Private Whims and Magnets

[Davin Jusik]

Frantic shadows tumbled about Lieutenant Jusik as he moved through a green field, shrouded in dim moonlight. A dull mechanical "beeeeep" echoed in the distance. He'd been in that field for an undetermined amount of time, trudging through a strange clay-like mud that lay throughout the tall grass. In the near distance were what appeared to be sets of aging ruins. Pyramidal hulks that cast further shadows across the already darkened landacape, occasionally blinking red. There was a coldness to some of the shadows, offset by the warmth of what little moonlight shown. Davin felt overwhelmed by this. Washed over in waves of coldness and light. The strange landscape seemed to call out to him in a way he didn't fully understand. He felt a tug as his right leg fell into the earth up to knee.

BEEEPPPPP.

The picturesque landscape was suddenly snapped from his vision and replaced by the kaleidoscope of hyperspace. Davin shook himself and stared at the blinking error display that sat in the left corner of the viewport. A tiny holographic HUD that showed his hydrive, with tiny, annoying arrows pointing out problem areas to sleep deprived eyes. "Well thank the Force you didn't quit on me yet, eh." Davin muttered to his ship as he began the process of searching for somewhere he could safely land and find repairs. Nothing friendly close enough for him to reach. Nothing. The Lieutenant scanned further, expanding his range to neutral systems. Ossus. They won't shoot me there. He thought. Probably.

"Good enough." The Pilot mumbled as he put his atmospheric helmet on and set his new destination, sitting back and praying his ship made it the rest of the short journey.

BEEP.

The next half hour was a tense affair. Cramped and tired, immensely annoyed. The LT had simply been taveling from point a to b. Now he was trapped with a malfunctioning ship and no way to stop that abysmal BEEP until he got on th groun. Davin had done his diligence and sent out an update to command just as realspace replaced the unreal streaks of hyperspace. Ossus loomed ahead of him like a cosmic titan. Way closer than intended, with a stream of curses felt his ship sliding into the atmosphere. Engines now too?

The TIE Heavy bomber lurched and turned as gravity locked the ship into it's pull. Davin found himself hugging the side wall as they penetrated Ossus's thermosphere, a tumbling mess. Score marks festered at the edge of his vessel's shields as the pilot attempted to level the malfunctioning machine. The controls vibrating as the spiral continued. Stratosphere. Ground, forest, and ruins rapidly approaching.

Breath man. Breath.

With no small effort Jusik muscled the stabilizer levels. The TIE listed and rocked but stopped spinning. Davin let out a laugh, tinged with both joy and fear as he flipped open the small plastic case that covered the ejector switch and self destruct sequence starter. Thank the Force for that addition and the tactic changes, definitely an upgrade from the near suicidal flight philosophies of the old Empire. The TIE rocked a bit more. Launch. Open sky and an incredible influx of oxygen into his helmet's filter nearly knocked the Pilot out as he flew into the
wild blue yonder. With shaky vision he spied the TIE, resumed with it's spinning briefly before continuing groundward. Down. Down. A brilliant fireball overtook the TIE as it turned into atomic dust and fire, disintegrating before landing. Davin felt a small pang as he drifted downward, taking in the sight. Might've fried a few critters. Standard operating procedure or not, he'd loved that ship. The blue fire burned out quickly, blessedly preventing a fire in the dense foliage. Jusik felt his back flex as the seat drifted downward towards the earth below, a mixture of grey green slowly approaching. Pretty normal to mess your back up in an ejection. Unfortunately all the technology in the galaxy had yet to overcome the g forces and wind effects on a human skeleton while launching into the air violently. Davin laughed.

Another near one. He wondered if it was a blessing or curse to have survived in the remote area. Hopefully the ground would be merciful as the air.

 

[Roth Tillian]

OSSUS

An ancient Jedi world and once-capital of the Silver Jedi Concord, at least if he remembered his history of the last few decades right. The Silvers had moved a few times, shifting capitals and influence clouds from place to place.

He knew it was a Jedi world though. That history was well known. Roth had taken a brief leave with the Wild Knights squadron to go scope out what he could find and salvage for the Knightmare.

"Hang on," Roth muttered, checking the scope on his shuttle as he returned from the surface, hands on the controls pausing the ascent back to the carrier. "We have a vessel in distress. I'm moving to conduct S&R."

Ranger Corps didn't do much search and rescue; that was more the domain of the Rescue Service. But still, even the Ranger pilots had their training for S&R. Getting shot down wasn't unusual for Wild Knights. Usually they survived, but not always.

He nudged the nose down and arced the shuttle slowly toward the signals he picked up. "Looks like a fighter size?"

The IFF and vessel profile were too damaged to make any sort of identification. "Potentially a single-person snubfighter? Any warships in orbit?"

"Negative," the reply came back from the Knightmare. "No warships anywhere on the scanners. And one fighter wouldn't be alone if they came from a carrier."

"Whoever they are, they ejected," Roth replied, squinting against the glare of the sun coming in from the horizon off to his right. "I can just make out the ejection seat. Too fast to intercept, but will stick close by."

Roth cycled through the channels to an open channel. "Name's Roth Tillian- I have eyes on the ejected pilot. I can't catch you, but I'll come in to grab you."


Davin Jusik