Into the Storm

[Leah Reach]

The transport trembled as they entered the Ellora’s orbit. A faraway world unknown to much of the galaxy: it was no easy find. Despite the instructions of the memory crystal in Devrim’s possession, the Jedi Master had to turn to her husband’s old archives for an astrology map that led to the distant planet. Given time, and much meditation, she did find its location tucked deep into the Unknown Regions. Once the seat of a great Jedi temple, which was later laid waste to by the Sith centuries ago, it had returned to its dark, desolate and storm-ridden state. But today, the Jedi hoped she could change that. For on the strange world was a vital key to restoring the Order: the Deep Stone Crypt.

“Sit tight everyone, we’re entering the atmosphere.” Her eyes bore into the clouds. However, her hands were not on the wheel. Rather, she left it to more skilled hands to pilot the Overhead-class freighter: Devrim and Toland. She was only another passenger in the cockpit, watching and making sure everything was in working order. Behind her, in the main cabin of the freighter, Eisa Swan and her newest student, Fey, would be waiting as well. Together, the five would venture into the Crypt and unlock its long-hidden secrets. Old tomes full of knowledge, ancient artifacts imbued with power— kyber crystals for the four Jedi hopefuls, or at least three of them, to use for their very own lightsabers. While the sky ahead was dark, the future was bright.

Thunder roared and lightning flashed, revealing a strange look to the clouds they were about ready to dive in. Leah leaned closer to the windshield, uncertain. “Over there—“ She pointed into the haze, and while she saw nothing but the storm, the Force was telling her something else. “—what is it?” The ship’s hull ached. Suddenly, the dashboard signaled an alarm on the radar. One speck, then two, then a dozen. A moment later, a hundred dots filled the scanner. As she connected the dots, another round of lightning arched across the sky, this time revealing an enormous mass of bat-like creatures roaming the clouds. Creatures they were seconds from meeting head-on.

“Oh shit.” Her voice faltered once the freighter collided with the swarm and Leah was sent stumbling into the wall. “Get us out of here!” The woman reared her head to the cockpit exit and into the cabin where the other two young women waited. In the distance, she heard several pipes burst. “Eisa— the generator! Fey, get on those guns!” She pointed to a small ladder that led up into the dorsal-mount laser turret of the transport. Whether or not they heard or answered her, the Jedi Master shifted her focus back to the outside world. They had barely reached Ellora and already hit a brick wall. She prayed, together, they might smash through it in one piece.

@Vosrik @Shalken @Plebometer @Fey Aadedai

 

[Eisa Swan]

So this was new, the teen mused as she wondered around the rear compartments of the freighter. Turned out that not only was Leah a Jedi master, but the Fiery haired teen found herself being part of a group of initiates that the rusty haired woman had taken under her wing to teach them the ways of the Force and the path of a Jedi. Others that Eisa wasn't aware of until she had boarded the ship, after being told that she would be travelling to a lesser known planet called Ellora. The revelation of their destination did raise an eyebrow on the teens features, from her life as a member of the grey swan's crew under her father. She had known of the planets existance, but its importance in the galactic sphere was minimal, offering little reason to visit the planet for trade or transport. Ellora was just one of those planets that existed, to hear that on it's surface resided a site of great importance to the Jedi was an eye opener to the teen.

Cocking her head slightly as Leah called out that they were about to break atmosphere, the teen shrugged and sat herself down. Not that it was in any means of defiance to the suggestion from the Jedi master, but owing to the fact she grew up on space ships, the turbulent entry into a planet's atmosphere was like water off a duck's back for the teen. And in all fairness it was a pretty smooth entry. What changed that so soon was the storm that they had passed into that rocked the ship violently before suddenly the distinct sound of the hull being pounded by countless unknown objects. That wasn't supposed to happen, the teen mused as she looked around the compartment she was in, her eyes narrowing as she listened out to the various groans of the hull and the ships systems under the constant hammering from outside.

Then her ears picked up on something that definitely didn't sound right, something started to clatter deep within the ship's hull within the engineering portion of the ship. Almost instinctively the teen sprang from her seat, snatching up her tool satchels and bolted towards the rear of the craft, gesturing for her droid to follow. Pausing momentarily mid stride as she heard her name being called out from the front. "Already on it!" Eisa called out before disappearing out of view and ear shot. Bounding into the main engine housing the teen looked through the transparisteel view port to assess the damage. Her brow furrowing as she regarded the sight. Several conduits and coolant pipes had ruptured and was flooding the compartment with various gasses. "Oh Frak!" The teen muttered as she snatched up a re breather off of the wall and slung it over her face, swiftly fastening it into place before turning round to her droid. "Ditto, vent the compartment and follow me in, need a spotlight...spot welder and your manipulators" The teen spoke out through a muffled voice as she peaked through the view port once again to assess the damage and how she was going to repair it.

As she readied herself by the door the ship shuddered again, this time causing the power to flicker throughout the ship. "Scratch the venting" Eisa shouted out before sliding the bulkhead door behind her shut and sealing off the rest of the ship from any of the hazardous fumes. Mentally the teen counted herself down, processing each of the steps she was going to take before throwing the door to the engine compartment open and rushing through into the swirling mass of coolant gasses with Ditto scuttling in close behind. "Ditto patch the coolant pipes" Eisa called out as she made a beeline over towards the sparking conduits. As soon as she got to the fried conduits the fiery haired teen, reached into her satchel and pulled out a large wrench before prying off the blown components, darkening the ship even further as she killed a few of the auxiliary systems.

From outside of the fog like haze of rapidly evaporating coolant gasses, a series of flashing arcs of light flashed out as the young teen mechanic and her droid carried out an feverish flurry of temporary of patching up jobs to quickly make the damage safe. Eisa now having pried off the blown and fused conduits, quickly set about replacing the components from the spares that she carried in her satchels and as well as what was stored within the engine room itself. Ditto was busy welding the ruptured pipework shut, slowing down the spill of hazardous gasses into the already flooded compartment of the ship. Yet despite the near blinding lack of visibility through the gasses and the flickering lights, the pair had managed to restore life into the failed systems. A dull whine flooded the area as the generator fired back up into life, stabilizing the power fluctuations throughout the ship. "Ditto vent the compartment" Eisa called out as she ran over towards the nearest internal comms point and braced herself against the wall for the sudden de-pressurization of compartment. ++Genny is back on line, gonna fix up a few more blown circuits++ Eisa called out over the comms, her voice barely audible over the combination of her mask muffling her words and the sound of air rushing out of the compartment.

 

[Toland Vult]

It seemed Devrim's 'lucky charm' was, in fact, a crystal that gave directions to some kind of hideout on a planet in the middle of nowhere. Devrim had claimed it was just a simple family heirloom, but now Toland wasn't so sure. How could such a unique and instrumental item pass undiscovered as mere jewellery? In any case, they were now breaking Ellora's orbit, and Vult was in the navigator's seat directing their path to the planet's surface. Though there wasn't any information on exactly what was in this sanctuary, the fact it was left behind by someone who could use the Force was a good sign. Whatever was there, perhaps it would ultimately assist them in their cause to free the galaxy of the Empire's constricting grasp.

Though Toland knew the task would not be a walk in the park, it had already gotten far out of hand, and they'd only just broken through the atmosphere. The ship's exterior blasted by harsh rains and violent winds, Toland was certain the freighter would be blown apart — and that was before they flew into the cloud of bat-like creatures. Not only that, he also heard the telltale loud noises of several pipes bursting far in the back of the freighter. Doing his best to forget about the mechanical failure and hope that miss Swan was as good as they said she was, Toland focused his attention on his own job. "I'll try to find us a landing zone!" Toland called out, punching navigation controls and squinting as he tried to peer through the heavy weather ahead in between reading the charts in front of him. Another flash of lightning streaked across the sky, revealing the looming shapes of several mountains. "Devrim, turn us ninety-three degrees left!" Toland relayed to the burly Rebel grasping the throttle. "We need to stay away from those mountains!" Even if they did manage to fend off the cloud of creatures, it was likely that they would need to make a controlled crash landing, and for that they needed a strip of even ground on which to land. If Ellora's surface was entirely rocks and jungles, the group of rebels would be in serious trouble if they wanted to get back offworld.

Suddenly remembering that the co-pilot's seat had a safety harness, Toland quickly took a moment to find it and strap himself in. However, as he turned to do so, he managed to catch a glimpse of the landscape that stretched out beneath them. Like Vult suspected, it was covered in huge trees and large jagged rocks. But further out, the jungle ended abruptly, and a vast ocean stretched out into the grey horizon beyond. And an ocean meant a beach. Toland pointed out of the cockpit towards the large body of water. "Over there! There's bound to be a beach; that'll be the clearest landing zone we'll get around here!" Toland only hoped that Fey could fend off the angry bat-things and keep them from ripping the ship's exterior to shreds.

@Fey Aadedai @Vosrik @Plebometer​

 

[Devrim Wolfe]

The heirloom in question was no longer strung around Devrim's neck for the journey. Currently it dangled by the string from the dash of the Overhead-class freighter that the dark-haired man was piloting. The trip had been completely uneventful until now. Entering atmosphere wasn't usually something to get all worked up about...but this time it was different. Devrim's knuckles turned white as he gripped the controls of the freighter tighter while the whole vessel began rattling. Trying to lighten the mood, or at least take his mind off of the rather harrowing situation, the rebel directed a question toward Leah who was seated behind Toland in the cockpit. "So you're saying that necklace is a...what did you call it, a memory crystal? It's been in my family for generations!" The man's temples and jawline hardened as he gritted his teeth to endure another bout of turbulence. "I thought you told me it wasn't lucky," Devrim muttered, his eyes darting across the controls as various warning lights cast a red and amber glow against his face.

Already strapped tightly into his seat, Devrim barely noticed Toland doing the same in the copilot seat. Arguably the second most qualified person to fly a freighter full of passengers, the rebel wondered exactly how much training the former Imperial agent received while serving in the ranks of the Empire. Likely enough to get by. However, this was certainly not going to be a walk in the park — none of them had an exact location to fly to. All their Jedi instructor had told them she'd seen was a mountain peak on Ellora, and there were literally hundreds of peaks on the mainland. But they did have a name to this mountain — Felwinter Peak. But first, they needed to get through this mother of all storms and the swarm of bat-creatures. "These are worse than Mynocks," the broad-shouldered rebel commented as the freighter jostled and thudded with the impact of the native fauna.

Another red light flashed with an accompanying klaxon to notify Devrim that several things had been destroyed by the bat creatures. After a few seconds, every electronic system shut down in the cockpit except for the emergency controls. Devrim gripped the seized controls even harder (if that were possible), doing his best to keep them all in the air. "We need that generator back, now," he stated through his teeth. Reefing as hard as he could on the grips, the ship lurched and they barely avoided a mountainside while careening through the air. Breaking through the storm clouds, they were greeted by the sight of vast rainforests nestled between mountain range after mountain range and a grey ocean in the distance. "I see it," Devrim replied to Toland, directing the Overhead-class as best as he could in the direction of the beach. However, descending even closer to the forests, another massive swarm of hound-sized bats rose from the treetops and flew directly toward the freighter. Already having to deal with a group either stuck to the back of the ship or trailing behind them, Devrim knew they wouldn't survive colliding with even more of the destructive beasts.

Just in time, Eisa proved her quality and restored full power to the cockpit. The controls loosened up and the pilot grabbed them with renewed vigor. "Hold on, everyone!" Devrim shouted to the back as he expertly adjusted their trajectory and throttle output, completely avoiding the oncoming swarm of bats. ♦ Past one obstacle, the rebel noticed that not all was well, as another flashing red light got his attention. Pushing the comms, he called back to Eisa, "We're still leaking something. Try to get it fixed, or we might end up on the beach." Little did he know that they were trailing thick, black smoke from the rear of the ship.

@Fey Aadedai @Plebometer @Shalken​

 

[Fey Meraska]

Fey sat in the main cabin of the freighter. Her thumbs idly slid across the smooth durasteel of her staff, complacent with nothing better to do but wonder at how she got to where she was. She had joined the Alliance with nothing but a fire in her heart and a soft tug of the force, and had been led everywhere from Rishi with Master Luy to the deep ancient forests of Kashyyk, where the Force had revealed itself to her in the form of Leah Reach. The pull had been strong and Fey a willing compliant. Who was she to question its will?

In the cabin with the same girl she had met before on Kashyyk, Fey wondered if the girl knew about the planet they were en route to. Ellora, she had heard Leah explain about it's significance in history-her history, now. About what was stored deep in its delves. She had never heard of the planet, but then again she had not known much of the Jedi besides the stunted rumors of their extinction which she now knew was false.

The blue woman was ripped from her thoughts with a vicious tremble of the ship. Her eyes shot up and gripped her seat, looking immediately at the red-haired girl across the room from herself but only catching a glimpse of her hair as she shot down towards the engine room. The Pantoran stood, glancing around the cabin a bit wildly and immediately spotting the ladder that led into the turret. The woman crossed over to it, just reaching the ladder when Leah appeared and pointed at her. She nodded, not wasting time and dropped into the seat with a lithe grace. "Kriff, okay." Her hands hovered over controls for a moment, before she spotted the visor control and lifted the veil.

Suddenly, her vision was filled with swooping swirls of grey and thick droplets of water as she took the upright controls of the guns in both of her hands, shifting the turret around a few times to get the feel of its maneuverability. She had been in a dome-turret a few times before, but not on a planet with this little visibility and thunder loud enough to rock the ship. The woman shifted around in the dome-shaped cockpit of the turret; and could soon make out the dark shapes of winged creatures swooping erratically around her.

Fey did not hesitate to open fire. She swiveled towards the closest black mass and shot, satisfied as the mass fell out of view and away from the freighter. That led her quickly to another, and another, which she continuously fired and hit her mark with accuracy. Fey aimed for the ones that were closest to the ship, knowing that these creatures were likely latching on and destroying important systems that they needed to land. She only had access to half of the ship, though and could not reach the creatures that were in the places her turret could not reach.

Taking shots at everything in her field of vision that moved, she flipped on the com unit that connected her to the cockpit of the freighter. "I'm clearing them, but I can't reach them all!" The woman shot again at three of the creatures, connecting solidly with two but missing one as it disappeared over the hull of the ship where she could not see.

After a moment, there was a lurch in the ship and a break in the dark masses that had a moment ago been swarming her field of vision. The woman exhaled and reached behind her to grab her safety harness and strapped herself in tight, then placed her hands back on the gunner controls in anticipation of another swarm. ​

 

[Leah Reach]

“Yes, it’s a memory crysta— wait, why are you bringing this up now?” She answered in turn, holding onto her seat like her life depended on it. Leah was grossly underprepared for the rapid turn of events and she barely had her safety harness attached. It was a miracle she hadn’t sailed out of position and through the cockpit windshield, Force or not. Although she blamed her iron grip and immeasurable terror for it. As sharp as her mind and body were, her stomach was not in the best condition, especially after the lunch she ate only an hour before, one she came to quickly regret. “Mother of Moons, I think I’m going to—“ She pressed a hand to her mouth and gagged.

As the ship descended at its extremely low altitude and met another swarm of bat-like creatures, the Jedi Master immediately swallowed down her nausea and bellowed with a pointed finger. “Watch out!” Following her outburst, Devrim shouted to hold tight and veered the transport to a sharp right, narrowly avoiding a collision. Meanwhile, Leah was swept out of her seat, her hold too weak to fight the sudden turn. Thrown into the wall, she shielded her head and body behind her shoulder. Pain shot down her arm but nothing she couldn’t walk off. Still, she groaned. “By the Force.” One muttered curse after another, the Jedi attempted to regain her balance and slip into her seat and its harness.

While she did, however, she noticed how distant they were from the shoreline Devrim and Toland originally aimed for, and how close they were to the ground. She murmured, “Oh shit.” Behind her, another explosion ripped through the cabin. The ship was tearing apart. The previous collision and onslaught of the swarm, while they had successfully navigated through and survived, had left its mark. There was no way their crash landing would end so smoothly. Leah knew this, and she feared the worst. Eisa in the generator, not secure in place. Fey in the turret, barely shielded or prepared for what was to come. The two men in front of her, sealed in place but about to take on the full force of the crash. Nightmare became reality. Leah had to do something.

She barely managed to strap herself into her seat, but her security paled in comparison to the others. Not that it mattered to her in the least: it was her students and their survival that mattered. While she could not reach out with the Force to slow the ship’s descent, she could damn well warn the others and shield Devrim and Toland from the brunt of the crash. Which was exactly what she did. Hands open and arms wide, she created a barrier from the dashboard to the windshield. “Hold on! We can get through this. The Force—“ She was interrupted as the shuttle tore right through the canopy of the forest. Her chest pressed into the strap, almost suffocating her. Before she could blink, they carved across the treeline for the beach.

Her head snapped forward, then back hard into the wall. Terrible pain rang in her head, followed by darkness. Not a concussion. Not the bleak feeling of unconsciousness. It was worse than that. Surely, not death, but it was worse than they could have imagined.

@Plebometer @Vosrik @Shalken @Fey Aadedai

 

[Eisa Swan]

Who ever said that a ship's mechanic life was easy, simply didn't have either the slightest clue or had never been in an engine room when things were descending into a right royal cluster frack. Which was exactly how things were shaping up to be, no sooner had one leak been plugged with a finger, three more would sprout their ugly heads. Which would be fine, if the fiery haired teen had a multitude of appendages to cover the holes with. But unlike her droid there was only so much she could process at a time, narrowing her gaze the fiery haired teen turned her attention over towards the wall mounted comms device as a series of crackling words rang out to identify that the ship was leaking something.

Looking over the console screen, the teen shook her head in frustration. From the read outs of the engine systems it appeared that the central engine thruster assembly had a ruptured fuel line and spilling fuel into the exhaust and catching fire as it left the ship. The fiery haired teen sighed in resignation, before pressing down on the comms channel back to the bridge. ++We've got a ruptured fuel line in the central engine thruster, think what ever you're flying through has gotten sucked into the intakes ++ the teen announced through a distorted speaker. ++ Bad news, there ain't a hope on the emperor's boil ridden ass that I can plug it whilst we're flying ++ she continued before shielding her face as a fresh shower of sparks errupted from a near by relay. ++ For frack sake, i just fixed that!!! ++ the teen cursed aloud as she accidentally pressed down against the speak button whilst ducking out of the way ++ Yeah good news is, can kill that engine and override the other engines to compensate ++ she concluded, before stepping away from the console.

Not willing to wait for whomever was still on the bridge to tell her to proceed or not, Eisa withdrew her cosmowrench from her belt loop and quickly dashed over towards the fuel line pipes that fed out to each of the rear thruster assemblies. Slinging the mouth of the wrench around the pipe the teen pressed down on the tighten control and held it down, tightening the teeth around the pipe beyond it's actual size and crushing the pipe flat, blocking off any further flow of fuel through the crimped pipe. Her attention soon turned to her droid as it scuttled between one patch job to the next. "Ditto, get ready to pull the over ride on the rear port thruster" Eisa called out before quickly bolting towards the opposing over ride switch. "On my Mark.... Three..... Two..... One.....Mark!!" The teen shouted out, counting the pair down so they could synchronize the switches being pulled at the same time. So to allow the ship to remain on what ever it's current course would be, figuring the last thing the pilots needed was the ship to suddenly pull towards one side or the other.

Making her way back to the main console unit, the teen regarded the thruster outputs, before carefully adjusting the two remaining thruster outputs and fuel feeds to compensate for the loss of the central thruster. A relieved sigh escaped her lips as the two remaining thrusters shifted away from red and into a green status indicator, indicating that the systems despite being pushed to their limits were meeting the ships demands.

Running a sleeve across her forehead, the fiery haired teen sighed aloud, before looking back over the engine room around her. Despite the near endless series of failures chaining one right after the other, it was starting to look as if the young rebel mechanic and her droid were regaining some momentum in keeping on top of everything. Though it seemed that no sooner had that thought crossed her mind, the ship decided to throw another colossal spanner into the works. This time it wasn't within the engine room, but the actual hull itself. A dull groaning could be heard echoing throughout the depths of the ship, followed by a high pitched tearing noise as the metal of the outer hull started to twist and sheer.

++ Ummm Guys.... the ships tearing itself appart ++ Eisa called out over the comm channel to the front of the ship, hoping to give them warning over the failing condition of the ship so they could get the ship to land sooner than later without the ship completely breaking up. Looking over to her side, the teen's eyes widened as the rushing of wind over her drew her attention to the side, where a large tear was starting to form and the flashes of lightning illuminated sky could be seen. ++Might want to land sooner, we've got a hull brea.....++ the teen called out over the comm before the ship violently rocked and the channel fell deadly silent.

Completely unaware as to what was taking place, the teen tightly held onto the console, as a deafening crash rocked the ship. Her eyes starring at the increasing maw of the growing hull breach as the ship looked as if it was tearing itself in half, before looking around her. Her gaze falling unto central hull mounts that run through the core of the ship, figuring that there was no hope in getting out of the aft section of the ship in time. Eisa summoned Ditto to her side as she quickly ducked down between the supporting frame. "Ditto, emergency restraints" the teen shouted as she slid herself into the gap. As ordered the droid, scuttled over it's owner before spreading it's various insect like limbs out around the teens body before ramming the mandibles of its pincers and manipulator arms into the frame work and securing itself into place.

Closing her eyes, the teen wrapped her arms around her droid and held on tightly as if her life depended on it. No sooner had she done so, a deafening series of crashes, cascades of fire and sparks erupted around the pair. The rear portion of the ship being torn clean off from the rest of the hull as the strained metal eventually gave in against the onslaught of objects hammering the ships hull. All there was in its wake was a constant spinning and tumbling sensation as the rear hull of the ship slammed violently into one thing and then the next. Eisa felt as if she was being thrown about in a tumble washer, getting thrown about within her makeshift restraints before eventually everything came to a groaning standstill.


"Oh Frack" The teen groaned, as she allowed her body to slump back against the cold metal surface of the floor, loosening her hold of her droid as she did so. Letting out a long sigh the teen quickly patted herself down to make sure she hadn't lost or broken anything, but more importantly can still move. For the best part she was still in once piece, but was feeling as if she had gone another round in the fighting circle with Greybok

 

[Fey Meraska]

The small compartment of the turret where Fey was secured rattled viciously as the ship began a sharp descent. The pantoran woman was breathing heavily, her exhales coming in short puffs as her eyes flickered across the viewscreen that was still open. It offered a 360 view of the their surroundings, which right now was the quickly approaching ground and torrents of grey clouds and rain.

Her eyes slid down to the control panel at the sound of Eisa's voice over the patchy com system. ++Might want to land sooner, we've got a hull brea.....++ What seemed like milliseconds later, a long groan echoed through the ship and Fey watched with some new kind of horror as the back half of the freighter ripped clean off with a cascade of smoke, falling unceremoniously to the ground without them.

"Oh, force." Not soon after did the freighter begin to enter an ongoing cascade and spins, did fey begin to feel the main seating component of the dome turret begin to spin in the opposite direction. It and continued to spin in opposite patterns, changing every second until Fey was sure she was going to be sick- the turret spinning one way while catching glimpses of the outside world rotating another. Fey felt utterly weightless and it was disorienting, enough to maker her pull a hand to cover her mouth. This was not good.

In the height of all the spinning, Fey feels a sharp pain in her right leg, like a fire spreading down her lower calf which caused the white haired woman to scream out in pain. She couldn't move, hardly even her fingers with the constant gyration of the turret. But in a moment, and with a sickening thud all the motion stopped suddenly, causing the woman's body to continue its motion with extreme force- pushing her chest into the restrains that saved her from slamming against the side of the dome. After that, it was silent.

After a moment, Fey ventured to open her eyes. She had been delved into darkness, nothing but the occasional flashing red light of the now broken comm system blinking on the dash. She idly reached up to unfasten her retrains, feeling a dull ache where they had pressed into her flesh. The woman stood in the pit of the turret, testing out her legs and reaching out to steady herself with a hand on the ladder that led out of the turret. "Ouch, what in kriff.." she whispered to herself, a sharp pain lurching from her right calf straight to her stomach. Although she was able to stand with minimal pain, that didn't stop the feeling of a dull ache behind her eyes that throbbed within her head.

"Okay, okay. You're fine. Focus." With some difficulty, the blue woman hoisted herself to the ladder that led out of the turret and into the main hold of the cargo freight- or what was left of it. Reaching the door, she grabbed the latch and pushed up, but with no avail. Something must be blocking it from the outside. Biting back a flash of fear, the woman tried again, this time using her shoulder to give some force behind it. The door groaned, and gave about an inch of leeway, but whatever held it closed was not going to budge from her pushes. Panic began to rise. What had happened to her companions? So far there was only silence. Were they alright?

"Hello?!" Fey called out as loud as she could behind the door, landing a few good bangs on it for good measure. "Are you guys out there?!"

 

[Toland Vult]

It seemed Eisa was as good as they said she was, managing to bring the ship's electronics back online just as another massive cloud of bats screeched out from the forest below. Devrim quickly swerved to avoid them, pushing Toland against the side of the cockpit from the ship's sudden movement. Overhead, he could hear the steady tempo of blasterfire as Fey piloted the gun, with the clouds lighting up a violent red as the bolts sailed through the air. Unfortunately it was not enough to hold off the swarm of territorial creatures, and they quickly began to rip the ship apart in spite of young Swan's best efforts. "Don't these things have a natural predator or something?" Toland wondered aloud in passing as he tried to get a bearing on their landing. Unfortunately as the ship's navigator, there was little he could do but watch as the freighter continued its barely-controlled descent. "Just a bit further, and we'll make it to the beach," Toland reassured, hopeful.

He had spoken too soon. Moments later, an angry metallic screech howled down the hallway from behind the cockpit. Toland twisted about in his seat to see what had caused the sound. Feeling air whoosh through the hall and whip by his face, he knew instantly that the ship was being torn in half. He faced forward once more, tightening his harness. "Scratch that. We're not gonna make it to the beach." He quickly reached forward to relay one last broadcast to the others on board. "Brace for impact!" He raised his arms moments before they landed, shielding his face and torso.

The impact was rough. For what seemed like forever, everything was a blur as the freighter carved a thick rut deep into the forest, trees and rocks scraping against the hull and shattering the cockpit's transparisteel viewport into a thousand shards. It took several moments afterward for the cloud of dust and smoke to settle before Toland noticed the pain.♦ While his armour had protected his vitals from any kind of injury, several scratches along his face and neck appeared as blood began to flow from each of them. His arms were extremely sore and bruised from the impact, with his armoured gauntlets rendered nearly useless. A shard of glass protruded from his forearm. Unbuckling himself, he quickly withdrew a kolto bandage before pulling loose the shard of glass, wrapping the bandage around his wound to stop the bleeding.

Slowly extracting himself from his seat, Toland turned about to see Leah slumped in her chair, visibly unresponsive. Certain Devrim could take care of himself, Toland pulled himself over and unbuckled the Jedi Master. "Leah? Leah, are you all right?" he questioned her, checking her vitals to ensure she was alive. Concluding she was unconscious, Vult lifted her into his arms princess-style. With the normal exit at the rear of the cockpit super elevated and now extremely dangerous to walk through, Toland instead opted to carefully exit the freighter through the broken windshield.

Outside, Toland made his way a safe distance from the smoking wreck. Unable to see the other two that had been in the rear of the ship, Vult could only hope that they had managed to escape relatively unscathed.

@Vosrik @Deviant @Plebometer @Fey Aadedai​

 

[Devrim Wolfe]

From the sound of the continuous blaster fire and flashes of red in the sky, it was clear that Fey Meraska was proving herself very good behind the controls of their ship's turret. A spark of hope ignited within Devrim — perhaps they were, in fact, going to make it onto this planet in one piece and only a little worse for wear. He glanced back at Leah who was barely strapped into her seat. "I've never even heard of a memory crystal until now," he retorted, though not having any good reason why he was bringing it up now as they were literally fighting for their lives. It just seemed like a good conversation starter during a stressful moment.

The voice of Fey crackled through the comms after Devrim had finished his dept maneuver to avoid the second swarm of beasts rising from the forest below. Her report was disconcerting, as it meant that there could still very well be surviving bats chewing and clawing on parts of their freighter. Opening up the comms to the engine room, Devrim raised a question to Eisa. "How is it looking back there? Are we stable?" The reply came quick, though the news the teen mechanic reported was far from good. The dark-haired rebel shifted in his seat and pursed his lips. Blast, a fuel line, he thought, seeing more alarms flash before his eyes from the Overhead's control panel. What's worse was that Eisa wouldn't be able to fix the line while they were in the air, and Devrim was having enough difficulty landing in the first place. Toland remained hopeful, pointing out that it was not much further until they reached the end of the treeline of the forest and onto the beige sands before the ocean. Alas, another loud burst crackled through the speakers and the power flickered out in the cockpit once again, plunging the seated trio into darkness save the grey light streaming through the viewports. Being so close to the ground, Devrim could do little but grip tight onto the seized controls. "Grab something," he warned. "We're going down!"

Crashing into the sturdy trees, the rebel hoped that the freighter's durasteel chassis would be able to withstand the constant impacts were as they broke through hundreds of branches. However, the craftmanship of the Overhead-class turned out to be rather shoddy indeed, unless the foliage here was unnaturally hardy. The ear-splitting noise of the back half of the ship being ripped off filled the rest of the freighter, and Devrim finally released his hold of the controls to shield himself from the impact. Thank the Force he was strapped in properly, or he would have surely flown into the meat grinder of bark and metal that was the front of the ship. Instead, he like Toland was showered with bits of debris and glass from the shattered viewport. Unlike his copilot, who took a few moments to recover and analyze himself, Devrim threw off his harness the moment they'd stopped. He could feel the warm trickle of blood seeping into his clothing around his neck, face, and arms — but they were merely flesh wounds that would certainly heal in time. ♦ Toland was checking on Leah, but Devrim knew that Fey and Eisa were in the most danger due to the lack of proper seating.

Climbing out of the nonexistent window of the freighter, the broad-shouldered rebel pushed his way through the thick undergrowth and got a look at the vessel — or at least what was left of it. The entire back half had indeed broken off, and it was nowhere in sight. Thankfully, the turret housing seemed relatively undamaged, although the door was almost completely blocked by a piece of durasteel that had sheared off of the freighter's hull. Climbing up the side, Devrim gripped the piece of metal and shouted down to Fey behind the blocked hatch. "I'm here, Fey!" Despite the sheer amount of adrenaline pumping madly through his veins, the rebel was unable to free the blockage on his own and simply managed to cut his hand on the debris. ♦

Calling down through the small gap, he called out again to Fey, "Push as hard as you can — maybe that'll work." Gripping the metal in a different spot in preparation so he wouldn't further slice up his hands with the effort, Devrim also shouted toward the back end of the freighter. "Eisa, are you alright!?" Despite his best efforts to save everyone, the rebel wouldn't be able to forgive himself if anyone had perished in the crash.

@Deviant @Plebometer @Fey Aadedai @Shalken​

 

[Eisa Swan]

Laying in the stillness, the young firey haired teen stared out at the roof plating of the engine room, the violent barrelling movement had long since came to an abrupt end, but still the rear half of the ship was groaning as it settled into its resting place. Taking a few deep breaths, the young teen gathered herself before patting Ditto. "Okay bud, that's us safe now" the teen spoke out before waiting for the droid to pry itself loose and fold it's limbs back in on itself. "Thanks Ditto" Eisa added as the droid's respulsor device took over and lifted itself off of the ground and taking back to hovering close by.

Pushing herself upright so she was seated, Eisa took a look around the trashed engine room. Her gaze narrowing in dismay at the state of her surroundings. "Well we tried" the teen sighed before rolling over into her front and pushing herself up onto her feet with a groan. Gingerly the teen stepped through out the wreckage, gathering her scattered tools and possessions and tucking them into her satchels. Slowly and cautiously the teen made her way out towards the front of the ship. Her bright emerald hued eyes scanning over the crumpled bulkheads and compartment paneling, her hands reaching out and taking hold of the various hand holds to steady herself as well as assist herself in traversing the wreckage as it sat precariously upon a twisted mess of felled trees and boulders.

Reaching what used to be the main link corridor to the rest of the ship from the rear engine room. Her eyes narrowing as she stepped out into the tailend of th crash site, the storm above was raging hard, bathing the forest in a dull overcast light, the path to the rest of the ship fortunately illuminated by the trail of smouldering fire. Carefully she lowered herself onto the firm scorched ground below, and took a few uneasy steps, laying a hand on her stomach, Eisa could feel a general unease boiling deep within her stomach. Hunching over to the side, tge fiery haired teen started retching, before felling the contents of her stomach erupt through her mouth. Tears soon forming on the young girls face as the foul taste lingered within her mouth, leaving her with little option to spit out any remaining traces of vomit, before wiping her mouth with the sleave of her top.

Once she was sure that the retching had stopped, Eisa took s few weak steps forwards before feeling another expulsive rush surge up from her stomach. Despite having survived the crash, the teen was feeling rather delicate after being thrown about in every direction at a high g force. The fact that she had finally planted her feet onto solid ground, was just enough for her body to finally catch up.

With a groaning dry heave, Eisa coughed briefly before splitting out the lingering contents of her mouth and wiped her mouth clean again. Her emerald tear soaked gaze looking up to her droid as it chirped worriedly at its owner. "I'm OK Ditto, just shaken is all" Eisa responded before getting back onto her feet. "Come on we gotta find the others" the teen added before starting the trek up through the clearing that had been carved by the rest of the ship. Scrambling over or ducking over thr torn remaind of the local plant life, the fiery haired teen gradually closed the distance between the rear of the ship and the front section that torn on ahead over what felt like an aged had passed. Despite it being only five maybe ten minutes tops.

Gradually the faded silhouettes of thr petite framed teen and her hovering droid came into view of thr others who appeared to have managed to get themselves free from the ship. Her narrowed eyes zoning in on the sound of clattering metal as the visage of Devrin came into clear view, as he tried to free fey from the turret. Looking up towards her droid, Eisa pointed in thier direction. "Go cut her free" she instructed the droid before it sped of towards the turret. "Ditto's coming to give you a hand, tell Fey to stay well back and cover her ears, he's gonna cut you loose" The teen shouted over towards Devrin, she still had a good few tens of meters to go still ans wasn't in the best condition for running. Ditto on the other hand, had quickly shot over towards Devrins side, before deploying it's tool arms to first ease him aside before unfurling a circular saw that soon made light work of the twisted door frame that was trapping the blue hued woman.

As the freshly cut metal panel was carried aside but the hovering, the fiery haired teen finally staggered along side the rest of the group. Taking a few deep breaths the teen crouched over to increase air coming into her lungs, whilst she recouped the remaining strength she had. "everyone in the front ok?" Eisa enquired as she looked over the group, Fey and Devrin by the turret and what looked like Toland off still a way ahead of her. Her gave narrowing as she couldn't see the 4th person who was at the front half of the ship. "where's commander reach?" she added as she looked over the others in thier various bloody and bruised states.

 

[Fey Meraska]

Upon hearing the familiar voice of Devrim, fey felt a rush of relief fill her chest. "Okay, okay I'm gonna push!" The pantoran braced herself, finding her footing on the ladder and using one hand on the side of the small wall to stabilize herself, then used the back of her shoulder to amble into the door- to no avail. The latch did not budge an inch. To make things worse, the forceful movement caused her chest and shoulders to burn where she assumed abrasions were caused from the safety harness that had held her in place. It was enough to make her close her golden eyes in pain and suck on her teeth to quell tears of the same.

"It didn't work.." Fey called out to Devrim, brushing her hands along the sides of the walls around her, searching for anything that may help her escape. "I-I could try and see if there is something I could use to pry it open?" the young woman looked around, but was unable to make anything out around her due to the darkness of the turret in whole. Fey was about to go back down into the main dome of the turret when she heard the unmistakable beeps of Eisa's droid, Ditto, from outside the turret followed by the instruction to stand back and shield herself. The woman made quick work of lowering herself back into the seat of the turret, protecting her eyes and ears with her arms as she heard the screech of metal ripping- then finally silence.

Looking up, Fey was bathed in the gloomy light of the planet as she gazed through the new opening, and began climbing the ladder, lifting herself with the help of those closest to her out of the turret at last. The woman gave an appreciative squeeze to the arm of Devrim and a a soft smile towards Eisa and Ditto in turn, she blinked in the light, taking in the group as a whole. At first glance everybody seemed accounted for and mostly unharmed, besides Leah who was unconscious in Toland's arms. "Is everyone alright? What happened to Leah?" The young woman made towards Toland, her eyes stuck on the limp figure of the woman who had sought her out on Kashyyyk and been kind enough to take her under her wing. "I can help, I know a bit of first aid." Although she didn't know much, she had taken to watching her uncle years before practice medicine in Coruscant before his death; Fey being ever the observant student had been able to pick up a bit of his skillset before his death.

It was a moment longer before she began to register her own pain. A burning sensation in her chest and shoulders, but mostly her lower right calf that made her whole body throb until she could feel her heartbeat in the tips of her fingers. Glancing down, Fey finally realized that she herself was bleeding. Not incredibly profusely, but enough for her to know she had a gash of some sort beneath the leather.

"Hold on." Thinking on a whim, the white haired woman turned on her heel and dashed to the wrecked ship where Toland had exited with Leah moments before, slowed by the pain that was produced every time she took a step with her right foot. Inside the main compartment of the freighter, Fey maneuvered around bent durasteel to the front of the ship. Once inside, she glanced around until she found what she was looking for on the far wall beneath a console: a hard case emergency medpack. Fey ducked to retrieve it, throwing the strap over her shoulder and quickly returning to the group outside the wreckage.

She set the pack down and unzipped it, glancing over the arrangement of multiple different medical tools, the most pertinent being bacta bulbs, bandages, a defibrillator, dermal regeneration packs, and a mini IV tap. This would do nicely. ​

 

[Toland Vult]

Standing outside the wreckage, Toland saw Devrim emerge from the broken cockpit after him, bleeding from multiple cuts inflicted by the shattered windscreen. Apparently he had faced injuries much worse, as the tough rebel simply fought through the pain and rushed off to find the rest of the crew amidst the wreck. Quickly finding Fey trapped inside the rotary turret, Devrim set to work trying to free her from the durasteel prison.

Moments later, Eisa appeared through the thick cloud of smoke that had now settled over the crash site. Despite being in the freighter's engine room with all the malfunctioning parts and systems, she seemed to have emerged relatively unscathed. Sending her droid over to help free Fey, she asked where their fearless leader was. Moving closer to make himself more visible, Toland revealed the Jedi Master in his arms. "I've got her right here. She's alive, but unconscious." Before he could say more, he felt the all-too-familiar sensation in his head and gut, like something wasn't quite right. It wasn't escalating quickly, but the feeling was there nonetheless. Danger was approaching.

Once Fey was free, everyone in the group was now accounted for and relatively safe. All things considered, they had gotten out easily enough; the crash could have been a lot worse, with most if not all of them dead. However, Leah's condition was concerning, and they would need to ascertain the full extent of her injuries soon. Fey had the wits about her to grab the ship's onboard medical kit, but as she opened it to ascertain its contents, Toland's sense of impending doom grew even stronger. Not quite sure what it could possibly be, he looked up just in time to see a flash of lightning illuminating the grey skies, revealing the silhouette of the massive cloud of bat-beasts heading straight for them. "RUN! We need to find shelter now!" At the speed they were flying, would be less than a minute before the creatures overtook them.

@Vosrik @Fey Aadedai @Plebometer @Deviant​

 

[Devrim Wolfe]

Through the sounds of the dense forest, Devrim heard the steady thudding of footsteps cracking through the trees and foliage. "Eisa, is that you?" he shouted out, happy to see that despite having gone down with the other half of the ship, the mechanic appeared largely unharmed. The teen gave her handy little droid some instructions and called back up to Devrim. Nodding in acknowledgment as Ditto whirred upward to the turret, the rebel peeked through the small crack that was providing a stream of light for the Pantoran. "Hold on, stay here but not too close to the door. Eisa's droid is going to cut you loose in a moment," Devrim informed as he stepped back and held the slab of durasteel plating in place. Protruding a circular saw, sparks began flying as it ground through the metal blocking the turret door from opening. The high-pitched grinding was ear-splitting and awful, but in a moment it was over and Devrim reached in to lend a helping hand as Ditto carried away the hunk of rubbish. Eyeing Fey up and down to quickly check for injuries, he was pleased to see that the enclosed turret had kept her mostly safe except for a few bruises.

"I think everyone's alright," Devrim replied, looking at the group that had miraculously survived the rough landing. "We'll need to find another way off planet...but for now we need to get Leah somewhere safe." He'd seen Toland taker her out of the cockpit, as she was in the worst state of them all, unconscious from the crash. Fey rushed back into the cockpit to retrieve a first aid kit, but before they could apply them, Devrim felt the same tingle at the back of his neck that Toland did. Turning toward the mountains in the distance, the pit in the rebel's stomach grew as a huge black cloud of the bat-creatures drew closer and closer. They were still after the rebels. Toland called out first, giving voice to what everyone was likely thinking. Even Devrim knew that his weapons would be inefficient to stop the vast numbers of predators that were quickly gaining on them.

Running into the forest in the direction of the beach, the dark-haired rebel did not have to travel far before reaching the open sands. Whirling around and loading his R5R, he peered down sights towards the bats. They were far out of range at the moment, and from the looks of it they were huge. "They're the size of hounds!" Devrim exclaimed in shock. "What the hell do they eat here?" Motioning to the rest of the group, he pointed along the shoreline. "There are rocks over there, and perhaps a cave for us to hide in. Stick close to the treeline!"

Letting the others take the lead, the rebel fired off a couple shots toward the ominous black cloud that drew closer and closer. The plasma bolts reached the end of their optimal range, searing holes in two of the creatures which squawked and dropped from the sky. ♦ Devrim gritted his teeth as he saw that it barely caused a dent in their numbers. The blaster sounds caused even more creatures nearby to stir and flee from their surroundings, including a strange four-armed creature that also began fleeing in the direction of the rocks. However, it was clearly sentient as it carried a long, metal-tipped spear in one of its hands. "Hey, you there!" Devrim shouted out toward it. "We need shelter and help, we have wounded crew!"

@Plebometer @Fey Aadedai @Shalken @Deviant​

 

[Eisa Swan]

A light smile crept over the fiery haired teens features as Devrin announced for the best part everyone was OK, though Eisa's features softened at the revelation that Leah had been knocked unconscious. Her emerald hued eyes worriedly looked over towards Toland as he came into clearer view, carrying the limp form of the Jedi Master, despite being relieved that everyone was still living and breathing. It was hard for the teen deny that she wasn't concerned over Leahs condition, a sentiment that clearly was shared by the others. As evidenced by the now free pantoran who had made a beeline back into the ship's interior to retrieve a medi kit, sighing in relief Eisa looked over the crash site around her.

It was no small wonder how everyone managed to survive quite a violent landing, especially knowing that many had died in less severe crashes than the one they had all seemingly walked away from. Yet despite the the fortune that was being shown to the group, the fiery haired teen couldn't help but shake some nagging feeling that they weren't out of the woods just yet. The sensation was strange and similar to some of the past sixth sense like moments of instinctual perception that she had felt and had since learned to be that of the Force allowing her to sense danger.

The teens attention was swiftly pulled away from trying to figure out what this nagging sensation meant by a blinding flash of lightning, that drew her gaze skyward. Her bright emerald hued eyes widening at the sight of a blackened fluttering cloud like mass that was rapidly descending upon thier position. Unsure as to what it was she was seeing, the young girl stared up wards the closing mass of bat like creatures. The attention towards the approaching danger was made clear as Toland shouted for the group to run, not really wanting to argue, yet alone face the on coming swarm. Eisa did as directed and turned on her heel and ran in the opposite direction of the bat like beasts.

As both she and what she assumed was the rest of ran towards cover, or for safety, the fiery haired teen kept an ear out for any and all shouts between the fleeing rebels around her. Devrins voice rang out about there being several rocks and potentially a cave for the group to hide in, shortly afterwards a series of blaster rounds fired off, the crackling sound of which echoing throughout the treeline around them.

As she could feel her heart pounding within her chest and her breathing getting heavier, the fiery haired teen started to feel light headed from the sudden physical exertion. Not having rested since withstanding such a violent and sudden end to thier arrival on Ellora, coupled with the fact that she hadn't really eaten that much during the entire journey. Whomever had stocked the now totalled ship, hadn't accounted for the young teens near bottomless appetite. Between being hungry and having her body being thrown every which way, all resulted in Eisa being unsteady on her feet. The fact that she was running wasn't helping matters, as she would periodically veer to the side as if she was about to topple over mid stride.
Almost without notice the teen could feel her leg give out from under her, sending the teen lurching over towards the side. Yet despite the almost assured appearance that the fiery haired teen was about to come crashing into the sodden mud beneath her feet, Eisa managed to regain her balance quickly enough to prevent herself from falling head first onto the mud.

Keeping to the path that Devrin had called out to follow, Eisa's attention soon was pulled towards a strange four armed creature that had burst out from the tree line and was headed towards the small outcrop of rocks. The four armed elloran native stopped in its tracks at the sudden cry for assistance. Its eyes regarding the advancing group of rebels before paying skywards, nodding it waved his two right arms in gesture to follow him. It seemed that the plea for help from the Unknown group of off worlders, wouldn't go unnoticed.

quickly and with out hesitance the mysterious creature, lead the group to a caves entrance and gestured frantically for the rebels to get into the naturally formed shelter. With an uneasy set of teen beneath her, Eisa crossed the threshold of the caves entrance. A hand reading out for the cave wall to keep herself upright, whilst the others filtered their way into the cave. It now seemed that despite coming to a standstill propped up against the wall, her head was still spinning from being swung about by the rear of the ship coming to a crashing halt. Her gaze narrowing as the earlier sensation within her stomach started to rear it's ugly head once again, her face shifting into a look of concentration as she did her utmost not to be sick infront of everyone. The last thing they would need whilst waiting for the swarm to pass, was for the young teen throw up and stink out the cave, one way of making a first impression with the native who had lead them to safety.

 

[Fey Meraska]

The young woman had taken note of the contents of the medkit, crouching over it slightly and running her fingers over the durasteel of the medical equipment, when something like a wave of panic swept around the group of companions around her. She looked up, scrutinizing the face of Devrim who had been closest to her. She felt the disturbance like a faint tug in the corners of her mind, something like a lot of fluttering and commotion closing in.

Fey lifted her golden eyes in the direction of that tug where all of the companions were looking, to make out an approaching mass of the same creatures she had shot down while they tumbled out of the sky. At the same time did Devrim and Toland call out, and the call to make a break for it was ushered. Fey wasted no time in closing the medkit and flinging it over her shoulder as she took off, falling slightly to the side of Eisa.

Normally, the young woman would have no problem with a sprint of this sort as she had built endurance over her many years of survival and making a way wherever she could. But the woman could feel the deep gash on her calf, the tender skin being pulled and exerted did not mix well with the violent headache that had formed after being tossed about the dome of the turret she had been in.

Keeping her eyes forward, she was drawn immediately to the sight of an Elloran native who was a few meters ahead of the group of survivors. Fey could hear Devrim call out to the native through the sound of blood rushing in her head and her own panting. Her attention caught as Eisa fell out of her peripheral and stumbled a bit, in which made fey in turn slow in her pace in anticipation of having to help the younger girl, but was relieved when she caught herself and the entrance of a natural cover was in sight, led by the natives.

Fey followed Eisa into the cave, turning to watch the rest of the group file in after the natives. She sat down on the cave floor, taking in a deep breathe as to calm the rapid rate her heart was beating. The young woman gingerly outstretched her hurt leg before her, taking in the sight if the blood that had been irritated into flowing again from their run. Fey unclasped the medkit, watching Eisa steady herself out of the corner of her eye in case the youth had any inclination to fall or otherwise pass out, she would be ready to help. ​

 

[Toland Vult]

Not wasting any more time to ascertain the writhing black cloud that quickly approached them, Toland bolted ahead of the group as fast as he could while keeping the Jedi Master steady in his arms. His arm stung with the pain both from his earlier injury and from the exertion of holding Leah, but he fought through it as best he could. The group couldn't afford to rest or trip now, or they would be quickly overtaken by the ravenous beasts that pursued them. Toland heard Devrim's two shots connect and fell two of the leathery-winged creatures, but it did nothing to stop their advance. "More importantly, what eats them?" he shouted, staying near the edge of the forest along the sandy bank of the beach. With nowhere else to go, they were quickly running out of time. Wolfe suddenly pointed out a cluster of rocks off in the distance; they could only hope it would provide some sort of cover.

It seemed that the group was not alone on the beach as a friendly native waved them towards the outcrop and into shelter. Hurriedly making his way under the arch and into the darkness of the cave, Toland momentarily set Leah down against one of the cavern's walls to rest his aching arms and back. Breathing heavily from the exertion, he looked towards their strange four-armed rescuer, who had opened a pouch filled with an odd-smelling pasty substance. Dabbing some of the material on its forehead, it then hurriedly moved about the group, applying it to the others' brows as well, muttering to itself as it went. Almost certain the vicious animals would come swarming in, Toland was surprised when they were left alone. Peering out of the cave's mouth, he saw the cloud circling overhead, but coming no closer. "They're ignoring us..." he wondered aloud, mystified. The Elloran native pulled him to the side away from the entrance, spreading a streak of the milky substance across his forehead before pointing outside. "Things no like. Bad smell," it grunted, putting away the capsule. Glancing outside once more, Toland was relieved to see that the being was right, as the cloud of things was beginning to dissipate back into the depths of the forest. "They're leaving..." He turned to address the Elloran. "Thank you, we are in your debt. We would've died without your help." Their benefactor bobbed its head up and down strangely before responding, heading outside once again. "Follow. No safe yet," it encouraged, moving several paces outside and beckoning to the stranded rebels. "Come, village. Follow."

Looking to the rest of the group, Toland shrugged before wrapping his arms underneath Leah's limp form once again. "I guess we probably should...we don't really have any other option." Master Reach needed immediate medical attention, and until they could find another way off planet, they would be foolish to pass up an offer to help.

@Vosrik @Plebometer @Deviant @Fey Aadedai​

 

[Devrim Wolfe]

The rebels' request for help from the native did not go ignored, and soon the curious four-armed being led them into a cave that lay within the rocks on the beach. By the looks of it, it was a small hunting camp for the native, as it contained several bowls of various herbal mixtures, racks from which hides hung, and the remains of a small campfire. Devrim, who was the last one to enter the cave with his fellow rebels, took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the low lighting. The next thing the dark-haired man knew, his forehead was being covered by some cream that the native had concocted earlier. Listening to the being's broken Basic, it became clear that he was benevolent enough to give them protection against the swarm of large bats that had plagued their entry onto Ellora. Looking around at his companions, Devrim could tell they were all wounded and exhausted. They needed to rest — and if the Elloran native was going to offer to guide them to his village, Devrim certainly wasn't going to decline the hospitality.

"We can rest for a while at the village," the rebel suggested as he replaced the power pack of his R5R rifle with a fresh one, putting the slightly spent one into a pouch. "Hopefully Leah will recover there. But if not...I think she would want us to continue on up the mountain." Looking at the unconscious figure of their Jedi Master, he continued. "Perhaps this is another trial: for us to make the journey without her guidance." The four-armed native beckoned eagerly to them all once again, and so Devrim followed him out of the cave. Watching the sky suspiciously, it became clear that the creatures would not be harming them again. As the group crested the rocks and followed the treeline, a beautiful sight met their eyes.

The sun broke through the clouds of the storm and shone on the waters that washed onto the golden beach. The trees grew outward over the sands, casting shadows as they created a canopy from the sun. As the beach curved around, the group could see the huts and makeshift buildings that had been clearly hand-made by the natives. The Elloran stamped happily, seeing its home, and quickened its pace. Clearly it was excited to bring the newcomers to the village — being so far out on the fringe of the Galaxy, they likely never had any visitors that survived the storm. It seemed that the dangers of Ellora lay inland, which is why the natives built their home out here. For now, the rebels had a chance to relax and enjoy their surroundings before they continued their journey.

Fin​

@Shalken @Plebometer @Deviant @Fey Aadedai​