I Thought You Were Dead

[Vishan Korogoth]

A lone droid rolled its way along the wide stretch of the landing pad towards a very expensive looking yacht. It had been grounded here on Coruscant for several months and now it was finally getting fixed. The droid quietly totted a cart full of much needed parts for one of his Masters and would soon be assisting in the rehaul of the engines. They needed a serious tune up, plus a few power couplings were shot.

It looked around, swiveling its dome head in wonder where his Master could be at. He wasn't in sight and called out, beeping and whistling to get his attention.

A greasy looking Vishan popped out of a panel, doing an interesting upside down balancing act by keeping his legs wrapped around one of the cooling vents. "WHAT?! Can't ya see I'm doin' somethin' 'ere?"

The droid was relentless and he pointed a finger at his colored sensor, "Look. I don't care what you do, just do do somethin' 'Luna put on her list. Aight?

Eluna Thals. His boss, sorta. She was a diplomat of something or another and Vishan landed a job to being her personal assistant and driver. A job description which was severely nebulous.

He stared blankly at the R2 droid until it finally tweeted in defeat and rolled off to do something like Vishan asked, who just sighed. "Stupid droids."

[Remkah]

Remkah flicked the ash from his cigarette to fall silently to the hangar bay floor. It blended in with the grime already streaked from years of grease, mechanic oil and other such fluids that were common in an area such as this.

His long lean frame rested languidly against a stack of crates, and had done for some time, as one could deduce from the numerous stubbed out cigarette butts on the ground around his boots.

The Yacht was a beauty. What a prize..

He exhaled deliberately and decided it was just about time to make his move.

One last surrepticious look around the hangar to confirm most the employees had gone home for the evening. It was annoying how dedicated mechanics were. Most of 'em acted like they were leaving a wife...make that, a lover..the way they doted on their projects. And Remkah couldnt blame them. Most the vehicles here were worth a small fortune.

But none were as pretty as the one he had his pirate eye on.

Dropping the smoke, he ground hit beneath his heel and pushed himself off from the wall.

[Vishan Korogoth]

Sighing in peace, Vishan pulled himself back into the ship and out of sight. Now that the droid was gone, he could get back to work. Though he would be needing a break soon since one could only hang upside down for so long due to all the blood rushing to his head. But he was relentless. That blown power coupling was almost fixed! Break time would be deserved if he could finish that up. The rest of the repairs would be a cake walk next the circus act he was performing to fix the bloody thing.

BEEP!!!

He smacked his head and dropped the hydrospanner. The urge to blow away the droid was rising and his blaster pistol was holstered at his side.

"What the FRELL is it now?!"

By the sounds of it, the droid found yet another problem during a diagnostics check.

"Why are ya doin' that??? We need ta fix the major problems first!" He growled back.

Another chorus of chirps and, "Oh. Well, yeah. Ah guess ah leak in the hyperdrive system would be major ... .... ....... Gimme that damn hydrospanner!"

[Remkah]

He hadnt seen anyone come off or on the Yacht all day. No lunch break, no coffee break, no dinner break. Remkah was pretty sure the ship was empty.

But "pretty sure" was equivilent for "be ready for anything" and so the swarthy pirate unclipped the blaster from his side and cautiously, quietly ascended the ramp into the ship.

Standing just inside the doorway, he heard faint beeps and a low deep voice coming from further in the vessell. The words were indisdinct, but it sounded as if there were only one human and a droid present.

Creeping stealthily, blaster in hand, Remkah slowly advanced down the narrow corridor - his eyes scanning everywhere, his ears straining to hear more.

[Vishan Korogoth]

There was a loud pang that reverberated through one specific pipe in the ship before the declaration of, "AH GIVE UP!!!" After three different diagnostic checks, he still couldn't figure out where the specific problem was as to why the coupling blew.

Vishan grabbed a panel and flipped himself right side right, landing on the ground. He thrust the hydrospanner at the droid. "You figure it out whi........." A wave of dizziness caused him to grab onto the side of the yacht for support. "Whoa. Think ah need that break now."

The R2 beeped its agreement.

"That was rhetoric! Go fix the thing and let me know when its done. Ah'll," Vishan shook off the last of the stars and walked towards the ramp, "be in the ship if'n ya need me."

[Remkah]

The man's voice increased in frustration and Remkah smiled to himself..been there before..

Only one other thing that could be as fickle as a ship when a man wanted to make things right, was a woman. Was probably why ships were referred to as "she's" and "her's" in the first place. Both types of dames could be enough to drive a man to murder.

Which, if fritzing a droid could be called murder, was what would soon happen if these two kept at it.

The man declared a break, and Remkah saw his opportunity. Something in the tone of the stranger's voice struck a chord of familiarity in his memory, but the echo of the corridor and the incessant beeping and blipping of the droid made identification difficult.

Still, Remkah had no time to dwell on it. As the man placed one foot past the recess where the pirate was laying in wait, Remkah stretched out his hand and touched the blaster to prod the back of Vishan's head, stopping him in his tracks.

In his deep gravelled voice, the SFF Captain offered his assistance.

"Why dont I save you some trouble and take her off your hands?"

[Vishan Korogoth]

"Fa ... rell." He cursed and winced at the barrel digging into the back of his head. Two things were going on in Vishan's mind right now. One, would this thief leave him alive because it would suck royally to be dead and not see the look of shock on his face when he tried to start the yacht.

The second thought was more of a sense of deja vu. Vishan swore that graveled voice was one that he knew. As his mind raced, a vivid memory of a smuggling job going terribly wrong was pictured. He remembered how he got separated from his partner in the crossfire with the Imperials. Remkah's ship blew up and Vishan was forced down to the planet below.............

His eyes became saucers as recognition finally came from that long term memory. All the pieces fit together perfectly and burst out in a, "FRELLIN' SONUVABITCH! YOU'RE ALIVE??? YOU"RE ALIVE AN' LEFT ME ON THAT PLANET!!!"

[Remkah]

He allowed the blaster to dip away from Vishan's head as the man twisted around to look at him.

Remkah couldn't have been more shocked if the man had sprouted another head and started singing a broadway tune.

"Vishan? I thought you were dead? Three of my crew saw you take a laser bolt in the chest.....How....?"

[Vishan Korogoth]

"What?! You're guys musta been in the glitterstim again before their heroics landed sorry butts into the escape pods!" He growled, "The cowards that they were! Leavin' me there ta die......."

Vishan ran a hand through his hair to try and calm himself down. "Ah got shot, yeah," he chuckled, shaking his head,"but the hull took most of the damage for me."

There was only a small amount of nostalgic reserves before his brows closed together in anger again. "So what about you, huh? Big fiery infernery death is hard ta walk away from, especially since you was the one flyin' the bloody ship."

[Remkah]

"I went back for you!"

Remkah still couldn't believe it. Vishan, here, alive and well.

"The place was bustin' apart at the seams. Frelling Imps crawling all over the place. Never did find you. Never made it back to my ship, neither. Ended up gettin' myself a tour o' Sing-Sing for 3 years before I hooked up with my latest outfit."


Remkah put his blaster back in its holster and looked his friend over with exaggerated concern..


"Geez, Vishan, you look old, buddy."

[Vishan Korogoth]

Vishan did a double take. "Ya went ..... back ...... for me?" Remkah's explanation was changing his perspective on the whole incident. For three years, he always thought of Remkah's crew as a big piece of dren for leaving him there. Something that happened to also be thought of his dead friend.

Well, he wasn't dead. At least not anymore. A huge stupid grin spread on his face like Remkah's story was nothing. "Man, you haven't seen anythin' till you're stranded on ah planet that has nuthin' but one pissant spaceport! Took me ah damn four months till ah frellin' ship came to that backwater world." His shoulders drooped down with a heavy sigh. "An' it was livestock vessel."

Straightening up, Remkah's heavy handed comment wasn't missed. "Oh thanks alot. I've been hopping from planet ta planet like ah was before I met ya. Kinda wears ya down, ya know?"

[Remkah]

"Oh, you think you had it bad. Try 3 years with NO women."

He arched his eyebrow slightly, and Vishan conceeded that Remkah had the worse of the deal.

The SFF Captain took out his packet of cigarettes from his pocket and held it out to offer Vishan one while nodding his understanding of the hardship of his friends lifestyle.

He looked around in reference to the Yacht.

"Cant be too bad though, you got yourself a nice ship here"

[Vishan Korogoth]

"Damn man. Like ya read my mind." He glady bummed a smoke off Remkah. Pulling a lighter out of his pocket, Vishan snapped the cover back and lit up. He took a nice long drag, enjoying the old familiar routine with his friend.

A stream of smoke exhaled through his lips. "Ain't my ship. My boss'. I kinda hooked up with this ....." The word was politician but it was muffled as Vishan covered his mouth, acting like he had an itch under his nose.

[Remkah]

"Well, whoever she is, she's got good taste in ships."

He inhaled the rich tobacco and as he exhaled he laughed lowly, the smoke expelling in staccato spurts.

"I work for a woman too. Madder than a hornet most days and damn if she has the worst mood swings a man ever saw. But the works good, the setup is sweet.

He gave Vishan a sidelong smirk.

"Look at us. So much for our dellusions of grandeur."

[Vishan Korogoth]

Vishan couldn't help but bust out laughing. He almost choked on his second puff. "Man. Ya have no idea the pile of dren this ship is. Would've been funny watchin' ya start 'er up and she didn't move." He winked. "Repulsors are shot ta hell."

As Remkah continued on about his boss, Vishan's head bobbed up and down in sympathy. "Yeah women are frellin' nuts. 'Luna either shows up or calls me outta the blue and just demands. Can't complain all the time though." He grinned a cheshire grin. "Bonuses are nice."

Which were only mere moments. He was still stuck on this planet with no where to go. Rem felt the same too but his job sounded a lot better then the pit he dug himself into. Vishan looked around, feeling how tired he was of this ship and this place. It was like a two ton weight was strapped to his shoulder. "Yeah. Ah dunno, Rem. Wish I did..." Catch that damn shuttle like ah was suppose ta ....

[Remkah]

Remkah had the good grace to atleast look a little sheepish when Vishan mentioned him starting up the Yacht, and mumbled something like, yeah, sorry bout that - no hard feelin's and slapped him good naturedly on the back.

As Vishan continued, alluding to bonuses, the two shared a knowing smirk, though Remkah couldn't make the same claims. It wasn't like that with him and Hera. Never had been. It was always strickly a working relationship. They were close, but not "bonus" close.

Remkah always thought it was a bad idea to be in so deep with the boss. Gave her all the power. Not smart, but he wouldnt say so to Vishan. Seems like the guy had enough thoughts rattling around in his head to open up that bag of tricks.

Vishan's last statement made Remkah take a closer look, seeing if he could read the mans meaning in his face.


"...Wished you, what?"

[Vishan Korogoth]

Vishan eyes landed outside, gazing up into the limitless sky. No point in lying to Remkah, the guy already knew something was up. "Ah wish I'd gotten on that shuttle when I'd the chance." His frustration culminated with a severe flick of the cigarette out the door.

[Remkah]

"But think of all the fun you'd a missed. I mean..to be Captain of this ship alone is a small prize right?"

Vishan looked away from him, and Remkah instantly knew there were things his old friend wasnt telling him.

He leaned forward a little, making it impossible for Vishan to avoid his eyes.

"...right.....?"

[Vishan Korogoth]

There was no wear for his baby blues to hid from Remkah's friendly inquisition. "Er, well." He tightly shut them to find some peace before his buddy laughed in his face.

"The ship's not mine," he finally admitted, opening his eyes to stare directly at his friend. Nervously, Vishan ran a hand through his hair again. "It's my boss'. I'm ..... ...... kinda ..... the driver." His head and shoulders drooped forward in defeat.

[Remkah]

It started as a low rumble but inevitably built in cresendo until Remkah was throwing his head back in a ragged gravelley laugh.

Vishan's face rushed with color, beginning at the base of his throat right on up until his ears were beacons of red.
He shrugged off Remkah's hearty slap on his back and scowled and growled under his breath.


"Oh Vish, you sorry s.o.b......A dame's Chauffer?"

And he regaled once more in peels of laughter.

"You gotta let me buy you a drink. I havent heard anything so funny since that time you told me you set your hair on fire smokin upside down in the airlock as a kid."

[Vishan Korogoth]

Both of his hands came up to hide his embarrassed face which did nothing to quiet Remkah's laughter. He kicked himself mentally, deserving this, but he was desperate for a job. Just, a little too desperate.

The slap on the back was enough to peel away his hands and sighed. "Yeah ah dame's chauffeur. And hey!" He shrugged his shoulder to remove Remkah's hand; trying to be a little defiant. "You weren't suppose ta be goin' around repeatin' that man!"

Vishan looked outside paranoid, but was happy that no one was around. "Anyway, ya want me ta be blabbin' about ya and that Twi'lek on Ragriah III?" A big toothy grin spread across his face.

[Remkah]

Remkah dropped the grin immediately and waggled warning fingers, his cigarette adding punctuation to his threat.

"Hey...that Twi'lek looked female. Even you thought so.."

[Vishan Korogoth]

Hands went up quickly in defense. "A'right. A'right. Subject's now dropped. While we drink," he grabbed a towel to clean off his hands, "we can scope out some real women. Anythin' that's doubtful, we run? Cool?"

[Remkah]

"Now......." Remkah's crooked grin was back in place again, "..that's the Vishan I remember. There's a place about 8 blocks from here that has beer from 15 sectors."

He turned and began back down the hallway to the ship's exit.

"You can tell me whats wrong with this baby on the way. Might know something to help you fix her."

[Vishan Korogoth]

He threw the towel absently away. Fifteen sectors of beer got a man to thinking. "Sweet. Ah'll meet ya out in front after ah clean up a bit more."

The refresher really lived up to its name. The sink was cover in grime after Vishan washed away the caked oil from his arms. He did a quick rinse of his face to look more presentable and ran his wet hands through his hair, giving it a little more spike to it. Drying up, Vishan put on his red and black leather vest and grabbed his two blasters. One was an older Corellian model. It was a gift from his wife when he passed the Academy and became a fully fledged pilot for the Corellian Government. Lots of people became attached to their weapons for various reasons. For him, that blaster was the only thing left of his other life with his wife and daughter.

"Frelling Sith." He muttered sharply, holstering the weapon along with his sorosub heavy blaster and was ready.

About ten minutes had passed before Vishan exited the yacht. "Hope you aren't too mad. Took some serious scrubbing ta get me cleaned up."

[Tirsa Krylana]

INSIDE THE BAR -

:: Tirsa ordered another raslak as the girl on stage sang and played to an alien audience. The eyes of a dozen different races watch as she strips out of her leather coat, making them forget about what they were eating and wish they could eat her instead ::

<center><img src=http://panic.hopto.org/swf/sorsha/Tirsa/misc/Mine.jpg></center>

:: She teased them, undulating naked on the stage under red and blue pulsing lights. The crowd in front howled, aroused into a near frenzy as she sang into the microphone in libidinal shrieks. They all wanted to frell her, right on the stage, and Tirsa worried a few times that something would happen when the girl writhed a bit too close to the edge. But the grinding electric music seemed to protect her, and kept them enslaved under her glamour ::

[Remkah]

"You look beautiful, Vish." Remkah said with feeling, and then had to duck quickly to dodge the oncoming fist Vishan threw his way.

The pair walked the 8 blocks, talking back and forth, no hint that there had been 3 years since their last conversation and a lifetime of adventures between them. There was no distance - their friendship was every bit as solid as the day they'd been forced on very different roads.

The hoots and hollering of the crowd inside the bar could be heard from the street corner and as the men approached, Remkah assured Vishan that it was probly the beer that was causing all the excitement.

Stepping inside, the space pirate was brought up short by the exquisite woman writhing on the stage. Vishan a step behind him did the same, though not in time enough to stop from stepping on the back of Remkah's boots.

Slack jawed and bedazzled, Remkah managed to murmer..

"....or maybe its not the beer.."

[Vishan Korogoth]

"YEOW!!! REM!!!" He looked rather stupid jumping up and down holding his foot in pain. "Blasted boots still weigh ah frelling ton!" Vishan found some wall to lean on as the throbbing pain subsided, the glamour of the naked dancing girl was rather lost at the moment. "Ah thought ya said this was just ah bar? Not that Ah'm really complainin' mind ya."

[Tirsa Krylana]

:: Tirsa moved onto the floor, becoming a slave to the rhythm as the next song began ::



Where is my love life?
Where can it be?
There must be something wrong with the machinery

Where is my love life?
Tell me, tell me
Where has it gone?
Somebody please please tell me what the hell is wrong

Until I find the righteous one
Computer blue
Until I find the righteous one
Computer blue


:: Hate ... Fear ... Lust ... Pain ... every emotion surged through Tirsa's body as she danced like a creature possessed. A weird connection formed between her and the girl on stage, and she was oblivious to everything around her as she surrendered to it completley ::

[Remkah]

A blue goddess had joined the show now, and Remkah was far from registering what Vishan was saying. He heard him talking, saw his mouth moving, but thats as far as the connection got.

Remkah was barely conscious that he himself was even speaking as he replied to Vishan beside him, as he nudged his way through the crowd to lean against the bar.

".......huh..?......Oh, yeah, yeah, they got beer....."

A Dug was having much the same out-of-body-experience as the SFF Captain was as, and the two collided onto one seat. The Dug's beer slurped all over Remkah, who was suddenly jolted back to the here and now in a barely-hopps-and-foam slap.

"Grect tuk ccllk oosicck, poodoo" the Dug sneered and pushed Remkah with his large foot/hand appendage.

Reaching out and swatting the ugly drunken alien with his arm, Remkah knocked him off the stool completely, and spoke back in kind. His deep voice sounding every bit as gutteral as the Dug tongue as he told him to "push on cause he needed his chair."

[Vishan Korogoth]

Vishan was so mesmerized by the blue woman that was by the stage he didn't realize his head was swaying with her every movement. He didn't even bother to get a seat yet but the commotion broke his concentration. It must have been the tail end of it because Remkah was sitting down in victory and the Dug was still waving his arms, cursing at him.

"Ah don't want ta know," He proclaimed and sat down with ease next to his buddy as the waitress went by. Her job was pretty easy right now since most were too busy gawking then drinking "Hey Mz? Two of your best for me an' my friend 'ere!"

[Remkah]

Rem watched the Dug as he was removed by the establishments bouncers before things got too ugly.

Their beers arrived, and both men drank gratefully from the frothing mugs.

The exotic dancing continued and Vishan and Remkah watching over the rims of their glasses, much like the rest of the crowd.

"Cant say Ive seen many prettier sites than that right there.." the Captain observed to his friend appreciatively.