Bug Builds Blade

Ji

29-12-2008 02:43:52

Tch tch tch tch tch....

...grumble grumble grumble grumble...

...nyum nyum nyum nyum...

...click click click click


Huldrych's mandibles clicked and clacked as he devoured a small rodent he'd caught hiding in the wall of his quarters. He'd had to disassemble the entire bulkhead, several lighting fixtures, a mess of wiring, and an alarm system to get at it but the warm meal made it worth the effort. Besides, now he could polish and repair the old parts before putting them back in their places... and did they ever need it. It seemed like the entire Corsair was beginning to fall into disrepair as the brutal winds of Koros ate away at the outer bulkheads. Even shields will not stand the test of time.

Looking up from his meal, his gaze directing out the window at the barren desert plains stretching as far as his compound eyes could see, Huldrych gently stretched his mind out into the force and tapped awake as many of his comrades as he could find, getting a number of nasty replies in return. Huldrych always had trouble understanding the minds of the other Dark Jedi. They often sought solitude and rarely obeyed his orders when they were given. As a member of the soldier caste, Huldrych expected the small, fleshy drones to obey him. After all, any orders given by him were always for the good of the hive. These pink-skins were obstinate, however. Perhaps Huldrych could find a remedy in time.

Huldrych's fingers gently began to move of their own accord, dancing over his new toy. He'd snuck into Kazarelth's quarters several days passed and lifted several of the Quaestor's possessions. An old, worn out datapad which Huldrych would make shine again, some electric gadget with a firm base, long neck, bristles on the end, and which hummed you pushed the big green button in the center whose use Huldrych had yet to determine... perhaps a hygiene implement... Huldrych hoped it would not be missed, but best of all... Huldrych had managed to swipe Kazarelth's old lightsaber. His dorsal tube began to pump rapidly as his hands gently removed the last fastener of the lightsaber's outer casing, causing it to gently fall away and reveal the wonderful treasures hidden inside.

This was no uncommon task for Huldrych, for he had taken apart many stolen, old lightsabers in his day before quietly returning them to their owner's care without their knowledge. They almost always worked properly after his investigations... almost. But now was different. Kazarelth had not used this lightsaber in some time and if Huldrych could get its mechanical function up to Verpine standards, he would ask Kazarelth if he could keep it. An unlikely outcome, thought Huldrych. Kazarelth had despised Huldrych for years for what he was. No matter... if Kazarelth would not gift it to Huldrych, Huldrych would smash the little pink-skin and keep it anyway.

The complex dehumidifiers hummed softly as Huldrych continued his work, keeping the air in the immediate vicinity of the work-bench perfectly dry, while the rest of the quarters were a humid mish-mash of jungle-plants and semi and non-functional droids. Dizzy hung silently in the corner, emitting a staticy ping every so often to indicate the number and type of beings circulating the hallways outside Huldrych's quarters. Since his promotion to major he had changed much. He'd grown fond of jungle-fauna having spent a great deal of his time at I. Corp's jungle training camps and had adorned his quarters in jungle-vines and ferns and even had installed a small fountain in the corner of his living area. Additionally, his promotion afforded him slightly roomier accommodations which he had filled with broken down parts and droids he had vowed to fix. In time he could build himself a vast army of cleaning and repair bots to keep the Corsair in peak condition and take some of his own work-load off. The squishies were unbelievably inept in these areas of capital ship maintenance.


Fzzz-rrrpt... DING

Dizzy's report of a being standing outside Huldrych's door came later than normal. A kink Huldrych would have to work out later. Without chiming or knocking the being outside (Kazarelth... Huldrych could feel him now...) flicked the servomotors in the door to life, lifting the durasteel up into its housing. With a clack of annoyance, Huldrych quickly drew a cloth used for cleaning oil spills over the lightsaber and rose from his seat, walking towards the antechamber to greet his unwelcome guest.

Ji

31-12-2008 19:33:57

Kaz's Post... lol

Hello, Huldrych.’ Kazarelth’s cold voice frightfully muted most other sounds inside the insect’s head. Huldrych did not like isolation. The reassuring hum of voices that were delivered to him aboard packets of the Force reminded him strangely of his Hive; and the Quaestor was tearing it away from him.
“Why hello, Quaestor.” Huldrych clicked a reply, nervously glancing at the cloth covering Talismarr’s old lightsaber. Old, but not discarded, as the insect knew.
“What can I do for the Hiv- for the House?”

The sensors array in the fore are malfunctioning, or so one of your droids reported. I have sent a techie up there to check it out, but he cannot understand what is wrong.
The expressionless stare of the bug belied his mind’s expression.
And since you are the best engineer we have on board here…’ at this point, the Omwati seemed to be mincing his words, ‘you shall go to the array and find what is wrong.

They stared at each other for a long time, as Huldrych clicked his mandibles in a fascinatingly morbid way.
“So… I shall leave at once.” He said, with a lamentable lack of a polite smile on his face.
At once means now.’ the Quaestor said.
“Yes sir.” And still he didn’t budge, seeing as how his room was exposed.
I’ve heard there are quite a few rats on the prowl there. Maybe they have nibbled at the wires and—’ the bug was gone immediately.
The promise of another warm meal was absolutely refreshing, and Talismarr did not seem to be lying. And if he did see all the… treasures in his forest dwelling, it would be no matter, he would smash the squishie and shut him up.

Kazarelth waited till the baited Verpine was away, and with the tiniest thought in his mind, shorted all electronic devices inside the room, including Dizzy. That would take care of any booby-traps Huldrych might have set.
He looked around the room, decorated as it was with a myriad of retrieved items. A few cakes of soap, some aerosol canisters, and his toothbrush were arranged in a neat manner on a shelf. He picked up his stolen toothbrush, pushing the button in the center. It did not work, obviously. He shook his head and put it inside his robes. He looked at the other side, where a sniper rifle was cleanly arranged with a few bryars and some other firearms.
But most importantly, his old crystal’s call was coming from beneath a greasy cloth. He lifted it to see the beautiful hilt dissected carefully in a bid to understand its innards.
Before rearranging the hilt, with a wicked expression, he removed the heart of the lightsaber. He turned and walked back to his room, turning on all devices before leaving.

--

Huldrych twitched annoyingly as the techie moved away to let the hulking insect pass by him. It was a miracle, the way it did fit into the tight corners the sensors array circuitry offered the Verpine.
As he repaired the electric wiring (the rodents had in fact nibbled at the wires.), while simultaneously looking out for a few tasty rats.
He still had a vague feeling of something happening within the House. Most of the members were talking about two trials being scheduled, and rumours that although one of the Hunters was a Cestian, both trials will be held under his court in Castle Tarentum. There were also some basic random rumours about a large asteroid that will hit Yridia II and doom Tarentum completely (because it will cause the Itaana belt asteroids to fly away chaotically and destroy the entire system).

Huldrych stopped and twitched his chitinous exoskeleton. A twitch of his hands, and a change of radio frequency, and he was back to concentrating on the work at hand.

Ji

01-01-2009 20:00:23

Seething in anger the giant insect finished his work upon the sensory nodes, closing the access panel gently. How the tech had missed frayed wiring was beyond Huldrych. Perhaps if Huldrych killed him he could assign one of his droids to this work instead... how inept the squishies could be... and Huldrych could use a good meal for a change. With that thought a small rodent scurried across the floor in front of him and without a second thought Huldrych reached down and smashed the rat against the metal flooring with his open palm. Leaving what was left of the tiny corpse to rot (and probably be eaten by other rats... maybe it would distract them from chewing on wires, though Huldrych doubted it) Huldrych squeezed through the tiny access doorway, folding his insectile body up to an impossible dimension, a tight squeeze for humans, much less the giant Verpine and reemerging into the hallway aboard the Corsair, Huldrych dusted off the black rags hanging from his shoulders before collecting his tools, restoring the hatch to its locked position and setting off back towards his quarters.

Huldrych was no fool. He was sure Kazarelth had either taken the lightsaber or sabotaged Huldrych's quarters in some way, though he could feel Dizzy powered up. Checking his datapad Huldrych noticed a slight anomaly. Dizzy had been powered down... Cackling in frustration, the insect hurried his pace as he drew a spot-welder from the tool-belt slung over his shoulder. If the squishy had harmed Dizzy or any of his droid-brains in any way, Huldrych vowed to make short work of the tiny pink-skin and spend the next several days locked in his quarters dining on the Knight.

Arriving at his door, Huldrych violently and unceremoniously kicked it in until it fell off the durasteel hinges, clanging loudly on the floor as the insect burst into the chamber. Running from room to room, welder held high and ready to strike, Huldrych quickly realized there was nobody to be seen. Dizzy was reactivated in his corner and his droid brains were functioning as well as could be expected given an unprepared loss of power and cold-start. Of course the lightsaber had been tinkered with, though Huldrych would not have time to fool with it for the moment anyway.

Settling down on the floor next to the crushed door, Huldrych layed it gently on the ground and began to apply his weight to the massive dent, slowly flattening the door back out. It would never look good and probably never work flawlessly again... but that was, realistically, of little concern to the insect. His droids were fine and untouched. The squishy would be allowed to continue living... for now.

Ronovi

04-01-2009 16:26:53

Ronovi left her quarters with a clear of shadow of annoyance hanging over her. Today had been another day of looking for mice and insects in her room, usually a special delivery from Huldrych. She doubted that he'd ever get over his confusion that no one else was a Verpine like he was. She shuddered at the possible sound of his mandibles clicking.

Not like she was afraid of him, no. But everything about Huldrych just threw her off in terms of his physique, stature, and just...well...he was a giant bug. She wasn't used to a lot of insectile life as is, with Yridia IX being pretty barren for most of its terrain. And with Huldrych attempting to make the VSD Corsair a giant Hive, she found herself retreating into empty conference rooms to meditate in peace.

Dressed simply in her Obelisk uniform and leaving her cloak and robes in her room, Ronovi sauntered down the corridor just in time to see Kazarelth heading toward his own quarters. He suddenly turned to see Ronovi, smiling thinly. "You're not too hard to miss in here, Tavisaen."

"Hmmm? How so?"

"Your eye patch always glints in the ceiling lights. Anyway, where are you off to?"

"I don't know, somewhere." Ronovi eyed the lightsaber crystal in Kazarelth's hand before adding, "And where did you get that?"

Kazarelth smirked. "Oh, this? Just something I took with me from my old lightsaber hilt."

"Why not the whole thing?"

"The damn bug took it. I figured I'd meddle with him for a bit. It's the best I can do other than just take back the things he steals from me."

Ronovi observed the soft glow of the lightsaber crystal with a raised eyebrow. "So...you took a crystal from your old lightsaber that Huldrych is using to make his?"

That is the heart of it.

"Well, Kaz, I hope you're prepared for Huldrych's reaction."

"Bah. What could he possibly do to me when he's the one who--"

Kazarelth was interrupted by the loud thud from Huldrych's quarters and stared at Ronovi, who only stared back with one of her classic looks of "Well?" on her face.

"Shall we go to my quarters and await the bug's wrath?" he asked as he and Ronovi ducked into the Quaestor's room and slammed the door.

Kazarelth

04-01-2009 23:17:09

Huldrych was angry. He opened his now repaired door with a bit of delicacy, but stomped for the Quaestor's office. He worked his way through the corridors towards his room, and could feel Ronovi sitting there. He banged on the door with insane power. It slid open.

"WELL, it seems that you, squishie, have taken my crystal." Huldrych menaced towards the Quaestor as Ronovi backed away. The bug looked up at Kazarelth as he flashed his teal eyes at Huldrych.

'Oh, and since when was it yours?'

The Verpine clucked a little before letting out a guttural deformation of a sigh.
"Not that you use it anyway. It's... tch lying uselessly with you. Why don't you give it to me?"

'A lightsaber never lies uselessly with a Dark Jedi, insect.' he said as the crystal twirled in his hand. He looked at Huldrych who seemed to be contemplating this thought.
'I'll give it to you, if you pass a test.'

“You are being overly melodramatic. Just give it to me.” Huldrych said.

“A lightsaber is always earned, if you are a Dark Jedi, Huldrych.” Ronovi said as she felt the tension easing from Huldrych’s mind.

“But I don’t wish to use it. It’s… unwieldy.”

I don’t care. If you want this crystal, you’ll have to pass a test. That or you’ll go about hunting some light Jedi on a Vong-overrun planet.’ Talismarr finished with finality.