Beasts of the Salvage

[Kinsey Starchaser]

CATHAR

Rumor had it there was a crashed space station on the savannah plains of Cathar. Hard to miss, even with some of the grassy knolls and clusters of large-tree cities. This time Kinsey was on her own. No Brak or other fleet member. Sure, she traveled with the fleet and was still trying to pay of her debt but she didn't exactly consider herself a member yet. Maybe never?

Auburn-haired head popped up in the tall grasses. She was on her belly, fingerless-gloved hands wrapped around the focus circlets of the binocs. Starburst-blues narrowed. A good chunk of the station was ahead, it's arch lofted into the air like some newly minted landmark with the ground all roughed up around it. Signs of earlier salvagers littered the area. Old campsites and speeder bike marks.

Might be some around the edges or on the other side she couldn't see.

She'd have to be fast and careful. Lowering the binocs, she stuffed them in her pac, then circled back to her own speeder bike, quickly straddling it and popping it into gear. With a quiet rumble, she shot toward the wreckage she'd been scoping out, hair whipping past her face as the wide-open fields shot by, the tall grasses slapping against her pant legs.

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]


"How'd you think it crashed?"


"Drunkard."


"Mechanical failure."


"Radical droid takeover."


"Deadly slime mold."



A crashed space station wasn't quite as exciting as one expected it to be. Usually recovery was done in zero G in the middle of the black nothing. Today is was the breezy grasslands of Cathar. Most of the crew was inside tearing the station apart from the inside. It looked as it part of it had already broken in half. Other salvagers had come and taken the easy pickings. Electronics and their various components typically had rare metals. Anyone without any major backing would be able to make enough to be worth while.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

She parked the speederbike behind a particularly tall patch of grasses, cutting the throttle and the engine. Slipping free, the explorer slid off and made her way toward a large hole in the crashed piece of the station. Enough room to get through and didn't look like one of the well-known or used entrances. Stepping carefully, she moved through the jagged entrance.

Finger reached up and switched on the headlight, the wide beam casting an increased glow within the semi-darkness.

Head cocked as she listened, hearing others move beyond some of the walls. Stepping quietly, she pushed ahead, moving deeper into the crash. The smaller pieces were what she was looking for. The converters, powerpacks, and microcomputers. The young Starchaser knew what she was looking for. Just had to find it.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]



Much of the work didn't require his presence. Judah paid very well for various supervisors and managers and had them present on each job. His being on site didn't mean their job stopped in the slightest. In many ways he was out on Cathar because he was bored. Makai had 'left the nest' so to speak. His only son was out in Iron Empire space and from his last transmission had joined the Navy. Knowing some basic military procedure, he wouldn't hear from the kid again until his basic training was nearly over.


That left a lot of time on his hands.


Currently that time was being put to use exploring the crashed station. While the crew had started to dismantle a section on the south end, Judah had put on a headlamp and trudged through to scout out various bits of salvage. He had found the engine and control room. Nearly everything small had been stripped in there but a good amount left to be taken away by their heavy equipment.


He had moved up from the engine and control to one of the outer corridors. Scuttling could be heard.


"Hello?"

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

Hello.

She froze, then ducked low beneath a smashed computer counsel. Wires and circuits hung around the empty space like serpents. Luckily, none of them were sparking with the power to the station long ago silenced. Blaster fell into her fingerless gloved hand.

Wide-blue eyes peeked from around the corner of the counsel.

Must be another salvager. Couldn't trust anyone out here. Hopefully, it'd just be a friendly passing. If not, she was a pretty good shot.

"Who's there? Mind coming out slow with your hands up?"

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]



"Yeah, I do mind."


Judah continued to walk towards where he suspected the voice was. He had no weapons on him, save for a hydrospanner and his personal comm. Boots crunched on the broken equipment as he walked, sounding a bit like gravel. He hadn't spotted the person connected to the voice. A woman by the sound of it.


He continued to move down the corridor, turning a corner to a large space with a high amount of electronic equipment. Most was smashed or nearly destroyed. The valuable pieces still looked fairly in-tact though. Almost as if someone didn't want to dive this deep into the station to get them. It would be a long haul back out to the grasslands if it was a one person operation.


"You haven't shot me yet. Surprising."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

Wide, starburst blues peeked out from the edge of the upturned desk. Tip of her blaster followed with the lean. "Doesn't mean I won't change my mind," the spacer girl quipped back and slowly eased out as she assessed he wasn't armed. Still had a good piece of furniture between herself and the dark-haired stranger if she needed to suddenly duck down.

Huh. Good looking for an older dude. What was someone like him doing out here?

Must be why everyone was here.

"How about you leave me alone and I leave you alone? Station is plenty big for us both to make our own finds."

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]


Judah was clearly amused as he watched the girl emerge from behind an overturned piece of furniture. He wasn't overly concerned abut the girl, it was like watching a kitten trying to act tough. All puffed up hair and tiny claws. Blaster was still waiting to be used but he was bright enough to not make any sudden movements or gestures.


"Sounds like a plan to me. Might want to pry open these control panels first, typically got the most valuable metals inside. Just a friendly tip."


Judah moved towards the corridor once again. He'd tell the crews to give Kitten a wide berth during their stay.


"Stay safe out there Kid."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

Kid?

Why did they always call her that?

Must have a young face.

Tension in her shoulders slowly unwound as he made no sudden moves to any hidden weapons or advanced on her. Auburn-brows rose along a pale face as he offered his tip. Starburst blues shifted, the light making it seemed like there were endless swirling blue eddies within their depths. Fingers eased off the blaster trigger and her arm slowly lowered. The space explorer offered a cant of her head, sliding the blaster back in the hilt along her leg.

"Thanks," she called after the swarthy looking man.

Head popped out of the navigation room, to catch his retreating back as he meandered down the hall.

"Watch out for the kiltiks. I heard their packs are active in this area. Saw signs of a hive not too far from here."

There. At least they were even.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]


Turning around, confusion coloring his features. The Kid sounded like she was making up fairy tales now. Creatures that went bump in the night and ate small children if they strayed off certain paths. Needless to say he was skeptical about the entire thing. The girl could be trying to throw him off a trail. Or trying to get him killed.


"What the hell is a kiltiks?"

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

"Really?"

Face screwed up briefly in surprise. What kind of salvager was he? First, he didn't try to blow her brains out and offered to give her space. But then he didn't even know the local dangers? Odd.

"Big. Brown. Insectoids. Net-search it if yah don't believe me." Shrugging, she turned to the wall panel just outside the room she'd just been in and took out a hydrospanner from her belt. Thumbing on the switch, the panel came undone with a pop-sizzle. A few power crystals lined the insides and she began taking them out.

"They mass feed at night so, yeah. Just be careful."

Or don't. Wasn't really her problem unless she got stuck here at night along with the rest of them. Along with this guy. But she planned to be long gone before nightfall.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]



"So you're trying to tell me I can't camp tonight? Alright, thanks for the heads up Kid."


Judah smirked before giving a mock salute towards her. He still had no idea what the large insects were going to do to the camp overnight. They would be sleeping in their large vessels with all the seals locked. Might be best to leave a few people awake in shifts just to make sure. Might have to shoot some of these mass-feeding insects.


There wasn't much to look at on the interior. He had already given his word to Kid to stay clear of her, appeared she was collecting power cells. She was only one person, couldn't clean them all out. Salacia would easily just continue their path through, eating up every piece of metal along the way. Radio was pulled from his pocket.


"Use caution moving to the interior, got a local kid in here salvaging. Don't need to crush her."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

Sweat trickled down her brow. An impatient hand wiped it away. There was a glint of her chrono as artificial, flickering light caught the surface.

"Aw, feth."

Less than an hour till dark. She was wedged halfway into a room that was bent and buckled into another. Maybe personal quarters of some big uppity up. Common sense told her she should be heading back to her bike. Instincts made her dig in a bit deeper. Fingers tugged at some dead wires and starbursts widened at what she saw buried beneath.

"A kyber crystal," tugging it free, she frowned and shoved it in her pocket. Rocking back on her heels, she began scrambling out of the vents and holes.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

​

​

Meanwhile back at Salacia Base Camp


Light was fading quickly but it only seemed to cause the crew to feed the fire even more. Flames licked away the darkness and provided a backdrop for the party like atmosphere. Crews had been informed of the large, killer bugs that the local salvager informed Judah of. It only seemed to fuel the flames - literally. Another excuse to cause the bonfire to grow, bugs would hate fire, right? At least that was some of the prevailing thought throughout the crew.


The smell of charred meat filled the air. Judah stood near the catering line, plate in one hand and a rib in another. Killer Bugs were at the fringes of his mind, although he did ask every crew member with a blaster to carry it throughout the remainder of their time on planet.


Little did he know they were going to be needed very shortly.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

The sun was a small orange pinprick on the horizon. Legs straddled the speeder bike as she revved the engines, pack slung over her shoulders. Good haul, all things considered. The fleet would be able to use a lot of it. Looking behind her, she caught the Salacia logo on some of the larger equipment she hadn't seen before. Huh. Guy must've been one of the company's workers or foremens.

Fingers tightened over the controls as she caught a different kind of glow.

"Kriffin ijeets," she swore.

Fire was not a good idea. All the Kiltiks would flock to it for miles. Head turned away. Not like she owed them anything else. And if she didn't get going, she'd end up like they were about to be. Bike revved up and she began to peel away. Head shook again.

"Ijeets." Swearing, she pulled up on the controls. "I'm a karking ijeet." Leaning over she switched course, heading toward the fire and behind that, she could see a growing dust cloud in the distance.

"Gorram it."

Foot pressed down on the accelerator as she head for the camp. Hand switched to the remote comm in her ear. "BB Seven. Bring the ship online. Yeah. I'm aware of the approaching life forms thanks."

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]


No one noticed the giant insects at first. The sky had darkened and most of the light was coming from the giant bonfire created by the crew. There was some drinking, some story telling and a whole bunch of catching up with one another. Talk of finishing up early to head back home was scattered throughout. Thought was if they pushed hard enough and worked past their normal time the job should be done in two days tops.


Distant rumbling could be heard. It caused a few workers to pause and look around. The ground seemed to shake and many craned their heads to the sky to see if a vessel was landing. Nothing.


Well, nothing until a few people on the edges of the large crowd got snatched. The large insects had arrived en masse. Panic went throughout the assembled group as everyone scrambled for the ships in the short distance. Blaster shots echoed throughout the fields.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

"Get away from the fi-," voice drowned out at the skittering of giant legs and bodies and screams from those unlucky souls. Speeder bumped a few large ones out of her way. Teeth grit, one hand with fingers wrapped tightly around a blaster. Red-bolts cut through the air and disappeared into crusty exoskeletons. Up ahead, she saw the guy from earlier surrounded.

"Aw feth."

Arm raised and she fired at the outer line of buggies as she came in hot, hoping he'd get the hint to try and grab on as she went by.

"Need a ride?" Couldn't help the slightly cheeky question.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]


Judah hadn't expect the bugs to be so large and horrifying. Humaniod sized sure, but gigantic terrifying aliens that seemed to have came from a cheesy and campy horror movie. Yet here they were destroying the camp and trying to eat every member of his crew. Most had scattered - either trying to escape on the plains, hide in the nooks and crannies of the salvage, or back into the vessels for safety. It was all a chaotic scene.


It wasn't long til a speeder came along his side bringing sarcastic comments. Judah didn't hesitate to hop on.


"I don't suppose you brought explosives?"