It was the middle of the ship night as I made my way through the corridors in search of something to eat.
Two more days in hyperspace before we reach Tatooine.
While my droid carried fruit around, I was in the mood for some meat. I never actually programmed the thing to cook so that meant I need to order some in the kitchen.
Nemar should be asleep at this time, but the kitchen is big enough to allow me room to do it myself. It will be a bit cramped, but I should be able to handle it. Not like it's the first time.
I ruffled my feathers as I got closer to the ship's mess hall. I had been staying up late coming up with possible tactics and worst-case scenarios as well as going over possible uses of our inventory of weapons.
One thing I did insist on was to have a good amount of military-grade explosives, including seismic charges. They are expensive and kind of tricky to locate legally so I might as well take advantage of the situation and stock up when I could.
For free as well.
You never know when you will need explosives. It's one of those 'rather have and not need than need and not have' kind of things. Sadly we don't have any launchers or I would have requested missiles as well.
I pressed the button and entered the mess hall, glancing around a bit. I simply couldn't shake the feeling that one day I would walk in on my pilot and engineer again every time I came here. I haven't yet though so they likely learned their lesson then.
I did however find somebody sitting in the darkroom, looking out over the whirl of hyperspace. "Miss Mara," I said in greeting.
My newest crewmember jerked, almost spilling her tea before she spotted me. "Oh! Captain... sorry. Hi."
I tilted my head as I regarded her. If she didn't feel me, she really has stopped using the force.
"You are up late," I said as I laid down on the deck, resting my arms on the closest table.
Nicole sighed and nodded. "Couldn't sleep. I... don't have a shift at the bridge until tomorrow night. I will be alert then," she quickly said.
Shifting my wings I sighed,. "That is not what I worry about, Nicole. You have done your job well since I hired you, I don't think you are suddenly going to stop. How are you handling having a pair of Jedi on board?"
She frowned and sighed slightly, sipping at her tea. "It... It actually bothers me less than I thought it would. I don't really have anything against the order, it simply wasn't for me anymore. I'm not going to be socializing with them or anything, but them being on the ship doesn't bother me much."
I slowly nodded. "So what is bothering you? If it is personal, you don't need to answer," I then asked. Something clearly was. You don't sit in a dark room drinking tea because it is fun.
Nicole put her cup down and then shook her head. "No, it's alright. I was just thinking about Master Zebb."
I just nodded, waiting to see if she could continue.
The human remained quiet for a moment. "Did I ever tell you I almost was reassigned to the agricultural corps twice?" she finally asked as she turned to face me fully.
I tilted my head in thought for a second before I and then nodded. "Yes. I believe it was the last time we were talking at night in a mess hall."
She smiled slightly. "Oh... yeah. I remember now. Sorry about that..."
"I was asking you questions you could not answer. It was unfair of me," I said as I shook my head.
Nicole sipped her tea again. "Anyway, the first time was when I was ten. I was caught reading somebody's mind for the... I don't know how many times. It was my first gift... the first thing I ever learned to do with the force, I learned to do it when I was six. It just felt natural," she said before she shook her head. "It always got me into trouble. It was what caused my family to give me to the Jedi, you know? They were afraid of what I could do."
She frowned slightly. "Honestly, I don't blame them for that," before she shook her head and continued. "My teacher was not happy about it. I had been told again and again that it was against The Code. I didn't listen, I was ten and had only came to the temple when I was seven. Honestly, if my family had not thrown me out, I don't think the Jedi would have taken me in. I was learning with initiates half my age."
I just nodded and waited for her to continue.
Nicole snorted. "I barely scraped by that time but it scared me enough to keep my peaking mostly under control. Second time was when I was fourteen. Did you know that if you are unable to find a Jedi willing to be your master by the time you turn fifteen or your species equivalent you are also reassigned?"
Ok, that was a tad disturbing. Honestly, why exactly is the galaxy not drowning in dark side users?
"That seems... harsh," I finally answered. "Anyone that doesn't manage it, get reassigned to the agricultural corps?"
She shook her head. "Well, no. There is also the Medical Corps, the Educational Corps, and the Exploration Corps. The agricultural corps is just the largest and most common destination," Nicole said before she continued. "I was lucky that Master Zebb was one of the Jedi looking for a padawan at the time. It was my third and last chance to get chosen. She picked me... she saw some sort of potential in me. Something more than simply..."
Nicole then swallowed and squeezed her cup in her hand. "She was..." she started before she stopped.
I ruffled my feathers before I finished for her, "Important."
The ex-Jedi sighed softly and nodded. "She picked me. She saved me. She was the first one that thought I had the actual potential to do something. Her... H-her death... It was so pointless," she said. "We were protecting the first secretary of the Bothan Council. He had received death threats and had requested Jedi protection. We were just leaving his residence on their homeworld in an aircar when it was struck by a missile."
She swallowed and forced herself to put her cup down. "M-master Zebb... she was killed instantly. She was in the front seat... The first secretary and I was in the back seat. We made it and I got him out of there safely."
"You did your best. Nobody could have asked you to do more," I finally told her.
Nicole smacked her empty cup of the table as she rushed to her feet. "I damn well could have done more! If I trained more! If I used my mind-reading gift I might have been able to detect the attackers before the attack. If I was in the front instead of her!" she screamed before breaking down crying.
Not really knowing what to do I froze for a second before I carefully made my way over to hug her.
She cried into my feathers as I simply held her.
It was a long while before she calmed down enough to pull back. "I-I'm sorry... I-I shouldn't have..."
I shook my head. "It is perfectly alright. You needed it."
She sniffed and leaned against the closest table. "W-when I got back to the temple... there was the burning of her body, everyone was sad... but then everything was back to normal like nothing had happened! I-it was only a week before they offered me the trials for managing the mission on my own. I... I couldn't take it. I quit."
I let out a small breath in annoyance. "Sometimes I think the Jedi have had too long with no competition. They do not learn from their mistakes, they are too stuck in their traditions that they don't see people anymore."
Nicole sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. I just knew that I needed to get out of it."
We stayed quiet for a moment before she pushed off the table. "I... I should head to bed," she said before she looked up at me. "Thank you, Captain. I..." she started before I shook my head.
"If you wish to talk, I am here," I said with a nod.
Nicole nodded and smiled weakly. "Good night," she said before she turned to leave.
"Good night," I said in return before looking down on my feathers after she left her room.
Damn... I forgot humans leak saltwater when sad. Now I'm going to need to have water on my feathers to remove the salt.
I hate getting wet.
I glanced at the door she left through before I sighed and started to make my way into the kitchen for my original goal.
If it's for my crew, I can live with wet feathers.