Landing back in the hangar, Taran brought his starfighter down to the floor. Getting out of it he saw he had sustained two hits to his right wing. Another hit would have taken it off and would have plummeted to the planet surface. R3 also had little scorch marks from the epic space battle they had just been in, but other than that he was fine. Taran also noticed scorch marks all over his starfighter from near misses, shrapnel from exploding ships, and the explosion from theseismic charge. Yet, the Interceptor still held together.
"You did good girl," he said, patting his starfighter. He was going to fix her up soon once he was fine and rested. Plo had also landed on the Resolute as well. The rest of the fleet was regrouping, the Elementian Home Guard counting and addressing their losses. It was a bad day for them. They had started out with 200 fighters, plus 200 more in reinforcements. They lost 60% of them during the battle. Their eight corvettes were now down to three, but thankfully Yhao was on the surviving corvette. They also lost one of their frigates and the other were two were in heavy need of repairs.
The Republic forces started out with 1260 fighters and bombers from Obi-Wan's fleet, now only about 837 made it. Plo's fleet only lost 56 due to their late arrival. The droid forces had started out with about 2000 fighters and the five frigates and the battleship. Only the surviving ships made it, the rest of their fighters picked off by Republic aces. The tri-fighter droid had started out as the dominating fighter, but it could be beaten if a pilot knew the right moves. The Jedi and a few clone aces had shown that.
"I still want to know how you made that bomb," said Obi-Wan.
"I just used some stuff that was lying around: some scrap metal, thermal detonators, the plasma from a DC-15, a timer, and a bit of explosives from a turbolaser canister," said Taran.
"And you learned to do this how?" said Obi-Wan, his eyebrow arching.
"Actually, it was all instinct for some reason," said Taran. Obi-Wan decided to just forget the question. It was Taran's knowledge of these kind of weapons that saved a lot of lives today. His Padawan did have a knack for rebellion, like his last one, but he did know when to do these rebellious notions for a good cause. It was one of the things that stood out for Taran, knowing to go through eccentric measures to save those he cared about. He showed it often, even in the worst of times.
"Sir, Admiral Zhen of the Elementian Home Guard is hailing, he wants to talk with you persoanlly," said Wullfe.
"I'll be right up," said Obi-Wan. He walked away to the bridge, leaving Taran to go over to Ahsoka. Along the way he ran into Grinder.
"Thanks sir, I would have been killed by those new clankers if it wasn't for you," said Grinder.
"You're welcome Grinder. Next time it'll be the other way around," said Taran. Grinder nodded and went off to talk to more of his buddies. Anakin came to Taran next.
"Gears, nice work with the seismic charge," said Anakin. "You're a great pilot."
"Not as good as you," said Taran.
"Don't be so modest," said Anakin, though he did like the compliment.
"But it's true. If you hadn't suggested we do chicken I might have been one of those casualties," said Taran.
"Don't worry too much about that, you did show me you had the ability to fly and pilot well, and you succeeded," said Anakin. "And I'm probably holding you up to see Ahsoka so I'll stop bothering you." Anakin moved away, a knowing smile on his face. Most people would take it bad when you're Padawan was dating your former Master's apprentice, but not Anakin. Taran thought it was some weird thing about Anakin that made him a rebel. It was also one of the best things Taran liked about him.
Taran came up behind Ahsoka, making sure to sneak up behind her. Usually she could sense someone when her back was turned, but right now she was very busy with her starfighter. It was painted blue, and it had about three blaster marks on it. Taran made his presence known by blowing a small gust of air to her torso that made her jump from the shock. She turned around and gave him her trademark smile.
"You know I hate it when you do that," she said, trying to supress her giggles.
"True, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't," said Taran. She gazed into his eyes. Today they seemed a little brighter than before.
"So what happened when Aang and the others invaded the Fire Nation?" she asked.
"They lost," said Taran.
"That's terrible," she said.
"Now, if it wasn't for the defeat they might not have had Zuko teach Aang Firebending and he probably would have been killed by Fire Lord Ozai. In a way it was a defeat that led to a victory," said Taran.
"It's kind of weird," said Ahsoka.
"We're Elementians, we're always weird," said Taran. She smiled and walked with him around the hangar back to his starfighter.
"You okay R3?" she asked. R3 beeped in response and went back to fixing the starfighter. The little droid had almost been shot to pieces today. Him fixing up the starfighter was his way of relaxing his nerves before he went haywire from all the pressure building up in his processors.
"He's been through a lot today," Ahsoka said.
"We all have," said Taran. "But like always we succeed in the end, except for a few close calls. Yet for some reason I have to get the worse things to happen to me."
"Like what?" said Ahsoka.
"I've been slashed, electrocuted in two experiences, shot at, nearly eaten, almost raped, nearly torn apart by zombies and those hellhound thingys, and today I was almost erased from history," said Taran.
"Then I'd say you're now apart of the Third Systems Army," giggled Ahsoka. Taran just rolled his eyes while smiling and started to head to his room, Ahsoka walking next to him. When they got into the hall, away from prowling eyes, they clasped their hands firmly together. When they got to his room she immediately wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer to her.
"But it's kind of hot the way you're always in danger," she said, twirling one of her fingers in his hair.
"You know that you have a knack for turning me on," said Taran, his hand brushing up and down one of her lekku. He slowly leaned his head forward and their lips met, like so many other times. Ahsoka placed one of her hands on his back, the other to the back of his head. Taran placed one hand on her hip, the other on her cheek. The kiss was soothing, relaxed, and most of all filled with passion. Their bodies were pressed intimately together, and the two could feel each other's heartbeat. Their hearts were racing from the encounter they were having, but they were strong, firm, and at times the beats were the same.
Taran pressed her down gently to the bed, the two still locked in their everlasting kiss. Making sure not to crush her he settled down on top of her and they continued their encounter. Her tongue brushed against his lips, begging him for entrance. He agreed and opened his mouth to let her in. Their tongues locked around each other like a dance as they caressed each other. Taran slid his tongue into her mouth while she slid hers into his. They went around, memorizing every detail of the other. As they did that they noticed that they had forgotten to breath. They ended the kiss, breathing in heavily as they looked at each other.
"Wow," they said simultaneously. Ahsoka flipped them over so that she was on top. Taran took his gauntlets and greaves off so that he was in his Jedi clothes. She straddled his hips and then went back down to kissing him. Her hands were on his shoulders whle his were on her back. She began to grind on him as she did so. Taran's hands traveled to her lower back as he helped her move. Their kisses became more frantic as their heart rate increased until they could only feel each other in their red-hot passion. Taran was beginning to lose the will to control himself as she continued. he knew if he went over the edge, he would have her right there and now. Ashoka, not knowing what was going on, started to kiss around his neck. Taran's willpower snapped.
He flipped them over so that he was on top. He kissed her feverishly, his hands on either side of her head. He brought one of them to her breast and he brought the ends of one of her lekku. She moaned as he licked and sucked at the sensitive ends. Her moans got even louder when he switched from her lekku to her neck. Kissing and sucking on a part of her neck that he knew was sensitive, he continued to put her in ecstasy. As he was doing this his willpower came back and he realized what he was about to do. He took a moment to look at her eyes, asking her if she was okay with it. He brought her up so that they were in a kneeling position.
"I don't know if I can," he said softly. He knew this issue was a sensitive one for him. He didn't know if he was ready to take their relationship to the next level.
"Taran, maybe not yet," she said to him, helping to reassure him. Taran smiled softly and lay down, Ahsoka's head on his chest as they started to fall asleep.
"I'll leave in a few hours," she whispered to him. Taran answered by giving her one last final kiss on her cheek before he slowly fell asleep.
I'm going to take a break from the Taran stories to write some stories for other sections. Please review and will have the next story ready in a month or so.