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The Shinning Star dropped out of hyperspace still light years away from its' intended target. With the help of the Ret'lini S-thread boosters used by the Kathol Outback and his newly installed .357 Calrissian Hyperdrive he had nearly caught up to the possibly infected cargo ship. Having left Demonsgate without taking proper decontamination protocols BB has been sent to find the ship and ensure it was not carrying something more sinister that precious and semi-precious metals.
However BB had flown the Starr extremely hard and she was showing the strain, for better or worse this last trip he would need to slow her down and hope he wasn't to late....
Jamie sat up in her bed rubbing weariness away with both hands, blonde hair a ragged mess still partially covering her face. The incessant beeping from the PA aboard her ship alerting her to a communication relay that she really had no desire to listen to. There was only so long she could ignore that same repetitive tone before she lost her sanity, otherwise she would have been content with forgetting about it entirely. With a yawn and a small tremor through her body as she stretched the blonde slowly climbed out from beneath the warm, comforting sheets. Her feet pulled away from the floor upon first contact, feeling the sudden cold of the durasteel beneath her. A small grimace formed on her face as she cursed to herself. Damn it all!
A huff of displeasure and she hopped out of the bed and raced quickly across the floor on the balls of her feet and toes to try and avoid prolonged contact with the frigid surface. A minute or two later and she found herself in the cockpit. The source of that infernal noise maker! Pressing a small switch the full length message repeated itself several times before cutting off.
'Please... Some one help, they are coming for me. I can't... OH NO, NO, NO AAAAAAHHHH....'
The hairs on the back of her neck shot straight up. The shrill tone to her voice was horrific. Who was coming for her? Jamie raised her left arm, pressing her hand against her lips while resting her elbow against the control cluster. What the kark was that about? Who was that? Truthfully Jamie was likely as ill-equipped as whoever was aboard that ship to help. The girl had a loose control and concept of the Force, some basic ability to manipulate it, but was far from ready to tackle any sort of grave situation alone. For a long minute she debated herself, though ultimately decided that if the role was reversed she would hope that someone would try and find her. What were the chances that anyone else heard the transmission, after all?
With a sigh the girl locked in the coordinates for Demonsgate, the source of the transmission, and dropped the ship out of hyperspace towards what looked like a derelict space craft that had sustained catastrophic damage.
The Starr shook as it traveled through hyperspace, with the .357 Calrissian Hyperdrive only recently installed this was one hell of a bad way to break the unit in. Still with little choice BB pushed the Starr near her breaking point before finally dropping out of hyperspace on the outer edge of the system. Smoke and fired electrical started to fill the air and BB turned to see "Sady" extinguishing on one of the terminals.
He would need to surely put the Starr in for repairs but for now he was just happy she had held together. With the first scans of the system only beginning to trickle in BB pulled of the few maps he had of the area. Not much out here unfortunately just a nebula and oh no....
His scanners were reading a new craft in the system, and it was closing on the Drago Maruu. Realizing the danger this new vessel could be getting into he went to the comm station only to see Sady still putting out the fire that had previously been there. Running his fingers through his bright red hair he tried to think if there was anything else to be done. That ship was going in blind to a possible nightmare, he was still well over an hour away at sub-light and was helpless to warn them....
As he went to the back to see what spare parts he had to possibly fix the comm station he whispered a small prayer to the crew of the second vessel...
The moment the ship dropped out of hyperspace it was bombarded by space debris, likely that of the damaged craft in the distance. Large and small pieces of durasteel alike tore through open space at such high velocity that each time another piece collided with her small J-Type a cringe of nervousness and worry pulled at her expression. It looked like a portion of the vessel had a rather large unintended hole in its' side. Perhaps raiders or pirates? Jamie pulled her legs off the control console and placed them onto the cold floor so that she could lean further towards the viewport and get a better look of the ship as she navigated towards it whilst simultaneously attempting to weave between rogue starship debris.
What happened here? She wondered, hand reaching down to the communications relay at arm's length away. Dialing to the emergency frequency used to transmit the original message Jamie tried to reach anyone who might still be aboard the ship.
"Calling derelict starship, this is Jamie Pyne aboard Nubian J-Type. What is your status?"
Several seconds of white noise later the girl repeated the statement and again waited. This was repeated a few times with seemingly no success. Either everyone aboard was dead, or whoever was still there was injured and couldn't respond. That, or someone was waiting for others to attempt a rescue. The nervous twitch of a bouncing leg overtook the blonde for half a minute before she finally stood up, pulling at the back of her hair and fixing it into a high ponytail before trudging off to dress more appropriately. She didn't have armor, nor much of a weapon, save for Starlight, though that would hardly due much good if blasters were involved. Still, it was better than nothing. A pair of dark brown ankle boots, rugged pants, and a long sleeved fitted shirt with a brown vest were about as gritty as she could muster. Strapped to her side would be Starlight as she made her way back to the cockpit and hopefully find a way to dock with the stranded ship.
"Son of a...." BB swore as he worked on the comm station. Repairs were going much slower than he hoped and getting shocked by frayed wire was only the least of his troubles. Still some 30 minutes away he was close to getting the short range comms back up and active, but the reports he was getting from his pilot were very disheartening.
"Their is definitely debris out there. Looks like some type of explosive decompression over part of the ship. Still no life signs other than the one coming from the unidentified ship.... hold on, BB your gonna want to come over here..."
As Alexia's voice trailed off BB knew that was trouble. As he looked as the new readings coming from the ship it confirmed his worse fears...
The small Skiff slowly drifted abreast the docking bay of the radio silent starship. A number of latches, control arms, compression tubes and pressurized cylinders later and the sound of grinding metal came to a halt. The J-Type had docked. For a long minute Jamie sat at the helm of the ship. She couldn't help but feel a looming, overshadowing existential dread. Something about this felt off. Was it just anxious nerves? Had to be. Why would pirates bother waiting around way out here after sacking another ship? Where could they hide? It didn't make sense.
There's nobody here Jamie. Just go see what happened and check for survivors. Then let's get the kark out of here.
A drawn sigh and she kicked her feet to the floor and rose from the chair. With one hand on her side to secure her weapon she headed towards the hatchway leading to the connecting passageway of the now attached vessel. Behind her she sealed the entryway to the J-Type before approaching the doorway to the ghost ship. The blonde pressed two hands up against the thin glass window, peering in to see what she could see. As much as one could expect it was shrouded in darkness. That of course did little to calm her shot nerves.
Okay...Okay...1...2...3
Jamie pressed the release on the doorway, and slowly the durasteel door lifted, inviting her inside.
"Aaww, son of minok!" BB said has he gashed a knuckle on the work station. Work on the comm station was still on going and he now worked feverishly to get it complete.
"Try it again Sady," BB said as he waited by the controls.
Slowly the lights on the burnt station powered back to life, short range comms CHECK, long range... hyperspace... not so much. Well it would have to do BB thought as he opened up channels to the vessel that had just docked with the Drago Maruu.
"Attention unidentified vessel that just docked with the Drago Maruu, this is the Shinning Starr. Please be warned that you are currently entering a plague ship, we have confirmed readings so Sith spawn activity. I highly suggest you withdraw from that ship as quickly as possible. Over..."
Fortunate that it would be if Jamie hadn't already entered the Drago Maruu to hear that transmission. She wasn't familiar with what Sith Spawn were, but it seemed too late for a crash course by any means other than up close and personal. Turning back the blonde depressed the button on the wall to seal the hatchway before removing the small flashlight from her pocket that she'd brought along. With a soft click the light cast a beam to the other end of the room. Furniture and other objects were badly damaged, smashed, torn, and scattered about as if a cyclone had tore through.
Strangely though, there were no signs of blaster fire. No bodies. No blood. The room was engulfed in an eerie silence. From end to end Jamie shone the light about the room, carefully watching her each and every step as she wandered about for several minutes. What happened here?Where is everyone? As the blonde dragged the light along the wall she noticed a massive set of gashes in the wall several feet long which led to the doorway that had been damaged beyond repair. Dented and contorted durasteel made up the two halves of the hatch, with a large, gaping hole that someone, or something, had forced its' way through.
Jamie knelt in front of the opening and directed her light down the corridor, looking for any signs of life. Nothing.
BB fidgeted nervously as he waiting by the airlock. The Starr was moving into position and docking with the nearest airlock to the new unknown vessel. BB's fingers tapped out a drum beat of one of his favorite songs as he watched the Drago Maruu through the airlock window. This was stupid, why did she enter? BB continued to wonder as he looked again at his life signs sensor and the movements of this unknown girl. Seriously why had she ignored his warning. Was this another one of those thrill seekers BB always needed to look after?
"Ten seconds till hard dock,"
BB acknowledged his pilot Alexia, before turning his attention to the five Cyclops Battle Droids that flanked him. Shoot anything that is not me or this life sign understood. The droids vocalized their understanding seconds before the ship rocked after touching down upon the Drago Maruu. BB turned back to the door and flipped the switch to pressurize the lock. Visions of the Po Sauʻai and their many talons ran through his head but BB shut his eyes and pushed them out, he needed to be ready for war...
"Unknown person, my name is Bryce Bantam, if you can hear this stay put, I'm coming to rescue you..."
Darkness engulfed everything, save for the small cone of light cast by the device in her hand as she crept as quietly as one could in boots against cold durasteel flooring. The ship was eerily quiet. The sound of ventilation fans and echoing air through pipes was all that there was to hear. Anxiety inducing was putting things lightly. "H-Hello?" She called out, the sound of her voice trailing off down the hall. Nothing but the silence of death answered her call. Her teeth sunk into the bottom of her lip as she continued to creep along quietly, casting the light in several directions in front of her. Blood was everywhere. From floor to ceiling, wall to wall. Still, not a single body could be found.
"Anyone? Is anyone here?" Every time she spoke her voice went a bit higher.
That was the moment when she turned her attention down the hallway to her left. Bright, amber eyes stared back at her, freezing her in place as she slowly raised the flashlight to see what exactly the body of the eyes looked like. Jamie's hands shook as her eyes looked upon the creature. "Wh-..."What is that!?! The beast shifted slightly, turning the blonde's attention to the partially devoured body still laying on the ground. With a shriek Jamie dropped the flashlight to the ground and sprinted as fast as her legs would carry her down the hallway, not turning back for even a moment. The clanking of heavy appendages on the ground behind her was all the confirmation she needed to know that it had a new found interest in her.
Rounding the bend the girl darted into a small room and slammed the door closed, quickly feeling for a table, chair, desk, anything at all to push in front of the door to keep the animal, or beast, or monster out!
Oh gosh! WHAT IS THAT THING!?
The screeches and slamming of the creature just outside evoked a level of fear she had never quite felt before. She was in quite a predicament now. Worst of all she'd dropped the one and only source of light she had. Now she was left to find her way in the dark.
The girls scream echoed through the empty halls of the otherwise silent ship. BB was now in a full sprint toward the place her life signs were coming from with his droids falling behind his force fueled speed. BB didn't have the blinding speed of a master or knight but he ran faster now than any normal human could move. Coming to a access tunnel he kicked open the panel and ordered his droids in they climbed down the shaft while BB jumped in after them only to land hard some two floors down.
It wasn't the smartest move as the jump had jammed his knee a bit but he shook it off and kept moving toward girl. His droids were now far behind him and clanking up quite the storm. The noise was good, a distraction to pull the spawn BB knew must be closing in on them all. Hoping they would slow the beasts as they approched BB ran till he began to see a light from up ahead being cast by a small flash light. Sliding on one leg as he passed it, BB scooped it up and continue running till he came upon a spawn slashing wildly at a door.
Taking out his Bloodstripe Hand Cannon he pulled back the hammer on the first chamber and fired a Aurek Charge round into the beast at point blank range. The poison contained within began to work at once and the beast, now scared ran off, presumably to find help.
Breathing heavily BB leaned his back against the door jam and began to rub his throbbing knee. Lifting his free hand BB knocked hard against the door before saying.
"Hello? I'm here to rescue you. Please open up..."
As BB waited he looked around quickly to the left and the right, expecting a new batch of spawn to appear any second. As he reloaded the empty chamber on his gun he knew they were running out of time.
With each slam of the creature's massive claws she could just feel that the door wouldn't hold forever, not when pitted against something that huge and brutish. Fumbling around in the dark was also hampering Jamie's ability to find any kind of means to free herself of the prison she'd found herself in. The screeches were increasing in both volume and number, indicating to her that whatever it was, it was not giving up until it claimed its' prize.
No, no no no! Not like this... Not dying here! Not today!
The girl found what she assumed was some kind of counter that ran along the backside of the room. Climbing up and onto it was no simple task. Whatever was there, be it equipment or paperwork, it had to go. With a single sweeping motion everything was thrown to the floor, allowing her to get her footing and stand up, reaching towards the ceiling. Quite thankfully there appeared to be a metal mesh panel that could be removed, granting access to the ventilation shaft. Though where it went? Jamie had not the faintest idea. Still, it was better than being trapped in that room when whatever that thing was got in.
The girl wasted no time and quickly pushed up the grating, spinning her hands ninety degrees and letting the plating fall to the ground. A quick hop up and she was able to grab hold of the inside paneling to pull herself up and in. The adrenaline pumping through her veins was still running heavy, though she had a moment to relax before she began her scramble through the shaft. Unfortunately for her, the metal that lined the shaft beneath her was not exactly solid, and as it flexed beneath her made a series of popping, crunching, and bending noises as she crawled through.
Jamie stopped for a moment, hearing a voice somewhere behind her echoing. "Please open up" ... "Ms, please hurry!"
Feth what is she doing in there, BB wondered as he waited for her. He was on edge now, with an unknown number of brood-lings on board the only thing he wanted to do was get this girl and get her out of here. As the seconds went by a troubling though went through his mind, what if she is hurt. Grabbing his life scanner again he looked over the reading and saw she had moved.
"Really, I'm racing over this whole karking ship to save you and you're running from me?"
BB really didn't mean to say that so loud, the mixture of adrenaline and stress was getting to him. From the readings it looked like she was on the walls, but BB knew it was more likely that she had gotten into the vents and was just trying to find a way out.
"OK Ms, I need you to stay calm and head back toward me..."
BB voice tailed off as he heard the skittering of claws beginning to move toward him.
"OK scratch that, we got company. Try to get to a main access junction where we can meet up, but don't go too deep into the ship as the brood is undoubtedly nested up there."
Before BB left he slid her flashlight and an ear bud comlink through an opening in the door the precious spawn had made hoping she could use them. After that BB ran back away from the sounds of the spawn, hoping to find another way to meet up with his recsuee and somehow get them both out of this karking mess.
With every creak of the vent shaft as she maneuvered through the tiny tunnel she made a small grimace, knowing full well that she was anything but stealthy in this particular situation. If anything like that creature found its' way inside she would have nowhere to go, thankfully she was fairly certain there was no way that monstrous thing could fit its' huge hide inside. Seconds turned to minutes as she continued crawling around tight corners when she finally happened upon a grating that looked over a room below. Much like the rest of the ship it was engulfed in foreboding darkness. Her eyes squinted as she peered through the wire mesh, as if that would somehow aide her vision.
Kark. What a fine mess you're in now!
Twisting her body around she pressed her feet against the grating and kicked once, hard. With a loud, echoed CLANK the grate fell to the floor and smashed. Perfect. Way to be silent, dummy. The blonde waited several seconds to ensure that there wasn't anything already in the room waiting for a free meal before dropping down. Unsurprisingly she landed atop the grate, making another rather loud CRUNCH beneath her feet, nearly losing her balance at the same time.
Okay, okay...Now what?
Jamie made her way to the edge of the room, taking note of several overturned furniture as she felt her way towards the doorway. Tracing her hand along the wall she felt something rather slimy that clung to the surface. Ugh! Her lips curled as she pulled away to wipe away the grime on her pant leg before finding the door switch. Is there anyone on this ship still alive? All she wanted to do was find the bridge, scan for any signs of life, and get out of here before she became the next victim.
She had heard a voice, faint as it was, earlier though. She was almost certain of it. Someone else had to be alive aboard. Stepping back out into the dimly lit halls she tossed her head to the left and to the right. Nothing looked familiar. The blonde had no idea where she was in relation to the bridge, or the port she entered through. What she did hear though was the slow clink, clink, clink of claws against durasteel. Another one!No no no no no!
Heavy footsteps pounded the metal flooring beneath her as she ran the opposite direction of the beasties. Fate was a cruel thing however, because as she rounded that next corner there was another waiting, as if she was herded like cattle by the other. Now as she turned back she saw the former slowly peer around, terrible gold eyes staring back at her as if it was proud of itself. Jamie's lip trembled in fear, her legs froze in place. There was nowhere to go this time. No vent to crawl through, no door to hide behind. Just the cruel realization that she was in fact, screwed.
Why do they always run? I mean first you try to warn them of the danger, but do they listen... No, let's go into the big scary ship all alone with the Sith spawn. I'm sure their nice, karking friendly little killing machines right? Or even better when the rescuers get near let's jump into the ventilation system, I mean who doesn't like a nice game of "hide and go seek" on a plague ship.
BB wasn't really cross at this girl he was trying to help, just exasperated at the way it was going. The longer they were on board the high the likely hood was of one of both of them getting killed, or worse. With and unknown enemy and no reason to fight them, retreat was the most logical option. But to leave her alone to fend off these beasts was not something that was in BB's make up. For better or worse he was going to save this woman or die trying, and the former being a much better option he thought.
Sprinting toward the hall she had fled into he watched on his bio scanner as a large spawn signal closed on her. He was close, close enough to hear the thing moving, to hear the broken breathing of a person scared for her life.
Two more turns till he was to her... BB pulled back the first hammer of his hand cannon.
One turn left... He drew his Shoto saber and prepared to activate it...
Turning the last corner he saw the beast moving closer to her, drool dripping from its' mouth. Nearly two meters tall this was an adult guard, meaning they were close to the nest. BB let out a shout as he emptied a barrel of Aurek Charge into the things exposed back. It screamed a high pitch roar from the pain BB using the opening, lit his saber and jumped for the beast's head. As the beast thrashed one of its' scythe-like claws struck BB across his left shoulder, wounding the boy but not before he sunk his lightsabers blade deep into the beast's eye socket.
As the beast fell from its' mortal wound BB hit hard onto the deck as well. Not the most graceful of entrances but feth it worked and the beast wouldn't be hurting anyone anymore. Grasping at his shoulder BB rolled to knees before placing his back to the hallway bulkhead. Taking his still lit saber he carefully presses the blade to his wounded shoulder. The blade hisses for a minute as it burned and cauterized the wound and BB stifled a scream as best he could.
Still stunned from the maneuver BB struggles to his feet needing to steady himself against the wall while he recovers. Looking over to the girl he nods to her before saying between deep breaths...
"Bryce... TKO search and rescue... If you don't mind... I need to get you out of here."
The blonde froze in place as her life was seemingly over. Flashes of Kurt, her mother and father, Keira, and others passed through her mind while she stood still. The beast lumbered ever closer to her. Her legs refused to budge. Her mouth opened to scream again, but nothing came of it. With trembling hands and a Nerf in the headlights look she simply stared at the creature's massive appendages and brooding looks. What a way to go she thought.
Just when she thought it was over, when she had relinquished all hope she heard what sounded like a small gunshot that was followed by a familiar sound. That familiar snap-hiss of a lightsaber igniting from the darkness just a ways away. But...How? The girl was entirely confused by the flash of light and sudden movement of another person. In another instant the would-be savior jumped forward and embedded his saber into the head of the creature, eliciting one final screech before the corpse came tumbling to the ground with a noticeable thud.
The girl blinked three or four times, still standing where she had been, in complete and total disbelief of what had just transpired. Her eyes shifted between the dead spawn and the man and back again, searching for the words to say something in return. "H--Hi...Br--Bryce."He needs to get me out of here? How'd he even know I was here? "What do you mean? Are you the one who sent the distress signal from here?" She remembered the distress signal that she'd seen, perhaps he was simply another traveler that had come across the beacon as well? "I've been looking for survivors, I didn't get a chance to check the rest of the ship yet."
Bryce slid up to a full standing position. Taking his last comm link from his kit he handed it to her as well as his hand cannon.
"No survivors, I scanned the ship before coming aboard. You are the only non-sith spawn on this bird besides me."
BB pointed down to the dead creature before her.
"That is all that is left of the crew, this is a plague ship. Left Demonsgate without following proper procedures and the infection has spread to the entire crew. Those not corrupted look to have been devoured by their former shipmates. Anyway, this is a bad scene so I'm gonna get you out of here, then blow this karking ship to hell to keep others from stumbling onto it."
As he finished BB took an immune booster from his medical kit and inject his arm just above the wound. He had survived a few infections already so this dance was becoming far too common for him. Looking over at the young woman he noticed how attractive she was but this seemed like a poor time to try and flirt. Instead, he pulled a second injector from his kit and handed it to her.
"Anti-bodies against this infection, you way want to inject yourself just to be safe. Say never got your name, you got one cutie?"
Ok, maybe a bad time but kark it, he was still a seventeen-year-old young man...
The blonde's eyes flickered, momentarily displaying a faint glimpse of pain for the deceased crew members. Still, there was the whole matter of what exactly a 'sith spawn' was. Apparently it was the name of this particular creature, but that left many questions bouncing around her mind. "Plague ship?"What?"How did the crew become infected? And how does it spread?"How could anyone become one of those things. They looked like the stuff of nightmares! "What are they anyway?" The more she looked at the gruesome, disfigured monstrosity that lay dead just feet away the more she cringed at its' very existence. That used to be someone? How awful!
Jamie's face scrunched up in a mild grimace as she watched Bryce inject himself with some kind of antibody. Needles weren't her cup of tea, and the sight of one gave her the creeps. As he handed her one to use on herself she held the syringe tightly in her hand, looking it over. Without noticing her teeth began anxiously biting down into her lower lip.
A long minute would pass before she snapped out of her own thoughts, realizing that he'd asked her name. With a twitch her eyes raised from the needle to his. "Oh, sorry." With her free hand she extended it outwards. "Jamie. And, yeah, thanks for the rescue." She then also recalled that he had a lightsaber! "Are you some kind of Jedi?" Her head motioned towards his belt, noting the weapon. Any type of conversation that would delay having to inject herself with a needle would do for now.
BB holstered his hand cannon back into his waistband after she didn't seem interested in taking it. The ear comm though he placed in her ear for her because the boy would be damned if he had to go through that again of not being able to communicate with her. After she asked about the saber BB unclipped it from his belt and handed it to her.
"Jamie, if you know how to use one then take it. More of these beauties will be coming soon and I would rather you be armed with something. As for that Jedi stuff not really all that noble enough to be one, and I'm still a novice with a light blade anyhow..."
He was interrupted by the sounds of skittering claws coming closer, and he knew what that meant.
"Feth, what am I thinking, we gotta get out of here."
Taking her by the hand he shoved the small handled saber into her slender hand before gently then taking her gently by the wrist. Pulling her to the edge of the hall Bryce looked both ways and then began to lead Jamie away from the creatures and toward the ships exterior. Hopefully, they would be able to say just ahead of the oncoming creatures long enough to survive this...
