Once the area around the landing pads had slowed down, I made my way to the garage unit that had been built nearby. It mainly contained transport speeders for moving materials and goods when they got delivered, but tucked in the back was my own personal speeder bike. It was nothing complicated, just a civilian model that was reliable and not too expensive. I had the two-person model, which could carry two passengers and some cargo, but I knew that there was a sleeker,.

  Once I had slowly guided the speeder bike from storage, I climbed on and flew away, rising up above the buildings and up around the city, enjoying the slow pace and fantastic view. My first destination was the various spots around the city that were still under construction, eager to check out what sort of progress had been made while I was gone.

  I was unsurprised to find that a few multi-family homes had been completed, as well as a two-floor apartment complex designed for single people to live on a budget. Having been inside one of the rooms already, I had been reminded of those stereotypical Japanese one-room plus apartments that appeared in anime all the time. It was simple living for sure, but as long as it was only one person, it was livable.

  As usual, I found myself amazed at just how much could get done with the help of a few high-tech machines, the help of droids, and some hard-working people. Already, the construction group was making considerable progress on their next batch of homes, working hard to make room for more people.

  After checking out the construction, I flew around the edge of the plateau and looked down at several acres of cleared trees and jungle. A tall wall, built from the trees that had been cut down, encircled the area, ensuring the many wild animals that lived in the surrounding jungle could not get in. Inside those walls were our first forays into farming, with rows of plants, a mix of native and staple crops, being tended to by several families. A few of the families had been brought in specifically for their knowledge of farming, including one who specialized in xeno-agriculture.

  There was another clearing not too far from the crops where several animal farms were also being run. Again, it was a mix of staple farm animals, as well as some of the native animals were placid enough to domesticate. Both farms were interesting projects, and should either of them take off, they would probably be moved far away from the town so they had more room to grow. Thankfully, with the newly finished planetary shield projector facility, we had plenty of room for expansion.

  Setting up the shield projector had taken a good chunk of time, after all, just the facility alone had been an enormous undertaking. It was really one of the primary reasons why we didn't have enough homes for everyone to move down to the surface, yet. All of our construction resources were diverted to making the site, first clearing trees, laying down duracrete foundations, constructing control buildings, and digging an underground, sealed bunker to house the power generation. The entire complex was surrounded by walls, with a large droid presence as security, as well as a substantial amount of biological staff. The facility had been a significant investment, but well worth the price.

  The shield itself was substantial, capable of protecting nearly fifty miles of land at once, almost twice the surface of Rhode Island, if it was all mushed together. We currently had it set to a much smaller portion of land, which substantially improved its strength. The Rebellion had genuinely delivered on its promise to secure something that matched the ten million credit worth that I had invested into it, especially since the power generation was of excellent quality as well.

  On top of all that, Miru and her team were working on secondary protection measures, some of which were already being implemented.

  With my curiosity about the farming and construction sated, I made a beeline for my home, the speeder bike making short work of the distance. Once there, I parked the speeder bike and left it in the garage. While it would have gotten me to my destination in a fraction of the time it would take to walk, riding the bike was a luxury, and riding it down and around people was more than a bit rude, especially when most people were just happy to walk around, without having to worry about being run over by someone in a rush.

  Plus, my people had worked so hard to make our streets and paths beautiful, the least I could do was appreciate that beauty on foot.

  I made my way from my house through the city, eventually passing by a food vendor. On a whim, I dropped a few credits for a few boxes of some sort of warm meat and noodle mix. The smell honestly reminded me of the meal Nal had brought back to our hotel room, which was oh so long ago, when we had just first met and teamed up. It was a dose of delicious-smelling nostalgia that made me think of just how far the Skyforged had come. Even the vendor itself represented progress, as the owner was making money in a way that wasn't directly tied to the Skyforged, a good step towards the city becoming legitimate, rather than just fancy company housing.

  I continued walking through the streets, doing my best to ignore the incredible smelling food, before eventually making my way to my destination. Eventually, I arrived at one of the many meditation and park combinations across the growing city, filled with native plants and flowers, as well as a small Uneti tree. There was plenty of space for people to picnic, and as I crossed it, I could see Jedi and civilians alike spread out across the area.

  It was a peaceful space, and one of the more popular parks, mainly because Yoda was a frequent visitor, the green goblin giving advice and enjoying the sun. Unfortunately, the reason he frequented the park was because it was the closest to his small home, and while he was doing remarkably well for the state he was in, moving around was getting noticeably harder for him. He rarely stepped down from his hover chair, and a young member of Clan Syr was helping to take care of him.

  The ancient Jedi's time was quickly approaching.

  Still, the ornery old gremlin refused to sink into sadness. He laughed and helped the younglings and older Jedi alike, handing out advice as often as he could. It was his right, after all, having earned it by making plenty of mistakes over the nine centuries he had lived. He had also finally made a holocron, though he made Amescoll swear he would not activate it until he had been one with the Force for many years.

  With his end approaching, it was unsurprising that quite a few people wanted to spend time with him, including Luke, who had been returning frequently over the last few months to train and learn from him again. I would have expected that the higher-ups would have complained about him coming here and refusing to tell his superiors where the planet was hidden, but according to him, Leia was just happy to have a connection to us and a way to contact us informally.

  As I approached the old green alien and the rebel hero, I could see that Luke was practicing his fine control, floating a dozen small rocks around himself. He was deep in concentration, so I walked around him and sat next to Yoda, whose floating chair was next to a bench.

  "You awake, old man?" I asked, reaching into my bag and holding out a container of noodles for him. "Got you some lunch."

  "Mhmm, good timing, you have. Hungry, I am," He said, ignoring my needling and happily floating the box to himself, as well as the offered fork. "Good to see you, it is, Deacon. Your mission, successful, it was?"

  "From a numbers perspective, it went about as well as you could hope," I responded, opening my own box of food. "Doesn't feel like it, though. We lost a starfighter pilot."

  "Sad, the loss of life is, no matter how small or big," Yoda responded. "Solace, you must take, in the lives you have saved. Otherwise, crush you, your guilt will."

  "Yeah, easier said than done," I admitted, the Jedi master nodding in agreement.

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  "Indeed."

  We silently watched Luke's practice for a few minutes before I smirked and reached out my hand. I cast Telekinesis, focusing on a single stone. I could see my magic snag it, and I could immediately feel the drag Luke was imparting it. Unfortunately for the Jedi in training, he was purposely being as gentle as possible, so my spell won, and I yanked it out of his mental grasp. This startled him enough to lose concentration, the pebbles floating around him falling to the ground. He frowned and looked around, spotting me as the glowing pebble slowly settled into my palm.

  "Hey, Luke. Feeling hungry?" I asked, gesturing to the bag of food.

  "Welcome back, Deacon," He said, standing up and stretching for a moment. "Just to let you know, I knew you were here. I felt it when you first made it planet side and started flying around on your speeder."

  "What would Leia say, hearing you ignored an important dignitary to train?" I shot back, the younger man sitting down beside me, snagging one of the remaining boxes of food.

  "If she knew you like I do, she would have told me to keep practicing," He commented, cracking open the box. "Thanks, I was just getting hungry."

  All three of us were quiet as we ate, enjoying the greasy noodly goodness and the pleasant environment. We watched Jedi and civilians as they enjoyed the park, walking around or sitting and meditating. I even spotted Felia with another youngling about her age, listening to a holocron. When we broke off from the Rebellion and pulled out of Omega Station, Sheora reached out shortly after we left, asking if she could join us. After some debate, we allowed it, and the once Rebel agent had come to our planet, with Felia and Claron in tow. We were still trying to find the best place to utilize the agent's talents, but for now, she was working with our planning committee, coming up with missions and vetting bounties as reliable and legitimate.

  We were making a serious name for ourselves in the Mid and Outer rims as a successful anti-pirate and raider mercenary group, and with fame came the wrong kind of attention. Not only could the Empire conceivably set up an ambush with a fake bounty, but pirates and slavers could as well.

  On the plus side, being well-known made the recruitment process much easier. Gone were the days when we needed to explain how we worked and what we did. Now, more often than not, in places where pilots and fighters gathered, looking for work, our name was already being spoken. Some didn't think it was smart to join a group that pissed off the Empire, but plenty liked the idea. Even more people loved how we stuck it to the pirates, wiping them out, stealing their stuff, and selling it to people for a significant profit.

  As we finished our food, I took a look around, spotting a nearby sparring pit. Usually, it was occupied by younglings and older going through the stances of various lightsaber forms or actually sparring, but it was now actually empty. I couldn't help but smirk and nudge Luke.

  "You up for a spar?" I asked, getting an eager grin and nod in return. "Great, go get your stuff. Master Yoda, do you want to watch? Do you need a hand getting over there?"

  "Hmmm, watch, I would like to," He agreed. "Move myself, I can."

  I watched as he manipulated some controls along his chair, the repulsor seat moving slowly, turning to follow the path down to the sparring pit, which was basically just a slightly sunken down oval with some seats around the upper parts. The floor was black-gray sand, and as I walked with Yoda, I grabbed a wooden sword and a shoto-style faux saber from one of the racks. Luke soon joined us, sporting a surprise I had not expected.

  His lightsaber was clipped to his hip, as was a bright blue training saber, but along his left arm was an honest-to-god. It wasn't massive, but it was built like a standard heater shield, meaning it had a point on one end and a wider "top." It was also not just simple metal plated but clearly built with some technology involved. When he spotted my look, he couldn't help but smirk.

  "I toyed around with the idea like you mentioned, and I liked it," He explained. "I commissioned Miru once I knew I needed one, and even supplied the beskar from the Rebellion reserves. Oh! And watch this!"

  The kid was clearly excited by his new toy, as he raised the shield up defensively, before activating something on the inside. Suddenly, from both the bottom and the top, two separate energy shields extended out, down to the ground and the other up to cover his head. He was now completely protected. From one direction, at least.

  "Damn… That's impressive," I said with an appreciative nod. "Miru really likes spoiling you, huh?"

  "She does good work for everyone," Luke responded, just a hint of a blush on his face, the energy shield shrinking back into the physical one. "Are we gonna spar or what?"

  I gestured to the pit, and we both walked down into the sandy surface, separating by about ten feet. Luke pulled out the bright blue training saber, igniting it as I conjured my armor. I would leave it up without recharging it, which we had decided was a good handicap since I didn't have access to the Force.

  "Ready, are you?" Yoda asked, up by the seats, sitting on his hover chair. When we both nodded, he paused for a moment, before finally saying. "Go!"

  Both Luke and I rushed in, Luke raising his shield and saber up, the blade reaching past the protective equipment. Rather than meet him head-on, I spun left, using my shoto to deflect a shield bash by laying it against my arm. I let the impact spin me faster, coming around with a slash of my sword. Of course, Luke saw it coming, deflecting it with his lightsaber as he absorbed our impact. Just as I used the energy to spin, he used to pivot, bringing up his shield to try and jab at my wrist. I let my conjured armor take the blow, blocking a cut with his saber before putting my foot between me and heaving him back, my enchantment-enhanced strength letting me push him up off his feet and several feet back.

  "No bad," I said. "You've clearly been training with the shield."

  "I've had to look up some old fighting styles, not used by the Jedi, but yeah," He responded, settling into a stance that wasn't too dissimilar to the forms I would have used with a shield. "It feels good, balanced. I'm glad I listened to your recommendation."

  "Happy to-"

  I leaped forward mid-sentence, stabbing with my sword, trying to catch him off guard. Of course, that was futile, as he had plenty of time to block with his saber. He tried to punch with the point of his shield, but I dropped my shoto and reached out, catching it. My conjured armor absorbed the damage because, otherwise, I would have definitely broken a few fingers. Still, I managed to catch him off guard, letting me get inside his defenses and mime slamming my fist into his elbow, which, if I had done it in earnest, would have at least dislocated it temporarily.

  "Not bad. It is definitely possible to use the shield as a weapon, too," I confirmed as we separated. "But you're reaching too far with it, leaving yourself open. Here, stand like this with your saber across, then punch."

  I took a stance similar to his, motioning with my sword as I lashed out, keeping the training blade up and in play. The angled position of my blade would keep anyone from sliding into the space the punch opened up.

  "You have to watch out for your saber, since there is no safe side, unlike a normal sword, but it should help."

  Luke nodded and tried to replicate my movement, before chaining them into a block and strike, weaving it into a combo. It was impressive to see how quickly he adapted, a sign of just how hard he worked, as well as his monstrous talent.

  We continued to spar and train for another few hours before I needed to head off. While I would have liked to spend more time hanging out and training with Luke, there were still a few stops I needed to make before I could settle in for the day. I said goodbye to both Luke and Yoda before leaving the sparring pit. As I did, a pair of Jedi and one Mandalorian stepped down to talk to Luke, hopefully to keep him busy and learning.