Jesse Organa
Lost Soul
Seren Gwyn
The ship did not fall from the sky so much as she was torn out of it. The first sign was the shudder subtle at first, a tremor that rippled through the ship's gilded bones like a warning whispered too late. Then came the second, harder, a violent jolt that rattled chandeliers in the grand ballroom and sent crystal glasses skittering across polished marble floors. By the time the third hit, the ship was already screaming. Heat bloomed across her ivory hull as she breached Vendaxa's upper atmosphere, the friction turning her once‑pristine plating into a blistering furnace. Panels peeled away in molten sheets, spiraling off into the violet sky like burning petals. The ship's elegant curves warped under the strain, metal groaning with a sound that vibrated through every deck. Inside, crimson emergency lights strobed to life, painting the corridors in frantic pulses of red that made the chaos feel like a heartbeat gone wild. THey had been invited to it after Coruscant and the show.
Jesse felt the shift before she understood it. One moment she was walking the promenade deck, the faint hum of engines beneath her feet, the next she was weightless her stomach lurching as artificial gravity flickered and died. She slammed into the ceiling, then the wall, then the floor, her body ricocheting like a loose bolt in a shaking machine. Pain burst across her ribs. Her ears rang. Her vision fractured into white static. She'd been in crashes before. Her body remembered even when her mind lagged behind. Instinct curled her into a protective ball as debris rained down shards of glass, a metal tray, a decorative vase that shattered inches from her head. The deck pitched violently, sending her sliding across the polished floor until she collided with a support beam hard enough to knock the breath from her lungs. She gasped, coughing, tasting smoke and copper.
The ship lurched again, harder this time, and the corridor around her twisted like a living thing. Panels blew out. Sparks rained from the ceiling. A pressure door slammed shut just as a section of the hallway depressurized with a thunderous boom, sucking loose debris into the void. Wind howled through the cracks, a feral, hungry sound. Jesse forced herself upright, gripping a handrail that vibrated violently under her fingers. Her legs trembled. Her muscles screamed. Every breath burned. But she pushed forward, staggering down the corridor as the ship groaned around her. The lights flickered, casting everything in a stuttering nightmare of red and shadow. A blast door ahead jammed halfway open, sparks spitting from its ruined motor. Jesse dropped to her knees and crawled beneath it, the metal scraping her back. Her ribs protested with every inch, but she gritted her teeth and kept moving. She emerged into a smoke‑filled passageway where alarms wailed and the air tasted like burning plastic.
The ship screamed again a deep, guttural roar that vibrated through her bones. Then the world went white. The ship hit Vendaxa's lower atmosphere like a meteor. The impact rattled every molecule of the vessel. Jesse was thrown sideways, slamming into a bulkhead hard enough to see stars burst behind her eyes. She collapsed, coughing, vision swimming. The floor tilted. The ceiling cracked. A fireball roared down the corridor behind her, heat licking at her heels. She crawled, dragging herself toward the emergency pod bay. Her fingers slipped on scorched metal. Her knees burned. Her lungs felt like they were filled with smoke and knives. But she kept moving, inch by inch, fueled by stubborn, furious survival instinct. The pod bay was chaos. Pods ripped from their housings. One exploded against the far wall. Another shot out into the void without sealing. Jesse lunged for the last intact pod, her body screaming in protest. She hit the control panel with her fist. The hatch hissed open. She threw herself inside and slammed the door shut.
The pod ejected a heartbeat later, flinging her into darkness. Her mind hoping Seren was able to get to a pod and then wondering what had happened to the ship itself. She didn't remember the descent. Only the impact a bone‑deep shockwave that rattled her teeth and stole her breath. Then silence. When Jesse came to, the world was still. Her head throbbed. Her ribs ached. Her mouth tasted like metal and smoke. She pushed herself upright, groaning as her muscles protested. The pod door had blown open on impact, leaving her half‑buried in sand and debris. The air was thick with humidity and the faint scent of ozone. The crash site stretched around her in a long scar across the coastline. The ship what remained of her lay half‑submerged in the shallows, a smoking carcass of twisted metal and shattered ivory plating. Fires crackled along the torn hull. Steam rose in ghostly plumes. The twin suns cast long, distorted shadows across the wreckage.
Jesse staggered to her feet, swaying as the world tilted. Her legs trembled beneath her. Her vision blurred at the edges. She pressed a hand to her ribs and hissed at the pain. She was alive. Barely. But alive. Her gaze fell on a reinforced vanity chest lying half‑buried in the sand. The metal was scorched, but intact. She recognized it instantly her formal ensemble, packed for a more sultry gala she would never attend. It was the only thing that had survived with her. The dress she was wearing for now in tatters. Jesse knelt beside it, fingers trembling as she unlatched the scorched clasps. Inside, the crimson silk gleamed like fresh blood. The aurodium jewelry still gleaming, ornate and intricate as it shimmered in the sunlight. It was absurd. It was impractical. It was all she had. She stripped off the torn remnants of her dress, wincing as fabric peeled away from bruised skin. The humid salty air stung her cuts. Sand clung to her legs. Her body powerful, curvy, athletic bore the marks of the crash: soot streaks, bruises blooming across her hips and ribs, a shallow cut along her thigh.
She draped the crimson silk across her chest, the fabric clinging instantly to her sweat‑damp skin. The plunging cut revealed the defined line of her waist, the curve of her hips, the strength in her abdomen. Her exposed stomach at least wouldn't have blood making the silk stick to her. She cinched the thin aurodium belt around her hips, the weight grounding her, anchoring her. The silk moved with her sliding over the curve of her hip as she bent, rippling around her thighs as she stood. It clung to her in places where sweat and seawater had dampened her skin, outlining the powerful sweep of her hips and the defined line of her waist. The fabric was light, but the aurodium belt anchored it, its weight a steady pressure against her pelvis. She fastened the aurodium maang tikka against her brow, the chain brushing her forehead. She clasped the ruby‑studded collar around her neck, the stones glowing like embers against her skin. She slid bangles onto her wrists, their melodic chime strangely comforting.
She was bruised, battered, disoriented but she refused to look broken. Jesse stepped into the shallow crystalline pools at the edge of the impact zone. The water was cool against her bruises, stinging her cuts. The hem of her wrap floated around her legs like spilled wine, swirling with each step. Her powerful legs flexed as she pushed through the surf, muscles burning from exertion. The sand dragged at her feet. The water pulled at her calves. The silk clung to her curves, outlining the strength in her thighs, the sweep of her hips, the defined line of her waist. Her jewelry chimed softly with each movement, a delicate counterpoint to the low thrum of Vendaxa's alien ecosystem. She reached the shoreline and paused, shading her eyes with a ring‑laden hand. The neon‑hued jungles loomed beyond the beach dense, towering, alive with bioluminescent veins pulsing faintly beneath the canopy. The air was thick with humidity and the faint scent of crushed vegetation. Strange birdlike calls echoed from deep within the foliage, their tones sharp and metallic. The twin suns hung low in the sky, casting long shadows that stretched across the sand like reaching fingers.
Something about the silence felt wrong. Too still. Too expectant. Jesse scanned the treeline, her breath steadying. Her instincts prickled. She'd survived enough crashes to know when something didn't add up. The damage pattern on the ship was wrong. The black box was missing ripped from its housing before the crash. And the jungle… watched. She couldn't see anything. But she felt it. A presence. A pressure. A wrongness. She took a step forward, her foot sinking slightly into the pale sand. The grains clung to her damp skin, sticking to her calves and the underside of her thighs. The silk fluttered in the breeze, brushing against her legs. She adjusted the belt at her waist, the aurodium warm from her body heat. Her ribs ached with every breath, but she pushed the pain aside. She had survived worse. She would survive this.
The wind shifted, carrying with it a faint, metallic scent. Jesse frowned. It wasn't smoke. It wasn't blood. It was something else something she couldn't place. She turned her head, scanning the wreckage behind her. The ship lay in ruins, her once‑proud frame twisted and broken. Steam rose from the shattered hull. Fires crackled along the torn metal. The water around the wreckage shimmered with an oily sheen. Jesse's gaze narrowed. Something glinted near the edge of the wreckage a small, metallic object half‑buried in the sand. She approached it cautiously, her steps slow and deliberate. The sand shifted beneath her feet, the grains warm from the suns. She crouched, wincing as her ribs protested. The silk pooled around her legs, the fabric catching the light.
She brushed the sand away, revealing a piece of torn metal. It was small, no larger than her palm, but the edges were jagged, as if it had been ripped from something larger. She turned it over in her hand, her brow furrowing. The metal was scorched, but beneath the soot she could see faint markings symbols she didn't recognize. They were etched into the surface, precise and deliberate. This wasn't part of the ship. A chill ran down her spine. She straightened, her eyes scanning the wreckage again. The wind picked up, carrying with it the faint sound of something moving something large. Jesse's muscles tensed. She took a step back, her hand instinctively reaching for a weapon she didn't have. The sound grew louder, a low, rumbling growl that vibrated through the sand.
She turned toward the jungle, her heart pounding. The foliage rustled, the leaves trembling as something pushed through them. Jesse's breath caught in her throat. She took another step back, her feet sinking deeper into the sand. The silk clung to her legs, restricting her movement. She grabbed the fabric, pulling it free. The growl grew louder. Jesse's eyes narrowed. She wasn't helpless. She wasn't prey. She had survived crashes, battles, betrayals. She had fought her way out of worse situations. She squared her shoulders, her stance widening. Her muscles coiled, ready to move. The foliage parted. A creature emerged massive, reptilian, its scales shimmering in the sunlight. Its eyes glowed with a predatory intelligence. It sniffed the air, its nostrils flaring. Jesse held her ground, her breath steady. The creature's gaze locked onto her, its pupils narrowing.
Then, without warning, it lunged. Jesse dove to the side, her body moving on instinct. The creature's claws raked the sand where she had stood. She rolled, the silk tangling around her legs. She kicked free, scrambling to her feet. The creature roared, its jaws snapping shut inches from her face. She ducked, her muscles burning. She grabbed a piece of debris a metal rod and swung it with all her strength. The rod connected with the creature's snout. It recoiled, hissing. Jesse didn't hesitate. She swung again, the impact jarring her arm. The creature staggered, its eyes narrowing. It lunged again, faster this time. Jesse dodged, her feet slipping in the sand. She fell, the breath knocked from her lungs. The creature loomed over her. Jesse's hand closed around the metal shard she had found earlier. She drove it upward, burying it in the creature's throat. It roared, thrashing. Jesse rolled away, her body shaking. The creature collapsed, its body twitching. She lay in the sand, gasping, her muscles trembling.
She pushed herself upright, her breath ragged. The silk was torn, the fabric clinging to her bruised skin. Her jewelry was askew, the bangles dented. She wiped the sweat from her brow, her hand shaking. Something was wrong. Something had brought the ship down. Something had ripped the black box from its housing. Something had sent this creature to investigate the crash. Jesse stood, her legs unsteady. She looked toward the jungle, her gaze hardening. She wasn't alone. She wasn't safe. But she was alive. And she would find answers. She took a step forward, the sand shifting beneath her feet. The wind whispered through the trees, carrying with it the faint sound of something watching. Jesse didn't look back. She walked toward the jungle toward danger, toward answers, toward whatever waited for her in the shadows.
