The stars, the stars were dotting the black canvas of space like glittering jewels. It was beautiful… it was the young man's first real time in space. The green skinned teenager quickly deduced that the view from the planet below when the sun sank over the horizon and the pinpoints of light dotted the sky was nothing compared to the window seat he had now in the copilot's chair.
Spotting the teenage Mirialan's state of wonder, the human in the pilot's seat just chuckled. "How's the view, Rhax?" The man was in his thirties, he brushed a hand through his brown hair cut short and yet it still bore that scruffy look you'd expect of a smuggler or some other not so savory type. There was a large grin on his face as his blue eyes watched the boy. The green skin lad reminded him of his first time up, he'd been just as wide eyed then as the teen was now. Nothing could quite capture the wonder of space… the vastness of it… the emptiness, the expanse.
"It's… it's incredible. How do people ever bring themselves to land?" The Mirialan boy's face never left the window, getting out of his seat and moving to the windows his olive skin was almost pressed against the glass. Dark blue eyes caught his own reflection a moment but were only temporarily distracted by the few dark geometric shapes stamped onto his cheeks and his jagged black hair, before quickly wandering right back to the stars.
"Heh, well Rhax, everyone needs to refuel and resupply eventually… well maybe unless you're a pirate and just leech off of other people's vessels. I'm betting even they land sometimes, you do miss having ground beneath your toes after awhile." The pilot reached forward fingers skipping along the dash as he plugged in hyperspace coordinates with ease. The computer would have them calculated shortly then the boy would have to settle for a streaked sky and kiss his stars goodbye just for a few hours. "Plugged the coordinates in, we'll be heading off shortly and you'll get to see what hyperspace looks like."
"Are there stars like these?" Rhax's eyes never left the window.
"Well there are but everything just turns into a blur. You won't have a view as pretty as this, sorry Rhax. There's a nebula we're going to have to go around though about halfway through, I'll go extra slow for you then, deal?"
A frown appeared across the boy's green lips before he plopped back down in his seat eyes still never leaving the view beyond, his little sliver into the galaxy. "Deal. But you better hold your end of the bargain, Wark."
There was a pause, one of those pauses when neither side quite knows what to say, when both sides are skirting a matter because neither party wants to deal with it at the moment. The pilot checked his crono… right on schedule it seemed, of course that temporary release did him nothing in the end. Both the human and the Mirialan just stared straight ahead before the navigation computer gave a beep and Wark gave an exhale of relief as the view beyond became little more than a blur. Stars turned into streaks, planets into blurs, ships were gone in a blink of an eye after the engines lurched the small freighter into hyperspace. The boy's dark blue eyes widened, Rhax clearly had no intentions of missing a second of the first jump he'd ever experienced. The blurs however he found far less intriguing than his prior star studded view.
"Soooooo… looking forward to being closer to your mom and pops?" Wark couldn't take the quiet much more, he needed something to keep him occupied as he leaned back in his seat and in the end he knew the question was inevitable. He really didn't like dealing with the can of worms it seemed to unleash… although it was a quiet can of worms neither of the two really talked about. The man knew he'd visited the boy more than his parents had in recent years, it was troubling to say the least but inevitable. It was only making this job all the more difficult too.
"No, not really. It won't change anything. They'll still be busy." It was a short and quick response making it increasingly clear that the boy didn't care to deal with it.
Wark sighed, a hand running through his short brown hair… there really wasn't too much hair for his fingers to slide through before they found themselves back in the air once more. He always hated these talks. "You know kid your parents do good work. There are tens of thousands of people out there who owe your folks their lives. They just don't understand what a thankless job they really have."
"They're mercenaries, they contract out to the highest bidder like everyone else…"
Wark didn't even let the boy finish his thought before interjecting, his tone changed as a hint of rage began to seep through. "Don't you dare say that for a moment. Do you have any idea what your parents go through to keep you safe, to keep this sector safe? If they sold out to the highest bidder, they'd be working for the Exchange. People would be vanishing left and right to slavers and dealing with massive debts as the organization closed in. Don't you dare-"
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! The navigation computer went into a frenzy, red lights on the dash began flashing.
"What the frag?!" Wark jumped upright in his chair, eyes scanning across the console in a frenzy. "We shouldn't be at the nebula for another thirty standard minutes."
Rhax's dark blue eyes seemed to be shocked out of their trance as they shot towards the human before glancing back towards the window. He had no idea what was going on, the Mirialan just knew whatever it was, it was horrible for Wark to be in a panic over it. Beyond the window streaks began to slow, stars came back into focus suddenly. As much as the boy loved the stars… he didn't want to see them now. It was then that he saw something black, one could barely make it out against the emptiness of space. It was as dark as the void beyond and reflective enough to project the stars gleaming in the distance off its surface. "Wark! What's that?"
The pilot's attention turned from his instruments towards the window, towards the boy's pointing green finger. Seeing nothing more than the stars, he narrowed his eyes a moment and suddenly he could make it out. It was getting larger… and larger… a ship, a rather large ship in respect to the two-man freighter. "Kid, you remember those sharp shooter lessons I always give you when I'm around."
The teenager's eyes were wide in horror as they turned from the black vessel before him back to the pilot. He simply nodded his head. He remembered, that was all he worked on in his free time… being quick to draw, firing, reloading, aiming, tricks which often got him a few extra credits if he showed off near a cantina or two.
"Good. I can't move this ship off course… you understand. If anyone comes on board, you follow my lead and Rhax… if I tell you to shoot, you shoot. You shoot to kill. Understand?"
Wark's grave tone wasn't aiding Rhax's confidence in the least and yet the teenager nodded and reached in the compartment the pilot was gesturing towards and pulled out two blasters. The weight of them in his hands was slightly heavier than what he was used to but a few quick twirls and spins of the weapons between his fingers and the Mirialan felt he had a good grasp of the change in weight and handling. His head was still swimming with thoughts of the massive shadow that was somehow able to snag them out of the sky and adjusting to new weapons was hardly enough to keep his mind off the doom bringer seemingly looming overheard. "Wark… what is that ship? How can it just grab us? Why do they want us? I don't understand."
The human just watched the vessel coming closer and closer looming over the small freighter like a predator preparing to engulf its prey whole. "I'm not sure… there were rumors… I just never thought I'd see anything like this." The pilot's fingers continued skimming across the console… guns… how in the frak were all weapons offline?! Boosters weren't helping, the controls were loosing functionality by the second, the pull was too strong. He was running out of tricks and with a growl, the man flipped the switch to trigger a distress signal before grabbing a set of pistols from their place in their holsters on his belt. "They're using a tractor beam or something… not quite sure, don't see them that strong typically. I have no idea what they want, I just know that they likely aren't going to roll out the red carpet."
Doors were parting near the 'mouth' of the vessel, hangar doors allowing a bright blinding white light to engulf the ship. Both the man and boy were staring out wide eyed when the hangar doors cracked open and the initial ray shot through the void, both let out a hiss as searing red hit their eyes before they could snap their eyelids shut or cover their eyes. Both currently had no desire to open their eyes again and would happily bury their faces in ice water. "Karking sons of a mynock! I can't see a blasted thing. Kid try and move back to the door… should be able to-"
THUD.
The ship shook, a clear indication that the hangar doors had closed… they were stuck in the belly of the beast. It wasn't the shaking that had interrupted the pilot's words though, it was the loud thud of impact on the windshield. Neither sentient wanted to even ponder examining the source with the prospect of permanent blindness fresh on their minds. Neither likely could if they dared to crack their eyelids open once more, they'd just be met with the still searing red etched into their retinas before the prospect of sight would even return.
The thud was followed by a screech, a high ear drum piercing shriek, one that could only be caused by unnatural origins. Rhax screamed back as the sound seemed to penetrate his skull and hum in his brain, violate his attempts at thought, ravage his cranium. His green hands refused to drop those blasters and grant his ears release. The ringing just continued, that awful shriek until both men were on the ground with their eyes shut begging pleading for the noise to cease. And as if to answer their prayers… there was silence only the aftermath of the ringing in their ears remained.
Rhax's eyes opened… they opened slowly to find blankness… empty red which slowly began to fade… that the bright blinding light was suddenly at a far more manageable level. The Mirialan's instincts told him it couldn't be a good thing both the sound and the scalding lights were suddenly gone. He half thought his ear drums had merely exploded finally granting him release, but the mind numbing vibration had stopped… so it had to have stopped but why? Tightening his grip on the pistols, the teen uncurled himself from his position on the floor of the vessel and glanced back towards Wark. The pilot was on his knees, fingers still wrapped around his pistols which were by his side. Why were they by his side? That made it clear he wasn't ready to fight but… A set of black boots cut the Mirialan's view off. His dark blue eyes widened before tracing the boots… then brown pants… a belt… and a blaster pointed right at his head. Staring down the barrel of a blaster… into that opening waiting for that flash of light to claim his life at any moment had the boy frozen in place. Slowly his eyes continued up, the slight curiosity of what the one who was going to end it all looked like overtaking him. He wasn't sure what he expected to find as he was there on his knees, pistols in his hands supporting him as they pressed against the floor staring at his executioner's face… a heartless monster? A look of enjoyment? A snarl of disgust? The glare of a crazy man? But there were no smirk, no amused grin on the face or snarl either… just pure blank stoicness spread across the… the orange woman's face!? Of all the things to stare at expecting death… an orange skinned Twi'lek woman wasn't one of them. There wasn't malice or spite though… it was the look of a drone, a person who had done the same task again and again to the point of monotony, to the point where they could complete it blindfolded. Seeing the boy's confusion the Twi'lek's lips pulled back into a jackal's grin.
It took a moment for the teen's ears to stop ringing before he could hear the Twi'lek's words. "Don't bother with the guns, you couldn't even get a shot off. You'd just embarrass yourself, kid."
A chuckle, one which seemed to have been hovering in the air awhile graced the Mirialan's green ears… an amused chuckle, nothing more, nothing truly sinister, the chuckle of a man. " Or you'll wind up like him." The gruff voice assaulted his ears, which clearly had no appreciation for the deepness of the tone. There was just a slight thud as a boot connected with bone… Wark. Dark blue eyes widened glued to the body… the limp body of the pilot, of his friend… of Wark. The human's muscles were relaxed, blasters flat on the ground to either side of him… that wasn't the worst part though… the worst part Rhax found as his eyes darted towards the face of his idol. Blaster scoring, the blackness of charred flesh and a gaping hole where the man's forehead once was… and yet his eyes his blue eyes were untouched staring off into space blankly as if trapped in a nightmare on some otherworldly plane.
Rhax didn't have time to think, he didn't want to think. He didn't want to accept the possibility ramming itself into the front of his skull. Hands didn't release his pistols, in a flash he had his guns pointed at the man towering over Wark's corpse, arms rose with a quick glance down the barrel of the blaster he lined up his target before his finger pulled the trigger without hesitation. No death had taken him yet… time seemed to stand still. Eyes shifted, his sights aligned on the Twi'lek and the second index finger moved to squeeze the trigger. Twin red bolts went zipping from their respective blasters. The boy just paused, still as rage coursed through his veins… frozen at the thought of what he had just done. He had shot at people... at real sentient beings… he had shot to kill…
The man's face was gone. He was left nothing more than a stunning more gruesome resemblance to the pilot he'd shot moments before… charred, blacked and deformed, brunt scalp peeling back as his knees buckled and the giant toppled over chest hitting the durasteel floor with a thud. The Twi'lek just smiled that same unchanged jackal's grin. A blue glowing field seemed to wrap around her body pulsating across her in an almost taunting manner. Her blaster remained level with the boy's head. This was the end. He knew it was the end and yet he had no desire to fight anymore. He just looked up at her from his position on his knees, his blasters still pointed towards where he had shot.
"Did my work for me, boy. I owe you one." He didn't even see the finger pulling the trigger, there was just a bright blue flash… and then darkness.
"Miana'ayia don't tell me you're going soft?" There was a snicker back from the door to the cockpit which followed the devious voice. The pointy toothed grin emerging from the red skinned devaronian's mouth only seemed to add to the robust man's character… one couldn't call it charm, it was a bit too unnerving glaring at the red eyed red skinned devil to call it anything short of creepy. He'd been standing there watching for a short moment now… and all the Twi'lek had done was stay still there glancing over the green body with a mixed expression on her face.
The voice though had shocked her back to her senses as her wild green eyes darted back towards the devaronian in his dark red body armor. Every plate of it fitted the man perfectly, every sweep, every bend… and yet no one really knew who or where he'd gotten it. Most on the crew just knew one thing, he ensured they weren't dead… if one followed his orders of course. And here she was with him alone. It would be so easy to simply raise an arm and fire… and yet she couldn't. That was too easy, too obvious, and he likely had a far better shield than she did on his person. With a sigh she holstered her weapon at her hip, rested her orange hands on her hips and glanced back down at the green boy. "So what now? Why so much fuss over this? Don't you know the crew's going to raise some eyebrows over why we went through all this trouble over nothing."
"Oh I have my ways… and it's not over nothing." As if on cue, two men marched up the loading ramp. Both were fully consumed with maneuvering the rather large solid container up the landing ramp before setting it down with a heave after taking a quick turn to find the cargo hold. "See Miana … I really should have taught you better by now." The two men clad in basic common clothing stopped in the hallway behind the captain waiting for orders. While it seemed more than unnecessary at the time, both were toting blasters on their hip and neither showed any intention of using them. After all the fight was long since over… right? "What men don't know won't hurt 'em, what live ones know can hurt everyone."
BLAM! BLAM!
The two men hadn't had time to even ponder reaching for their blasters before that flash of red glared in their eyes and they both crumpled from point blank shots to their chests. Neither wearing any form of protection against the quick assault meant neither had stood a chance as blaster bolts tore through their flesh, melting away their skin and organs. There were two thuds as they slumped to the floor followed by the devil's pointed grin widening.
"And I know too…" Those words slipped from the Twi'lek's lips as she just stared back at the devaronian with an eerie indifference.
"Yes, you know too, but a witness always helps… doubly so when they're pretty ones men won't question for the life of them because they're too distracted by other… features." The devaronian slipped his blasters back into the holsters on his hips with a bit of added flair to the gesture with the tossed in twirl around his fingers.
"So what's the story going to be this time, Captain?"
"Hmm… you're the one who was here at the time. What has merit?"
"Well the green one knew his stuff, I'll give the boy that. Could focus around him."
"Then make it a tale to remember… we'll have to ensure the runt lives up to his new name when he wakes up. I have plans, would be a shame for them to go to waste."