L knew he should be emulating annoyance at his current situation. His hyperdrive had finally went offline after months of neglect, or rather a lack of parts for it due to both monetary issues, and most traders didn't have parts for such an outdated ship. Now, the Starwhisper was chugging along at sub light speeds, which will take several years to get to the nearest trading post. It wasn't a big deal for L, as he didn't need rations or water, and could even spend alot of the time in suspended mode, but it meant lost money on other parts that would wear down, not to mention fuel...<br/><br/>L sat erect in the pilot's seat, his faceplate void of any expression. While continually monitoring the ship's systems, he was scanning space for any other ships that happen to be in the area. The scanners were glitching too, something else he needed to fix.<br/><br/>He suddenly saw a contact on the sensors, which then quickly vanished again. A swift rap on the console with his fist made the screen flicker and the blip appeared again. He stared at it for a moment then adjusted the ship's course to intercept.<br/><br/>It took several hours to come within communications range. Further scan's indicated that it was a Republic ship, stationary at the moment but quite large and current, compared to his 'antique', as some mechanics called it.<br/><br/>"Republic vessel, This is the Starwhisper. Please respond." L hailed in his robotic, monotonic voice. A moment later, a blond woman's face appeared on his screen, flickering because of the crappy signal his aging transmitter was able to get.<br/><br/>"Starwhisper this is The Pacifier. Please identify yourself." she said.<br/><br/>"I am L-337. Captain of The Starwhisper. I am in need of repairs and parts. May I ask for your assistance?" he asked. He skillfully kept his utter annoyance from transferring to his voice synthesizer and stood straight as the woman raised an eyebrow.<br/><br/>"Captain? A droid?" she asked, "How many crew members on board?"<br/><br/>"Just me." he said. The woman glanced off screen and nodded.<br/><br/>"You are approved for docking at bay three." she said, "Please give your list of required parts to the crewman that meets you at your ramp. Do not attempt to leave your vessel without an escort." she said.<br/><br/>"Roger, Roger." he said, unable to amuse himself by using an old battle droid response from long ago, "May I ask your designation?" The woman seemed taken aback for a moment, then she lowered her face to the mic.<br/><br/>"Um, it's Cadet Rose Solo." she said. She knew it was against procedure, but this was also the first time docking requesters also asked for her name.<br/><br/>L expertly guided his bulky ship into the docking bay and touched down gently. Grabbing a data pad he pulled a cable from his wrist, connected it to the pad and downloaded his shopping list, and retracted it as he walked to the boarding ramp, then pulled on a heavy cloak that hung on the bulkhead. Pulling the hood over his head, the ramp slowly lowered and he casually walked down, an antigrav cart behind him lifted and was remotely piloted down the ramp behind him.<br/><br/>Outside, a guard was standing at the base of the ramp, a pistol on his hip and a rifle slung over his shoulder. He looked extremely inconvenienced, which made L kind of happy because to annoy the Fleshling further would amuse him to no end.<br/><br/>"Greetings, Human. Thank you for your hospitality." he said flatly, "May I ask if you have these parts I require?" He handed the list of parts to the officer, after adding one last item to the end. It took him a while to read down through the list, and L saw the moment his eyes landed on the last entry, which he stared at for quite some time.<br/><br/>"My report says you are alone on this ship?" he finally asked.<br/><br/>"Yes, sir."<br/><br/>"Who is your owner?"<br/><br/>"I am no one's property." L said, "I am of independant status." He watched as the Officer's face turned red slightly.<br/><br/>"We can supply you with all but the last of these items." he said handing the pad back to him, "Follow me."<br/><br/>"Why not the last?" L asked as he kept pace with the crewmember.<br/><br/>"Why would a battle droid want a<a class="postlink" href="http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Betsi">Whiphid prostitute</a>!?!" he asked, rather loudly actually. He attracted the attention of a few other crewmembers near the door to the hallway. L didn't miss a beat in his response.<br/><br/>"I find them good conversationalists." he said, "So does this mean you have them and do not want to give them up? Are they highly sought after by the males on this ship?" L was enjoying the color the Officer's face was now turning. People around him were laughing now and he simply grunted and turned on his heel. L comically shrugged as if he didn't understand then followed him. He knew this human didn't like him now, but it was for the best. He didn't make friends anyway.<br/><br/>"Everything's in here." he spat, slapping the wall after a short time walking. A door opened and L peered inside, noting the large storage room, stacked with boxes and crates. He turned to nod at the human as his antigrav cart floated inside.<br/><br/>"Thank you sir. I will offer this many credits for all the items on the list." he said, holding up his pad. The man looked it over, nodding as he turned around to stand outside.<br/><br/>"Fine, just be quick about it." he said. The door closed leaving L alone in the storage room.<br/><br/>"Well that was fun." he chuckled, then set to work.<br/><br/>-----------------------------------<br/><br/>An hour after the Starwhisper had boarded, Rose had finished her shift and headed down to the storage room to meet her friend. She was humming an old tune to herself as she turned the corner, she stopped when she saw a Security officer standing beside the door.<br/><br/>"Sir, what are you guarding today, may I ask?" she asked, smiling slightly seductively, yet only meaning for it to come off as friendly, "Is Kit being bad?"<br/><br/>"Kit?" he asked, "Is your friend in there too? I'm escorting the pilot of that freighter to get his parts."<br/><br/>"Ah, excuse me." she said, opening the door. She stepped inside and started laughing as soon as she saw the scene. The Officer followed her and his face lit up, the Droid was getting a little payback for his rude joke earlier. Rose watched as the Battle droid casually walked around the storage room, gathering parts and packing them in crates on his antigrav cart, all the while her Ewok friend was clung to it's back making jubilant sounds as if riding a beast. Whenever the droid would stop, Kit brought his fist down on the droid's head with a clunk. The amusing part of the whole thing was the Battle Droid was acting as if it didn't even notice the furr ball attached to it's back.<br/><br/>"Kit! Down!" Rose snapped, trying to become serious, "Jad!"<br/><br/>"Elka jeerota!" he happily announced. Rose laughed again as the translator on her arm displayed what he said.<br/><br/>"I'm sorry, um, sir. He likes you." she said. L stopped for a moment to turn to her.<br/><br/>"I see. So I assume this belongs to you?" he asked, "Can I bother you to remove it?"<br/><br/>"Sorry." She said, approaching. Again she snapped her finger to the floor, "Kit'an! Choo doo! Jad!"<br/><br/>"Aww." he moaned, then released the droid's cloak, sliding to the floor. He lumbered over to Rose, twiddling his thumbs and looking to the floor, "Meechu....ah....s-sowwy."<br/><br/>"You better be sorry. It was rude to do that to a guest!" she said, then turned to L, "I do apologize for that. There's a scrap pile in the back that he's taken an interest in these past few days. He's always in here and I suppose he thought you were some, um, new equipment."<br/><br/>"Honest mistake." L said, turning away and continuing his work. Kit kept peering around Rose's legs to stare at the Droid as he worked. The Security officer returned to the hall way chuckling to himself.<br/><br/>"So do you need a hand with anything, L-337?" she asked. L stopped, he quickly processed the woman's voice against his memory banks.<br/><br/>"Rose Solo." he said, "No, I believe I am capable of gathering my own parts. Would your captain mind if I remained in the docking bay as I made some crucial repairs?"<br/><br/>"You are cleared for the whole day to remain in the bay if you wish." she said, "If you need anything else please ask the Officer outside, alright?" smiling, she grabbed Kit's hand and dragged him outside, the whole while, the Ewok was waving at the Droid.<br/><br/>"Oi! Yeha!" he said. As Rose's vision crossed the threshold of the door, she caught a glimpse of the Droid as it's leg plate opened and he pulled out a small cyndrilical object to replace a part on it. Continuing on, she headed towards the mess hall, trying to put her finger on it. She saw something like that before. She stopped dead in her tracks when she finally remembered. It was a light saber.<br/><br/>Excitement rushed through her as she thought about the only other cadet who was interested in such things. Kaden spent many hours in the archives reading about the Jedi's of old and their weapon of choice. Why would a battle droid have one? Droids can't be Jedi, right? He had questions and no time to find the answers unless she acted now. She rushed to the nearest terminal and jabbed at it,<br/><br/>"Computer, find Kaden Malcore." she said. The terminal displayed a map of the deck he was on, and she grabbed Kit's hand to rush to Dyhran's quarters, hoping to catch Kaden and ask about it before the Droid left the ship. Her Ewok friend behind her cried out at her enthusiasim.<br/><br/>"Ee chee wa maa!!!!" he cried.