DIGGING IN THE DIRT, PART II

Collapsed Chamber <Spice Mines: Kessel>

It is pitch black. You can see absolutely nothing. You can feel loose dirt along the walls, and it is impossible to gain a purchase to climb. You can hear the faint sound of flowing water.

Phoenix is curled up on the floor. She has a few shallow cuts on her face and several deep bruises all over. As she returns to conciousness, she utters a soft nngh, blinking and wondering why it's so dark. Then the events of yesterday come crashing in and she remembers.

Rynacer is moving along the walls, feeling the rocks that surround him, in one hand he has his pickaxe and the other he is surveying his surroundings as if he were prepping himself to dig.

Phoenix stands, looking around, out of habit. She flips her braid over her shoulder, "'Ey.." Her voice is wary, as if she's unsure of who she's adressing. Most likely that's exactly the way things are.

Rynacer pauses as he notices the voice. Not being able to talk right, walks over to the teen's voice an kneels down and confirms with a faint whisper which doesnt require a tougue to master "Hey."

Phoenix smiles slightly, moving towards the sound, "Uhm...do you hear running water, Rynacer?" She glances down at her bandaged hands but, since it's dark, she can't tell if the bandages are soaked with blood or not - the copper tang of blood says they are, but they could still be usable for a while.

Rynacer whispers "waaa err fwuud yuu an meh, diig again sss waa err."

Phoenix bites her bottom lip, slowly deciphering the words, "The water's going to flood the area? An' we have to dig our way out of here in order to survive?" She's pretty sure she understood him..but it's best to check, just in case.

Rynacer mmhmm's, "ohh kay, we diig diag no to fee dom", he then pauses, "Po an I fwy uuuhs out."

Phoenix nods, "Ok...we dig diagonal?" She smiles at Rynacer, reaching one hand out to touch where she thinks his is. If she manages to touch, the bandage will feel wet and smell strongly of the coppery tang that's so distinctive of human blood.

Nothing can bother Rynacer more than his mouth pain that was ignored at the infirmary, so he had no problem contacting her hand. "Me finne nu mouuth, beeee normol agan." I wite my fweeling bown onba fwor fo yuu." He then takes her hand and trys to begin to write a sentence guiding her fingers along.

Phoenix nods, letting her fingers be guided. She slowly sorts out the letters, sounding them out quietly. Her hands hurt already and Rynacer's actions are just making them hurt more - but she's ignoring the pain as much as she can, focusing on the words.

Rynacer writes one word at a time, erases them and starts a new one, a hard and long process but it is able to be done, "Man it sucks to be without a tougue, but I know it was worth it because your still alive. I am not a cocky person and I didnt taunt Ponda because I had a big mouth, I did it because someones life was in danger. I am usually a quiet man so it wont hurt me much. I just want you to know that I care about you alot and I would rather lose a tougue than see you die in a horrible way, Ill try to get us out but that idiot is going to kill us all if he doesnt think right, he need to work together so we can see another day." He then pauses and then puts his head down, with his arms covering it.

Phoenix crouches beside Rynacer, trying to figure out where his face and mouth are. Once she's found both, she'll kiss Rynacer on the lips, pulling away if it isn't returned or if he tries to break away; if he does pull back or something, she'll murmur a soft, "Thank you," once contact is broken, blushing slightly although it's probably impossible to see in the dark.

Rynacer lets himself be kissed which brings a smile to his face which he hasnt gotten one in years.

Phoenix pulls away slowly, kissing Rynacer on the cheek and murmuring quietly, "Thank you." She doesn't move too far away, blushing.

Rynacer sits and thinks about how he is going to get out of this mess he and his cell mates have gotten into.

Phoenix sits beside Rynacer, resting her head on his shoulder once she's found it. She closes her eyes, seeming happy where she is. If she's thinking about how to get out of the chamber, she doesn't say so out loud.

Rynacer ponders, he calculates the distance fell and the water flow that can be heard.

Phoenix on the other hand doesn't calculate anything at all. Mostly because she's not too good with numbers. She just sleeps, soft, even breathing the only sound she makes.

Rynacer understands what he has to do, he also notices all that hes been through, making credits living a honest life, then turned into a prisoner only to be baited for the cost of his tougue. He would have never of thought this would have happened, and yet it haunts him why it had to be this way. He then clears his mind and answers one question left. "Will baba kill him before he has a chance to escape."

Phoenix shifts slightly, eyes opening. Not that it makes much difference in the scenery. She glances at Rynacer, "So...what're we gonna do? How long're we going t'have t'dig until we get out of here?" She doesn't know if Rynacer has been figuring out the answers to these questions...but she doesn't know who else she can ask.

Rynacer trys to grab Phoenix's hand to write out his reply.

Phoenix winces slightly, but allows her hand to be grabbed. The bandages on the hand Rynacer gets are soaked with blood, a thin coat of the stuff sticking to his fingers if he touches her hand for more then a second or so.

Rynacer writes out a message on the ground writing guiding her hand along, and pausing to indictate the start of a new word, "We will dig along this water, not through it, We keep close to water, well have more oxygen, when we reach up a mile, Ill crack a water leak to drink from since water pressure is smaller. When we get up to the surface, I need a commlink to call help to pick us up.

Phoenix nods, "Yeah, but...they took my comms. An' my PDA." She considers quietly, "We might find some on a guard, if any of them got killed in the accident.."

Rynacer nods, then writes some more on her hand, "If we take shifts we can get out of this in 2 days."

Phoenix considers quietly, "How quickly is the water rising? Do we have two days to do this in?" She rests her head on Rynacer's shoulder, closing her eyes as she awaits an answer.

Rynacer Writes some more guiding her hand, "We will beat this water and if it rises so do we, we will finish before the water, us four will have to work constantly, I calcuated the distance and we should be out of the corner of the prison, where we can hitch a ride, Ponda will have to take out a storm trooper so me and Poe and look like them. Then we can highjack a ship out of this joint.

Phoenix nods, "'Kay...we might find some dead STs, an' you could use their uniforms." She ponders quietly, "Maybe I could look like one.." She doesn't sound like she thinks this is very likely though, kissing Rynacer on the cheek and blushing slightly. The flush of her cheeks is almost impossible to see in the dark though.

Phoenix is sitting beside Rynacer, the man holding one of her hands and guiding the fingers to write words. The teen is blushing slightly although it's impossible for most to see the flush of her cheeks in the dark.

Rynacer writes some more with hope in his eyes, "We can dress up as troopers and escort Ponda, saying we are trading him for Solo because Jaba has a price on his head.

Phoenix hmms softly, "Maybe...would that be likely to happen though?"

Rynacer writes, I heard the empire wanted Solo, thats what Ponda told me.

Poe stirs, groaning as he shifts his ribs. He opens his eyes, then remembers he can't see anything, then closes them again.

Phoenix mms quietly, "Maybe...the Di--the group I'm in might figure out a way to rescue us.." She cuts herself off before she says the word 'Diamonds' fully, closing her eyes.

Rynacer writes as hes almost finished, "Tell my plans to the others and tell Poe that I consider him a true friend."

Phoenix nods, "Ok...guys..Poe, Baba? Rynacer has a plan he thinks will work.." She waits for an answer, falling silent.

Poe doesn't turn his head or answer, but he lets them know he's listening with a grunt.

The water everyone has been hearing doesn't take long to find. The chill liquid is lapping at shoes, about an inch deep.

Rynacer Guides her hand, "Ok lets go do this, explain and I start digging."

Ponda Baba looks around in the shadows of the cavity. "Flooding," he grunts in Basic.

Phoenix glances in Baba's direction, "We know, Baba. Rynacer has a plan he thinks will get us out of here..we're gonna dig our way back up to the shaft an' then try to find some ST uniforms to dress up in." She glances at Rynacer, murmuring softly, "Do you want me to tell all of it? Baba might not like some parts.."

Poe grunts again. He is lying on a pile of stones, just above the water, so that he isn't soaked. He stands up a few moments later, gritting his teeth against the pain in his ribs. "Yeah, flooding. I don't know about you, but I have know idea which way is 'back up to the shaft'. Or how far we fell. My vote is to find where the water is coming from before we do anything else."

Rynacer finishes his last writings guiding her hand, "I calculated all of this and we should hit the surface ASAP."

Ponda Baba growls, gazing with expressionless black glossy eyes at Poe. Then he looks toward Rynacer. "Talking hoo-man right. No map. No safe way. Fool."

Phoenix says, "Rynacer says he calculated all that and we /should/ hit the surface as soon as possible."

"Cal-coo-late?" Ponda splashes through the water with lumbering feet, approaching Phoenix and
Rynacer. "How do? No map! No light! No see how fell!"

Phoenix glances at Rynacer, tensing as Ponda moves towards them.

Poe manages to stand all the way up, shaking his head in the dark. "I don't know what you could've based your calculations on, but even saying he does know the direction and the distance, do either of you know anything about digging tunnels? Do we have support beams? How can me make a safe passage way? I hate to admit it, but I agree with the Aqualish." He starts to slowly walk towards Phoenix's voice as well, hearing Baba on the move.

Rynacer writes some more, "If not try we die, better chance than staying here doing nothing."

Phoenix quickly figures out Rynacer's words, "Rynacer says if we don't try, we'll die and it's a better chance than staying here doing nothing."

Poe says, "And what about you?"

Ponda Baba laughs harshly. "If try, we die! Fool!" He stands still, but continues bellowing and grunting. "No smart! Stupid! Ponda kill! Ponda not put life in fool hands!"

Rynacer writes, "What does Ponda want to do."

Phoenix shrugs, glancing at Rynacer, "Ponda..Rynacer wants to know what you want to do."

"Ponda not know!" the Aqualish growls. "Not do fool thing!" He turns toward Poe. "Stop flood?"

Rynacer writes, "You know they dont care about us, were low life prisoners to them, if we stop the flood thats good but we all die here alone."

Phoenix nods, "Rynacer's right..." She blinks, realizing that the rest don't know what he just said, "He says they don't care about us; we're just prisoners. If we manage to stop the flood, sure, that's a good thing..but we'll still die here alone."

Poe shrugs his shoulders, just slightly, then makes a note not to do that again. "If we find the water, we can try to stop the flood. Or it might lead us to an underground river. The water might be fresh enough to drink, and their might be edible plants living nearby. But that's getting ahead of things. We should at least try to find it. Even if we dig in the right direction, the mine shaft has probably collapsed, who knows how far up. I agree we need to try and survive, to find a way out, but we need to work out all our options."

Growling, Ponda nods to Poe. He then turns toward Phoenix. "Not do fool thing. No-talk hoo-man fool. He no-talk hoo-man because fool. No-talk hoo-man dig, break up, bring down. Ponda kill. Yes?"

Rynacer writes, "We die here waiting..."

Phoenix sighs quietly, shrugging and saying softly, "He says we'll die here waiting..." She gazing in the direction of Poe's voice, "And if the water's just from the resevoir or something? What then? What if we /can't/ stop the flood - or not in time to keep it from filling the area we're in? Isn't it better to try and get back up into the shaft, where we'll at least have space to try an' escape the flood then freeze or drown to death tryin' t'stop it?"

"Stang!" the Aqualish snarls. "Soft hoo-man also fool!" He jerks a clawed thumb toward ceiling. "Rock." He jerks thumb again. "More rock. Shift rock. Come down! FOOL!"

Rynacer writes, "Tell him we dig around the big rock."

Phoenix nods quietly, "Rynacer says we dig /around/ the big rock."

Poe just sighs. "Then there is nothing supporting it.

Ponda Baba grunts. "Fool."

Rynacer writes a response, "If we dig diagonally the fallen supports will slide down into this big hole."

Phoenix sighs softly, "He says if we dig diagonally, the fallen supports will slide down into this big hole." She blinks, turning to face Ryn, "But..what good'll that do? They're probably broken."

"Shut him up," Ponda growls at Poe, leaning toward the human in the shadows, "or Ponda silence hands."

Poe says, "Look at it his way. This cavern is one of two things. It's a natural cave, which is stable, but at least one of these walls is made of the debris from the tunnel. That wall is the one we'd dig on, but we dig even a foot into it, the wall just collapses, making a near wall and probably crushing one or more of us. OR the cavern is made completely of fall rock and dirt, in which case it's highly unstable and we start digging, the whole thing collapses and we all die."

Poe glances at Ponda, but doesn't respond to the comment.

Rynacer closes his eyes and drifts away from the situation.

Phoenix sighs quietly, "Poe...does Kessel even have any rivers, underground or not?"

"Need guide," the Aqualish growls mockingly. He stalks off into the shadows.

Poe says, "I don't know. I'm going to try and find where the water is coming from though." He starts to splash through the water, heading towards the sound of the running water, or at least where he thinks it's coming from.

Rynacer nudges Phoenix off of his shoulder and gets up and helps Poe search for the opening.

Phoenix stands, moving as quietly as she can towards Poe; which, granted, isn't very quiet, considering all the water on the ground. She sighs softly, "Wish there were some light.."

Ponda Baba moves under the rock overhang and crouches, picking up a chunk of stone. He grumbles: "Ponda throw rock noise. Go rock noise."

The rock tossed by Ponda Baba arcs through the darkness and then comes down near the east wall, where a rough scree of rubble from the collapsed shaft has spilled. About three feet up the scree, the rapid trickling begins, feeding the flow into the cavern.

Phoenix blinks as she hears the stone land, trotting towards it. She's cautious since she can't see where she's placing her feet but she knows where she's headed, "I heard where it landed! This way.." She exaggerates her splashing for a few seconds after that, making it quite clear where she is.

Ponda Baba remains in his crouch, in the shadows, watching.

Rynacer is lost and finds himself not knowing what he is doing, he hears the voice of Phoenix and walks over to accompany her.

Phoenix splashes on towards the place where the stone landed, waiting for the others once she gets there. She squints, trying to adjust her eyes to the lack of light and failing. She sighs, closing her eyes and splashing at the water boredly.

Rynacer kneels down next to Phoenix, and searches with his hands.

Phoenix waves one hand under the water, hissing softly as it opens several cuts, "If nothin' else, we might be able to use this t'wash out my cuts.."

Poe follows after Phoenix. "We'll have to use mud, packed with rocks, to block the water."

Rynacer without hesitation, starts up and walks to gather medium size rocks.

The water continues to rise noticeably, and is above your ankles now.

Phoenix nods and sighs, standing and picking up smaller rocks. She says, "Poe, you pick up the mud - I ain't gonna get any on my bandages if I can help it an' I don't know Rynacer's feelings about messin' around with wet dirt..but we're gonna have to hurry. The water's risin' fast." She glances over to where she heard Ponda last, sighing softly and then going back to finding rocks that are about palm-sized or a bit larger.

There are a lot of such rocks around, along with plenty of mud.

Poe gathers up mud, then starts to pack it tightly where the water is coming out, if he can manage to stop the flow, he'll have Phoenix and Rynacer pack it with the stones for support, so the mud doesn't give way as quickly when the water pressure builds up.

Rynacer soon gathers a pile of medium sized rocks as he then sets one at a time to where Poe had put the mud.

Phoenix picks up one rock, bringing it back over to the water and trying to place it into the hole - or where she thinks the hole is, anyways.

It is impossible to say at first whether this makeshift dam is having any effect.

Rynacer keeps hauling the rocks and setting them in place working hard even though he feels like crap.

Poe just continues to pack the mud. He glances over to where he last heard Baba. "You going to help, or don't you mind drowning?"

Phoenix places the rock, getting another and putting it in place. Hopefully, the dam will work - if it doesn't, however, they're going to have to do something in order to get out of the cavern before it's completely flooded. The teen says as much, "Guys..if we don't manage to block the water, we're gonna have t'get out of here somehow before we're completely flooded."

It would appear that the water level has remained more or less constant, somewhere around thigh-deep, for the last several moments. It's hard to say for sure, but it seems that the immediate danger has passed. Unfortunately, there are no dry places left in the chamber, and the water is uncomfortably, although not dangerously, cold.

Poe packs a little more mud on the hole, then stops. "I think we managed to stop it for now. But as for getting out, I still don't think trying to dig back up is a good idea. No offense Rynacer, but I don't think we can trust your calculations, and we'd risk more rocks collapsing on us."

Rynacer sets the last rock as he phewws.

Phoenix shivers, teeth chattering, "If we can't dig up, then what /can/ we do, Poe?" She tries to stifle her trembling but fails as it grows worse.

Rynacer hearing the trembling, gets up, advances and trys to hold Phoenix to keep her from catching a cold.

The attempt to keep Ix from catching a cold may or may not work, but the teen doesn't resist being held, still shivering uncontrollably. She wraps her arms around herself, resting her head on Rynacer's chest and trying to stay warm. She doesn't succeed very well though, her body heat being leeched away by the cold water.

Poe shivers slightly, but ignores it for the moment. "I don't know, yet, but maybe we can pile up enough rocks above the water to sit on, so we aren't thinking in the cold water.

It would be possible to build a pile of stones, but they'd be slippery and a bit unstable stacked on top of eachother. It'd need to be more than a foot high to be out of the water right now.

Ponda Baba sloshes through the water toward the dam.

Poe glances at the movement, "So do you have any ideas?"

Phoenix is being held by Rynacer and shivering uncontrollably. Her teeth chatter and she's wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stay warm; the attempt isn't succeeding very well though since her body heat is being sapped by the thigh-high cold water that's everywhere in the cavern now.

Ponda Baba shrugs as he gets closer to the chattering of teeth. "Now dig up." He chortles. "Rock warm." He grunts.

Rynacer runs his hands through her hair as he whispers, "heyy, be,oray."

Poe snorts, "Yeah, just dig up so we can die in warm rock instead of cold water. And where do we dig? Which direction?"

Ponda Baba chortles. "Ponda no know. No-talk hoo-man, he rock dig genius."

Most of Ix's hair is bound up in the braid that trails down her back, but there's still enough loose for Rynacer to run his hands through. She nods slightly, still shivering as she murmurs, "K-k-kay.." She doesn't open her eyes, saying to Poe, "'Ey...d-d-dying where 's warm s-sounds a heckuva lot-t-t bet-tter. An' I'd say we d-d-dig /up/."

After a few moments of letting the water drip through silence, Ponda just busts out laughing. "FOOLS! Ponda no want dig! Ponda no stupid!" Would that he could roll his eyes and be seen. And even if he could be seen, they're just big glassy black orbs. He huffs at Poe. "Why they want dig? Want find spiders? Want find crush? Want find dust? Want find rock? Want find *death*?"

Rynacer awaits for someone to reply to that.

Phoenix sighs softly, teeth still chattering and making it a bit difficult for her to reply, "Then what-t-t /do/ you wanna d-d-do, Ponda? We can't st-t-tay here. We'll fr-r-reeze t-t-t'death sooner or later."

Poe shrugs his shoulders, gasping as he remembers that he wasn't supposed to do that again. "If we wait, we'll die. If we dig, we'll die. They want to dig so they have a small chance instead of no chance."

"Dig, big chance die," Ponda growls. He sloshes off into the darkness, away from the dam and the crazy hoo-mans and their suicidal plans. "Dig. Ponda no dig. Ponda go deep, away. Watch. Wait. Laugh."

Ponda Baba works his way through the shadows, under the rock overhang, feeling with his feet for any cracks in the floor that might be workable for purposes of widening and perhaps draining the water deeper into the mine.

Poe shakes his head, "You can see in the dark. Are we completely surrounded by rock walls as far as you can see?"

Rynacer whispers in the ears of Phoenix as he holds her tight, "UUuu Ok?"

From the darkness, Ponda grumbles: "Rock three side. Fall one side. Up part fall, crunch, stuck."

Phoenix nods, still shivering as she whispers back, "'M ok...j-j-jus' cold, 's all.." The cold seems to be affecting her more then the rest of the group, although she isn't in any actual danger unless she stays in the water long enough to become seriously chilled.

Ponda Baba fails to find any useful cracks in the floor. Starts working his way back toward the wall, seeking cracks to use as handholds and lift himself out of the water.

Poe sighs, then goes back to pondering things.

Success! The Aqualish discovers a staggered series of cracks and chipped-out spaces in the rock wall that will allow him to climb up and along the wall several feet, emerging from the water. From his new, relatively dry vantage point, the Aqualish turns his head to stare at the hoo-mans. He clings to the wall, silent except for his breathing.

Rynacer looks around confused as his vision is very limited in the dark.

Phoenix isn't doing much asides from standing near the dam, being held by Rynacer and shivering. Her teeth are like a pair of castanets, chattering constantly. She isn't even bothering to look around, eyes closed.

Poe heads towards one of the walls. Or, he walks in a direction with his hands in front of him until he reaches a wall, then starts feeling along it for any holes or openings that might lead somewhere besides here. It's a long process, probably fruitless as well, but he just continues along.

Poe finds nothing but rock, but as he's got no other plans, just continues along the wall in the same fashion.

Rynacer releases Phoenix as he trys to find a way out as he sloshes along the walls looking for a passage out.

Phoenix shivers, moving after Rynacer. She tries to see through the darkness...and fails. There is no light for her eyes to adjust to and she can't see in the dark. She moves towards the nearest wall, one hand held out. Once she reaches the wall, she runs her fingers along it, following Ryn and trying to find a passage or cracks in the wall that might be used to get out of the cavern.

Rynacer only the rocks abound in this water-soaked cave are all he can find.

Phoenix strains her senses, trying to find something, /anything/. She finds nothing with her hands other than rock and hears nothing but water dripping and everyone's breathing.

Poe continues to feel along the wall, sighing softly. "I say we make a circuit around the cave,
searching the walls completely, then we start digging."

Ponda Baba swings his tusked face around as he hears something. He presses a cheek and earhole to the rock, listening.

Nodding slowly in the darkness, the Aqualish rasps: "Spiders come."

Poe blinks, "Can they swim?"

Phoenix freezes as she hears Baba's words and then starts swearing in every language she knows. Once she stops, she says, "Poe, I don't think it matters much. The water's only thigh-high..if we can still move in it, they can too. These things are big 'nuff t'take down miners...I doubt a little water'll bother them much."

The Aqualish snarls: "Fools! Quiet!" And goes back to listening to the wall.

Rynacer pauses, then sits down to think about his next move or what decisions his cellmates are going to stir up

Ponda grunts, continuing to cling to the wall. "Spiders gone. No hear. Go away."

Phoenix shuts up right away, looking around in the vain hope that light will appear and show the way out of here. No light appears however and the teen's face is unseen in the dark by all but Baba - she's very scared though, moving over to Rynacer as quietly as she can. She pauses, "What you mean they went away? Where'd they go?"

Rynacer is in deep thought and really cant do anything about the situation without orders.

"Ponda not know," the Aqualish growls. "Spiders know tunnels. Spiders dig rock. Have map. Can do. Not no-talk fool." He huffs, considering his current clinging position. "Spiders dig rock." He contemplates it a little more. Shakes his head and sighs, descending from his position above the water. "Ponda no get spidered." His feet splash the water as he steps back to the floor.

Poe frowns, but doesn't say anything yet. Then after a few moments he looks over towards where he assumes Baba is. "Okay, they've got tunnels, and they're close enough for you to hear them. If we wait a while, to make sure they are far away, maybe we can get into their tunnels. It's a long shot, but it's slightly less dangerous than digging."

Ponda Baba shakes his head. "Ponda no think so."

Phoenix is quiet for a bit longer, sighing softly, "An' how do we know they aren't just waiting somewhere for us to show up, Poe? Maybe they're intelligent 'nuff t'do that..in which case, they'll probably suck us all dry of energy 'fore we even know what's happened. Ponda's right - doin' that is /more/ dangerous than digging, not less."

"Ponda think spiders moving," the Aqualish growls. He thumps his chest with a fist. "Water tunnels. Spiders panic. Spiders dig. Spiders move."

Poe just goes back to feeling the walls.

Phoenix thinks quietly, "So.../if/ we dig into the tunnels, the water'll follow us. An' it'll probably scare the spiders 'nuff that they'll stay ahead of us../if/ we go into the tunnels at all. Personally, I think it's a bloody stupid idea. The spiders /could/ decide the water's not going to hurt them and come back." She sighs, leaning against a wall and closing her eyes. She says no more, slumping down and taking a nap.

Ponda Baba just moves out to the middle of the cavern, getting as far from the walls as he can.

Rynacer rests his body against the wall and saves his words for another day, that's if he will be able to say them one day.

Star Wars is a property of Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox. Star Wars: Reach of the Empire is in no way connected to Lucasfilm Ltd. or Twentieth Century Fox. This game is a not-for-profit text-based roleplaying environment that is developed by fans for fans of Star Wars to share in an homage to the original trilogy movies. Design © Copyright 2004 by Seraphi.