The Bonds of Catastrophe

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua ambled down the steps with a calm dignity. He had the advantage of being genetically modified to have his cells regenerate quickly. He recovered from fatigue fast, which was nice, but Irajah hadn't been revitalized much. Despite this, both of their minds were at work.

"I'm... not sure." Ghorua felt a slight discomfort overtake him. "Jaice was hard to read, but I'd bet a million creds she was a no-good criminal before all this. And if disasters can make good people do terrible things... think about what it might do to a bad person."

Like me.

The Herglic hauumed tiredly. He had almost ended up like that. He had almost killed everyone on their floor. If Irajah hadn't been there to stop him...

He would've ended up like them.

Ghorua banished the thoughts, trying to perk up a bit. "You were the leader." He smiled, trudging forward. "You ARE the leader. I don't doubt that. You've kept a clear head through all of this, kept us moving, kept us together. Someone who can do all that, amidst a warzone like this, I'd follow till the end."

"So..." Ghorua gestured grandly in front of him. "Lead us to a way out, oh captain my captain."

- [member="Irajah Ven"] -

 

[Kuzo]

The mouse droid had followed them, and Irajah scooped it up before starting down the stairs. It wasn't heavy, but she was exhausted, and soon she'd be passing it over to [member="Ghorua the Shark"] - no matter what the droid wanted.

"Leader? Pht, you need to recalibrate your definition of that," she snorted. "I just figured it was get to work, or sit and wait around. I'm not.... very good at waiting."

Looking up at him, she gave him a tired smile.

"Never would have made it this far without you, and don't you forget it."

Despite her disagreement, she still ended up leading the way down. Maybe he was right, maybe he wasn't. But it still boiled down to the fact that Irajah would always prefer action to inaction.

"Speaking of, hey pipsqueak," she addressed the droid. "Unless you want to handle the stairs yourself, I'm handing you off to Ghorua. I know he makes you nervous, but you'll be safe with him, and I can't carry you anymore."

The mouse droid tootled dubiously, spinning it's wheels a little frantically for a moment as Irajah held him out to the Shark.

None of them knew yet just how far they'd come, and how close to over this nightmare truly was.

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua palmed the little droid, carefully cradling the skittish little thing in his hand. It seemed to relax slightly as it realized it wouldn't be crushed by the large being, resorting to only letting out a little tootle every once in a while.

The pair descended flight after flight, stepping down seemingly endless stairs. Ghorua was thankful that they were going down them, and not up. That would've been a feat in and of itself. Every once in a while, they would come across a door, that was either blocked by rubble, or sealed together, by what appeared to be extreme heat. Ghorua finally deduced that there must have been baradium charges set on every third floor of the mall, as it seemed every third door was completely and utterly totaled. The floor Ghorua and Irajah had been on must have been the floor below an explosion.

They kept walking, and Ghorua kept mostly to himself, sometimes shifting rocks out of the way to clear the stairs. Without the immediate threat of death breathing down their backs, he had fallen into a routine: walk until he couldn't throw the obstruction to the side, keep walking.

Suddenly, the little mouse droid perked up, revving it's wheels. The Herglic looked at the droid, which he had mentally named Pipsqueak, curiously. "What's up with you?"

The mouse droid could only toot, turning it's wheels back and forth. Ghorua looked around, surveying the same bland-looking stairs, the same railing, the same interspersed doors...

The door.

The shining metal surface looked untouched, pristine, not even dented like the others. What caught Ghorua's eye, however, was the panel next to it.

It was blinking green. The door had power. And it was unlocked.

Ghorua looked to Irajah, remembering the last time they forced a door open. Guarded excitement lit his features.

"This must be where the bombs stopped..." Ghorua said, his voice a little mute.

- [member="Irajah Ven"] -

 

[Kuzo]

One step, then another. Again and again and again. It wasn't possible to consider more than simply one step ahead anymore. Stopping wasn't an option. In truth? It never was. But somewhere along the way, she'd lost track of the actual intention behind continuing. It became rote movement, mechanical.

So it took a moment to register what [member="Ghorua the Shark"] was talking about. She blinked hazel eyes, not even sure exactly where her mind had gone as she leaned heavily on the railing.

"Green light," she murmured, not really understanding for a moment and then her voice sharpened. "Green light."

Irajah looked up at Ghorua- unlike the guarded hope on his face, she didn't have it in her to do anything more than set her mouth in a thin line and nod. To say that she was exhausted would have been an understatement. More than a little numb, in both mind and body at this point, she stepped, almost tentatively, up to the door. One shaking finger reached out, and pressed the door key.

There was a groan. A series of clanks- even if the bombs had not gone off this far down, there was still structural shifts in the building that meant nothing worked quite like it was supposed to. So focused on the door opening in front of them, Irajah missed the sound of feet on the stairs behind them.

It took a moment, to fully comprehend what was waiting for them on the other side of the door.

Half a dozen blaster rifles and armored faces waited for them impassively, trained on the pair as the door churned open.

"Don't move-"

And from behind them, the growl of a familiar voice - not the wookiee's but that of Jaice- and the sound of a blaster firing off *behind* them, slicing through the air above her head and slamming into one of the armored figures.

Chaos erupted.

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua almost sagged in relief as the door opened, revealing the strangely calming view of soldiers. Ghorua immediately classified them as members of the Galactic Alliance Millitary, probably sent to help evacuate the rest of Jeruba Complex. A sign of good faith from the new 'protectors' of Coruscant.

But at this point, Ghorua wouldn't have cared if the Yuuzhan Vong came to help. He was just happy help came.

Then he heard a familiar, angry voice behind him, and the happy feeling disappeared.

The shot of a heavy blaster pistol rang out overhead, and the Shark snapped into combat mode, wheeling around, and pressing against the stairwell wall. He hadn't reacted fast enough to pull Irajah away, but he figured she'd be fine on her own. Forcies, even untrained ones, had a knack for getting out of harm's way.

The Alliance soldiers scrambled backwards, ducking into the cover of the door, caught off-guard by the sudden attack. Jaice roared out at the top of her lungs, a snarl forming itself upon her dirty face. "Thought you could ditch me, eh Doctor Ven? Shark? Rat me out to the Alliance? Well, you can't tell 'em if they're all dead!" Something about the way her eyes shifted about the room, the fragile glint of shattered glass in her pupils, told the experienced Bounty Hunter that somehow, for whatever reason, the lady had snapped.

"We will fire if you don't lower your weapon, ma'am!" One of the Galactic Alliance members shouted over her voice, tinged with discomfort, which the woman gave no indication that she even heard.

Ghorua pressed himself against the wall, cursing to himself. Hopefully, the GA wouldn't assume they were with the woman.

With the woman... The Wookiee. Where was he?

Ghorua felt his stomach drop.

"Jaice! JAICE!" Ghorua's voice blasted out, deafening those near him, his tone a rumbling fury. "You don't have to do this! We can all leave now, safe! Put the blaster down!"

As a response, Jaice sent a few stray shots in Ghorua's direction.

- [member="Irajah Ven"] -

 

[Kuzo]

One too many things. Irajah reacted without thought, relying on instinct- the simple one that said live. She dropped to the floor in a crouch, arms over her head. She felt a blaster bolt sizzle past her shoulder on the way down, close enough to heat the air but missing her as she went down.

This woman is insane.

She didn't need to see the look on Jaice's face to know that. She could feel it in the air, hear it in her voice. Whether the events of that day had been the last straw, or if she'd started karking bantha bonkers, Irajah didn't know. Ultimately, it didn't really matter. The fact was that Jaice and the Alliance forces were merrily trading blaster shots and she and [member="Ghorua the Shark"] were right in the middle.

"Jaice! We didn't-"

Irajah ducked as the wall next to her head got peppered with a series of three scarlet bolts.

"The evidence is right in front of me Doc! I'm not STUPID."

"Could have fooled me," Irajah muttered under her breath.

Jaice had the high ground, halfway up the stairs. She was also making excellent use of the corner, popping out to snap off her shots and ducking behind it again before the Alliance could make any progress. Clearly they hadn't been expecting real resistance and seemed hesitant to go for a killing shot, despite the situation.

"Ghorua, I have an idea," Irajah murmured out of the corner of her mouth. "But I need her to be distracted." Her voice was weary to the point of exhaustion. But what did it matter if they were used as target practice. "Think you can handle it?"

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua pressed against the wall, trying desperately to escape Jaice's line of fire, when he heard Irajah's tired voice next to him. Despite the situation, he grinned, a fear-enducing sight of sharp teeth and savage eyes.

They were so close. Ghorua wasn't about to let Jaice get in their way. Not after they had trudged through so much.

"Will do. Being the center of attention is my specialty," he muttered, slowly stretching to his full height. The Shark dashed towards the stairs, ducking under a blaster shot as he did. He made it to the first step, and looked up the flight at a disturbed Jaice. She looked down at Ghorua, a slight hint of fear tingling through her expression.

"Hey, trigger-happy!" The massive Herglic inhaled deeply, a great whooshing sound filling the area. Then, he exhaled.

Boom.

The sound popping from Ghorua's blowhole was akin to a cannon shot, an enormous explosion of air that echoed into the stairway. A sound so jarring, it rattled the teeth of all in close proximity, including the Shark. The concussive sound bounced back and forth in the enclosed stairwell, making Jaice step back, her blaster forgotten as she covered her ears.

If you're going to do something Doc, Ghorua thought, now would be a good time.

- [member="Irajah Ven"] -

 

[Kuzo]

She'd done it accidentally the last time.

Could she do it on purpose now?

Irajah had told [member="Ghorua the Shark"] she had a plan. And she did. But she wasn't entirely certain she could deliver on it.

Crouched near the floor, Irajah leaned forward, putting most of her weight on her palms where they pressed against the floor. The sounds of shouting, of blaster fire- of more death because one insane woman refused to see reason- filled the air. It weighed heavily, pressing down, and instead of fighting that sensation, she let it flow through her. It filtered through her anger, fear, and exhaustion, tinged and tainted by all of what she had experienced with Ghorua since the explosions. Well. Not all. She kept the feeling of a shoulder to lean on, of someone to watch her back, of trust and companionship held tightly in her core. Those were things that she knew, instinctively, weren't going to help her here in this moment.

As the flow of danger and violence percolated through the exhausted fury, Irajah didn't know that she was channeling the darkside. She'd aggressively ignored learning anything about the Force for so long, she simply did what seemed necessary in this moment. What felt right and just. All too often, that was the beginning of a path that led to anything but.

The floor shivered. A hitch in her breath, and Irajah pushed.

Cracks snaked out across the tiles of the landing, following invisible fault lines that the tremors of the explosions had already created. There was already waiting weakness here, waiting to be exploited.

It was easier than she expected it to be.

Gideon roiled.

A single crack raced up the stairs, splitting them in two. And there, at the corner landing where Jaice snapped off a series of shots, snarling at Ghorua.

Until the floor beneath her split.

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua fell back from the stairs, a trio of blaster bolts scouring his flesh. They burned like nothing other, but the dangerous shots were mostly absorbed by thick skin and thicker blubber, adding to his collection of scars.

That was all Jaice could do, before the crack in the ground swallowed her up, and she fell, screaming into the abyss.

Ghorua pressed his body against the wall for support, groaning with the sudden new pain. What he had just seen was... beyond impressive. Through pain-tinted eyes, he glanced at the Doctor with gratitude, a pool of relief welling in his soul.

It was over.

- - -​

​

The Shark winced as a medic applied some heavily-scented ointment to his burns, his shoulder securely fastened by a large sling. Irajah was being looked over by a couple of volunteers, but he figured she knew more than both of them combined about what she needed.

It felt unreal.

Ghorua and Irajah, after some brief security checks, had been escorted down the path the Alliance soldiers had taken, Irajah insistently on a stretcher. Ghorua obviously couldn't fit in one, but they offered him whatever help they could give. After flights and flights of stairs, they had made it out of the building, to a Galactic Alliance triage center, a series of green tents with personnel buzzing about busily. The pair had been ushered into a relatively empty tent. A few battered beings rested within, sleeping off whatever hardships they had endured.

Ghorua stared at a spot between his feet as the medics excused themselves to go help other survivors. His mind drifted to the crowd of people the pair had tried to save, to the mysterious result of Irajah's hard work with the lift controls. He hadn't had the chance to see if they had made it, and it was a thorn in his foot. He clenched and unclenched his fist, pondering.

He could only think of one thing to say.

"We survived."

- [member="Irajah Ven"] -

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah had been in no state to argue with the Alliance soldiers. She required help to make it onto the stretcher- walking on her own would have been impossible. The last effort to stop Jaice (to kill her Raj, don't pretend otherwise. That's two now) had taken the last of whatever reserves the Doctor was drawing from. Despite that, she hadn't allowed anyone to clean the blood from her face where it had dripped from nose and ears after channeling the Force. Untrained, it had been raw and powerful yes, but there was a cost.

There always would be.

That same expression that had haunted her eyes after she killed the Sith (was that a lifetime ago?) stared back at Ghorua when he spoke.

They had survived, yes. But she had taken two lives in the process. For him that might mean nothing. But for the Doctor, it meant everything.

"We did," she said quietly. "Thank you, Ghorua."

​The questioning look in his eye, the clear moment where he was going to argue, but she didn't let him.

"Neither of us would have made it without the other and you know it," she smiled weakly, though it didn't reach her eyes.

"I think..... I promised you a dinner after this. But I may need to take a rain check."

After all of that, Irajah wasn't going anywhere for awhile.

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua could sense Irajah's discomfort, although he couldn't tell why. Something behind her eyes was shattered, like when she had dealt with the Sith at the very beginning of their journey. Ghorua was reminded of his shoulder, and the sling that snaked around his massive arm. The medics had needed to put on more than one to support his weighty muscles.

The pain of that moment hit him hard. The pop of his shoulder, and the flaming, writhing pain that followed. The resetting of his shoulder, and the even more painful retort.

And then the aftermath.

Ghorua thought long and hard before he returned his words, smiling in kind when Irajah did. His piercing eyes studied her, not just her wounds, nor even the ugly bruises Gideon inflicted, but her heart.

And he saw an awful lot.

"I think I have to agree with you on that," he murmured, returning his eyes to the floor, as if he could bore through it with his gaze. "Maybe we can grab a bite some day, when we aren't dead-tired. Right now, I'd like to sleep for a year." Ghorua chuckled to himself, coughing a little into his hand.

Ghorua called over a nurse, suddenly straightening. His voice was soft, excited even. "Excuse me, sir? Do you have any long-range comms I can use?" The man nodded, and beckoned with his hand for Ghorua to follow him. The Shark needed to contact Minna, to let her know her daddy was still okay.

Ghorua stood shakily, his body aching all over, but new purpose in his movements. He adjusted the sling on his shoulder, and looked back to Irajah. No words could describe the gratitude emanating from his look before he left her.

"One of us would have died without the other, I know that. The whole circumstance was..." Ghorua debated his last word to her, smiling internally.

"...Lucky."

Ghorua had never put much stock in luck.

- [member="Irajah Ven"] -

 

[Kuzo]

Though she didn't have the strength to stand, she reached out, finger tips brushing his hand for a heartbeat in lieu of the hug she wanted to give him. Smiling up at him, she nodded.

"For both of us," she agreed softly.

There was a lot behind those words. Not merely lucky in the sense that they had both needed the other to make it through that. But because, on the simplest level, she was lucky to have met him.

"We'll talk again. Grab a bite," she agreed, drawing her arm back onto the cot. She hadn't forgotten her promise to help him, if she could. It seemed like half a life time ago that she had made that offer. But instead it had been less than a day. Strange how so little time in truth had passed, but how deeply impacted she was by not merely the events that had unfolded, but by [member="Ghorua the Shark"] himself.

Of course, she couldn't know that they would not speak again. Not soon any way. She didn't say good bye because she didn't expect it to be. But events would swirl and months would pass until they saw each other again.

And when they did, it would be across a battle field.