“I can’t speak for Ember, but I think I’m-“ Corran groaned as he adjusted in his chair, “… I’m fine.”
Zad gave Ember a once over, satisfied that the Jedi had simply expended a bit of energy, and nodded slowly at Corran’s attempt to mask his injury. He could understand. Wounds were a nuisance at best, obstacles to slow you down and get in your way, and at worst they were pitfalls that pulled you in and dared you to fight your way out. Whatever had inflicted Corran when that gutkurr had hit him could have been either or, but he hadn’t collapsed just yet, so there was that."I am fine, I just need some time to rest."
The ship, meanwhile, sounded to be in better shape, at least as far as having figured out what the issue was. The gutkurrs had been shot down before they could slice up the paint job or dent the hull, so there was that. Zad had stated a few possibilities for the problem but, in the end, the only way to diagnose a ship was to diagnose a ship, and voilà!—problem solved. We hope. You can never think of everything.“As for the ship, unless something worse happened to it, has been correctly diagnosed. You were mostly right about the ion flux stabilizer. It isn’t operating. When I was adjusting power distribution, though, I realized that it wasn’t working because the power converter connected to it had blown. A simple fix, really. Just… a tad ashamed I didn’t think of it sooner.”
Corran rose and stumbled, and Zad was suddenly no longer leaning against the doorway but stood ready to pace forward while hesitating to. Just then, something shiny amid a jacket and metallic interior of a starship caught the Ranger’s eye, for it was unmistakable that the badge he was looking at was the symbol of a Sector Ranger, before Corran’s tongue all but confirmed it.
“Velt…” He began, in shallow breaths, “Corran Velt is my full name. Sector Ranger.”
No kidding. Zad smiled at the turn of events as Ember stole his attention, moving to assist the other man and reminding them both that Jedi were among the more cryptic characters out there in the galaxy besides Sector Rangers and gutkurrs. A galaxy that saw it fit to bring one Jedi and two Rangers together to kill said gutkurrs. Because why not."I haven't met a Sector Ranger before." Ember said, as she stood up and walked over to Corran. "But then again, not that many people I've run into have met Jedi's before."
Zad blinked his thoughts away at the same moment as thinking about what to say. “Ruzed”, he said, feeling that last name introductions was a good start. “Zad Ruzed. I’ve got more secrets than I have to share but, believe it or not, I’m— Wait, what're you . . . ""What about you? Have any secrets you want to share?"
The Jedi had been doing much more than placing a comforting hand on Corran. The way she moved, concentrated, and stepped away from Corran with a statement that a doctor might make after injecting anesthesia. Only I didn't see any needle. From his angle and the other man's garments, Zad could only guess but he had a pretty a good one."That is about what I can do for now, but it should help with the pain."
“I’ve seen a couple of your kind do some crazy things before,” he spoke to Ember without looking away from Corran’s torso. “But fixing bruises or broken bones is certainly up there beside swinging lightswords.” Finally, he searched for the Jedi’s gaze, wondering if her green eyes would look more like galaxies, and shrugged. “Jedi, I mean. I guess we’re all one of a kind in this crazy universe.”
With that, Zad returned his grin to Corran. “That’s twice you owe her, partner. That ion flux stabilizer came out of her mouth before it came out of mine.”
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