Chapter I

Crew Quarters, Wild Nomad, Garage 1138, Erkot Station

It wasn't clear how much time had passed since he had woken up. One thing was certain; slaking his thirst with water did not guarantee his return to sleep. Nor did reading.

Oddly, he didn't really feel that tired; his mind was an active one, and only in dangerous situations, conversing with others–in other words, risky situations–or indulging in an activity he enjoyed was he truly able to completely focus his mind on the world. Otherwise, his thoughts would fill his consciousness, his mind would speculate and ruminate, he would barely focus on the outside world. Needless to say, he was restless.

Recently, insomnia had affected all of the organic crewmembers of the Wild Nomad to varying extents. They all had much to think about; the last two months had been the most eventful of their lives; he was on the run, with few friends, one beat-up gunship, and a promise to find something...or someone.

The galaxy had been saved by no more, many times in the past.

He decided to check his room's chrono.

It was 0627, Galactic Standard Time. In Erkot, an outpost built into the oceanic moon of Eqalz, that meant nothing; the perpetual gloom held back by artificial lighting was always there. People were wandering around Erkot Starport, searching for less than reputable work. Below them, all that would change were the shifts of the workers who spent their days exploring the ocean for the minerals needed to forge songsteel: a lightweight yet resilient alloy. He had been up for the better part of an hour.

Riko Nai-Jal decided that he had gotten enough sleep, he would probably take a nap or go to his bunk earlier in the day.

The skinny, wiry boy rubbed his green eyes, quickly brushed his short black hair with his tan-brown hand, then eased out of the blanket that, while warm, was a little rough in texture. He sat on the bed's edge, attempting to stretch his legs in the cramped space in a semi-successful attempt to dispel any lingering vestiges of fatigue. Riko opened the small drawer built into the opposite wall of the small room, and pulled on a pair of pants. The fourteen year-old's shirt, which he had kept on from the previous day, felt a little cloying against his skin, but he would change it and shower after his training.
Socks, boots, hooded jacket, padded vest, and his belt and backpack. He quickly finished by putting on his goggles and worn synthleather helmet over his head.

Riko wanted to simulate how he would probably be dressed in the middle of a genuine fight; fully dressed with gear. He had decided not to strip some of the extraneous layers simply for ease.

There was just one missing element. An opponent.

"Niner, wake up," Riko whispered.

From the rear of the tiny room, past Riko's bunk, came the whirring of servos, the whiiiiiine of a droid's startup sequence.

A small, patchwork, snow-white droid with a miniaturized tool case built into his thin rectangular chest, a jetpack on his back, a wheel from a mountain treader instead of legs, long, skinny arms, and an oversized, elliptical head with two giant green eyes and a small vocabulator, 9R-0–more commonly known as Niner–tilted his head in what Riko now interpreted as curiosity.

"What is you doing...?" Niner whispered in a variation of his childlike high-pitched voice that, had he not been a droid, would have implied fatigue. He had downloaded that subroutine of his own volition...he liked that most life-forms slept, and so he sought to mimic some of the effects of fatigue, depending on the hours and his level of charge.

"Thought we'd get a little practice in," Riko explained as he stretched his arms outward, "I couldn't get back to sleep."

"Yay!" Niner said, before issuing an electronic whirrr that vaguely sounded like yawning, "I'm up!"

"Can you be quiet?" Riko asked.

"Okay. Moving voice down…." Niner's voice decreased in volume as he said this, reminding Riko of the volume setting on a holoplayer.

"Here," Riko took his second lightsaber and placed it within the droid's chest cavity. While his belt was capable of carrying both weapons simultaneously, he didn't want to proudly display his affiliation as a Jedi wherever he went. He had decided to rely on the droids–Artoo, Emdee or Niner–to hold his weapon and keep them in a place where he could readily summon them.

The ship didn't possess any training droids like those at the temple, but Niner was competent with the stun blaster built into his forearm, and eager to help his older brother out with his Jedi training.

"Ok, come on," Riko said, smiling. Niner disconnected his charging port before he automatically stated, "Battery at eighty-three-percent."
"So, good to go," Riko summarized.

"Yeah! Whirrrrrr…" Niner 'yawned' again, moving his arms outward in a crude yet weirdly adorable reflection of stretching. Riko believed that phrase summed up pretty much everything about the little droid's design.

The Wild Nomad, a Mark V Samsa class transport-turned-gunship, was twenty-four meters in length, and nearly as wide. Its interior consisted of one hallway built into the vessel's center, with the cockpit at one end and the engine room at the other. In between them lay two cargo bays—one of which had been converted into a medical bay—a galley, crew quarters, refresher, the airlock, and a docking berth which had, until recently, held the Wild Nomad's auxiliary craft, the Vagrant. The vessel's strong superstructure and prominent bulkheads were always a welcome sight for Riko.

Riko and Niner made their way down the hall to the cargo bay and took care to seal the room's large door, hoping to avoid waking anybody else.

This room had practically become Riko's personal workspace in the last forty-six days. It wasn't large, probably eight meters long, but it could still store a lot in the cupboards built into the wall, which were currently filled with spare parts, wiring, a small set of crystals, whatever fit. The clustered room featured a small workbench, a couple of crates, and a small speeder bike.

"Breet vree de?"

"Woah!" Riko stepped back and almost reached for his belt. Though startled, he quickly recognized R2-D2's distinctive dome and eye.

The adrenaline fading from his bloodstream, he almost grinned upon seeing his new friend and ad-hoc assistant teacher.

"Of course I'm up for it, Artoo."

"Deet bree weo!"

Riko's master, Bao-Sklar Pierce, was still recovering from his injuries, limiting the role he could play in Riko's training. Artoo had served the Jedi Order for hundreds of years, and his memory banks contained records of many of their greatest feats. He was kind of like a holocron: memories of the Jedi long past being preserved to educate disciples of the present.

"So, what were you thinking of teaching me today?" Riko asked, sitting down.

Artoo responded by activating his holoprojector. Though Artoo's projectors were definitely out of date, Riko could still make out a skiff with an extended platform. A man stood on it, guards pressing him forward.

Riko knew who this was, and what was about to happen.

As Luke Skywalker flipped and grabbed a lightsaber out of the air, Riko sat down, quickly figuring out what they were going to do.

"Niner, is it okay if you give me the lightsaber?" Riko asked.

"Okay…" the little droid shuffled over, his head lowered, and removed the lightsaber from his cargo compartment. To Riko, he seemed...disappointed.

As excited as Niner was to be helping out and seeing action, Riko still wanted to make sure the little droid was safe. Artoo, on the other hand, had centuries of experience in the field.

Riko took both his sabers and said, "It's okay Niner. You can still practice. See if you can hit me. Set your blaster to sting."

"Okay," Niner remarked, "Sting."

Artoo opened a hatch in his frame. Riko placed both sabers within it.

Only one thing was missing.

After removing his goggles, Riko rummaged through his backpack and retrieved a blindfold. He had attempted similar exercises at the Temple, but then, he had been hampered.

As an initiate, he had been unable to use the Force in the manner that the Jedi preached; he couldn't calm himself and suppress his emotions to let it flow through him, as the Jedi Code demanded. He had a naturally active mind, and quieting it was impossible, save for a task that enabled his complete focus, such as when he worked on machines. In addition, Riko had been unable to truly draw strength from the Force in other ways due to one simple fact; he was afraid of his own gifts. A traumatic experience in his childhood worsened this difficulty, making him want to follow the code of emotional control to an extreme. It had taken multiple life-or-death instances and facing his greatest fear on Dromund Kaas to truly ignite the spark within him, to set aside his fear and draw strength and power from himself so as to let the Force flow through him.

Riko now realized that true strength came from accepting oneself. No longer would he say, "there is no emotion, there is peace," or "there is no passion, there is serenity." Riko's emotions and his passion were his salvation.

Blindfolded, Riko tried to imagine himself in a dangerous situation. It took him a moment to concentrate, but he was just starting to see it. He was back aboard the Imperial depot, there were mercs, with blasters set to full…!

A quick flash, but it was there. A sting laser, rushing towards the boy. Riko ducked, rolling to the side, quickly moving back to his feet.

Niner was instructed to move around, to confuse the young padawan. He was in a small cargo bay, there were only so many ways he could dodge before he received the lightsaber.

Riko was told that the dark side manifested as an addicting tingle, a rush of power that flooded the mind with the desire to destroy. That wasn't how it felt for Riko; the Force felt more like a slight enhancement to the skills he already possessed. He felt amplified, not changed.

Another shot. Riko ducked.

Niner fired again, and again. Still Artoo wasn't…

Artoo wasn't sending the saber.

Riko rolled again, and again, to avoid the stun fire. He could only react and anticipate.
He avoided Niner's blast, again. And again. And again. And again, and again, and again, until he was finally hit in the side. Riko yelped and fell to the floor, breathing heavily, his clothes drenched with sweat.

Riko felt Niner's hand on his back, the droid was trying to help him get up.

"Is you okay, Riko?" Niner asked, "Ninety-five percent chance that hurt."

Riko winced, placing his hand on his stomach.

"I'm okay," the pain was quickly fading.

Riko removed the blindfold, looking up at Artoo.

"Is this another lesson from Bao?" Riko asked.

"Wooew." Artoo apologized.

"It's okay, Artoo," Riko said, genuinely forgiving of what had happened. As he slowed his breathing and relaxed, he quickly understood what the lesson was supposed to be about.

Bao's method of teaching Riko was realism: placing him in situations that would simulate what he would have to face, but weren't actually dangerous. Or even placing him in said dangerous situations, on occasion. Bao felt that there was much more to a Jedi than just a lightsaber and the Force, and his teaching style reflected that. Riko, unlike his peers, was a person who responded better to real life than simulations, stepping up to the occasion. They were a perfect pairing.

"Breet ve dee?" Artoo asked.

"I guess I'm up for trying another. Bao keeps telling me to work on standing my ground. Remember the last lesson?"

"Dweet-reet-meet," the astromech replied sullenly.

"Yeah, sorry again about that," Riko responded, "I'll work on blast deflection." Artoo opened his chassis.

Once he removed them, Riko quickly examined both of his sabers. The hilt held in his left hand was an aesthetic masterpiece of craftsmanship; it was sleek, light, a shade of silver, with ornate markings. From this hilt sprouted a bright, beautiful cyan blade. This saber had been a gift, one of the few things Riko still had from his father and old life on Orîlla.

The one in his right could not have been more different; constructed by Riko himself in this very room, it was a jalopy of parts that looked like it had been thrown together in a hurry out of junk. With a blue handgrip and charging port that came from a torquedriver, a black "pommel" salvaged from a blaster, a bronze switch housing, a silver-grey flux aperture, and a beige primary activation switch meant to activate lights, not lightsabers, it really looked like scrap.

Within this apparent hodgepodge, however, lay a dual emitter system with a pair of stygium crystals at its heart that formed a blade which could be activated from either the tip, as normally intended, or from the saber's "pommel."

Riko decided to practice with his newer weapon, attaching his father's gift to his belt. He took his custombuilt saber in both hands and ignited it. The fiery orange blade sprouted from the hilt with a crackling hiss!

He held the blade in the opening stance for the Middle Ring; parallel to his body, the image of the blade almost appearing to bisect his frame. He considered, for a moment, the fact that he probably appeared more intimidating in the dark, illuminated by the ember saber. He couldn't help but grin slightly, finding a weird sense of enjoyment in the idea of being intimidating, before he questioned it, wondering if there was any inherent evil in the thrill of this.

"Ready Niner?" Riko asked encouragingly.

"I is ready…!" Niner began.

"No!" Even through the cargo bay's walls, Riko could still hear Jade's scream.

Riko quickly deactivated his saber.

"Sorry Artoo! Sorry Niner!" Riko apologized, "I'll meet up with you again later!"

Leaving the droids in the cargo bay, Riko ran through the ship's hallway towards Jade's room. Her door was locked.

"Jade?" Riko asked, worried.

"I'm okay, Riko," Jade's voice, muffled, came through the wall.

"Can I come in?"

Jade didn't give a response. Riko decided to wait a minute, unsure of how he should respond. Should he ask again, should he leave, should he ring again…?"

Thankfully, the door opened, relieving him of his indecision. Jade, panting, stood in the doorway, haggard and weary. She was dressed only in her nightshirt and underwear, soaked in sweat, showing off her toned body…

Attempting to put that thought out of his mind, Riko asked, "Are you okay?"

"Just a dream," Jade explained, "I'm okay."
Riko wasn't so sure.

"Can I come in?" he asked again.

"Sure," Jade responded.

Riko entered and sat down on the bunk. Jade joined him, sitting upright, her legs crossed.

"Is it the same one?" Riko asked.

"I don't know," Jade paused, "I can never remember them." She paused again, "I always forget as soon as I wake up."

Riko couldn't help but notice that Jade was rubbing the new armband she always wore on her wrist. The one that concealed the scar that now marred it, the one he had given her in an accident back on Dromund Kaas. She had many small scars and calluses across her body, records of sparring duels and adventures. Yet this one, she hid.

Jade was...tense. At least, Riko believed she was. Riko wasn't usually great at reading other peoples' emotions, and the connection between the two wasn't nearly as strong as it had been before…

Jade was clearly distressed, and it was obvious why she was having these nightmares. Between the loss of her mom, her dad being a traitor, her becoming an outcast, and…

No one understood what Asharr really did to her victims. Jade herself didn't really remember any of it. Yet, she had gone through so much.

"Hey," Jade grabbed Riko's hand, "I'm holding up. I'll be okay."

Riko wasn't sure he entirely believed that. He was no stranger to hiding from himself...

"You're hiding something, aren't you?" Jade suggested.

"What?" Riko said, caught off guard.

"Are you?" Jade asked, grinning.

Riko didn't want to deny his feelings. Besides, Jade had a knack for reading people. Him especially.

"Well…"
"Okay, I'll never ask you again..."
"Wait!" Riko responded, "Yes. I…like you."

Jade grinned. Riko turned away. He had no idea how relationships worked. Kali'sto had never discussed it with him as a child, and the Jedi Temple had always discouraged these kinds of activities, as Master Yuniah had specifically said to a pair of older padawans during an interrupted lecture.

"Hey," Jade said, "It's okay."

Riko still wasn't sure what to do. To be honest, he was afraid to even look at Jade. He had always found her beautiful, but now that he knew that he was also attracted to her…

"Look at me," Jade said softly, "Please."

Riko relented, and looked straight at her, making eye contact.

Jade was stunning. With her distinctive wide smile, prominent sapphire eyes, toned athletic frame, and red-brown hair, with that natural blonde streak, she always took his breath away. Even though she had lost her sunbeaten complexion, her eyes now underscored by dark crescents, she was still beautiful.

"I guess…" Riko admitted, blushing, "I just have no idea how this...works. I mean…"

"So, you've never read a romance story," Jade summarized.

"Not really, no," Riko responded. Kali'sto had read a few love stories in the past, Riko had just never paid attention. A decision he was now seriously regretting.

"Oh," Jade took his hands in her own, "Are you scared?"
"A little," Riko nodded, "I don't want to make things worse."
Jade was wide-eyed for a second, but then quickly said, "Riko, you're a good person. You could never hurt me."

Jade turned her eyes to Riko, "I know I like you. What do you want?"

She kept her sapphire gaze on him. That moment seemed to last forever.

Riko's heart raced. He had a choice to make, here, now. Did he want this?

With a burst of energy, Riko moved forward. His lips met Jade's.

Every safeguard, every worry in Riko's mind vanished as his body exploded with joy. Riko closed his eyes, savoring her touch. The taste of her lips, the feel of her body, the warmth of her presence, just knowing that they were here, together...He felt...more alive, more engaged than he usually did. He was...happy to be in this moment. Happy to just be here, with Jade.

Eventually, their lips parted. Riko just realized that his arms were wrapped around Jade's neck, Jade's around his back.

Riko took a deep breath, exhilarated, and stunned with happiness. He did his best to keep his gaze up on Jade's eyes.

"That means yes," Riko finally said. Jade laughed, then pulled him back in.