Open A Boy and his Droid [RAXUS]

Liu Wang

Character
Jedi Order
Rank
Jedi Padawan

OOC
gh0stparty
Joined
Oct 13, 2020
Messages
3
Reaction score
0

《Liu Wang || EMI-108》
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
..:: death disabled ::..
LOCALE: Raxus Secondus
TIME: A few hours to sundown

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________​
Liu's gaze swept across several screens of information; a frightening representation of the myriad computer systems overseeing his chimaera of a starship. He had had to wire together the impossible, spending months on the microcode and schematics for logic gates. Before he had had the help of some previously junked droids (and even then), he was left alone to unite notoriously incompatible components. Nearly every piece of the starship came from a different model, information visualised by different standards on each screen it connected to. This starbound trash heap, the product of his long exile on Raxus Prime, had finally made its lift-off into the troposphere.

The cockpit became uncomfortably hot; hot enough that Liu was certain his ship would be in flames before he could ascend past the stratosphere. Sweat dripped from Liu's brow. Internal systems were beginning to overheat, and he was moving far too fast through the atmosphere to be able to see out of any window. Nearly all of the alarms he had installed went off, one by one, a discordant chorus of chimes and whines.

The ship shuddered its way through, past the mesosphere, through the sticky heat of Raxus Prime's irradiated thermosphere. He was going to make it! The ship's blasting ascent slowed to a orbital cruise. The windows were clear now, letting Liu peer down below at the planet that had held him prisoner for three years. It was no prettier in space, but a small smile crept across Liu's face. He had broke through the stratosphere before in test flights, but the entire ship by then would usually be utterly destroyed with exception to a well-used escape pod.

System alarms hushed to all but the whirring and thumping of the ship itself, though he hadn't made orbit entirely in one piece. Several components in the outer hull were lost to the intensive heat of breaking atmosphere, and Liu was certain he had lost more of his ship than his hand-jigged data-screens were capable of telling him. He took a deep breath, checked his seatbelt, and initiated thrusters. Nothing, at first. Then, sputtering, hissing...there! He sighed in relief, pulling back on the throttle gently to lift him out of orbit. He took a moment to admire Raxus itself, the star he had seen when he and his master had flown into the system all those years ago. Then, the planets. Raxus Prime was a hideous sight from up high, though to his mild shock it seemed as though the next closest planet was stunning in comparison. Oceans, forests. Surely someone lives there? Someone other than rusting and abandoned droids?

"Mᴀsᴛᴇʀ. Iᴛ ᴀᴘᴘᴇᴀʀs ᴀs ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜ ᴡᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇ sᴜᴄᴄᴇᴇᴅᴇᴅ."
A rusty-red LEP servant droid, strapped to the seat beside Liu. Many of her pieces, too, had had to be replaced, though Liu's favourite were the soft green-glow optical inserts he had installed to restore the vision that she now used to peer at all of the flashing screens and lit-dials.
"No. Not yet. We can't live in space, we don't have the resources to sustain ourselves," Liu replied calmly, his gaze fixed on the planet ahead. His original intent had been to leave the star system, but he wasn't confident yet in the ship's hyperspace integrity and had had limited opportunity to test it on the surface. If he couldn't leave subspace, for all he knew it could be years before he found another star system - not to mention one that could support life.

"The next planet will have to do," said Liu. A moment to ground himself again, and a gentle
throttle-pull to bank his ship towards Raxus' second planet.
"Wɪʟʟ ᴡᴇ ʙᴇ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀs, ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀ?"

"I don't know yet. I don't even know if we'll be able to make it back - I lost sensors on the hull plating, so I don't know how much we lost breaking atmosphere. I would estimate at best we've lost 12% of the outer hull. At worst, 35%."
The LEP droid flattened her bunny-like ears, as though considering what Liu had said.
"Wᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ʀᴇᴘᴀɪʀs ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ sᴜʀғᴀᴄᴇ," she eventually declared.

"Just the two of us?"
"Wᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴛᴇᴀᴍ," she replied.

"We'll have to see."

Crawling along at subspace speed, what remained of the Menagerie traced the orbit of the second planet, letting gravity coax the ship into orbit. The descent to the surface was considerably easier than the ascent: gravity's gentle tug became almost violent the more the ship soared towards the ground. Once more, his windows were utterly fogged over by smoke and moving too quickly to make out any details. He watched nervously as 3 more of his systems went completely offline, some of the screens now crackling with static interference. Descent may be easier than ascent, but landing? He had never landed before at such a high velocity, and it occurred to him that his only hope of landing in one piece was either to find water or use the ground to slow him down. Fear sunk in like hot coal in his chest. He couldn't see anything.

As the object proximity alarms began to ring, he knew he was close to the ground, and pulled hard back to raise the nose as much as he could before his ears began ringing from the explosive sound of a starship carving a path through mud and stone. No longer confident in his seat belt, he hung on for dear life for what seemed like a terribly long time before, finally, the ship slowed to a stop. Liu took a deep breath, looked back at EMI-108 to see if she was OK.
He sat like that for a while, somewhat paralyzed by shock: the adrenaline of survival and the shock that he had actually made it off of Raxus Prime.

"Mᴀsᴛᴇʀ? Iғ I ᴍᴀʏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴀ sᴜɢɢᴇsᴛɪᴏɴ. Wᴇ ᴍᴀʏ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴇxᴀᴍɪɴᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀᴍᴀɢᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ sʜɪᴘ, ᴛʜᴇɴ sᴄᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀʀᴇᴀ. Tʜɪs ᴘʟᴀɴᴇᴛ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙᴇ ɪɴʜᴀʙɪᴛᴇᴅ."

"And if it is, that crash will have attracted a lot of attention," he concluded for her.
"Pʀᴇᴄɪsᴇʟʏ. Mᴀsᴛᴇʀ. Aʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴀᴅʏ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇɢɪɴ ᴍᴏᴠɪɴɢ?"

"Alright. Let's see how bad it is," he sighed, before unstrapping both himself and his droid and trying the door. Too badly dented in to function, but the right-side window had shattered during the crash, so he clambered out of the ruinous heap, stepping outside to see the long tract of upturned ground.
"Oh, no."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
Last edited:

Gram Van Alasdaire

Character
Independent
Rank
Independent Force User

Character Profile
Link
OOC
Aurius
Joined
Apr 8, 2020
Messages
139
Reaction score
71

Gale’s journey had been long. But hardly dark - not anymore. For the first time in his life the pain and insanity had lifted. The Sith thought he’d been left for dead. But as before, it was his kin that found him - and healed him.

Adair Espaa. His uncle, a genius in the art of mechanics, and a force user no less. The Mantis was once his, and he’d raised both of the Van Alasdaire cousins at one point. A surrogate father to Gale, and the one who’d given him the cybernetics and nursed him back to health. Z9 was there as well, the little astromech lieutenant has been most faithful. The trio had been enjoying some caf at the local cantina, discussing recent events.

“Your plan is to join the Order, then? Still?”

“Yep. I need allies. The Sith will be on to me now. But I doubt they’ll be looking for me yet.”

“Yet..? Boy, do you WANT to get yourself killed?!”

“If it means ending this war I frankly couldn’t give a Kriff-“

The conversation was abruptly cut off by a red fiery streak angling downwards from the sky. It shot through the atmosphere and smashed into a nearby embankment over the river beds. Both Vahla stood abruptly, nodding to each other and making their way towards the crash site. Adair confidently walked without any hesitance, trusting more in the Will than any weapons. Gale... not so much. His DL-44 lowered to his side, unholstered and ready.

A boy... no. Adolescent human emerged from the site of a mottled and half-destroyed starship. Right out of the front canopy, no less. Gale fought the urge to raise his weapon, Z9 began to rapidly beep at the boy’s droid companion, and Adair simply grinned and shoved Gale forward lovingly.

“The Will of the Force...”

“Shut up, old man...” Gale sighed, chuckling as he extended an arm to the youth. “Are you alright? Bit of a rough landing?”

@gh0stparty
 

Liu Wang

Character
Jedi Order
Rank
Jedi Padawan

OOC
gh0stparty
Joined
Oct 13, 2020
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
《Liu Wang || EMI-108》
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________​


“Mᴀsᴛᴇʀ -- I’ᴠᴇ ᴄᴀʟᴄᴜʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ 99% ᴄᴇʀᴛᴀɪɴᴛʏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴏsᴇ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ɴᴏᴛɪᴄᴇᴅ ᴜs.”

Fear crawled up Liu’s throat. His gaze shifted, from the violent upheaval of land before the wreckage to the entourage headed towards them. By the time EMI had spoken, they were already nearly there. A noxious mix of adrenaline and dread pooled inside him, light-headed; he stumbled over backward on a twisted beam from the crash-site as the group approached.

Liu shut his eyes. The rapid change through atmospheric pressure still had his head swimming in hot syrup.

“...you alright? Bit of a rough landing?”

Liu’s cheeks burned as he brushed himself off and accepted the strange man’s help. How foolish he felt, to be so scared, for all of a moment. His senses cleared enough to realise the hand he had taken to right himself had undoubtedly been metal. A sour memory brimmed with close calls with violent droids churned in his stomach.
Looks had been deceptive before. Though this man didn’t exactly match the silhouette of any droid he had seen before - he appeared, for the most part, quite humanoid - the thought crossed his mind that, perhaps, this planet was also full of abandoned droids of a much higher calibre and make than Raxus Prime...

EMI-108 replied in perfect cordiality to the new astromech, and introduced herself and her master - in the astromech language, having had plenty of time to practice in recent years.
When she went to check on Liu, she was alarmed to find him standing there, silently, in his thoughts. [Hᴏᴡ ʀᴜᴅᴇ,] she thought. [I sʜᴀʟʟ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜɪs ʀɪɢʜᴛ.]

“Gʀᴇᴇᴛɪɴɢs! I ᴀᴍ EMI-108, LEP-Sᴇʀᴠᴀɴᴛ /Pʀᴏᴛᴏᴄᴏʟ ᴅʀᴏɪᴅ ᴏғ Lɪᴜ Wᴀɴɢ.”
She gestured sheepishly with a tin thumb to Liu, who looked less than well, then outstretched a tiny metal hand to Gale.
“Mᴀʏ I ᴀsᴋ, sɪʀ ᴏʀ ᴍᴀᴅᴀᴍ, ᴡʜᴇᴛʜᴇʀ ʏᴏᴜ ɪɴᴛᴇɴᴅ ᴜs ᴀɴʏ ʜᴀʀᴍ ᴛᴏᴅᴀʏ?” A rusty smile.
"I ᴍᴜsᴛ ᴀsᴋ ᴀs, ᴜsᴜᴀʟʟʏ ɪᴛ ɪs ᴏ̨ᴜɪᴛᴇ ᴄʟᴇᴀʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀɴsᴡᴇʀ ɪs ʏᴇs, ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ɴᴏᴛ ʏᴇᴛ ᴀᴘᴘᴇᴀʀ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀsᴇ.” She gave a light elbow jab into Liu’s ribs, somewhat jarring him out of his thoughts and back into present reality.

“Hi... like she said, I’m - Liu, and I hope it’ll be nice to meet you, just,” he coughed some black-green phlegm onto the ground, “hh, also, I’ll - I obviously need to build a better ship.”


__________________________________________________________________________​

@Aurius
 
Last edited:

Gram Van Alasdaire

Character
Independent
Rank
Independent Force User

Character Profile
Link
OOC
Aurius
Joined
Apr 8, 2020
Messages
139
Reaction score
71
Gram raised an eyebrow, cocking his head wordlessly at Adair. The older man’s visage had become kinder, yet showing of his ages through the wrinkles marking his happiness. They stood in silence, waiting for the boy to speak. Perhaps he was a mute? Still, both Vahla could sense something from this one, a presence that was strong in the Light, yet unrefined.

Z9 and the tiny rusted protocol droid, one Gran recognized as an old separatist model, exchanged greetings. Gram could understand Droidspeak, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that the LEP was immaculately polite. Still, the silence weighed in the air - until at last, it was the tiny bunny machine that spoke to the trio.

“...what?! No, I won’t harm you...”

Gram stuttered slightly. He wasn’t exactly the best at comforting people. The Vahla’s eyes sparked with alarm, but luckily the older man took up the mantle. Surrogate father to all, it seemed. Z9 even began to gently beep calmly, trying to comfort the pair. They seem to have gone through quite the ordeal - and ordeal that perhaps Gram could empathize with, having been abandoned in uncharted space years ago.

“Hello, Liu! My name is Adair. This is Gram, and his co-pilot Zee-Nine. We’re friends, don’t worry!”

“Uncle, greetings will have to wait. Security will be crawling over this ship soon. Grab what you need and follow us.”
@gh0stparty
 

The Storyteller

Dungeon Master
Rank
Member DM

Joined
Dec 24, 2017
Messages
3,794
Reaction score
2,533
“What was that?”

“Looks like someone crash landed...”

“That’s the ugliest freighter I’ve ever seen...”

The denizens near the crash site had only just begun to mutter to each other in speculation. The duo and their droid only made the situation a greater spectacle. Nobody understood what happened, however more than a few had already contacted local authorities.

Like clockwork, two troop transport gunships activated their sirens and began surrounding the crashed vessel. One descended while the second gunship circled the crash site, announcing over their speakers that the crowds should begin dispersal immediately. The first gunship started it’s descent into the walkway where civilians had mobbed up, further implicating that dispersal was not an option.

“ATTENTION; THIS IS NOW THE SITE OF AN ACTIVE INVESTIGATION. DISPERSE IMMEDIATELY. FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN THE USE OF FORCE.”

These security forces were not associated with any organization that the Jedi or his companions would recognize. But they too would have to answer to them, as the PA system stopped transmitting its command to clear the area and instead addressed the crashee directly. The primary gunship had made a complete descent while its twin hovered overhead, blaster turrets aiming downwards.

“YOU FIVE, REMOVE YOURSELVES FROM THE DAMAGED CRAFT AND SUBMIT TO IDENTIFICATION. FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN THE USE OF FORCE.”

The first gunship began to unload a small force of four guardsmen, each armored with basic trooper gear colored in the same mottled brown and yellow. They carried E-11 blaster rifles, and boasted stun batons and SE-44c blaster pistols at their sides. Clearly, they meant business.

@gh0stparty @Aurius
 

Liu Wang

Character
Jedi Order
Rank
Jedi Padawan

OOC
gh0stparty
Joined
Oct 13, 2020
Messages
3
Reaction score
0


Liu had had scarcely enough time to grab a worn, unremarkable knapsack from within the shuttle before the crash-site was crawling with civilians.
He was swift to pull up his dusty cloak over his head and around his shoulders, shrouding himself tightly not just with cloth, but with Force.

The padawan had learned to hide within himself; that which he was. Liu had suspected the imminent danger before the gunships or the PA - like spiders crawling up his throat, this was an apprehension he'd learned to trust. The crowd alone was enough to frighten the desert hermit that the boy had became.

"Mᴀsᴛᴇʀ, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ...ᴡᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ..." EMI tapped gently on Liu's side, casting worried green eyes to Z9's living companions.
Liu's face was barely visible through his hood.

"How, exactly?" He gestured weakly toward the surrounding crowd.
The droid responded by nudging him toward their new 'friends', just as the system began transmitting its hostile commands.

"G-gram? Aldair? Do you think we can outrun them?" Liu breathed, hardly audible.

EMI-108 and Liu came close behind the Z9-crew, the droid scanning for places in the distance fit for hiding. Liu was half-meditating, doing his best to keep his fear and his power as shadows of what they were.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

@Aurius
 

Gram Van Alasdaire

Character
Independent
Rank
Independent Force User

Character Profile
Link
OOC
Aurius
Joined
Apr 8, 2020
Messages
139
Reaction score
71
Gram wheeled as the security forces began swarming the place. He hadn’t doubted it was coming, but he also did not anticipate such a quick response time. The mystic had only been here to ensure that Vasser, a mogul in the finance world, was both in good health and had his credits stored safely away. Raxus was one of those locations now controlled by the Sith Empire, and as such, he could no longer utilize it as a hideaway.

“There’s no need to outrun them. All we have to do is slip away...”

The security officer that descended from the aircraft began to approach the gaggle of spacers, looking each of them over. Adair went to step in front of Liu, while Z9 would begin talking to the bunny droid and explaining Gram’s usual stick for getting out of these situations. The Force. If done correctly, barely anyone would be able to tell what was about to transpire. With a gentle smile, Gram greeted the officer.

“ID?”

“You don’t need to see our identification.”

The Vahla waved his hand gently, as it rested by his side, cautiously enough that only those looking for such manipulations would spot them. At once, the group would notice the guard’s eyes glaze over - as though he was looking into an endless cloud - before gently cocking his head towards the Mystic. His voice was slurred slightly, as Gram’s suggestion pierced into his mine. Once inside the Guardsman’s mind, he nudged the suggestion into reality, making it so the Guard believed that it had been his idea to let them go.

“I don’t need to see your identification.”

“You will let us go on our way, and collect the vessel for refurbishment.”

“I will let you go on your way... and collect the vessel...”

“I guess this is ends our trip?” Adair asked, slight disappointment creeping into his elderly baritone voice.

“Yep.”

As the Guard began turning around and ordering his men, the Vahla turned to the young boy with a mischievous grin crossing his face. With a twinkle in his eye and a simple nod to his companions, they began to set off away from the crash landing zone. Z9 and Adair were the first to start moving wordlessly, with Gram waiting for the boy and his droid to follow. The Vahla had been to Raxus many times in the past, but with Sith expansion and the revelation of his betrayal, staying on the planet overlong was a risk he wasn’t willing to take with some stranger who looked terrified of everything.

“We’re going to board the Mantis and get you somewhere safe. This place isn’t it, kid.”

On Gram’s front, his mind was simply wandering, grasping at this child’s story. Where had he come from? Did he belong with anyone, did his parents know where he was? Looking back, the elder Vahla chirped in his response. As usual, the jovial tone Adair employed would likely soothe this teenager’s anxiety.

“Don’t worry about your ship - I can have it audited. You’ll have it back in a few rotations.”

“Speaking of... what’s your story, Liu? That was some entrance. We’ve got a small walk until we hit docking bay nine.”
@gh0stparty
 
Top