Lost In The Desert World

[Krayzen Dratos]

"I'm ready." he said, before he had left Voss. The Epicanthix had recently been assigned on a mission to Ryloth, in the hopes of settling a conflict between two gangs. Hoping to improve on his 'social' skills, he had volunteered to go; that, and the fact that he knew the criminal underworld well enough had made him a suitable candidate for the mission, although he did not know why he hadn't been assigned a supervisor.

Velus wasn't exactly the friendliest type. The death of his parents, as well as many friends, and soldiers to the Sith had made him cerate many personal barriers in order to make sure he wouldn't be hurt again. He had tried time, and time again to let go of the past, but it always seemed to come back to hunt him. It had left him with a secret addiction, as well as other injuries he had yet to let go.

Yet, over the past few months, he had striven to get better, get more social. He felt he was qualified enough to be able to go to Ryloth, and he hoped it would teach him more about other worlds he had yet experienced.

The trip had been long. Velus decided to spend some of that time sleeping. What had woken him up was something he didn't expect.

A sudden flash of alarms had woken him up. Sensors had indicated the ship was about to crash. Yet, it wasn't in the planet that he had been sent to travel. When Velus looked at the viewport, there was only one planet that had a lot of terrain akin to a desert, and was close to Ryloth

Tatooine.

As his ship began to descend to the planet, it began to be pulled apart: first was the engines, then the quarters that he had been staying in. Soon, all was left was the bridge. Velus hadn't noticed that, as he stood there, fear paralyzing his entire body. Is this how he would meet his end?

Some Time Later​

Velus coughed, his body filled with dirt, and other parts were broken. As he tried to stand up, an immense pain could be felt in his leg. He then saw that a piece of metal had pierced a part of his leg, while other part shad gotten the left side of his stomach.

"Aah!" Velus knew that he needed to remove the piece of metal in his leg, as well as the part of the stomach. The neutral apprentice used whatever that was left of his energy to rip a part of his clothing with his mouth, big enough to cover his wound. He then focused whatever mental energy he had to the task at hand, closing his eyes as he prepared himself for the pain that was to come.

Velus then touched the metal on his leg, slowly removing it, as he yelled in pain. "Aargah!" he yelled, as he finally removed it. The Rebel then quickly tied the wound. As he did this, the light that he could see was going away. When he finished, he fell down, as he slept.

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

What on earth was she doing on a dustball like this?

When last she had left Jakku, with Stephanie at her side, she had made a mental note to avoid such worlds for a long time, give them a wide berth, and yet here she was, back on another barren planet, with very little charm, and almost exactly zero redeeming features.

There was some relief, however, in the form of a slight breeze forced by the speeder between her legs. Moving at breakneck speeds wasn't something she got to experience very often these days, owing to the fact that she had stepped away from backwater planets a little bit, but here? On Tatooine? Who was going to enforce a limit on speed? Nobody. That's who.

Still, there had to be some limitations. The speeder wasn't hers to trash, after all, it was one she had refurbished, a project she had undertaken for a great many months, and now it was time for the ole thing to meet its new owner.

At least that had been the plan, until a fireball tore through the sky.

She wasn't far enough to avoid its zone of impact. When it struck sand a great wave was thrown outward, and she was knocked from the bike before she could even comprehend what was happening. Speeder went one way, Kyra went the other, and dusty sand lingered heavy in the air. That and the stench of smoke.

Coughing, Kyra moved slowly to stand as disorientation seized her body. Her limbs ached, her ribs felt bruised, and her head was heavy and swimming under the daze. Force knew where the speeder was, and while she cursed the loss of her cargo a very grim realization set over her.

If a ship fell, then likely so did its crew.

Hurrying through the smoke and sand the young woman came upon the first signs of the wreckage. Shrapnel littered the ground, sunk into the sand, scorched. A couple of bodies lay submerged, all hope for survival dashed against the rocks. There was no coming back from that. Kyra had seen a great many things, countless bodies had fallen at her feet, she had been in warzones, she had witnessed cold blooded murder, and yet regardless the sight of death here brought about a very visceral response. Enough to make her heave.

And then she heard it. Grunts of pain, and a sudden yell which split the air.

A survivor?

There was a survivor!

Immediately she tapped into her implants, utilizing them to contact the Bucket. She had left it back in the starport, figured it was easier than showing up at somebody's homestead with a lumbering hunk of metal. Now wasn't the time for regrets.

"Screw, it's Kyra. Bring the 'Bucket to these coordinates. And have the medical droids ready to assist the moment you land."

"Roger that, Captain, we'll be with you shortly."

Stumbling through the sand, Kyra dropped to her knees at the side of the final body. If she didn't know any better she'd have thought him as dead as the rest, but she could feel a very slight pulsation of life through the Force. He was bleeding, badly, a few pieces of bloodied metal lay at his side. Had he removed them himself? She looked somewhat irked at that. They would have stemmed the flow, now he was relying on mere compression to keep him alive.

And it was clear he hadn't the strength to properly stem the bleeding before he passed out.

Reaching out, Kyra pressed her hands over the main wound, the one at his stomach, and stared at the leg. A tourniquet would help, she knew, but could she get it done quickly enough to ensure he didn't bleed out?

"Come on, come on, where the kriff are you, Screw?"

After a few moments, which felt like an eternity, she exhaled sharply as she made up her mind. She removed her hands from his stomach and unbuckled her belt, swiftly bringing it to his leg - just above the wound. How many times had she been injured? How many times had she been fixed? Forced to tend to her own wounds until help arrived, or until she dragged herself reluctantly into a medical bay?

She was no medic, but she wouldn't have someone dying. Not if she could help it.

She tied it a little moreso than was necessary, restricting the blood flow, and brought her hands back to his torso where the bundle of cloth remained. If Screw didn't hurry then who knew what would happen.

[member="Velus"]

 

[Krayzen Dratos]

As he slept, the young Rebel dreamed about many things; he saw his life be replayed, seeing all the important events in his life. The death of his parents to the Sith, the death of his best friend to a One Sith soldier- the list would go on. All of a sudden however, his eyes slightly opened, awakaned by a slight sensation that he had left.

Someone was coming.

And that someone, from the little energy Velus had gathered from his slumber, told him whoever that was coming was friendly. "Beegh" he coughed, blood coming out of his mouth. It seemed his time had come. So this is how I die. Well, maybe I'll meet them in the after life. Yet, something else was telling him he still had a purpose to live for, or maybe he was just happy that he was alive. It didn't matter though. Even if he would willingly accept death, he was not stupid, being happy to have the chance to continue living.

It felt like forever, although it had only taken a few moments before he saw her come. Who's she? Velus however wasn't in a position to ask stupid questions. His condition was slowly worsening, and he needed to get help.

As he saw her come closer to him, he didn't move. She started pressing his leg, and where he had injured himself. "Aaah!" The sudden pain he felt instantly made him awake. His eyes slowly looked at her, slightly nodding in approval towards what she was doing. Whether he liked it or not, pain at times led to better circumstances, and it most certainly applied to this one.

Despite being grateful for help, even he wondered why: why would someone he had never met want to help him. Growing up in Nar Shadaa, and living in the underworld made him malicious people from all works of life: even if he had been with the Outer Rim Coalition, and the Silver Jedi, Velus at certain instances was surprised, this one included.

"Wh..y..are" he said, trying to muster up enough energy to speak. "you help..." Even with his efforts, he didn't finish the sentence. He could only hope she knew what he was asking, as he tried to be more aware of what was happening.

[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

Beneath her hands the body stirred, and she immediately dropped her gaze to him, straining to hear what he was trying to say. Part of her wanted to quiet him, tell him to reserve his strength... But what if these were his last words? What if he had something absolutely dire to say before he kicked the bucket? No, she wouldn't interrupt him. It wasn't as if she had to in the end, because he stalled mid sentence. Thankfully he had said enough for her to understand. A question, on the lips of a dying man...

"Shh" she finally said, realizing that he had nothing profound to say. He was simply confused by her presence there, understandable given where he was. "You'll be okay, help is on its way... Keep your eyes open and on me." She wanted to tell him to rest, but the first aiders always tried to keep her lucid by talking, alert. Maybe they were worried she'd slip into a coma, or worse. Perhaps she ought to mimic such.

"My name is Kyra... Do you know who you are? Where you are?" Generic damn questions, but she wasn't good at thinking on her feet... At least, not in situations like this one.

A rumble shook the ground as the Bucket came in to land, and a moment later several chirping droids made themselves known as they came down the ramp, a repulsor gurney at their heel. Together with the droids she braced the stranger, before lifting him gently onto the gurney. Her hands returned to the wad of material keeping him from bleeding out as soon as she could, and she looked down to him to try and see if he was still conscious.

The trip to her ships medical bay was a short one, and soon enough he was hooked up to IVs, tubes and machines she had no clue about, and one of the medical droids had taken over the wound she had been compressing. They used some odd device to clear away the excess blood which was pooling, loosened the belt at his leg, and began to clean and stitch the wounds where possible, patching up the larger wounds in other ways.

The Captain of the Vessel did not leave the mans side through it all. Covered in his blood, sweating from the heat of the world and the journey she had made across its shifting sands, and grateful to be alive. Had she been any closer when the wreckage struck, she'd have been in just as bad a state as he... If not worse.

"Screw," she said, into the ships intercom, "There is a speeder somewhere in the sand nearby, try to locate it for me and bring it back aboard." She'd have to fix it up before she presented it to its new owner, but she didn't care. A little extra work in exchange for a life? A junker with a shady past she may be, but she wasn't heartless.

[member="Velus"]

 

[Krayzen Dratos]

Velus got her gaze, and simply looked at her. He appreciated that he had allowed him to finish speaking. When she had asked him questions, Velus simply nodded, not having any strength to continue speaking. While the ship was falling down, he knew the only desert world close to Ryloth was Tatooine; that, along with the ship's data made him know where he was, although he wasn't aware that he had landed on a dangerous part of the infamous planet.

When he had nodded, he heard the noises of a ship, and some of the droids approached him. With her help, he felt being lifted to a repulsor gurney. It's definitely more comfortable than the sand. Throughout the trip, and when he had entered the medical bay, what surprised him was that she had stayed with him the entire time.

When he was placed in a bed, he could see a number of devices that had been put on him to help maintain his life. "Aah!" His legs, and body shook, as the droids put a device on him to stop the blood flow. While effective, it still made him feel an incredible amount of pain, but he knew that he had to go through it.

Velus then heard her speak about how she had to fix a speeder. With the medicines they droids had injected him, and the fact that they had stopped his blood loss, he had recovered a little of his strength back, enough at least to make a statement. "I'm sorry for being such a nuisance.", his tone being quite weak, but she was still close enough to here.

"Who are you?" he wondered. Before he could respond though, Velus would be fast asleep, needing to get as much rest as he can get.

During Sleep​

The first hours of sleep had good for the Epicanthix; later however, he experienced dreams, dreams about his past. "Don't do it Dad!" he stated, nearly yelling. Velus was relieving the memories of his parents dying. One had been cut down by a Sith, another had made Velus kill him so he could survive.

"You killed him! You did this!" he continued to yell. At the moment, Velus had a number of devices on him. His body continued to move in all directions however, threatening to remove the devices on him. "I hate you!" he further added. In his dream, he had attempted to fight the man to no success. In reality however, his heart rate was increasing, to the point that if continued, he would die.

The Rebel was stabbed in his dream, and he returned back to his normal heart rate, and his slumber. The droids had given him medicine to make him sleep normally. In his dream however, he relieved his time in slavery.

It was safe to say that due to his near-death injuries, and the dream he had just experienced, today wasn't his day.

Some Time Later​

The Rebel then slowly woke up, wondering what happened as he experienced some pain from an injection he was not aware off.

"What happened?"



[member="Kyra Sol"]

 

[Lief]

Several days passed in relative silence, while the stranger slept away his wounds. The medical droids, which were usually powered down unless needed, had been working around the clock to keep him stable, while the Captain of the Vessel refused to leave the medical bay unless absolutely necessary.

Screw had done his part, locating and bringing back aboard the speeder which was in a sorry state of repair. Truth be told in the time she had spent watching over the man she could have fixed it up again, ready to pass on to the buyer, but that didn't seem... Right. Once or twice she got up to use the refresher, she slept where she sat, and Screw brought her food and drink every so often though it was barely touched.

In the bed the man occasionally tossed and turned, until finally his eyes actually opened. He still looked worse for wear though the sand and blood had been washed from him and his clothes had been replaced with hospital garments. She had gone so far as to have some Connor's old clothes brought from storage so that when he was back on his feet he had something to wear. Force knew he wasn't coming back for them.

"Shh, it's okay. You're safe." She began, after the stranger awoke, not wanting him to be startled enough to rip out any of the IVs or monitors. "You're aboard The Tarnished Bucket, and I'm her Captain. You can call me Kyra. Your ship fell to Tatooine, we couldn't find any other survivors... I'm sorry."

[member="Velus"]