{Chapter 9: The Good Life

1 Year, 11 Months Later

Besond X

"C'mon R7," Claire Pelatiah said through her teeth, grinding them as her flier rocked dangerously to the left. R7, who wasn't making a sound, was smoking in the left wing of the damaged flier. Space was not an easy thing to deal with when your flier damaged, your droid is smoking from the head, and there were a dozen enemy droids flying at you.

"R7," Claire cried as she dodged another droid in a flier, "c'mon!"

"Pelatiah, you'd better get yourself out of there," a voice came in through Claire's earpiece.

"Hold your horses, Grindon," Claire replied, gritting her teeth and doing a barrel-role through the gap in two droids' ships.

"Claire," another voice came through. Claire smirked.

"Faleur," she said, "how did I know you'd ruin the fun?"

"This isn't a game Claire," Mercado Faleur said. Clair frowned.

"Really?" she asked sarcastically, "I didn't know!" She jerked her flier to the right to avoid debris.

She heard Mercado sigh to himself.

"I know Mercado," Claire mumbled, and she sighed as well. Suddenly, R7 moved his little droid head.

"R7!" Claire cried, and she looked over at him.

"I'm okay," Claire read the droids words through the screen.

"Well, good, 'cause we gotta get outta here," Claire said back. R7 beeped in response, and he shook his head roughly. Claire dipped the flier downward to avoid one of their fleet ships.

"R7," she said, "now would be a good time to get us outta here!" R7 buzzed and beeped in reply, but Claire didn't see what he said— the flier gave a lurch as a droid crashed right into the back of her it. Claire barely glanced behind her.

"Well that's not good," she said as she saw a fire erupt in the back. Claire faced the front, looking down at the dashboard.

"Autopilot is out," R7 was saying.

"Well I really don't want autopilot, but thank you for letting me know," Claire replied, and she coughed as an onslaught of smoke filled the cockpit.

"Claire!" Mercado yelled through her earpiece.

"Yeah, a little busy Faleur, I'm kinda on fire over here!" Claire replied angrily.

"Claire, there's three enemy ships coming right at you!" Mercado yelled.

"Wha—?" Clair started, but she was cut short when her head was smashed against the dashboard as something collided with her flier. Claire moaned as she lifted her head, and she saw blood in her vision.

"Not cool," she muttered, and she gripped the steering wheel tightly. Just as she was about to empty her weapons' canon in an attempt to finish off the droids, even if she died trying, another ship abruptly flew into view, blocking her path and firing vigorously at the enemies. Claire registered momentarily that it was Grindon.

"R7 get us out now!" Clair screamed hysterically, and R7 beeped in alarm. Claire felt the flier dip, and suddenly it was hurtling like a rocket to Besond X down below them. Claire choked as the smoke continued to collect in the cockpit, clouding her vision. It's all on you, R7, she thought to herself, and she felt the flier fly through the planet's outer atmosphere. Claire could feel her head spinning, the smoke filling her lungs. She couldn't breath, she couldn't see the ground hurtling toward her, and she was beginning to black out.

"R7," she choked, and her head lolled to the side as she finally blacked out. R7, beeping and buzzing in alarm, was still hurling the flier toward Besond X. Mercado's voice, who was still screaming in Claire's earpiece, was beginning to crackle as the smoke filled every inch of the flier. Finally, the flier broke free of the outer atmosphere, and the ground of Besond X was coming straight at them. In a graceful dive, R7 directed the flier hastily toward the docking station where their base was located. R7 beeped shrilly as the base neared, and people on the ground below dodged out of the way. Up above in the sky, another flier was hurling toward them at an even faster speed. R7 hit the ground with the flier roughly, and it bounced lightly. The cockpit suddenly shot open, and the smoke hurled out. A dozen or more men were suddenly dashing at Claire's flier, yelling for help. Two climbed up into the flier, un-strapping Claire from her seat. They pulled her from the flier, coughing through the smoke.

"Pelatiah!" one man yelled, pulling her down and to the ground, where they laid her on the cold concrete. Her head lolled to the side, and her chest was motionless. The guy pulled off her headset, and turned her head to the side.

"Claire," he said, and he shook her. He then pressed two of his hands on her chest, pressing hard, trying to pump her heart back to life. He didn't even look up as another flier suddenly landed roughly on the ground, and another dark-haired guy leapt out at an unnatural height, and was dashing over to Claire.

"Claire!" he cried as he ran toward her. The man attending to Claire reached down, plugged her nose, and then pressed his mouth to her's, breathing in.

"Claire," Mercado Faleur cried as he ran up, falling to his knees and grabbing Claire.

"Claire, you'd better wake up," he said through gritted teeth. He shook her, and then bent his head to her to attempt CPR on her again. But before he could do so, Claire's chest suddenly heaved and her eyes sprang open. She sucked in a deep breath, and then began coughing furiously. Before Mercado could do anything, another man came over.

"We need to take her Master Faleur," he said. Mercado looked up, and nodded. The man reached down and lifted the coughing Claire into his arms. He heaved her on a stretcher, and soon they were off, leaving Mercado on the ground, breathing deeply. That was close.

"Hey, Grindon," Claire called, jogging up behind a man who was stalking down the corridor of the Besond X base. The light-haired man turned, looking shocked.

"Well well well," he said, and a smirk crossed his face, "look who's still alive." Claire shook her head as she stopped in front of him.

"Look Marcus," she said, her voice gentle and sincere, and completely out of character, "I just wanted to thank you… y'know, for saving my skin up there."

"Well somebody has to," Marcus said, and he grinned. Claire grinned back.

"Just remember, Jedi," Marcus said before Claire could depart, "when we tell you to get out of there, get outta there, okay? I don't think I can risk myself again for your dare-devil hide, alright?" Claire smiled.

"Yeah, I'll remember that Grindon," she said. And with one more smile, Claire turned around and left, Marcus shaking his head.

A little ways down the hall, Claire stopped as she saw another familiar face, which was stern and calculating as it came toward her. Mercado, dark-haired and handsome, was striding toward Claire.

"You cut it close there, Pelatiah," Mercado said as he neared Claire, his brown Jedi cloak billowing behind him. Claire's sharp green eyes narrowed defensively.

"Yeah, I know, but I'm alive am I not?" she asked roughly. Mercado stopped in front of her, and he folded his arms in front of him.

"Right you are," he said, his voice cold. He and Claire stared at each other for the longest time, not saying anything. Then suddenly, at the same time, both reached forward and embraced one another like family.

"I'm glad you're okay," Mercado said, "for a moment…" His voice trailed off.

"Yeah... me too…" Claire said. When the two let go, Mercado put his hands on Claire's shoulders.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm good…. My throat's a little scratchy, and it hurts to breath in... But I'm okay," Claire replied. Mercado nodded.

"You were out for… what, 2 days?" he said. Claire nodded.

"Yeah… remind me never to go flying with you again," she said, and grinned.

"Or I should remind you to never go flying ever," Mercado replied, grinning back. Claire laughed lightly.

"Yeah, I couldn't do that, you know I couldn't," she said. After a moment of silence, Mercado sighed.

"Well, I'm off to go help some of the pilots with your flier," he said, and Claire frowned.

"Ugh, how is it?" she asked. Mercado frowned, not meeting Claire's eyes.

"Not good actually…. You might have to get a new one."

Claire reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Man…. I've had that flier for… ever," she said quietly.

"I know," Mercado said, "we're doing all we can." Claire released her sensitive nose, looking up.

"Okay, well… I'll see you then," she said. Mercado nodded. Claire turned and walked off in the other direction, feeling slightly put out.

When Claire reached her temporary room, she flipped on the light, and she was met with a bit of a surprise.

"R7!" she cried suddenly, and R7 came zooming at her from across the room. Claire bent down to meet him, and he was beeping madly.

"Hey, how are you?" she asked, and without his consent, she began examining him. He didn't mind, he just beeped happily, obviously overjoyed that Claire was safe. Claire, after examining him, smiled in satisfaction.

"I'm glad you're okay," she said, smiling. R7 beeped. Claire, growing accustomed to R7 beeping and beginning to learn it, smiled weakly.

"I'm fine R7, really," she said, and she patted him.

"For once, I'm happy to be out of the sky," she added. Then she stopped. "Thank you... For getting me out of there. I couldn't have done it without you." R7 made a modest sound, bowing his little droid body slightly as if embarrassed. That made Claire grin even broader. She stood, looking around the room, her hand on her hips. Her room was mostly bare, except for the few suitcases littering the floor in neat, controlled piles. She was quite a neat freak. But she didn't plan on staying on Besond X for too long, considering the fact that they need to get back to Jo'ron for another case coming up. Claire felt another sigh rising in her chest as she thought about Jo'ron. Her complicated situation rose back to her in a quick blur, leaving her with a sickening feeling. She felt like a freak among all the other Jedi's, who were moving up in the world, while she, a simple, lowly, female Jedi was trying to earn her place in the world dominated by the male population— Claire stopped her train of thoughts abruptly. There was absolutely no reason for her to go over this again.

"I mean, look how far you've come in 4 years?" she said out loud, causing R7 to beep in confusion.

"Sorry R7…" she said quickly. He beeped something in reply, but Claire barely caught it.

"Never mind R7… I just need some rest…" she said quietly, and she slunk over to her bed as a wave of depression weighed down on her. She sighed as she pulled the covers over her head, engulfing herself in darkness.