How can that... Cathar be so willing to just accept that Arcann and his followers are just ordinary farmers and crafters? wondered Colonel Boleme as he laid awake in bed, his mind still decompiling the day's meeting and abrupt manner with which General Dinn dismissed his request for more security forces to monitor Arcann.
Rolling onto his side, he checked the chrono that glowed weakly on the bedside table next to him and began to calculate how long he's been awake before sighing heavily and accepting that it had been several hours and he should be asleep. If it weren't for the fact he had just finished his duty rotation and would be spending the next three days enjoying some downtime, the early hour would have only doubled his frustration.
Carefully climbing out of bed so he wouldn't disturb his wife who lay beside him, he quietly dressed in the dark and was about to tip-toe from his bedroom when a hushed and groggy tone broke the silence.
"Hevarl, where are you going at this hour?"
"Just for a walk – I need to clear my mind or I'll just toss and turn all night," Boleme whispered back.
Stepping into the dark and narrow hallway he walked through the apartment to his personal office, grabbed the compact C202 Pulse Blaster from it's holster, and stuffed the pistol in the back of his belt beneath his shirt before stepping outside into the cool night air.
Passing through the deserted streets of the Base's shopping promenade, Hevarl peered into the darkened shops and considered the grain of sand that had worked its way beneath his trunks and had been chafing him for days. The Sith Council would never have allowed Arcann to live. Even if he were spared by the Council, my concerns would have been taken seriously by Imperial Command. The Ministry of Intelligence would have assigned an agent to infiltrate the group, and I daresay a Note of Commendation would have been entered to my military record for reporting him.
The light inside the Caffa Connection caught his eye, so he walked over to peer through the front window and noticed the chrono on the wall. It was oh-four-thirty and he should be home in bed.
Inside the shop, the tall friendly Weequay male, who was the proprietor and also a Baker, was busy rolling out the dough for the fresh breads and treats he would soon put in the oven. The Weequay immediately noticed Boleme at his window and flashed him a broad smile and waved a large flour covered hand to him. Hevarl returned the wave, but not the smile, and continued walking.
The dossier we had on Dinn painted her as a calculating and ruthless soldier when she was Havoc Squad's CO, but she really seems to fall short in person. How can she and the Commander allow the monster that plunged the Empire and Republic into more than five cycles of war, then servitude, to simply roam free? Especially after what he put the Commander and her family through? This Alliance is doomed to fail and it will all be a result of their naive beliefs that we are safe from this man.
Wandering for several hours more, Boleme remained lost in his thoughts and was unaware that his subconscious had guided him on a seemingly random path to the edge of the base and on a course towards Arcann's small community.
Gursan stood at the counter in the ship's galley filling his dented, scratched, and well traveled mug with caffa. This was one of his last few reminders of bachelor life and Solasta regularly joked that the mug too closely resembled Gursan for her throw it out, and regardless of how she meant her words, he always took it as a compliment. Not because he saw any likeness between himself and the mug, but because it meant enough to give Solasta reason to think of him. Aside from the freshly brewed pot of caffa he was pouring, nothing appeared out of place despite the sounds of Solasta opening and closing the cupboards, and waking him only a short while earlier.
Walking up the short ramp to the cockpit and standing in the doorway, Gursan looked at her large frame compressed on the seat next to the narrow pilot's console and it never ceased to amaze him how she could find comfort in cramped spaces, or how she could stretch out the full length of her frame and dominate the bed one moment, then curl herself into a ball the next.
Solasta sat with her knees pulled up beneath her on the pilot's chair as she worked on her datapad and crunched down hard on the bone that she held between her teeth.
The corners of his mouth curled into a smile as he felt both his hearts fill with an immeasurable love for her, and for some inexplicable reason just being near her this morning had woken the urge to carry her back to their quarters for a continuation of the previous night's delights.
"Are you going to come in and sit?" asked Solasta as she looked up from her datapad, turning to face him with the little bone still between her lips.
"Yeah, I was just admiring my beautiful wife first," and sitting on the seat next to her he said, "I didn't know we even had leftovers or that you enjoyed sucking the marrow from bones."
Wide-eyed and looking a little stupefied Solasta slowly pulled the bone from her mouth and nonchalantly placed it on the plate beside her.
"Yes... of course... leftovers that I reheated. I didn't know if you would find this disturbing so I normally chew on the bones in private."
Gursan chuckled and shook his head. "All the crazy kark we've seen and you're worried about cracking a few bones?"
Turning her attention quickly back to the datapad in her hands she said, "Guess I must be self-conscious about it then."
"What are you working on?" asked Gursan.
"Just putting some finishing touches on my Security Plans for Commander Riggs' Leadership Conference. I'm going to propose that my team coordinates with Admiral Aygo to have a Cruiser stationed in orbit over the planet for the delegates to dock with. They'll be processed there and given security clearance before being shuttled down to the surface. Resources on the planet would be freed up to focus on the other civilian and commercial points of entry."
Gursan hummed his agreement. "That makes sense. Controlled access to the planet and a diplomatically inclined reason for having an armed warship in orbit for defense."
"I'm sure the Commander's mastery of the Eternal Fleet is deterrent enough, plus the Gravestone will be running patrols as well," added Solasta.
"Will Boleme be taking a break from his bizarre fascination with Arcann long enough to contribute a plan for domestic security?"
Solasta snorted and a sing-song trill of laughter filled the cockpit as she tried to catch her breath. "Yes, the Colonel has already submitted his plan; precise, well thought out, and efficient – much like the colonel, but without any bizarre."
"That's good I suppose. Once we reach Corellia, I'll take us down. Say, do you remember the hangar where we docked to visit my parents after getting soul-bound?"
Solasta nodded and said, "Yes. Why?"
"Well it's no longer the same dusty and forgotten military base. Since the Republic rebuilding began, they've reopened it and it's quite the bustling transportation hub now."
"Won't we be identified the moment we request clearance to land?"
"Nah, Tora was able to integrate the transponder from my old ship into the Rai Enka'ri and the base is so busy now that we'll blend in with all the traffic; we'll look far less conspicuous than we did as a lone ship sneaking onto a decommissioned base."
"How did you even know about the base?"
"Repatriating Republic ships or the scrap from them doesn't pay anything. We're just expected to return anything found as good citizens, right? So, the base was a dead drop I used to transfer scavenged materials back into the Republic and collect my credits from the buyers. Major Couda, who I served with briefly after the Academy and you met on our last visit, got a share of the cut as a thank-you, of course."
A moment of silence passed between them before the tell-tale pang of the hyper-drive disengaging could be heard. The vortex of blue-white light outside the main viewports was replaced by the rush of stars and the thousands of ships traveling in the space around Corellia.
Gursan spun his chair to face forward and disengaged the auto-pilot. Assuming control of the ship, he began guiding their approach to the massive blue and green planet the hung below them. Solasta's attention turned to the com's panel as messages began to spill in, and a loud happy chirrup sound escaped her - something had caught her attention - before she feverishly pecked at the controls.
Solasta was silent for a few moments while she read, then blurted out loudly, "Gursan, turn the ship around – we need to go back to Odessen now."
Sitting up stiffly in his seat, Gursan's attention snapped to Solasta. "What's wrong? Is there an attack on Odessen?"
"No, but I can promise you there's going to be one."
"What's going on? What does that message say?"
Solasta cleared her throat and began to read the message from the screen.
:begin
Miss Solasta,
You're never going to believe what happened today after you left. Dad finally noticed how much time Torian and I are spending together and in front of EVERYONE he straight out asked Torian what his intentions are towards me, and guess what?
Torian said when I'm old enough he wanted to make me his mate - his riduur (that means wife or spouse in Mandoa)
I thought for sure Dad was going to lose it and start a fight but he remained cool. I on the other hand fainted when I heard Torian say he wanted to marry me. How kriffing embarrassing!
I can't wait to tell you about all this when you and the Major return home. Isn't this exciting?
Miss Calypso
:end
"Well... wow. Just wow. That's quite a surprise, Hellcat." said Gursan, slowly, with a tone of shock in his voice.
Solasta's head turned from the screen to look at Gursan. He watched as her pupil's collapsed and tightened into a thin slit of black and her yellow irises burned brightly. A low growl undulated from her throat and she parted her lips to flash her fangs before standing and stomping from the bridge.
Gursan switch the ship back to auto-pilot and gave chase to Solasta as she stormed through the ship.
When he found Solasta in the cargo hold she was hissing and swinging wildly, bare-knuckled, at the training dummy that stood near the aft bulkhead. Her blows hitting the dummy with enough force to tilt it on it's base several centimeters before it slammed back down onto the deck plates, and Gursan stood and watched a few minutes before speaking up.
"What is it Hellcat? What's wrong?"
"Caly is too young," shouted Solasta as her fist connected with the head of the training dummy. "If he's laid a hand on her, I swear to the Gods there isn't anyplace in this galaxy that kid will be safe from me. Stupid child! Why does she think this is something to get excited about?" Using both hands she slammed her palms into the chest of the dummy.
Gursan watched as the training dummy rocked back to almost a forty-five-degree angle before it slammed hard back onto the deck, and remembering how much effort it took to move it into position he knew Solasta was especially stirred by her emotions at this news.
"You don't mean that, Sol. You don't think Caly's a stupid girl."
Solasta spun on her heels to face him. The brief glare she flashed him faded, her eyes returned to normal, and she resumed her normal subtle evasiveness to avoid prolonged eye contact with Gursan for a few seconds before her face drained into a frown and she let out a slow whimper that grew into a strained mewling.
Gursan crossed the room to her and taking her in his arms, hugged her close to his chest.
"Hellcat, she's got her father, uncles, cousins, and brother to watch out for her. Torian's an honorable kid, and he's not stupid either. He knows what will happen if he gets out of line with Caly."
Solasta looked up into Gursan's eyes then rested her head back on his chest and said, "When did you become the pragmatic one in this bonding?"
"Guess maybe I'm all grown up now?"
"If Torian screws up, he'd better hope Corso, her uncles, cousins, or brother find him before I do."
Kissing the top of Solasta's head Gursan squeezed her and said, "We need to get into an approach lane to land this crate. I'll contact the Port Authority and tell them we overslept and missed the hyper-drive disengage alarm. You go wash up and meet me back on the bridge."
Gursan stepped back into the cockpit to resume a course for Corellia and contacted the Port Master who was a stressed looking Twi'lek woman with pale green colouring, large dark circles under her eyes, and a busy preoccupation with her terminal. The apology for oversleeping their exit from hyper-space was quickly accepted and promptly forgotten as they were cleared and referred to the military base run by Gursan's friend.
Major Couda's image had just appeared on the holo as Solasta walked into the cockpit and sat down.
"Welcome back Gursan and Solasta. Put your ship down in hangar Kappa-Three, and I'll be out to greet you." The man's image flickered and disappeared without any further pleasantries or discussion.
"Your friend looks stressed," said Solasta.
"Ha, you should have seen the Port Master," joked Gursan, "I guess they've been more than a little overwhelmed by the surge in activity."
Gursan landed the Rai Enka'ri in their assigned hangar and the heavy doors rumbled slowly to a close behind them. Once the ship's systems had powered down they walked to the airlock and Solasta keyed the door panel to lower the ramp, and the exterior opened to a rush of fresh air.
Stepping outside, Solasta reached for Gursan's hand and locked their fingers together as they walked down ramp and onto the tarmac, painted military grey, where they found themselves in an empty hangar.
No deck crew. No mech droids, or cargo containers, or cargo skiffs. Just an empty barren hangar.
Gursan called out, "Hello?" and they both listened to the sound of his voice echo back to them.
Solasta's ears stiffened as her acute sense of hearing caught the subtle hissing sound of the hydraulic bolts sliding. She began to turn towards the large durasteel door that connected them to the base just as the hinges began to groan and Gursan spun a half second later.
As the massive blast door slide open a Republic Forces Armored Personnel Carrier roared through the gates, then a second carrier, a third, and a fourth.
Instinctively Gursan stepped in front of Solasta and she stepped beside him saying, "Kasi'rit, I don't need you to protect me."
"Sorry, just fell into formation out of habit."
They stood and watched as the APM's sped towards them and parked a short few meters away. Almost in unison, the large loading ramps on the rear of the vehicles lowered and armed troops poured out to take up a formation in front of them.
Gursan felt a bead of perspiration form and roll down the nape of his neck. Next to him, he heard Solasta breathing heavily through her nose and her low growl abruptly became silenced.
"Gursan, you're sweating," she murmured.
"Uh, yeah. I'm pretty sure I am, why?"
Solasta made a few quiet retching sounds and Gursan turned to see the disgusted look on her face from having forced herself to swallow her own vomit back down.
"Are you okay," he asked, eye's wide and a concerned expression on his face.
Solasta nodded and they looked back at the formation of armed soldiers in front of them, neither of them moved.
When the soldiers in the middle of the formation spun on their heels ninety-degrees to make an opening they spotted Major Couda walking up the middle towards them. Behind the Major, they saw Republic Commando's flanking Gursan's parents and escorting them forward.
Major Couda approached them and gave a curt nod before pulling the round disk shaped holo-com from his belt. Holding it out towards Gursan and Solasta, he activated it and the device presented the image Supreme Commander Jace Malcom.
"Well done, Major. Remain vigilant with rooting out traitors to the Republic," said Malcom with an air of calm.