Donut-shaped unfinished business

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Jessica now had the opportunity to finish the final item of unfinished business that was inherited from the Butcher of Korriban's time: the Lucrehulk-X, for today's technological standards. At the time, it was estimated that the project could bankrupt the company if it failed. And yet, somehow, the rebuilding efforts from the pirate attack perpetrated on Ringo Vinda were being done at a pretty solid pace. With so many locations away from Ringo Vinda proper, the company could weather the storm much better than in the era of the Butcher of Korriban; back then the majority of the production was made over Ringo Vinda (almost 60%). Today, only about one-third of the production was made on that planet. She became much the kind of space witch that was well-appreciated by those who preferred to use their intellect over a lightsaber. Like [member="Summer Sovereign"]. Because her wife spent nearly all her time on Glyss because of her royal responsibilities and was pregnant, thanks to some Force-spawn, it wasn't that much of a trip for her. Today's aim would be to finish the project that was started over six years ago while inspecting the crash site of the Saak'ak.

"Welcome, my love. I trust that you are willing to learn something new?"

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

These last few months had been rough for Summer, her once toned midriff was now bulging from the new life form growing inside of her. The sickness had also set in over the months. It was the worst during the mornings but sometimes lasted all day. It was terrible but it would all be worth it. "I am ready to learn love"

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Pregnancy was serious business, especially in the precious few years one has before menopause. But [member="Summer Sovereign"] was willing to endure nausea for months on end; while she knew it was common in many Near-Human species, she didn't know how long it would last: it seems to vary somewhat from one such species to another. She had to accept that it will all be worth it: Jessica knew that family was important to her wife; perhaps the Omwati were one of those species for whom same-sex marriage would be easier to accept, and hence part of the success of their marriage required a specific condition for it to be replicated. With Force-spawn there is little to no chance that one would expect multiple births. Meanwhile, other droids were hard at work around the ring carrier's CIC (which is a few decks below the hangar), assembling turadium blast door panels, quadanium steel plates, wiring and other such things. At some point, she will be willing to use Electric Judgment to recharge the droids' power pack, but until that happened, she would leave them to do their work.

"I know so many Jedi who would shy away from Electric Judgment because they seem to associate it with anger and aggression: I will show you that isn't the case. At the beginning, you will only be able to use it for defibrillation or for recharging power packs, much like the one in your lightsaber. So you might want to check the batteries on your blaster or your lightsaber"

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Summer would hear her wife, she would pull her saber out. Besides her wife and her soon to come child this was her most prized possession, she loved it with all of her heart. She would check her batteries in her saber, just her luck dead. She would then look to her wife, she knew her saber skills were off because her balance was thrown off. That and she also knew that Jessica hardly left her side these days, so there was no need for her to keep her saber charged.

"Dead"

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Good: now place it in front of you"

True, it often seem that Jessica was more often at [member="Summer Sovereign"]'s side than not, but when she did leave her side, it was for important off-world business: in essence for either board meetings (which were held quarterly), meetings with major clients, or for stuff like what she did on Asop or Sekalus. Although she crossed her fingers about her wife feeling nauseated, and that it would not affect her much, she still had to learn something that could be useful. While it might be a little dangerous to the baby, there's always Force-healing for that sort of thing. Meanwhile, the rest of the electronic equipment was being installed onboard: the targeting computer displays. And the avionics, too, although the Watchtower collision avoidance system was to be fitted to the centrisphere because only the centrisphere could land on a planet; the ring carrier couldn't land. Hopefully some system of communication would allow the bridge of the ring carrier to receive any warnings from the centrisphere to this end.

"I hope that you won't feel too nauseated: visualize the electrical current from your finger to the lightsaber battery"

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Summer would concentrate and she would be shocked at how easy it came to her. She saw it in her mind after but a moment or two and then in about 30 seconds it would start to happen, the electricity flowed out of her and to the saber battery. "Its working." She said excited as it did start to work

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Now that you have seen how it can be used for non-aggressive uses, that's a good try for a first-timer"

Catria, Jessica both used it for defibrillation. Sometimes people make false expectations if they learn a given Force-power too late into the learning curve, and she knew it to be true of spells like Force-healing. [member="Summer Sovereign"] realizes by now that Electric Judgment is more than simply a weapon. Meanwhile, the avionics inside the future CIC are being connected to the nodes of the ship-wide neural net. And one of the R9 astromech droids appears to be running out of power. Electric Judgment isn't the same as Ionize, but with another zap, Jessica manages to bring back some of the power the droid needs to keep going, at least until the droid could return to a proper recharging station; Ionize would have disabled it. Yet Ionize is more similar to Electric Judgment than different. In the meantime, she uses pyrokinesis to weld the wall plates in position, much the same as she did on the Lothal before it entered service.

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Summer would then begin to feel very very sick. She would go get sick. She had exhausted her force batteries so much that it made her even more sick than before. She would then return a few moments later to Jessica

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

[member="Summer Sovereign"] might feel sick, but it really was just more nausea symptoms that were exacerbated by the lack of Force-energy in her body. (Sometimes it seems that it is a good idea not to use the Force too intensively) However tempting it is to use Force-healing on her wife, it is a tricky business to the baby. Sure, in a genetic sense, the baby was a near-perfect clone of Jessica (and, unlike regular cloning, there isn't the problem of the delayed twin or the madness problem in the case of Force-users), but fetuses at that stage of formation were delicate. Near the CIC, though, the construction crews worked on other areas that are important to the CIC crew: the galley, the sickbay, to name those two being worked on. Given the thousands-strong crew that will be posted on any one Lucrehulk-X, it is important that the crew be made comfortable wherever they may be onboard. After all, they may stay in space for weeks at a time before they can even replenish their consumables or even see their home port.

"You need to eat, my love. It might be best not to eat foods that could upset your stomach, so room-temperature might be best. Speaking of which, what could upset your stomach? While you seemed not to have used the Force that much since you became pregnant, it might be best not to use the Force too much until delivery occurs"

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

"I have no clue what upset my stomach." She said really not wanting to eat, but she knew that for the baby's sake she had to. For the baby was using that nutrients from her

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

True, [member="Summer Sovereign"] was one who always cared for family. She accepted that the baby was taking nutrients from her, and Jessica knew it, too. And it is going to get worse once the pregnancy gets to the later stages: babies at later stages of pregnancy took more from their mother, she thought, while looking for cereal in a half-finished galley that other droids were busy finishing. While the layout would be very similar to those of civilian restaurant kitchens, much like the Pizza Hutt back on the surface, it was painful to her at this point because of the sheer amount of work that still needed to be done on said galley, while onboard the ship. It was easier to get lost were it not of her ability to use the Force. But the key that she always heard about pregnant people who get nauseated was that the meals must be smaller and more frequent. Instead of eating three normal meals, eating twice as often but half the portion size...

"You should perhaps go see a maternal-fetal specialist. It's for you, I know that it hurts. Just that I want you to be a healthy mother until the child is born, and beyond"

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Summer would listen and nod as Jessica gave her advice. She was still sick but she would do whatever Jess said, for she trusted Jess more than anyone else in the galaxy. If Jessica told her to walk into a furnace burning 3,000,000 degrees then she would do it without batting an eye, she trusted Jessica that much. Some may say a bit too much after all that had happened but it wouldnt stop Summer

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

[member="Summer Sovereign"] might have trusted Jessica more than anyone else in the galaxy, but there were limitations as to what she would make Summer do. Some of these things she couldn't do without herself falling to the dark side of he Force. True, money isn't a problem and often maternal-fetal doctors seem to be pretty difficult to find. Not that there was a shortage of doctors: medical droids could often do the job of an organic doctor, especially for the more surgical things, but there are things droids just cannot do. Because the ship was still under construction, getting to the hangar bay was a tricky business: here, unlike the original Saak'ak or LH-3210s, the hangar bay did not have a direct connection to the engine room or to the cargo bays. But that was a function of the Lucrehulk-X not being a converted battleship, and the Droid Control Ship was destroyed because the engine room was left exposed from the inside.

"Let's head out of here and return home: we did all we had to do out here in space"

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

"Alright love lead the way." She said smiling at her and getting ready to make for the house. Summer was so ready to get back on the stick of her own starship, she missed it so much, in fact the first thing she would do once she got released from the hospital after the baby was go get in her ship and fly about

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

True, her wife did have an intense love of flying. That's why she did several piloting-for-hire missions around Glyss while Jessica is off-world. Sure, Summer's mental condition isn't optimal, but family was an important matter to her. Yes, it's true that the royal starship somehow could fit in the hangar but at the cost of an entire squadron of fighters' worth of space. Yes, our relationship is a same-sex marriage supporter's dream come true, but part of it has to do with who the people in it are, she thought. And, yes, Jessica has had more than her fair share of suitors before there even was a [member="Summer Sovereign"] in her life in the first place. Oh and because it was in orbit over Glyss, they would return back to the royal palace; it was but a matter of time before they would make it home. If what she knew about her wife was correct, she'd better hope that postpartum depression won't get the better of her once the baby is born. Once the couple returned home, Jessica had one big announcement to make to her wife:

"Tonight's banquet will feature one special event"

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

"Do tell my love do tell." She said excited as she spoke. She had no clue what it could be that was such a big deal, but it was bound to be good

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"The knighting ceremony will be held during tonight's banquet"

And be the coda of the ceremony. There was only one possible thing, but [member="Summer Sovereign"] needed to be dressed adequately for such an occasion. And Jessica, too. Of course, the rest of the palatial valets and servants were in the palace to prepare tonight's banquet. The banquet was often a highlight of the nights of royalty, sure, and her wife grew as a Jedi to the point where Summer would be able to pick up the mantle of knighthood. As a Jedi, however, she would be mostly expected to be a Jedi Ace, which would fight Sith and whatnot from the air, or in space. Where the main Force-powers in use would be precognition, Instinctive Astrogation. For Jessica it was fairly straightforward; sure she might not be the most fashion-conscious of those geniuses but at least she wasn't a complete idiot in this respect. Summer, however, would be another matter entirely. It was her occasion, her chance to be the main feature of tonight's banquet; in most other banquets she was just a marquee attendee without doing anything special.

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Summer would look at her wife and smile one of her signature single dimpled blinding white smiles. She would then come over to Her and she would wrap her arms around her. This was the third best thing that had ever happened to her, the first being Jessica and the second the child growing inside her. She would lean close and kiss Jessica, a nice slow long kiss before breaking away. "What should I wear my love"

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

"Something that would not make your pregnancy apparent, like one of those Victorian dresses"

It was, for sure, a difficult decision. Even though Summer had a rich wardrobe, she still had a wide variety of Victorian dresses, all of which are capable of hiding a pregnancy at that stage. And Jessica, too. Jessica being the best thing to ever happen in [member="Summer Sovereign"]'s life contained the marriage in it, and it was inevitable that she would mention it. The couple became an icon in the pro-same-sex marriage world, and even feature prominently in any LGBT who's who, but lucky would be the off-world media that would actually get the chance to get an interview about what made their marriage such a resounding success. And she can easily imagine several of the senior engineering staff on Ringo Vinda or Bimmisaari (let alone the other senior staff on Glyss, Dulvoyinn, Hosnian Prime, Dagobah, Hakassi, Geonosis, Pergitor or Soceras) being jealous of the lifestyle they lead. But the time for the banquet would soon arrive, and the ceremony would be held at the very beginning of the banquet. Now, that was to be one major moment in her wife's life, as they knew it. Once they are finished dressing:

"Five minutes"

 

[Eli-Mae Forrest]

Summer would have just finished dressing, she had taken Jessica's advice on how she should dress. She would wear a victorian style dress that really made the gold flakes in her eyes. At the five minute call she would make her way to Jess

[member="Jessica Med-Beq"]