Originally named Dark Guardian: Preface
Nelkf Karlian stood over the hull of her destroyed Y-wing. Her race, the Sklinths, didn't curse, but at that instant, Nelkf wished they did. It was not to say she didn't swear. She had left her home world of Exlan twelve when she was but a child and many of her laws were long since forgotten. At least other races cursed. Nelkf spat something in Aqualish and leapt off the nose of the grounded fighter.
Her astromech, a little orange R2 unit named Slek twittered impatiently beside her. The droid knew this was not where they should be. They were supposed to be escorting a diplomatic ship. That was hours ago. Things had turned sour very quickly for them. A Star Destroyer came from the shadow of the planet and destroyed the diplomatic ship. The fighters scrambled against TIEs and many were killed. At the last instant, the survivors leapt away. An X-wing offered Nelkf help, but she was too independent to accept it. Foolish, she had been engaged in a dogfight with far too many TIE fighters then she could handle on her own. As a result, they went down.
Yes, they were stuck, and the rocky, mountainous terrain did not suit the little droid well. He hummed nervously. Lekan, the planet they had been stranded on, was well known for it's ferocious inhabitants, and many of the more deadly species dwelled in the mountains. His Sklinthi companion felt differently about their situation though.
It was typical of her race to have foul tempers and be intolerant of everything around them, and Nelkf was no exception. Right now, she had no idea of the danger surrounding her. Nor would she have cared had she known. Her race focused on one thing at a time, perhaps resulting in their bad short-term memories.
When Nelkf had signed on with the New Republic two years ago, she hadn't expected adventures like this. She was hoping to rebuild her life, not get shot down by long hidden Imperials. Well, she thought, it's not like Lekan is the most frequently traveled system. You should have expected some sort of trouble. She wasn't the type to go on adventures anyway. She was a pilot, not an adventurer.
Angry, she looked around her for something to vent her wrath upon. Nothing soft or fragile met her eye, and the rocks of the cliff face were more iron ore then real stone. The frustrated alien snorted and kicked the carbon-scorched hull of her fighter. Something inside hissed and belched smoke. Nelkf flicked her smooth meter-and-a-half long tail and sat down on a stone. She glared hard, concentrating her anger on a helpless pebble at her feet. The short R2 unit tottered over to her and began to beep, attempting to comfort her. She turned on it, her mood far from welcoming.
"You think I give a dubba clam's foot where we are?!" she snapped at him. She had spent a long time over the past two years deciphering the binary speech of droids, and she was fairly good at it. It came in handy once in a while. The tiny orange droid wailed in his mechanical way.
"There isn't a hostile critter for miles, Tin Can. Our crash scared them all away."
Slek squealed even louder.
"Yeah, good luck," she snorted. "According to the data tapes I've checked out, the nearest outpost is at the bottom of Mount Farshan, wherever that is."
Slek snapped angrily at her. She hadn't had his memory cleared, and he was quite capable of arguing with her.
"You figure it out," she snarled, "you're the navigator, not me!"
Slek squealed and began to hunt through his data banks. Nelkf continued to talk with no one in particular.
"I guess what we should do now is get our survival materials out of the ship and wait for a rescue team."
Slek hummed innocently. A listener would never have suspected a thing, but Nelkf understood him and so she knew better.
"Shut up Birdie, droids aren't supposed to know how to curse. No, the survivors probably don't know we've lived through that Landing' of yours, but they can figure it out. I mean, it isn't like they're all Humans."
Slek wailed again. He wasn't so sure they could figure out they were still alive. The odds were fantastic. He was surprised they had made it. If they made it to the outpost and a working radio, they could call for help. There was only one small problem. He couldn't find Mt. Farshan. He bleeped this to Nelkf.
"What do you mean you can't find it?! It's a mountain for crying out loud! We're on the right planet aren't we?"
Slek hummed nervously. An angry Sklinth was not someone to be stuck on a mountain with.
"Maybe..." Nelkf paused for a moment, "Hey Slek?"
Slek twittered his presence.
"Could we be on Mount Farshan?"
The droid whistled back.
"Thought so," she climbed to her feet and brushed off her flight suit, "Come on. We have to get the survival kit from the fighter. If we're lucky, we might find a working radio and call back to the base."
Slek screeched in an upset tone.
"I'll call it base if I want to. I don't care if they're not called bases anymore. Damn astromechs."
Slek wailed angrily at her.
"Oh, shut up. What difference does it make to you?"
If Slek had any way to show his disapproval, he did a good job of it. Nelkf hoisted a knapsack she had pulled from the Y-wing over her shoulder. Starting down the mountain, she motioned for the droid to follow her.
Do you care? do you like it? do you hate it? it's several years old, i wrote it as a freshman in high school..that was four years ago *smirkz* wanna see the next part? don't? tough. it's getting posted anyway.
TBC(to be continued)
