Graveyard--Justice Shipping; ask for invite

[Kay-Larr]

Kay looked down to [member="James Justice"] as he began to climb up and shout his question out at her. "Nothing yet. Just the mess down there." She sat down at the top of the mushroom tree, watching [member="Thraxis"] as he made his way back to the Miss Fortune. At least he was staying away from her. The smell up there was better too.

She dug into her satchel and dug out a ration bar, opened it and had a bite. "When you get a moment, I'll have to show you something that I found." Would it be safe for them to spend the night there? Only time would tell.

[member="Stardust"] [member="Dominik Borra"] [member="Julian Valentine"]

 

[James Justice]

The Spacer pulled himself up and sat in a crook nestled inside the join of where one of the mushroom-like limbs met the stalk of these fungal trees. He sighed through his nose; even for him this was a fething good kettle of fish he found himself in.

"Great," he called back to Kay feigning a smile, "Nothin' is better than somethin' bad, right?"

His ears perked at the sound of a guteral groan and he raised his hand for silence. The stench that was from bellow was getting worse as the sound of the groan came again. The ground shook as every muscle in his body tensed, ready to kill or be killed whatever was coming for them. His mind was bent on one thing; get to the Well of Souls. Get to Leighlah. Get to her no matter--

Suddenly the ground split open beneath the tree, dirty speckled into the air like a cannon volley. What came forth was nothing short of an abomination.

Its putrid, rotting flesh was discolored purple and lined with discolored mucus. Dozens of lashing squid-like tentacles thrashed from its body, tearing limbs from trees and hurling them as hard and as far as it could. A quartet of red bulbous eyes glared out from its center, raging with blood lust. Several of its tentacle limbs whipped the dead bodies of the Lagarbaa into its massive maw with hundreds of needle like teeth lining it. Its hulking body was at least the size of a rancor, plus its whipping, lashing limbs. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

James sprang from the tree limb he was on, his legs hitting the ground with a painful jolt. As adrenaline flowed through his veins the Spacer ran like he never had before. Away from the monster, blindly into the woods. For his life. For Leighlah.

[member="Lady Kay"]
[member="Thraxis"]
[member="Gray Raxis"] (If you want in)
[member="Stardust Raxis"] (If you are still around)
[member="Dominik Borra"]
[member="Darth Ayra"]
[member="Julian Valentine"]
[member="Gavin XIII"]

((Appolgize for the delay my good people, thank you for your patience))

 

[Thraxis]

He had no idea how, maybe the Gravitation of the planet could mess and alter someones perception of time, but it felt like months had passed, his eyes fluttering into a cloud of darkness as his body grew limp. One last look at the creatures that blocked his doorway before finally he fell into the sweat release of unconsciousness.

Then came a roar. A thud and a bounce of his body as he sprung to life, even though it felt like months, his body ached and moaned as he peered through a small gap between the flesh and bone of the cute critters. An eye widened as a tear fell from his eye. Another pet. He quickly bounced and looked to the container, the beast had managed to upturn it, landing with a tough thud as Baronson von Heinderreich quickly scampered away into the dense mushroom littered forest.

He quickly squared up, pulling at his armor as he shook his head, a few hard butts of his skull against the wall to wake him up as he pushed the carcasses out of his way, his arm raised to the sky with Pistols in hand as he pointed to the thing. "Listen here brother! Imma gonna lay the smackdown on ya, one way or another!" he yelled aloud, hoping to gain the beasts attention. Though his head quickly darted to the side. It seemed James had other plans, scampering out of sight and into the blanket of the forest. With a weak shrug he turned back to the creature. "Because when it comes to Kicking Ass and Chewing Bubblegum, I'm the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be!" he said with an almost harmonic screech as he dropped him arms down, taking aim and releasing a few bullets to draw the monsters attention.
[member="Stardust Raxis"] [member="James Justice"] [member="Lady Kay"] [member="Dominik Borra"]
[member="Julian Valentine"] [member="Gavin XIII"]

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Lady Kay"] | [member="Thraxis"] | [member="Gray Raxis"] | [member="Stardust Raxis"] | [member="Dominik Borra"] | [member="James Justice"] | [member="Julian Valentine"] | [member="Gavin XIII"] |

[OOC: Welcome back, James!]

A low chant was in flow, as the Sesie waited for the ceremony to commence. It was a low, yet guttural hum, mixed with a dialect of Sith'ise, whose syntax had changed over the centuries since their imprisonment upon the Visuom. The doors to the hut opened. The procession of tribal women, who had prepared their sacrifice, was led by the head priest. The skies cackled ominously; the air, once humid, now seemed deathly cold; and the dark side of the Force hung over the Sesie and their captured Dark Lord, almost clinging onto their skin.

The bonfire was an inferno. A vortex of energy, brought together through fire and brimstone, as if to announce the Sesie once more to the Force. As the procession walked forward, the crowds parted, making way for them as they edged closer to the fires. Laying on the stretcher that carried her, Darth Ayra remained still and silent, despite her predicament. Her hair was loosely, sprawled around her beauty face. Her body, alien to the Sesie, glistened against the light of the bonfire. She was a sight to behold.

The pyre, where the sacrifice was to be left, rested on the edge of the bonfire, awaiting the Dark Lord. Lowering her beside it, the men- under the order of the priest- lifted her up and onto the pyre, attached her limbs to either side. Raising the Dark Lord up into the sky, the Sesie stared up in awe as the priest begun to recite the incantations to their freedom from the terrible Visuom.

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

She looked back at the group and groaned as they seemed not to move as she sat down as she checked the core in her arm and saw she was 75% charged with ammo a sage it back before she stood and looked around the place watching for any type of threat...

Of course ya know in a freaking alien planet safety seem to exist as a freaking nother monstrosity popped out of it's hell hole just to ruin the already crap day"alright then"she watched James run and stood as she would give him time to run"alright James I'll hold it off"she said as she looked the the beast as she ran beside [member="Thraxis"] and looked over to him"well back at this again"she said as she watched him charged and dig it herself as she dodged it's tentacles blowing fire at them *hate fire? I hope?

[member="James Justice"] [member="Lady Kay"] [member="Dominik Borra"] [member="Gray Raxis"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

[member="James Justice"] just HAD to say it, didn't he? Just after he spoke, the source of the smell made it's appearance. It looked just as awful as it smelled, with the attitude to match.

And in a blink of an eye, her adopted brother disappeared. "Hey! Wait up!" Kay climbed down as quickly as she could, jumping down the last five feet, before she began chasing after him. Something other than fear was motivating him. It was almost desperation. She had to find out why....

[member="Stardust Raxis"] [member="Gray Raxis"] [member="Thraxis"] [member="Darth Ayra"]

 

[James Justice]

Running. Feet pounding. Lungs aching. Breath ragged. James could feel his body screaming in protest. It couldn't maintain this level of rapid force much longer; the crash, the hoard of Lagaarbaa, and now... whatever this monster was. It was more packed into a few hours than most beings experienced in a lifetime. But the Spacer not only was used to the full throttle, he refused to stop because of it. Not when he was this close to Leighlah. For the first time in many years he felt like he had something not just to run from--but to run to.

"Hey wait up!"

The words broke James out of his massive tunnel vision. He halted right in his tracks and found himself struggling for balance.

He stood at the edge of a cliff, on the edge of a chasm that stretched for what looked--and felt--like hundreds of feet down. James' eyes peered into the darkness, there was something there, something not on the other side but something inside it. Something he needed to get to. It was calling him, it was pulling him, and he could only think of one thing that would. He looked back to Kay, still catching his breath, 'Hey, sorry.'

[member="Lady Kay"]
[member="Stardust Raxis"]
[member="Darth Ayra"]
[member="Thraxis"]
[member="Dominik Borra"]

 

[Thraxis]

As his arm extended he started to release a volley of fire, Maths was never a strong suit, though most things weren't a strong suit. he broke into a sweat, blood pumping the adrenaline as he ignored the fact his bullets were simply making an inch through the skin before falling to the ground softly. It didn't take long before he came to the realization, all his ammo was left in the Container, and now he was almost out, with a single bullet in each gun.

He paused short of being in melee range for himself, the beast was well within range of smacking the hell out of him. Looking up at the beast, an aura of power and dominance washed over him, his eyes watering as a smile split across his face, his gut fluttered with joy at the terror that stood before him. He knew that the beast thought of hims as nothing more then an insect, but he saw a challenge, a true creature to be feared. Like the old stories go, kill the Princess and save the Dragon.

As he looked to the beast he caught a glimpse of the Twi'lek, releasing a gout of flames onto the beast. He was almost certain everyone else would have fled, but instead it seemed others were up the challenge. He looked behind the beast, a forest of mushrooms was not far off. If the need be, he could make a hasty retreat, recover then come back and give it another go, but his options weren't withered yet. He still had his fists, as useless as they may be.
[member="James Justice"] [member="Stardust Raxis"] [member="Lady Kay"]
[member="Darth Ayra"] [member="Dominik Borra"]

 

[Thraxis]

As his arm extended he started to release a volley of fire, Maths was never a strong suit, though most things weren't a strong suit. he broke into a sweat, blood pumping the adrenaline as he ignored the fact his bullets were simply making an inch through the skin before falling to the ground softly. It didn't take long before he came to the realization, all his ammo was left in the Container, and now he was almost out, with a single bullet in each gun.

He paused short of being in melee range for himself, the beast was well within range of smacking the hell out of him. Looking up at the beast, an aura of power and dominance washed over him, his eyes watering as a smile split across his face, his gut fluttered with joy at the terror that stood before him. He knew that the beast thought of hims as nothing more then an insect, but he saw a challenge, a true creature to be feared. Like the old stories go, kill the Princess and save the Dragon.

As he looked to the beast he caught a glimpse of the Twi'lek, releasing a gout of flames onto the beast. He was almost certain everyone else would have fled, but instead it seemed others were up the challenge. He looked behind the beast, a forest of mushrooms was not far off. If the need be, he could make a hasty retreat, recover then come back and give it another go, but his options weren't withered yet. He still had his fists, as useless as they may be.
[member="James Justice"] [member="Stardust Raxis"] [member="Gray Raxis"]
[member="Darth Ayra"] [member="Dominik Borra"]

 

[Progflaw99]

The Chase...

Parts of asteroids burst in a small explosion of small rocks and space debris, peppering the hull of the small YG-4210. Blast marks could be seen on its mostly white hull. A small twin turret was firing rapidly behind it, the ship itself dodging and weaving in the asteroids surrounding a nearby planet. The ship was extremely maneuverable, nearly scraping the asteroids it passed it was so close. Pursuing the sleek YG model ship was a small "Cloakshape" Fighter, dutifully firing away in an obvious attempt to disable the ship. A few of the green blaster bolts fired from the ship landed squarely on the hull near the engine, a small shower of sparks bouncing off the hull into space. Another volley from the small ship landed across the cockpit, more sparks and a small panel were knocked loose from the ship as a small piece of debris ricocheted off the hull. Rapidly, the twin turret on the ship being chased fired off a quick volley of blaster fire, creating a minefield of asteroid debris behind him. As the debris floated into space, the small cloakshape fighter pulled up, losing the YG temporarily behind a large hulk of space ore. Inside the YG, a rough looking man sat at the helm, carefully and quickly manipulating the controls. His brown, shoulder length hair was slick with perspiration, his jaw tightly clenched. Green eyes, narrowed with concentration peered out from behind a few stray locks of hair. The pilot's white knuckled grip on the controls seeming to be the only thing keeping the ship from smashing into thousands of pieces into the surface of an asteroid.


-----


"Denn Ralto."

A chuckle escaped the Toydarian. He floated on his wings over to the other side of the bar from the man.

"You know... I could have sworn Kendo told you to get out, and stay out the last time you were here." A sly smile could be seen on his face. "What're ya havin' ?"

The man standing opposite of him grunted slightly, pointing at a particularly dusty bottle on the shelf.

"You never were much for words were you.. I suppose you know they're already on their way then, had you pegged the moment you entered orbit?"

The man raised his eyes, the brim of his hat no longer concealing his eyes.

"Yeah, I figured as much. Here's for the damages, sorry about that Gerro."

Denn Ralto stood up straight, reaching out and picking up the glass the Toydarian, Gerro, had filled with the amber liquid. He knocked his head back, draining the glass quickly before setting it back down on the bar. As soon as the cup had touched the bar, an electronic chirp sounded, the few people already in the bar hastily rose, their drinks forgotten. They rushed out the door, not looking back. The man had thrown a small credit stick at Gerro. Gerro, in turn, had reached out and put it into a pocket on the brown leather vest he wore. His eyes looked past the man and saw a silhouette in the door, it was then that he made a wise decision to duck behind the counter. Not a fraction of a second later, a red blaster bolt shot past the man's head, passing right through the air where the Toydarian had been moments before and crashing into the bottles on the shelf. Liquor and glass exploded into the air, and that's when the man made his move.

Faster than a can of greased lightning, he brushed his duster aside, the DE-10 Heavy blaster jumping from the leather holster strapped to his right hip into his hand. He turned to his left, ducking low as the barrel of his blaster came around, blue bolts flying true, straight towards the silhouette in the doorway. Three of the four bolts hit the figure center mass, throwing the body back into the street. Two more figures darted into the small establishment, one heading left, the other right. Denn, the man in the hat, quickly fired two more shots at the one heading left before vaulting over the counter and keeping his head down. Several more red blaster bolts were fired towards him, some hitting the vertical wall of the bar, others hitting the shelf behind causing more liquor and glass to shower on top of the now huddled human and toydarian...


-----


The YG shot out from behind a larger asteroid, the twin blaster firing as soon as the cloakshape fighter had appeared in front of it. Three solid shots landed right behind the cockpit of the cloakshape, sending it spinning into the asteroid field as bits of debris bounced off its hull casting sparks into space. An explosive shout of victory sounded over the alarms and signals inside the cockpit of the YG. The man's hands were raised but quickly returned to the controls as several collision alarms sounded.

*I made it... those suckers deserved that.*

Denn Ralto reduced power to his engines, slowing the ship down and slipping around a few asteroids. He furled his brow slightly as a new alarm sounded, this one a little more urgent sounding than the others. Denn's green eyes flicked to a vertical display to his left.

Gravitational Anomaly Detected. Adjust course to avoid falling out of orbit.

He stared blankly for a moment. How did that make any sense... The ship lurched, the nose angling towards the planet. In his haste to escape the cloakshape fighter, he'd drifted out of the safe zone. He clenched his teeth as the ship began to head towards the surface, a cacophony of alarms sounding, none of them serious but all of them letting him know if he didn't adjust his descent now, he may not get another chance. Fighting the controls, he edged the nose up, adjusting his entry angle so that he wouldn't burn up in the atmosphere. As he finally wrestled the ship into a survivable entry angle, a hard jolt shook the hull of the ship, vibrating from the core. Grinding his teeth, Denn flicked a few switches, shutting down the main engine, hoping his thrusters and auxiliary would be enough to at least land the ship in one piece.

The ship streaked across the sky, smoke trailing from the main engine module. Its pilot had shut it down but it was still winding down. The ship floated through the sky for about a minute before it curved left over a small forested valley. As it got lower and lower, Denn thought he saw the remains of a shattered ship, in fact, he saw many such wrecks as he progressed. There was one that looked newer than the rest he noted. As he brought the ship in for his final landing, he underestimated the altitude, a large tree slamming the left side of the hull causing it to keel to the right... right into the crest of a small fungi covered hill. A loud screech could be heard as the hull scraped along the ground, thankfully for Denn, he'd already been going slow and preparing to land. The hull of the ship settled, one of the main landing gear struts bent at an unnatural angle, and some of the hull plating had been dented, but it seemed to be intact. Inside, Denn quickly grabbed his duster off a hook on the wall, heading to the entry ramps, hitting the hydraulic switch that would send the ramps down to the ground.

He mumbled a string of curses under his breath as the heat from the jungle environment hit him, the heavy thick air nearly causing him to cough. Slipping on his duster, he began inspecting his ship for damage.

[member="Thraxis"] | [member="James Justice"] | [member="Lady Kay"] | [member="Stardust Raxis"] | [member="Darth Ayra"] |​

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

Stardust had been slashing and burning the darn thing for so long and it wasn't doing a thing I her at all"die you get"she yelled as she looked at the sky quickly as she watched another shop come down and crashed nearby as she tracker it before she gasped as was thrown back by the thing but landed on so vegetation before standing g up and relaxing she couldn't...

She quicky turned and ran heading to here she saw the ship crash....and would hope to god she didn't run into anything

[member="James Justice"] [member="Lady Kay"] [member="Thraxis"] [member="Denn Ralto"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay skidded to a halt, nearly tripping over half covered rocks in the ground, just in time to see [member="James Justice"] standing at the edge of a cliff. The drop below was massive. Just trying to see the bottom gave her a bit of vertigo and caused her to step back. "James...you should step back here before you lose your balance....." He had an odd look in his eyes, a look that she knew. It was of longing. What was he thinking?

Behind them she could still hear the noises from [member="Thraxis"] , [member="Stardust Raxis"] and the monster. And then a new sound from above. A ship fell past them, but the pilot seemed to have some semblance of control. That gave her a bit of hope.

Kay's eyes returned to James. "What did we really come here for?..." She was beginning to wonder if there was some ulterior motive that drew him here.

[member="Denn Ralto"]

 

[James Justice]

James blinked twice and swallowed. He heard Kay's question but it took his mind a few moments to make sense of her question and statement. He took a halting step back from the cliff and leaned back against the tree. He could hear in the background the raging of the monster against [member="Thraxis"] and its relentlessness against @Stardust's bloody barrage. But all of that faded for the moment, the world around him faded as James stood there motionless.

"I saw her," he whispered, the words barely escaping his lips. "Leighlah. My wife," he turned, his glazed over eyes looking across the expanse before them, "She came to me as we were sleeping. I dream about her every night. I dream and--and--and sometimes I wish I would never wake up. I beg her every night to let me stay, to not make me go. And every night she tells me," For years the pain had been hot on his chest, like a searing iron, but by now he had felt it so long he was numb. Numb to everything, "She tells me that I got a job to do and to make her proud."

The spacer shuffled his feet for a moment, swallowing and drawing his mind back to what he had wanted to say, "This time she said something different. She told me--she told me to meet her. She said she would be waiting. Waiting at the Well of Souls," his dead eyes looked at Kay with a need, a need different from his normal burning, soul consuming desire to forget. This was the real desire of raw pain that could not be hidden or ignored, "I Need this. I need it to be real. I need her to be there, to find it, to find her. There has to be a way."

[member="Lady Kay"]
[member="Denn Ralto"]
[member="Darth Ayra"]
OOC: Thanks Ayra!

 

[Thraxis]

Thraxis paused for a second, it seemed everyone had fled the battle except him, the last vanguard to oppose such a mighty beast. His teeth grinding against themselves, he looked ahead of him, he could still run, like a craven creature, though would he be able to walk with pride. He had no intention of running, he would fight this beast till his last breath.

With haste he broke into a sprint, his fists clenched as he ran to scale the beasts hide, he had already seen the eye, and where there is an eye, the brain is never not to far behind it. His body bounced along the carcass. It took him a few minutes, precariously jumping along the hide as the beast clawed itself, its tentacles lashing along itself and leaving obvious streaks of red along its hide. The thing had been harming itself.

As he reached the pinnacle he took in the sight, it was as if he stood atop the mountain. Though for too long he looked, as a rushing tentacle came swinging along its head, crashing against his body as his bones cracked in succession, his body flung high over the tree tops and away from the rest of the group.

His life flashed before his eyees as he narrowed closer and closer to the canopy, realizing how much of his life he had spent engulfed in rage, in hate and fury. These were his favorite emotions. They were primal and sparked a flare in his eye. He had so much more hate to give, fury to spread and rage to embrace. No he could not die here, not by some insignificant monster. He was going to live. He had too, even if his head was cleaved from is neck he would go on.

Then it came, his body clattering through the canopy, his body bouncing like a ragdoll along the branches before coming to a sudden halt between the branches. His entire body quaked with pain as he grabbed his chest, he could feel the broken rib cage. He sat in there for an hour, his body resting up as he kept himself from falling into the sweet embrace of death. Beneath him he heard the scurrying, it was so familiar, the same sound that caused this wonderful scenario to occur. His lips parted as he smiled, chuckling as he waited for the stampeded to grow silent.
[member="James Justice"] [member="Stardust Raxis"]
[member="Lady Kay"] [member="Denn Ralto"]

 

[Progflaw99]

The heat...

That was the first thing he'd noticed about this planet. It wasn't the nice warm, dry heat of the desert. This was sticky, wet, and humid. The local fauna was colorful and on any other day might have actually kept his attention but today it was a pain in his back. Denn Ralto had returned to his ship to retrieve a large machete and a small hatchet after seeing how much foliage had managed to entangle itself with the hull of his craft. His duster hung off of one of the bent landing gear, sweat lining his brow and soaking his rough shirt. He was hacking away at a particularly thick branch of what he could only assume was the payback for any number of countless bad things he'd done. He cursed low under his breath and stood for a moment, catching his breath. The engines had cooled slightly but still made sounds as the metal cooled further. What had he gotten himself into this time. He didn't expect to be chased as hard as he had been, he tensed his jaw his fingers flexing as he stretched the muscles in his arm. He'd managed to get most of the foliage tangled up in the landing gear cleared, there were only a few small bushes and branches tangled up in the last one.

Denn unknowingly had perched his ship right on the edge of a large cliff, too much farther and he would have dropped off of the edge. He'd managed to get his ship landed mostly without damage, a few dings in the hull plating and a one of the landing gear bent, it could have been much worse. In this state, his ship looked like it might actually be repairable. He hadn't checked the engines thoroughly yet, but he knew that was going to be the main struggle. Denn wasn't a mechanic by trade, but he did fine work when it came to maintenance. Stepping back from his ship, he noticed a pair of particularly deep blast marks right above the main engine housing. If he had to wager a guess, the connections there were probably severed. He'd have to scrounge up some additional cable and splice it in to get the main engine up and running again. He spit on the ground, narrowly missing his foot. He wiped his brow on his rolled sleeve, picking up the small hatchet and wearily preparing to go to work on clearing the remaining foliage from his landing gear.

---

Blaster bolts peppered the bar, the Toydarian glaring at Denn. In his hands, the Toydarian carried a short double barreled, sawn-off slug thrower. Denn forced a grin, waiting for the firing to slow, indicating a reload. Three more blaster bolts flew overhead, and that's when it happened. For a brief moment, the establishment was silent, smoke rising from blaster scorches about the room. Denn grit his teeth and let loose a howl of anger as he stood and lifted the heavy barrel of his blaster pistol towards his first target, to his left. Time seemed to slow as he gently squeezed the trigger, a bright blue bolt of energy streaking towards its target. The man to his right was struggling with reloading his blaster as the first man was struck by the bolt. With a sickening sizzle the blue bolt hit the man squarely in the chest, propelling him backwards. The sweet smell of burning flesh filling the air for the first time. As Denn turned to face the other man, two shots whirred past his head. It appeared the other thug had managed to get his blaster reloaded. Aligning the barrel of his blaster with the man, Denn fired again. This time the bolt clipped the thug in the shoulder, spinning him to the side as his blaster discharged into the ceiling before crumpling to the ground.

A loud crash came from the back of the room. The rear entrance had been kicked open, two more thugs entering, blasters firing. Ducking low, Denn managed to get the first one, sending him sprawling into a wooden table and chairs. The second one had ducked behind an overturned table. As Denn thought about how best to get the man out from behind the cover a near earth shattering roar erupted from beside him. The Toydarian had poked his head up from behind the counter, the slug thrower leveled at the table where the blaster wielding thug had taken cover. The table exploded in a shower of splinters and fragments, the man hiding behind the table shouting in pain as the slugs entered his body. Blood had sprayed across the back wall, the man rolling around on the floor. The slugs had caught him in the leg. A strange silence set in, broken only by the man's ever quieter whimpers of pain. As everything began to settle, the Toydarian had begun reloading his antique weapon. Denn stood, letting his arms fall to his sides, his jaw slowly un-clenching. He looked over to the Toydarian before speaking in a low tone.

"Figure that's about the end of it..." He spit on the floor, grimacing. "Looks like I'm going to owe you a few more credits."

As the pair relaxed, taking a deep breath, a shadow passed in front of the door. The Toydarian narrowed his eyes, slowly backing away from the door and raising his slug thrower in surrender. Denn looked up, peering out from beneath the brim of his hat. He spit once again, cursing under his breath.

"Sithspit."

Standing in the doorway loomed a figure all too recognizable...

*Kendo Stav...*

---

He'd finished hacking away the last bits of vegetation from the landing gear. He'd returned to the interior of his ship to retrieve a small toolbox and had hoisted himself up atop the hull and begun investigating the engines, specifically the blast points on the main engine housing. Sweat dripped from his hair, his clothing stained with sweat after he had let himself loose on the fauna earlier. Now the sun beat down on him as he began removing hull panels in an attempt to survey the damage to his engines, occasionally spitting off the side of the hull. Resting on the hull next to him, a dark bottle of whiskey, corked. It wouldn't stay that way for long.

[member="Thraxis"] | [member="James Justice"] | [member="Lady Kay"] | [member="Stardust Raxis"] | [member="Darth Ayra"]​

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

The jungle was thick and the air was hot and with stardust in the armor she was not having it and honestly a little grumpy

She hacked at the plants as she followed the smoke she could tell various life forms were watching her and occasionally would see a few that looked at her curiously before walking off

Stripped the armor off a she climbed the hill panting as she cursed underneath her breath till she could see the ship and broke into a jog calling out"hey! Anyone alive?

[member="Denn Ralto"] [member="Thraxis"] [member="James Justice"] [member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay cast her eyes downwards. [member="James Justice"] has had dreams of his wife? He was very lucky. No wonder he had been gone for a while. She hadn't had any dreams of her late husband. Only fleeting memories. She knew the longing that he felt, as she had felt it too. But that was a long time ago. Now she couldn't be selfish and pine over her long dead husband. She had to continue to fight the good fight.

But right now they were stuck on this planet. Another ship had come down. But James wasn't thinking straight, and she couldn't let him run off alone. They might never see him again. Her brother needed help. In more ways than one. "Alright James....I'll go with you and we'll find this Well of Souls together.. But let's just hope that finding it doesn't mean that we'd have to die too...." Kay doubted that she'd find her own husband there. After he died, he was just...gone. It was as if someone took his spirit away.

[member="Stardust Raxis"] [member="Denn Ralto"] [member="Gray Raxis"] [member="Thraxis"]

 

[James Justice]

James felt his spirits rise a little. It felt good that Kay didn't look at him like he was crazy or try to tie him down or... something. It felt like part of the weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He wasn't crazy, but he was still desperate, and dangerously so.

"We won't die," he said said confidently, he knew that Leighlah would always do the best for him, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that she would give up everything to take care of him. He reached over and gave his sister's shoulder a squeeze, "Thank you."

He looked at the ledge before them, spanning forever to the left, to the right, down, and ahead. There had to be a way around all of this, he knew it. He began pacing along, looking at the edge for a sort of answer. He had a good head for heights, part of that came from living in the nothingness of space for so long, where it was normal to look down into voids forever.

"Over here," James said, at last.

Hidden in the dark, just barely able to be seen was a winding staircase built into the side of the cliff. The stone was dark, almost smokey so and nearly invisible. It was incredibly narrow, barley wide enough for one person to walk along. It was as good an answer as any, he shrugged before storming down the stairs as fast as he dared. Time was not on his side, and he could feel it. His heart was bursting in his chest, not from exhaustion but from desire. As went further down the stairs, his mind, like so many times thought back to the last time he saw her. The smell of bacon and eggs hung in the air from that morning. It was the first day in his new job, marketing. She kissed him, held him close. Her hand gripped him a little firmer that day. Held him a little closer. Is everything alright? James remembered asking.

He remembered how she swallowed, how her eyes had twinkled for a moment with both fear, and exhilaration, like she was stepping off a cliff into the ocean. Unsure what was to come next, but not willing to stay stationary, "I'm pregnant."

[member="Lady Kay"]
[member="Stardust Raxis"]
[member="Denn Ralto"]
[member="Thraxis"]

 

[Thraxis]

He waited, his body pressed against the tree as they pounced in an almost hypnotic dance, the mass of flesh dissipating slower and slower before nothing remained but the injured, hobbling along as they fell further and further away from the pack. He twisted around to look at the last few that moved with a weak pounce. He parted a smile before climbing down, there was little to worry about those that couldn't defend themselves. This species thrived as a pack and died as an individual. It almost felt like natural selection was creeping up all around him, weeding out the weak. Until he realized that in his state, he is just as vulnerable as these things.

His head snapped back and fourth, he had lost what direction he had been flung in, though he doubted staying at the ship would do him any good. It seemed like everyone else had fled from the scene, the only one who stayed to be flung like a rag doll through the canopies. His arm clenched around his rib cage, he couldn't tell if he was in bleeding internally or externally, but he didn't feel like taking of his armor to check.

His free arm brushed against the few low lying shrubs growing beneath the mushrooms. He could hear the whispers, the almost silent growls of hunters waiting for the moment to pounce on the trey, they could smell his weakness. Though death would not give him a sweet embrace. As he moved slowly through a small temple laid ahead, its architecture similar to nothing he had ever viewed before. Though light itself was sucked away, the lighting of the mushrooms should have illuminated nearby only to be sapped away.. If he could feel the force, an almost paralyzing dark presence existed around it, the scurrying of animals fruitless hunt ending as they moved away. Even the plant life itself looking as if it wished to retreat.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSLWU1q1sfN0LpzqzNVnrUG5WtYJGCqAQyrbolgs47es2nyFsAMhw​

He pursued safety, a large looming mass of Darkness looming overhead, following him like a panther trying to stalk its prey. Its wide maw slowly being pushed open, Thraxis descended deeper into the mouth of the beast as he looked at all the architecture, its wooden frame presenting itself with ease as he looked at the Pews that had been cobbled along, pushed around in what looked to be a hurry. Though no moss grew here, no fungus had taken root in all the time this place stood. A relic that had been immune to the passing of time itself. Slowly he hobbled along, laying his body along a pew as he closed his eyes, safety washing over him as he stared to the front of the room.

There it was, sitting in stasis lied a corpse, its clothes like all else left behind by time. Though something was strange here, an eerie light that was almost unnatural to even this plane of existence radiated over its body, all else around it shrouded by a thin veil of darkness until normal light resumed. Beneath the clothes a skeleton lay, the clothes looking as if they had not been phased by the deteriorating skin, looking as if its body was still a tight fit. And in its hand, a large machete rested.
[member="James Justice"] [member="Stardust Raxis"] [member="Lady Kay"]
[member="Denn Ralto"]

 

[Progflaw99]

Denn had removed some of the external plating, revealing a tangled mess of cables and couplings.

"Well... That's not good." He muttered to himself.

He took a seat, cross legged on top of "Jenny" as he'd called her. She was his baby. He'd practically built her from the ground up. He'd spent two years getting her space-ready and it was at that point he'd named her, "The Genesis". It was as much a new beginning for the dated YG-4210 frame as it was for him, escaping from beneath the foot of the crime lords on Nar Shaddaa. As he contemplated how he would even begin to find replacement or repair parts for the damage the blasters of his pursuers had done, he popped the small cork from the bottle next to him. He took a long pull, savoring the crisp taste of the whiskey. Wiping some of the sweat from his brow on his sleeve, he sighed. He had seen a few wrecked ships on the way down, he probably could pull their location from the scanner system. That parts were likely old, but he figured he could probably find something salvageable, this planet looked like it hadn't been intentionally visited in a long time. As he took another pull from the glass bottle, he heard a voice coming from farther down the hill. His hand quickly slipped to the grip of his blaster. He set the bottle down, picked up his hat, and put it firmly on his head with his other hand. Denn slipped his leg beneath himself and pushed up, rising to his feet.

*Someone must have seen me on the way down... no telling what kind of folk are here, or why.*

Denn narrowed his eyes, trying to discern whom the voice had come from. As he began to focus, he saw a figure. Denn raised an eyebrow, a look of disbelief evident on his face. His hand rested on his blaster yet, but he relaxed slightly. He allowed the Twi'lek to get a little closer to the ship before hopping down from his perch atop the "Genesis". He spit on the ground as he rested one hand on his hip, the other on the grip of his DE-10 Heavy Blaster. When the woman had approached close enough that he could address her without shouting, he reached up with his left hand, tipping his hat in her direction.

"I may not feel like it, but I'm no worse for wear. Can't say the same for ol' "Jenny" here though."

Denn nodded in the direction of his ship.

"And what might you be doing out here? Best I can tell, this planet isn't exactly a trade world... this place eat your ship too?"

He chuckled at that. He'd seen a few crashed ships during his descent, that and the asteroid field in its orbit suggested that it had the tendency to pull in all sorts of things. Denn took a half step forward, taking his hand off his blaster and offered it to the woman.

"The name's Denn Ralto, nice to meet you, although I can't say I'm particularly fond of the circumstances. Got a blown primary power coupling and a phase inverter up top there, she won't be able to fly till I get those replaced."

Denn furled his brow slightly.

"You here with others? I detected a pretty large mass of heat signatures on my way down, couldn't exactly take the time to investigate though. Thought I mighta seen some blaster fire too."

Denn took a deep breath, giving the woman a slight smile as he awaited her response. She couldn't have been here alone, and she definitely didn't look like a local, at least not what he'd expect one to look like. He hadn't seen any of the local wildlife yet, so he really had no idea but he thought he could be fairly certain there wasn't a secret civilization of Twi'leks on this planet.

[member="Thraxis"] | [member="James Justice"] | [member="Lady Kay"] | [member="Stardust Raxis"]​