Barriss could not suppress a sudden feeling of unease as her trajectory through time and space was nearing its conclusion. She eased back into the pilot’s acceleration seat of her shuttle, preferring the Nu class vessel over the proffered Theta. She knew she had prepared herself as best she could through her Bacta stasis, but she also knew there would be unknown factors in her journey. Reflexively, she reached up after unfolding her hands from her lap and brushed a finger over her repaired jaw and cheek, noting the contrast in the now smooth flesh under her touch. The proximity chime began to chirp throughout the small cabin, and she instinctively reached for the ships yoke with both hands as the small vessel decanted from hyperspace. She felt her jaw drop as the colorful planet snapped into view across the entirety of the canopy before her. Her unease grew exponentially as the unexpected greens and blues of the planet below stood in stark contrast to her expectations. Snowcapped ridges of mountainous terrain, braided with wide twisting rivers and large open expanses of green took her breath from her. She wasn’t sure if her surprise was a result of what was unexpected or her reaction to it, a reaction she hadn’t felt capable of in quite some time. She broke her gaze from the view only to check her navicomputer and star charts, assuring that the planet before her was indeed Ambria. The Bacta stasis had planted a deep-rooted assumption that the world was barren, shockingly sparse of life and rife with vile contempt. Her unease grew to wild inquietude and flourishing apprehension as she, again, looked through the transparisteel before her. Steeling her mind through the Dark side, she quickly supplanted fear and doubt with confidence and resolve as she punched in the landing coordinates furnished her and sat back allowing the landing cycle to take care of itself as she crossed her arms before her chest, an act, she admitted to herself, that had more to do with maintaining her composure than for comfort. The ship screamed through the atmosphere and slowed as its trajectory brought it closer to the darkening ground below, a quick glance to her left affirming that she was in for an interesting sunset. The gentle rumble of the thrusters decelerating, giving way to complete repulsor suspension and maneuvering jets droned the cabin into an eerie silence, broken only by various chimes and beeps emitting from the control. She got up from her seat and slowly made her way to the ramp as she felt the ship carry itself to its predetermined destination and slow before a small thump could be heard, the landing struts finding purchase on the ground below. The ship recoiled slowly and steadily as the inertial compensation feature balanced the bulk of the vessel upon its slightly canted pads. Barriss closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath as the ramp issued forth with a sharp hiss and short blasts of residual steam coming from the respective cooling units blasting the blazing hot maneuvering jets. She opened her eyes to a panoramic view, silent but for the cooling units performing their functions sporadically. A vast lake stretched out before her rimmed with lush reeds at its shoreline, the distant sun settling in between two mountain peaks many kilometers distant. Its light reflecting off the still black waters, illuminating the backs and necks of fauna Barriss couldn’t clearly identify. Bright blue and purple flowers dotted the grassland surrounding her, various insects performing their meticulous duties in their final acts of daylight. A transcendent arc of color filled the cloudless sky as the suns reach fought the encroaching darkness. Reds, oranges, and pinks giving way to blues and purples. She breathed in deeply through her nose, the air itself sweet with the mingling scents of aromatic life. An unexpected feeling of nostalgia washed over her, bringing an equally unexpected feeling of intrinsic peace. Her immediate thought took her by complete surprise, one of her own transcendence. One away from motive and objective. One of life and away from death. Her surprise was punctuated when a pair of the bipedal beasts at the lake’s edge, some thirty meters distant, began slowly canting their way toward her at the ramps lip. She wasn’t sure what had prompted the action as she had not moved a muscle after decanting the ship but also felt a certain appropriateness in their approach. The closer they came the easier she could recognize several features. Strong, powerful legs housed protruding massive tendons and muscles as they contracted and relaxed with every step forward. A long and sleek snout, pointed ears falling back behind their slim skulls. Short, clawed forelimbs nibbling away at the air before them, keeping forward balance in step with a massive sweeping tail. Thick, shaggy, dark rooted fur blanketing their entire frames, the color lightening to a dirty blond at the fiber’s tips. They made no sound as they padded toward her. Barriss knew she shouldn’t allow the scene, nor the animals approach, to distract her from her goals here but not even she possessed the ability to ignore the intricacy of the Force’s will. She felt the conundrum from within, an internal struggle between purpose and chaos, between intent or design and just simply being. The bipedal animals were within three meters when they slowed their approach, both nodding their heads low with each deliberate step.
Barriss had seen these before, read reports not meant for her eyes that had attributed these beasts to select Rebel victories in the past. ‘Cracian Thumper,’ she said to herself. “What are you doing out here I wonder.” She spoke softly to the lead animal, its eyes warm and compassionate. It fluttered its eyes quickly before letting forth a profound and resounding growl from deep within. Barriss quickly eyed the flexing claws it bore on its forelimbs and slowly moved her hands down toward her waist. The Thumper watched with intense interest, twitching its ears around in constant vigil. It closed its eyes again and moved closer to her, bowing its head low just before her chin. Barriss relaxed her hands and let go of the lightsaber hilts she was teasing with her fingertips, bringing her left hand up slowly to stroke the short hairs on the beast’s snout. It let forth a whimper at her touch as it pushed its face closer to her contact forcing Barriss’ hand to stroke it fully across its muzzle. She brought up her right hand to scratch between its ears, causing the animal to swish its tail with delight. Every sense in her possession told her she was making a mistake. Her memories as Jedi condemning any attachment. Her teachings of the Dark side and of the Sith warning her not to care about any of it. Now she didn’t care. She didn’t care about what she shouldn’t be or shouldn’t do. Her only thoughts were of her surroundings and the peace presented through the trust the animal before her had given her without judgment. She closed her eyes and thrust aside objective as she inspected the Thumper. A low cradle in its spine denoting that it had either been a pack animal or been mounted in the past. The animal turned its head toward her as she moved around to its side, rubbing his ribcage. She stretched out on her toes to reach his spine, running her fingertips over its vertebrae, his right leg twitching with delight. She continued her inspection approaching the massive tail knowing full well what damage it was capable of and out of respect for the beast she took the long way around, maintaining contact through the process, stopping momentarily under its snout for deep scratches. The Thumper raised its head to the skies allowing her to dig deep with both hands as she rubbed vigorously. Barriss could feel the peace as well as the animal’s happiness at all the attention. She continued down to his other side looking for a marking or branding of any sort finding nothing, wondering again then why they were here. She cast a glance at the second of the two which had curled up around itself in the grasses close to her landing strut, directly under one of the maneuvering jets. Clinging to whatever heat remained Barriss guessed, letting her know something she didn’t about her first night on Ambria.
Barriss let her hand drop from the lead Thumper and headed slowly back up the ramp to the ship, returning seconds later with a pack slung over a shoulder and carrying a small duffel. The Thumper hadn’t moved from its spot only tucked its legs under it and was waiting for her, sitting in anticipation. Barriss approached it with a smile, petting it softly before continuing her path toward the second animal, slapping her thigh lightly in an invitation for her new companion to follow. She continued her approach as the second Thumper raised its head in mild curiosity and dropped first her gear then herself a meter from its resting form. She removed a small black bundle from the duffel, placing it before her, and sat back wondering how the animals would react but decided to follow through with her intentions no matter the outcome. Barriss held out her hand to the bundle before her igniting a small green flame in the center of her palm, neither of the beasts flinching at the sight. She thrust it forward watching as it swirled around the bundle and began to slowly ignite its edges, bringing a small fire to life within. The lead Thumper canted closer to the small flame falling back into its seated form right beside Barriss, the second Thumper working its way closer to the warmth. She unslung her pack and began digging through it looking for a ration pack, her new companion eliciting a mild curiosity as she rummaged through its contents. Retrieving her hand victoriously, she tore open the metallic wrapper and ripped her teeth into the rubbery bar within. Chewing without conviction she looked into the beast’s eye, “You’re going to need a name.” She said quietly to the Thumper, staring through his gaze into the soul of the animal within. “Quin” she said to him. “You look like a Quin to me.” He only whimpered slightly at the words, looking furtively at the bar in her hands. She glanced down then back into his eye. “Hungry Quin?” She asked him, patting his broadside a few times before tearing off a small chunk of her ration bar and tossing it at his muzzle. ‘Quin’ lowered his snout to sniff the rations a few times before daring himself it took it into his mouth. He chewed it a few times before swallowing it whole. “At least someone likes them.” Barriss said, snapping off another small section with her teeth and tossing the remainder to Quin.
As the last of the days light leeched from the land around her, Barriss felt the chill of the encroaching night follow right behind. She rummaged through the pack once more for the thermal blanket within and tossed it over her legs. Taking a long hard look at Quin beside her, she slid her bottom closer to his extensive belly, resting her back against its warm fur. Matted strands clung to his heaving form in some places and lay sheen in others, dancing on the slight breeze that had ensued. Quin turned his head and curled his neck to nuzzle her right side and swung his hairy tail to her left to form a nest around her, depriving her of the gentle wind that had in fact kept the animals’ smell from her nostrils. She hadn’t realized how pungent he truly was but decided against complaining about it through action out of respect for his own actions. She chuckled to herself from out of nowhere. Quin didn’t react at all other than to close his eyes and swing his tail closer to his own head. Barriss looked over toward the second Thumper, catching it looking at her with her head raised, at least she figured it was a female. Her fur was a much lighter color and quite shorter in length, her spine a shock of white. She blinked her eyes twice then laid her head back into the grass before her. Without warning she blurted out a high pitch cooing sound, shaking the shock of white fur along her spine. Quin answered with a throaty grunt and moved his body in much the same manner. Barriss could see the female’s head, her eyes unblinking staring directly at her through the grass. She continued watching the animal trying to assign a word for her actions and demeanor. She didn’t feel threatened in the slightest, in fact she couldn’t remember the last time she had felt more at ease or relaxed. ‘Eerie’ she thought and couldn’t think of a better word to describe the Thumper, “I guess that’ll do….Eerie,” she said, watching as ‘Eerie’ turned her head toward the lake, shuffling her form closer to the dying embers of the quick fire Barriss had erected. Barriss knew the fire wouldn’t last much longer and realized ‘Eerie’ would more than likely end up right up against herself and Quin as the night progressed. She fished around again in her pack one last time for another ration bar, tore the foil from it and tossed it gently on the ground at Quin’s tail. Eerie got up, padded toward the bar, and sniffed at it deeply just before snapping it up with her powerful jaw and swallowing it whole. The Thumper bobbed her head and blinked at Barriss turning her head to the side scrutinizing her as Barriss had Quin. She didn’t move a muscle, just simply returned the Thumper’s gaze. Barriss realized what the animal was doing, that it was deciding of trust, then she understood the enormity of the process. Eerie was imprinting. Barriss couldn’t dismiss her initial thoughts of how useless the practice would be, imprinted or not, she had her own agenda here and that would come first. Eerie continued, ignoring Barriss’ mental protests. Her thoughts consistent, Barriss was only thinking of the morning ahead of her and her trek toward the Tiernvael Mountains, a trek these beasts would be useful for. She chuckled to herself again and tried to turn her gaze from the Thumpers eyes, finding that she could not. A sudden, but brief, wave of panic took hold, not one borne from the present situation, a panic related to her past. A past filled with instances where she wasn’t in control, of herself, her mind or even her actions. She pulled herself back into the present completely with a shake of her head and gave the Thumper the acknowledgment it was searching for with a deep bow of her head to the ground, severing eye contact. For reasons she couldn’t comprehend she immediately felt the animal. Barriss could feel her love and fears, what agitated her, what she liked and didn’t. She knew she was a ‘she.’ She knew Eerie was pregnant and that Quin was her mate and the offspring’s father. She also knew there was now nothing she would not do for either of them.
“Dank ferrik.” She said to herself.
The knowledge of the ritual she wasn’t even aware of at first was taking place, was beginning to settle itself into some form of normalcy. After blasting herself for being caught off guard she began to accept her situation as being something greater than what she could immediately see. The fire had gone out, Eerie had indeed curled up with Quin and herself providing all the warmth any of the three would need through the chill in the night air. Barriss laid her head back fully into the side of Quin, staring up into the night sky, amazed at the view above her. Her side of Ambria was engulfed in complete darkness, the zero-light allowing her to see the stars from a completely different perspective. Ribbons of gaseous nebulae, spanning the color wheel. Airglow from self-illuminating gases in the atmosphere and occasional meteors firing themselves across the atmospheric layers of Ambria painted the foreground to the thousands and thousands of glowing white stars in the background. Barriss could not help but appreciate the beauty of it from the ground. Space didn’t look like this while she was in it, or maybe she just hadn’t taken the time to look she thought to herself. She was overcome by the notion that she could name most of the stars she was looking at, identify their respective systems, and in most cases, rattle off the corresponding Imperial installation in those systems. Her gaze filled with countless instances of differing perspectives from her current position, wondering just how far her Empire would reach. Several words assailed her thoughts, ways to describe the sights she had already seen on Ambria and the night sky above it. “Beautiful, awe inspiring, majestic.” She couldn’t stop the words from coming out. Words she hadn’t even thought much less uttered in decades. How her words contrasted with what she knew of the worlds she was looking up at though, how they were all valued by what they could provide the Imperial machine, not once for anything intrinsic. Dismissing the inner dialogue with a shake of her head, she took in one last panoramic sweep of the night sky before placing her hands behind her head and finally closing her eyes.
The dreams assailed her within minutes. She was looking through the Bacta fluid that she was submerged in, trying to focus on the wavy specs of light she could see through the watery obfuscation. ‘Control panels’ she knew. Blinking green lights, static blue and white. There was movement outside the transparent tank, shadowy and elusive. She knew she wasn’t alone in the room but even her subconscious understood the normality of that. A face floated into her view, a head without a body. Large unblinking eyes looked upon her from the other side of the tank, then looked down at a data pad that had materialized in long slender fingers. Barriss tried to focus on the form before her, struggling through the optical hurdles, her own physical limits and the web of various tubes attached to her body. The form lifted its head once again to investigate the Mirialan’s eyes. The reality of what she was looking at finally struck Barriss, ‘Kaminoan,’ she said into the tube feeding her life-giving air. She was unsure if the form heard or understood what she had said as it only looked down once more and lifted a finger above the data pad and hesitatingly pressed down.
The dreams continued, visions of what she had anticipated Ambria to look like taking shape through her own research. The brackish waters of Lake Natth encrusting its shores with a soupy brown foam, the same Lake Natth whose shores she had come to land her shuttle upon. She was floating above scrub and cracked dry land through the perspective of a probe droid, speeding its way toward the mountains in the distance. Meanwhile text superimposed itself in the fore ground relaying distances, assumed weather data and points she herself had distinguished as important while assembling this very data recording. The speeding perspective finally slowed upon reaching the foothills of the Tiernvael range, mapping coordinates in blinking yellow, establishing a route toward a canyon with no name. Her subconscious began to contradict the info it was being fed through the dream, knowing full well the mountains where tree laced and teeming with flora and fauna of all types. The recording however continued its assault with views of blackened, scorched land, the cracked ground webbing in all directions and finally the image of a large reptile. The probe’s perspective slowed to gather information on the life form, approaching the animal with extreme caution. Looking through the probe’s perspective, Barriss saw the enormous orange eyes focus and its six legs canter the beast toward the probe. The canter became a slithering gallop as it bent its head forward just before it broke into a run the probe couldn’t keep up with. The last thing Barriss saw was the open jaw and razor-sharp teeth of the lizard as it crushed the invading probe with a single snap of its powerful jaw.