Date: Fri, 11 Nov 1994 20:44:48 -0800 (PST) From: "C.T." Subject: Toka's Luck, Ch. 1 Well, people seemed to be interested in what I've written so far, so I guess I'll send this off to all of you. All that I ask is that you don't reprint this without my permission, as a lot of time and energy went into not only creating and playing these characters, but also fitting the storyline into a narrative form. Hope you enjoy chapter one: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Waking, he looked around the dark room through a hangover- fuzzed glaze. The one light source in the ceiling illuminated the smooth black walls, two large solid benches, and the barred door to his left. "Quite definitely a detention cell," he thought to himself as he attempted to remember who he was and what he was doing here. "Both Toka...that's definitely my name," he muttered quietly, "and from the haze I'm tryin' to look through here, I'd guess things got pretty interesting last night." He heard a growl of agreement from his Wookiee companion who was moping about the cell, obviously perturbed about the situation he found himself in, continually muttering something about Corellians and "Purple Endriacs," at the mention of which Both felt a twinge in his stomach. A guard walked by, and a voice shot out from the other side of the cell, belonging to a Mon Calamari sitting on one of the benches. "Pardon, sir, but how long are we to be held?" "We're currently running a background check on you and your friend there," the guard gestured to a gray-skinned humanoid sulking in the corner. "Shouldn't be more than...oh, two hours," he continued with a grin. "Two hours? Unacceptable. We must be to our transport within the hour." "I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm not the one that makes the rules around here. I can express your concern to my supervisor...oh, I forgot. He's got the day off. Sorry, I guess there's nothing I can do. Until you two check out okay, I've got to keep you here. Enjoy your stay..." he trailed off as he walked away, chuckling under his breath. The gray-skinned creature mumbled something indecipherable to the Calamari, who simply nodded in agreement. Sensing some possible profit in these poor souls' situation, Both raised his eyebrows to the Wookiee, who grumbled in agreement. "Hi there, the name's Both Toka...couldn't help but overhear your little problems with the local constabulary, but I think I might be able to help you out. And you are...?" "My name is Agdar, and my friend here is Chod Neanub. How might you be able to help us, Mr. Toka?" "Well I'm a...freelance pilot, and if you are unable to get to your transport on time, I might be able to provide transport, for a price, of course." The Calamari muttered something to Chod, whom Both now recognized as a Sullustan, known throughout the galaxy for their excellence in navigation. He had once heard that once a Sullustan had been somewhere, he could find his way back from anywhere in the galaxy. Chod said something in return, shaking his head vehemently. "I must apologize, but my friend and I are on an important business trip, and as such feel we should stick to more...well-known means of transportation." At this point, another guard had mosied up to the cell door, barking out "Bath Tika and Ritusk?" "That's Both as in `moth', and Ricctus...yeah?" "Well, well, well, seems we got a little too `enlightened' last night, Mr. Tika." "That's Toka, sir, and yeah, I suppose we..." he was cut off by a Wookiee growl and corrected himself, "er...I had too much to drink, but I'm feeling much better now," he finished with just a touch of sarcasm. "Well, I can appreciate that. We've kept you here as long as we could...so I suppose you're free to go now," he said as he started to open the door. " Thank you very much, sir. I promise it won't happen again," Both turned to the Calamari and whispered, "If you need assistance, you can find me at the `Braying Borask,' a bar in the spaceport. Just look for Ricctus here, and he'll point you my way." The cantina was nearly as dark as the detention cell, but here the light was diffused by the heavy pall of smoke, fragrant with the scent of alcohol, licit and illicit drugs, and total despair, much like any other cantina found off the beaten path in an Imperial-controlled sector of space such as Elrood. Both sat in a corner booth in this cantina, facing the entrance, keeping his eyes and ears open to any potential hazards--or potential profit for that matter. Glancing around the room, he could see countless different species engaged in any number of activities, some of which might be legal, but most probably not. Both felt at home here, or at least more at home here than anywhere other than his ship. Here he was in his element, searching for potential customers, like he had for most of his life. But now the need for customers was a little more intense, what with his current financial "situation." He was currently in debt to a certain well-known Dantooine crime boss named Fargheed to the tune of twenty thousand credits. At the time of their "break," that twenty thousand didn't seem too tough, since he was used to high stakes runs. Obviously, he hadn't thought that those same high-stakes runs were the direct result of his cooperation with Fargheed, and that he might have a little more trouble raising twenty thousand credits than he thought. Here it was, just over three months into the twelve-month period he had agreed on with Fargheed, and he only had 2800 credits. Both knew that he needed money, and he needed it fast...and something told him that he was about to run into a source very soon. Just as he finished this thought, he also finished his glass of Lum, and looked up to the entrance just in time to see three figures enter the bar. The first two he recognized from the detention cell--Agdar and Chod, while the third looked kind of familiar, yet he couldn't quite place him--or it. "Right on time," Both thought to himself as he watched the Agdar and Chod walk up to Ricctus, who was standing at the bar, talking with another Wookiee/human duo. The third party strode across the cantina and sat in a dark corner booth facing away from the entrance, where he could keep a close eye on Agdar and Chod no matter where they went in the bar. As he watched this mysterious character, Both noticed a few things about him: first, he was a reptilian humanoid with a large spiked tail; second, he was quite heavily armed; and third, the way people stepped out of his way made it quite apparent that he was relatively well-known in these parts. This struck a chord somewhere in the back of Both's mind, and he guessed that this third party was more than likely a hired mercenary, and the business that Agdar had said they were involved in might have been more illicit than he let on. All this transformed into dollar signs in front of Both's eyes, as he thought about the sudden increase in fare that rushed through his mind. Both watched as Agdar and Chod walked over to Ricctus, who escorted them over to his table. He also saw the reptilian walk over with a clear intent to join them. All four of them arrived at the same time, at which point Both asked Agdar who the mysterious guest was. "This is a business partner, whom we have paid to protect us from any unforseeable difficulties that we may encounter. He goes by the name of Borus." Both realized what this meant--either Borus was a mercenary or a bounty hunter, and he had no great love of either. Mercenaries were not well-known for their honor, especially where money was concerned. And Both had learned that it was best to distance yourself as far as possible from bounty hunters, because in a field of work such as his, it wasn't unheard of for you to sometime get your name put out on a contract, be it Imperial or private, especially if you happen to owe a certain crime lord twenty thousand credits. Not that Both had any problems with Fargheed yet, but the less information that a bounty hunter could get on him should there be a contract someday, the better. "Well, this changes things a little bit, Agdar," Both said in an obviously annoyed tone, "I thought this was a simple transport op, but now that I see you're hiring `protection,' I'm beginning to wonder how simple this really is." "The business we are in requires a certain amount of...personal safety. Borus is simply providing that for us for the time being. He came with a certain amount of recommendation from friends of ours. I assure you that we are willing to pay for his passage as well as ours...to whomever we decide to travel with." "That brings us to the next point...where exactly are we headed?" "We are headed to the Vega system, to rendezvous with some friends of ours," was Agdar's response, obviously testing the waters for such a proposition. The Vega sector was mostly unpopulated and way off the beaten path as far as shipping routes go. Both had heard that the only known population in Vega consisted mostly of refugees from various organizations. It was a desolate, barren system, and Both began to question the true nature of his friends here. Were they running from someone? If they were, why take a bounty hunter or mercenary with them? Or were they heading to Vega to take care of some "business," and they needed Borus to take care of the dirty work for them? "I see...Vega...well, I think we can take you there for...oh, 8000 credits." "What do you take us for, fools? We could take a luxury transport with separate suites for each of us for a price like that! I am willing to pay 500, no more. If you are not interested, we shall seek passage elsewhere." "I never said I wasn't interested--just testing the waters..." "I see...however, your bargaining abilities have yet to shine." "Well, I think you'll have a little trouble getting a luxury transport to take you to Vega. I might consider going a little bit lower--how does 7000 sound to you?" "7000? You insult my intelligence. Although I will grant you that finding a transport to Vega is difficult, so we might be willing to pay 750." "Look, I don't know if you've ever flown a private ship before, Aggie, but I've got costs to cover here. There's landing fees, emissions fees, docking fees, fees for damn near everything under the sun! Okay, I guess I was going off half-cocked, but then again, if you don't start the bidding high, it sure ain't going to go to the moon on its own, huh? I might consider transport to Vega for 4000 credits." "I do realize that you have costs to cover, Mr. Toka, but I am quite positive that those costs do not even begin to reach over 1000 credits. I would laugh at your offer of 4000 if I did not feel it would be rude to do so in front of you. I believe we can reach an agreement, however foolish your offers thus far have been. I will lay my cards on the table, so to speak , and tell you that I am unable to spend more than 1500 credits for this trip. As I cannot procure any more credits, I suppose you must consider that my `final offer.' You may take it or leave it." "1500 credits, huh? And you two are business men...well, I suppose I could substantially lower my fares, since I am, to put my cards on the table, quite desperate to get off-planet here. I can't believe the two of you together can't come up with more than 1500 credits, what with your hiring Mr. Bodyguard over there, so I will propose my final offer of 2000." "Quite true, Mr. Toka, I suppose that bringing Borus here with us was not the smartest bargaining prospect we could have done, but what choice did we have? Since we have both made what we call final offers, I suppose one of us must give in to the demands of the other, is that not so?" "Well, the way I see it, I have nothing to lose, really, and you have everything to gain." "Yes, yes, yes, and we really must be leaving soon, so I will cut these pointless negotiations short by simply agreeing to the price of 2000 credits. I would like to state for the record, so to speak, that this agreement is in no way a reflection of your bargaining expertise, but merely the result of the situation I find myself in. I do not normally deal with the likes of you, as I do not trust you. The only saving grace I see in these negotiations is the presence of your Wookiee companion, who I am sure will guarantee that you keep your end of the bargain." There was a grunt of agreement that came from Ricctus, and Both knew that there was obviously something that this Agdar was not telling him, but now wasn't the time to find out. "Okay, then that's settled. Ricctus can take you to the ship now if you'd like, but I need to go do some shopping--there's a few things we need before we can take off." "I believe that we will head to the ship. I would like to take a look at it myself, and possibly see what I can do about lessening your emissions fees, with your permission, of course." At this point, Borus broke in sharply, "I need to purchassse sssome sssuppliesss. If you do not mind, I will accompany you on your ssshopping trip, Both." "Well, do what you can, Agdar. And Borus, do I really have much of a choice in this?" "You do. Yesss or no...." "Well, I want to keep an eye on you, so I guess you can play tag- along with me. Here's what we'll do, then. We can all go our separate ways for the time being, and meet back here in one hour. Got it? Good." And with that they went their separate ways, Both and Borus going out for a little shopping, and Ricctus taking Agdar and Chod back to the ship. Both and Borus spent the hour looking around various shops in the vicinity, purchasing weapons that they could retrieve on Coyn later in their travels, and power conduits needed for the ship. "Dear God, you travel in that!?" Agdar exclaimed upon first glance at the Crash and Burn, a modified YT-1300 light freighter that Both and Ricctus called home. The only response was a loud growl from Ricctus, who pushed Chod and Agdar toward the ship. Ricctus slipped his access card into the security slot, and the loading ramp dropped to the floor slowly, hesitantly. "I don't know if I can even make this piece of rubbish space-worthy," Agdar sighed, and heard a snicker from the Wookiee. Ricctus showed Agdar back to the sublight and atmospheric engines and left him there to work, while he tuned up the electrical system. An hour later, they all met back up at the Braying Borask, sitting at a booth near the back. "So, Agdar, when do I get paid," Both asked. "As soon as we land at Vega. I do not currently have the money, but it is in good hands there." "I see...well, we might as well get this show on the road here. Let's head out." They all headed out to docking bay 93, where the Crash and Burn was located. Just as they got to the docking bay door, they were abruptly halted by a small group of creatures apparently led by a Rodian, holding a blaster rifle under his cloak. "Stop where you are," he said, his bulbous eyes roaming back and forth, examining Both and his group. "Listen, I don't know what your problem is, but I'm just trying to get to my ship," Both said. Everyone else looked at him questioningly, and it appeared that Borus was about to say something when he felt a nudge to his side from Ricctus, who knew exactly what Both was up to. The Rodian looked over Both very carefully before waving him past with the blaster rifle. "I have no business with you, smuggler," he said, and it was all Both could do to keep himself from blasting the Rodian then and there. As Both walked toward the ship, he heard the Rodian say something about information as he stepped forward a little, moving away from the rest of his group. Both picked up the pace and jogged to the loading ramp, shoving his card impatiently into the security slot. The ramp fell down with a quiet hum, and Both hurriedly ran into the ship, jumping into the cockpit and powering up all systems. He flipped the switch that allowed control of the lower turret from the cockpit, and immediately afterward flipped on the communications board. "Uh...Elrood control, this is the Crash and Burn. We've got some problems, this is an emergency. Repeat, this is an emergency! Our weapons system has armed and is out of control! Evacuate docking bays 92, 93 , and 94! Repeat, the weapons system is out of control!" "Crash and Burn, this is Elrood control. We have confirmed your situation. We are sending a security force immediately. Elrood control out." Both sighed deeply. He knew there was going to be one hell of a bill to pay after this, but he had no choice if he wanted to keep this job going. Agdar and the others watched Both jog to the ship as the Rodian stepped forward. "Now, there is a little matter of some...information that is in your possession. Will you give it to me, or do I have to pry it from you?" Chod muttered something to Agdar, who responded, "I'm sorry, but what are you talking about? And what do you want from us?" "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You are in possession of a certain holodisk, on which is located certain information that the Imperials would rather not have released. What we want is very simple--we want the disk, even if we have to search your dead bodies to find it." At that, Borus started to fidget underneath his long jacket. Ricctus placed his hand on Borus' shoulder and growled softly, stopping him from doing anything foolish. The Rodian and the rest of his group, a rag-tag assembly of numerous different species, began to step forward when the Rodian suddenly stopped, turning his head in the direction of the ship, toward the humming sound of the Crash and Burn powering up. Both was wondering what was going through the poor Rodian's head as he turned on the targeting system and pointed the dorsal- mounted twin-laser cannon in the direction of the door. Both looked out the side of the cockpit and saw that the Rodian had noticed the cannon. Deciding that now was as good a time as any, he muttered, "Good night, buddy," as his finger pressed down on the button marked "Fire." Upon seeing the Rodian's astonished face, Ricctus grabbed Agdar and pulled him against the wall beside the docking bay door, pulling Chod and Borus along with them. As soon as they hit the wall, there was a bright flash of light as the Rodian suddenly exploded in a burst of green and red, his last sound a loud, high-pitched scream that abruptly came to a halt. The rest of the Rodian's group hit the floor as if in the middle of a battle, drawing out their weapons. Seeing the chance as it presented itself, Ricctus shoved the others through the docking bay doors and proceeded to run toward the Crash and Burn. Ricctus was the first to reach the ship, jumping onto the loading ramp and pulling out his bowcaster, firing random shots to cover the others. Borus was next, taking up a position on the other side of the ramp and helping cover, firing with pinpoint accuracy at the attackers. Agdar and Chod ran up the ramp and into the ship, screaming to get out of there. "Crash and Burn, this is Elrood control. Was that a laser cannon that fired down there? Our sensors are reporting large amounts of blaster fire." Both flipped on the comm panel. "Um...Elrood control, this is...uh...the Crash and Burn...like I said, we're having a major malfunction in our weapons system. Request emergency clearance for liftoff...The cannons've already fired once, and I can't tell if they're gonna fire again...Damn! There they go!" he exclaimed as he reached over and adjusted the aiming mechanism to an angle that placed it right under the control tower, pressing the fire button again. There was a loud hum as the upper cannon fired, sending a shower of sparks as the laser bolt hit the heavily-reinforced wall. "Elrood control, we must get out of here now, there's too much danger!" The response from the control booth was quick and to the point, "Crash and Burn, you are cleared for immediate liftoff, with level 1 environmental clearance. In addition, you are officially cleared of all damages incurred here." Both knew exactly what this meant; they were actually clearing him to use his ion engines in the atmosphere. He had definitely given them the scare of their life, and they wanted him to get the hell out of there! "Get that ramp up, now!" Both screamed into the back of the ship, and Ricctus immediately slapped the ramp's control pad, firing a few bolts as the ramp closed. Both fired one last shot from the lower cannon, and powered up the ion engines, shooting out of the docking bay. The Crash and Burn went full speed into the upper atmosphere and into the inky blackness of space. "Damn, that was fun!" Both exclaimed, "And now we can finally relax..." Both's mood was suddenly changed when a red light on the communications panel lit up. "Someone wants to talk," Ricctus growled as he reached over to flip a switch on the panel. "Crash and Burn, this is the Ratok Bor. Prepare to be boarded."