ANH 'verse. Tatooine. A Mission Complete?

[astrotechmech]

He was back on the ship. He must have been. This was not merely something that need a tune-up. It was a victim, and it had all the battle damage to prove it!

"What the heck did you guys do to this thing?!? I can barely tell one part from another!"

His on-board equipment had been fixed from his earlier "scuffle" by now--for which he was glad because this thing need all the help it could get!

Comments

[random_xtras]

Hot Shot cringes under the verbal barrage, starting to doubt whether he really wants to show Random the other generators. This one, was after all, the one that still ran the best....

He really wished they hadn't lost the repair droid in that last big sandstorm. It might not have been very interesting to talk to, but it had never bent his audio receivers like this, either.

"Hey... we're not astrotechs," he says weakly. "We did our best."

[astrotechmech]

Random mutters and curses under his breath as he looks the generator over and starts tweaking it.

He sighs. "I suppose you did . . . It could be worse, I suppose . . ."

[random_xtras]

"You keep talkin' like that and Kia'll pick it up." Hot Shot sheepishly offers a new part, though he's not sure if it's what's needed.

[astrotechmech]

"Why do you think I'm only doing it when she's not in audioshot?"

"Thanks." He takes the new part and sets it down beside him for the moment while he works to get its beaten up counterpart out.

[random_xtras]

"Yeah, but if you're in the habit of using the words they can slip out. I know, that's how I learned 'em from my mentor." Hot Shot grins, then squints into the distance, keeping an eye out for those crazy bantha riding native organics.

[astrotechmech]

"I'm working on it, all right! . . . That's how everyone learns them, but I have no intention of the person she learns it from being me!" Random sorts through the parts they brought with them for the one needs.

[random_xtras]

"Heh... mentors never do. Hey... did she get wiped or something?" Hot Shot turns and frowns in the other direction.

//Hey, Random,// says Wheeljack in his abrupt but not antagonistic way. //Is Kia with you? She's not at the dome.//

[astrotechmech]

"Huh."

That causes him to stop and turn around to look at Hot Shot. "'Wiped?' What do you mean, 'wiped?'"

// . . . She's not there?!?!// Great, now he's starting to panic and it shows.

[random_xtras]

"You know. All her files deleted." Hot Shot turns and looks in yet another direction, then spits out wind-blown sand. "Great, there's another storm coming."

//I wouldn't have asked if she were,// says Wheeljack, sounding a bit miffed. //Don't tell me she ran off.//

[astrotechmech]

He was hoping he wouldn't have to explain it quite so soon . . .

Random starts to fidget, and not just from Hot Shot's question. //I honestly don't know what to tell you! She wouldn't do that.// Or at least I'd hope she'd listen to me when I told her to stay there. "No, not great. Wheeljack says Kia's not at the dome!"

[random_xtras]

//I can't leave the refiner, unless we want a crater where the dome should be,// grumbles Wheeljack.

"What?" Hot Shot blinks, then turns in the direction of the dome. "I don't see her. How good is her GPS?"

[astrotechmech]

//Great.// comes the sarcastic reply.

"I . . . don't know, actually." There was never really a time when she would have needed it, was there? He couldn't recall.

[random_xtras]

"Slag... //Hey, Wheeljack, turn Fido loose. Yeah, he's programmed to find me first. Yeah, I made sure. Great. Thanks, buddy.//

[astrotechmech]

Fidget, fidget.

Kia, where are you?

He's completely forgotten about the generator at this point.