A Young Girl's War Between the Stars [Youjo Senki/Star Wars] 66

A Young Girl’s War Between the Stars

66

Mandalore. 36 BBY/964 GSC.

Satine saw us off at the city’s space port, following us to the Rusted Silver with a pair of Mando guards. She wrapped in a hug and planted a kiss on each of my cheeks that I was pretty sure were for the benefit of the few onlookers who had realized who she was.

I thought I saw soone with a cara, but when I glanced over, they had slipped away. I could still feel them however, and I didn’t like what I felt—whoever it was, they were here specifically to observe us, and they wanted to be very sneaky about it.

Leaning in, Satine pressed her lips against my ear where no one would see and whispered, “Co back soon.”

I nodded as she pulled away with a smile. “It was good to see you again. We’ll let you know the next ti we’re in the area.”

With that, I ushered my Padawans and Arthree into the ship before turning and catching the attention of one of the Mando guards. I pointed to my eyes, then the direction I had felt the spy or whoever it was go. The Mando nodded and my passive radio formula picked up encrypted radio chatter from the Mandos as the ssage was relayed. With that done, I sealed the hatch and made my way into the cockpit.

Allaya and Asajj fought briefly over the copilot seat while Arthree moved back to his socket and slotted in. Sighing, I got up and grabbed Allaya, stuffing her into my chair and forcing her to strap in as Asajj did likewise in the copilot’s seat. “Alright. Both of you, focus on the Force. Reach out to the ship and feel what needs to be done. And don’t close your eyes. You need to see what you’re doing.”

With that, I began guiding them through the preflight and startup sequence, using a combination of the Force and simple instructions, explaining what each control did, what the gauges they needed to look at ant, and so on. Eventually, I reached up and grabbed the grab bar overhead.

“Throttle up slowly,” I instructed, and Allaya did so, easing us up off the ground. “Co around one hundred and eighty degrees.” The ship spun slowly, wobbling slightly and overshooting just a bit before she corrected. “Now, ease the throttle open a bit, then take us out.”

Once we were clear, I let the girls take turns piloting the ship over the empty desert for a bit, before I had Asajj take us up and break atmo. We received a hail from the Redoubt and I reached out and hit the button to accept.

“Rusted Silver, this is the Redoubt. We’ve got the barn door open and the engines ward up, if you’re ready to go.”

“Roger that, Redoubt. I’ve got two green trainee pilots in the seats, and I want to get them so ti behind the controls. Please let the captain know we’ll dock in an hour or so.”

“Understood, Silver. Redoubt out.”

I shut off the comm and leaned over the seats. “Now, point her out into empty space, then you can open her up and see how she handles.”

“Mm!” Allaya nodded, doing as instructed.

Soon enough, my computation orb ticked over an hour and I tapped Asajj on the shoulder. “Turn us for the ship and bring us in.” She nodded and brought us about, and I tapped Allaya’s shoulder and pointed to the controls needed next. “Input this sequence to request auto docking. The ship will let you know when we’re locked in and you can let go of the controls.”

I stayed on hand to guide them through the docking sequence, watching to make sure nothing went wrong. Once the ship touched down, I reached out and hit the sequence to shut down and secure the ship. “And that’s it. I’ll speak with so people on the ship and see if there’s a simulator or two I can stuff you two into to get so simulated flight hours, before I turn you loose on an actual craft. Now, gather your things and let’s go.”

Moving out of the cockpit, I grabbed my bag and waited for the girls, before hitting the hatch control. They followed down the ramp and paused at the small group waiting for us. A familiar face stood in the small crowd and Cindy waved as I t her eyes.

“Officer on deck!” the captain called, and the group saluted, as everyone in the hangar turned and did likewise.

I returned the salute. “As you were,” I called, and waited for them to get back to what they were doing, before nodding at the captain. “Thank you for having , Capt. Keen.”

“Any ti, Lt. Col. reel,” she nodded, before turning and gesturing for us to co with her.

The girls fell in behind us as Cindy moved up to my right side, the captain on my left. “So this is the ‘secret project?’”

“Hehe~. Yeeeah,” Cindy nodded. “We did a little remodeling to add proper quarters for a flagship, quarters for your Padawans, and consulted Count Dooku on designing so small facilities fit for Jedi stuff. I think you’ll like it. Also had to make a few modifications to the environntal systems, to filter particulates, chemicals, and the like. We’re still testing those…”

Cindy shared a look with the captain, who said, “I’ll have my chief engineer get with you on that.”

“Good,” the blonde nodded.

“More defenses against biological or chemical warfare are always good,” I agreed. “But it sounds like the cabin modifications took up a significant chunk of space. And space is at a premium on a ship…”

“Thankfully, we had so space to spare,” Capt. Keen nodded. “It just took a little shuffling of the crew.”

Frowning, I sent the older woman a concerned look. “I didn’t displace you or cause any trouble for the officers with this, did I?”

“Not at all,” the captain shook her head. Reaching up, she brushed a strand of short, black hair behind her ear. “They were quarters topside of the main battery that would have been used to house enlisted n and a small rec area for that part of the ship, but we aren’t fully crewed as it is.” Before I could comnt, she clarified, “We have enough people to handle everything with room left over, we’re just not at capacity. We have room to spare. They built her big.”

“I see,” I murmured, nodding.

“We’ve already got your office set up. If you need anything, Sgt. Able is at your disposal.” I nodded and she continued as we started up a set of stairs, “I’ve been told we were to wait for orders from you on our destination.”

It wasn’t a question, but the expectation was there. “We’ll discuss it in my office, after we drop my Padawans off to settle in.” Capt. Keen raised an eyebrow at that, but remained silent.

Soon enough, we entered a corridor that didn’t seem to have much, if any traffic. We got nearly halfway down before Cindy thumbed the switch to open a door. “This is the training room,” she said and I poked my head in for a mont to have a look around, as it actually seed to span two floors in height. “The floor and walls are actually linked tiles, and there are poles and other shapes stored behind them, so you can use it for training telekinesis, as an obstacle course, for sparring, and other stuff. It’s also got a swarm of training drones, for practice with blasters.”

We moved on to the next room, which was entirely bare save for panels on the ceiling for the lights. “ditation room. Count Dooku said you’d set it up to your liking?”

“Yes. There are things I can do with this much space that I can’t on the Rusted Silver,” I nodded, and we moved on.

The next rooms were a lounge and small kitchen area, quarters for Allaya and Asajj, and a restroom for them. Finally, we ca to my office, with a connected bedroom and bathroom. I noticed that the bedroom had been decorated much as my quarters on my stealth ship had, with plants from Zeltros, Dathomir, and Tython—the sa ones that were in the Rusted Silver, including the plant that I used for tea leaves.

“This is perfect. Thank you both,” I nodded to Cindy and Capt. Keen as I dropped my bag in my bedroom. “Give five minutes.”

Stepping inside, I quickly peeled off my new temporary armor and stored it on the human shaped armor rack in the corner of the room, then removed my vac suit and stored it in the closet, before moving back into the office area. Making my way over to the small round table with a color holo projector and holocom built in, I tapped the controls and brought up a map of the galaxy. A wave of my hand at the door sealed it, and a quick formula checked the room for listening devices just to be sure, but found none that I didn’t expect—naly, the microphones built into the projector, at the computer desk, and beside the door.

Looking up at both of the older won, I said, “What I am about to tell you is secret. I’m sure it’s going to get out eventually, but it won’t be from us. From this point forward, until we leave our destination system, we are to run under a complete comms blackout. Nothing in, nothing out.”

“Understood. I’ll make sure it’s taken care of before we leave,” Capt. Keen nodded.

Tapping the galaxy map, I selected Jedha. “We’re going to Jedha, where the Jedi have relocated their Temple. No one, aside from us and your navigational officers, is to know this. We’ll drop out of hyperspace early and I’ll make my way there while you keep the ship off the usual travel lanes. I’m not sure exactly what we’re doing there, but it shouldn’t be more than a few days, perhaps a week at most. Then we’ll see where we go from there.”

“Understood,” the captain confird. “Anything else I should know, before I get us underway?”

“No—” I paused, considering. “Actually, I may have you arrange a stop along the way and a quick etup with a friendly ship. I need to get my other fighter, just in case. We have no stealth elent on this ship, so I want one. I’ll put in a call and arrange for pickup, likely at Coruscant. Give a few minutes to get that ssage off before you engage the comms blackout.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the captain saluted, before turning and hurrying from the room.

Frowning as I noticed the woman’s emotions slip for a mont, radiating anxiety and relief, and oddly enough arousal, I was caught off guard by Cindy speaking. Looking away from the door as it closed again, I sent her a smile. “Sorry, I was distracted. What was that?”

The blonde shook her head. Cocking her hip, she shut off the hologram between us and rested her hands on the table. “I said, I heard so juicy scuttlebutt while you were out flying the kids around.”

“Oh?” I asked, curious where she was going, especially given the amusent and… other emotions I was sensing from her. Still, I had sothing to do. Pulling out my holocom, I typed out a quick ssage to Capt. Taris. I knew my stealth ship was in the area—and in fact should be coming off of leave within the next day or so. It wouldn’t hurt us to delay that long to et up with the ship at Coruscant if we needed to.

“Oh yeah,” Cindy nodded. Looking down, she buffed her nails on her shirt, her tone entirely too casual as she said, “Sothing about you and Satine staying up late…”

I sighed, hitting ‘send’ and pushing away from the table as I pocketed the holocom. I moved over to the couch against the far wall, next to my bedroom door, and took a seat. Cindy followed, dropping down onto the couch directly beside , close enough that I could feel her body heat. “So?”

I rolled my eyes. “We spent the night together.” She sent an amused look, expectant. “Yes, it was exactly what you’re thinking.”

The blonde chanic grinned, nodding. “So, are you dating, or…?”

“Sefri—” I paused at her confused look. “We’re not in a relationship, no. We’re just friends.”

“With benefits,” Cindy added, and I sent her a long suffering look, before confirming with a nod. “I see, I see,” she murmured. The blonde woman sent a smile, before resting her hand on my thigh. Cindy’s nails were just long enough to dig into my thigh through the material of my robe. “So what you’re saying is… you’re on the nu~.”

“Erm,” I found myself montarily flustered. “I’m… Yes. I suppose you could put it that way.”

Then, the tease patted my thigh and hopped up, stretching and popping her back in a way that drew my eyes to her everything, before she straightened up with a grin. “Alright then. I’m gonna get back to it. Do a quick maintenance on the Rusted Silver before I go check the new filtration system and do a shift for the Redoubt. You want to hang out later, after my shift’s over?”

I would admit to not being the most socially adept individual in the world, but I would have had to be a complete imbecile to miss the blatant invitation in her words. I’d spent ti alone with the chanic before and she was fine company. Now however, I was reminded of the growth spurt I’d had since enlisting and returning.

There was every chance she could just be ssing with . On the other hand, given what I was feeling from her, there was a good chance she wasn’t.

With that in mind, I nodded once. “Sure.”

“Great! See you then,” she grinned, then spun and made for the door.

“Oh! One more thing,” I called, and she paused at the door, turning to send an amused look. Unfortunately, I was deadly serious, and she quickly picked up on that as she straightened up. “Don’t touch the reptiles in the display cases. There should be a green snake and two brown lizards. You should be able to see them from the hatch. If you don’t, close the hatch and move away very carefully, while minding your surroundings. Alert whoever is on duty in the hangar and tell them to clear the area, then call imdiately.”

“Uhhh, boss,” she looked worried. “What did you bring on board?”

“Nothing you need to worry about, so long as those enclosures stay shut,” I assured her. She didn’t need to know the specifics, and I highly doubted the captain would approve of transporting a couple of rock dragons and a Kodashi viper. “They’re transparisteel, and they’re physically sealed and locked. You would have to intentionally tamper with one to get it open. The animals inside are unlikely to attack anyone if they get loose, just so long as they aren’t cornered or threatened.”

Cindy winced, but nodded. “Alright,” she murmured. “But if I die, I’m haunting your ship.”

“Those are fair terms.”

The blonde rolled her eyes, before leaving my office. I followed after her, feeling out the Force and finding my Padawans in their small rec room, looking annoyed as they tried and failed to get the entertainnt system working as the words ‘NO SIGNAL’ hovered in the middle of the projection.

“Having problems?” I asked, leaning against the door fra.

“Master, this thing is busted!” Allaya complained, smacking the table. “Can you get soone to fix it?”

“It’s not broken,” I shook my head, and the pair sent confused looks. “We’re operating under comms blackout conditions from now until we leave the Jedi temple. That also ans no holonet, no live shows or movies, and so on. You’re going to have to learn to load up your holocoms with entertainnt for when you’re off the grid. Take this as a lesson: failure to plan is planning to fail. This ti, you simply don’t have entertainnt. Next ti, what if you’re missing a critical piece of gear you forgot? That’s your assignnt when we get done with training: make a checklist of things you both think you’ll need for, let’s say three different conditions. Those conditions are… travel to a city undercover, a month on a desert planet, and a month on a temperate forest world.”

“Can we ask you for help?” Asajj asked, and I sent her an amused look.

“I’ll help you after you make your lists. And just this once, I’ll share my own library of entertainnt.” I pulled out my holocom and synced it to the table with the projector, before copying over a bunch of movies and series I had downloaded—mostly historical accounts from the last five thousand years of the Republic. It was essentially a highlights reel of how the Republic had changed leading up to and after the Ruusan Reformation and only covered the broad strokes, but it would pass the ti.

“Now, let’s go test this training room,” I grinned, and the girls winced, following after as they radiated trepidation.

I didn’t see what they were so afraid of. A room that could be adjusted to the user’s whim, allowing one to move around terrain with the use of telekinesis sounded incredibly fun, and like an amazingly useful training tool. The fact that it also had training drones I could teach the girls to practice on was a huge bonus in my opinion. Of course, they didn’t have their lightsabers yet, but that was fine. They didn’t need a lightsaber to learn how to anticipate danger and dodge…

This book was originally published on . Check it out there for the real experience.

Later that evening, after I’d finished my ditation and turned the girls loose to enjoy themselves in their rec room—playing a ga very much like table tennis on the holo projector—my door chid. Reaching out to the Force, I felt the familiar presence of Cindy on the other side and called, “Enter.”

The blonde entered carrying a covered tray and crossed the room to sit down opposite at my desk as she put it down. I finished up the last of my work putting in requisition forms for parts and ti in the Redoubt’s machine shop for tomorrow, before shutting off the computer. As I did, Cindy pulled the top off the tray, revealing a spread of dishes.

“That slls amazing,” I said, my stomach grumbling as I felt myself start to drool a bit. “Tea?”

“Sure,” she agreed, and I stood up to go pluck so fresh leaves for myself and pick out sothing safer for her, then used the small kitchenette to heat water in two pots, then let it steep. When I returned, Cindy was already working on putting together a bowl for herself.

“What is it?” I asked, pouring us both a cup.

“Uh,” she studied it for a mont, before laughing. “I dunno! It’s what they had in the chow hall. Slls good though.” She took her chopsticks and picked up a bite, then nodded. She covered her mouth, even as she answered around her food, “Tastes good too.”

I pulled so noodles into a bowl and sampled the sauces until I found one I liked, that reminded of soy sauce. Then I sampled the at. The darker one tasted similar to steak, while the lighter like chicken. I chose the chicken, then moved on to vegetables. Mixing everything together, I took a bite and let out an appreciative hum. It reminded of an udon dish, and for a mont I felt a pang of hosickness.

Pushing the feeling aside, I asked, “Nothing wrong with the ship?”

“Oh, no! I just wanted to check in on my baby,” she admitted with a grin. “I can tell you’ve been treating her right.”

“Of course,” I agreed easily. “You put a lot of ti and effort into her. I wouldn’t disrespect that by treating her poorly.”

“Well,” Cindy drew out the word, radiating mischief. “You don’t have to baby her, boss. She’ll handle whatever you throw at her, even if you get a little rough.”

I looked up in ti to catch the blonde wink at and rolled my eyes in return. “What have I told you? When we’re off the clock, it’s Tanya. I won’t pressure my subordinates or employees to the point that they can’t relax in their off hours, if I happen to wander by.”

“Sure, sure,” she waved the reprimand off. “So, how are you enjoying being a teen mom?”

I nearly choked on my noodles. Picking up my cup of tea, I cleared my throat and glared as the woman across from laughed. Worse yet, I couldn’t even deny it! It was factually accurate in Asajj’s case, if only by adoption. Of course, glaring only made her laugh harder.

“I’ll rember that remark,” I warned.

“Worth it, for the look on your face,” Cindy stuck out her tongue.

I am going to do unspeakable things to you, I ntally grumbled, already contemplating payback. She wasn’t one of my soldiers so I couldn’t simply PT her until she passed out, or send her outside to sweep the sunshine off the hull, but I’d think of sothing. As for the actual question…

“On the way here from Dathomir, I was seriously considering rolling the windows down. What does that tell you?”

Cindy winced. “That bad?”

“Only when they’re cooped up in close quarters and bored,” I shrugged. “Otherwise, they’re fine.”

Conversation remained light as we finished our al and put everything back on the tray. We moved to the couch and, for so reason, I found the blonde’s head occupying my lap as she closed her eyes with a yawn.

“I’m just going to take a little after al nap,” Cindy sighed, shifting to get comfortable.

“Long hours?” I asked, and she nodded.

“Still catching up on my sleep debt.”

I considered the woman for just a mont, before pulling out my holocom and resting it on her chest, below her bosom, and bringing up a book to read. I could protest and push her off, but a lap pillow wasn’t exactly a big ask from a female friend. Besides, giving her one ant I could cash in on the favor later, and Cindy’s thighs looked very inviting…

“Very well.”

The hand not occupied with occasionally scrolling the book found its way to Cindy’s head. Her short hair was fluffy and soft, and a delight to scratch my fingers through. She drifted off not long after I started. As though sensing the presence of the perfect bed, I felt a twist in the Force and Catya leapt onto the couch, before curling herself up on the blonde’s bare belly. I rely shook my head and went back to my book.

Hyperspace. In transit from Coruscant to Jedha. 36 BBY/964 GSC.

I frowned as I finished up with training for the day. Sending the girls to get cleaned up and enjoy their free ti, I briefly considered going to get cleaned up myself before changing my mind. No, the nagging feelings I was sensing were starting to intrude, forcing to keep my ntal shields raised, and I very much wanted to hunt down the source of this utter lack of discipline on a military vessel.

So, I left the training room and reached out with the Force—following the feelings of lust, arousal, and excitent through the ship. The closer I got, the more it felt like walking into a field of pure, concentrated randy energy.

Horny energons, if you will.

I followed the stairs down, below the central run through the ship blocked off by the railgun barrels. Entering a corridor, I found myself in enlisted country, just going by the noise level at this hour. It was just past the evening shift change, so everyone who had been on first shift was now off duty and had either returned to their quarters, gone to a rec room, hit the galley, or otherwise found sothing to occupy themselves with. The sounds of conversations, laughter, roughhousing, music, and other entertainnt filled the corridor as I made my way down it.

Here and there, behind closed doors, I felt a couple clearly engaged in recreation between themselves. Behind closed doors, that wasn’t against regulations. After all, the Mandalorians operated coed units and expected that sort of thing to happen. dical technology was readily available and issued free of charge to prevent the expected outco of such rendezvous. They lived by the idea of ‘live hard, play hard,’ as most soldiers I’d t tended to—with few exceptions.

Still, a few couples here and there didn’t account for what I was sensing. No, it would take nearly the whole deck’s worth of soldiers to get this sort of effect, I imagined. So, I pressed on, moving closer. Until eventually, I found it.

One door in particular stood closed, and from behind it issued forth sounds the likes of which would put every brothel I’d had the misfortune to pass to sha.

…Kind of reminds of Zeltros, actually, I mused, feeling a bit annoyed at the reminder of one of the big reasons I had left.

Bracing myself and reinforcing my ntal shields, I opened the door. “Alright, what’s going… on…”

Taking in the scene before , I blanched.

“Here?”

Ah yes, just like ho.

Speakers blared music that I’d swear had co straight from Earth, and laser lights shot around the room from what looked very much like a disco ball mounted to the ceiling. The large rec room was filled with n and won fornicating on every surface, in practically every position they could manage. With the sort of body strength your average Mando had, they could manage quite a few inventive positions. I blinked, tilting my head slightly as a few caught my eye.

…I could probably manage that with Satine, or Cindy…

Several people near the door happened to glance over and went wide-eyed as they realized who I was, regardless of the lack of uniform and rank insignia. “…I’m going to pretend I didn’t see this. As you were.”

I pulled a quick about face and made to close the door. From inside the room, so practical joker laughed and catcalled, “But ma’am, we need orders!”

I flushed, turning and glaring into the room. “If you want orders, go outside without a vac suit and sweep the sunshine off the hull!” I roared, slamming the door hard enough to warp it in the fra and rip the handle off. A frustrated, “Fuck!” escaped as the door bounced back open. I tossed the handle and hurried away, walking until I turned the corner, before I sprinted at Force speed back the way I had co.

What the hell is going on?! Have they gone mad?! Is it so hallucinogen? Chemical warfare? Failure of the atmosphere system? A saboteur?! Are we under attack?

I didn’t feel anyone on the ship with hostile intent, but droids didn’t have feelings. I also didn’t really sense any danger, aside from the low level danger that ca with being around a crew of highly lethal killing machines who thought mixing alcohol and either blades or blasters sounded like a fun ti.

Finding my Padawans in their own little rec room, playing another ga of table tennis, I breathed a sigh of relief that whatever was affecting the n hadn’t gotten to them. They looked up as I stopped in the door, imdiately sensing sothing was wrong.

“Master?” Asajj asked, as Allaya looked behind for so threat.

“Stay inside. Lock the door behind . Don’t open it for anyone other than , Cindy, or the captain. Understand?” They nodded. “I’ll be back for you once I understand the situation.”

Seeing they understood, I closed the door and heard the lock engage. Then, I moved to my quarters and tapped the holocom on the table, connecting to the bridge. The comms officer picked up imdiately. “Lt. Col. reel, how can I help you, ma’am?”

“Is Capt. Keen available?” I asked.

“She just went off duty. Would you like to patch you through to her personal comm, or would you prefer to speak to the XO?”

I considered for a mont, before deciding against bothering the XO. While the captain was off duty, this was a sowhat sensitive matter, and I’d prefer to get to the bottom of it without putting the ship on alert if it turned out to be nothing.

“The captain, please,” I answered.

“One mont, ma’am,” the comms officer answered, and the screen flashed ‘Transferring…’

A few seconds later, Capt. Keen picked up, audio only. “Hah, colonel? How ah, how can I help you?”

She sounded sowhat out of breath. I didn’t enjoy the idea of interrupting her if she was in the middle of her exercise routine, but I’d already made the call. “I realize you’re off duty, captain—”

“Then call Aylin,” the woman chuckled.

“Aylin. Do you have a mont?”

There was a pause, then a very reluctant, “Yes. What do you need?”

“It’s a matter that requires so discretion…”

The woman was silent for several monts, before finally giving her answer. “I’ll be there shortly.”

“Thank you.”

The line went dead and I shut off the holo terminal. The minutes seed to drag on, until my door chid. I opened it with a flick of the wrist and Aylin entered, followed by Cindy. The captain was in a set of black overalls, tied off at the waist, with only a light sleeveless shirt on top.

“Alright,” the woman asked, moving to the table. “What’s the matter?”

Looking between the two older won, Cindy sent a smile as I wondered why she was there. “Don’t worry about it, boss. Just a bet we’ve got going. Go ahead! What’s up?”

Frowning, I dismissed the whatever those two had going on and focused on the issue at hand. “Being a Zeltron cos with certain abilities,” I began, earning a chuckle from Cindy.

“No kidding,” she muttered, and I could feel her green eyes lingering on my body.

I chose to ignore it and continued—this wasn’t the ti for flirting. “One of those is the ability to sense emotions, and presences through those emotions. For this reason, I generally dislike being among crowds. Typically, I haven’t had any issue being on ships, but lately, for the last week or so in fact, I’ve noticed so things building within the ship. It’s co to a head and for the past two days I’ve sensed… a serious breach in discipline among the crew. I tracked down the source of the commotion to the lower deck—”

Cindy held out her hand to Aylin, but the dark haired woman held a hand up to stop her as I paused. “And…?”

“And I found it,” I mumbled, having a sneaking suspicion the two of them knew exactly what I had found and where.

“Tch.” Aylin clicked her tongue and reached into her top and the sports bra beneath. Pulling out a stack of credits, she counted out several before handing them off to Cindy. “Enjoy it while it lasts,” the captain grumbled.

Blinking at the exchange, I pointed between the two. “…The two of you were aware of what’s going on in the lower deck. And you bet on it. On finding it.”

The dark haired woman let out a gusty sigh as Cindy tucked the credits into her own top and made her way over to the couch before sitting down. Patting the seat beside her, she grinned. “Have a seat.”

“Oooh, no. We aren’t having this conversation without lubricant,” Aylin shook her head. “You two stay here, I’ll be back.” She glared at Cindy. “Don’t start without .”

Confused, I joined Cindy on the couch, only to be pulled into the blonde’s lap. Her arms wrapped around my waist from behind and she dropped her chin on my shoulder.

“You’re not going to tell , are you?”

“Not until she gets back,” my chanic chuckled. “It’ll be more fun that way, trust .”

A few minutes later, Aylin returned with glasses and a bottle. Locking the door behind her, she took the other open seat on the couch and began pouring. I managed to extricate myself from Cindy’s lap and took the offered glass.

“So… we’re not dealing with sabotage, or so sort of nitrogen or carbon monoxide issue with the environntal systems? It’s not a chemical attack?” I asked, before taking a sip. It wasn’t the fine brandy Satine enjoyed, but it wasn’t terrible either. It was so sort of whiskey, I thought—though I wasn’t sure. My experience was mostly with cheap beer and sake.

“Oh, it’s definitely a problem with the environntal system,” Aylin grumbled as she drained her glass in one go and poured a second. This one she sipped at as she added, “And yeah, it’s a chemical effect. It’s… not harmless, but not an attack either.”

I turned a confused look on Cindy. “Didn’t you tell you did sothing to prevent exactly this sort of thing?”

“Yeeeah,” Cindy laughed. “Wasn’t good enough. It clings to everything and it lingers. So even if we’re actively filtering it from the atmo, just a little is enough to contaminate an area for days, apparently.”

“So, what is it? So sort of psychedelic? An intoxicant? …A sexual stimulant?”

The two older won shared a look at that, before Aylin nodded. “It’s an aphrodisiac, among other things. It doesn’t lower inhibitions and it won’t make soone do sothing they wouldn’t normally, but it increases libido.”

“Grabs the knob and rips it right off,” Cindy nodded.

“Alright. Then we’ll track it down and eject it from the ship. It can’t be that difficult,” I suggested.

Aylin chuckled. “Well, if you want to take a space walk, be my guest. I wouldn’t recomnd it in hyperspace, however.”

“Huh?”

Cindy held out her hand again and this ti, the captain didn’t bother arguing as she pulled the rest of the credits out and handed them over. I turned an annoyed look on the blonde, who sent a mischievous look. “It’s you, boss. You’re the source.”

Frowning, I asked, “What? What are you talking—” The realization hit like a truck. “Oh. Ooh.”

Aylin raised an eyebrow. “Did you forget?”

“Well, y—no! It’s just, it never effected before,” I began, only for my mind to supply several instances during my stint in the Republic army war college of my classmates losing discipline and focus, and going off for a quickie sowhere. “Okay, yes. Now that I think about it, it must have started when puberty kicked in and my pheromones changed. But it’s never been this bad!”

“We’re in a tin can, floating through space, breathing recycled farts and drinking recycled piss and bathwater. We don’t have a planet’s worth of space and trees to filter or spread it out,” Aylin pointed out. “It’s in the air. It’s in the water. It’s on the walls. We’d have to scrub the ship from stem to stern to get it all out. Cindy’s plan with modifying the atmospheric scrubbers was a good one, and it helped a bit at first, but we didn’t have all the information we needed. Now that we do, we’ve realized just how screwed we are.”

I closed my eyes and winced. “I am so—”

“It’s not your fault,” Aylin shook her head. “The entire ship was made aware of it when we were given the assignnt. Everyone was offered the chance to transfer. A few took it, but those that remained are here voluntarily. Pretty sure all of the upper brass knows.”

“Then Satine,” I glanced at Cindy, who nodded.

“Oh yeah,” Aylin confird. “Her advisors probably pitched a shit fit when she invited you to spend the night, complaining about all the ways you could unduly influence her.”

“Shit,” I hissed. “Then I can’t go back any ti soon.”

“You should be able to control it,” the dark haired woman pointed out. “Have you tried?”

“I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” I shook my head. “Maybe ditating on the Force…” I considered it for a mont before dismissing it, as I rembered I could just ask—and I knew exactly who I could call to do so. “Where are we now? The ship, I an?”

Aylin humd, thinking for a mont. “We should be passing Palanhi soon. Why?”

“It’ll have to be good enough. I need to make a call. Can you get the comms restriction lifted?”

“If it ans my boat stops being used as a fuck pad for horny Mandos? Absolutely,” the woman agreed with a laugh, bouncing up off the couch and hurrying to the holo table.

“Hey, it could be worse! At least they’re keeping it behind closed doors,” Cindy pointed out.

“Barely,” Aylin rolled her eyes. “I swear, I’ve been propositioned by everyone on the command staff in the last twenty-four hours.” She dialed the bridge and a mont later, the comms officer answered. “This is the captain. I need a temporary, partial lifting of the comms blackout. Just this terminal. Either I or the colonel will call back to get that put back in place.”

“Roger that, ma’am. Aaand… done. You’ve got holonet access. We should be in range of enough buoys to place a live call.”

“Thank you, ensign,” Aylin nodded and disconnected the call.

I took her place at the holo terminal as she moved back to the couch. As we passed each other, I felt the woman’s attention and her arousal spike. I considered trying to apologize again, but she had already said there was nothing to forgive. Still, I’d find a way to make up for the inconvenience—to the whole crew. Maybe so bonus pay, or so paid leave. There were surely plenty of nice places along the route to where I wanted to go to investigate potential locations for Ghostfire crystals where we could stop off and let the crew enjoy so well deserved R&R.

I put that thought to the back of my mind as I connected my holocom and called one of the contacts. A few monts later, the line picked up and the familiar face of the matron greeted from her office. Sharp eyes swept over , then slid over to Cindy and Aylin, sitting on the couch behind , but still in fra.

“Tanya. It seems like every ti I see you, you’ve sprouted up again,” she chuckled.

“Matron. Thank you for answering. I know it’s late there.”

“Nonsense,” the older woman shook her head. “Besides, I’ve been waiting for this call for so ti now.”

I blinked. “You have?”

“Oh yes. Let guess. The people around you have been acting strangely. Like it’s mating season and all they want to do is rut?”

“How did you know?”

She chuckled. “I knew you were coming up on that age. It happens to every Zeltron.” She sent a smile and asked, “So, which one?”

“Which one… what?” I asked, confused.

The matron chuckled. “Which one did you sleep with? Or was it both?”

“We haven’t slept together yet,” Aylin protested from behind .

“‘Yet,’” the matron emphasized, and I could feel the captain’s embarrassnt at the slip.

I decided to cut to the chase. “It wasn’t either of them. Though yes, I did have relations with another woman. Why? Is that important?”

“Very. Your pheromones should have already changed by now, but that shot of hormones would’ve kicked your body into overdrive, just pumping them out like a broken faucet.” She sent a knowing look and asked, “Why do you think no one talks about what goes on any ti a bunch of teens get together on the planet? It’s a known elent.”

I was fully aware of the city-wide underground teen orgies. They were another reason I had left the planet. What I hadn’t been aware of was why they happened in the first place. But now, it all made sense. That many teens, all cramd together, they’d be setting each other off left and right.

“Please tell there’s so way to control it,” I begged, the words coming out more like a groan.

The matron nodded. “Of course there is. Usually, you’d learn this over ti, and figure out how to turn it off or dial it back if you want. But, I take it from your surroundings, you’re on a ship aren’t you?” When I nodded, she sighed. “Yes, you’re not going to be able to take your ti learning, if you want to stop influencing everyone around you and avoid turning that ship into a mirror of Zeltros.”

I nodded. “Yes, please.”

I could already feel my reputation disintegrating. If I didn’t get this under control soon, I’d have to go into seclusion or sothing until I could. Which would cause issues with fulfilling my obligations to my Padawans. That thought brought up short and I made a face.

At least it’s had no obvious effect on them. …Or if it has, not a sexual one. I’d never forgive myself.

“Very well. Let’s get started, then,” the matron nodded. “And rember, even if you master it, everything you’ve excreted already will still need to be removed from the environnt. Also, direct contact with your bodily fluids is going to have the sa effect if you’re at all aroused.”

“That’s fine. Even just being able to reduce the effect sowhat would be better than nothing at this point.”

With that, the matron began her lesson, and I listened, doing my best to commit it to mory and grasp what she was telling .

Imagine what a disaster it would be, showing up to the Jedi Temple like this. The chaos it would cause.

For just a mont, a ntal image of Obi flashed before my mind’s eye—panting, flushed, sweaty, hair sticking to her face, begging for relief…

This is not the ti for that! …Later, perhaps.