Even though she wasn't a Jedi, Ky swore there was something warning her about the shattered wreckage of the old ship. Whatever it was, it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, and she felt her hands reach lower on her belt until they were comfortably wrapped around the grips of her blasters. There was something off about this ship, and it wasn't just the numerous scavengers and creatures that surrounded it.

"There's something weird going on with that ship," Mako said, her words an eerie echo of Ky's thoughts. "I get the feeling something bad's just happened inside."

Ky nodded. "I agree," she replied shortly. She would have elaborated, but her eyes kept scanning their surroundings, keeping tabs on the nearby wildlife in case it turned hostile. With all the other problems they'd been having, an angry beast was the last thing they needed.

"Hey, Ky. Do you smell that?" Mako's voice cut into her awareness. "It smells like something inside the ship is burning. And a lot of it."

It was on the tip of her tongue to remind Mako there were a lot of fires burning on Taris, but Ky decided to humor her instead. Removing her helmet, she held it under her arm as she inhaled deeply several times. Instantly, she could see what Mako meant; there was a smell of smoke that clung to the air around the downed ship.

"You're right, Mako," she replied. "Something in that ship must be on fire." Inhaling again, Ky could catch another faint scent. "There must have been an explosion inside the wreckage recently. I can pick up the faintest traces of explosive powder in the air..."

She trailed off as she and Mako shared a horrified look. "Torian!" she said suddenly.

"You don't think he's in trouble, do you?" Mako asked. "I mean, he can take care of himself. Do you think something really happened in there?"

"I don't know. But I'm not wasting any more time out here speculating," Ky said grimly, replacing her helmet. "I'm going inside to look for myself."

"Right behind you, boss," Mako replied.

As soon as the pair set foot within the wreckage, Ky began scanning their surroundings. She had heard this ship was centuries old, a remnant from the Jedi Civil War that had caused so many problems in the galaxy. But its emergency subsystems appeared to still be functional; Ky could make out the dim lights that glowed eerily from the walls. Every so often, there would be a power fluctuation and the lights would flicker, which only added to her worried paranoia.

Silently, she hugged the walls of the shattered ship, indicating that Mako should follow her route. There were droids still active inside the remains, likely stolen from the Republic and reprogrammed. Though their definite origins were a mystery, Ky could tell by the weapons mounted on their chassis that they were anything but docile. Better to avoid a fight as much as possible.

The smoky scent grew thicker and heavier as they moved through the ship, the powder hanging even more thickly in the air until Ky swore she could taste it. Eventually, they reached a large empty room at the center of the wreckage; Ky debated if the room had been the engine room, or even some sort of large hangar space. The walls and ceiling disappeared into the gloom that engulfed the ship, making it impossible for her to estimate the size of the space.

Slowly, they picked their way through the room. A few times, Ky held out a protective arm, keeping Mako from walking any further in that particular direction. Mako quickly saw why; someone had set mines along strategic parts of the floor. In the dim light, the mines would be nearly impossible to spot, which could lead to injury or death for some unlucky trespasser. Better to play things cautiously and keep themselves as intact as possible, she had decided.

In the gloom ahead, Ky spotted something; as they got closer she could see it was a human form. When they got even closer, she was able to make out more details. What she saw made her pause.

"Torian!" The shout from behind her had surprised Ky, and she involuntarily stepped to the side as Mako rushed to him. Ky took her time, her gaze taking in his condition. He was a mess; his armor was pretty heavily damaged, and she was sure that glossy sheen on his armor and the ground beneath him was blood. Hearing their approach, he manage to prop himself up on one elbow, his breathing clearly showing the pain he was in.

"Torian, what happened? Where's Jicoln?" she asked briskly, trying to use her professional demeanor to tamp down her worry. Though Mako had been much more upfront with her concern, Ky had been worried about him as well. Even if he wasn't part of their crew, even if they would part ways and never see one another again after Taris, she liked him.

"Got cocky. He's...tricky," Torian replied brokenly as Ky knelt next to him and removed her helmet. His voice was weak, shaking at times as he struggled against the pain and weakness he felt. "Electro Net put him down, but...used it to cook off his munition cache." He looked up, and his gaze met Ky's. "He's running, don't let the trail go cold."

Ky reached into a pouch on her belt, pulling out the medpacks she was carrying with her. "Better the trail go cold than you," she replied. Without another word, she began applying kolto to the superficial wounds on his face and arms, silently thankful he didn't appear to be more critically hurt. Had his wounds been worse, he might have died before she could get him to a facility with a kolto tank.

With a pained hiss, he jerked his face back. Instantly, he regretted the action, as it caused pain to flare along the gash in his ribs. "I'll be fine. Just get him!" he protested. Feeling the edges of his consciousness fraying, he spoke more quickly. He didn't care if he rambled, or sounded disjointed. He had to tell her more, give her as much help as he could. "He hurt, bleeding, running. Deep tracks, bloody mud, straight lines...even you could follow."

He felt her hand still where it was applying kolto to a particularly nasty scrape, and he thought for a moment she would take his advice. Instead, she resumed treating his injuries, her voice never changing.

"We're finishing this together, Torian," she replied, her steady gaze holding his. "It's not up for discussion."

He wanted to rage at her. They were so close to nabbing the traitor and ending all of this! Why was she so focused on him now? She should be focused on taking down Jicoln, not playing nurse. Especially not to him, of all people. In all his time growing up, he had had to largely rely on himself to get out of these scrapes. Being a traitor's son, he was used to the looks, the whispered scorn, the offers of help that were barely adequate. So why was she acting like this?

He wanted to ask her everything, but his energy was rapidly failing him. Instead, all he could muster was a raggedly whispered "So close..." before the blackness retook him.

Mako looked at Ky as she stood again, noted the thin line her friend's lips were pressed into. She was worried, there was no mistaking that expression. "Ky, what do we do?" she asked.

Ky didn't even look at her, her full focus was on Torian. "Mako, check those storage containers we passed when we entered this room," she replied, her tone eerily calm. "See if there are any medical supplies we can use in them."

"Will do. What about you?"

Finally, Ky looked at her, her expression its usual one of grim determination. "I'm getting him out of here, one way or another," she answered. "It's too dark to really do much good in here, and those droids scattered all over the ship are making me nervous. I'd prefer treating him somewhere a bit safer. And brighter."

As soon as Mako left, Ky knelt next to Torian again. She slung one of his arms over her shoulders and stood up, but when she attempted to lift him higher onto her back, she found he was too heavy for her to budge more than a few inches. Sighing in frustrated resignation, she half-dragged, half-carried him as best as she could from the dim room. Several times, her path took her dangerously close to the droids that were still idly milling about the wreckage, and Ky sucked in her breath and waited for them to attack. But none of them did for whatever reason, and she was slowly able to exit the ship's remnants without incident.

Once outside the ship, she laid him on the ground as gently as she could. Deftly, she removed the remains of his armor, sucking in a breath she she looked over the injuries it hid. She let out that breath just as quickly; the armor had done its job and protected him from critical injuries. His wounds were still pretty serious, but nothing a massive dosage of kolto couldn't fix. She picked up each piece of his armor, letting out a sigh as she noted its condition. It was almost a complete loss, he would be asking for death if he confronted Jicoln in armor this badly mangled. She refused to go through the trouble of patching him up only to have him drop again the first time he got into a skirmish.

An idea suddenly occurred to her, and she pulled out her comm. "Gault? I need a favor from you," she began.

"What's up, Ky?" Gault asked.

"I need you to go into the ship's cargo hold and bring some of my spare armor pieces. Chestplate, gauntlets, gloves...the whole deal," she replied. "Bring them to the coordinates I'm sending you."

"All right, but you owe me a few drinks for this."

"Fair deal, just hurry." She terminated the transmission as Mako approached her, arms laden with medpacks.

"Jackpot, Ky! Look at all of these," Mako said. "Plus, there was a trauma kit at the very bottom of one of the containers."

"Perfect," Ky replied. She stood up and took the trauma kit and several medpacks from Mako. "Let's get started. The quicker we get him patched up, the sooner we can get back to the job."