Chapter 2
"Seefor!"
An orange and white R2 droid came towards them. It made a few beeping noises before Kat replied.
"I know, I know. I hate it here as well." The droid beeped some more. "What do you mean? An imposter? Where?" three beeping sounds. "Oh. No, no, no, Seefor. He's with me and Ben."
"Is he talking about me?" Luke interrupted.
"Yep." More beeps. "No, he's a good guy." The little droid turned his dome towards Luke and beeped even more. "No, his name's Luke, not..." Kat look at Luke, whose eyebrows were raised in amusement. "I'm not gonna repeat what he said." She crouched in front of him. "Your mouth is worse than mine, at times."
Seefor's reaction was to extend one of his arms and zap Kat's hand.
"Ow." She whined, standing up and shaking her hand, turning back to Luke. "He loves me."
Luke nodded in response. "You can understand what he's saying?"
"Sadly."
R2-C4 wheeled himself over to Ben.
"He seems to be in good condition." Ben took note. "Well done, little bird." He turned to Luke as they started walking. "You'll have to sell your speeder."
"That's alright. I'm never coming back to this planet again."
I thoroughly agree with you. Kat thought.
Luke came back with a few coins. "He says it's the best he can do. Since the XP-38, came out, they're just not in demand."
"It will be enough." Ben replied.
The four walked down a small alleyway towards bay ninety-four.
"If the ship's as fast as he's boasting, we ought to do well." Ben said.
Kat found it very hard to keep quiet.
They had reunited with Luke's droids before they found Chewbacca, who lead them to docking bay ninety-four.
"What a piece of junk." Luke exclaimed as he saw the Millennium Falcon for the first time.
They saw Han come down from the boarding ramp. "She'll make point five beyond the speed of light. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts. I've added some special modifications myself."
Luke scratched his head, unsure of Han's words. "Don't insult the Falcon too much," Kat whispered in his ear. "I flew in that thing on my way here; Han probably thinks he's married to the ship."
That made him smile.
"We're a little rushed, so if you'll hurry aboard we'll get out of here." Han said not noticing Kat's whispered comments to Luke.
The passengers moved in towards the Millennium Falcon.
Now sitting inside the interior of the ship looking down out the door, Kat saw several stormtroopers enter the docking bay. Luke noticed that her immediate reaction was to put her hands at her hips, grasping the two blasters that hung from her belt. Ben placed a hand on her arm.
"No, my little bird." He calmed her, but Kat's hands remained on the blasters that Luke hadn't even noticed. "Don't get involved."
Han came running up the ramp. "Chewie! Get us outta here!"
Kat, Luke, Ben and a gold protocol droid, of whom Ben and Luke called 'Threepio' strapped themselves in for takeoff.
"Oh my," the droid exclaimed. "I'd forgotten how much I hate space travel."
They took off in haste, and once they found it safe to stand up they went into the cockpit.
"Stay sharp. They're two more coming in; they're gonna try cut us off." Han said frantically.
"Why don't you outrun them?" Luke was beginning to get paranoid. "I thought you said this thing was fast."
"Watch your mouth, kid, or you're going to find yourself floating home." Han snapped back. "We'll be safe enough once we make the jump to hyperspace. Besides, I know a few manoeuvres. We'll lose them!"
Kat felt like shoving Han out the door and getting them out of there herself. "In your rusted old wife?!"
"Shush kidette, or you'll end up locked in the storage compartment!" Han mocked back at her, before turning back.
The ship rocked as laser bolts hit them.
"This is where the fun begins." Han smiled.
"How long before you can make the jump into lightspeed?" Ben asked.
"It'll take a few moments to get the coordinates from the navi-computer." Han replied.
"Are you kidding? At the rate they're gaining…" Luke started.
"Traveling through hyperspace isn't like dusting crops, boy! Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?"
The ship was now constantly being battered, with red warning lights going off.
"What's that flashing?" Luke pointed at lights.
"We're losing our deflector shield." Han replied. "Go strap yourselves in, I'm gonna make the jump to lightspeed."
Luke, Kat and Ben went back to where they were strapped in before. "I don't like him very much." She told Luke. "On the way to Tatooine, he wouldn't stop mocking my hair."
Luke frowned in response. "Really? I like your hair."
Kat's eyebrows raised. "Well… that's a new one."
"What?"
"Nothing." They kept staring at each other until it was safe to walk around again.
Kat watched Luke as he practised his lightsaber skills against a seeker droid. She was next to Seefor who was on a team with Chewie against Artoo and Threepio at a game of dejarik.
"Forgive me, mistress," the gold droid took Kat's focus away from Luke's training. "I have not yet introduced myself. My name is C-3PO Human Cyborg Relations. What may I call you?"
"My name's long and complicated," Kat replied. "It's Katalandtemynarilazatirae Dravvaadas."
"It is always a pleasure to meet new people, Mistress Katandtemynarilazatirae."
Kat laughed. "You're the only person I have met to be able to, and bother to, pronounce my entire first name."
"But Mistress Katalandtemynarilazatirae, I am not a person. Just a protocol droid."
Kat leaned towards Threepio and pointed a finger. "And don't let Seefor tell you otherwise."
The orange R2 droid turned his dome head, beeping something inappropriate in reply.
"Well, he certainly knows how to insult everyone." Threepio sat back aghast.
"Seefor, behave." Kat whacked him on the dome. "He can be a nice, good droid though, Threepio. Just wait."
"Yes, I know we were talking before. He says that you two have been and lived on many different planets across the galaxy. Have you learnt many languages, Mistress Katalandtemynarilazatirae?"
"You don't have to say the entire of my first name." Kat smiled.
"If you say so, Mistress Katalandte."
"And don't call me mistress."
"Very well, Madame Katalandte."
Kat face palmed. It was obvious she wasn't going to stop Threepio from addressing her formerly. "But your question before," Kat decided to just go along. "I've managed to pick up Bothese, Huttese, Chiss," she looked over at Seefor and the wookiee. "Binary and very, very basic Shyriiwook."
Just as Threepio turned back to help Artoo, Kat felt something come from deep within her. Inside her head she heard the panic of voices, then cut off like Luke's saber cutting through the rose bushes of Alderaan.
Alderaan, she thought.
She looked over at old Ben to see the effect had taken him as well. He moved to sit down and looked as if he was about to faint.
Luke noticed. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"
"I felt a great disturbance in the Force..." he replied. "as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened."
Ben rubbed his forehead, deep in thought, then turned back to Luke.
"You'd better get on with your exercises." He told him.
Luke went back too practising his saber skills as Han walked into the room. "Well you can forget your troubles with those Imperial slugs. I told you I'd out run 'em."
Everyone was silent and Luke continued defending himself from the practise droid.
"Don't everyone thank me at once." Han muttered sarcastically.
Kat went back to watching Luke with his lightsaber, occasionally putting an eye on the game of dejarik.
"Now be carefull, Artoo," Threepio warned. Artoo moved a piece, killing one of Chewie and Seefor's holographic players.
Chewie wailed something, whilst Seefor beeped wildly. "Seefor!" Kat scolded at her droid. "Language!"
"He made a fair move," Threepio informed the wookiee, ignoring Seefor's insulting curses. "Screaming about it won't help you."
"Let him have it," Han interrupted. "It's not wise to upset a wookiee."
"But sir," Threepio talked back. "No one worries about upsetting a droid."
"That's cause a droid don't pull peoples arms out of their sockets when they lose," Han leaned forward. "Wookiees are known to do that."
Chewie put his hands behind his head in smugness.
Threepio looked at him. "I see your point, sir." He then turned to the blue astromech. "I suggest a new strategy, Artoo," at first Kat thought he had actually come up with something clever, but was then proven very wrong. "Let Seefor and the wookiee win."
Seefor beeped in agreement.
Kat put her concentration in watching the match of dejarik again, ignoring the conversation that was taking place. Eventually she looked back up at Luke, to see that the practise droid had stung him right in the backside. She tried very hard to suppress her laugh, whilst Han failed.
"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no goof match for a blaster at your side, kid." Han smiled.
"You don't believe in the Force, do you?" Luke paused his practise.
"Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful force controlling everything. There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny." Han explained. "It's a whole lot of simple tricks and nonsense."
Ben smiled.
"Kat, come here, little bird."
Kat stood up from her seat next to the board game and walked over to Ben. She already knew what he had in mind. He just nodded at her, and she shut her eyes.
Kat placed all her focus on the hydro-spanner she had seen earlier on one side of the room. Opening her eyes, she lifted it into the air and started to move it through the air across the room, feeling the force run through her from her head to her toes.
Smiling, she lifted the hydro-spanner above Han's head, before letting go of it in her mind. Kat made the goofiest smile as he yelled. It would probably have made quite a bump…
Luke stared at her in awe, ignoring Han's cussing. If Kat could do that…
Kat's goofy smile, which Luke decided that he liked, stayed on her lips as she sat back down in her seat, feeling slightly dozy.
"I suggest that you try it again, Luke." Ben walked over to Luke and placed a helmet on his head. "This time, let go of your conscious self and act on instinct."
Luke laughed nervously. "With the blast shield down, I can't even see. How am I supposed to fight?"
"Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them." Ben replied. "You saw what Kat did."
Ben looked at her, to see she hadn't heard and was struggling to keep her eyes open now.
Han shook his head at the crazed lot. Luke made a few attempts to deflect the bolts from the seeker, but nonetheless it hit him anyway.
"Stretch out with your feelings." Ben instructed him.
Luke stood in one place, letting his feelings stretch out. The seeker shot a few bolts, with Luke almost effortlessly deflecting them.
"See, you can do it." Ben told him as he removed the helmet.
"I call it luck." Han excused.
"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck." Ben talked back.
Han looked at the flashing lights of the control panel. "Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan," he stood up, walking in Kat's general direction. "And somebody has to wake up kidette there." He raised his voice as he got closer.
Kat jolted forward, making a face and flailing her arms around for a second. "Wha-?"
Han smiled in success, as he and Chewie walked back into the cockpit. But Luke smiled at the priceless face Kat had just pulled, before turning back to Ben.
"You know, I did feel something," he told Ben. "I could almost see the remote."
"That's good. You've made your first step into a larger world."
I'm back. And so soon. I didn't have anything on this weekend so I just worked on this mainly. I don't even know how many of you are reading this. Am I even talking to anyone? Do readers of this fic exist? I think I'm gonna scare myself if I continue writing this author's note so I'm just gonna go now. Also, longer than last chapter. 10 points to yoda-is-cool! So long, human beings.