Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 21 to 40 of 43

Thread: Unraveling

  1. #21
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Shuvin Undhi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Alderaan — the ship
    Posts
    164

    Shuvin II

    She was always a pragmatic girl, despite the dreams she dreamed. She always thought of it like a staircase; the aspiration was the landing at the top, and each step was an obstacle or goal that needed to be surmounted to get to it.

    She loved being free, and for better or worse, she’d come to see her freedom personified in bumbling, cowardly Ben Merasska. As long as he was around, she wasn’t so worried about things going bad. It was an emotional judgment, she knew it, but she couldn’t care. The only thing that really worried her was that one day he’d either get himself killed, or he’d fire her.

    And then where would she be? She needed to hedge her bets, and rather than risk the galaxy on another kind soul, she’d rather bank on the one she’d managed to find.





    When Ned left, she’d made her move, and it backfired badly.

    “Shuvin,” Ben said, visibly trying to get a handle on himself. “What was that?”

    “Ben,” she answered with what she felt was a cute impish grin. “That was a kiss. Pretty good, huh? There’s more where that came from.”

    She waggled her brows. Ben couldn’t help himself — he laughed.

    “You’re what, sixteen? Shuvin, I’m almost thirty. Did you forget? Cause I sure haven’t.”

    “Aw, what? ‘Fraid you’re robbing the cradle? Abusing your position as Captain to get sexytimes from your young and beautiful and exotic mechanic? ‘Cause you totally can, you know. I’m down for it.”

    “Lyanie’s gonna kill me,” Ben sighed. “I know it. I haven’t even done anything but I’m still gonna die. Shuvin, do you know the dating rule?”

    Shuvin frowned.

    “It’s the standard by which any healthy age gap can be measured. Cut your age in half, and add seven. You’re sixteen. Right now, by this time-honored and most equitable method, the lowest I can go is...”

    His eyes unfocused.

    “Sixteen,” she answered in a matter-of-fact tone, jarring him from his mental calculations.

    “Really? Wait, no, no. It’s twenty-one. Two and a One. Put them together and they make twenty-one, which is the lowest I can go without calling myself a deviant.”

    “So it works the other way too, right? Twice my age plus seven? I could go for guys as old as thirty-nine? Wow, you’re looking a lot less creepy when it’s put like that, huh?”

    “No, Shuvin. That’s not how it works.”

    “Nope!” she sang. “Can’t have it one way without having it both!”

    “Shuvin!” he said, and she stopped. He let out a deep breath. “No. Even if you wanted this, which I don’t think you do,” he raised his voice to drown out her attempted ‘I do want it!’ “It would be wrong. I’d be taking advantage of you. All right? Not to mention I think you’re selling yourself short. There’s much better, younger guys out there for you.”

    He’d walked off, and she’d been left feeling like she’d taken a couple steps backward on the path to security and freedom for her cute tight ass.

    But looking back on it later, she realized he’d never looked at her like she was a child since that moment.

  2. #22
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Shuvin Undhi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Alderaan — the ship
    Posts
    164

    Shuvin III

    Thankfully, that little incident had blown over; but then there was Sarin, who was perhaps to the teen one of the more creepy guys she’d ever met. Still cool, but creepy. Creepy-cool. Like the main character of one of those holofilms that all the girls say, ‘he’s so intense and passionate but he keeps it inside, squee!’

    Shuvin never tried to talk about holoflicks with any girls her age ever again.

    But Sarin seemed to see right away the tension and never said a word about it; but he looked at her, and she knew he knew. All he did was quirk his mouth and tilt his head to the side, and Shuvin didn’t want to know what he meant by that.

    After that they’d got into a rhythm of work that was both thrilling and boring at the same time. A hair-raising cargo-heist from a competitor freighter lost out in the black against another ship gunning for the same cargo, a smooth and incidentless journey from Dac to Carshoulis and back again.

    And then came the Slave Necklace Incident.

    Ben called it the Children Race for the Murder Marathon, but since she was one of the ones under the spell of the Necklaces (at least until the Mayor’s palace, where somehow Ben got the damn thing off), for her it was the Necklace Incident.

    That was when they’d met Cerie.

    A month after that, Shuvin had asked her for advice on how to properly net Ben as a nightly warm fleshy body pillow. The conversation went like this:

    "Hey, Cerie. What do you think of Ben?"

    "Oh, I s'pose he's nice enough."

    "Mhm. So, if I wanted to... you know, use him as a warm fleshy body pillow every night, that wouldn't bother you?"

    "Umm... well... no?"

    "Right. Good. I'm glad. So, you can tell he's kinda skittish, right? I tried before and was shot down. Said I was too young and to stop sneaking into his cabin. So, how would you break him down?"

    "If you tried before and didn't get anywhere, how do you know he's changed his mind by now?"

    "Cerie, it's less about him changing his mind and more about him realizing that he's wasting time when he could be happily bedding me."

    "Gods woman, don't say those things while I'm drinking, aight? To be honest, I'm just not sure. The man has a bunch of issues, I think."

    "That's underselling it I think."

    "I suppose you could just start by talking to him."

    "...We already talk. Cerie, come on. I'm asking for advice here."

    "Yeah, but about what? Have you ever asked him what he likes to do in his spare time? Find out what interests him."

    "He likes to build models of Nubian ships. His favorite music is Jazz. In his spare time he fiddles with controls and readouts in the cockpit and asks me what needs fixing the most and then what's the cheapest thing to fix after I tell him that."

    "Oof. That's a tough one. Maybe you should buy tickets to a jazz festival or something on the next planet we visit?"

    "...That's... that's a good idea. Except for the whole buying thing. We didn't make out too well from the job we were on when you joined, and since then, Ben's been a bit leery of starports, if you haven't noticed."

    "...I don't blame him."

    "Parked on a carved mountain and nearly started a war. Left marks in some farmer's maize and was passed off as an unregistered UFO... Don't forget the Lambda Shuttle Incident."

    "Ugh, don't remind me. You know, if money is an issue, I bet you could get by with little things. Like a Jazz datadisc, a box of Cheez-O's, and other stuff like that."

    "Mmmm... Cheez-O's... But I suppose. It's not supposed to be this difficult. Do you really think I should just... wait until he's comfortable with it? What if he dies, or I die, or something happens to Alderaan?"

    "My mom once asked me a question when she found out about a boy I used to have a crush on. She said, 'Now you lissen 'ere, Rie-Rie. I wan' you to pay close 'tention, ok? Do you LIKE, or LOVE dat boy?' So, I s'pose I'll ask you the same. Do you like Ben? Or do you love him?"

    "I dunno. Never thought about it like that. Ben's here, I like him, let's make this a thing, you know? Is it really that important?"

    "You can't love a person if you don't like them, but you can like a person and never love them. Least, that was what my mom always told me. Some sort of old lady wisdom I guess. But honestly? it might not be important to you, but it might be the most important thing to him."

    "Huh. I guess. Well, I'll get going. Thanks Cerie. Oh yeah, Ben hid that last box of Cheez-O's in the cockpit under the scanner panel."

    "That womprat fink!"

    Love. That word rattled around her head such that she thought she could hear it bouncing against the inside of her montrals. Finally, she couldn't take it.

    "Ben?"

    "Hm? What?" he glanced back at her from where he leaned back in the pilot's seat, a mug of something in his hand and up to his mouth.

    "Do you love me?"

    He choked, and spasmed in the seat, spitting out his drink and coughing for a good thirty seconds before finally calming down. He looked at her warily.

    "What?"

  3. #23
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Shuvin Undhi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Alderaan — the ship
    Posts
    164

    Shuvin IV

    "Ha, Ben."

    "Shuvin," the human answered, leaning back in his seat and glancing at her, a mug of caf in his hand. Outside, Jovan Station hummed with activity, ships both large and small jockeying into position around it. "What's on your mind? Bein' serious, here."

    Shuvin giggled, but let the Captain off the hook.

    "Could you teach me how to fly? Alderaan, I mean."

    Ben blinked, but didn't seem against the idea.

    "Don't see a problem in it, but I didn't think there was any interest in learnin' to fly."

    "Didn't think I ever could," Shuvin answered, sitting down in the co-pilot's seat. "One of the worst things 'bout slavery: kinda kills your aspirations. I wanted to be a singer, dancer. Yeah, I know. But ain't no one teachin' a little girl how to fly, 'specially if she's a slave. I learned to wash and mend. Clothes. Fetched drinks and cleaned. After a while, I just... well, it just became a part of who I was. I was a washer, a cleaner. Plenty of good people, but there's a difference 'tween choosin' to wash and clean, and being told that's all you're worth to train."

    She glanced over at Ben, feeling a little jolt in her belly at the way he looked at her. He was listening to her. He was looking at her, and wasn't saying a word, wasn't thinking of anything else. She wouldn't have been mad if he had been; stars knew he had plenty to think about, even while doing something else. A sudden sense of anxiety, boldness, and panic washed over her, but she pushed it aside and just enjoyed his full attention, looking at her hands just sitting in her lap. Ben didn't do prolonged direct communication; he'd always avert his eyes and focus on something else in a conversation.

    "So I just started to believe it. Nah, not believe... more like I hoped that I could be better'n that."

    Shuvin stopped, and glanced up. Ben was looking down at the floor, past the mug of caf he held close to his mouth. His eyes cleared and met hers.

    "Spent years bein' someone else's thing. But now, now I'm free, and I can do anything, and it's all kinda scary. So I'm thinkin' to myself 'bout just learnin' to do somethin' new. And I think about how you just love flyin', an' how nice it'd be if I could learn that. Maybe I'd love it too."

    "Suppose I do love it," Ben hummed to himself thoughtfully, looking off to the side and scratching his chin. "Flyin's pretty much all I've ever done. How old're you now?"

    "Seventeen," Shuvin answered.

    "When I was seventeen, I was learning how to fly too," Ben said, standing up. "Come on, then. Best to get familiar with everything."

    "Kwe!" Shuvin gasped, and jumped into the pilot's seat.

    Ben leaned against the seat, pointing out the controls and explaining the layout, and Shuvin once more felt free.

  4. #24
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Shuvin Undhi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Alderaan — the ship
    Posts
    164

    Shuvin V

    "Ah, done for the day?" Ben asked, seeing an exhausted looking Shuvin sitting at the galley table. She sighed and leaned back, pushing her empty plate away to the center of the table.

    "Got the landing gear working again," the seventeen year old said. "Some of the hydraulics and servos were in bad need of some care. Got the cargo crane working in the bays. We should be able to load up the lift without leaving the console now. The blast doors in the port fin screech sumthen fierce. Wasn't able to get to that. Dunno whither it's a lubrication issue or if somethin's seizing. All I wanna do is sit down and watch some Black Throne."

    "Dunno what that is," Ben said, sitting down some distance away.

    "Holodrama," Shuvin responded, her enthusiasm making her more alert. "It's this great show about Empress Teta and the Unification Wars against the mining guilds. Lots o' tits and fighting. Not at all how it actually went down, but oh man it's good. You wanna watch with?"

    Ben snorted, and was about to turn the girl down, but stopped.

    "Wait, how're you getting a signal? We're in hyperspace."

    Shuvin grinned, her face lighting up in glee.

    "I got me a little thing," she said. "Deemo, you good?"

    Ben grimaced and watched as the S19 unit trundled into the galley, wubbing and turning its domepiece to regard Shuvin and the captain.

    "Every time Deemo jacks into a system with holonet access, I programmed him to sift through the traffic and download some shows. I had to rig a separate drive for it, and then connect that drive to the holoprojector and main processor with some cables and a lot of coding to make sure everything played nice together."

    "Damn," Ben murmured. "That's impressive. What, you're gonna watch it in here?"

    "Unless you wanna watch it with me in my bunk," Shuvin glanced over at the Captain. Ben looked at her awkwardly. "Naked."

    The look on Ben's face made her laugh hard enough that her stomach hurt.

    "Out here's fine," he managed.

    "Fine, but sit next to me you awkward dolt," she said, pulling him over. "I need something more comfy than the bench to lay on when I pass out."

    Deemo wubbed a little tune as the holoprojector flared to life, filtering from blue to green to red and back to blue. As the opening credits flickered into shape atop the galley table, Shuvin leaned against Ben and smiled.

    "Last time, on Black Throne..."

  5. #25
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    flying a starship is no different than riding a bicycle, just a lot harder to put smashball cards in the spokes!


    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ben Merasska's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Take me out to the black, Tell them I ain't comin' back, You can't take the sky from me.
    Posts
    849

    Star Destroyer!

    "Okay, problem."

    Ben put the bottle down on the galley tabletop. Cerie looked at it, and then back at him, an expression of dawning horror on her face.

    "This is the last beer."

    A bead of sweat formed and ran down the bottle's sleek side, tantalizing and beckoning.

    "Obviously we have to figure out who gets it."

    Cerie nodded seriously, proposing her terms: "A game. Winner gets it."

    Ben crossed his arms, "What game though? We need something fair, whose results are indisputable."

    So began the Game Hunt. A search through the drawers and cabinets in the galley turned up a sabacc set, a dejarik board, a beat looking box with the words 'Galactic Expansion' written on it in black marker, a little metallic Triga box, and finally a larger box with a Victory and a Providence Star Destroyer facing each other, with other myriad ships surrounding them.

    "Didn't think we had so many," Ben sighed. "Go ahead and pick."

    Cerie frowned, and then pointed at the Star Destroyer box. "Prepare to lose, Merasska."

    "Not when the stakes are so high, Cerie."

    Cerie handed him the Separatist board. He lifted the top, setting it as a shield against peeking, and watched as a holographic cube flickered into existence above it. Ben settled in and began placing his ships.

    "Whatchall doin'? Playin' a game?" Ben jumped and glanced up. Shuvin looked at him, and then Cerie with curious eyes. "What is it?"

    "Star Destroyer," Ben answered, placing his Recusant diagonally and pointing down. Hopefully the odd orientation would trip her up. "Never heard of it?"

    "Nope," Shuvin answered, leaning over and looking at the box.

    "Basic premise is that we each have five ships. We set them up in our field, which is ten by ten by ten. Then we call out coordinates, trying to destroy the other person's ships."

    "Huh," Shuvin hummed.

    "Ready to watch me enjoy this beer, Merasska?"

    "No," Ben answered. "But I'm ready to have it myself."

    "Fat chance. Let's play. X:4, Y:4, Z:4."

    "...Miss! X:5, Y:3, Z:-2."

    "Damn you! Hit. X:6, Y:4, Z:3."

    "...hit. Really? Damn it."

    They played for thirty minutes, but in the end, Cerie managed to eke out a victory, her little attack shuttle one hit away from being space dust. Ben leaned back and closed his eyes, unwilling to watch Cerie enjoy her victory. The bottle was opened, and sound of drinking and smacked lips echoed.

    "We should have put it back in the cooler, Ben. It's warm."

    Ben smirked. "We? It's your beer, Cerie."

    "Sore loser." She drank some more and loudly gasped in satisfaction, followed by a slight sound of distaste.

    "Sure am," Ben sighed, accepting Shuvin's consolation prize of a soft drink.

  6. #26
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    flying a starship is no different than riding a bicycle, just a lot harder to put smashball cards in the spokes!


    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ben Merasska's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Take me out to the black, Tell them I ain't comin' back, You can't take the sky from me.
    Posts
    849

    Nightmares

    It started with a hum.

    He was back in the little shuttle, kneeling next to a cizerack whose blankets were becoming darker red with blood. On the floor next to the bed was a woman with a beanie and short curls of hair reaching around its edges.

    He felt cold, reaching down into his bones.

    “Don’t use your energy,” he said through shivers. “You’ll die.”

    “I’ll run again someday,” the cizerack hummed softly. Rafine smiled at him.

    He looked at his fingers. They were blue.

    “We’re gonna die.”

    “...someday.”

    He was strapped down onto a table, shivering, though not cold. His hands were fists, but he couldn’t feel them. A bright light was shining in his face, burning through his lids and making spots appear.

    “No, not this again!” he gasped. He could hear the growls of the monsters as they settled the instrument in place and activated it. “No!”

    Pain, far greater than anything he’d ever experienced, lanced through him and settled deep in his marrow, in his skull, behind his eyes, and stayed there. It was tearing into him, tearing him apart, away from himself. He glanced over, turning his face away from the light, and saw the bodies of those before him tossed carelessly onto the floor.

    Shuvin is in a chair nearby, her features waxen and still, blood oozing out into the cushion.

    He could feel himself being ripped into pieces.

    He screams.

    He wakes, feeling cold and pain, and sees a familiar ceiling. It takes a minute for him to register that he’s not freezing to death or watching someone die. He’s in Alderaan.

    He’s alive.

  7. #27
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Shuvin Undhi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Alderaan — the ship
    Posts
    164

    Shuvin VI

    It started with a mumble.

    She was sitting at the galley table with a couple of datapads, looking at readouts with a hologram of Alderaan’s deckplan casting a glow over the area.

    “Ben, whaddaya think e’ —” She turned and stopped mid sentence. Ben was asleep, his head awkwardly lolling to the side. For a moment, she just looked at him, fascinated by the peaceful air around her normally nervous captain.

    She went back to work soon enough, this time with a small smile on her face.

    She didn’t know how much time had passed since then, but she was in the middle of a flimsi long equation describing heat diffusion in the cradles when Ben gasped.

    She looked over again.

    Ben was shivering, curling up into himself and sliding to lay down on the bench, murmuring indistinctly to himself. She felt shy and hesitant now. This was definitely something Ben wouldn’t want her to see. She pressed a hand to his cheek.

    “You’re freezing,” she said to the sleeping man, her hand drifting back to scratch in his hair.

    Ben shivered.

    Shuvin hummed to herself and reached under the bench seat for a woven blanket she knew Ben kept there.

    “Rafine,” Ben gasped, tears trailing down his cheekbones. Shuvin draped the blanket over the man.

    ‘Panic, I’ve found, rarely helps the situation, which the Gamorrean learned a bit too late. A few deep breaths and a calm demeanor go a long way.’

    “Thanks, Uncle Neesh,” Shuvin murmured to herself, before again addressing the sleeping man:

    “Bad dreams, eh Cappie?” She hummed. “Bitcha don’t have a shortage of those, do you? I can live with it, long as you wake up.”

    She went back to work, but with only half a mind and one hand. The other wiped the tears from his face. She almost cried herself when he started screaming. She wondered how Cerie was sleeping through it, and then saw the woman standing just beyond the doorway into the ring corridor.

    Neither of them said anything to each other. Cerie walked in when she realized she was seen, and grabbed herself a tin of water.

    Ben stopped screaming and settled for a moment.

    “Don’t stay up too late, Shuvin,” Cerie whispered, giving Ben a quick look over before going back to her bunk.

    She only moved her hand when he began spasming, sometimes violently enough to fall off the bench only to stop just before slipping.

    Ben woke a couple hours later, jerking awake with a gasp, panting as if he’d been sprinting. Shuvin blinked at him and gave him a sleepy grin.

    “Will, looks like sleepyhead woke up. Glad to have you back, Cappie.”

    She kept her tone light, but the tear tracks on her own face and her own relief must have given her away. She avoided his eyes by getting up and pouring two tins of caf.

    “What’d I say?” Ben asked, wrapping his hands around the tin.

    “Can’t quite recall,” Shuvin responded, sitting back down next to him. He looked down at the steaming caf, and laughed shortly to himself. “Just bad dreams, y’know? Ain’t none of my business ‘liss your tillin’ me all wakeful-like.”

    He smiled.

    “I did git a bit worried, but dreams are dreams. Long as you wake up from ‘im.”

    Ben said nothing for a moment, just looking at his caf and the steam rising from it.

    “Go to sleep, Shuvin,” he said finally.

    “Still got work to do,” she answered, trying to force back a yawn.

    “Your Syragor’s coming out. Only does when you’re too tired to not.”

    She grimaced.

    “Right. Sleepy-time then. Night, Cappie.”

    “G’night, Shuvin.”

    She leaned in and pecked him on the cheek, stumbling off to her bunk and leaving a silent man behind.

  8. #28
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Shuvin Undhi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Alderaan — the ship
    Posts
    164

    A Dream Fulfilled I

    sarin — i got your message. keeping it a secret from ben. i want it to be a surprise. don’t tell him! <3 shuvin


    “What’ve we got, Shuvin?”

    She jumped and spun around, nearly falling over the comm seat.

    “Stars, Ben!” She gasped, and fell back into the seat. “Would’ve scared the chrome off a battle droid, sneaking up like that!”

    Ben smiled and looked her over. She smiled back.

    “You alright? Normally you’re the one doing the frightening.”

    “Just got a message from Sarin and wasn’t listening,” she said, waving his concern away with a hand. She turned and sent the message and closed the comm suite.

    Ben sat down in the pilot’s chair and turned to face her.

    “Everything good?”

    “Oh yeah Cappie, just shiny!”

    “So did Sarin send anything related to work?”

    “Sure did, Cap’n!” she cheered. “Got a nice payin’ job just waiting. Something about you being first choice.”

    “Really?” he asked, looking pleased if a bit disbelieving.

    “No lie,” she promised. Ben leaned back in the chair and smiled wider, nodding.

    “Alright. After this there’s something over by Tatooine I want to take a look at.”

    Shuvin settled herself in the copilot’s chair and began a diagnostic scan.

    “Sounds like a plan,” was all she said. “Something solid?”

    “Hope so,” Ben said, watching her prep the ship. “That’s not too bad. Don’t try and be fast. Get it right, get a flow. You’ll get quicker as you go along.”

    She nodded, stifling a grin.

    “What is it?” he asked; apparently she hadn’t kept a good lid on that grin.

    He asked for it.

    “Bet that’s what you say to all the girls,” she snickered. “’Get a good flow going. You’ll get quicker as you go on.’”

    Ben grimaced. “That’s not what I said.”

    “Close enough,” she laughed.

    “Yeah, yeah.”

    She leaned back and watched Ben take over, inputting coordinates and calculations for the trip to Contruum. He glanced at her as he worked.

    “Got something on me?”

    “Yep. Your face.”

    “Something’s got you real chipper. Suppose I’ll find out what it is soon enough.”

    She smiled. “I think it’s gonna be a good day.”

    “Here’s hoping you’re right,” Ben grinned back.

  9. #29
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Shuvin Undhi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Alderaan — the ship
    Posts
    164

    A Dream Fulfilled II

    Contruum in its browns and greens loomed before them.


    Alderaan, you’re cleared for landing pad 7. Welcome back.”




    Sarinton looked to be bustling and lively, in a frontier sort of way. Shuvin found it nicer than its Core World counterpart. Less flashy, more alive.


    In a change from the norm, Sarin was waiting for them at the pad. He gave them his usual opaque smile.

    “Welcome back, Captain Merasska,” he said, perhaps trying to be friendly, but it came across as more distant and aloof.

    “Sarin,” Ben returned, shaking the man’s hand.

    “I hope everything is well,” the oligarch asked.

    “Well as can be, I suppose,” Ben answered, glancing back to his ship as Cerie, Esther, and Shuvin walked down the ramp, with Deemo close behind.

    “Sarin!” Shuvin cheered. Sarin’s smile seemed to become a little more natural.

    “Miss Undhi. Miss Moreau. Miss Hadrana.”

    “We’re all ready, Sarin,” Shuvin said. Sarin nodded.

    “Very well. I’ll leave it to you.”

    Shuvin saluted the man and turned to find Ben looking at her warily, Cerie regarding her with amusement and curiosity, and Esther with plain curiosity. Not too far from the normal way of things, truth be told.

    “It’s a surprise,” Shuvin explained. “I heard about it and knew it was right up our hyperlane.”

    Ben nodded, mollified. “Okay.”

    “And I know you’ll absolutely love it, Ben… eh? Okay?”

    “Okay, Shuvin. I trust you.”

    “Ah, right,” she said, shifting on her feet and giving a silly smile. “Right. Well, this way!”

    “Landing pad 14, Miss Undhi,” Sarin supplied. Shuvin spun on one foot to face the opposite direction.

    “Right!”

    “Shuvin,” Esther trotted up to walk beside the older girl. “What’re we going to do?”

    “You’ll see! It’s a surprise!” Shuvin smiled and pressed he index finger to her nose. With a glance back at Ben, she leaned closer to Esther. “A good one.”

  10. #30
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Shuvin Undhi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Alderaan — the ship
    Posts
    164

    A Dream Fulfilled III

    The trek from 7 to 14 wasn’t a short one. After about ten minutes and some futile wheedling from Esther, they arrived.

    “Okay,” Shuvin said, keying in a code for the enclosed and roofed landing bay. She turned to face her three most important people in the galaxy. “Get ready to feast your eyes!”

    The doors opened and with a loud cry of motors and hydraulics, revealing only darkness.

    “Amazing,” Ben said in wonder.

    “I can’t believe it,” Cerie gasped.

    “It’s just dark,” Esther said.

    Shuvin turned and frowned.

    “No automatic lights, come on!” She grumbled. “Wait, wait just a second. The lights have to be here somewhere.”

    “Nah, I figure I’ll just walk right on in there,” Ben said. Cerie snickered, and Esther just stepped forward and peered into the darkness curiously.

    Shuvin shot him a glare, and stomped into the entrance, reaching along the wall for the light controls.

    “There! Now, feast your eyes!”

    The Lights turned on with echoing clacks as the circuits engaged.

    “Yes, come on, let’s go!” Shuvin grabbed Ben’s hand and pulled him into the bay.

    “Okay, okay, what’s the hurry, the light’s aren’t warmed up… yet…”

    Ben stopped and squeezed Shuvin’s hand. She squeezed back, a smile threatening to split her face completely as she watched him.

    “Shuvin. That’s a…”

    “Yep.”

    “I’m not dreaming?”

    “Nope.”

    “Well, would you look at that,” Cerie breathed, an impressed smile on her lips.

    “...It’s a ship,” Esther said, underwhelmed. “It’s a really broken ship.”

    “I’ll forgive you this once for lack of knowledge,” Ben said to his niece. “This is a Nubian Type T-23. A transport or yacht that could operate and travel in more dangerous space.”

    “It’s called the T-23 because twenty-three mid-rim worlds went in together on the order for a personal transport for high profile people, you know, politicians and what not. They ordered two hundred of these beauties and split the order based on the percentage they paid,” Shuvin explained. “A couple worlds couldn’t make their payments though and ten went to the open market.”

    “How did Sarin get his hands on one of these?” Ben asked, walking forward and resting his hands on the hull.

    “I don’t know how Sarin found one, but I convinced him to get her. He wasn’t sure about the price on top of the repairs needed. I promised him I’d fix her up and get her to fly again. I knew you’d jump at the chance to test fly her.”

    Ben tore his eyes from the ship and turned back to Shuvin, sweeping her into a tight hug.

    “You are my favorite person in the whole galaxy, Shuvin Undhi,” he breathed, his face in the crook of her neck. Shuvin felt it on her skin and she tingled, kicking her feet a bit where they dangled over the floor.

    “Enough to kiss?” Shuvin asked.

    “Don’t push your luck,” Ben answered, but didn’t release her.

  11. #31
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Shuvin Undhi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Alderaan — the ship
    Posts
    164

    A Dream Fulfilled IV

    “So, what’s wrong with her?” Cerie asked.

    “Well, I know she can’t fly, which could be any number of things honestly,” Shuvin said, keeping a lid on her disappointment when Ben set her back to the ground.

    “We’ll have to do a diagnostic then,” Ben said. “Figure out what’s wrong before we start peerin’ in her innards.”

    He rubbed his hands together.


    15 minutes

    “Let’s get this started,” Ben smiled, and started up the ship.

    Nothing happened.

    Ben didn’t stop smiling.

    “Ben, are you gonna start her up?”

    “Nuts.”



    2 hours


    “Try it now,” Shuvin called, running up to the cockpit and sliding to a stop next to Esther. Ben and Cerie were in the pilot’s and copilot’s chairs, with panels and accesses opened and spilling wires in front of them.

    “Here it goes,” Ben said, and pushed the button.

    The ship’s core warmed up, slowly, and with audible grinding.

    “Shutting her down,” Ben called. The core’s whine petered to nothing, and Ben turned to regard his crew. They filed out into the ship proper, avoiding piled deck-plating and tool boxes.

    “Sounds like dirty turbines,” Ben sighed, kneeling down to look at the dusty interior of the core. Shuvin nodded and wiped her hands with a rag.

    “Wiring looks pretty shot in places too,” she said. Cerie pulled out a datapad and began marking on it.

    “Engines and thrusters look to be in good condition though,” the blonde said. “At least the multimeter’s showing they have good connections.”

    “Well, looks like we got ourselves some work to do. Shuvin, mind taking Esther to clean out the turbines? I’ll get starting on hunting down the bad connections; Cerie, help me out and keep checking currents and voltages. Once we get a full diagnostic scan done, I expect we’ll have much more to do.”

    “Sarin left us some supplies out there,” Shuvin said. “Come on Esther, let’s get crackin’, ha?”

    “Right,” the thirteen year old said.

  12. #32
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Shuvin Undhi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Alderaan — the ship
    Posts
    164

    A Dream Fulfilled V

    “It shouldn’t take too long to finish up voltages and all that,” Cerie mused as they tromped down the entry ramp. “I’ll go along the harness to the core and check from there to the cockpit. Hopefully that’s the issue and it’s not in the crawlspaces.”


    “She don’t seem that beat,” Ben noted. “I’m thinking that there was an upgrade or a replacement when she started having issues and they didn’t want to pay extra for Nubia to repair it.”

    They loaded a hoversled with spools of wire gauges, cutters, insulated gloves, multimeters, and tool boxes. Shuvin and Esther loaded another with masks, buckets, rags, cleaning solutions and spray bottles, as well as spray insulation and nozzles for air and water hoses. Both sleds took copies of the deckplans and specifications.

    “We’ll work a few hours, break for lunch, and see where that gets us,” Ben said, smiling at the Nubian transport.



    5 hours



    “Turbines are clear,” Shuvin said, crouching down with Esther by the open decking and peering in. Ben poked his head out and grinned. Shuvin thought he looked nice, even with smudges of grease and dirt on his face.

    “Nice,” he said. “Go ahead and tell Cerie we’re gonna break for now. We’ll eat and get some rest before we get back to it.”

    “I’ll tell her,” Esther volunteered, standing up and running off to the cockpit.

    Shuvin sat down, letting her legs dangle down into Ben’s workspace.

    “Doin’ all this makes me a bit antsy about Alderaan,” Ben grunted, returning to his work stripping a wire and twisting a connector to it. He checked the voltage once more before pushing the connector into a slot in the wiring panel. “Not worried, but… when was the last time we did somethin’ like this for her?”

    “Been a while,” Shuvin agreed, swinging her legs in short arcs to keep from hitting Ben. “Maybe after this then. Payout should be nice.”

    Ben nodded, setting the multimeter and strippers in a toolbox by his feet and turning around, nearly getting a foot in his face in the process. Shuvin scrambled back to her feet and reached down to help Ben out.

    “What’re we eating?” Cerie asked while walking back to them, Esther on her heels. She stopped and Esther barely kept from walking into the woman. Cerie raised her eyebrow at the sight of Ben and Shuvin’s joined hands. “Need some privacy?”

    “Just helping Ben out of the access,” Shuvin said without a shred of shame. “So yes.”

    Ben pulled his hands away.

    “Wasn’t there an Atrisian place on the way here?” he asked, pulling the insulated gloves off.


    “Yeah, I remember that,” Cerie said, still amused but letting him change the subject.

    “Ooh, that sounds good!” Shuvin jumped and looked around for a flimsipad. “I want fried noodles, with meat!”

    “I know what I want. Ben, Esther?”

    “I’ve never had Atrisian food before,” Esther admitted.

    “Go ahead, take Esther. I’m fine with whatever. Just get a lot,” Ben said. “I’ll stay here with the ship and clean up.”

    Cerie shrugged and grinned at Esther, who smiled back and followed the woman out. Shuvin lagged behind them, unusually quiet.


  13. #33
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Shuvin Undhi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Alderaan — the ship
    Posts
    164

    A Dream Fulfilled VI

    “Hey,” she said at the bottom of the entry ramp. “I’ll, uh, I’ll stay here with Ben. Knowin’ him, he’ll probably do some more work while we’re gone instead of cleaning up.”

    Cerie smirked at the Togruta knowingly.

    “All right,” she said. “Good luck.”

    Shuvin laughed weakly, and watched them walk off.

    “Hokay,” she breathed, wiping her palms on her trousers. “Hokay. Nothin’ to be nervous about.”

    True to her predicition, Ben was back in the darkened access, continuing to wire and replace connection plates. She watched him for a moment, unsure of what to say.

    “Back to it, then?” Shuvin said, drawing a blank on anything else.

    “Thought you’d be out there with them. I know you like to see the sights,” Ben said in a non-answer. “I don’t have that much left right here to do. Thought I could finish it up before you all came back.”

    “Didn’t feel right, leaving you here by your lonesome.”

    She dropped down into the access and slipping on a pair of gloves herself, started to work on another set of wires.

    “Hey, Ben,” she said after a minute or two of silence.

    “Hm?” he grunted, focused on his work. Shuvin turned and watched as he kept at it until the connector was tightened and secure.

    “I, uh,” she paused, and he turned around.

    “You all right?” he asked.

    “Ben,” she tried again. “Damn it. Why’s this so difficult?”

    “Shuvin, it’s okay,” Ben said with an understanding smile.

    “What?” Shuvin felt curiously light and heavy at the same time.

    “I get it. It’s fine.”

    Now she felt like she’d run into a wall. Not pain, but simply sheer dizziness and incomprehension. He understood? He could tell? She flushed.

    Of course he could tell, it wasn’t like she’d been subtle about it these past few years! But this was the first time he said he understood! Was he, were they, did she…

    “I’m glad,” she breathed. He turned back to the wires, making her a little confused.

    “You don’t need to worry about it, Shuvin. I understand. It’s hard to say.”

    “I didn’t think it would be,” she said.

    “You don’t need to be scared about it.”

    “I know, but I was!” she laughed in relief. He knew! Of course he knew, but he knew!

    “Do you have something lined up then?”

    What?

  14. #34
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Shuvin Undhi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Alderaan — the ship
    Posts
    164

    Shuvin VIII: What is Love? (Baby Don't Hurt Me)

    Continued from here.

    Ben sat across from her, drumming his fingers on the table. A pot of caf sat on the table between them, a stray curl of steam wafting into the air.

    Her eyes focused on that curl, instead of on him. His face was almost stern, an expression that didn't fit him.

    "What brought this on, again?" He asked, finally, grabbing the kettle and pouring the stimulant into his tin tumbler. The movement disrupted the steam and brought her eyes to focus on him again.

    "Well, I was talking with Cerie, and…" she flushed, uncharacteristically embarrassed and not quite sure why. "Well, she said that there's a difference between like and love, and well I never really thought about it before, you know?"

    "I could've guessed, yeah," Ben answered, pouring the powder creamer, sweetener, and a bit of cocoa into his tin.

    "I think I'm in love with you," she said, watching him. Ben jerked, almost spilling his caf while stirring it. "I wanted to know if you love me too."

    "I don't think you are," Ben said, stirring his caf some more and studiously keeping his eyes on the swirling liquid. "In love with me, I mean."

    Shuvin frowned. "Well, how would you know? You ain't me."

    "I think you're scared, and I ain't a scary guy, so you want to hold on to something you can, uh, take comfort in, or something like that."

    There was something in that collection of words that felt like a punch to her gut.

    "I think you love me, but you ain't in love with me, you know?"

    "What the kriff is the difference?" She bit out, feeling defensive and off balance. Ben winced and kept stirring his caf.

    "Well? Cause I think I'm crazy for you, got all sorts of things I'd like to do, and I'm not gettin' it. These feelings are love, it's said in the books and films and all over the place."

    Ben stopped stirring and looked at her. She flushed and stared back. He typed in a few queries into the data pad and a few moments later a hologram flickered to life over the table.

    'Life stages of a Nuna' was underneath the diagram.

    "Now I'm not too good at talkin' things through, so just bear with me, all right? Just listen for a sec. So, we got a nuna here. All the stages of a nuna."

    Shuvin rolled her eyes, but stayed quiet.

    "Just, just bear with me. So all along, the nuna don't look the same at all, right? You got the egg, the chick, and then the younglin' stage, and then full grown nuna. But they're all the nuna, just not the nuna they're gonna be, and not the nuna they were.

    "And even then, unless it's fertilized, that egg ain't never gonna become a nuna. When it is, it's a nuna in an egg, and it stays a nuna when it hatches. It might look different, but it's just as much a nuna then as when it's grown. But they ain't the same, you get me? That chick is a nuna, but it ain't a nuna in the same way as in the egg or when it's full grown."

    Shuvin looked at him blankly.

    Ben sighed.

    "Look, love's like a nuna like that too. You likin' the way someone looks, the way their body fill their clothes and wonderin' how they look out of them, that's love like the unfertilized egg is still a nuna. It's a part of it, maybe the most undeveloped and easy to turn away from, but when you look back on it, you can say, 'yeah it was love'. But it ain't the same as when they talk and you start smilin' and laughing, even at the bits that ain't funny. Cause it's them, and they make you happy, and it just spills out. That's love too, but it's got nothing to do with you wantin' to see 'em in their glory."

    She turned her eyes from the holo to look at Ben again. He looked tired, and was stirring his caf again.

    "Then there's the kind of love where you just have to do something. Where you go and help 'em, or shout at 'em, or they tick you off cause you know they can be better or you've just been around 'em too much, but there's something there that keeps you from just turning away completely.

    "Some people just won't get along with you, but you share something, got something, that complicates it. You might not like 'em, you might even hate 'em sometimes, but even then, you still love them. You won't talk to them for years and years, but you miss them all the same, you want the best for 'em, and when you get back together you remember why you stopped talking to 'em in the first place."

    Shuvin didn't say anything. Ben looked misty-eyed, and his voice was thick, but he stopped stirring the caf and took a long drink. He breathed deep after swallowing, and set the tin down.

    "All of those're love, even if they're all different, it's all the same animal. Like a nuna."

    "That's the weirdest thing I have ever heard, Ben."

    "Shuvin, I ain't dumb."

    She frowned.

    "I don't know why you think you can do all this, or if you're even thinking it through at all and just doing what come natural to you. While it's troubling, you don't mean to be cruel; at least I don't think so."

    "What?" She asked, but any other words were lost and swallowed when Ben bulled on through.

    "It looks like you're trying to game me, Shuvin. Like you think I'm going to toss you the first chance I have, so you're trying to hook me and game it so that don't happen. You're scared, and you're trying to gain control in some way so you don't have to be scared anymore.

    "I'm not blind either, Shuvin. We joke, but I know you go out, get your comfort where you can, with who you like. And I'm not going to lecture you on that. You've earned the right to be with who you want. But I see those trinkets, the prizes, the things you bring back…"

    "I ain't no whore, Ben," she hissed, hands clenched into white knuckled fists.

    "No, but you know how to warm a guy up to get what you want. And I know that you don't care for them at all. You use them and walk off with a smile and a thanks. They know you aren't making any promises, you know it too; there's nothing more to it, and that's between you and them."

    Shuvin felt tears welling up in her eyes, a sudden and overwhelming need to shout and defend herself, to drown out the feeling of judgement coming from Ben. But then he looked at her, and she knew there wasn't any judgement. He looked tired, and also clear.

    "You're acting the same way, doing the same things, with me. You're all smiles and cheer, whispering sweet words and promises, but there ain't no feeling in it. Ain't no tomorrow in it, if you get my meaning. You're saying what you need to say to get what you want. And ain't a single person in the galaxy likes having their heart toyed with like that."

    She was overwhelmed and shocked that such words could come from her Captain; each one a blaster bolt splashing white hot pain all over her, making her scar itch and psychosomatically burn.

    "Shuvin, I'm sorry," he sighed, and through her tears she could see his hands wrapped around the caf tin, rubbing on it as if to glean heat from the drink. "But this has to stop. I ain't threatening to kick you off. This place is your home, more than it's mine, even. But this has to stop."

    She hiccuped and wiped her eyes, and without another word, she fled the galley and locked the door to her cabin behind her.
    Last edited by Shuvin Undhi; Sep 12th, 2020 at 11:44:43 PM.

  15. #35
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    flying a starship is no different than riding a bicycle, just a lot harder to put smashball cards in the spokes!


    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ben Merasska's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Take me out to the black, Tell them I ain't comin' back, You can't take the sky from me.
    Posts
    849

    Episode ***: The Sith Spell (Aftermath)

    SCENE OPEN

    BEN and CERIE are laying in the bunk, obviously naked, awake and studiously not looking at each other.

    BEN
    (drumming on his belly)
    You know, I'm not too sure how I feel about this.

    CERIE
    (looks a bit queasy, almost constipated)
    Oh?

    BEN
    Y'know, on one hand, I feel gross and like I just screwed my sister.

    CERIE
    (turns to face BEN, eyes wide)
    Right?! It's like, you're not UNattractive, but…

    BEN
    (nodding, still refuses to look at CERIE)
    Exactly. But, I still feel a little cheated that I can't remember it. You're not ugly, and really, I don't think it would have been so traumatic that I would have scrubbed it from my mind, but this sort of mistake, spell, whatever... it's the sort of thing you think 'man, I wish I never do that again!', but if you don't remember it, how can you not do it again?

    CERIE
    (looking thoughtful, almost begrudgingly so)
    ...now that you mention it, yeah. It's almost disappointing that I can't remember screwing you? Ugh. I can't believe I just said that.

    BEN
    (nodding wisely)
    I know. I can't either.

    CERIE
    (looking frustrated)
    Don't take it the wrong way! It's just... you're more like a brother to me than anything else.

    BEN
    (looking almost serene)
    You'll never be able to say 'oh brother' to me again, will you?

    CERIE
    (covering her eyes and groaning)
    Now I won't!



  16. #36
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    flying a starship is no different than riding a bicycle, just a lot harder to put smashball cards in the spokes!


    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ben Merasska's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Take me out to the black, Tell them I ain't comin' back, You can't take the sky from me.
    Posts
    849

    Episode ***: The Sith Spell (Aftermath) II

    CERIE
    (turns to look at BEN intently, says nothing)


    BEN
    (still won't look at CERIE, but is clearly aware that she's staring at him)


    CERIE
    ...nope.


    BEN
    What?


    CERIE
    I was just thinking for a moment that maybe there was something there and that maybe I just wasn't seeing it, but we're here and I'm looking and... nope.


    BEN
    (frowning)
    I feel like I should be offended, but I'm only experiencing a profound sense of relief. Maybe we didn't do anything, though. Maybe we just somehow managed to strip naked and fall asleep in the same bed and there's no chance we have any sort of subconscious carnal knowledge of each other. Maybe there's another reason I'm feeling sticky and sore right now, other than that we... we...


    Both CERIE and BEN stare at the ceiling for a moment hopefully before lifting the blanket and looking down underneath it.


    CERIE
    Nope. We did it.


    CERIE and BEN drop the blanket and go back to looking at the ceiling.


    BEN
    (sighs)
    Shuvin can never know.


    Cerie
    (stone faced)
    Agreed.

  17. #37
    TheHolo.Net Poster Has been a member for 5 years or longer Esther Hadrana's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    I don't know.
    Posts
    48

    Another Time, Another Place

    Contruum was almost bustling now, she noted idly. While not sprawling or dense on a galactic scale, it was a far cry from what it had been once. The Old Town, which had been the main street of a sleepy little village where she and Shuvin had played and been horribly bored in, was now a gentrified and exclusive and expensive section of town, especially due to its proximity to Sarin's mansion, which dominated the aptly named Manse Street.

    Esther shuddered to think of what the place might look like in a hundred, or two hundred years, if the city lasted that long at all.

    "Madame Hadrana, we've almost arrived," the driver said, glancing back at her. She nodded, and double checked all her belongings while the speeder turned down a side street. She smiled. Bay Street was another name she thought fondly of, and not only for the memories that this place brought back to her.

    "We've arrived, Madame."

    She stepped out of the speeder and looked over the truly immodest one story home. The front door slid open and out spilled Idra, a wide smile on her face.

    "Auntie Esther! You made it!"

    "Oh course I did, Idra darling," she answered, kissing Idra's dimples. "I've also brought some gifts for you and your mother. In fact, we're fairly loaded down."

    Another speeder pulled up, and Idra glanced over, her smile widening more as the small family stepped out.

    "Marra!" Idra cried, almost jumping into the other girl's arms. The two screeched loudly for a moment, before Idra turned to the rest. "Uncle Cirr, Auntie Lyanie. It's so good to see you!"

    "Look at you!" Lyanie gushed, kissing the teen's forehead. "You're beautiful, dear."

    "Come on, Sanjis, say hello to Idra now," Cirr said, hugging the girl himself. Idra smiled at the twelve year old. He flushed and shyly hugged the older girl.

    "Where's your mother?" Lyanie asked, tasking her children to pick up the luggage and gifts from the back of their rental speeder.

    "Inside," Idra answered. "With Shuvin and Granny Taa. Sarin begged off, the coward. Said something about business, but so many people at once like this makes him uncomfortable."

    The group drifted inside messily, like a clump of meteoroids, climbing the stairs and entering the landing bay turned home. The noise and volume pulled the two women inside back out to them. Her mother, ever the stoic, remained staid and controlled in the same way Esther remembered Taa admiring about her a long time in the past. Cirr greeted his mother dutifully, and not without awkwardness while Amarra and Sanis both tugged on the old woman's elegant dress and hugged her without reserve.

    The whole thing felt like family, like a memory she should have had with those she'd lost before she even could form memories.

    "Sanjis has been rred ever sjince he saw jyou. jI thjink he has a crrush," Amarra giggled, whispering into Idra's ear. Esther swallowed her own laughter at Idra's response:

    "Who'd crush on me when Shuvin's here?"

    "Everyone, everyone!" the woman in question cried over the din, looking as fit and naturally elegant as ever. Her late adolescence had been especially kind to her, though she'd often remarked that the height was something she didn't need. "Please take your luggage to the rooms, and get settled in, we've got a party to start!"

    She cheered and pumped her fist in the air; despite the willowy and elegant looks, Shuvin was still as much herself as she ever was.

    Esther made her way after Shuvin and Taa into the main room and sat with them.

    "It's good to see you again, Esther."

    "I missed you, Ned," Esther said in response. The woman's smile was tight, but full of emotion. "Idra's getting more beautiful each passing year."

    "Didn't get much of her father, that's for sure," Enedra said, her smile much more natural and less stoic. "Maybe 'round her eyes. I think even his genes were too shy to show themselves save for her mannerisms. The way she frowns when she's thinkin' about something. That tilt to her head when she's reading something that has her whole attention. And the way she jumps when you surprise her."

    "Doesn't sound too shy to me," Esther responded. "Sounds like Ben, to be honest. Did you hear the news?"

    Enedra nodded.

    "What do you want to do? There's rumors flying everywhere, and no one's sure of what to think."

    Enedra Myrrhe hummed.

    "The Trianii called, offered to inter him in their war graveyard. Queen of New Alderaan called me too, you know," she said, a wry smile on her face. "Said that my man deserved to be laid with the rest of the heroes of Alderaan."

    Enedra laughed.

    "I said to her, 'Hero? Your Majesty, if you're calling Ben Merasska a hero, then you don't know a thing about him.' But I like the idea. Seems right, that he'd finally get buried... there."

    "What about Idra?"

    Enedra remained silent for a moment.

    "We'll go, for sure. Can't let my daughter go without seeing her daddy in the flesh, now that we've finally found him."

  18. #38
    TheHolo.Net Poster Has been a member for 5 years or longer Esther Hadrana's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    I don't know.
    Posts
    48

    Another Time, Another Place II

    The children and Cirr and Lyanie tumbled out of the living quarters in a rush of noise and voices, Shuvin standing almost inch for inch with Cirr and talking with him and Lyanie about some business with Nubia.

    "Auntjie Esther!" Amarra called, rushing over to the sofa where she sat with Ned and Taa, and wiggling into a cushion next to her.

    "Amarra," Taa scolded lightly. "Yourr tajil."

    The sixteen year old primly wrapped her tail into a loose coil and settled it in her lap. "Yes, Grandmotherr."

    The old woman smiled warmly and took her granddaughter's hands into her own.

    "Now, tell me. How has mjy son been on that backwaterr planet he jinsjists jis a grreat place to ljive?"

    Cirr grimaced, but underneath was a smile, and he rested his hand on Sanis's shoulder. Amarra laughed, her hair swaying lightly. She got her hair from Lyanie, Esther noted idly, before her attention was taken by Idra and Shuvin standing in front of her wearing flowing dresses, most likely Chandrilan by the styling, somehow remaining elegant and dressy without being ostentatious. Both raised their noses and sniffed in unison.

    "Madame Hadrana," they said, bowing. Esther laughed.

    "How long did it take you to practice that?" she asked. Idra Merasska pulled her aunt up and away from the now crowded main room.

    "So we've decided," Idra said. Esther tilted her head, asking the question without words. Idra nodded. "It all works out. I'll get some hands-on experience, and since I'll be working for Sarin essentially, it'll keep me out of too much trouble."

    "That's excellent. Congratulations, dear. I just have one question," Esther responded. Idra cocked her head, and at once Esther was struck with the resemblance that Enedra was talking about earlier. "Why are you telling me, and not your mother?"

    Shuvin laughed and Idra looked nervous, grimacing and shifting on her feet. Esther and Shuvin shared a look, both acknowledging and yet keeping the sentiment unsaid.

    "Well," Idra began, "I was hoping you could help convince Mom about the idea."

    Esther shook her head and sighed. That resemblance to her father was clearer every time they met.

  19. #39
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    flying a starship is no different than riding a bicycle, just a lot harder to put smashball cards in the spokes!


    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ben Merasska's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Take me out to the black, Tell them I ain't comin' back, You can't take the sky from me.
    Posts
    849

    Nogolis I

    Set during Float On

    They found Sarin’s shop near the center of the town. Sarin Von Metzger Arms and Munitions was painted over the awning which overhung a walkway that kept most free from the bright and glaring sun. A window showcased a number of blasters and slug-throwers, and small signs were interspersed along: Will Modify Your Blaster, and Try A Modular Weapons System were prominent, with a shiny blaster pistol underneath, framed by a number of different components one could ostensibly attach and reconfigure the pistol with, including a long barrel and grip to make it a rifle, and a power pack addition to charge the bolts. VM-9 Weapons Platform, be Prepared for ANYTHING was displayed in a static-filled hologram beneath it.

    Sarin wasn’t there, but conducted the interview via hologram while the Alderaani shopkeeper watched with a disinterested air. Sarin himself treated the interview as a formality as well, only needing to hear that Nichavara had been a Hutt’s accountant and financial controller for a number of businesses before making his decision and telling the former slave that they would talk more later about his plans and ideas for business in the former Corporate Sector.

    Ben didn’t stick around for long into the interview even despite its brevity.

    “I’ll just walk around and wait for you at the ship, Shuvin,” he said. She shrugged and waved him off, somewhat interested in the shop and how it was run.

    Cerie followed him out, glancing at him curiously as he stared at the town and its people. They’d come in the middle of a festival, it seemed, as there were people milling around everywhere, with streamers and banners and holographic signs filling their vision.

    “I need a drink,” he said finally, his expression drawn and closed off like a shuttered viewport.

    They didn’t make it far before the sounds of a holofilm drew their attention. In a small plaza a holoprojector was showing an older man in a ripped vac-suit running through a corridor holding a datadisc. Klaxons were blaring.

    “Doctor Hadrana! Shields are failing!” the speakers underneath the projector echoed, despite the outdoor setting and fairly crowded area. “The station will be subsumed in less than five standard minutes!”

    The man removed his helmet and glanced out of a convenient viewport, where a sun could be seen glowing ominously in the distance. He ducked into the umbilical corridor connecting his ship to the station and smashed the button to open the door leading to the umbilical itself, but the station shuddered and lights flickered. He engaged the manual control of the door and began to heave, turning it slowly.

    “Two minutes, doctor!” A droid’s buzzing vocalizations echoed. “Thirty seconds!” The door slowly opened.

    The station shuddered again, and the man, Doctor Hadrana, began to float. He pulled himself through the door, and to his ship.

    “Doctor, you must seek medical attention immediately. The station’s shields failed, and you have been subjected to a lethal amount of solar radiation from the Proton Event.”

    “That can wait,” Hadrana said firmly. “We need to get this to a safe place first.”

    Ben sat down heavily, his eyes glued on the hologram.

  20. #40
    TheHolo.Net Poster

    flying a starship is no different than riding a bicycle, just a lot harder to put smashball cards in the spokes!


    Has been a member for 5 years or longer
    Ben Merasska's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    AKA
    Vince
    Location
    Take me out to the black, Tell them I ain't comin' back, You can't take the sky from me.
    Posts
    849

    Ending of "The Captain and I"

    “ALDERAAN’S GRAVEYARD, 0.011 ABY”
    (to the sound of an x wing coming out of hyperspace)

    BEN GASPS AND BREATHES HEAVILY.

    OPEN TO X WING IN GRAVEYARD, FLOATING AMIDST THE ASTEROIDS.

    CUT TO BEN INSIDE X WING.

    BEN, shaking and panting, pulls off his helmet and looks around in shock at the debris. All we can hear is BEN, and his breathing deepens, but doesn’t even out. He is hyperventilating.

    BEN(stuttering and gasping, turning to moans)
    No. No. No.


    BEN starts wheezing and looking faint. The ASTROMECH warbles, sounding worried.

    BEN
    This—it’s gone. Gone.


    BEN starts weeping, curling into himself and shuddering. It is a visceral cry, coming from his gut and his chest; he is shattering. He opens his eyes and is unable to tear his eyes away from the sight of Alderaan’s remains around him. His weeping turns to moans and screams. He starts reaching out to the canopy, as if to touch the floating rocks through it. He is still all we hear.

    BEN(whimpering through his sobs)
    I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe! It’s g-gone. No. I can’t...


    BEN wipes his eyes and continues whispering to himself, and looks for a button. The ASTROMECH screeches and its headpiece spins around in fright as BEN jabs the button to open the canopy, and the sounds of the canopy locking into place echo. BEN jabs the button again, and starts punching and smashing it when the canopy doesn’t open.

    BEN
    No! Let me out! I can’t breathe! N-no! It’s—they’re gone! Let me out! LET ME OUT! I can’t, I can’t, I can’t—


    BEN cuts himself off and starts trying to pry the canopy open with his bare hands, still shouting and weeping. Unable to budge the glass, he starts punching and slapping it, his strikes getting harder and more violent with each one. The canopy starts shaking and the ASTROMECH shrieks. BEN slows and stops, gasping and gripping the console in desperation.

    BEN(whispering through his sobs)
    Just let me out. Let me out.


    The ASTROMECH spits out a denial, and beeps some more.

    BEN
    I know! I know what it’ll do! JUST LET ME OUT! Damn it, let me—


    BEN collapses back into his seat, looking up through the canopy. We see the stars with him as BEN’s sobs and weeping slowly quiet and soon there is silence.

    CUT to view of X WING from above, BEN clearly visible through the canopy. The view slowly zooms in, showing BEN looking at us and the GRAVEYARD with dead eyes and no expression, and completely still. His eyes fill the screen until they are all we see, and then the view zooms out, this time showing BEN looking at the stars out of the viewport of JOVAN where S’ILANCY left him.

    BEN’S expression is the same, and the implication is clear: He is still in that cockpit, and is staring at the galaxy and everyone in it with the same eyes.
    Last edited by Ben Merasska; Oct 6th, 2023 at 03:23:58 PM.

Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •