> In business news, Hyperium Exchange officials reported that fluctuations in hyperfuel commodity prices have been less extreme than anticipated. New rhydonium reserves in the Daalang sector's Deep Kaapial nebula are scheduled to begin shipping within two months as the Gexorr Mining Company's newest interstellar processing platform comes online. The additional rhydonium is expected to bring much-needed fuel stocks to the Mid and Outer Rim territories. A reported deal between Gexorr, the Exchange, and the New Republic would provide fixed payments in lieu of taxes for ten years, but details of that arrangement were not made public.
>
> Exchange spokesbeing Urqtlii Babeesh released a pre-recorded statement that «...congratulates Exchange partner Gexorr for their resourcefulness in extracting valuable resources from the nebula, which was thought to be impenetrable. These new fuel stocks will be a boon to thousands of poorer systems struggling to recover from the effects of the recent civil war.»
>
> When questioned about the revenue sharing arrangement, Republic officials declined to comment.
>
> -Edon Pitda
> Galactic HoloNews Business Correspondent
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41:04:04 GrS
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Working alongside Yuzu, Taz spent the morning rearranging the cargo in the starboard hold to clear a space big enough to get in some lightsaber practice. On the Misery he'd used Aurora Ascendant to terrible effect, cutting down Agonis's monstrous Appendages in his Force-fueled vengeance. Now under calmer circumstances, he was curious to see how his new 'relationship' with the darker side of the Force would affect the lessons he'd learned on Inusagi.
He took the practice remotes out of their case and set them floating. Then a thought occurred to him. He grabbed each of the remotes and scrawled names on them:
Raga
Bilarupal
Pavurati
"There. My three Sengurus," he pronounced with a wry grin.
Moving to the center of the space he'd cleared, he activated the training drones with the controller. As they swirled around him, Taz dialed back the power on his saber, pulled on the blinders, and pushed the activation stud. Aurora Ascendant hissed to life as he settled into the Force.
Just like his experiences over the past few days, he felt the dark Force most strongly. The shadowy flow wasn't like the nebulous gray mist he was used to, but it was becoming more familiar to him. More comfortable, too. Taz cleared his mind and found the three remotes bobbing in the currents, creating their own eddies as they moved around. He reached out a little farther and found Lyra and Reiko, Yuzu standing near the steps into the bay, and the others farther within the mass of the Skipjack Chimera surrounding him. Taz made a slow nod and assumed the ready position.
The remotes moved in a coordinated dance, darting, spinning, and switching positions. Their attenuated blaster bolts made long gouges in the Force that filled in almost instantly, like a finger drawn through a dish of valbredo sauce. Taz sensed the wake they left and let the Force guide his response.
The exercise started easily and he didn't really have to move around that much. Unlike the last time he'd sparred with the remotes, he found himself gaining more and more comfort with the blocking moves, the twists of arms and swiveling wrists, the sliding footwork that he'd learned on the ji-sho-te practice field. He took a stinging shot here and there but he was able to parry nearly all of them.
The round ended and the remotes' co-op mesh processed the data inputs through their heuristic algorithms during a two-minute rest period. Then they reset their difficulty level. When they started again the attacks came faster, from multiple directions and angles simultaneously. They forced Taz not only to block with his saber but to duck, leap, and run. He was glad he hadn't put the blinders back on or else they'd have have totally overwhelmed him.
The Force flashed glimpses of the future a few precious instances ahead. It took more of his concentration to see them and he lost the visions a few times. The remotes punished him with shots he struggled to counter but by the end of the five-minute session he'd gained another degree of control, however miniscule.
The remotes hovered for the rest period leaving Taz winded. But his sense within the Force was sharp and he'd been able to spend a little more of his conscious thought on planning a response instead of just following where the Force led him.
The hum from the remotes went up a tone or two in pitch as they reset to the next level. Taz prepared himself. This time when they attacked, he thrust an arm out and pushed, flinging one of the remotes wildly while he leaped toward another, landing a solid slash on it. The remote beeped its casualty tone and withdrew, hovering out of the fight for a few seconds before it rejoined the melee.
Taz ground his way through the five-minute round, using the Force to supplement his moves and augment his perceptions. His footwork was still flat, his strikes straightforward, his blocks basic, but he pushed and pulled on the remotes, throwing them off their attack vectors so that their shots missed him and the timing of their combined attacks faltered. He even managed to fling a box of red lantis tea at them.
The third session ended and the remotes hovered. Heaving from the exertion, Taz extinguished Aurora Ascendant with a low shwooop and pressed the standby button on the controller. The simple droids floated back to the side of the cargo hold, emitted their polyphonic chimes, and powered down their blasters.
Yuzu's recording light went dark. "I must say, Master Taz-nagrasha, your combat effectiveness appears to have improved by sixty-four point three three seven percent compared to your previous exercise with the training remotes."
"Thanks, Yuzu," he acknowledged as he packed the remotes in their case. "That felt more... natural. Still simple but a lot smoother. I could see how they were moving and predict where they were going to be, even their firing angles."
He grinned and shook his head. The dark Force had enhanced his strength, and he decided his newfound ease with telekinesis was probably due to it, too. He scowled a little. "When my mind is really still, the Force lets me glimpse the future. It doesn't always give me enough lead time to formulate a defense but a lot of times it does. And I need more endurance." He let out a winded sigh. "Little steps, Yuzu, little steps."
"Indeed, Master. Although my sensors cannot detect the Force, your improvement exceeds that which can readily be attributed either to natural progression through repetitive practice, or inborn talent."
Taz aimed a wry grin at the droid. "Are you saying I have no talent, Yuzu?"
The L-1 quickly raised apologetic hands. "Oh no, I would never think such a thing, Captain Oktos-nagrasha! Maker fry my circuits if I gave you —"
Taz cut him off with a hearty chuckle. "I'm joking, Yuzu."
"Oh. Yes, of course. Forgive me, I'm still adjusting to the nuances of humor among Humans."
It's fine, Yuzu, really. Go on, I think I interrupted you."
"Thank you, Captain. As to physical fitness and endurance, a search of the holonet indicates that an incremental approach is the key for organic beings to generate positive results over the long term. If you'd like, I'll gladly consult with Ariel to develop a program of calisthenic and aerobic conditioning for you."
"I'd appreciate that, thanks," Taz answered the eager droid. "Thanks for your help with the redecorating, too." He waved around the hold.
"Of course, Captain. Shall I replace the cargo in its previous configuration?"
"Let's leave it as-is, Yuzu. I want to do more sparring before we get back to Sansone."
"A wise decision, Master," agreed Yuzu with a definitive nod. "I will adjust the Skipjack Chimera's inertial compensators based on her current mass distribution."
"Great idea," Taz waved as he climbed the steps and headed back to his cabin for a shower.
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Lyra busied herself at the decorative shelf she'd attached to the wall beside the door. She'd sawed the thick block of navawood from one of the trees they'd purchased, then shaped it the best she could with the tools they had onboard and some help from Tetris. It wasn't nearly the quality of her father's work but Lyra thought it captured the simple, unfinished aesthetic he espoused. In spirit at least, if not in execution.
She added bamboo votive holders, then began drawing items from the box she'd retrieved from the Ragas' home; a sakoola wood hair clasp that Allegra treasured; a printed copy of the maths textbook her mother had authored; a whittling knife her father had carried in the folds of his sayaka, a colorful woven bracelet she'd received from Aunt Subali on her eleventh birthday, and a worn flight manual Uncle Shin had given her. They amounted to little more than trinkets, but the memories they evoked were priceless. The projector resting on the dark navawood slab lit up at her touch, casting holo images of her family and the Ragas.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Taz walked out of the shower looking refreshed. He slipped his arms around her from behind and nuzzled her neck. "I love this," he murmured while he caressed her through her soft blue mazinwool jumper. "It clings in all the right places."
The feel of his hands roaming over her body made her coo with desire. Lyra turned in his arms and kissed him. For a moment she thought about pulling him to the bed, but instead she returned to adjusting the mementos. Later, Lyra, you'll have him. The thought made her tingle.
"What's this?" asked Taz, nodding toward the shelf.
"We call it a kudahna. It's a kind of shrine that we put in our homes to honor our departed loved ones. I left room so you can add some things from your family too."
"I don't have much, just a holo or two." For a moment she could see the awful emptiness in his eyes as he fell into a memory. "My family's apartment block was pretty much incinerated. There wasn't anything for me to recover."
"It's important to remember them, Taz." Her voice was low, and thick with empathy.
"Yeah." Moving a little stiffly, he rummaged through a drawer and found the holoframe he'd taken when he left home to join Razorclaw. "Here you go." He held it out along with two pieces of glass. One was crystal clear, or it had been once. It was thick as her finger with a jagged perimeter and deep scratches on its smooth face. The other was a misshapen lump that fit neatly in his palm, brown and nearly opaque with embedded grit.
Lyra set the holoframe on the shelf and turned it on. The pictures of his parents and sisters began appearing. She'd seen them before a couple of times. "Your family seems nice." She found his hand and squeezed it. "You don't talk about them very much. Do you think about them?"
"Most days," Taz admitted with a bare sigh. His lips twitched at an image of Hele and Soovi. His sisters were standing on a bench in front of a water ride at Vrast's Melarsha ecopark, making faces and poking their tongues out.
"What are those?" She motioned to the chunks of glass.
Taz put the smoother piece on the shelf next to the frame. "This one's part of the Vrast climate dome."
"And the other?" she whispered.
Taz swallowed. "Sand glass, melted by the turbolasers." He put it on the other side of the frame.
Lyra kissed his hand and held it tight, her eyes moist. "I'm sorry you don't have anything... happier."
"It's okay, the happy stuff is here." He tapped at his heart, then watched the holos with her. After a minute he made a quiet cough and glanced around the cabin at the brightly patterned bedcover, floor runners, and wall hangings. "I like what you've done in here. You've made it all nest-y."
She laughed a little and hugged his waist. "I'm pretty sure that's not a word, but despite your atrocious command of Basic vocabulary I thought I'd stick around, so..."
"That makes me really happy. I love you, Lyra."
She flashed an impish grin. "Are you sure? After all, I'm not a wealthy noblewoman anymore."
"The money was nice and I did enjoy being the consort of a noble lady..." he trailed off with an arch look and a sparkle in his beguiling blue eyes, "but wealthy or no, title or no, I love you, Lyra."
"I know you do." She took his hand again and led him to the bed.
"Making an early night of it?"
Lyra aimed a coquettish smile at him. "Maybe, but not just yet." She let her gaze linger on his naked chest and touched the fine scars from his battle with the Sith scientist. "Do they still hurt?"
"A little, but I don't mind." Taz put his hand over hers. "I'm glad you found me and brought me back from that madness. If I'd become like Agonis..." He shivered when he thought about how close he'd come, yet again, to succumbing to the Force's darkness.
"He's gone, Taz, destroyed with that terrible ship of his." She hoped it was really true.
He put on an uncertain smile. "You haven't told me what's going on."
Her eyes twinkled under the cabin lights. "You look good, Officer Oktos."
"Um, thanks." Taz looked at her sidelong through narrowed lids.
Lyra tilted her head toward the bed where she'd laid out a pair of the spacer's pants he favored. "Get dressed."
While he did, she took his towel and rubbed his head, then tried to make sense of his thick sandy locks with her fingers. "That'll do for now," she pronounced, feigning a frown. She beckoned him over to the closet. "Would you open that?" She gave him her most innocent look and jostled the towel. "My hands are full."
Taz hesitated before tapping the switch plate. There was no telling what Lyra might have waiting for him, especially when she was in a mood for mischief. He touched the plate and the closet door slid open with a quiet buzz.
Taz's surprised gasp made her laugh. A dozen silk shirts hung inside. Beside them was a stylish vest made of tough-looking animal hide. The bold diamond pattern and pebbled texture melded perfectly with the subtle reddish-brown highlights on the black leather.
Lyra selected a deep red ochre shirt with a squared off band collar. "Button up," she ordered while she took the vest off its hanger. She slipped it over his arms, then turned him to face her and fastened the antiqued bronzium clasps at the front. "There," she said, activating the full-length mirror on the closet door. "Now you look like the captain of a fine ship instead of a Rebel seijin."
"Seijin?"
"A scruffy, uncouth boor," she poked with a gleam in her eye.
Taz pretended offense as he turned this way and that, admiring the cut of the vest. He ran his hands over it, intrigued by the clever pockets that laid flat but could be filled with useful gear if needed. "It looks great." He brushed the patterned leather and rubbed the weave of the shirt between his fingers. "Is this... zirrakodon hide and karlini silk?"
She gave him a bright-eyed "Mm hmm."
"Those are really expensive, Lyra!"
She put on her frown again. "Are you saying you're not worth it? Because I can take them back."
"No, no!" he said, gathering her in his arms. "The vest is fantastic, I love it! The shirts, too." He kissed her to reinforce the point. "You don't have to buy me things, though."
Lyra teased his hair some more with her graceful fingers. "You said it yourself; you have the fashion sense of a dewback. You've got an image to uphold now that you're the captain of a starship."
Taz rolled his eyes. "You've seen spacers, Lyra. Fashion sense isn't high on their list of priorities."
"You're not just any spacer, Taz, you're mine."
"I'm yours, am I?" he challenged, though his face lit up.
Lyra nodded earnestly. "I'm not trying to change you or anything. I know you like practical clothes. I just want the Skipjack Chimera to be a ship anyone will be proud to charter."
"Karlini silk and zirrakodon hide are supposed to be blaster-resistant, aren't they?"
"Not sure how much of that's just marketing," she smirked, "but the tailor guaranteed the vest will stop a vibroblade."
Taz laughed. "Expecting me to be stabbed and shot?"
"The way you dive into trouble?" She touched his chest and her voice fell. "You mean everything to me, Taz. I hate to see you get hurt."
"Lyra —"
"Speaking of which," she interrupted and took a wooden implement from a bracket on the wall. "My father's tulan-sho." She held it out to him.
"For me?"
Lyra nodded and glanced at the holo on the kudahna. "Akaishi Nimor was a peaceful man but he wasn't afraid to defend himself or his family. Dad carved the grip and scabbard during one of his 'experimental' phases." She chuckled at the reminiscence.
Taz brushed the honey-brown wood, expertly crafted with a rounded, asymmetrical cross-section that filled the hand and had a comforting, organic feel. The oil finish was polished to a fine sheen that showcased the sakoola wood's subtle iridescence. Small inlaid sakoola blossoms inside dark circles adorned the flatter side of the grip. The fittings were simple brass castings that had acquired a fine greenish patina.
He drew the straight, burnished blade and pressed the stud on the grip. The energy ribbon embedded in the edge hummed and scintillated yellow-green, bright and potent. Smiling, he sheathed the weapon, ran his thumb over the shock probes on the scabbard, then tucked it into his belt behind his hip they way he'd seen Raga wear it.
"I don't know what to say. I'm really honored, Lyra."
"You're a lot like him; gentle, strong, even a little artistic." She smirked and touched one of the blue kyber crystal earrings he'd made for her. There was another tulan-sho on the wall. It was slender, shorter than his and finished in pearlescent lavender lacquer beneath a glossy sheen. "This one was Mum's. I'm not a knife girl like Rendix," she shot a wry look toward the lounge beyond their cabin, "but the tulan-sho's as much a mark of adulthood as it is a weapon." She gave it a loving caress. "I think I'll start carrying it, to keep Mum close and put my childhood in the past where it belongs."
"Your parents must have been amazing people."
"They were," she agreed softly. "Oh! One more thing," she blurted, going to the small wardrobe. She took out a metal ident plaque with a satiny finish and brought it over to him. Enamel-filled incisions in the titanium spelled out:
CAPTAIN TAZBARADA OKTOS
Accredited Ship's Master
GDH-96922-CJ17|D
RLT SKIPJACK CHIMERA
Taz looked stunned. "They said the accreditation would take three months at least!"
"I might've wrangled a favor or two from some people I know at Customs."
"Is that what you and Eccleston have been chatting about the past few days?"
Lyra's answer was a coy grin. "By the way, you aced the exam, thanks no doubt to my tutelage." Her smile dazzled. "The record's on your code cylinder." Lyra attached the plaque above the vest's breast pocket and tucked his code cylinder into one of the loops beside it. She stepped back, came to attention, and rendered a very smart salute. "Congratulations, Captain Oktos."
"Thank you, ma'am," he said, returning her salute and looking ebullient.
"I'm so proud of you, Taz." She stepped close and raised her head so he could ensnare her in a long kiss.
Lyra was surprised to see him frown when she drew away. "Was the kiss not up to your standards?"
"Nothing like that," he assured. "You, um... said you were upset when you got passed over for command in Customs. You could be the Chimera's captain, you know. I'd be happy serving under you, I mean."
Her coppery eyes smoldered and glittered all at once as she murmured in his ear, "You already serve under me, my seijin."
"I'm trying to be serious," he protested.
"Where's the fun in that?" She kissed him and rested her head on his shoulder. "I wanted my own command because after four years I felt like I was just idling on my repulsors. I wanted to prove to them that I was just as good as those trust-fund chuffs who graduated from the big academies. But I don't have anything to prove anymore. Besides," she grinned wickedly and poked his chest, "the captain has to do all the paperwork."
Taz's grin reflected hers. "I love you, Lyra."
Lyra crinkled her nose to cover the thrill she felt. "You don't have to say it all the time, you know."
"I'll stop if you want me to." He kissed the top of her head and breathed in the scent of her hair.
"No," she said, settling against his shoulder again. "I like hearing you say it."
"I have four months of catching up to do."
"Ever since my family..." She watched the gentle flicker of the votives atop the kudahna and issued a quiet sigh. "I never thought anyone could make me feel happy, safe, and wanted the way you do. I'm still scared it might all be a dream." Lyra squeezed his waist harder and her eyes glistened. The knot in her stomach was still there, but half of it was the joy she felt. "Will you be mad if it takes me a while to get used to it?"
Taz cradled her face in his hands. "Take as much time as you need. I'm not going anywhere."
"Good," she said, and let him draw her into another kiss. "Now, come on, Captain Oktos. I heard a rumor that celebratory sakoola tarts and honey wine are being served in the lounge!"