Star Wars: Dar'Aliit

Chapter Fourteen: Peacekeepers War

20 BBY Caeopa

I smell smoke, and blood burning in the air. It hurts to move so I try to keep still until more of my senses have come to me. I'm lying on my back. There's a bit of torn webbing wrapped across my chest, and I think I'm lying under some form of underbrush. It's dark out, so I've been unconscious all day.

An attempt at sitting up tells me I shouldn't move. My ribs scream in pain, as does my side. I stick my hand against my abdomen and jerk it back when my fingers touch the sharp edge of something metal. At least now I know where the blood is coming from.

One of the rods from the chair must've pieced my side before I was separated from the seat. Breathing shallowly, I can at least sit up. I look around. There's short stubby trees all around. I'm nowhere near the landing site. I'm not even sure which side of the planet I'm on.

I reach for my commlink and find it on the fritz. Kriffing bantha balls. I got myself into this. Bracing myself and with a couple more slow breaths, I take stock of the reality of my situation.

Alone. Stranded most likely. No one knows it was me who took the ship, and even if they track it, they likely won't find me now that I'm not in it. R3 is here, though I don't know where. And the nearest communications array is likely on whatever hidden base the Seps have out here.

So the situation is screwed, and more screwed.

If I can find the ship, though, I might be able to salvage parts and hold out for a rescue. And so long as I don't remove this metal rod, I won't bleed out.

I crawl to my knees and regret it. Reaching back for my medical pack, I fumble for painkillers and jab the injector into my arm. The relief is instant and numbing. Breathing hurts, but at least I can make it to my feet without toppling over. There's still a hunk of metal stuck in my side, though.

A second survey and I can see the gouged earth a few klicks east. My HUD is spazzing in and out partially, though, so I don't know how long it's going to last. I could curse my own existence right now.

Not that it would get me anywhere.

"C'mon Kian," I coax myself forward. "You're not dead. You can make it through this. Just gotta find the ship. Signal for...help," I grimace. "And then sit on your shebs till someone shows up."

It's enough to get moving. I reach for tree trunks to support until I run out of them and manage to limp across the open prairie. It's cool out here. Nothing looks inherently dangerous, but that never means something isn't lurking.

I glance up. I can't see the star destroyer from down here. I can't see anything, but stars. Caeopa isn't supposed to have civilization. It's an old planet that was once cultivated for grasslands until a blight killed off the main population. Now everything here grows wild and free.

I stagger and drag myself closer to the gouged out land. Free, I think. I wonder what that's like.

Is anyone out there really truly free?

My HUD blinks out. I tap the side of my helmet, but it's gone. Looking up, though, I can see billions more stars. More than I could ever see on Kamino. If the separatists win, no doubt all those stars will blink out. The dying hopes of civilization. I stop and stare, aware of how lonely I am. More than my injury aches. The stars blink silent.

"You're an idiot," I tell myself. "A properly antisocial jerk."

Sounds like something Headshot would tell me actually. Booker would agree. Raf too, probably. But I don't know if I'll see their faces again.

Doesn't matter. I shake my head and clear their faces from my head. Then I resume my journey.

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