Take Off The Mask

[Alric Kuhn]

Alric smiled at her, looking back and down.

“Maybe I am. I've always liked discovering new things.” That was actually the truth. He loved exploring, it was usually just not deserts or old Star Destroyer that he explored. Mostly it was cities and bars. Things that could be done with in a night, instead of several days.

“And we don't need to explore the whole thing.” Alric told her quietly as they finally reached the very base of the tower. “I can get what I want from the Bridge.”

Which was conveniently located only a few stories up from where they were entering the ship in the first place.

Slowly lowering his bag to the ground, he began to search for the small silver cylinder. "Besides, where's your sense of adventure?"

 

[Danger Arceneau]

That smile froze her for a second.

Thankfully, the quip about her so called sense of adventure drew her annoyance. "Because trekking across the blasted Waste ain't an adventure enough," her eyes would flash irritable fire then in mild mockery.

She would watch him fiddle with the hilt of the saber once he found it.

"Try to not slice your hand off," she would warn, "I doubt the Aspha would be able to regrow your entire arm back."

A pause.

"or maybe it would."

Now that was a thought.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He fiddled with the saber for a few moments, making sure that everything was intact and working properly before holding the weapon far away from his body. Crouching slightly in order to get the correct angle.

The blade activated, springing to life with a loud snap and hiss.

Alric watched it for a few moments, eying it for a few moments before pressing the hot plasma into the thin durasteel. It slid through surprisingly easily, cutting into the durasteel like a hot knife through bantha butter. He stood with it and slowly, almost methodically, Alric sliced a doorway into the side of the ship, cutting a hole large enough to step through.

When he was done, he withdrew the blade, shutting it off and then slowly sliding in the massive metal doorway he had made. It fell with a loud thunk and Alric looked back at Danger with a pleased look.

He was of course rather pleased.

They were moving out of her element, and into his.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Well wasn't he so handy.

Both brows would perk, and she had to grant it to him with an incline of her head.

"Well.. at least you didn't slice yourself in half." She would take a knee, frowning as she would peer into the new path he'd cut out. The edges were still glowing from the hot molten metal.

Carefully, she would take a step inside, ducking her head. A shaft of light from the bright sun behind her would illuminate only about a good twenty foot radius by the way of ambient light. The air was -- well hot and stale. Stifling.

A dust cloud had risen to prompt a small cough and the fan of her hand. Straightening, she would take a look around. Right, they would need a light.

In one of the easily accessible side pockets of her pack, she would procure a lumestick. Holding it out in front of her, it would cast a beam of bright light around the room.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He smiled at her, no that was the wrong descriptor, he smirked at her.

Pocketing the small cylinder Alric retrieved his backpack, throwing the thing over his shoulder and quickly slipping inside after Danger. He shifted slightly as the hot air touched him, it seared his skin, the hot stuffy air pushing into his nostril and offending his olfactory senses.

He shook his head, almost sneezing on Danger as she pulled out the oversized glowstick.

The bright light that was cast outward didn't reveal much, only the hallway that they had stepped into. Alric tried to get his bearings, his eyes falling one way, then another. Stepping over to Danger he asked her for the lumistick, with a sight she handed it over.

An almost child-like glee fell over Alric, and quickly he lead the way towards the bridge. “Lets try the bridge first, with any luck...i can get the lights to work.”

 

[Danger Arceneau]

He was like a kid. Such a strange thing.

This was another facet. She'd seen the belligerent fool. The half broken man. The furious one. This was another facet.

She didn't know how to take it. It disturbed her.

With another sigh, she would give an exhale, swirls of dust blowing away from her. Carefully, she'd follow behind. The place would quickly make her feel as if she was baking in a oven. Sweat was rolling own the sides of her face, and after feeling as if the scarf would choke her, a hand would flick it off her head and tug it free.

The length of dusky fabric would slide down, revealing her bare neck and the dip of the rounded neck of her robe. One wouldn't be able to notice unless he'd take that lume and flash it over to her, but a small constellation of bruises would like the length of her collar and neck.

"Or the air-conditioning."

Came her wry quip of dry humor right behind him.

It was getting easier; to focus on other things. To just fill the space with idle conversation.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

Yes.

Air-conditioning would have been very nice about right now. Thick beads of sweat fell down Alrics face, heavy droplets that fell down his boy and soaked through his clothing. His free hand came up several times and scratched his beard, but for the most part he was able to ignore the heat that permeated throughout the ship.

The two of them made quick progress, Alric knowing every corner, every step, every which way they needed to go in order to actually get to the bridge. Eventually, after two flights of stairs and a long hallway they reached a single heavy durasteel door.

“This is it.” Alric told her as he touched the blast door with his free hand. “Bridge is in here.”

Using the lumistick Alric walked over the door control panel. He touched it, finding that it was obviously dead. A slight frown, and then Alric began to brandish the small cylinder that he ahd earlier pocketed. “Here.”

He said giving the lumistick to Danger.

Then seconds later, he plunged the lightsaber into the blast-door.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

She caught the lumistick as he gave it to her, so anxious he was to get into cutting the blast door. A frown drew over her face though. While he had the ambient light from saber, she would slowly let the beam of the lumistick trace round the large blast door.

Something ran down her spine. A chill of dread. Or maybe that was just a bead of sweat?

No, there was something about this she didn't like. Her gut twisted then her lips would purse. The beam of light would return back to Alric's careful carve out.

He was well halfway through it now, the edges of the melted metal hot and steaming. There was no popping sound, so perhaps it hadn't been airlocked?

As he would continue to cut the blast door, her mind would mull over to the recent bit of information.

Just how well did he know an ISD? If she didn't know better, he had the knowledge one would expect from an engineer.

Her eyes would narrow, tucking that bit of information in her mind for later.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

The blast door gave way.

He didn't open a hole in it this time, instead he sliced through the locks of the door. He had noted that the door actually hadn't been fully engaged, and it was simply a bi-lateral lock that had fallen into place. Once he sliced through that, the hydraulics of the door itself began to shift and fold open, long aging and creaking mechanics falling into place, opening to slide the Blast-door open a single foot.

From that foot of space dropped stormtrooper.

Out of pure reaction Alric jumped back.

The stormtrooper was dead of course, and in fact it was just a mangled piece of armor filled with a long dead skeleton, but he crumpled onto the floor with a loud clattering of duraplast and bones. Alric looked wide eyed at Danger, not quite having expected a dead man to drop from the door.

“Well...” Alric said almost comically.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Blinkity blink.

Okay, he wasn't the only one who would be startled, but the way he gave a half jump back was enough to draw a stifling snort of amusement.

Well, guess maybe that's why she didn't feel too keen on this.

"What's wrong Kuhn?" she'd drawl out in perhaps too much wry amusement at his expense. She'd start to walk past him, her hand pressing against the now open heavy blast dor.

"Where's your sense of adventure?" another layer of mild mockery, throwing his words back at him. The door would swing wider, revealing more of the bridge. Slowly, she'd peek her head in, cautious.

With a guide of her hand, she'd trace the inside of the bridge with the glow of the lumistick. He came behind her, and that would be when they'd both realize they were in a graveyard in the more literal sense.

Skeletal bodies were littered everywhere. Some slumped over their consoles, others on the floor. The crash had certainly been particularly violent, so it was hard to discern if it was the hit that took out the crew or something else entirely.

"Inari the Reviver..." came her low exclamation.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

Alric stepped into the bridge, the stiflingly strong air filling with a hint of decay that had long ago ceased. His eyes opened wide, and he began to gaze around the bridge, or what he could see of it. There were more corpses here than he would care to admit, skeletons dressed in fine Imperial Garb, Stormtroopers, and even one man who looked like...Alric shook his head.

“Whats wrong Danger?” He said quietly. “Where's your sense of adventure?”

He said it without any comedy in his voice.

Before she could answer Alric made his way to the very edge of the beam of light, there was the pit where the ensigns stayed, where he would find the sub systems. He motioned for Danger to come over as he dropped into the small crypt.

With a look of slight disgust on his face Alric tore one of the dead Imperials away from a console, the man nearly crumbling into dust as he did so. The CEO of Titan Industries stared for a moment, and then began to play with the console. A frown fell on his face, and he ducked beneath the computer, fiddling with something beneath.

Then, suddenly, a bright blue light appeared from the single screen.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Distaste would drift over her features at the grim sight.

"Just peachy," Danger would reply back with the same lack of humor. Lovely. Coming to a stop beside him, she'd frown watching him work.

Things were just not clicking. He knew far too much; especially with how he was able to directly work through this with an assured confidence much in the same manner she did with surviving Tatooine.

Capital Ship fanatic? Okay she'd give him that. But this was more. Defiantly more.

When the blue light came on, she was genuinely surprised. Maybe a little bit impressed, but she was still wary.

"Just a capital ship fanatic, right?" she'd drawl out, as if to suggest she had an inkling he was far more than just that.

Her instincts never done her wrong before. She'd have never made Arceneau Trade what it was if she didn't pick up these things.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

“Maybe a little more.” Alric admitted to her as he stood up from beneath the console.

The thing was caked with dust and a fine layer of sand. His arm began to wipe away the debris, clearing the bright blue screen so that it illuminated the area around him. For a moment he looked at the screen, realizing that there was no encryption system in place. The pit of a Star Destroyer controlled its menial systems, day to day functions and such.

Weapons were allocated to other stations, same with shields.

For a moment Alric searched, the terminal was surprisingly fast, and he quickly accessed all available information on the ship itself, its status. “The reactor is long dead.”

No surprise there. “But the back-up generators are still providing power and it looks like...”

He paused for a few moments, contemplating, then suddenly he pressed a button on the terminal. The lights above them began to brightly flicker on an off, over and over again they blinked in and out of existence until they snapped into bright light. More than a few of the lights had long ago been burned out of damaged, but enough were lit that the Bridge was now revealed in its entirety.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Dilated pupils would burn at the sudden flickering and flash of bright overhead lights. She gave a wince, drawing her free hand up to shield her eyes for a bit while they began to adjust.

A thumb would depress the activation light on her lumistick, killing it for now. The scene around them was a bit less macabre with the lights, but at least the stench of deteriorating flesh had long since gone.

She would tuck the lumistick away, turning her head left and right as she would give a glance around.

"Huh," she'd muse aloud.

"Maybe a little bit more," came the wry repeat. She began to inspect her surroundings. To an extent things were well preserved; for however long this thing had been buried in the sand. The intense heat and dry climate was the perfect catalyst to reveal just how the bodies around them were very well preserved.

She'd frown, looking around the imperial tomb, hair tucked back behind her ears to unconsciously reveal the bruises from before.

"Back up generator would mean life support systems... and logs." datalogs to at least figure out what had happened here.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He frowned for a few seconds, already way ahead of Danger in her thought process. Lights were easy, life support was a bit more difficult.

For a few moments Alric tangled around with the console. There wasn't much that was available to him, just simple commands and prompts. Running a Star Destroyer was more difficult than most would assume, it wasn't just typing things into a computer or letting a program run, most things weren’t automated. He frowned slightly, then pressed another key.

A slight whirring noise could be heard, followed by a loud clacking and clicking, and then the sounds of a an in the far off distance.

It would have been too quiet normally, but with the silence that reigned on the bridge it was possible to actually hear the life-support kick in. Fresh air being scrubbed and produced, cleared of any pathogens and diseases.

Alric looked up from the terminal, winking at Danger.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

It was strange.

Very strange.

There was that little boy grin; that assurance. Confidence that had not been there before. Too many different facets, it was hard to keep up.

The hum of the recycling air conditioner would seemingly roar, but Danger didn't seem to notice. Alric Kuhn would move about, still checking the online systems for any potential error. He was focused. Driven. Confidence at his competence would practically bleed out from him in droves.

A woman knew well the language of a man when he had found their purpose. A usefulness that had been denied to him for his foolish decision to travel here alone without preparation.

He was altogether different from the man she'd seen in the Expo and the past four days.

Danger gave a slow blink, simply watching. Awareness. Familiarity.

She knew this. Knew it well.

Takes one to know the other and Danger was starting to realize that much like her, there was more to Alric Kuhn that met the eye.

"What about the datalogs?" came her next question, watching him critically as he'd continue to work.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He paused for a few moments.

Apparently most of the front of the ship was buried in sand, completely filled with the desert that the ship had crashed into. He read from sensor logs, seeing just how much of the ship was accessible. He let out a low curse as he realized the hangar was completely filled. It meant that there were no speeders or walkers they could take out of here.

When Danger questioned him his eyes looked to her, for a moment he searched for something in her gaze, then quickly shifted back to looking at the terminal. His lips thinned for a few moments, and he began to read out loud to her.

“This is from the Captains log...or part of it anyway.” Alric said quietly as his eyes began to scan down.

“We've left Bastion. Our mission is a simple one. The Ardent carries aboard it a sample of the Yuuzhan Vong killing Virus...” He paused for a moment, startled. “Alpha Red.”

He stopped there. It was just a small excerpt a small piece of what the log actually told Alric. It went on to state that the Ardent, which he assumed to be this ship, was an upgraded Imperial Class Star Destroyer that had been operated by the Imperial Remnant. It had been tasked with taking the Alpha Red from Bastion to a secret research facility here in the outer rim for study and possible production.

Alric told that to Danger as he finished reading.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

She came to as top beside him.

There, among the tiny green sigils in Aurobesh was exactly what he just said. Alpha Red.

Few new what this was; Danger did. Since the Yuuzhan Vong reappeared in the galaxy, she had made it her job to learn more about the species; especially since their world and armies had managed to come face to face with Arceneau Trade ships and warehouses before.

Aurum was a world that she was in the works of turning into a massive trade world. A world that had been Vongformed by the Horde during their reign.

Alpha Red was the singular pathogen that had been able to strike at the Yuuzhan Vong centuries ago; but at a cost of a mutation that led to the death of millions of lives across the galaxy.

If they still had a viable sample...

"Where's the secured laboratories for transport?" The risk of infection now would loom over them like a death shroud.

Why did this Imperial Star Destroyer crash? Was it due to a malfunction -- or a contagion?

 

[Alric Kuhn]

Alric read on for a few seconds. It wasn't laboratories where the samples were kept, instead more of a secure vault. Apparently the Ardent hadn't been designed to deal with the Alpha Red, only transport it. He frowned slightly, shifting on his feet.

That stuff was dangerous.

Very dangerous. Not only to Yuuzhan Vong, but to any living organism.

“...Samples kept in vaults...fifteen vials.” Fifteen Vials of Alpha Red, fifteen vials that could destroy an entire planet and spread throughout the entire galaxy. Alric looked at Danger for a few moments, shifting uncomfortably on his feet.

“We have to go there” Alric said in a very serious tone.

What was he thinking. Did he want to destroy them, or take advantage of an opportunity?

 

[Danger Arceneau]

That's when she gave him an incredulous look.

A hand would gesture to their present situation. "Right after I get my bio-chemical suit, Kuhn." her voice would suggest that his suggestion was ludicrous. However, the somberness in her eyes would reflect an understanding of the severity of the situation.

"We ain't got no protective attire much the less know if the contents of that blasted vault had anythin' to do with why this ship went down to begin with." It was stating the obvious, but making him focus on that.

They were not prepared and they would be going in blind.

"Half this ship is buried under the sand." a hand went to her hip, cocking her head to the right. "And might I remind you, we ain't got no method of getting out of the Waste alive presently and our supplies are low."