6 Chapter

"White boned, dirt-digging, weak beaked..."

I'm swearing softly in Creol as I try to reach into the maintenance hatch of the cruiser. My goal is to perform an emergency repair of the main power relay to the helm controls before we re-enter the atmosphere and crash.

The simulation is that we hit a piece of space debris, that actually pierced the shields and took out both primary and secondary helm power relays and we had 20 minutes until we hit the atmosphere.

That's all the information I was given.

So now I'm muttering to myself in Creol as I try to replace the damn thing...knowing what to do isn't the hard part. I swooped past the theoretical section in a month, as it turns out lots of things about space travel is pretty universal no matter what your technological base is.

Turned out though that the Republic instructors don't go halfway when it comes to teaching people to fly. Even less when I actually went for heavy freighter qualification; anything smaller, and the modified living quarters would cut too much into the cargo space.

I grunt slightly and press tighter to the deck as I finally manage to press the damn thing in place, before taking the spanner and tightening the bolts.

My own personal pain in the tail is standing to the side, leaning against the bulkhead with a timer in his hand, as I quickly get back to the controls to stabilize the orbit with almost four minutes to spare.

The ship doesn't have a proper control pillar, but after ripping the seats out I can at least reach all the control.

Kelron nods slowly and stops the clock. "16 minutes. More than I would like, but I guess I have to take your size into account" before he moves over to the instructor seat at the back of the cockpit.

I give him a slightly curious look as he turns off the simulation mode, and brings up the actual sensor readings. He runs a check on the power coupling I replaced. "I think you are ready for some basic orbital maneuvers."

I blink and ruffle my feathers happily as the engines start to hum, and he contacts Coruscant control before he continues. "Copilot, we are clear to take off at heading 090. 001. 310. Launch window in 4 minutes."

Nodding, I enter the information into the computer, causing a countdown to come up as well as the HUD to show us the needed flight path.

This is something they never really showed in the movies. You just don't fly around on a feeling, on a world like Coruscant. You might get away with it in a place like Tatooine, but here? They would take your license and you would get so many fines you wouldn't be able to fit them in the cargo hold.

I keep my hands off the controls, as my teacher takes off with barely a shiver of the ship. As the landing gear folds in, he slowly slides the craft out of the hangar before following the course when the timer ticks down to zero.

It doesn't take long, only twenty minutes to orbit, even following Coruscant speed limits. As we reach stable orbit he gives me a nod. "You have the controls now. Contact Coruscant control and get us an escape trajectory for hyperspace, towards...say...Nal Hutta."

I nod and start entering information into the computer to calculate the course needed, before getting Coruscant orbital on the comms. "Coruscant control, this is Training Flight 436173. Requesting permission to break orbit, at course...302. 132. 271. for hyperspace towards Nal Hutta." The answer comes a few moments later and it's clearly a droid speaking

"Training Flight 436173, this is Coruscant Control. You are clear to break orbit on course 302. 132. 271 for Nal Hutta in 512 seconds."

I enter the timer into the computer. "Coruscant Control, this is training Flight 436173. Thanks, and confirmed. Transferring to hyper injection point in...500 seconds. Training flight out", before glancing back at my teacher.

He nods, pleased. "You have the controls."

I take the ship out to the gravity threshold for hyperspace, before he nods to me again. "Very good. Now reverse course, as if we just arrived from hyperspace, and get us back into a stable parking orbit."

The maneuver takes me another hour, as well as more communication with Coruscant Control before we are finally back into orbit.

Kelron nods. "Very good. I have the controls" before he takes over to bring us back down to land again, at the hangar at the temple.

As the engines power down he hmms. "Very well done. A few more months, and you might be ready for your license."

I nod. "I do my best to learn fast, teacher. The Jedi have done much for me...I do not wish to take advantage of their kindness longer than I have to."

He leans back in his seat before nodding. "I can understand that. Still, it might be difficult for you to get a job as a pilot, considering your different body size."

I slowly nod. "I understand. I...have been thinking of that as well. But there is nothing else I can do. I need the stars."

"You could buy your own ship", he comments, frowning. I snort in response.

"With what? I have no credits. What bank would give me a loan of that magnitude?" and he smiles.

"You wouldn't be the first freight captain the Jedi give a loan to, in return for the ability to call on your ship for transport if needed."

I tilt my head to the side in thought. "...Maybe. But they have already given me so much..."

And again he smiles. "They are the Jedi" as if it explains it all.

And I guess it kind of does.