Chapter 2: Hiding
Vir entered the spaceport. Aliens of all shapes and sizes filled the huge hangar. Vir, who was naturally interested in races, went over to a simulator booth, where two pilots were pitting their self-designed ships against each other. The crowd oohed and aahed as the ships zoomed around gracefully as dancers. In a few minutes, the pilot on the right broke through his opponent's Kaltzar defence formation and won the match. The defeated teenager slumped off. His friends looked murderous.
"Ah'll give ye some cash if you beat this here ace, ye kids." a grown man who looked like winning pilot's older brother was showing off. Time to teach him a little lesson, Vir thought. And get a few credits while I'm at it.
"I'll do it." He was the only one to accept the challenge. The crowd parted, letting him walk up to the booth.
"Ha! Ye wanna do it, kid?" He glanced at his brother, who had the same smug expression on his face. "Well, dun't say ah didn't warn ye." Vir replied that comment with a determined look.
The designing part was simple. Vir had always dreamed of owning a starship, he even did research on engines and hulls and had the plans for his dream machine right in his head. But the booth didn't have the parts he wanted, so he chose a Ripell hull, twin-mounted Parasharp engines, and Treshivit Locama blaster cannons, the closest he could get to his real deal.
The lights were changing. At the green flash, Vir gunned the Parasharps and charged straight towards his opponent. The boy grinned and fired two missiles straight at Vir's fuel tank. Vir's Jedi reflexes helped him avoid the warheads just by an inch. "No warheads!" he yelled. The opponent just grinned. So you think cheating's gonna help you win, eh? Vir thought. Using the Force, he modified the game slightly to send the missiles straight back at his opponent. The crowd cheered. They didn't like cheaters either, but they had seen the boy's brother seriously injure a man just for saying so.
The dogfight was getting intense. Cheaterboy was starting to use restricted weapons which didn't even appear in the game. Then Vir saw the weakness: blast kickback. Every time the boy fired a power-packed weapon, the blast did a substantial amount of damage to the his ship. But the cheat- code he had entered enabled his shields to regenerate in about 3 seconds, no less. Vir knew what he had to do, it was the timing which was the problem. Concentrating like he had never before in a simulator, Vir charged at the boy once more. The opponent nearly burst out laughing. He was prepared. Loading a Treshvit Gargantuu Radar-warhead, he prepared to fire. As soon as the massive particle missile left the missile port, Vir swung his ship upwards and aimed his blasters right at his opponent's fuel tank. The energy shock from the blaster rays caused a massive chain reaction to form from the Troka gas petrol. Within a few seconds, nothing was left of his opponent except a huge ball of space dust. The crowd burst out cheering.
Vir smiled. Now he had some credits. Even if Big Bro decided not to pay, the Force would do the job for him.
Ten minutes later, a triumphant Vir walked towards the docking bays. Vir knew that he was on the run from the Jedi, the best place would be. The Sith. The problem was finding them. Unless.
"You, kid? Nah, I ain't takin' a lit'il childie like you for nuthin', man. Whatta you got? Labour? Ye don't look like it." the captain of the starship Viecora laughed. His crew joined in. but Vir wasn't best padawan for nuts. Without even breaking a sweat, he convinced Captain Lance Ridre to take him aboard all the way to Coruscant. There, in the Jedi Archives, were seven extremely rare holocrons, two of them Sith. He was sure that the Sith would want them back.Vir grabbed his pack and clambered through the boarding hatch.
Vir entered the spaceport. Aliens of all shapes and sizes filled the huge hangar. Vir, who was naturally interested in races, went over to a simulator booth, where two pilots were pitting their self-designed ships against each other. The crowd oohed and aahed as the ships zoomed around gracefully as dancers. In a few minutes, the pilot on the right broke through his opponent's Kaltzar defence formation and won the match. The defeated teenager slumped off. His friends looked murderous.
"Ah'll give ye some cash if you beat this here ace, ye kids." a grown man who looked like winning pilot's older brother was showing off. Time to teach him a little lesson, Vir thought. And get a few credits while I'm at it.
"I'll do it." He was the only one to accept the challenge. The crowd parted, letting him walk up to the booth.
"Ha! Ye wanna do it, kid?" He glanced at his brother, who had the same smug expression on his face. "Well, dun't say ah didn't warn ye." Vir replied that comment with a determined look.
The designing part was simple. Vir had always dreamed of owning a starship, he even did research on engines and hulls and had the plans for his dream machine right in his head. But the booth didn't have the parts he wanted, so he chose a Ripell hull, twin-mounted Parasharp engines, and Treshivit Locama blaster cannons, the closest he could get to his real deal.
The lights were changing. At the green flash, Vir gunned the Parasharps and charged straight towards his opponent. The boy grinned and fired two missiles straight at Vir's fuel tank. Vir's Jedi reflexes helped him avoid the warheads just by an inch. "No warheads!" he yelled. The opponent just grinned. So you think cheating's gonna help you win, eh? Vir thought. Using the Force, he modified the game slightly to send the missiles straight back at his opponent. The crowd cheered. They didn't like cheaters either, but they had seen the boy's brother seriously injure a man just for saying so.
The dogfight was getting intense. Cheaterboy was starting to use restricted weapons which didn't even appear in the game. Then Vir saw the weakness: blast kickback. Every time the boy fired a power-packed weapon, the blast did a substantial amount of damage to the his ship. But the cheat- code he had entered enabled his shields to regenerate in about 3 seconds, no less. Vir knew what he had to do, it was the timing which was the problem. Concentrating like he had never before in a simulator, Vir charged at the boy once more. The opponent nearly burst out laughing. He was prepared. Loading a Treshvit Gargantuu Radar-warhead, he prepared to fire. As soon as the massive particle missile left the missile port, Vir swung his ship upwards and aimed his blasters right at his opponent's fuel tank. The energy shock from the blaster rays caused a massive chain reaction to form from the Troka gas petrol. Within a few seconds, nothing was left of his opponent except a huge ball of space dust. The crowd burst out cheering.
Vir smiled. Now he had some credits. Even if Big Bro decided not to pay, the Force would do the job for him.
Ten minutes later, a triumphant Vir walked towards the docking bays. Vir knew that he was on the run from the Jedi, the best place would be. The Sith. The problem was finding them. Unless.
"You, kid? Nah, I ain't takin' a lit'il childie like you for nuthin', man. Whatta you got? Labour? Ye don't look like it." the captain of the starship Viecora laughed. His crew joined in. but Vir wasn't best padawan for nuts. Without even breaking a sweat, he convinced Captain Lance Ridre to take him aboard all the way to Coruscant. There, in the Jedi Archives, were seven extremely rare holocrons, two of them Sith. He was sure that the Sith would want them back.Vir grabbed his pack and clambered through the boarding hatch.
