Log Date: 7/22, 7/23, 8/11, 8/12, 8/16/98 Log Cast: Shenneret Veery, Nelun, Assorted NPCs Log Intro: Shenner Veery's life on Calamari has continued, at least ostensibly, to be fairly peaceful. The busking has been good, and although she hasn't yet found a college she really wishes to pursue attending, she's kept up with her studies. Not even an encounter with the bizarrely hostile and obsessive Stalh has had much of an impact on her quiet existence. But a few things have. The young musician has continued to be troubled over her prolonged lack of memory regarding what happened to her on the planet Mandalore -- to the extent that she's asked a New Republic doctor, Jindra Langri, to give her an examination. And she cannot rid herself of the certainty that the prolonged absence of Paul Nighman, the man she loves, is part of that troubling span of time which she cannot currently remember. Increasingly concerned about Paul's whereabouts and welfare, the girl is beginning to consider abandoning Calamari for the time being and searching for him... though she finds herself loathe to leave the first decent place she's had to live in that she can remember. And one other thing has troubled her: the whereabouts of the mysterious wanderer Nelun, who's she's helped twice, and who has vanished both times. Shenner has scoured the city searching for the missing vagabond, deeply chagrined that her own questionable mental health contributed to her inability to properly help the man the last time she saw him. But she's not been able to find him in weeks, and accordingly has been unaware of his recent activities.... ---------- Calamari Coral City -- Coral Gardens With one glance it is impossible to drink in the wonderous sight before you. What was once an ocean has receded, leaving in plain view one of nature's architectural masterpieces, a coral reef, it's creamy pink shapes silently jutting into the air. Surrounding the coral are benches, water fountains and lush trees, providing plenty of shady spots under which to rest. Here children are seen scurrying about, their parents keeping a close watch, their laughter harmonizing with the sound of falling water and the chirping of birds. Some people can be seen enjoying a pleasant conversation, refreshing themselves with the fountain's cool sparkling water, strolling by the sidewalk or simply admiring the reef. The Coral Gardens also serves as a meeting place for merchants or business persons who prefer the tranquility of the locale to discuss potential trades or to work out differences. To the east the faint sounds of the busy Coral Avenue can be heard. -=-=-=-=-=-=<>=-=-=-=-=-=- => Nelun_Good => Coral Sculpture -=-=-=-=-=<>=-=-=-=-=- leads to Calamari Coral City -- North Coral Avenue. _I shouldn't be here..._ The thought crosses Shenner's mind even as the young musician prowls her way into the gardens, leaving the better lighting out on the main thoroughfare in favor of moonlight and stars unaided by technological illumination. And as the thought does, she grimaces at herself. Not too long ago, darkness wouldn't have deterred her from going anywhere... but then again, not too long ago, she was still starved and desperate on the streets of Mos Eisley, too. Still, Shen grimaces, and she prowls, sulkily daring anyone and no one in particular to challenge her presence as she moves along the cobbled path, tousled red hair unbound about her face, green eyes narrowed on the shape of the coral reef in whose direction she stalks. Hands reach out and fumble to grasp Shenner's jaw as Nelun Good hangs the upper half of his body upside down. The sudden rustling of the tree he is gripping with both legs is camoflauged only briefly by a low gust, and then, the distant sounds of several running feet. "Shh! Don't move, I won't--" Nelun says to the girl, in whispered urgence. "Aaaah?! What th--" As she's dropped upon from above, Shenner instinctively twists. Being dropped on, in the girl's personal book, means trouble, even if she hasn't had to deal with this kind of trouble in several months. Nelun_Good says, "W--waugh!" Nelun's grasp on Shenner loosens with his grasp of the tree. A dull thud later, he is on the ground, tossed and unrecognizable under all his heavy garments." The redhead stumbles, catches herself, and whirls around to face her assailant, one hand automatically flicking up to make sure the strap of her flute-bag is securely swung over one shoulder. Then she gets a good look at exactly what, or who, fell on her, and she stops and stares. Nelun_Good This is a relatively built, yet stocky Human male with considerably craggy hide and a penchant for bad odor. He seems a simple 5'7" and 150 pounds.. He is mopped in neck-length auburn brown hair which parts unevenly and messily over his head. Two clear dark brown eyes jut out from sunken eye sockets under thinned brows. He is growing a rather thick, tangled, mussy dirty-looking beard. Other than appearing rather scruffy-looking, he smells bad. He is wearing an assortment of ragged, used garments, worn to a dirty white and stolen of their color. A brown, blanket-like cape drawls from his shoulders to just below the knees, offering what looks like considerable warmth. The collar of a blue vest is visible under the cape and double-layer of bruise-colored coats, which bear scattered holes and tears. A pair of crinkled orange flightsuit pants houses an overstuffed left pocket which lures for easy pickpocketing, but repulses with gross filth. All of which bear the pungent smell of dirt mixed with sweat. "Owww." The audible moan, is followed by a sure but slow stance to his feet. He staggers around the dark for a moment, unable to find the girl. Two seconds pass, then, in a voice that inadvertantly roughens with surprise, Shenner rasps, "Nelun." It's not entirely a question. The girl's mind, locking in on the disarrayed clothes, the hair, the height... and the smell... can only identify one person matching this description. She hasn't gone far, only stumbled out a little onto the walkway, but from the look she's casting over her shoulder, she may well be leaving yet. Nelun_Good says, "Wait! Wait!" Following quickly across the grass, Nelun barely manages to catch up to the girl without first tripping over a few displaced coral rocks. He stops, grabbing a knee and whispering in a slight crouch, "Kiriel!" Kiriel. The name confirms it -- not too many people are left on Calamari who know the redheaded girl by that name, and although it jolts her to hear herself called it, it also makes her stop. "Nelun," she says again, a little louder, her features crinkling in something between relief and wariness. "Listen! Listen! Listen!" he says, hobbling up to the girl now that he's managed to catch her attention. Darted glances to his sides precede an even quieter voice, "I'm sorry I grabbed you..I..I didn't want you to scream!" Green eyes narrow slightly, as Shenner whispers back sardonically, "Well, try doin' something besides falling on me out of a tree, huh, pal?" Before he can reply, she goes on, brows winging downward, two slender fingers coming up to shoot perturbedly towards the vagabond, "Where the hells have you been, anyway? Do you know how much of this city I've tramped around looking for you?" Creeping closer and reaching out for her arm, Nelun seems exceptionally wide-eyed with fear. "Uh, I don't know...uh, everywhere." A loud rustle near the pond catches his attention, but he soon dismisses it with a wince and turn back to her. "Listen, I need your help, Kiriel. I...did you change your hair?" _Well, this sounds familiar..._ And then Shenner catches herself, taken aback by Nelun's abrupt question. "Uh... yeah. Look, Nelun, there's something I have to tell you..." She pauses, though, trying to find proper words here, taking in the fear radiating from the man's expression. _Okay, street rat, explain to him that 'Kiriel Andurin' doesn't exist..._ "Uh, yeah. Red's what color my hair really comes in..." Nelun blinks, wondering what the girl might have to say to him for a brief moment, but then, hearing footsteps, quickly snags her away. "Shh, guards." "Guards? What gua--" Startled enough that she can be grabbed and dragged, Shenner nevertheless regains her footing, whispering, "Nelun, look... what's going on, pal?" Nelun frowns, squinting into the darkness and letting his grip on Shenner go. "I'm being chased by people. I've been being chased for almost weeks..." He pauses, frowning even harder, as if concentrating painfully, "No, months. Maybe, years." His eyes open suddenly to dart in a wide-eyed furtive scan for any of his alleged pursuers. After a moment, he turns to the girl, "Listen, I need to get into space..." "Oh, karkin'..." Shenner blows out a breath, lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, before looking up again. _Really hadn't needed this..._ Bad enough that she's been feeling out of sorts the last several days... and bad enough that her sleep has been uneasy, disturbingly so. _Not ready for this... kark it!_ "Who's chasing you?" For a brief moment the bedraggled man is quiet, almost surveillant. Staring through the park structures and bushes, he suddenly throws a finger out, pointing at a jogging uniformed Human Coral City security officer, "They are!" Shen's gaze flicks round in that direction. For a split second, not entirely sure what she expects to see, she frowns... and then recognizes the uniform. Pulling in another breath, the redheaded girl reaches for both Nelun's shoulders, to try to turn him round to face her. "Nelun... look. Look at me!" Turned forcebly to look at Shen, despite his insistent pointed fingers wishes, Nelun seems jostled. He blinks several times, and looks at her wide-eyed. "Wh-what?" The musician's green gaze is steady and intent. "Do you trust me?" she asks bluntly. "Uh..." He mutters, arm still wielded towards the officer. "Yes." The admission sounds odd to Shenner, as it crosses her mind that no one has ever actually told her to her face that they trust her. She swallows down a slight tightness in her throat, and then goes on gruffly, "Good. Well, okay then. I'm here to tell ya that as far as I know, that uniform" -- and she bobs her russet head in the officer's direction -- "means who's wearing it is gonna be straight with you. I... know some NR people, pal. And the NR folks, they work with the Coral City folks, and they've _all_ been straight with me, no strings. Like I'm gonna be with you." She pauses uncomfortably, and then blurts out, "My name... my _real_ name... is Shenner. Shenneret Veery. It's the name the NR types around here know me by." By his blank expression, it seems that little of what Shenner said has yet to impact on Nelun. "You're lying to me." He murmurs, and with a sudden brush of movement, stands and begins quickly jogging away. "No, no I'm not--ah, _shit_..." She whirls as the vagabond hustles off, but she makes no move to stop him, not as of yet. Shenner does track his progress, though, and the location of that uniformed officer, torn. _She said to alert somebody,_ her memory tells her, bringing up her last meeting with Mon Mothma. Half her conscience urges her to do just that. But the rest of it, understanding what someone starved and desperate on the streets is liable to think, shies back. _Can't call the dogs down on him, even if they're -nice- dogs, yeah, that's exactly the way to assure a guy with his screws loose...!_ So instead, she hollers after him, "I'm not gonna argue about this! You wanna run away from help, that's your call, pal!" Troubled, she turns as if to approach the reef again, but keeps tracking Nelun's progress out of the corner of her eye. The sudden yelling of some stranger in the park attracts the attention of the officer, who turning towards the direction of Shenner's voice, immediately spots Nelun-and recognizes him. "Stop right there!" Nelun's over the shoulder glance reveals his realization that did not sound anything like Kiriel...or Shenner, or whoever. Regardless of her many personas, one is tact to see that Shenneret Veery does not double into both sexes simultaneously and at 30 feet apart. Nelun immediately bolts, headed in a wild direction east. Shen, too, hears the officer's shout. It only _then_ occurs to her to realize that maybe, just maybe, the officials on this world might be pursuing Nelun for petty theft... at least, she suspects that that's what they'd be chasing _her_ for if she were in Nelun's travel-worn shoes. Whirling around, the girl bolts off to try to catch up, either with the officer or with Nelun, whoever she can overtake first. The officer takes off in a parallel direction with Nelun, attempting to first outrun him and then overtake him. Nelun, in his bundles of heavy clothing can't hope to keep up, and occassionally falters to the ground. His pace is easily matched by the officer though Shenner is much more lightly dressed, and much slighter of form besides. She comes darting up within earshot, her mind already racing for some way to try to take control of the situation -- but at least for a few crucial seconds, she pauses to see exactly what this officer thinks he's going to do. Across the courtyard more uniformed officers group to Nelun's position, where the first one is already bringing the bedraggled man to his feet, or given his exhausted state, to his knees. Tired, but nevertheless terrified, Nelun takes the first strike, swinging his right arm into the oblivious officer's...lower torso. _Karkit, karkit, karkit..._ "Uh, hey, sir, officer?" Shen pipes up, drawing as near as she dares, hands out. "What's going on here?" The officer has no time to answer, Nelun having nailed him again, once in the stomach to double him over, and the next, over his neck. His sudden strength is only a catalyst of the small, by dense coral rock visible in his hand. Nelun stands, looking over to see the reinforcements closing in, and stands, only to be energy stunned. "Sh-i-i-" Too late. Shenner whirls on the source of the shot, and cries out insistently, "What's going _on_ here?!" At least a dozen other officers have appeared on the spot, seemingly out of nowhere. And while most are garbed in only one standard uniform type, at least 3 rush to Nelun, weilding instruments and checking pulses, and two tend to the injured officer. A fairly nondescript individual with an impressive rank display jogs to Shen, wielding an empty hand of peace. "Ma'am, you're going to need to clear the area..." "What's he done?" Shenner replies immediately, her thin face drawn into tight anxious lines, her gaze flashing to Nelun's prone form and back again. "I know this man, what's he done?" The high-ranking officer blinks, showing a puzzled expression, "Are you family?" Shen doesn't bat an eye as she answers, "He's my cousin, and I've been looking for him for weeks." _Well, it's at least -part- truth..._ "What's he _done_?" The officer looks briefly at the commotion behind him. Nelun is unconscious and being hoisted onto a antigravity stretcher, while the guards slowly raise him to a low hover. He looks to Shenner, stating as if off a list. "Aggravated assault. Resisting arrest. Petty theft. And loitering. If you'll come with me, please, we can answer some questions..." _Thought so..._ "Uh... sure," Shen says, blowing out a sigh, and settling down somewhat from her tense stance. "Where're you takin' him?" "Just the station, ma'am." The officer says, checking his belt and pulling a datapad out. "He'll be detained until we can sort his ID out.." Sorting Nelun's ID out. Well, _that'll_ be a challenge. Shen tries to look composed and mostly succeeds, saying as easily as she can, "I'll tell ya what I can, officer, though it's somethin' of a long and complicated story..." Moving through the grass, the officer seems to be somewhat oblivious to the work of the two other men. Across the distance, Nelun is lifted into a small skiff, easily identifiable as Republic property by the hull markings. "If you'll follow me, ma'am..." the officer mutters, attention craned towards a datapad. Not liking being called 'ma'am', Shenner frowns. But well, in for a parsec, in for the Run, as she once heard smugglers saying on Tatooine. She edges after the officer, her gaze flicking anxiously to Nelun's unmoving form, and she can't stop herself from calling out gruffly, "Hey, go easy on him, huh?" "Don't worry ma'am. Just a few petty charges." The officer says, looking up now. Crossing the edge of the field directly towards the skiff, he turns towards Shenner, offering an outstretched hand. "Up this way." He nods aside. The young musician eyes Nelun and the ones attending to him one more time, and then grunts a wordless acknowledgement, letting herself take the offered hand. She clambers up into the skiff, looking for somewhere to sit or at least lean, every nerve in her slender body objecting to her presence on an official craft. The skiff is a completely enclosed area, small but well-lit. Two benches, line on both sides of the hull, while more densely occupied area brimming with officers is heard to the fore. Aft however, are two cramped rooms separated from the rest of the skiff by forcefield. A large, unconscious Wookie is in the left cell, sitting. Nelun, meanwhile, is being attended to by the same two man medical team that brought him aboard. Surveying his minor scrapes and cuts is a short, intense looking human man, dressed in republic medical garb. While across from him is a younger, somewhat wide-eyed male, also human. Much more uncomfortable than she'd like to admit, Shen eases down onto one of the benches, slinging the flute off her back so she won't lean back against it. Her slim fingers tightening their grip on the bag, she watches the medic tending Nelun, worry bringing up a lump in her throat... and an abrupt realization of what happened the last time she'd tended Nelun herself. She leans forward on the bench, then, considering how to say something... and if she should say anything at all. A failed attempt to step aboard the skiff sends the first officer's shin reeling down the metal gangway. "Gah!" He cries, and then glances downwards in a wince. His pant leg is ripped, exposing a red, but superficial skin scrape just below the knee and across his lower leg. He pulls himself upwards, into the seating area, and asks, "Doctor..." The doctor seems preoccupied with Nelun, searching through the bedraggled man's excessive layers of clothing. The younger officer, seeing the gash, moves quickly over from the front of the seating area. "I'll take a look at it...here, just siddown. You can ask her questions." Sitting across directly from Shen, the first officer nods. The blood on his leg being quickly addressed by some grafting bandage and the younger medic. "I'm officer Raland...eh, can I get your name, Miss?" Startled by the officer slipping on the steps, Shen reacts only belatedly to the question directed towards her. Only after a moment does she jerk her green gaze around to Raland; it only takes a moment more for her to regain her bearings, though. "Shenner," she says lowly. "Shenneret Veery." Raland nods, looking down once more to a datapad. The medic, done, promptly disappears towards Nelun, having been called by the other man there. "Good." Raland says, offering a broad smile at Shenner, "What's your friend's name?" _Ack, he's gonna want a last name, isn't he?_ Shen thinks wildly. Immediately in that thought's wake she seizes upon the first non-obvious name she can think of, and inwardly hopes that the name's previous owner doesn't find out about her theft. "Nelun Vaarsen," she answers the question as steadily as she can manage. And she offers a slight lopsided quirk of her mouth in reply to the smile. Nodding once again, Officer Raland jots down a few notes, tapping at the datapadd on his lap. "Vaarsen. One 's'?" He asks, continuing to scribble away. Meanwhile, there is a groan to the fore, simultaneous with the skiff's sudden inertial jostle. Whether it's the engine, or worse, Nelun is difficult to tell. "One s, two a's," Shen offers, though her glance shifts to Nelun again. "What the--" is the audible cry from the younger medic, as the last of Nelun's clothing seems to be placed aside. The elder, more intense looking medic is, undisturbed, as what he sees appears to be a small flashing light, directly below the sternum. "Thank you." Raland mutters, he stops scribbling over his datapad, to face Shenner. "What was your relation again?" The light immediately catches Shenner's attention; she'd been afraid of that. "Cousin," she says sidelong to Raland without looking at him, her tone a distracted one. "Allright, cousin." Raland nods, glancing only briefly at the pad. "Alright, now, Miss Veery" He raises his face to Shenner, and follows the girl's stare towards Nelun... ...Who is now flashing. Noticeably. Everywhere. Small, scattered red strobes seem to randomly dot Nelun's entire body, as the bedraggled man moans on the floor. The younger medic has jumped, instinctively, away. And the elder appears wide eyed, no longer intense. "Stop us!" He yells towards the fore. "Stop now!" "Holy karkin' crap," Shenner breathes, aghast. One mysterious light embedded in the vagabond's flesh was enough to disturb and surprise her; _this_ stops her dead. The skiff burns to a halt, and the inertia of the entire vehicle moving forward has thrown every occupant not strapped to a safety restraint towards the cockpit, including both medics, Shen, Nelun, Raland, and the Wookie. The snap-crash of the forcefield impacting the front of a sleeping Wookie has noticeably angered the prisoner, if not, injured him. Shen had strapped herself in -- having wanted to avoid getting a scolding look or lecture on safety from any of these personnel -- and she grimaces as she's slammed against the restraint strap along her body. Her flute goes flying out of her grasp, falling to the floor in a soft *plof* of suede, but she barely notices. As soon as the craft comes to something resembling a halt, she's scrambling to release her restraint, bent on trying to do something to help. "Dah!!" the cockpit delcares. A fumble of bodies is tossed in the fore, as nearly half of the skiff crew was either standing around, exhausted, or sitting around, dead tired from the chase. The elder doctor has broken off from Nelun, pushing the younger aside on his way towards Shenner. Immediately, Raland realizes the sudden thrashing sound in the aft is due to the static-induced Wookie prisoner, who appears to be moaning from an injury. "Somebody get to him! You!" The younger medic looks up at Raland, confused, and then, after a moment, determined. He moves in a blur past Nelun, the doctor, and then Shenner, on his way towards the aft section. Shen swallows hard, only one thing on her mind now: getting to Nelun's side. She steps aside as the younger medic dashes past, just barely in time to avoid getting herself flattened, and swallows hard again at the agitated sounds coming from that Wookiee back there. The elder doctor throws a hand over Shen's shoulder, grasping for her attention, "Listen! Who are you? Do you know what's happening here?" He demands, ignoring the Wookie behind the girl. The other medic quickly disables the forcefield, ending the barrier between the skiff and the brig in a sharp crackle of blue energy and sound. Immediately, the Wookie pulls him in. Whirled around, not to mention alarmed by the increasing noise from the Wookiee prisoner, Shen jerks a tense gaze up to the doctor. "I told ya, he's my cousin, I've been lookin' for him for weeks," she bursts out. "I don't _know_ what's happened to cause" -- and she snaps her gaze back to Nelun, and the flashing lights all along his prone form -- "_that_!" "You don't know--" The doctor stops and frowns, looking rather frustrated. The commotion in the fore is doubled by the fact that meanwhile, the Wookie has taken the younger medic as a hostage of sorts. The doctor grabs Shenner, pulling her towards Nelun, "Help me get him out of here..." "Don't hafta tell me twice," the girl growls back huskily, darting to the unconscious man's side. Raland is standing wide-eyed beside the sprawled, flashing Nelun, a blaster tentatively drawn. The Wookie has held the younger medic in front of him as a human shield, holding his head under two, furry, suffocating arms. The linguistic grunts are indecipherable to Raland, if not the medic. Shen ducks down into kneeling, reaching to grab Nelun's nearer arm, intending to hoist it up around her shoulders. Her pulse has started to race in her chest, and the sounds of that decidedly angry Wookiee aren't helping. _They'll handle him,_ she tries to convince herself. _Focus on Nelun._ "Uh...let him go..." Nelun mutters. His body is limp, and, flashing in Shenner and the doctor's face. Noticeably bothered, the elder doctor seems to have some difficulty focusing on lifting the man up, without squinting away. "The Wookie...uff--let him go..." Wha? "Nelun," Shen barks, "wake up, pal, come on, we gotta move you!" "Ugh, nod widout dat Wookie runnin' round..." He murmurs. Indeed, the Wookie is large, furry, and rather close to the entrance. The fact that passing between Raland's blaster and the Wookie's temper is haphazard enough in this Scylla and Charybdis of scenarios. Shen squints her eyes as tightly as she can, having her own problems with the strobe effect filling the vehicle. She peers off towards the back, for as much of a glance as she can spare, worried all the more now about whether guards or pieces of guards are about to go flying. Not understanding a growl, yarf, or whaarrl of the Wookiee tongue, she can only holler out a less than hopeful, "Somebody calm the Wookiee down!" And she tugs at Nelun again, repeating, "Come _on_! Up!" "I'm trying! Hey! What're you doing??" Raland says, suddenly noticing Shenner's presence on Nelun. His blaster is momentarily distracted as the Wookie, medic overhead, throws the poor officer towards the middle of the skiff. "Told ya to lettim go.." A middle sized uniform appears out of the bulkhead, barely missing Shen by hair. Across from her, however, the doctor is thrown under the weight of the younger medic's boots. "_He_," Shen snaps at Raland, jabbing a thumb more or less in the direction of the older medic, "told me to help move hi--aaaaaaah!" This last from the girl as the younger medic goes flying; Shen instinctively ducks. The Wookie is adamant. Pounding against the flimsy side door, the skiff suddenly opens up, revealing an obvious exit. Jumping out and disappearing from view, the Wookie has escaped, and so might Nelun... "Mmmwarr!" Outside, a loud noise is heard. "Geez, he's telling us go out..." Nelun says, eyes closed. Well, that's fine with Shen. She grabs for Nelun's arm again, and urges him, "So come on!" Nelun promptly agrees, somewhat. Hoisted to his feet and drug to the exit, the man decides not to fall back this one time, and instead, falls forward. Out of the skiff. There's only so much one thin girl can do tugging a man along, especially when his entire body seems intent on flashing on and off, off and on, as if he were a malfunctioning holographic recording. Shen stumbles as Nelun goes down, losing her balance as he falls out of her grasp. Meanwhile, inside the skiff, commotion is running rampant. Something else has gone wrong, as evident by the entire vehicle's sudden tip. "Mwharr!!" The Wookie screams, and then proceeds to make a break. Ooof... Shen tumbles out to the ground, wincing as various portions of her body scrape against the tarmac with which she collides. Then, the vehicle's tipping catches her attention. Oblivious to any passersby or where they might be, she snaps her gaze up at the skiff. She takes enough time to murmur in horror, "Ohmigod," and then she dives for Nelun, determined to get him up and moving. "COME ON!" "Pilots...musta--", scooped up by Shen, Nelun is promptly dragged away. However, even without the layers of clothing aboard him, the man is a heavy lug. It's probably fortunate, aye, that Nelun does not match the size of the last man Shenner tried to help anywhere -- but from whose point of view the fortune can be found is debatable. The girl is caught by the muttering, a frown of conscience winging across her face, and she pauses just long enough to glance over her shoulder and shout out hoarsely, "Come _ON_, you guys in there! Get out! Get out now!" Waughs, yells, screams, and general geronimos break from the skiff, as the crew's compliment spill out the emergency sides not tipping towards the Calamarian gravity. The tarmac provides an uncomfortable landing spot, as each officer crashes violently, to roll away. "I think we should...get outta here...too." Nelun mumbles, he stands, somewhat, and throws an arm over Shen. The flashing suddenly stops. And then suddenly, the skiff, straightens out, no longer tipping in a manner comical in it's movement. It stays, motionless in midair for a moment, before crashing in a spectacular display of sharded metal down. Her eyes had been dazzled by the flashing -- and its abrupt cessation leaves her blinking in startlement. She half-turns at the contact of Nelun's arm, and then yelps as the skiff tumbles violently to earth. Immediately, the girl tries to duck, to shield herself from flying metal. Shard of brown, irrecognizable metal, twisted and projected upon impact by the skiff's own weight, fly overhead. The guards, rolling over the ground, seem distracted from them by their own personal safety, fleeing the tarmac in various directions. A large, twisted object appears overhead, throwing a thin shadow over Shenner and Nelun... The redheaded girl doesn't shriek, though she wants to. Instead, she wheels away from the arm that had reached for her, and throws every ounce of strength she has into leaping sideways. As the object plummets down for its impact, shattering into shrapnel, Shen can't quite fling herself fully out of the way in time. A chunk of metal catches her a solid blow between the shoulderblades, sending her tumbling. Nelun, however, is sprawled, unconscious, and still within the shadow of the object. Under the shriek of metal, a large, blurred object seems to dart towards the unwitting man, and under the twisted metal. The impact is defeaning, combined with the shred of tarmac, and the unforgiving hull of the skiff, nothing is audible except for the sound of friction. [And then...] "Shenner!" The voice is familiar, being that of the bedraggled man's. It calls out, behind the crush of metal between Shenner and Nelun. "Shenner!?" Her lungs have stopped working, or so it seems. Flattened face-down, Shen grimaces into the pavement, aware only of a small, tightly focused, hot lance of pain driven somewhere into her back. The call of her name reaches her ears, but only peripherally, and she has to struggle to pull in enough breath to respond. Nelun passes through the remnants of the skiff, duckinng the crunched hull and stepping over the larger debris. And over the body of a tall Wookie... "Shenner!" He calls, this time, at the sight of the girl. "Shenner..." Immediately he falls to the tarmac, pulling off shredded clothing underfoot. Shen hasn't passed out, not quite yet, but color has drained from the girl's already pale features. And there's a thick sliver of metal sticking out of her back, more or less between her shoulderblades, a little closer to the left one than the right. Blood has already started staining through her shirt, and the musician stirs faintly at Nelun's call. _Okay, street rat,_ she thinks harshly, _by the numbers... up... get up..._ And she starts trying to pull herself to her knees. "Gah!" The lengthy rip of material serves as a dirty, but nevertheless, necessary blood stopper. But first, is the gruesome problem of removing that shard of metal, if not telling the girl to stay down. "Shen! Don't move!" "Wha?" the girl mutters, frowning to herself. "What's wrong?" Her voice is coming out of her clear enough, but hoarse and ragged-edged, and she lifts a bleary green gaze in Nelun's general direction. She tries to get her legs under her to make it to her knees, but the pull along her back convinces her this is _not_ a good idea. She freezes, hissing, slender features contorting in startled pain. Nelun is hesitant. Pulling the peice out would be painful, but would it be dangerous? The blood isn't stopping over Shenner's shirt. Or is it? ANd even so, he has nothing to pressure it with. The man is not as desensitized to his own filth, as some might pursue, especially when it's bundled in a clothy wad in front of him. He looks down the girl, wincing, and then realizes that not doing _anything_ _soon_ is the worse alternative he has. "Shen. Don't move." Putting the bundle over the girl's back, and tearing the shrapnel away as fast as possible, Nelun hopes he hasn't caused more damage then there already is... Shenner had managed to prop herself up on one elbow before she'd stopped trying to move. Now, a pointed bark of a noise bursts out of her as Nelun tugs that shard of metal out of her, choked off a beat or so after she utters it. She doesn't go down again, but she wavers a bit before her balance is steadied. There's enough blood welling up from beneath her shirt that a practiced eye can tell the shrapnel had cut in a few inches... but perhaps not into anything vital. Staring at the mopped puddle underneath her, Nelun manages to utter a few, obvious statements. "You're...bleeding everywhere..." He says, then pushing the cloth over her back. He fumbles around a moment, trying to put the bundle into a tight, absorbent wad. "Shen, we need a...hospital." Something, thinks Shen, is wrong with this picture. It takes the girl a few moments to figure out what: the incongruity of Nelun's voice calling her not only by her usual nickname, but by the shorter one, the one she's used to hearing from... someone else's voice. Shoving the memory of that other voice back into a back corner of her mind, she gasps out, "How bad?" "Lacerated wound...anterior..." The man says, panicked, wincing. He looks briefly at the girl's head, noticing the sudden pallor in her features "I don't think it's lethal, but it needs to be cleaned..." Facing over at the skiff, Nelun can't help wonder what supplies are aboard it, that aren't in peices. "Hold on." Shen swallows, determinedly hanging onto the support of the elbow she's propped underneath her. Another frown crosses her face at further incongruity: professional-sounding words coming out of Nelun's rumpled figure. "Just hurts like hell," she mumbles. "I'll be okay..." "No, you won't. It'll infect..." He unfolds the bundle, and pulls it under chest, trying to tie it in a tightened strap. "I'm going into the skiff..." He says, more calmly than usual, and stands up. "Wha...? Wait... the others..." Shenner gasps out, against the constriction of the cloth that's been tied round her torso. But her reaction time is down, and she can't get up in time to stop Nelun from his intentions, though she tries. Moving back to the skiff is difficult, considering the fires that are brimming up all over the place. The guards, for themselves are rather preoccupied with getting away _fast_, but there seems to be a sudden incentive to enter the main hull section, which is disfigured, but somewhat safe looking... Shen struggles up to her knees, then starts on the business of pushing herself to her feet. "Nelun," she blurts. It's intended as a shout, but it comes out only as a slightly bemused utterance of the name. Thinking she ought to help... and then, only belatedly realizing that she'd dropped her flute in its suede bag... she stumbles towards the wreckage. Crawling into the skiff is the only way inside, given how the main entrance is blocked halfway by the a fallen beam. Inside, flickering lights barely illuminate in their strobe effect. Nelun has already manuvered himself halfway in by the time Shenner has stumbled to her feet. There is a dull thudlike sound in the air, as the hull bends in shape, and some of the skiff masting shatters. Lights...? "_Nelun_," Shener manages to call out again, louder, as she squints down at the crawl-hole, debating the wisdom of trying to crawl in after him. The redhead bends over, considering doing just that, but her abused back puts in a loud protest. Another thud, and the familiar creaking sound of metal, and the skiff, systematically falls apart. Crashing through the top is the splintered mast, which blows the entire hull area in a shriek of shrapnel. The entire thing altogheter tilts, even more, downwards, having sprawled the supporting debris underneath across the tarmac. And Shenner, right near the wreckage, flings herself reflexively away, not the slightest bit interested in stopping the path of more flying shrapnel with her own body. She hits the ground, driving air out of her lungs, and then lifts her head with an effort. "Nelun!" she croaks out as loudly as she can. The skiff crumbles once more, driving skyward a large structural peice in a final toast of destruction. Flying in a direction away from Shenner this time, it impales itself across the tarmac, not too far from the distant collection of Republic guards approaching in yet another skiff. Nelun meanwhile, has rolled out of the skiff's side, grasping a small medical kit, and a suede bag... Pain is slowly dropping a leaden weight along Shenner's shoulders, and the girl is still quite pale as she once more pulls herself stiffly and clumsily to her knees, then to her feet. "Nelun," she blurts yet again, her eyes taking in his emerging form as well as what he carries, though she doesn't quite register the impact of his finds yet. Stepping across the field of metallic parts and dodging small oil lakes, Nelun has two arms held high. "Shenner! Don't move!! I've got your things!" He yells, covered in soot and grease. The skiff, however, arrives before Nelun, flowing to a sudden stop near Shenner. Guards pour out, veiling stretchers and repair equipment. From the look of the white-faced girl, Shen is standing there by little more than the force of her will alone. She whirls clumsily around at the surge in noise from the arriving skiff, and then blinks between the new arrivals and Nelun, beginning to look increasingly dazed. Personnel bearing civil authority uniforms circle Shenner, donning scanners, yelling commands, and pushing the girl into the gravity stretcher set beside her. Nelun, has slowed to a jog, seeing the men and, becomes suddenly hesitant; to risk a sudden jump into unorganized action, would consequently risk Shen too, given how the girl is surrounded by these dozens of men. And pulling her from what seems to potentially be a haven of safe, medical treatment would seem a little contradictory to what Nelun was trying to do in the first place. "Hey," Shen mumbles in protest, "I'm okay, I'm..." She stumbles, but her knees buckle under her the moment she tries to keep her feet. Her back is growing increasingly damp, her shirt stained with red, and she's having a growing urge to just.... lie down for a while, but she can't help but shoot an alarmed gaze around the bustle of the new arrivals, trying to find Nelun. "My..." What excuse had she used? Oh yeah... "... my cousin..." "Lemme through! Lemme..." A voice calls from behind the wall of men and women around Shen. Getting through was easy, given how the smell of the man alone had pushed them aside. "Shenner?" Nelun asks, appearing overhead. Moments later he is whisked away in another overwhelming crowd of doctors and persons, and the voices around Shen push further into the esotericity of medical garble, "Sir, come this way...No!...how do you feel...What're you doing...stat level...Let me...check her neural--" Medical garble. Shenner frowns darkly, never liking it when people talk over her head, and all she can think right now is a grumpy, _At least they're not speaking Mandalorian..._ The voices blur together in her hearing, and she slumps limply on the stretcher onto which she's been adroitly lifted. The flurry of sound is complimented by the sudden breath of light in the area. Compared from the outside, the inside of the medical skiff is brightly lit, and by necessity cramped. The girl is brought quickly into the back of the vehicle along with Nelun, who is rather persistent in his claims that he is perfectly healthy, but nevertheless just as successful as Shenner. "Can you hear me?" A shadowy figure asks over Shenner's head. It is blinded dark by the overhead lighting fixture. The redheaded girl is still frowning, aware that she really ought to be keeping track of the jumble of light and noise and movement around her, but the effort of doing so seems strangely beyond her. It's difficult enough just to squint muzzily up at the shadow, and make her mouth shape the mumble of "Nelun...?" "Shh, you're in another skiff..." The voice says, in the familiar mid-tone pitch of the bedraggled man. It is interrupted by another, "She's stable." "Don' worry, Shen. You're right.." Nelun says, his brows uplifted in an uncharacteristic gesture of focused concern, "They've been straight with me so far. Straight." Awfully bright. And blurry. Not liking what her vision is doing, and liking even less that that heavy, dull pain along her back makes it feel as if the gravity on the planet has increased twofold, Shenner peers foggily at what she presumes is her companion's nearby form. Something in his words seems to comfort her somehow, and she manages a lopsided grin. "Swell," she mumbles distantly. The shadowy figure shifts, under the dark, forming a vague smile back to the girl. It moves off, letting the light burn down suddenly. But for a few moments, the skiff is more silent than usual. And the lowered conversations around Shenner are, perhaps, so that the girl might lower her blood level some. Although close, Nelun's voice is distant, answering the questions of another doctor afar from the back. The lessened noise and lowered voices are good. Shenner's eyes drift shut for a moment in gratitude, but something, the young bard muses, is still wrong. She feels strange, dizzy and weak, and a disquieting niggle of worry fires off in the back of her head about this... she doesn't like feeling odd. Bad things happen when she feels odd. She has to stay awake, she has to... "Don' wanna sleep," she mutters uneasily. "Don' wanna..." An high-pitched alarm sounds off. Behind Shenner, the rustle of officers push about the wealth of machinery monitoring the girl's condition. And for a moment, it seems as if something is wrong. "What's happened?" Nelun asks, immediately rushing overhead. He looks down at Shenner. Green eyes turning more glazed, pupils gone wider in the green, Shenner doesn't quite lift her gaze up to Nelun. "Don' like this," she complains, her voice thicker. "'Mcold...." "It's not a bug!" A man behind her yells, and immediately the skiff throws into action. Nelun is swept aside by the sudden push of medical personnel trying to weild their equipment. The machinery behind the girl strengthens it's alarm, beeping faster each minute. The skiff itself bursts it's speed, and the inertial grip jostles everyone inside. A woman, pulls Shen's arm up slightly, slapping the inside of her elbow thrice and then, injecting some solvent... Her brow crinkled in consternation, Shenner only peripherally registers the flurry of activity that's erupted around her. It's fairly evident that the girl's in shock; her skin is cold to the touch, her pupils dilated, her pallor making her face nearly grey. But as far as Shen is concerned, something is still wrong, and she ponders this intently. It takes her several moments before she realizes what the problem is: _Paul can't know about this. Paul's gonna freak..._ "Don't tell Paul," she mumbles plaintively, intending it for Nelun, though she's lost his location in the skiff. "What?" Nelun hears, and stares at Shenner from beside the wall, his attention has been as strictly divided towards the girl since the beginning of the trip and, this, seems to be the first he's heard of any "Paul". "She's in shock, delirium maybe." The woman yells to the front. Putting her arm away. "I need this unit temperature brought up!" A flurry of oddish medical equipment is pasted onto the girl's forehead, chest, and shoulders. Personnel collect on one side, as they attempt to roll the girl over her stomach, tear off the back of her shirt, and sterilize the gaping wound. No longer registering the content of the words being tossed back and forth around her, Shenner lolls without resistance under the attention of the medics. Getting to that hole in her back isn't difficult, nor is patching it up with synthflesh, though it requires ripping a larger tear in her shirt. Medical scanners can report lack of internal injuries, broken bones, or anything else amiss. She starts shivering violently as her temperature is attended to, though, and once, she fumbles one hand towards her neck, evidently reaching for something unseen there. And she mumbles dolefully, "Paul's gonna lose it..." Her voice trails off, losing volume along with the blood she's already misplaced, though her blood loss has been stabilized. Her eyes drop closed again. "Bleeding's stopped! Get a record on her type, Kiff." Placing the hundreds of miscellaneous equipment peices is difficult, and by now half of the skiff is dangling in hundreds of wired scanners, routers, and open medkits. And so, the vehicle, and all it's little instruments, seem to jerk forward in a microcosm of tiny pendulic swings, as the skiff screeches to a halt. Shen's stretcher is gripped on two sides, and flown out onto the emergency tarmac. Motion again. Eyes closed, Shenner feels her world graying out, and floating on that grav stretcher only encourages this. Pale and now rather bedraggled -- though not nearly so much as Nelun -- she looks to all intents and purposes as though she's passed out, though she retains a tiny hold on her consciousness. The inside of the hospital is no lesser the chaotic swarm that was the skiff. The emergency section is abrim with what seems like a usual day in the world of medical dramatics. Only passing immediately into the emergency access repulsorlift creates a semi-sound proof barrier between Shenner, the immediate personnel around her, and Nelun. "Shen? What did you say??" Nelun barks, trying to rouse the girl from consciousness as much as find out who this Paul is. "Wha...?" the young redhead answers feebly, her head turning slowly in Nelun's direction, though her eyes don't open more than a slit. Nelun_Good says, "SHEN, what did you--" The ding and then sudden rush outside of the lift precludes Nelun's sentence, as Shen is brought into the surgery care floor." _I said something...? Wha... oh yeah..._ Shenner remembers. And her features crumple slightly, in a groggy kind of worry. "Don' tell Paul," she repeats. "Don' tell Paul...." "Paul?! Paul what!? Paul who?!" A large, rather omnipresent looking nurse stops Nelun from entering what seems to be a large, dedicated area of the floor, as dictated by the sudden swing into a corridor completely painted in blue. Beside Shen, only two persons fly the girl into a spacious, open, sterile room. While the rest branch off elsewhere... Shenner turns her head again as Nelun is prevented from following her, and she murmurs an incoherent, wordless protest as her attenders briskly hustle her into the OR. _Nelun,_ she thinks, and that's clear enough. But there is also _Paul_, and her gaze drifts sluggishly around the room. Not finding the tall, lanky, sandy-haired figure she's seeking, she makes another small noise of protest. And for a few moments, the look on her face is positively heartbroken. "Anesthetize." There is a chirp, the squeal of low-band frequency, and then, a low yeild stun effect from the devices plastered over Shenner's body... _Oh my,_ Shenner has just enough time to think, before her world goes from gray to a featureless white. It's not a heavy anesthesia -- not needed, for the degree of injury to her back -- but it's enough to blur her already dizzy thoughts.... [To be continued....]