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Cheers! (Me toasting you with an Angoran Ale)

Chapter Seventeen

Fires littered the ground. Their heat simmering into the air, making the entire area oppressive to walk through. Durasteel shards and debris strewn about clashed with the lush green landscape. A wide black and brown scar cut into the terrain for two kilometers. They had not entered a combat zone. No. This was a death zone. The luxury yacht had crashed into the surface and came apart in its long, slow deceleration through trees, rocks, and dirt.

Aedan turned around and saw Master Yoda deep in meditation, using the Force to search for survivors. To his left Kit and Cin were wading through the rubble and scrap. Aedan did the same but the truth was evident. Nothing would survive this. The cockpit, fuselage, and engine compartment were nothing but fragments now.

"Luxury vacation yacht was touring the sector," Quix said as she stepped up alongside of Aedan. "They're still investigating, but sounds like they tried fleeing first, but were then boarded and this ship had more upgraded security. There was a fight. A big one. Life support systems and the engine room were damaged. Attackers escaped. The ship had no chance in space, so it tried to land but it was too damaged."

"How many were on board?"

"One hundred and eleven," she said, her voice cracking on the last word.

Aedan looked away sharply, and focused on his breathing. And then something caught his eye under a pile of still smoldering refuse. He stepped over to it, heartrate increasing with every step. He slowly bent down and picked up the item—a toy. A small stuffed snow wampa, its right arm and leg missing, while the top half of its tusked face was charred black.

White hot rage blasted through him. He had kept the anger at bay, but no longer. Sometimes anger can be used when it is right. And this was righteous anger. His eyes snapped to Master Drallig and Master Fisto. They held his gaze, fire simmering in their eyes as well. Aedan felt his lip curl into a sneer. Kit bared his teeth, the predator coming out. He turned to Quix, her previous despair replaced with fury. He faced Master Yoda, eyes wide open now.

"Take them out we must," he said

"They're going to pay for this.," Quix said.

"We'll get them," Aedan said. "I promise."

Quix nodded, recognizing the resolve.

Master Yoda had been right. All Aedan had needed to do was put one foot in front of the other and he would find his way. He would remember why he was a Jedi. To serve the will of the force. To protect the innocent and fight injustice.

And to vanquish evil.

After going over all the planetary and atmospheric scans, checking the readings of their defensive satellites, and reaching out deeply with the Force, Kyra was fairly certain that there would be no attacks coming tonight. She walked outside to the balcony that encircled the top floor of the building, leaned on the railing, and let out a long breath. Her first day went about as well as expected. Early in the morning she participated in some of the training drills that the troops went through, and then added some of her own having her and the other two Jedi along with cobalt squad, Hoppie, and the other officers simulate attacking droids from outside the wall. The soldiers had to respond quickly to their battle stations, and then, using stun rounds of course, attempt to hit the Masters. Initially, the Jedi didn't have to exert themselves much, but after several iterations, the clone's accuracy increased and the Jedi had to deflect more vigorously. Although overall it was a success, she could still feel a lot of doubt and distrust from the clones towards her. But that was to be expected. Tomorrow she would start incorporating her physical fitness training into their routine, which would probably make them hate her, but Aedan had ingrained in her the necessity to work out, and knew they would need it as well for the coming battles.

She felt Master Halcyon drawing near, and turned around to greet him. "Master," she said, bowing.

"Please, call me Neeja," he said.

"I'll try."

"Nice night here, isn't it?" He said, handing her a canteen.

Kyra nodded and took the canteen. It was nice, but without him here it would only be half of a special moment. Is that how her life was going to be? Half of a life? Was that even healthy? Of course it wasn't. So, what, she should forget about him? Move on?

Frak that

Kyra took a sip of the cool water.

"Just makes me wish my wife was here," Neeja said.

Kyra spewed out the water in a misty spray, and Neeja tilted his head back and laughed. "I was hoping that would happen."

"Master...what...your wife?"

Neeja smiled, eyes twinkling again, and nodded. "Yes, you're not the only one that has become...attached. We just haven't been caught."

Kyra opened her mouth to say several things, but had no idea where to start.

"Come on, we're going to be at this outpost for a while and will have plenty of time to talk about it. Right now, I want you to spend some time with Voolvif."

"Um...I'd love to, actually, but may I ask why?"

"Well, I think there's something you can learn from him."

"Great where is he?"

Neeja narrowed his eyes, "You tell me?"

Kyra smiled, and then closed her eyes, reaching out to the infinite energy field. She opened her eyes, and looked upwards at the cliff face that loomed over the outpost. "Up there."

"I figured as much," Neeja said. "Let's take a hike shall we. Ladies first."

The two Jedi found the narrow trail up the cliff face, and found a small alcove in the side of the mountain about fifty meters above the ground. They heard a deep growl once they stepped onto the rock platform. Kyra hesitated for a second, but knew the only way to handle the Shistavenen's abrasiveness was with audacity.

"Tell me Master Mon, do you enjoy being aloof, or has people's treatment of you made you that way."

There was a pause in the air, and Kyra thought maybe he would simply ignore her.

"Both."

"You think most people, even Jedi, never see the real you."

"Most don't care to even look," he growled. "And most aren't worth opening up to."

"And how would you know if you're always closed off. Walls don't just keep other people out; they keep you inside too."

He growled again in response, a deep rumble reverberating off the rock wall. "My kind was hunted and enslaved for this," he said grabbing a handful of the thick fur on his arms. "They used our pelts for decoration. I'll hide within my own hide as much as I want, and be just fine remaining unseen."

The words sank in, and the night grew quiet. She could feel Voolvif's irritation and deep simmering anger. She knew he wouldn't want her pity, but what he had to deal with in this life was a tragedy. She wanted him to know he had an ally in her, and only knew one way to do it.

She sucked in a deep breath, and then exploded into blue, furious light. Neeja gasped, and Voolvif barked in surprise, eyes going wide.

She stood up tall, holding her arms out to the side, and moved towards him. "I see you, Voolvif. I know the world has not been kind to you, and you feel like you don't owe it anything." She put her hand on his arm, "But I know your heart, and that you do want to connect with others. Maybe not everyone because apparently, they smell bad."

He barked out a laugh, but his eyes softened, eyebrows coming together. "I don't know how."

"I can help you. So will Neeja."

Voolvif's eyes flicked to Neeja who nodded slowly, a soft smile on his face.

"Okay. But this doesn't mean I'm suddenly pals with the clones. They all really do smell bad. Except for Hoppie. He's different somehow."

Kyra laughed, "Yea, I gathered that as well," her blue light fading within her skin, eyes returning to their normal bright blue.

"Well, that was enlightening," Neeja said.

Kyra glowered at the older master, "Really, you too with the bad jokes?"

"Ha, you should see me and Kahl together, we'd cause a riot."

She shook her head, "I believe it, and yet I'd still look forward to it," she turned back to Voolvif. "Now, Master Von, Neeja tells me you have something to teach me."

The shistavanen nodded slowly.

"Master Voolvif can create a Force barrier around himself that can deflect energy blasts and even lightsabers."

Kyra's eyebrows shot up. Now that she was not expecting. "Really?"

Voolvif nodded again.

"And you don't mind teaching me?"

He shook his head.

Kyra smiled widely, "Great, when do we start?"

"We'll start now."

After hours of searching through the wreckage and scouring through dozens of starship and planetary scans, they found nothing that would lead them to the dark jedi. They had no way of finding them, no leads, no hints, no inklings. Nothing.

He was always two steps behind Sa'kard, and now he was playing catch up to a bunch of second rate dark jedi losers. Anger and frustration welled up in him for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, but he bottled it up once more, harnessing it for when he could truly use it. Righteous anger could be useful, when directed at something properly. Now was not the time.

"Nothing more can we do here," Master Yoda said, approaching Quix and Aedan in the cockpit of the Mistrider. "Return to Vox Prime we shall."

Aedan nodded, and plopped down in the co-pilot chair.

"Do you have sleeping arrangement there?"

"No," Aedan responded, "We'll just sleep in the Nubian."

"Nonsense. You all can stay with me I have plenty of room. We can come back and get your ship tomorrow."

"Impose we couldn't. Quarters on the Nubian, comfortable they are."

Quix shook her head. "We don't know how long tracking them down is going to take. This could take months. It would be good for you all to have a homebase that you can return to for rest and recovery."

Aedan tilted his head to the side, "Can't argue with that. Thank you."

They zipped over the green terrain in the Mistrider and headed towards a small town about ten kilometers outside of Vox Prime. Quix guided the ship to a clearing a few clicks away from the town that was attached to a moderately sized house. The Mistrider landed and the five of them exited. Aedan instantly fell in love with the house. It was a big, lovely collaboration of wood and durasteel. It sat on a hill with massive windows overlooking the green valley. She walked us through the back patio, which had wooden benches setup around a firepit, and then inside into a big kitchen, with a large rectangular, marble island. Aedan had never seen a house so rustic and provincial. The simplicity and homeliness of this place made his heart ache for something he never knew he wanted. He turned to his right to get Kyra's opinion, knowing she was adoring it as much as he was.

The ache in his heart turned to a lightning strike of agony. Kyra was not here. She was somewhere among the stars, far far away.

"I don't know about you all, but after a day like that I always require a beer when returning home. Any takers?"

Kit and Cin both looked to Master Yoda for approval, but Aedan stepped forward without deliberation. "I will definitely take one."

Quix smiled, "You got it." She walked over to a cabinet and took out two big pint-sized glasses and then moved over to a small bar where a tap jutted out from the counter. She began filling it with amber liquid. It looked delicious.

"I'll take one too," Master Fisto said. "Wouldn't want Aedan to be alone in this."

"Right, because we're a team and all," Master Drallig said.

Quix was pleased with the requests and filled four glasses. "Master Yoda, care to join in?"

He sighed, "Been half a century it has since I've last consumed alcohol. Long enough it's been."

She filled a slightly smaller glass for Yoda, and then the five of them brought their glasses together. Aedan nodded to Quix.

"For the ones that we couldn't save. May they give us strength so we can save others."

Aedan brought the glass to his lips and drank deeply. "Whoa," he said, staring at the half-consumed glass and then over at Quix. "This is amazing."

Quix beamed, "Agoran ale, some of best brew you'll ever have. Pretty much the equivalent of Corellian or Chandrilan wine."

An image of Aedan drinking wine with the Dawnstars in their vineyard flashed through his mind, and he absently rubbed at his chest again. It always comes back to her.

"It's fantastic," Aedan said. The others expressed their appreciation as well, and the room fell into a companionable silence. It was a rough day for them, but these kinds of moments always seemed to take the edge off.

"This place is amazing, Quix," Aedan said, "Thank you again for letting us stay here."

The SecOps agent nodded, and then began shrugging off her body armor and tactical gear. "My grandparents were among the first settlers here, and helped create the town that we passed by on the way here. They built this house."

"Very Impressive," Master Fisto said, looking around the big, open kitchen.

"Kind of far from civilization though. I'm guessing you prefer that," Aedan added.

Quix shrugged and took a big gulp of her ale. "People aren't always the best. And they haven't always been the best towards me."

Aedan raised an eyebrow at her openness, but then frowned at the semantics of what she said. "Let me guess, a lot of men are intimated by you, and a lot of women don't know what to make of you."

Quix eyed him for a moment, and slowly nodded. "Yea, pretty much."

"But you have found a few people who care about you for who you are, and that's why you have the Mistrider. To get to them quickly."

Quix laughed, "Thats not why I have it, but yes, you're right. It definitely helps with that."

"Okay, what is it about this Mistrider that Aedan is so enamored with?" Master Drallig asked.

"The Idari Mistrider was a ship created long ago, like several millennia ago. But what makes it so special is it was innovated with ancient Gree technology. And any chance to reverse engineer the ship has failed. And by failed, I mean it explodes." Aedan said.

Quix nodded, "And most Mistriders were scattered about the galaxy. Almost as if whoever among the Idari Space Corporation created them, organized one massive treasure hunt that spanned the stars."

Master Yoda chimed in, "A legend there is, finding a mistrider, destiny it is."

Aedan nodded, "Exactly. The myth is that only a person meant to fly a Mistrider will find it."

"And what, you found one here?" Master Fisto asked.

Quix shook her head, "Nothing like that. The person that first came to Agora and established Vox Prime a half century before my grandparents got here gave it as a gift to my grandma. She was the pilot. And then she left it to me, as I was more like her than I was my mom."

"And here you are, pilot of a Mistrider," Aedan said with a smile.

"Here I am," she said. "But enough about that, we should probably get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll begin hunting those dark jedi punks down. There are three guest bedrooms upstairs, while the downstairs couch opens up into a bed."

"Great, I'll take the couch," Aedan said. "Thank you again for your hospitality."

Quix nodded, "Thank me by helping me put an end to those murderers."

"We'll do our best. I promise you that."

The other masters gave their thanks and headed up the stairs to turn in.

Aedan went through his nightly ablutions in the guest bathroom and got comfortable on the pullout bed. He had a feeling this was going to take a very long time.

Somewhere else you should be?

He imagined Master Yoda asking him that. And then he thought of the destruction and death he witnessed today, and how the dark jedi needed to be stopped. And he would be the one to stop them.

No. I'm exactly where I need to be.