016 - Week 3 Day 4: Chaos and Uncertainty

Ro'Sara looked to the skies of Ryloth. She narrowed her eyes when she spotted something. A dark shape, on fire, streaked across it. It crashed into the ground, the sound deafened by the distance.

"Ro'sara, what was that?" Boc'reshel, a male pale skinned hunter, asked.

He held the only blaster they could spare as he tensed in place. The eyes never leaving the location where the ship went down. Ro'sara inhaled then shouldered her bow and arrows, checking her side pack. It held all their rations and medical supplies created by Cora. Her heart twinged at the thought that it should've been Lo's job.

"Let's go check it." The teenager stated before she spotted the only female giving her a wary look.

Despite being the head of the group, she had been the youngest. A mere fifteen compared to their range of twenty seasons. Ro'sara sighed, trying to control her temper.

"Don't give me that look, Ra'tina. It could be another threat or worse. It's still within comlink range so if we run into trouble, we can call in the lightsaber wielding crazies."

Boc'reshal snickered causing Ro'sara to smile wider. "See, even Boc'reshal agrees. We're wasting time. It could be a supply ship that was shot down and if we don't get there first, there will be nothing left."

Without waiting for them to decide if her reasons were acceptable or not, Ro'sara moved. “Kom’san, if you’re not onboard then I’m leaving without you.”

The eldest blue male jerked his head into her direction and moved quickly. His lithe figure slipped in behind her as the engines roared to life. She hit the pedal causing it to step into gear. The two speeder bikes circled around the tangled forests and headed toward the crash site.  

~|~

The twi'lek word for carnage crept into Ro'sara's mind. Her eyes brushed over the ship and took stock of its condition. It laid on its top. One of the wings crumbled in, ripped off by the trees and scattered among the ground. Half of the side was torn away and exposed the interior. Signs of a precise cutting tool had cut away the belt. Tracks indicated someone had survived, but their trail began to fade quickly.

"Boc'reshal, Kom'san, and Ra'tina. Lets search the area. Send a light arrow in the sky if you find anyone." Ro'sara started giving orders before Ra'tina interrupted her.

"Shouldn't we divide into pairs? What if we locate what did this?" The older woman gestured to the wreckage.

"We'll cover more ground if we split up. Someone survived this wreckage, the tracks show that. If you run into trouble, be quick on your feet and use your boom arrows." Ro'sara stated the obvious, looking annoyed by the lack of common sense.

"Time is of the essence. We don't know what condition they might be in or if they will survive much longer. So let's get moving."

~|~

The small group searched the whole area around the ship. Spread out thinly, they had been vulnerable and exposed. Still, they continued to find any living soul.

It was Ra'tina who found the only victim. She edged out of the thickest part of the trees, her eyes wide and alert. Nervously, the blue twi'lek lowered her body as she moved into a less dense part of the forest. A body caught her attention and with surprisingly quickness, she ended up beside it.

A Male Zabrak by the look of it. She flinched at the state of him, his right arm completely severed off and the left half there. The woman notched a purple tipped arrow with a small pouch fastened underneath. Her arms aimed it to the skies then released it. When it hit the warmth of the sun, a loud crack and flash erupted revealing her position to all those nearby.

Ro'sara arrived first, followed by Kom'san, and finally Boc'reshal. All three burst out of the shrubby only to stop in their tracks.

"Chit..." Kom'san began as Ro'sara moved past him.

She started to check on the Zabrak's vitals, finding him faint and unresponsive.

"Get Jedi Barral and Bec on the comlink, NOW!" Already the girl dug into her pouch, finding the salve and bandages. They wouldn't be enough to save his life.

Boc'reshal, being the most level-headed, snatched up the only comlink between the four. He pressed the button.

"Jedi Bec and Barral. We have a seriously wounded male Zabrak here. It appears he came on a shuttle, there're signs of conflict. Ro'sara is treating him, but it won't be enough. We will send another boom arrow up for you to find us when you get close to the crash sight."

"He's in shock and I have only a small fracking idea of what I'm doing. See what you can find in the area around here!" Ro'sara snapped.

~|~

It was a rather mundane routine that Evemarie had fallen into since she had made landfall on Ryloth. The situation was rather dire and to diverge from the mission too much could potentially endanger the progress that had been made. They were essentially on their own in a guerilla type situation disguised as a relief mission. Some within the ranks would disagree with that sentiment but that was the current situation she had surmised. However these thoughts were kept to herself. However today she was on patrol with her sister away from prying eyes and was curious to get her input on the situation away from the others. Patrols were normally mundane but she hadn’t had the opportunity to catch up with Aren.

“Things sure have picked up a bit since we made landfall, what do you think the council was thinking when they greenlit this mission in neutral space towards the outskirts of the Sith Empire. Hopefully, I can get more of a solid lead on Lo and the others but alas it escapes me and is quite frustrating.” Evemarie said with a sigh as she gazed upon Ryloth's somewhat barren landscape.

"I too would like to know why the Council allowed for such a mission with, what seems like, no fallback plan. If Padawan Lya'Tre hadn't been able to get a message out, who knows what could've happened. They wouldn't have gotten the support that's here now." Aren said, clearly troubled at the seemingly uncaring actions of the Council. She had been meaning to ask Dominik about the details of the agreement and the assignment of the mission to him, but the right time hasn't shown itself yet. He's had far too many other things to deal with.

"It seems we both walked right into a fire we may not be able to put out."

“I answered the call to this because something seemed amiss… It was just such an odd mission to begin with and once a Master happened to get injured led me to think that there are more sinister things at work. I do my best to not raise alarm from the others within our ranks but based on the facts it is most likely the Sith Empire has become involved… I just hope the young one can hold until we get to her..” Evemarie said with a sigh as she surveyed the barren land and observed nothing out of the ordinary

“I wonder what their aim for a relief mission was? There has to be more than what we have been led on to believe. It is just odd.”

"It is very odd. There was no fallback plan, no reserve forces prepared to extract them should something go wrong. I'd like to speak with Master Rothul about it but he is in no condition right now-"

Aren paused as she glanced down at her wrist, noticing the blinking light on her comlink before a transmission came through. Immediately she recognized the voice, Boc'reshal. She held the comlink up between herself and Evid, listening to the transmission, a pit forming in her stomach. She stood and stepped out from under the rock outcropping they were taking cover behind as it concealed them both rather well. Looking behind her, she saw the smoke far off in the distance.

"C'mon Evie, we need to hurry." Aren waited not a moment longer before she climbed up over the rocks and started in a sprint towards the smoke. "Send up the flare. We are on our way." She said over the comlink as her focus turned inward and she pushed herself to run faster.

Before Evemarie could answer, her com link crackled to life with a familiar voice, Boc’reshal. She immediately pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind as she followed Arens lead.[/i] Just when I was starting to doubt it seems like fate may have intervened… Granted I still am weary of the true intentions of the 'relief mission but that should be addressed at another time'.[/i] Evie thought to herself as she matched Arens speed.

“Do you think this could be a trap? We have not had any luck since the incident and can’t help but feel that something is amiss. Especially if we may be dealing with those creatures…” She said in a mildly winded tone.

Whether it be a trap or good fortune, I just hope we can finally get some more information about and then proceed accordingly.

"I don't think so Evie. Ro'sara sounded distressed. We need to find them quickly. If something is truly wrong or not we'll need to see it for ourselves."

Aren lead the way over the landscape, keeping an eye on the blinking signal on her comlink and listening closely for anymore information. It took longer than Aren had hoped, but the came closer and closer to the smoke and eventually saw the wreckage for themselves. And not long after that, she found Ro'sara and the others. Quickly she joined the young Twi'lek at her side, pulling a small pack of supplies from her belt and opening it.

"Do you know how long he's been like this?" She asked Ro'sara, Aren's eyes studying the Zabrak before she put one of the packages between her teeth and pulled, effectively opening it.

Despite the lessons that Lo had taught her, Ro’sara only remembered bits and pieces. None of those appeared to be helpful in the current situation. She struggled to debate on how to strengthen his pulse as she heard Aren’s voice.

“If I had paid more attention to Lo’s lessons, I might have an idea. Right, we just arrived. I say these wounds aren’t that old based on the searing.” She pointed to the charred stubs of his arms.

From the plastic pouch Aren ripped open, she pulled out a small tube of ointment and handed it to Ro'sara. "Put that on his burns, a little goes a long way." She instructed, her tone reflecting the seriousness in her voice as her focus honed in. She leaned over the Zabrak, holding the pouch in one hand but using the other to lightly pat his face to get him to respond. She noticed him stir, faintly, but she didn't get much more of a reaction than that.  

"Evie," Aren began, looking back to her fellow Jedi, "I need you to look through the wreckage and find something litter worthy. We need to carry him back. Check to see if there's anything left of their medical supplies too."

Evie calmly nodded, turning towards the wreckage hoping to see if she could salvage some sort of medical supplies to aid the Zabrak. This would also give her time to assess the situation and see if her suspicions of a trap had some merit. She could not help be on edge as her investigations had little to no new information and this was not something that she was used to as there was always something she could follow up on. This sense of helplessness couldn’t help but fill her with dread as the clock was ticking and only now a lead seemed to be gifted to them. Evemarie couldn’t help but feel something was amiss

Turning back to the Zabrak, and watching Ro'sara administer the ointment, Aren took out a small capsule from the pouch and, after tipping his head back to get it to open, placed it on his tongue. She pulled out her small canteen and with one hand behind his head, poured water down his throat. She watched the capsule slip back with the water before pouring a few more drops to ensure it went down into his stomach.

As Ro'sara continued to apply the salve, her coned ears heard her companions rush back. First Ra'tina, then Kom'san, and finally Boc'reshel. The last twi'lek held something in his hand. A lightsaber handle. He hunched over, catching his breath and collecting himself after the run.

"I found this." He offered it to the Jedi.

It appeared to be completely unbroken as the twi'lek male continued his report.

"This is all I managed to find. Most of the tracks were hard to figure out, I can't tell how many people were here."

Kom'san pipped up causing the younger twi'leks to look to him. "I can. There were three of them and a ship. One set appears to have vanished into it after the clash that happened here. I can't tell how many were on each side, but from the looks of our survivor, he was on the losing side."

"Anyone else around?" Ro'sara asked, still smothering the wounds with paste. She tried not to look at the Zabrak's face twisted in pain.

"No, I don't think so." Kom'san replied.

Meanwhile Evemarie was thoroughly going through the wreckage to deduce what exactly happened. The  ship's nose was gouged into the earth seeming to be largely intact with a few missing pieces. Not what one would expect from a crash landing but figured that the designer built this thing to last. Quite the sturdy ship but it appears that it took a significant amount of damage from another ship's laser cannons. Even with how well built this thing is no ship could stay airborne with this amount of fire she thought to herself as she observed the laser marks that decorated the ship's hull.

It didn’t take long for her to find her way in as the left side of the ship was torn open and she carefully made her way through the ship first stopping in what remained of the medical bay. It was largely intact with a few gaping holes nearest the side of the hull. However she was able to find some collapsible litter in one of the containers that was strewn across the floor. As she made her way towards the cargo hull she found a harness that appeared to be cut by a lightsaber. She tensed a little as she proceeded to find the mangled remains of a lightsaber scattered across the floor. Well, the only question is if they are friend or foe… she thought to herself as she examined the shards looking to see what color the crystal may have been. Much to her chagrin it was missing and only added more questions as to what exactly happened. She quickly put the saber remains into her sack and unsheathed her saber. She honed in to sense anything out of the ordinary and what she was met with was a violent rage. I know this feeling… A foul aura that most of those creatures often exhibit… I must tread carefully as it could be a trap and act against my impulses to put the thing out of its misery as some useful information could be had… Evemarie thought to herself as she followed the foul aura to its destination hiding her presence to hopefully catch the creature off guard.

As she approached everything seemed eerily quiet, the leaves on trees were unnaturally withered off of their branches. The affected area appeared to be in a cone and the foul aura became more apparent as she silently approached the mangled clearing. What she could make out was drowned leaves, turned dirt and what appeared to be two arms. She calmly approached closer ready to ignite her saber and cut down whatever abomination presented itself. As she approached the arms appeared to be that of the Male Zarbrak The Twi’leks had found. What was off was that it appeared that there were signs of another ship that had been in the clearing. She grabbed both of the arms and immediately rushed back to Aren. This is not good… We have to get out of here as whomever did this may still be in the area.

As Evemarie searched through the wreckage, Aren worked hard and to the best of her ability to get the Zabrak ready to move. She was no healer but she had been in numerous conflicts and knew the more advanced practices of battlefield wounds and care. She wrapped the seared ends of the Zabrak's arms in gauze to prevent any further irritation or infection. After making sure the burns and cuts had been covered by Ro'sara, Aren looked back to see Evie approaching.

"Sithspit, Evie. You didn't have to bring back his arms!" Aren exclaimed, turning away for a second as she calmed her stomach. One hand moved put as she waved back at her friend, "Just- just put the litter down. Get it open and ready." She instructed, looking back to the Zabrak as she did one more look over. "We have to get him back to Cora and Zhâlu. We need to figure out what happened. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to see through my Psychometry."

“Well one never knows if they can be reattached, I like to be an optimist but Aren… We really need to get out of here. I’ll discuss with you and the others what I found be we need to leave NOW.” she replied in a slightly rushed tone as she put the litter down near the Zabrak.

“First off, we already checked the area. We’ve been for some time before you and if we had someone waiting to ambush you, I doubt we would’ve been left alive to risk warning you or giving them away.” Ro’sara pointed out, still quickly gesturing to the others to hurry.

“Boc’reshel and Ra’tina, get the litter. Kom’san,” A simple look caused the oldest male to nod and get his bow out, notching it with an arrow. Despite this, he kept it loose like he was being cautious.

Immediately Ra’tina stumbled and tripped, bring her down to one knee. The litter jarred causing Ro’sara to hiss for quiet. Without another word, they began to retreat back toward their village.

Evie turned towards Aren shaking off the prideful responses of the Twi’leks. “The area where I found the arms had an awful taint of Darkside. A feeling a hatred and despair that blighted the area. If the creature who exhibited that aura is still in the area it would be best for us to leave now… Especially with the condition of the Zabrak.” she whispered to Aren to not alarm the Twi’leks.

"We should consult Master Rothul on it when we return." Aren said, ready to step in for the Twi'leks if any of them grew tired. "We aren't very far from camp and he should be aware of these things, no matter his condition."