AN: Well, I finally broke twenty in the reviews section. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you have no idea how encouraging that is!
Now, you're probably going to hate me for the cliffhanger, but the next one is coming up soon!
Chapter Fourteen: Baby Cool Your Jets
On a scale of one to ten, Jacen would have to say that this race rated about a nine. Especially in comparison to the other races, which could be unnessicarily complex, like the gladiator fight or the blob racing. Here, it was simple, exciting, and recklessly fast-paced.
It also offered a quick death.
His comlink gave the signal and Jacen was allowed to lift his modified A-wing starfighter of the ground. He felt loose, comfortable in a pilot's seat thanks to the frequent space travel and accessibility to space ships during his childhood, though he still wish Jaina were in his place now instead of him, she'd make the other contestants eat space dust.
The A-wing, one of the fastest Rebel Alliance fighters ever, stripped of it's shielding and weaponry, was nevertheless impressive as it sailed gracefully into position at the starting point. The race track would wind along between the beacons that marked the course, which was on the same orbital plane as the planet of Simileon. Jacen looked to his left and saw Nektir the Rodian and Shoba the Trandoshan, both fairly tough and mean-looking, the kind of scum that wandered around slimy back-water planets armed to the teeth, searching for trouble. On the right of him was a scary-looking female Zabrak with black and violet tattoos, who went by the name of Kotha Ethos. Lastly, there was a Bothan called Drae'esk, a fierce, mangy looking fighter with a deep scar along his skull.
Jacen knew there was a story behind every face, a meaning to every glance and that every smile held some pain. It was interesting to just look at these contestants and wonder how they had come to be where they were, why they risked their lives, and what they were racing for. Did they have a loved one they needed the winnings for? Was there a bounty on their heads that they just had to pay off?
It was difficult to be empathetic in some ways, because one could never feel truly competitive.
The sooner he finished the better, and the safer both he and Tenel Ka would be.
He started his engines and held his hand lightly on the control stick as the countdown began, his thoughts still drifting from his study of his competitors and to the warrior princess who was waiting for him to finish this race so she could say good-bye to a dying relative.
He held onto the images of her as he let the memories calm him.
Five…
The day around the time Lowbacca first came, when Tenel Ka had dropped into the throne room by her grappling hook and fibrecord, the morning sun of Yavin highlighting her red-gold hair.
Four…
The smile that she gave when she made her first joke to him after the defeat of the Shadow Academy on Yavin IV. The smile that lit her entire face and opened her heart to him. He loved her smile.
Three…
Her face turned white with cold, gazing up to the crystal stars on the freezing, hellish snowstorm of the cold side of Ryloth.
Two…
The look of happiness that had crossed her face when he had presented her with the necklace made of pink gnort egg crystal on the day of graduation.
One…
And in an instant of clarity, he saw her clear gray eyes, filled with passion and fear, brimmed with tears as she had promised him that she loved him.
It was the best start possible. Almost before the last syllable had sounded in the prissy computer voice, Jacen had ignited the thrusters and shot like a rocket away from the starting line, outpacing all of his competitors.
Tenel Ka paced back and forth in her room, watching the view screen intently. Her arm was set on her hip and her mouth was the personification of seriousness. She should probably be resting, she knew, because of the blood donation, but she certainly wasn't going to sit on her butt while Jacen did all the work.
She held her breath as the computer counted down, and let it out in a gasp as Jacen gunned the engines and took off milleseconds faster than anyone else, giving him the upper hand for the beginning of the race. In second was Nektir the Rodian and in third was Shoba the Trandoshan. The Zabrak female and Bothan male trailed close behind, vying for position. The group rounded a curb and Kotha weaseled into the space between Shoba and Drae'esk. Meanwhile up ahead, Nektir was so close on Jacen's tail that the A-wings seemed to bump against one another, jarring and shaking the shieldless crafts.
Tenel Ka could only stare at the view screen now, she sat down on the corner of the bed without taking her eyes away. Her hand gripped the coverlet until her fingers grew cramped and sore.
The A-wing was truly one of the fastest and most maneuverable starfighters ever built and it showed as the racers jostled, deked and dodged one another, a deadly dance of speed and agility.
Jacen was still maintaining his lead, though Nektir continued to rag on him and the Zabrak moved in on the trandoshan Shoba, preparing to make a break for it.
Jacen gripped the handle harder as he struggled to avoid being completely flattened by the vicious Rodian behind him. Every bump against the hull and Jacen was thrown forward, the control stick hitting him in the sternum and knocking the wind out of him. He felt as if the cockpit didn't have enough air, that he was going to suffocate if the barrage didn't relent soon. He stretched out with the Force, and the next time he felt the Rodian preparing to jump on him, he pushed his control stick down so that his fighter sunk a few meters and the Rodian's craft nearly tumbled end over end in an attempt to knock Jacen out of commission.
He nudged the control stick slightly to the right, then immediately pushed it all the way to the left. The Rodian took the bait and went right, which flew him straight into the path of the beacon marking the race course, and the starfighter erupted into shrapnel and tiny metal pieces.
Tenel Ka stood up to pace again when she saw the explosion happen. Being in movement had always been soothing to her, as if her body wasn't supposed to stand still, which was one of the things that made her so athletic and strong.
She watched as the Zabrak, Kotha, finally made her move, squeezing into the space that Nektir had vacated, but Shoba still held the same distance from Jacen. Kotha brushed against the Trandoshan slightly and then he finally showed some reaction, wrenching to the side to avoid the scratching of wingtip to wingtip.
Shoba managed to keep the craft under control and avoid the same fate as Nektir, at the same time succeeding in keeping a composure and not looking shaken.
Her breath caught in Tenel Ka's chest as she saw the Trandoshan and the Zabrak both close in on either side of Jacen.
If he felt claustrophobic before, Jacen was feeling suffocated now. A sharp curve was ahead, and he bit his lip so hard it bled as he swiftly executed a barrel roll to the right, moving with the course, staying at the head of the pack. He was leaning forward in his seat, pushing the control stick as far as he could take it forward, as if his own physical strength could somehow make the starfighter move faster. He juked to the left as another sharp turn presented itself, then swung the controls back to the right as the course swerved yet again.
He felt a sharp bump from behind him, and a quick glance behind him showed that the female Zabrak was moving in on his territory, so close to him that he could see her face in the cockpit, driven and ferocious, bent on winning.
Jacen gritted his teeth and shunted all the A-wing's energy to the shields, trying to accelerate the craft just a little bit faster.
He sensed more bends in the race track up ahead, so when the course widen out momentarily, Jacen threw the starfighter into a wide spiral, that circled smaller and smaller. The g-forces slammed into his chest and winded him, but the spiral served to get the other competitors off his back for a moment and to make a smooth turn to the right as he exited the last loop.
He spared a quick peek at the data screen in front of him as he swiveled the controls back and forth to keep up with the twisting course he was taking. He groaned and disappointment swept through him as he saw that both Kotha and Shoba were still right on his tail.
Time to execute one of those briliant plans you're famous for, Jacen told himself sarcastically.
He racked his brain frantically and finally settled on some thing that could work.
Hitting the etheric rudder just a tiny bit, Jacen slowed the A-wing down so that it was nearly the same speed as the other two craft. He let them both meander towards him, until they were almost rubbing against him, the reckless need to win drowning out all sense and safety instincts.
Quite suddenly, Jacen slammed hard on the braking thrusters, and Kotha and Shoba didn't react fast enough to prevent the inevitable. Their A-wings careened towards each other and met in an incandescent ball of light, raining bits of metal against Jacen's craft as he hit his engines again and soared through the cloud of debris.
Tenel Ka narrowed her eyes at the screen and took a few more deep breaths to quench her growing impatience. Jacen was nearly to the end, and he had just eliminated most of his competition. Only Drae'esk, the Bothan remained, and he had been in last place.
But when Jacen had brought his A-wing to such an abrupt halt, it had cost him precious hundredths of a second. Drae'esk had gained on him slightly and both pilots were locked in a vicious duel to the death over who crossed the finish line first.
It was a truly amazing sight to see, if one subtracted the fact that it was her loved one racing for his life. The two starfighters streaked through the race course, following the twists, bends, turns and curves seemingly effortlessly. They vied and jockied for the lead position, sometimes hitting each other, but mostly continued racing forward in flowing, graceful flight.
She sighed and counted to ten in her head while holding her breath, closing her eyes. It was a Jedi relaxation technique that she'd learned in her very early days at the academy. She used it before writing a test or when she was deeply frustrated and needed to hype down.
When she felt she was in control of her self again, Tenel Ka opened her eyes slowly, not wanting to let her eyes stray for a moment from the final, decisive minutes of the race.
And what she saw when her gaze met the screen again left her breathless…
Jacen could taste tiresome defeat and golden victory at the same time, so close was he to both.
The nose of his A-wing was almost even with Drae'esk, who Jacen had found to be one of those players who waits till the end to make his move.
Maybe it was desperation, or maybe it was the toll that non-stop action had taken on his body over the past few days. Either way, Drae'esk suddenly moved forward and Jacen was behind him, struggling to close the breach again.
It was not to be.
For a moment, there was a glimmer of hope. Jacen and Drae'esk were rounding one of the last curves in the race course and Drae'esk's A-wing was listing slightly to the side.
The two opponents round a right turn and Jacen was pressed tight against the markers that made a wall, trying to squeeze past Drae'esk like Kotha had done to the Bothan at the beginning of the race.
At first, Jacen thought that the Bothan was only trying to stick close to the markers so that Jacen couldn't get past. Then he thought that maybe the Bothan really did have a damaged ship and that he was going to crash into the markers like Nektir.
No such luck.
In fact, the Bothan only brought his ship close enough to the markers so that the edge of one wing tip seemed to brush against the side.
The alarms and proximity warning suddenly went haywire in Jacen's cockpit and before he could even comprehend what was causing the commotion, he saw something sailing towards him outside of the canopy.
A small cylinder shaped object, bigger than a lightsaber, but small enough to hold in the palm of your hand, that was silver plated with protrusions sticking out in random places was coming his way.
Jacen knew what it was.
He had seen Jaina use one countless times to keep something safely shut down while she worked on a bit of machinery on a ship.
An ion charge.
The charge hit his A-wing and Jacen both felt and saw the blue lightning-like bolts splay across the surface of his vehicle. The effects were instantaneous and his ship was suddenly just drifting, completely helpless in space, stopped.
Thus Jacen watched in horror as his enemy crossed the finish point ahead of him.