Chapter 13: The Eye of the Storm
[Brace yourself, we are about to experience heavy turbulence.] Stent shouted over the comm as the clawcraft finished descending and was thrown off course by a powerful electromagnetic storm.
The gas giant's atmosphere showed a wide range of active phenomena, including band instabilities, vortices, storms and lightning, hundreds of times more powerful than those seen on terrestrial-type planets.
"A TIE Fighter would have been ripped apart by now." Parck muttered under his breath as unreadable Cheunh ideograms popped up on the screen in warning. At times, ignorance was a bliss.
[As you can see, the clawcraft is clearly superior to a TIE Fighter.] Stent said in a tone which suggested it should have been obvious.
"I hope I'll live to tell the tale." Parck grunted. "I'm sure Niriz would love to hear it."
[You will.] Stent's attempt at reassurance failed miserably. [And I can happily provide Captain Dagon Niriz with the flight recorder if he is interested in specifics.]
"Oh, definitely." Parck murmured. The good old captain would never, ever let him live it down. Niriz would laugh right in Parck's face.
During his next side trip to the Galactic Empire, Thrawn had better come back with a TIE Fighter Corps General with an attitude cocky enough to rival the one of said Chiss. And who would beat the crap out of Stent in a holo-sim in such a spectacular fashion that the rogue warrior would be left with no choice but to acknowledge defeat and beg the ace pilot to teach him.
Sadly, such individuals were hard to come by.
"Can you take us into the eye of the storm?" Parck pleaded. "I think my stomach is being wobbly again."
Not really but he didn't dare to push the heavy fighter to its limits.
[As you wish.]
Parck released a sigh in relief as they flew into an oasis of calm. Even the computer stopped protesting, the warning ideograms disappearing one by one.
[The planet was supposed to be uninhabited.] Stent said in confusion, forwarding sensor readings from his screen to Parck's. The clawcraft detected an installation in the relative safety of the oasis. It moved in accordance with the storm, which suggested it was built by a race who had access to highly advanced technology.
The Admonitor's task was to seek out such civilizations and annihilate them if they posed a threat to the Galactic Empire or to the Chiss Ascendancy.
"Any life signs?" Parck asked.
[No life readings.] Stent replied, forwarding him the data. He tuned into the long range comm frequency.
[Syndic Mitth'raw'nuruodo, Kres'ten'tarthi speaking. Syndic Mitth'raw'nuruodo, please respond.]
At least the pale blue wonder had the common sense to call in before he headed straight into the unknown.
[Yes, ...'ten'tarthi?] Came in Thrawn's smooth voice over the heavy interference.
[Syndic Mitth'raw'nuruodo, there appears to be an abandoned alien installation located in the gas giant's upper atmosphere. Requesting permission to investigate whether it poses a threat to the Chiss. Transmitting the data now.]
For a moment they could hear only faint static.
[Intersti… Appears that … no weapons … or life signs. The architecture … carries signs of … could be … Call in the … Phalanx … Squadron. Proceed with caution. …'nuruodo out.]
[Renegade Squadron, this is Kres'ten'tarthi. Second, do you copy?] Stent called for reinforcements.
[I copy, … First.] A Chiss warrior woman answered. It must have been Prard'aif'ineiro, aka Sub-Commander Daifi, Stent's second-in-command.
Stent repeated the exchange, ordering her to assemble the Renegade Squadron and meet him at their present coordinates.
[There is an EVA suit placed under your seat. It might be a tight fit but it should serve its purpose. I am not leaving our survival to chance.] Stent informed Parck. The chair creaked as Stent moved in his seat and proceeded to remove his intra-vehicular flight uniform, putting on a much thicker garment used for work in the harsh environment of outer space, vacuum and temperature extremes.
In theory, a pilot's IVA suit should be sufficient for a simple reconnaissance mission on a terrestial-type planet. However, they were located in the upper atmosphere of a gas giant, inhospitable by human and Chiss standards, so donning an EVA suit was a reasonable precaution.
"You didn't mention my presence," Parck reminded him as he secured the helmet firmly in place. Its internal HUD system was designed for a Chiss eye, therefore the colors were off and the low-contrast Cheunh font was barely readable. Still better than a naked eye, Parck supposed.
[Since you are already here, there is little point in sending you away. Stay out of danger and observe the Renegades in action.]
"I guess that means the Grand Admiral wouldn't approve?" Parck stated the obvious.
[Most likely. And neither would Prard'aif'ineiro.] Stent said with a small sigh.
"Oh?"
[If you think of my behavior towards you as disdainful, then be glad you didn't need to deal with my second-in-command. She thinks of you as nothing but drooling, sexual impulse driven predatory beats.]
Parck winced. "She must have overheard the barracks language."
[The Chiss possess keener hearing. Nevertheless, she believes that a significant portion of the sounds and remarks was meant to be heard.]
"That's … entirely possible, to be honest." Parck conceded.
[I find it curious that Members of the Galactic Empire are not allowed to make advances towards the same sex but they can openly harass the opposite sex. At least as far as human males are concerned. I haven't noticed such behavior from human females. The ones who expressed an interest in male warriors did so very discreetly.]
Parck paused donning on the gloves. "There were female soldiers or scientists aboard who asked a Chiss out? How did that go?"
Stent let out an amused sound. [To the best of my knowledge there were several warriors who responded favorably. Whatever impression the Chiss males left remains unclear. Given the considerable language barrier there was little to no conversation involved before, during or after their mating sessions.]
Parck openly laughed. "Well, I'll be damned. At least the women had the common sense to remain discreet. If the men found out that aliens kriffed their female colleagues, all the Nine Hells of Corellia would break loose."
Stent blinked. [I don't follow.]
"Patriarchal human cultures across the Galaxy, which the Galactic Empire technically is considering its disproportional male-to-female service members ratio, have an issue when a woman of their clan has sex with a man of another clan. Human or alien. Because it's the women who bear the name of the husband. And his children. Now, there are equal and even matriarchal human cultures like Kuati who don't share such views but…"
Parck made a vague hand gesture.
[I still don't follow. I suppose it is another matter which needs to be brought to Syndic Mitth'raw'nuruodo's attention...]
"Perhaps," Parck capitulated, using Thrawn's favorite Basic word. "Never mind, looks like the Renegades are here."
TO BE CONTINUED
I've spent hours trying to find the official name of the squadron Stent had belonged to, until I eventually gave up and came up with the Renegades. Then, ofc, I finally found it... Gray Squadron. However, since this is still set before General Fel's arrival, I decided to keep the Renegades because I like the name :-P
And in any case, there would be multiple squadrons under Stent's command... The Renegades may belong to Daifi ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ An original Chiss warrior woman character who will make her debut in the next chapter. A relative of Prard'ras'kleoni.
EDIT: A bonus because I couldn't resist :-P Oh, the things going on aboard the Admonitor behind Niriz's back...
Korlm had very little experience with humans.
Like the rest of the Chiss warriors, he ventured into the areas inhabited by humans only when the duty demanded it.
Since his presence was no longer required, Korlm was about to take the turbolift and return back to the Chiss level. As he pressed the button at the side of the door and waited for the elevator to reach the platform, he was approached by a human female who presumably wanted to use the elevator as well.
Korlm paid little attention to the woman, stepping into the turbolift as soon as the door opened.
The human female followed him.
Korlm entered the aurabesh code for the Chiss level. However, to his surprise, the human female entered none. Instead, she opened her mouth and said something in Galactic Basic, which, unfortunately, Korlm couldn't understand.
Was she headed to the Chiss level? She must have, otherwise she would have entered a different destination. What a coincidence.
Korlm shook his head, a gesture which humans shared with the Chiss. He tried his best to recall the proper words. "No speak. Sorry," he tried.
The human female hit the STOP button. Again, she opened her mouth and said something, much slower this time.
Obviously, she wanted his help, otherwise she wouldn't be talking to him. Perhaps she was unfamiliar with the Chiss level layout? Yes, that must have been the case.
And she seemed oddly familiar. Korlm could have sworn that he had seen her a couple of times but he could have been wrong. The humans looked the same to him. He could tell them apart only thanks to the differences in their hair color and skin tone.
She had pale skin, short fair hair, and deep blue eyes. Pretty common. Could have been anyone.
She pointed at his waist, or more precisely, at his charric. Then she made a hand gesture which reminded him of a gun and made a series of noises, presumably mimicking the sound of a gunshot.
Oh.
She was interested in his charric.
Korlm moved his head up and down, happy that he finally got the message. Nod was another gesture which the Chiss shared with humans.
The human female grinned which took him completely by surprise. Humans expressed their emotions so freely. No Chiss would have ever smiled so broadly in front of a complete stranger.
She kept babbling in Galactic Basic until she finally pointed at the control panel, keying in the aurabesh code for the ship's armory.
Oh. She wanted a demonstration.
Korlm decided to oblige the strange human who approached him on her own. He was finished with his task and there was nothing awaiting him in his quarters. If nothing else, it could be a welcome distraction from boredom.
He followed her to the armory which was completely deserted since it was the middle of the human night cycle.
She took him into one of the practice rooms and locked the door behind them, babbling on and on in Galactic Basic, muttering something about being hot in there. Yes, the temperature in the room was certainly high by the Chiss standards. And her body warmth was strangely increased.
He moved his head up and down in agreement.
She took off the jacket of her uniform and walked towards the practice range, motioning him to join her. He obliged her and even took out his charric, allowing her to examine the weapon.
She inspected the weapon but to his surprise she didn't even try to fire a single shot at the target. Instead she leaned in and attempted to place the weapon back into his holster.
Korlm froze.
Did humans have no concept of personal space? Strange. He would have assumed otherwise. They even separated their bathing facilities by gender, which made little sense to him, especially since there were only a few human female soldiers and scientists aboard.
However, it would have been unfortunate had he unintentionally caused the weapon to misfire. Therefore, he made no attempt to stop her. He firmly stood his ground as she cautiously placed the weapon back into the holster.
And then she did the most unexpected thing. She proceeded to remove her black undershirt, lifting it up, revealing matching black underwear underneath, until finally she pulled it slowly over her head and threw it away, letting it fall to the floor.
Korlm blinked. She couldn't have been that hot, no, it must have been something else. He ran his glowing eyes over her body, taking into account the elevated heartbeat, the changes in her breathing, the shift in her body warmth distribution, and the sudden flush which seemed extreme to his Chiss eyes, as if she had been suffering from high fever.
Only it wasn't a fever. It had to be the human version of arousal. The Chiss displayed similar signs although they were far more subtle.
Hesitantly, his glowing eyes met hers. Her fair skin tone seemed unnatural to him, so very different from the shades of blue he had been used to. Yet her body shape and her physique were the same of an attractive Chiss woman.
Well… if the human female was interested in recreation, he would gladly oblige her. It was the middle of the human night cycle, therefore the probability that they would get interrupted was low. The doors were locked from the inside. And the shooting range, just like the shooting range located at the Chiss level, was completely soundproof.
THE END
You go, girl! And Korlm is so cute. No wonder she took liking to him. I think he will be able to recognize her from now on :-D