It's weird. As much as I try to remember the crash, I can't. The most I can recall is a loud screeching sound, like sharp metal claws on a chalkboard amplified times a hundred. Next thing I know, I'm waking up face down in the dirt a good twenty feet or so from the crashed escape pod. There's an impenetrable blank space in my memory between me hanging on for dear life and waking up on the ground that I doubt I'll ever get back.
I sat up and took in my surroundings. We had landed in some sort of valley. A series of trees and boulders decorated the grassy hillside to my left, and off to my right was the edge of a steep cliff. Behind me was a narrow river that flowed freely over the edge, and right in front of me was the half buried civilian escape pod. My eyes followed a long trail carved into the terrain that stemmed from a crater further up the hillside. A physical indication of how far we slid from the point of impact.
Iktac Volryn's warsword had fallen off my back at some point and was protruding straight out of the ground directly next to where my head had been when I was laying down. Serious close call, and I hadn't even been able to see it coming. What an unfortunate way to die that would have been. I could see Sithandra laid out near the mouth of the open pod with her back facing me. Alvin Roy was nowhere in sight.
I picked myself up and, with great, strenuous effort, pulled the sword free from the earth. I placed it onto my magnetic back holster as I walked over to Anthony. I was sore as hell. According to my heads up display, my vital signs were back down in the orange range.
"C'mon, lazy. It's time to roll," I joked upon approach.
She wasn't moving.
"Sithandra?" I turned her over onto her back and let out a depressed sigh. Her visor had a huge crack in the center and was fully spiderwebbed out to the sides. I could tell she was breathing, but the poor gal was out like a light and hopefully not in a coma or something. Seeing no other option, I gently pulled her by the roots of her wings and sat her upright against the pod.
Next, I placed her phaser rifle that somehow survived the crash in her hands, resting on her lap. The safety was on. I didn't want to leave her here, but if she did happen to wake up, and one of the HVTs was standing there, I wanted her to be ready. Before I left, I checked my own ammunition, gave her my remaining Model 5 cartridges (I didn't need them), then took off in search of Alvin or the HVTs, whomever I encountered first.