Log:Nexu and Rescue
Nexu and Rescue
OOC Date: July 28, 2018
Location: An undisclosed Island
Participants: Poe Dameron, David Ironside, Karé Kun, The Resistance
It would be an idyllic place to spend a lazy day. Green jungle encroaching on the white sandy beach and waves crashing out on the reef. The U shape of the surrounding area almost creates a tranquil lagoon. Well if you ignore the beasties with the big teeth that prowl the jungle and the big 'eats everything' that swims in the sea it's not a bad place at all.
It's been nearly eighteen hours since Kare has gone down on that god forsaken beach after she crash landed Gold 3. It was dark when she came down and by the time she was able to climb out of the cockpit and flop into the water/sand to make her way do drier sand daylight has just started to rise. The X-Wing has seen better days but over all it's not in /to/ bad of shape. Scorch marks and a few new holes, the canopy half cocked open. But at least the wings are still on it. The nose is just at the water-sand line while the tail in rests in deeper water. A long scour mark along the beach dug out when she landed shows the path of the dead stick landing. Her droid beeps from the craft since there is no way for Kare to get Brat out. She, herself has managed to make it to one of the palm like trees and sits in the sad, blaster pistol held in one had as she nurses her ribs. Not ten feet away is one of those beastes that apparently thought she would be a good meal but found out that Kare has teeth two. Three blaster holes are now apparent where it's charge was stopped during the night. Three flares are stuck in the sand next to her, each at it's own angle, ready for her to grab with the least movement possible. "Yes, Brat, I am sure they will be back. And no I don't know when," she answers the droid for the umpteenth time.
-
It's around this time the Celestial Guarlara enters the system. At the controls of the YT-1300 freighter sits David Ironside, his droid behind him, scomp link plugged into the on-board mainframe. "Here we are, Ones." The pilot mutters, half of his arms concealed beneat the camouflage patterned cape of the trooper gear he's wearing. The accompanying helmet is on the seat Ones isn't using, ready to be picked up when they exit. "When we get in range, get scanning. We don't know whether we'll need to rush her to the medbay." Referring to the medbay Ironside had installed to Dr. Maeve Zavir's specifications, he clenches a fist around the controls as the planet grows larger outside the viewport.
-
"It's alright, buddy.." Poe tells BB-8, who has been worrying about Kare since she was shot down. "Kare's been in tougher spots than this. At least, she has a nice warm planet to land on. It could've been like.. Hoth, or something arid like a desert." Poe plays it off cavalier, but there's no hiding the concern that he's reserved just for Kare's safety. A part of him feels responsible for encouraging her back into the SFC so quickly. Poe elected to ride with David, in Ironside's freighter, with a small contingent of droids and anyone else who was available at the time to help them. Seated in the cockpit, but away from the controls, Poe stares down at his feet until they've emerged from hyperspace. Seeing the planet in front of their viewport feels Poe with hope, and he straightens up and pats David on the shoulder. "Good stuff. I'll go get everyone ready in the back, just let us know when you've found the signal." There was no IF they found a signal. Poe left the cockpit to join the others in the stern of the freighter.
-
The growls and squawks and chips of the jungle behind Kare keeps her on edge and she grips her blaster a bit tighter as she hears the sounds that she heard during the night before the beastie attacked. A hand goes up and touches her lip gingerly as she probes the split that occurred sometime during her ride down and landing. Her droid beeps worriedly and Kare gives the jungle a hard penetrating look. "It might be closer, it's hard to tell, Brat." A sigh as she looks up, bring her blaster holding hand over her brows to shield them from the sun. "What is that saying, water water every where but none you can't drink? Or something like that." Sure enough the emergency hold that holds a first aid kit and rescue rations has been shot clean through by those damned pirates. Only the one, now empty, pouch of water that she keeps in her flight gear remained. Lowering her gaze she once again picks up the emergency beacon to make sure that it is working still. Yep, the tiny red light flashes now and then. Adjusting to sit more upright causes a grimace and a yelp "Damnit."
-
<<Alright everyone, find a seat and strap in. We're entering atmos in a couple.>> David reports through the on-board intercom as the ship starts rocking with the force of the impending entry. "Start scanning whenever, Ones." He absentmindedly tells the droid. His focus is getting through to the surface in one piece. "Oh. Remind me to plate this thing up, I'm not a fan of the whole -everything's exposed to the elements- look." Ones beeps in reply, an antenna raising slowly from his dome, the dish circling slowly. "Anything?" David asks when the shaking and shuddering slows down. "Because we're definitely in range now. Look for a standard rescue beacon, I'll enter the codes for you." With that, he reaches over, taking one hand off the steering wheel to hit a keypad on the far side of the cockpit. When he raises up to an alarmed reply, he responds, "What do you -mean-, that wasn't it?"
-
Poe had been about to leave when it sounded like David had encountered a problem picking up the correct freq to scan. Turning about, even as the ship was rocking from their atmospheric entry, Poe took over the comm seat for a moment. "Let me take a look." A few seconds behind the terminal revealed there were a few errors in the code, which Poe corrected quickly and initiated the scan. "That should do it." Now he rose up and ping-ponged a bit down the small passageways to the back.
-
"What do you mean you saw something," Kare asks Brat after he beeps and whistles. She looks up into the ultra bright blue sky, scanning "Probably just a bird. If it were them they would be headed this way," She says before she runs a tongue out over her lips that have already begun to chap under the relentless sun. She mutters to her self, more like a plea to something or someone before she sighs. Again the roar that that she has been hearing is heard again. Brat, of course, points it out "No, it's not getting closer," she demands. Perhaps a touch of hope it wasn't is in her tone. She looks at the broken X-Wing and almost smiles till the cracked lip reminds her not to. "Damn, Poe is gonna kill me. Well at least it might be salvageable."
-
"Thanks, Poe." David replies when Poe makes to leave. "Maybe you can get in the bottom turret, look for a busted up X-Wing. Might even still be smoking." He turns back towards the controls, pushing the freighter into a dive towards the surface. "There, this ought to help." He reaches for the comms unit, selecting the Gold Squadron frequency. Which he does know without fail. <<Gold Three, this is Gold Leader. We're here and we're nearby. Copy?>> he starts repeating into the handy dandy headset he slides onto his head.
-
Poe makes his way toward the back after receiving helpful instructions to use the vantage available from the ventral gun. He can't argue with that logic, which is why he's sliding down the ladder to the seat. Bringing the turret online, he goes through the jerk motions of warming it up before taking it off its main T&E track to allow for a more free roaming lateral limit of search. Before going any further with this endeavor, he slides a headset on so he can communicate with the pilot. <<Comm check. This is Poe, I'm on your ventral gun.>> Poe runs a hand through his hair, relatively messing it up worse than the headset did, but it's an idle gesture he often performs when he's nervous. Twisting the turret about with his right hand, he turns until he catches the tell-tale of crash. White steam rose up an a narrow column, and there was a track from the tree tops to the sand that could very well be the crash site. Poe is quick to remember that the pirates also crash landed here too during their skirmish in high orbit. <<David, adjust your course to this heading..>> Poe typed it out on his datapad and sent it to the cockpit. << I see something over there, and it could very well be her.>>
-
With no power and no external radio available to Kare she never hears the calls from Dave. "Any time guys," she mutters and gives the ocean and the forest a scan. Again she has to shift cause sitting there in the sand and with her covered in it does not make for a comfortable sitting. Another check, the thousandth, of the beacon and yes it is still flashing. Her droid beeps excitedly "Brat! Stop! I do not want to hear if you think you saw something. If you see something then tell me." Yep, someone is getting a touch grumpy. Apparently. And yes the flares are right where she placed them. Right there and they haven't moved. So it's back to the X-Wing and she tilts her head to make it level "Yea, not to bad. I done pretty good if I say so myself."
-
<<You got it, Poe. Heading to coordinates.>> David adjusts the freighter, tilting the disc over to 45 degrees as he makes a turn. Sure enough, soon enough, the smoke trail gets closer. <<Poe, can you tell whether that's an X-Wing down there? I'm getting no readings.>> He pulls the throttle back, allowing for a more detailed ocular scan of the origin of the pillar of smoke. "C'mon, Kare. Don't tell me your astromech bit it first.." he mutters.
-
Grumbling as they jerked, he felt the ship lurch in another direction. They turned about, an expert adjustment, but Poe missed his window to effectively see if it was an X-wing or not. Between the G's and his not being strapped in, he wasn't able to make the adjustment. Regardless of what he couldn't see, it was about what the sensors picked up. Every X-Wing fighter has an IFF transponder buried beneath their chassis to locate for OPs just like this one. Guns could pick up on the signature and display the transponder signal. If one knew the code and recognized it as friendly, then determining friend from foe was easily programmed into the turret system. Poe was familiar with the code, and it matched Resistance IFF signals. << I didn't SEE it, Dave, but my scans are showing Resistance IFF signatures on that small island below. See if you can find a large enough clearing to set her down. I've shared my findings with you up there, just hone in on that signal. >>
-
Brat goes ballistic causing Kare to look up "Brat! Stop!" She grimaces from the yelling but then she can hear it. Yep. That's a ship! But where? Where is it, screams in her head as she rapidly scans the sky. "Screw it, I got three." Kare grabs one of the flares and thumbs the activation switch and then holds her arm up, angling the flare out over the sea, then presses the button. Instantly a red ball goes shooting up and arches out before falling to the sea. Opening her eyes she watches the flare and looks up to the sky. "Please please," she says over and over as she reaches blindly for another. Just in case.
-
David nods. Even though Poe can't see it. His droid starts beeping, having also picked up on the transponder. David turns around, giving Ones a -look- over his shoulder. "Calm down, Ones. We're going to land.. down there." he gestures without looking, absolutely missing the flare as it arcs up and then fizzles down in the ocean. "There. That clearing between those trees should do it, right?" He preps the ship for a landing -way- further than he would have if he'd seen the flare at all, the landing struts coming out and eventually sinking slightly into the sand as the Guarlara touches down.
-
<<Okay, I have positive ID on her, and had enough time to mark the location with an IR scan for the azimuth.>> Poe was already turning about in the seat and climbing back up to the top. BB-8 was waiting for him at the exit. "Get everyone to the ramp, pal. She's alive! I saw it!" BB-8 found more energy in what it was doing and rolled to the back ramp to inform their droids. Poe fixed his ear piece in and switched onto trooper comms. When he felt the ship lower down and settle, he reached out and lowered the ramp. As it came down, he adjusted the 3-point sling diagonally across his chest, extending the buttstock for his EL-16HFE blaster rifle so it was at maximum extension and provided a stable platform to fire at mid-to-close range. Poe didn't bother with a helmet, he just stepped on down the ramp with his trusty friend BB-8 by his side.
-
Debris, sand, and moisture was still settling and it was kind of difficult to see. Poe stepped off the ramp and landed in the water, which came up to his ankles in the trooper boots. He jogged forward, chicken-winging the rifle under one arm while using his left to shield his eyes a bit. "KARE!" He called. Poe waited for David at this point. You never ventured outward by yourself.
-
After the longest minutes she can recall and the ship she heard doesn't appear and the sounds fade Kare lets out a scream of frustration. And damn the ribs that scream right back in protest. Spent of her anger she replaces the second flare back into it's hole next to her and slumps back against the tree. A hand full of sand is grabbed and tossed in anger. Now that wakes up the ribs and causes her to close her eyes tight to fight back against the pain. For a moment Kare looks defeated, about to give up. But in the end that is not her so she calms down and rests her head back on the rough outer of the tree.
-
David deactivates the ship, grabbing the helmet as he rushes out of the cockpit to the sound of the engine slowing down. "Right behind you, Poe!" he calls ahead, strapping the helmet by his chin and lowering the tactical visor. <<Ones, upload Poe's computer data to my helmet. We can't afford to get lost.>> he speaks into his wristcomm as he unholsters his blaster pistol to join Poe. When the droid comes through and David finds Poe in the surf, he turns towards the blip on his visor. "That way." He gestures with his free hand.
-
Before David can push ahead, Poe raises his hand and places it against his shoulder. Using the same hand he gestures towards the same direction identifying something with brown fur, large, and moving through the foliage. "We're not the only ones looking for her, and with that flare, it may have a better idea where to find her than we do." Poe moves forward at a slight jog. He's scared to run blindly into that direction. With BB-8 having seen the same thing, his internal sensors can double as a motion tracker for them, 25 m circle. As Poe nears the treeline, he slows and adjusts his stance to something more aggressive. His blaster rifle is taken out from under his arm and pressed against the meat of his shoulder. Held at a high ready, Poe moves forward, his knees bent and ready for the shock to adjust course of something swings at him.
-
"I see it." Dave replies, tensing up and speaking softly. Studying the creature Poe points out, he lets out a soft groan. "Nexu. Back on Naboo there were stories about a senator having fought one, unarmed." He shrugs. "Just stories, but apparently their bones break easily. Just.. don't get in between the jaws, you know?" He aims his blaster pistol at the nexu steadily, waiting for it to pounce. "It might move on, though. No sudden movements.
-
The jungle around the landing site of the Resistance fell silent as the ship landed. Now it comes back alive with the natural sounds. But something prowls out there and as it nears the various beasts warning cries sound in warning, giving their like kind a heads up.
Meanwhile back at the beach Kare hears the jungle noises, much as they have been since she arrived. Brat lets out a mournful sound as his one 'eye' turns to study Kare. Gentle noises come from the droid causing Kare to look up to the droid "I know, I know, Brat. Just, damit I know that was a ship."
-
Poe nods when he hears David's assessment. The man seemed confident with his identification of the animal, and Poe had no way of knowing to say otherwise. Still, he isn't happy about it, but he can't just stand by and let it prowl around with Kare out there too. A sense of duty compels Poe forward. It was his fault she was even here, or so he silently reminds himself. "BB-8, tell me what direction and when something is closing in on us. I know you can pick up on stuff like that." Poe says before pushing into the treeline finally, and following the azimuth he marked.
-
"Step sideways, try to get around it." David whispers, checking his visor for the location of their target blip. "Turns out we don't -have- to engage it to get there, we can go around. If it attacks, though.. Aim for the face." A grim smile. "Though the mouth might be an easier target. If you're feeling lucky you can try kicking it in the nose." He glances towards Poe, only briefly taking his eye off the nexu. "We'll find her, Poe. She's gotta be around here. It's only been less than a day."
-
The jungle goes silent around the landing. It's as if the locals sense that something is afoot or moving in for a dinner. Breaking out in a small clearing two Nexus break out from the jungle. Each has eyes on the interlopers as they move in for a meal. Swift and agile they zip between trees and slither around brush.
Kare listens and hears a lowering of the jungle noises. She grips the blaster a bit tighter and carefully leans out, blaster first, from around the tree. "Something is up," she near silently says.
-
BB-8 (Astromech Droid - 888) BB-8 acknowledges Poe's command but stays by his side ensuring that the distance between the two Resistance fighters: Poe and David are equal by the placement of the droid. When Poe breaches the treeline BB-8 moves forward too but his sensors immediately pick up on two organics aligning with the placement of Poe and David. BB-8 squawks out a warning to both providing the direction and distance to prepare them for an altercation.
-
Poe turned just as BB-8 warned them. His body spiraled to the left, where the clearing was and dropped to a knee, lifting his rifle up to obtain a good stockweld against his cheek and aim. Using the sight available on the rifle, he honed in on the animal's head, just as David had suggested, and squeezed off a single shot. It struck as intended, spilling the animal to one side face first where it slid from momentum then stayed, wallowing in the dust its body had stirred up when it struck the ground. Following through with his shot, he observed its trek to the ground and recognized that it remained motionless, then he took his cheek off the side of the weapon and glanced toward David and his target to ensure they were good to go.
-
David sneaks behind a tree, gesturing with his head and eyes towards Poe to do the same. Like he has to, Poe's as much a ground force as Dave is himself. These nexu weren't here for no reason, and the thought of Kare being nearby makes the pilot smile behind his visor. He's roused from his thoughts when Poe blasts the first nexu, momentarily causing David to lose track of his own. It finds him, though, leaping at him from just inside his peripheral vision. David turns, blaster raised and manages to negate the attack with a shot to the chest of the predator. It falls on top of him, claws digging in the sand and jaws just above David's helmet. Two more shots to the chest of the beast make it slump down, dead. And on top of the pilot.
-
In a tumble of brown fur, claws and teeth both Nexus end up dead in the jungle floor. The blaster blasts ring through the area silencing everything else. "Blasters," she hisses. This just gets better and better, not," Kare says as she slinks down as best she can, blaster pointed to the jungle. "Well come and get it. Might shoot me down once but I can shoot back now." Fighter mode kicks in and Kare is ready to give it a good fight.
-
Poe falls backwards upon his rear and plants his back, unintentionally, to a palm tree as he observes the Nexu lunging right at David who reacts with a gunslinger like tendency. "David!" Poe cried out as the animal landed on top of him, clawing the ground and snapping its big mouth, but two subsequent shots beneath the animal clue Poe in that David is still alive and fighting. The final shots rendered the beast motionless. Poe pushes himself up with a grunt and adjusts his rifle by its sling to hang haphazardly across his lower back. "Dave.. on the count of 3.. push up." -- "Three!" Poe strains, starting in a squat like position to employ his legs into pushing up on the creature. "ARE.. YOU..EVEN.. PUSHING?" He says, struggling to hold the dead weight up high enough for the pilot to roll out from beneath.
-
"Do you even lift?" comes the retort from under the dead predator. David does in fact roll out from underneath, on the other side of the nexu. "You can let go now, I'm all safe and unharmed. Except for my pride." he says to Poe while fixing his helmet in place. Pressing his glove to it, he wipes it clean of the nexu's excited drooling, and makes sure the blip's still there. "All systems go." he reports, pointing towards the location of the blip again. "See, those things are all bark and no bite." he comments as the two leave the dead nexu behind.
-
Silence still reigns over the jungle except for the makings of insects. Most of them are to dumb to realize what is going on. Back at the beach Kare readies to do a last stand. The droid beeps softly and the pilot turns her head. "Shhh, Brat. If it were our guys they would have landed here. Gotta be pirates or worse. Keep a watch, give me warning. I got this."
-
With David back on his feet and talking, Poe figures it was as the pilot indicated, only his ego suffered any damage. He lets the Lt move ahead and lead them around the treeline and BB-8 trails behind him. Poe lingers a moment, watching from where they came from before finally turning and re-adjusting his sling to carry his rifle in the high ready again. He jogs after the other two so that the distance is closed.
-
"This way." David reiterates when he notices Poe keeping behind him. The blip on his visor shows a gradually lowering distance next to it, so David just keeps moving ahead, gaze shifting from left to right. He's had enough nexu love for a lifetime, today. Risking -everything-, he calls out. "Kare? It's David, and Poe's here too." He glances at the little droid keeping pace with him. "You're detecting her too, right? Can you contact her astromech?" He doesn't wait around for a reply, and just keeps moving.
-
Kare hears the approach of those with blasters. Once they get closer she fires. The blaster bolt zips across the way, striking a tree. A red glow remains as smoke trickles out of the hole. "That's far enough unless you want the next one between your eyes," She calls out grimacing the whole time. "And don't think I can't do it!" But then David's voice is heard "David? Poe? That you?"
-
BB-8 Takes the risk to speed ahead of David to show the familiar voice of Kare that they're friendlies. The same message is relayed to Brat, her droid. BB-8 comes into plain view, his white and orange exterior easy to see in the daylight. Poe brings up the rear of the group, just ensuring their six was covered. He is the last to transition to plain sight.
-
"It's just us, not more -nexu-." David jokes as he emerges from the treeline, eyes briefly darting to the downed X-Wing. "So that smoke -was- you, huh?" he breathes, relief evident in his voice when he discovers his squadron mate alive and relatively well. "Are you alright? We couldn't reach you on comms, so I guess that part's fried." he glances again at the X-Wing.
-
Brat starts squawking causing Kare to turn and look at the droid. A smile starts to form which only gets wider as the white and orange ball comes into view "BB-8!" She calls out and struggles to sit up again. The blaster hand pushes and the free hand holds her ribs. Her head falls back as relief washes over her. As the pair and the escorts come into view she gives a wave "Hey guys, what took you so long? I was about to order delivery." The blaster is pointed at the dead nexu on the beach "Meet me friend." A shrug "Just a bit beat up but okay beyond that. As for the radio what ever they hit," she glances as the X-Wing "it fried the electrics. Only had a trickle of power to keep some controls till I landed."
-
Poe slows to a trot and steps up beside David. BB-8 is the one who rushes to Kare's side initially and is conveying his observations of her condition, explaining that he suspects she's due to go into maintenance, but should be okay once they've fixed her. He seems happy to see her still functioning though. Poe adjusts his rifle so that it sits against his lower and walks forward. "We had to get a ship that could haul yours back. Otherwise, we would have been here a lot sooner." Poe kneels beside her grinning. "Besides, we figured you needed a vacation." Poe shares a brief glance with David, his smile forming. "Do you think you can walk?" Poe doesn't seem too concerned with her ship right this second. The pilot was the priority, they could replace a ship.
-
"Honestly, you could've picked a worse planet to crash land on." David observes. "Like one entirely made of rocks and mountains. Or lava, or snow. This is actually pretty nice, if you leave out the nexu and the crash landing." He walks slowly over to the X-Wing. "This is definitely not a complete loss." David mutters, walking around the craft. "I'd commend you on the landing, but I feel weird considering you've been with the Resistance longer than me." Joining back with the other two pilots, he smirks. "The Guarlara's landed just through those trees we came from. If you're hurt, there's a medbay." He nods at Poe. "we can cover the fighter with leaves or something, we can come back for it."
-
Kare's eyes linger on Poe a moment maybe to long and then a wink "Took ya long enough. I was thinking I was going to have to walk soon." A pause comes then she adds "Thanks Poe." Which may mean a lot more than those two simple words. "Highly recommend it here. Though the other guests can be real beasts and the service sucks." She nods about walking "Just might need some help up. Might have a bruised rib or two" Brat from the back of the X-Wing beeps and squawks "No, Brat. I won't leave you." She replies. She looks wonderful in her salt encrusted flight suit, hair plastered down on her head and dried blood on her lips and chin. "A drink of water sure would be welcomed. Unless you got something stronger that is."
-
Kare grins at David "I'll try to keep that in mind the next time I crash, hows that?" She watches Dave walk around the craft "It kept me safe all the way down. That's for sure." Nodding "Just might need to get these ribs checked. Feels like something is sticking me inside." She holds up her hands "A hand guys?"
-
Poe takes her hand, but then hooks his other under her arm. He figures pulling on her arm will bring uneccessary stress to her ribs and torso, the place she said she was hurting the most. Hoisting her up with a grunt, she's back on her feet with Poe close by watching her expressions and how she holds herself. Deciding not to take a chance, he lifts an arm of hers and places it over his shoulder, then walks with her, his own arm around her back. "I can signal the guys up at the orbital depot the coordinates. They said they'd be happy to haul it if we couldn't. They just needed to know where." Poe didn't have any water on him, just blasters and armor. "We've got some stuff back on Dave's ship. Let's get you there first so you can lay down." Poe flashes a reassuring grin before orienting them toward the path on the way back.
-
David reaches into a pocket, pulling out a flask bearing the Theed Palace Space Vessel Engineering Corps logo engraved on the side. "Here." he says, offering it to Kare. "It's non-alcoholic, but it's not water either." he grins. "Greystorm took it during our stay on Bothawui and returned it.. less full than it was. I'm pretty sure she didn't just toss it down the drain, though." Raising his blaster, he follows the two back to the Guarlara.
-
Kare lets Poe lead and once on her feet, after a time of holding her breath, she lets the grimace fade and holds her chest together. "Whew," she says as beads of sweat form on her forehead as she fights back the pain. "That's better." She gets out at last. "Lay down. Yes. And don't forget a shower. I know I gotta stink something awful." She looks to Dave then her eyes go wide before taking the flask "Now this is a vacation." A few sips and the flask is handed back "That is what the doctor ordered. A real life saver, Dave." Then they were headed back to the ship and Brat has been lowered down from the X-Wing who hurries to catch up.
