Log Date: 9/4/98, 9/6/98 Log Cast: Aidon Semmes, Shenneret Veery, Kor'goth, Nelun Good, Taggor, Kael Log Intro: Back to Caspar, again. It's not a trip Shenner was particularly comfortable about making, for all that she's striving to ease her mind with the excuses that her odd friend Nelun wants to be there... and that Avy Laarken certainly seems enthused enough about her music. For one thing, Shenner has begun to suspect that Nelun needs constant supervision to avoid danger to himself or others, and despite Avy's generous offer to give them both free passage if Shen'll sing in her bar for a few days, Shenner is not at all confident of her ability to handle whatever audience the planet might choose to throw at her. Throughout the flight, though, she is painfully aware that she is largely just making excuses. The _real_ reason for her trepidation about Caspar is not the planet itself, but what happened to her last time she was there... and with whom. Paul Nighman's memory lurks in the back of her brain as Avy Laarken's ship speeds them off to the planet she once served as President, and Paul Nighman's memory haunts Shen all the more clearly as she ventures out to get her first new look at the place, once they've landed.... ---------- Landing Pad - Union Starport Slightly sunken down into the rocky ground, the paved flightline that is the landing pad is crammed with ships of a variety of types. Eight towering, oddly-shaped structures encircle the tarmac, serving as light towers and static dissipaters, but their markings and carvings in their metallic skin hint at a different original purpose. The dense forest crowds in on the rim of the clearing, and some foliage creeps over the stoney edge and hangs down like drapes. A row of hangers lie agape under the windows of the Starport Complex, and techs on hoversleds constantly push ships in and out of them. Near the exit which leads into the city, a sign is secured to one wall, separated from the rest of the notices placed in the area. OOC Note1: Type INSPECT NOTICE to read the Immigration Notice. OOC Note2: Type RECALL SHUTTLE to call the insystem shuttle to this location. -=-=-=-=-=-=<>=-=-=-=-=-=- => Economic Presence -=-=-=-=-=-=<>=-=-=-=-=-=- => Aidon => SHUTTLE: CSS Olumekar => STARFIGHTER: SubPro Wanderer Mk II -- Flight of Fancy => STARFIGHTER: Sienar Lambda Class Shuttle -- Starshine => STARFIGHTER: Sienar Lambda Class Shuttle -- CFS Acasta => STARFIGHTER: Corellian YT-1300 -- Sable Fox => Artoo => STARFIGHTER: Yacht Lady Luck => STARFIGHTER: Corellian YT-1300 -- The Stray Cat => STARFIGHTER: Sardakh Kale-1 -- Firedancer => STARFIGHTER: Corellian YT-1300 -- Typhos => STARFIGHTER: Sienar Lambda Class Shuttle -- CFS Armistice => SQUAD: Caspar Guards - 6799 => STARFIGHTER: SubPro Ilyrian Gnat -- CFS Kalinin => starport computer => Transport Panel -=-=-=-=-=<>=-=-=-=-=- est leads to Concourse - Union Starport. Aidon walks down the ramp of the Olumekar. Aidon has arrived. Aidon ducks out of the shuttle and then looks around. He takes a breath of fresh air. The landing pad appears to be fairly quiet, as landing pads in starports in busy cities go. One sentient amongs those milling in and about the ships, however, is a young woman with red hair and a sharply intent green gaze, moving off away from one of the docked vessels. She's got a slender black bag of some kind slung off one shoulder, and her right hand, as she walks, is fidgeting with something hanging round her neck. And the girl takes in every sight before her warily, as if expecting the worst of her being here. Aidon looks at you for a moment. Aidon steps down from the ramp since there are plenty of people impatient to leave the confines of the shuttle. He glances at the immigration notice, at several of the higher-class ships in the area, and then starts towards what looks to be the exit. As he passes a young woman with carroty hair, he says, "D'you know where a good circuitry outlet is?" Shen blinks, hearing the voice just off to her side, and turns slightly round on her heel. Green eyes narrowing slightly, she says, "You talkin' to me?" He adjusts his glasses carefully, and then says, "No one else in the vicinity; good chance the shot's aimed at you." Aidon He's a tall man. When he's standing, he stands straight, which makes it more noticeable. He's got the shoulders and arms of a man who works with his hands, and seems generally fit. Those hands are large and maybe strong, but otherwise unremarkable. Grey is starting at his temples, though the rest of his hair is dark. The hair at the crown is probably thinner than he'd like it to be. His eyes, some dark shade of brown, are blocked by a pair of wire-framed glasses. His face is old enough to have seen one or two things. His clothing is well-made and formal. He fits it well, as if he's forgotten that most people don't dress like this all the time. The redheaded girl frowns, lifting her green gaze up to study the man who's approached her. Wariness lingers in her youthful features, though it's anyone's guess as to why. But she also says grudgingly, after a moment, "I dunno. I've only been here coupla times myself -- and I dunno much about circuitry stores anyway." She's paused now, her hand still idly fidgeting with the pendant hanging about her neck. "There's shops off the city square, they can probably give ya directions." The man nods, and glances in what he probably assumes is the right direction. "Fair enough. I've never been here, myself. Always nice to see a new place." He glances back in the young woman's direction, only vaguely aware of her as anythign more than a source of information. "That way," says the girl, dropping her necklace to point westward. The pendant glimmers in dull hues of silver and brass against her silken shirt. As if keenly conscious of being under even vague scrutiny, she has pulled herself to her full height, all five foot six of her, and her young features are arranged into an expression of cool neutrality at odds with the fire of her hair. "Place is nice enough," she adds, still sounding grudging, giving nothing else away with either tone or face. The man adjusts his gaze accordingly and nods. He glances back at the young woman and says, "It was a request for information, not a full-fledged infantry attack, you know." Then he's frowning back towards the west. The girl's features sharpen their expression into the kind of look a rather younger individual might get, if she perceived herself to be unjustly scolded. Then, she catches herself, and with a fractional lessening of the the mask that apparently lives over that face of hers, she grunts, "Sorry. I ain't used to havin' random strangers hit me up for stuff in places like this, is all." Aidon glances around and shrugs. "Seems a friendly enough place to me," he says. Then again, perhaps he's used to diffferent standards of friendliness than she is. The Olumekar powers up it's engines and leaves the landing area. Artoo bleeps. The Olumekar comes in for a landing and powers down it's engines. Kor'goth walks down the ramp of the Olumekar. Kor'goth has arrived. The redheaded girl rolls a shoulder in a shrug, sliding a probably deliberately casual gaze off across the landing pad at the incoming shuttle. "Yeah," she answers, noncommittally, "it's friendly enough." As the engines of of the CSS Olumekar die down, Kor'goth makes his way down the single ramp that protrudes from the side of the vessel. As he steps down onto the rockey ground, he takes a quick look about the port, his large, bulbous eyes taking in the details. Artoo bleeps. The man glances at the next shuttle arrival, and nods. "Right," he says coolly. "Everybody's best pals." Then he hefts the satchel that's over his shoulder and turns away. "Thanks for the information." He pauses to let the crowd of new arrivals leave the shuttle, since they're in his way. Kor'goth looks at you for a moment. Shenner smirks darkly, mutters, "Pals. Hah," and then adds more loudly, "No problem, 'pal'" -- is she adding sardonic emphasis to the word? -- "first bit's always free." Annoyed and uncomfortable without really knowing why at this tall stranger in his wire-framed glasses, the kid turns away, preparing to head back the way she came, glowering at sentients she finds in her way. He's quick, you have to give him that. Faster than one might expect, he's turned and is standing next to her. "I asked nothing from you but information, child," he says easily. "You might want to be polite about it. If I'd wanted more, I would have asked for that, too. And been nice about it when you said no." Kor'goth's antennae twitch slightly as he turns away from the port, and heads towards the main concourse. He walks slowly, taking his time with what appears just to be a leisurly walk into the city. Dispite his stick-like appearance, he moves with more fluidity and grace than one would expect for a member of his race, with a slight hint of arrogance in the way he walks. The girl turns round, green eyes sparking, to the human male with whom she's been having what passes for a conversation. Her mouth then curls into a lopsided sort of smirk, and she snaps, flicking a hand down at herself, "If I look like a child to you, buddy, you better get those glasses of yours checked! Who asked you for lessons on manners, anyway?!" Her voice comes out in a low tenorish growl. Kor'goth passes several metres from the two, but seems not to be paying too much attention to his surroundings. He continues on his walk towards the concourse, finally rounding a corner and vanishing from sight. Kor'goth heads into one of the openings towards the concourse of the starport. Kor'goth has left. Aidon folds his arms and looks down at her with an amused grin. "Last I checked, my glasses worked just fine. And you look just exactly like a child having a temper tantrum. I don't much need to be asked to give manner lessons. It's part of my nature. Besides, I like making girls like you angry. It gives me something to reminisce about in my doddering agedness." Aidon looks at you for a moment. Perhaps it's the superior grin, or the condescending tone. Or maybe it's simply the glasses, the wire-rimmed glasses, setting off flares of painfully acute memory in the back of her mind. Regardless, Shenner's temper begins to flare, igniting heat in the green eyes, though somehow her pale redhead's complexion so far avoids the flush of anger. Her left hand clenches reflexively at the necklace at her throat, while the right curls into a fist which she has to keep at her side with a mighty effort. Don't give him the satisfaction, street rat! And thus, rather than indulging in the more immediate urge to punch the grin right off the stranger's face or make crude commentary about what _else_ he might like to do with 'girls like her', Shenner instead looks him square in the eye and retorts with icy, confident blandness, "Glad to hear I'll give ya somethin' more interesting than circuitry to ponder, Grandpa!" He rubs his chin and watches the fury creep io the girl's expression. When she doesn't get punched at the end of the reaction, he looks mildly surprised, but suitably impressed. "More to you than -just- carrot-red hair, anyway. Always nice to meet someone with a little complexity." He peers at her thoughtfully, and then offers his arm in an ancient gesture of courtliness. Pehraps it's designed to test, perhaps not. "Accompany an aged grandfather," he says, "On a purchasing expedition. You amuse me." Green eyes snap a glance at the offered arm, then at its offerer. Apparently the redheaded girl knows the meaning of the gesture, for her response is to abruptly step forward to link her slender arm round the proffered elbow. And she barks sardonically, but with a lessened edge to her voice, "Hah! I'll just bet I do." Aidon nods and sets off towards the concourse. "Besides, you look strong. I'll bet you carry things well." His tone is slyly teasing. "But I'll buy you a sweet later, if you're good." Aidon heads into one of the openings towards the concourse of the starport. Aidon has left. You head back into the main concourse of the starport. Concourse - Union Starport The throng buzzes about this modern complex, a mix of travelers, tourists, merchants, and citizens. An array of tiers encircle a busy floor, each tier hosting a different kiosk or bureau that offers information, services, traveling necessities, or souveniers. In the center of the complex, a huge post supports four immense databoards, giving a constantly updated listing of arrivals and departures. The air is crisp, and the skylights give this place a very airy, open look. The tiers have foliage planted on their borders and railings, and the greens, blues, and grays of the fibrous walls and floor gives the structure a very natural, forest atmosphere. Currently, construction of some sort seems to be taking place to the south, as large construction vehicles move along, toting beams and laying down a new road. A sign nearby says, "Future home of CDU Recruiting Center." -=-=-=-=-=-=<>=-=-=-=-=-=- => Aidon => BOOTH AND BENCH: Cham's Fortunes and Variety -=-=-=-=-=<>=-=-=-=-=- ast leads to Landing Pad - Union Starport. est leads to South Mergansar Ave. - Plaxton City. As she falls into stride along with the 'aged grandfather', the girl smirks, and lets out a sharp, short noise that might be laughter. "I don't take candy from strangers, pal," she parries. Aidon ahhs. "My name's Aidon. Aidon Semmes. Now we're not strangers anymore." He strolls along, glancing in shops that catch his attention. "So I can buy you candy. Or perhaps an ice cream." "Shenneret Veery," is the girl's reply, prideful, as if she perhaps expects to be mocked for her name somehow. And she glances sidelong at her companion, caustically, to add, "And I'm a little big for sweets, pal." Kor'goth enters into the main concourse from the road. Kor'goth has arrived. Kor'goth looks at you for a moment. The young human with red hair who'd been arguing with the dark-haired man with glasses is now making her way down the street with that very same man, her arm linked through his. From the look of the redhead's expression, though, the gesture is hardly one of amity, as her eyes are sparking even yet as she parries words back and forth with her companion. Kor'goth heads down one of the corridors towards the flightline. Kor'goth has left. He looks into a storefront, and then shrugs. "You're kinda scrawny, actually," Aidon says. "Might do you some good to eat more sweets. Shenneret? I like the name. I knew someone named Veery once, a long time ago. Have any relations in the CSA?" The remark about her frame makes the redheaded girl scowl... until the further query from her companion stops her cold. It's only for a fraction of an instant, but it's more than enough to relay that the suggestion of other Veerys in the galaxy takes her aback and then some. She then quite abruptly clears her throat and rasps out as firmly as she can manage, "No. No, I don't." "Ah. It's too bad. Tech Sergeant Veery was one of my best men," Aidon says. His voice carries a wealth of respect for whomever this person was. He purses his lips at the carrot-topped girl's reaction, and then adds, "Last I heard, he had a wife, three kids, and a thriving restaurant." There's a noticeable drain of color from the young woman's face, and behind the green eyes that have turned hard and distant, a dark suspicion is beginning to form. Someone who claims to recognize her last name... who knew a tech sergeant -- who knows how long ago, given this man's apparent age? And in CSA space, which, last Shenneret Veery knew, was heavily influenced if not outright controlled by the Empire. Beginning to wonder wildly if she's somehow managed to find herself on the arm of an Imperial soldier, the girl says stiffly and shortly, "Good for him," while turning over options on how to make a fast getaway without looking _too_ suspicious.... The older man's eyes narrow thoughtfully. "Wild as any animal, aren't you? Ought to learn a little caution, I think. If you take that look a little further, that drunk across the way is going to know you're panicked." He says it as if him noticing her concern won't increase the worry exponentially. He adds, "I'm retired from that life and have no intention of going back, if you're wondering. Thirty years is plenty long enough to live as a gunner and a mechanic. Though I'm damned good at both." Which probably only makes her more nervous. If Shenner is nervous, having it pointed out to her only serves to harden her youthful visage into a mask of stone. She does not turn her head to look for the alledged drunk, though her gaze flashes warily off to either side for a moment. Aware of a violent roil in her belly at the thought that the man escorting her may well be a former Imperial, yet equally aware of and annoyed by his continued superiority, she yanks her arm free of his and growls lowly, "Well, karkin' good for you." Nelun_Good comes from the landing pad. Nelun_Good has arrived. "You're not even going to ask if I eat little girls for breakfast?" Aidon asks. He looks mildly surprised, and entirely amused. "You're slipping, girl. Here and I thought you had spunk." He gives the sentient who's approaching a glance, and then forgets his existence. Instead, he pauses when Shenneret pulls her arm away. "Tsk. Now how am I going to buy you sweets if you act like this?" He folds his arms and looks at her thoughtfully. "I don't want a damned thing from you," Shenner snarls, keeping her voice still pitched low, not carrying farther than her and this unknown quantity who calls himself Aidon Semmes. Either totally missing or deliberately ignoring the insult, and now determined to give nothing away to a man who for all she knows may well be an Imperial spy, she adds, "Go find your own circuitry shop, Grandpa, I'm outta here." And she pivots away, determined to stalk off back the way she came, aware that she must look badly shaken, but bent on making the most dignified retreat she can. Taggor comes from the landing pad. Taggor has arrived. Nelun Good meanders into the starport, a bit overwhelmed by the awesome atmosphere of frenticity. Dodging what seems to be a droid here and a construction worker there, it only takes a moment for Shenner's presence to register in the man's jumbled mind, and then, that the girl's parading away as usual from someone... Parading is one word for it. Fleeing is another, though if anyone dares to suggest to Shenner that this is what she's doing, beginning to walk stiffly and stoically along the walkway away from Semmes, it's fairly likely that the girl's fist will be making an abrupt acquaintance with a jaw or two. Her face is ashen, her green eyes nearly black within them, though she's moving with an almost mechanical gait now, keeping herself from outright bolting by reflex alone. Aidon catches her arm as she turns, and puts something in Shenner's hand. "You forgot your sweet," he says with a disarming smile. Then he lets her go, but he adds, "We'll meet again, Shenneret Veery. I like you." Taggor mingles into the concourse along with the throng of people coming from the landing pad. He continues westward towards the middle of the city. Nelun blinks, diverting his glazed look of non-adamance toward the man beside Shen, and then over to the girl herself. "Shen?" He asks in a slightly louder tone than his surroundings, promptly heading toward them. Caught by her arm, instinctively ready to struggle out of the man's grasp, Shenner is taken aback by Semmes' abrupt offering. Then she flees in earnest, whirling and charging off down the walkway with only one intention now -- tossing the item, whatever it is, into the nearest waste receptacle. _Don't want nothin' from no Imperial....!_ With this wild thought crossing her mind, she doesn't see Nelun coming... and in fact collides with the man. Kael enters into the main concourse from the road. Kael has arrived. Kael heads down one of the corridors towards the flightline. Kael has left. "Waoof!" Nelun barely manages to keep the girl from plowing herself further from whatever she's headed from. Although Shen is much less weight than the man, Nelun can't help but stumble back; whatever she's running from is surprising enough, but that she'd totally miss Nelun in front of her as well. Regardless, he's a little overwhelmed, if not confused. And now, he's a little out of air. The young musician only then stumbles back, Semmes's unknown gift dropping from nerveless fingers, and she blinks dumbfoundedly at the figure into whom she's just crashed. An abrupt look of plaintive relief washes across her features -- Nelun, for all his oddity, is blessedly normal right about now -- and she croaks out in a hoarse but grateful tone, "Nelun." "Wha..." Nelun frowns, recognizing Shen's disturbingly shallow features for what might be the first time. And the tone of her voice is, literally unheard of. "Shen? What... are you..." He begins, and then switches the word that's brimming in his mind with something a little more sympathetic, "...allright?" "Yeah... yeah, I'm fine. Fine," the girl mutters, now aware again of the picture she must present, and trying to pull a more normal countenance into place. "I'm okay. Thought you were gonna stay with Miz Laarken...?" "She's asleep. I think. I was... just looking around fer you..." He says, surveying the girl's features with an unusual mode of intensity; marked by confusion as well as concern. "Hey, are you sure you're, um, fine?" Shenner swallows hard, only now glancing reflexively over her shoulder, to see if the disturbing stranger Aidon Semmes has vanished into the crowd yet. Then she jerks her head back around, muttering, "Yeah... I... it's nothin', just some guy with a banthadung story, I'm okay, I'm okay..." From his easy viewpoint down the concourse a little, Aidon watches his gift trampled under the uncaring feet of the populace of this world. He looks from there to the girl whom he terrified so badly. And then he shakes his head and turns away. An unlikely expression crosses his face. Perhaps it's sadness. Or perhaps it's just disgust. Nelun nods, blinking several times and glancing past Shenner, into the Concourse. Not finding the stranger whom seemed to pull Shen into as disturbing a mode he'd ever seen, and instead just overcrowd and bustle. "This is... Caspar?" he mumbles, lifting into wide-eyes. Right. _Deep breaths, street rat. Can't fall apart in front of Nelun, the man's screwed up enough without having to deal with you, too...._ "Yeah," Shenner rasps, shoving a hand through her hair and rumpling several strands that had escaped her braid, "this is Caspar, pal..." Inadvertantly looking down, unwilling to face Nelun's anxious brown regard until she has a better grip on her composure, she belatedly realizes she dropped the thing that Semmes had pressed into her hand. Captivation and anxiousness are simultaneous, as Nelun suddenly moves his stare from Shenner. Craning his neck to balk up at the databoards, the construction tiers, the populace... "Mebbe we should go back to the ship..." It's a candy, Shenner realizes, eying the dropped object on the plascrete. Disturbed by the offering -- and the implication that Semmes might perhaps have merely meant well -- and then once more hardening her resolve to stand by her statement that she doesn't take anything from strangers, especially 'candy', and especially from strangers who may well be Imperials, the girl nods brusquely to Nelun. "Yeah... back to the ship... c'mon, pal..." And she turns to accompany her bemused companion back to the starport. [End log.]