Vacation

Khan and Belia ran throughout the night, zipped through fields and over hills. They stopped by rivers for the birds to drink but never long did they sit and think.

Along the way, they passed by three other small villages, but they kept moving after checking for force-sensitives. 

By the time they reached the capital, light was already peeking over the horizon. Compared to the villages, the city was full of monstrous buildings and housed millions of people.

Even though the buildings were big, the sides were still covered in vines. They walked through the streets on their birds and people were already moving about.

The roads weren't paved with stone but natural grass lined with flowers. Even as they walked deeper into the city they felt like they were still surrounded by nature.

"It feels like we're back home, just with more people. I don't sense the same violence here as I did on Rattatak." Belia rode her bird next to Khan's.

"These people are very logical, able to think of problems from two perspectives at the same time. This allowed them to understand each other better and avoid conflict." Khan was interested in their dual brains.

Creating another brain inside of his body is not impossible in the future. But first, he'd have to do some extensive research on Cereans to see if it's worth it.

They rode their birds to the city's inn and placed them in stables. Walking inside they saw a little Cerean girl with blonde hair covering her cone attending the front desk. Even if she had a long head her face was still beautiful.

"Welcome you two, what brings you to the capital?" Her voice was bubbly and warm. The curiosity in her eyes was evident.

Khan reached out to the girl through the force. Sensing that she hadn't reached the threshold to be considered force-sensitive, he lost interest. "Give us a room and tell no one of our arrival."

Khan waved his hand and dazzled the girl.

"Ah yes, you can stay in the third room on the fourth floor." The girl agreed a little absentmindedly.

Khan left without much thought and Belia followed.

"You could have just asked for a room, not like they charge anything." Belia rolled her eyes when they got to their room and collapsed on the soft bed. Her form changed and she reverted to her original human appearance.

She smelled her robe and frowned a little. "Why did we wear these robes? They're only getting in the way."

Khan changed back and sat on the side of the bed. "It doesn't matter, just wash it later." 

Khan pulled a small device from his robe and pressed one of the buttons on the side. After a while, a hologram of Sheva appeared.

"Master." She called out respectfully.

"There's twenty Cereans waiting in the forest where you dropped us off. Pick them up and take them back to the Prometheus when you make your first return."

"Yes, Master." She agreed, not daring to give her input.

"How many mines have you controlled?"

"I've led my people to overtake two mines that were already excavated. I captured a total of one hundred and eight Cereans. Also, I started mining three other deposits they hadn't found yet."

"Move all the Cereans back to the ship first. Habitat can keep an eye on them and free up some manpower."

"By your will my Master." Sheva answered when she saw Khan was through talking to her.

Khan turned off the device and placed it back in his robe.

"It looks like she did a good job." Belia sat up with a smile.

"It's hard to fail, these people are so smart but stupid at the same time. They think if they shun technology, technology will shun them?" Khan knew the only reason this place could survive was its location in a remote corner of the galaxy.

"The resources on this planet are too rich. If not for its terrible location I'd do everything in my power to hold it in my grasp." Khan raised his hand and clenched his fist.

"Resources? The kasha crystals?"

"No." The corners of Khan's lips rose. "Because of the Tecave grass. It produces a type of spice that induces euphoria."

"Tecave grass?" In the memories Khan gave her, Tecave grass is a plant found everywhere on the planet. "I don't think it's worth wasting our limited resources on spice plants."

"I know, that's why I'm only after the crystals." Khan leaned back, his head placed on Belia's thighs, and closed his eyes.

"What's next? I don't think there's a school that teaches the knowledge you want to know." She brushed his hair from his face and massaged the sides of his head.

"This isn't Sh'shuun, people don't keep knowledge in their heads. Everything we want to know should be in the library. They don't use technology so everything should be in books."

"I guess you're right." Belia smiled slightly. 

"It's really hard to believe that a planet with so much kyber crystal isn't protected by other forces."

"What would they want it for? Sith have stopped building superweapons and Jedi refuse to research them." Khan sat up feeling a bit refreshed. 

"I've already contacted Sheva, let's go to the library and find what we need. Then we can tour the city to see if we can find any force sensitives."

They changed back to their Cerean appearance and left the inn. No one paid much attention to them because they looked just like everyone else.

The only reason people looked at Khan was the fact he was male. But seeing his age they assumed he already had many wives.

It's practically law for Cerean males to take on at least four to eight wives. Otherwise, their species would die out.

Khan felt like he was on a vacation after constant work for years. They easily found the library and entered inside. A few mind tricks later and they entered the deepest parts, the place the general public was not allowed to enter.

Khan and Belia sat at a table with a few tomes in front of them. She was surprised at how easily they found the information they were looking for.

The books contained all the knowledge the Cereans had on cutting, shaping, and inscribing kyber crystals. While they flipped through the books, Khan's handy pocket drone was recording everything.

"These people are geniuses, if this knowledge was applied to lightsabers it could increase the intensity of our blades." Belia was amazed by what she saw.

"The Sith probably have their own methods and the Jedi like to use naturally formed crystals." Khan shook his head.

"Only bumpkins like us would come to find this knowledge."

"Can you be considered a bumpkin?" Belia looked at him strangely.

Khan ignored the implications behind her words. He wanted to get what he needed and leave this planet. It's times like this he wished he had more people. He could send them here instead of coming here himself.

Besides force sensitives, he could train a group of dedicated mercenaries. Like the Mandalorians, he could train a few kids. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like that was the correct decision. He couldn't rely on force sensitives for everything, more problems were likely to occur by doing that.

While humans were the most abundant choice,  they were the most likely to become willful and entitled. Cereans were already readily available, but they required twice as many resources to maintain.

Eventually, he realized Rattataki was his best choice. Depending on how his experiments go, he can genetically modify the race. He can even try breeding them with the Cerean women to give them two hearts like the Zabrak.

Khan shook his head and cleared his mind. Now wasn't the time to think about experiments. He continued flipping through books and reading.

For the next six days, he and Belia lived a peaceful life. Touring the city, staying at the inn, and reading in the library. It was only during this time he realized how rare force sensitivity was.

He searched thousands of people and didn't find a single one. Even if Belia had the crystal, she'd have had to have been near them to sense them. She cant use it like a crystal ball to find whatever she wants, only places her presence in the force had touched.

Even so, they didn't stay in the Capitol and left. Taking their birds, they went back to the forest where they first arrived.

After ditching the birds, they walked through the forest until they found their landing ship waiting for them. The ship dropped a rope with a hook on the end. Stepping on the hook, it pulled them to the ship.

"I know you didn't gain much besides the crystals from this stop, but I feel like my connection to the living force is a lot stronger." Belia looked at Khan next to her. At this time he'd already returned to his human form.

Khan looked at Belia. With the green trees below and the setting sun in the distance, she looked especially stunning. 

A small smile formed on his lips. "It doesn't matter, what's a week compared to eternity?"