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Chapter Nine High
above the Twin Brothers, Talus & Tralus, a ship explodes in space. With
lasers flashing, and missiles detonating everywhere in sight, the remaining five
ships continue to do battle. One ship, the smallest of the bunch, is a small
angular fighter. It is being attacked by the rest of the ships; a group of
marauders. They are all painted in the same fashion and marked with the
traditional Corellian symbol of power, the Eye of the Corel. As two of the
attacking ships appear to converge on their shared target from opposite sides,
the endangered ship slips below one attacker, thereby shielding him from the
other and almost causing the two marauders to collide. As the two pirate ships
veer away from each other, the lower ship suddenly explodes from the laser fire
of the little fighter. The ship passing above is hit by the blast and thrown
back into a violent spiral. Before the pilot can right his ship, the smaller
fighter (the original target) emerges and destroys it with a few well-placed
shots. The two remaining attackers, who have circled around to approach their
slippery prey from the rear, fire simultaneously and the smaller ship takes its
first damaging hit. UUNNHHH
The
blast rocks the small fighter, throwing the pilot against his harness with a
ferocious impact. Damage alarms begin to screech throughout the cockpit, but the
ship continues on its wild course with blazing speed. His vision blurred,
Jae-Lee catches a glimpse of a blinking red light coming from his instrument
panel. Another missile, locked on and coming in fast, right behind him. That
makes 5 ships. Blast. 2 more. FOCUS The
first pirate fighter screams in from high on his starboard side, laser cannons
blazing, but his vision has returned, and he switches off the redundant alarm.
With his head clear, he knows what to do, and has already begun the turning
maneuver, right into the oncoming ship. The
other ship banks right, obviously trying to avoid a game of chicken.
"Sorry, pirate. It's worse than you think." Jae-Lee whispers to
himself as he begins pumping laser blasts at the oncoming ship. As they draw
closer, the attacking fighter's shields are beginning to falter, allowing a few
shots to get through. The other pilot has stopped firing. Yeah,
you guys never see this one coming, do you? Probably working on your shields. With
a shake of his head, Jae-Lee stays with the other ship bank for bank, juke for
juke, anticipating every move, lasers constantly firing. "The
Heartburn" is perfect for maneuvers like this one. A small 2 person,
triangular scout ship, modified with additional weaponry and a few extra
surprises, it is his pride and joy. He knows his attachment with the ship could
prove to be his downfall someday, but he has owned "The Burn" for
years and it responds almost as if it were his own hand being woven playfully
through space. You're
not getting away, I need you now. As
the other ship approaches, Jae-Lee’s lasers blast mercilessly through the
shields. They finally give out, and Jae flips a switch on his control panel. With
his shields gone, and realizing his fate, the oncoming ship's pilot finally
manages to muster a single laser shot. It passes harmlessly into space. Too
little, too late. As
one light goes blue, Jae-Lee notices the red blinking warning light is growing
to a steady glow. He releases his missile, and puts all power to forward
shields. A nanosecond later, his
missile collides with the oncoming ship, blowing it to bits. Big metal bits. As
"The Burn" passes through the debris, the ship is bounced about, but
the shields hold and the damage is minimal. Yes!
The
trailing missile impacts a piece of the wreckage, exploding and sending a
shockwave blast towards Jae-Lee. The blast hits just as he's reaching for the
instrument panel. UNNNNNNHHHHHHHH
Hit
from behind, the ship begins to spin. The engines are faltering. Jae's hand has
smashed the panel during the blast, and the power now goes offline. As he spins
helplessly, he can see the glow of a ship's engines pass above him. Probably
that last ship. Guerfel! If I hadn't been so busy congratulating myself, I might
have remembered to switch my shields back over to cover my exit.
The
Burn
continues to spin, and Jae tries frantically to re-start the engines, bring
power to the weapons, anything. No good. The controls were shorted out when he
smashed into the panel and the transfer circuits are not working. He has what he
needs to fix it. But
I don't think this guy is going to wait for me, is he. Well.... I'm not dead
yet. Pulling
a small toolkit from beneath his seat, Jae-Lee quickly begins trying to patch
together enough circuits to start his engines and hopefully, get him on planet. Assuming
this guy doesn't kill me first. Wondering
why he is still alive at all, he says absently, "Jeez, Maybe he is waiting
for me." Just
then, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he caught a glimpse of a ship,
much closer this time. Strangely though, given the one glance he had, it did not
look like the same ship. "Oh, great. Just what I need, more company." He
slips the last of the replacement circuits into position and several sections of
his instrument panel spring to life. The comm light is blinking rapidly, but
starting the engines seems more important than another series of demands from a
bunch of pirates. Reviewing the damage he sees that he only has about thirty
percent left on the main engine. The other two engines are offline and will
probably need replacement parts that he does not have in the toolkit from under
the seat. It was enough to get him on planet, but just barely. That
last blast must have really got me. One more slip like that, and I'm done for. That
thought, disturbingly casual, stops him cold and brings him back to his current
reality. He is in a badly damaged ship, high above the Twin Brothers with no
allies, no defense, and no idea who was attacking him. What
happened to that last ship anyway? I should be dead by now.... The
comm light was still blinking rapidly, so he turns it on. Static
fills the cockpit and he attempts to adjust the squelch and tune in the signal,
hoping that his comm unit is not one of the other things wrong with the ship.
Slowly, he begins to make out some of the transmission. "Crassssssssssssss,
Toma- accccccchhhhhhh, Trayg-Cresssshhhhh. Pilot Reklaw, this is the Toman's
Emissary. Is Pilot Reklaw receiving transmission? Traygar wishes to speak
with Pilot Reklaw." He finally brings the signal in and is astonished to
find the somewhat friendly felinoid voice on the other end of the hailing. "Toman's
Emissary, this is Reklaw, and am I glad to hear from you!" Jae cannot
resist the smile that falls upon his face. Maybe this day is not as bad as he
thought after all. "Would
Pilot Reklaw allow Traygar to offer assistance and safe passage? Traygar’s
master has business to speak with Pilot Reklaw about, and has asked Traygar to
seek Pilot Reklaw out." Traygar's rumbled purr of a voice tells Jae that
his appearance is no accident. However, the mention of Higaeri reminds him that
his funds have gotten dangerously low, and perhaps this was another one of those
happy coincidences. "Pilot
Reklaw would be very happy to accept Traygar's offer of assistance and the
transport as well. Pilot Reklaw is transmitting The Burn's docking
sequence now, and awaits the Toman's Emissary’s arrival. Many thanks
from Pilot Reklaw to Traygar." Speaking in the dialect of the Togorian was
cumbersome, but Jae always tried very hard to honor his old associate. It was
hard for him not to, seeing as Traygar had saved his skin on occasions far too
numerous to name, this being just one more. Jae
busies himself with what few repairs he can make as he waits for the docking
sequence to be completed. He also is careful to gather up all of his data-chips
and stow them in his satchel before the Emissary’s crew starts in on
his fighter. Traygar and Toman might be friends, but they are also smugglers and
information is a very valuable commodity in both of their businesses.
Creator: arrowheadpodracer (Josh)
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©2002 Rocky Mountain Fan Force
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