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GM

It's busy around the wreck of the Starlight Wanderer.

Jix herself wanders through the interior, perhaps fascinated by how this was once the same model ship as General Leia Organa's Tantive IV.

The Verpine must have walked the corridors of that corvette many times over the past few months.

Entering the tribe's cluttered living quarters, Jix sees most of the scavengers rushing about, packing up or at least discussing what they'll take.

But some do best just by staying out of the way. The elders and the younglings.

The younglings especially seem disturbed by this, since it curtails their freedom and play-time.

Jix might find someone sat still long enough to accept medical aid.

The six year old boy, the one nearly taken hostage, sits next to the wrinkled Nikto crone who tackled the Strus Clan leader. They sit amongst others, all looking apprehensive.

The hostage-boy perks up when he sees Jix.

"Hey mister, can I see your blaster?" He asks, scrambling to his feet.

Jix

She knows the safety is on. He is never careless when it comes to weapons.

"Of course. But first we trade yes? My Boss has asked me to see that everyone is well and uninjured. And when she says everyone, I take that to be everyone."

She waves an arm around their little group.

"So how is everyone?"

She crouches down. She has learned that this makes humans and others to see her as less of a threat. She has also been told she needs a 'better beside manner', whatever that is. As she crouches, she brings the rifle around from her back, slowly, and lets it rest across her thighs.

GM

The elders are more reluctant to come forward than the younglings, though the younglings are more interested in Jix and the heavy blaster rifle.

It's an old Imperial model, well maintained, and would have fit right in hereabouts a couple of decades ago, when blasters were still being salvaged from the wreckage of the Battle of Jakku. They've long since been sold off and shipped off-world.

As a species, the work of Verpine engineers is better travelled than they themselves. Jix is certainly unusual looking, with her semi-rigid carahide and digigrade legs.

Kids are fascinated by anything new. They want to touch, blaster and Verpine. Does Jix let them?

"My tooka's hurt." Says a small voice from behind. A girl around four years old stands there holding up a homemade tooka doll.

It does indeed have a black burn or stain on one of its legs.

Jix

She is happy to let them touch but protects the safety and trigger, blocking access to those parts or just watching carefully. As to herself she has little reservation. As she hears the voice behind her, she swivels to take a better look, one eye though watches the larger group.

"Hmm I think I need to treat that. May I?"

She holds out a hand.

GM

Left alone, the boys would undoubtedly run off with the heavy blaster between them, shouting Pew pew pew! Jix keeps a firm grip then.

The girl hands her tooka doll to Jix, taking in every feature of the Verpine in the unsettlingly critical way that young children do.

"Are you a daddy?" She asks.

Jix

"No.. but I'd like to be one day. I like children."

What interesting questions children ask, most insightful. She could have further complicated matters by saying she would be a mommy too.. but best not to go there.

She takes the doll and dabs a little solvent on it, might take the stain out, might not. Then she cuts a little strip of gauze and makes a bandage, tying it on.

"Now rest is needed and then gentle exercise. The bandage should stay on for 3 days. OK?"

GM

The girl nods seriously when taking receipt of her medicated dolly. She gives it a quick hug and skips off happily without saying thank you, already lost in her own little world.

With the boys starting to argue about who amongst them is the best shot, Jix has more time to survey the living quarters.

They are not squalid at all. They are messy, in a way any place tends to be without bespoke storage, and what looks like clutter is often cast-offs kept for spare parts.

Jix might be reminded of packing a medical pouch. How much is too much? Stimpacks are fragile and shaped for functionality not storage, for example. They take up an inordinate amount of space. How many should she carry?

The scavengers ask themselves the same questions when collecting new gear and throwing away old.

Jix sees Bormo has sat down with the ancient, gnarled Nikto woman and is talking quietly to her. She seems reluctant to show him her arm.

The one-eyed Abednedo turns and asks Jix to come over.

"Jix wasn't it? Granny here has been hiding her arm since she grappled with that Strus during the shootout." He says.

The Nikto crone cradles her forearm defensively, wrapped beneath a shawl.

"Perhaps we might persuade her to let us take a look?" Bormo suggests.

Jix

She watches the girl skip away, in some ways envious of her defined role. She knows her path, assuming she is allowed to live it. But then she gives herself a mental shake. But Jix has flexibility!

She turns to the boys.

"You should practice with small stones. Take it in turns to see who gets nearer the big stone. It will improve your aim which will help you later in life."

And maybe protect the little girl later in life..

She flexes and stands, her mandibles clicking as she considers her next move as no-one here seems to need her services. Her eyes take a look all around and she sees someone wave her over, so she turns and heads over there, listening to the reptilian humanoid, nodding as he speaks her short name. So he wants her to persuade and then assess. She can do that. She turns to the woman, also reptilian looking but not the same.

"That was brave to grapple with that rabble."

Her head tilts on one side. Is that enough to put the female as ease? Probably..

"However, you have been hurt. So you have two options. I am a medic and can probably help you to heal, possibly without pain. Or you are within your rights to refuse treatment in which case it is likely that your arm will get infected which will mean you are less effective for your people, it will likely become more and more painful and worse case scenario it may fall off."

Jix is quite pleased. A good explanation that should lead the female to the right decision. She waits for the woman's decision.

GM

Bormo nods his encouragement to the old woman and she mumbling in Huttese, she holds out her arm.

It must have been the part about it falling off, if untreated.

Bormo delicately lifts off the shawl, allowing Jix to get a good look.

It's not as serious as feared, not a blaster wound. But a swathe of the forearm is angry scarlet with yellow blisters, a vicious second-degree flash burn from where a blaster muzzle discharged close to her skin. There were bits of soot from the barrel embedded in it too.

As Jix said, the greatest concern is infection. It must be cleaned and kept clean, and proactives could be applied to reduce any deeper damage that might still be occurring.

"Oh Granny," says Bormo, "that does look painful. I bet Jix here will have something in his bag of tricks for blaster burns."

Jix

She must remember that other species can feel more pain that she does.. and often get noisy as a result.. but her interaction is obviously improving. She gently takes the hand to hold it steady as she examines the arm, her compound eyes taking in all the details. Messy is her silent summary.

"Just a moment."

She bends down and opens her pack to get at her medpac which is really a basic first aid box but it does have some useful things in it. She injects a dose of pain killers and proactives to help with pain and infection control directly into the undamaged part of the arm.

"This will help but I need to clean the wound. It may hurt.. a little."

She takes a spray bottle, just water, and takes the females hand again in a firm grip, the using her eyes to seek out the dirt particles, she sprays the water to wash them away, trying to ignore any protests. Once she is satisfied, she takes a tube of ochre gel, good for burns, and lathers it onto the wound before applying a spray bandage to seal the area.

"Best not to get this area wet for 24 hours."

She nods.

GM

Jix has training in Xenology, as to be expected for a Resistance medic. The Nikto are an unusual species though, that can mutate and adapt to a change of environment over a few generations. Evolution that might take hundreds of thousands of years with another species.

This toothless old crone is adapted to the desert, either a Kajain'sa'Nikto or Kadas'sa'Nikto species. Colour isn't always conclusive with Nikto.

Jix does her best and the rapid, deep cooling of the proactives provokes an immediate reaction. Good medicine! The old Nikto's face shows happy surprise.

Bormo repeats the medic's instructions to the scavenger, then stands and speaks with Jix to one side.

"That went well. No-one here remembers what species Granny is, not even her. 'If in doubt, probably Nikto', is what my teacher used to say.

"I'm glad you could help. I will pray for you and your team."

Jix

"Yes. It went well. She should be fully effective for her.. tribe in a couple of days."

She had almost said hive. That brought back painful memories for Jix. The word is not readily understood by many species. Others use tribe or family, both different but in essence the same. She is lonely without the hive, hard sometimes to find the motivation or purpose these days. But hopefully she has played her part for the team here. Better than she had hoped to be honest. She must be improving.

She packs up her gear and heads out looking for more practice.

GM

With the Nikto crone feeling better and a lot less vulnerable, she pulls herself to her feet and sets about regaining control over the rampant younglings.

Bormo grins. His one good eye is bright and blue and full of hope, the other milky white. (Cybernetics are the only cure for that.)

"Always remember, you are one with the Force and the Force is with you." He says quietly to the Verpine's back as she leaves.

[Go to CFH4: The Secure Vault]