acts_of_gord | (no subject)

One thing for sure about the Bar: wherever it's teleporting things in from, the warehouse is top-notch. When Gordon went up to inquire about a movie, it produced not only a DVD of Star Wars, but an appropriate player and television to go with it. Rentals, of course, clearly marked as such, but still.

"I probably should've asked for some popcorn too," Gordon notes as he gets the last few cables plugged in. "Then again, I think we're both full at the moment. Are you ready?"

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From:

vance_prime

Alyx huffs a laugh. "At least he doesn't talk you to death like Breen."

And the young woman just got stunned by the Stormtroopers. "Well, what d'you expect if you're gonna wear a bright white dress?" Alyx murmurs. "You might as well paint a target on your chest and put up a sign that says 'I can't run away, please shoot me.'"

From:

acts_of_gord

"The troopers aren't exactly camouflaged either," says Gordon as the droids start arguing about secret missions, plans, escape pods, and AUGH BLASTER FIRE.

"Darth Vader, only you could be so bold." The princess seems to be doing her best to ignore the manacles, the troopers, and the fact that she's got absolutely no ground to stand on. "The Imperial Senate will not sit for this, when they hear you've attacked a diplomatic-"

"Don't play games with me, Your Highness. You weren't on any mercy mission this time-"

"Got a better voice than Breen, you have to give him that."

Edited Date: 2008-10-06 06:59 am (UTC)

From:

vance_prime

"An asthmatic houndeye has a better voice than Breen."

Alyx winces when she sees the two droids trekking across the desert. Sand is hell on servo motors.

From:

acts_of_gord

It's amazing how much of an argument still comes across when only one of the participants speaks English and the other one communicates solely in furious beeps.

Splitting up in the face of a major argument probably isn't wise, given how difficult survival is for mechanisms on a sandy planet like Tattooine, but what can you do...

From:

vance_prime

The little one seems to be doing alright for himself.

At least until the tiny robed figures show up and shoot him.

Alyx lets out a little whimper and grabs Gordon's hand at R2-D2's digital shrieks of pain.

From:

acts_of_gord

"It's okay. It gets better," Gordon murmurs.

True, there's going to be the scene in the belly of the Jawas' sandcrawler first, and Threepio's own capture, but still.

From:

vance_prime

And shortly after that, we start seeing actual humans again.

"Luke, tell Uncle if he gets a translator, be sure it speaks Bocce!"

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice, but I'll remind him..."

"Nice setup they've got there," Alyx murmurs at the sight of the homestead built into the crater in the sand. "Reminds me of the old scrapyard."

Edited Date: 2008-10-06 05:18 pm (UTC)

From:

acts_of_gord

"I think they built this in a real desert, so it had to stand up to local conditions," Gordon says. "I'm not sure what they're farming, though."

Threepio manages to talk his way into Owen's good graces, but R2, not so much. Not until Luke whines does R2 get his chance to sabotage his competition and come along for the ride.

From:

vance_prime

Alyx quirks an eyebrow at the droid with the 'bad motivator,' and cringes when C-3PO starts talking about 'oil baths' and 'dust contamination.'

"Okay, they're just making up words now, aren't they? He needs cleaning. Can't they just say that and be done with it??"

Edited Date: 2008-10-06 05:37 pm (UTC)

From:

acts_of_gord

"1977," Gordon murmurs. "Most people seeing this movie thought robots were supposed to have giant plastic heads full of flashing lights and wander around waiting for a chance to kill people."

From:

vance_prime

"Ignorance is no excuse," Alyx mutters, but quiets down for the next bit.

"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."

From:

acts_of_gord

"Oh, he says it's nothing, sir. Merely a malfunction. Old data. Pay it no mind-"

But of course Luke just can't let it go. Old Ben Kenobi's going to be getting a visit soon, it looks like. Gordon leans back to watch what unfolds, and Alyx's reactions.

From:

vance_prime

A visit from somebody, at least.

"It wasn't my fault, sir! Please don't deactivate me! I told him not to go, but--he's faulting, malfunctioning! Kept babbling on about his 'mission'!"

Alyx smirks. "'Too little to run away on me,' my ass... Clever little bastard."

From:

acts_of_gord

"If you ask me that little astromech's the smartest being in the whole movie," Gordon agrees.

Unfortunately for Luke, that's going to be a problem that can't be resolved before nightfall. And come the morning Luke's speeding out into Sandpeople territory in search of droid or hermit.

Threepio, for the record, is even snippier than Gordon remembers.

From:

vance_prime

"Well, there are two Banthas down there, but I don't see any--wait a second. There's Sandpeople, all right, I can see one of them now--"

Alyx huffs a laugh as Luke is surprised by a Sandperson rising up right in front of him. Kid deserved it for not paying better attention, as far as she's concerned.

From:

acts_of_gord

This is really not a good day to be Luke Skywalker, if that horrible bellowing moan is anything to go by... oh, wait. That'd be the old man faking something else's noise, apparently.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi...Obi-Wan? Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time...a long time."

From:

vance_prime

The old man takes Luke and the droids back to his home, where he fills Luke in on his heritage, and gives him a little present...

"What is it?"

"Your father's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster... an elegant weapon for a more civilized age."

Alyx's jaw drops. "Holy shit. That's the sword Dr. Stantz was using! The one he gave me the patents for!"

From:

acts_of_gord

Gordon blinks several times. "Somebody actually built one of those? How the hell do you get the laser portion of the blade to self-terminate and keep that kind of coherence? The power drain alone..."

From:

vance_prime

"From what I can tell it's a really thin loop of energy that goes up out of the handle and back down in," Alyx explains. "It just looks like a single beam to the naked eye. I could be wrong, though, the papers were kind of confusing."

From:

acts_of_gord

"That's... I don't even know where to start with that. You're sure it worked?" He shakes his head. "Never mind. Obviously it did, but trying to imagine how is making my brain hurt."

Ah, there's that hologram again.

"General Kenobi, years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack and I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope."

From:

vance_prime

Alyx shrugs. "It worked fine for him."

"I can't get involved, I've got work to do! It's not that I like the Empire, I hate it, but there's nothing I can do about it right now! It's all such a long way from here..."

Alyx sobers as she listens. It's a refrain she's heard too many times from the civilians in City 17.

From:

acts_of_gord

"You must do what you feel is right, of course."

The Empire might just be more of a threat than Luke thinks, judging by the subsequent meeting on board the Death Star.

"The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us. I've just received word that the Emperor has dissolved the council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away."

"Remind you of anybody?"

From:

vance_prime

Alyx nods grimly.

"Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways, Lord Vader. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes, or given you clairvoyance enough to find the rebels' hidden fort--urk!"

"I find your lack of faith disturbing."

"...But I'm pretty sure Breen couldn't do that."

From:

acts_of_gord

"That's pretty much what I was thinking of when the gravity gun started picking up Combine," Gordon admits. "That scene, right there."

Back on the planet's surface, the single most ridiculous line in the movie- about Imperial Storm Trooper precision of fire- gives rise to a sudden and horrible realization on Luke's part. The whole thing was more or less inevitable, of course, and Gordon's seen the moment of discovery more times than he can count- not to mention worse things in his own world- but he still winces when Luke discovers what's become of the farmstead.

From:

vance_prime

Alyx's grip on Gordon's hand tightens considerably when she sees the smoking remains of the Lars household.

And a little bit more in the next scene when the torture droid is brought in for Leia's 'interrogation.'

She knows, objectively, that none of it's real, it's just another way of telling a story... but there are some things that she finds harder to distance herself from than others.