The new base was smaller in inhabitants as to be expected and Esmin couldn't help but feel the emptiness. A dread sat in her gut being forced to be in the same area as Luke and Kylo. Most people kept out of her way as she was easily made irritable.
Even Poe was keeping distance. Though Esmin chalked it up to him being reunited with Rey. Though as she watched their interactions, Poe seemed more interested in what Finn was doing or saying with Rey. It amused her a bit, so she tried not to show the sting at being held at an arm's length.
She headed towards the Slicer which had been grounded, like all the other ships, since the attack. Hoping to find somewhere to be away from prying eyes she entered and saw Luke wandering about. Catching her breath she looked around desperately for a place to hide. In the corner, one of the maintenance access hatches was opened. Quickly she jumped down and almost landed on Surj.
"Sorry" she winced before he could respond.
He smirked glancing up at her. He was crouched down on his knees, examining some readings. "Just calibrating the canons. After the trip we had, I wanted to make sure the Slicer's ready. Need me for something?"
"Just wanted to… er talk," she said sliding down, until her bottom settled onto the cold metal floor. "I needed to...just get away. Jedi's make me uncomfortable."
His sky colored eyes considered her for a moment and he sat back grinning. "I see...well...talk. I'm listening."
She hadn't really thought that far and her mouth hung open slightly. Her mind raced for a topic when she blurted out, "Your hair...I mean how do you get it so spiky?"
The Nagai began to laugh loudly, his shoulders bobbing up and down. "Well…" he chuckled and grabbed her hand, gently guiding it to the black strands on his head. "It's really thick and sort of naturally gives us all a nice electrocuted look."
The touch of the hair wasn't what she had expected. Instead of stiff and abrasive it was soft and like he said, very thick. Child-like amusement took over as she repeatedly tried to mat it down, only to be thwarted by the gravity defying locks.
She noticed he was still laughing a bit at her infatuation with his hair as he smiled broadly at her. "You know it's rude in my culture to touch our hair."
She froze. "But you just -"
"I know," he chortled. "It's fine. I'm not a very good Nagai."
Playfully she shoved his shoulder leaving his hair alone . "Yeah...well, I'm a terrible Nightsister."
"Actually," he said sitting up energetically. "Speaking of them...what did you mean by Maiden season, when we first met?"
"Seriously?"
"Yes," he asked wide eyed. "I try to learn as much as I can about different races and cultures. I assumed it was some sort of mating ritual...but...what exactly is it?"
Esmin's eyes focused on the energetic sprite of a man sitting before her. She wasn't sure if he was messing with her, but she relented the information when she locked eyes with him. "Nightsisters who are of age and want to have a daughter, will invite men into the commune for a night."
"And...that's one time a year?"
"No," she continued, now growing amused in how invested he was. "six times a year with each season change. The men have to agree to not have any attachment to the union if a daughter results. If a boy is born they can have them...If they want...which most don't."
"And...that's the only way a man can be with a Nightsister?" He asked cautiously, his eyes and handed stiffly returning back to the work he was doing.
At that moment, she realized why he was asking and fought a smile. "No, we can have lovers for fun, too. Some of us even are stupid enough to fall in love and run off. My mother did."
He was quiet for a moment nodding and fiddled with the schematics. "But...you're saying most Nightsisters don't, culturally speaking, stay with someone?"
"No," she smirked, her eyes in mischievous slits. "men are really only good for one thing."
"Ouch," he declared grasping his heart, his eyes returning to hers. "I'd have you know I'm very good at many things: great shot, taller enough for those hard to reach shelves and I have a lovely singing voice."
"You sing?"
"Only in the refresher," he grinned.
She rolled her eyes, sitting back in the tight space. Their knees were touching slightly and any movement made that more obvious.
"Did you ever have a daughter?"
"Wow," she choked. "You are just a bundle of questions today!"
"You said you wanted to talk."
Knowing he had her there, she sighed. "No...I can't."
Her hand banged against the metallic part of her abdomen. It rang lowly against the metal walls surrounding them.
The Nagai winced as if bitten by an animal, settling his hand on her knee. "Sorry, that was a stupid question to ask...I shouldn't have -"
"How could you know?" She laughed nervously. "It's a thing I am supposed to be able to do, like a good Nightsister and I can't. It's...just…" her voice suddenly wavered and she couldn't believe she was getting upset, in front of him, again. She turned her head and jumped to her feet. "I should go."
"Esmin," he said softly reaching for her hand. "Wait please."
Frustrated by being stopped, she huffed, meeting his eyes.
"I wanted to make sure that…," his hand still held hers. "You know, you can read all the entries on the holonet but they never really give you a true look inside a species culture. I didn't want to do anything...offensive. "
"You…" she paused and blinked down at him, her glassy eyes cleared and leaned forward, a flicker of a smile. "You've been doing... research on how to get me in bed?"
He shifted nervously, but held her gaze. "Our people are different and I wanted to know what I had to do to get this right. You have to calibrate a canon to the closest measurement to see what fits, for maximum efficiency ...and now that just sounds wrong. I'm going to stop talking now."
She bit her bottom lip, holding in laughter and kneeled back down, her face very close to his. "That is probably the weirdest thing a man has ever done to get me."
Their faces were inches apart and she could smell the sweat on him.
"Weird," he mused with a sly shrug. "Or very considerate. Depends how you look at it."
The proximity to him was becoming far more apparent to her as she once again was drawn into the flirtatious banter. "Guess I'm too used to the bad boys."
He looked at her for a moment then leaned forward very close, a smile inching across his pale lips as he whispered. "I can be bad."
At that point, she couldn't help but laugh out loud at the young man's attempt at sounding sensual. Her mouth, however, was quickly silenced as he crashed his lips against hers. His hand firmly gripped her shoulder, shoving her up against the metal surroundings. A surprised squeak came from her as his other hand found its way to under her thigh, hoisting it up and around his waist.
Inside an eruption of lust took over Esmin as she dove her fingers, once again, into his dark hair. In the confined space they gripped to each other hungrily, barely able to shift their bodies. The lanky Nagai pressed firmly against her chest as her back was grinding against the knobs and wires behind her. Esmin had only been kissed by a few people, and quickly came to realize, as his lips and tongue danced about with hers, that everyone before had been doing it wrong.
The rush was quickly ended as footsteps of Resistance officers were heard above and they quickly pulled apart. Their eyes locked in a knowing glance that they now shared an amusing secret.
"I really should go," she breathed. "Leave you to your calibrations."
"Right," he sighed with a lopsided smirk. "Because I'm really in the mindset to be doing complicated algorithms right now."
….
With a stupid smile that seemed to be surgically attached to her face she wandered into the bunk she was sharing with Varina. Tools and equipment were scattered in disarray, covered in oil and charred marks. A mask was over the small Mandalorian woman who was tinkering with the inner workings of one of the droids that had attacked them a few weeks back.
"Find anything interesting?" Esmin asked, trying to make conversation with the equally trigger sensitive woman.
"No," Varina huffed. "Their code is solid, their metric systems, and hardware have all the signs of a generic factory build. There is no indication of rewriting or sabotage."
Letting out a deep breath Esmin lay back on her bed. "Well, you better find something. Stars forbid the Resistance has to keep cooking their own food without droid help. They will riot."
Varina flipped up her protective mask and glared at Esmin. "Fine! You learn how to construct the inner workings of a droid and I'll swing around a light up sword in short shorts. Deal?"
"Perfect," Esmin smirked sitting up again.
They continued like this for the rest of the afternoon. Esmin picking up items she knew would drive Varina crazy and the little engineer pulling a blaster idle on her when she wouldn't stop.
"Fine," Esmin huffed, holding a hexagonal disk with tubes hanging from it, looking like a star. "Now is this important?"
"No, it is just decorative I think. The manufacturer's insignia or something."
"So, if I threw it away, would you be upset is what I am asking."
Varina's eyes fell into slits and Esmin hurried out still holding the star, laughing. With a soft smirk she walked off tossing the star up like a toy. As she took a step she felt her cybernetic arm begin to spasm. With a grunt she shook out her arm, which could cramp up with weather disturbances. But the sky seemed clear. She took another step and her hand clamped tight around the star. Caught off guard, Esmin began to struggle with her hand, trying to free it from its state.
Then, she saw the tubes of the star begin to flutter like tentacles and pierce into her arm.
"Varina!" Esmon shrieked, attempting to run back to her bunk, when her cybernetic leg locked her in place. "Varina!"
People began to stick their heads out at the commotion, watching on in confusion as Esmin fumbled with her own body. Esmin reached to her waist to grab one of her lightsabers, when her cybernetic hand, now embedded with the star, latched onto her human hand. The star detached one tentacle and it released her utility belt, sending her two lightsabers to the ground.
"What the hell is wrong?" Varina grunted, stomping over.
"The star thing! Cut it off of me!"
At the command Esmin's mechanical hand released her human hand and went for Varina her metal leg dragging her body forward.
"Stop!"
"I'm not doing it!" Esmin shouted as Varina stumbled back.
Sparks began to fly from Esmin and she could feel her breathing beginning to constrict. Others were outside now. Poe who had been working on his XWing nearby, was already by Varina's side, pulling her away. Some over zealous fighters were pulling their blasters on to Esmin, ready to fire.
"Don't shoot her!" Poe shouted as Esmin's body suddenly stopped moving, frozen in place.
Behind her walked up Rey, her hand extended, accompanied by Luke. Esmin couldn't speak anymore, her lungs almost constricted, her mind struggling not to blackout.
"I need to cut off your arm," Luke said softly to Esmin who could not respond.
With one quick gesture, Luke ignited his saber slicing through Esmin's cyborg arm. It fell to the ground still crawling by the fingers. Without a word he put the tip of his saber through the star and the arm ceased its movements. A rush of release filled Esmin as she fell to the ground with a loud gasp of air.
Gingerly, Luke picked up the star examining it warily. "Does anyone know what this is?"
A silence hovered in the air until the deep rich timber of a male answered. "I do." The crowd turned and looked at the Nagai. "It's a Silentium."
…..
"What the hell was that thing!?" Esmin shouted.
"How are you?" Surj asked as he entered the small bunk.
"I got my fake hand possessed by a squid and then cut off to be replaced by another fake hand," Esmin huffed as Varina was welding a new hand on. "I'm great! You?"
"The majority of the base thinks I planted the Silentium. So, I'm doing great too. The General is vouching for me as there are reports of rampant droids in other areas I have not been in. But, since I am the only one who knows what it is...obviously I look suspicious."
Esmin glared up at him.
"I told you my people were forced from our planet," Surj began."By the Tofs. They joined forces with a sentient droid based species called the Silentium. They invaded our technology and turned it against us."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Varina spat, finishing the welding.
"Because that was decades ago. In another galaxy," Surj huffed. "I have only seen them in holograms and been told folk tales. It honestly didn't click in my head until I saw it. The fall of Nagi happened before I was even born."
"There," Varina stated with finality to Esmin. " Not as elegant as you had it before. But it should work."
The Nightsister began to wiggle her fingers and spin her wrist. "Thank you."
The women both gave each other a small kind nod.
"I made a proposition to the General," Surj said after a moment, running his fingers through his hair. "We go to the Nagai flotilla and ask for their guidance. If a Silentium invasion is coming, we need to be prepared."
"What about the Star Forge?" Esmin asked, standing up.
"It could be linked. Both highly sentient synthetics that are hostile toward organics."
"Let me guess you volunteered us?"
Surj smiled broadly. "I am the resident Nagai and the base wants to kill me. So, I thought it best."
