Entry 9

This was the first time Magash had been in a spacecraft, so I thought she would enjoy sitting up in the cockpit to see the sights. She was fine until the ship roughly lurched upon take off. As we gained altitude her grip on the armrests grew tighter and tighter until her knuckles were white. Once we breeched the planetary atmosphere we leveled out and had an amazingly beautiful view of Dathomir. I looked over to Magash and noticed her normally red skin was now blanched from fright, but she kept her facial features even in an attempt to hide her apprehension.

Without taking her hands off the steering yoke, Sacha glanced over to the Zabrak woman and smirked. "Having fear of flying is understandable. Overcoming that fear is admirable," she said parroting Magash's earlier remarks about the rancors. I groaned inwardly hoping Sacha's sarcastic quip didn't lead to fisticuffs. To my surprise Magash lips twitched with amusement. "My clan has an old saying, do what you fear and fear disappears. You have helped me overcome a fear today. When we return to Dathomir I will teach you to ride a rancor so you may do the same."

I saw Sacha's smug smirk quickly fade. I don't think she really wants to overcome her fear of rancors if it requires her to ride one. I wasn't sure if this verbal sparring would continue, so I decided it was best to separate the ladies.

"Magash, let's go into the passenger compartment so Sacha can concentrate of piloting."

She nodded and followed me to the back of the ship to where Den and I-Five were sitting. She sat in a dining area seat and eyed I-Five for a very long time. He and Den were sitting on a padded bench attached to the bulkhead. "This one is different." She pointed to the droid. "He is a handsome, strong looking male, but his spirit is faint."

Obviously Magash picked up the fact that I-Five could be felt in the Force.

"I-Five is not a man, but a droid. The last time you saw him he was in a different droid body. We can switch his computer brain into different chassis." I explained.

The Zabrak woman's eyes went wide. "This is a mechanical being?"

"Yes, I am," I-Five informed her with a disarming smile.

She stared at him intently, in near awe. I supposed it is a lot to take in. Dathomir is not a high-technology planet and the presence of droids is exceedingly rare. Now she is faced with one that looked eerily human.

She looked over to me and said, "May I closer inspect your droid?"

I saw I-Five frown. "You can ask him yourself."

She turned her attention to I-Five. "May I inspect you?"

He squared his shoulders as he returned her gaze. "As long as it doesn't involve taking me apart."

She nodded and then slowly approached I-Five. Her gaze slowly raked up his body from his feet to his head. She then moved closer so she could inspect his hair, running her fingers through his tresses as she tried to determine its composition.

"Is this real hair from a human or some type of fiber?" Magash asked as she leaned forward to inspect the droid's dark brown hair more closely. It became painfully obvious that Magash did not see I-Five as anything but a droid… or else she probably wouldn't be standing in her current position with her breasts only centimeters from I-Five's face.

Dhur was sitting next to them and biting his bottom lip to keep his laughter in check. If I-Five was uncomfortable with the Zabrak woman's intense scrutiny he did not show it.

"It is a synthetic polymer fiber," he explained to her. "It is designed for strength and flexibility."

She knelt in front of I-Five and gazed at his face, examining his eyes. "I can see flickers of intelligence in your eyes."

I-Five gave her a wry grin. "I'll take that as a compliment."

She reached forward and ran a caressing hand over his face. "It is difficult to believe you are not a man. This feels like real flesh…and I can feel your spirit, but that is impossible for a machine. Only living things can be sensed through our magic."

I-Five reached up and took her hand in his and drew it away from his face. "I don't know why I can be detected in the Force." He let go of her hand and then looked over to me. "Even Jax can't explain it."

She sat back on her heals, her eyes never leaving I-Five's. "You are like the Spirit Ichor demon of our legends."

I-Five's brow creased slightly. "And what exactly is a Spirit Ichor demon?"

"There was an ancient story about a powerful Nightsister who could craft idols of her enemies. By using Spirit Ichor…or as Jax would call it—the Force—she could bathe the idol with the spirit of her enemy. She would then throw the totem into boiling water and the pain would transfer to the victim the idol represented."

"How delightful," I-Five said sarcastically.

Either Magash didn't catch his sarcastic tone or chose to ignore it. As she continued her story I could see Den was captivated by the tale. He leaned forward to better hear the witch. "One day the Nightsister shaman constructed a humanoid idol carved of a sacred wood from the forbidden forest. Her victim was an enemy clan elder. She spent days casting spells and calling on to the spirits to bring life to the totem. But the enemy she wished to kill was a more powerful witch. The shaman's magic was turned against her and brought death and destruction to her people. The wooden totem awoke and grew in size. The creature picked up a knife and killed Nightsister after Nightsister until the morning dawn. Only a few Nightsisters survived. They mounted their rancors and fled the village during the night. The creature was never found and many believe it still roams the forests looking for new victims."

At this point I-Five quickly turned to Den and gave out a startled yell, "So watch out." The sudden noise made Den jump back in fright before his face burned with embarrassment. He punched I-Five in the shoulder. "Don't scare me like that!"

The droid smiled at his friend. "I could not stop myself. I may need my programing checked."

Den scowled at him. "Yeah, sure."

I-Five turned back to Magash. "I can promise you I am not a Spirit Ichor demon. Nobody conjured up a life-force to make me a living thing."

Magash cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Then why do I feel the Force in you?" She looked over to me. "Did a Nightsister suffuse the spirit of the living into this mechanical man?"

I shook my head. "We have never encountered a Nightsister. His weak Force signature is a complete mystery to me."

Magash rose and stepped back from the droid. She put her arms out with her fingertips touching and began uttering words in an unknown language. When I-Five startled in his seat I realized she was scanning him with the Force. I underwent such a scan by the Singing Mountain Clan when I first went to meet their leader. After a few seconds she seemed to relax. "Whatever is in him is not from darkness."

I-Five shuddered and I was afraid his droid brain was damaged. "Are you alright?"

I-Five looked up to me, eyes wide in a very human look of surprise. "It felt like a warm, humid breeze ran through my circuits."

I nodded. "It is the way Dathomiri witches scan you...to sense your intentions and Force presence."

I-Five remained still as his eyes blinked a few times in concentration. He looked back to me. "I ran a self-diagnostic. I do not believe I am compromised." He looked back to Magash and frowned. "The next time you want to enter me and take a look around, could you please give me a warning. I felt…" He paused for a moment until he found the right word. "…violated."

Magash gave a slight bow of her head. "I apologize."

"Apology accepted." I-Five said curtly before he stood and moved toward the cockpit. "I am going to see if Sacha wants some company. Hopefully she won't molest me."

Den laughed. "Poor I-Five. We better hurry and get him a new I-5YQ or C3PO body before one of the lonely ladies on Toprawa snatches him up."

I had to chuckle at the droid's predicament. First he was irritated when people ignored him, now he's getting too much attention. _

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Author's Note: In the Coruscant Nights Trilogy and the novel The Last Jedi, I-Five mysteriously acquired a Force signature. Jax has no clue as to why this has occurred. So this is not something I made up. It is canon.