into the bright blue sky of Jakku—but not efficiently. Shedding tarps as it rose, it spun and careened wildly, nearly crashing back to the ground. Wrestling withthe unfamiliar controls, Rey managed to level off just in time to crashinto and through the town’s entry archway: Niima Outpost’s sole example of architectural pride.
Below, the puffy-faced figure of Unkar Plutt emerged from a collapsed structure to scream at the sky.
“Hey! That’s miiiiine!”
Finding the oddly named craft surprisingly responsive to manual control, an increasingly optimisticRey spun it around and accelerated, blasting away from the port. The pair of TIE fighters that had been shooting up the town immediately gave chase.
Rey headed skyward, relieved to feel the ship’s increasing power as they soared away from the surface. Trying to interpret the weapons systems, Finn yelled to her, hoping either his straining voice or the turret’s audio pickup would permit atleast a modicum of inflight communication.
“Stay low! It’s our only chance! If we go extra-atmospheric, they’ll outmaneuver us and run us down before we can make lightspeed—assuming this thing can still do lightspeed. And put up the shields—if they work!”
“Shield controls are on the other side of the console,” she shot back. “Not so easy without a copilot!”
Below, Finn continued tostruggle with the highly responsive, wildly swinging turret. “Try sitting in
this
thing!”
Realizing it was impossible to reach the necessary instrumentation while seated in full pilot’s position, Rey momentarily let go of the controls. She’d have to do this manually, she knew. Put any ship on autopilot and the vectoring would immediately be sensed by a pursuer, who could then lock on and blowyou out of the sky. In contrast, there was just enough wild wobble in their flight path as she leaned to her right to confuse any electronic predictors. Her stretching, however, caused the ship to cant sharply as she tried to activate the shield instrumentation on the copilot’s side while maintaining some semblance of flight control.
“Beebee-Ate, hold on!”
Her warning came too late forthe droid. Beeping madly, he rolled ceilingward as the ship spun.
Fingers straining, she just managed to reach the shield controlsand flick them to life, in the process having to brush away several clumps of excessively long, rough yellow-brown hairs that had become caught in the console. Relieved, she straightened in the pilot’s seat and resumed full command, stabilizing the vessel.
“I’m going low!” she shouted, mindful of Finn’s advice.
Driving the ship surfaceward, she pulled up at the last possible moment and sent them screaming across the ground, clipping the crests of at least two dunes. Trying to match the maneuver while pursuing at high speed, both TIE fighters shot past, unable to slow in time. They did, however, each manage to get off successive bursts from theirweaponry. Had the vessel’s shields not been up, the twin blasts might well have brought them down. Just like its engines, the stolen vessel’s shields proved unexpectedly robust.
Tougher than it looks
, she thought as she strove to accelerate and dodge. The original owner had plainly had some serious, and probably illegal, modifications made to his vessel that on numerous worlds were worthyof fines and possible imprisonment. She resolved to thank that individual profusely if she ever had the occasion to make that acquaintance. Provided she survived the next hour.
A blast rocked them, and she barely managed to hang on tightly enough to avoid a looming sandstone monolith. Swallowing, she yelled as loud as she could.
“Could use some offense down there, you know? Maybe beforeour body parts are scattered all over the desert? Y’ever gonna fire back? Hold on, Beebee-Ate, hold on!”
Within the cylindrical corridor, the droid was beeping madly as he rolled up the walls, across the ceiling, and everywhere except
Below, the puffy-faced figure of Unkar Plutt emerged from a collapsed structure to scream at the sky.
“Hey! That’s miiiiine!”
Finding the oddly named craft surprisingly responsive to manual control, an increasingly optimisticRey spun it around and accelerated, blasting away from the port. The pair of TIE fighters that had been shooting up the town immediately gave chase.
Rey headed skyward, relieved to feel the ship’s increasing power as they soared away from the surface. Trying to interpret the weapons systems, Finn yelled to her, hoping either his straining voice or the turret’s audio pickup would permit atleast a modicum of inflight communication.
“Stay low! It’s our only chance! If we go extra-atmospheric, they’ll outmaneuver us and run us down before we can make lightspeed—assuming this thing can still do lightspeed. And put up the shields—if they work!”
“Shield controls are on the other side of the console,” she shot back. “Not so easy without a copilot!”
Below, Finn continued tostruggle with the highly responsive, wildly swinging turret. “Try sitting in
this
thing!”
Realizing it was impossible to reach the necessary instrumentation while seated in full pilot’s position, Rey momentarily let go of the controls. She’d have to do this manually, she knew. Put any ship on autopilot and the vectoring would immediately be sensed by a pursuer, who could then lock on and blowyou out of the sky. In contrast, there was just enough wild wobble in their flight path as she leaned to her right to confuse any electronic predictors. Her stretching, however, caused the ship to cant sharply as she tried to activate the shield instrumentation on the copilot’s side while maintaining some semblance of flight control.
“Beebee-Ate, hold on!”
Her warning came too late forthe droid. Beeping madly, he rolled ceilingward as the ship spun.
Fingers straining, she just managed to reach the shield controlsand flick them to life, in the process having to brush away several clumps of excessively long, rough yellow-brown hairs that had become caught in the console. Relieved, she straightened in the pilot’s seat and resumed full command, stabilizing the vessel.
“I’m going low!” she shouted, mindful of Finn’s advice.
Driving the ship surfaceward, she pulled up at the last possible moment and sent them screaming across the ground, clipping the crests of at least two dunes. Trying to match the maneuver while pursuing at high speed, both TIE fighters shot past, unable to slow in time. They did, however, each manage to get off successive bursts from theirweaponry. Had the vessel’s shields not been up, the twin blasts might well have brought them down. Just like its engines, the stolen vessel’s shields proved unexpectedly robust.
Tougher than it looks
, she thought as she strove to accelerate and dodge. The original owner had plainly had some serious, and probably illegal, modifications made to his vessel that on numerous worlds were worthyof fines and possible imprisonment. She resolved to thank that individual profusely if she ever had the occasion to make that acquaintance. Provided she survived the next hour.
A blast rocked them, and she barely managed to hang on tightly enough to avoid a looming sandstone monolith. Swallowing, she yelled as loud as she could.
“Could use some offense down there, you know? Maybe beforeour body parts are scattered all over the desert? Y’ever gonna fire back? Hold on, Beebee-Ate, hold on!”
Within the cylindrical corridor, the droid was beeping madly as he rolled up the walls, across the ceiling, and everywhere except
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