ANH 'verse. Hoth. All good things . . .
The tool in his trembling hand nearly drops as he finds himself looking over the same bit of engine over and over again just to forget whether he had mentally checked it off as fine already. Realizing this, he forces himself to stop and intake a deep breath of the base's cold air.
This is all just going too bad, too fast. The only good thing is that they finally found Hot Shot. The young Jedi had been unfortunate enough to cross paths with one of Hoth's natural predators on a patrol. Luckily, despite some severe injuries, Hot Shot was able to fend off the creature long enough to make a clean escape into the wilderness, where rescue crews found him and were able to drag him back in. Now he is finishing off his recovery, so he can be ready when the Imperials finally arrive.
In the meantime, Random and the other astrotechs are preparing the ships for both the expected assault on the base and the base-wide evacuation.
He can't say the wait is not getting to him.
"Sometime after this battle gets underway, either Arcee herself or one of her femme aids will prompt you to come with her," Random informs his shadow/pupil. "After making sure I know, you gotta go with her, all right? I gotta stay until the last few non-combatant shuttles are ready to go to make sure no unexpected problems arise. It'll be really pushing the envelope, and I don't want anything to happen to you."
Truthfully, having Kia go with Arcee, is still risky. Yes, the first transport to meet up with the Imperial blockade overall probably has the highest chance of becoming Imperial fodder, but the chances of the others going that route as well are not that much different. The difference between staying here or going is that for one you're waiting around for the Empire to break through and deactivate you, and the other you're meeting the Imperial fleet head-on and getting blown up. Both lovely options this time of the stellar cycle.
On top of that, Random still hasn't quite forgiven Arcee for sending Kia on that "solo" mission. Granted, Arcee claimed she didn't know at the time, so it was unlikely that she would do something like that again, but Random still didn't like the idea of sending his little femme off with the femme who got them in the whole Tatooine mess. But the options were her, Jetfire, or one of the other mechs/femmes who he saw all the time but didn't quite socialize with. Even if Random had wanted Kia to go with him, Jetfire still had that debt with the Hutt to deal with and would be leaving to deal with that as soon as the all-clear was given, provided his ship got fixed. And since he got back from the uh . . . Imperial Doomsday Weapon, Random found himself clinging more to Kia than actually socializing so he was not comfortable with the thought that Kia would be traveling with mechs whom he had not "approved" to look after her. Where was Sneaker when he needed him? So with Arcee it is. Or at least her official ship. Knowing Arcee, she would probably stay behind for a little bit if trouble arose.
This is all just going too bad, too fast. The only good thing is that they finally found Hot Shot. The young Jedi had been unfortunate enough to cross paths with one of Hoth's natural predators on a patrol. Luckily, despite some severe injuries, Hot Shot was able to fend off the creature long enough to make a clean escape into the wilderness, where rescue crews found him and were able to drag him back in. Now he is finishing off his recovery, so he can be ready when the Imperials finally arrive.
In the meantime, Random and the other astrotechs are preparing the ships for both the expected assault on the base and the base-wide evacuation.
He can't say the wait is not getting to him.
"Sometime after this battle gets underway, either Arcee herself or one of her femme aids will prompt you to come with her," Random informs his shadow/pupil. "After making sure I know, you gotta go with her, all right? I gotta stay until the last few non-combatant shuttles are ready to go to make sure no unexpected problems arise. It'll be really pushing the envelope, and I don't want anything to happen to you."
Truthfully, having Kia go with Arcee, is still risky. Yes, the first transport to meet up with the Imperial blockade overall probably has the highest chance of becoming Imperial fodder, but the chances of the others going that route as well are not that much different. The difference between staying here or going is that for one you're waiting around for the Empire to break through and deactivate you, and the other you're meeting the Imperial fleet head-on and getting blown up. Both lovely options this time of the stellar cycle.
On top of that, Random still hasn't quite forgiven Arcee for sending Kia on that "solo" mission. Granted, Arcee claimed she didn't know at the time, so it was unlikely that she would do something like that again, but Random still didn't like the idea of sending his little femme off with the femme who got them in the whole Tatooine mess. But the options were her, Jetfire, or one of the other mechs/femmes who he saw all the time but didn't quite socialize with. Even if Random had wanted Kia to go with him, Jetfire still had that debt with the Hutt to deal with and would be leaving to deal with that as soon as the all-clear was given, provided his ship got fixed. And since he got back from the uh . . . Imperial Doomsday Weapon, Random found himself clinging more to Kia than actually socializing so he was not comfortable with the thought that Kia would be traveling with mechs whom he had not "approved" to look after her. Where was Sneaker when he needed him? So with Arcee it is. Or at least her official ship. Knowing Arcee, she would probably stay behind for a little bit if trouble arose.