3
Right from the Start
The crew was standing still. They didn't really know what to do. "Alright guys" Corbin said, " so we're stranded on a Grubkind prison frigate, our ship has been destroyed, and our treasure was stolen."
"You mean that disc thing?"
"Yeah that. But look at the bright side, things can't get any worse right?"
A siren started to blare and lights started to flash. "I really don't know if you have good luck or really shitty luck" Meela said as she crouched behind some cover and pulled out her stylus.The lights turned from a dull orange to a bright blue and then to a loud purple. The sirens shut off and there was a very faint sound coming from somewhere in the frigate.
wub wub wub wob wob wob wub
The lights started to flash in a strobe fashion.
"Let's follow that noise" Corbin said.
"Just like that? Really?" Meela retorted
"Yeah, come on."
Corbin was already out the door. Meela and Flea quickly chased after. T
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Stellar Scoundrels: Chapter Two Point Five
2.5
Corbin
Corbin appeared next to the Grubkind on the Bridge of the ship. The interior of the ship was, quite odd to say the least. "Looks weird" Corbin said to himself. The Bridge was actually a bridge in both senses of the word. Corbin could see that it ran straight across, no rails though, that seemed dangerous. He looked down and saw intersecting bridges all over the place with workers each waving their stylus's to holographic screens. He looked up to see that this was the topmost bridge. He sighed at how confusing it was to name the inside of this particular ship. The Grubkind turned to a man in white who had a large knife in his buckle. "Get the other two and take them to the prison frigate."
The man disappeared with a white flash. The Grubkind turned to face Corbin, he raised his grubby little hand out with his palm up. "See, what can become of your kind. You Moron's just need the proper molding." Corbin looked around and saw that all of the workers and soldiers in white were human. "Well good for the-" Corbin started to say, as he tripped over his foot. He grabbed at the Grubkind's cloak but there was no physical form behind it. He fell off of the Bridge taking the Grubkind with him.
"Why wouldn't you put any rails?!" he screamed as the world around him seemed to move in slow motion. He looked up and saw the Grubkind looking all sorts of terrified and flailing it's tiny limbs. He turned his head to the left and saw soldiers scurrying around to try and save the Grubkind. He saw them trying to set up a ZGN (Zero Gravity Net) and scoffed as he and the Grubkind whizzed past them. The Grubkind was trying to take something out of his cloak. Corbin looked around and saw they were nearing a bridge that the engines were on. This particular bridge would be in their falling path.Corbin desperately searched around in his pockets for something he could use. His hands grasped at a sticky substance deep inside. A Sticky hand! It was an item that was essentially a sticky piece of rope with a hand on the end. He pulled it out and hurriedly untangled it. The Grubkind found whatever it was looking for as well as it pulled out a silver cylinder with a red button on the top. Corbin threw out his sticky hand with as much force as he could. The rope stretched tightly as the hand went flying through the air towards the closest bridge and it grabbed on to the side. Corbin grabbed the silver cylinder out of the Grubkind's hand as his rope rebounded him back up. He watched the Grubkind fall straight down into the core of the engine. The engine sputtered for a second and then roared back to life. The roar kept getting louder and louder as the engine started to glow a bright blue. Corbin passed the bridge as the sticky hand let go of it. "What? Why'd it let go?" Corbin let out an exasperated scream, "Why don't you guys have any rails?! It's a ptatkin' safety thing!" Corbin started to fall back down, he could see that the bright blue glow was in fact bright blue flames, and they had spread. Corbin braced himself and closed his eyes, readying himself for impact.
Two seconds passed.
Three.
Corbin opened his eyes, bright blue. "Too soon! Too soon!" he shouted as he closed them again.
When he didn't feel an impact or all of his flesh burning off, he opened his eyes. The engine bridge had collapsed at some point. Corbin could see that the engine bridge was approximately the middle level of the tall ship. "What is up with this ship? Who puts engines in the middle of a ship?!" Corbin was getting really tired of this enigma of a craft. Looking below he could see that all the other bridges had caught fire and the men upon them were sending out maydays. But more importantly, a path blocking bridge was approaching fast. "Well, time to see what this thing does" Corbin said as he eyed the silver cylinder. He pushed the button on top, and in a white flash he was standing behind Meela and Flea. "That was cool" he said as he saw flames on the monitors in front of him.
"What's that?"
Meela and Flea turned around.
"Captain!"
"Cap'n!"
"Hey guys, good to see you too. So what's that?"
"It's the ship you were on" Meela answered.
"Why's it so big?"
"Well it took our ship and about twenty other ships with it."
Corbin whistled. "That's a lot of ships"
"Yeah it is. What happened up there?"
Corbin took a deep breath and put his hands behind his back in that same cliche pose that he had done earlier.
"You know what? Nevermind" Meela continued as she backed up and went back to the screens. Corbin unclasped his hands and turned back towards them. "So, I guess we gotta find a new ship".
Corbin
Corbin appeared next to the Grubkind on the Bridge of the ship. The interior of the ship was, quite odd to say the least. "Looks weird" Corbin said to himself. The Bridge was actually a bridge in both senses of the word. Corbin could see that it ran straight across, no rails though, that seemed dangerous. He looked down and saw intersecting bridges all over the place with workers each waving their stylus's to holographic screens. He looked up to see that this was the topmost bridge. He sighed at how confusing it was to name the inside of this particular ship. The Grubkind turned to a man in white who had a large knife in his buckle. "Get the other two and take them to the prison frigate."
The man disappeared with a white flash. The Grubkind turned to face Corbin, he raised his grubby little hand out with his palm up. "See, what can become of your kind. You Moron's just need the proper molding." Corbin looked around and saw that all of the workers and soldiers in white were human. "Well good for the-" Corbin started to say, as he tripped over his foot. He grabbed at the Grubkind's cloak but there was no physical form behind it. He fell off of the Bridge taking the Grubkind with him.
"Why wouldn't you put any rails?!" he screamed as the world around him seemed to move in slow motion. He looked up and saw the Grubkind looking all sorts of terrified and flailing it's tiny limbs. He turned his head to the left and saw soldiers scurrying around to try and save the Grubkind. He saw them trying to set up a ZGN (Zero Gravity Net) and scoffed as he and the Grubkind whizzed past them. The Grubkind was trying to take something out of his cloak. Corbin looked around and saw they were nearing a bridge that the engines were on. This particular bridge would be in their falling path.Corbin desperately searched around in his pockets for something he could use. His hands grasped at a sticky substance deep inside. A Sticky hand! It was an item that was essentially a sticky piece of rope with a hand on the end. He pulled it out and hurriedly untangled it. The Grubkind found whatever it was looking for as well as it pulled out a silver cylinder with a red button on the top. Corbin threw out his sticky hand with as much force as he could. The rope stretched tightly as the hand went flying through the air towards the closest bridge and it grabbed on to the side. Corbin grabbed the silver cylinder out of the Grubkind's hand as his rope rebounded him back up. He watched the Grubkind fall straight down into the core of the engine. The engine sputtered for a second and then roared back to life. The roar kept getting louder and louder as the engine started to glow a bright blue. Corbin passed the bridge as the sticky hand let go of it. "What? Why'd it let go?" Corbin let out an exasperated scream, "Why don't you guys have any rails?! It's a ptatkin' safety thing!" Corbin started to fall back down, he could see that the bright blue glow was in fact bright blue flames, and they had spread. Corbin braced himself and closed his eyes, readying himself for impact.
Two seconds passed.
Three.
Corbin opened his eyes, bright blue. "Too soon! Too soon!" he shouted as he closed them again.
When he didn't feel an impact or all of his flesh burning off, he opened his eyes. The engine bridge had collapsed at some point. Corbin could see that the engine bridge was approximately the middle level of the tall ship. "What is up with this ship? Who puts engines in the middle of a ship?!" Corbin was getting really tired of this enigma of a craft. Looking below he could see that all the other bridges had caught fire and the men upon them were sending out maydays. But more importantly, a path blocking bridge was approaching fast. "Well, time to see what this thing does" Corbin said as he eyed the silver cylinder. He pushed the button on top, and in a white flash he was standing behind Meela and Flea. "That was cool" he said as he saw flames on the monitors in front of him.
"What's that?"
Meela and Flea turned around.
"Captain!"
"Cap'n!"
"Hey guys, good to see you too. So what's that?"
"It's the ship you were on" Meela answered.
"Why's it so big?"
"Well it took our ship and about twenty other ships with it."
Corbin whistled. "That's a lot of ships"
"Yeah it is. What happened up there?"
Corbin took a deep breath and put his hands behind his back in that same cliche pose that he had done earlier.
"You know what? Nevermind" Meela continued as she backed up and went back to the screens. Corbin unclasped his hands and turned back towards them. "So, I guess we gotta find a new ship".
Stellar Scoundrels: Chapter Two
2
Meela and Flea
"What do we do, Meela?" Flea asked with a worried expression. Meela hurriedly twirled her stylus about as she turned around. Holographic screens started to appear everywhere as she searched through the data.
"If I can trace the signal, I can reverse the teleportation."
"Meela, stop"
"What do you mean sto..." she saw him. Holding a large knife to Flea's throat was Meela's worst nightmare. Silvery white from head to toe with long luminescent hair, and red cat-like eyes, it was a ghost from her past.
"No. You're dead. I killed you."
The figure holding the knife pointed his thumb at himself, "Me? Lady, I've never met you before in my life."
Meela shook her head and looked again, her eyes had played a trick on her. This man was wearing white military gear and his hair was as brown as his eyes.
"I've got a lock on both of them, let's take us up" the man said. With a flash of white they were now standing in the middle of a cell. There were three more men in white military outfits in this room with their guns at the ready.
"You idiot, you've got yer knife up to the wrong one. She's the dangerous one, not him."
"Well shit, I dunno!" the man with the knife moved over to hold the knife to Meela's throat.
"Actually, he was right" Flea had an uncharacteristically dark smirk on his face and his eyes were glowing red. "I'm the dangerous one". With a lightning fast jab, the man with the knife went flying into the wall to their left.
"Fire! Fire!" screamed one of the men as he tried to pull the trigger. Meela waved her stylus and hacked into his gun instantly. It exploded in his hands in a orange burst of light. He passed out as blood spurted from where his hands used to be. Meanwhile, the other two didn't even have the chance to act as Flea crushed their heads in his hands. Flea's eyes returned to normal and his innocent smile resurfaced. "Let's find the Cap'n and get out of here."
"That was pretty crazy. I didn't know you were capable of that."
"You gotta be able to fight if you wanna travel with the Cap'n."
"Yeah " she laughed, "I suppose that's true. Just how often does he get in trouble like this?"
"It's pretty much just been a steady stream of trouble since I met him"
"Eesh, I'm starting to think I may have made a mistake joining up with you guys."
"No don't think that, there may be trouble but the Cap'n always makes it through somehow."
"What do you mean exactly?"
"It's like he's got luck on his side or something, I don't know how to explain it."
"I think I know what you mean. I experienced some of that when he saved me."
"Let's hope that luck still comes through. C'mon let's go."
They stepped over the bodies and started to walk. "Wait" Meela said as she held her hand up. She twirled her stylus as a screen appeared in front of them. "He's not on this ship, we'll have to teleport to wherever he is." Another screen popped up, it was a mayday call. The screen kept turning to static at odd intervals, there were men on fire in the background and one terrified looking young man screaming his message. "....danger.....breach......fire.....escaped..." The screen went silent. Meela pulled up a screen showing the ship. It was the ship closest to the one they'd been traveling in, and it was on fire. Meela noticed that all the other ships excluding the one they were currently on were starting to drift toward the flaming one. "Didn't you say the Cap'n was on that ship?"
"Yeah. This looks pretty bad." She furiously began to scribble in the air as screens began popping up. "I gotta get him out" she said desperately. There was a white flash behind her. Up on the screen, the flaming ship exploded along with all of their belongings and all but two ships out of the three squadrons.
Meela and Flea
"What do we do, Meela?" Flea asked with a worried expression. Meela hurriedly twirled her stylus about as she turned around. Holographic screens started to appear everywhere as she searched through the data.
"If I can trace the signal, I can reverse the teleportation."
"Meela, stop"
"What do you mean sto..." she saw him. Holding a large knife to Flea's throat was Meela's worst nightmare. Silvery white from head to toe with long luminescent hair, and red cat-like eyes, it was a ghost from her past.
"No. You're dead. I killed you."
The figure holding the knife pointed his thumb at himself, "Me? Lady, I've never met you before in my life."
Meela shook her head and looked again, her eyes had played a trick on her. This man was wearing white military gear and his hair was as brown as his eyes.
"I've got a lock on both of them, let's take us up" the man said. With a flash of white they were now standing in the middle of a cell. There were three more men in white military outfits in this room with their guns at the ready.
"You idiot, you've got yer knife up to the wrong one. She's the dangerous one, not him."
"Well shit, I dunno!" the man with the knife moved over to hold the knife to Meela's throat.
"Actually, he was right" Flea had an uncharacteristically dark smirk on his face and his eyes were glowing red. "I'm the dangerous one". With a lightning fast jab, the man with the knife went flying into the wall to their left.
"Fire! Fire!" screamed one of the men as he tried to pull the trigger. Meela waved her stylus and hacked into his gun instantly. It exploded in his hands in a orange burst of light. He passed out as blood spurted from where his hands used to be. Meanwhile, the other two didn't even have the chance to act as Flea crushed their heads in his hands. Flea's eyes returned to normal and his innocent smile resurfaced. "Let's find the Cap'n and get out of here."
"That was pretty crazy. I didn't know you were capable of that."
"You gotta be able to fight if you wanna travel with the Cap'n."
"Yeah " she laughed, "I suppose that's true. Just how often does he get in trouble like this?"
"It's pretty much just been a steady stream of trouble since I met him"
"Eesh, I'm starting to think I may have made a mistake joining up with you guys."
"No don't think that, there may be trouble but the Cap'n always makes it through somehow."
"What do you mean exactly?"
"It's like he's got luck on his side or something, I don't know how to explain it."
"I think I know what you mean. I experienced some of that when he saved me."
"Let's hope that luck still comes through. C'mon let's go."
They stepped over the bodies and started to walk. "Wait" Meela said as she held her hand up. She twirled her stylus as a screen appeared in front of them. "He's not on this ship, we'll have to teleport to wherever he is." Another screen popped up, it was a mayday call. The screen kept turning to static at odd intervals, there were men on fire in the background and one terrified looking young man screaming his message. "....danger.....breach......fire.....escaped..." The screen went silent. Meela pulled up a screen showing the ship. It was the ship closest to the one they'd been traveling in, and it was on fire. Meela noticed that all the other ships excluding the one they were currently on were starting to drift toward the flaming one. "Didn't you say the Cap'n was on that ship?"
"Yeah. This looks pretty bad." She furiously began to scribble in the air as screens began popping up. "I gotta get him out" she said desperately. There was a white flash behind her. Up on the screen, the flaming ship exploded along with all of their belongings and all but two ships out of the three squadrons.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Stellar Scoundrels : Introduction and First Chapter
Prologue, Forward...not sure what to call this.
In the Earth year 2025, various lifeforms from other planets discovered the planet Earth. Flocks of beings emigrated to Earth to meet the newest members of the Universal Alliance. The planet could not take the overpopulation and was finally declared junked in 2050. The people of Earth took to the stars, most going to the Central Stations where the Singularity Council was located. These people were given very luxurious homes as was custom when relocating inhabitants of a junked planet. However there were the few who simply went their own way, scavenging the junked planet of Earth and somehow surviving....and breeding. These people would eventually be known as Morons. Over the decades, these scavengers would breed and die, never making it past the age of 20. Without anyone to educate them, the children of these scavengers would educate themselves on two-dimensional recordings passed down from the first scavengers. In what would be Earth year 2120 the Morons would be very nearly wiped extinct when beings called Grubkind's claiming to be from the Central Stations take their two-dimensional recordings forcefully. This is the year that Corbin Jessica Stalker became the first Moron to make it past the age of 20. He does so by stowing away on the Grubkind ship and getting away from a part of space where the planets have been junked for at least a century. He eats fresh food for the first time and acquires a taste for it. On the ship he learns of the real identity of the 2-dimensional recordings. He manages to recover only the one from which his name came from.
1
Shit Happens
Corbin gasped for air as the wall immediately to his left disintegrated in a high pitched squeal. He ran forward towards the open doors of his ship as the ground where he just stood disintegrated behind him. His mouth opened as he searched for the proper vernacular to describe his current situation.
"shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit" he yelled as he sprinted across the now disappearing starport. Being witty under pressure was never his strong suit; it was his parents' fault, they were Morons. But what would you expect from two people who named their child Corbin after who they called, "Space's Greatest Hero". They had learned the name from what they believed to be a recording of the historical exploits of a man named Corbin Dallas. After all, where else but in the past would you see a Hover car? A vehicle that was limited to a within a planet's atmosphere. He found the concept laughable. A shot of crimson heat squealed passed his ear and brought him back to the present. He stumbled into the open doors and slammed his fist into the hatch override button next to the door. "For ptakt's sake, start the ptaktin' engines up, Flea!" He didn't have a chance to ask again. The engines sparked to life and Corbin went flying into the wall behind him as the ship sped away from the now corroding spaceport.
"Do you think he managed to get it?"
"Of course he did, he's our Cap'n"
"But he's also a ptaktin' idiot"
"Don't talk about the Cap'n like that. He saved you, or don't you remember?"
Corbin woke up to identify the two who were disrupting a rather pleasant dream he was having. Before him stood the towering figure of Flea. Standing at 9 feet tall and 3 feet wide, the Hypocramp was an imposing figure, but he was as gentle as he was big. Corbin looked up at Flea's face and couldn't help but laugh. Flea's hippo-like ears flapped rapidly as he asked, "What's so funny Cap'n?"
"I don't think i'll ever get used to that face of yours Flea" Corbin said as he chuckled. Flea had a face like something out of one of those ancient National Geographic tomes that Corbin had seen during his time in the Central Stations. It was called a hypothalamus or something. Hypotenuse? However, it was his black and white spots and human like frame that set him apart from the hiphopanonymous's of ancient times. "Anyway why are you two in my room?"
"We're not in your room Cap'n, we're next to the starboard hatch. You got thrown when we took off".
"I didn't get thrown, I tripped"
"Meela said.."
"Don't listen to Meela. Where is she, anyway?"
"I'm right here" said a voice from behind Flea. Meela squeezed her way past the Hypocramp and stood in front of Corbin. The human woman pulled her rust colored hair into a ponytail. She leaned in closely and eyed Corbin up and down. She leaned back and took out her stylus; and began puffing on it after putting it into vapor mode.
"Did you get it?"
Corbin smiled.
"Of course I got it. I wouldn't have let that Spaceport fall apart if I didn't have it."
"You weren't supposed to have had anything happen at all. You were supposed to meet with the seller and simply trade for the ptaktin' thing."
"I didn't like his asking price"
"Things like this are why people think we're pirates."
"Fine. Then we'll be pirates. I don't care."
"So where is it? Show it to me."
Corbin pulled a disc the size of a small plate out of his inner coat pocket.
"Whoa what is that thing? Is it a disc? Why is it so huge?" Flea asked as he stared in amazement.
"This is the thing that you destroyed a Spaceport for?" Meela sneered.
"Yes."
"What is it?" she asked.
"It's called a Blue Ray"
"Is that supposed to impress me?"
"Why don't you check on the salesnet real quick for how much this particular baby goes for? It's called 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'."
Meela took her stylus out of her mouth and held the top of it to put it back into command mode. She started walking towards the bridge. Flea and Corbin followed.
"So what did the guy ask for anyway?" Meela asked.
"Something precious, too precious. The Fifth Element." Corbin held his hand to his chest where the disc hung from his neck.
"Boron? That's not precious, you can get that anywhere."
"That's not what I meant"
They had reached the bridge.
"What did you say it was called again?"
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
"Boy that's a mouthful"
Meela waved her stylus around and the monitors jumped to life with numbers and symbols flashing across the screen. The monitors all slowly started settling upon the same screen with the same number on it. Meela's stylus dropped from her hand. Flea's ears flapped in joy as they all saw the number that was on all the monitors.
"Oh my god" Meela said, "We're ptatkin' rich!"
Corbin couldn't help but let out a guffaw.
The number of zeroes on the screen was more than he could count on his fingers and toes.
Corbin turned around to face the both of them with a very smug look on his face. Flea was distracted by something on his piloting consoles.
"I told you guys it'd be worth it-" he said proudly.
"Cap'n!"
"-I mean if you guys would JUST trust me once in a while, you'd know that everything always goes my way."
"Cap'n!"
"No matter what I do..."
"CAP'N!!!"
"What, Flea?! What is it that is so important!?"
"The guys from the spaceport, they're here."
"What do you mean here?"
"Look!" Flea swiveled around one of his monitors so Corbin could see it. "That's us, there-" he pointed to a circle in the center of the screen, "and the grey rectangles are..."
"There's only like 3 rectangles! No sweat!"
"You didn't let me finish Cap'n, the rectangles are squadrons. Squadrons containing about 10 ships each."
"Ptakt"
"yeah"
Meela could not stay silent anymore.
"Alright, before we get blown to smithereens, i'd like to know exactly what happened down there Corbin."
"Captain. Call me captain."
Meela sighed, "What happened down there.....captain?"
"That's better" Corbin chimed. He walked over to the ship's viewing panel and looked out at the stars and approaching squadrons. He clasped his hands behind his back in a most definitely cliche way.
"Well as you know, we were contacted anonymously roughly about 48 hours ago regarding a-" he made air quotes with his hands, "-'very very quite valuable item' on the Centauri Starport and as such, I thought this situation needed further investigation."
"Yes, yes we know all this. We were there!" Meela grumbled.
Corbin ignored the obvious discontent in her voice and continued, "So we set out to the Starport with haste..."
"Will you just get to the part where you got off the ship?!"
"...but not TOO much haste..."
"..I ptatkin' hate you"
"...when we arrived, I was surprised to see that it looked relatively normal."
At that moment a holographic figure displayed itself in the middle of the room. At a quick glance it would appear to be six foot tall robed figure. Upon further inspection however, one would see that it was in fact a two foot tall green being hovering four feet above the ground. These beings were called Grubkind.
"That was the way it was designed to look Mor-spawn" the Grubkind continued, "you have something that belongs to us, or rather two things. Very Valuable thingsss"
Corbin shivered as he heard the lisp. When a Grubkind hissed, it was because it could not contain it's sense of greed.
"Yeah well you shouldn't have set a trap with actual treasure on the line. C'mon, that's like trap protocol" Corbin retorted.
"You are sssurrounded, there iss no where for you to run this time Mor-spawn. We have finally caught you. You will pay for your thievery."
With a flash of bright white, Corbin and the Grubkind disappeared.
In the Earth year 2025, various lifeforms from other planets discovered the planet Earth. Flocks of beings emigrated to Earth to meet the newest members of the Universal Alliance. The planet could not take the overpopulation and was finally declared junked in 2050. The people of Earth took to the stars, most going to the Central Stations where the Singularity Council was located. These people were given very luxurious homes as was custom when relocating inhabitants of a junked planet. However there were the few who simply went their own way, scavenging the junked planet of Earth and somehow surviving....and breeding. These people would eventually be known as Morons. Over the decades, these scavengers would breed and die, never making it past the age of 20. Without anyone to educate them, the children of these scavengers would educate themselves on two-dimensional recordings passed down from the first scavengers. In what would be Earth year 2120 the Morons would be very nearly wiped extinct when beings called Grubkind's claiming to be from the Central Stations take their two-dimensional recordings forcefully. This is the year that Corbin Jessica Stalker became the first Moron to make it past the age of 20. He does so by stowing away on the Grubkind ship and getting away from a part of space where the planets have been junked for at least a century. He eats fresh food for the first time and acquires a taste for it. On the ship he learns of the real identity of the 2-dimensional recordings. He manages to recover only the one from which his name came from.
1
Shit Happens
Corbin gasped for air as the wall immediately to his left disintegrated in a high pitched squeal. He ran forward towards the open doors of his ship as the ground where he just stood disintegrated behind him. His mouth opened as he searched for the proper vernacular to describe his current situation.
"shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit" he yelled as he sprinted across the now disappearing starport. Being witty under pressure was never his strong suit; it was his parents' fault, they were Morons. But what would you expect from two people who named their child Corbin after who they called, "Space's Greatest Hero". They had learned the name from what they believed to be a recording of the historical exploits of a man named Corbin Dallas. After all, where else but in the past would you see a Hover car? A vehicle that was limited to a within a planet's atmosphere. He found the concept laughable. A shot of crimson heat squealed passed his ear and brought him back to the present. He stumbled into the open doors and slammed his fist into the hatch override button next to the door. "For ptakt's sake, start the ptaktin' engines up, Flea!" He didn't have a chance to ask again. The engines sparked to life and Corbin went flying into the wall behind him as the ship sped away from the now corroding spaceport.
"Do you think he managed to get it?"
"Of course he did, he's our Cap'n"
"But he's also a ptaktin' idiot"
"Don't talk about the Cap'n like that. He saved you, or don't you remember?"
Corbin woke up to identify the two who were disrupting a rather pleasant dream he was having. Before him stood the towering figure of Flea. Standing at 9 feet tall and 3 feet wide, the Hypocramp was an imposing figure, but he was as gentle as he was big. Corbin looked up at Flea's face and couldn't help but laugh. Flea's hippo-like ears flapped rapidly as he asked, "What's so funny Cap'n?"
"I don't think i'll ever get used to that face of yours Flea" Corbin said as he chuckled. Flea had a face like something out of one of those ancient National Geographic tomes that Corbin had seen during his time in the Central Stations. It was called a hypothalamus or something. Hypotenuse? However, it was his black and white spots and human like frame that set him apart from the hiphopanonymous's of ancient times. "Anyway why are you two in my room?"
"We're not in your room Cap'n, we're next to the starboard hatch. You got thrown when we took off".
"I didn't get thrown, I tripped"
"Meela said.."
"Don't listen to Meela. Where is she, anyway?"
"I'm right here" said a voice from behind Flea. Meela squeezed her way past the Hypocramp and stood in front of Corbin. The human woman pulled her rust colored hair into a ponytail. She leaned in closely and eyed Corbin up and down. She leaned back and took out her stylus; and began puffing on it after putting it into vapor mode.
"Did you get it?"
Corbin smiled.
"Of course I got it. I wouldn't have let that Spaceport fall apart if I didn't have it."
"You weren't supposed to have had anything happen at all. You were supposed to meet with the seller and simply trade for the ptaktin' thing."
"I didn't like his asking price"
"Things like this are why people think we're pirates."
"Fine. Then we'll be pirates. I don't care."
"So where is it? Show it to me."
Corbin pulled a disc the size of a small plate out of his inner coat pocket.
"Whoa what is that thing? Is it a disc? Why is it so huge?" Flea asked as he stared in amazement.
"This is the thing that you destroyed a Spaceport for?" Meela sneered.
"Yes."
"What is it?" she asked.
"It's called a Blue Ray"
"Is that supposed to impress me?"
"Why don't you check on the salesnet real quick for how much this particular baby goes for? It's called 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'."
Meela took her stylus out of her mouth and held the top of it to put it back into command mode. She started walking towards the bridge. Flea and Corbin followed.
"So what did the guy ask for anyway?" Meela asked.
"Something precious, too precious. The Fifth Element." Corbin held his hand to his chest where the disc hung from his neck.
"Boron? That's not precious, you can get that anywhere."
"That's not what I meant"
They had reached the bridge.
"What did you say it was called again?"
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
"Boy that's a mouthful"
Meela waved her stylus around and the monitors jumped to life with numbers and symbols flashing across the screen. The monitors all slowly started settling upon the same screen with the same number on it. Meela's stylus dropped from her hand. Flea's ears flapped in joy as they all saw the number that was on all the monitors.
"Oh my god" Meela said, "We're ptatkin' rich!"
Corbin couldn't help but let out a guffaw.
The number of zeroes on the screen was more than he could count on his fingers and toes.
Corbin turned around to face the both of them with a very smug look on his face. Flea was distracted by something on his piloting consoles.
"I told you guys it'd be worth it-" he said proudly.
"Cap'n!"
"-I mean if you guys would JUST trust me once in a while, you'd know that everything always goes my way."
"Cap'n!"
"No matter what I do..."
"CAP'N!!!"
"What, Flea?! What is it that is so important!?"
"The guys from the spaceport, they're here."
"What do you mean here?"
"Look!" Flea swiveled around one of his monitors so Corbin could see it. "That's us, there-" he pointed to a circle in the center of the screen, "and the grey rectangles are..."
"There's only like 3 rectangles! No sweat!"
"You didn't let me finish Cap'n, the rectangles are squadrons. Squadrons containing about 10 ships each."
"Ptakt"
"yeah"
Meela could not stay silent anymore.
"Alright, before we get blown to smithereens, i'd like to know exactly what happened down there Corbin."
"Captain. Call me captain."
Meela sighed, "What happened down there.....captain?"
"That's better" Corbin chimed. He walked over to the ship's viewing panel and looked out at the stars and approaching squadrons. He clasped his hands behind his back in a most definitely cliche way.
"Well as you know, we were contacted anonymously roughly about 48 hours ago regarding a-" he made air quotes with his hands, "-'very very quite valuable item' on the Centauri Starport and as such, I thought this situation needed further investigation."
"Yes, yes we know all this. We were there!" Meela grumbled.
Corbin ignored the obvious discontent in her voice and continued, "So we set out to the Starport with haste..."
"Will you just get to the part where you got off the ship?!"
"...but not TOO much haste..."
"..I ptatkin' hate you"
"...when we arrived, I was surprised to see that it looked relatively normal."
At that moment a holographic figure displayed itself in the middle of the room. At a quick glance it would appear to be six foot tall robed figure. Upon further inspection however, one would see that it was in fact a two foot tall green being hovering four feet above the ground. These beings were called Grubkind.
"That was the way it was designed to look Mor-spawn" the Grubkind continued, "you have something that belongs to us, or rather two things. Very Valuable thingsss"
Corbin shivered as he heard the lisp. When a Grubkind hissed, it was because it could not contain it's sense of greed.
"Yeah well you shouldn't have set a trap with actual treasure on the line. C'mon, that's like trap protocol" Corbin retorted.
"You are sssurrounded, there iss no where for you to run this time Mor-spawn. We have finally caught you. You will pay for your thievery."
With a flash of bright white, Corbin and the Grubkind disappeared.
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