Chapter 51: An End to the Vacation
Summary: Finishing up their quest/vacation!
Warning! Chapters 48-51 were all published back-to-back! Make sure you don't miss any of the new chapters!
Chapter 51: An End to the Vacation
Despite having found his lightsaber crystal, as well as collection of useful holocrons and artifacts besides, they didn't leave Tython right away. In part, that was because Izuku discovered the hard way that it was much more difficult to connect to the Infinity Gate from outside its pocket dimension. In fact, without the boost from the Mantle of the Force, he was fairly sure it wouldn't have been possible at all, and they'd have been stuck trying to use the Force to map a viable hyperspace lane out instead.
As it was, it took Izuku a few days of meditation and Aayla's guidance in attuning the crystal before he could connect to the Gate solidly enough to let them leave safely. The majority of that time he spent alone and in meditation, which allowed Aayla and Mei to put themselves and the Wandering Fate to other uses. Specifically, they used the ship to scout around the planet, trying to discover what was still around and what the cause of the technobeasts was. A few scattered Jedi Temples, far older than the one they'd first encountered, were discovered, as were the remnants of several abandoned cities and settlements of various ages.
Of more practical importance, the duo successfully tracked the technobeasts back to their source. That source appeared to be a black-durasteel fortress that looked suspiciously like a decently sized military base. The only good news was that it appeared to be long abandoned, save for the technobeasts themselves, with the archaeology programs still loaded into the Fate from its original owner estimating its age to be somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 years old. That placed it as likely being a remnant of the New Sith Wars. Though the possibility of it having been built by a survivor, one that might have eventually trained a new order of Sith, was plausible enough that they'd likely still have to bring up its existence to Master Tholme when they had a chance.
They had also, to Mei's glee, managed to find a few small stockpiles of unaligned lightsabers crystals of varying kinds. None of them were anything special…but that was the exact reason that Mei was gleeful about finding them, as it meant no one would protest overmuch if she experimented with them. She still really wanted to figure out what bullshit happened with them to make them amplify energy the way they did, even if Aayla and Izuku both warned her it might not be a physical property of the crystals themselves that did it. Then again, she did have access to some samples of Force-based technology as well. So who knew? Maybe she'd figure out something to do with them.
Regardless, it was almost five days after their arrival that Izuku was finally able to reconnect well enough with the Infinity Gate to pull them back to the pocket dimension, after which they transferred back to Felucia in a matter of minutes. There, they'd made a quick stop to pick up what the droids had managed to transcribe from the database, discovering they'd still only gotten about seven percent of the total. That was still enough to make Mei even happier, and they'd left the droids to continue the data copying as they used the Infinity Gate to transfer the Wandering Fate straight into orbit. They'd done so well clear of the few sensor platforms the Commerce Guild maintained, allowing them to easily slip back out of the system as if they were never there.
After which, it had finally come time for Izuku to assemble his new lightsaber.
It was another of those 'let the Force guide you' moments that Izuku expected he'd have probably failed utterly at before the quest for the crystal itself. Which, well, fine. He could admit that he needed to pay more attention to that sort of thing, at least when the Force bluntly smacked him over the head with it hard enough, often enough. As it was, he was far slower about the assembly than Aayla or another properly trained Jedi might have been…but he still got there in the end.
Snapping the lightsaber on, he was pleased by the rich turquoise color his attunement to the crystal had produced. Aayla, watching from nearby to make sure nothing went wrong, clapped enthusiastically as he put it through its paces, feeling how much more natural it was compared to his borrowed blade.
"Excellent! Now, we just need to find somewhere with enough room that we can duel properly to get used to it. If the boosts effect your Force usage as much as the Heart of the Guardian effected mine, you'll need a fair few hours of practice to fully adjust."
Izuku nodded, even as he kept flowing through forms with the blade.
"I think it won't be quite as bad, since I've already been using its primary boost while trying to connect to the Infinity Gate. But you're right that I should certainly get some practice in. We still have a few days of vacation left, anyway…and Mei could use a distraction to pull her away from her new toys before she exhausts herself."
Aayla grinned and held out a dataslate for him as he deactivated his new blade.
"Way ahead of you! I've found us a nice place to spend the last few days of the trip…and I have a great idea how to distract Mei!"
A thrill shot through him as images of what Aayla had in mind flashed through their bond. Izuku gulped, and quickly focused on the dataslate with single minded intensity…
... ...
Given just how massive the Republic was, and how varied its worlds, Izuku should not have been surprised that Aayla somehow found an entire paradise world that was the next best thing to a nudist commune. That said, he sort of was surprised, if only because it was hard to imagine such a world surviving in the relative violence of the galaxy at large. Or, well, it had been hard to imagine until he'd gotten sucked into the fascinating reading about the local species.
While the orange-skinned locals, aside from being an average of 2.5 meters tall, appeared pretty 'near-human,' they very much were not. Not under the skin, at least. Tamorian biology was extremely alien, to the point that their near-human appearance screamed that someone had done heavy bio-tinkering to this race in the past. There was no other explanation for a race that looked like orange skinned, extremely tall, near-universally attractive humans…who absorbed specific wavelengths of light to empower them to the point that their children could bench press an unpowered aircar.
Yeah, there was a reason no one had ever successfully invaded them. They were scary strong, could shoot energy projectiles formed from the light they absorbed, and didn't need space suits to go extra-atmospheric. The few idiots that had tried to invade them in the past had found random civilian Tamorians flying up to rip docking hatches open by main force, then punching their way through a ship's crew until everyone was dead. Frankly, the only reason very few people knew they existed, or cared for that matter, was because it was the next best thing to impossible for them to leave their star system.
While the light from the local binary star might empower them, it was also critical to keeping them alive, and rare. After all, it wasn't just a binary star, but a binary pair of B-Type stars. B-type main-sequence stars might have huge habitable zones…but they were also one of the rarest types of stars in existence. For there to be a binary B-Type? Frankly, it screamed Celestial tinkering in the distant past. Ramor and Remor, the binary stars of the Tamor system, were in fact the only known example of the phenomenon in the galaxy. There were multiple habitable planets in the system, but this single system was also the only place in the galaxy that had the right light mixture for Tamorians to survive. Meaning if they wanted to leave the system, they had to artificially recreate the light mixture. Even then it wasn't good for them, since no one had ever gotten it perfectly right. A few weeks was fine. Any longer? That was a quick way to end up with a sick and dying Tamorian.
So, no one was insane enough to try invading the Outer Rim world and the Tamorians couldn't really leave. They also, due to their durability and the fact they partially lived off of skin-absorbed sunlight, hadn't developed any nudity taboo at all. The fact that the species was relatively friendly, was mostly agrarian, and was quite willing to trade with everyone so long as you didn't try to cheat them? Well, all of that had resulted in it being a popular spot for traders to stop, even if they did lose the occasional crewman to an overenthusiastic Tamorian accidently crushing them during sex. Death by Snu Snu was very possible here, if you weren't durable enough to handle the locals' strength.
Thankfully for those trade ships with crew that wanted fun on leave, quite a few enterprising members of various species had taken the opportunity of a paradise world where nudity and sex were completely normal and run with it. Twi'leks, Zeltrons, humans and more had all set up their own little resorts that catered to off-worlders. All of them clothing discouraged, to fit in with the 'local culture.'
Of course, Aayla hadn't booked them for one of those resorts. Instead, she'd just gotten them a nice suite at a local hotel, in the middle of a local city, and insisted they all embrace 'local culture.' That meant that the locals, both Tamorians and immigrants alike, hadn't so much as batted an eye as Aayla had led them strolling down the Fate's ramp and into the city, buck naked save for her lightsaber belt with her blades and a comm attached. Mei, utterly shameless as she was, had joined her without hesitation. Her curvy body bounced freely as she cheerfully strode down the street with nothing but a toolbelt on.
Frankly, Izuku was extremely glad that his studies in the more physical aspects of the Force had given him the ability to suppress certain…reactions. Aayla and Mei were more than enough of a glorious eyeful for him to have been 'standing at attention' otherwise, and that wasn't even considering the gorgeous locals who were all roaming around in similar states of undress. Among the locals, you could see that jewelry and bits of body paint were the closest most of them bothered to clothing, and even that was just to accessorize. Apparently, the wrist-comms they all wore served for ID and money transfers, making few of them even need something like the belts Aayla and Mei wore.
Even with the Force, Izuku's willpower was running very thin by the time they made it to their hotel suite.
Which is when Mei decided it was time to be herself and shatter that little thread of remaining willpower.
"Awesome! We're here! Is this where you two fuck my brains out? I've been waiting for it! The increased horniness around you two has been very distracting and slowing down my work, as I have to masturbate three times a day!"
Aayla froze for just a heartbeat, before bursting into giggles and sweeping an excited Mei into a breast-squishing hug. Izuku, meanwhile, gave into the inevitable as his exposed dick sprang to attention with the images Mei had just forced into his brain.
"Ohhh! It is! Izuku's ready already!"
Aayla's giggles redoubled, slowing the process of bringing any sort of order to the situation, and forcing Izuku to start the conversation that Aayla had previously promised to handle. All while his brain was not exactly the center of his blood flow. This was very not fair, and he would absolutely be finding a creative 'punishment' for Aayla after this for abandoning him at a critical social moment. That was supposed to be her field, not his!
"Um…Mei, we should probably, you know…talk about things first?"
Mei tilted her head in confusion, but thankfully Aayla got over her giggles enough to take over.
"Mei, I know you're close to Izuku, even if I'm not sure even you have realized that you've had a crush on him for years."
Mei stiffened, and Aayla nodded.
"Ah, you did realize. When?"
For the first time since Izuku had met her, Mei actually looked shy, looking away from Aayla's gaze.
"Um…the elf lady, she sort of helped? But I didn't quite get it. But then…Bubbles and MegaMilk…"
Aayla just nodded.
"A team effort, then. Well, I'm glad they finally helped you realize! It makes this easier. We aren't just asking you here for sex. Well, not only sex. We want you to properly join our relationship. We were pretty sure you were interested…but—"
Aayla oofed as Mei abruptly grabbed her in another hug, showing off just how strong she actually was as she made Aayla's ribs creak.
"Yes! Yes, I want that…but we are going to have kinky sex, too, right?"
Aayla giggled again and nodded.
"Yes, Mei. Lots of sex. We've got days before we need to be anywhere, after all!"
With that, she took the initiative and grabbed the pinkette's chin, capturing her in a kiss…
... ... ... ... ...
A/N 1: So, Tamor is NOT a Star Wars world. Instead, I cheated like a bitch and based it (which may not ever appear again) off Tamaran from DC (Where Starfire and Blackfire are from). It's not a one-for-one comparison, obviously. I created the limitation on their travel mostly to explain why such a 'powerful' species wasn't known much to the rest of the galaxy. I always did find it amusing/interesting that the logic the artists/writers that worked with Starfire used to explain her not really having a nudity taboo actually made sense. If you absorb solar energy for power, and are basically immune to heat/cold/day-to-day damage...why would you wear much in the way of clothes? It would only get in the way of charging up easier. Anyway, minor semi-cameo is minor.
A/N 2: Yes, I am cruel and didn't actually include a lemon of their first time with Mei. Frankly, for some reason, it just didn't feel like it fit here? I might show it as a flashback or something? Maybe even as just a random extra I throw in at some point? I also wanted to note that I did consider going with a more romantic approach and slowly easing Mei into the relationship...until I realized that doing so very much just doesn't fit Mei's personality. So, blunt wrecking ball method instead, after a suitable bit of leadup in the last few releases!
A/N 3: I only mention this once per release, but my stories have a page where some early access content is available. In example, I just released chapters 52-55 of Displaced Hero there, giving it just over an additional 16,000 more words which will remain in early access until next month. Similarly, there are at least a few Early Access chapters there for ALL of my stories, though NONE of them are ever permanently paywalled. All fanfiction content I make ends up here (or on Fanfiction.net and Questionable Questing) eventually, as new content for each story is released.