Manaan - Chapter 133
Link to the masterpost. Chapter 132. Chapter 134.
@averruncusho @ceruleanrainblues @chubbsmomma @darthvendar-blog, thank you for reading, you get a tag. @skelelexiunderlord thank you for support, you get a tag.
A/N: I'm gonna need to write something explaining why I haven't been writing, don't I? In brief, I changed jobs (no more time to write at work) and I moved (big adjustment.)
---
The judges were speaking amongst themselves as I am escorted into the court. Standing exactly where they were this morning. “But if they can do that,” I hear Kota say, “the whole system could…”
Naleshekan hisses at him. “Silence! This is not for outsiders to hear!”
“Well, human,” Shelkar says, “you find yourself in a most difficult situation. The Hrakert Rift is the most precious resource on Manaan, and anything that threatens it or the kolto it produces threatens our entire species.”
Duula slams his hands down on the bench. “We will not tolerate threats to our neutrality, our existence, and our way of life!”
“As much as we may admire your Republic and your Order in particular,” Jhosa says with a measured wisdom that tells me he and Vrook would get along like a house on fire, “I believe you will have a hard time explaining your role in this incident adequately.”
Naleshekan speaks, looking at evidence on a datapad. “We have determined that you are responsible for the detonations that occurred near the Hrakert Rift. We demand to know what occurred down there!”
“If the Republic has broken its neutrality treaty with us,” Duula half-shouts, “the repercussions shall be very grave indeed!”
Shelkar attempts to calm his hot-headed co-judge. “What have you done to the Rift?”
“I have not harmed the Rift,” I assure them. “The explosions were at the research station both our governments set up there.”
“Research station?” Naleshekan balks, “What are you talking about? Don’t try to lie to us, human!”
“We know of this,” Shelkar says simply, almost ashamed.
“What?!”
“It will be discussed later,” he insists.
“This cannot be kept silent!” Naleshekan shouts, “The Council will--”
“The Council will hear nothing of this!” Shelkar interjects, “And you will keep your silence or be ejected from the court!”
“But we cannot--!”
“Silence!” And Naleshekan stops.
“What has happened at the research station?” Jhosa asks calmly, “What caused the explosions?”
“The harvesting machinery caused a giant firaxan shark to emerge from its home in the Rift,” I say, “It began to attack the machinery and its cries caused the smaller firaxan sharks to frenzy and the Selkath at the station to turn on the other scientists. To bring peace, I destroyed the kolto harvesting machinery.”
“A giant… firaxan?” Naleshekan says, stunned, “Could it be…? No, impossible! It is only a legend!”
“But…” Jhosa says slowly, “she said she killed it… didn’t she?”
“You killed this shark, human?” Shelkar asks.
“No,” I say, “I destroyed the machinery to save it.”
“The Progenitor…” Jhosa says softly, “…it must have been!”
“Be quiet!” Duula hisses, “That is merely a myth, and not fit for outsiders to hear!”
“But if it was the life-bringer…” Kota says, “…the ancestor of our species… Think of what this could mean!”
“If it always laired there…” Jhosa contemplates, “…then perhaps the kolto…”
“Enough!” Shelkar interrupts, “Off-worlders are not to hear of such things!”
“But,” Kota says, “she said she saved it… She destroyed the harvesters to save it.”
“Indeed,” Shelkar says in a measured tone, “This casts your actions in a new light, human. This, I believe, will require more thought... both on your actions, and on what we must do in response. This court will adjourn while we deliberate.”
The judges file out, and I relax. God, I'm tired. If I wasn't unsure when the judges would come back, I would lay down on the floor and fall asleep. Even as it is… this floor looks very comfortable. I think I will sit down. And try not to fall asleep.
The judges are out of the room for about 10 minutes, and when they come back it is a lot harder to muster the will to stand up than I expected. The early evening sun streaks in through the windows, streaming in Judge Shelkar as he issues the ruling. “We have reviewed your actions and the situation, human,” he says, “We thank you for the destruction of the machinery and saving the giant firaxan which, we believe, is the source of our kolto… or at least its guardian. We will not detain you any longer. While we cannot show our gratitude overtly, know that you have earned our respect. This trial is now over.” And with that, the judges file back out.
“Well,” I say shortly to Carth and Juhani in the gallery, “that’s that, then.” I turn and walk out of the court room, and I hear the two of them file behind me. “The only thing left to do is head for the Star Forge. We should stock up on medpacs and power cells before we go. And we should make sure the ship’s shields and weapons are prepared for a dogfight as we approach the station. Juhani, I’m going to ask you to report back to the Council about our progress. Carth, could you contact the Republic? I’ll work with T3 to tackle the shields.”
“Rena, you should rest,” Juhani says, “Take the time to gather your strength before you confront Darth Malak.”
“You look like you’re ready to collapse,” Carth agrees.
“I’ll be fine,” I say, “I just want to get this over with.”
Carth stops me by grabbing my arm tightly, not letting me pull away. “Rena,” he says firmly, “one night isn’t going to make any difference. Take a break.”
“Carth, let me go,” I look into his eyes solemnly, “This is my job.”
“You’re not the only one who can look at the shields,” he insists.
“And yet I’m going to and you can’t stop me. Now let me go.” Reluctantly, he does. And I turn back to the ship and keep going. I will admit - as long as you don’t tell him - that he’s right. It has been an incredibly long day and I absolutely could use a break. But we all have incredibly long days ahead of us, and if I take a break, then it would feel like I didn't care about the fact that I started all this in the first place.
Jolee is the first person I run into on the ship. “Jolee,” I say to him, “we’ll be leaving for the Star Forge in the morning. Can I count on you to get us stocked up on medpacs and power cells?”
He scoffs. “Only if you’re on your way to bed - you look exhausted.”
I roll my eyes. “God, it’s like you’ve been talking to Carth. I’m fine.” I see HK next, standing idly in the loading back. “HK, come online.”
His eyes light up. “Statement: HK-47 is ready to serve, master.” He pauses, looking at me. “Query: Master, are you feeling alright.”
“I’m fine, why do you ask.”
“Observation: Your heart rate is elevated, as is your respiration. Your appearance seems to be more unkempt than usual, and there is an atypical slump to your posture.”
“Everything’s fine,” I say again, “We’ll be leaving for the Star Forge in the morning. Your task will be to defend the ship so we can get away when we’re done. Now, have you seen T3?”
I swear, if he could sneer. “Statement: The inferior droid was in the cockpit according to my previous record.”
“Thanks.” I move away. Mission next. “Kid, you ready for a fight?”
“You know it!” she says, but does a double-take. “Are you okay, Rena?”
“I wish everyone would stop asking me that.” I see Canderous on my way to the cockpit. “Canderous, could you make sure we're adequately armed and the ship’s weapons are top-notch? We'll be leaving for the Star Forge in the morning.” He opens his mouth. “I swear to God, if you ask if I'm okay…”
“Wasn’t planning on it,” he says, moving past me to do as I asked, “I know you’re not.”
“I - oh, forget it.” T3 is still in the cockpit, running diagnostics. “T3, I need your help to tune up the shields.” He turns to face me and beeps his concern. “Oh, don't you start.” I enter the coordinates in my memory into the navicomputer before I forget. I'm not worried about forgetting the coordinates, but about not getting them into the computer.
Carth comes in behind me. “What are the coordinates for--?”
“Just entering them into the navicomputer now.”
“Good. Good.” He just nods idly. “I was worried about you earlier.”
“Just in general or at some specific point?”
“When you were on the ocean floor,” he says. I finish at the navicomputer and start towards the engine room with T3 following me. Carth follows me, too. “I remember how much you dislike envirosuits.”
“Not envirosuits, just space walks,” I correct.
“Still,” he says, like he’s looking for words, just to keep talking. “I was worried. And then there was the explosion - I thought something happened to you.”
“Juhani already said that, I know.” In the engine room. I pull off the shield access panel and input a diagnostic command. “Have you contacted the Republic yet? We’re going to need the support of the fleet.”
“I will.”
“So what are you waiting for?”
He gives a heavy sigh. “Gods, Rena, would you look at me?” Fine, God. Not like I’m not busy or anything. He’s standing in the engine room doorway, looking a little flustered. “Things are just getting a little real, and I’m worried about the end of this. What happens after.”
“What happens after is… we win. The war ends.” I shrug. “Not sure what you’re asking.”
“I’m asking about us.”
Oh. Right. That. “I would like that a lot,” I say softly. Then I clear my throat. “But at the moment I just want to take things one day at a time.”
He nods. “Just remember,” he says, “I’m giving you something to live for. A future. So you’ll come back to me.”
I grin. “You won’t be getting rid of me that easily, don’t worry.” He chuckles. “Now. Republic.”
“You got it.” And he leaves.
I pull my tools out and unroll them as the diagnostic finishes. The shield grid is holding up, but needs to be realigned. Ugh, that takes hours. Better get started. I sit on the floor and open the interface panel. T3 beeps at me. “No, I can do it,” I tell him, laying on my side to better access the panel. My muscles ache. “Can you reroute the power to the auxiliary system so I don’t get zapped?” He sputters. “No, I do not need to be electrocuted into unconsciousness, I’ll sleep when I’m done!” I swear, this droid has “me” levels of sass and I don’t appreciate it. He beeps again. “T3,” I say, and I can’t help but smile, “please just reroute the power.” He whistles and sputters again, but does as I ask. I try to hold in a yawn to not prove him right. Pretend I'm not struggling to keep my eyes open. I paw at my tool wrap and pull out my aligner, to begin the slow, arduous process of realigning the grid.
---
“We’ve received the coordinates, Commander Onasi,” Admiral Dodonna says, and turns to one of her bridge officers. “Contact the fleet, Ensign. Transmit the orders to proceed to these coordinates.” She turns back to me. “When will you be en route, Commander?”
“Ren - Master Visz has planned to leave in the morning,” I say, remembering to correct myself. Rena would not like it that I’ve called her “Master”, but that’s how the Admiral referred to her earlier, and it’s how I’d be expected to refer to her in any other scenario. “But I think I can persuade her to leave sooner.”
“Excellent,” she says, “Transmit another message when you embark. We will give you a few hours’ lead time in case the Sith have any tricks up their sleeve.”
“Understood. Ebon Hawk out.” End transmission. Well, with that out of the way, I think I want to help Rena with her task. Or at least sit with her. Oh! I just remembered - she mentioned this morning that she hadn't eaten, and I haven't eaten anything all day either. She needs to get her strength up for the fight, but she's also too stubborn to admit I'm right right now, she'll just say she's fine. But like I told Admiral Dodonna, I think I can persuade her otherwise.I get her a sandwich from the synthesizer. Start small. I take that to the engine room. “Rena, I brought you something to--”
She's lying down on the floor, on her side. Positioned by an open panel, but very clearly asleep. “--eat.” I shake my head at her inside. That didn't take long. “Teethree, you can finish with the shields, right?” He beeps, and I can’t understand him the way Rena can, but I can at least tell that it’s an affirmative. I crouch down and position my arms so I can pick her up, cradle her in my arms.
Rena groans sleepily. “I wasn’t done yet,” she says, each word slurring into the next.
I scoff. “Right, you were just resting your eyes, you weren’t sleeping.”
“I wasn’t!” she protests unconvincingly
“Sure you weren’t.”
“The shield grid needs to be realigned,” she mumbles, “And the frequency should…”
“Teethree’s got it handled,” I interrupt her, “Get some rest.” I use my elbow to open the door to the starboard quarters.
Mission turns when I open the door, raising her eyebrow at Rena. “Uh-huh, sure, she’s not tired.”
“Shut up,” Rena groans as I lay her on her bunk, and she curls back to sleep.
I turn back to Mission. “Once everyone’s back on board, we’ll take off.” She nods, and I head back to the cockpit.
It’s almost hard to comprehend. The Star Forge has been an idea, almost, for a month or so now. To actually have coordinates to it now. We’re almost at the end. The war is almost over.
