Matt and Jasyn didn't have to work too hard to get into the freighter; in fact, it had been left secured, but not locked up. So they basically walked right in...

...and immediately came upon the body of someone who had been unfortunate enough to be left behind. Matt had to wonder if this was his ship, and Stargazer had taken it from him and killed him, but then there was no visible signs of injury. Then again, Stargazer was a Force user, and she had other methods at her disposal.

So, after respectfully taking care of the remains of a person they'd never laid eyes on or met, Matt Stanza headed for the controls of the ship, while Jasyn headed to the back to find some supplies. Matt had an inkling Jasyn might be checking the liquor cabinet out as well while he was at it, and made a mental note to make certain he didn't have too much fun with it.

Seating himself at the navboard, Matt actually set the engines to warm up, and pulled up the ship's last known flight pattern. Other than the mild surprise at finding an aborted trip to Bespin in the ship's logs, he wasn't at all suprised to find Tatooine on the recent logs.

Keying another sequence on the navboard, Matt then pulled up schematics for Degobah. Or rather, he pulled up the very few things the ship had on Degobah. All the logs really indicated on the planet was that it was a swampland; obviously, no one had been on the planet long enough to realize that a series of caves existed as well. And when he ran a general read on the planet's surface, Matt of course got indications that there were many life forms, but little technology.

Which left him pretty much at square one.

Sighing at that realization, Matt got up from the controls, and headed back to where Jasyn was already sifting through the frieghter's galley.

"We should get some containers and see if there is any good clean water as well," Matt suggested. "Some portable light, some weaponry, and some rope could be helpful too," he added. Then he paused, listening to the ship's now purring engines...

...and raised his wristcomm to his lips, tapping into the general frequency so that everyone nearby that was receiving messages could hear him. "Hey, guys, I'm wondering if I should fly this ship closer in to where you all are," he said into it. "Granted, she landed here because it's higher ground and more secure here, but I don't know. There are a lot of things in this ship we can use; water, containers, weapons, light. And we haven't even gone further back into the ship yet and really thought outside of the box. What do you think, should I bring her down there?"

[ 11-27-2006 09:54 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Matt Stanza ]

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Wow, I thought to myself. That's some communication device the Sith have; how the heck would Matt have been able to slash into the frequency between Terrin and us?

The immediate answer, one that Terrin had already noted, that Sith were magick was enough to kill any further wonder on my part quite dead. I chewed my lip a bit, now scrambling to my feet and making my way carefully back to Panthar again.

"Tell the guys that a good rope would be nice, and to see if they can find anything in the way of an energy light source; hell, a couple good blasters wouldn't be something I'd turn down right now...

"And food!"

My suddenly growling stomach chose that moment to interject it's own three-cent's worth into the conversation. Yet another grumble from my nether regions awoke me to the fact that I was just famished.

"Any kind of food, and please, SOMETHING to drink!"

A groan of pain from Panthar made me halt for a minute, now removing my hands from his to find his cheek in the dark and give it a reassuring pat.

"Don't worry, Big Fellah. I'll get you out of here, sure as there's Treasure on Roon!"

Grasping his hand and beginning to tug again, I finished with, "You know, I wonder if it would be possible for that freighter to just blast that little crack wider. We can go hide in the tunnel while they try, assuming it won't just bury us...

"...and assuming as well that I do manage to unstick you..."

I groped around until I found Panthar's hand again, and began pulling for all I was worth.

"And- some- k-kind of - so-solvent would be- be handy, t-too!" I grimaced through clenched teeth, droplets of sweat now beginning to spring up on my brow and between my shoulderblades.

[ 11-27-2006 10:37 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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He trailed, a guilty sort of look falling on his face. Matt merely rolled his eyes, shrugged, and headed back to the cockpit. As Jasyn began heading back towards the cargo hold, he could just barely feel the ship leave the ground.
Better him flying than me, Jasyn thought glumly to himself.[/i]

Finding the storage hold then, Jasyn fairly easily found about 4 standard issue blasters, a rope, and a couple of glow rods, amongst other various and sundry tools. Taking all that he could carry, it took him a couple of trips to collect the items and take them near to the hatch. Then he paused, frowning to himself as he realized he was missing one particular item.

A solvent. Damn, what could they use for aw solvent? And was there even any of that aboard?

Still mulling, Jasyn headed back to the galley, already aware that there was food and drink...

...oh yes, drink...

...there. He reached in the cupboard and snagged a bottle of something called Tatooine Sunset, popped the top, and prepared to drink it...

...but then paused, eyeing the bottle. Putting the top back on it then, he headed for the cabin where Matt had the ship hovering. He turned to look at Jasyn and opened his mouth to say something when he saw what was in the other man's hand.

"Hey, solvent!" Jasyn exclaimed happily, falling into the copilot's chair and grinning to himself.

He always knew a little drink could help anyone, any day...

--------------------

He paused a moment at that. Then, "We'll be there shortly. I'm going to just hover for now; I'm not sure landing in that swamp is such a good idea. But at least we can get supplies to you more quickly that way. Over and out, and listening in should you need to say anything back."

--------------------

“You better worry about getting yourself out of here,” he said softly. The movement of his chest brought a fiery blast to his lung. “It’s getting worse, and things are going numb, and I just want to sleep…”

His mind drifted for a second, entering into another lucid dream state. He heard Galen’s voice saying something, tuned out by the memory of something she had said on the com link. Something about Shawn being above them…

But if he was above them, then what was the blob appearing below them on the life scanner?

Panthar opened his eyes and struggled for the com link button, not registering the words Galen was saying.

“What—hey, Shawn—what did you say… what was it that dumped you in the cave?”

He let up on the button and said to Galen’s direction, “What did he say?”

--------------------

I blinked, wiped my face with a grimy hand.

"Oh, you mean the dragonsnake," I answered then, leaning over with my hands planted on my thighs before straightening to go at Panthar once again.

"Why?" I finished, tugging.

--------------------

Panthar froze.

Dragon snake?

Tenticled beasties were one thing, but a great big dragon snake was another! He had seen vids of those things, studied a civilization that worshipped a weird variety of them on some planet, and had to quit that dig because of the nightmares. Large beasts were always something that frightened him, as evidenced by his fear of the tuk’ata. Even his experience with the tuk’ata in the Temple of Armorers did little to get him over that fear.

Feeling the bone chilling rush of anxiety come over him, Panthar’s heart began to race and his pulse pounded in his ears. His muscles all tensed, and the pain forgotten for the moment, he let loose with a loud roar and pulled as hard as he could. The goo began to loosen around his arms, and with an effort he pulled most of himself free from the beast. He struggled a few inches more, then collapsed in a heap, panting for breath.

“Drag… snake… no… kriffin’… way…”

The pain came back in bunches, and his chest was again an inferno.

“I need…” he panted, not finding the breath to get the words out. “…need to… tell… her… oh, hell, Galen…need a minute…”

Panthar winced, not able to finish. He grabbed his chest and rolled onto his side, trying to breath.

--------------------

The word burst from me, winging its way down into the big guy's ears and leading my there beside him. At least I think I was beside him; still blind I patted about until my groping hand found contact with his side. From the way it was jerking and heaving I knew that his trip down the crevice compounded by the nasty goo from the mysterious beast had injured far more than his pride.

I gritted my teeth and sat back on my haunches, still maintaining hand contact with him.

"Rest easy, we're ok for the moment," I offered up, full of a bravado that I suddenly didn't really believe in. For he was right:

What else in Hell's Seven Circles could the blip be but that nasty canasta that carried Shawn off to who knows where?

Then a thought struck me, and I brightened considerably.

"Hey Big Red, don't get yer pants all in a bunch. Those dragonsnakes are aquatic; we might be stuck here for the moment, but I'm sure that if that's what the blip turns out to be, it won't be bothering us here where we're all high n' dry...

"Well, low and dry, that is."

At least I hoped to hell not; and whose to say that blip wasn't some other big and foul-tempered thing with too many teeth and too little patience?

I forced a smile on my face which was lost on Panthar, and just sat there letting him catch his breath and composure.

And hopefully the strength to help me figure out what in blazes we were going to do next.

[ 11-28-2006 12:09 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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He turned his head to speak into the commlink. "Hey, guys, Matt and Jasyn are here, and we'll be sending supplies down to you shortly. I'm hoping that, once we start sending supplies, the supplies and rope will knock the Sith warrior's bag free too."

He paused. "Anything specific you need right away, so we can send it down first? Still need ahhh... solvent?"

--------------------

--------------------

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"Boy howdy, could I ever use a snort!" I hollered as loudly as I could. Then, fidgeting a bit, I appended that comment.

"It's cold down here, ya know..."

A groan from off to the side of me reminded me of my poor buddy, who had definitely seen better days.

"Hey, Panthar's unstuck!" I sent upward. "As soon as he catches his breath, I think I'll have him hold me up. I'll see if I can snag the end of the vine, and between you and me swinging it maybe we can dislodge the bag you tried to send down.

"Speaking of tight fits, is there anything you can use to widen that crack? Any sort of equipment on that freighter the guys found?"

Another groan assailed my ears. Not waiting for a reply from above I groped my way over to where Big Red was and plopped down beside him.

"Hey, I thought you Sith were tough guys," I opened, trying to distract him from whatever pain it was he was feeling. Dammit, but if he had something majorly wrong with him, like broken ribs or squished disks or something like that, I truly didn't know if we'd be able to get him out back up the way we came.

That thought sobered me; frankly, I didn't know if I'd make it back up that crack.

"If they can't figure out how to widen the crack, we're just going to have to try the tunnel, Panthar," I said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I sure hope you are going to be able to travel--"

That reminded me of something.

"Hey, Terrin!" I called back up, getting to my feet and letting my head fall back again.

"Send down some kind of tracking device if you've got it. If we can't get back up the crack we're going to have to risk the tunnel; I don't want you to not know where in Hell's Seven Circles that we are."

I shivered as at my own words an army of goose feet promptly marched up and down my spine.

Hell's Seven Circles; being underground as we are, whose to say we're not in Number One right now?

[ 11-30-2006 12:13 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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Shaking himself from those thoughts, he called back down to Galen. "I'm sure between Matt and Jasyn they can rummage up some sort of tracking device," he offered. Then, "And I'll see if they have some extra clothes or something on the ship to send down to get you warmer," he continued, pausing then as he cut his eyes sideways to see the ship near the ground, but not quite touch. The hovering ship's hatch extended.

Terrin turned to Darra then. "Hey, your Mother needs some warm clothes and we need some sort of portable tracking device. We also could use something--anything-- that might help widen the hole so that we can get her and Panthar out without them having to go through tunnels to try and find their way out. I really don't want to move from this spot at the moment, however. Think you can go let Matt and Jasyn know what we need?" he queried, nodding towards the ship.

[ 11-30-2006 09:37 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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"All right," she said instead, turning away and loping lithely toward the hovering ship. The extended gangway slid about over the tops of the swamp grasses, but it wasn't difficult for her to leap atop it, and from there quickly gain entry to the ship proper.

Soon she found Matt and Jasyn, and relayed the information as Terrin had told her to do.

[ 11-30-2006 09:52 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by JhinDarra ]

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“Yeah, we’re tough, I guess,” he said. “Thing is, I’m not Sith.”

Panthar tried to stand, making it to one knee before needing to stop. He gripped his chest tightly with his good hand and forced himself up the rest of the way. He could feel dampness trickle down his back and leg, and hoped it was from the floor of the cave, or maybe some goo, but he knew better. He steadied himself by shifting his feet, and the pain shot up through his left leg. There would be time later to assess the damage, they needed out of here now.

“Yeah,” he said tensely, “I think I’ll be alright. Just can’t move too fast, I might have twisted an ankle or something. You know, there might be some rope on the ship, depending--”

A severe pain in his head cut him off, and he teetered on his feet. He flailed out for anything to steady himself on, and eventually found Galen. He caught her off guard and she nearly stumbled to the floor, but managed to brace herself. After a second Panthar let go of her shoulder and stepped back to regain his balance.

“Yeah, bad ankle, definitely. But that ship, it might have rope, or supplies, or cargo, if it’s a freighter. And maybe meds, or a bandage when we get out of here. But rope… yeah. And um, solvent. Lots of solvent. In fact…”

Panthar pressed the button on the link.

“Hey, that ship got rope? Or drugs? Or cargo? Or booze—I mean solvent? Send it down, like now. With rope. And drop a rock or something so the water can fall the rest of the way.”

[ 11-30-2006 10:00 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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He quieted and turned, heading aft for a few minutes before returning with a couple of blankets and some clothes. Then he began picking up some of the items he had collected by the hatch of the ship: glow rods, a rope, blasters, some containers of water. He gave JhinDarra a few of these things to carry as well.

While they were collecting all of those items, Panthar's comm also came through. Jasyn started to sit down the items he was holding, but Matt rose a hand for him to wait, headed back to the cockpit, and returned in only a few moments with a small first aid kit, handing it to Darra.

"Okay," Jasyn said, steading the things he was holding, "Let's go ahead and get these things out there so Terrin can get it down the hole. Then we'll work on a tracking device and maybe something to widen that hole."

Saying nothing more than that, Jasyn nodded towards the yawning hatch, and began to lead the way out and back towards the hole.

--------------------

"I'm sending down a glowrod, some cloaks, and a first aid kit," Terrin called down then, "On a rope this time," he added. Then, very carefully, he began to began to work the rope, with the supplies attaached, carefully down the hole.

--------------------

In a moment, he heard a thud on the floor of the cavern. He turned his eyes to where he thought the sound originated, then a soft yellow glow came lowering slowly from the ceiling.

“There!” he cried out. “Glow stick! And stuff!”

He took a step and paused, letting his big Sith body absorb the pain. Galen headed towards the light and Panthar forced himself to follow. He stepped into the circle of light just as the bundle of goodies hit the floor and Galen reached it. He looked down at her, and catching his hand from the corner of his eye, he noticed it was still somewhat wet with a violet colored liquid. He wiped it again.

“Any water?”

[ 11-30-2006 10:50 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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Or maybe not. For one final thought was gnawing at the corners of his mind, but he wasn't certain if it would work either. After all, the bat didn't seem to be understanding his "emotional message," but maybe...

He then reached down, tore a small portion of fabric from his robe, and then dialed a number in on his wristcomm to access the frequency he had been talking to Panthar with.

"Hey, Panthar," he opened up with, "I have myself a nightbat who has responded to my Force call, and I'm trying to figure out a way to get him to direct me to you, or vise versa. I'm not sure if this will work...

...but it might be worth a shot. Can you just talk. I'm going to try to give him a piece of cloth and see if maybe he'll fly away to you."

Saying nothing further than that and waiting for the reply, Shawn took the piece of his garment and raised it to the nightbat's beak, as if giving it as some sort of offering.

--------------------

"Oh Hell's Seven Circles, Panthar; why didn't you tell me how badly you were hurt!"

But now that the words were out in the open and all wonder about his condition was trampled into the cool light of objectivity, I thought that I could at least do something about addressing his wounds. Coming to his side quickly, I patted around until I found what could only be another glow-stick; moments later and the feeble light of the glow-stick burst into the almost unbearable glare of that produced by two of them.

Okay, so I wax poetic under pressure...

Further scouting around produced the first aid kit that had been sent down, a flask of water, and a bottle of Whyr-- er, that is, solvent. Gathering these up, I turned to Panthar.

"Ok buddy, tell me where it hurts and exactly what I should do about it," I said in a tone that brooked no excuses.

[ 12-07-2006 08:14 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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At length these too quieted to silence, and the nightbat just sat there, regarding Shawn with its bright and beady little eyes.

[ 12-07-2006 09:01 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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“Hang on,” he grimaced. He pushed the button and spoke. “Um, yeah, Shawn. That’s great, we’ll be watching for it. Oh, you’re trying to get it to know my voice, like following a scent or something? What do you want me to say? Oh, I know! I’ll tell you about the time I was visiting lecturer at the Yahoonian Academy, I was giving a talk on the possibilities of ancient advanced civilizations and speculation on what happened to them, and I was expounding on the remnants of an outpost--”

Panthar stopped, his chest burning and the words catching in his throat.

“—Hope that’s enough,” he choked out, releasing the button. He held the device tightly, looking to Galen. “I think… I think something is broken. Ribs, maybe, dunno.”

A cough gripped him and his hand flew to his mouth. As he alternated between coughs and sucking in air, his hand began to drip the oddly colored Sith blood. Finally Panthar stopped, and he sat slowly onto the dank floor.

“Ow,” he said quietly. “Need a stim, or a good shot of solvent.”

--------------------

"That's the last thing you need, buddy!" I said, my tone still of the no-brooking-of-excuses variety. Snorting to keep the rising spectres of panic at bay, as well as to ward off the steadily increasing march of goose feet up and down my back, I moved to where the rope Terrin had sent down still dangled.

"Hey Terrin, Panthar's hurt pretty bad!" I called up as I took hold of the rope's loose end.

"There's no way we're going to be able to climb back up out of here, nor is there any place that I think it's safe enough to hide while you blast that damned crevice-- assuming you can, that is."

I stopped, unhappy at the obvious conclusion toward which my words were heading. But just because I didn't like it didn't make it any less of a stone-hard truth; sighing a little I called up again.

"Terrin, I need this rope!"

With that I gave a yank for all I was worth; Terrin evidentally either heard me or was taken by complete surprise, for after a couple of breath-holding minutes the rope slithered down to land in a sizable heap at my feet.

"Thanks," I said in a small voice, staring down at it. Then bracing myself with a good, deep breath, I picked it up and made my way back to where Panthar was. Er, that is, to where he had moved; the two glow-sticks yet lay upon the floor of the little cavern, and after a bit of groping around I found him leaning against the stone wall, just out of the reach of the light.

"You might be right, about the ribs, that is," I said, trying to keep my voice somewhere between cheerful and realistic. Holding the rope awkwardly with one hand, I reached up to pat his face with the other.

"I'm going to bind you up with this rope, pal; it should help you a bit in the broken rib department."

With that I handed him the one end, telling him to hold it against his chest.

--------------------

“Um, all right,” he said. He held the rope tightly to his chest, which was no problem since holding his chest made the pain more bearable.

“What now,” he half-smiled, sliding away from the wall. “I get up and spin like a top?”

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