Space is a cold frontier of countless unknown and nightmares. The planets and ships that float through the vast open star let skies are only small havens that hide their own problems.
The year is 3985 BBY, ten years after the end of the great Sith War. The Republic is back on its feet, and the Jedi Order is beginning to rebuild itself to a suitable status. Many people throughout the galaxy are finally experiencing rest after the memories of the Sith still fresh in their minds. Though piracy is rampant in the Outer Rim, there is no real threat. Slavers and Pirates are still an issue as the Republic struggles to repair itself and clean up after the chaos that the Sith had left behind.
Many vigilantes arise during the era, but are rarely known or rewarded for their efforts. This, is the tales of one said group. Aboard the Sith made Deception, they enjoy a small time of relaxation after a conflict with a poacher of the darkest kind.
On the second level of the Sith modified Maka Eekai L4000, the small group of friends talked as the Deception kept its hyperspace course for Dantooine. Among them was the ships captain, Rahgnauroch; a young wookie that fled Kashyyk in the final year of the Sith war from slavers. The Deceptions' other owner, was HK-49; a Sith made assassin droid. Klik, as he preferred, was found within the ship wrecked Deception on Kashyyk. Rahg had put the ship into working order and fled the planet. He activated HK, who had never received his assassination protocols. Klik now spends his time learning what droids don't care about, and to possibly 'trust' his fellow organics.
Not in the conversation, is a small remote named Tink on the bridge, keeping the ship on course. Originally the back-up memory of HK, Tink managed to implant itself in the ships remote training drone and bring the Deception to the rescue of the team. Appearing as nothing more than a floating black ball, with a small red eye, Tink has a profound understanding of both computer and sentient anatomy.
Solm, a mighty Feeorin Mandolorian soldier, was the newest member. He is believed to be dead by the Mandolorians. His Feeorin ego keeps him from returning until he believes he can return triumphantly. Somewhat of a dick, Solm has been taken in well by the group for his talent and desire to defend his new friends.
Two of the more silent ones in the talking are Takato a human Jensaarai Defender and Anzu a young Miralukan Jedi. Takato and Anzu are more than known for their feelings for each other, as many of the groups earliest problems revolved around Anzu and her defender Takato.
Finally, the only other female was Ala. A young Twi'lek, Ala was known for her powerful personality and her cunning. She also has come to terms that she possess power through the Force due to her soft spot for Anzu in the earliest days of the small team. Being Anzu's protector until Takato could manage, Ala learned many things in the way of the Force…until she met him.
The red Twi'lek was talking about the final being on the ship. A powerful force user, he was as mysterious as the great Force itself. His name was Lahne. Once he was Takato's master, but that was fifteen years ago. And the tall and formidable being that was Lahne hadn't changed at all in the decade and a half. He was seen on several occasions and seemed to be helping in the background. Until a set of faithful set of circumstances brought him from a feared and thought to be indestructible being to an acquaintance if not a pending member of the new team.
Across the ship in his room, Lahne sat peacefully, awaiting the voices of the Force to echo through his mind. He was understanding his new role to play in Destiny's ever changing path.
Once capable of commanding the dark side without repercussion and to heal at inhuman rates, Lahne was nearly killed. Having been left weak after the passing of the Rebirthing Moon, a cataclysmic event when every moon of every planet is in its new phase, his own returning powers along with crippling wounds sustained in a fight killed him.
However, his time was not lost as Tink and Ala managed to bring his body back to the world of the living. He lost much power in the process, but accepted it as Destiny's way.
Lahne patiently waited like he always had for so many years for the voices of the Force when another sound entered his ears, though this one, physical.
The soft footfalls of a fellow comrade padded from down the hall, brought Lahne's mind to the present time and space.
Ala, who had broken from the conversation, was walking barefoot down the ships halls towards the back of the living corridors. So many questions rang through her mind on the lone warrior… He seemed as enigmatic as he seemed dangerous.
But Lahne's recent actions had brought several thoughts and ideas that heavily persisted in her mind and simply could no longer be ignored.
As the curious girl opened the door to Lahne's quarters, she wasn't sure if her original intentions were the best at the moment, but she wouldn't back down and continued her course.
As the door silently slid open without a sound, thanks to Klik's perfectionist issues, Lahne inhaled her scent. Very few species possessed natural senses as acute as Lahne's had become, so none could really appreciate the intoxicating and fresh smell that accompanied Ala into the room.
She smelled like the Kraytis flower that grew in deep caverns on Tatooine. The flower only ever sees the light of the crystals within the cavern walls, but was entrancingly beautiful and named after the mighty Krayt Dragon.
As Ala peeked though the door, Lahne became aware of her probable intentions, and was about to turn the tables to her ideas. She bit her lower lip and entered the room silently to stand before the meditating form. Even sitting on the floor, Lahne's head was in line with her stomach. As Ala leaned down, she waved her hand in front of Lahne's face to see how far in his trance he was. Unbeknownst to her Lahne was fully aware of her presence.
Ala was going to try and get answers out of Lahne the way she got information she needed when she was considered a bounty hunter. Loosening the shirt she was wearing and unbuttoning her jeans, Ala gently put her hand on the human's bare shoulder.
Not one to be entranced by others looks, for she saw so many in her method of hunting, Ala couldn't help but trace the toned lines of Lahne's chest with her eyes.
"Hey," she whispered, "I need to talk to you."
Lahne thought it best to act disturbed… he was about to have the first amount of fun in nearly twenty years.
Ala repeated her statement but nearly stopped as Lahne's eyes slowly opened to meet her. They were deep gold, encircled with a dark ring, guarding the color from the whites of his eyes.
Slightly taken back, Ala took a deep breath and leaned before him, purposely causing her chest to push out.
"Yes?" Lahne's deep but smooth voice seemed to echo into the room.
"I need to know something" Ala swallowed hard.
"Oh?" his eyebrow raised.
He wasn't happy, Ala realized. She knew this was a stupid idea.
"I…uh…i-ill ask you later…." She said as she stood to leave for the door.
The moment Ala turned, Lahne smiled. He wasn't about to let her leave that easy. Using a signature technique from his own master's, Lahne slipped through space to appear right in front of the startled girl who had looked over her shoulder at the sound that she heard behind her.
Lahne was over a foot taller than Ala, who seemed so delicate when physically compared. She looked up at him with curiosity and a little worry. Had she angered him?
"I-I'm sorry to bother you," she stammered as she attempted to walk past him out the door. He caught her hand and pulled her against him. Ala's arms were pinned to her sides, as she felt his cool skin touch her back.
Before she could express her feelings, she could hear him whisper in her ear.
"And where do you think you are going? You wanted to know something."
His breath on her ear and neck was intoxicating. Ala felt her resolve weakening. What was wrong with her? Lahne smiled as he felt her muscles begin to relax under his hold. He again drew in her scent, the fresh and seducing smell.
"Do you know what you smell like?" he whispered again in her ear. The question broke Ala's guard.
"What I smell like? I-I haven't had a shower since we on board last, i- "
"No, your scent little one. Your true smell, that goes beyond any sweat or soap. You, my dear, smell of the Kraytis flower. A rare and vibrantly beautiful plant."
Ala wasn't quite sure how to take the statement. It sounded like a compliment, but the way he said it sounded strange. If this hadn't had her confused, his next action did. Lahne leaned down and kissed her neck. A gentle and firm touch as his lips tasted her skin. It was a foreign feeling, one of compassion, not lust.
"What are doing?!" Ala managed to ask. It had intended to be along the lines of a shout, to possibly alert Anzu with her keen hearing. But what came out instead was more of a harsh whisper.
Lahne's left arm still had her pinned, while his right hand began to softly caress Ala's collar bone. His lips traced her neck, as his body pressed closely.
Ala's resolve was withering away by the second, and a feeling from deep in her body began to cry out for more.
"What is it that you wanted to know?" Lahne whispered in between his kissing.
Ala wasn't even quite sure what she wanted now… she knew she was going to try and seduce Lahne to learn it though, so how was she being pulled into his grasp like this?
"I-I wanted to know why you saved me," she said fighting his hold as the sudden remembrance helped to free her mind.
Lahne stopped his stroking and kisses for a moment, hopefully in thought, Ala hoped. Lahne let go of the girl and closed the door. He motioned for her to sit on the bed as he slowly paced the floor.
Ala bit her lip again and slowly sat on the unused mattress. Lahne watched her a moment more before coming to answer.
"I didn't want to hurt you."
"You had to make it seem real though…"
"I did from Durley's point of view, but you were in the way. So, I fixed that."
"But why didn't you want to hurt me?"
"Because, inside, you're a lot like me."
Ala's brows met, in thought and confusion. Like him? How? He was human, an experienced Force-user, had seen things that people couldn't even dream.
"How?" Ala asked a little more aggressively then she meant.
"Because, a very long time ago, I lost someone. And it was my fault."
"Very long time ago? Lahne, you speak of it as if it's been fifty years."
"Because it has been. Well beyond that in fact."
"What do you mean?" Ala asked leaning forward. Lahne stared at the floor.
"Lahne, how long ago did this happen?"
"Nearly five-hundred years ago." He answered quietly.
Ala's mouth unconsciously opened in awe. Five-hundred years? How was that possible?
"Lahne, how is that possible? What are you?!"
Lahne knelt before Ala and took her red hands in assurance.
"I was human. Though I really don't think I deserve to be called that after all I have done. Five-hundred years ago, I caused a devastating accident to some slavers far out in the Outer Rim, it killed everyone. The slavers, the slaves, myself, and the one I loved."
Ala watched Lahne's facial features as he spoke. He wasn't looking at her; he was looking into the distance, to his memories. He showed emotion. The one thing nearly everyone believed to be impossible. Ala felt something as she took in his words.
"…I remember my dying thought to be; 'Only if I could reverse time, I could fix it all.'. Then I awoke among beings who call themselves the Aing-Tii. They told me that I was not finished with my roll in the eyes of Destiny. Time is an illusion, thus the saying goes. That much is true, for it cannot be grasped and controlled. I was told that I possessed the Force, and they were to train me."
"You didn't know you were Force-Sensitive?" Ala couldn't help but ask.
"No, never would have. But my dying thought. My dying wish to reverse time. That is what drew the Aing-Tii to me. I now understand space and time, for they are not independent of the Force's influence."
"So you changed what happened?"
"No…I couldn't. The mighty river of time… cannot be sped up or reversed any easier than manipulating the real raging waters of a river. But, there is one thing that living beings have done to manipulate rivers to their needs."
Ala thought a moment and shrugged. She never really gave thought to such things as rivers or nature. What little she knew was harsh, from her childhood on Ryloth.
"A dam. A great construct of sentient creation, to stop the flow of a river."
Ala's face lit up as she understood, "You have stopped time around yourself!'
"Indeed," Lahne smile, "I did, to ensure that no one ever makes the mistake of trying to control things beyond there knowledge or power. That memory is my dam to the river of my being. For as long as I breathe, I will be haunted by that structure."
Ala understood. She leaned forward and kissed Lahne, who was unmoving at first, before he accepted it and continued with her.
Ala was entranced with compassion, not lust, as she had lived for several years. Lahne gently leaned her back onto the bed, her legs wrapped around his waist.
She slowly broke the kiss as she stared into his golden eyes.
"You don't need to fear a structure that was built for good reason, the foundation may be painful, but the structure can be strengthened and built with good memories that hold just as good a reason to maintain that structure."
Lahne smiled gently as he leaned forward. A passing whisper of thank-you was heard before his lips slid across Ala's neck, causing her body to shiver with excitement.
A moment of shuffling and Lahne sat back up to pear down at Ala. She was shirtless now, but covered herself with her arms. She had been shirtless so many times, why did this time make her feel embarrassed?
Lahne gently removed her arms to stare at her beautiful red body. He leaned in and took one of her breasts into his mouth, while his roaming hands caressed her lekku.
Ala was in a world all her own. How did he know? A Twi'lek's lekku were incredibly sensitive to touch and temperature. But his hands were gently sliding across nerves that she had no idea were there, it was amazing.
The entire situation was so new to her. She wasn't the dominative figure in this, and she wasn't being used. She felt an amazing amount of energy and didn't even have her pants off, not once had Lahne done anything for himself. Ala had always had to give the other person what they needed, while taking as much as she could in the process.
This, this was unreal.
As Lahne traced her body with his tongue, soft noises escaped Ala's lips. Just as Lahne had reached her jeans, he slowly began to pick up where she started and began to unzip them. Ala felt her face flush, again the feeling of embarrassment she could not fight for the strangest reason.
As Lahne's fingers hooked around the hem of her panties, the speakers kicked on in the room.
Klik's metallic voice echoed through:
"Informative proclamation: the Deception has arrived at Dantooine. Commanding statement: all report to the bridge."
Lahne sighed as Ala tried to relax. They stood and looked at each other for a moment. The young Twi'lek replaced her shirt and left the room with a quick smile for her fiend. Lahne smiled and shook his head. Grabbing his jacket, he left to follow Ala, a curse at for his metal companion on his lips the whole way down the hall.
LAVIEBOHEME57