Emotion is a weakness.
Master Plo’s old teaching surfaced in his mind.
Positive or negative, feeling always left an opening, a way in.
He slowed his own emotions down and pushed his intent outward, gently.
Calm.
Goodwill.
The dragon’s wary posture eased bit by bit, something shifting behind its eyes as it registered that this two-legged creature in front of it probably wasn’t a threat.
A moment later it edged half its head out from behind the boulder, though its golden eyes stayed locked on the flashlight in Lance’s hand.
Lance caught the look and opened his eyes fully.
He gave the light a small shake, and the dragon’s pupils snapped tight, ears perking, its whole posture reading exactly like a cat that had spotted a treat, minus the meow.
Something amused tugged at his mouth as he tossed the light lightly in one hand, feeding his intent through the Force at the same time.
A trade.
The dragon clearly wrestled with it.
Its expression, oddly human in its indecision, weighed something out for a long moment, tail sweeping back and forth, kicking up little clouds of dust behind it.
The math didn’t favour it, apparently.
Even in its not-particularly-bright head, this trade came out looking like a loss.
It let out a low growl and shook its head.
Refused.
“Huh.” Lance raised an eyebrow, mildly impressed.
“Smarter than I expected.
Actually running the numbers on this.”
Maybe a third of Wrecker’s processing power, give or take.
He glanced back at Hunter.
“Hand over your flashlight.”
Hunter opened his mouth, clearly wanting to object, then thought better of it and passed it over without a word.
Lance shook both lights together, sending the offer back through the Force.
This time the dragon wavered hard, leaping up onto the boulder, pacing across it, tail whipping in obvious internal conflict.
Finally, another low growl, this one different.
Agreement.
Something softened at the corner of Lance’s mouth.
A stray memory surfaced, unbidden, of a cat he’d kept once in another life.
He tossed both lights in a clean arc.
The dragon’s jaws snapped shut around them, catching both in one motion.
The lights sparked and crackled in its grip, small arcs of electricity dancing across its teeth, and a faint green glow rippled through its body from head to tail.
Its eyes shuddered, tail lashing, a low whine rising from its throat.
Then it turned and bolted, vanishing into the fog in seconds.
Watching it go, Lance let out a short laugh.
He’d felt the shift clearly through the Force right up until it disappeared: excitement, satisfaction, and something smug underneath it all.
Not just greedy like a cat, apparently.
A bit of dog in there somewhere too.
“Cat and dog hybrid, maybe,” he muttered, rubbing his chin.
“You were negotiating with it just now?”
He paused.
“And it actually worked.”
Left to his own instincts, he’d have opened fire first, driven the thing off, and grabbed the part by force.
Lance had traded two cheap flashlights for the same result.
“Told you.
No malice in it.”
Avoid the fight when you can find another way through.
Yoda had drilled that into him back when he was still a youngling.
Something occurred to him, and he glanced at Hunter.
“What were you about to say earlier, before you handed it over?”
Hunter brushed dust off the capacitor.
“We’re not exactly stocked up on tactical lights.
Every one we lose is one we don’t get back.”
Lance waved a hand, unbothered.
“We’ll just buy more.”
Hunter blinked.
Why did that line sound so familiar all of a sudden?
Thick fog swirled around them on the walk back, though neither of them ran any real risk of losing the way.
Lance had the Force to guide him, and Hunter’s ability to read electromagnetic signals made him a walking compass in his own right.
A dozen minutes later, they reached the ship without incident.
Made sense, in hindsight, that the crash site had landed them squarely inside the dragon’s own territory.
Aside from it, they hadn’t run into a single other creature the whole trip.
Work lights lit the hull from outside; Echo crouched over an open panel checking circuits.
Tech sat perched on top of the ship, welding torch in hand, sparks flashing bright with every pass.
He spotted them first, calling down.
“Got the capacitor?”
Echo turned at the sound.
Hunter pressed the part straight into Echo’s hands.
“With Lance along, it went easier than expected.
How’s the ship holding up?”
Tech finished his last weld, wiping sweat from his forehead as he looked up.
“Worse than we hoped.
Several key components are fried beyond repair.”
Hunter’s brow tightened.
“Can it still fly?”
Tech dropped down from the roof, landing steady.
“Not without those parts replaced.
I wouldn’t risk it.”
Ordo Moon didn’t have so much as a repair shop, let alone anyone to call for backup, which left one option: get a signal out and hope.
“Comm’s fixed, at least?” Lance asked.
More bad news.
Tech shook his head.
“Core module got fried by lightning.
Total loss.”
Echo pulled the broken capacitor and slotted the spare into place.
“Life support’s back up, at least.”
Right on cue, the interior lights flickered back on, instruments humming back to life across the cabin.
“That’s something,” Lance said, relief creeping into his voice.
“Should keep us out of immediate danger, short term.”
The relief didn’t last.
Tech pushed his glasses up, tone unchanged.
“That’ll hold for about seven rotation days.
Food and water run out well before that, though.”
Nobody had anything to say to that.
That was when Lance’s head turned sharply, gaze cutting into the fog.
Through the Force, he “saw” the dragon again.
A whole stash of freeze dried rations sitting right there wasn’t something it was likely to pass up.
Hunter picked up on something too, voice low.
“It’s back.”
Something clicked behind Tech’s eyes.
He pulled out his datapad and scrolled fast.
“Records say moon dragons like to haul their ‘food’ back to a den.”
“We know that part already, Tech,” Echo said.
“Let me finish.” Tech pushed his glasses back up.
“This species specifically hoards it.
Which means…”
His voice picked up, something eager creeping in.
“Its den might already have the parts we need.”
The whole group turned to look at him at once, then nodded, one after another.
Smart as advertised, this one.
Echo thought it over.
“If that’s the case, we’ll need bait.
Follow it back to find the den.”
Lance waved that off, easy about it.
“No need to make this complicated.
Let it lead us there itself.”
He looked over at Tech and Echo.
“So.
Either of you got more flashlights?”