No Chains Too Tight

by RylotheanWriter

When Skitch, a Lethan twi'lek female, escapes from slavers on Byss, she learns that with a little bit of determination in the right situations, anything is possible. I have ideas for other stories about Asale and Cax, If you like it, tell me, there is more where this came from.

No Chains Too Tight

THE TALE OF ASALE DARYA

Dedicated to:

My faithful Jedi Padawan Madison Hedegard

Who will always be in my heart as Serinii Dawn

PROLOGUE-

It was a dark, bleak day on Byss the day that I met my best friend.

It happened on accident, really. I was sitting down, trying to sleep, when the door to my cell opened. S'cyck had put me there because I was causing a disturbance when I was in with the rest of the slaves. A disturbance, as S'cyck had said, was evidently telling stories to the young ones that were having nightmares.

A Weequay pushed open the door and shoved a young girl in. She looked to be about seven years old. I was around nine. "Can you dance?" He asked me, roughly.

I shifted uneasily. "Yes." I replied, turning my eyes to the floor. The young girl looked up at me with large, blue eyes. Her hair was matted, falling limply like dead gray-moss at her thin neck. My lek twitched as I knelt down to help her onto my bed of leaves and thatch.

She smiled as I ran my hand down her young, soft cheeks. "Then teach her." He slammed the door in my face.

Chapter 1-

I sat up from the cold, wet ground and shivered. "Serinii?" I called to my best friend. We usually sat close to each other in order to stay warm.

"I am here, Skitch. What is it?" She was a human-like girl that had blonde hair cropped close to her head. Her face always had a smile on it and her eyes were a bright blue that lit up whenever they looked at me. She was all that I had.

Even though I was two years older than her, the fact that she was Force- sensitive often made me feel inferior to her quick-witted ideas and instructions. I depended on her, relied on her, and trusted her. She knew it, too.

The Weequay guard that was over us poked his head inside of our cell. I jumped at the sight of his grisly, wrinkled face. "Get dancing, girls." He reminded us. "Sale day is coming up faster than you expect." With that, he turned and trudged away.

"I am too hungry to dance." I feebly admitted. Serinii smiled at me, wanly, and ran her hand down my lek.

"I know you are, Skitch. Trust me, I feel the same." A tear fell down her cheek. "But some day, we are going to get out of here. And then there will be food enough for all of us, right?"

I licked my lips in anticipation, and I suddenly felt warmer. "Thanks, Ser."

"Let's just think about the food together, shall we? It will make you less hungry." I laid my head back down on my hands, trying to ignore the heavy shackles that trussed up our feet. She continued running her hands down my red-colored T'chin. "Rycrit stew… and, Naboo pudding. Jube fruit, yes… lots and lots of Jube fruit."

Serinii Dawn, as I had known for a long time, had always hated Rycrit meat. That was my favorite food. Her stomach grumbled as she tried to continue. "I guess I am hungry too." Suddenly, one of our slave owner's Gammorean guards came up and slapped her upside the face.

She cowered, rubbing her cheek. He grunted a reply and walked off, leaving her with me to finish. She lay down next to me and whispered something into my ear cone.

"Someday, Skitch." Her blue eyes closed as she tried to go back to sleep. "Someday."

The next morning I woke up with the hard feel of someone kicking me in the back. I tried to stand up, but my feet were still chained to the floor with heavy metal shackles. "Get up, Skitch. The Master wants his breakfast."

I blinked and rubbed my open back. It was that Weequay that beat up Serinii last week. He undid the pin that held my chains to the floor and forced me to my feet with a gaffi stick. I walked over to where the Weequay had left a platter of food and picked it up, gingerly.

I was weak from the lack of hydration. I was one of the few Twi'lek slaves that S'cyck, our Master, had to offer. I was the only Lethan in his band of poorly fed slaves, which made me almost invaluable to him. Red twi'leks were rare, but red twi'lek females were rarer. His hope was to sell me for a high price at an auction to Jabba the Hutt's major-domo, Bib Fortuna.

It was my fault we were headed to Tatooine. So that I could be sold. As I trudged across the long hallway to get to S'cyck's private room, I started to feel queasy. I stopped walking for a minute.

The Weequay pushed me with his gaffi and muttered a curse. "Get moving, Skitch. S'cyck won't wait forever."

I nodded and kept walking. The smell of the food, whatever it was, was intoxicating me with every step. I tried to keep walking. I stepped through an opening and turned around.

S'cyck, a Trandoshan that was fluent in Huttese, stared back at me with glowing red eyes. "Thank you, sweetheart." He sat up from his bed.

I had walked back into his private quarters, the only place in his slave prison that had a bed, table, and decent clothing in an immaculate closet. It was black, the same as the whole underground setup that S'cyck kept and tortured all of his stock.

I set the tray down on the table and sat down next to it. He walked over to where I sat, kneeling by his food. I kept my eyes averted to the ground. He smiled, showing me all of his yellow teeth. I didn't dare respond.

He picked up a strip of meat and ate it. My stomach grumbled, loudly. I smacked my lips to keep from becoming too thirsty. S'cyck looked over at me. "Hungry?" He mused, picking up his cup to take a drink of his sweet water.

I nodded. "I haven't eaten much these past few years." I had been a slave for as long as I can remember. Once, a female that was a Lethan like me, but many years older, had told me that all twi'leks were native to Ryloth. I could only dream of visiting that planet one day. I didn't even know how old I was.

"Get her out of my sight." S'cyck snarled with rage. The Weequay that had escorted me there thwacked me with his gaffi stick again. This time, instead of the head, I was hit on the back. I stood up as quickly as I could.

I turned and tried to run out of the room, but I was so hungry that I didn't have enough power to do it. I stumbled on the chains that bonded my feet closely together. I picked myself up and continued walking for the room where Serinii was.

It was a long hallway, and my head was spinning. By the time I reached the holding room, I was out of breath. Serinii sat up as I approached her. "Ser…" I fell on my face.

Undaunted, the Weequay kicked me on my back. I didn't stand up. Serinii jumped from her seat on the floor and ran to help me. "Skitch!" She tripped over her shackles.

I sat up, weakly, and reached for Ser's hand. The slave keeper kicked me again. She reached out her arm, trying to touch my fingers. I sat up and then vomited on the floor. I think it was everything that made me react like this. No food, the kicking at my back, and the so-close-but-yet-so-far concept that every slave had felt at one time or other.

I crawled back to my place next to Serinii and laid my head down on her lap again, just like I had last night. The Weequay, evidently satisfied at his work, walked away. The ship jolted violently, and I heard a voice from the other end of the ship call out for assistance. "We have landed!"

Serinii ran her hands down my lek as gently as she could. "You look pale." She informed me. Then, suddenly, her face light up with an idea. She inhaled deeply and looked over at a platter of food that was meant for the Weequay.

She smiled, mischievously, and put out her hands. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Getting you some food." I watched, in awe, as the piece of bread and a small strip of meat floated in the air towards her, through the cell bars.

"How do you do that!?" My eyes widened as the savory pieces fell into my lap. I picked the bread up and devoured it like a reek on payday. Serinii smiled as I passed her the meat.

"You are the one that needs it most." She tucked it back into my hand. I looked at the meat, then back at her. She turned her eyes away from me. "I can find food elsewhere."

I ate what there was of the small strip and swallowed, happily. "Thank you."

I had just finished eating the few small slices of food when the guard walked back in, this time it was a big, ugly Gammorean. He hobbled over to where the food tray was, now only full of a cup of black liquid. He grunted in surprise at the empty tray. I cowered behind Serinii as he picked up the platter and sauntered out of the room.

"We are so dead." I breathed into Serinii's ear. "We shouldn't have touched it at all." Serinii turned to look at me, putting her hands on my face.

"Listen, Skitch." Her blue eyes flashed. "I did it. Okay?" She had courage written all over her face. "I stole the food, and it is my fault that you ate it. If they take you and ask you, tell them it is all my fault." Here I was, listening to a friend that was two years younger than me, and letting her tell me what to do and say. That is what Force-sensitivity does for us that are counted out of the gig. We look up to and admire it.

I shook my head. That wasn't fair to her. "Serinii… I can't do that." The Weequay walked back into the room, holding heavy metal shackles. "I can't lie for myself." He stomped over to where me and Serinii sat, the only two in the cell.

"Put out your hands." He growled at us. We obeyed, and he locked Serinii into a chain over her wrists. For me, he tied me up with rope. "S'cyck doesn't want me to damage your beautiful skin." I sighed. The softie treatment because I was a Twi'lek.

With that, he dragged us down the hallway that I had walked down only moments before. He was taking us to S'cyck for punishment. I tried to keep in step with his wide, long footsteps. Serinii kept up with him perfectly.

The gray skinned slaver pushed open the door, as his long, beaded hair braids flicked across his strong back. "Master," His deep voice addressed the Dosh that was sitting on a padded couch. "We have landed successfully, but," The Weequay motioned to both of us. "I found two slaves stealing food."

"Very good, Kaze." The green lizard drew itself up to its full height. "Set them to be whipped." The 'quay nodded and led us into a small, black room behind where our cell was. The Gammorean entered as Kaze tied us to a pole.

The ugly, pig-like creature wiped away drool from his green chops and passed Kaze an Acklay whip. Serinii looked up from where she was tied, nervously. She had heard that sound before, but only as a threat. Kaze raised the whip and tossed it down on Serinii's back, but missed it, cutting her left shoulder harshly.

Serinii screamed out in pain, and I looked away from her. It was too cruel to watch. The Weequay raised the knife-like cord a second time and brought it down on her arm in the same place. Blood streamed down her arm, mixing with the tears that fell from her face.

I panicked, straining my weight against the rope that held me to the bar next to Serinii. The Gammorean took the whip out of the hands of Kaze and thwacked it on the floor, enjoying my reaction.

"You can't use this on a Twi'lek!" Kaze took the weapon out of his hand and shook his head. Serinii lurched, her body shuddering with sobs. "It will ruin her value! Come," Kaze took the guards arm to lead him away. "We need a belt instead."

As they left the room, I saw a knife from the Gammorean's sheathe suspend itself in mid-air. "What are you doing?" Serinii had her hands open, pulling the chain sharply around her wrists. The knife floated over to where my ropes were holding me to the bar.

"When these fall," she sniffed, "You run." I nodded in confusion as the ropes fell off of my arms. I caught the knife as she dropped it.

Was she ever 'holding' it?

"Serinii…" I rushed over to where she was bound up, trying to use the dagger to frantically pick the lock on her hand cuffs. "Come with me."

The sound of the Gammorean and the Weequay echoed down the hallway. They were coming for me. "No!" Her head rolled to her shoulder. "Don't waste your time on me!"

I turned to face the door, and then looked back at Serinii. "I won't leave you!"

She stared at me with a determined look in her deep, blue eyes. "Skitch." She called. "Skitch, look at me." A tear rolled down my face as the steps of the guards grew closer. "I will be fine." She lied to me. "Go, save yourself. And someday, when you least expect it, we will meet again."

I ran outside the door, rushing the guards and making a mad run for it. "Run, Skitch!" I heard her yell from behind me. "Run as fast as you can!"

I took off, sprinting past the slavers, soaring like a bird, giving all that I had for that last break for freedom. No one will ever own me again. I shot straight off of the landing platform, falling into the sand. "So this is freedom." I sat up, weakly.

Chapter 2…

'Ser would have loved this.' I mused as I ran off of the landing platform. Suddenly, my boot slipped, and I fell on the sand of this new planet, my outfit jingling from the touch of metal to earth. I stood up, cautiously. This was not the outfit that I needed to be wearing on a slime-digger planet like this.

I brushed the sand off of my silver bottom piece. Immediately, I tried to explore my options. "Let me see," I looked around at the tan-colored domes that filled up this waste-landed planet's surface. Suddenly, I had an idea. I ran over to where a large garbage dumpster stood, reeking with the stench of old Dewback mess and spent canisters of Death Sticks.

I pinched my nose to keep from being nauseous and jumped in, chucking out of the trash can whatever could be used as an outfit. There wasn't much there, but I tried not to be disappointed. There were other places I could buy or steal clothes.

I changed out of the bottom piece first. Peeling off the hard metal, I slipped into a pair of loose and large pants that were black. They smelled horrible, but I figured that I would need to stink horribly if I wanted to fit in on this force-forsaken planet.

I still had on my metal top piece that Skyc had dressed me in just a couple of weeks ago for the sale day. Bib Fortuna had been there, and it was his wish that I would sell to him. I had been lucky. Serinii Dawn, one of my dearest friends, was almost sold to a one-eyed Changrian that had examined her closely. We had both been lucky.

Odd as it may have looked, the metal piece fit well and I decided to keep it on. For now, anyways. I looked over at a huge, hairy Silonian that was walking by at a slow pace. He wore a baggy, brown tunic and had a black strip of cloth tied around his waist that served as a belt. But that wasn't what I had noticed first. It was the large, bulging sack of money tied to his waist.

I licked my lips at the thought of 'borrowing' a few credits from this obviously well to do character. I started walking behind him. He looked over his shoulder, as if noticing that there was someone there, but kept up the quick pace anyways.

I trotted up next to him and then pretended to trip on my own feet. I fell, hitting the sand as hard as I could for dramatic effect. He stopped walking and bent down to help me up. "Are you alright pateesha?" Using the Ryl word for sweetheart, he picked me up and put me on my feet. "I am so sorry…"

I got off of the sand and then smiled at him, sneaking my hand into his bag. "Thanks, and yes, I am fine." I was standing a little to his left, and practically leaning on his right arm. He nodded and walked off, and I pulled my hand back to see that it was filled with credit chips. "Finally."

I sighed and then lined up all of the credits in my hand. "Twenty… nine." I nodded and then entered a small clothing shop. "That should do the trick." A Togrutan stood behind the front desk, keeping his eyes fixed on the computer in front of him. He didn't even look up as I entered the room.

I pretended to glance around at the clothes and shoes, and then spotted exactly what I needed. There, with the sun shining on them from the bright light of Tatooine's twin suns, was a pair of heels. They were made from thatch and brown cord, and looked to be just about my size. Taking off my boots, I sat down in a chair and tried on the high-heeled pumps. They fit perfectly.

I stood up and walked around in them, enjoying the feel of a good pair of shoes. All that I had ever worn for as long as I could remember was a horrid pair of brown, itchy boots that my slave master, S'cyck, had made me wear for dancing. I walked up to the Togrutan at the desk and asked if a trade was acceptable. He looked me up and down and smiled. "What are you doing away from your Master, little twi'lek. Have you lost your way?"

"I am not owned by anybody!" I raised my voice and stomped my foot on the ground. "I am not a slave!"

He shook his head and smiled at me. "No Lethan, female twi'lek, on Tatooine, is a freebeing." Standing up and patting my head, softly, he continued. "That and you are missing a headset, little one." He walked around the counter and examined his wares. Pulling out a black twi'lek traditional head cover, he placed it on my head.

"It will cost you your old shoes for the heels, and 20 for your freedom." He sat back down in his seat behind the computer. "I can appreciate pluckiness." I buckled the headset under my chin. It felt like it had always belonged there. I admired my reflection in a mirror. It was black, with three jutting triangles that curved at the edges. They cut upwards from my head, looking, I must say, quite stunning.

I put 20 republic credits down onto the table. "Thank you." He had been speaking in Huttese, but I had learned that language from S'cyck after the time I spent on Byss. My thoughts drifted back to Serinii as I left the shop. Where was she? Was she safe?

I then realized I was starving. I had gotten my food stolen by a Quarren two days ago at feeding time, and had little to eat past then. My feet directed me to a cantina that smelled wonderful. I inhaled the pleasant aroma of cooked Mazer, Rycrit, and Nerf. I picked up the pace and entered the dome.

My eyes widened as I took in my surroundings. I had never seen such a gaggle of scum and villains in my whole life! I looked around, nervously, suddenly fearing for my safety. I sat down at a seemingly empty booth and moved in, bumping into the patron that had already occupied that seat.

He was tall, had black hair, and deep brown eyes. He wore a black shirt and brown pants with shiny, navy boots with metal tips and an odd insignia at the top of them. I noticed that he also had a silver ear piercing on his left ear that made you notice how muscular he truly was. The smell of what he was eating was overpowering.

I looked away from his piercing gaze, pretending to study the table. He shrugged and went back to his meal. Undaunted, I moved a little bit closer to where he sat. He glanced over at me, studied my outfit, and then continued eating.

I edged closer. This time he tapped me on the shoulder and smiled, warmly. "Do you need anything, little girl?" I turned to face him and then averted my eyes to the floor. The sweet aroma of his food was intoxicating me. "Lost your way?"

"No!" I corrected him quickly and then faced him. "I mean… I am hungry."

"Do you have any money for food, young slave?" He scraped his fork on his plate, and then set it down. His plate was still full of a good meal.

'Slave.' The word rung in my lekku like a rotten memory of the past. "I am not a slave."

"Suit yourself." He yawned and scratched his arm, nonchalantly.

"I am a free person in search of work." I went to adjust my headset, but my wrist bumped my eyebrow. I winced. My head was still sore from when S'cyck had tattooed them on a few days ago.

"Maybe I could help." He pushed the plate full of food in front of me and passed me his fork. "What kind of work?"

I couldn't answer. I had dug into his food so quickly and happily that my mouth was full of the Rycrit meat faster than a Blurrg could blink. I smiled, sheepishly, and held up my finger. "Well," He laughed, happily, "maybe I should go first, then."

"I own a ship called the Freeskyer's Joy that I need a little help running. My first mate, a young deck hand called Tali, just got arrested last Taungsday by the seccers as a glitbiter." He paused, and then added, "She was a glitbiter."

I blinked, unknowingly. I had no idea what a glitbiter or a seccer was. "Name's Cax Kamm." He stuck out his hand, but I wasn't expecting it. The only time anyone ever stuck their hand out at me was when they were going to hit me. I jumped back in shock and covered my head with my hands.

"I didn't- oh, sorry." I smiled, awkwardly and shook his hand.

He cocked his head at me and then continued. "See, I am a deep spacer. Smuggler and pirate, as far as anyone's concerned. I can give you a decent job, with three square meals a day, and a place to sleep if you come and work for me. But I need to know one thing."

I swallowed my humongous bite and looked up at him again. "What is your name?"

I shook my head and went back to eating. "I don't have one." I stopped, and then decided that maybe he was trustworthy enough. "I mean, my old master would just call me Skitch…"

"So you were a slave." He nodded at me, again. "Do you like that name?"

"I hate it with all my heart."

"How about I call you…" He studied around the room, trying to come up with something that was there. I continued eating, feeling better all the time. "Umm…" Cax looked up at a sign that hung above the bar. It read- A SALE ON KALEESH DAR GRUB.

I ignored him, stuffing my face with the best food I had ever tasted. "Asale Dar… ya." I met eyes with him again, holding my hand over my mouth to prevent food from spilling out.

"That's okay by me." I tried to smile, but then had to finish my bite. He stood up, abruptly, walked over to the bar and then tossed the tender a coin.

"Keep the change." He smiled and walked back over to the table. "Lets go." I was still hungry, but after all that he had done for me thus far, I figured that it was rude to resist. I went to stand up as a huge trandoshan walked into the cantina. "Lets go NOW." He took my arm and tried to push me out the door, but I tripped on the Trandoshan with my large heels.

"Frakk…" I mumbled a twi'lek curse and caught myself.

"Hakk Gouge…" He grabbed Cax by the neck and threw him to the ground. I got up and took a step backwards. "Kamm e'tt Jetar madle!"

"Cax?"

The Trandoshan threw himself on top of Kamm, and then started punching him with his scaly wrists. "Cax!" I shouted and then ran over to where he was being smothered. Cax tossed me his small pistol and ordered me the single most told command in the history of the galaxy.

"SHOOT!" The whole cantina stopped moving.

I handled the gun, rather uneasily. I had never shot anything before…

"SHOOT, DI'KUT!"

I didn't know what di'kut meant, but I am sure it was something awful. Raising the pistol and looking away, I aimed for the Trandoshan's back.

BLAM!

The huge, ugly lizard shuddered and stopped moving. I stopped moving, too. Cax pushed the grisly carcass off of him and brushed himself off. The music in the cantina continued and the people kept on talking. Apparently this type of skirmish was everyday fare.

"Thanks for the help, Asale." He snatched the pistol from my hands and rubbed his cheek where the Trandoshan had left a mark. "I cannot believe Xennex found me here…" He mumbled to himself as he walked out of the cantina, leaving the tender to pick up the mess.

"Hey, wait!" I ran off after him, trying to keep up. "What is a di'kut?" I asked him, earnestly.

"It's a special term in my language that means idiot." I stopped looking at him and lowered my gaze to the ground.

"Oh." I frowned. "Sorry."

"No… I am sorry." He looked down at me, knowingly. I only stood as tall as his elbow. "I didn't mean to call you that, can you forgive me?"

Forgive him!? I had been called much worse than that as a slave and gotten away with it. "Of course I forgive you." I smiled up at him. "If calling me a di'kut is the worst you can do, I figure this spacer business has a lot in store for me!"

"Asale… you have no idea." He led me across the street and into a haven where numerous starships were parked. He walked forward to a box-like ship that had the words 'Freeskyer's Joy' in Aurebesh written on it. I stepped closer and ran my hand down the side of the huge ship.

It was big enough to be a house! I mean, not that I had seen any houses, or ever lived in one for longer than a few days, but it was huge! I looked over at Cax. "This is yours!?"

"Yep… she's my baby." He spit on his hand and polished a spot off of its metal hull.

"You mean I get to work with you on this thing?" I was honestly impressed. I had never seen a ship so big.

Cax smiled at me, his white teeth flashing. "As much as you want to." I took a step backwards as Cax pushed a button to make the dock open. "Ladies first," He motioned to the door.

I stepped inside and then looked around. The entire inside was black, with the exception of the white booth that sat at a table in the corner. Next to it was the engine room, and beside that there was a closed door. I turned and almost ran into the console. Next to the main operators seat, there was an open cockpit that had a huge gun that hung outside of the ship.

"You have much to learn, Asale." He reminded me.

"What's behind the closed door?" I asked him, placing my hand on the doorknob.

"Tali's old quarters, and mine." He placed his large, rough hand over mine and turned the handle for me.

"Come in, we live together now." I entered the bedroom and sat down on one of the old beds. It was the softest I had ever felt.

A tear trickled down my soft face as I remembered Serinii, my best friend that had stayed at the slavers mercy. Cax sat down on the floor next to me. "Is something wrong?" He asked, gently.

"No… I was just remembering someone."

"That sounds like a yes to me." He looked up at me, trying to see what was wrong. "Who was it?"

"One of my friends, Serinii… when she cut me loose, I ran without her." I paused, wiping a tear away from my face. "She wanted to stay so that I could go free. But I don't have a reason to leave… she had a purpose. A goal." Another tear fell onto the bed. "What am I here for… my own good? Her hope was to become a Jedi. To help others."

Cax stood up, rather abruptly, and opened a small closet that was near the door. "Jedi." He spat on the floor of his own ship. "Jedi are a waste of a good life."

"Jedi are the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy!" I retorted, aghast at his claim. "They do everything for others gain, not their own!"

"And where were your precious Jedi when your friend was being beaten?" He roared at me. "Where was a guardian when you were being hurt?"

I sighed and stared at the floor again. "I… I," he pulled out a suit of armor that was inside of the closet. "I don't know."

"Exactly." He held up the armor, proudly. "And you never will know where they were. This-" He began to strap on the metal plates, "Is a mark of honor. Mandalorian Armor." He placed a blue and gray colored breast piece on his chest. "Even your pathetic Jedi saber's cannot cut through our metal."

I turned away from him, and the tears stopped flowing. Maybe he was right. But Serinii… she wasn't wrong. "Hey." He called to me. I saw his reflection on the metal wall in front of me.

"Purple and gold." He smiled. "My clan's honor." I whirled and took in the sight of his armor. I didn't know what to say.

"It looks… almost new."

"It is." Kamm walked to the front of the ship, and I ran to follow him. "I left the clan when I was old enough to. I never saw a battle." I didn't quite know what that meant, but it sounded like desertion. I figured that there was no reason to make him mad, because he was giving me a bed, food, and a decent living so far. I wished Serinii had as much.

"I will go back one day, though. Tell my family what became of me." He looked out the window, staring at the sand.

I sat down in a front seat and looked at the controls. "So, are you going to teach me to pilot this thing?" I broke the silence.

"Yes, but you don't pilot in the gunners seat. I can teach you how to be my assistant." He led me to the co-pilot's spot. "Start here." He leaned over my shoulder and pressed a red button. "This is the ignition…"

I took in every word that he said, but it seemed like there was never a lack of things to learn on that ship! Later that day, he took me out for a test flight, and we slept that night under a blanket of stars, gazing at other galaxies in the distant and spotting other planets. I couldn't hope for a better life. But then again… maybe it was too good to be true.

Chapter 3…

I spent years of my life working with Cax Kamm as my trainer. He cared for me. But most importantly, he taught me all that I needed to know as a spacer. By the time I had turned 17, (he said he could tell that because of the length of my lekku) I was an accomplished pilot and deep spacer. Occasionally, Cax began to depend on me for things.

"Asale, what were the coordinates for Yavin IV?"

"Hey Dar… where did I put that toolbox?"

"Did you pick up my lunch?"

After whatever trip we went on, we would always return to Tatooine, and hang out in the bar there until someone came to pick us up. We found that we were needed often, sometimes for transporting senators, and sometimes for shipping illegal drugs out of the Hutt's sight. When I recall on these missions, one of the most interesting (and frightening) travels that we had together comes to mind.

It happened the year I was 14, almost two years after I found him and we hit it off together. We were waiting for a new customer to come and explain themselves, hanging out at the usual bar that Cax chose. I was scarfing down whatever food he bought me, because I knew once we got back out into space, Cax would have me cooking all of the food again, and I hated eating whatever I had made. No one ever said that I was the best cook…

Anyways, I was eating, and then a person comes and pulls up a chair to our table. I didn't look up, because I was so hungry. I hadn't eaten a square meal that hadn't been charred first in one week. Cax suddenly sat up in his seat and asked the age old question, "What can I do for you?"

My eyes were on the ground first, and I noticed that whoever had walked up was wearing black boots. My first thought was that it might be a Jedi. I thought a lot about Jedi those days, Serinii in particular. But, as I looked upwards, I saw black pants, a knee-length black skirt, and a black jacket. I studied its face.

It was a human, I think, but it seemed to resemble a clawdite in a human form. It looked fairly normal, with blue eyes, a feminine face, and black hair in a thousand braids. It also had a silver headband that looked like a giant snake, stretching and twisting its way around this newcomer's forehead. My eyes widened, but I looked back at my food.

"I am looking for someone to take me to Alderaan. I have business there." He voice sounded breathy, and yet deep. Mystical, I suppose.

"What kind of business?"Kamm asked, trying to sound polite. I stared at Cax. It wasn't like him to poke into other people's affairs. "Tell me you won't get me into any kind of… trouble." He seemed to be chewing on his words before he spat them out. They rolled off of his tongue like sweet juice, dripping with suspicion.

She tilted her head back and laughed. "I take it you have never heard of me." She pulled a piece of paper out of her jacket and tossed it on the table. I looked back at Cax as he picked up the slip. He stared at it for awhile, and then passed it back to me. I slid it across the table until I could get a good look at it.

WANTED, the paper read. ANZATI ASSASSIN TRENYAL FOR DEATH OF IMPORTANT SENATOR CAYO BAARD- WILL PAY 10,000 CREDITS- DEAD OR ALIVE.

"Assassin?" I gave the paper back to the strange visitor. "What is an assassin?" Cax had told me what an Anzat was, but I had never heard of this new word before. "Is it a kind of bounty hunter?"

"I will tell you later, Asale. Hush." He had never shut me up before, so I figured that this must be important. "Are you telling me you are looking to kill someone on Alderaan?"

"Look mister," she leaned on the table, then tucked the paper back into her jacket. "Maybe I didn't make myself clear. Either you and you're little snotty-nosed brat take me to Alderaan, or I kill you." She pulled a blaster out of her skirt and aimed it at Cax. "I have done it before, I will do it again."

"You point that someplace else." I stood up from the table. "Or I will make you!"

I heard a small click from the other side of the table. Cax suddenly stood up, kicked the gun out of her hand, and had her pinned on the table with a strong grip across her neck. "And what if I did take you in, Trenyal?" He narrowed his eyes at the back of her head. "What if I spared the seccers some time?"

"I… I give up." She gasped for air, then she put her hands back on the table, throwing the gun onto the floor. Cax smiled and released his lock on her neck.

"That's more like it." She got up quickly, and then her hands rushed to her neck. I noticed that she had her fingernails painted black. "How much can you pay me, so that I won't be tempted to turn you in?"

Isn't that the same thing he said to me two years ago? Trenyal winced and sat down next to me. She ran her hands down my lekku. I stiffened, visibly. "2,000."

I twitched my lek away from her soft hands. I hated it when people did that. Cax smiled and put his arm around me. "2,000 for the trip, lodging, gas, and my food?" He shook his head. "You are going to have to do better than that."

"I can't pay more than that. My employer said that he would pay me 7,000, but that's after my work is done." She winked at me, trying to sound nice. "Not like I could come and find you after he pays me. If he pays me."

"Who is your employer?" Cax took a sip of his drink. "More importantly, who is your target?"

"My employer is a Nemodian called Nute Gunray, and my target is a young girl, the daughter of a baron from Pantora." She explained nonchalantly. "I suppose a small target is better than no target."

Cax shrugged. He had never wanted to get into politics. "2,000 will do if you don't eat anything."

"Not that you would want to eat anything." I mumbled and pushed my plate away from me. I had gorged enough food to give a bantha heart burn.

"I don't eat anything except for Anzat food. And I am not hungry." I shuddered, knowing that she had probably eaten some helpless being and left it to die in an alley. Cax would protect me and himself if she ever changed her mind.

Kamm smiled and stood up. "Let me show you to the ship." Trenyal followed both of us as we headed for our personal hangar. We walked towards our ship, and Cax pushed the button to open the door, motioning for me and Trenyal to come in first.

Cax stayed outside to futz around with a few of the levers and the landing gear. Trenyal followed me inside of the ship. "This sure is a beautiful specimen of a deep spacer." She tried to compliment.

"Yes, it is." I replied, heading for my bedroom. "It's good enough to get you where you want to go."

I then heard Cax call me from outside of the ship. "Asale! Can you help me fix this coupling?" I ran outside of the entryway.

"Coming, Cax!" I called. As soon as I left the ship, Cax met me outside the door.

"Asale, I need you to keep this." He passed me a gun sling with a pistol hanging off of it. I took it from him and looked back up at him. "I don't trust her."

"Cax…" I was awestruck. He had never trusted me with something like this before. "Are you sure?"

"It's just like using the gunner in the ship, Asale. No different." I nodded gravely. Cax had always taught me that guns were not to be played with. "If anything happens to you, don't hesitate to use it. If you draw it and don't use it, you could be worse off than when you pulled it in the first place."

I clipped the black belt made from Nerf hide around my waist. The gun hung by my left leg. I smiled at Cax, knowing that he had finally learned to trust me. "I promise."

Kamm gave me a loving smile, but then turned abruptly and went back into the ship. I followed after him, enjoying the feel of the gun against my thigh. When I entered the ship, Cax had sat down in the pilot's seat, and I slid into my co-pilot's seat. Trenyal took her seat next to the booth that was nearby my bedroom.

"Fire up the main engine." Cax told me, re-adjusting the landing pads. I leaned forward and pushed a button, then reached for my wheel. "All systems go."

I started up the shield and we took off, lifting up a large cloud of dust from the dirty planet. As we headed straight upwards for the sky, I looked back at Tatooine. Squinting as the Freeskyer left the atmosphere, I spotted a sand storm headed for the cantina we had just left.

"Let's burn some sky." Cax activated the hyperdrive and winked at me. "Get buckled up Trenyal, or you will be eating some seat cushion."He called back at our Anzati passenger. I giggled at Cax's joke.

Suddenly, the ship took off in a blaze of light. I saw white-colored shingles all across the beautiful black sky as we plotted a straight course for Alderaan. I yawned as the ship picked up speed. Cax looked over at me as my head fell straight onto the dash. "Are you tired, Asale?"

"Yes." I mumbled. "Hyperspace makes me sleepy."

"Go and take a nap back in our bedroom, Asale. I can pilot from here."

"Thanks, Cax." I walked over to our bedroom and fell on the bed, already asleep.

Trenyal got up from her seat behind Cax and walked over to where he sat. "Where did you buy her?"

"Who, Asale?" He spun around in his seat. "I didn't buy her. She found me on Tatooine." He paused as Trenyal nodded. "She told me she escaped from slavers on Byss."

"So, she works without pay?" Trenyal swaggered over to where Cax was sitting and put her hand on his shoulder.

"She works for food and a home." Cax pushed her hand off of his jacket, trying to become suddenly interested in the controls.

Trenyal took a seat in the co-pilot's chair. "It wouldn't matter to you if… she went missing?"

Cax looked over at her, cocking an eyebrow and leaning on the dashboard. "What kind of a question is that?"

Trenyal suddenly got up and walked away, flicking her beaded hair out of her face. "I am going to go and sleep."

"Hmm." Kamm mused, nodding and looking out of the windshield. Silently, while Trenyal slept, he re-set the controls for a different planet. "Mando'haim here I come." He smirked and leaned back in his seat, putting his feet on the control board.

Then, he got to thinking what would be there to meet him. His family, for sure. But what about his brother and sister? They had been only young children when he had decided to look for his own fortune. That was around thirteen years ago. Surely Kar'ata and Orris were grown by now.

He sat up, suddenly, trying to do the math in his head. Orris was two years older than Kar'ata, and she had been born one year before he quit on Mandalore. Orris would be fifteen, making Kar'ata fourteen. Both old enough to be following the six tenants and creating their own set of armor.

He smiled at the thought of his young sister wearing a beautiful piece of beska'ad iron, probably blue and golden. Orris would be training and body building now. Probably hitting it off with the young ladies in the clan, too.

He was so absorbed in his own thoughts; the thoughts of his family, brother, and sister. However, he missed the skirmish going on in the next room…

I don't quite know how long I slept for. Quite a while, I suppose. I might never have woken up again if it hadn't been for Trenyal's sloppy assassin habits.

Something tickled the inside of my nose. "Cut it out, Kamm." I rolled over, and then bumped into Trenyal's leg. "What the…" I sat up. There she was, with her cheek tubes uncurled and inserted into my nose. No wonder why I had felt a tickle!

I screamed; scaring her and making her recoil her tongues. She fell back, turning to run out of the room. I picked up my gun, looked at it, and then mumbled to myself a reassurance. "This had better work."

I fired at her back just as Cax came around the corner. Trenyal slumped into his arms, completely lifeless. I dropped the pistol onto the floor. "What… the frak… happened?"

Cax dropped Trenyal and walked over to me. He smiled, disarmingly, and patted me on the shoulder. "Congratulations, Asale. You have finally learned how to act on instinct."

I threw myself back onto the bed, confused, as Cax tucked my hand blaster back into it's holster on my thigh. "That was instinct?" I shuddered. "I should hate to feel what the normal feels like."

He laughed, gingerly and then headed back to the front of the ship. "Come on, Asale. I have a family for you to meet."

I sat up, suddenly, and ran over to where he sat in the pilot's seat. "What family? Where are we headed?" He didn't answer me as I kept asking him questions. "Alderaan right? Do you have a family on Alderaan?"

He kept pressing buttons and ignoring me. "You will see, Asale."

Static burst over the communicator as I slipped a headset over my ear comes. "Olaror rusur resol." I heard from the other line. "Me'jorbe gar olar?"

"Ni olaror burc'ya, vod. Me'eso manda'yaim'a alit Cax'a?"

"Su'cuy gar, ner vod!" I couldn't understand a word of what they were saying. It sounded weird and strange to me. I sighed and then got up. Cax continued babbling on words that had absolutely no meaning or value to me. "Ni Cax'a? Gar!" He sounded excited about something as I picked up what was left of Trenyal and tossed her down by the door.

"Hey, Asale, come here. I want you to talk to a friend of mine while I land the ship. She's my Vod!" I walked back over to where Cax had left the communicator piece for me.

"Uh… hello?" I answered in Aurebesh. Then I thought twice and answered in Huttese. "Achuta?"

It was very quiet on the other line, and then I heard a female voice speak. "Aurebesh?"

"Yes… please." Was I talking to a droid?

"Su'cuy!" It sounded like a female voice. I blinked at Cax, and then shrugged. "Your friend there, next to you, he is my older brother."

I looked over at Cax, astonished. "You have a sister, too?"

He nodded as she kept speaking. "My name is Kar'ata. Kar'ata Kamm. Has my big brother been getting into any trouble? He's not married to anyone yet, right?"

"No, he's not. I met him on Tatooine. He saved my life and taught me how to be a deep spacer." I winked at Cax. "I'm his deck hand. A Lethan Twi'lek female; he calls me Asale."

"Asale, huh?" I heard her respond. "Well, Asale, I am sure we will meet when my brother finally lands that piece of space junk in our front yard. Meet you then!"

"Ma-allesh." I bid her farewell in Ryl, feeling like a show-off. Right then, we entered the planet's atmosphere. Cax prepared the landing gear as I leveled out the ship. It was like we were two pieces of the same thing, working together.

"You should have said K'oyacyi," Cax corrected me, chuckling gently. I still didn't know where we were going.

"Cax," I gave him an odd look, "this family of yours, which planet is it on?"

He did not answer my question, instead, he walked over to where the coordinate map was and pointed to a sector. I stood up, while we were still in orbit, and squinted at the map. "Mandalore?"

"You said it, Darya. Not me." He winked and took his seat again. "Now take a seat, before she hits the atmosphere." He pushed a series of buttons as I clipped the black strap across my chest.

"Here… we… go!" The ship shuddered and groaned as the windshield began to glow with intense heat. "Hold on!" He warned me.

I sat back in my seat and gripped the cushion. He hit the accelerator sharply and then shoved me aside to stable out the ship. "Are you crazy-" I began, but was cut off by the sight of the planet. It was absolutely beautiful!

It was all forest, with huts made of grass and thatch that looked like little half moons dotting the planets' surface in small colonies. I was astounded to see just how many there actually were! "Mando'haim." I mumbled to myself.

"We are landing… there." He pointed to a large opening in front of one of the huts. I nodded, then pressed a series of buttons. The Freeskyer leveled out, and then hovered for a split second before touching down on the dirt of the new planet.

"Hey," Cax turned to look at me, smiling. "Good landing, Asale!" He complimented me. "You are getting better!"

"Thanks, Cax." I smiled at him as we unstrapped ourselves. "Anything special I should know about this planet?"

"Only speak Mando'a." He winked at me and then went into the back room. I sat down on the bed in the room as he slipped his old armor over his white, grease stained shirt and pants. "Don't worry, I won't let Orris or Kar'ata hurt you."

"Why would they want to hurt me?" I shifted uneasily.

"Listen to me, Asale," He sat down next to me. "Please, do me a favor and don't mention Serinii."

"Why?" It seemed that all that I could ask was why. I had seen a lot of strange things in this galaxy, and the last thing that I wanted was to be told all day that Jedi were evil and that I could never see Serinii again. Serinii was my best friend, and nothing in the galaxy would ever change that. Not even separation.

"Jedi, have never done anything to us, and we have never done anything to them. Live… and kill them on sight. It's the honor of our clan."

Some thought processes just didn't make any sense at all.

He then stepped off of the ship with me following close behind him. The air from Mando'haim's atmosphere swept into the ship, allowing all of the air from the inside to collide with it, causing a small vapor cloud. I breathed in, deeply. The wind carried the scent of leaves and foliage, creating an attractive aroma.

"Cax'a! Gar iviin'yc!" A young girl ran out of one of the nearby huts, heading for Cax. "Su'cuy gar!"

"Kar'ata!" He ran for her. She seemed younger, with long black hair like Cax's that fell around her shoulders. Her eyes were also as dark as his, and her body was certainly equally as muscular! "Ni briikase aru gar!"

"Elek! Sa ni gar!" She smiled and embraced him, warmly. She breathed in, deeply, remembering the smell of his love for her. She had been only a young child when he left. Mother blamed it on his Shereshoy, his lust for life, his lust for a better life than what they had to offer. It was almost too much to bear.

"Asale, this is my sister. Kar'ata." He kept his arm around her as he spoke. "Kar'ata, Asale. Asale, Kar'ata."

"Su'cuy." Kar'ata smiled.

"Uh… hello." I was unsure of how to respond, so I asked Cax if he could pose as my translator. "Cax, could you help me by telling her what I am saying?"

"She knows Aurebesh." He smiled and ruffled her long, silky hair. She smiled.

"Cax…" She ran her hands through her dark hair, smoothing it out until it laid flat on her head again. "Why did you left? Me and Orris thought you were counted among the dha..."

"I left because I wanted more than this, ori'shereshoy." He knelt down and slung his feet over his shoulder, holding her in his arms, as she began to cry.

"Gedet'ye, nayc mirsh shereshoy."

He nodded, knowingly, then tried to change the subject. "Come, is Orris here?"

"Of course he is, ord'inii. He hasn't ever left!" She kissed him on the cheek. He smiled sheepishly back at her, and their eyes met again for the first time in what had been years. "Mar'e Cax'a…" She embraced him, lovingly. I took a seat on the floor with Kar'ata. As she started scratching behind my lekku, they were like nothing she had ever seen before in her life.

"I can't stay long." Was all he had to say to his family when he entered the hut. His parents were astonished.

"What do you mean, Cax?" His mother was a kind, dark haired lady with the same eyes as him. It seemed as though whenever you looked at her, you were plunged into darkness… kind, yet gentle. He had his mother's features, but his father's motivation and personality.

"We've waited years for you, Cax." A tall, armored out, Mandalorian stepped into the door. His armor was red as blood, and his helmet was two shades of grey. The fire that Kar'ata had lit near the center of the hut burned brighter as he stepped inside.

Cax stood up from where he sat on the floor. "Orrey…" His heart rate sped up. "I am sorry I-"

"Save your shabla apologies for another day, auretii." Cax stood taller than Orrey, but I could tell that Orrey was definitely stronger. Kar'ata stood up with him as another figure stepped inside.

"Buir, Cax'a dar'manda." Orrey let his father come in.

"Mando'ad draar digu." This had to be the father of the Kamm family. "Usenye, dar'manda." Cax's dad waved his hand, motioning to the open door. "Usenye, dar'adiik."

Cax's face fell, solemnly. He must have said something horrible. Kar'ata got up and left with him, heading for the ship with us. Cax left the house, his feet kicking up dirt. I felt so bad for him, and obviously, his sister did too.

"N'eparavu takisit." She put her hand on his shoulder. He stopped walking and looked at her beautiful face, the moonlight shining off of her black hair.

'Kar'ata, it's not your fault." Then, she hugged him tightly.

"You are, and you always will be, my ori'vod. I will never forget you. I will always love you." It all came out so quickly. A tear fell from my own eye, and I wiped it away hurriedly.

She took a step backwards, and then they put their hands together. "Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome." She smiled at him, and then looked away.

"Ret'urcye mhi." He turned, and walked up the plank of the ship. I followed him. "I will come back, Kar'ata!" He promised as the ship's opening closed.

She waved a goodbye, and then the Freeskyer took to the air. With a rush of wind, and a beautiful flurry, we were back into space. "What happened?" I asked as we left the atmosphere.

"Dar'manda…" He repeated what they had told him. The word had no meaning to me.

"What does that mean?" I asked, blinking.

He returned his attention to the controls of the ship as we pulled into the eternal darkness of the galaxy. "Nothing you would or should understand."

Red Five crept silently away from her brother's ship, it was huge, towering over the cave where they kept it on Tatooine. The gigantic metal clanker, aptly named Kradan's Forge, creaked and groaned with the passing sandstorm. Kradan called to his sister, somewhat meanly.

"Red, I need you…" He stood up from his bed in the dark, dismal cave.

His sister shuddered at the sound of his voice. Even hearing it sent chills down her spine. "What is it, Kradan?" She whispered, so as not to wake the rest of their mottely, yet professional, crew. The rest were asleep on mats on the cold, dry floor of their makeshift base camp.

"We have a new target, one that will pay well." Kradan smiled at the shock on her face. He had said that they would not become bounty hunters after their escape on Coruscant… she had saved his life for the hope that he would make hers better. She had been lied to; again.

One glance at her brothers horribly burned face told her all that she needed to know about him. He had turned for the worse. It had hardly even been seven months since they had escaped from her old Master, who had thrown a pot of scalding water at her older brother's face in order to make him listen to his orders. Red had been hurting inside at her brother's pain even since.

After she planned the escape, killed her old Master with a poisoned chalice, and led Kradan out of their home on Tatooine, it was his idea to start a rag-tag band of workers. When she questioned him further on the matter, he had set up his mind to do it, and then, at last, the pain of her life would vanish, and her love for her brother would grow.

"He's a twi'lek, Red. There's nothing wrong with killing him. After all there are too many of them in this galaxy in the first place."

She sighed, exasperated. When would her brother learn that all life was precious?

She knew what her next words should be, but they sounded foul as she spat them out of her mouth. "I live to serve you." She bowed on one knee, and then listened to the rest of his orders.

"He is green, and is making his way to the Ma'kala bar on Tatooine in order to find a spacer who can take him to Ryloth. You, find him, and then we can track him down before someone else does." Suddenly, he straightened up, and clapped his hands twice at the rest of the group.

"Friends!" He called to the rest of his band. "Put on your face sashes, tie up your hair-" He stood up from the cave floor. "For we shall eat in plenty tonight!"

With that, the set of rescued slaves that will always be at the mercy of Kradan, their rescuer and leader, loaded onto the Forge and set off to find what he had asked them to.

They were all slaves, at one point or other. And then somehow, from somewhere, Kradan came and saved their lives. He was their head leader, their savoir, the only thing that they all had for a family. Kradan, in order to protect their safety, changed all of their names to colors.

"Grey, Gold…" He called to a pair of young men that were guarding the ship. "Follow Red and make sure that she doesn't get into any trouble."

Chapter 4…

That's all I ever got out of him on that matter. It was clearly something he did not want to discuss. I tried, later in life, asking people at the Jedi Temple what it meant, and even they did not know.

But, I get ahead of myself. The Jedi Temple, you ask? How did I get there?

It was years later… when I was seventeen years old, the last adventure of Cax's life took place. I know maybe someday I will go back and write down more of my adventures about me and my late trainer, but right now, I will write this.

It all started the same as any usual transportation job. Excepting, this time our passenger was a male, handsome, and my species. His name was Gyen Karo, he told me, and he wanted a straight passage from Tatooine to Ryloth.

The name of the planet rung in my lek like no other ever had. "Ryloth?" I asked, as I patronized the Ma'kala bar again on a Benduaday.

"Does that mean you will take me?" I was sitting alone, as Cax was back at the ship hackling over a busted power coupling. I looked around myself as he said this, as someone had caught my eye. It was a slender, agile girl wearing a completely black bodysuit. She had a sash, black as outer space, that concealed her face from my view. She turned back to her drink, and then got up and ran away.

"I-I don't know… I mean, I should ask Cax first." I pushed the tray of food away from me, squinting at whoever just disappeared from behind Gyen's shoulder. It was good to have a full stomach again, as my cooking skills still had not improved.

His face fell, visibly. "Oh… Do you think he will take me?"

"Of course he will. We are sort of desperate for any income right now, you know." I stood up and tossed the bartender, a Selkath named Kapsho, a tip. "Keep the change."

Gyen stood up with me and we left the diner. I had never met another twi'lek like me since I was a slave. And even then, Shakka was not a man, like him. The bright twin sun's of Tatooine hit us in full heat as I stepped onto the sand. I whistled a tune that had been stuck in my head all day, and then started humming it.

"That's a nice song." He complimented me as we neared the ship. "Where did you hear it?"

"An old friend taught it to me…" I then sang the first lyric I could remember. "Listen, friends, and I will tell you, of there what once was," I paused and looked at him. He nodded at me.

"Go on."

"Listen as I spin a tale that's of your heart and mind… as we sit here all together, remember what has been, for of these stories, they're our own, mother whispers spin."

"Wherever did you hear that?" He asked as I led him into a building where Cax usually kept the Freeskyer.

"I think when I was a slave, someone sung it to me. But I can't for the lek of me remember who or why." I kept humming and adding in words where I knew they were supposed to go until I spotted Cax.

"That's interesting." Gyen added as I tapped Cax on the leg. He was bent underneath the ship, working on a piece that was damaged.

Suddenly, Cax jumped from underneath the ship, hitting his head. "Who have you got with you, Asale?"

"Asale…" Gyen chewed on my name. It slipped off of his tongue like butter.

"Just another customer, get on out of there and meet him." I giggled as he rubbed his head. Cax's greasy face appeared, he stared at Gyen.

"I thought you were a little young to be dragging home one of your species…"

"Cax!" I rolled my eyes at him. "Nayc, gar di'kut! He's a customer."

"Tion'ad?" We often switched to mando'a in front of people, unknowingly. I had found my way around that language because of how many times Cax told it to me.

"He calls himself Gyen." I looked over at Karo, as he stared back at me confused. "Gyen Karo…And he can pay to Ryloth."

"Ryloth, huh?" Cax ran his hands through his hair, then used his shirt to wipe off the grease on his face. "looks like you will get the chance to meet up with a few of your kind after all, Asale." He winked at me, heading into the ship.

"I don't want to meet any more of my kind…" I mumbled as I trudged back to the ship. Goodness knows I had seen enough of what my species was good for, as Cax and me had spent some time at the Coruscant underlevels. "I want to meet Serinii." I said the last part louder than the first, and Cax heard me.

"You want… what?" He turned to look into my eyes.

"Serinii… Dawn." I knew it was futile. I had wanted to meet Serinii again ever since I left, and I had asked several times before this. The answer would be no. Without thinking, I fell to my knees and looked up at him. "Gedet'ye? Mesh'la mesh'la gedet'ye?"

I paused to look at his face; it had remained skeptical. Frak. He is going to say no… again... "I miss her, Cax! And I want to make sure she is okay!"

He turned to look out the window at the passing crowds of people that usually mulled around the building. A Dewback carried a dark, hooded master on it's scaly back, while Jawas fought to keep a beast of burden under control.

"Asale…" He began, as Gyen took a seat at the small booth that we had in the ship. "We have a customer to transport. We have no time to do such things."

Weren't we always doing something? Weren't we always needed somewhere? A tear fell from my eye, plinking on the metal floor, gently. "I understand…" My mouth replied for me. But in my heart, I didn't.

Gyen cleared his throat, loudly. "Is this a normal thing for you guys?"

I suppose he could tell by the look on my face. "Ne shab'rud'ni." I turned to face Gyen, pointing a finger at him. "I don't need it."

Cax shrugged and then took a seat at the console. "Oya." Those were the words he always said before we left Tatooine to go somewhere. Only this time, it would be the last time I would ever hear those words from him again.

You know how people say that you never knew what you had till you have lost it? I now realize exactly what that means, looking at what has happened to me now. Everything is numbered. Your days, your words, your movements. And some day, any day at all, could be your last.

We left the atmosphere with the perfect speed, angle, and shield ray. As we flew, Cax left me to pilot the ship. It was dinner time, and he said he would rather have a turn at cooking than leave me to burn the food for the nine-millionth time.

I nodded. "Fine by me." Gyen took Cax's seat in the front. They were fuzzy, brown, nerf-hide chairs, with arm rests and a post that you could swivel it on. They were the softest chairs in the galaxy, I'm sure.

"So, you have a friend that you miss?" I hated him… why did he have to make it worse?

"Serinii… Serinii Dawn. She was a friend of mine that helped me escape from slavers on Tatooine. I miss her worse than… worse than anything."

Gyen nodded. "I know how you feel."

"No you don't. You're a twi'lek leader, from Ryloth, with a family… maybe a whole clan that loves you. Here I am, offered the chance of a lifetime, to work for someone I have never seen, and somehow escape slavery..." he put his arm on my shoulder.

"You know, I can sense everything with these." His right lek twitched up and down, twice. "Feelings… they come naturally. And who says that there are people that love me?"

"You run a clan, Gyen." I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Of course there are people that love you."

"Just because I was thrust on the turret of the twi'lek election as the next leader in line to die doesn't mean anything, passa ca'ara, t'da."

I blinked at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's Ryl for calm down, twi'leki. Don't you speak Ryl?"

"No…" I shook my head. "I speak what mando'a Cax has passed on to me, Huttese, and a modest amount of Bocce I earned off of an Iktotchi that sailed with us. That was years ago." My lek twitched. "And the word for that in Mando'a would be udesiir, ori'vod."

Gyen refused to give up. "But, you're a twi'lek!"

"I am." I nodded, pushing the cloth band that I kept tied around my tendrils off of my shoulder.

"That… means you should know it! I'll teach you!" Gyen put his hands on my cheeks, reaching across the table.

I had no idea what this was supposed to mean, so I slapped them away. "I have no wish to learn the language of a people I have never met." Then, perfectly on time, Cax served us.

Cax walked around the corner, with a plate of bread in his hand. "Dinner." He announced, putting it on the booth next to us. We all sat down and ate, Gyen ignored me entirely. "So, what were you guys discussing?"

"Nothing." I answered, quickly. I began to feel tired as the nighttime began on Tatooine. We ran on Tatooine's time, no matter how many planets we visited.

Cax shook his head, knowing that talking to me was about as futile as getting a Bantha to sit down. "Well then," he began, looking at Gyen. "Now that we are out here I suppose that it is time to discuss the… cost, of what I am doing for you."

"Cost is not an issue." Karo took a bite out of the bread that Cax had offered us. "I can pay for it."

"Good, good." Cax served me a piece of bread, placing it in my hands. I nibbled at it, halfheartedly. He continued in mando'a, just to impress Gyen. "Kaysh mirsh'kyramud?"

I snorted, almost blowing the food that was in my mouth out my nose. Sometimes, he was so funny… "Nayc, ori'vod. Kaysh mir'osik." Now it was Cax's turn to laugh.

Gyen frowned, and then continued with his food. Suddenly, the console began beeping. I jumped up from where I sat. "I'll get it."

I ran over to where the communicator was and hit the button next to it. "Su'cuy, this is the Freeskyer's Joy pilot speaking, we transport people, we do not sell Gluurg beasts."

A husky, male voice rasped over the other line. "Either you give us Gyen or we kill you." I cringed, and then looked at the number that was calling. It was the ship directly ahead of us. I squinted my eyes at the Aurebesh figures printed on the side of the gigantic metal ship in a light, gray-blue paint. It read off as Kradan's Forge.

"Cax…" I called to him, as he got up from the booth. "It's for you."

Cax pushed me aside and spoke into the screen that was there. "Did you need something?"

"Gyen is on our hit list, and we are boarding your ship if you do not hand him over." Cax's eyes widened, and then he looked at Gyen. He mouthed the words 'Kradan' to me.

"Would you like to speak to Karo himself?"

"Put him on." Gyen walked over to where we all stood. "Karo… an issue to kill you at all costs has been sent throughout the galaxy. Forgive me if there are any hard feelings between us, but I have a family that I need to feed." I knew the voice, as we had picked several fights amongst each other before, many years ago.

"And I am here to say that we refuse to give him up. If you want to board, go ahead and do it. Haran will be waiting for you on this ship." Cax played the right card, and I knew, somehow, that it would all be okay. The communicator clicked in acknowledgement, as Kradan hung up.

I ran back to our bedroom to grab the guns. I unholstered my hand pistol that hung by my right thigh, whether it was night or day. If there was going to be a fight, we were going to be ready for it. Cax pulled his gun out of the holster by his leg. He slept with that gun on. The only sound that filled the hollow was the clicking of machinery as we all readied ourselves. I tossed a gun to Karo.

"Do you know how to use one of these?"

He took a step back, and then caught it, startled. "Uh… I used a hunting rifle that was my dad's on Ryloth…"

"Allit…" I scoffed, and then cocked the pistol for him. "It's not that hard, you just aim and hope that you hit."

"Aim and hope that you hit!?" He looked over at me, confused. "What are supposed to be hitting!?"

Suddenly, the door to our ship opened, and space pirates of all kinds flooded into the ship. "Try those for size!" I yelled at him.

They were all black, with scarves over their faces, and form fitting outfits. I believe that they were wearing all the same thing, bodysuits with belts and knives. And guns, they all had guns. Some were females, I could tell, but many of them were men. They were strong, brutish thug-like humans, with large, heavy boots that bore a silver line across the edge.

I aimed my gun at the one that stepped into the ship first. "What do you need from us?"

"You're friend there, the green one… he has a price on his head that would look wonderful on our ship." The tallest one, the one I had my gun at, spoke. I recognized the one standing closest to Kradan himself, it was the girl that I had seen fleeing from us at the bar. He had a sash tied over his face. "Either he comes with us… or-"

Two more emerged from behind him, and they were both holding Cax by his arms. "But I am sure that a young, beautiful, intelligent, rare Lethan like you gets the idea."

Cax shoved and pulled, but instead of letting him go, the leader pushed a hand pistol underneath Cax's neck. He winked at me, and then smiled.

Instead of doing as this flatterer expected, which, for all that I know, may have been more than what he spoke, I attacked. At first I acted like I was going to drop my pistol, but then, I aimed it at the leader and fired. The sound echoed as he fell to the floor. From then on, it was all a blur.

I was fighting characters that were much, much faster and capable than me. I kicked one in the jaw, but he grabbed me by my leg and threw me to the ground. I hit my head on the steel floor of the Joy harder than I wanted to, and I saw nothing but darkness before me as more shots sounded… they were so… far… away…

When I woke up, my life had been forever changed.

I groaned and then tried to sit up, but my gut lit up with an excrutionating pain. I laid my head back down on the cold, metal floor of the Freeskyer, gently. The first person that came to mind was the first person I noticed on the floor of the ship.

"Cax!" I called to him, but he wasn't moving. I grimaced, then got up off of the floor. "Cax… oh, no…"

I examined his body, and noticed that he was still breathing. It was labored. His throat had been shot at, and his shirt, usually white, was stained red with the color of his blood. "A-sale…" He choked out the words.

"Don't speak, it's okay. You're going to live…" I hoisted him over my knee. "K'uur, ner buir. It's okay, it's okay…" I tried to console him, but I could see that he was not going to survive. The tears sprung from my eyes, raining gently on his shirt.

"Nayc… Ni-ni liser nayc …" He was breaking up. "Go… find… Serin…" Suddenly, his voice stopped, and his head slumped backwards as his dark eyes closed. It was all over.

"Cax… No!" The tears fell quicker from my red face as I pressed my head to his chest. I didn't care if he was covered in blood. He was my father. He was… he was everything to me. "Serin… ii." The name broke through the silence of my own, quiet mourning for him.

"Serinii?" Was that what he said? Was that his last wish for me?

I stood up and then covered his face with an oil rag he had tied to his pants. There were other bodies, too. Bodies of the space pirates from Kradan's Forge. It looked as though he had put up a good fight. I counted ten of them before I tossed them off of the back of the ship. Such villains deserved no decent burial.

It was then and there that I decided I should take Cax back to Mando'haim. His armor, which was in the back of the ship, should be returned with the body to his family. I don't know why I decided to do this, but it just seemed proper. My thoughts were that Kar'ata needed to know that her brother had returned for the last time.

With that decided and the ship cleaned up, I prepared to send off for Mando'haim. My thoughts drifted off to Gyen Karo as the ship lurched and prepared to jump to hyperspace. I had not found his body counted among the dead. And still, to this day, as I tell this story to you, I have not found out what happened to him. He simply disappeared from my life, as a faint memory of the forgotten past.

Chapter 5…

I hit the hyperspace button, and then said the same words that Cax had always said before we left. "O-Oya." My voice broke as my body shook with sobs. Why did it all have to happen so suddenly?

The ship took off at an amazing speed for the coordinates I had set it to, while I struggled to stay awake as hyperspace had always made me sleepy. My eyes closed as I fought to keep them open. I suddenly sat up and looked around me to stay awake. This was certainly no time to fall asleep.

Mando'haim came into sight faster than you could ever imagine. I hit the control board as quickly as I could, as the Freeskyer shuddered and then entered the atmosphere. I shut the shield off as soon as it did. Then, the trouble was finding where Cax and his family used to live.

For Cax, this would have been an easy task, but for me, everything looked the same. I flew around the planet five times and then had the idea to turn on my intercom. Static and voices broke over the line.

"Is this the Freeskyer? Cax, are you there?" The voice was Kar'ata's!

"Elek! Gar serim!" I didn't have the heart to tell her what had happened until I had landed. "Where is Cax's house?"

"You sure don't sound like Cax, Asale." I could almost feel her smiling, although I knew that that smile would fade when I got off of the ship. "But land where you see… uh… there's a huge tree outside of our house. I will be sitting at the top of it."

"Okay, Kar'ata." I clicked it off again to save power. I flew around one more time before landing next to a gigantic tree. I unbuckled my seatbelt as she shimmied down the trunk of it. Then, before I could change my mind, I opened up the main entrance to the ship.

The cold air from the ship flooded out of the portal, while I picked up Cax, threw him over my shoulder, and then stepped off of the Joy. Kar'ata came running around the perimeter of the ship, only to meet me with a smile that quickly vanished. "Asale, what…" She was wearing her gray colored pants, with a white shirt that was the same as Cax's.

"Kradan's Forge tracked down a passenger that we were carrying. Cax tried to resist - and…" She walked behind me and lifted the cloth that I had over his face.

"No… no, this isn't him." She pushed me back onto the ship. "Cax is still alive. I know it. He was coming back for me..." Her face suddenly changed to anger. "You lie!" She shouted, and then ran back into the hut.

Orrey came out next, along with his mother and father. I laid Cax's cold, still body on the sand and then stepped back into the ship. I turned and ran back in to get his armor, then placed it next to him. "I hate to come bearing such horrible news, but I had to come."

Cax's mother walked forward, and then laid her hand on mine. "Gar shukur ni ka'rta, ner vod." She smiled at me, even though her vision clouded with tears. "It will be alright."

We buried Cax that night, as soon as the stars shone over the place that we had dug for his body. Kar'ata showed me a new term in Mando'a that night. "Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la." It stood for the words; 'not gone, merely marching far away.' For me, it meant that Cax was not dead as long as he was in our hearts. I would have to remember that for the adventure that lay ahead of me.

Finally, the journey to Coruscant and the Jedi Temple had begun. It was all that I wanted, all that I needed, to move forward in my life. At first, I wanted to sell the ship once I got there, but as I flew I realized that I would need it if I wanted to continue my business as a spacer. After all, what else could Serinii offer me in terms of a career?

I entered Coruscant's foggy atmosphere and then piloted my way past countless buildings and people. Ships, thousands of them, passed me as I headed for the Temple. I had never been to Coruscant before, but you didn't need to have been there before in order to spot the Jedi Temple.

It was huge, with five gigantic towers jutting up from the surface of it. I squinted my eyes to find a decent landing bay where I could park. There, just to the left of my position, was a platform. I hastened to lower down on it without a second thought. My mistake.

As soon as the ship touched foot on the landing circle, I was surrounded by… uh, a lot of droids. All of them wore white, gleaming uniforms that resembled Mandalorian armor. I thought that the Jedi and Mando'ade were enemies!

One of them spoke to me in High Galactic Standard, (which is the language I translated this book to, for your convenience) and told me to get out of the ship. "Raise your arms above your head." He commanded.

I opened up the door to the ship and then disembarked, holding my arms above my neck and placing them on my lekku. I didn't want to hurt anyone. I was completey confused as one of the white-clad droid things walked up to me and undid the clasp on my holster that held my blaster, letting it fall to the ground.

"No weapons here-" He began to explain, but I cut him off by dropping to my knees and then flicking my feet out from behind him. My legs slammed full-force into his calves, making him fall over. He landed on his back as I grabbed my gun off of the floor and put it back on.

The rest of them turned their guns on me, so I ran. I took off from the ship bay that they were in, and kept running as they began firing at me from behind. I did not stop to fire a shot back at them, knowing that they outnumbered me. I back flipped off of a ship and then pushed off of it to gain momentum as I kept going down an endless hallway.

A person that was tall, in deep brown robes was blocking my path, so I pushed him over and ran to the left of him. He stopped, however, and then turned to face me. He threw off his robe, exposing himself as a Kel Dor, and then put out his hand. I suddenly found it very hard to run, and lost ground, as if being sucked backwards by an invisible force.

I quit running and then turned to face him. "Let me go!" I yelled.

"Master, if we don't get to that bloody docking bay soon, Jargon will be-" A young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes came out of the room he was standing nearby. She was wearing tan colored Jedi robes, with the same boots as the Dor that held me. The face was familiar to me, as if it came out of a dream from long ago.

We stared at each other.

"Serinii?" I called to her. "Serinii… Dawn?" I blinked twice and then rubbed my eyes at the teenager that was staring at me.

She squinted her eyes at me, curiously. "Skitch?"

I rushed over to her and hugged her as closely as I could. I never wanted to let go.