This is a sequel to Event Horizon - sorry for the long delay! This picks up almost immediately after the end of Event Horizon, so I would strongly suggest reading that one first.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions to improve the story and my writing, or if you notice any errors or inconsistencies. I love getting constructive criticism so I can get better!
Rian could feel the familiar thrum of the Event Horizon's engines through the soles of her boots as she paused at the door of one of the cargo holds. She was alone, and allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment to savour the steady vibration. It had only been a couple of hours since she had taken it back from Skavak after the scoundrel had stolen it from her on Ord Mantell, and she had missed her ship more than she was willing to admit. The ship was her life, her freedom, and her only family.
They were in hyperspace, bound for Corellia, and she had left her odd new crew to get settled into their quarters while she checked over the ship. Her first concern was for the cargo she had been supposed to deliver to Viidu on Ord Mantell before Skavak's theft of her ship and her subsequent imprisonment by the Republic army had derailed her plans. It had taken longer than she had expected before getting that whole mess sorted out, but she was sure that Viidu and his client would still be grateful for the crates of blasters, even if they arrived late.
She thumbed the controls for the cargo bay door and held her breath as it slid open, then let out a long sigh of disappointment when she saw the empty hold. She wasn't surprised that Skavak had dumped the blasters after he'd made off with her ship - probably for a tidy profit - but it still stung. She would have taken a penalty for late delivery, but it still would have been a nice sum. It was just as well that she'd already set course for Corellia. She had contacts there and could probably find a job or two without much trouble. She'd need the credits to pay back the portion of the delivery fee she had gotten up front, plus whatever interest Rogun decided to charge for his missing delivery. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too steep, but she wasn't sure what a man that called himself "The Butcher" would consider to be a reasonable amount. She would need to contact him to let him know about the lost shipment, and arrange for repayment, but she wanted to make sure she had some credits to her name first, just in case he demanded some of the money immediately.
She let the door slide shut and turned back down the corridor towards the bridge to send a few messages to see what her contacts might have available. The interior of the Event Horizon was a double-stacked ring, with the bridge, kitchen and attached common room, medbay and the two smallest cargo holds on the top ring, along with her small suite of rooms and one set of shared crew quarters. The lower ring held the engine room, storage space, and a second set of crew quarters, along with the bulk of the cargo bays. It was a lot of ship for just one person, but it was far from empty right now.
Lomning's low, calm tones contrasted sharply with Corso's excited chatter from the main crew quarters halfway around the ring corridor from her. It sounded like her young Mantellian farm boy was getting along just fine with the big Twi'lek Jedi for the moment. She had been pretty sure that he would - Lomning was good company, and Corso was a cheerful, generally easygoing person, if a bit over-enthusiastic sometimes.
Viggota's laugh echoed up from the lower ring. Rian could barely hear Jorgan's deep rumble over the noise of the engines but she knew the Cathar was down there too. It was going to be odd, having soldiers on board. Or ex-soldiers, she supposed, after the stunt that Garza and the SIS had pulled, making them "independent contractors" or whatever term they wanted to use to pretty up the fact that they had disbanded Havoc and essentially kicked Vig and Jorgan out of the military to benefit their own careers. The mess with Tavus, the former commander of Havoc Company who had turned traitor not only hadn't been Vig and Jorgan's fault, but the two of them had worked their butts off to find him and bring him in before he could defect to the Empire. She may not have approved of Garza's methods, but she didn't deny that Vig and Jorgan were good men to have with her in a fight. It wouldn't be much of a hardship, keeping them around.
Still, she didn't run her ship with anything even remotely resembling military discipline and she knew the two soldiers wouldn't shed their old habits that quickly, even if they did decide to stick around. She was sure that her methods were likely to ruffle a few feathers - or more likely fur, given Jorgan's attitude towards her so far - but she was determined to try her best to make things work. The Event Horizon felt alive again in a way it hadn't since her last crew had left. The ship would always her home, and her heart, but now it didn't feel quite so empty.
Rian shook her head, the heavy tendrils of her blue lekku sliding against her shoulders, and headed briskly for the bridge before she could examine that thought too closely. There was no guarantee that this crew would stay, not any more than the others had.
It was about four hours' travel through the hyperspace lanes from Coruscant to Corellia, which was plenty of time for the others to get themselves settled. Lomning and Corso had had a good-natured argument about who would get which side of the room, which Rian had solved by tossing a sabacc deck at them. "Winner gets first choice," she told them with a grin. Corso had triumphed, though Rian wasn't sure that Lomning hadn't let him win. The Jedi had proved to be an adept player when they'd been stuck in the Republic safe house on Coruscant.
She'd even found her C2 unit - he had been deactivated and stuffed in a storage closet in the lower ring - and the droid had been almost pathetically glad to see her again. He had bowed over and over again until she swore she could hear his hip joints seizing up.
"Why ain't he talking?" Corso asked curiously from where he was sprawled on one of the couches in the common room once his meagre belongings had been unpacked in the crew quarters. His dark brown dreadlocks hung loose around his shoulders. "I've met a couple of droids of that model before - usually you can't hardly get them to shut up."
Rian rolled her eyes, leaning her hip against the side of the holodisplay. "I know. I disabled his voice unit because he was driving me up the wall."
Corso frowned at that, shaking his head. "That's not right, Captain. He's got a right to be able to voice his opinions too." Rian narrowed her eyes at him but he just stuck his chin out stubbornly. "He's got a mind. It's not right to do something like that." He was on his feet before she could stop him, approaching Seetoo. His deft fingers found the dangling wires and plugged them easily back into place. "There, that's better."
"Oh my stars!" Seetoo exclaimed. "I am ever so grateful to you, young man. I cannot tell you how much of a trial it has been."
Rian groaned, pushing herself upright. "Fine, that's just fine Riggs. You're in charge of maintaining him, then."
"Thank you, Master," Seetoo said, bowing towards her again. "And may I say how good it is to see you again? Now, young master Riggs, I have completed a diagnostic and I do have some minor damage to several critical systems."
"There you go. Take him downstairs and get to work, then," she said, slanting a somewhat evil grin at the young man. Corso blinked at her a couple of times but then Seetoo was bustling over to him, joints whirring madly.
"Right this way, sir," the droid said, metal feet clanking on the durasteel decking as he plucked at Corso's sleeve and half-dragged him from the room. "I can advise you on the units that need restoration and direct you in affecting the repairs. First, I should like you to take a look at my joints. I have noticed some reduced mobility." His mechanical voice trailed off as he steered a hapless Corso along the circular hallway towards the stairs leading down to the repair bay on the lower level.
Rian looked at the stunned expressions on the faces of her crew, then threw her head back and laughed.
Corso seemed to have a knack for mechanics, and it hadn't taken him long to get Seetoo back up and running at peak efficiency again. Once Corso had finished his work, Rian's first order of business had been to get the droid into her cabin to help her clean up Skavak's mess of filthy clothes and unwashed plates. It had taken the rest of the trip to Corellia and three rubbish bins, but the space was finally her own again. She had found most of her personal belongings in storage in the smallest cargo hold on the lower ring - so neatly packed away that she knew Skavak must have ordered Seetoo to do it before he had deactivated the droid.
She hadn't managed to get a straight answer about that either. When asked, the droid had merely twisted his torso from side to side in his version of a headshake. "I am not sure why Master Skavak decided to do that," he had said. "I assume he did not require my services." She had eventually given up on asking, and let the droid clank away to check on the rest of the ship.
Rian was back on the bridge when the navcomputer beeped a warning before the ship decelerated out of hyperspace. The streaked stars steadied back into points, and her computer pinged the navigational satellites around the Corellian system to ensure they were on the right approach vector.
"Captain, it appears that there is an incoming transmission," Lomning said, leaning his bulk closer to the console he was seated at.
She had already seen the blinking indicator on her console and tapped the button to accept the transmission. A burst of static quickly resolved itself into a female voice. "Unidentified freighter, you have entered Corellian space. Please provide your identification."
Rian turned her head so the mic would pick up her voice clearly. "This is the XS Event Horizon, inbound from Coruscant, requesting permission to land at Coronet City Spaceport for refuelling and resupply."
There was a pause while they presumably scanned her transponder and then the voice was back. "You've been cleared to land at docking bay seventeen, Event Horizon. I've sent you your approach trajectory and your docking contract. Welcome to Corellia, and have a pleasant stay."
"Got it," she said, watching the lights flashing on her console. "Thanks, Control." She thumbed the channel closed and flicked the flight controls to the secondary console, where Corso was seated. He was watching the whole process with interest. "Corso, you're in charge of landing. I need to review this contract to make sure they're not going to fleece us." She wasn't actually worried about that - it was the same standard contract that she'd seen every time she had landed on Corellia - but she wanted to see how Corso would handle the landing. He seemed to be a decent pilot, but she needed to get a practical demonstration of his skills so she would know what exactly he could and couldn't do.
"Me, Captain?" His voice was nearly a squeak but she didn't let herself smile, apparently absorbed with reading the information scrolling across her screens.
"I can ask someone else if you don't think you're up for it, Riggs," she said casually over her shoulder. She saw him straighten his shoulders in her peripheral vision.
"No, Captain. I can handle it," he said quickly. She did grin then, hiding it with a quick duck of her chin. He was going to make a good first mate, once he got past some of his worry about not being good enough for the job. She knew he could do stuff like this. He just needed to build up his confidence. He already knew how to handle himself in a fight, so it shouldn't be hard to transfer that poise to other aspects of this work.
She heard Lomning let out a quiet hum of amusement to her left and knew he had seen through her ruse and approved of it. She kept a careful eye on her screens as she pretended to read through the contract but Corso was doing a good job. He was perhaps a little more cautious than she would have been, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Spaceports tended to frown on damage to their docking bays, and she didn't want any new scratches on her ship when she'd just got her back.
She coded in her acceptance of the contract and transferred the payment through just as the Event Horizon touched down on the pad. She could hear the groan of the landing gear through the hull as it flexed to take the weight of the ship. The hydraulics sounded like they needed some work. She pinged a note through to the spaceport's maintenance staff to ask them to check the fluid levels, along with a request for refuelling. The crews on the ground here were some of the best in the galaxy, and she trusted them to do a good job, though she would check it over herself before they launched again.
"Good job," she said, pushing out of her chair and clasping Corso's shoulder. "Lock her down. We're all going dirt-side for a supply trip." The grin Corso flashed her was bright and excited, and she left him and Lomning behind on the bridge to go find Viggota and Jorgan.
Predictably, the two soldiers were in the weapons locker on the lower ring, looking over the handful of spare guns that Rian had accumulated. Jorgan was disassembling a blaster rifle, handing the pieces to Viggota to examine. The rust-coloured Cathar looked up sharply at her approach, ears twitching, even though she'd traded her regular boots for softer-soled shoes that barely made any noise on the decking.
"We've landed," she told them, even though she knew they could hear Corso winding the engines down. The vibrations were even stronger in the lower ring, with the engine room directly aft. "We're going to head out to resupply. I'd like you guys to come along."
"Sure," Viggota said, handing the last piece of the rifle back to Jorgan so the Cathar could snap it back into place. The big Human had taken the opportunity to shave while the ship was in hyperspace, and the dark stubble that had been growing across his head and chin was gone. It made the long scar across the left side of his face show even more sharply. "Do we need to kit up?"
She shook her head. "Corellia's not a war zone," she said. "Bring a blaster if you want, but you'll really stand out if you're wearing all your gear."
Jorgan racked the gun again and straightened his shoulders as he turned to Viggota. "Sir, someone should stay behind to watch the ship."
"Not necessary," Rian said. "I know more tricks than Skavak does to secure her, and now that Seetoo's active again he's more than capable of electrifying the door if anyone tries to slice in." And she wasn't going to give away the lock codes, like she had to that rat Skavak on Ord Mantell. That would teach her for trusting the man with her ship on someone else's say-so. "Corellia's a pretty safe port. Believe me, I'm sure not going to risk losing my ship again so soon after I got her back! And besides, I'd like for you all to come and see how I do things."
"We won't be in the way?" Viggota asked.
She shrugged. "You're my crew," she told them. "We need to see how each other operate outside of a firefight. I need to know that you all know what we're doing, and I told you you'd all have a say in the jobs we take."
Viggota glanced at Jorgan again, who frowned but finally nodded. "All right, we're in. Do we need to know anything else?"
Rian leaned her shoulder against the doorframe. "We need to resupply, so make a list of anything you'd like to have on board. We'll hit the Blue Sector - the bazaar there is legendary. You can find almost anything you can think of." She paused, looking at the two soldiers carefully. "I don't know how all of you guys are sorted for credits. I've got a bit put aside but I was counting on the pay from the Ord Mantell job so we'll probably have to do a bit of haggling to get everything we want. Fuel, food, and medical supplies are top priority. After that, I'll make contact with some friends to see if I can get us some jobs so I can start paying you guys."
Viggota nodded thoughtfully. "We'll follow your lead. We're not going to attract any unwanted attention, are we?"
"Probably, but we'll hardly be the strangest thing in the sector, so we'll be fine." She flashed him a smile. "Trust me."
Coronet City wasn't quite as overwhelming as Coruscant's world-spanning metropolis, but only by virtue of the fact that it didn't actually cover the entire planet. It was still plenty big enough to make Corso's eyes pop out as he craned his head back to look up at the skyscrapers towering above them and Rian had to grab his shoulder to keep him from stepping off the edge of the curb into traffic. It was a bustling, busy city, with one of the best spaceports Rian had ever had the pleasure of using, and was surprisingly clean for its size. CorSec - the Corellian Security Forces - patrolled the city constantly, and very few people were willing to try anything like littering or petty vandalism under their watchful eyes.
Rian watched a grey-uniformed patrol size them up as they strode past. She nodded politely and kept walking. Unless they were specifically looking for you, CorSec wouldn't usually stop you unless you looked truly suspicious.
"Keep up, Farm Boy!" she hollered back at Corso, who had paused again to gawk up at the skyscrapers that towered above them. It was mid-afternoon, the sun reflecting brilliantly off the transparisteel windows. Only a few high, sparse contrails marred the clear blue of the sky overhead. The temperature was comfortable at the tail end of Coronet City's summer and Rian was starting to regret wearing her armoured jacket, despite leaving it open at the front.
Corso hurried to catch up to them, shaking his head. His dreads hung loose around his shoulders and he was dressed casually in denym pants and a short-sleeved grey shirt. "I thought Coruscant was something else, and then I find out that there's other places just like it," he said. "How can people stand to live like that?" He waved a hand at the towering buildings and arching walkways high above them. "Don't they want to stand on solid ground from time to time?"
"I know you're from the middle of nowhere, but you must have seen civilization at some point," Rian teased gently, tucking her arm through his to make sure he didn't trip over anything. He was still completely distracted, head whipping around every time something new caught his eye. Beyond him, Lomning was smiling softly, the Twi'lek looking around as if he could see the city through Corso's eyes. "I know you've been off Ord Mantell. Where did you do your military training?"
"Carida," he said distractedly, craning his neck to get a better look at one of the maglev trains as it streaked by overhead.
Jorgan made a surprised noise and she glanced over at him. "Carida's a good facility. High-gravity world, though, so not exactly heavily settled. The Academy is big, but nothing like this." He waved a hand at the bustle around them. The two soldiers were wearing civilian clothes, though they still moved with the precise bearing of military men.
Rian tugged Corso around a pair of green-skinned Rodians that had stopped to argue in the middle of the sidewalk. The sidewalks were crowded with people and the roads choked with vehicles. They were mostly small, single-person transports but there were also delivery vehicles and public buses vying for space on the wide boulevards. The air was thick with the noise and smell of a bustling city and busy spaceport.
"Are we walking all the way to the market?" Viggota asked, dodging a sharply-dressed Human woman who was snapping commands into an earpiece communicator. Rian felt bad for whoever was on the other end of the call.
"There's a hovertrain stop just a couple of streets over. We'll have to transfer, but it'll get us close." She ducked under a low awning in front of a shop selling actual hard-copy books, pulling Corso along with her. His eyes widened at the display in the window and she had to tug on his arm to get him walking again. "Everyone keep up. I don't want to spend half the day searching for you if you get lost." She flashed a grin over her shoulder and Lomning laughed.
"Not all of us are as overwhelmed as Corso, Captain," he said in gentle admonishment.
"I know; I was teasing." She slowed down to let the Jedi catch up. She noticed that he was flowing through the crowd like water and wondered if it was natural grace or Jedi training that let him move like that. "Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?"
"One of the Outer Rim colonies," he said with a quirk of his lip. "And then to Tython for my training. But I have seen cities before."
"I've never really known a Jedi," she said, taking the next right. She could see the hovertrain stop a few blocks ahead of them. "I don't know much about you guys other than scuttlebutt and what you see on adventure holos, so I assume I have a really skewed view of what you're capable of."
Lomning laughed. "Most likely. Despite what you see in the holovids, we are not all wise old men who speak in cryptic riddles, or serene warriors who can defeat entire armies single-handedly."
"Not all?" Rian said with a grin. "So that means that those stereotypes are sometimes true?"
The big Twi'lek chuckled, tilting his head back to watch as a maglev train went by overhead. He still managed to step neatly around the tall, horned Chagrian businessman that cut suddenly across his path without even looking. "All stereotypes have some grounding in truth," he admitted. "The wise, old Jedi master is one such trope, and I have met a number of them myself. The unstoppable warrior is another, though they are so rare as to be nearly legend. Even the wisest master is not sure if those old tales are truth or fiction, but they make for exciting cinema."
"I've met a few Knights in my career," Jorgan spoke up unexpectedly. "Good warriors, good men and women all."
"Where did you meet them?" Lomning asked, dropping back to where the Cathar strode along in their wake, sharp yellow-green eyes never still as he scanned the streets around them.
"Mostly when I was on Coruscant for officer training," he replied. "Seen a couple on Ord Mantell too. That's where I saw them fight." He shook his head in amazement. "Never seen anything like it. I can believe those stories of the unstoppable warrior, after seeing that."
Lomning chuckled and tucked his hands into his sleeves. "The duelling instructor or Tython is another such fighter," he said. "The poor man despaired of me, said he had never had such an unteachable student."
"You?" Corso asked in surprise, the conversation finally drawing his attention away from the bustle of the city. "But I've seen you fight."
"I am not much of a warrior, compared to some of my brethren," the Jedi replied. "My talents lie in other areas. I am a healer, and a diplomat. But Jedi who cannot defend themselves from enemies do not graduate from the Academy. Or at least they do not leave. They work in the Archives, mostly, and remain on Tython," he added, seeing the question on Corso's face.
"What about all those other things you do, though?" the young man pressed, waving his hands around in demonstration. "Throwing stuff around with the Force, knocking people around."
"Most Jedi have at least some talent in that area," the big Twi'lek replied, following Rian as she crossed the street towards the station. "I am better at that than at direct lightsaber combat."
Viggota nodded, clearly filing the information away for future reference. Rian flashed her credstick at the reader, tapping out day passes for all of them. "What about you, Corso?" Viggota asked as she passed the chips around. "What's your strong suit in a fight?"
"My blaster," the kid replied. "And I can brawl, if it's pretty even. I'm no good at long odds."
"Sharpshooter," Rian said when Viggota's eyes slid over to her. "A bit sneaky. And I fight dirty hand-to-hand." She grinned at the soldier and he laughed.
"I'll remember that. And Jorgan, I've read your service record. We'll have to see if we can't find you a sniper rifle somewhere."
"I'd appreciate that," the Cathar rumbled. "I had to turn my service weapon in after I left the Deadeyes, but since we're..." His face twisted a little but he continued in the same level tone. "No longer bound by regulations, I certainly wouldn't object to having one close to hand."
Rian shrugged when Viggota turned his attention to her. "Necessities first. I'll keep an eye out, but it might not fit into our budget today." She didn't have one on the ship - she'd never had a sniper on her crew. She was a good shot, but she liked the maneuverability she got with her blasters better than setting up with a bulky rifle.
The big soldier nodded and followed Rian as she boarded the hovertrain that pulled up next to them. The doors hissed shut behind them and Rian pushed through the half-full car to one of the windows. It had been a while since she had been here, and she wanted to make sure she didn't miss her stop.