| Casino Imperiale - FA Ender mBind
From his lavishly decorated throne the self proclaimed Grand Master surveyed his surroundings, his Dark Halls. Because he took the name quite literally he could not see all that much of course, but it filled him with great pride to see the results of six months of war and construction.
His main hall had been completed exactly on schedule and now only the smell of fresh paint reminded him that just a few months ago this had been the location of a bankrupt supermarket in the suburbs of the capital of the Antei System. The contractors had been expensive, but had done excellently in recreating the original Dark Hall; it was nearly impossible to see that this one was made with plaster casts. And the concentration of so many building contractors here had increased the power of the Dark Side locally quite a bit…
His Dark Brotherhood now finally had a home again and it was time to once again strike out at the ones that had forced them to move from their rightful place. The information he had been brought by his spies had made him outraged: The Emperor's Hammer was about to start using a completely new form of encryption on their communications - shutting him and his out of the loop.
He just knew that they did this just to anger him, even though everyone knew the project had been started before his Glorious Revolution. Not being able to live of the Emperor's Hammer by intercepting all their communications and therefore their convoys and resources, would not be advantageous at all. He needed to get the key to that encryption, and fast.
Deciding that he had let the Dark Jedi kneeling in front of him wait long enough to give the proper impression of evilness, he took a sip of the gilded goblet standing on the imitation but very baroque pre-Jofferian table next to his throne and scraped his throat.
"We need the encryption key from the Emperor's Hammer," he said slow but strongly. "I have foreseen that their Science Officer will visit Duunari's Crest in the next day or so…" He paused for dramatic effect. "You will go there, intercept him and take the encryption from him."
"Yes my master," the Dark Jedi answered without looking up.
"Then go, immediately!" her master snapped.
The Dark Jedi got up, bowed deeply and walked out of the New Dark Hall into what lay outside its walls: a big and busy construction site. The Dark Jedi quickly hurried past the builders, trying to avoid dog whistles and views of workman's cleavage while at the same time getting to the bus stop on time.
The Grand Master turned his throne around to face the wall behind it. Normally these types of thrones then face a magnificent view out of huge windows... but since out there was only suburbia, he had decided to leave it out of the design. Someone had put a portable black and white holoviewer on a crate against the wall however, and the Grand Master's favourite holodrama had just started…
We're moving across the star fields in the way all the great Coruscanti holodrama's do, with those fancy lens flares you've never really seen in your life coming out of the brightest star. Proceeded by partially visible moons, a brightly coloured planet pans in to view, together with the first craft of what seems to be a very large fleet of Imperial Star Ships - TIE Fighters buzzing between them.
Then - with a symphonic burst - you start seeing the front of a ship that dwarfs them all: A Sovereign Class Star Destroyer. We travel along all of its seventeen kilometres of destructive force until we reach the massive command structure, upon which we zoom in on one particular window - larger then those directly around it.
Upon our zoom a few TIE fighters still manage to fly by, but when we got really close we are able to see through it… straight into the maniacally grinning face of an orange stuffed suction cup alien - hanging on for dear life to the glass that separates it from the harsh environment of space.
Not very far from the alien, in fact on the other end of the same room and down the corridor a bit, the Science Officer of the Emperor's Hammer, Ender mBind, dressed in full regalia was picking off the medals of his chest with one hand and dumping them into a brown paper shopping bag he held in his other. He hated these big to do occasions where he had to dress up for: The Empire had been very generous throughout his career, which by now amounted to a large mass of metal giving him a bad back.
He reached the door to the room with the room we tried zooming in to before, and stuck the bag between his chest and the door, awkwardly balancing it while he searched his pockets for the correct key card - which of course was in the last pocket to be checked.
The key card was flipped in front of the reader, opening the door and making the Science Officer fall forwards through it, medals flying everywhere as the bag and the Science Officer hit the floor as the door closed smoothly behind him.
Ender just lay there for a while. He really hated these dress uniform occasions… But the presentation of the newest Science Office project, the EHBL Machine, had called for it - if only cause then the rotten fruit didn't soil his regular clothes while the metal plate of medals protected him from objects that weren't as soft.
He crawled up on his feet again, leaving the smashed bag and its contents on the floor, and started taking off his uniform, skipping all over the room first in an attempt to take the boots off and then because he had stood on a medal pin without the boots on. Jumping on his stately bed he finally got rid of the medal sticking out of his left heel and of the last bits of dress uniform, which was now scattered across his room.
There he sat for a while, contemplating on how the presentation went. Fairly well in fact, no shots were fired for one and most of the assembled pilots seemed to have been asleep anyway.
"That may cause a problem later on," he thought as he stood up, carefully avoiding medal pins. "When they have to use EHBL and basically have no clue what it is about."
He made his way to the chair where his flight suit was thrown over, put it on including the boots and then made his way to the mini bar without worrying about the medals lying everywhere and poured himself a glass of the brandy they brewed themselves at the Science Office lab…
"One of the advantages of being the 'SCO'", he thought as his sipped the strongly tasting liquor overseeing the mess he had managed to make of his state room. Of course if he'd leave for just a few minutes the Deck Steward would send in a team and Ender would find his dress uniform, with medals, all repaired and cleaned… back on its clothes stand in the adjourning dressing room.
It was hard to make your place "homey" as a Command Staff member. He needed to go down to one of the more "comfy" pilot's cantinas. Ender mBind walked out of his quarters, still holding his drink.
Out on the hallway were three pilots that made a good effort to look menacing and had not made a very good effort to remain anonymous: Their name tags had been removed and they wore the full face helmets TIE Pilots use, but not that many pilots used the red uniforms unique to the elite squadron Omega.
Ender scowled and was able to utter "What the hell…" when he was grabbed from behind and muscled away in a half-nelson by another red uniformed pilot: "Step into our office, you sonofanewok. No arguments."
As he was frog-marched towards another door Ender held his drink away from his chest and cupped a hand underneath it: "Easy, man! There's a beverage here!"
The waiting door slid open and Ender was shoved in, the red uniforms filing in behind. Inside were quite a lot of brooms and buckets, but also the Commodore of the Sovereign, Admiral Proton.
"Ok guys, I definitely need a break from this place, now." Ender mBind exclaimed as he entered the Science Office, one hand cupping his right eye.
His Command Attaché Den Darkhill and Assistant Timmay looked up from their current engaging science project: a game of three dimensional billiards.
"Hah, walked into a wall too?" Timmay asked.
Ender didn't answer and just continued: "We're off to do some 'research' at Duunari's Casino. I need to be off the Sov for a bit."
"No objections there," Den agreed, "Some people here don't take to change very well." He offered Ender the icepack he himself had been holding against his left eye between billiard shots. "You want this?"
"Nahh," Ender declined the offer, "I think some dancing girls at the casino would be a better cure."
Tim put away his billiards cue, "How will we be going there? Shall I have the Warhammer prepared?"
"Nahh, an emsee-forty cruiser is a tad too conspicuous - Let's take the Luggage. I'll reserve some Shuttle Pods to take you there, unless you want to take your fighters."
"I'll take my fighter," Den said, "But I first need to change into something more civvie."
"Good idea, I'll change on the Luggage myself - see you two there," Ender agreed and he popped out of the door again.
"A fleet of top class ships available to us, and he wants to take the biggest piece of rusty junk in the Galaxy," Timmay shook his head.
"He's attached to that junk, let him have his fun," Den laughed.
That piece of junk was on auto pilot on a course parallel to the Sovereign because the Commodore of the larger ship didn't allow it to soil his hangars. Because of this Ender had to use his personal TIE Bomber to get there and back at any time… which he didn't mind all that much because it gave him the few chances to still fly a fighter he got these days. He pressed the button on his keychain that opened the Luggage's hangar doors with a "funky" pling-plong sound and manoeuvred his TIE Bomber in onto the racks.
The Luggage looked like most aging Bulk Freighters but its containers had been converted to carry six Seinar Fleet System compatible fighters each making it one of the smallest craft ever able carry a full squadron. If you could find a squadron of pilots mad enough to get onboard. However, a few minutes after Ender had arrived, a very new Missile Boat and a very old Republic TIE did exactly that... Their pilots, Den and Timmay, were experienced Science Office personnel and had both flown more far more dangerous contraptions before.
Ender was already at the helm when Den and Timmay arrived at the bridge of the rusty freighter. The helm of the Luggage actually was a big wooden wheel attached to a stand - much in contrast with the Nabooan design of the rest of the bridge. Timmay wondered if Ender had a brightly coloured loudmouth parrot stored away somewhere as well.
"You call that civvy clothing?" Ender asked Den, looking at the typical black and grey Jedi attire Den had changed into. "Why not just take a neon-sign saying 'Hello! Dark Jedi Here!'?"
"It'll surely attract less attention then that loud shirt you are wearing," Den answered, contemplating if he'd need sunglasses. "Are those really green and orange bantha's?"
"Nothing like looking like your average dumb tourist to fool the guys at the sabbac tables," Ender grinned.
"Yes," Den smiled evilly as he put down his hood, "I have some plans for those as well…"
Timmay started laughing. "And I thought I was going far with taking along this scrambler ring," he said, holding up his hand. "Are those Kermee's HUD Contact Lenses?"
Den stood there smiling wildly. "I modified them to my own 'uses'".
"Better keep the hood down then," Ender suggested. "Or uhm, grab those sunglasses over there."
Den only shortly contemplated using the incredibly out of fashion sunglasses Ender was pointing at within the masses of 'stuff' littering the bridge before using the force to snatch the more stylish ones out of Timmay's pocket. "These will do. Now at last I can face that shirt of yours," he smiled.
Ender and Timmay stood there briefly looking hurt, before Ender resolutely grabbed the wheel again, pulled a few levers, pressed some switches and found time to wave towards the bar in the corner. "Grab a drink from there, we'll be leaving shortly."
With a growl the main engines of the Luggage woke up, and the star field outside the portholes started to move. The Luggage disengaged its course, moved with remarkable speed and agility between the ships around the Sovereign and made its way into hyperspace. Not all that many pieces fell off either.
All major space platforms and bases have their populations, people that live and work on the platform. Many also have those that get stranded, that got down and out, those that hang around the big hangars waiting for that one lift, that one job that will take them off to a real world, or just enough credits for their next meal. Space Casinos generally have a whole lot more of the latter then of the first: if you bet your ship, you're a lot more likely to get stuck.
Most casinos therefore have regular sweeps to take the beggars and bums off their floors, often using their paramilitary "bouncers", and dump them on the nearest planetary surface, or straight into space if the nearest planet objected. The really hardened "inhabitants" made sure they never got caught though and if they did, they had a strange habit to reappear at the casino in no time.
These characters often became part of the atmosphere of each casino, and if one happened to stumble drunkenly through the hangar force field regular customers and quite a lot of the crew would actually miss them. Not too long of course, but they would ask "Where has that hairy guy with the big feet gone to?" or "Do you remember when Dodgy Doyle threw his empty bottle into some Rodian's engine?" or even "Have you guys improved the air filters here?"
The steady inhabitants of Duunari's Rest's main hangar counted three, well four if you counted "Vague Victor", the guy Gekke Gerard, a motley wookie, had big loud arguments with but no-one else could see... or perhaps even five if you counted Smelly Sam's smell as an intelligent organism… But the smell usually just functioned as a brick wall whereas Vague Victor usually came up with the best ideas.
The last one was "Crazy Carp", a usually drunk Calamari who thought he was an Admiral of the Fleet... the Imperial Fleet even, whatever his species may have been. The others knew he came in as a long haul Freighter Captain, but never got through all the required and complicated saluting to actually talk with "the Admiral" and explain.
All three (or four, or five) had once lost everything to Duunari years ago and had never been able to get off the casino again so they now filled their days bothering the customers and eluding capture by Duunari's ever increasing militia - which especially after the collapse of the Empire had become quite extensive.
Today's plan, as suggested by Vague Victor, was for Smelly Sam to block the main door with his odour and then the Admiral, in full regalia, asked for "a few credits for the betterment of the Fleet". If that didn't work, Gekke Gerard would just recite some wookie poetry while flexing muscles under his dreadlocked coat… that usually got the credit flow going for some reason.
As a full shuttle with fresh tourists unloaded on the hangar deck, Smelly Sam moved his squat form and big Smell into place … everything was ready for making enough credits to get new bottles, when Crazy Carp suddenly got to his senses, stood straight for the first time in ages and pointed out of the hangar: "May the Force protect us, it's the Luggage!"
The others just stared in amazement; it was the longest coherent sentence they had ever heard from the Carp... and he didn't swagger at all as he made a run for it into the casino - where he walked straight into the armoured glove of a "bouncer" and was out cold the next moment.
Smelly Sam, Gekke Gerard and probably Vague Victor just looked at it all, shrugged and got back to business.
Crazy Carp wasn't the only one that recognized the oxidized hull of the modified freighter, the casino's Flight Controller also knew the effects of having 5000 metric tons of rust on your landing platform. He was quick to contact it: "Modified Freighter the Luggage, you are.. uhmm.. cleared to dock at bay 69."
Through his headphones immediately Ender started complaining about that dock being an out of the way dump, but the controller already switched over to the Floor Manager: "Sir, that bunch of cheaters has arrived again on the Luggage."
"Thanks, I'll keep an eye out," was the short reply.
Aboard the Luggage Ender had stopped ranting about the choice of docking bay and was trying to manoeuvre his ship into the right position, only slightly smashing into the casino. A bit later docking tubes launched and were locked in place and the Science Office crew could get to "the action".
The security at Duunari's was good, from the moment they stepped aboard the casino the Science Office crew didn't notice any of the cameras and bouncers that had been assigned to them. Duunari had never been able to catch any of them - but after decades of being in business he knew they were messing around, he didn't need any proof for that. The regular punishment for cheaters was the age old getting thrown out… through the nearest airlock - and that procedure did require proof. The Science Office would have to be careful.
Once inside, the guys first got harassed by Smelly Sam and Gekke Gerard, which cost them a few credits and a bit of their nasal capacity. Then they were harassed some more at officially checking in, but the customary discreetly handed over credit notes took care of that as well. They then first went to "acclimatize" at the Exotic Dance Bar with a few shots of Corellian Brandy… followed by some Chalquilla slammers for Timmay.
Only when they were sure that they had evaded attention long enough (they hadn't) did they move on to their games of choice: the slot machines for Timmay, Sabbac for Den and Pin the Tail on the Bantha for Ender. Their assigned undercover bouncers were momentarily thrown off by this move, until their ranking officer decided that they should split up and each follow a different man.
Duunari hovered around his luxurious control room, pushed around by a pair of extremely voluptuous and very scantily clad female Twi'Leks. Ever since he had become too fat to actually walk on his own legs he had used a repulsorbelt - and while those were in principle able to move around controlled by a joystick, Duunari preferred to always have a fresh pair of female slaves to push his silk clad and bejewelled bulk around.
Duunari used an elaborately decorated cane to point towards the holoscreens that were used for keeping customers under surveillance and puffed "There.". The two Tei'Leks had to put their entire weight into the course correction and once again to stop in time not to have their boss slam into the holoscreens. With his cane he punched some of the buttons on the screens, flipping from view to view. Duunari was getting impatient.
Pressing a hidden button on his cane he contacted his Floor Manager. "What have they done so far?" he managed to puff out, visibly straining under the effort. Duunari was human, but if someone told you he was a Hutt - you'd be inclined to believe it.
"They've been rotating between games. The two older guys have really raked them in at the Sabbac table, but only did normally at the slot machines. The younger guy has gotten the Jackpot there though…" The Floor Manager replied through the intercom, at this point interrupted by a negative sounding grunt from his employer.
"...But they all really lost about all the games of Pin the Tail on the Bantha they played," the Floor Manager quickly said, trying to sound cheerful.
Duunari briefly contemplated pressing the button on his cane that would zap his Floor Manager with some electric current, but decided the man could still be useful. "What are they doing now?" he panted instead.
Somehow the Floor Manager realized he had been lucky this time and quickly replied. "The cloaked one is at Sabbac table 245 again, the one in the shirt has just lost a game of Wheel of Fortune and is walking towards to bar where the younger one is getting quite intoxicated: He has started to make 'oink oink' noises at the Garmorean customers…"
"Cut that out," Ender said as he grabbed Timmay on the shoulder and tried to balance Timmay better on his barstool. He signalled the bartender, received two glasses and a bottle of whiskey, after which he slid one glass towards Timmay. "Grab your glass; I think we better move towards comfier lounge chairs."
Timmay nodded in agreement and managed not to fall immediately as he got of the barstool - visually making an effort to stand upright as he did so. He then seemed to clear up a bit and then staggered after Ender towards the lounge. Somewhere half way a change in carpet colour got him off balance enough to stumble straight into one of the half naked Bothan waitresses - making her loose the plates she was carrying and him his lunch, all over her.
Alerted by the smashing plates and ensuing screeches from the waitress, Ender turned around, shook his head, sighed, grabbed his wallet, took out a 200 credit note, placed his wallet back and walked straight into the crowd that had immediately appeared around Timmay and the waitress.
There he stuck the note onto the, now, sticky waitress' upper left mammary with one hand while grabbing Timmay's right upper arm with the other. He then dragged Timmay through the crowd all the way to the nearest lounge chairs where both dropped into. The waitress used the distraction and ran off towards the nearest shower, clutching the credit note. As they do, the crowd dispersed as quickly as it had appeared.
"No more booze for you," Ender grinned while pouring them both a glass.
"Poodoo to that," Timmay swore. "I just dumped it all. I'll have to start all over again." He took a large gulp of whiskey, if only to flush the taste away. Pilots generally behaved much worse off-duty, this wasn't going to spoil his fun - they hadn't even got into a fire fight yet.
Taking a bit of a time out, they both overlooked the scenes around them: The exotic dancers, the effect those had on farmboys from the Bav System, the band in the corner, the Sabbac tables to the side of the lounge…
"Hey look, its Den over there," Timmay pointed. "Seems to be wining too."
"It would actually surprise me more if he wasn't," Ender grinned, seeing Den lean over the table he was playing at and grabbing his substantial winnings in one big sweep of his arms. At that point Ender looked straight into the face of someone in the crowd around the table, someone that had apparently recognized him already as well. "Inconceivable! It's Hawkie!" he exclaimed, as he stood up.
Colonel Zippy "Hawkie" Hawk had already started towards their table, where he was met in an embrace from Ender, both exclaiming terms in the sense of "Hey man, never imagined to see you here," and "How have you been you old pirate?" - as one does at such occasions.
"This is Timmay, my assistant. And this is Hawkie, an old friend of mine from the ASF." Ender introduced, as he and Hawkie sat down. He signalled a waitress for an extra glass, which arrived remarkably quickly.
"Hows things?" Hawkie asked, "You need a retired colonel help at all?"
"We finally released a big project to the masses and are here to blow off some steam," Ender explained.
"Yeah I noticed mate," Hawkie laughed. "Well done."
"Well, besides perhaps emptying some bottles," Ender grinned as he poured a glass for Hawkie as well. "What else can you help with?"
"I'm not a drunk," Hawkie exclaimed quasi-insulted as he took his glass and took a sip. "Well, sometimes I am," he grinned with a wink.
"I never touch the stuff," Timmay claimed.
"Well, I'm contemplating to return to active service," Hawkie said as he leaned back, surveying the surroundings for attractive females.
"Any idea on who to contact these days?"
"That would be Cyric," Ender replied.
Hawkie turned his sights from a girl he had been eying by one of the smaller bars. "Cyric still about?" he asked. "I thought he'd be dead by now."
Timmay laughed, "Cyric is the new ef-o uberman."
Ender nodded in agreement. "He's ef-o, believe it or not".
Hawkie did a dramatic fainting act.
Ender helped him back on his feet laughingly: "There, there, we all went through that."
"Where's my Priy?" Hawkie asked, still in shock.
"Priyum is an Inquisitor now," Ender explained as he poured them each a refill.
"And where's Tarkin?" Hawkie asked, apologising to Timmay: "Sorry for all the questions, I've been out of it for a year."
Timmay wasn't bothered; he had grabbed one of the "entertainment girls" and was entertaining her on his lap. He just smiled and shrugged at Hawkie.
"He left," Ender answered flatly, "He went to the rogue Dark Brotherhood."
Hawkie did another fainting act.
"Oh yes," Ender laughed, "You missed that episode as well."
"What!" Timmay looked up from his entertainment, "I thought Tarks stayed!"
"Don't tell me I've got to hunt Tarkin down as a traitor," Hawkie asked seriously.
"No," Timmay said, "go talk him into coming back damnit."
"Bye gods this place gone to hell with out me," Hawkie theatrically cried, raising his hands up.
"Yes, see!" Ender drove the knife in deeper. "It's all your fault for leaving!"
"O gods, what have I done?!" Hawkie swore at the ceiling.
His antics had apparently caught the attention of the girl he had been eyeing before, perhaps just the result Hawkie had been aiming for - you never knew with him. He winked at her and returned to his drink.
"Mike is tac by the way," Ender dropped another bombshell.
This time Hawk nearly didn't need to fake a faint. Ender helped him up and handed him a glass: "Here, have a drink."
Hawkie took a shot of the good stuff as Ender continued: "Lemme see... Mike is tac, Cyric is ef-o, Darknite is el-o, I'm sco, Keldorn is tee-o, Kyle Katarn is coo, the Dark Brotherhood split in two..."
Hawkie made waving gestures to try and stop the flow: "Ender, I'm scared - it's worse than a rebel invasion."
Ender just smiled evilly. "And I'll tell you what: mike hasn't been all bad as tac."
Hawkie looked back in the direction of the bar he had been looking at earlier. "Before you scare me some more, I need to make sure I have some support…" He said smilingly as he stood up and walked towards the girl he'd been trying to make contact with before.
"Heh, that's Hawkie alright," Ender laughed before he took another gulp of his drink.
"Who can blame him?" Timmay remarked. "She's quite a stunner." He then again focussed his attention back on the girl on his lap. "But not as much as you," he reassured her.
"They picked up some company," the Floor Manager informed his boss via his comunit. "Two of our girls and one female and one male customer. Only the cloaked one is still playing - and winning heavily."
"Focus all your attention on the cloaked guy," came the puffing reply. "The others probably will not play anymore."
Duunari did not mention that he could hear the entire conversation of the others via the jewellery of the entertainment girls anyway. He already knew that these guys were way up in the hierarchy of the Emperor's Hammer - a powerful warlord fleet nearby… He'd have to be more lenient as he had planned.
As Duunari moved surveillance away from the Science Office crew, another entity actually moved in. The casino was generally seen as neutral ground - it was one of the few places where you may find soldiers of all sides in the civil war sitting at the same side of the same roulette table. This also meant that at times things got pretty rough - which explained the large security force… A security force that now did not notice that two Dark Jedi in the crowd had recognized the men at the table the security had kept a close eye on before.
"So how's the Vanguard doing?" Hawkie inquired before drinking some more.
"I haven't been on the ship for over a year now," Ender replied in a sad voice. "Damned Sov... I rather move the labs to another ship."
"Ewwwwwwww" Hawkie laughed.
"Yes," Ender agreed, "Its soooo ugly. I can't be seen dead on an ugly ship like the Sov... it don't even have pink dice on the bridge.
So I spend most of my time on me freighter 'the Luggage'."
"That bucket of rust?" Hawkie laughed as he caressed the cheek of the girl he'd picked up. "That thing was already falling apart when I was a pilot."
"Hmm, that reminds me," Ender said, "I won't be using my quarters on the Sov tonight anyway - you two are free to make use of them if you want. It has all luxuries you'd expect."
The girl and Hawkie looked at each other for a bit before Hawkie answered "We'd like that very much… DUCK!"
Having been to rough bars before, Ender ducked immediately - which was a good thing; a red light sabre blade only just missed his head by an inch, scorching some hairs of his head as it flashed by.
In an immediate reaction, Timmay threw the girl from his lap, grabbed the second bottle of whiskey they had only just ordered and swung it at their attacker - who deflected it with his saber, cutting it in half and igniting the fluid inside it immediately.
As the attacking Dark Jedi burst into flames, the room burst into anarchy: customers and employees both either trying to making a run for it, or getting into fights themselves - as happens in these types of places. For a while the bouncers would not be able to control the situation. A while that could take long enough for a Dark Jedi to make mince meat out of a regular person.
The second attacking Dark Jedi jumped to an incredible height to get to Timmay, Hawk, his girl and Ender, avoiding and ignoring the peril his partner had gotten into.
Hawk had been able to draw his blaster and fired a few shots at the Dark Jedi in mid-air. His shots either missed or were deflected by their attacker as he landed on top of their table… which couldn't stand the impact and collapsed - catching the attacker off balance long enough for Hawkie to be able to hit him straight in his face with the butt of his blaster…
Den Darkhill was so involved in the game he was playing, he ignored all sounds and such from the rest of the casino. He actually had a very good hand now, no need to look through the cards of the others, much, and with thirty grand on the table he could really make a nice win here. He upped his stake by another ten and was suddenly rudely taken out of his concentration by Ender flying by horizontally - straight into him and the table, credits, cards and a stylish pair of sunglasses flying everywhere…
For a brief second Den sat there looking at Ender getting up from the remains of the card table, getting in tune with what was happening around him. Then his eyes flared and he jumped up, igniting his sabre and ignoring probing stares from his fellow card players. He swung around just in time to deflect a sabre blow from one of the attacking Dark Jedi and to force push that same Dark Jedi back into the panicking, fighting, screaming crowd.
"Look at his eyes! Cheater!" Somebody screamed behind him. From the corners of his eyes Den could see previously invisible bouncers trying to get into action through the running crowds.
Ender grabbed him by the arm: "I think we better vacate the premises."
Den nodded as he watched their attacker untangle himself from the masses.
Up in his control room Duunari was in all states - well as much as his ominous bulk would allow him. He just "knew" the whole fight was just some ploy to have those cheaters escape him… Slamming repeatedly on the "Full Alert" button he even managed to yell at all his underlings before high blood pressure made him pass out. His two "nurses" started pushing him towards the medical facilities adjoining the control room. Duunari passed out all the time - they knew the procedure.
Chasing anyone through masses of casino goers gone rampant is not exactly easy, especially not if those that you are chasing actually make an effort to create a panicking riot in every room they get into… And that's what the Science Office, assisted by Hawkie and his new "bird", did: everywhere they went that was still relatively quiet, they fired into the walls, ceiling and aquaria - whatever would get the crowd going.
Chasing anyone that you know the destination of is very easy - you just skip the whole chase and just ambush them at the end. And the problem in getting off a space platform or planet was that you'd need your ship to do so… making your destination pretty obvious. Both the bouncers and the men from the Science Office were aware of this… and of the location of that ship, the Luggage.
However, the Dark Jedi that had started the fight didn't know where the chase was going - and really made most of it; indiscriminately slashing his way through customers, crew and walls. His partner had been put out by the casino crew already, but also thrown out - via an airlock. Dark Jedi are continuously in a bad mood, but this one was now really livid… and more security was chasing him, because they didn't exactly know what ship he arrived with.
At the head of the whole messy parade through crowd filled hallways and over game tables ran Timmay and Ender, Den guarding the rear from the rogue Dark Jedi chasing them. Rounding a corner they ran straight into a squad of about ten armed bouncers, who immediately opened fire - forcing the front of the Science Office group to quickly jump around another corner.
Den jumped in, deflecting the blaster bolts back in the direction of the bouncers and slashing two in half in the process.
"You guys go ahead, I'll take care of this," He yelled as he force pushed the top halves of those two bouncers hard into the others, creating a bloody bowling effect.
"Right," Ender replied as he took some shots at another group of bouncers making their way through the crowd from the other side of the hallway. "Meet us at the Luggage."
Ender grabbed Timmay's shoulder and moved his intoxicated assistant in the right direction. "Lets go, this place is getting to hot for comfort."
"Where are you parked?" Timmay was able to ask Hawkie as they ran on, sometimes half turning around to fire some more shots over their shoulders.
"Came on the ferry," Hawkie replied as they ducked behind a corner and used it as cover to fire some more blasts down the hall they just came from.
"Damn," Ender panted, "That means they'll be waiting for us at the Luggage anyway." Hugging the wall he paused momentarily to think things over before he motioned the others to follow him. "Follow me, we going to the main hangar instead."
About all Duunari's customers by now had gotten the same idea, meaning that as they got closer to the main hangar the hallways were more chaotically filled with all sort of people all trying to get off the casino as quickly as they could. As a result they really had to struggle to get through the masses, but they also got more cover.
Still working through the crowd Ender managed to get his comlink out of his pocket and contact the Luggage's computer. "Hollie! Start up engines. Power weapon systems. Finishing boarding. Circle waypoints 1 to 5. Park at CAS Duunari's Nest!" He yelled his commands.
"What about Den?" Timmay yelled at him, pushing a Sullustian out of the way. "He's still back there."
"He doesn't answer his comlink!" Ender yelled back over the shoulder of a particularly large madam that was squishing him against a group of frightened Bothan tourists.
Den had dealt with some of the bouncers chasing them with such ease and brutality that the others had decided that Duunari's wrath could never be greater and legged it. Momentarily alone he was able to determine through the Force that the rest of the group had changed course towards the main hangar. He switched his sabre off and started making his way in that direction as well - stepping over the various remains he had littered around him.
Knowing that the hallways around the hangar would be packed with people, he decided that it would be easier to use the service tunnels.
He opened a hatch in the wall, and crawled through.
The Dark Jedi that had attacked them had also rid himself of his pursuers and was just in time to see Den's cloak disappear through the hatch. He stopped to look around and concentrate and decided that if he just hacked his way through the walls, he'd be able to cut Den off just before reaching the hangar.
Duunari wouldn't have lasted this long as a casino if his organisation couldn't handle to odd brawl. They had procedures for these events which minimized the area affected by closing blastdoors for example, over half the casino's customers never noticed anything of the trouble on "floors" 3 and 4. They had a welcoming party standing by where the Luggage was docked. They had stewards standing at the exits of the affected floors whose job it was to calm and please the customers by handing them coupons and the like… To be sure those stewards were supported by a lot of bouncers and a few e-web cannons of course.
Ender, Timmay, Hawkie and the girl now were so deep into the crowd making its way to the hangar that they didn't even need to actually walk anymore - the flow of the masses did the job perfectly… However, because of well proven organisation and interior design that mass evaporated the moment it got to the actual hangar facilities - many customers being persuaded or guided straight back into the undisturbed parts of the casino.
This suddenly left the group from the Science Office facing two e-webs and a host of bouncers… who were apparently also not expecting their quarry to be delivered to them in this way.
For a brief moment the two groups stood there facing each other, not quite sure what had happened or what should happen now.
Meanwhile Den had gotten to the hangar itself via the service tunnels - when he crawled out of the hatch onto the hangar deck he did not seem surpriced by the big glowing hole in one of the walls, or by the Dark Jedi standing next to it. He also switched on his sabre and made the age old "en garde" salute with the blade.
His opponent ignored the salute with a scoffing spit at the floor between them. "My handkerchief will wipe up your blood," he growled.
"So you got that job as janitor after all?" Den grinned - which was enough for his opponent to open his attack… Light sabres locked in a rain of sparks.
On the other side of the hangar, things suddenly went very quickly and confusingly: Gekke Gerard jumped out of no-where, yelling an incredibly loud and nasty sounding piece of Wookie love-poetry at the bouncers - while Smelly Sam ran by the guys from the Science Office, the Smell chasing them into a side passage towards a different entrance into the hangar.
"What are you doing?! It's only Gekke Gerard!" The leader of the bouncers shouted angrily at his men, pushing the bum wookie out of the way. "Get them, you sonsofewoks!" He tried to set the example by leading the way, but tripped over Vague Victor's foot?
At that point a quake went through the entire platform throwing the other bouncers to the floor as well; Hollie, the computer of the Luggage had made a "perfect three-point landing" in the hangar just besides them… well… in so far possible without three points to land on.
Ender, Timmay, Hawkie and the girl immediately started making their way towards it, staggering all over the hangar floor in order to keep on their feet.
The quake had made Den loose his footing and fall over on his back, his sabre rolling away over the hangar deck.
His opponent didn't even look back to see what had caused the crash and just took position over the lying man to finish the fight. "You fight like Dairy Farmer," he spat at Den.
"How appropriate," Den answered as he kicked his opponent full in his groin. "You fight like a cow." He jumped up back on his feet, force grabbed his sabre and in the same movement decapitated the Dark Jedi who was now hunched over forwards clutching his family jewels.
"Never expect anyone to fight fair in a casino." Den spat at the body before he made his way towards the Luggage as well.
He was the last to jump on the gangway as the Luggage was already lifting off the deck. Some bouncers were able to still fire some shots at the ship as it turned and blasted its way out of the casino, but they were too slow to move any of their e-webs and actually have some impact.
Off the platform, the trouble for the people on the Luggage still wasn't over - for commercial reasons the casino itself was unarmed; but to compensate Duunari had always invested in fighters, System Patrol Craft and the like. His pride was his most recent acquisition: an actual Dreadnaught warship.
Ender knew all of this, he'd been at Duunari's before and he had seen the Dreadnaught on their way in.
"Fighters are being launched from the casino," Timmay warned from behind the main sensor controls. "Headhunters, most likely armed with warheads."
"I see 'em," Ender replied while punching some buttons on his top console.
"Should we go man the turrets?" Hawkie offered, holding the girl around the shoulder. She seemed quite upset by all of the action.
"No, I'm switching them all to manual control from here." Ender replied as he manoeuvred the Luggage such that it lined up for a course that would take it straight at the Dreadnaught.
Den saw what Ender was doing and started: "You are not honestly thinking about…"
The captain on the bridge of the Dreadnaught also saw the course correction. A big smile crossed his face: "The fool!" he laughed, "Gunners, when they get in range, take aim and vape that tub. Communications, give me the commander of our squadron." This was going to be too easy.
"Huh? The fighters are dropping away?" Timmay wondered as he saw the sensor read-outs.
"Hah! They are probably sure that that Dread will be able to deal with us," Ender laughed maniacally.
Den looked around at the incredibly messy insides of the Luggage, "Yes, so am I. Come on Ender, break off!"
At that moment the Luggage rocked with the first turbolasers hitting its forward shields and everyone that wasn't sitting already had to take hold of whatever they could not to fall over.
"I knew I should never have gotten on this flying coffin," Hawkie cried as he and the girl were launched off their feet, onto a scruffy couch standing in a corner.
Far more agile then you'd expect of a bulk freighter, the Luggage was able to actually evade most of the shots the Dreadnaught fired at it as it made its approach.
The Luggage was armed with four TIE Fighter cockpits stuck to the front and back of its bow. This meant that it only had a range of one and a half click - far less then that of the turbolasers on the Dreadnaught. It also meant that its guns were far less powerful…
All of the people aboard it knew this - which didn't make them a lot more confident about their chances… even if it was more agile.
As the Luggage approached it, the Dreadnaught's gunners were getting more and more successful in hitting their target - the smile on its captain's face could hardly be any wider.
"We're loosing front shields!" Timmay yelled, "Break off! Break off!"
Instead, Ender just switched power from the rear shields to the front and just said "Watch this!" as he pulled the trigger that would fire all the guns of the Luggage, now locked forwards.
An endless stream of regular TIE Fighter lasers poured from the "turrets" on the front of the modified freighter. Because Ender was aiming the whole ship at the Dreadnaught now, he could evade less of the turbolasers - but his targeting screen told him something only he had expected: The shields on the Dreadnaught were dropping, at an incredible rate.
On the Dreadnaught's bridge the captain was momentarily thought he was experiencing some sort of computer malfunction, but then his shields actually gave way and his entire ship rocked with laser impacts. "Transfer all power to shields! Take evasive manoeuvres!" he still was able to call out before the Luggage ripped open his ship's hull like a can opener.
The Luggage was rocked all over the place as it flew straight through the explosion were the Dreadnaught used to be. Ender clung on to his wheel as he tried to avoid the larger pieces of debris. Behind him was just shocked silence…
…Also in the cockpits of the Headhunter squadron and in the control room where Duunari, revived and well, had been overseeing the battle.
He fainted again when he saw the rusty freighter escape into hyperspace. His "nurses" sighed and got to work with the oxygen mask again.
"How?" was all Den was able to say to break the silence on the bridge now they were safe in hyperspace.
Ender turned his captain's chair around and just looked incredibly smug for a minute before he answered: "Simple… elementary plasma engineering."
"Huh?" was all Timmay was able to bring forth.
"Elementary plasma engineering," Ender repeated smugly. "Power divided by coil capacity is firing rate."
Den's face brightened up as he understood what Ender was trying to smugly get across.
Hawkie and the girl just stared blankly as they got up from the couch they had been thrown into.
"Bah, all that excitement completely sobered me up again," Timmay complained.
"Basically," Ender elaborated for the unknowing, ignoring Timmay, "A TIE Fighter fires with its particular rate because its reactor delivers that particular amount of power. The Luggage however has a far stronger generator - one from a Dreadnaught in fact - so its TIE Turrets can fire a whole lot faster. The frequency of impacts then is too much for most star ships."
Den nodded, "So that's why you went for the Dread. Am I right in expecting that we'd have been toast if we had engaged those Z's?"
"Most likely," Ender admitted, somewhat less smug. He got up and stretched. "Well, we won some credits, we had some booze and got into a fight. 'Mission Completed' I'd say." He rubbed his chin. "I just wonder why those bums helped us."
"I was feeling generous and handed each of them a 100 credit note when we came in... for luck," Timmay smiled widely.
They still had an hour until they'd get to the Sovereign, it was spent in a useful manner at the Luggage's bar.
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