02-25-2016, 12:41 AM
Abner simply smiled as he watched Christa and Katia depart into the gate to the Vasty Deep. He didn’t smile much anymore. Usually, he just grunted and sighed, but this remarkable woman had certainly changed that. Then again, she hadn’t been one for expressing positive emotions at the beginning of the journey, either, but she had certainly changed as well. He made a mental note to stay in close contact with her, and see what would happen from there. He certainly had high hopes.
He was jarred from his pleasant thoughts by a Stormtrooper roughly grabbing the straps of his bullet proof vest and jerking him aside. Abner stumbled and barely managed to stay on his feet after the sudden movement. He caught his balance and found himself staring straight into the cold, emotionless countenance of the all too familiar Stormtrooper helmet. As terrifying as it was to many, it was only an annoyance to the well-traveled veteran.
“Abner? Is that you?” a voice squawked through the voice box equipped in the helmet. Even through the robotic sound, he recognized the voice of his close friend, Avin Searle. “It is you, right? Omni’s not playing some damn joke by bringing a different you in as a Prime? What was our first assignment together?”
“Get your goddamn hands off of me,” Abner snapped in response to the weak test, throwing his arms up as he did. Avin let go and stepped back, now convinced he was still talking to the same Abner he knew. The fresh prime was happy to confirm it, though. “Yea, it’s me, shithead.”
Avin was far from done with his impromptu interrogation. He did remove his helmet so he could look at his friend face to face, however. “What in the hell is going on? Those Stormtroopers said you appeared like a damn prime.”
“That’s because I am a damn prime,” Abner bluntly replied. Avin furrowed his brow in disbelief, but Abner didn’t hesitate to hold an open palm between them and allow an orb of Omnilium to emerge from his hand.
Avin stared in disbelief. What he was seeing was something he never imagined was possible. “…How?”
“They said ‘find Omni,’” Abner answered, clenching a fist and causing the Omnilium to disappear back into his body. “So I fuckin’ found Omni.”
“Find Omni…” Avin repeated the words incredulously. “’Find Omni’…you idiot, they fired your dumb ass.”
Abner blinked once in the ensuing silence, with a matching blank expression. Then, he simply grinned.
Avin remained far less amused. “The one time you were supposed to actually do nothing…” The Stormtrooper captain paused and thought for a brief second, but struggled to find his bearings. “Dammit, Abner, everyone except you knew you were supposed to go away and just stay gone. They couldn’t execute you because of all you’d done, but you’d outlived your usefulness.”
“Well, surprise,” Abner sarcastically exclaimed as he threw his hands up in frustration. “I’m still good for something. Now what the hell do we do?”
Avin pursed his lips and nodded as he mused on that loaded question. Like any career Imperial, he knew the real question wasn’t what they should do, but instead what they shouldn’t do. This was a tremendous development. A secondary becoming a prime? That was completely unheard of, and such an insane reality touching his insignificant life was a lot to comprehend. At the same time, the fact that Abner, of all people, had introduced such insanity into his life wasn’t exactly mind-blowing.
“Well, those Stormtroopers have absolutely tweeted this shit, or whatever,” Avin said, ignoring the lack of understanding that Abner had for such terminology. “So it’s a safe bet that the Imperial High Command knows about you being back as a prime.”
“Great,” Abner lit a cigarette as a he listened to his friend, and closed his eyes as he took his first drag. It had been way too long. A couple hours at most, realistically, but more time than he was used to.
“That means they’re going to send the badasses through the gate to find you,” Avin quickly continued, as he felt Abner didn’t fully appreciate this situation. “I’m not talking about forgettable peons like you or me, or rookies that are going to get themselves slaughtered by a fresh prime. I mean they’re sending the guys that are either actively running top secret Imperial missions, or sitting in the barracks jacking off thinking about top secret Imperial missions.”
“I got it, thanks for the visual,” Abner dismissively waved his hand. “You didn’t answer my question. What the hell do we do?”
Avin shrugged at that one. The resolution seemed to be out of their hands.
“I guess we start heading for Coruscant,” Avin answered. “Meet them halfway. That, or you haul ass into that gate and have the courtesy to punch my lights out so I don’t get hanged for blatantly letting you escape.”
“That got real interesting at the end,” Abner admitted. Though he was joking, he said it with a straight face, and Avin still understood. The old veteran casually continued with his new found resolve. “I’m going to see this through, though. I made a promise in that swamp.”
Abner’s face showed a rare glimpse of resolve, but Avin’s was simply confusion.
“What fucking swamp?” Avin asked incredulously.
Abner’s facial expression straightened up, and he looked like the same old burnout that alternated between lackadaisical and serious yet again.
“How about you don’t worry about it?” Abner retorted, falling back into his old groove. “Let’s just head to Coruscant and figure this shit out.”,
“That’s a little more like it,” Avin laughed to mask his own apprehension.
With some light laughter to set the mood, Abner and Avin began their trek towards the gate that led to Coruscant. The whole time they laughed about ridiculous stories from their past adventures, and also shared stories from their time apart. The two close friends were reunited, but they couldn’t help but be hesitant at what awaited them on the other side of that familiar gate.
The unknown had never stopped them before, and it wasn’t about to now. With a simple laugh and accompanying fist bump, Avin entered the gate and disappeared back to Coruscant. Abner hesitated for only a few seconds. It was the exact amount of time he needed to light another cigarette and get the nicotine he needed for what he was about to do. He was as committed as he would ever be, so without a second thought he stepped into the gate, and was whisked away to Coruscant.
He was jarred from his pleasant thoughts by a Stormtrooper roughly grabbing the straps of his bullet proof vest and jerking him aside. Abner stumbled and barely managed to stay on his feet after the sudden movement. He caught his balance and found himself staring straight into the cold, emotionless countenance of the all too familiar Stormtrooper helmet. As terrifying as it was to many, it was only an annoyance to the well-traveled veteran.
“Abner? Is that you?” a voice squawked through the voice box equipped in the helmet. Even through the robotic sound, he recognized the voice of his close friend, Avin Searle. “It is you, right? Omni’s not playing some damn joke by bringing a different you in as a Prime? What was our first assignment together?”
“Get your goddamn hands off of me,” Abner snapped in response to the weak test, throwing his arms up as he did. Avin let go and stepped back, now convinced he was still talking to the same Abner he knew. The fresh prime was happy to confirm it, though. “Yea, it’s me, shithead.”
Avin was far from done with his impromptu interrogation. He did remove his helmet so he could look at his friend face to face, however. “What in the hell is going on? Those Stormtroopers said you appeared like a damn prime.”
“That’s because I am a damn prime,” Abner bluntly replied. Avin furrowed his brow in disbelief, but Abner didn’t hesitate to hold an open palm between them and allow an orb of Omnilium to emerge from his hand.
Avin stared in disbelief. What he was seeing was something he never imagined was possible. “…How?”
“They said ‘find Omni,’” Abner answered, clenching a fist and causing the Omnilium to disappear back into his body. “So I fuckin’ found Omni.”
“Find Omni…” Avin repeated the words incredulously. “’Find Omni’…you idiot, they fired your dumb ass.”
Abner blinked once in the ensuing silence, with a matching blank expression. Then, he simply grinned.
Avin remained far less amused. “The one time you were supposed to actually do nothing…” The Stormtrooper captain paused and thought for a brief second, but struggled to find his bearings. “Dammit, Abner, everyone except you knew you were supposed to go away and just stay gone. They couldn’t execute you because of all you’d done, but you’d outlived your usefulness.”
“Well, surprise,” Abner sarcastically exclaimed as he threw his hands up in frustration. “I’m still good for something. Now what the hell do we do?”
Avin pursed his lips and nodded as he mused on that loaded question. Like any career Imperial, he knew the real question wasn’t what they should do, but instead what they shouldn’t do. This was a tremendous development. A secondary becoming a prime? That was completely unheard of, and such an insane reality touching his insignificant life was a lot to comprehend. At the same time, the fact that Abner, of all people, had introduced such insanity into his life wasn’t exactly mind-blowing.
“Well, those Stormtroopers have absolutely tweeted this shit, or whatever,” Avin said, ignoring the lack of understanding that Abner had for such terminology. “So it’s a safe bet that the Imperial High Command knows about you being back as a prime.”
“Great,” Abner lit a cigarette as a he listened to his friend, and closed his eyes as he took his first drag. It had been way too long. A couple hours at most, realistically, but more time than he was used to.
“That means they’re going to send the badasses through the gate to find you,” Avin quickly continued, as he felt Abner didn’t fully appreciate this situation. “I’m not talking about forgettable peons like you or me, or rookies that are going to get themselves slaughtered by a fresh prime. I mean they’re sending the guys that are either actively running top secret Imperial missions, or sitting in the barracks jacking off thinking about top secret Imperial missions.”
“I got it, thanks for the visual,” Abner dismissively waved his hand. “You didn’t answer my question. What the hell do we do?”
Avin shrugged at that one. The resolution seemed to be out of their hands.
“I guess we start heading for Coruscant,” Avin answered. “Meet them halfway. That, or you haul ass into that gate and have the courtesy to punch my lights out so I don’t get hanged for blatantly letting you escape.”
“That got real interesting at the end,” Abner admitted. Though he was joking, he said it with a straight face, and Avin still understood. The old veteran casually continued with his new found resolve. “I’m going to see this through, though. I made a promise in that swamp.”
Abner’s face showed a rare glimpse of resolve, but Avin’s was simply confusion.
“What fucking swamp?” Avin asked incredulously.
Abner’s facial expression straightened up, and he looked like the same old burnout that alternated between lackadaisical and serious yet again.
“How about you don’t worry about it?” Abner retorted, falling back into his old groove. “Let’s just head to Coruscant and figure this shit out.”,
“That’s a little more like it,” Avin laughed to mask his own apprehension.
With some light laughter to set the mood, Abner and Avin began their trek towards the gate that led to Coruscant. The whole time they laughed about ridiculous stories from their past adventures, and also shared stories from their time apart. The two close friends were reunited, but they couldn’t help but be hesitant at what awaited them on the other side of that familiar gate.
The unknown had never stopped them before, and it wasn’t about to now. With a simple laugh and accompanying fist bump, Avin entered the gate and disappeared back to Coruscant. Abner hesitated for only a few seconds. It was the exact amount of time he needed to light another cigarette and get the nicotine he needed for what he was about to do. He was as committed as he would ever be, so without a second thought he stepped into the gate, and was whisked away to Coruscant.