Ask Sky Full of Strangers

[Mikko Falco]

Location: Unknown (Cophrigin V) | PVP Enabled

Spoiler: Music

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The clunky old ship wasn't the most luxurious way to travel from the Outer Rim, but there weren't exactly many options. The passenger transport was due to make a landing in Free World space after a trip that felt longer than a day. Those who were on it now endured the suspicious sounds of creaking metal. The gray-haired pilot was confident about this particular hunk of junk, but that provided only a little reassurance. At the moment, the cramped cabin was heavy with feelings of misery, regret, and unease...

BANG!

The sound of metal hitting metal cut through the silence like thunder, followed by a torturous screeching noise. "Somethin'...hit us!" The pilot's voice could be heard through speakers while he maneuvered the ship to the best of his ability. It wasn't completely out of control...yet. Their course was changed, and now they were heading for a green orb not too far away. "Blast this...all these politicians talkin' 'bout security an' all that yet none o' them's doin' any with the debris out here." The man went on to spit out all the curses that he could think of, possibly even a growling that sounded a lot like Tusken. "We'll make an emergency landin' on that moon!"

When they broke through the atmosphere, the ship was heading for the ground at a dangerous speed.

"Everyone hold tight!"

At that point the it plunged into thick forest. The rest of it was a mix of metal screeching, banging, and being tossed around, until it finally stopped. It was silent, and dark, with the windows either smashed or completely covered by surrounding leaves. The relatively peaceful moment was taken away, and the ship was falling again after it broke through whatever was supporting its weight. After being slowed down by the surrounding nature, it finally crashed on solid ground.

When it was over, Mikko Falco stumbled from the floors of the ship. He had no problem worming his way out through a gap where the ramp would normally open, and falling sideways into a cold puddle of mud. Trees towered around the crashed ship like giants. As far as Mikko could see, the forest stretched far in all directions. It was impossible to tell where they were exactly, not even what world they were on. If they were supposed to be approaching Lothal, then they were still somewhere at the edge of Free World territory, or just outside of it.

Once he was on his feet, all he wanted to do was lie down again and throw up. But he smelled smoke and saw it rising from the ship. Using his lightsaber he cut through the already mangled side of the cockpit to pull the pilot out. The old man wasn't moving, but the Jedi pulled him from the ship anyway. Next, he went to see if the other passengers managed to get themselves out, too.

And if they were all lucky enough to survive the crash, there were more worries ahead on this foreign land, where they were far from rescue...

@Die Shize @Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

A successful job done, Laeonas had made a pretty penny following the job in the corporate sector. It wasn't enough to retire on, but it was enough to justify celebrating. On top of that, his partner had been generous enough to let him keep the shuttle they'd transited on. He'd been taken out of the way to find a buyer, but after some travel and a bit of negotiating, the man had secured an additional 4500 credits.

Beyond the inconvenience of finding a buyer was the fact that he'd been unable to bring his ship with him as he'd flown in the shuttle. He'd anticipated all of this ofcourse, so he'd done what he had done before owning a ship-- bought tickets for a publicly available ship. Boarding the ship hadn't taken long, with the man not really possessing any luggage besides his essentials and some sets of clothing. Laeo had gotten situated in his single bedroom cabin-- a luxury he'd rarely afforded in years past. Everything had been going smoothly... until the journey actually began.

He'd spent the better part of two years piloting his own ship. That had left him alone, given him ample opportunities to do whatever he wanted. He could train, meditate, watch the holo. Hell, he was planning to have his ship renovated, searching for possible clients to refit the old freighter. These were baseline conditions for the man... and on this ship, none of it was possible.

The walls of his cabin were... thin, to say the least. The sounds he heard harkened back to his years on Brentaal, with the industrial sounds of the ship's engines keeping him up at all hours. Mercifully, there were at least no families fighting, couples coupling, or children screeching. Still, the noise was quite unbearable. He could barely even concentrate, or sleep-- meditation was out of the question.

There were other inconveniences ofcourse. Training was out of the picture, since both his blaster and saber were on his ship. Theoretically he could practice hand to hand, but punching air was barely effective, and punching metal would break his knuckles. Neither were appealing, even to a man who was short half a marble. That left him with really only one option for entertainment-- the holo.

...he didn't have a holo.

All of these inconveniences made him agitated. He didn't think he was spoiled-- far from it. Even with all the money he'd made, basic expenses would drain it all in a year. His only luxuries came in the form of his growing taste in expensive clothing and some of his makeup. That he was finally going to renovate his decades old ship to be a permanent living space wasn't exactly decadent either. No, he'd just gotten used to not constantly being in an uncomfortable, miserable environment.

He'd be reacquainted soon enough, ofcourse.

--------

He'd heard the warnings over the intercomm. For a few seconds, Laeonas had had to freeze. The flash of memory from the 47 seconds he'd had before it exploded prompted him to move as soon as he broke. Running out of his cabin, he almost left everything behind... but he turned back. Turned back to grab hold of his earrings; and than he'd really start to run. Through corridors, out into the cafeteria, down to one of the four escape pods.

Frantically, he'd smash the open button again and again and again. IT was only after an agonizingly long five seconds that the doors hissed open. Throwing himself inside, the doors closed as he pulled the emergency jettison. For a few more long, agonizing seconds, he waited. Looking out the front port, the planet's surface was dangerously close. Barely a few thousand feet separated him from the hard ground, and a death in a massive fire ball.

Than, it jettisoned...

...into the side of a cliff.

Laeonas was thrown around like a pingpong ball. Half the pod was caved in like an eggshell. He could feel as shards of shrapnel cut into his lower abdomen, blood splattering out of his mouth. Bones broke, and he laid in the wreckage for a while.

Until he smelled smoke.

​

@Iyan @Die Shize

 

[Kayden Skyler]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Kayden, Kayden, Kayden. Oh, you might know the man as this name, were you to recognize his real face, but then you might make nothing of him beyond some mere man and why not, why worry, who cares, not your concern.

Someone else’s? Surely. He didn’t know. Mr. Gaunt could never know. If he knew then he would have to sense through the Force barrier, peer through the physical disguise of a face masking a face.

Mr. Gaunt would have to see through the face that is not the face, not the man’s face, not his face, and to do this he would need insurmountably miraculous vision or a feat of Force backing up his musings.

In the interim, Kayden Skyler was simply Drake Armonalcus, a registered passenger flying the same ship that would lead its survivors into the unknown where they would have to...survive…

Well, Kayden Skyler had only one eye where an eyepatch did not cover, but here he was, in the flesh, Drake Armonalcus...

“HELP!” Cried the man lying on the ground. Kayden crawled toward him, his own legs tingling, though well enough intact as much as his clothing and, gratefully, the rest of his person.

“What do you need?” Kayden cocked a brow.

“M-My...My legs...they’re pinned beneath the wreckage!”

The Ithorian was sound, soulful; a certain silence to his speech like if he did not survive this day then tomorrow may never come.

“Nice,” Kayden nodded. “That datapad on your hip. I lost mine own.”

Ithorian looked about, looked around, pleaded, but before he could scream anything else about his legs a hand was over his mouth.

“Slip away…” Kayden eased. “Silence…” He commanded. “Sleep…” So the Ithorian slept, never to wake again, and Kayden Skyler crept from the ground with a datapad at his hip.

@Iyan @Tom

 

[Mikko Falco]

The pilot was far gone. Soon after the realization, a cry for help had the Jedi standing up and powering through an ache on his side that grew the more he moved around.

Mikko circled to the side of the ship to find two figures right beside the wreckage. Only one was standing, a man. The other one was an Ithorian trapped underneath a chunk of the ship, and it was unfortunately too late. There was little time to theorize about how it happened or else they'd be next.

When he first tried to speak to the other survivor, Mikko winced. Pain on his jaw, down to his entire left side. His body had been beaten up badly, and he was feeling more of it the more he came to his senses. Eventually he managed to continue what he was saying. "We need to get away from the ship, now."

The Knight turned to choose a direction. There was a tugging feeling, a vague call through the Force, and so he followed it. He grabbed on to low branches and vines as he struggled to take less pressure off his left leg while stumbling through the forest. Not too far ahead, a hunk of metal with a huge dent on its side became visible. It wasn't more than two hundred feet away.

More survivors?

Mikko picked up his pace, wincing again as he realized that was a mistake. "Look..." He alerted the other survivor, in case the man followed behind him.

"HEY!" He wildly waved an arm in the air as he approached the beaten escape pod, though he hadn't seen anyone climbing out. "Is anyone in there?!"

Smoke was rising from the pod, and it was still too far for Mikko to provide help.

@Die Shize @Tom

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

Laeonas bellowed out a cough as he stood up, groaning as he took weight off his left leg. There was a chunk of slag buried in his inner thigh, inches away from an artery, and more important his di-

The train of thought was interrupted as pain tore up his side, and Laeonas fell onto the durasteel floor. An exposed panel shot sparks in his direction, but it didn't hurt him. Instead, the rubber began to heat up, pop, and start to burn. Flames began to engulf the pod's machinery. Smoke filled it, all the while the pod was already smoking from the outside.

He had to get out right now.

Emergency supplies be damned, Laeonas hobbled across the meager distance within the pod. Pulling himself up off one of the seats on the side, he'd quickly shift to grab a side rail by the door. Reaching with his free arm, he yanked at the emergency open switch... and it didn't budge. He let out a few hacks, and pulled harder. Again, the door didn't budge.

The smoke was beginning to make his head hurt. Flames radiated in the background, and sweat ran down his forehead. He didn't have any time to waste; within a few minutes, the smoke build up would be so bad that he'd probably fall unconscious. Nothing would stop him from burning to death inside the pod by that point. This would be the second life or death situation he'd have to deal with today.

Without a moment's hesitation, or consideration, Laeonas brought up his right leg and kicked it into the opening mechanism. Than, without any ability to balance, seeing as his left leg was temporarily ruined, he fell. His back collided with the durasteel floor again, and he let out a string of curses. Pain absolutely tore through him, and he cried out, struggling to even breathe. Between a few broken ribs, and the soot filled air, his lungs were hardly functioning.

The clock ticked in his head. The smoke grew thicker, the flames grew hotter. Yet again, he pulled himself up. Through the pain and the struggle to even breathe, he began pulling on the force. It filled his lungs when air wouldn't, powered his muscles energy should've. The pull of the Dark side, of aggression-- all of it was strong. In this situation, it would've been entirely appropriate to allow his hate to fuel his power. A bit of it would trickle in... but he wasn't focusing on it.

He was just trying to get out alive.

Bringing his leg up again, he gripped the rail tighter. Through the pain, he dug his left heel in. "GRAAAAAAHNNGHHH!!!" the man snarled, the sound of metal against boot culminating in the snapping of bolts and the opening of the pod. He threw himself forward, out the hatch and landing with a thud. For a few seconds, he simply laid there. Than, he let out a wail.

"ghhaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA---"

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@Iyan @Die Shize