New chapter up. Enjoy!
Rio POV
When we arrived on Odessen, it wasn't much to look at. It was beautiful, of course, with its vast forests and wild open spaces, but we didn't need a nature hike, we needed a base of operations. We had some good bones, but it would take time to get everything up and running.
I found myself surrounded by people from every species and affiliation. There were civilians from numerous professions, soldiers from both the Republic and Empire of every rank and many Force users. Jedi, Sith and even some Voss. And more importantly, they were all working together, each with at least one story of loss which prompted them to join this alliance.
Lana and Theron had done an amazing job. I just hoped I could live up to the hype and keep all this together.
I looked down at the console, reading a recent scan of the area around Odessen. The planet was pretty much in the middle of absolutely nowhere, so the scans coming back clear was no surprise. Hopefully, we can keep the planet a secret from Arcann. I knew full well what the Eternal Fleet could do to a planet.
A young technician approached me, formerly from the imperial navy. She saluted, then stood at attention.
"Sir, Hylo Visz is requesting your presence, if you have a moment."
"Thank you, soldier." I replied, dismissing the young woman.
I finished my review of the scan, then headed to the side of the main installation setup for our resource acquisition. It was pretty much an underground smuggling ring, but we had to have a way to get the things needed to build and care for the ever growing number of inhabitants on the planet. The more quietly, the better. Again, we didn't want to show up on Arcann's radar.
I entered the room and saw Hylo standing by the main computer console. As I approached, I could see she was looking over a list of medical supplies. She turned and smiled at me. Hylo was tough, but friendly. She had been in the smuggling business long enough, even I knew about her reputation. I don't normally keep track of smugglers, except for my sister, but Hylo was infamous enough to even be on my radar.
"Ah, Commander. We just got something delivered which might interest you." She said, pointing to the side of the computer terminal. "Or I guess you could call it, someone."
Nikka stepped out of the shadows, a huge smile on her face. She rushed over and almost threw herself at me. I was lucky she's small and I'm strong.
"Thank the Force you're alive, Rio." She said.
I hugged her back, lifting her off the ground slightly. "Lana said you've been helping out here. I was wondering when you'd show up."
Nikka pulled away, shrugging. "I wanted to give you a chance to get settled. Besides, I've had business elsewhere. I knew you were in good hands with Lana."
Hylo had gone back to her lists and Nikka and I wandered over to the far side of the room, by the door.
"I'm so happy you're alive." I said to her.
She scoffed at me. "You were the one who dropped off the map for five years. It took everything we had to find you and get you out of Arcann's possession. But I never believed you were truly dead. Not for a second. When Theron approached me to help find you, that was all the confirmation I needed."
I nodded. "Theron got here about a week ago. He said you were a great help. Will you be staying? I'll arrange a room for you."
"Don't worry about that. My permanent residence is my ship, as always. If I'm on Odessen, I'll stay on my ship, or with Theron. I don't need a place of my own."
My eyes widened. "Did I just hear you right?"
Nikka chuckled. "You did. Theron and I hooked up a couple times before you went missing. Once after he hired me for one of his missions and the second time right after Ziost. A year after you went missing, he sought me out to help and we've been casually together ever since. I really hope you don't have a problem with it...that would be inconvenient."
"What...no...no of course not. I'm just a little surprised. It's nice to know you had someone watching your back." I replied. I had not been expecting that news. And she spoke so casually about it, so they'd obviously gotten past the new relationship shyness.
"Great." Nikka headed into the main control room and I followed. "Wow, this worked out nicely, didn't it?" She said, looking over the place. "Anyway…" She turned back to me. "Theron will be happy. He was worried you wouldn't approve and you know Theron, he cares about that kind of stuff."
"What kind of stuff?" Theron asked, entering the control room from the opposite door, connected to the Force user enclave.
"About us." Nikka replied, walking over to him, and giving him a quick kiss on the lips.
"Sorry I didn't tell you, Commander. I thought it would be better coming from your sister. So you're good with this?" Theron asked, almost blushing. In all my time working with Theron, I'd never even seen him talk about women in an affectionate way. He was a constant professional and had been raised by a Jedi. Not exactly the upbringing to nurture healthy personal relationships.
I nodded. "A bit shocked, but Nikka's my sister and you're one of my best friends. Not to mention you're both adults. You'll get no objection for me."
"Great! Now that the bantha has left the room, we can move on to more important business…" Nikka grabbed me by the arm. "...like you showing me the rest of this place. The last time I was here, all of this was just a hole in a mountain. We had a plan, but hadn't actually started much construction. I'm impressed."
"I'll let you two catch up. I've got a few calls to make." Theron said, leaving us to go to one of the many control panels in the room.
We left the control room and headed up the cantina. Stopping here and there to look at different aspects of the operation. Once we arrived at the cantina, I got us both drinks and we sat.
"You really have done wonders here." Nikka said, sipping her drink.
I looked down into my drink. "I just hope it'll be enough."
"Hey, don't be like that. You're not alone on this. You got me, and Theron and Lana. And I promise, I'll find out what happened to your team. We'll find Elara. What do you think I was doing while they were getting you out of cold storage?"
I had to smile. Nikka knew me very well, even with our lack of closeness before all of this happened. She understood my mindset and how much I'd want to know what happened to the people in my past. The people who were my responsibility.
I raised my glass. "Here's to making up for lost time."
Nikka clinked her glass against mine and downed her drink. "I couldn't have said it better myself."
To Be Continued...
