Chapter 3

Chiara leaned over the shoulder of the tractor beam specialist, watching as he carefully maneuvered the Vagaari ship into the orbit prescribed by Thrawn. With expert moves, the crewman tapped at his controls, bringing the other ship to a halt a few hundred meters from the asteroid base. He held the ship steady for a moment, ensuring that all of the motion had dissipated before releasing the ship from the tractor beam, leaving it parked above the base where it would be easy to get to for further study. Thrawn would send out a tech team to anchor it to the base once they had completed a preliminary safety check of the vessel.

"Well done, Csapla'rdri'ska," Chiara murmured.

The young tech glanced over her shoulder. "Thank you, Jedi," she said gravely. Chiara supressed a smile at the seriousness with which this young warrior took her compliment. The woman had only arrived on the base a few weeks before and was still acclimating to being on assignment away from Crustai and her family. Chiara had been keeping a close eye on her, but she seemed to be adjusting well.

"Helm, take us in," Thrawn ordered from his command chair. Chiara turned towards him and the humans that stood clustered behind him and moved to join them. The Springhawk slipped into the hidden entrance tunnel and shot down the long, curving tunnel towards the hangar. Chiara frowned and exchanged a concerned look with Thrawn as she caught a glimpse of the colored lights blinking slowly between the approach markers. Apparently, they had a visitor. She could see from the hint of tension around Thrawn's eyes that he, too, was wondering if this was someone coming to deliver a reprimand, either for the activities of today or the Dasdardan incident nearly two weeks before. Probably the Dasdardan, she decided - there was no way High Command could have gotten wind of the Vagaari treasure ship, yet. She had no doubt that they would express their displeasure quite loudly once they did, though.

"Impressive place. Is this typical Chiss construction?" Car'das asked, breaking into Chiara's thoughts.

"Not at all," Thrawn said, his eyes still fixed on the approach markers. "Most bases are on the surface. I wanted this one to be more difficult for potential enemies to penetrate."

"Hardly an original idea," Qennto said, watching the helmsman's manueverings closely. The speed with which they were taking the winding tunnel seemed to make all three of the smugglers uncomfortable. "You make the approach tricky so an attacker has to come at you slowly. 'Course, that makes it just as hard to get your own ships out, but that's the price you pay."

"There are ways of minimizing that particular problem," Chiara told him. She and Thrawn had spent several days designing a system that would allow their ships and fighters to launch quickly in the event of an attack. "The Defense Fleet is currently working with this same concept on a larger scale at another base that is under development."

"Interesting," Thrawn murmured, clearly not paying attention to their conversation. "That pattern of colored lights woven between the approach markers," he explained, pointing out the viewport to the wall directly ahead. "It indicates the presence of visitors."

"Is that good or bad?" Ferasi asked.

"That depends on who the visitors are." Chiara could feel Thrawn's tension in the Force for the next few minutes until they rounded the final curve and emerged from the tunnel and into the landing bay. Chiara scanned the bay, looking for their visitor's ship.

"Ah, our guests are from the Fifth Ruling Family," Thrawn said as she spotted the ship.

"How can you tell?" Ferasi asked.

"By the design and markings of the spacecraft. I can also tell that the visitor is of direct but peripheral family lineage," Thrawn told them.

"So is that good or bad?" Car'das asked.

"Mostly neutral," Thrawn said, exchanging a relieved look with Chiara. "The Fifth Family has interests in this region, so this is most likely a routine survey. Certainly someone of higher rank, and from the First or Eighth Families, would have come to deliver a reprimand. You'll all be my guests at the welcoming ceremony, of course. You may find it interesting."

Chiara had been through enough welcoming ceremonies to no longer find them fascinating, but clearly Car'das didn't share that opinion. He stood beside her and watched intently as Thrawn and Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano exchanged the formal greetings required for a visitor of his rank. She briefly considered whispering a running translation to the smuggler so he could understand more than a word here or there, but given who their guest was and the contempt with which he always treated her, she thought better of it. Qennto and Maris stood on the other side of their junior crewer and both looked bored by the whole proceedings.

Once the ceremony finally wound down, Thrawn led the Aristocra over to where they waited. "May I present Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano of the Fifth Ruling Family," he said in Sy Bisti, obviously choosing a language that all parties could use. "These are Corellian traders, visitors from a far world."

"Are you bringing more of these outsiders into the Ascendancy? They look like your alien mate," Chaf'orm'bintrano snapped.

"In Sy Bisti, Aristocra, if you please. They do not understand Cheunh," Thrawn said, clearly working to keep his face and voice neutral. Anyone who didn't know him as well as she did would miss it entirely, but she was well acquainted with the subtle signs of strained patience already creeping into his face and sense.

"I have no more interest in communicating with these aliens than I have in speaking with her," the Aristocra said caustically, throwing a disdainful glance in Chiara's direction.

Thrawn's mouth tightened briefly and Chiara felt his flash of anger through the Force. He reined it in quickly, though. "Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano is not interestedin communicating with you at present," he said to the smugglers. "One of my warriors will show you to your quarters. My apologies."

"No apologies needed, Commander," Car'das assured him, giving the Aristocra a half-bow. "None at all."

"I'll take them to their quarters," Chiara murmured to Thrawn, not feeling particularly keen on the idea of sticking around the Aristocra. He had visited the base a handful of times before and his resentment of her presence had remained unabated, despite her best attempts at being the perfect hostess. After his last trip, she had given up on the hope that he would ever accept her but still continued to dutifully fulfill her role as hostess.

Thrawn merely nodded wordlessly, his expression conveying his silent apology to her, as well. She knew that he took the way the Aristocra treated her more personally than she did; it was always a severe test of his patience to avoid breaking the rules of conduct towards a member of the Ruling Families when the Aristocra made harsh comments towards or about her.

"This way," she said to the humans, leading the way out of the welcoming chamber.

"What's the Aristocra's problem?" Car'das asked once they had made it a safe distance down the corridor, switching back to Basic.

"Don't take it personally, he doesn't like me, either," Chiara told him drily. "The Chiss are a very xenophobic species and don't take easily to outsiders. Some of them are slower than others to warm up to the idea of an alien living amongst them."

"I thought you said you had been here for almost three years," Ferasi said.

"I have been," Chiara told her, throwing an appraising glance over her shoulder at the woman. She still wasn't pleased with the way the woman was acting around Thrawn and it took quite a bit of effort to keep her displeasure from showing. "It was quite a shock to the Chiss when Thrawn took me as his mate. To the best of my knowledge, it's only happened a handful of times before in Chiss history. They are a very xenophobic people and seldom associate with outsiders at all."

"I see," Car'das said. "How did you two end up together, anyway? I thought the Jedi weren't supposed to be romantically involved."

Chiara gave him a wry smile. "We're not. It's a bit of a long story, perhaps I'll tell it to you some other time. Let's just say that neither of us really saw it coming. Ah, here we are," she said, coming to a stop outside a door in the barracks section of the base. "Car'das, you have this room. Qennto and Ferasi will be next door. Thrawn and I will give you a tour of the base later, but for now, I will ask you to remain in your quarters."

"Sure," Qennto said, keying open the door to the next room over and easing Ferasi through ahead of him.

"Thank you, Chiara," Car'das said, inclining his head politely to her. "I will look forward to the tour later."

Four hours later, Chiara was sitting in the quarters she shared with Thrawn, going over the reports on base activity during the eight days they had been gone, when she heard the door slide open. She looked up see Thrawn step in and gave him a smile. As he crossed to sit beside her on the couch, she noted that he looked weary and frustrated. Probably a result of the time he had spent with the Aristocra, she knew. Wordlessly, he slipped one arm around her waist and kissed her cheek.

"You look tired," she observed, threading her fingers through his.

"Merely worn by the Aristocra's poor behavior," Thrawn assured her. "How he can continue to treat you with such contempt after all you have done for the Ascendancy, I will never understand."

"I would say it is clear at this point he will never change," Chiara told him wryly. "There's no point in wasting energy over something that you can't do anything about and it doesn't really bother me that much, anymore. Just let it go."

"You always have been more forgiving of slights against you than I am," Thrawn observed.

"When you've lived almost 400 years, you develop a pretty thick skin for such things," Chiara said with a smile. "You're still such a young thing. You'll learn, though."

Thrawn snorted at her teasing. "And yet, I'm the more mature of the two of us," he observed sardonically.

Chiara dug her elbow into his ribs. "I resent the implications of that," she complained. There was no weight behind her words, though, and Thrawn understood that she didn't mean it. "So, what did the Aristocra have to say about the Vagaari treasure ship?"

"Predictably enough, he was less than impressed," Thrawn told her, his tone laced with frustration. "I suspect a formal reprimand will follow not too long after he returns to Csilla. He even went so far as to imply that you are instigating me to make these strikes and that you should be banned from Chiss space."

Chiara felt her eyes go wide and she sat up, looking at Thrawn in alarm. "They wouldn't actually do that, would they?"

"I doubt it. You've made too many allies in the Eighth Family. Aristocra Mitt'osks'anik wouldn't sit still for it, that much is certain." Thrawn looked thoughtful. "I think it more likely that High Command would enforce the rules about not having civilians on a base and make you to return to Csilla or some other colony. It might be prudent to make sure that you are not around whenever the next strike occurs. A visit to Anisi, perhaps?"

"That wouldn't be a bad idea," Chiara agreed. Technically speaking, an officer's mate wasn't allowed to live with him at his base unless that mate was an officer, as well. Even if they were both part of the Fleet, they usually spent most of their time on separate assignments and seldom saw each other. The fact that she wasn't Chiss had allowed them to get around this, since she had no ties or responsibilities to any Family to keep her on Csilla or any other Chiss world. And, although many of the Chiss had come to accept her, it still seemed that they universally agreed that they preferred for her to stay with Thrawn and away from mainstream Chiss culture. High Command hadn't objected to her presence on the base, given all the combat expertise she brought the table and the Chiss lives she protected every time they went into battle. Her tactical abilities were improving, too, as time went on and she spent more time working out strategies with Thrawn and learning from him. Still, they both knew this tolerance of her presence could change at any time if they weren't careful about this fine line that they walked. "I wouldn't mind seeing Anisi again, either," she added. The petite Chiss woman was rising quickly through the ranks of the Defense Fleet, her skill and family connections propelling her into a command position only a year or so after Thrawn had assumed command of the Crustai base.

"All the same, I would prefer that you not have to leave at all," Thrawn said, a troubled look clouding his face. "Your place is here by my side. And, attachments aside, you are invaluable to me both in the planning of such attacks and in carrying them out. I do not relish the thought of going into battle without you there to assist me."

"You are more than capable of planning and carrying out a strike without me," Chiara said. "I may make things easier, but you don't have to have me."

"It is not the ultimate outcome of the battle that concerns me, it is the loss of Chiss lives that may occur if you are not there with your Jedi insights and defensive abilities, especially if there is any hand-to-hand combat involved," Thrawn told her.

That was a sobering thought, indeed. Chiss military doctrine, as well as Thrawn's command style, required that the lives of their warriors be protected to the best of their abilities and Thrawn's warriors willingly went into combat knowing that their Commander would do everything in his power to bring them home safely. "I don't like it any more than you do, Thrawn. What other choice do we have, though? It's better for me to miss a single battle than to be sent to one of the colonies and not be here when you truly need me. The only other option is to sit by and allow these threats to the Ascendancy to continue to grow until they make the first move to satisfy the rules of engagement," she pointed out. "How many lives will be lost then?"

"And not just Chiss lives," Thrawn said soberly. "If we can use the captured ship to learn the location of the Vagaari base, how can I justify standing by as mililons of other beings are forced to suffer, simply so that I can keep you here with me?"

"I agree. We cannot be so selfish as to bury our heads in the sand and ignore their plight simply for our own comfort. Hopefully we can keep our separation to a relatively short period of time and hopefully it will be enough to convince the Aristocra and High Command that I am not pushing you to make these strikes," she said.

"Indeed," Thrawn murmured, tightening his arm around her waist. After a moment, he spoke again. "Now, would you like to continue our conversation about your reaction towards Ferasi?"

Chiara sighed. She had spent an hour in meditation when she returned to their quarters, trying to distance herself from her emotions and reactions in an attempt to better understand them. She was able to recognize the ridiculousness of her jealousy, given the fact that Thrawn would never even consider being with another woman and had no interest in Ferasi, yet she still couldn't shake the feeling. And, although Ferasi was the primary target of her negative reaction, she could feel some of the resentment and hurt bleeding over into her interactions with Thrawn. Acknowledging this had made it easier to deal with and minimize, but it hadn't dissipated her reaction entirely.

"I know it's foolish for me to be jealous, Thrawn," she told him. "I know you are completely dedicated to our relationship and would never hurt me that way. I can say that logically, but it doesn't change my gut reaction to Ferasi's interest in you. I know that reaction is coloring my interactions with you, too, but I don't know how to stop it from doing so. I've never felt anything like this before,"

"I am glad that you recognize that I wouldn't betray your trust in such a way," Thrawn told her. "And I find it understandable that you don't know how to cope with this, as you have never been put in this position before. It is something that effects almost all relationships, at one point or another, yet is something you have never been exposed to, as a Jedi." He paused and cocked his head to one side. "Do you truly believe that Ferasi has an inclination towards me? I would think that her relationship with Captain Qennto would prohibit such feelings."

Chiara shook her head. "Things are quite different in the Republic, Thrawn. They aren't married, so they have no lasting attachment to each other. They could stay together for a few months or a few decades and then go their separate ways with little or no warning. It's not terribly surprising or unheard of for someone to have multiple relationships in a relatively short period of time, or even to have multiple relationships at the same time."

That drew a surprised look from Thrawn. Although it wasn't unusual for the Chiss to have relationships prior to taking someone under their protection or being paired by their Families, she knew that such things were usually done quietly and out of the public eye. Once they had taken a mate, all such activity stopped immediately and was considered deplorable behavior. A Chiss could even be released from their Family for bringing dishonor on the Family name by having an affair.

He absorbed this information in silence for a moment. "How would you suggest that I respond to her seeming interest, then? I certainly have no wish to encourage any feelings she may have or to lead her on."

Chiara considered for a moment. "I'm really not sure, Thrawn, this isn't something I've ever come across before. You probably know better than I do. I may be a lot older than you, but you have more experience in many of the more practical areas of life than I do."

"True," he agreed absently, his mind clearly focused on the puzzle of how to respond to Ferasi's seeming interest. "Perhaps I should end their stay in Chiss space sooner then I had originally planned. Would that make you more comfortable?"

That made Chiara smile. As always, Thrawn was ready and willing to do anything within his power for her. I really am fortunate to have ended up with such a wonderful man. "That won't be necessary, Thrawn. I just need to figure out how to deal with this new emotion. I will apologize in advance if I accidentally allow my resentment to vent itself on you while I figure this out. I'll try not to, but sometimes I don't realize I am doing it until after the fact."

Thrawn nodded in understanding. "Of course, Elor'endil. Is there anything you would like me to do to make this easier for you or to help you?"

"You may need to remind me that I'm not really upset with you if I get out of line," she told him.

"Of course," he agreed, kissing her forehead. "You've gotten quite good at controlling your reactions, though, once you notice them and understand where they are coming from. I doubt it will be necessary."

"I've had quite a bit of practice," Chiara said wryly. "Here I thought that I had adapted to this new life with you and something else creeps in that I have to figure out. I never realized while I was part of the Order what a sheltered life I lived. Yes, I was exposed to conflict and suffering, but I was never actually involved or emotionally invested in any of it. It's completely different, now that I am. Some of the emotions still take me by surprise."

"And yet, you have adapted remarkably well to this change in your lifestyle," Thrawn observed, running his fingers through her dark auburn tresses. "You have certainly become much more adept at recognizing when there is something we need to discuss, rather than holding it in until it becomes a disproportionately large issue."

"Yes. Not to say that our first year together wasn't good, but we had a lot more arguments than were actually necessary because of that. I don't know how you managed to not lose your patience with me," She told him, resting her head against his shoulder.

"You, my Elor'endil, are worth every bit of patience I have ever expended on you," Thrawn assured her. "You are an amazing woman and I love you dearly. It has been an honor and a privilege to walk beside you and see you grow in this new life that you have chosen to share with me."

"The honor is all mine," she said earnestly, leaning in to brush her lips across his strong jawline. "I treasure each day we have spent together on this journey and I wouldn't trade this for anything. I'm not the only one who has grown and developed over the last few years. It has been my privilege to see you grow into your command and to assist you in your duties."

Thrawn turned into her touch, his warm lips seeking hers. She inhaled his familiar scent as her lips parted beneath his. She yielded as he pressed her down onto the couch, looping her arms around his neck to draw him after her.

After dinner, Chiara sat curled up with Thrawn in the viewing room that overlooked the hangar bay, watching the flicker of maneuvering thrusters as the fighters headed out on patrol duties. She didn't bother sitting up or moving away from Thrawn when she heard the door slide open behind them to admit Car'das. He slid his arm out from behind her back, but made no move to create space between them, so she assumed that he was comfortable enough with their current level of physical contact in front of the human. Either that, or he just didn't want to disturb her.

"Good evening, Car'das," Thrawn greeted the young man. "I trust you had a productive day."

"Reasonably productive, yes," Car'das said, crossing the room and sitting down on the other side of Thrawn. He had lost the initial nervousness that colored his sense during that first meeting fairly quickly and had grown progressively more at ease around them in the last four days, Chiara noted. "I worked a little ahead on my language lessons."

"Yes, I know," Thrawn said. "I wanted to apologize for Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano's lack of courtesy."

"I'm sorry he took a dislike to us," Car'das said. "Chiara tells me it's nothing personal, though. I enjoyed the welcoming ceremony, and was looking forward to seeing more of how the Chiss do things."

"Chiara informed you correctly. Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano considers your presence here a threat to the Ascendancy."

"May I ask why?" the young Corellian inquired.

"To some, the unknown always represents a threat," Chiara told him. "And some prefer wall themselves away from the rest of the galaxy. They feel threatened whenever that galaxy intrudes upon their sphere of comfort."

"Sometimes they're right about the unknown being a threat," Car'das answered. "On the other hand, you Chiss seem quite capable of taking care of yourselves in a fight."

"Perhaps. There are times when I wonder," Thrawn said. "Tell me, Car'das, would you be interested in assisting us in examining the contents of the treasure ship in detail?"

"Of course," Car'das said almost automatically. "Though I don't know what help I would be."

"You might recognize some of the artifacts," Chiara told him, getting to her feet as she felt Thrawn shift beside her. He stood smoothly behind her and took a step towards the door. "We know they have preyed on at least one world from the Republic, but there are many Outer Rim worlds I have never visited. You may have additional data that might be helpful."

"In that case, you should also invite Maris and Qennto along," Car'das said, standing up as well. "They've traveled a lot more than I have."

Thrawn glanced at Chiara, silently seeking her opinion. She shrugged fractionally in response. She couldn't avoid Ferasi forever, nor could Thrawn. It would be better for her to get this over and try to work through her jealousy sooner rather than later.

"A good suggestion," Thrawn said, leading the way toward the exit. "That will also give Captain Qennto a chance to choose which of the items he'll wish to keep for himself." The corners of his mouth quirked upward in a smile. "Which will in turn help to establish the relative value of the items."

"You're not cynical at all, are you, Commander?" Car'das said.

"I merely understand how others think and react," Thrawn told him.

Chiara piloted one of the transports out through the tunnels to where the Vagaari ship had been anchored to the asteroid a quarter of the circumference around from the base entrance. The dock on the dilapidated ship was rusty and difficult to use, but she was able to line up the small transport and get a good seal on the first try. Thrawn lead the way out into the corridors, stepping around the alien bodies that still lay where they'd fallen.

"You are planning to clean up this place eventually, aren't you?" he asked as he picked his way through the corridor. Ferasi was clinging to his arm and obviously trying hard not to look at the bodies.

"Eventually," Chiara told him. "We need to study the Vagaari's strategy and tactics first, and for that we need to know where they were and how they were positioned when they died."

"Shouldn't you have put the ship somewhere out of sight?" Ferasi asked, her face pale.

"Eventually, we'll move it inside the base," Thrawn told her as they reached the door to the treasure room. "But we need to first establish that there are no dangerous instabilities in its engines or weaponry." He tapped the controls and stepped through as the door opened for them.

"Spread out and see if you can find anything familiar," Chiara ordered the Corellians.

"You mean like different kinds of money?" Qennto asked, throwing a look around the room.

"Or are you talking about the gemstones?" Ferasi put in.

"She was speaking of the artwork," Thrawn told them. "We can learn more from that than we can from currency or gems."

The Captain snorted derisively. "You expecting there to be sales receipts?"

"I was thinking more of the art's origins." Thrawn indicated a set of nested tressles nearby. "Those, for instance, were probably created by beings with an extra joint between wrist and elbow, who see largely in the blue-ultraviolet part of the spectrum."

"The Frunchies, you think?" Ferasi asked, exchanging a glance with her partner.

"Yeah, right," the big man muttered, eyeing Thrawn suspiciously before he crossed to the indicated artwork.

"Who are the Frunchies?" Chiara asked. She'd never even heard of such a race.

"The Frunchettan-sai," Ferasi told her. "They have a couple of colony worlds in the Outer Rim. Rak calls them Frunchies because-"

"I'll be broggled," Qennto said, cutting her of as he tilted his head to get a better look at the tressles. Chiara could feel shock and amazement rolling off the big man.

"What?" Ferasi asked.

"He's right. It's signed with formal Frunchy script." He turned to Thrawn, his face pulled into an odd expression. "I thought you said you hadn't made it to Republic space."

"To the best of my knowledge, we haven't. Certainly not since Chiara has been with us for the last three years," Thrawn told the other man. "But the artist's physical characteristics are obvious simply from looking at his work."

"Maybe to you it's obvious," the Captain growled. "It sure isn't to me."

"Or me," Ferasi seconded.

Thrawn glanced at Chiara before turning to Car'das with raised eyebrows. "Car'das?" he invited.

Chiara watched as the junior crewer studied the artwork, obviously trying to divine something from the swirl of colors and shapes. "Sorry," he said after a few moments.

"Maybe it was just luck," Qennto said, going over to kneel beside an intricate blue-and-white sculpt. "Let me see here... yeah, I thought so." He threw a glance over his shoulder at Thrawn. "How about this one?"

Chiara moved to stand beside Thrawn as he examined the sculpt silently, his glowing eyes roving around the room now and then. "The artist is humanoid, proportioned differently from humans and Chiss, with either a wider torso or longer arms," he told Qennto. Chiara watched him in quiet and loving amazement, admiring his intelligence and insight that allowed him to make such deductions about an artist simply by looking at his work. "There's something of a distance to his emotional state, too," Thrawn went on. "I would say his people are both drawn to and yet repulsed by or fearful of the physical objects they live among."

Qennto exhaled sharply. "I don't believe this," he muttered. "That's the Pashvi, all right."

"I've never heard of them," Chiara said.

"They've got a system on the edge of Wild Space," Qennto told her. "I've been there a few times - there's a small but stable market for their art, mostly in the Corporate Sector."

"What did Commander Thrawn mean about physical objects?" Car'das asked.

"Their world is sprinkled with thousands of rock pillars. Most of the best food plants grow on the tops. Unfortunately, so does a nasty predator avian. It makes for - well, for pretty much just what he said."

"And you got all that from a single sculpt?" Ferasi asked, clearly in awe. Chiara bit back a surge of resentment the directed itself at the other woman, reaching out to the Force for calm. She caught the flicker of Thrawn's eyes on her face as he gauged her reaction before answering.

"Actually, no," he told Ferasi, putting a hint of frost in his tone. "There are- let me see- twelve more examples of their artwork." He pointed to two other areas of the room.

"You sure?" Car'das asked, looking at the sculpts and flats "They don't look at all alike to me."

"They were created by different artists, but the species is the same," Thrawn assured him.

"This is really weird," Qennto said, shaking his head. "Like some crazy Jedi thing."

Chiara snorted. "I can tell you this is unlike any 'Jedi thing,' Captain Qennto. I would have no more idea about the artist's species than you would, even if I spent hours studying these pieces."

"He meant no offense, Chiara," Ferasi said, stepping forward and raising a hand.

Chiara bit back a caustic remark and turned towards Thrawn, putting her back to the woman. "None taken," she muttered. It was mostly true, she reflected. She hadn't taken any offense at Qennto's attitude or words, merely at Ferasi's.

"I presume these Pashvi won't have put up much resistance to Vagaari raids?" Thrawn asked, stepping in smoothly to redirect the conversation.

"Hardly," Qennto confirmed, his voice grim. "They're a pretty agreeable people. Lousy at fighting."

"And your Republic doesn't protect them? Or the Jedi?"

"You know we're not warriors, Thrawn," Chiara told him, perhaps a bit more sharply than she had intended. Thrawn's eye flashed at her tone and he lifted his eyebrows pointedly at her. "We can't fight wars. Well, the Order can't," she amended, trying to soften her tone.

"Besides, Wild Space isn't actually part of the Republic," Car'das put in helpfully.

"Even if it were, the government is too busy with its own intrigues to bother with little things like life-and-death situations," Ferasi said, bitterness coloring her voice and sense.

"I see," Thrawn said, glancing at Chiara's reaction to that statement. She shrugged microscopically to him. That seemed in line with what she had observed before she left. By the time the petty bureaucrats stopped squabbling and agreed on how to react to a Vagaari attack, it would have been far too late to be of any use to the Pashvi. Even if they had managed to come to a quick consensus, it would only be because they felt that the Republic and the Senate stood to gain from it.

"Keep searching," Chiara told the Corellians. "Let me know if you find anything else from Republic space."

Nearly an hour into their search, Chiara's comlink twittered from her belt.

"Jedi," Lieutenant Kres'nari'atn's voice came. "One of my pilots has fallen ill. I request that you take his place in the afternoon patrols."

"I'll be right there," she told him, feeling relieved. Some time alone in space with only her wingmate and the stars for company was just what she needed. She clipped the curved device back to her belt and turned towards Thrawn. He had already set down the small sculpt he was examining and was watching her. "Snaria needs me to help with the patrols, one of the pilots is sick," she told him, crossing to where he stood. "I'll see you tonight."

"Be careful," Thrawn murmured, catching her hand and pressing it to his lips.

Chiara flashed him a cocky grin, grateful that he didn't seem disturbed by her earlier testiness. "Aren't I always?"

Thrawn shook his head ruefully as she headed for the door, deliberately putting a little extra motion in her hips as she felt his eyes following her. By the time she made it back to the airlocks, a second transport was docked and waiting to take her back to the base. It felt good to slip into her fitted pilot's uniform back on the base and climb into her favorite clawcraft. As usual, she ignored the boarding ladder entirely, using the Force to boost her leap up and onto the heavy fighter's thick hull. She dropped lightly into the pilot's seat, flicking on the power and starting the preflight check. The engines roared to life as she pulled her helmet on and ran an eye over the controls as they warmed up.

"Jedi," a familiar voice sounded in her ear. "It is an honor to fly with you."

"Hello Sev'asth'raki," Chiara greeted the other woman, flipping a row of switches on her control board. "The honor is mine. Would you like to fly point, today?"

"I accept the honor of leading, Jedi," Sev'asth'raki answered formally. "All systems report ready."

"All systems nominal and ready to go," Chiara told her, giving her own systems a quick check. She eased the control stick back gently, raising her fighter to hover above the landing pad. Sev'asth'raki kicked her clawcraft up into the air and shot forward towards the lights marking the exit tunnel. Chiara fed power to her engines, the base's gravity pressing her back into her seat as the fighter leapt forward like a scalded mynock. She felt a thrill as she watched the rocky walls of the tunnel shooting by at what most would find an alarming speed. She had flown the route so many times that she could practically do it with her eyes closed. The blaze of Sev'asth'raki'a engines was bright in the dim light provided by the lights that lined the tunnel.

Abruptly, they burst out of the tunnel and into open space. Sev'asth'raki threw her fighter into a tight loop, the closest thing to exuberance the woman would show so close to the base. Determined to fill her role as wingman to the best of her abilities, Chiara stretched out to the Force and let it guide her hands to match the other fighter's movements. She was well satisfied to see how closely she was able to mirror her wingmate's moves. They pulled out of the roll and shot towards the distant edge of the system, both reveling in the feeling of freedom that they found in open space.