Strong Enough
Chapter 17
Zekk watched the sun at the center of the Coruscant system with a wary eye. The old Coruscant, now named Yuuzhan'tar, swirled around in a new and strange orbit. He felt a momentary twinge at the only real home he'd ever known. Other than his ship.
A few meters away, Jaina floated in her X-Wing as quietly as he. Her head was bowed, her posture almost dejected. One of her motivators had blown when they'd arrived in system and set up their next jump. For the moment, she was stuck. And Zekk refused to leave her.
Zekk could feel her emotions; the anger warring with fear. He could feel her trying to suppress them with a more positive outlook even though it wasn't working. "It's not your fault, you know." he said softly, their transmitters on low power to avoid detection. "Your ship [i]has[/i] seen a lot of battles. Something was bound to go sooner or later."
Her head didn't move. "I'm the Goddess." she replied, as she had several minutes earlier. "My ship isn't supposed to be able to break."
He chuckled. "Jay, you're human. You also know machines. We have a damaged motivator and my power cells are low. Let's put our head's together and try to fix this."
"Just like old times."
He grinned. "Read my mind some more, Solo, and I just might start feeding you things to make Kyp jealous."
Her head finally came up and he could see her grin. "Fools think alike you know."
"So do great minds." he told her as he nudged his X-Wing closer to hers. "So let's put ours together and get out of this before Tahiri and Kyp do something stupid."
"Like come after us?" she asked with a grin. She finally met his eyes and Zekk knew he'd gotten through to her.
They'd been in the Coruscant system for going on five hours, well into when they should have been sleeping, and neither was at their best. It didn't help that the Yuuzhan Vong kept randomly sweeping and resweeping areas looking for enemy craft. That was going to make their repairs all the harder. It hadn't helped that Jaina had deflated and seemed to freeze when her motivator had blown.
They hadn't been under attack, but whatever had been on her mind had either been settled, or banished. Either way, Zekk knew they had to focus on getting out of there. The sooner the better.
He squeezed into the helmet and the extra exterior layer of his evacuation suit before attaching the air nozzle to his helmet. He hated getting suited up; even when he didn't have much choice. He noted that Jaina seemed to be following his lead and within minutes they were both floating outside their canopies examining her ship.
Both motivators were damaged. One had been blown out completely, the other appeared to have been shorted by the other. They exchanged looks. One motivator could run the ship if it had too with the proper jurry-rigging.
Jaina dug into the wiring in her X-Wing, tugging on it a little before nodding. She could make this work with a little ingenuity. She didn't look at Zekk as he dug into the power supplies and extra equipment stored aboard both X-Wings. They carefully matched up their parts and wiring, inventoried what they'd need and finally settled atop Jaina's canopy to discuss the painfully obvious. They could get one X-Wing functional, not both.
"So what do we do now?"
Zekk shrugged. "Wanna sit on my lap?"
She grinned. "It's an option, but I'm not as small as I used to be."
"If we get rid of your booster seat, we'll both fit. It'll be a tight squeeze getting home, but at least we'll both survive."
She chuckled. "Cute. You're right though. Kyp and Tahiri won't like it, but what's a little life saving between friends?"
"Exactly." He paused for a moment. "The only other option is to make one functional and send you for help."
"I'm not leaving you behind." she was adamant.
"Then it's not an option is it." He grinned, "Shall we make this work, Goddess?"
She said nothing, simply turned her back and began ripping out the power cells she would need to help make Zekk's ship last long enough to get them both back home.
Taking that as a "yes", Zekk moved to his ship and began pulling out the damaged power cells. They worked with their backs to one another, the sensors in their X-Wings on passive as they remained alert to any danger. Even so, they moved quickly. They wanted to be out of there before anything else went wrong.
But luck, as Han Solo would say, was not on their side.
Tahiri arrived in the Coruscant system just as an explosion ripped through the blackness less than a parsec away. Her eyes widened in horror as the familiarity of the blast hit home. That had been an X-Wing. She turned the [i]Lightning Rod[/i] towards where the explosion had been, heedless of the fact her sensors were reading multiple Yuuzhan Vong ships. She didn't care; she had to see if what she'd just witnessed was for real. She didn't dare reach for the Force now; not until she knew. And even then, if she was certain she'd lost Zekk, she wasn't sure what she was going to do with it. But first, she had to know.
Kyp came out of hyperspace just short of the Coruscant system and activated his scanners. Before jumping into the fray, he needed to know where he could, and couldn't, go. He wasn't surprised to see the [i]Lightning Rod[/i]'s signature on his screen. He was a little shocked to see Jaina's emergency transponder show up. He hadn't felt her distress through the Force. Were they simply too far apart?
No, he told himself silently, that wasn't possible. If Jaina was in trouble and needed his help he'd know about it. Besides, she had Zekk to help watch her back.
He almost grimaced. The litany of reassurances was miserably short and stale. He needed something new to think about. Slowly, as he stared at the readouts, he formulated a plan. A plan that would, hopefully, get Tahiri out of the storm she was in and back to the ship. Clearing his mind, Kyp focused on at the task at hand. It wasn't going to be easy, but anything worth doing never was.
Chapter 17
Zekk watched the sun at the center of the Coruscant system with a wary eye. The old Coruscant, now named Yuuzhan'tar, swirled around in a new and strange orbit. He felt a momentary twinge at the only real home he'd ever known. Other than his ship.
A few meters away, Jaina floated in her X-Wing as quietly as he. Her head was bowed, her posture almost dejected. One of her motivators had blown when they'd arrived in system and set up their next jump. For the moment, she was stuck. And Zekk refused to leave her.
Zekk could feel her emotions; the anger warring with fear. He could feel her trying to suppress them with a more positive outlook even though it wasn't working. "It's not your fault, you know." he said softly, their transmitters on low power to avoid detection. "Your ship [i]has[/i] seen a lot of battles. Something was bound to go sooner or later."
Her head didn't move. "I'm the Goddess." she replied, as she had several minutes earlier. "My ship isn't supposed to be able to break."
He chuckled. "Jay, you're human. You also know machines. We have a damaged motivator and my power cells are low. Let's put our head's together and try to fix this."
"Just like old times."
He grinned. "Read my mind some more, Solo, and I just might start feeding you things to make Kyp jealous."
Her head finally came up and he could see her grin. "Fools think alike you know."
"So do great minds." he told her as he nudged his X-Wing closer to hers. "So let's put ours together and get out of this before Tahiri and Kyp do something stupid."
"Like come after us?" she asked with a grin. She finally met his eyes and Zekk knew he'd gotten through to her.
They'd been in the Coruscant system for going on five hours, well into when they should have been sleeping, and neither was at their best. It didn't help that the Yuuzhan Vong kept randomly sweeping and resweeping areas looking for enemy craft. That was going to make their repairs all the harder. It hadn't helped that Jaina had deflated and seemed to freeze when her motivator had blown.
They hadn't been under attack, but whatever had been on her mind had either been settled, or banished. Either way, Zekk knew they had to focus on getting out of there. The sooner the better.
He squeezed into the helmet and the extra exterior layer of his evacuation suit before attaching the air nozzle to his helmet. He hated getting suited up; even when he didn't have much choice. He noted that Jaina seemed to be following his lead and within minutes they were both floating outside their canopies examining her ship.
Both motivators were damaged. One had been blown out completely, the other appeared to have been shorted by the other. They exchanged looks. One motivator could run the ship if it had too with the proper jurry-rigging.
Jaina dug into the wiring in her X-Wing, tugging on it a little before nodding. She could make this work with a little ingenuity. She didn't look at Zekk as he dug into the power supplies and extra equipment stored aboard both X-Wings. They carefully matched up their parts and wiring, inventoried what they'd need and finally settled atop Jaina's canopy to discuss the painfully obvious. They could get one X-Wing functional, not both.
"So what do we do now?"
Zekk shrugged. "Wanna sit on my lap?"
She grinned. "It's an option, but I'm not as small as I used to be."
"If we get rid of your booster seat, we'll both fit. It'll be a tight squeeze getting home, but at least we'll both survive."
She chuckled. "Cute. You're right though. Kyp and Tahiri won't like it, but what's a little life saving between friends?"
"Exactly." He paused for a moment. "The only other option is to make one functional and send you for help."
"I'm not leaving you behind." she was adamant.
"Then it's not an option is it." He grinned, "Shall we make this work, Goddess?"
She said nothing, simply turned her back and began ripping out the power cells she would need to help make Zekk's ship last long enough to get them both back home.
Taking that as a "yes", Zekk moved to his ship and began pulling out the damaged power cells. They worked with their backs to one another, the sensors in their X-Wings on passive as they remained alert to any danger. Even so, they moved quickly. They wanted to be out of there before anything else went wrong.
But luck, as Han Solo would say, was not on their side.
Tahiri arrived in the Coruscant system just as an explosion ripped through the blackness less than a parsec away. Her eyes widened in horror as the familiarity of the blast hit home. That had been an X-Wing. She turned the [i]Lightning Rod[/i] towards where the explosion had been, heedless of the fact her sensors were reading multiple Yuuzhan Vong ships. She didn't care; she had to see if what she'd just witnessed was for real. She didn't dare reach for the Force now; not until she knew. And even then, if she was certain she'd lost Zekk, she wasn't sure what she was going to do with it. But first, she had to know.
Kyp came out of hyperspace just short of the Coruscant system and activated his scanners. Before jumping into the fray, he needed to know where he could, and couldn't, go. He wasn't surprised to see the [i]Lightning Rod[/i]'s signature on his screen. He was a little shocked to see Jaina's emergency transponder show up. He hadn't felt her distress through the Force. Were they simply too far apart?
No, he told himself silently, that wasn't possible. If Jaina was in trouble and needed his help he'd know about it. Besides, she had Zekk to help watch her back.
He almost grimaced. The litany of reassurances was miserably short and stale. He needed something new to think about. Slowly, as he stared at the readouts, he formulated a plan. A plan that would, hopefully, get Tahiri out of the storm she was in and back to the ship. Clearing his mind, Kyp focused on at the task at hand. It wasn't going to be easy, but anything worth doing never was.