This story is a tie-in resp. a continuation of the novel "Outbound Flight" by Timothy Zahn (2006). Still, no knowledge is required to understand this story of mine. The timeline starts 27 BYC and stretches until 26 ABY, in which Zahn's novel "Survivor's Quest" (2004) is set. This story will serve as a tie-together between these two novels, together with many other known faces from TCW and the PT and OT.
The Daughter of the Miskara – A Vagaari Fanfiction
… once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away …
In the year 27 before the battle of Yavin, Outbound Flight Project, led by Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth, is on its way to the Unknown Regions of the galaxy, to explore new worlds even beyond the known galaxy. C'baoth's quest is interrupted by the young Chiss-Commander Thrawn from the Expansionary Defense Fleet of the Chiss, who doesn't wish the six combined Dreadnoughts to cross the Chiss area. Near both parties the space nomads called Vagaari are roaming around, to plunder and to enslave those worlds not armored and strong enough to withstand their ruthless power – also an issue keeping Thrawn busy. The day is near, when the events are becoming that severe, that an explosion of all those contradictions will become inevitable.
1. The Meiloorun
The little Geroon girl grinded herself in fear against the legs of her mother, as the humming of a glider was heard. The mother looked into the brown eyes of her child, which with its six years was just seventy standard centimeters high.
"Do they come again?", the little one asked her mother.
"I don't know", the mother replied clueless. "Perhaps they fly to the neighbor village."
She gave her daughter a cookie and looked at the potential customers, which today on the local weekly market would buy fruits of vegetables at her stand – or not. Since the planet of Geroon was under occupation, Elis took only the most important goods towards the market for sale. Rather she would send her older son after field work to the magazine for further supply, but to risk that the literally fruits of her labor would fell prey to people who didn't deserve it.
The humming became louder. The girl perched instinctively on the ground and rose her widened brown eyes to the blue sky, which was sliced by the fast incoming glider in sinking mode. The vessel was long and from dirty-yellow color, perhaps three standard meters long and one meter twenty broad. Normally six, maybe eight persons of the species, which it was made for, would have enough space - the latter case only, when in the last two seat rows each would sit three of the foreigners. But this glider with twelve persons aboard was more than good loaded.
The nose of the glider was covered with a big mask, which was painted with green and gold patterns. The middle of the vessel was spanned over by a kind of thin baldachin, from where various kinds of tassels were hanging, shivering in the flight wind. Under that baldachin, a soldier of the occupation forces was sitting, whose status as bride groom was just to be noticed by the red and green striped toga with a zig-zag hem, which he wore loosely above his simple, functional uniform. He might have just reached the age of majority of his species, his bride next to him was even younger. The young girl wore a bright red wedding dress, which was shoulder free. Her brown neck was adorned with a necklace of big red stones. On her oval head sat a golden tiara with a higher front part and lower side parts. Under this diadem an also red, translucent veil was pouring out, on which the bride sat partly, while the other part just flew in the wind out of the glider. The most significant feature of the bride though was her big pregnancy-swollen belly.
In the front row next to the pilot sat densely squeezed three children, not even teenagers. On the last row were two adults, apparently friends of the newlywed couple, having four other children on their lab or sitting beside them.
"No!", the older Geroon coughed, who had his bakery stand next to mother and daughter. "This is the third Vagaari-marriage today here on town! Can't they do anything else than shagging and plundering?"
The glider had reached the market place and circled it in one round. One could hear the music of the occupants, coming out of the tone-console turned up to the full. The sound of the complicated rhythm patterns did tear off the slow silence of the market place, where usually some stapling noises and the low-voice chatting of the native Geroons where the only things to be heard.
"What is the wish of my beloved one?", the bride groom asked his bride.
"A Prishti fruit maybe?", the bride said undecided, "or perhaps rather a Meiloorun?"
His lavender eyes met the same colored ones of the bride. "Why not both?"
She nodded and snuggled her head on his shoulder.
"Torch, go down just on this fruit stand!", the bride groom shouted over the loud music forward to the pilot.
The glider chased down and this in a speed, the wandering around Geroons did not expect. They hurried away, to leave the space for the newly arrived. The bride groom jumped over the closed door of the glider outwards and stepped towards the fruit stand. The gaze of the Vagaari examined the presented goods, then he pulled out a bag and stuffed some Prishti fruits into it.
"No Meilooruns?", he asked in his language.
The vendor of the fruits did at least understand the word for the good, he was asking for.
"No, I'm sorry", she replied.
"But it's season", the customer threatened.
"Still we don't have any Meilooruns", the mother repeated. "Those your people did take them away just one hour ago."
The Vagaari stepped directly in front of her, hulking over the woman, who's height was just until his chest. "You dare to be insolent, huh?"
The daughter of the sales woman had hided under the vendor's desk, just squeezing herself on the ankles of her mother.
"We don't have any Meilooruns, I'm sorry", the mother said in a formal way, while in front of her stand the glider of the marriage group was humming dangerously.
A yellow fruit caught the attention of the bride groom. "Is that one sweet?", he asked.
"No, rather sour", the sales woman replied.
From the glider, the bride shouted something to her bride groom.
"Then put some of those Trullis into the bag!", he complied to the request of his beloved one. "But only the very dark ones!"
Hastily the sales woman shoved the fruits into the bag up to the brim.
The young Vagaari smiled with both mouths. "Right so. Have a pleasant day."
"And not paying – so typically!", a Geroon did mutter lowly from the side in the business language Minnisiat.
The Vagaari turned abruptly. "Hey, I've heard that!"
He grabbed the Geroon on his shoulders and lifted him up as if he wouldn't have any weight. "You want me to pay, do you?"
The man's legs fidgeted left and right in the air. He didn't say anything, but he nodded. The soldier let him down again and spanked his left cheek heavily with his in comparison to the rest of his body large hand. The head of the slain flung into the direction, in which the paw of the Vagaari had directed it, before it went straight again. Red lines appeared on the yellowish-rose skin of his cheek. Brown eyes met lilac ones, which peered down on the prey, then the Geroon turned slowly for leaving. A strong kick into his butt let the much smaller Geroon go to the ground, while the surrounding people did follow the events silently without interfering.
"You too want me to pay?", the Vagaari soldier sneered into the round of spectators. "Well, I will pay you something – the grace of our Miskara!"
He jumped back into the glider to his bride and gave her the bag. She grabbed inside, put out a Prishti fruit and bit inside full-heartedly.
"No Meilooruns?", two red-painted pair of lips pouted.
"No, those stingy chandlers are keeping them for themselves", her bride groom hissed. "And now, my dear, so tell me what you want now."
The bride sat up tall as much her swollen belly allowed it. "I want the conditions on this market place to be made dance", she said with a smile with both her mouths, so that one could spot all four of her double rows of teeth.
"You've heard her, Torch! So give tinder!"
The glider rose up again. That time it flew so deep above the market place, that the roofs of some stands were teared away. Some people started to scream, to run around, but most stayed, just where they were.
"I want to go home!", the daughter whined on the fruits and vegetables stand of her mother, while the overneath passing by Vagaari children cajoled loudly, when their glider took a very lean curve, which brought the vessel near capsizing.
A second, even deeper round broomed away the bakery stand. The fruit stand was only scraped, but this was enough to let fall down many fruits to the ground, while the mother hurried to snatch it from the street. A third round hit a staple of barrels, which rolled through a meat stand, to bury it underneath, before the barrels rolled on the street finally. A shot from the blaster of the bride groom incinerated a high sting flame from one of the barrels.
"Cool", the bride twittered, while she ate with her other mouth from the Prishti fruit, grinding against her beloved one.
The boisterous wedding society watched, how the Geroons underneath splashed apart, to bring water for snuffing out the flames, which had reached a stand of sweets.
A fourth round, in which the Vagaari drove through the crowd of voluntary firemen, let them flee to all sides or they just hit the ground. Other Geroons rolled barrels away, in order to thwart any grip of the flames onto them.
A fifth round led the wedding society directly though the flames, to demonstrate the Geroons down there the fire-resistance of the material of their vessel. The Vagaari children screeched, when the glider shot through the high sting flame.
"I would say, it's enough", the bride groom said to his young bride, while he caught her on the edges burning veil with his hands, ripped off the burning part and threw it down on the watching Geroon crowd.
She nodded and smiled blissfully. "In my state one should not exaggerate at all."
The bride groom went behind. "Kaltosh, do you have fire drink?"
Kaltosh passed a brown bottle ahead. The bride groom took one gulp, then he passed the bottle to his bride.
"That stuff has forty percent. Is that okay in pregnancy?", Torch asked behind to the bride.
"I'm in the seventh month already, and thus the development of the child is finished", she replied with left, while her right mouth took some gulps.
"My Kasha is a tough one!", the bride groom bragged, while his bride passed the half empty bottle forward to the pilot, before she snuggled onto his shoulder again.
The glider rose up sharply and in not even half a standard minute the Vagaari, for the Geroons on the market were out of reach and of hearing.
"Are they gone?", the girl asked her mother with shivering voice.
"Yes, Hana, they are. You can come out."
Slowly the girl crawled out from under the desk of the stand. The mother held a box in her direction and opened it. "Do you like perhaps some slices of Meiloorun?"
"Yes, very much", Hana said and grabbed one slice full-heartedly, while the Geroons next to the destroyed stands did spend spontaneous applause.