Space above Taris, Tuesday into Wednesday morning
"You've led us a long way, Zayne," Lucien said. His lightsaber was drawn and he had a bunch of men with blasters behind him. "What did you expect to find here? You can't be returning to the scene of the crime. That was Taris."
One of Lucien's troops turned to him. "Our carrier's in hover mode, Master Lucien. But we shouldn't stick around down here! These meteor strikes are pretty thick!"
"Not to worry, lieutenant. We won't be here for long," Lucien said, settling into a lightsaber stance that was useful in low gravity. "The odds are with you, and the Force is with me." He called out to Zayne and Jarael over their comms. "And niether are with you, my young friends. This exercise is over."
Zayne started to lower himself to his knees, pulling Jarael down with him. "What are you doing?" she asked him. "Aren't you going to--"
"Jarael, get as close to the wall as you can and hold on to me!" Zayne said back.
Above them, a laser blast tore through one of the Civil Authority ships, sending a flaming wreck falling to the moon's surface. "Look at 'em scatter, Intern"! Gryph called over the comm from the Last Resort as the junker flew into sight. "I hope those suits aren't rented!" The lack of laughter meant Gryph had to go back to being serious. "We figured out where Camper rerouted all the power for the ships and the hyperdrive. This ain't much of a ship, but we got one beauty of a gun!"
"Quick!" Jarael called out. "Bring us up!"
"Wait!" Zayne said. "We have to bring Elbee with us!"
"Camper's got you covered!" Gryph said. A tractor beam started to bring Zayne, Jarael, and the bits of the droid up into the belly of the ship. "This is a scavenger ship, remember!"
A minute later, Zayne led Jarael up to the deck. "We've got it all, I think. Let's get out of here!"
"Sure," Gryph said. "But I've still got a shot on Smileyface down there. Wanna scatter his atoms?"
"No," Zayne said. "Just lose us in the asteroid belt again. I didn't kill anyone before, and I'm not going to now. What I am going to do is find out what this is all about." Clapping a hand on Camper's shoulder, he said, "Camper, let's see how clever you really are."
*****
After getting lost in the asteroid field once again, Camper got to work putting Elbee back together. "Hey, that's all right!" Zayne said when he checked in. "Almost looks like Elbee again.... Almost. But what's with the new equipment?" Zayne started to reach toward's Elbee's head. "This wasn't part of--"
"DON'T! TOUCH! ME!" Elbee shouted. In a quieter voice, he added, "Sir."
"It can talk!" Zayne said with astonishment.
"Talk? It's been griping like a hutt stuck with the bill," Gryph snarked. "Camper gave it a transfusion of bad attitude."
"Aww, he's just a little tetched at the moment," Camper said as he continued to work atop the droid. "It's the upgrade. Labor droid uses holo memory to find his way around, so what you want's still in his buffer, but he's too messed up for me to get at directly. So I took a processor from a higher-class droid and mounted it on top of his existing system. Gave him a vocabulator and a holographic projector to boot. Right now he's tryin' to make sense of it all."
"Welcome to the club," Zayne joked. "All right, Elbee, show us our last hour on the Rogue Moon."
"I... would... PREFER.. not to," Elbee answered in his measured way.
"I'm gonna prefer you with a restraining bolt in the eye, you walking forklift," Zayne said, letting frustration get the better of him.
"Ain't gonna do no good, boy," Camper said from his perch atop Elbee. "This one's way out of warranty now. But lemme get back here and I'll see what I can do." After a few moments, Elbee's holographic projector turned on. "Got something. That look familiar?"
Zayne watched as the blue image of his five Masters appeared in front of them. Lucien's voice could be heard clearly. "...should think we have an hour before our Padawans return."
"It's my Masters," Zayne said, "from our trip to the Rogue Moon! He's even got audio from their space suits. There's Lucien...."
The crew of the Last Resort then watched as the four seers settled in to meditate and share a vision while Lucien stood guard. It was clearly a horrifying experience, as the Masters became panicked as they described what they saw. Each one apparently saw the collapse of the Jedi Order, the Republic, and their own deaths, all caused by a figure in a red environment suit much like the spacesuits the Padawans were wearing as they crossed the valley on the Rogue Moon. They came to the conclusion that one of the Padawans was to become a Sith Lord, and there was only one way to prevent those horrors from coming true. And then Lucien noticed that there was someone there that could provide an unfortunate record of the conspiracy on the moon....
Elbee shut the projector down and started thrashing wildly as he was forced to relive his own destruction. "I have him," Camper said, yanking a few wires from the back of Elbee's head. "There boy, it's all right."
"What did we just see?" Gryph asked. "Those Jedi were running around swinging at nothing!"
"Not nothing. The future," Zayne answered. "They're Consulars. Seers. They saw the future. Someone is going to destroy the Jedi Order and the Republic. You heard them."
"But I don't get the space suit thing," Jarael said. "Who do you know who would need one on Coruscant? Or those other places?"
"Jedi visions are complicated. You might see something in great detail, like a spacesuit, and it can be just a symbol. At that moment, my friends and I were in red environment suits... just like that one over there," Zayne said, pointing at the suit he had been wearing on the moon earlier. "I guess they took that to mean one of us was the--" A large spark suddenly appeared in the wires on the back of Elbee's head. "What happened?"
"Our little friend just deleted that whole stretch of holographic memory. On his own," Camper explained. "That death-memory's stuck in his craw. It's what's tangled up his motivation center. Droid isn't supposed to do himself in, and its master isn't supposed to order it to do so, by its logic. He saw himself kill himself and he suspects his owner made it happen. But your Force is just way beyond Elbee's understanding. It's twisted his original basic brain like a vornskr's tail. He just purged the last month of his life... but I don't think it'll do him any good. Never work right now. I'll shut him off...."
"No, don't," Zayne said. "He's given me what I wanted. I only wish he could tell me what to do with it."
The Last Resort suddenly jerked violently, throwing everyone around the cargo hold. "Someone's shooting at us!" Gryph yelled.
"No, it's a tractor beam," Zayne said.
"It's the Jedi!" Jarael said. "We have to do something!"
"No, wait!" Gryph said, continuing the correction fun. "That's the Oroko. Valius Ying, captain. I know these guys. Gangsters and pirates... and for the moment, bounty hunters. Let me handle this."
*****
After a meeting of the minds in the docking bay of the Oroko, Gryph turned back to his companions. "Well, there's some good news. The bounty only covers you and me by name, Zayne. The Last Resort is unregistered, and Camper and Jarael did a good job of keeping a low profile over the years. So the Republic isn't really sure who they are. Anyway, I made a deal. I offered Valius the entry codes for all my Taris storehouses, so he's willing to let me and the Arkanians go... but only once he's safely delivered Zayne to Taris. Till then, we're their guests."
"But they know the Resort now," Jarael said. "How will we get past those patrol ships out there?"
"Zalius will say he found Zayne in a lifepod, that the Resort was destroyed in the belt. Then the Oroko ferries our ship to another system and we fly away free," Gryph explained. "If you can tolerate having me as a passenger"
"So that's it?" Zayne asked. "You're giving me to them?"
"The deal is for three. Valius says you're non-negotiable. The price on your head now," Gryph gave a little whistle for emphasis. "Well, even I'm impressed. But don't worry, you'll give him the slip. Valius takes you down to Taris in that little shuttle tomorrow morning. He gives the signal that he's landed and his guys cut us loose up here. Then you just do your Jedi mind thing on Valius and take right back off again."
"Just like that, huh?" Zayne asked.
"It won't be a problem," Gryph scoffed. "I know Valius. He gets confused looking at a lunch menu. You ought to be able to hypnotize him into taking you anywhere."
"What if he brings his friends? And the Masters and the constable? I suppose they're just going to let us lift off again?" Zayne asked, seeing through Gryph's plan for him. "Besides, you just said you need them to ferry you to the next system. They're not going to leave orbit without their boss! Just say it, Gryph. You're cutting me loose."
"Intern..." Gryph lowered his head, looking ashamed. "Zayne. Listen. Snivvians, my people, we play at things. Adventuring, politics, even crime. And I love the game. I'm good at it. But this... this is too much heat for me. You're a losing hand. Marks and punks I can handle. I can't angle the whole Jedi Order, much less the Republic and a swarm of bounty hunters!" He shook his head with a genuine sadness. "And I wish I could, because I think you could really help me. The things you can do, you could put Marn Hierogryph on the map. It's just, the way things are now...."
Gryph's words hung in the air for several moments before Zayne broke the silence. "It's all right, you've gotten more than you bargained for. I understand." One of the bounty hunters walked over to put handcuffs on Zayne. "We had a nice run, though. I couldn't have gotten this far without you. See you around, Gryph."
[OOC: Hey, work sucked yesterday and I never finished my post then. So, huge post this morning! With visual aides! Still Commencement. Elbee's record and the vision are represented by Travel Foreman's art from KOTOR #5.
And no, that last tag wasn't intended to get "Footloose" stuck in anyone's head. But it got stuck in mine, so I assume it may earworm others as well.]
One of Lucien's troops turned to him. "Our carrier's in hover mode, Master Lucien. But we shouldn't stick around down here! These meteor strikes are pretty thick!"
"Not to worry, lieutenant. We won't be here for long," Lucien said, settling into a lightsaber stance that was useful in low gravity. "The odds are with you, and the Force is with me." He called out to Zayne and Jarael over their comms. "And niether are with you, my young friends. This exercise is over."
Zayne started to lower himself to his knees, pulling Jarael down with him. "What are you doing?" she asked him. "Aren't you going to--"
"Jarael, get as close to the wall as you can and hold on to me!" Zayne said back.
Above them, a laser blast tore through one of the Civil Authority ships, sending a flaming wreck falling to the moon's surface. "Look at 'em scatter, Intern"! Gryph called over the comm from the Last Resort as the junker flew into sight. "I hope those suits aren't rented!" The lack of laughter meant Gryph had to go back to being serious. "We figured out where Camper rerouted all the power for the ships and the hyperdrive. This ain't much of a ship, but we got one beauty of a gun!"
"Quick!" Jarael called out. "Bring us up!"
"Wait!" Zayne said. "We have to bring Elbee with us!"
"Camper's got you covered!" Gryph said. A tractor beam started to bring Zayne, Jarael, and the bits of the droid up into the belly of the ship. "This is a scavenger ship, remember!"
A minute later, Zayne led Jarael up to the deck. "We've got it all, I think. Let's get out of here!"
"Sure," Gryph said. "But I've still got a shot on Smileyface down there. Wanna scatter his atoms?"
"No," Zayne said. "Just lose us in the asteroid belt again. I didn't kill anyone before, and I'm not going to now. What I am going to do is find out what this is all about." Clapping a hand on Camper's shoulder, he said, "Camper, let's see how clever you really are."
*****
After getting lost in the asteroid field once again, Camper got to work putting Elbee back together. "Hey, that's all right!" Zayne said when he checked in. "Almost looks like Elbee again.... Almost. But what's with the new equipment?" Zayne started to reach toward's Elbee's head. "This wasn't part of--"
"DON'T! TOUCH! ME!" Elbee shouted. In a quieter voice, he added, "Sir."
"It can talk!" Zayne said with astonishment.
"Talk? It's been griping like a hutt stuck with the bill," Gryph snarked. "Camper gave it a transfusion of bad attitude."
"Aww, he's just a little tetched at the moment," Camper said as he continued to work atop the droid. "It's the upgrade. Labor droid uses holo memory to find his way around, so what you want's still in his buffer, but he's too messed up for me to get at directly. So I took a processor from a higher-class droid and mounted it on top of his existing system. Gave him a vocabulator and a holographic projector to boot. Right now he's tryin' to make sense of it all."
"Welcome to the club," Zayne joked. "All right, Elbee, show us our last hour on the Rogue Moon."
"I... would... PREFER.. not to," Elbee answered in his measured way.
"I'm gonna prefer you with a restraining bolt in the eye, you walking forklift," Zayne said, letting frustration get the better of him.
"Ain't gonna do no good, boy," Camper said from his perch atop Elbee. "This one's way out of warranty now. But lemme get back here and I'll see what I can do." After a few moments, Elbee's holographic projector turned on. "Got something. That look familiar?"
Zayne watched as the blue image of his five Masters appeared in front of them. Lucien's voice could be heard clearly. "...should think we have an hour before our Padawans return."
"It's my Masters," Zayne said, "from our trip to the Rogue Moon! He's even got audio from their space suits. There's Lucien...."
The crew of the Last Resort then watched as the four seers settled in to meditate and share a vision while Lucien stood guard. It was clearly a horrifying experience, as the Masters became panicked as they described what they saw. Each one apparently saw the collapse of the Jedi Order, the Republic, and their own deaths, all caused by a figure in a red environment suit much like the spacesuits the Padawans were wearing as they crossed the valley on the Rogue Moon. They came to the conclusion that one of the Padawans was to become a Sith Lord, and there was only one way to prevent those horrors from coming true. And then Lucien noticed that there was someone there that could provide an unfortunate record of the conspiracy on the moon....
Elbee shut the projector down and started thrashing wildly as he was forced to relive his own destruction. "I have him," Camper said, yanking a few wires from the back of Elbee's head. "There boy, it's all right."
"What did we just see?" Gryph asked. "Those Jedi were running around swinging at nothing!"
"Not nothing. The future," Zayne answered. "They're Consulars. Seers. They saw the future. Someone is going to destroy the Jedi Order and the Republic. You heard them."
"But I don't get the space suit thing," Jarael said. "Who do you know who would need one on Coruscant? Or those other places?"
"Jedi visions are complicated. You might see something in great detail, like a spacesuit, and it can be just a symbol. At that moment, my friends and I were in red environment suits... just like that one over there," Zayne said, pointing at the suit he had been wearing on the moon earlier. "I guess they took that to mean one of us was the--" A large spark suddenly appeared in the wires on the back of Elbee's head. "What happened?"
"Our little friend just deleted that whole stretch of holographic memory. On his own," Camper explained. "That death-memory's stuck in his craw. It's what's tangled up his motivation center. Droid isn't supposed to do himself in, and its master isn't supposed to order it to do so, by its logic. He saw himself kill himself and he suspects his owner made it happen. But your Force is just way beyond Elbee's understanding. It's twisted his original basic brain like a vornskr's tail. He just purged the last month of his life... but I don't think it'll do him any good. Never work right now. I'll shut him off...."
"No, don't," Zayne said. "He's given me what I wanted. I only wish he could tell me what to do with it."
The Last Resort suddenly jerked violently, throwing everyone around the cargo hold. "Someone's shooting at us!" Gryph yelled.
"No, it's a tractor beam," Zayne said.
"It's the Jedi!" Jarael said. "We have to do something!"
"No, wait!" Gryph said, continuing the correction fun. "That's the Oroko. Valius Ying, captain. I know these guys. Gangsters and pirates... and for the moment, bounty hunters. Let me handle this."
*****
After a meeting of the minds in the docking bay of the Oroko, Gryph turned back to his companions. "Well, there's some good news. The bounty only covers you and me by name, Zayne. The Last Resort is unregistered, and Camper and Jarael did a good job of keeping a low profile over the years. So the Republic isn't really sure who they are. Anyway, I made a deal. I offered Valius the entry codes for all my Taris storehouses, so he's willing to let me and the Arkanians go... but only once he's safely delivered Zayne to Taris. Till then, we're their guests."
"But they know the Resort now," Jarael said. "How will we get past those patrol ships out there?"
"Zalius will say he found Zayne in a lifepod, that the Resort was destroyed in the belt. Then the Oroko ferries our ship to another system and we fly away free," Gryph explained. "If you can tolerate having me as a passenger"
"So that's it?" Zayne asked. "You're giving me to them?"
"The deal is for three. Valius says you're non-negotiable. The price on your head now," Gryph gave a little whistle for emphasis. "Well, even I'm impressed. But don't worry, you'll give him the slip. Valius takes you down to Taris in that little shuttle tomorrow morning. He gives the signal that he's landed and his guys cut us loose up here. Then you just do your Jedi mind thing on Valius and take right back off again."
"Just like that, huh?" Zayne asked.
"It won't be a problem," Gryph scoffed. "I know Valius. He gets confused looking at a lunch menu. You ought to be able to hypnotize him into taking you anywhere."
"What if he brings his friends? And the Masters and the constable? I suppose they're just going to let us lift off again?" Zayne asked, seeing through Gryph's plan for him. "Besides, you just said you need them to ferry you to the next system. They're not going to leave orbit without their boss! Just say it, Gryph. You're cutting me loose."
"Intern..." Gryph lowered his head, looking ashamed. "Zayne. Listen. Snivvians, my people, we play at things. Adventuring, politics, even crime. And I love the game. I'm good at it. But this... this is too much heat for me. You're a losing hand. Marks and punks I can handle. I can't angle the whole Jedi Order, much less the Republic and a swarm of bounty hunters!" He shook his head with a genuine sadness. "And I wish I could, because I think you could really help me. The things you can do, you could put Marn Hierogryph on the map. It's just, the way things are now...."
Gryph's words hung in the air for several moments before Zayne broke the silence. "It's all right, you've gotten more than you bargained for. I understand." One of the bounty hunters walked over to put handcuffs on Zayne. "We had a nice run, though. I couldn't have gotten this far without you. See you around, Gryph."
[OOC: Hey, work sucked yesterday and I never finished my post then. So, huge post this morning! With visual aides! Still Commencement. Elbee's record and the vision are represented by Travel Foreman's art from KOTOR #5.
And no, that last tag wasn't intended to get "Footloose" stuck in anyone's head. But it got stuck in mine, so I assume it may earworm others as well.]