Fandom Star Wars: Chaos and Order [Closed]

[cleopat]

“Yours for taking my damn ship in the first place!” She would never accept blame for this.

If they were going to try and return with the droid, they would need more transport, and right then, it looked like they were in the middle of the desert, with nothing near them, including the crash site.

Including the crash site?

Sighing, Verena removed her cloak and outer layer of her garment, fashioning them both into a headwrap, leaving her arms now exposed, but her face and eyes protected from the harsh glare of the sun and the sand. She pulled out her own datapad and checked how far the crash site was from them.

She frowned. They were…right on top of it. Did the sands swallow it? Was there a recent wind storm that shifted the dunes?

Verena put the datapad away and knelt onto the sand. One hand reached out and touched the sand, and she reached out with the Force to find out what she could ‘see’. Distant vibrations…and they were growing stronger. That wasn’t good. “There’s something-”

She stopped mid sentence. There was a giant creature lurking beneath. Has to be a nightwatcher worm. It would’ve been what consumed the wreck. And, based on how she could feel it getting closer, no doubt lured back by the crash of her ship.

“Shit,” she hissed, realizing that, in fact, the creature was digging its way up there. “Move!” was all she yelled as she ran away from the ship, pulling on Kylo’s arm in the process to get him out of there as well. If he resisted, she would still run, run far enough to where the worm wouldn’t swallow her with its gaping maw.

~~~

Poe grinned and winked at Neria, “You think I’m cute?” He thought similar of Neria, especially if she were to ask him about joining her side. She was cute…but not that cute that he would leave the Resistance.

He confirmed her assumption. “Yeah, I’ve got a lot of old buddies there in the New Republic.” He scrunched his face as he thought for a second. “I think General Organa also just sent some of our people to Hosnian Prime recently.” She was always making sure someone representing the Resistance was in Hosnian Prime. In order to gain support and sympathy, they needed to show face and argue their side, after all.

“I can try and contact them for help. Either way, I should be able to find my way back from Hosnian Prime,” he chuckled, shutting the last cupboard. His own bag was readied with supplies as he finished looking through the last of the cabinets.

Right then Milo came out of his room with a duffel bag that he almost struggled to carry, due to its size compared to the small child. “You got everything?”

Milo nodded. “I think so.” He struggled with the strap on his shoulder, but he didn’t want to ask for help. He was a big kid! He could do this!

“Do you want me to carry that for you?” Poe offered, and Milo looked down at his bag, hesitant to want to ask for help. Big kids didn’t ask for help!

Poe could sense the dilemma. “How about I carry your bag, and you,” he knelt on the floor, removing his bag from his shoulder, “and you carry mine?” It didn’t weigh as much, and Milo would still feel like he was doing something important.

Milo nodded. “Okay!” And he took Poe’s bag, while handing over his own.

 

[Lucyfer]

Using the Force was probably the way to go. Kylo could feel life forms easily, but he could also feel barriers. Not that he could manipulate them in the same way, and as Verena knelt to try and reach out, he opted to do so similar, though without kneeling. Covered head-to-toe as he was, it wouldn’t make much difference to put his gloved hand into the sand.

It’d just get sand in his gloves.

Not that he wasn’t going to be cleaning sand out of his outfit anyways. He really hated sand.

He felt that something as well, though he had no experience with Jakku, his mind went to what he did know – krayt dragons. Even knowing that, when Verena reached for him, he yanked his arm immediately back and glared at her, wanting to throw her for even daring to touch him after everything.

However, he didn’t have much time to consider that, and also consider dealing with the thing he felt. Rather than run, however, he stayed still.

The creature went after Verena’s running steps.

He’d fully expected it to come after him. He’d expected to be thrown up when it rose out of the sands, or pulled down if it was more like a sarlaac, and deal with it from that point, but apparently it went after the movement. Kylo reached out with the Force to try and halt the creature, and he did get a grip on it, but without seeing it, and all the sand, it wasn’t a good grip.

The creature thrashed, and the movement made its location clearer, as sand was tossed up in its struggle against the grip Kylo held on it.

~***~

Typical flyboy.

Neria could only roll her eyes as he asked for affirmation. There was no need to give it as he indicated Hosnian Prime would work. He had enough allies to pick his way back to whatever mid-rim planet General Organa was hiding out on. Karan owed her 100 credits if it was mid-rim; he was hunting for it, as he did.

She hid better than the Order, at any rate.

Milo came out with a too-large bag, and Poe was far too accommodating for the lad. True, he had just lost his mother, his home, and his entire way of life…but Neria didn’t plan to offer to help Milo for making the decision of packing too much. However, she frowned a bit when Mari came out with a similar sized bag, just…not weighed down.

Evidently, their mother had gotten them matching bags. Perhaps, for a previous move. Mari’s seemed to have hardly anything in it. “Did you find everything you need?” Neria asked, and Mari silently nodded. “Everything you want?”

Hesitation. The threat of more tears. “You can add more, Mari—” Mari immediately, harshly, shook her head.

Neria’s own parents would have accepted it at that. If they even questioned it. There was a pettiness in Neria that made her want to accept it, as well. However, she forced that down, “All right. I’m going to take a look and see if there’s anything I want to grab,” she had her bag packed, but there was room, so she walked by Mari and into the children’s room.

She snatched a few of clothes that seemed to be Mari’s and stuffed them into the bag, before stepping into Deliah’s room. It was modest, really, but it looked torn over. Someone – Mari, no doubt in Neria’s mind – was looking for something very particular. Perhaps she’d found it, and that was all she needed. Perhaps she hadn’t, and now it upset her that she wanted nothing else.

Hard to say.

But Neria did see a datapad that likely belonged to Deliah, one likely to have photos Karan could snatch off it for the kids, and information on other relatives or friends. She packed that, a couple of dresses Mari might one day want, and necklace with a gaudy stone on it.

She returned to the main room and nodded, “Cratertown should be the closest civilization, but Niima’s outpost is the one most likely to have accessible transport. Your droid, your call, Dameron.” Presuming BB-8 even had the ability to map things out. It could just be wandering aimlessly.

 

[cleopat]

The worm stopped chasing her, but it definitely did not stop moving. Verena looked behind her, a little shocked that Kylo attempted to stop it despite the fact it was chasing after her. But she didn’t have time to think about that.

She reached out one hand and held it tighter with the Force. She could better see and feel it, even through the sand, and the vibration of its movements helped. Its thrashing stopped, and the creature went still. Verena didn’t know how long she could hold onto the creature, and could only hope Kylo didn’t turn spiteful and let go.

Grabbing and holding her lightsaber in one hand, Verena utilized the Force to jump high and far enough to land on the creature’s back. The lightsaber turned on, the dual blades illuminating red. Continuing to hold onto the creature with the Force, she willed it to lift its head, just high enough so that she could see part of the head and back.

With a twirl of her saber, Verena stabbed the creature in the back of its head, and with a twist of her wrist, she severed the head from the rest of its body, now dropping limp in the sand as she jumped off.

~~~

Poe frowned at Mari. It was obvious she was holding in much more than she wanted to show, similar to her twin. But both did it in very different ways. They will need a very strong and comforting support system, and he hoped Neria was up to that task.

Neria mentioned two towns. Poe…didn’t really know the geography of Jakku too well, so he couldn’t gauge how far Cratertown or Niima Outpost was, but, looking down at the two kids, he didn’t want them to have to walk too far in that sun with their limited water supplies.

And he honestly didn’t know which one BB-8 would try and find first.

“Do you know how far Niima Outpost is from here?” Within a day’s journey, he would probably consider it, given it had accessible transport. “If it’s too far, we may need to consider Cratertown.” He looked down at the kids, Milo seemingly getting lost in his own thoughts. “We don’t need to spend that much time out in the sun, after all.”

A huge hint that he didn’t want Milo or Mari to overexert themselves, while already dealing with their personal tragedy.

 

[Lucyfer]

The creature tossed enough sand to reveal itself. A foolish move, given Verena aiding the effort to hold it still, before launching an attack. Kylo didn’t relinquish his own hold. After all, the thing would just turn on him when all was said and done. Best to get it dealt with now.

And Verena dealt with it, beheading it effectively enough with her lightsaber.

Kylo strode towards it as it collapsed, dead, and pulled his own lightsaber into his hand. He cut right into the middle of the beast and tore its insides open, finding what he rather hoped he wouldn’t – the sight of the TIE fighter. There was no body within it, either. It was impossible to know if the pilot was dead or alive, but they likely weren’t eaten by…whatever this thing was.

“Tch.” He unlit his saber and put it back on is belt. “Nothing.”

Still! Nothing!

And he had no idea where this location was, compared to anything else, so he couldn’t just walk on to find the next lead. No, he was going to have to call for a ship, and get taken back to the Finalizer.

And wait on the Stormtroopers to find something. “Unless you sense any other lifeforms?” ones not below the sand, ideally. But even as he asked, he was already pulling his datapad out to call up to the Finalizer and get a transport so they weren’t stranded.

~***~

‘I barely know where we are.’ Neria started to pull the datapad out to see if she could get around the locks on it to check locations.

Mari spoke up, “I know Cratertown is closer,” she murmured, “whenever we needed supplies, we’d go there. But we never walked….” She could clearly tell that was the fate that awaited her – walking.

Neria was able to pull up a directions application on the device, and use it to check the distance between both Cratertown and Niima Outpost, “It is closer,” she agreed, “but neither are more than a day away. Cratertown looks to be 35 miles out, and Niima outpost is about 51.”

“That’s forever away!” Mari exclaimed.

Neria shook her head, “No, it’s not so bad. Most people can walk a mile in fifteen minutes,” she smiled, “We may take a little longer, but that’s only a few hours.” Presuming they could do at least four miles every hour, they could make decent time to either one…but that was unlikely. Three miles would still leave it at more than ten hours to Cratertown. “It’s nearly dark, as well.”

So most of the travel could be done without the burning sun, although she knew there were other dangers.

Not to mention, exhaustion. Not just for Mari and Milo. She didn’t know how well Poe Dameron could keep up. She could have made it on her own, but with these three? Debatable. Still, Poe asked for information, not for her to decide.

She’d still leave that to him. Presuming the starship even took that look to get to them, of course.

 

[cleopat]

Verena frowned as the innards of the nightwatcher worm were spilled open and onto the sands. Her nose scrunched as the stenched waffed her way. She moved one of the pieces of fabric that covered her head and hair and moved it over her lower face to protect herself better from the smell as she moved closer to the creature.

The wreckage of the TIE fighter revealed nothing. Just crumpled up metal. No body, not even the sight of torn clothes or any evidence that someone piloted the ship.

She frowned. Something…pulled at her. It was very faint, but it was there. She tried to seek further, pushing the Force to show her something, but it faded away into nothing. “Nothing.”

A broken ship and no clues! This wasn’t her day.

Verena looked out into the distance with a sigh. She already dreaded the report to Snoke. Hopefully she could explain, alone, how Kylo crashed her ship.

Something poked out of the sand in the distance. Faint, but she could see it. She reached out a hand, and using the Force, she pulled it towards her. It flew into her hand with ease. A white plate, slightly rounded at the edges. Part of a stormtrooper uniform.

“That Stormtrooper that freed the pilot is alive,” she surmised, tossing the piece back on the sand. “That is, if the sun doesn’t get him.” He could be wandering the desert for days before he finds water or any civilization. Good.

“Otherwise, dead end.” And now she had to wait there, with Kylo, for their rescue.

~~~

Milo also frowned and nodded when Mari spoke up. “But it feels so far away…” Of course, the world always appeared much larger to tiny children. Just like every adult looked like a giant to them.

Poe considered both towns. Niima Outpost would be a guarantee to help him contact and get back to the Resistance, but if Cratertown was a place where the kids remember that they stocked up at, there was a chance there could be a communications point, if not a ship he could borrow.

“Let’s go to Cratertown,” he decided.

“But, that’s a lot of walking,” Milo murmured, looking down at the ground. “And…and won’t we be out after it gets dark? We’ve never walked out there after it got dark before.” They would be out after bedtime. It felt so wrong!

Poe chuckled. “It will be dark, but isn’t that exciting? And we’ll be with you both the entire time,” he encouraged. Mile still didn’t look entirely convinced, but he nodded. At least Mari would be with him!

He straightened back up, adjusting the bag over his shoulder. “Right, let’s leave now then.” Before the children grew too tired. Before more time passed and…well, he didn’t know. Something! But he couldn’t stand around there any longer while his droid was out there.

 

[Lucyfer]

Nothing!

At least, for a moment.

There was no evidence of Poe Dameron surviving the crash, but a this was the one that held two people, there was evidence of the Stormtrooper, and with no body, Kylo was willing to bet Poe walked out of there, as well. He gave a succinct nod, as the communications connected.

“Commander Ren,” the voice on the other side greeted.

“Send a transport,” Kylo directed, “and a ship to pick up the shuttle. It needs repairs.” No need to explain why, so he left out comments of blame. “Get a bounty on FN-2187 as well. He's likely alive. We do not want him to leave Jakku so make sure the bounty pays, dead or alive.”

Alive was preferred.

They could figure out why he went rogue, but it would be better to see to it he was killed if they couldn't get him alive.

“Understood Commander. We'll have a ship dispatched immediately.” The call disconnected and Kylo shoved his datapad away, trying to think of ways they could be useful. The others wrecks would already be examined by now, by stormtroopers. Niima and Cratertown were likely already informed….

Kylo let out a frustrated sound as he realized he was going to have to sit around and wait.

He loathed that.

~***~

For Jakku children, they'd known a bit of a spoiled life. Not that Neria would say as much. It was a testament to Deliah’s love that she tried to make life easier on them in such a harsh environment. When they looked back on Jakku, after knowing the wonders of the galaxy, they'd likely never think this was easy.

It was almost a shame.

“Hands,” Neria directed, and Mari was quick to grab one, “you can take mine or your sister's, Milo,” either way, they were walking holding hands, so they didn't get far away. “Cratertown is East of here,” she told Poe, “if we follow the point of the Eremite’s Tear, it'll take us East.”

“Eremite's Tear?” Mari asked.

“It's one of Jakku's constellations,” Neria answered, “you don't know it?” A little teasing. What reason did she have to know it? Then again, the same could be asked of her.

Mari shook her head.

“I'll point it out,” she promised, “you'll need to know this if you want to be a great adventurer – better than the Pathfinders.”

 

[cleopat]

Verena glanced back at her shuttle, wondering if it could even be repaired, or if she would need an entirely new one.

Oh well. That’s for their engineers to figure out. As long as she got a damn ship in the end.

And she wanted to chime in that the Stormtrooper really needed to be left alive, so they can figure out why he went rogue, and if the others in his troop posed the same risk, but she didn’t. She just wanted off the damn planet without any further issues.

Well, they had time to kill now. Anywhere would be too far to walk, and there was nothing more to see at the crash site. Now the question is, can we sit around with nothing to do, and manage to not snipe at each other?

That remained to be seen.

Verena moved to the ramp of the shuttle, sitting on the incline, where at least part of the ship provided some shade from the sun. She looked over at Kylo as he made that noise. “Does that helmet ever get hot?” she wondered out loud. “Or is there some kind of…cooling system in it?”

~~~

Milo looked between Mari, Neria, and even Poe, as he considered who to hold onto. He ultimately decided on his sister, not wanting to be far from her at all right then.

“Do you want to hold hands too?” Poe asked Neria with a grin on his face, not at all serious. Though, if the kids say they should…who was he to argue?

Milo gasped. “Better than the Pathfinders? I want to be the greatest adventurer ever!”

Poe chuckled at Milo’s enthusiasm. Oh didn’t it look familiar. He recalled sharing similar enthusiasm for all things adventure and flying when he was a boy, thanks to both of his parents’ passions. “Maybe we can teach you a few things along the way then. You’ll do very well just by learning how to navigate looking at the stars.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo would have been fine to wait in silence. He had done it plenty of times with stormtroopers around, but of course, that wasn’t to be allowed. Verena wanted to talk, and he sighed at the inquiry. “It has no cooling unit installed. It is not needed.”

Okay, Kylo might have liked it right then, but he wasn’t about to say as much. The more he suffered, the more he connected with the dark side of the Force. He knew even this suffering under the heat was necessary.

“There are things more important than comfort,” something Verena ought to know, although given her attire, one had to wonder if she truly had. Of course, there were many ways to deal with a person.

Kylo preferred fear.

He couldn’t really see how her presence caused fear in anyone. “Why do you choose not to dress in a way that inspires fear?” he opted to ask, “Is that not what Supreme Leader Snoke taught you when you came under his wing?”

Snoke hated his mask.

Kylo didn’t care.

But it would be interesting to know what Snoke thought was important, that inspired Verena’s choices.

~***~

Neria gave Poe an unamused look for his comment on holding hands, even though she was amused. She answered in a mock-serious tone. “If you think you’re inclined to go wandering off on your own, you can hold my hand or Milo’s for safety, Dameron,” she said, before heading out of the hut as Poe noted how useful it was to use the stars.

It seemed the time the children took to pack, had allowed the sun to set. That would make the first lesson easy, and start their journey off easy, as well. Neria didn’t want to be under that damnable sun any longer, anyway.

Neria pointed upwards, and towards the North, “Look forward,” Neria said, “Eremite’s Tear is a grouping of seven stars. Three form the hand of the Eremite, and four form the star,” it was very rudimentary, “the three stars of the hand are fairly bright.”

“I think I see it….” Mari said.

“In the hand, are four stars you can trace as a diamond. That’s the tear. The end that sits over the fingers, points East.” Neria explained, and Mari hummed. By the way her head turned, Neria was fairly convinced she’d found the constellation, and the way east.

“There?” she pointed towards East.

“Good. Yes.”

 

[cleopat]

A cooling unit may not be needed, but Verena could certainly see it being desired right then. Sure, Kylo probably didn’t spend too much time on hot planets, and space, even on ships, tended to be a bit on the colder side.

She knew that there were things more important than comfort. How many times did she train until she collapsed from sheer exhaustion? How many times did she go to bed with an empty belly, because she felt like it wasn’t deserved, because she wanted to focus longer on her training?

“One can inspire fear in ways other than fashion.” Verena could almost chuckle at his question. Is that why he wore the stupid mask? He thought it invoked more fear? His stature alone could inspire intimidation if he so chose to use it that way! “After all, the Sith of old inspired great fear without much thought into fashion.”

Their reputations were all they needed for that.

“Of course, when Snoke brought me in, I was still young. Many of our early lessons revolved around trying to unteach the Force techniques my first Master instilled in me.” And that pain he would put her through, so she could better channel the Dark Side.

~~~

Poe had half a mind to grab Neria’s hand and take her up on her offer. “Don’t tempt me, Tarkin.” No, he wasn’t going to go wandering off unless some sudden sandstorm blinded them all, but it would still be all in good fun to see her reaction.

Milo looked up at him. “Don’t worry! You can hold me hand if you need to.”

Poe chuckled and lightly mussed Milo’s hair, who grinned and smoothed it back down.

He did stay very near the group.

Milo looked up at the stars when Neria started explaining to Mari, desperately wanting to follow along. He hummed for a minute, looking all around the sky, before pointing to the same constellation and direction Mari had figured out.

“Where did you learn navigation on Jakku?” Poe asked, looking over at Neria.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘I know that.’

First impressions were still important, and Kylo knew how intimidating his grandfather had been. Although the wardrobe had been necessary for his life, Kylo still knew the wardrobe’s design had helped terrify people. “I am not a Sith,” Kylo stated, “nor do I have any plans of becoming one of those failures.”

First they were out and well known, and defeated by the Jedi.

Then, they were hidden, and still defeated by the Jedi!

It was Darth Vader’s flaw, going along with that line of teaching. Kylo Ren believed Snoke knew better. Hell, he even believed Ren knew better, although Ren had been terribly misguided, led astray. It was strange to hear her speak of the Sith so positively. “Was your former master a Sith?”

He could imagine how much she had to unlearn from that.

Learning fashion might be part of that unlearning.

~***~

Neria kept the constellation in her sight, even as she followed the path East. Poe clearly thought he didn’t need any hands, but Neria was hardly going to protest. It’d look even stranger if he held onto Milo’s hand.

“I’ve learned how to navigate several planets,” Neria said, “but Jakku is one I’ve visited often enough to need to know it.”

“Why would you come out to Jakku?” Mari asked, sounding a bit morose in her sorrow. Clearly, not seeing much good to Jakku right then.

“Scavenge. The parts found in the starship graveyard tend to work in the ships I build, and it’s cheaper than buying new.” To Dameron, she added, “As I’ve been telling these kids, I’m far better than any Pathfinder you’ll meet when it comes to traversing planets,” and she was pretty sure he knew a few. Leia was one, after all.

They tended to end up in the Resistance, for some reason.

The desert was cooling off rapidly. Then again, there was little to contain the heat. Mari bunched closer to Milo as they trekked on, piping off questions about other constellations, and other ways to navigate. Neria answered, glad they were distracted from what had happened, and willing to indulge – and let Poe chime in where he wanted.

But they were still a small group of exhausted people, and Mari eventually started to stumble in walking along.