WPRT lX Sci-Fact

Aaron:

A minute after my sister went off to the bunks Boba showed us earlier, Boba got up to do who knows what, leaving me alone with Jango, Bossk, and the vastness of space before us.

Both Jango and Bossk were were typing away on the consoles in front of them, leaving me to my thoughts.

I can't believe this. I thought nothing could shock me after learning we were on another planet, but compared to this, that was nothing.

Staring out a minute longer, I was brought back out of my thoughts, as I was asked, "So, where you from kid?" by Bossk.

That kind of surprised me.

"A place you probably never heard of…"

At this, he finished up his calculations and spun his chair in my direction, smiling. It kind of creeped me out. It reminded me of the velociraptor in the kitchen in Jurassic Park, small gap in the teeth and all.

"Try me. I have been to a lot of unknown planets."

"Ever Heard of Earth?"

I already knew the answer.

He looked to be in thought, and after a few moments he said, "No, can't say I have. Is it some backwater planet in the outer rim?"

I smiled at his attempt of an insult and responded. "No, and most likely, not even your galaxy."

Then Jango then joined in. "Then how did you end up in our galaxy?"

"Honestly, we have no clue, one minute we were asleep in our tents in Turkey Run, and then we woke up on that dust bowl of a planet. There were two more of us, but they weren't with us when we woke up. And ever since we've been here, we have had to overcome some big obstacles. And only by sheer luck and some survival training have we made it this far."

"So you have some kind of training then, but not to be a bounty hunter."

"No. My sister and I were taught how to survive in the woods by our cousins. They really gave us the love for it, and we have camped ever since. Our shooting skill come from being trained by a firearms instructor and our dad at the shooting range near our home. She has less than I do and really only worked with pistols. I worked up to firing long range rifles, some heavy hitters, like the barrett 50. Cal."

Both, however, had blank expressions at that last part.

" Well, where I'm from. The Barrett is one of the best sniper rifles in our world, and it can penetrate almost any armor. They fire something similar to this."

I pulled out one of my mags to show them the ammo. Both looked shocked.

Both said "Slug Throwers!"

What a degrading name for a gun, however, not far from the truth.

Jango continued, "You're pretty brave to bring that relic to fight with you. Why do you even have that anyway? Haven't your people moved past slug throwers?"

"Well, we have moved into alternate weapons, close to shooting something like you have. But that's still in the testing phase. However, the next step in terms of firearms would be railgun technology, and that is being tested by our navy."

Bossk asked a question this time. "And how far have your people made it to space?"

"Well, we have only gotten people to our planet's moon and back. And we have had some probes leave our solar system."

"You really are out of place then. Now I feel sorry for pestering you about your home."

"Nah, it's fine… I already had my 'freak out' when I learned that we were on a planet with two suns. I guess you can say we're….. Lost in Space!"

(The original show was better. The movie and the reboot series sucked).

Again, blank stares.

"Right. Sorry about that. I will try to not reference things you don't know in the future."

Jango said, "Well, what ever you were referencing doesn't matter right now. I want an honest answer though, if you can. Why did you save my son?"

This again? Let's try this a different way.

"I will answer with a couple of questions: why is that hard to believe that somebody helps a kid from being made a slave, and why not?"

None of them answered me, so I continued, "You act like it is some miracle that I risked my life to save someone, not to mention a kid, from a life of slavery."

Jango frowned at this. "I don't know how it is where your from, it's normal for people in the outer rim to see slaves on planets like that. It's pretty much a big form of income for those like Jabba. Even when people come from the core worlds for business, they don't even bat an eye at it. And you just show up and spring a bunch of slaves free, with my son no less."

"Hey, to be fair, he volunteered for that himself. I just told him what to do."

"Be that as it may, you could have said no. He is just a kid."

I raised my eyebrow and said, "Ya, a kid who knows how to fire a gun with pinpoint accuracy."

"Yet you trusted that he would follow, through. Why?"

I paused at this. I thought back to that moment and responded, "You know, I really don't remember why I thought I could. It was just like… a voice inside my head told me I could."

I tried to think back on why I thought I could trust him. But that was all I could remember.

I was brought out of this train of thought by Jango changing the subject.

"Well, never-the-less, you saved my son. And considering you have limited supplies. Perhaps I can give you some things to keep you both alive in this galaxy. Just giving you a ride doesn't feel like payment enough."

Bossk chucked, "You should feel honored. Jango here has quite a collection of hardware from the bounties he has collected over the years."

"Oh no, you don't have to do that Jango."

"I insist. If you plan to find a way back home, you're going to need more than what you've got."

I can't argue with that logic.

"Ok, let's take a look."

Jango stood and motioned for me to follow him.

"The room is just past the sleeping quarters."

We walked past the door and I saw my sister resting. I stopped to look inside and see how she was doing. She seemed to be having some kind of nightmare, but, overall, she looked ok. The storage room was not far, and I was surprised to see all of this technology in one room.

It had enough to make a scientist wet their pants. Guns, armor, tools, you name it. One of the first things I noticed was a small, cylindrical, handheld device. It looked like a tiny "MIG" gun that welders would use. Except, it didn't appear to connect to a hose.

"Is this a pocket welder?"

"Yes it is. I guess your people aren't that incompetent. It's used for quick, temporary fixes on small hull breaches, or sealing doors shut if your trying to slow someone after you down. You're welcome to have it. I have five other ones in here somewhere."

"Thank you, I'll be sure to get use out of this considering our luck."

He motioned for me continue looking. I needed something for my sister. I looked to my right at weapon rack and saw a big rifle. She seemed to like the rifle she had now, and a bigger one wouldn't hurt her.

"The Blastech A-240. Nice choice. Are you going to use it as your weapon?"

"It's nice, but this one is for Jo."

"Take two then, one for the each of you. I have a few extra of those."

I nodded at that and started looking over some armor.

I saw a couple of shoulder guards made out of some kind of metal.

"How about these? They look good,"

He took a few moments before saying, "I don't see why not. I don't have any use for them."

My sister and I can share this. One shoulder guard for the both of us.

"What do you have in terms of communication devices, do you have ear pieces?"

"Yes I've got few of them over there. You're welcome to take a couple when your're done looking for equipment."

I nodded again and looked around the room for things that would give us an edge; then I saw something that make me do a double take. It looked like a holder for the hidden blade from Assassin's Creed, just without the blade. It looked capable of interchanging with anything concealable. (Jo is a huge fan of the series, she had played all of the games and had gotten all of the achievements in all of them. She would definitely pick this out).

"Is it alright if my sister takes this?"

"I got that off some assassin on Coruscant, he gave me some trouble, posing as an elderly man in need, as I was guarding some cargo for a client. Good thing he was bad at acting." He laughed while he was reminiscing. "She is more than welcome to take it. She will probably have better use of it than he did."

I look around the table where the gauntlet was, and I saw something for me.

It looked like a rock climbing set with two wire rolls around the waist on each side with a harness to hold it together.

This looks like the OMD gear from Attack on Titan minus the blade holders and the gas cylinders. Never know when I might need a quick get away. Could have used this on Tatooine.

"How about this?"

"I've had little use out of it. I only used it a couple times for repairs for the ship. Here, I'll show you how it works."

He picked up the little remote on it that connected to the device with a cord.

"This switch controls the aim for the grapples. This button fires the grapples. If you click it again, it will ungrapple and retract. And finally, this tiny screen shows how many meters you have of cord for your grapples. Got it?"

"Yeah, it seems basic enough. I think that this is enough for Jo and I to get around and defend ourselves. Thank you."

Jango then looked like he was thinking, and said, "About that: Geonosis is a planet very similar to the world we just left. It's nothing but a dust bowl; however, unlike Tatooine, it's home to one primary race, a bug race known as Geonosians. Their race is very scientific in the pursuit of weapons of war. So when we land, please try to behave around them, and don't set them off."

"I understand. I'm going to check up on my sister. She seemed to be having trouble sleeping when I walk by."

"Go right on ahead. There is a holo player in there that can play music, if that will help her any."

I smiled, knowing that would probably work.

"It's worth a shot, thank you for the offer."

I walked off as Jango left back for the cockpit. I walked out of the room back to where Jo is, when I start to hear a video playing. It sounded like one of the WWII documentaries I had downloaded on my computer for homework. I stopped to listen.

"'There's Nothing to fear, but Fear itself!'"

Yep. WWII.

I decided to walk in and was shocked to see that Boba, staring at the screen, on my Laptop, wide eyed.

Jo, the ever so watchful guardian of our stuff. Ha ha.

I smiled at a mischievous idea.

I walked silently to the table and crouched, moving my head next to his and shouted, "What are you doing?!"

He jumped a mile and turned around with fear in his eyes.

"OH, hey Aaron, I was just…"

I raised my hand to stop him and said "Using our stuff without are permission?"

Boba looked at the ground and said sheepishly, "Yes…, I wanted to know what it was and clicked a button and it played."

"Hey, it's alright, it should be fine. I'm mostly worried about the power on it, since I don't have a way to charge it. Yet."

"Well, what is "it" then?"

"It's called a laptop. It's a portable computer. The reason that video played was that I had downloaded for me to watch later for homework." Boba looked confused.

"'Homework?'"

Really?

"You know, school work done at home?"

"Wow, you go to school?"

My brain stopped working for a second.

"What do you mean by that? Don't kids your age go to school?"

Boba answered, "Not everyone, only people in the core worlds or wealthy planets can afford things like that… It's really not really a big deal. Kids like us get by."

"That doesn't make it right. For where Jo and I are from, it's a right to go to school."

"Well, that's just you. Not me."

He looked even more upset. Then I realized he had no real friends growing up. He always had to be on the move. Never knowing anyone but his father for too long.

"Hey, it's not the end of the world. A lot of famous people where I come from didn't need a fancy education. A lot of them were war heroes."

He seemed to brighten up at that, and then he said, "Thank you, but I got to ask: what was that video about anyway?"

"It was about the start of World War Two. You know, the nations that entered the the war and what caused them to join?"

"World War Two?"

"Yeah, our world has had a lot of wars. A majority have been forgotten over time, but, the most prominent would have to be World War Two. That war was setup for our people decades before it did, because of a poor resolution to World War One. A lot of people died in that war, over 100 Million in fact."

He had a look of shock at the number, "100 Million, on one world?"

"Yep, if you don't believe me, I can show you what I have on it at a later date, as I don't have a stable power supply for it now."

"What do you mean?"

I picked up the power cord and showed him the plug. "I need to custom make an outlet or an alternative charging method for this."

"Well, looks like you've got your hands full."

I sighed.

"Well, hopefully not too long. I'll keep you updated on that."

Then a moment later, we heard a little cry of "No" from Jo's bunk.

Right, the reason I came here…

I walked over to her bedside to see how she was.

"What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know, after Jo and I helped those farmers from them Raiders, we've been getting weird dreams."

"Weird? Like what?"

I turned my head toward him. "From what she told me, she has been having dreams without sound, and I have been having dreams with just sound. I heardthings, but it was mostly mumbling, so I wasn't able to make it out. I could tell it was voices. The strangest part, is that when we wake up, we feel fine. It's like we never had trouble sleeping, even though we did."

Boba looked as if he was thinking about something, but only said, "That is weird, but I'm sure it's nothing."

"Right."

I turned my attention to the rest of the room.

"Whatcha looking for?"

"The holo player for music. Your father suggested it to help her sleep."

"Oh that? It's over here."

The kid led me to a metal locker. He dug inside it and pulled out something that was the size of an old record player.

"This is it. Let's see what we've got…"

Boba turned a few knobs and buttons and it came alive, it started playing some Jazz-like song in a language I didn't recognize.

"Interesting style. What's it called."

"It's called Jizz."

WHAAAAAAAAAAT!

I coughed into my hand standing tall, then I fall to the floor dying of laughter.

"AAAAHHHH HA HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH…ha haha ahhahah…haaaaaa…

I gasped before the next wave hit me.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

I was wiping tears away from my eyes when Boba walk over and bent down looking at me.

"You done?"

I sighed to catch my breath before answering.

"Yeah, sorry about that…oh wow, my sister is still asleep."

I started to get back up when Boba asked, "What was that about? What was so funny?"

"Oh, it was nothing, just some Earth humor, maybe I will tell you when you are older."

"OK?"

"Well, how does this Player work anyway?"

Boba went back over to it, and started showing me how to get signals with it, and how to save songs; however, I notice a small port.

"What's that for?"

"That? It's a connector port for other holo players, or ship systems. It allows music and holograms to download on them, or the other way around. It's designed to handle most plugins, so it could be used by any system."

I had an epiphany.

I pull out my phone, and turned it on.

Boba looked at it in awe.

I knew what he was going ask about it, "It's my SmartPhone, which is pretty much a small computer capable of all kinds of model is called a Galaxy S6. It's a little old but very reliable."

"Wow, we have Data pads similar to that. Rich people and the Army use them, but I'm sure they pale in comparison to that. Why pull it out though? I thought you needed to save power on your equipment?"

"I don't have to worry much if I use it in short bursts. I'm going to download some of our planets songs on your system."

Boba looked concerned, "Please don't break it. It's like the only thing I have to entertain myself when I go with dad on trips."

"Don't worry, I'm not taking it apart. I'm going to use my AUX cord."

"Your what?"

Both Boba and I turn to see Bossk at the door.

"An auxiliary cord is what I use so my phone is able play songs on other systems, this has a recording feature on it so I'm just going to play a few songs on it so I can save power."

"What kind of songs do you got on there?" Bossk asked from the doorway, intrigued.

"Almost any style you could think of, but I'm just going to out a few jazz song on it. And yes Boba, it's similar to your people's 'Jizz.'" I started giggling again, causing Boba and Bossk to look at each other in confusion.

"Is he alright?" Bossk asked.

"I don't know. He keeps laughing at that word. He said he would tell me when I'm older."

"Ah, there we go."

Attention was back on me, as I got it set up.

"Lets see, Jazz….. here we go, 40's is close enough. The Ink Spots."

I pressed play on my phone, and Maybe play's on the speakers.

"Maybe, you'll think of me. When you are all alone…"

Bossik was surprised, "Haven't heard many songs in basic, mostly because they normally aren't that good. But this seems fine.

I guess Basic means English in this galaxy.

I turned to my sleeping sister, who seemed to be doing better.

Like a baby.

I moved towards Bassik and Boba.

"Well, while we're waiting, how about some games."

I pulled out a deck of cards that said one word, Uno.

-A Couple of Hours Later-

This is it, all of the pieces are in place, we have been defeated over and over again. But NO MORE! We cannot lose this time.

I placed my card on the stack.

We have him now, my brother in arms agrees. Wait, why is he smiling? No, NO, He Doesn't!

He did, he placed it down.

"Wild Draw Four. I win again, losers."

Bossk planted his head on the table in defeat. I quickly followed suit.

I huffed.

"You win Boba, for the 15th time. Are you sure you never played this before?"

He laughed before responding, "How could I when you and this game come from another galaxy? Hmmm?"

"Yeah, yeah, but how does someone win 15 times in a row?"

"Maybe you don't have enough skill."

"I know when I've been insulted!"

"Am I interrupting something?"

Everyone at the table turned their heads to the doorway to see Jango.

I laughed, "Na, just me and Bossk losing to your son for the fifteenth time."

"I see. Well I came in to tell Boba that he should go to bed soon. We're still nine hours away from the planet."

Boba sighed, "Yes,Dad."

With that, we all got up from our spots. Boba went to the bathroom and Bossk went with Jango.

I went over to where I placed my phone and turned it off.

Well, I'd better get shut eye, too.

I went to where Jo was sleeping and climbed to the top bunk. When I got under the sheets, I said to Jo, "Goodnight sis."

Her answer was a snore, which put me at ease.

What's going on?

Jango: Thanks again for coming Bossk, I wasn't planning for you come with us to Geonosis, let alone those kids. But, they did save Boba, and it didn't feel right leaving them there.

Bossk: It's alright, and I completely agree.

What is this….., What's happening, I know those voices. It's like my other dreams, but this time, I understand them?

Bossk: But I still think you're paranoid about this job.

What Job?

Jango: Maybe I am, but I can't get it out of my head that something's going to happen to me. Even if nothing happens, I would like to be a little prepared for Boba's sake.

Bossk: Fair enough. I got to ask though, what do you think of them? The Shepherds I mean.

Jango: Well, they are ignorant of the galaxy, although that not a bad thing. When we meet with Dooku, they won't know the difference between what Jedi and sith are.

What, what are they, and what does that have to do with anything?

"Aaron, my dad says it's time to get up. Well be there in an Hour or so."

I opened my eyes before saying, "Alright, I'll wake Jo…"

I got up from the top bunk and climbed down and saw that Jo was still asleep.

Seriously, if I wasn't around she would sleep for an eternity.

I moved closer to her bunk and shook her a little.

It didn't do anything.

Then I got an idea

"There's bacon."

She jolted up in her bed almost hitting me. "Where?!"

She looks back and forth, and saw no bacon.

"There's no bacon, is there?" She looked at me as though I betrayed her.

"Not that I know of. Come on, let's get dressed for the planet."

I pointed to the table. She looked at it in confusion.

"What is all of that?"

"Our new gear. Jango was nice enough sacrifice some of his spare equipment."

"He didn't have to do that."

"But he did, check it out."

She walked over to the table and saw the shoulder guards. I explained we would be sharing them, one for each of us.

She asked about the guns, "He called them the A-240. This nob changes from safety to fire. I don't think I need to explain a trigger for you."

She rolled her eyes, but noticed the gauntlet.

"What's this."

I picked it up and tossed it to her, "Two words: Assassins Creed."

She was drooling at the sight of it as she put it on.

I continued the run down of the equipment as she got dressed. We also decided to take our Earth weapons with us. We walked up to the door of the bridge and I got stopped by Jo.

"What is it?"

She looked nervous, as if she was afraid to tell, "I saw something last night."

She looked even more upset.

"In your dream?" I asked.

She nodded.

I continued.

"What did you see?"

After a long pause, she took a deep breath and answered me in an ominous tone.

"Death."

End Chapter