Star Wars: On The Run, Part 3

    In the dark days of the Nemon,
the Morrigu take flight.
One Mother, One Daughter,
One sister of the Night

    Spirit of Death
Phantom Queen of Plight
Will find Chu Culain's love
Gods will weep above

With Badb and Macha
and Children of the Light
Phantom Queen Anann will find her state
The Morrigu will open the gate

She will be mother to new Nemon
Her Phantom Crown, she will forsake
Once angel of Death, a new crown, she will Take


~Prophecy from the book of the Morrigu

Phantom Queen of the Nemon





    Obi-wan jumped out of Hyperspace above a red planet.  In his search for the fugitive Jedi Ahsoka Tano and Barriss Offee, and former Sith Assajj Ventress, he has been to several worlds.  He approaches orbit of the planet known only as "Beaudicca-3".  He looks over his scanners "R4" he calls out to his droid "Let's see what kind oflife signs this place holds"

    They came across a large mining ship.  It was the Red Nostromo.  Obi-wan flew in for a closer look.  R4 beeped a few times, pouring out information about the planet "What a dreadful world" he frowns "So few life forms.....I suppose it'll be easy to find Ahsoka and the others"

    He opened up a channel to the mining ship "Red Nostromo, this is Master Obi-wan Kenobi of the Republic.  Come in, Red Nostromo....."  There was no answer.  Obi-wan flew by the bridge.  It was dark.  Puzzled, he kept trying to hail them.  R4 beeped urgently.  Several small fighters popped up from the other side of the mining ship.  They fired a barrage of lasers.  He spent a few seconds trying to dodge the blasts.  He turned to face the attackers and fired back "Pirates!" he grimaced.  He whipped past them, but found himself surround.  Several solid blasts ripped into his starboard engine.  He left a trail of smoke and spun out of control into the atmosphere.  "MAY DAY!!  MAY DAY!!!  I'M GOING DOWN!  To any Republic ships in the vacinity or in the outer systems, I am making a crash landing on Beaudicca-3!  I have been attacked by pirates and have lost engine control!"  His craft spiraled downward to the planet.....



                                                      STAR WARS: ON THE RUN PART 3


                                                             MYSTERY PLANET



    The Sophonisba, having travelled through hyperspace for two days, was about ready to end its jump.  It was a moment to relax before catching up with Red Nostromo. Ahsoka Tano had left the Jedi to escape a horrible war and corruption within the Order she had once been dedicated to just weeks before.  With her, Assajj Ventress and Barriss offee, and a group of friends who set out to help her find peace away

from the darkness that surrounded Coruscant.  All of them had just narrowly avoided getting killed in a deadly ambush by the nefarious General Grievous.  For now, all was quiet.

    Ahsoka lay in a bed in the medical unit.  It was a small, cramped room on Ventress' small cramped Bounty Hunter ship, a ship she nicknamed "Sophy".  She was still recovering from exposure to the vacuum of space.  Barriss entered, suprising her with a tray of food.  "Rise and shine, Sleepy!" Barriss smiled big "By my calculations, it's morning somewhere in the Republic.  Time to eat!"  Ahsoka grinned

    "You're spoiling me.  I may have to slow dow my healing for more of this!".  The tray had meager amounts of food, small portions were stored in Ventress' pantry, having not anticipated she would be away from civilization for so long, or having so much company on board.  But Ahsoka was happy, grateful to be in good company.  Barriss had a nice hot cup of java ready, which helped to wake Ahsoka.  "We'll be jumping out of hyperspace soon" Barriss put the tray in front of Ahsoka "I thought I'd lighten the atmosphere.  We've been a bit crowded, with all these men on board, and only one facility to share.  One small shower stall!  It becomes very awkward, but at least we are among good people"

    "Any word from the Red Nostromo?  Has Vincent detected the Sepratists behind us?" Ahsoka inquired.  "No word from the mining ship.  At least Grievous isn't following us".  Ahsoka took a moment to hold Barriss' hand.  They smiled at each other, grateful to be alive.  Destiny had turned on them both.  They thought they had lost each other several times, and their friendship had been put to a terrible test.  

    They had beaten the odds, along with Ventress.  Barriss got up and left Ahsoka to enjoy her breakfast in quiet.

    She entered the recreational area.  Conradin, Lux and the Doctor sat in the cushion seat around the small game table.  "Morning sunshine!"  Conradin called out.  They were a little groggy, but Barriss put down a tray of food for them, and a bowl of yellow fruit  "Fantastic!" The Doctor grabbed one of the fruits, peeled it and bit into the soft white part inside.  "Good morning everyone!" She smiled.  

     Barriss lingered a nice look at Conradin as she sat down around the table with them.  "Is Ventress awake?"  "I think she and Riddick had to do some maintenance in the cargo bay.  They should be back shortly"

     Barriss could hear the faint sounds of metal and hammering going on.  The ship must have needed repairs, she thought.  "I hope we get to the Red Nostromo soon" Lux grinned as he ate some food "I like you guys a lot, but it's starting to get a little crowded here.  The lines for the one shower every 12 hours is a bit much".  Conradin nudged his friend "Lux, we are almost through this little patch.  We'll catch up with Mal and everyone can get a hot meal, a soft bed and plenty of private space"

    Barriss ate with them for awhile and went back to the small pantry "I'd better see if Assajj needs anything".  She fixed another tray for Ventress and Riddick, The Doctor jogged up next to her with a cautious look "I think Ventress seemed.....kind of busy when she left to do stuff.  You may want to wait for her to finish repairs"  Barriss looked at him, puzzled.  "I don't understand.  What kind of repairs was she making?"

    Lux, overhearing them talk, chimed in "Something about her and Riddick getting their 'pipes cleaned".  "Pipes?" Barriss went to the small sink and microwave, examining them.  She turned on the water system.  It poured out water in limited amounts for the sink.  Barriss shrugged "The pipes seem to work fine.  They must be done"  The Doctor blocked the direction of the cargo bay with some diplomacy

    "Well.....now, let's not be hasty.  Lads....lass"  he cleared his throat, trying to explain the term 'cleaning pipes' "You see....they're not.....really....doing maintenance.  I mean, they ARE.....of a sort.  You don't want to take the food to them.....not yet"  Barriss looked at him with a more puzzled look, then smiled "Doctor, really.  If they're through fixing the ship...What are you talking about?"

    He cleared his throat some more "Well, truth is....you know....all us lads and lasses in such tight quarters.....all this....tension.  You know....They're taking care of personal business".  Barriss tilted her head "Cleaning pipes?"  He nodded, hoping she understood "Yes".  Conradin, who was old enough to know what was going on, sort of agreed "Yeah.  You may want to let them eat when they want.  They're busy"

    She turned and looked at him "What are YOU talking about?  Is it maintenance or not?" "No" "Yes" Conradin and the Doctor both gave answers, then tried to switch answers.  Barriss shook her head and walked out with the food.  The Doctor gritted his teeth a little "Oh dear...."  Lux looked at them both, confused "Why are they still working if the sink is fixed?"  Conradin and the Doctor looked at each other with raised eyebrows.


    Barriss entered the cargo bay, careful to carry the tray down into the shadowy space "I have food, Ventress.  Ventress?  Riddick?"  She looked around.  The lights were low.  "Go ahead and put it by the stairs" Ventress called out.

    "I could bring it over"  She started walking towards Assajj's voice "If you want..." Ventress had an unusual purring in her voice.  Barriss rounded a small corner, and her heart stopped "Oh dear...." she gasped.  With lightning speed, she put the tray down and turned away.  Ventress and Riddick were lying together under a thick blanket.  He leaned against a pillow by the wall, unconcerned at Barriss' shock.  Ventress was resting on him, laying there by his chest with the biggest smile in the world.  Both of them were glowing fantastically.  Their clothes were scattered everywhere, and Ventress sounded slightly out of breath.

    "The others...." Barriss stuttered "they tried to tell me you were doing maintenance....cleaning the pipes, but the...the sink works, so I guess the pipes are clean?"  Ventress looked into Riddicks strange eyes and was in a whole other world "Yes" She replied in a dream state "These pipes are clean"  She caressed his chest, and could not stop from dropping small kisses all over his shoulder and neck "Sorry, I seem to be distracted, Barriss."

    "Oh, it's ok" Barriss walked very fast to the stairs, stuttering a mile a minute "I'm sorry I interrupted I didn't mean to....oh dear...."  She ran up the stairs, completely embarrassed.

    Riddick put his arm around Ventress, caressing her neck and shoulder.  She closed her eyes with that same glowing smile "She seems tense" He finally spoke.  Ventress snuggled up to him "She's got abstinence down to an art and a science.  She needs to have a wild man show her a good time.  Too many old Jedi habits".  He smiled "We should let her and Conrad explore after we dock with Nostromo" he

grinned "Let them get a few ideas of their own"  Ventress giggled "Honey, those two wouldn't know what to do if you took their clothes and left an instruction manual.  They'll probably end up knitting a sweater together, or doing crossword puzzles...." they laugh and embrace in a bunch of kisses.


    Barriss rushed back to the recreation area, then calmly stopped and walked cooly, like nothing happened.  Conradin, The Doctor and Lux were playing a card game at the table, trying to not look at Barriss, trying to save her from further embarrasement.  Vincent floated out of the cockpit.  The droid monitored their progress while people had slept earlier "Ah, Good morning, Ms Offee" he floated towards her.  Vincent floated by "Good Morning, Ms Barriss" the droid called out, somewheat cheerfully.

    "Yes" She replied to him "Good morning, Vincent".  She quickly started to drink hot mug of java, somewhat nervously. "Oh dear" Vincent's big white eyes stared at her "You walked in on them having sex, didn't you?"  Barriss sprayed her java in mid drink.  Conradin and the Doctor looked at Vincent in disbelief.  Lux still had no clue what just happened.....


    As the hour wound down, Everything returned to as normal as possible.  Ventress and Riddick made their way to the cockpit, preparing to end their travel through hyperspace.  "Everybody, get ready to pack your things" Ventress announced "we'll be dropping out of hyperspace to board the mining ship."

    Barriss went to Ahsoka and gathered up some of their things.  The others cleaned up a bit around the ship.

    "All right, Sophy" Ventress smiled "Let's wrap it up!"  She dropped out of hyperspace.  Conrad sat down next to Vincent in the back seats of the cockpit.  Lux and Barriss peaked in to watch as the ship approached the dull red planet.

    "Where are we at?" Barriss inquired.  Ventress casually worked the controls as she answered "It's the planet....Beaudicca-3....Doesn't look like much."  She scanned the orbit of the planet, and spotted Red Nostromo.  "There we go!" She sighed.  Conradin smiled.   "Finally!  We can sleep in real beds!" he commented.  Ventress grinned with a glance over at Riddick "Yeah.  Real beds" she purred quietly.


    They made their approach towards one of the hangar bays.  Riddick casually punched up a hailing frequency "Mal, come in.  We want to land."  There was no response.  Riddick kept hailing the ship, but there was no response.

    "Something's wrong" Vincent sounded like he frowned.  Conradin started to get suspicious as well "Yeah, we may want to back away."  Vincent became alarmed "Evasive manuevers!  I'm picking up fighter craft, coming in hot!"

    6 fighters launched from the Red Nostromo.  Conradin's jaw dropped.  Barriss felt his alarm "Do you have fighters on board?" she hoped maybe this was a mistake.  Conradin was frantic at his station "We certainly do not!  Those are pirates!"

    Ventress started flying defensively as the pirates opened fire.  "Just like you, Conrad!" she frowned "Always believing in people when they let you down!"

    "No" He replied "Mal's not a pirate, and he doesn't mingle with them.  He must have gotten ambushed!"

    Several blasts rocked the ship "Everyone brace yourselves!  Evasive maneuvers and headaches coming up!"


    The pirates blasted at Sophy's engines.  Sparks started flying from some of the consoles.  The ship rattled with each blast.

    Riddick went to the lockers and grabbed a toolbox "I'm on it!" He called out as he scrambled to the engine room.  Ventress looked unhappy as the ship made several discouraging noises.  "She'll hold together!" Ventress' reassurance was not well recieved as the Sophonisba careened towards the atmosphere.

    Another blast rocks the ship.  Conradin and Lux go back to warm up the guns.  The Doctor goes back to check on Ahsoka.  Barriss sits in a seat, watching as Ventress tries to evade with more and more difficulty.  Another blast creates sparks in the cockpit "Shield generator is out!" Vincent reports.

    "These guys are playing for keeps!  CONRAD!  LUX!  WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING!?  HAVING A TEA PARTY!?  SHOOT THEM!!" Ventress yelled.

    Manning the guns, Conradin and Lux had a lot of difficulty.  "They aren't droids, which I would consider a form of cheating at this point!" Conradin yelled back.  He and Lux continued to throw return fire at the pirates, but the sleek fighters were too fast.  Lux swore under his breath at the speed in which they dodged his blasters

    Lux finally pinged one.  It left a trail of exhaust.  Conradin had little luck with the fighters flying by him.  He nicked one here, dented one there.  They seemed to be too fast.  "Oh come on!"  One of the fighters zoomed in and fired a missle towards him.  Conrad stared as red lights started flashing.  "Well....shit."

    A huge explosion rocked the ship.  Ventress felt like she almost got thrown out of her chair.  3 different alarms went off as the ship helplessly tumbled into the atmosphere.  "We got a hull breach!!" Ventress tried to stabilize the ship, with no success.  Everything was shutting down.  How could dumb pirates be this good?

    Barriss ran over to the ladder.  Air was furiously flying up from where Conradin's gun post was.  She looked down and gasped.  "Conrad!"  She called out.  He was trapped in a precarious position.  His

gun post was gone.  Not just smashed, or dammaged by the blast.  It was *gone*  The hull had caved in around him from the impact, squashing him against the ship.  He looked up, blood coming out of his mouth.

His feet dangled at the edge of outer atmosphere of the planet.  The wind whipped around him as he looked at her "I don't feel too good"

    She tried reaching down.  She grabbed his collar, but he was wedged in.  His wounds weren't bad, but he was a mess.  "Hold on!"  He raised an eyebrow as she ran off to get help.  "I'm not going anywhere" He replied.  He looked down, into the abyss.  He could see the planet surface far below, and it was coming up at him fast.

    Lux climbed down and looked at him.  "Can you move?  You've got Force powers.  Can't you....?"  Conradin shook his head "I'm pretty much stuck.  Besides....if I get freed...." They both grimaced as he looked down.  Thick, polluted Clouds were whipping by him.  Lux ran up to the cockpit.  He entered.  Ventress was frantically trying to get the ship back online.

    "Why aren't you at your post!?" She barked.

    "Conradin's trapped, we gotta get him up!  His gun, every part of his section is gone!  He's practically dangling out of the ship!"

    She shook her head.  At least the pirates broke off their attack.  But Sophy was sinking like a stone.  The panel showed they probably would slam into the planet in two minutes, maybe less.  She could land it on its belly, maybe some of them would survive.....but Conradin would be crushed on impact.  She blanked out and froze for a few seconds.  Vincent turned to them Riddick is trying to jumpstart the engines.  I'm rerouting the systems to give us as much power as we can when we get back online.  Ventress?  VENTRESS!"

    She snapped out of it "I heard you, dammit!"  But she was unsure now.  She had to block out the panic that crept up on her.  Ahsoka.  She thought of Ahsoka.  "DOCTOR!  Get Ahsoka and brace for impact!"

    The Doctor had already grabbed Ahsoka Tano out of the medical bay  "Got her!"  He ran, carrying her down to the engine room.  He met up with Riddick.  He put down Ahsoka and used his little contraption to tweak the electrical controls.  "Can that device restart the engines?" Riddick called out as he wiped sweat from his forehead.  The doctor fiddled with it "I'm trying to reconfigure the output.  Give me 15 seconds!"

    "BRACE FOR IMPACT!" Ventress saw the altitude meter spinning wildly to the ground "THIRTY SECONDS!!".  Ventress gripped the control and buckled up in her seat, but it was a useless gesture without engine power.  She looked at Vincent.  "Take care of the survivors.  Whoever's left."

    Vincent multitasked a dozen different calculations and programs with the ships faltering computer as she spoke, and turned to her with little interruption of his higher functions "I'm flattered you assume I will make it through the crash.  I assure you, I have a 12% chance.  No much, but I will take your request into consideration.  Faith can move mountains if you let it, though...."  Vincent's words did not necessarily make her feel better, but she took them as the compliment he meant them to be.  "thank you for everything, Vince" she concluded.  The ship tumbled through the air in its downward spiral.  

Vincent wasn't ready to give up, so he went back to his calculations.  Lux started to shake as he buckled up.  He was terrified as he saw the ground coming up.

    Barriss went back to Conradin.  She looked down at him, helpless.  He looked up at her  "You may not want to witness this" He said, his voice shaking.  Her jaw dropped in horror, but she wasn't ready to quit.  She put out a hand and tried once more to grab him  He couldn't budge.  She frantically braced herself on her knees and pulled both hands forward, concentrating on him and the hull that pinned him in.  She concentrated, using the force.  It slowly bent at the hull, but it wasn't going fast enough.

    "Get to safety!" Conradin called up.  She refused to listen.

    "It's no good!" Riddick called out.  He couldn't get the engine going.  The combat strained it, and it screeched as it tried to restart.  The Doctor gritted his teeth as he increased the power in his

device "Come on, my little Screwdriver, don't fail me now.  NOT NOW!!!"

    Riddick went over to Ahsoka and picked her up.  The Doctor kept increasing the power, aiming his device at the engine core "Come on!!  JUST THIS ONCE everybody lives!  Just this once, don't have me bury someone because I couldn't DO ENOUGH!!!  Don't end like this, give me just one more miracle!  COME ON!!!  JUST THIS ONCE!!!  EVERYBODY LIVES!!!"

    The Screwdriver made a buzzing sound that got loud.  The Engine hummed to life, glowing blue from its power core.  Everything started to kick in.

    "We have power!" Vincent went into activating all his calculations to draw power to the ship as quickly as possible.  Staring at a hard wasteland surface rising up with seconds to impact, Ventress punched the acceleration to push the ship up as she fought the steering controls to keep from hitting the ground.  She barely made it, though it only delayed the crash, and helped level them out for a more horizontal crash landing rather than a sudden vertical killer.  Lux clutched the seat and held his breath.  Ventress yelled one long obscenity as the ship dipped to the ground after one last gasp.

    Conradin quickly glanced down as the ground ran to him, the unstoppable force of gravity.  He looked up at Barriss.  "Goodbye" He whispered.  Wether Barriss heard him or not was irrelevant.  She sensed the ground coming up, sensed her power was stil not enough.  At the last second she threw her hands to him and DEMANDED the Force out of herself through sheer will power.  She yelled, unleashing her chi upon

Conradin.  The hull was ripped asunder from him, and his body shot up to her.  They grabbed each other as the ship plowed into the ground.  The hull where Conradin was a moment before is smashed and crushed.

The ship nearly fell apart as it left a trail of debris, fire and smoke in the long, disturbed canal of destruction.

    The Doctor got tossed about, and was not feeling good after hitting the third wall in the face with his body.  Riddick held Ahsoka tightly while clutching a part of the ship.  He was well braced for impact, but felt the pain in his muscles to stay in place.  Ahsoka held onto him as the ship rocked violently into the ground until it came to a complete halt.

    Everyone hed still in a state of shock.  Vincent, having hovered through most of it, avoided a lot of wear and tear, but ran a diagnostics chek on himself to clear up any bugs in his systems.  "We have come to a complete stop, Ms Ventress.  I have scanned the ship.  All vitals and life signs of the crew have been accounted for.  We made it."  Vincent let out a small sigh of relief.  Vincent exited the cockpit to check on the others.  The ship was a mess.

    Ventress forced herself to let go of the controls.  She looked around ather ship.  She leaned back in her chair and sighed.  "Thank you, Sophie."

    Conradin and Barriss were on the floor in a survival embrace, each trying to cover the other from debris and shrapnel.  Despite her efforts to cover him from debris, Conradin was on top of her, shielding her from most of the damage.  The hallway around them was littered with dirt from the outside , having slipped in through multiple hull breaches.  There were parts and wires everywhere.

    Barriss and Conradin clutched each other closely, looking into each others eyes.  "You ok?" He asked.  She nodded, but said nothing.  He got up off of her, helping her up.  She had a small limp, feeling sore in one leg.  He hugged her briefly, grateful.  Vincent floated by.  "Is everyone ok, Vincent?" Barriss' voice was weak as she looked to the droid.

    "All life signs are active.  I am going to check on everyone."  She tried walking, but the pain was too much.  Conradin helped her along as they followed Vincent.  They didn't have to go far.  Riddick came down the hall with Ahsoka in his arms "Vincent, what are the chances those pirates will send out a scouting party?"

    "I have not had a chance to examine our enviroment, except to say we are in a vast toxic wasteland hundreds of miles from everywhere and nowhere.....no, wait.  I take that back.  I'm picking up signals."

    The Doctor wobbled up to them, holding his head.  "You got enough miracle left in you to walk?" Riddick looked at him, impressed.  The Doctor moaned a little "I'll get as far as we need to go if you tell me there's an aspirin out there on the planet surface....."

    Ahsoka got down from Riddick, grateful he was there to hold her.  She walked carefully over to Barriss and hugged her.  "We made it" She whispered.  "Ventress?" She called out "we need to get moving!"

    Assajj Ventress walked quickly out of the cockpit, followed by Lux.  "Everone gather up what supplies we can.  They're coming for us, and I want to be far from here!  Riddick, fill as many canteens with water as you can, give one to each person.  Doc, you get the medical supplies.  Lux, blankets.  Conradin, weapons.  Vincent, do a recon of the surface.  MOVE IT!"

    Ventress grabbed her own set of supplies from one of the lockers, and went to examine Ahsoka and Barriss.  She started looking over Barriss leg.  It was sprained but ok.  "Ahsoka, you good enough to move?"

    Ahsoka inched her way to the door "I'm good.  I'll help with Barriss"  She went to carry Offee towards the door.

    "I'm sorry, I am going to be a burden until this gets better".  Ahsoka noogied her hair with a smile.  There were no worries as long they were alive and together.  Ventress ran about like a mother hen, handing stuff to Barriss and Ahsoka.  "Here's extra water.  Do not share it, do not waste it" she hurried, grabbing a long sniper rifle and extra ammo, stuffing things in a handy backpack.  "Flashlights, flares, painkillers.....soap!"  She grabbed stuff and shoved it in the bag.  She gave Ahsoka and Barriss extra lightsabers "These are your life!  Treat them well."  She looked around as others scrambled to clear out the ship.  "We ready?" she called out.  Everyone lined up to leave.  Ventress looked around at the ship one more time.  Not sentimental, but noting with Irony how Sophie chose not to be captured by the enemy.  She led the party out the cargo bay.

    "Ms Ventress, you must excuse the colorful metaphors that spring forth from my communication circuit....but this is a real shit hole of a planet." Vincent looked around as they exited the ship and climbed out of the huge ditch that stretched for half a mile.

    Ventress was not offended by the droid's assesment of the situation.  "I think you captured the sentiment exactly" She replied.  They all looked around.  It was a desert wasteland, desolate and the air smelled a little toxic.

    "The atmosphere is breathable, but the impurities I'm measuring are thick.  I suggest we leave the planet so we don't develope unique cancers over the next 20nyears, because that is what we can expect if we live here long.

    "Which way are the Pirate signals emitting from?" She asks.

    Vincent turned towards the rising sun.  "I estimate it is still early morning on this side of the planet.  Temperature slowly rising.  The pirates are in the north and Northwest regions.  I get some weak radio signals, but they wlll close in on this location in the next hour, suggesting they have fast transports, maybe ground vehicles or something in the air."  Before Ventress can respond, he continues.  

"I estimate the desert heat will reach intense levels in the next 3 hours.  This will no doubt cause the Pirates to abandon their search for us, but it also means we need to find shelter, or wounds will

become infected and heat exhaustion will overwhelm some of us."  He floated ahead, waiting for further instructions.

    Assajj, Riddick and Conradin scanned the horizon.  "There's some moutains to the southeast.  Make for high ground?"  Conradin looked.

    Ventress pulled out some powered binoculars "There are some ruins several miles close to them, sounds like a good idea.  We keep marching at my pace, folks.  I'll carry wounded if I have to, but we keep moving!"  They started out.

    Lux walked next to Ahsoka as Conradin offered to help Barriss along.  Her body still ached from previous wounds, but she smiled bravely for him as they walked.  "I have an extra bottle of water.  take it"

    Ahsoka tried to refuse.  "You should save that for yoursef.  It's going to get brutal out here soon."

    He smiled bravely for her this time.  "Take it.  I have plenty."  She reluctantly put the bottle away.  They held hands.  "I'm glad you're ok.  I...I didn't want to think about all that had happened.  I can't imagine what it was like for you, back there when Captain Finn....."

    "Yeah.  It was rough.  I thought of you, Barriss, all my friends.  But, we're here now, and now is good"  she smiled.  The walk was long, boring, and the scenery was desolate.  Ahsoka and Lux looked around and did not find much to be joyful about.  It was a scarred desert, with cracked soil, sand swept mounds that were almost dunes.  What little vegetation there was looked burnt from exposure, and brown

puddles of profane liquids bubbled in various spots as they walked by.

    "If I didn't know better, I'd say this planet is toxic to all life!" Lux commented with a sour look.  "Vincent" he called "Is there any radiation poisoning?  Or toxic chemicals?"

    Vincent did not hesitate to answer "Unfortunately there is a little of both.  Not in harmful doses.  The radiation levels are minimal, but they are present.  My examination of the enviroment leads me to conclude that this radiation is not part of the natural enviroment.  This planet was bathed in it!"

    Ventress frowned "You mean the war did this?"

    "It is entirely possible, though I need more data to be sure."

    The wind picked up.  A buzzing drifted to their ears.  They looked out and spotted a herd of animals migrating in the far off distance.  Ventress scanned the herd with her binoculars.  The wind whipped by, the buzzing lazily flew through the air.  Riddick stared hard out at the animals.  "You think they might be a food source?" He inquired.

    Ventress didn't respond for a moment.  Near the herd, she spotted a humanoid lizard, dressed in white robes.  The lizard like being smiled at her and waved.  Something about the person made her feel uneasy.  In an instant, he vanished, perhaps a desert mirage.  She put away the Binoculars "They are nothing we need to be concerned about for now.  If we run low, and cannot find other supplies, we'll turn to the animal life as a last resort.  frankly, I don't think I want to eat what I saw out there."  Riddick raised an eyebrow, but didn't question.

    Barriss and Conradin walked together, though he helped her along when her leg ached.  "Here, I have an extra bottle of water for you" He whispered as he handed it to her.  She took the water, but looked at him cautiously.

    "Do you have enough?  I don't want to take your share.  We could be in for a horrid day."  Conradin waved at her that it would not be a worry.

    "I will be fine.  We need to find shelter soon and get you off that leg."  He held her close.  Barriss blushed a little.  "You don't have to worry so much.  I'm a healer.  When we get a chance to rest, I will take care to fix  myself.  The leg hurts only a little bit"  She smiled.

    The buzzing got a little louder.  Riddick stopped, listened and looked around.  He looked at Ventress.  They looked at Vincent.  "Can you sense anything, Vince?" he asked with urgency.

    Vincent paused.  "Radiation....we must be in a zone saturated with more of it.  I cannot detect....oh damn!"  The droid looked behind them, back at the crash site.  Three pirate helicopters were far off in the distance, buzzing towards the wreckage.  It would only be a matter of time before they circled around to find survivors.  Ventress grunted and picked up the pace.

    "MOVE IT, PEOPLE!  TO THE RUINS!"  Everyone went faster.  Conradin picked up Barriss, the doctor limped a little faster, keeping behind Vincent.  Ventress almost broke into a run.  The first missle landed nearby with a crackling explosion.  They had been spotted.