The Storms of Oseon

Akasha Khan was beginning to reconsider her position on the virtues of soaking in water. It turned out that when it was in a tub, lightly agitated, steaming hot, and filled with scented bubbles, it was altogether easy to forget that she was wet. And after a longer time than she cared to admit roaming the tropical jungles of Onderon or the stale, oily corridors of an Action-VI transport, being clean was the important thing. The Orryxian laid back and streeeeetched, enjoying the way the hot, sudsy water swirled through every square centimeter of her fur, working out several months' worth of grit and spine-clenching tension.[/i]

*bing* "This is your captain speaking. We have just entered realspace in the Oseon System, and if you look out the portside of the ship you can see the Oseon star giving off a brilliant flare some hundred-thousand kilometers long. This kind of stellar activity is not to be confused with the Flamewind I'm sure you're all familiar with, but often we see elevated solar storms immediately preceding a Flamewind event. With any luck, we'll be fortunate enough to see some reactions in the surrounding asteroids by the time we pull into harbor in a couple of hours."

Akasha sighed deeply, not quite willing to give up the pleasure of a bubble bath so soon after discovering it, especially not just to see some pretty lights in the sky. Maybe if she stayed quiet, her master wouldn't realize she was still in the bathroom...

"Easy to accustom to upper class living standards, nay?" a familiar voice sounded from the door. Leaning on the adjacent wall, Tionne nibbled on her unlit pipe anxiously, knowing lighting it would probably sound off the smoke alarms. She spat out a few shards in a rather unfeminine manner then took a few steps inside. Seemingly, her apprentice was enjoying the fringe benefits of the junior suite.

"You do know that the entirety of that wall can turn into a screen?" the Knight quizzed and took hold of a remote control that could be used to adjust various feats in the bathroom ranging from lighting to background music.
With a few clicks, a large holo-screen was revealed to display the exact same imagery that was to be seen from the port-side of the ship. Oseon's solar wind was as bright as the star itself, stretching like a ferocious tongue of fire into the expanse of the universe.

"I'm glad you still haven't discovered the minibar though." the Coruscanti jested, then eyed the feline immersed in a sizzling bubble bath - "How do you like the treatment so far?"

The minibar - Oh, Maiur's sodden liver. She still remembered her experiment with the Cizeri blood wine and had no wish to repeat it.

Akasha shifted in the water to see the screen, pupils shrinking in the brightness of the wispy arm of plasma curling out from the surface of Oseon. Of course the photofilters were turned so dark there was no other light visible in the screen, and the flare itself was a riot of white, orange, and green at the very edges.

The felinoid lifted her dripping arms above her head to stretch them as well, looking as contented as a sentient being could possibly be. "I like it just fine," she said. "The Jedi should have one of these ships. With a full staff, and room service. I feel closer to the Force already."

"Well, closeness costs, my young apprentice. If it hadn't been for my financial ingenuity, we'd be trotting around on the back of a junk compiler, like the rest of the Jedi." the Knight admitted somewhat boastfully, then turned to stare at screen and the solar show happening outside.
"Speaking of which, remind me to search for a new ship, now that I have the funds. Something classy, fast, well-armed. I'm tired of flying a rusty toaster."

Ping - ping.
The bell of the door comm sounded discretely, swiftly breaking Thanewulf's musings.
"Come in. I'm in the bathroom." said the redhead, then glanced over her left shoulder at her feline student - "I took the liberty of ordering the finest selection of shellfish the restaurant underneath could provide. I thought you'd be hungry from all the soaking."
An old, albeit well groomed man appeared at the bathroom's door, carrying an entire tray of beautifully arranged, bitesize frutti di mare.
"Your order, madam." he voiced subserviently, then discreetly eyed the Orryxian occupying the jacuzzi.
"Where should I put it?" he asked, trying to remain professional in a mind-boggling situation he just walked into.

Akasha sat up and leaned her arms on the tub rim. "Oh, bring those over here, they smell wonderful!"

The man hesitated, then approached with his eyes fixed on a spot on the wall behind Akasha, taking very small steps to guard against slipping. Akasha looked around the platter and then speared a little pink creature out of its bowl-shaped shell on one of her claws and pushed it delicately into her mouth. "Mmmf, that's delicious."

She took another, absolutely oblivious to the man's discomfort - not that she had anything on her chest worth hiding. "Tionne, you have to try these!"

"I'll think I'll pass, skipper." the Knight said, pulling out a few credits from her pants to tuck them into the butler's front pocket - "I'm allergic to all crustacean."
With a nod, she dismissed the man, motioning him to leave the tray at the edge of the tub, just within Akasha's reach. He then scurried through the bathroom door and out of the suite, probably still recovering from the bizarreness of the sight he beheld.

"So, have you had the chance to look through the catalogues I left you on the bed? There's an amusement park, a zoo of exotic animals, circus show... And a well-supplied shopping mall or so I was told." said the redhead, then headed for the door as docking time approached. Those meager things she called personal belongings still needed packing.
"This is the closest you will feel to a normal person, Akasha." Tionne voiced from the other room - "I wanted you to see what you are missing when becoming a Jedi. So you can quit while you still can, haha."

Akasha bit down on another small, fleshy invertebrate, relishing the burst of juices against her tongue. Being surrounded by so many luscious little pleasures made it difficult to think too badly of the future.

"Ha. I've been a princess, a slave, a gladiator, a hunter-gatherer, a Jedi apprentice, and now a jet-set tourist, and that's in the past two years. There's no such thing as normal."

She lifted her legs so her toes emerged from the water at the other end of the tub. Something felt strange when she wiggled them - she realized with a start and a splash that her toe pads were wrinkled like Agamarian prunes. Maybe it was time to get out.

With a sigh, Akasha stood, sending streams of water trickling from her fur. Careful not to get any suds in her hors d'oeuvres, she reached for a towel that was nearly as furry as she was and began drying. "I'm game for anything, though I did promise Kala I'd bring her something for her shell collection. What's that Flamewind thing the captain was talking about?"

Thanewulf thought the Orryxian would never ask. Stuffing her clothes into her backpack, the Knight briefly contemplated over just how much information would she share with her apprentice. After all, she wanted to inspect how Akasha dealt with emotional stress when it came unannounced.
"The Flamewind is a celestial phenomenon.." the redhead explained, raising her voice so that Khan could hear her in the bathroom - "...a stream of radiation, if you will, that colours the surrounding universe in a plethora of rainbow hues. A unique sight in the galaxy, I believe."

Last of datapads were tossed into the bag and the zipper was pulled to close it, leaving Tionne wondering if there would be time left to do some shopping herself.
"It happens once every year" she continued and walked up to the bathroom door, leaning on the frame - "...making navigation nearly impossible. Once we arrive to Oseon 8920 , we'll be stuck there for several days before the entire cosmic showdown ceases. Three to four days of good quality time with your Master."
The Coruscanti smiled widely upon seeing the feline as fluff as a snowflake.
"Now, pack up. I wan't to avoid the git parade and their well-perfumed entourage."

"Git parade?" Akasha repeated, making a face. Without waiting for an answer, she stepped out of the tub and finished drying, which took another towel, and then ventured back into the cabin to find something to wear.

Shortly, master and padawan were strolling down one the large promenade deck that covered the full width of the starliner. The Oseon star with its curling jets of plasma dominated the celestial panorama out the portside viewing panels, and people had already gathered to watch the spectacle. Here and there, fragments of rock and metal were caught in the stream of invisible radiation from the stellar ejecta and flamed brilliantly red, yellow, or purple, tiny harbingers of the brilliant radiation storm to come.

"Maiur's claws, they must make an emperor's fortune in this business," Akasha said, looking over the well-manicured crowd in their fine fabrics and glittering jewelry. The ship and her patrons reeked of expense. The Orryxian almost felt self-conscious of the fairly simple vest and trousers she wore.

She found her eyes drawn to a streaking comet fragment drawn toward the sun. It had suddenly flared up to a brilliant, piercing blue that somehow cut straight through the photoreactive dampeners in the screens. The color stirred something in her that she couldn't explain - a longing, perhaps, or a strange sense of...

...running her face into a wall of stiff, regimental fabric. She stumbled backwards and saw she had just collided with a tall man in the black uniform of an Imperial navy officer. The man turned on a jackboot and glared at her as if his skull might come popping through his skin at any moment.

"Watch where you're going, filth," he snarled.

Akasha recovered herself nearly instantaneously. "Actually, I've just had a bath, thanks," she replied. "Though now I feel like I need another."

The Imperial captain sneered and raised his eyes to Tionne, immediately connecting the two. "I advise you to keep a shorter leash on your animal, madam."

"Or you could try urinating all over your territory to mark it," Akasha said helpfully. "Really, that's all we animals understand."

"Hah!" the Knight blurted out, nudging the Orryxian to the side, away from the Imperial officer. Instead, she inserted herself between them as a buffer, impishly smiling.
"Do excuse my cat" the redhead began, glancing sideways to note Akasha's ears laying flay against her skull - "She is a bit edgy. It's her first time flying."
A hand was extended to pat Akasha on the head.
"Good kitty."

The Imperial lifted a curious brow; just as he was about to say something, a woman slid her lithe hand between his arm and body, placing it in the crook of his elbow.
"Let's go, dear. We don't want to miss the show." she said, dragging the man away across the walking lane. Just as they disappeared into the crowd, Tionne turned to her student.

"Sorry about that." she apologized, knowing how much Khan hated to be called a cat - "Out of all the people, you manage to bump into an Imperial Captain. As a matter of fact, I am surprised you didn't bump into the Empress."
The redhead discreetly pointed to a group of overly-dressed people; young, rich and truant, they made a sport out of spending their parent's money.
"Git parade and entourage." she said, perchance giving her former joke a meaning.

It was just as well that Akasha had been stricken speechless, or she might have said some things that would have them both tossed from the promenade deck. Anyone else who patted her on the head that way would likely have lost that hand at the wrist. As it was, her master was on the receiving end of a glare that could have frozen the sun outside.

"Really?" she hissed. "Couldn't I have been your business partner, or a friend of the family, or maybe we could change things up a bit, and you could be my pet monkey."

A minor explosion of laughter went up from the rich and restless newcomers, several females gathered around a well-dressed young man who obviously thought himself terribly clever. Akasha merely swiveled one of her ears to monitor them; they weren't worth her eyes.

"Business partner? Friend of family? Pet monkey?!?" the redhead repeated, eyes widening - "You really don't know much about the Imperials, do you? Most of them think all non-human species profane the galaxy - it's something that lays as a cornerstone of their society."

Thanewulf took a moment to lecture Akasha on the reality that surrounded them, a world of intolerance and xenophobia they were to walk as master and student.
"Indoctrination is a powerful vaccine, Akasha. It makes you indifferent towards factual reality; only eight percent of the galaxy's population is human or near-Human, yet they claim dominance over the rest. What do you think, where do roots of this lie?" the redhead asked as two Jedi walked past the crowd of yuppies. The stench of overpriced champagne was pungent, the Knight having to turn her head the other way.

"Fear. Fear of everything that is different in any way. During the Clone Wars, humans feared aliens would overhaul the Republic. Why do you think all the Clone troopers were humans to begin with? It would have been equally easy, if not easier, to clone Duros or any other species for that matter... yet they cloned humans." Tionne asserted, slipping past another tall Imperial officer who offered a keen smile upon gawking down her shirt. The Coruscanti ignored him and continued -

"So, you see, this is something that has been going on for decades. It's easier to fit the roles we are assigned, especially as we travel amidst people who think both of us are disposable. You as an Orryxian, me as Jedi. You do know I don't mean any of this, right?"

Akasha flicked her tail as if getting rid of a troublesome fly. "Well, yes... but you didn't have to pick the most demeaning cover story possible."

She vented a sigh through her nose and gave the Imperial and his wife another acid glare.

"If I have to be a pet, the least you can do is let me bite his ankle."

"I thought I'd spare you the taste of his feet. But if you insist, in the future..." the Knight jested as she meandered throughout the crowd towards the exit. The ship was docking to a space station orbiting the asteroid where the resort was located, as the vast vessel was far too large to land on the surface. On Oseon 8920 every square foot of ground there was in the service of tourism.

"Attention all passingers! The ship is now docked and clear for disembarking. The crew wishes you a pleasant stay on Oseon."

Tionne glanced over her shoulder at her student and smiled.
"Come on, Akasha. Leisure awaits." said the redhead and extended her hand backwards, taking the Orryxian's paw into her palm. It was easy to get lost in a swarm of tourists ambling towards the exits, eager to set experience one of the galaxy's most famed wonders. The Jedi were here on an entirely different mission - Akasha would soon learn that.

***

"Well, this is it. Celexa Astoria hotel." Thanewulf proclaimed after checking the flimsy containing the reservations she made - "What do you think, Khan?"

The hotel itself was an epitome of luxury, a broad building cascading into a rift valley that creased the surface of the asteroid. Large terraces were covered with transparisteel domes, some of them containing gardens of exotic wonders while others withheld private quarters of some of the wealthiest individuals in the galaxy. The interior was decorated in greys and blacks, clean cut and polished surfaces, designer furniture and abstract, invaluable paintings. Minimalism at its finest, Tionne reflected internally, no wonder Imperials adored this resort so much.

"Reservations for two. Fotzekotze." the Jedi said upon leaning over the counter of the reception. The clerk offered a court nod before checking the computer.

Akasha fought the urge to shiver as she looked straight up into a starry sky that was clearer and sharper than the coldest night on the highest mountain peak on Orryxia. The air under the dome was actually pleasantly warm, but the bleak decor sapped much of that warmth away.

"It's... very angular," Akasha said, unenthused. "They do know about colors other than gray and black, don't they?"