Jester III erupted into true space with all the grace and simple strength I remembered these ships as having. I couldn't resist tapping the forward view screen into life, settling back for a precious few seconds to simply admire the view without. The thinning atmosphere brightened contrarily as more and more stars popped into view, there to burn with a steady and rainbow splendor as their backdrop darkened by visible degrees. At length the contrast was total, and I was free of the K'eel Doban gravity well.

I sighed a bit, then firmed. Now I reached out into the cubby where I knew the Sith kept their starcharts and logs. Although blessed with an eidetic memory when it came to the subject of planetary coordinates, a talent which had proved beyond useful on more than one occasion, in order to use this I had to have visited the planet at least once.

I had never been to Korriban... indeed, had known of it only through ancient echoes drifting through the abyss of time, hidden here and there in the frustratingly tantalizing clues Dad had found in one hoary heiroglyph here, another graven rune there....

My wandering memories were brought to a sudden halt as I came in contact with the primary navigational charts. The strange material crunkled most delightfully as I drew them out; I hadn't a clue what his stuff was, but sure as there's Treasure on Roon it wasn't anywhere being even close to paper. I always wondered exactly why the Sith bothered to keep such things written in this manner; perhaps they possessed degrees of aesthetics I wasn't aware of. There was something of beauty in the mere fact of opening the charts, and beginning to ruffle through them.

Which I proceeded to do, scanning each page quickly. Before I knew it, I had gone completely through the chart; perhaps I needed to slow down a tad. I began anew, from page one, and this time scanned more slowly, more thoroughly. Came to the end once again... and tried a third time before rising to my feet and throwing the ledger the length of the little craft. It slammed into the non-metal of the opposing bulwark, prompting myriad green sigils to twinkle on the boards in front of me.

I ignored them altogether, glowering, my hands fisted at my side.

Damn their suspicious hides... the coordinates to Korriban weren't here! Did they just not include them in their charts at all, in order to protect the planet? That made no sense; what in Hell's Seven Circles could harm one of these marvelous ships?

Or had the coordinates been removed--?

Now my hand followed the charts as I strode over and slammed it against the very wall the chart had struck. Damn Aelvedaar and the rancor he rode in on---!

For the briefest of moments I wavered, debating the pros and cons of what to me would obviously be an ignominious return to Phrinnchatka. Never really considered that this was probably the only way the Sith Lord could make me come to my senses: by freely letting me go -- albeit not too far, and of course not into the jaws of what could turn into my death. For while I was protected within this ship, once I had reached Korriban there would be the matter of joining the others, and they had a headstart on me. I would have been alone and vulnerable, though briefly, for quite easily enough time that something... dire could happen to me.

None of the above entered into my conscious thought. All I could think of was that my daughter was out there, and I just had to do something to keep her out of the clutches of that Dark Lord with whom I had made entirely too intimate an acquaintance. Finally my thoughts broadened to consider for the first time the powers of the group in charge of Darra's care -- using her being aside for the moment -- and I relaxed just a fraction.

OK. So maybe I couldn't get to her now. But... but, chances are that there was a certain someone just itching to do that very thing. Hell's bells, I knew that, didn't I? Wasn't that why I had fled Phrinnchatka--?

A small ripple of unease filled me, and I yanked my thoughts back online, holding them firmly to the course I had just begun.

Yes indeedy, Galen ol' gal, He is indeed just aching to get his claws on her. And on you, too, don't forget. But he's not stupid; chances are really, really good that even now he's aware of what's going on with Graysith and her crew, just poised to snatch, his focus there, not elsewhere. And he's going to remain poised like that for some time; certainly whatever they're planning on doing can't be done immediately. It's going to take time, and then they have to come back....

I pursed my lips in strengthening resolve, my quick estimation of the time factor affirming the fact that my next course of action would be quite possible... if not also having to be exquisitely timed. What better way to sneak into the rancor's den than when the beast was looking the other way, and there to make oneself the other of a set of pincers when the time came to snap off its head.

Or at least to be there if he did manage to grab my baby girl.

Never once did I consider the obvious fault in my thinking: that if I did somehow manage to sneak into Roan's lair he'd pick up on me like a millitile snags the fungus it eats. All I could think of was out-thinking Her, to find Roan's hidey-hole, and lie in wait for any chance to do as much harm to him as I could.

But to do that, I had to find Roan.

But-- you know where he is, generally speaking, don't you ol' girl? Think about it, there is something niggling... you know where he's hiding, you've really known all along....

My eyes flashed with sudden certainty. I did know. Didn't have a logical means of substantiating that gut instinct... I just knew.

I just didn't know where in particular the slimeball was hiding on K'eel Doba. But he was, sure as there's Treasure on Roon.

OK, so I had to go on a hunt. Sure as hell wasn't going to go it alone, either. I needed help in this, and Khaandon knows I didn't want to risk anyone's life but my own... or a certain somebody else's maybe....

No better person to hunt down another than a bounty hunter.

And I knew exactly where the best of the best and I had last crossed paths. He'd better still be there....

Quickly tapping in the coordinates to Coruscant, I let the little craft then take its head. The stars smeared themselves into hyperdriven glory as, encased in the Force-shield and likewise the light-bending one initiated by the rune on this flightsuit's belt, Jester III disappeared from the eyes of any observer and howled for the distant glory of that beautiful -- and blockaded -- city-planet.

A particular golden-greeny sigil began to blink quietly on the navigation board as Jester III made the somehow unobtrusive yet persistent announcement that, Hey someone, wake up. We're here....

I snorted the shadows of rapidly receding sleep from my bones, untangling myself from the contorted postition I awoke to find myself in, and now reached out to flick off that sigil and make our final landing preparations. To my side, Sorben sat in aloof silence, encased from head to toe again in his armor, and appeared to be staring somewhat stonily at the forward viewscreen. But just as my hand reached out to tap in the final directives for this ship to follow, his hand shot out to lay upon mine, stopping the move in short order.

"Galen," he said quietly, although there was no need to capture my attention by calling my name in that manner. I shot an inquiring look his way, trying to figure out just what was going on beneath that Mandalorian helmet of his, what craftiness was now worming about in his head. I didn't have to speculate long; after a moment of apparent consideration he spoke up and told me what to do.

My heart leapt into my throat at the danger involved... but I agreed with him one hundred percent. For indeed the fact of the matter was that we were in a Sith fighter; remote and high-tech though these cloners might be, the chances were good that they might somehow recognize the utter alienness of my little craft. That would never do....

The timing of this would have to be perfect... but I knew Jester III wouldn't let me down. As we raced toward the storm-ridden surface of this ocean planet, I rapidly typed in a series of commands, and the little ship responded with lightning fast obedience:

For a scant moment, the light-bending -- although not the Force-blocking --device flickered off. Any planetary sensor which might have been paying attention would suddenly be picking up...something on it's screens. Just that one flash, before that weird golden beam shot out from the underbelly of the little craft, impacting the waters...

...and evaporating uncounted cubic kilometers of the ocean in one immense and blinding flash. I knew that that unexpected event undoubtedly grabbed the focus of at least someone in the nearest city-dome toward which we were heading, to all intents and purposes announcing the fact that something had just hurtled in for a landing on Kamino, and had literally vaporized itself on impact.

In less than a nanosecond the beam simultaneously flicked off, and the light-bending device shot back on, it's initiator now being channeled from my belt and into the cyberbiotic brains of this marvelous ship. The little craft, once again invisible to any kind of sensing device whatsoever, zipped over to that nearest city-dome and zeroed in for a landing on it's roof. There it settled with the touch of a feather, completely unseen... and more importantly, unsensable ...by anyone at all. Only we knew of its invisible presence there.

But en route it dropped Sorben, with me held firmly in his grasp, from its belly like a couple of bad credits.

We fell toward the seething waters below, my heart in my throat as I reached to my belt and hit a final switch. Our life forces suddenly popped online once again; to all appearances we had jettisoned from a crashing ship, and had barely made it with our lives.

Errr... that final statement having yet to be seen, actually.

Now my heart was positively choking off my breath, simultaneously threatening to erupt from my throat, where it was still lodged. But Sorben's magnificent reflexes came once more into play, even as we fell toward the water yet about a half-kilometer or so beneath us. With a certain degree of nonchalance, almost as though he did this sort of thing every day, he pointed a gauntleted hand toward the lightning-reflected dome of that nearby Kaminoan city, and let loose with a grappling hook. That tiny yet incredibly strong device shot out, affixing itself to the shining metal, and with but one flick of a button began jerking us along more of a horizontal vector. The dome approached with startling rapidity; we slammed into it just as I managed to realize that maybe I wasn't going to drown in the depthless waters of this planet after all.

Now in utter control of the situation, Sorben slowly loosed the locking clamp. The grappling hook now unreeled us to let us slide down the immense curvature of that dome. I gritted my teeth and tensed in Sorben's hold... but no. His aim had been as exquisite as his timing. Our feet finally, blessedly, touched down on the rain-slicked surface of a small landing pad, his making a pronounced yet somehow controlled thud as he landed, ready for anything, mine producing a noise more like the whimper of a worrt. It was all I could do to stay on my feet....

A flick of Sorben's wrist and the grappling hook released itself to slip back into its cradle on Sorben's gauntlet. His helmet then turned to face mine, the visor beaded with rain, lightning flashing in the mysterious black depths of its visor, somehow only making the lenses look blacker. I raised my own to look back at him...

Into the fray...

...before I turned with him and we approached the entry, there to announce our somewhat dramatic arrival to Kamino. I hoped Sorben knew what in Hell's Seven Circles he was doing; this was the smallest little dome of all the ones we had passed in our rapid and explosive descent....

"Of course, you must need time and accomodations to rest from your ordeal, Mr... Tymbal, did you say? And your wife; dear Jasenda, please forgive my seeming recalcitrance in this matter. You were not expected, and we receive so few visitors here on Kamino..."

With an equally graceful wave of her hand, the female Kaminoan indicated we accompany her into the city where she lived; well, in comparison to the size of the larger dome I could barely make out hovering on the nearby horizon this was more of a suburb. I nodded my head, tightening my grip around Galen's shoulders, and followed her almost surreal form from the lightning-shot blackness into light and softness and pure, pure beauty. The entrance closed off the storms in our wake, comforting me with the knowledge of, Well buddy, so far so good....

The beautiful alien continued to make small talk as we made our way through corridors so white they almost hurt to walk through. For the most part I tuned out her words, every sense alert to possible danger... but one statement she was now making captured my attention and slammed it back to her in a flash.

"Indeed this is strange, but exciting! Serendipitous, one might say. To have not merely two separate arrivals... but now two more unexpected guests arriving... although the others did not come to this small town, going to the capitol dome instead. Perhaps you saw it as you entered into our humble habitat... I have not met these others, being the Greeter for this place, but I have been told of their coming to Kamino; imagine! Guests, after so many years... and with a youngling yet! Perhaps you may know of these others, and would like to make arrangements to greet them as well...?"

On and on she babbled, unwittingly confirming our worst fears. Not only did it appear that Roan had apparently arrived ahead of us, but someone else was suddenly finding a very great interest in this remote world, a world not visited by too many people in all too many years.

I shook my head quickly. "Ummm... er, no thank you," I cut into her incessant thread of words. "I believe my wife and I would just like accomodations to rest, and then at sometime access to where we might make a call for arrangements to be retrieved. It is so very kind of you to offer what you have; we don't want to take up any more of your time or resources than we have to.

"And of course, we are willing to pay...."

That caught the attention of the Greeter, and she stopped in her tracks. Her enigmatic eyes seemed to widen as she considered my last words. Then, as though she was forced to saying them, she continued with,

"But of course it is nothing but rude to accept payment for succor to those shipwrecked, such as yourselves," she said smoothly, beginning to turn away again. I halted that movement with my next carefully uttered words:

"I refer to the fact that my wife and I highly regard our privacy, and would be only too happy to... ascertain that it is maintained.

"By someone who is skilled in such things, of course."

Now she paused, conflicted. Worlds of hidden meaning passed between us; Greeter she might be, but she was of the race of beings able to clone entities and play about with growth processes. Stupid she was not. But willing to make a credit or two just as were the rest of her race.

I could practically see the wheels in her head turning as she paused, obviously trying to come up with something she could tell the Minister of this particular habitat as to what all the hub-bub had been about. At length she nodded, seeming satisfied with herself. Her slender hand slipped smoothly out to the pile of credits that had appeared as if by magick in my hand. I retained my hold on the last one as she drew that pile from my fingers.

"My wife and I might be here for... some time," I finished, waggling the last credit note before letting it go into her grasp. Her black eyes met my black lenses; then she nodded but once.

Moments later we were safely ensconced in her very own small yet comfortable quarters, being given the equivalent of her personal guest rooms. Then she hurried off to inform the Minister that when she had opened the door to the habitat, no one had been there.

Roan's bright turquoise eyes looked all the more brilliant in hue for the contrast of white which was now all about him. He was in an oddly-shaped room, his daughter held to his chest, refusing with complete disdain the exotic chair which seemed to flow into being behind him, that he might rest and have discourse with the Minister of the Capitol City of Kamino.

He preferred to stand... with the Minister's slender neck in his grasp. It took every ounce of willpower he possessed to keep from applying any pressure at all upon that neck; indeed but with but a mere whim it would snap like a matchstick in between his fingers. Instead, those coiled fingers seemed to encage it, allowing it movement... but not escape.

The Minister's stare remained enigmatic. "I believe you have made your point, Lord," he finally uttered calmly. "There is no need for such... brutality. We are a peaceful nation, only too willing to barter our services..."

Roan cut off the Kaminoan's words with a snort, now bringing his fearful visage almost nose to nose with the Minister. "You will follow my command... and if I am pleased, you shall be rewarded for your efforts. But if not..."

He let the threat trail off, clearly reading the alien's utter understanding in the depths of his eyes.

The pregnant pause lengthened, then at last Roan pulled back, loosening his grip from the neck of the Minister. That hand now reached down to his quiet daughter, and one claw lightly scraped the soft skin of her tiny arm. Her red blood welled up, glistening in the purity of the room, as though in silent offerring to the abilities of the Kaminoans...

...which of course it was.

"Phase One shall be implemented immediately, Lord," the Kaminoan Minister affirmed, now producing a small petrie-like dish from his robes and carefully taking a sample of ShaRhylla's blood. Though administrator he now was, he, as with all of his people at one time or another, had once been a pure scientist. Ever thus, he was always prepared for any eventuality.

The dish was handed to an assistant, who had been standing nearby, and who with a slight nod of his head now departed with the precious cargo. Roan's eyes slit in satisfaction as that scientist left to begin the first in his designs to rule the galaxy, darkened further as with the All he watched the assistant enter into the heart and soul of this habitat and discuss with other scientists that very procedure, turned to oily pools in his head as with a mere wave he erected a chrontic shield around the facility enlosing the scientists that they could proceed unimpeded... and trusted that his last order, that under no circumstances should any of them attempt to leave until the preordained time had come to pass, would be strictly adhered to.

"And now," he continued, directing his attention to the Minister once again. "You shall begin Phase Two." With that somewhat enigmatic statement, he thrust out his daughter to the Minister of the Capitol City of Kamino.

"Fifteen. And remember: not a hair shall be harmed on her head... or this entire benighted planet will be vaporized. Thus it would... behoove you to keep this entire commission utterly quiet, for your sake and for that of your people."

Stepping back now, as if to emphasize those words, he raised a hand and opened a portal through the All. There he paused, while the Minister watched in a silence that was almost fascinated.

"I shall not be far, Minister," Roan growled in farewell as, finishing the motion, he stepped through in a blaze of sith fires and shades, and returned to the hiding place he had found on this entirely too hideous world... or at least a world entirely too hideous for his liking. Behind him the Minister blinked his eyes once, nodding. Then he calmly called another assistant, and ShaRhylla was wisked away to meet her own particular destiny.

Somehow I had the feeling she could sense it, however, as even though she quit trying to actually leave the room, her mouth still pressed on to prove her point.

"Look, Sorben," she began yet again in an obviously exasperated tone... but got no farther than that. Events happened very quickly then.

I literally felt the hairs on the back of my neck raise up, and found myself whirling off of Galen, crouched and ready, blaster in hand and ready to shoot before I really knew who or what it was I was shooting at. When I saw the target, it was all I could do to keep steady.

She stood there much as I remembered her, her intense violet eyes cutting right through my visor, her hair about her face like a cloud of fire, that weird whatever it was on her forehead beginning to glow as if someone had taken a star from the sky and stuck in on her there. She stood quietly enough, her hands openly clasped in front of her...

...but I didn't trust her in the least. I remained crouched and ready, trying to battle the shock that was rising within me, shock which was mirrored in Galen for the gasp that I heard exploding from her. For a fraction of a second that seemed like an eternity we all remained frozen in this odd tableau, the darkened outlines of our stance mocked by the brilliant whiteness all around.

He does not remember! The words flowed in from somewhere very far away inside her, from a time so very long ago. But once have we crossed paths, and this is his response to me.... Indeed, it was with the greatest of efforts that she maintained an icy calm in front of the pair of them, not wishing to startle them into rash moves or irrational thoughts. So she just stood there, unmoving, not doing anything in the slightest which would seem aggressive or even in the least bit alarming.

She didn't even move when the hunter raised his blaster and aimed it right between her violet eyes.

Again, an oddly pregnant moment stretched between them all, one in which nobody seemed to move or scarcely dared to breathe. Finally, however, it was as if an unseen line had been crossed; the bounty hunter had not yet actually shot at her -- little did he realize that such a move would never have worked anyway -- but remained quiet. Galen, her own mouth silent for once, sat upon the strangely shaped piece of furniture where she had been when the Chosen Daughter arrived so unexpectedly.

At length Graysith spoke up, her voice low and musical.

"Put away your weapon, Hunter; I mean you no harm. Nor do I toward my sister... which I believe she already knows."

All this pressed forward in my memories with the insistence of wildfire... and the fact that she had so handily just popped into being here didn't do much in helping me fight those memories, either.

Great Khaandon's ghost, but it's positively spooky how she does that....

But logic won out over all. I blinked, then slowly rose to my feet, and reached out a preventative hand toward Sorben.

"It's all right," I said at first a bit shakily; then my voice firmed. Through this all Graysith's eyes never left mine; I could feel Sorben's incredulosity washing over me as though it were a palpable thing. I just turned to him, my initial instinctive reaction being rapidly assuaged by the ensuing memories which reminded me that, yes Galen, while she had tossed you to the Beast... she also had later reappeared with Sorben in tow, had healed me, and had liberated us both from that living hell.

I never had really understood why... until I now took a deeper look into her eyes and saw the answer there.

That was when every last lick of trepidation and mistrust I had for her fled like chaff before the wind. I took a step in her direction, staring into her face; then once again I turned to face Sorben.

"It's ok, Sorben," I repeated. "Down the blaster, wouldja? It's my sister..." I finished unnecessarily, much to the overt astonishment of my ex-husband. Though I turned my gaze back into that of the quiet woman in front of us, out of the corner of my eye I could see Sorben shaking his head. Though he didn't lower his blaster a millimeter, his stance seemed to loosen up a bit.

I ignored him then, and spoke up to ask the obvious of Jharmeen.

"I hope you're not here to send us away again," I said briefly, the rising warmth in my eyes belying the apparent coldness of the words. "Because this time I'm not going as willingly."

With that I fell silent, and went so far as to place my hands on my hips for emphasis. To the side, Sorben shook his head once more as I just stood there, the proverbial sandrat up against a Tattooine panther, waiting to hear what my sister would say, and wondering all along just what in Hell's Seven Circles I could do if she did decide to press anything....

At least two of them appeared to do this; the bounty hunter yet remained in his loose half-crouch, his blaster still adhered to its sight dead-on the Chosen Daughter's eyes.

"I know why you are here, Galen," Graysith began simply, now reaching out a hand to her and taking one small step forward. She stopped in place as Sorben tensed, but did not lower her arm. Turning now to let her gaze fall into Sorben's Mandalorian helmet, she let her eyes pierce through its enigmatic visor and easily find his icy pair hidden inside. For a moment she held that gaze, then turned back to Galen.

"For all your good intentions, sister, you will not be able to accomplish that which you have come here to do. He..." Now it was her turn to pause and fight against the encroachment of memories, some all too vivid, one exasperatingly just beyond her reach. Swallowing, she continued on.

"He is here, Galen, and we believe has already begun his plan to clone my daughter and accelerate them all in age. Although I have not yet determined this, it is quite probable that he has them hidden beneath a chronotic shield, and feels his plan will thus be flawlessly executed.

"I have the ability to stop this, we feel, although I am here to assess the situation. As well as to persuade you into returning willingly to Phrinnchatka; while I could send you there at my merest whim, I do not wish to do so."

"He is here...."

The remainder of her words were partially recognized, somewhat accepted, but in all honesty only half registered. Those three prior little words just swelled up inside me, taking up more and more room; I gulped and with a mental jerk tried to bring myself back to the here and now. I knew I was trying to hide here, to plant myself here before he came, which logically led one to the conclusion that I would in all probability be actually facing him at some time, or at dealing indirectly with his presence at the very least. But knowing and feeling are too different beasties; Khaandon help me, but I really hadn't thought how I would actually physically react when the interaction should occur.

And it looks like it might actually occur sooner than you thought now, doesn't it? And you're absolutely terrified....

Fighting down another shudder, I tried to collect myself. I think I managed to hide all this from Sorben; at least he hadn't altered his stance yet. But I couldn't hide it from her.

And the funny thing was, when I looked more deeply into her eyes, I seemed to find something of that very emotion blazing back out at me...

...which was enough to strengthen my resolution. I sniffed, drawing myself up, and finally spoke.

"Look," I began, not really knowing how to say what I wanted to say. Finally decided to just blurt it out. "I-I'm not sure what all has transpired with you, and between us, over these last years, Jharmeen... but the fact of the matter is that, powers and weird things on your forehead and weirder things on your hand, you are my sister after all. Your baby is in danger here, just like my little Jhin'Darra would be if... well, if she weren't safe with you.

"I want to help you. You're my sister, and this is my niece we're talking about! I'm not leaving here without knowing she's safe, and that's final."

With that I simply fell silent, crossing my arms to take a quasi-defiant post in front of her. And although Sorben hadn't moved a millimeter or uttered so much as a single word, I just knew he was nothing but a giant question mark in the flesh beneath that nasty armor of his.

Which, strangely enough, somehow managed to completely negate the image I was trying to portray.

Then she felt it... creeping into her heart, twining around her essence, incorporating into the very molecules making up her flesh and being. It came into her with the seductive warmth of a summer's sun, the gentle promise bought by spring rains, the assured strength of a mountain. From another part of the galaxy, Recinis was sending more of himself to her, to strengthen her, to lend support...

...and to suddenly, if perhaps inadvertantly, reveal to her how it was he had let her come alone into what could possibly evolve into an imperilment of her life: his trust and love for her gave her wings, the freedom to do what she had to do.

She couldn't help but smile as that warmth now overflowed within her, pushing away all fears of Roan as though they were mist before the rising sun. And as that rush engulfed her, she realized that as Recinis so trusted in her, she must do the same with her sister.

So she merely nodded her head in compliance. "Very well, Galen," she quietly acquiesed. "I shall not remove the honor you seek in helping me with this burden. I do warn you, however, that it will not be easy, and we may have to face Roan head-to-head before this is over.

"If that should occur, may I have your permission to send you back to Phrinnchatka, where you shall be safe? Your husband is quite concerned about you."

Even as she quieted for Galen's reply, she sent out a part of herself, sensing, questing, seeking out in a full 360 degrees from where they now stood, striving to find where on Kamino her daughter was hidden so they could leap directly into action and perhaps be gone with a minimum of fuss. The smile she had been wearing dimmed a little as that questing tendril slammed up into a weird kind of non-ness that could only mean the presence of a chronotic shield. It was actually quite near to them; pulling back the questing tendril, she redirected her focus back onto her sister, and waited to hear what she would reply.

No sense speculating on the trajectory of the ship until you've set the coordinates, Navigator, the gently chiding thought rose stealthily through the growing lump in my throat. Might as well just go along and see what you can do en route to make yourself useful; Khaandon alone knows you haven't gotten this far by not being something in the way of resourceful.

I nodded again, as though by that motion I had revealed to her the entirety of my thoughts. Come to think of it, knowing her, she was probably all too aware of them. And Sorben's as well; now I cast my eyes in his direction only to find him still holding his former stance.

"Ummm... Sorben, forget what I said about the blaster. We might be needing it, so you might just as well keep it ready."

I let my lips lift in a rueful grin at those words, wondering if this would be the last humor I ever experienced in my life, even as Graysith nodded and with a gentle sweep of one hand opened a weird kind of door up in absolutely nothing and stepped into it....

Nevermind how she spent damn near two years hunting you down, sweets! Never mind you killed her unborn child; nevermind she has wanted you nothing but dead for practically the entire time I've known you; nevermind the fact that that particular feeling was mutual, and with a vengeance...

...Galen seemed to quietly switch sides somehow. I dunno; call it male ego, something we bounty hunters seem to have entirely too much of, but I suddenly found myself liking this Graysith and the situation here less and less with each passing minute. And as for trusting...

Well. The word simply didn't come into the picture at all.

Pursing my lips, and tightening my grip on my blaster, I stepped forward through the weird portal she had opened so conveniently...

...and found myself in front of absolutely nothing. I mean, NOTHING. This was beyond black, for that at least was the absence of color, of light. This was beyond that; momentarily enthralled by the spectacle in spite of myself I reached out a hand as though to touch it.

Now, c'mon, give a guy a break. I didn't rise to being the top-notch hunter of the Tavlorean Guild by being stupid. But you'd think she thought I was going to commit suicide by the way she so suddenly barrelled into me. Caught me off-guard, in fact; it was all I could do to retain my footing even as I was forced to step back a pace or two from that weird shield which hunkered amidst the otherwise stark white of this place.

I let a woof of expelled breath momentarily fog my visor instead of letting loose with the stream of words I so badly wanted to blurt out with. Instead, I opted for gripping my blaster more tightly.

"Er, thanks, babes," I finally managed, somewhat tersely, before falling silent and starting to walk about this wall, pacing off it's dimensions. Though it was hard to really tell, it seemed to be on the rather large side....

The redheaded witch suddenly shot a hand out to one side, commanding me to still. I bristled; no one, and I mean no one commands Sorben Tarnus...

Well, with one exception....

...but something in me ground to a halt by the urgency in that simple movement. I held my tongue, literally between my teeth, and waited to see what she would do. It was all I could do to keep from leveling my blaster at her as she raised the hand with the weird silver claw-thing on it, pointed it...

..and the NOTHING immediately fell away to reveal a scene of utter chaos.

Which meant, the little whisper insisted on continuing with, that quite obviously some of them had taken it upon themselves to study the walls of their prison, and perhaps got a bit too close to it in the process....

She merely brushed that flash of revelation aside, and stepped into the room. Time would be short; she had to act fast, and she made good her own thought as she now continued forward, sweeping the room with every sense she possessed, seeking out with the All to find a certain recognizable signature...

...and abruptly found it, there, overhead near a back wall. Or rather, them.

Two large cylinders hunkered there, raised aloft, filled with life-sustaining fluids... and with something else.

Two something elses...

Two tiny babes, not quiet mature yet, not quite ready for birth, but clearly recognizable as who they were by the pearly claws on their hands, the tiny horns on their foreheads, and their shocks of hair the color of the blazing sunset over the redrock of Tattooine. Still they slept, awaiting their births, which from their size would be somewhat sooner than anyone could have imagined.

She came to a shuddery halt in front of the cylinders, oblivious to the cries of the Kaminoan scientists, now altering from ones of anguish to ones denoting alarm. Utterly ignored the sounds of running footsteps, paid no attention whatsoever to the cries Galen was now directing to Sorben, pleading with him to move his blaster from where he was aiming it even as he came up closer and closer behind her...

...and before anyone could act or any adversary appear, she raised the hand bearing the Claw of S'slan and simply pointed it at the two clones of her daughter lying in peaceful pre-birth slumber.

Things happened very quickly then, but not so quickly as to not be seared into the minds of all present.

Something reached out from the cloning tanks, a power that was almost completely indomitable. It hit the hunter, sending him flying back against Galen, in turn sending them flailing back into the couple of scientists who were hurrying to protect their project from this unexpected attack. It hit Graysith like a tidal wave consuming a beachside village, sending her staggering back as well, the Glyph igniting on her forehead and splaying its wonders about the whiteness of this chamber...

...but did not succeed in staying her hand, nor removing her aim. Drawing now on every ounce of warrior's strength shared through the link with her love, even while falling back, she managed to maintain the Claw's deadly precision.

Something greeny-golden flashed out from it, struck the nearest cylinder, writhed around it in almost a loving manner before leaping onto the next... and the next... and the next...

...on and on in a chain-reaction of leaping brilliance, until every bit of non-living material within the chamber had been destroyed. The two clones fell to the floor of the chamber with tiny twin thuds; their arms flailing instinctively, another blast readying to be released from them...

And the Chosen Daughter calmly centered herself, aimed, and destroyed them where they lay. Off to the side, a speck of red marred the white floor; she quickly aimed and destroyed the remnants of what must have been the blood sample taken from the original.. her daughter, ShaRhylla.

Who was not in this room.

Whirling about, Claw raised in defense, sensing and seeking and all the time keeping a protective watch over her sister and the bounty hunter, Graysith strode from the room, her anger growing with every step she took, tears of utter anguish for what she had just had to do coursing down her face.

Even as she pressed angrily on, bursting from the cloning facility back into the sterile white corridors of this Kaminoan city, the questing tendril she sent out ahead finding no immediate answer... one came to her from a rather unexpected direction.

But then again, perhaps somewhere in the depths of her soul she had been expecting this from the start.

A blaze of sith flames, a sob of the accursed, and a familiar figure stepped forth to stand directly in front of her. Graysith's head jerked up and her eyes narrowed to blackened slits as, stopping in her tracks, as she hurriedly raised the Claw. Whether she had initially done so as an overtly aggressive act was not to be proven however, for the action was immediately reduced to one of defensive protection as another being quickly stepped in from behind him to get directly between the two of them.

Time slammed to a standstill, one in which the Chosen Daughter remained stone-still, her heart pounding, battling against the insidious rise of the unnamed fear which came into her in his presence, the Glyph seething with her inner turmoil, her eyes widening with a recognition that bordered upon sheer disbelief.

Roan's lips curled in disdain when Graysith hesitated to press her attack. "And you call yourself the Chosen One, one through whom a nation is to be reborn," he snarled, letting the words bite deeply into her, intending them to hurt. "You are nothing but weak; weak you were before, and weak you are now.

"Here! We stand before you!"

Now he removed his hands from ShaRhylla's shoulders, and flung them dramatically out to either side of him, throwing back his head and presenting that portion of his torso not hidden by the young girl as a willing and open target. In this pose of a martyr he remained silent... while in front of him his daughter said nothing but seemed to tense ever the slightest bit. One clawed hand loosened, showing the sharp and pearlescent tips of her fingers, then tightly closed in preparation for action.

That reaction was nothing more than sheer survival instinct as I took in the unbelievable scene being enacted right in front of my nose. Once again I thanked all the gods in all their high places for my Mandalorian armor, for not only did it successfully hide the initial rush of fear I could not keep from hitting my face, it also hid the way my eyes were now narrowing in speculation.

Pal, if ever there was a time to get Galen to change her mind about you, this is it. One-time chance. Not to mention doing what you can to keep us all alive... after all, isn't that what you said you were here for?

And the target... not even paying a lick of attention to me, piece of cake....

No.

"No."

The syllable slipped from ShaRhylla's lips like the tentacle of a dianoga breaking surface, smoothly and stealthily. But her action coming on the wings of that simple word were anything but.

Her arm flashed out before her, held parallel to the ground, her thumb held away from the rest and pointed to the floor, her middle and ring fingers loosely curled, the index and small finger stabbing like a pair of accusatory horns directly upon the bounty hunter and maintaining that targeting position even as Sorben hit the floor and rolled. As he raised his blaster, she raised her other arm behind her, making a swift motion in the air...

...and the bolt splashed harmlessly upon thin air mere millimeters from Roan's face.

She spoke up once more, the word succinct yet carrying with it a wealth of feeling and promise of future action on her part.

"Intolerable."

Something not quite of the world which sentients term real flared out from the hand she held out toward the bounty hunter. It didn't flash out from that pair of pointing fingers so much as it simply occupied all of spacetime in a direct line between them and him. It struck the hunter squarely in the center of his Mandalorian helmet, shoving him backward along the white floor for about fifty feet or so. He might have continued along that trajectory for some distance further, but was brought to a halt where the corridor curved, crashing into the wall there to remain still.

For a moment she followed his course on the ground; then she flicked her eyes back into Graysith's.

"Move or attempt to bring harm to my father, and you die," was all she said before falling silent as behind her mother another blur of movement captured her attention....

That, however, was another time, one which seemed so very, very far away from this particular point in the timeframe they all were occupying. That perverse and unliving entity seemed to somehow laugh in utter lack of concern at the antics the motes within it presented, merely going along from one flowing moment into the next, presenting at each point a nexus of sorts, from which the course of its direction would then be determined.

A great nexus rose up in front of Graysith as she sensed movement behind her, whirling on the spot to watch in horror as her sister let out a little scream, ran to where Sorben lay against the wall, quickly knelt beside him, then whirled to her feet, his blaster in her hand.

"This is your mother you are threatening to kill!" Galen cried out through the tears coursing down her face as she raised the blaster in a move mimicking Sorben's unfortunate one, taking quick and precise aim even as he had--

"Galen, NO!"

The cry of warning and alarm ricochetted off the walls, resounding back and forth until the waves it sent out met harmonically with each other and it seemed to rise in intensity and timbre. Utterly dismissing her daughter, using every bit of inner strength she possessed to fight the debilitating fear Roan's evil presence aroused in her, she turned away, reaching out with the All even as from behind her she could feel it swelling ominously about ShaRhylla as though coiling in upon itself before being released...

But her daughter, though inherent to the All, was new to its use, and hadn't yet quite developed the finesse her mother had. Neither had she been taught by a Dark Lord of the Sorcerers.

In the merest nanoseconds before her daughter's blast screamed out from her, Graysith reached forth with the All and literally yanked both Galen and the quiet form of Sorben from where they were, using a bit of it's powers to melt the working mechanisms of the blaster lest it fire when they reappeared in the place she had sent them...

...which was directly into the hidden Sith ship, hunkered in it's landing place atop the little Kaminoan suburb of the capitol city.

Another quick burst of the All... and she had sent the ship on its way; hopefully to reappear as coming in for an emergency landing on K'eel Doba, surely there to be noticed by her vigilant Sire and allowed within the protection of the chronotic shield there.

She then whirled back to meet her daughter's narrowed eyes with her own... but the image she now presented was not quite as immobile as before. Still those waves of inexplicable fear beat upon her soul, but that slight weakness was now exacerbated by the sheer energy she had to expend in sending the ship and its occupants back to K'eel Doba.

She staggered a bit, then fell to her knees before Roan and her daughter, both who now eyed her with open delight, seeming to lick their lips.

She needed to regain her strength, and for that she needed time. So she did the only thing she could do:

"RECINIS!!"

The call ripped through her throat from the very essence of her being, arrowing out into the link they shared which was indeed more than mere link but was rather a solid merging together of their very beings.

Then her head fell forward as she gasped, striving now to capture the simple ability to rise to her feet, in order that she could meet with dignity whatever fate the indifferent shade of Time would deem to present to her.

"The question is irrelevant," she sniped in a voice the color of glaciers. "Besides, it is no concern of yours in whom I place my right hand, warrior."

With those supercilious words she fell silent.

"You are weak, warrior," she spit, fire coming to her violet-ringed turquoise eyes. "You spend idle time chattering mere words, when in fact you should be standing as Lord of the Warriors... which you claim to be but which my father rightfully is!"

With those words her hand flashed up, the fingers held in the same curious position as they had when she unleashed her youthful strengths against the bounty hunter.

"Such weakness is a blight upon the galaxy which shall come to love me as their Queen! Father!"

Now she tossed her head, sending her red hair flying as she straightened her stance and brought the hand directly upon Graysith.

"Would it please you that I take the female first?"

Then her eyes closed briefly in concentration as, calling out once more with the powers so natural to her, she brought forth from the very molecules of the air a grouping which came together in her hand...

Forming themselves into a gleaming sword which she held tightly in her small hand, still aimed directly at her mother's heart.

She threw the sword toward her mother with an inarticulate little cry, then whirled upon her father.

"You told me they would attack first!" she screamed at him in a childish picque of anger, going so far as to actually stamp her foot at him.

Her father merely leveled a long look at her, the smile on his face never spreading or diminishing.

ShaRhylla whirled back to her mother again.

"I hate you both for what you did to my father!" she cried.

With that she took off toward Graysith like a Bothan Kra'kjya, her hands curled to best expose her raking claws, her white fangs exposed in a grimace of anticipation, seeking nothing more than to attack and rend and tear.

Oh my daughter, if I could only let you feel the wonderful strength love can impart to you, such as I have found with your step-father..

...with he who would have been your stepfather....

Now tears infused her violet eyes and she did step forward, the Claw extended toward Roan as a silent reminder to him where her next move might very well lie. In fact, ought now to lie, for the Beast within her rose to its feet with a warning grumble, seeking to alert her to the opening now before her, striving to remind her that this was what they had come here for, to destroy the clones, to attempt to save the daughter, and to confront Roan and destroy him if she could. Yet even as the Beast gave warning within, even as Recinis's presence filled her with growing strength and lessening fear, she still found herself hesitant to face the once Dark Lord of the Warriors.

Because of that small bit of recalcitrance within her, she ignored the Beast and Roan entirely, having eyes only for the slim figure on the ground. The time would be at hand for killing soon enough, far more than soon enough. For just this moment she wanted only to drink in the sight of her daughter, now looking so vulnerable and so absolutely beautiful in her induced slumber, drawing what strength she could from that image to gird herself for what she knew she had to do. She came to a halt beside ShaRhylla, and there let her tears freely fall upon the child's flesh.

"My young one..."

The Chosen One weeps for what might have been... the Pretender to the Clanship of the Warriors shows even greater weakness by standing so mildly by, and the daughter....

...the daughter lies silent at their feet, defeated ere she had the chance to truly give battle. Indeed, the pair were dishonorable to hand the fate which they had to the child of his loins...

This thought he let flash out from him, entering into the mind of she who had nearly become his bride. And while she didn't so much as lift her gaze to look at him in return, he knew fully well she had heard him, for even as he watched the Claw was removed from his direction and slowly lowered over that of the silent ShaRhylla.

That was all he needed.

"KILL HER THEN!" The black words spewed forth from his lips like an eruption of dark and decaying night things leaping from a dank and hell-spawned portal.

"For as weak as she is, she will not be of any use to me...."

With that, and before Graysith could so much as jerk her head up in surprise at the words, before Recinis could so much as set his whirlwind talents into motion, the once Dark Lord of the Warrior clan of the Sith reached out into the All, opened a doorway in it, and in the frame of it paused to send one final and lingering glance at his daughter. Then with a gush of blackened sith flames and the scrabbling and tattered sighs of the ever-present shades, he was gone.

((OOC: Follow me into As A Wolf In The Fold thread in "CSWU" forum, thank you... black grin....))

He had sensed the presense of those in the main complex...

He had waited long enough...

He exited the dome city, and entered his ship... In no time, the ship came to a stop at the landing pad of the main dome on Kamino...

Tyberius calmly exited the Endeavor, and approached the entrance... He didn't have to look far, to find what who he searched for...

He came to the room, occupied by the three...

He addressed the chosen daughter,"What are you waiting for? Finish it... you must kill her..."

Beside her she could sense Recinis tensing, as he too prepared to assist in any manner which would prove needed, although to the general observer he still maintained his general air of complete calm and self-control.

Graysith's eye slit, taking on the hue the sky does just before the falling of night, and the Glyph on her forehead flared out in responsive majesty. She let a long moment drag out between them, one in which she tilted her head a bit to one side, her eyes blackening further as she assessed this unexpected person... and how he had so conveniently come to be there.

"I regret... that I cannot give you anymore information, other than... it is vital that she not live... vital, to the rise of the sith..."

Tyberius stared into Graysith's violet orbs, ready for any attack from Dark Lord Recinis, of whom he could handle... it wasn't a coincidence that Tyberius had waited for Roan to exit the picture...

Tyberius then spoke up, once again,"That is all I can say..."

He then quieted, and hoped they would not attempt to press his boundary...

"Lord Recinis, I am not here to harm you... do not attempt anything, foolish..."

He paused, then turned in Recinis' direction, but not talking his focus off Graysith...

"As for you question... All I can say is that I know what is to be of the sith... and I warn you not to inquire further..."

He then turned back to Graysith, giving her his full attention,"There is only one answer, kill her..."

Especially if the end desire was that ShaRhylla would be summarily put to death. It simply made no sense.

She slit her eyes further, never letting the Claw waver from its aim directly between the stranger's eyes, before deigning to speak to him a final time.

"Even if your words would make sense, you will not persuade me to that end. I see no reason my daughter should die...

"Not anymore."

Now trusting her husband to keep a watchful eye on the stranger, she turned back to regard the still unconscious form of her daughter. Lost in slumber, she looked peaceful, and so very, very young.

She has not even had the chance to learn to live, the thought whispered silkenly through Graysith's mind. How can I kill her? How do I know what is right in this matter? True, she seeks to be at her father's side, she would fight against me, but would it be possible she could be swayed?

Slowly she let herself drop to her knees beside ShaRhylla, one slim hand now reaching out to brush tendrils of her hair from her face. She cocked her head a bit to one side, her eyes filling with tears, as she considered the next thoughts rushing through her mind.

What-- what if the words this stranger speaks is true? Who is he? Is he another Krath Prophet come to bring warning?

That consideration brought a chill to her heart, for well did she remember her earlier encounter with just one such a being. Enigmatic these prophets were... yet they always told the truth.

And then? If this was the truth he spoke of? What then? Did she really have it in her to murder her own flesh and blood?

A trickle of tears escaped her eyes to fall upon her daughter's face as the realization struck her full bore.

No. It was intolerable to even consider it, beyond unfathomable. Even if for the Greater Good this child had to die...

...she would not do so by her own mother's hand.

The resolution firmed her heart, and she reached out to gather her daughter's limp form to her breast. Then she merely remained kneeling, rocking her, her tears flowing freely as she realized the long road she had travelled over the past years had lead to this point where she had at last somehow made an abrupt change in course.

For the first time she ignored the possible good of the many, and instead adhered to the welfare of the one.

"My child shall not die," she murmured into her hair. Then, once more she cried out to her Lord, before falling silent and remaining thus, kneeling there, rocking her child in her arms as though she were a baby.

Quetly he gathered them both in his grasp, mother and daughter...
He then whispered to her. "Come my dear Jharmeen... Let us return home, this quest is done, no longer should we remain..."
Queitly he kissed her check, he gaze still affixed upon her child.

As they stood there together, slowly the felt the pressence of that all knowing being which was Aelvedaar, and quickly they were whisped away to return to the city.((OOC: please follow Graysith, Recinis, and shaRhylla into, "with wings like eagles" thanks))

He then turned on his heal, and exited the complex...

Quickly within his ship... it soared through the atmosphere of Kamino, and blended in among the stars...

They did not understand... next time, I will make curtain they cannot miss the point...