And There Was Another✔️

Chapter 09: The Military Base

"There it is," Seth said. He was down on one knee, blaster pistol out, surveying the area. He thought he'd heard something.

Yex waited behind him.

"Are we clear?" he asked after several seconds.

"Yeah," Seth murmured, "looks that way. Come on. Let's hurry."

They began moving across the open area, around the rusted out tank, and into the military base proper. The pair remained silent as they moved among the rusted-out husks of vehicles and machinery that populated the outdoors area of the base. They slipped in through an opening in the wall and came at last to the hangar bay.

It looked untouched.

"Yes...this vessel looks like it may possibly help us. I must get onboard to assess the damage and corrosive efforts of the passage of time," Yex said, studying the vessel.

They located the service hatch and climbed the ladder, passed through the airlock, and then moved through the ship to the bridge. Yex settled into the pilot's seat with a great ease and as Seth watched him begin to bring the power back online, a cold tremor shot through his gut.

"I just realized...do we have any pilots?" he asked. "I didn't even think to ask that..."

"I can pilot this vessel," Yex replied easily.

Relief flooded through him. "Oh. Good."

"We will be fine on that front, provided this ship actually works. However, before I can run a full and accurate diagnostic on it, I must have a minimum threshold of power. Which, as of right now, I do not have. Would you be so good as to search the area for any kind of power source? I will investigate inside the vessel."

"Yeah, sure, Yex. Just...keep an eye out."

"I will be cautious. Thank you for your assistance."

"You're welcome, Yex."

Seth headed back through the vessel and as he made his way down the ladder, into the deserted hangar bay, he began trying to figure out where might be the best place to check for spare power cells. The most immediate thought was the rooms surrounding the hangar. There should be some kind of repair bay or maintenance area or at least a storage room within spitting distance. Although he'd checked those rooms along the perimeter already and they'd been pretty much cleared out. Which meant he needed a map of the base.

Seth had seen access to a second story control area during his initial search and so he immediately set off in that direction. He felt the burden of pressure weighing down on him, an old cocktail of anger and hatred...largely aimed at himself. Seth knew that he was not particularly bright. He could figure the basic stuff out, and he at least had managed to get some rudimentary knowledge of repairs and simple medical stuff sorted out in his head over the years. He could drive most vehicles. And he at least knew how to fix a blaster.

But that was the extent of his knowledge. After twelve years in the Republic Army, he didn't feel terribly smarter than he had when he'd started out. In his mind, it seemed that everyone got something, some kind of...bonus. A natural talent, maybe. Some people were fast, either mentally or physically. Quick witted or dexterous. Some were just lucky. Some were stunning with numbers. Others were very charismatic or attractive.

Seth felt like he'd never really gotten anything.

He wasn't smart, he wasn't attractive, he certainly wasn't lucky.

So, for as long as he could remember, when he'd really begun to grasp this concept, he'd known that he would have to make up for it. And his time spent in this galaxy had only underlined this fact. So he'd made up for it the only way he knew how: endurance and strength. What he did know how to do he went at furiously. If someone needed a mountain of crates moved, well, he could do that, it was just a matter of time and strength and endurance. And so he'd built up a pretty big physique, and he had a lot of endurance.