Star Wars: Tears of Fire (Book II)

Chapter 7 - The Blade's Edge

This managed to cause the pilot to stop what he was doing and turn to face Shayla.

"Okay, human from Atophis. Look, I don't do fancy names and the such. I fly ships. That's about all I know. Okay and I'm pretty handy too."

"Are you now?" replied Shayla with a smile.

"Yes, that's what I just...hey. Hey, I see. I see what you did there."

The pilot chuckled as he waived his four hands in the air.

"Handy. See?"

Shayla could only chuckle back in response.

"I like you, human from Atophis," replied the pilot. "Hopefully the rest of your species is just as humorous."

"Call me Shayla."

Nodding, the pilot replied, "Call me Vess."

"Vess?"

"Yeah. Well, it's short for Vessalo Hydon'e which is then followed by a bunch of words and phrases your ears probably can't hear or understand," said Vess. "Do you have a last name, Shayla from Atophis?"

For a moment, Shayla was quiet as she thought back to what seemed like an ancient memory.

"Where I come from, everyone in my village shared a last name. It was a showing of unity in our tribe. So you could say my full name is Shayla Opachi."

"You all...share a last name?" asked Vess. "Well. That's not weird at all."

"It may be weird to some, but it's an honored tradition amongst our tribe. Since there are so few of us left now, it's even more sacred."

Vess lowered his head as if ashamed.

"Look, I'm sorry. I don't have any sacred traditions. Ever since I was taken by these banthas when I was just a kid, all I've ever known since is flying but you know what? You should keep those traditions. All of them. Write 'em down or something too."

"Write them down?"

"Yeah, you know. So they don't get lost or forgotten," replied Vess. "I mean, who knows how many of us will make it out of this mess. It's good to be a voice for those who can no longer speak, if you catch my drift."

Shayla nodded her head as she considered the thought.

"Not a bad idea," she replied.

"Plus," added Vess as he reached for a series of switches from the pilot's seat, "when you're the one writing the history book, you can put whatever you want in there."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Make yourself important or something. Or tell a story about someone else who's important. It's up to you. I don't care."

After a moment of contemplation, Shayla continued.

"You know, I just may do that. Thank you Vess from Lateron."

Seemingly done with talking, Vess had since turned his attention back to his duties.

"You gonna come with us as we head over to the other ship?" asked Shayla as she took a few steps towards the exit of the bridge.

"This here's a good ship but she's old," replied Vess who was once again focused on a series of procedures. "If the engine shutdown sequence isn't done properly, let's just say our little trek to get to this location will be the last flight she takes for a while."

Not wanting to pry any further, Shayla figured she'd better catch up with the others.

"I'll leave you to it then. Don't go for any joy rides while we're away."