The Corrillean YT-400 Starbolt angled away from the shipyards. Its triangular hull was pitted from
many years of Imperial service.
No ship like home, Kale thought. He touched the hilt of his lightsaber, a flat rectangle instead of
the usual cylinder. With a practiced movement he drew the blade; its familiar crimson shaft hummed in his ear.
Many of the cuts and blocks were traditional, adapted to his needs. He'd shaped them to be practical above all else.
The Snake, his most difficult form, he always did first. "Slice, duck, thrust," he chanted. The red blade sang an eerie accompaniment.
Flashing and wheeling, the saber imprinted circles, lines and arcs in the sizzling air.
He finished the Snake and bowed to an invisible audience. The saber vanished back into the hilt.
Feeling each bone, he stretched slowly. His coiled muscles responded, helped along by Force nudges.
"Now, I need to get to Bespen." He smiled, thinking of Lando and his "vapor mining."
"Hey, Kale," said Jaca. "Did you finish yet?" She entered the bridge with her usual soundless grace. About a meter taller than Kale, she had long limbs that rippled with lean muscle.
Kale grinned at his feline copilot. "Want to try? I can lend you my saber."
"Nah, you know I have two left paws."
Kale's smile widened. "I tell you, being a Jedi has its perks."
Jaca sniffed. "I don't need all that Old Order slag."
"Come on, try the saber at least!"
"Very well," sighed Jaca. "Watch my tail, will you?"
"I always have." He pinched the metal tip of her maimed tail, which she tended to use as a club.
She took center stage, bouncing in the low gravity. Kale couldn't abide "all that artificial snub."
"Ky-sa!" she yowled. With a leap, she kicked out and scored her claws across the air. The saber whirled and struck. She used it to balance, pointing the insubstantial blade. She ducked, then wheeled to face an opponent. The Force hummed through her, like the lightsaber itself, but as ever it was elusive.
"Bravo!" Kale cheered. "Go for a neck slice!"
With little more than a twitch, she directed herself back on deck. "That's enough."
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