Star Wars Republic Commando: Knight of Honor ✓

Chapter 27

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for all the support! You've been great with inspiring me, and I am highly appreciative of your input. If you have any tips writing tips, please feel free to comment.

As always, I continue to hope that I am doing justice to the spirit of Star Wars as well the respective authors and characters from which I borrow. Again, I gratefully accept constructive criticism as a means to help me develop my skills further as a writer.

Mandalorian (Mando'a) words

Ika (EE-kah): diminutive suffix written as 'ika - also added to a name as a very familiar or childhood form, e.g, Ord'ika - Little Ordo

--- --- --- --- ---

Chapter 27

I needed to be free, to be able to live and explore. Bringing you into the galaxy was the greatest accomplishment I had done to date, but you didn't deserve a mother who would never be able to provide you with the attention a child requires. It would be unfair and cruel to stay with you, and we would only be miserable in our expected duties.

Excerpt from Queen Darian Psach's farewell letter to Princess Arlesse

Tochin Moon III, 786 Days ABG

Jas continued with his berry picking, gathering up just a few more to top off the small pouch on his belt. Relieved that he had earned Gath's reluctant approval for his previous actions and anything else that might occur with Les'ika, Jas popped a few of the berries into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully on the slightly tart yellow fruit, surprised at himself for liking the sharp flavor that accompanied the sugary berry. After having lived his entire life on a bland diet of specialized and balanced proteins, all these new flavors and textures had awakened his taste senses, making him want to know what else there was in the galaxy that he knew so little about.

Jas knew that flash training could teach him anything in a theory sense, but to actually experience it and live it was something he had been denied on so many levels. This mission to Tochin had given him experiences and moments in his life that no Kaminoan scientist could ever predict in a preconceived lesson plan. And, Jas found that he liked being on this sidetracked mission, this chance to not have to worry about war or how to survive by ducking through blaster fire and grenades.

Footsteps shuffled closer to Jas, breaking his thoughts, and he recognized the careful and uncertain pressure of Les'ika's feet as she stepped cautiously over the leaf and branch-strewn ground. He heard her skirts ruffling together and scraping against the foliage, and he could only imagine how many more tears would be along that hem. He hoped the material wasn't too expensive for her sake, and with the little bits of her life that she had shared, he could imagine that someone in her inner circle wouldn't be pleased with her current appearance.

Before turning to greet her, Jas' eyes caught sight of a Cerulea plant that grew close to the berry bush, blooming with blue flowers the size of his palm. He remembered from his flash lessons in the mission brief that these lily-like plants were harvested for their fragrance, and their oils were used for perfume as well as for scented candles.

Looking down to the sapphire-colored lily in his hand that he had just picked off the plant, Jas studied the light purple center embedded inside the petals. The scent that came from the bloom was more sugary than flowery, and he felt a strange pang of nervousness, wondering if Les'ika even liked this kind of flower. He ran a gloved finger over one of the petals thinking of how delicate this botanical wonder was. It could hold up to rain and weather, but it would die in hours now that it had been plucked from the patch where he had found it. He thought it was a rather fitting metaphor to his own existence. While living on Kamino, he was a plant rooted in everything he could want and need, but once he was pulled off that desolate planet, he had no chance to live long.