Almost before she realized it, Vacy was swinging her leg over the seat of the speeder, reaching forward to gun the engine, only it wouldn't start – why wouldn't it start – stupid security features – she ripped her gloves off, dropping them there in the sand, and grabbed the handlebars again. Fingers in place, she yanked, and the speeder whined and flew across the dunes.
She heard him before she saw him – the spatter of blaster fire echoed from the rocks around her. Clearing one of the dunes, she saw him fire at a womp rat that shrieked as it was hit, then jumped at him with a snarl.
Vacy leapt from the speeder, letting it fall to the sand, and grabbed Flashy, dropping to a knee and pulling a charge. Corso struggled as the beast hissed and spat, clawing at his face. He finally threw it to the ground, and both of them fired simultaneously. It continued to twitch lifelessly for several moments as smoke rose from its wounds.
"Spice," Corso breathed, dropping heavily to a knee with a groan. "Ain't ever seen a womp rat act like that."
Holstering Flashy, Vacy slipped her arm around his shoulders. "We've got other things to worry 'bout right now," she replied. "Darnit, didn't I just tell you that you needed to be more careful?" She used a kolto patch to wipe at the cuts on his face, taking special care around his eyes. Fortunately they weren't deep and wouldn't add to the patchy scars he already had.
He laughed, wincing. "Guess it's a good thing we weren't on Nar Shaddaa," he said. "Mighta been a lot worse."
Vacy froze for an instant before she was able to put her supplies away. She didn't trust herself to say anything at the moment. With its towering cityscape, an out-of-control jetpack on the Smuggler's Moon would have meant certain death for Corso.
Several moments passed in silence as he watched her pack up. "I'm glad you were here," he said after a bit.
She yanked the bag up and dropped it over her shoulder. "Yeah, well, I wouldn't've had to be if we'd tossed that contraption out an airlock," she returned sharply. "As it is, now we've got to head all the way back to the ship to have C2 take a look at you and run some scans."
"I'm fine, Captain." He stood, but it was slowly, and Vacy saw the way his jaw flexed as he gritted his teeth against the pain. "Just got the wind knocked out of me, s'all. We need to go take care of those slaves!"
"You're not fine, we are going back to the ship right now, and I'm going to melt Ms. Puffs into slag personally if you –"
Corso held a hand up, frowning intently. "Hold on. Did you hear that?"
Vacy fell silent, then scowled even more. "Quit trying to distract me. I'm serious, Riggs, you need to be checked in case –"
He did it again, and this time she threw her hands up, storming away. He called after her. "No, honest, Captain! I think…" He walked around, eyeing the sand around the area where he'd fallen. "Here! It's coming from under here!"
Slowly getting to his hands and knees, Corso began rooting around in the sand. He slowed, then paused. His eyes widened and his shoulders drooped. "Oh…" he whispered. "Oh, no…"