And There Was Another✔️

Chapter 04: The Filtration Plant

"Why didn't you want me talking about our deal?" Seth asked.

They were almost back to the settlement and, mercifully, no more rakghouls had appeared.

"They don't know that I might have found a way out of here," Nova replied. "And I don't want to get their hopes up, not until I'm completely certain."

"So you made that deal with me even though you weren't completely certain?"

"Yes. We need each other," she answered simply.

She had a point.

They managed to reach the gate to the settlement without incident, although twice Seth thought he heard distant blaster fire. He wondered how many dead lay down here, in unmarked graves, or abandoned where they had fallen. He hoped he wouldn't become one of them, if only so that he could see the rain again.

The gate began rattling open as they came close enough, and it reversed the process as soon as they were inside. Seth imagined they wanted to keep that thing closed as much as was possible. He followed her lead, and they threaded their way through the shacks and lean-tos until they came to a larger structure near the back of the encampment, one that Seth realized was not cobbled together, but actually looked like it had been built.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Original structure," Nova replied. "It's the most secure building we have, so we store most of our goods in it. It's also where the showers are."

He followed her to the door, where a pallid but grim-looking middle-aged woman stood guard. "Hello, Essale. We need in," Nova said.

"What have you got?" she asked, glancing at Seth.

"A lot. Medicine, food, water, tools, weapons. All thanks to him," Nova replied.

Essale's gaze lingered on Seth, as though sizing him up, then she seemed to relax. "Then I thank you," she said. "We've desperately needed some good luck around here lately."

"Glad I could help," he replied, uncertain of what else to say.

She opened the door for them and allowed them to pass. They came into a short corridor with two doors, one to either side.

"Showers are through there," she said, pointing to the left. "If we manage to fix the filtration plant, then I think you'll have earned one. This is what we want." She moved through the right door and flicked a switch.

Stark white light snapped into existence, revealing a room of lockers, tables, footlockers, and plasteel cylinders, yellowed with age.

"Let's unload, then we'll head out again," Nova said. "The filtration plant isn't that far."

Seth just nodded. He felt like utter garbage after the rush of adrenaline from battle had fully left him. His skin hurt in several places and he thought he might be bleeding from at least one area, but it didn't feel serious so he was ignoring it. Besides that, he was starving, and thirsty, and exhausted. He felt like he could sleep for another day and a half. But he simply shrugged out of his pack and emptied it of the emergency kits he'd grabbed.

"Gonna pass these out, drop by my shack, then we can go," she said after putting away most of the supplies, holding onto a pair of blaster pistols.

Seth followed her back outside. They moved through the encampment again, and as he watched her track down and arm two of the sturdier looking outcasts, he found himself wondering about the others onboard the Spire. How many had been there? He had heard that there were a few Jedi onboard, possibly a really important one, and he knew that Carth Onasi was aboard. He'd heard a few stories about the pilot and had a vague kind of hope of bumping into the man, though he usually didn't go looking for popular people.