The shuttle was going down, the cargo bay doors were opening slowly, and Joard was cursing the situation. Gritting his teeth, he followed his new Padawan out of the doors and jumped. His robes whipped around him as he fell toward the planet surface, using his jetpack to slow his descent. He watched as Republic soldiers deployed their chutes and were picked off as they become slow-moving targets. Using the Force, Joard timed the deployment of his chute until he was close enough to the jungle that he wouldn’t become a target for the Mandalorians, however his chute did not open when he tried to deploy it. Instead, Joard slammed into a tree and bounced from it into another tree and finally hit the ground on his back. 

Luckily, he was using his jetpack to slow his descent and so didn’t hit as hard as he could have, though he definitely had some broken ribs and gashes across his body. With a groan he pulled himself up into a sitting position, holding his side. He felt the jetpack sagging on his back, no doubt broken by him landing on it. With a click, Joard unhooked the jetpack, which fell to the jungle floor sparking a bit. The Jedi looked over his body, watching as his gashes started to heal, leaving behind nothing but dried patches of blood and rips in his robes. His bones would take longer to heal, but he couldn’t sit around and wait. Joard closed his eyes and reached out with the Force, trying to find his Padawan or any other Jedi, but there was too much life in the jungle for him to center on any one of them.

With another groan, Joard pulled himself to his feet and looked up into the sky, watching other shuttles falling from the sky like so many shooting stars. It was ironic that he couldn’t pinpoint any one living being in the jungle with the confusion of battle going on, but he could feel each death going on far above him. Closing his eyes again, Joard tried to recall seeing which way his Padawan had fallen when they were tumbling through the air. His best guess was that Nero fell somewhere east of his current position. Joard started to limp eastward, his steps slowly becoming stronger as his bones began healing with pops and cracks. The young Jedi slowly made his way through the jungle, still attempting to reach out with the Force to try and find Nero; he was rewarded for his efforts when he heard the distinct sound of two lightsabers igniting off to his right.

Joard approached the noise as quietly as possible, coming upon the scene of his Padawan standing off against some beast with tusks and six legs. Looking around, Joard saw a Trandoshan Republic soldier nearby, who no doubt heard his approach, as he was not stealthy, despite his best attempts; the only reason the beast hadn’t noticed his approach was because of Nero’s lightsabers. He was on the verge of stepping out to help Nero, when he heard footsteps from behind. Joard turned, pulling his lightsaber from his belt and holding it at the ready without igniting it yet.