To walk among the living [finished]

[Biggs]

The sky was dark and cold, rain seemed to appear out of thin air and hit the windshield of the emergency hover craft. The headlights of the hover craft shown into the rain, giving it a vortex look that gave way to the appearance of light speed. Inside the cab was silence. Gears turned, buttons clicked and a soft glow from the controls illuminated Biggs' face. His hands pressed the buttons to stabilize the craft after heavy wind flow through the tall structures of the world wide city. His fingers, though metallic, moved across the control panel in a fluid like manner. If the scientists back at the Institute had bothered to make him more humanoid and apply synthetic skin to his exterior maybe he wouldn't have been such a freak, but then again the way the doctors and technicians looked at him in fear and disgust Biggs guess there wasn't much love for the field of furthering the Synthetic human.
Droids were all the rage now in every world, stretching from Core Worlds to Outer Rim territories you could turn around an see a mass of mechanical parts moving with the same lazy expressions their makers had given a hundred others just like them. Biggs cringed at the thought, although he could physically cringe, the thought still struck him as disgust. He knew there were protocols against harming sentient life that the droids had been given, but because he was no droid, a real life human brain was implanted in his head that could not be programmed, he felt hatred for any droid no willing to fight against the system. It was a problem that no one saw, at least no one saw yet.
The emergency hover craft came to a halt at a speeder garage. The craft he had stolen from the Institute was high profile, he needed something fast that no one would look twice at. Biggs parked the large craft in the back lot, shut of the engines and threw the starter key off the edge into the abyss of the Machine World. Everything seemed so alive to him. His vision wasn't that of a humans, at least not completely. He saw the surges of electrical power throughout the world, it was Machine after all, and just like the parasites they are the sentient creatures inhabited it.
Biggs walked to the elevator in the garage lot, two other people occupied the space. Before the light from the elevator hit his face he quickly pulled his hood up over his head and let the shadow from the hood take care of the rest. His eyes clicked and rotated to adjust to the sudden change of brightness from the dark garage and city to the light elevator. He clicked the 52th floor button, while the other two buttons were press for the 78th floor and the 61st floor. Being at the 80th floor the elevator whizzed down at lightning speed, stopping and dropping off the first occupant on its floor, an alien of some kind, Biggs paid no attention to it, it mattered little to his agenda. The 61st floor came up next, a human of some sort stood off, this district looked to be a market square just like the other countless markets dotting over Coruscant. The 50th floor came up next, his floor. A small hangar for speeder bikes. A platform jutted out into the city lights, no speeders were present as it was too dark, too dangerous for a race this late at night. He saw the nearest one, it would do. A one seated speeder, the color was glossy blue, it reflected the dim lighting of the speeder bike garage, it also caught the eye of Biggs. There was only maybe two or three people present here now, all of them were probably off partying somewhere. He sat in the comfy leather seat, the steel handle bars felt natural to his metal embrace. Biggs clicked a couple levers on the bikes control panel and the machine started right up. He took it out to the platform, looked both ways and once the coast was clear he left. No trace he was ever there, although it was unfortunate he was now in the possession of one sweet hover bike and the former owner would be no doubt angry he didn't much care. He had to find a way to get off the planet before it was locked down. The Institute would surely be looking for him by now....

 

[Biggs]

The sun rose and the rain faded. The fluorescent lights flicked off and natural light swept into the cracks and crevices of the machines spinning gears and pistons firing to keep the planet rotating in its orbit. Water fled from the fabric of Biggs' coat into the air that passed him by. The once deserted air waves on which Biggs rode the stolen speeder bike on were now populated with the organics and service droids going about their mundane lives. The airport was getting closer now, he could see shuttles taking off into the sky to get to their destinations. It was a cheap and easy way for the poor to get to where they needed to go, for now it was Biggs' way of smuggling himself off planet. After selling the stolen speeder he walked up to the ticket booth and quietly requested one ticket for the Border of the Republic, Dathomir. Ticket price was acceptable, Biggs had scrapped just enough to be able to buy his way onto the ship. His hood was still placed on his head to shield his face from public sight so as to not cause a disturbance.
The Border was his best shot for some easy work so gain money, experiences and adventure. He might even be able to smuggle himself out of Republic Space.
Biggs walked into the Cantina section of the barge vessel. A map of the Hydian Way was shown. It looked to be the fastest route of travel to Dathomir, hopefully no one from the institute would follow him this far but he was certain to keep his hood on the whole way through. Biggs found a nice spot in the back of the Cantina away from prying eyes. He fished a small data chip out of his pocket that he had stolen from a terminal back at the Institute and plugged it into the terminal situated near him. A comprehensive list of files and data populated the screen. He clicked on the most recent file, a Republic requisition request of the experiment title as B.I.G.Gs Q19. The file was talking about him, it was referring to a transfer of sight leadership to Republic Hands. Biggs clicked on the next file down, he read through all of the files on the data chip, eventually coming to the conclusion that it was not privately funded after all, all along it was hosted by Republic money but research was done through the private sector. He had a new bone to pick with whoever was responsible for this. The data chip listed no names of any kind but a project designation: F. STEIN. This was the only mention of something he could possible track. Whatever it was it had to wait, he needed money, a gun, a ship and friends. And he had none of that now. Dathomir might provide some of what he was looking for. When he got to the Border it might be worthwhile to look into the Sith Brotherhood for support.

 

[Biggs]

The cruise barge settled its turbines as it made its routine docking procedure on Taris. The transporter wasn't headed to Dathomir like Biggs needed, after all who would go to Dathomir? It was remote, out of the way, and on the border. Leaving the large transporter under the cover of darkness, as Taris revolved around a different sun in a different orbit, the day has become a perpetual night for Biggs. The large city surface of Taris seemed almost unreal for Biggs as it was his first time gazing at the endlessness that was Taris. An entire city that spanned over the entire surface of the planet, and want-to-be Coruscant some people likened it to, however this place was it's own cruel wamp rat. The metallic and some sort of plaster flooring clicked against the boot heels, echoing into the open space and down into the sub-levels. Layer after layer was a new element to Taris, each with its own short-comings but nonetheless it survived.
Biggs needed a quick and quiet way to get to Dathomir, from there on he could planet hop with ease until the Border Alliance of the Republic became Sith Space. But for now, Taris was his only option. Looking for work wasn't easy but Biggs assumed it would be easier to find what he was looking fr on the lower levels.
A freight elevator stood open for the public only a short distance away. Merchants loaded up their wares on the freight elevator, hoping to sell the more exotic pieces to the mercenaries on the lower levels. Biggs quickly tip toed his way into the back of the elevator away from sight, remaining in the shadows while the early merchants continued with their tasks. The sun wasn't due for another couple of hours it seemed, that was good for Biggs as he hoped that the more shady characters would be out at this time, and he could perhaps take an easy job and gain whatever currency he needed to secure passage to Dathomir.
The elevator doors shut and the gears began to turn and lower the freight elevator to the sub-levels of Taris...

 

[Biggs]

A machine out of sight from any normal eyes whizzed and clicked into place, setting the freight elevator into a halt mode so that the occupants could leave and walk among living for a time being. Biggs exited just as quickly and quietly as he had entered the enclosed space of the elevator. The sub-level markets were a buzz with different activity. Night life was busy here, different than the night life of Coruscant. Maybe Biggs had misjudged this place as a discount Coruscant. Free to walk around with no one to look at him differently, he almost removed his hood that still concealed his face until he walked by a small hole in the wall cantina where a silver plated protocol droid was being ripped apart by its patrons. Humans, and aliens alike were throwing alcohol in its circuits, tearing the limbs from its joints. Biggs stood in shock of the horror that was unfolding before him, a simple protocol droid was dying from the bigot organics.
After five minutes of being beaten up and calling the droid names it was tossed out into the market street, smoke billowed up from inside it's metal plating. the sticky alcohol was seeping into the complex circuitry that made up its organs. It's left eye was blacked out, loss of power, it was missing both legs and its left arm. A single word escaped the robotic mouth, "Despair" . In an instant a mountain of children piled on top of the droid and deconstructed it for spare parts to be sold so they could have something to eat tonight. A life, a synthetic life was dismantled in front of Biggs' eyes and he was powerless to stop it. The hood stayed on.
Further on down the bustling streets of the market plaza was an outside patio housing what seemed to be space freighter pilots. Biggs entered through the door, making sure to keep his head down. On the way out of the door a drunk Mercenary is carried out by a friend. His left arm is drooped over the friends shoulder while his right hand steadily holds a beer that is half full. All of a sudden the two mercenaries bump into Biggs, spilling beer all down his front and on the floor. The slouched over Mercenary plants his feet firmly and turns around to face the hood Biggs.

"S'cuse me asshole! ya gonna buy me another beer or what!?"

"No..." Biggs says in an almost whisper.

The large Mercenary then picks Biggs up by the collar and looks him straight in the eye. Ripping the hood down to show his Biggs face to the whole bar. All of a sudden the music stops and everyone turns to see the Merc picking on the droid.

"A...a droid! You ain't welcome here, not on my level of Taris!"

"I am no droid!"

Biggs rips the H-206 Blaster Rifle out of the Mercs hands and punches him in the gut. The Merc stumbles back a ways clutching it stomach. Biggs then points the blaster rifle at anyone about to make a move. He carefully walks over to the drunken merc clutching his stomach and grabs him by the back of the neck and jams the blaster rifle barrel in the small of his back.

"If anyone follows me... you die."

Biggs then backs out of the cantina still holding the merc as a human shield. When they are out of the enclosed space Biggs looks around to make sure there is a way out, however that is now improbable because of the actions he has taken a crowd is gathering around the cantina and him. Looking around for an escape route Biggs can only see one option of getting out. He fires the blaster rifle through the mercs back. The limp bdy crumbles to the floor. A wave of terror washes over the crowd. Murmurings of a droid killing an organic life form begin to take hold of the crowd.

Biggs however leaves no time for people to be shocked. He turns on the largest grouping of people and fires until the rifle is overheated. A large gap is seen with several bodies piled on top of one another.

"I am no droid!" his voice rings out over the remaining bystanders. The last time he was seen Biggs was running away into the darkness of the night.

 

[Phantom]

Cato had been watching this encounter from the rooftop of a building across the street of the cantina. He was wearing his usual attire, a black jacket with the hood up, loose-fitting pants, his belt which held a small blaster pistol 2 throwing knives and his bow, on his back he wore his quiver, filled with 20 arrows. He wasn't exactly hiding in other words. He reached to his belt, unclipping his bow. He pressed a button on it and the bow sprang out, a sleek black recurve. he dialed a code and pulled out a grapple arrow. He shot it at a much taller building next to the alleyway that the Droid had run into, a thin cord sprouting from the arrow as it flew. The arrow landed with perfect accuracy, the thin cord attached to Cato's bow, he stepped off the building, freefalling for a second before the line caught him, swinging into the alley. He dialed in a code and the arrow released from it's perch, the line retracting as Cato fell. Landing on his feet, Cato waited for the arrow to finish retracting and placed it back into his quiver. He spotted the so called "Droid" and ran after him, folding his bow and placing it back on his belt. As he neared the "Droid," he slowed and held up his empty hands, showing that he is not hostile, "I saw what you did back there, the authorities are going to be after you now. I can get you off the planet and to somewhere you can be safe," He heard shouts behind him, "Speaking of authorities." he reassembled his bow and dialed in a code for a flash bang arrow, no way he was getting this one back. Drawing the arrow, he yelled to Biggs, "I'll cover you, just get out of this alley and I'll meet you there in a second." He released the arrow, the projectile landing in the center of the group of police officers, the arrow did not go off, there was a delay. BANG! A flash of light and a loud noise covered the alley.

 

[Biggs]

Biggs turned around quickly and point the overheated blaster rifle in the strangers direction. Though they were a comfortable distance away from one another it was still considered close quarters. Biggs saw the figure draw an old tech bow it seemed from his belt and fire a presumably incendiary or even flash arrow at our pursuers. The organic being seemed to want to help him, though not sure to what ends the help was much appreciated. Biggs knew there could be one or two people in the galaxy that could show a bit of kindness to something like him.
The blaster rifle vented it's hot air pressure into the surround alley, giving the texture of the atmosphere a heated glaze, and then dissipated shortly there after. Biggs ran down the dark alley with the masked man who had stopped the pursuers earlier. Their boot heels clicked on the dirty ground, splashing up garbage water and other things on their clothes. A four way intersection came up on them, forward, right, left or back the way they came. heading off to the right Biggs looked back, hoping to catch a better glimpse of the man who had intervened, he stopped in the light of the alley, slung the H-206 Blaster Rifle over his right shoulder, back and chest and tucked it away underneath his poncho.

"Thanks..."

 

[Phantom]

"Don't mention it," Cato shot his hand out, calling upon the Force. After a moment, the shaft of the arrow landed in his hands, the tip completely fried. He twisted the tip off and put the shaft back in his quiver. He looked around, trying to judge the distance and direction to his ship. "Lets head a couple blocks west, then a kilometer or so and we'll be at the shipyard," Cato returned his bow back to his belt and drew his blaster pistol, making sure it was loaded. He took off his hood to reveal a human looking face with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. "You ready to go?" Cato slowly made his way to the opposite end of the alley, and awaited the man's response.

 

[Biggs]

Trust didn't come easily, it wasn't a right, it was a privilege. Before following the organic down the corridor Biggs hefted his new blaster rifle up and made sure the safety was off. Of this man turned on him, he'd have to shoot to kill, although he had killed plenty today, there was always room for seconds. It was weird hearing that small comeback inside his head, perhaps an old memory of the man whose brain lay inside of his head, or some sort of subconsciousness making a half baked attempt to tell Biggs that it was alive. Anyhow it was put on a back burner for now.
Slowly following this vigilante down the alley, thoughts began to bubble to the surface, it was perhaps an emotion or thought process that hadn't been included in his programming but was simple human intelligence that his brains CPU was adapting too because of increased functionality, but he began to question why his savior was doing this. Why had he stepped in? For what purpose was this for? Could Biggs really trust a man he had met mere minutes ago to get him off world. The only question worth asking now to the stranger was, "Whats your name?"

 

[Phantom]

Cato half-smiled, "I have had many names, but my friends usually call me Arrow." He looked down at his pistol, the Arrow thing was a complete lie, he wasn't about to give this man his actual name. "Can I ask what your name is?" Without waiting for a response, he put his hood back up and walked out of the alleyway. His quiver of arrows attracting some unwanted attention but nothing that would set the authorities on their tracks. As he cleared the 7th block, he turned the corner to find that the street was crawling with authorities. Quickly retreating behind a wall, he holstered his pistol, taking his bow out and dialing a code for explosive arrows. Taking one from his quiver, he notched it in his bow, "OK, we'll only have a few seconds of cover, so as soon as I give the signal, we run like hell to the shipyard, no stopping, no slowing down. Understood?" He turned the corner, drawing his bow and releasing it, the arrow landed with deadly accuracy. blowing the road block to smithereens. "Go, go, go! RUN," He yelled at Biggs. He ran like hell, using the flames as cover. He saw his ship in sight, so close, they only needed to make it to his ship and they'd be home free.

 

[Biggs]

Archer, an unsettling name fell through the blackness of Biggs' mind. No time to think on it however, according to the medieval figure they were nearing his ship. However unlikely fast it was, it was still a free ticket off this rock. There he went again, an inner monologue of unnecessary back talk. back up diagnostics clicked on after he activated them, they would run in the background as everything else was dealt at face value. Nothing to worry about now, although the system check would hold information that might be useful to him later. He followed the fake named vigilante as he rounded a corner, then quickly darted back into cover. The man with the plan shot out of hiding if only for a second to launch an incendiary arrow through the sky and finding its target next to the blockade of patrolman droids waiting about while their oppressive overlords sat casually on edge looking behind their backs at the droids that would protect them to see if they could also turn against their makers just like Biggs had.
The two ran through the smoke and fire dodging glances from the bystanders and policemen alike. They had made it into the shipping yard where the mans ship was said to be.

"I didn't tell you back there when you asked but my name is Biggs. We'll leave it at that. Now where is your ship?"

 

[Biggs]

A thought exploded into Biggs' mind, leave. He had just escaped from Coruscant only a day ago, and he was about to put his life in the hands of another Organic. Trust does not come easily. Sure this arrow man had intervened in a situation that went south, he had promises of escape from Taris, but this was as far at Biggs wanted to go with this man, so far.

"Listen, I appreciate you risking your life for me but I can't go on. This is my freedom now, and I've only experienced it for a day. I owe you, don't forget that. Take this comm-link. If you're ever in need of an ally I'll be there. And who knows, its a big Galaxy, but with the way things are now we could run into each other again."

Biggs replaced his hood over his head, casting a shadow over his face to hide him from the locals. He nodded to 'Arrow' signifying a possible future friendship between the two.

"I'll be in contact."

FIN​