Just a Common Trip

[Kay-Larr]

Kay shrugged her shoulders a bit. "I haven't heard of it either. It was just a guess." In all honesty, she hadn't a clue. The two individuals down there weren't dressed like Imperials or anything of the sort. However the dark clothing was very much like what darksiders tended to wear. It was kind of their callsign. But then again they could be anyone from any time. The amber encasing looked fresh, but neither of them could say.

She knelt down as [member="Marina DeVoe"] began emptying out her backpack of it's contents. Snacktime it seemed. Although it took Kay a moment to realize what the lady was doing. So far there was no tools. Only rations. Hmmm.

"The sandwich sounds lovely. Been a while since I've had any of those meals." Kay removed her own pack and brought out some water in a bladder, rummaging for a dagger or something as well. But she didn't have one. All that was in there was her little hold-out pistol. Shooting that at the amber wasn't such a good idea.

"I'm not sure if we can get a sample. Unless....hmmm...a sharp rock or something?" There was ample rocks here afterall.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"Oh... uhm..." Marina started to feel the outside of her pack. There were pouches sewed into it, which contained her ready-light, fire-starter and...
"Oh yes, here it is!.." She drew out a multi-tool. It wasn't very big, but it did contain a pair of pliers that extended out and a variety of cutting implements. But mostly, Marina extended out the pliers and closed the tool's handle so it could make for a good handle.

"It's durasteel, but not sure if it can chip that stuff....it didn't look brittle...more like...amber....honey...only solid." Marina handed over the tool to Cessy. At the same time, she accepted a drink from Cessy's canteen. Odd shaped it were. Marina wondered if it were made from some kind of animal. She had come across a few places that did that, where durasteel or sub-ores were not readily available or smelted easily.

"You don't suppose it's ....you know, manufactured?... a polymer of some kind?" If it was, it would need more than a blunt metal tool to chip it. But did they want to chance disturbing it? marina had her doubts about it, but then again, she nearly wet her pants before over it. She wasn't the best motivator for this portion of their adventure. But if Cessy wanted to take a sample back with her after they got back down to give it a good look over, then she was in.

"I know I only saw two figures in there for sure...but how far and deep do you suppose is that chamber? There could be a whole mess of others trapped the same way...only we can't see through the distortion...only maybe the two nearest...us. "

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay took the tool in hand, giving [member="Marina DeVoe"] the bladder in trade. "Thanks. Leave it to a pilot with her own ship to have tools always on hand."

She smiled and then thought of her next comment on whether or not the substance was manufactured. "It doesn't look like it's naturally occuring. It had to be a weapon of some kind. Maybe like carbon freezing, but worse."

Kay took the sandwich and began eating it. The taste was a bit on the blander side, but as far as ready-made meals were, it was quite good. "There could be more. Who knows? And are they still alive in there? Or dead? It'll take others with more tools than what we have right now to figure it all out. But...at least we can get it started." Kay took another bite of her sandwich, chewing it down before swallowing. "After we eat of course."

 

[Marina DeVoe]

Getting some down time, a breather so to speak... some food and drink and without realizing it, Marina weren't so apprehensive as much over what they discovered down below.

"Oh Lord...I don't know if I would like to think either way...alive still, or dead and preserved...eeek.." She gave a slight shiver at the thoughts.
Right now, she just didn't want to mull over that, lest somehow her imagination would get the best of her and something horrid would rise out right there in front of them out of the vegetation covered floor.

Well for the amount of time they had spent in here already, nothing out of the ordinary had pooped up out of the blue that indicated anyone or anything had been here for really quite some time. The great hall where they were picnicking at the moment was as it were when they first entered it. The light had not changed as it remained steadily illuminated by the glowing stones along the walls that were in many ways similar to where windows would be if the hall were on the surface.

For the most part, it were neither cool or warm..but a perfect temp, much like her ship's interior temp....not noticeable.

"Hmm..that's strange.." Marina then pointed out. "We're pretty deep below the canyon floor level itself..." She took a drink again, before looking around again. "..shouldn't the temperature in here be ...cooler? I mean, well it is too perfect..like as if its maintained...you know?"

She remained still a moment, listening....listening for the minutest sound.
Nothing.
The only thing she could hear was Cessy checking out what kind of cutting blades the tool had,and herself slowly chewing the last remnant of her half sandwich.

"It's not creepy silence...just peaceful." At their sitting positions and close to the floor vegetation, they weren't producing an echo like they had done when testing the acoustics before.
The only thing strange other than what they had seen downstairs was the lack of time passing. With the never changing twilight of the hall they were in, it seemed that time just may have been standing still here too.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay was a bit claustrophobic, after being held in a tiny cell for some time. She just couldn't imagine being frozen in a spot, unable to move, or breathe; just...trapped. That had caused her to shiver, almost in timing with [member="Marina DeVoe"] .

Her observations were noticed. Kay stopped fidgeting with the tool for a moment and looked around. "There could be some kind of volcanic activity, maybe? It could explain the nutrients that help all this vegetation to grow. Maybe there's a hot spring somewhere... " Of course the air was dryer down below where the amber was.

"I don't think that I could guess what this place was for. That'll take a lot more study and research. I'm not quite sure that I have the time for that." Free time was scarce with her, of course.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"Yea, maybe... that would explain the temperature....and this vegetation." Marina replied, opening up one of the small towelette packages that came with the meal to wipe her hands and then use it to clean out the package the sandwich had been sealed in.

"Well, I guess then we should get down to it and go get that sample." She agreed on the time factor. it were still quite a trek back up and out to the canyon floor. plainly speaking, she had kind of lost track of time. Her wrist crono which was synchronized to her ship had lost it's connection. She wasn't too concerned, as the way back was pretty much as easy as following the winding stairs.
In the mean while, she was packing up their little picnic break.

"Here...this one has the zip lock." She handed it to Cessy, who had also finished her half.
"it should keep whatever that stuff is pretty good and sealed up."
After taking another drink from her companion's canteen, Marina set on packing up their little picnic set up.
She handed Cessy the other towelette pack and split the rest of the MRE's sealed packages between them. One had cookies and the other indicated dried fruits. The mint pack she opened and popped one in her mouth and gave the other in the package to her companion.
All there was left was to shake up the pullover that had served as the picnic blanket and into her pack it returned.
The remnants of the MRE they would leave behind was biodegradable once torn and most likely would benefit the plants there with additional nutrients.

Marina swung her pack back on and brushed herself off. It were more of a habit then the fact that she had picked anything up off the floor.
"Ok..." Marina had taken a deep breath, exhaling her readiness. She was going to do this. She knew what was down there and it weren't going to be a surprise. this time, she was mentally prepared. Ok, two more deep breaths and a good to go nod to her companion. Marina loved exploring right? So Ok...she was set on doing it.
"Let's do it, Cessy...."

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay nodded in agreement. First and foremost, they needed that sample. She helped [member="Marina DeVoe"] pack up their little picnic, her mind puzzling over different scenarios. "I wonder if whatever happened to those men is the reason that this place was abandoned." It was a good enough guess. People could have flown the coop, scared of becoming trapped in the amber as well. And what of the men inside? Were they good people? Bad people? There wasn't a way to find out yet.

After everything was packed up, Kay slung her pack over her shoulders and then headed to the marked piller, making her way around it to the secret stair behind the ivy, following it down. Her steps were still careful ones, most especially as her eyes became adjusted to the different levels of light. With the tool in hand, she approached the amber, her eyes on the two men encased in it, almost looking to see if they'd move. "Okay...here goes..." Kay knelt down and poked at the amber with a flat edge of the tool. As expected, the substance was solid. She started to work at it, using the tool like a pick. Bits of tiny pieces started to come off, yet they were tiny. She clenched her jaw as she continued on it, her body stiffening with the efgort. Her plan was simple, carve enough around a piece and then maybe it would pop off. But that was in theory. In reality, it was taking a lot longer than she thought. Kay switched hands once the other got tired and continued working at it. "It's a good thing that we're not trying to rescue these people. It'd take us years to get through to them this way."

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"Uh-huh...." Marina replied nervously, standing there like a sentry with her illumi-light.
She had taken it out of her pack before she descended the stairs again with Cessy. She weren't going down without something in her hand. She would have preferred Cessy's hand, but it weren't practical going down the stairs gripping the woman's hand. Besides, she was a big girl... or so she kept telling herself.
But admittedly, it got more creepier and creepier as she got down to the lower chamber. Not that anything had changed, just that she knew what or whom was down there. The two guys, encased in god-knows-what.

So she took a few deep breaths as Cessy got down on her knees and started to chip at the mass for a sample. Marina did all she could to avoid looking directly at the guys features...especially their eyes. They were kind of distorted through the media, but still they had them open.
Nope, she avoided them eyes like if it were the plague.

Marina kept the light on Cessy's work, occasionally running her ilumi-light back around her and as far as it could up the stairs. They were fairly deep, as she took to keeping tabs on how many the steps.

"Shoot..that stuff is like some kind of polymer... " She made a guess, as it wasn't really chipping off in anything substantial. But it were just Marina's guess or her way to describe it, although she still hadn't even felt it... nor dared touch it.
Then again, she was getting antzy again....as her usual nerves were once again employing her to get the frak out of there.

"Have we got anything yet?..." She asked seeing that all that Cessy was able to do so far was get some scrapings off.
Marina wished her droid had accompanied them as it had an array of implements, like core bits and stuff that it used to cut and drill when repairing the Mariner IV.
But the steps would have been quite a challenge for it, being they weren't even standardized.
She looked back once more,before returning to see how Cessy was doing.

"Yea...good thing we're not a rescue team, huh?...hehe.." She forced a nervous laugh.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay could tell that [member="Marina DeVoe"] was getting nervous. And rightly so. It was creepy down there with those two locked in amber, and there was too many unknowns. At least the amber wasn't turning into some glob to consume them. That would've been awful.

"I think that I've almost got it..." Her anxiety grew as she pried at a piece, using the tool for leverage as she tried to break a piece off from the floor. "Come on.....come on..." She could feel it give way. Then in an instant it was off! The chunk of amber flew from it's spot and bounced arpund the room. Kay gasped as it had startled her into almost falling into the amber wall, yet she had stopped herself in time.

Finally the piece slid to a halt on the floor, seemingly innocent of being capable of entombing people. It was roughly the size of a credit chip. "Well....that should do it, I think." Kay got to her feet with ziplock bag in hand and carefully collected it, sealing it inside of the bag. She looked over to Marina. "Alright, let's go. Hopefully we can get back to your ship before dark." Who knows what kinds of creatures came out at night. She didn't want to find out.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

It were taking like forever...

Marina kept her cool and fidgeting as low key as possible while Cessy did her best to extract a good enough piece of the stuff so she could get it analysed. Maybe perhaps Cessy's line of work dealt with things of that nature. Marina wanted to ask, but figured best let the woman do her thing and don't distract her. Damn that stuff was tough.

Marina looked at her wrist crono...still no signal from her ship. They were deep, but really NOT that deep. Hell, her link usually could connect half way around a system. So many questions and scenarios were playing about her head as she remained backing Cessy, and they only lead to more questions.
"Sigh..." She had to maintain her cool. But the longer they were down there the more her nerves were playing on her. Damn it, did she have to go pee again?
"Shoot... How...how's it going?" She asked getting that feeling to go again. Why did it always happen when she was in the worst of places? She didn't have a weak bladder. It were her nerves, which edged her at times to tell her it was time to go.

But just as she asked that, which certainly was going to lead her to follow up with... 'I have to go, again' , Cessy's prying and chipping finally dug out a piece adequate enough to call a sample. But wouldn't you know it, it went flying off. Marina was about to curse the gods for playing around with her again when Cessy quickly retried it. "Oh thank the gods' Marina instead said under her breath.

They were up those steps not soon enough.
Ok, so maybe they stayed down there a few hours, it were difficult to say as the light being artificially illuminated by those glowing rocks never changed. Their pace through the great hall was most definitely at a clip much faster than they had first trekked. Even Marina's call to nature somehow became less urgent and not as pressing. She figured there would be plenty of time for that once they got out back into the open. Right now all she wanted to do was see some real sky. Hopefully it weren't too late in the evening. Still, it didn't much matter..light skies or stars; they'd be out and she could discard that weird feeling that had been laden on her shoulders. Ok, so it were more her neck spine, but it would be over...
Marina kept her illumi-light on all throughout their exiting...

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay handed [member="Marina DeVoe"] back her tool as they headed up the stairs. They were both more comfortable with their steps, so she attributed that to their speed, as opposed to Marina wanting to get out of dodge.

When the two stepped out of the cavern, Kay shielded her eyes to adjust to the light. The sun was still up, surprisingly. Lime it is when one is at a boring job and clock watching, the time while they were down there had crawled. Yet with the position of the sun, they had just a couple of hours until it went down. "I'm glad that I marked our route. With all that we saw, I don't remember which path we followed."

Down the steps she went, taking precautions still. The last thing that they needed was for one of them to fall and break their ankles. "So what are you going to do after we get back? Do you have another job lined up?"

 

[Marina DeVoe]

Beep..be..be..beep...be..beep...

So went off her wrist crono as they neared the light of day coming out of the cave tunnel. The light was indeed intense and marina paid no heed to her droid's desperate call. So Ok they had been out of comm range for some time and it were understandable as to the droid's frantic attempts at co

"Shoot...hold a minute...got to shut him up, or he'l never stop....." She she said to Cessy before she could answer her question.

"TK, pipe down... I was out of range for a few hours..now stop it. I'm heading back..." She responded.

But it beeped and chirped and Marina just didn't have time for that. Unless...

"Stopi it!...I don't know what your beeping about...is the ship. I said ENOUGH..stop it. Is the ship Ok?"

Be-beep...it was

"Good..now stay put and we're on our way...over....I said OVER!" And she closed off her comm

"Good lord...I don't know what he was hammering about...the ship's fine...sheesh.." She quickly apologized to her fellow explorer.

"You were saying?... Ah yes... my plans. Yes." She found it difficult at first to descend the old stone steps that were winding around and down to the canyon floor, due to the brightness of the early evening.

Strange though..seemed like a cloudless sky, but it felt as though perhaps the sun was peeking for the last time out of some clouds as it were getting brighter.
"Anyway, I'm awaiting on a good friend of mine... the wine deal I mentioned before?...yea, she's waiting on some bureaucratic approval to sell her wines to this system...and me... I'm going to ship them. Well, some of them. She's got more stock than I can haul in 20 trips.." So as the descended, Marina was ranting away.

"But hey...I promised her I would.... and I'm meaning to ship every bottle she can muster to want to export! hehe..well, until she starts turning enough profits for her to ship them herself... but I'll still do a few pro-buono deliveries for her. My idea, you know..." Nope, one could not stop Marina once she started to go at it. Besides, it was a long and careful step by step down and there was still plenty of light out.

Actually, way too much light out to be a sunset...

"Yea... I convinced her to have me ship the first few deliveries at no charge to get her going. Of course she resisted...but I wore her down..hehe.." Marina continued as they got closer down to the canyon floor.

"Hmm... could have sworn...weird..." She broke off for a moment, before continuing on with her plans. It were strange how it were getting lighter than darker. The small crack of sky between the deep fissure that the stairs had been carved through was getting bluer by the minute. Marina was certain they had spent a good portion of the day and afternoon in the caverns. Was their adventure that arduous that they thought it was later that it was?

Marina took a moment to recheck her wrist crono, as when she had last checked it for loss of signal she noted the time..it had said 5:47 pm.
"Oh my God!,,,what the frak!.." Marina suddenly stopped, startling Cessy who was in front of her.

"No freakin way!..." Marina had quite a shocked expression on her face as she tapped and shook her hand...her wrist crono, rather and kept looking at it.
"It...it just re-linked and updated...." her breathing was heavy and near panic...or was it just shock.

"Cessy...it's not night time...it's sunrise!...Two days have just been updated...we've been in there two days....not hours...TWO DAYS!!"

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay could not understand the droid's beeps and panicked whistles. She always had the use of a translator. She did her best not to laugh though. The little droid was just worried.

As [member="Marina DeVoe"] spoke about a wine merchant, she wondered if she could guess at who it was. It'd be a strange coincidence if it was [member="Mariya Fleischer"] . Surely the Galaxy wasn't that connected. It'd be an odd coincidence if it was her though. And maybe even a bit funny.

Marina began to panic, more so than her droid did. Kay stopped in her tracks and spun around quickly, her eyes wide with disbelief. "What?! Are you sure?! Your chrono has to be wrong. I'm not even tired! I can't of been gone that long! Everyone would be worried sick!" She turned back around and started walking, a bit quicker now. Her eyes dropped to the ground as she kept a lookout for their pebbled markings to show them which way to go back to Marina's ship. "It has to be wrong. We can't of been gone for two days!" But then that would sort of explain the droid's behaviour. By the Force...how was it even possible?

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"I....I....don't-
...I don't know..." Marina was besides herself, rechecking her wrist crono. Sure enough, it had corrected itself to indicate they had spent well close to 54 hours. And despite the probability that the crono could have just malfunctioned; one couldn't argue the rotation of Commenor which clearly indicated early morning. The sun had risen higher cresting now over part of the lower canyon and climbing.

"TK...come in...TK!" Marina took to following Cessy down the old stone steps at a quicker pace. There was little chance of Marina loosing her footing or misstep as she were after all climbing steeps and mountains as a pastime in her own system of Alderaan. After all, her home was situated on top of Mt Ceitril, in the Aeiden Mountain Range of Northern Alderaan.

"What freakin time is it?...No, no...how long has it been since I left the Mariner?" She asked.

57 hours, 34 minutes and 22 seconds counting....

"What?! Are you sure?..??" She actually asked a digital operating droid if it could have miscounted the passing of time. Even if that were possible, would the answer received be valid from a malfunctioning droid?.
Yes, TK retransmitted the correct time again. It was sure.

"Cessy... we were in there for two days...over two days!" She shouted, trying to keep up with the woman. It didn't occur to Marina as to how could the girl skip and jump down those steep steps like that, while although seemingly more apt to do such things, marina was finding it difficult to keep up with her.
Come to think of it...why was Cessy in such a rush? It's not like they could make up two days time lost. Still, the woman now quite a few paces down from her was in a hurry.

"What?... I can't make out the translations TK... I'm barely keeping up. Tell me when i get there....I'll see you soon...over." She closed her comm link and put more effort and concentration in trying to catch up to a surprisingly agile woman.
Marina's droid had without success wanted to inform her of other crafts buzzing about through the canyon, but had once again been cut off by Marina.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Over two days. It was mind boggling! Kay's mind was reeling over the possibilities. Neither of them passed out. It wasn't a dream, right? She reached into her pocket and felt the amber within, still safely tucked away in the bag. Nope. No dream.

She glanced over her shoulder, noting that [member="Marina DeVoe"] was trying hard to keep up, all the while chattering with her droid. "Be sure to eatch your footing!"

Kay eyed the ground again. She spotted one of their markers on her right once they came to the fork and chose the opposite direction. Even with their quickened speed, it seemed to take forever.

The sounds of the other crafts began to echo off the canyon walls. "They've found me already..." Of course they would! Kay assumed that her people would've tracked her down somehow. It wasn't as though she was just an average joe. She was their Queen. She could've had some kind of tracker on her, or they could've been followed, who knows? Regardless, they weren't alone anymore.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

" Geeze... what is she...part mountain goat?" Marina said to herself as the woman was continuing to draw more distance.

Marina had thought herself a very good climber, having lived up in the Norther parts of Alderaan...the mountain ranges. For as long as she found her balance as a toddler, it were a nightmare for her nannies and parents to keep up with her climbing about like a little monkey all over the estate. Then once figuring out how to skip her estate's confinement, it were another epic for them in keeping her from scaling the rocky mountains. It were said, she rivaled that of the mountain goats in her footing and agility.
But trying to keep up with Cessy, suddenly put Marina in her place. Cessy was indeed like those mountain goats her family compared Marina too.

For the most part, the buzzing of crafts overhead hadn't registered yet. not until one actually speed across the narrow fisher that their steps were between. The craft most likely only saw a fisher... a dark shadow down what was a crack in one of the canyon walls. It were near impossible to actually make out that there were carved stairs from the air looking down into the fisher....and there were many natural fishers.

"What was that?!" Marina looked up, but the craft had already passed and all she could see was a slit of the blue sky up between the walls.

"Cessy, wait up..." Marina didn't know what was with all the hurry. So they were gone for two days...it happens.

She were following on Cessy's tailwind when they finally passed one of the markers. Marina didn't pay too much mind, other than she knew at least they were still there. Only when she passed the marker following Cessy, did it dawn on her that maybe-
Marina turned to look back and could swear the way Cessy had marked it that they were going in the wrong direction. That were impossible, for the woman had marked it herself. No way she could have missed read her own mark.

"Cessy! " she shouted behind her.
"...Aren't we going the wrong way?!...
Cessy!..... The marker!
....We took the wrong turn!" She kept shouting trying to keep up. For all Marina knew, the woman must have been a marathon runner, as she certainly wasn't tiring like she was. And Marina was for the most part, fit and physically trim.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay wasn't a mountain goat. She was determined. Her people were probably worried sick, just as [member="Marina DeVoe"] seemed to be worried now. She heard the woman calling from a distance, and it wasn't until the voice sounded much more frantic that Kay stopped and turned around. Had she really gone the wrong way? She looked at her surroundings, chewing the inside of her cheek. Maybe she had.

With a quick pace, Kay headed back to Marina. "Sorry, sorry. I'm just frazzled. And confused. And puzzled. I mean...TWO days?" She took hold of Marina's hand and then started down the right path. This way the two wouldn't be seperated. "I don't understand how this could happen..."

 

[Marina DeVoe]

" I don't...I don't know either..." She were running out of breath.
Cessy had come back for her and took to leading Marina by the hand. Although it greatly helped, it were only a matter of time till Marina lost her second wind.
"I'm sure we'll figure-"

Zwoosh!..........

"Whoa!" The sound of a craft overhead that passed over the narrow canyon walls startled Marina. But this time she caught the tail end of it.
"Did you see that?!
I thought I had heard-"

ZZZwooosh...... another one crossed over head, louder as it were lower.

Then two more. Whatever it were that they were out there for seemed to be in the same direction.
"Shiet...." Marina realized the three crafts had passed over going in the direction as to where the Mariner IV was parked.

ZZZwooooooshhh!.... still another one, not just low now, but slowing down by the sound of it. And it seemed to be hovering ,as it engines verberated through the canyon walls. And that sound were multiplying, as it meant the other crafts were grouping there too.
There was no denying, they had all gone in one direction, same as where approximately the Mariner should be.

"TK" Marina spoke to her wrist comm. "TK-1213...."

No reply.

"TK, come in....TK, can you hear me?!" A panting, yet strained voice was the best she could do. Sure, she hoped maybe the droid couldn't recognize her voice as she were heavily out of breath-
Frak, that droid could answer her in her dreams. She could grunt and he'd understand. A sense of dred was washing over her and it weren't her sweat.

Marina put on her breaks, stopping so sudden in her tracks, that Cessy lost her leading grip on her. Marina certainly didn't know what was up per say, the only realization was that somehow pirates or marauders must have spotted the Mariner sitting there with a 'Loronar E-9 Explorer craft, first one spots it - claims it' sign.

Well Ok, there wasn't any such sign on her ship...but it might as well have one as it didn't have any fail-safe anti-theft devices like electrical high discharge, perimeter flame throwers, or any anti-personnel weapons. Just a droid that can extend, retract the ramp to the ship. And any Jawa worth his hoodie could get the Mariner IV's ramp to extend.

"Cessy...pant...pant...." Marina was utterly out of breath.
"....I....I think those thieves are at the ship. I think they got in....TK's not responding.... that little...sob, sob..." She started to choke up thinking the worst.
If TK tried objecting to the thieves, they wouldn't hesitate to blast him....poor TK...she were thinking.

The Mariner IV now had to be considered lost and they had to think about surviving this ordeal. They had to hide...hide in the canyon...somewhere...anywhere. She were still panting heavily, looking about...looking for something,or more to the point; trying to think of what they should do.
Weird though...as Marina was catching her breath, Cessy wasn't. Rather, she never really ever had lost her breath. But what relevance did that make facing the current situation? None, so Marina chucked that out of the present problem they needed to solve. And that was how not to get found by the pirates or whomever-

"Shiet!.." Marina then spotted a figure out in the distance just making his way around the canyon wall.
She immediately made herself small, ducking low and out of sight due to the irregularity of the base of the canyon walls.

"Get down!..." She shouted in her lowest voice, hand signaling Cessy to do the same. They had to scoot, get out of there and get lost in the maze of walls fast.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay's attention was brought up to the sounds of the engines on the ships that flew by. They didn't sound like any that she knew. They weren't hers.

[member="Marina DeVoe"] pulled on her hand, stopping her in her tracks. Desperate as she was at trying to reach her droid, she feared the worst. "It could just be this canyon. Remember that yhere was no connection in the cavern?"

Kay tried to ease her fears, but the situation just seemed to be getting worse. Marina spotted someone, so she quickly crouched down after her, taking her lead. Now what do they do? They could go back to the cavern, lose a couple of days and then come back. But what if they were followed?

She chewed the inside of her cheek. "Let's go this way. Follow me." Kay took the lead, going back the way that they came, being sure to cling to the canyon wall. Yet instead of following their markers, she went the other route. Maybe the markers would lead the pirates over that way. That was the hope anyways.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

She didn't answer, just gave a 'Ok, lead the way' nod.

And so Marina kept low and followed Cessy away from whomever those people or marauders were. maybe if it had only been one craft, they would have thought nothing of it. But so far there were 3,maybe 4 and looked like some of those crew members were searching for something or them.
But why them? What could they want from them? They seemingly may have claimed the Mariner IV, so why need to look for the crew and passengers?

She kept low until Cessy got them enough distance away and a few turns through the maze of walls, for them to not be so much under the gun. This canyon was known for it's labyrinths, and not easy for even the best trackers to figure it out.
Marina kept trying a few times to reach her droid, but to no avail. It weren't so much the ship she were to loose. Hell, a ship could be replaced, so no way were she thinking of risking her life and that of Cessy to try to get it back. But her droid. Hell, she hadn't realized how attached she had gotten to it, up until she realized it too had either gotten blasted or zapped. It were like she were leaving her puppy to the wolves. In her head, she prayed the least of the evils...getting her droid zapped. This way, if they were looking to take and steal everything, then they could sell the droid too. She hoped this would be TK's fate, for she couldn't think of it being blasted and blown to bits.

"Juniper canyon..." Marina still kept her voice low as she followed Cessy.
"I know I brought up the topical map on the ship, but I don't remember any details....
I mean there weren't anything that suggested a settlement anywhere near. Then again, it weren't a demographic map...shoot.... we don't have much water-" She were ranting just as Cessy and her came around one of the walls and there ahead was one of the river branches. Ok, so they had plenty of water.

"Ok...we have water." She pulled out her canteen and rushed to the river bank. It were shallow, but crystal clear. "...never mind."