Aaah, part two of Felucia where once again the storyline is turned sideways and royally whooped until I'm satisfied.
On fanfiction=me not owning anything except a computer
Chapter 9:
A Second Helping of Felucia
Juno slowly cracked one eye open only to immediately shut it when blood dripped into her iris. The blood was from the gash she had already sustained when the Rogue Shadow was tossed through the air. The pilot went to wipe the blood away only to be met with the same pain shooting up her spine. "Please do not move Captain," came PROXY's voice.
"To hell with that," Juno groaned before turning over and getting to all fours. As she wiped the blood away, the pilot made to get up only to shutter and cough up blood. "What happened?" she asked as she wiped her mouth and resigned herself to a sitting position.
"Ah yes," PROXY said, sitting across from her. "Your landing left something to be desired. However, you did quite well under the circumstances. The Rogue Shadow is for the most part, intact. And-"
"Wait a minute, more or less? I must see to my ship," Juno said as she went to stand up. PROXY's hands held her steadfastly in place.
"Your actions are admirable Captain, but first you should see to yourself," the droid advised.
"It's just a bit of pain," the pilot argued, wincing as a fresh jab of pain wracked her body.
"I know you are stubborn and care for your ship, but I took the liberty of running a few scans while you were unconscious. You slipped a disc and you managed to crack your rib where it meets your spine," he said. "Stay seated and I will get you a medpac," he finished forcefully.
"Fine, but you are not touching my ship," Juno insisted.
"Yourship? I must remind you that this is not your ship, but Lord Vader's, and that you are technically under the orders of him, and therefore Starkiller and myself. So I order you to sit still, and shut that Force forsaken hole you call a mouth," PROXY said with venom, while retrieving the intended item and roughly injecting Juno with a kolto and bacta mix. "Now lie down and shut up while I make repairs."
Juno went to protest, but a calming effect washed over her brain and she basked in the new pain free atmosphere. This was not the only effect the treatment had however. For the first time in a long while, Juno felt her thoughts unobstructed by rank, or the Empire. Through his actions, Starkiller had shown that he harbored some feelings towards her. But what were those feelings exactly? And for that matter, what were her own? Sure she cared what he thought of her, and it was true that what he said mattered somehow as well. And yet, she could not find the right words for what she was feeling. Lust? Attraction? Appreciation? Or perhaps a mix of all three? Damn! Perhaps the treatment was not as mind clearing as she thought. It only seemed to lead to more questions all of which had no answers. Thoughts are one thing, but matters of the heart still seemed to elude the pilot. The heart? Was that really why it was so hard?
"Juno," crackled a muffled comlink. Juno looked around blearily for her end of the communicator. "Juno," came Starkiller's voice again, sounding almost…worried?
The comlink landed in Juno's lap courtesy of PROXYY. "Ugh," Juno began, the drugs twisting her tongue in two. "Go for Eclipse."
"You sound horrible."
"Thanks a lot," the pilot groaned, holding her head.
"What happened?" he asked simply.
"We…uh…crashed sort of," she admitted.
There was a chuckle over the comlink. "How do you sort of crash exactly? How could such a decorated pilot allow the ship to the crash?"
"A…plant threw us," the pilot admitted again.
"Are you okay?"
Such a simple question, and yet it meant more to Juno than Starkiller could imagine. He did not ask about PROXY or the ship first, but instead her. "I'll be alright," she replied eventually. "PROXY is making the repairs to the Rogue Shadow. What about you? Any sign of the target?"
"She is…close. Very close. I sense her presence. I'll let you know when I'm finished."
"Good luck," Juno said.
"There is no luck, only the Force," Starkiller responded.
The pilot only rolled her eyes. "Very well, may the Force be with you then."
"You're starting to sound like a Jedi."
"Don't you have a mission to complete?" Juno shot back. There was only a chuckle and the comlink turned off. "Insufferable man."
"I suggest you get some rest Captain," PROXY called as he withdrew himself from the main console. "By the time Master is done and you awaken, I should be finished. I will not take no for an answer."
"Very well," Juno replied as she slid to have her back against the wall. "If you need any assistance-"
"I'll be sure to ask you," the droid finished. The pilot nodded and shut her eyes. Sleep came quickly before the pilot could even remember when she last had any sleep.
She was running. Juno did not know from whom or from what, but she was running. A root tripped the pilot and she came crashing down, mud splashing her face and ruining her uniform. But she was not wearing her uniform, instead there was only and undershirt and black pants. There was a metallic chuckle behind her. Juno wanted to run, run from the terrifying…thing that was chasing her. However, all she could do was turn onto her back with her elbows propping her up. Finally, her follower made himself known. Head encased in a helmet, metal grafted to skin and claws for fingers were what caught the pilot's eyes. The creature approached slowly and knelt next to Juno grasping her chin. "Captain Eclipse," it said, metal ringing throughout the four syllables. Still there was something familiar about the voice.
"Captain Eclipse!" shouted PROXY, jolting the pilot awake. "Our position has been discovered. The Felucians are coming for us."
"What?" she asked, quickly shaking her head to clear the cobwebs.
"I will defend the ship, you need to finish the console, it is almost complete," and with that PROXY grabbed his previously discarded lightsaber and stalked down the ramp.
Juno stood slowly, grateful that the pain was now only an unpleasant fuzzy feeling. The unmistakable sound of a twirling lightsaber filtered into the Rogue Shadow as Juno hurriedly ducked inside the console to finish the repairs. Wires were still dangling loose and unconnected as the pilot quickly tried to find the proper adjoining wires. Finally, finding a match to the green wire Juno quickly patched it accordingly. The battle outside was sounding more frantic. Cursing under her breath, Juno fumbled around with the blue wire before repairing it. More Felucian cries could be heard now, and Juno hoped that PROXY was not about to be overwhelmed. Quickly, the red wire was put together as the sounds were next to the boarding ramp. Then there was the sound Juno dreaded: the deactivation of a lightsaber. The pilot fumbled with her blaster in one hand as another worked to finish the final wire. As soon as the wire was done, footsteps entered the cockpit. Juno fired without bothering to look.
"Glad to see you too," came a familiar voice. Juno pushed out from underneath the console to see Starkiller looking from the blaster hole to the pilot with eyebrows arched. "Is this how you greet everybody that boards this ship?"
Juno only sighed and lowered the blaster slowly. "Where's PROXY?"
"Patrolling. He was doing well, and I just made things easier. More importantly, how are you?" Starkiller asked, offering a helping hand up.
"I've been better," she grimaced as she was helped up. "The medication will wear off soon. I hope Vader plans on having us come back to the Executor."
"We can only hope. I would hate to have to get another pilot," he said after lowering Juno into her chair.
"Thanks. How was your battle with Shaak Ti?" Juno queried.
"Better than your battle with that troublesome plant," he replied. "My Master was right in saying she would be my biggest test yet. Not to mention her tentacle pet. I've never seen somebody so in touch with an entire planet," he said before shaking slightly. "Damn Jedi."
"Something wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just that…this is the second Jedi that has said something cryptic," he said before calling PROXY back into the ship.
"Care to explain?"
"I'm not sure I can," he admitted, scratching the back of his head.
"Very well then," Juno said, turning to her console. "I'll run a systems check, you contact Vader."
"Are you sure that you are okay?" he questioned, watching Juno for any signs of pain.
"Yes, at least until the pain comes back."
"Good," he said before placing a hand on her shoulder lightly. "Because I would hate to fly into another plant should something happen to you," he chuckled.
"Shut it."
"Mad that I had to save you?" he shot back. "That makes two times you know."
"You said it yourself that PROXY had the situation in hand. Therefore, I did not need saving," she reasoned. "And you didn't save me last time," she added quickly.
Starkiller outright laughed. "That's right, I was merely there precisely when needed. What about this time?"
"You took away my chance to shoot a Felucian," Juno said simply, before waving him away.
Hope everybody enjoyed this chapter!
So i got a private message requesting a Republic Commando fic. And I was just wondering if any other of my faithful readers agreed with this. Obviously, this fic would have to be finished first. So you should review as always and other good stuff.