anovelconsole 97
97
A Young Girl’s War Between the Stars97
Mandalore. 33 BBY/967 GSC.
A red blaster bolt streaked in from what should have been a blind spot and I flicked a lightsaber into its path, not returning the bolt back to Jango but instead sending it straight at Bo’s helmeted head. The redhead flinched and jerked her head to the side as the bolt splashed off her beskar armor.
“Why is it always the head?!” she demanded, returning fire with her rifle.
“Because it distracts you,” I answered absently, turning and parrying a blow from Jaster, using a vibro-sword. The hit was strong and would have hammered through my defenses if I took it head on or didn’t respond with a disproportionate amount of Force reinforcing my body, so instead I angled my lightsaber to let it slide down the blade, then locked it in with the crossguard and applied torque.
Jaster dropped the sword and disengaged, but not before drawing his hand cannon and firing off a set of three very fast shots to my midsection. With my saber occupied, I was out of position to block, so I jumped, arching my body and throwing myself over the shots, letting them pass under me and nearly hit Jango closing in from the other side.
Jango, who had already lifted an arm and lined up opened fire, his flamethrower hosing down the area.
Out of position and caught mid-air, I turned and thrust out a palm, pushing with Force telekinesis. The wave of flame, or more importantly the currently alight arced away from me, forcing Jango to pull back as he was nearly caught up in his own blast. He kept up the fire with his blasters as he rolled out of the way, even as I landed and had to deal with another stream of flames from Jaster, then a third from Bo.
I went low, skimming the ground as I launched myself under the flames towards the weakest link. Coming up inside Bo’s guard, my saber flashed out and caught her in the neck—in the soft part of the armor that wasn’t nearly as lightsaber resistant as the beskar shell.
Bo groaned and tapped out, moving off to the side and pulling off her helmet to pick up a canteen and down a mouthful of water as I turned to focus fully on Jaster and Jango. I was forced to abort my attack on them a moment later and roll out as Obi-Wan and Asajj apparently decided to tag in, attacking me from behind in a pincer move.
Obi pressed the offense hard as Asajj circled, looking for an opening, and the two Mandos took every chance presented to fire into the scrum when they thought they saw an opening.
It was chaotic. Messy. A complete furball.
I loved every second of it.
So I was a bit disappointed when Jaster ran out of steam and had to tap out. Then Jango ran out of ammo. Finally, Obi-Wan’s relentless assault faltered. I took her to the ground and pinned her, blasting Asajj away with a negligent push of Force, and forced Obi to tap out.
Obi rolled over onto her back and groaned. “Ugh. Hot. Sweaty. Sand .”
“Be grateful we’re under the dome,” I pointed out as I stood and offered her a hand.
Obi took it and I hauled her to her feet. Looking around, she winced. “We’ve attracted quite the crowd.”
I shrugged, letting go of her hand and moving around to help knock the sand off her back. “Let them watch. This a public training ring.”
We moved over to our gear and I picked up my water bottle, pulling off my helmet and letting it clamp onto the magnet on my belt as I drained half the bottle in a single pull, then poured the other half over my head with a sigh. Environmental controls built into my suit or not, exercise generated a lot of heat.
“I’m getting too old for this shit,” Jaster sighed as he sipped at his own water.
“Rejuvenation treatments exist, old man,” Jango pointed out.
“You should go get one,” I nodded, making the old man in question frown.
“We don’t have the tech here. I’d have to go into the Core.”
Frowning myself, I asked, “Why don’t we have the tech?”
“,” Bo spat from where she was leaning against one of the speeders that had brought us here. “The Core likes to keep their best toys to themselves. Keeps everyone else dependent on them.”
At the nods from the other two Mandos, I rolled my eyes. “And do they build those on-site, or do they tend to build them elsewhere and ship them? Because we’re at war. Now would be a good time to seize some assets we don’t have.”
“,” Obi sing-songed, looking away.
“Or we could ask the Kaminoans on Serenno. They should have brought everything they need to establish a colony of their people. I would assume that would include their own rejuvenation treatment methods,” I added, for her benefit. “We’re heading there next. I’ll call ahead and ask. If they do, you’re welcome to come with us.”
The older Mando sighed, but seeing that Jango and I weren’t going to drop it, he nodded. “Fine.”
Looking to Jango, I said, “I’ve been meaning to ask. I haven’t seen Sheeka or Boba?”
The man chuckled. “They got bored, so she took him out on a mission.”
“Ah,” I nodded.
Jango’s holocom rang and the man sighed, pulling it out and checking the display. “I’m starting to hate these things.” He answered and Satine’s face popped up in the hologram. “What is it?”
Satine looked around a spotted me. “Oh good, you’re all together. Tanya wasn’t answering her comms.”
I patted my pockets, then sighed as I realized I had forgotten my own holocom. “Apparently, I forgot it this morning.”
Satine’s eyes cut over to Obi for a moment, before she muttered, “Yes, I imagine that would happen when you’re distracted. Regardless, I need you in the office. Something has come up. Jango, you as well. And Jaster, if you would?”
We gathered our things and loaded up in the speeders. I took Obi and Asajj back to my quarters since Obi technically couldn’t wander without an escort, then made my way to the government office where Jango and Satine worked. When I arrived at the meeting room, I found Xana had joined them as well.
“What’s going on?” I asked, taking a seat at the table.
“As you know, Master Qui-Gon sent for Jedi from the Temple to come get your prisoner,” Satine began, and I nodded.
Given the travel times involved, I had elected to extend my stay on Mandalore until after the Jedi came and got the prisoner, just so there would be no potential . I trusted Qui-Gon and Obi not to play stupid games. I didn’t trust many others in the Temple to show the same restraint. Master Yoda would, as would Master Windu, but I had my doubts about many of the others.
“Yes? Have they arrived?”
Satine nodded. “Indeed they have. But not alone.”
That seemed to be Xana’s cue, as the intelligence agent tapped at the controls for the holo display. It brought up a sensor readout put together from all of the ships in system, along with the sensors on the ground. A group of ten ships had jumped into our system and was currently approaching Mandalore. One of them was broadcasting an IFF signal that showed it was a Jedi vessel. The others weren’t broadcasting IFF, but were very obviously Republic ships. Not the new Venators, but older ships—standard for the current Republic Navy.
Looking at their projected path, I frowned. “They’re heading for the orbital works.” A sinking feeling filled the pit of my stomach and I ordered, “Get them on the line.”
Xana shook her head. “We’ve been hailing them since they dropped out of hyperspace. They’re ignoring us. The ship captains in orbit are requesting permission to open fire.”
“” Satine asked, going wide-eyed. “But the Republic ships haven’t fired—”
“They’re closing range to our orbital shipyard. If they take that out, our ship production is going to be crippled for months. More if they get lucky. Order them to put up their shields. I’m going to try diplomacy,” I answered. Standing, I moved over to the holocom and tapped in Qui-Gon’s number from memory. The man picked up on the first ring, the video revealing him to have been meditating in his quarters.
“Tanya…” He paused, looking around my side of the display with a frown. “Is there a problem?”
“There is. Your friends from the Temple have arrived, but they brought friends of their own. The Republic sent a battlegroup as an ‘escort,’ but they’re closing in on our orbital shipyard and ignoring hails. This . They’re older ships. I would be willing to bet they’re minimally crewed, or crewed by droids. It looks very much like a play to either force us to destroy them, or let them get close enough and they destroy our orbital works.”
The older man sighed, closing his eyes as he nodded. “I’ll try to speak with them. Can you—”
I nodded. “Stay on the line. I’ll have someone patch you into the transmitter and put you on the wide band.”
Xana obeyed the unspoken command from her own comm, relaying instructions. A moment later, she said, “The Jedi ship answered.”
While Master Qui-Gon spoke with the Jedi, I looked over the tactical map and began giving orders. “Physically move our ships in front of them and come to a stop relative to the shipyard, then match the Republic ships’ positions if they try to maneuver around. If they want to play games, . If they hit us, the damage will be less than if they hit the shipyard and it’s just a . If they open fire, it reveals their true intentions and we’re clear to return fire. Likewise, if they try to maneuver around our ships, it shows their true goal is the shipyard and if they manage to make it past we can fire.”
“On it,” Xana nodded, and on the screen I watched as our ships began moving into position.
“—sorry Qui-Gon, I can’t help with the Republic ships. The transit from hyperspace must have damaged their comms,” I heard the Jedi Qui-Gon was speaking to say, confirming that they were in on this play by the Republic.
Over the next few minutes, I watched as our ships and the Republic ships maneuvered, until our ships were in position and the Republic ships had to make a decision. Quietly, Satine asked, “What if they really are being controlled by droids?”
I considered for a moment before coming to an answer. “Then they’ll continue to try to carry out their orders.”
“Why would they? What is there to gain, if it’s obvious we know what they’re up to?”
Jaster snorted. “Doesn’t matter if we know. If they broadcast it back to the Republic, they can spin whatever lie they want. Then the truth doesn’t matter, just whoever’s louder.”
“If they won’t answer, we need to send someone over,” Jango suggested.
I looked to Xana and nodded. “Agreed. I want boarding parties sent over. Make sure they’re transmitting the entire time. I want to see what’s going on.”
“Understood,” the woman agreed, raising a hand to her ear and muttering instructions.
Over the next quarter hour, the Jedi ship refused to descend and land in Sundari, remaining in orbit while the Republic ships continued to try to get around our own. Finally, we began receiving broadcasts from helmet cams and sensors showed smaller ships leaving our fleet and moving over to the Republic ships. I didn’t like the way the Republic vessels ignored them, not even opening up with point defense weapons or activating shields to keep them away.
“Transmission coming in front one of the pilots,” Xana reported, before hitting a button to let us hear.
“—weird. There’s visible plasma scoring on the exterior. Signs of combat. A lot of it’s been repaired, enough to get them underway, but it’s obvious this tub’s been in a fight.”
I exchanged looks with Jaster and Jango, the older of the two looking thoughtful. Jango looked to Jaster and asked, “What are you thinking?”
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
“Now this is just me, but if I were looking to cause trouble… Well, there are a few things I could do with a damaged ship I got limping along and sent towards the enemy. Fill ‘em full of something nasty. Invasive predatory or parasitic alien species, rakghoul, or some kind of plague. Or put enough clankers in there to pilot it, activate the scuttling charges, and wait for them to get close enough to something important, then .”
“Make sure they’re going in sealed up and tell them to be careful,” I told Xana to relay. “I want teams sent to the engine rooms and bridges first thing. And keep an eye out for booby traps.”
We watched as the boarding ships made contact practically simultaneously and began forcing entry. Then, the first Mandos started moving through the hatches.
“Ship’s been vented of atmo,” someone reported as they entered. “Life support is either dead or off.”
All but the emergency lighting appeared to have been shut off on the Republic ships, but the flood lights on their helmets provided enough light to see by as the men split up into groups, heading fore and aft. The interior was much worse off than the exterior, with blaster scoring all over the bulkheads and occasional breached doors. Eventually, one of the teams spotted someone, sitting in a hallway and leaning against a bulkhead. Rifles were brought up, but they were in hard vacuum and the person in question wasn’t wearing a vac suit.
“We’ve got a body,” the leader reported, moving closer. “Blaster wounds. They’re not fresh, but… the body’s not suffering decomposition.”
Jaster frowned at that, before a look of understanding passed over his face. “I bet you’ll find more.”
“Care to enlighten us?” I asked, sending him a curious look.
“Died in a boarding action, most likely. Before the ship was vented. We’re not seeing decomp because it’s been chewing hard vacuum for months, possible a few years. I think I know where these ships are from,” Jaster said as, on the hologram, more bodies began turning up.
It only took Jango a moment to catch up to what I was clearly missing. “You think they’re derelicts from the Stark Conflict?”
“Yeah.”
Frowning, I murmured, “I know that name. That’s… the Stark Hyperspace War?” I asked, and Jaster nodded. “But that was, what, eleven years ago? I was only just joining the Jedi when that ended.”
In fact, I was pretty sure that I met Obi and Qui-Gon fresh off of that ‘war.’ If you could even call it a war. It was more of a policing action against a group of pirates who got uppity.
“Yeah. I’d bet good credits those ships are from that war. They’re floating tombs. Something like that happens, the military doesn’t really retrieve the bodies or do proper burials. They do ‘burial at sea’ and have an empty casket funeral for the family, while the body is entombed in the ship they served on and set adrift, left in orbit, sent into a star, or scuttled.”
On the hologram, the first teams reached the bridge, where they found a protocol droid sitting at the helm. At that, Jaster nodded, his suspicion apparently confirmed.
Looking confused, Satine asked, “Why get a floating tomb flightworthy and send it to us?” She turned a look on me and added, “That sounds like something you would do to mess with someone.”
An idea occurred and I let out a quiet chuckle. Seeing I’d drawn their attention, I said, “You’re exactly right. It sound like something I would do. I know who did this, and why. That,” I shook a finger at the display, showing the Republic ships, “is a trap. If we ignore it, they open fire and damage or destroy the orbital works. Or if their weapons aren’t working, the ships themselves are weapons. They have the mass to do serious damage if they get up to ramming speed. If we shoot them, we blow them wide open with that Jedi ship here watching. why they haven’t moved from where they’re orbiting. They were hoping we’d take the bait. Then the Republic could fudge the records and attribute those deaths to us. And how would we disprove it? There would be actual corpses, after all. Surely some of them would survive intact enough to identify. It’s a nasty little trick and a PR and diplomatic nightmare waiting to happen.”
Turning to Xana, I said, “Transmit the feed from our boarding team to the Jedi ship. Unencrypted. I want them to see it.”
“One moment,” she said, relaying the order. “They’re sending.”
The response didn’t take long in coming. Sure enough, a shuttle from the Jedi vessel broke orbit and began descending. I sent a message to Qui-Gon to let him know they were coming, then made to join him and meet them. “Disable those droids, then set the auto-pilot to send them into the sun. Let the dead rest.”
“Wait!” Satine called, as I started to leave. “Who sent them?”
I sent her an amused smile. “In a way, I did.”
I left the room and made my way back to the speeder, climbing in and taking it to the dock where the Jedi shuttle was set to land. I arrived to find Master Qui-Gon and Obi waiting, the two quietly talking while Knight Veridi stood with the prisoner and my security team. The redhead nodded to me and I made my way over, giving Qui-Gon and Obi a few moments to speak in semi-private.
Looking down at the frosted transparisteel covering the pod, Knight Veridi radiated feelings of confusion and reluctance. Reaching up, her biological hand came to rest at the place where a temporary prosthetic arm had been fitted to her stump—something I had arranged for before we arrived on Mandalore. Eventually, she said, “I apologize. I pre-judged you and treated you poorly. It was unbecoming of a Jedi.”
Considering her for a moment, I nodded. “You’re not the first and I doubt you’ll be the last. Apology accepted.”
“Thanks for the arm, too,” she added. Reaching out, she tapped the metal digits against the transparisteel. “I appreciate the hospitality, but I’m definitely ready to go home. I think I’m going to enter meditation for a while. I have some things to think about.”
“I wish you luck.”
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan joined us as we heard a shuttle’s engines approaching from the airlock leading outside. Sending me a curious look, Qui-Gon asked, “What happened up in orbit?”
“The ships were a trap. They were floating tombs from the Stark Conflict,” I explained, and a knowing look came over Master Qui-Gon’s face while Obi paled and winced, turning away. “I sent men over to board and we discovered they were full of bodies. We’re going to disable the droids that were put in to pilot them, then set them on a course for the local star. The only question is, did the Jedi who came know what was on them, or was he told to play dumb and went along with it?”
“Master Saesee Tiin is an honorable man. I doubt he would have agreed to disturbing the dead if he had known,” Qui-Gon shook his head.
“,” Obi emphasized, and Qui-Gon nodded.
“It is possible he intentionally didn’t ask.”
I frowned. “The name sounds familiar. What species is he?”
“Iktotch,” Qui-Gon supplied, and I made a sound of understanding.
Iktotch were, like Zeltrons, naturally gifted when it came to extrasensory perception. In their case, the entire species were naturally telepathic. I had wondered how the two would interact.
I felt him before I saw him. I wouldn’t say Master Tiin was actively probing or digging around in someone’s mind, but like me, he was very… . Receptive to certain things. His telepathy seemed at least partially passive, which meant it was theoretically vulnerable in the same way my empathy was.
With that in mind, I turned my mind to actively maintaining a flight formula manually—not to fly, but keeping myself at ground level with it running. At the same time, I began modeling vectors for theoretical firing solutions on nearby targets and switching between shielding, mage blade, and invisibility formulas.
I felt the man’s brief annoyance, before the mental walls came up. I kept up the mental exercise, but toned it down a bit.
Soon enough, the shuttle doors opened and a large, older alien stepped out. He had skin a shade of red and orange, yellowish eyes, and a pair of downwards curving horns coming out of the sides of his head. Aside from the coloration and horns, he looked similar enough to many near-humans such as twi’leks or togruta.
Tucking his hands into his sleeves as he approached, yellow eyes swept over the group, taking us in as he frowned. I felt the man’s distrust and dislike immediately as he looked at me once and moved on.
“Master Tiin,” Qui-Gon nodded, before gesturing at the medical bed holding our captive. “This is our assassin.”
“I see,” the man murmured, nodding once. “Very well. Let us get the equipment loaded onto the shuttle.”
I nodded to my people, who began moving the floating bed onto the shuttle. “Thank you for coming, Master Tiin,” I told the man as we followed along behind the Mandos. “I do have one question, before you depart. That is, if you don’t mind?”
“Speak, traitor,” the man spat.
Frowning, I shook my head. “The correct form of address among peers is ‘Knight Mereel.’ You can call me that, or ‘Mandalore Mereel.’ But you will show me the respect I am due,” I warned. “I demand only the same respect I have shown you.”
The man stopped and turned to face me. Master Qui-Gon stepped close, but Master Tiin held up a hand to stop him. “Very well, Mandalore. What do you wish to ask?”
“Did you know they were tomb ships?”
I felt the man’s disgust and anger, before he quickly suppressed the feelings. “We did not. We received orders from the Senate that we would be contacted by a member of the Republic Navy. Captain Tarkin gave us a set of coordinates where we would meet with those ships, sync our nav systems, then continue the trip to Mandalore.”
I nodded, fighting down a smile.
“If I may ask a question in return, Mandalore?” he asked, and I nodded. “What will you do with them?”
“As I informed Master Qui-Gon, I intend to give them the honorable rest they deserve. We’ll lock their nav systems on the system’s star and send them to the pyre. If you would like to stay in system long enough to act as a witness, to verify that…?” I offered.
The older Jedi frowned, but nodded. “Very well.”
“Excellent.” I checked the shuttle to make sure the medical bed was properly loaded, before turning away. “Well then, if you’ll excuse me. I need to go take care of some things.”
I only made it a few yards when Obi rushed to catch up, falling into step beside me. Sending her a raised eyebrow at the disappointed feelings I felt coming off of her, she explained, “Master Qui-Gon is leaving after this and said I should go with him. We need to report to the Temple and speak with Master Yoda, then he said we would be taking a mission.”
“I expected as much.” At her frown, I explained, “Until the situation with the secession war is resolved, it’s difficult to justify spending any amount of time together that doesn’t involve being mission related. And while I’m sure Qui-Gon doesn’t begrudge you wanting to stay for a while, some on the Council will certainly have things to say about it.”
“And you’re just… okay with that?” Obi asked, giving me the side eye.
Spinning up a privacy formula, I dropped a dome of silence around us before answering. “Am I okay with the various Councils believing they have the right to dictate who can spend time with whom, and being forced to at least pay lip service to it to avoid causing trouble for you? No. Absolutely not. .”
Obi stopped and I turned to look at her. She looked away, refusing to meet my eyes as she quietly said, “No, I meant . Are you okay with me just leaving?”
I held in the sigh that threatened to escape. “Have you reconsidered—”
“I can’t.”
The words came out with perhaps a bit more force than she intended, as Obi winced after saying them. She opened her mouth, perhaps to apologize, before closing it again and shaking her head once. “Then my feelings are irrelevant. You’ve made your opinion clear. That things can never progress beyond friendship and casual sexual encounters and there can be nothing more. I’m not trying to be cruel or callous. I am giving you what you explicitly told me you wanted,” I reminded her, and I felt a conflicting mixture of frustration, annoyance, exasperation, and more rise up within her.
“I kind of feel like you’re angry about it,” she murmured.
“No. I’m simply not going to waste time and effort bashing my head against a wall, and in the process ruin a friendship.”
I had never been in a serious, long term relationship before—in either of my previous lives. I had no experience there. However, I knew better than to try to chase after someone who made it clear they didn’t want to be chased. I would say it was sexual harassment, but in this case, Obi had made it clear she had no problem with the part of things. She was about that part, in fact. If I just wanted sex, that would actually be simpler in this case. No, it was everything that came with the sex that scared her and made her worry that she was breaking her oaths.
“I could stay a day or two and catch a flight—”
I shook my head. “It’s easier on both of us if we don’t drag this out. Let me know when you’re leaving and I’ll meet you and Qui-Gon to see you off. Until then, I have work to do.”
Obi-Wan made a frustrated sound before turning and storming off, back to where her Master was talking to Master Tiin. One of my guards fell in behind her to act as her escort while I slipped into my speeder with the other and made my way back to Satine and Jango’s office, just to be there in case something came up. I trusted my people to handle anything that came their way, but I’d rather be personally involved when I could.
“Relationship trouble?” the guard beside me asked.
Upon discovering I had royal bodyguards, I had tried to do as any good leader should and learn their names, habits, likes and dislikes, and so on. I had, but the positions were intentionally kept anonymous and secret from the public—so while I knew them, I wasn’t actually supposed to acknowledge it in public. Apparently, only a very few people actually knew who they were. That seemed like an exploitable hole in our security, except that every one of those suits of armor was one of a kind, there were a limited number of them, and they all had trackers and other identifying tech built in—things that could be turned on and off, of course, but after grilling Xana about it I had eventually been convinced that they knew what they were doing. It was enough that we knew who they were, they were checked coming and going, and the armor stayed locked up when they weren’t on shift.
I frowned, briefly considering telling him to mind his own business, before eventually deciding against it. “Yes.”
“Serious, or just a fling?”
“I would like it to be the former,” I murmured. “She seems dead set on keeping it the latter. Jedi aren’t supposed to have ‘attachments.’”
“Permission to speak freely, if you don’t mind some advice from the rank and file?” he asked, and I nodded. “A grunt can generally do what he wants, as long as he gets the job done. An officer has certain appearances that have to be kept up, and the higher up the chain of command you climb, the more strict that becomes. You’re the Mandalore and what you say goes, but…”
“But those expectations don’t go away,” I surmised, and he nodded.
“It’d look bad if our Mandalore was just some Jedi’s booty call whenever she comes around. Weak.” He remembered himself and hastily added, “Respectfully. Ma’am.”
optics
I nodded once. “Thank you for reminding me.”
“
“Mm,” I hummed, picking up my cup and taking a sip of steaming tea as I looked out over the desert from my vantage point on top of Sundari. The cold night air seemed to cut right through my thin silk robe, but I didn’t mind all that much. It was refreshing at this time of night. “Any suggestions?”
Revan was silent for a few moments, standing with his hands crossed behind his back as he looked up at the stars.
“I have no idea,” I admitted. “I know what ‘love’ feels like from an outsider’s perspective, but I have no experience with it myself, and what I’m feeling doesn’t feel the same. Perhaps it’s just infatuation. Or perhaps it’s the alien hormones soaking into my brain, finally overcoming my common sense. I don’t know.”
“
That sounded sensible enough, so I nodded in agreement. “Very well. And Obi-Wan?”
Finally, Revan turned and sent me a rueful smile.
“So I’ve realized…”
There was a clang from off to my side. I looked over to find the redheaded form of Bo-Katan coming up from the maintenance hatch leading back into the city. “There you are!” she sighed. Reaching up, she tapped the bead in her ear. “Found her. She’s outside maintenance hatch Resh seventeen.”
I glanced over to see Revan had disappeared. Slipping his holocron into my sleeve, I stood. “And where have you been hiding?”
“I wasn’t hiding,” Bo rolled her eyes as I made my way over to the hatch to climb down. “By the way, the soundproofing on your quarters?”
“What about it?” I asked, as I began descending.
“. Only the bedroom itself is soundproof.”
Blinking, I briefly glanced up at her as I slid down the access ladder and stepped off. She came down a moment later and followed as I made my way down the hall towards the elevator. The frustration, embarrassment, and hint of arousal I felt from her left me with only a few possible answers as to why she knew that.
“I was under the impression that the royal guard weren’t supposed to disclose their identities in public.”
Bo looked around at the empty hallway before shrugging. “I’m going to be traveling with you anyway, so you may as well know.”
Considering the redhead, I hummed, before sending her a smile. For some reason, she flinched away and I felt a flash of mixed fear and arousal from the older woman. “Well, if you’re going to be on my security team while I’m not on Mandalore, then we should make sure you’re up to snuff. Which means—”
“Don’t say it,” she whispered.
“— We’ll start first thing tomorrow. I’ll set you against Asajj and see where you stand.”
Bo sent me a worried look. “Can we spare my pride child kicking my ass?”
“Well now, that’s entirely up to you, isn’t it?”
The woman sighed, muttering a quiet, “This is gonna suck.”