FIRST STORY- Feel free to contribute. ANYONE MAY PLAY

Gun dropped ever so slowly to her knees, moving, she felt, as if through some invisible glue. The Force guided her arms, amazingly, still supporting Phinney's upper torso to deposit half of him gently on the ground. She looked up at RC, still holding their companion's legs. "What...was....that...," she murmured. "Ush...where...", the Force trickled through her fingers and she grasped for its energy, her own long spent. She wrapped her arms around her ribcage, felt something warm and wet on her hand.......

"Phinney, you're gonna have to wait here. If I don't get Gundark to the Ruby she's gonna bleed to death." RC lowers Phinney the rest of the way to the ground and turns on the slack form of Gundark.

Hoisting her up in his arms, RC notes the ever-growing red stains, spreading across her clothing. Heaving the fallen Jedi across his shoulder, RC starts to sprint, as best the loose debris will allow.

It takes him a good 10 minutes to reach the yacht. Ramp is still dropping as he rushes through the hatchway and immediately heads aft to the emergency medical facilities.

Throwing Gundark onto the gurney, RC rips away the bloodied tunic. “Sorry Gundy, there’s no time for modesty here!”

Working quickly, RC applies an emergency, wide spectrum field antiseptic to visible wound and presses a large dermal patch over it. “That’s the visible stuff dealt with, at least you won’t bleed to death.”

He pulls a field scanner from the shelves and passes over Gundarks chest. As he had suspected from the faint gurgling of shallow breaths, Gundark’s broken rib had pierced her lung.

“Well, I can’t do much about that here, this place just isn’t geared up for open chest surgery. Best I can do is strap you up, sedate you and get you to a medical frigate, or at least a medical droid.”

RC injected Gundark with a strong sedative, then proceeded to bandage up her ribs to prevent them from moving as best he could. Covering her with a light sheet and blanket to keep her warm, he headed back out the door to retrieve Phinney, locking it securely behind him.

“I just hope that sedative keeps her under, she’s going to be in a lot of pain if it doesn’t."

*Meanwhile Phinney is awake, but is unable to move*

The visions swam about Gundark's mind like fish in a vast, deep sea. Her past reached out, memories of her father and mother, her childhood lost. Lost amongst the demands and rewards of the life of a Jedi. Bound by her honor to her masters to carry out her duties and obligations as they saw fit to direct. The clouds in her minds eye swirled and the past was gone, muted by the future, always insistent, demanding to make its relentless presence known. The images stabbed at her brain as her broken ribs stabbed at her flesh. She saw Ushgarak, a master in his own right, twin babes cry out for a mother, long gone, a mask of evil, the galaxy bowed in fear, her friend Obi-Wan, an old man, alone. Imorthorn. Queeq.

She became vaguely aware of RC's efforts as a fresh wave of pain swept over her. Then a wonderful numbness spread over her and she let the Force take her into oblivion.

RC scrambles from the carnage, heading towards Phinney. The fallen Knight is awake and shining like a beacon in the rough seas of the Force. That in itself is a good sign.

Dropping down next to his injured comrade, RC runs the modile field scanner over his injuries. "You'll live! Can you walk?"

"I think so"
"I will let the force guide me"

"Let's go!" RC heaves Phinney up and they begin the trek back to the ship. "Where the hell has Ushgarak gone?"

Shareth the Hutt's mansion was swarming with merchants, bounty hunters and all sorts of sentient creatures. A colourful display in which every one who tried could blend with it's surroundings.
A young bearded man, with slightly overflashy clothes entered the high sliding doors that gave access to the room where Shareth resided.
"Ah, a man to do business with. Buying or selling." Shareth boomed across the hall before the doors closed behind the bearded
merchant.
"Ships, space ships".
"Buying or selling?" Shareth replied slightly agitated.
"Buying of course. I've been informed that you have a few ships...err.... in stock?", the merchant spoke with a smooth voice.
"Ah, yeeeeeeeeessssssss....what are you looking for?"
"What do you have?"
"Have a look." Shareth replied cheerfully. Her tail pressed a button on her sofa and a hologram came up between the two dealers. It showed three space ships: a beat-up Z-95, a republic shuttle and a red, bulky republic fighter.
"Where are they from?" the merchant asked.
"Ah, the Z-95 crashes here and we fixed it so it looks like new. The red one belonged to someone who was indebted to me so I confiscated his ship and the shuttle was...well... a present from the republic navy that has come to help us in our struggle for freedom here on Gard."
"I don't need small fighters. What's the shuttle like?"
"Ah, in perfect condition of course. Although the navi-computer is a bit...off... sometimes. Nothing you can't fix."
"The red one? Rare model."
"Yes, a very interesting ship. I'm sure you'd like it."
"Show me the shuttle and the red one."
"You can see them quite nicely on these holograms, right? So shall we talk business?"

The merchant turned around and walked off.
"Hey!" shouted Shareth after him. "No business then?"
The sliding doors opened as the merchant approached them.
"Okay! You can see them. One moment please."
The merchant stopped and turned around.

Meanwhile, RC and Phinney arrive back at the Jade Ruby. Ushgarak is still MIA and RC is becoming increasingly worried.

He can sense the Jedi, but is unable to lock dwon where he is.

"OK Phinney, let's get you cleaned up."

Gun could sense RC's concern over Ushgarak's disappearance. She reached out briefly, through her pain, trying to reach the Jedi Knight, but the effort was in vain. She instead began concentrating her energies on achieving a state of consciousness and getting vertical. The Force could heal, but it wouldn't repair bone. An hour in a proper medical facility would do. A half hour. Her frustration over her injuries fueled her strength and her eyelids fluttered....

"Gundark! Are you sure your OK?" RC is impressed by the determination of the spirited Jedi.

"If you're up to it, get us in the air while I clean up Phinney. We need to locate Ushgarak."

RC set's about cleansing Phinneys wounds and wrapping covering them with field dressings.

Gun pulled herself to her feet, once again forcing the pain into a tiny room in the back of her brain. She examined her mummified torso, then reached carefully for her robe that RC had tossed on the deck. She grinned at him. "Not what I'd wear if I had a choice...but thanks." Then her expression grew serious. "Help Phinney and I'll get this thing off the ground. At least I can do that from a seating position." She tried to project self-confidence with her voice, knowing she was failing miserably. "RC...I can control my pain with the Force, but my strength won't hold out forever. Whatever happens...you and Phinney are to leave me behind. Do you understand?" She spoke with absolute conviction, firm in her stance of her refusal to endanger her companions.

"It's not gonna come to that." RC assures her. "Now get us in the air."

"Arty," RC calls to the R4 T2 droid who has sat, sliently in it's socket. "Release to console and allow Gundark full contol of the help."

The droid gave an affirmative bleep, as the cockpit console and panels lit up.

The engines fired and Gun lifted the ship into a low manuever. "I'm gonna skim the surface, see if we can spot Ushgarak," she told RC over her shoulder. "Try the comlink again."

"Well, I think we should be safe in here..." says the Man in White to Ushgarak, who is still bleary from the crash.

"What do you want with me?" Ushgarak manages to say. Yellow guards have him firmly strapped down.

"That would be telling..." says the Man in White...

##Ushgarak, come in Ushgarak.##

~~Static~~

##Ushgarak, can you here me?##

"Nothing, Gundy head north, let's see if we can get a visual."

Gun steers the ship into a low-surface skim, peering through the viewport for any sign of Ushgarak, reaching out with the Force for his presence, made more difficult with the pounding headache she had developed. "How's Phinney doing back there ?"

"He's doin' fine, you worry about finding Ush, I'll worry about patching up Phin."

Turning her full attention once again to the controls, Gun turned her eyes groundward. The speeder that had zipped past them earlier carrying Ushgarak's form was no where to be seen. As if it had vanished into thin air. She reached out again with the Force, seeking her Jedi companion.....Ush, where are you....let yourself be known to me....we will help you....

RC complete hius ministrations of the injured Phinney.

"I think you'll survive but that is gonna smart for a while."

RC turns and heads for the cockpit to assist Gundark with the search.