We come spinning out of nothingness,
scattering stars like dust.
Rumi
The cure for pain is in the pain.
Rumi
The Deterrent arrived in the Axxila system, requiring only a small correction to begin its attack run. The Bridge held a minimum crew. Priya was dressed in her personal favorite, a combination of latex and battle tech, primarily comprised of bold, glossy black and stark reds and gold etchings, and a left wrist guard with glowing interface Her belted cape dangled over her almost like a poncho, with the back side lower than her skirt line, tapping the back of her knees. She stood on the cat walk, observing. From her position she spied the tactical display that showed her orbit. Concentric circles revealed the levels of spheres of influence that they would pass through. The lowest level would put them in range of planetary ion pulse cannons. They would remain well above that, their goal was to only take out the orbital defense satellites.
There was only a minimum crew on the ship. Most of the crew were either back at Waterborne, or in shuttles waiting to be called into play. All the fighters were manned.
“Deploy all fighters,” Priya said, as the ship dove towards Axxila. They were now committed to the run.
“New contacts,” tactical reported in. “30 small range fighters. Ten X-wings, 10, Y-wings, and 10-B wings. We’ve been betrayed.”
“Not completely unexpected,” Priya said. “Maintain course and objective.”
“We’re being hailed,” communications announced.
“Admiral, its Poe. He demands that we stand down.”
Priya nodded. Consistent. “Update the firing program to avoid hitting them, but make it look like we’re trying to? Tell the fighters they can pursue and harass, but do not fire on them.”
“Mam?”
“Our battle plans haven’t change. We’re here to take out the satellites,” Priya said. She looked at her tactical officer. “You didn’t think we were going to get through this alive, did you?”
He swallowed and turned back to the job.
“Coming into range of first target. More contacts, ascending from the planet.”
“Maintain course and objective,” Priya said. By the time they hit perigee, the lower hull would be ablaze with cannon fire from the satellites. If they made it back to apogee it would be a miracle. Under her breath, she whispered. “Come on, Hux. You can do it.”
Poe shouted as he successfully completed a strafing run against the Deterrent. His wingman maintained his spacing with almost no deviation. Ties were everywhere, clearly having had opportunity to fire, and one of the younger B-wing was practically shouting into his mic about not be able to evade and wanting help, even though the Tie’s firing was clearly missing.
“This is way too easy, Poe,” Aster, Red Two, reported in.
“Maybe she was telling you the truth.”
“No chatter, Red Two. Set up for the next attack run,” Poe instructed. “Red Four, with me, let’s see if we can clear out some of these Fighter.”
“I never seen this many Tie Fighters that couldn’t hit a target,” Red Four echoed Aster’s opinion.
“Take advantage of the game, ‘cause I assure you, if this is a game then we’re the ones being played,” Poe said. Off mic he whispered, “What is your game, Alyth?”
Thirteen Star Destroyers arrived outside of Axxila, coming from different directions. Hux’s Star Destroyer descended on the Southern Pole. He saw the lone Star Destroyer glowing with multiple fires, a line drawing down either side of the bottom of the hull. Displays showed half the orbital defense system was missing, and there was enough orbital debris to explain what had happened.
“Take us in, slowly,” Hux said. “Have all ships launch their fighters. As soon as the orbital defense shield is down, our fighters will finish off the Deterrent and her fighters. But until then, make it look like we’re helping her.”
“And what about the resistance fighters?” tactical asked.
“As long as they’re focused on the Deterrent, let them do their job. When they target us, take them out,” Hux said. “Where’s my brew?’
An aid hurried up with a cup for him.
Harold came up alongside her. “Mam, I think it’s time. Let’s get you to your ship.”
Priya didn’t look at him. She simply watched as her ship burned below her. “All hands, abandon ship.”
The command crew looked at her.
“Not a drill folks, let’s go. And good luck,” Priya said.
Harold escorted her to an awaiting Tie V38 assault fighter. She started to climb in. “Mam, you need to gear up,” Harold said.
“No time. Get to your ship. I will see you at the next objective point,” Priya said.
She touched Harold. “It’s okay. Serve Waycaster the way you have served me.”
“Good luck,” Harold said, saluting.
Harold hurried away as she climbed into the fighter, sealing the hatch. Short of getting hit, her ship would maintain atmospheric pressure, but it she would only have enough breathable oxygen for twenty minutes. More if she meditated, less if she panicked. She had no intentions of panicking. If her missiles didn’t hit, her ship would. She launched her fighter through a rain of fire and debris and pushed out into black space, the planet Axxila behind her. Battle debris sparked in the sunlight, mixing with escaped air, and flash frozen water vapor that splinter light into rain bow patterns. Amidst the death and destruction, there was also beauty. She identified Hux’s ship and altered course.
An X-Wing pulled up behind her. She was certain it was Poe. The more she failed to evade him, the more certain she became. She could feel his anger. His hate was as consistent as love. This was a dance. Several Tie’s were firing at her, coming directly at her. She took out one and the other shot past. She rolled her fighter under a satellite and then directed her fighter back on course. She wondered if Hux had identified her ship. She wondered if he knew she was coming for him. Star Destroyer Finalizer turned all its forward cannon on her.
“There you go, baby,” Priya said.
Even using the Force, the closer she got to her target, the harder it became to evade the incoming torrent of laser cannons. She sensed the missiles coming and managed to take them out with her own cannons. If she had been listening with the Force, she would have heard both Poe and Hux whispering, “No escape this time, ‘baby!’”
“This was not part of the plan.”
Priya sighed. “G, Hux has got to go.”
“You take him out, there will just be another,” G said.
“I can’t veer off. I am committed,” Priya said. Poe got a hit. Her control stick vibrated in her hand. “Force me!”
“Eject,” G instructed.
“I am not wearing a suit, G,” Priya snapped.
“And I can do this.”
“Priya, trust the Force. Eject,” G said.
His words were comforting. She pulled up on the lever. The canopy flew back and smashed into Poe’s canopy, resulting in him veering away. Her ejection seat shot her away from her fighter even as it was disintegrating, even exploding, but not high enough to go over the Star Destroyer that was barreling down upon her. Her chair spun and tumbled. Her fighter splinted into a million piece and flames. The Finalizer pushed through the debris, not even scratched, as her ejection seat’s momentum somehow took her up over and along the main hull of the Star Destroyer, taking her within an inch of colliding, but by the grace of the Force, missed.
Poe screamed, spinning his ship around and thrusting back in the previous direction. “She ejected!”
“She’s gone,” Aster said. “She wasn’t wearing a flight suit.”
“No one ejects without a flight suit,” Poe insisted.
“Maybe it malfunctioned. She wasn’t wearing a suit. And if even if she was, she wouldn’t have survived the impact,” Aster said.
“She hit the Star Destroyer? You saw it?” Poe asked.
“Do the math, Poe. She’s dead,” Aster said. “And her squadrons that was harassing us, they’re attacking the Finalizaer’s squadron. And they’re playing for real now. I think this trap was for Hux. I really think you misread her.”
“Prepare for attack runs against the Finalizer,” Poe said.
“Anyone not on an attack run is pursuing Finalizer fighters.”
“And what about the Deterrent’s fighters?” Aster asked.
“If they shoot at us, shoot back,” Poe said.
“Got her,” tactical officer. “She ejected,” Hux said.
“No way,” the officer said.
“Play it back, slow motion,” Hux demanded.
The tactical officer called up the sequence and played it back. He froze the image. “Okay. You’re right, but she wasn’t wearing a suit,” the officer said.
“Double security, all decks,” Hux said. “Sir, she’s dead,” the officer said.
“Double security, all decks,” Hux said slowly and clearly, like speaking to a moron.
“Even if she could hold her breath, those chairs don’t have maneuvering jets. She touches the Finalizer anywhere, and our combined momentum will shatter every bone in her body!” the officer said.
“Double security.”
“Sir, we need all personnel at their posts,” the officer tried to reason.
“Double all security now!” Hux shouted. “Pull them from the turrets if you have to and put the cannons on auto, but double every deck now as if we’re being boarded.”
Tumbling in space without a suit wasn’t as bad as she imagined. She realized she was holding her breath and when she let go, and then she realized, she was still breathing. She released her seat belt and tumbled away from the chair. If she looked just right, she could discern the edge of a bubble of air that surrounded her. She reached for it, curious, but it remained beyond her reach. The exchange of fire between ships was like a storm. Occasionally there was brilliant flash, but mostly there were streaks of reds, greens, blues, and even a purple which surprised her, but it all kind of made dying pleasant. She was pretty sure this was death’s euphoria washing over her.
Another Star Destroyer was fast approaching. A part of her wanted that, she wanted her feet on something solid, and as it grew, she realized she was going to get her wish. Impact was imminent. And then it got weird. As if floating in space in a bubble of air feeling euphoria wasn’t already weird. The ship seemed to slow. Relatively speaking, and more likely, her velocity was changing. She dropped below the top deck, moving towards an open Fighter launch bay. By the time her feet were touching the deck, she had slowed enough that it was like stepping down from a stair to the floor.
G manifested himself, grabbing her up into his arms and then pulled back, examining her. “Are you alright?” G asked her.
“I am,” Priya said. Now everything made sense.
“Thank you.”
The guards on deck surrounded them, demanding they surrender. With hardly a wave of his hand, G turned them all into diamonds and scattered them across the deck.
“Are you mad at me?” Priya asked, their conversation going on uninterrupted.
“Yes, actually,” G said. “I’m quite surprised by my emotional response.”
“Can I make it up to you?” Priya asked.
“Later. Shall we take the ship together?” G asked.
“That sounds like fun,” Priya said.
She touched a button on her sleeve.
“Harold. I am on the Hornet”
“We’ll come and get you,” Harold responded.
“Negative. I am going to take the Hornet. I want you to continue with your plan to board the Interloper,” Priya said.
“Glad you’re alright, Admiral,” Harold said.
While she had been communicating with Harold, G had collected all the diamonds he had made and put them in a side bag.
“I like the bag,” Priya said. “Not too feminine?” G asked.
“You’re worried that carrying a purse will affect your perceived masculinity?” Priya asked.
“Well, some of the social nuisances are difficult to navigate,” G said, following her towards the nearest corridor.
They were suddenly surrounded by storm troopers. “Halt,” one of them said.
Priya looked to G, steeling herself for the fight, but when she looked back, she saw that every Trooper had lost their weapon. The weapons floated in front of the Troopers, pointing directly at their heads.
“Kneel and pledge allegiance to your new Master, Lord Alyth,” G instructed. “Lady Alyth,” Priya said.
“Lady Alyth,” G corrected. “Lady?” he asked her. “I am a lady,” Priya said.
“Indeed,” G agreed, and returned to addressing the Troopers “Well?”
“Screw you, scum,” the lead trooper said. “We’re not bowing to no witch whore.”
The lead’s weapon discharged directly into his helmet. Both the Trooper and the blaster fell to the floor.
“Let’s start over. Kneel and pledge allegiance to…” The remaining troopers knelt.
“I am confused, Lady Alyth,” G said. “I thought scum was only applied to Rebels. We’re not rebels, are we?”
“I am not sure what we are,” Priya said. “But scum is just a general label of disparagement that can be distributed whimsically.”
“And witch whore? Are we that removed from Jedis and Sith that people think what we do is merely witchcraft?” G asked.
“He was just trying to goad us into being stupid so he could justify the violence that was about ensue,” Priya explained.
“It seems fairly juvenile,” G said. “It is,” Priya said.
G turned back to the kneeling Troopers. “In a moment, I am going to ask you to rise, take your weapons, and lead us to the Bridge,” G said. “If you double cross us, you will be compelled to shoot yourselves. Do you understand this?”
They nodded.
“Rise, take your weapons, and lead us, but tell everyone you captured us,” G said. “Let’s minimize the need for blood shed today. No one need die.”
The Troopers rose, took their weapons, and proceeded to escort them to the Bridge. As they passed through a bulkhead, Priya leaned in to G and asked, “Did you Force command them not to betray us?”
“No,” G said.
“You hypnotized them?” Priya said.
“No,” G said.
“You’re bluffing them into compliance?”
“Deep down, they really want to serve you,” G said.
“We’ll see,” Priya said.
They arrived at a lift. “We’ll have to take this up,” the new lead Trooper said.
“Yeah, you three with us. The rest of you take the second lift, and spread out, look official,” Priya instructed. “But don’t kill anyone. That’s an order.”
G, Priya, and three Troopers entered a lift. It proceeded up. “You ever commandeered a Star Destroyer before?” G asked.
“Single handedly?” Priya asked. “No.”
“You got this, or do you want me to come with?” G asked.
“Oh, please come with,” Priya said. The light indicated they were arriving.
“Here we go, follow me.”
Priya was the first out of the lift, proceeding directly to the cat walk towards the Admiral in charge. G was right behind her, and the Troopers escort behind him. Officer were not certain what to make of this and the Admiral was motioning for more guards.
“What is the meaning of this?!” the Admiral on deck asked.
“You will surrender command of this vessel to me, or die,” Priya said.
“Kill th…” the admiral said.
The admiral, and the officers closest to him, erupted into a flame, condensing to a point. Six diamonds fell to the floor, rapidly cooling and losing their light. Deck guards were drawing their weapons even as Troopers put weapons into their back directing them to stand down. One of the remaining officers in front of Priya was trembling.
“Do I have everyone’s attention?” Priya asked.
“I am taking control of this vessel. Anyone else who resists will die.”
“What is your command?” the officer asked. “Lady Alyth,” G corrected.
The officer coughed. “What is your command, my Lady?”
“She wants you all fighter squadrons to attack the Finalizer,” G said.
“Alter our course, and prepare to come into grappling distance of the Finalizer.”
“Tell the fighters he betrayed us, they’ll understand that,” Priya said.
As the remaining command crew moved to make things happen, Priya moved closer to G. “Are you sure about this? That wasn’t our mission objective.”
“Yeah, but you wanted it. Consider it a birthday present,” G said.
“It’s not my birthday,” Priya said.
“Is there another holiday you wish to celebrate?” G asked.
“I don’t really celebrate anything,” Priya said.
“Me neither. And I am never going to remember your birthday,” G said.
“Well, this is nice, thank you,” Priya said.
Hux’s face came live on one of the panels. “What the devil are you doing, Hornet.”
“Oh, please, let me answer that, put me on,” Priya said. When she saw she was live, she smiled at the camera.
“I did tell you, Sir, if you betray me, I will kill you. I have taken the Hornet,” she looked at her wrist that gave a confirming green light, “the Interloper is also mine, too, and those new ships on the horizon, those are Bloodhunters, and they will taking the Measure. That Star Destroyer that just arrived from hyperspace, that’s the Immanence. You didn’t think I just owned the Deterrent, did you? Stand down and I will consider not killing you, today.”
Hux was raging, but didn’t speak. He cut the feed.
“That was kind of rude,” Priya said.
“Open fire on the Finalizer.” G staggered, taking her arm.
“You okay?” Priya said.
G nodded. “Yeah,” he said, unconvincingly.
The Finalizer jumped into hyperspace, abandoning its fighters.
“Target the Emperor’s hand,” Priya said.
“Hail the Finalizer’s fighters to target the Emperor’s Hand, noncompliance will result in their destruction.”
The Emperor’s hand, and the remaining Star Destroyers jumped into hyperspace, abandoning their fighter.
“Order all fighters to stand down, and transmit a signal to President Hidalgo, announcing our surrender,” Priya said.
“Mam?” the officer on deck said.
“Your heard my Lady,” G said.
“Recall all fighters, and make room for the Deterrent’s and the Finalizer’s fighters,” Priya said. “Send shuttles to recover any damaged ship bearing life signs. Declare our intent to render aid to any in distress. Open a channel to the Resistance fighters.” When she saw she was on, she spoke directly to the man in charge. “Poe, stand down. We’re surrendering.”
“You’re not my boss, Alyth,” Poe said, his voice coming in clear over the audio channels.
“This is President Hidalgo. We accept your unconditional surrender. Commander Poe, please have your ships stand down from their attacks,” Hidalgo said.
“You should have my authentication code on your screen.”
There was silence. Another Tie Fighter was blown away. Poe’s order to stand down came, and the battle over Axxila was over. On the ground, it just began. With the capital shields up, General Cohn’s military began taking the capital. And so began the coup.
Professor Gray finished and rolled off her. He lay beside Daphne, stroking her, continuing to massager he flesh, still wanting her but needing to wait for his energy to return. She lay with her arms beside her, staring up at the ceiling. It was as if she wasn’t there.
“It’s too bad you aren’t more enthusiastic,” Gray said. “If you would only try and integrate your knowledge of the Force to bring forth a deeper sensuality, you could command the hearts of men. There is something deeper than sex, but it’s connected to it, and tapping into this opens ecstatic gateways to upper realms and dimensions. Oh, listen to me ramble, like a teen ager in love. I write about this stuff, and yet I struggle to explain it. But you will understand, soon. Shade will teach you how to move others, even yourself, into this space.”
There was no emotional response. “Shade?” she asked.
“She is a Priestess, knowledgeable about the ancient pathways of sensuality,” Gray said. “This knowledge is even older than that of the Jedis. In fact, the Jedis and the Sith evolved from the pagan rituals serving the Great Mother. The original monks separated, pursuing celibacy as a way of saving their energy for themselves, trying to reach higher exalted states by themselves, in solitude, as opposed to through coupling and conversation. The great mother cults tolerated this, even though it was considered acts of selfishness on the part of the celibates. In the mothers cults the priestess, the community, everything was shared and there was no ownership, no concept of property, no marriages, consequently, no jealousy, no greed. When celibates began the Great Claiming, so began the divide and the fall into fear. With fear, people turned away from the Great Mother, and turned to the Father figure. The Father offered the promise of safety, the illusion of freedom through securing materialistic comforts, perverting the language so subtly that no realize the words that bound people together were the chains of slavery. Mothers are always accepting and embraced the needs of all their members, and so the perversion was accepted, but only because in the beginning most people saw through it and were amused by the titles and declarations of ownership, and some even saw it as a game that might be to fun to play. Had they known the celibacy cults would gain such numbers that they would eventually kill anyone that participated in sexual rituals of the mother cults, I suspect there would have been a greater effort in stopping the game. All laws are derived from maritime laws, which arose from the language of the game. The names we have, the identification numbers we have, those are merely maritime tracking labels and numbers. There are very few true, natural persons remaining, only corporation, only commodities. We are not allowed to be our natural selves, because any expression of true independence is a threat to the state and imperial commerce. I am sorry, I am still babbling. I often babble afterwards.” He hugged her and kissed her neck. “You don’t mind cuddling after sex, do you?”
Daphne turned on her side, facing him. “No. I like this,” she said. “I like hearing you explain things. Roll over and I will rub your back.”
“Oh, thank you, my dear,” Gray said, rolling over.
“Tell me more about Shade,” Daphne said, rubbing his back with one hand.
“You’ll meet her soon. We need her to participate in a summoning ritual,” Gray said. “She has ways of possessing you that open you up the most incredible sensations. Oh, right there. That feels wonderful. If you keep that up, I will be ready for another round…”
From under the pillow, she retrieved the lightsaber that G had loaned her. The blade unfurled without the loud retort. Its ruby glow lit Gray’s back, pushing through his chest and out the other side. She deactivated the weapon and the blade drew back into the hilt. No blood. The only mess was her bleeding from wounds that had not yet been allowed to heal. She stood and proceeded to the flight deck. Tryst looked up at her reflection.
“I told you, you will dress accordingly when walking around my ship,” Tryst said.
He didn’t see the lightsaber she held against the back of his chair. He dropped the book, a wild surprised mirrored in his reflection. The reflection was brighter due to the ruby glow of the blade that extended out from his chest. She put a hand on his shoulder, holding him firm against the chair, whispering something into his ear, knowing full well that his ears were still receiving, his brain still recording; even though his heart no longer beat, but the brain was still ticking. She deactivated the blade. The ruby glow in the reflection disappeared. His gaze was staring past his reflection into the tunnel of hyperspace. She kissed him goodbye, released his shoulder, and he slumped forwards against the console, and then slid out of the chair, becoming a heap on the floor.
Daphne brought the ship out of hyperspace. She found herself in interstellar space, unable to determine the nearest star to her without referring to the navigation computers. She turned off the engines and the life supports. She powered down the whole ship. She proceeded back to the main cabin. Emergency glow strips guided her. She paused, looking at the airlock. She lifted the lightsaber to her head, touching her skull right above her ear. She had no sooner activated it then it was deactivating, her thumb falling away from the trigger, her hand relinquishing the hilt. She didn’t hear the hilt clattering against the floor. Her legs folded under her and she went straight down, falling to the deck. Her eyes stared unblinking at a distant console.
Kindergarten contained children and adults, who were introduced to simple ideas about the Force, with mindfulness assignments so that they could discover the Force on a personal level, as opposed to simply having abstract information about the subject. The class had taken place at an outdoor theatre, on a cement stairs that doubles as seating. After class, Em asked Jordeen if she could stay and watch the next class.
“Sure, I am okay if you watch,” Jordeen said.
“But try not to ask too many questions.” Jordeen called
Simmer up and handed him a mirror sword. She deployed a remote.
“Do we have to start every class with this exercise?” Simmer demanded.
“Do you practice at home?” Jordeen.
“No, it’s embarrassing,” Simmer said. “There is just no way to beat the remote.”
“No way?” Jordeen asked.
“I did the math. The time it takes to see, process, and respond is a greater unit of time than it takes a laser to hit you,” Simmer said.
“I agree. But your math is wrong,” Jordeen said.
“How can you agree and say my math is wrong?” he asked. He pulled a device off his belt. He showed her the math. “This is the length of time it takes for light to reach the eye.
Minimal, for all practical purpose, instantaneous. I don’t even need to factor this. The eye sees, sends a signal to the brain. Still, feels minimal, but this is slower than the speed of light that came from the object to the eye. This is the brain processing time. This is the time it takes to make decisions. This is the time that decision sends energy to the appropriate muscles, and then when you add in the actual response time, you’ve already been struck by the laser before your eyes even registered the light!”
“Yep, that all looks pretty good,” Jordeen agreed. “But you forgot to correct for consciousness.”
“I don’t understand,” Simmer said.
“Consciousness studies have demonstrated that we make consciousness decisions anywhere from 3 to 5 seconds prior to being consciously aware that we have made a decision,” Jordeen said.
“I don’t understand,” Simmer said. “Adding three to five more seconds just proves my point, it’s impossible.
“No, I am giving you three to five seconds prior to the event actually occurring,” Jordeen said.
“Okay, see, that makes absolutely no sense,” Simmer said.
“Simmer, that’s what this class is about. I’m trying to reveal to you that we don’t operate in real time,” Jordeen said.
“Our real selves operate outside of space/time. We are beings of light. What happens here, on the physical plain, is the result of decisions already made as much as 3 to 5 seconds ago, or years ago.”
“So this is all predetermined?!” Simmer said. “So, you’re telling me I am set up to fail before I even start and then you wonder why I don’t want to start?”
“I didn’t say predetermined, you’re making the decisions for your life, and there are others participating in this life. First there is you, there is the unspoken you, your unconscious you who for being unspoken has the most say, there is the superior you, there is the consciousness that you are identifying with, we’ll call that the mind, and then there is the heart, and there is the brain. And then, there are the others. And then there is the consensus, the gestalt of all cooperating souls towards a greater purpose, or counter purpose, which is still purposeful, but not necessarily your purpose.”
“I think I am going to have to go ba