o.o.o.o.o
Kelia Los'ean
Joint Base Baobab Housing Complex, Manda
The loud blare of the revile call aroused Kelia from her slumber. Causing her to grumble aloud. "Kriffing Clones... This isn't barracks, civilians live here with their military spouses and parents..."
Logically she knew it wasn't their fault for not knowing better. But she was too groggy and annoyed to care.
Groaning, she sat up in her bed before sighing as she got up and walked over to the window, pulling the fabric screen that blocked the light aside to stare out of it.
Outside, she could see the sprawling expanse of the naval station portion of Joint Base Baobab illuminated by the morning sun. Or at least she could have if most of said sprawl wasn't blocked by itself.
Then again, she wasn't staying here for the view.
Rubbing her eyes and yawning, she walked over to her dresser and began pulling out some garments after popping a painkiller into her mouth for the headache that had begun to roil up.
She was absolutely having guardrails installed on the bridge at this point, to hell with what KDY said.
Heading into the refresher, Kelia stared at her own face for a few moments in the mirror.
The distant look in her eyes was back, as much as she hated to admit it, and she had a nasty scar running down the side of her head where it had struck a terminal when she'd fallen into the crew pit.
A small strip had been shaved into it to enable the skin to be 'welded' back together by an application of bacta cream, which was about the only saving grace she had otherwise she'd have been stuck using her shower in sonic mode.
It would regrow, but she, like all Bothans, felt uncomfortable when looking at areas bare of fur that should have fur.
No fur often meant disease, and all the 'that's bad, stay away' instincts that came with it.
Shaking her head, Kelia sighed and walked into the shower, stripping down in the process.
As the water ran down her body and soaked through her fur, she clenched her fist and stared at the tiled wall as her mind wandered unbidden.
It was something that had come to mind on and off since she got Korsk's message, an old question that once plagued her for some time.
How Linay fit into their relationship, of which there were several solutions.
Including making her an honor-spouse.
Kelia honestly still didn't know what her answer was.
Though after nearly cracking her neck on a console, she was leaning more and more towards 'kriff it, marry her too'. Because why the hell not?
What did she have to lose anyways? Her dignity?
As she began to contemplate it further, a splitting pain shot through her head.
Right, too much thinking equaled bad, bad equaled pain.
Pain reminded her of the men she'd lost.
She didn't know how that line of thinking worked, nor did she care to dwell on it as her stomach then growled, leaving her hungry and with a headache.
But she also had no food in her pantry...
Well, looked like a trip to the PX was in order.
Right after she took some painkillers.
o.o.o.o.o
Korsk Los'ean
Los'shtarn, Krant
Korsk's fur rippled nervously as he and Linay drove up to the exterior gate to House Los'ean's estate of Los'morut, a pair of fully armored sentries watching them.
Of note to him was their Rodian-made proton rifles, the weapons held at low-ready.
Not the longest ranged weapons given their barrel lengths, but even the armored Sennatt Motors SM-33 airspeeder he and Linay were riding in would be holed through by the things.
The first sentry walked over to them, speaking in basic through their helmet vocoder. "Our House Alor isn't seeing guests today." She growled.
Steeling himself, Korsk held out his ID through the window, complete with his membership in Clan Aean and the chain code associated with it, the sentry's helmet tilting upwards after taking the chip and scanning it.
Whether in recognition of the fact he'd practically abandoned Kelia, or in suspicion of his claim, Korsk did not know.
"Wait right here." The warrior growled, handing Korsk's ID back before walking off.
["Burukt is going to kill you."] Linay muttered in Bothese once the guard was out of earshot.
["I know…"] Korsk uttered in reply, his fur falling flat at the thought of having to stare down his father in law who was twice as tall as himself, and easily his physical better despite not having combat implants and being a spacer Bothan.
And here he was without his combat-oriented clone body, even though he had his emergency implants.
Kriffing deniability practices.
The sentry returned and tapped on the door. "You're clear to enter." She informed them as a modified AT-PT and a quartet of ZH-28 guard droids carrying DXR6 carbines marched along a patrol road inside the walled off area. "Follow the main road up to the next checkpoint and through to the mansion, any deviations-"
"And I'll be treated as a hostile, yes, yes I get it." Korsk sighed as he pulled through the now open gate once the Sentry had stepped clear, slowly driving down the road. ["Forgot how much of a stick up their asses they have…"] He uttered in Bothese once they were through.
["Can you blame them?"] Linay asked as she leaned against the door on her side, looking out at the brightly colored trees as they drove, trees which undoubtedly hid defensive emplacements and reinforced pillboxes. ["We both know the kinds of things SpyNet has tried to do on Krant in the past."]
["Fair…"] Korsk conceded. ["Anyways, remember… We are here to get into contact with Kelia. So, for the stars' sake, please don't get me killed."]
Linay gave him a dry look. ["I'm a degenerate, not a stupid bitch."] She uttered humorlessly.
His fur flattened a bit as he returned his eyes to the road.
["Listen, Korsk… Sorry…"] Linay apologized after a few moments. ["I know you're nervous."]
["Nervous is an understatement. I am legitimately afraid for my own life now."] He whimpered softly.
Linay patted him on the shoulder. ["They won't kill you."] She assured him.
["You're sure?"] He asked as they passed through the second checkpoint, the pulse cannon and proton carbine armed sentries watching them carefully as their speeder moved through the area, past features of the terrain that were intended for fortification as much as decoration, clear spots to land ships or deploy artillery and anti-air platforms, dugouts that served as starting points for foxholes.
["Of course. If they do that, Kelia won't get to do it herself."] She half-joked.
Korsk gave her a glare. ["Not helping."] He growled softly at her.
A defeated noise issued from Linay's mouth as they pulled up to the mansion.
Shutting down the engine, Korsk got out of the speeder with Linay and submitted himself to a scan from the four warriors on guard duty.
Once they were finished with the scan and satisfied with their physical patdowns, the two were ushered into the mansion.
Inside, another Aean, one Korsk recognized, waited for them.
o.o.o.o.o
Kalisk Los'ean glowered as he strode up to Korsk and Linay in the main entryway as the doors shut behind them. "You two have just the best kriffing timing don't you." He growled in Basic, ashen-black fur rippling angrily under his violet trimmed armor as he stared down at them.
A few more warriors and ZH-28 droids stood on sentry duty behind hard cover positions on the balcony above as Kalisk directed the two to follow him. The droids notably gazed at the two newcomer Bothans with cold, literally mechanical, stares as their optic bands swept back and forth inside their movement tracks.
"I'm sorry, we just got free time from our handl-" Korsk began nervously as his half brother-in-law narrowed his eyes further.
"It's not entirely you, things changed yesterday. Our house's Alor returned from her… Absence…" He uttered in frustration. "We're currently trying to get everything sorted with the Grum and Aliit'alor, not to mention get everything back in order here and in Los'shtarn. It's a mess."
Korsk froze and looked at Linay, both remembering that Kelia's mother had been Los'ean's head before her disappearance.
"Should we come back later…?" Linay asked nervously.
Kalisk simply snorted. "No, in fact we might as well tear the dead fur out." He growled before knocking on the door. "Bur'buir, we have guests."
"Tell them to go away. I'm not in the-"
"It's Kelia's idiot husband and the Efay girl." Kalisk interrupted with far too much glee for Korsk's liking.
There was a moment of silence before a female voice Korsk barely recognized spoke up. "Send them in."
Korsk's fur fell flat again as the door opened to reveal Burukt Los'ean, Cath Los'ean, the four Los'ean honor wives they were wedded to, and several of the family's various children, all seated a round a table in the center of the room.
This including two of Kelia's full-siblings, Uvesk and Nelir.
As one they turned and stared at Korsk and Linay like hungry Sky Dragons, made worse by the fact that they were all wearing armor bearing stylized markings based on the creature in some form or another, even Nelir's blue and periwinkle Journeyman Protector equipment featured the symbols.
It also didn't help that they were all much taller than Korsk and Linay, physically burlier as well.
Korsk felt fur flatten tighter to his skin than he had ever thought possible, his ears drooping back in terror, as he realized that based on how they all surrounded Cath, that he and Linay had the misfortune of walking right into an interrogation.
Linay awkwardly tried to side-step out of view before a cough from Tessir Los'ean, the fourth of Korsk and Cath's four honor-wives, froze her in her tracks.
Korsk didn't notice this though. Mostly since the only thought running through his mind was, I am going to die, because now I'm the target of their wrath.
With Kalisk behind them, the two comparatively tiny Bothans were ushered into the room. Then the door slid shut and cut off all escape.
o.o.o.o.o
Korsk and Linay sat across from Burukt as he and his wives silently inspected them after the two had explained themselves.
The greatest scrutiny came from Cath, who had gotten up and stalked about the two like a krak'jya circling her prey.
So terrified were they, that neither noticed the frustrated glares being directed at House Los'ean's matriarch by several of Kelia's half-siblings.
"So… Of all the Bothans to marry Kelia, it ended up being you… Somehow I'm not surprised." She muttered in basic.
Linay opened her mouth to speak only to be immediately cut off. "Oh, don't try to weasel your way out of your part in deflowering my daughter." Cath uttered flatly as she interrupted. "As far as I'm concerned, you're half-married to her as is and therefore just as responsible."
"Yes'm…" Linay whimpered, fur flattening in fear.
Profuse apologies did little to placate Aean Bothans, only serving to piss them off most of the time.
Briefly, Korsk found himself thankful that he had enough experience with Kelia's family to know this.
Burukt, hands tented in front of his snout, remained impassive. "Alright then… You've caught me in a better mood than you would otherwise, mostly because someone else has already burned out all my ire." He said finally.
Korsk watched his gaze track up to Cath, taking note of the information for later. "I…" He began.
"Call her. And don't screw it up." Burukt ordered. "We have the contact codes for the Republic base on Manda. Well, for the civilian comms center at least."
"Yessir." Korsk and Linay uttered simultaneously.
He smiled softly. "Nelir, take them to the comms room."
"Understood Bur'buir." His blond and black spotted daughter acknowledged, golden eyes observing Linay and Korsk with the same fastidiousness with which she would study a crime scene.
Cath exchanged a look with her husband and then smiled as she saw the look in his eyes. "Uv?"
"Yes Ca'buir?" Uvesk inquired, somewhat confused.
"It's been so long since I've had proper Tiingilar, and Ceqir says you make it so well now." She suggested coyly. "I'm sure that after their call to Kelia, that Linay and Korsk would love to stay for lunch. They are family after all."
Not a single word of hostile intent spoken, but there didn't need to be.
For two baseline Bothans the mere act of having them to eat the insanely spicy stew, which was enough to bring many humans to their knees, was punishment enough for her.
Korsk and Linay gulped nervously as they stood up and were led out of the room by Nelir.
o.o.o.o.o
Kelia Los'ean
Joint Base Baobab Housing Complex, Manda
Kelia hummed a soft tune to herself as she sat at her metal kitchen table and ate some sugary children's cereal as she scrolled through ConnectNet.
About the only thing she could find in twenty minutes at the commissary that she found remotely appealing in her current mood was some military themed cereal with a Clone Trooper branded on the box, with sugar coated pieces shaped like Acclamators, Clone helmets, Republic roundels, and AT-TEs.
The blatant war profiteering in the name of 'patriotism' disgusted her.
Anyways, ConnectNet was going through another routine freakout after the report about the attack on Manda had come through, mostly regarding.
Mineth in particular had sent a flurry of frantic ones after hearing about it, and Kelia was currently conversing with her over a DM session to placate her friend.
Stars thank Manda for hosting a relay for the app to let it happen in something close to real-time.
[["You sure you're okay Kel?"]] Came Mineth's latest reply, in Bothese as per usual.
Kelia thought about it for a moment and shrugged. [["More or less…]] She typed back.
Mineth had more important things to worry about than her concussion anyways.
[["Alright, I'll take you at your word… Kriff, I'm nervous now."]]
She raised an eyebrow at Mineth's response. [["What for?"]] She sent back.
[["Combat, everyone's always chattering away about 'oh we can take the Republic or the CIS'… But most of these idiots would freeze up the first time they saw all those droids charging at them, to say nothing about a Jedi coming in with a lightsaber blazing. Or being bombarded. Kriff. I still have nightmares about that pirate gunboat."]]
[["So do I. But, well, just stay calm. You have a weapon and armor this time."]] Kelia assured her.
[["Easy for you to say, I've got a blaster and about four weeks of twenty in my Combat Engineer course, of which I'm still being taught while also doing everything an active soldier is expected to do. You have a Star Destroyer and the skill to use it right."]]
Kelia could almost sense the envy oozing from Mineth's reply, and frowned, wincing as another headache hit while remembering the men she'd lost. [["There's ups and downs to everything."]] She replied strategically.
There was a brief pause, likely Mineth contemplating before typing again. [["Fair enough. Anyways, you hear back from your family yet?"]]
She decided not to admit to having not checked FamilyNet in a while. [["No, not yet. What about you?"]]
[["My brother told me that my aunt is about half the reason the extendeds haven't forced my parents to disown me yet for becoming a Marine."]]
Ouch, that had to hurt. [["Damn…"]]
[["Yeah, part of me wants the 'wet' Navy to hurry up and depth charge those Skar'kla in the lake so we can get back to our exercises. Mostly so I don't have to think about it anymore. Kriffing hell…"]]
Kelia felt for her friend, her parents had blown a fuse after the Kothlis incident and had sheltered her heavily afterwards, likely pressured further by their own siblings.
Mineth, naturally, resented it.
Still did. It was why she became a full Marine in the first place while Kelia moved on to Anaxes after their PSF course.
[["Hopefully they'll get that cleared up. Anyways, I have some stuff to do. I'll keep this tab open so you can ping me whenever."]]
[["See ya Kel."]]
[["See ya."]]
Swapping away from the app, Kelia frowned.
She had a bunch of spare time and nothing to do with it… Gym always sounded nice to burn time, but she would have to take it easy given her concussion. Which basically meant she couldn't do much.
Kriffing annoying.
The blare of her house's comm handset reached her ears, causing her to sigh and walk over to the device before picking it up. "Kelia Los'ean." She uttered into the audio pickup.
["Kelia. Los'ean. A long-range comms call is currently coming in from. Krant. In the. Bothan Sector. For you. Do you wish to take the call?"] The stilted voice of a civil comms controller droid droned into her ear.
Her fur rippled in anxiety at the thought of her family contacting her. She had specifically avoided using the Aean FamilyNet for a reason. But there was no avoiding this.
"Yes." She said quickly before the stupid droid could hang up.
["Understood. Transferring call in. Now."]
She was beginning to wonder how old the kriffing thing was before a familiar voice called out over the commset.
["Hey, love…"] Korsk's voice uttered into her ear in basic. ["Sorry it took me so long to call."]
Frozen, all she could do was cover her mouth and stifle a cry of confusion and happiness. "You di'kut…" She whispered softly.
Her husband's voice caught. ["Like I said… I'm sorry… I…"]
"Just shut up… Don't make me want to hit you…" Kelia uttered, wiping a few tears from her eyes.
He laughed. ["Alright… Speaking of… Linay! Pick up your end!"]
Kelia heard a yelp and then a second line picked up after a minute.
["YES I WANT TO PLUG IN TO THE CALL YOU STUPID DRO-… Oh… Hey Kel."]
"Hey Linay." Kelia replied, a nervous expression on her face, her fur twitching awkwardly as she wondered how to go forward with this.
She sighed and then realized this was going to be more difficult than she anticipated, at least over an audio-only line. "Alright… I'll need time to set up a holocall. This is going to get stupid otherwise." Kelia muttered under her breath.
["Probably for the best…"] Korsk admitted. ["We'll be waiting on you."]
["Don't take too long!"] Linay yipped cheerfully, though Kelia could detect a hint of a forced tone in her voice.
Hanging up, Kelia sighed as she stood and stretched.
"Well, looks like anything else I'm doing is being put on hold for the meantime…" She mumbled, pulling out her datapad and texting Dan'lya. ["Hey, Dan'lya. I need you to help me with something."]
o.o.o.o.o
Korsk Los'ean
Los'morut, Los'shtarn, Krant
Korsk paced about anxiously near House Aean's private holocomm array, Linay next to him while a pair of Aean warriors carrying GALAAR-15 carbines stood guard at the door.
Linay grabbed him by the shoulder. "Stop pacing." She told him.
"Sorry, it's… Just been so long since Kelia and I…" He growled with a sigh, fur rippling as he wrung his hands.
The guards stood silently behind them. If they were talking, they weren't saying anything that either Bothan could hear through their helmets.
Finally, the staticky blue-tinted glow of a holoprojection flared into being.
Korsk's ears flicked up as he saw Kelia, and the scar running down the side of her head. "Oh…"
She seemed to realize this, looking away with her neck fur swirling a bit. ["Sorry… I forgot…"]
The two guards shifted uneasily, both looking at eachother.
"You're fine… We'll go over that later." Korsk uttered diplomatically. "So… How've you been doing?"
["Could be better. I've got a concussion and a load of guilt for the men who've been injured or killed under my command. But at least I get to talk to you."] She remarked carelessly.
Well, that was cheerfully morbid, and a clear sign his wife wasn't all there. "Kelia…" Korsk whined softly.
Blue-tinted blond fur rippled nervously over the holo as she gave them an apologetic smile. ["Sorry… Not everything's firing correctly right now. Still, I am happy to see you two."]
Linay gave her a smarmy grin and a thumbs up, trying to change the subject. "Looking good in the uniform Kel. Minus the scar of course."
Relaxing a bit, Korsk smiled earnestly at Kelia as another Bothan, with the leaner swimmer's build of someone born on Kothlis and wearing a Lieutenant's rank plaque on her chest, stepped into frame.
["Ma'am, we should keep this quick."] She informed Kelia, who nodded at her as she receded out of the visual.
Turning back to what Zrask assumed was a projection of himself and Linay, Kelia continued speaking. ["Right… I'd like to speak at length but… Wartime restrictions. So, I have a request."]
Korsk and Linay exchanged a glance. "What dear?" Korsk asked nervously.
As Kelia narrowed her eyes on the holo, he realized that she had changed. ["You and Linay get over here yourselves. Then we can speak freely and in detail as much as we want."]
"That's a bit of an issue, love. Not sure the Republic would let Linay in unless she's listed as…" Korsk glanced over at Linay, who now looked visibly conflicted about the subject.
["Ah… Kriff… Right…"] Kelia muttered and scratched the nape of her neck after realizing, looking around awkwardly. ["Any ideas…? I have one but..."]
Linay and Korsk looked at eachother before the former sighed and sucked up her nervousness. "Well… There is that thing your parents did, the honor marriage thing… I think it would work since we all kriffed on your wedding night."
The guards looked at eachother and each took a nervous half-step away from the door.
A few moments of incredibly awkward silence passed before Kelia pursed her lips. ["Well, looks like I'm actually doing this today… Kriff it. Warrior? Is Uv there?"] She asked, turning her attention to the guards standing by the door.
One of the guards looked at the other and gestured with the add-on stock of her carbine.
The male guard sighed and nodded. "I'll go get him." He said before walking out.
o.o.o.o.o
Uvesk, thankfully, had been relatively available and looked between Kelia, Korsk, and Linay after hearing his sister's explanation, which had also stunned Korsk and Linay. "So, the problem is you want to have both Korsk and Linay live with you on base housing… But because of the legal issues you can't properly explain her presence unless she's considered a spouse or a domestic partner."
["Yeah. No sane military lets someone's non-military… 'Acquaintances'… Live on base unless they're already listed as living partners. It's too much of a security risk."] Kelia confirmed, sighing as she looked around.
Linay and Korsk stayed silent, the entire conversation was awkward as hell, more so given it was over a holocall.
Kelia's brother closed his eyes and sighed in exasperation at his sister's blunt stupidity. "Well, there is a legal claim to make Linay an honor spouse. But we also went through this years ago, after your… Consummation…" He coughed dryly, glancing at Linay for a moment. "What changed anyyways?" He asked Kelia.
For her part, Linay didn't seem to notice. Instead, she was deep in thought on the matter.
["Uv… A lot has happened in the past few weeks. And stuff like being shot at by heavy turbolasers tends to make you rethink some things…"] Kelia uttered tiredly.
Korsk glanced over at Linay, seeing the conflict in her eyes.
Two years of bluster had been a lot of just that, bluster.
"Kel I…" She began.
["Don't try to get me to double-think this Linay… I've already doubted myself enough anyways."] Kelia snapped back with more intensity than Korsk had expected from his wife.
"Well... It's as your brother said... I would've thought you'd be a bit more hesitant… Given the past." Korsk interceded nervously. "What happened to change that…?"
["Because I could've died yesterday."] She growled sharply.
The fur of every Bothan in the room fell flat at the almost casual utterance, Korsk whimpering softly at the realization that Kelia could have died without him ever knowing whether she had at least considered forgiving him.
Kelia recognized the distress her outburst had caused and looked down guiltily, fur swirling anxiously on the holo. ["I'm sorry. Let's take it from the top. We're all in agreement that me and Korsk were stupid, right?"]
"Well yeah you were." Linay muttered somewhat.
Korsk roughly elbowed her in annoyance. "Ow! What?! You were!" She yelped.
He shook his head before turning back to the projection, deciding not to cause himself any more stress over this by thinking about it.
Kelia frowned softly. ["So… Let's just… Get married then?"]
Her suggestion was met by dumbfounded expressions.
Uvesk shook his head in exasperation and glanced over at Linay, gesturing her forwards. "You're lucky I'm good at politics and bureaucracy Kel, the legal work I have to do to get this recognized without her clan throwing a fit is immense. Don't make me regret it." He snipped at his sister before turning to Linay. "Linay, Korsk, do you remember the rites?"
"Yes…?" The orange-furred female mumbled unsurely.
Korsk nodded in affirmation, he'd spoken them at his and Kelia's wedding.
Kelia closed her eyes and smiled softly, speaking in unison with Korsk and Linay. "Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde." ["We are one when together, we are one when parted, we will share all, we will raise warriors."]
And that was it.
"Well. Ironically enough Kel that was a more traditional Mandalorian wedding than yours and Korsk's." Uvesk snarked as he rubbed the side of his head.
Kelia ignored her brother's remark and merely smiled at Korsk and Linay, a warm fluttering passing through her fur. ["See you two soon."] She stated happily, the tiredness still lingering in her voice.
"Wait… That's it?" Linay asked, mouth reflecting her surprise.
"The big fancy wedding stuff was for my family's sake more than anything." Korsk admitted with a shrug. "Mandos just make a vow and then put flimsiwork in if outsiders get pissy enough about it, mostly just so they can shove a chain code in their face as needed for legal proof and get them to kriff off. I think a few of the cults in Mandalorian Space do some kind of ritual but those aren't common."
That seemed to both placate and deflate Linay a bit. "Oh…"
Korsk turned back to Kelia's holoprojection. "Okay do we have anything else to do here or should we just…"
Flustered, Kelia nodded. ["Let's just talk when you two get to Manda…"] She told him while sheepishly scratching her neck.
"Right… Talk to you later, love." Korsk smiled, Kelia smiling back as the transmission cut out.
Uv raised an eyebrow at Korsk and Linay. "So… With that out of the way. I guess I am making Uj cake after the Tiingilar today."
The lack of a smug grin on his face was, at the least, reassuring to Korsk and Linay.
"Right…" Korsk began. "So… Uh… How do we explain this to the rest of the family…?"
Uvesk's fur fell flat, for a moment Korsk assumed he hadn't entirely thought this through either. "Well… About that… They heard everything from the security room." He admitted nervously.
Korsk suddenly developed the desire to turn into a dying star and implode upon himself.
o.o.o.o.o
Kelia Los'ean
Joint Base Baobab, Manda
Kelia walked out of the private comms room and looked at Dan'lya. "Everything go alright?" Jural asked as she tilted her head inquisitively.
"Eh, more or less…" Kelia informed her subordinate, falling into lockstep with Jural before wincing at another spike of head pain.
Dan'lya frowned as she watched Kelia. "You sure you don't need more medical aid?"
Kelia rubbed her temple and shrugged. "I dunno, might go over to the base hospital if the painkillers aren't working."
Jural gave her a questioning look as they turned and walked down the hallway. "If you say so ma'am… So... Have you been following the schedule?"
"Jural, we're off duty… You don't need to call me ma'am. Plus, I think you're older than me."
Dan'lya stopped, fur twirling curiously. "How old are you?"
"Twenty… Two, this year." Kelia uttered nonchalantly.
Jural blinked. "Oh… I guess I should've known that from your records…"
Kelia looked over at her aide. "How old are you?"
"Twenty-four." She replied.
She studied Jural for a few moments. "So I was right..."
"Anyways. As I said, have you been following the schedule I set for you?" Jural asked again, starting to grow impatient.
Kelia waved her off. "Yes, I have. Wake up, shower, eat, morning jog, so on."
Rolling her eyes, Jural shook her head at Kelia's nonchalantness. "Well, keep up with it at least. You're doing better than before."
Turning towards the main entrance to the public comm's building, Kelia frowned and then nodded. "Speaking of records… I need you to help me file in another spouse…"
Dan'lya paused and stared incredulously at Kelia, fur bristling outwards. "What?!" She yelped.
Kelia raised her hands placatingly. "Listen, I'll explain everything."
"You'd better, because otherwise I'd have to report to Admiral Zsinj about this…" Jural half-growled. "And, be honest, are you sure your head is working alright? This was admittedly one of the rashest things you've done yet."
Kelia froze. "Now that I think about it… No, I am not. Still… Ah…"
"Ma'am." Jural interrupted.
"Yes Dan'lya?"
"Stop while you're ahead please. Let's just get to the gritty details when we're in the speeder." She sighed. "The last thing we need is the Clones, or anyone else, spreading rumors about you being mentally unfit for duty."
Kelia, fur rippling in embarrassment, nodded in agreement. "Right. So, you wanna get anything spicy?" She asked as they stepped out the door.
Jural stared mutely at Kelia.
She gave Dan'lya a sheepish look. "I'll take that as a no then..."
o.o.o.o.o
Cath Los'ean
Los'morut, Los'shtarn, Krant
Korsk coughed violently as he and Linay finished off the last of their Tiingilar stew, tears flowing from his eyes and mucus running from his nostrils.
They were not the only ones though. Burukt likewise looked miserable, as did everyone at the table without Aean genetics.
Cath, Uvesk, and Nelir, seemed mostly fine by comparison, even if their noses were running fiercely.
"In hindsight… Tiingilar is a bad punishment if everyone else is going to eat it too…" Burukt coughed as he slowly took a drink of spiced caf.
Over twenty years and he still could not handle the stuff as well as his wife.
Frowning, Cath silently agreed with her husband as she lowered her glass of ale.
Nelir snorted audibly. "Should've had them drink Kri'gee Bu'buir." She pointed out with a light laugh.
Linay, raising a hand after drinking too much water too fast to try and soothe her throat and nostrils, excused herself from the room.
Watching her leave, Cath merely shook her head and stood up from her seat at her end of the long table before following Linay out.
o.o.o.o.o
Linay Los'ean
Los'morut, Los'shtarn, Krant
Cath found Linay vomiting profusely into a toilet in the closest refresher she could find.
Standing in the doorway, the older Bothan frowned as she heard Linay wretch again.
After the second heave, she gave up waiting and walked inside to help her.
Kneeling next to the younger Bothan, Cath held her mane back and raised an eyebrow as she noticed Linay's striping for the first time.
Teary-eyed, Linay glanced up at her new mother in law, fur flat against her skin. "Drink too much water at once to try and cool the heat? Burukt made that mistake the first time he ever had Tiingilar." Cath quietly told her.
"Fogot… Spishy…" She groaned before dry heaving, hacking and coughing after nothing came up.
Cath shook her head. "Easy, if you're going to be my daughter in law then you need to be stronger than that."
The surprised rippling in Linay's fur caused Cath to chuckle. "Did you actually think I hated you?" She admitted.
Linay sighed. "Yeah..." She rasped, throat still burning from the food and vomiting. "Should've expected that I'd assume the wrong thing. Guess I'm just a terrible SpyNet agent."
"You're young, eager to impress… I was like that when I was with the True Mandalorians. Before Galidraan." Cath said softly.
Linay wondered for a moment why Cath was telling her this.
She thought that maybe it was the regrets of a woman who had spent a decade away from her family and was looking back at her life through a fine microscope, wondering what she could've done differently.
Or it was because she was drunk.
Linay sat down against the wall, Cath reclining next to her.
Looking over at the shorter Bothan, Cath smirked and took another drink. "Some of it was worth it, some of it wasn't. Oh kriff, that hit the spot." She sighed softly.
"What did you even do?" Linay inquired, curious as to her new mother in law's past.
Cath grinned tipsily at her. "I killed, all there was to it, mostly those stupid Kyr..." She paused as she realized Linay's fluency with Mando'a was about the same as that of a brick and continued while accounting for that. "Er... Death Watch chakaar or anyone else I saw fit to take a job on. Was stuck in orbit on sensor console duty aboard our cruiser when Galidraan went down. We barely got outsystem when a pair of full-on Procursator battlecruisers from Lianna showed up to deploy the Jedi and Judicials." She remarked as she took another swig. "Lost a lot of friends that day because the kriffing Jetii and Judicials were too dumb to realize they'd been duped by the Governor until well after the last bodies hit the snow."
Cath paused before taking another swig from her flask. "What a waste on all sides." She grumbled ruefully.
Linay's fur fell flat, that hadn't been a subject she'd wanted to bring up. "I'm sorry…"
Cath waved her off. "Everyone responsible for arranging that fiasco is dead. Jango made sure of it." She assured Linay, a wistful look appearing in her eyes. "And now, so is he… Di'kut, Kal, Llats and I all told him his over-reliance on jetpacks would be the death of him someday."
Wiping a bit of vomit from her mouth, whiskers quivering as she brushed her hand over them, Linay nodded at Cath. "I'm not sure you should be telling me this though… I am a SpyNet agent after all."
"Puh-lease… We both know that SpyNet's military usefulness goes as far as assassination and that's it. Besides, this is old news. If that's not on my profile then someone there isn't doing their kriffing job." Cath laughed aloud.
Mollified, Linay relaxed, even if she felt mildly insulted.
Still, she didn't disagree with Cath at all. SpyNet Martial had never really been activated to gather actual military intelligence. Hadn't been since its inception.
Instead it was mostly pissing about doing random shtak or performing assassinations on anyone who earned a place on some highly placed Grum's hit list or something. Not doing proper threat assessments like it should be.
"Yeah, you're right." She conceded, shoulders slumping.
"Of course I am." Cath uttered simply before running a hand through Linay's mane. "You're a nice one… And I hope you make her happy…" She took another swig of her alcohol. "Because ya kriffed her on her wedding night… So you're gonna live with being her Ijaa'ridurr."
Cath then wrapped an arm around Linay and leaned in to whisper drunkenly into the latter's ear. "But, let me warn you this once… You hurt my Kel'ika and I'll kriffing gut what's left of you and feed it to the strills."
Linay laughed nervously as her fur fell flat, easily smelling the alcohol on her mother-in-law's mouth and more than aware Cath had the skills to back up such a threat. "Don't need to worry about that…"
"Cath." A voice uttered from next to them, causing the drunken head of House Los'ean to look up.
Ginir stood over the two, sniffing the air and then recoiling at the scent of Cath's breath. "For the love of… Cath you're a complete mess. Your son even made Uj cake to celebrate enlarging the family and you go and get shtakfaced drunk."
"Lemme drown my sorrows hon…" Cath belched. "Don't feel like I deserve to be in their lives for being such a failure of a mother…"
"Oh for Kriff's sake… Linay, dear, please go back to table with your husband and the rest of the family." Ginir instructed. "I'll be dealing with Cath."
"Is this normal…?" Linay whispered after standing up.
The black-furred Askar female exhaled. "You'd be surprised as how self-deprecatory she gets whenever her ego gets cracked, it's something we've all long realized that Kelia inherited from her. Regardless, go introduce yourself properly. Preferably not as a degenerate."
Fiery orange fur swirling anxiously, Linay nodded at Ginir while she knelt next to Cath and began speaking to her.
Out of the corner of her eye, Linay caught Ginir giving Cath a hug and gently rubbing her back as she quietly sobbed, picking her up and telling her that they'd go see someone called Mish'ika to try and make her feel better.
Deciding not to linger, she took another step around the corner and back into the main dining hall, where most of the family was busy taking the piss out of Korsk, much to his chagrin.
She promptly sat down and joined in, prompting Korsk to begin directing attention back at her, which the rest of House Los'ean joined in on.
Surprisingly, they did not seem to hold much actual ill will towards him or herself.
Deep in her gut, Linay knew her new mother in law's recent return had something to do with that.
After a few minutes of carousing, a loud electronic shriek, followed by the crash of metal on something which was in turn accompanied by predictable shaking, caused almost the entire dining hall to spring to their feet as a large number of some kind of animal bayed loudly.
Burukt, still sitting, simply raised a hand as the sound of ion turbines roaring became audible. "I do believe that Mish'ika just saw Cath." He said plainly.
Korsk and Linay looked at eachother and mouthed 'Mish'ika?', both trying to see if the other knew what was happening.
o.o.o.o.o
As it turned out, Cath had been nearly flatted by the most hyperactive Basilisk War droid that Linay and Korsk had ever seen, not that either had seen many. The metal death machine nuzzling her intensely as it rumbled and hummed wildly, metal 'tail' repeatedly striking the ground in its excitement as its tried to grab her with its foreleg claws while airbrake and control surface panels flared out in excitement.
In the process of getting to her, it had practically torn its stall gate open and flung it across the way, a few other Basilisk's vrumming angrily in response to being disturbed by the impact and general commotion.
Even from the main gate, Linay could see denting on numerous parts of the building and several obviously claw marks. Clearly signs of the droid not caring about its surroundings in its mad scramble to get to its master.
"Udesii Mish'ika! Udesii!" ["Calm down Little Mish! Calm down!"] Cath laughed drunkenly as her war droid nuzzled her with the light turbolaser barrel sticking out of its snout, Cath rubbing and patting the cannon like one would a beloved pet's head.
Even considering fact that was a gun which could atomize any individual present with a near-miss, beskar or no, Linay thought it was endearing.
"At least you didn't run into the strills yet. You'd stink for weeks by the time they were done crawling all over you." Burukt laughed as Mish'ika thrummed happily after clambering backwards to allow Cath to be helped to her feet. "Ten years is a long time, love. Even for war droids and strills."
Nodding sadly, Cath patted the Basilisk on the foreleg.
Calming down, Mish'ika relaxed and then allowed her to lead it back into its stall, Cath making intoxicated babying noises at it as the group carefully maneuvered the droid.
Watching the entire thing, Linay briefly wondered what had kept Cath away for so long.
What could be so important as to take her away from all this?
o.o.o.o.o
?
Silber Continent, Krant
An almost silent whisper filled the air as a lone black shape dropped from the darkening sky over the rainbow colored forests of Krant.
To a casual observer, it would have resembled an LAAT gunship.
Which would have been accurate because it was an LAAT, a stealth model to be precise.
The angular stealth gunship quietly drifted to the surface and opened its side doors once below the treeline, hovering almost silently on its repulsorlifts.
As it did so, the pilots and crew, clad in stealth coated special ops armor, kept a careful lookout for any pop-up threats on both their visual scans and sensors as the passengers readied themselves to disembark.
A gunner gave a thumbs up to the white and teal armored Clone standing next to his fold-out heavy repeating blaster mount after completing his visual scan.
The other human nodded and turned his helmet to nod again at the white and maroon armored Clone across from him.
["Rolke Squad, Rider Squad, you're clear for drop. Keep your heads on a swivel out there Commandos."] The gunship's stealth-geared pilot uttered over comms, snug and secure in the rear seat of the gunship's twin-place cockpit.
["Copy that Hocus. Alright Commandos, let's hit the deck and get moving. Our intel reports suggest SpyNet also has agents in the area, let's not give them anything to look at besides the Seps. Rolke will take the North side; Rider will take the South."] The teal trimmed Commando instructed before leaping out the side of the gunship and riding a line down.
With utterances of their own, the rest of Rolke squad, a sniper, a medic, and a demo expert, followed their leader.
Shaking his head, a blue and silver-armored Commando turned his head towards his squad.
Another green visor met his as Rider Squad's maroon and silver-trimmed lead raised a hand. ["Rider Squad, disembark."]
["Roger that. Rider One-Four, descending."] A black and silver armored sniper with a red visor muttered before dropping out the side.
Next went a green and gold armored Clone with a pinkish visor and a PLX-1 rocket launcher slung over his back. ["Rider Three-Three, dropping in!"]
Shaking his head at his subordinate's overeagerness, the squad lead patted the blue-and silver Commando on the shoulder.
"Listen, Blade. Keep an eye on him." He ordered. "We're lucky we came out of Geonosis intact, and Leangle's getting too eager for his own good, or my comfort. Chalice and you I can trust, but him… Shtak, he's gonna get someone killed if we don't reign him in."
"Roger that Four-Eight." Rider Four-Nine, Blade, uttered over his helmet's vocoder before rappelling out of the gunship, followed by Rider Four-Eight, Garren.
With the lines disconnected and now retracting, the gunship crew carefully dropped several supply kits from the rear ramp and then closed all exterior panels.
In such low light conditions, the clones on the ground were barely able to make out the outlines of the stealth pilots through the gold-tinted canopies of the gunship's cockpits.
Silently, the eight commandos watched their dropship ascend before flying off, the craft almost like a whisper on the wind as it ascended into orbit.
Turning to his unit, Garren gestured for them to form up while Rolke Lead did the same for his own squad.
["Rider Squad, form up."] He ordered as he switched to squad comms, his men following the instruction quickly and without hesitation.
As the day faded, the Clone Commandos went to work.
o.o.o.o.o