Dorn: A Star Wars Story

4. Leader

"Ah... Major?"

"Yes, Novaran?"

"Is there... any particular reason why you... are insisting on meeting these candidates yourself?"

I couldn't help but turn to the Chiss and raise an eyebrow as we strode down the hallway side by side. He was looking at me with that strange Chiss befuddlement written cleanly across his... very, very blue face. I hadn't ever actually noticed it before, but Novaran... had freckles. Why I fixated on that while we walked down the hallway, I had no idea, but my response seemed to be taking too long and my confusion as to how a man so blue could have even bluer freckles must have started making him nervous because his brow furrowed slightly and his eyes got that look that everyone got when someone just... stared at your face for a long time.

"Oh, right, sorry. I was just- never mind. As to why, the answer is simple." I didn't actually finish and he squinted at me before I turned back down the hallway. "If I'm going to be asking these people to live and die by my word and my word alone, I need to know them personally. It's what made my last squad so effective."

That seemed to satisfy him and he nodded before he clasped his hands behind his back and went quiet like he usually did. Though as a group of officers passed I heard him let out a soft chuckle and I looked back at him. Now it was my turn to look confused. He gave a soft cough and smiled down at me, "They are surprised by how much taller I am than you, Major."

"How do you...?" I mean, Novaran was a giant blue tree of a humanoid, standing a head taller than me and looking about twice as imposing with his red eyes and his sharp features, but how he knew what they were thinking eluded me.

"I am a... special case, Major, if you would recall," He paused when he spoke of his Force sensitivity and that made me look to him. He had a frown on his lips and was looking ahead of it. "An ancient curse on my family."

"Inraas seemed fond enough of you."

"Inraas is, himself, an anomaly. As is his sister. Mine, however, runs old and deep. The Khon Family..." He paused again and looked around before settling in beside me as we paused to wait for the elevator down to the briefing room. "We once served the Sith Empire in the age of your Old Republic. One of my ancestors was apparently a powerful Force sensitive and the curse stuck. His actions caused our family to fall from grace with the Syndicure and the Great Families."

The elevator dinged and we stepped in together as the doors slid shut. The only one there besides us was a rather nervous looking ensign who kept glancing at Novaran. I pretended to ignore him and looked up at Novaran, "Like I said, none of that matters to me... Wait, why aren't you in uniform?"

"I... am?"

He was dressed in an Ascendancy uniform rather than an Imperial one. I never cared, but considering how punctual and regulated he was, I was moderately surprised to see him straying from a reg book. I shrugged regardless and glanced at the ensign, who was half cowering in the far corner of the elevator. "Are you alright, ensign?"

"Y-y-yes, M-major!"

"It would appear that your new rank and status is moving through the ranks rather quickly, Major," Novaran spoke with a chuckle.

Great. Now I had become the very thing I swore to destroy.

A big guy with a shiny, pretty colored rank bar.

The elevator dinged and the three of us all stepped off together, with the ensign looking horrified when he realized we all seemed to be going to the same place. 

"What's your name, ensign?" I asked as we all fell in step heading the same way down the hall towards the conference room. 

"D-Davrin, sir."