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Author	Topic: The Pirate Pickpocket (OC Database Winter Challenge) Completed
Rau_Fang Registered: Mar '05	Date Posted: 12/31/08 4:44pm Subject: The Pirate Pickpocket (OC Database Winter Challenge) Completed - Date Edited: 1/6 7:44pm (3 edits total) Edited By: Rau_Fang
	Title: The Pirate Pickpocket Author: Rau_Fang Timeframe: Pre-ANH Characters: OCs, Boba Fett Genre: Giddy Action/Adventure Summary: The Kannons could either be the worst or the best thieves ever, and so they end up in the Second Battle of Ilum Notes: This is a three (or maybe four) part vignette in response to the O.C. Database Winter Challenge by Thorn058. The due date is sometime in February but I am going to be really busy until summer so I’m going to get this done now while I’m still on break. Hooray for being punctual! This is kind of a similar fic to The Spice Heist, but it takes place several years after. All of this belongs to George Lucas technically. - - - Knock, Knock, Knock The hollow metal tapping echoes bounced about within the pitch black and deathly still cargo hold of a frigate heading for Ilum. The vibrating hum of the engines was faintly audible through the durasteel halls. The Kannon cousins uncomfortably shuffled around in their cargo crate hiding place among thousands of credits worth of aurodium ingots and trinkets. Currently, the heel of Larak’s boot was buried deep in Duce’s aching back. “I believe the coast is clear,” Larak whispered as he lifted up the lid and peered out into the darkness. He laughed with glee as he swung the box open with a loud crash. Duce groaned as he rolled off of Larak and out the top, falling four feet to land stomach first on the cold metal floor. As he lay there groaning, Duce was disappointed that a cold metal floor welcomed him back to freedom. Considering he has spent most of the day packed away in a box, he was now very irritated with Larak’s most recent half-baked scheme. Finally pushing himself off of the ground, Dice stood and brushed the dust from his space-worthy jumpsuit. He flipped the switch on his glowrod and it flickered to life. He focused it on Larak, who was cautiously inching his way out of the crate and onto the floor. With two feet confidently on the floor, Larak stood beaming a smile from ear to ear into the light. “You shouldn’t be happy,” Duce muttered, “When I get feeling back in my leg I’m going to kick your…” “What?! Why?” Larak interrupted with a knitted brow. “No reason,” Duce growled as he popped his back into place. “Hey,” Larak smiled as he found the glowrod attached to his utilities, “At least, the hard part is over.” “It’s never over,” Duce corrected as he began to wander the cargo bay. Duce carefully strolled through the dark towards the far end of the cargo bay to set up the explosives exactly like he was instructed. He pulled a small cheat sheet out of his pocket where he had written down Larak’s instructions. He glanced them over and then shone his light upon the wall. With a mental picture of his task, he went to work. He had stored away sixteen small cylinders in the bag at his side. According to the cheat sheet, he had to paste them on the wall in two octagonal patterns. As Duce labored on the explosive side of the operation, Larak slowly meandered his way over to find the cargo hold control panel. He scanned the wall near the door and eventually caught a glimpse of the console. There was a bright smile on his face as he removed the cover plate, revealing wires colored red, yellow, and blue. Putting his glowrod between his teeth, he carefully went to work, cutting wires and splicing them back together. He barely seemed to care that one missplice could throw the whole heist. Larak winced as sparks flew from two of the touching wires. He stopped what he was doing and waited in silence. When pirates did not flood into the cargo bay he shrugged and continued his work. He finished the last splice and the dome lights lining the ceiling flashed to life. “Ah,” Larak attempted to cover his eyes while they dilated in the light. “Larak?” Duce stood up and quickly jaunted to within eye shot of his cousin, “Was that you?” “Yeah,” Larak answered as he blinked twice and then gave his trademark smile, “We’re locked down and sealed off. They won’t know anything is wrong until they blast the door open when they get planet side. Did you get the charges set like I showed you?” “I did,” Duce solemnly admitted. “Hey, Duce,” As he started to across the cargo hull, Larak sensed Duce’s displeasure and gave him a quick pat on the back, “Don’t even worry about it. Be easy.” “Sure,” Duce was stoic, but Larak had spent enough time with his friend to see through his stony reserve. “Listen,” Larak began, “James and I made several test runs. It worked ninety percent of the time...” “What about the other ten percent?” Duce interrupted. “The other ten percent?” Larak repeated, “Let’s not worry about the other ten percent. “Where was I…” Duce grunted. “When we were running the tests?” Larak finished Duce’s question and then answered, “You were tracking the pirates to their… cove.” “What about the hole?” Duce asked. Larak shrugged, “They’ll notice sooner or later. It will probably register on the bridge as a minor issue. But by the time they figure out what happened, we should be long gone.” Duce clenched his jaw, silently acknowledging that there was no reason to question the method of thievery. No matter what the stunt, Duce had faith in his younger cousin. “Here, help me get these lined up correctly,” Larak began to push on one of the large crates with all of his might, but it did not budge until Duce applied his own brand of brute strength. They rearranged most of the cargo bay into a pyramid standing upside down on the point where the explosives were on the interior hull. They then cleared all of the trinkets out of one of the crates so that they could fit themselves into it comfortably. “Everything is set, we have the right atmospheric pressure in here and the explosives are set up correctly, from what I can tell,” Larak checked his chronometer, “If James has the nets set up in the right place, then we should have less than a minute. So get nice and cozy while I deactivate the gravity well in here.” “Why not before we moved the goods?” Duce wiped the sweat from his eyes with the sleeve of his suit. He then scratched at his skin through his suit. The pores of his arms were crying out for air beneath the heavy fabric. “Can you imagine how chaotic that would be?” Larak retorted as he turned, “Don’t forget your helmet.” They had clipped their transparasteel helmets to their utilities before they jumped into the crates back on the desert planet. To protect themselves from the hazards of space, they had to do was pull the bulbous contraptions over their head and seal it. Duce wrinkled his nose in the stifling air of the helmet. After he had done this he jumped into an open durasteel and crouched down with his arms around his knees. As he slipped the helmet over his blonde hair, Larak calmly walked over to his makeshift console and quickly spliced through the inertial dampeners and the artificial gravity responsible for maintaining the cargo bay. Everything started to float, including Larak. Using a small aerosol can, he propelled himself through the levitating boxes to where Duce was hunched over in a crate. Larak slowly maneuvered his way into the box, shutting and sealing the lid behind him. “Hey, Duce,” Larak whispered through the comm, “This will be intense, I think. So, hold on.” Larak tapped the button on the end of a small cylinder and everything lunged at once. The hull exploded outward and all of the oxygen in the cargo bay was sucked out by the greedy breath of black space. It lasted for only a second, but all of the rushing air catapulted the crates into space. They crashed away from the frigate, spinning through the stars at faster than light speeds. “Whooo!” Larak screamed victoriously as he tumbled about. Duce was very quiet. The tumbling lasted for several seconds until they were snagged by the gravity-tension of the interdiction field. Duce’s stomach lurched in his body and his heart disappeared into his throat. As the weightlessness of zero gravity set in, Duce gasped for stale air inside of his helmet. On the other hand, Larak was laughing furiously as he started to float about the inside of the crate. After regaining composure, Duce caught Larak’s eye with a lopsided grin. “Want to go again?” Larak sarcastically poked. “Heh,” Duce scoffed and crossed his arms. He was beginning to think that a second go would not be so bad. In Duce’s mind: you fly through hyperspace in a box once, you’ve done it a million times. “Now we just have to wait until James…” “Hey boys,” James interrupted, “I got to hand it to you. That was impressive.” “Why, thank you,” Larak responded gratefully, “Maybe next time you won’t be such a downer when I come to you with an idea.” “Yeah, right,” James sneered, “The fact that it worked… that it was an impressive feat. It was still a horrible idea. ” “Just pick us up, will ya?” Larak sighed. “I don’t know which box you are in so I’m collecting one box at a time,” James apologized, “You’ll have to wait your turn.” “Take your time,” Larak closed his eyes and put his hands behind his head, relaxing in the zero gravity. - - - As a tow cable clanked against the hollow metal, the cousins could feel the box start to drift swiftly. “Are we moving?” Larak asked groggily. They floated soundly through space until suddenly the gravity well of the ship kicked in. Larak fell hard into Duce, who was now on the bottom of the crate. With a growl, Duce grumpily tossed Larak off and onto his side. “Sorry,” Larak sheepishly breathed as he scrambled to find his bearings. When the lid crashed open, Larak immediately stood up and stretched. Unfortunately where he was expecting the warm greeting from his middle aged compadre, he found a horde of nasty looking people decked out with piercing, rotting teeth, and a lot of blaster rifles. The barrel of all of these weapons were trained on the cousins in the box. Larak instinctively surrendered his hands to the air. “I wonder… where is James?” Larak nonchalantly asked Duce as his cousin slowly stood to his defiantly statuesque stature. “James?!” One of the pirates yelled loudly for no discernible reason. He threw the butt of the rifle against Larak’s face, breaking through the glass of the helmet. Larak dropped like a powerless protocol droid and landed with a hair raising thump on the floor. They attempted to do the same to Duce, but he dodged and threw an uppercut against the pirate’s jaw. As the pirate sailed threw the air, the rest of them watched in silent anticipation. When their pirate comrade finally skidded to a halt, one of them screamed, “Charge” and they descended on Duce with violent fury. They pounded every inch of his body like a Star Destroyer in an asteroid field. - - - -----signature----- Get with the OC Revolution, Holmes! Don't check the Profile... my fics couldn't possibly be there... Negachlorian - http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/30251128/p1/?0
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Rau_Fang Registered: Mar '05	Date Posted: 1/2 1:51pm Subject: RE: The Pirate Pickpocket (OC Database Winter Challenge) - Date Edited: 1/3 10:59am (1 edits total) Edited By: Rau_Fang
	Part II / III - - - Larak sat against the icy wall of the pirate prison deep within the Ilum fortress thinking through all of the possible scenarios in his bruised head. At first he accused James of selling them out to the pirates. But that was foolish, considering James hated pirates. Also, James would never sell out the cousins. He looked after them like they were his own sons. So, James must have turned tail when the pirates showed. James was not a traitor, but maybe he was a coward. It was obviously Larak’s fault. He figured that he must have not bypassed the security system completely. When the explosion went off, they must have known something was wrong right away. It wouldn’t have taken them long to retrace their steps back to where the hyperspace nets were set up. James had to have escaped with some of the loot, otherwise they would have killed Duce and Larak already. He was not surprised that they were the pirates’ only prisoners. Larak was ripped from his reverie as two brutish pirates dragged in Duce. His jumpsuit was torn to bits, blood was seeping down his right cheek, his chest was blackened, scarred flesh and blood was soaking through his short dark brown hair. He tried to walk, but with the guards quickly dragging his body along, his footsteps just looked like weak underwater kick strokes. They briefly powered down the electro field barring the cousins’ escape and threw Duce to the ground. He slowly writhed on the ground and flipped himself over on his back. “You look like you were tossed into a reactor,” Larak said a crooked grin. Duce groaned a curse word. “We’ll, there wasn’t much I could do! What kind of questions did they ask,” Larak could have given Duce a rest, but rest was never a luxury they could afford. It almost was, but the pirates proved more resourceful than Larak assumed. Duce choked on his answer so it was hardly intelligible, “Jay an.” “Speak up!” Larak prodded. “They…” Duce took a deep breath and moaned, “want to know where James is.” “That’s a good sign,” Larak nodded, “What did you tell them.” Duce did not answer this time. He just lay on the floor recuperating with deep breaths. Larak took his silence to mean he didn’t tell the pirates anything. He was too tough to open his mouth under torture, which was a good thing for him. But it was a bad thing for Larak, who was next in line to the vibroneedle rack. Because Duce was so resilient, they would go down on Larak twice as hard and he had his limitations. “They weren’t done…” Duce spit, “Something scared them. I overheard… their defense proxy breached.” “What?!” Larak appreciated the good news, “By who?” “Don’t know,” Duce muttered, starting to feel painful sensations flooding back to his extremities. At least he was beginning to feel again. Suddenly a deafening boom shook the pirate’s Ilum ice fortress. Pieces of ice vibrated loose and fell on Larak’s head. “Was that turbolaser?” Larak asked, brushing the ice from his long blonde hair as he jumped to his feet. “The Empire,” Duce groaned. “Not necessarily,” Larak began to pace the small cell, “Remember what we heard from Cekker. There’s a rebellion going on out there. What if it’s them?” “Doubt,” Duce said as he blue milked every ounce of relaxation out of that icy floor. He felt tranquil knowing that they would be too busy fighting the Empire to take Larak into torture. “Yeah,” Larak agreed with a hand scratching the scalp beneath his blonde locks, “The Rebellion wouldn’t fight a war on two fronts…” Larak paused for a brief second as he prepared himself for the next bit of musing, “You know, we could join the Rebellion. I mean: we don’t like the Empire; they don’t like the Empire. They say ‘mutual enemies are the foundations for great relationships.’ No? Well, they should say that. Not to mention we seem to be horrible crooks. Maybe we should do something a little more straight edge. What do you think?” Duce did not respond. Larak knew if he did it would be, ‘no.’ Not that his silence was a negative answer, It was just that Duce had fallen into an exhausted sleep. “Yeah, you’re probably right. There wouldn’t be any money in it,” Larak sighed as he ceased his pacing and sat down, “We’re in trouble if it is the Empire, though. We might still have some outstanding debts to settle with them. Debts I’m sure we can’t pay.” Another volley of turbo laser shook the compound. Chunks of ice loosened up from the ceiling and fell onto Duce’s nose. He sniffled and scrunched up his face as the frigid ice started to melt, leaving cold streaks of water down his cheeks. He shivered and lazily lifted his hand up and wiped away the liquid. In that whole process of waking up, he heard footsteps in the hall. He looked up to the entrance of the prison ward. A dreadful laser scream echoed through the halls and flooded into the cell. The white washed walls reflected the red through the hallway like it was a carnival of mirrors. A second later, they heard a body drop to the cold floor. “What the?” Larak breathed as he clamored to his feet. The man entering was not a pirate, he was wearing too much customized body armor. Larak could only assume if the figure was a man at all, considering that no one could see a face underneath the tattered green helmet sporting a strange t-shaped visor. Not only was the armor dinged and battle-worn, he carried a still smoking EE-3 carbine and hefted around a Z-6 jetpack. He silently approached the Kannons’ cell. He stopped at the entrance and stared at Larak through his helmet. “Who are you?” Larak asked. He did not like being watched like some caged Kowakian monkey lizard. The armored man did not respond, just silently watched them. Another barrage of the ongoing war outside shook the prison. “Hey,” Larak was feeling slightly more anxious, “Why don’t you take a holo, instead. And while you’re at it flip that switch over there, let us out.” “You are both criminals,” He informed bluntly, “Unless you there is a bounty, you are not going to leave this cell.” “Aww,” Larak said disappointingly and then perked up, “Well, are there any?” “No,” he answered, “It appears anyone who puts a bounty on you dies.” “That’s not our fault!” Larak interjected defensively. “However, it appears there are warrants out for your arrest on the Holonet.” “Well, arrest us!” Larak exclaimed, offering his wrists to be cuffed. “Larak, what are you doing?” Duce hissed as he pushed himself from the ground. “Don’t worry I have a plan,” Larak whispered before once again confronting the bounty hunter, “Come on, be a good Imperial lackey and arrest us.” “I am Boba Fett,” the bounty hunter huffed as he turned to walk away, throwing over his shoulder before leaving, “I am no one’s lackey.” He left them in their cell without another word and the cousins silently let him go with expressions of disgust. Larak scoffed, “Bob.” “Nice plan,” Duce slowly lifted himself to his feet, “What were we going to do when he let us out?” “Bonk him,” Larak made a clubbing motion, “on the head.” Duce did not justify that plan with a response. As he stared down Larak with his cold expression, another turbo laser rocked the stronghold. Larak brightened as he watched the electrofield. He stepped up to the field and watched it intently. He was so close that if he breathed he would be shocked and sent sailing across the room. “What?” Duce was intrigued by Larak’s weird behavior. “The last time a turbo laser hit the base,” Larak tried to stand as close as he could to the field without it retaliating, “The field flickered. Maybe I can…” The room shuttered from another Imperial barrage. Larak fell forward and passed through the flickering electrofield onto the floor on the other side. As soon as the rattling was over, the field reignited. Larak jumped to his feet and held his arms raised high. He shared a victorious glance with Duce as he walked over the prison command console. He flipped the switch and the field powered down. Duce limped out of the cell. He looked over the ragged polymer strips that used to be the sleeves of his spacesuit. He took hold of the sleeves and ripped them from the shoulders. With his arms free from their fabric prison, Duce rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms across his chest. Sure it hurt, but he needed to limber up his stiff muscles. “Ready?” Larak asked after a beat. - - - -----signature----- Get with the OC Revolution, Holmes! Don't check the Profile... my fics couldn't possibly be there... Negachlorian - http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/30251128/p1/?0
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Jedi_Perigrine Registered: Apr '08	Date Posted: 1/2 8:32pm Subject: RE: The Pirate Pickpocket (OC Database Winter Challenge) Updated - Date Edited: 1/2 8:42pm (1 edits total) Edited By: Jedi_Perigrine
	Great little story you've got going here! The poor cousins, I think the cop who invented the phrase "crime doesn't pay" was probably thinking about that motley group. Really clever. “Nice plan,” Duce slowly lifted himself to his feet, “What were we going to do when he let us out?” “Bonk him,” Larak made a clubbing motion, “on the head.” LOVE that line. I'm not a Fett fanatic, but something tells me that one doesn't simply go bonk Fett unconscious. Good stuff! Keep it going and please PM me when you update! -----signature----- Check out the Talons! They RULE! http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/28126755/p1 I can't believe Darth Writer's Block only abandons me for NaNo. Final NaNo word count: 54515
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Rau_Fang Registered: Mar '05	Date Posted: 1/6 7:41pm Subject: RE: The Pirate Pickpocket (OC Database Winter Challenge) Updated - Date Edited: 1/6 7:43pm (1 edits total) Edited By: Rau_Fang
	If the Kannons heard that phrase they'd probably finish it with "...but we'll try it anyway." I guess the cousins are the only ones in the galaxy who don't know who Boba Fett is Thanks for reading Jedi_Perigrine! Part III / III - - - They were free, which was good. But they were still trapped deep within the ice caverns of the pirate fortress beneath what sounded to be an epic war zone. “We are here,” Larak fingered the structure map that the console displayed, “We either need to be here, or here. This is where the Empire would begin there assault. So we should go to hangar bay two.” Duce started to hobble quickly to the door, but Larak was not following stuck mulling over the map. So Duce grumbled, “Coming?” “Be easy,” Larak held up a hand, “this place is almost as confusing as that labyrinth on Lok. I need to know where we are going.” “Hurry,” Duce insisted as the structure shook again. The fighting on the surface was becoming more intense. Duce was beginning to hear the faint chorus scream of blasters. “Got it,” Larak snapped as he started after Duce. In the hallway just outside the prison lay the corpse of a pirate. He was shot in the face, presumably by the bounty hunter they had encountered earlier. Duce limped up to the pirate, stooped down and snatched up his blaster and spare ammo. He balanced the poorly weighted Lastech carbine rifle on his open palm and gave the battery clip a firm tap. He then eyeballed the sights and checked the aim with the rifle snuggly planted on his shoulder. When he finished his mental checklist he looked to Larak. “Ready to go now?” Larak asked briskly with an eyebrow raised. Duce stoically look on as they started off for the lift that would take them up to the hangar bay. With the halls being eerily empty, they trotted through the base relatively unhindered, until they turned and ran straight into wall of snow and ice. The ceiling had collapsed and the icy blocks were obstructing the final stretch to the lift. “Great,” Larak kicked the freshly crumbled wall, “I don’t remember any other way to get to the lift.” Duce assessed the rough ice, scanning the area were the wall flows from the ceiling. Taking a few steps back, he fired his rifle into the ceiling. The red laser seared through the ice. The melted ice began to crumble further and fall at Duce’s feet. “What are you…” Larak put up a hand to shield his face from the blustering snow and ice as Duce fired two more shots into the ceiling. The ice and snow flowed out of the hole like a slushy river. When he was done, a there was a small crawl space up the makeshift wall and onto the next floor. “That’s not safe at all,” Larak admonished Duce as he started climbing up the ice wall. But when he disappeared into the laser bored hole, Larak decided he should follow. When Duce poked his head onto the next floor he saw two heavily armed pirates standing guard near the lift. They did not notice him at first, but as he started to level his blaster rifle their way, they took notice and drew their blasters. Duce managed to get off three shots before having to duck back into the hole. As the lasers barraged the ice protecting his head, he hoped that his cover would last long enough for them to run out of battery. As he started to slip as water started splashing onto this frigid fingers. He scrambled for a foothold and found Larak's head. “Umph! Get off!”Larak hissed as he did his best to support Duce's weight as he dug deeper into the side of the snow. They stopped firing and began to slowly step towards the hold. As the crunching ice loomed closer, Duce catapulted off of Larak's head and pulled the trigger on his blaster. The pirates fell under the rain of fire from Duce’s wild blaster shots. Duce grabbed a hold of the side and hoisted himself up. He then lent Larak a helping hand. Duce limped into the lift with Larak close behind him. “So how are we going to do this?” Larak asked, “Are we just going to bust all spacer-like into the battle with our one blaster, steal a ship, and fly through a blockade of three or so Star Destroyers?” “Yeah,” Duce coolly responded. “Good plan,” Larak shot sarcastically. “Know better?” Duce asked. “Well…” Larak thought the situation through and then answered, “No... just go ahead and shoot everyone you see.” Duce poised himself to fire as the doors slid open with a hiss. The halls were empty, but the blaster fire and thermal detonators became increasingly audible echoing within the ice. He limped out slowly clearing the area. With his blaster raised high, he continued along the way. Every once and a while a war frenzied pirate would scramble through, but they paid no mind to the tatter-clothed prisoners. Duce reached a corner and carefully peeked around it as he propped himself against the wall. He could hear the crisp sound of blaster fire peppering the hallways before him. When he looked at the skirmish he recognized the armor clad bounty hunter from before. He was single handedly killing pirates who were blocking his way to the hangar. As Fett cleared the last of the pirates, Duce waited for patiently for his opportunity to spring an ambush. Larak peered around the corner and exclaimed, “It’s Bob.” Feeling the element of surprise was wasted on Larak’s outburst, Duce spun around the corner and leveled his blaster at Fett while Fett was spinning around to shoot Duce. But before either of them could pull the trigger the ceiling fell in between them, knocking Duce backwards. He groaned as he landed hard on his bad leg. “Don’t worry,” Larak said as he helped Duce up, “You’ll probably shoot him someday.” Duce solemnly glared at the icy wall as if it had stole something. “This way,” Larak started towards the other end of the hall, “We might be able to get to the other hangar this way.” Duce quickly followed after, easing every second step from the pain. Duce would take the potshots at the fleeing pirates as they blocked their path, or he would fire over his shoulder as they chased after them. The laser struck pirates would fall over like running smoking dominoes. Fortunately they had not run into any Imperial resistance. As the blaster fire grew louder, it was only a matter of time until they reached the frontlines. “The hangar should be just beyond this… oh force!” Larak ducked into the hangar and dove behind nearby cover. Laser of all colors streaked across the hangar, illuminating the singeing smoke that hung in the air like a blood stained curtain. The haze stung Larak's eyes and burned the hair from his nostrils. The meandering beams of dangerous light ricocheted off of the walls and melted dark holes into metal from an ecstasy sparks. They threatened the soldiers to remain behind their cover, lest be caught in a violent wake of heat. The hangar was ground zero for the battle. At the gaping mouth of the hangar were Imperial snowtroopers ducking in and out of cover while firing at the pirates who were bolstered in their positions among the spaceships. While they held off the Imperial onslaught they loaded up their frigates in an attempt to evacuate. Larak spotted a short range patrol craft in the back corner and directed Duce’s attention to it. Duce nodded and started to provide cover fire as Larak started to skim the back wall from cover point to cover. With so many targets in a flurry around the hangar, it was impossible to Duce to cover all the angles. He assumed that if he helped the pirates take out a few snowtroopers then they wouldn’t care that the cousins were escaping in one of their ships. Of course assumptions are not always correct. One of the pirates, crouched behind his metal munitions cover called out, “Hey! Who are you?” Duce overreacted by shooting the man and then weakly diving behind cover before his comrades returned the favor. Larak was already on the ramp to the ship when he turned to find Duce pinned down by a hailstorm of red lasers. Calm and collected, Duce patiently hunkered down. Larak frantically searched for the closest throwable item finding a hydrospanner which he hurled with all his strength at the pirates yelling, “Shoot me! I’m taking your ship!” Surprisingly, the distraction worked. Larak yelped and covered his head as he dove inside of the ship as the lasers left their blacken mark on the ship hull behind him. Duce took the opportunity to jump out from his hiding place and shoot those who were firing at his cousin. He then limped to the patrol craft as he fired upon hostile Imperials and unwitting pirates alike. When he reached safety he tossed the useless blaster aside and limped up the ramp as Larak sealed off the ship. “I’ll get her hardwired if you take the helm,” Larak dealt out the order as he took off the panel under the command console of the bridge. Duce sat in the pilot seat. Watching the battle safely from behind the thick transparasteel, he waited for the next step. Larak cut into the wires with his teeth, sending a tingling sensation down his spine and raising goosebumps on arms. He touched the bare metal together, overriding the security lockdown and giving life to the console. Duce found the appropriate power commands, flipping switches that produced a surge of energy to the respulors and the engines. He grabbed a hold of the reigns, and initiated a full burn takeoff. Larak rolled backwards onto the bridge floor as the ship dashed over the heads of the hapless snowtroopers and out of the hangar. The battle raging in the snow was just as chaotic as the one ensuing amidst the fume filled hangar. When Larak got to his feet and looked out on at the battle expanse, he saw pirate skiffs and ISPs being pelted by the fast and maneuverable tie fighters. They were helpless against the barrage of green light, erupting into brilliant flames that melted craters into the snow. “The guns,” Duce yanked the helm to the side, and the patrol craft narrowly avoided a head on collision with a tie-bomber. Larak strapped himself into one of the bridge seats and accessed the ships targeting system. The turrets sprung to life and began to pepper the sky around the patrol craft with green lasers. The automatic fire was clunky, but it was the best Larak could do in this situation. The craft swooped and swerved as it started to peel through the atmosphere and into space. The clouds rolled back quickly, revealing several star destroyers looming directly overhead. “Star Destroyer!” Larak pointed at the giant grey isosceles amidst the stars. Duce pulled up on the helm and the ship took a nosedive away from the massive crafts blockading the sky. The responsive craft swiftly attended to his every command as he dodged tie fighters and turbo lasers. They skimmed along the belly of the craft, and ricocheted off the shields, causing the craft to sputter and shake. He found the hole in the blockade and made break for it. The tie fighters were in hot pursuit weaved in and out of Larak’s retaliatory fire. It was a massive elegant choreographed dance that partnered the tie fighters with the patrol craft. They avoided each other’s fire while providing their own steps to the fray. Duce knew the dance, and predicted the steps. If he kept with the tempo they would make it out. The Star Destroyers closed in on their position, but the patrol craft was faster. It blazed between the ships as they unleashed their turbolaser payload. When they had broken through the blockade the tie fighters gave up pursuit and the Star Destroyers refocused their attention to the ongoing battle on the ground. “Nice!” Larak jumped in celebration as they safely sailed away from blockade, “There isn’t a hyperdrive on this ship, so we are going to have to find a nearby system to park and contact James. I suppose he is out there hiding somewhere with our money.” Larak looked through a map of available systems with hospitable planets, “This one here.” Duce set the autopilot and loosened his grip on the helm reclining back into his chair. He gave his cousin an exasperated look and took in a deep breath. He was bleeding from his chest where they had cut into him with vibroneedles. His leg was sprained, his hip was bruised and his arm was dripping blood from where a blaster had singed passed it. He hadn't realized it when it happened, but he could feel it now as the floodgate of feeling was released from its adrenaline lockdown. Larak was relatively unscathed. Rising from his seat Duce announced in the least amount of words possible: “Hungry and tired.” He limped off of the bridge, hoping that there would be some sort of Nar Shaddan familiar in the pantry. As he left he muttered over his shoulder, “We’re always lucky… and I’m getting too old to be lucky anymore.” “You’re only 35!” Larak objected as Duce silently limped away, “You've got several years of fight left in you!” Crossing his arms in huff, Larak grumpily slouched in his chair when Duce went away without another word. Could not remain angry at Duce, as his mind soon became sidetracked with impossible schemes of epic caliber. He could only think of the next adrenaline rush. - - - -----signature----- Get with the OC Revolution, Holmes! Don't check the Profile... my fics couldn't possibly be there... Negachlorian - http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/30251128/p1/?0
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Jedi_Perigrine Registered: Apr '08	Date Posted: 1/6 8:26pm Subject: RE: The Pirate Pickpocket (OC Database Winter Challenge) Completed - Date Edited: 1/6 8:42pm (1 edits total) Edited By: Jedi_Perigrine
	Great finale! Lots of good action and harrowing heroic escapes... I especially liked this: “So how are we going to do this?” Larak asked, “Are we just going to bust all spacer-like into the battle with our one blaster, steal a ship, and fly through a blockade of three or so Star Destroyers?” “Yeah,” Duce coolly responded. “Good plan,” Larak shot sarcastically. “Know better?” Duce asked. That sounds a lot like what the Talons would do. Awesome. Let me know if you do any work with these clowns--I mean heroes again. Good stuff! -----signature----- Check out the Talons! They RULE! http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/28126755/p1 I can't believe Darth Writer's Block only abandons me for NaNo. Final NaNo word count: 54515
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yodas_waiter Registered: Oct '06	Date Posted: 3/12 11:40am Subject: The Pirate Pickpocket (OC Database Winter Challenge) Completed
	This was intense and I liked the interaction between the two cousins! I also realised that you previosuly used these characters for my OC challenge way back when Larak frantically searched for the closest throwable item finding a hydrospanner which he hurled with all his strength at the pirates yelling, “Shoot me! I’m taking your ship!” How come that always works? Good one Rau_Fang. I really enjoyed this! -----signature----- Padawan to Sionnach-Airgid Author of Chyler databank entry Nominated Best New Author in Before the Saga 06/07 The Enforcer (SW Super-hero tribute): http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/28028864/p1/?2
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Corellian_Ale Registered: Mar '08	Date Posted: 3/14 4:26am Subject: The Pirate Pickpocket (OC Database Winter Challenge) Completed
	Hey Rau, great fic! I love the cousins (and their banter btw). “Well, arrest us!” Larak exclaimed, offering his wrists to be cuffed. “Larak, what are you doing?” Duce hissed as he pushed himself from the ground. “Don’t worry I have a plan,” “Well, arrest us!” Larak exclaimed, offering his wrists to be cuffed. “Larak, what are you doing?” Duce hissed as he pushed himself from the ground. “Don’t worry I have a plan,” Great short story Rau! Plenty of all the right elements: humor, action, suspense! Loved the entry! -----signature----- "An elegant weapon for more civilized times, eh?" "Well, guess what, times have changed." - "Boss"; RC-1138 Shades of Gray II - Acts of Contrition: http://boards.theforce.net/b/b1/30043243
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Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 3/22 7:29pm Subject: The Pirate Pickpocket (OC Database Winter Challenge) Completed
	Great job! Larak and Duce make a very entertaining pair to follow with their luck (or lack thereof). “Nice plan,” Duce slowly lifted himself to his feet, “What were we going to do when he let us out?” “Bonk him,” Larak made a clubbing motion, “on the head.” I really liked this part, LOL. The "bonk him on the head" just made me laugh, especially considering that they were talking about Boba Fett of all people and that they didn't really have anything aside from their own fists to bonk him with. Gotta admire Larak's optimism. “That’s not safe at all,” Larak admonished Duce as he started climbing up the ice wall. But when he disappeared into the laser bored hole, Larak decided he should follow. Heh heh, but going faster than light in a crate is safe? Silly Larak. “Shoot me! I’m taking your ship!” Surprisingly, the distraction worked. Nice to see that the whole experience didn't put a damper on Larak's scheming, though poor Duce definitely got the short end of the stick on this adventure. Great job, Rau! -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, Stranger Than Fiction "Adamantine"--Rebel OC vig http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/30390799 "That's 'stupid plan, sir,' Lieutenant." -Wedge
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Rau_Fang Registered: Mar '05	Date Posted: 3/30 11:54am Subject: The Pirate Pickpocket (OC Database Winter Challenge) Completed
	Thanks Everybody - y_w, ale, thump, and especially Peri - for reading my little fic! I'm glad ya'll liked the banter and excitement and utter ridiculousness. Good Times! -----signature----- Get with the OC Revolution, Holmes! Don't check the Profile... my fics couldn't possibly be there... Negachlorian - http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/30251128/p1/?0
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