Take Off The Mask

[Alric Kuhn]

He nodded along to all of her statements.

Unfortunately the journal had no technical specifications or insights and was more or less just the ramblings of a young excited officer who had received his first real position aboard a Star Destroyer. If they wanted to find out more, they would have to visit the Star Destroyers Archives.

“Yeah.” Alric said finally as he closed the journal and tossed it onto the bed beside her. It didn't really hold anymore use to them. His head swiveled to face her as she began to move, he noticed her slight flinches, the hesitation of movement and could only smile as he saw them. “How are you feeling?”

There was no hint of smug in his voice, but it was certainly upon his tongue.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Daring and devilish.

Alric pinned her with his eyes and Danger sat perfectly still. It was a look that would have disarmed her in her previous life. However, Danger looked back on equal terms.

"Reckon the joints are well lubricated that's for sure," she said, voice a faint rasp. Well there wasn't any use avoiding it any longer. It was what it was.

They had some kind of animal magnetism that drew them together as surely as the Twin Suns rose and fell.

Danger smiled ever so slightly.

Then she rose. The sheet fell, fluttering down half on and off the bed, a sight to see. Her shapely legs would slide from under the sheets, swinging round to touch her toes upon the floor.

Bending down, she would reach down to pluck a shirt from the floor.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He would watch her, eyes fixed.

There was no amount of awkward this time, no sheepish look, no tiny wandering of eyes. He watched her, and she did not seem to mind. Danger was a pleasing sight to behold, there was no doubt about that. As she slowly slipped the shirt from the floor and onto herself he smiled, watching as soft and supply skin was slowly hidden.

“Not the only thing tha-” He decided to stop talking.

A grin fell on his face however, and he slowly turned away.

In his head he began to plan out their day. First they had to check the Alpha Red. Then the archives, then see if the ship had anything more of value. Simple plans really, he just hoped that there wouldn't be any problems.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

A small wiggle and a shake came next as Danger would slip on the rest of her clothes. There was this faint lingering smirk hanging from her lips. What was this?

She felt good. Truth be told, she fell pretty damn karking great. A passing thought would come to her that clearly, a good charge of her power coupling is what she needed to get that lingering afterglow high. Oh she was still sore, but then again, she wasn't too upset about it.

"Alright then, Kuhn..." she'd start, grabbing the length of her glossy red hair to tie it back into a ponytail. The shirt would stretch across her chest, freckled face an bright green eyes staring down at him in curiosity and perhaps.. even a dare.

"So where is this vault?"

 

[Alric Kuhn]

Alric paused for a few moments, closing his eyes and remembering the schematics that he had seen yesterday. He mulled for a few seconds, then thought of the paths they would have to take through the Star Destroyer in order to actually reach the vault.

“Center of the ship, near the Hangar.” He said as he watched her try and squeeze herself into a pair of pants.

The image brought a smile to his face, though he slowly rose from the ground himself.

“It'll take us about half an hour to get there.” It was a long walk and he doubted any of the turbo-lifts worked. He already knew that part of the ship was compromised, broken sections of hull and hallway which they would have to avoid in order to move forward. “Up for a little walk or am I gonna have to hold you up again?”

He gave her a little wink.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Her hand rose, smoothing and tucking the wayward strands of her hair behind her ears. A rock of her neck came next, a slight crack and slight pucker of pleasure at the sensation.

Dull ache indeed, but at the very least, she felt limber. Her eyes went sliding over to catch the devilish wink. A snort came and she shook her head.

"I can do just fine on my own, Kuhn." she'd reply with a rasp, although she couldn't hide the faint hint of a smile that would go curving upward. As she was now, she would appear years younger. The laughter lines at the corners of her eyes would crinkle, lines that hadn't really been too relaxed as of late.

A thought came to her. A possibility.

"But I reckon I can be held to sway for the right incentive."

A flash of a grin went by so fast one would wonder if it was real. But it was. Turning from him, Danger went to grab the pack. They had some ways to go still and the reasoning for it was still pressing in the back of their minds.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He smiled at her, but didn't respond this time.

Alric could have made another joke, pressed his advantage, but he knew there was were more important things to do. For the first time in days they had the well rest of a warm bed and long sleep. They had water and food in their bellies, and both of their conditions had improved, with his back full healed and the wound on her head being done with.

Now was the time to set to work.

Now was the time to head into the belly of the beast and figure things out.

The Alpha Red was aboard this ship. It could destroy entire worlds, Empires, not just the Yuuzhan Vong. Even modified it could cause genocide on an untold scale, the likes of which the galaxy had never seen. He frowned slightly at that, shifting and grasping his back.

“Lets go.” He said to her, determination crawling on his face.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

While there was a measure of protest from Danger's body at being on the move again, with it came the energy of the well rested. If anything, Alric had managed to become the best sleeping pill on hand. The rest had done her good.

None of the turbo lifts were working, so their trek would force them to take the long way around. As they would move deeper into the bowels of the Imperial Star Destroyer, the lights would flicker on and of more, becoming more frequent. They were headed towards the mangled bow of the ship, requiring to find an access point to descend two levels down.

While they would travel, Danger's mind would fall back towards calculating the time of day. Or night in this instance. It wouldn't be long before others would discover the ISD. She wished that there had been a way to set up some kind of warning system, but even then, with the way the desert was, it was no guarantee. Not with a ship this big.

No, salvage of this magnitude was enough to send Jawa clans warring at each other to claim it. Worry would furrow her brow. Either way, there was also the Alpha Red to consider.

Not to mention the fact that this ship had been specifically designed to transport it.

Honestly, some things were better left lost in the desert.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

The trip wasn't wrought in the same awkward silence as had been the theme for the last two days. Instead the two of them spoke, quietly conversing about the ship and what could possibly be going on here.

They did so until Alric shushed her, silencing Danger mid sentence with a finger across his lips.

For some reason he had the instinct to do that. Among the flickering lights and the strange glowbulbs he wanted silence. They were getting closer to the Vault now, in fact it was just around the corner. As if it were extra Security Alric pulled the blaster from its place where he had strapped it to his leg. He wasn't much good with the weapons usually, but at this range an idiot would be fine.

A few steps and the two turned the corner simultaneously.

In the corridor beyond, they found nothing. “Heh.”

Alric said with a smile.

“Paranoid.” A shake of his head and Alric walked on a head, holding the Blaster loosely and turning slightly to face the vault door. The moment he saw it a gasp escaped between his lips, a near hiss.

The door was open.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

"I reckon we have a right to be," came Danger's terse reply, her lips thinning in displeasure. There was a sinking to her stomach, that curl of growing panic and fear that she had to steel herself for.

"Come on," came her instruction, pushing on past with her lumilight in one hand, her WESTAR-34 drawn out in the other. An expression of extreme concentration would draw over her face, settling as she would quietly start to move forward. A life as a smuggler Captain in her daddy's own fleet of ships meant that Danger wasn't a stranger in needing to be quiet and get a little investigative.

And to be frank, she figured she was a better shot than Alric.

Coming up to the door, Danger would slide on upon the wall, pressing herself flat. It was a rather silly thought that this space relic would have anyone living wandering about. Then again, here she and Alric were. Could someone had found the ISD before them?

Quietly, she would slide the door open wider. The lights would flicker on and off in three second bursts here. With her blaster in hand and the lumistick right under it, Danger went stepping in.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He stopped for a moment, getting a feeling in the pit of his stomach.

The Vault door was open. Sensor logs had stated it was closed, which likely meant that the logs themselves were either compromised or they were broken. Either one of those options didn't sit well with Alric, and slowly he followed Danger, grasping the blaster tightly in his hand. The door slid open enough that he didn't necessarily have to squeeze through, but he place down his pack and throw it through first.

The flickering lights stopped slightly when they entered the vaults, the overhead glowbulbs only turning on when Alric and Danger stepped inside. They were motion activated.

When the lights popped on, Alric found himself taking off his glasses. The Vault room was stark white, every wall, the ceiling, and the floor were all the same bright white paneling. He noticed that first, then his gaze shifted to the center of the room. Fifteen pylons sat in even rows and columns, each one made of durasteel, each one held solid with only a slight gap and a keypad to tell there was anything inside of them.

Alric walked up to the pylons, stepping carefully, inspecting them.

Dust lay on every single one of the keypads, covered in a thin layer. Alric looked at each one in the first row, then spied something that made bile rise in his throat. One of the pads had no dust. “Danger...”

Alric said quietly as he slid the card through the keypad. The metal pylon shifted slightly, and the metallic gate pulled away...revealing nothing but air.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

The pit of her stomach sank down to the Void.

"Gorram it!" came her savage curse. Quick steps brought her next to Alric, her lips thin and her face blanching of color so much that the freckles scattered across her nose and cheeks were in stark contrast to her skin.

Her focus was now on trying to determine how long. How long had it been since the pylon had been activated and the vial taken. Her attention drew upon the pylon console itself. It didn't appear damaged at all, and the layer of dust that covered the rest was missing here.

The lack of it mean it had been fairly recent. Her attention would draw around, turning looking. If anything there had to be some kind of internal cameras -- yes they had just activated power but....

"We couldn't have missed them," she uttered. In her mind the sandstorm lasted six hours....they had walked for about four and came straight to the relic once it was discovered.

"Whoever it was... is likely still on the ship."

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He frowned slightly.

Had they known? Had they known what they took? Alpha Red was dangerous, more dangerous than one could imagine. It was said that the original Alpha Red only targeted Yuuzhan Vong, yet Alric knew that it had long ago mutated to effect more than just the force deads. If that stuff got out on Tatooine, it could very well turn into another Gulag Plague.

The thought made him sick to his stomach.

For a brief moment looked around. There were fifteen pylons, one vial was missing. His heart began to beat in his chest, and then Alric nodded.

He walked over to one of the pylons, sliding the keycard without hesitation. The pylon opened to reveal a small durasteel vial with transparisteel at its center. Inside of the vial, which was no bigger than his palm, sat a deep crimson liquid. The vial was clearly meant for travel. Alric looked at it for a brief moment, then tossed a glance at Danger. “We destroy the rest.”

Alric grasped the liquid, wrapping it in the bandage like clothing he had been wearing over the last few days then putting it in his bag.

“If we don't catch them we use this to synthesize a cure. If we do, we destroy it and the vial they have.” From his voice Danger would be able to tell he was dead set on this. He would not allow Alpha Red to run rampant in the galaxy.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

There was no mistaking the determination in Alric’s eyes. No there was a ferocity there. For a moment she could not help but admire it.

A curt nod would follow.

“Agreed. Use it to synthesize a cure -- and only a cure.” she had to be specific about that. If there was a line that Danger would not condone would be the mass biological weaponization of something like Alpha Red again.

There were some things in the galaxy that were better left dead and buried. No one should try to play the role of Gods nor have that insane amount of power.

Moving to the next pillar, she began to look it over. There had to be a self destruct mechanism involved to properly destroy each vial.

“I’ll take care of this.” she told him, glancing up over her shoulder.

“See if you can find them.” there was no arguing with her here.

“GO!”

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He didn't wait on her next word.

Instead Alric broke out into a near spring. Throwing the bag onto his back carefully he managed to exit the room. Of course he didn't intend to just go randomly chasing, only an idiot would do that. Instead he closed his eyes and thought about the layout of the Star Destroyer.

ISD's had hundreds of terminals, each one capable of accessing mountains of data, each one capable of using any one of a thousand systems board the Star Destroyer itself. It was these systems that Alric was after, and after only three twisting turns Alric found his way to one of these terminals. He frowned slightly, smacking the side of it when the thing began to blink at him.

The screen flickered one more time, then came to life.

Alric smiled, then swiped the keycard again in order to get access to the Star Destroyers more advanced systems. Particularly the cameras. He didn't know if they would still function, but there was a slight hope that they would.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Meanwhile, Danger began to play her own version of Rodian Roulette.

She had thirteen vials to figure out how to destroy -- without releasing the pathogen and getting herself and the rest of Tatooine and potentially the galaxy in another Four Hundred Years of Darkness.

Right, where to start?

Her green eyes went drifting over and looking around. They would then settle upon a computer console at the far end of the room. Quick steps would draw her to it, her hands sliding over the console to brush the dust off. There were safety procedures in place in the event of a power failure, with a set of generators specifically made to ensure the protection of this particular room. Nothing too powerdraining, but enough juice to keep things from wandering all over the place.

Granted, this wouldn't serve well if a third party decide to come steal a vial.

Now Danger had her ways with electronics, but she was no slicer. However, a mech was a mech. And if anything... well...

How hard was it to find a self destruct button?

 

[Alric Kuhn]

It didn't take him long to access the camera feeds. In fact it was only a few seconds before hundreds of images began to pop upon the scree. He frowned slightly, scanning each one of them for movement until he caught a flash of something. Alric scanned that panel again, then keyed in several commands. The screen flickered for a moment, then four large camera feeds showed up on the monitor.

Within the images was more than a dozen men.

They were no jawas, too tall to be jawas. They were not Tuskens either, in fact they looked too well maintained to be any sort Raider. They wore strange tan robes over plasteel armor, their carried heavy weapons and several official looking backpacks. Alric tried to zoom in, catch sign of an insignia or a emblem, but he found none.

He tried to note the location of them men, already realizing that chasing them would be idiotic.

His stomach suddenly dropped.

Hangar B32. They were near an exit, apparently the one hangar that was still unblocked. Alric let out a curse, spinning away from the console and rushing back towards Danger.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Well, if anything, Danger had a way with figuring things out. Granted, it might not be the -best- method.

But if all else fails and there is no way to slice into a machine to start the self destruct procedures... All that was left was to force the chain reaction to being.

Dealing with Imperial tech in the past during her time as a smuggler Captain under Arceneau -- her daddy wanted her to learn the ropes first hand from the bottom up -- she had to deal with the same thing on Ord Mantell and Alderaan.

With a twist of her Westar-34 round her finger, Danger brought it up. Arm held out right at the console, Danger did something that very well might get her yelled at.

But hey, some things never change.

A volley of blaster bolts went straight at the console where it would punch through delicate electronics and into the internal wiring.

In that instant, a red emergency light began to flash and every single one of the pillars began to hiss.

Welp, she did it at least. Emergency self destruct procedures were enabled. A thick glasteel covering would cover each vial, creating a seal. Just then, massive amounts of fire and heat would completely and utterly heat treat the vial and its contents, exorcising with fire any trace of the Alpha red from all 14 pillars.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

He rounded the corner just as the protocols for destruction were set off. He saw bright flashes coming from the vault room, and he tried to shield his eyes slightly as he moved past the doors. Danger stood with her blaster still out, and he made himself known before she could whirl around on him and shoot him out of paranoia.

“They were just here.” Alric said to her, still out of breath from having sprinted here.

“Danger.” His voice became stern again. “They weren't regular scavengers.”

He may not have known much about Tatooine, but he knew when someone was more than they were expected to me. Those men had been dressed as professionals. They had had the equipment and the gear to do far more than just traips around the desert. They had meant to come here, they had meant to steal the Alpha Red.

Alric was sure of it.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Her eye would widen, "What?!" She would exclaim, holding a hand up to block off the flash from the incendiary fire that would purge the pathogen.

Squinting at him, she would simply shake her head.

"Well then what are you karkin' waiting for?!" she'd shout, "Let's go!"

Yup, she had every intention of giving chase.