Bad Things Happen

[Hunk]

His head pounded and his body ached; the jedi wanted nothing more at the moment than to simply lie back and allow the autopilate to take control until the jedi stronghold. The last 3 weeks had been spent on Trian, trying to settle a minor dispute between the Trianii and the Corporate Sector Authority.

Three weeks wasted.

He couldn't place blame on either side--scratch that, he could place it on both sides, each was as hard-headed and stubborn as they came. Completely opposed, it seemed, to any kind of lasting settlement; it was all Hunk could do to keep the meetings from growing into fights of fists, instead of just words. You knows, maybe it was his fault. It was, after all, his first mission sanctioned by the Jedi council. Perhaps someone with a little more experience in these kinds of things, someone a little stronger in the force.

Oh well, at least things weren't any worse than they were before he got there.

Of course there would be some explaining to do when he got back, but he was sure he could...

BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP

His thoughts were inturupted by a loud alert eminating from the control panel of the Salvation his modified attack cruiser. Tapping a few buttons, he brought up the comm display.

INCOMING DISTRESS SIGNAL

LOCATION: HAPES CLUSTER

PRIORITY: URGENT

The Hapes Cluster, that was an area notorious for its pirate activity. Some poor merchant ship probably broke down and new they were in trouble. True, it could be a trap, but The Salvation, though retrofitted as a medical ship, still sported formidable firepower; he had no doubt he could fight his way out if it came to that. With a tired sigh, Hunk disenganged the autopilot and adjusted course. The signal wasn't too far off his path home, and it shouldn't take too long before he was back on his way.

[Demon Night 666]

*Demon snarled as the worthless peice of junk that she called a ship did not want to start.Looking over at her control panel she noticed that a ship was coming out of hyperspace near her own.* " I hope this help and not some greedy pirate coming for the shipment....."

[Hunk]

As Hunk let back on the throttle, coming out of hyperspace, expecting the multi-color light show to give way to the relative starkness of regular space. Surprisingly, he found himself in a nebulous region, with vast clouds of colorful gas in all directions; it was beautiful, but gave him a slightly claustrophobic feel. As he zeroed in on the ship, he began to pick out details.

Though quite a bit larger than a one-man fighter, the ship bore a passing resemblance to an x-wing in general body shape. A long, central hull, with four wings in an x-pattern gave it a sleek appearance.

And the black body and orange trim gave it a sinister appearance. It didn't look like a pirate'e ship, but he kept his eyes sharp just in case.

When he had closed to within range, he opened an audio channel, speaking in a firm voice.

Ship in distress, this is The Salvation, please identify yourself.

[Demon Night 666]

" This is the Ghost Rider,my ship is down....and well hell just help me!"*Demon all but pratically yelled into the com link.She sat back in her seat and glared at the control panel in front of her.The shipmenat was due in about three hours to her client but the ship broke down and the engines stopped working all together.The only thing working was the com link and the guns.When someone shows up tohelp what did she get a -DO-NOT-SWEAR--DO-NOT-SWEAR--DO-NOT-SWEAR--DO-NOT-SWEAR--DO-NOT-SWEAR--DO-NOT-SWEAR--DO-NOT-SWEAR- macho man.She gazed down at her gun and sword and waited for her rescurer to reply*"Better make it quik....before my ship completely shuts down honey"

[Hunk]

*"Better make it quik....before my ship completely shuts down honey"

The impatient feminine voice filled the cockpit of The Salvation "Did she just call me 'honey'?" Hunk thought to himself, doing a double take. He could already picture his soon-to-be passenger--some huge, bloated alien with legs like tree trunks. It might be a little better, but he didn't get his hopes up. He attempted to lock onto the ship and have the computer bring him in, but the ship didn't seem to want to cooperate. "Very well," he said to the control panel, "we'll just do this the old fashined way."

"Very well, Ghost Rider, I'm beginning docking procedures. Hold on, this could get a little bumpy."

He eased the ship forward, carefully watching both the view screen and the range readouts. The numbers continued their count down as the ships came closer and closer. Small adjustments and the thrusters fired, first foreward, then aft, as he lined up for the last few meters of approach, centering his airlock on the other ship's main hatch. With a soft bump, the ship collided, and Hunk engaged the electromagnets that would hold them together. Hopping out of his seat, he made his way back to the airlock.

X X X X

He hummed to himself as the passage between the ship filled with air, the hissing providing an odd accompaniment. The tune was interupted by a loud tone as the passagway was finally pressurized.

C L E A R

Opening the hatch, he stepped into the passagway. A moment later, and he had the Ghost Rider's hatch open as well. Hefting himself up, he emmerged in a cargo bay, filled to the brim with crates..but no people..

"Hello? Anyone home?"

[Demon Night 666]

*Demon dashed down to the cargo bay.She stopped when she caught sight of her rescuer and grinned.She walked toward him and grinned coldly at him* "Like what you see?"*Demon didnt like how the stranger was looking at the crates and tapped her foot impatiently and flipped her ankle length braid over her shoulder* "Im Demon Night and who would you be?"

[Hunk]

Though she didn't show it, Hunk sensed an unusually large amount of suspicion and fear in the woman. He didn't believe her to be dangerous, but he made sure to keep an eye out anyway.

Not that it would be difficult, keeping an eye on her. Far from the gross behemoth he had expected, she possessed an unusually exotic beauty, and was she was a tiny little creature, hardly coming up to his chest. She had a lovely blue skin, with long hair of the darkest black imaginable, tied into an ankle length braid. Her ears were long and pointed, like the faerie people he had heard about as a child. Her eyes were possibly her most distinguishing feature. Large and yellow, they looked at him with a deep, piercing gaze.

"Good evening, Miss Demon Night," he said with a slight bow. Might I ask what the problem is? I may be able to help you fix it and be on your way. If not, I can always shuttle you to the nearest spaceport, where you could find the help you need."

[Demon Night 666]

*Demon chuckled and looked over at the crates.She gazed at him and shrugged helplessly bfore grinning.*" You cant get this ship running...beleive me i use to be a mechanic and this worthless peice of ...it wont work.But if you could...please haul this to the next spaceport.My client will be meeting me there.I will split the payment with you for helping me out."*demon walked over to a crate and leaned up against it and waited for his answer.*

[Hunk]

He inwardly sighed when he looked around and saw the amount of crates. he would be hard pressed to fit them in the Salvation, especially as it was partially filled with medical supplies. Oh well, he'd do the best he could; he'd always had a soft spot for damsels in distress. Especially exotic, beautiful ones, like this. He didn't intend on splitting the payment with her, but it was nice for her to ask.

"Very well, Miss Night, I'll start moving these crates to the Salvation. I'll get as much aboard as possible, but I doubt we'll be able to get it all on there. Meanwhile, why don't you make yourself comfortable in the cabin up there; this shouldn't take too long."

He lifted up one crate experimentally, testing it's weight. It was neither extremely heavy nor light. Curiosity got the best of him.

"So, Miss Night, what exactly are you shipping here?"

[Demon Night 666]

"Ah, my client likes to have his clothing brought back to him from one of the planets he was visting."*The lie came easyily to her lips.She gazed around and cocked her head to one side and watched the human move the lightweight crates around.She moved out of the way and sat down on one of the crates and looked down at her scuffed black boots*"hank you for your help once again...i will repay in some way for your kindness"*Demon all but hissed the word kindness and metally gave herself a slap and grinned*

[Hunk]

He grunted as he hoisted the crate into position, nearly filling the cargo area of The Salvation. Boxes and crates were everywhere, stacked as neatly as possible, given the cramped conditions and rushed nature of their placement. All that remained was a narrow walkway for the two passengers to make their way to the cockpit. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he turned to the exotic woman, who was sitting on the final crate.

"That's the last one, miss, would you mind getting up?"

He glanced briefly at his comm device. The little side trip had already cost him several hours. He wanted to get back on course as soon as possible.