Doom Amongst The Dunes (Shelved RP)

Valik worked his way around the engine room putting out fires where he could. A difficult task, not only due to his inexperience (he had only put out a few fires in his lifetime and certainly had no specialist training) and the fact he was so tall really didn't help when trying to minimalise the smoke inhilation.

It was as he was making his way around the room that he noticed it.

'Aw, nuts.'

Dropping what he was doing he ran back to the crew quarters through into the cockpit. In there he found Redwatch sitting in a chair and Masurigi removing her hand from the comms unit. Both had varying looks of concern on their faces.

'Did you speak to the Sith?' Valik enquired, but it was more of a rhetorical question. 'Ah, never mind....doesnt matter. Look, we need to land on that moon and I mean now. The fire spread to the Hyperdrive and now its just a steaming pile of bantha dung. In short, we're Borked. We wont be hitting the Big L anytime soon..'

*ABOARD THE VECTOR*

The admiral watched intently as the small vessel approached, his finger still hovering over the fate of the Pacer like Drayberian hawk woudl it's prey.
"We are a private passenger vessel on the way to the outer-rim. We had minor issues with the ship and our pilot failed to respond to your call, as he was below deck."
The womans voice again. She sounded less concerned and more direct this time around than the last. Strange considering that their ship must be in all kinds of trouble by now. Maybe she was lying? The admiral certainly had to consider the possibilty seeing that the ship was now clearly identified as a republican vessel.
"A passenger vessel you say? Well maybe you wouldn't mind sharing your crew manifesto with me? Surely if you have nothing to hide then you won't mind coming aboard ?"
The admiral had sprung the trap.

*BACK ABOARD THE PACER*

Dakota ran into the cockpit thrashing her arms about in panic.
"I cannot go aboard that vessel! If they find what I'm carrying then we will all be killed!"
She was growing impatient with her crew members and although she didn't want to reveal too much of her mission, she felt the crew needed to know the severity of her situation.
"If we're not going to get past them then we will have to somehow land on Tatooine without being blasted into oblivion! Please, I beg of you, don't hand me over to the Sith."
Desperation was starting to show in her voice and it was apparent that someone had to get them to planet below whilst avoiding imminent destruction. A very daunting task.....

((Guys you may all pilot you way to Tatooine if you so wish, and you may even use the blaster turrents for the next part if you want as they are undamaged. However, I'd rather decide the outcome of what happens when you actually enter Tatooine's atmosphere if thats ok? Thanks and good job so far! I'm really enjoying it!))

Tatooine? Redwatch had swung round to listen to the diplomat but now turned and punched up the local charts on the ships navi. Tyn was right, the nearby astral body wasn’t a moon but the planet Tatooine. He had no idea they had made such good time on their journey. And it meant this rusty old can had some oomph in her! An inhabited planet with a populace to blend into greatly improved their chances of survival upon landing. Assuming of course said landing didn’t happen in a great big ball of flaming wreckage. He tried to ignore the smell of the doused engine room fire and put such thoughts from his mind.

Before Tyn's outburst Redwatch had briefly considered surreptitiously killing their momentum and letting the Warship tractor them in. These people were as gnats to him and almost as irritating. Let the Sith have them. But the diplomat’s words were undeniable – whatever she was carrying he’d be treated just as culpable if he was detained in their company – and once the Sith discovered his cortical datasplint there’d be no arguing his innocence.

He looked around the small group crowding the cockpit. “It seems our fates will be the same whatever the outcome.”

His face became a mask of concentration and his hands moved quickly over the controls as he began preparing the Pacer for their suicide run. "Find something useful to do or strap yourselves in” he said. “Both if you can manage it… Where’s that Wookie? And someone tie Kressla to something whether he’s alive or dead - he can cause damage either way…”

Hardly caring if anyone was listening to him Redwatch grimly recalibrated the forward deflectors.

(( ...Don't want to god-mod but if it's cool with everyone this is your last chance before this piolt makes his break. Can't wait to see what's next! ))

Ne'tra spent the last few minutes sharpening his blades. However this turned out he would need them. Or he would be obliterated without the chance to fight, might as well go out with his old friends, his ceremonial Chieftain's Ryyk blades.

Ne'tra heard amongst the rabble in the next room "...Where's that Wookie? ...tie Kressla...whether he's alive or dead..." Hearing whoever had said that, Ne'tra figured he'd shift his attention away from his blades and to the comatose smuggler on the ground.

Snorting, "Ohacc..." The Wookiee picked the unconscious Duros and carried him to the cockpit.

Entering the room and witnessing the commotion, most everyone seated with the Ubese fiddling with the ship's controls, Ne'tra hucked the torpid owner of the ship onto one of the last seats, "Cooccwooowwwo sraorwo oararwo ooww sacacc." (( Someone take care of this )) And he positioned himself holding onto the wall and a chair, bracing himself for what was about to come.

Masu waited impatiently... She looked the the pilots screen. The red flag was still there. If she wasn't wrong that meant the ship is still burning. Her hand brushed through her short white hair nervously... Then the message came booming out of the speaker with the admirals voice:

"A passenger vessel you say? Well maybe you wouldn't mind sharing your crew manifesto with me? Surely if you have nothing to hide then you won't mind coming aboard ?"

Right... now what?

Then suddenly one after another crew members starting busting in to the cockpit. First the big guy, then her Mistress and to top it all up the wookiee threw in the pilot...They obviously didn't handle the fire as the red flag warning was still screaming like crazy...

She nervously scratched her hair yet again... This was beyond anyones control...
The ubese made a quick decision it seems...

"Find something useful to do or strap yourselves in” he said. “Both if you can manage it… Where’s that Wookie? And someone tie Kressla to something whether he’s alive or dead - he can cause damage either way…”

She shrugged. Not much she could do right now... Not much anyone could... The talking bought them enough time to try to take control of the situation, but there wasn't much of control to be gained it seemed. The only reasonable thing to do right now was to crash this trash heap into the moon and hope for the best...Well... Maybe try one more thing... Might confuse them a bit...

She turned to the comm and took a deep breath. All she needed is to put a bit of emotion into it... She turned it on and said hastily...

" This is the Pacer to the war ship! We have a huge fire in the engine room! We need to land NOW! I repeat we need to land on the nearest moon now!!"She turned off the message sending for a second or two...Then again she tried for the effect. "I repeat! Huge fire in the engine room! You can question us when we land this pile of trash! Meet you on the moon- over! "

She kind of doubted this would work. But even if this gives one second of doubt to the sith it should be enough to turn around and and run. Give them a running chance. And on the ground... Well... These escorts clearly weren't the thinking types... They were clearly the butchering types. That gave them more then a chance with whatever was on that moon... And sith patrols that might come after.

She turned Dakota to and said in a calm but ordering voice " Mistress Dakota... You should sit down and strap on." She grabbed the Togrutas hand then and ran out of the cockpit, through the corridor looking for some safe seats to strap her Mistress up to.

((I hope i can god-mode the npcs a bit ? If not i'll edit this just yell at meh. Anyway. This RP got a bit chaotic^^ Lets see what happens next! ))

((Hehe! Yeah it was supposed to be chaotic. Nothing like a bit of a hardcore situation to get the creative juices flowing! . p.s. You've given me a great idea thanks Aliendra! ))

*ABOARD THE VECTOR*

The admiral listened on as the woman made her plea. She was telling the truth about her vessel. It was worse for wear, that much was clear. The fact that his mighty warship had done so much damage through such little effort amused him immensly.
"Very well, you may land on the sand planet but I will be sending an escort with you. Admiral Kalem out."
The admirals actions were not out of kindness, but curiosity. If they were hiding something then he wanted to know what. He lurched over the commlink to make his address.
"Wing Commander Piett, I want 3 fighters to accompany the republican vessel to it's destination of Tatooine. When you arrive I expect a full search of the ship and interrogate all passengers on board. Do not fail me."
"Affirmative sir, I shall send them out immediatly."

The side of the hulking mass that had nearly destroyed the small vessel opened up to reveal a docking bay full to the very brim with Sith fighters. The incident on Coruscant must have been part of a well planned attack and it was apparent that the Sith had no intention of keeping the treaty agreement. Three well armed Sith fighters emerged from the battleship and surrounded the damaged Pacer in a triangular formation. Two hung closely to it's sides and the other the rear.

*BACK ABOARD THE PACER*

Dakota didn't like being lead along against her own will but she realised that her Echani friend was only trying to help. The announcement that their vessel was going to be followed once again however threw her into a panic.
"Masu please, do something about these fighters! I cannot be found! I WILL not be found! Do you hear me?! They will kill us all! I will man the turrets myself if I have to but I refuse to give up without a fight!!"
The diplomat's bravery was admirable, and she remained defiant. Whatever she was carrying was obviously more important than her own existance and she wasn't about to give it up.
"Tell the pilot to head out of range of the battleships radar and then I need those fighters destroyed!"

He nodded grudgingly at the retreating Echani. “That’s good, well done. That buys us more time. Maybe enough to use an old insurgent trick I know that might be useful.” Checking the radar he noted the three Sith fighters moving in to flank the Pacer.

Redwatch altered the unexecuted break-neck speed settings and moved the ship onwards at a limping pace. He turned to face the his new compatriots.

“This old freighter isn’t much of a match for those Sith fighters out there. But…” He included everyone in his sweeping gaze. “It needn’t be a fair fight down the line.”

“We stand a much better chance of battling our way out of this mess on Tatooine, but we need to even the odds.” Pointing to the weapons-ready display on the flight console, Redwatch tapped the screen. “There should be concussion missiles onboard in the launch units. We can install one in the escape pod and jury-rig the missile’s trigger to the pod’s door hatch. Those missiles when detonated in an atmosphere cause major damage. When those bastards land and open that door, the pod and a third of our problems go away.”

He was thinking fast now. “If we set up a blaze in the cargo hold, we can jettison it, and whatever’s not useful, to convince the fighters we’re in trouble. Once we break atmo we launch the pod. One fighter at least should be fooled, two if we’re lucky. It won’t take much skill to make it seem like this bucket’s going down all by itself but if I get the entry angle right we’ll make a convincing thud without me fusing us all into glass.”

He tried to read their reactions. “What do you think?”

((Edited to make more sense. I missed Alinedra moving his character and Dakota. Sorry guys! I got distracted at the end of that post with the mention of 'strap on' . I'll pay more attention.))

Valik seemed to have no intension of sitting down, one of his large hands was wrapped around a part of protruding bulk-head.

"That's good work, both of you. Now we can survive, at least."

Gripping his hand slightly, he could be seen to be snarling slightly under his breath. Whilst it might seem unusal, Dakota had seen this behaviour a few times and realised Valik was mulling over ideas and dismissing them.

"The way I see it, we have another problem. Our Ubese friend here makes a fine plan," he said, placing his other hand on Redwatch's shoulder encouragingly,
"But if so much as one of those ships escapes it will report to the others. If there is any doubt that we cannot despatch them before setting down I suggest we let them follow us to the ground and take them out there. We have at least four abled warriors here and I would guess those fighters wont hold more than two crew each. With those sort of odds we should walk through this."

As an afterthought he added,

"If we kill them, they wont report in and more ships will come. That will be unavoidable, but at least it will be bringing the fight to us and we can act... not just react."

Suddenly, he let loose with another of his ill-timed laughs:

"That is if they dont bombard the planet from orbit of course! ha!"

Dakota didn't like being lead along against her own will but she realised that her Echani friend was only trying to help. The announcement that their vessel was going to be followed once again however threw her into a panic.
"Masu please, do something about these fighters! I cannot be found! I WILL not be found! Do you hear me?! They will kill us all! I will man the turrets myself if I have to but I refuse to give up without a fight!!"
The diplomat's bravery was admirable, and she remained defiant. Whatever she was carrying was obviously more important than her own existence and she wasn't about to give it up.
"Tell the pilot to head out of range of the battleships radar and then I need those fighters destroyed!"

Masurigi turned to Dakota and with patience and calm in her voice tried to explain like to a child, still holding her by her arm. She needed to prepare the Torguta for the rough landing.

"Mistress the plan is not to shoot at the fighters. We wouldn't survive that. The plan is to take them on the ground when we have the advantage." She smiled at Dakota.

"Your escorts might not be the best in dealing with a sith warships but i'm sure they can handle a few sith soldiers on the ground. We can do nothing more then let the Ubese land this pile of junk. I have the feeling he knows what he's doing." Masurigi pulled the diplomats arm gently trying to lead her to a safer place in the back of the ship.

"Now come...We should get ready for the rough landing. I gave my word to keep you from harms way and i always keep my promises." She nodded at the diplomat with a serious expression painted on her face dragging her down the corridor.

((We don't need the details of strapping the diplomat up do we? Would be boooring... right?:arrow: ))

If Ne'tra could feel anger, he knew he'd be feeling it right now. The little diplomat was throwing a cute little temper tantrum and was starting to get on the hulking Wookiee's bad side.

'This woman seems to think I care about her mission or whatever she's carrying, her ample compensation wouldn't mean anything if we died and my death wouldn't matter to me if I didn't get a chance to fight.' Ne'tra thought to himself.

'Everyone gave their little strategies and they were all cute ideas, especially the Ubese's. It was a fine idea but it was simply over thinking the matter. Anything we do in space is just going to alert the flagship. We can mutilate them all if we can just see their faces.' Ne'tra Kar'ta continued in his mind, while Redwatch and Masurigi discussed on the ship.

"The way I see it, we have another problem. Our Ubese friend here makes a fine plan," Valik disputed, "But if so much as one of those ships escapes it will report to the others. If there is any doubt that we cannot despatch them before setting down I suggest we let them follow us to the ground and take them out there. We have at least four abled warriors here and I would guess those fighters wont hold more than two crew each. With those sort of odds we should walk through this."

Ne'tra liked the way Valik thought. "Anaccswoww soo sacwo Wwwowoooracww. Acwo'c sacwo anwohwoan-acworawawowa oowwwo. Owo'hwo rroos ccoorwo ccworoawowwraracwoc rawwwa orarracoorc ooww acworwo sacraww raww wowwsacrwo Cacsac rrassraanacooww. Sacwo Soorrrhasra wwwowowac soo cwossanwo sacwo wwrraoaor waoooww. Harrac...woccoosacoowwc. Owo rrwos sacacc cacaca soo sacwo rrroohawwwa, sacwo waacaanooccras csrarc rawwwa acacwawoc ooww sacwo cacaca...Oacworwo wwoo oowwwo oacanan cwowo acwor. Owo wwraoawo sacwocwo acwaacoosc rawwwa oacawo sacwo wahawwwoc acww sacwocc. Wwaca sacacc cacaca oor sraorwo sacwoacrc, waoowocww's cchaoaac ccrasswor soo ccwo. " (( Listen to the Feeorin. He's the level-headed one. We've got more mercenaries and warriors on here than an entire Sith battalion. The Togruta needs to settle the frack down. Ugh...emotions. We get this ship to the ground, the diplomat stays and hides on the ship...Where no one will see her. We face these idiots and wipe the dunes in them. Fix this ship or take theirs, doesn't much matter to me. ))

Ne'tra didn't care if they understood him or not. Knock Kressla on to the floor. And as he sat down in the passenger seat, held Kressla under his foot.

"Anwos'c shhacs rroo." (( Let's just go. ))

Valik had a very confused, almost pained look on his face.

"Ne'tra... did you just say 'Let us throw faeces at them and wipe their doom in it. Kick this ship of fake heirs, or it will be a splatter from me' ?"

After a moment of awkward silence he curled his lip in confusion and smacked his newly reaquired translater several times against the bulkhead. A few sparks flew out and it made a decidedly worrying buzzing noise.

"Ah. No. Thats not what you said at all." He grinned in a somewhat embarresed manner, a rarety for the giant of a Feeorin - but if there was one person he didnt want to upset on the ship, it was the Wookie. Valik was tough, but his sense of self-preservation was strong.

"Net'ra is right, lets just go!"

((I was planning on doing a serious post here given the situation, but Aliendra's last post made me think of comedy bondage situations with our diplomat.....and....well.....))

Redwatch smiled broadly at the Feeorin. The hulking man’s joviality was again ill-timed but Redwatch felt it was wise to ingratiate himself with this one. Who knew what would happen planet-side.

He got to his feet. ”I’ve set the autopilot. At this speed we’ll reach Tatooine's thermosphere in ten minutes - I’ll be back behind the stick in nine.”

He left the cockpit for the small tool kit amongst the belongings in his cabin. He had a lot to do.

(( ))

'The Pacer' - the ships name was an understatement in terms and with the damage already done to the freighter, it was to no surprise that they entered Tattoine's atmosphere too quickly. The sheer velocity they were gaining managed to tear one of the main laser cannons clean away from the ship, small fires broke out once again in the main engine room and the vessels interior was becoming more uncomfortable with the rising temperature. The passengers and crew had done all that they could and if it were not for the talented pilot behind the ships helm then matters could have been a lot worse. Still, entering an atmosphere with such speed did give the crew members a large advantage over their escorts. As the ship came slicing through the atmosphere it was clear to see that they were losing the tail. The formation that had been boxing them in was nowhere to be seen on the viewfinder which bought them some time to keep the senator safe at least.

As they approached the desert surface the vessel was now fully aflame. How they had managed to survive such an onslaught was beyond comprehension but their struggle was far from over. They still had one daunting task to complete.....a crash landing.

((After you've crashed guys I'm going to have to god-mode it a bit for the next part to work, unless you would like to act out your characters actions for me? So for now if you can, just land the ship as best you can. Also, I'm going to need everyone unconcious for the next part to make sense. ))

Entering the atmosphere, the plummeting ship had some major turbulence, freeing Kressla from under Ne'tra's bare, hairy foot. Kressla was flung back towards the engine rooms, still ablaze in their irreparable conflagration.

"Rrooow." The Wookiee sighed. He held no desire to join the inferno. Flames didn't take to his fur coat or, rather, they took too well. But it never hurt to gain and ally, and that's exactly what would happen whenever this smuggler woke up. Ne'tra expected that in the coming hours an ally would be especially worthwhile.

Dodging and ducking the flames that lay between him and the Duros, a vestige of fire escaped from one of the blazes forming around the walls and ceilings and it leaped onto the Wookiee's shoulder. Flame searing his fur, Ne'tra managed to quell the fire before any major harm was done, to himself or his combat gear. Kressla in tow, Ne'tra ran back towards the cockpit.

Escaping the flames, Ne'tra leaped towards safety--he didn't make it in time--

Seeing people running about preparing for a crash-landing, Valik had an idea.

It wasn't a great idea, but it did constitute as an idea.

It was no understatement that Valik was large; he was abnormally big even for a Feeorin and considering everything that was going on his options in the moments leading up to the crash were limited. So, he decided to get in the way, quite literally.

Making his way to the main access corridor that connected the bridge to the crew quarters, Valik placed himself in the middle of the corridor and wedged one foot against either side of the bulkhead, reaching his arms up and doing similarly until he formed a star-shape. Turning himself into a makeshift barrier, it occurred to him that it would hurt people on the ship running into him a lot less than them flying down the corridor into the bulkhead. It also had the added advantage that if a fireball erupted from the engine room that he could block at least most of it with his hulking frame, protecting the vast majority of the crew.

As he wedged himself into position and braced for impact he considered this might not be his best idea ever...

Flames poured like liquid up the cockpit’s windows as a cacophony of alarms and grinding metal filled the cabin. Strapped into the violently shuddering pilot’s chair, Redwatch struggled to maintain the plummeting Pacer’s attitude. His fingers were blistered and his clothes plastered to his back. The heat was unbearable and the air scorched his lungs as he fought for breath.

The booby trapped escape pod had been launched successfully when they had reached Tatooine’s upper orbit but since then the ship had been gaining speed at a fantastic rate. Now it was all Redwatch could do to hold the Pacer together as it raced towards the surface, seemingly enraged by the planet and hell-bent on dealing it a killer blow. The Ubese gritted his teeth and wiped at the sweat stinging his eyes. The only deaths the fierce little freighter would accomplish were their own and he wasn’t about to let that happen.

The horizon grew level between the thick swirling flames on the window as a terrible screeching broke through the din. The heat swelled and a red blur spread in from his peripheral vision. Redwatch smashed his fist down on the searing console, the pounding inside his skull drowning out the noise.

”Not… Yet..!”. Everything was becoming flame and confusion as he fought for conciousness.

In the distance he heard the anguished screams of the bereaved turn to pain as the hotel foyer exploded raining molten fire and horror down onto the onlookers. The basement exits were boxed in by rubble and the conflagration was belching thick greasy smoke into the small room. With stark realisation he knew he was going to die. Here amidst the flame and destruction. All of which he had visited upon himself...

Masurigi managed to drag the Torguta diplomat to the back side of the ship... She was no ship engineer but it seemed logical to her that the most damage will go to the front of the ship when it crashes.

She got her as far as it was possible. The smoke coming from the engine room was spreading in a thick dark cloud cutting off their way...

She moved a few steps back and locked the blast door for the corridor. Trying to stop the smoke from spreading even further.

"Thats it..." She looked around hastily for a room they could hide. Didn't take log to find a perfect place. One of the small passenger rooms. She pushed Dakota in and forced her to sit down on one of the chairs.

"Sit here and don't move!" She ordered her while she strapped her into it tightly. She looked around the room and grabbed the first movable object in it. She started throwing out of the room anything that wasn't nailed to the floor....

They hit the atmosphere and she felt it... She stumbled to the floor as the ship shook... She had just a few seconds to strap herself in... She rushed madly to the seat...

(( Let us move on ^^ P.S We will die won't we?))

The impromptu landing came hard and fast as the crew struggled to find a way to protect themselves from the inevitable impact into the planets surface. The ship managed to hit the sand below at such an angle that it skidded along the ground for a good minute or so. The scrape and tear of the vessel as it glided along the desert was so excruciatingly loud it made a herd of nearby Bantha actually pick up some speed and flee into the plains, terrified by the large mechanical beast rocketing down from the sky. Finally the ship came to a grinding halt, it's steaming crumpled mass leaving a huge indented trail behind it. Surely none of the passengers could have survived such an impact? Or could they?...

A few hours passed before the crew came to. Looking around they could see that the Pacer was no longer flight worthy but at least they had their lives intact. No doubt this was due to the excellent piloting of the Ubese. Kressla, who had been concious for a good ten minutes now came running from the passenger rooms from the back of the ship and into the cockpit. His panic stricken face could only mean that the crews situation was about to get much worse.

"Miss Tyn! She...she's gone!"
He beckoned the two to follow him outside into the desert.
"There's more! There's a message left in the sand! I...I cannot read so I cannot tell you what is says."
The Duros panted as he quickly led the two to his discovery. 'Hopefully one of them would be able to decipher it' he thought to himself.

Sure enough, just outside was a hastily scrawled message left in the hot sand.....



"What does it mean?..."

Valik emerged from the ship, holding his left arm at a slightly lowered angle.

"Miss Tyn! She...she's gone!" Kressla whined as he passed the Feeorin and ran out into the bright sunlight.

Wedging his arm between two parts of protruding bulkhead, Valik took a deep breath and sharply twisted his arm to the left, making a twisting popping noise as he relocated his shoulder joint. Letting out a massive roar that echoed around the ship and drowned out all other noise for a second, he too walked out into the bright sunlight to see more than one survivor looking at him.

"Heh. Arm was skragged," he said indicating to his slightly limp arm by way of an explanation. 'It's OK now.."
It was an odd sight to see the Feeorin embarrassed, but he seemed genuinely sheepish about having drawn attention to himself in such a manner.

The Duros was looking at something in the sand and the diplomat was nowhere to be seen.

"What does it mean?..." Kressla said, looking down.

Valik wandered over, surveying the general mess that was now The Pacer. Stopping next to the Duros he looked down into the sand and saw the hastily-written warning:

"Aaaah Mudcrutch!" He said upon seeing it, placing his face in his large palm. "We got Sand People is what that means." Shaking his head so the tendrils flapped about, he continued:

"Looks like our little diplomat was wearing one too many shiny things. The good news is, there is a high possibility she's not dead...yet."

He looked to the heavens and shielded his eyes from the sun.

"The bad news is, we're sure to have Sith heading this way if they're not planet-side already."

Tying a final knot on the bandages wrapped thick and tight around his chest Redwatch squinted out of the wide gaping hole where the cargo bay door used to be. Opening his mouth to speak he choked on the words and gripped his sides as pain tore through him with every cough. Holding his breath he gingerly touched the angry-looking contusion at his throat. The safety harness on the pilot’s chair must have sheared on impact, nearly garrotting him in the process. Still, a bruised larynx and a cracked rib might be painful but at least he was alive.

Rising from the crate he was sitting on he walked slowly to the edge of the torn hull and made his way out into the bright sunlight to where Kressla and the Feeorin were scanning the dunes.
He cleared his throat and pointed to the tracks, his voice a hoarse whisper.

“That is probably our best road out of here”. Swallowing hard he continued. “Emergency supplies won’t last us long and the indigenous peoples will congregate near water.”

Looking out over the long trail of wreckage disappearing into the heat haze he shielded his eyes. “And perhaps the Sith will assume these Sand People killed all passengers if there is only one set of tracks to follow.” He looked at the Feeorin and attempted to clear his throat again. “Where are the rest of your group? Maybe we could dress the scene if there is a corpse on board that doesn’t need it’s blood anymore.”

He came to curled up behind a passenger seat of the ship. In front of him, blood smeared across the back of the chair. He reached towards the throbbing on the top of his head and felt nothing. When he looked at his paws they were covered in some fresh and more dry blood. He didn't know whose ship he was on, or really who he was in the first place.

He saw light coming from down the corridor and he could hear voices. He haphazardly took to his feet and would have fallen if it weren't for his proximity to the wall.

"Oohaoaac" He moaned.

Nearing the exit he could make out a voice speaking in Basic, "“And perhaps the Sith will assume these Sand People killed all passengers if there is only one set of tracks to follow.” He heard.

Stumbling outside of the ship, he saw a Duros, an Ubese and a Feeorin standing around in the sand. “Where are the rest of your group? Maybe we could dress the scene if there is a corpse on board that doesn’t need it’s blood anymore.” The Ubese said.

The hairy beast didn't recognize any of them. "Oacoo rarwo rooha--" His roar was cut short by his tripping face first into strangely marked sand. Blood on his head smearing the sand on the ground, sand on the ground smearing the blood on his head, the Wookiee spit out some sand and asked, "Oacworwo racc Ac?" (( "Who are you--" "Where am I" ))

Redwatch peered down at the mumbling Wookie. Fantastic. This should really help their swift get-away. Swapping a quick glance with the Feeorin, they bent down and by hooking under each of it’s shoulders, helped the big Wookie to a sitting postion.

Assuming the beast could understand him and surmising by reason of it’s collapse it was too weak to rip off his arms, Redwatch began to examine the blood-matted fur on the Wookie’s head. “Hold still and let me see how seriously you’re hurt.”

Addressing the Duros he croaked “There’s a medkit by the crate I was sitting on. Fetch it.”

The Wookie was swaying where he sat. He turned to the Feeorin. “Let’s get him back in the shade.” He tried to raise his voice but the words still came out as a gravelly whisper. “Scalp wounds bleed a lot but this sun won’t help his concussion. What was he saying?”

((Valik god-modded with kind permission of LW. Cheers mate!))

Valik looked at the wreck of The Pacer behind them and saw a part of the ships hull that was once something that looked like a wing. Regardless of what is was, it now looked like shelter for the injured wookie.

"I can't be too much help, my translator was smashed in the crash. I recognise....parts of what he said." walking round behind Net'ra he hooked his large hands up under the wookies arms and said quietly to him:

"I hope you understand me, I'm going to drag you backwards to shelter. Trust me, Net'ra." Without waiting for an answer and knowing a wounded wookie was still a deadly wookie, he pulled Net'ra gently but rapidly backwards and leaned him against the now cooling metal hull of The Pacer.

Looking back to Redwatch he said: "I understood the words 'Who', 'Where' and what I think was 'I'. The rest....well, I cant be sure. It could be a question though, or two."

As the two waited for the Duros to return with the medkit, Valik reached inside his jacket and prouced a small metal cannister. Unscrewing the top he pulled out a small hypodermic needle filled with a silverish liquid. Loading it into what first appeared to be pistol but was actually the delivery system for the needle, he passed it to Redwatch.

"Here, inject him with this. Its perfectly safe, its a pain-suppressant and neural stabaliser. We cant risk him going into a rage on us, he's liable to damage himself as well as us."

As an afterthought he added:

"He's not gonna like it; I'll restrain him if needs be, for his own sake."

Then, to himself: 'he's gonna kick my butt for this one...'

((No worries Red, Mod-away mate!))

Redwatch took the medical injection gun from the Feeorin and applied it to the Wookie’s arm. Handing it back to the big alien he said “We’ve never been properly introduced. Though we’re probably way past formalities,” this with a wry smile at the Feeorin, “I’m called Redwatch.”

Kressla returned with the medkit. Placing it on the sand Redwatch sorted through the contents. Picking out a sterilizer gel he looked at the Wookie. Prodding through that matted fur to apply the salve to the wounds would likely be very painful for the patient and he didn’t know how quickly that injection would start working.

He passed the gel to the Feeorin. ”Here. This should stop any infection and you know him better than I.” His throat was still very painful and becoming dry reminding him they should gather what water and supplies they could. He stood up and brushed the sand from his hands. Better see if the other passengers were alive and in a fit state to move out too. Speed was of the essence now and anyone unfit for travel would have to be dealt with.

Masurigi slowly opened her eyes. It was dark around her. Her head hurt. She let out a groan. Slowly her eyes got used to the darkness...
"Where am i?" She thought as she looked around. In the small space around her she saw only bent metal... A few rays of light were coming out of the corners of one of the walls.

She tried to remember what happened and after a second it came back.

"We crashed... Mistress!" She yelled out and tried to put pressure on the metal walls around her.

The wall above her budged but she wasn't strong enough to hold it or push it away...Free from its support it slowly came down again on her! She tried to cover herself and when it was going to smash her... it just sided to the side and crashed loudly to the ground like some invisible force was protecting her.

The Mandalorian melee shield on her arm was active. A small orange light was flashing and it meant the battery was almost empty. She opened her eyes and looked at it with a smile on her face. In her thoughts she thanked the mandalorian engineers for saving her life.

She had to narrow her eyes from all the light that came when the wall went down. Standing up slowly she felt all of the bones in her body aching. This was quite the tumble. She turned off the shield looking around the room.

One wall of the room she and the diplomat hid was torn apart... She looked at it amazed as a part of it laid on the ground before her. Flashes of the crash went through her head. She didn't make it to the chair... They crashed and the force threw her on the wall. The Mistress was screaming... Then the wall exploded! She activated her shield as a part of the wall flew at her... Then everything went black...

"Mistress?" The light that came thought the hole in the wall was blinding her. She covered her eyes with her arm for a second.

"Mistress are you ok?" She moved her arm down as she looked at the chair she strapped the torguta to. She wasn't there. Panic came over her and quickly she rushed to it as fast as her aching body let her.

The straps were cut open... She looked around the room again. There wasn't any blood or a body around... Somehow she was sure that the diplomat survived. That calmed her down immensely. A hard sigh escaped her lips.

But where was she?

"Maybe they left without me?" She understood they might though she was dead... It wasn't clear to her how long she laid under that big part of the wall. But why cut the belts on the chair..? They seemed undamaged... they could have opened them.

Her eyes rested on the torn side of the ship again... The sand was already taking the room slowly crawling in with every breath of the wind.

It came to her suddenly. How did i survive this? She couldn't believe her luck...

"It doesn't matter..." She thought as she reached to the crude and heavy armband that just saved her life. She took out the battery and replaced it with a spare one. " Last battery... " A mutter escaped her lips followed by a sigh. She needed money. For that she needed to find that diplomat.

Someone ran down the corridor. She looked instantly at the exist and saw the pilot run pass the door.
"So they didn't leave..." She thought as she walked to the exist and followed him slowly...

" Or they just left him behind..." It seemed to her like something that group would do. She wondered if she would take him with her as she heard more voices as she moved closer to the exit.

As she walked out of the wreckage she looked at the gathering and said the first thing that was on her mind.

" Where is the Mistress?"

((Nobody from the team remembered little Masurigi! Shame on you! Shame! Shame! *points finger* Seriously. So glad this is moving along:) Sorry for my late and hasty reply. Still more then half a month left for me. FYI i'm not on holiday... more of in personal hell.. >.> But this RP brightened my "outcast" thanks! ))