Private Sommer’s End Pt. 3-4

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa folded her arms, defensive now. "I'm not a Jedi. I don't get visions. I don't glow."

 

[Sommer Dai]

Sommer smiled gently. "You don't have to glow, Aly. The Force doesn't announce itself with fireworks. It's a whisper. A current. Some people are born with just enough to feel the tide. At least that's what I've been told."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

"And what if I am?" Alyssa asked, voice dropping. "What does that mean?"

 

[Sommer Dai]

Sommer looked toward the sealed containment chamber, where Zori Galea still sat in silence.

"It means," she said softly, "you might be the only one who understands what's coming. And the only one who can survive it."

Outside, Black Spine Station's docking lights turned green.


The hangar bay yawned wide like the jaws of a beast.


The galaxy wasn't done with them yet.


And Alyssa may have just heard its breath for the first time.

 

[Sommer Dai]

Location: Black Spine Station, Docking Bay 12-F

The ramp of the Dusk Nocturne hissed open, releasing a thin curtain of mist from the ship's cooled core. The platform beneath their boots was worn durasteel, blackened by engine burns and streaked with graffiti sigils from fifty different crews.


Kael stepped out first, trench coat catching the air, his eyes scanning every corner like a wolf loose in a strange den.


Arq followed next, his demeanor calm and unreadable. In a place like this, not blinking was a currency.


Then came Sommer, dressed in layered black with a subtle armored weave beneath her coat. Her signature crimson-lined heels clicked softly as she walked — elegant, yet built for survival.


And beside her, the wildcard:


Alyssa , hair tied back, eyes sharp. Her flight jacket was zipped halfway and a concealed blaster hugged her hip, painted matte grey. She looked like trouble — and more than that, she looked like someone ready.

"Stay sharp," Sommer murmured. "This place is a scrapyard of loyalty."

 

[Kaelon Virex]

"And bad breath," Kael muttered. "Don't forget that part."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

As they entered the main hangar zone, the full chaos of Black Spine Station hit them:

Smugglers bartering over cryo-locked pelts. Modified assassin droids sparring in a ring for credits. A Bothan hawking fake holopasses out of his coat. Tech-priests chanting prayers to forgotten AIs.

And above them, suspended on pulsing neon wires, the central bazaar flickered like a shrine to corruption.

"Feels like Nar Shaddaa's bastard cousin," Alyssa whispered.

 

[Arq*]

"Oh, it is," Arq said. "But with fewer rules and better liquor."

They moved quickly — past the eyes, the offers, the quiet threats disguised as compliments — until they reached a sealed customs alcove behind two shuttered blast doors. Painted above in flaking red:

 

[Kaelon Virex]

"Dockmaster: Karn Veck. Speak Clear or Be Clear."

Kael gave Sommer a side glance. "I'll do the talking."

 

[Sommer Dai]

Sommer folded her arms. "Please don't."

A scrawny protocol droid pushed the doors open with a groan.

Inside sat a massive man, bald with a cybernetic jaw and a permanent scowl. Karn Veck, the Dockmaster. One of the only neutral parties on the station. Mostly because no one dared make him choose sides.

"You brought the parcel?" he asked without looking up.

Sommer answered. "Secured. Force-dampened. You'll get her once the route is confirmed and the payment lands."

Karn looked up slowly.

 

[Kaelon Virex]

"This ain't a Republic lane, darling. Payment doesn't land. It bribes. You want this ghost-witch sent off-planet? I'll need something… poetic."

Kael leaned forward. "What do you know about poetry, Karn?"

"That it bleeds better when recited with a knife in hand."

 

[Arq*]

Arq raised a brow. "Was that a metaphor?"

"Nah." Karn grinned. "Just business."

 

[Sommer Dai]

A moment passed.

Sommer unclipped a sealed datacrystal from her coat and slid it across the table.

"Coordinates to a lost Separatist vault on Skelveron VI. Unlocked. One-time map."

Karn's eyes lit up.

"Now that's poetry."

He slapped a green-coded pass onto the desk.

 

[Kaelon Virex]

"Dock 4-C. Inbound courier arrives in ten. You hand her over. You leave. You forget my name."

Kael smirked. "That part's easy."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

As they turned to go—

Alyssa froze.

Her head tilted slightly, as if… listening again.

 

[Sommer Dai]

"lyssa?" Sommer asked.

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

She nodded slowly. "Nothing. Just a weird chill."

 

[Sommer Dai]

Sommer approached the hovering cart that held Zori , still seated in the Force-dampening restraints. Her posture sagged from exhaustion… but her eyes, those glimmering serpentine orbs, were very much awake.

 

[Zori Galea]

And laughing.

At first, it was soft. A chuckle. Then louder.

Then she was crying — genuinely, uncontrollably — and laughing. The two bled together like toxins in a vial.

"You're really going through with it," Zori whispered, her voice cracked but soaked in venomous glee. "You think this stops the dream?"

 

[Sommer Dai]

Sommer didn't answer. She only nodded to the courier.