Author's Note: If you have any tips writing tips, please feel free to comment.

As always, I continue to hope that I am doing justice to the spirit of Star Wars as well the respective authors and characters from which I borrow. Again, I gratefully accept constructive criticism as a means to help me develop my skills further as a writer.

Mandalorian (Mando'a) words

Ner vod (nair-vohd): "my brother/sister"; colloquially also "my friend"

Ika (EE-kah): diminutive suffix written as 'ika - also added to a name as a very familiar or childhood form, e.g, Ord'ika - Little Ordo

--- --- --- --- ---

Chapter 29

As a child, Arlesse used to carry around a heavy-bound flimsi novel that contained a collection of fantasy legends. She read that novel faithfully, even though the flimsi pages were falling out of the bindings and the pictures had faded. I got her a new novel to replace the one in disrepair, but she told me that the new flimsi didn't read the same. At first, I thought she meant that the printers had reworded the stories and changed some of the text, but when I compared the flimsies, they were exactly the same. I was baffled by what she said, and I didn't understand it then, but at some point, I finally figured it out. Arlesse had so much of her childhood embedded in that old novel that to remove it from her collection would erase the comfort those stories initially gave her. The new flimsi remained unread on the shelf in her room, but the old one was devotedly left in plain sight. As she grew older, I would occasionally see her run her fingers through the pages, and memories of her younger days would pass through her eyes.

King Vollan Psach, recalling a memory of his daughter while preparing the speeches for her memorial service

Tochin Moon III, 786 Days ABG

Mouse couldn't help glancing over to his left side, his eyes repeatedly falling onto the way Jas' hand kept a consistent grasp on Les'ika's, while his other one maintained a comfortable hold around the Deece. His brother made no attempt to hide now the attraction that he had developed for her, and every motion of his body indicated that Jas had taken his duty to protect the princess far beyond a simple order. Jas was attached, and Mouse wasn't entirely comfortable with the new predicament, but he wasn't certain he even understood why he felt such discomfort. 

He just knew now that Dusty and Jas had been more talkative than they had in the past. Their conversations were barely audible, and most of the time they held them privately. At first, Mouse didn't think anything about their seclusion and the seemingly newfound bond, but the more he thought about it, the more he came to realize that there was something definitely brewing between his brothers.

Mouse never denied that he was a secluded man by nature, and he always preferred his isolation rather than mingling with others. Dusty often made him the target of his verbal attacks because of it, but Mouse was also very proficient at putting Dusty back in his place whenever he got too aggressive in his teasing.

However, in the last couple days, Mouse had grown certain that somehow Les'ika had something to do with Jas and Dusty's closeness, but his gut told him that she was not their enemy. Mouse could find nothing in Les'ika's actions or conversations that would lead him to think she was a danger to Crimson. Instead of feeling guarded around Les'ika, Mouse found himself more social. 

Unlike how he felt about most civilians, he didn't mind her company or her conversations, and Mouse had come to the conclusion that it was probably because she carried herself humbly. He had been exposed to far too many arrogant and overly educated persons in his short life, and the princess was refreshing...modest.

Mouse had also become aware that Dusty seemed to exhibit an air of being more relaxed and liberated around the young woman as well, and Mouse was certain that Dusty was able to understand her on some instinctual level that Mouse certainly dared not to know from Les'ika or any female. Dealing with his brothers was bad enough at times, and Mouse was not the type of man who wanted to throw the obvious confusion a woman caused into his quiet and solitary existence. It baffled him now how Jas had gone and solidified Les'ika's trust to the point that he developed an attachment that broke the orders of simply protecting her.

Mouse watched as the young princess lifted her head slightly towards Jas and she smiled, her cheeks brightening for a brief moment. Mouse didn't see anything different happen between them prior to her reaction, and his brother had made no spoken sound. Again, Mouse felt his eyes fall to their hands, and he could only imagine that they were sharing some kind of silent conversation with their entwined fingers.

"Admit it, ner vod, they're cute," Dusty verbally jabbed, as he spoke through his helmet, setting the link to the private channel that he shared with Mouse.

"Gath does not think so," Mouse answered after having turned his own helmet onto private with Dusty. "He is concerned for the welfare of the mission. He thinks Jas is complicating it."

"Gath thinks in flat terms," Dusty explained. "Jas and Les'ika put a layer on that flat land, and now Gath thinks there's a mountain in the way."

Mouse contemplated that for a long moment.

Dusty had taken Mouse's silence for misunderstanding and instead offered, "Protecting Les'ika and getting her home safe is our primary mission, right?"

"Yes."

"Think of it like this: Instead of guarding Les'ika like a distant soldier...a sniper like yourself, Jas is now the plasteel blanket around her. He's a shield, closely guarding her to keep her from harm."

Mouse absorbed that, considering it. "How do you know so much about all this?"

Dusty paused, ready with the comments that he was certain would get Mouse to back off and turn his attention elsewhere. He knew his brother would never handle the truth of his experience with Cerina, and he wasn't ready yet to breach the subject with him as he had with Jas. "Wow, you're talkative today, ner vod. Got a bit of curiosity, have you? Are you wondering what it's like, wishing it was you with Les'ika?"

At that, Mouse clicked off his communications. He didn't want to hear it from Dusty. It was no mistake that the two of them were always sparring one way or another, and Mouse decided to end the conversation before it got to the point that they were sparring once again. He didn't feel like getting into an argument nor did he want to see it become another punching match. Jas had done well enough with Dusty's face the other night, and Mouse didn't particularly want to give him a matching bruise, especially if it would endanger his trigger finger.

Silently now, Mouse thought about what Dusty said and how Jas was no longer a distant guardian, but one close and connected with Les'ika. He was still glad he wasn't the one in that position, and maybe Jas was the best choice for her. Les'ika had seemed more interested in Jas anyway, and he had grown more relaxed after he started being more than simply polite to her.

Watching their hands for a moment, Mouse saw what he assumed had prompted Les'ika's earlier reaction. He noticed how Jas grazed her knuckles lightly with his thumb, and how her fingers instantly grasped his hand tighter. It meant something to them, that minimal touch, and again it was a language Mouse would prefer not to be bothered wasting his time learning.  

Suddenly, Gath brought his Deece around and raised his free hand in the "hold" position. The group stopped, Crimson silently ducking down into the greenery and instantly clicking their communications over to the private channel that kept them soundless to the outside world.

Jas brought his arm around Les'ika and pulled her into the shrubbery next to him. He crouched down with her, confirming her into the back end of a huge tree trunk while he waited for further instructions from Gath before proceeding with an explanation to her.

Arlesse began to understand that when these soldiers got suddenly quiet and tense, that it was best for her to remain silent and let them do what they had been trained to do. She watched the four men soundlessly disappear into the wooded land around them, and she decided not to question Jas as he moved her safely within the underbrush of the forest.

Her eyes silently looked to his blue visor questioning him to tell her what he knew, but he offered nothing and just maintained his watch onto the pathway from where they had all quickly disappeared. She was aware that his blaster was positioned in his hands, ready to fire at whatever invisible being he saw out on the path.

After a few moments, Arlesse heard something that sounded like metal clanking together and the indistinct trail of voices, realizing that neither of those sounds belonged to any of the Republic soldiers that made up Crimson Squad. She strained her ears to try and hear the conversation, but it was lost in the clattering metal, even though it seemed to be growing louder and closer. Arlesse then noticed how Jas lifted the blaster slightly, holding it firmer. Instinctively, her hands came to her mouth and covered her lips so that she would not even be tempted to breathe loudly.

After a few seconds, the noises stopped, but the voices continued talking and had grown noticeably clearer.

Gath searched through the woods and looked further down the path where they had been heading, discovering a small clearing northwards about fifteen yards from where they were hiding.

Eight battle droids had taken guard positions around two beings, and half the squad blocked the path from the woods to the clearing. One of the beings that were within the guarded circle was a female Koorivian, and the drab, gray uniform did little to hide her reptilian, mauve-colored skin. In fact, the gray of her attire seemed to enhance her unusual coloring, making her appear brighter than she actually was. The insignia patch on her uniform bore the ranking of a CIS commander, something that Crimson didn't think would have been awarded to a female, but then again they really didn't know much about the Koorivians, so who were they to judge how rank should be distributed? After all, in a war, it would only seem logical to give leadership authority to someone who had experience or knowledge on how to handle it.

As for the other being that was talking with the Koorivian, he was an older human, probably in his late fifties but seemed physically fit despite the elaborate dark green cape that flowed from the back of his expensively tailored light green tunic and pants. His bright, blonde hair had grown recognizably thin on top, and it gave the impression that he had less hair than his baldness appeared to have. His light, tan skin made his dark eyes seem to be placed deeper in his sockets than they should have been, and the noticeable birthmark on his right cheek gave a clear indication that this man was none other than Baron Erle Zech, the man who instigated Princess Arlesse's kidnapping.

Gath watched as Zech held before him a small device that suddenly projected images of the Grand Palace, the home of King Vollan Psach and Les'ika. Gath steadied his blaster realizing momentarily that he had allowed himself the mental slip of silently addressing the princess in the name his brothers had given her, and he could no longer deny that he had grown concerned for her himself. He had tried to convince Jas to drop the attraction before it got too much further, hoping that his own compassion for the young woman would disappear along with Jas' affections. Unfortunately, neither subsided, and the last thing that Gath knew any of them needed was to deal with a commando with a broken heart and the punishment that would be doled out amongst them from both the Tochin government and the GAR.

Wrapping his fingers around the Deece tighter to suppress the urge to sigh, Gath knew that he had developed his own empathetic attachment to the princess, and he had seen how this morning it was so very clear in her eyes that her affections for Jas were genuine. Gath was certain that the way she opened her locket for Jas was something she didn't just do for anyone. Showing him the holograms within it had exposed a very real wound in her eyes, and Gath had no choice but to interrupt them and remind them that their affections could only be temporary.

Even Gath had to admit that he thought at first that the princess had simply latched onto Jas because he had overplayed earning her trust when he first rescued her. He was concerned that she had merely thought of Jas as some fantasy hero who would protect her from every evil, but since he observed their encounter this morning, he had seen how very real her emotions for his brother were.

Risking a glance into the thick underbrush where Gath had last seen Jas and Les'ika submerge, he hoped his brother could protect her and sustain his focus on the mission. Gath knew he could never handle maintaining the kind of dual focus required to protect a civilian on a personal level while trying to carry out mission orders, and he hoped that he would not have to report that they lost either Jas or Les'ika because of an attraction and attachment that they all knew broke every rule.

In the mere seconds that Gath had developed and pushed aside his concerns, he set his helmet to focus in closer on the visuals of the holoprojector that was between the two beings.

--- --- --- --- ---

Quick Author's Note: Did you love that chapter!? I hope you did! Show your support for the author by simply clicking the little VOTE button to the bottom left or top right of your screen! Have a wonderful day!

Votes and Comments/Feedback most enthusiastically welcome!