Chapter II: Coruscant Can't Handle This!
Mary awoke with a jaw-shattering yawn, pulling her arms over her head in a stretch, she thought, It was all a dream, it didn't happen. That was only for the split second before she was fully awake. The feeling that came over her was as if she had been sleeping her entire life and waking up for the first time ever. She could sense things now, a strange feeling for her to describe. Mary felt energized and ready for anything.
"Took ya long enough, sleepy head."
Mary sat up on her bed and looked over, seeing Katie standing on a balcony. There were speeding hover cars in the background. "So it…"
"No, it was not a dream"
Mary looked at all the high-tech furniture and the cars outside. "You're the one that knows everything about Star Wars. Where are we?"
"Not sure. Could be Han and Leia's apartment, or maybe Luke's."
There was a realization coming over Mary, "Katie, do you think that whoever's apartment we're in might have a hovercraft? A fast one?"
Katie shrugged, trying to change the subject quickly, "Hey Mary, notice anything different about yourself?"
"You mean something besides the spiffy Force sense? Then, no."
"How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Two, why do you car— wait a minute. I can see with out my contacts! This is so cool!" Mary then got up and joined Katie on the balcony.
All of the cars, skyscrapers, not to mention Force senses, were quite overwhelming right then.
Katie smiled to her friend, "You can't believe we're really here, right?"
"Just now taking it in."
Their pensive state was shaken by another presence in the room. They sensed him before they heard him, which was hard for either of them to get used to. Turning around they noticed not one but two forms coming through a door that led to another part of the apartment.
One, not human, was brown, hairy, ape-like, and taller then the human beside him. The two girls were struck speechless as the realized within seconds that this was Chewbacca. The man beside him, in captain's clothing, was none other than Han Solo himself.
"Oh my God! Katie that's…" Mary whispered into Katie's ear as best she could.
"I know!" the other teenager replied.
"I'm glad to see you two are up. You kids had us worried." Han gave both of the girls the once over.
Chewbacca growled something incomprehensible to Mary or Katie when a woman's voice came from the other room.
"They are, I thought so," a woman in a white senatorial gown came into the room. It was Leia. "I thought you two were awake, but my senses are rather weak. Are you feeling alright?"
Katie swallowed her amazement and spoke up while Mary just stood staring, "Yes, we're fine…well, if you can call feeling as if you've just stepped into a really cold shower fine."
Han turned to his wife, "They must feel the same way you and Luke do when out from under the ysalamiri."
"Katie," Mary looked at her friend in confusion, "what's a ysa-whatchamacallit?"
"I'll explain later."
"ahh…" Mary looked downtrodden
"I can imagine," Leia looked to the two girls and then shock filled her face, as if she had forgotten something, "Please forgive me for my manners. I'm Leia Organa Solo," she then pointed to Han and Chewbacca, "that is my husband, Han Solo, and that is Chewbacca the wookie." Chewbacca yowled out something and Leia laughed, "He says you can call him Chewie. Who are you? What do you call yourselves?"
Mary looked to Katie and held up her hands in defeat, "You do the introductions! I don't know anything about this sort of thing. Just, please don't mess up."
Katie nodded, "I'm Katie, and this is Mary. We're from the planet Earth, the third planet from the star in the Solar System, located in the Milky Way Galaxy. Our galaxy is," Katie just could not resist the temptation, "far, far away from this one."
Mary snickered at the last comment and Katie whispered, "Just couldn't resist."
Leia did a short bow, "Well Katie and Mary, it was a pleasure to met you. I have to go to the Senate, but I will come back later. I hope to tell the Senate that you are awake. They will want to talk to you but I doubt it will be today, likely tomorrow or the next. The Senate just has to get a few things settled."
It was Han's turn to snicker, "Yeah," he whispered to the two girls, "that will be in about three years."
"I heard that"
"Sorry Leia, I forgot about the heightened Jedi senses." Han looked away from his wife.
"You don't need to say sorry Han, with the way things have been going you may be right. I will see what I can get worked out."
Leia turned to Mary and Katie, "Our home is yours, as our guests." She looked at Han and smiled, "And as our guests, Han, they are your responsibility."
"WHAT!"
"I think that they should see the city and that you should take them."
Chewie grumbled a comment. "Guess you're right Chewie, they can't be that hard to take care of."
"I'll be back later, hopefully the meetings won't run late today." With that Leia kissed her husband on the cheek then turned and exited the apartment.
"So," Han said turning toward where the girls should have been and seeing that they were not there, "Where did you two kids get off to?"
He made his way to the living room noticing that the one called Mary was lounging on the couch, apparently fiddling with a data pad. The other one, Katie, looked to be messing with the holoprojector.
"What are you two-" he wasn't even able to get his sentence out before Katie yelled to her friend.
"MARY! I got Soul Caliber 2 to play on the holoprojector!"
"Dude, serious! I get first dibs!"
"No way! Versus mode."
Han sighed, taking a now vacant seat on a couch, This is gonna be a long day…
-----
"I would kill for a Starbucks right about now," Mary whined, running a hand through her shoulder-length light brown hair as she wandered with Katie through one of the many skyscraper/shopping centers that littered Coruscant's surface.
"Mary, there are no Starbucks here," Katie explained patiently to her caffeine-deprived friend.
Mary lapsed into incomprehensible whimpers that contained the words 'mocha' and 'chai tea'.
"What are you two jabbering about?" Han asked from behind the two girls, his patience wearing thin.
"Long story, Han," Katie explained.
Han scratched the back of his head, "So… what the hell do you two kids want to do?"
Mary suddenly recovered from her decaffeinated lamentations, turned to Katie, and whispered loudly, "Well, we could always head back to the apartment and play your Star Wars Dvds to freak out Captain Annoying and the giant chipmunk back there."
"Mary, no," Katie stated flatly.
"But it'd be fun! And I'm BORED!"
"Like I said, no. We're supposed to be getting clothes anyway."
"Clothes, eh? Sounds good to me!" Mary chirped as she ran to the nearest clothing store.
Chewie growled something to Han. "I'd agree with you, pal." He then turned to Katie, "Is she always like this?"
Katie smiled, her gray eyes sparkling, "Only at the mall."
"At the what?"
Katie rolled her eyes, "Never mind," and quickly chased after her friend.
Two hours later…
Han was about to pull out his blaster on his two charges. They had been in the same clothing store for what seemed like an eternity. He'd been shopping with Leia before, but this was torture.
Chewie growled again, and Han looked up to see the two girls coming towards him, empty-handed.
Before the former smuggler could strangle the two girls, Mary stepped in, "Ok, I know you think we suck at shopping, but we just realized… we have no money."
Katie nodded in agreement, "I only found her about an hour ago, and we spent the last hour making a pile of purchase-worthy items, only to realize we are, indeed, broke."
Han sighed patiently and handed Katie a data card, "This has access information for Leia's account. Have fun."
"SWEET!" Mary yelled before snatching the card and running back into the store.
Katie sighed, "Now you've done it."
"Done what?" Han asked.
"You've given Mary a credit card."
Mary walked out again about ten minutes later, smiling stupidly to herself, again bearing no clothes whatsoever.
"Did you get anything?" Han asked pitifully.
"Of course I did!" Mary said, "I just got so much they said they'd ship it directly to your apartment, free of charge! They said I was their best customer. Isn't that cool?"
Katie laid her face in her hands, "Oh God…"
"No worries, Katie! I got you some stuff, too, I hope I got your size right, it's a bit… off around here."
Han yawned and stretched, having missed his daily nap during their screeches of victory or yells of defeat in their hour-long video game tournament, "Can we please go now? I'm starving!"
Chewie growled in agreement.
"Food!" Mary said excitedly.
Katie was a bit more cautious, "What do you guys eat around here?"
"Well," Han smirked, "do you like things spicy?"
"HELL YES!" The girls cried in unison.
"In that case, we'll head back and I'll whip you up some nice Coreillian food," Han said as he led the way back to the parked hovercar.
As they sat in their seats, Mary quickly grabbed the front seat next to Han, "SHOTGUN!"
Han just shook his head, not about to ask, "Just let it go, Chewie."
Chewie grumbled incomprehensibly and sat in the back with Katie.
Mary looked to the controls excitedly, "Can I drive!"
"No," Han stated.
"Can I drive, Please?"
"Not on your life, sport."
"I'll vacuum the apartment! Twice!" Mary haggled.
"Vacuum?"
Mary rubbed her temples patiently, "I'll… clean… things. Just let me drive!"
"No."
Mary huffed and sat back in her seat, glaring daggers at Katie who had begun snickering in the back seat.
The drive was alright until they reached the home stretch.
"Come on! We're almost there and it's straight, CAN I PLEASE DRIVE!" Mary yelled.
"Fine!" Han conceded, throwing his hands up in defeat. "Just don't get us killed, Leia will kill me if you do."
"Yay!" Mary cried as she deftly switched seats with the captain.
"Alright," Han said slowly, "These are the basic controls. The yoke helps you steer, this switch starts it, and there's the throttle, and the breaks are-"
Mary slammed her fist on the accelerator, throwing everyone back in their seats, "This is SO cool!" she cried, ignoring the angry shouts following in their wake.
At this rate, it took them an even minute on a stretch that should've taken at least five.
Han was terrified. Just before they crashed into the docking bay, he reached over and yanked on the breaks. They came to a sudden halt, and gently floated into the parking space.
Mary was ecstatic, "Let's go again!"
"NO!" Han yelled, this time joined by Chewie's yells.
Katie leaned forward, "I think they've had enough."
"Hmm… ok!" Mary said as she leapt from the driver's seat, "food time!"
The next day…
"I'm glad Leia was able to get us in to see the Senate today," Katie said as she and Mary were waiting outside the building with Chewie for Han to come out and give them the okay to go inside. Their luggage was stacked in a messy pile on the bench next to them.
"So…" Mary asked, using her bored voice, "What do you wanna do?"
"I dunno, we have to wait for Han."
Mary shrugged, reaching to the luggage pile and grabbing her flute case. Quickly assembling the silver instrument, she began playing a light tune. Smirking to herself, she quickly switched to another song, one she hoped Katie would be able to recognize.
Katie looked up in disbelief, "Minority!"
"The one and only Green Day," Mary replied.
"Hold on!" Katie said as she grabbed her guitar case. Quickly pulling out the instrument and giving it a tune, she looked to her friend expectantly.
"You serious?" Mary asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Sure! Like I said, I've dabbled here and there, and it just so happens that Minority is one of my favorites."
"Alright then, you start the guitar riff then," Mary said.
Katie played a chord, tuned again, and then launched into the opening segment of one of Green Day's best songs. Mary quickly covered the vocal part with an improvised flute solo, joining with her friend in shouting the chorus line.
"I WANNA BE THE MINORITY, HEY!"
It was not long before the two teens had a large crowd gathered before them. Some of them looked appalled, but a good majority was actually pleased and began bobbing their heads… or tentacles… along with the catchy tune.
It was then that Captain Han Solo made his big entrance, grabbing the girls by their shirt collars before reprimanding them soundly, "The Senate will meet with you now."
Katie looked at Mary quickly and flashed a reassuring smile before they were sent to meet the Senate.
"Mary, just let me do all the talking, alright?" Katie said to her now-thrilled-beyond-all-belief friend.
"Why's that? I can talk to, ya know!" Mary said, slightly offended.
"I realize you can talk, Mary, believe me, we ALL do, I just wanna make a good impression with the Senators."
They had now reached the door, Han and Chewie close behind them.
As they entered the main Senate chamber, Mary looked around in awe. This chamber was definitely different than it had been portrayed in the Star Wars movies. She stole a quick questioning glance at Katie.
Katie leaned over and whispered, "They redid the place for the Empire, so it's totally different now."
Mary nodded as Katie took in the whole scene around her. The chamber was laid out like an amphitheatre, the many Senators filling the audience places. Where the stage would have been was a square platform, raised high above all the surrounding seats. Although the rows of seats near the back of the chamber were slightly higher than those in the front, it was the main platform that dominated the area. Katie recalled that it had been set up this way so that the emperor could preside higher than his subjects, mentally and physically.
Today, the higher platform was not in use. Instead, a small podium had been set up in front of the platform on the ground floor. This was where the Chief of State stood to address the Senate.
Katie was about to ask Han who the current Chief of State was, when Leia walked up to the Podium and silently waved the girls over. Realizing Han and Chewie had already taken their seats, Katie motioned to Mary to walk up to the forefront.
Leia seemed different then when they had seen her before; she was more commanding and impressive. She said in a voice that echoed above all the commotion in the senatorial seats, "I now call this session of the New Republic Senate to order. In this session, we will address the appearance of two visitors in accordance with the message we receive no less than three days ago." She turned to her aid beside her, "Winter, would you please recite the message for us?"
"Gladly, your highness. Quote, 'A great warrior from the future of a different time will be sent to help stave off the eminent conflict from within' unquote."
The Bothan Senator (the Bothans being a catlike humanoid race), stood up in dismay, "The letter itself was vague! It never said there would be two, let alone where they're from, or that they'd be force users like you mentioned they were yesterday! Not to mention the fact that they are much to young to be of any real importance!"
Leia raised her voice above his, "Councilor Fey'la, you're speaking out of order. We will hear what these girls have to say, then we will listen to any comments." She turned expectantly to the two teens, "Do you wish to tell us your story? Do you know why you're here?"
Mary stepped forward, about to speak, but Katie quickly spoke up before she could open her mouth, "Chief of State Organa Solo, it would be easier for us to explain our present situation if we knew the state in which the New Republic is in. Could you tell us what is going on?"
"Such a request, where to start? It seems only right that you should know. There has been growing unrest in many systems, and some have even separated from the Republic. We Loyalists are trying to keep it together with help from the Jedi Knights-"
"Loyalists!" Katie yelled in a tone rather high for a Senate session, "Excuse me for my interruption, but what do you call those who have separated from the New Republic?"
"Separatists, as we all thought fit," Leia stated calmly.
Mary quickly stepped in, "Excuse me, Chief of State Organa Solo. I would like a minute to confer with my partner before continuing this discussion."
Leia nodded her consent as Mary pulled Katie off to one side.
"Katie! This is BAD!" Mary said quickly.
Katie bit her lip nervously, "Yeah, I know."
"This is VERY bad!" Mary stated again, "Do they even remember what happened before?"
"They must not, or they wouldn't have it set up like this. I think we need more info before we start worrying about it," Katie said, dragging Mary back to the podium.
"You may continue," Katie said to Leia.
Leia gave the girls a confused look, but then continued explaining the situation to them, "As to our knowledge they have not assembled any forces against us, nor do they appear to have hostile intentions. They have kept trade routes open and conversed with us on a government to government basis."
It was at that moment that a robed and hooded figure entered the senatorial chamber saying "I've failed." in a voice that sounded to Mary like a fish, if fish could talk. The figure removed their hood, and the two teens realized that this alien was of the same race as Admiral Ackbar.
"Ah, Cilghal. I'm glad to see you have returned, how are things going on Yavin Four?" Leia asked.
"Not very well," replied the figure, "No Jedi can be spared for the search you have requested. I myself have been assigned to other duties as have the others. I'm sorry Minister Organa Solo, but there are too few of us."
Mary leaned over to Katie, "Katie, who's that?"
"She's one of the first Jedi Luke ever trained at his academy," Katie replied.
"Oooh, that makes sense," the other girl stated.
"I understand, Cilghal," Leia resumed, "You are dismissed."
The Jedi bowed and made her way out of the chamber, drawing up her hood once more.
"What was that about!" Mary blurted out before anyone could stop her.
Leia made a deep sigh of both sorrow and regret, "I guess it's only right to tell you. Perhaps that's why you are here in the first place. Master Skywalker, my brother, has gone missing. He's been gone for more than two months, with no contact made to the academy or me. With some recent Imperial attacks, we can't spare any troops or convoys to search for him. I'm at a loss."
Mary looked over to Katie, and was mildly alarmed to notice a sparkle in her eyes that her friend got every time she read a new Star Wars book.
Katie stepped up before her friend could stop her, "Mary and I don't know this galaxy very well, and the saying goes on our world that 'travel is the best education.' Perhaps Mary and I could go by the Jedi Academy, learn to harness our powers, and search for any rumors of Luke. That way you won't have to compromise any of your defenses."
"And we'll get some fun out of it!" Mary finished.
There was discussion between the Senators as they took in the young girl's proposal. Leia called them to order and asked their opinion. Amazingly enough, most said that two Jedi in training would be the perfect choice, even if they didn't know the galaxy very well.
Mary and Katie were so amazed by this, that they caught themselves doing a series of inappropriate high fives and whoops where everyone could see them. Leia turned to the two girls, "You realize this would be difficult, and it will be with a heavy heart that I send you."
Mary shot Leia a confident look, "Leia, if we can handle getting here, we can handle anything."
Leia smiled, "In that case," she turned to the Senate, "All in approval?"
The Senators raised their hands up high, and, astoundingly enough, it was a majority.
"It's settled then. The two girls will leave as soon as possible to Yavin Four. They will then commence the search for Master Skywalker." Leia turned to the two girls, "You are dismissed." She then whispered in a voice no one could hear, "I don't know how it happened, but you two try to take care of yourselves. I will have Wedge Antilles of Rogue Squadron assign you fighter ships."
Mary tapped Katie on the shoulder, "Fighter ships!"
Leia continued, "I will have Han and Chewie take you there immediately."
At this point, the two girls got up and left, Han and the Wookie behind them.
-----
They sat in the Imperial Palace gardens, waiting for Wedge to meet up with them.
Mary was first to break the silence, "This doesn't make any sense."
"What do you mean?" Katie asked.
"Ok, well, I'm over the whole we're in the Star Wars galaxy thing, but all this time stream nonsense isn't adding up. Jaina and Jacen told us that Luke had already disappeared and turned to the Dark Side. However, Leia said they just now realized that Luke was gone, and I haven't even seen Jaina or Jacen since we got here," Mary finished with a silent huff.
Katie thought for a moment, "Well, I think the Jaina and Jacen we met came from a very turbulent time. Maybe the tide of the war was going badly. I think they were sent to our time to get us. They then sent us to their past, hoping we could stop Luke from turning to the Dark Side at all. Jaina and Jacen are probably small children at this time."
"Um… I think I almost might kinda understand," Mary stated, "So, we came from our time to fix this time so Jaina and Jacen's time will be all better and stop the creation of the Sith's time warp thingy?"
"I think that's pretty much it, only without the Sith's time machine we wouldn't be here in the first place."
Mary rolled her eyes, "Whatever, I'm just gonna start focusing of the here and now, and if any stuck-up Jedi master tries to tell me otherwise, I'll gouge his nostrils with a spork!"
As soon and they were done squabbling, someone they recognized from the Star Wars movies walked up, giving a quick greeting to Han and Chewie and shaking hands with the two girls, "I'm captain Antilles of Rogue Squadron, but you can just call me Wedge. Let me show you to the flight simulation room." He then led then two girls to another part of the Imperial Palace.
Three hours later…
"OH MY GOD THAT WAS SOOOO COOL!" Mary yelled after stepping out of the flight simulator.
"I KNOW!" Katie agreed enthusiastically.
Wedge walked up to a nearby machine that resembled a modern-day printer, "This machine will give you your readouts on what fighter ship you should be issued."
The girls paid him no mind, still rambling about how cool the flight simulator was.
"It was just like a virtual reality game!" Katie yelled.
"I went FAST!" Mary screeched.
"Apparently you did," Wedge butt in, "Your readouts came first, Mary. You did hit the accelerator quite a bit, yet you were able to maintain stable maneuverability. You were able to get close enough to your target to fire relatively weak shots that were still effective. So, I think you should get an A-Wing."
"Katie? What's an A-Wing?" Mary asked her all-knowing friend.
"It the fastest of the New Republic fighter ships," Katie replied, a sense of dread growing in her mind.
Mary was speechless, then, "SWEET!" was heard throughout the facility.
Wedge winced painfully but returned to the machine and retrieved Katie's readout, "Katie, it appears that you were very good at dodging shots, as well as making accurate shots at both enemy fighters and target objectives that were far-off. I believe you should be in an X-Wing."
Katie gasped loudly, "OH MY GOD! Mary! I get an X-Wing!"
Wedge winced again, but not so severely this time, "Actually, you two did rather well for having never piloted at all before… Never mind. Mary, there's an extra A-Wing in the hangar bay; we'll have it fixed up for you. As for you Katie, I'm sorry, but all the X-Wings are in use. However, I believe Luke did not take his when he left, and I believe it and Artoo are still on Yavin Four. You should be able to pick it up when you go. I will give you both a new cruiser, small enough to be piloted by two people but big enough to hold both of your ships. Report down to the hangar bay in about an hour." Wedge signaled that the two girls could leave.
-----
"So," Han began, piloting the two girls around Coruscant, "You two have an hour to kill. What do you wanna do?"
Katie looked over the horizon and sighed softly, "Han, there's somewhere Mary and I need to go."
Mary nodded in agreement, totally knowing what her friend was getting at, "Do you know where the remains of the old Jedi Temple are?"
Han thought for a moment, "No, actually, I didn't even know there was a Jedi Temple on Coruscant."
Katie leaned forward from her backseat, "That's ok, I can navigate."
Twenty minutes later…
A lone hovercar pulled up to the remains of what appeared to be a giant statue of the former Emperor.
"Ugh," Mary said disgustedly, "They never get things cleaned up round here, do they?"
"They must've built that when the Temple fell," Katie said softly.
The girls jumped out of the vehicle, Mary looking back to Han and Chewie, "Stay with the car."
Han agreed reluctantly, just wanting the girls off this planet and out of his hair.
Katie and Mary walked up to the base of the monument, looking for some sign of the ancient temple.
"I don't see anything," Mary stated.
Katie looked around patiently, "Use the Force, Mary."
Mary sighed and began poking around random bits of debris.
"Hey," Katie exclaimed, "I found something!"
Mary ran over to her friend, who was looking over a hole in the ground that apparently led to some vast chamber.
"It must've been revealed when they knocked over the statue," Katie explained.
Mary looked at the hole for a moment, "Um… okay," she said as she quickly leapt into the underground chamber.
"Mary!" Katie yelled as she jumped in after her good friend.
Chewie growled to Han concernedly, still by the hovercar.
Han shook his head, "Whatever, they'll be fine."
-----
"Hey, I can't see anything!" Katie whined as she stumbled around in the darkness.
"I got it," Mary said somewhere in the distance, pulling a discreet switch she landed on when she fell.
The girls gaped in awe as the room lit up before them. The cavern was massive. Long, fluted pillars stretched upward, taking the weight of the ground floor above them. A large area in the center was generally smooth, except for the occasional chunk of debris that had fallen from the ceiling.
"Do you know what this is, Mary?" Katie asked.
"No, but you're gonna tell me, aren't ya?" Mary stated flatly.
"This is where the Jedi trials took place… at least I think so."
"That's a first. You're actually not sure of something. I need to write this down somewhere…"
"Hey!" Katie said, slightly offended, "Just… look around or something."
"Fine, I will!" Mary huffed, walking to the opposite end of the chamber.
-----
Mary stood on the far side of the chamber, pouting after her mild skirmish with Katie. Hoping to look like she was actually doing something, she began turning over random bits of rubble that littered the floor. After pushing a particularly bulky piece of plaster, a slight glint caught her eye, "Hello, hello, what have we here?" she said, bending to pick it up. In her hand she held a small rock, no, a crystal, only this crystal was like none she had ever seen. As she held it up to the light, the beams reflected off its dark, cloudy interior.
"Mary!" Katie yelled, "Did you find something?"
Mary quickly slipped the small crystal in the pocket of her jeans, "Nope, nothing, just tying my shoe."
Katie nodded and continued poking around on her side of the chamber.
Hm… that was weird. Does she know? Mary thought to herself. She can't use the Force that well yet, can she? Is she hiding it from me? The teen shook her head suddenly, "What am I thinking?" she said softly, "This is stupid of me… We should just go now, our hour's almost up!" she said, shouting the last part at her friend across the chamber.
"Ok, let's go," Katie said, walking over to the hole in the ceiling.
Mary kept the crystal in her pocket secret as she walked to her friend, "How do you propose we get out? Jump?"
Katie smirked, "Exactly."
Ignoring the skeptical look on her friend's face, Katie gathered her strength in her legs, crouched slightly, and sprung up, catching the opening and quickly pulling herself up on solid ground, "Come on!" she said, waving to her friend, "It's easy! Just put all your strength in your legs, and let the Force propel you upwards."
Mary looked up at Katie, So, she was hiding something from me… "How did you know how to do that?" she yelled to her friend.
Katie shrugged, "Lucky guess? I have read almost all the books."
The other teen walked over to the hole, trying the same maneuver. Leaping into the air, Mary barely grasped the edge of the hole with her right hand. Katie was instantly at her side, holding out her hand, "Here, let me help you!" Mary shot Katie a quick glare, erasing it instantly as she used the offered hand to get to safety.
Katie looked after her friend, who had quickly walked back to the hovercar, What was that all about? she thought, She can't still be mad at me for snapping at her.
She walked towards the car, Han and Chewie waiting for them.
"So, you find anything?" Han asked casually.
"No," both girls responded in unison.
Han quirked an eyebrow at the girls' rather depressed demeanor, but quickly shrugged it off, "Ok, into the car. I'll take you to the hangar bay."
-----
"Diagnostics are done, Mary, we can leave the hangar now." Katie made her way from the ship to the cockpit. There, Mary was sitting down in the pilot's chair making sure everything was fine up top.
"Well, get up here then!" Mary was over her strange mood from the Jedi Temple ruins and was back to her old self. "How am I supposed to fly this thing without my copilot?"
"Right on!" Katie jumped into the chair beside Mary and strapped in as they sped out of the chamber.
"This is shuttle Skylark requesting permission to jump to the proposed coordinates." Katie spoke into the comlink.
"Coruscant Space Control," buzzed a robotic voice inside the control panel, "You're cleared Skylark."
"Off we go then." Katie replied.
"Yeah, and while we're in hyperspace," Mary smiled to her friend, "You can tell me what the hell has happened since the movies."
"That'll take awhile."
"Good thing Yavin's such a far flight."