AN: Here it is, after something like a month of waiting. I present to you... Chapter 8! *Applause* *cheering* Thank you, thank you. You're too kind, really! Anyway, I hope you like it.
Chapter 8
WAN AND NALAH
Wan wandered around the ship, thinking about how he'd just royally screwed up. Not only had he pissed off his commander, but he'd also probably wrecked his relationship with Sergeant Molin. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that if Molin was wounded and he brought her with them anyway, he'd lose Moekno and Athos' respect, and most likely his job as well. On the other hand, he'd have a better relationship than ever with Sergeant Molin, with a possibility of romance. That was a horribly selfish way to think, though. The respect of two of the most elite soldiers in the Republic and his job on the same squad as them wasn't worth the life of a super-crush…was it? It was her, but… he was in Havoc Squad.
He eventually reached the engine room, and just stood there in the doorway for a moment, looking at all the machinery functioning. He'd always been naturally good with machinery; he was the tech expert for the squad, as well as the person in charge of briefing new recruits. That was how he'd built up such a nice relationship with the sergeant, and when he'd initially started to have feelings for her. He studied the engines closely, the way they hummed and vibrated bestowing a strange sense of calm upon him. Wait… the hyperdrive engine was abnormally loud. Perhaps he could do something about that…
He returned to the room a little later with a basic toolbox. The large man went over to one of the panels on the hyperdrive engine, opened it, and peered inside. "Mmhmmm…"he muttered, looking more closely. After a few minutes, he thought he could discern the problem. The engine was a standard Czerka Hyperdrive Model 7 with specially ordered reinforced panels, wire insulation, everything, to make it more resistant to both wear and tear and sabotage. Unfortunately, the boys at Czerka were, in a word, douches. They gave you the technology half ready, and then sent you a horribly unclear instruction manual. Luckily for Nalah, she seemed pretty good with engineering, and the hyperdrive was running smoothly enough. Wan's, however, ran faster, and he knew how to make that happen here.
The captain had somehow deciphered and followed Czerka's instructions, but there were ways to make it faster and less noisy. He simply put the large red wire next to the purple one, rather than the black one. After a few moments, the hyperdrive grew quieter, but vibrated faster. Perfect. He studied the rest of the interior workings, and made a few adjustments. He tightened some loose screws, rewired the circuitry, and greased up some things that seemed to be going a little too slowly. He worked for a few more minutes until he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He turned to find Captain Atar staring at him. "And what, may I ask," she said, arms crossed, "are you doing to my engine?"
Wan grinned sheepishly. "Look, I swear on my rank that I didn't sabotage anything. I simply made it run a little more smoothly. You can check it if you want."
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." The captain walked over and peered inside. "The hell did you do, soldier boy? The wiring is all reconfigured!"
"Yes, I realize that, but listen to the difference now. It's not as loud as before, plus, the engine's vibrating faster. You should notice a roughly five percent power increase."
The captain nodded absently and listened for a moment. "Huh… I'll be damned, Lieutenant. Good for you. You really should ask before you touch my stuff, though. I realize you don't know me, but just for future reference, half the stuff on my ship is rigged to blow in one way or another. Luckily, most of it will just cause dents in the floor, but some of it can and will blow up half the ship."
"That's nice to know." Wan shivered involuntarily, grateful he hadn't accidentally set one of those off. His day was going badly enough already.
"Isn't it, though?" Nalah turned back to him. "Now, I can see that you're down about something. Let me guess…it's about the green-skin, right?"
"How did y-"
"It's woman's intuition, bud. Now, you like her right? Well, whatever you did, fix it. Boom! Problem solved! Honestly, I don't get why so many people can't figure that out. Just do what you didn't do or apologize for what you did do."
"It's a little more complex than that. You see, she's mad because I didn't tell her something, but it's classified information."
This brought a laugh from the captain. "Screw 'classified information'! Look you want to get with her, right?"
Wan flushed. "No comment."
"Of course you do. If you really want to have a relationship with her, you'll tell her not only what's classified, but how you feel. I've always done that, and… well, the guy I liked usually never talked to me again. But that's not the point, see? That's my two credits on the whole thing. If you want her that badly, you'll tell her what the hell is up."
"You don't understand, Captain. I could lose my job if I tell her, or worse. Moekno can be absolutely ruthless when he wants to be. Yes, he fails at opening wine bottles, but the person who was here before the 'green-skin', as you call her, got left at Aurek Base on Hoth because she broke her arm. When she finally showed up on Coruscant, she tracked down the commander and kicked him in the head before leaving Havoc Squad for good."
Nalah whistled. "Why in the hell would you serve under him if he did that? Does he give you shiny guns or something? I know that if he gave me shiny guns, I'd stay. What does he bribe you with?"
"He doesn't bribe me with anything. It just feels good to kill Imps alongside three of the greatest soldiers in the Republic. It's quite fun, actually. Have you ever chucked a bomb at an Imperial commander?"
"Yes."
"Oh. Well, have you ever blown twenty holes in one person within five seconds?"
"Yes."
"Well, you're no fun to tell stories to!"
The captain chuckled. "Yeah," she said, "I kill a lot of people, more than I'd like, actually. Not everyone I deliver goods to always agrees with my policies. I try to argue with them, and they start pulling out guns. Obviously, I don't like being shot, so I pull out my guns quicker, smack them in the face, knock 'em down, step on their chest, and threaten them. If they disagree and struggle, I shoot them. Sadly, a lot of them struggle. The point is, though, I personally think you should just tell her, and then tell her not to tell Commander Abandon that she knows. Isn't it that simple? I think it is. Maybe I'm missing something, but again, that's my two credits."
Suddenly, there was a familiar whooshing sound, and the sensation of the ship moving stopped. The captain perked up. "Well, this has been nice, mostly cuz I made a soldier blush, but we're out of hyperspace and in orbit around Dromund Kaas. I should probably get to the bridge to fool the guy who calls to verify." With a wink, she walked out. Wan followed a few seconds later.
When they reached the bridge, the captain went straight to her chair. The rest of Havoc was standing at the sides of the door, just out of the line of sight. Wan joined Athos at the right side of the door. Commander Moekno and Sergeant Molin were standing on the left side, giving him annoyed looks. Moekno gave him a look that said, Idiot. Don't screw up again, or we're all dead, and I'll make sure that you're first, while Molin's was much less stern, and more inquisitive than angry or judgmental. Wan sensed that she wasn't really cross with him, just annoyed that he'd keep information from another member of Havoc. He was about to say something, when he heard the miniature holoterminal start up. Now was not the time to talk. Now was the time to let the captain do her thing.
SWTORSWTORSWTOR
Nalah stood and waited quietly as the holoterminal started up. Eventually, the image of a stern-looking Imperial with a truly ugly beard and more wrinkles than her grandmother appeared. She switched her accent to that of an upper-class Imperial as she spoke to the man. "Sir, Watcher 31 of Imperial Intelligence reporting in per Section B, Paragraph 27 of the Imperial Interplanetary Rules and Guidelines Handbook, which states that all Imperial personnel other than Sith, cipher agents, and the Minister of Intelligence must report in any time they reach a new planet."
The man smiled a little under his miserable excuse for facial hair. "Ah, yes, Watcher 31. We meet again. You probably don't remember me, being busy with all of your, well… Watching, but I'm Admiral Vilarik Sturn, commander of the Imperial forces on Dromund Kaas. It's good to see someone who still acknowledges the book. How have you been?"
Nalah nodded. The two had spoken on several occasions. For some reason, he seemed to think that they were chums, and she let him believe it. In truth, she hated the man. Every time they spoke, he got off-topic and started rattling on about how nobody had any respect for protocol anymore, the Empire was doomed if it kept up this disgusting lack of propriety, blah blah blah. She didn't really remember any of their conversations in detail; she'd almost fallen asleep during most of them. Nevertheless, he liked her, and that was good, so she went with it. "Ah, yes, Admiral Sturn," she said, returning the smile. "How have you been?
The man's smile grew wider. "I've been doing quite well lately, thank you. How about you?"
This led to a conversation that lasted a full ten minutes before Nalah just couldn't take it anymore. "Well, I have to be on my way. It was nice talking to you." The accent was really starting to bug her; she hated talking like this. How did Imps even get such a stupid accent in the first place?
The admiral smiled once more. "Good to talk to you, too, Watcher. You are clear to land. Glory to the-" He stopped talking. "Did you-Did you hear something, Watcher? It seems to be coming from your end of the holo."
Nalah turned and found the big human, Athos, trying to make himself as thin as possible against the wall. The captain surmised he was trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening due to the length of the conversation, and had made a misstep on the rusty floor panel - a rookie mistake. Nevertheless, the disturbance threw her off balance. She hated it when things went wrong, because she almost always messed up afterward. As she turned around to assure the admiral that nothing was wrong, her accent slipped. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said as calmly as she could, but only realized her mistake a few seconds later. Oh, kriff… she thought as Sturn's friendly eyes turned hostile.
"Your accent… that's a Republic one, and you seem to speak with that one much easier… by the Emperor! MEN! Republic ship! I repeat, Republi-"
Like a shot, Nalah had turned off the holo and was back in the captain's chair. "Hey, Havoc! Thanks to your giant of a squadmate there, we're most likely screwed, so strap yourselves down. We're going for a ride!"
SWTORSWTORSWTOR
Wan's eyes shot open, and he all but lunged into the co-pilot's chair. You have got to be kidding me! he thought over and over again as he strapped himself in. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Moekno screaming at Athos, but couldn't hear anything; his heart was beating too fast, and blood roared in his ears. He knew he wasn't supposed to panic, but the situation was just too high-pressure. "Captain," he said, trying to keep his voice steady, "can you get us down to the planet without getting us killed?"
The captain looked at him and burst into laughter. After a second, she stopped. "Oh, you're serious. Of course I can, soldier boy! I'm me! Now, let's see how that modified engine works." She revved up the engine, and the ship shot down toward Dromund Kaas.
They were immediately met with opposition. Ten Furies came out of nowhere and started shooting all at once. Luckily, the captain was the best pilot Wan had ever seen. The ship had easily dodged all the blaster fire so far, but it just kept coming. As they flew, twisting and turning through space, Wan wondered about something. "Captain," he asked loudly, trying to make his voice heard over the sounds of battle from outside the ship, "why do you think they're freaking out so much about a single Republic-aligned ship in their space? Why not just get one of their ships to ambush us and be done with it? They're sending Furies after us, here!"
The captain looked at him blankly. "Wow, for being the Republic's best, you people sure are dull sometimes. Let's see if I can explain this quickly and easily: this is a Republic-aligned ship in Imperial space. That's not supposed to be possible. If word got out that all the Republic needed to do to infiltrate Dromund Kaas or other Imperial worlds was plaster on a decent accent and pretend to be a Sith or an Imperial Agent, the Empire would be, if not basically dead, at least in a lot of trouble, and they'd have to spend billions of credits - credits that not even they have - on new star destroyers, advanced security systems, and, worst of all, have to fill out lots of paperwork. I realize that you guys don't do it much, and neither do I, but it can drive people insane in hours. Plus, for all they know there are already Republic troops somewhere on Dromund Kaas, and we could be transporting new ones, weapons, rations, or any number of things to them. Now, if we made it down there alive, well, it would be devastating for Imps and Sith everywhere. That is why they are shooting at us with ten kriffin' Furies! Now, please let me concentrate on piloting so we don't explode in a burst of hellfire, alright?" Nalah turned back to the controls as she spoke, ending the conversation.
They dodged for quite a while, and Wan was actually starting to think they'd make it unscathed to the planet's surface. However, the universe apparently felt like being a jerk to him and his squad, because the ship's perfect integrity was obliterated when a stray shot hit the right thruster. The ship shook, and the captain cursed. "Oh, damn."
Wan gave her a confused look. "What? What happened?"
She gave him a sheepish grin. "Well, you know how I said that half the stuff on my ship is rigged to blow in one way or another?"
Wan thought about this for a minute, then gave her a "you've-gotta-be-kidding-me" look. "So… you're telling me that you made the right thruster…"
"Uh-huh."
"Which is already vital enough…"
"Yeah."
"EXPLOSIVE?!" Wan screamed the word. He leaned back in his chair and put his hands over his face. "So we're going to crash now, and even if we do survive, we'll be stranded on Dromund Kaas for stars know how long? I mean, why did you even make the thruster explosive?"
Nalah sighed heavily. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. If I was killed and someone stole my ship, I'd at least like them to die as well, in one way or another. Plus, I sure as hell wasn't expecting to be doing things like this when I decided that smuggling was for me, thank you very much, soldier boy!"
Suddenly, a massive BOOM came from the engine room, and the ship began plummeting toward Dromund Kaas at an alarming rate. "Alright, Havoc!" Wan shouted back at the other members, "I realize I'm not the commander, but I think that it would be in all of our best interests if we weren't on this ship when it blew up! Now, I strongly suggest that you get in the escape pods! Unless those are explosive too…" He glared back at the captain.
She looked down at the floor. "Just the one farthest left. And the middle one. Oh, and the one farthest right. Luckily, I have enough for all of you plus me, so we're good."
Wan sighed in relief. "Alright, Havoc, let's go, let's go! Move it!" he shouted, and sprinted toward the escape pod. He got in, punched in the numbers, and waited only long enough for everyone else to get in before launching his escape pod. It took a surprisingly long time, and he found himself getting claustrophobic. He hated being in confined spaces that he couldn't easily get out of.
As the escape pods all launched, Nalah's voice chimed in through a linked intercom: "You owe me a new ship, Havoc, and don't you forget it." Wan promised himself he would make sure she got one… if they survived.
AN: And there it is. Special thanks to Laryn Chillbreeze, probably my biggest fan, from what I can tell, for betaing this chapter due to lack of Paragon. She did a remarkable job, and I'm sure she'll do the same on Chapter 1, which she's working on as I type this, and, possibly, future chapters, seeing as Paragon's on friggin' hiatus.
Either way, I hope you liked it, R&R, all that crap, get ready for Satele and Vatrus next!