It is Not Yet Time to Die.

[Vaulkhar]

​

Aboard the 'Predator'
Trandosha
Mytaranor Sector
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Silence gripped him as he searched for help. Standing before him, a stranger stared out at the open sea as a troop of black armored soldiers fastened a series of heavy chains to large rocks. Confusion gripped the lone man as he watched the stranger approach him. A smile settled on the stranger, though only malice decorated his crimson gaze. The stranger waved over the soldiers who began to wrap the chains around the frightened prisoner - or... passenger? The vision was strange as the world seemed to blur and contort, but the fear was palpable. It rolled like waves off of this individual as the chains hindered him, making it impossible to even move.

Soldiers stepped away towards the edge of the boat before pushing off what looked like a massive block of a dark metal. They turned to attention and awaited further instructions while the stranger watched the chains disappear over the side of the boat.

"Break your chains, my son."

The words echoed around the fear laden man as the weight finally pulled him from his feet. He hit the boat hard before the weight of the chains and the sinking block pulled him towards the edge. He fought violently, fingernails cracking and flesh tearing as he struggled in vain against the weight pulling him down.

It was not enough.

Darkness crept over him as the laughing form of the stranger disappeared.
______________________________________________________________________

He opened his eyes and looked around the darkened room he was currently held within. A set of durasteel cuffs trapped his hands together before him. Confusion rang through his mind as he searched for answers among the small dank cell.

Where am I? Why am I here?

He continued inching around the room to find anything that could help him, but it was impossibly dark. His hands ran along the walls as he tried to familiarize himself with his surroundings. Suddenly, he froze.

Who am I?

The question blew through his mind as he paused his search. He called to memories that were no longer there, he sought a name he could no longer recall. Panic spread through him as he struggled against the durasteel, but nothing came of it. Emotions burned through him at a rapid pace while he settled his back against the wall and continued his fruitless search through his own mind. The lost man likely could have sat their for eternity had it not been for the wall behind him sliding open, revealing itself to instead be a door. His back hit the floor and he stared up at bright, iridescent lights in confusion. That confusion only doubled as a large, lizard man stepped into view beside him. A question caught in his throat as the man lifted a rifle and slammed the butt of the weapon into his temple.

Images flashed as he struggled with coming to, but the pain and dizziness continued to get the better of him. More of the large lizard men would appear between the flashes of darkness, all wielding some form of weaponry.

Eventually, his body thudded against the ground as the creature dragging him, dropped him and moved towards a small gathering of his species. Beyond them, a massive, verdant planet rotated slowly before them.

We're on a ship.... okay...

No sooner did the words ring through his mind before a flashing red symbol appeared hovering above a terminal. A smaller ship appeared out of the vast nothingness. The large gathering of lizard men moved about the deck, each taking positions at separate terminals and panels. Each one appeared to hiss and growl at one another orders. The bizarre nature of the encounter nearly caused the stranger to miss what they were saying.

".... fire on the Jedi vessel. Another for the hunt."

"Yes, captain!"

"Quick," another hissed out, excitement dripping from his jaw. "The meat behind us will not be enough, but the Jedi will surely bring sport."

Only more confusion settled on the grounded man. He could understand these strange creatures, but how? Was he one of them? Unable to see his hands trapped within the cuffs or any hint of flesh, he considered the likelihood of such a thing.

Blood trickled from a cut on his forehead and dropped away to splatter beside his head on the durasteel floor of the ship's deck. It almost distracted him from the ship rocking back and forth as a dozen or more turrets opened fire on the lone vessel.

[member="Illyria Sol Rhia"]​

 

[Illyria Sol Rhia]

The rhythmic flashing of red lighting against the dull blues and greys that made up the interior of her borrowed ship were an eerie emphasis that her ship had stalled. Within the metallic container that separated her from the lethality of open space sat Illyria Sol Rhia, Silver Jedi padawan, who was now urgently running tests on one of the small ship monitors. The thought that she wouldn’t be able to repair the ship if the issue was complicated enough brought her head to a slump atop the ship console, a waterfall of brown hair masking her face as she considered her options.

Well, I’m still breathing. But for how much longer? Rising to meet the monitor once again, she pressed a few keys and brought up a system report. Engine was offline, obviously. Life support however was online, so that was something. It also meant that power was still being transmitted across the ship which at least suggested the engine wasn’t simply dead. It likely sustained damage from her last mission – a simple one at that, at least it was supposed to be. She had run into a bit of trouble though. Another few key presses and Illyria smiled, “Communications are still up. Thank the For—”

Boom. Her body lurched to the side as the whole of the ship abruptly shifted, the flashing red now accompanied by a piercing alarm, and as she gathered herself again, she quickly looked up to the radar. A ship had fired on her? Fortunately, this ship was made to be quite defensible, though the same couldn’t be said for offense, and as she looked for some sort of response to the situation again her body was thrust to the side as another collision rocked her vessel. Life as a Jedi was quickly proving to be dangerous.

Oh no. An alert had popped up on one of the monitors, when her ship had abruptly left hyperspace it had done so a little too close to the nearby planet, and it seemed it just needed a nudge or two to fall into the grasp of gravity. Drifting slowly at first, then quickly, then even quicker until the darkness of space had been replaced by the presence of mist, fog, clouds and pellets of ice it had become quite apparent she was about crash on whatever planet this was. Ice had been quickly replaced by the presence of a thin shield of friction and heat.

The Jedi pushed as hard as she could to correct herself, finding some sort of balance in her seat, as she then began to desperately restart the engines. The ship roared through clouds, now beginning to take shape as a ball of indescribable heat, the nearing earth becoming more and more apparent. “Come on!” With an almost coughing start the engines stuttered back online and Illyria regained some control as she now pulled hard on the ship controls to right herself – or at least avoid the ocean. If she crashed into water then she was likely to be lost forever, and so in her last-ditch effort she pulled the ship up just enough to angle herself towards land.

Boom. Screech. The ship skidded across land, metal and flames fleeing the ship as it grazed, dirt being thrown asunder as it carved directly into the planet until finally it came to a permanent halt.

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[member="Vaulkhar"]​

 

[Vaulkhar]

Angling himself to better see the sudden engagement, the prisoner managed to catch the tail end of the jedi's vessel as it was caught up in the planet's pull. Another shift put him to his knees as he made an attempt to get to his feet, only to feel the butt end of yet another rifle slam into the back of his head. Pain shot through his whole body as everything went white. When he could see again, he was face first on the floor with a booted foot pressed into his skull. The tip of one of their large hunting rifle's was pressed into his mid back. Nearby, more of the creatures spoke of the coming hunt, while others cackled at the display. The prisoner grit his teeth in anger, though he said nothing.

"If you move again, I will not hesitate to tear off your arm, meat. Sure it'll make the hunt easier, but at least it'll provide entertainment," to push the point home, the booted foot of the hulking lizard man slammed into his side. A groan of pain escaped the prone man as the assailant moved elsewhere.

The hunting vessel shifted its course and gained speed as it broke the planet's upper atmosphere. Fortunately for the hunters, the jedi's ship left a trail of smoke where it fell, allowing the group an easy enough time in tracking it. All around the deck, the creatures readied themselves. Various weapons were placed about their person, grenades latched onto their belts. Some even began grunting and hissing strangely until the deck was alive in the strange pre-hunt ritual. This went on for several minutes before the ship was flying parallel to the sea. One of the creatures lifted the downed prisoner and tossed him over his shoulder. He moved away from the deck and deeper into the ship.

His vision was blurred from the pain and overall exhaustion that gripped him tight. He said nothing as the creature carried him, resigned to being returned to his cell. Instead, the creature turned elsewhere. As they entered another large room, the lizard man flipped up a terminal and clicked a button. Wind rushed into the room as a ramp was lowered mid flight. The creature stomped down the ramp until the wind violently tore at their clothes and the prisoner's hair. With a grunt of exertion, the hunter threw the prisoner from the ramp to the sea below.

Fear once more gripped the prisoner as he fell to the ocean below. He struggled midair, twisting to view the oncoming water. However, before he could see the waters below, his body slammed into the violent surface of the ocean. He gasped for air as the wind was knocked from him on contact. Water raced inward as he thrashed about in the waters. Though land was maybe a few dozen feet away, the world was darkening around the man as he sank deep into the water.

[member="Illyria Sol Rhia"]​

 

[Illyria Sol Rhia]

In the cracked and dented corner of the ship a shield crafted from the Force had bubbled around Illyria, the padawan having been thrust to the far side of the cockpit in the crash, body folded into a fetal position as she remained still. The bubble had protected her for the most part, though a crashed ship was nevertheless traumatizing. It would even give a Jedi pause. What felt like hours passed but after a while her eyes pried themselves open to take in her surroundings, the flashing red of the emergency light now dead, sparks of shattered consoles and equipment her only source of lighting in a ship otherwise lifeless. It had been less than an hour.

Pulling herself back onto her feet the padawan stumbled backwards, catching herself on the wall, as she collected her thoughts. She had been shot down and yet Illyria was not even sure who the aggressors were, only that they were blatantly unfriendly. Feeling around with a hand and navigating what used to be the familiar corridors of the ship, now twisted and dented, she found the manual switch to lower the ramp – only it now did nothing. With a sigh the Jedi then felt for her lightsaber – still attached to her waist fortunately – and with a blasé flick of her fingers the green blade illuminated the darkness of the ship with the screech and sparking of metal as Illyria sliced through the ceiling of her ship.

With a Force-imbued shove the circular sheet of cut metal was thrown to the surface below, followed by the padawan climbing out into the sunlight. The Hapan stared up into the sky, the sunlight washing over and cleansing her for the briefest of moments, a kind reminder of a homeworld she barely remembered. It was then she spotted an object – no, a person – plummeting down to the surface nearby, confusion coming over her before deciding that it was best to go investigate, even while she watched the hostile ship lowering to the surface. There was little time to waste. Continuing in the direction of the ocean Illyria knew she would either need to avoid her attackers or confront them directly, but first she needed to find the person that had fallen from the ship. She needed to know why.

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[member="Vaulkhar"]​

 

[Vaulkhar]

Why...

Bubbles gently drifted towards the surface as he sank deeper into the sea.

What did I do?

A radiant light reached down as if to grip the sinking man, but it found no purchase. Pain rocked his body as the tumultuous sea surged all about him, but he didn't particularly care. Too many questions raced through his addled mind as the sea threatened to swallow him. If not for the burning pain surging out from his lungs, the shackled man likely would have drowned. But it was not his time, not yet anyway. Righting himself beneath the ocean surface, he dragged himself back up with one kick of his legs at a time. Eventually, he broke the surface and snapped his head back, the long ponytail he was mostly unaware of shooting back and behind him.

Waves slammed into him as he searched for land, but the sea salt burned his gaze as he struggled to wade water. The feeling of Illyria's manipulation of the force caught his attention, enough so that he began to swim towards the shore. As she moved towards the sea, he managed to crawl his way out. Now on his hands and knees, the stranger coughed up the briny water by the mouthful, coughing as he gasped for air through the process.

He was a strange sight to say the least.

A near human for sure, the man had long fading black hair, appearing to lighten to a white color as if the black was slowly being washed away. His face was decorated with a horizontal scar over his nose. Most of his clothing was torn and ragged, as if he experienced a whirling droid of death or a long fall. His eyes were a dull blue, his skin fair.

[member="Illyria Sol Rhia"]​

 

[Illyria Sol Rhia]

Is that…? It was. The same person she had watched plummet from the ship that had attacked her. A web of black hair clung to his face while simultaneously fading into the water beneath him, little else of him discernible as he trudged towards the shore, though what could be seen inspired Illyria to jog over. Truth be told, she was surprised he had the strength to climb out from the water. Reaching him she fell to her knees beside him, hands placed without warning onto the sides of his torso, his coughing and sputtering seemingly ignored by her. C’mon. I saw them do this every day for weeks. I can manage once.

Moments passed as she stared intently into him, her stands of brown hair a nest that framed her features due to the crash, and just like how she watched the healers at Silver Rest a dim light-like energy began to emanate from her palms. Slowly it crawled over him, then through him, the Force compelling his body to quicken its healing to a point many would consider impossible – and yet in comparison to the Jedi healers she was mimicking, her Force Heal was relatively slow. It probably wouldn’t heal him completely either, but it would suffice to keep him going. Illyria would need to keep practicing that.

“Who are you? Why did you attac—” her tone was rushed, panicky, even a little impatient, yet her words ceased as she spotted his bindings. He didn’t belong to her attackers, as she first thought, thinking one of their crew accidentally toppled out from the ship in their pursuit of her but it was now becoming clear that he was a prisoner. Which meant that they likely wanted to take her prisoner as well. Slavers or bounty hunters then. Her mind was an adrenaline-fueled mess now, thought after thought racing through her, stalling the next decision second-by-second. “Oh. Let me.”

Standing above him she again ignited her lightsaber, staring down at the odd wet man, Illyria now waited for him to present his bindings so she may cut through them. “Come on. We need to hurry, they’ll be on us soon.”

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[member="Vaulkhar"]​

 

[Vaulkhar]

More and more water was violently coughed up even as the woman approached. As she took to her knees, the man looked up at her with a clear sense of panic and fear. Fortunately, a feeling of calm washed over him as the energy slowly began healing his wounds. His gaze grew distant as mentally, he was somewhere else. His body was strewn across a comfortable bed as an Echani woman pressed her hands against his chest. The very same energy washed over him and brought a feeling of serenity over him as broken ribs, long open cuts and bruises slowly knitted themselves back together. The forgotten wounds healed over as his eyes focused on the left arm, or where an arm should be at least. Instead, there was nothing. The shock brought the man from his vision, his form shaking as he immediately looked to the limb. It was in that moment he realized it was not his own, but instead a cybernetic replacement.

Confusion, panic, fear and loss gripped tight and refused to let go of the man as he struggled to gather his bearings. The world began to spin for him as it became harder and harder to breath. His eyes darted around him to each and every little thing he saw on the beach. Illyria's words caught his attention and he looked up at her, meeting her gaze. That same calm settled on him once more as he instinctively focused on his breathing. The momentary panic disappeared but quickly returned as she drew her lightsaber and activated it.

The man crawled back away from her, holding his bound hands up as if to ward away a blow that would inevitably fall. He looked at the saber with fear, but also a tinge of awe as if he were seeing one for the first time. As the seconds ticked by and no strike came, he shakily held out his arms for her.

"I-I okay -," he stumbled through the sentence. "I don't know if its a good idea for me to join you. Those lizard men were armed to the teeth with weapons. they said they wanted to hunt us! I c-can't fight them, I'll only slow you down," he looked to be struggling with something as he looked past her, expecting them to burst out the edge of the jungle at any second. "If we split up I can lead them off, maybe give you sometime to get away and contact someone!"

[member="Illyria Sol Rhia"]​

 

[Illyria Sol Rhia]

Delicately pushing the pulsating blade of searing energy through his binds, Illyria noted his nervousness, but they had little time. Moving the double-bladed hilt back to her side, just one blade currently ignited, she followed his eyes and looked out in the same direction as he was. Swallowing hard as the Force began scratching at her mind, a warning for what was about to happen, she turned her attention back onto the man. “They’ll kill you if I let you do that. You can’t outrun a gun, you just ca—” pulling her attention away from him once more, her attention abruptly caught by the now audible shuffling of movement. It was too late anyways.

Six Trandoshans stopped shortly before them, armed for a hunt, just as he had said and as her eyes met theirs, she knew what was about to occur. In an abrupt burst of Force-imbued speed she had closed the distance between her and the hunters in a mere moment, her foot thrown into the chest of one of them causing the lizard-like creature to stumble backwards and fall – not anticipating the momentum in her strike. Her lightsaber rising to meet the electric staff and parting it into two distinguishable fragments before continuing to slice into the upper torso of her first attacker, grazing him, though it was enough to cause him to trip and fall as well.

Unfortunately the heavy fist of a Trandoshan on her left slammed into the side of her face causing Illyria to also stumble but unlike his two allies she was able to correct herself, the other side of her double-bladed lightsaber now igniting as she spun to meet the Transdoshan as he lunged forwards with a dagger – only he had impaled himself on the sudden appearance of her secondary blade. Like a knife through warm butter the blade slid through the remainder of his chest, a croak escaping him as he collapsed. Her first sentient kill. Not taking the time to reflect on what happened Illyria extended her left hand, the Force plummeting into the next nearest hunter and throwing him back, the last of the group choosing to fall back.

Grunts and hisses were exchanged by the five hunters as they backed away, their rifles trained on her, the padawan doing the same knowing she probably couldn’t reflect all of them and as she returned to the man she spoke in a hushed and urgent tone. “L-let’s go. I don’t think they’re done.” Their ally remained dead in the grass between the two parties, her double-bladed lightsaber held away from the man but still ignited, as she pulled him to retreat. They had to get off this planet.

​

[member="Vaulkhar"]​

 

[Vaulkhar]

The man shakily pushed himself to his feet. His left arm rubbed at his right wrist as if to soothe the raw flesh. It was apparent the cuffs were uncomfortable. However, that minor concern was quickly forgotten as the six hunters dashed out of the undergrowth. He threw up his hands to cover his face as the woman's abrupt movement shot a wave of sand washing over him, but her hasty actions saved the both of them. He could do nothing but watch as she struck first, sending one of the hunter's to the floor. When the next's fist connected with her jaw, the drenched men took a step forward as if to aid her, but something locked him in place. The world blurred around him as he was suddenly somewhere else.

Another woman he did not recognize was standing before him, saber locked against his own. As his gaze focused on hers, the vision faded to instead be replaced by a cold gray mask. The saber lock ending as he was thrown back by the wave of his foe's hand. Before he could react, burning pain shot through his abdomen as he looked down to see any icy blue saber plunged into his body. A booted foot slammed into his chest and sent him over the edge of a building into dark alleys below.

Illyria's voice broke through the clouded vision as the world returned to normal. The first of the hunter's was struggling back to his feet while the second lay unmoving on the ground. The former prisoner's mouth opened to speak but no words came out. Instead, he stared wide eyed at the dead creature even as she grabbed his cybernetic left arm and led him away. His breathing was mostly kept even as he raced after her, but that was quickly changing as another wave of panic and fear pushed down on him. The sudden realization his arm was not entirely normal, along with the sight of the dead lizard creature was far too much for the confused man to handle. While he kept pace with Illyria, his body trembled from shock.

"I-I don't understand, why are t-" he was interrupted as his foot caught a large root and he tipped over. His body hit the ground hard, but the adrenaline pumping through his veins kept him going. He scrambled back to his feet and dashed after her once more. "Who are you?! What's going on!?"

[member="Illyria Sol Rhia"]​