Lessu

-Alema'vrei-
Normal? My haoy had a saying that she repeated to the girls when we were in that awkward teenage phase. "There is no such thing as normal, only ignorant." It sounds prettier in Ryl. Basically, it means that normal people are unaware of their gifts. Everyone is special in some way. There we go!

With surprising gentleness for one so big, Mazer'dura gently lifted a small green form from the rubble. He turned around and set a small girl on a piece of stone. The girl had a crushed leg, a shattered shoulder, and one of her lekku was twisted unnaturally. The rest of her was bruised and bloodied. Alema'vrei immediately set to work straightening the lekku to restore bloodflow.

-Alema'vrei-
She's breathing, barely, and cold.

Mazer'dura without hestitation removed his shirt and laid it across the girl. This revealed the scars that covered his chest and back where clearly he had been beaten by a Rodian Cryogen Whip.

-Mazer'dura-
Kika'lekki, she's the same age as my boy. There's someone else down there.

The muscular male began to lift a large piece, and then peaked under it. He quickly jumped back from the pile, and began to pale. Then he rolled over and began to vomit profusely.

-Alema'vrei-
Froz! See to him. I'm a little busy here. One for pick up. Transmitting location. Over.

Meanwhile...

When the Mando's attack started, one flight of Chir'daki manuevered over to attack. The flight leader lined up behind the vehicle and immediately fired a concussion missile. Though the pilot would have said he did so to avoid a possible early warning system, the other three pilots knew that the young officer most liekly got excited and fired early without waiting. At least, that's what they heard from his wife.

-Spear 6-
What is that thing? Transmitting targeting data.

From an underground cave, Crom'nen received the communication and the data. He had met such a vehicle before. Mandalorian. Intalbo would no dare attack me, not here. It cannot be. It must be another. Perhaps he was not as dead as I believed. Could it be?

The diplomat began to jog.

Mazer'dura wiped the puke from his mouth. She's like jelly. Just squished. It's disgusting.

-Alema'vrei-
The truck will be here any minute. I've got her stabilized. How are you holding up, Jedi?

The truck pulled up just as the medic pinned a piece of paper to the girl, on which she had written medical diagnoses. Mazer'dura carried the girl into the truck, placed her down, and retrieved his shirt as the medic inside placed a sterile blanket on her. Then the truck lurched off to get the next victim so that Crom'nen's six would be reached.

-Alema'vrei-
I was "normal." My sister was beautiful, charming, athletic, young. She's everything desirable in the sex trade. So she was taken. She just wanted to be normal. Mazer'dura wanted to be normal, but he was strong, so he was taken to work in mines. Some of my people hold to the tradition where the poor will sell their oldest child just to afford food for the younger. Their own parents sell them. They don't want to be poor, just normal. Extraordinary people want to be normal. Normal people want to be extraordinary. But we are born. We don't have a choice when or how. Look at Crom'nen. He was a prodigy, a Sesk'bumat like few others. But he wasn't content with extraordinary. He sought true greatness. He was working on Coruscant by sixteen. He led missions for the Republic, working with soldiers, Jedi, pirates, Sith, Mandalorians, and whoever else it took to get the job done. On such missions, he amassed considerable wealth, but he also encountered slaves up close and personal for the first time. He spent everything he had to purchase every Twi'lek slave he could and to hunt those who sought to take more. He used his influence to change our traditions and outlaw the slave trade. He is a liberator to our people, personally so to thousands like Mazer'dura there.

The question isn't if you're normal, Lia'ry. You aren't. The question is, what will you do with it? Speaking of which, where to next?

Those these pilots had never seen combat (unlike the other squadron protecting the city), they were not untrained. While one pair flew after the target, the other pair pulled up and took a high path, sweeping with sensors and feeding data to the pair on the ground.

Meanwhile...


Good, Crom'nen thought. Good. State honorable intentions. Distract us. Crom'nen began to speak with a calm that did not seem to fit the situation.

With all due respect for whatever intentions you may or may not have, let us consider some perspective. You are an alien force that has never appeared upon this world before. You are not registered. You just miraculously appear in a time of dire need. You arrive as our saviors whist we are too busy to oversee where exactly you are taking our wounded too. Notoriously, alien forces arrive at this world and tend to "help" people that are never seen again except in markets. You can see why we would be so trusting of a coincidence. If you wish to assist, then get in your ships, attack those who are have changed from attacking a Jedi force to suddenly attacking our world. Allow us to do our jobs here. It would be most unfortunate if people die because our soldiers are too busy tracking you, because your pride will not allow you, Second Lieutenant, to follow orders. Stand your forces down.

Crom'nen smiled at himself. He hoped he had turned it around on them. Humans tended to think of non-humans as aliens, but he called them aliens several times. It was true; they were the strangers, the outsiders here. He also had chastized their pride, which surely she must be thinking the same thing. But Crom'nen was also wondering, if she was a lowest ranking of officers, where were her superiors? No doubt those attacking this very instant.

Froz! Crom'nen cursed alloud in the cave. She was implying Republic affiliation. She was persistent, but not angry. Slavers should have gotten angry, or simply ceased communication. He checked the computer. It had a general area where they were transmitting. It would have to do. He restored the terminal to default status, then began moving that way, his comlink still boosted by the relay.

If you have any affiliation with the Republic, then you should know that I am a ranking member of the military sub-committee, therefore Republic personel are subject to my orders, and I repeat my orders for you to stand down. In addition, the Chir'daki above the city have orders from their commanders to target all non-Twi'lek, considering them slavers. I cannot countermand these orders. You will remain locked down indoors, or you will see firsthand why our starfighters have such a fiercesome reputation. Stand down or your blood will be on your own heads.

Alema'vrei shook her head, with Mazer'dura already on the move. We still need to evacuate those in the danger zone, because the building could still collapse. We also have no way of knowing if this is a precursor for an attack. We need to get these people gone. How much Ryl can you speak?