Thanks for all your support and replies! Jek Marisun sat on the couch in his white Republic Naval uniform, with Zyn Mizzy's arm around his shoulder, watching as thousands of battle ready Klingons sang for men and women they had never known, simply for the joy of honoring them. "So that's what a Klingon looks like," His brother Mek said, sitting on the floor of his apartment on Coruscant, his five year old daughter in his lap. "They are as impressive as father said they were," Jek replied. "But who's the human with them?" As if on cue, the camera zoomed in on Joshua Kirk's face. Jek and Zyn jumped off the couch to kneel on the floor next to Mek. "Daddy look!" Mek's daughter asked, laughing as they watched the human singing with men and women from a world more than seventy million lightyears away. "Do you and Uncle Jek have a little brother?" Zyn grinned as he looked from one brother to the other. "Are you twins, or are you clones?" He asked jokingly. "I'm beginning to wonder," Jek pondered, almost seriously. Moff Biiynit watched the singing with Moffs Serro, Panaka, Kinter, and Seergah while inspecting cloning facility #1. "Ah, Panaka?" Biiynit asked as he stepped beside the youngest of the Moffs. "Isn't that your missing aid, Marc Vitch?" "No," Panaka said. "This kid is at least fifteen, twenty years younger." "Ah, I know who that is," Degro Serro told the others. "That's our missing Federation Ambassador, Joshua Kirk." "Damn senimental fool!" Seergah, who also stood watching the holo news report, sneered. "Singing for what were little more than machines." "Watch how you talk of those men!" Biiynit shouted as he shoved Seergah against the wall. "You never fought in the war! I've fought side by side with the Sons of Jango Fett through the entire war, while you kissed Palpatine's ass as a legal adviser! You are a man of no honor, leave now!" "Honor!" Again, Seergah sneered. "Honor is an antiquated ideal. The rebels fight with honor." "Seergah!" Degro Serro stepped up to the taller man. "You might not have noticed, but the rebels fighting with honor have kicked our asses across the galaxy!" "A set back!" "You can't be that monumentally stupid!" The short man shouted. "The Empire once ruled over several million inhabited systems. We are now down to one hundred fifty thousand! That is not a setback, that is being beaten. I'm with Pellaeon. We should sue for peace while we still can. In another five years we'll be ruling an Empire consisting of the world of Bastion! Get out of here!" Turning to the trooper known as Survivor, one of the few remaining Jango clones from the first generation, Serro told him to remove his helmet. Tears were running down the man's cheeks. "Trooper, do you know the Song for the Honored Dead?" "Yes, sir!" "Then join us in singing for the dead." Assaj Ventress sat in a comfortable room, on an unimportant mid-rim world. Next to her sat her husband of twenty eight years, Alpha. Behind her stood their three sons and daughter. Together they watched the children of her old friend Vell Orollie singing for their father. "Vell, you are such a lucky man," The fugitive said with a smile. Alpha put his arm around his wife. "He's not the only man who's lucky, you know." Assaj leaned against the man who'd stood by her all these years and began to sing the Song of Mourning that the Orinie children were singing. Then she and Alpha and their children sang the Song for the Honored Dead. As did Sons Of Jango Fett and Mandalorians around the galaxy. Zell led Baby and his sisters to a memorial. There they examined the marble structure. "That building over there is the memorial for father's men," Ano said, pointing. "Who is this one for?" "This is the resting place of General Vell Orollie." Melee reacted with joy. "This is where you buried our father?" Melee asked with agrin. "How did you manage that?" "I didn't," Zell stated simply. "When I woke up in the hospital on Carrida, I found myself being visited by not one, but two admirals, as well as a general from the Stormtroopers and another from the Army. One of the admirals told me they knew who our father really was. They asked for my permission to bury father here, with his men, with full military honors." "But why would Imperials do that for a dead enemy?" Baby asked. "They said that it was to honor a worthy foe," Zell said with pride. "They said they'd all gone up against him during the course of the Clone War. And all had been defeated. So I said yes. They even returned and showed me a recording of the funeral. I have it in my cabin on Defiant Spirit. It was very nice." "Ah, Zell. What are we going to do?" Baby asked nervously. "What do you mean?" He asked. "We are going to be married," Baby said before grinning. "Why do you think I painted my Lekku black? That means that I'm spoken for." "Well I know that," Zell told the tall Lethan. "He's dense, Baby," Melee said as she lightly slapped her brother's arm. "I think she means where are the two of you going to live. Don't forget, you're in Intelligence, attached to Defiant Spirit. Not exactly the roomiest of ships. I know, I spent a week on it helping Merrik with a problem. The only bunk large enough to hold two is Veexa's. And I don't think she'll give that up. Not as big as she is." The blonde smiled up at Baby. "I bet she would if you asked real nice," The Twil'lek shook her head. "No thanks," She quickly said, knowing what he meant. "I'm not into women!" Zell began to tell her he was just joking when a wave of pain hit him and Melee. Both turned to Ano who had tears in her eyes. She glared harshly at Tel'Meht and started to walk away. After a few steps though, she froze, her eyes growing wide with wonder. "Do you feel them?" She asked the others after a brief silence. "Feel who?" Her sister asked, a look of puzzlement on her face. "The dead, they are all around us!" Ano suddenly smiled for the first time that day. "They are singing!" Ano stepped away from the marble edifice and wandered through the voices, followed by the other three. Vell Orollie stood smiling as he felt the joy in the hearts of his children as Melee and Zell opened themselves to the Force and heard the tens of thousands who sang for those who had just honored them. Stepping from the building, he went among them and joined the singing, standing between two of the Klingons who'd joined them after being killed in the battle against the pirates. When they'd finished, one of the Klingons spoke up. "Come brothers and sisters. It is time we moved on. Let us leave this place for the living," Slowly, the fallen faded away. Finally all that was left was Vell and the Klingon. "She is very sad, this daughter of yours," He said. "Yes she is. But not for long. She has already met the one who loves her, and that she will come to love," Turning to the warrior, he smiled as both became one with the Force. Peenk and Joshua lay on the couch in her cabin naked, kissing, when the beautiful blonde pulled away. She stared into the man's brown eyes for several seconds before speaking. "Joshua, I have something to tell you," Kirk cocked his head to the side. "There's something that I've been holding back from you, and now is the time to tell you." "Would this have anything to do with the fact that you and our lovely Cerinian Jedi are deeply in love with each other?" He said in a low voice. Peenk smiled and shook her head. "No. I figured you knew. Just as I know the two of you are in love with each other as well." Kirk nodded. "And my father is going to kick my ass." "Why?" Peenk asked, a puzzled look on her face. "You'd figure he'd be proud of you. Most guys would love to be in the position you're in." "Over the centuries, we've learned that it's not wise to carry on more than one relationship at a time with Norms. Few can accept sharing us without becoming jealous." "Well neither of us are norms then. I'm perfectly happy sharing you with Kinna. And as I said, Cerinians are not capable of jealousy. They are also rather lose with whom they'll have sex," She said, her face twisting in disgust. "Ah. You're talking about the fact that she used to have sex with your mother." "Hell yeah!" She exclaimed. "I don't want to go down where my mother went. Blah! It just creeps me out. I'm just happy they've stopped!" "Yeah. It freaked me out when I found out that Maggy was your mother," Peenk jerked forward and put a hand over Joshua's mouth. "Don't ever call my mother Maggy!" She said, forcefully. "Only my father called her Maggy. And my father will be the only man to ever call her Maggy!" The naked man nodded once again. "Good," Corell Peenk Montal paused as she mustered up the will to continue. "And my father is the reason I have to talk to you. It happened the day he died," Peenk whispered, tears forming in her eyes. "He died when Order 66 was issued, right? Was he killed by his troops?" Peenk smirked. "No mere legion of troopers could kill that giant man," Peenk said proudly. "My father died when he set off a crate of thermal detonators, taking out almost the entire 48th Legion. And he did it to give his children and eleven other Corellian jedi and their families the chance to escape to the Unknown Regions." "Did the others make it?" "Yes," She told him with a smile. "Last year, two of them met my family on Sora to thank them. They came with their families and their Padawans," Peenk smiled at that last part. "Yes, the Jedi who escaped continued to train padawans. And their former Padawans are training others." Her smile then faded. "What happened was, the moment my father died, I had a Force vision. In it, my father showed me parts of my life. And you are there for most of it," Kirk shook his head vigorously. "Don't tell me about the future, I don't want to know!" "I know. But there is one thing that I do tell you. The Force has shown me this, so listen. Do it!" Joshua smiled as he glanced down at the woman's naked body. Peenk brought her face to his. "You have a one track mind, did you know that?" "Well, duh!" Kirk replied with a laugh. "I'm naked on a couch. The most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on is naked on top of me. What else am I going to think about?" Peenk smiled once again and kissed him briefly. "We'll start soon. But first this. You are thinking of training under Metla as her Padawan. Mety will not be returning to us. We'll see her from time to time, but her and Shot have thirty lost years to make up for. Just like I've been doing with you," She then put her mouth to Joshua's ear and whispered. "You will be a Jedi. And a powerful one. But it will be another who shall train you. You will help her with a problem she has on Coruscant. She will be impressed with you and agree to train you," Corell Peenk then drew her head back and brushed her lips across his, her hand grabbing him. "Now take me, cabin boy!" Winnie Montal smiled as Magenta stepped onto the Runner's bridge. "And how are you doing, my favorite daughter-in-law?" The redhead asked with a smile. "Oh, I'm doing very well," The raven haired woman said, looking to the other woman's abdomen. "But how are you doing? You're showing already." "Yes," The older woman said, looking suddenly nervous. "This is going to be a fast pregnancy. And speaking of which, what's the word on the adoption?" Winnie grinned. "When I'm done here, I'm going to Ryloth to pick up the two children. K'Shee is so excited. You should see him, Mama." "Well, if he's anything like his father, K'Shee will be a wonderful daddy. But we need to get to business here," Winnie nodded. "What did my son find on Refuge? Why did the mine manager call him in?" "Breakdowns. They look like old equipment failing. But she felt that there were just too many of them happening." Magenta's jaw tightened. "Do they suspect sabotage?" "It's possible. K'Shee sent some of the equipment to the lab on Coruscant to be tested," Winnie then gave a smile. "And the Niemoidians have made another offer for the planet." "It's sabotage!" Mama said angrily. "Has anyone been hurt in these accidents?" "There were injuries to two of the maintenance workers. Slight burns, that's all. But what bothers me, is why this interest in Refuge? The planet is supposedly mined out, right?" Winnie pondered. "So we thought," The older woman smiled slightly. "Winnie, I want you to check up on something for me. I want you and your people to go over all the old surveyer's information that's been gathered over the centuries for Refuge. See if you can find anything unusual. I'm going to go there myself. See if Stefan and his people can find anything." "You got it boss lady," The younger woman said with a chuckle. "Before I go, I want to know who the short hottie was out by the pool with Peenk. That woman was all over the kid. It surprised the hell out of me. They're holed up in her stateroom now." "Why did it surprise you?" Magenta asked. "Because I thought Peenk was a lesbian!" Magenta laughed at this. "What made you think that?" "Because, as far as I know, Reema and Kinna are the only people she's ever had sex with. And in case you've not noticed, they are both very female. And don't act like you didn't think the same thing." "Yes, I admit I did think it," Magenta Montal said with a whistful smile. "She was just waiting for the right man, that's all. And oh, is he the right man." Winnie stared in shock at her mother-in-law. "You've had sex with Peenk's man? Is he the father?" "Don't look at me like that!" Mama said sternly. "I didn't know she was having sex with him when I first met him. And yes, he's the father. Which reminds me, I have some things to tell you about Joshua Kirk. You'll all be told in person. I don't want to risk this getting intercepted on the holonet. The government has made it clear that everything about Joshua Kirk and his people will remain classified for the moment." "Oooo, a conspiracy?" Winnie asked with a chuckle as they left the bridge. Peenk stood on the bridge with the others as Joshua used his link to access the ships main computer. They then watched as the image of a baby's face in the womb appeared. "Meet Mackenzie Louis Kirk," He said. "Why does everything look so strange?" Ano asked about the image of Joshua's brother. "Is this in infrared?" "Yes." "Your infrared vision is that powerful?" Baby asked. "That you could see through your eyelids?" "That close up, sure. now watch," The all stood in amazed silence as a chubby little hand came into view and poked the baby in the cheek. When nothing happened, it did it again. They then watched as Mackenzie's eyes started to glow through his lids and turned to stare out at them. "Oh, that is spooky!" Zell said in shock. "Joshua?" Magenta put her hand on her abdomen, smiling at what she'd seen. "Will she be like that?" "Yes. But since you're only carrying one, you're not going to have the fun my mother had. Or Big Jess," Joshua then grinned at her. "And thank all the gods in the universe you're not carrying quads like Debbie Wilmowski. You see, my mother, and my aunt said it was a non-stop party inside them after the third month. Poor Debbie said it was like a non-stop riot after the fifth. Evidently the girls and boys didn't get along. Hell, they still don't." "Do you have anything after you were born?" Baby asked as they watched the pair communicate through sign language. "This is creeping me out." "Yeah, sure. There's a bit of video of my family when we were three months old. It was taken by my aunt, Big Jess." "Why do you call her Big Jess?" Magenta asked. "Because her name is Jessica...and she stands tall at 224 cm!" He said as a video began playing on the monitor. On it was Joshua and his parents, as well as his sister and brother exersizing on a marble walkway. "You were three months old and you can do those exersizes?" Magenta asked as they watched Joshua's family move in slow unison. They then stood in amazed silence as the three children stopped and leapt onto the balustrade and waved at the camera. "Energetic little ones, weren't you?" The redhead said, her hand still over her abdomen. "Well," Joshua replied over his shoulder. "You have to realise that Mars' gravity is about what you have here on Sora." "Where were you?" Asked Zell. "A hotel or park?" "That's the walkway that runs from my parents home to their beach," Ano and Melee glanced at each other and grinned. "Their beach?" Melee asked slowly. "They own a beach?" "They don't own all of the beach...just about twenty kilometers of it," He told them with a half smile. "Though at the time it was only five." Zell laughed at this news. "Girls," He said to his sisters and Baby. "I think our new brother is from a wealthy family." "We're not a wealthy family!" Kirk told them before laughing quietly. "We're the wealthiest. Well, my parents are. I'm only worth about nine hundred million Mars Dollars. And Cyn's worth about 1.5 billion." "Oh, he's only worth nine hundred mil!" Melee said mockingly. "Why is your daughter worth so much more?" "Well," Joshua continued. "I can't help it if I like to buy fun stuff like vintage twentieth century fighters." "Did your parents give you that much money?" Peenk asked. "No," Magenta said as she smiled at her daughter. "It's from a company that he started with his daughter's mother, Sasha, and his brother Mackenzie," She then grinned at Peenk. "They design ships!" "What?" Peenk glared harshly at Joshua. "Oh, you'll tell my mother these things, but not me?" "Well," Kirk muttered as he took the blond's hand. "Would you believe it slipped my mind?" "No!" She shot back. "Why have you told my mother so much about yourself, but not me?" "Oh, come on!" Kinna said with a laugh. "This is your mother we're talking about! She actually got Vader to admit to her that he had a child! She could get information out of a rock!" "Hey, no one cares about that!" Ano said as she grinned at Joshua. "We've got something more important to talk about! And that's the fact that we now know who's paying the next time we go shopping!" "Yes," A smile slowly formed on Peenk's lips. "Yes we do!" She then wrapped her arms about Kirk's neck and glanced around at the others. "And we girls have very expensive tastes!" "One problem with that my love. And that's the fact that my money is seventy four million lightyears away." "Not so fast," Magenta said quietly as she leaned down, a smile on her face as well. "The figures on the first weeks sales of your music have come in. If you'd kept it all for yourself, you would now be the twenty-first wealthiest man in the Republic." "Girls, he's paying!" Peenk said to the others smuggly. She then turned back to Kirk. "Oh, are you going to pay." "So that story you gave us about stripping part time for money was a lie?" Melee asked Kirk. "Oh, I stripped!" The man said with a grin. "It just wasn't for money, it was for sex! And it almost got me court martialed!" Mulk Kerish grinned and shook his head."Seesha, Kinna, Baby, and Ano? Let's go. The poodoo is getting rather deep in here. And the captain of Rancor wants to leave as soon as possible." "You heard him girls," Peenk told the four. "It's time for you to get this guy home to his wife."