Welcome to my Star Wars fic/ realm of hungry spirits. Before you start picking away at my grammar - I know, it sucks - I would much more appreciate comments on the plot and characters. Warning: Canon continuity might be at risk. Read & Review!
Disclaimer - George Lucas, Lucasfilm, and Lucasarts hold the majority of the rights to Star Wars. I'm associated with none of these, so get off my back.
The panel flashed, igniting the empty seat in front of it in a red light. A small, electronic buzz followed the flash and the pair of light and sound repeated again. Then again.
Soon a body appeared to fill in the seat and check the apparent alarm at the long-range detection array console. The red glow flashed across the prompt man's face, giving his skin a darker hue and bouncing off his brown eyes in stars of amber. It was amazingly similar to the face manning the next console to the man. His hands flew about buttons and switches as the man analyze the data jumping up the console's small screen.
After a second or two the alarm and flashes ceased, leaving the man only with a frown in it's wake. Seventy centimeters above his head, a long walkway crossing the room trembled as a set of over sized feet stomped across it. The man looked up and in a instant he rose from his seat, becoming fully erect with right hand at salute at the clone's brow.
"Sir!" The gray uniformed clone braked at attention, gazing up at his towering superior.
Starting at the walkway's plate-deck up, two of black shining boots lead to a pair of dark trousers that hug around tower's muscular legs. The trousers were divided from the torso by a wide sash across the waist that kept a loose black shirt closed across the tower's chest. At last, the head, topping the superior at over two meters. With white stripped horns and white stripped tentacles poking from about a rose colored face, the male Togruta glared down at the clone with is jagged patterned scowl. The gray dressed clone had a fleeing thought of how the patterns would have match the wings of white bat.
"Report, CT-6126." The darkly dressed Togruta commanded in his deep and booming voice.
"Sir, an anomaly has been detected on sensors, sir!" The clone replied in a loud brake, as he was trained to, lowering his hand to his side and continuing, "Sir! The nav-computer has centralized the anomaly on LDA some three thousand light-years from the Bakura sector! It appears to be along our charted course, sir!"
"...an anomaly..." The towering superior muttered quietly before directing a boom at the lowly clone, "Of what sort do you mean?"
"Sir! It doesn't entirely show on the sensors, but it does have significant mass to detect it's gravity well. Perhaps, dark matter, sir!"
"YOU PATHETIC WORM PILE!!!!!" The Togruta hollered down at the man as his sneering parted lips, showcasing his sharp canines, then turned away and started to stomp up the walkway, "Your wasting my time on a tiny little spec of dark matter!!!"
"Sir! A spec is no where near to this thing, sir!!" The clone quickly added, "It looks to be the size of a star system, sir!!"
The tower stopped. Looking back at the gray uniformed clone with a toothy sneer, the Togruta eyed the man carefully to see an sign of musing or deception. He found nothing but the cold somberness of a professional.
"You must be joking" He still wasn't convinced, "There hasn't been a grouping of dark matter discovered that was larger than an comet! Let alone a star system!!"
"Sir! The data is plain to see, if you wish to review it, sir!"
The massive horned alien trotted back to the walkways edge, ignoring the staircase further down, and jump off to the lower officer's station. The poor clone barely had time to stumble back, out the Togruta's decent, to which the tower assisted the clone with a sharp jab of the elbow. Pouring over the console, the red faced superior frowned as he growled in dissatisfaction through his teeth. He did not like be proven wrong.
"This anomaly will take weeks off of our planned voyage." The darkly dressed Togruta grumbled aloud, "How could such a indiscretion happen to us!"
"Sir! It's what has bogged down early attempts of exploration in the Unknown Regions, sir!" The gray uniformed clone answered his superior's obvious hypothetical question, "With as four times the dark matter then any other quadrant in the galaxy, it's been impossible to navigate a ship through until modern hyperspace tech was available, sir."
"RRRHHAAA!!!"
The massive alien roared and slammed this two fists against the console's screen, cracking the the glass and producing a miniature storm of sparks. Clone's eyes bugged out, as did his fellow clone crew's, all of them backing away from the fuming Togruta. The command bridge was dead silent as the tower arched his back and glared at the presently broken console, his form shaking as torrent of fire ripped through the horned being.
"Count Goyro..." A cold, feminine, though still male voice cut across the room, snapping the Togruta about. In the back quarter of the bridge, where the latent shadows of the space lay in wait, a thin pole of an officer step forth. With neither rank or pin disrupting his black seamless uniform, the only show of color on the man was the bleach white hair that run down below his chin in neat locks. The darkest seemed to refuse to let go of the officer's face as he continue to address the massive alien, "Count Goyro, you seem...troubled at our present predicament... Have you lost faith in the Emperor's predictions for our journey?"
"My Lord! No!!" The Togruta quickly refuted in a surprising change to submission, as he bowed to the shadowy man, "His Excellency clairvoyance has no reason for doubt. Merely that our schedule will be severely hampered with the appearance of this anomaly."
"Surely now. Does that require the needless destruction of our equipment." The commanded officer retorted harshly, his slight Core accent becoming more evident, "How long of detour was it again."
"Sir!" The clone of the ruined console spoke up, "I would estimate period of four to five weeks to safely fly around the anomaly, if it is acquire to sensors, sir!"
The black uniform's left arm jumped up to the man's head revealing a bony white and bony formed hand. It's pinkie and ring fingers extending long than the rest by their nails. For moment, the hand rubbed it's tips across a shadow covered chin before stretching out to the length of the arm and pointed to the large viewports at the other end of the bridge.
"We will fly through the anomaly...standard space... and return to our original hyperspace scheduling."
"My Lord, this action would be suicidal!" The Count urged the commanding officer, "Our detection equipment is only able to sense the presence of the anomaly's mass. We have no inkling as to it's shape, density, or chemical make up! It's dark matter nature clouds any action of long-range investigation. It would be like running into a darken room, we'd be bound to hid something!!"
"Then we shall pick up a stone and throw it in first." The Togruta blinked at the shadowy mans statement as the officer grinned behind his darkness mask, "Send a probe...no...a large stone, a scout ship. Let them strike against our 'anomaly' so we can find our way through."
The massive alien nodded in a silent acknowledgment and went to work, barking orders to the clone crew. The man in the shadows took a another step forward, melting the black vile around dwell violent eyes as he stared out transparisteel window to the star studded space outside. A twinkle of sinister wonder lite up the officer's gaze as he whispered aloud to no one in particular... ...
"...soon, now..." The man did not continue, only smiling quietly in devil's glee.
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Among the cantinas and bars in Bakura system, none were more notorious than the West River Bank Club in Salis D'aar. It sported the loudest music, the the hottest dancers, and the strongest drinks in the whole sector and was normally pack to the roof. Tonight was no different, with crowds of people moving (pushing) across the dance floor between the bar and the stage. Several cages hung from the ceiling containing contorting, pulsating female go-go's of the Twi'lek, Zabrak, and even Rodian origin... ...well, everyone has their own tastes... ...
There one club patron that night that seem to have slow down from the rest, opting to stand at the bar instead of dancing (pushing) around the place. With pink colored drink sitting on the count in a very tall glass, our friend leaned forward with elbows pressed firmly down from the full wait of grown human. With a neatly trimmed and pressed Imperial Naval uniform and dark brown hair pulled back in a shoulder length ponytail, the young ensign was attracting quite the many eyes of the opposite sex. They all found the pilot to be the right kind of handsome in that tight getup... though Tori never liked it when people called her 'handsome'.
The female pilot face held a disgruntled frown, in complete contrast to the energetic music pounding around her, and the two did not complement each other. In one swift movement, Tori grabbed her glass and downed half of the pink-liquor mix in blink of eye, letting the burning sting fill her mouth, throat, stomach as her mind swooped about the room. Dropping the tall container sharply down to the bar counter, the remaining pink alcohol hopping up and splashing the young ensigns cheeks with droplets of wet.
"Aren't you going a little overboard, sailor?" A voice asked in a sort of proclamation tone. For a second, Tori ignored the voice, hoping the cold shoulder treatment still worked on bar-creeps, "A pretty face like you shouldn't go killing herself like this, Miss Sailor Girl..."
From the corner of the young ensign's eye, Tori could see an leather coat arm push aside the her standard issued cap and gloves as the male owner of the voice leaned up against the bar. The female pilot twisted her head away and continued to dis-acknowledging the creep's very existence, though see could make the guy out. Human, shortly cut blond hair, and a leather coat with a dark shirt that open to his bear chest. He was the type that knew they were attractive physical and couldn't quite get past it. After a few more silent seconds of being gawked at, Tori broke... ...
"Are you going to catch the hint or keep smelling my hair all night." The ensign said flatly as she eyed the creep.
"Oh, little Miss Sailor has some teeth on her!" The man retorted in a mock surprise, with a slick smile, "But you really think that I enjoy your hair's scent?? Your crewmates probably have better smell on them than you!"
For a second, Tori watched the male with a cocked eyebrow, perplexed by his answer. Then she got it...the 'Insult Her to Your Bed' trick, trying to throw a wrench into a girl's logic to confuse and conquer her. The pilot grunted through her noise in slight amusement and took a sip of her drink. This guy is out of luck if he thinks that's going to work on me, Tori thought to herself, With as many times it was pulled on me at school, it's practically worthless.
The bar-creeps smile soon faded away as his head slumped down to the counter, dumbfound by Tori's uncalculated response. The man obvious thought of himself as a 'pro' and did have many targets resist his so called charms. He conceded defeat.
"...can I at least get a name..." The creep inquired through his teeth as his chin lied flat against the bar counter.
"My friends call my Tori, but you can call my Ensign Dalwan."
"Ensign? You mean your not just a enlisted man?" The man picked his head up and blinked.
"Of course not, you guff for ears idiot!" The pilot snapped back, taking fabric under her left rank pin and stretching it out, "Can't you tell a' officer when you see one!" The young ensign made a small jabbed at the man's nose, never hinting, but the creep jerked back none the less.
"If you really have to know, I wasn't quite looking at the rank of your uniform-OW!!!" This time Tori actually punched him. With nose in hand, the bar-creep went to asked, "How come you're so macho about it?"
Tori trained her eyes to the bar, staring past counter and floor underneath to the memories she usually kept stored away. Maybe it was of the liquor, maybe it was of the pitiful display of pickup artistry, by the pilot felt compelled to explain her predicament... ...
"Of the one hundred and twenty three students enrolled at Coruscanti Pilot Institute, only eighteen pasted...only one was a girl. Though it wasn't because of skill or lack of discipline that cut the rest of the female students, far from it. There were many instants where the women trainees flew circles around me, literately at times!" There was pause as the young ensign smiled at a particular memory, "...but our newly established Empire has something of a...sexist problem after the Clone War ended. With nothing but male replicants manning the ships and fighters, there wasn't much of chance for a women to prove our worth. That was the think at the Institute, at least. We're were treated as want-be's, a risk to a squadron if we became emotional."
"Sounds tough..." The creep piled in, dishearteningly.
"Ha...you don't know the have of it..." Tori killed the last of glass in a quick glup, taking the liquid courage in to help her finish her tale, "Do you why I'm so different? Why I got through the constant hazing and the unbalanced classwork?? Lets just say that girl can get by in a male dominated world if she pushes her focus off their minds and to their joysticks. I quickly become something of a 'secret teachers pet'."
The female pilot looked the counter to the Abyssin bartender at the far end, stretching her arm straight up and snapping her fingers to grab it's attention. The alien's cyclopes stare turned to the waving ensign as she signaled for another round. All the while, the man at Tori side remain perfectly quiet as he soaked in the woman's story. By the time the young ensign received her pink drink, the pickup pro hand was digging through is coat pocket.
"It's a sad universe we live in, huh...but I guess I should have known your that type before I came up to you." A light tickle traced down Tori's arm and the pilot ripped her head to the creep. His perverted smile had returned as he ran a small, square Cred-stick along the ensign's sleeve, "I'm one of Bakura's golden boys, you know. Un. Limited. Funds. You could go a llllloooonnnggg way with me behind you...or where ever you want me... ..."
"Is that so?" The Tori cooed as she grasped the man's credits and fingers gently.
Without warning, the young ensign tighten her hold and twisted the creep's fingers backward, prompting the man to squeal in pain as his eyes clenched shut. A quick thrust from Tori's open palm to the creep's throat shut him up, though the knee in the groin was more for fun. The man dropped down to floor, first to the knees then fully sprawled out.
"Oops. I hope I didn't damage your swelling ego, too much." The pilot snickered as she step over the 'pro'.
Shifting through the throngs of people towards the door with a proud smile across her face, Tori was stopped by a rough tug to the back of her uniform. Turning around, the young ensign found large Kajain'sa'Nikto look down at her. Dressed in a formal jacket and trousers that screamed 'rich boy bodyguard', the Nikto didn't seem pleased as the female pilot gleaned an innocent smile.
"I don't believe that my client appreciates your from of affection, miss." The Nikto goon stated in hard tone as the crowd around the magical started to part for the two, as they sensed the coming danger, "Perhaps we should go back and help Mr. Belden back to his feet."
"Belden?! As in Bakur RepulsorCorp's Belden family???!!!" Tori exclaimed as a lump started to form in her throat. It wasn't everyday that a girl knocked the heir to the richest family on Bakura onto his pompous behind. The Nikto acknowledge her with simply nodded as he crossed his arms in front his chest, "Maybe we can call this a misunderstanding and talk it out in the morning...?" The bodyguard this time sighed and shock his head no, "...didn't think so..."
Suddenly, Tori turned her head to the ceiling and pointed to one of the hanging cages.
"LOOK!!" She cried, "One of Twi'leck dancers lost her top!!"
The Nikto gasped and followed the ensign's pointing finger to the go-go dancers, but was disappoint to find all of them (mostly) clothed. As the bodyguard gawked, Tori took the opportunity to hop up and slam her fist into the Nikto's jaw, pushing all her weight in the punch as she fell. The goon dropped to the floor, knocked out cold, as the pilot stumbled forward, catching her balance from her daring and dirty trick.
Resuming her earlier path to the club's exit, Tori couldn't help but feel boxed in after discovering the bar-creep's Belden identity. The Belden prince wouldn't have just the one muscle, the young ensign thought silently as she whirled her head side to side, I got to get out of here before the others-
Her thoughts were cut short by a giant fist to the face. Short after, everything turned black... ...
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"She was brought in for disorderly conduct, but really she could have died if we didn't take custody of her she'd be died." A orange and blue dressed administrator of the Bakuran Civil Authorities related as he walked down a long corridor. Behind the the policeman was another uniform of another color, an Imperial gray of the Navy. With a long frown pulling down his face, balding officer stared dead straight ahead without saying a single word as the administrator continued, "If we left the ensign with those hired goons, they wouldn't have stopped with breaking her noise. Damn Belden thugs... ..."
Two soon came upon a large door at the end of the hall and the policeman pressed his thumb to a pad next to the door, receiving a conformation buzz as the door swished opened. Filing in, the uniforms found themselves in an average sized room with a pair of giant translucent boxes sat against the wall. One of the boxes were packed with women who ranged from simple 'street walker' in her provocative attire to a full-fledged gang members with gang tattoos down each arm. In the opposite box sat Tori, sitting only on a steel bench.
"Her bail is set at three hundred credits." The administrator stated to the naval officer, "Two hundred fifty for the first charge of disorderly conduct and another for additional count of disorderly conduct."
The Imperial stepped around the policeman and to the door of Tori's cell. The female pilot sat quietly with her head slumped on top of her shoulder and eyes closed, apparently sleeping off her hangover. Two trails of dried blood lied beneath each of the young ensign's bruised, flatted noise, denoting the fact that it was broken. That, along with Tori disarrayed hair, made the girl quite the site to see.
"...Why is she in a separate cell...?" The naval officer asked through this grim expression.
"Well that's the second count of disorderly." Replied the policeman, "The after first five seconds she enter the other cell, she knocked the toughest looking miss on her butt."
A loud and heavy sigh escaped the officer's mouth, grasping his forehead as the administrator tapped on the transparisteel of the pilot's cell. Tori's lids scrunched into folds and her lips scowled as the young ensign slowly arose from her somber. The policeman rapped again, louder this second time, succeeding in cracking the woman's one eye open. Her eyes widen to there limits when Tori caught site of the other naval officer and she jumped to her feet.
"Ensign Dalwan!! Pull yourself together!!!" Barked the superior officer and the female pilot quickly stood straight and saluted. The gray uniformed man shock his head and continued to frown, "You should have learned a long time ago to avoid those bars, Ensign. I only wish it was a simple drinking problem... ..."
"Sir, if you could come with me we can fix this and cut loose your subordinate." The administrator started to move, but the officer held up his hand to halt.
"There's no need for that, Sergent. The Empire will be compensating you through the proper channels after we leave."
"Damnit!! You bastard Imperials and your arrogance!" The policeman was fuming as he yelled at the superior officer. The gray uniform wasn't phased, "Someday you pigs are going to regret all your bullying and-"
"Please...Sergent..." The officer interjected, "I don't think there's a need for insurrection, just let the ensign out."
The administrator snorted but compiled anyway, walking over to a control pad on the wall and clicking the release on Tori's cell. A near invisible door popped open and slid out the way of the box's entrance. The young ensign quietly stepped out of the cell, giving her the superior officer a quick glance before passing him by. The policeman watched the exchange and it looked as though the female pilot was 'pouting'.
"Thank you, Sergent. Have a pleasant night."
Tori and the officer promptly left, then after, receiving a few more choice words from the Civil Authority administrator.
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The young ensign,Tori Dalwan, stepped out of the Civil Authority precinct into the cool night air the inner city. It must of been past midnight local time, but the sky was still full of airspeeders zipping to and fore without end. With the metropolis lights shining in rivalry with starry atmosphere above, Bakura had it's own little galaxy to marvel at. Coruscant looks just like this at night, the female pilot thought to herself, You don't always realize what you see at home until you leave it.
The ensigns musings were interrupted as her superior slide past her to the waiting speeder, chucking an naval issued cap at her as he passed. Squeezing her head into the cap, Tori ran over to the speeder and quickly climbed into the cabin a mere second before it darted away from the precinct. It was a silent trip through clouds, the first few minutes of flight. The superior didn't say a word, but Tori could tell that he was still upset.
"Your always going overboard, Tori." The officer finally threw out as he carefully scoured passed a set of slower vehicles, "You never think about how her actions are going to effect others!"
"I'm sorry that the guy was a pervert...sir..." The young ensign replied, dropping down into her sit.
"I don't respect get that tone from you, young lady." Her superior shut back sternly, "And I'm not speaking to you as 'Lieutenant Dalwan', I'm speaking to you as your father, Ronild Dalwan."
A sharp sigh pushed past Tori's lips as she folded her arms and rolled her eyes in daughterly defiance. Ronild shock his head and shifted the speeders control yoke to the side, steering the craft over to a landing pad atop a roof. The young pilot jumped out first and started walk the few meters to the turolift doors of the building.
"Tori, wait!" The elder Dalwan cried, exiting the vehicle and tried catching up with the female ensign, "I know that since Mom died, it's been tough on the both of us. But that doesn't mean you get to tear apart every bar of every planet we stop at. Your scaring me Tori..." The girl at last stopped a short distance before the lift, drifting her fingers across her bruised noise. Ronild position himself in front of his daughter and place his hands atop Tori's shoulders, smiling down at her, "For the last four years, you worked you butt off to become my ship's pilot. I'm proud of all you've done up 'til now and so would your mother have been. Don't let her death throw all that work away."
Despite all the doubt and feelings of filth the female pilot got out of remembering her academy days, what her father said still made her smile a bit at the fact that she did fight the odds and she did work hard to become a real pilot. Tossing is away because of creep acting...well creepy wasn't worth the time and effort the young ensign actually spent in the class and on the books. Those instructors can just screw themselves, the girl thought proudly, I am a pilot now. Seeing his daughter's lightened mood, Ronild pushed Tori's cap up and kiss her on the head... ...
"That's the half-pint I've been missing." The man whispered down to the young woman.
"DAD!" Tori always hated that nickname...well, more like loved hating it, "You know I could site you on kiss a lower officer."
"Oh, no!! Dads have special privilege to embarrass their daughters as they see fit. That's an official Imperial regulation!"
The female pilot gave her father supeior a small shove, though it changed into more of a hug in the end as they walked into the turolift together.
Alright...chapter number one. Basically, if someone is interested in this story, I'll keep writting. If no...well I'll stop. It's mostly for my own entertainment, but I don't want to just write this for no other reason. So in three days, if there's no comment, I will stop written. So Review!!
