Private Top Gluk

[Tass Arceneau]

The likelihood that Makai actually did know the Arceneaus started looking less surprising when Tass put the pieces together. Guy with money, within a few miles of an ATC facility - yeah, that could track. The facility alone killed the coincidence of it all.

"Oh, they're the cousins, or I'm the cousin. The woman herself is my aunt but I get the feeling there's some distance with my parents. It's a whole thing I don't pick at. Anyway, I've been bumming around ATC ports for a couple of years now, trying to..."

He trailed off as an entire police detachment trotted by, all scratching furiously at acne on their faces and necks. Tass felt the distinct urge to check every single seal on his suit.

They pulled up outside the rooming house. Tass paused at the door. "Shavvit. If it's airborne and we open the speeder, we can't be inside here again without our suits until we clean the hell out of it. Didn't think of that."

 

[Makai Dashiell]

"Ah, makes sense. I have a few cousins like that myself. Out somewhere in the 'verse wandering. Explains why I haven't seen you around."

Makai watched as an older man was begging someone to cough on him, a clearly infected parking officer. Credits we're coming out of a wallet with more begging. Finally, the now kid parking officer unceremoniously coughed on the man, right in the eye.

Alright then.

"I don't plan on taking this suit off until we get to the showers at the mine. I don't mind being back in the speeder - got that shuttle coming so I don't need this anymore."

A pause.

"You can grab another pterosaur and follow back? Just in case? You seem adept at flying them."

Tass Arceneau

 

[Tass Arceneau]

Tass averted his eyes from the disturbing sight. "Spectacular. Yeah, if we get separated, I can probably find a pterosaur to saddle and take out of the arena stables. I didn't see fliers up so, plus side, no competition, downside, probably means cops are airborne. Not that I think they'd shoot down to keep quarantine, but maybe..."

He cracked the speeder door and hustled out so far as the big yellow suit allowed. He lurched into the rooming house and up the narrow stairs.

His room was undisturbed, thank feth. A seasoned traveler, he could shove all his shavvit in his duffel on very short notice. The yellow gloves posed obstacles.

A deep boom shivered the building. He hurried to the window and looked out over the street. The speeder was still at the front door and the street was still mild chaos. The day, however, was significantly darker.

He looked up. A very large spaceship had just emerged from the clouds, maybe from hyperspace deep in atmosphere, and was moving to hover over the city.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

"L3, stay with the speeder. If anyone asks, keep our cover story with the power plant going."

[ Understood Corporal. ]

Makai didn't bother to retort. Both his and Ellie's L3-37 looked identical, basically the same chassis and model build. He had been worried about mixing them up but apparently his unit decided it should take a more smartass approach to it's personality. Makai was confident his L3 unit was dead set on harassing him as much as possible.

Following Tass out, he wished a blaster was available. So far there were no major outbreaks of violence. He had seen a bit of looting - those taking advantage of the chaos but nothing of concern.

Nothing of concern until that large spaceship burst out of hyperspace and into the atmosphere. Hand came to shield his eyes as he squinted into the sky, trying to figure out who it was. Out in these areas, authorities didn't have just one set design in space ships. Had to get what came their way.

Head turned to look at Tass, the other pulling his backpack along as best as possible in the suit.

"Sector Authority? I can't see the Sith coming out this far....they have their own ways of staying young."

Tass Arceneau

 

[Tass Arceneau]

"Mm. Yeah. Same for Jedi."

Tass squinted as further details of the ship emerged through the clouds. It was moving erratically, oddly canted, maybe steered by an amateur or a hijacker and slewing toward a landing at the nearby pterosaur arena. And the ship wasn't built for war. Not unless those protrusions were heavy long-range octuple-barbette waterslides.

"Makai...is that...a cruise ship?"

 

[Makai Dashiell]

"Why would a cruise ship come here?"

The half-Galan leaned back once again, head tilted to the sky. Hand came to shield his eyes as the shadow extended further over the city. It was definitely odd and it seemed whomever was at the helm was drunk or not paying attention. As he looked further, he noticed the vessel was brightly colored in garish, out-there colorations, designs on the plating. What was that noise.... was party music coming from the giant vessel? Something was pumping out tropical hits and it wasn't the local nursing home.

"Tass, I think you're right." He straightened back up. Cruises tended to have a lot of elderly. "Talk about just busting through the quarantine.Cruises like that tend to have a lot of elderly, maybe they are taking advantage of the disease? Looks like its going to crash.... maybe its already been infected? I mean, a fourteen year old still has the coordination to fly."

"Maybe its time to hurry up and grab those pterosaurs before this landing wipes them all out."

Tass Arceneau

 

[Tass Arceneau]

All that conjecture sounded about right to Tass. He could well imagine a passenger base of a certain age taking control of a ship like that by bribery, force, or weight of numbers. And Makai was right: it did indeed appear likely to crash if it kept lurching around up there.

"Know what, yeah, I should let out the pterosaurs and grab one while I can. I'll get a nice bag of treats too, so it'll stick around. Or eat me for them, I guess."

Tass shouldered his bag and made haste down the stairs. He tossed the bag in the speeder. This row of service buildings and rooming houses was right at the base of the sprawling structure that included the arena and pterosaur stables.

Nobody gave him any hassle in his very official-looking hazard suit. A quick elevator lift put him in the stables: huge, vaulted spaces with pterosaur-sized stalls. Nobody was around. He set about opening the stalls and urging the critters outside. They began challenging the cruise ship in midair, perhaps interpreting the waterslides and party music as a rival mating display.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Makai wondered if the pterosaurs would win this battle. They seemed fearsome enough from his perspective but it was the simple fact the vessel was still coming in hotter than one would expect this low in the atmosphere. The roar of the engines and screams of the pterosaurs were drowning out the cacophony that was the chaos of the odd disease. Eyes tracked where it would land and started to back up towards the speeder. It was time to get out of here.

[ Sir, I think that vessel is crashing. I would suggest backing up. ]

Barely sitting in the seat and L3 was already giving him grief. Makai was already tossing the speeder in reverse, hitting a fire hydrant as he did so. That was about to the last of the cities problems, the cruise ship's music getting ever louder, ever closer. The pterosaurs were swooping in now and taking pot shots if you will towards the vessel, one managing to snap off a tentacle waterslide with ease.

He had been right about the creatures willing to eat him.

Taking his eyes off the cruise ship, speeder was pushed to the limits as much as possible ; there were children all over the streets now.

Tass Arceneau

 

[Tass Arceneau]

In six week's training he'd only been trusted to ride three of these pterosaurs, the more docile ones. He picked a familiar pterosaur, a retired champion, Cumolonimbus' Lady Grey HDK MBD NBSS, also known as Ringo, and saddled her up. Ringo permitted it with dignity.

Right outside, the cruise ship bottomed out against the edge of the arena. Thousands of tons of steel and adult diapers tore through the ancient stonework and flattened the stands. Gigantic aerial rings collapsed to drape themselves over the ship. The noise was titanic. Even the normally tranquil Ringo spooked hard. Tass hauled himself aboard her saddle with not a moment to spare. The regal pterosaur launched herself out of the aerie, which promptly collapsed once deprived of the honor of her company.

Fluids spilled from the broken waterslides, and the arena was an absolute loss, but otherwise the crash looked downright gentle. Tass banked away and out over the street where Makai Dashiell had parked.

The speeder had moved on. Backwards, in fact. It appeared to be having pedestrian issues - oh, and cyclists.

Tass urged Ringo into a dive and buzzed the whole situation at rooftop level. People scattered. Cyclists wailed.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Tass had banked down to assist clearing a bit of traffic. They probably should have looked for some type of communication device before leaving the mine but hindsight was twenty-twenty after all. It looked like even the locals were wary of pterosaurs.

The cruise ship had crashed somewhat gracefully, landing on its nose and belly. Out of the corner of his eye he could see an inflatable yellow emergency ramp pop out and now much younger cruise ship passengers gleefully jumped out with a 'weee' as if they were finishing up the greatest amusement ride ever. Didn't these folks only age ten years backwards? Not even he engaged in such antics.

He dodged a game of nuna ball in the street thanks to Tass and was nearly home free. Makai planned on just busting through the exit blockade, it wasn't as if the local officers had the resources to pursue at the moment.

Tass Arceneau

 

[Tass Arceneau]

WEEOOWEEOOWEEOO

Two police airspeeders zipped past on a bowel-watering vector. Ringo jolted but, grand matriarch that she was, kept her cool. The cops converged on the fallen ship, which represented a total repudiation of the quarantine order and was also mildly on fire.

Tass urged Ringo on and kept pace with Makai Dashiell 's speeder. A portion of the exit blockade was peeling away toward the cruise ship crisis.

When the pterosaur and the speeder burst through the blockade, the most powerful ordnance they faced was half-hearted voicecracking bullhorns.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

"Isn't that Corporal Whats-His-Name?" Officers looked at one another as the speeder bust through at a clip. There had been yelling through bullhorns but it served no purpose beyond making the two feel better. "Huh. Hope the power plant isn't about to blow, he got out in a hurry."

Speeder opened up once they were back on more desolate roads back to the mining facility. Seemed the bulk of the activity was contained the city proper, which he was thankful for. It meant more opportunities for him to skirt quarantine, not that it looked as if the planet had a good grip on the entire situation to begin with.

Hand went to run a hand through his head only to bonk against the shield of the hazmat suit. Right, habit.

[ Sir, its highly possible you are now wanted in this system. I am unable to be an accessory to your criminal record. ]

"Easy L3, no one is wanted in this system. I'm not asking you to be an accessory."

[ Good thing Sir. I would hate to testify against you. ]

"I thought we were buddies L3?"

[ My loyalty only goes so far Sir. ]

Ride or die L3-37 was not.

 

[Tass Arceneau]

Ringo, in all her stately grace, soared after the speeder. They made distance from the city at significant speed.

Their course bent around the hills and up into the sloped valley. Ringo preferred that leisurely path rather than going up and over.

She touched down outside the mine and accepted a treat as her deserved recompense. She kept her dignified cool as Makai Dashiell pulled up in the speeder and Tass lugged out a semi-portable decontamination unit from the old first aid cabinet.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Exiting the speeder, Makai gave a little salute to the pterosaur, as if to say hey please don't eat me. This one seemed a bit more tame, more dignified than the one Tass had first had. He was sure like any animal they all had distinct personalities, this one just happened to be a little more relaxed and perhaps not as eager to find its next meal.

"L3, come on, stop straggling. You've got to be deconned too. I'm not risking touching you or having something flake off. Tass and I have no desire to join the idiots back in the city."

[ Of course Sir. Why be an idiot in the city when you can be an idiot here? ]

Dark look was tossed in the direction of the droid as he joined Tass in setting up the decontamination unit.

"Do we have to decontaminate your bag? Or you think its good? I'm not sure how you would deconn such a thing without just merely airing it out. Maybe there's spray disinfectant in the old dorms here."

Tass Arceneau

 

[Tass Arceneau]

"Best I can figure is I'll lay out all my shavvit on plastic sheeting and drag it under the decon unit. Might take me a while. I'll do it in batches, I guess."

How the unit worked was a bit of a mystery. He supposed he was taking this on trust.

"Y'know," he said, "I've been looking for the right business angle, and I think someone could make a killing eliminating all this hassle. The right portable unit, the right suit. I got my hands on a synthicator a bit ago, been reading up on...blueprints for it..."

He'd been reading about suits, frankly. Mostly flight suits, an interest sparked by the positives and drawbacks of the flyer rig he still partially wore under this big yellow hazmat suit. But that kind of gear was such a niche interest he didn't immediately feel the need to go on.

The decon unit - a bulky thing on four tall slim legs, forming a doorway - hummed to life. He ducked through slowly and felt nothing; carried his bag through whole and felt nothing; dumped his stuff on a plastic sheet and dragged it through again, and felt nothing.

"...it's working, right?"

Makai Dashiell

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Brows knit in confusion as he watched the decon unit do....absolutely nothing. It was frustrating. However, also not surprising. Upon buying the mine it had already been sitting dormant for ages, local equipment couldn't go any further. He had the credits and equipment to change that. The safety equipment inside was most likely outdated and expired, including the decontamination unit.

"Yeah, its not working."

Sweat inside the suit was starting to mat down his hair, hand fighting the urge to fix it. Nothing to fix when it was encased behind a safety suit.

"I know this place has cleaning materials, like janitorial supplies. We can go old school with a scrub brush, bucket, and hose. Might have to wait to decon your maps, but at least those can be encased for now."

Tass Arceneau

 

[Tass Arceneau]

It wasn't the first time Makai Dashiell had figured it was time to get janitorial, and after all this hassle Tass wished he'd listened. He went and got the supplies and started wiping things down outside the mine entrance.

"Y'know," he said after a rhythm set in, "bleaching things really cuts the anxiety."

He'd never done janitorial work per se. Scrubbed a couple decks to pay for passage when his allowance ran low, but that was about it. Well, that and the whole thing with the Ithorians, but that was another story.

"Once we get out of this I'm down to take apart that decontaminator and see if I can fix it. If you're ok with that anyway. You said you own this place?"

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Finished scrubbing down L3, Makai had turned to himself. Straight bleach seemed like an answer, there was no chance in Hoth he was going to even risk possibly turning back into a teenager. Of course it would ruin the seals of the suit but it was old enough where it probably needed to be tossed anyway. Not a major loss. Now if he needed to rewear it...maybe some type of spacers tape would have to be applied.

Not feeling confident, he removed the helmet, getting in fresh air. Any longer inside the suit and he would need some Beskar Bond Spray Powder. Helmet was tossed aside as Tass spoke about trying to fiddle with the decontaminator. The entire area reeked of bleach and soap.

"Yeah, just signed the contract today. Go nuts and take what you want, try to fix what you want before the crews come in to evaluate. Considering this quarantine, might be a little while now. I didn't even get the chance to get too far in, already reviewed the scans and thought it a wise choice."

Finally free of the suit, Makai kicked it aside. He'd let it sit out in the sun before grabbing some gloves and tossing it into the rubbish bin. No chances taken at all.

Eyes settled back on the pterosaur.

"You taking it with you? I'll message Salacia and let them know to send something big enough. Maybe some tranqs to keep it from destroying the vessel."

Tass Arceneau

 

[Tass Arceneau]

"It? Ringo is a queen." Still humidly and pungently suited, Tass was rubbing cleaning products into the pterosaur's saddle and skin by this point. Couldn't be too careful.

"That all sounds like a plan except for the whole part where I bring her along. Doesn't seem fair to her. But then again maybe she'd like some new skies to rule. I'm on the fence. I'm from a family where you be real, real careful how you step around grand ladies like this."

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Makai kept a berth from the pterosaur and Tass while the other worked, back to sitting on a crate drinking a bottle of water.

"Sorry, I can't tell pterosaur genders apart. I apologize Queen Ringo. L3, let Salacia know to bring a vessel big enough for a pterosaur. Maybe a cargo or mining vessel. There's enough room here to land in the valley, plus I think I saw an overgrown landing pad not too far from here when we first came in. Somewhere near the side road."

[ Done Sir. Should I inform Mistress Arceneau of your delay as well? ]

"Did you give her my itinerary with a timeline? As in, does she know when we will check into the station to do whatever errand she wants me to do?"

[ No. ]

"Then she doesn't need to know."

[ I would advise against lying to to Mistress Arceneau. Mister Arceneau is correct, you must be careful where you step. ]

"I'm not lying to her. I'm merely ensuring she doesn't worry for no reason. What more can I ask for? I'm stuck for days in a mine. Tass has some interesting maps we will look at if they ever leave hot zone status. She'll just work herself up into thinking the worst."

[ Schematics, Sir. ]

He didn't say a word more on the issue, circling back to Tass as the other man worked.

"So why'd you learn to fly these creatures? Just cause?"