The Beaches of Baroo Coast

[Varindar Asyt]

Varindar was invited on Baroonda to give a series of lectures on moneylaundering in aquatics, as part of a preview held prior to the release of the new book, Moneylaundering: An Aquatics Scourge. She was also invited to be the one laying the cornerstone of the new Baroonda Aquatics Arena, which feature a massive grandstand built against the mountain, allowing events to be held against the beach and sea as the backdrop, in its tropical surroundings. A piece of heaven, they say. Just that she was meeting with [member="Zavii"] and [member="Tanaski Yumi"] at the beach, on the Baroo Coast, which was the main beach of the planet. Where she also booked a room in one of the few hotels in that region of the planet, large enough to house four. Perhaps I would be able to gain inspiration for the future, but even if I don't, I'd still get to swim as I would in a taper period, of which I didn't have any under the Ta'jars, she thought, before facing the mirror and, of course, having brought a set of clothes to Baroonda, with the dry-land clothes being mostly of the sleeveless variety thanks to the size of her shoulders. Such was the struggle of a female human/Near-Human swimmer talented enough to taste even small-time stardom: while swimming suits were straightforward, kneeskins, bikinis or otherwise, sleeved clothing that wasn't of the armor variety was much more challenging to get.

"Nice to meet you two again" she told Zavii and Tana while facing the both of them on the beach, near one of the moai statues, wearing the very kneeskin she wore during those meets on Ceraluen and Durkteel.

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

Baroonda sure was a environmental rainbow, deadly volcanoes, gummy swamps, quite the spectacular waterfalls, thick jungles, sulfur geyser fields and hot spring, large plateau-top cities and last but not least wide sandy beaches, one which they where currently at. Despite some minor things here and there this place was like vacation planet number one, the massive pod racing tracks drawing in a lot of attention as well, but today Tana along with two very interesting women where going to be having a shore day.

In theory fun, exciting and over all a dream come true, but Tana had a very strong feeling things between the three would be... awkward, more so with the way he, well he's felt about each of them. On one hand [member="Varindar Asyt"] had been on of the first woman that the young Jin had been infatuated with and had over all spent quite a lot of time, on the other hand [member="Zavii"] was the girl that had whispped him away with her casual thinking and quite forward approach. Both remarkable people, each capturing at least on of his 5 personas and from what he knew at the very least there being a mutual feeling of attraction, once again a sort of dream come true, but in reality very difficult to work around.

"Good day to you Varindar, wearing the speedy swim suit again, how have you been since the expedition to planet Crystal"?

 

[Zavii]

Zavii loved the beach almost as much as she loved Kashyyyk's forests. While she had found untold hours of entertainment and fascination among the gargantuan trees and thick ferns of her current homeworld, she couldn't help but to become totally engrossed in the soft, warm sand of this shoreline, the way the stuff formed under her body and kept her backside almost as warm as the skin on her front under Baroonda's sun. The young Zabrak nestled into the sand, digging slightly with her toes as she spread herself out and listened to the Songs of the land and sea meeting in perfectly harmonious serenity. This was definitely a feeling she could get used to.

After a while, when she felt that she was almost on the verge of starting to passively sweat, [member="Varindar Asyt"] approached and greeted her and her boyfriend,[member="Tanaski Yumi"]. Zavii raised a hand and chimed "Hi, Var," without opening her eyes, since she knew that she'd just be blinded anyway. Her hand fell back to the soft, white sand as she listened to Tanasuki engage the Human by commenting on her swimsuit and asking about some planet called Crystal. She hadn't heard of that one and made a mental note to look it up later.

She also noted the fact that the young Jin hadn't said anything about her own white two-piece, but decided not to bother mentioning it. He had seemed slightly anxious about something on the way to Baroonda, but perhaps a relaxing day on such a lovely world was just what he needed.

"So," she rolled over onto her stomach and finally opened her eyes, squinting against the bright daylight to look up at her two pale companions, "What's the plan of action for the day?"

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"You mean Ilum. I have been busy in my grind, both running the hotel and making my swims in there, so I had little time to fit in the lightsaber construction or Jedi training" she answered Tana's question.

The speedy swimsuit... a second-order symbol of status on Trandosha, that is, a symbol of status stacked on top of another, and it symbolizes to people on the beach and in the pool that you're serious about competitive swimming. However, here on Baroonda, I am better known for my money laundering expertise than I am as a swimmer, she thought, while a few more patrons, Majan, human or otherwise, turned their heads to look at Varindar, not being able to tell which patrons are looking at her because of her body or because of her swimsuit, suspecting that there were some of each. What [member="Tanaski Yumi"] means by speedy swimsuit is, in fact, of an alien design to the Majan patrons, used to seeing one-piece swimsuits not covering the thighs, ready to ask a question or two as to why the thighs are covered. However, open-back swimsuits are not foreign to them in the slightest: they understood the necessity of twisting one's arms when one swam. But upon answering [member="Zavii"]'s question about what was the plan of action for today, she did not hesitate one second: swimming, while not assuming that Zavii actually knows how to swim, even though she knew Tana learned two strokes from her.

"What about a swim? If you know how to swim, Zavii, you may wish to swim from this moai statue to the levee, otherwise I'll teach you", pointing at the moai to her left, which was the closest to the levee, but still a good 200m.

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

So she was still having trouble with her lightsaber, at lest she had gotten a crystal this time, but talking about that true reminded him to get around to making his second saber, can't be a Ja'kai users without two sabers . "Well it's a start anyways, better late then never, though for you it may be a slight more problem then myself". After all Tana did not really age at all so time was not really a factor at the moment, "good to know regardless... but while we are on the subject of swimming suits", he said with a slightly coy voice, turning back around to face his official girlfriend. Slowly the young Jin slipping behind her, sliding a hand across her dark skin, "I like the white look, makes it stand out more and define your 'assets' if you know what I mean".

If the two where alone perhaps this would be a little more interesting but with Asyt here and being a public place it would be best to keep things a little tame, or just out of site. "Yes some swimming would be nice, getting to cool off and have a little fun, though I am certain Zavii can swim.. you can swim right Zavii? on the day we first met and you threw me into the sea that back flip you did off the waterfall seemed to indicate so". While talking with the two Tana noticed a few odd stares from other people, probably due to his feminine complexion and choice of bathing attire, which consisted of a speedo and a light dress like sash around the waist with a small floral pattern elastic band to keep it up. The only thing that made people realized nothing was out of place happened to be the fact Tana was using his more refined male voice asides from his usual more peppy all purpose one.

Though from the way things where going himself [member="Varindar Asyt"] and [member="Zavii"] were getting quite the view, perhaps it was the 'variety' of the group, each ones appearance or another reason. Regardless the trio was getting a decent amount of attention.

 

[Zavii]

Zavii raised an eyebrow at the Human woman's answer to Tanasuki. "I didn't realize you were training to be a Jedi! How do you make time with all the other hats you wear?" Before she could get an answer, Tana was sliding around to her back and trying to make her blush with compliments. She did well to hide her embarrassment though, since the only other person on this beach who mattered was pretty much neutral territory, so far as the Zabrak was concerned. She lay her hands over Tana's and purred in reply, "I know, that's why I picked it," before looking over her shoulder to kiss him on the lips.

Turning her attention back to Asyt as she subtly leaned into the pasty young man's chest, she said "Of course I can swim! What kind of Jedi would I be if I neglected an entire form of locomotion?" Her voice sounded almost affronted, but her eyes belied her good mood. She was clearly riding the euphoria of new love and doubted that much of anything could spoil her mood today. Well, there were plenty of things in reality that could ruin the day, but the young woman refused to think about them, there was too much life to enjoy on this sunny day with her boyfriend.

About that time, she noticed another male- Mirialan, by the looks of him- walk past and watching the three Silvers. She became aware then of just how much attention the trio were actually getting from some of the other beach-goers. While the three of them were objectively beautiful people, it wasn't like they were the only attractive bodies around. Perhaps the degree of a regular person's sensitivity to the Force was directly related to how much skin was showing? Hell, that was one reason that she herself hated shoes, but by that logic, she'd practically be a Grand Master with the little white bikini she'd put on today. No matter, they were here to have fun, spectators-be-damned!

"So, what, a race, then?"

[member="Tanaski Yumi"] [member="Varindar Asyt"]

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"Sure"

Now that she knew [member="Zavii"] could swim, it became an open-water 200 free to her. (Hippodrome swimmers, like Varindar, tended to refer to the four major strokes of the sport as free, back, breast and fly to designate freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly respectively.) But she knew that, regardless of the Zabrak's skill as a swimmer, regardless of any real advantage the "speedy" suit would bring in the open water, she put on her swimming cap beforehand, the one she used in the last two meets. Plus perhaps [member="Tanaski Yumi"] would join in, too. Once all three were a good distance away from the moai - because of the shallow water near the moai proper - they began swimming in earnest, with Varindar being oblivious to the other beach-goers watching the three of them swim, and Varindar having a strong acceleration at the start of the swim, with the singular aim of getting to the levee as fast as she could. In the end, she ended up swimming as fast here as she had in her last 200 free she swam on Durkteel, which was not easy given that, unlike a 25m pool, however slow it might be, lateral waves affect her more, causing her to move sideways more. Even then, she was still swimming at very high speeds that Majans were hard-pressed to match.

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

Zavii did not know [member="Varindar Asyt"] was training to be a Jedi? well the two had not seemed to interact with each other much, though as of late the hotel owner had been partaking of some combat operations, but still had a lot to learn, but right now he would focus on the foxy Zabrak within his arms. "Hee hee you know my taste well", he cooed into [member="Zavii"]'s ears before the two kissed once more, his arms wrapping around the dark skinned woman's hips as she slid her back against his bare chest as she responded to Varindar's comment. "Yes, she was at the beach party a few months ago", though out of the three here the hotel Varindar was probably the best swimmer among the Silver Jedi.

"We going to race, well nice to have some friendly competition, sure I will join, time to put what I have learned to good you", he replied slowly breaking away from his girlfriend and following Varindar to the spot where they would undertake this race. "So, will there be a reward for the winner, I could think of a few things that we be nice", he teased back at Zavii, tying his long black and blue hair into a more water dynamic bun instead of a ponytail. He let the question hang in the air before the race started, himself pushing off with the most speed his legs could muster, using the crawling method and the tips Varindar had given during his visit to the hotel, trying hard to keep up with the professional swimmer.

Still he was unable to keep up with the Dathomiran, the natural sway of the ocean not really helping, 'I still have a long way to go until I am close to her skill level, I wonder how Zavii is going'. To be honest he did not know how well the Zabrak could swim, would she be a adept like himself or surprise everyone and be proficient racer.

 

[Zavii]

"Well, let's get it on, then!" the Zabrak chimed as Tana broke away. She stretched her arms and back a little while they all waded into the surf and gave [member="Tanaski Yumi"] a little wink after his hanging statement. "You'll have to beat me first, Lover-Boy."

Zavii dove in as soon as she saw [member="Varindar Asyt"] set off. She'd spent a lot of time in the past decade training her body to operate for as long as possible on a single breath, and as soon as she leveled out a couple of feet under the surface she used a small bit of focus to create small Force shields over her hands to act as a sort of webbing between her fingers, then threw her hands back to start forward. Following the momentum, she undulated her body like a fish, slicing through the water as fast as she could before pushing her hands out and making her telekinetic web for another stroke. Two cycles later, she arched her back and kicked toward the surface for a quick breath before slipping below again.

Her eyes stayed closed the whole time, since she didn't feel like irritating them with the salty ocean water, so she used her Force senses to follow Varindar. She had no illusions or hopes of beating a competition swimmer, but she could still beat Tanasuki, if she kept up this pace. After all, he was skinnier than her, and he was probably getting the worst of the interference from the choppy waves on the water's surface. In the end, the Human won by at least ten seconds, but Zavii was able to reach the sand bar in time to be sitting down with her toes in the water by the time Tana arrived. She stuck her tongue out at him and pulled her eyelid down with a finger while he waded out, then laughed and said "Too bad, Suki, just imagine what you might have won!" She gestured to herself to illustrate, then twisted to look up at Varindar. "Instead, we've got to figure out what prize to bestow upon our champion! What do you think?"

 

[Varindar Asyt]

"The prize was a copy of my new book about moneylaundering in swimming, but since I won I may as well give you two one hard copy apiece"

The victory was as decisive as some of those 200 frees she swam under the Ta'jar regime; it was a nearly 30-second lead over [member="Zavii"] in an open-water 200 free; even then Zavii led by at least ten seconds over [member="Tanaski Yumi"]. Then again, she could still hear her heart beating very loudly upon her return ashore. She was, in fact, reminded of why the Ta'jars didn't hold open-water swimming races during just after that very 200 free ended: while less expensive than hippodrome swimming, thanks to the lack of facility overhead, it put the athletes at undue risks given the fauna living in the Trandoshan waters. Upon returning to the sand bar, she flashed the two dedicated copies of that book in front of the two. She could sense the other people on the beach began to have more questions in their minds, such as Varindar's involvement in the sport, what, if any, sting operations she took part in as a swimmer. And of course, some of the more voyeuristic of the beach patrons just wanted to look at her body, believing, perhaps, that Varindar was as pretty as a champion swimmer could be and that they rarely had the chance to see one in person at the beach.

"Not only Varindar is an expert in moneylaundering, she is also a champion swimmer!" one of the more voyeuristic attendees of the moneylaundering lecture commented. "Which arrest of a money launderer is the most memorable to you and why?"

"There are three arrests of money launderers that are highly memorable to me, the first being Ithuvask. Although I swam but once against him, a couple of weeks before he was arrested, and he lost that 200 free by a 30-second margin, his arrest led to my freedom, and setting free every slave then working at the Crown Nebula Hotel on Trandosha. Zett, on the other hand, gave both Elianne and I one hell of a race at the Violet Spectrum on Ceraluen, because it was a 1600m IM. Finally, the last one is more of a combination of money launderers than an individual, but it was memorable to me because I was anchoring a mixed medley relay on Durkteel, and, in all three cases, the money launderers in question were Ta'jar Blood Gang members"

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

Tana panted a little upon coming to the end of the race, feet soon coming to touch the sandy bottom of the sea, the boys slowly wading to the shore as water ran down his body, giving [member="Zavii"] playful but dagger shooting stare. "Well yes you did beat me, by using the force, that is cheating lover girl, and such cheating needs to be punished, something we can do later, though the prize on offer was most tempting", he replied to the Zabrak before sitting down next to her. Still the whole prize thing was more just a joke, but [member="Varindar Asyt"] had actually decided to throw an actual item on the lock for winning, "hmm, money launder hu? is it an autobiography or just a book on how to money launder? I am sure my old crime syndicate friends back on the core worlds you like that". "Joking joking... there no longer my friends, but the tea was nice".

It did not take long for other beach goers to recognize the swimming star, the whole event on the cruise line not long ago probably having a great deal to do with her new found fame, in addition to the book, did people really read this? Perhaps it would be worth his time too then, but still he had a very distinct feeling that some of the onlookers where there for more then and autograph. "I have a sense we are getting leered at Zavii", he replied in a whisper as Varindar went on talking about sting operations. "You know Varindar, could probably make a trilogy novel about all your escapades, the galaxy is a little full of your classing war and action movies, perhaps a scandal bust from the inside take on things will catch peoples attention".