Private The Stardust

[Val Drutin]

Setting: A cramped, cheaply-rented hangar bay on Coruscant.

~*~*~​

The Stardust was a luxury yacht—or at least, it had been considered luxury at the time of its manufacture some thirty five years ago. Now the ship’s hull was spotted with rust, and had clearly not been properly cleaned in some time.

It was equipped with a few turbolasers and a tractor beam, as well as a couple of shuttles. A starfighter was tucked away at the top of the vessel, but if one were to activate its engines they would find it was in such bad shape as to be considered a deathtrap. On the whole, the ship was not especially formidable where space combat was concerned, and obviously in need of significant maintenance.

Accompanied by a, er, borrowed protocol droid to serve as translator, Val was already waiting for Chkhoz Pikeyy at the bottom of the boarding ramp, absently picking at his nails. He had changed his clothes—still an obvious costume, but devoid of the usual gaudy decorations. This outfit was all black, as if designed for mourning, and Val’s mood too seemed rather dark and morose. He hardly looked up as he said, “Go right on in and have a look. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you what the problems are.”

 

[Chkhoz Pikeyy]

"Affirmative. But before I begin, do you know of any tools on site?"

He raised his only multi-purpose tool from underneath his previously crossed arms. He had his work cut out for him; getting this ship to an acceptable condition may prove to be a massive undertaking. Even so, the young man was confident that he could provide commendable repairs to his new acquaintance.

The 'borrowed' droid began to translate and interpret accordingly.

Just from observing the Stardust's hull, some patchwork may need to be necessary to shield the older components, but other than that, the outside of the large ship looked 'operable' at worst.

 

[Val Drutin]

Val shrugged his shoulders. “There's a tool box inside, on the table to the right when you first walk in. You can't miss it.”

Then, as if suddenly self-conscious about the state of the interior of the vessel—which was far worse than the exterior—he darted up the ramp and disappeared inside.

Upon entering the ship, every unsuspecting passenger who ever boarded was greeted by the sight of an abysmal clutter. Technical parts from electronics, droids, and even other ships littered what had once been an open, expansive area, along with whole intact gadgets and various oddities. Some of these bits and pieces had been taken apart and repurposed into a mural on the eastern wall. What exactly the mural was supposed to be depicting was as yet unclear—it seemed a chaotic mess of shiny metal, computer foil, and colored plastic.

Val quickly cleared the way through some of the mess that was blocking off access to the engine, which had indeed been making “funny noises”, though the pilot hadn’t the slightest idea what was causing it. Panels flickered erratically, their lights indicating issues which hadn’t stopped him from flying, but probably eventually would if things continued unchecked.

Apparently not trusting Chkhoz Pikeyy to find the toolbox, Val grabbed it from the table. Inside was a collection of mismatched tools, each one taken from a different set and of mixed quality. He returned to the hangar bay and handed it over to the bug with a somewhat sheepish look.

 

[Chkhoz Pikeyy]

The interior was hands down the worst mess the Verpine had ever seen. Ever. Even being of a generally understanding and very literal race, Chkhoz was astonished at the sight of the interior. If the insectoid had a heart, it would have dropped as he stepped through the doorway.

"This place is a disaster."

He said, with a stone face.

Pikeyy took the toolbox and began inspecting its contents, very quickly discovering that it housed an older tool that was famed for sporting a user-friendly modular design. It allowed for quick swapping of bits and pieces, and was well beyond capable of assembling and disassembling anything. There was also what would seem to be a pristine fusioncutter, it looked brand new, but likely came with the ship, indicating that it was almost as old as both Chkhoz's and Val's ages combined. It was safe to assume that this toolbox was fit for nearly any purpose.

The insectoid's spirits brightened at the sight of the handsome fusioncutter. He turned it on and it burned clean; a gorgeous yellow-white hue, causing him to chuckle warmly.

It was time to begin, with his tools in hand, he marched towards the main controls and immediately got to work.

He hummed a little tune as he glossed over a multitude of flashing lights, whirring gadgets, and beeping gizmos.

It was then that he unbolted the internal components near the floor, a strange noise was heard. Slowing his pace a little, but still humming, he picked up the unbolted sheet of durasteel to reveal its contents.

GRRRAAWWLTH!!!

A juvenile Slice Hound burst out of the panel, frightening Chkhoz so much that he stumbled back and toppled over a mess of droid parts and electronics. The creature was covered in dark fluids from the ship, but there was blood stained around its maw.

It darted up and around the mess of obstacles in its way, brushing past [member="Val Drutin"] in the process, but it couldn't find the exit, and instead clawed itself onto a tall pile of junk in a corner.

It panted heavily, its spines standing straight on its ends.

 

[Val Drutin]

Val let out a startled yelp and jumped on top of a cluttered table to avoid the slice hound. He felt its body swipe across his knees before he had a chance to pull his legs in, knocking still more junk onto the floor with the sudden movement. Some of the dark fluids marked his leggings where the spines had brushed him, leaving an oily shine on the black fabric, but thankfully without tearing it.

From atop the junk pile the hound gasped for breath, bristling. Val stared at it, dark eyes wide. It couldn’t be… No, of course not. His pet hound, the pup he had hidden aboard the ship after a trip to Corellia when he was thirteen, had been domesticated. Clearly abandoned by its owner, yes, but nowhere near as wild as this stowaway, whose presence in the Force was a mass of feral panic and bestial terror. Val had sympathized with the rejected pup and tried to offer it the same shelter and safety he had been given aboard the Stardust. But of course, his master had found out… and disapproved, and… and...

Val shut his eyes and covered his face with his hands, but it would have been quite obvious to the stunned Chkhoz Pikeyy that he had begun to weep, seemingly without warning. His shoulders were trembling and his sobs were muffled, but still audible even with the hound beginning to growl and gnash its blood-stained teeth.

 

[Chkhoz Pikeyy]

Slowly, the insectoid found himself back on his feet, pieces of junk stirring and dust settling all around him. He looked up to the creature as its breaths began to slow.

It was a mangy, awful, thing. Chkhoz wasn't sure how to react to it all. He had very few run-ins with wildlife during his travels; and most definitely never faced one as feral as the Slice Hound that growled at them now.

He peered back into the area that the creature had popped out of, as it had started to let out a dry odor that was somewhat putrid. There was something else in there. Pikeyy looked a little further, no longer paying [member="Val Drutin"] or the Slice Hound any mind. It was a corpse, something like a Mynock atop a bone pile that was scattered about. Chkhoz collected it accordingly.

Without a word, he brought it over to the table that Val was sitting on and patted his shoulder. The Hound watched closely. The insectoid tossed the corpse over to the foot of the Hound's pile, the corpse splitting in two upon impact.

The hound crawled down his pile and grabbed his former meal, beginning to devour it once more.

 

[Val Drutin]

“Huh?” Sniffing, Val lowered his hands at the alien’s touch on his shoulder. He opened his eyes, focusing on the hound as it began to devour the mangled corpse the bug had thrown. Focused on eating, the beast’s panic and terror faded into background noise, a slight hum in the Force.

Val now had a chance to feel ashamed. He knew the mess was bad, but he hadn’t expected a rodent infestation. Well, he supposed it could have been recent, on account of the fight over Coruscant that had just recently ended. The creatures that normally kept to the shadows of the metropolis had been forced to flee their usual haunts, seeking shelter from the bombs and battles. At least, he hoped it hadn’t been prowling in the bowels of the Stardust for long…

His emotional recovery was, as always, swift and abrupt. Wiping the tears from his eyes, Val stepped down from the table, taking care not to make too much noise. While the slice hound continued to gorge itself, Val crept around it, looking for a good angle. His lightsaber was within reach, but he wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to kill the hound in cold blood. Perhaps he could try Beast Control? But it was a power that required emotional equilibrium, something that Val was practically incapable of. Still, it was worth a try...

Glancing briefly back at Chkhoz Pikeyy, Val stretched out his hand and focused his mind on the hound’s. It was a slippery thing, its thoughts half-formed, pure instinct and primordial urges. He tried to calm it, to curb it to his will.

But he only succeeded in reigniting the hound’s panic, which now gave way to aggravated aggression and a survival mode. It raised its snout, dripping blood and gore, and began to growl at him, its spikes prickling. Leaning back on its hind legs, the hound prepared to pounce.

 

[Chkhoz Pikeyy]

This was the first time the insectoid had ever witnessed the Force being used in such a way. Of course, he had no idea what the Force was in itself. All he knew for sure at this point, was that some beings could use it to help manipulate the world around them in strange, magical, ways.

He watched as the terrible dog continued to snarl and gnash its teeth. The Madman's attempts to manipulate it weren't proving very successful, and it put Chkhoz out of his element. The creature would have likely been content as ruler of his scrap pile without a Force influence forced upon him.

Chkhoz stayed alongside a wall, climbing over obstacles in his way while [member="Val Drutin"] stepped around the beast and his pile. The verpine was simply trying to emphasize the exit's existence for the creature to more clearly see, in some way. Despite this, he had so little experience with animals, and failed to realize that, in the hound's eyes, exits were for invaders. This decrepit ship was, and always has been, his home.

 

[Val Drutin]

Val sensed the hound’s attack urge before it leaped at him. He had precious moments to prepare, and he used them to grab his lightsaber from his belt. The hound was already upon him by the time he activated the violet blade, goring the creature with it.

The dog died soundlessly. Val threw its corpse off of him, his lightsaber still humming in his hand as he stood up and looked sheepishly at Chkhoz Pikeyy. “Sorry… I’m not sure how it got in here,” he said. He switched the saber off and returned it to his belt, feeling strangely exposed before the bug’s enormous eyes. He hoped the Verpine didn’t have any prejudices against Force users, or better yet, wouldn’t try to ask him which side he was on. Despite his dark side training, he technically was neither a Sith nor a Jedi, and would have no clear answer to offer.

The protocol droid, who had been standing near the other end of the room during the whole episode, suddenly piped up in Basic, then in Verpine: “Perhaps it would be wise to dispose of the bodies now, before they have a chance to attract more rodents.”

Val jolted. “Right! Go ahead and keep working, I’ll take care of this stuff.” He gestured with a grimace to the corpses of the hound and mynock-thing, the latter of which had stained the floor with gore.

 

[Chkhoz Pikeyy]

Chkhoz was saddened at the sudden death of the Hound. He stood there gazing at it's freshly gored copse. One moment it was more alive than anything he'd seen in years, and now it was just messy, putrid, piece of flesh on the floor. Sure, he didn't know of the dangers it possessed, but was it really deserving of a death like that? He was, indeed, thankful for it's death however; the Verpine had no formal training in combat at all, most of his kind like to meet in the middle in all conflicts, and make compromises. That said, he would most likely have been in grave danger if the creature got [member="Val Drutin"] without his lightsaber handy.

This encounter was the first to chip away at his innocence.

He closed his eyes and ran his hands from the front of his head to the back.

"I wouldn't worry too much about pests. If the bigger one was in there for long he likely dwindled the Mynock population down a lot. This is a big problem to you, however, if they've been in here before, new ones will find it just as comfy. Check often."

Chkhoz turned back to the panel and began to toss the remains of Mynocks prior out to where the droid and Val could get it.

He began looking around the ship's internals, opening up, loosening, and setting aside paneling for quick access to all its core systems. What he saw did show a bit of damage due to Mynock infestations, but most areas were void of any foreign subterfuge. The main problem with the ship was that it's equipment, while not ancient, were not built with prolonged usage in mind. The wiring, cables, etc, were of a decent quality, but they needed a bit of TLC and respect from time to time to get the most out of their lifespan. It still looked like it had been through hell and back. This happened to ships like this when they were constantly being used on full power, no fluctuations to medium or low speeds that would allow the systems an opportunity to 'breathe', causing their faux-high quality to deteriorate to performances comparable to an ancient relic of a ship over time. Permanent damage was already done, it would never ever operate at the standards it set forty years ago ever again, but it had the potential to last hundreds of more years if given the right treatment.

While analyzing the handful of interiors, the droid, Chkhoz, and Val all tidied up the place, which allowed much more flexibility for the Verpine man to operate.

Most of the damage caused to the interior components was cosmetic, and the engineer made small decisions to replace, modify, or outright repair wires or cable connections with the mix match set of tools. With other ship parts available, it wasn't too hard to find materials he needed, anything he couldn't find, but needed, he simply created a work-around or acceptable alternative.

Within a little over than an hour's time, the Verpine made quick work of all the core components within the interior areas. It was good practice, and he really ended up appreciating all the loose junk aboard the ship.

As he tightened up the last couple of bolts to that first panel, he clap-rubbed his hands together to show that he was done with this portion of the repair.

"Not bad. I think you'll like this place much better now. Treat these things nice, and they will treat you well in return. Lets see if we can get some ladders or scaffolding set up to check the outward connections on the exterior."

 

[Val Drutin]

Pests. The word triggered something in Val’s memory, but he couldn’t quite recall what it was.

The thought of there having been a mynock infestation and a slice hound on the ship without him knowing was still more than a little irksome, but at least it had been dealt with. For the moment, at least.

He felt a rush of excitement at Chkhoz Pikeyy's diagnosis. The ship was better, and at no cost to him. It seemed like a dream come true. Perhaps it was… he wondered just how well the bug knew his stuff. As long as nothing was broken, Val didn’t care.

“Ladders. Scaffolding. Right,” he echoed. Swiping junk aside in order to lift a floor panel, he hopped down and dug around in the belly of the ship. There was supposed to be a ladder or two in there somewhere…

“Gah!” he yelped, feeling something brush his ankle. Ripping his lightsaber off his belt once again, he narrowly kept himself from igniting it on reflex. It was just a loose cable.

He clambered back out of the hole, his expression taut with hopelessness. “There’s no ladders,” he murmured. “But… oh! I could float you up there! With the Force!”

 

[Chkhoz Pikeyy]

Chkhoz knelt down and gripped his hands around the edge of the panel, and watched as [member="Val Drutin"] sliced a cable and then shouted something lively to him from the lower section of the ship, the droid then repeating the statement in Verpine. Chkhoz laughed at the offer to levitate him a dozen meters into the air. What was the deal with this force? He had no doubts towards it being real at this point, especially after seeing Drutin enrage the Slice Hound from earlier, but why did he have to use it so for every little thing?

"I don't think that's wise! We Verpine are tough but we don't always survive free-falls. I'm sure the hanger has something around that we can use the conventional way."

He laughed again at the thought of him soaring through the air, the goofy force user smacking him against the ship's hull by accident. If nature wanted him to fly, he would have grown wings by now.

He stepped out of the ship and began to see if there was anything worth using as a platform. The place was indeed a cheap dump, but there was a rusty ladder and two sets of scaffolding. One set was missing a leg, but it only needed three to keep from falling over.

 

[Val Drutin]

Chkhoz Pikeyy having shot down his suggestion, Val fell into step behind the Verpine, meekly obeying his orders. It wasn’t that Val had so little faith in his own abilities that it wasn’t worth arguing in his favor; he was simply cowed into complacency by the bug who seemed so much more knowledgeable and stable in his way of thinking. Why, compared to this insect, Val was a bacteria specimen mindlessly dividing itself, wreaking havoc for the giants around him with his disease of madness. Even if he tried to be helpful, he would only wind up getting in the bug's way.

Having grown quite reserved and timid, he wordlessly assisted in putting up the scaffolding—he was hardly useless where heavy-lifting was concerned—and stepped back to watch as the bug clambered atop the three-legged platform. It didn’t seem particularly wise to use this scaffolding, but the Verpine insisted it didn’t need the extra leg to suffice. Still, Val could be seen fretting with the hem of his tunic as he waited beside the protocol droid at ground level, nervously observing Chkhoz at work.

 

[Chkhoz Pikeyy]

Where the insectoid wasn't necessarily 'tuned in' to the emotions of others, especially in considering the feelings of his fellow bachelors. His denying of [member="Val Drutin"] 's idea clearly upset him a personal level. It wasn't so much that his instability was the issue here, but a lack of maturity that comes with young age. This was something Chkhoz knew too well. What bothered the Verpine about Val's abilities was more in the scope of the young man's lack of experience with this 'Force' power. Not to mention, the insect man knows not of what the force is and is not even capable of. To him, this 'Force' was just a mysterious force that granted certain people power.

He let the negativity stew for a few minutes, regrettably. Yet, that's not to say that he wasn't just focused on his work or if he was struggling to think up something heartwarming he could say to the disenfranchised force-user. A small stroke of wisdom happened upon him. Maybe it was just part of his character. Maybe it was a bit of the force in him that sought to console his acquaintance.

"Are you moping down there? Relax please, you saved me back there. Do not look down on yourself, perhaps it is ideas like that, that are what make you stronger in the future. You might think differently from the rest. I thought differently, and that's why I'm here working on a strangers ship. It might not be as safe or profitable as life at the Hive, but I am my own master. I answer to me."

He turned away from his cutting and welding for a moment to look down to Val and the droid.

"You're strong in your own right... No one knows what you are fully capable of. You do not need... the advantage to survive."

As nice, and vaguely helpful as the thought was, Chkhoz felt like it wasn't entirely a platitude of his own; it wasn't his words talking there. He didn't know where it came from. Regardless, he continued to work, thinking that he probably looked cool saying that and just returning to his work so casually.

 

[Val Drutin]

The bug is patronizing me, Val thought at first, in his usual roundabout way. But after listening to everything Chkhoz Pikeyy said, he wasn’t so sure that was the case.

A certain level of empathy had come into play, as the Verpine compared his situation to Val’s own. Of course, Val was left to wonder what exactly had been the bug’s situation. He spoke of a Hive, and being forced (or perhaps merely inclined) to leave it because he “thought differently”. Though Val had not grown up in such an environment, he did know what it meant to be excluded because one’s way of thinking did not conform to what others expected. He knew what it felt like to see disappointment or disapproval in the eyes of an authority figure, and to be stared at, and to sense that people were mocking you behind your back. And to be rejected outright by seemingly everyone... he knew that feeling, too.

He’d made it his business to strut and caper before others, not only in his career as a dancer—in all social settings, he was always the performer, drawing the most attention to himself even when he didn’t want to be seen. It seemed he was doomed to play the role of the jester, the mad clown. He was not truly accepted by the people he performed for, but at the very least he was not judged as one of them anymore. That was the beauty of being an outsider—you could only be cast out so many times before it ceased to have any meaning, and people stopped trying to shame you into conformity.

But then there was that last part of the Verpine’s words: “You do not need the advantage to survive.” Now, what exactly did that mean? Was he saying that Val was weak? Well, that was obvious. Even Val knew that. Or was he referring to his dependency on the Force and his desire to use it whenever possible?

“You don’t know very much about the Force, do you,” he said, more as a statement of fact than a question. “Or else you wouldn’t talk about it as if it were… a tool, like the ones you’re using now. That’s not what it is—at least, not exactly.”

He was probably parroting the half-remembered words of his old master, who always spoke of the Force as if everyone else in the galaxy was wrong about it and only she knew the truth. But she did have a point every now and then, amidst all her rambling about power and destiny. The Force could be useful, but it also had a will of its own. If Val was meant to calm the hound, it would have happened. Instead he had been forced to kill it, but the Force’s will was served regardless.

 

[Chkhoz Pikeyy]

“Tell me about the force... people have hunted me down, trying to take my... autonomy because they say I’m capable of great things.”

The Verpine slowed his work before eventually stopping. He hung his head in a combination of guilt and fear.

“Back then... It never would have occurred to me... that perhaps I have something to do with the force.”

He sighed, beginning to work again. He had wanted to say more but he stopped himself to allow Val Drutin to control the conversation again. How much longer before another powerful set of people try to proposition him a spot in their ranks; A seat in their party, or a new life at the cost of it being devoted to an allegiance.

Regardless, he was feeling just about ready to leave his past behind him, and move forward for himself. These trials may have simply been something that all young adults faced, but Chkhoz couldn’t help but feel that he, for whatever reason, had a hard time facing them particularly.

 

[Val Drutin]

The protocol droid’s translation didn’t do justice to the depth of feeling present in the Verpine’s words, but Val picked up enough of the bug’s body language—and the faintest ripple in the Force—to determine what he was feeling.

He couldn’t sympathize with @Chkhoz Pikeyy’s bad experience with Force users. Despite her cruelties and arrogance, his own master had given him more than anyone else. The fact that she wanted to use him, to exploit his power and mold him into her successor, hadn’t mattered in the end. But he could understand having one’s autonomy taken away, not through his own experience, but through that of his brother Alyosha. Their Force bond had allowed Val glimpses into his brother’s life, even when they were light years apart. Alyosha had no choice in his training, no options as to his future. When he finally tore himself away from it all, it had come at great cost—and he was still fighting to be free even now.

Val’s self-reflection ground to a sudden halt. He watched Chkhoz at work, sensing that the bug wanted to say more, but was deliberately holding back. Well, he could try to coax it out of him. “Who tried to force you to… er, learn about the Force?” he asked. His brow furrowed as he recalled the older woman who had been rude to him back at the bar where they’d first met, and how she had moved in on the Verpine once he left. “Was it one of those Grayson Imperium lackeys that have been sinking their claws into the government lately? They call themselves Jedi, but they’re militant and intolerant. Not that the Jedi have always been pacifists and freedom fighters, but they were certainly better than these jokers.” Perhaps she was the one who’d given him a bad impression. Or perhaps it was someone further back in the Verpine’s personal history, someone Val needed to be wary of.

 

[Chkhoz Pikeyy]

“Well whoever kepts sending them, they’re doing a great job sending women my way. I’ve got a weird...complex, probably should not bring it up. Anyway, no, the Jedi woman was the better of the two... or was there three? I can’t remember— By a long shot, she resonated with me...positively...That just sounds stupid— Tell me what you know.”

The insectoid moved his arms as he spoke, not quite working in this moment, but not giving Val Drutin his full attention either. He was a little flustered, but upheld a snappy tone to get the message across.

As the droid began to translate somewhat dryly, Chkhoz returned to his work, nearly finishing up his work on that exterior segment. He figured another two repairs like this one around the exterior would be ideal for this job.

 

[Val Drutin]

A complex? Val stifled a giggle and had to hide his smirk behind his hand.

He tilted his head to the side. When it came to the Force, he wasn’t sure where to begin.

“The Force is…” He halted. If Chkhoz was Force sensitive, he probably had some idea already of the basic definition. “Resonated positively” probably meant he had felt the woman’s Light Side alignment, or maybe she’d given him the impression she had good intentions. Shrugging, he decided to dive right into it, vaguely aware that the Verpine wasn’t paying complete attention to what he was saying.

“It’s an energy field that connects all living things, but some are more sensitive to it than others. You can measure whether or not someone is sensitive by taking a blood sample, or one Force user can sometimes sense its presence in another. So it’s a spiritual thing, but also sort of scientific… there’s a lot of mysticism surrounding it, and plenty of differing ideologies and beliefs about what it should be used for. The Jedi and the Sith are just the two most famous groups.” He frowned. “But it’s been said that most people can’t tell the Jedi and the Sith apart. They’re supposed to be opposites, using the Light and the Dark Side of the Force, and yet if you place their dogma side by side, they’re more alike than different.”

He still wasn’t sure how he felt about that idea. Both the Sith and the Jedi he’d encountered definitely had their problems, but they still seemed fairly clean cut in what they represented.

Chkhoz was still working, but he had become restless. Val stopped babbling about the Force and asked him, “How did you find out you were Force sensitive?”

Chkhoz Pikeyy

 

[Chkhoz Pikeyy]

Chkhoz clicked out the Verpine equivalent of a ‘Psshht-‘.

“Now? I suppose I am putting two and two together. I have never been keen on tying myself to duty.. and now I’ve seen both Sith and Jedi are wanting this power from me... It is likely accurate to say that they want this power from me more than I want it for myself. So it would be best to start asking about it now, before someone forces me to serve them.”

As he said this, he made his way down the scaffolding, paying little mind to its wobbling; he’d dealt with many broken footholds like it before. He was warming up, and opening up, to Val Drutin moderately well. This was doing wonders for his confidence; so few people had droids available to translate for them, nor the patience to wait for one to finish translating. Being able to speak so freely made him feel like he had much more control over himself, and maybe even his situation. He felt it was time to find someone to teach him basic.

“So much is uncertain in the Galaxy... but I want to be a master of it.”