Saga of the Bridgers-Year 5

Chapter 26: Gifts for Tomorrow

October 20.

Aboard the Liberator, Jaral was spending a few minutes meditating and relaxing. They were expected to reach Lianna in around three hours of navigation.

Celebrations for the victory had been huge on the fleet, especially toward her. The rumor that she had somehow wounded the hated Emperor Palpatine had spread like wildfire, even though she had refused to acknowledge it. All she wanted now was to rest a little before returning into the fight, probably on Lantillies.

Yet, as she meditated, she felt something strange in her own space. When a suspicion flared into her mind she opened her eyes wide and stood up, heading straight for the infirmary.

Along the way, among the few soldiers that marched along the corridors, she also met Ahsoka.

"Hey, Jari." she greeted. "What's the rush?"

"Oh, ehm, just going to the med bay." Jaral reassured.

Ahsoka, however, became worried. "Are you ok?"

"Sure, sure, it's just...you know, a check-up." she replied nervously.

Not convinced, Ahsoka said "All right, I'm coming with."

"Yeah, ok." the Jedi said nonchalantly before resuming to walk.

They both reached the med bay, which was luckily empty. Ahsoka waited in the middle of the room while Jaral headed to a terminal and linked Jinx to it.

"Jaral, your heart rate is spiking." the AI said. "What is alarming you?"

Jaral gulped. "Jinx...could you...run a pregnancy test?" she said with a nervous tone.

Those words had Ahsoka bar her eyes and almost freeze in place. Jinx, on the other hand, wasted no time in using the terminal to make a scan of Jaral's body and needed only a minute to analyze the results. A minute that seemed an eternity to the young woman.

Then Jinx appeared with his holographic form and talked.

"Congratulations. You will become a mother." and made an effect of a few fireworks.

Jaral's heart skipped a beat and she had to lean on the bed next to her. Ahsoka sprinted to help her, but in reality the only thing going through the young human's mind was happiness. She chuckled a bit, then tried to regain control, then shed a tear and eventually hugged her Togruta friend, who shared the sentiment.

"Congratulations, Jari." she said happily.

Jaral smiled, but then she made a couple of calculations and suddenly her face turned to a puzzled one.

"Wait...the only time it could have happen would have been...two months ago, right before we left for Korriban."

Ahsoka became astonished as well. "You sure about it?"

"You are correct, Jaral." Jinx intervened, showing the hologram of the scanning. "The embryo is still in the egg."

"Egg?!?" Jaral exclaimed, quite scared. "What are you talking about?"

Jinx sighed. "Guess I had to tell you, sooner or later." he said with his robotic voice, then switched the holograms. "You already know that the biology of a Legionnaire has many differences with that of regular Humans, right?"

Jaral nodded.

"That also influences pregnancies. At least, in cases like yours, where one of the two parents is a regular Human. In this case, Darvos."

"What happens, then?"

"Well, let's talk for a moment about the case between your own parents. When the Legionnaire is the male, the sperms are capable of adapting to the ovum of the female, and the pregnancy goes on like a regular one, birthing a Human with the genetic improvements of a Legionnaire.