The next base was only about 70kms from their present position, but CG could see from his aft vantage point that Connor was having a hard time keeping her damaged Arwing level. "Hey, Connor," CG said over the headset, "you gonna manage?" Kaveman, hearing him, looked port to see for himself.

"Yeah, CG, I think so," Connor replied, "but it's kinda like flying with an elephant strapped to one side...My arms are killin' me!"

Kaveman came over the channel. "CG, you and Cole go ahead and get to the base... Connor, you follow me."

Cole, Connor and CG all wondered what he was up to, but Kaveman broke away, dipping down sharply, cutting below the clouds. CG moved up to ride shotgun with Cole and Connor, glancing at her.

"You better go, you're gonna lose him." he said. Connor was puzzled, but cut away left, dropping swiftly.

Cole came over CG's commlink.

CG checked his instruments as he replied.

They were getting close to the base now, so CG and Cole dropped down, looking forward to getting a hot meal and some rest.

Connor spotted Kaveman below the clouds.

"You think you can land it on the ground?" Kaveman asked over her headset. Connor pulled level with him.

Kaveman spotted a long clearing, about twice as long as the airbase runways.

"Follow me.." he said.

Kaveman took a long, slow turn, leading Connnor to the ground gradually. Connor gritted her teeth as the Arwing shuddered against the descent, the drag on the remaining wing trying to flip her over.

"You can do it," Kaveman encouraged her. "Just hold it steady..."

He touched down lightly, clearing the makeshift runway swiftly to allow Connor room. She skimmmed and touched, but the Arwing bouncing unexpectedly, and Connor pulled up immediately, gunning it.

Taking off again, she swung around low to make another attempt. This time, she dropped way down, not ten feet off the ground, maintaining till she was able to grab the hardpan, pulling hard on the throttle and cutting the engine.

The wounded Arwing skidded about 150 feet, bouncing madly, before stopping.

Kaveman taxied over to Connor, who had opened her canopy and was now climbing out, dropping to the ground. Kaveman shut down his ship and climbed out, coming over to her.

"Well," Connor said, rubbing her arms and shoulders, "what do we do now?"

Kaveman walked around her ship, assessing the damage. Connor followed him, shaking out her arms, which were now pins and needles.

"You're not thinking of flying this thing into base are you?" she asked him. "It's gonna be near impossible! There's no way you can bring it in smoothly."

Kaveman looked thoughtful, folding his arms across his chest.

"Oh, I don't know.." he said. Connor laughed.

"Ok, hotshot," she goaded him, "go ahead and take it out and land here..."

Kaveman gave her a wry look, then climbed up into the cockpit, strapping himself in as the canopy came down. Connor, still grinning, trotted over to his ship and climbed in, preparing to move it out of the way.

Kaveman fired up the wounded bird and smoothly moved it into position, checking instruments before initiating launch. Connor, off to the side now and still sitting in Kaveman's Arwing, watched intently as he rolled smoothly down the straightaway, accelerating to takeoff velocity and lifting up off the ground.

The ship wobbled slightly but Kaveman compensated delicately and fired burners, shooting off into the sky.

Hmm.... Connor thought. Pretty good... But she was still skeptical that he'd have such an easy time bringing it down.

A couple of minutes later, Kaveman dropped into view and headed for the improvised runway. Connor held her breath, watching as the Arwing bounced and tipped in it's decent, Although... Connor thought, if anyone can bring it in, it'd be him...

Kaveman, inside the one winged craft, was, at the moment, not as optimistic.

"Shit!!" he yelled aloud, this was awful! Dropping swiftly, he had to pull hard to keep the nose up, cutting engines and cruising in, well knowing it was just a tad too fast, but just wanting to get back on the ground in one piece.

As the landing gear touched ground, the Arwing bounced, jumping sideways, and Kaveman locked the wheels in the same direction. The ship spun completely around, nearly going over on its side and flipping, throwing grass and dirt way up into the air as it skidded to an abrupt stop.

Connor jumped out of Kaveman's ship and jogged over to him as he gingerly climbed down, shaking his head, somewhat dizzy from the experience.

"You ok??" she asked, looking at him in some concern. He looked at her, somewhat embarrassed.

"Well," he said, a little nonplussed, "I guess we'd better call in to base and have them send out someone to transport this ship in... There's no way I'm gonna be able to land it on their runway."

Connor grinned, but didn't rib him. She was just glad he hadn't killed himself.

ETA for the cargo ship was going to be one hour, so Kaveman told Connor to take his Arwing and fly to the base.

"No way," she said. "I don't mind waiting. You go ahead." They were sitting on the ground, watching the strange Corneria sun slide downwards past the western mountains, as the sky glowed fiery crimson in the approaching twilight.

Kaveman shook his head. "Forget it." he scolded her, "You think I'm gonna let you just sit out here alone? Too risky..."

She looked at him, intrigued. "You think there are still enemies around here? I thought we cleared 'em out."

Kaveman shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted, "but it's stupid for both of us to be sitting ducks." Connor looked skeptical.

"Besides," Kaveman grinned, "I'm your leader and I'm ORDERING you to go..."

Connor grimaced unhappily.

"I don't wanna..." she started, but Kaveman got to his feet and grabbed her arm, forcing her up and nearly dragging her to the intact Arwing.

"Come on," he said, "get back to base and let CG and Cole know what's going on. I'll be there soon."

Connor sighed, knowing she wasn't going to change his mind, and climbed up into the cockpit, wearily resigned. Kaveman went back to the spot where they had been sitting and plopped down on the ground, stretching out on his back, fingers laced beneath his head, yawning.

Connor gunned the ship and took off, swiftly disappearing from sight as Kaveman lazily watched, then, turned his attention back again to enjoying the sunset...

CG and Cole, having hit the showers and feeling a little less battle weary, were eating in the Mess, watching out the big wall-sized window overlooking the base runways.

"Hey," CG said, stopping Cole in mid-chew. "I think I see Kaveman's Arwing..."

Cole peered intently toward the direction CG had indicated.

"Yeah," he said, puzzled. "but where's the other?" They looked at each other, somewhat apprehensive.

"Let's get down there and find out what's going on..." CG said, getting up and swiftly heading out the doors, Cole following after grabbing two more quick bites of his food, wiping his mouth with his sleeve as he jogged to catch up with CG.

Stepping out of the hangar turbolift, Cole and CG were just in time to meet Kaveman's ship as it taxied in and stopped. The canopy rose and Connor climbed out, dropping down to face the two, answering questions as they all walked back to the turbo lift, while behind them, the Arwing was towed away to be refueled and serviced.

Connor was tired, hungry and sorely tempted by the thought of a hot shower to ease the tension in her neck and shoulders, but getting Kaveman to the base was foremost on her mind. CG and Cole accompanied her to the Base Commander's office to check on whether the cargo craft had been deployed to pick him up.

The Commander, a portly rabbit-like creature, was happy to oblige and contacted the ship's pilot, who was nearly there. Connor paced the room, while Cole and CG stood by, tensely alert.

The pilot contacted them a few minutes later. He had found the damaged Arwing, and blast marks on the ground, still hot, indicating a very recent skirmish. There was no sign of Kaveman...

"DAMN!!!" Connor shouted, alarmed. "Come on, we gotta get out there!!"

The Commander agreed and contacted the hangar crew chief to get three Arwings ready for launch. CG, Cole and Connor hurridly thanked him and ran out the door, sprinting to the turbolift, heading down to the launch bay, quickly, all three not wanting to think of what could have happened to Kaveman...

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