Private Another Happy Landing

[Hans Vitel]

Sometimes life just doesn't go your way, you think you have everything planned out. Then the forces of fate flick you the middle finger and just tell you to shove it. Today was one of those days for Hans. In the atmosphere above the serene forest and fields of Kuat the peace would be disrupted by a howl that caused the birds to sporadically take evasive maneuvers. Jumping out of hyperspace would suddenly appear a star fighter trailing a black could of smoke and fluid that filled the air like blood in water. Inside the cockpit was Hans his vision going fuzzy fading in and out as he tried his best to keep himself and his craft in the air but in his head he knew that he was flying on burrowed time. Warning alarms, a dozen red lights and hud displays all indicated to him several mechanical failures that had occured from his craft taking cannon fire, as he handled the controls with instinct and skill as he prevented the fighter from immediately spinning out of control from sudden hyperspace reentry.

Engine power slowly failing and hydraulic pressure dropping by the second meant that Hans knew that his fighter was going for an uncontrolled landing and that he wanted to be away from his craft ASAP. Though once he tried to bail and pull the eject handle he would be met with nothing other than the canopy blowing. Now with the howling of air rushing over his head a bit of panic overtook him as he realize he would be forced to go down with the ship. His eagle eye now scanning the horizon looking for anything he could reach as his craft steadily lost altitude. His eyes spotted a clear field right next to some kind of house or building, not having the time to weigh his options he took that as his new landing zone.

Nursing the craft trying hard to avoid using his control surfaces too much so he wouldn't kill all hydraulic pressure, he guided the plan for the now springy and comfy looking field. The engines of his Toscan 8-R finally sputtering to there deaths meaning that has the fighter converted itself into the world's most expensive and heavily armed assault glider an air of silence would fill his world as all he had was the rustling of wind and his thoughts to accompany him. In that void he had reach a sort of acceptance if this was how his story would end then so be. He was now only a thousand meters out from his landing site as he quickly engaged the landing gear for added drag and to hopefully catch and slow his landing. his craft descending now with it's nose pitched up at a ten degree angle. He could see the ground to his side zoom by him only for his craft to descend low enough that with it's pitch all he could see was the sky above. He stared at that blue sky as his body braced itself waiting for the inevitable.

The rear landing gear would crash and dig into the ground first before the front gear tilted forward and slammed down. The force and friction tearing the landing gear off the fighter as it skidded across the earth to tune of scrapping metal and moving dirt. The craft would skid for 100 meters as it's nose would dig deeper and deeper into the ground threatening to tip and roll the craft onto it's roof. Instead as the craft finally stopped it's rear half would be raised several meters up in the air as a drone of metal would cue it finally dropping and slamming into the ground. Hans having now been thrown around in his seat and covered in pieces of dirt could only lie in his ruined wreckage his head lazily drifting to his left seeing the building which looked vaguely like a house if he could just get the fething thing in focus. If his body didn't ache he might have asked who's backyard he just crashed into but for now it seemed nicer to just let his eyes rest a little.

Elena Nyström

 

[Elena Nyström]

"Mrs Byrd?" Elena asked once the door opened and before her stood a tall, regal-looking woman in a floor-length dress, adorned with many accessories and pieces of jewellery. Elena wasn't dressed too dissimilarly as she preferred to keep up appearances of a noble Naboo woman, if not through the way she dressed then through the way she acted, though the fashions of Naboo tended to be more modest than this woman was portraying herself - nobility were mostly confined to the intricate designs of the clothing. "Yes, thank goodness, come quickly." The woman replied hurriedly before ushering Elena into the house and upstairs to the master bedroom where a man, who she could only assume was her husband, lay in bed.

Given the apparent urgency of the situation, Elena had expected a more serious sight to greet her upon arrival than a man in bed reading the newspaper. She looked over her shoulder at the woman with a raised eyebrow who further ushered her towards the man. "What's the problem, Mr Byrd?" She asked as she placed herself in a chair next to his bed, causing the man to lower the newspaper and look over his glasses at her. "He's had trouble keeping anything down, can't you put him on a drip or something?!" The woman answered for her husband, prompting Elena to put her head in her hands before looking through her fingers to share a look with the man who simply shrugged as if to say I'm used to this.

"I'll see. Can we have some privacy please, Mrs Byrd?" She asked, to which the woman immediately protested but following a stern look from Elena, she left the room reluctantly. It seemed that a sense of authority came with being a doctor and she liked it. "I've told her it's probably food poisoning from her cooking, there's really no need for this." The man explained. "Right, just... buy something over the counter to keep your fluid intake up. You'll probably be fine by tomorrow." She told him, hoping she could get out of here sooner as it seemed her job was done, though it was apparently unnecessary in the first place. "Well, hope you get better soon." She told him with a fake smile before rising from the chair to claim her credits from the woman.

There was an awful sound coming from above, prompting a puzzled look from Elena. "Do they normally fly that low around here?" She asked the man who shook his head and moments later the building shook with a great force so she instinctively ran to the window to see what the commotion was and was partly amused, partly horrified to find someone had crash-landed in the back garden. "Typical, you just weed the garden and then this happens." She joked as she assessed the situation from the house with no sense of urgency, though upon realising that nobody had left the wreckage she decided that she ought to take a look in case anyone was hurt as she was not one for letting people suffer needlessly.

She grabbed her bag and as she walked downstairs, towards the garden, she rolled her eyes at the sound of a scream from Mrs Byrd who had just realised there was a ship in her garden. "Just... calm it, lady." She told her as she passed Mrs Byrd and walked out into the garden. She stood with her hands on her hips, scanning the wreckage for a way in to the remains of the cockpit and upon finding an entrance, she carefully entered. An figure immediately caught her eye so she quickly climbed over fallen objects and knelt beside him. She couldn't see his face to tell if he was responsive so she carefully undid the fastenings on the helmet and removed it. She pulled a small torch out of her bag and lifted an eyelid to move it across his face to see if he was still responsive. "Can you hear me?" She asked.

Hans Vitel

 

[Hans Vitel]

His head hurt, his feet hurt, well everything hurt and he felt like he was ready to just lie there and accept it as his new permanent place of residence. Hans' mind feeling like it was punchdrunk to near unconsciousness. His drooping eyes closed and soon memory began to overcome him. He saw all the pilots he flew with and served with during the empire. A faint smile trying to form on his face as he just thought of his squadron flying in formation on a long trip, finding ways to pass time and shooting the kark. It brought him a sense of serenity.

Though instead that memory would be ripped apart and the darkness of the space he imagined was replaced with a blinding light. His eyes dilating as he blinked several times and tried to shut his eyes to stop the light from blinding him. A soft groan would exit his lips as it felt like he woke from a long slumber and he had a splitting headache. Though he would finally open his eyes to look and saw well the closest thing he would likely see to a Valkyrie look over him and speak. Not sure if he was about to be ushered to the land of the living or dead all he could do was nod his head up and down as an answer. Even then though that would hurt as he felt his neck ache and lack support like it just wanted to droop down and let his head fall off, probably just some wicked whiplash from the landing.

Though as he stared and his vision finally cleared he could see the woman in finer detail. If it weren't the fifteen different questions mixed with his mind screaming at him "Ow everything hurts" he would have tried to come up with something witty to say, but for now he just needed to know something else. "Where... Am I?" Hans would softly groan as he struggled to get his mouth to cooperate that much. He then tried to move his arm over to the release point for his flight seat's harness but upon moving his arm he would feel a jolt of pain that would cause his face to contort and for him to grunt with pain.

"Can you... get me... out of here?" He would ask as he then his benefactor.

Elena Nyström

 

[Elena Nyström]

Once it became apparent that he was responsive, she quickly moved the flashlight from his eye to avoid dazing him further. She watched him for a moment to allow him time to come to terms with the situation. "You're in someone's back yard on Kuat." She stated plainly. "Yeah, just don't move." She told him as she grabbed his arm gently and placed it flat across his chest to avoid further injury. Elena released him from his seat harness, careful to avoid any unnecessary movement, and moved to support his head on her lap carefully.

"Can you move your legs?" She asked, looking down at him expectantly. If he could walk then there was hope for him and other injuries could be helped but she was no surgeon. It seemed that the most likely damage was upper body, including head. The helmet would prevent his head from sustaining life-changing damage but it would still receive damage nonetheless, though to what extent she was yet to determine. "We could do with getting you out of here. I don't know what damage your ship's sustained or whether it'll hold up." She expressed her concerns.

Elena placed her hands behind his shoulders for support. "Try and sit up, if you can." She told him, prepared to help him to do so. "You should probably get to a hospital or... I know somewhere that could do it cheaper and quicker." She offered her services to him, though she wasn't about to leave him there to deal with it on his own, she wondered if she could make a profit from his misfortune.

Hans Vitel

 

[Hans Vitel]

"Sounds about right." Hans would respond to his helper's answers, now deciding that he should take things nice and slow, mainly because if he didn't everything would hurt like hell. She had taken the intiative and released him from his seat, atleast he wasn't gonna die strapped to a chair that kind of stuff was never his kink.

Now with his head on her lap, this would prove to be a rather nice silver lining to the fact that he was likely to be grounded for a couple weeks. When asked about his legs Hans would wriggle his leg a bit grimacing a little as it felt like it had fallen asleep but this time that needle like feeling when you moved it felt like real needles. Still he kept at it, stubborn in wanting to be able to walk away from this, people had plenty worse and got better... or atleast that's what he told himself. Still he was able to bend his left up and get his foot to rest flat on the ground. Determination in forcing it to bear weight and get blood circulating through it, same for his other leg. Though her comment about the ship got a small chuckle out of him.

"Doc, one thing you learn real quick doing what I do is that fighters are expendable." A ship was a ship at the end of the day and while he might get attached to them he also knew that he would need to let go as well. Such was the way of things. Maybe he'd use it as an excuse to get that damn hurricane he had been eyeing up. Hopefully his quetarra survived, a song a day kept the soul at bay for him. With a concerted effort hans would begin to pull himself up or attempt to though he was struggling to not use his arms and was thankful for the support the doc was giving him. Once upright he heard her spiel and fond he could only shrug. In a place like this a hospital was several clicks away, and well his fast transport was now the center piece of some fast garden redecoration. He looked up at the woman and was fighting hard to stop her attractive curves blinding him.

"Not like I have much of choice doc. Though you treat me right then I might treat you to dinner as well." While he probably looked like a mess Hans would try his best to give a coy smile to her.

Elena Nyström

 

[Elena Nyström]

Elena chuckled at his response, at least he had a sense of humour. The worst people to work with were the ones who complained no end about their situation and made a fuss over nothing - she didn't care for people who felt sorry for themselves.

Her attention turned back to his legs as he attempted to do as she asked. It seemed to be difficult for him but through determination and effort he managed to move them so there was still hope for him yet. It ruled out spinal damage but he would still need to give himself time to heal properly. At least for now there wasn't anything that alarmed her particularly apart from the questionable structural integrity of the ship they were in but the pilot didn't seem too concerned so she didn't imagine it could be that dangerous.

"Clearly." She replied with a raised eyebrow as she continued to check him over before placing her hands on his back to support him in his attempt to sit up while her mind wandered as she assessed what the best course of action was. He seemed able to support himself sitting up so she slowly removed her hands, making sure that he was still able to support himself before completely removing them. His next comment surprised her but it was a pleasant surprise to say the least which prompted a smile and a mocking eye roll from Elena.

She looked him up and down before settling her eyes on his again; he was good-looking in a dishevelled kind of way and bold, she could respect him for that. "We'll see." She told him with a mischievous smile before moving to his side and rummaging through her bag. She produced a needle and a small jar and began preparing the injection of bacta. "I am a qualified doctor, if you were worried." She told him though her focus was on the preparation. Well, she wasn't technically lying entirely; Elena was qualified but Clara wasn't.

"It's just bacta, nothing too fancy." She informed him before placing a hand on his thigh to identify the injection site. "I'm not going to lie, it won't be comfortable but you should feel better after." She told him before injecting him. It would take some time to work and it may not have been enough to heal all the unknown wounds he may have had but it would benefit him for now.

Hans Vitel