You know your friends, when the chips are down...

[Frannykins87]

"Hart better be alright.." Alisha thought to herself as she ducked more fire shots and shot another enforcer, this time killing him. But when Pippa's suit exploded,she ducked for cover and turned around just in time to hear Kylon scream and see her unconscious little friend fly out of her now destroyed suit, into Kylon's chest. Alisha had to shield herself with her arms as shrapnel flew everwhere. Some scratched her knee, to which she grunted slightly. As she covered herself, she heard the unmistakable noise of broken ribs, which made her cringe. When she lowered her arms, she saw Kylon struggling for air and got extremely concerned. She also heard Killa get blasted and get up with a roar, and her saber slice into enemies... She was about to move closer when the lights went out. Kyllan already reached Hart. She heard them struggle just before the power run out. It sounded like someone was using the wookie as a punching bag, but her head was turned towards Kylon so didn't see who it was before lights turned off.

Alisha had to take a moment to breathe. She didn't want panic to take over. Two of her friends were hurt. Hart..she had no idea how Hart was, which scared her even more. She knew Kyllan would be alright, he was fierce when he wanted to be. She heard Killa get up and saber down some enemies, she knew she was at least alright. She hesitated for a brief second. Kylon and Pippa, were they going to be ok? .But she remembers some of the Mandalorian training. She was never going to be as collected as he was, but she learned enough to not run around like a headless chicken.

After a deep breath, she looked up from her cover, checking for enemies. She saw a flash from Killa's blades, and the sound of an enforcer just dropping to the floor. She took the chance to sprint towards where Kyllon and Pippa were. She couldn't ignore her concern. The flash of the saber was enough to make her stop right in front of them, and kneel. She quickly put aside her weapon, placing it next to her knees, and checked on Pippa. She was at least breathing, which was a relief.

"Kaylon, you ok? Tell me you are..." Her voice was almost trembling as she tried to gently move Pippa away from his chest, in an attempt to make him breathe easier.

She heard some noises from the other room, Kyllan speaking, but didn't quite hear what he was saying. But knowing him, he'd probably chase after the fat bastard that got them all into this mess. "You go get him, babe..." She quietly thought to herself. No one was going to stop Kyllan, not even herself. And at this point, she wouldn't even want to.

 

[Killa Ree]

Savage joy was gone from the art; the sinking of blades, the easy, almost effortless slide of vibroblades sluicing flesh from bone left nothing inside. Kyllan's scream had given her a scant moment where she slipped; a moment where her eyes tempted to stray back, to assess and step back. But it was too late; if she faltered now, it would all be over. One last one, trapped behind the doorway; he was bleeding in the leg, his arm pinned by one of her blades; she remembered throwing it, but that was it. And here he was, trying to claw it free.

A simple slice ended the job, but she felt nothing but that hollow emptiness of before. Hart was retrieved, they were by all miracles survivors of this, but she felt nothing but relief. Wasn't it just fantastic?

She heard her name called. Her head snapped up, lekkus drifting away from her face as she registered the words. Suddenly, every wound screamed, every bone ached to near-breaking and she tasted iron in her mouth. Her head shook once, as she grimly paced to Kyllan. A murderous rage seethed behind those pale eyes, which would darken at the limp form of Hart.

This piece of filth that lolled on the ground made her visibly tremble with rage. How many did this trader sell off, with no conscious thought of a living soul? And yet... even though she had the capacity, even though she had the will and the means to end it, he wasn't her kill. He wasn't even close to hers. The whip she had was still uncoiled; she twitched it once, took a deep breath in, then turned away. She never would claim that bastard, but she would be right behind Captain Hart if he didn't, and finish the job herself. Speaking of...

She hurried back, retrieving the last of her blades, slipping it back in to its holster. There were still enemies to dispatch, and they had chosen the wrong crew to mess with.

 

[Kaylon Neroka]

SNAP

Eyes shot open and a rapid intake of air was followed by an abrupt howl of agony, as Neroka felt his ribs shifting in his chest of their own volition. The membrane of his lungs was being knitted together at an unnatural speed, and as his chest un-caved-in he felt every shock of pain through his system without the bliss of delirium, nor anasthetic.
He wasn't a physician, and only had the cursory skills to care for himself when he was on a job or in the wild, but no matter how miraculous a jedi's powers of healing were, he was certain he would rather bear the agony than receive such treatment again.

He lay there for a time, taking in gasping breaths as he tried to come to terms with the forces wrought upon him, remaking him and knitting what was broken back together. Arms laid out to either side of him, it became clear immediately that the weight upon his chest was gone, the seat that had carried Pippa into his chest was a few feet distant to the side of him. His head lulled to the side to look how she and the others were doing.
Tycho walked from standing over him, making his way to where... Was he? Yes. Hart seemed to be standing with them, taking uneven heaving breaths, yet despite it all his face was a mask of stone-cold emotionlessness.
Fingers pressed to his temple and jaw, Neroka watched as Tycho wielded what he assumed was the same force the jedi had used to force Neroka's chest to mend itself.
He had to focus on it, else the waves of pain was going to overwhelm him, and he needed something to take his attention during its prolonged and painful subsidence.
Small facial muscles seemed to twitch on Hart's face, but ultimately when the jedi was done his expression remained the same, his expression deadened to the world around him.
Was he just not happy to see them? Taking pity in their self-sacrifice? Or had something irrevocably broken in the Hapan he'd once sailed the void of space with?


Under his shaky touch he wasn't sure if the contours of his chest were sitting quite right, ribs he thought were broken seemed back in place as close to their original position as his natural healing abilities would have taken care of. It was ghastly and unnatural to think that someone with such gifts could play with his insides without anything to stop him, even out of pure kindness.

He didn't have words, trying to level his breathing and steadily relax his arms tightly clutching his violated and reknitted chest, he forced himself to kneel, and then to crawl. It was painful, but moments ago he didn't have any compulsion to move, where now it was just about tolerable.

Pippa was still unconscious for that moment, resting in her chair though her restraints had been prised open and she could be removed if need be without obstruction. It was lucky she was still taking shallow breaths in her state, given how Neroka had taken the collateral damage of her own explosion. Her fur or hair or whatever the Chadra-fan considered herself as having was singed, and before looking elsewhere, Neroka's attention had to turn elsewhere.
He didn't have the training to see to her wounds, and the best he could do was to stay near her in case her condition worsened.

"Pippa you'd better pull through" He growled. It wasn't even directed to her, just something to keep his mind wandering in dark places. He'd stayed by the side of his family as they breathed their last and the rancid touch of those experiences were best forced from mind and drowned out by the here and now.
He sat down, resting with a hand on the top of her seat. It'd been a year and twelve days since his wife and daughter came to mind as nightmares, and while the last thing he wanted was to expose himself to reminiscent experiences, he'd be damned if he was going to let his little friend lay there alone. So he held his tongue, and looked around without looking at her, in the hopes the rising bile in his throat would pass.

 

[Pippa]

Dlizz Arrone and Tippy sat in the Double Entendre almost entirely unaware of the battle that raged almost two clicks away and several hundred meters down. It was getting Dlizz fidgety and paranoid. She knew she had to watch the ship, while Arrone was reliable Tippy was prone to "Robotic eccentricity" if left alone and should something happen while they were out there, they'd need a sapient on hand to make decisions. She couldn't help but worry. She had no idea how long they would be or if they'd find him or if he'd even come back...she caught herself crying. Something she never did in front of others, hell droids didn't count, it's not like they'd really understand. Tippy was more like a pet than anything, Arrone felt like a nav com and a tool kit stapled together on legs. It probably didn't help that she didn't understand droid speak.

This was stupid. She hated being stuck like this. It wasn't about being alone, she'd been alone for years ever since... well maybe that's where these tears were coming from. A.C.E had become her family. Something she'd not expected, something she'd never really had before. She'd had crews and jobs and teams but they were temporary and sometimes tragic. Over the last five years she kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, form them to realise they didn't need her, abandon her or even turn on her. But it never came. And now here she was, feeling like a dead weight, a non-combatant, unable to help as this precious family of hers was on the verge of being torn apart and she didn't even know if it was going well or not. her head sank and she curled herself tight in her chair. Why did it feel this way. This tight painful knot in her stomach. Fear? it wasn't quite that, it was different somehow. Deeper, more primal. Frotz, she really needed to pull it together, hell they could be back any minute and what a sorry sight she'd be then.

Her lamentations were interrupted by an alarm sounding on the ship. After a moments panic Dlizz realised that it wasn't one of the usual alarms. It wasn't coming over the speakers and it didn't seem connected to any of the ship's functions. Frantically she dashed about trying to find where the sound was coming from before stumbling into the cargo bay. The sound was coming out from under a tarpaulin. The shape it covered was almost twice her size. She wrenched off the covering to reveal what looked like a massive droid of some kind. There was a flashing light on it's head and the nose was coming from somewhere in it's chest cavity. She found a switch and flicked it on. The machine unfolded and rose to it's full height, towering over Dlizz at almost 3 meters tall. Once fully erect it intoned at Dlizz in a melodic and soothing synthetic voice "This is Medical Unit One reporting Alarm Code Seventeen".
"Which is?" Dlizz asked exasperated.
"Medical Unit One is an adaptive emergency medical and relief droid capable of -"
"Yes, thank you," She cut the droid off aggressively, damn she hated droids sometimes, "What's alarm code 17 mean?"
"Alarm Code Seventeen indicates an abrupt loss of signal from Parent Control Device [DIVE WALKER] likely due to loss of function."
"Loss of function? Like it's not working properly?"
"Yes however Alarm Code Seventeen is an emergency Alarm. It is designed to trigger based off of a sudden loss of signal, malfunction would normally be precipitated by gradual degradation of signal strength and frequency, sudden loss is normally indicative of total power failure or catastrophic damage causing total device failure of Parent Control Device [DIVE WALKER]."
She went cold. She stared blankly up at the faceless Automoton. "What do I do?" she whispered weakly at it.
"I am uncertain of the nature of your query." It replied in it's artificial cadence but she couldn't hear it. If Pippa's walker was down...what happened to Pippa? What could have taken that clanking beast down? How were the others? What should she do?
"Excuse me," The Droid intoned for the fourth time.
"What?" Dlizz snapped surfacing from her panic.
"I m programmed to respond to medical emergencies, you appear to be exhibiting the symptoms of shock."
Dlizz stared at the droid, panic slowly giving way to anger, this thing needed some serious tweaking, she didn't care how long Alisha and pip had been working on it. "Frack it, Arrone?" she called over the comms. "We're going in, fire up the Double Entendre they might need some real firepower." As the ship's Engines hummed and it's systems came online she gritted her teeth, "And maybe medical attention," she whispered to her self.
"Preparing Emergency Triage Protocols." MU1 informed.
"Yeah you do that," she replied, doing what she could to keep back the tears.

 

[Sangga]

Hart got up to his feet. Stumbling forward, catching himself on Kyllan's outstreched arm. He then knelt down to look at the prone Jablogian, the most concerning was that he did not shout, roar... and his face wasn't moving, but his eyes... they burned with an anger that seemed to radiate out of them. "Now see here... friend..." His meaty fist grabbed under the goiter of the stumpy alien, hefting the weight up and dragging him to the ajar door. "... you have done the one thing that I cannot stand by..." the pair were alone in the dry aired room. "... you made me a slaver... you made my crew slavers..." he tossed the fat, red skinned gakker on his rump, a datapad falling out of his suit. Hart bent down and tossed it out of the door behind him.

"Come on now Hart... surely we can make a deal-"

"...No." Hart shook his head, the previous drenching of blood had stained his skin. His icey blue eyes contrasted so much in the dark room, surrounded by soiled skin. "I had to break a deal, you made a gak of a deal... against my principles... I might be a Smuggler... but... slaves?" He punched the Jablogian as he tried to stand up. "So, before my name can be further ruined by your evil. Your gakking evilness..." he turned around and heard a click.

"Is that so Hart, wait NOOOOO!" Hart dived into a roll and landed just outside, slamming the door shut and sealing it. Standing up, the shots spanking into the door, he swung off the porthole cover and peared in. He watch the Jablogian fall to his needs, then reach to his throat, with no air treatment he sufficated. Hart's face was still deadpan, not an ounce of emotion reflecting in the dark porthole back at him. He then closed it and turned. Walking slowly to the exit, leaving the crew to do as they must... he just had to get out of this evil darkness.

 

[StarWriter]

It took every ounce of restraint the Madolorian had to not drain the power cells of his sidearms into the slimy red skinned slug that pleaded for mercy to his fellow captain. Even after Hart dragged the vile wretch into the room, leaving the rest of the crew out in the corridor he gripped the handles of his blasters tightly. Knuckles pearl white beneath his gloves from the tension. Even as he stood at the edge of that door, he could hear Hart vent his rage at the Jablonian. The sentiment was echoed in his own mind. Though a lot of his own people made a living selling flesh across the galaxy it was perhaps the most dishonorable thing one could do and brought shame, in his mind to any Mandolorian who practiced it. Like Hart, Kyllan was proud to be a Smuggler, it was exciting, adventurous and while illicit there was a bit of nobility about it. Aside from the rare sought out pet, he rarely ever transported anything living. And never anything sentient unless they were seeking to get out of a place. And even then only once.

Even knowing that they had been duped and mislead into being slavers didn't help lessen the shame and sting of what they'd done. Like Hart, Kyllan despised himself for the part he played in Kat's enslavement and transport. Hell, she had been on his ship the entire time meters away from him. That thought caused him to look towards the Twi'lek, grateful for the t-shaped visor that concealed his face for if it weren't for that the self-admonishment would be clear in his expression. In Kyllan's mind, he would never be able to make amends for his part in her slavery no matter how many good deeds he did, or how often he looked after her. The Mandolorian had self imposed a penance on himself to keep her safe and forever free as long as he drew breath.

" wait NOOOOO!" Seeing Hart suddenly dive and roll out into the corridor with them as the door slammed shut Kyllan stood to peer through the porthole. Seeing the slug gasping for air that wasn't there and clawing at his own neck as if it would help gave Kyllan a semblance of closure. A dark grin curled his lips and he felt his grip on his weapons relax.

"Gakking bastard....you deserve worse." He cursed under his breath as he watched. Unlike Hart, Kyllan stayed to watch the final moments of the Jablogian if for no other reason than to make damn sure that the miserable slug was truly gone. Once he fell over into a heap and Kyllan no longer saw any movement he would have T3 cut a small hole into the door, which caused a rush of air to flow into it. It was large enough for him to put his arm through, which he did as he crouched then touched his other hand to the gauntlet. The high pitched roar filled the small hallway as he activated the flamethrower on his wrist and ignited the corpse of the Jablogian. Only a few second burst, but it would be enough to reduce that repugnant sack of putrescence to ash. A dark part of himself pitied that the slug wasn't still alive to feel that, but he shook his head and pushed that away as he went to rejoin the others. The moment he saw the aftermath of their confrontation and the damage done to his family he rushed to their sides. Seeing the Chadra-fan was already in Neroka's care, he saw Tycho laying unconscious on the floor beside them and quickly scooped him up and over his shoulder.

"Dlizz! Come in. We need you here now. We've got wounded...Pip...she...just get here on the double!..Please...." Even the rigorous Mandolorian upbringing could not totally keep emotions at bay when it came to ones family being harmed. T3 zoomed on ahead towards the way they came into this underground nightmare and Kyllan would stop in the doorway. "Kat, Ali can you make it back to the surface? Kaylon, you've got Pip?" He asked concerned. "Let's get the gakk out of here."

He would wait to make sure Neroka and the others to leave the battle scarred room before securing the Jedi on his shoulder and rushing off down the corridor to the escape hatch. He'd shift Tycho's limp form to cradle him in his arms so he could use his jetpack to ascend rapidly to the surface. They were instantly blasted by sand as the wind kicked up and he stood atop the entrance staring with relief as he saw the large shape of his beloved ship speeding their way in the distance. After five years, they had done it. It was finally over.

 

[Frannykins87]

Alisha's head was spinning from all that was happening. She was desperately trying to not panic, as a few tears were running down her cheek. She watched as Kyllan somewhat came to, and she breathed a sigh of relieve when he seemed to revive, even if he seemed in a lot of pain. She guess that was the Jedi's work, but she didn't question it. All that mattered that he was alive.

"Holy s***, Kaylon you scared the crap out of me..." Her voice was shaky and her hands were trembling, but now that Kylon was ok, Alisha approached Pippa. The fact that she was still breathing on her own was a very good sign.

"Pippa you'd better pull through" She heard Kaylon say.

She nodded in agreement as she started to untangle her small friend from the armour, carefully as to not injure her further. She heard noises coming from the other room, and from the shot that came out of it, she reckoned that slag had been dealt with, like she knew they would. When Kyllan came in through the doorway, Alisha had never been happier to see him. He was alright too, thank the force. She wiped her face quickly and gave him a serious nod in answer to his question, although speaking would have to wait a while, as her throat was sore and she was still rather shaken. It didn't help that Kyllan was carrying the Jedi...She blinked.

"Is..Tycho alright?" She asked meekly, while untangling Pippa completely and lifting her up. Kyllan's training paid off as it improved her strenght, and Pippa was very light so she had little issues. She was unsteady at first but she was determined to carry her friend to safety.

"Kaylon, can you stand?" She looks around as she asked, to check that everyone was mostly ok and ready to leave. She was very very eager to get out of there and just faint on her bed.

 

[Killa Ree]

She was shaking, visibly trembling with the relief of it all. She knew Kyllan had glanced at her through his visor when Hart had dove out to let the slug breathe his last. She felt empty, cold, and yet scorched, her cheek tender where blaster fire had burned it, and in her side too. Her shoulder screamed as dark blood seeped from her left shoulder, her thigh, even her arm... she limped over to Kaylon, seeing his ashen expression in what meager light there was. She refused to look back at the smoldering mass of the greasy former smuggler, refused to even let his death take up a single moment of her time, but she knelt down to Neroka, pale blue eyes soft as she held out her hand.

"Come on, Kay. Let's get the gak out of here, in case he..." she spoke softly suddenly, her eyes pensive. "Had more friends. Think you can walk?" She had no idea how badly he was wounded, aside from his chest. Pain swirled in red eddies in and out of her focus, but she would refuse to walk alone. She glanced up to Ali briefly, then gave a grim smile, the compliment biting against the searing pain in her shoulder and chest with each inhalation. "Hey, Ali. Good work back there, I owe you all a few rounds when we get back to Arkanis."

Once they were all back on their feet or carried, she would start limping herself, if Kay needed her help she would let him lean a bit against her, biting back hisses of pain that threatened to spill out. The moment they would reach the surface, she cringed against the bright light and scathing sand, the heat a welcome balm against the iciness of the underground. For a moment, she simply stared off, too woozy to even note the ship until it was zooming close, the whine of its' engines bringing out a sigh from her.

"It's over.... finally."

 

[Kaylon Neroka]

"Kaylon, can you stand?"
Breathing was key, even as he thought on how his lungs had only just started to work again after his ribs had punctured them, if he stopped focusing on his breathing he couldn't guarantee the bile would keep to his throat. He hated the memories of loved ones on the ground, covered in their own blood. Pippa's own unconscious form, marked by the damage of shrapnel from her suit's destroyed mechanisms, the wounds for the most part were healed at Tycho's hands, but gave the illusion she was still gravely injured.
"Kaylon, you've got Pip?"
He nodded slowly, trying his damnedest to steady his breathing still. Steadily moving to scoop up the little Chadra fan, one arm cradling most of her body, the other cradling her neck like a new-born.
Oh the memories, he didn't need this now. The major differences in species helped to break the illusion, but it didn't make it any better that this was an entirely different member of his family. He wasn't sure if that made it better or worse, but at least for the moment the Chadra Fan's chances of survival were looking good. He didn't feel the same despair as he did when he was cradling his little girl, drawn up from the pool of her own blood beside his beautiful wife's motionless corpse.
"Come on, Kay. Let's get the gak out of here, in case he...had more friends. Think you can walk?"
Drawing to a stand, he kept his eyes straight, fighting the lump in his throat and realising that the lower regions of his visions were blurry with his watering eyes. They hadn't spilt into tears and no doubt he'd want to keep it that way, but he knew full well that level of bodily control was beyond him if the did. The pain still hurt in his chest, but it was nothing more than a dull throb of what it once was, his nerves still feeling the shock of being torn and re-knitted together was an understandable pain, and with the working of the muscles in his chest and abdomen in carrying Pippa, it wasn't to be unexpected.
He took a few steps, trying to not look down at Pippa, though failing to entirely avert his gaze.
"Can...someone...please take her" He forced the words out, as calmly as he could. Letting someone, anyone, relieve him of carrying her so that he could breath and take a moment.

With his hands free, he turned from the others, looking at the wall beside him, sniffed, and took some slow breaths. He'd thought he'd had it, pushing down those times to the deepest recesses of his memory. But the smell of explosives, the ionized tang of laserfire in the air and the smell of blood. The sensation of holding someone, Pippa, a small Chadra Fan girl, lying there bloodied and marred by the fight. They were all too powerful reminders.

 

[Pippa]

"Dlizz! Come in. We need you here now. We've got wounded...Pip...she...just get here on the double!..Please...." The comms blared on the Double Entendre. "DRUK!" yelled Dlizz, surprised by the sudden chatter as the ship swung closer to the base. She fumbled with the unit for a moment before opening a channel back. "I can hear you Kyllan, we're just over head now, I'll get Arrone to set down and ready for lift if we need it." Damn it, she knew something was up. What had happened to Pip? What had happened to the others? Dlizz hoped beyond hope that they'd all be okay. The second the ship touched down Dlizz hammered open the loading ramp and rushed out. Spotting the hole in the floor she dashed back into the ship to grab a light pack and some ascension cables. She hooked the pack up to the end of one of the cables and tossed them down the hole, clipping the other end of the cables to the Entendre's loading winch, she made sure they'd be ready to hop up at a moment's notice. "Hey Tippy come here." she called out to the pit droid, as the small thing bounced and scuttled haphazardly towards her she hesitated in giving it any orders. Gritting her teeth she decided it was necessary. "Stand by this winch." she pointed at the cabled mechanical reel "When I say, activate it, can you do that?" the small droid waggled its head in a furious nod and Dlizz supposed that would have to do. She left the droid to stand very seriously next to winch and drew her blaster pistol. She hooked a third cable to the medical droid and a fourth to her own belt harness. "Come on you big dumb clanker, we're going down this hole and were going to save my friends." "Confirmed." replied MU1. "Well here we go." she whispered as she plunged into the hole, nothing but the tiny speck of the light pack to light her decent. As she descended she called over the comms again "Descending the chute now, Med droid in tow and ascension cables primed, meet me at the bottom when you guys are ready to go".