Now show me how to live

[Coren Starchaser]

Organic ship. That was new, definitely new. Coren wasn’t sure how he felt about the Crosscurrent but she was an excellent addition to his ship list, and an interesting curiosity to explore. One thing the Crosscurrent was good at was it could carry a companion ship, and this ship was typically the Pulsar. The two Sekot ships were a pair, siblings, both in relative age and from the same group of seed-partners. Coren was not quite used to the ship thinking like him. Lexi, his simulated intelligence in the ShortFin and Snapper was clearly synthetic, but the Crosscurrent, she had personality.

She was smart, and she was understanding, and she was brave.

The Ferroans had warned him she might run from danger, but she didn’t. She charged headlong into the fray. He was glad, because she was fast, she was being used as a rescue ship, breaking blockades and running in to drop supplies or pull Alliance members who had been behind enemy lines. He turned to his niece, an unofficial student.

“Have you started working with Pulsar at all?”

[member="Audrey Starchaser"]

 

[Audrey Starchaser]

Audrey frowned at her uncle. "I haven't done much with her other than basic maintenance." She hated to admit it but ever since the Starchasers returned from Zonama Sekot, her poor ship sat docked in its hangar. She made sure that she visited the ship every day, and talked to it, letting it know that she cared about it. Every time she neared the bay, the young Forcer could feel it reaching out to her with longing. Built from an astounding eight seed partners that had lovingly bonded with her, Pulsar clearly wanted to be flown.

"Oh, and I installed the latest version of Miri, too. Now she should be a little bit less...cranky." At least she hoped so.

She was excited to take it out for a spin with her uncle. He had been traipsing around the galaxy with his apprentice lately and she missed him. Besides, ever since she crashed the Tachyon Rising over Xagobah, there was no one else in the Galactic Alliance who was brave enough to get in a cockpit with her.

Well, except for that one GADF soldier who'd lost a bet.

"What are we going to practice today?"

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Right, what was Audrey doing with her time? Sarge keeping her busy? Because that was someone he wanted tainting a Starchaser’s studies. But honestly, Coren had been absent for a while, between his chasing down of the Wrath living within the ranks of the Alliance and the whole fiasco with his student carrying the spawn of the Wrath, the man had a lot on his plate. But it was finally time to get back to flight training with Audrey.

The pair were on their way to perhaps the best place to test the Pulsar, back to Zonama Sekot space. The planet would be able to give them a hand with the ships, and if anything went wrong, it was the best place to go. Croscurrent had actually suggested it… As much as a ship could suggest it. “Is Miri cooperating with the ship?” Clearly they were living vessels, so having another person in it was… tricky.

He lead his niece through the ship, sleek, organic lines in the Crossfire directing them to the hangar. “I figure we’d work on basic flight. You need to get used to Pulsar. Even if you’re making sure you bond with… her?” He looked at her, waiting for confirmation, before carrying on. “She needs to be flown."

[member="Audrey Starchaser"]

 

[Audrey Starchaser]

"Not sure if Miri and Pulsar are BFFs just yet, but..." she gave a half-shouldered shrug. "Pulsar hasn't rejected her yet, so that's a good sign, right?

She followed her Uncle into the ship, running her fingers along the organic-tissue hull. Was this like...feeling up the Crosscurrent? She hoped that she wasn't being accidentally rude.

"I'm bonding with her I think, but I haven't flown her yet." She was afraid, but didn't want to say it. Piloting wasn't like using the Force. It just didn't come naturally to her. And yes, flying a living ship was supposed to be different, but Audrey was kind of a wimp when it came to flying. Give her a lightsaber and she'd be an annoying showoff though.

As they made their way into the cockpit, Audrey hopped excitedly into the pilot's seat, strapping herself in.

"Are you going to let me fly Crosscurrent?" she said, looking at Coren expectantly, her big blue eyes pleading.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He followed close behind his niece as the pair stepped into the Crosscurrent and laughed. “No, I’m assuming that’s a good sign… Well, according to what I know from Crosscurrent. She seems to think that Pulsar will work with you as best as she can, and wants to prove she’s a good ship.” That conversation was really interesting, to talk to a ship about another ship. Was something new and different.

And he knew how Audrey was feeling about ships, but the Sekot vessels were something new and different. Crosscurrent knew she was going to have to watch out for Pulsar and the two vessels were a bit bonded, maybe more than Coren and his ship. He just hoped that Audrey could get over her fear.

“Well, we’re going to take them both to Sekot. Pulsar will meet us, and considering we can carry her, we’ll wait for her to join us before we jump. Do you think you can plot a course?”

That was the real tricky part.

[member="Audrey Starchaser"]

 

[Audrey Starchaser]

The ships talked to each other? That was kind of mind-blowing to Audrey. What else did these sapient ships do? Did one sneeze and give the other one a cold? Could they love? Or hate?

"I'll give it a whirl, Uncle Coren," she said with a brief nod. She was more confident with the organic controls of the living ships. If there was one thing Audrey understood it was feelings. She a big ball of feelings all the time. She ran her hand along the deck of Crosscurrent. If Crosscurrent was bonded with her Uncle, then the ship would accept her as well, right? No, she wouldn't make sweet sweet love to it like Coren did, but she would be gentle and kind with it. It would be more like sweet sweet like.

"Ok girl, you ready?" she asked. After weeks of talking to Pulsar, talking to a ship came natural to her. It raised a few eyebrows in the hangar sometimes, but she was ok with that. Audrey branched out with the Force, trying to connect it to Crosscurrent. She began to envision the course in her mind, visualizing their current location in the stars to...

Wait, where were they going again? Oh right, Zonama Sekot. She hoped that it hadn't moved too far from where it was the last time.

Come on, baby, help me out here.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Ships were interesting, and the ones that were hybrid… cyborgs? Well, those were cool too. Even more so. They were alive, and that sometimes had Coren a bit nervous, but the over under of it was definitely a plus. Crosscurrent could predict him and she was very… maternal, for a ship. When he offered the task to Audrey and she was going to approach it, he grinned. “Good.” He looked her over before taking up attention to one of the diagnostic screens for the ship.

The ship was reaching back to Audrey, tentatively, but welcoming. She knew that Audrey was connected to Pulsar and her primary pilot and that was all Crosscurrent really needed. The vessel was reaching out to Audrey in the Force, lightly, and was welcoming her attentions.

Coren hoped she would.

What he was waiting on was for Audrey to reach out to the Force to help with her piloting, to know how it was going to work really fast and what needed to be done. She was stronger in the Force than anyone in their family, clearly his brother had found someone who was at least partially useful in the Force. It was nice to see.

[member="Audrey Starchaser"]