All my submissions for the event hosted by @corrieweek are below!
Brackets feature SFW, ALT SFW, NSFW, & ALT NSFW.
DAY 1 || 10/10 -- [ SFW ] Fox Day / Free Space
DAY 2 || 10/11 -- [ SFW ] Painting Armor
DAY 3 || 10/12 -- [ ALT NSFW ] Collar
DAY 4 || 10/13 -- [ SFW ] Grizzer
DAY 5 || 10/14 -- [ ALT NSFW ] Wrapped in Red
DAY 6 || 10/15 -- [ ALT SFW ] Sith
DAY 7 || 10/16 -- [SFW] "We're gonna get you home."
Short story typed up while at work. Not proof read, please forgive mistakes!
“Looks like an explosion at the central power generator.” Stone held a finger up to his comm. “En route.”
The panicked shouts of civilians in the crowded alleyways pounded in Knox’s ears, even through his plastoid helmet. His boots hit the duracrete, thundering just behind Commander Stone and the rest of the small squad of the Coruscant guard.
Knox's helmet briefly tipped in the direction of his commander, worry shielded by his visor.
About a year ago, the criminal Cad Bane had infiltrated the Jedi Temple in search of a holocron. Since then, it seemed the galaxy had come to see Coruscant as its singular enemy.
“Bane again, sir?”
“Don't know. If it is, he didn't wait long since he was last here," responded Stone as he motioned for the squad to break apart. “Focus on searching for civvies caught in the explosion.”
Stone and the squad didn't slow as they neared the site. Knox swiftly climbed the edge of the rubble where he had already spotted civilians struggling to their feet.
Heavy breath cycling through the inside of his helmet, Knox approached a survivor and slipped their arm over his shoulder, his other hand gripping the man's waist gently as he guided him to a safe distance.
The man leaning on him was limping and bleeding - or seemed to be. With all the ash and dust coating him, it was hard to tell if it was his.
They hobbled toward the others who were hauling the injured to safety, but the man clung to Knox, refusing to let go. “My…”
A cough.
“My daughter… she's in there.”
He could barely lift his finger, pointing in the direction of the rubble.
“Please, find her!”
Knox nodded and eased the man back against the wall, careful but firm.
His fingers raised to his comm. “Commander, how far out is Hound?”
“Still en route,” came Stone’s response, ragged through the fuzzy speaker. “Five minutes, maybe more."
Knox felt his heart skip. Five minutes could cost everything. They couldn't wait that long.
“Copy,” he said, and turned his visor toward the wreck of collapsed duracrete and twisted durasteel.
He could see smoke rosing over the buildings from fires blocks away. Panic had already spread across the district. He didn’t blame them.
Without another word, Knox climbed.
The rubble was dangerously uneven, shifting under his weight with every small movement. One hand braced against anything solid, the other keeping his balance as he moved through the rubble.
When Knox crouched to peer into a dark gap between two collapsed support beams, he could just make out a faint whimper from inside.
“Got something."
He laid himself down onto his stomach, exhaling slow and long as he wormed his way into the space, chunks of scrap grinding across his chest plate. The space was tight, hot. His helmet vents did little against the choking dust, but the faint sound came again, driving him forward.
Then he saw her.
Small, curled beneath a sparking piece of the generator, her arms tight around her knees and face streaked with soot and tears. Her eyes snapped toward him as he approached, wide and terrified.
Knox softened his voice immediately, despite the filter in his helmet. He held out a gloved hand.
“Hey, I’m here. You’re okay. We’re gonna get you home, alright?”
She didn’t answer but her small fingers slowly reached for his hand. When he clasped it, he felt her tremble.
Knox, hand in hand with the little girl, maneuvered carefully as he began inching them both backwards through the debris.
Despite his muscles screaming in protest at every shift and twist, he encouraged the girl to crawl just like him. More dust rained down with each movement, but he kept his body over hers, shielding her.
Above them, he could feel the destruction beginning to shift as his squad continued searching for survivors.
“Come on,” he breathed. “Not now, not yet.”
Just as the bent durasteel screamed above them, they broke through the rubble’s edge.
Fresh air hit his vents, and he coughed, releasing a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He backed away from the rubble, the girl still clutched tight to his chest as he sat up.
Her small frame was still shaking, but she was alive.
“Medic!” he barked, already waving one over. “Minor lacerations, major smoke inhalation, possible burns."
The girl clung tighter to him as the medic approached. Knox leaned down, speaking in a low voice.
“You’re safe now. Your dad’s waiting just over there.”
Her head turned slowly in the direction of his pointed finger, and he felt her posture slump, seemingly satisfied her father was safe.
Behind him, Knox heard the heavy gait of Sergeant Hound finally arriving and Grizzer’s snout already sweeping across the ruins.
“Glad you could make it,” Knox said, grinning through his helmet.
“Doesn't look like you need us,” Hound replied.
dividers by @saradika-graphics || @corrieweek
Knox stood, gently handing the girl to the medic. He said nothing, giving the rubble a final glance before joining the others, already scanning for the next survivor.
