13: Night Falls
The shuttle bored towards SRS-174, flanked by a pair of Valkyries. All three were the Imperial standard gunmetal gray, pleasantly conventional and angular. The vessel just ahead of them, however, was nothing of the sort. It was a sleek black fighter, jacketed not in metal but a strange sort of armored flesh.
Within, Darth Nochichi brooded. He was on his way to confront another of these strange Jedi. I'm coming to take your student, Kenobi, he turned a cold light-blue and watched hyperspace scroll by. What do you think of that? Are you going to come back and stop me? Could you stop me if you did?
When Nochichi had known Sakaki, she had been four feet tall, a gentle, slender child with large, somber eyes. How had she grown since last they met? He had no idea of how long humans took mature, in spite of living among them for many years. He was certain Nanashi was much stronger now, but equally certain that she was still no match for him.
Thinking of Kenobi's student made him consider his own, his color shifting to a more irritated orange. The Empress's Hand project wasn't turning out too well; he couldn't apply to much force (or Force) to her mind without damaging those qualities that would make her useful. Further, getting her to focus was like nailing Jello to a tree, and effectively angering her wasn't any easier; when hurt or frightened, she withdrew rather than lashing back.
This was a serious problem. Had he even wanted to, he wouldn't be able to teach her how to harness this bizarre 'Light Side' that some humans were attuned to. While it had been shocking to discover an entire aspect of the Force unknown to his people, he wasn't terribly impressed with its practitioners.
Finally, he laid the whole problem aside. He was certain that a solution would come to hand (or flipper) if he was only patient. Patience… he ground his needle-like teeth. Some things were hard for anyone, human or no.
Surprisingly enough, the walk had done Chiyo-chan good. As the sun slowly set and the air grew colder, Jedi and student continued their circuitous rout around the landing site. A thick overcast had rolled in; when night finally fell, it would be utterly pitch black.
Sakaki picked her way through brush, watching the girl scamper ahead of her. In spite of the lightsaber on her belt and the hunting blaster slung awkwardly across her back, she still managed to be astonishingly, mind-meltingly cute. Jedi though she may be, Sakaki still almost got the shivers looking at her.
They hadn't found much interesting. The forest was inhabited by bugs, birds and a race of stocky canines. "Ms.Yomi said we had provisions for three days," Chiyo called back. "So I don't think we'll have to go hunting."
Sakaki nodded, hiding the wave of relief that washed through her. She rather liked the dogs. Now, she knew that she should be trying to keep her student sharp, perhaps by flinging things at her with the Force or engaging her in debate (or lecture, as it would be at this point in her training.) But she just didn't have the heart for it at the moment.
I'm really bad at this, she sighed inwardly, How's she ever going to deal with Master? Sakaki looked at her much be-scarred hand and smiled faintly. Hopefully Chiyo wouldn't be as thick as she had.
Suddenly, Sakaki stopped. Something felt… off. Not wrong, not frightening, just off. What in the world? She turned slowly to see one of the canines, a big one, regarding her from a small ridge. As she made contact with its dark, beady eyes, it growled, hackles raising.
"Master Sakaki!" Chiyo said urgently. "Should I…?" She had her hunting blaster leveled at the massive creature, balanced on the crook of her elbow. The Jedi urgently waved her down and held out her other hand to the beast.
"Come here," Sakaki said warmly. And sure enough, the great white canine padded down towards her, no longer growling, but still staring into her eyes with intense gravity. Chiyo lowered her blaster, watching raptly. Closer and closer the animal came, raising his huge snout to her outstretched hand. "That's it…"
Then harsh wind blasted over them accompanied by a blood-curdling roar that Sakaki had always associated with the Empire. A dark shape shot by overhead, leaving a strong smell of ozone in its wake. "Valkyrie?" Sakaki asked aloud. She cast a disappointed glance at where her new friend had been, but he'd fled into the forest.
"Was… did they repair the…?" Chiyo looked after it in confusion. "Are they leaving without us?"
"That was an Imperial fighter," Sakaki said calmly. "We'd better get back to the ship."
"That's right!" Kagura cried, waving her blaster in the air. "You'd better hide!"
Tomo lay on the ground at her feet, clutching at her leg. "Thank you! Oh, thank you! You saved me!"
"Um, no problem…" the soldier replied, embarrassed. "Sakaki'll probably want to find it, though."
"Screw that! That thing is vicious!"
"She'll be able to handle it. Maybe we should go see if Yomi will let us help her. I think we've wasted enough time with that stupid thing."
Kagura started back towards the Red Spirit, a still-shaken Tomo in tow. Night was falling swiftly; she hoped her rival would come back soon. As they neared the vessel, they could clearly hear Yomi's cursing. "Hey!" the soldier called, "Need any help?"
"No!" Yomi called angrily from inside, "I—" CRASH! "Dammit!"
It took some convincing, but finally Yomi let them get to work as well. Honestly, Kagura couldn't imagine being so protective of a simple ship, especially one that you seemed to hate so much and called such colorful names.
Chiyo had been right; the ship's viscera were a godforsaken mess. Though Kagura knew her way around spaceship repair, she was only barely able to figure out what went where. "Hey, toss me the hydrospanner, wouldja?" she asked. Yomi handed her the tool in question-- whose metallic shaft was bent about fifty-two degrees. "Uh…" She must have been in a really bad mood…
"Oh, sorry about that," Yomi said lightly, then placed the bent tool against a corner and wrenched it into a more serviceable shape. "Here you go."
"Th-thanks." Yep. Definitelya Valerian.
The three of them worked in peace and equanimity for a while, making great bounds. If it all went this well, they'd be able to leave the next day! But even so long ago, in a galaxy so far away, Murphy's Law still held.
"Give this to Tomo," the First Mate said, handing Kagura a smallish metal capsule.
"Sure," Kagura replied agreeably, then yelled, "Tomo! Catch!"
Tomo poked her head out of the cockpit just in time to see the engine part flying through the air towards her. "Wh- what did you--?" It bounced out of her hands and skipped across the deck.
"Sorry," the soldier said, returning to work. After a few seconds, she realized that the ship's crew was still staring at her. "What? What's wrong? It didn't break…"
"That…" Yomi answered, still stupefied, "Was very… very delicate… The shell didn't break, but inside it's cracked to hell."
"So? Can't we just…?"
"You broke it!" Tomo suddenly cried in something very similar to glee. "It was the only one we had and you broke it!"
"I-" Kagura looked back and forth between them. "We don't-?"
Yomi shook her head. "You broke it, you broke it!" Tomo yelled in singsong.
"So we're stuck?" The Valerian nodded. "Shit!" Kagura snatched the capsule up and spiked it against the deck. "Shit! Shii-iit!" Anger unspent, she stormed out into the gathering gloom.
Tomo stopped laughing at the soldier's misfortune as a realization hit her. "Hey…" she said, "That means we're stuck here too, doesn't it?"
"Tomo…!"
Outside, Kagura stared into the deepening sky, fighting down a lump in her throat. She'd let them all down. The disk in her back pocket, the only hope of the Rebellion, would never find its way to them. Her companions and the whole Rebellion were all screwed because she had to be a dumbass and throw the stupid part…
"I've gotta find a way to make it right," she said as a tear tracked down her cheek. It was completely against her nature, but she started to slide into despair. "Why the hell am I such a boor? I've gotta fix things! But what can I do? Where on this planet could anyone find a…"
Suddenly, a bright light fell across her face. She turned in startlement to behold a Valkyrie hovering silently (repulsors were much quieter than the main engines) above their artificial clearing, shining a spotlight down over the ship.
And now the Imperials are here… she groaned inwardly. Just perfect. The Valkyrie shot away, presumably back towards whatever base the Imperials would have here. Wait—it was a ship! It flew! It obviously had whatever dingus she had broken!
Kagura checked her blaster and set out after it.
