This story has broken 100k words. It doesn't really count, though, because I have a lot of author's notes. The story itself will actually break 100k words when I post chapter 21, though.
And guess what? We're still nowhere close to the end. If this were a movie, this chapter would be, like, the end of the first act.
Raventalon Hull Repair, Day 3
Janna flipped up her welding mask and inspected her work. The bond between the section of patch and the existing hull of the Raventalon had been perfectly executed, just as she knew it would be. She would repeat the process with a second bead of filler on the inside to ensure an airtight seal against the cold vacuum of space. Her plan, though, was to do all of the interior welding in one shot after she had constructed the entire patchwork from the outside.
"How's it look up there, Janna?" Star called up from the ground. She had been using the Force to lift the salvaged hull plates into the air and hold them in place until Janna, who was using the speeder bike to levitate herself and the arc welder beside the ship's hull, had welded it on in enough spots to secure it.
"Lookin' good!" Janna called back as she removed the welding mask and hung it over the speeder's hand grip. "I'm gonna measure for the next piece and come down and cut it." She looked up into the overcast Moraband sky. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon. "It's gonna be dark soon, so after I cut that piece I'll probably call it quits for the day."
"Okay! I'm gonna go check on Marco, then!"
"You do that, Star."
Star happily skipped away toward the boarding ramp while Janna carefully inched the speeder bike forward until she was even with the space where the next piece of patch would be mounted.
On the first day of repairs, she and Tom had carefully constructed a lattice of durasteel to help brace and support the exterior patchwork of plating. They'd used Marco's lightsaber to slice up a piece of hull plate into long boards, which were then welded vertically to the backside of the existing hull and then horizontally to brace and strengthen them. The hull plating had to be cut to the right size in order to line up each patch properly with the lattice so that there would be material to weld to and ensure no weak spots.
Janna removed her measuring device from her pocket, a small handheld electronic laser which she held up and activated. Two tiny lasers mounted to the device on swivels measured the exact dimensions for the next piece of hull patch and recorded them. Satisfied, Janna returned the device to her pocket and lowered the bike carefully to the ground.
They had neatly stacked their salvaged hull plating just beside the ship. Janna judged that the piece on top was just about the right size. It was a good thing because the piece was so heavy that, without Star to move it with the Force, Janna couldn't exactly get to the pieces underneath. Holding up her measuring device again, the lasers measured the sheet of plating and confirmed her assumption to be correct. It would only require slight trimming. Janna clicked a button with her thumb and the device remained floating in the air when she let go of it, projecting its lasers to provide her with guidelines by which to cut.
Marco's lightsaber still hung from her belt. The green blade ignited when she pressed the activation plate, and Janna slowly and carefully guided the blade through two straight, clean cuts. The excess plating that she cut off fell away into the sand.
The sun was sinking low and there wasn't much light remaining to see by. The emerald glow of the lightsaber was beginning to rival what sunlight remained.
"I guess that's enough for today," Janna said to herself. "Tomorrow is another day." She started to walk away toward the boarding ramp, but didn't even take a full step. Her eyes landed on a piece of the hull plate she had just sliced off. It was about eleven centimeters wide.
Instantaneous inspiration struck.
Quickly, Janna chopped the piece down into a more easily manipulated length, about a meter long. She laid it in the sand and placed her foot next to it for comparison, her heel lined up with the edge of the durasteel. A careful slice was made just past the toe of her boot.
The durasteel plate was thick, too thick for her intentions. She flipped the piece on end and carefully cut the piece in half lengthwise to skinny it up, leaving her with a piece of durasteel about eleven centimeters wide by twenty-three long, and about two centimeters thick.
That will probably work. But how long for the other piece?
I'll have to take a measurement...
Star crept into Tom's cabin as quietly as she could, closing the door behind her. Marco was out-cold on the bunk, his mouth hanging half-open as his head lolled to the side on the pillow. There likely was not another being in the galaxy who would think Marco looked adorable at the exact moment, but Star Butterfly was not most people.
"So cute!" she whispered. She gently rubbed his arm. "Marcoooooo..."
Marco slowly opened his eyes, his mouth curling into a gentle smile as he saw his best friend standing over him. "Hey, Star."
Her hand drifted up from his arm and she affectionately ran her fingers through his dark hair. "How you feeling?"
He shifted his head to move it into a less awkward position and winced. His neck was incredibly stiff from the awkward position he had been sleeping in. "Well, my neck really hurts."
Star giggled. "I bet it does. How about the rest of you?"
"I am feeling like I'm getting some of my strength back a little."
"Oh! Well, that's good!"
"Yeah. How are the repairs going?"
"Pretty well! We've already got the hole about half closed up."
"Awesome! At this rate we should be outta here by- Janna! What the heck are you doing?!"
Star turned her head just slightly to the right and was shocked to see Janna standing beside her holding a small device in her hand over the bunk. "Ohmygosh, Janna! How did you even get in here without us hearing you?!"
"And what are you doing to me?!" Marco demanded again as he noticed a pair of lasers sprouting from the device in Captain Ordonia's hand jumping over his remaining right leg.
"I'm not doing anything," she replied, her eyes never deviating from the tiny screen on the measuring device. "Just ignore me. Pretend I'm not even here." Before the pair of Padawans had a chance to say anything else, the device chimed and the lasers blinked off. Janna immediately returned it to her pocket and turned on her heel, strolling out of the cabin. "As you were."
The door slid closed behind her with a whoosh.
"Wait, that door makes noise," Marco said. "How did she open the door and walk up right next to you without either of us noticing? Is...is Janna a ghost?"
Star was still staring at the door. "Maybe we're better off not knowing."
Janna made another cut with the lightsaber and then held the pieces together in the orientation she wished to attach them. Satisfied, she returned the lightsaber to her belt and reached for her arc welder and mask.
When she had finished, she brought the speeder bike, tools, and her creation inside the Raventalon for the night.
Alright, so far so good. Now to see how good I am at medical improvisation.
Her shipmates seemed to have all turned in for the night, though Janna did see PY-HD heading to the cockpit for a scheduled scanner check. She made a brief detour to the ship's tiny machine shop to utilize the lathe, make some final adjustments and clean up some sharp edges before grabbing the medical kit and heading for Tom's cabin.
Marco was sound asleep on the bunk with Star cuddled up next to him, her head nestled into the side of his neck, her eyes closed as well.
Janna smiled to herself mischievously. Here we go...
Raventalon Hull Repair, Day 4
Marco awoke lying facedown on his stomach, having rolled over at some point during the night. He could feel a weight on his back and his upper arms were pinned at his sides, which he assumed was likely Star.
He was correct, as his best friend had somehow ended up half on top of him during the night, hugging him tightly in her sleep as she nuzzled her cheek into the space between his shoulders.
There was no reason for Marco to complain. He had dreamed of waking up cuddling with Star ever since he had realized he was in love with her, and it was certainly living up to his expectations. It was very cozy and gave him a sense of security that he'd never previously experienced. Marco reckoned he could lay there like that with Star forever.
If, of course, he didn't desperately need to use the refresher.
"Star?" he whispered, trying to wriggle himself free from her grasp. "Star?"
"Guzzz...mmnahh..." she moaned. "A year's supply of free burritos?...Oh, how generous of you, Mrs. Britta...I don't need the punch card, just give them to me all at once..."
"Star!" Marco laughed, bucking himself upward to try to shake her off.
"Zzz-Huh? What?!" Star gasped as she was knocked off her human pillow.
"Wake up, dummy! You're dreaming!" Marco chuckled.
Star threw her arms around him again as he tried to roll over. "Five more minutes," she sleepily insisted, refusing to open her eyes.
"Star, I gotta get up! I really gotta go to the 'fresher!"
Immediately, she released him. "Oh! Sorry! Let me help you up."
Marco sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bunk.
And froze.
"Star."
She was sitting up behind him, rubbing her eyes. "Yeah?" She yawned.
"I have a left leg."
"...Congratulations?"
"Star."
Marco's words finally registered and Star snapped awake. "Wait, what?!" She quickly slid around him off of the bunk to see for herself. Sure enough, Marco had a left leg. There was no skin, but a tube of durasteel welded to a piece of flat hull plate had miraculously attached itself to what remained of Marco's left leg. "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-?"
"How-? Where did-! ...what is this?!" Marco yelped, running his hand over the joint just below his knee where his leg transitioned from flesh to metal.
"You're welcome," came a voice from the doorway.
Once again, both Padawans were shocked to see Janna leaning nonchalantly in the open doorway to the cabin. "Janna!" they chorused.
"How do you keep sneaking in here like that?!" Star cried.
Janna held her hands up as if to convey that she had no idea. Then she asked, "So how'd I do, Marco?"
"How'd you...?" Marco looked down at the prosthetic attached to his leg. "You made this?"
"Sure did."
Star raised an eyebrow. "And then snuck in here...in the middle of the night...to put it on him?"
"Mhm."
"...Why didn't you just wait until I woke up?"
Janna smiled wickedly. "Dude, if you knew how I attached it, you'd be glad you were asleep when I put it on. Well, what are you waiting for? Try it out!"
Marco was hesitant. "Uhh...Star? Maybe...?" He lifted his left arm slightly and she understood.
"Oh! I gotcha, Marco!" She came over and sat down on his left side, and they laced their arms across each other's shoulders. "Ready?"
"Ready. Just...slow."
Carefully, Star stood and helped Marco up. When he was fully erect, she relaxed her support on him, only barely still touching his back to be in position to catch him if he fell. "You okay?"
"Yeah...I...I think so. I'm...I'm standing!" He finally said excitedly.
"Walking might be a little awkward because there's no ankle joint," Janna warned. "It's very low-tech. It's so low-tech that it's no-tech."
Star snickered.
"What?" Marco asked.
"'So low-tech it's no-tech.' Classic! C'mon, let's try taking a couple steps."
Marco started with his right foot, then very carefully moved his new left one. Being that it was made of durasteel hull plating, the prosthetic had some significant weight to it. It would have been little more than a nuisance if Marco was at full strength, but he was still recovering and it took him a decent amount of effort to lift and move his left leg. That, plus the fact that this was the very first step he had ever taken with his leg in this configuration, and being unable to feel what the leg was doing, the metal foot came down hard and fast with a metallic clang, throwing Marco off-balance.
"Whoa-!"
Star intervened and kept Marco upright. "I gotcha!" She steered him toward the door. "Keep going! You got this!"
On the next step, Marco was more prepared for the weight of the metal leg and controlled it's decent. He still needed Star to help him stay upright, but he wasn't thrown off quite as badly. The next step went a little bit better, as did the next after that, each step punctuated by the clank of metal on metal. Janna watched the two Jedi working together with interest, but remained silent. Before Marco knew it, he was out of the cabin and the short way down the corridor to the refresher, standing outside the open door.
"You, uh, okay by yourself?" Star asked.
"I think so."
They slowly unlaced their arms from each other and, for the first time in over a week, Marco stood on his own. He timidly took a small step forward, stumbling slightly, but he managed to catch himself. His next step went a bit more smoothly, and he stepped through the door. He turned back to look at Star and Janna. His best friend gave him an encouraging thumbs-up. Janna just made a rude noise with her tongue.
Marco couldn't help but smile."Um...thank you, Janna. This is...really, really cool of you."
"You owe me at least six now," she said with a completely straight face. Then she grinned. "You're welcome, Marco."
Marco closed the door to the refresher for some privacy. At the very same instant, the door to Janna's cabin opened and Tom stumbled out.
"What the heck is all that racket out here?" he asked with a yawn.
Star and Janna looked at each other and laughed, only just now realizing how much noise Marco's new leg made.
Their laughter greatly confused Tom. "Uh...what's so funny?"
"'All that racket' was Marco," Star giggled.
"...Doing what?"
"You'll see soon enough," Janna said, placing her arm around her copilot and steering him in the other direction before he had a chance to say anything further. "C'mon. Let's go get some breakfast."
Star followed them as they headed for the galley. A moment later, the door to the refresher opened, and Marco took a slow step out.
"Ah, that's better. Did I hear someone mention breakfaAA- oof!" Marco yelped as he finally did fall over and unceremoniously crashed to the deck. "Ow." He tried to pull himself back to his feet, but lacking the ability to bend his left ankle, he was trying to push himself up by the sharp front corner of the flat durasteel foot and it slipped out from under him. He hit the deck a second time. "Crud. Star?" He called. "Janna? I could really use a hand here!"
He tried to push himself up a second time, and crashed down for a third. "Guys?"
Raventalon Hull Repair, Day 7
Tom was in the cockpit cycling the shields to make sure the generator did not seize up from lack of use when PY-HD rolled into the cockpit.
"Hey, Pony. You know you don't have to come up here for scanner checks if I'm in here."
The droid bleeped dryly.
"Okay. That's hurtful," Tom said with a frown.
PY-HD moved behind Tom and nudged its dome into his backside.
"What?"
The astromech did not respond, but instead continued ushering Tom toward the port side of the cockpit.
"Pony! What do you want from me?" Tom yelped as the droid nearly knocked him over. "Use your words! Er, beeps!" One last shove did manage to knock Tom forward and he crashed into the navicomputer. "Ow! Pony!" he growled. "What's gotten into you?"
Keeping the first mate cornered so that he couldn't get away, PY-HD ejected something from a slot on the front of its body. Tom hesitantly reached out and took it. His eyes widened. "Is...is this the circuit board from the navicomputer?"
The droid bleeped an annoyed affirmative.
"Pony, this is amazing!"
Condescending noises replied.
"You're so humble," Tom said sarcastically. But he couldn't remain upset with the droid for long. "Come on! Let's get this thing put back together! I think they're almost finished with the hull repairs, they'll be so excited to know that we can officially get off this rock!"
That was certainly something PY-HD could agree with.
"Alright, Star. This is the last one," Janna announced. "Ready?"
"I was born ready!" Star replied excitedly. "Ready to get off this stupid planet, that is!"
Marco, who had been pacing back and forth nearby to practice walking with his new leg, came over to observe. He couldn't move very quickly and his steps were uneven, but he was growing used to the prosthetic and every step he took was made with more confidence than the last. "This is it?" he asked, pointing to the precisely cut piece of hull plating that lay on the ground in front of Star.
"Sure is," Janna said as she climbed back onto the jump speeder for the fourth time that day. She strapped her welding mask to her head, the visor flipped up so that she could see. "Last piece, and then some welding inside to make sure it's all sealed, and we'll pretty much be set to go."
"Sweet!"
Janna coaxed the speeder bike slowly into the air, hovering beside theRaventalon. The last gap in the hull had shrunken down to a gap of just about three meters square, and Janna positioned herself strategically beside the hole. "Okay, Star, I'm ready when you are," she called down.
"I'm on it, Janna! Here it comes!"
Marco watched as Star raised her arms and the square panel of durasteel hull plate floated slowly off the ground. It turned vertically on end as it rose and Star carefully guided it to the ship's side, positioning it just in front of the hole.
"How's that?"
Janna inched the speeder forward, craning her neck to see the alignment of the edge. "Just a tiny bit to the left."
Star twitched her pinky in the air and the plate shifted ever so slightly. "How's that?"
"Perfect! Let me check the top." Janna twisted the height control and the bike slowly floated higher until it was level with the top end of the patch. "Right on!" she yelled. "Hold it right there!" She twisted around and grabbed the torch of the welder strapped to the seat behind her and a filler stick, flipped down her face shield, and quickly set to work. Starting from the top right corner, she welded about halfway down and then stopped, switching over to the opposite top corner and repeating the run.
"Okay, Star! You can let go now!"
With the last piece of the patch secured enough not to fall off, Star let her arms fall to her sides and broke her concentration. "Whew!" she gasped, leaning over to rest. "That sure takes a lot out of me. Glad that was the last one."
Marco gently put an arm around her and Star happily rested her head on his shoulder, contentedly closing her eyes. "You did a great job, uh..." In the second that he paused, Marco made a decision. Instead of calling Star by her name, he was going to try something different. "...girlfriend."
Star's eyes snapped back open. "Uhhhhhhh...no."
Marco's heart sank. "Oh..." He let his arm fall from around her back and shifted away. I guess she changed her mind. His mind whirled, desperately searching for an explanation.
Star caught the dejected look on his face and realized what he was thinking. "Oh! No no no no no! Marco! I didn't mean it like that!"
Marco blinked. "I'm confused."
Star took both of his hands in hers and gave him a reassuring smile. "Marco, I love you! Really! But...girlfriend? Boyfriend? It just feels...wrong."
Marco sighed. "I actually have to admit, when I said it, it felt weird in my mouth."
Star giggled. "Marco, you're my best friend in the galaxy. Nothing will ever change that, not even, you know, mutually shared romantic feelings." Her bright blue eyes stared deep in Marco's brown ones. "Who needs to be boyfriend and girlfriend when you're best friends? We just happen to be best friends who like snuggling and...making out."
It was Marco's turn to laugh. "So...we're just best friends in love?"
Star nodded happily. "Mhm! Exactly!"
His mouth curled upward into a grin. "I like that."
"It fits better." And she quickly wrapped her best friend in a hug, which Marco enthusiastically returned.
"We're still, like, committed to each other, though, right?" Marco asked.
"Um, duh."
"Heh. Just checking."
They closed their eyes as they melted into the tight embrace, Marco idly stroking Star's lustrous blonde hair.
"I love you, Best Friend," Marco whispered.
Star sighed happily. "Now that feels right."
"It definitely does."
"I love you, too, Bestie."
"You guys are gonna make me throw up."
Yet again, the two Padawans jumped as Janna startled them, the Raventalon's captain standing right behind them. They broke apart in embarrassment.
"Gosh, Janna!" Star gasped. "How long have you been standing there?"
Janna shook her head and folded her arms. "Far too long for you to not have noticed me."
"Hey, guys!"
All three looked toward the sound of the voice and saw Tom running down the ship's boarding ramp with PY-HD right behind him. As he drew closer, they could see that he appeared to be very excited.
"Guys! Pony fixed the navicomputer!"
Janna, Star and Marco exchanged delighted expressions, each too surprised and elated for words. Finally, their departure from Moraband was within reach.
The navicomputer's screen blinked to life, the whirring of the internal processor just barely audible in the silence of the cockpit. Star, Marco, Janna and Tom watched as the readout flickered and changed while PY-HD, plugged into the console beside it, altered various settings and the navicomputer responded as expected.
"Pony, I never doubted you for a second," Janna said. "But even so, I almost can't believe we actually have a functioning navicomputer!"
"I'm just relieved we won't have to guess our route to wherever we go next," Tom said.
"Well, since we've still got a couple hours of work left to do on the hull, and now that we have our full operating system online again, do you think you could run some diagnostic tests and make sure everything is working properly, Pony?"
The astromech responded with exhausted sounding bleeps.
"You're a droid, you don't get tired," Janna reminded it. "Please, Pony?"
Reluctant twitters came from the astromech.
"Thank you, Pony." Janna patted the droid's dome. "You're the best." She turned back to the others. "C'mon, gang, we're almost done. Let's get back to it!"
It took a few hours for Janna to finish welding all the seems of the hull patch from the inside, and by the time everything was complete, the sun was setting and she was worn out.
"Let's have some dinner and get some sleep," she said, "I'm too exhausted for flying right now."
"No argument here," Star agreed. "I'm starving!"
"When aren't you?" Tom laughed.
"Never," answered Marco simply, and everyone chuckled again, joking about Star's appetite becoming a favorite running joke among the group.
On their way to the galley, PY-HD popped out of the cockpit, whistling and bleeping urgently.
"Pony? What's wrong?" Tom asked.
The astromech beckoned for them to follow her.
Janna said to Star and Marco, "Why don't you two get the food out? We'll meet you in there in a few minutes."
"We're on it!" Star exclaimed, taking Marco by the hand and dragging him down the corridor.
Star and Marco were just sitting down at the galley table when Janna, Tom, and PY-HD rendezvoused with them. Captain Ordonia wore a scowl on her face.
"What's wrong?" Star asked.
"According to Pony Head's tests, the backup hyperdrive is probably only going to last one more jump," Janna groaned, sinking into her seat opposite the two Padawans.
"What?!"
"And when I say 'last one more jump,' what I really mean is 'we have about a fifty-fifty chance of it actually working,' and the flip side of that credit chip is that, if it doesn't work, then it..." Janna flourished her hands. "...blows up."
Star and Marco exchanged a nervous glance.
Tom leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms. "We'd never actually used the backup drive until we used it for our slingshot back on Coruscant. Apparently the windings inside hyperdrives don't like not being used. They get brittle. Then we overstressed them doing our slingshot and, long story short, they're pretty much on the verge of disintegrating.
"Man!" Star exclaimed. "We sure are learning a lot about starship operations on this adventure, huh?"
"Yes, yes we are," Marco replied.
"So what do we do then?" Star asked.
Janna shrugged. "What choice do we have? It's not like we can repair it. All we can do is try it and hope for the best. Or we just stay here on Moraband forever. Well, until our supplies run out, and then we can fight over who gets to eat who."
"I wouldn't eat anybody," Tom said indignantly.
"That's fine, 'cause we're eating you first," Janna shot back.
Star and Marco shared another look. Marco didn't even need Star to speak to know what she was thinking just based on her expression.
"We'll risk death by hyperdrive explosion," he said. "At least that's instant, as opposed to slowly starving to death."
"My thoughts exactly," agreed Janna.
Putting aside their ever-expanding troubles for the moment, the gang gathered around the table for another meal of supply bars and caf with greatly varying amounts of sugar.
"So," Marco began, still chewing on his supply bar, "if it does work, and we only have one hyperspace jump to work with, where do we go from here?"
Janna leaned back in her chair, clutching her cup of caf with both hands. "We need to go somewhere where we can get a replacement main and backup hyperdrives. Unfortunately, this ship being as old as it is, newer hyperdrives aren't compatible without major modifications. We need direct replacements, which will not be easy to come by."
"Where's our best bet, then?" Star asked, her words barely distinguishable through a huge mouthful of food.
Janna sighed. "There's only one place I know for sure will have the drives. You guys are not gonna like it, but since we're probably only gonna get one jump, we don't really have a choice."
Tom winced. "Oh, please don't tell me we have to go-"
"Yeah. There."
"Where's 'there'?" Star asked, apprehension on her voice.
"Corellia."
PY-HD squealed with displeasure.
"Oh, sure!" Marco exclaimed. "Why not? Let's just turn around and head right back to the core worlds! I'm sure it won't be just crawling with Imperial forces!"
"Yeah, and didn't you say this ship was 'marked' now?" Star continued. "Won't they, like, immediately know it's us?"
"Probably. But what other choice do we have?" Janna leaned back in her chair. "I can't afford to, nor do I have any intention of, purchasing another ship, and wherever we go next, we'll be one hundred percent stuck unless we can fully repair the Raventalon."
"Isn't there anywhere else we could get parts? What about, like, Tatooine?" Tom suggested. "They've got parts traders there. Or Jakku?"
"Why does everyone always want to go back to that junkyard?" Star muttered under her breath.
Janna scoffed. "Only if we want to pay double what the hyperdrives are worth and then find out once they're installed that they don't work." She took a long drink from her cup, draining it and then slamming it down on the table. "Face it. Our only real choice is to go to Corellia."
"We should go to Mewni."
Everyone fell silent in surprise at Star's suggestion.
"Your homeworld?" Janna asked. "Don't you think the Empire will be looking for you there?"
"Well, we've been really off-the-grid for a couple weeks now, maybe more. I honestly have completely lost track of time."
PY-HD bleeped out the date.
"Yeah, see? We've been gone a long time. The Empire definitely, like definitely, has no idea where we are. If they're searching for us, I'm sure they already checked Mewni and figured out that we weren't there a long time ago."
"Okay, but still," Janna pressed. "Last time I checked, Mewni doesn't build ships or have major salvage yards."
"True, but you know what it does have? The King and Queen of Mewni, who just so happen to be my parents."
"Oh, yeah," Tom said through his last mouthful of supply bar. "I'm so used to thinking of you as a Jedi I forget sometimes that you're also a Princess."
A giggle from Marco beside her caught Star's attention. "Why are you a little giggly boy over there?" she asked.
A giddy smile was plastered on Marco's face. "I've kissed a Princess."
"I forgot about that, too," Tom said. "How's that going?"
"She's not my girlfriend," Marco replied simply.
"Huh?"
"Can we let Star get back to her explanation, please?" Janna begged. And she motioned for Star to go on.
The Padawan shook her head. "Let me start over. We need to go to Corellia to get parts to properly fix the Raventalon. Marco and I can't go because we're Jedi. Just like Marco said, the planet is probably crawling with Imperial troops and we'll be discovered for sure, and the Raventalon can't go because it will be recognized by the Empire as the ship that helped two Jedi escape, right?"
"Right," Janna and Tom unintentionally answered at exactly the same time. They briefly glared at each other.
"And Marco also needs a real cybernetic prosthetic so he can walk properly."
Marco looked down at his metal leg under the table. "Aw, but Janna made this for me. And I'm getting good at walking on it."
"What if you need to, I don't know, run? Or fight?"
Marco blinked and thought for a moment. "Sorry, Janna, I'm gonna need a cybernetic prosthetic."
Janna shrugged. "Eh. I figured you would eventually."
Star went on. "Soooo, if we go to Mewni, my parents will have a ship you guys can borrow to go to Corellia and get whatever you need to fix the Raventalon while Marco gets a new leg. Mewni has...uh, you know...decent medical care?"
"Oh, that makes me feel good," Marco said, rolling his eyes. "Hey, wait, won't Janna and Tom get recognized on Corellia?"
Janna waved the question away dismissively. "Nah. They only saw the ship, not the ones flying it. Besides, the Raventalon is registered under a fake name. Another smuggling precaution."
"I didn't know this ship was registered under a fake name," Tom said. "What name is it registered to?"
"Lucy Lucille Lucitor."
"...You used the nickname you call me that I hate...which is derived from my last name...and my actual last name?"
"Yup. And I put 'Lucille' in the middle."
"...Why?"
"Because I thought it sounded funny. Anyway, you make a tough argument, Star."
"Why, thank you!"
"So...I guess that settles it, then." Janna stood up from the table. "After breakfast tomorrow, we'll plot a course for the Mewni System."
"And we hopefully don't blow up," Tom reminded her.
"Yes. Hopefully."
"Sounds good to me," Marco agreed. "I'm just excited to get off this planet, no matter where we're going."
Janna nodded. "Let's all get some sleep, then."
"Right behind you," Tom said. He chugged down the rest of his caf and then followed Janna out of the galley. "Goodnight, guys."
"Goodnight!" Marco called. He looked at Star, who had abruptly fallen silent, her expression blank. "Star? Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah. I'm fine."
Marco put his arm around her. "Is there something on your mind?"
"I was just thinking...I'm sure Aunt Eclipsa told my parents about Order 66." She gave a chuckle. "My parents probably think I'm dead."
"Oh, yeah. They'll be really happy to see you when we show up, then..." It was Marco's turn to fall silent. "My parents probably think I'm dead, too."
Star looked at Marco quizzically. "Do you even know where your parents are?"
Marco shook his head sadly. "I don't even know my parents' names. I was taken to the Jedi Temple when I was so little...I can't remember what they look like. At least you, being a princess and all, were allowed to go home periodically for all the...you know...traditional princess-y stuff, and your Aunt would let you chat with your folks on her holo viewer, so you actually have a family." Marco shrugged. "I don't even know how to get in touch with my parents to let them know I'm alright."
Star shook her head in disgust. "Dumb Jedi rules." She looked at Marco beside her. He looked positively dejected. "You know...the last time I went home, three years ago, I told my parents all about you. They said you sounded great, and that they hoped they'd get to meet you someday." She smiled at him. "They're gonna love you like Aunt Eclipsa already does." She gave his hand a squeeze. "You can be part of our family."
Marco's mouth curled into a little smile. "Thanks, Star."
She kissed him on the cheek. "Come on. Let's get some rest."
That night, as Janna slept soundly in her quarters and Tom fitfully tossed and turned beside her, Star and Marco snuggled into the bunk in Tom's cabin as they had become accustomed to doing, both finding sleep elusive as they lay staring at the ceiling side-by-side.
"Marco, are you awake?"
"Yeah...I can't sleep."
"Whatcha thinking about?"
"Oh, you know, just about how...after all of this, everything we've been through since I came to your room that night in the Jedi Temple, tomorrow there's a good chance that we might just...get blown up. By something completely out of our control."
"Yeah, that does make it kinda hard to sleep, huh?"
Marco sighed. "Yup."
A few moments of silence passed.
"If we do get blown up tomorrow," Star asked slowly, "would you, you know, have any regrets?"
"Probably just that I didn't try a little harder to kill Palpatine when we were in his office. And that I didn't confess my feelings for you sooner."
Star rolled over onto her side so that she could see Marco's face in the dark. "Well, Master Fisto didn't really give us much choice in the matter and I doubt we could have beaten a Sith Lord, anyway. And, yeah...I wish I had told you sooner, too. I'd give anything just to have a few days alone with you, days not spent repairing the ship, before..." Star didn't finish the sentence. She didn't need to.
"I'd give my left leg to have more time with you. Oh, wait," Marco deadpanned jokingly.
Star laughed, but when her laughter faded she was left feeling depressed. "Oh, Marco..." She buried her face into his side, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "Why couldn't we have had more time?"
Marco gently hugged her back. For several minutes, they lay together silently embracing in the dark.
"We've still got hours until morning," Marco whispered. "Do you think you'll be able to get any sleep at all?"
"No..." said Star with a sigh.
"Me neither." He paused. "You wanna make out until the sun comes up?"
"Absolutely."
"Here we go. Let's hope that backup hyperdrive holds together for one last jump and doesn't blow us all to pieces."
Tom glanced over at Janna, expecting her to have some kind of snappy comeback to his statement, but she remained stoic. In all the time he had known her, he didn't think he had ever seen her flip activation switches so slowly and methodically.
Janna could shrug off just about anything. Nothing ever really bothered her, and she pretty much never flinched in the face of danger. Even last night, she had been more annoyed at the prospect of the hyperdrive malfunctioning than at the chance that they could instantly die. But now, moments away from attempting the hyperspace jump, she could not ignore the reality of the situation any longer.
"Alright, Pony Head," Tom went on, swiveling halfway around in order to see the astromech droid. "Chart us a course to the Mewni System and prep the backup hyperdrive."
PY-HD whistled a reply and began rapidly rotating its interface socket in the computer terminal.
Beside the droid and behind the pilots, Star and Marco were strapped in. They said nothing, nor did they look at each other. Instead, they stared straight ahead at the distant stars twinkling in the forward viewscreen as Janna and Tom prepared the ship to jump to hyperspace. Between them, their hands were joined, fingers intertwined.
PY-HD twittered that the navicomputer was ready.
"All systems are green," Tom said slowly. He looked over at Janna again. "Whenever you're ready, Captain."
Janna slowly moved her right hand off of her control yoke and placed it on top of the hyperdrive lever on her side of the control panel. Tom mirrored her action.
"Well, everybody...see you on the other side. May-" She swallowed back a twinge of emotion in her throat. "May the Force be with us...or whatever."
She nodded at Tom. He nodded back. Together, they slowly slid the hyperdrive levers forward.
"I love you, Star," Marco whispered, squeezing her hand.
"I love you, Marco."
Outside the viewscreen, the stars stretched into streaks.
"Please don't blow up!" Janna yelled.
The Raventalon disappeared from Moraband space.
Star Wars discussion:
Let's talk about the Republic becoming the Empire. Part of the reason why I had our group of main characters get
A. Lost in space and then
B. Stranded on Moraband
For ten whole chapters and an unspecified amount of time is that I needed to give the Republic Army time to become the Imperial Army. Obviously, TIE fighters and Star Destroyers don't just materialize overnight. Until all the new equipment can be manufactured, the Empire is still going to be using Clone troopers and ARC-170's and such. I didn't really know how long it would take for everything to convert over, but it would seem weird to have clones and Republic Army equipment being used alongside...you know...Darth Vader, so I thought "Why don't I just have them get stranded completely out of contact with the rest of the galaxy for a while? That'll give the Empire enough time to convert over to the actual Imperial stuff."
Explanation over.
