Welcome to Chapter 19 of my Star Wars story.
In this chapter. the Huks make their boldest moves yet in their war with the Kaleesh and Qymaen smells a rat (well, a bug but you understand).
As always, I only own Zilku. Qymean, Ronderu and Gor belong to George Lucas, Abel G. Peña, Dave Filoni, LucasArts and Disney.
Without further ado, please enjoy Chapter 19 of Zilku: Daughter of Grievous.
Chapter 19 - Abesmi
Much to everyone's relief, Zaru was right about how easy Gor was to train. Within the first week of his arrival, Gor had been housetrained, knew his name from day one and had learned a few basic tricks like how to sit and to come when called. He also developed a strong attachment to his new family, particularly Qymaen.
However, this new attachment caused some problems whenever the family had to leave. "Gor, let go of my cape. We'll be back with you before dusk." Qymaen said firmly to the little roggwart, who had Qymaen's cape clamped tightly in his tiny mouth and was stubbornly pulling his master back.
Qymaen picked up the end of his cape and shook it in an attempt to get Gor to release his grip but to no avail as the tiny beast merely hung on with his small legs dangling underneath him. Qymaen eventually dropped his cape and turned around, causing Gor to release his master and await any instruction or praise. "Sit." Qymaen instructed, the roggwart quickly complying. Qymaen quickly followed with "Stay" and turned to leave, only to hear a small roar behind him which indicated Gor was not quite willing to stay put.
Waiting for her husband outside, Ronderu sighed in amusement. They had mastered many instructions with this new pet but remaining in one position was not one of them. Finally, Qymaen had gotten the young roggwart to stay in one place for more than five seconds and allow his master to leave the hut.
With that taken care of, the family went to the training grounds and headed straight to the war tent to plan their next attack. "Those bugs have made their boldest move yet. I've recently heard reports of a Huk colony in development on the beaches of the Jenuwaa Sea, right along the path to Abesmi. It appears as though they wish to dishonour the gods themselves." explained one of the khans, bitterly. "Those soulless bugs have no honour." declared Ronderu angrily.
Qymaen looked over the map of the beaches with a frown, assessing the potential battlefield and making up a strategy. Since the colony was still in development, there would be no larva or eggs to destroy, so therefore, there would be no need for the whole of the Kolkpravis to handle this battle but a few small brigades would do the trick.
Whatever the plan, they needed to make a pre-emptive strike before the cowardly insects could desecrate the sacred lands any further. It seemed profit was worth more to them than respecting the holy lands of the Kaleesh. Qymaen turned around with a stern expression on his face. He had a plan. The khans looked at Qymaen and asked "What is your plan of attack, o great one?"
"It would be unwise for our whole army to attack the Huks, when they have not even set the foundations of this colony and it would be a waste to use their own bombs against them. I suggest taking three small brigades, perhaps one hundred hordes each, to three points around the bugs' location. I also suggest that our swordsmasters and those who wield a spear attack the soulless bugs directly, whilst our marksmen take sniper positions around the battlefield to eliminate all the cowardly insects who try to escape." Qymaen explained, pointing to three locations around where the colony was said to be.
"It will take us three days to reach the beaches. Once we are there, we must attack at first light. That way, the slaving scum will never see us coming and we will have seized victory." he concluded.
The khans stood around Qymaen in silence, contemplating his plan of attack against the Huks' latest attempt to lay claim to the lands of Kalee. After a long silence, they finally decided. "We agree with your suggestion, o great General. However, we must be given a few weeks to gather supplies and prepare our troops for the coming battle. In the meantime, I will send word to our forces around the Jenuwaa Sea to monitor the Huks' movements on the beaches for any further development of a colony." said one khan.
"Very well, you will be given three weeks to prepare. Let us pray that the cowards do not desecrate our lands any further." Qymaen replied, understanding that preparations must be made despite the urgency of this mission. "Choose your troops wisely. You are dismissed." He said, concluding the planning.
When they arrived home, Qymaen sat at the table alone with a concerned look on his face. Usually the Huk would have already built a new colony before the Kaleesh even knew they had arrived at any location. For them to allow a new colonisation attempt to be detected at this early stage, at a sacred place no less, was certainly out of the ordinary and gave Qymaen the uneasy feeling that he could potentially be leading a brigade of warriors straight into a trap.
"Qymaen?" asked Ronderu cautiously, driving her husband from his thoughts and back to reality. "Yes, Ronderu. What is it?" Qymaen responded. "Is everything alright? You seem concerned about something." Ronderu inquired, going over to sit next to him.
Qymaen sighed sadly and explained "Something's not right. Usually, we don't hear of another Huk colony until it's already formed, especially if it is on holy lands. For the Huk to attempt such an insult to our people so recklessly is very suspicious. I can't shake the feeling that we might be wandering into a trap. That is why I suggested a smaller attack. I also do not know if it would be wise to bring Zilku with us on this mission. If she were to be injured or killed by those bugs, I would never forgive myself. It would leave us heartbroken and disgrace the names of our ancestors."
Ronderu put her arm around her husband's shoulders comfortingly and said "Zilku is stronger then you think, my dreamer, and as long as we remain together in battle, you shall never lose me either. Even if this does turn out to be a trap, I believe that your strategy will drive the cowardly bugs from the Jenuwaa Sea and we will still be victorious. Do not fear your own mind, my love. You command the strongest armies on Kalee."
Qymaen looked at his wife and then looked over her shoulder at their daughter, who was currently with Gor, working on continuing his training by getting him to stay but failing as the little creature was distracted by a tiny flying insect, who was doing it's best to avoid the tiny roggwart. He sighed and, returning his wife's embrace, said "Once again, you are right. Thank you, my dreamt one."
Suddenly, the pair was startled when a long tongue shot out in front of them, catching the flying insect that had been evading the owner. The tongue then shot back, taking the unfortunate fly straight into Gor's mouth, and the tiny beast happily ate the insect while Zilku looked at her parents, feeling rather sheepish. "Sorry, Mama, sorry, Papa. I'll take Gor somewhere else." said the youngling, leading the satisfied roggwart to another room in the hut.
Ronderu shot her husband an amused look and asked "Are you still sure it was a good idea to bring a roggwart into our family?" Qymaen replied "Only as sure as I was marrying you and having our daughter."
Ronderu feigned hurt feelings and retorted "Well if that's what you think, maybe I should go elsewhere." Getting up to leave the table, she was stopped by her husband's hand on her arm as he brought back to his side. "No matter what happens, I have never regretted you and Zilku coming into my life." Qymaen reassured her. "I never doubted it for a moment." Ronderu responded fondly.
For a while, the couple sat in silence, just enjoying being together, before a small roar brought both of them out of their thoughts. "Gor, no!" came their daughter's annoyed voice, "You just ate! Leave that insect alone and listen to me!"
Greatly entertained by their daughter's difficulty with their pet, both parents left the table and headed toward where the noise was coming from, deciding that it would be wise to relieve the child of the task of trying to control the young beast before chaos reigned.
As the family retired for the night, Qymaen thought about the conversation he and Ronderu had that afternoon and, though he was reassured by her words, he could not eliminate the feeling that something terrible was going to happen.
Should Qymaen trust his feelings or is he just being paranoid?
As stated above, I only own Zilku. I do not own Qymaen, Ronderu or Gor.
Apologies for taking so long to post but there were a few technical difficulties. I hope to post more regularly in the future.
I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and I hope to have the next chapter posted as soon as possible.