Disclaimer- I do not own the rights to Star Wars Kotor 1 and 2 or their characters and likeness.
Ch 2
A loud crash was heard clear across the hall once again waking Andrew. Without hesitation he quickly jumped out of his the bed, called his lightsaber to him from inside the Jedi robes across the room, and dashed out the doorway to investigate the strange noise. When he reached the main hold he instinctively activated his lightsaber and jumped in ready for combat. It was only when he noticed some of his fellow crew members staring in awe at him, that he realized there was no threat.
"Well looks like someone is itching for a fight" said the fiery haired smart-mouth Mira who was mocking Andrew from the couch . "What's the matter, frustrated that you can't get intimate with Brianna because of the pregnancy."
Deactivating his lightsaber Andrew sarcastically responded "Haha very funny Mira, and if I may add extremely crude. I heard a loud crash, so I came to investigate."
"That would be my bad general" Bao-Dur spoke up from the other side of the room by the control panels. "I was in the middle of working on our little T3 unit trying to install some upgraded shields into his tiny frame when some sparks shot out of his motivator and hit my non-mechanical hand. It caught me off guard and made me accidentally drop my tools. I'm sorry that my carelessness disturbed your sleep."
Letting out a small exhale, Andrew collapsed on the couch next to Mira. "No it's alright Bao-Dur, honestly I'm just glad I didn't have to decapitate anyone before breakfast."
"Mommy what does decapitate mean?" asked young five-year old Vaner, who was sitting on the floor playing with his toy starship,"
"Ugh it means to yell at someone so much that it feels like there head is going to fall off." his loving mother Bastila carefully covered up. She then shot Andrew an angry look for putting her in the awkward position of having to answer her son's off-putting question.
"I don't think I'm wrong in saying that we are all thankful you didn't have decapitate anyone sweetheart." Brianna had followed behind Andrew and had now entered the room wearing a deeply amused grin. "The last thing we want to do right now is have to sit and listen to one of your long drawn out lectures."
At that moment Vaner jumped to his feet, ran directly to Brianna, and started tugging on her nightgown. "Aunt Bria...Aunt Bria, come play starfighter with me."
Bastila swiftly got to her feet also and grabbed her son away from Brianna. "Vaner, Aunt Bria is not going to want to play right now." Confusion quickly took over the boy as he stared at his mother in disbelief. "Listen the baby she's carrying has taken a lot of energy out of her lately, which has also been making her incapable of doing certain things. It's not that she doesn't want to play, it's just she's too tired to. Do you understand?" With disappointment in his eyes, Vaner slowly nodded. "Good, so what do you say we leave her be for now ok."
However, before Bastila could walk away Brianna placed a hand on the top of her shoulder and said "You underestimate me Bastila. It doesn't matter how pregnant I am, I'm more than capable of playing a simple game with Vaner." Brianna then peered down at the little boy and gave him a reassuring smile. Vaner cheered up right away and turned to his mother to make sure she approved.
Bastila's doubt was still evident by the way she looked at Brianna. "Are you sure? I wouldn't blame you if you didn't feel up for it."
"Bastila it's not like I'm gearing up for battle. I don't know how it was like when you were pregnant, but I don't think swooshing around toy figurines is going to be the most strenuous thing on my body. Thought I will admit I probably shouldn't be on my feet for too long, so as long as I sit on the coach while we do it I should be fine."
Andrew immediately jumped up and moved his wife to where he was previously sitting. "Here you go dear take a seat."
Before sitting down Brianna planted a quick kiss on Andrew's cheek. "I appreciate your chivalry, but sweetheart there are three seats. You don't have to sacrifice your spot on my account. Mira and I wouldn't mind you sitting with us." Mira then padded the middle seat with her hand and gestured for him to come back over
Waving both the women off Andrew said. "It's alright I needed to go talk to Atton and Carth anyway, which I would hazard to guess are off playing pilot somewhere." He then walked out of the room and down the corridor to go look for the two men, and as Andrew entered the cockpit he saw both men sitting on either side of each other in the pilot seats. "How are we looking so far."
Not even looking around Atton answered "We've passed a couple of dwarf planets in the last hour, but none of them were capable of sustaining life. So the likelihood of our man being on one of them is pretty low."
This news did not relieve any of Andrew's anxieties. "Well that's discouraging." There was not much of a chance of them finding something by now, but Andrew felt he should at least ask one more time. "Speaking of low, how are we doing on fuel Admiral"
Carth looked at one of the consoles beside him and said. "Our supplies are manageable for now but soon we're going to need to stop and refuel on a nearby planet."
"Hmmm, how about we make course for one right now. Atton what's the nearest colonized planet."
Atton got up from his chair and made his way over to the navicomputer. "Ugh the closest one to our current position is Manaan, it's a planet completely covered in water excluding a floating capital called Ahto City. It would take us around 9 hours to get there."
"That sounds reasonable enough to me. Set in the coördinates and put us into hyperspace, and once you've done that I want the two of you to meet me back in the main hold. There is something I need to discuss with all of you." Andrew returned to the main hold and grinned when he saw Vaner smiling and laughing while Brianna levitated the toy starship around the room making swooshing noises. He thought he should probably say something to his wife about using the force in such a way, but then he remembered the comment she made about not wanting to hear another lecture and decided he would to talk to her about it later in private. Instead he walked over to the center holoprojector and started entering in coördinates.
"What are you doing general" inquisitively asked Bao-Dur who was still working on Teethree.
"I'm trying to get ahold of Visas on Coruscant." answered Andrew now measuring the configuration of his signal. "I want her to be present for this announcement."
"And what exactly is this announcement again" asked Atton who had just entered the main hold alongside Carth.
"All will be made clear in just a moment." Suddenly a small blue figure of a young woman wearing a veil over her face appeared on the holoprojector. "Hello Visas thank you for answering my call."
"It was of no issue. Tell me, have you found Revan yet?" Bastila slightly shuddered at the question, and remained silent so Andrew could answer it.
"Sadly we have not, and it seems we have run out of time. Brianna is thirty-five weeks pregnant and it will be unsafe for her to be traveling for the next few weeks. Which is why we are setting course for Manaan. I thought I should tell all of you this because I predict we are going to be there for a while."
"What about our search for Revan" asked Carth surprised at the sudden change in plans.
"For now we're going to have to postpone our journey until after Brianna has given birth. From there we can plan our next course of action."
"Why Manaan" asked Mira.
"Well the main reason is because it's the closest, but more importantly than that the planet's capital, Ahoto City, enforces, some security measures that are quite extensive. I figure that makes it the ideal environment to keep Brianna and the baby safe."
Carth stepped forward in front of everyone. "Is there no way for us to leave you two on Manaan while the rest of us continue on with the search?"
Before Andrew could respond Bastila spoke up. "We could do that, but frankly I don't think we should. Andrew and Brianna are our friends and we need to be there for them in a time like this." Her voice then softened as she moved over to him. "Carth you know I want to find him just as much if not more than you do, and the thought of never seeing him again kills me inside. However, sometimes things come up that takes precedence over other goals. Andrew and I have already discussed this and we both mutually agree that Brianna's well-being has higher priority at this time. We're not giving up on him Carth, we just need to be patient that's all."
"Whatever, I'm going back to the cockpit." Carth then turned around and stormed out of the room,
Andrew was about to say something to stop him, however, Bastila came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Leave him be for now. Carth will settle down eventually and soon everything will be alright." Andrew wished he could reassure the republic admiral, but there was not much that could be done or said. For now he will just have to accept Carth's feelings and move on.
Suddenly the blue hologram of Visas spoke out again. "I don't mean to interrupt and I do appreciate you keeping me informed of your affairs, but I am curious on why you chose to tell me now. You could have just as easily contacted me once you arrived."
"Well Visas whether you're traveling with us or not you are a still a major part of this group, and I felt you deserved to hear our plans at the same time as everyone else. Once a friend always a friend."
A small grin appeared across Visas's face. "Thank you for your kind words they are very humbling, however, if you don't have anything else for me I must be going. I have recently brought in some new prospects to the Jedi temple. Hopefully they're truly force-sensitive and we will be able to start rebuilding the order."
"Don't give up Visas, we will find more lost Jedi" Andrew reassured her. "We simply need to stay vigilant and patient, I have a feeling that eventually they will start coming to us and we won't have to seek them out."
"We can only hope. Farewell for now my friends." The rest of the crew said their goodbyes, and then the blue hologram of the young woman disappeared.
"Alright getting back to the issue at hand, as most of you probably know Manaan's native species, the Selkath, carry a no violence policy within their capital. Which means we have to be on our best behavior and avoid stirring up trouble. Because of this I recommend we not dress in our robes and we keep our lightsabers hidden away from plain sight. People are still quite angry with the Jedi about the war, and we don't want to open up old wounds for any veterans or refuges that may be there. So are there any questions?" None of the crew gave any objections to Andrew's explanation. "Good we should be arriving in a few hours,"
Most of the crew left the main hold and went to their respective areas of the ship, except for Brianna who was still lounging on the couch and Atton who looked eager to speak. "Hey Andrew do you mind if I talk to you for minute." He happily obliged and signaled for Atton to go on. "Well I was wondering if you'd be willing to promote me to knight."
Andrew suspected that would be the request, however, he gave no sign of agreement. "I'm sorry Atton but I don't believe you're entirely ready yet."
"You've already knighted everyone else, when will I be ready?"
"Once you have faced and passed all the necessary trials, then you'll be ready." Brianna said from the coach. She would have given a little more input if she didn't notice Andrew shooting her a no help needed glance.
"She's right, the reason everyone else advanced ahead of you is because they had experienced certain things in their lives that symbolized the trials. When the opportunity arises for you I'm sure you'll be more than up to the challenge."
"Well what trials have I yet to pass.?"
"I can't tell you that Atton. What benefit would it be if I told you what you're supposed to learn? This is one lesson you're going to have to figure out on your own. Now why don't you go back to the cockpit and meditate on your thoughts."
Atton did not seem satisfied by that explanation, however, he knew it would be best not to argue. "Alright I will. Thank you for hearing me." He then went off to do what was suggested of him.
Now the only ones left were Andrew and his wife, and she was glowing with happiness "I can't believe we're doing this. I can't believe you and me are actually going to have our own little family."
Chuckling at the statement sat down next to Brianna and put his arm around her. "Do you not consider our friends as family?"
"Well yes but not the same kind of family that I'm talking about. For so long all you and me have concerned ourselves with is battle, betrayal, and war. Now we get to do something positive for once. Instead of taking life we're about to give it. I am so overjoyed with myself I can hardly contain my smile. Andrew don't you see we're..."
"Going to be parents" Andrew finished smiling ear to ear. "This will be the biggest adventure we've ever been on. I predict it will be very scary and difficult."
Brianna snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes. "As long as we remember our promise to each other we'll be fine."
"Yea I completely agree, and what was that promise again" He offhandedly jokes
He was then met with a backhand to his bicep and Brianna replying "That no matter what obstacles, challenges, or enemies we face we will always stand together."
At that moment Andrew brushed the white hair away from Brianna's eyes and took her hand into his. "Do you love me?"
Without hesitation she responded "Always and forever."
"Than trust in me, that everything will be alright." The two of them then smiled at each other with deep compassion and love before leaning into one another and sharing a soft kiss.
Suddenly Vaner comes running back into the room with toy starship in tow."Aunt Bria Uncle Andrew, do you want to finish playing?"
Andrew rubs the top of the little boy's head and says " We would love to."
He then takes the toy and starts making zooming and zapping noises with it, while Brianna stares at him and thinks to herself "He is going to be a great father."
...End of Ch 2...