From the private journals of Commander Jagged Fel, CEDF. Voiceprint analysis confirms identity: audiojournal playback commencing.

Third Entry:

"Tenupian Diary, Day Four. Oh, kriff!"

sound of running feet and a large body crashing through vegetation. Faint animal noises can be heard from farther away, and the sound of a second large body crashing through vegetation. Being #1 is tentatively identified as a bipedal being, between 1.5 and 2 meters in height, most likely human. Being #2 is unknown, though tentatively identified as quadripedal, several hundred kilograms in weight, and over three meters long. Analysis of audible resonance suggests mammalian non-sapient predator

Voiceprint identified as Commander Fel: "Kriffing…stang! What the garzal was that? Kriff!" scraping vegetation blurs audio recording of next phrase; partial reconstruction indicates words of Corellian origin, intermixed with Rodian and Huttese

stress analyzers indicate high levels of panic and fear "Help! Someone, anyone, help! This kriffing thing is going to karkin' eat me! voice level increases SOMEBODY HELP ME! I AM ABOUT TO GET EATEN! I TRIPPED, AND IT'S GOING TO GET ME! HEEEEEEEEELLLPPPP!!!!!!"

whispered "Authorization zero two five niner alpha gamma zebulon. Upon trigger word 'stang' commence immediate playback of entry previous to authorization. Repeat playback until otherwise commanded, maximum volume."

Authorization code accepted. Looping requested record for continuous high-volume playback

"Bloody kar'laka! This thing's going to get me! I can't run much longer! Stang!"

commencing high-volume playback of requested entry. Continued thrashing of vegetation and sound of running footfalls. Untranslatable expression of exertion, followed by windgust acceleration past speaker and fading of footfalls, while increased vegetation disturbance noises. Hard thump identified as durasteel and viewscreen materials colliding with a soft, woody object approximately one meter in diameter. Data recording device sustains slight damage consistent with accelerated collision with hard object; functionality undisturbed. Softer thump identified as durasteel and viewscreen materials landing on soil/vegetation

Heavy breathing, consistent with nonsapient mammalian hunter. Padded footfalls and vegetation disturbance noises increasing in volume and proximity to recording device. Data recording device sustains damage consistent with bite pattern of predatorial mammal (functionality undisturbed), and records an increased volume of the heavy breathing. Audio indicators suggest enclosed space

Report of blaster bolt. Dada recording device sustains damage consistent with blaster crease; functionality undisturbed. Noise of imploding object, and cessation of heavy breathing consistent with nonsapient mammalian hunter

Footfalls, bipedal human. Heavy breathing consistent with human exertion, drawing closer. Voiceprint analysis confirms identity: Jagged Fel, Commander, CEDF

"Cease playback."

Human footfalls—circling audio recording device

"What the garzal is that thing? Yeckh."

moments of silence, interrupted by audible signals consistent with vertical movement of audio data recording device and removal from partially enclosed area

"What the bloody…Han Solo doesn't have all the Corellian luck monopolized!"

laughter "I wasn't anticipating this usage when I stuck you in my flight jacket the other day! Thanks, Mom. I'm glad you made me promise to use it."

VOICE ENTRY TERMINATED 09:27:58 HOURS. VOICEPRINT CONFIRMED: JAGGED FEL, CDEF

This entry's recording has ended. Do you wish to play the next entry, 'Tenupe, day Six. Status report'?

Entry selected. Please wait while entry 'Tenupe, day Seven, Status report' is loaded.

Entry loaded. From the private journals of Commander Jagged Fel, CEDF. Voiceprint analysis confirms identity: audiojournal playback commencing.

"One week has passed since my crash, and my situation has improved somewhat. My food supply has increased, thanks to something that tried to eat me a few days back. Not only did I acquire a supply of fresh meat from its corpse, I found a river…and my crashed clawcraft. I've jury-rigged the repulsors attached to my seat so I could float it behind me instead of carrying it, and brought the whole thing to the crash site. Pity I can't work up some sort of flying machine; my feet are starting to develop blisters.

"If the Force has a will, it plays some funny jokes sometimes. Running for my life, trying to throw that creature off my track long enough to draw my blaster and steady my arm, I threw this journal as far as I could off to my left. I'd been dodging and turning and running, and I only threw it that direction by chance; yet when it served its purpose and drew that creature off, I found that it had landed within five meters of a wreckage trail in the jungle. Following the trail led me to the clawcraft, not twenty meters from a river. Taking a much-needed drink, I happened to glance sideways and see a cave mouth, hidden from easy view in the side of the bank. It has all the requirements of a good campsite; proximity to resources (my clawcraft and the river), an easily defensible perimeter (I can set warning traps all around this clearing, and barricade/defend the mouth of that cave against all comers), and a hidden location. Some sort of tri-winged brood of bird-things were living there, but I convinced them to leave. It's amazing what smoke can do to sensory systems, and I was able to bludgeon them to death without wasting shots from my blaster. I have a feeling I'll want to conserve ammunition.

"Like everything else on Tenupe I've seen, they are designed to kill. Nothing here is content to graze on grass and fruit; every animal I have seen thus far is a predator. It's difficult to conceive of an ecosystem violent enough to produce this effect, but that is what it looks like. The Killiks picked a good planet to colonize…it suits them.

"Speaking of the Killiks, I'm not hearing any more laser blasts in the distance. Either the Chiss were successful in deploying the pesticide, or they destroyed them; otherwise, the bugs will soon colonize the rest of this planet and I will be discovered. I have not yet decided whether to take my own life in that event; but I think I shall. The information and skills in my possession cannot fall into their, um…mandibles. Vying with that route is my own heart, sick of being at war with Jaina. I must have watched too many of Mom's old holodramas; the unreturned love of the hero always frustrated me, yet here I am in a similar situation. It's not exactly the same, of course….I'm not even sure I love Jaina, and I know that after all that has happened, I shouldn't. But some irrational part of me wants to Join with her nest, and forget about my troubles. I cannot clamp down on that voice, so I must find a way to defeat it; I just don't know how, yet. But I will not be forced into irrational decisions by anything; my mind will remain my own. The thought of living with Jaina, Joined in purpose and mind and body, is appealing, but…

"I know my duty. Should I be captured or discovered, I will either defeat and destroy the bugs who contact me, or take my own life."

"I did manage to slice into my wireless comm that was attached to my helmet. If I can figure out a way to boost the signal, I might be able to transmit and receive signals, which is my best chance of making it out of here. The terrain looks extremely hostile to even the fearless rescue teams the Ascendancy employs while searching out their downed pilots; and unless the war is won here, there will be no such search. But if a passing ship picked up my signal…

"I'm not really upset that my fate can be viewed so coldly, so logically. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, and the thought of many dying to try to rescue one is almost as repugnant to me as it would be to my superiors. I say 'really' and 'almost,' though, because I am the one and not the many. I do want to live. I don't know why, since my life isn't terribly enjoyable, but I do. If nothing else, my family provides ample reason to live…but I seem to have forgotten that when I had access to hypercomm and messaging. I'm sorry.

"With luck, the Jedi or the Chiss succeeded and the battle is won. In that case, my transmissions will have a better chance to reach someone, and my crash site could be spotted by friendly forces. By staying close to it, I am available in case that happens. I run the risk of an unfriendly agent making the same discovery, but I will take my chances. As history has proved, I can be a deadly foe, and I know how to defend myself. I always have the final shot available, if things go poorly.

"Again, I'll try to update this diary regularly. Perhaps I won't be able to do it daily, or even every other day. But at least once a week, I should be able to make an entry. I have no worries about this ceasing to function; it's already survived being shot down, ejecting, crash-landing, being drowned in a river, and eaten by something with a lot of claws and even more teeth. Solar power will take care of the rest, though the batteries usually last several months. I shouldn't need that long."

"Jagged Fel, Commander, CEDF. May the Force be with me, if it does such things. Personally, I have little use for it, and even less if the 'Dark Side' is the same as the Light. That holds no appeal for me, though all the Jedi got excited about it. I don't understand why they would want such a thing. They exist to serve the Light; why would they want to be allowed to serve the Darkness too? This makes no sense at all, unless they convince themselves that there is no Dark Side. Luke Skywalker of all people should know better, and Jaina has been there – but they can be deceived, as I know all too well. Many people said that they wished they had died before the Yuuzhan Vong came and brought misery and grief upon the galaxy. I personally believe that all who live to see such days wish that…but I can't shake the feeling that, if the Jedi follow the path I fear, those who survived to the 'victorious end' of the Vong War will wish that they had not.

"I meant to end this recording. I have many more traps to design, construct, and set. Thankfully, my education was not solely involved with the technology and machines that the elite soldiers of our military can expect. I did my share of 'soft tech' adventuring as a boy, and I have survived several aptly named survival courses. Nothing could have prepared me for this horrid place, but I have a chance. There is always hope.

"If this is the last entry, I wish as always to express my feelings for those I love. I've done that with every entry thus far; but you cannot understand. I feel…it's like I am a man who has been doomed to execution, but I don't know the date. So I write to my family every day; but I can't know which letter will be the last they receive. This bloody jungle could kill me in the next five minutes. I used my long-vision viewers to watch an enormous beast die yesterday. I was trying to see what it would do next, and determine if I could kill it, when I spotted some sort of wasp or wasber crawling up its leg. I enlarged the view, and saw that little insect, no bigger than my thumb, sting the larger creature. And I watched the larger beast, easily the size of my clawcraft, die in agony. Tenupe holds more dangers every time I open my eyes. Any one of them could kill me, even while I record this.

"I am suddenly feeling highly motivated to stop recording."

VOICE ENTRY TERMINATED 20:02:50 HOURS. VOICEPRINT CONFIRMED: JAGGED FEL, CDEF

This entry's recording has ended. Do you wish to play the next entry, 'Tenupe, day Eight. Stayin' alive…so far.'?