I tossed and turned in bed last night before finally falling into a deep sleep.
I found myself standing in a stark, door less room. A few feet from me stood a terminal, lit up brightly and beckoning. I willed myself to move toward it but my feet did not budge. I struggled for a few moments and finally managed a step… then another. For a moment I forgot about the terminal and simply delighted in my ability to walk about.
But suddenly a pale Twi’lek appeared. I froze and watched as she startled awake and without a word immediately went to the terminal and vanished. My thoughts swirled with questions. Who was she? Where did she come from? Where had she gone? Had she seen me? What did that terminal do?
I cautiously made my way to the terminal. I remember seeing spheres floating, feeling a bit dizzy and I know I reached out toward the terminal… then it all went dark.
A flash. I was suddenly bathed in light. I covered my eyes with my hands trying to keep the burning brightness from my vision while also trying to catch a glimpse of my surroundings. It was hopeless. I couldn’t see anything but light.
I became aware of a constant noise, a din. I listened carefully. It was voices. The sound of many people speaking all at once. But I could not understand what they said. There are people here.
The moving shadows I was catching glimpses of through the slits between my fingers were people - humanoids of some sort. I spread my fingers a bit further. My eyes reacted by involuntarily shutting again but I willed them open desperate to see who was there. I caught sight of a darker area to my right and stepped toward it.
I felt the sand on my toes as I stumbled toward what appeared to be a wall. It blocked some of the light and there in shade my eyes finally adjusted and revealed my surroundings.
I know this place.
It was Eisley. Good old Mos Eisley. And it was packed with people. More than I’d seen there in a long, long time. The Medical Center was nearby and I ducked inside to let my eyes recover for a moment.
What I saw convinced me I must have suffered permanent damage to my eyes. I saw doctors! Humanoid doctors! It’d been so many years since the medical center had employed humanoid doctors. The work had all been delegated to the surgical droids for so long…. but here they were! Real doctors tending wounds, curing disease and lifting the spirits of their patients with the kind of bedside manner no surgical droid could offer.
My joy was quickly shattered by the realization that what I was seeing wasn’t quite right. It was then I noticed my clothing. I was dressed in rags. How did I arrive in such a state? I reached for my backpack only to discover it wasn’t there. I had nothing. No clothing, no supplies, no vehicle, no resources…. and no credits?!
I rushed back outside pushing the panic away. There had to be an explanation. What had happened? It must be a dream. No, a nightmare. Certainly something bad will happen now that will prove it. And then I will wake up and vow never again to eat 3 day old leftovers from the fridge…
Then it happened. A good friend appeared. He was himself and yet I don’t remember the last time I’d seen him quite so giddy… oh, yes, that time at the Life Day party when he’d had a bit too much to drink. I still wish I could get the image of him in him dancing in his helmet and underwear out of my mind…
Then another friend appeared. And another. And another. They all found themselves in similar states of poverty and incompetence but joyfully went about the business of finding work and learning as if it were all normal and expected.
And I find myself wondering…. am I dreaming now? Or have I finally just woken up after a long, intricate dream of another life?
I don’t suppose it matters much. Whether I’m there - with the big house, expensive rare items, comfortable bank account balance, factory full of resources, list of well paying customers, collection of vehicles, etc. Or whether I’m here - dressed in rags, credit less and without a means of transportation save for my well worn sandals…
Either way I have my good friends to keep me company. And that makes me the richest, luckiest girl in any universe.
((OOC))
(( Loading into the test server of the SWG Emu was nothing short of amazing. It’s a work in progress but there is so much that’s done and playable. Seeing the game in it’s original form has only solidified my opinion that with the NGE, SOE destroyed so much of what once made SWG great. Judging from the incredible population on the test server of the EMU it would seem that tons of folks agree.
I encourage you to go to the SWG Emu site, read about the project and witness the passion of the folks working to restore the SWG I love. And if you’re up for the challenge, log into the test server.
Look me up when you get there. I’ll be around, digging in the dirt for the resources to make |Bahama-Wear| clothing to put up for sale… cause my feet are tired and I’d really like to buy a vehicle :P ))
I can always tell when Bermuda is getting ready to skip out of town. It begins with the valuable gifts he bestows on me for no reason. Inevitably, he asks how many credits I have in the bank. Despite the fact that he’s often gone for long periods of time, he’s always managed to make sure that I’m well cared for during his absence.
I rarely get any official notice that he’s left. Days go by, weeks even, and I come to the realization that he’s not been around in a while. I live with the reality that at any time, he could suddenly be gone.
And now, it seems, he is. Again.
Of course I’m sad that he’s away again. But I can’t claim I didn’t know what I was getting into all those years ago when I decided to throw my lot in with him.
When I first met Bermuda I was all of 15. My parents and I lived in a small town in a distant galaxy. I first saw him while making my daily trip to the Bazaar to sell my parents’ products. He was there, selling hides and meat from recent kills.
This old photo just doesn’t do him justice. He was quite handsome back then (still is). He immediately caught my eye… and I guess I caught his as well. I can’t recall what we chatted about that first day. I only remember that we talked for a very long time. I left wondering if I’d ever see him again.
I did. He was there at the Bazaar again the next day at that same hour. He played it cool and claimed that it was coincidence… but I knew better. We continued to meet there each day for the next week.
He loved to tell me stories about the places he’d been. Though he refused to tell me how he ended up travelling the universe alone, it was clear from his stories he’d been taking care of himself for at least a couple of years. His tales left me breathless one minute and laughing hysterically the next. But mostly they made me jealous of all he’d experienced.
As my parents’ only child, it had always been a given that I would take over running the family business. For my parents it was a foregone conclusion that I would marry a local boy and live in that same small town for the rest of my life.
Faced with a peer who’d already lived more than either of my parents ever had, I realized I had a choice. My life’s script wasn’t already written and I didn’t need to go on pretending it was.
As that week ended, Bermuda prepared to move on as he was accustomed to doing. I inquired where he’d go next. With a sly grin, he asked if I wanted to go with him to find out.
The smile quickly faded from my lips and I stared at the ground, holding my breath. How could I possibly do such a thing? I couldn’t. Could I? I sat in silence, tormented by the choice he’d put before me.
To understand the significance of what happened next, you need to understand that Bermuda is never affectionate in public. Ever. The most you’ll ever see him do is occasionally smack my bottom or pat my back. You won’t find him kissing or hugging me, not even in saying goodbye. He’s just not that way.
But that day, as I sat there paralyzed, he reached over and gently lifted my chin till my eyes met his. He leaned in close, swept his finger across my cheek and tucked a stray hair behind my ear. Then he cradled the back of my head in his hand, looked me in the eye and whispered, “Would you go with me?”
Suddenly the difficult choice didn’t seem so difficult. With tears in my eyes, I told him I would. And he kissed me. Yes, right there outside the Bazaar. In all the years since, that hasn’t happened again. I have to steal kisses from him behind locked doors.
I knew there was no way my parents would ever understand so I didn’t bother to discuss it with them. I left that night while they slept, leaving only a brief note behind saying that I was leaving and that I probably wouldn’t return.
Shortly thereafter Bermuda and I found ourselves in the hustle and bustle of the Mos Eisley Starport.
At the risk of sounding like an old lady, I miss the good old days…. before personal starships.
Back in the days when everyone took public transportation the starports were filled with folks traveling from here to there and back again. Traveling wasn’t a matter taken lightly as it cost time and money. You planned a trip. Sometimes you even saved credits for a trip.
Once your ticket was in hand, you had to wait. And wait. And wait. But you did not usually wait alone. The starport would often be filled with interesting folks who were also waiting.
While waiting some would practice their music providing entertainment for those around them. You could hear funny stories, questions, arguments and discussions happening all around you. It was time for a medic to do a quick heal, for a doctor to do a buff, for combat professionals to spar and for a tailor to make an item for a customer. Friends caught up on their way to their next big adventure. Enemies traded insults to pass the time.
There was a unique interaction between people. One above and beyond what takes place in the darkness of a cantina. Rich, poor, combat, merchant, traveling near or far…. we all were waiting for that same ship to land and that same ticket droid to take our ticket.
Sadly, these days most people walk up to the starship terminal and are gone in a flash. Sure, it’s convenient and cheap and quick. But it lacks the charm and interest of traveling the old fashioned way.
Not long after we arrived in Mos Eisley, Bermuda was ready to explore other places. While I liked the familiarity of Mos Eisley, he convinced me that Bestine would be a perfect choice for our hometown. There were many perks to Bestine including the convenience of a star port, a local tailor trainer and significantly fewer helper droids cluttering the landscape. He purchased our very first home and set it up a short distance outside Bestine. We were home at last.
Here’s me in front of our new home in the vehicle he bought for me (back in those days, they didn’t give them out for free).
The home is filled with good memories. My husband bought me private crafting machines to set up. I returned the favor by keeping him well clothed and providing snacks and drinks when he returned from long, hard missions. He would fill my backpacks with resources and loot I could use to in my crafting, come and kill red dots off when they came uncomfortably close to our house and brought me items to use in decorating our small home.
Though Bermuda has mysteriously vanished, I still keep our homestead in Bestine in case he returns one day. He’ll find his snacks waiting on the table as always and his weapons waiting for him on the wall.
Tags: MMORPG, Star Wars Galaxies
