrupted."

Raljar looked back to Treego. "Deke's right. I haven't know Karena as long as he has, but we're close...very close. I know her, and I know she hears the Force."

Treego looked at both of his officers, and rubbed his long trunk-like snout hard with a huge hand. "Are you telling me...both of you...that Karena's present difficulties are...?"

"Caused by her hearing the Force. Yeah." Raljar nodded.

Treego hauled himself back up on the podium, seemingly lost in thought. Raljar leaned closer to Deke and growled sidelong; "What are you doing here?"

"Helping out." Deke murmured in return. Both stood at ease as Treego turned.

"This seriously complicates matters." The Chevin fixed Raljar with a baleful eye. "Does anyone else know about Karena's...sensitivity?"

"Myself, Raljar here, a couple of the other pilots." Deke supplied.

"Celchu and Skywalker too." Raljar finished.

Treego sighed like a set of bellows deflating, and rubbed his eyes. "This...is completely unexpected. And it's absolutely not the kind of thing that should be kept from a command officer...though I can understand why you chose to keep quiet about it."

"What about Karena, sir?" Said Deke.

Treego drummed his fingers on the podium. "I'll choose to overlook her insubordination this time in light of...new information." He pointed at Raljar. "Though my previous instructions stand. Whatever is causing her stress, I want it dealt with. Get her stowed away, Lieutenant, before I have no choice but to have her grounded. In the meantime..." Treego muttered. "I need to go have words with the databoys. We'll speak again soon. Dismissed."

As Raljar and Deke left the wardroom, Deke shook his head. "He didn't seem interested in the details."

"Probably a lot to take in. He seemed...impressed." Raljar glanced at Deke.

"Intimidated would be a better word." Deke frowned. "Strange."

As they made their way to the hangar deck, Raljar gripped Deke's arm and stopped them both. "Look, thanks for backing me up back there, but..."

Deke grinned, and patted Raljar's shoulder. "It's not just you who looks out for her, you know. Now I know it probably wasn't any of my business, but if you're asking me to apologize? Sorry, but that ain't going to happen."

Raljar cocked his head, eyes narrowing, but Deke's smile didn't waver. "I go back a long way with Therez. So does Ridgechaser. I'm glad she's found someone in her life to keep her on the straight and narrow, but she's a handful; too much for one man to handle when the gift gets to her. It's those times we pitch in to keep her going, and whether we do it obviously or not don't matter." Deke's smile was sharper now. "She's a good woman - the best. Until she's shaken off whatever it is that's cutting her? We'll be there, watching her back. That goes back further than you, cat-man. And it ain't going to stop any time soon."

Raljar was silent, digesting Deke's words, and Deke gripped his shoulder, his smile warm once more. "Come on, let's go find her."

[Little fast forward]

“You did what?” Karena asked, in utter disbelief, rocking back on her heels against the TIE gantry ladder.

“It wasn’t Raljar’s fault, Kar.” Deke butted in to defend Ralj. “Lum had him backed into a corner, so I let the wrix out of it’s cage so he wouldn’t have to. Sorry Cap, but it was either that or the pair of you were about to get booted back to Fleet to wait for some dead end posting guarding garbage scows or something worse.”

Karena ran her hands through her hair, unsure what say next. “This is great. I knew he’d find out, but stang it…………. Arrghh” she fought to contain her frustration. “Wha…, this is crazy. What is he going to do about it?”

From behind her, Cameron was approaching unnoticed. He smirked, his hands extended. He grinned as he grabbed her from behind by the hip and drew Karena back to him with a chuckle. The position he held Kar in immediately brought to mind the vision of Carney. Kar’s response was sheer terror as she spun to face her attacker.

Cammie’s chuckle shifted to surprise as Kar’s arm swung around, but something happened. Cammie flew backwards before her hand struck, slamming him back nearly ten metres to slam against one of the x-wings. As Cameron slumped to the floor with a groan, Deke ran to his pilot. “ Sithspit, Cammie, I’m sorry. I…, I didn’t mean to…,” she stood there in shock.

Cammie groaned as Deke helped him up. “ If that’s your backhand, I’m glad it wasn’t an uppercut.” He rubbed the back of his head.

Deke looked at Raljar," Get her back to your quarters and knock her out of this funk so she gains some control. Talk to her, knock her out, make love, I don't care. Until she gets her head on straight, she'll never gain any control."

Karena didn’t respond, she was still in shock, standing there trembling.

Several crew technicians close to the incident hard stopped to stare at Karena, some open-mouthed. As Deke helped Cameron back to his feet, Raljar took Karena by the arm. "Kar, come with me. Come on." He stifled her protest with his insistence, directing her away from the growing crowd of onlookers. "Commander's orders."

As Ralj steered Kar from the hangar deck, Allie and Hespi ran up to the small crowd at the X-Wing.

"Cam, Deke! What happened? Are you okay?" Allie, her normal jealousy forgotten for the moment, helped Deke steady Cam, who was still looking shaken. "What in the sith did she just do to you?"

Deke shrugged his shoulders. "It's nothing, he'll be alright. Captain's got a right hook like a bantha, ain't that right Cam?" Though he was grinning playfully, Deke's voice told Cam a lot more than the onlookers could hear. A few of the techs murmured to each other and looked over to where Raljar and Karena had left the bay.

Cameron mumbled an affirmative in reply. His head was spinning, and he felt like he had been kicked by a Bantha. Whatever Karena had hit him with, it had tossed him a good ten meters like a rag doll. The fact was not lost on Hespi Rut'rsk, who reached up to run her hand over the X-Wing's armour plating where Cameron had hit it, before glancing towards the bay exit with a troubled expression.

By the time they cleared the hangar and all of it's onlookers, Karena was starting to become coherent again. She tried to stop and shrug out of Raljar's grip. " Stop. Let me go, you big furry...., come on Ralj, I mean it. Stop." she knew she was wasting time against his physical strength, but struggled and protested none the less when they were alone in the corridors, knowing full well it would get reported otherwise. If it didn't all ready.

Reaching their shared quarters, was a different story. She pulled hard enough to beak Ralj's grasp, and spun around to face him. " Don't you ever do that to me again." she warned, her eyes seemingly crackling with energy. Dark energy, it's blackness raw and powerful enough that Raljar could feel it growing within her. Then, like a flick of a switch, it was gone. Her eyes softened as she asked," Ralj, what's happening to me?"


" Remind me not to spar with her anymore." Cammie managed to slur out as he steadied himself. Experience told him he had a concussion, but had to hide it until they got clear from the others. " guess I remember why you don't sneak up on the Kurse."

Hespi Rus'trk's eyes narrowed. " You have to go to the Lt. Commander. XO or not, the captain just assaulted you." The female bothan seemed to be taking issue with Karena already, but why seemed to her secret.

Cameron waved off Hespi, and Deke peered into Cam's slightly unfocused eyes before frowning at the Bothan. "He'll do what needs to be done, after we get him to medical. Someone give me a hand here?" A technician jogged over, and with Cam between them the two men maneuvered him towards the bay exit where Karena and Ralj had left.

As the three men hustled out, Ellie glanced sidelong at Hespi. The Bothan looked annoyed. "Did no-one see what just happened?" She sputtered, angrily stroking her beard.

Ellie shrugged. "Not really. From what I hear, Ridgechaser brings out the rancor in people frequently. Probably deserved the right hook."

"It wasn't a right hook." Hespi looked disgusted, and left for the nearest access port at a fast walk.

"What? What are you - Hespi! What's wrong? Wait up!" Tran jogged after the departing Bothan. "What's going on?!"

*****

As Karena's vision began to clear from the haze of hatred and rage, she saw Raljar, looking distinctly unsettled, edging towards her, one hand extended. "Kar? Easy...it's me. Okay?"

When she didn't resist or lash out at him, he carefully touched her cheek with the fingers of his hand, his eyes searching hers. "You back with us, [partner]?" His voice was gentle; his eyes, though, betrayed his taut caution, and Karena could see the tension in his muscles and face both.

Karena was torn between pulling close or pushing Raljar away. she obviously knew what had just happened, but didn't know what happened to her. Then her eyes widened and she spoke quietly." The dark side comes way to easily if I'm not careful." She still made no attempt to move, only wrapping herself up in her arms," This is how uncle Ibraheim started, and I told you what happened to him. Ralj, if I start to turn like that, you'll.....," she swallowed hard, knowing it went completely against the way he described his people's bonding rituals," do the right thing and stop me, right? I mean it Raljar, Idon't want to turn into a force weilding monster, and if it comes don't to it, I would rather you stop me before it happens than have that conceited Skywalker come after me later, even if I could tell him it was his fault for ignoring me."

Raljar gripped Kar's shoulders, and she suddenly found his face an inch from hers, his eyes glittering in the half-light of the room. "Stop listening to it. Stop it now."

Ralj's eyes flickered rapidly, searching hers, his expression unyielding and intense. "In the old stories, the warrior-mage Sylvar stood by her mate Krado as he fell to darkness, and when he died she swore vengeance on the man that killed him. Myth or not, that's how we work. We do not kill our mates." His voice had thickened with an anger Kar hadn't seen before. "We shield them, we protect them, we suffer with them and we die with them. You know that. After everything...after all we've been through, you ask me to give you a coward's release because of the weakness of your kin? Because you were ignored?!"

Ralj fought for words, then broke off and snarled openly. "If you were Cathar, you'd understand." He almost spat the words, and Karena felt a distant echo of what had welled up inside her inside her partner's mind.

In the red edged silence that followed, all that could be heard was the sound of their mixed breathing. Ralj's grip had tightened almost to the point of pain, and with a deep rumble he spoke again, his voice low and dangerous.

"The Commander has ordered me to bring you in line, [partner]. However it has to happen. You can't blame Skywalker for what's happened here; it's all been us. I've failed to uphold my side of our mating, and that ends here. Whatever it takes, that thing inside you has got to be tamed before they'll let you out there again." Raljar's eyes had narrowed; and suddenly, Karena felt very afraid.

She could still feel the Dark Side; but not in herself. Behind the anger in Raljar, Karena could feel fear; fear compounded by a terrible sense of loss, of abandonment and despair. She felt the link between them tugging at her mind insistently; and as she stared into Raljar's wild eyes, their bond brought a flash of searing insight, briefly cutting through the emotional turmoil in her own mind.

His sire. His mother. His gang. Almost his sister. His squadmates. Everyone close to him had died, or vanished, or been terribly hurt beyond his control. Every one had left a wound in his mind and soul, wounds he was scarcely aware of but that had shaped him subtly, like clay worked by an unseen and malicious hand. Faced with the prospect of losing her, losing the being in the whole galaxy most precious to him by her own request, Raljar's mind had rebelled; and in that moment of emotional weakness, a seed of darkness in his own soul had taken root and now whispered insidiously to him.

He could end it. He could keep Karena safe, keep Siraea safe. Vaig and his family. Shooter. All of them. His family. He could keep them all safe, forever. That capability, that power, was within his grasp. All he had to do was reach out and take it, and it would begin. He'd never lose them.

It would be so easy...

[dakota]

Karena had no choice but to listen as Raljar's words filled first her eyes, then her mind. It eased her thoughts slightly, but there was something else about her. She could feel it in him. Her eyes grew wide in disbelief. " Ralj you can touch....," was all she managed to say as she felt the dark side swirl within him.

She hesitated, then through her arms around him. " I'm sorry. I shouldn't talk that way [my love]. I wasn't trying to upset you, sometimes I forget about your heritage. This is just too much all at once," she looked into his eyes," but if what I can feel is true, we'll learn together. And no one in this galaxy can come between us."

Raljar hesitated, still struggling with the alien impulses and desires tugging at him; even if his subconcious was aware of the nature of his struggle, his concious mind was not. The feel of Karena's body pressed against him, though, and the warm scent of her calmed his emotional turmoil. The natural feelings of comfort and love her touch generated weren't yet sullied by the Dark Sides insinuations, and so strong and all-encompassing were they that the Dark Side was washed aside, slowly but surely.

Washed aside, but not eliminated. Even though itwas obscured for now, it would return. Every time it did, grew a little stronger; a little harder to ignore...

Ralj closed his eyes, burying his face in Karena's neck as he embraced her. The feelings of anger and dominance were slowly being replaced with confusion and shame, and a nagging feeling of something...

"Kar...I..." He pushed her to arms length, with a grip that was no longer painfully intense; and Karena didn't need their empathic link to read her mates uncertain, pained expression. He looked very tired, somehow. "I'm sorry. I...I don't know what I was thinking just then."

His eyes narrowed. "I don't know what came over me. I-" Suddenly, Raljar's eyes widened, and a violent surge of self-disgust rose to grip him by the throat. He jerked back from Karena as though she had suddenly become red hot to the touch; his pupils contracting in horror.

He pushed past her, half running and half stumbling for the fresher. A few seconds later, Karena heard the blameless device being violated for the second time that day as Ralj lost his lunch. Whatever had suddenly caused his panic, it had been strong enough to make him violently ill.

***

"I'm sorry, sir. That's all we recieved." On board the bridge of the Past, a male Human comptroller had just finished querying the ship's data network. Hanging over his shoulder, Treego Lum grunted in annoyance.

"Not good enough. I want them checked again. Do it twice if you have to."

The crewman nodded, and Lum turned to look up at where Captain Santannis was stood at the lip of the computer pit, her arms folded and her expression serious.

Treego lumbered up the pit-ramp, coming in close to Santannis and lowering his voice enough that the bridge crew remained unaware of the content of their conversation. "Are you sure this was all you recieved?"

"As sure as I can be. This is Wild Space, Lum. Transmissions get lost or shredded out here pretty kriffing often." She glanced over her shoulder, her voice a murmur. "If this is something that concerns the safety of my ship, you'd better tell me right now. I'm not in the mood for cloak-and-vibroshiv games."

"It's an internal matter, none of your concern." Lum huffed. "Give me enough credit not to mopek around if matters concern the ship, Santannis." He sounded irritable and glum. The Captain gave him a hard glare, but let the matter drop.

Suddenly, Treego's commlink blipped. He glanced at it, and unhooked the small device from his belt.

"Lum. What?" A voice nattered from the commlink, and he grimaced in irritation. "Say again, Hespi...what? I'll be right there." He clicked off the commlink and lumbered for the door. "No rest for the slaveholders. If you'll excuse me, Captain."

"Sure. No problem." Santannis watched Lum's departing back with sour skepticism, before returning her attention to the bridge.

Kar knew better than to follow Raljar, and she let him be. Instead she crawled onto their bunk and waited for him. Despite everything, she knew one cure for when something came between them. All she had to do was entice him....

***********

For the next two days, Kar seemed to have lightened. She made her peace with Cammie, then spent the rest of the time working with the TIE Hunter when the squad was training. When they were in meetings, she was in the sims on the program she had created for her. When the squad was in the sims, she was in the fighter, swapping parts and running tests. One of the mechanics joked that Karena spend more time working on the TIE than the rest of them combined. she even convinced Capt Santannis to allow her a shakedown flight while the Past had dropped out of hyperspace for repairs to a faulty hypercomm relay. Her mood and control had improved drastically, enough that she spent downtime amongst the other pilots of Dragon squadron, though never far from Ralj

As they were only hours away and on more subspace course correction away from the mission, Kar looked at Raljar acrossed the galley table, " I think I'm going to ask Treego to let me join the back up squadron. He obviously doesn't trust me on the ground, and I guess the next move is mine since he hasn't called me to his office yet. I can't just sit here while the rest of you go on a mission I helped concoct." She was only toying with her half eaten plate and pushed it away.

For the last two days, Raljar had been withdrawn and less sociable then normal, inclined to lose himself in the daily routine of the squadron. They hadn't made love the night of the incident in their cabin; when he had emerged from the fresher, Ralj had been a haunted and withdrawn reflection of his normal confident self, and though Karena had managed to get him into bed, she hadn't been able to coax him to play. Instead, he had held her all night, both before they slept and when she had awoken to find him there still, one muscular arm wrapped around her and his slow, deep breathing tickling her ear. Whatever his crisis had been, it had been bad enough to kill his sex drive; and for a vigorous young Cathar male mated to a beautiful young woman with whom he shared a deep and intense emotional bond, that was no mean feat.

*****

Raljar pointed his fork at her. "You know he's going to want to keep you on the ground team. They need a proven officer doing the dirty hands-on work dirtside; the flyboys are ringside to the real event."

He stabbed his fork into his lunch, jaws and sharp tearing canines working on the tough meat; synthetic grazer meat, supposedly appetizing for carnivore-primary species, to Karena it looked like Ralj was trying to work his way through the sole of an old flightsuit boot and, judging by his expression, it tasted like it too. He swallowed, and turned to his cup of blue milk for relief. "When we reach Malastare, it's game on. We're close to zero-hour; if Lum can switch the rosters around now, I'll be surprised."

He gulped down the milk in one long swallow, not noticing Yanni Wesk covertly giving him a curious eye on the opposite table; the scuttlebutt about them both had been spreading since the hangar incident and was by now an open secret, even if no-one brought it up in general conversation. "Bring it up when you see him. Never know; we might get lucky."

" Oh, he can change things." Kar said with a knowing tone of hiding something. " I didn't tell you because of this funk you've been in, but Treego already gave the ground mission to Rem. He told me when I passed him in the corridor this morning. He'll do okay with it. Wouldn't be suprised if he's XO before long." One look at Ralj's lunch finished off her lack of appetite. she glanced at her chrono," Anyways, I've got fourty five minutes before the Rancors have sims, so I'm headed down there now. You're still going to be free to help..."

She was cut off by her commlink," Captian Therez, report to Lt. Commander Lum's office."

" Fierfek." She cursed," well, wish me luck. If I'm lucky, he'll let you keep what he chews up and spits out." she stood up and left the galley, with only Raljar able to read her nervousness she hid.

Kar was barely out the door as other Dragons began to sidle up to Raljar. Daryn flopped down in Kar's spot while Shelby slid in on one side of Ralj and Benny on the other. " Allright Raljar, spill it. what is going on with you and the Captain? "

Shelby grinned," And we don't mean behind closed doors either."

Hespi sat down next to Daryn. As she did, Ralj got a good look at the female Bothan. To humans, she had an attractive figure, but to a young Cathar, Hespi was what his adolesent dreams of the perfect mate would look like. " Can't understand what you're doing with a human anyways. Isn't natural."

Benny looked at Hespi, then Raljar, his leathery face contorting to a grin." Better watch it, you know how greedy Bothans can be. But seriously, what is going on. Therez is supposed to be our XO, and she won't even train with us."

Raljar held up his fork for silence, grimacing as he worked on the last of his ersatz steak. As he swallowed, the trio watched him with anticipation.

"None of your kriffing business what we got up to." He smirked, and pushed aside his plate. "The training? You'd have to ask the XO that - I'm just a fighter jock."

"Off the record, then." Benny was not going to let the matter drop whilst he had Raljar cornered, and the Cathar held up his hands in a mock plea for mercy, grinning knowingly. "Off the record, she's been under a lot of stress." Ralj shook his head, leaning back in his chair and cracking his neck with a wince. His expression became a bit more serious. "When she gets stressed, things around her take the heat whether she wants 'em to or not and you didn't hear that from me, so I guess she's doing damage control."

Zeeko looked at the others, scratching at his armoured chin. "Okay...there are worse reasons to isolate herself from the squadron, but it's going to go badly if she doesn't get involved, Raljar. Tell her that from us; there's a few things in this galaxy worse than a standoffish officer, but right now, the Krayt's don't need the division. Pass that on for us."

"She's with the Commander right now; if there's anything left of her when he's done, I'll be sure to." Raljar smirked slightly. "Off the record, of course."

"I still don't see what you see in her," said Hespi. She leaned on one arm, subtly showing off her figure whilst running her eyes over Raljar's features; a movement noted by Zeeko, who began to look mildly uncomfortable. "What makes a male like you fall for a Human?"

Shelby and Daryn shifted slightly; like Zeeko, both were feeling a little uncomfortable on Raljar's behalf at the direct and personal line of questioning Hespi was taking. The "Human" comment, though, seemed to affect them little; they were used to Hespi's quirks in that regard.

Raljar smiled tightly; but there wasn't a lot of humour in his eyes or voice as he replied. "A lot of things, Flight Officer, none of which you need to know. Ah?"

The pulling of rank put an end to the matter; and as Hespi looked away, Ralj pushed back from the table and stood, taking his tray. He ran an eye over the four. "We're done here. I'll pass on what you mentioned."

As the Cathar stowed his tray and left the cafeteria, Daryn whistled lowly. "I thought I was bad, but damn, Hespi."

"You stepped on something there, that's for sure." Shelby watched Raljar go as Hespi shook her head.

"I still say it's unnatural." She looked at Shelby and Daryn as they both gave her a long look, and she snorted. "What? I'm sorry, but it is. He didn't have to get a pole up his shebse about me saying it." She eyes where Raljar had left the room, though her eyes were still thoughtful.

"Careful." Zeeko's voice made Shelby and Daryn turn to look at him as well as Hespi. The Nikto looked thoughtful, and he tapped his chin thoughtfully with two fingers. "I'd say, judging by the Lieutenant's reaction, his relationship with the XO is more than just kriff-buddies."

"How do you know that?" Shelby sounded genuinely curious, and Zeeko shrugged. "I'll tell you some other time. But tread carefully, Rus'trk." He rested a hand on the Bothan's shoulder. "If it's what it looks like to me, you'll cut no carbonite with the Lieutenant. Cathar are fiery mynocks, all of them, and most take their relationships very seriously. If the Lieutenant is attached to the XO, no matter how casually, I'd advise you to stay well clear."

Hespi thrust her chin out truculantly, but her defiance was tempered a little by Zeeko's serious tone. "We'll see. I don't imagine he'll find her a satisfying choice of mate, no matter how good she is in the rack." She stroked her beard. "Natural law; species that can't breed offspring do not stay together long."

"You'd be surprised," said Zeeko, but when the three looked at him curiously he offered no further input.

As Raljar started down the corridor, a hand caught him by the shoulder and stopped his escape. To his suprise, it wasn't one of his squadmates that stopped him, but instead a mountain of a human (2 m tall, over 140kg)he'd seen with the pilots of Rancor squadron. He more or less dragged Ralj into a side room. " You don't remember me, do you, Krayt?" The deep voice said as he glared at Ralj. " I recognized you as soon as you came on board. I bet you think you're pretty cute naming your squad after a gang of punks, and no one knows the difference."

He opened his uniform enough to reveal a red and yellow dagger tattoo on his shoulder, the mark of a member of the Golden Dagger gang who the Krayts had all but wiped out and absorbed in a gang war just after Raljar joined. Worse, the coloration indicated a 1% member, the highest level of respect a member could reach other than leader. " Let me make myself clear, boy. The Rancor's are my club now, but if you keep messing with them, you won't have to worry about Snit looking for you. You reading me, boy?"

After a moment, Ralj could hear Deke talking to Tranis in the corridor. As they passed the open door, they stopped and Tranis stared in at his pilots, and asked, " There a problem here, Jaxol?"

" No, Tranis." The huge swooper replied.

" Good, one squad with XO issues is enough. We don't need two." Tranis seemed friendly enough, but there was a battle-hardened way about him that fortold there was alot more to the man than met the eyes. Especially if he intimidated Jaxol Parnedd " Come on, we have a briefing in ten."

Jaxol nodded and left with Steraku, saying over his shoulder," We can talk about home some other time, Krayt."

Once the Rancors were gone, Deke spoke up," Man, what kind of poodoo did we step in? You okay, bud, things looked ready to get a little ugly there when we happened by."

Raljar watched Jaxol Parnedd leave, and straightend his uniform with a yank. He looked grim-faced. "It's fine. We're old friends."

"Some friend. What, they break arms to say "hi" back on Taris?" Deke shook his head, but Ralj wasn't listening. His mind was back in the gang wars of Taris, where Jaxon Parnedd had made a name for himself for sheer physical might and brutality. The strong right arm of the Golden Daggers, he had disappeared after the Krayts had killed the Dagger's leadership in an audacious repulsorway raid; his body had never been found.

And now this...

Raljar glared after the departing ex-Dagger. The Cathar phrase he muttered could be roughly translated as, "Well, ain't that a kick in the teeth?"

"What?" said Deke, confused.

"Nothing. Come on, let's go."

" Come on Ralj, this isn't one of those strangers that we've been thrown together with." Deke said, not giving. " Remember? I'm technically family to your better half even if we keep it under wraps, not to mention if it wasn't for my shooting, none of us would have made it out of that Death star run. Come on, shut down those repulsors of yours before you alienate yourself from the rest of the squad as badly as Kar has and level with me. It'll do you some good to let it off your chest. IT's not like I'm going to say something, I just want to help."

Below their feet, the deckplates shuddered slightly as the Past dropped from hyperspace long enough to correct course.

*****

" Contact!" Shouted a junior officer from the command pit's sensor station.

Captain Willem Quardeth flew out of his seat overlooking the Victory-class Star Destroyer Bellicose's bridge. " Identify." The Bellicose was pulling it's rotation on long range patrol. It was normally a boring detail, and quardeth usually was lax with his crew to the point many of them saw it as shipboard R & R. All that changed at klaxons began to wail.

" Not in our computers,sir." replied Commander Whalse, the Bellicose 's second in command from the pit, standing behind the sensor officers. " Parameters conforms to a Sorosuub bulk cruiser, Quasar fire-class. No indications that we have been spotted."

" Good. Stay in position, but put our TIEs on launch standby, and kill those blasted alarms." Quardeth ordered. He scratched his chin. " definitely not sullustans headed this way. What do think Tan, smugglers or rebels?"

" No bet, sir. we have her. Privateer, and one of ours. " Cmdr. Whalse replied, " They have their transponder changed, but emmision pattern comes back to a ship we last seen four months before the Endor fiasco, the StarChaser ."

" Interesting. what is she doing way out here?" Quardeth asked himself. He watched as the cruiser disappeared into hyperspace again. " Do we have a course for them?"

Whalse nodded," Unconfirmed, but they are headed towards Malastare. Hypercomm already activated for you."

" Good, " Quardeth turned and was already heading for his office," the Grand Admiral may find this interesting."

***********

Raljar stopped mid-corridor and gave Deke the eyeball. "You're persistent, you know that?"

Deke grinned. "I am. You can blame Ridgechaser for that; if I didn't focus hard with him, he'd drift off and do something rash." His grin faded a little, and he gestured with a hand, resting the other on his hip. "Come on, furball. Spill it; I'm family...sort of...and-" he held up his hand to forestall any indignant observations from the Cathar. "-I just want to help."

"..." After a moment, Raljar grunted and continued walking, folding his arms across his chest. "Ahh...it's nothing. The rancor back there was a ganger I used to know."

"Really?" Deke sounded intrigued as they walked. He glanced at Raljar thoughtfully, noting the Cathar's set expression. "By the sounds of it, there's no love lost between you two."

"None." Raljar took note of their surroundings as they walked; the familiar sensation of a ship's activity was something he found soothing, probably because on many levels it was similar to the Undercity of his youth. "Back when I saw him last, his name was Jaxon Parnedd. He was a thug who ran with a stim-gang back on Taris called the Golden Daggers."

"Old friend, eh?" Deke's inflection on the word "friend" spoke volumes, and Raljar nodded an affirmative.

"Yeah...something like that. The Golden Daggers were punks. They got by on bravado and their contacts inside the syndicates; used to run spice and stims from off-world importers to the scav-habs out on the industrial islands. Parnedd was one of their best, but he couldn't stop Trev from making a lot of mistakes."

"Trev?"

"Dagger's last boss. He was an idiot." Raljar snorted. "Trev ran the gang into the ground, made a lot of enemies and a lot of mistakes real fast after he took the leadership. Scuttle was he'd gotten a taste for spice after taking over. By the time the Dagger's got rid of him, it was too late. They were crippled, and everyone could smell blood in the waste-water. The rest of us-the gangs-carved them up good."

Raljar shrugged. "We finished 'em off, took the rancor's share of the Dagger's membership and territory; the rest went to whoever wanted it. Parnedd was never found; everyone figured he'd died or escaped off-world." The Cathar shook his head, looking grimly resigned. "And now the kriffer crawls out of the piping again, right in the last place in the galaxy I'd expect. He should be dead."

"Does he know the Krayts were...y'know. Vaped?" Deke's voice was concillitory, but Raljar just shook his head.

"I don't think so. He's bitter about the <damned> squadron renaming. Probably still thinks everything's the same as it was back on Taris." He growled.

"Sorry." Deke looked away for a moment; he didn't like bringing up the touchy subject with the Cathar. Raljar was intimidating when he got emotional, and the Krayts had formed a major part of his life. This time, however, Raljar just looked tired and irritated; and Deke felt emboldened to offer some support to his very distantly-related comrade. "Look, we'll get it straightened out; set the record straight. After Snit, Tranis ain't going to be in the mood to jink with a knuckle-dragger who still thinks he's still got bones to pick with his old rivals."

Raljar shook his head. "Parnedd's got a mean streak a parsec wide. I'll set him straight if I have to; for now, I'd rather just forget the skag."

"Uh-huh. Just be sure you do. I don't want to have to tell Tranis that one of his pilots had his face peeled off because he tried it on with you. I know what you're like." Deke grinned, and patted Raljar's shoulder as the two men began walking once again.

***

"You're certain?"

Captain Santannis was leant over the shoulder of one of the Past's sensor specialists, her XO at her side.

"No ma'am." The tech adjusted a few controls. "It was there for a second before we jumped. Looked like a sensor contact, but we lost it when the ship went into hyperspace."

"A ship?" , Ath'nal'kando, the Past's XO, a tall and rough-looking Chiss male with a ragged scar that cut from his cheekbone into his hairline, frowned as he stared at the data readout.

"Impossible to tell. It could have been an asteroid," Santannis mused. "Make a note in the log; we'll run a trail scan when we reach Malastare, make sure nothing's following us. Good work, Krenn."

"Thank you, ma'am." The tech continued working as Santannis and Ath'nal'kando left the computer pit. The captain glanced at her XO's sour expression, and quirked a smile. She well knew his tendancy to brood during operations. "Worried, Blue?"

"Always." The XO's nickname, Blue, was reserved for his close friends and he counted the Past's captain amongst those thin ranks. Very few amongst the Past's crew knew that he and Santannis had once been on-off lovers; those who did know kept quiet on the subject. The XO was a private man, and not to be crossed lightly. "It could have been anything; space debris. Pirates."

"But you're still worried. Don't be." Santannis looked out the viewport of the Past into the hyperspace tunnel that blazed around the ship. "The chances of it being a ship were a few hundred thousand to one."

The XO looked like he was about to make a comment about never telling him the odds; but he held his tongue.

************

As he and Deke continued on, a whistle came from behind them. " Stang, he found us." Deke groaned as he turned. " Oh, hey Cammie. Where did you get to?"

Ridgechaser shook his head. " Forget it Deke, I know you ditched me. But I'm used to it." He grinned and stepped between Ralj and Deke, wrapping his arms around their shoulders and trying to reroute them. " Come on, you guys gotta see this cool thing they have down in the pilot's lounge. It's..., ah, I gotta show you. It's so cool, I bet even Ralj can't ride it."

He led the pair to the pilot's longe, where several other pilots were gathered around a depression on the floor ringed with padded mats, hooting and cheering. In the middle Burji was seated on some sort of device that consisted to a seat he straddled and a handgrip, hovering a few feet off the ground. " Okay, ready." the Rodian said tentatively.

The robotender pressed a button on the bar and the roboseat went wild, trying to launch Burji off while staying inside the confines of the depression. Over the bar a counter was counting down from eleven seconds, but it only made it to just over seven before Burji sailed free into the padded sides. The roboseat settled back to the middle of the depression as Yanni helped her wingman up. " That thing is brutal."

Yanni scowled, " So you want to try it again?"

" Not yet. Let me catch my breath first." Burji replied, nodding to the arriving lieutenants. " Back for more, Cammie?"

Ridgechaser shook his head. " No way, I nearly hurled the first time. I bet Raljar can stay on the duration though."

With the word bet, credits,drinks, trinkets and even pieces of candy were being wagered amongst the squadron members. From behind them came a familiar voice. " A bottle of Corellian brandy says he can do it." Kar said as she approached with a grin as Rem Karsin took her bet. she blatenedly kissed Raljar on the cheek. " don't hurt yourself, Cammie and I have to give you a crash course on TIE piloting before we get to Malastare."

" You mean the commander changed his mind?" Deke said, suprised.

Trin Canaar butted in," Rem and I pointed out we need her on the ground, and since Raljar is the only one who can keep her temper in check, he has to go too so she doesn't destroy the planet." The crowd broke into laughter as Kar shrugged innocently

" There was one stipulation." Kar waited until Rem de-activated the robotender. Kar sat up on the bar. " As everyone knows, Ralj and I are very close. That's because he and I are..., I guess the equivalent would be engaged, but it's a much stronger bond than that. It's also why he gets through to me when I lose control. See, that's the other thing. I have a hard time controlling it, but I have a slight affinity for the force, and sometimes it shows up to help out, and other times it it doesn't, like when I clobbered poor Cammie in the hangar for sneaking up on me. All I ask is you bare with me while we sort this out."

The room was silent as Kar slid off the bar and over to Ralj. She embraced him," sorry, but Treego didn't give me a choice. Tell the squad, or I was on the next shuttle back to fleet for discharge. Don't be angry with me." She made no attempt to hide how hard it had been to admit.

" C'mon Ralj," Rem finaly broke the silence," you two can go play kissy in the closent after you ride that thing." He pointed to the pit as he reactivated the robo tender. " I want that bottle of brandy."

The squadron resumed enjoying their downtime, with noneoverly concerned with what Kar had confessed, although Hespi looked less than enthusedfrom her corner seat.

Ralj rubbed his mouth. "A bottle of brandy, huh?"

He gave Karena a "you made me do this" look, grunted dismissively and stepped down into the padded depression, to the whoops are cheers of the Krayts. The Cathar ran his hands over the roboseat before swinging a leg up and straddling the jumpy contraption apprehensively.

Yanni grinned and yelled, "Ten credits says you puke, furball!" Raljar pretended not to hear her whilst he tested the handgrip, and Trin Canarr jabbed Kar with his elbow and mimed Ralj breaking something vital with a wide grin.

Ralj nodded, and looked around mock-confidently at the cheering wing. "Okay, this should be easy." His joke went down well with the crowd, especially Yanni and Burjie, and the cheers went up as he planted his boots on the footrests with a determined expression. "<Okay>, watch and learn how a pro handles it."

"Confident?" Grinned Daryn Kwana as the robotender pressed the button, and Raljar shrugged.

"How hard can it be? It's just like riding a swOOOOOOP-!!!" The Cathar's voice rose into a yell of shock as he fought to cling on as the roboseat leapt into life, throwing him around like an enraged Corellian sand-panther. It took every ounce of Ralj's strength and flexibility to remain seated without breaking his bones as the chrono ticked down the first few seconds.

"Look at that thing GO!" The wing was going wild, shouting advice and cheering the Cathar on as he regained his equilibrium, moving with the seat. Karena had seen Ralj use the same tricks whilst riding swoops; and it looked like it was working until the seat started playing dirty, throwing itself backwards and sideways, spinning in circles. Ralj gritted his teeth as the rec-room became a blur of nausea, but he still managed to hang on.

"THREE! TWO! ONE!" The timer ticked out and the seat subsided, slowly returning to its resting position. Ralj swung his leg off, and managed not to stumble as Deke and Rem handed him a drink. From where she sat, she could see past her mate's wild grin to the exhilirated look in his eyes. "Just like swooping," he sputtered.

"Well I'll be a son of a Hutt. He didn't break anything." Trin shook his head and handed over a few credit-chips to a grinning Zara Quet, whilst Yanni peered at Ralj intently, trying to see if he was about to throw up.

"Furball's got some serious grip with those thighs. Bet he puts 'em to good use for you, eh Captain?" Cammie nudged Kar with a wide grin. His comment prompted jeers and whoops, though Hespi just snorted. Deke chuckled and ruffled Karena's hair. "Yeah, Kar. You teach him to ride like that?"

Raljar waved a disappointed Yanni off. With a self-assured nod of his head, he grinned, saluted the squadron with his raised glass and downed his drink in one. The wing cheered and whistled appreciatvely, along with a "Bring it up!" from Yanni. Rem scowled, but the corners of his mouth were twitching as he leaned in close to Karena. "Guess I owe you that bottle," he groused.

" I'll put it on your tab with the mission only a couple hours off." Karena replied with a grin, shifting her chair so she could slide on it a bit so sitting acrossed the chair and she leaned so her back was pressed against Raljar, her head tucked under his chin. The fact she didn't have to hide things seemingly loosening her up. She looked up at him with a wide grin," Nice job, furball." She glanced at Cammie, " I didn't teach him anything, but I might have helped with his technique a little."

The hole squadron laughed as Cam's expression, even Hespi despite a disgusted look. Karenalessened the amount of pressure she pushed against Ralj as her mind touched his, Don't you dare puke on me.

Deke tried to goad Karena, " Come on Kurse, show us how an old vet does it."

Kar shook her head. " Maybe after we finish planetside. Treego would have kittens if I hurt myself after fighting to stay on this mission."

" You might anyways if Ralj isn't careful." Cammie said to a delight of the crowd.

Raljar grinned and looked away, blushing across his nose and cheekbones as he draped one arm comfortably around Karena. As the crew laughed, his stomach gurgled ominously and he murmured "<Don't worry, I'm not going to spew>."

"Are you serious?" Yanni looked half-intrigued and half-appalled at Cammie's words. She stared at Karena and Raljar. "I mean...you two could...?" She floundered for words, and Rem grinned and cut in. "Have kittens, Yanni? Is that what you were gonna ask?"

"I didn't say that!" Yanni blushed furiously, and the squadron whooped and teased her delightedly. Ralj grinned and kissed Karena's head, and Deke jerked his thumb at the couple. "If what I hear is true, Ralj knows it for certain. Ain't that right, furball?"

Rlaj looked up, staring in confusion at Deke before the credit dropped. "Oh...yeah. Yeah, it's possible. I have a <cousin> back on Cathar - his mother was Human. Least that's what I was told."

How the fierfek did Warsit find that out? Kar picked up Ralj's thought easily. His response sent a wave of intrigued amazement through their assembled comrades, and Daryn Kwana's mouth dropped open. "You're kidding."

"No, I'm not." Ralj shook his head. "I couldn't believe it either, but it's true; he had Human eyes. The old guy looking after him said he get them from his mother. Kar'll back me up on it."

"What did he look like?" Shelby Vagnarrso leaned forwards with wide eyes and an enraptured expression, and Ralj shrugged. "Like a Cathar, I guess. Shape of the face was a bit different, but nothin' major. It was a long time ago." He grunted in disgust. "What? You hoping he had two heads or something? <Kid> looked fine to me."

Shelby laughed out loud, and tossed back her drink. Hespi looked downright shocked at the conversation; even Arlon Trassk was paying attention, but Benny Zeko hadn't said anything. The Nikto didn't look surprised, and Cammie picked up on it; leaning over the back of his chair, he grinned at the Nikto. "Somethin' you're not telling us, Big Zee?"

"It's true." Benny nodded seriously, and gestured with his drink towards Karena and Raljar. "Though it's incredibly rare. If a Cathar mates with a Human or vice versa, sometimes, somehow - don't ask me how - the female of the pair can become pregnant." The chatter died down, and Zeko realized he had an audience. The Nikto threw Karena an apologetic expression that seemed out of place on his armoured face. "Apologies if I sound impersonal. Usually, the pregnancy aborts - the...uh, the fetus doesn't make it to term. There's all sorts of complications that can occur; genetic abnormalities, haemmorhaging, and worse than that. It can get pretty bad - the mother and child both are usually in for a rough time."

The Nikto stared into his glass for a second, and then took a swallow before continuing. "But just occasionally, they both make it to and through the birthing. The children that make it usually turn out fine; some even say they're the mark of a blessed coupling. Others...others aren't so charitable. There's a word in Catharese for children of mixed blood. Don't ask me to remember it."

Rem gave Benny a suspicious look. "And just how the kriff do you know all this, huh?"

"An old acquaintance." The Nikto shrugged, and the squadron gave voice to appreciative, mock-disgusted and ribald sounds.

"Be careful how you treat the Captain, furball." Cammie pointed with his drink, grinning cheekily. "Don't want her in sickbay for next nine months, am I right?" The squadron cheered and threw advice in the couple's direction as Rem passed them both drinks. Despite his embarrassment, Karena could feel Ralj's unashamed love for her, and there was no hint of the dark force that had clouded his mind that night in their cabin. After a moment, he sighed and murmured in her ear, "Ahh...maybe you're right. Better out than hidden, huh?" He nuzzled her cheek with a rueful smile.

Yanni was chattering animatedly to Trin Canarr. "I wonder if the kids can have kids of their own when they grow up? What do you think, Hespi?" When she didn't recieve a reply, Yanni looked around in confusion. "Hespi?"

Hespi Rus'trk was drinking heavily from her glass. The Bothan looked physically ill.

"Definitely." Karena replied to Raljar's nuzzling with a smile while rubbing his chin with her hand. But as Benny spoke, her hand slowed and barely moved as she started to tense up. " I wasn't there when you met the old guy, just know it freaked you out and you started loading up on meds."

Some of the others laughed. Arlon nudged Hespi," What's wrong Hes? You allergic to synthahol? You can't tell me you're getting drunk off this stuff, what I'm gonna pass in the 'fresher has more alcohol than this stuff." That caused even more rowdy behavior.

Hespi only responded with a dirty look. " I'm fine. just a little disgusted." She shot a look at Kar and got up and left.Her wingman Shelby got up too as the Bothan left, " I'll keep an eye on her."

" We should be going too." Kar said, getting up with Raljar's hand in hers. " In fact everyone might want to rest up before we go dirtside."

" Like you two are going to rest." Cammie through out much to the delight of the others.

" None of your business, Cam. Besides, that's what he takes his meds for." Kar retorted, dragging Raljar with. Once in the corridor, " I have something you better see. I picked up a hypercomm message while I was at the briefing. It's.., you better watch it."

Once back in their quarters, Kar keyed up the recorded message. She stood beside Ralj with her hand in his as Siraea appeared on the screen." Hello sisari, I know you were expecting little Kameron or Vaig, but I needed to speak to Raljar and Vaig said this was the safest and quickest way, whereever the pair of you were."

Little Kammie's head popped in from the side," Hi Ant Renie! Hi Uncle Rogar! It's me, Kammie!"

Vaig chuckled and pulled the boy from in front of the recorder, " Let Siraea sent her message. Come on, lets go outside."

The door slammed and Si continued. " I have something to tell you." She stood up and the slight bulge of her stomach suddenly explained why Kar had withdrawn in the lounge. She sat back down," I didn't know until I started getting sick everyday. According to a doctor hear on Tresn, I was already with child when you rescued me. Vaig has treated me like [royalty], and has offered to help raise the cub, just as he did with Karena's sister before Kammie was born. I didn't know such things were possible, but Vaig says the force works in mysterious ways. I wanted you to know you were going to be an uncle, [brother]. Both of you be safe, and come visit us when you can." The timestamp at the end was nearly a week old

Kar squeezed his hand. " I didn't know it was Siraea until I watched it, and when she stood up, it floored me. I thought it was going to be good news until Benny started explaining things. otherwise I would have left it for you."

Good news." Raljar's expression was conflicted. "She's carrying the child of a slaver who forced himself on her, and the pregnancy could kill both of them." He squeezed Kar's hand; his jaw was set, and she could see the muscles of his cheek twitching in the flickering half-light from the holodisplay.

Eventually, he lowered his head and closed his eyes. He felt nothing; just a bleak hollowness where his emotions should have been. "She'll be alright. She has to be. Tell me Tresn has good doctors, Kar."

Karena nodded. " There isn't much for clinics, but Ghoran is a friend of the family and used to work on coruscant before he retired back in the Republic's fall. don't worry [partner], Vaig will take good care of her. I think she might even be taking a shine to the old smuggler." Kar chuckled, trying to cheer up Raljar," And besides, now your uncle Rogar." She chuckled at Cammie's mispronounciation.

Raljar cracked a faint smile. "Cammie's a good kid. Your whole family is. You come from good people, <partner>." He sighed. "And she's with them. It's...it's good that she's there. They'll look after her."

He choked back a snarl, and Karena saw tears well in his eyes. He wiped them away savagely, a sudden surge of rage and pain replacing the hollowness he felt with brutal abruptness. "His...his <child>. She's carrying his <child>..."

His shoulders hit the wall, and he covered his eyes with his hand, teeth gritted against the agonised grief that gripped him by the throat. "After all that <thing> did to her...now this! One last twist of the shiv!"

[dakota]

" Hey... Hey, snap out of it, furball." Kar said, trying to get Ralj's head on straight. she put her hands on his shoulders " Your sister isn't upset, so what are you getting worked up over? Hey, kids are products of their environments too. Siraea will make a good mom and Vaig is there for her. "

She brought Raljar's head down to meet hers, pressing their foreheads together so she could look in her eyes. " Look, he'll kill me for telling you, but Vaig is great with kids, problem is he can't have any of his own. That's why when Lesa cheated on him with Deke, he didn't get mad at her. He's getting attached to Siraea, not like us, but still I can hear it in his tone in his messages."

She released his head to wipe his cheeks. She grinned warmly," This is odd, me being the caring one. Look at it this way, that kriffer might be the paternal father, but he's gone. Otherwise your neice would be in for the same life of hell your father put you through. Though you didn't turn out so badly."

Raljar exhaled, shakily. "It wasn't for lack of trying. I...don't want to think about him. Ever." He blinked away his tears, ashamed of his weakness even alone with his mate, and wrapped his arms around her. He inhaled deeply; Kar knew that Ralj found comfort in her scent, even though his sense of smell was barely more acute than hers.

He rested his cheek against her hair, eyes half-closed as he stared off into the flickering half-darkness of the room. "How can I love it, Kar? My sister...my beautiful sister...her life, her dreams, and she'll set them all aside, for what?" His voice was low and husky with his grief, and he swallowed heavily. "The half-blood kid of a man who chained her like an animal? She deserves more than that. She..."

He closed his eyes as a fresh wave of pain assailed him, and his voice cracked. He was silent for a long time; and Kar felt the conflict within him as he confronted a fear that gnawed at him like a cancer.

Eventually, he choked out; "She deserves more than her <brother> seeing her cub and hating it for what it is because he can't see it without seeing her chained."

He lowered his head, and Kar could feel the utter shame he felt.

" Oh, but it's easier to accept someone showing darkside tendancies when their lineage shows the last force user in their family was a kriffing sith that destroyed half a planet. That's so much better." Kar replied, pulling away with her sarcasm cut deep. " Ralj, you're being selfish. What you need to do is be supportive of Siraea and whatever she decides to do. Otherwise, what will you do, demand she doesn't have the child because it will look bad for your family to have a half breed child sired by a monster? Newsflash," her expressions seemed to change to that of hurt, " you ever forget those little blue pills of yours and guess what? You're going to be having your own little half breed reared by what your native planet call a mass murderer for what I did when with the Empire."

She was holding back tears of her own now as she backed away," At least I know where that stands, Raljar. I never should have shown you that kriffing message until we finished the mission." The door slid open behind and she bolted out before giving him chance to respond.

Kar wiped her eyes as she ran threw the corridors, until she nearly ran over Cammie talking with Arlon in his doorway. " Oh, sorry Cam." She sobbed, backing away and starting again.

" Kar, are you okay?" Cammie called after her, confused."

" I'll be fine, just need some time alone." She lied, burying her feeling long enough to escape.

Arlon shook his head, pointing to the tearstains on Cammie's uniform from the collision," She's not fine. Something has her worked up. You better let her go after the last time she slapped you around."

" I klnow." Cammie said, wanting to help but knowing better.

*******

Kar's instincts were leading her to the hangar, but she stopped her escape just short, and ducked into one of the pilot's briefing theaters. She closed the door and left the lights off before taking a seat far enough away she wouldn't be heard by most folk and she dropped her guard, sitting with her head between her knees and letting her emotions out.

***********



The light of the hologram was the only illumination in the room as Raljar replayed his sister's message for the dozenth time. On the screen, little Kammie's cheesy grin almost eclipsed his sister in the background. He paused the holo as his sister stood, hands resting on the bump in her midriff. "I'm so sorry, <sister>." He murmured at the still image, pain crossing his features. He exhaled sharply, steeling himself to confront his demons. "Kar was right. What right have I to turn away from you because of how I feel?"

He raised his hand to the screen, tracing his twin sister's silver hair and features with a clawtip. She looked tired and ill in the holo; ragged and worn, though her beauty still shone through. He swallowed again as tears dripped down his cheeks, and he inhaled deeply, steadying himself. "It wasn't me who suffered, <sister>. It was you. After all he did to you...you still chose to carry his <child>. Because it's not his. It's yours. It's ours."

"<The skins of the sire are not carried by his children>." He spoke the phrase in Catharese, with a bitter smile. "We both should know that well, huh? And I forgot that. Me, of all people." He sighed, and lowered his head sorrowfully.

"How can it be evil, when it's part of you? How could I even think about turning away from that? Kar was right. I was selfish. Without thought, without honour; I saw what I hated, and I didn't look beyond what I saw. I didn't see you; didn't think of you. And in doing so, I wronged you and I injured my <partner>."

Ralj's jaw was set, his expression uncompromising. "I have wronged my loved ones, because of my blindness, my lack of control. So I dedicate this to you, my <sister> and to you, my <partner>."

Raljar placed a small wooden cup on the desk in front of him; it was clearly very old, dessicated and worn, painted with deep red triangles in a simple pattern around the rim. He clenched his left hand into a fist and held it upturned over the cup, exposing his wrist. He regarded it a moment, then gritted his teeth, raised his right hand and drew the claw of his right forefinger sharply across his wrist. Blood immediately began to well from the slice. Hissing softly at the pain, he opened his hand and held it over the cup, letting the hot droplets spatter into its wooden confines.

Ignoring his bleeding wrist, Ralj lit a small strip of paper. The glow illuminated both his face and the cup, and he bowed his head.

"<Ancestors...mother...hear my shame. Take my strength and my sorrow. Give the first to my sister, that I may carry her burden for her. Give the second to my mate, that I may suffer instead of her.>"

He dropped the flaming brand into the cup. Chemically treated, it burned steadily, and the blood soaking it sizzling as it blackened and burned. The smoke from the cup had a sharp, bloody smell, and Ralj inhaled deeply as he entrusted his offering to the care of his people's beliefs. He leaned back in his chair, watching the cup as the flame consumed his blood before dying.

"Been a long time since I did that. Almost forgot I had that old thing." He chuckled. "You know I never had much time for that stuff, but...it felt right to do it, here. Would have made <mom> happy, for sure." He clamped his hand around his wrist, stemming the flow of hot blood. It would seal soon enough. He smiled ruefully at the hologram. "I'm lucky you're not here, <sister>. You and Kar both would have kicked my shebse so hard by now...and I'd be better for it."

He started the hologram again. Wreathed by smoke, he looked into the screen as Kammie called him "uncle Rogar".

"I hope I'm worthy of that, kid." he murmured softly. "I'm finding too much of my sire in me these days, and him...I don't want anywhere near you or your family." He nearly said "my family", and the thought gave him an unexpected surge of comfort. Ralj deactivated the holoplayer and grabbed his gunbelt, buckling it in place as he left the cabin. The door hissed closed behind him.

The upcoming mission stirred something in his chest. Cathar had a ritual they participated in when emotional difficulties became too much to bear; not an uncommon occurance for such a passionate people. The Blood Hunt. Traditionally, the Cathar would travel alone into the wilds, either on Cathar or whatever planet they were on, armed only with their claws and the clothes on their back. They would stalk a game creature, kill it with tooth and claw, and feast on its raw flesh and blood. The simple directness of instinct and violence supposedly granted emotional clarity and refreshed the mind of the hunter to tackle the problems they suffered from in their life.

It wasn't the underbrush they were heading into on Malastare, and he sure as Sith had no intentions of eating anybody whilst he was there; but in the chaos and danger of the fast-approaching raid, Raljar hoped to find a Blood Hunt of his own.

[Three hours later...]

when Raljar finally decided to go to the premission briefing, Karena had still not returned to their quarters, leaving him to go by himself. In the conference room, many of the other pilots had already gathered, and he could see Kar was one of them. She was seated surrounded by several of Steraku's Rancor Squadron, apparently discussing dogfighting techniques. She purposely didn't make eye contact, but the puffy eyes and worn look told the story. It wasn't a look he'd seen Kar have before, but one from Ralj's past. He had seen the same haunted look on his mother's face many times when his father had upset her.

Trin Canaar and Rem Karsin came in behind Raljar and herded the Cathar towards the rest of the squadron. Both Deke and Cammie looked at Karena' mingling before turning to the others," What's up with Kar? She looks like someone used her for bait to go sarlacc fishing." Cammie commented.

Deke smacked Cammie. " Someday farmboy, that marble you call a brain will catch up with your big mouth. "

As Tranis and Treego entered the room, Kar got up and shifted to a new seat in the front row away from the others. Ralj could hear Hespi up behind him, " She makes it look like she's one of us, but she keeps us at arms length. Typical former Imp officer."

Raljar glowered, but before he could respond to Hespi's acidic remark Treego cleared his throat. "Okay, let's get this over with."

The pilots fell silent and the room lights dimmed as a hologram sprang from the emitter in front of the podium. The image of a planet rotated slowly as Lum spoke. "Malastare. A high gravity, densly forested arboreal world. Rich biosphere, heavy concentrations of methane in the lowlands. One native species, the Dug's-"

There were a few low insults and disgusted sounds admidst the chuckles that stirred around the room; even Tranis, standing at Lum's side, cracked a knowing smile. Lum cleared his throat.

"-alright, settle down, and one colony species, the Gran. The Gran are in charge, they don't like each other, we're not there to get involved. So, if you have any opinions either way, stow them before we reach the planet. Now...our first objective."

An area of the planet in the Southeastern continent was identified with a blinking red circle, and the hologram changed to show a rotating habitat array that resembled a series of enormous, interconnected layered platforms that sat on huge pillar-like supports set deep into the bedrock of a forest-covered mountain range that would have been majestic by Malastarian standards, but due to the high gravity seemed rather flattened and rolling for their namesake.

"The target of Krayt Squadron's ground teams is Imperial Support Facility Gamma 7-A, otherwise known as "The Aviary" due to its position above the arboral canopy of the Huudak range. Rumour has it that Governor Sturm used this place as a stop-over during his 'hunting trips'. We're not bothered about that. We're bothered about this." Lum pressed a button, and a large northern section of the base that sat slightly apart from the other platforms blinked and separated from the rest of the hologram before enlarging and filling the display.

"This is the Aviary's spaceport. Limited transport-ship capacity, basic refuelling and maintenance facilities. On flimsy, nothing too spectacular by Imperial standards. However, following Governor Sturm's tenure, three flights of TIE-Int's were delivered to the squadron facilities of the 278th Fighter Group, located here." Three of the top-level hangar pods blinked. "We suspect as part of an Imperial effort to contain local unrest through force of intimidation following revelations of Governor Sturm's tastes in entertainment."

"Begging your pardon, sir." Arlon Trask raised his hand. "Who's this "Governor Sturm"?"

"A former Imperial Governor of Malastare prior to the destruction of the first Death Star. Local sources indicate he had a passion for hunting, but unfortunately changed his preferred prey from local wildlife to political prisoners shortly after his arrival. Outrage over the discovery of his "hunting preserve" sparked a planetary uprising, causing the Empire to lose control of Malastare. Our intelligence last placed him on Kashyyyk."

A few murmurs rippled around the room. Trask folded his arms, looking mildly sickened by the information.

"The former Governor's perversions aside, our mission is to acquire as many of those TIE-Int's as possible. Now, our informants indicate that the Aviary is still in business. Aside from representing Imperial interests in the south-eastern sectors, it also has ties to local Gran-controlled political groups and organized crime. Our last best information placed the Aviary at the centre of several significant black market smuggling operations. Getting in via those routes will, hopefully, not be difficult. Colonel Tranis."

The Chevin stepped aside as Tranis took the podium. "Prior to this mission, our informants provided us with information on the structure and layout of the local black market operations. We anticipate that, with a little legwork from the ground teams, this information should enable us to access the smuggling routes into Gamma 7-A."

"Pardon me, sir, but what with?" Deke spoke up, and Trannis grinned openly, gesturing to the Rancors. "Thanks to Rancor Squadron, we have managed to obtain a large cache of "entertainment goods" considered of questionable legality by Imperial law." There was outright laughter from several of the Rancors, and Tranis chuckled. "Alright, settle down. Our informants indicate that there is presently no shortage of demand for that product amongst the Aviary's personnel. Failing that, we do what pirates and the Rebellion both do best; we improvise."

Yanni Wesk muttered, "Guess even Imperial slugs like their Twi'lek holo's," prompting laughter from the entire room. Hespi frowned.

"Precise details will be worked out once we hit planetside. Once inside the Aviary, things will change considerably. Though we have access to the station's schematics, our informants were not able to penetrate deeply enough to determine exactly what forces, Imperial and otherwise, are present the Aviary. Captain Therez, perhaps you could give us some insight into the Imperial mindset currently governing policy within the station?"

The two squadrons turned to look at Karena, and Lum gestured for her to approach the podium as Tranis stepped aside.

Karena hesitated, then nodded before walking up to aside Treego and Tranis. " Alot of this is speculation since I don't know the base commander, but from the looks of this intel, things are pretty lax here. Malastare is too far off the beaten path to be of any strategic value so the majority of Imperials will be second rate. Washouts, has bbens and troublemakers. The worst thing we should have to concern ourselves with would be one of the Imps trying to redeem themselves to their superiors by going Corellian on us and catching us offguard."

She glanced at the pilots as a few of them chuckled. " Since it's an open starport, getting in won't be a problem, we'll just have to do it smart so we don't draw attention. I do see another problem though."

This got Lum's attention," Oh?"

Kar nodded," The way the starport is laid out makes it extremely easy to defend. I don't see them on map, but I'm willing to bet there are plenty of triple A stationed around the perimeter. The raised design would give them a huge killing field which will put us at a disadvantage."

A stir of concern amongst the Krayt washed over the confidence that was brewing. Deke leaned over to Raljar and spoke lowly," Leave it to her to pick up on a little detail like that. This is the Kar we knew and loved back in the Dark Moons."

Karena continued," There is a simple solution, but it's going to complicate our escape. Anti Aircraft artillery is meant to shoot up, so if we drop low out over the city, we should be able to get out of range before shooting skyward. The problem is we are counting on pilots who have little or no TIE experience to do what could be some tricky flying. Coolnel, how many of your people are TIE experienced?"

Tranis chuckled," My dear, if it has wings and an engine, the Rancors have flown it. Why do you think that crate of yours had a TIE rack already in place? The rest of them are just disassembled and stored in the back hangar with a couple light freighters. We'd sooner grab the Z-95s, their shields make up for any downfalls."

" Point taken." Karena grinned for the first time since the briefing had started. " Okay, nevermind that idea, but those with me on the TIE grab and go will still have to skim the rooftops for at least a couple klicks or so before we break for space, so I reccommend some last minute simm time before we go."

" Good suggestion, Therez." Lum said with a nod. " If need be, the back up team and I can move in close enough to draw attention to us and off the TIEs so they can clear the city."

" Let's hope it doesn't come to that, sir." Kar replied as she returned to her seat. Her eyes met Raljar's for a moment but she quickly averted and retook her seat.