Terri wiped the sweat from her brow as she dawdled forward, she'd learnt an important lesson today deserts suck and they hurt to be in, they had left their speeders nearby but had decided to take it on foot due to the difficult terrain. She looked to Zash who seemed unfazed by the extreme heat, her vision blurred for a moment on her form and she felt a twinge of guilt knowing Lusari was gone. She tried to picture her but all she could think of was Zash, she knew this was what Lusari wanted but why couldn't she have consulted Terri and they could've found another way or at least tried. Lusari and Zash were not similar, she looked like a completely different person Terri sighed she really did miss Lusi she'd know what to do next. Terri was still a bit shaken from Kowak and seeing Malora, she'd been the scary one in the sith academy when Terri was training but now that seemed to have slipped away. Terri still remembered the day that she saw her spines for the first time Lusari nearly shrieked but luckily they thought better than to draw attention to it. She couldn't imagine what dark twisted goals could lead her to do that to herself, she'd never use the force like that, hopefully Zash would help with that. Still Malora had stood no chance against Zash if there ever was an example of playing with their food that was it, Terri wished she could be up to Zash's standard but dueling had never come naturally to her she was too focussed on sabers and not the force or something.
Zash broke the silence as they continued to walk "the ridge with the oil is just a little further, you see that chasm it's at the edge of that" the next item on their list was some kind of oil which was surprisingly common according to Zash
Terri nodded looking at the chasm "how much of this do we need?" it hadn't specified on the list but Zash hopefully had been working it out
Zash went through her pockets and picked out a vial "In my experience this kind of oil is just used as a stabilising agent so half of this vial should do" Terri nodded the bottle was fairly small at least so they wouldn't be here for a while. She looked through the macrobinoculars "I believe there's a stream a little to the right of the chasm we should head there" Terri couldn't quite see it so she walked forward
She stumbled a bit "ah yes I see it now let-" as she tried to walk forward her foot seemed stuck causing her to stumble over into the sand, she looked and realised she could feel herself sinking "oh no oh no oh no" Terri started to breath heavily she just walked into quicksand. She turned to Zash as she tried to pull herself out struggling against the sand "Zash I'm stuck what do I do I um I'm sinking" Zash walked up cautiously with a frown on her face
She reassured Terri "Ok Terri stop struggling that's only going to make this worse, stay still!" she pinched her nose clearly frustrated with Terri's carelessness.
Terri continued to struggle "but but if I don't I'm going to sink I have to try and get out" she was about up to her waist and was getting increasingly anxious as she only seemed to be sinking faster
Zash suddenly raised her voice "TERRI! Stay still or you're going to die and we don't have time for that" Terri had never heard Zash yell like that and instantly stopped
Terri nodded "sorry I'm sorry I'm just scared what am I going to do" Zash rubbed her temples as she thought ignoring Terri's panic "can you reach out maybe put down a branch or pole of some kind" Zash considered it but shook her head
She dismissed the idea "no I can't risk us both falling into the quicksand Terri there's another solution just be calm keep yourself steady" Terri nodded but wasn't exactly confident as the sand continued to rise towards her shoulders
Zash took a deep breath and Terri watched as her fists clenched and she shook as she did, Terri felt the sand around her begin to move, she started to understand and closed her eyes concentrating on the sand around her keeping herself steady. Suddenly she felt herself and the sand around her flung upwards, she opened her eyes just before she collided with the ground rolling onto her back. Seconds later a rain of sand landed on her causing her to cough and splutter, she began to shake it off her as Zash walked over and offered her a hand.
Terri spat up some sand "thanks Zash that was really scary" Zash nodded turning back to the chasm
She sighed "yes well next time be a bit more cautious we can't afford anymore wasted time" Terri frowned, was some danger coming? "While helping you out of the sand I sensed something else, it seems the Commander and her friends may be catching up with us soon we should hurry" Terri felt a pit in her stomach not them again she wasn't ready to fight them why couldn't they just leave them alone.
She followed Zash as they headed towards the chasm "I don't understand why they are so intent on chasing us, I uh get that there's bad blood but you're not hurting anyone why is the commander so intent on hurting you" Zash seemed to be only half listening as they reached the stream they had been looking for
Zash shook her head "some people don't think logically Terristera she's out for revenge over anything else, I know it's not what you want to hear but the commander would rather have me dead than give me the chance to do something she considers wrong again" Terri was shocked could she really have such little faith in people. Zash wasn't hurting anyone they'd been keeping it fairy civil, the only ones they may have hurt were the scientists on Kowak and they were hurting animals so kinda deserved it
Terri shook her head "I don't understand how she could do that this has nothing to do with her does she really want you dead that badly" Zash nodded as she began collecting the oil
Zash sighed "I'm afraid so just look at her record as commander, she killed that Commander Aric Jorgan for disobeying one order she doesn't do second chances" she paused looking out to the desert "honestly if I had it my way we never would've interacted again I have no interest in revenge on her I had every opportunity to kill her on Yavin IV and I didn't" Terri had to admit she had that chance and didn't take it, she doubted the commander would return the sentiment
Terri kicked at the sand "so some sith really are just rotten then, willing to do anything to keep their position?" Zash finished collecting the oil and stood up
She put a hand on Terri's shoulder "I'm afraid so Terri but we're not like them are we, we're not going to let the sith academy churn out rotten sith just so they can be killed for a war right" Terri nodded she was forever glad she hadn't become one of those sith, Zash really had saved them from that.
Terri nodded smiling "yeah we're not gonna be part of that broken system" Lusari had always said it was broken, that it was only good for making sith fight each other like a snake eating its own tail.
Zash smirked "yes well let's not get too ahead of ourselves first we need power and power comes with these" she gestured to the bag of ingredients they had been collecting.
Terri checked the oil off the list as they made their way back to the speeders, she wasn't quite sure where this would all lead but she trusted Zash her intentions were pure and they had a common goal.
As they arrived at the speeders Terri brushed off the last of the sand and hopped on, they sped off into the desert without another word and were quickly returning to the city where they had hidden the ship. Terri looked at Zash with a smile, it seemed Lusari would be proud of her if they continued like Zash said, she frowned although she did tend to be a little harsh especially when she fell in the quicksand. But she knew she was just being harsh because she was worried about her right? Zash seemed to have their best interests at heart.
They continued forward when suddenly a plume of sand erupted in front of Terri causing her to skid and fly off her speeder onto the ground, she heard a few more plumes erupt and saw a speeder stop next to her. She shook her head looking up to see Zash snarling her hands on her sabers "they brought the scientist" she said through gritted teeth. Terri's head shot up to see The Commander the Togruta and Malora standing ready in front of them she swallowed hard realising what odds were against them
She stood up and fumbled for her saber "what are we going to do Zash they outnumber us?" She could see the three were ready to fight, how had they caught up so quick? And why was Malora here?
Zash shook her head "oh I think not Terri now we're evenly matched" she ignited both her sabers and loosened up "this won't take long" Terri gulped Zash may be confident but she was not...