Make my way back home when I learn to fly [Galactic Alliance]

[Audrey Starchaser]

Location: swamps of Xagobah, aboard the Tachyon Rising​

Audrey didn’t remember much from the crash itself, just that It seemed to happen in the blink of an eye. One minute she was sharing her most embarrassing responses on Space Tinder with her Uncle Coren as they shimmered out of hyperspace over Xagobah, and in the next, they were colliding with a fethton of space debris. It didn’t help that they were in the middle of a flying lesson, so of course Audrey had no idea what to do when the epic malfunctioning started. [member="Coren Starchaser"] was the best pilot she knew, but even the most skilled pilots would have had problems avoiding the thick cosmic dust cloud that began to clog the Tachyon’s systems. The freighter went down, and with it went Audrey, fainting to the floor from complete and utter panic. Did she mention that she was a horrible pilot? Like, “what does that button do?” terrible. But hey, she was awesome with the Force! She hoped that made up for it. If both of them managed to like, not die.

Audrey was a Starchaser. Imperfection was kind of their thing.

She groaned awake, and tried lifting herself up off the floor. Spotty things swam in her vision and she suddenly felt nauseated. Oh bad idea, Audrey. She flopped back down to the floor on her back. Was she even alive? She couldn’t tell, but she seemed to be breathing so that was a good sign.

“Gnnnng.” Her everything hurt. Audrey peeped one eye open, but couldn’t bring herself to look around the cockpit, no how much she wanted to. She was sure that if she did, it was going to be like one of those Horror Holo-movies where she turned her head and came face-to-face with a creepy, grinning corpse. Yeah, she had a super active imagination. Actually a random corpse would be fine, just as long as it wasn't Coren. If she found Uncle Coren dead, by the Maker, she was going to kill him.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The ship wasn’t moving. That bit he knew. That was the one thing he could remember very quickly. She wasn’t giving feedback into his implant either. Rising was… oh Force, please not be dead. Just… down? Hopefully. He groaned as he rolled his shoulders, his left shoulder popping rough, probably dislocated. The Tachyon Rising was his baby, his pride and joy, and the fact that he let Audrey fly it was mostly based on familial obligation rather than merit. She was a Starchaser after all, and he taught Jared and Kaia to fly aboard the Rising.

But the fact that they were now on the ground on… where were they? Xagobah? Who even lived here? Wonderful.

He tried to get to his feet, left arm, the cybernetic arm, pushing down on the floor, even if that was his bad shoulder. Three, two, and collapse again. “Fething Skywalker…” He cussed. Because we don’t want to offend book thumper, so Luke is now our imaginary savior and Messiah whose name I can take in vain. #DealWithIt

Right hand this time, and he slowly got to his feet. His ship was off, his ship, she wasn’t responding. “C’mon baby…” Yeah, Coren used more pet names with his ship than with [member="Spark Finn"].

[member="Audrey Starchaser"]

 

[Audrey Starchaser]

Suddenly, she heard his voice. Uncle Coren was alive! Audrey was so overcome with relief that tears threatened to stream from her big Starchaser blue eyes, and that wouldn't be good at all. She was a really ugly crier. She sniffed them back and finally managed to roll over and hoist her bruised body up to its feet, steadying herself against the navicomputer. Squinting, she gazed out one of the ports and spied a big blue ball through a thick purplish mist. She remembered from her planetary studies class at university that Xagobah's sun was blue, so it made sense. From what she recalled, the purple fog on the planet's surface was actually made up of spores from the planet's many fungal species. Some of the purple spores were even said to cause weird changes in off-worlders who inhaled them. Great. Not only were they stuck on a purple fogged planet, but they were probably going to grow eyestalks or something.

She turned back to the cockpit and Coren came into focus. He was cooing at his ship and turning all sorts of knobs and dials that had functions which were completely foreign to her. What was it with Audrey and ships? She was good at science, math, and all that other nerdy stuff, but put her in a cockpit and all of a sudden, she was completely useless. Oh god, how mad at her was he going to be for crashing the Tachyon. It was like, his literal wife or something. Her eyes brimmed with tears again. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.

"Can I help with anything, Uncle Coren?" she offered. There had to be something she could do to help. Maybe like, she could go kill something for their dinner? She didn't know how being stranded worked.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The ship was in rough shape, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t fix. So much for all Starchasers being able to fly. He was a bit confused and a bit hurt, how did someone fall that far from the genetic template to not be able to fly a freighter? It wasn’t like he was throwing her in to a combat situation. He’d use a TIE Exalt for that, or probably some of the new X-Wings coming off the line. Getting her in one of those would be the best bet. Well, at least he thought so. Approaching the controls and running his fingers delicately over them, like as a lover would find the delicate parts of his partner, he licked his lips.

“Talk to me, girl.” Yeah, he was a bit connected to this vessel, but he would get her flying, and she’d have the more scars, more character, be more beautiful than before. He knew that the Rising had to be jealous of the ShortFin but the latter was being used for combat, and stealth. But the Rising was home, she was the exploration vessel, she was the ship who brought him everywhere and had refueled the Dawn Treader with extremely needed objects.

Right, niece. Coren looked over his shoulder. Feth, he forgot she was here, used to flying alone. “Just give me a second, okay? Are you alright?” He tried to turn, and winced at the pain in his shoulder.

[member="Audrey Starchaser"]

 

[Audrey Starchaser]

One thing about Audrey was certain, this Starchaser was an eternal optimist. "Optimistic" was going to be one of those words that she was sure people would use in her eulogy, a eulogy which would come sooner rather than later if Coren didn't get the Tachyon Rising flying again. Suddenly Audrey wondered, if it really came down to it, would she eat Uncle Coren for food, or would she be the first to be eaten. I mean, he had way more meat on his bones than she did. Her thigh meat was probably all gristle.

Anyway, optimism! Everything was going to be fine, all fine. Coren was still sweet-talking his ship, which was like, a kink she never knew he had. Soon, he finally noticed that there was another human being present. Was she alright? Other than possible internal injuries and cannibalistic scenes playing out in her head, she was totally GREAT!

"I think so," said Audrey, sheepishly aware that her bad flying skills might have caused the crash. "Your shoulder!" she exclaimed, rushing to get a med kit. From what she knew, Uncle Coren's arm was cybernetic or something, which was good in case she needed to saw it off due to gangrene maybe?

Gingerly she approached Coren, bandages dangling from each hand. She would make a sling for his arm while she looked for a saw.

"Right. I'm going to wrap your arm." She glanced down at ship's obviously dead computer. "How is it looking, Uncle Coren?"

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Optimism was great. Coren? He was a bit of a realist. He had seen the Sith take over Csilla, a world important to the Starchaser clan, he had been there when the Sith kidnapped [member="Spark Finn"], and he was aware that even Kinsey Starchaser had disappeared, last seen around his nemesis. Times were changing, and the galaxy wasn’t as bright as it had once been. And it was one of those things that he just couldn’t shake. He needed his ship moving, because otherwise, they’d probably get eaten by an Alligator, or a Crocodile here, or whatever Star Wars had for that.

There was a good reason Archer was terrified of those two creatures.

And brain aneurysms, the silent killer!

Still, his ship, she wasn’t looking good, but he was hoping to get an inkling into what was wrong with her. He knew his ship inside and out, but most of that was from good old manual searching, not the Force. He wasn’t Spark Finn, as much as he wished.

Now if she was here? Things would be a bit easier in the ship repair department. His right hand went to his left shoulder. Out of the socket. Dislocated. He was just trying to push through it, and shook his head. “Nah, its just… I need to put it back in its socket.” Wasn’t all cyber, just the elbow down. “You may want to look away.”

He’d need both hands to get the Rising flying.

[member="Audrey Starchaser"]

 

[Placeholder 017]

"I'm not stalking them. I'm observing." Tykan grumbled. Riny stared up at him with what could only be disappointment -- it was hard to tell with that Strill face. Her expressions usually ranged from hungry, angry, or happy. Anything else tended to be beyond the spectrum of emotions she could display. Still, even without the force, Tykan knew his lifelong friend well enough to know when she was not pleased. Now was one of those times.

The Pingman, an old box shaped freighter Tykan had thrown together from an abandoned chassis and parts from various ships, had been following the Tachyon Rising for a little less than half an hour. Well, watching them crash rather than following, but whatever. Whoever was piloting the ship seemed to have not seen the Pingman, despite its rather obvious appearance on the other side Xagobah. Tykan, on the other hand, knew exactly who that ship belonged to. It was part of why he was so far south of his usual hunting grounds.

He didn't want to run into family again. Marek had gone off to become a success story -- the man was famous for all the right reasons. His younger brother? Not so much. He and Riny lived hand to mouth. With the emergence of the One Sith, and their rather strict policies on just about everything that moved, work had began to dry up. He couldn't bring himself to face Marek, not yet, but the rest of the family he could manage.

So long as they provided some openings.

He'd heard tale of the Starchasers making a name for themselves in this Galactic Alliance. Another galactic power that was doomed to fail; they all did. It didn't help that Tykan had a bit of an anarchist mentality when it came to organized government. Of course, he could set that disdain aside in exchange for a roof to sleep under.

The Pingman lowered into the atmosphere of the planet. Unfortunately, it was around that time that two of the three engines lost power. Tykan had pushed the rust bucket too long. He knew it was dangerous to fly it for extended periods of time, yet he'd done so anyway. The sudden lurch of the vessel had it pitching forward. Rather than slowly descend, the Pingman was in free fall. Tykan's stomach was left somewhere up in the atmosphere.

Riny yelped. He ushered the Strill into the seat alongside his, strapped her in, and gripped the yoke. His knuckles were white. Sweat dripped down his brow. The cabin of the ship began to heat up like an oven. With one engine to guide his descent, Tykan brought the Pingman down. The ship shot through the sky far faster than he would have liked. The air brakes had been torn away by the ship's wake. The swamp below was rapidly approaching, and a foggy sky was making it very hard to see.

"Hold on girl."

The ground came up to meet Pingman half a klick from the Rising. It mowed down a trail of trees before finally coming to a halt in a mess of branches. Tykan let go of the yoke and fell back into his chair. Riny mewled.

"I might not have the force," he sighed, "-...but I'm still the best damned pilot in the family."

The Strill made a snorting sound. Tykan laughed. Then the branches broke, and the Pingman was sent tumbling into the murk below.

[member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Audrey Starchaser"]

 

[Audrey Starchaser]

Audrey dropped the bandages and frowned. She badly wanted to help with something, especially since she felt super responsible for the crash in the first place. Oh yeah, the Force! She carefully laid her hands on Coren's shoulder and let the Light Side flow through his injury, numbing his pain a few notches, and speeding up the regeneration process. Would it fix his bum shoulder? No, but it would help expedite the healing process as well as make it less painful for him when he popped his shoulder back in its socket.

"There," she said. Ok, maybe she wasn't so useless after all.

Suddenly there was a rumbling sound coming from somewhere outside the freighter. It sounded like an earthquake had struck for a few seconds, and then there was a giant sploosh. Oh god, was it a swamp monster? Whatever it was, she hoped it couldn't eat through metal. Audrey bit her lip and went to fetch an environsuit and her lightsaber. She was going to go monster hunting. Hopping up and down on one leg, she hastily pulled on the orange jumpsuit suit.

"Right. I'm going to check out that weird sound."

She wasn't sure if Uncle Coren even heard her.

[member="Tykan Starchaser"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The one downside to the ship being damaged was that the ship was damaged. A more specific downside was that Coren was having zero scanners and unable to see anything coming in. The Pingman was not being seen by the people aboard the Rising, and by the sounds of it, the ship really needed some assistance. Once Coren got the Rising working, or stepped out into the swamps, then his keen senses would help.

The fact that another Starchaser was making their way back here? That was new and different. The fact it was a sibling to Marek was something else. Marek was definitely the black sheep of the family. Sure, his father had left the Treader, but Marek went off the deep end with the Force, and that was not healthy, not in this galaxy.

For now, he was going to see what he could do for the ship, before exiting. She was going to get back on her feet, it was a matter of seeing what was wrong. As he was working to reset his arm, he smiled over at Audrey and felt the Force moving. That was a trick, wasn’t it? Being a useful Forcer? Coren was barely better than an Inhuman… in space!

“Thanks, Aud.” He looked back at the ship, the sounds coming in, not paying any purchase on his ears. A few moments, almost meditating on the ship, sweet talking her, and running his hands gingerly over the controls, he was able to get at least a jumpstart to the life support. She had a pulse! “Yeah, have fun.”

Wait, what?

[member="Audrey Starchaser"]
[member="Tykan Starchaser"]

 

[Placeholder 017]

"Not my fault." Yet it was. The Pingman lay at the top of a swamp bed, and was slowly, but ever so steadily sinking into the murk. Riny had managed to right herself and crawl through the shattered viewing glass. Tykan was not so lucky. He'd strapped himself into his chair when the ship came down, and now the buckle was shrouded by a mess of leaves and twigs. The ship itself was halfway speared on a tree -- one that had just barely missed Tykan's chest. Being skewered by a smelly old swamp tree was not the kind of death any sane person would want. Riny stared down from the lip of the vessel, mewling worriedly as the swamp water rose up to take the ship and its passenger to a watery grave.

"Riny. Knife." Tykan managed as the ship sank further. The Strill gave him a curious look, dove into the depths of the ship, and returned with a small carving knife. With a bit of effort, Tykan managed to break the straps holding him down. It was at that time that the ship decided it had enough of slowly sinking. The whole vessel lurched forward, and the swamp water began to spill over the side of the viewport. Riny clawed her way to the opening. Tykan grabbed for whatever hand holds he could find, barely managing to haul himself out of the sinking ship. Together, he and Riny fell to the grass below just as the ship sunk beneath the murky depths.

"Thanks," he scratched the Strill behind the ears, "Now we need to find that other ship. I'm not a Jedi, so I don't think we'd thrive in a swamp." He pushed up to his feet. Riny lifted her snout and sniffed the air. With a bark of warning, the Strill marched off into the swamp, and Tykan followed after her.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]
[member="Audrey Starchaser"]

 

[Audrey Starchaser]

While Coren was getting busy with his ship (literally, from the sounds of it), Audrey gingerly descended the freighter's loading ramp with blaster in hand. The light on the helm of her environsuit cut a beam through the thick purple fog. The first thing she noticed as her eyes adjusted to the haze were the trees that moved as if semi-sentient, their branches fluidly reaching out to touch one another and their surroundings. Her Starchaser blue eyes blinked fiercely. It was almost like she was back in college all of a sudden. Great, not only were she and Uncle Coren going to resort to cannibalism, but at some point there was a very good chance they'd be molested by trees. This little detour was getting more and more awesome by the minute.

The squawk of a rasp pierced the air, and tiny little gnats descended on Audrey, as if mocking her plight. She heard a bubbling sound, as if something was either sinking or submerging, she didn't know which. Blast, that was definitely a swamp monster.

Wait was that a bark?

[member="Tykan Starchaser"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Hell, Coren wasn’t a Jedi. He wasn’t quite sure where Audrey was on the sliding scale of the Force. He’d gladly take her under his wing for a bit of Warden training, but he knew that one Sarge Potteiger was interested in instructing her. That could be good too. Man wasn’t a pushover. Not like some were in this galaxy. And the Jedi? Well, the New Order was fine, but the others? Not so much. He was starting to get the ship’s pulse working again.

She was connected to him, he was connected to her. And as for Audrey? Well, she was falling into the cracks right now.

If he really needed to, he’d go mucking around the swamp, but the ship, as stated, was giving him a hum. Not to his mind, or his implant, but she was alive. That was good, whatever Audrey flew them through just messed with it a little. “Whats wrong, girl?” He said, going through the droid brain, checking the ship’s systems. Engines first, then hyperdrive, then everything else.

He’d get her moving.

[member="Audrey Starchaser"]
[member="Tykan Starchaser"]

 

[Placeholder 017]

It wasn't the first time Tykan had gone mucking through a swamp hot on Riny's heels. It most certainly wouldn't be the last, either. Still, he couldn't help but scrunch up his nose at the sound of mud squelching beneath his boots. The smell wasn't too pleasing either. Riny seemed disaffected; this kind of things was the usual for her. She was a Strill bred true. Hunting was as normal to her as breathing was to Tykan, and she thoroughly enjoyed it. It seemed the venue of those hunts didn't make much of a difference to the creature.

She would stop every few paces to pick up the scent, bark at Tykan, and continue on. Her master followed as well as he could. She had six legs, he had two. She darted through the swamp with ease: Tykan struggled with every other fallen log. The seemingly living trees didn't help his already unhappy state. He'd seen the Star Wars equivalent of Evil Dead, he knew what those trees would do if they caught him alone. So he stayed as close to Riny as he could manage, the DC-15s he carried as his only form of defense held with white knuckles.

Riny came to a sudden stop. A beam of light cut through the murky din.

Shab.

Tykan whistled. The Strill moved forward, stalking along the treeline. She was a silent creature; slinking through the thick undergrowth with a natural grace. Tykan came to a slow trot, careful not to give himself away to early. He held the sidearm down toward the ground, though it was ready to be raised at a moment's notice.

"Friendly or not?" He called out into the swamp. He'd give whoever it was five seconds. If there was no reply, then he'd give the order for Riny to pounce. Tykan wasn't above maiming strangers if it saved his own hide.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]
[member="Audrey Starchaser"]

 

[Audrey Starchaser]

Audrey let the Force bleed into the surrounding area, attempting to pick up any signs of danger or unfriendlies. The signature of two sentient beings returned from the ether, but she could not discern any emotions. That purple mist seemed to be karking with her Force powers. Blaster drawn, Audrey crept along the swamp, swinging her weapon wildly at every little sound.

She heard a whistle and and then a litany of splashes. One of those beings was clearly not human. Eek. Then a male voice cried out through the violet murk. "Friendly or not?"

This situation was literally her worst nightmare. Well, no not literally. Her literal worst nightmare was the time she went hover-skating with her friends, and got toilet paper wrapped around her skate, and skated like that for hours. AND NONE OF THEM TOLD HER. Obviously Audrey had an easy life.

Oh blast! Focus, Audrey. Answer him!

"Friendly!" blurted the young Starchaser. Seriously friendly! Will hug strangers friendly! Oh-god-please-don't-hurt-me friendly!

[member="Tykan Starchaser"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Happily unaware of the world outside, Coren was starting to get power to his ship. The bit that he could gleam out of the computer told him a few things and that meant the man, and his astromech were making their way back to the access area for the power sources. Something mucked it up, and he needed to remove and reroute it. He didn’t like this sort of work. He was a pilot, he had a deck chief to handle these sorts of things, back on the Treader at least. But here? He knew enough to get himself by, at least until he could report back to the Alliance, a friendly Underground location or Laekia.

“Alright, Arnine, lets see what we can do, plug in and let me know when I’m fixing it, yeah?” Coren nodded to the droid as he opened the hatch and started to feel his way around the power conduits, with the Force, and his hands. Engine control would be one thing, the rest would charge up from that. Similar to how a hybrid’s batteries charged as the airspeeder was moving.

Should probably submit that to factory for another useless sub.

"How's this?" He called up to the droid, recieving a sad beep.

Next attempt.

 

[Placeholder 017]

Friendly. Female. These things Tykan liked. Had he known it was Audrey, his blood, that would not have been the case. Unfortunately this was Star Wars, and in Star Wars it was totally okay to swoon over family until a green dwarf told you your girlfriend to be was actually your sister. Things were complicated like that. Tykan gave another sharp whistled to keep Riny from ripping the girl to shreds, and forced his way though the thick mud.

After a few moments of cursing and pushing vines aside, he emerged on the other side. To his horror, he recognized the girl. She was a Starchaser, part of the family, not an easy lay.

Kark.

"Me too." He grunted, the disappointment quite evident in his voice. What single man didn't fantasize about rescuing women from situations where they might have been doomed? Perhaps some, but Tykan was not in that category. "I'm Tykan, this is Riny." He gestured down to the Strill. Riny had already taken it upon herself to stroll on up to Audrey and try to lick her ankles with her long reptilian tongue. Big black eyes stared up at the girl. Six legs shifted to and fro as she adjusted to the mud.

Oh, and Riny smelled. Bad.

"You a part of the other ship that went down?" He asked, hoping to avoid any questions. Everyone aboard the Dawn Treader knew what he'd done. It wasn't that bad! -- He hadn't been the first teenager to try and hijack a Star Destroyer. Unfortunately people liked to blow things out of proportion.

[member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Audrey Starchaser"]

 

[Audrey Starchaser]

Tykan? Wait, didn’t they have a cousin or a uncle named Tykan or something? It would be weird to meet a Starchaser here, but then again, it wasn’t a common name, and the Starchasers bred like rabbits, so not that weird. Wasn’t he Marek’s relative, the one that tried to jack a Star Destroyer? Marek was from the side of the family they didn’t talk about that much. Dark Siders.

“I’m Audrey. Audrey Starchaser,” she said. Her bright blue eyes widened as the Strill came bounding up to her, giving her boots a slobbery tongue bath.

“HI RINY!” Audrey said to the creature, wrinkling her pert nose at its smell. She gave Riny a scratch behind those double ears. “I thought you were a swamp monster.”

When Tykan asked about their ship, Audrey nodded her head, her environsuit squeaking, and batted away a “handsy” tree branch.

“Yes, our ship went down right over there.” She pointed behind her. We hit some, um, space dust. No need to mention that she couldn’t maneuver her way out of a paper bag, much less a cloud of space dust. Did she mention she was awesome with the Force though?

As her blue eyes gave him the once over, Audrey still wasn’t completely convinced that the guy was her relative. It would be a shame if he, was ‘cause he was kind of cute. Why were the good ones always taken or relatives?

“Are you Tykan Starchaser?”

[member="Tykan Starchaser"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The two outside would be meeting. Coren had written that side of the family off. Marek’s father didn’t come back from his own Odyssey away from the Dawn Treader and that was fine. Several didn’t. He almost didn’t expect Kaia to return, but she had. Still, that other side, it was wrong. They joined the Zeison Sha, well, at least Marek had. But they were fighting against the Treader’s interest. Which was really saying something now that Coren was leading them into the Alliance.

Still, the Sith were not the ones to be in charge of the galaxy. Force users shouldn’t have that much power. Not one group at least. Not the Sith, not the Jedi, not the groups in between. He shook his head.

Audrey and Tykan were meeting, but Coren was focused. He was trying to find the pulse to the Rising and getting her moving. “What about this one?” He said, before hitting the bulkhead, and feeling parts fall into place. His astromech accessed the code of the ship and there was a small hum that began.

“Good.” Coren responded to the droid.

[member="Audrey Starchaser"]
[member="Tykan Starchaser"]