Disclaimer: I wish I had the rights to Star Wars and all of its characters, but I don't, although I wouldn't mind owning a certain bounty hunter J (Yum!).
Yay! The third installment on my story! Wow, and I haven't even scratched the surface of it yet! Hmm, maybe I'll do sequels or something :P Enjoy!
Iile
Kish was waiting for Boba when he exited his room. Jango had returned and watched his son, amused by Boba's excitement.
"Is it okay for me to go dad?" Boba asked, hope straining in his voice. Jango nodded then turned to another task at hand, signaling the end of his part in the matter. Kish motioned for Boba to follow her and they left the apartment and returned to the docking platform where her ship was located. Boba was sure that she didn't intend for him to fly the T33-2Z and he wondered what she had in store. Kish walked up to her ship and began tapping a series of commands into the small data gauntlet on her left arm, near her wrist. The lights on the ship flickered and steam hissed from beneath its belly as an unloading ramp slowly lowered to the ground. On top of the ramp sat an odd shaped craft of some kind. A few more commands were typed in and the craft began to hover and carefully moved out away from under the starship. It came to rest beside Boba, and he could now see that it was a small close range fighter of some kind. It consisted of a round dome shaped cockpit which could only hold two passengers at the very most and was around a half of the size of an x-wing fighter. It had double winged panels on either side of the cockpit and they were currently lying parallel to the landing platform. It was indeed strange and Boba found himself leaning in closer, studying it.
"The wings can fold and contract in multiple ways therefore giving it great agility," Kish explained as she walked up beside him. "This is the Steller 778 I mentioned. It's used for close ground battles and air raids. Not many of them were made since the style of it made it look as if it wouldn't be useful at flying. They discontinued this type of craft soon after."
"Can I go near it?" Boba asked, hesitating.
Kish nodded and he slowly walked over to its hull. The metal gleamed under the low light of the planet; the rain seemed to make it shiver as if alive. He noted the presence of two sets of blasters on the underside of the cockpit and an ion charger on each wing. The hull seemed sturdy enough to withstand considerable damage and the wings did indeed look as if they could manage to maneuver the ship in difficult patterns. He gently stroked the window of the cockpit, seeing the millions of flickering lights on the dashboards which set off the raindrops into tiny spots of colour.
The tiny hairs on his arms and the back of his neck suddenly stood on end as he felt Kish come up behind him. He could almost feel the heat vibrating from her, warming him against the increasing cold of the darkening planet.
"So, are you interested in flying her?" she asked him.
He turned and looked up at her and nodded yes. She hit another control on her wrist and the glass of the cockpit hissed open and slid back, allowing access to the insides. Kish motioned him to get into the back seat and he complied with a content sigh. The leather of the chair molded to his back, giving plenty of comfort and a second set of controls to the ship were in his very reach. Kish slid into the front seat, which sat below his own and the glass slid back into place, encasing them within. The control lights in front of him were switched on.
"I believe that you are familiar with the delta two piloting controls?" Kish asked.
"Yep."
"Then go ahead."
Boba glanced around at the outside. "Where do you want me to go?"
"Anywhere on planet or in the third zone atmosphere," she replied. "And don't worry if you get near the ocean, for this ship can also travel underwater. Weapon control is off to your left as well as on the throttle and the emergency override is on your right, which is the large red button. If you get into trouble just hit it and it will transfer the power back over to me." With that Kish buckled herself in and leaned back in her chair and waited for Boba to begin.
He also put on the security harness, gently easy back the vertical control and the ship moved up off of the deck. He moved the throttle forward and the landing platform dropped away as they began moving over the reckless sea. Boba found that the ship was easy to control and he experimented moving side to side between wind gales. Getting more confidence upon the fact that Kish wasn't telling him to stop what he was doing or anything, he began to speed up and take more advantage of its maneuverability. They streaked through low clouds and past huge walls of water as they were stirred up by the pounding wind. He twisted the throttle hard to the right and sent the Steller into a vertical spiral. A grin spread over his face as they rocketed around in dizzying spins, then he pulled back on the controls and the ship went into a straight climb to which he ended with a downwards plunge.
"Try going underwater," she suggested.
Instead of normally edging out of the drop he followed what she had said and they hit the water with such force that Boba was sure the hull would crack or Kish would turn on him in anger and end his enjoyment. Neither happened however and they zoomed under the waves into the dark below. The ship, upon sensing the change of surrounding, rotating its wings in their axis and shortened them, therefore making them more streamlined.
Boba found that he couldn't see very well in the dark water and it was beginning to make him nervous.
"The lights are above you," Kish said, as if reading his mind.
"Oh, thanks." He pressed the button and wide floodlights lit up the view port. Boba looked back out the window and suddenly the colour drained from his face. A huge sea monster was coming right at them, its large teeth lined mouth opening, planning to ensnare them in its grasp.
"Don't kill the fish," Kish told him as she remained leaning back in her seat. Boba quickly did a sharp turn to the right, managing to evade the monster's grasp and he pulled back on the throttle and they went into a sharp incline, heading out of the water. Back into the safely of the open air he allowed himself a breath of relief.
"Let's do some target practice," Kish spoke up. She pointed into the clouds. "Head up to the small asteroid belt that encircles the planet."
Boba complied and sent them to orbit Kamino. The asteroid belt wasn't really what its name implied; it was more like random chunks of rock that had gotten caught between the pull of the gravity of the planet and the reaches of space. He easily avoided them as they hurtled towards him on unsteady paths. Suddenly a grid filled the view port with red target marks on twenty of the asteroids.
"You have five minutes to vaporize the targets...starting now," ordered Kish. Boba's surprise was overpowered by his training from his father and he immediately began firing at them and twisting the ship this way and that to keep them within his sight. It was soon obvious that random hits on the hard rock would not get the desired results he wanted so he switched his tactics and aimed at the crevices that dented and distorted the asteroids. A bolt hit dead on and the target exploded into pieces. The ship zoomed past them and onto another one.
Within four minutes Boba had succeeded in finding and destroying nineteen of the twenty asteroids and he now was impatiently searching for the last. He did not want to fail Kish and desperation began to grow within his chest. She'll think that I can't handle a simple job, he thought. She'll lose respect for me, maybe even tell my father about it! At the thought of Jango, Boba suddenly remember one of the lessons he had been taught. His father had told him that sometimes slowing yourself down and just watching the world move around you was more useful than trying to keep up. Boba had never fully understood what it had meant but somehow at the moment it seemed to come together. He stopped the ship and let it just sit still making sure to keep an eye out in case of a collision with one of the asteroids, which continued to move around him. He didn't notice Kish watching him from the front seat, a hidden smile in her eyes. Boba gently turned the ship so that it rotated 360 degrees, enabling him to have a broad view of his surroundings. The time was running out as he turned once again, when faintly, he spotted the familiar shape and rotation of the final target in the distance, even though the red mark had not reappeared on it. Boba jolted the ship into full throttle and flew towards it. Red blaster fire lit up around him and the ship twisted and turned, heading right at it. Just before they were about to collide with it the shots hit home and the rock exploded and the ship rocketed past and out of the asteroid belt. Boba could hardly contain his happiness at succeeding and he looked down at Kish to see her watching him. He managed to keep his feelings hidden and look calm and collected, however the look in her eyes made it seem as if she saw through his facade.
"I think that's enough for now, Boba."
He nodded and sent the ship backs towards the cloning facility.
They landed a few minutes later and Kish got out, followed by Boba. She put away the Steller, back into its secure hold within her starship then turned to face him.
"You did an excellent job at piloting," she said softly. He allowed himself a small smile.
"My dad's a great teacher."
She nodded in agreement. "I'm sure he is. Anyway, my time here has run out and I must go." With that she began walking away from him, the loading ramp to her ship lowering and the hum of its engines coming to life, preparing itself for departure. Boba's smile faded as he watched her. Just before boarding she turned back to look at him.
"I'll be seeing you, Fett."
He nodded, then moved over to the facility doorway to keep out of the way of the engine thrusters and he watched the ship as it took off until it disappeared out of sight beyond the clouds.
***This was a hard chapter to write for some reason. However I wanted a part where it was just Boba and Kish, the beginning of a friendship or whatever. The next chapter will move across a longer time period in which their friendship grows and yeah…it should be pretty good. Also, in my story the x-wing fighter has already been invented, and is the first in the series of those types of starfighters (later to come are the a-wings, y-wings, b-wings etx). Anyway, please review cause it makes my day and lets me know what you guys think of my story!