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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 658424" data-attributes="member: 386">Act TwoA long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. . .A vast sea of stars serves as the backdrop for the main title.  War drums echo through the heavens as a roll-up slowly crawls into infinity.STAR WARSEPISODE VI: A New HomeHyperspace has saved our heroesonce again.  Fleeing from Alexi,ursurper of Kalarba and Dark Jedi,they pass the time in the safetyof hyperspace while heading toJedi Knight Til-Gon's asteroidbase.But the trip is marked by a deepsense of anger and pain.  Feydnurses a grevious wound.  Troyand Darius nearly come to blows.Arthur seems lost in thought, anda deep depression has overcomeBrooke.But the future is yet unknown,and things may turn in favourof our heroes...Troy was in a bad mood.  He stomped into the lounge, looking for Darius.  The bounty hunter was sitting there, on one of the new padded benches, drinking a cold dantic and smoking a heavy cigar.  Tess was nearby, polishing a shoulder plate from Darius' armour."What the <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> is this doing lying on the ground?" Troy shouted.  He was holding a bandolier full of spare energy cells.  "Pick up your goddamned mess."Darius puffed on his cigar and blew out a big cloud of smoke.  "Didn't know you were such a neat freak.  Don't get your panties in a bind.""Piss off.""Make me."Tess watched the two men square off against each other.  Darius was still leaning back on the bench, but his eyes betrayed a prediliction for violence.  Something had happened down on Ploorad, when they were exploring those sewers.  They didn't want to talk about it.  Darius had nothing to say.  The first night in hyperspace, he got drunk and passed out.  She didn't want to press the issue.  They had been good to her, and she wasn't about to rock the boat.Troy set his jaw.  He was still miffed about the thermal detonator.  Darius threw it, not expecting Alexi to absorb the blast.  He did it expecting that they would all be caught in the inferno, blasted to nothing, reduced to ash.  He didn't have the right to play with their lives like that, not his, not Arthur's, not Brooke's.The tension in the lounge was cut by Brooke's voice out in the hall.  "God-damned-<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />ing-Imperial-wash-piece-of-<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />," she was mumbling to herself.  In the past few days, since they had left Ploorad, Brooke had not been much of the lady.  She kept to herself, quiet and reserved, drinking a lot and smoking more."Look at what your piece of <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> wash did to my top," she said.  "Shrunk it right down.  I can't wear it now.""Don't worry about it," Troy said, anger on his voice.  "It's just a top.""<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> you," Brooke said, and stormed out of the room.  Tess got up quietly, setting the armour plate down as gently as she could, and followed Brooke.  Troy watched her leave, stood for a moment glaring at Daruis, then poured himself a drink from the bar.A beep went off from the new grill Darius had installed.  He opened the lid and a rich, smoky meat smell washed out.  Darius took a slab of beef and put it on a plate."Help yourself," he said to Troy, blowing smoke his way.Troy downed the drink and filled a plate for himself.--- Star Wars ---Tess caught up with Brooke in the hall.  Brooke was still cursing under her breath."Hey Brooke," Tess said.Brooke stopped and turned.  "Hmm?""Let's see that top of yours.  It might still fit me."Brooke looked at the top and back at Tess.  "Sure, I don't need it any more."  She tossed it to Tess, and continued down the hall to her quarters.Tess stood there, alone in the hall, looking at the top.  It would fit her, probably.  A little tight, but still... she felt her eyes welling up with tears.  She wiped them away with the back of her hand and cleared her throat.  Why do they have to fight with each other? she thought.  They don't really feel this way.  What happened down there?  What was going on?  Have I done something to piss them off?  Why don't they just relax and get back to normal?  I guess this was too good to last.She walked back to her room, eyes down at the floor, a tear making its way down her small, rounded face and onto Brooke's top.--- Star Wars ---Feyd lay in the dark, holding his severed arm.  He had not moved from his bunk since the Two-One-Bee droid had let him go from the med bay.  He had failed.  He could not overcome that feeling.  He let down his friends, his master, himself when he faced Alexi.  He was the only one who could have stood up against the Dark Side, and he failed.  He was struck down like he was nothing.  Had he not learned anything since he left Til-Gon?He felt a pit of despair inside him.  What if he was not cut out to be a jedi?  What would he do then?  He had no answers to these questions.  Only a blank, empty void of despair.  He chewed on his lower lip.  He had failed, totally and completely.  He was unable to resist the lure of the Dark Side - his brutal murder of the naval trooper proved that.  He was unable to control the Force when he and Alexi fought.  He was no "jedi".  The word came out like a curse in his thoughts.  He was nothing.And what about Arthur?  Since Feyd had known him, Arthur had become more and more of a recluse, retreating to his ship and the simple repairs he always seemed to be doing.  One problem after another.  Arthur rejected the Force, and Feyd with it.  He should have been able to show Arthur the Way and the Path.  But he couldn't.  He was a poor example of a Jedi.  Feyd felt the plastic bacta cap on the end of his arm.  He could still feel the edges of his hand there, but there was nothing.--- Star Wars ---After dinner Troy had retreated to the hot tub with a cooler full of drinks.  Brooke joined him later.  She was wearing a one-piece black suit with a single shoulder strap.  They sat there in silence, drinking and smoking.  Brooke closed her eyes and laid back, the tips of her short hair touching the water.Darius walked in with Tess.  She was wearing a two-piece bikini that fit rather snugly.  She had put on a lot of weight in the weeks since they picked her up on Berrol's Donn.  She looked more like the woman she was.  Darius ushered her into the hot tub before him.Troy leered at Tess when she entered the water.  She felt his eyes on him and looked down at the water, burying herself up to the neck.  Troy kept leering at her and she looked away.  When Darius got in Brooke opened her eyes and looked at both of them.  Darius shot Troy a look."How do you like the water?" Troy asked Tess.  There was a tone in his voice, violent and threatening.  But the question wasn't aimed at Tess.  It went to Darius.Tess didn't look at him.  "It's okay," she said."It's better with a drink," Troy said, and tossed one over to her.  Darius caught it in mid air and passed it to Tess.  He glared at Troy."What, you want one too?""I'll get it myself.""I've had enough of you two," Brooke said, rising out of the water and covering herself with a towel.  "Why don't you just fight each other and get it over with.  I'm fed up with this."  She shook the excess water out of her hair and left the room."Yeah, what's your problem?" Darius asked.  "You've been pissy since Ploorad.""You know damn well.""You mean the fight.""Yeah, the fight.""What?  What was I supposed to do?  Just sit there and watch him carve everyone up?""No, you were going to do that yourself with your detonator."  Tess listened intently, not moving.  So that was what happened."Hey, I didn't know what would happen.  And it turned out good for all of us.""Not Feyd," Troy said quietly."Yeah," Darius said.  Tess noticed that some of the tension was gone.  "I haven't seen him in days," Darius said."I'm sure he's okay.  He just needs some time alone.""I guess it's a good thing we're going to see his master.  I don't know how to deal with the kid.""He's not so difficult.  You just have to understand his point of view.""Yeah, I guess so."  Silence followed.  Both Troy and Darius started drinking.  The building tension had been stopped and turned back.  More drinks followed.  Soon they were joking with each other about things.  Tess watched from the outside, laughing.  After a while she staggered out of the tub and passed out in her bunk.</blockquote>

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