...at least not anymore. Meanwhile I'm going to search for someone who will help her.”

Without waiting for so much as a reply then, Erik began walking away, his arms tightly about his wife even as he sensed her continue to struggle. Every so often she groaned, clearly in pain. But his steps remained purposeful as he departed the Sith Temple on K’eel Doba altogether and made his way for the spaceport. Though the burden he carried was beginning to take a toll on him, Erik refused to let that stop him; only when they reached the transport did he recieve a few minutes rest before he once more had to gather Shayla back into his arms. Her sweat and his began to mingle, and deep inside a part of Erik’s own heart ached as he pondered his options, which were few. He knew he had to get Shayla somewhere, soon. But he didn’t know if the options left to him at this moment would reap any benefit. But he had to push his doubts to the side and pray that his overall past experience with one particular entity would prove true.

Gods help them if it didn’t.

Not even stopping to place Shayla in a cot in the back of the Supernova, Erik hurried inside and laid her on the deck of the cabin, not wanting to leave her side. She flailed out for him as he did so, panicked at the removal of his proximity, so he reached a hand out for a moment to lay it on her sweaty brow.

“I’m right here,” he said softly. “I’m gonna get you some help.”

He hoped.

Turning to the navboard with that, Erik then fired up the engines and lifted off, figuring coordinates for a dangerous hit and fade jump to the nearest planet, praying once more that this would not be a fruitless trip. Hitting atmosphere and then space, finally clearing the gravity well of K’eel Doba, Erik pulled the hyperspace lever.

Next stop: Khar Delba.

--------------------

Mistaken he is indeed, the thought welled up unbidden in her mind, pushed there by the remnants of something she could no longer really recognize. For it is not that I do not care.

I cannot.

It was as if that brief thought served as forclosure to a life gone past. What lay ahead was the future... a future which, although even with her use of the All she could not predict with one hundred percent assurety, was one she could state with solid finality that probably would occur. And she would do everything in her power to tip that probability into reality.

The Glyph on her forehead brightened immeasurably then as, waving her hand in an almost nonchalant manner, she opened up another portal through the warp and weft of space and time, and with casual ease stepped forth to the place she had visited in the not too distant past.

Moments ticked by... until the dim stone corridor of the Great Temple of the Warriors was once again a-bathe in the light of that mysterious sigil embedded into her flesh and very being.

Only this time she was not alone.

The Portal snapped to a close as with gazelle-like grace she turned partly to the side, indicating the corridor which stretched ahead into darkness.

"This way, daughter," she said smoothly, now turning with a dark smile and leading the way she had indicated. Beside her, the blue-eyed redhead let an innocent smile light her features, and nodded in turn.

"Yes, Mother," she said before stepping out to follow Graysith to her assigned quarters.

--------------------

Somehow managing a fairly smooth reversion, Erik wasted no time, but hit atmosphere immediately, zeroing in on the coordinates for the capital city of Choyapenthe. In another few minutes he landed the ship on the far outskirts of the city, uncertain as to the amount of attention his desent might have gained. As the engines cooled he stood then turned and scooped a writhing Shayla up into his arms. Her hair was slick wet with sweat, her skin cool and pale.

"I'm getting you some help," he reiterated, leaving the ship and then securing it before he began to move at a quick pace towards the city.

Shayla, not focused on anything at the moment but the imminent delivery of her child whispered a forced, "It's too late..."

Erik shook his head, in total denial. Then he quickened his steps even more, not paying one ounce of attention to any Sith whom he might have passed by. He merely kept his eyes forward as he moved along til at length he found himself at the steps of the Great Temple of Khar Delba. With absolutely no hesitation he entered, Shayla's sweat again mingling with his own as he continued onward with a purposeful stride to the very Dining Hall of the Temple.

There he stopped dead in the center of the room, his struggling wife in his arms, clinging to him for any support she could get. "My wife, who has given over a year's worth of effort assisting in the cause of bringing you, the Sith, into our time desperately needs the help of a Sorceror. I seek the Dark Lord of the Sorceror's clan, and I pray someone assists me in finding him right now before I'm convinced that the Sith sees humanity as nothing more than a tool attain their own goals..."

--------------------

Trust....

The flame-headed young woman watched, her wide blue eyes clear and calm, as the door to the lavish room given to her closed in the wake of the one who had introduced herself to her as Mother. She stood quietly for a moment, not at all taken aback by the unique knowledge of her own identity, nor for the fact that what others she had seen in this grand and glorious place seemed not to be constructed in quite the same manner as she and her mother. Yet they all seemed to bear honor toward them; as Graysith had led her to her chambers the few servants they had passed had all stopped to bow their heads to them in deference.

Darra blinked, thinking about this all, wondering where the next day would lead her. She moved to the curtained balcony and threw the lush fabric aside, then walked out and leaned out over the stone balustrade. Unbeknownst to her, she was mimicking nearly perfectly the image the Chosen Daughter had presented so long ago, when she had then watched the challenge between Loban Kenobi and Lord Recinis being enacted in the courtyard below.

No such excitement offered entertainment at the moment. Night had fallen over Phrinnchatka; the quiet broken only by the cries of hunting birds in the cool distance. Darra let her eyes lid languorously, and inhaled a deep breath. Then she released it with a smile and a sigh.

Whatever would come, would come. And whatever it would be, it would be good. For she felt a strange affinity with this place and these people; this world was good, and she was glad to be a part of it.

Giving herself in to the simple joy of the fragrances of the night, JhinDarra remained silent, and continued to stare out over the sleeping capital city of the Sith.

--------------------

...he in turn recieved nothing.

Very well then.

Without so much as a further word then, Erik turned and paid little heed to the Sith partaking of the grand food in the Dining Hall. All he knew or cared about at the moment was that he would simply have to get help elsewhere.

And that meant moving fast, perhaps faster than he even realized. For as he departed the steps of the Sith Temple and began heading for the Supernova on the outskirts of the city, he didn't make it too far before Shayla let out probably the most agonizing scream he'd ever heard. Her nails sunk in desperation into his neck, the grip so tight that Erik fell to his knees, Shayla still in his arms.

"He's coming..." she managed finally. "Right now..."

With that Shayla let out one more agonizing scream, this one seeming to eminate from her very soul as Erik prepared himself for the delivery of the son he knew would soon be born...

...for better or for worse.

--------------------

His Father!

--in the Inner Sanctum that great Sith had taken upon himself still flicked before his eyes; he couldn't help but frown reflexively as they played over and over there like a holo-vid stuck on instant replay.

She was here, with her companion; she who was the Sister to the Chosen One, the one who in turn....

His frown deepened and he shuddered, casting that thought off into the whirling vortex of emotions it had provoked within him, and he quickened his pace. Soon his hurried footsteps carried him to the Dining Hall; he burst inside, glancing quickly around, fresh worry rising in his amber eyes when he saw only the surprised looks the members of the temple household cast back at him.

He gritted his teeth, letting his fangs peep out as he pursed his lips in frustration.

That one always was one to jump quickly! he thought to himself as he whirled in the doorway and continued along the way he had been going. Soon he came to a set of double doors which opened onto the Great Receiving Room; he didn't bother to acknowledge the presence of the other Sith who moved about in their duties, some backing off in quick and quiet respect for him, but continued on past the Throne, and out into the foyer beyond. Another set of richly carved double doors waited for him there, they burst open at his approach, and he stepped out onto a portico made of semi-precious stone. The crystal faces in that stone glittered and flashed beneath the rising K'eel Doban sun, their shining surfaces reflecting reds and oranges and deep golden tones.

Ayelmaar peered about himself, then shook his head in disgust.

I have been given such honor... and I return this by using my abilities with such weakness! he berated himself as, deigning not to chase on foot any further after the vanished targets, he paused, seemed to draw himself up into himself somehow, reached out a sensually clawed hand, and opened a Portal through the All, just as Aelvedaar had taught him.

It was difficult, and something he could yet barely achieve without nearly falling to his knees from the effort, yet he managed to remain upright and at least outwardly firm. Heaving a great sigh, he stepped through that Portal...

...and came out nearly three-quarters of a kilometer away, out upon a grassy place, where a desperate Erik Kartan was kneeling beside an altogether too-white Shayla.

Aeylmaar stiffened, immediately knowing what had happened. He hurried forward and fell to one knee on the other side of Shayla, one hand reaching out to lay in a diagnostic manner on her forehead. Beneath his clawed hand her flesh was clammy and cool, yet she seemed to writhe with fever. Ayelmaar frowned, now sending a serious glance toward a tiny bundle of something which someone had managed to wrap up in a bit of torn clothing. Reaching out with his newly budding talents, he sensed the still-struggling lifeforce within that tiny speck of flesh... yet a force which was somehow diminished, for all the miniscule size of the body it inhabited.

He rose quickly to his feet, and sent a meaningful look into Erik's eyes.

"Come, quickly," he said, then said no more but reached out himself and took up that tiny bundle. He waited then until Erik gathered Shayla up in his own arms, then reopened the Portal. This time it disgorged him and the others directly into Aelvedaar's Inner Sanctum; Aeylmaar stepped out, crying for his Father, but the great Sorcerer was nowhere to be found.

In front of them the Crystal Octahedron was swirling with that distinctively greeny-goldness one finds difficult to look upon, in the very process of folding and moiling over itself as a scene therein was fading from view.

Aeylmaar continued on past the Octahedron, frowning to himself for the silence the Inner Sanctum offered them, and from that silence taking unspoken leave to act in the stead of the Dark Lord of the Sorcerers. Behind the Octahedron there stood the cylindrical form of a Sith incubator; it was the work of moments to activate it. He then unwrapped the tiny form and glanced down, to anyone else the little being appeared dead, but the Chosen Son still felt the stubbornness of life refusing to give way. He stroked the little boy's tiny head but once... then placed him into the protection of the incubator.

At long last he backed away and simply stared into the glowing light of that incubator. Then he cut his eyes to Erik and Shayla, and merely cocked a brow in question.

--------------------

THIS is what Tyberius had caused...

With effort, Erik at length tore his brown eyes from the incubator to now look into those of Aeylmaar, who was now cocking a brow in his direction. "You said that such matters...

...didn't concern the Sith," Erik said quietly, his browns a bit vague.

Then he glanced down to Shayla, whose lids were falling to a close, her skin growing somewhat warmer but her limbs hanging limply. Erik knew she had to be utterly exhausted.

"My wife?" he queried worriedly then, his grip about her unconciously tightening a fraction as he then looked back into the gaze of the Heir to the Sorceror's Clan.

[ 05-14-2003 08:19 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

--------------------

"This is perhaps of importance, for it was provoked by one who appears to have more than a passing interest in my peoples," he said darkly, finishing in an even darker tone. "Considering that the presence of my peoples is something of which only a very privileged few should be aware."

He silenced himself then and leveled a disconcerting stare directly at Erik, not offering room or succor or anything other than what had already been spoken, and what had already been done.

--------------------

He paused at that, ignoring the little voice that was trying to prompt him to close his mouth. The fact that Aeylmaar wasn't offering he or Shayla anything in the way of hospitality was really gnawing at him...

...considering that they were supposedly so very priveleged.

"I appreciate your help, no matter the reason. I must tell you, however, that my wife and I will not be leaving here so long as our son remains. He might represent a 'matter which concerns the Sith' to you, but he is first and foremost my son."

He paused at that, frowning before adding one final thought. "Strange that while what happens to my child is of importance, what has happened and will happen to my wife does not. Perhaps we are all merely pawns for the gain of the Sith after all..."

[ 05-15-2003 10:19 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

--------------------

At last he spoke, his voice carefully neutral, yet carrying the barest wisp of menace in its overtones.

"What is of importance to the Sith is of our own affairs, human," he said quietly, now tilting his head a bit and in that motion presenting his gracefully curving ram's horns as though he were a bull preparing to charge. "You are in no position to dictate what is and what is not; and take a care, that you do not find your own importance bloated beyond its reality."

He paused, letting a small eternity pass between the two of them. Then he straightened, waved a hand toward the incubator, and then clasped them gracefully in front of him.

"This one your wife bore has not been placed in this incubator to promote its growth beyond her womb," he then went on, his voice smooth and indifferent. "Rather, it has been placed there in stasis, to prevent further degradation from occurring. Due to the premature state of its arrival, should it be removed from the protection of the incubator it would surely die. So you see--"

Now the slightest hint of something other crossed his saturnine features and he smiled broadly, exposing his gleaming fangs in the process.

"You shall thus find yourself a permanent inhabitant of Khar Delba if you truly intend to adhere to your words. This is the world of the sorcerers; know you anything of sorcery or magick to pull your weight and thus earn a living among us, human?"

He fell silent then, his smile broadening, and in his eyes something even darker began to raise it's head and laugh.

[ 05-15-2003 10:39 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aeylmaar ]

--------------------

So where exactly was her son?

Working tooth and nail against the bodily desire to simply rest, Shayla forced heavy eyelids open, and directed them upward, her vision not yet clear enough to analyze her surroundings. Still, she knew she was being held by someone, and could at least make out the Force-signature to know it was her husband. He seemed...

...distraught?

Realizing that her lips and mouth were entirely too dry for speech, Shayla swallowed, trying to bring some moisture to her mouth. Then, in hopes of diverting Erik’s attention from whatever had it, she reached up for his shoulder and rasped, ”Zack?”

Erik directed those brown eyes of him down upon her, worry and concern and something else she couldn’t quite put her finger on swimming in them. He looked away to something else for a split second, then turned his eyes back to Shayla. “He lives,” Erik said quietly then, and somewhat vaguely, taking a few steps forward before lowering Shayla a bit til her feet touched the ground. She wasn’t quite steady on them yet; so Erik remained behind her. Her greeny-blue eyes fell upon the very tiny form of a little boy in...

...a Sith incubator?

For the moment, Shayla didn’t even try to analyze that, for suddenly her eyes were filled with tears. Unthinking, she reached out to touch the outside of the incubator, leaning forward til her cheek rested beside her hand. Questing out with the Force through a mother-son link, Shayla closed her eyes, tears streaming as she sought for any speck of life she could find within her child. At length, she found it. Not entirely aware of it, she whispered, ”My little boy...

...my little Zack...”

[ 05-16-2003 06:21 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

--------------------

He is probably off sulking in the night, plotting his own black revenge.... Her lips curved in a sensuous smile at the thought, her eyes darkening to a hue that challenged the night itself.

Aye, but we shall come to grips... and soon.

Propelled by her own thoughts she moved on in a leisurely manner, moving up one street and down another, as pale and silent as a wraith and as unobserved by others. It suited her well to travel thus, unannounced and unseen amidst the heart of a population of warriors, of a race who were born to magick, and now ready to inherit something far, far greater.

At length she found her feet had carried her to a familiar building. It was the Great Library of the Sith. She paused momentarily at the foot of the stairs which led up to the grand entrance, letting images of times past flood her, searching carefully within to determine her own reaction to those images.

She smiled, and placed a foot upon the stone, and thus quickly and gracefully ascended the steps and entered into the dark hallways of the library. It did not take long for her eyes to become accustomed to the differential in lighting; off to one side whirled the Orb of Knowledge, spinning quietly in mid-air, suspended between it's haloing ring of lesser orbs, waiting for A Question.

Without hesitation she strode up to it.

"I wish to see the current Ruling Lords of the Sith," she said in a soft voice, one which murmured off to blend imperceptibly with the shadows of this place, shadows which held the runes of the ages in their incorporeal grasp. The Orb seemed to brighten; then a familiar holographic image came into being directly behind her, life-sized and for the fact that the images were shown as they were at this time, seemingly alive as well.

Dark Lord Aelvedaar sat in regal silence upon his Great Throne, his robes of black and deep royal and nearly incandescent white underscoring the bright vehemence shining in his volcanic eyes. Behind him there stood a shadow of amber, ram's horns held at a forty-five degree angle as the Dark Lord's Chosen son waited to inherit that throne.

Next to Aelvedaar there was a blur, a shade, an ever-shifting cloud of red and turquoise and gold. It was not quite apparent, as though hesitant to be shown, in wonder of its very existence. Graysith's smile darkened to see Roan's image presented in such a manner... and her teeth flashed in the dark as a full-fledged smile crossed her features when she beheld the image next to him.

For there was none. All the Orb had to show her was Lord Aelvedaar, a surreal Roan... and nothing else. And yet, hovering over this image, there seemed to be another shade, a deep moiling cloud which strove to incorporate itself from the very molecules of the air, one darker than the darkest night yet bearing in its depths tantalizing flickers of violet and turquoise and blue.

The Chosen Daughter threw back her head, the motion causing the hood of her cloak to fall back. Her long and richly wavy hair tumbled down as the library rang with her musical laugh; then she sobered, turned, and left this place to it's own brand of knowledge of the present.

As well as to hints of the future.

[ 05-18-2003 03:16 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

--------------------

..or rather someone else...

...mattered as well. Still not moving, Shayla stretched out in the Force for the strength of her husband, whom she knew was hovering close by. And only then did she at last pick up the very vaguely familiar life-force that had been right there with them all along.

Something of the protective nature shot up in Shayla’s psyche, prompting her to stand and whirl as best she could, for she was still quite exhausted. She stood in front of the incubator, her eyes wide as she finally recognized her surroundings...

...and as she recognized Aeylmaar. Her greeny-blue eyes shot into the brown ones of her husband, her look revealing confusion. “How did we get here? Why did you take us from K’eel Doba?” she queried in his direction. “Why didn’t you seek Graysith’s help, she would have...”

Shayla froze mid-sentence, as something about the look in Erik’s eyes troubled her. “Shayla, she wouldn’t,” Erik stated simply, his browns entirely too sympathetic for her taste.

”That can’t be...” Shayla whispered in denial, “She wouldn’t betray me like that, she chose me as her sister...

...it just can't be..."

--------------------

As though a dark pool of water they slipped from the coushoned bed she lay on, slitherign accross the floor and into the shadows, where for a brieff moment twin pin-pricks of red light exploded into existance, before dieing out into darkness once more.

Many a time he had said it, many a time had his enemies realized it, as long as shadow existed so would he...as long as he desired to cause mischive, he would have the chance...
It was a turning wheel, his desire feed the evil of the universe, and the evil fed his desire.

Slowly he vanished, entering a parralel universe...a place of shadows, a place where he could regenerate his dark energies...for along with having been "vanquished" earlier, his being was devided, he had placed half of himself upon the woman...Wickeds beloved Graysith, half of his being to infect the womans child, and grow for himself a new body...yes, a body that could grow with feelings if its mother desired, that would mean nothing, for when the body was ripe, his other half would claim it, uniting with the inner darkness that child would be born with... None could say he was stupid. for entaris was far from it, he was clever, and never took chances.

But now he would remain within the shadowy realms, and gain what strength he could... Along with hopefuly gaining another little something he had in mind... He was a clever one...and he never took chances...Ever.

((OOC: well, I might be back, might not, not sure, it felt good to write this though, so i might be, anyway, follow Entaris into another thread which i will later create when im not tired... See ya then..))

--------------------

The lavish bedchamber rang with the moans of the young half-Sith, as beset by something not quite a dream but something surely nightmarish she writhed amidst her bedclothes, her pearl-clawed fingers grasping and twisting the cool ivory sheets, tearing great rents in them as she thrashed and cried out. Her turmoil expanded, filling her, dark memories welling up, filling her, leeching her from herself, toying with her, urging her, and as that hideous feeling flooded within her her violet-rimmed turquoise eyes snapped open and she bolted upright in bed.

For a long moment she remained thus, sitting still as a statue, the last echoes of her cries ringing from the stone walls into her delicate ears, her hands reaching out for something she had once had, yet recoiled from with all her being, yearning to seek it out and blend with it again. She blinked, her mouth dry, her heart pounding in her chest, her senses heightened and alert as with that great power inherent to her she slowly, fearfully reached out a questing tendril....

Dark Heart? Is that you?

The remnants of the fire popped and snapped in the fireplace, momentarily flaring and creating shadows that danced a tarantelle upon the floor. Swallowing, she slid from the bed, the cold stone icing her feet; she paid it no heed but padded to the curtains which closed off the balcony from the chamber proper and laid a pale hand upon them. A moment's heart-chilling hesitation... and she flung them wide....

Only to reveal the sleeping city of the Sith in the quiet darkness below.

Now ShaRhylla shivered, and wrapped her arms about herself. Memories came and began haunting her, teasing her, not quite revealing themselves, lingering just at the outskirts of cognition, and somehow she knew that if she went back to sleep she would not awaken quite ever the same. Her nails dug into the tender flesh of her arms, sending rivulets of blood rippling down her pale arms to stain her gown and blot upon the floor, but she paid that pain no great heed. In fact, it was welcomed.

Once there was a pain... she believed there was a pain... a great and welcomed and longed for pain....

Uttering a little cry, ShaRhylla sank to her knees in the fading light, gripping her arms to stay awake, and watched the encroachment of the dark as little by little it took dominion against the dying flames of the hearth.

((OOC: ShaRhylla next appears in Not Lost, Yet Not Found in the "Jedi/Sith forums, thank you.))

[ 09-02-2004 05:07 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

--------------------

"There's a Dreadnought in orbit!"

"Wait, we're still erasing his program. Only a few minutes left..."

"They're landing troops!"

"Damn...get the shuttle ready! We have to get Romanus on it as soon as we're done..."

Romanus awoke from the beeping, blinking red light on his control board. It was a warning that his ship just exited hyperspace.

Alright, now let's what the Usurper is capable of...

The hunter quickly placed several commands onto the ship's computer to scan for any nearby Imperial ships. The display monitors aboard, however, begun to fade in and out and emit static.

"Huh. Sensors are fizzing out. Wonder what's interfering..." Romanus said to himself as he tapped a screen.

--------------------

I popped Eagle out of hyperspace behind the dim little red dwarf, coming in from behind it just in case there was anybody looking. I really didn't expect anyone to be watching, however, weird powers or no. I mean, I'd think that She couldn't possibly be on top of everything not all the time....

Roon's Treasure but I was surprised to find the possibility of being found out by my sister the least of my worries. My short term sensor array lit up like Boonta Eve even as I screamed into the Khar Delban system, flashing the signature of ship after ship after ship so helpfully, almost as if it were asking me what she wanted me to do about them. I had scarcely the time to realize that they were Imperial ships, hovering just out of normal sensor range (thank you Terrin for enhancing this yummy little lambda!) before my own senses acted on my behalf, my hand flashing out to shove us right back into the safety of hyperspace again, damned the planet's proximity....

Eagle shuddered as if torn in two directions, pulled by the K'eel Doban gravity well as well as the strangeness that occurred in warped spacetime. For a moment she trembled, hanging exquisitely on a razor's edge of something.... then swooped parsecs away, hidden beneath that timeless veil.

I swallowed heavily.

Hell's Bells, what in the name of all the Fates were that many Imperial ships doing hanging around out here? Up to no good, that was for certain!

For a moment my lips shook, tears springing into my eyes as I thought that my last out was... well, out. Then I firmed.

OK. So they have a suspicion about this system, that much is obvious. If I just scoot nonchalantly on down to the surface, what can they do? Follow... right? And who would be waiting there? Sith, right. And what would evolve from that? Ruckus and general brouhaha. And what could you use this as cover for?

Getting yourself into that Sith fighter, that's what.

My resolution firm, I dropped into realspace long enough to turn a complete 180 around the Z-axis. Then I sent Eagle flying back, swarmed into the system, and before the Imperial fleets could so much as blink -- at least I hoped -- I was out of hyperspace and hitting the thick atmosphere of the planet.

Destination: Phrinnchatka.

Dammit, I sure hope they follow me....

--------------------

Bho'zzhr turned his gold-flecked black eyes... all three of them ...up to his superior.

"Shall I initiate tractor beam, Sir?" he dared to hazard, then winced at his own effrontery and turned back to his boards. He pinned his eyes on the green blip as though his life depended on it, waiting for chastisement.

Which never came.

The major straightened up behind him, a crooked smile darkening his handsome features. His eyes glittered as hard and cold as his insignia.

"Negative, Ensign," he said smoothly, tugging his uniform into even more immaculate denouement upon his person. "Orders are to tractor anyone trying to depart the system. Just keep an eye on that lambda; if it has landed there, it is sure to depart at some time... or not.

"And in the latter case, we don't have to worry much about it now, do we? Oh, and Ensign--"

The major laid a cool hand on Bho'zzhr's shoulder, relishing how the triple eyes blinked simultaneously at that touch, and interrupted his own orders.

"Send a reply to Usurper, and belay the sensor scramble. That is the only ship which has the freedom to come and go as it likes in this system."

Ensign Bho'zzhr nodded, a quickly uttered "Yes, Sir!" crackling from his mouth as he turned back to his boards to relay the message on to the ominous looking infiltrator... and to keep an eye peeled out should that impudent little lambda ever show it's face in departure.

All three eyes, that is.

[ 05-22-2003 10:56 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by The Empire ]

--------------------

Thank Khaandon for small favors...!

The star-struck skies brightened briefly as Eagle descended, her wings outspread to catch the slowly increasing winds and grip them for dear life. Luckily for us however, as we moved down through the upper layers of K'eel Doba's atmosphere and approached it's troposphere, the terminator announced its presence with a thin line of black, a line which got wider and wider the lower into orbit we came.

At least some luck is still with me, I thought as I gripped the controls, maneuvering delicately and initiating the engine mufflers to sop up our thunder. Looks like Phrinnchatka is in night; maybe I'll be able to pull this stunt off after all....

Down and down we went, now well into the "sphere of weather," towering clouds of reddening gold changing to raven's-wing purple, interior blues deepening to a black just a shade lighter than space, all screaming past like thick wads of multi-colored cotton, thick enough to completely hide us during the last thirty miles or so of our descent.

At least hide our visible presence from anyone looking, I thought grimly, keeping my eyes pinned to the radar screen. Khaandon knows if they've got any other sensor arrays up and running; what the heck do I know of this city, anyway?

Nothing much, and that was a fact. Other than it was where I had shared, so briefly, a moment of complete joy with my husband before I had turned stupid and--

I bit that thought off, frowning, and tipped my head to the forward viewscreen.

Keep it together, ol girl, I admonished myself. Don't forget there are a touch wee more individuals down here now, and you are going to stand out amidst them like a sore thumb if you're seen. So keep your wits about you!

The night around us deepened, thickened, now filled with a heaviness that was rent by occasional flashes of light in the distance. Eagle cried out into it, as if annoyed that her thunder was being further dampened by the approaching storm, and wished to find a place to rest before it struck. I obliged her, directing her onward and downward, still hoping we would be chased to a landing, but knowing not so much from the silence of my own aft sensors but by the chill in my gut that we were not.

Another bolt of lightning tore the sky, and another. And soon they were firestorming hard and fast, joined by thunder I could hear inside Eagle, who only screamed louder when a great and vicious fist of wind came up out of nowhere and shook us. It was all I could do to keep her in at least an approximation of steadiness, aiming ever downward toward the capital city, which lay somewhere in the rain-shredded darkness ahead.

And then I had only the barest second or two to realize the hairs on my neck and arms were standing straight up before the entire universe exploded, sending Eagle and me into a brilliant blue-white limbo....

[ 05-23-2003 02:53 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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Darra didn't mind in the least. For some reason she wasn't a bit afraid of the storm; in fact, as the wind began picking up and the clouds to lower, unleashing lightning and thunder, she found herself exhilarated. It was as if there had been something far more frightening, somewhere deep in the recesses of her unconscious mind, that she had weathered effortlessly; this storm was but a pale shadow of that impalpable sensation, whatever it meant.

She sighed, her long red hair now blown about her face as she placed her forearms upon the stone balustrade and leaned into the crisping wind. A rumble of thunder pushed yet more rain into her face, and a violet shard shrieked across the sky, lighting the sleeping city in surreal light, and causing her to open her mouth in a smile of laughter.

Wonderful! she thought, now closing her eyes and leaning into the wind so much that it seemed she would tumble from the balcony altogether. Her balance was impeccable, however, and her grip strong. Widening her stance then, she pressed her hips against the stone and flung her arms out to either side of her.

So wonderful, like flying....

Then it hit her: a strange sensation, totally foreign. With an abrupt start she pulled back, her wide blue eyes widening further to peer into the escalating storm, as though seeking something.

What is this? she frowned to herself, tilting her head a bit to one side. It is as if something... no. Someone is in danger, somewhere close... but who? Where?

Her frown deepened then as she pondered the strange niggle which bit by bit began to insist that she depart and go....

Do what? I am but new here myself; I know no one but Mother.

Gripping her arms about herself, she gritted her teeth. Then closing her eyes she concentrated on pushing that strange sensation away, keeping it at bay, and lifted her face into the storm once again.

[ 05-23-2003 06:14 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by JhinDarra ]

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"Allright, have it your way," he growled, standing up, "I'll take over the scanners and see if we can pick the Eagle up. She should register as a friendly if she's anywhere out there."

Matt nodded, switching places with Jasyn then and taking the ship controls as the final reversion beep sounded. Reaching for the hyperspace controls, Matt pulled the Raptor smoothly out of hyperspace as Jasyn slid into the copilot's seat.

"Establishing orbit around K'eel Doba," Matt announced helpfully as Jasyn sent the Raptor's scanners to work. In but a second information about the planet--

--lifeform readings, weather, and terrain--

--streamed in, along with readings on any ships in the area. Like the Eagle, the Raptor's scanners could reach just a little bit further...

"What the hell is out there?!" Jasyn growled, pointing to the readout, which indicated a horde of ships floating on the outskirts of the system.

Matt frowned, looking at the readout himself. ”Imperials...” he muttered irritably. Then, suddenly, he pointed a finger towards a ship indicated by a friendly-looking green. "There she is!" he exclaimed.

“So, follow her down,” Jasyn said almost bluntly.

“The storm...” Matt started hesitantly.

Jasyn frowned. “I don’t give a damn about the storm. Maybe it’ll give us some cover...”

Beside him, Matt sighed in resignation, taking the Raptor out of orbit and into K’eel Doban atmosphere...

...where they were greeted most kindly by thunder and lightning and rain. Matt struggled with the controls, and the Raptor bounced back and forth in response to the winds flying about her.

“Oh kriffing hell,” Jasyn groaned, gripping the seat.. “I hate space travel...”

Matt ignored him, still working to dodge lightning...

...and trying to see just exactly where they were heading as he homed in on Prinn’chatka and worked to start the landing sequence. Then, something tumbling in the fog of K’eel Doban space caught his eye. No sooner had he seen it when Jasyn sat up a bit in his seat, his eyes wide. “It’s the Eagle!” he exclaimed, “And she’s out of control...”

“She’s gonna crash,” Matt said worriedly as the rains became heavier and Matt manuevered the Raptor for an unelegant landing.

Jasyn didn’t think he could look, if not for the spiraling images of the sky in the viewport than most certainly for the immenient crash.

“Looks like she managed to start the landing procedure before she lost control,” Matt decided, his green eyes still straight ahead. “At least the slowed speed of the landing cycle will help minimize the damage.”

Jasyn didn’t even want to think about it. He didn’t want to even watch...

...not that he could see a whole hell of alot through the rain and the fog...

...but at the same time, he couldn’t tear his eyes from the scene of a barely discernable Eagle making her last few spirals towards the ground below.

Almost on impulse, Jasyn reached out and slapped one button on the Raptor’s controls, opening a secured frequency to the Eagle.

“Galen, it's Jasyn...can you read me?”

[ 05-23-2003 07:09 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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En route, I managed to scrabble a landing cycle initiation; I was in the final procedures of this when a green light blinked for my attention.

"Galen!" a worried, staticky voice crackled, then garbled as a board finally blew it's last circuit nearby and went dark. "--ead me?"

"Oh, kriffing HELL Jasyn, wha--?!"

I don't know if he heard me or not. In fact, I don't even know if I got the message sent; my fingers were so busy trying to breath a semblance of life back into Eagle that I might have altogether overlooked the communication relay control.

All I knew was that suddenly everything shimmied, jittered, sparked and went black... and through the forward port something that looked like the biggest mountain in the universe was coming up fast.

Funny, but I didn't know there were mountains here... but this one is too high. Too, too high. And coming too damned fast....

"Oh Jasyn, dammit, dammit, da--"

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"Oh, hell, Matt, get us down, fast!" Jasyn snapped, reaching for the send button again. "Galen...?!" he called worriedly. "Galen..?"

No response.

"Dammit, I'm not getting through! Could you hurry it up with the landing?!" he spat.

Matt didn't turn his eyes from the viewport, which had 99.5 percent of his attention, but he managed to divert the remaining .5 percent for a comment. "If you'd like to come over here and try for yourself..."

But even as he said that, the Raptor made final descent in the fog and rain, her landing gear fully extended as she made ungraceful contact with the ground below. The Raptor jolted and bounced in response.

But Jasyn was up on his feet before she made total touchdown, headed for the back to grab medical supplies. As he did just that, throwing a few odds and ends about which were in his way, Matt shut the engines down and then headed towards the back himself, just in time to meet Jasyn at the hatch with a satchel full of supplies.

"Come on," he said, extending the hatch, his look determined. "Let's get over there, rain or no..."

[ 05-23-2003 07:26 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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Run we....

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"This is the Usurper. Seeing as how sensors are coming back online, you know why I'm here. I'm looking for the planet K'eel Dobo, or Doba, or whatever, but the name isn't showing up anywhere." He then sat back to await the Imperial's response.

As he waited, Romanus couldn't shake a bad vibe he got when he jumped into this system. It's like the whole space around him was...different...like it shouldn't be there. Or maybe he shouldn't be there.

Or maybe I'm losing my mind. Sithspit, I need to find that kid!

There was also something else out there as well. Romanus had sensed the Force-presence of another, a familiar one. But it was gone now...

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