Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Searching for the Past

He read it again.

Go to Felucia. You will find answers there, ancient secrets long forgotten. Do not leave until you find them. You will know.

The message was, without a doubt, the most cryptic thing he'd ever read. There was no tracing it. He'd paid to have someone try, which he rarely ever did because he didn't normally care about strange transmissions with no sense of what was behind them offered. This was different. He felt compelled to do as the thing said. Why? Not even he knew. There was no name attached to it, no reason for it to have come. Not unless it was the ploy of a reckless, if not bold, bounty hunter. That was something he very much doubted. No one would know how to directly send him a message. His datapad was heavily encrypted. Tracking him was a statistical improbability, as was contacting him. This was strange.

He'd sat up on the small cot in the cheap room he'd rented on Taris. It wasn't much, but he'd never really cared about what his accommodations looked like. Such things were beneath him. The squabbles of those who sought the money to purchase elaborate dwellings were things he looked down upon with disdain. It was a waste of both money and effort. Why not use it for things to make the galaxya better place rather than to spend in excess? He would never like people like that.

Leaving it all behind, he went to the spaceport and climbed into his Skipray. He powered up the engines while he waited for clearance to lift off. No part of him really understood his desire to do what the message had said, but he was doing it anyway. When his clearance came, he lifted off and streaked into the sky, pushing the gunboat away from the planets gravity well as he used the navigational computer to plot the most direct route to Felucia. When he cleared the gravity well, he pushed the ship into hyperspace and then sat back to wait. He often found the ship to be a lonely thing. There were seats for four other people in the 12J, but he was the only other person ever in it. Such was life.

Sometime later, the ship exited hyperspace and he performed a cursory scan of the system. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There were a few blips and such from ships that he assumed were there because of the Ithorian colony, but no one seemed to come after him. He flew the ship down to the planets surface in an uninhabited sector, the rear assembly switching to landing mode before he settled it down. Powering the vessel down, he climbed out of his seat and walked over to grab his exploration gear. Chiefly he had some rations, a survival tent, a solid vibroblade, and twin blaster pistols that resided in place on either hip. It would keep him alive in a hostile environment.

Without knowing what he was looking for, he was assuming he'd be there for days. Leaving the ship behind, he marked its location in his tracking system, and then set off on foot. Whatever it was he was looking for, he was going to find.

@[member="Soah Jai"]
 
Soah trekked efficiently through the dense jungles of Felucia. Tracking down this particular target was proving more difficult than most. He certainly knew how to hide. She'd been on his trail for weeks now, and still nothing. Today, however, she felt she was gaining on him. She'd found traces of tracks, carelessly brushed away, but not completely. Soah was a very god tracker, and had started finding other little imperfections in the jungle floor or on the jungle plant life. He was starting to slack off. And that gave her an advantage.
@[member="Shakrin"]
 
Footsteps plodded the spongy ground. This place was very strange. Granted that there was nowhere in the galaxy that was truly normal, this place topped off the list of abnormals. Giant fungi for trees. It was the strangest place that he had ever been to, and it was the first time he'd been there. That just made it so he was largely too busy looking up at his surroundings, and not really paying attention to where he was going. Dangerous on a world that had both Rancors and Acklays. Of course he was quite likely to hear them coming, and he could get out of the way quickly enough. He'd always been rather spry.

He stumbled over a shrub and found himself looking forward again. Not paying attention was going to get him injured, and though he had a field medical kit, he was nowhere near as capable as a medical droid was at healing wounds. If he got her while out and about he was, essentially, in some deep poodoo. He stepped around the bush while shaking his head. Stay focused on where you're going. When you stop, eventually, you can take the time to look at your surroundings. That was sensible. Sensible things were good. He shrugged his shoulders at himself and kept walking forward. Every so often he would look around him, making sure he didn't have some predator or another sneaking up behind him, thinking he was an easy meal. Shakrin sure as heck wasn't easy.

There was a feeling eating at the back of his brain. Something was off about all of this. As much as he felt like he was doing the right thing, he also felt like he was about to land himself in some serious danger. On top of that, he could feel that there were other people nearby. He didn't know how he'd made himself feel it, his grasp of the Force was miniscule at best, but he could actually feel them and several other nearby life forms. Some of those life forms he didn't particularly want to run into, so he kept on walking, ignoring the people nearby. If trouble came to him, he'd be ready for it.

@[member="Soah Jai"]
 
Soah began running. She was so close now. She sprinted through the densely covered underbrush, making sure to angle her body so she didn't fall. At last, she reached a clearing. Empty, of course. She was about to cross when she heard a rumble. It was faint, but growing. As it got closer, Soah heard a high-pitched cry. An Aklay... Soah dove for cover, hiding in the safety of the brush. Frak. This is JUST what I need.... She thought. She readied her sniper rifle. It was going to be a hell of a fight....
@[member="Shakrin"]
 
Ahead of him a green figure that looked like a large bug slammed through the fungal forest and into a clearing. He could just barely make it out. Whatever had drawn its attention was in some serious danger. It was one of the other lifeforms he'd felt nearby, someone with a strong presence, stronger than a wild animal at least, but not as strong as any Force user he'd ever met. Someone was likely about to get killed. That didn't particularly make him happy to think about, but it presented a huge moral dilemma. On one hand, this person was probably no better than anyone else he'd ever met. They probably didn't deserve his help. On top of that, why should he kill an Acklay for doing what a predator did? On the other hand, he couldn't simply let someone die just because they'd happened into a bad situation could he?

He could, but just to be safe, he started maneuvering his way towards the clearing that the beast had disappeared into. I wonder if this is one of the ones capable of utilizing the Force? he thought to himself. If it was, whoever it was hunting was as good as dead. Shakrin wouldn't even begin to be a help against such a beast. If it was not, well, then there was hope for whoever it had cornered. Either way, he intended to at least see if it was going to be worth his time to intervene or not. Just because he didn't care about most of the denizens of the galaxy didn't mean he was heartless. Not completely, at least.

Approaching the clearing, he stopped beside one of the fungi that the brute had damaged. It leaked a strange sap which he did his best to avoid. Who knew what that stuff would do to him. The beast was charging towards a giant fungus on the other side of the clearing, and he could just make out the form of someone else on the other side of it. Someone with a very big gun, but not the right kind of big gun. Had it been a rocket launcher there might have been hope for that person, but a sniper rifle against a quick, agile Acklay? Nope, that person was in trouble. He reached down and unclipped the holsters for his blasters. If he did decide to help, he'd best be ready. For the moment he simply watched, though, gauging the situation. Best not to be too hasty.

@[member="Soah Jai"]
 
Soah gritted her teeth as the Acklay came dangerously close to finding her. It was searching adamantly. It knew she was here. So, she took this opportunity to aid her chances of survival. She aimed her sniper rifle at its biggest left eye, and fired. It screamed, and she fired at the right one. It was now almost completely blind. Those last four eyes were very small and only really helped in darkness. As the Acklay thrashed around in pain, Soah began running to the path that it had made to get to her. It was like trying to get through an obstacle course with the Acklay constantly moving. She bobbed and weaved and ducked and ran. When she was directly underneath it, she replaced her rifle with her two blasters. she fired up at the softer part of its exoskeleton, aiming for any of its vital organs.
@[member="Shakrin"]
 
It was hard not to be impressed by what he watched take place. One shot to one eye. Twice. Those were impressive shots that had landed like that. Then the woman, it was a woman as far as he could tell, ran out underneath the beast and started firing at its middle. Crazy, but effective. He leaned against the giant mushroom, in a spot that wouldn't get him covered in the goo that was oozing from it, and watched as the woman proceeded to put the proverbial foot down on the Acklay. Poor creature didn't stand a chance. It was almost cruel, but that was the law of nature at work.

There hadn't been a need for him after all. Clearly this wasn't what he had been sent to Felucia for. There was something else out there waiting for him. Though he was clear in his knowledge of this, he couldn't place what it was that was waiting for him, and that bothered him. Danger was all he knew. Danger and perhaps a hint of future. Either way, he wasn't going to find it if he stood there watching the woman destroy the Acklay. She had things well in hand and probably didn't care for the audience. If she did, he wouldn't like her anyway. Instead, after a few more moments of watching, he moved away from the fungus and started across the clearing, paying no further mind to the woman and her battle.

@[member="Soah Jai"]
 
The battle was in Soah's favor. At first.... As she brought the great beast down, its front claw-foot came crashing down too close to her. It cut her entire left side, forehead to foot. She let out a singe, surprised gasp, barely heard above the Acklay's dying cries. Soah collapsed. Her left eye began going bloodshot. She couldn't scream. The pain was too much for any sound except her hastened breaths. She was going into shock.
@[member="Shakrin"]
 
The sudden rapture of pain was expected, but the fact that it lingered after the death of the beast was not. It gave him pause. Turning, he glanced back the way he'd come and saw the woman was lying on the ground next to the fallen beast. The pain he felt was coming for her. Something critical must have happened. No doubt she overplayed her hand and it came back to bite her. That would be typical. He shook his head, though, and turned to head back towards where she was lying on the ground. It was impossible for him not to help her. It just was.

A quick glance told him she was in a bad state. The gash ran the entire length of her body. It was a grisly wound the likes of which he'd never seen before. Muttering to himself, he knelt down and pulled out his medkit. From it he took the computer and set it upon her chest. It analyzed her body's situation and indicated to him where to begin. For starters, he used a syringe full of something he didn't know but the computer said it would calm her. He injected her with it and then used the laser cauterizer on her wounds. She'd have a nasty scar, but she'd live, which was more than what she'd bargained for.

"Never turn your back on a beast until it's dead. They always have a last gasp in them."

@[member="Soah Jai"]
 
Soah was nearly unconcious when someone came out of the jungle. Her vision was too blurred to make out details. Her hearing was muffled, but she could tell it was a man's voice. It calmed her a bit. She didn't feel the sedative injection. The last thing she remembered seeing was the blurred colors of varous shades of green and purple. She didn't know what they were. She couldn't think. And then, she passed out.
@[member="Shakrin"]
 
Well, at least she wasn't dead. That was a good start. Her clothing barely covered anything, having been ripped to shreds when her flesh was flayed. He didn't peak, though. There was no joy in seeing an unsconscious woman naked, just as there was no joy in sleeping with someone who didn't want it. He'd never understood how anyone could enjoy such a thing. Shaking his head, he packed up the medical kit and knelt there watching her. If they remained there, the carrion feeders would come calling and they'd be in trouble.

"Sometimes I wish I wasn't so willing to help people."

Shaking his head, he reached down and picked the woman up, cradling her in his arms. It wasn't hard. She didn't way much and he was rather strong. That was a positive side effect of his training in martial arts. He carried her away from where she'd felled the Acklay, and where she too had fallen, and went deeper into the mushroom forest. At least with her having been sutured up by the laser he didn't have to worry about the scent of blood drawing anything in. That was better than nothing. For the moment he just walked, carrying her further in, and away from their ships. He didn't know where he was going, he just kept on going anyway.

@[member="Soah Jai"]
 
Soah was lost in a memory. It was of her home on Raxxus Prime. No one with good sense would raise a child there, but nevertheless, it was her home. She remembered playing in the endless heaps of metal. She'd always find odds and ends, bringing them back to her parents to be fixed up and sold. She used to imagine that she were on a deserted islad, or a dense jungle, or another exotic place in the galaxy, fighting off monsters and saving the day. Such were the foolish delusions of a child. The day the pirates took her was the day her innocence died. She didn't imagine anything after that. She was too afraid of what would happen in the next moment to think of a better place. The sadness flowed through her chest, even in her unconcious state. She despised herself for thinking of home. It did her no favors. It only distracted her from her current objectives. But at that moment, she couldn't brush the feeling aside. It nearly consumed her. A small moan escaped her lips, for it was the only thing she could physically do at the moment. Had the circumstances been different, she might have been crying by now.
@[member="Shakrin"]
 
Was she deliberately trying to weight him down? It felt like it when her sadness washed over and threatened to crush him. He groaned a bit himself, but not because he was under a lot of physical stress or injured, just because when she felt sad, he also felt sad. He wished there was a way to turn off his empathy so that he no longer had to feel what everyone around him felt. If there was a way he didn't know what it was. Something for him to look into when he made his way to Coruscant sometime. He supposed the Jedi might know.

Eventually it started to get dark. She still hadn't woken, so he carried her to the shelter of a giant fungus. Interestingly enough, this one had been somewhat carved out at the base, making a neat little hiding hole. Nothing was inside of it that he could feel, no sense of excitement or hunger from a waiting carnivore, so he carried her inside and sat down facing the entrance to the little space. He settled her upon his lap with her back against his chest and cradled her a bit, trying to keep her clothing mostly on her. It was the best he could do for now.

@[member="Soah Jai"]
 
Soah slowly grew conscious. She was aware that it was dark. She was aware of the burning pain running down her left side. And, she was aware of someone holding her. Her eyes flew open, darting in every which direction. What the??!! She made no attempts to move. Something told her that, judging from the immense burning in her left side, moving would either result in crawling like a worm on the ground, or being attacked by the stranger cradling her. So, she sat perfectly still, staying alert for anything that could lead to violence.
@[member="Shakrin"]
 
"I'm amazed that you're awake already."

He was still awake. Sleep always had trouble finding him when he was in an awkward situation. Holding a half-naked human, at least he guessed she was a human, woman was definitely an awkward situation. Still, he was more than prepared for her to wake up, but that didn't mean he was going to let her go. After the trouble he'd gone to in rescuing her life there wasn't a chance in hell that he was going to just let her go off and ruin his work. She should feel lucky he saved her. After all, she was the one that decided to fight an Acklay instead of fleeing it.

"Moving would not be a good idea. Your body needs rest. That and your clothes are rather flayed open at the moment."

@[member="Soah Jai"]
 
Soah stayed silent. Without moving her head, her blue-brown eyes glanced upward. She could make out horns on the man's head. A Zabrak. So he had saved her. She every so slightly attempted to shift in his lap. The tiny movement sent what felt like ribbons of fire burning up her left side. She let out a quiet, airy whimper, and went limp. This was both extremely frustrating and humiliating. Saoh never enjoyed being helpless and at the mercy of others. Unfortunately, however, she couldn't exactly do anything about it.
@[member="Shakrin"]
 
"I did mention moving wouldn't help you any, didn't I? Don't be stupidly brazen or bold. You're just wasting my efforts in helping you."

Despite the strength with which he held her, he was also being carefully delicate not to harm her. That and he was trying to keep his hands from getting carried away with themselves. He was male, he knew what his hands wanted to do. Fortunately for her, he wasn't a wild child like some of those that grew up on Dathomir. Shakrin had developed much differently from most of his fellows. In fact, he was considered weird. But that was life. Sometimes being weird was the best thing one could be. Especially when you're goal was to save the galaxy by, well, destroying it.

"What's your name?"

@[member="Soah Jai"]
 
Soah took a breath before answering. "S.....So.....ah........Soah.....," She managed to say. Apparently, recovering from this kind of wound wasn't going to be especially easy if it was even effecting her speech. She knew it was risky to reveal her name in her vulnerable state. For all she knew, this Zabrak could very well be a bounty hunter coming for her head. But, he had just saved her life. He deserved at least a little gratitude. So, she turned her head until she could see his face. "Thank.......you," She said carefully.
@[member="Shakrin"]
 
Interesting name. Not one I've heard before. Might be important to remember. Either way, at least I don't have to think of her as the Acklay bait anymore. He nodded his head in response to her offer of thanks.

"Don't thank me. I saved you purely out of the fact that I couldn't leave you there. It would be worse than if I killed you."

That was the truth as he saw it. Killing her would have ended her suffering. Mortally wounding her and leaving her would have made him a monster. He was no monster. Of course he hadn't wounded her, either, but he'd been given the opportunity to help her and refusing to do was akin to killing her. So, he'd chosen to help her. Although part of it was also because deep down he wasn't a bad guy and helping people actually did make him a little bit happy, though at the moment he couldn't feel that because all he felt was her pain.

"I'm Shakrin. You showed skill fighting the beast, but you should have ran. It would have been safer, and the Acklay didn't need to die."

@[member="Soah Jai"]
 
Soah didn't answer him. That thing would've tracked her down no matter where she ran, as hungry as it was. And besides, this was Felucia. The Acklays were everything except endangered. She sat there, looking at him still. She began concentrating on suppressing the pain. She had done so many times before, but this pain was tremendously worse than any of the other times. Since the wound burned so badly, she began thinking of the coldest places she'd ever been to. She pictured all of that ice and snow and wind snuffing out the fire in her veins. At first she felt that it was working. However, she then realized she probably had a fever and was hallucinating it all.

Great. I'm too injured to move, fever-stricken, AND in the lap of a stranger......
@[member="Shakrin"]
 

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