Ah, finally up,
This chapter took quite a while to write!
I hope everything is okay with it!
The Doctor slid himself down the ladder and into the cargo bay. Dashing over to his burning time machine, he jiggled the door handle: soon revealing it was locked.
Kanan and Ezra were climbing down the ladder to follow him when they saw the Doctor quite literally flick his shoes off his feet. He caught the first one when it was still airborne: and began to shake it violently.
When he heard nothing, he discarded the shoe by throwing it across the room, forcing Ezra to dodge so it wouldn't hit him in the face.
"Slow down a second Doctor. You'll do yourself no good carrying on like you are!" Kanan said, holding his hands up.
The Doctor caught his other shoe just as Kanan spoke to him.
"No, no; no can do! Besides, I'm hanging in there for now. Just busy checking for my most precious possession!" he responded.
He shook the other shoe just as violently. This time, a thumping noise was heard inside it.
The Doctor grinned and turned it upside down. An outstretched palm was waiting underneath. Into his hand fell a small; shiny key with a long piece of string attached.
"There you are gorgeous!" he grinned, talking to the key in a tone as if it were a pet.
He inserted the key into the lock and turned it. The door unlocked with a click. Kanan initially wanted to stop the Doctor but decided to say nothing due to the relatively harmless size of the TARDIS.
After all, it would be quite; impossible for the Doctor to get lost inside!
A faint creak accompanied the door when the Doctor finally opened it. Before walking inside, he poked half his body back out momentarily and leant against the door.
"Won't be a moment chaps!" he said loudly.
With that, he pulled a handkerchief from his shirt pocket and covered his mouth and nose. He then entered the ship and shut the door behind him.
"Who keeps a key in their shoes?" Ezra asked rhetorically after the Doctor was out of sight.
Kanan shook his head. "Beats me… Although it's pretty obvious the Doctor, if that really is his name, maybe isn't standing completely in line with the rest of us!"
Nearly a minute passed before Ezra voiced his concern.
"Do you think he's alright in there?
That smoke must be unbearable!"
Kanan sighed. "He seemed confident enough that he'd sort it out himself. Let's give it a few more seconds before we have to go in there, rescue him and remind him that he isn't invincible: even if he some ancient alien!"
Nevertheless, it was as soon as Kanan finished his sentence, a loud whirring noise began to emit from the TARDIS. The flames flaring out through the broken windows suddenly vanished; the smoke stopped billowing at the same time. The door then opened, and the Doctor strolled back into the clean air of the cargo bay. His shirt, hands and face had been slightly charred; from the smoke.
"There you see," the Doctor smiled, brushing his hands off. "Just re-routed the smoke to the core generator of the TARDIS, so it'll evaporate it away! Fire isolated and extinguished; problem solved!"
"How can a ship that size even have a core?" Ezra inquired.
"Why can't it?" the Doctor replied. "Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'big things come in small packages?' Like I said before, just use your imagination every once in a while, and things become more clear instantly!" he continued whilst locking the TARDIS door.
He finished his slightly patronising answer with a couple of light taps to Ezra's cheek when he approached the pair.
"You and your crew take things too seriously!"
Striding past them, he made his way to the ladder.
Not forgetting to collect his shoes along the way.
"Come on, let's hurry up and get to Lothal; space gets boring after a while! I want to see this planet! Although; it's disgraceful, you know. Over three thousand years of space travel, and I don't know about a populated, inhabitable planet like Lothal!"
In a rather; hurried manner, he scrambled back up the ladder.
He found Hera sat back in the cockpit, working through a sequence of controls on the panel. Walking casually over, the Doctor sat himself down in the co-pilot chair.
She jumped slightly at the Doctor's sudden arrival.
"All right then, captain Syndulla," he said. "How long a wait are we talking for this trip?"
"Well, um… Not much longer, thankfully," Hera responded.
"The recharge is complete on the hyperdrive motivator. We should be able to make a jump through hyperspace once I get it up and running again!"
"Having a little trouble, are you?" the Doctor asked.
"You say it's recharged: but haven't made the jump yet…"
"Just being a little slow; after all, this isn't exactly a brand new ship, Doctor!"
Ezra and Kanan had just reached the cockpit when the small conversation had come to a halt. Ezra stayed standing at the back of the room; whilst Kanan approached the two.
The Doctor was looking on as Hera continued working through the controls, evidently struggling to get the response she needed.
"What's wrong Hera?" Kanan said as he leant against her chair. "Don't say it's being faulty again!"
Giving the control panel a light thump, Hera sighed, leant back and rubbed her eyes.
"Yeah, I'm afraid so; I think that last encounter we had with those TIE fighters might have knocked something loose with the hyperdrive!"
"TIE fighters?" the Doctor broke in.
"Fighter crafts of the Imperial forces," Hera answered him. "A common nuisance during the most routine of missions!"
She began running what the Doctor guessed was a scan of the ship to detect any areas of damage. It soon beeped; the screen then zoomed in on its discovery.
"I knew we'd taken mild damage, but it turns out that it's fried a few of the motivator's circuits on the underside of the ghost…"
The Doctor frowned at this news. "Is the hyperdrive serviceable during a flight?"
Hera slowly turned to look at him with a suspicious stare.
"We have a small engineer's hatch which takes you to the engine bay along the hallway towards our connecting starfighter the 'Phantom'… You aren't going to suggest we go down there and try to fix the hyperdrive?"
The Doctor rose from the chair. "No, not you; I'll go and check it out."
"But, the hatch can't be opened; during a flight with damaged engines, it's intended to withhold any leaked radiation."
"Don't worry; I usually have a knack for finding a way past these things. Besides, my body's already in bad shape. So what's a little more radiation going to do that hasn't been done already! Besides, I promise I won't let the radiation leak into the ship; I give you my word."
He finished up by walked past Kanan and Hera, preparing to exit the cockpit.
"Even if you could exit the hyperdrive's reactor without killing yourself," Hera argued. "Why go through the trouble for a group of strangers?"
The Doctor stopped in his tracks. "I told you all this; it tends to be my duty to lend my help wherever needed! I am a doctor, after all!"
"But, if we can't carry out the repairs down there, what makes you think you can?" Ezra said.
"Well, I've got to try, haven't I!" the Doctor retorted.
He then retrieved his sonic screwdriver from his back pocket and held it up. "Besides, I've got a multi-tooled screwdriver; it can be useful for such a problem! Now be a good lad, and shut up for a minute; I've got to synchronize it with this ship's lingering frequency…"
Holding the device near his ear, the Doctor began to turn a small rotary switch on the bottom of the screwdriver. He then carried on past Ezra. However, when the cockpit door slid open, he turned to face the crew.
"I didn't say I wanted to do it entirely alone… I don't know what's going to happen to me down there… Come on, you two, the more; the merrier!"
With that, the Doctor disappeared from the cockpit.
Kanan sighed. "I suppose we'd better go and keep an eye on him!"
He addressed Hera before leaving with Ezra.
"I guess we'll need you on standby if he does manage to get the hyperdrive functioning properly again!"
"Oh, don't you worry Kanan; I'll be right here!
Just don't let him tear my ship apart too much, hey!"
"You got it Hera," Kanan replied before leaving to catch up with the Doctor.
After alerting Zeb and Sabine, they soon found the Doctor crouched down over the hatch. His screwdriver was buzzing as he pointed it at the lock.
"Hang on; we're not actually going to let him start messing about with the engines!" Zeb protested. "He might try to blow us into eternity for all we know!"
The Doctor scowled. "You really think I'd do such a thing? Well, I must say, that'd be a change of direction, wouldn't it? All the terrible and phenomenal things I've experienced in my life travelling across an infinite universe. And now, I get by destroying a freighter ship of rebel mercenaries; myself going with it… Be serious, would you!"
"Yeah, you say all that, but you can't prove anything you've told us to be true!" Zeb retorted.
"Hey, cool it big guy," Sabine broke in. "I'm not taking sides here, but the Doctor has got a point… What would be the purpose of killing us and himself? Unless he turns out to suddenly be a Sith spy or something…"
The Doctor was busy focusing on the hatch lock when he replied. "Trust me: I'm not a spy; I prefer freelance work myself!"
Suddenly, the hatch hissed and opened up.
"How did you manage that?" Sabine asked.
"Multi-tool screwdriver!" the Doctor said, showing off the device.
"Right, here goes nothing!" he said. "I'm going to need you lot to give the word to captain Syndulla the moment I revive the motivator. I don't fancy staying down there any longer than required!"
Placing the sonic screwdriver in the hold of his teeth, the Doctor lowered himself into the hatch.
"See you soon!" he said in a muffled voice.
He then shut the hatch over himself as he disappeared into the depths of the ship. There was a mild sound of clanking and banging as he descended.
"You think he'll manage it?" Ezra said.
"No idea," Kanan answered. "But I hope for his sake he does!"
The crew were left surrounding the hatch, patiently waiting for the Doctor to reappear. They were sure they could faintly hear the buzz of his sonic screwdriver: and the racket of different parts being removed and thrown around.
Even though they knew it too dangerous, the temptation was getting a little too tempting to open up the hatch and find out what the Doctor was doing down there.
After about five minutes, a small explosion of light flashed from beneath the hatch. The eyes of the crew members squinted as the flash caught them off guard. They then heard the creaking of the ladder, which told them it was being climbed again.
The hatch then re-opened: and out popped the Doctor's rather flustered face. He was also panting heavily.
"Sorry, slight miscalculation with the attempted redirection of power!"
Clambering further up the ladder, he sat himself in the opening.
"Shoelaces…" he suddenly said.
"I'm sorry?" Sabine.
"Shoelaces… I need shoelaces!" the Doctor repeated.
Looking around at the crew, he pointed to Ezra's boots.
"Those'll do swell!" he cried.
He also pointed to Zeb's rifle, which was slung, over his back. "That strap off your rifle will also be an essential component!" he continued.
"What? No! I'm not giving you my laces!" Ezra snapped.
"Or the strap!" Zeb finished.
The Doctor then began to smile unexpectedly. "I think you might have to!" he said. "I've kind of dismantled the engine a little bit carelessly, so I need those things to stop it going critical in the next few minutes!" he revealed.
"YOU'VE DONE WHAT?" Kanan cried.
The Doctor's smile remained where it was. "C'mon, hurry up, time's ticking away!"
"Give him what he's asked for!" Kanan ordered Ezra and Zeb.
"NOW!" he cried when they hesitated.
The pair grumbled as they removed the requested items quickly and handed them to the Doctor.
"Thank you," he said, disappearing back down the ladder.
"Nearly done down here!"
He shut the hatch over himself again.
"What'd you let him do this? He's going to kill us!" Zeb growled.
Suddenly, the hallway door hissed open, and Chopper appeared. He began to beep something to the crew.
"Yeah, maybe go back to the cockpit, Chop!" Kanan said.
"I'll come as well: actually. Got something quite important to tell Hera!"
Chopper beeped a confused response and turned to head back towards the cockpit. Kanan then ran to the door.
As it opened, he quickly turned and addressed the crew.
"Radio us the second he appears out that hatch!" he ordered. "I think we all need a word with him! And don't any of you go down there after him! The leaking radiation might be at a deadly level!"
The door shut when he hurried off down the hallway.
"Well, if the Doctor does end up blowing us up, I'll make sure I'll kill him!" Sabine stated as she crossed her arms.
"Count me in!" Zeb said, cracking his knuckles.
When a few more minutes went by, the three crew members were beginning to wonder if the Doctor had finally succumbed to the reactor's radiation. To be more precise, they wanted to know if their ship; was going to be destroyed at the hands of this intruder!
Suddenly, another flash of light burst its way through the small cracks surrounding the hatch door. Then finally, that familiar tapping sound was audible. Indicating somebody was climbing the ladder underneath it again.
The hatch abruptly flung open, and out crawled the Doctor. He was breathing heavily, and beads of sweat were dripping from his face. Without facing the crew, he hauled himself up out of the hatch and fell to the floor onto his back.
"You can close the hatch up now; it's fixed…" he murmured in a soft voice.
"Just like that?" Ezra said as Zeb slammed the hatch shut.
"Just like that!" the Doctor confirmed.
Suddenly, he cried out in pain, and his body retracted into an almost fetal position. The crew backed off in surprise when they saw his body illuminate with some strange gold light.
"Doctor! What's going on?" Ezra said.
The Doctor hissed through his teeth and clutched his stomach.
"That was my body warding off the damage from the reactor's high doses of leaked radiation!" he groaned.
He suddenly lurched over onto his stomach.
"The regenerative energy… Whatever's left of it is acting as a life support system for me!
Keeping my cell count balanced! The Dalek's time vortex… The energy must have been drained significantly when I closed it down; I don't know how long this prolonged life support will last…" he mumbled to himself. "I can't even know if the regeneration will happen!"
"Get Hera and Kanan!" he then heard Sabine tell Ezra.
Ezra nodded and ran back down through the corridor.
"Doctor, what is happening to you?" she insisted, kneeling somewhat in an attempt to offer the Doctor a form of support.
"Nothing to worry about, it's…ARGH!" he cried again, rolling over onto his back.
This time, however, he opened his mouth and exhaled.
A faint gold mist then rose from his mouth and dissipated in the air. Sabine backed off in fright when it happened.
"Don't be afraid," the Doctor groaned. "That was my body expelling the absorbed radiation from the reactor. I'll be fine in a few minutes…"
Slowly, he climbed to his feet. To his surprise, Zeb gave him a helping hand along the way. The Doctor then leant against the wall, breathing deeply: to carefully regain his strength.
And at that moment, the door opened, and Ezra rushed in with Kanan and Hera.
"I knew this would happen Ezra!" he was muttering under her breath.
The group then approached the Doctor.
"Doctor, you can't hide it anymore: and I don't care if you lie again about being fine; we have to get you medical treatment!" Hera said firmly.
"NO, thank you… Please!" the Doctor replied weakly.
"Trust me when I tell you, the only thing that'll help me is the reactivation of the TARDIS. I need to absorb the reviving energy from the time column after the restart…"
"Well, there must be something we can do!"
"Hera, please listen when I tell you this is something I have to fix myself!"
Standing back up straight, he tidied the collar of his shirt. "Besides, I'll be alright for a while longer. I'm not dead yet! So, don't worry!" he said. "By the way, is the hyperdrive motivator back up and running? Or have I genuinely messed up and doomed us all?"
Her eyes widened upon the Doctor's sudden reminder.
"Dammit! I forgot to check…"
The group rushed back to the cockpit. Sitting back down in the pilot's seat, Hera quickly programmed the coordinates for the hyperspace jump once again. It was a tense moment as the crew waited to see if the Doctor had been successful.
Suddenly, the stars began to stretch towards them: before a sound similar to a sonic boom rattled the ship. Through the cockpit window: a clouded; tunnel instantly formed around the Ghost as it was propelled: into hyperspace.
The Doctor immediately chuckled and broke into a beaming smile.
"Ha-ha, there you go, see! Didn't I say I had a knack for these sorts of things!"
Walking forward, he leant against Hera's seat.
"So… How long is this journey going to take?" he said.
"Hang on a moment…" she replied, checking through various statistics on the panels. "A few hours at the most I'd say…"
"Brilliant!" the Doctor said, stepping away from Hera's chair. He then made his way over to the cargo ladder yet again.
"I guess I'd better make a start on the TARDIS's repairs…"
He turned back to the crew before descending.
"Um… Anybody want to have a quick look inside?"
A few of the crew members looked at each other, clearly waiting to see who would answer first.
"C'mon, I don't normally offer tours of the TARDIS!" the Doctor continued.
"Well… I wouldn't mind; I guess…" Ezra said rather shyly, walking over to the ladder.
"Me neither!" said Sabine.
"And me!" joined Zeb.
Kanan, however, said he wouldn't join them, as he thought it best he stayed with Hera.
So with that, the group of four began to climb down the ladder, readying to enter the stricken spacecraft.
So, that's another chapter out of the way!
My writing just seems to get more lazy with each one!
See you all in the next update!
Bye!