The hazy blue sky rushing past the ship's windows slowly turned darker, until the
Dawnsprinter left the atmosphere completely. The deep blackness of space studded with countless twinkling stellar gems filled the viewports, mesmerizing those who had not experienced space travel before. Arias unbuckled his crash belt, stood up, and slowly approached the cockpit.
Jorran sat in the rightmost seat, waiting for the sensors' analysis. Aborbed in the activities at hand, he and Kia almost didn't notice Arias quietly settling down into the co-pilot's seat. He gazed silently out the cockpit window for a short while, occasional beeping and clicking from various instruments the only sounds before he unexpectedly broke the silence.
"It is a strange feeling, to see the stars from out here after all this time. For nearly twenty years, from my earliest memories I was always on the move. Seeing the stars and planets from a starship viewport was nearly a daily occurrance for me. My teacher and master, Tabano, always preferred to keep moving. He always told us, Miera and I that is, that staying in a single place for too long causes one to slow down, to have fewer experiences.
We would get a mission from the Jedi Council, head out to take care of the issue, and then on to the next problem to take care of. But we would always work so quickly that we spent almost as much time in a starship as we did on habitable planets. Even then we had little rest. Tabano always stressed that we take advantage of every opportunity to train ourselves, to improve our abilities. If we weren't fighting battles or mediating peace treaties, we were sparring and meditating.
Looking back on those years, it wasn't much of a life. The time passed so quickly then that we didn't even think about it. My entire youth was one long, elaborate training exercise, even after the end of our apprenticeship. Because Tabano's training made us more skilled than most, we were given the more difficult, more violent tasks. Then came the War, with more and more fighting, more battles, more conflict. Our efforts brought peace to countless people, but the only peace Miera and I found was with each other. We kept each other sane during those years of fighting."
Arais paused, and breathed a long sigh.
"Sometimes I wonder what life would have been like if the Jedi hadn't discovered us. Would we have lived lives of peace and tranquility, and love? Or would we have been like so many of the people whom we could not aid, who ended up dead before their time?
It has been nearly thirty years since we crashed into that planet. Thirty years of struggle and survival, yet these years have been the happiest of my life. Our destinies have been our own, no longer controlled by the whim of some vaunted council. Despite the danger, we've been able to live at our own pace, and finally enjoy living in peace, such as it is.
Yet after all this time, I feel no special emotion, no euphoria or excitement, at seeing this unending blackness once more. Perhaps it is fear that I may be returning to my old life, perhaps simply old, unwanted memories coming back to taunt me." He sighed once more. "Time will tell."
After Arias' long, unexpected outpouring of thought, the loud beep signaling the end of the sensor sweep seemed like a tank of compressed hydrogen had burst right next to Jorran's ear.
Readings on the planet came back negative. No new metal densities since last reading. In the asteroid field however, there seems to be one larger rock in particular with a small, dense patch of materials indicated with a notation to be identical with the molecular composition of durasteel and superconductor wire.
"That reminds me." Arais said, noting the lack off designation for the planet. "We have yet to name that big dirtball of ours. We'll have to discuss that once we get back."
***
Nikama nods at Aasan. After half an hour of pushing, shoving, pulling, levering, and sweating, they have managed to slide the stasis-clad hyperdrive out of the hut and into the open, where examination would be easier. Unfortunately, they do not manage to find anything special on any side of the hyperdrive. No suspicious bumps, indentations, bowls, curves,
nothing.
"Well," Nikama said, "I say we go get drunk, because I'm all out of ideas."
