Travis North's Day Off

[Travis North]

Early morning sunrise stretched across the luxurious bedroom from in between the spaces of horizontal blinds. The light creeping ever slowly over the covers of the bed and onto my face. A pleasant warmth which soon turned into an annoyance as the light shone upon the lids of my eyes. Grumbling as I twisted to shift position to solve the problem of being awoken seemed to work, however the light had triggered my sense of sight and in turn dismissed my mind's state of slumber.

My eyes opened to stare at a digital readout blinking 11:53...54. Damnit, it's gotta be what? Only 0650. I tossed the sheets off and made my way to the washroom. Having relieved myself of the remainder of last night's indulgence, Mmm... beer, I then hopped in the shower and washed up to get ready for what this day would offer. My day off.

The Cavalier had made port at the space dock this past night for general repairs, and to take on supplies. An event that would take a day or two. It was the perfect opportunity to declare a short leave status for the crew, myself included. I was probably among the first crew planetside, Commodore's privilege. I managed to nab a reservation in one of the prime hotels in the Capitol. Star's End, I think is the name. It's quite the place from what I've seen of it so far. The people of this world are supposed to be some of the best and brightest the Galaxy has to offer, I'm hoping entertainment and hospitality are just as exceptional.

After dressing myself in the local casual garb I headed down from the 17th floor to the Star's End lobby. Oddly enough it was busy with patrons. No doubt frantic with the thought that it was later in the day, beyond the time of check out. Wonder how the clerks are holding up. A short look around, a little laugh at the situation, and then I was headed out the door.

[Lamar Starworth]

Hard, smooth, what exactly could that be?

The knuckles, those things do wonders to sleepy eyes. No one really knows who discovered the rubbing of waking lids would do absolutely nothing for assuring they stay open, but that unknown person created a trend that became habitual for me.

One other bad habit I have would be the yawning. Boring people sometimes might deserve a yawn, by other people's standard, but I unhappily do it everytime. The weakening stretch of my constrained joints was always the best part of the process, but I hated the yawning. It was like some sort of rude, unexpected punch in the face to the speaker without the actual fist.

So, I was pleasantly (or horribly) surprised when the man continued to talk. The homeless guy, for a lack of words and attention, had gone on a rant from the time I put a few credits in his can. Few people before me cared to listen to his rambling, but I dared to be sincerely interested only to be trapped into a politeness web that I couldn't undo without being severely mean.

Only to save face, I stood there waiting for a period in his run-on sentence (he must have never attended the Academy) before I dashed off to end my morning walk. While he spoke about how the Old Republic was so horrible I allowed my mind to float off into space. Imagination took me to a world that showed one creed of man running about freely with jolly grins and harmonious interaction.

The place was definately of a dream world, and I wished to be there. I was certian in such a place conversation would grow to be interesting, instead of deterioate into a pointless chatter as this man had done. For the most part, I had been real foolish to stay after the part where the nostalgia of the Old Republic became the subject.

Truth be told, the man was barley a man at all. Height, weight, skin tone and all other traits taken into account, he wasn't much older than me. The Old Republic was not something I remembered, and this guy didn't have anything real to tell me either, so with little more heed I let another yawn out. This time the stretch, yawn and eye-rub was purposeful, fake, loud, and overbearing.

I had forced him into a stupor.

He wasn't talking, so I started walking. One pleasant wave back at him was all he deserved. I sort of had a warmth spark in my heart for the fellow, despite his senseless speech. If I saw him again I would deal with his talk once more, because for a while there he was endearing and entertaining. The imaginative man was intriguing to say the least, but I had people to see (not really) and places to go (nowhere).

Pretty much, I was craving a nice bump-in with a pretty girl or something...my days were getting real boring during this lame vacation. Somehow, I was starting to crave an assignment or an emergency, because my life was getting worst by the second.

[Travis North]

I wasn't far down the street from Star's End, in the city of Theradon, when the grumbling came. Breakfast! Demanded my stomach. I skipped an evening meal the night before when I arrived planetside. The hotel's kitchen had closed, and I wasn't in the mood for the two-credit burger and chips from across the street. Deals like that on any world shouldn't be eaten. I learned that when I'd been a junior officer.

Crossing an intersection I arrived in front of an acceptable looking cafe which had a wooden sandwich board outside stating: Breakfast served until Eleven. I stepped inside. Dimly lighting the interior fixtures hung over tables, offering patrons just enough direct light to read the menus. The bulk of illumination was natural sunlight reflected off the surrounding buildings into the cafe's large windows, which formed the two walls against the streets of the intersection. Despite the shady look the place was busy with a large crowd of customers. Workers most of them, sat in tables throughout the café while some businessmen sat in booths near the back.

All the seats were occupied except for four recently vacated stools along the counter opposite the entrance. Four uniformed men, whom I figured were local police as they carried blasters, had just finished their meals, passed me, and headed out the door. I took the oppourtunity and sat myself in a stool at the end of the counter. Breakfast specials were written in chalk on a board over the bar, they all seemed quite appetizing and my mouth watered as I read them while my stomach continued to growl. The waitress on the other side of the counter must have heard the complaints of my stomach as she stopped drying glasses and came over with a pen and pad to take my order.

She was human as far as I could tell, 5'8" with long brown hair tied back, green eyes, and a figure men dreamed about. Hot damn. Thoughts came to mind that I needed to suppress in order to think straight. She had to have known what I was thinking too because she gave me a smile and a wink before she started to speak.

"Welcome to Roma's." she said, "I'm Tyness. How may I serve you this morning?"

"I think a cold glass of water would be good to start and a mushroom omelet would be nice." I don't know exactly how I managed to say all that without sounding stupid.

"An excellent choice. I'll place the order and get your water shortly." she said and then smiled again before she took off.

When she was out of sight my stomach grumbled again. She's quite the dish. Thoughts under better control I decided to focus my attention on something else. I overheard the words 'blasted Imperials' from behind me and decided to eavesdrop on the conversation. It's always good to hear the public's opinion. I turned my head to look out the window and listened.

The voice was in stereo; from that I could tell the speaker was Ithorian. "They should do something about the thugs they call police in this city. I can't even run my business without them knocking on my door demanding protection money for keeping the Rebels in check. As far as I know there isn't even a Rebel faction on Theras Prime. The Government has no trouble with Imperial rule and they say nothing of Rebel uprisings. The population welcomes the actual protection the Imperial Fleet offers in the space lanes."

"I certainly welcome it. I haven't run into a pirate for months. It seems to me that the police here are just trying to get some extra credits and spook the folks into thinking all isn't well. They know they're in for downsizing if something criminal isn't going on. No doubt they hate the Fleet for keeping things orderly in this part of the Galaxy." said the other party. I couldn't be sure without taking a look but I was almost certain that the person was a Bothan.

I don't care for Bothans much. The bulk of their population decided to side with the Alliance and that spelled trouble for me. But since this spacer welcomed the Fleet's presence I had no trouble with him.

The sound of a glass hit the counter in front of me and I turned from staring out the window to gaze into the green eyes of Tyness. She looked into my own eyes and if I didn't know better I'd guess she was telepathic because she then whispered to me that I'd best not get involved with the police.

"They keep the peace on the streets but they're trouble for anyone that crosses them."

"I'll keep you and your words in mind then." I said with a smile and took a sip of water.

She gave a pleasant smile of her own and then returned to drying glasses down the counter. It was difficult not to stare at her, and I didn't care to focus my attention on the conversation any longer. I chose to then sip at the water and think to myself whether or not to sort this problem with the police out.

I had two options, well three, but the third one is totally uneventful and dull. My first option: I could call the local Imperial force to crackdown on this band of corrupt cops. That however wouldn't be anything but paperwork for me on my vacation. Boring. So that just left me option number two: Adventure... Excitement... I carve these things.

[Lamar Starworth]

Truth be told, I think a lot of cadets join the Empire for the credits.

Not that it is some fantastic income, but it make taxi fares seem miniscule. Yet, money can only go so far. Stuffed in the back seat, I watched carefully as the driver wildly flung through the traffic.

The Twi'lek driver had a pecuilar scent about him, but I tried to pay no mind. Instead of focus on the reek of his speeder, I tried to ignore his words. Somehow, the galaxy had pited me against the talkative warriors in a bout for sanity. So far, I wasn't faring to well.

Word after word, he ranted on. Almost driven senseless in my somewhat effective try at silence, I stared into to the world beyond. The day had been slow, as of yet, and I had little energy left with inivisble walls being built around my ears to do much else but observe.

Children in nearby speeders could be heard patronizing their mother. Teenagers blasted pass on speederbikes, tailed by enforcements. Amidst all the confusion I had managed an amused smile, but I didn't notice it was there until the Twi'lek accentuated voice tore loudly through my daydreaming.

"Wake up," he said. For the most part, I was startled, but as a soldier I kept most of my emotions at bay and seemed nonchalant about his raise of voice.

Opening the door, I recognized the destination from my memory. Days and weeks had clumped together into months of time that had kept me from the old cafe. Unlike mutch of the troopes I knew in my days as a buckethead, I was from Coruscant. The Imperial Center was a haven that I knew like the back of my hand, or a chance cube.

Matter of fact, the two came to mind whenever I was in Theradon. Whenever I wanted to find trouble, or trouble sought me, I was there. All sorts of tussles, arguements, kisses, and childish affairs found their footprints on the very walkways my feet found once more with the smell of a stinky driver at my rear. I didn't mind paying for a quick refreshment for old times sake, so I split with no heed to the Twi'lek's rude, quick departure.

The door swung open, and I entered. Seconds weren't allowed to turn into minutes on this occasion; I was in a stool with the menu pushed to the side. Lamar was a scholar of the food world - I knew exactly what I wanted. All I had to do now was wait for the woman to find her way down to my side and I would be in good shape...

...Just aslong as no one decided to talk my ear off.