Raine Strife
New Member
Cold.
That had been the first thing she'd noticed when her cylinder had opened; the chill of the air prickling against her bare skin. Opening her eyes, she'd grimaced; the pale amber right that just barely managed to illuminate the chamber still stung eyes that were accustomed only to the darkness of the artificial womb she'd just been disgorged from. There was no noise, at least - that was probably a blessing, for the sounds of a bustling lab would probably have been overwhelming. Cautiously she'd emerged, feet unsteady at first, but finding her footing as she ventured onto the raised mesh platform connected to the cylinder behind her. Her caution was needless, though; the chamber was empty, and remained so as she moved forward. Shrill alarms didn't split the silence, and Guards didnt suddenly rush in from connecting chambers with blasters raised. There was nothing; nothing and nobody. Not a single soul. Just a room coated in layer of dust thick enough to attest to long years of abandonment. Whatever this place was, it was not merely slumbering, but dead and forgotten.
Realising this, Raine had paused her slow advance into the laboratory, blinking slowly as she cast her gaze about. Her thoughts were a chaotic jumble, fragmentary information that had been imparted to her slumbering mind before she stumbled from her cylinder trickling into place. And yet there were gaps, blanks in her memory far too numerous to be intentional. Why? Why would someone go to all this trouble for a partial job? What possible reason could someone have for doing such a thing? Or was it that there was no reason? Was it just an oversight? Had some quirk of the Force intervened, preventing those responsible from finishing what they had started? Leaving her to be forgotten? It seemed unlikely, and yet no alternative presented itself to the woman's questing thoughts as she considered the scene before.
"Why...?" she muttered, then cough - her throat was dry as the desserts of Tattooine. The cough was followed by another, then another; a whole cluster of choking splutters that set her staggering unsteadily, one hand reaching out for a nearby console to steady herself. And in the moment her bare skin pressed against the cold metal, everything changed -
In an instant, the faint glow of the emergency lighting was replaced by the harsh glare of overhead lum-tubes. There was noise, muffled and distant, but evident; computers chirping, the murmur of conversation. And there were people. Techs, scients. And amidst them all, a man. A man clad in midnight. And in that instant, the man turned, his eyes narrowing as he fixed his attention, impossibly, on her.
~
Raine awoke with a gasp, dark eyes snapping open and darting about as though expecting to the find the lab before her once more. But no; it was gone, left behind countless planets ago. Now, all that greeted her questing gaze was the looming sphere of the planet ahead, and the innumerable speckles in orbit above it that laid testament to the bustling trade that ran through the planet's busy spaceports.
"Just a dream," she sighed. It wasn't the first time that dream had disturbed her slumber over the years. Hells, nights when it hadn't invaded her sleeping mind were probably in the minority. Frowning, Raine grabbed a mug from the side of her chair, dragging a swig of the murky brown liquid contained within. The caf was cold, of course, cold and more than a little stale, but she was glad of it anyway, letting the bitter liquid wash away the lingering remnants of her sleepiness as she cast her gaze at the controls ahead of her. "Got an update for me, Gee-four?" she called, setting the now empty mug aside. A trill of beeps and chirps answered, and Raine smiled softly as she glanced back at the battered astromech droid that was interfacing with the ship's controls behind me. "Good job," she murmured as the droid finished, flicking the controls across to manual for the last approach to the planet. The droid was more than capable of the task, but Raine always liked to handle the arrival. It was just part of their little ritual. Besides, there was something else for the little droid to do. "Start scanning the traffic," she instructed, hands dancing over the controls as she spoke, "Flag up any ships that've been at any of the last dozen 'ports." Paranoia, perhaps, but Raine preferred to think of it as being cautious. The same sort of caution that'd kept her free and flying this last decade.
Confident that the droid would undertake the task with its usual diligence, Raine focused on the task at hand. Beside her, a display stuttered and blinked out, only to flash back to life as she caught it with a practised backhand, barely breaking from her work as she did. Text flickered across the screen, confirming that G4 had already completed the usual pre-landing communications with spaceport control, and Raine's smile brightened a shade as she flicked an overhead control and spoke again; "Spaceport control, this is Equinox. Confirming final approach to landing pad Aurek-seven-six-niner as advised." Another flick silenced the comm, Raine already tuning out control's response as she guided her battered craft toward its destination.
~
Barely an hour later, while clouds of dust still swirled through the air, the Equinox's cargo ramp thudded down against the grimey, oil-slicked docking bay floor. Raine stood alone at the top of it, fingers of her left hand fidgeting with the buckle of the holster that hung at her hip, eyes running across the datapad carried in the other. "Alright, Ten-Bee," she called, turning slightly to peer between the crates neatly stowed in the cargo hold, "Know where you're taking this junk?" In the depths of the hold, a bulky figure turned, photoreceptors flaring as it focused on Raine. "Yes, Miss Raine," was its answer, its gentle, almost melodic, voice and tone sounding utterly icongruous coming from the bulky loader droid. It never failed to bring a smile to Raine's lips, and once more she found herself thanking the quirk of the Force that had let her stumble across the scrapped protocol droid that'd been the source of the voice module, back on... Ord Mantell? Or had that been the motivator unit? Honestly, the specifics didn't matter, and Raine waved the thoughts away as she tucked the datapad into her jacket, calling back, "Alright, have Gee-four comm me when you're done. He's running maintenance the starboard thruster linkages."
With that, Raine stepped down the ramp, well-worn boots thudding lightly against the surface with each step. One hand fished a crumbled pack of deathsticks - a guilty pleasure - out of a pocket, and she slipped it between her lips as she moved toward the exit, though she didn't move to light it until she stepped beyond the docking bay blast doors. Then, pausing, she took a long drag, eyes closing in bliss as the mild narcotic eased the worries that eternally plagued her mind. "Gods, I needed this," she muttered, before casting her eyes about for somewhere she might slake the second of her needs. "Cantina... c'mon, there's always one in the spaceport. Aha!"
Her prayers answer, Raine took another drag on the deathstick, then started toward the nearby cantina.
That had been the first thing she'd noticed when her cylinder had opened; the chill of the air prickling against her bare skin. Opening her eyes, she'd grimaced; the pale amber right that just barely managed to illuminate the chamber still stung eyes that were accustomed only to the darkness of the artificial womb she'd just been disgorged from. There was no noise, at least - that was probably a blessing, for the sounds of a bustling lab would probably have been overwhelming. Cautiously she'd emerged, feet unsteady at first, but finding her footing as she ventured onto the raised mesh platform connected to the cylinder behind her. Her caution was needless, though; the chamber was empty, and remained so as she moved forward. Shrill alarms didn't split the silence, and Guards didnt suddenly rush in from connecting chambers with blasters raised. There was nothing; nothing and nobody. Not a single soul. Just a room coated in layer of dust thick enough to attest to long years of abandonment. Whatever this place was, it was not merely slumbering, but dead and forgotten.
Realising this, Raine had paused her slow advance into the laboratory, blinking slowly as she cast her gaze about. Her thoughts were a chaotic jumble, fragmentary information that had been imparted to her slumbering mind before she stumbled from her cylinder trickling into place. And yet there were gaps, blanks in her memory far too numerous to be intentional. Why? Why would someone go to all this trouble for a partial job? What possible reason could someone have for doing such a thing? Or was it that there was no reason? Was it just an oversight? Had some quirk of the Force intervened, preventing those responsible from finishing what they had started? Leaving her to be forgotten? It seemed unlikely, and yet no alternative presented itself to the woman's questing thoughts as she considered the scene before.
"Why...?" she muttered, then cough - her throat was dry as the desserts of Tattooine. The cough was followed by another, then another; a whole cluster of choking splutters that set her staggering unsteadily, one hand reaching out for a nearby console to steady herself. And in the moment her bare skin pressed against the cold metal, everything changed -
In an instant, the faint glow of the emergency lighting was replaced by the harsh glare of overhead lum-tubes. There was noise, muffled and distant, but evident; computers chirping, the murmur of conversation. And there were people. Techs, scients. And amidst them all, a man. A man clad in midnight. And in that instant, the man turned, his eyes narrowing as he fixed his attention, impossibly, on her.
~
Raine awoke with a gasp, dark eyes snapping open and darting about as though expecting to the find the lab before her once more. But no; it was gone, left behind countless planets ago. Now, all that greeted her questing gaze was the looming sphere of the planet ahead, and the innumerable speckles in orbit above it that laid testament to the bustling trade that ran through the planet's busy spaceports.
"Just a dream," she sighed. It wasn't the first time that dream had disturbed her slumber over the years. Hells, nights when it hadn't invaded her sleeping mind were probably in the minority. Frowning, Raine grabbed a mug from the side of her chair, dragging a swig of the murky brown liquid contained within. The caf was cold, of course, cold and more than a little stale, but she was glad of it anyway, letting the bitter liquid wash away the lingering remnants of her sleepiness as she cast her gaze at the controls ahead of her. "Got an update for me, Gee-four?" she called, setting the now empty mug aside. A trill of beeps and chirps answered, and Raine smiled softly as she glanced back at the battered astromech droid that was interfacing with the ship's controls behind me. "Good job," she murmured as the droid finished, flicking the controls across to manual for the last approach to the planet. The droid was more than capable of the task, but Raine always liked to handle the arrival. It was just part of their little ritual. Besides, there was something else for the little droid to do. "Start scanning the traffic," she instructed, hands dancing over the controls as she spoke, "Flag up any ships that've been at any of the last dozen 'ports." Paranoia, perhaps, but Raine preferred to think of it as being cautious. The same sort of caution that'd kept her free and flying this last decade.
Confident that the droid would undertake the task with its usual diligence, Raine focused on the task at hand. Beside her, a display stuttered and blinked out, only to flash back to life as she caught it with a practised backhand, barely breaking from her work as she did. Text flickered across the screen, confirming that G4 had already completed the usual pre-landing communications with spaceport control, and Raine's smile brightened a shade as she flicked an overhead control and spoke again; "Spaceport control, this is Equinox. Confirming final approach to landing pad Aurek-seven-six-niner as advised." Another flick silenced the comm, Raine already tuning out control's response as she guided her battered craft toward its destination.
~
Barely an hour later, while clouds of dust still swirled through the air, the Equinox's cargo ramp thudded down against the grimey, oil-slicked docking bay floor. Raine stood alone at the top of it, fingers of her left hand fidgeting with the buckle of the holster that hung at her hip, eyes running across the datapad carried in the other. "Alright, Ten-Bee," she called, turning slightly to peer between the crates neatly stowed in the cargo hold, "Know where you're taking this junk?" In the depths of the hold, a bulky figure turned, photoreceptors flaring as it focused on Raine. "Yes, Miss Raine," was its answer, its gentle, almost melodic, voice and tone sounding utterly icongruous coming from the bulky loader droid. It never failed to bring a smile to Raine's lips, and once more she found herself thanking the quirk of the Force that had let her stumble across the scrapped protocol droid that'd been the source of the voice module, back on... Ord Mantell? Or had that been the motivator unit? Honestly, the specifics didn't matter, and Raine waved the thoughts away as she tucked the datapad into her jacket, calling back, "Alright, have Gee-four comm me when you're done. He's running maintenance the starboard thruster linkages."
With that, Raine stepped down the ramp, well-worn boots thudding lightly against the surface with each step. One hand fished a crumbled pack of deathsticks - a guilty pleasure - out of a pocket, and she slipped it between her lips as she moved toward the exit, though she didn't move to light it until she stepped beyond the docking bay blast doors. Then, pausing, she took a long drag, eyes closing in bliss as the mild narcotic eased the worries that eternally plagued her mind. "Gods, I needed this," she muttered, before casting her eyes about for somewhere she might slake the second of her needs. "Cantina... c'mon, there's always one in the spaceport. Aha!"
Her prayers answer, Raine took another drag on the deathstick, then started toward the nearby cantina.