It's an old face, thin and distinguished, careworn but not unkind; the sort of face you'd happily bank with. It's on top of layers of robes in various shades of brown.
Its owner moves amongst the infirmary beds, reading the curiously spindly letters of the English alphabet, so unlike Aurebesh's sturdy glyphs, until, on one bed's chart, he finds the lines that seem to spell the name of the man he's looking for.
"Dr Stantz?" he greets the man. "The... 'Ghostbuster', correct? We may have much to discuss."
"Nononono!" says Ray, snapping back into the English language. "No, it's all right! It's just- it- I'm sorry, I should begin again. Hi, my name is Ray Stantz, and when I was about six years old I thought you were the greatest thing I'd ever seen in the entire known universe. I mean, assuming you're Obi-Wan Kenobi, because if you're not I'm going to hope like anything that you'll blame my lapse of discretion on the drugs they've been giving me for my case of giardiasis."
Obi-Wan bows, his eyes twinkling. "Hello, Dr Stantz. Yes, I'm Obi-Wan, and... I'm warily flattered that you thought so highly of me from what, I presume, you saw in the vids. Under my old Master's tutelage, you're likely to become the object of some child's admiration yourself." His brow furrows. "Giardiasis? I don't believe I'm familiar with that particular disease. But if you're receiving meds for it, that could excuse any number of lapses, regardless of my identity."
"Got it in one," Ray says, "and I already am- they're my nephews. Alex and Joey don't come here, though- anyway, yeah, that's how I found out about you and the Jedi and your galaxy and all. Heck, when I was seven I tried to build a 'saber out of a flashlight and a crystal I made from a chemistry set, but all I did was create a really kickin' laser and set the cat on fire, entirely by mistake."
"And you're better off not knowing about that disease- it's an Earth thing. It's what happens when you drink water you haven't adequately purified or boiled. Not a pleasant experience, but they say I'm recovering pretty nicely."
Obi-Wan manages to decipher the first paragraph without too much trouble. "I hope you remain worthy of their respect. Then again, with Qui-Gon instructing you, I'm not sure it could be otherwise. These days, at least. And at least that child who tried to build his own 'saber with the tools available on Earth had his head in the right place."
A wince at the explanation of giardiasis. "That particular disease may be specific to Earth, but I know of similar syndromes found on primitive planets, or under desperate conditions, in my home galaxy." Thinking of some of the less hygienic battlefields of the Clone Wars, or of the underlevels of Coruscant. "You definitely have my sympathies. How did you come by it, though? From what your counterpart said, I thought Earth was more advanced than that."
"I do my best," Ray says. "Between the boys and their mother- that's my sister, Catherine- I have a couple of people to be respectable for."
He gives a wry little smile at the question. "I got kidnapped," he says. "And stuck in a remote part of the country, by which I mean somewhere with no roads and no air access, under satellite interdict. There was rudimentary shelter, a completely inadequate cache of supplies, and no water available other than a stream in the local forest. The general goal was to make me break down and agree to work for some extremely unpleasant people in my government who'd apparently taken it upon themselves to corner the market in advanced scientists."
Obi-Wan nods at the thought of the nephews. And not just because his mun is an uncle to two terrifyingly cute nephews himself. Then his face goes as hard as it can. "Extremely unpleasant people in the government? Who wish to corner the market in those with particular gifts? That sounds... all too familiar. Whatever one broken-down old hermit can do to help bring them to hell, I'll do."It's the least he can do for a fellow veteran of the war against the Other, which I just remembered Ray is.
That merits a bigger smile. "Excellent," he says. "I know Peter and Egon have stuff in mind already, although honestly, I'd trust Egon's plans further than Peter's. As soon as I've recovered from the infection, I'll be up and about and looking to put these guys out of business once and for all. We'd love to have you along."
"Friends of yours? I'm sure they're both trustworthy to some extent, then. And if I can come along, I will; when I arrived, I was Bound, but I was able to accompany Master Hunter to battle the armies of his counterpart. Now I think about it, I remember seeing you there as well."
"Oh, they're both trustworthy, but Peter has a tendency to lose his temper much more easily than either Egon or me," Ray says. "He's a great guy. It's just that Egon thinks things through a little better sometimes, when he has reason..."
He nods. "Yeah, I was there. Up in the front with Raphael, when we brought what we thought was Tim's body back. I'd show you the scars from my proton thrower overloading under the Other's assault, but I kind of had a full epithelial layer reset a while back and they grew the skin on my hands back without scars."
"I'm glad to hear that they're both good men. A good partner at your back is important when your calling sends you into battle.
"I don't recall meeting this Raphael, but I remember the end of that war. I suspect it scarred us all, outside or within." The mention of nonstandard medical procedures for Ray's time catches his attention. "An epithelial reset? How did you end up needing that? For that matter, how did you get it? I didn't think Earth had access to bacta."
"They were my fellow professors of parapsychology before we got thrust into the private sector and wound up having to do the whole 'defending New York from the hostile supernatural' schtick. I"ve known Egon since I was eleven, and Peter since I was fourteen."
Then he laughs. "It wasn't bacta. At least, I don't think it was. Were you here when the Other came back, back around October of this year? He managed to get my 'saber away from me and tricked me into jumping through a dimensional portal after it. I recovered the weapon, but I wound up in this... really peculiar version of Earth where human civilization was only just starting to interact with interstellar civilization through the work of an agency called the Men in Black. They had access to some kind of medical tech that could do that, so-" He holds up his hands. "No scars. Everything I've got now, I've earned since then."
"Allies from childhood? That sounds even better." Thinking of all the Jedi he'd known since they were younglings together who fought alongside him in the War.
"I was here and I wasn't. When we thought Master Hunter dead, and saw the Other reigning supreme... it was the destruction of Alderaan all over again. That was what really killed me the first time, you know; Vader's deathblow was merely a formality. Master Hunter's apparent death had a similar effect; I returned to unity with the Force for quite a while. I believe I sensed the Other's presence, but I was having some difficulty pulling myself together; that must be what spared me its notice.
"Impressive tech these Men in Black have; then again, if they're the gatekeepers for that Earth's contact with other worlds, that's not surprising." A thought. "I may have met one of them. Called himself Agent Kay, I believe. He was the first on the scene when Boba Fett came crashing into the bar." Unless Angel was; both meeting threads make attempts to cover Boba being told the Bar Rules,
( ... )
Ray nods. "I know K. He's good people. A little weird sometimes, but good people. He's helping me out with the mess back home- his technology helped the redheaded version of me narrow down Egon's territorial deductions until they were able to pin down just exactly where I might be held. I'm helping him out with some troubles in his own world when I can- there's this sentient black oil stuff that's just about as nasty as you can get without being liquid Dark Side. And I mean nasty; this stuff is capable of possessing people and using them to access military and defense databases with the knowledge it gets from their brains. K gave me a sample once to analyze. It's really, really tough to contain, and even harder to kill. Master Qui-Gon examined the sample and confirmed what my nephew Joey said about sensing that it was evil. So I'm helping him with that, and he's probably gonna be coming along when we lay the smackdown on Peck and company."
Its owner moves amongst the infirmary beds, reading the curiously spindly letters of the English alphabet, so unlike Aurebesh's sturdy glyphs, until, on one bed's chart, he finds the lines that seem to spell the name of the man he's looking for.
"Dr Stantz?" he greets the man. "The... 'Ghostbuster', correct? We may have much to discuss."
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And makes a small, high-pitched noise that borders on frequencies only dogs can hear, because he knows that face.
It may take him a moment to get the faculty of speech back.
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"And you're better off not knowing about that disease- it's an Earth thing. It's what happens when you drink water you haven't adequately purified or boiled. Not a pleasant experience, but they say I'm recovering pretty nicely."
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A wince at the explanation of giardiasis. "That particular disease may be specific to Earth, but I know of similar syndromes found on primitive planets, or under desperate conditions, in my home galaxy." Thinking of some of the less hygienic battlefields of the Clone Wars, or of the underlevels of Coruscant. "You definitely have my sympathies. How did you come by it, though? From what your counterpart said, I thought Earth was more advanced than that."
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He gives a wry little smile at the question. "I got kidnapped," he says. "And stuck in a remote part of the country, by which I mean somewhere with no roads and no air access, under satellite interdict. There was rudimentary shelter, a completely inadequate cache of supplies, and no water available other than a stream in the local forest. The general goal was to make me break down and agree to work for some extremely unpleasant people in my government who'd apparently taken it upon themselves to corner the market in advanced scientists."
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Then his face goes as hard as it can. "Extremely unpleasant people in the government? Who wish to corner the market in those with particular gifts? That sounds... all too familiar. Whatever one broken-down old hermit can do to help bring them to hell, I'll do."It's the least he can do for a fellow veteran of the war against the Other, which I just remembered Ray is.
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He nods. "Yeah, I was there. Up in the front with Raphael, when we brought what we thought was Tim's body back. I'd show you the scars from my proton thrower overloading under the Other's assault, but I kind of had a full epithelial layer reset a while back and they grew the skin on my hands back without scars."
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"I don't recall meeting this Raphael, but I remember the end of that war. I suspect it scarred us all, outside or within." The mention of nonstandard medical procedures for Ray's time catches his attention. "An epithelial reset? How did you end up needing that? For that matter, how did you get it? I didn't think Earth had access to bacta."
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Then he laughs. "It wasn't bacta. At least, I don't think it was. Were you here when the Other came back, back around October of this year? He managed to get my 'saber away from me and tricked me into jumping through a dimensional portal after it. I recovered the weapon, but I wound up in this... really peculiar version of Earth where human civilization was only just starting to interact with interstellar civilization through the work of an agency called the Men in Black. They had access to some kind of medical tech that could do that, so-" He holds up his hands. "No scars. Everything I've got now, I've earned since then."
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"I was here and I wasn't. When we thought Master Hunter dead, and saw the Other reigning supreme... it was the destruction of Alderaan all over again. That was what really killed me the first time, you know; Vader's deathblow was merely a formality. Master Hunter's apparent death had a similar effect; I returned to unity with the Force for quite a while. I believe I sensed the Other's presence, but I was having some difficulty pulling myself together; that must be what spared me its notice.
"Impressive tech these Men in Black have; then again, if they're the gatekeepers for that Earth's contact with other worlds, that's not surprising." A thought. "I may have met one of them. Called himself Agent Kay, I believe. He was the first on the scene when Boba Fett came crashing into the bar." Unless Angel was; both meeting threads make attempts to cover Boba being told the Bar Rules, ( ... )
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