A Pirate's Life for Me... (Zeke)

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

A sharp, haunting tune rang throughout the belly of a strange ship floating in space. It was an old song from a radio program J'ktal remembered, and he whistled it while floating idly in his living room while skimming a paperback novel. He had taken a self-imposed leave of study from the Order and had little idea when he would return. For the moment, he was content to just wait and see what came along out in the middle of nowhere.

After two days of nothing, his advanced sensors beeped, and he shut his book before pushing off toward the cockpit. IT was an approaching ship, and an unregistered one at that. That usually spelled an adventure, so the mongoose dropped into his pilot's seat and strapped hismelf in. A simple plug found its way into a jack built into his left forearm, and a larger one was inserted into the back of his neck. Various surgeries and physical upgrades allowed him to "talk" to his ship on many levels, and in turn it gave him unparalleled control over it, and advanced displays projected directly into the imaging cone of his left retinae. Upon closer inspection, the approcahing vessel seemed to be one known for unwarranted boarding and confiscation assaults. A pirate ship. From J'ktal's experience, Pirates often had gear that was worth having, and often worth stealing to get.

With his right paw, he angled his ship into the same path, and sped up so that they would overtake him slowly. Initiating a jamming signal, and shutting off all exterior lights, his Shadow became invisible in the inky blackness, and he waited. Waited for the pirate ship to come. With any luch, he would be attached and boarding before they eve knew he was there. At the very least, he would be too close for them to use their weapons...

[Moxi]

"Dad. Old man. POPS."

Johannes Saska, Captain of the Acid Jack, has put his booted feet up onto the console and is napping lightly. Moxi, his daughter, couldn't be more irritated.

"Hey old man, there's no commercial traffic here. What's the big deal?"

A loud, snorting snore echoes back at her.

"JEEZ! How th'hell do we play pirate if there's no one to steal or mug!?"

Her old man makes another snore, and Moxi turns on her heels with an agitated cry. The crewmen out in the hallway jump back as she storms by. She's not strong enough to beat any of them as viciously as her father does, and she's not carrying any weapons to kill them with, but she's dangerous all the same. The ancient galley cook explained it best.

"Moxi's clever, says I," he would tell the crew. "Got it from her mother, she did."

She's not aware of it now, but she'll need that quality very soon.

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

The whistlign continued as J'ktal eased his ship down over the docking port of the Acid Jack, and he used padded magnets to attach himself with the greatest of care. Manipulating his Shadow's arms, he covered the main weapons array of the ship, and made it impossible for it to escape from his grasp.

Unbuckling himself, J'ktal performed a zero gravity backflip down into the main cabin and took his time getting dressed. After all, invading a ship in your boxer shorts wasn't the most frightening look to have. Well, it would be scary in some aspects, but still, not what he was going for. No, he chose his armored bodysuit, and geared up at his own leisure, pausing for a drink of brandy and a half a sandwich out of his icebox. A pair of balster pistols, one old model slug shooter, a few assorted knives, a lightsaber and a katana later, he felt he was ready. Checking his appearance in the mirror, the Death-Shadow ducked through his docking tube and overrode the security on the other ship's hatch. It was terribly fun when the other side had no idea you were there...

The hatch led into a cargo bay, where J'ktal encountered his first obstacle--a pair of guards. Two tranquilizing darts later, they were no longer a threat, and he soon had them undressed to their underclothes, tied up and hanging from a beam on the cieling upside down. There was nothing worse than waking up to find you had lost, you couldn't move, and you were stripped to your undies. Insult to injury it truly was. But for the moment J'ktal had free run of the halls, a tranq gun in one paw, and a blaster in his other.

[Moxi]

Moxi barely notices the slight vibration made by J'ktal's impromptu docking; this heap's so old that it doesn't bother her anymore. Besides, she's too busy being mad at her father. She turns a corner, slamming another crewman against the wall. He gives her a cursing and moves on, going through another door into the corridor J'ktal is on.

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

His footsteps silent, J'ktal walks down the hallway, a digital map of the insides of a corellian Corvette available in a form of head's up display in his left eye, and a targeting crosshair as well made it easy for him to know where he was going. So far he saw little to indicate that the ship had anything of value, but firther exploration was always worth the time.

Moxi rounding the corner was unnexpected, though. J'ktal hesitated a moment before raising the tranq gun, and holding his other pistol to his lips as if it were a finger in the motion for silence. She certainly looked like she could be part of the crew, but one could never tell with pirates. She could be simply a girl they picked up for "entertainment" purposes. It wasn't uncommon.

[Moxi]

Moxi kicks a sneaker-clad foot at an abandoned mop bucket, sending it careening into the closet it belongs in. The door is slammed in similar fashion.

"Stupid guy. Lucky it's me and not Pop...he'd have killed the guy for making a mess o' his ship!"

She jams her hands in her pockets, sighing heavily as she starts to cool down. Something in the corner of her eye catches her attention. She's not alone? But when the captain's daughter looks, there's nothing there. Moxi feels a prickling at the back of her neck. Someone's here, she knows it, and she hates having people spy on her.

"Hey! Come out, right now! Pops will kill you if he finds out you're messing with me!"

That will lure out any crewmen. The penalty for harassing Moxi in any way is more harsh even than the penalty for with holding spoils from the old Captain.

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

So she was the daughter of the captain, that changed everything. Now she had gone from being a disposable commodity that might have offered a few moments of fun, to a worthwhile hostage.

J'ktal said nothing as he sidestepped to near the door, and pressed the button to close it, also shutting out the lights, leaving the room pitch dark. Fortunately, J'ktal had havily upgraded his optical system when he has his left eye replaced, and switched on an infrared version of sight. He could see her perfectly, but she had no idea where he was. And if Moxi kept walking in the same direction she had been, she would bump into the midsection of one of the two incapacitated men. Either that or trip on their clothing. In any case, it would be entertaining.

"I assure you, madam," J'ktal said from the pitch darkness, "I am by no means messing with you. Now, remove your shirt, and hold your arms behind you and you will not be harmed."

[Moxi]

The voice that answer's isn't the rough voice of a corsair. It's a calm, calculating voice, speaking clearly with authority. Only her daddy can use that tone. Fear stabs like a knife through her heart. She could be in real trouble. Her eyes are adjusting slowly to the darkness. If only she could see...

"What kind of commando makes perverted threats like that!?" she shouts to J'ktal, trying to sound braver than she feels. Her hands clutch her tank top tightly, holding it on as she begins backing towards the door.

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

The voice became irritated and annoyed. "Trust me, it is nothing personal, and I have utterly no desire to see you undressed."

A blaster bolt barely missed her cheek, and J'ktal's voice moved around the room, confusing Moxie as to which direction the door was. "I am running out of patience, girl."

[Moxi]

"SO!?" she yells, wincing as she hears the panic edging her voice. "I won't let you humiliate me!"

She flinched at the blasterfire and lost track of her exit. She keeps moving backward though, looking for a wall to press against. If her back is covered, he can't sneak up on her, and finding the wall will help her find the door. She suddenly wishes she hadn't put the mop bucket away after all.

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

One could almost hear J'ktal's eyes rolling before he answered back, "All right, keep your shirt and lose the pants. It is one or the other, or you get to join the men right behind you."

He was growing tired of the exchange, and frustrated at how she seemed to still know where the door was. "Listen, I don't care about you, I am just here for what is in the hold. You can either comply and wait things out here, or I can shoot you. It really is your choice."

[Moxi]

Her pants!?

"Oh, sure! How about if I just do a striptease for you right here, then take you to all the spoils?"

She's found a door...with a knob. The closet! Now she's further than where she needs to be! But it's empowering, to have it there.

"Listen, guy, don't think you're so great because you have a gun! Any guy could hold up a girl in the dark!"

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

The barrel of J'ktal's pistol pressed against Moxie's temple and he whispered in her ear. "But not just any guy could do that, now could he. Come on, give me your hands. I wager your father would do anything to save you, and this hunk of a ship you live on."

[Moxi]

He moved! She finally had something of a chance, and he moved and ruined it all! Never in her life has she been in this situation. Despite all the run-ins with NRSF and Imperials and other pirates, her life has never once been in danger. She's never had a gun pointed at her in her life, much less had one digging into her hair above her ear. She holds out her hands.

"Checkmate..." she concedes, unable to mask her fear and panic any longer.

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

"Thank you," J'ktal replied as civily as possible. "And please do not take this personally."

With his other arm, he siezed her wrists and slapped a pair of binding manacles on them, then roughly turned her around and opened the door to the janitor's closet. Pushing her inside, he closed the door and braced it shut with a short crate. It wouldn't hold forever, but it should at least slowe her down for a little while.

From there it was back out to the hallways, and directly to the bridge. He had seen no communications equipment on Moxie, nor had there been any in the cargo room, so the ability to tell her father that she was being held hostage was still available.

[Moxi]

Moxi cries out as J'ktal shoves her into the closet, squeaking as she falls backwards into the mop bucket full of cold water. Slowly she gets up, shivering as she stumbles through the mess towards the door. Her hands are cuffed behind her, a tactic her own father uses on military police and other law officials. He also taught her how to get her hands in front of her after having them cuffed behind. She starts to warm up, preparing to jump, but trips on a bottle of cleaner. Clearly putting her hands in front isn't an option.

The girl tries a new tactic, turning her back to the door and fumbling for the knob. She gets it and slowly begins to turn it. Once it clicks, she shoves hard. The door doesn't move an inch.

"Dammit!"

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

By the time J'ktal reached the bridge, three more of the crew lay slumped on the floor from tranquilizing darts. The pirates were ill-organized, and very little threat. Even the ship's onboard security system was weak, and he had bypassed it with a modified handheld gaming system.

"May I have your attention!" he bellowed while stepping onto the bridge, his assault rifle in one paw, tranq gun in the other. "This ship is now under the command of the N.I.S.C. You will surrender your weapons and control of this vessel. The Captain's daughter is being held hostage, so if anything happens to me, her life will become very unpleasant. Now, who is the Captain of this bucket?"

[Moxi]

Moxi shoves harder against the door, feeling it give just enough for her to let go of the knob. It'll be a bit longer before she can get out...the crate is very heavy. She's tired, and wet, and cold.

"I'm...gonna...kill him!" she groans, pushing with all her strength on the door. "This....this isn't fair!"

[Saska]

Saska is slouched so low in the chair that he may as well not be there to J'ktal. The officers working the controls turn and put their hands on their weapons, but J'ktal has the drop on them.

"The Captain's not at the bridge," is the prompt reply from the communications officer. "You're in charge."