Sunburns & Hyperdrive Troubles

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt bounded off the ramp of the shuttle, jumping into the compacted sands and landing with a silent thud. As soon as his feet found sure footing the Pilot dashed off, rushing over the dune and sliding down the other side in order to reach The Messa within only a few seconds of him having landed on the beach.

He smiled slightly as he rushed aboard, feeling a surge of energy as he bounded onto his ship.

The Courier climbed the ladder to the cockpit almost immediately, jumping onto the first rung and clambering up the others within the span of a heartbeat. Lights quickly began to flicker on, the reactor spooling up and the engines blazing into life as Kurt flipped switch after switch. There was a click as the Pilot strapped himself into the pilots seat, a loud clack of the locking mechanism as he gripped the controls and brought the steering console into the correct position.

"Here we go." Kurt said to himself as he pressed the switch that would bring up The Messa's ramp.

He was always this excited about flying his ship, always this excited to do anything that involved The Messa. It was his, his creation, his little toy.

 

[Kaile Vera]

"Alright ol girl.. try not to blow up on me eh?" Kaile would tease aloud to the shuttle, her hands moving over the piloting console. She flipped a series of toggles, pushed a few buttons then started the engines. Another flip of a lever and the ramp began its ascent to close.

"Here we go..." she murmured, her brown eyes staring past the viewscreen and igniting the controls for the reactor. The slow hum would join the whine of the engines once she turned them on. Engine wash burned bright yellow before turning a pale blue. In her sensors, she saw the Messa. A finger gave it a slight tap.

"Okay, time to play follow the leader there bud." With careful precision - and a bit more steady control than the blonde girl from Bespin - Kaile brought the shuttle up into the air. Sand blew out, the fronds of the nearby palm trees shuddering. Bringing it up at about twenty meters, Kaile was starting to feel a bit better.

"There we go. " rotating the ship, she angled out. The familiar red hull of the Messa hovered over her view screen.

With a grin, she flipped on the open comm.

[ Come on flyboy, try not to show off too much. ]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

The Messa dashed forward, Kurt half ignoring Kaile's words. The trip really would only take about five seconds, less than that if he really wanted to push it any. His ship was the fastest in the galaxy, having taken that position unquestioningly as soon as he'd upgraded the engines to be able to accelerate within just a second to full speed. It was dangerous of course, extremely so, but it wasn't something that Kurt really worried about while flying his ship.

He could control it.

Others? Not so much. It was really the only reason why he was weary of having Kaile fly the ship on her own. He trusted her not to crash it or anything, but he knew just how dangerous The Messa actually was, how harsh the reactor could respond if one just made slightly the wrong move. It was what worried him when he was away, what troubled him when Kaile took the ship out on her own.

There was nothing he could really do about it, not if he wanted the ship to keep performing exactly the way it was now. He just simply had to be careful and Kaile had to make sure she didn't press things too hard when she was on her own, something that she well knew. The pilot gripped the controls a bit tighter, his hands tightening and his fingers sprawling as he took The Messa forward towards the other island. The ship moved in a mad dash, flying forward up and over the open mouth of the volcano.

Then, Kurt pulled on the controls.

In a single, tight turn The Messa launched itself in a one hundred and eighty degree turn. The strain on the hull echoed out, the ship bending as g-forces pushed on his chest. His vision went black for a second, then everything went normal as the inertial dampeners kicked in. He let out a breath, then slowed the ship to a crawl, slowly floating into the Hangar bay.

 

[Kaile Vera]

"Knew it."

There was no venom in her commentary, for amused knowing. The Messa held a special place in the pilot's heart. With all the upgrades and the modifications, one couldn't blame him for that pride of ownership and for wanting to show off at bit. It was just like the podracer back on Tatooine. There was a brief brush of nostalgia in that. At least for what had occurred prior to her departure.

Hitting the throttle, Kaile would follow in pursuit. However, her's was at a smoother pace. The shuttle had some years on her, but she did well under Kaile's guidance. The Lorrdian wasn't a starfighter pilot or an ace by any means, but she held her own. Had to, in order to make sure whatever tweaks and such would stick.

While she was up here, a thought came to mind. Flipping up the toggle for the sensors, she decided to see if there might be anything else out there. Noting pinged back, but it was just an idle thought.

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt wasted no time at all.

He came down in the Hangar with exact precision, placing The Messa exactly opposite where the shuttle had started out. Oddly enough some of the guano had been swept out from the hangar bays entrance, a gust of wing likely having claimed a large patch of the nutrient rich...product. Kurt mused for a second, then shifted within the pilots chair, flipping several switched along the control panel in order to slowly turn off all of The Messa's systems.

That was another thing about the ship, it didn't exactly like to turn off quickly. It was the little quirks that made a home, at least that's what everyone said, and The Messa had plenty of little quirks that really only he and Kaile knew about.

"Alright." Kurt said quietly to himself, unstrapping himself from the ship and pulling himself out of the pilots chair and bounding down the ladder. He didn't drop the ramp just yet, instead choosing to wander towards his own room and pick up one of the smaller toolboxes, tossing it onto the Kitchen counter and then pulling down The Messa's ramp. There was a slight hiss, and the smell of Guano immediately struck him in the nose. His head shook slightly, though he ignored it.

Now that he knew what the smell was...well it seemed more present.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

The shuttle was faster at the turn down than the Messa. In some aspects, it did a bit better than the Messa. The shuttle had no modifications or aftermarket glitches that came with tinkering, so the ride was smooth. Smoother than it would have been with the trigger happy boost of the Varactyl.

It also held more space. There were more rooms; even that tiny closet of a med-bay. But what exactly was it? Well, there was one way for her to find out. Shutting off the engines,, Kaile gave a half chuckle. Well, time to see what we can do, she mused.

It had been a while, and maybe she was a bit rusty, but as she had mentioned earlier, it was all about practice. One of the few things the Lorrdian was able to use the Force with was with electronic matrials. Datapads, Dataconsoles, droids… you name it. If it had electronics, Kaile was able to glean information out of them or even control them.

Maybe she could do the same thing here.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

His nose sniffled once, then twice, then a third time as he moved through the hangar bay.

Kurt really only had one objective in mind, and that was exploring those storage closets and hopefully finding a new hyperdrive or at least something that would be useful for The Messa itself. He frowned slightly as he reached the first one, an odd padlock hanging off the side door of it. He found that strange. His finger traced along the lock, hand wrapping around the metal as he gave the fixture a few pulls to see if rust had effectively worn its way through. He frowned when it didn't budge.

"Kaile. Don't be alarmed about what you're about to hear!" Kurt yelled towards the shuttle that had landed a ways away, pulling out his blaster and flipping the safety on the back of the weapon. He held the blaster for a moment, pondering, then took a slight step back and looked away.

A haze of red plasma surrounded the lock, the piece of metal exploding into tiny bits and Kurt launched a single bolt into it.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Being a technomancer meant that she would be able to use the Force to find out more information about a system. Back in the Rebellion, Kaile discovered she had a knack for this. When an old Sullustan starfighter mech discovered her knack, he took her in and showed her just what he could do.

He was Force Sensitive as well you see. Not a Jedi. Not a Sith. He was of a different philosophy that didn’t really matter at the end of it all. He was the one who taught her how to harness the Force. It was an interesting beginning, one that she cherished in remembrance.

Now, taking into consideration the present. It was time for Kaile to dust off her gloves and get back to what she had once been able to do. Closing her eyes, the Lorrdian leveled her breathing. She had taught the same technique to Jamie months back. At the time it had been with a datapad.

This was a little bit larger.

Summoning the Force, Kaile began to concentrate. Over the next few moments, she felt the Force swell within her, then under her guidance began pouring into the console itself.

Time to find out a little bit more of what sort of shuttle this was.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt swept the door to the closet open, practically tearing the thing off it's hinges as the loose and rusty metal came flailing about slightly. The Courier cringed as there was a creaking sound, his free hand moving to cover one of his ears. A slight tingle crawled up his spine, though as the door fell open Kurt couldn't help but let out a small whistle.

"Unexpected." He commented, again more to himself than anything else.

Within the storage closet sat about half a dozen droids, each one resembling a humanoid figure, though with a distinctly alien look. He would not have been able to identify them had it not been for the odd masks that he had been reminded of downstairs. The droids, or rather, the near androids, were of course Dark Troopers. They did not move, instead they stood firmly in place as though they were rooted to the ground, their black masks unfeeling and unemotive.

"Kaile!" Kurt yelled out.

"Kaile get out here!" This wasn't something he wanted to handle alone. "Now!"

He didn't know if they were about to activate and attack, didn't know anything about these things in fact.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]


Kalie was in the midst of focused concentration when the distant cry of Kurt’s voice tugged at her consciousness. Wait, was that Kurt? she mused, a bit confused. The second cry of alarm in her name, however, managed to snap her out of it.

Her lids flew open, brown eyes wide. There was alarm in his voice. “Kurt?” she murmured. Stepping back from the console, she quickly weaved around the piloting chair. Her boots thudded upon the deck, and her heart skipped a beat. Nervousness filled her.

To be prepared, she stopped by and grabbed the Morp from her bag. It only took a few extra seconds, but she figured better safe than sorry.

Pounding down the ramp, she came to a skidding stop. Searching around, she called out again “Kurt?!”

He called for her, and Kaile flew towards the origin. Talk about the shock and surprise she caught when she stumbled upon the pilot -- and his discovery.

“... oh stars…” she held up the Morph gun up. “Kurt are you okay?” wary, the droids didn't’ seem to be moving. Maybe they weren’t activated.

Yet…

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"I'm perfectly fine, but..." Kurt waved his hand towards the six Dark Troopers.

They were massive things, lumbering hulks that stood a head above him. He wasn't quite sure what to do with them, hell if they activated he was entirely sure that the both of them were screwed. From what he knew of these things they were enough to take on tanks, though at the very least they didn't seem to the heaviest variety that existed, that was something. He frowned slightly, taking half a step back to move closer to Kaile and slowly grab the end of her morp gun.

"Don't." He said wearily. "I dunno if that will set them off."

Kurt was incredibly weary of the droids, so much so that he reached out with his foot and slowly closed the rusty metal door that had contained them.

As soon as the door was closed he rounded on Kaile, not in anger or anything like that, but instead an oddly protective stance in front of her in case the droids came to life and shot through the door. His body blocked hers from the droids, just in case. "You know what those are, right?"

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]


Kaile gave a slight frown. Her arms fell, clicking the safety on the Morp gun. She kept it at the ready, as she wasn’t sure what could happen in the turn of a second. The dark slashes of her brows furrowed, bunching together in between her eyes.

“I--” she began, a bit confused. Quietly, she took cautious steps forward. These were similar to the YVH-1’s down in the basement, but their armor was distinctly different. They were larger, bulkier. Her lips drew into a thin line. There was something nagging in the back of her mind.

What was it?

Crossing the distance, she came to a halt just shy of a few feet. “They aren’t activated… So I think they are safe.” a relative term as they could accidentally activate them.

“Let me see what else I can find..” they were familiar, and she had a nagging suspicion what they were.

I just have to check…

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Darktroopers." Kurt said simply. He knew the name only because he had seen one on Tatooine once before, or rather, a picture of one. His father had a portrait of himself with one of the monstrous robots, or rather, one of the Phase III troopers that came after this particular model. Kurt had been told stories of these machines, and though his father had never worked on them directly, he had studied them for a brief time. They were unique, and gruesome things.

"My dad worked with them." Kurt explained. "For a week or two."

The Darktroopers, or rather, the old Empire's attempt to recreate them had been one of the reasons that his father and mother had left.

The Sith had never tried to hide what they were, or rather, they had never really made an attempt to stop the horrors that spread about them. Kurt's parents had been a part of those horrors, or at least, had been made to be a part. Scientists both of them they had been forced to research horrific things, the Darktroopers being one of them. Kurt knew that, he knew the stories and he knew well enough what running away had done for his mom and dad.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

That meant something.

That was something that wasn't so good in the radar.

Rumor had it about the Dark Troopers. Deadly things. Spreading unspeakable horror. There was a twist in the pit of her stomach. One that didn't bode so well. So far, they had found instruments of war. Instruments of death. Kaile didn't take to kindly to it.

"I see..." yet she didn't like what she saw. Lips grew thing and she took a deep breath. "I don't like it." she said simply, staring up into the glossy eyes of the Dark Trooper. Nothing more than a chassis and electronics, but they were enough to give her the heebee jibbies. Could they even be used to protect? To defend?

Something within the Lorrdian was halfway tempted to lay hands on one. To see what she could find through the Force with it. Yet at the same time, that felt as if it would taint her. As if whatever thick sludge of that taint of death would follow her if she did so.

"...Do you think there are more?' she asked, panning her gaze over to the pilot. Her face had blanched a shade paler than normal.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"I doubt it. These were likely used to defend the Hangar in case anyone attacked or tried to get inside." That made him wonder why the bats hadn't made a target for them. Perhaps the droids powercores were drained. That made sense to him, though why they had been stuffed into a closet didn't make much sense either. He frowned slightly, slowly looking towards where the droids were then back at Kaile. The lock that had kept them within the storage container was completely ruined, there was no locking them back up.

"I don't think you need more than six of these." Kurt said slowly. "Especially considering those weapons they were carrying."

Heavy Particle beams from what he could tell.

"I think they might be deactivated, or their power cores drained. They should have seen us as intruders if they were still active, even dormant, not to mention the bats." It was a bet, but a pretty safe beet at the very least. Darktroopers were droids after all, they followed a set of parameters.

Those parameters had to be followed by the droids or nothing would function. A frown settled on his lips, and slowly The Courier began to approach the door again.

 

[Kaile Vera]

Kaile gave a twist of her lips. She didn't feel too comfortable with it. However, if the power cores were drained or if they were deactivated.. that was something I could figure out. Thing is, it made her skin crawl. Another grimace took her.

"I could find out I guess..." she told him. There was an inflection in her voice that suggested she didn't need to just pop out the plate and find out if the cores were depleted. Stepping closer, the young woman would walk a small half circle around the closest one.

"If they were accidentally activated.. wouldn't do us any favors if the current protocols were set to take pot shots at us." err... her eyes set upon the heavy particle beams.

"Okay not quite pot shots.. more like massive holes."

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt made a noise that could really only have been described as the epitome of nervous. Though he thought that the droids power cores were dead there was no real way of telling whether or not the things were actually permanently deactivated. Kaile fiddling with them, either finding out if they were actually dead or trying to reprogram them could very tell switch them back online and see the both of them dead within half a heartbeat. The Courier wouldn't really like that.

Not at all.

"Careful." Kurt said quietly.

"We don't know for sure." He wanted to throw something at their heads, maybe while ducking behind The Messa. It was a silly strategy, and one that probably wouldn't work since they would likely identify his vessel as an enemy ship and then proceed to blow it up, but it was a thought that stuck in his mind as Kaile slowly began to approach the six droids. "Maybe we should've gotten some of that armor."

Kurt said the words without thinking, more to himself then to Kaile.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

“Yeah… I know.” Kaile said with a bit of trepidation in her voice. However, how else were they really going to have some peace of mind? That wasn’t even including the issue of when they do give this all over, who else would come after and they’d have to deal with the unknown variables.

“I think I can do this though,” she added, moving along towards the rear of one of the Dark Troopers. This was going to be interesting. She’d managed to use the Force before on droids, however, nothing as… fearsome as this. It could all be in her head. One droid was just like the next.

A chassis, some wires, software… All the same. And the energy that powered them much like the Force.

“... maybe you should… “ Kaile gestured for Kurt to get out of sight. At least from the view of the Dark Troopers. A smile was given in an attempt in encouragement. “... I’ll be okay.”

“Just … stay out of sight for now.”

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt looked at her for a moment, perking an eyebrow but slowly nodding his head. He could understand the reasoning behind it, even knew what she was getting at, but the way she went about it wasn't exactly...well not mean but it made him feel rather small! With a slight frown Kurt simply stepped a few lengths to the side.

Shuffling off The courier leaned against the side of the wall.

There wasn't much for him to do, especially given that he didn't want to open any of the other storage closets around the Hangar Bay. There was a chance that he could open a door and another twelve of those damned droids popped out. "Careful."

Kurt said quietly reminding her.

His eyes meanwhile began to wander around the room, looking and watching for anything of use.

 

[Kaile Vera]

"Always."

Kaile would give him a half smile, but there was a nervousness in her eyes. Turning towards the Dark Trooper, Kaile took a deep breath. Shoulders rose and she steadied her frayed nerves.

"Whew..." she blew out her cheeks, feeling her heart pump in her chest. It was silly really, to be a bit frazzled over what was essentially mere bolts, wires, and metal. Okay, just like riding a speeder, Kaile told herself. Right... right.

When Kurt managed to move out of line of sight, the Lorrdian went walking forward. The back plate of the Dark Trooper lay in front of her. They had massive exoskeletons and powerful weaponry. Really, these guys could be pretty intimidating on looks alone. Fingers lightly trembling, Kaile took another deep breath.

Alright. Straightening her shoulders, she tentatively set her hand upon chassis of the droid. Thing about the Force, you don't really need direct access to do much. Just had to reach out and touch.

Thank fully this one didn't reach back. So far, so good.

First of all, she had to relax. Empty her mind. Wouldn't do much good if all she was thinking about was how these guys could potentially blow her and Kurt to the Nine Hells.

Now, let's find out.

Summoning the Force was easy. Making sure she could do something with it -- well.. a bit more trickier. Just like a datapad. That's all it was. It came to her then, a quickening swell that tingled. That's what happened when one had been cut off from the Force for a while.

Everything tingled.

Eyes closed, breathing steady, and with a slight pucker over her brow, Kaile pushed the Force into the Dark Trooper. It was cold. No, it only appeared to be. Inside, she could sense energy. It sat there, like an ember.

The powercore was still functional.


[member="Kurt Meyer"]