Unsecured Cargo - A Hitchhiking Story

[Hemmrie the Bum]

A short while ago in the immediate galaxy...

Location: Cargo Bay of an Unnamed Vessel. It could be your ship.
Coordinates: Hell if I know. Somewhere in Space.
Mission: Get some sleep, find some food, drink some booze, remain hidden, don't die.

BANG.

Hemmrie woke with a start, and a sore neck.

Something was clanking around the cargo bay, something that wasn't him.
Holding his breath and crawling back into the corner in between empty crates and tall, plasteel boxes that would have held valuables of sorts, the Intergalactic Space Hitchhiker kept his eyes wide in the sudden darkness, the only light coming from the flashing buttons of red, green and yellow from various computer systems spread around the bay. Whatever they did or meant, he didn't really know. As long as alarms weren't going off, however, he was happy.

He had boarded the vessel days before on a planet he didn't really catch the name of. It had a weird name; but then again, most of the planets in the galaxy had a weird name. The Trandoshan who he drank with couldn't speak Galactic basic, and it left poor Hemmrie scratching his head about what planet he had really just left.

Ah well, in any case, he had sneakily ended up on this craft, and was headed for parts unknown. This was Hemmrie's favorite part of his venturing, for he could end up anywhere in the galaxy; whether the trip only took an hour, days, or even weeks. But he was crafty, for sure, and always ended up unfound by the crew of whatever ship he had stowed away on.

But this noise, whatever it was, was starting to unnerve him.

Hemmrie listened closely; it wasn't a droid, and it certainly wasn't a member of the crew, he knew what they sounded like when they walked past. Who was it?
A thought clicked; another hitchhiker? A companion? Some form of beast escaping its plasteel cell!?!
His mind wandered for a little, before he gained the nerve to stand and investigate. The worst that could happen was that he could get mauled on a ship with no animal cargo. Maybe.

( Before anyone gets any ideas on stowing away with poor Hemmrie, ol' [member="Twitch"] already called dibs. But surely... Something interesting can happen in unknown space, eh?)

 

[Twitch]

BANG.

That... hurt. For a moment there, Twitch had blacked out... again. He awoke with his forehead slamming against cold, hard metal. It was dark, eerily dark. The tweaked out Rodian shook his head. Was he kidnapped? Or maybe it was just the deathsticks again. Whatever it was, it left his head with a ringing daze and a hazy vision. He shuffled about, finding himself compacted into a corner by a stack of two, three crates? Twitch doesn't know how to count. But he does know when he's lost stowing away on some vessel in a direct he doesn't know. And, well, that seemed to be the case.

Oooooyy... haah? Konchee am mee? Head hurt...

The scrawny, green, bulb-eyed Rodian scrateched at the back of his head. His blurred vision made it difficult to see his surroundings, but after a moment he caught his bearings. Standing to a crouch, Twitch felt around the pockets of his crumpled wrinkled jacket...

Figures.

Three... Four empty deathstick tubes? Twitch still doesn't know how to count. He yawned and tossed them aside before hearing a ruffling nearby. It was very quite, very faint... Was it far away? Maybe it was the one of the ship's crew members. That was another thing- whose ship was this? And where was it headed? Twitch liked to hitch rides on vessels whenever he needed to get off-world, but he didn't even know what world he was on to begin with.

Something reeked of booze. Maybe it was him? Twitch smelled his jacket. Yeah, it smelled like various other 'substances', but not exactly alcohol. He'd know if he was having a hangover... Oh wait, he is. Crawling out from his space, he was surprised by a creature! A furry-faced, ravenous, bloodlusting creature!

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Wait, nevermind. It was a human. An old human. A somewhat smelly human. Before he could peep a sound, he covered his own mouth. Twitch stared at him with his glistening eyes, saying nothing but in a bit of shock. Staring. Blankly.

[member="Hemmrie the Bum"]

 

[Hemmrie the Bum]

Hemmrie jumped in surprise, and clanked his head hard on the steel pipe that ran above him.

"Ah, dag-damn-damnit-dagnabbit!" Hemmrie gripped the back of his head where he had smashed his cranium, and looked at the green face that stood before him. It was a Rodian, a species he was more familiar with. It wore shaggy looking jacket and smelled dimly of illegal substances and backrooms in Cantinas. Hemmrie looked him over for a minute, rubbing the back of his head and scratching his beard, before he took a step back, and raised his hands.

"I 'aven't got any Smoke on me, bud," he grumbled defensively, expecting the Rodian to be another hitchhiker of sorts, and particularly an addict. "If ya want somethin' t' drink, though..." The Space bum reached into his small carrying sack and pulled out a ragged looking bottle of Tatooine Ale. "'ere. I don't got much to spare, but as long as ya don't shank me, I'm a happy Hobo."

As he spoke, he leaned back against the plasteel hull behind him and sighed. "So, who are ya, mate? Outer Rim 'n all?"

 

[Twitch]

Twitch winced a little watching the hobo slam his head on a steel pipe. It seemed like this whole area was just a little too compact. As the man started speaking to him, Twitch eventually realized that he probably wouldn't try to hurt him. He couldn't stand pain- you know, it hurts. As long as he was unharmed and untouched, he was comfortable. He sat back down across from his newly met acquaintance.

Smoke... drink... hobo, happy? Coo am mee?

Twitch could barely understand the language known as 'Galactic Basic'. It was almost foreign to him, but at least he was capable of deciphering what people were saying. He wasn't very linguistic either, as his main languages are Rodese and Huttese. But he could at least tell what the hobo was saying to him. After being offered a drink, Twitch hesitated for a moment. The expression on his face was a somewhat scared one, but ultimately he snatched the bottle from the bearded man and took a quick sip.

By the expression on his face, it was obvious he didn't like it. But he chugged the whole thing anyway. Twitch's face grimaced with some disgust, but after releasing a belch a smile drew across his face.

~BURP~

"Me'm called Twitch." were the first words he spoke.

 

[Hemmrie the Bum]

Hemmrie looked over the Rosina carefully. And rather grumpily. He had just finished the entire bottle of his only alcohol until they hit the next planet. Un-frackin-believable.

There was little Hemmrie could do about it now. Or wanted to do about it; it seemed this [member="Twitch"] fella was about as switched on as a thousand year old burnt out sun. That, and by the sounds of his heavy Rodian accent, he could barely speak Galactic basic. The bum shrugged and pat Twitch on the shoulder, as if out of pity. But Hemmrie smiled as he did, chuckling.

"Twitch, eh? Pleasure t' meetcha!" He gestured to himself with a open palm and spoke clearly, though his ragged voice only chipped away at minor letters, phrases and words. "I'm Hemmrie. An' it looks like we're stuck t'gether in this ship 'till we land on a Planet."

He stretched and dropped back down on the floor where his hobo sack lay. He gestured for Twitch to sit with him on he cold, plasteel floor, as he scratched at his unkempt beard.

"So, Twitch, what planet are you come from?" Not that he knew what else to ask. Neither of them probably had Pazaak cards on them.

 

[Twitch]

Truth is, Twitch doesn't even know his real name. 'Twitch' was just what people called him. For reasons, that Twitch himself didn't even know. After being asked what planet he's from, the tweaker thought for a moment. What planet did he come from?

Every couple seconds, one of or both of his ears would have a sudden flicker about them. Sometimes it'd be strong enough to feel the wind being displaced. He gave Hemmrie a short shrug with a clueless expression. Just couldn't give a proper answer. Every now and then Twitch's head would flick from side to side, even up and down to make sure nothing was coming to... ambush him, or... something.

"Me'm am me'm planet! ...You planet?"

It was as if he suddenly flickered on as soon as some sort of substance entered his body. Twitch just needed to get him hopped up. Hell, it was surprising his liver hadn't failed by now. Did he even have a liver? That's what humans have. Twitch isn't very well educated on his own anatomy... or educated at all in general.

"Ah, uh... n-name you?" he struggled to speak basic.

[member="Hemmrie the Bum"]