Chapter 9
Buck sat idly by in the Engineering workshop in the town of Jovin 3. He was on the entrance platform of the ship as he watched the Engineer and his droid helpers work on to the ship. Whenever the Engineer would pass by they would exchange wordless glances at each other. There was no cool nod of the head, no smile, no knowing looks, just them looking into each other's eyes briefly as he passed by to continue his work. Buck was not sure what to make of the passing stare downs. He was not sure if the Engineer was giving him the evil eye or if he, like Buck, was looking at him for the sake of looking at him.
The engineer was a short, brown Mon Khalamari with big yellow eyes that had big black pupils at their center. He wore blue overalls and a utility belt with some of the tools he needed to work. The three helper droids followed him in toe.
Buck sighed at having nothing to do. He had never felt this bored before, not as a poor boy in his home planet of Rovinia, not as a Stormtrooper and not as a Rebel.
"Rebel." He whispered to himself. The word gave him a bad taste in his mouth and sounded strange without all the spite he usually said it with. When he was a Stormtrooper, his job was to apprehend them but now he is one of them. He could not wait to save Ru' Bik so that he can kiss the Rebels goodbye and then he'd... and then he'd... Buck realised that he did not really know what he would do if he succeeded in saving Ru' Bik, if he lived through it that is.
He got up and stretched his arms out before heading for the exit. He needed to do something that would get some blood into his legs and hopefully into his brain. He stopped and looked above him. The Engineer was on a slowly rising platform, heading for partially installed cannons on the ship.
"Engineer!" Buck called up to him.
The Engineer leaned over the railings, "What?"
"I'm hungry..." Buck began before he was interrupted.
"Then go eat!" The Engineer rolled his eyes.
"I want some Jovin 3 cuisine. Any suggestions?"
"A friend of mine owns a Lichpid stand. He should be passing by right about now." The Engineer said pointing to the exit.
Buck nodded and left the hanger where the Engineer was working. The fresh air and sunlight was a welcome change from the air and more dimly lit spaceship hanger. He waited a while before a Toydarian with a stand written 'Lichpid' came rolling by. Buck waved him to a stop. He paid the man a few credits and was rewarded with a Lichpid.
The Lichpid was wrapped in brown paper. Buck cautiously peeled back the white paper to see what was inside. He had heard rumours of some alien food attacking the dinners and he did not want to be another statistic. If he had to wrestle his food, than he wanted to make sure he was prepared. He sighed in relief when nothing jumped at him. The Lichpid was a brown gravy like substance with a purple spiral-like food pieces all wrapped in a bread like substance that was chalk white.
He began walking into the hanger with his yet to be tasted treat. As he was walking he saw a blue delivery droid enter the hanger. Must be delivering part for the spaceship, he thought to himself. The delivery droid entered the hanger and he followed behind it as he had more distance to cover. When he entered the droid was already speaking to the Engineer.
"To be honest I didn't expect the delivery until tomorrow," the Engineer said as Buck was passing by the two.
Buck heard a familiar beeping noise as he passed by the droid. His mind focused on remembering what the sound reminded him off before he shrugged it off to focus on the Lichpid in his hands.
"All you have to do is sign here and we can conclude." The droid said handing the Engineer a flat transparent pad as Buck walked away.
Buck peeled more of the Lichpid's wrapping away, exposing more of the food. He took a bite and began chewing. His eyes suddenly went wide. They did not go wide in shock as the alien sour and spicy Lichpid invaded his taste buds. They went wide because he realised what the beeping reminded him of. He dropped the Lichpid and ran back to where Engineer and droid was talking. Buck leapt into the air and planted both feet in the droid, in a drop kick. As he fell onto the ground the droid flew away from the force of his kick and he quickly got up to pull the Engineer to the ground and covered him under his own body before the droid exploded. The shockwave sent the two rolling on the ground before coming to a stop.
They both rose slowly and when they were on their feet they exchanged one of their usual glances but this time their glance exchanged knowledge. They had just survived an attempt to take a life, specifically The Engineer's life.
/
Buck and the Engineer sat in the sick bay of the ship. The medical droid made sure to check on whatever injuries they had sustained during the explosion.
"It seems that both you are going to be alright." The medical droid said. "You have sustained only minor injuries and will make full recoveries in a matter of days."
Buck looked at the Engineer as he was being bandaged up. "Who's trying to kill you?" Buck asked.
The Engineer looked back at him, "How do you know someone is not trying to kill you? You guys look like shifty characters."
Buck raised an eyebrow at the question. "We do have enemies but they aren't the kind to assassinate us with a bomb. If they wanted us dead they would be here trying to kill us. So that only leaves you. Do you have any idea who may want to kill you?"
"I have a name or two. Hmpf, maybe just a single name."
"You should report it to the authorities. But leave out my involvement in it... leave out this ship in your report... you know what, just wait until we get off the planet then report it."
"Reporting my suspicions on who is behind this will not do me any good, not on this planet," The Engineer said as he was leaving. When he was at the door, he stopped and looked back at Buck. "Why did you save me? I mean you placed your life in harm's way to save someone you don't even know. Why?"
Buck could not do anything but shrug as he really did not have an answer.
"Hm... stupid." The Engineer said before leaving the ship to get back to his work. Buck could not do anything but agree with the Engineer's assessment of his actions. It seemed that something had robbed him of his sense of self preservation. It made sense with all the adventures he's been having these days.
He hung around while the Engineer did his job and the day passed by without any more noteworthy events.
/
The next day had come around. Buck sat in the spaceship hanger at a table, cleaning his blaster. He had disassembled it as far as he could and did a check of all its components before cleaning each part off with a white cloth. From where he was sitting, he could watch the Engineer and see whoever entered the hanger.
When he was done with the task he began putting his blaster together. However, halfway through the task the Engineer called to him, "Hey, you!" Buck looked up at him. The Engineer did not really know his name. Zack was the one who knew the Engineer and even then it seemed they did not know a lot about each other and Buck was satisfied with keeping things that way. The Engineer mostly referred to him as 'you' and Buck referred to him as Engineer.
Buck got up and looked at the Mon Khalamari descending in his platform.
"I need you to help me with something inside." He said wiping his grimy hands with an already dirty washcloth.
Buck looked at his half assembled weapon. He was reluctant to leave it alone but he knew he would have to. "Get one of your droids to look after my blaster."
"Okay." He said before leading the way inside the ship. "But I doubt anyone would dare steal it. Not in the current condition it's in. Where did you learn to dissemble a blaster like that?"
"You are asking many questions, Engineer. I hope you don't mind me asking some of my own in return."
The Engineer laughed his comment off. They reached the ship's bridge and he went 'under the hood' to make a few changes to the controls. Buck would help him by telling him systematic information of the ship, which he did not know much of. A few hours later he came out from under the hood.
"There we go. I think I'm done here... with little help from you." He said giving Buck a side long glance. "How about we test it out?"
"Really?" Buck said, exposing his excitement. "How?"
"Let's take it for a spin and find something to shoot."
"I don't know..."
"Come now. Do you think I'm going to overpower you and steal your ship?"
Buck gave the Engineer a smile before starting up the ship. The roof of the hanger opened and allowed the ship to hover past the height of the building before blasting off into the blue skies of Jovin 3. They climbed higher and further away from the town and soon were in the greener parts of Jovin 3. They passed a forest of trees with pink leaves and purple flowers. It was divided in the middle by a narrow dirt path that led up to a hill where Buck thought he saw a small ship resting at the apex. They passed a herd of brown horned animals which the Engineer called, "Ramlons."
They were heading towards a rocky mountain. Buck manipulated the ship close to the mountain before shooting straight up into the sky. He dove down again and went around the mountain. "Basic systems seem to be working alright." Buck reported to the short Engineer beside him.
"Let's test the shields." The Engineer said turning the shields on.
"Shields are at a 100%" Buck confirmed once he saw the readings.
"Good. It seems like all systems are working correctly and the damage the ship sustained has been repaired." The Engineer said, sounding proud of himself. "Now, let's test the new addition, the front and rear guns."
Buck nodded and went to the newly installed weapons controls. Buck saw the controls and raised his eyebrow at his temporary co-pilot.
"What?" The Engineer asked.
"I've seen better, Targeting Systems."
"Then maybe next time you can install those better targeting systems or better yet give me the credits to install those better targeting systems."
Buck raised his hands in the air. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean...'
"Stow it and start shooting."
"Roger that!" Buck used the control stick of the weapons controls to move the target of the front gun. He aimed for a rock protruding at the side of the mountain. He pressed the red button that sat atop the control and nothing happened. Buck looked at his co-pilot.
"You hear that?" He asked.
Buck shook his head, "Heard what?"
"When you pressed the firing button there was a distinct sound of energy dispersal. There is an error with the energy path through the ship to the front gun."
You mean you made an error with the energy path through the ship to the front gun, Buck thought to himself with a smile
"Test the rear gun." He said.
Buck swung the ship past the protruding rock in the took aim with the rear gun as the ship went past its target.
"Come now. We don't have all day." The Engineer egged him on. Buck pressed the trigger and a red projectile of energy shot forth from the gun and hit the rock, causing it to explode into debris.
Buck smiled, "Not bad."
"Now all I have to do is fix the front gun and we're done." The Engineer said as Buck steered the ship back to the town.
"How long will that take?"
"It should be done by tomorrow."
The journey back was as quiet as the journey out of town. They landed in the hanger. The Engineer exited the ship while Buck stayed to make sure nothing was out of place. If he missed something, it would be mostly on his head and that would not be good considering that most of his crew members were giving him the evil eye already. Once he was sure that nothing was wrong he exited the ship to find a Toydarian flying in.
"Well well well, you're still alive. I guess the rumours were wrong." The Toydarian said to the Engineer. He paid no attention to Buck who looked at him suspiciously once he spoke.
"Frodit," the Engineer said between clenched teeth. "You have a nerve showing your face here!" The Engineer was approaching the obviously unwelcomed guest with a spanner.
"Careful now." The Toydarian said producing a pistol. He did not point the weapon at the Engineer but the fact that he was holding it was enough to bring the Engineer to a halt. The two small men looked at each other with hate in their eyes.
Buck did not like how quickly this situation had escalated. He analysed the situation quickly. The pistol that the one called Frodit held was more suitable for close range targets and the Engineer was close enough for it to have a fatal effect on him. At least the pistol holder seemed to be alone, so if things came to a head, Buck still had a chance to take him out. He glanced at his gun that sat at the far corner of the room. It was useless in its current condition but he could reassemble it in at least 23 seconds, if needs be.
"What do you want, Frodit?" The Engineer said.
"You know what I want," Frodit said hovering slightly lower and closer to the Engineer.
"I'm not selling this property to you, fool! And no amount of death threats will change that."
Buck began to understand what was going on. Frodit was the one responsible for assassination attempt on The Engineer.
"Then you will die." Frodit said in a threatening tone.
"Yeah? Probably not today because if there is one thing I know about you, Frodit," the Engineer sneered, "you are too cowardly to do the dirty work yourself. You rely on droids to do what you're too scared to do."
Frodit gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on his pistol. He began raising his pistol but then stopped when he noticed Buck in the room for the first time. He dropped the gun and gave smiled at the Mon Khalamari in front of him. "I'll be back," Frodit whispered before hovering away.
The Engineer and Buck exchanged glances of worry but said nothing. Buck reassembled his short rifle blaster while the Engineer focused on fixing the gun problem of the ship.
/
Buck paced around with his blaster hanging his shoulder by its strap. He made sure that he had a direct line of sight to the entrance. The morning had past and Zack, Dyna and Lona had gone out to do whatever they set out to do. Buck on the other hand stayed behind and expected Frodit to come to this place and start shooting it up. The Engineer tore his eyes away from his work and looked down at him from the top of the spaceship.
"Why do you look so worried?" The Engineer shouted from the ship's roof.
"Were you not here yesterday?" Buck asked shouting up at him. "I mean you did hear that Frodit guy threaten to kill you."
"Frodit is a coward. I doubt he'd do anything." He said as he was descending on his levitating platform. "That idiot has been trying to get me to sell this place by using every dirty tactic he could think of. It's all failed..."
Buck noticed it first. He saw the lengthening shadow at the entrance with a weak grey impression of fluttering wings. His hand rested on his blaster as Frodit flew further in the hanger, the Engineer was still talking when he was disturbed. "Is that what you think? You think I wouldn't try to kill you." Frodit appeared with the pistol in his hand. "Well, I'm here to prove you wrong!" Frodit screamed before shooting at The Engineer with his pistol.
The Engineer dodged the shots easily enough as he was far away. The platform began descending faster.
"Hey! Stop!" Buck said in a commanding tone pointing his blaster at Frodit.
However, the Toydorian did not look worried. He smiled as two things rolled in the building. The things that rolled in were brown and hollow in the middle. They were the size of Buck but then they stopped and straightened out. They stood a little taller than Buck and once they were at full height, a spherical shield appeared around them.
Buck opened his eyes when he recognised the droids in front of him. He remembered reading about them in the history records of the Empire. They Droidekas were used by Separatist armies during the Clone Wars. He shot at them but his blaster fire bounced off their activated shields. The battle droids returned fire and he ducked to avoid getting shot.
The Engineer himself was dodging Frodit's ill aimed attempts to kill him. When the platform touched ground, he ran for the entrance of Buck's ship. Buck had the same idea as he weaved and dodged the multiple laser fire from the Droidekas. The Engineer got to the entrance of the ship first and just as Buck reached it, the entrance platform withdrew into the ship before the door closed shut.
"Engineer!" Buck shouted before he had to retreat to a safer position. The droids stopped shooting and began rolling after Buck.
Frodit hovered before the closed door. "Come out, you coward!" He shouted as he put a few more shots into the door. The pistol had little effect on the door as it only scorched its surface with energy bolts.
Buck dived behind a raised structure and saw the droids stop and activate their shields. In the moment before the droids opened fire on him again, he saw that they were old droids with rusted parts. They most likely put together to be Frodit's enforcers.
He hunched down as the droids drew ever closer while shooting away the only thing separating them from him. When Buck got brave enough he would quickly return fire, hoping to get lucky. However, the shields of the droids held strong and deflected or absorbed anything that collided with them. He gritted his teeth as he realised that he was in a tough situation. He was pinned to his spot as he could not run into the open, not with two droids firing at him. It would be suicide!
A whole was blasted through his hiding place and he knew that if something miraculous did not happen, he would die here. He saw the front gun of the ship point towards the droids before it fired a shot. There was an explosion that engulfed both droids in a temporary fire which was followed by black smoke.
Buck slowly got up and smiled at the smoke that marked the demise of the two droids that had been firing at him only a moment ago. He had done it; the Engineer had fixed the front gun and used it to destroy the Droidekas. But to his horror, he heard clanking footsteps as one of the droids emerged from the smoke. Its shield would flicker on and off and sparks would sometimes spray out of its side as its movement became less smooth and glitchy. The droid had survived but not unscathed.
Buck shot at the droid but at that very moment its shield flickered on and stayed on, absorbing his shot. He did not have the chance to voice out his frustration as he began running to avoid the counter fire from the droid. The droid changed into a man-sized wheel to roll after him again. It was quickly catching up and Buck ducked behind a section of the ship and the droid stopped and began firing.
Buck hid and the wheels in his head began turning in an attempt to figure out a way to defeat the droid? It has a shield that made his blaster useless and quick fire blasters attached to it. With a good sprint and some luck, he could dodge its targeting system. He could use this knowledge to run and dodge the droid, however he knew If he was to live, he would have to win. He groaned in frustration as he realised he had to find a way to get past that shield! He reviewed his options to get past the shield. I could get close to it and bypass the shield but I'd probably be blown halfway to it, he thought to himself. He began to grin as he got an idea.
Buck bent his legs and took three quick breaths before he sprinted out from his hiding place, away from the droid. The droid shot at him but he was able to stay ahead and put some distance between them. The droid formed a wheel and rolled after him and it was at that moment that Buck stopped and turned around. He had figured out that as long as the droid was rolling, its shield generator was off. He madly shot at the droid and after three shots it exploded. Raising his hands, he shielded himself from the debris, which was all that was left of his vanquished foe.
"Get out here!" Frodit screamed as he fired three more times at the door, adding three more scorch marks. He heard something beside him but by then it was too late as Buck tackled him hard onto the floor. His pistol skipped away from his hand. "What..." Frodit was disrupted when Buck shoved the barrel of his gun into his mouth.
"Listen to me you punk. The Engineer is my friend and if you so much look at him the wrong, I will blow you away. Understand?" When Frodit nodded, Buck got off him and allowed him to weakly flutter away.
A few minutes later the Engineer came out of the ship to find Buck sitting on the floor, waiting for him. "Why did you lock me out?" Buck said once he walked out.
"I was not locking you out. I was locking the droids out."
"With me!" Buck said outraged.
"You survived didn't you."
Buck sighed. "At least you fixed the front gun."
/
Buck and the Engineer were standing at the entrance of the building. They were watching the sun as it sank behind the horizon.
"My crew should be coming back any moment." Buck said leaning against the giant frame of the hanger entrance.
"Then you can all get out of my hair!" The Engineer said to the taller human.
Buck chuckled because Mon Khalamari typically had no hair.
"I don't know what you guys are up to but I wish you good luck." The Engineer said.
"I bet you don't say that to everyone who passes by. And I bet you won't be saying that to anyone who'll come by in the future." Buck said merrily.
"There won't be anymore people coming by here to see me."
Buck looked at the shorter man. "You're quitting? Don't tell me that Frodit guy got you scared."
"Pish posh! That weakling couldn't scare an ant. No. A few years ago I began developing a ship... it was going to be the fastest in the galaxy. I had to stop because I ran out of credits. . I want to continue my work."
"I don't think we've paid you enough for you to build the ship you're describing."
"You haven't!"
"You have no money and yet you want to build the fastest ship in the galaxy. Sounds like the only way you could pull that off is if you were situated in a remote ship graveyard." Buck said jokingly.
"That's actually a good idea!" The Engineer said.
"Well... good luck with that, Engineer." Buck said offering his hand.
The Engineer walked closer to him and reached up to take Buck's hand in his. "Call me Quarrie."
Buck smiled, "You can call me Buck Johnson."
