Chapter 3: Departure
Claire breathed in deeply the smells of the planet she was about to leave. Jo'ron was a mostly city-filled planet, though nothing compared to Coruscant. But it was her home. For as long as she could remember, she lived on Jo'ron. She grew up there, became a Jedi there. And now she was leaving. But only for a little while, for she was needed on the planet of the head of the Jedi counsel. Claire opened her eyes to look around once more. She was standing on the platform where her flier was parked. It was Claire's own flier, though she only used it a few times because she hardly ever left the planet. After all, only recently did she actually complete her Jedi training. Claire looked around again. A few Jedi were standing off to the side, watching her to see her off. Claire turned back to her flier, sighing. She was just about to jump into it when a voice caught her off guard.
"Claire!" someone called. Claire turned and automatic relief spread over her. Mercado was jogging across the departure platform carrying something. Claire also noticed a small round droid following Mercado closely.
"Master Faleur," Claire said when Mercado reached her, "for a moment I believed that you weren't going to say good-bye."
"You forgot something," he said, and he held out his hand which was holding a piece of luggage.
"Ugh, I would've left without it," Claire mumbled, cursing herself for her stupidity and lack of memory. Mercado handed her the bag and Claire sighed inwardly as she took it and turned back to her flier. She opened the hatch in the back of the flier, stuffed the suitcase in, and closed it again. Mercado was standing with his hands tucked into his cloak, watching Claire.
"I also suggest you take this droid along with you," he said, nodding toward the droid at his feet. Claire looked down at the small orange and white droid. She wasn't accustomed to having a droid following her around and everything.
"He's a good droid," Mercado said in assurance, "I used him for a while during my training." Claire stepped over to the droid, looking him over. She bent down, searching for identification.
"R7," she said, reading its name. The droid turned its little head and beeped in response. Claire cocked her head to the side, and then straightened.
"Alright, if you think I should," she said, looking down at the droid. Mercado reached down and bumped the droid with the back of his hand.
"In the flier, R7," he said. R7 beeped again in reply, and Claire watched it roll over to the flier, where a mechanical hand came out, grabbed the droid, and then retracted itself and R7 into the left wing of the flier.
"May the Force be with you, Claire," Mercado said softly. Claire looked at him.
"May the Force be with you," she replied. She bowed humbly in respect. When she straightened, Mercado reached out and pulled her closer, embracing her in a hug.
"Really, take care sister," he said. Claire smiled into his shoulder. She loved it when he called her his sister. They really were like siblings to one another, since they practically grew up together.
"And you, my brother," Claire said when they let go. Mercado smiled a rare smile down at Claire, which Claire returned one that was just as rare.
"Have fun at Coruscant," Mercado said, his smiled transforming into a grin.
"Oh yes, definitely," Claire said, and she grinned back. Mercado's grin began to fade.
"Keep safe," he said softly. Claire held back her slight surprise.
"I always do, Master Faleur," she replied, staring him dead in the eye. Mercado stared back, and they stayed this way for the longest time. Claire could see the concern in the Jedi master's eyes, something she hadn't seen in a long time. He really was concerned over her. At last Claire turned away, knowing she needed to leave now. As she faced her flier, Mercado sighed.
"Don't forget to call, two times daily!" he said jokingly as Claire tossed her pack into the open cockpit of the flier. Claire rolled her eyes.
"Good-bye Mercado," she said, with one last look at her Jedi friend. And then she took a graceful leap up a good 6 feet. In a split second she was sliding into the cockpit as if she had just dropped from the sky.
"Show off," Mercado muttered, yet he grinned. Claire saluted as the glass cockpit door closed above her head. Mercado bowed humbly in farewell. And then the sounds of the planet were blocked out as the cockpit closed up. Claire let out a sigh.
"Okay R7, fire up the engine," she said. The little droid made a buzzing sound in response, and the engine roared to life underneath Claire. She smiled. It had been a while since she flew one of these. And when she did, she never went outside the planet's atmosphere, especially by herself. Claire looked down at the control panel, breathing in deeply. She clicked a few buttons, flipped a few switches, and soon the flier was lifting off the ground slowly, and Claire grinned again. She looked back down toward the platform, where Mercado was standing with his arms tucked into his cloak. He looked almost close to tears, if that was possible for a Jedi master like himself.
"Oh come off it Mercado," Claire muttered to herself, rolling her eyes. Yet she felt slightly guilty. Mercado really was worried about her leaving. Whether or not it had to do with the fact that this was the first time she was going on a mission by herself, and he wasn't coming to keep a close brotherly watch on her, she didn't know. So Claire didn't let Mercado's worry be taken for granted.
Claire sighed, and she pulled the flier up into the air, feeling it vibrating smoothly under her. She focused on her flying, still nervous about being back in the air again, and even a little nervous about leaving the planet itself. But she was a Jedi. She couldn't let her slightly timid personality keep her from doing what she was born to do.
"Okay, take us up R7," Claire ordered the droid, and it obeyed perfectly. Claire looked down once more toward the planet, watching at Mercado Faleur became a small dark speck on the ground below. And then the clouds blocked her view. Claire looked back out the cockpit, trying to see through the clouds. That was one dangerous thing about flying in weather like this— you could run into anything. She kept her eyes peeled, until the clouds finally broke and Claire watched at the planet's atmosphere swam behind her and she was engulfed by the deep, cold emptiness of space. When they hit the outer rim in of the atmosphere and the planet was finally beneath them, Claire let out the breath that she had been holding inside. She smiled, seeing the solar system stretching out in front of her. It was then that she really felt at home.
"I'm in space R7…" Claire said. She heard him beeping outside the cockpit, and Claire looked down at the control panel where a little black screen was scrolling red letters across. It was R7 speaking through the computer. Claire grinned as she read his words.
"It has been a long time since I have been in space with Master Mercado Faleur."
"He never really told me of his being in space…" Claire replied, thinking about all the times that Mercado had left to go on missions that the Council had assigned to him.
"There are many stories for him to tell you." Claire thought about that. When she returned from Coruscant she would ask him about it.
"The hyper driver is 10 kilometers to the northeast," R7 suddenly beeped, and Claire looked out of the cockpit again, looking toward the northeast. There, floating in space was a round object of sorts, with a two small extending arms in the center reaching out toward the center. It was just the right size for her flier.
"Whoa… you mean… I'm actually going to get to get in one of those?" she asked out loud, marveling at the machine.
"Yes," R7 said, "otherwise it would take fourteen days and eleven hours to reach Coruscant at the highest speed of this flier." Claire blinked in surprise.
"I guess I will be taking it then," she said, "Okay R7, get this thing on auto pilot." R7 beeped in reply, and it messed with the controls. In a matter of seconds the flier was moving itself without the help of Claire's piloting skills. Claire attempted to relax as she let go of the steering wheel, letting the flier direct itself over to the hyper driver. Claire watched as her flier pulled itself into the hyper driver, clicking itself into the extensions for security.
"Let's get this thing going…" Claire muttered, and she gripped a hold of the steering wheel for safe measure.
"Go R7," she said. And then it broke into hyper drive. The stars stretched into white blurs as the concept of space was seemingly folded under Claire's body, and the flier lurched forward.
Claire wanted, with all her might, to close her eyes against the blinding white light. But it only lasted for a second. Soon the lights were blasted away into darkness, and Claire had the momentary feeling of weightlessness, and then the flier broke out into space once more. But it wasn't really space. It was almost complete darkness. Every now and then the stars appeared, and Claire could even swear that she saw another flier off in the distance, and maybe even a planet. This lasted for several minutes, and Claire watched with rapt attention, in case she missed something. And then, at last, the flier broke into the solar system that Coruscant laid in. Claire couldn't help but gasp. Off in the distance, the city planet floated in space. And it really was a city planet— all it seemed to consist of was just lights galore of the whole entire planet. It was literally one giant round city. It was still a ways off, and so Claire could see the whole of the planet revolving through space.
"Wow…" Claire said out loud. R7 beeped outside. "Bring this ting in, at high speed," Claire ordered the droid. It beeped and buzzed in response, and soon enough the flier was speeding along toward the planet, still attached to the round mechanical hyper driver.
Claire soaked it all in: the planet, the circles of lights, and even the other fliers and ships that she could see coming to and from the planet.
As Claire, R7, and her flier got nearer to the planet, R7 began speaking again.
"We must leave the hyper driver here," it said.
"Oh, yeah, right," Claire replied, nodding in response.
"Get me off autopilot," Claire ordered, "I want to do this…" R7 beeped in response as was becoming usual in response to Claire's orders. R7 flipped a few switches and messed around the controls again, and then the flier fell back into the control of Claire. Claire gripped the steering wheel tightly, feeling a little more confident. Claire pulled the flier out of the mechanical grasp of the hyper driver, which R7 had detached himself, and she felt the flier go back to its almost weightless feeling as it was pulled into the cold empty space. Claire pushed the flier forward, and eventually she had it in the atmosphere of the planet. This planet didn't have any clouds that hindered Claire's viewing as she flew through the hot atmosphere. Now the weightless feeling was disappearing as the planet's gravity pulled the flier and Claire through the atmosphere. And then the flier broke out of the atmospheric light and then she saw the planet for what it was down below. Again, Claire gasped involuntarily. All that she could see through the orange glow of the afternoon sun was just city, for miles. Literally. There was no end to it. Tall buildings lined every square inch of the horizon and beyond. There were tall buildings, short ones, fat ones, and skinny ones. And most of all there were vehicles everywhere. Like on Jo'ron and most planets, the vehicles were speeding through the air constantly. But this place was swarming. There would be no parking places. Claire kept rapt attention on everything, taking it al in and making sure she didn't miss (or hit) anything.
"R7," Claire said, realizing something, "where am I supposed to go?"
"You are instructed to head to the Senate District of the Imperial City," R7 answered, "You are almost there. It's only 120 more miles." Claire felt a pang of annoyance. 120 miles? She thought. But she shrugged away these thoughts. 120 miles could be covered in a matter of minutes if she went fast enough. So, with another burst of confident, Claire put the flier into almost maximum speed, and she was off, flying through the air, high enough to avoid most traffic. After all, she was still a flier, so she didn't have to follow the normal regulations of the city limits, right?
Just as she suspected, Claire reached the Imperial City quickly, with a few minutes to spare. Gently and carefully, Claire pulled the flier down into the main traffic zone, where thousands of vehicles were speeding carelessly through the air.
"Blast, how am I supposed to do this?" Claire said in frustration, as she hovered over the traffic, trying to figure out how to get into the line of vehicles. R7 beeped, but Claire didn't read his words. Instead she felt a sudden jerk of the flier, and in an instant the flier was pelting downward into the oncoming traffic. Claire let out a high scream just as the flier dodged a particularly large vehicle, and then the flier slid into the traffic and it was soon following behind the smaller vehicles. Claire was now breathing heavily.
"T-thanks R7," she said breathlessly, and she relaxed as R7 took over the flying for the time being. When her heart had stopped pounding in her chest, Claire looked out the window. The sun was splitting through the buildings, and since it was beginning to set, it was casting ominous shadows over everything. The sky was a brilliant pink colour, which Claire found particularly beautiful to look at. But she kept her focus on the city surrounding them, watching out for anything.
"Hey, there's a platform," Claire said, pointing. It was a flat platform, and amazingly it was empty. R7 beeped and buzzed in reply, and it directed the flier toward the landing platform. Claire took over when they exited the violent traffic, and she pulled the flier down toward the platform gracefully. Quicker than she did when she left Jo'ron, Claire landed the flier on the platform easily, though she landed a little too hard. Claire heard the engine powering down when she cut the engine. She sat in her seat for a moment, breathing.
"Well, that was fun," she said. R7 beeped. Claire reached up and pushed on the top of the cockpit and in response the cockpit door slip open to allow Claire to get out. When it opened, a rush of new oxygen met her, mixed with the fumes of the city. Claire wrinkled her nose in slight disgust. It definitely smelled different than Jo'ron.
"C'mon R7," Claire ordered, and she watched a second as the droid began to drop from the left wing of the plane. And then Claire grabbed her bag, and leapt from the flier, gracefully like she did when she got in, feeling the rush of the Force propelling her up, and then down. Claire landed gently and smoothly on the ground. She smiled at the feeling of utter security. She was back on the ground again. She definitely preferred the Force on the ground than she did in the air. As Claire turned to the empty platform to follow after R7, her security was suddenly shot down like a missile had hit it. Without her knowledge, three people had accumulated behind Claire, there arms folded, looking quite deadly.