Celestial War 6.1

Edited by LuluViB|99th Britannian Emperor
***********

Chapter 6

(Heda Dool)

Coruscant
Slum district G17
Trueping’s bar
18 hours after Destiny got back home…

Slum district G17 was an area of the Coruscant underworld that contained, among other things, the Spider Arms Hostel, several Cabarets famous for its Zeltron female dancers, at least two Noodle Bar diners, Chezdeze, Galaxy Noodles with the best noodles, a shoddy massage parlor, a gangster hangout, a gun market, and a bar.

The bar was called Trueping’s and it was a neutral place where bounty hunters, mercenaries or gangsters could make deals and team up. At the bar counter there was a female Duros, named Heda Dool waiting for someone while nursing a chilled Anoat malted. The strobing pastel and primary color of the lighting system had long since stopped annoying her. But she was still fingering the grip of her 434 Deathhammer blaster pistol that she had placed on the counter; she had been betrayed and bamboozled enough in that location to be wary of the clientele in the bar.

The barman, a green skinned Twi'lek man, eyed her worriedly; looking from her blaster to her uncaring large red eyes. Heda had a bad feeling and wasn’t too sure about that new job that she accepted… despite the job being simple… {-Bringing a little kid to her sponsor- she understood that nothing was ever simple because of the previous jobs she did for her employer.}

It was why she was waiting here, for her usual associates to gather; she had contacted them from the Bounty Hunter’ Guild, an ancient institution that regulated the bounty-hunting trade. The guild was more a coalition of the professionals than a proper organization, and rivalries between its houses were a common occurrence. As an example, the Nar Shaddaa and the one from Corellia couldn’t see eye to eye at all because of a feud between the Guildmasters.

Heard like that… mercenaries wouldn’t like to join because of the politics involved but there were incentives to join; bounty hunters who joined the guild had the benefit of notifications of bounty postings before they were broadcast through official channels, which gave guild members a head start.

Heda wished to refuse the job, she smelled a dirty Bantha; she couldn’t put her finger on what bothered her exactly. It was at this moment that she saw a group of people enter the bar, she recognized the armored and well armed Gran Shmu Joex and his two apprentices. The two’s faces were hidden as they wore hooded cloaks showing black armor with heavy blasters at their thigh and belt.

After them, two others passed through the bar’s door. Just like Heda expected to see, there was a traditionally robed Savarian male called Qronord Zedro, and his scandalously clothed spouse and partner, a blue skinned female Twi’lek called Ayuj'celol with her jewel adorned lekku trailing behind her. Heda snorted at the tatooinian slave outfit Ayuj was wearing.

*Those two aren’t even ashamed at showing their kink.* Heda thought as she turned to five newcomers.

The other customers looked at the group coming to the counter, the beat of Corellian country music beating in the air through the jukebox. Some people didn't care and returned to their drink or discussions, but the blue and shapely Twi'lek was distracting as she sauntered toward Heda, making her assets jiggle, attracting back the attention of the horniest males present.

Qronord took off his hood, and put a hand on his concealed Heavy blaster and looked at them with a threat in his eyes. The dark skinned human let go of his weapon’s grip when the men of different species stopped looking at his wife. Heda found this action rather hypocritical.

Ayuj accosted Heda and asked in a peppy way, “Hello there, Heda. I heard you got a new job for us.”

Heda sighed, and stoically answered, “Yes, and we do the usual, we share 50/50 between our two teams.”

She had never been comfortable showing affection or friendship in public; and she wasn’t going to start now.

Ayuj immediately started pouting. “As usual, business right away… not even a hello, Heda?”

The Savarian came next to his wife and placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. Coming to sit at her side was Shmu, he ordered a Coruscanti ale and turned his three eyes toward Heda and snorted at her, entering the conversation. “What did you expect, Heda has always been a little antisocial.”

The Twi’lek smiled at the Gran and bopped his nose with a finger. “Glad to see you, Shmu.”

“Well, me too sweetcheeks.” The Gran dipped his head in a slight bow.

Shmu’s apprentices came to sit near him, back against the counter and looking at the door, the safety on their weapons’ off. Heda forgot how those two were paranoid little buggers, they never showed their faces in public and took extra measures against potential ambushes.

Heda was interrupted by her musing about Shmu’s apprentices by Ayuj. “So… How much is the client paying for this job?”

Heda sighed, she looked at her utility belt and pulled a datapad from one of her pouches. “Can’t tell you, but I can show you. The walls have ears.” The female Duros pointed at the venue, and some other mercenaries were listening in.

It was basic operational security, never boast or speak about jobs you’re about to take; another rookie bounty hunter might try to steal it from you. She forwarded the data packet she had received from her client and Qronord's own device rang, notifying him that he received it.

As he looked at the screen he whistled, he passed the datapad to his wife.

Target

Physical attributes:

• Young near-human girl child
• Pointed ears
• Pale skin
• Blue eyes and red hair
• Estimated age: 5-6 years old
• 350k alive and unarmed
• 100k harmed
• Dead nothing

Location:

• Kashyyyk

“This much? And the target lives in a problematic area...” Ayuj frowned as she held onto the datapad and then passed it to Shmu.

The Gran’s ears fell while his antennas twitched left and right showing his nervousness. When he looked at the Duros he said, “It must be wrong or there are special circumstances.”

Heda understood her associates' wariness, if the pay was too good there was always a catch to the job. Difficulties always cropped up, they often ranged on how secure the target was or if there would be political repercussions in doing the job. Generally Heda’s client could smooth over any mishap resulting from her killing or extracting her mark.

The Duros shook her head. “No, I have confirmed the location and the client really wants the target.”

Heda looked on as Shmi, Ayuj and Qronord looked at her as if she was crazy; she understood… After all, she was basically asking them to help her kidnap a child on Kashyyyk. There was a high chance that they might die if they’re caught or sent to one of their infamous penal colonies in the Mytaranor sector. Wookiees were good people, often too good; and they put too much emphasis on honor, justice and truth to Duros’ tastes.

It made establishing a blackmarket on Kashyyyk a nightmare, though Bounty Hunters were welcomed as they were ‘hunters’ and often tested themselves on the fauna and flora (and some criminals that sought sanctuary in the wild of the verdant but dangerous planet).

Shmu expressed what everyone was thinking. “There’s something fishy here.” He took a swig of his ale, then put the glass on the counter. The Gran turned his eyes to Ayuj and Qronord who nodded at him, they agreed.

The Saranian asked, “I don’t like this… how protected is the target?”

The Duros’ lips twitched, a sign her friends recognized as her attempting to stop herself from smiling. “That’s why I invited you for this job, you ask relevant questions.”

Heda liked working with them due to how cautious they could be, but they knew when to be bold as well; they were no meek Falleen, Sithspit, how she hated those prima donnas.

“This sounds more dangerous than the job we did with you before.” Shmu commented.

The Duros was reminded of that job on the Mon Cal’s homeworld where they had to assassinate that vacationing senator and how like an anthill the planet went on lockdown and they had to hide for three months in one of the underwater cities of the planet Dac. Living in such proximity with the others reinforced their bonds but the lack of food and space made them long for the surface. Heda had decided to refuse any job which would send her to Dac.

Fortunately, she recouped the loss after abandoning her previous spaceship with her brand new Corellian YT-1300 light freighter. The Duros turned to Shmu and said, “If you want to leave, Shmu, be my guest.”

Heda wanted the money to finally quit being an active bounty hunter and do like Shmu train an apprentice or two while living comfortably somewhere, maybe back on Duro with her family.

Just like she expected, Shmu’s greed showed itself when he raised his hands and slapped them on the counter, making his still filled glass jump. “Nah, I will stay and do the job.” He threw a thumbs at his two apprentices. “The kids are going to play overwatch for us though.”

The two masked apprentice bounty hunters turned their attention back on the meeting. Heda wasn’t impressed with their current behaviors. They should have been able to multitask right now. “That’s fine with me, they’re still training.”

Using their datapad with a concealed camera to record and observe what’s happening around them should be second nature, not blatantly watching the gallery, meeting the eye of anyone was often a taunt because of tradition or different cultures with so many alien species gathered.

Ayuj was the one who said, “Before doing anything, we must investigate first to know if we’re not making a mistake. The target might be someone too hot to touch.”

Heda nodded and waved a hand. “I’m with you on that, the money is too good.”

Qronord  asked, “So, we’re still going?”

The Savarian didn’t look as enthused as everyone for this new job. Heda stood up and downed her drink and slammed the crystal glass on the counter. “Yeah we are, be at Starport in eight hours.”

The female Duros left the pub, already choosing which Hyperlane routes to take for the fastest travel to Kashyyyk in her mind.

----- CW-----

(Jedi Knight Erra Ban)

Coruscant
Starport
10 hours after Destiny got back home…

Jedi Knight Erra Ban was a dutiful member of the Jedi Order; she was training in the courtyard referred to as the training ground at the base of the Jedi temple, when she was told to stop what she was doing and go to Kashyyyk. But not alone, she needed to go with another knight and her padawan to save and retrieve a powerful force sensitive youngling.

Grandmaster Yoda himself gave her the mission and as if to highlight how urgent it was, he used the force to share his impression of the force signature of the youngling for her to be able to find her more easily. The presence she felt was… encompassing, more powerful than any Erra felt before. Yoda made it clear how imperative it was to save and acquire the female youngling at all cost.

It was why Erra was going to take the fastest ship in the Temple’s hangar to travel to Kashyyyk. But somehow the force wasn’t with them, the old Jedi spaceship that she was supposed to take was unable to travel due to an error in the hyperdrive control software that burned the engine. This was suboptimal… the mission wasn’t starting well.

The Arkanian female cursed her luck as she watched civilian spaceships fly from the Starport where she arrived with her travel companions. It wasn’t what was worse… She felt a muted animosity coming from the force and it made her wary of everything all around her as she believed that the sentient energy field was warning her about something, maybe an attack? Or them being intercepted by something. Erra was on her guard, ready to pull her lightsaber at a moment’s notice.

Erra looked warily around herself, the light reflected on the transparisteel of the windows. She decided to go sit on one of the benches against the wall facing the boarding gate. Her eyes ignored the holographic ads popping up everywhere on the walls. Fortunately she was next to a plant, it helped center herself thanks to the life and serenity she could sense coming from it.

She has been waiting for her two other companions for this trip, Coruscant Jedi Knight human Feda Nyvirr and Twi’lek male padawan Jyme Nay. They stayed in the temple to solve their transportation problems while Erra took their luggage to the star port well in advance. The Jedi Order had an extensive list of people on which they could rely on because of favors they were owed in the past or because some masters and knights had networked in their travels.

Coruscant was a big planet, and there was a constant stream of coming and going of spaceships. The planet had some industries, mainly droids, electronics,and other production types of technologies; but to function, the planet needed food, luxuries and people from all over the galaxy. Finding a ship the same day they were supposed to leave was feasible; it depended on the type of spaceship Erra and company wanted to board.

“Erra!”

Erra turned her head toward the entrance of the boarding gate, only to see a tall raven haired human woman in dark blue jedi robe power walking toward her enthusiastically. The knight rolled her eyes, this woman was Feda Nyvirr is a knight from the same generation as Erra, she was a padawan of Master Tera Sinube. In three years she became a knight after having traveled all over the galaxy with her master.

Following behind her was a young blue skinned Twi’lek, looking barely eighteen years old. He looked like a stoic Twi’lek, he looked back at her and smiled; Erra nodded back at him, acknowledging his presence.

“Knight Nyvirr? Tell me you got good news?” Erra forced herself to be formal, they were in a public setting.

Those were the two companions that have been chosen for her. Feda was chosen for her travel experience and savviness, she was teaching her padawan like her previous master did for her; no temple, just hands on investigating, negotiating and fighting. This was the reason Feda was so outgoing and emotive, she didn't adhere to the code and preferred the old Jedi Code, back when they could still have kids and love whoever they wanted.

Emotion, yet peace.
Ignorance, yet knowledge.
Passion, yet serenity.
Chaos, yet harmony.
Death, yet the Force.

This was the code Feda Nyvirr followed, thus she stayed away from the temple for long periods of time. It was tempting to live by the ancient code, she might take the same route if she ever left the temple for good. But for now she will play the dedicated Knight of the Order; her mission to save the youngling was what she preferred in her way of life, saving the innocents.

Feda smiled at Erra in victory. “Yes, the temple contacted someone  and they’re willing to get us to Kashyyyk and back to Coruscant.”

Erra smiled back at Feda, this was good news! “Very good!” The female Jedi knight stood up and walked forward and stopped before Feda who had a credit chit in her hand. Feda had bet that they wouldn't find a transport any time soon. Erra, who knew how vital the mission was, didn't agree.

"Grandmaster Yoda, really want us to be on our way," The black haired jedi averted her eyes from Erra's who smiled as she took the credit chit in hand; here she was 50 credit richer.

The white haired Arkanian female flipped her hair and said smugly, "I told you, he would. The mission is that urgent."

Jyme, Feda's Twi’lek padawan approached them, his steps silent; but the women felt him move because they were completely aware of their surroundings. The young Twi’lek spoke, “Master?”

He looked dashing in his padawan garbs, he towered slightly over the two female knights. Feda was the first to ask, “What is it, Jyme?”

The Twi’lek male closed his eyes, then opened them and said in a haunted voice, “Do you feel this sense of oppression, Master? I’ve been feeling it since we left the temple, it’s as if the force was warning me about something.”

Erra looked at Jyme in a new light, the padawan was as strong as her in the force it seemed; he felt the same warning that had been hounding her senses. As time passed, Erra noticed that the feeling became worse. But what if it wasn’t centered around them, what if it was the youngling’s impending doom that they felt? Since the dark side veil had fallen on the galaxy, divining such details to their situation has become quite difficult.

“I don’t…’ Feda tried to speak but Erra interrupted her.

“He’s right, I’ve been feeling it too. It’s like the force is telling us to not go, that the danger is too great.” Erra took Feda’s hand, the Arkanian female looked into her fellow knight’s eyes and said, “Hold my hand, I will try to channel what I feel. You need to work on your meditation a bit more, Knight Nyvirr.”

Focusing on the oppressive feeling that she could feel through the force, Erra opened herself to Feda whose body started to tremble. The black haired Jedi Knight snatched back her hand. “Brrrrr, I feel so cold. And now I can feel it too, how are you two not pulling your saber all the time?!”

“Oh believe me, I want to.” Erra commented and then pushed a heavy sigh.

Jyme who looked at them pawed at his lightsaber, but didn’t activate it. “Same, Master.”

The noise of a ship slowly descending in the berth facing the gate they were waiting at made the room tremble a bit. The three of them turned to look at the newly arrived ship; a white colored light freighter was landing, it looked of Corellian make.

Erra perked up, her pale eyes lighting up; she turned to Feda who nodded and said, “Ah this is our ship! The Absconding Devil. Do you have our luggage?”

Erra showed the three big suitcases and the metal strongbox at its side near the bench she had been sitting on. “All ready.”

“Then let's go!” Feda said as she took her own suitcase, while Erra took the two others. Jyme shouldered the strongbox in silence, knowing he was the muscle for the two women.

As Erra walked, she said in the privacy of her own mind, *Let’s go get my future new padawan.*

----- CW-----

(Captain Jaqusant Savacho)

Jaq was here on Coruscant because he owed a favor to Grandmaster Yoda. The diminutive Jedi master had pulled him and his crew out of the frying pan five years ago and now the old imp had called him two hours ago, saying that he wanted to collect on his favor. Fortunately, the job was just about transporting three Jedi to Kashyyyk and back to Coruscant for a week of stay.

The Zeltron punched the button on the bulkhead at his right side and then the ramp slowly opened. When it touched down on the ground, stairs deployed in the middle of the sloping surface. At the Starport's gate facing the berth of his ship, three oddly clothed people appeared. Jaq recognized a human and Arkanian female followed by a young male Twi'lek.

The odd clothes were Jedi garbs, and the little cylinders at their hips was a lightsaber. Those were his clients, he didn't know their names, but he had been warned that his three passengers would be two Jedi Knights and a Padawan. The Arkanian female was beautiful and lithe, her clothes consisted of a brown bustier-top espousing her big assets and pants with combat boots covering her long legs; the belt at her waist had multiple pouches, clearly for utility.

The black haired one was a beauty as well, she wore normal Jedi garbs but colored in dark blue; already this change made Jaq think that this female knight was a nonconformist to the Jedi’s spiel about no attachments or possessions. He was going to try to get her in bed first or in a threesome with his wife. The Twi’lek looked like a stick in the mud padawan, but it was too early to say what he was about.

When the three of them stopped at the ramp, Jaq began to say, “Welcome everyone, I am Captain Jaqusant Savacho of the Absconding Devil. Please come aboard, we will be departing right away.”

The Jedi didn’t seem to be put off by his attitude of wanting to get out of Coruscant as fast as they could; they followed him like baby bantas.

"Be careful we're hauling goods for Kashyyyk, some of this stuff is delicate." He said while they were moving in the cargo bay while avoiding the numerous boxes and containers stacked and strapped inside.

They finally reached the bulkhead that led to the next deck in the ship. In the small hallway a beautiful sky blue female Twi’lek stood leaning against one the wall, waiting for the passengers. Jaq grinned at her and he said, “This is my XO, Ayun'Loci.”

Ayun rolled her eyes, her voice was strong and airy. "I am not just that, I am also his wife. Welcome everyone."

The Arkanian female slightly bowed with a neutral smile and said, "Greetings. I am Jedi Knight Erra Ban," she turned toward the black haired knight and the male Twi'lek. "this is my fellow knight Feda Nyvirr and her padawan Jyme Nay."

The female Twi’lek waved at the three of them, her eyes settling more onto Feda Nyvirr. Just like Jaq, she had spotted the one who was less Jedi-like. Those often were more open in giving into the pleasure of the flesh.

Ayun walked toward them and then pointed at the bulkhead on the right. "Enchanted. Please go to the passenger quarters and strap in for lift off. We have two weeks to get to know each other while traveling the Permilian trade route to Kashyyyk."

The door cracked open, showing a large lounge inside the space. There was a gleaming bar with a gold counter and stools; a number of drinks kept under key on transparent cupboards. Further from it, a giant holo-screen showed the news. Six meters from, it was a table with chairs and a large cushioned bench next to the wall.

There were three big travel chairs with harnesses visible against the wall with the bulkhead. The three Jedi put their things next to them and went to sit and strap themselves. Jaq left the lounge, followed by Ayun and moved toward the stairs leading up to the cockpit.

There were four seats surrounded by consoles and computers. Jaq and Ayun installed themselves at the foremost of them, the pilot and co-pilot seats. The console with the communication, sensors and weapons was on the right where Jaq sat, Ayun went for the pilot and navigation on the left.

Jaq hit a button on the communication console. "Tower 1, this Captain Savacho of the Absconding Devil, we're leaving. Permission to lift off?"

On the holoprojector between the two of them, the captain and his XO saw a message pop up in a rectangular window.

Permission Granted

They didn't even rate an operator answering them, just an automated Droid reply. Jaq wasn't offended, Coruscant was a big place and the traffic was constant. "Lift off."

Ayun activated the antigrav, and they lifted up in the air; when the ship was fifty meters in the air, she turned on the rockets and the ion engines. The ship angled at 45° and slowly ascended into the atmosphere, until Ayun said, "We've reached orbit."

The blue sky gave in to a complete darkness, and a ballet of ships coming and going to the planet was visible. Ayun gunned it and left Coruscant's gravity well in one push, oriented toward the main hyperlane.

"Push the lever, Ayun." Jaq ordered.

The lever to activate the hyperspace was before the Twi’lek who smiled, put her hand on it and pushed it forward. The stars became lines of light as the spaceship achieved the speed of light and they were finally in the blue tunnel of hyperspace travel. "Hyperspace Drive engaged."

Jaq pushed the intercom button on his console. "We are on course for Kashyyyk, dear customers."

----- CW-----

(Erkituaa)

Kashyyyk/Vawrrawn
Training cave
1 week since Destiny’s return

The reclamation of Vawrrawn was still undergoing, the scouts were battling the vermin inside the tree during the day and resting at night. The seventh level, the top of the white tree, was already freed, the houses there restored, in particular little Nomi’s. The HQ of the scout was located there next to the gathering hall. Erkituaa sat in his office, with the view of the center plaza which was teeming with people.

Mainly Wookiees and some near-human traders and civilians who decided to join the reclamation efforts to develop the region. There were ninety-three people in Vawrrawn right now. Erkituaa took the datapad next to him in hand, it was quite the big model, made for Wookiee hands and turned it on. The logo of the company having built it appeared on the booting screen, MicroData Technologies.

Quickly, the scout captain opened the file containing the manifest of all the goods coming to this tree city. It was mainly appliances and recycling units coming. There were also containers full of electronic components coming in; part of it was set aside for one Nomi Sunrider. Erkituaa closed the file and looked for the approval document that he hadn’t signed yet. As the guardian of the current Tree Carer he was screening everything concerning the little pup.

The scout captain was shown by little Nomi that she could fix anything, Datapad, appliances, weapons, computer workstation, ship systems and droids. She spent an afternoon maintaining everyone’s bowcasters in the scout HQ and his subordinate swore to him that their gear worked better now. Erkituaa was aware that something queer was going on there, that the kid worked a bit more of her force magic.

Now, Nomi wanted to open a business, she didn’t want to depend on the stipend of 1,500 credits Tree Carer Tikli sent to her weekly. Erkituaa looked at the business proposition attached to the approval request. Sunrider Technical Maintenance Service is an extremely small business that Nomi Sunrider, his charge, wished to open. The only employee listed so far was Nomi herself, and Erkituaa intended to let her open it if she could recruit an adult or droid help. Nomi couldn’t be trusted to do business by herself, she was five and a half; she should still be at home running about and drooling everywhere.

Erkituaa minimized the documents and looked for the plan of the tree on the sixth level. A map of every building and facility in the seventh and sixth level of Vawrrawn opened. Erkituaa looked for a small workshop that would need minimum repairs…

He eventually found one after ten minutes of search. It was a small local sandwiched between a recycling plant and a Alderaan delicacy restaurant that was reopening. Erkituaa filled in a form to reserve the space and used his access to Nomi’s bank account to put a deposit to outright buy the tiny local. Next, he reopened the approval document and signed his name on it thanks to the touch-screen and even used his scout captain seal on it. He sent the file to the administration division.

The scouts are the de facto leaders on Vawrrawn, because they had the backing of Nomi Sunrider, the current Tree Carer and Chieftain of the white tree. Erkituaa was her guardian, but the two answered to Tikli really. They were being tested by the little Near-human girl at the moment, she waited for the moment that the Wookiees would choose to take away her home from her. If that happened a lot of bad things might happen.

Tikli had told Erkituaa how Nomi was getting tricky and more powerful everyday with her force magic. She could now feel the little pup from Kachirho, the capital. The pup could somehow speak with her from a distance of 2,000 km between the tree cities via some form of telepathy that she came up with by piggybacking the neural network formed by the roots of the Wroshyr trees.

This proved that Nomi was the true Tree Carer of this tree, there were words that she was reaching out to others this way. Nomi didn't act like a child, she sounded like she was a teenager, she could read and write; recently she was learning to cook for Erkituaa who was now living with her.

Being in charge of a young little near-human pup with more power than sense was quite difficult. Erkituaa had to impose a curfew or the pup would spend all night on the holonet reading scientific papers or chatting on engineering forums. He had to regulate her access to protect her, but he discovered that Nomi modified her workstation with the computer parts and the anti-slicing equipment he got for her. The firewall in the house was military grade… and she gave him access to the security network that she was somehow creating from scratch.

He was afraid of what she might be capable of with time and resources at her disposal. From the datapad, he saw that Nomi requested more computers and electronic components such as positronic processors and brains. Erkituaa was sure that Nomi was working on building droids for the house. *Or worse, she’s going to turn the house into one of those smart houses that are all the rage on Coruscant.*

Erkituaa let go of the datapad on his desk when heard a familiar voice. “Woohoo! Look, I can fly now!”

The wookiee turned to the window and saw a floating Nomi flying in the air, her hanger on, four other wookiee pups started to comment loudly on the plaza.

“Amazing!”

“My turn next!”

Before anything else could happen, Erkituaa opened the window and roared,  “Nomi Sunrider! Get down this instant!”

Everyone stopped what they were doing on the plaza and looked in the direction of the scout HQ. The red haired little pup loudly said, “Ah shit, it’s the grumpy old Wookiee.”

Then she put her hand on something on her left arm and slowly lost altitude; she finally landed on the central platform of the plaza. The red haired pup turned to the scout HQ and glared at Erkituaa. “Hey, Erki, don't call me Nomi!”

This little pup was going to be the death of him!

----- CW-----

(Heda Dool)

YT-1300 light freighter
The Opportunity
2 Weeks later
Kashyyyk’s orbit

Kashyyyk was a beautiful planet. Kashyyyk experienced one continuous season. The planet had four continents, making up 40% of the surface, which were mostly covered in lush, wroshyr tree-filled forests, which were several kilometers high. There was a small amount of desert region in the rain-shadow of its small mountain ranges as well as large plains.

Heda was tempted to stay for the few sandy beaches that could be found along the shores of its oceans. The Kashyyyk coastlines were lined with a brownish-white sand and thick grasses. How this wasn’t turned into a resort planet, she doesn’t know…

“So where do we start?” Ayuj'celol asked as she looked at the planet turning on itself.

There were only three people in the Opportunity's cockpit; Heda, Ayuj'celol and her husband Qronord. Shmu and his apprentice were already on the planet as his spaceship was faster than the Opportunity; the Gran was preparing the operation with, amassing weapons, contingencies and informants.

Qronord stood up and walked next to his wife, his hand catching one of her lekku and caressing its end with his fingers. “We’re going to have to go investigate down there. Look for any near-human kid who made waves recently.”

Ayuj didn’t even react but her quivering legs showed that it was really pleasurable to her. Heda ignored what they were doing; sometimes traveling with a couple could be annoying. The couple seemed to fuck in every room of Heda’s ship.  “Let’s start in the capital.”

Rwookrrorro was the capital city of the planet Kashyyyk. This metropolitan center of the Wookiee homeworld was a kilometer-wide platform nested high atop a tangle of huge trees. Thanks to their knowledge of technology, the Wookiees further supported this natural nest with repulsorlifts.

Primitive-looking huts lined the edges of Rwookrrorro's streets, while a huge, hollowed-out branch served as a hidden hangar for offworlders. Lift cars were used to traverse the levels of the Wookiee trees. At least that’s what Heda noticed there was in the city since the last time she has gone there.

The female Duros watched the screen with clear antipathy as she noticed how much she will have to pay to house her ship onto one of the platforms; the hidden hangar wasn’t available it seems. “Huh the fees to land on the planet are highway robbery.”

Ayuj looked over Heda’s shoulder and made a disgusted expression. “500 credit for maintenance, 1000 per day of stay in the ship berth at the star port.”

Qronord clicked his tongue, even as a privately rich mercenary sneered at those gouging prices, the Wookiees were clearly not loving any outsiders. The dark skinned man put his hand on the female Duros’ shoulder. “Pay it, we won’t stay in the capital for long. If we need an extension, I will help you from my own pocket.”

Heda nodded and punched a button on the Holo-communicator’s panel. “This is Captain Heda Dool, we’re seeking arrangements to land in the Rwookrrorro’s starport…”

----- CW-----

(Feda Nyvirr)

VCX-100 light freighter
The Absconding Devil
Passenger quarter

A feeling of incongruity jolted Feda out of sleep. She sensed the life down on the planet and it was a bit distracting, but she could also feel a powerful mind encapsulating the entire planet. It wasn't a force presence, but an active mind looking for something. It was scary and heady that such a phenomena happened at all. This was a clear sign that there was a force user on the planet that they couldn’t detect somehow.

Feda sat up from her bed in the cabin that had been given to her for the trip. When she got up the light inside the cabin came on, making Feda avert her eyes from the white walls. They reflected too much light, it was a big no and she told the Captain and his wife. All they had answered was that she was invited to come to their own cabin for some relaxing sleep if she wanted; that their cabin was painted a different color than the walls and bulkhead in his ship.

She refused… if it had been only Ayun, she would have given in, but she hated how smarmy her husband felt in the force. Erra herself was propositioned, but she too had refused. They’d have more chances with Jyme who wants to bugger Ayun because she reminds him of his mother. *Boys and their mommy issues…*

Feda opened the wardrobe and looked for a sleeveless Jedi outfit, she didn’t want to enter Kashyyyk’s climate with warm robes. Once she was done putting on her clothes, she started brushing her long silky hair before the small vanity next to the bed. She finished after ten minutes of brushing the hair which cascaded down like ebony waves.

Deciding to mimic Erra, she went for a utility belt with everything she needed, lightsaber, money, datapad and other gadgets. When she exited her cabin, Erra was waiting for her. "Do you feel it?"

"What?" Feda was surprised to see the other Jedi Knight there. She wore a variant of the same outfit she wore, but it was in shade of white and brown.

Erra said, "That powerful telepath down on the planet. The activity there is so intense. It’s like there are multiple force sensitives forming some sort of collective…"

Feda perked up at Erra’s description. "Oh yeah I did! It woke me up actually."

Then the two Knights felt it when the telepathic activity suddenly stopped, it was a jarring sensation; what was left was a feeling of foreboding from the force.

"Huh, it stopped?" Feda said aloud as she focused her senses on the planet they started to orbit.

"They disappeared, how?" Erra, who was more powerful than Feda in the force, frowned. “They must have somehow sensed us.”

The two knights walked toward the cockpit of the ship to speak with the captain. Not wanting to stay in space too much, they needed to go look for the female youngling who was supposed to be there.

********
A/N: this is the first part of chapter 6, it's basically a setup for what's about to... happen.