Lost
The cold bit cruelly at the back of Tyro's throat as he tried to catch his breath. The snow hadn't settled yet but he had run the whole thing through his mind at least twenty times now already. The weight of the ship must have strained the ice, loosening the thick layer of snow that covered a chasm that had been there all along.
But why hadn't he been able to see that on any of the ships instruments? Why hadn't he sensed it through the force? Why hadn't he guessed what was happening in time to do something? Why hadn't he acted sooner, told Sparks to run, or grabbed him with the force? He wasn't used to doing that sort of thing, his mind countered, but he should be.
Shaking, whether it was from the shock or cold, Tyro cautiously pulled himself to the edge of the deep yawning crevasse that now split the snow. He could only see a few meters down, where the lights from the ship still reflected off the nighttime snow above, and then it was absolute darkness. Shakily he knelled in the snow.
He hadn't felt Sparks pass into the force. Perhaps he couldn't tell that sort of thing? He had felt it when Big Ten had had lost his life on Loronar, but he himself had been so close to death at that moment and perhaps that had something to do with it.
Taking a few more sharp breaths, Tyro closed his eyes to reach out into the living force, grasping in a frenzy for any sign of Sparks, but he could find nothing but bitter, stinging cold. The event continued to play through his mind, again and again, seeming less real each time until at last he was shivering so violently he gave up all hope of ever focusing.
Dazedly he looked around. It had all happened so fast. Maybe Sparks could still be okay. "Sparks!" He yelled again. "Sparks!"
There was no reply. He would have to go after him, Tyro realized, looking from the plain of snow to the mountain, then back down to the ship.
The ship. The crevasse. Tyro followed the large crack. It split the ground in a dramatic jagged line that cracked directly under the middle of the ship, leaving the front and back on either side. If anyone were to try and exit it-which they were sure to after the noise and shaking, they would be in danger. If the ground split any further, everyone could be lost. He had to move the ship. He had to tell them.
Remembering he had a comm Tyro inched back from the edge of the chasm and fumbled in his pack with a heavily gloved hand. As much as it hurt to accept, he had an entire crew to worry about, Sparks would have to wait.
"This is Commander Reval," he started, trying to figure out what to say next. "There's been...an incident. I need you all to stay on the ship right now and try to move as little as possible. I'm going to try to move it using the force. I'll explain later, not sure how much time we have."
Tyro shoved the comm into his pack again, vaguely noting the voice that crackled in agreement from the unit.
He reached through the force first, into the ground, into the snow, trying to see where the crevasse ran. There would be no point in moving the ship if he only put it in more danger. The effort was about as focused as his earlier attempt at meditation, but good enough, he could safely move the ship back a ways to the northwest.
That settled, Tyro rolled his attention into the force, pulling it into him, reaching out with it, an extension of himself as he grabbed the ship with giant hands, gently picking it up as steadily as he could manage and setting it down safely many meters to the side. Free from the pressure of the ship the ground gave another loud squeal of ice as the crack expanded further with another woosh of powdered snow.
Realizing he had been staring blankly, Tyro reached out his comlink again. "You guys are in the clear."
"Roger that Commander," came Roller's voice. "Sir, Sergeant Major Stitch wants a report on Sparks' condition."
Tyro looked back to the chasm beside him. "I'm coming on board to update you on the situation."
Grimly Tyro turned away, doing his best to gather the force within him to stop his shivering. He wished now more than ever he knew whatever skill Gavyn had been trying to teach to stave off the cold him yesterday, but for now he drew on his own energy in the force to warm his body up, even though it would cost him later. He couldn't risk Stitch keeping him on the ship if he was going to go after Sparks.
"You're a kriffing Jedi don't tell me you couldn't do anything!" Tar bellowed.
"I..." Tyro realized he didn't know what to say to that. He didn't like confrontation, he didn't like being on trial. He wanted to run, to get away from the five sets of eyes that were fiercely staring into him.
The thought crossed his mind that as Commander, didn't owe anyone an explanation but he wanted to give one. However, as his thoughts drifted back to Sparks he realized that this would be an emotional argument, one neither of them had time for. As much as he wanted to shy away from the pressure, he was going to have to be a leader, be authoritative if he wanted a shot at finding Sparks. "I will explain again later, however at the present my interest is in finding Sparks."
Tyro took a deep breath, calming himself, thinking of what Sparks had been telling him. If there ever was a time to accept his role as a Commander it was now, he owed that much to Sparks. He could do this, no matter how self-conscious he was going to be about it.
"We have three concerns at the moment," Tyro began, thinking out loud. Maybe if he just treated this like giving a report in class it would be better. "The first is our mission. We have a lot of ground to cover in our primary search radius for Ace and Champ. In order to that, the ship requires repair. Sparks and I located the damage and it still needs to be addressed immediately. Which brings us to the third point, rescuing Sparks."
Part of Tyro's mind wanted to stop and be baffled that he had just said what he had, but he knew if he stopped now it would be only more difficult. He took half a moment to look around at everyone. Stitch, Splinter, and Roller stared at him dutifully, but Tracks kept his gaze low while Tar looked away obstinately.
Now came the hard part. Tyro recognized that Sparks was his friend. His best friend here. That was an attachment. Attachment was forbidden. As a Jedi, and as a Commander, he had a duty to his mission first and foremost. Tyro did not believe in bending the rules. They were there for a reason. That said, there might still be a way to work within them.
"Our duty is to Ace and Champ. Since we cannot confirm Sparks' condition or whereabouts, we cannot spend an unwarranted amount of time searching for him," Tyro reiterated grimly. Stitch had tried to contact Sparks once Tyro had informed the crew, however he had had about as much luck as Tyro. It was likely the man's equipment was damaged in the fall.
Most of the crew looked away darkly at that, however nobody argued. "That said I do not believe in leaving Sparks behind unnecessarily. With that in mind I request that ship repairs be delegated to anybody capable of the task while I search the crevasse for the duration of time it takes to make said repairs. In the event the ship is repaired before Sparks is located, I will need to discontinue my search efforts and we will call in another team. They will have the advantage of knowing his exact geographic location while we continue to search for Ace and Champ. Are there any objections?"
Tyro looked around, hoping nobody would say anything against the plan. He couldn't think of any other way to deal with the situation. His stomach knotted as Stitch spoke up. "Commander, I have to express my concern about the safety of you searching on your own, as well as the potential duration of your exposure to the cold."
"With the force I am the most qualified," though as Tyro said it he knew he could not take any risks. To unnecessarily endanger himself, or worse, put himself in the same situation as Sparks, would decrease the chances of anybody getting out alive. "We've got some rope right? And I can maintain radio contact, preferably with you Stitch. I'll let you make the call about when I have to come back, if that would be better?" Stitch looked grave but nodded his approval nonetheless.
"If there are no other objections, are there any volunteers to make the repairs?"
"Alright Commander, looks like you've got everything then," Stitch confirmed, as he finished cinching the rope tightly into the harness Tyro was wearing.
Tyro took one last look at Tar and Roller making repairs to the ship and nodded. "Let me know if they have any questions."
"Absolutely Sir. Just make sure you leave your comm on at all times and we'll be good Commander."
"Got it," agreed Tryo. He turned back to the crevasse. The icy chasm ran deep, and dark as it was he could only see down it a few meters with the reflection of the ship lights. Thankfully he had a glow rod, but until he got down there, there was no knowing what it would be like. He took in a breath of the sharp cold air and backed up a few steps, readying himself.
"We can repel you down whenever you're ready, Sir," Splinter said.
"Nah, I got this. Just don't hold on too tight." Tyro inhaled, filling himself with the force, then jumped.
Stitch's alarmed voice was drowned out by the by the rush of wind as Tyro lost himself in the fall, the force swirling reassuringly around him. For a moment he felt like he was home, that there was nothing in the world to worry about. It was just him and the force.
That was a lie though. Painfully Tyro brought his mind back to the present, pulling himself to slow, landing lightly on a shelf of ice. Looking up there was darkness, only the slightest sliver of a glow from the lights of the ship around a hundred meters above him.
"Commander Reval! Come in!" Sitch's voice yelled at him over the comlink.
"I'm fine Stitch, it's fine. I've found some sort of a shelf that runs along the side here, I'm gonna check this first before I go further down."
"Roger that Commander."
Going off of nothing more than a quickly calculated guess where Sparks might have fallen, Tyro set off to his left, marking covered territory as he went. The glow rod only illuminated so much of the black, frozen void around him though, and unable to grasp the living force in any meaningful way he might as well have been going at this blind.
Tyro continued for a while before it became clear, this was not where Sparks was. "Not here," he sighed at his comlink, "I gotta double back." His jaw felt stiff as he spoke the words and he began to shiver violently once more. How long had it been? Five minutes? Five wasted minutes. But, he assured himself, who knew how long the ship took to repair. It was no surprise he hadn't found Sparks yet. He would turn up though, there were only so many places he could be.
Turning right was no better though, and the going was slow. Tyro shuffled along, holding one hand to the cliff side, leaning on it more and more heavily for support as he fought to move past his shivering.
"Guys are still working on the ship, how are you holding up?" Stitch asked. He had asked the same thing not even a minute ago.
Tyro sighed, "Still okay," he replied trying to keep the shiver out of his voice.
Fifteen minutes gone. "I'm going to jump down further, he's got to be further down."
Sure enough there was yet another ledge of ice, and still the crevasse still went deeper into the ground. Tyro considered jumping down further...perhaps Sparks was at the bottom. He would try that next.
Tyro could barely see the light at the top at all now. Could Sparks have even survived a fall like this? Yes, his mind assured him. If he was able to scramble onto the sides and slow himself a bit, or landed in the right places. Some of the armor could stand up to the vacuum of space, surely it could take somewhat of a fall...right?
The good news was he had stopped shivering. His movements were slow though, and his hands, face and feet absolutely burned with the cold. Another ten minutes passed with still no sign of Sparks. Then suddenly he heard something. It sounded far off, echoed, a crunch of ice. "Sparks?" He called, his voice reverberating off the walls, but with it the crunch turned to a rumble, the rumble to a roar. Quickly Tyro looked up just in time to catch the vague outline an avalanche of falling ice.
"Stitc-" he couldn't even finish his warning before the snow and ice slammed into him, knocking the wind out of him. Then he was falling. This wasn't like before, he had no control. His mind sluggishly reminded himself to grab onto the force, but that control felt as stiff as his freezing limbs. Then suddenly he was jerked to an abrupt stop.
"Commander! Commander Reval!" Tyro hung there, swaying slightly by the taut rope, the harness digging into his torso and legs as a powder of snow settled around him. He stared down into the black abyss, trying to catch his breath. "Commander! I need you to respond. Tyro!"
"'m fine Stitch,"
"We're bringing you up, Sir."
"...th' ship repaired?" Tyro asked, noticing how difficult it was becoming to talk in this cold.
"No Sir-"
"Lower me down...need to get to th' bottom." There was a pause and Tyro could hear what sounded like Stitch running the plan by Splinter while turned away from his comlink. "Stitch we had n'agreement."
"And part of that, Sir, was that I could call this off at my discretion."
"Danger's gone. Ya caught me. It just...I'm this far down. Sparks has got to be down there."
There was tired sigh. "Is that an order then Sir?"
Tyro considered for a moment. He had to do the responsible thing here, not the emotional one. "Yes. I'm th' best chance Sparks' got. If we've got a chance of finding him, it's now." Sparks had to be at the bottom. Where else? Just a bit further then he would find him and either get a stretcher down here or just pick him up with the force. Tyro envisioned the scenario as Stitch and Sparks slowly lowered him the rest of the way to the bottom.
Stumbling slightly Tyro found his footing. Well, he couldn't really feel his feet anymore. Or his hands for that matter. In fact it was kind of like he was so cold he was just...warm.
Shuffling through the icy snow and scattered rocks he continued his search. He didn't know how long it had been, but it felt like too long. Perhaps some of this stuff was from the ice that fell earlier? Stiffly he started to dig. He sat down and stared at the rocks and ice in front of him. His fingers wouldn't really move anymore. Perhaps if he took his gloves off he could bend them better or something? Was this pile even where the stuff had fallen? It looked like it had been here for a long time.
"..der. Commander, do you read me?" Tyro shook his head , blinking, as he snapped back to focus.
"Oh, er s'rry, was just...adjusting jacket...gloves...n' stuff. It's actually pre'y warm down here."
"Commander, when did you stop shivering?" Stitch's voice responded uneasily.
Tyro didn't think anything by the question. "While back. Half n' hour ago?"
"Commander, we're bringing you up now."
"No, no I-it's fine." Clearly whatever he had said had been the wrong answer.
"No Commander, it's not. And the ship has been repaired. It's time to go." Tyro stared blankly at the ground, falling slowly into shadow as the halo of his glow rod grew more and more distant.