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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Fortune and Glory (Sequel to My Name is Myra)

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction Stories--Classic JC Board (Reply-Only)' started by Mirax Terrik, Nov 19, 2000.

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  1. PaysonTerrik

    PaysonTerrik Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 30, 2000
    Here?s a little poem,
    To keep the fans at bay.
    Let?s hope Mirax is at home,
    Ready to post something today!

    :-D

    Or, in other words. . . UP!!!
     
  2. Marie_Jadewalker

    Marie_Jadewalker Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 14, 2000
    Nice poem, Payson!

    <See, I said I'd refrain from bugging you, Mirax>
     
  3. Mirax Terrik

    Mirax Terrik Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 11, 2000
    I really appreciate it, Marie. :)

    UP! Something coming up in just a few more minutes . . .
     
  4. Mirax Terrik

    Mirax Terrik Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 11, 2000
    Thank you all for being patient. For that, I've got a huge post right here. :D

    Enjoy!

    *~*~*~*~*~*~*

    The interior of the Pulsar Skate was newly finished. I had just brushed on the last coat of blue-green paint over the dull gray. I was proud of the new changes, but I couldn?t dwell on them. Nothing seemed more irritating to me than to stand back and do nothing. Boredom drove me insane, and I solved that problem with work.

    It wasn?t that I loved to work. It was that I couldn?t stand being still, even for a moment. You can image the problems this can cause when I conduct long tedious trades. Besides, wherever I looked, I saw things that could be better. The pile of flimsy that I had put on the floor to catch the paint drips would have to go. I was, however, strained from the laborious job of painting, and more physical work didn?t hold much appeal to me. So, I picked up my datapad and plugged it into the Skate?s mainframe.

    That was another modification I had added to the ship just a few weeks earlier. I had wired and programmed the ship so that it could be accessed from any port inside the ship, not just from the cockpit. This made things convenient for me, so I didn?t have to run everywhere to conduct business, but the modification also made it easier for other people to tap into my records. I solved that problem fairly easily. I had a friend of mine specially construct the access ports and the datapad that I held in my hand. While on the outside, the dull gray datapad looked like any other, the vital special parts lay just within.

    I was cocky and brash for a while afterwards, thinking I had an invincible system, until Wedge calmed me down and warned me gently of what other people think of uncrackable systems. ?Better to have a secret weapon that stays secret,? he said. I got the point and immediately cooled my heels.

    I stroked the pad, thinking of and admiring the work that had gone into it. Keying my passcode into the pad, the thing briefly went and downloaded all of the information the ship had to offer. Literally connecting itself to the ship?s think tank. I could have started and piloted the ship from that pad if I wanted.

    There was plenty of mental work waiting for me when I signed on. In the corner, a new bank transaction blinked boldly. I keyed in my bank pass and watched as the numbers scrolled past the screen. I liked what I saw.

    ?So, Rothera decided to leave me a 10,000 credit tip. How generous of him.? I smiled and keyed the pad to move on to scan the whole sheet. There were the usual little things. Like the comm bill, the tips I?ve left at bars, the tabs and such. Those were normal, but they were also where the most phony charges appeared. I first stumbled upon the fact that people overcharge while on Tatooine, a bar tender had charged me a hundred credits extra for my drink. Hey, the drink was good, but not that much. Privately, I let my dad know that some guy cheated me. I?m pretty sure he took care of everything, but now, since he was gone, I had to learn how to take care of my own business.

    There were many bills, but I had time to check things over. I didn?t need to rush. It was a ?weekend? for me, so to speak. I had no current obligations or jobs to fulfill so I could do whatever I wanted. I had both the time and money.

    I mulled through the bank statements, occasionally deleting and turning down offers for a celebration. Sometimes my clients would send me thanks and invite me to parties. I would try and decline as politely as possible, to keep their business, but send forward impressions that I really didn?t wish to attend. I was sociable once, because I remember going to Wedge?s birthday parties, and Father?s celebration parties. I even remember liking to go out and talking to the people. Meeting new faces every time. After Father left, my last big link to the outside world gone, I stopped going to parties. People still offered invitations to me back then, but it was more from my father?s reputation than from wanting my presence there. I had no desire to become the poi
     
  5. Mirax Terrik

    Mirax Terrik Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 11, 2000
    ?Ow!?

    I turned around to see what was wrong.

    Wedge snarled at the ceiling. He slumped into the copilot?s chair and swung it around to glare at me. ?When are you going to adjust the ceiling? I keep bumping my head into some of the tiles. You see that pile of flimsy there? You?ve left those out forever, it?s time you picked those up. And why the heck did you paint the interior blue? Gray was ine. In fact, gray was better than blue will ever be.?

    I snorted. Wedge was great in his times of wisdom, but right now, he was just intruding in on my solitude. ?Hey, it?s not my fault that you have a warrant out for your arrest. You need to be more careful when you draw up a fake ID next time.?

    He scowled at me, but stopped complaining. I
    sighed in relief, silent moping was better than whining any day.

    A month ago, Wedge had been on a run to smuggle guns to a Rebel establishment on Drall. On the way out, he was caught by the customs official for using unofficial identification. He shot his way out of there, making sure that none of the shots actually hit anyone, and blasted off in the Zena?s Pride, his beloved YT-1300. Drall sent an alert to Corellia, and there Corellian Security was pretty quick to piece everything together. Within a week, Wedge?s whole account was frozen; his face, real name, and the Pride?s IFF code were all on wanted posters everywhere. The Pride was still docked on some lot, technically free, but he couldn?t touch her without setting off an alarm with CorSec.

    The result of all of that was, of course, him staying on my ship until he could somehow clear everything up. Not that things were going good, hence his complaining with everything that I did, had, or planned.

    ?So, what are your plans for the next few days?? I asked, returning to skim through the bank sheet.

    ?*Our* plans. It looks like I?m stuck with you for a while longer, so you really decide everything.? He stopped moping, looking thoughtful now. ?So, do you have anything planned??

    I shook my head. ?No, just going around checking the current demand of collectibles is the bulk of it.? The trick of the trade was to stay on top of things. I had a constant stream of work even on my ?weekends.?

    He looked thoughtful again.

    ?Unless if you have an idea.? I swung my chair to face him directly. ?Wedge??

    He hesitated, then gathered up his nerve. ?I?d like to borrow the Skate.?

     
  6. Mirax Terrik

    Mirax Terrik Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 11, 2000
    I could smell there was something he wasn?t telling me. It wasn?t like him to hesitate. ?Why? Like you said, the next few days will be our plans, what does it matter who does the piloting??

    Wedge didn?t respond. I decided to play for more information. In this case, it meant denying the thing he needed or wanted.

    ?Well, in that case. No, you can?t.?

    Aggrieved, Wedge stared at me. ?Mirax, please. I?ll let you borrow the Pride when she?s bailed out and clean.?

    ?Wedge, the Skate is twice as fast, and she?s not so distinctive. Besides, how will I know that you using the Skate won?t delay your devotion to clear up the Pride??

    ?The Pride doesn?t have a record like the Skate does.?

    ?It does now. Besides, I?m actually good at faking up signals unlike you.?

    ?That was an *ID*, not a ship code. Those are easier.?

    ?The answer?s still no.?

    ?Mirax!?

    I glared at him. He was acting like this was his ship. ?Wedge, let me spell this out for you. The Pulsar Skate was handed down to me legally. I had to go up against CorSec to get it out of their custody. I don?t seem to remember you doing that. Wait! Don?t say anything yet. For all intents and purposes, the Skate is my responsibility and I?m not going to let you borrow her when you won?t tell me what you?re up to.?

    He was annoyed now. ?Mirax, when you barely learned how to walk, I was on the Skate fixing the deck, cleaning the engines, and replacing the view panels. I think I can be careful with her.?

    I slammed my hand on the arm rest. ?That?s not my point. Now listen this time so I don?t have to explain again. The Skate is licensed to me! I am responsible for it. Anything illegal that happens with it goes on *my* record!?

    Wedge stared back, his brown eyes hotly flashing. ?Mirax,? he said. ?This is about the survival of the Rebellion. I?ve been doing little things so far, but this is actually important. I need to do this, I can?t trust anyone else.?

    I rolled my eyes. ?My, aren?t we being contradictory. Wasn?t it just a month ago that you told me I had trust problems??

    Wedge refused to take bait. ?Mirax, how can you in good conscience let the Rebellion die? You?ve always complained to me how the Empire was getting these days. You always discredited the Rebellion because you thought they were a bunch of fanatics out to stir trouble, but they?re not! They have the same views as everyone else. As people like you, only they?re doing something about it.?

    ?Have you not listened to a word my father said? You remember the first smuggling advice he gave you? Never get mixed up with politics, that always ends up in more trouble than it?s worth.?

    Wedge stared at me calmly, pleading in his eyes. ?Mirax, think about it. Truly think about it. Are you going to let people die because you don?t want a bad name??

    I closed my eyes, shunting his words away before they could penetrate, but it already happened. His ideas and earnestness and sheer desperation started bouncing around.

    On one hand, what he said did tempt me. I had a bad brush with Imperial officials I while back, and they weren?t out to protect the innocent either. In fact, if the Empire stayed around, it wouldn?t be good for the smuggling business. Even though my job was semi-legitimate, they probably wouldn?t care about that. In the long run, it was bad, but for now, it wasn?t a good time to be involved. The Empire was cracking down on Rebels faster these days. My end would come faster if I did get involved. Dad did always say that you don?t mess with the Empire directly unless you had to, but Dad also told me to support family . . .

    So, was I going to sacrifice the Skate for Wedge? As good a friend he has been to me in the years, I didn?t feel ready to give the Skate away. Even if it was temporary. The Pulsar Skate had become an inseparable part of me, but Wedge was like my brother . . .

     
  7. Mirax Terrik

    Mirax Terrik Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 11, 2000
    What my Father had told me was going against what my Father had told me. Should I keep out of politics, or should I help Wedge? Damn, I wished he had been there to help me. But, knowing him, I knew he?d insist on helping family first. /The Hell with the Empire./

    Opening my eyes again, I really wanted to strangle him. Making a right decision didn?t make it any easier carrying it out. I still didn?t want to get involved, but it was for Wedge?s sake . . . even if he did become insane all of a sudden.

    ?Damn you. You?re screwing with my loyalties,? I said, privately wondering if he knew exactly what loyalties I was talking about.

    To his credit, he didn?t do anything.

    Stubborn as I was, I didn?t want to give in completely. ?I?m still going to be piloting, got that??

    He nodded. ?Deal?? He stuck out his hand.

    I scowled. ?Yeah.? I took it, and shook it firmly, making sure to convey my annoyance at him by squeezing extra hard. He didn?t seem to notice. I shrugged. ?So, now that I?m officially a part of this whole damn thing, can I know what?s going on??

    Wedge shrugged. ?I don?t know yet.?

    I was about to punch him.

    ?No, wait! I meant that I needed to get instructions. I have to transmit my compliance with the mission and they?ll send me a set of directions.? He kept his eyes on me at all times, warily checking to see if I was going to hurt him.

    I frowned. ?Okay, fine.? I gestured towards the datapad. ?Go ahead.?

    He hesitated.
     
  8. Mirax Terrik

    Mirax Terrik Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 11, 2000
    ?What is it?! You can borrow the Skate. We made that clear. Now transmit the message so we can get this over with!? His reluctance to do anything was annoying me to no end.Sometimes, Wedge could be so, so, *agitating*.

    ?Well,? he said, scratching behind his ear. ?I?m a little hungry, and it?s about time for dinner. Can you, um, heat up something??

    I stared at him. He knew how to use the instruments in the kitchenette, so that wasn?t a problem. I knew that hunger couldn?t be that high on his list of important things, so I looked else where for the problem.

    There was only one thing left.

    Me.

    He didn?t trust me. He didn?t trust me enough to transmit a message to his precious Rebellion. I stood there, unmoving for a moment. I couldn?t believe it. Wedge had gone on and on that I was the only one he could trust and now he turned his back and discarded everything he had just said. I came so close to taking back my promise to let him borrow the Skate, but I realized at the last moment that if I took back what I said, I wouldn?t be any better than him.

    I was pretty careful not to let my face show any of the things I was feeling, but the prolonged silence had told Wedge that something was up. I decided to spill his hypocrisy in his face and make him deal with it. ?Wedge, if you don?t trust me, just tell me that. I can handle it, but don?t make up a stupid excuse and expect me to fall for it.?

    Wedge looked abashed. ?Mirax, I swear, it?s not-?

    I glared. ?Oh, I know exactly what it is. You don?t trust me. That?s fine, I guess that everything you said to me before is a bunch of trash also. If you?ll excuse me, I have to go and heat up dinner.? I left him there, looking confused and hurt. I didn?t feel good about it, but he did need to know. If I didn?t point it out to him now, he might make a habit of it later.

    Even as I justified everything I did to myself, I still felt uneasy about it. From that I learned that true friendship is pointing out the bad things along with the good. Doing only one makes a shallow friend, doing the other makes an enemy. It needed a perfect balance. That meant that true friendship was the rarest commodity on the face of this galaxy. /Too bad I couldn?t make any profit off of it. I would have been a millionaire by now./

    I snorted at my own greedy thoughts and headed towards the small food prep station. The food itself wasn?t that hard to make. I just needed to give Wedge enough time to get finished with his message. That could take anywhere from two to ten minutes.

    I sighed and took out a jar of candied fruit. With nothing else to do, I opened it and started picking the pieces of fruit out of the syrup. I chewed on it thoughtfully. It was good but sweet, too sweet. So sweet that it left a bitter aftertaste. Exactly like my reflections of dealing with Wedge. Most everything I did that was good for him left me feeling bad afterwards.

    I chewed some more. No, that wasn?t true all the time. Only when I enjoyed making him feel bad in the process did I feel bad for treating him badly. I swallowed, and almost gagged on the fruit. I *did* enjoy making him feel bad, even if it was a tiny bit. That was what bothered me. I was able to walk up to most strangers and use their own insecurities to get them to deal with me. It was me, being professional, not enjoying seeing them squirm, but needing to so I know I did my job right. If I had just treated Wedge like I did my customers, this wouldn?t have happened.

    But if I did treat him like a customer, he wouldn?t be a good friend. I sat, troubled. I knew that I hurt him. I couldn?t leave things like that. If I did, the gash that I caused would one day pull us apart. /So, what does one do when we?ve insulted a friend?/ I laughed, at how easy the answer was.

    ?Duh, Mirax. We apologize.? I smiled. Now that I knew what to do, all of the uneasy feelings disappeared. I glanced over at the heater. The food was done. I had finished an entire jar of candied fruit. No more excuses left not to go back. Being careful with the hot plate, I lif
     
  9. Mirax Terrik

    Mirax Terrik Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 11, 2000
    Grrr . . . UP!
     
  10. PaysonTerrik

    PaysonTerrik Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 30, 2000
    Thank you, thank you! That was great ? and to think of how mean you could?ve been with all of those little potential cliffhangers within the story! Thanks for such a long post of the story, although you better watch out or you?ll spoil us and we?ll expect those all the time!
     
  11. Dark_Soldier

    Dark_Soldier Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 17, 2000
    Great! :)
    The amount of posts was just fine!!!
    Wonderful writing, Mirax!
     
  12. Jaya Solo

    Jaya Solo Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 12, 1999
    Wow! Five posts in one day! Thanks! They were great!
     
  13. PaysonTerrik

    PaysonTerrik Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 30, 2000
    Bringing this to the top so people know this has been updated! woo hoo!
     
  14. Idiots Array

    Idiots Array Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Jan 3, 2000
    Awesome post, Mirax. Keep up the good work and post again soon! :)

    hope your dad had a good b-day party.
     
  15. PaysonTerrik

    PaysonTerrik Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 30, 2000
    <Payson still doing a happy dance for the big posting marathon last night>
     
  16. Mirax Terrik

    Mirax Terrik Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 11, 2000
    My dad had a great time! Thanks for asking. :D Me and my mom surprised him by showing up at his office. Heehee. ;)
     
  17. PaysonTerrik

    PaysonTerrik Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 30, 2000
    Found this on page four ? don?t people know there?s been a major addition to the story? Maybe we should hire a sky writer. Or maybe a singing ryshcate-gram. Just an idea. . .

    Glad the birthday went well for your dad. You don't call him Booster do you? ;-)
     
  18. Corell

    Corell Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 5, 2000
    That was great! Up!
     
  19. Corell

    Corell Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 5, 2000
    Up again!
     
  20. PaysonTerrik

    PaysonTerrik Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 30, 2000
    Just checking in. . .

    You know, I was thinking ? I bet after Wedge becomes a hero of the Rebellion, millions of women across the galaxy will be thinking, ?Man, I wish *I* could have been stuck on a ship with him for a few weeks!? ;-) Lucky girl, lucky girl. And all Mirax could do was just get annoyed at her ?brother? and roll her eyes at him. :-D

    So. . . where are they going to now? Huh? Huh? Huh? I feel kinda bad asking for more after such long posts, but well, I?m going to do it anyway. More please!!!!
     
  21. Mirax Terrik

    Mirax Terrik Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 11, 2000
    LOL! Lay off the coffee, will ya? ;)

    Heehee, I *should* start calling my dad Booster. ;)
     
  22. Corell

    Corell Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 5, 2000
  23. Dark_Soldier

    Dark_Soldier Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 17, 2000
    :)
    Post soon!!!
     
  24. PaysonTerrik

    PaysonTerrik Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 30, 2000
    I can?t help it! It?s just such a good story!
     
  25. Angel_of_Naboo

    Angel_of_Naboo Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 18, 2000
    Great, great, great!!!
    I'm happy, happy, happy!
     
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