But the underlayer of his mind was tuned to the awareness of a gentle, hazel-eyed woman, putting down with a friend on a strange jungle planet. Her cautiousness, her calmness...

And, suddenly, the pain of her flesh. The fear of the great beast looming above her. Blood loss, and the peace of unconsciousness.
After a long minute, Jeroc remembered to breathe again. Seated in the pilot's chair of the yacht, his hands brushed over the controls, and he was tempted to head off to Khar Delba right then and there.

No. He had to consider this. He had responsibilities. Even now, he could hear the footsteps of his padawan Logan coming towards the cockpit. Jeroc gritted his teeth.

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

Wearily, Jeroc rubbed his forehead. "Cella's been attacked, by the same beast that you encountered. She's conscious now, but little else. What's worse, I can no longer sense Erik...and I strongly suspect that the Sith Lady has returned from her little sabbatical."

Logan looked impatient. "So why are we still here? Man, you should have made a jump to Khar Delba when you first felt her like this!"

Jeroc gritted his teeth and glared at his padawan. "Did you not learn a single thing on your impulsive little jaunt to the Sith Temple? You're still as thickheaded as you ever were, evidently. These Sith aren't to be trifled with...and I have you and Thea to think about. Especially Thea."

Logan's expression softened at the mention of the little girl. "I know it, and I apologize, Master Jeroc. But even if we don't touch ground, we should at least orbit the planet. Who knows when Cella might really need us?"

"I'm considering it, Logan." Just then, the Jedi Master felt his beloved's presence reaching out for him again, and relayed the information to his padawan. "I feel her now, Logan...apparently she's met up with Danner and his crew, and has agreed to construct a lightsaber bearing the Nar Khelba for them. She also has found no trace of Erik."

Logan shuddered. "So now what?" The question hung unanswered in the air between master and student.

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

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

Jeroc reached out to smooth her hair with a lean hand, then hesitated. Once more, Cella was trying to make contact. Jeroc, your help is urgently needed. The Sith Lady has returned, and we sense the presence of yet another Sith with her...a new one. Worse yet, Erik is still lost to me. I have been injured and am still quite weak. Captain Danner has most graciously offered to let us place Logan and Thea in the care of his crew on the Hornett. Make haste, my love...

Jeroc's reply was almost instantaneous. I'll be there as soon as I can get Thea and Logan into good hands. It would definitely be a good idea to keep in touch with Logan, since he knows the terrain somewhat. I plan to use the same tactic as Erik did to reach you and use the Pride's cloakers. Force be with you, Cella.

He cleared his throat. "Logan, Thea, I've just had news from Cella. The situation has been greatly complicated--Erik has disappeared and another Sith has been spotted landing on the planet. I don't want to leave the two of you, but Cella needs my help."

"Captain Danner has offered to let the two of you stay on his flagship, Hornett, while I take the Pride to Khar Delba. Logan, I know you, and I know the last thing you want is to stay while I go. But I'm telling you this as one man to another, we need you to be here. Cella and I could definitely use your knowledge of the planet, and we need to keep you safe. And you have a responsibility to Thea now." Logan nodded solemnly, not protesting, although Jeroc could sense his inner rebellion.

Jeroc cupped Thea's face in his hands and knelt in front of her. "Thea, I promise this will be over very soon and you will be able to start your Jedi training in earnest. The best thing you can do right now is send loving thoughts to Shayla. Remind her that we haven't given up on her. Listen to Logan and obey the crew of the Hornett. Cella and I love you and we want to keep you safe."

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

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

A male voice crackled from the comm. "This is Aaron Barnes of the Hornett speaking." Jeroc explained the situation to Aaron as quickly as possible, and Aaron graciously agreed to let the padawans stay on Hornett. He and Jeroc made plans for the Pride of Yavin to dock with Hornett and deposit the padawans on the way to Khar Delba.

An hour later, Logan, Thea and Izzy were safely aboard Danner's ship, and Jeroc was making the short hyperspace jump towards Khar Delba. Just then, he caught a wave of pain and fright from Cella. "No!" he cried aloud.

Cella was in the Temple, and in great danger. It was now or never for her...

After what seemed like years to Jeroc, the Pride made landfall on Khar Delba, near the approximate location of the Temple as Logan had described it. Jeroc immediately disembarked and tried to make sense of his jungle surroundings...

((OOC: Follow Jeroc to the Great Temple on Khar Delba.))

[ 11-24-2001 05:05 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Rogue Angel ]

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

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

"Thea, I wish I knew what to tell you." The young man sighed. "All I know is that there are evil people in this galaxy, and their actions aren't anywhere near rational or explainable. I imagine this Sith Lady's not too happy about Cella coming to 'visit'. But Jeroc's going to help her and he'll be with her in no time."

Logan braced himself. He needed to tell Thea the truth about Shayla...and the possibility that she might not come back to the Praxeum. He would rather have left this to Jeroc or Cella, but they were occupied with more important things, and he didn't want this to come as a total shock to the little girl.

"Thea, I also have some pretty bad news for you. When I saw Shayla down there on Khar Delba...she was changed. She's learned a lot of things, not all of them good, and she's...just not the same person that you met at the Praxeum. Which leads to another thing." Logan gritted his teeth.

"Thea, Shayla may not be coming with us back to the Praxeum. Even if the Sith Lady lets her go, Shayla may not want to go. She just doesn't want to be a Jedi any more. She wants..." The words caught painfully in his throat, and he stared at the bulkhead to avoid seeing tears well up in Thea's eyes.

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

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

"Well, I haven't been training at the Praxeum very long, but I've been a lot of places in the galaxy. And I do know that the Jedi don't mean the same things to some people as they do to others." He could see Thea was confused, so he decided to clarify.

"Some think the Jedi are power-hungry, only seeking to wield the Force so they can have some kind of unfair advantage over 'ordinary folks'. Others think the Jedi are too bound in tradition, that they don't know the best way to use the Force." Logan squeezed Thea's shoulder comfortingly. "Of course, you and I know that the Jedi have rules so that the Force can be used rightly: to heal, to teach, to help."

"But other people, like the people who took Shayla, don't think this way. I don't know why. They think it's okay to use the Force for whatever you want: to make yourself powerful, to hurt others, to satisfy your own desires. And because the Jedi oppose this, they accuse the Jedi of being weak and fearful."

"I'm still not entirely sure what happened to Shayla. She told me she wanted to learn how to use both the light and dark sides of the Force, which doesn't make any sense to me. But Thea, I'm still a student like you, and there are many things I don't understand." He sighed. "I just wish Jeroc or Cella were here to explain this to you."

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

I am not what he thinks, the voice said. I am not what THEY think. Don't be fooled by what you perceive; your perceptions can be innaccurate.

The Light and the Dark I have chosen to embrace. What you chose to take unto yourself, Thea, is yet to be determined and remains your choice alone...

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

[ 11-28-2001 10:30 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Padme of Hidden Lake ]

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

But such things might change, in time.

The link, even though temporarily silenced, would remain. Shayla didn't quite know what maintained this link, but some things were just as they were, and should remain thus.

[ 11-26-2001 09:33 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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

And of Thea. Young though she was, she was incredibly resilient and trusting. She would make it through this all right. "Thea, don't worry about Shayla. I know that you were once friends, and there's nothing wrong with remembering that. But you have to remember that she has changed, and that she has chosen to change for reasons we don't know. But she is not a prisoner, and she is not unhappy..." Logan broke off in mid-sentence, Cella's voice suddenly filling his mind.

Logan, Thea might be in danger, but it is hard to say. Protect her as best you can. Use those things which Jeroc and I taught you, and reach out with all your senses. Force be with you.

Shaken by this cryptic message, Logan tried not to look disturbed. "Thea, are you hungry? Personally, I sure could use some rations."

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

She thought of Cella and Jeroc suddenly and panicking that something actually could have happened to them she thought out, "Cella, Jeroc are you ok? what's going on?"

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

He could hear Thea's query and Cella's gentle reply. Yes, I'm all right, dear. Please don't worry. Master Jeroc seemed to be preoccupied at the moment..

Logan was a little irritated at how perceptive the little girl was to his thoughts and feelings. "You know, I can't remember the last time we ate. Now, can we go get something to eat, or what?" Feeling suddenly claustrophobic, he headed out of the cabin towards the mess room, hoping that Thea was behind him.

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

[ 11-30-2001 09:08 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Padme of Hidden Lake ]

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

[ 12-05-2001 10:57 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Padme of Hidden Lake ]

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

The fire was an unholy mix of reds and purples and it seemed to almost sing a hedious melody as it danced with the sudden darkness in the corridor. A figure exploded into being, rising out of the flames, stetching out a clawed hand to easily rip Thea out of Logan's inefficient arms.

"A child," the demon hissed through blacked lips carressed with deepley purple hues, "for a child!" He said the last with an unholy moaning wail as the girl was easily flung onto his shoulder and they vanished within the flames. The fire made a final blast before it also vanished, leaving a frantic Logan....alone.

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

The smiling Sith Lord would have none of that. With a wave of a clawed hand he kept the dancing shadows at bay... with another he placed a Force Bubble about himself and the child, as he did the OTHER who yet waited in a private horror of her own... a Force Bubble similar to a Force Cage but stronger, withstanding the penetretion of the Light, holding its own against the dark... only those knowign the secrets of the all could break it... that no peeping eyes or ears would know of his whereabouts or that of this child until he deigned it to be so.

Giving the child a meaningful stare, laughing with the caressing shadoes that responded to his merest whim, coming and carrying with them the promise of more terror should anything befall HER...

...they travelled on to a secret place known only to him. One he kept distant even from She who carried his Dark Heart.

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

I promised her she'd be safe. I promised her she'd be a Jedi. If anything happens to her, I'll kill myself!

He dashed into the mess hall of the Hornett, where he nearly plowed into Aaron Barnes. "Logan, what's happened?"

"Thea's been kidnapped," Logan moaned through gritted teeth. "Snatched right out of my arms by that Sith Lord." He clenched his fists, drawing blood from his palms. "I'm going to kill him if anything happens to her! What's worse, Cella's gone too, and Jeroc can't help us now either. I'll take any risk...

"Now just settle down and think a minute, Logan," pleaded Aaron. "I'd give you a ship if it would help...but if a Sith's taken her, I'm kind of thinking she's in a place where a ship won't do much good." The man paused a minute in thought.

"You know what? I've got an old favor needs calling in. Funny, I haven't thought of her in years...Logan, come with me. We have a call to make."

Minutes later, a deeply shaken Logan stood with Aaron in the comm center of the Hornett. The man tapped in a comm freq, tried for a response. "Margoly, you there?"

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

"Margoly, you there?" Aaron Barnes, fellow smuggler, partner in a few less-than-successful ventures, and former lover. Now I had to answer. I was intrigued as to whether he had a new business proposal or was going to beg to get back together with me. I rolled out of bed and put on a nightrobe.

"What is it, Aaron, you old rascal?"

"Um, Margoly? Remember that time I kind of crashed the ship we had together?"

"Yes. That is a very expensive memory."

"Well, remember how I bought you the distillery on Corellia to make up for it? The one that's making the finest Whyren's Reserve in the galaxy? The one that's made you a rich woman in your own right?"

I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn't see. "Yes, I remember all that," I snapped. "Aaron, are you saying I owe you some kind of a favor."

I could nearly see him making sad pittin eyes at me. "Yeees. Margoly, you used to be a Jedi, right?"

"Aaron, I told you I don't talk about that. Even with you." I had studied for some years on Yavin IV, but had left after I'd realized that my powers tended toward darkness more often than not...and one very frightening brush with a Sith...

"Good for me that I have a long memory. Margoly, I know you're a good woman, and you'll help someone for an old friend's sake. A little girl, Margoly, one that's been through a lot."

I couldn't help myself. "Tell me more."

As Aaron sat in his office waiting for Margoly to meet up with them, he pulled up the ship's sensor array, looking to see what the nearby traffic was like.

Let's see. One X-wing. Then two...fifteen...twenty...

Aaron's eyes began to bug out of his head as he realized there was a fleet very nearby. That could only mean two things. The Moff had finally found a way to even things out with Terrin, or there were New Republic people nearby.

Both meant one thing regardless. Trouble.

But Aaron had an obligation to see Logan off safely, as well as the obligation to watch over Terrin's fleet. He'd be a dead man if the fleet wasn't taken care of.

Deciding he'd best get the fleet out of the area, Aaron typed up a short message to Margoly, alerting her that she should meet him in the Xenoth Sector, not too far away from Khar Delba, but far enough for his fleet not to be noticed by any New Republic types.

They might be friends, but then, even if Eagle Enterprises was a ship building company they still had smuggling roots.

And there was that little issue with the Moff again...

Opening another frequency to one of Jasyn's communications devices, Aaron sent word that he was taking the fleet out of the area to protect it from possible danger.

Then, in a matter of about an hour, the fleet was off in hyperspace for a short jump to another place. There they would both keep the fleet protected and meet up with the contact he had promised Logan...

[ 12-06-2001 12:12 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin's Crew ]

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

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