My gosh I was stunned by the support for the first chapter :D thank you everyone- particularly MasterAmidala14 and Valairy Scot because I can't thank you using PMs! Thank you everyone who read, alerted, reviewed :D
Oh and this / talk / means Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are talking through their bond. Just so you know. Which you probably do already.
The first chapter was pretty easy to write- this one was more of a nightmare…it wouldn't sit right and annoyed me. I hope it's good enough!
Enjoy!
Chapter 2- Complications
Last time
"What is it?" Qui-Gon demanded, as the pilot's fingers flew over the controls of his ship. The Force was screaming around him. He glanced at the ship's console. Half the systems were down.
"We've got a major hull breach!" the pilot said worriedly, sparing a glance at Qui-Gon before frantically accessing the control panel. "In the rear quarters! Life support systems failing, hull integrity dropping!"
Qui-Gon felt his heart clench.
The rear quarters.
That was where Obi-Wan was.
Somewhere in space…
After the sudden explosion that had created the hull breach, the ship was now floating dead in space, life support desperately trying to keep its passengers alive.
"Check for life signs," Qui-Gon ordered, raising his voice above the shrill alarms that were blaring in the cockpit. He would have felt it, surely. Obi-Wan's death. Obi-Wan wasn't dead, couldn't possibly be dead. There was so much potential, so much light, so much to give…
Then it hit Qui-Gon and he could have groaned in frustration. Drawing in on himself, he focused, pulling his scattered thoughts together, ignoring the wailing alarms. The mental link, connecting him to Obi-Wan was still there, in the back of his mind. Qui-Gon felt his body relax a fraction.
/Obi-Wan? Obi-Wan are you there?/
"Systems aren't responding Master Jedi!" the pilot sounded frantic as he tapped commands into his console. "I'm not even picking up our signals! Re-routing power!" Sparks intermittently exploded from the controls, showering both men.
/Master!/
Qui-Gon felt the reply echo through his mind and gripped the back of the pilot's chair in relief. Obi-Wan was still there. Alive.
The ship jolted violently again as they felt a second explosion tear through the ship and the two men lurched forward over the controls as the ship was blasted forward. Bits of debris were floating past the cockpit's window, chunks of twisted metal.
"I need to seal off that part of the ship now or the whole ship is lost!" The pilot yelled to Qui-Gon, glancing back at the Jedi. The pilot looked terrified.
"Wait, my Padawan's there- I need to get him," Qui-Gon said urgently, putting a hand on the pilot's shoulder. "I will close it manually after I find him," he said. He needed to get to Obi-Wan quickly. There was no telling yet if there was anything wrong with the boy.
The pilot looked set to argue but one look from the Jedi silenced him and he nodded. "Hurry- I'll see what I can do from here," he said, turning back to his controls.
Opening the doors to the cockpit, Qui-Gon was immediately assaulted by the squealing of air leaving the ship, rushing out towards the breach; it whistled past his ears, tugging at his hair as he slowly made his way through the damaged ship. The cockpit doors hissed shut behind him.
The hull creaked around Qui-Gon, groaning and protesting, already trying to implode in on itself, the metal resisting only for so long. It was a struggle to keep upright, but through pure strength and will and a little help from the Force, Qui-Gon managed.
Where was Obi-Wan? He couldn't still be in their quarters could he- he would have been sucked out into the vacuum of space. Qui-Gon shivered. But he had been in there. Reading the data on Malrion Qui-Gon had given him. Qui-Gon breathed out deeply, barely watching as his breath stole away from him.
Carefully, Qui-Gon inched his way down the corridor, fighting the pulling motion of the vacuum of space trying to suck the air out of the ship. One wrong step and he would be thrown off of his feet, straight towards the breach. Breathable air was thinning he noticed as his breath hitched in his chest.
/Obi-Wan?/ Qui-Gon tried again. / Where are you? Are you hurt? /
The reply was quicker this time. /Master- I'm fine. I'm just outside…well what used to be our quarters /
Qui-Gon felt the reply in his mind and latched onto it. Obi-Wan did not seem harmed if the wry comment was anything to go by. Still walking carefully, he continued forwards, mindful of the sparks that rained down every time the ship quivered.
"Master!"
This time Qui-Gon heard the anxious shout, rather than the mental voice. In the darkness of the ship, above the screeching of metal and hissing of escaping air, he saw Obi-Wan grimly hanging onto one of the bulkheads as he resisted the relentless tugging of escaping air. His slight body had a more difficult time of staying upright. He was also just beyond the doors that would slam shut and seal the breach. Behind Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon could see the devastation that had been wrought on the ship- there was a gaping, jagged hole in the ship, about ten metres behind Obi-Wan- right where their quarters had been. Qui-Gon could see inky blackness through it.
/Obi-Wan, you have to move this way / Qui-Gon instructed, scanning the area quickly. The metal behind Obi-Wan was already beginning to crumple. /Then we can seal the breach / Communicating mentally meant less breathing air was wasted.
Obi-Wan nodded slowly. Still gripping tightly to the bulkhead, he began to inch his way around it. Qui-Gon could see the strain- Obi-Wan was much closer to the breach than he was; the strength of the sucking vacuum had more of an effect. Qui-Gon could feel the Force, sweeping around Obi-Wan, lending him strength and he added his own strength to his Padawan's, willing him to come closer. If he himself got any closer to the breach, it was unlikely that he would be able to crawl back.
The boy was barely a few metres from Qui-Gon when the Master felt the Force scream a warning. Just in time he flattened himself against the wall of the ship whilst yelling "Duck!" to Obi-Wan.
Qui-Gon watched as Obi-Wan's eyes widened. The relentless tugging of space had freed a metal compartment from its place on the wall by the entrance to the cockpit and it was smashing its way down the passage, colliding and ricocheting off the walls, chrome coating gleaming in the intermittent light that flashed through the ship.
Obi-Wan saw it and with a last ditch effort, threw himself forward, underneath the box as it crashed into the bulkhead just where Obi-Wan would have been standing mere seconds ago. Letting go of the bulkhead had been the only option and Obi-Wan could feel the escaping air latching onto his body, like a rope, yanking him backwards as he scrabbled to grab hold of something.
Qui-Gon lurched forward, grabbing hold of Obi-Wan's wrist as the Padawan began to slide backwards along the floor. Pulling strongly, Qui-Gon brought Obi-Wan back to his feet, throwing both of themselves against the bulkhead, on the right side of the doors. Keeping a firm hold on Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon opened the control panel with his spare hand, bringing the Force quickly to bear on the manual override.
With a sharp hiss, the blast doors slid shut, the wailing noise of escaping air dying down as they slammed shut with a dull thud. The only noise apart from the now muted groaning of metal was Obi-Wan's gasps as he struggled to control his breathing, sinking back to the floor, legs quivering, energy spent.
The breach now sealed off behind the metre thick blast doors, Qui-Gon took a deep breath, centralising himself. Things were back under control. Not perfect control, but the ship could now be repaired until they could land somewhere and get proper repairs. He glanced down at his Padawan, who still looked slightly shell shocked.
"Obi-Wan?" the Master queried.
Obi-Wan glanced up at his Master. He could still feel his pulse hammering in his chest. For a moment there…he shook those thoughts from his mind. It would not do to dwell on the past.
"Are your missions always like this Master?" Obi-Wan managed, a smile tugging at his lips.
Qui-Gon helped his apprentice to his feet. "Not always," he replied as evenly as possible, despite the situation unable to stop a small quirking smile at Obi-Wan's comment. "Not always."
A few minutes later, when Obi-wan had regained his breath and strength, Qui-Gon asked him for his view on the explosions, seriousness seeping back into the conversation after the relief.
"I'm not sure Master. I was sitting reading the datapad when I felt…something," Obi-Wan glanced at Qui-Gon who nodded. "I had a look around but couldn't find anything. Then the Force was screaming that I get out- I barely got passed the doors to our quarters before the explosion tore through the room. The doors were ripped right off," Obi-Wan explained. "But my bag, comm. link, the datapad- they're all gone." His hand fell to his lightsaber inside the folds of his cloak. Thank goodness he hadn't taken it off.
"That doesn't matter Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon reassured him. It only mattered that Obi-Wan was alive. Qui-Gon sighed inwardly. This was meant to be a simple mission. Already a near catastrophe and they weren't even at the planet. Mace was going to get an earful.
Obi-Wan studied his Master. Qui-Gon looked grave. Obi-Wan wondered whether it had anything to do with him. Maybe if he had listened to the Force harder, concentrated more, he would have been able to do something.
"The here and now Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon reminded his Padawan.
Obi-Wan looked slightly abashed and stared at his boots. He was broadcasting his thoughts again. When he had been an initiate that hadn't mattered, he and his age mates were not perceptive enough to pick up on each others thoughts. Now he was constantly in the presence of a Master, who was able not just to pick up his thoughts with ease but read him like an open book.
"Yes Master," Obi-Wan replied softly.
Qui-Gon watched his Padawan carefully. Two weeks together and they were still learning. They would probably still be learning for years to come. Two weeks and they were expected to go on a mission together. Surely there could have been some other pair. He needed to know Obi-Wan's strengths, learn to depend on the boy; the boy needed to learn to depend on him also.
He sighed. "Let's return to the cockpit, see what the pilot has to say," Qui-Gon suggested. Obi-Wan nodded and followed the Jedi Master back towards the cockpit. As they entered they found the pilot was already underneath his console, hyper-spanner already at work.
The pilot slid out from beneath the console as the two Jedi entered, a grim smile on his face. "You shut the breach just in time," he congratulated the Jedi Master who nodded smoothly. "Another minute and…" the humanoid pilot let the sentence hang.
"How badly damaged is the ship?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Several systems are down," the pilot said gloomily. "It could take a while to get them back online. Life support is holding though and the engines are responding, though the hyperdrive is down," he added. "I need to go down into the main systems to have a better look."
"I would like to have a look too," Qui-Gon said. He knew a fair bit about mechanics.
The pilot looked startled for a moment before nodding. "I'll need all the help I can get," he agreed.
"Master?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Obi-Wan wait here and monitor our progress," Qui-Gon instructed as the pilot stood up, moving so Obi-Wan could sit down. "If you need anything just call," Qui-Gon offered his Padawan who still looked rather pale.
Obi-Wan nodded, gathering himself together. Now was the not the time to falter. Qui-Gon needed him to stay here and that was what Obi-Wan was going to do. Seating himself in the pilot's chair as Qui-Gon and the pilot left, he swivelled himself around, closer to the control panel, watching as different sections of it lit up in complaint.
The diagnostics concerning the damage of the ship were flashing up on the screen as Obi-Wan monitored it. He scrolled carefully through it, reading the information as he glanced over the schematics of the ship. Then something caught his eye. Something that wasn't quite right. He re-examined it, the data running across the screen. This definitely wasn't right…
Grunting slightly with the effort, Qui-Gon wrenched the spanner and felt the small amount of satisfaction as the interface on the coolant system lit up. The pilot, who had introduced himself as Kouki Mal'am, nodded as he put down his toolkit.
"That should stay online now," Mal'am said, looking pleased. "I did not know Jedi knew so much about the inner systems of star ships."
Qui-Gon nodded, "I've picked up some basic skills over the years," he explained shortly as they both stood. Qui-Gon had shed his brown cloak before attempting to help the pilot, his cream tunic grimy from crawling beneath the ship's various units. Glancing at his chrono he noticed it had taken them nearly three hours. He wasn't surprised when his stomach rumbled gently.
Mal'am smiled knowingly. "I think we deserve some food," he said.
"I will check on my apprentice," Qui-Gon inclined his head. Carefully climbing the ladder up from the bowels of the ship, he made his way to the cockpit where Obi-Wan was, still diligently running the diagnostics.
"Have you found anything Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon asked as he approached his Padawan, who to his credit did not jump startled at the sound of his voice though the Master had been quiet on his advance.
"That depends," Obi-Wan began, looking up as Qui-Gon looked over his shoulder.
Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow. "On what?"
Obi-Wan cleared his throat. "The explosion wasn't an accident," he said, running slim fingers over the controls. "Two explosions occurred, first one here," he pointed on the ship's schematics, "and second one here. This led to a hull breach here," he pointed again. "But they are on different systems entirely- the first explosion should have been the only one- the area around it would have shut down, but then the second explosion- occurred on a completely isolated circuit." He glanced back at Qui-Gon. "Neither explosion should have been big enough to create a breach. It doesn't make sense."
Qui-Gon stared at the schematics, noting Obi-Wan's observations. The young boy had obviously looked over this in depth he noted, pleased. "This is troubling," he said at length.
"How much have you managed to fix?" Obi-Wan asked.
"The hyperdrive is back online, as are most of the primary systems," said Qui-Gon. "It looks like we won't have to make a detour landing after all. We're not far from Malrion," he pointed to the star chart screen that was mapping their course. "On sublight engines we can arrive within a day."
Obi-Wan nodded. Without their interruption they would probably be at the planet by now. "Master?" he asked.
Qui-Gon looked over at Obi-Wan, "Yes?"
"Is there anything to eat?" the boy asked, rubbing a hand over his protesting stomach. "I didn't eat much for lunch," he admitted.
"I had noticed," Qui-Gon said wryly, thinking back to when he had told Obi-Wan over lunch that they would be going on their first mission. The Padawan had been so excited and nervous simultaneously, that he'd been unable to continue eating. "I believe Mal'am is procuring something," he said, watching Obi-Wan's face break into a relieved smile. It was amazing how after such a tense period of time, Obi-Wan could now be worried about his stomach.
As the pilot and two Jedi had eaten a small meal from the supplies on the ship, they had gone over the progress that had been made. Long range scanners and communications were still down and would take more work. Engines were running fine and life support was working at full capacity.
"We should get to Malrion a few hours later than planned. Luckily the blast doors are holding. I thought we would have to put a force field around the door but we then have no generators so it wouldn't have worked anyway," Mal'am said as they ate in the cockpit.
"Do you have any idea what caused the explosion?" Qui-Gon asked.
Mal'am shook his head as he swallowed. "Sensors were working perfectly up until the explosion. There was nothing on my scanners."
Obi-Wan spared a quick glance at Qui-Gon. / Is he lying? /
Qui-Gon made no outward indication that Obi-Wan had mentally said anything, still watching their pilot as he pivoted in his chair to adjust their scanners. / I don't know. He genuinely looked terrified at the prospect of dying / Qui-Gon sent back, frowning slightly.
Imperceptibly, Obi-Wan nodded. So far there was little proof that it had been the pilot's doing. They needed more evidence. He had the sinking suspicion that there was a lot more going on here than both he and Qui-Gon could see.
How do they walk into such things? This was meant to be simple…oh well.
Sorry if the techno babble was rubbish. I really had no idea so I made a lot of it up!
Hope you enjoyed- next chapter will be up in two/three days. I have tons of spare time now my exams are over :) it's such a nice feeling!
AldabaranFox