"Umbara, we have a problem..."

[Aayla Etel'dalam]

*Aayla Etel'Dalam's story begins here*

The first thing Aayla felt was a dull ache in her head. And that was nothing compared to the seering pain in her left leg. She moaned slightly as she sat up from the floor, assessing the damage to her ship. Sparks flew, blaster marks were everywhere, and she could hear a number of alarms going off. But she was alive - that's what mattered.

She could barely sit up, though, without trying to quell the crushing anxiety that was flooding back to her as her memories returned. "What just happened? What did I just do!?" she thought, staring at her hands before the radar started to ping. An approaching...something. The ship was damaged enough that it couldn't even identify what was coming toward her. But she knew she needed help - she couldn't take more damage, and neither could her ship. "I have to rewch out - i have to try. I'm in hot water and I know it. I'm not affiliated with this ship... not anymore," she signed, gasping as she stood, limping to the main console. Aayla hoped beyond hope that whoever or whatever was coming for her - they'd at least hear her out. She also hoped the communicator on this hunk of space junk still worked. Picking up the receiver, she looked out the window toward the approaching ship. "Hello, captain. Th-this is Aayla Etel'dalam. I - I need assistance, do you copy?" she said shakily. 

Awaiting an answer, she began searching for a medkit or at the very least, a seatbelt to make a tourniquet with. This was alrady a bumpy ride. And it didn't appear to be over yet. 

[Farren Sefu]

*Continued from "Light on the Dark Planet"*

Farren exited the atmosphere of Umbara and was out of the darkness of the planet, and now in the darkness of space. And yet space seemed so much brighter than the surface below. He had no time to admire it, though. His location was at risk of being discovered and he had to take care of it now before it got worse. Using the coordinates his computer gave, Farren quickly found the ship in question. Sure enough, it was a Lambda-Class Imperial Transport. Time to end this, Farren thought to himself. Acting quickly, he targeted the center of the ship, and moved his hands to fire the plasma cannon. So long, Imperial scum.

"Hello, captain. Th-this is Aayla Etel'dalam. I - I need assistance, do you copy?" Farren was taken off guard by the transmission, and it was in that split second that he noticed the condition of the ship. It was riddled with scorch marks and holes from blaster shots. Whoever was piloting this thing had already taken heavy fire today. Heavy fire....no!! At the last second, Farren tried to cancel his command, but the shot was already charged, so he bucked the nose of the ship upwards in an attempt to make the shot miss. However, it wasn't enough as the plasma blast fired and made a beeline for the transport's dorsal fin.

"Captain Aayla, I read you! Brace for impact!!" Farren called out through the comms. He hoped it wasn't too late.

[Aayla Etel'dalam]

"Captain Aayla, I read you! Brace for impact!!"

"Impact? IMPACT!" she thought just in time for the ship to face yet another assault. More shaking. More slamming and crashing. More alarms. She hit the floor with a solid thud, receiver still in hand. "Shit..." she huffed, shakily sitting up again. Assessing for a second time, she found herself relieved that she wasn't dead. But her condition was certainly no better. And the ship was in a much poorer state, fin dissolving. She picked up the receiver again. "Captain, this is Aayla. Despite yet -more- heavy fire, I think I'm okay. I am now in need of more assistance, do you copy? Should you continue to fire, I will have to engage you," she said through gritted teeth. Was he hostile? Or was he just a moron for firing on a ship without identifying friend from foe? She hoped to find out before it was too late for her.

[Farren Sefu]

Farren cringed as the shot no less grazed the tip of the dorsal fin and exploded, instantly dissolving it. Time was running out, as sparks could be seen flying out from what was left of the hull of the ship. "Captain Etel'dalam, I have no intention to fire on you again, but time is short. I have a plan to get you out of there, but we'll have to work together. Are you ready?" Without waiting for a reply, Farren began manipulating his hands in the control hologram, and as a result, the ray shielded cockpit and chair detached itself from the wings, which were left to float adrift. "Close the airlocks and open your boarding ramp if you can! This is gonna be interesting!" He called over the communicator.

Farren then carefully maneuvered himself in the pod closer and closer to the boarding ramp, waiting for the pilot of the other ship to open it.

[Aayla Etel'dalam]

Aayla didn't think she could walk, let alone close the airlock. At least she knew she was safe...ish. He did say he wouldn't fire again. She limped over to the controls, finding the lever for the airlocks. "Here goes nothing," she muttered, grabbing the lever and pulling at it hard. With a loud scraping sound, she heard them engage. With that, she got on her hands and one good knee and dragged herself toward the boarding ramp. "Captain, it's sparking...I don't know if the ramp will engage," she said into the receiver, fear making her voice sound more raspy than before. She knew she had to try - time was running short. This ship was no longer viable. She opted for the only thing she could think to do - she continuously smashed the button with whatever strength she had left.

[Farren Sefu]

As Farren was approaching the crippled ship, a chilling transmission came across his comms. "Captain, it's sparking...I don't know if the ramp will engage.".

Shit. Farren looked at the ship and knew there wasn't much time before the whole thing exploded. Wait....exploded... he opened his comm line. "Captain Aayla, I know I said I wouldn't fire on you again, but.... hold on to something!" Without really giving her a chance to reply, he activated the control systems and connected to the airframe that had been floating adrift. It snapped to life and rotated in his direction, and he docked with it once more. Once secured, he brought the weapons systems online. Instead of the electromagnetic pulse missiles, though, he armed the laser turret and took aim at the hydraulic system that was keeping the door closed. As steady as he could, he opened fire with the intention of destroying that system and causing the ramp to just fall off.

[Aayla Etel'dalam]

"Wait, what? No! Captain - please! Come back!" But before she knew it, she was bracing herself against a bombardment of laser fire. "Shit... I didn't think I'd go out like this," she thought, biting her lip until the firing stopped and she heard the rendering of metal - the bridge falling away. "C-captain? Do you copy? I'm okay." She dragged herself back to the door, waiting for rescue.

[Farren Sefu]

Perfect! The door to the loading bay fell off just as planned and drifted away into the void of space. Now, was the time for action. Once more, Farren manipulated the controls to separate his cockpit pod from the wing frame, which again floated aimlessly. This time, though, he was able to complete his original plan. Very carefully, he maneuvered the chair through space and into the hold of the crippled shuttle. Once inside, he sealed his flight suit against the vacuum created and deactivated the Ray shield protecting him. The chair clattered as it hit the floor and Farren stepped down. He found an intercom panel on the wall and activated it. "Captain Etel'dalam, are you still there? I've made it inside your ship! There's a big hole in it now, so find a breathing kit if you don't already have one. I'm coming in!" With that, Farren moved to open the door to the cockpit, which would release of gust of air, then quickly slip through and seal it again before too much got sucked out. He looked around for signs of life.

[Aayla Etel'dalam]

After hearing the commotion of being boarded, she snapped open an emergency panel on the wall, going through extra gear until she found a breathing apparatus. Feeling light-headed, she fell back onto her butt with a groan, grabbing her receiver. "Captain.. This is Aayla.. I'm.. by the um.. by the bridge release - down here," she murmured into it, looking toward the direction of the noise. Upon seeing him, she almost smiled. Yes, he was a stranger - but he was going out of his way to save her. She wanted to reach out her hand, but found herself too tired.

[Farren Sefu]

Farren heard the voice and followed it to the source. What he found was not even close to what he expected. He expected to find a human officer before him, someone hunting him and calling for reinforcements. Instead, he finds a badly injured Twi'lek in the uniform of a recruit. What the hell is going on? "Miss Etel'dalam? Maybe I shouldn't call you captain, then. You're clearly not. Can you stand? We don't have much time. This ship is falling apart around us. Whoever you pissed off sure did a number on it. Though, I doubt I helped much." Farren bent down and attempt to help her to her feet by putting her arm around her shoulder. Should that fail, he would scoop her up fireman style and book it out of there.

[Aayla Etel'dalam]

She felt like she used the last remaining strength she had to glare at him. "I -am- the captain of this ship," she panted, unable to even help him in trying to help her stand. She wanted to fight him. She wanted to sass him - yell at him for trying to kill her after everything she'd already been through. But the next thing she knew, her world was going black. "H-elp.." she whispered before falling limp against him.

[Farren Sefu]

Farren chuckled as the Twi'lek asserted her rank as captain. "Just because you're at the controls of a ship does not make you a captain. Sorry to burst your bubble, cadet." He realized though that his words likely went unheard as she muttered for help and collapsed. "Great..." he mumbled to himself. Now that this girl had gone dead weight, walking her out wasn't an option. Instead he crouched down and went to throw her over his shoulders. From there, he trudged his way back to the hanger, which by now had equalized in pressure, so they weren't sucked out when Farren went to open the door. Because his hands were full of unconscious Imperial, he had to kick the door control to get it open. Once inside, he walked over to the chair pod and went to get in. However, he realized that he couldn't actually get in the chair. With one hand holding the Twi'lek's arms and the other holding her legs so that she didn't fall off his shoulders and back, but because of that, he couldn't properly sit down. As a result, he carefully laid the girl down on the floor and got in the seat himself. Because there was only room for one, he couldn't put her in a chair herself. But now, he couldn't lift her from the position he was in. He had no choice.

Please don't wake up..., he thought to himself. Reaching out with his hand, he focused the Force and levitated her body off the floor and floated her into his lap, where he laid her across his lap and put the restraint belt across them both. Now that his hands were free, he was able to engage the ray shield and anti-grav, floating the pod out of the hold and calling the wing array back into position. Once secured, he realized he couldn't just leave a damaged Imperial shuttle floating around. So, flying a safe distance away, he turned the ship around to face the shuttle, and once again fired a pair of electromagnetic missiles, this time aiming dead center of the ship. True to their purpose, the missile exploded on impact, destroying the entire ship, and disintegrating it at the same time, leaving no trace. Pleased with his work, Farren navigated the Umbaran fighter back to the surface below, and landed back at his secret base.

-end thread-


*Farren and Aayla's stories continue in "Suddenly, Babysitting."*