The shuttle was shaking. I sat up so fast the blood rushed to my head. What in the name of the force was happening? I was out of my room in just few seconds, running-where? Shanti would have laughed at me.

But the ship was shaking! Had we taken off during the night, while I had been asleep?

"Relax, Shaak," I jumped at least my own height when a voice behind me spoke.

"Force, Shanti, that is not good for my health!" I said, gasping. Luminara laughed and Shanti gave me a look of amusement.

"Sorry," she said with a smile, "But I thought you should know that this is no big deal. Maix gets…ah…I don't remember the word in basic," her voice turned sheepish. "But the ground shakes a lot. It's nothing to worry about."

"Thank you for telling me," I murmured. She adjusted the strap on her shirt and answered absently,

"No problem. At least you remained relatively calm."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Fett was going into hysterics when the shaking first started," Luminara said with a smirk. "It took a while to calm him."

I tried to picture the armor clad bounty hunter acting hysterical and failed.

"But you shouldn't lose sleep over it," Shanti said. "It's still dark outside, but it will be getting light in about two hours. Get some more rest." She gave me a brief hug and then left with Luminara. I sighed and centered myself. The ship was still shaking. I gritted my teeth. An earthquake was not going to stop me now. But I had never seen anything like this before…Shili never had them, nor did Coruscant, and I had never spent enough time on a planet that did in order to experience one. Come to think of it, I did see some unusual ground movement on this planet fifteen years ago, but I had dismissed as a failure of my equipment. I headed down to the exit. Maybe it really was just the ship.

I opened the door and my world was effectively shattered. The ground was shaking, the trees were being flung back and forth, and I could even see a few tears in the ground. I bit off a scream and ran back inside. Someone was laughing.

"It's just an earthquake, my friend," Tsui Choi said I slammed the door to the airlock. "Nothing to worry about." I leveled my most evil glare at him. He laughed again.

"When you are truly angry, Shaak, you are the scariest thing in the entire universe. When you are attempting to act angry, you are about as scary as a mooka," he said through his chuckles. I dropped the glare and flopped to the ground, pulling my knees to my chest.

"I have never seen anything like this before…ever…" I murmured. The diminutive Jedi put his hand on my knee.

"It's unusual, isn't it? But like I said, nothing to become worried about." I rested my head against the wall and jumped away when I realized it was vibrating. I was shivering. This was unnatural. Planets do not just randomly begin shaking at any given moment. No wonder Shanti hates this place.

"I think I will just go back to my room…" I said, looking around. Everything was shaking. I closed my eyes and muttered the mantra that had kept me calm throughout situations far more life-threatening than this...

"There is no fear...there is faith..." The Jedi need a line about fear in the code. Really. Maybe I could add that line...

"Would you like some help getting down the stairs?" A faint smile played about Tsui's lipless mouth.

"No, but thank you for the offer." I started back in the direction of my room. I moved slowly, because every once in a while the ship would give a sudden lurch, as if the planet itself was trying to eat us. As I reached the staircase, the shaking suddenly stopped.

I realized I had a headache. The sudden silence was almost deafening. Had it really been so loud?

I walked back into my room. My pillow had slid off the bed, and my blankets were a mess. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that my bed had slid about eight inches in the direction of the door. I collected my sheets from various spots all over the room and re-arranged the place. Now that the ordeal was over, I felt a little silly for being frightened. Nothing had happened besides a few books (and pillows) falling out of place, and that could be easily fixed. I did not own any books, thanks the force, or they would have been everywhere. The room was empty except for my bed.

I pulled the blankets up to my shoulders and laid my head down the pillow, realizing that I was tired. My eyes closed, I centered myself because I had no desire for nightmares.

The cruiser started shaking again. I swore in togruti and pulled the blankets over my head.