Star Wars: Saviors of the Broken

Chapter XII

"Never underestimate what you can do. With the Force, even impossible things become possible." - Altux Wen, from Collected Wisdom of the Jedi Masters

"Frank, why are you going toward the Core Worlds?" Gerard said. "We're supposed to be leaving the Empire, not heading straight into the heart of it."

"I thought we were going to Kriselist," Ray said. "Isn't that in the Mid Rim?"

"Stop panicking, guys," Frank said. "It's just a little detour, and besides, it's not my fault that the best mechanic in the galaxy lives on Alsakan."

He smiled as he thought of Laura and all of the memories they'd made together over the years. They'd gone record shopping together, blown up fireworks, talked for hours, played a million games of Sabacc. Even now, with Laura operating a mostly-legitimate business on Alsakan and Frank flying through space and committing some of the biggest heists the galaxy had ever seen, they were inseparable.

"I just hope we won't get caught," Gerard said.

"We'll be fine. I'd trust Laura with my life," Frank said. "Besides, you've got red hair now. Nobody will recognize you."

"I'm not worried about me," Gerard said. "I'm worried about Mikey."

"Mikey will be fine too," Frank assured him. "In my experience, people see what they want to see. As far as anyone else is concerned, you're all part of my gang of outlaws."

"How is that any better than being a runaway clone?" Ray asked.

"I have connections, and trust me, they'll keep quiet about us," Frank said.

Ray nodded, and Frank took control of the ship, steering it toward the nearest hyperspace route. As the Black Mariah hurtled through hyperspace, racing toward the other end of the galaxy, Frank glanced at Gerard. He looked beautiful with his radioactive red hair, almost like he was a real rebel instead of a shy, artistic young man with a coffee addiction. His heart pounded as his gaze met Gerard's, and as he looked into his gorgeous hazel eyes, he almost missed the hyperspace exit.

The Black Mariah left hyperspace and entered the Alsakan system, but something was very wrong. The ship suddenly veered off-course, and Frank's frantic attempts to correct the trajectory only made things worse. The Black Mariah tossed back and forth, zig-zagging its way across the system.

"What's going on?" Gerard asked.

Frank tried to turn on the backup systems, but without a working stabilizer, it was no use. "It's the stabilizer," Frank said. "It's causing the ship to go off-course."

Just as he said that, the ship swerved toward another planet in the system, and Frank pulled the steering rod to keep it from colliding with the planet's moon. He then tried to steer toward Alsakan, but the ship was going too fast for him to land. He had to decrease their speed before they crashed into something.

Frank was staring at the controls, panicking, when Ray said, "Hey Frank, I used to fly an X-42 interceptor, and those don't have stabilizers. Do you want me to try?"

"Why would anyone fly without a stabilizer?" Frank asked as he handed the controls over to Ray. He almost never let anyone else pilot his ships, but he trusted Ray, Mikey, and Gerard. Even though he hadn't known them for long, he knew that he could count on his new friends.

"It made the ship faster, and the Republic figured we wouldn't last long anyways," Ray explained as he gripped the controls, turned off the broken stabilizer, and steered the ship toward Alsakan. Their trajectory was a bit unstable, and Ray was still going far too fast, but at least they'd make it to Alsakan alive.