So, this is how it's gonna go—I'll update sporadically, but it'll pry be more than one chapter at a time. Like I said, my computer access is limited. Anyways, I present you with chapter two!
Carth grunted as he surveyed the wrecked pod. He'd managed to escape anything more than superficial cuts and scrapes (which still stung painfully) and crawled out of the wreckage.
He checked on the woman. Her pulse was steady but on the weak side and she had a nasty bump on her head, not to mention a very bloody jumpsuit. He carefully extricated her from the wreckage and slung a limp arm around his shoulder, bracing his other arm around her waist. This way, he hoped, they'd look more like buddies who'd had a few too many rather than crashed Republic soldiers.
He spotted a nervous-looking Twi'lek and decided to follow. His decision found them an ill-maintained apartment building. It only took a few minutes to find and slice a door with a suitably grimy lock.
He stripped the dusty top sheet off the lone bed before gently laying the woman on it. She moaned, but was still. He gave her a visual inspection—her mechanic's jumpsuit had no tears or burns to indicate an injury. He ran his hands over her arms and legs, however, checking for soft spots or odd bumps.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
Her head appeared to be her only injury. The blood on her jumpsuit wasn't hers.
"Well," he spoke aloud, organizing his thoughts, "are you a soldier? That's certainly what your survival tells me. Though those oil stains say otherwise." Her jumpsuit did have some oil stains. "Though it might be you do a mechanic's work for fun."
Yes, that certainly made sense, though he didn't know who would fix ships and droids for fun. She was probably one of Bastila's lightsaber-free elite who never really seemed to have a schedule. He pulled out the datapad with the crew manifest and files.
She would be easy to recognize. He'd seen her rich purple eyes, unusual for any race. Her black hair, plaited neatly, drew attention to high cheekbones and a distinctive brow. Hard to miss, really.
To his surprise, he didn't find her among Bastila's elite. Or even among the regular soldiers. He found her in the mechanic's list, stationed at bay six. Zara Nixie.
Her file was thin, more like a collection of only the most bare-bones facts. Her height, weight, other physical characteristics. There was a note about her being a soldier during the Mandalorian Wars and a list of complaints from the head mechanic in the bay, mostly about how insubordinate and argumentative she was. At the very bottom of the page was an asterisk with a note about 'possible Jedi mother'.
He looked over at the form of the sleeping woman. "Not much of a record, Zara. Not even in the mandatory psych."
She whimpered and twisted a little before settling.