Nothing ? Tech

19.Junk Me'suuum (Junk Planet)

    Hunter looked at him with pity. "If Rex is sure, we should trust him." He nodded, which led Wrecker to fall into silence.

    Malaina went back into the cockpit, sitting across from Tech to watch him do the final touches on the scanner.

She thought back to the moment they shared on Ord Mantell, the few moments that felt like they were the only two people in the galaxy. There were so many things she wanted to do at that time, but had no clue how to initiate them.

Malaina had never felt like that for anyone before, and she was beginning to realize what it was, what she was wanting.

    She wanted Tech. More than a teammate or a friend. Malaina wanted to be with him, explore this new emotional aspect with him.

But how does she do that?

–

    "What is this place?" Omega asked, stepping between Echo and Tech's seats to look out at the junkyard planet they had just arrived on.

    "A starship graveyard." Hunter replied, resting a hand on the back of Echo's seat. Malaina's eyes scanned across the mountainous piles of depressing industrial space junk, not looking forward to spending the next few hours in the presence of Rex.

    She knew they would end up talking at some point, there was a part of her that itches deep inside to hear his perspective of her prior to Arkanis.

But Malaina knew she was bound for more of those painful memory recollections.

    Hunter nudged her briefly. "What's got you so far up in your head?" He asked, knowing their conversation would be tuned out due to Tech's ramblings about the inhibitor chip scanner.

    Malaina blinked, letting out a sigh while her shoulders deflated. "My Master from when I was a Jedi, he became an Inquisitor too." Those words were heavy on her heart, confusing and scary.

    Hunter's eyebrow raised and he stepped a little closer to her. "Which one is he?"

    "Sixth Brother."

    "The one that had you rattled on Kamino?" He remembers watching her shaky hands operate as she explained that Sixth Brother would be replacing her, and that he wasn't as pleasant as she was.

    Malaina nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. Her fingers pinched at the skin under her sleeve, trying to ground herself before they landed. "Yeah, him." She confirmed, sucking in a breath. "Sucks to be me, right?" Malaina laughed uncomfortably.

    She saw pity in Hunter's eyes, and she was about to tell him off for it, but Echo's voice pulled them away from their conversation.

    "I'm picking up Rex's beacon." And within a minute they were landing in a crevice between the common level of junk that covered the planet's surface.

    The Captain was standing there waiting for them, the brown cloak he wore now gone. He was left in his white and blue armor, the left shoulder decorated with the familiar blue pauldron Malaina had seen in one of her memories.

    "Right on time." Rex greets, shaking hands with Hunter.

    Tech stopped right next to Malaina, his mere presence almost enough to make her cheeks warm up.

    She really was just bound to suffer today, wasn't she?

    "How's a junk planet gonna help us?" Wrecker asked, in a lower mood than normal. He was reasonably agitated and nervous.

    "Jedi cruiser's medical facility, right? Good luck finding one sterile enough to perform brain surgery." Malaina muttered. The operation was risky enough as is, and they were about to cut into four brains on a garbage planet surrounded by rats, rust, dirt, and Force knows what else.