LAMBDA-CLASS SHUTTLE
LtC Arien Madaan would never forget these events. Many times he would retell the story in front of amazed and impressed listeners. But he would never begin to tell himself, he had too much respect for that. Instead they would need to pester him about it and only if it came from a senior officer he would agree to speak.
When all the Stormtroopers had left the shuttle and both Vader and that girl again had also walked out, it got pretty lonely back there so Madaan stood up and walked in to the cockpit. There he realized they had not exaggerated the dark Lords actions in the rescue operation. The pilot's seat really was empty. He sat down at Auxiliary Station #1 and looked out the main viewport.
They had landed on a platform that looked empty and deserted. He could see how the Troopers lined up in front of the shuttle and how Vader told them something and marched on, leaving the Troopers behind, and that girl.
Who was she and what the Frell was she doing here? He thought. From what he could see, she was just another Tech from the Nemesis?
Just then, he realised the platform was not as empty as it first had seemed. There was a lonely figure standing a bit further away, pretty close to the edge. It was a human, for sure, probably a woman, by judging from the slender figure and the long hair blowing in the wind.
That was when it struck him; it was a female Jedi they were hunting. Of course! That was her, and now Vader was going to 'take care' of her. Madaan straightened up in the seat and concentrated just a bit harder to see well. There was not many outside the 181st that had seen Lord Vader fight a Jedi and there were quite a number of myths surrounding it all. This was going to be something else to watch.
Vader marched straight up to her and when he got closer she turned around. He towered over her and was at least two heads taller, maybe even three. It looked like they were talking for a short while, Vader slowly took out his weapon and the Jedi did the same and ignited it at once. The same sword of light appeared that he had seen earlier but this one was green rather than the red one Vader had used. Madaan wondered if the colours meant something and if so, what?
But the dark Lord did not activate his weapon. Instead, he seemed to talk to the Jedi, looking up in the sky and then he stretched out his hand to her, as if he was offering or asking her something.
But whatever it was he had said, it startled the Jedi for a moment and she shook her head. Madaan could not see her face clearly, they were too far away, but the woman was most certainly upset about what had been said. The black figure then lowered his hand and straightened himself up in his full length. Frell, that man is huge, Madaan thought. Vader ignited his sword and the red light instantly came out. The Jedi positioned herself with one leg stretched out behind her, spun the sword in her hand once and then held it with her right hand, pointing it backwards-and-up. Her left hand pointed right at her opponent with the palm up. It then hit Madaan that this must be some kind of opening position in her fighting art. Lord Vader slowly took a two hand grip of his weapon and held it with a small angle straight up in front of him.
Then they just stood there, facing each other, not moving at all. It was like the world was holding its breath.
Even though Madaan was staring at the two figures he did not comprehend how the battle started. It all went to fast. The transition from a static waiting to full movement went so much faster than anything he had ever seen before. The Jedi moved with incredible speed and used an acrobatic style with a lot of vaulting, jumping and movement. It did not look like fighting at all but more as if she was dancing around Vader with choreography like something between liquid water and wind.
If the Jedi was movement then Vader was the total opposite. Unmovement. Like a statue of some ancient warrior God, he stood firm and did not yield an inch, no matter how much the Jedi whirled around him and landed attacks on him from every possible direction.
At first, Madaan thought the big black figure could not keep up with its so much faster opponent but he could soon see in the way he blocked her attacks and how he placed himself that he had complete control of her patterns and forms. The more he looked at him, the more Madaan realized that Vader moved only as much as was needed to block the Jedi's strikes and then counterattack.
Inside of him, a strange feeling was waking. His earlier respect for the dark Lord had been an equal mix of both fear and pilot skill envy. But now it began to change into...admiration or perhaps even honour. It was hard to describe in words anyway.
The longer he watched the fight, the more a picture of a symbolic battle emerged. The Jedi was chaos, revolt, terrorism and a hidden agenda of treason. She moved with lightning speed, constantly trying to penetrate the opponent's defences.
He, the Emperors Enforcer, stood firm, almost still by comparison. He was the foundation the empire and the galaxy were standing on right here and now. He gave battle for the good of the many. She was the roaring storm. He was the beacon who led the ships through the storm. She was the false, trying to trick and deceive her way to victory. He was the rock that calm stood fast and saw through every attempt to attack and could parry with simple moves. The empire gave peace and stability to the galaxy and Lord Vader was its sword and shield. And to think that this very sword had once been raised in battle to save him.
Madaan then realized that he himself, as a TIE Fighter pilot, was a part of that sword. In a fighter squadron, in a fighter wing, in the Imperial Navy. He shook his head and felt his own person insignificant compared with the larger and nobler purpose of the empire, of Lord Vader. He was expendable. The empire was eternal. Individualism was weakness. The empire was strength.
WARASOLI - LAMBDA CLASS SHUTTLE
Shiri Tayen watched through the lenses of her borrowed binocs. She had to admire Vader's courage though. He just marched straight up to what must have been that very elusive Jedi they had come for in the first place. She could see the two of them talk for a while. He was much taller than her but his size did not seem to bother her at all. Then she took out her weapon and ignited it, making a blade of bright green light come out. But Vader did not move. His body posture was rather slumped as if he was tired or resignated. He seemed to be studying the sky for a time and then he reached out his hand at the Jedi and offered something, she could clearly see that through the binocs.
But the Jedi was dismayed and shook her head, almost taking a step back. Shiri wondered what kind of horror he had offered but she had little time to think about that for Vader now activated his own weapon. And so they stood for a while. Not moving, facing each other, before they suddenly exploded into action and whirling lightsabres.
'Watch and observe' he had told her. Observe what? They moved so fast it was almost impossible to see their movements, especially the Jedi.
But Shiri did see that the one giving most blows was the Jedi and Vader blocked them without difficulties. Or so it seemed from where she was standing.
She was definitively more agile than him and jumped, somersaulted and made sideways movements with an astonishing speed and precision. Vader on the other hand stood almost still, moving just his feet and legs. Shiri thought he looked stiff and clumsy compared to the constantly moving Jedi but in spite of that obvious disadvantage he managed to keep her attacks at bay. Shiri found herself getting almost irritated in his way to move. If he wasn´t so frellish stiff he could easily...she stopped herself before she had finished the thought and went cold inside, lowering the binocs. Was that what he had meant? Was she supposed to see what was wrong with his mobility?
She raised her binocs again and observed the battle from a new point of view, now as Crewman Tayen the tech with medical cybernetics as a speciality.
It had to be so! Why else had he dragged her out to 'Watch and observe'? Then another thought struck her and she lowered her binocs again.
It all makes sense now, she thought. That´s why, that time in the workshop, he had questioned her about her skills and knowledge about cybernetics instead of punish her for breaking several imperial laws. He had it all already worked out back then. No, that´s impossible, how could he possibly have known...
She took a deep breath and raised her binocs again. Frell, he is good she thought. When she observed the battle now it was clear what she saw.
It´s the suit, she thought. The suit is preventing him to move freely, and at the same time the suit is what´s keeping him alive. It´s probably both life support system, at least when it comes to breathing, and protective armour. The shoulders were very motionless, just as the neck. In fact, the entire torso was almost fixed and the head had very little movement as well. To look sideways he almost needed to move his entire body. She could also see now how he had adapted his fighting style to adjust to his handicap, for she now saw it as a disability. He could block the Jedi's attacks with seemingly easy movements, even if they came from behind or from the side and he seemed to be able to 'know' from where they would come and only had to adjust his position to meet the attacker.
To compensate his lack of movement he went on raw power in his own attacks. It looked like he was fighting with a violent aggressiveness and his style reminded more of a slugger compared to the Jedi's acrobatic ballet. But the sheer power of his attacks was not easy for the Jedi to withstand or hold off, Shiri could clearly see that. When she blocked him, the impact was so massive that she sometimes was unable to fulfil her move but was forced to abort a jump, a turn or some other trick.
He then went hard on her with violent strikes and it was only her speed that let her get clear and could break his attack.
But Shiri thought she could see something else in Vader's ways. It was as if he didn´t fully took advantage of his size and let the Jedi come closer than he should.
Shiri had seen the same phenomenon when Troopers had been given prostheses that were just a bit longer than what they should have been. It happened sometimes when the medical equipment simply was not there or there was no time for finer personal adjustments. It took only a few millimetres longer legs or arms and their natural movements were disturbed. Vader was very tall, perhaps too tall. It was possible that they had 'made' him much taller than he had been before. She could swear he was not born and raised naturally growing to that height and that made his movements not quite natural for him, even if he had been this tall for years.
Shiri knew she was out on deep waters now. She knew nothing about Lord Vader before he came aboard the Nemesis just a couple of days ago and how would he react when she reported to him what she had 'observed' and what if...
And then it was all over just as quick as it had begun. The two of them seemed to have avoided colliding and stood turned with their backs at each other. Vader was standing with one leg stretched out behind him in a small angle and his sword was pointing straight forward, away from his opponent. The Jedi had passed him and was facing the other way, one leg bent and her sword was in a 90 degree angle pointing straight up above her head. They stood completely still for a while, almost frozen in time, then the Jedi's legs gave in and she fell to the ground. Shiri almost did not dare to breathe.
Lord Vader slowly rose, turned and walked over to the body of the fallen Jedi. He turned off his weapon and put it away in his belt again .He stood like that in a time that seemed like an eternity, then he suddenly turned around and marched back to the shuttle.
After only a few steps he reached out with his arm and the Jedi's lightsabre came flying through the air and was caught in his hand.
The Stormtroopers was standing in attention when he approached but he walked straight up to Shiri and asked "What did you see?"
Her eyes were caught by a stain of blood on his black clothes. She was getting seriously nervous now. Could she say the truth? That he won the battle but was clumsy as a rancor? A rancor! Yes, that´s it. A rancor was slow and clumsy but big and very strong.
"I saw that your superior strength was victorious over the speed of the Jedi, sir." He watched her in silence.
"Is that all?" he asked and Shiri could once again feel how he somehow saw right through her.
"No sir." she answered instinctively and a thousand and one pictures flew around in her head.
But the one who refused to go away was how they had talked in the workshop that time, when they had worked on the prosthesis on her workbench. At that time they both had been technicians and she had found it easy talking to him. And so she decided.
"It´s your armour, sir. It´s holding you back and is limiting your mobility. Sir." And then it was said. She stood completely still and his breathing device sounded like thunder in her ears. Suddenly he turned away and marched up the ramp and in to the shuttle, closely followed by the Stormtroopers. Alone she remained where she stood and only when the repulsorlifts began to roar she snapped out of it and ran after them. She sat down in her seat, buckled up and tried her best to ignore his overwhelming presence.
THE NEMESIS - CAPTAINS READY ROOM
Captain Natane was sitting in his very large, very comfortable and very expensive office chair and looked out through the large transparisteel viewports where the planet of Warasolis dominated the landscape. Every now and then a flight of TIE Fighters on patrol was seen. If there were little military activities to bee seen the more civilian ships was moving now when Lord Vader had authorized the end of the planetary lockdown. Soon the spaceports would be up in full speed again and Warasolis would be open for business.
Natane could have given the order himself but his by-the-book approach throughout this mission had proven to be successful and he did not intend to lose it all now at the end. There was a very small possibility that the Jedi they had tracked down was not the 'right' Jedi. Well, to be honest, 'track down' was perhaps pushing it a bit too much. Out of nowhere a Stormtrooper patrol had been attacked by a figure waving a lightsabre, and the rest had been just a matter of tracking it. It could have been just a decoy to let the real enemy escape again. But he was not going to let that happen so he had insisted on keeping the planet locked down until further notice. That, combined with the tight grid of patrol patterns in coordination with the Warasoli Security Forces, made it very hard for anything to slip through their net. And nothing had.
He sighed and picked up his cup of caf standing on his desk. The warm liquid made him feel just a little more comfortable and he sure needed to be cheered up right now. Which in fact was very odd since the whole operation had been a smashing success. Instead he ought to be very proud and happy. The massive presence of imperial military might he had ordered, had given just the effect he had hoped for. All possible political opposition had been swept away in wave after wave of cheering for the Emperor and the glory of the empire. TIE Fighters and Stormtroopers had been visible all over the planet and displayed themselves as the friendly and helpful professionals they were, hugging children and pets. Warasolis was now completely pro-empire and would probably stay that way for generations to come.
Reporters from the HoloNet News had already picked up on the story but it was now blown completely out of proportions and was barely recognizable. It was no longer a small local conflict but instead a part of a well-organized, well financed and well-coordinated, anti-stability operation by a secret intergalactic movement, led by hidden Jedi traitors whose goal still was to throw the galaxy into chaos and seize power themselves. Or something like that. Natane had not bothered to follow the HoloNet jibber-jabber that had imperial propaganda written all over it.
Fortunately the news had focused on Lord Vader and the Captain was glad for that. The dark Lord was the empires true hero and all this was his doing. He had led the fighter attack in person, led the Troopers on the ground and even rescued a shot down pilot from a cruel death in the hands of the savage enemy. After that, he had flushed out the old corrupted regime and made a new era possible for the people of Warasolis. As for Grande finale, he had himself faced one of the Jedi leaders and at last destroyed the terrorist traitor. If the reporters wanted details they had to ask the dark Lord himself and no one ever dared to do so.
"Captain." Commander Soraans voice was suddenly heard in Natanes ComLink.
"Yes." he answered, already knowing the message.
"Sir, Lord Vader's shuttle is scheduled for departure from hangar bay 12 in 25 minutes."
"Understood." he answered and the room went quiet again.
As mentioned earlier, Captain Natane should be very happy and he probably would have been if the remainder of this mission had gone down in a different way. During that quick Holo transmission, Lord Vader had said to the new Prime Administrator "You will report to captain Natane until proper imperial governance can be established...".
If there was one thing Natane did not like at all, it was politics and that was the main reason why he did not want a promotion and now he had been caught in the politics of an entire planet. And to make things worse, he was probably stuck here for a long time as some sort of imperial ambassador or something similar. It was a big step up on the ladder of career moves, but he could not care less. It was still horrible boring and too far away from the bridge of a Star Destroyer.
With a sigh he stood up, looked over his perfect uniform and marched out of the room and made his way to hangar bay 12.
THE NEMESIS - HANGAR BAY 12
When Lord Vader himself came marching through the twin blast doors in one end of the hangar bay the roughly one hundred present members from the crew of the Nemesis snapped to attention. Captain Natane stood in his place and so did everybody else. There was of course an imperial protocol to follow. In just the right moment the Captain took two steps forward and saluted his superior.
"My Lord." he said, nothing more, turned right and followed.
"Captain." Vader answered and as usual came right to the point.
"Twice have you refused a promotion. Why?" Now, this question did not come as a complete surprise to Captain Natane and he answered immediately.
"Captains command Star Destroyers, my lord. Admirals don´t."
"Admirals command Fleets." Vader answered back
"True." Natane said, "But many an Admiral can be found far away from the bridge of a battleship, being more of a politician than a soldier."
A strange sound then came from Vader's black helmet and Natane wondered if that could have been a chuckle?
"So that is the reason for your somewhat sullen face. You fear your mission in Warasolis will turn you into a politician?" Then they arrived at the shuttles entry ramp and they stopped. "Don´t be too concerned with those matters Captain. As soon as your replacement arrive you are to return to your previous location in the Sanraji system and there you will replace the incompetent Admiral Mufid and put an end to that mishandled operation." Then he lifted a finger and pointed it right at him, sending a chill through Natane. "It would be unwise of you to refuse promotion a third time." and after a seconds silence he added "Admiral."
Natane concentrated his eyes on a single point between the black helmets eye lenses. "As you wish my Lord."
Vader seemed to be satisfied with that and lowered his hand again, putting both of them to rest on his belt.
"I have decided the faith of crewman Tayen." he continued. "Bring her to me."
Newly appointed Admiral Natane nodded to Commander Soraan who in turn nodded to Crewman Shiri Tayen, standing in the far end of the row of Troopers and officers. In fact, she was the only non-trooper in the hangar bay under the rank of lieutenant. Not even Ensigns had been allowed.
Natane felt pity towards the poor woman who now was forced to march between the lines of superior officers. And at the end, the most notorious Commander in the Imperial Forces himself was waiting for her.
Tayen stopped in attention and saluted. "Sir!" she said mechanically and Vader looked down at her for some cruel, long moments.
"Crewman." he said and it felt like the whole hangar bay held its breath. "I have decided to terminate your service aboard the Nemesis immediately."
Then he pulled out a small, metallic cylinder from his belt and Natane was not surprised. In fact, it was a miracle that Tayen had been allowed to live this long at all. Most of those who displeased the dark Lord was terminated on the spot, like the late Prime Administrator Chebanis.
The crewman also seemed to know what came next and her face turned white.
"Do you have any final words to your Commanding Officer?" Vader asked and Crewman Shiri Tayen looked at the Commander of the Imperial Star Destroyer Nemesis and said with a broken voice "Thank you for letting me serve, Captain."
Natane was moved and nodded. "The honour was mine Crewman."
Vader stood silent for some moments and suddenly he said "I am sending you to the imperial naval academy, where you will study advanced cybernetics and robotics, effective immediately." Tayen did not seem to understand what was said and just stared at Lord Vader, then at Admiral Natane and then back at Lord Vader who pointed at her with the weapon and continued "I have high expectations of you. Don´t fail me, Cadet."
Finally, Tayen seemed to comprehend the fact that she was not only going to keep her head but she was also going to fill it with the things she wanted most of all and she saluted. "Thank You sir. I will not fail you sir." Natane wondered if this was as close to humour as his superior could get.
Vader stretched himself up just a bit and said "Good. My shuttles departure for Imperial Center is imminent. Find yourself a seat."
Tayen saluted again. "Yes sir!" She took a step towards the entry ramp when Vader's voice stopped her.
"Cadet." Natane took a moment to note that the Crewman's promotion was not a spooner.
"Yes sir!" Shiri said, turned and snapped to attention. Vader thoughtfully spun the weapon in his hand as if he was contemplating something.
"The journey will take some time." Then he threw the weapon over to Tayen who caught it using both hands. "Use the time to study it well." he ended.
Shiri stood with her mouth open and just stared at the lightsabre of the fallen Jedi in her hands and then at Lord Vader.
"Yes sir!" she said automatically. I will, sir!" Then she turned and disappeared into the shuttle.
"Admiral." Vader continued, now turned to Natane. "In three weeks i expect the Sanraji operation to be solved. Report back to me then for new instructions."
Natane saluted. "Yes my Lord." Vader then turned turned and marched up the entry ramp which immediately began to close. The repulsorifts roared and the shuttle rose up from the hangar bay floor, floated out through the magnetic field and disappeared down the gigantic main docking bay.
Admiral Natane stayed there for a while even after the rest of the honour guard had left the hangar bay.
"Admiral?" It was Commander Soraan who stood behind him to his left. Natane did not say anything. "Admiral." Soraan called again.
"Yes Commander." Natane answered but did not turn his head. He stood almost at the very edge of the docking bay and watched as a flight of TIE Fighters came in from patrol and vanished into another docking bay.
"Sir." Soraan began, suddenly unsure of herself. "Sir, well, it´s your new rank, sir. Navy protocol. By the book and all? Sir?"
Finally Natane turned his head with a concerned look. "Yes what about it?"
"Well, sir." Soraan continued "Would you like to have your things moved to your new quarters?"
Natane looked at her in confusion. "My new quarters? What the..." and then it struck him. The Admiral she was referring to was now him and according to naval regulations a flag officer had the privilege to use the Admirals Suite on any capital ship where such accommodations were installed. He shook his head and held up his hands in an apologetic gesture.
"Yes, yes Commander, you are quite right. Please, forgive me." he smiled and could see Soraan relax a bit as well. "This whole 'Admiral' thing is going to take me a while to digest. Yes please. Have my things moved to my new quarters." Then he added and held up his right index finger. "As well as my new insignia." Soraan nodded.
"Yes Admiral. At once." Then she turned around and marched away, leaving a smiling Natane behind.
The former Captain turned again and watched the busy main hangar bay. So he was now an Admiral. The very thing he had tried so hard to avoid these past three or four years. And as expected, his first assignment was a political one. He drew a deep breath and tried to find something else but the deep sense of sorrow he felt inside. There sure was no way out of this one. And Lord Vader had hinted just what might happen if he tried anything. No, this time it was for real. But hey, one good thing was in fact the new quarters. He had not given that any thought at all.
They were really large and luxurious enough to accommodate even a High Admiral of the Sector or a Moff. There was fine furniture, wood paneling, a large briefing area and an even larger dining room. Then the Admiral's stateroom and his office. It was more of a miniature palace than a cabin on a warship and it was there he would meet with the Warasoli Administration, hold his briefings and all such 'Admiral activities'. Well, he thought with a smile, I can live with that.
And when this mission was over, the real fun would begin. Just thinking about the face of Admiral Mufid when he told him he had been relieved was enough to make him feel a lot better. He would most definitively tell him that face to face. And then he would take the forces on some serious pirate hunting.
"Well then, dad." he said to himself, remembering his father's words. "Perhaps this Admiral business isn't all too bad after all?"
But there was one thing that he could not quite get out of his mind. This last mission was, well, important. No doubt about that. But no where near as important as to make the Emperor himself order him to go. Why had he done that? It was unheard of!
Natane could not for his life figure this mystery out. There was for sure something else in movement here. Something that involved him and demanded him to wear the rank of an Admiral. But what did it all mean? For sure, it would all present itself in due time, but still it was annoying not to know what was coming. Because there was something coming, of that he was certain. He knew the Empire used black ops and thinking of it, just about everything involving Lord Vader could be sorted in under that group.
Somehow all this, the to Warasoli mission, his promotion, the Sanraji operation, Everything felt like some kind of warm up. A test. But a test of what? And why him of all the thousands of imperial officers? Some large scheme of the Emperor had been set in motion and he was a part of it? He could get insane just thinking about it. So he choose not to dwell on it too much and changed his thinking to something more clear and present.
As an Admiral, he had some influence over promoting people. The Nemesis needed a Captain and he knew just who that person would be. Being a female he knew Commander Soraan would have a hard time, but when it came to actual commanding, she was more than ready. And this little time they now had together he would use to support and guide her all he could so that she too would believe she was ready. He turned and strolled in a most unmilitary manner back to the bridge with a warm feeling inside and a big smile on his face.
EPILOGUE
WARASOLI CAPITAL - PARK AREA
Tokasi Ben-Kai closed his eyes and tried to calm his mind which was racing in his head and most of all, in his heart. He must be very careful and maintain the walls hiding his mind. With Vader so close he could not risk letting his presence in the Force be known even for a second. But walls or no walls, he still had a small thread linking him to his former padawan. It was thinner than a human hair and completely transparent, but it was there. And he could feel her stress and tension, knowing she faced Vader in this very moment. The battle was fierce.
And then, suddenly, the link snapped and was no more and the Force screamed in sorrow when the Jedi fell. From all Tokasi had heard of this dark Lord he understood it would take a miracle to defeat him. They both knew it and this would most likely be a one way ticket of a mission, but they did not talk about it. Instead they just shared that knowledge and in a strange way they could collect some strength from it. After all, you never knew what might happen.
But no miracle had presented itself and Jorani had fallen.
"Farewell Grasshopper. May the Force be with you." he said quietly. He glanced at the little girl running and playing a bit further away on the grass. She had accepted being handed over to him and that the nice lady who had cared for her would not come back. How easy children adapted he thought and took at the same time a deep breath.
On huge HoloScreens the empires triumph over the terrorists had been pumped out over and over again and soon the traffic and spaceflight would be back to normal again when the spaceports reopened. And soon the finale of the dead Jedi would be released all over the empire.
Tokasi looked at the girl again, who now had fallen over and laid in a pile of laughter.
"Well then, little one." he said quietly to himself. "I suppose there is no turning back now." Then he shook his head. He really had believed he had left all this behind him. The Temple, the Order and all that. It belonged to his old life which existence had ended when he left the Order…left the Order... He knew he had heard that before, somewhere, sometime. He drummed his fingers against his leg for a moment when he remembered his final day in the what was it Master Yoda had said? 'Leave the order, a Jedi might. But leave the Force, a Jedi can not. Show your destiny, it will, but in more unexpected ways.' You could say that again. He thought. More unexpected than this was hard to...
Suddenly, all the pieces fell into place and he could clearly see how it all fit together. The Order which he had left, Jorani, the little girl. It was one of those moments when you see everything clearly in the Force and there is complete understanding. It all added up. Like when you find that thing you did not even know you had lost and even less, knew you were looking for. He had known! He had seen this!
"Yoda!" he said aloud. "You pointy eared little green goblin! You knew this would happen all along!" He remembered how the old Master had chuckled that time and the whole thing suddenly felt comical and Tokasi began to laugh. He laughed loud and from the deep of his heart in a way he had not done in many, many years. He could not stop laughing and had to hold his stomach that began to cramp.
After some time he regained control of himself and the waves of laughter went away. He opened his eyes and the little girl stood there, right in front of him and laughed too. What else had Yoda said? Yes of course, he had laughed when Tokasi had promised never to tell his wife about his true self. He had known that as well. Tokasi started to laugh again ant the little girl joined in. They laughed together and it felt so wonderful and refreshing.
"You´re funny." she said when they had calmed down a bit and she put her little hand on his cheek.
"I have fun together with you." he answered and put his huge hand on her tiny cheek.
"Come little one." he said. "Let´s go home. There is someone i´d like you to meet."
Later in the evening that same day, the girl was asleep in their guest room. Tokasi picked up two glasses and a bottle of light blue Misty Wine from Alderaan and joined his wife on the large balcony. Far, far below there was a street level they could hardly make out and above them to the right, the air traffic lanes were busy again, just as before. "She is adorable." she said while he poured.
"Yes she is, isn´t she?" he answered and gave her the glass with the sparkling, soft glowing blue liquid. She tasted the wine, nodded and pulled her legs up in the sofa.
"So, who is she really and where does she come from?" she asked with a curious expression in her eyes.
"Who she is, i really don´t know, and just as i have told you, her parents are dead. Where she comes from is a bit more...complicated." She smiled at his last words.
"I didn´t expect anything less." He looked up to the sky for a moment, drew a breath and nodded.
"Before i start, i want you to know i love you more than you perhaps will ever fully understand." Her smile got wider.
"Oh? This sounds promising." He could not stop himself from smiling with her but then he collected himself and began.
"There is something about myself that i need to tell you..."