Two hours later, in the shipyard of the base.
‘HK-47 was checking and repairing an old smuggling ship. It was Revan’s old ship, the Ebon Hawk.‘
‘I tried to tell this damnable droid that we should take a ship that is not one from legendary jedi fairy tales, but it simply ignored me. It even told me that I should sit down and amuse myself with some child’s games or something like that.’
‘That infuriating bastard…’
‘…I am actually sitting in the navigator's seat on the bridge right now… I assure you it is merely a coincidence.’
‘I was kind of sulking after all those things that happened a few hours ago. In the end, I ended up here since this place was surprisingly comforting and quiet…’
‘Thanks to that, I am fine now.’
‘Looking at this ship, it had a minimalist design, but it had a calming effect on my nerves.’
‘I knew every function of the ship thanks to my new memories.’
‘The controls were familiar. Everything was well preserved and saved, a beautiful old machine, from a time where practicality was the keyword in production. It was a time of war and destruction, with little time for general entertainment and useless styles.’
‘The ships were crude but massive; every part was easily changeable with many types of gear. Everything was compatible with everything. Nowadays, it is quite the opposite; things are complicated to a stupid extent purposefully.’
‘At least, that’s what more recent memories tell me.’
‘I patted the console sentimentally, then my fingers slid over the old worn-out control panel. Removing a few layers of dust in their wake.’
‘It was my ship now, dust and all. Sigh, well, it is probably true. After thousands of years, who would remember this old ship?’
‘I wonder how long will it take for the droid to start it up. I already packed up my stuff; there wasn't much. Some clothes, food... I also refilled the water supply of the ship, packed up some sentimental personal items too.’
‘I do not intend to come back here for a while, and I don’t want to leave anything important behind. I also brought a few electronic devices for information gathering, a handful of different computer spikes and some grenades too, and a one-handed laser gun.’
‘I am not stupid enough to underestimate the usefulness of such a weapon. Since I don’t want people to mistake me with jedi, nor some half-wit sith. Therefore, I can’t always rely on the use of such an iconic weapon as a lightsaber.’
‘It is already cheesy to have a blaster gun on a thirteen-year-old girl. I might have to hide it under a long coat or something.’
‘By the way, these clothes were created for me with a sewing robot. They are flexible enough, for free movement yet durable. They were like traditional jedi robes with a modern design element.’
‘That means it did not stand out in the middle of a crowded street. They are practical and look well too; I liked them, especially the one with flower embroidery on the ends of its sleeves.’
‘Oh, and I also brought enough credit with me to last for a few years. We never used galactic banks to guard our credits; it would be too problematic to explain why some random individual inherited our wealth. Even if we manage to do it once, it was impossible for the sixteenth time... They would suspect something, then start an investigation and we don’t want an investigation. It’s much better this way, for everyone.’
‘The door behind me opened and the infamous droid walked into the control room.’
“(Statement): The Ebon Hawk is ready to launch; most of the needed repairs were solved by changing the weakened or burned-out energy cells. The ship is in good condition. I also changed the main energy core, which lost almost all of its power throughout the millenniums. With the new ship core, it will be faster than ever before.”
“That is fantastic. I can’t wait to see it fly!” — ‘I cheered. Overcome with a sense of excitement. We were ready to head out.’
“(Surprised): I never thought that a small meatbag like you would be able to differentiate a good ship from scrap metal.”
“You know that I have your master’s memories, and fifteen other master’s memories, too. With that much knowledge, it would be almost impossible to not know at least that much…”
‘The droid simply ignored my words and continued its tirade as if I wasn’t even there. The bastard…’
“(Statement, frustrated): Meatbags are such nuisances. Smaller meatbags are even worse; they talk all the time complaining and throwing around statements about supposed facts that lack foundation and proof. My circuits, processors, are overheating when attempting to run simulations to refute their false observations.”
‘So basically, this droid hates children, because they ask too many questions... He is lucky since I am not a real child in that regard. Um, well, not anymore. So I patiently waited for the droid to run one last overall diagnostic scan on the ship’s systems.’
‘When he deemed the ship’s state acceptable enough. We packed in a ton of different interchangeable components, in case something burns out on the way.’
‘Then I finally took my place in the navigator's seat once again. Connected the safety belts over my chest and hips, then waited for the droid to start the engines. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long.’
‘Through our security system I watched as the flamethrowers activated outside of the hangar, melting the few meters thick ice layers that buried the temple, hiding this place from sight.’
‘When the process was done, the door opened at the same time as the life supporting systems began to shut down in the old temple. It was programmed this way to save energy and to make the place invisible for even the most powerful of scanners.’
‘I think it wouldn’t be found even if someone used such a device right on top of it, but I could not be entirely sure of it, since I am not up to date with the current technological standards.’
‘This was why our new goal was the technological and cultural core of the galaxy, Coruscant. We will have to use the Corellian Trade Spine hyperspace lane, then the Corellian Run to reach our goal as fast as possible. It’s good that Hoth is already in the middle of these hyperspace lanes. The planet would be an ideal place for commerce only if its climate wasn’t so harsh.’
“We are currently in the Anoat sector, droid remind me, how much time do we need to reach Coruscant?” — ‘I asked curiously.’
“(Humorous, statement): We have to travel about eight and a half grid, considering that this is the Ebon Hawk, with a specially boosted and currently illegal hyperspace engine, we should be able to reach our goal in less than four days. With the galactic standard hyperspace drive, it would be five days and about twelve hours to reach the core.”
“Did you say, currently illegal?” — ‘That kind of worried me…’
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“(Surprised, cynical): Correction, it was usually illegal, because of the eventual reactor overheating and risk of detonation. I assure you that if you change the case of the reactor core, and the cooling liquid, at least every half a year...”
‘Listening to the droid, a bunch of memories jumped forth in my mind, they were triggered by the ongoing conversation.’
‘I reflexively took over the conversation from the droid, finishing his words cheekily.’
“It is perfectly safe to use. I know HK... The only reason it is illegal is that the idiot slimy huts never even considered reading the potential safety hazards leading to a series of accidents all over the galactic hyper-lanes... The politicians, of course, never listened properly to a lowly engineer telling them the reason for the malfunction, banning the whole technology outright, deeming it too risky. Damned fools!”
“(Emotional, cynical): Masters’ words, spoken with the mouth of a little meatbag. My circuits are overheating.”
‘I crossed my arms over my chest then said poutingly.’
“I have a name, you know?”
‘The droid turned towards me. A few awkward seconds later it stated cryptically.’
“(Observation, re-evaluation, conclusion): Meatbag.”
“I am going to rewire you, you stupid scrap aaaaaAAAHHH!”
‘While I was distracted, the hangar door opened completely, the ship being done with its preparation. The droid decisively pulled a lever.’
‘The afterburner activated and the ship burst out of the hangar, quickly accelerating towards the sky, while I got pressed into the navigator seat feeling the quickly multiplying G-forces weighing on my whole body.’
“I am so going to rewire you if I survive this! DAMN YOU!!!”
“(Satisfied): Hearing the terrified squeaks and futile threats of meatbags always had a cooling effect on my circuits, such pleasure.”
‘Damn, this body... I am starting to get that tunnel vision. Am I going to faint now? Wait, thinking about it, there was no other individual in my memories that become a master of the order this young.’
‘The youngest before me was at least twenty-two years old. Am I some unfortunate pioneer here? Stupid master, how am I supposed to fend for myself as a child? I can’t even drink! They will throw me out of any cantina in case I showed up like this! No one would take me seriously; even this droid makes fun of me constantly! I am doomed!’
‘… Wait… since… since when did I have a desire for alcohol? Is that also… ’
‘Pressed into the back of my seat, I felt dejected. The cruel reality sank to the bottom of my stomach. I was also just about to faint and throw up at the same time from the rapid acceleration.’
“(Observation, statement): We are entering the outer atmosphere.”
‘Following the droid’s statement, the powerful pressure forcing me into the seat quickly began to let up. Allowing my body to finally relax.’
“(Scheming, statement) Entering hyperspace in three, two, one.” — ‘Stated the droid. I was too occupied at the moment with breathing, so I only caught the last part of his sentence.’
“Wait… What, ugh, are we already in space? What did you just say? NO! Don’t you dare to pull that lever!"
The droid pulled the lever without care and the hyper acceleration began once again pressing the sole passenger into her seat.
An elongated scream and half a minute later, a certain young girl ended up jumping out of her seat and running off toward the toilet while covering her mouth with both hands.
Said girl at the time was thinking along the line of: ‘I am gonna grind this jerk to metal dust and spread its ashes over the surface of Mustafar.’
Seemingly, a new vendetta was born that day.
Ten minutes later.
‘After cleaning myself up, I felt humiliated and miserable. On top of that, my head started to hurt again.’
‘I didn’t want to see that cursed droid again, having nothing else to do. I walked back to my chosen room, sat down, and sulked for a while.’
‘Minutes passed until I realized that my childish impulses took over again. So I forced my body to relax. All of those memories I gained finally started to calm down and sort themselves out. I knew that it inadvertently caused most of my current emotional turmoil. After all, I wasn’t this emotional and spontaneous usually.’
‘There were simply too many things going on, too many changes both inside and outside. It was impossible to keep up with them. As if someone swept my legs from under my body only to realize that I didn’t hit the ground which I was standing on, but instead fell into water.’
‘The memories were constantly fluctuating in my mind, over a whole day now; the worst was in the temple. If I looked at almost any item, hundreds of memories appeared before my eyes. In the Ebon Hawk, those appearing memories were more specific. They were Revan’s memories and not sixteen different being’s memories. It was bearable here.’
“At this rate, a few more days and the memories will settle down enough, and I will be able to control them through my will. I can’t separate them from my personality completely, but I will be able to make them more dormant.”
“It would be dangerous to see randomly appearing memories in crucial moments after all. Like in the middle of a lightsaber fight or a large-scale battle... Hell, even in the middle of a normal conversation, to blank out randomly, that would be awkward!”
‘I guess I am going to sleep now to hasten the process. Then I will laze around the ship, for the rest of the trip, do some light training too... yawn... good night...’
A few days later, after exiting hyperspace, in the middle of a space traffic station on the atmospheric border of Coruscant.
“So HK, what will we do, on Coruscant exactly? I mean, I know that we are supposed to check on the current technological state of the galaxy, but how will we do that?”
“(Lecturing, statement): Little meatbag should think before activating its communicator device. My databank states that the now ruling government is a democratic galactic republic. That means any citizens can freely enter the intergalactic general archives, located on Coruscant.”
“That’s pretty neat, but can children enter too?”
“(Statement, order): Yes, I will be your guardian in this endeavor as an educator protocol droid. I expect your full attention and respect while I update my database.”
‘Yeah sure… you better not think that I forgot about your little prank a few days back bastard… The most you can expect from me is a swift decapitation. Just wait… I will catch you the next time you go to your charging station… I almost got you yesterday… it was a pity I fell asleep… again…’
“Why don’t you just download the entire database? Since we are already going there…”
“(Statement, disappointment): Impossible, even my superiorly designed memory bank can’t handle that much data. I will only update a few critical sections, then we will leave.”
“Oh, what a pity… It turns out that you are not so superior after all…”
“(Deductive statement) My database concludes based on a ten-year-old galaxy wide statistical analysis of different types of droids: you are wrong.”
“…Sigh… whatever…”
In the space traffic, control station, a few kilometers away.
“Sir we found a suspicious ship!”
“Suspicious? Why, what did it do?”
“Nothing sir, the ship is waiting in line orderly, although there is a warrant of caption on this type of ship all over the galaxy from the Jedi Order.”
“From the Jedi Order, is it stolen or what?”
“No sir, the warrant is very old, about five hundred years old, to be more concrete.”
“What the hell! What sort of warrant is that?”
“It says that this ship is a rare type of dynamic-class freighter, and only a handful were ever created under the time of the Mandalorian Wars. It was the exact type of ship which Revan the betrayer used. It has enormous historical value. The Jedi Temple wishes to buy one. As a relic of war, the price is negotiable with the current owner.”
“I see… never seen a warrant for buying a ship before… Those jedi seem to do whatever they want these days. By the way, what is the name of this ship?”
“I will scan it, sir, just a second. Here...” — The man turned silent looking at the screen with a complicated expression.
“Is there any problem?”
The man shook his head, but his confused expression was still present.
“No, sir… It’s just the name… It’s called Ebon Hawk…”
“Isn’t that the same as the…?”
“Yes… some history enthusiast most likely... but the date of assembly is strange, over four thousand years ago... Originally certificated, under the Old Republic, could it be?”
“Soldier, are you trying to tell me that it’s an original one and not just a copy of the ship design? That would mean that the ship survived just over four thousand years and it still works. That’s ridiculous.”
“It’s what the scanner states, sir. What are your orders?”
The man silently looked out of the window, trying to pick out the ship from hundreds of different ships waiting to be allowed into atmospheric levels. Eventually, he stopped searching for the freighter and said to the man sitting at the console.
“Hold up the ship for a while; I will call the temple directly. They will have to pay us a little extra for catching such a rare fish. If this transaction proves successful, think of it as an unexpected bonus, which literally appears every five hundred years. We can’t let it slip through our fingers.”
The younger man’s eyes glinted with cunning understanding. — “I will make sure they reach the temple safe and sound.”
The captain patted his subordinate’s shoulder.
“As always, you are quick on the uptake, my boy. You will go far with that mindset.”