Breakout on Dxun

[Jacob Crawford]

The ride to the hangar was in silence, as Jacob simply remained quiet, relishing in the fact he was finally getting away from the facility. A year he had spent in that place, surrounded by metal walls with his only change in scenery being a larger room with glass windows added. Sure, the cave tunnels were dingy and craggy, but to Jacob it was a very welcome difference.

Once they had finally reached the hangar, Jacob got off the bike and immediately took a deep breath. Fresh air, how he had missed it. Albeit, it was in a hangar built into the caves, but Jacob didn't care. At Irajah's words he gave her a grin.

"Oh more so, believe me. I don't ever want to see Dxun, or any place resembling it for a long time." It occurred to Jacob though that he never did get to see the jungle itself. Then again, if the beasts he fought were what stalked the moon, then it was probably for the best.

As his eyes laid upon the ship Jacob felt a rush of joy flood through his body, inadvertently letting out a short, happy/relieved laugh. The reality of the situation truly sinking in, he was finally leaving this hell.

Hearing the mention of fresh clothing he turned his attention to Irajah and noticed her looking at him. He quirked an eyebrow in response, but it shifted into a frown as he noticed the look in her eyes. He caught Doctor Pryce with a similar look whenever they spoke, heck even the scientists did. Although, theirs had always been a more analytical and critical gaze. Doctor Ven's akin to Pryce's, one of concern.

He offered her a smile. "I think I'll be saying this repeatedly on the way to wherever you're taking me. But I owe you a debt Doctor Ven, and not because of your profession. I'm sure that'll come once I can be properly checked and examined. What I mean, is as a caring person in general. You risked your life for me; I'd say that's in line for a life debt even." He grinned at her, "good thing I'm not a Wookie aye?"

"I can't imagine what having wet fur would be like." Jacob added, the joking grin on his face still, hoping it would at least help dissipate whatever mood Irajah's mind was in.

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

"If you had that much wet fur, I don't think I'd let you on to my ship, so we can both be happy about you not being a wookiee," she said, a ghost of a smile moving across her features.

Irajah paused on the ramp, looking down at [member="Jacob Crawford"] from that vantage point. It wasn't clear if she found whatever it was she was searching for on his face or not. Perhaps she did, perhaps not. In either case, she sighed softly, shoving her hands deeply in to her pockets.

"I'm going to do the best I can- but I wouldn't assume that whatever fire we're heading in to is better than the one you just came out of," she said softly. "You don't owe me anything. Because I can't promise that I'd done anything worth owing yet."

She paused, a rare ripple of something moving through her. The Force? Maybe. Just a premonition. But it chilled her far more than the wet garments ever could.

"Come on, let's get dry."

 

[Jacob Crawford]

"Trust me Doctor Ven, there was no fire here. It was just cold and cruel." A sober expression settled on Jacob's face as he spoke. He was reminded of his first couple weeks, how scared and confused he was. Then it turned into calculated anger and hate, Pryce had tried to calm him down but the gradual build up showed when he fought the beasts and killed a number of them. The scientists weren't happy, and while they couldn't physically harm him they did refuse him food and push him even harder when training.

The only fire that had been present was the one that had been burning in Jacob himself, that was finally unleashed the moment he was out of the bacta tank.

He walked up the ramp and stopped by [member="Irajah Ven"]'s side, looking down at her with a small smile.

"You're right and wrong Doc. You're right in that you can't promise anything for the near future, but you're wrong in that I already owe you for getting me off this rock."

Jacob looked into Irajah's ship, then to the hangar, then back to Irajah again. "Unless of course you intend to kick my arse off this ramp right now." There was a flash of concern in his eyes, but it was quickly covered by the same grin as before. Jacob was still human after all, and after a year being stuck in a place were trust was a rare commodity, there was that small niggle in the back of his mind that Irajah still might just turn around and leave him here.

You're being too trusting...

The thought crossed his mind and was sure at least one of the voices in his head would've vehemently agreed. But right now neither of the voices were there, couldn't provide any guidance and Doctor Pryce certainly wasn't around to keep him from laying down, curling up and just letting it collapse in on him.

"Yes, getting dry and some fresh clothes would be greatly appreciated. And then I'll answer whatever questions you may have." With that said he followed Irajah into her ship.

 

[Kuzo]

His smile was greeted by a thoughtful, troubled look, but she nodded. Uncharacteristically quiet for now.

Leading her way up on to the ship, she poked her head into the cockpit first.

"Hey Om, we're ready to get moving. You doing okay?"

The pilot droid started to move, pincers hovering over the controls, replying mechanically with nothing beyond an "Affirmative."

Irajah sighed.

Om, or more technically 'OM-3' had come with the ship. He-she- it - was a fifth degree droid, and seemed completely devoid of personality. Even though Om was more like a toaster than anything else, she still tried. Maybe eventually something would spark.

"There's a locker right outside of the med bay," she called over her shoulder to [member="Jacob Crawford"]. "There should be spare clothes in there."

Turning back to the cockpit, she frowned slightly. She was keeping Jacob at more of a distance than she normally did- even for a stranger. Why? She understood their meeting, what had happened there- as a general thing, she didn't hold it against him.

"Take us to Panatha space, but not down to the planet," she instructed Om, already doubting this course of action. "And see if you can raise Connor Harrison on the comm. Let me know when he answers."

"Affirmative."

Sigh.

 

[Jacob Crawford]

Just by looking around at Irajah's ship brought forth memories from Jacob's childhood. Of the days when he was with his father helping in the workshops or more specifically on vehicle parts of even ships themselves. A time before his father decided to throw him into hell. Despite it a smile appeared on Jacob's face as he felt that old instinctive desire to just scope around the ship, find something that wasn't quite working and fix it.

Jacob was quick to shake it off. Focus; there are more important things to focus on.

Besides he was fairly certain [member="Irajah Ven"] wouldn't want him near anything on her ship, let alone something that made the ship run.

Walking over to the locker, Jacob placed the blaster down and began carefully sifting through the clothes. Opting to not be particularly picky, Jacob grabbed whatever he thought would fit and with them in hand he picked up his blaster and walked into the med bay for some privacy.

He spared a quick glance around the room before placing the fresh set on the bed and gradually began peeling off the wet ones from his body. Jacob made quick work of the boots and trousers, but once the shirt and jacket were gone he found himself gazing down at the various scars that were spread across his torso. It wasn't the first time he had seen them, but every time he felt something in the back of his mind twitch, what caused them was lost to him but he knew the answer was within his lost memories.

Jacob reached behind his back and touched the first of three scars that trailed the entirety of his back, from his right shoulder to his left hip. His time in the bacta tank had healed it, but it would forever be a reminder of his time on Dxun. It carried memories he wished he could forget, but as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath he felt the seething anger seep into his thoughts. Reminding him of what he felt during his imprisonment, and how freeing it felt as he blasted his way through his jailors

That's it, let the anger flo-

Jacob snapped back to reality and stumbled back a bit.

No. no no no, that's not possible. He can't be speaking, the Force is blocked he can't...

He looked down at his arms, but there was no shaking. Surely that was a sign that it was working, right?

Jacob let out a heavy sigh as he pushed the last minute or so to the back of his mind. He slipped the long sleeved shirt on, followed by the belt. Opting to leave the jacket off for now he checked himself out. Black boots, trousers, and belt, coupled with a beige shirt, and brown jacket.

Jacob gave a mental shrug, it would do until he could get himself settled somewhere and go about getting an actual outfit. With that done he walked over to the door and poked his head out.

"Hey Doc I'm all done, where do you want me to put the wet clothes?"

 

[Kuzo]

"There's a chute to the left," she called from down the hallway. "Drop it down!"

Irajah appeared a minute later, likewise clad in simple but dry clothing. As before, the tunic was long sleeved and high necked. Her dark hair was still damp, but at least no longer dripping.

"We'll be making the jump to hyperspace shortly," she informed him, moving across the med bay at a brisk pace. The room was small, but clean, neat and obviously well stocked. Hazel eyes scanned the shelves, as she continued.

"I've put out a call to a friend of mine who I think might be able to help us. If all goes well, we'll be meeting him at the edge of Panatha space. There are.... qualities.... to your situation that I simply do not have the expertise to address."

She nodded to herself, pulling down a portable scanner and turning back to [member="Jacob Crawford"].

"But for now, I'd like to make sure there isn't anything physical that needs to be addressed."

Besides the addiction to stimulants? She had some on board, but were they the same as what his body had come to expect? She didn't know. Fortunately, she did have a hefty supply of sedatives. Though she'd rather not use them, well, she wouldn't hesitate if it came to that.

"I know you just put that all on, but can I have you take off your shirt and lay back on the table?"

The scanner would let her know if he had any internal injuries or other serious issues that needed to be addressed. She didn't know what they'd done to him in that lab, but she wasn't taking any chances.

 

[Jacob Crawford]

Returning back into the med bay Jacob scooped up the wet clothing, careful to not let it both wet the fresh clothes and drip on the floor too much, deposited them down into the chute.

As he waited he glanced around taking in the various bit and bobs of the room. It did remind him of the one on Dxun, but this one didn't come across as cold. Though, he reckoned the table was going to be particularly chilling.

Jacob let out a small chuckle as the door slid open, and he turned to face [member="Irajah Ven"].

"That's good to hear." The fact he was getting further and further away from Dxun would always be a plus for him, for a long time.

At the mention of her friend Jacob went to speak, but stopped when she brought up the topic of potential physical issues he could have.

With a small nod he pulled the shirt up over his head, quickly folded it and turned around to place it down on the nearby side table. Jacob made a conscious effort to not look down at his scarred body, in fear of a repeat from several minutes ago. Instead he just sat down on the table and raised his legs up so he could lie down onto it. He shifted a bit to get comfortable, but made no reaction to the cold metal. Yep, it’s about as cold as the ones in the facility.

"Well, I do recall a few times I was sent to the facility’s med bay because of instances of internal bruising, I think."

His words were true, mostly anyway. While there were no clear and outright issues, there were obvious signs of previous bruising mainly centred on his abdomen and a few cases of where some bones had once been broken, most of which were located on the left side of his body. It was apparent though that the past issues had never been allowed to heal a hundred percent, instead only to a sufficient point then left for his body to try and recuperate.

As Doctor Ven went about scanning his body he returned to the previous topic that crossed his mind.

"So this friend of yours are they a uh..." He paused as he tried to think of the term. "A Force user?"

 

[Kuzo]

Hmmmm. He reminded her of someone, she just couldn't put a finger on who.

As she moved the wand across his body, she did a visual assesment as well. In a lot of ways, he could be in much worse shape- and she didn't mean from a fitness perspective. She wondered, idly, just what they had been planning for him. It was obvious that they had kept him just good enough. He wasn't disposable to them. Perhaps he was an investment, but as the scan came back, it became clear that he was not fully accepted as an equal.

What was it with so called 'doctors' and not properly allowing the time for bones to knit? It offended her professional sensibilities- other things as well, but if she were being honest, mostly those.

"I can properly fix your ribs when we're back on Dosuun," she finally said, looking up at him. "While I won't force you to have an operation done, I do strongly recommend it. Living with the long term pain and inflexibility of improperly healed fractures isn't something that anyone needs to muddle through."

Especially after all he'd been through, she certainly wasn't going to imply that he didn't have a choice here. But she knew what chronic pain was like- and she simply couldn't understand why anyone who could avoid it wouldn't do that.

Turning to put the scanner away again on the shelf, she continued.

"And yes. My friend is a Force User," she said. While she was turned away from him, he couldn't see the smile on her face when she talked about [member="Connor Harrison"], but it would come through in her voice. "I have experience working with Force Users and a wide variety of.... we can say.... maladies unique to that situation.... but I've never seen anything like what's happening with you. I'm hoping he can offer some insight. I trust him- both his intentions and his discretion."

[member="Jacob Crawford"]

 

[Jacob Crawford]

"What?" Jacob had remained silent during the process of [member="Irajah Ven"]'s scan. It was only at the mention of his damaged ribs that he finally spoke up. His voice relaying shock, and his eyes showing surprise as he looked over at Irajah. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came, he just looked back up at the ceiling. Seconds passed before Jacob sat up slightly, enough for him to look down at his chest, and began gently proding his left ribs with his right hand.

It felt numb to him, no pain or discomfort. A confused look crossed Jacob's face as he raked through his memories trying to remember when he could've possibly broken his ribs. He recalled a number of instances were the beasts had speared into his gut, but never to the point of actually breaking bones. Or had they?

A realisation suddenly struck him.

"The stims..." He whispered as he rested his head back down again. It made the most sense, never was there a conscious moment where he didn't have the stimulants flowing inside him. It would've numbed him against any lingering pain. Jacob let out an exasperated groan, then looked over at Irajah.

"Ye-yeah, I'm certainly not going to say no to getting it fixed. Honestly I'm surprised that's all there is."

His mood did change though when he listened to Irajah speak of her friend. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and an amused grin, he couldn't see her face but he could hear the hapiness in her tone.

"Well that's good to know. And if you trust him, that's good enough for me." Jacob did feel a degree of trepidation about whoever this person was, but at the moment he felt like Doctor Ven could do no wrong.

"So, what's next. Anything else you need to check?"

 

[Kuzo]

When he muttered about the stims, she nodded grimly, following his train of thought from the flickering emotions across his face. Untangling his dependence on them was not going to simply be difficult- it was going to be painful and exhausting. If it was possible at all. They wouldn't know until they tried, but here was not the place to experiment with that, and likely it would have to wait until his physical body was taken care of first.

"No. For now I think we're good unless you have any physical complaints that I should know about it. How often do you usually need the stims? You can understand why I.... well.... can't tell you where they are located exactly. I'm going to trust you to tell me if you need them. If possible, before it gets to a problem level, yes?"

She paused, looking him over for a long moment.

"There's no judgement in this med bay," she said finally, her tone sincere. "I'd rather you tell me if there is something you need than have you try to power through it and end up with both of us in trouble. There is no shame in what you need- so please, let's be straight with each other on that front. It'll be easier than trying to clean up a mess after the fact. A milligram of prevention is worth a kilogram of cure."

​[member="Jacob Crawford"]

 

[Jacob Crawford]

Jacob gave a small nod as he got up off the table and put his shirt back on. With a heavy sigh he leant back against the table and looked at Irajah.

"The stims usually last for a few hours, though I imagine 'cause I used multiple earlier it'll last longer than that. When I was on Dxun they would usually jab me with one to wake up, then I'd eat maybe a bit of training after, followed by several beast fights in a row." As Jacob spoke his gaze drifted away from Irajah Ven and seemed to zone out. "I'd usually finish a fight with only a little amount of the stim in me, so they would quickly inject another one if I was continuing or they would sedate me for the remainder of the day."

Jacob blinked several time before his attention return to Irajah again.

"But yeah, I understand. I mean it probably doesn't mean much coming from...well me the addict in this case, when I say the desire isn't at all bad when I have a stim in my system. It's just when the last of it leaves me body, and the shaking starts then the urge rises to the surface like a rancor on a rampage."

It brought forth memories of his childhood. Nar Shaddaa was rife with drug and spice use, and as a kid Jacob had seen plenty of it. It had never really fazed him when he was much younger but it gradually dawned on him as he learned how the world worked. Now here he was, in a very similar situation with the only saving grace being that it was only stimulants, not something worse.

"And I'll let you know, yeah. I'll know when it starts I-" Jacob paused as he stumbled over his words. I can hear voices in my head, is what he wanted to say but he was hesitant, he didn't want to come across as being crazy. "Well the arm shaking for no apparent reason is an easy indication."

Jacob gave a sad smile.

"There's no physical issue, it's just...all up here you know?" He said as he tapped a finger against the side of his head. "I feel like I'm trapped. I have this thing, this power inside me that just wants to lash out, but if it does all it will result in is damaging something or hurting someone. And if I let it out it hurts, it really hurts. Not to mention the fact my only solution right now is injecting myself with stimulants constantly, which in itself feels like another cage I'm locking myself into."

He let out a heavy sigh as a range of emotions crossed his face. Fear. Concern. Sadness. Nothing positive, that was for sure.

"I just feel like I'll never get free of this cage."

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah listened as [member="Jacob Crawford"] spoke, hazel eyes darkening slightly as his narrative progressed. Leaning her hip back against the counter, she crossed her arms over her chest. She couldn't fight the small frown forming on her lips.

She knew what it was like to feel trapped by circumstances beyond ones control. While they stories were nothing alike, she understood the crushing weight of not knowing- and the hanging sword of a responsibility to the people around you that had never been asked for.

"Everything that's happening to you is physical," she finally said. "It's not all in your head. Saying that dismisses just how very real this and the effects of it are on your life. I don't know if I can help you- but I'm going to try."

The way she said that, the unspoken I know what it's like was impossible to miss.

She pushed off of the counter with her hip, pausing a meter away from him.

"Part of my research has been studying how the Force affects us, physically. I can only assume that's why someone thought to send me. It's not some mystical, impossible to understand monster under the bed. It follows rules, has physical affects. The Force traditions are just so.... wrapped up in themselves that they are comfortable with the religious aspect of it all." The disdain with which she said religious made it clear her opinion on it. Not very high, in other words.

"And if it's not unknowable, unfathomable, then it's something you can fight- and maybe something we can find will help you."

Irajah didn't know for certain if her theories were correct. No scientist could, not truly. But she wasn't willing to concede that anything was unknowable. It flew in the face of everything she had ever experienced.

And Irajah would always pick uncomfortable truths over pretty lies.

The feeling of a shift in the vibrations of the ship made her look up.

"We've just made the jump to hyperspace," she said, looking back at him. "I'm going to see if my friend has responded yet- there's food in the lounge, and an extra berth, to the right of the med bay, if you want to rest."

​She'd said what she could for now. She wasn't going to give up.

 

[Jacob Crawford]

[SIZE=12pt]Jacob smiled as he listened to [member="Irajah Ven"] speak, hearing the conviction in her voice. He couldn't help it and he was now doubly sure he was in good hands, both in terms of getting him physically healed and getting him back onto his feet and figuring this craziness out.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]It certainly didn't pass him by that she was speaking from experience. There was a small desire to query about it, but Jacob pushed it down. It wasn't his right to pry, but was sure he'd be there to help her should that day ever come.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]"I hope so Doctor Ven, I hope so."[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] He said as he moved away from the table and gave her a warm smile, hope very much in his eyes at that moment.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]At the mention of food he suddenly became thoughtful, realising he couldn't remember when he last ate. "Eating would be good yeah, kark I'm surprised my stomach hasn't been practically growling." [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]-x-[/SIZE]​

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[SIZE=12pt]And that brings this thread to its conclusion. Check out I Knew My Weakness for the continuation![/SIZE]​