FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The sun was starting to set. It wasn't safe to be out after dark. Then again, when was a battlefield ever considered safe? The truth remained, it would be even less safe at night. Her helmet afforded her night vision, but only enough. For droids, it was easy to fool a person's night vision scopes. They often times blended in with their surroundings, especially smarter models like the Eternal Empire's Skytroopers.

She needed to find cover. They were already looking for her, the last thing she needed was to stumble into an ambush later on. She knew the terrain far better than the Eternal Empire, but that bore little weight. They had swept through the Galaxy like a plague, conquering world after world with little effort. The Sith, the Republic, even what remained of her own people fell before the limitless wave of droids and Knights of Zakuul.

She had grown up on Concord Dawn, but it was one of five worlds she called home. Her house--no, her whole clan--had risen to the occasion, rushing to Onderon and her moon, Dxun, to aid the 'Alliance' of Sith and Republic resistance fighters in the struggle to liberate the two worlds. They had been winning too, until the Eternal Fleet arrived.

What was supposed to be a quick and decisive victory turned into mass slaughter. Eternal starships rained fire from orbit, obliterating military targets with startling accuracy. They levelled structures without so much as scorching the jungle life on either side of the building.

The attack was followed up by ground troops to mop up the pockets of Alliance fighters that weren't turned to glass. Her squad was out on patrol when the bombing started. When the droids came, everything happened quickly. They were rushing through the jungle, running a standard leap-frogdog through the bush. She had turned and run to the front of the line, her pistols trailing smoke behind her until she got to the front. One, two, three, turn.

She was alone. The only thing left behind her was an angry inferno threatening to consume her. She didn't think. She reacted, activating her jet pack. She didn't know how many branches she broke, but hot pain screamed from her unarmored lekku protruding from the back of her bucket. The color swirled before her eyes and every primal urge was shrieking at her to run, fly as fast and as far as she could.

She left it all behind. As well as she knew the moon, she found herself in a part of the jungle she didn't recognize. Something deep in her brain was whispering of familiarity. Somehow she knew she had been there once before, but she couldn't recall when or why. As she landed and started to slink through the trees, she would spy a tree she knew. A rock. There was a stream she knew fed into a small lake fifty klicks south.

It was only when she found the den of Masquar foxsquirrels that she remembered where she was. Another klick and a half north-west had been a cave the last time she was there. She found it easily enough but it was already occupied.

She heard the snap-hiss before she saw the crimson and sapphire blades. Her muscles tensed. The glow from the cave's occupant's red lightsaber made it hard to see anything more than a few inches away from her visor and for a moment, all she could hear was the hum of the weapons and the drip of blood falling from her tattered lekku.

"Do I look like a Knight of Zakuul?" she asked, turning her head slowly to follow the length of the blade down to the hilt it sprang from. Her eyes crawled up the darkly robed arm, across its shoulder and up to a sage-green face glaring at her.

"This cave is occupied," the woman snapped. "You best be on your way."

"I thought Jedi were supposed to be compassionate," she said, readying her jetpack for a hard burn. "Then again, Jedi don't usually wield red blades. Maybe you're not a Jedi after all."

"I am a Jedi Knight!" the Mirialan growled.

"But not one who practices compassion. You're a Jedi Knight who turns away a soul in need of a place to tend her wounds."

She could see the conflict brewing in the Mirialan's emerald eyes. A moment later, the cave's occupant extinguished her weapons with a low hiss. She relaxed slightly and stepped around the robed figure. Her eyes glanced over the Jedi, noting the metal ring in her lower robes and the synthleather chest piece containing her bust. The ornate golden shoulder pieces were also strikingly familiar. She recognized them easily enough from her peoples' history.

"I thought Mandalorians hated Jedi," the green skinned woman said behind her as she looked for a place to sit and get off her feet. "I thought you would kill one of us before you would even think about sharing a shelter."

She snorted and lowered her weight to the ground in the back of the cave. She gingerly rested her back against the smooth cave wall and reached up to unclasp her helmet, revealing her face and revealing her bleeding blue lekku. "Did your Jedi Archives teach you that?" she asked with a breathless chuckle. "You couldn't be farther from the truth."

"That doesn't make any sense," the Mirialan said, hooking her lightsabers at her hips on either side of the diamond buckle keeping her belt synched tight. "Half a millennia ago, your people invaded the Republic. You deliberately targeted Jedi temples and enclaves, passing over rich republic world if they didn't have any Jedi presence on them."

"That's not true," she said, fishing a medpack from her belt. After removing her gloves, she reached up to begin carefully wrapping her lekku. They were so tender. The bruising went deep, making it still very hard to think. The pain wasn't the issue but the bruising was putting pressure on the segments of her brain housed inside of the soft tissue there. Her body would regulate itself shortly she knew, but it was still frustrating not being in full control of her faculties. "What's your name, Jedi Knight?"

The green alien seemed taken aback by the question, pausing for a moment before she too lowered herself to the floor of the cave. "Barrisaria," she said. "Master Barrisaria Xiver."

"It's a pleasure, Master Barrisaria Xiver." She fished out another small item from her pack, a tiny holoprojector. Her flingers danced over the device's surface, deftly programming it before she gave it a toss toward the entrance. It gave a beep and the emitters flashed to life. There was a blue field covering the entirety of the entry, but she knew from the outside it appeared as several large boulders. Content that they were hidden for now, she activated a glowrod and tossed it to the ground between them. "My name is Aura of house Wren. I belong to clan Vizla."

Silence hung in the air between them for several moments as Aura returned her attention to her lekku. It was a difficult dance, wrapping the appendages to stop the bleeding while not putting too much pressure on the tendrils, but it was a dance she knew well. Finally, the silence was broken when her companion again spoke.

"What do you mean it's not true?" Barrisaria asked. Her voice dripped more with curiosity than accusation though. Cool, calculating, and eager to learn and grow. A testament to her Jedi heritage. "The Mandalorian War went on for sixteen years. We have... records of it. Worlds are in ruin because of it. You can't tell me all of that didn't happen."

Aura's purple eyes lifted, staring at the woman sitting across from her and she quirked a hairless brow. "You wear the robes of the greatest Jedi who ever lived and you don't even know his history." She took a breath and leaned her head back against the top of the rocket protruding from her jetpack.

"The Mandalorians didn't only target the Jedi. But they were the goal. The ultimate test. We don't hate you. We hold the Jedi in the highest regard. The Mandalorian Wars weren't a hate crime or an attempt at genocide. It was a sign of respect. And the war you are thinking of, the last of the Mandalorian Wars, that was our greatest moment in history."

"But Mandalore was almost destroyed," Barrisaria said, narrowing her eyes slowly. "Your world was scorched. Onderon and Dxun--this moon we're on today--were taken by the Republic. Most of your people were wiped off the face of the Galaxy. You said it wasn't an attempted genocide, but that's what it turned into. Yours and ours."

"Yes, that's true," Aura agreed, "but we achieved our goal. A Mandalorian lives his life constantly seeking greater and greater challenge. We gain our status and honor through combat. The Jedi represent the best fighting force the Galaxy has ever seen." She leaned forward, resting her elbows against her bent knees. "We--my ancestors--attacked the Republic to draw you out of your temples.

"It took a long time but we finally garnered the Republic Military's attention and eventually the Jedi. Attack enough core-worlds and you'll turn some heads." Ironic, she thought, that history repeats itself with the Eternal Empire.

"You make it sound like it was easy," her Jedi hiding partner said.

"I imagine it was. When the clans are united, there hasn't been a fighting force in the Galaxy that could stand up to the Mandalorians. Except the Jedi. But even this..." Aura shook her head and breathed a soft sigh. Our records say the Jedi of that era were sloppy, more prone to negotiate and make peace with the invading Mandalorians. It wasn't until Taris that we found what we were looking for."

"Taris?" the Jedi asked. "But the Mandalorians were ultimately pushed off of Taris."

"Exactly," Aura agreed, waving a pair of fingers in Barrisaria's direction. "Because of a Jedi named Revan. We pushed core-ward with very little resistance. Sure, my people encountered roadblocks and more than a few obstacles, but they were winning until Revan joined the fight." She leaned her head back to rest the cool metal of her rocket against the sensitive flesh between her lekku. She stared into the distance and a small smile spread across her blue lips. "Revan was a military genius. He was exactly what my people were looking for when they attacked the Republic." She gave a longing sigh. "The ultimate test."

"As I recall," Barrisaria said, leaning forward against her own bent knees, "Revan defeated the Mandalorians. So I guess that means your people failed their test."

"Did they?" she asked, again quirking a hairless brow. "My people attacked and razed a Jedi temple. Not an enclave, not some backwater outpost for indoctrinating new students, but a full temple. At Malachor V."

The Jedi was finally nodding in understanding as she stared rapt across the soft light of the glow rod at her. "Because Revan scorched the surface of Mandalore."

She nodded, a smile spreading across her face. "Some say it was desperation, others that it was brilliant tactics from both sides. Revan and Mandalore The Ultimate committed everything they had to the battle. Every ship, every droid. Everything. There would be no mistaking the better warrior after all was said and done." She smirked and shook her head ever so slightly. "They fought each other to a stalemate. An unstoppable force and an immovable object. They were gridlocked. For hours, days, the records are fuzzy about that. But it was the most glorious day in Mandalorian history.

"Until Revan activated the Mass Shadow Generator." She turned her eyes downward, watching the inky black shadows stretched along the floor, desperately trying to escape the light of the glowrod. "Everything was destroyed. The Republic fleet. The Mandalorians. Everything was obliterated in an instant. But for the Mandalorians were closer than they ever were in that moment to defeating the Jedi in battle. Instead, both sides were forced to withdraw what resources they had. Rebuilding became more important than defeating an enemy."

"I think we were both defeated that day," Barrisaria said in a small voice. "The Mandalorians lost most of their fighting force and the Jedi went against one of their strictest doctrines to combat them."

"See you did pay attention to your history lessons," she said with a smirk, tilting her head to give a mirthful wink at the same time. She regretted it immediately. Tilting her head made the world start to spin if only just. "Revan disappeared after that. And the rest, as they say, is history."

The Jedi nodded then gave her a skeptical look. Before she could question it, the Mirialan was already scooting her way. "You're bleeding really bad back there. Are you feeling dizzy?"

Was it really that bad? She reached up and felt the damp warmth permeating her bandages. Maybe she tore herself up a bit more than she thought. "I can redress it," she said, twisting around to reach for the medkit she'd set aside. The sudden motion pitched her off balance and she reached out to catch herself against the sandy cave floor.

"No, you're definitely feeling dizzy," the Mirialan said, shoving her back against the wall with much more ease than Aura would have liked. "Don't move. Just... sit there. I have a um, a friend who knows how to heal some wounds through meditation. She taught me a few things, I can at least slow down the bleeding before we redress it."

"We?" she asked, turning to stare at the Jedi, but the world started spinning much faster this time. She nodded--slowly this time--and took a breath. "Alright, give it a try. I think I have a pack of kolto bandages we can use after you get done."

The Jedi didn't answer. Her eyes were already closed and her hands slowly gliding over the soaked bandages wrapped around her head tails. Each touch brought some discomfort and minor shoots of pain, but Aura had suffered worse. Much worse, in fact. There wasn't much else to do but rest and try to regain her strength as her cave-mate worked her magic.

Her blue lids slid over her eyes and she took a deep, slow breath through her nose to let it out just as slowly out her mouth. She repeated the process a half dozen times and let herself fall into a light half-sleep. It wasn't sleep per se. It was more accurate to say it was wakeful resting. For all intents and purposes, she had drifted off but she was still acutely aware of what was happening around her.

Aura felt the gentle digits at her lekku separate themselves but she still felt the same amount of dizzy swirling around in her head. She heard the rustle of fabric and the gentle klink of metal clasps and buckles knocking gently together. Her eyes opened and she reeled. The world was still spinning, but after a moment it began to right itself.

Just beside the faintly glowing rod in the middle of the small cave rested a pile of dark black and red fabric, atop which was the iconic diamond belt buckle.

"Sorry," Barrisaria said. "It's just really hot in here."

The vast majority of the Mirialan's green skin was bare for Aura to see, minus her straining chest wrap and modest undergarments. She couldn't keep her eyes open for long. Was the Jedi making it worse? She slowly shut her eyes again and smirked. "Try wearing Beskar armor."

"If you're hot, you can take off your armor," the Jedi assured her. "In fact, I would probably be able to see any other wounds you might have better if you did."

Aura was sure there were no other wounds on her person, nor was she feeling particularly hot. She lived, breathed, ate, and everything in between in her armor. It was like a second skin for her. But there was a certain appeal with stripping out of it. Besides, at this point if the Eternal Empire found them, they were both dead women.

And Barrisaria did bring up a good point of checking for other wounds. She didn't feel like she was hurt anywhere else, but she had seen Mando'ade drop dead after a battle because they'd been bleeding into their suits without realizing it.

Slowly she nodded and hummed thoughtfully. It was an increasingly appealing idea every moment she considered it. It was always better to be safe than sorry. With a glance down at her open-backed helmet, she made up her mind. If it was her time, it was her time. She lifted her hands and started to carefully unzip her flak vest down her side beneath her right arm.

With as little movement as she could manage, she pulled the vest and attached armor plates away, dropping it to the side heavily. "Do you see any blood spots?"

But the Jedi was meditating again. Aura watched her for a moment then shrugged and reached down to the zipper beneath her chin to slowly drag it down along her torso, revealing her deep blue flesh beneath centimeter by centimeter. With the same delicate slowness, she peeled it away from her body and shimmied it down her legs.

Kicking her boots off, Aura started to examine her form. There was no blood that she could see. Just a healthy sheen of sweat covering her blue skin. Unlike her cave-mate, she wore nothing beneath the tight flight suit to which the plates of her armor were attached. It was, after all, a second skin to her.

Once again she bent her knees and rested her elbows upon them, giving herself one more once over before she glanced at the Jedi. The movement was easier and the world didn't start spinning at the turn of her head. Maybe the Jedi was actually doing some good.

"How's it looking, medic?"

The Mirialan opened her eyes and her mouth to respond, but she choked on the words. Her eyes widened and stared down at Aura's naked body. "I didn't mean all of it!" she exclaimed at last. "You could have kept your underwear on!"

"No, the body suit is the underwear," she said, sparing a glance over the Jedi's fit green body. "I could no more wear a thing beneath the body suit than you could wear another garment under your skin."

"I suppose that makes sense," Barrisaria said. Aura watched her eyes dart quickly back up to her lekku but if she didn't know better, she'd say there was a momentary pause on the journey. A moment later, the Mirialan started to unwrap the blood soaked bandages and replace them with fresh bandages laced with kolto.

It occurred to her that Barrisaria was concentrating more than she needed to. Her eyes were glued to Aura's injured lekku, not even looking away when she reached for the new bandages. And she was silent. She wasn't asking curious little questions anymore. Was the embarrassed to be in a cave with a naked Twi'lek mando'ade? She thought Jedi weren't supposed to feel emotions like embarrassment. Then again, Jedi weren't supposed to wield red lightsabers either.

A thought slowly formed in her mind as she recounted what Barrisaria had said a minute before she had begun to meditate. That hitch in her explanation coupled with her evident awkward modesty now slowly clicked in Aura's mind. "Your friend, the one who taught you to heal. What happened to her?"

"What?" the Jedi asked, pulling a little too quickly at a bandage that had stuck itself to Aura's sensitive flesh.

Aura hissed, turning to glare over her shoulder at her half naked companion. "I know you think we're enemies, but try not to pull my brain out of my head, yeah?"

"S-sorry," Barrisaria said, returning to her task at hand with a little more caution. "Her name was Kira. Kira Carson. She was my apprentice..."

The Jedi fell silent again and focused rather intently on the redressing. This fact was not lost to Aura. In fact, it only helped to reinforce her suspicions. "And more, I assume. What happened to her?"

"I don't know, really." Finished with her task, Barrisaria sat back on her heels and looked Aura in the eye, her own full of a sadness and longing that made what passed for Aura's heart ache. Part of her regretted asking. But it was too late now. The detonite was out of the casing now. "We were fighting on Yavin. To stop Darth Revan from resurrecting the Sith Emperor."

Understanding fell over Aura and she nodded her head. "I was there, as a matter of fact. I accompanied the head of my clan, Shae Vizla."

"After we defeated Revan it was of course too late," the Jedi continued. "We returned to Republic space to decide how best to stop the Emperor. We followed him to Ziost, but he was already too powerful. He consumed all life on the planet. Afterward, he fled to the Unknown Regions. We tried to follow them, but we never arrived."

Aura watched as Barrisaria stared mournfully into the distance for several moments. She knew better than to enquire for more. She was coping and formulating her next response. Rushing the young Jedi would only drive a wedge between them.

"During the journey, Kira told me she was pregnant. It was the happiest day of my life, if I'm being honest. Shortly after that, we were waylaid in deep space. It all happened so fast and I barely remember any of it. I don't know if my ship survived or if I'm the only one who-..." The Jedi took a breath and Aura reached out a hand to gently set just above her bare knee. "I woke up from carbonsleep less than a year ago. I haven't seen nor heard from her since."

Aura slowly nodded and gave the green woman's knee a gentle squeeze. "I'm sure she got somewhere safe before the Eternal Empire took over." It was a long shot to be sure, but it was still a possibility, one she believed Barrisaria needed to hear at that moment. "It has been a long time but I am sure she and the baby are safe." But that in itself posed another problem, didn't it? She suspected, again, due to her cave-mate saying it was her happiest day, but perhaps not. "Who is the baby's father, if you don't mind me asking?"

The Mirialan quirked a brow, staring at her as though she'd just questioned the existence of hyperspace. A moment later, she shook her head and a small smile spread over her lips. "I suppose it isn't common knowledge for Mandalorians. Mirialans are mostly androgynous. I'm the father."

" 'Mostly androgynous'?" she asked, shaking her head. "You mean like coreslugs?"

The Jedi gave a nervous laugh, scratching at the base of her skull beneath her short black hair. "Not like coreslugs..." There was a moment's pause and she slowly spread her legs. Aura could see straining against the tight fabric of her undergarments the unmistakable outline of an aroused penis.

Her eyes widened as understanding dawned. She couldn't help but giggle. She spread her arms to either side, accidentally-on-purpose exposing her bare breast again. "That makes a great deal of sense!" she said, staring at the confined one-eyed monster. "Is that because of me? You did ask me to undress you know. That's your fault, not mine."

To her relief, the green skinned Jedi nodded and ran a hand though her short hair. "Yes, you're right. I had meant it sincerely but now..." She smirked and looked the Twi'lek's nakedness over. "I can see there are no wounds."

Aura smiled at that and gave the woman's knee a gentle tap. "And if we weren't in a warzone, I'd put a few wounds of my own on your back. But now is not the time or the place." She withdrew her hand and gave a stretch, one final tease before she started to draw her tight flight suit back on.

"If we survive this, I may take you up on that."

Aura smiled at that and took a breath. If they survived this. That was the big question, wasn't it? The Eternal Empire wasn't actively looking for them, but that didn't mean they were safe from the Skytroopers and Knights of Zakuul. But the Eternal Empire didn't know they were alive either. Which gave them the advantage.

"Then let's work extra hard to get off this rock, shall we?"