Monday, May 12, 2014
Edge of the Empire - Memories of the Beginning
A figure reviews a holonet message at a public kiosk. It nods in approval before hitting "Send".
The message flashes once before confirmation is displayed. "Xol Paan. You may wish to find yourself at Dex's Diner; Collective Commerce Sector,the next time you find yourself on Coruscant.
- A Friend"
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Xol lifts his head up off the table and looks at his communicator sitting by a cup of coffee. He doesn't even know why he makes the stuff and puts it in a mug. He can't dink it that way. A large, slobbering, six legged dog of sorts, with drooping flaps of skin, runs into the galley and stares up at the sleepy Kel-dor. "You look like you were expecting this call...you take it," he says to the strill with a smile. The creature whines and runs off quickly down a corridor.
ReplyDeleteXol stands up, rubbing the back of his head and then he quickly snaps out of his daze. "Set..." He sighs and heads toward the bridge, checking the message he has just received. "Friend huh..." Without looking up from the message Xol says sternly, "Out of my chair...it's on auto-pilot anyway..."
"Widdimur!" a voice whispers. "Traitor..." A young peach colored Kel-dor in brown robes slides out of the pilot's chair and slinks out of the room, followed by the strill. Xol flops into the chair and checks the charts. It's been fairly lazy ever since he decided to cut himself away from the group he had traveled with before. It hasn't been as tough as he thought it would be to raise Set and still do jobs for the Sector Rangers. The jobs are never very difficult. Xol wonders if they give him the easy jobs on purpose, or if the jobs seem easy in comparison to everything else he had to endure.
He sighs into his mask. It doesn't really matter. Xol flips a switch and talks over the ship's comms. "Hey...Set..."
Xol hears a quick response. "I didn't do it!"
Xol laughs. "I'll look later to see if you're telling the truth. But...what do you think about stopping at Coruscant? We aren't that far away. We can get off the ship and wander around."
"Sounds good! Can Wid and I go shopping?"
"Of course." Xol flips the switch again and gets the ship moving toward Coruscant. Set has grown some since they left. Not too much and for some reason that makes Xol glad. At first it was hard on Set. He missed Ti-Ket the most but eventually, he took to the Baran Do training and focused on that.
It doesn't take very long before The Sarlacc lands and the three passengers hop off. "I'm meeting someone," Xol informs Set. "I'll be at Dex's Diner." Set looks at Xol's face. Even though they each wear a mask and goggles, Xol can tell Set is worried. "I'll be fine," Xol laughs.
"You'd better be," Set mumbles as he walks off with Widdimur.
Xol walks up to the Diner and enters the front door. A few guests look up at him and he holds a hand up and smiles. He wears his dark ranger's uniform and figures they might be worried he's looking for someone. His body language must have been convincing enough, and the guests go back to eating.
In a booth at the far corner of the diner, a familiar blonde woman smiles at Xol and waves him over. She is dressed in practical, but upscale clothing decorated with a Senatorial attache badge.
ReplyDeleteHer sapphire blue eyes sparkle as she greets the Kel-Dor. "Long time no see, Xol."
"Lara?" Xol moves very close to her face and squints at her eyes before backing up again. "Lara!" he says happily and sits down at the booth. "Are you doing well?"
ReplyDeleteThe woman nods. "You got the right name, good to see you remember the crazy little run-a-way girl you took in a long time ago. I'm doing well, Xol. As good as one can being a Senator's Aide.
ReplyDelete"You seem to be doing well. How's Set and Whiddimur?"
"I could never forget that day...never forget you..." Xol nods. "They're both doing well. Off exploring someplace." He folds his hands on the table and looks at Lara. "Did you need help with anything? I wasn't sure what to expect when I received your message."
ReplyDelete"Well, I was trying to fly a little under the scanner with the message. I feared it was too cryptic. But my sister could use your aid. There's a matter that needs to not involve 'Imperial Entanglements' and she's not willing to trust mercenaries or bounty hunters with it. She still fearful of the Mandalorians and the Death Watch. Reflecting on things, you seemed to be someone trustworthy and with enough legitimacy to satisfy the job.
ReplyDelete"But we can talk business later. We should catch up over some food. Try the Jawa Juice, its great!"
Xol furrows his brow. "I'd need more details of course. I can't promise anything other than I will try my very best while making sure Set and I do not end up too deep in something serious like before. However...sometimes it can't be helped," he shrugs with a sigh.
ReplyDelete"Oh...I don't know about Jawa Juice...the name...the thought of it...the possibilities," he chuckles. "I've never trusted it."
Lara nods. "I wouldn't ask if I thought it was going to be be dangerous. You two are family to me, I wouldn't send you into danger knowingly. Like I said, I'll explain more and show you some data if you wish to retire back to your ship or some lodgings. There's more than enough room at the consulate.
ReplyDelete"It's pretty good. A lot tamer than the stuff Sera would tend to get into." she chuckles a little.
"So what have you been up to Xol these past few years?"
Xol glances over the menu quietly as Lara speaks. When she asks him the question, he looks up at her. "I went back to what I was doing before. Just working for the Sector Rangers and keeping up with Baran Do training for myself and Set. Everything seems easier and simpler now." Xol folds his hands on the table. "How about you? Nothing...crazy?" he asks, raising a brow.
ReplyDeleteLara laughs a little nervously. "Crazy, huh
ReplyDelete"Well, I've been helping my sister as an aide and kind of a bodyguard. I sit in meetings, take notes, kind of keep an eye on her and the people around her. She's got a lot of trust issues with all the Mandalorians hunting her in the past. It took a awhile to win her over, but even then she's not the warmest of people. She has't really opened up about her life either, but she trusts me despite certain things..."
"At least there is some progress," Xol nods. He furrows his brow and waves his hand over the menu. "These places almost never take unique alien species into account. You never see anything from Dorin on a menu." Xol chuckles a bit. "But maybe it's because most will find it unappetizing."
ReplyDeleteLara smiles "Well, do you think it would taste as good if you had to drink it with a straw?"
ReplyDeleteAfter awhile, Lara changes the topic of conversation. "Xol, I've been thinking about my past recently. I've wondered if not being raised in the temple was a good thing or not. I mean a LOT of bad things happened to me, but I wasn't wiped out like the rest of them...
ReplyDelete"I've only got my memories of seeing Jedi in news reports from the Clone War. I remember playing Jedi Hero with the other kids on my street as we'd all be a famous Jedi fighting to save the galaxy. Which is really amusing, I know...
"But other than the holocron, I really don't know much about them as people. Were they people or were they like the stoic holograms we've seen with no life to them? You were old enough to really remember the Clone War, Xol. What do you remember of the Jedi? Did you ever meet one?"
Xol nods. "I've met a few Jedi. Mostly after my work with the Sector Rangers. I've even had to work with a few. But I met my first Jedi when I was a child on Dorin."
ReplyDelete"At first, I would just see them from a distance. They'd go into the Sage temples, probably discussing the Flow. I would mainly hear a lot of stories from my parents about a kel-dor Jedi named Plo Koon."
He shakes his head and chuckles softly. "In my mind, he was a sort of super hero. And then one day, I was able to actually meet him. He was a Baran Do Sage like my parents and very good friends with them. To my surprise, he looked like any other kel-dor and acted just the same. You'd think maybe I'd have been disappointed, but I wasn't."
"He'd come back to the temples occasionally and we'd talk and meditate and have dinner with my parents." Xol sighs. "Plo was a very kind and patient being. He thought highly of his troops even when others thought they were just mindless copies." He looks down at the 'talons' on his fingers then back up. "But Plo Koon was just the first Jedi I had met. Their personalities vary, just like everyone else. Some were cold like the holocron images, and some were so caring and giving, as if the people they were protecting were their own children."
This seems to comfort Lara some. "That's good to know. So what was it like working with them? I guess nothing like our adventures with Sera and Cyrus?"
ReplyDelete"Well," Xol taps the table. "Not exactly the same but there were definitely interesting moments."
ReplyDelete"Now, I looked up to Plo not because he was a Jedi, but because he was a sage and a kel-dor. And he was strong. When I was young, I was a hot headed child who thought he could do anything and didn't need anyone else to help him do it. We aren't a typically physically strong race," he chuckles. "So I was weak and stubborn and hot headed."
"One of my first assignments as a Sector Ranger ended with me baby sitting a Jedi padawan. At seventeen I had to babysit someone," he shakes his head. "I wasn't happy about it and I was pretty mean to him."
-------------------------------------------------------
Xol waits for Kale to finish checking in. He stands outside the Sarlacc and looks over his data-pad at his newest assignment. He grumbles at the thought of a lousy security job and is even more unhappy that he was punished with a Jedi.
Kale walks down the Sarlaac's boarding ramp with a large smile on his face. It seems that any effect Xol's bad attitude might have had is gone.
ReplyDelete"All done. Talked with a couple of Inspectors with CorSec and made sure everything is clear skies. I forgot how good it would be being back on Corellia."
Hirani wakes up at the crack of 2 p.m. and slowly begins to stir in her soft silk sheets. She presses her bottom against Zee'Nah and begins to wiggle to wake her as well. Hirani softly giggles as Zee'Nah growls and swats at her but she continues to provoke her.
ReplyDelete"You frelling brat," Zee'Nah mutters good naturedly. She growls playfully and grabs Hirani close. "What could you possibly want to do that requires being awake before dark?"
ReplyDeleteHirani looks into Ze'Nah's brilliant blue eys and grins. "Shopping, of course, and I would kill for a grilled dewback salad right now." She sits up and lets the sheets fall off of her and rolls onto her elbow. "I felt sure my tummy growling would hake woke you by now but it didn't. I had to take matters into my own hands, so to speak." She giggles again and then slides out of bed and goes to look out the windows.
ReplyDeleteZee grins and watches her. After three years she still couldn't get over how every beam of light or hint of shadow wrapped around Hirani. Like the whole galaxy was made to be her jewelry.
ReplyDelete"Hungry, huh? You could always get room service."
"I know but then I couldn't get new shoes. I mean, we could have them brought up but then I wouldn't get looked at or anything. I do enjoy being looked at..." She trails off and continues to look out the windows. "You know, that jedi was just almost cute. We should get him into the real world and loosen him up some." She turns quickly, a huge grin on her face, and leaps into the bed and lands on top of Zee'Nah.
ReplyDeleteShe grunts, laughing. "You are a selfish, vain, shallow little thing. And now you want to corrupt a Jedi?" Laughing, Zee'Nah rolls her over and pins her. "That will be something to watch."
ReplyDeleteShe looks up at Zee, and looks sad for a moment,"Watch? You don't want to help?" She grins again and begins to wiggle underneath Zee's weight. "It could be really fun, you know you love fun. Come on, do it for me?" She fixes on those brilliant eyes again and almost gets lost in them.
ReplyDeleteZee'Nah chuckles, kissing one of Hirani's tails. "Of course I will," she relents. Rolling off the bed, she pulls her coat on and grabs her breeches.
ReplyDelete"Shoes, is it?"
Hirani puts a finger to her lips,"Could be boots too, just depends on my mood, and the boots too." She laughs at that comment and then strolls into her closet to find an outfit.
ReplyDeleteZero walks in behind her, reaching around and plucking a dress off the rack. It's a deep bronze, covered in tiny scales that refract light in a shimmering haze.
ReplyDelete"This one," she says, nuzzling her neck. "I like to watch you in this one."
Hirani takes the dress from Zee and slides into it, and then grabs a pair of heels made to match. She sits on the lounge in the ample closet and slips th shoes on and fastens the buckles. She looks up occasionally to make sure Zee is watching. "How's that, love? Good enough for shopping?"
ReplyDelete"Perfect." Strapping on her belt and weapon, she waits till her charge is ready to go.
ReplyDeleteThey head down to the lobby in the elevator and out to the street. Hailing a speeder-cab Hirani directs the droid cabbie to take them to the upper scale shopping district. As they are cruising to thire destination, Hirani slides over to Zee and leans against her and sighs a sigh of contentment. "Maybe you need to pick something out too. Something for yourself. I know daddy won't mind, he hardly even notices when I do." She looks out the view ports as the spires of buildings rush by.
ReplyDeleteZee'Nah chuckles again and pats Hirani's leg. "What would that be, Sugarpants? I've got everything right here."
ReplyDeleteHirani places her hand on Zee's. "Then pick something out for me to wear for you. That would work just as well." She snuggles in closer to Zee. The cab pulls in to a docking area and they climb out onto the elevated sidewalk. Hirani takes Zee's hand and leads her toward one of the upscale eateries. "First things first, I've just got to get that salad."
ReplyDelete"Thank the Force," Zee'Nah says, rubbing a hand over her stomach. "I'm starving."
ReplyDeleteThey go in and get seated pretty quickly after she drops a few names and evil grins. When they reach the table she orders two drinks and her grilled dewback salad and then turns the waiter over to Zee.
ReplyDeleteThe Luxan proceeds to order the same salad as Hirani, along with an order of bantha ribs. "And um...cheese, some ale, and those round little fruits? The ones without the seed in them." Looking over at Hirani, she lowers the menu. "That should do."
ReplyDeleteHirani smiles, "Yes, that should do nicely", she smiles at the waiter, giving him a little extra twinkle in her eyes. She then turns back to Zee, "What should we do first? I'm thinking boots would be nice. Some nice thigh boots made from dewback hide and dyed red. What do you think?"
ReplyDeleteXol rolls his eyes. "This over crowded noisy place? I can't hear myself think." He presses a few buttons on a pad by the boarding ramp and the entrance to the ship closes.
ReplyDelete"So, what did you do that you ended up on my ship?" he smirks. "Or didn't do...or aren't able to do..." Xol stuffs his hands in his pockets and makes his way down the street, assuming Kale will follow him.
Zero hears every word, even if she isn't looking at her. "Purple, I think," she answers, scanning the patrons for any threat. "Last time you said the red made your feet hit."
ReplyDelete"That is true..." A frown crosses her lips as she remembers the pain. "I think purple will be purrrfect for me." She loses the frown quckly and slides her foot up Zee's leg. "I can't wait for you to take them off of me either."
ReplyDeleteKale moves alongside Xol. "Who says this is a punishment? The council felt I should come here. I trust their wisdom in their selection of me for this assignment, just as well since I'm from Corellia originally.
ReplyDelete"For what it's worth Xol, I do feel bad for this. It seems to be disproportionate punishment to an accident... against a highly important and very wealthy person, with many allies whom he could use to punish you. Actually, in that context, I find it interesting that you aren't now a part of an animal clean-up detail."
Zee'Nah laughs, winking at a nearby Duro staring at them. "Hot," she laughs. "You said they made your feet hot. Do you realize you make me incapable of actual speech sometimes?"
ReplyDelete"But I make you very capable of doing other things with your mouth besides speaking." She 'accidently' knocks her fork off the table. "Oh my, look what I've done." She then stands and turns to pick up her fork, pressing her bottom against Zee's shoulder as she does. Holding her pose for a few seconds before retrieving her fork and sitting down. "Is that something that causes that speech problem you mentioned?" Hirani bats her eyelashes at Zee' Nah as she takes a long, slow drink from her glass.
ReplyDeleteZee groans a little and restrains herself from patting Hirani's backside. "You're awful, and if I were half as genius as you, I'd resign from your father's service and go back to the military."
ReplyDelete"Let's not talk about that, I couldn't stand if you were to ever leave me." Hirani takes another long drink and drains the glass.
ReplyDeleteShe motions for the waiter to refill her glass. Once he's gone, she reaches for Hirani's hand. "Then it's a good thing I'm not, Sugarpants."
ReplyDeleteXol shoots Kale what he assumes must be a dirty look from under the mask and goggles. "There is absolutely no way that would ever happen. My command may want to appease these stuffy koochoo dopa maskey politicians, but there is no way something so insulting would be allowed. The most they'd do is send me someplace else which wouldn't be such a bad thing." He shrugs and looks forward. He doesn't seem to be walking anywhere in particular. He looks around at all the different people and places. Just watching as he walks along.
ReplyDeleteAfter a few blocks of walking in silence, Kale clears his throat. "So... the middle of a sector torn apart by battle with the Separatists and the GAR would be preferable?"
ReplyDeleteXol sighs heavily and shakes his head. "Is this your thing? You just say a bunch of nonsense? I know you Jedi like to say what you think to be thoughtful and helpful lessons in riddles, but it's actually not as useful as you think."
ReplyDeleteHe looks around and realizes they are surround by various restaurants. "So," Xol says strangely cheerful. "You said something about getting lunch? I'm feeling like something especially expensive."
Kale rolls his eyes at Xol. "I'm trying to provide some perspective. Sure, you got the short end of the stick on this. However, you could come out of this looking better than before. It's all in how you want to accept what comes to you. You can either look at this as a punishment or see this as an opportunity for something in the future.
ReplyDelete"Yes, but... not something ridiculous or expensive just to be mean."
Hirani smiles and grips Zee's hand tightly. She holds her hand as she continues to eat her salad for a while. A smile playing across her face as she does.
ReplyDeleteZeen'Nah shakes her head, grinning as they eat. When I signed on, I never expected all this, she thinks. Just a spoiled brat with daddy issues and too much time and credits. Boy was I wrong.
ReplyDelete"Besides boots, what else is on today's list?" she asks.
Hirani takes on a thoughtful look and then replies "Maybe some exciting lingerie?" She squeezes Zee's hand and grins.
ReplyDeleteLaughing, Zee'Nah wipes some sauce from the corner of her mouth. "For you, I hope," she laughs, remembering how ridiculous she looked the one time Hirani talked her into lace and satin.
ReplyDeleteHirani begins to look around the room, looking for anything of interest to toy with. She finally spots an older human that looks quite well off and rather bored. She nods toward the gentleman and says, "Zee, I think I've found desert."
ReplyDeleteLaughing, she gestures his way. "Help yourself, I've still got ribs."
ReplyDelete"Me? Mean?" Xol asks confused. He stops walking and scans the many different food choices. Instead of picking the most expensive place he could find, Xol instead decides to use Kale to get into a place he's always wanted to try. The price was out of his range but it wasn't terrible over priced for food. It was a place that always had him close to drooling when he walked by and could smell them cooking.
ReplyDelete"There," he finally says pointing a restaurant out. "I hear the food is amazing. It always smells good."
Kale appraises the restaurant then nods. "Sure, sounds great."
ReplyDeleteLeading the way into place, he smiles at the Hostess and says "A table for my friend and I."
As he signals "two" with his hand his outer robe opens slightly showing more of Jedi robes beneath.
As they are lead to the table, Kale turns to Xol. "So how did you hear of this place?"
Hirani finishes her salad and then stands, watching the older gentleman the same way a nexu watches a bark rat. She stalks toward his table and slides in opposite of him still smiling. He looks up, rather startled and smiles back demurely. Wordlessly, she slides her now bare foot up his leg and under his trouser cuff.
ReplyDeleteLaughing, Zee'Nah catches sight of their two companions from last night at a table near the door. "Xol!" she calls, waving him over. "Come over here!"
ReplyDeleteKale glances in the direction of the person calling to Xol. He ducks his head down slightly. "It seems that the two young ladies we did security for are across the room and calling out to you. Or at least the tall one is."
ReplyDelete