X-Wing: Knights of Plooma Chapter 5

[jedimara77]

CHAPTER 5





It was just breaking dawn on Plooma when Talon Karrde's shuttle sat down in Plooma's busiest spaceport. Despite the early hour and the fact that she had a busy day ahead of her, the ever reliable Mara Jade was waiting for him, and Karrde couldn't hide his smile as he thought of the trouble she had gotten herself into this time. After saying good-bye to Faughn and gathering up his belongings, Karrde set off down the ramp.

His former employee was leaning against an enclosed speeder on the far side of the landing platform. Her arms were folded across her chest and she was exhibiting an aura that seemed to say “do not approach me upon fear of your life,” but her expression visibly brightened as Karrde approached. They greeted each other with a quick embrace and the normal pleasantries; then, pulling back from her slightly and examining her left ring finger, Karrde’s mouth began to curl into a smirk. Mara shook her head and put out her finger before he could say a word. “I know what you’re thinking, and just stop. I don’t need you giving me grief about this whole situation along with everyone else on this planet.”

“Mara, Mara, Mara. I’m insulted. Would I ever do such a thing?”

“Yes. Now get in the speeder.”

Karrde chuckled to himself as they both climbed in. "Where's the rest of your motley crew?" he asked. 

"They're still at the hotel. I think Hobbie and Corran are hiding under the covers for as long as possible, meanwhile the eager Jedi Master is probably on his fifth hour of meditation or lightsaber practice."

Karrde snorted at Mara's annoyed tone. "So then, I was incorrect in my assumption that you forced them to stay behind so you could escape for several hours with some congenial company?" 

Mara smiled. "Maybe." They drove in silence for a few moments. After maneuvering out of the spaceport and onto the main boulevard, Mara glanced over at Karrde. “Thanks for coming, by the way," she said softly, her tone actually grateful. 

“Trust me, I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” 

Mara rolled her eyes. “Yes, well. At least the hotel is nice. I got you a room.”

“I’m sure it’s lovely, I need you to drop me off at the safehouse right away, if you don’t mind. I acquired some information that General Antilles should hear right away.”

Mara grimaced. “What kind of information?”

“Oh, you know, Imperial activity on planet, that sort of thing.”

“I was afraid of that,” Mara sighed. “But I shouldn’t be surprised; Skywalker seems to attract trouble wherever he goes.”

“Don’t give him all the credit,” Karrde said. “The Rogues do well enough on their own, as do you if I recall correctly.”

“Thanks,” Mara replied dryly. 

“But, since you brought him up…” Karrde trailed off, examining her face as she tried to hide her emotions. She didn’t respond, so he continued. “So you’re stuck playing house again. How did you manage to get roped into this one?”

“You know how,” she snarled. “Kriffing NRI and their shoddy information. That’s why you’re here now.” 

“It’s too bad you didn’t contact me to begin with, because I learned about the significance of ‘companionship’ on Plooma within a few hours of beginning my research.” 

“What do you want, a medal?” Mara muttered. “Seriously, Karrde. I think I’m going to kill someone before leaving this Force-forsaken planet—and I mean it this time.” 

Karrde shook his head at her rancor. It was typical Mara, of course, but he didn’t understand why she seemed to hold so much animosity towards Skywalker of all people. They had worked together plenty of times in the past. Something had to really be annoying her to make her so bitter about this assignment. He made a mental note to approach her about it later. 

He reached out and placed a hand on her arm. “Oh come now, Mara. You don’t mean that.”

“Yes, I do. It was bad enough when I had to pretend to be Lando’s girlfriend—for you, I might add—and now I’m stuck playing wife to the great Jedi Master. I better not have to answer the door wearing one of Skywalker’s shirts!”

“I always got the impression that you and Luke got along rather well. It won’t be that bad.” 

“Wanna bet?” she shot back.

Karrde leaned back and smiled. “Why yes. Yes I would.”

Mara shot him a skeptical look. “I don’t like that tone of voice, Karrde.” 

“What?” he replied innocently. “I’d just like to propose a small wager, that’s all.”

Mara’s curiosity got the best of her. She regarded him out of the corner of her eye. “I’m listening.”

“I bet that by the end of the two weeks, you’ll be forced to admit that you actually enjoyed being married to Luke Skywalker.”

Mara burst out laughing and had to force herself to keep her eyes on the roadway and not crash their speeder. “Seriously?! There’s no way in hell that I’ll ever enjoy being married to him.”

“Of course, there’ll be no using the Force to hide your true feelings. There are people here who will be able to tell if you’re lying. Plus, it would be extremely dishonorable on your part.” 

Mara feigned offense. “Now I’m the one who’s insulted. Terms?” 

“Oh, nothing major…if you win the bet, I’ll let you poach any client of your choosing.”

“Are you serious?” Mara replied, her jaw dropping. “Anyone?”

“Anyone.”

“…And if you win?”

“Well, that’s the interesting part. If I win, you come back and work for me.”

It was very quiet in the speeder for several moments. Karrde could almost hear Mara thinking. He had deliberately offered something he knew Mara wouldn’t be able to resist—a chance to grow her business by a factor of one hundred percent in less than two weeks. While she was extremely successful for a small-time trader and had every right to be proud of her accomplishments in the months since she’d acquired the Jade’s Fire and started her own business, Karrde knew that she wanted nothing more than to become a noted name in the Smuggler’s Alliance. Taking over one of Karrde’s contracts was one of the quickest ways to do that. 

And Karrde was willing to risk such a loss for the chance to bring Mara back into his organization. He had helped set up her business and truly wanted her to be successful, but his goal in doing so had been for her to gain the experience necessary to someday take over his organization. She had gained that experience and proven that she could be a successful businesswoman, and now it was time for her to return to her rightful place as Karrde’s lieutenant. 

But as much as he had been recently encouraging her to fold her business back into his, she continuously refused, having gained a taste of freedom and not wanting to let it go. So he had no choice but to trick her into doing so. 

Mara shook her head incredulously. “You really think I’m going to agree to that?” she asked. 

“Yes, because I know you; you won’t be able to resist the opportunity to poach one of my best clients.”

“I’m not going back to work for you, Karrde.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Well, if you win that won’t be a problem, now will it?” She didn’t respond, so he smiled slyly and poked the nest one more time. “I thought you said there’s no way you’d ever enjoy being married to Luke Skywalker?” 

There was silence again…and then Karrde saw Mara’s eyes twinkle, and he knew he had her then. 

“Deal,” she said, offering her hand. They shook, and Karrde chuckled inwardly. 

It was time to call in some old favors.





Wedge stifled a yawn with the back of his hand as he made his way towards the briefing room. To say he hadn't slept well the prior night would have been a dramatic understatement. There hadn't even been time to lay down. The moment Mara had informed him that Karrde would be coming to Plooma in order to assist with intelligence gathering and analysis, Wedge placed a holonet call back to Coruscant to speak with General Cracken. For the following nine and three quarters standard hours, he tried to convince the NRI Director that Karrde's help wasn't only helpful, it was vital to their mission. 

Cracken's response was understandable, heavy on the anger and light on the rationalism. If Wedge were to be honest, he would be rather upset if he were in that position. Cracken had just had his information network outsourced to a fringe smuggler and data broker. Worse yet, everyone actually on Plooma agreed it was the right move to make. It amounted to a rather sizable ego blow and it was something he wasn't about to stand for. The General was completely against the move and several hours in, it was obvious that no ground was going to be given. 

Five hours into the process, Wedge terminated the holocall and began to reassess his options. He did need to find some way to get Karrde approved for the operation, the last thing he needed was to get into regulatory trouble while on a diplomatic mission. If Cracken wasn't going to listen to him, then he would have to find another way to put pressure on the man. Six hours in, he came up with a plan. Getting back onto the holonet terminal, he put in a call with the one politician in the Galaxy he could stand: Leia Organa Solo. 

Wedge did feel bad for calling her in the middle of the night, but she was kind as always and more than willing to listen to his request. He did hear Han in the background threatening to kill him for calling at 0300 Coruscant standard time. Wedge made his pitch to a sleep deprived Leia, asking her to throw a bit of senate weight at Cracken to get him to cave. Leia, being the ever helpful being she was, said she'd put in a call to the General immediately (prompting another profanity laced statement from Han, who begged her to come back to bed). 

Eight hours in, Leia commed back to say that she had left a rather strongly worded message with Cracken that more or less said that the senate was concerned that the input of one of Starfighter Command's highest ranked officers (at this point, Wedge mused that there were a few perks to being a General himself) were being ignored by NRI. She would hate to have to start a long and messy inquiry. Wedge thanked her and bid her good night (which elicited a loud "Finally!" from Han). 

Nine and three quarters hours after he had started, General Cracken sent a terse message in which he relented and authorized Karrde's presence in the mission. 

As he stepped into the briefing room, Wedge was greeted by the smuggler he had spent the entire night fighting for. Karrde smiled and extended a mug of caf towards him, which Wedge gratefully took.

"Long night with Cracken?" Karrde asked. 

Wedge raised a brow. "Eavesdropping on my holonet calls?" 

"Perish the thought." 

Wedge made his way to the front of the makeshift briefing area where his pilots had gathered, quickly performing a headcount to make sure everyone was present. Confident that everyone was present, accounted for, and marginally alert, he began. 

"Morning boys and girls," he said, setting the datapad tucked under his arm on the podium. "We've had a slight change of plans overnight—"

"Oh, I hope that means we're ditching this dump and heading for a sunny retreat on Mon Cal," Wes said. "I've been meaning to work on my tan for ages. My complexion has been hampering my ability to woo women." 

Inyri Forge reared back and punched Wes in the arm, eliciting a rather pained yelp from the man. 

"As I was saying, there's been a change of plans," Wedge continued, ignoring Wes' whimpers. "At 1330 hours local time yesterday, the diplomatic envoy was attacked by a pair of rooftop snipers. We were completely unaware that this was a possible threat and that simply is not acceptable. Because of this we have decided to..." he trailed off, pondering his words for a moment. "Bring in some outside help."

He gestured to his left. "You may be familiar with Talon Karrde, information broker and businessman." 

"A pleasure to be working for you, General Antilles," Karrde responded with a slight bow. 

"I'm sure you're drawing far more pleasure from the credits NRI is sending your way," Wedge said with a grin. Karrde merely offered a knowing smile. "Introductions out of the way, I'll cede the floor." 

Nodding his thanks, Karrde stepped towards the holoprojector precariously situated on the top of a pair of storage crates and powered it on. "I'm well aware that NRI has downplayed the presence of the Remnant here on Plooma—"

Wes snickered. A moment later, the sound of fist-on-flesh could be heard, followed by another anguished yelp. 

"—but it appears they have downplayed perhaps a bit too much," Karrde continued. An image of Plooma appeared on the projector. At various locations on the globe were distinct, red dots. "Over the past three months there have been approximately four dozen sightings of starfighter class ships. Normally, I would say that isn't overly notable. What is troubling is the lack of records. Plooma Security can offer no logs explaining why these ships were here or who they belong to."

"That's a bit on the disturbing side," Gavin Darklighter said. "About an hour ago we picked up an unknown contact on the sensors. Here for a moment, then it bolted. Appeared to be roughly the size of a small snubfighter." 

"I imagine if you were to run an atmospheric trace where that ship was, you'd notice the distinct signs of twin-ion engines. Same with the other instances." 

Tycho spoke up next. "Are you saying that Plooma is being visited by TIE snubfighters on a regular basis?" 

"That appears to be the case," Karrde replied. "It gets more damning, though. My people haven't yet been able to fully follow the trail, but we have spotted instances of Imperial credits being funneled into on-world bank accounts. It's going to take more digging to find out where they're coming from and who they are going to, but I think it's safe to say there is a very active Remnant presence here." 

"Fantastic," Dorset Konnair groaned. "Routine, Colonel Celchu said. We'll be bored, he insisted." 

"Hey, don't blame me," Tycho objected. "I was just going off of NRI's reports."

Holding up a hand to silence his pilots, Wedge stepped back to the podium. "It does appear that things have gotten quite a bit more complicated. I'm going to need all of you to step up your game and stay on high alert. We'll be doubling up patrols, so expect a revamped duty rotation shortly. Questions anyone? No? Good. Dismissed." 

Wedge allowed several Rogues to slip out first before he made his way to the exit. As he made his way down the hall, he couldn't help but overhear a conversation between two of his pilots.

"You know I've heard that the police sometimes pull Karrde in for questioning just because they find him interesting," Konnair said. 

"I heard he lived in the hills of Dantooine for a turn and sustained himself on nothing but the land and the shelter he built with his own hands," Forge responded. 

Wedge looked over his shoulder at Karrde. "So tell me, what kind of ale does the most interesting man in the Galaxy prefer? I think I owe you one." 

"Well," Karrde looked thoughtful. "I don't always drink ale, but when I do, I prefer Lomin's." 










Hobbie stretched lazily in the backseat of the speeder as they sped through the outskirts of the capital towards one of Plooma’s main mining operations. Mara sat beside him, sipping a cup of caf, doing her best to listen as the ever-attentive Murray Dyartes gave a very canned spiel about all the wonders his planet could offer the New Republic. Valara Lissiri sat in the front of the speeder next to its driver, looking as stone-faced as ever. 

Today they were foregoing diplomatic negotiations to tour the mining operations and historical archives. General Cracken had insisted that Hobbie, as the main representative of the New Republic military, go along to observe the mining operations. Hobbie hadn't been surprised when Mara offered to join him; Luke and Corran were touring Plooma’s vast historical archives with Ambassador Gemar and Fiolla Flotto, and Hobbie could only imagine the horrific results of Mara being forced to listen to hours of Jedi history and worship. Truthfully, he was glad for the company, as Valara did not seem like a woman he wanted to spend hours alone with. She reminded him too much of Ysanne Isard. He shuddered at the thought. 

“Plooma’s mining operations have been in place for hundreds of years,” Murray was saying. “Our resources put us into good standing with the Old Republic in spite of our remote location, and Plooma flourished for many years. The unobtainium that you desire comes from several sources on planet, with thousands of mining operations spread across several continents. Our greatest engineers have continuously refined the mining process, so now we can mine to great depths with very little ecological and environmental impact on the surrounding landscape…”

Once again Hobbie zoned out, instead watching the landscape pass by outside the speeder. In the distance, he could clearly see the faint landmarks of a mining operation, and a large one at that. Hobbie whistled to himself; if the New Republic could obtain Plooma’s allegiance, the benefits would be astronomical for the military, especially Starfighter Command. With the increase in weapons and natural materials for building spacecraft, they could pretty much kiss the Imperial Remnant threat good-bye.

Ironically, as soon as that thought passed through Hobbie’s mind, a familiar whine brought his head up sharply. He searched the sky, very grateful that they had taken an open speeder, and then he saw it—a shape he would recognize anywhere.

A TIE fighter. 

Mara noticed it, too; Hobbie could feel her tensing beside him in the cramped backseat. They glanced at each other and sighed, taking their macrobinoculars from their belt. Hobbie studied the TIE for several moments, watching as it flew in a lazy pattern what looked to be several klicks from the mining operation. Then, it abruptly turned and zoomed away at an intense speed, its distinctive twin ion engines fading into nothingness. "Well, it seems that Karrde was right about the TIE fighters," she said dourly. 

"And they seem most interested in the mining operations," Hobbie replied. "Interesting indeed." 

Murray had been looking back and forth at them with a concerned expression on his face, obviously not following the import of what had just occurred. “Is there a problem?” he asked.

Mara glared at him. “Yes, there’s a problem. You wanna tell me why there’s a TIE fighter buzzing around your mining operation?”

“What?” Murray gasped, clearly out of his element. 

“You didn’t just see that TIE fighter?” Hobbie replied, pointing in the direction where the nimble craft had disappeared. 

Murray shook his head vigorously, his eyes beginning to widen in fear, like a subordinate who had clearly done something wrong. In the front seat, Valara was speaking softly into a comlink, clearly agitated, ignoring both delegates from the New Republic. 

Mara leaned forward. “Murray, answer me honestly—is there anything we should know about Imperial interests in your mining operations?” 

The boy was petrified now, but he managed to spit out an answer. “No…I am not aware of any such thing, Captain Jade. I vow to you.” Mara glanced to Hobbie and nodded; Murray was telling the truth.

“We should tell the others that we witnessed one of the fighters,” Hobbie said, taking out his comlink and thumbing it to Wedge’s frequency. 

“That won’t be necessary,” Valara chimed in, turning around to finally grace them with a faint smile. “I apologize for the alarm. It seems some of our local boys decided it would be a good idea to spook our New Republic guests by flying Imperial ships. I can assure you that they are being detained as we speak.” 

Again Hobbie and Mara exchanged a glance. Valara made to speak into her comlink again, but Hobbie interrupted before she could do so. “I apologize, Director Lissiri, but may I ask how citizens of Plooma managed to obtain Imperial TIE fighters for recreational use?”

For just a moment, Valara seemed to bristle under Hobbie’s questioning, but she immediately composed herself. “That is something we will investigate upon questioning the suspects.” 

“And just why would your boys want to frighten us, Madame Director?” Mara asked. “I thought that everyone on Plooma was overjoyed to be graced with the presence of Jedi Knights? Or is there some information that you are not telling us?”

The two women glared at each other for long seconds. Murray glanced back and force between them, his eyes as large as saucers, clearly torn between the woman he was obviously besotted with and the woman who held his career in her hands. In the end he ignored both of them, staring down at his lap, deciding to sit out this conflict. Hobbie thought him wise beyond his years. 

Finally, Valara broke the tension with another small, fake smile. “I assure you, Captain Jade, there is no conspiracy here, just an occasion of youthful folly. We are all eternally grateful to be in the presence of the New Republic.” She paused for a moment, gritting her teeth. “And especially the Jedi.” 

Mara set her head on one side, then nodded sharply. “As you say, Director Lissiri.” The older woman nodded in return and turned back towards the roadway in front of them. Murray heaved a sigh of relief and resumed his prepared speech, moving closer to Mara and doing his best to engage her in conversation.

Hobbie alone continued to stare at Valara, narrowing his eyes at her back. As if she felt him staring at her she glanced over her shoulder, regarding him with a cold look. Hobbie merely raised his eyebrows in response before she once again turned her eyes back to the road. 

Shaking his head, Hobbie did his best to study the landscape, thinking that such knowledge may be useful in the future, and listen to Murray’s history lesson. But he couldn’t shake the feeling of dread out of his stomach. He might not be Force sensitive, but Hobbie had been in Starfighter Command for a very long time, and his instincts were as refined as any Jedi. 

And his instincts were telling him that there was much more happening on Plooma than Director Lissiri was letting on. 

Hobbie sighed; why, after so long with Rogue Squadron, did such things still continue to surprise him?





“And here Master Skywalker you can see our vast collection of information regarding the old Jedi Order which encompasses many shelves of our database and some of the information came directly from the Jedi archives in the old Jedi Temple and the information was stored here for safekeeping and my family made sure that our historical archives were protected from any outside attack and we made it our life’s work to protect that information and to spread it to the Ploomians and let them know the triumphs of the Jedi Order and…”

Corran leaned his head back and rolled his eyes for the thirty-ninth time as Fiolla Flotto led them on a tour of Plooma’s vast archives. Situated in the heart of capital, it was almost as large as the archives that had been a part of the old Jedi Temple. While half the information was dedicated to Plooma’s history, the other half was devoted to the history of the Jedi Order. Corran had sensed Luke’s spike of curiosity as soon as they entered the halls, and he knew that if Tionne—the historian at Luke's Jedi Academy—had been there to view the archives, she would be salivating. The poor woman had been scouring the galaxy for any small bits and pieces of history she could find, and here was an entire library of information that could help the New Jedi Order grow and flourish. Corran certainly understood its importance.

He just wished that Fiolla wouldn’t drink so much caf before leading them around. He was beginning to get a headache just listening to her. 

“Oh! Master Skywalker! This the data I was most excited to show you! Please, if you will, follow me!” Fiolla grabbed Luke by his sleeve and yanked him down one of the large aisles that were lined with old-fashioned books, datacards, and other information storage devices. Next to Corran, Ambassador Gemar grimaced. 

“I apologize for Fiolla’s earnestness, Jedi Horn,” he stated as they watched Fiolla drag Luke to various sections of the archives. “We are all very excited to have you here, of course, but Fiolla is a…special case.”

Luke passed them by as Fiolla pulled him across the room; he gave Corran a shrug before turning his attention back to the young woman. Corran chuckled, then nodded to Gemar. “I can certainly see that. How old is she? Eighteen? Nineteen?”

“Twenty-five.”

Corran’s jaw dropped. “Twenty-five?” Perhaps it was her excitement that made her seem even more youthful than her years.

Gemar nodded in confirmation. “As I said, Fiolla is very…special. Her family has been operating these archives for centuries. She practically grew up in this location, learning all she could about the history of the Jedi Order. She was ecstatic to hear that Master Skywalker would be a part of these negotiations. Her lifelong dream has been to meet a Jedi Knight.”

Fiolla’s voice pierced through the cavernous room. “This is the information we have about Master Yoda! He was one of the Jedi Masters who instructed you! Along with Obi-Wan Kenobi! His file is right here! Let me show you!” 

“Well…I’d say she hit the jackpot with Master Skywalker, wouldn’t you?” Corran said. 

Gemar stared at him blankly. “I’m sorry, I do not understand.”

Corran waved his hand. “Just an expression. Anyway, your information will be extremely valuable to the Jedi Order. We cannot thank you enough for allowing us access.” 

“It is our pleasure,” Gemar replied, bowing respectfully. “Plooma has always held a high level of regard for the Jedi Knights. We were very disturbed by the events of the late Emperor’s regime. It is unfortunate that it has taken us so long to return to the Republic. I'm sorry to say that certain elements of our government have not been very enthusiastic about rejoining a galactic government.” 

Before Corran could question Gemar about the Ploomians who opposed joining the Republic, he saw Luke striding towards them, having extricated himself from Fiolla’s grasp. The blonde woman trailed dutifully behind him, practically stepping on his cloak in her earnestness. “Ambassador Gemar, your archives are extremely impressive,” Luke stated. Behind him, Fiolla beamed with pride. “Would it be possible for me to copy several of the documents onto my personal datapad?”

“Certainly!” Fiolla screamed, jumping towards Luke and grabbing his datapad out of his grasp. “I will copy whatever data you desire!”

Luke thinned his lips, and Corran sensed him reaching out to the Force for patience. “That would be lovely, Fiolla. I was hoping to copy the information about Master Yoda and Master Kenobi.” 

“It would be my great honor!” she exclaimed, running away at top speed to one of the computer terminals. Gemar shook his head as she disappeared, then his comlink beeped. He stepped aside to answer it, then returned to the two Jedi.

“I apologize, but I must attend to this matter. If you will excuse me?”

As soon as Gemar was gone, Luke placed his head in his hand, grimacing slightly. “I don’t know about you, Corran, but this whole worshipping the Jedi thing is starting to bother me,” he said.

Corran clasped his hand to his heart, feigning disbelief. “No, you don’t say?”

“Oh, I hope it wasn’t obvious to Fiolla…I don’t want to hurt the poor girl’s feelings…”

“No, you’re doing a good job of hiding it. Just be glad she doesn’t have the Force.” 

“I almost wish she did,” Luke replied. “To her, being a Jedi is the highest goal one can achieve in life—one that she can never hope to attain. It seems wrong, almost.”

“I know what you mean,” Corran said, “…especially considering there’s someone you know who is extremely strong in the Force and yet refuses to commit to the Jedi Order. And I don’t mean your sister.”

Luke snorted. “Yeah, I had been thinking that myself. Ironic, isn’t it?” 

“Quite. So what about this whole Jedi-worshipping thing really bothers you, Luke? Yes, Fiolla is…exuberant...but she’s not intolerable. She’s actually very pleasant. What is it?”

“I don’t know, to be honest,” Luke replied thoughtfully. “It just seems…wrong, in a way. Maybe I’m just so used to people being skeptical of or just plain hating the Jedi.”

“It should be a nice change of pace, then.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I said to Wedge when he proposed this mission to me. And at first it was nice to be appreciated, but it’s just so over-the-top now. It’s way beyond appreciation. I don’t want to be worshipped when I haven’t earned it.”

“Perhaps you’ve forgotten, but you did blow up the Death Star, lead the fight against the Empire, and restart the Jedi Order.”

Ever the farmboy, Luke waved his hand, dismissing all his achievements. “Sure, those things deserve appreciation…a medal ceremony, even…but this goes way beyond that. They’re treating us like we’re gods. It reminds me too much of Palpatine.”

“Oh,” Corran said. “Yes. I see your point.” 

Before they could continue their conversation, Fiolla ran up to them and thrusted the datapad back into Luke’s hands. “I transferred the data just as you requested, Master Skywalker! Is there anything else that you desire?!” she asked, beaming up at him. 

“No, thank you Fiolla, that will be all for now. If you don’t mind, I’d like to examine the archives myself now.”

“Of course, Master Skywalker! Whatever you desire!” 

Luke turned to Corran, motioning him to follow, and they began to walk toward the computer terminals. Luke suddenly turned around, causing Fiolla to almost run into him. He reached out and touched the girl’s arm. She immediately turned a bright red.

“Fiolla, I was hoping to examine the archives with Jedi Horn.”

“Yes, of course!” she replied, nodding her head vigorously, but making no effort to move.

Luke grimaced. “Privately, please.”

“Oh.” Fiolla looked down at the floor. “Yes. Of course, Master Skywalker. Whatever you desire.” She turned around and walked towards the bank of turbolifts that entered onto the floor, taking a seat on one of the benches, looking positively forlorn.

“Oh, I feel like I’ve just kicked a small animal,” Luke groaned.

“Don’t worry, Luke,” Corran said. “I’m sure the next time you look at her, she’ll perk right up again.” 

Luke glanced over his shoulder and gave Fiolla a small smile. She immediately straightened up, smoothed out her hair, and waved furiously—but remained in place on the bench. 

Corran glanced at Luke. “See? That’s two admirers you have on this trip. Except, instead of fawning when you look at her, the other one beats you up.”

“Corran?”

"Yes?"

"Shut up or I'm siccing my wife on you." 

Comments

[ibmiller.livejournal.com]

And the wit continues! Nicely done. I feel silly for not seeing the "see more" button on the bottom of the page, but am happy to find the rest of the fic.

I hope Dorset Konnair gets more space - I always liked her (though I am a bit surprised to see her in an X-Wing.) and her crazy tatoos. And Inyri, of course. Funny how she's survived for so long without much of a personality.

Silly question: are TIE's snubfighters? I thought the nickname was given to X- and E-wings because of their profile, not as a size designation.