Lad and Lass Go On Voyage, Promptly Explode.

[Kobeon]

​

The Titonic, Star Liner​

In Orbit Around a Newly Discovered Garden World​

Wild Space​

​

Exquisite. If one word could describe the Titonic, that word would be it. Not illustrious, not amazing, not spectacular, not incredible. Sure, it was all of those things and oh, so much more. However, no adjective in galactic basic radiated the elegance and effortless class that the star liner Titonic exemplified except from exquisite. Which is why the galactic elite flocked to its luxurious cabins en masse every time it made a stellar voyage. Business magnates, dictators, renowned celebrities and, of course, aristocracy fought over tickets to this exquisite vessel. Anyone who was anyone traveled on the Titonic.

At least, that's what the advertisements said. The reality was more like anyone who wanted to be anyone, and could afford it, traveled on the Titonic.

And then there was the crew.

Captain Grinch Phladoopie governed them all whilst sailing, and currently, he was not happy. He'd woken up next to a bulbous Gamorrean that morning and, if that wasn't bad enough, was now being blackmailed with a holovid of last night's events for money. Lots of it.

As he sat slouched in the Titonic's command chair, face in hand, asking the universe if his day could get any worse, a klaxon began to blare.

The universe had answered, and that answer was, 'Yes, Cap'n Phladoopie, your day can get worse. Much worse.'

--------

The story of Kobeon coming to be on the Titonic was a long one, but one that can be condensed into a single sentence; He knew someone who who had extra tickets. As he gazed out of the porthole on his spacious two bedroom cabin, complete with en suite and personal kitchen, he pondered as to whether or not the planet below was like his own. Found eons ago and then lost to time. He wondered just how many times this very planet had been 'discovered'.

After a long time, he finally concluded; a lot.

Having reached this conclusion, he decided it was time to visit one of the many bars on the colossal vessel and have a wee cheeky whiskey. He donned a dinner jacket of questionable craftsmanship and walked to the door.

Before the door had finished opening, the very same klaxon that had just popped into Cap'n Phladoopie's life popped into his. The young prince jumped in his skin, and dinner jacket, before peering curiously out of his cabin into the hallway. Other confused faces greeted his.

"This cannae be good..." He mumbled.

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

As a child Jamie never traveled anywhere. Naboo was her whole galaxy. Everything she had ever experienced was there on that planet. After leaving for the first time she finally had the opportunity to explore new places unlike ever before. The Titonic was quite the sight: Massive. A testament to the shpwright that had overseen its' construction. Nothing short of a marvel. Though as it turned out, simply being a noble of a world didn't necessarily guarantee you a spot on the esteemed vessel. Instead she had entered into a lottery type drawing and by a stroke of luck, won a ticket aboard the cruise liner for a tour of wild space.

How lucky!

Days of free food and drink, endless dance and entertainment, and a vacation so far off the beaten path that she wouldn't be bothered by the drag of every day life. A respite from training to top it off? Perfect. Today however was going to be unlike the others. Instead of endless food and switching back and forth between laying by the massive pool and sitting in the turbojet jacuzzi an unbelievably loud and obnoxious alarm began to blare through the entire ship, sparing not a soul from its' wrath, including Jamie. With a start the girl was torn from her sleep and immediately jumped out of bed, pulling on whatever clothes she had been wearing prior to passing out and rushing out of the cabin to see others wandering around, confusion on their faces as they searched for direction or instruction.

"What's going on?!" She shouted over the alarm, to anyone really, though most just ignored her as they pushed one another to get wherever it was they felt like they had to go.

[member="Kobeon"]

 

[Kobeon]

The Klaxon immediately stirred Captain Grinch Phladoopie from his self-loathing stupor, and, although his taste in night companions was questionable, his work ethic and integrity were not. The man was kicked into action with a surge of adrenaline and a sudden clear head. He knew those klaxons only blared if there was a problem, and he was going to fix that problem.

"What's the problem?" He demanded, addressing the bridge staff.
"H-hostile ships are approaching us, s-sir!" Replied a meek and shaky male voice.

The Captain scratched the bald patch on the back of his head. This was a big problem.

"What about our security escorts?" He inquired. The security escort was comprised of ten military corvettes and two battlecruisers, capable of deploying fighters. They should have been more than enough to handle the average pirate raid. Failing that, the Titonic had turbolasers of its own. Well, four of them.

"Our escorts are the hostile ships!" Exclaimed the same male voice, this time in more of a squeal than a nervous statement.

Grinch Phladoopie scratched the back of his head again.

"Damn, this is a big problem."

------

Some people shuffled, some people bustled. Some people walked and some people ran. Some people shouted and some people laughed. What they all had in common though, was ignorance. So, when Kobeon overheard the first understandable voice inquire as to what exactly was happening, he replied in the most honest way possible.

"Ah have nae clue!" His voice was somehow calm and just loud enough to break through the ambience. Perhaps she'd hear him, perhaps she'd not. Even then, understanding him could be tricky.

As he turned to face the poser of the question, Kobeon realised the only reason he'd heard her is due to the fact that they were next door to each other. He brandished a shrug in her general direction and jerked his chin to the nearest exit from the corridor.

"Ah really dinnae ken, but ah do ken we're nae gonnae find oot standin' aroond here."

With that, he turned and began to hastily walk towards the exit. I say exit, but it really just lead to another corridor, and then another. Ship was like a maze, with every recreational facility imaginable dotted inbetween on the many different levels. If the woman followed, Kobeon would lead them to a sun lounge that was basically a hangar sized viewing platform that boasted an immense window that allowed curious passengers to gaze at the vastness of space.

Maybe they could see what was the cause of all this upheaval there...

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

A voice had answered her question! Jamie turned to face the source of that answer to see it was a slightly taller man whose voice carried over the heads of most of the other passengers. Their eyes met and the blonde gave a nod to acknowledge him. "Fair point." she admitted. It was likely something simple, perhaps a malfunction or a test of the alarm system. Or maybe some child thought it would be funny to pull the wrong lever and set everyone into an organized panic. Whatever the reason Jamie was certain the Captain would communicate over the loud speaker shortly that all was well and they could return to their business. For Jamie, that meant sleep.

The blonde quickly caught up to her new acquaintance as they weaved in and out of other folks lazily standing by debating among themselves as to what they were going to do, or complaining about the sound of the klaxon itself. "Name's Jamie." She said as they pushed their way through the scores of people congregating in the corridors. "So much for a quiet getaway." No matter where, or how, or when, it seemed as though every time she boarded a starship of any kind problems soon followed. Be it pirates, deadly Sith spawn, accidents, or the like. Perhaps she was cursed, destined to never have a quiet trip through space.

Of course, the moment the two made it into the sun lounge with floor to ceiling viewports Jamie immediately knew what was wrong. It wasn't that some kid had pulled the alarm. It wasn't a loss of engine power, or an asteroid field alert. It was an attack! The girl stood in silence for a few moments before finally speaking up. "This...This is bad." An explosion rocked the ship moments later, causing the girl to stumble over herself to the floor. "Those are our security escorts!" She pointed from where she'd fallen, not bothering to get back up. "But why!?"

[member="Kobeon"]

 

[Kobeon]

"Sir, they're hailing us!"

Captain Grinch Phladoopie leaned forwards in his command chair.

"Put them on the big screen."

Suddenly, a rather young, attractive, chiss woman filled the bridge's monitor. She sniffed, almost comically, then flashed a dangerous white smile.

"Greetings, Captain," she begun, "I can almost smell your fear." Again, she sniffed. Quite enthusiastically.
"Loser! I should've known!," growled the Captain. Deml'ose'rimbul, or Loser, was the commander of the security escort. "What do you want?"

There was a pause as she stared directly into Phladoopie's soul. "... I'm afraid I have no demands. We have all been paid rather handsomely to destroy the Titonic. Something to do with insurance and yadayadayada. You know how these things go. Just wanted to see your face before I turned it into space dust. Bye!"

And with that, the feed was cut. Oh, and several mean-looking torpedoes had been fired in the Titonic's general direction.

Grinch slouched back into his command chair as the bridge erupted into chaos. Screaming, shouting, the lot. He waited for several minutes, eyes fixated on a spec of dust on his sleeve, then reached for a microphone that broadcasted ship-wide. As explosions began to rock the ship, he depressed the transmit button, sighed for a long time and then said rather plainly;

"Captain Phladoopie here. We're all going to die."

-----

As the prince and his newly found companion walked hurriedly to the sun lounge, pleasantries were exchanged. Jamie, she called herself. "Nice tae meet ye, Jamie," Kobeon replied, glancing behind his shoulder to make brief eye contact. "Ah'm Kobeon." He felt a tad weird introducing himself to a lady without the royal formality as, in a normal situation, he would've taken her hand in his, kissed the top of it, and then introduced himself...

... As Prince Kobeon the Seventeenth, Heir to the Kingdom of Volantir, keeper of the sacred bangshoot.

Yeah, the duo definitely didn't have time for royal formalities.

As they entered the sun lounge, which was relatively empty, all became clear. Well, not really. Kobeon hadn't seen a space battle from a spectator's point of view yet, and it took a few moments for things to click. Well, a few moments and a hefty explosion. Kobeon stumbled but managed to maintain his balance, only to turn and find his new lady friend squarely on her arse. He gazed between her, the security escorts and back again, nodding as she talked, then offered her a hand up.

Whether she took it or not, he'd reply to her last question.

"Why dae ye think, lass. Whit's thee only thing in the glen that makes folk turn on eachother? Gold coins." Then he thought for another moment and added, "Or whiskey... Or wimmin."

As Kobeon finished voicing his theories, the captain made his announcement. Now people really started panicking... The young prince felt adrenaline begin to flood his system, though he waited to see how his companion would react before he made any decisions himself.

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The blonde smiled, taking Kobeon's hand as offered before standing back on her own two feet and reassessing the scene beyond the viewport as more and more fire erupted, rattling the Titonic to its' core. "Money? If they wanted credits then why didn't they just board the ship, hijack it, rob everyone, and then hold us for ransom? That seems far more profitable, no?" It didn't make sense to her why they would simply destroy a ship like this that was for its' weight in credits to any sane person. Then again that was the trouble, people that went along blowing up civilian starcrafts were likely not the most stable minded people in the galaxy. Perhaps the work of a madman?

Jamie listened to the announcement over the PA system by the Captain, followed by the raise in volume throughout the ship as countless people began to panic and stampede about the ship searching for any and all ways to save their own skin. Instead of helping the situation, these people served only to make matters worse by adding confusion and panic to the mix. A half dozen people charged past the two as they stood where they were, nearly knocking Jamie back to the ground again.

"Okay. Well, that's not reassuring." Obviously. "We need to find a way off this ship somehow. There's got to be ejection pods, but then there's the matter of being shot down by those fighters." If they stayed on board they would most definitely die. If they got into the pods they would probably die, but not guaranteed. Maybe not doing was still better than definitely dying she concluded. "Unless you have another idea I would say getting to the ejection pods is really our only option!"

[member="Kobeon"]

 

[Kobeon]

M'lady. Kobeon almost bowed as he helped the woman to her feet.

With hands on his hips and a concerned frown on his face, the young prince nodded in response to her remark and gazed out of the viewport, contemplating. "Well," he retorted, "Who's tae say they arnae gonnae pilfer us. Maybe they're just scarin' us first." To him, it was a possibility. One that diminished in chance with every fiery explosion that rocked the hull. His ponderings on the attacker's motives were rudely interrupted by a few people eager to leave the sun lounge no matter what, or who, stood in their way.

"Watch it, ye knaves!" Shouted the prince as they pushed and shoved past him.

After being bumrushed by panicked patrons and giving them a good telling off, Kobeon made sure for the second time that his counterpart was still standing. She was. Just.

And then, self preservation plans were being discussed. It felt wrong to the Prince to discuss saving themselves when he was so intent on helping everyone, yet, obviously, everyone else on the ship would be thinking the same thing. So, he nodded enthusiastically and declared, "Yer right. Ah ken the way." With that, he set off hurriedly and instinctively offered the lady his hand for support as they ran. What a gentleman.

Unfortunately for them both, whoever designed the Titonic reckoned that the occupants would never need to use the escape pods and decided to place them all together in the back of the ship instead of spreading them out evenly. So, unfortunately, they'd have to traverse almost the entire length of the colossal ship to reach them.

Did they have time?

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie's focus shifted between the viewport and Kobeon. "If they keep that up there won't be any left to pilfer!" She was of course referring to the continuous fire rocking the ship. Either way, it seemed that getting off the ship was certainly the best course of action. They would be a much smaller target in a drop pod, and, as awful as it sounded, if everyone else did the same, perhaps they would be busy targeting other pods and unable to hit Jamie and Kobeon before they breached the atmosphere of the planet below.

"Right. Let's go!" The blonde followed quickly behind as they zigged and zagged between others making their way towards the same escape pods. Unfortunately for them, given their distance away from those pods, it would take the two several minutes to reach them, in which case many of the pods would very likely already be deployed. All she could do was hope that there was at least one left! If not, well, their situation would be far worse.

The closer they got towards the center of the ship the more they could see the extent of the damage already done. There were small fires all over, causing the corridors to fill with smoke that they had to pass through. Sight became limited the further in they got. Some unfortunate passengers had their lives cut short here, the product of standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a tragic sight, but there was little Jamie, or anyone else for that matter, could do for them. Any time wasted was time lost getting aboard a pod. When the two finally made it to the center of the ship, an area that branched off in all directions several fires blocked the main corridor. Thick plumes of smoke billowed from inside that had been venting into the main lobby for some time. "We'll have to go around, even though there's not much time."

[member="Kobeon"]

 

[Kobeon]

The smell hit him before the ghastly sight did. A smokey fragrance as they neared the center of the vessel, accompanied by the growing odor of cooked flesh. The young prince pondered briefly as to why anyone in their right mind would choose now of all moments to begin cooking, but as the smell grew in intensity he realised nobody had chosen to start cooking.

It was the people themselves.

He warned Jamie not to look too closely at the piles of burning detritus that littered once elegant corridors, but it was quite unavoidable. He felt sorry for her, as he assumed her to be an innocent and well educated girl that had likely never seen atrocities like this before. Kobeon himself wasn't too phased by the awful sights and smells as had been at the heart of medieval sieges a few times in his life.

Now they'd made it to the main atrium, which had run-off hallways that lead to literally everywhere on the ship. However, the main route to the escape pods was blocked by fire and smoke. Outstanding. Kobeon sighed to himself before gazing around for an alternative. As he racked his brain, an elevator pinged nearby.

The doors slid open and a few people rushed out, only to stop dead in their tracks when they realised the path to the pods was blocked. Unfortunately, it was another case of wrong place, wrong time, as an explosion dislodged a decorative pillar from its supports. It promptly fell on, and crushed, the unfortunate group.

With a wince, Kobeon knew they had an alternate route. "Thee up-doon cart," he announced, "We can take it up a couple levels 'n' make oor way towards thee escape pods above this damnable hellfire!" He had to shout over the klaxon, the roaring flames, the explosions, and the screams.

With that said, he set off towards the elevator, making sure not to get too close to any pillars.

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

What is the first thing someone does when warned not to look at something? Of course. They look. Jamie's face turned sour as she quickly turned away from the death that littered the ground over which they were stepping. To prevent herself from getting sick she covered her face with her hand, breathing through her mouth rather than her nose to try and prevent the smell from overtaking her. Ugh. Sadly that was hardly enough to quell the smell, and the further they walked the harder it became to breath, forcing her to instead try and filter some of the smoke by covering her face with a portion of her shirt, as if that provided some kind of help.

That was when the doors to the lift opened, and a group of passengers poured out to try and make a run for the pods, only to be unceremoniously crushed by a massive beam that collapsed atop of them. Jamie shrieked at the sight, a half dozen lives extinguished in the blink of an eye. That single moment of reality hitting her was enough to remind her just how grave a situation they were in.

"We need to get the kark out of here!"

The girl nearly pushed Kobeon towards the direction he was heading, not wanting to waste even a single step if they didn't need to. There was more than simply a sense of urgency in her now. She was teetering on the edge of an anxiety attack, or mental breakdown, or maybe both. Either way, she wasn't interested in seeing anything more. The escape pods were the only thing she wanted to see, besides the surface of the planet they were orbiting.

"Hopefully the way is clear above."

[member="Kobeon"]

 

[Kobeon]

He could hear it in her voice as they ran. The tremble, the crack, the urgency. He'd heard it before from grown men enduring onslaught on the stone walls of Volantir. She was breaking.

Well, at least she didn't have to worry about making wasted steps, as Kobeon was hauling arse towards the lift like greased lightning. As soon as he was inside, he began mashing the button for the deck three levels above. He knew the delay was about five seconds between button push and doors closing, but the prince reckoned maybe, just maybe, if he mashed the button hard enough the lift might sense his urgency and set off early.

Nope.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the doors closed and a voice announced that they were going up. Kobeon coughed into his hand briefly before turning to face his companion. His turquoise eyes were stern and they gazed deeply into hers. "Listen tae me," he began, placing both hands on her shoulders. "Ye need tae stay strong, okay?"

Elevator music began playing in the background.

"Ah'm dependin' on yeh just as much as ye are on me. If ye break, ah break." He squeezed her shoulders for emphasis. "If we're gonnae make it aff this starboat, ye need tae keep it taegether. There'll be time fir breakin' doon 'n' cryin' later..."

He seemed to look even deeper in her eyes.
"Are ye with me, Jamie?"


[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The anxious twitch of her lips ceased as Kobeon put his hands on her shoulders, more so to try disguising the fear, rather than be absolved of it. Instead she simply nodded quickly several times, blonde strands of hair dancing on either side of her face. "Okay." The single word that pushed its' way out was hoarse, meek, but it was the best she could do, given the circumstances. She looked away and up to the lift's level display to try and distract herself from the very real possibility that the lift could be hit with fire from the assailants at any moment as they stood helplessly waiting to get out. On the other hand, when those two doors opened they could be engulfed in flames and smoke with nowhere else to go. There were so few pleasant outcomes for this situation that her foot began tapping nervously on the floor, her teeth biting down on the corner of her index finger.

Come on, come on! Hurry up!

Then she realized he'd actually asked her a question a moment ago. "Ye- Yeah, I'm with you. Sure."

That was inspiring. The dull echo of blaster fire continued, with the vibration following after each shot the whole ride up. But finally the wait was over, and the doors opened. In front of them was a relatively clear path, some debris on the floor and damaged walls, but short of that, no dead, no blood covered walls, and no opening in the hull pulling passengers into the vacuum of space. The blonde let out a massive sigh of relief, as if everything were better already. "I think we can follow this corridor all the way to the end and take the lift back down, assuming nothing else is in the way from here to there."

[member="Kobeon"]