ENCOUNTER: PART TWO
The Jedi were ready to move out. Jarrin looked at them all for a moment, regarding each one's species and skills. Ortis Lann was not an incredibly powerful Jedi, but his mechanical skills were almost unparalleled. His apprentice, Chonessinac, was a force to be reckoned with in battle. Jarrin remembered that Nac had once sparred with thirty remotes at one time, and not a single shot had gotten through.
Kinon She'yed was a Bothan Jedi Knight of a good forty-five years' age. His skill with a lightsaber was even too much for Nac's reflexes. Kinon was surpassed in lightsaber skill only by a handful of Jedi Masters. Among the few were Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, Dooku, and, of course, master Yoda. His apprentice was a young female Zabrak named Sevi Sleen. Sevi was very gifted with Force-empathy. It was virtually impossible to hide emotions from her. The darkness in the Sith Temples of Yavin IV had bombarded her senses the most.
Jedi Knight Denasha Vec was an alluring female Twi'lek. Her skin was predominantly blue and had purple spots on her shoulders, neck, and lekku. Her special talent was a rare sort of "touch-telepathy." By touching an object, Denasha could see things about its owner or most recent user. Her skill had been incredibly useful on Yavin IV, but the Dark Side presence there had taken quite a toll on her as well. Denasha's human Padawan, Loren Kish, also had the ability. Loren had yet to master her touch- telepathy. Once the gift was awakened in her, she couldn't control how much information came in to her mind. She now wore gloves to prevent such an overload.
Jarrin himself was a human about two meters in height. In his forty- six years as a Jedi, he'd always been more of a researcher than a warrior. He'd spent most of his life in the Archives learning the history of the galaxy. That was his specialty. Jarrin was able to use the Force to learn extremely quickly and remember everything with crystal clarity.
The cruiser's landing ramp hissed as it lowered onto the soft grass of Wayland. Six of the Jedi disembarked. Only Ortis remained on board. The Crusader soared back up to a low orbit around the planet. Jarrin and the other Jedi started off into the woods. It didn't take them long to find the scorched line of trees leading to the crash site. They followed the trail to a fairly large crater with a slivery escape pod nestled in one end. The pod's hatch was open, and the pod's outer lights were blinking dimly in the bright sunlight. On the dirt surrounding the pod were many splotches of what appeared to be drying blood. Several sets of humanoid tracks let to and from the pod. The tracks leaving seemed to be headed toward Mount Tantiss.
"Nac, Sevi, Kinon," Jarrin said, "you come with me. We're going to look for survivors. Danasha, you and Loren check out the pod."
Denasha nodded, and the other Jedi set off following the trail. The Twi'lek and her Padawan cautiously entered the craft. Loren quickly found a control switch to illuminate the dark interior. That interior was covered in many places by an intricate layer of some kind of coral-like material. Denasha went to inspect the flight controls as Loren looked at an array of stasis chambers.
"This was definitely a low-speed transport," Denasha said. "I don't see anything that would indicate a hyperdrive. I'd say this heap could barely touch lightspeed."
Loren looked closely at one of the stasis tubes. The glass was fogged on the inside so she could barely make out anything. She thought she could see a humanoid through an apparent burn hole. As Denasha inspected another corner of the pod, Loren removed one of her gloves and gingerly touched the glass.
A flurry of images flashed before her eyes. There was no rhyme or reason to any of it. Most of the images were indistinct, clouded as though not visible through the Force. There were sounds, though, and feelings. Screams. Loren could hear something screaming. Fear. Terror. A monstrous set of glimmering fangs. The smell of acid eating away at something. A horrible warm, moist darkness.
"Loren!"
The Padawan pulled her hand away from the pod. She slipped her hand back into her glove as she turned around to face Denasha.
"Loren, look over here," said the Twi'lek.
Denasha was crouched in a corner of the pod. Beside her sat several grayish green membranous sacs. Four of them had open flaps at the top revealing the sacs to be empty. There was one sac that still wasn't open. Through its thin sides, Loren could see something moving inside. Denasha touched the pulsing sac.
"There's nothing," Denasha said. "I don't sense any Force presence at all. I can vaguely pick up on a primitive parasitic instinct but, other than that-"
Suddenly, the flaps on top of the sac opened up. Inside was a small pulsing creature. Its skin was a sickly shade of pale human flesh. Denasha leaned forward to get a closer look. The creature let out a shrill screech and sprang up out of the sac. It wrapped eight insect-like legs around the Twi'lek's face and slipped its long tail around her neck. Denasha was thrown backward by the impact of the thing colliding with her head.
Loren looked on in horror as her master fell to the floor and lay still.
A high-pitched scream sounded through the forest. It was accompanied by a ripple of fear in the Force. The Jedi turned and sprinted back to the pod. Chonessinac reached it first. A foul smell wafted out of the pod as he climbed in. Jarrin and Kinon were only a meter or two behind him. Crouched down against the bulkhead was Loren. She was staring across the pod and sobbing quietly. Jarrin and Kinon stepped through the hatch.
"Loren, what happened?" Kinon asked. "Where's Denasha?"
Loren only stared and whimpered.
Jarrin followed Loren's gaze to the other side of the pod. Denasha was lying unconscious on the deck with a sickly pale creature attached to her face.
"What in the galaxy is that thing?" Jarrin said.
Kinon reached out to the creature with the Force and felt nothing.
Ortis brought the Crusader back down to the surface of Wayland. The Jedi carried Denasha to the ship's medical bay. She was placed in a quarantine chamber while Ortis scanned her with the ship's medical equipment. He frowned at the readouts.
"It seems that the creature has connected itself with her respiratory system," Ortis said. "It seems to be breathing for her while it attempts to draw nourishment from her."
"So it's a parasite?" Jarrin said.
"That's what's so strange. Her body isn't losing any nutrients. It's as if the parasite can't feed on her."
"Even so, can we remove the creature?" Kinon said.
"Oh, we could remove it, all right," Ortis scoffed as he looked over the readouts again, "but it would probably kill her. This indicates that the creature's blood is highly acidic, some sort of defense mechanism it seems. Also, if the creature dies during the process, Denasha's air supply would be cut off. She'd suffocate."
Jarrin cursed under his breath.
"All right," he said finally, "We're going back out. Ortis, you keep Denasha and Loren on board and return to orbit. Let's go, Kinon." Kinon and Jarrin turned and left the medical bay. They found Sevi and Nac in the galley trying to comfort the still shaken Loren.
"Sevi, Nac, were going back out," Jarrin ordered. The Padawan nodded and followed the older Jedi out of the ship and back onto the surface of Wayland. The Crusader rose into the air and soared off back to space.
"All right," Jarrin said, "let's go."
Pyode Steg'-in inspects the tracks leading to and from the escape pod. There are many tracks of Kainde Amedha as well as many more tracks she is unfamiliar with. He hears something moving through the forest behind her. She springs silently up into a tree to observe. A group of creatures make their way into the clearing. They speak to one another and look around the pod and the clearing. Finally they begin following the Kainde Amedha trail toward the mountain. Pyode Steg'-in cloaks, drops from her hiding place, and follows them.
The Jedi were ready to move out. Jarrin looked at them all for a moment, regarding each one's species and skills. Ortis Lann was not an incredibly powerful Jedi, but his mechanical skills were almost unparalleled. His apprentice, Chonessinac, was a force to be reckoned with in battle. Jarrin remembered that Nac had once sparred with thirty remotes at one time, and not a single shot had gotten through.
Kinon She'yed was a Bothan Jedi Knight of a good forty-five years' age. His skill with a lightsaber was even too much for Nac's reflexes. Kinon was surpassed in lightsaber skill only by a handful of Jedi Masters. Among the few were Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, Dooku, and, of course, master Yoda. His apprentice was a young female Zabrak named Sevi Sleen. Sevi was very gifted with Force-empathy. It was virtually impossible to hide emotions from her. The darkness in the Sith Temples of Yavin IV had bombarded her senses the most.
Jedi Knight Denasha Vec was an alluring female Twi'lek. Her skin was predominantly blue and had purple spots on her shoulders, neck, and lekku. Her special talent was a rare sort of "touch-telepathy." By touching an object, Denasha could see things about its owner or most recent user. Her skill had been incredibly useful on Yavin IV, but the Dark Side presence there had taken quite a toll on her as well. Denasha's human Padawan, Loren Kish, also had the ability. Loren had yet to master her touch- telepathy. Once the gift was awakened in her, she couldn't control how much information came in to her mind. She now wore gloves to prevent such an overload.
Jarrin himself was a human about two meters in height. In his forty- six years as a Jedi, he'd always been more of a researcher than a warrior. He'd spent most of his life in the Archives learning the history of the galaxy. That was his specialty. Jarrin was able to use the Force to learn extremely quickly and remember everything with crystal clarity.
The cruiser's landing ramp hissed as it lowered onto the soft grass of Wayland. Six of the Jedi disembarked. Only Ortis remained on board. The Crusader soared back up to a low orbit around the planet. Jarrin and the other Jedi started off into the woods. It didn't take them long to find the scorched line of trees leading to the crash site. They followed the trail to a fairly large crater with a slivery escape pod nestled in one end. The pod's hatch was open, and the pod's outer lights were blinking dimly in the bright sunlight. On the dirt surrounding the pod were many splotches of what appeared to be drying blood. Several sets of humanoid tracks let to and from the pod. The tracks leaving seemed to be headed toward Mount Tantiss.
"Nac, Sevi, Kinon," Jarrin said, "you come with me. We're going to look for survivors. Danasha, you and Loren check out the pod."
Denasha nodded, and the other Jedi set off following the trail. The Twi'lek and her Padawan cautiously entered the craft. Loren quickly found a control switch to illuminate the dark interior. That interior was covered in many places by an intricate layer of some kind of coral-like material. Denasha went to inspect the flight controls as Loren looked at an array of stasis chambers.
"This was definitely a low-speed transport," Denasha said. "I don't see anything that would indicate a hyperdrive. I'd say this heap could barely touch lightspeed."
Loren looked closely at one of the stasis tubes. The glass was fogged on the inside so she could barely make out anything. She thought she could see a humanoid through an apparent burn hole. As Denasha inspected another corner of the pod, Loren removed one of her gloves and gingerly touched the glass.
A flurry of images flashed before her eyes. There was no rhyme or reason to any of it. Most of the images were indistinct, clouded as though not visible through the Force. There were sounds, though, and feelings. Screams. Loren could hear something screaming. Fear. Terror. A monstrous set of glimmering fangs. The smell of acid eating away at something. A horrible warm, moist darkness.
"Loren!"
The Padawan pulled her hand away from the pod. She slipped her hand back into her glove as she turned around to face Denasha.
"Loren, look over here," said the Twi'lek.
Denasha was crouched in a corner of the pod. Beside her sat several grayish green membranous sacs. Four of them had open flaps at the top revealing the sacs to be empty. There was one sac that still wasn't open. Through its thin sides, Loren could see something moving inside. Denasha touched the pulsing sac.
"There's nothing," Denasha said. "I don't sense any Force presence at all. I can vaguely pick up on a primitive parasitic instinct but, other than that-"
Suddenly, the flaps on top of the sac opened up. Inside was a small pulsing creature. Its skin was a sickly shade of pale human flesh. Denasha leaned forward to get a closer look. The creature let out a shrill screech and sprang up out of the sac. It wrapped eight insect-like legs around the Twi'lek's face and slipped its long tail around her neck. Denasha was thrown backward by the impact of the thing colliding with her head.
Loren looked on in horror as her master fell to the floor and lay still.
A high-pitched scream sounded through the forest. It was accompanied by a ripple of fear in the Force. The Jedi turned and sprinted back to the pod. Chonessinac reached it first. A foul smell wafted out of the pod as he climbed in. Jarrin and Kinon were only a meter or two behind him. Crouched down against the bulkhead was Loren. She was staring across the pod and sobbing quietly. Jarrin and Kinon stepped through the hatch.
"Loren, what happened?" Kinon asked. "Where's Denasha?"
Loren only stared and whimpered.
Jarrin followed Loren's gaze to the other side of the pod. Denasha was lying unconscious on the deck with a sickly pale creature attached to her face.
"What in the galaxy is that thing?" Jarrin said.
Kinon reached out to the creature with the Force and felt nothing.
Ortis brought the Crusader back down to the surface of Wayland. The Jedi carried Denasha to the ship's medical bay. She was placed in a quarantine chamber while Ortis scanned her with the ship's medical equipment. He frowned at the readouts.
"It seems that the creature has connected itself with her respiratory system," Ortis said. "It seems to be breathing for her while it attempts to draw nourishment from her."
"So it's a parasite?" Jarrin said.
"That's what's so strange. Her body isn't losing any nutrients. It's as if the parasite can't feed on her."
"Even so, can we remove the creature?" Kinon said.
"Oh, we could remove it, all right," Ortis scoffed as he looked over the readouts again, "but it would probably kill her. This indicates that the creature's blood is highly acidic, some sort of defense mechanism it seems. Also, if the creature dies during the process, Denasha's air supply would be cut off. She'd suffocate."
Jarrin cursed under his breath.
"All right," he said finally, "We're going back out. Ortis, you keep Denasha and Loren on board and return to orbit. Let's go, Kinon." Kinon and Jarrin turned and left the medical bay. They found Sevi and Nac in the galley trying to comfort the still shaken Loren.
"Sevi, Nac, were going back out," Jarrin ordered. The Padawan nodded and followed the older Jedi out of the ship and back onto the surface of Wayland. The Crusader rose into the air and soared off back to space.
"All right," Jarrin said, "let's go."
Pyode Steg'-in inspects the tracks leading to and from the escape pod. There are many tracks of Kainde Amedha as well as many more tracks she is unfamiliar with. He hears something moving through the forest behind her. She springs silently up into a tree to observe. A group of creatures make their way into the clearing. They speak to one another and look around the pod and the clearing. Finally they begin following the Kainde Amedha trail toward the mountain. Pyode Steg'-in cloaks, drops from her hiding place, and follows them.