Enemy Mine

[Ayda Elisantra]

Dagobah. Outer Rim 7H-22V

Galactic Alliance search and rescue transport. 2 pilots, 6 troop, 1 medic, 1 doctor.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


The small Alliance transport dropped out of hyperspace near the system Dagobah, currently a hot zone.
A battle had been raging in the system between the Galactic Alliance, it's allies and the First Order. This mission among others had been to search and rescue downed transports and fighter pilots.
Ayda, a new volunteer to a high risk rescue mission had just left Utapau, the Alliance base near the sector. Her first time out in the forefront of a battle zone.

...alright, we're going in hot..everyone keep your harnesses tight, it's going to rock out here!...so the squad leader shouted as the transport broke normal space in the system.

What had previously been a smooth 8 hour jump, now suddenly pushed the boundaries of g-forces that the ship's compensators were hard at trying to stabilize.
The craft had appeared in a hot zone and immediately had been targeted and fired upon. It was a First Order SD, along with support crafts that were now closing in on the slower transport. But the pilots were veterans and apparently well versed in maneuvers as they got out of the immediate line of fire from the ISD guns and at the same time trying to ward off the closing Ties. This caused the transport to rock this way and that due to the extreme maneuvers. It wasn't built to be a star-fighter and it showed in it's lack of quick g-force compensators.

But they were soon close enough to the planet to vector an approach angle so as not to hit the upper atmosphere like a blunt object and burn up before they got down to cloud level.

Hang on... we've got Ties coming up on our tail...so were their immediate situations and actions relayed by the pilots.
Ayda could feel the craft jerking this way and that, avoiding getting locked on by the perusing fighters.

.... hitting ionosphere in ...3...2...1...

The sudden shudder of the craft travelling at such an extreme velocity in its entry into Dagobah's upper atmosphere was like it was hitting an asteroid belt. The craft seemed to be pounding its way down through the atmosphere. The port window across from where Ayda was sitting seemed to light up with plasma. The craft had hit it's entry angle faster than it should have, but what choice did the pilots have? It was either push the craft or get shot down by the pursuing Ties. It were difficult to say if avoiding fire from the Ties or hitting the atmosphere at this velocity would have made any difference. But following a harrowing minute of uncertainty, the plasma flares outside the port window decreased....and along with it, so did the shaking and rumble of the craft.

Following their emergence from hyperspace, they had entered Dagoba's system in the darkness of space, to then be enveloped by plasma, to suddenly come upon the light of day when they hit the planet's cloud layer which diffused the system's starlight. But it were nothing more than a whiteout, as the cloud cover near the planet's surface was always thick and overcast...and full of moisture.

...instruments off line... going in blind...

The up to the minute report from the pilots weren't at all comforting from the moment they had dropped out of hyperspace. But then again, they were in a war zone.
Ayda could do nothing but ride it all out. She had calculated the risks and although they weren't in the mission's favor, she could not avoid her calling. This conflict was where death had sovereignty .Ayda had something else in mind...and that were to challenge death's dominion.

... hell be damned, we've escaped the devil's minions but can't frak'n see anything through this shiet!..

The clouds were supercharged with static and lightning was being discharged as they speed blidly through the clouds. It was difficult for Ayda to tell how high they were flying...or how low. The faces of the troops..the three soldiers across from her were varied, from one expecting to crash at any given second to one enjoying the drop like it were an amusement ride.
Ayda were just observing. It were rare that she too would be in the same gamble as these soldiers. It were never this close to meeting death before...not for her in this manner. She had always faced the fears of those who did...

The transport was for the most part flying blind until it came down just above what it's sensors could determine were the vegetation..the swamp.

...can't really be sure of anything....we're going to just have to put it down...

There...up ahead.... 7 kilometers....look like an opening....

What say boys?.....good a spot as any.

The squad leader gave the thumbs up to the pilots... close enough to the last transponder signals we got.You fly-boys done us great.

Yea, yea....thank us with a few rounds when we get back...lets hope we have some solid ground we can plop this tin can down on..

The craft had slowed down to an almost a hover as it dropped down. The tree tops had come into view on the port window and Ayda could see them growing as the ship descended.

... frakin muck....damn frakin muck...
We can put down alright...but it's a mess out there. It's all muck boys...hope you all listened to your mothers and wore your rubbers...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


Hey...you Ok, doc?

"Yea...I'm Ok, lieutenant....you?" Ayda answered the pilot.
It was the same man she had met on Utapau that had asked her to come. Same man who had set up a private shower in the barracks for her. His name, after she took on the mission, was Lieutenant Stark. They hadn't had any time to speak, say for normal banter that went on with the crew during the jump. They had after all 7 hours to kill. But other than mission briefing on the way and last known locations of downed pilots and crafts, there wasn't anything personal to talk about in a transport with troop.
The craft could carry and was equipped to carry 24 troops. Only 6 along with 2 pilots came on this mission. The empty seats...or benches were for the survivors...if they found any. And Ayda was here to give the survivors better odds of getting back to the base on Utapau alive.

Alright...best you remain here with my co-pilot, while me and the squad leader split our group into two and-

"Stop right there." Ayda interjected.
"I'm not staying put in this cozy tin can, Lieutenant. Now this crew has a medic and he was going with one of the split teams..no?" She asked.

That was true, the original medic was indeed going with one of the teams. So was the mission plan before she agreed to come.

"Then I'm going with the other team, whichever one is that. This way, both teams have a medical person along with them to administer first aid..." So she made a valid point.

The man looked at her and gritted his teeth.
Fine, you go with Corporal Sage's team. But keep close to them at all times. This swamp is littered with not just our downed men and that of the enemy, but creatures here still not fully documented. This entire planet's a swamp-

"Thank you lieutenant.... I read the reports on Dagobah...mostly your reports.." And with that she swung her med pack and gear over her shoulders and got up in line with the corporal's team, as the lieutenant had already the medic on his.

Stay close to them...hear, doc?

"Got it.... just watch yourself out there too."

The doors opened and the two teams came out, the troopers had their weapons drawn eyeing their surroundings.
Ayda's group were heading East, while the other, North...

 

[Skye Achlys]

Aboard Hawk, a modified First Order troop transport, transporting two reconnaissance teams labeled Valkyrie and Hurricane. Both teams are sitting in different sections of the transport.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


"Alright men, how about you all stop fantasizing about women; we're approaching our target", Valkyrie's squad leader said when he walked into their crew area of the ship. He was half laughing and half serious when he shot Skye a look. "Or men, don't know what you like?" He gave her an exaggerated wink.

"Fuck off", the dark-haired woman replied with a chuckle. "First do your job, then see if you have time left to joke around."

"Fair enough", the man replied while he strapped himself in his seat. "Alright gentlemen- and lady- we are called here today to fulfill our duty. We are here to do right by our cause-"

"Skip the nonsense", one of the three men sitting with Skye replied. Ah, this was the reason why Skye was so relieved she was assigned to this particular squad, the men here appeared to know each other pretty well so that they could and dared to just speak out loud and joke around. If there was one thing Skye knew it was that if you told a random First Order officer to 'skip the nonsense' during a briefing you would be assigned to janitorial duties for the next few months.
"Alright long story short, oh by the way we all already know about our invasion that's going on at Dagobah, so I'm skipping that part, but yeah long story short; One of our cruisers has picked up multiple distress calls from the planet. There's no message attached, no comm links or anything, it just repeats 'F.O.S.O.S.'."
"Fosos?", one of the three troops, nicknamed Spark, asked.
The squad leader gave him an unbelieving look. "Really? Fosos? How about 'First Order-S.O.S.'?"
"Oh, right. But how do we know whe-"
"That brings me to the catch to all of this," the squad leader interrupted, "we've been dispatched as a reconnaissance team to the third signal our cruiser picked up on this side. Other vessel and teams, just like us, are already on their way to their assigned signals. Our friends in Hurricane, who are sitting in the 2nd crew area, will be dispatched to look into the 4th signal, not too far from ours."
"With the catch being...?"
"Oh, right. The catch is that we cannot be certain about the origin of the message. What does it mean? Is it a S.O.S. directed to the First Order? Or is it a S.O.S. to the Alliance, warning them about First Order troops? We don't know."

The third trooper, who had been silent up until know, scoffed. "Great, so we've got no clue then do we? Might as well be walking into a gorramn trap."

"True. But that's why we're here as a reconnaissance team. We scout around the area. That'll be objective one. Once we have located the origin of the signal we'll come to objective two. Now objective two has two different scenarios. How fitting. Scenario A: we find men of our own, we'll provide them with aid and transport them back to safety.
Then there's scenario B: we don't find our own troops, but opposing forces. If that's the case we are to eliminate all Tangos."

Then the ship's comms made a loud beep. "Alright, Valkyrie, Hurricane, we will be exiting hyperspace within approximately 60 seconds. Please prepare yourselves properly. We will be going through space which is mostly under First Order control by now and should therefore not experience any interference until we are in the planet's atmosphere. We cannot say much about how it will be inside the planet's atmosphere because the clouds and the fog screw around with our scanners. So be ready for anything, just in case."

Skye felt a slight force as the vessel exited hyperspace, but nothing major.
The squad leader shook his head and cleared his throat before speaking again. "Alright. Obviously, I will be leading our little band today. None of our roles have changed but I will state them nonetheless, so that our newcomer, Ms Air over there, can get familiar with her newfound superiors. 'Bones', you're the medic. Try to keep us alive, huh? 'Spark', demolition, might we ever find a monstrosity out there, keep us safe. By blowing it to bits. 'Wave', radio and communication, we know interference down there is bad, but we still need you to try to contact anyone that might be near us or that signal."

The ship started to slightly shake the moment they entered the atmosphere of Dagobah, but it all went surprisingly well. The squad leader, simply nicknamed 'captain', seemed to be done with his presentation, but he quickly noticed that all the men were geared up- so was Skye, but where the men were also equipped with firearms, Skye was not. Captain took a rifle out of the locker next to him and handed it over to Skye. "Careful, it's a full auto. Just in case we aren't going to find what we hope out there."
Skye nodded as a response and then tried to mentally prepare herself for what might come.

Then the beep sounded again. "This is your pilot speaking once more, we think we have found a suitable spot to land in the distance, my guess is it would be no less than three kilometers away from your objective. ETA for the LZ is 20 minutes. So far all is looking cle-"

The pilot was interrupted by a loud bang which made the ship shake horribly followed by what sounded like the screeching of metal. If it wasn't for the fact that Skye was strapped in she'd have been launched against the roof.

"Wh-what?", the pilot's voice could still be heard over the comms. "We've been... hit...we've...we've lost the B section."
"What? What do you mean?", the voice of the other pilot was barely audible over the comms.
"I mean that we've lost our right part of the ship- Hurricane is gone! I...I can't fix this!", the pilot exclaimed while it started to feel like the ship was spinning around- and falling, fast. "Mayday, mayday, mayday. Hawk's been hit, losing altitude. Sending coordinates n-"

That, mixed with the cursing of her crew was the last thing Skye heard before the smack rendered her unconscious. They had crash-landed on Dagobah.
In the swamp.

 

[Ayda Elisantra]

Hanson, right flank...
Dereck, rear.
You, doc....stay close.... I want you right on my tail.

"Got it....uhhg...." Ayda found her footing a bit more spongy than she had anticipated. Her very few steps wound up treading in muck, nearly knee deep, especially for someone her size.
The corporal had been eyeing her and stood his ground for her to catch up.

Follow my footsteps... step on the roots if you don't see solid ground.... this swamp will eat you right up, doc.
Personally, I'd feel a whole lot better if you remained with the transport.

"I'll be fine, thank you....just now getting my footing, Corporal." She replied, looking him in the eye.
Ok, so she got her first taste of the swamp. But now she knew. At least this part...the footing.
"Can we get on?...I'm not sure how much light is afforded us..."

Alright..lets move! Eyes sharp....you all know the drill... Corporal Sage, without another word to her turned and hand gestured forward.

Ayda had never been in such an environment. She was experiencing many things here for the first time. One was the antiquity of the place...it's living and lost life forms about. There was much decay over decay that life struggled to take its hold on to continue. She could smell the decay of Millennia at every step. The air was thick with it.
The swamp here was old...older than the living here cared to know.

Doc...got a question...

"What's a girl like me doing in a place like this?" She broke off her wandering senses to entertain the corporal.

Yea..haha...what is a girl like you...no offense, but what brought you here? I mean, to the front...the wretched war. Not like there's a shortage of patients coming in at home base. Why the front line?...if you don't mind a little conversation..

"Slumming...." She replied, making better track now that she got the hang of where to step on.

"You know...got tired of hospital food. Personally don't recommend it as a main stay...
Kind of wanted to try MRE's...military rations. Heard they are quite good, corporal.." She could be as sarcastic as any. And she already had the corporal's number. men like him carried it about them...like an aura.

"...and don't get me started on those cushy dorm rooms. They're nothing less than studio apartments...air conditioned..heated...air filtration...holo vids. Gah!
Who wants all that when they could come here and take in the vistas...hmm, or lack of.
Still, very neat swamp..."

Har-har...yea...Ok doc, cute...just keep that trap of yours from yapping too much....don't know if there's any enemy around listening.

"Got it...trap shut... only you should watch-"
But too late, the corporal missteped and waist deep he went in the muck.

One of the troop, Hansen, stepped over before Ayda could reach over to the corporal and put his hand on her shoulder.
I got it doc... he said, as Ayda took the cue to move aside.

The cussing and hammering from the corporal was more of embarrassment than of trying to break his vacuum underfoot. But Hanson braced his self and was making some progress pulling Sage up, when Derek got into the action and together they managed to break him free and out.
Ayda went over to him and started to check him out, when he got irritated and told her he wasn't hurt.

"No, I didn't think so, either...but maybe you should remove what parasites may have attached themselves to you."

Shiet!....
sure enough, a quick going over his waistline and arms revealed about three leeches.
They were removed easy enough and Ayda administered some first aid ointment to the bitten areas.

"Here... I've packed some antihistamines..." She dug into her pack and produces a few packets, distributing them to the men.
"They should help with incest bites and plant spores irritants. my guess is some poison plant oils..the vines..." She eyed some of what she was referring to.

Hahaha...our first casualty saved by the doc... hip-hip-
But that joke was quickly squelched by the corporal.

Everyone back in detail!
Lets keep this moving....eyes open...everyone!

There was a snicker from the rear...Derek
Ayda just inwardly smiled, without changing any facial expression.

Hear that?...Sage suddenly stopped, putting up his fist for everyone to halt.
Ayda could hear the distant whining of engines whizzing high past above them and fading out to silence, as the jungle swamp devoured sound as readily as it did life without warning. They didn't hear the crash, nor of any wildlife being stirred about, meaning it was at a distant from them, whatever had gone down. How far, that too remained a mystery.

Sounded it went over in our direction...East...Hanson noted.

Don't reckon it was our transport, Derek?...
Don't rightly know, corporal. I didn't get a signal....

Forward then...eyes sharp...

 

[Skye Achlys]

The crackling of fires here and there plus the already clouded air mixed with the heavy smoke were the factors that eventually woke Skye up, coughing. She slowly came back to her senses when everything started to hurt. Luckily, she was lying on somewhat solid ground- even though the top layer was muck nonetheless. Still coughing, she turned around so she lied on her other side. Yet when she had turned around her heart froze; one of the two pilot lied beside her with his eyes wide open.

And it looked like they had been open like that for a while.
Dead.

In panic Skye quickly and clumsily crawled away from the body through the mud, which only made the excruciating headache she had so much worse.
Her thoughts became clouded with the worst of fears and ideas. She was almost hyperventilating when she was slightly relieved by the sound of someone coughing.
It was Bones.
"Oh my Force", she half spoke half exhaled. "Bones!"
She hurried towards the medic, tripping twice in the process. "Bones! Are you okay?", she asked, speaking ridiculously fast.
"Yes..yes, I'm fine", he replied slowly while he sat up straight, grunting while doing so. He proceed to do what seemed like a self examination or something, Skye didn't really know what it was.
"We really need to look for the others", Skye pressured. The doc took a moment to finish what he was doing before he looked up at her, "Here, come a bit closer so I can have a look at you", he said calmly.
"No, we need to find the others fi-"
"You're no use to them dead", he spoke with a strict and commanding tone, indicating this wasn't up for discussion. Skye sighed as she complied with the doc and let him do his examinations.
After a short period of looking and checking the doc broke the silence, for as far as you could call it that; the noises in the background consisted of fires rattling, the ordinary sounds of the swamp and the occasional screeching of metal from the wreck. "You're as lucky as I am. Seem to have broken nothing. I'm not saying you should feel good, or even decent, but you'll live. For now"
"Thanks," Skye replied impatiently, "now lets check on the others."
The doc nodded as they both stood up and slowly examined their surroundings. They were standing in an somewhat open area with a radius of approximately 50 meters. The ground seemed to be mainly mud.
Not too far from where Skye had awakened laid the crew compartment, now nothing more than a metal rectangular construction without a roof. They must've all somehow been slung out of the compartment before they landed here.. maybe they'd hit the trees first?

But that wasn't all. In the middle of the open space stood a large chuck of the ship with which they had crash-landed. On closer inspection, it wasn't such a big part of the ship which appeared to be in the middle of the area after all. How was that possible? Such a massive ship and only a tiny bit of it plus one crew hold landed at the same spot she and Bones had? Impossible.
Skye slowly stepped towards the part of the ship when Bones yelled her name.
"Skye. Stop moving." He hurried towards her and then pulled her back, away from the ship. "You see the muck over there?" He threw a stone at it. "It is thinner, much more water. Now do you see the edges of the top of the ship? Bend, broken and destroyed. Now see the metal where the ship goes underwater? No signs of bending, major damage or tearing at all. I don't think this is just a small piece..."
"Then how deep...?"
"Too deep for us to go near it"

The two scouted the area as best as they could, yet it still took them 20 minutes before Bones finally yelled to Skye. "I've got two over here! It's..it's the Captain and Spark! They're...they are alive. Oh thank the..", he was interrupted by Spark suddenly coughing in the doc's face.
When Skye had made her way to the three men Bones had already awakened both of them and given them the same inspection Skye had had. Unfortunately Spark seemed to have broken his left leg.
"Good to see you're still with us", Captain told Skye when she sat down with them. "Glad to see you're all safe too"

After a little chat to overcome what had happened and get their heads together, they picked up their search again, only this time they were four man strong, or more accurately, two men, one woman, and one man laying on the ground with a broken leg. They still missed the older grumpy man, Wave.
They searched another half hour, finding nothing else than some weapons, and it wasn't until they had all searched every part thrice that the captain stood at the edge of part where the muck started to turn into water. "Think about it", he started to get everyone's attention. When everyone had gathered behind him he continued. "He's clearly not here. So either that son of a b has left already without checking on us, or...,"he paused for a bit", or he's down there."

The group stood there for a few minutes, each person deep in their own thoughts who were undoubtedly with Wave and paying respect in their own way, before Captain broke the semi-silence again, "Unless we want to end up like him, we need to go. We still have a mission to complete."
Spark looked towards the Captain. "Mission to complete? And how do you reckon we do that then eh? We have no clue where the hell we are! No communication no nothing! We're...," he only realized it now," we're as good as dead! We don't stand a chance! I don't stand a chance!", his voice became higher and higher as Spark become more stressed and scared.

Captain turned around. "I recall another squad being assigned to beacons one and two. They are....far away. Very far away, but they are our only option."
"Which way?", Bones asked.
"West", Captain replied.
"Now hold on, how am I supposed to walk so far? My bloody leg is broken! Can...can you guys carry me?"
He knew that wasn't going to be an option, not through a swamp like Dagobah. Captain slowly walked towards Spark, sitting down besides him. "Hey", he gently spoke. "It's okay, we're not leaving anyone behind alive", he said as he gave the man a reassuring smile.

And then he shot him.
It was a quick death, Spark couldn't have felt anything and he couldn't have seen it coming either.

Skye jumped because of the sudden single shot that could be heard and could barely believe what just happened. She wanted to immediately ask the Captain for an explanation, but Bones gave her a stern look and shook his head 'no'.
Luckily for her, Skye managed to say nothing while Captain marched past both her and Bones, saying nothing except, "West. Follow me."

Still shocked, Skye mindlessly followed Bones and Captain through the swamp. What fresh hell had she got into?

 

[Ayda Elisantra]

Sage who had been leading came to a stop with fist raised, before he crouched down.
Ayda felt Hanson's hand on her shoulder to do same, and she followed suit. Turning to the man, she came upon an index to his lips, indicating for her to be quiet.
Gesturing for her to remain still where she was, he made past her and closed in on Sage.

The corporal then gave Derek the go ahead and flank their line of sight. Neither of the two men moved until the other was out of sight and given enough time to get around to some predetermined position.
Corporal Sage then gave one last look over to Ayda and again he too motioned her to stay put.
The two men then split up and continued to move forward. Some had been spotted up ahead and the team were working their tactic to get to it and find out if it were friend or foe...Ayda wasn't certain, but the smell..the stench of death finally permeated to her olfactories.

"Gasp...." Ayda slung lower to the ground..or more entwining herself in the heavy roots. The stench slowly made itself more present, as before it had been masked with all the other decay. It were strange she had not picked it up. Not before Sage had seen something up ahead in the same direction that seemed to be emanating it.
Her urge to slither closer to the source was impeded by her compliance to stay put as ordered. Ayda wasn't going to divulge their presence if something up ahead were waiting for them.

Pst...doc... Derek's voice called her from the distance.

Her head popped up and she spotted the other two up in the distance...or at least their silhouettes, as the lighting was very dim, with a light ground mist underfoot.
The closer she got the more pronounced the stench. It were a resent downed craft. The make of it was still uncertain or it's origin. But one thing was certain, what remained of the bodies were extremely decayed and the foul stench indicated perhaps it were a week...maybe just a few days old. A femur here..a skull there... all with still some flesh rotting still as the swamp underlife were gnawing and crawling over them. Ayda had never smelled such death like this...she were after all an intern.
her inner spirit despaired as the souls of those who had been housed in the temples of the flesh had gone perhaps without guidance. It would take some lost souls millennia to find their true light. It were sad.

Doc...come here... Her attention again were drawn to the living.
What do you make of this? It were the corporal looking over what appeared to be some sort of pattern...the remains were strewn about, not in piles or in any anatomical order to indicate the men had died or had been thrown out of the craft and then succumbed to death.
The remains indicated that they had been feasted on, dead or alive...
Weapons...small arms, repeater rifles were spotted here...there. Cartridges indicated a firefight of some kind. There had been survivors upon the initial crash...then some sort of firefight...then their bodies feasted upon.
What remained were now being consumed by smaller creatures...so was the cycle of the swamp.

Ayda just shook her head and turned away. She didn't have to say it, the evidence was quite clear. These men had fought for their lives and lost.

Damn bastards...kind of feel for them...First Order and all. She heard Derek say. To Ayda, she hadn't looked to see what orientation they could have been. They were taken and their spirits were wandering about like the mist, was all she cared.

Nothing...no weapons...no cartridges suggesting they had encountered Allience. Poor devils were up against something....
Shiet, whatever it was or were, its still out there.
The men looked about bringing their weapons up in a more ready position.
Ayda too looked around. But not for the creature, for lost souls. They were out there..wandering...lost...maybe not even knowing they were to cross over to the other realm. So it were sometimes under death in such duress. The souls would run, or think they were running from whatever had come over to destroy their temple.
Ayda despaired, knowing she could not readily outstretch her spirit to call upon them...if they were near. But there was so much other death of lower lifeforms all around, masking, blocking her immediate effort in the present state she were in to reach out to them.

Doc?!...Whoowho...you OK?... you look like you're drifting out there, doc. Don't go getting lost where you stand now... Sage jarred her to the present.

"I'm good...just taking a moment..." She replied. "No one has to die like this.."

Yea, she's right.... better they get shot by us....lol It was Hanson.

Alright you, cut the crap! Get more recordings and lets move out. Keep them twitchy fingers under control...you two in the back...hear?! The corporal (Sage)called out.
You doc...on my ass....


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


And so they laboriously treked in the general direction of East, slowly and surely getting more and more spent trying to navigate through the lower swamp. Their progress getting slower and slower as there wasn't much of solid ground in this portion they were going through. It was getting more and more watery and the roots they were using as footings were getting more distant apart.

Son-of-a-queen...
Son of-.
..Gah...damn it." Sage had run out of ground.
Shoot!...Damn this place to hell... he stood gazing at the distant bank.
it's higher ground over there...damn it...didn't want to tread through swamp water...damn it! He was cussing as they had one other option and that was to go back or go ahead and cross.

Everyone had by then gathered around the last swamp tree where the corporal was, looking at the water to cross. It was as still as mud, only it were water as pitch as night itself. well, one thing was good...nothing seemed to be stirring the surface of it. Not until Sage tossed a sort of line halfway to the bank. he then seemed to be reading something on his wrist.
"Yep...as deep as we don't want it to be....
Oh yea...why make it easy. Nope....

The other two were moaning just as good if not better than their corporal. Well, actually better as they certainly didn't want to cross and Derek even was calling it a failed mission and to go back to the transport...somewhere behind them.

You all knew what you were signing up for. We've got men out there...God, I hope they're alive. i need to bring somebody back to have made all this worth it...damn it. Sage said as he checked over his pack making sure all it's compartments were secure.
Ayda and the others followed suit, without a peep from her.
Sage looked over her and asked....You swim?

"Yea...I can swim.... you want me to carry you?" She replied, with a serious expression.

Sage got a belly full of laughter, breaking the ominous and dreaded inevitable crossing.
Doc...we make it out of this and I'll let you buy me a good lager.
Two if I have a mind to it....Haha

"Sure...two lagers." She nodded, securing her pack in front of her. She knew enough that her sealed pack would float and it could double as a flotation in their crossing.

Yo!...how about me? Derek chimed in.
Oh, no, no, no....you get in back of the line daug. I'm behind the corporal on the beer. Hanson retorted.

Ayda just chuckled.
"Sure, my entire week's allowance on beers..." She then said, slinking into the still of the water. The small ripple slowly made its way to the other side as it dissipated.
I'll be damned... would you look at that...
The other's did the same, surprised she had been the first to get into the water.

Ayda now seemed to lead the group to the other side, being the first one in. She was half way in as then suddenly a large swell rose the waters up and one of the men behind her screamed more of terror than pain. Ayda turned her head to see the horror that were one of the men, Hanson in the jaws of a large swamp creature that trashed him about for a few before seemingly swallowing him in near two severed pieces...one gulp following another before it dove under the blood stained surface.

 

[Skye Achlys]

It had become a silent and morbid trek. Captain led the way, followed by Bones who then was followed by Skye. No-one spoke, all of them deep in their own thoughts. Where Skye'd thoughts were trying to make sense of the situation she was in, to make sense of the early and perhaps unnecessary losses, it seemed Captain's thoughts were solely mission related.
"Up ahead", Captain finally whispered, barely breaking the silence. He held his fist up, commanding the rest to stop beside him. Not too far up ahead sat an unknown creature. Four legs, long tail and what seemed to be rather big teeth. The creature itself was no more than half a meter high and just about 2 meters long.
"Lets go around, over there. Seems like the best way to go anyway", Bones said while pointing in the direction of his preferred way. Skye gaze flickered over to the suggested path. It seemed to be the high ground (har-har ). That path definitely seemed inviting; it looked dry, easily traversable and just good in general. Besides, that way they could avoid that thing, whatever it was. That way they would avoid it- and whatever more creatures were close to it.
Captain briefly looked in the direction Bones was pointing and shook his head. "We keep going in a straight line. Don't want to lose our heading, because if we do we're screwed."
With that he suddenly raised his weapon, aiming it at the creature.
"Don't- ", Bones managed to blurt out before Captain released a valley of shots towards the creature. It let out a high pitched scream when it got hit and quickly darted away to safety.

"One less problem to deal with", Captain replied without showing any emotion.
Bones wasn't done with it however and he roughly grabbed Captain by his arm, pulling him back slightly. "Are you out of your mind?", he asked before the Captain pushed his hand and arm off of him. "We could've avoided that thing! Maybe you have forgotten, but there's not only the chance that a chit ton of other creatures are nearby, we're also still in a WARzone! A war is going on with soldiers who can hear you shoot. How big of a problem do you think that thing was going to be compared to a platoon of Alliance sided soldiers storming our position? Huh?", Bones asked with a tone which clearly indicated disapproval, annoyance and quite possibly anger.
Captain turned around with an odd fiery look in his eyes; what was happening to him? "I am the leader of this group. I make the decisions and I know what is best. YOU do nothing more than obey my command", he spat the words out at the doc. "For example," he said as he stood up, "hand me your weapon, Bones- and your backpack too."
A distrusting expression appeared on the doc's face when he too stood up. "Why would you need them?", he asked firmly.
"Do as I tell you", Captain retorted. Skye just stood there, confusedly watching the two men.
"Your eyes?", Bones suddenly spoke. "Enough quarreling, let me have a look at you, Cap", the doc told him, putting aside his emotion of distrust towards the other man.
"No!", the man almost screamed, violently pushing Bones away resulting in him almost tripping.
"Wow, hey. Calm down!", Skye interfered.
"Stay out of this!", Captain snarled.
Only now did Skye get a good look at the man's eyes. They had an odd yellow glint to them. They definitely weren't that way back in the transport.
"Captain, we're on the same side. Just let me have a look at you, okay?", Bones told the man with a reassuring tone while he held his hands in the air. Captain was not impressed, not at all.
Some sort of madness must've gripped him because the moment Bones slowly approached him he suddenly raised his weapon, pointing it right at the doc's head. This sudden action made Skye do exactly the same in a reflex, but instead of pointing her AR at Bones, she aimed it at Captain. "Drop it!", she firmly yelled, or commanded firmly.
"Skye, it's okay", Bones said calmly. "Captain, Derek, calm down", he then said putting emphasis on 'Derek'. So that was his real name, Derek. But the man's eyes were filled with anger and madness.
"Traitors!", he yelled with spite as he nudged his weapon forward and aimed his crosshairs between the Doc's eyes. Bones closed his eyes in a reflex and that was the last thing he did before the loud sound of a shot could be heard.
However, he didn't feel a thing. When he reopened his eyes, the reason for him not feeling anything made itself clear to the doc. Captain stood in front of him with a vile yet scared expression, covering a shot mark on his neck with his hand. The man let out a low grunt while he stumbled and then fell to the ground and into the undeep waters, dead.
When the doc looked to his right, he saw Skye standing next to him with a shocked expression, simply staring at the man, or his corpse at least. Smoke was still coming out of the barrel.
Bones said nothing, his appreciation was obvious but he also just lost a good friend to whatever the Force that was, and returned his gaze to his friend.

Both of them stood there for a good couple of minutes, trying to take in and make sense of what just happened. It took the doc another five minutes before he finally turned towards Skye. "T...thanks. You had no choice", the man told her slowly. "Know that I-", the man continued but stopped mid-sentence, quickly crouching and motioning for Skye to do the same. "Did you hear that?", he whispered. He peered through the swamp, trying to find anything out of the ordinary or unusual. Skye did the same.
The doc kept surveying the swamp for a while when he heard it again. Whatever it was, it was very faint. "Voices?", the man asked.

 

[Ayda Elisantra]

She were as vulnerable as anyone in the water.

Ayda, like Sage and Derek made for their life to the nearest bank. There was nothing anyone could have done in the water for Hanson. Their weapons were secured on top of their pack and all anyone could do was to get out of the watery death trap as quickly as possible.
Ayda made it to her side first, followed by sage. Dereck on the other hand had opted to swim back the way he had come.
She finally felt her feet hitting roots and she scrambled up as fast as she could out of the water before turning to see if anyone or anything were behind her. She was mortal like anyone, especially in the water like that. Sage was struggling but was close enough for her to reach out and grab hold of his pack, helping him get up and through the roots to solid ground.

Frak!...What the frak came out of this hell hole?...Hanson!...Frak...
Derek!
....Derek! Sage called out, all the while unstrapping his weapon and immediately aiming it across the surface of the water. The blood stains had for the most part somehow melded in with the murky water. The only movement was from Derek finally getting to the opposite shore.
He too was cussing and damning this place to hell.
What the frak now, corporal?...what the frak now?!! Derek were heard from the other side.

Sage finally stood up keeping his weapon aimed at the water.
Shut the frak up!....did you see where the frak it went off too?..Derek! Did you see where it went? Sage asked, ready to blast the creature out of hell water.

Dereck hadn't seen anything other than Hanson biting the big one...getting eaten alive.

Doc..you alright? Sage then asked without turning.

No answer.

Doc, you Ok- He turned but where Ayda had been a moment ago, were only her med and personal pack.

Frak!...DOC!!....AYDA!... he shouted, looking about the bank. She was nowhere within sight...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gasp... where...
What the...

Where the hell did you come from...who are you?

"Don't be afraid....don't run Hanson....its me, Ayda."
The shadowy silhouette of the girl came into view as the darkness and coldness of the swamp illuminated like sunlight were breaking through the thick vegetation. Only the light were not from above but from behind Ayda, which as she approached closer surrounded her to the point that she were as bright and white as the light.

"Come to me..." she extended her hand. He hadn't noticed, nor would notice that both were in the flesh of their being. The notion of sex were no longer in his consciousness, as his fears of what surrounded his awareness that he were no longer in the mortal world took hold.
This was the first thing a spirit who had been freed of the mortal temple in a violent manner first experienced...fear.
She held out her hand for him to take. It would comfort him more and erase all the fears he had built up a lifetime. Hanson did so take her hand which felt like no flesh he remembered feeling, and he too started to take on an inner light. His own flesh becoming that of Ayda's. It were said to be angelic flesh...like birth flesh of newborn...pure....so it felt like.
Ohhh...he were heard releasing all his fears. As he did so, he were once more as he had once been before he entered the mortal world..the temple by which he had become Hanson. It were his soul..his spirit now and there existed no fear.

"This way home..." Ayda said, guiding him into the light..


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FLASH >>>>>


Whoa...what the frak?... Sage who had tried finding out where the doc had disappeared to dove into the muck, his weapon readying to fire into what had suddenly caused a light burst...like a flash in the murky swamp.
The voice of Dereck in the distance could still be heard calling out to sage, But Sage was poised to meet whatever forces were coming through the thick vegetation, for he could have sworn he picked up some kind of search light...or so he could only decipher.

He nearly pulled the trigger, at the figure coming through the thicket when he recognized it as a girl..Ayda.

Frak!.... Get the frak down!....Girl...Ayda, get- he stopped mid sentence when he realized it were just her making her way back toward him. And there were no one behind her.

Dereck!... shut the frak up...hold! Sage shouted behind him to have the other across the water to shut up.

Where the frak did you run off to?...where and how far did you think you'd get on your own?... Sage started on her, as to him, she had run. So it seemed.
You stay put next time. I want you right next to me, hear? He were shouting at her, thinking she had scrambled away in a panic. If it were one of his men, Ayda could see it in his eyes, she'd most likely receive a good fist full of anger. But she were a girl..a civilian...their doctor. Sage had enough sense to control his anger.

"I had girl duties to perform..." She said, looking into his angry eyes.

What the frak that supposed to mean?!

"Couldn't very well pee in my pants now, could I?"

Huh?...you kidding me?
What was that light back there?

Ayda looked back to where he were indicating. It were where she had just come from.
"You saw the-
...a light?" She asked, surprisingly.

Hell yea, I saw a light...what the frak was that?

It took a moment to pass as she looked into his eyes. How were it possible, she were thinking. How could a mortal see only what he were privileged to see twice in his life cycle...beginning and end.

All I turned on is my flashlight.." She pulled out her penlight, that she used in eye examinations.
"It's not that bright...maybe you had a retina flash...
It often happens when the retina starts detaching under some kind of duress." She said, clicking it on and approaching Sage to examine his eyes.

Doc...enough... He said turning away from her, shaking his head and now squinting his eyes.
Last thing I need at this moment is an eye exam.
And I know you didn't go wash your hands...
Pick up your packs.
Don't move from your spot unless your life depends on it! Sage then said, stepping closer to his side of the bank. He of course still had some humor in spite of their situation. No one here had clean hands.

Derek...you got to go back. Get yourself back to the transport. No way anyone of us is making it across this hell water.
Me and the doc... He turned to be certain she were still there, and not disappeared again.

She was.

We're going on.
We'll send up a signal burst for you guys to find us when we reach survivors!...

 

[Skye Achlys]

"Did you hear them?", Bones asked, looking at Skye.
"I don't know what it was", the woman simply replied.
"Fair enough. It just really sounded like voices, but it could've just been the wind. I guess", he whispered back, not fully convinced it actually was the wind. "Lets move- and lets be on our guard. We'll talk and collect our thoughts later- there's no time for that now", he ordered, showing he too could be a more than capable leader.
"Alright", Skye replied while she slowly stood up before Bones did the same.

They continued their trek in their original direction, not taking the higher ground Bones had noticed earlier, but choosing to take the route Captain had suggested. The swamp was slightly easier to traverse here, which might've been why this was the first place they had seen a creature walk around.
As they continued onwards Skye tried to force herself to stop thinking about the man she'd just killed, about his sudden hostility and his eyes. That weird glint.
But as a result of her blocking out the thoughts of what had happened, thoughts of what could happened started to arise. Unfortunately, most scenarios eventually played out in her own death. There were so many ways known to die here, and so many more unkown ways. The chance that they'd survive, that they'd find a ship, was minimal, or probably nonexistent.

Yet they hadn't walked much longer than ten to fifteen minutes when Bones dropped to the ground again, making Skye follow to do the same. "I heard them", Skye whispered before she received a nod as a response. Voices. This time they were sure of it.
The doc raised his weapon and crouch-walked forwards, very slowly, trying to watch every angle. He pointed in the direction of the noise with two fingers, indicating for Skye to follow him. Skye however had been one step ahead and was closely following Bones, covering his back and pointing her blaster at everything which could prove dangerous. There was an extremely small hill, no more than 2 meters high, on which they lied down besides each other, trying to get a fix on the voices.
"There", Bones whispered while he nodded towards something.
Sure enough, two people stood not too far from them. Bones lowered his head behind the small hill and asked, "What do we do?"
Skye peeked over the edge herself for a moment before she too backed down. "Engaging would probably end in a negative result for both parties. We could theoretically put both of them down in sync, but I'm not putting much trust in this weapon- or my aim. Besides, even if we magically killed them without getting hit ourselves, we'll still have the entire swamp's attention by the time those guys are dead. We already risked firing noises once, don't want to do that again."
"Fair enough", the man responded, clearly deep in thought.
"So we'll what, just what here until these Alliance folks pass by?", the dark-haired woman asked.
Bones remained silent for a bit longer. "That would sort of be treason, considering we were ordered to neutralize all Tangos."
"Yeah," Skye interrupted, "but the situation has kind of ta-"
"Don't worry. My idea was much more traitorous than yours. Lets face facts: we're fecked. No ship. No squad. No direction, we've just been walking aimlessly to be honest. We have nothing to go on", he sighed. "I say, I say we go to them, we surrender- no, we negotiate. Perhaps we could use them, you know? Use them to find more of our own and then we'll be saved. Think about it, if we spare these two Alliance lives, we might survive ourselves and then we'll be able to take dozens of lives corrupted by their Alliance."
He looked into Skye's eyes before he finished his rant. "Look, I'm not asking you to kiss them, hell, I'd rather shoot them myself, but we don't have a choice. We need to do this."
Skye remained silent for a bit, knowing that agreeing to this plan could possibly be seen as treason like Bones had said. But the man was right, this was their only option in this optionless hellhole of a swamp. "Alright, lets do this", she slowly said as she stood up, still holding her weapon tightly. Bones did the same.
"Now, we must first make sure they don't do anything stupid by trying to shoot us. We'll catch them off guard, blasters aimed at them, but we'll let them live in exchange for whatever they have. An exit. A way of this damned place. Okay?"
"Okay"

A confident and stern look appeared on the doc's face when he suddenly stepped over the small hill and out from behind the trees, blaster aimed at their two enemies. As per usual Skye did the same. "Don't move!", the man shouted. "Drop your weapons!"
Skye slowly closed in on the two. "Move and die!", she yelled, supporting Bones' words.

 

[Ayda Elisantra]

Here... Sage stopped, and started to remove his pack.

"Here what?" Ayda, looking like a wreck asked wearily.

We're putting here for the night....driest spot so far.
You good with it?
Cause you look like you're at your wits end there, girl. Had thought you'd beg to have us put down a few hours ago. Pegged you wrong. He said plopping down on what looked like the only stone sticking out of this swamp.

"Sigh..." Ayda did the same, only going down on her butt with the pack still on.
"Yea, I was done a few hours ago...now I'm dead beat exhausted." She then leaned back and used her pack as a cushion.

You know...you got spunk girl. No complaints...just keeps on marching. Frak, damn Hanson. He was a good man. He would have been impressed by you, you know.
Shiet, you wore me out girl. I was waiting for you to call it...but you got me instead. Hahaha...

"Oh I can complain...I can complain like the best of them. Just here...there's nothing you can do about what I want to complain about." Ayda replied, still laying her back on the pack, but undoing the straps.

Hehe...oh that lager could sure use these thirsty lips wading in it. Shoot...lets see what we got for our candlelight dinner shall we? Sage went on to open up his pack and rumage through some packets.
Ah yes...banta chowder and tatoes....what you having?

Agh...too tired to move...uhg!" Ayda sat up and dragged the pack to her front. She opened it and pulled out the first MRE pack.
"Haha... banta chowder and tatoes.Haha.." She laughed, before she peered in to see what else.
"Oh look here, sliced roast and gravy on toast...yummy."

Hehe...we call that shiet on shingles... Sage chuckled, opening his chowder pack.

"Mmm..sound so appetizing" her eyes rolled.

Don't knock it till you try it.
Seriously. Open it up and heat it. You don't like it, I'll swap with cha.

"Shread meat on shingle it is.."

Shiet on shingles... get it right. There a quiz at the end of this mission.


"Hehe...yea.."
Ayda put the first MRE back in her pack and closed it tight again.
She then went about opening the slised roast entree, activating the heat packet to warm the food. Everything was included in the MRE (Military Meal Ready to Eat)...disposable utensils, desert, drink mix and snack with much needed towelettes. Unfortunately not enough towelettes to Ayda's desire. She used up hers to clean her mucked up face and hands. Sage then tossed one of his packs over to her.

My face ain't gona see an improvement no matter how clean I get it. Yours on the other hand...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Ok..got as much dry sticks as I could reach. Kind of nothing seems to be dry with all the fungi attacking anything dead." she said dropping what she had managed to gather around.

Sage too had scouted about within voice range. It had been agreed that they keep communicating as such when out of eye view. But their quick scouting for dry wood did provide with at least a few hours of low fire. They just were more concerned about keeping the biting insects and whatever creatures lurked about away.
Sage picked up a good sturdy stick from the small pile.

Poker...got to have a good poker for stoking our bonfire...heh?

It was at that moment, that out of the shadows of the swamp, they were suddenly ambushed. Ayda had not heard them, for there were quite a few things crawling about all around. And the swamp itself was pretty thick with hanging moss and vegetation. besides, the last thing on both their minds were other people. Yes, for a moment or two, Dagobah fooled them in forgetting they were in the middle of a battle zone.

Sage unwittingly turned, as he had no weapon to drop. Unfortunately he had a stick in his hand as he turned. In the dim light of Dagobah's sunset, it may have looked like a weapon..a blaster rifle.
Ayda's eyes caught the blast in slow motion. Her orbs followed the round right to Sage's chest. She could see it, but she could not react as fast to stop it. her only reaction was to scream.

"Noooo!.." She had been in motion as he got hit. The only thing she could do was break his fall with her own body. But that too had been unintentional, as she was meaning to catch him. Only his body weight was to much for her and he fell on top of her.
"Nooo... noooo...." Ayda immediately was in tears, not minding the shouting from the two assailants. What they were shouting didn't register. All it mattered was her coming up from under sage and kneeling herself over him. He were still alive and she grabbed his hand. She was a doctor, but knew the blast to his chest had existed lung tissue, as she wore some of it on her features. Sage had only a moment of his life left as she held tight his hand.

"Sage..." she called out his name, holing fast to his hand.
His speach was harsh, as it sputtered blood, but she understood...Ayda...this is you? his spirit were exiting the fallen temple.

"Yes...yes, it's me.." she were heard saying before she and Sage seemed to fall silent.
To the two towering above them, it was just a small girl woman over a fallen soldier. It could be said that it were a moment of silence shared between the dying and the living...


* * * * * *
"Yes, this is who I am...who you are too." Her spirit body in the flesh replied.

So you were the light... Sage said, finding his self standing up.

"No..I am with the light..." Her spirit shone like the brightness of heaven itself. Sage looked down upon his fallen temple with mortal Ayda kneeling beside it, their hands clasped...and then to the two standing over it.

And of them? He asked, looking at Skye and Doc with not a hate in his soul.

"It's not their time. They know not what they do."

No...
No, I didn't either.

"Come, it's time to go home.."

Yes.
I...I know the way.
...I've always known...
Ayda smiled and the two parted their spiritual hands. She watched him meld into the main light.

* * * * *

Ayda who had remained kneeled over the dying body of her soldier friend, let go of his now dead and bloody hand. He had passed into the next realm safely and without fear on his own.

"Gasp" she took a deep breath, tear stained eyes looked over to the two.
Their voices came in clear, as the swamp surrounding her. She was back in the now. Again, Ayda knew that mortals could not see what had spiritually transpired.

She picked up the stick that sage had seemingly died for and threw it into the swamp.
"Oh...sigh...the senseless deaths we aspire to do to one another..." She uttered as she dragged herself up from the ground. There was no point to tell these lost souls that Sage had been a good man. They would not get it.
"Is there no end to this hate infestation?" Her voice were weary and weak...her body tired and near expired.
What could she do but surrender to their mercy. It weren't her design to die or to cause death. Life were given to souls to experience like. It were always difficult in both coming into like and leaving. Ayda didn't desire to leave anytime soon. She had a purpose...caged or not.

 

[Skye Achlys]

Bones froze for a second when he heard the blaster shot on his right and saw it hit the man straight in the chest. That wasn't what they discussed! Sure the man was holding something, but he was turning around slowly- he was complying!
Oh damn it, Skye just killed half of our escape option.

Or so the doc thought.

When Bones turned his head to look at Skye, he found the woman motionlessly standing and staring towards something behind them. More importantly, there didn't seem to come any smoke from the barrel of her blaster.
How strange.
Then Bones automatically did the same as Skye had done and turned around.
And there he had his smoking blaster.
Trained at him.

"Oh look, our other 'ally' finally takes in his surroundings"
Behind them stood three men on the small hill. They were First Order.
How did they sneak up on them so easily? And why were they pointing their blasters at friendlies again?
They must've hidden behind the trees or in some bushes so that they were hidden yet still had a vision of that man.
That man who was now dead.

"You know, I recognize that messy suit of yours", one of the tree spoke to Bones. "The emblem. You're one of Valkyrie, are you not?"

"I am, yes", Bones simply replied, suspicious about the fact that the three soldiers still had their blasters trained at them.

"That's great, cause our transport freaking fracked. One gorram lucky explosive hit from some Alliances chits and boom- this big tree falls down and freaking immobilizes our transport. What do you know.."

Bones nodded slightly, still not wanting to trust these guys, but making sure their expectations weren't too high. "Same deal here. Transport's fracked. Took a hit while we were still in the air," he paused for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing, "we're all that's left."

"Right. So what about that chick over there, eh? Looks like the enemy to me", the soldier noticed, nodding towards the woman who's friend they'd just killed.

"Well we....needed their supplies", Bones half-lied and half-admitted.

The soldier who Bones had been talking with chuckled, while the soldier on the left of him looked at the ground with a somewhat guilty expression.
"That's the thing. Supplies, we need them. Badly. So we're going to need hers, you see?" He paused a bit, grinning. "And we're going to need yours too. Oh, and we haven't been with a woman in a while neither, have we boys?", he chuckled. This statement made Skye feel extremely uncomfortable even though she originally suspected they were just talking about the other woman, but she couldn't be sure.

The soldier whose face had been guilt-ridden took over control of the conversation. "I'm sorry guys, but this is out of our control. We need those supplies, and we burn slower through them with... you know, less mouths to feed."

So that was it. These 'loyal' First Order troopers were planning on shooting their own for a few more days worth of rations. Bones understood their actions even though he didn't approve of it, but Skye couldn't understand it in the slightest, being raised with the idea of honouring and serving the Order, not killing each other for food.

The dark haired woman, who had been near silent this entire time, pushed her chest slightly upwards. "No. You will stand down- and you will leave. We do not require you here nor do we want you here. I COMMAND you to leave", she firmly spoke, but only received laughter in response.

"And who are you to give me orders, maid?", the one who liked to yap way too much asked.

"I am with the Order of Ren", Skye retorted with a threatening tone. "You will obey me on this, for you thoughts are treasonous. Leave or die."

"The order of what now?", the soldier chuckled. He clearly wasn't very interested in the First Order and their allies. Probably just another mercenary doing it purely for the money- or maybe for the thrill.

Bones too replied with 'what?', yet his 'what' was meant a different way. He knew about the Order. He read the stories and heard the tales and rumours. Oh he knew- and that was why he was more than surprised when he found out Skye was one of thém.
The young woman stood there with a demanding look in her eyes. "Leave us alone. Do us, the thréé of us, no harm and we'll return the favour. Otherwise," she shrugged," you will die. We will end you all out of self defense if we must." Skye fired a lot of words their way, most of it all meaning the same, but the intent was to discourage the men from attacking her and Bones- oh, and the other woman.

"I don't care what little group you're in", the man sighed. He remained silent for a few seconds before his eyes lit up. "I'll tell you what; you give me those rations and those blaster and then we'll let you be. We won't shoot you. Sounds like a great improvement to me, eh? Deal?", he asked.

Bones snorted in return. "That way hunger, dehydration or creatures of the swamp will most definitely kills us."

The man pointed with both his hands towards Bones as if he just correctly answered a quiz question. "Exactly, and on top of that; it leaves our hand pretty and clean"

"Fracking chits", Bones retorted. He didn't see any way out of this, because there simply wasn't any, so he eventually threw his weapon on the ground in front of him and took off his backpack to do the same with it.
Skye sighed deeply but followed Bones' example. The difference was that she threw her stuff just before her own feet, not very close to their attackers.
The guy who loved to talk lowered his rifle after he commanded his buddies to each pick up one person's equipment. When one of them bend over to pick up Skye's backpack however, he was met with something unexpected- in the form of a small knife, which Skye had handily snatched from the backpack while she took it off, sticking in his throat. She lifted his twitching body up by the little knife with a feral look in her eyes, confusing the others. Bones however, didn't waste a second and hit his assailant right in the guts before he reached for his gun.
The third man had unholstered his gun again before he released series of shots in Skye's direction as the woman approached him slowly, yet it did not matter. The few shots that the fear-struck man managed to fire directly at her were blocked by his friend's corpse that the woman was still holding up in front of her. She then threw the body towards the guy, making him lose balance so she could quickly finish him off with a small cut along his throat. However, she didn't manage to do this without getting hit in her face with the back of the mans rifle.

When all was done and Skye looked over towards Bones, who had taken care of the third trooper, she let out a deep sigh before letting herself drop to the ground, exhausted. She lied down without saying a word to Bones or the woman, who still appeared to be here. As she lied down, she felt that her face was bleeding from the spot where that trooper had hit her. Whatever, she was too tired to worry about wounds or blood right now.
She was so tired. So bloody tired.

 

[Ayda Elisantra]

She hadn't understood why the two that had shown themselves had even bothered to order them to drop their weapons when the rest of their men had fired regardless.
But as the scene unfolded, it became apparent that the man who had killed Sage were from a different squad altogether.

Ayda could only remain at bay, as the scenario played out. The three soldiers were not at all comrades of the ones that had come up on her and Sage. Ayda looked down on the empty carcass that had been Sage. It were now just an empty shell, vacant of the spirit which had experienced life from birth to death. Ayda figured 27 years of life, suddenly extinguished.

Her own life now hung on the whim of a few corrupt souls that not only desired her flesh...and maybe that of the raven hair woman too, but were spent on taking life for mere rations. There was little she could do or say and knew enough not to make any sudden moves threatening or otherwise to give anyone any reason to carry out what was being argued about.

It were horrid...what man could inflict on another in their present state of flesh form. She knew some had risen above their physical beings to recognize whom they were. But as pure a spirit they had once been during inception, it became tainted through ones's experiences and direction they took upon the free will. What had first been a shard of pure light when two souls united, could grow to loose that brightness and forever be tainted to never be able to be enveloped by the true light. So it were with two of the three that had nothing but evil intent. And it weren't from just here on Dagobah...they had stained their spirit a long time ago...past the point of recovering what they first were.

"Aghh...." Ayda closed her eyes, not wanting to bear witness to the next bludgeoned death. But she could not shield the spirits of those most close to the point of release.
No, closed eyes only shut out the living swamp, the woman and men, but not the tear of the temple tapestry that were releasing a tainted spirit.

"Nnnnnngh...." Ayda uttered silently suppressing her scream, for she were close..too close to the man who's throat were being severed to free its tormented soul.
She remained with head down, grasping the muck with her hands in an effort to hold herself down. She couldn't help that spirit cross..it would never cross now. Would never do so as it had not been able to redeem itself. For even heavily tainted spirits could through time remove most if all not of the stains it had accumulated.


The blaster fire were what finally released the first soul to run. And it ran. ran aimlessly with barely a light to guide it home, for that light would forever remain distant. It were eternal darkness for that soul. Ayda's eyes teared up, for it were lost eternal. Her own spirit stirred in despair. But in turn there were two more that succumbed to man's endless hatred. Only it were not all of hate that took the last two, it were something else.

Ayda finally opened her eyes to the end result. A fleeting spirit still hung there now looking sadly at her. It were one of the three whom were not so tainted. It had risen on its own from the fallen body. It were so young..not much older than Sage.

Ayda outstretched her hand...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ +

Her spirit rose, approaching the confused soul. it had not wanted any part of what had transpired here and the last several weeks. It had been entangled in matters beyond his temple's control and for the most part, had followed orders that it knew didn't feel right.

I didn't know... he said....but I felt it was wrong.

It's done....take my hand, I will take you home.

The spirit of the man went to reach for her hand, but just before their spirit flesh touched, he withdrew.

I've done things I knew were wrong. How is it I can go home? He looked at the coming light which had already enveloped Ayda and were just encroaching toward him at her fingertips.
He smiled at her and backed away.

No... your place is back home. She said, unable to move a step closer to him. She understood why that was...free will.
The spirit of the man took another step back, then another. he had no fear in his soul, just remorse of things he did, despite his desire to resist it. But he had been of flesh and he had been coaxed in doing what he regretted. This were redemption in a way. The burden of regret he shouldered for years, as he had no other guiding light or means to know any better. but now he knew..now he knew.

No, no...come to me...please Ryan...come to me.

I will....but not for some time... and his spirit walked into the darkness of the swamp.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The mortal Ayda wept for the soul. It would wander for how long, she couldn't begin to guess in her mortal mind.
She had again, remained unmoved next to the body of Sage during this spiritual experience. She were now back among the living. And life as she had experienced it herself were hard when pitted against other mortal life.
It were hard to understand why so many didn't open their eyes to their own glory...to their potential.

"I'm a doctor..." She said wearily to the man who had come with the raven hair girl. The one who had released Ryan...maybe for the better, as Ryan saw it. Ayda did not judge the decision. Ryan had his own free will to redeem in his own way, despite his spirit would have gone home. She knew he would when it became clean enough for him to walk into the light on his own accord.

Ayda looked over to the girl..she were barely a year..maybe two over her own. How had she come to know how to kill a man in that manner? The woman wasn't evil..her soul were barely tainted. Yet, she had released two souls right in her presence.
Ayda was finding it difficult to comprehend one with such potential were so efficient at killing. But the woman's soul, like that of the living were difficult to see in their full spectrum of pure light. Not while they were nestled in their temple. She could only glimpse a little of what purity were housed within, through their eyes....like looking at a shard of light.

"I can check on your friend..." She said, wearily, for she too were spent beyond what her body could sustain. The man too were on the ground, breathing heavily just like the girl and herself. She herself could just meld with the swamp and close her eyes to sleep, even in the muck.

"I can't hurt any of you... I'm a doctor..."

 

[Skye Achlys]

Bones gave the woman a neutral nod. "So am I. I'll take care of her", he simply responded. He doubted a few seconds before he added, "Thanks for offering." He didn't really trust the woman, she was Alliance sided after all. As far as Bones knew the woman was merely waiting for the right moment to stab them in the back or run off. Bones didn't dare to let the woman take a look at Skye, what if she'd hurt her? He would rather check on Skye himself, the Alliance girl hadn't proven anything yet on the subject of being friend or foe. Yet that concern wasn't of major importance right now, he had to take a look at Skye first. He had done nothing but turned his head in her direction when Skye already responded, even though she was still lying down with her eyes closed. "Don't bother, I'm fine. Just need some rest."
The doc shook his head. "You're bleeding, and I'd like for that to be put to a stop. If you hadn't noticed yet; we're in a swamp, you're extremely lucky that small wound of yours hasn't been infected yet. So I'm going to take a look at it ánd I'm going to patch you up."
Skye just waved with her hand in response, Bones made some valid points and she was truly too tired to argue with him about it anyway. "Fine"

Bones slowly stood up and walked over to her before kneeling down beside her. He took his backpack off and placed it beside him before he opened it so that it revealed the small medical station and supplies inside. "Alright, lets see what this mess is all about, eh?", the doc said as he took some sterile tissues to wipe away the blood without actually infecting Skye. It wasn't anything special, she just got hit a bit too roughly and it had made a small cut. With some medical attention it would be gone in no time. As Bones disposed of the tissues with which he cleaned the woman's head, Skye suddenly yet gentle grabbed him by his outfit, pulling him slightly closer.
"Who is she?", Skye whispered, still keeping her eyes closed.
"How the hell am I supposed to know?"
"Something's off about her. Do not trust her"
"Why? What's up?"
"Her...presence, I can feel it, but it's...odd"
"Is she...," he paused for a bit, "do you think she's like you?"
"I don't know what to think. It feels strange. Not like anything I've ever felt before. Just be wary- and extremely cautious"
"She looks harmless"
"Fools thought the same of me"
And with that reply their conversation had come to an end again. Bones threw the other girl a quick look; she was still there. Skye's words made him uneasy; the young woman definitely seemed harmless, yet what if she was wasn't? Skye had felt something, and if someone from the Order says to be careful, you really have to be careful.
Bones quickly proceeded with his examination of Skye's wound so that they could quickly find themselves time to rest. Once he was almost done, he looked into his bag to retrieve the last thing he needed.
"Alright, seems good to me. Just have to get you a small patch to put on it. That thing will both protect you from infections and fasten and facilitate the healing process." His small smile dropped however when he couldn't find it. He seemed to be missing an entire section of his medical supplies. "Son of a... Where'd they go?", the doc asked annoyed. He remained silent for a bit, trying to remember where he could have lost his stuff, but when he came up with nothing, he sighed deeply. "Right, be right back, miss"
"Miss? Where's that coming from?"
"Well, I didn't really know that you were with the... you know"
"I hadn't told you because you didn't need to know. And it changes nothing. I'm still Skye, thanks"
"Right, be right back, Skye"

Bones stood up and slowly made his way over to the other girl. He sat down opposite to her.
He tried to think of something to say before he figured that he could at least start by apologizing.
"I'm sorry about your friend. It.... appeared to me that you two were quite close. I'm sorry"
Even though the apology was genuine, it wasn't why he was here. Besides, under different circumstances, would he have doubted a single second whether to shoot the man or not?
No, Bones would've easily shot the Alliance soldier. He was the enemy, it was as simple as that. Yet that didn't mean Bones didn't understand that the enemy too had friends, families and loved ones. People they cared about and thus people they could lose. The girl sitting in front of him lost someone just now as a result of his and Skye's actions, so even though in a different scenario Bones would have killed the man himself, he still apologized to the woman, he still felt bad for her.

But of course, he wasn't here to chitchat or to condole the woman, after all, he too had lost comrades not so long ago. No, he was here to ask her for a favour, he needed the woman's help patching Skye up. He needed her help and he hated it.
Yet he asked and he did so nicely, asking for a favour.

If the woman declined however, he would probably force her to comply anyway. That chance the woman would actually refuse to help however, seemed almost nonexistent, for not only had she already offered her help, she also had no friends or allies nearby- and no matter how dangerous Skye feared the woman to be, being on your own in the swamp is dangerous to everyone.

 

[Ayda Elisantra]

She weren't a soldier, but had taken mandatory classes on warfare and rules of engagement. That also included dealing with POWs (Prisoner's of War) and what to do if you find yourself under a POW status. It had all been explained in classroom atmosphere, especially to the interns, doctors and medics who volunteered to be in the ranks of the organization 'Doctor's Without Borders'.

Ayda had accepted her role and position at this moment. She were a POW and should not argue or debate with her captures.
So when the field medic who was incidentally an armed soldier declined her offer to assist the girl, Ayda remained where she was and let the scenario unfold. She had good peripheral vision and slightly shook her head, however unnoticeable it was. The medic had foregone at the very least to rinse his hands with canteen water, if he didn't have medical sterile wipes...or disposable gloves.
But she were drilled in not attracting too much attention to one self, unless it were absolutely necessary. And she weren't deft either. The girl somehow had her pegged as something alien and threatening. There was nothing Ayda could say at this initial stage of confrontation to change her mind. The woman and her companion had just been through a fight to the death. This was no time to tip them off again, as they were on a tether point of just doing away with all baggage. And as the three assailants had pointed out, less mouth to feed.

So she remained there as the medic fumbled about trying to treat a superficial wound. Only that little open cut the way he was going about it could fester to a point on killing the woman. For at least he had one thing right; the swamp here would not hesitate in devouring anyone or anything even with something as small as a pathogen or bacteria.

"My pack...the one over there..." Ayda gestured with her eyes nodding her head in the direction. Sure enough her pack were where she had last laid it down.
"It's got what you'll need to properly dress her wound....including antiseptic sterilization packets...and medical gloves..." Her eyes met the medic. Yes, she were scolding him for foregoing sterilization. But she did that for only a moment before looking where she were before; over the body of Sage.

No, she and Sage weren't a thing as the man was thinking. But they had connected before he were freed and that meant something to Ayda. If she connected with an individual, then when it were time for their passing, she needn't be right there. She could be a thought away half across the galaxy, to come and help with the crossing. A connection of that sort had been established between her and Sage. Only his demise had come moments later. This was tragic to her, as she got to know the person who with life experiences still held true to their original spirit.

The medic looked at her exchanging a curious stare. maybe his companion had a point. This girl could be more than someone playing nurse doctor. Still, she knew what he needed.
He asked her as he pulled the pack over to his side what she meant as being a doctor, for she were much too young to be one.
But she was a doctor...well, almost. She had all her schooling and her academics were impeccable, as she had been top of her class and as thus had advanced quickly through medical school. But she didn't elaborate that, as it wasn't pertinent, nor made any difference her situation. She was being looked at as an Allience sympathizer if not a soldier. Although there was no indication she had ever wore armament or strapped on a blaster...there were no telltale marks or impressions on her person. Also, that penlight sticking out of her pocket, which the medic took and examined it...it was just that, an examination light. He put it in his breast pocket, telling her he'd hang on to it for the moment.

The pack proved to be a medic's dream. Well, it had most of what he had brought, in similarities. Seemed both sides bleed the same.
But she had other stuff...more doctor specifics than a first medic responder.
Ayda nodded when questioned if this was her pack or had she taken it from a dead comrade of hers. It was hers.
Well,that certainly proved out, as what she had said for him to use were indeed neatly packed and sealed.

The man then gave her a quick pat down, producing other small convenient items suggesting she was indeed a medic if anything.
He asked her name, rank and division.
"My name is Ayda Elisantra. I don't have a rank, I'm a civil caretaker, a doctor...I'm from The Allied Tion Medical Center on Lianna...in the Tion Sector. We respond where needed." She replied. That was more than half a galaxy away.

What was she doing with an Allied patrol?
"I belong to an organization called 'Doctors Without Borders'. I was here looking for downed pilots...this was a search and rescue mission."

With guns?
"Yes, some carried weapons" What else was she going to say?

How many were in her group?
"Four...we started Eastboud. One soldier, Hanson, was attacked by a swamp creature making a water crossing...two..three clicks, west of here, I'm not sure. He was taken by the creature. It devoured him. One other swam back...the corporal and I continued on." she gave him the run down.

Then he asked where did they put down?..What kind of craft did they come down on?
....she shook her head, in silence.

He asked again.
Again Ayda remained silent. She wasn't going to jeopardize the others and give their position away so they could be killed like sage.

He asked her again....and again in a more demanding tone.
Ayda lowered her head, closing her eyes. What was to come was to come she figured, and readied for it.

He instead told her to remain there seated and not to move. They'd get back to the conversation soon enough.
Ayda complied, sitting where she was, as he took the pack and items to go tend the other girl.

 

[Skye Achlys]

Bones slowly walked back towards Skye, mentally cursing himself for basically forgetting how to do his job. What was happening to him? Why.. why had he forgotten?
He wasn't sharp. Too clumsy. Too tired.
Yet he had been these things before. He had needed to take care of way more life threatening wounds under stress factors whuch greatly exceeded being tired and on edge. No, there was something else.
And he didn't need long to acknowledge what it was.
His family. Not his biological family of course, they had all...disappeared long ago, but his friends, his squad: that family.
Of course, death was always right around the corner with this job, and Bones had witnessed far too many of his allies and friends die. He had seen many of his friends perish, but never like this. Never his own squad- or at least not all at once. A good few hours ago, he was sitting amongst what had been his family for more than ten years. Now, he was alone, apart from the two women. He had lost everyone in no more than three hours.

Everyone.

So, he guessed it wasn't that odd he wasn't very focused after all.

Once he reached Skye he crouched down besides her without saying a thing. The man took a good few seconds to force himself to think purely about helping the woman and to banish any other thoughts.
They didn't talk much while Bones addressed Skye's small cut. In fact, they didn't even exchange a single word or look. Not because of some unspoken tension between the two, but simply because Skye was tired and Bones still annoyed with both his own stupidity and with the other woman telling him how to do his job.
It wasn't until Bones had finished his work and patched Skye back up that he spoke to her again. "It's possible that she's not alone"

Skye's eyes immediately opened and gave Bones a sharp look. "What do you mean? Is someone here?"

"No, but one of her squad mates is still alive, she says he swam back."

"You trust her?"

"She's Alliance sided. She'll lie her way through this any way she can- of course I don't trust her!"

"But do you think the guy left?"

"Don't know, if the guy was still here, he would've taken us by surprise when I was dressing your wound"

"Good point"

The man seemed to be debating something before he continued with his main concern. "Something else. I'm positive they have a ship, but-"

"Obviously", Skye commented

"But," Bones insisted, "she refuses to talk about it. If they have one or not, where it is, the model and type... Nothing"

Skye remained silent for a bit before she slowly stood up. "Let me talk to this woman", she mumbled as she slowly made her way towards the other woman. Before they reached her however, Skye held her hand out in front of Bones and whispered: "Set out a perimeter. If that friend of hers is still near us I'd like to know."
Bones gave her a doubtful look, but it quickly dissapeared and was then followed by a nod. Before the man could do what was asked however, Skye added one more thing. "Don't wander too far, if you ever see something or need help, I still want to be close. And if I need help...well....there's still something off about her," she jerked her head into the other girl's direction, "so stay close."
Bones nodded again. "Don't worry, I'll just secure a small perimeter. Big enough for safety, small enough so that we can still hear each other if we yell." He stepped back, but before he turned around he asked, "Do you have any mines, perhaps."
"Just one", Skye replied.
"Ah, then keep it, I have a few spares which can help us." And with that he walked away to do his new task.
Skye however, now walked towards the woman and sat down in front of her.

Ugh, there was definitely something off about this woman. Whatever it was that Skye felt, it had grown significantly stronger the closer she had gotten to Ayda. It had grown significantly stranger. Something wasn't right.

She lightly shook her head, telling herself to focus. She was too tired and too suspicious for small talk, and instead cut straight to her goal.

"So," she started, "according to my friend, you want to die. That correct?", she asked the woman. She did so with an oddly cheery tone and with a smile.
Obviously she wanted to know the location of the transport or whatever the woman had used to get here. Her question however, could be taken different ways, because it was multi-layered. By saying that the woman wanted to die, Skye could either mean that if the Alliance soldier would refuse to cooperate and tell them what they wanted to know, they'd kill her, or she could hint towards the fact that if the soldier didn't tell them the location, they'd simply all starve to death in the swamp. Or she meant both.

So yeah, by not speaking about her transport, the woman was saying she wanted to die- from a certain point of view.
Skye's point of view.

 

[Ayda Elisantra]

She could shut out the world around her all too easily at will, if she wanted to.

Ayda could disconnect entirely for some time from the present, and relive moments past. But she could not sustain this stasis for too long or she could indeed find it difficult to reattach...reconnect with her temple, her own body, should she reach a point of no return. She knew this and as thus reserved such out of body experiences to guiding those who needed help in the crossing.

Ayda remained squatted on the muddy ground, as instructed. She had answered what she could to her captor and nothing further which could jeopardize the rescue personnel she came with, and the lives of her captors also. Ayda was not going to put two similar reactive forces together. Their mind set were too stained to realize the corruption of their present state of mind. As thus, she was set on not having them kill each other. In the present time, she had to see about staying alive herself. And it wasn't just the two lost souls who held her captive that wanted her flesh.

She didn't need to look to know the woman was being tended by her friend again, not a few steps away.
She had been versed in this scenario at school, not a few months ago, when she signed up for 'Doctors Without Borders'. It not only had volunteer doctors, but engineers and ex military experts that helped the organization train their volunteers. Train them to stay alive. Ayda had little to think about at the present moment, as the two FO's were preoccupied, but of her training in such situations. The main idea was to stay alive for as long as possible. The longer the time gained, the better the chances were said to be in the long run with the present captors.
then the cycle would have to start all over if she were exchanged to other hands. So for now, she were still being kept alive by these two. They had their supplies, the dead men's supplies and hers.

Her quick assessment of combined rations, fresh water and bug repellent put the two at a good week supply. Naturally that didn't include her. They could choose to ration her enough to keep her alive till they had no more use of her, putting the combined supplies at 6 days. She was after all expendable. The onlu use at this moment was for information and possibly her medical expertise... seeing that the one the woman seemed to call 'Bones' was succumbing to exhaustion and-

Her thought's were interrupted when the woman's presence were felt like a cold hand touching her neck. It made her slightly jerk enough to seem like she were surprised..nervous...jittery.
This of course was expected of anyone finding themselves at the mercy of their enemy. Only the two here were no more an enemy to Ayda as Sage or anyone she had previously experienced.

Ayda took in a bated breath when the girl, not much older than her, plopped right down seating herself across from her. Something ebbed Ayda to not extend her self to feel this woman out. There was more than the stain of corruption that she were feeling...there was a coldness about the woman. Ayda kept herself reclusive as she could. Although such clean spirits were difficult to completely hide within the temple. Still, the woman had just taken life, in self defense or not, it was an event a soul took time to recover from, be it planned or reactive. Perhaps it was the woman's intoxication of the body's chemical secretion...adrenaline, which was keeping her in dark matter. This was not the time for Ayda to connect.

"No.... that's not true." Ayda's orbs slowly came up to meet the girl's.
She hadn't told the man she wanted to die. She told him her name and who she was. Obviously something had been corrupted in translation..her interaction with the man.
"No one wants to die..." She then said, noting the girl's demeanor.
It was false, gamely...like that of a cat teasing a mouse to play its game.

Ayda only flinched at the flying insects that occasionally chanced buzzing her too close until they sensed the repellent she had on her features. Eventually through sweat and time that would diminish enough to have them make contact and feast on her life blood. So was Dagobah always pressing to devour their human kind.
But what loomed closer to her was one who could easily take her life as she had done to two already.

"...................................." her then followed silence, as their eyes remained connected, indicated Ayda was not a talker. She were only going to answer what she was asked. The only other reaction from her were her labored breathing...Ayda could experience fear. It were what made her human too.

And Dagobah was getting darker and darker by the minute, as the unseen system's sun dipped below the horizon.

 

[Skye Achlys]

That woman must've known what Skye was hinting at.
How dared she play dumb.

Skye's eyes kept burning into Ayda's, if she had heard the woman's name correctly, while she leaned forwards so that her face was just in front of the other woman's. Her eyes twitched slightly as she felt Ayda's presence even better, stronger. "We will find your ship", she snarled. "And who will be accompanying us on it when we do, is entirely up to you- and your actions." She pat the words out with a certain disgust before she leaned back again.
The recent events and the exhaustion could clearly be seen in Skye's actions and in the way she spat the words at Ayda. Maybe it also had something to do with the realization they wouldn't survive this place for longer than a week if they didn't find a ship. They simply had to find one.
When she received no immediate answer she scoffed at the woman. "You're a perfect example of your kind", she snarled. "Stupid terrorists whose sole purpose is to hurt us. You're all the same, egotistical, useless," she paused for a second while she stared into Ayda's eyes with anger, " and about to die."
Having said that she quickly stood up and marched away from Ayda towards where Skye had previously seated herself. She let herself fall onto the ground with a harsh smack.
If Ayda had paid attention she could see the fierceness and hostility immediately disappear off of Skye's face the moment the woman thought Ayda didn't care about her anymore. Skye sat on the ground with her face in her own hands. So much had happened. This was just supposed to be a medium sized mission to hone her real field experience, but instead it had turned into a chit show where death seemed to loom closer and closer by the minute.
She sighed slowly as her head felt like its weight had started to increase significantly. She hadn't really noticed, but now she sat down it really hit her. She was exhausted.
At one moment she could've been seen wiping her eye, but that could just have been a result of her exhaustion.

~~~~~~~~~

"Come out now, little one. I saw your little tail"
Bones slowly stepped through a small body of water, no more than 30 centimeters deep, constantly turning around with his blaster raised, its flashlight shining up on the trees. "Where did you go, little man?"
He set another step when he suddenly heard something rushing through the water behind him and in a reflex he turned back around. His flashlight caught a glimpse of a tail disappearing behind a tree.
"Damn it!",the doc exclaimed with frustration as he looked at the tree. Even though he couldn't see anything, he heard the quick rattling of the creatures footsteps.
He trained his gun at a big branch. He didn't have to wait long before the creature suddenly popped onto it, showing itself to Bones for the first time. Just before Bones wanted pulled his trigger, the creature opened it mouth, showing it had no teeth, and proceeded to suck on one of the leafs near him.
After having seen this, Bones lowered his gun with a chuckle. "Your shyness had almost killed you now, little one."
While he was still finishing his sentence he heard a small number of the same rattling noises rush through the water. When he turned around he found out that the rushing noises were coming from the same type of animals, only these ones were rushing away from Bones, they were fleeing.
Bones turned back around with another chuckle. "Clever, brave and serving your own. Ever heard of the First Order? They pay pretty well", he told the little creature before the man let out a loud laugh.
The creature flinced at the lound noise that was Bones' laugh and suddenly opened its mouth unbelievably wide before letting out a low hum. Bones flinced slightly when he heard the hum, it made him feel uncomfortable and weird to the point it made him grunt in discomfort. He almost yelled out of the feeling which he couldn't describe, but then the creature stopped and dissapeared just as suddenly as it had appeared on the branch earlier. Bones looked at the empty branch with confusion.
Then he suddenly started walking back towards their resting place, even though he hadn't finished his scouting yet. He had to go back.
Maybe something happened to Skye? Maybe something happened to that woman? Maybe something happened? He had to go back. Maybe something happened? Maybe something happened? Maybe something happened?
Maybe something happened to Skye? Maybe something happened to that woman? Maybe something happened? He had to go back. Maybe something happened? He had to go back.Maybe something happened to Skye? He had to go back. Maybe something happened? Maybe something happened? Maybe something happened?

He had to go back.
Back.

 

[Ayda Elisantra]

Perhaps the woman were justified in her belief...perhaps it were just propaganda that had been fed her. Ayda could only guess, as she had seen mankind's worse from all angles.
But she didn't rebuff, nor argue with her captor. Ayda wasn't going to bring two opposing forces head to head so that more lives could be wasted. And she sure wasn't going to open up a conversation with the woman either. If Ayda wasn't going to reveal her party's positions and ship, she sure couldn't open her mouth and debate with the woman on anything else.
She couldn't pick and choose what she wanted to converse about, that was certain.

She took a shallow but deep breaths, finding a means of relieving some anxiety, as she couldn't do much but sit on the wet muddy ground...now certainly feeling how dirty and filthy she were. The insects were swarming more, as her insect repellent was dissipating through that earlier swim for her life and now sweat.

The night took the previously dim lit day into an almost dark pitch. It had progressed rather quickly, but her natural large orbs had acclimated and she could see somewhat. It were really nothing more than shadows over dark shadows beyond the current perimeter that was dimly lit by natural luminescent moss and fungi...and some variety of insects that occasionally emitted light in their plight to find mates. Seemed the more she sat in the dark, the lighter it got in a way.

Aside from the distant and near minute creature calls, she could hear the woman behind her breathing...exhaling and sighing the while hours of the night. It was going to be long, that much was for certain. Ayda wondered how much longer before the woman herself had to relieve her bladder. Ayda was feeling it herself, but could hold out the night...she was certain of it.
Still the man with her had been gone quite a while now. His reason had been to look around to see if he could spot anything. Ayda knew half of it were for him to relieve his self somewhere out of sight. Funny how humans were. Even she had a preference in performing some natural essentials privately.

Time ticked on and the male had not returned. Ayda couldn't be certain if the woman behind her had dozed off or where just keeping vigil. It was difficult for Ayda to tell, as the Woman's breathing was very regular and rhythmic, but she were too distant away and at Ayda's back for her to guess if she were asleep or not.

"Sigh....you awake?" Ayda finally spoke.

"I don't know if it matters to you...but I would like to pee not in my pants." Well, how else was she to say it?
The FO with her at the moment was herself a woman. Was she that far gone in her hatred of anyone different from herself to dispense with allowing her POW some dignity?
But that wasn't all the reason Ayda asked. The medic had been gone awhile and she had not heard his footsteps for some time as the swamp swallowed up such sounds just meters distance. besides, the creature calls, whatever they were seemed more amplified in the darkness, as the auditory tried making up for lack of sight.

"I could wait till your comrade returns. Doesn't matter who will have a blaster to my head....but I would like to go relieve myself." It were her other reason she brought up her possible discomfort, the male had been gone too long. Had the woman and he not made a pact as to remain within ear shot?

 

[Skye Achlys]

"My 'comrade' will be here soon", she retorted, not because she disliked the request, but simply because she was tired. She trusted Bones and had no reason to believe anything happened to him. After all, if something had happened, surely she would have heard him scream-or at least have felt him...end. No, nothing had happened to the man, yet.
She didn't really want to accompany the woman at first. She just wanted to lie down for a bit, but her bladder had other plans. She sighed as she slowly got up. "Fine", she mumbled as she took her blaster in her hands.
She walked up to the woman and gestured her to get up. Where the desperation and adrenaline had made her overly hostile a while back, now she was just tired and wanted to get this over with. "Come on", she mumbled, the hostile voice had disappeared and made place for a voice reminiscent of one of tired child. "You go in front"

They both slowly wandered a bit away from their makeshift camp. Too tired to even bother about small talk, Skye kept quiet and in return so did the other. "A bit further...here will do", she eventually told the woman. "Do your...stuff. I will be just over there," she nodded to her right, "don't try anything stupid, or else..." she tapped her fingers on the blaster.

The woman seemed to simply and silently obey her command. She was probably relieved she could do her business in private when Skye stepped back and behind a tree to actually give her that privacy. This too proved to be the best opportunity for her to relieve her own bladder, something she hadn't done in quite some time.

When she had finished and all was well again, she marched back to the woman, but halfway she immediately turned back around with her weapon raised when she heard some twigs break.
Actually it weren't twigs. Someone was rushing through the woods, loudly. It just sounded softer because that someone or something was not too close.
"Shhh. Stay quiet", she ordered the woman. She was still contemplating about what she would do when she suddenly heard a man cry out for her.

"SKYE?!"

It sounded like Bones.
It /was/ Bones.

"What the-", she woman mumbled before she snapped to her senses. "Follow me", she ordered the woman. Her voice sounded fuller and more demanding again. Her body and brain had pushed her tiredness aside for one last time so she could survive.

She quickly made her way back to the camp and towards the direction of the voice while periodically checking to see if the woman was still with her.

Once she arrived at their camp, however, she saw something she didn't expect: Bones was rushing around the camp aimlessly. There didn't seem to be anyone else. "Bones?", she asked loudly.
The man instantly turned around.
"Oh thank the Order", he exclaimed. "You're safe"

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?"

"I...I don't know. Just had to be sure. This world is dangerous. Even more dangerous than death", he replied, putting weird emphasis on the last bit.

Now the adrenaline started to settle again, the tiredness finally took over.
"Right", she replied shortly. Skye expected Bones was just as tired as she was and believed that to be the reason he was acting a bit off- or maybe he wasn't and Skye was just imagining things. Anyway, sleep was necessary.
"We should sleep," she sighed, "want me to take the first watch?"

"No!", he exclaimed. "I will. You look tired. Need to sleep. This planet is dangerous. Even more dangerous than death", he replied, again.

"You sure?"

The man, who seemed to have a light yellow tint in his eyes, something Skye didn't notice, nodded firmly. "And the girl should too"

"Obviously", Skye replied while she nodded. "Thanks. Better be setting up then"

"I'll be here, watching you. You two just get some rest. It's safest that way"

"Uh-uh", the dark haired woman replied. She then turned towards the young Alliance soldier and told the soldier to follow her. A few meters further and she lied down on the ground, using her backpack as a pillow. She really was too tired to think about any shelter or anything, and neither did they need it. Besides, if anything happened, Bones was still here. Skye motioned her prisoner to lie down as well, close to her, so that she wouldn't be able to slip away, or be taken. As she watched the woman lie down and pack her things, Skye gave her a small but genuine smile when the woman looked at her. Something which even surprised herself, she definitely realised how hostile she had been to the captive and that the captive was with her worst enemy, but she still shot her a smile.
Strange.

And then she dozed off in what seemed to be a matter of seconds.

 

[Ayda Elisantra]

She was exhausted, tired and filthy.
Ayda was complying and not giving any reason to have the woman think she was a risk to her and her comrade. She was well aware that they didn't really need her. She was just a prisoner of their war and had to comply to what was expected of her...and that was to remain alive.

She had paid little attention to the four corpses when the woman lead her to relieve herself. For that, she was grateful, despite she could have held it till daybreak. But her ploy had also been to inquire as to the woman's comrade's whereabouts as he had been gone awhile. That concern was put to rest when she too heard him call out for Skye.

Ayda took to following the woman as ordered, keeping pace with her. A steady pace... not too lagging, not too gaining, so as to not change the dynamics of her captor's perception of her. And that's when she took notice of the first body...the rate of decomposition. Same with the other two, including Sage. The discoloration seemingly completely drained from their features. Her eyes had fully acclimated to the night, seemingly able to make out such details with their features.
She found that rather odd...the accelerated decomposition. But she couldn't say anything for the man banes had returned to the campsite, but in a rather odd form. She easily picked up that he were in some state of shock...in a sort of delirious state of confusion. Again, it were not her place to inquire at this point, lest she provoke the girl to lash out her frustration at her.
Still, Ayda's desire to help was greatly over riding her other sensibility. She had to remain focused on keeping her own temple from coming to irreparable harm. Here, even a doctor would find it difficult to heal themselves. There were too many viperous pathogens in many forms, perhaps many of them unknown or undiscovered on this system.

Her desire to help...even to perform a simple neurological exam. The man seemed highly irrational. only that the woman whom Ayda could see were as exhausted if not more than her, wasn't noticing.
Again, she had to remind herself she was not on equal terms with them both, especially the woman. It was difficult to gauge her, as Ayda kept reclusive of her self, due to the woman's off pitch. She could be force sensitive and connected in a manner not unlike herself, but on a different plane. Ayda didn't know of the order of Ren, otherwise she'd have known it were of force sensitive disciples following the darker side of the force.

She was afforded to make herself more comfortable in view of her captor, getting the use of her pack as a pillow. despite the darkness and mist, Dagobah was relatively warm...most likely due to all the layers of compost.
It was then that a slight wisp of breeze brought about the repugnant odor of the decaying corpses to her olfactories. It immediately took her breath away, for this was the decrepitude of once living flesh.
"Cough...g..ghack..." She reflexed some vomit, spinning her torso to have it fall away from her.

"Cough...cough... aspew, spit... spit..." It had not been her choice at all, to be closer to the dead bodies. She had obeyed her captor in laying where she could be easily seen, and that unfortunately was near the body of sage and the others. It may not have been done on purpose, for the woman had allowed her to relieve herself and pull the pack that was close to Sage's body to use as a kind of pillow.
"...ugh...ghuhg...spit..spit..."
She couldn't help it, spitting out as much regurgitated remnant of what MRE she had with Sage hours before. Ayda slightly re-positioned herself with her back to her semi digested meal and the bodies. Curling up in a fetal position, she drew her shirt over her nose. It helped, but she could still smell the rotting flesh of man. It was horrid, and she gave a slight shiver, tightly closing her eyes to help her shut out the barbarity of everything around her. She couldn't disconnect...not with the woman shadowing her... or so her senses warned her.

But just as the breeze had blew the dead in her direction, it took it away the next.
She slightly nudged a bit further away from the carcasses and her last meal, trying to get herself some sleep. It were the only way to maybe avoid the stench, if the breeze changed again. Then of course, there was the man. he was still somehow trying to figure out how to keep them safe...or so she were picking up his mumbling. And occasionally, he'd walk the perimeter and back...over and over, while mumbling.

It crept up on her without so much of her trying...sleep.
But it had come in way of her consciousness weaving in and out, while still trying to maintain cover. Even when the smell of the dead crept back, she were in the realm of sleep too deep for her to notice. Ayda had been able to shut out the man, the stench and her anxiety of being at the mercy of her captors.

Dagobah wasn't all bad...it was just old...cranky bit of a planet that had been in the forefront of creation itself, but had overshot the typical evolution of a system from flora to fauna, resulting in millions of years of stagnant development. This in turn, just compounded the the ecosystem with endless cycles of growth, death, decay then back again...which only harvested more pathogens to take hold of the ecology to keep it somewhat in check...the accelerated decay of organic matter. And of it's creatures...they sub-divided after reaching their apex. There was little evolution taking place now on Dagobah...only the means of accelerating decay.

"Huh?...what?-" She were awakened by the woman...or so she thought.
Ayda remained looking at Skye for a few moments. A sense of dred overcame Ayda as she heard the woman mumble. had she succumed to what had overtaken the man called Bones?
no.
"Sigh.." She was relieved in finding the woman was in deep sleep...in REM.
Ayda looked around her. the man wasn't within her vision sights, as he may have wandered off during the night. It were difficult to say how long she herself had slept, but dawn was still not around the corner.
Ayda remained there, only she were transfixed on the woman...her breathing...her eye movements and lips, barely mumbling what the woman was saying or speaking too in her dream.

She sat up slowly and without a sound, giving the entire makeshift camp a good once over. the man couldn't be seen or heard, and as much as she tried extending her senses, she couldn't get past the immediate tree line and roots. Ayda then turned her attention to the woman, as she were now drawn to Skye, taking a better look at the woman's features. Yes, she were not much older in life years ahead of herself...but most certainly had room for her spirit to grow, despite it was being stunted. It had the stain of darkness pitch she rarely could get to touch. Yet, this one still had enough purity unstained for her to maybe court...meld herself in a symbiotic connection. If only she would allow her. Ayda shed some of her skin...allowing a part of her spirit exposed in the darkness of Dagobah like a shard from a white star. It's rays were not so much like mere white light, but something between light and matter. it were like a hand..an arm outstretching to another spirit burrowed deep inside a dark temple.

She could not do much but feel around the outskirt of Skye's temple looking for a window to peek in...the woman's dream. But she couldn't be in, nor see the dream without the host allowing her enter...she needed an invite.
But she could touch momentarily..tickle in a way...to stir her to move..to cycle through a dream to maybe notice her in the distance. Although Ayda's spirit were as close to the woman as two lovers could be, she was still physically and spiritually distant...only the projection of her spirit self were amplified, seemingly touching the woman...coaxing her to enter a realm between the conscious and unconsciousness...a kind of 'witching hour state' in this stasis, the dreamer could believe itself to be fully awake, but not. All that were thought to be around were the dream stasis, perfectly reconstructed like that of the actual present.
The woman could believe she was awakening...even opening her eyes, but she were in deep sleep, only seeing with her inner eyes, through her own unconsciousness. If she allowed herself to see Ayda, the young intern would be sitting on the ground where her actual body would be...only in her spirit form...a mirror image of Ayda in the flesh...with a near translucent body and skin...pure...like light itself taking the form of a young woman.

 

[Skye Achlys]

The small waves gently splashed onto the beach.

She recognized this place.
Her home.
Her place to retreat to.
The deepest part of her soul.

She was here. Again.

Skye was slowly walking along the beach, as close to the water as possible while still making sure she didn't actually touch it. Her hair was gently lifted by the wind as she kept walking. Her body was covered by some pretty, casual yet easy-fitting clothes, a big contrast to the armor heavy outfits she usually wore.

It was so calm and so extremely peaceful- which was lucky, for she knew not all of her stays here had been pleasant. When she first reached this place she didn't know what it was or what to expect. Those visits had been hell, filled with another fear of her own imperfections become reality every time she was there.
But in time, even though the fears she had hadn't necessarily dissapeared and she still suffered from them in the real world, they had disappeared from this place, this core. Here she had learned to take control. To be at peace.
She walked around with her hand behind her back, maskless and smiling.
That was all she did. She just peacefully and calmly walked along the waterside.

Until she felt something. It wasn't near her- it couldn't reach her or the core she was in, yet she still felt its presence.
Not sure about what it was Skye stopped walking and peered around her, but no, it really wasn't here. It was outside.
And just as she assured itself it was indeed not able to get into her dreams, she blinked. Where she stood on her peaceful beach before the blink, after it she was laying back on Dagobah where she had fallen asleep earlier. It all felt so real, Skye could see Dagobah perfectly, yet she couldn't move, something she didn't notice at first.
The feeling was stronger here, as if the source had only sent out a small part to her as a message- to let Skye know it was here. That it was waiting.

But what was it?

It was only then that Skye noticed. Only then did her eyes allow her to see.
What had first been just a feeling had now developed into a sort of light, a matter. Something...unexplainable. So pure. So....everything.
Even though the presence was too much for Skye to comprehend in this state, she could make the figure out to be a woman- and a beautiful one at that.

Yet it didn't comfort her, as the presence was still not fully in Skye's domain. Skye didn't know what it was and therefore didn't know its intentions- and that made her uncomfortable. For the presense that seemed so relaxing, warm and pure could just as likely be a threat to her. It wouldn't have been the first time.

She felt it reached out to her. She couldn't actually properly see the movements of the presence as Skye was still too overwhelmed by it, but she felt its touch- or its desire to make contact. Skye didn't reach out for the presence, this...woman. No, she still couldn't move and now she realised it.
She lied there and without moving, she took a firm hold of the woman. She didn't know how or what she took a hold of. She just knew that she had her.
And with that she pulled her to her own domain- where she could set the rules.
If the presence thought it could just barge in and be confusing and all that, it was wrong. Even though Skye was compelled to it, she was too skeptical and overwhelmed. She just couldn't make sense of it here.
Even though it gave Skye such a warm and loving feeling, the woman had learned those feeling often coexisted with danger.


After grabbing the pure life form, Skye blinked again and now it had the exact opposite result.
The dark haired woman was now standing back on the beach with her hair dancing in the wind in an elegant manner, only standing a few centimeters away from the gentle water. About thirty meters in front of her the light appeared again. She had invited it into her home. Here she dared to face it. Here she made the rules. Here she felt safe.
Where she had been without a mask and wearing casual clothes earlier, now, as a result of the presense's arrival, she stood there wearing both her mask and her armor. These would be able to be taken away in time, but as she didn't know what the light was yet, whether it was friend or foe, because she didn't know, she kept hiding behind her clothing for now
Skye just stood there, hands behind her back as the light seemed to form into a young woman again, but this time it didn't just stop with a basic form. This time it kept going, turning into a familiar face and a ( less familiar ) body.