Missing and Presumed Dead

Leia's Decision

There were a few things he'd learned when attending trainings on surviving in the wild. First, as soon as possible, find suitable shelter. Technically, Luke already had that: the ship was a mess, but it was sturdy, would keep out the elements, and provided adequate ways to keep warm and shade as necessary. What was even better was that it wasn't his only option, either. After he'd rebandaged his broken leg into a sturdier splint and made a makeshift sling for his injured arm, he'd ventured out to explore a little and found the front end of the crashed hull crunched over downed trees nearby. It was definitely in worse shape, but if he needed to pull parts or even switch shelters completely, he could.

Second, he needed a water source. This need he was all too familiar with. On Tatooine, water was a scarce commodity. If you ran out, you were done for. He had a few bottles left from his side of the downed ship, so he set about breaking into the front end to find more.

Surely, if he found supplies in the bottom half, he would find more in the other, right?

He wasn't in any shape to be moving about through the forest, not with a broken leg and shoulder. If he knew where he was going, that was one thing. If it was close by, that was another. But he didn't know, and picking a direction and hoping he was right was a risk he wasn't yet willing to take.

If he could use the Force without bringing back that... thing, it would be easier. But he obviously didn't want it to come back, so that was the end of that.

But that also made searching the front of the torn ship almost impossible. At least, any closed doors remained that way without the Force or a welding saw. Thankfully, there were more open than closed, and he managed to find more water bottles and rations. It was his first real stroke of luck since the crash, and he carefully packed them away for later.

That luck increased when he came upon the first dead body--a Gran. The rot was so bad he gagged repeatedly. Flies swarmed around it. Still, he couldn't pass up the opportunity to find a blaster, or even better, a comlink. So, taking a deep breath, he searched the body, grimacing the entire time.

No comlink, but he did find a blaster. Lucky. Just not as lucky as he would have liked. But a symbol on the filthy jacket gave Luke pause. A sun with the top ray shooting up above the others, a triangle on either side of it. A sense of familiarity overwhelmed him, and he pushed against murky memories to remember where he'd seen that symbol before. He cursed under his breath when he did.

Black Sun.

So, this was a Black Sun ship. Or, maybe they'd been attacked by pirates belonging to the syndicate? He tried to remember, but everything was still fuzzy. That in itself was a concern...if he had lost memories, it meant that his concussion was serious. At least, he thought so. He wasn't a doctor, but that definitely seemed bad.

With nothing else of use found on the body, he pushed himself back up onto his good leg and hobbled forward.

As he moved deeper, he found other bodies. Some did have comlinks, but they were either completely fried or broken in half.

Perhaps his luck was running out.

His suspicions were confirmed when he reached the main bridge of the ship. The doors were slightly ajar, allowing him to squeeze through. It made his ribs ache and he accidentally brushed the broken leg against the frame. It took him a few solid seconds to push back the burst of pain so that he could take a look at the damage.

Each breath drew in the scent of smoke and embers. He felt as if he'd walked into a still cooling oven. Sentient-shaped mounds were scattered about on the floor. The view port was shattered, and the nose of the ship beyond that was completely gone. Perhaps disintegrated upon entry...or it had been destroyed when...whatever happened.