"I told you to cover up."
"Do you know what the only thing more annoying than a man who says I told you so is? Do you? It's watching a room full of Gamorreans eating." The crew of the Ebon Hawk, minus Bastila, was on Tatooine. Carth, Revan and Canderous had spent the past week searching for the final Star Map.
During this time, they'd rescued quite a few Czerka employees, which rubbed Revan's sense of honor, among them, Mission's prodigal brother. Griff had turned up like a bad cred and tried to pump the group for money. Mission had put a stop to that and Griff was once more somewhere else in the galaxy. The young Twi'lek didn't seem extremely upset about it. Revan figured she'd resigned herself to being abandoned by her blood family. Carth and Revan had taken Mission, and by default Big Z, under their wings to give the girl a new family.
"Beautiful, you have such a way with words. You're going to have to stop complimenting me so much or I'm going to get a swelled head." Revan growled and swung her fist at Carth. Her arm was caught in the air by a large meaty fist and a voice echoed from behind her.
"Revan, why don't you and the Jedi contingent get the last Star Map so we can get off this wasteland?" Canderous' pragmatic voice broke in to the argument. "I'll take care of Republic here."
"Men!" Was the only response from Revan as she stormed up the boarding ramp into the Hawk. When Revan entered the Hawk she saw that the other Jedi were deep in meditation. Loath to interrupt, especially when emotions were churning through her, she made her way to the cockpit. She found Mission playing with the controls.
"I'll show you how to work it if you want." Revan spoke up. Her statement turned to laughter as Mission jumped out of the chair.
"That's ok, I'm just playing. I can fix anything but I'm not too sure on the whole piloting thing." Mission's lekku twirled around her face.
"Mission, if you can fix it, don't you think you should know how to work it? It's actually fairly easy. I'm not as good as Carth, but I know the basics. What you were playing with before is the throttle." Revan started showing Mission what lever controlled what action.
"Mandalorians, when we started our incursion into Republic space wondered at the hesitancy of the response. We attributed this fear of engagement to a survival instinct. Obviously, we were wrong." Canderous' tone was slightly conversational, as if discussing the fact that Tatooine was hot and getting hotter the further the suns rose.
"Canderous, what are you talking about?" Carth sounded perplexed.
"You keep baiting her when it is obvious she is under a great deal of stress. I'm curious as to your reasoning."
"I didn't think I was baiting. I thought I was teasing, not that it's any of your business."
"It's my business when it affects the successful completion of this mission. Revan has more than enough to face without you aggravating her. In the span of a few weeks, her identity has changed, her life has been threatened multiple times by those that profess to have feelings for her, she's watched her crewmates sacrifice themselves for her, and she's racing against time itself to save Bastila. This is in addition to coping with the daily stresses of a bickering crew, a bored Mission and Jolee's cantankerous nature."
"I…I hadn't thought of it that way. I was trying to lighten the mood. I have my own set of stress points, you know. I have to deal with all the crew issues and the fact that the woman I fell in love with is the Darth Revan, the Sith Lord that ordered the destruction of Telos and multiple other worlds. Just a few hours ago, we discovered her assassin droid. Do you realize how that makes me feel to be so boldly confronted with her past? She created an assassin droid to kill her enemies. How do I know she won't reactivate that programming?" Carth's hands drifted up and away from his body in an obvious sign of his distress.
"You have the same assurance that I do. Has Revan ever reacted in a way that would make you think that she would send an assassin after anyone?" Just as Canderous finished his words, the two men were greeted with the exhaust of the Ebon Hawk. They both turned and watched as the Hawk shakily climbed from the landing bay and wobbled its way into the air.
"What in the galaxy is going on?" Carth sounded incredulous that someone would fly his ship. It wasn't really his ship, he'd stolen it along with Revan and Canderous, so he had to share claim to it.
"You had to bait her." Canderous just laughed and walked off. "I'll be in the cantina."
Mission was in the pilot's seat during the impromptu flying lesson. She was cheering herself on as the Ebon Hawk climbed out of the landing bay and started gaining altitude, all without hitting anything.
"Ok, now ease forward." Revan's voice was patient as she talked Mission through her first maneuvers. The Hawk rocked as Mission used the yoke. At one point, Revan used the Force to get Mission to keep from pile-driving the Hawk into the ground. Other than that, though, the flying lesson went pretty well as they cruised over the desert.
"Mission, we're going to need to land over there." Revan pointed so that Mission could see the line of flight. "My information says that the last Star Map is just over that bluff."
"You don't think Carth is going to be mad that I flew the Hawk, do you?" Mission was biting her lower lip in concentration as she hesitantly sent the ship in the direction that Revan had pointed.
"If he is, well, he deserves it. I only wish I could have seen his face as we took off." Mission and Revan started laughing at the mental images their imaginations conjured. "Mission, concentrate!" The Hawk bumped a sand dune as Mission landed. The landing was rough but at least the Hawk was still in one piece. From the back, Mission and Revan could hear Zaalbar roaring his disapproval of the landing.
Juhani poked her head into the cockpit. She laughed when she saw that it was Mission at the controls and left. Mission and Revan joined the others in the common area of the Hawk.
"Well, folks, how'd I do? Did I do good?" Zaalbar muttered under his breath. Juhani smiled and nodded.
"Where'd you learn to pilot, girl? Why, I knew this fellow, by the name of Horace, that flew better than you. He only had one arm, mind you but when he needed an extra hand, heh heh, he'd use his teeth. There was this one flight…" Revan interrupted Jolee's wandering story.
"Jolee, you're making this up and you know it. Just tell Mission what a wonderful job she did on her first flight ever." Revan patted Mission on the back as they laughed together.
"Why didn't you warn us that Mission was learning to fly? I woulda buckled myself in proper instead of using the Force to hold me steady." Jolee's voice sounded crankier than normal. However, Revan caught the twinkle in the old man's eye.
"I thought it'd be more adventurous this way."
"Well, for a first timer, you did a good job." Mission beamed. "But then again, what do I know? I'm just an old hermit that hasn't flown in Force knows how long." Mission's smile faded.
"I hate you, old man." Mission stuck her tongue out at him as she flounced to the women's quarters.
"Now see what you did? She did great for a first time." Revan was quick to follow.
"Why didn't Carth fly us?" Jolee asked as Revan reached the doorway leading out. Revan turned, with a huge self-satisfied smile on her face.
"He was busy with Canderous."