First Reply Its Not Far to Abafar

[Makai Dashiell]

ABAFAR

Wearing | Gear : X | X | X | X | X | L3-37 | Interacting With : OPEN

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Unnamed Mining Town, Abafar, Outer Rim Territories



A relative hot, dry desert wasteland wasn't where someone with aquatic genetics should be.

Abafar. Relatively insignificant to those who weren't in the mining industry. Sparsely populated for good reason, much of the local economy was based on the rhydonium extraction business. A dangerous and volatile fuel that had to be mined with care and precision. Handled in the same manner as well. Despite the risks and costs of such a fuel, it was still a commodity bought and sold. It burned better and longer, a small amount carrying a great deal of energy, as evidenced by anyone who had witnessed a rhydonium explosion before.

Yet here he was, underground in a jacket despite the heat above, inspecting one of his latest acquisitions. He had been on a bit of a buying spree when his daughter was born, on paternity leave on Joiol, using late night feedings to also bid and purchase mines to expand his empire. With the girl a little older, only now was he able to go out and step foot into his purchases.

All of which were rundown. Makai purposely bought failing mines or abandoned mines to recoup the savings. It was easier to retrofit and bring something up to standard than start fresh.

Hands in his pockets, he walked slowly in the tunnel as mining probe droids fanned out to collect data.

What came next was a result of a rogue probe droid taking a shot at a rodent and hitting a vein of rhydonium. The explosion was instant, rattling the mining shaft and causing anyone in their path to try to escape to refuge chambers and safety shelters built along the tunnels. Difficult to do when the tunnels themselves started to rain rocks and gravel....

 

[Thessa Kai]

It was time to spend one-on-one time with her son. She'd been spending a lot of time with the three of them lately. Offering to watch the baby between feedings so they could catch an hour or so sleep. Offer bottles where she could. Just another set of hands so they had time to do something simple like a sanisteam. With the baby a little older, she wasn't needed as much on call but she still helped when she could with breaks between the flight school.

But moments like these?

When it was just herself and her son were sacred. Even if she didn't have the mind for this business. And the world was more than a little uncfomrotable on her speckled-scaled skin. She had extra water bottles on her packs and on her belt and had already drained at least one of them. But she walked alongside her son, iced-azure gaze sweeping across the work that was being done. Impressed.

"I'm impressed, Makai. Looks like you don't fall far from the Dashiell tree. How did you-"

There was a BANG! From that droid's misfire. The very ground of the tunnels shook as the ceiling of rocks rained down on them. Thessa didn't hesitate. She threw her body over her son's, protecting him with her own as she knocked him to the ground. Dust filled that tunnel as the lights flickered. Something heavy landed on her leg and something sharp hit her shoulder.

Then the lights around them winked out as the rumbling began to stop.

Breathing shallowly, trying not to cough from all that dust and debris, her fingers felt for Makai beneath her.

"Are you okay?" A whisper in the dark.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

As the rumbling died down, so did the amount of rocks and gravel raining upon them. Compared to the noise of the blast that still seemed to be ringing in his ears everything was oddly quiet. So much so he barely heard the coughing and whisper coming from Thessa Kai .Which made him aware his mother had pushed him to the ground in an attempt to shield him from whatever had fallen.

Something he would have to chastise her for later. Also thank her, considering he wasn't trapped under a massive section of rubble.

"Loaded question Mom." A small half-coughing fit, half-laugh. He attempted to move a little and winced at the massive headache he felt forming. Perhaps the least of his worries at the moment. "How are you? Didn't expect this on Take Your Mother to Work Day."

To be fair, he probably shouldn't have been poking underground with her in tow. It was irresponsible, especially considering the state in which he had bought the massive facility. A few thoughts ran through his mind but right now he had to get his bearings. That could take a moment. Which was fine, rushing could potentially put them in more trouble.

"Generators will hopefully kick out in a moment....if the lines feeding this section didn't get wiped."

If the power was still able to reach them, perhaps it would flush in some fresh air.

 

[Thessa Kai]

"Other than being mighty miffed that your profession seems a hell of a lot more dangerous than you've ever let on," the relief took the edge and sharp bite out of her words. A low huff of laughter in the dark born from that relief.

She adjusted herself so Makai could wriggle free if he was able to. Then came up short. Twisting, she bit back a wince. "There's something heavy pinning one of my legs to the ground. Other than that, just a few bumps and bruises."

"Don't worry Makai, I've had worse crashes than this." A brief, pained smile in the dark. "Please tell me this doesn't happen to you often? Or your father?"

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Makai felt a small gust of air as he wriggled out, gingerly coming to stand. It seemed the generators had kicked back on in this section. Fresh air was flowing in, breaking up some of the dust and starting to clear the tunnel. Lights weren't back on but he chalked that up to potentially being broken. Fresh, breathable air was the more important - his datapad could suffice as a light source for now.

Letting the criticism of his career roll off his back, he fished the datapad out of his pocket, activating the flashlight. Still dusty, there were a lot of fallen rocks and supports he could tell so far. Angling the datapad to point up at the ceiling to bounce the light back down, just so he could get a better glimpse at what he was doing. Besides being smeared, he still had his glasses on his face, a small crack on one of the lenses. Low light conditions and Hapan genetics rarely mixed well.

"You think your leg is bleeding?...I'm sure you have crashed more spectacularly."

Carefully moving, he squatted down to attempt to look at the leg, muscles grumbling in protest. He could see a large rock that would be able to be moved but it would take some coordination of lifting and his mother moving.

"Often? Hmmm..." It was clear he was trying to think. "I was in an exoboar attack after university that really messed me up. I was out scouting alone, had to get help on my own. That was fun. Took awhile to recover, I had to stop working for a bit. What else....more recently a virus and I was stuck waiting but I wasn't in any real danger."

He paused to feel around for blood.

"Mining is dangerous. Salvage is dangerous. Not much anyone can do."

Thessa Kai

 

[Thessa Kai]

Thessa was pinned on her stomach. She tried looking over her shoulder in the flickering comm light her son provided. "It might be bleeding a little. Hard to say." Now she could see the pile of rocks her leg was buried under. There were midthigh and down past where her knee bent.

The rocks had fallen just right. "I don't think anything is broken. Just bruised and pinned. Think you can lift it or will we have to wait for the maintenance droids or search and rescue droids to find us?"

Twisting in the position she was in wasn't comfortable so she rested her chin back on the tops of her hands in the dusty tunnel's ground. "Call me naive but I had no idea what you did was so dangerous. I know I'm the pot calling the kettle but Myra is okay with all this?" That had ended up being a point of contention between herself and Judah. When she still flew in the war and he didn't. He'd hated her risking her neck up in the stars, especially after Makai was born.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

"No, I think I can lift it. At the very least adjust it so you can escape. Give me a moment."

There were smaller rocks to handle first. He stood back up, grabbing those and tossing them off to the side. He needed to clear the space as much as possible so when Thessa Kai did have to move and the rock did have to go somewhere, there would be no hangups. If it didn't work the first time, he had another idea but his sleeve but one thing at a time.

"Its not that dangerous but its not completely safe either. Rhydonium is just extremely volatile and something must have sparked to set it off. Could have been as simple as the wrong equipment overheating. Of course I'll have our team do an internal investigation of the matter."

Makai laughed at the mention of how Myra Arceneau Dashiell would feel about his work. It wasn't as if he was going to keep a secret. Given that Thirty-Seven was in another part of the mining system, the droid might have already informed her. The one perk of wearing his intelichrono with the biometrics he supposed.

"Ellie says I have the danger sense of a goldfish. Meaning if its shiny and has to do with a mineral or ore, I lose all sense." Another rock tossed to the side. He was getting closer at clearing the space around his mother. "She knows its dangerous but I've been exploring caves since I was young, so perhaps growing up together made it a bit more normal for both of us. Just something we chalk up to a fact of life. Ells knows I wouldn't purposely put myself in danger, especially now that we are married and have the girls."

Tossing a few more medium size rocks off to the side, he paused to sort of feel around, to see what shadows were still rock. Apparently all of them.

"You're worried we argue over this or something? In case you haven't noticed, Ellie and I are a pretty good team...this wouldn't be something that got in the way of that."

 

[Thessa Kai]

"That's good to hear, kid." Feeling some of the pressure off her leg, she was able to wriggle it. "Think you're almost there." She let the silence stretch between them. "You were like that as a child too, y'know. Running head-first into things that caught your attention. I like to think you got it from me."

A small chuckle. Then she felt the weight completely life. With a scramble on her stomach, she was able to tug the rest of her leg free, able to sit up and stretch her legs tentatively in front of her in the glow of the datapad. Looking down, her fingers brushed over her torn pant leg. A little blood from scrapes but nothing more.

"I should be able to walk," she insisted quietly. "It's something your dad and I argued a lot about. Doing dangerous work. I wasn't putting it on you and Myra. I know you two are not your father and I. I will say, though, after today I will have a skewed view of your job."

 

[Makai Dashiell]

"I would say, the older I get, the more like the Kai side of the family I become. So yes, I would get it from you. I aspire to be like Grandpa one day, so I think the Kai's are something to aspire to. Now my half-brother Balun Dashiell ?Dad's twin if I ever did see it. Scary really."

Makai chuckled and shook his head. He couldn't see well in the dark so he was going to take his mothers word that she could walk. He listened to Thessa Kai 's retelling of arguments with his father. Logically he could see both sides, especially now that he was a parent. One was worried about the death of the other. Yet being a fighter pilot was something they both knew going into the pregnancy. Yet then he remembered.

"Maybe 'cause I wasn't planned? Didn't have enough time to figure it out? Deal with it and all? Plus being a fighter pilot is kind of dangerous but... if you we're passionate I wouldn't want you to give it up for me."

Shoulders shrugged.

"We can try getting out of here. Never been one to stand around. I'll help you up when you're ready, just take a breather."