Backwater Funeral (Part 2)

Days ago

      “Master, I do advise against this trip,” the droid was chiming off again, “Your funds are low as it is, and based off the average funeral planning time, along with other possibilities, you will be needing work almost immediately after your return.”

      Red glanced up from his datapad to look at the droid, managing to keep a calm expression on his face when he did so. If there was one thing that the droid was good for, it was management, but if there was one thing he didn't want right now, that was to be managed. Walking out of the engine room, his eyes shot back to the datapad, “How soon were those folks out on the Moon expectin' their stuff?”

      “Master, avoiding the subject does not make it go away,” the droid replied, following him.

      “How soon,” he replied, not even acting like he had heard it.

      “By next Tuesday at the latest, sir, though they would be happy to get it sooner. If you are going to be gone for an unknown amount of time, then it would be advisable to...”

      “To drop it off today, so that we're all clear on stuff that ain't ours bein' on board.” He looked up, seeing the droid nodding as best as it could manage to nod, given its design. “Then why aren't we on our way there yet?”

      The droid turned with a start, saying “Of course!” before he headed towards the bridge. Red rolled his eyes, setting the datapad on one of the crates in the cargo bay as he entered, giving it a look over.

      The room, like the rest of the ship, had an older feeling to it, one that would make others worry. Others had worried at first when they stepped on board the rusting pile of scrap. An older XS Light Freighter, it was hardly top of the line, but always to their surprise they still were able to step off at their destination. That wasn't to say it couldn't have used a good coat of paint, among other things. The relic was old when he bought it, and since then what paint he had been able to afford was chipping off, showing the bland brown underneath. No matter what, though, he always made sure that in bright red on the top left side of the ship that the words “The Line” were always visible.

      Another part of the ship that brought it under scrutiny was in fact its name. Few people could take a geometric shape, and such a meager one at that, being the name for a vessel very seriously. It did have its meaning, though, especially to the vessel's owner. As he would happily tell people, after they had gotten all of their puns which would range from “Don't cross The Line?” to “Can you even see it?” out of the way, was that it was the fine line between him and being stranded from his share of the sky. As he would also tell people, they would have to go quite a distance to take his sky from him.

      Counting crates in the cargo bay was a simple job, because there were so few of them. Two to be handed off to a pair of shady people who would likely shoot him when he stopped being useful, a few more scattered here and there full of supplies for himself, along with a number of empty ones as just in-cases. That didn't count the couple of containers that he had hid under the floor. But those didn't matter for the simple fact that they didn't exist. As far as anyone else knew.

      Knowingly he grabbed the side of the door when the ship gave a long lurch, speeding towards its destination. From behind him the engines gave a loud groan, another point that always worried passengers, much to his amusement. Raising his voice as he passed by the bridge, he made sure to say “Remind me to replace those coils when I get back. Again.”

      As he went further down the hall he could make out, “I will make sure to do so, Master! If funds are available that is!”

      Hearing a beep he pulled his datapad off his belt, folding it out and sliding through it. He had to slam his hand into the side of it after it froze, which was no surprise to him. The thing had been nothing but trouble, and there was many a time he hated himself for trying to 'go digital'. There was nothing to break the contractor/client relationship like a piece of cold, uncaring technology. It made it even harder to try to get people to pay what he knew they should be paying, instead of what they wanted to pay, when he couldn't look them in the eye and talk face to face. The message was short, simply a set of coordinates. As he expected his mother had ended it with 'love mom'. Walking up to the bridge, he felt the ship lurch again as it exited its jump. He set the datapad near the droid, tapping the numbers, “Get that stuff plugged in. Next stop.”

      The home was of a reasonable size. Based on what he had seen of settlers in the past, he hazarded a guess that they had been rationing supplies when they constructed them all, so that was of no surprise. He couldn't count on his fingers how many times he lifted his closed fist to knock on the door before he actually did knock. When he did his hands shot into his pockets and he couldn't help but turn, trying to not focus on the door itself. There was a fair share of foliage in the yard, and what he could make out as a small garden near the corner of the house.

      A sliding noise came from behind him, and he turned with some hesitation to face his mother. Age had been fairly kind to her face, though she was skinnier than he recalled. Her brown hair was tied up, as he expected. She tended to only let it down when she left the house. They observed each other for a time, before he slowly stepped forward to embrace her, an action she happily returned. There was silence for some time, and on his shoulder he could feel a few tears falling. “It's good to see you, mom,” he finally said, ending the hug, stepping inside when she offered.

      She covered her mouth, looking him over. Her hands patted down his side, making sure he was still eating, turning his face this way and that until she seemed content. He smirked slyly, turning to look the room over. There was a number of simple pieces of furniture in the room to his right, the living room as far as he could tell. To his left was the kitchen and dining room, a small table and chairs there. Turning he frowned at the look on her face, following her gaze to his belt, and two items of note in particular. His blasters. Robin Malcolm noticed, of course, and looked him in the eye with a look of disappointment.

      Silently cursing himself for not leaving them behind out of habit, he shook his head, “Mom. I ain't gonna shoot nobody. You know I ain't gonna shoot nobody.”

      “Then why do you need weapons?” she said, keeping her voice down but not hiding her anger.

      “Part of the job,” he muttered, making sure to keep his down as well. Tempting fate and going deeper into the house, she followed pointing at the couch. With a sigh he sat down, watching her go off to the he could hear the sound of glasses moving. Soon enough she returned with a small pitcher of tea, handing him a glass and sitting across from him.

      The taste provided a bit of shock to him, as it was a flavor that wasn't whiskey. Having practically lived off of it to the point where it wouldn't shock him if he bled whiskey, the change was certainly odd. They stared each other down for some time, though in a fairly friendly way. They were simply taking each other in, noting six years or so's worth of changes. Finally finishing his first glass, Red leaned forward, setting it on the coffee table and looking at her, “He ain't shown up has he.” It was more a statement than a question.

      Robin winced, her forehead creasing when she frowned. It was at that point that he could actually see the age starting to show on his mother's face. He tried to smile, hoping to relieve a bit of the tension he had just created, though he couldn't stop the sarcasm from bleeding into his voice, “I'm sure he's off doin' somethin' important. Flingin' rocks around, or teachin' the wicked the error of their ways. If he's doin' the last part, maybe it's for the best that he ain't he-...”

      She cut him off, her voice slicing through his like a knife, “You shouldn't talk about your brother like that, Red.”

      He leaned back, resting his hands on his stomach, “All I can say, mom, is how do you really think he'd talk to me? I'm the kinda person he's tryin' to 'cleanse' our fair galaxy of, last I recall.”

      Robin Malcolm shook her head, gulping, “No, Red, he just wants to make sure there are less criminals and the like. It's a good cause...

 

      He bit his lip, allowing a sad smirk to come across his face, “Ma, I never said it wasn't, I'm just sayin', that if you put us both in the same room, what do you think is gonna happen? We aren't exactly on agreein' terms on that matter.”

      “I know that, Red, but you aren't some crime lord killing people who look at you funny, now are you?”

      “Suppose I ain't,” he said, offering a softer smile. “Ma.”

      “Yes?” she said, allowing a smaller smile of her own.

      “Thanks for not readin' me the riot act,” he said.

      “I think your father did that enough as it is, Red. You're going to do what you want to do. That's something I can't change. Better to accept it than to deny it,” she said, refilling his glass as she spoke.

      He took the glass, muttering “Thanks,” but only stared at it. “How is he?”

      “He's holding together. The doctor said he probably had a few more days left in him, if he was lucky,” her voice grew low as she spoke. “He's probably due for his pain killers if you want me to wake him up.”

      The captain gave a short nod, “Gotta cross that bridge eventually, don't we?”

Years ago

      The house was quiet in the worst possible way. From the outside, sitting on the quiet street of some Ord Mantellian settlement, those who passed by it were oblivious to the battle of wills going on inside.

      “You what?” Paul Malcolm repeated, keeping his voice low and precise.

      Redamous leaned forward, sliding the datapad across the table, “I bought a ship.”

      “A ship,” Paul muttered, scooping up the datapad and looking it over, “It looks like a pile of crap.”

      “Well. Right now it is, but if it gets a little love, she'll be flying in no time.”

      “So it doesn't fly now.”

 

      “Not so much.”

      The elder's eyes slid up slowly over the screen, looking the younger over, “And where exactly is the money to pay for this coming from?”

      Reaching across the table, Red took the datapad back, tucking it away, “It's coming from somewhere, dad. That's all you need to know.”

      Their eyes locked again, and Paul Malcolm's anger at the entire matter evident. To understand his anger though, one would have to understand him better, and in turn, the Malcolms in general. For some, fighting for the Republic and her people was simply a job. For Paul and Robin Malcolm, it had been their lives. It had been values they had raised their children on, or rather child though that is another story, and in turn at first it had seemed that their child had picked up on those teachings. When he was able, Redamous Malcolm had enlisted. Within a few months after he wrote a happy letter explaining his finishing basic, he was back sitting on their couch, talking about how he was buying a ship.

      The other side of the story that one must understand was Paul Malcolm's thoughts on the matters of shipping supplies throughout space. If it was done legally, or as most smugglers would say 'the slow way', he was perfectly content. Having ran a small shop after retiring from his stint in the service, he had learned to respect such people. Those who did not do so legally as he had seen countless times were arrogant, annoying people who he could not hold the tiniest amount of respect for. As far as he could tell, his son was about to become one of those people.

      Redamous Malcolm of course didn't see it that way. What he saw before him was a life of adventure that he had been neglected thus far in life. His father may have seen a sense of disrespect for those who were fighting, but that wasn't what he saw. It simply wasn't a life style for him. Of course he respected them, not only for doing what they did, but for being able to do it where he couldn't. But this? This sounded perfect. Making one's own hours, picking who one worked for? It made perfect sense in his mind. Whether that were true or not was rather debatable, though there wasn't going to be any debating going on in the Malcolm household presently.

      Finally, something in the elder simply seemed to snap, “I think you need to leave.”

      Red blinked, sitting forward, “Dad, lets not...”

      “Now,” Paul practically growled. “If this is what you want to do with your life, I want nothing of it. I'm not going to have some smuggler sitting in my house. I'm not going to associate it so I can have the police breaking down my door asking me questions about you.”

      “Dad, that's not how it works. It's not what you're thinking I swear,” Red said, alarmed at the thought.

      Paul Malcolm simply pointed to the door and said nothing else.

      Robin Malcolm gently rapped her hand against the door, whistling softly as she opened it, setting the tray she had prepared on Paul Malcolm's lap. As Redamous leaned back against the door frame there was a single thing he noticed. How terrible his father looked.

      He had seen his father ill before, even though it was rare. It took a strong bug to bring him down, and yet here he was, looking weak, his skin gray. Red smiled slightly as he sat himself up, seeming to be defying death as best he could, and fed himself not requiring help once. When he finished he finally seemed to take note of him.

      Redamous did his best to keep his face neutral, but couldn't help but give a gentle smile, “Dad.”

      Paul did a much better job of remaining emotionless, his voice flat and even, “Redamous.”

      “You're looking...Well. You're lookin' better than I thought you'd be lookin', dad,” Red said, not hiding the small smile this time.

      “You thought I'd just be taking this lying down, did ya?” Paul answered, allowing a small smirk of his own to come across his pained face.

      “'Course not, dad. I know you better than that.”

      His father slumped backwards a bit, entering somewhere between a sitting and a sleeping position, seeming to grow worse as he did so, strength clearly fading, and his face growing more ashen. He motioned to a nearby chair, “Come on over, son. I ain't gonna bite.” His eyes shot to his wife, “Give us a bit, will you?”

       Red cautiously sat down, nodding to his mother as she exited, “What're we talkin' about?”

      “Us, Redamous. We're gonna talk about us.”

Backwater Funeral (Part 1)

     The sun had just been rising when he'd landed, but now his internal clock was screaming out for sleep. Behind the glass he could still make out the receptionist sliding through things on her datapad, every now and then taking a small sip of her morning caf. Here and there she might shoot a glance up at him, complete with a small smile as if to acknowledge that no, he was not allowed to leave the room yet.

      As he looked around the bare bones room the only thought that kept running through his mind was that he wished he had brought his own datapad. Of course he knew why he had left it behind, he didn't want to be on call or doing anything business related. Not while he was here. He had a separate mission here, one he was confident on accomplishing. So for now, he sat bored in the waiting area of some little backwater planet. He had already cleaned his blasters once, much to the receptionist's shock, and he had already read what little material she had been able to find for him, so for now, he waited.

      Eventually he yawned, and he knew immediately what the dreaded action meant. At first, his eyes were simply heavy, and for a moment, that was all. Soon enough, though, he was fast asleep, feet propped out forward, and his arms crossed.

A month ago

     “No, ma, I can't say I was really expectin' this,” Redamous Malcolm said, voice quiet after he had managed to find a secluded part of the casino. He had had to slip away from the group he was speaking with, which probably looked odd to them. Right now that was the least of his concerns.

      “I can't see how you couldn't know, Redamous,” she said, slight annoyance showing in her voice, “You knew we wanted to do this, and you of all people have heard of the risks it comes with.

      He sighed, setting the holocomm down on a nearby table so he wouldn't have to hold it. Rubbing his temples didn't help at all, because surprisingly the conversation had yet to give him a headache, “Not really ma, no. I didn't know you both had moved out to some backwater to go play settler. You know why I didn't know that? 'Cause you never decided to tell me.”

      Robin Malcolm shook her head with a small smile, “We made sure that Dey would tell you. He should hav-...”

      He cut her off right away, “Mom, I ain't seen Dey. I ain't seen Dey in forever and a day.”

       That statement couldn't have made her look more worried. She took a step back, disappearing for a few moments, and he began to think she had simply left though she returned as quickly as she had left. “He was supposed to tell you, Red. I'm sorry he didn't.”

       Redamous shrugged, hardly looking surprised, “Ain't really a surprise, considerin', mom. He ain't wanted to talk to us in years.” With a sigh, he tried to change the subject, “How bad is it, mom?”

      She frowned, shaking her head, “There's a good chance he'll be fine, but at the moment we just don't know. It's a local bug. We're doing our best.”

      He rolled his eyes, swirling his drink around much to her dismay, “Could just, I don' know, get him some real meds, mom. Or a doctor. You know. A real doc, not the backwater one you're probably workin' with who probably don't have the supplies to treat a stubbed toe.”

      “That's not how it works, Red. This program was meant to live off the land, and that's what we're doing. It's...Silly, I suppose but it's what we wanted when we signed up for it. To be able to live on our own, by our own hands.”

     “'Cept that means you're gonna get dad killed, mom,” he said coldly, taking along drink. “Kind of a big deal to me, if'n you ain't noticin' that.” She started to respond, but he held up a hand, “I'm sorry, mom, just...Call me back when you're for certain. And tell me where you freaking are when you do so I can come out and see you two. Talk to you then. Love you, mom.” Without another word he shut down the comm, tucking it away and heading back, forcing a smile onto his face and dismissing that there was any trouble on his end, though his distance throughout the rest of the conversation probably didn't make his words ring very true.

      “Mister Malcolm,” someone far off said. He grumbled, trying to shoo them away. The person ignored his 'not nows' and persisted. “Mister Malcolm, please wake up. Mister Malcolm, if you don't wake up, I can simply change this accepted designation to a denied one, you know.”

      He sat up with a start, jumping back just as fast when he saw how close to the receptionist's face he was, “Nope! Nope! Don't go doin' that darlin', don't go doin' that.” Squinting he noticed she was holding a small pen and a datapad near him. Taking the pen he scribbled out his signature. Blinking a few times he started regaining his senses, “What time is it? Gotta be close to midnight...”

      The receptionist, a pretty human with shorter hair glanced at her chrono, before looking back at him, “It's ten in the morning mister Malcolm. You're free to leave. Or enter, I suppose.” As she headed back to her desk, she smirked and muttered something about spacers and time.

      He scratched the back of his neck, and rose from his seat. A quick lean backwards and even the receptionist could hear his back popping. As he passed through the door, she managed to hear him mutter “Y'all obviously don't get too many visitors...”

      She raised her voice to chime in, “No we don't. Enjoy your stay, mister Malcolm.”

      Stopping in his tracks, he turned, “Anyone else come through here as of late, ma'am?”

      She glanced over her shoulder at him, shaking her head, “No, sir. Just you.”

      With a sigh he began the walk through the small spaceport again, muttering to himself, “Well ain't I just shocked and amazed.”

      Exiting out into the bright light nearly blinded the poor captain. Shielding his eyes he wandered sleepily into the streets of the small settlement, or rather the street of the small settlement. It ran a short distance to his left and right, forming with a few smaller roads branching off here and there. To his left he noted a number of businesses, and the majority of the people, and to the right, he noted what appeared to be homes.

      Heading left, he made note that the road was actually laid out, with the metal stretching a bit out of the small town until it turned into dirt path. The buildings to his left and right gleamed in the morning sun, the metalwork excellent. It didn't take long for him to pick out the building he was likely to become the most familiar with, which was simply marked “Jim's Cantina”. Wandering inside he gave the man a polite nod as he approached, speaking in his usual kind tone, “Uh, mornin' there friend.”

      The large man behind the counter was cleaning a glass with the end of the apron he wore. He sized up the newcomer quickly, a hint of distrust lingering in his eyes. When he spoke his voice was firm, yet not entirely unwelcoming, “Can't say I've seen you before. Trust me when I say that means something.”

      Red smiled, leaning against the counter, “Oh you can't tell me that people haven't had to drop stuff off here before, can you? I mean...That just ain't how it tends to work, based on what I've seen. This is a settler rock, right?”

      The barkeep nodded, “Is. But the company we're settling for wanted to try running a rock with few supply runs as possible.” With a grin he pointed to the bottles behind him, which were few in number, “We even gotta make our own stock.”

      The captain leaned to the left, eying the bottles with a small smirk, “That so? Got any whiskey back there, then?”

     The barkeep gave his chorno a glance, before looking up at the man, “Bit early to be drinking, don't you think?”

      Red gave a shrug, drumming his fingers against the bar, “Five o'clock somewhere, ain't it?”

      With a short nod, the man reached back, setting his glass behind him, “I'm sure it is. But it isn't here, so you can wait. What did you say your name was?”

      “I didn't,” Red said, before smirking even wider at the man, “Ah, that'd be Redamous Malcolm, at your service.”

      A slight frown grew on the man's face as he looked him over again, before pointing out the door, “That was what I was figuring.” At Red's quizzical look he simply stated, “You look like your folks. Down the road. Third home on the right.”

      Red frowned, shaking his head, “Hey now, I don't think.”

      “I didn't ask, son. I said. Now go down that road, and see your folks. Now.”

      Grumbling, Red shot him another look, before walking out the door and down the road.

Weeks ago

      “Mom. Run that one by me again,” he said slowly and softly.

      “You heard me, Red,” she said, sounding like she was holding back tears. He couldn't tell, though. He wasn't looking at the comm. The comm was sitting up on a crate in the cargo hold of the Line, and he had his back pressed against it.

      “Are you sure?” he said, sounding distant, thinking.

      “Red, if we weren't sure do you really think I'd be telling you this?”

      He leaned his head back against the crate, staring up at the ceiling in disbelief, “No. Suppose not. Do they know?”

     “Dey knows, yes. He should be showing up any day now.”

     “Wouldn't count on it.”

      “Redamous...”

      “You know what I mean, ma,” he said flatly, “If it gets in the way of him doin' somethin', even if it's family stuff, he don't give a damn.”

      “Redamous Isaac Malcolm!” she said, the frown on her face coming out in her voice.

      “We ain't doin' this right now, mom,” Red stated, staring at the wall for a few moments. “Are ou sure he wants me there?”

      “I don't know what you mean, Red.”

      “You know what I mean. Does he want me there, mom, or do you want me there?”

      She was silent for a long time. Sitting in that silence he couldn't help but think of the various number of was that their situation could have been improved if they hadn't have been so stubborn, or the number of ways him showing up could go wrong. “He wants you here, Red, he just doesn't...”

      “He doesn't know it yet. I'm sure.” Groaning he rose, setting his hand down on the comm to shut it off, but not before muttering, “I'll be there, mom.” Looking around the room, he silently tucked it onto his belt, before swiftly turning around to kick the crate. Immediately afterward he regretted doing so.

       His gaze shot up and down the road, before settling back on the door in front of him. Sighing he turned, settling down on the steps and looking around. This end of the street lay in silence, with not even the occasional person wandering by. The houses lay silent and, as far as he could tell, empty. Looking around, he almost missed her, looking over the the sizable bush near the edge of one of the yards.

      Blinking, he sat up a bit further. Squinting he could just make out the shape of a person standing beyond the bush. “I can see you back there, whoever you are,” he said, doing his best to not sound amused.

      From behind the bush, he could make out someone saying, “No you can't.” With a laugh, he stood up and walked over to the bush, wishing he hadn't as soon as he saw who was behind it. The woman gave a small wave, looking down at the ground as she did so, “Hey Red.”

      He knelt down to look at her face, letting out a short, nervous laugh, “Hey Nic. What...What in the world are you doin' here?”

      She shrugged, rubbing her arm nervously, “Moved out here with a few other folks from Ord.” Nicole allowed herself a quick glance at him, before she was looking down at the ground, “You look good.”

      “You're lookin' pretty good yourself, darlin',” he said gently, frowning at the look she gave him when he spoke. They watched each other for a few moments before he allowed himself to ask the question he was dreading, “How's the husband?”

      “He's doing fine,” she said softly, though not sadly, to his liking and dismay.

     “That's good to hear,” he said, nodding absentmindedly. He glanced up, looking through the bush, “Are my folks home?”

      “Yeah, been home all morning,” Nicole said, pushing a strand of hair back behind her ear, “They said you were coming. A few folks were all excited to see you again. Hear about all this exciting stuff you've been doing.”

      Red blinked, staring at her, “Excitin' stuff? That's what they've been callin' it?”

      She tilted her head, “What do you mean?”

      “Well, I just can't imagine my dad callin' it 'excitin'' stuff, to be honest.”

      She bit her lip, looking down again, “Well he never really talked about it. You're mom said you were a freight hauler, and, well. You know how small town gossip works. Everyone figured you for one of those pulp fiction vid Captains. You are a captain, right?”

      He grinned, offering his hand, “Cap'n Redamous Malcolm, at your service ma'am. You are welcome to call me Red, or Mal, I have heard 'em both.”

      She rolled her eyes, “Let me guess...Every girl you meet hears that one?”

      “Maybe.”

      She let out a laugh, punching his shoulder, “And Mal, really?”

      He shrugged, “Hey now. There's a few folks who call me that, what can I say?” Standing, he offered his hand to her and she took it letting him help her up, “You said my folks were home.”

      Her expression grew grim at that, but she nodded anyways, “Your dad's pretty bad looking, Red.”

      Sighing, he nodded, “Then I best get in there. Maybe I'll see you around?”

 

      “So long as you're here, there's a larger chance than you had before,” she said, before leaving to head back inside. Standing there alone he could only dwell on her meaning.

Tales from SWTOR

The “Daring” Adventures of Captain Malcolm

Betrayed in the Sands

No matter how he hard he tried, there was no way he could huddle closer to the rock, but there wasn't much to stop him from trying to do so, especially after another blaster bolt went over his head. Red peeked over the rock, ducking just in time to miss a second shot. Sighing, he yelled out, “Really? Are we really gonna do this out here? Maybe you can drag me back into town an' shoot me there? I'd much prefer it if someone could at least find my corpse.”

On the other side of the rock he could hear the sound of laughing, followed by a few phrases that he lost to the wind, fairly certain they weren't very wholesome. After a few more bolts were fired off, he heard one of them let out a few curses in Huttese, followed up with something a bit more direct, “Just come out and get shot. It'll be over much quicker. Then we can bury you.”

Redamous pulled one of his blasters out, peeking out from the left side of the rock. “Look folks,” he yelled, trying to get it past the winds, “I didn't come here lookin' for no trouble. An' I'm sure we can talk this out, can't we? We're both sensible parties I'm dead certain.”

The laughter and shots told him otherwise. “Did you make that offer to Lemad?” one of them roared in anger.

He peeked out again, this time to the right, “Who the hell is Lemad?!”

The shots stopped for a moment, before starting again, faster than before, followed by what sounded like a rancor roaring, “You didn't even know his name? Of course not, you spacer scum.”

“Friend, I ain't got no clue what you're even talkin' about. I ain't killed nobody. 'Specially nobody named Lemad,” the Captain said, doing his best to keep calm.

The dry air hit Captain Redamous “Red” Malcolm's face harder than he'd expected it to as he stepped out of the spaceport, looking out over the small settlement. He slipped his thumbs into his belt, regretting his decision to keep his jacket on. Where most would have turned back to change, he knew he didn't have anything better back on his ship.

The road wasn't very busy as he started down it, giving a polite nod to most of the people he passed, ignoring those who gave him a look he knew meant “Go, before I kill you,”. His eyes shot to the right as he past the marketplace that had been set up near the center of town. He paced around it for a few minutes, before asking one of the merchants for directions to the cantina.

Destroying his hopes, he was disappointed to find that the air inside was only slightly better than the air outside, but it was at least cooler. Looking around the open space, the Captain was back in his element. There were some who belonged in command of troops, some who belonged behind desks, but Captain Malcolm was at his best when he was standing in a bar. For some reason, he attributed it to the atmosphere, his tongue grew sharper, and he mood lightened, while still being able to get serious when the need arose.

He'd not visited this particular bar, though he wasn't sure why. He'd been to Tatooine his fair share of times. Taking a deep breath, he walked up to the bar itself, and dropped into the familiar position of resting his arms against the bar, eyes shooting from left to right.

The bartender sized him up quickly, giving a short, but fairly friendly sounding “What can I get you?”

Red smiled, assuming his polite demeanor, “I'm lookin' for a few folks, uh,” he drummed his fingers against the bar as he thought, “Simial, an' Deaso. Somethin' along those lines. They hang 'round here by chance?”

The bartender gave the spacer another look over, jerking his head to a room back in the corner of the cantina. Without a word he turned his back to the Captain, and started cleaning a few glasses that were behind the counter.

Redamous gave a polite nod, turning on his heel and moving through the crowd, what little of a crowd there was. It was getting close to the middle of the day and aside from a few people who'd dropped in for a bite to eat, the crowd wouldn't start building until later. Guards coming off duty, merchants closing up shop, and the locals would start coming in when the suns started to set, and likely so would the off world ship captain.

Red wrapped his knuckles against the closed door, checking his blasters when he started to hear people moving behind it. He was hoping he wouldn't need them, but considering these were a Hutt's contacts. The door opened with a loud groan, and he slowly entered.

The room was fairly barren, aside from a bar and a few stools. Behind the bar was a Twi'lek, resting against the counter, blaster in hand. Sitting on one of the stools was a Rodian. The Rodian muttered something Red didn't hear, while the Twi'lek sized him up, before speaking, “Malcolm, yes?”

Putting on a smile and giving a friendly wave, the Captain entered the room, nodding, “That'd be me alright. Tell you I was comin', I would guess, am I right?”

The two exchanged a look, before the Twi'lek nodded, “They did.” his eyes glanced to the other side of the room for a quick moment, but it was long enough for Red to follow his gaze, finding a woman, another Twi'lek, he'd somehow managed to miss on his first look around the room.

The captain nodded politely to the woman, softly saying “Mornin' there miss.” before looking back to the two men, “So what we doin'? I jus' unloadin' this stuff an' handin' it off?”

The Rodian spun the stool around to where he could face the human, nodding, speaking in Huttese, “Yeah. We're gonna go look at the spot first.”

Red looked between them for a moment, confused, “Spot? You mean where you're buryin' this stuff? Works for me, I guess.”

The two exchanged another look again, before they started heading for the door, “Come along, nerfboy.” the Twi'lek said, which was followed with laughter from the Rodian.

He looked between them, frowning for a moment, leaving the room with a last glance to the girl in the back.

“So which one of you's Simial, an' which one of you's Dearo?” Red asked as they began the trek out into the sands, doing his best to make small talk.

“Simial is me, Dearo is him,” the Twi'lek said, not even looking back at the Captain. The Rodian let out a bit of laughter as he followed behind his friend. Behind them both, Redamous's hands went down to his blasters again, seeming satisfied with the fact that in a pinch they should fire just fine.

The trio crept slowly along, up and down dunes. From the east the wind was slowly picking up. As the sun climbed higher and higher in the sky, the Captain slowly began to regret his choice in clothing. He decided he'd have to buy something better for this sort of weather before he came back to Tatooine. Finally the group reached a small almost enclosed area, blocked by larger rocks, forming a sort of miniature canyon. A medium sized bolder had settled in the middle, but the area around it was clear.

“So uh...Why'd we walk all the way out here?” Redamous asked, growing more wary by the second, striding over to the boulder and leaning back against it, panting a bit. Maybe his droid was right, he was getting out of shape.

The Twi'lek set a hand on his blaster, “To bury something, of course,” he said slowly, a tint of humor in his voice.

Redamous frowned slightly, inching along the boulder, slowly, “Hardly need to ask what, now do I?” he said, with a slight sigh, left hand going down to his blaster on that side, hoping the movement was concealed enough.

The Rodian drew quicker, pulling his blaster out, practically laughing and speaking at the same time, “Don't even think about it,”. Slowly Red brought his hands up, “Better,”.

“Y'all wanna tell me why you're gonna shoot me? 'Least you can do is tell a guy why you're gonna shoot 'im,” Red said, doing his best to keep calm as he slowed, but still kept doing his best to crawl around the rock.

The Twi'lek and Rodian shared another look, they seemed to enjoy doing that. The Twi'lek now had his blaster out, and was shaking his head slowly. He started pacing a bit, every now and then pointing the gun at the Captain, before spitting at his feet. “You killed my friend,” he finally replied, coldly.

Red shook his head, keeping his hands up, “Friend, I ain't killed nobody, an' I didn' come here to kill nobody, an' I ain't gotten nobody killed. 'Least recently,” he said, before he slid fully around the rock, doing his best to take cover behind it. The two on the other side seemed to have been waiting for the moment they'd have an excuse to fire, and let loose.

“Really? Are we really gonna do this out here? Maybe you can drag me back into town an' shoot me there? I'd much prefer it if someone could at least find my corpse,”.

“Just come out and get shot. It'll be over much quicker. Then we can bury you.”

“Look folks, I didn't come here lookin' for no trouble. An' I'm sure we can talk this out, can't we? We're both sensible parties I'm dead certain.”

“Did you make that offer to Lemad?” one of them roared in anger, probably the Twi'lek.

“Who the hell is Lemad?!”

“You didn't even know his name? Of course not, you spacer scum,”, that was the Rodian.

“Friend, I ain't got no clue what you're even talkin' about. I ain't killed nobody. 'Specially nobody named Lemad,” the Captain said, doing his best to keep calm.

There was a grumbling from the pair as the wind picked up again. It'd changed directions and was now coming directly at Redamous. With a sigh he pushed away from the rock, heading in the direction it was blowing, doing his best to stay unseen. Slowly he crawled around to where he was behind them. The Rodian had stopped firing by this point.

The Twi'lek looked over, the rage obvious in his face, “What now?”

The Rodian held up his blaster, slamming his hand against it, “Thing broke on me again,”. The Twi'lek grumbled something, his hand shooting out to grab it from the Rodian, “Don't make it worse!”

“How am I going to make it worse? It's not like you could have bought a working kriffing blaster, now is it? No, you had to go and get a 'good deal', didn't you?” the Twi'lek practically snarled.

Redamous unholstered his blasters, pointing them at the two's backs, “Well ain't this a good bondin' moment, am I right?” he said, the two turned, the Rodian unarmed still, the Twi'lek still fumbling with his friends blaster, “Hands up, please,” the Captain said smoothly, “An' put those things down,” he said motioning to the blasters.

The Twi'lek frowned even more than he already was, his face folding a bit on itself, “Going to kill us too, I take it? Go on, do it nerfboy,” he growled.

There was a small silence for a moment, as Red walked up to them, before he broke it. “Look, friend. I ain't no killer. Now, right now I ain't above leavin' you folks out here, Sand People might get you, or a Jawa, but hey,”.

“How would you leave us out here?” the Rodian laughed, looking to the Twi'lek, “He's going to kill us, he just wants to be clever about it,”.

“Like this,” Red said, quickly switching his hands from holding the grip of the blasters to the muzzle, bringing them down on their heads. They fell together. He slowly dragged them over to rest against the rock, guessing he only had maybe ten, twenty minutes max before they woke up.

The cantina had gained a few customers when Captain Malcolm reentered, going back to the room where he'd found the pair. His conscience wasn't letting him get off this rock without telling the girl where her friends were. As the door groaned open, he stepped inside, not seeing anyone else. He pulled his blaster out, slowly walking in, looking behind the bar, jumping back slightly when he saw the two corpses that were rotting behind it.

There was a soft cough from near the door as it shut, the girl walking in, she had her own blaster in hand, pointing it right at his head, “They earned it, I'm guessing you have too,”. She approached him, motioning for him to lower his weapon, which he did, “Where are my friends?”

He slumped back against the wall a bit, crossing his arms, “They're takin' a little nap. Which is probably better'n they deserve, considerin' they jus' walked me out to the middle of nowhere in the hopes of killin' me,” he grumbled.

She frowned, “So you killed them,” she said, her voice cold and flat.

“What is it with everybody assumin' I'm a killer? I ain't killed nobody lady, let's get one thing straight, of the many things I can be accused of, I ain't a killer,” he said, getting irritated, even though it probably wasn't the best thing to do when a gun was being pointed at him.

She blinked, looking him over again, eyes shooting from his weapons to his face, “You aren't lying. Why...Why are you hauling my brother, then? Dragging his body out to some hot rock to bury him?”

Redamous's jaw dropped a bit, “I...I'm not haulin' nobody, far as I know,”

“No. No,” she said, sounding quite certain, “You are. Buried in your garbage,”.

“It isn't my garbage, lady. It's some Hutt's...” he paused, sighing, “It's a Hutt's garbage. An' I'm gonna guess your brother ticked off a Hutt,”

The girl bit her lip, shaking her head as she backed up, dropping her blaster in the process, “I knew it would happen. I told him, I did. I told him he'd get himself into trouble, but you know what? You know what? He just. Couldn't. Listen.”

The bags in the cargo hold still held the scent of Nar Shaddaa, and of, well, garbage. It didn't take too long for Red to dig out the corpses. He brought it outside the ship, setting it on the ground, bowing his head slightly in respect as the girl mourned her family.

Vita Week: Racing Games

Racing games don't really need an introduction, right? You...Race things. Generally for the purpose to unlock other things to race and other places to race around. They're also things that I've always played here and there, trying to

Need for Speed: Most Wanted

The last Need for Speed game I played was Hot Pursuit that came out a few years back, which featured both your usual racer career alongside a career mode featuring the cops that generally try to stop racers from having any fun. I thought it was pretty good and the two sides were different enough but both were still fun.

Most Wanted on the other hand ditches the cops side of the story to focus solely on the racers again. You're let loose in a large open city and a bit of the surrounding country side, which is filled with collectables, races, and cars.

First off the game, for the most part looks good. At higher speeds it can chug a bit, but beyond that Most Wanted stays fairly consistent. Headlights at night though have a very odd problem where they pop in and out at times and if you're looking at them from the front you can literally count the pixels.

The newest thing I could see was that instead of unlocking cars as you go, they are simply all spread out across town, and you simply drive up to one, hit a button and off you go in this new car. Each car has its own races to it, and doing well in them will unlock different parts for that car. Everything handles well enough to boot.

Another aspect of the game that Criterion has been trying to improve over the past few entires is the Speedwall. Essentially whenever you finish a race, run by a speed camera(one of the game's collectables), or burst through a billboard, you'll be shown how well your friends did, which is mainly meant to envoke the spirit of competition. As someone who's friends don't touch racing games...Well it did nothing for me.

All in all a good game, and a fully fledged Need for Speed game on the go.

WipEout 2048

Onto Sony's own futuristic racing game, WipEout 2048 is more contained than Most Wanted. There's no open world, and the tracks are all set, but I'd say this lets it feel more focused.

You'll progress through a linear set of races with a few side races meant to challenge, and unlock more...Speeders...? They aren't cars, but more...Hover...Things. It's the future, things aren't moving solely on the ground, that's the best way I can think of to describe it.

The game has a bit of a Mario Kart feel to it, too. You'll roll over pads and be given a weapon, but unlike Mario Kart, said weapon can be used on yourself to power up your shield for a short bit, or repair your ship as a whole giving it a bit more of a strategic feel.

It's very similar to Wipeout HD for the PS3, so if you've played that you'll know what to expect. Beyond that there's really not much to say about the game. The better you do in races the more vehicles you'll unlock, divided up by teams and types, of varying stats. You'll also unlock more races. There's three campaigns to play through and they all appear to be a decent length on their own so I'd take the chance to say you'll probably get a lot of time out of this one if you find you enjoy it.

Spy Hunter

The last one I'm taking a look at here isn't really a racing game per se, but it still has you driving a car down a long closed in stretch of highway while being timed so I'm letting it slide.

Spy Hunter puts you in the seat of the Interceptor, a prototype vehicle that's essentially James Bond's car if Q felt the need to erradicate every other vehicle on the road. The Square, Triangle, Circle, and X buttons all control different weapons on the car that you'll use to kill all who oppose you, until you finish your mission and get back to the trailer that's meant to carry your car. Then you'll head back to base, where you can use whatever points you've earned to upgrade your weapons/paint your car.

There isn't too much story beyond another group wanting to acquire your vehicle, deciding to try to kill you when they see that isn't going to happen. The entire thing is done with its tongue firmly in its cheek though, which adds a bit of humor to it.

All in all the game is fun if a bit samey at times. You'll earn weapons to switch out with your main arsenal, but it'll always just boil down to trying to run everyone near you off the road or shoot them up. Which is oddly satisfying.

I've played it sparringly so I'm not sure how much time you'll get out of it, or even if it stays true to the series it's rebooting, but I've enjoyed myself when I decided to play through a few levels here and there.

Vita Week: Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Back when I'd first got my PS3, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was one of the first games I'd bought. Actually that's a slightly awkward story that involves me having ordered my PS3 online, yet having picked up the game at a GameStop a few days before it arrived, and I just had to stare at the box for awhile occasionally looking over the manual.

In the end it turned out to be a great looking game, with great platforming, great characters, subpar shooting, and a story that while fairly simple at first decides to take a very abrupt turn near the end which I'm still not sure how to feel about. Considering I'd just come over from the Wii(I was seriously late to the party on this console generation), it was an excellent introduction.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves wasn't radically different aside from the fact that it improved everything, and decided to turn the graphics up to the "This is freaking gorgeous" setting.

And I've yet to play Uncharted 3. So of those two, I have to compare Uncharted: Golden Abyss more to Drake's Fortune, which while not as good as being comparable to Among Thieves still means it's good.

If you've missed out on the Uncharted series thus far it follows Nathan Drake, globe trotting treasure hunter, and involves platforming and third person cover based shooting. On occasion puzzles will be thrown in as well, though these in past games tended to be mainly "Pull Out Journal" followed by "Pull Switches According to Journal".

Let me say it now, though, Golden Abyss looks fantastic. It really is comparable to playing Drake's Fortune for the first time again in this aspect, which one might say is a step back, until you take into consideration that this is a handheld system. If there is anything that shows me that Sony claiming the Vita can handle console quality graphics and such, it's this. But perhaps that's because it really does feel like they've ripped an Uncharted game away from the consoles.

The gameplay really hasn't changed, aside from a number of moments that try to make use of the Vita's unique features. For instance, to climb up a structure, you can do it the old fashioned way, hitting X to jump from ledge to ledge, or you can just draw a line on the screen following the ledges and Drake will just do everything on his own. This is actually a really good addition in my book, which sadly cannot be said for the others. At random in melee combat, you will have to make a slide motion across the screen, which if you're like me, and using the Square button, is a very odd transition.

Sadly for the rest of the combat, the gunplay has taken a step backwards. Aiming is fairly loose, and I felt the crosshair was a bit big, especially with my pistol. Beyond this the voice acting is still great, even though some of the new characters aren't as strong as Drake and Sully. The story isn't too complicated, or at least hasn't become so yet, as I'm not too far in, a running theme with quite a few of these Vita games. So do remember that most of these look overs will be mainly first impressions.

If there's one thing that Uncharted: Golden Abyss does different involves the collectables. In past games there would be tiny little treasures hidden around, and grabbing them gained you trophies. In this game on the other hand, there are the standard treasures along with spots that need to be photographed, and old ruins that need a good charcol rubbing as to take their pictures with you. The amount of these spread throughout the game is almost insane, and honestly I'm happy with that. We're building up Drake's journal instead of it existing and being filled out already. There is one downside though...

Recently a game called Uncharted: Fight for Fortune was also released for a cheap $5. This isn't the usual adventure though, and is instead a card game, I would guess along the lines of say Magic: The Gathering, if a little simpler(?). It's a nice little distraction on its own, but where the two link together is Golden Abyss's collectables. The more you gather the more you'll power up certain cards in Fight for Fortune, and as I've read it is possible to get an unfair advantage via these, so keep that in mind.

All in all both games are fun, and I would say you'd get what you pay for with Fight for Fortune, though I've yet to try to delve into the online play which from what I'd read had its fair share of problems. And I got Golden Abyss free with PS+...But I would say for the $40 you'd generally spend it will be a great adventure on the go.

Vita Week: Gravity Rush

Gravity Rush is the only game currently on my Vita that isn't a previously existing franchise, or port, besides Chronovolt which I've yet to play. It comes free if you're a Playstation Plus member, a service that I've grown to love after a slightly iffy start, or is (I think) $40 otherwise.

So what is Gravity Rush? It's a game about a young girl who wakes up in a city floating above a giant...Rift...Thing...Who comes across a cat which gives her powers which allow you to alter gravity. The story seemed a bit generic to start off with, and I'm not too far into it (Sixth out of what I can only assume based off what the DLC implies is about 17+ episodes/chapters), so it's hard to see if it'll get better or not. Even with the slightly generic amnesia/superpowers opening act, I must say that I do enjoy the characters, and the dialogue is actually pretty good at times. The main character Kat, while at times a bit too ready to do whatever someone asks of her, generally has a witty remark on things, a few of which have produced a chuckle from me.

The gameplay itself revolves around you using your new found powers to navigate the city, and defeat supernatural enemies that threaten the town. Tapping the R button will lift you off the ground, you adjust the camera with the right stick, and with another tap of the R button you'll shift gravity in that direction, sending you and hilariously whoever happens to be near you screaming in that direction. This is honestly really fun, and probably ranks in one of my favorite ways to traverse an open world game.

The downsides of this is that it can be easy at times to lose track of which way is up, but the main character's outfit helps out here by always following actual gravity, pointing you to which way is the ground. After you've gotten used to it you should be shifting gravity with the best of them.

While the gravity shifting powers are fun for getting around, the same can't be said for the game's combat which is at best easy and not around long enough to get annoying, and at worst will have you awkwardly flying around trying to kick a certain spot on an enemy. The system seems simple enough. Hitting Square will have you kick at an enemy, and if you decide to shift gravity and then hit Square you'll launch yourself at an enemy to hit them harder. The problem is that all the enemies have huge red points, and hitting these is the only way to damage them. Some of them you won't be able to hit on the ground, so you'll have to rely on your aim, and I personally have missed quite a few times with quite a few of these guys and got ticked. Happily this doesn't take away from the game too much.

Graphically the game looks great, the city has a nice design to it, as do the characters, but to be frank, I've never been a fan of this art style, which I would compare to anime, which I'm not a fan of either. I've actually grown accustemed to it, and actually enjoy some of it, so perhaps it's an acquired taste.

Storywise the game draws heavily from comic books, and is comparable to inFamous on how it tells its story. I've seen a few cutscenes with voice acting(no English translation though, so you'll be relying on subtitles if you don't speak what I'm assuming is Japanese), but most of the story is told through panels ala comic books. These look awesome, and with a simple drag on the screen you move from one panel to the next, though sadly I've not found a way to go back, leading to a few times I dragged a time too many and missed something. You can also tilt the device and watch the panels do the same which is a great touch.

DLC

The game has three DLC packs, each containing two additional missions, a few challenge missions, and a costume for Kat, and cost $3.99 a piece. I've only completed the first mission of the first DLC pack, but it's fair share of clever dialogue, and the mission changed up the pace compared to other things I'd done thus far, quizzing me on my knowledge of the city and memory at times.

The DLC unlocks as the story progresses, with the packs being opened up after episodes 4, 11, and 17. I actually think this is a clever move, as this will provide distractions over time, and not simply all at once.

Conclusion

While the art style took a bit to get used to for me personally, I've seriously enjoyed this game. If it keeps its charm throughout I've yet to see, but for now it's been great for more serious(compared to say, an iPod game like Angry Birds) gaming on the go. If unique titles continue to show up on the Vita, it could very well have a lovely library in its future.

Playstation Vita review

Well, the holidays are over, and over the long weekend I was gifted a Playstation Vita, and managed to load it up with a few games, so consider this Vita week! So long as I can remember to get a new post up every day, along with writing them...Etc.

The Hardware

Lets start off with the Vita itself. The device is larger than the old PSP as far as I can recall, and definantly won't sit comfortably in say one of your pants pockets, and I've resorted to keeping it in one of my coat pockets, but it's still fairly lightweight all things considered.

It has the standard D-Pad, and the Square, X, Triange, and Circle button, along with the left joystick that the PSP had, but it also now happily includes a right joystick as well. The device also has left and right shoulder buttons. Really what's impressive is that it's an L2 and R2, and vibration function, away from being a full PS3 controller. The screen is also now a touch screen, and the rear of the device also has touch abilities too. There's also a Home button on there too.

The Vita also includes a front and back camera though I'm no camera expert so I'm not sure how they are compared to say an iPod or cell phone camera, as to compare the two to another mobile device.

As for the hardware on the inside...I honestly don't know the details and if I did wouldn't be able to form any opinions off of them besides "that sounds shiny".

The Interface

Once your initial set up(which is happily simple, easy, and quick), is finished, you might be surprised to see that the PS Vita has ditched Sony's XMB Crossbar interface, and instead gone with what Sony has dubbed the 'LiveArea'.

Essentially this is similar to other touch screen interfaces, where your apps and such are just icons, and you slide to move around them. Where it seperates itself from the others is how it deals with apps you've already opened. If you slide to the right of the LiveArea, you'll see pages representing the games and apps you have running, if you scroll down on these pages they'll display your recent activity, such as earning trophies, or preforming feats in-game. You simply drag from the corner of the page to quit running the game or app.

All in all, the interface is simple, slick, and best of all, sort of fun. I for some reason enjoy closing my apps by practically tearing the page off a wall.

Pros

A quick sum up of some pros I've noticed:

• I like how the device sits in my hands for the most part
• It looks great
• The interface is great
• Games look amazing. Playing through Uncharted: Golden Abyss is like playing through Uncharted: Drake's Fortune again. Though not on par with the better looking PS3 titles, it still looks pretty impressive.
• There's quite the variety of games availible, some of which are actually PS3 games, such as Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale.

Cons

And a quick run through of some of the downsides I've noticed:

• The Vita has a fairly short battery life, about five hours of straight gaming, so keep that in mind.
• The memory cards for the Vita are expensive, and extremely tiny. I could see these things getting lost easily.
• While there are a nice variety of titles, there aren't many of them. This is one thing that makes me worried about the device, as I'm not seeing too much developer support.
• The rear touch pad is very sensitive, and I forgot it was there a few times, making me do something in-game on accident.

As the week progresses, I will take a look at a few of the games I've picked up, along with a few of the applications and games that come pre-loaded on the device. Stay tuned.