Chapter 17: Rattatak
Connor had never heard of the planet of Rattatak, but he felt that it seemed familiar for some reason. "The planet has no established government but is instead governed by various warlords. We'll have to be careful not to upset the wrong people", Plo Koon briefed Connor of Rattatak. "When do we leave, master?', Connor asked. "Tomorrow, make sure to pack well", Plo Koon answered. "Yes, master", Connor replied then stood up and bowed to Plo Koon. Connor then left to get ready for their departure.
The next day Connor awoke and made his way to the Coruscant spaceport. Plo Koon was already there, they greeted each other. Connor suddenly realized that he still didn't have an R-2 unit and he would either have to get one or have one loaned to him again. "Master is it alright if I go shopping for an R2 unit?", Connor asked. "We still have some time before the fighters will be ready for takeoff, so go ahead", Plo Koon then gave Connor his account number to use since Connor wouldn't have enough credits to but a droid.
Connor walked up to a store that sold droids. The store owner was a big, fat scaled alien of some sort but Connor didn't realize the exact species. "Hello, I'd like to purchase an R2 unit", Connor said. "Oh yes, we have a fine selection of R2 units that you can select from, give me couple of minutes to bring them out", The shopkeeper exclaimed. A couple of minutes later, there were five droids lined up in front of Connor. Connor looked over each droid. All the R2 units in front of him were fine but none stuck out to him.
Just when Connor was about to select a random droid, the shop suddenly sounded with the sound of metal crashing. "Woooooo", a mechanical voice sounded out and a R2 unit came flying through but was stopped by the shopkeeper. "Stupid droid how were you able to remove another restraining bolt", The shopkeeper yelled as he pulled out another restraining bolt to place on the droid. "Stop", Connor quickly said, "What is this droid, why was he not out with the others?". "Oh, you don't want this one, sir, this one is a troublemaker and he never follows any orders I give him", the shopkeeper explained. Connor looked at the droid, it was a simple R2 unit with a rounded top; it was colored with a metallic blue to serve as its main color and was accented with a chrome color.
Connor knelt down so he was face to face with the droid. "Hi, my name is Connor. What's yours?", Connor said. "Beep Boop", the droid responded but Connor could understand him well. "Well Hello, R2-B4, I am in need of a R-2 unit to help my pilot my ship. Can I count on you?", Connor asked. R2-B4 was silent for a minute. "Booop", R2 then responded. Connor chuckled, "Alright! Sir, I'll take this". "Your funeral", the shopkeeper grumbled but was happy to be rid of the droid, nonetheless. Connor electronically exchanged the credits and left with his new droid.
Connor returned just in time for takeoff. "I see you picked a droid, hello I am Jedi Master Plo Koon", Plo Koon introduced himself to R2-B4. "Beep Boo?", R2-B4 questioned. "You didn't mention you were a jedi to him?", Plo Koon asked confusingly. "We were getting there", Connor sheepishly answered. Plo Koon then finished his conversation with R2-B4 and went to his fighter. "Come on R2", Connor beckoned. R2-B4 was then placed into his slot while Connor entered the cockpit. "Set coordinates for Rattatak, R2", Connor instructed. Once Plo Koon lifted off, Connor did the same. They entered orbit, placed on their hyperspace rings and jumped to Rattatak.
The Jedi Duo left hyperspace just inside Rattatak's orbit. They both detached their hyperspace transport ring and prepared for descent. "Nice and easy, R2", Connor commented. However, something strange occurred; suddenly, the ship started to act haywire. The displays started to get fuzzy and the ship was heading toward the planet all too quickly. Connor looked over to see Plo Koon having the same issues only he was too far away. At this rate, Connor and his master could end up on opposite sides of the planet. Connor tried his best to stabilize his ship, but he felt as though something was pulling him to the planet.
"This is going to be a rough landing R2", Connor exclaimed as he plummeted to the surface. The ship began to heat up causing Connor to sweat considerably. The ground was fast approaching, and Connor had to do something. While relying on the mechanical parts of the ship, Connor also began to use the force to try and stabilize the ship. Connor also cast force slow on the ship to try and minimalize the crash. Suddenly, Connor hit the ground with a thud as his ship slid across the dirt. After the ship had landed, Connor slowly faded into unconsciousness from the event.
Connor suddenly woke up to the sound of the fighter's alarm. Connor opened up the cockpit and jumped out onto the ground. He was currently standing in the middle of a grassy plain; he could even see a few wildlife grazing around. Looking around, Connor saw no civilization. Connor turned to his ship, he had no experience in realizing what was wrong with it, yet. Connor proceeded to spend 1 skill point on [Novice Ship Mechanic]. With this he would at least be able to tell what was needed to fix it.
After the usual flood of information, Connor began to check the ship. Overall, he owed the decent shape of it to his use of the Force and [Intermediate Piloting]. There were a couple of parts that had to be replaced but as a whole it was very salvageable. Connor grabbed R2-B4 from the droid slot, "Stick with me, okay?". "Boop", R2-B4 agreed. Connor's only option now was to walk until he found some sort of civilization. Connor set the security system to his ship to prevent anyone trying to steal it. It was a simple system that sent a mild electric shock to any that tried to touch the ship unless you knew the code to disable it and only Connor knew it. He made sure to have R-2 mark the coordinates of the ship and then they set off. After taking only a few steps though, Connor saw in the distance a couple of vehicles making their way towards him.