| abstract
| - Wampa Lounge -- The Angry Rancor The nexus and reception center of this luxurious ship is an open-space extravaganza, replete with plush seating and decor of impeccable taste and decadence. The lounge is large, a vault, and boasts a segmented glass ceiling that allows passengers to view the starscape while in transit. The ribs of the structure are articulated in pleasing curves with pewter moldings of creatures from all over the galaxy, like gargoyles at stress points. The stained oak-paneled walls harbor display cases for animals of various sizes and environments, each cage fitted with an informational plaque next to it. Tables are situated throughout the room and draped in red velvet tablecloths, many being dangerously close to the cages housing the exotic animals. A bar rests at the end of the vault, offering a variety of drinks, and gold droids move about frequently to refill the stray glass or empty plate. In one corner, tucked away behind lush foliage is a huge mahogany-paneled hot tub and sauna. All in all, an amazing space with amazing views and the ultimate in space faring comfort and enjoyment. ___________________________________________________________________________ There are many strange things in the galaxy, of varying oddness. On a planet in the Qualth system, there is a lizard creature that breeds by having the female rip the head of the male off. In a remote sector of space near Priajus III, a 'space whale' is known to follow unwary ships through the system at sublight speeds until it is fed a sufficient amount of waist. One can list many odd occurances throughout the galaxy, and at this moment, high on that list would be Simon Sezirok, working with a set of electrician's tools. With one leg straddling over the back of a large Nek battledog, Simon is applying all his attention to the head apparatus as he probes with a tool in his hand like a man poking a snake with a stick. His eyebrows are drawn into a tight V with concentration. His concentration is such that he doesn't seem to notice any of the guests aboard the _Angry Rancor_, or the odd looks that they give him. Mira comes wandering into the Wampa Lounge, babbling something to about cubes and how useless they were. Conveniently enough, she carries a small cube with her and tosses it up and down as she walks through the lounge. It wasn't a very fun object that Markus had left her. It didn't bounce. It didn't roll. And if she caught it wrong after throwing it, the corners would jab her hands. As far as gifts went, this one fell far short. But she wanted to show it off anyway. A present was a present, after all. She approaches several passengers of the ship, holding up the cube and saying "Look! Oooh! Pretty!" Most of these attempts at being social resulted in a shocked look from the person she had chosen to share with, followed by them finding a sudden reason to need to leave. This state of affairs was quite vexing to Mira, as she could not properly show off her black cube. But then she spots Simon, doing something to one of those Neks. She had learned that if she managed to steer clear of them that they tended to leave her alone, especially if she had no food in her pockets. So she slowly begins to walk towards Simon, singing a little ditty to herself, the only words of which were "Simon Simon Simon". The volume of her song varies between a near whisper and something just loud enough to make those she passed turn to look strangely at her. But eventually she arrives close to Simon. He would appreciate her cube. "Look, oooh, pretty!" she exclaims, holding the black box out to him. Anyone who might know anything about communications might recognize the object as a holocube. But nope, not to Mira. Whatever it was Simon was thinking about, it had little to do with Markus, Mira, holo-cubes, or the lack of the _White Ghost_ in the _Angry Rancor_'s main hangar. He was trying to free this creature of nature from the confines of technological slavery, and was pointedly trying to keep his mind focused on what he was doing, since he had absolutely no idea what that precisely was. A panel was open on the Nek's head apparatus, and a device that was much like a cross between a scalpel and a screwdriver was held oddly in his right hand. He was certain that cutting one of those wires would free the animal, and was just reaching forward when Mira's voice penetrated his consciousness. Simon turns with a start, and manages to say, "Mira! Wha-" He's cut off as the tool in his hand slices a wire, and all hell breaks loose. Before Simon knows what has happened, the docile Nek goes wild. It's neck turns sharply and a powerful jaw clamps down the last two fingers of Simon's right hand while at the same time it bucks like bull. With eyes widening, Simon is thrown from the animals back like a rag doll, and a scream is ripped from his lips as he is separated from the two fingers caught in the animal's mouth. Rolling on his back, his tucks into a ball, cradling his wounded hand as the animal begins to move to maul him. Everything was so happy and peaceful before Simon went and cut that wire. Mira's happy "Simon Simon Tra la la" song quickly degenerates into an "AGH! AGH SIMON AGH!" kind of panicky mess. Any semblance of tune or melody was thrown right out the porthole. Her first instinct is to run away from the snarling Nek, which is just what she does. Never would one call Mira one to not listen to her instincts. They had served her well thus far. The girl runs around panicking and trying to secure help for her friend by tugging on the dresses and sleeves of the people in the lounge and screaming and pointing insanely. Those who did actually take the time to follow her pointing fingers usually stopped dead and started. Others ran for their rooms. Still others ran for security. But no one did anything to help Simon. Finally, with the Nek advancing on Simon and Mira having used up all the resources she knew how to tap, she takes the cube and chucks it at the Nek with amazing, incredibly lucky accuracy. It bops the large battle dog square on the head, leaving him rather confused and stunned. The cube, bouncing to the floor, manages to turn itself on and amidst the panic erupting in the Wampa Lounge, a very calm image of Markus appears, telling Mira that he had gone to Caspar and not to worry. The message continues to repeat over and over again, waiting patiently for someone to turn it off. "Aaaaaiiiiiiiiggh!" is the extent of Simon's vocabulary as he bleeds and rolls away from the snarling Nek. He makes full use of this newly abridged vocabulary, varying the tone in pitch occasionally and stopping only long enough to draw in a ragged breath from time to time. Caught so completely off guard, feeling a pain like he'd never felt before, Simon probably would have been killed by the cybernetically enhanced dog if it weren't for Mira's intervention. As the dog gives pause in its pursuit, Simon gathers enough of his senses to focus on the True Source, drawing upon it like a man clinging to a life line. He applies the Force towards controlling the pain first, numbing the searing flame of pain in his right hand to a dull throbbing. Rolling to his feet, Simon crouches and flings his wounded hand toward the dog as if pointing at it accusingly. At first, all the gesture seems to create is a red streak on the floor as he mindlessly flicks blood in a line away from him. Then, slowly, the canine begins to rise from the floor. Angered and bleeding, Simon holds the Nek a few inches off the floor as he yells, "Mira! Are you unhurt?" Mira stands, staring dumbstruck at the cube which now seemed to be doing something most interesting indeed. It was Markus! How fun! A message _and_ a cube. That was a pretty good present after all. "Yeah, I'm fine," she replies, slowly tearing her eyes away from the cube to check on how Simon was doing. "Are you okay?" she asks, following the trail of blood on the floor to the Nek hovering just above the ground. That was new. She stares. That was even more interesting than the cube with Markus in it. "Ha ha ha ha!" she says, breaking into laughter as she sees the dog flailing his legs in the air. Har har. Served the pesky dog right. That 'pesky dog' was going to be a problem if it were let loose. Barking its rage and dripping pinkened saliva from the sides of its mouth... pinkened from Simon's blood... it looked nothing like the peaceful creature Simon had first approached in his noble pursuit. It looked like a demon, full of endless hate and fury. Simon spares the hand he has pointed toward the canine a glance, and some of the Nek's hate and fury is mirrored in Simon's eyes. Clenching his jaw tightly, Simon's left hand flashes to his belt to grasp the shaft of his lightstaff. He starts to unhook it, then stops as he realizes what he's doing. This was not what he'd intended for the creature, and this was not his animal to destroy. Turning his right hand in the air, Simon changes his hold on the creature. The dog's hind legs reach the floor and begin to claw for footing. They quickly slow, and a high pitched whine leaves the canine's throat. It shudders, then slumps in Simon's invisible grasp. As Simon let's the now unconscious creature slowly to the floor, he turns his eyes toward the visage of Markus. "What is this?" he asks, his voice hushed. Hesitantly, he takes a few steps toward the hologram, once more cradling his damaged hand beneath his left armpit. He says in a voice sounding doubtful, "He has... joined the True Source?" Mira's laughter becomes a bit more subdued as the Nek's noises change from angry and mean to highly distressed until it fades completely and the amused smile is replaced by a rather concerned quirk of the corner of her mouth. Cautiously, she takes a few steps towards the Nek lying still on the ground, bending down to actually give the creature a timid pat on the side before scampering over to the holocube. She had seen them before, but never really fully understood how they worked. Picking up the cube, the image deactivates, and the cube once again becomes lifeless. Narrowing her eyes, Mira brings the cube in close to her face, carefully examining it for any hint of how Markus had gotten inside of it so neatly. "I don't think so," she finally replies to Simon's question. I think we should go to Caspar though. Isn't that what it said? Caspar? I was there once. That's where I met him. I was his tour guide." Not a very good tour guide, but tour guide nevertheless. Go to Caspar. Leave the _Angry Rancor_. Numbly, these thoughts drift through Simon's frayed mind as he turns a thoughtful gaze from the cube in Mira's hand to the sleeping battle dog. The True Source only knew how long the Nek would remain unconscious. Should it be left like that when it awoke... Simon shakes himself as once more he begins to reach for the weapon at his side. The urge to take the creature's life was becoming stronger, and he knew that it wasn't right. It wasn't his right. Go to Caspar. Leave the _Angry Rancor_. Rejoin Markus. The thoughts repeat through Simon's mind, and he turns back to Mira with an effort. His voice is cold with the effort to keep his thoughts in order. "We should leave soon. We should... do something about this creature, though. How should we do these things, Little Sister?" Go to Caspar. Leave the _Angry Rancor_. Kill the demon-dog. NO! The Rancor's Animal Control team had, by now, heard of the incident in the Wampa Lounge and come running to save the passengers from the Nek who must have had a loose wire or something. The ship's animal engineers would have him fixed in no time. Arriving in the room with nets and tranquilizer darts, along with a team of medical techs to treat the potentially wounded guests, they find the situation has already been taken care of. The Nek had been put to sleep peacefully and unharmed on the floor. From the way the passengers remaining in the lounge were pointing and staring at Simon, the crew had no problem who had been responsible for taming the creature. The animal control crew goes about packing the Nek off to the repair facilities. A few medical technicians hover around Simon like moths to a flame, attempting to tend to his injuries. Mira, meanwhile, seems quite content with the decision to go to Caspar and with barely a second glance behind her moves towards the hangar bay, their lack of transportation not yet occurring to her. As she walks, she continues to scrutinize the holocube, quiet baffled by its odd behavior As medical techs buzz around Simon like such annoying flies, the memory of Luke Skywalker holding up his prosthetic hand comes immediately to mind, and a coldness runs through Simon's body that causes him to shudder. Angrily, he says to the nearest tech, "Back away, toka roth!" A cold stare is turned to each of the paramedics that Simon thought were too close for comfort. With his eyes wide with no small amount of fear, he looks half mad. Stepping in the direction Mira had gone, Simon snarls, "Noganna tul kor awll lakra nogorosh!" In his tongue, it roughly means, _You will not turn me into a machine beast!_ In his frazzled state of mind, Simon doesn't seem to realize he'd slipped into his native language. Hurriedly, Simon chases after Mira. He could take comfort in her presence. ___________________________________________________________________________ Main Hangar -- The Angry Rancor This hangar is large, but not enormous. Ships landing here settle into the Angry Rancor from the large beveled opening above. It is usually open, and magnetically shielded, allowing full view of the stars beyond, and any approaching vessels. There is one large blast door which has been decorated to -not- look so much like a blast door, near the Port wall. A sign blinking over it reads, "Guest Reception and Lucky Krayt Lounge". At the fore, there is a sealed corridor with security mechanism leading to the bridge. There is another giant sized door for taking cargo down into the belly of the ship.. There is a metal cage grating over the door, suggesting that this is where live cargo is loaded and led into the holding pens below the arena. The floors here are crisp and clean, cleaner than most starships, and buffed to a dark glossy sheen. There are greeters here, amicably greeting anyone landing on the ship and handing them a booklet with information about the cruise liner and doing anything they require to get settled in. A large sign hangs here that says, "Welcome to The Angry Rancor. Enjoy your stay." ___________________________________________________________________________ As Mira enters the hangar bay, a team of techs is working on the inside of the Sanguine Raptor, cleaning its rugs and vacuuming its seats. After all, ferrying passengers back and forth between planets all day was a good way to get dirty. Conveniently enough, the ramp was open and the cleaning crew had gone to get a cup of tea from the break room, trusting that no one would mess with the ship while they were gone. Fools! Mira, considering herself a great and close friend to the cleaning crew, is sure that they won't mind if she borrows the ship they are working on. She would even clean it when they got back. She especially enjoyed the vacuum. It was loud. "Come on, Simon. We can use this one!" she says, pointing to the Ilyrian Gnat. Tromping up the ramp, through the passenger compartment, and into the cockpit, she plops herself down in front of the controls. Now, she had never _technically_ flown anything before. But she had watched people do it before. That was almost as good, right? Considering all that had happened recently, Simon is doing well just walking upright. He'd lost two fingers... he'd been submerged in fear and hatred... he couldn't really be blamed for being oblivious to the obvious inappropriateness of the theft he and Mira were about to proceed in. He had barely been aware of the techs as they moved away from the ship Mira enters. "Mira, slow down," Simon says. Thankfully, it's in Basic once more. He stops at the bottom of the ramp and looks down at his hand. The wounds were mostly clotted now, yet a trail clearly marked his passage across the hangar toward the ship. The trail didn't really matter to Simon, but his life's blood spilling from him was important. Focusing his thoughts toward the True Source, he stands motionless for several heartbeats, concentrating on his hand. More quickly than natural, the wounds change, closing roughly. Satisfied he won't bleed to death, Simon proceeds up the ramp. ___________________________________________________________________________ Cockpit - Sanguine Raptor The cockpit of this wily shuttle has been re-upholstered in fine leather and wood. There are two plush seats in front of the controls, overlooking an unobstructed viewport. Near the entrance is a very small mini-bar tucked out of the way, mostly containing backup supplies for the larger bar in the back. The words -- Sanguine Raptor -- are embossed into the back of each chair. ___________________________________________________________________________ Taking a moment to strap herself into the seat tightly (her parents always made sure she was strapped in so she wouldn't run all over the ship) she begins to poke at various buttons on the ship's control panel. There are a myriad of sounds, clunks, whooshes, and whirrs as the buttons do whatever it is that they are supposed to do. From the back of the ship comes the sound of the ramp closing shut. A triumphant smile. "See, I know what I'm doing!" What she did not know was that one of the buttons she had pressed had dumped half their fuel. No matter. Who needed fuel? The cleaning crew, hearing the ruckus, come running out, shouting and waving their arms. Mira, thinking that they are there to see her off, waves happily and continues pushing buttons. The engines roar to life. Another triumphant smile. Finally the ship begins to hover just off the ground. "Fly fly fly!" Mira sings to the same tune she was singing "Simon Simon Simon" to before. What a clever girl she was! Simon also straps himself into the chair, but he does not push buttons. With the way he presses back into the seat, it looks as though he wanted to be as far from the buttons as possible. Idly, he wonders to himself if the inside of a Nek's head was like this, with all the flashing lights and buttons and levers. Pale, either from his thoughts, the loss of blood, or general nervousness, he turns his attention toward the crewmen outside. He frowns slightly, noting their behavior. They were certainly not seeing them off with a hearty farewell. He says, slowly, "Do you think that the ship is unwell?" With that, Mira's finger presses down onto another button and wiper blades begin to make sweeping passes in front of Simon's viewport. "I have a bad feeling about this..." "Nah. They were just cleaning it," Mira says in a most knowledgeable and positive manner. "They wouldn't be cleaning it if they were just gonna mess it up fixing it." She had learned that the cleaning crews would never clean something just before it was going to be repaired. Unless, of course it was her mother. Her mother would always clean the house before the repairman came. Even before the maid came. Heaven forbid that the maid should find the house dirty! What would she think? This philosophy never made sense to Mira, but she was, after all, crazy. Pushing the flightstick of the Gnat forward, the ship lurches across the bay, bumping into the Indigo Lady, the shuttle the ship's director had arrived on with some new woman employee the day before. "Oops," Mira says, pulling back away from the shuttle, leaving a dent in the hull. "We should get out of here." Her breathing shallow and nervous now, Mira seems to focus, really focus for once, as she guides the ship towards the magnetically sealed bay doors. And, to her great joy, the ship is spit out into space, where it drifts away from the Rancor Cruise Ship. "Which way to Caspar?" she asks, looking through the windows of the cockpit. "Is that it?" She points to the planet below. The sinking feeling turns a full panic. Simon's stomach lurches as the Gnat crinkles a little against the hull of the other ship with Mira's mishandling of the controls. As the sound of metal against metal echoes through the hangar and the cockpit, Simon shoots Mira a startled glance, his eyebrows raised. He opens his mouth to speak, but can only manage a slight groan. And then, quiet relief begins to fill Simon's mind and senses as Mira seems to take hold of the ship like a _Selas_ reigning control of their connection to the True Source. With a sigh of relief, he watches as the ship departs the hangar of the _Angry Rancor_, and turns his blue-eyed gaze toward the icy cold twinkling of the starry expanse around them. Then Mira's question hits home, and any relief he might have felt disappears like a snowflake in a flame. "'Which way is Caspar?' You are asking me?" "Well, I don't know. I was asleep when I got there," Mira says simply, shrugging her shoulders. She looks around the cockpit for something that might offer help, a manual or a map or something. But alas, none is to be found. Perhaps the Rancor's crew assumed that their pilots would know how to fly the shuttle. Bah. "Bah," Mira says aloud, echoing her thoughts. Heaving a heavy, yet determined sigh, she decides to herself that that planet was not Caspar. This was where Bazil had brought them from Corellia. (So many planets with C's!) Looking around the cockpit, she sees what appears to be a catalogue of some sort. And this catalog had letters on it. On a whim, she presses the letter C, and lo and behold, there was a list of planets beginning with the letter C: Caspar and Coruscant among them. "What's this?" she asks, poking at the buttons. Perhaps the Angry Rancor wasn't quite so confident in their pilots as to allow them to calculate their own jumps. There were all sorts of jumps stored here. Hoping that this would work, the girl pokes the buttons until Coruscant and Caspar appear in the proper spots in the "Destination" and "Current Location" boxes and smiles triumphantly. Now what? "Where's the start button?" she asks, looking around. "It must be around here somewhere. As the ship drifted through space, unattended by Mira as she looked around the tiny cockpit for some aid, Simon's disease grew worse. There were some beasts you could allow to carry you on their own for a while, but only for a while. Eventually, they would take hold of their own actions and steer you where they wished to go, which could be danger. Where would a technological monster take its passengers? Then, Mira seems to come into some sort of discovery. She starts poking buttons, and Simon finds himself growing curious over what she had found and what she was doing. Only, he couldn't see from this angle. At first, Simon just tries leaning in the direction, but the restraints had tightened upon impact with the vessel previously, and didn't allow him much movement. Pulling on the restraints as though he were ensnared by a den of river snakes, his left hand fumbles open the catch on his seat belt just as he was giving one of the straps a hard tug. His inertia takes him forward, and with a frightened scream, he comes into contact with the control board. The shuttle lurches, the stars stretch into lines. Simon falls back into his chair, panting like he'd run a ten-mile.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)