Private Roam If You Want To

[Scilla]

Kuat was a planet just like any of the other Core Worlds. A big ball of hot air full of a lot of busy, boring people. Sure it had a big dumb space station ringing it, but who cares. It’s not like there was anything cool on it anyway.

Besides, if the furthest she could ever get away from home was the orbiting scrap metal that made this hunk of rock even worth a damn, then maybe she was well and truly doomed to a life of nothingness.

The heavy beats of glimmik music being played far too loudly still thumped against Scilla’s neck as she pulled the headset down from her ears, a faint ringing left behind from the prolonged exposure. With an obscene hand gesture, she bid her fellow slasher friends goodbye. It had been getting boring again, which meant it was time to move on to something else.

The streets in Kuat City were all the same. No matter how many times Scilla rode her skimboard up and down the dull gray alleys and roads, it was just as boring as ever. On the way back home, she let her thoughts be absorbed by her music once again. Even that was boring these days.

But, every now and then, a day comes along that changes her tune. She swerved around the corner to her home with nonchalance, looking up just too late to stop from crashing into another figure. A familiar figure. Perhaps the last one that she had yet to find boring.

His hat was still pretty dumb, though.

“Whoooooops!” Scilla stumbled off her skimboard and headbutted him, making little to no effort to lessen the impact once she had already decided their collision was beyond saving. With a big stupid grin plastered across her face, she shoved back, as if she wasn’t the one who had caused the incident in the first place, “No kriffin’ way.”

Today was one of those days.

Mumchance​

 

[Mumchance]

Funny how, most of the time, the sky can swallow half your vision and still you never see it. Shipping frigates moved like… well, if you cocked your head, they looked a bit like fish, how they’d travel along invisible roads before splitting, and splitting further. When the sun sets, and their high-beams switch on for the night, it must look like the stars have multiplied. Does it ever get dark on Kuat?

You notice things like this when you’re lying flat on the ground, knocked off your feet by sudden and concussive force. You often fail to notice things like this when there’s a distracting, uncomfortable lump under your back — Mumchance tugged at the wide brim of his traveller’s hat to free it from his weight, then lifted it to inspect. A few scrapes. It had seen worse.

“Why, I’d know that headbutt anywhere,” he said. Mumchance rocked to his feet, dusting himself off and returning his headgear to its rightful position.

There, already recovered from their — well, let’s not call it unavoidable, shall we? — but recovered from their collision was a young woman in impeccable streetwear. Her face, that heart-on-your-sleeve smile of surprise and recognition… oh, half the fun of being a vagabond was meeting expressions like those. Mumchance scooped up a fallen headset that bounced from the force of its own noise. He held it to one ear.

“Yerk? No… Heavy Isotope?” He proffered the device back to Scilla with a smile.

How wonderful to see old friends.

Scilla​

 

[Scilla]

“Psh, you’re trying to guess it wrong.” She smirked, taking the device back and shutting off the frenetic sounds emanating from it. “Close enough.”

She would have offered a hand, but she forgot. Or was too lazy. Besides Mumchance was a big boy, he knew how stand himself up.

“What’s up, Mumsy? It’s been awhile.” Scilla’s grin hadn’t stopped sticking yet. She was genuinely excited to see him once again, despite her carefree attitude. “Please tell me you’ve got something interesting to share?”

Kicking up the back end of her skimboard and placing it under her arm, she waved for Mumchance to follow her the rest of the way home.

Mumchance​

 

[Mumchance]

Ah, well, Scilla caught on. Glimmik wasn’t Mumchance’s first choice for easy listening, but he understood the appeal if your goal was to hum with adrenaline. Which had its sparing uses.

It had been a while. Last time he’d visited Kuat was… Two? Three years ago? He tried to return fairly regularly, on account of the view. Most people only know this world for its orbital array, but down on the surface were some of the greenest fields you’d ever see, and great standing rocks all along the highlands.

But first things first — how do you convince a teenager that what you’ve got to say is interesting? Well, Mumchance figured, the first few years of life you look for constancy, the things that don’t change. He caught Scilla’s sleeve as she walked past.

“Actually,” he said, “I just came that way to look for you. I need your help with something.” Mumchance strolled over to another item that had fallen when he and Scilla ran into each other. The thing had skittered to the alleyside, looking discarded. Mumchance picked up the skimboard — his very own skimboard — and held it up for Scilla to see, smiling.

“Always wanted to learn how to ride one of these things.” He inspected the device, skimming its design and technology. “There’s a wonderful hillside not far from here. Have to cut through some estate grounds, but we ought to make it there well before sundown. What say I practice this whole ‘slasher’ thing on the way?”

Hopefully that was enough to pique her interest. Because if our early years are for constants, then the rest of our lives are spent looking for novelty.

Scilla​

 

[Scilla]

As he turned to show Scilla the skimboard, her eyes widened, growing larger with every word to the point that they might as well be popping out of her head when he said that he wanted to learn how to skimboard.

This would be fun.

---​

Scilla sprang up to her feet again, dusting off her bruised knees before trudging back up to the top of the hill. “It’s the same as ever.” With a shrug she plopped onto the grass, setting the skimboard beside her.

“Dad still works up in the Array. Got promoted actually, so that’s new I guess. Just means he’s gone for even longer.”

“Mom’s job never ends. Always busy with something.”

“Percy is… Percy. Absorbed with his school stuff.”

She fell back into the grass, waving her hands in the air as she ranted, “And then when they do have the time, it’s always ‘why can’t you be more like your brother? Why are you always causing trouble?’ It’s called a gap year, jeez. Why should I be wasting time in some lame university when I don’t even know what I wanna do?”

Of course she didn’t have the heart to just admit she didn’t plan to go at all. The motivation wasn’t there, and ‘Getting off of this stupid rock’ was not a degree.

“And no way in hell am I getting stuck with some boring desk job like Percy’s gonna get. Even I can see that artsy fartsy degree isn’t gonna actually get him anywhere exciting. The system just doesn’t work like that.”

She craned her head up to watch Mumchance, changing the topic briefly, “Double check your stick strips. You’re gonna go flying off board if you’re not careful.” The girl smirked to herself. That was part of the fun, but she wasn't sure that Mumsy wanted to risk breaking anything right now. “You ever go to college?”

Mumchance​

 

[Mumchance]

Mumchance squinted at the skimboard’s adhesive surface. “Tried once,” he said, sticking one with his finger. “None of them wanted me.” The device reminded him of certain children's toys in the outer worlds. Who brought them all the way out here, he wondered?

The board felt a little surer without the repulsorlifts on, and Mumchance snapped the back end up into a heelflip. “And anyway, I’m not one to just do what’s expected of me.”

He put the skimboard aside and settled by Scilla, who he felt for but dared not pity. She carried too much weight for someone so young. But then again, it’s always the young that have to bear expectation, while all the grown-ups wait to see what happens. That’s the greatest shame of suburban life like you find on Kuat, or one of them anyway. But another shame is how underappreciated life goes because of it.

“See there?” Mumchance pointed to a nearby hillside, along the banks of a creek. “You know that’s not grass on that hill? They’re green flowers. Doesn’t sound like much, but there’s about a week in the spring when they bud. With its colors it looks like twilight laid out on the land, if you’ll pardon the melodrama.”

He pointed to a hollow at the base of their slope, where two standing stones faced each other. “Those? They’re not natural. Man-made, you can tell. Someone hundreds or thousands of years ago thought it’d be good to prop two giant boulders up next to each other. Anyone's guess why.

“There’s lots of folks in the galaxy who want what you have, Scilla. Stability or… normalcy of some kind.” Mumchance climbed to his feet. Daylight slipped away. He began meandering up the hill in the direction of the city proper. “I can’t tell you what to do with all this, of course. But university or no, you’ve got to be able to find beauty in anything, or else you won’t find beauty in anything.”

He left slowly the way they’d come. Scilla would catch up, when she was ready.

Scilla​

 

[Scilla]

Scilla snorted at his poetic descriptors, but settled as he kept speaking. She wanted to grumble, but dammit was he good at making points. “They want stability? Normalcy? I got some right here just waiting to be taken.” She threw her arms up in a wide, circling gesture, “By all means, I’ll rent it out. Might as well get a few credits out of it.” A long sigh. Mumchance stepped away as she was left alone to her thoughts.

“Find beauty in anything, huh?” She mumbled, her gaze moving to the sky. Stars began to dot the sky… but all the light pollution meant they were few and far between, and more than a few were surely blocked outright by that big ugly ring.

Then, she noticed something. One star shone brighter than the rest. Or maybe it was a planet? The slightest of reds tinted its color, and it glowed so radiantly against the night. It was so… beautiful. How had she never noticed it before? “Huh…”

She smiled. Maybe Mumsy was right after all.

It really was bright. Did other systems get to see sights like this? It looked like it was getting closer.

It was getting closer.

"...Huh."

What was once a star now appeared as a flying, burning hunk of metal rocketing down to the surface. Sheets of durasteel ripped off as the ship gained further momentum, the ship screaming the whole way down. Scilla sprang upwards and ran further down the hill to avoid the crash, which landed with a resounding boom over the knoll behind her.

With caution, Scilla climbed over to find the wreckage. The ship still seemed intact. Mostly. There wasn't any warning. Where did it even come from? Her eyes widened as she realized, someone could still be inside. "Uh... Hey! Hello? Mumsy! Help!"

She scrambled over to the ship's emergency exit, "I'm gonna get you out!" She gripped at the metal railing to try and yank the door open. When she did, her vision was hit with a bright blast of light, and she recoiled.

Visions. A man. The ship being pursued mid-flight. Strange, geometric symbols in the middle of a empty blackness.

Scilla fell backwards, holding up her hands, now burned by the heated metal of the ship. Steam bursted from the whining hydraulics, as the door began to open...

Mumchance​

 

[Sato Borr]

“BEEP BEEP BEEP”

The Arkanian’s ears perked up at the incessant sound that drew him out of his strange dream. He didn’t bother to lift his head as his hand moved to quiet the noise, aiming for where his bedroom’s chronometer usually rested.

Instead of blissful silence he was greeted with an empty void of cold metal. His eyes fluttered open and he sat up slowly, looking at his hand in confusion. A steady throbbing filled his head as he noticed his surroundings, a far cry from his usual bedroom.

Flickering instruments and the continuous blaring of some alarm filled the cockpit of his newly crashed ship. The pale figure took a moment to try and recollect what had happened. Brief memories of Onderon flashed through his mind. Something to do with artifacts the Jedi had recently uncovered? How he had ended up here exactly seemed to elude him though.

A muffled voice called out from the ship’s exterior, its words unintelligible. With a hand on his head, Sato shuffled towards the ship’s exit and stumbled outside. Coming across her with near immediacy, he noticed a younger woman who seemed to be injured.

He knelt beside her with a look of confusion and concern.

“Are you all right?” He looked to her hand and back at his ship. “I’m sorry, I’m not exactly sure what’s going on. What happened?”

A sudden look of panic crossed his face as he began to fully register the extent of the crash.

“Was anyone else injured?” he asked, worried for any bystanders that may have been caught in the wreckage.

Scilla Mumchance​

 

[Scilla]

Scilla gripped her aching forehead, and shook off the onset of pain just in time to see a figure emerge from the door. Pale, pointy ears. Some weird guy. Although she thought most people were weird. But she also hadn’t ever even seen someone that looked like him, so he was at least an interesting kind of weird.

“I’m sorry, I’m not exactly sure what’s going on. What happened?”

Scilla responded with the most dumbfounded face, scoffing, “What the hell?!”

He literally just crashed nose first into the planetside, and had no idea what was going on? Maybe he wanted to divert blame so he wouldn’t get sued or something.

“You tell me! You just drop in on this old clunker out of nowhere? And what was that?!” She stared blankly, referring to the inexplicable series of visions that had been thrust upon her moments ago.

“No one else is around. Other than-” Scilla glanced back to see the figure of Mumchance heading in their direction.

The slightest hint of recognition clicked, visible on the girl’s face as she gave the man another look-over. Robes? “Who even are you?”

Mumchance | Sato Borr​

 

[Mumchance]

…​

It was always such a bother when a perfectly good lesson got ruined by some fuss and hassle. Why, he was sure he’d been getting through to Scilla before that fellow came hurtling through the sky. Appreciate what you have, he’d tried to tell her. Find adventure in the small things. Well now there was a Jedi at her kitchen table. Bother.

And worse, as Mumchance perched upon the counter, watching out the window with one leg swinging… this whole episode wouldn’t be over soon. Not without a very difficult conversation.

So there Mumchance sat with himself, brow furrowed while the youths spoke past each other, words eddying around some hard truth like a stream around a stone.

Scilla & Sato Borr​

 

[Sato Borr]

Kuat.

Not a place Sato was familiar with. So, in the immediate aftermath of the crash, he thought it best to just follow the locals’ lead.

Though a kitchen was not exactly where he expected to take refuge. He took a sip of the drink Scilla had offered him and contemplated his next move.

“I don’t mean to impose any further on either of you,” he began, taking some notice of Mumchance’s annoyance, “but would either of you happen to be skilled in repairing ships? I appreciate all of your hospitality, though I think I should get going soon.”

He nodded silently, almost as though he was affirming his own plan as the best course of action.

“I think it’s probably time I head back home.”

It seemed like the obvious move, apart from maybe returning to Onderon. If there was anyone who could help him unravel recent events it would be Kosul.

Scilla Mumchance ​

 

[Scilla]

Goob brushed beside Scilla’s leg with a purr, the tooka’s efforts to gain affection going unnoticed for the moment as his owner found herself entranced by the bizarre series of events that have occurred.

The peculiar man, who called himself Sato, seemed all too ready to bring things to a close, and the mention of his home Scilla was brought back to attention, “Huh?”

She shrugged, staring out the kitchen window as she remarked on the ship’s status, “Well the fire is out. I didn’t notice any major damage to the hull integrity, I’d guess the shield system managed to prevent most any lasting issues.” Scilla looked back to him, “If you ask me, the ship should be okay to depart if you can get it out of the dirt. Maybe check on some of the inner workings once it’s off, but no reason to let it delay your journey.” Her muses were nonchalant, as if such examinations were common knowledge. “Er, my dad works in the drive yards. I’ve picked up a few things when I visit.”

She paused thinking over what he’d said. This was what she had been waiting for. The ticket. “And where is home, exactly?” Scilla scooped her cat up into her arms, “Doesn’t matter. You’ve got a way off this rock. I’m coming with you. So is Goob.”

Mumchance | Sato Borr​

 

[Mumchance]

Mumchance nearly tumbled from the countertop in surprise. Was she… serious? Not two hours past the Jedi’s crash landing and Scilla was ready to pick up her whole life and hurl it out across the stars? Dark, smokey twilight drifted at the window.

There was no mystery in what would happen next — in fact, that it had taken this long was something of a surprise. And this fellow seemed a little put on the spot by Scilla’s rashness. Mumchance pulled down his hat and slung his bag over his shoulder.

“Hum! I think that’s one idea. Here’s another.” He kicked open Scilla’s fridge for… ah, there it was: a paper-wrapped pile of hand pies made by Mrs. Petronella, and irrefutable proof that her daughter didn’t appreciate what she had. He threw the food in his rucksack.

“I’ll see that Mr. Borr makes it to Coruscant.” Mumchance wagged a finger at Scilla. “You will stay here.”

Faint red and blue lights danced into the room. Station police would have spent the last hour or so tracking the shipwreck, not to mention dealing with whatever pompous dimwit owned the land it had wrecked on. He doubted they’d be in actual danger, but…

“I’m thinking the back door’d be quicker, eh?” Mumchance took the Jedi in tow, exiting the room in even strides. Without a look or a stutter, he addressed Scilla. “Perhaps we’ll see each other again.”

And Mumchance was gone.

Scilla & Sato Borr​