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Sunset Shimmer
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A few hours later, you drop out of hyperspace over the lush, green world of Myrkr. You pilot the ship closer to the planet with Twilight sitting in the co-pilot's seat beside you.
While you were in hyperspace, you got to know a bit more about her and her life. She had been a scientist for a while, and had recently taken an interest in politics. Chancellor Celestia herself had actually taken her under her wing to help her on her path for a few years now. This twi'lek must have some serious friends in high places to snag a deal like that.
Still, her scientific work had to continue. Apparently, she was looking into discovering more about the Unknown Regions, and was very interested on mapping it out more. She had even discovered a few systems around the old Rakatan planet Lehon, though she had never been to that planet before.
It was where Revan destroyed the Star Forge all those hundreds of years ago. According to legends passed down from Mandalore the Preserver, it was a graveyard of ships and other technology thanks to an energy field that destroyed or disabled any ships that came close enough.
Probably best to stay away from a place like that.
In addition to politics and astronomy, she was also very good with technology. She created her AI, Spike a few years ago as a side project. He's grown and evolved over the years to become an extremely valuable asset to her and her work. He goes everywhere she does.
He asked if he could be plugged into your ship's computer to help, but you politely declined. The idea of having a Republic AI inside your computer and snooping around would make Anon furious if he was here.
Because of all this progress in her life, Twilight has been looking for a replacement. She seems to have found it in that Starlight Glimmer woman back on the Republic cruiser. Twilight is planning on leaving her findings and data to her, and then moving on to becoming a representative for Ryloth in the Republic Senate. Hopefully, it all works out. She's got a good head on her shoulders.
As you breach the atmosphere, Twilight observes the planet's info on the ship's navicomputer. "I'm not picking up any starports. No major cities, no industrial complexes, nothing. This planet is just one big jungle."
You nod. "Perfect. This will be an easy trip then."
As you pass through a few more thick clouds, Fluttershy enters the cockpit and looks through the viewport, smiling wide as you get a good aerial view of the thick jungle.
"Oh, this place is so pretty." She exclaims. "I can't wait to see how many cute little ysalamiri we find."
Twilight giggles a little and you smile under your helmet. Fluttershy's extreme shyness and reluctance was a bit annoying when you first met her, you won't lie, but she's grown on you since then. She's a real sweetheart.
She turns to you. "Sunset, you're sure that they'll be safe on the ship? They need the nutrients from the bark on the olbio trees to survive."
"Don't worry, Fluttershy." You reply. "If we need to, we can take a few chunks of bark with us so they don't get hungry."
She smiles at you and returns her gaze outside.
This jungle reminds you of the ones on Dxun, one of the four moons orbiting the planet Onderon. It's also where the Mandalorian Wars began, all those centuries ago. It's very dense and green, but the skies are a bit brighter here than they are there.
As you approach the surface more, you keep your eyes peeled for a place to land. There isn't much. It is a jungle, after all, and there's no starport on the planet, so it might take a while.
After a few minutes of flying, your scanner starts beeping rapidly. You cock your head and look over at it. That's odd.
"What the-?"
Suddenly, the entire ship jolts forward and you hear a large explosion come from the rear. You've just been hit!
Fluttershy screams as she falls to the floor. Twilight hits her head on the control console before falling over as well.
"Twilight! Fluttershy!" You scream.
Red warning lights and alarms start blaring all over as the ship twists and lurches around in the air. You're going down fast, and you can't help either of them right now. You've got to keep the ship under control for as long as you can or else you'll all die.
With a grunt, you strain to align the ship in the air so you don't crash. Outside, you catch a glimpse of a semi-open spot in the trees that may or may not be big enough to accommodate your ship. It's your best bet.
You lower your landing gear and try your best to steer the ship toward the clearing. The ship's belly scrapes the treetops as it descends and ends up knocking down a few of them in the process.
You violently bump around and jostle in your seat as you hit the ground hard, the cockpit's viewport cracking slightly from the impact. The ship groans and lurches forward a bit before finally falling onto the landing gear and settling.
You pant hard as you grip the controls. The jungle and foliage outside move around violently from the aftermath of your crash for a few seconds. The ship's systems are going haywire. Warning lights, alarms, beeping, everything.
This planet is supposed to be free of technology. Who the hell hit you?
Worry about that later.
"Sunset! Help her!"
Beside you, Twilight is laying on her side, not moving. Spike has appeared on her bracelet and is looking over at you with desperation. She has a nasty gash on her forehead that's bleeding a little.
"Twilight!" You grunt and rush over to her. "Twilight, can you hear me?!"
You grab her by the shoulders and shake her. She groans a little, but doesn't open her eyes. You breathe a sigh of relief. She's alive, but unconscious.
Behind you, Fluttershy whimpers on the ground. "Owww..."
You turn to her as she sniffles. She has a big, nasty cut on her arm and it's bleeding profusely.
She looks at you with tears in her eyes. "Sunset... Help me... Please..."
You grunt and stand up. "Hang on, Fluttershy... I'm coming." You quickly approach her. She's holding her arm tightly. Blood is starting to flow between her fingers. "Hang on to me. You'll be okay, it's just a flesh wound. Does anywhere else hurt?"
She whimpers and shakily stands up as you help her. "Everywhere..."
Not surprising. She's delicate, and you hit the ground pretty hard.
As she leans on you for support, Big Mac comes stomping into the cockpit, looking at you with worry. "Are y'all okay?"
You grunt as you help Fluttershy. "We're fine. Twilight is out, but she's alive. Help her, please."
He nods and passes you as you lead Fluttershy into the ship. She's starting to bleed little droplets onto the floor, leaving a small trail of blood behind her. That's a big vein in her arm. You need to stop the bleeding immediately.
She sniffles. "S-S-Sorry I'm m-making a mess, S-Sunset..."
You rub her back for comfort as you help her. "It's okay, Fluttershy. You'll be okay, don't worry."
You enter the main hold. Tools, weaponry, and other equipment are strewn about all over the floor in here. It's a mess. Your boot hits a hydrospanner as you quickly lead Fluttershy into the armory.
She continues to sniffle and breathe aloud as she sits down on a stool, her arm still trickling with a small stream of blood.
You grab a clean rag and wrap it around the cut, tying it into a knot. "Here. Keep constant pressure on it while I get some bacta, okay?"
She nods and whimpers as she holds onto the rag. "Okay..."
You stand up and head back into the main hold, passing Big Mac as he carries an unconscious Twilight along the way.
You point to the armory. "Set her in there. I'm going to get some bacta."
He nods and heads into the armory while you go to the cargo hold.
It's a huge mess in here. Most of your supplies were tied down, but a few crates managed to open up and fly all over the place. You carefully move through the mess until you reach one of the medical crates and find some bacta.
Once you have a few bacta salves and bandages, you return to the main hold and head back to the armory. Fluttershy looks at you as you enter, the rag on her arm is already looking more red.
Twilight is on her back on the floor next to her with Big Mac crouching over her. You hand him a salve before taking Fluttershy's arm and removing the bloody rag. The gash on her arm is deep. It would probably make an ugly scar if you didn't have bacta with you.
You open the salve and carefully take her arm. "This might sting a little, Fluttershy, but I promise it will help."
She whimpers and nods before closing her eyes as she anticipates the sting. You scrape a bit of the light blue gel onto a bandage and rub it all over and in her cut.
She winces for a moment, but exhales soon after as the healing gel does its job. "Ohh... That's better..."
You don't reply as you finish applying the salve to her cut and grab another bandage to wrap her arm in.
As you begin dressing her injury, your mind wanders. Who shot you down? Why did they shoot you down? How many of them are there? Where are they now?
You needlessly look down at your hip to assure yourself that your blaster is still holstered. It is, as always. You're sure you're in for a fight.
"There." You say as you finish. "Let that sit for a while. You'll be fine."
Fluttershy sniffles a little as you finish and looks at you. "Thank you, Sunset."
You nod at her before shifting your attention to Twilight. Big Mac is applying the bacta salve to the cut on her head.
He looks at you. "I need a bandage for her."
"Here." You give him one.
He quickly starts dressing Twilight's injury and she begins stirring a little. "Uhn... Ohh... What... What happened?"
"We got shot down and you hit your head. Hard." You reply. "Are you okay?"
"I-I think so..."
She winces and tries to prop herself up, but Big Mac is still wrapping her injury. Her lekku is making it a bit tricky.
"Hang on, Twilight. I'm almost done." Mac says.
She nods and relaxes again, looking a bit nervous now.
You look at him. "All of you stay here. I'm going outside to get a look around." You turn around and secure a blaster rifle onto your back.
"Sunset, who shot us down?" Fluttershy asks.
You shake your head. "I don't know, Fluttershy. Whoever did is dead though."
You grab the lightsaber Anon found and hook it onto your hip. You'll probably need it.
"Sunset, we should stay together here and call for help." Twilight says.
You shake your head. "That's a bad idea. We need to learn more about who attacked us and retaliate as soon as possible." You grab and equip a few thermal detonators as well. "Plus, we're sitting ducks right now. We need to repair the ship and get out of here. We can't do that with someone waiting to shoot us down."
Big Mac clears his throat. "I can help with that."
You look at him. "You're good with a hydrospanner?"
He nods. "Eeyup. Among other tools. I'll take a look at the damage once we've secured the perimeter."
Excellent.
"Let's get going then." You say. "Fluttershy, Twilight, you two stay here."
Twilight nods. "Please be careful."
"We will." You toss Big Mac a blaster rifle before the two of you head to the exit.
The ship is a bit lopsided from the crash, but it isn't so bad that the ramp won't lower. At least it shouldn't be. You press a button on your gauntlet and it lowers with a loud creak before slamming onto the jungle floor. You grab your blaster pistol and step outside with Big Mac.
The hot, humid air envelops the both of you as you step off the ship and into the sunlight. There's nothing but lush green trees and shrubbery all around you. One large tree is pressing up against your ship, while a few others are knocked over around you. There isn't much room between the front of your ship and the treeline, which doesn't surprise you. You hit the ground pretty hard.
"Fan out and stay sharp." You say.
Both you and Big Mac sweep your blasters around and scan for any enemies in the immediate proximity before moving around your ship. The sounds of wildlife are absolutely everywhere. You don't see anything out of the ordinary. You can't see much of anything, really. This little clearing is surrounded by nothing but trees.
Upon reaching the rear of the ship, you look to the engines. They're smoking and exposing much of the internal wiring. It doesn't look too bad, but it's bad enough to make your blood boil. Hopefully, Big Mac is as good a mechanic as he says he is.
You grumble a little as you look at the damage for another second before continuing around the ship until you meet up with him again. "See anything?"
He shakes his head. "Nnope."
You exhale and lower your blasters, looking around some more. Whoever shot you down was probably using short-range missiles. Likely from a portable missile launcher. The damage wasn't bad enough to be from anything stronger. Which means that they're out there, and they aren't too far away from you.
"Okay. I'm going to take to the sky and sweep along the treeline." You say. "You go inside the ship and protect the girls. Engage the ship's Ground Lockdown Defense Initiative. Nothing on this planet will get inside when that's on. Once I give the all clear, you can start repairing the ship."
Big Mac nods again. "Eeyup."
Jeez, a man of few words.
He heads into the ship and you turn around to look up to the treetops. You squint your eyes a bit as you look up at the sun. A flock of birds fly above the trees and vanish behind them after a few seconds.
Once the ramp behind you lowers and the ship seals itself, you take another breath and activate your jetpack. You fly off the ground and clear the treetops, looking around at the planet's surface. The trees spread all the way to the horizon in nearly every direction you look. You can see a spacious lake off to your right a little.
"Let's see... We came from this way." You face the direction toward the rear of your ship and proceed forward. Whoever shot you down is back here somewhere.
You point your blasters to the ground as you fly. The trees seem even thicker from above. You can't see the ground very well, if at all. You're looking for anything that doesn't fit in with a jungle environment.
This would be so much easier if Anon was here with you. He grew up and lived in the jungles back on Mandalore. He would probably feel right at home here.
He used to tell you stories about all kinds of stuff he'd done as a kid. The creatures he'd hunted and killed, how to track them, how to navigate through the jungle, everything. One time, he spent a few days alone in the jungle and ended up fighting a few jai'galaars, shriek-hawks, who wanted to make him a meal.
Normally, the jai'galaar leaves people alone, but Anon happened upon one of their nests and was in the mood for an omlet that morning. Anon walked away with a nasty scar and a full stomach that day.
Maybe he should've come here to do this instead of going to Khar Delba.
Your thoughts are cut short when suddenly, you spot something on the ground that catches your attention. Something shiny. Instinctively, you lower your altitude and drop to the treetops, finding a nice sturdy branch to land on. The flashy thing looked a bit small and metallic, but you couldn't make out any details from the air. You need a closer look.
You carefully make your way across the treetops toward the object's approximate location as quickly and quietly you can. As you jump from one large branch to another, you hear a blaster go off.
You grab your blaster and immediately hunker down on the branch you're on, the hairs on the back of your neck standing up. The blaster bolt didn't hit anywhere near you, so you are pretty sure you weren't seen, but you stay quiet and hold still anyway. Someone is here in the jungle with you.
After a moment of silence, you slowly approach a section of treetop that gives you a look at the ground. You peel back the leaves and, unfortunately, get a look at the source of the shiny object you saw from above.
"Oh no..."
There's three of them. One of them is holding a missile launcher in its hands while the other two hold blaster rifles. One of them, you aren't sure which, starts speaking.
"Query: How much further must we walk through this jungle before reaching the crash site?"
"Answer: My sensors indicate that the Mandalorian's vessel is somewhere directly ahead. By my calculations, all or most meatbags aboard should still be alive."
"Statement: Not for much longer. This unit is tired of killing these primitive creatures. I desire a challenge."
They're unmistakable. Their silver chassis, red eyes, insatiable bloodlust, everything.
"HK assassin droids..."