Bankor

Galen sat on the edge of the platforms that held the encampment. He looked out at the forest, watching as twighliight fully set in. He occassionally looked back for the man he was meeting.

Cole had been wending his way back to his bunk when he got Galen's message, and changed direction. He eased himself down on the edge of the platform, paler than usual, far more exhausted than usual. "Galen," he greeted the man, "how are things?"

"Pretty good." he set a bottle down beside him. "Sit with me Doc, have a drink or two."

Cole inhaled deeply, "I won't say no," his flask had been drained over the course of the evening, not that he would have refused a free drink if it had been full.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as Cole sat down.

“Sore, tired,” he ran a hand through his hair. “I feel like I’m slightly out of breath all the time,” he tapped his chest, over the entry wound, “lungs aren’t working at full capacity. It’s like I’ve been jogging all day, just drained and trying to catch my breath.”

He nodded, handing Cole the bottle after taking a sip. "Then take a few moments to catch your breath and admire the view. That's what I'm doing."

Cole gladly took a mouthful, setting the bottle between them. “Ever heard of a chest sucker? It’s one of the names soldiers use for punctured lungs. When you try to breath in, the air follows the path of least resistance, gets sucked straight through the hole in your chest.” He scratched idly at the new scar, “sometime in the next few days I’ll get one of the other surgeons to open me back up.”

He paused, looking out across the dimly lit forest, “I hate going under, but Command get pissy when you don’t follow protocol.”

"I don't have your medical skills, but I have some familiarity with anatomy and how various wounds will hinder someone." He took another drink. "It's helpful while hunting. Depending on your intent, it's better to target certain areas."

Cole took out his datapad and called up a blue three-dimensional holoscan. He rotated it one way, so Galen could see the wound track punched through the torso, then turned it and zoomed in. Pointing to an irregularity on the aortic wall where the blaster shot had singed the major vessel as it passed, “that’s how close I came to being someone’s certain area to target.”

"I'm very glad it didn't do worse." he nodded. "I shot one of their snipers and forced him to withdraw. But, they're still out there."

Closing the diagnostic image, it was replaced by a selfie of Jin Vaya posing with what appeared to be Cole, except the man in the photo was smiling. He hit the lock button and stowed the device again. “What’s your story, Galen? Where do you fit in with this whole,” he made a vague waving gesture. It might have been that he’d had more to drink than usual, or the discussion on the improbable and inefficient survival of his species, or even a combination of both rendering him passingly philosophical.

"It's hard to say." he shrugged. "I went hunting a few hours ago. I tracked down a creature with large, twisted green antlers, covered in flowers. It had a sleek black pelt and vibrant red eyes. It was striking. There was also a pack of colorful raptors with golden eyes. For a moment, I was at peace. I could feel the flow of life around me, the Force."

"Then, there was darkness." he sighed. "Not from them, from me. I keep feeling its pull. The Jedi would say I should join them to protect myself. The Sith would encourage me to embrace it and join them. The monks would probably even accept me into their ranks."

"I don't know where I fit in. It's not out there." he gestured to the forest around them. Leaning back, he looked up. "Maybe it's still out there."

That was decidedly more philosophical than Cole had been planning for, struck with a pang of envy that he hadn’t been able to see the flower-wreathed stag, a pang of envy for every Force user who felt that connection he would never experience. “Earlier today I explained to a droid that if you let a million million droids go for a millions years without wiping their memory banks, and piled all that defunct and ad hoc code together, you’d have something that resembled DNA.”

"Where are you going when we get off this planet, Doctor?"

“Not too sure,” he ran a hand through his hair, “probably have to stop in at Coruscant, talk to the big wigs there.”

"I may need to do something similar." he said. "I should probably talk to the Jedi about my saber."

Not having any (good) experience with lightsabers, other than seeing the inside of one once, Cole missed the significance of the comment. He genuinely didn’t know where he was going next, and he was borderline terrified about his plans.

"Maybe you can show me around Coruscant a bit." Galen suggested. "I've never been there."

Cole murmured, taking another swig from the bottle Galen had brought. "I know some excellent night spots," he offered, "I've only been there twice, and both times it was because I had business with Navy HQ."

"You know more of it than I do, then." he took another drink.

"It's probably better to stay in pairs anyway, the urban jungle isn't any better than," he waved out at the jungle surrounding them.

"I understand this one, though." he chuckled.

"Anyone who says they understand the other one is probably lying," he replied sombrely.

"That sounds about right." He nodded. "All the more reason to have someone with me."