Minutes later, having successfully dodged the quick aim of the Tusken Raiders and having made their way into the fairly narrow canyon, Trychon pulled Haley around one of two large boulders, and motioned for her to be quiet. They were now several hundred meters into the ravine, having walked slowly after finding the cover of the walls of rock.
Nearing the corner was two of the savages. Trychon closed his eyes, and Haley nearly asked him what he was doing, though she thought better of it. Raising his hand slightly, Trychon lifted the smaller boulder across from them up in the air. At nearly three meters across as well as tall, the boulder lifted from the ground nearly silently, and glided gracefully through the air.
It continued on until it held its position about four meters above the ground, just inside the entrance. Haley peered over the edge of their cover at it, with a look as close to awe as she ever showed. The two Tusken Raiders turned the corner, but then backed up several large steps, barking and gesturing at the hovering obstruction. Their motions continued on for a moment, before the rock jolted forward and down. It pushed them back quite a ways before rolling over them.
Trychon opened his eyes and began walking down the cavern, hiding a small grin from his companion. They walked nearly another klick in silence before finding what seemed to be an appropriate cavern.
Trychon pointed to it, and Haley held up a hand, warning caution. She closed her eyes half way for about half a second, which felt near an eternity for Trychon, who was in a hurry to find shelter and no hurry to discover his first Tatooine dust storm. She opened her eyes again and looked at Trychon. "It seems to be an abandoned Krayt Dragon dwelling... It should suffice for shelter for now."
Trychon closed his eyes and did not sense any living creature worth noting in the cave either. "What makes you so sure it's abandoned?" He asked Haley.
"It's empty." She responded. "No native being would be caught out in a dust storm."
That was enough sense for Trychon, who walked into the cave without grabbing his weapon, which he thumbed out of habit instead.
Trychon was wondering how far deep one would have to walk into a cave in a canyon to be safe from flying dust when Haley finally spoke again as they turned a small corner. "We should be safe here."
Trychon took a look around. It was much darker than it was just moments before, so he drew his lightsaber and ignited it. They were in what seemed to be a large room of sorts. It seemed to be a natural occurrence, though there were markings on some of the walls as though a very large set of claws had expanded certain parts. The caves extended beyond the 'room' though, and Trychon couldn't help but be curious why Haley was confident this was a safe distance. "Dare I ask how you know that for sure?" He asked her.
"The Krayt Dragon knew it was." She responded, walking around the room and taking note of the surroundings.
Trychon mumbled something to himself about knowing that comment was coming, but also walked around the room, looking for any potential issues. Finding none, he sat down in a corner, and fell into a quick meditation. You ok? He reached out to Raezyr through the Force. Normally, he wouldn't bother with even a quick meditation for communicating with his brother, but they didn't often communicate at a distance.
Nearly back to the base now. Where the hell are you? You feel like you're still way out there.
Ran into some complications. We're fine, but we can't make it back on the swoop. There's a sand storm coming, and we've taken temporary refuge in a cafe in the canyon.
I'm going to have to teach you how to drive one of these days, big bro. I'll send someone to pick you up as soon as the weather is settled. May the Force be with you.
Back at ya.
----------
"What are you doing?" Haley stood over Tychon, with a nearly quizzical look on her face.
"I was sending a message to Lord Raezyr, to let him know where we are and that we'll need pick up after the storm." Trychon dusted himself as he rose from the ground.
Haley dusted off a spot that he'd missed on his shoulder. "I admit, I had my doubts about your so called abilities before I saw what you did with that large stone."
Trychon smiled at her, but she didn't return the gesture. He shrugged internally and gathered up various sticks from around the cave. Haley followed suit and before long they had a decent size pile in the center of the area. Trychon ignited the center of it with his lightsaber, and was rewarded with a fire that lit the cave better than several glowsticks could, let alone his weapon.
They both watched the fire for a bit before anyone said anything. "How's your arm? I noticed you were favoring it slightly as you gathered the wood, yet you act as though it doesn't bother you." Trychon asked to break the ice.
Haley sat down on a rock she'd deemed suitable and moved to near the fire. "I'm fine. I took a blaster bolt early on in our escape, but the stims quickly abated the ill effects."
Trychon reached out and grabbed a similar rock and pulled it to him through the Force. He took a seat, about a meter away from Haley. "I didn't know you'd taken stims."
Haley turned to look at him. "They're like a biological upgrade. They are built into my systems to help the constant adjustment for having non biological components. In the instance such as a more severe injury, they adjust automatically."
Trychon got up and gave a brief examination to her wound. "So you'll be ok until we can get that tended to? It looks clean..."
"I'll live." She pulled her arm away from him. "However, without my backup power, I will soon lose control and access to my cybernetic components. I will have enough power to control the most necessary additions... but I will no longer have my stims, or my sensors."
"It will be ok." Was all Trychon could think to say, as he took his seat again on his rock, once again watching the fire burn slowly.
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