Get out. Now.

[Zeven Ekkel]

It was time to leave. Corellia was not the place for Zeven anymore. He'd thought of leaving for years but it had never panned out. He never felt the urge to leave immediately. "When an opportunity arises, I'll be out of here," he would think to himself. The opportunities never came to him. That morning he realized that it wasn't opportunity that should come to him, he should be going to it.

"Alright, got my backpack ready. Do I need anything else?," he asked aloud to himself, "Just a ride..."

His spontaneity did not fix the fact that he didn't have a ship to get out of the Corellian system and into Coruscant. Considering his lack of credits, hitchhiking became the only solution that came to his head. He got to a spaceport which was busy as usual in Coronet and carefully looked for someone who would catch him a break. Quickly, Zeven approached someone who seemed to be about to leave. He shouted:

"Are you heading toward Coruscant by any chance? I need a ride."

[Ecks]

Ecks looked up slowly, and straightened up to his full height. "I don't take passengers." The big Falleen stared down at the human, imposing in his armor even without the usual complement of weapons decorating his body.

He turned away and gestured at the droids that were removing the fuel umbilical, trying to get them to hurry it up. The bounty hunter turned his head a bit and saw that the human was still there. Must really be desperate to get off planet if he was hanging around.

Ecks grunted, "Coruscant?"

[Zeven Ekkel]

Zeven quickly felt the power of the Falleen's intimidating look. Zeven only wished he could give a look like that. One that could easily scare the daylights out of someone. Instead his skinny body gave people the impression he was weak. That did not let it get him down. He wanted a new beginning, with a new image and more meaning. That's why he wanted out of this system. It had become a dull, boring and routine to him.

Zeven took a deep breath, pushed his chest out, attempting to give a strong appearance which only resulted in an awkward and uncomfortable stance. He was going to persist and try to convince the stranger to take him as a passenger but the Falleen was not paying any attention to him. Before Zeven attempted to convince him, the stranger spoke:

"Coruscant?" That caught his attention.

"Yes, Coruscant. You know, major megalopolis, center of the galaxy, probably the most politically important planet in this galaxy. It's pretty historic," said Zeven, trying to sound humorous by being clever. It was probably not the best approach since the Falleen did not seem like the type to laugh much, except perhaps maybe when he squashed someone's head into the ground with his foot. Of course, Zeven realized this a bit too late. Quickly, he tried to recover:

"Just joking. Of course you know Coruscant," Zeven exclaimed, while laughing nervously, hoping it would not cost him the trip. Or worse, a beating.

"What do you say? I won't be a bother."

[Ecks]

"I don't do free rides," Ecks said, but pointed to the crates of supplies that needed to be loaded and stored in the small cargo area of his ship. There was just enough room to squeeze around the swoop that was carefully stowed and brush by the large cage to get to where the crates were to be stacked against the bulkhead. "You load those in my ship, I'll take you to Coruscant."

It was a long sentence, and Ecks waited to see what this skinny human would say in response.

[Zeven Ekkel]

Zeven looked over at the crates. “Consider it done,” he answered, though judging from the size of the crates, it would be no easy task. He knew that this ride wouldn’t be without a price. Zeven set his backpack on the floor and set his hands on one of the crates, trying to devise a strategy to move the big blocks. Peeking behind the crates was a four-wheel dolly that would significantly help this strength-demanding job.

The first step he had to figure out was how to get the crate on the dolly without breaking his back. The task seemed a lot easier than it looked. Zeven used most of his strength to lift the box and then set it down at the wrong angle which, in turn, caused the dolly to roll away from him. To deal with this problem, he set the dolly against another crate to keep it from rolling away and managed to set the other crate on the dolly. He was already sweating and this was only the first box. Once on the dolly, the incline at the entrance of the ship became the next challenge. Zeven put his entire body into the push and finally managed his way into the ship.

“Where do you want these exactly? The name’s Zeven, by the way,” said Zeven, breathing heavily from the strength training he was getting from the crates.

[Ecks]

"Back," Ecks grunted, pointing a thick finger towards the farthest bulkhead, behind the swoop bike. "Stack them... strap them down." There were thick elasticized cords attached to heavy rings on the walls and floor, put there to hold down the foodstuffs and ammo that the kid would be bringing on board.

"Its a tight fit," he rumbled, watching the human squeeze the crate past the bike and the cage as he headed to the back of the small hold.

[Zeven Ekkel]

Zeven continued to load the crates in one by one in the same manner that he'd brought in the first one. The last one posed a problem because he could not rest the dolly behind a crate. He took a deep breath. Maybe if I use all my strength to lift it as high as I can to put it directly on the dolly... He set his hands firmly on the crate, lifted with all his might and... accidentally kicked the dolly forward. He let go of the crate that created a loud thump. He brought the dolly back and started over. Okay I can do this. He took another deep breath and lifted. Carefully hovering over the dolly, he could not hold it much longer and he let it fall, fortunately, on the dolly. He pushed it up with the last ounce of strength he had. He wiped the sweat on his forehead and nose. In the ship, he made sure the stacks he had made were secure with the elastic cords provided. It had taken Zeven a long time to squeeze through the narrow spaces, bumping a few things by accident. He hoped that the Falleen had not heard or seen anything. He was especially careful that the swoop did not get scratched, either. Zeven went back out to look for the Falleen.

"All right. Everything's in its place. I never caught your name," Zeven told the stranger.

[Ecks]

"Ecks," the bounty hunter supplied, holding out a hand for the human custom of a handshake. Zeven flinched away a bit, and then shook his hand. Ecks eyed him, seeing how spent he was from the work, and then turned away to fasten up the hold. "Razor's Edge is a fast ship, we'll be on Coruscant by tomorrow morning."

He led the way to the proper entrance to the thorn shaped vessel, and added, "It isn't big. There's room in the common area for you to stretch out if you require rest."

In fact, there was just enough room for Ecks to sleep on the floor, and a small human could curl up in the booth where he ate his meals. Voss had slept in his cabin when they had traveled together, leaving him the small common area or the cockpit for him to sleep in. The Falleen didn't intend to give up his cabin this time, however.

He stomped up the ramp into the ship, ducking his head to clear the hatch.

[Zeven Ekkel]

"Great," he answered. His backpack was the only object that remained on the floor. He dashed to grab it and quickly returned to the ship. The ship did not have a lot of space but Zeven knew he was not on a luxury cruise. All that mattered to him was that he got to his destination. As soon as he settled down in the common area, he started to feel the rush again. The rush of jumping into adventure and the fear of immersing himself into the unknown. At the same time, the fact that he was leaving Corellia started to sink in. He almost started to miss it, especially since he did not know when he would return, if ever. He made his way to the cockpit where Ecks started making preparations for take off. He wanted to get a better view.

"Ecks... That's one helluva name," Zeven told Ecks.

[Ecks]

"So's Zeven," the Falleen rumbled. "Sit down and don't touch anything."

He didn't like talking much, but it wasn't anything personal. The only being who'd managed to get any conversation out of him on a regular basis had been Voss, and she was... gone. He never thought he would miss the scrawny human, but here it was. He missed her.

Ecks fired up the repulsors, not waiting for Zeven to sit in the other seat in the cockpit or fasten the restraints, and Razor's Edge rose into the air smoothly. The small craft shot forward, pressing the two into their seats as Ecks didn't intend to stretch this flight out any longer than absolutely necessary.

[Zeven Ekkel]

Before Zeven knew it, the ship was taking off and this caused him to lose balance. Fortunately, he fell and landed right into his seat and immediately strapped himself in for the ride. Once in the air, he looked down at Coronet for the last time, trying to take a photograph with his mind. The ships that flew in and out of Coronet spaceports created a beautiful harmony in the skies as they followed each other in sync in each direction.

Zeven shook his head. There was nothing for him in Corellia; that's why he was leaving. He turned his attention over to Ecks. Zeven didn't actually think he was going to be able to convince the Falleen to get a ride, especially after the quick initial rejection. Maybe Zeven's new sense of self was kicking in. Ecks didn't say much and didn't seem to want to say much. He just switched on dials and turned knobs as they flew up. He looked back outside as the blue skies faded into the deep black space and began to drift off into his own thoughts. The controls gradually lit up for better visibility. The trip had barely started and Zeven was already bored.

"So... do you travel to Corellia regularly or was this a pit stop for you?" Zeven asked curiously even though Ecks didn't seem interested in small talk.

[Ecks]

"Pretty regular," Ecks replied. "Come up the Trade Spine to the Corellian Run, Corellia is a regular pit stop."

He pushed up on a handle, and the stars stretched into lines which were in turn replaced by the swirls of hyperspace. "Don't touch anything." Ecks pushed up and went to the common area to make himself some tea.

[Zeven Ekkel]

That was the second time Ecks had told Zeven not to touch anything. One would think once was enough. Zeven removed his restraints to make himself more comfortable. Not being the most fit individual, he realized that the crates had sucked the energy out of him. Zeven looked at the controls again, hypnotized by their bright alluring colors as they became a blur when he slowly closed his eyes.

The alarm sounded. Zeven woke up. Red lights flashed all around. The ship shook violently. He had only fallen asleep for a few minutes. Ecks had not returned from the common area but had surely become aware of the situation. Immediately, Zeven tried to take a hold of handles trying to stabilize the ship. Here's to not touching anything...

"EEECKS!" He shouted at the top his lungs, "I could really use your help here!"

[Ecks]

His eye popped open, and Ecks pushed himself to his feet, his empty mug sliding off the table and crashing to the deck as the ship yawed frantically to starboard. He'd only closed his eye for a moment... what had that skinny human -

Entering the cockpit Ecks surveyed the situation, sat down, and began turning dials and pushing buttons as starlines receded into pinpoints of far away light in the viewport. "Hyperdrive went out."

He eyed Zeven, who quite helpfully said, "Its not my fault!" while holding onto the edge of the console and being bounced around.

Ecks turned off the power to the hyperdrive as it wasn't doing anything, and brought up the sublights. "Check the navicomp and find out where we dropped out." The Razor's Edge stopped shaking and evened out as the inertial dampners stopped fluctuating. He dialed up the sensors to a full active sweep, checking for any ships or asteroids in the immediate area.

[Zeven Ekkel]

"We're too far from any planets. We'd need the hyperdrive to get to one from here. But seeing as that's our problem, we won't get to one anytime soon. It also looks like all the commotion pushed us off our main route which means we might not see any ships here," said Zeven as he looked at the navicomp.

Trying to find a quick fix to their problem, Zeven continued to read the navcomp. At the pace they were going, it would take days to get to a planet in days. Neither of them were really looking to be stuck in a cramped ship for days. Zeven looked out into space and in the distance saw a small field of rocks. He looked back down at the navcomp to find out what they were. Floating not so far from them were asteroids.

"There's a field of asteroids up ahead not too far from here. We could try landing on one of them to take a look at the problem," suggested Zeven,hesitantly. The idea sounded risky but at that point he felt they didn't have much of a choice.

[Ecks]

"Frell," said Ecks, but didn't elaborate. He pulled on the steering yoke and aimed his ship towards the asteroid field. The odds of surviving a trip into an asteroid grouping were pretty low, but if there was a large enough one near the outer edge of the field...

The Falleen pulled back on the sublights, slowing them as they reached the spinning and twisting rocks, letting the sensors do a full sweep of the nearest sector. Satisfied, he grunted, and then punched up the sublights, rocketing into the field. Razor's Edge twirled into the midst of the asteroids, tiny particles pinging off the shields as he avoided the larger rocks.

"There..." he said, almost to himself, as a large one came into view. He arrowed towards it, angled the ship to be parallel, and then flew in close. Mirroring the craters and cliffs of the huge asteroid, he found a likely looking cave and eased the ship into it.

Razor's Edge settled down with a thump.

[Zeven Ekkel]

“Nice landing,” said Zeven as he looked out into the dark cave whose walls that like crumbling pieces of chocolate. Ecks threw him a helmet, insulated space coveralls and a flashlight.

“You’re in charge of the light.” he told Zeven.

Both stepped out of the ship. Zeven had never fathomed how silent space could be. It was almost eerie. Ecks proceeded to the hyperdrive and opened up the hatch. However, he could not see a thing and turned over to Zeven who had been distracted by the ins and outs of the asteroid.

“Zeven...” said Ecks, impatiently.
“Oh sorry. I just... I’ve never been on an asteroid before,” replied Zeven, quickly shining the bright flashlight on the hyperdrive.

On occasion, the rock would rumble. Zeven didn’t assume it was anything abnormal. He thought maybe it was just the rocks falling due to the instability of the asteroid. He looked over at Ecks as he tried to fix the hyperdrive.

“Have you ever been on an asteroid?” he asked, curiously.

Suddenly the cave shook more violently and Zeven dropped the flashlight. They weren’t completely in the dark since the ships emergency lights were still on. The rumbling seemed to be getting louder as if something was approaching, even Ecks had dropped his tools. Zeven quickly grabbed the flashlight and poined the light toward the source of the rumbling.

SCREEEEEEECH

It was difficult to distinguish what it was because it had camouflaged itself to the walls. But as soon as it moved, its massive form was easy to see. Its pupils widened and shrunk almost immediately as it looked straight into the light. It was a four legged beast, bigger than both of them combined and it did not seem happy to see them.