"The long Journey" (a Shadowrun crossover with everything)

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sonofccn
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Re: "The long Journey" (a Shadowrun crossover with everythi

Post by sonofccn » Fri Sep 13, 2013 5:55 pm

*“Shall we start over?” He asked with a large smile on his face.* Just about the time Marl and Twitch learned just how deeply fethed they were. :)

Another good update.

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Praeothmin
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Re: "The long Journey" (a Shadowrun crossover with everythi

Post by Praeothmin » Sat Sep 14, 2013 12:45 am

I'm back in the mood to write again, so hopefully I'll be able to churn out a chapter or two a week...

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Re: "The long Journey" (a Shadowrun crossover with everythi

Post by Praeothmin » Sat Sep 21, 2013 1:51 pm

Chapter 87

His two opponents looked at him nervously, as they knew how dangerous the man they were facing was when unarmed, and now the big human had his sword in hand.
Both the older warrior and the Rodian regretted ever accepting the fight, even though they knew that facing the man alone in a true duel would have been even worse.
They now both knew Marl’s previous win was a fluke, as the Mysterious Stranger had not fought in his usual aggressive style, missing many openings a man like him should have exploited.
Still, they had believed that both of them fighting him at the same time, combining Twitch’s range with Marl’s swordsmanship, would tip the scale in their favor where victory was concerned.
But only after exchanging blows with him for a few moments, facing an opponent in full control of his movements and capabilities did they truly both understand their predicament.
James wasted no time going on the offensive, using his great speed to jump from one opponent to the next.
An overhead chop from his sword at the Rodian, was blocked with great difficulty by twin vibro-blades, forcing the alien’s arms down as he took a step back away from his dangerous opponent.
This allowed James to switch to Marl with a sideway swipe, from right to left, which the older man, unable to move his body in time for an evasion, had to block with an upward swing from his double-bladed weapon.
As soon as both combatant’s blades had touched, though, the power from the bigger man pushing the older warrior’s blade back, the big human had come back with a cross-down swing from his right, the blocking blade from the old man pushed down and away to the older warrior’s right, forcing his grip upside-down, twisting his arms together, which had the man let go of his right hand as he twisted his body around while taking a step away from James.
At the same time he was twirling his double-bladed sword, his free hand grabbing the handle anew and transforming his pivot and sword twist into a straight over-shoulder trust at his back.
Had the giant man followed, he would have been hard pressed to block or evade this attack aimed at his head.
Unfortunately for the old warrior, his bigger opponent had not followed him, using the old warrior’s pivot to disengage and attack the Rodian again.
Twitch had thought to come at James’s back while he was launching his second attack at Marl and stab him twice in rapid succession.
He stepped in with a left-handed stab that was deflected out wide to his left by an impossibly fast block from the giant human’s sword.
His right-handed stab was also deflected the same way by the big human’s left forearm as the man pivoted to his right, the move landing him at the alien’s back where he attacked with a powerful elbow at his opponent’s spine.
Only the razor-sharp reflexes from his cybernetic enhancements and years of experience allowed Twitch to jump forward, rolling with the blow, minimizing its effects.
The Rodian had a hard believing anyone could move as fast as he could, perhaps even faster, for he had bested even Jedi with his experimental cyberware augmented reflexes, obtained at great costs from his military contacts.
He had used his enhanced reflexes well in his Bounty Hunting career, secure in the knowledge that he would never face anyone else with similar augmentations, the military having decided against using the technology as they had deemed it too expensive for the benefits, especially when there existed drugs that allowed slightly lower performances for a fraction of the cost.
Still, even with his reflexes dampening the attack’s effects, the impact had been powerful, the alien feeling his legs numbing slightly after the blow, and combined with the force of the attack, had the smallest duelist in the ring come out of his roll to fast to recover, and falling flat on his stomach.
James had used this fumble from Twitch to set his full attention on Marl.
He came in pressing the older warrior from all sides, attacking relentlessly, never giving the man any chance to recover enough from his defensive actions to attempt attacks of his own.
He blocked slashes and trusts with his blade, evading kicks to the knee by lifting his legs or taking a step back, and sometimes evaded the big human’s sword by ducking under a swing and then having to use his double-bladed weapon’s shaft to block an incoming knee to the face.
Marl was seeing his earlier bout against the Mysterious Stranger flashing in his head, except this time he was the one in trouble, and he could see no way out of his predicament.
Until, that was, he noticed some small movement over his big opponent’s left shoulder.

****************************************************************************


He’d seen the slight flickering of Marl’s eyes to his left, and had noticed how the man was always moving straight backwards, never letting James turn left or right.
Twitch was back up and coming in, the MACO leader knew.
Relentless in his attacks, James concentrated, using the full power of his enhanced hearing to locate the fast-moving Rodian.
A fleeting footfall directly behind him had the big human evade a sword blow by dropping down to one knee while sending his sword in an underhanded upward swing and then a hard stab, directly at his back.
He felt the impact and then a loud whooshing sound was heard as he sent his left hand straight out, grabbing Marl’s weapon by the shaft.
He got up as he was pulling the weapon down, the older warrior’s decades of experience forcing him to let go so he would not be pulled out of balance by the bigger human.
James sent a quick right-to-left sidelong swing at the older warrior, but slow enough that the man would be able to evade by stepping back, as he had hoped.
Throwing the weapon away as hard as he could, the MACO leader pivoted to his right while bringing his sword up in an overhead arc and then brought it down hard at the shaking Rodian’s head, knocking him out.
He then went at Marl, swinging his sword in front of him in slashing attacks the older warrior could only evade by stepping to the side.
Once James felt they were sufficiently far from the Rodian’s vibro-blades, he let Marl take a few steps away without attacking him.

“Let’s finish this the honorable way, shall we?” He asked the old warrior, throwing his sword far to the side, so that neither of them could get it easily.

The old warrior was out of breath, James could see, while he was barely winded.
He slowly walked towards the center of the duelling ring, inviting the old warrior to do the same, making sure he was walking slowly enough so that Marl could catch his breath.

***************************************************************************

The crowd was wild, highly anticipating what was to come, replays of their latest moves being shown on all screens in slow-motion so the unenhanced could follow, people being awed by the magnificence of the three warriors’ skills.
Even in slow motion, their moves were incredibly fast, the camera operators having to slow the action at least by a factor of ten for people to even be able to view the moves.
Most of the crowd couldn’t begin to understand them, though, their martial prowess being light-years away from the warriors they were watching.

*****************************************************************************

Ajuur was simply glowing, knowing he would make a fortune that day, knowing his name would go down in the history of the Tarisian sport as the greatest organizer there ever was.
He could only bless the day the Force sent the Jedi his way, making him rich beyond his wildest dreams.
But money wasn’t the only pleasure Ajuur was enjoying.
The Hutt, for all his laziness, a trait shared by all his species, still admired the martial prowess of accomplished warriors, whether they were Echani, Trendochan or Mandalorian like the old champion, Bendak Starkiller.
And he was in full admiration indeed, for Marl and Twitch had offered him the best performance of their respective careers, careers which had seen them shine many a time.
Their prowess, however, no matter how dazzling, was nothing compared to that of the Mysterious Stranger, Ajuur could clearly see.
He could only admire with great gusto as the mountain of a man moved with a grace belied by his size, swifter than any fighter the Hutt had seen in his life, and he had seen many.
The man also possessed unrivalled strength, throwing grown humanoids around with an ease he’d never even seen in Wookies, and he’d seen a few of those as well.
He often seemed untouchable in combat, his movements so naturally flowing that even the rare hits he took seemed always to glance on his body.
And if that wasn’t enough, on the exceptional occasions where he was hit solidly,the man could tank hits that would fell a Mandalorian Warrior in full armor, the Hutt marvelled.
The Mysterious Stranger, in Ajuur’s eyes, had the best of all the humanoid qualities, and even though the Hutt knew the human to be a Jedi, the source of his myriad capabilities, he also felt this Jedi was special.
For although the alien had never seen Jedi up close, he had heard stories told of them, and while he had found it hard to believe them when he’d first heard them, seeing a Jedi with his own eyes had transformed the Hutt into a believer.
But the reason Ajuur felt the Mysterious Stranger to be a special Jedi was that, in all the stories he had heard before, the Jedi mentioned in them always displayed only one of the abilities the big human possessed at a time, or on rare occasions two of them, but never had the slug-like alien heard of a Jedi displaying all of them at the same time.
A fleeting thought came into the Hutt’s mind, the thought of almost having sold a Jedi Master to the Sith, for surely the Mysterious Stranger had to be a Master to be able to display such skill in combat.
He had heard of the Jedi’s combat precognition, an ability that prevented them from being surprised even from behind, and with that recollection the alien brought to his mind what he had just seen a few moments ago, when the Mysterious Stranger had vanquished a stalking Twitch who’d come at his back by stabbing straight out, as if he had know his opponent was there.
Once again the Hutt was happy he had decided against selling this man to the Sith, though looking at the Sith Officer next to him, smugly looking down in the duelling ring with a predatory smile, he feared his new champion’s reign, if the Mysterious Stranger was to win, would indeed be short lived.

*************************************************************************************

They stood facing each other at the ready, James’s relaxed demeanor contrasting with Marl’s stiffer one.
Then, as Marl shifted his weight on his forward foot, lifting his back leg as if to kick, the MACO leader exploded into motion.
He jumped towards the older warrior, his right leg coming up in a straight kick which was partially blocked by Marl’s crossed arms, propelling the older man back a few feet, making him fall over and roll back to get up to his feet.
Just in time too, for James, after seeing his second kick hit nothing but air, had immediately set off after the rolling man as his feet barely touched the ground.
A left kick to the inside of Marl’s left leg had the man stumble to the side, allowing him to partially deflect the bigger man’s right fist as it was thrown at his face, a knuckle rasping against the aging warrior’s head.
The punch became a strike to Marl’s from James’s hand blade as Marl threw a punch at his opponent’s stomach, almost twisting his wrist as his hand impacted a pure slab of muscle, as hard a granite.
James’s response was a circle block with his left hand, coming down to the inside of Marl’s right forearm, deflecting the arm out wide as the big human’s right hand jabbed in at the older man’s shoulder, dislocating it.
His blocking left hand came back as a palm strike to Marl’s face as his right came down upon the old man’s right thigh, blocking a knee attack.
The right block became an elbow smash to the face as his right knee impacted on the older man’s stomach.
The knee blow was a week one by James’s standard, but it still had enough power to push the older man back a few steps.
Any normal human would have been down by now, but the Combat Drugs coursing into the older warrior’s system also gave him phenomenal resistance to injury and pain, and so as soon as he had finished stepping back, the big warrior closing in, he launched a straight right kick at James’s left knee with enough force to shatter even the enhanced human’s joint.
But the kick never connected, as the MACO leader simply twisted his leg to the outside, the kicker’s leg coming between the giant man’s thighs.
Then James twisted to his left, and brought his right knee at the side of Marl’s leg.
He then stepped to his right, inside the older warrior’s guard to deliver a powerful elbow to the man’s jaw.
Marl dropped down, in pain, but still able to move.
He tried to get up, but James looked at him pleadingly, and shook his head so that the man understood his younger opponent did not wish to continue the fight.
Marl knew he was defeated, the hope that the Combat Drugs would even the odds having faded away with the recent blows he’d received, for even though he wasn’t feeling much pain, his physical capacity to attack, or even defend himself, had been destroyed with certainty by his younger, much more powerful, opponent.
As the man let his head touch the ground, the fight leaving him, the crowd going wild under the announcement that the winner, and new champion, was the Mysterious Stranger, Marl, finally understood that he never truly had a chance, for no one could beat a Jedi.

********************************************************************************

James made sure his two opponents weren’t too hurt, or at least made sure they weren’t suffering from permanent injuries, all under the roaring cheers of a crowd unable to contain its glee.
Once assured Marl and Twitch would be fine, he went through the tunnel leading him back to the Cantina’s duelling room.
As he came in, he saw Gerlon, Duncan and Ice look at him with a mix of awe and terror, finally understanding how neither of them ever had any chance against him.
Ajuur was only smiling, having just seen the insane amount of money he’d made from the match.

“That was magnificient!” He said as he presented a small Credi-stick to James.
“In all my years, I have never seen such a performance, even from Bendak Starkiller.” He added.

James thanked him as he looked at the amount of credits he’d just received, gasping at the number.

“Three thousand credits?” He asked Ajuur.

“Well-deserved, do not doubt!” The slug-like alien answered.

Carth was also smiling, until a man came in from the Organizer Booth’s door.
The man was dressed in a dark grey suit with a cap on his head, with many decorations on his chest.
James knew immediately he was a military officer, and from the looks Carth had thrown the man, he knew him to be a Sith.

“Congratulations,” The man said in an innocent tone, “You were indeed, as Ajuur said, magnificient.
Even when you assaulted those two Sith soldiers, the ones you so brutally injured.” He added with menace in his tone.

“So it is you I owe for allowing men with real swords in the ring against me.” James told the man.
“I suppose I should have let them cut me up for your pleasure, then?” He asked with a smile.

“It would have been better for you!” The Officer told him as Sith soldiers, garbed in armor and sporting Rifles entered the room.

Everyone froze, even Ajuur seemingly surprised and unsure what to do.

“You are under arrest for the brutal assault of two Sith soldiers.” The Officer told him.
“You will follow us to the Sith offices where you will answer for your crimes.”

James looked at the man, his face a mask of impassability.

“And what if I refuse?” He asked with as much innocence in his voice as he could muster.

“Oh, my friend, you are in no position to refuse.
Your prowess in the ring does not matter here, for you have half a dozen highly trained soldiers with weapons aimed at you.” The Officer said.
“As you can see, we have things perfectly under control!” He finished with a smile.

“Ah, control,” James echoed with a smile, “Such a fickle notion.” He told the man, a wide smile on his face.

sonofccn
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Re: "The long Journey" (a Shadowrun crossover with everythi

Post by sonofccn » Wed Sep 25, 2013 3:35 pm

Another good update and a Sith officer is about to learn why you don't mess with James.

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Praeothmin
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Re: "The long Journey" (a Shadowrun crossover with everythi

Post by Praeothmin » Fri Sep 27, 2013 9:20 pm

You think? ;)

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Re: "The long Journey" (a Shadowrun crossover with everythi

Post by Praeothmin » Thu Jan 23, 2014 12:18 am

Ok, I don't want to bring my readers' hopes up... if I still have any, that is... :)

Buuuut, I started writing a bit again, and should post something within a week or two, if people are still interested... :)

sonofccn
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Re: "The long Journey" (a Shadowrun crossover with everythi

Post by sonofccn » Thu Jan 23, 2014 2:15 pm

Well I'm still here and I am. ;)

So best of luck.

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Re: "The long Journey" (a Shadowrun crossover with everythi

Post by Admiral Breetai » Sat Jan 25, 2014 7:55 am

absolflogginlutely

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Re: "The long Journey" (a Shadowrun crossover with everythi

Post by Praeothmin » Sat Feb 08, 2014 6:55 pm

Well, a promised chapter is a chapter due, so here it is...

Chapter 88

Before anyone could even begin to move, James had exploded into motion, moving past the Officer while pivoting to his right, so that when he stopped moving, he was behind the Sith, the Officer’s body acting as a barrier between James and the other Siths’ guns.
At the same time he’d gone past the Officer, he’d snapped a quick jab at the man’s throat to prevent him from crying out orders to his men, pilfered the man’s weapon from his hip holster, his own heavy Blaster still in Carth’s possession, and had begun to fire on the Sith Soldiers as soon as they were in his field of vision.
He had fired at, and killed, three Soldiers when a cacophony of Blaster shots, coupled with the high-pitched whine of a Heavy Disruptor, was heard.
James smiled, for Carth had entered the fray.
Within a few seconds, all the Sith Soldiers were on the ground, dead or dying, with the Sith Officer unable to call for help.
James walked slowly around the formerly regal man, fear distorting his features, while scanning the room for possible enemies.
He saw none, for most in the room who were allied with the Sith were too terrified to try anything against the deadly duo, and so he then struck the Officer on the temple, laying him out cold on the floor.
The other duellists had just received another proof that this mountain of a man had been a force beyond their capacity to ever face, and they saw in the Sith Soldiers’ fate what theirs could have been had fights to the death still been allowed in the ring.
Ajuur could only thank the Hutt gods that the Mysterious Stranger had apparently forgiven him, though he was fearful of what could happen if the big Jedi believed he’d been set up by the Hutt organizer.
He could not let the possibility seep into the Jedi’s mind, and so he went to him.

“I could not stop him when he set up the fight,” The Slug said in Huttese, a slight tremor in his voice, “Or else the Sith would have closed down the Duelling ring, and would have punished me for refusing to follow their order.”

“I thought someone like you had the Sith in their pocket?” James asked the big alien.

“Ah, my formidable friend, even I do not have pockets as deep as those of Davik, and can only afford those he cares not to pay.” He said, confidence returning in the absence of any overt threats from his Jedi Champion.

James could see no deceit in the alien’s expression, though he doubted he could read the creature’s body language as he would a human being.
Still, he believed the Hutt, for the creature knew how dangerous he was, had seen all his matches, and he the big human was certain the slug-like alien feared him, at least a little.
He also believed the big alien was far more interested in credits, and knew his matches had brought more than a fair sum to the creature’s Credi-sticks.
Although he had to wonder, now that his career as a Duellist was over and his capacity to make the alien more money had ended, how Ajuur would feel about betraying him to the highest bidder.
He decided he didn’t want to wait around to find out.
Reinforcements would definitely come, alerted by a hidden Sith or law-abiding citizens, and in much greater numbers.
He and the Republic Soldier needed to leave.
They gathered all their equipment, pilfered a few energy shields from the Sith Soldiers on the floor, James keeping the obviously expensive Officer’s Blaster, and they ran out of the Cantina.
They didn’t go far, though, for as soon as they exited the building, they saw what James thought looked like a police vehicle.
It was a small transport ship, less than five meters long and three meters tall, with two small cannons jutting forward from hard ports on the nose of the craft.
Its silvery armored body was flat and slightly wider than it was tall, an absence wheels, and the fact they were on a walkway letting the big human know it couldn’t be driven, meaning it had to fly.
It didn’t have any wings, however, leading James to believe the vehicle used repulsors to enable it to fly.
Its rear hatch lowered to serve as a ramp so its occupants could exit the transport more easily.
It was big enough to seat close to ten occupants in addition to the pilot, James saw as both he and Carth veered towards it.
One lone guard was watching it, raising his Blaster Rifle towards them as he saw them approach.
He never had the time to fire, a Blaster bolt taking him in the gut as Carth’s Heavy Disruptor bolt hit him in the chest.
The guard died has his body hit the ramp, thrown backwards by the force of the two weapons’ blasts.
The two fugitives boarded the small vessel, Carth running to the pilot’s chair as James closed the rear hatch.

“Feth it all, it’s code-locked!” the Republic Soldier called out from the pilot’s chair.

“Try this!” James said as he offered the ID card he’d pilfered from the Sith Officer when they were re-equipping themselves.

Carth grabbed the card with a smile, inserted it in the reader by the Pilot’s console and the computer responded by beeping and flashing green lights over all controls.

“It’s unlocking everything, even the weapons.” Carth said with glee.

He wasted no time in igniting the vehicle’s power plant, the deck vibrating under their feet, and immediately sent their transport to the air, the repulsors effortlessly lifting it higher and higher in the air, when all of a sudden the vehicle bucked wildly, throwing James at a bulkhead, explosions being heard all around them.

“Feth!” Carth called out, “The reinforcements are here and they’re shooting at us.” He said as another explosion rocked the small transport.
The latest hit had torn the fuselage of their vehicle open, air whistling through as their stolen ride was spinning out of control.
Carth’s face was a mask of concentration as he attempted to regain control of their transport.

“They’ve hit the Repulsors’ stabilizers, we’re going down and there’s nothing I can do to prevent it.” He told his large companion.

“Can you at least prevent us from dying?” James asked, his forehead bleeding from a large gash he’d sustained we he had impacted the side of the transport.

“No promises!” Was all Carth replied, concentration all over his features.

Their stolen transport was dropping rapidly, buffeted from all sides by Flack bursts fired by a lone pursuing Sith transport, the gunner having a hard time tracking the wildly moving vehicle containing the two Republic agents.

“Strap in tight,” Carth told his Jedi companion as he pointed to a trooper’s side bench, “I’ll attempt to crash from the rear end of the shuttle so it will buffer the impact for us.”

It took all of James’s considerable strength and agility to fight off the instability of the jittery craft and sit in the chair, finally securing the four-point harness as the Republic Soldier swung the small transport around, aiming its rear towards the ground.
As he threw their vehicle in a semi-controlled spin, Carth took advantage of the fact their weapons were now facing the rear, the pursuing craft now in their firing arc and range.
He fired them in controlled bursts, not wanting stray shots to hit buildings or vehicles and hurt innocent bystanders.
James looked at the way his companion was able to control their descent in a damaged craft while being able to fire at their pursuers, some of the shots hitting their marks, even if most of them exploded in benign flak bursts all around the Sith on their tail.
Still, the attack from their prey was enough to throw the Sith off, making it even more difficult for them to get a good shot, their flak barrage falling far off their target.
As the big human was still admiring his companion’s skill, Carth let out a cry.

“IMPACT!” He yelled, and let go of the craft’s controls to hang on as tight as he could to his seat, James barely able to do the same as the transport shuttle crashed into a lower city walkway.
The small craft bounced a few times on the unyielding walkway, gouging its way to a rest against one of the high city’s immense support pylon.

sonofccn
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Re: "The long Journey" (a Shadowrun crossover with everythi

Post by sonofccn » Mon Feb 10, 2014 8:49 pm

James can't stay out of trouble can he? Good to see you back and updating again.

Also your fething characters fething said "feth" which makes me fething estatic, if you'll pardon my language. :)

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Re: "The long Journey" (a Shadowrun crossover with everythi

Post by Praeothmin » Tue Feb 11, 2014 1:32 am

sonofccn wrote:James can't stay out of trouble can he?
Hey, what else can goody two-shoes do? ;)
Good to see you back and updating again.
Thanks, good to be updating...
Also your fething characters fething said "feth" which makes me fething estatic, if you'll pardon my language. :)
You've probably noticed I try to have my characters swear according to their setting, and I liked your take on SW swearing, and it looked like my Shadorunners' "Frag", and nBSG's "Frak", so I stole it... I mean, I borrowed it... :)
Beside, I believe I've used it before... :)

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Re: "The long Journey" (a Shadowrun crossover with everythi

Post by Praeothmin » Sat Feb 15, 2014 7:51 pm

New chapter...


Chapter 89

The impact was jarring, the small craft’s frame being ripped off piece by piece every time it hit the ground in a bounce.
Only the chair’s four-point security harness kept the two men safely attached to the internal frame of the transport vessel.
Still, the men were shaken hard by the jolting craft, their bodies battered by the jostling they were subjected to in their seats.
James felt as if he’d been kicked in the lower back by an enraged Troll, his legs going partially numb.
He was gathering his wits when what was left of the vessel was rocked by unseen blasts.
The big human knew it was their Sith pursuers trying to finish the job they had begun.
He quickly freed himself from his security harness and went to him unconscious companion.
He quickly checked the man over to ensure moving him would not aggravate any wounds he might have sustained, though only superficially, unclasping his harness when he saw he could be moved.
With Carth over his shoulder in a Fireman’s carry, the Republic Soldier’s Heavy Disruptor in hand, James stepped out of the transport vessel and ran away from the already burning remains of what had been their stolen vehicle.
He heard the twin Blaster Cannons spitting their energy bolts before the impact had the remaining wreck explode at his back, propelling him forward in wave of compressed air as the flames from the wreckage licked at his body.
Carth’s body flew away from him as he was trying to control his body’s landing, twisting and rolling as he impacted the unyielding ground.
He couldn’t worry about his friend though, for he knew the other Sith vessel to be there still, more than likely hovering above the wreckage to ensure nothing alive would make it out.
Up into a crouch he went, scanning the sky with the Heavy Disruptor following his gaze.
He saw it instantly, and knew by the way the craft was moving its nose he’d been spotted as well.

“Frag!” He thought as he aimed at the craft’s cockpit.

He knew not how resistant to hand weapons the crafts were, but the MACO leader knew he had nothing else, and so his finger began rhythmically squeezing his weapon’s trigger in rapid succession, enhanced reflexes allowing at least 10 pulses to be fired before the Sith’s cannons spat even one crimson bolt in his direction.
He felt the air sizzling around him as two bolts of pure energy whizzed by his torso, barely a meter apart, impacting with a heavy blast at his back.
He was once more propelled forward, his head hitting the ground hard with no way to protect himself, his consciousness threatening to leave him as he thought of the Sith pilot tracking him again and putting and end to his life.
The ground shaking from a huge impact was barely felt by him, no more than the heat enveloping his body, as he finally lost the battle to remain conscious.


**************************************************************************

He awoke as if from a dream, his conscious mind regaining sensations before his body could.
Voices were within earshot, prompting the man to remain motionless, focusing all his attention on the words being heard.

“… never get a better deal if we deal with Brejik than with Davik Kang.” A high-pitched voice said.

The owner of the voice seemed young, most likely a human male, James thought.

“Lissen, kid,” A raspy, deeper voice answered, “I decide who we deal with here, never forget who this groups’ leader is.” It finished with a threatening tone.

“Hey, no problem,” The young voice replied, “I was juss’ makin’ an obversa… An osbter… I was juss’ noticin’ somethin’, is all.” It said.

“I swear to the Force, If you wasn’t my nephew, sometimes I’d sell you to the Sith jess’ to get rid a ya.” The older man told the younger one.
“Now lissen up you guys, even tho’ I don’t need to be explainin’ myself to you, I will so you don’t get no stupid idea of goin’ around my back and contacting Davik.” The man began.
“While Davik would certainly pay us more, he’d jess’ pay an’ ferget about us inna minnit.
Brejik, on the other hand, will pay less, but see, he’s tryin’ real hard ta become all pal-y pal with Davik, and handin’ him these two Fethin’ torns in Davik’s side would bring him mucho brownie points, and pave the way to a healthy, and very profitable, relationship between us and the Balck Vulkars.” He told the younger man, mirth evident in his voice.

The big MACO leader’s eyes shot open as he suddenly recognized the older man’s voice.
Lifting his head, he looked up in a grizzled face topped by curly brown hair, heart sinking in desperation, cursing the heavens to force him to endure such a man incessantly.

“Hey Tho’Ooms,” The younger man said, “He’s awake!” He said almost out of fear, pointing at the giant human laying on the ground.

He looked no more than 18 years old to the MACO leaders’s eyes, the youngest of a group of five people, older, rougher men all of them.
One off the group was a big humanoid with porcine traits and green skin, almost as tall as James, an obvious paunch stretching his armor to its limits.
They fit in well with Tho’Ooms, the perfect picture of a mercenary band willing to do anything for a few credits.
The youth, by contrast, was full of innocence, full of naiveté that made James almost regret was he knew he had to do.

Tho’Ooms barely looked at his prisoner as he replied:
“It doesn’t matter if he’s awake or not, it won’t keep us from sellin’ his ass to Brejik.”

Looking around, the MACO leader saw his unfortunate companion, still unconscious, on the ground close to him.
Mentally examining himself through the signals his body was sending to his brain, James was certain he wasn’t seriously injured.
He knew a few ribs were most likely bruised, but he didn’t feel as if any were actually broken.
A wrist was hurting, but moving his fingers and hand around he knew the injury wasn’t serious, most likely a sprain.
His only other evident wound was the gash on his forehead, but that one bled more than it hurt, and had actually stopped bleeding.
He knew he looked far worse than he truly felt, which means his enemies would most surely underestimate his capacity to take them out and escape, even with an apparently incapacitated Carth in tow.
Only having his hands manacled behind his back, he sat upright, struggling all the while, displaying far more weakness than he actually felt, and as he sat, he also tested his bindings.
They were solid, his manacles were, but he knew that if he put all his might to it, he could most likely snap them apart, but that would take far more time than his captors would give him.
They would surely shoot him, and perhaps his friend as well if he tried to free himself.

“Looks like he’ll be able to walk to Brejik’s after all.” Tho’Ooms said to his companions.
“Good thing too, ‘cause he sure wouldn’t be fun to drag all the way to the Balck Vulkars’ place.” He added with a laugh, soon shared by his mercenaries.

“Far from me to act like an ungrateful man, after the good care you’ve taken with my friend and I,” James began, “ but I’m afraid we won’t be able to accompany you to see this… Brejik. You see, we have much more pressing affairs that we cannot forego any longer.” He finished, pushing the mercenaries to a even louder laughter.

“Oh, you have to leave us.” Tho’Ooms told James, a large smile on his face.
“Well, be my guest, my friend, certainly don’t let us detain you from your important mission.” He finished by bending his body like a butler would, his arms showing the big human the way to go.

The Mercenary leader was in the air, propelled by a powerful knee strike to the face, his nose splattered across his face.
James had used the man’s distraction to jump up and tuck his body, swinging his hands under his legs to bring them in front of his body, grabbing the man’s hair in both hands as he landed and then had swung his right knee at Tho’Ooms’s face.
While the man’s body was still in the air, the big human ran to the nearest mercenary who he struck across the throat with his manacles.
He then grabbed the man’s shirt collar and swung him around at his two closest friends, knocking them down on their asses as he let go of his human battering ram.
The biggest of the group, the porcine humanoid, was reaching for a weapon that hung at its belt, a vicious looking axe that seemed too big for anyone else but the green-skinned humanoid to wield it properly, at least within the mercenary group.
Before the weapon was fully retrieved, James had reached the porcine alien and had knocked it out with a well placed elbow to the temple.
Within a few seconds all were down, except for the younger member of the mercenary group.
He was nervously pointing a small Blaster Pistol in James’s general direction, the MACO leader wondering if the youth would even be able to hit him if he fired.

“You don’t want to do that!” James told the young man.
“Because then I’d be forced to hurt you.” He added with a predatory grin he knew had an effect on the kid, who was now shaking furiously.

“D-D-Don’t… Come near m-me… Or I’ll sh-sh-shoot… y-you.” The kid told his big opponent.

James did as he was told, and slowly went towards Tho’Ooms, where he took the electronic key to unlock his manacles, and then retrieved his weapons and other belongings.

“S-Stop m-moving!” The young repeated, and as it seemed he was going to shoot, James bolted right next to him and grabbed the pistol away from his shaking hands.

The young man fell down on his buttocks and stayed there, obviously scared by the behemoth standing before him.

“I will ask questions, and you will provide answers, understood?” James asked, relieved that the young man’s fear hadn’t robbed him of all senses as his head slowly nodded.

“I know there have been survival pods crashing down in the Lower City recently, and that some were rescued by… Let’s say good people.” The MACO leader began.
“I want to know what happens to the other survivors.
Who gets them?” He finished, almost growling.

“D-D-Davik Kang.” The youth answered.
“W-Well, m-most of them.” He added.
“The l-last batch, th-the one with the lady, they,” His head nodding towards Tho’Ooms and the other mercenaries, “sold to Brejik.”

James’s attention was then fully on the young man.

“What lady?” He asked.
“Describe her very carefully.” He ordered the mercenary.

As the youth finished describing the woman, the MACO leader heard some rustling movements, and turned towards it, Blaster Pistol aiming at what had made the sound.
It was Carth, alive, conscious, and whispering something only James’s enhanced ears could hear.

“It’s Bastila!” He said, confirming what James already suspected.
“They’ve found her.”

He turned to the young mercenary with a smile.

“Well then, my young friend,” He said mirthlessly, “It seems you’ll be taking us to Brejik after all!”

sonofccn
Starship Captain
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Re: "The long Journey" (a Shadowrun crossover with everythi

Post by sonofccn » Mon Feb 17, 2014 3:28 pm

Yeah! Toombs the oft defeated! That made me smile, thanks.

Admiral Breetai
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Re: "The long Journey" (a Shadowrun crossover with everythi

Post by Admiral Breetai » Thu Feb 27, 2014 5:31 am

James the Gladiator, the false Jedi and the kicking of frequent asses put the fear of god into that newbie jeez.

It's good to see you back and pumping out material preao this has been amusing.

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Praeothmin
Jedi Master
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Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:24 pm
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Re: "The long Journey" (a Shadowrun crossover with everythi

Post by Praeothmin » Fri Feb 28, 2014 10:35 am

Glad you liked it...
Was busy this week (in Japan on a business trip), but should get back to it soon...

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