The Black Bha'lir
Mar 27th, 2003, 01:28:48 PM
“It’s a beautiful day on Coruscant folks, I’m Buddy Zipp, on 101.9999999, the Ziiiiiiiipp! Coming up in a few minutes, we’ll have ’10,000 Lightyears’ by The E Walk Five! But first, let’s hand it over to Jimmy-Jim Johnson for the weather….”
Adele Stuart, proud employee of the CPS (Coruscant Postal Service) turned up the air conditioning of the stuffy delivery speeder. Her baggy brown uniform was a great insulator—which was unfortunate for Adele. She’d been stuck with the long-haul assignments today, carting oversized parcels, improperly packaged, to the other side of the bustling upper level. It didn’t help that she’d caught the mid-day rush, which moved slightly slower than everyday Coruscant traffic.
The drab looking woman brushed damp strands of hair from her forehead, escapees from the nondescript ponytail at the back of her head. She drummed her fingers on the steering console impatiently, calculating how long it would take her to move a few meters. As one of the elite deliverers, Adele had made it a personal rule not to take any longer than an hour when in charge of local packages. Today though, it seemed that the fates were against her.
“…Uh, folks, we have just received breaking news, this literally just happened, it’s going on right now, uh, breaking news…”
Adele sat up straighter and twisted the volume knob on the radio up. She sighed at the DJ’s stuttering.
“For Pete’s sake Buddy, what just happened?”
As if he had heard her, Zipp went on.
“Uh, it looks like a woman is being held hostage in the Pack’n’Pay Mart by an unidentified assailant… Uh, we don’t have a lot of details folks, but it seems that the person, who’s been identified as male, was trying to rob the store when the owner got hold of a weapon from beneath the counter. Uh, the man has let everyone else out but the owner and the woman… Police are—”
Adele didn’t wait to hear the rest. She jumped into the back of the speeder and within a few seconds, the baggy postal uniform was in a carton, replaced by her…alternative uniform.
Adele Stuart was no more.
The black clad culprit-catcher burst forth from the back of the delivery vehicle and took off down the sidewalk, ducking into an alley so as to scale the tall buildings. It was too slow to take the normal way.
It took only a few minutes for her to arrive at the Pack’n’Pay—she knew Coruscant like the back of her hand, thanks to the postal job.
Creeping slowly now, Adele found the back storage door and descended from the rooftop. She doubted that the would-be robber had noticed it, if what the DJ had said was true; he’d have been in too much of a panic. Just in case, Adele steeled herself for trouble.
The door creaked open, revealing a dimly lit room full of packaged food. The superhero cast a look around and then entered into the main shopping center, ducking behind a display of detergent. Adele looked towards the counter and saw him. He couldn’t have been over six feet, but he had a mighty fine looking blaster and indeed, a hostage. The woman was scared out of her mind and looked ready to faint but what worried Adele most was the robber—he was probably just as scared.
She adjusted her mask and crept slowly behind the crook, motioning at the storekeeper, who was facing her, to keep quiet. A thrill went up her spine. My how she loved this part of her life. The hunt was the best part.
Kapow!
Before he knew what had happened, the ski-masked thief was out cold, thanks to a booted kick to the back of the head. The hostage woman screamed and Adele caught her just in time, lowering her to the floor gently. When she stood up, the barrel of a blaster was pointed at her. The store owner was shaking as he pointed it at her. With liquid cool, Adele darted to the side and grabbed his arm with one hand, the blaster with the other.
“I don’t think you want to do that. He’s the bad guy…”
She nodded towards the unconscious criminal and released the owner, trusting him and headed back towards the storage room, not wanting to be present when the police burst in. He looked at her retreating back, shaking still.
“Wh-who are you?”
Adele turned momentarily and grinned smoothly.
“Just your everyday superhero.”
And flung a cardstock card his direction before disappearing.
THE BLACK BHA’LIR
Adele Stuart, proud employee of the CPS (Coruscant Postal Service) turned up the air conditioning of the stuffy delivery speeder. Her baggy brown uniform was a great insulator—which was unfortunate for Adele. She’d been stuck with the long-haul assignments today, carting oversized parcels, improperly packaged, to the other side of the bustling upper level. It didn’t help that she’d caught the mid-day rush, which moved slightly slower than everyday Coruscant traffic.
The drab looking woman brushed damp strands of hair from her forehead, escapees from the nondescript ponytail at the back of her head. She drummed her fingers on the steering console impatiently, calculating how long it would take her to move a few meters. As one of the elite deliverers, Adele had made it a personal rule not to take any longer than an hour when in charge of local packages. Today though, it seemed that the fates were against her.
“…Uh, folks, we have just received breaking news, this literally just happened, it’s going on right now, uh, breaking news…”
Adele sat up straighter and twisted the volume knob on the radio up. She sighed at the DJ’s stuttering.
“For Pete’s sake Buddy, what just happened?”
As if he had heard her, Zipp went on.
“Uh, it looks like a woman is being held hostage in the Pack’n’Pay Mart by an unidentified assailant… Uh, we don’t have a lot of details folks, but it seems that the person, who’s been identified as male, was trying to rob the store when the owner got hold of a weapon from beneath the counter. Uh, the man has let everyone else out but the owner and the woman… Police are—”
Adele didn’t wait to hear the rest. She jumped into the back of the speeder and within a few seconds, the baggy postal uniform was in a carton, replaced by her…alternative uniform.
Adele Stuart was no more.
The black clad culprit-catcher burst forth from the back of the delivery vehicle and took off down the sidewalk, ducking into an alley so as to scale the tall buildings. It was too slow to take the normal way.
It took only a few minutes for her to arrive at the Pack’n’Pay—she knew Coruscant like the back of her hand, thanks to the postal job.
Creeping slowly now, Adele found the back storage door and descended from the rooftop. She doubted that the would-be robber had noticed it, if what the DJ had said was true; he’d have been in too much of a panic. Just in case, Adele steeled herself for trouble.
The door creaked open, revealing a dimly lit room full of packaged food. The superhero cast a look around and then entered into the main shopping center, ducking behind a display of detergent. Adele looked towards the counter and saw him. He couldn’t have been over six feet, but he had a mighty fine looking blaster and indeed, a hostage. The woman was scared out of her mind and looked ready to faint but what worried Adele most was the robber—he was probably just as scared.
She adjusted her mask and crept slowly behind the crook, motioning at the storekeeper, who was facing her, to keep quiet. A thrill went up her spine. My how she loved this part of her life. The hunt was the best part.
Kapow!
Before he knew what had happened, the ski-masked thief was out cold, thanks to a booted kick to the back of the head. The hostage woman screamed and Adele caught her just in time, lowering her to the floor gently. When she stood up, the barrel of a blaster was pointed at her. The store owner was shaking as he pointed it at her. With liquid cool, Adele darted to the side and grabbed his arm with one hand, the blaster with the other.
“I don’t think you want to do that. He’s the bad guy…”
She nodded towards the unconscious criminal and released the owner, trusting him and headed back towards the storage room, not wanting to be present when the police burst in. He looked at her retreating back, shaking still.
“Wh-who are you?”
Adele turned momentarily and grinned smoothly.
“Just your everyday superhero.”
And flung a cardstock card his direction before disappearing.
THE BLACK BHA’LIR