Taehun's eyes shut tightly as he endured the strange sensations that came with Roan's communication. His mind had still not become used to receiving throughts directly from a foreign source, and it caused him to feel something almost like...pain. Taehun's throbbing veins would've seemed to show under the skin on his forehead. A small bead of sweat slowly rolled down his face, reaching the tip of his nose, and the pain finally ceased.

Taehun opened his eyes to see a dim light ahead. The void he was in still was cold and dark, but it was no longer the nothingness it had seemed to be before. A path towards the dim light was marked on what seemed to be the floor by blood. Taehun looked down, and saw a long, blackened rod laying at his feet. He picked it up, inadvertantly pressing a button, and nearly decapitated himself as two red humming blades burst from the long rod.

Interesting...very interesting...

Taehun had only read about double-bladed lightsabers in his solitary studies a long time ago. He never had any practice with such an archaic sword, but...it seemed that the knowledge of how to use it already existed in his head. Taehun chuckled to himself. No doubt this was his new master's work.

The faint hint of a smile seemed to form at the corners of Taehun's lips, causing his tattoos to move slightly. Without hesitation, Taehun sprinted down the corridor, following the trail of blood, and into the light.

As soon as Taehun reached the light, his body seemed to rip across time and space. Taehun would've screamed, but the force that pulled and pushed at his flesh was so severe that he could not move. The pain seemed almost unbearable, but it was over in an instant, and Taehun found himself face to face with Freedon Naad.

Taehun ignited both ends of his blade gracefully.

There was only one thing to say.

"The hunt is over, my friend. It ends here."

With that he lunged foward, thrusting his leg into the crimson lightsaber blade. He cried out, the seering pain shot through his leg, threatening to overwhelm his senses. Naad stumbled foward, wraping his hands around Taehun's neck. He fought back the pain and chanted. Slowly he felt his mind begin to num as his resistance failed, but he had to continue the incantation. His strength began to fail, his hands began to slip but he had finished. The magic passed out of him and Naad's spirit passed into Taehun's body, there was a brief struggle as Naad's spirit jostled Taehun's out of his body but it was over quickly. Naad panted and looked down at his new body. His old form, that of Desolist, lay on the earth. Naad switched off the lightsaber. He did not like these weapons, they were odly shaped and unwieldy. Still he could not allow Taehun to have it. Naad frowned Taehun was even more dangerous now that he was in Desolist's body, too make things worse Naad knew his spell would never again work against Taehun. He could not enter a body more than once. Naad used his sith magicks to put Taehun into a deep sleep, the dark jedi would not wake for several hours now. He surveyed the body of Desolist, the body Taehun now inhabited, the wound in the leg was not particularly severe but it would need to be tended to. Yes, Taehun would not be able to follow him for quite some time. Naad put away the stolen lightsaber and turned to leave.

That was when it all became clear. Once again, Freedon Naad had used his magicks to change bodies, leaving Taehun's essence within the body of Desolist. Taehun let out a snarl in frustration, only to add to his anger upon realizing that he no longer possessed his usual, low and guttural voice.

Curse that Sith and his trickery!

Slowly, Taehun began to move around in his new body. He started by simply walking, but progressed to leaping and running. The look on his face was one of grim satisfaction.

Well, it seems at least Desolist is physically fit. Perhaps this won't be so bad after all.

For all of Freedon's powers, he was still unable to touch Taehun's essece, his very soul...and that left Taehun at a lesser disadvantage. He still could wield the dark side, and he still possessed the powers Roan had given him. The tendril link between him and his master was still intact as well. In all actuality, this was only a minor setback, a delay to the sorcerer's inevitable capture.

Taehun casually looked down at Desolist's belt. Placed at his hip was a black rod, at the end of which a small skull had been carved. Taehun smiled grimly. Despite Freedon's efforts, he was still armed with his preferred weapon - the lightsaber.

Taehun closed his eyes, and concentrated momentarily. A thought suddenly came across his mind, as if a beam of light had appeared in a dark room. Again, Taehun knew the path that he had to take. This time, though, the results would very different.

Shayla gracefully piloted her new YT-2000 freighter, which she had christened the Allegiant, from hyperspace into realspace near K'eel Doba. The ship was the typical YT 2000 freighter, 32 meters in length with 2 Quad Laser Cannons, 1 Laser Cannon, and one 1 Medium Ion Cannon. She and Erik had considered getting a 2400, but with the weaponry this particular vessel sported, they simply couldn't pass her up.

Once she established orbit she tapped her fingers on the navboard, considering her next move as she did so. “The last time we were in Prinn’chatka it was rampant with demons,” she thought aloud. “Maybe it would be best to come down away from Prinn’chatka, and take it from there. I’ll be able to sense if Graysith is on planet or not once we reach the surface...”

She paused, frowning and gulping a bit, “...unless of course she is in a chronotic shield.”

Then, another thought crossed her mind, and she turned to Erik. “Could you do a life-form scan? I doubt it will pull up anything, but you never know.”

Erik simply nodded, fiddling with a few controls on the navboard in front of the copilot’s seat and at length turning back to Shayla. “Two lifeforms.”

Shayla frowned again.

Who the heck was on K’eel Doba?

She pursed her lips in thought. “We’re going down near those two life forms,” she decided, beginning to work at the controls once more.

“Shayla, I have a bad feeling about this,” Erik interjected.

“I can’t say that I don’t agree with you,” she replied. “But you do the navigating, I’ll do the piloting. We aren’t going to know anything if we don’t give this a shot. There aren't too many folks out there who know where K'eel Doba is--for all we know this could be a couple of the allies.”

Then, without waiting for another word from her husband, Shayla began to pilot into the atmosphere. As she did so she sensed outward towards to the two lifeforms they were headed for, vaguely recognizing one of the two. Then her breath caught in her throat as something else became very apparent: evil was afoot on this planet.

Had the demons from Prinn’chatka scattered elsewhere, or was something else entirely chewing at the corners of her Force-senses in warning?

She shivered momentarily, unconsciously reaching a hand to her stomach. In the same motion she moved her hand back to the navboard, hoping Erik hadn’t noticed her sudden hesitation, and proceeded with the steps to land their ship, mentally prepping herself for whatever might lie ahead.

She frowned, once again gathering the Force about her mind to shove this unknown out when the Force-signature clicked with something in her memory banks.

It WAS one of the Allies. It was the formerly missing Freedon Naad.

She turned and eyed Erik. "The Sith Sorceror Freedon Naad is on headed right for us. He seems...in some distress."

Her features darkened a bit at that and even as she stood she expanded her sphere of influence to sense further outward, coming upon something dark and ominious headed right for them, somewhat behind Naad but not nearly far enough for Shayla's tastes.

Erik now on her heels, Shayla hit the controls that extended the hatch of the Allegiant and headed out to meet the Sorceror. And even as she did so she realized, much to her despair, that Graysith's familiar and comforting presence was nowhere on planet.

Flac just looked at galen "err...Land? Ummm... Heh, sorry, no clue, guess you'll have to err, experiment..."

His grin widened a bit and he began to chuckle to himself...

"Ya, i can tell you and DJ are already becoming friends... Jeez, i would have never guessed someone could actauly fly this thing...Well, had i not seen my sister do it...I still dont see how its done, but i guess it doesnt matter"

So who's body was he in now exactly, and what had happened to his?

Something about this was riddled with darkness. After all, few knew where K'eel Doba was, and Freedon Naad had been taken from their party on Korriban by...

Shayla reached out and slammed the hatch shut even as Freedon Naad struggled to board the ship. She directed him toward the cabin, headed for her seat at the navboard, and went to work. Erik returned to the copilot's seat, waiting patiently should she need anything. In moments they had hit atmosphere then stars. She established orbit around K'eel Doba, then turned to Freedon Naad.

"What is going on?" she queried, something not-so-pleasant chewing at the corners of her mind even still.

With that Shayla began to fill in Naad on all those things. Of Recinis's title as the Dark Lord of the Warriors and his and Graysith's marriage. Of Roan's plot to enhance the ages of the children with the All, of his success with ShaRhylla and of Graysith's visit to Kamino which resulted in the return of the older ShaRhylla along with Galen Danner and the wounded Sorben Tarnus. Of the conflict concerning ShaRhylla and the one who now possessed the body of Darth Wicked, and finally of the disbanding of the Allies. All of it.

And she ended with, "And as for my ability to use the All..." she paused, swallowing to cover any emotion associated with what she was about to say, "Lord Aelvedaar removed that from me," she said quietly. "I don't know that anyone is in Prinn'chatka at the moment, not even Lord Aelvedaar. I am currently seeking Lord Recinis and Graysith and thought she might still be here, but now I think that option can be ruled out.

"I can't say that I know where to go from here though," she admitted. "I don't think they'd return to Khar Delba, and unless they are under a shield with Lord Aelvedaar they must be somewhere else, probably somewhere in the unknown regions."

Shayla's look turned vague and a bit despairing as she waited to see what the Sorceror might have to say in reply.

She paused at that, sorting through any ideas she might have to get them to this world. At length something niggled that might "kill two banthas in one blow," so to speak. Only Shayla didn't know if they should dare. She turned to Freedon Naad.

The view suddenly altered to a systems chart: at its center a red dot glowed steadily, while a single orange blip blinked for attention at some distance away from that red dot. I blinked right back; ok, so here we are in the system, I thought to myself, adding the redundantly obvious: and that orange blip has to be K'eel Doba. Khar Delba is still hidden... somewhere around here....

Carefully keeping my arm parallel to the decking, I brought it forward and touched where the orange blip's smaller counterpart was blinking steadily on the navigation board in front of me. Somewhere deep inside my guts something twisted as DJ altered her position within the three axes of normal space and made a bee-line for the planet I just indicated.

I still hadn't a clue how to land.

Well. She had airfoils, so obviously she was meant to land.

Guess this is where piloting by the seat of my pants comes into play, I thought to myself as the image on the viewscreen reverted back to the space about us... space suddenly being occupied by entirely too much crater-pocked planet. I winced to see how rapidly that planetary disk was filling the screen.

Talk about coming in on a wing and a prayer....

The budding thought that I hadn't a clue where in Hell's Seven Circles Phrinnchatka was immediately evaporated before an even more pressing concern: how to get this baby down safely.

Like I said, seat of my pants....

Malf's crescendoing yowl of concern was lost in the whistle of atmosphere that came from nowhere to blast us, atmosphere which took hold of DJ in its invisible fist and shook her like a nek shakes a bone, angrily, as though frustrated that it couldn't crush us as it so easily did the various and sundry meteoric bits of celestial flotsam striking this planet every day. So it settled for trying to fry us instead; I could literally feel Flac's wide-eyed stare punch twin holes in my back as the temperature began to rise... fast.

"I-- I'm getting this, hang a second, we'll make it..."

I think. Ye gods... I hope....

I altered my stance further, raising my chin, keeping my arms outstretched and even to the decking, keeping my eyes glued to the screen which seemed somehow to tilt in front of me. Then I heaved a sigh of relief as the image of pure plantary surface slowly turned, until the curving limb of the planet was grudgingly revealed against a glittering starfield.

"We're gonna make it!" I crowed as, her former suicidal trajectory softened into the correct landing angle, DJ came roaring into K'eel Doba's deeper atmosphere, a small but discernible shock wave leading the way, trailing fire in her wake. In this attitude we completed several planetary loops, with me raising my chin just a hair's breadth as each loop ended, thus keeping the nose of the ship up and letting the air outside now work to our advantage and slow us down.

Which at length it finally succeeded in doing altogether.

In an almost anti-climatic culmination of the physics of flight in action, proving on an entirely too personal basis that landings are really nothing more than controlled falls, DJ slowed enough to where gravity gained the upper hand and finally yanked her the remainder of the way to the surface.

I said I was getting the hang of flying this thing... key word in that statement being was; Malf and Flac would have fallen to the deck yet again if it were not for their restraining harnesses when, with a thump and a shudder I felt in every cell of my body the ship finally plummetted the last few meters, hit dirt, and silenced herself.

I leapt back from the circular deck plate, connectors dripping away from my body like moss from a tree. After eyeing the innocuous-looking lines and rubbing my arms, I turned to face Flac.

"Well, we're here. K'eel Doba," I finished unnecessarily, and keeping to myself for the moment that I really hadn't a clue as to exactly where upon the planet's dreary surface we in fact were.

What the heck is going on here?

He would remain unable to answer his own questions until he returned to K'eel Dolba's physical surface. He hesitated only a moment before diving headlong off of the trail marked with blood.

Before he hit the ground, Taehun's surroundings suddenly brightened back up. He was back on K'eel Dolba's physical surface. Instinctively, Taehun looked up, to see what seemed to be a star moving very quickly in the darkening sky. It could mean only one thing.

A starship? How did that wretched sorcerer escape to a starship?

Suddenly, Taehun felt another disturbance. Even though Freedon was no longer on K'eel Dolba, there was someone else here. Someone had seemed to have just arrived...but who?

Surely this would be one of Freedon's allies...perhaps...perhaps he could prove useful in finding a way to get to the Sith.

Taehun began to run towards the new force signature's direction.

"K'eel doba eh? Well, Not every day a guy visits a planet once inhabbited by an ancient civilization of people... I kinda feel humbled by it all..."

he shruged to himself before unbuckling himself to stand and walked to the door hatch...

Before opening the door he paused, turning to galen "errr... Where should we go?"

Hmmm... You had better not run in there half assed buddy, be prepared...

he nodded to himself and walked off to a small panel, which opened at the touch of a button...

Looking over a strange assortment of items he picked up 5 or so little spherical items, and shoved them in a pouch at his waist.

again his eyes roved over the opened panel, before he reached out again and took a little eye patch from the shelf, placing it over his left eye he nodded to himself as he glanced about the room...

He then removed the patch and stuffed it into a pocket, looking over to galen he smiled "stock up now, or we may find ourselves in need later..."

He nodded and headed to the door, not paying attention to anything that malf or galen might, or might not have gotten...

Pressing the button he opened the door and stepped out, examing the surfice with an appraising eye...

"jeezz... Im kinda disapointed, i mean, Ancient sith, and the planet looks like this?"

he shrugged to himself before turning his eyes upon those behind him.

"soo... Err... Which way should we go..."

he looked around, mumbling quietly to himself as he did so, before he pointed in a direction. "lets go tha-"

His words fell short as some strange looking guy ran over a hill, fire in his eyes...

Flac just looked at the guy as a cow looks at an oncomming train, not a hint of anything crossing his features.

Then I froze in my tracks when I saw who was hot-footing it over the desolate surface and coming straight on to us like a runaway star destroyer. I blinked; it couldn't be him, it just couldn't--

Desolist was an old guy, an old and decrepit crony of a black-hearted scumbag, and this dude, whoever in Hell's Seven Circles he was, was running too fast and way too gracefully to be him.

Wasn't he?

I shook my head and gripped the rifle more tightly.

"I-- I don't know, Flac. He looks like that old Darth Desolist who Sorban and I had a run-in with almost two years ago, but it can't be him... I thought he got blown up when Ploatius went."

I shook my head again, red flags and warning bells and whistles erupting everywhere, and took another step closer to Flac until I was snugged tightly against his side. Never letting my eyes leave the rapidly approaching stranger, I whispered out of the side of my mouth,

His hand slowly strayed to his hip and paused there...Could he take out a darth? force users were generaly morons, but the dark guy's tended to be a bit err... Strong...

He looked down at galen for a moment his head turning in a little shake.

"We can handle this guy... Dont worry about it..."

flac quietly took out the little eye patch, and pressed it to his eye for a moment, before replacing it in his pocket...

5 minutes... I got time.

Without another word flac entered the ship once more, and a moment letter exited, holding in his hands a small poll, Which he jammed into the ground, flicking a switch the thing started to vibrate, and then suddenly fell silent.

Without reason, Taehun immediately decided that he would not attack the ship outright. He needed a way to find Freedon, and for some strange reason, he felt it wouldn't do to immediately destroy the two life forms he sensed were onboard. Taehun gritted his teeth...even though he was a dark jedi, he was very violent in nature, and preferred an overt conflict over treachery.

"I have a bad feeling about this," I breathed through my clenched teeth, not daring to move my lips lest this stranger would read them, if indeed he could.

Which I somehow had a feeling that he could.

I just gripped the blaster more tightly, one finger reaching out smoothly to flip off the safety, and brought its ravening maw down a bit more in line with the stranger's face. Then I merely waited to see what this darkly forboding person had to say for himself.

It just wasn't everyday one ran up against newcomers parading around the desolate surface of K'eel Doba, especially not ones whose entire demeanor was so obviously dark.

The uncomfortable memory of who else was lurking somewhere on this miserable ball of rock rose up insidiously within me at that thought, and the army of geese went into double-time....

Unfortunately for Taehun, both of them were waiting for him to say the first word, or to make the first move. Taehun was hoping they would do the same. Evidently their previous meeting with Desolist had not gone too well, for the demeanor on their faces looked grim and cautious. Taehun's instinct was to just decapitate them both and be done with it.

Surprisingly, he held back that instinct. Taehun put forth a great effort into brightening his expression, and saying these words:

"Greetings! It's quite a relief that someone has actually come to this planet. I was just recently marooned on this wretched planet, and was about to give up all hope until you came!"

Lying was not one of Taehun's fortes, and he knew it. Hopefully, these people would not notice anything.

I gulped, a finger reaching down quietly to curl against the trigger of the blaster, but managed the strength to keep my eyes glued into the golden orbs of who appeared to be a strangely youthful Darth Desolist. Beside me I could feel Flac tense as well.

Sheesh, Force user or no, this guy ought to just emblazon "I AM LYING THROUGH MY TEETH" across his forehead.

I didn't dare move, scarcely dared to think. All I could do was just stand there like a big ol gandy-rak in headlights, stuck in a stalemated stare with this guy. It was almost as if any sort of movement on anyone's part, and blasters and lightsabers would come swinging into play. And Khaandon only knew who would be left for dead.

Well it sure as there's Treasure on Roon ain't gonna be ME!

The sudden thought of my little daughter held in the claws of another dark piece of slime came slamming home once again, and quite suddenly Desolist didn't seem to be quite the threat I feared. Well, comparatively speaking, of course; but that comparison was enough to loosen my tongue.

"So what exactly is it you expect from us?" I growled, my grip tightening a bit more on the old Impy blaster rifle. Then, Khaandon preserve me but I actually took a step forward, forcing myself to scowl and look as formidable as I could, uncomfortably aware of the fact that this guy was probably laughing in his black boots at my effort.

What the hey. I had to at least try.

Graysith would know where Aelvedaar was, but this wasn't helpful considering Shayla didn't know where SHE was either.

An idea came to Shayla's mind, but she didn't know if it would work. "There used to be a signal coming from Prinn'chatka via which you could send a request to land in the spaceport to Aelvedaar. I don't know if it is there or not now since as I last was aware Prinn'chatka was not covered by a shield.

Either we can seek the signal or we can find another cloning facility.

Or we can proceed to find Graysith."

"Our best shot is to find Graysith," she answered. Then she hesitated a moment, realizing she was back to her former problem.

How exactly were they going to do this though?

She looked back to Naad. "You've mentioned you have a couple of possibilities; we also shouldn't necessarily rule K'eel Doba out. But, at the moment, her Force signature or that of Lord Recinis's can't be found here.

What other ideas did you have?" she queried, then fell silent. As she waited she couldn't help but send out another tendril of herself to Graysith, yet uncertain as to the existence of a link at all. But something inside her told her she should keep trying.

I'm not ready to give up on finding you, she thought out to Graysith, hoping she was being "heard." I fear the fate of the galaxy without the help of the Sith, for I know there is yet much evil that lurks and must be stopped. Likewise I know without a doubt the Sith are the only ones who can truly defeat it.

Oh how I desire to do my part to help you do just that...

"Lifeforms?" Shayla queried.

"Insufficient data to determine," Erik replied simply. "So far as I can tell there's just the one guy that we left down there."

He paused a moment at that, his brown eyes falling into Shayla's greeny-blues. "You're the one who said there can't be that many people who know where K'eel Doba is. With that guy of Roan's out there, some unsuspecting so-and-so could be headed into alot of trouble..."

..or we could be heading for alot of trouble ourselves if we go back down there towards gods know what, some little voice added. Erik couldn't help but believe Shayla heard it too.

"So what do you think?" The question was directed to Shayla, but he turned to Freedon Naad as well, interested to see what either of them might have to contribute.

his hand crept out suddenly and yanked galen back a step or two shacking his head "sorry Galen, but i dont trust this guy one lick, and you playing 'fearless' isnt gonna help us through it..."

He then focused his gaze on the man "listen bub, I got no love for you force wielding people... Light or dark it dont matter... You have two choices my friend, go away, and mind your own businis, or prepare to face the concequences... Make your pick now, cause i aint got all day..."

As he spoke his right hand clenched tighter about itself, as if he held something of great value within... But then, perhaps he did...

"Still," Shayla proceeded with, "I don't much like the idea of leaving someone stranded down there, especially not if they are as close to Roan's hideout as I suspect."

Tapping her fingers on the controls of the YT-2000, Shayla considered her options. "I think we can go for the simple and direct approach. Maybe we can draw them away from the area with some brutal honesty."

With that she flipped a switch on the navboard to a general comm frequency which most ships, and she hoped the ship down on K'eel Doba in particular, should be able to pick up if within range. "This is the Allegiant, piloted by Shayla Stargazer Kartan. You have landed on a unexplored and possibly dangerous planet. Do you need assistance, over?"

She left her message at that, sending it every few seconds and hoping someone responded.

She had a bad feeling about this...

Force user? You say it like it's a curse, a plague! You'll learn your lesson some day, fool!

Taehun closed his eyes, and ran his hand through his hair, in an attempt to feign his disappointment. Perhaps there still was a way to get Freedon's ship down. Inwardly, Taehun smiled at his own predicament.

"Look, I guess I can understand. After all, you probably didn't expect some stranger to come asking for help, on this desolate planet of all places." Taehun audibly sighed, while sneaking a peek at the two faces before him. They remained emotionless. "Look, can you at least do this for me? If there's any ships around the area, can you at least radio them, and try to get them to help me out here?"

Once again, there was no response.

Taehun sighed again. "I think I saw a ship or satellite orbiting this planet a little while ago. Please just try to establish contact with it for me? I don't want to die here..."

"Listen, I may look stupid, but i didnt fall off the fraighter yesterday... You may have a sweet smile, and a pleading voice, but your appearance screams 'dark jedi' buddo... Ill tell ya what though, if you get lose right now, You might make it off this planet alive... well, depending on your luck..."

She halted, a momentary flash of something crossing her features. Then she continued. "...don't have the skills I need to ascertain from this distance any longer.

"But that planet down there is dangerous, and I'm not just going to sit by waiting for someone to get into trouble. And it might be the remaider of the information smuggler in me, but I still can't help but return to the little fact that not too many people should know about this planet at all, let alone its location. I want to know who is down there."

"So keep sending that message," she indicated to Erik, "Meanwhile we're doing a fly-over," she explained further, reaching again for the navboard and taking the Allegiant out of orbit, beginning to guide her back into the atmosphere near the spot where they had landed only a little while before. As they began to see sky once again, Shayla spoke once more to Naad, not looking back. But the words were clearly intended for him. "You spoke of some other places where Graysith and Lord Recinis might have gone. Could you elaborate? I'm getting the feeling we'll want to get out of here soon..."

He wants us to... RADIO FOR HELP FOR HIM? Now, what is wrong with this picture...?

I gave my head a barely perceptible shake, now actively raising my blaster up and pointing it directly between "Desolist's" almost glowing eyes.

"This guy LOOKS like Desolist... but he doesn't SOUND like him," I whispered out of the side of my mouth to Flac.

"Why in Hell's Seven Circles would a dark user want that kind of help from us? Unless he doesn't have any force powers. There ARE skilled cloners in this galaxy, you know.... "

"Force user? Who said anything about that crackpot religion?"

Luckily, Desolist's lightsaber was hidden within the folds of his robes. If it wasn't, they would have quickly seen right through his lie.

"Look, I'm not asking for a lot." Taehun glanced at Galen, and returned his gaze to Flac. Evidently something was troubling Galen. "It's pretty evident you don't want to be around me. If you'll just do what I ask you to, I'll be on my merry way and leave you two alone!"

...and if you even pull out some kind of barbaric blaster...well, we'll see whether your opinion changes about those "force users"...

By the time he had announced his findings, the Allegiant had already passed over the lifeforms below, and although they were quite a ways up, it was possible the ship might have been spotted by those on the surface.

He sure hoped someone down there was friendly, especially if they'd been seen.

"Any of those guys Roan's lackey?" he queried, then waited to see what either Freedon or Shayla might say.

I let my eyes slit, and took another threatening step forward.

"Umm... let's see now, how to say this-- ahhh...

"No."

With that I fell silent, clearly aware of Flac's incredulous stare pushing its way through the flock of geese on my back, and just tightened my grip on the blaster.

She turned and looked at Freedon and Erik. "I'm gonna take us down about 300 meters from the other ship," she said. "I know we took off to get away from here, but that was when it was just us."

She turned and looked at Erik directly even as she started the landing cycle. "Give me your lightsaber."

He looked over to her, his eyebrows shooting up in shock. "Shayla you aren't going to...you can't..."

She cut him off with a look. "Watch me," she growled. As she did so, the Allegiant gently glided to the ground. Shayla stood and turned to Erik, her hand extended. He sighed, unclipped the saber from his belt, and handed to her. Then he cocked a brow as if to ask her what she intended. "I don't want our friend here placed in any more danger than he's already been," Shayla explained, sending Naad an understanding look. Then she directed her gaze back to Erik. "You take over the controls and fly low. I'm going to head out there and see what is going on," she stated, clipping his lightsaber to her belt.

He looked at her worriedly. She shook her head, responding to what she just kne he was thinking. "I'm a month or so pregnant, not dying of some incurable disease. I'm the most qualified of all of us to do this," she stated.

This was not an argument, it was nothing more than an explanation. "You cover my back. I'm counting on you."

With that she turned and headed for the hatch of her ship, her mind intent on what she might be headed off to face.

"hmmm... Force user... Who mentioned that religion? well...lessy, who do i know of that walks around wearing black robes...on second thought, who wears robes period? I tell ya man, ive only seen um worn by force users, so stop playing me like im as stupid as you sound..."

out of the corner of his eye he caught a shadow pass along the ground... Someone was flying overhead...

Jeez flac, how come everyone knew about this planet except for you?

Flac's smile grew somewant funny, as though he had just found the secret to life, and wasnt going to tell a soul. "And besides... Who else would know about this planet, save some lacky of a crazy man?"

he gave taehun a firm looking over and nodded "Yep, you fit the role... By the way... Have a nice christmas, Ill catcha later, sweet heart"

His right hand opened suddenly, letting a small button of sorts fall from his grasp...

With a hiss that poll shuddered to life, and in but a split second of the buttons release, a pulse of super-sonic energy was sent rushing towards the idiot that thought he was fooling someone, sending him flying backwards to lay on the floor of the planet, unconcious...

Flac then sighed and walked over to the bieng, leaning down to examin his robes...

He pulled out a metalic shaft of sorts and examined it... with a slight hiss a redd-ish blade extended from that handle, flac's eyes wandering down to the unconcious man "'Force user? who said anything about that crackpot religion' well mr. 'i think im slick as oil' i do believe this betray's you... Dumbass..."

Pressing the button again the blade extinguished, and flac placed it in a small holder on his jacket... His head turned to galen "ill just err... Hold on to this for him..."

He suddenly began to laugh almost uncontrollably as he turned back to taehun "your right, you cant be a jedi... Jedi are smarter then you... Ha....."

sighing to himself he took out the patch once more, and placed it over his eye "i aint taken no more chances, you stay on buddy..."

he turned his gaze about them, and nodded. "theres a woman approuching us... from that direction..."

he then reached into his little pouch and withdrew a small "medical" bottle of something, along with a little needle... coating the needle in the substance he pocked taehuns legs with it a few times and put it away. "when he wakes up...well... His legs are gonna be numb as hell..."

...and I didn't even get a chance to tangle with this bozo....

Then I shook that sense of disappointment from me and started listening to what Flac was saying to me.

There was a... woman??? Heading our way...?

The probable choices to the unformed question following on the heels of that disclosure popped immediately into my head. As far as I knew, there were only two other fems who had a clue about anything regarding this miserable hell-hole of a planet:

My sister and that blonde she called her Adept.

I immediately went into a crouch, my hands gripping the blaster even more tightly.

"Take a gander through that eye-thingy, if you will, and tell me what hair-color is heading our way."

I fell silent, every muscle pulled trip-wire taut, as I warred the desire to connect with my sister against the even greater one to remain absolutely invisible to her and that assistant of hers.

That wire suddenly snapped.

"You take it from here, okay? And you don't know me; you've never seen me, ok?"

I turned on my heel at that, and fled into the comparative safety of DJ's strange interior, pausing only long enough to snatch the lightsaber from Flac and take it into hiding along with me.

Blonde... about 4'10-5'1... thin....

As she came into normal vision he removed the patch and waited...

a moment later she was close enough to hear him and he shouted. "err... the show's over honey, i think it best if you move on and have a nice day"

He almost laughed out loud as he spoke.

Seriously flac... Who do you expect to buy that one?

Took Roan's underling out? Not bad...

Then she looked back at the guy. Didn't Naad say he saw THREE people out here before?

She shrugged it off. Maybe he had been wrong. Either way, this fellow didn't know what he might be getting himself into by landing on this planet. "I thought you all might need some help with him," she said, indicating the motionless Taehun, "But I see you've taken care of it." She paused at that, her greeny-blues radiating a small amount of curiosity. "You wouldn't mind telling me how you managed to find yourself on this planet?" she queried, her look returning to completely unreadable. Even so, she sensed there was something this guy was trying to hide...

He grinned a bit and chuckled to himself. "and what do you mean 'you all' ? Im sorry to burst your bubble about that..."

he then looked down at the unconcious man "ya, i took care of him... He was only a jedi..."

Something stabbed in Shayla's heart, but she didn't let a lick of it show. She just quietly listened to this man's words, not making one move. To his final words she held her hands out, palms facing the sky. ""This planet's coordinates aren't on any known starcharts, so that is why I'm wondering precisely how you found the place," she started with.

Then, "Look, I mean you no harm. But this planet...isn't safe. There are some ugly dark forces nearby, and I don't see any sense in someone getting hurt here. And yes, I am a Force-user," she admitted.

I drew in something just shy of a gasp as Shayla's disclosure whispered into DJ.

She was searching for my sister? What gives here; I thought they were pals or something...?

Very slowly, so as not to awaken this deceptively powerful giant who yet slumbered literally beneath my feet, I reached to the controls for the one blaster she had. Then I settled into waiting mode again.

At that she turned, her senses still trained on the man behind her as she flipped a comm link from her belt, "Erik, land her. We're getting out of here."

Then she simply continued to walk, still wondering just how in the Universe someone had come to find this planet.

Taehun lay motionless on the floor, allowing Flac to wallow in his stupidity and ignorance. He was supremely confident that he had outwitted the dark jedi, and he almost had. However, Taehun knew that pricking in his lower calf earlier only meant trouble. Taehun slowly let his breath out, and began to concentrate.

Slowly, Taehun began to exert his will over his own body. Through his meditation, the coldness began to leave his legs, and the poison that had been injected was coming out in the sweatdrops that began to form all over his body. Taehun finished his meditation, and opened his eyes slowly. He was a bit weary, but he could still fight...and exact his vengeance on that fool...

My hand slapped the control...

...and DJ's single blaster let loose, its energetic beam striking the dark jedi square in the chest, and sending him flying back in a whirling collage of sand and robes and probably yowls of outrage to boot.

Then I wound up, ready to let the other fist fly...

...to the speaker system.

"GET ABOARD... NOW!" I hollered, clenching and unclenching my fists as outside Flac got chokingly to his feet and staggered into DJ.

I leaped as high as I could, even as the hatch was closing in his stumbling wake, and the ship sprang for the sky in a whirlwind of her own making.

Someone on board that ship took action, and took care of the matter herself. Meanwhile Erik landed the Allegiant behind her and extended the hatch. Shayla watched as the other ship took to the sky, and was only interrupted from her thoughts when Erik opened the hatch and yelled out, "Unless you'd like to be the next victim of a blaster, get in here!"

She didn't need any further prompting. She turned and ran, headed for the hatch and into the cabin of the YT-2000. In only a few moments they were headed back to the stars under Erik's controls, and not too long after that they established orbit even further away from K'eel Doba.

Shayla turned to Naad, still panting a bit from her run. "Now's the time to talk about those possibilities regarding other Sith worlds Graysith might have gone to," she prompted.

Meanwhile a little voice was pointing out the fact that, the female voice that had come from that ship loudspeaker, although somewhat distorted, seemed vaguely familiar...

Flac took a deep breath and gasp in appriciation of galens heroics...

He stood slowly, and as they flew off flac looked through a little window and nodded to himself

"ya bastard... You were stupid enough to make me drop the trigger... AGAIN... Dumbass..."

Graysith wasn't the one who wanted not to be found. The All had been taken from her by Lord Aelvedaar. She had been instructed to leave by Him. He had given up on them all, and understandably so, with some of the recent events which had taken place. But to give up on everything after they had come so far...?

Her eyes clouded over for a moment, and then she simply firmed, her greeny-blue eyes meeting those of Freedon Naad's. "I can't show you how I use my powers," she said quietly. "I'm just a Force-user, as are you. I've already explained to you that Lord Aelvedaar took that from me. He is in despair; he seems to have no hope regarding our Quest to revive the Sith. I do not believe Graysith will give up so easily, however, and I believe it is important for us to continue on towards our goal even when the Sorceror may be doubting it."

She paused at that, her eyes defocusing for a moment, then. "As I have also mentioned, I do not know where Kamino is,” she repeated. Then, an idea came to mind. “I do however know of a planet called Khomm. There was a Jedi from there by the name of Dorsk 82; the peoples there clone themselves repeatedly because they feel that they are perfect,” she explained. Then she turned, reaching for the navboard. “The coordinates should be readily accessible, as it is a known world.”

She keyed something in, waited a few moments, then nodded to herself. “Yes, we can make it there in somewhere around 15 standard hours,” she confirmed. Then she sighed to herself, hating the delay in her mission but feeling that this was the only way she would ever complete it at all. She reached for the navboard controls...

...in a matter of minutes, they were safely away in the depths of hyperspace...

(((OCC: Follow Shayla, Erik, and Freedon into They Whom Pursue Perfection in the Complete Star Wars Universe. Thank you.)))

His dreams brought no reprieve to his pain.

Taehun was hovering over his body, his body, and not Desolist's. Truth be told, he didn't even recognize himself at first, because the black cloak he was wearing matched the color of the void he was in. In slow motion, a lightsaber was ignited, which emitted a pale red glow. He finally saw a face in the dim light, and recognized himself as the one who was holding the saber. A few feet away was Flac, grinning like a complete idiot.

Without hesitation, Taehun swung his blade. An eternitiy seemed to pass as it slowly hummed through the air, and went through Flac's neck. The grin never disappeared. In fact, Flac grabbed hold of the blade itself with his bare hands, and laughed maniacally. Taehun's mouth dropped in complete shock.

What the hell...

Flac's face changed, and now Taehun could see it was Desolist who was holding the saber. His dark, accusing eyes stared at him deeply, before they morphed again, this time into the eyes of a Sith. They could only belong to one man - Freedon Naad.

Naad did not grin like Flac did. He only shook his head in what seemed to be pity. Slowly, he opened his mouth, and made a few shapes with his lips, but no words came out. He kept repeating the words over and over again, but Taehun could not hear him.

And then it him like a freight train.

You...you are a failure!

Taehun awoke, feeling an intense pain in his chest where two holes had been burned through his robes. He swore an oath as he slowly got up, clutching his chest, and never taking his eyes off of the night sky. The words came from his lips in a hoarse whisper.

Someday...I will kill you.

"MALF!" I hollered, fretting with concern for Flac as out of the corner of my eye I saw him stagger against the bulkhead and proceed to slump to the cold deck. "Get your furry hide in here; Flac's hurt!"

I was torn between running to make sure that dark piece of slime hadn't killed Flac, and keeping DJ under control. Sure as there's Treasure on Roon we'd all be dead if I popped off the plate and ran to his side... I shuddered to think what would happen if I just up and left the controls while we were in hyperspace.

Which is where we now were, since here was where I blasted us after that desperate leap from the miserable surface of K'eel Doba.

I hollered again... and this time was rewarded as the hulking furball stomped in and bent over Flac's body. He lay crumpled on the deck like a rag doll some kid had discarded for a new one; Malf gurbled something unintelligible and scooped his buddy up carefully in his strong arms.

Then he turned and faced me, whoofling at me.

"Well... what do you expect me to do, Hairball?!" I stormed impatiently, catching my lip between my teeth in the pure frustration of not being able to do anything. "Go put him in sick bay while I figure out where in Hell's Seven Circles I'm taking us."

Malf nodded and left with his burden... leaving me to stare somewhat blankly at the forward viewscreen.

Who was that piece of dirt down there anyway? Dear Khaandon... if Flac was... if he--

I firmed inwardly, although I didn't dare let a lick of that escape into my outward demeanor.

If I ever run into that guy again, he is toast. Plain and simple as that.

My former thought ran down a single track toward a surprisingly simple destination: Aelvedaar.

Hey, maybe he might know who that was... that is, if we can ever get to him and ask.

That thought reminded me somewhat forcefully of why we had come to K'eel Doba to begin with... and a shudder chased the remnant of geese down my spine as I realized we had to turn around and go back.

Otherwise we had just wasted a trip for nothing, and Flac had-- for nothing....

Sniffling a little, I cautiously began to proceed with the body language that would bring us back to that hellhole of a planet. Only this time I was making sure to land a touch wee farther from where we had to begin with.

Preferably on the opposite side of K'eel Doba. And we'd just have to take it from there as to finding Phrinnchatka and the Sith and anyone who might be around to help us get my daughter returned safely to my arms again.

"And thats exactly why i dont like jedi..."

He sat up slowly and nodded to malf "thanks buddy..."

dropping to his feet his hands strayed to his throat. "damn jedi... im gonna be feeling this for a week..."

He then exited the little room and entered the room where galen was unstrapping from the piloting system...

He gave her a brief nod of appriciation before turning to the door...

"Well, i suppose we should get going... Err... what were we looking for again? oh ya...that citty thing... Right... Almost forgot..."

He turned to malf for a moment and spoke gently to the giant. "listen man, we got some wierd stuff happening here, hows about staying to guard the ship, Thanks, i appriciate it."

with no further waiting or explanation flac grabed galen and exited the ship, beginning a slow wander accross the planet...

after a few minutes of wandering flac took out the little patch from his pocket and placed it over his eye, examining the far off distance...

"errrm... What exactly are we looking for?

Errr... Theres some wierd rocks over that way... And over there is a cave of sorts... And errmmm... Theres some mountains over there..."

"The signal I was homing in on is over there," I said at length, pointing toward a low range of mountains. "If I remember correctly, the spaceport they called Ch'arlingua is nestled down there.

"But it's under a shield and then there's some kind of weird magicks involved that hide it from view. I mean, to just come in there all you'd see is a low place between the ranges. However, it's all we've got; that's the only way that I know of to get in and out of Phrinnchatka."

I didn't make any comment about the cave and the rocks Flac's device had revealed. I didn't even want to think about them... and who was buried there.

Later, Galen... Later.

I shook the encroaching trembles from me with a distinct nod of my head. "C'mon then," I said, and set out toward the not so distant mountain range ahead of us.

.........

Okay, ok... so I forget how misleading perspective can be in this absolutely dry climate, I berated myself as after two hours of steady trudging that damned range only appeared to be the teentiest bit closer to us. I cast a gander over to the reddening horizon to our left, and sighed. Chance were that we wouldn't make it before nightfall; I didn't know about my companion, but I sure as Roon's Treasure didn't want to go feeling my way amidst rocks and who knew what else in the dark.

I came to a halt, my hands on my hips.

"Looks like we're gonna have to find somewhere to camp, Flac," I said, now looking around for a suitable site. But all that was revealed to me no matter where I looked was flat and dusty terrain, pocked here and there by craters of every size.

I shook my head and let my hands fall to my side.

"Looks like the Emperor's Suites are taken for the night; guess we'll have to go with the standard rates. You're choice, but remember, we have to end up over there sometime--" I pointed toward the mountains which lay dim and inscrutable in the distance.

"So don't get picky as to which crater you like best."

he extended his arms and stretched for a moment before examing there soroundings... "well... which pillow do you want? the big jagged rock, or the little jagged rock?"

He shugged and sat down looking about he sighed. "Man... This place sure isnt much for tourest attractions... Hmm... Does it get cold at night? any wild animals?"

Then I frowned.

Somebody else in this picture did not have a suit such as I was wearing, and more than likely was extremely subject to the cold the night would bring. A cold which for all I knew might be enough to induce hypothermia....

I sat up abruptly.

When he heard galens voice he opened yes eyes and looked over at her. "e..err-rrmm... I Thin-k so... Ya... I-l-l... B-b-b-e.. F-fine..."

He smiled briefly and pulled his arms though his sleeves and into the warmth of his jacket... "errmm... If im an icecube in the morning... Dont hesitate to shoot me with something hot... Prieferably something sweet, and cocoflavored..."

I pushed that thought away from me with some effort, and sighed.

"Look," I offerred at length. "This suit is either insulated or has some built-in heater or something... but the point is I'm warm and you're not. Heat conducts, and radiates.

"Get yer hiney over here so you don't freeze to death already, ok?"

He quickly got up and walked over to where she was and sat down beside her...

As he sat down he could literaly feel the heat from her body reach out to seek the cold which had embedded itself within him...

Then I lay down, and let Flac snuggle closer to me.

"You're welcome," I whispered... but didn't fall asleep for a long time after that. I just lay there beneath the sparkling canopy that arched overhead, watching the stars twinkle in their glory, wondering where all this would lead us, and if Aelvedaar would let us into Phrinnchatka again.

Hot. It's hot; Great Khaandon's Ghost but its getting hotter by the minute....

Granted, the actual words didn't cross my mind, in fact I was scarcely aware enough to actively form them. They just arose in defense against the sensations my body was starting to feel as the K'eel Doban sun started to rise, sending its dim little rays over the horizon to bathe us in its light. I grunted and rolled over onto my other side, somehow aware of a more isolated band of heat which was draped loosely about my waist, a band which remained there as in the rolling I seemed to unspoon my body from someone else's.

I wafted to something closer to awareness, a little smile ghosting about my lips.

Someone else....

For a moment I just lay there, my eyes closed, letting myself come closer and closer to full awakening, each step of the way nudged by the warmth of that someone else's proximity which yet was becoming slowly augmented by the additional warmth the sun's strengthening rays were providing. A little tendril of logic crept into my mind, forming an explanation as to why I was getting so uncomfortable.

This sun might be a red dwarf... but the hemisphere we're on is tilted toward it. Intensity is intensity, whether it's red or yellow or purple for that matter....

Now I grinned at my own apparent non sequiteur, and slowly opened my eyes. The grin vanished in a flash when I saw just who I had been instinctively snuggling with so closely; I sat up with a start, swallowing and reflexively running a hand through my hair.

Beside me, Flac merely opened his eyes.

"Ahh--" I groped, waving a hand about. My mind raced, and came up with the obvious.

"Good morning. If you want breakfast, we'll have to eat out.

"I think the nearest restaurant is that way."

Slowly he stood and looked at her, then looked to the mountain... his gaze then returned to her...and to the mountain again...

Finaly something inside him clicked, and he nodded in respones... "right... Less get going then..."

They had been walking FOREVER! Was there no end to this freaken planets landscape?

Quite suddenly he stopped and turned to galen. "Thats it... Ive had it... Just shoot me now... no more walking..."

he then paused, she was looking past him rather then at him...

he stopped his ranting and shook his head "We're there arent we?"

His head spun slowly and he smiled to himself... "ranting and raving... speeds the time up so well..."

He laughed histaricaly and pointed at the mountains "that will only take us like 10 minutes to get to! LETS GO!"

The ship came streaking from the atmosphere, following a course that its cybernetic "brain" knew oh to well...

It decended rapidly, coming down, and to a halt, to rest gently now upon the surfice of the sith space port...

Jharu looked out the view screen for a moment, shook his head... "Doest seem to have any demons... Maybe they got board and went away..."

But I let him grab me and take off running; can't say as I blamed him. I was getting sick and tired of this blasted hellhole myself. So we flew the remaining meters, and only started really flagging when we had managed to trek up and over the first of the outlaying layers of anticlinal rock....

When something came zipping in over head in a way too familiar blast of greeny-gold and disappeared behind the anticline toward which we were heading.

I nearly jumped out of my skin, double-layered flight suits and all. And when my feet came back down to earth, my jaw was agape and my eyes were blinking in utter shock.

It couldn't be; it just couldn't be...!

"C'MON!" I hollered, now filled with enthusiasm myself... for that greeny-gold blast could only be a Sith fighter coming in to land in the spaceport. And if it was landing, it had to be let in. And to be let in, the shield had to be dropped. And if the shield were dropped, we'd be naked before the weird magicks of that sorcerer and sure as Khaandon made little green worrts he'd let us into Phrinnchatka.

He'd better.... I growled to myself as I hauled hiney up the remaining few hundred meters of slope, now outpacing Flac and leaving him gasping in my wake. I grinned, topped the final anticline...

...and just stood there, mouth agape, and not entirely due to an effort to gain my breath.

There below me, revealed in her full glory, was the Sith spaceport of Ch'arlingua. There to one side was the little fighter that had just landed. There were all the ships, there were two people I couldn't make out followed by some big beast which looked terribly familiar, even from this distance...

There they all were, walking across the tarmac toward the short tunnel which lead to the transport into Phrinnchatka. I stood there, hunched over now, my hands on my knees, and gasped as I watched them enter the inky portal of that tunnel where they disappeared from sight.

So why was I still seeing the spaceport? Why hadn't the field been raised? What happened to all the Sith magick...?

I straightened with a final indrawn breath, and hearing Flac come up beside me now turned to him.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." I hesitated before taking the plunge and beginning to slip and slide my way down into Ch'arlingua, to then continue on into the ancient capital city of the Sith.

he could tell that this was defenetly a bit ahead of his home... The buildings looked different, to say the least...

He then began walking through the empty streets, before stoping as a shiver ran accross his spine...

"somethings... Not... Right here."

He looked around cautiously... For while he was not expert, his father had taught him to trust his instinct... And his mother had seconded that notion by telling him to trust his feelings... Both had countlessly told him to always trust his heart... And all three were screaming at him to be carefull...

To his side he heard a slight scrapping sound accross the rocks, turning his head in time to see a slipping shadow...

His eyes wandered down to Ghrr... Home he sensed, as well as saw, was in a ready crouch, and defenetly not feeling to err... "light hearted"

he then turned to terrin, and nodded slowly, as if to say. "no sound...dangerious"

Slowly he continued onward... as he progressed he cought site of a larg building that looked somewhat familiar...

That has to be the temple... And that sorcerer guy has got to be in there...

he moved cautiously onward once more, getting almost 1/3 of the way to the temple, when quite suddenly a horde of... of... well, he wasnt sure what, but there were a lot of them...

he turned quickly and almost screemed, they were sorounded...

"Arg! they were toying with us!"

yet, deep within... The spirit grows... And i indeed now... This one holds promise...

Man... She wasnt kidding... Something just aint right...

He reached into his pocket slowly, and placed his little patch to his eye then stoped suddenly, letting his hand drop away....

"err galen... Theres umm... A lot of.... Well... A lot of something around that courner... All i got to work with is body heat...and i tell you, theres enough to make this planet nice and toastie at night should they spread themselves out..."

He looked over at her, and reaching to play upon the grip of his blaster...

A SCREAM? This kid is supposed to be an All-user, and he screams?!

Terrin cursed the fact that he was unarmed; Actar had taken all of his weapons before he had been imprisoned. Granted, a blaster probably wouldn't go very far towards defeating a horde of demons, but it'd be better than nothing. Which was currently where things stood.

Sheesh, Darra would have even been able to respond to this threat, came an errant thought which spurred Terrin into further action.

He was not ready to die, not today. Not when Darra was in the hands of Ankrist Roan and Galen was out there who knew where without her. Hell, he'd lose another arm before he'd simply stand around here and WAIT to be jumped.

"Look kid," he muttered under his breath at last, "unless you've got something up your sleeve I'd say there's only one thing we can do to even possibly get out of this sitaution."

He moved fractionally to eye the young Sith, uttering one final word. "Run."

Without further preamble he grabbed the boy by the arm and whirled, proceeding to do exactly that, hoping like hell that they could make it out of the city in one piece...

Sheesh, Galen! You've gotten out of shape! Gotta do something about that....

...before finally straightening up to take in the sight before us. And it was just as eerie as I had remembered it to be: ship after alien-looking ship parked amidst shadows which seemed to somehow writhe and coil, even though the protective shield was down letting in the light of the K'eel Doban sun. The dim redness of that light didn't do much toward making me feel any better about our circumstances; the little hairs on the back of my neck stood up at attention and remained stiffly there.

I heard a final scrabble of stone, and Flac came up, er that is, down to stand beside me. He was puffing just as badly. I pursed my lips; then I grabbed his arm in excitement.

"There it is!" I whispered, nodding my head toward the little greeny-golden wonder that sat there like some ripe and delicious fruit just waiting to be picked. My eyes widened as I took her in....

Those little Sith ships were ever so much better than the weird thing I had just been flying.

That decided things for me. I nodded again, and turned to Flac.

"Look, change in plans. If that ship is here, that means Roan is too--

"And he's managed to get somebody with him," I added, recalling that there were two distant and shadowy figures I had seen walking across the tarmac from that ship. "I don't know about you, but I'm gonna get that ship! It's the only thing that might stand a chance in finding Roan's hidey-hole, or getting us in... Aelvedaar be damned!"

With that I quickly disengaged myself from DJ's flightsuit, and pressed it hurriedly into Flac's somewhat surprised hands.

"Come if you want, but I'm not going back in DJ," I finished and no sooner had done so than I sprinted off toward the Sith fighter.

It took but a moment to open the hatch and clamber inside. I didn't even turn to see if Flac had followed me or not. I just scrambled into the pilot's seat, closed 'er up, and let her jump into the red K'eel Doban skies.

En route I was certain to enable the light-bending device on the Sith flightsuit that I was still wearing, so we would remain invisible to all.

Well, nearly all....

So he pressed onward, not even daring to look back at the horde of Sith demons he just knew were following him. The only thing that stopped him at all was the fact that, when he entered the spaceport, the Sith ship he and the young boy had come in seemed to be suspiciously... missing.

Terrin frowned. What the kriffing hell was going on here...? It wasn't like there were too many folks around who could fly off in a Sith ship...

He glanced around the tarmac suspiciously, almost expecting Ankrist Roan himself to pop out and jump him. His blue eyed gaze did finally fall on the figure of a man, however. He was standing there, holding armor of some sort, and looking completely shocked.

Good grief. Someone had been following them, or at least had entered the spaceport, and Jharu hadn't noticed this? Something smelled fishy here.

Terrin approached the gaping man, and simply glared. "Who the hell are you, and what the hell are you doing here?"

Run? he couldnt run... Not now... Sorounded... there was just no way out...

his eyes closed yet tighter, though he couldnt get the yowling, and scratchign from his ears...

As he felt something brush against his arm, causing something to trickle down his flesh... his blood?

as he stood there it was as if something simply gave out, dieing beneath the touch of another force taking hold of his being...

As his eyes again opened they were indeed not the eyes of the free spirited young warrior... they held an emerald glow which threatened to consume all...

He cast his dark scowl across the demons, before his body seemed to snap, sending him sprinting... he indeed would run... But he wasnt going to give up on his descision to find the sorcerer...

As he ran he lept into the air, using a nearby pillar to give him a spring, he fell upon a granet bench...

He stood slowly, and began runing again, the demons were behind him, but he knew they would soon be upon him... Perhaps there were more ahead...

He almost growled as he entered the temple, his eyes spinning about place... it was in ruins...

his mind spun with thoughts...

What could he do? he was out of options... And he truly hoped that the sorcerer was indeed as powerful as his parants had made him out to be.

"AELVEDAAR!!!" his voice erupted from his lungs in a fiery gust of breath, echoing hollowly through the empty halls...

There had to be a way...

as he stood, now panting, his eyes were again taken by the soft voilet of there natural color...

Alrighty flac... What do you do now? galen left... now, lets see, you have no way of finding her... You COULD rewire DJ... But... Arrgg... hate to do it, but its the only chance of survival, and escape...

Now, lets see... Where you gonna go... For all you know she's long gone to see the wizard of Oz... hmmm... well, if that ship WAS her ship, then you DO have her comm frequency... option one right there... but there will be time for that latter... you made a promise... Roan's here... Its time to get darra back...

Suddenly he stripped the wrist plate from the armor and snapped it onto his own wrist, pressing a button which blinked for a moment before going dark once more... He then dropped the armor to the ground with a slight thud.

he then turned to the man who had addressed him, as though realizing there was someone else there for the first time...

His eyes narrowed suddenly. "What the hell is with you god damned people and always asking me why im here! jeez... You darken's sure are losing your touch..."

Maybe the sorcerer... Maybe a demon...

he shrugged to himself as he passed down another little passage way, he heard the scraping of demon's behind him and suddenly he took off into a dead run...

at seeming random he shoved open a halfway broken door, and entered, slamming it behind...

he looked about and almost gasped... At his feat, and all over the place there were demonic corpses...

"no wonder they slowed down after that last turn... Im gettin outa here..."

As he turned to leave though, he cought sight of something...

it was a sword of somesort... curved slightly... sheath etched in runes...

it was just sitting there... Begging for him to take it...

"well... I DO need a weapon afterall..."

He reached down slowly, and took hold of the sword on both the sheath, and the handle, examining it closly, when suddenly spikes shot forth impalling his hands, he dropped the blade instantly and jumped backwards, looking down at his bleeding hands...

His hands rubbed together in pain... "well... I think i know what caused these things to die..."

slowly he turned to go, but something stopped him... An image of his father standing there... Impossing in regally black robes...

"Giving up my son? such things are not becoming of a warrior..."

He sighed and nodded... While his father had never said that...that was the impression he always got from his fathers pressence... That pain was nothing... Failure could only weaken you IF you ALLOWED it to make you run...

Stubbornly he took the sword up once more, wincing as again the spikes protruded through his hands, this time however he did not let go...

Blood trickled slowly down the sheath, finding its way into the runes etched upon it, causing them to take on the dark reddish hew, as though they had been made that way...

Suddenly the blade snapped free of its sheath, and jharu was amazed by the shining blade which greated him, it too was bathed in a collection of strangly suiting runes...

Nodding to himself he sheathed the sword and placed it at his side, strapping it about his waist with a grim smile of sattisfaction...

he looked over to ghrr, who was both eyeing him, and trying to keep an eye on the door at the same time...

"well... I guess we should go look for the sorcerer now... he's gotta be in this place somewhere..."

"Remember, Jharu...As with anything you seek: the more you reach out to grasp out of your own greed and desire, the further and further that object of desire will slip from you"

Jharu paused suddenly as the words came to mind...

You seem to remember that one a lot... But how is this of your own greed? are you not trying to help galen? No... You are trying to complete a quest given to you... You dont even know if galen is in trouble...

Suddenly he fell to his knee's, looking down at the ground, and taking a deep breath...

"what Im i suposed to do mommy? I... I cant do it... I have no clue where i should go... I have no idea which direction to head in..."

His eyes then strayed to his sword, and a slight frown crossed his features...

if he ever was attacked by demons... Maybe it would help him... But right now... What did he have? how could he find his way...

his eyes strayed again, this time ending up on the bluish stone hanging about his neck...

"Were this stone my son, For it is a reminder of home... It shows that home is always with you, around your neck, and within your heart"

as he gazed at the stone a memory of being held by both his parants came to mind, and he couldnt help the slight smile which creased his features.

the image then changed slightly, to a memory of cuddling against his mother before going to sleep...

He took a deep breath and stood... speaking both aloud, and hopefully to where his mother could here him too.

"I don't know who the kriffing hell you are after, but I can assure you that you've got the wrong residence. There isn’t a damn person here other than me and a fourteen-year old kid...”

Ok, and maybe a Sith Sorceror. Who knew.

Hell, might as well be honest with the guy. Not much else to do. Nowhere to run but to some ships that looked like they were probably 4,000 years old. No blasters to pull. "I’m Terrin Danner. And as to why I’m here at this very moment, your guess is probably as good as mine.”

Graysith scarcely took the time to nod in return but merely turned in her husband's arms, now calling out to that which had been placed within her and she taught to command by Lord Aelvedaar. The Glyph on her forehead ravened into obedient life as, with more of a clawing motion than wave of a hand she literally rent the fabric of space and time and hurried to step therein, even as that great rendering was yet being formed.

Recinis, one strong hand held within her other one, followed behind, bringing the mysterious opening in the essence of reality to a close in his wake...

...as they stepped forth into the demon-haunted realms of the capital city of the Sith.

His blaster went suddenly into its holster.

" un-FREAKEN-believable! how is it... That the husband works for roan? and... And then... Oh dear god shoot me now, im confused!"

GALEN?

Terrin's blue eyes snapped alert, and he couldn't help but blurt out the first things that came to his mind. "Where is she? It's very, very important that I find her; something terrible has happened and I'm worried as hell about her..."

At that he trailed, a deeply routed concern clouding his eyes as he waited to see what Flac might reply.

He closed his eyes for a moment... he felt a slight bit of lonleness... His son's strong heart...

They were close...

But he already was assured... he had felt his mother's urge to come to him... he had felt her arrive... He could feel the concern, and love eminating from both his parants...

he waited only a moment longer before rushing forward and wrapping his arms about his parants in utter thanks...

But at the same instant he felt his father tense... And in the background heard the scraping of something behind them...

"THE HELL I'M WORKING FOR ROAN!" he growled, actually daring to step away from Flac and his blaster and glare, emotions swimming far in the depths of his eyes that he couldn't even try to control, the greatest of those being rather righteous anger. "Look buddy," he said, trying to calm down, "You don't seem to know me that well, cause there is no way, no way I'd work for that animal, and especially not after what he did to Galen..."

He trailed a moment, his eyes defocusing as if he were seeing something no one else could. Then he continued. "And now he has our daughter..." he said, trailing once more then finishing with, "This has to be simply killing Galen..."

He smiled at terrin for a moment, before pressing down a small segment that was ditatched, and hurling it at terrin...

It crashed into him quite suddenly, with a very thin, but very strong thread escaping from both sides, to tie about the man...

he shook his head slowly "its a shame... I almost believed you... But, you people always make at least one mistake... If your not working for roan... How do you know about the kid? and on top of that... Why are you here with the devil?"

He then looked up as DJ flew over the horizon and landed gently next to flac...

"leave it to a bounty hunter to have pin-point auto pilot..."

he then looked to terrin and shook his head. "listen man... I like ya, Dont get me wrong, you seem like an ok guy really... But your story just dont pan out..."

He then paused and considered something. "listen... Ill tell ya what... When i take off again, IF i take off again... Ill let ya out, and as it seems as though roans means of transpertation have left you... Ill i donno... Ill hook ya up somehow..."

C'mon flac... This place is probably not the safest place in the world... You can feel it.... Somethings here... That guy'll get eaten alive if you leave him alone...

Damnit... I hate it when your right...

I know...

Eyine terrin cautiously flac motioned towards the ship "walk buddy... Walk... But i warn ya... I got a super-wookie in there... And he owes me one, so you'd be advised to NOT try anything funny"

"Look buster, I don't know what rock you fell off of, but I am not working for Roan and he is not here. You think he’d actually be stupid enough to send out an unarmed guy to find you here?” Terrin asked pointedly.

“And what kind of creep do you take me for? You think I'd work for a guy that did...what he did...to Galen then kidnapped Darra right out of her arms? And it's not as though I don't know how he intends to..." He paused a moment, swallowing. Then he continued. "...how he intends to use her. Hell, love to kill the monster with my own bare hands if given the opportunity.

"And for your information, I know about Darra because I've been with Graysith and was told of her kidnapping. The Sith boy and I came here to find a Sorceror who resides here...or at least we think he does...in hopes that he could help us find Galen then collectively go find JhinDarra. One thing is for damn sure pal, and that is that the longer we stand here chatting about this, the longer Darra will be out of her mother's arms.”

With no further explanation Terrin simply stood his ground, his blue eyes alert yet still swimming with concern as he waited to see if this guy was going to start using his head.

"listen Danner... I want to believe you, You seem like a nice guy, and you seem like you can be trusted, and i really do WANT to believe you are out to get roan, cause i sure as hell could use some help... But, in this argument, there are two people, Galen, whom i trust, and you, who i have just met... So, im just sticking to the information that she gave me. IM not sayings its not possible that she was mistaken... But if you were in my situation, and you wanted with all your heart to get darra back, and some guy, who galen had mentioned was probably one of roans lackies, pops up, and starts trying to get to galen, WOULDNT you be a wee tad suspicious?"

He sighed and stood, walking over to a panel, opening it he withdrew an E-11 repeating blaster rifel, and tossed it to terrin. "consider that as trusted as your gonna get..."

He then started back on his work, but continued speaking. "alright... Now tell me, if you were with that graysith lady... Then maybe you can contact her? galen may not trust her a lick, but i would be willing to sell my soul to lucifer himself, if it meant getting darra safely back to galen, i made a promise, and not you, Not roan, Not even the combination of every jedi, light and dark, coming against me in a swarm of aniholation, is gonna stop me from keeping that promise... You got that?

With a twirl he transfered his son completly into his mothers grasp, drawing his sword, he quickly ended the lives of a few of the gathering...

He dodged a swiping claw, and then ended two more demons lives in an instant...

At that he trailed, and waited.

"listen... I dont care if you are working for roan... I dont care if you arent... I dont care one like if you love galen, or if you want to kill her... I dont care if you leave... If you stay... I dont care one bit if you live, or die... What i do care about though, is getting darra back to galen... I have no other purpose right now... no other desire..."

His hand came to point at the door. "now, if i honestly and truly wanted you to Stay here, then i would have shut the door... But guess what... I am a little bussy right now... And as for your blaster... You gonna shoot me? blow me away? I dont care about that either... if i cared about my own life, i wouldnt be trying to go up against a monster, whom galen said would kill me in an instant..."

He paused a moment, as something akin to logic pointed something out. "I'll assume you and Galen might have concluded much the same at some point regarding finding Darra; if you find Galen before I do, let her know that we're gonna do all we can to get Darra safely back to her."

Then, with no further word Terrin turned, stepped out of the hatch of Flac's ship and began to run full speed back into the Sith city to find Jharu, Sith demons be damned.

Graysith ignored her son's look of astonishment.

"Come," she said, ignoring the fatigue that act had caused her but simply turning to hurry ahead, leading her husband and her son deeper and deeper into the recesses of the great Sith Temple of the Sorcerers. "Lord Aelvedaar is this way."

She spoke nothing further but continued ahead, letting the All guide her as she used to, winding through corridors and passageways, up stairs both ornate and secretive, until at length she came into a deeply hidden part of the temple which she found to be very familiar indeed. She let out an unconscious sigh of relief, hastened around a corner...

...only to be brought to a halt by the eerie impossibility of a chronotic shield.

Here within the very halls of the Temple itself? she couldn't help but gasp in her mind, feeling her husband's echoing shock as their feelings intermixed and mingled together.

My Sire is in pain most dire indeed....

She turned her widened, violet eyes to Recinis and simply stood, her mouth working silently, the Glyph flaring, as she wondered just how in all the universe they would manage to get through to Lord Aelvedaar now.

A scream... his voice, rippling accross the hallways to echo as if it were a sound implaced upon time itself... Never to leave...

"MOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMYY!!!!!"

He felt his form shudder as... Something... Erupted from him... It was somethign new... yet... At the same time... It was as familiar as the beating of his heart... the breathing of air...

the last thing he saw as his body slammed into the wall, were the demons which had attacked his mother, HIS MOMMY!, flying into the wall, to turn to dust beneath whatever it is that had came from him...

Sheesh, he hoped the kid was okay...

Terrin was extremely thankful that FLac had been kind enough to lend him a blaster however; though not as many as Terrin would have expected the demons wouldn't have been escapeable without it.

But something was wrong here. There still weren't enough of them. They were lurking...somewhere...had to be.

Terrin reached the Temple and was just making his way down a corridor, remembering that Jharu had wanted to find Aelvedaar and recalling from his past time in Prinn'chatka where the Sorceror usually stayed, when the answer to his little question came slamming home. He managed to shoot a few of them, but but he wasn't so lucky when one of the hell-spawned imps came from behind, jumping on his back and sinking its fangs into his shoulder, claws scraping at his back.

Terrin fell to the ground and rolled, refusing to let go of the blaster although his arm was going numb from the bite. As he rolled he managed to throw the thing off him long enough to shoot it, then he scrambled to his feet, pratically forcing them onward down the steps leading towards Aelvedaar's chambers.

When he finally managed to reach the bottom and round the corner...

...a scream erupted, "MOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMYY!!!!!"

Terrin's hair stood on end at that, recognizing Jharu's voice, gripping his blaster as best he could despite the pain in his arm. Then he simply charged forward, not knowing what he might find when he rounded the corner...

quickly he ran and took hold of Jharmeen before she lost her footing and fell to the ground, in the next second he was at his sons side,setting jharmeen down next to him...

He gave the boy a slight shake, to which he recieved a light groan...

"just unconcious... Not truly hurt..."

He then turned his attention to his wife... Whom was not as lucky... She was bleeding from a wound in her arm... and another wound was pressed within her leg...

He examined her wounds for a moment, applying pressure to her in certain area's to slow the blood flow, so anything that might infect would not travel...
He pulled out a rag and whiped the wounds clean... Thankfully she had not been hit by one of the posionas tails... Only scratched...

He then removed his doing upon her leg so she might use it once again, through it all she had remained quite, as if not sure what had happened herself, yet somethign in her eyes seemed to be gaining understanding...

He then looked over as terrin came rounding the corner, ready to shoot at the slightest switch in air...

Suddenly there were two Recinis's in front of her... and a wavering form of her son, who seemed to float in the very air as though that great power he was only just beginning to discover had taken him in hand to waft him away with it...

...and coming frantically into view was the form of another, a man, someone who was familiar to her somehow... if only she could think, but the rising furnace in her body seemed to preclude anything other than her simply laying on the steadily warming stones.

She turned her fever-bright eyes to the double Recinis and just lay there, a mysterious little smile suddenly coming onto her face. For one lucid thought managed to arrow through the rising fog and phantasmagoria brought on by those demonic wounds she had suffered...

...and that was that her lord and love was here with her, and indeed she was safe from all harm. He simply would not allow anything to happen to her, anything at all; hadn't he promised her that, didn't she feel that promise alive and beating within her very heart....

he then dashed off, as though possessed, rounding corners, slaying a few demons here and there were they attempted to bar his way... Nothing would stop him.

Finaly he reached a room he knew to have water, and he filled a large jug... Also he grapped cloths and any other "medical" supplies he could find... He then dashed off once more, and was soon once more by his loves side...

he nodded but once to terrin in thanks, and then turned his full attention to her...

He wet a small piece of cloth, and put it upon her burning forhead, hoping to cool her.

Applying a bit of something he know would dissinfect her wounds, the then proceeded to "massauge" the area's about the wounds, pressing here and there to drive out whatever had gotten in....

Finaly he wrapped dampened cloth about the wounds, then proped his wife up against the wall...

He looked at her worriedly... He had done all he could... But would that be enough?

His hand pressed against her cheek,which was still burning in fever...

he sighed and placed both hands firmly against her... He had never been talented in healing, as some were... Never been granted any amazing power to remove wounds... but now he would try... he had been taught once, his teacher's had taught him both to treat wounds, and to use those magicks within to help others heal... But he'd never done it successfully...

He shook his head "i will succeed.." he muttered half to himself, before stoping, and simply Trying

He glanced in Recinis and Graysith's direction once more, unsure if the actions being taken would be enough to help. "We've gotta get out of here," Terrin muttered at length. Then he quieted, his eyes somewhat clouded as he tried to watch everything in their surroundings. But slowly, as the adrenaline that had been coursing through every artery slowly lessened, those wounds started to throb, and Terrin realized he wasn't feeling so good. Dropping his blaster he leaned against the wall then slumped to the ground, his right hand going to his wounded shoulder as if to massage the pain out himself.

Just a moment of rest and he'd be just fine...

All she knew was a strange realm of distortion, a place where time ripped somehow sidewards, where the very ground beneath her roiled and bucked and swelled hillock to hillock, bumping and coiling and crushing and seeking her out....

She was running, slowly, a wail of discordance stringing from her lips, her hair nailed to her head and glued to the very fabric of this place, her hands outstretched in hot pain and misery as her feet carried further and further and further into absolutely nowhere....

The very air grew red, and likewise tinged the red-hot icicles now dripping from her joints and temple and running down the back of her throat. She blinked eyes heavy as lead, molten as a star, and cried out with a voice of every plague known to man, a tiny voice but one which strove with all its might and unknowning certainty toward a place she felt existed elsewhere, a voice which screamed as loudly as the approach of death in her ears, but which in reality finally ventured forth from her assaulted throat as little more than a groan of pain and fever.

She swallowed... and it stuck in her throat. She blinked... and her eyes rolled back in her head. She took in a breath, and that breath stopped....

Deep within though, he felt as though something were wrong... His mommy... He could tell... She was hurt!

As he sat there, his mind began to turn in a myriad of different directions...

IF they were home... If they were home it would be ok... Nothing bad could happen when they were at home... Together... Always together...

At the same time he began imaging his home... Warm... Soft, life was everywhere... Unlike this place... Stone was all that greeted them here... But home... Home had green... Nature...

GHRR! Where was ghrr?

But as the quesiton was asked he felt it... Ghrr was close...watching over him...

As he continued to sit unconcious he couldnt help but feel helpless... His mother was falling... He could feel it... It was a part of his heart...

NO!!!!

his eyes snapped open suddenly, his head still throbbing jharu somehow managed to turn his head to watch as his mommy lay almost still on the floor, groaning quietly now and again...

his lips parted as best he could, and his breath escapped him much to rapidly to form true words... But what did come out was a soft, and winded. "moohhhmmhe..."

He wanted to help her... he truly did... but what could he do?

With a light groan he forced himself to crawl to his mother's side, ignoring his fathers worried grasp to prevent him from toppling over... Finaly he lay down next to his mother and just was there for her...

What could he do?

He looked in dual panic... every bit of common sense fighting against eachother in a rapid wish to be the one he chose to acknowledge...

She needed water... But she would not be able to swallow it... her breathign was faulty, and she would most likely choke on it...

She needed to be awakened... yet she so badly needed rest!

And his son! his son was slipping back into unconciousness!

His eyes glanced over briefly at terrin and he almost gasped... He too was falling plague to the demons touch...

His head spun slowly to look at the taunting blackness which spoke volumes...

If only he could contact Lord Aelvedaar... But he has lost himself... If only i could get to him beneath that shield...

Something stirred down at his side and he turned, looking at his son who seemed to be recovering from his being slammed against the wall...

He sat slowly before turning his gaze to his father, who was looking at him as an old man looks at the fountain of youth...

his father approuched him slowly and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Jharu... Behind that wall of blackness... There is a great being... He can help your mother... Deep within you lies a strength... You must try my son... I can not give you much advice in its usage... save... Let your feelings guide you... This is the best advice in any situation... Please my son... Do your best... Remove that shield, and find he that can help your mother..."

Jharu nodded slightly, looking at his father strangly...

What did he have? he was just a kid...

as the thought proceded a memory of that strange feelign rising within him came to be... He saw the demons turned to dust beneath of something... Something...

Jharu stood slowly, Walking over to eye the strange field of utter blackness...
His eyes closed momentarily, and when they opened again they were filled with tears...

Under his breath he spoke to himself... "I dont know whats behind there... But whoever it is... I gotta reach them... Jharu... You gotta help your mother..."

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and continued to focuse on his desire to help his mother, letting his feelings take over...

His eyes opened suddenly, tears streaming down his face, his hands extended unconciously and he focused on that feeling... He had felt it before...

MOMMY!! I wont let you down! I cant fail! i wont lose... I can do it!

He took one last breath before he felt something rise up within him and streak outward to combat the obstical in his path... His mind concentraiting on the will to simply make the thing dissapear... His eyes snapped shut as he continued to scream at himself mentaly

Full of perplexity... laced with sharp stabs of suddenly growing hope... I hasten onward from my Sanctum, seeking the corridors without, raising a hand to blast to eternity the occasional demon who comes snarling for my throat even as my feet carry me further and further out from the depths of this great Temple.

quite suddenly as he ran a great being rounded a horner, and jharu ran into him, almost impaling the being, whom carried an aura of utter power and strength, just by looking jharu knew instantly that this was the being he was looking for... the sith also matched the breif description of the sorcerer, given to him by his parants...

"Come," I say succinctly then as refraining from speaking further I turn and retrace my path back to my Inner Sanctum. Each step is as if I am slogging through a noisome bog; normally I would use a simple wave of my hand to command this fever from her body. But this is no ordinary infection coursing through her veins; this was emplaced there by demonic claws, and it will take more than the All to combat its encroachment upon her system.

I do not even take the slightest heed as to whether I am followed by my Brother and his son -- for who else could that strapping youth be but the son of the Dark Lord and my Chosen Daughter? I merely hasten quickly, and soon return to my chambers, where I lay the writhing, burning form upon a stone table.

"Hold her," I command, and note with approval how quickly they approach to take up positions at her head and feet, where hands of silk-bound iron grip and keep her laying supine. I then retreive the powders and amulets I shall be needing to force this most insidious of demonic possessions from her body...

...for what else is this but demonic possession at its most cunning? I must hurry; judging by the way her skin is beginning to darken, I can tell time is upon me. I place an open-clawed hand upon her face, intoning a dark incantation, while the other hand sprinkles a peculiar powder upon her body. It falls upon her heated flesh, and seems thereupon to somehow... scurry about, before suddenly disappearing into her very pores, and thus into her very veins and muscles and indeed, into the very nuclei of her cells.

Now she thrashes and writhes to an even greater extent, her teeth gnashing beneath my palm, striving to bite me, her fists beating a helpless tattoo against her sides where they are trapped by her husband's gentle yet firm grip.

I frown, and sprinkle more of the powder, intone another incantation...

Hmmm...this seems rather familiar, sorta like...

Nevermind. Putting coherent thoughts together at the moment was pretty much impossible. But two little words did manage to wiggle their way to the forefront of Terrin's mind, as if to press and keep him as close to consciousness as possible.

Galen.

JhinDarra.

So he strove for alertness, though that was becoming more elusive with each passing moment.

This was so very, disturbingly familiar...

He simply contented himself to murmer quietly, and repeatedivly "hold on mom... Hold on... You'll be ok... Hold on"

As his wide eyes continued to stare hopefully at his mother, he noticed that her thrashing was becoming less intence, the change was extremly slight, but his eyes caught it none the less, and held on to it as though it were the hand of a friend whom would save you from falling to your death... That slight knowledge that she wasnt struggling as much as she was before, acted as a becon of hope... yet at the same time, jharu hoped, that all this was not just a trick played upon the mind of a hopeful boy...
She'll be ok... She's your mom... She cant die... She wont lose... Especialy not with the sorcerer helping her.... He can do it...

JhinDarra.

Terrin continued to fight through the pain that was growing by the moment, refusing to give in to it, refusing to let it have him even as it strove to do just that with ferocity.

No. Failure was not an option. Not an option at all.

Forcing his eyes to open, Terrin analyzed the situation. He was still on the floor in the hallway, yet the others he was with at the moment were now gone. He could hear motion vaguely from somewhere nearby, so he forced himself onto his knees, nearly doubling over at the responding pain. Flailing a hand out, he grabbed his blaster and drug himself towards the sound source, however long it might take him to get there.

They had to find Galen. They had to get to little JhinDarra. He simply couldn't let anything get to him til that was accomplished, no matter what risk it would be to him.

His mother's struggles were not lessening because she was overcoming the dark blight within her. It was, rather, simply because she was having less and less resources with which to fight against it. Slowly her writhing stilled, her head ceased tossing quite so wildly, her fists ceased their drumming but rather lay loosely by her sides. Her hair hung about her face and shoulders in great wet tendrils, coiling and laying there as though they were fiery serpents resting upon her; her dress adhered to her slight frame, outlining her form in damp bas relief. Bit by bit, her gasps quieted as well, until finally each breath she drew in was but the merest whisper, the tiniest inhalation proving that life -- at least for the moment -- still clung tenaciously within her.

Suddenly her body arched up, rearing from the stone table, her eyes rolling back in her head. For an impossibly long moment she remained thus, her eyes suddenly open and wide and full of a strange and uncanny... awareness.

Those brilliant violet eyes rolled with sudden lucidity into Recinis's emerald pair, and held there for a seeming eternity. Then they clouded and rolled back entirely in her head as, with one final sighing breath, her body slumped limply against the stone table and lay absolutely still, the furnace within her finally being chased away by the icy advance of the darkest invader of them all.

And on her forehead, that wonderful Glyph simply...

Shut itself down.

Now my eyes come to rest upon her quiet frame, molten tears streaming trails of fire down my face. Within, a great pressure builds, streaming out, unstoppable, spreading, taking me away from myself in bits and pieces to the very edge of madness.

"No.

"No-- no, no, no.

"No.

"NO!"

The words fling from my lips as though blades to take on the Darkness my magicks could not stop, and are equally ineffectual. I let them crescendo, increasing in strength and timbre, until at last they carry me back from her body once again to turn against he who is my Brother.

Abruptly, I find myself with a clawful of Recinis's robes, his face mere millimeters from my own where I have yanked it in such hopeless frenzy.

"And you would be her Protector!" I snarl, gripping his robes even tighter, nearly hauling him from his feet, and with every last bit of effort I possess barely keeping from attacking him for his horrendous failure to save her from harm.

He knew the emotion in that voice. His heart had felt it the day that...

He slammed that particular thought at bay as he continued to hear the sounds of the words were streaming into his ears and throbbing there, clearly understanding of the import of them.

With all that was being implicated, it seemed that no one would be interested in the plight of his daughter, not at the moment and understandably so; nor would they be interested in Galen’s own sorrow and grief.

Save for him, perhaps. And maybe there was someone else who could help...

With that Terrin made a sudden decision, hoping that the demons had retreated far away for what he knew he had to do, his condition be damned. Forcing himself up to his feet, staggering back and forth as he did so, he began to head back for the streets of Prinn’chatka, never turning back, clutching his blaster but not seeing so much as a shadow following him.

None at least that took intrest.

At length Terrin half-walked, half crawled to the transport, and headed for the spaceport, tripping out of the car as it halted and heading, on his hands and knees, back towards the ship of that Flac fellow. Reaching the ship he forced himself up the still-open hatch, now practically slithering as his physical pain and agony continued to gain the upper hand. Flac must have heard the commotion, for he came running from the cabin, blaster in hand.

“Don’t...shoot!” Terrin gasped. “Find...Galen...Darra...”

At that his words dropped off and his muscles went limp, his eyes falling closed and his breath coming quick as he came to a listless rest on the bulkhead of the ship.

Recinis arm came upward to rest upon the great siths, then without hesitation, his grip tightened about that hand, and simply forced it away... Strong aelvedaar may be... But no warrior lord would he make...

Recinis just turned his attention to the woman he loved, kneeling beside her he looked at her unmoving form... she was... dead?

"no..."
His head shook slowly and he leaned forward pressing his lips against her forhead gently...

His mind spun, and every memory he possessed of time with her came forth in a blazing show of utter glory and love... One coming forth to his attention, more highly then the rest.
“Graysith… I will never leave your side… Please, promise me you will not leave mine” “I will never leave your side”

he leaned forward once more, kissing her forhead again, now placing his hands gently upon both sides of her face, focusing on that bond they had so strongly forged… he whispered to you “we remain together for all eternity my love… No distance can separate us… our love is transcends even life and death… This was the vow we made to eachother… As long as I draw breath… So to shall you… As long as my heart beats… so does yours… For our hearts beat as one… and this is why.. I know you are not dead… For I stand living now… upon your death, so to shall my heart cease…So too will my life be gone…”

He continued to simply focus on their unbreakable bond of love… no matter where she was, no matter what she might have to face… He knew she would hear him…

Another memory came into his being… Of his own plights… His own fever… He too had almost passed from the universe, by evil’s infecting hand none the less… But she had saved him…

He again began whispering. “my dear jharmeen… You were my strength when I was falling from this land… Now hold on to me… You can return… You have my strength with you… no distance can keep you from me… “

As he spoke, the world seemed to fade from existence… as his own body fell into unconciousness, perhaps even death…

He stood within a shadowy realm, of no light, and utter cold.

Looking about he closed his eyes concentraiting on an image of his dear love… while his heart did not beat in this land… His devotion to her could not be stopped.

In the lands of shadows, size, and distance hold no meaning, and it is thus that he found himself now standing beside his dear love’s shimmering form, Darth wi-… No, darth wicked was gone… The being of utter evil now held his place, and was trying to coax his dear jharmeen into those places were the living hold no sway… Or perhaps to do some other devilish deed… Recinis would have none of it.

He stepped forth suddenly, announcing his presence to those within this land, brushing away the hand from his loves shoulder, and turning her to face him. “come with me my love… Your life may be failing… But I will share with you mine… You can not die… Not as long as I live… Hurry my love! Come with me! We both vowed never to leave the others side… Our hearts beat as one… “

He then grabed terrin and yanked him in turning him over he took out a little vile and pured the contents into terrins mouth "that stuff is garonteed to destroy anything in your body that isnt welcomed... Minimal lose of braincells too..."
Hopefully this guy's problems aint beyond even that...

He looked up at malf "yo, make him comfertable..."

he then changed into the flightsuit and armor, completing the outfit with the helmet he had before clung to dearly, and connected himself to the ship, which had been modified for more comfortable usage...

He stood tal, hands at his side, and with a slight twitch of his legmuscles the ship zoomed off

twisting his arms her and there, the ship menuvered about into space.

"dont worry terrin... Galen and darra will be fine..."

As he ascended into the heavens he blinked, the sensers in his helmet picking up the action, and causing the scanners to burst from the ship in determination...

In front of him various updates and such came forth on the screen...

Damn... That ship aint no where close...

he spoke then, allowing his voice to be broadcast on an open frequency that could be read by any in the area

What was happening? was... This death? Was that what dying looked like...

His eyes strayed downward to look at the blade strapped to his side...

He wanted to be a warrior? he had dreamed of adventure... death was a part of a warriors duties... his father had told him that, he had not lied to him... But not untill this moment did he truly understand what that meant...

He felt a sharp pain in his breast and he gasped for breath, a single tear falling from his eyes, he fell to his knee's, ignoring the sharp pain which occured from the sudden drop to the ground...

Why... Why?
WHy did he hurt?

Why did they leave him?

he sobed slowly, looking down and noting the drying blood on his hands... The cost of takign up the sword... It had pierced him...

At that moment he was ready to discard the blade and destroy it, yet he didnt have the strength to do so... Death... He never wanted to see it again...

He shuddered once more and curled into a ball, feeling suddenly cold and alone...

My teeth clench so hard one breaks. I swallow the sharp shards, somehow relishing the pain as they scrape down my throat. Not a flagellate's self-mutilation, but it well fits the mood.

"Recinis, I say, my voice heavy and shaking. "It is of no use; come back to us, come back to your son. What shall become of him if you let yourself go? You cannot allow yourself the luxury of death; you must be strong enough to live.

"To live for him. He needs you, Brother; as do I. Come back to us...."

He sighed as he felt all his memories rise within him... on his arm his mark, which simbolized both his title as dark lord and his eternal vow to his love, throbbed gently, and he indeed knew...

He and her were as one... bound by unbreakable love... Where she went... He could not help but follow... And indeed, was prepared for with all his heart for those sacrifices...

He stood silently, completly prepared for the death that he would share with the one being he could ever devot himself to completly...

When he felt something reach out to him... He could not make out anything in particular, he simply felt a call... Untill of course he heard the words. "come back to your son"

He nodded to himself... and once more looked at the shimering spirit that he knew he could no longer share life with...

He wrapped his arms about her and whispered his last words to her. "I will never forget my vows to you... I will be by your side again... I will assure that our son grows strong, and wise..."

With that his body lurched and he awoke suddenly, tears falling from his eyes freely...

he looked at his brother for a moment and nodded, before leaning down and scooping up his son...

He handed his son momentairly to his brother, before scooping up his fallen wife and then took both in his arms.

"Brother... take me now to Koris'san... And then we must find where Mr. Danner has gone off to... I will not lose another life this day..."

Yet my blade is unlocked with more then 3... more keyes must be placed within the heart...

The Allegiant popped out from hyperspace, and Shayla established orbit around K'eel Doba, turning to her husband who was sitting at the controls, her look darkening as a sense of unease filled her. "Something is very wrong here," she said. "Scan the planet for lifeforms and the area for ships.

Erik complied, and went to work. He looked up then, a bit of concern now lacing his own features. "That ship we encountered...is now orbitting the planet. And K'eel Doba itself..." he paused, not quite certain of the readings he was getting, "there's more life down there than there should be."

With that he fell silent, and Shayla's look darkened further. Those Sith demons, had to be.

But there seemed to be something else chewing at the corners of Shayla's psyche, something that was growing with each passing moment.

"I don't know what that guy who went aboard that ship wants here on K'eel Doba," Shayla said frowning. Then, "Try sending a message via the slight signal out of Prinn'chatka that we would like to land. Be certain to identify us as well."

With that she fell silent as Erik sent the message along a very faint signal, then he turned to her as if to question what to do next.

"While you are at it..." she said, "Send a message off to that ship as well..."

So, Flac figured out how to get her configured for a guy, ey? I grinned, now reaching to the communications section and letting my fingers dance upon the glyphs and sigils there. Moments later and I had a channel open; the grin on my face spread out into a big ol smile, teeth gleaming, as I imagined the shock which was probably coursing through Flac right about now.

These Sith ships, ya gotta love 'em, I couldn't help but gloat a bit. For although to Flac I was nowhere to be found, in all actuality he all but careened into my direct line of orbit when he popped off the planet's surface. That's just how insidious these little fighters were, how well those light-bending devices worked. And how, after all, did any form of probe or sensor known to man operate than by sensing electromagnetically? The visible spectrum wasn't the only form of "light" which existed....

"Hey there, Flac!" I smiled. "Glad to see you got DJ up and running fully! I'm right above you... actually, here...."

With that I reached to my belt and disengaged the strange light-bending device. To Flac, and indeed anyone else who might be in the vicinity and sensing, I would have quite suddenly and from simply nowhere popped into "view."

"There," I finished a bit smugly, nodding with satisfaction before continuing.

"Hey, good news... I think. There's some sort of Temple to some... some thing called a 'S'slan,' whatever the hell that is. Seems there is such a temple built to this S'slan on every planet holding a Great Temple; I've orbited and run a sensor sweep at the coordinates this log is showing me, and guess what I found there, buddy? You got it... a big fat ol nothing, and I do mean that literally.

"I think that's where Roan is hiding, under that weird nothing; it's like what got put up in Khar Delba, but hey, we can orbit again and brainstorm. I'll send you the coordinates, here ya go...."

I proceeded to do just that, then settled in my seat again while I waited to see what it was that Flac wanted. Come to think of it now, that transmission had certain aspects of... desperation about it....

"Hey! There's a weird lil ship out there near the other one, and it looks like one of those Sith ones," he started. Then, "I have a general comm frequency set to send a message to the one, shall I address the other?" he queried.

Shayla nodded dully, not liking the upwelling of something vague and painful that was beginning to fill her very soul.

Something just wasn't...right.

Suddenly she extended her right hand and stopped Erik from reaching the comm switch.

"We're going down into Prinn'chatka now," she said, her eyes still distant. And with no further word, paying no heed to any objections which Erik might have placed, Shayla proceeded to guide the Allegiant down to the spaceport, her thoughts disturbed by something ominous that pulled her along in its wake.

*********************

Standing inside a strangely empty spaceport, Shayla simply scanned the dull horizon of K'eel Doba, her heart somewhere in the vicinity of her throat as she realized the appearances of things.

No one was here. The warship was not here. The Chosen One was not here...

...but then, why was she being drawn here regardless of appearances?

At that thought she stretched out with her senses, seeking life, which she found. But there was something else as well...

Shayla gulped back any rising worry, and made up her mind. She turned to Erik, who was looking just a bit more than hesitant.

"Have I mentioned I have a bad feeling every time we come to this planet?" he asked as if to joke. But his look indicated anything but.

Shayla drew her--rather, Erik's lightsaber--and responded, "You're not the only one who feels this way. Even so, we're going in. I could be mistaken, but I sense Lord Aelvedaar here, and perhaps Lord Recinis as well.

And what else I sense..."

She paused, her greeny-blue eyes turning distant, "I'd prefer not to state," she finished.

Then, "We should, however, be cautious, considering how the city was the last time we were all here. Maybe..."

Shayla paused again, reaching out with her Force-senses towards Lord Aelvedaar and praying to all the gods for a response. She knew she didn't have a need to identify herself, for certainly the Sorceror would recognize her essence through the All.

I seek Graysith... she thought out, her determination yet laced with a strange emptiness she couldn't bear to face.

The one about whom I apparently had been wrong regarding perhaps a great many things. And so I reach a clawed hand out to my Brother, taking him lightly yet firmly by his shoulder. He does not turn about, his head bowed with grief for the burden he carries, but does stop for a moment at my touch.

"It-- it is the Adept, the one called Shayla," I state simply. "She has come back here...

"She-- she has a right to know."

The grief-stricken Lord simply nods in reply; it is all I can bear to watch how his hold tightens upon the form of his wife, how he draws her up to his lips, as though to breathe back into her body the life I could not save.

No more time will be wasted, that I vow. With no preamble I reach forth a clawed hand, and quite simply yank the Adept of my Chosen One, along with her companion, through a quickly formed portal in the All. I will have no one else threatened by the demons here in his -- or her -- attempt to reach me.

But then, perhaps it wasn't too surprising after all. Somehow she had known, dear gods, she had known...

For there, in what appeared to be the very sanctum of the Sorceror, stood Lord Aelvedaar, a young Sith boy Shayla recognized by something other than sight, and...

...and...

Shayla's knees nearly buckled from underneath her as she took in the sight of Lord Recinis with a very limp, and very lifeless Graysith cradled in his arms. Sensing Shayla's distress at this, Erik stood behind her and supported her with his strong arms, but all she had eyes for was the sight before her. After a long moment she closed her eyes, forcing the lids down as tears began to roll unimpeded down her cheeks. She began to shake her head, words coming from her throat that were only marred by the lump in there, total denial rising up as she stretched out for a link she simply refused to let go.

"This...this cannot happen. She can't...she CAN'T be gone..."

Shayla trailed, and sobs wracked her small form as she sought for anything and everything she had within her to stop this thing which with every passing moment was demanding to be acknowledged as reality. At length her tears ceased falling, however, and cloudy greeny-blue eyes opened in a strange sort of lucidity as ideas fueled by none other than complete refusal to fail began to form in her mind.

She turned to the despairing molten eyes of Lord Aelvedaar, steeling herself for any reaction he might have to her next words. "There must be something we can do," she insisted, her voice shaking with despair. "The very fate of the Sith...of the Universe relies on her life. And..."

Shayla paused, her eyes now shifting to Graysith's form once more, again filling with tears. "She is the only sister I have ever known..."

Again, Shayla's words trailed, and again she collected her nerve and looked to the Sorceror once more. "Perhaps we can clone her, or perhaps..." She fell silent, looking at the red-skinned Sith quietly before she stated her final thought. "You reached out from another time to bring yourself to Graysith..." Shayla started, the wheels in her brain spinning at full-speed, "Cannot you reach back in time and bring her to us?

"Please..." Shayla plead, her voice trailing once more as she simply fell into silence and waited for the Sorceror's reply.

I do not take the time to bother which such conundrums. I blink again, my grip tightening upon Lord Recinis's shoulder.

"Time is not easily meddled with, nor is this attempt to be lightly accomplished, if at all, Shayla Petrolu," I begin solemnly. I purse my lips against the rising pain I see in her eyes... pain mixed with...

Anger. She blames me, I realize. And I have at least the honor to not even attempt denying that I fully deserve her wrath.

"I-- I do not believe I can actually bring her here. From whence shall I take her? At what point would the timeline be least impacted--?"

Yet even as I speak, I know the answer. I know this Adept is somehow on the right track... as well I know it is not up to me to decide whether or not I shall fail in this as I have before. That is out of my hands; failure now would be in not attempting this thing at all.

"Come, we must hurry," I say enigmatically, grasping Lord Recinis and whirling him about to take the Chosen One from his arms. Hurriedly then, I return her to the table which had become her bier; drawing in a deep breath, I turn back to the others, now taking Recinis by one hand and the Adept by another. Ignoring any words they might utter or hesitation they might instinctively react with, I take them before the Great Octahedron, this mystical device I have brought here from the Temple in Khar Delba, the very one which Graysith invoked when she brought me forward in time over a span of 4,000 years.

My grip tightens on them both, then loosens.

"I will not attempt to bring her back, for there was no clean-cut severance of life in her death," I press upon them, now raising a hand against their rising protests.

"What I can try, however, is to send you two back, send you back to that point which was the nexus. Her life or death will hinge upon whether or not you can alter the course of events; it is by your combined strengths that she will live if she does so at all.

"And remember," I conclude. "If this succeeds, and if you are successful, having lived these events you shall know everything which has occurred. She, of course, will not.

"I will keep the shield immediately without my door dropped, that you may return with all due haste, but it shall be maintained otherwise about my Sanctum that the demon horde may not easily creep within."

I fall silent with those words, nodding when I see the answer in their eyes. I ignore the cries of the young man who has come with the Adept. With no further ado, I close my own eyes, reaching out one hand toward the Octahedron, the palm of it laying millimeters from its actual surface. The other hand reaches out to Recinis and Shayla, index and smallest digits extended loosely, like horns, the other two curled beneath the palm to connect with my thumb.

Something responds... something leaps forth from the very essence from which the Octrahedron takes its existence, something powerful and unstoppable and greeny golden, which flows from it through my one hand, courses along my body, and then wraps the pair in threads of pure timelessness.

They disappear from sight... taken back to that moment in time, just prior to whenever and wherever it was the demons first sprang from nowhere to lay their foul claws and fangs upon her flesh...

...while I turn to that cold remnant laying upon the table, to wait and see, my heart pounding, if this effort will prove to be a successful one or not.

Recognition dawned in Graysith's eyes as she looked in startlement to Shayla. She opened her mouth to query something even as Shayla opened herself to the Force, activating the blade of her husband's lightsaber in tandem. She expanded her sphere of influence just as far as it would go as answered Graysith's unasked question simply. "Call my appearance the will of the All," she said, not divulging any further as she noted something, or rather someone heading this way, somewhere on the outskirts of the Temple at this point. "And by the way, you might want to know that Terrin Danner appears to be heading this way, and he's headed for a pack of demons as well," she commented.

Then, with no further words Shayla took the lightsaber in her hands and let the Force guide it, seeing things before they happened, seeing Sith demons just a milisecond before they appeared.

But then, that was all she needed to kill them. Shawn would have been proud...

Continuing to slay every shadow that dared near them, Shayla was keenly aware that every moment counted, that every demon dead was one less to worry about.

And that the very fate of the one sister she would ever have was at stake.

"Call it a hunch," Shayla interjected, "But we might want to grab Terrin and get to Lord Aelvedaar as quickly as possible, no matter what it takes..."

Her words trailed as something within her ached to do something more than what she was even now to protect them all, something that she simply couldn't due to a blockage she yet possessed. So she remained alert, lightsaber ready, continuing to kill every shadow that crossed their path.

She spoke nothing further but continued ahead, letting the All guide her as she used to, winding through corridors and passageways, up stairs both ornate and secretive, until at length she came into a deeply hidden part of the temple which she found to be very familiar indeed. She let out an unconscious sigh of relief, hastened around a corner...

Where much to her surprise there stood the one she had chosen as her adept, Shayla Stargazer Petrolu. She blinked, completely taken offguard by finding her here so unexpectedly... but before she could put words to the multitude of questions tumbling about her head she was cut short.

"Call my presence here the will of the All," Shayla said sardonically, then drew her lightsaber in a movement as quick as her appearance there in the corridor of the Temple. It slashed down and around, removing a demonic head from its body in one smooth move. Her head jerked over her shoulder, even as she drew back for another blow.

"Call it a hunch," Shayla interjected, "But we might want to grab Terrin and get to Lord Aelvedaar as quickly as possible, no matter what it takes..."

Graysith nodded, her hand flailing out to lash out at yet another demon who was heading for Jharu.

"I shall go," she said quickly. 'You remain together, and fight off this horde; I am well-equipped to protect myself and Captain Danner as well, once I find him.

"I shall meet you outside Lord Aelvedaar's chambers; they are down that corridor."

Recinis took but a second to view his wife... No longer dead...

No... no chances would be taken... While he held no doubts in her strength's, and was sure she could handle anything that came her way... He could not bare to lose her again...

He shook his head slowly, he placed a hand on Jharmeens shoulder before speaking "The demons are dangerious, we must travel together..."

Without waiting for a reply he ran off with the others in tow...

Soon they had caught up to Terrin and he merly nodded at the man, putting his blade to work in fighting off a few demons that had been persuing the man...

Pressing hard he slammed one of the demons into the wall with enough force to stunn it for hopefully a long period of time...

Without waiting a moment longer he ushered them away, huridly heading to the place where they would find safty...

He stayed within the back of the group, turning now and again to fend of a demon, fighting with the silent knowledge of what it meant to fail... What he would be forced to lose... He would not fail... No, not again...

Finaly they were within sight of thier destination...

As they crossed through a small doorway, recinis closed the door, emplacing upon it the locking mechenizm after assuring that no demons were to be found within...

Recinis just nodded. "and now... Let us go and find Lord Aelvedaar..."

...like the one in the hallway had done.

She let out a little shudder at that, then her demeanor turned deadly calm once more. Her lightsaber still ignited in her hand, she simply let her instincts take the upper hand, Lord Recinis's words prompting her to grab one of Graysith's hands in her own. Then, making as much haste as possible, she traveled onward towards that place where she knew Lord Aelvedaar was waiting, her grip upon Graysith's hand tightning a fraction as though Shayla were trying to make certain that Graysith was really with her. The others followed behind in their wake, Lord Recinis certainly still as alert as she herself was, still in fear of the Sith demons which would be the subject of all their nightmares for some time whether they were truly there or not. But they only took a few paces when they finally reached the waiting forms of her own husband and Lord Aelvedaar.

Shayla extinguished the blade of the lightsaber and let all the emotions that she had been keeping to herself til now have free reign, unable to stop herself. Inexplicably she turned to the wide violet eyes of Graysith and, tears filling her own eyes despite her best efforts to keep them at bay, threw her arms about the Chosen Daughter, her friend...

...and her sister.

Shayla couldn't even think of a thing to say the moment was so fragile. After a length of time however she forced herself to step back, yet she was still unable to remove her gaze from the quite alive form of Graysith, tears still falling from the depthless ocean of her greeny-blue eyes.

Oh how he wanted to simply run to her and take her in his arms, and renew all vows of love and devotion he had ever made or though, to show his happyness that she was indeed not dead... But he knew, that she did not know that she indeed had BEEN dead... and to do so was to bring upon her confusion... it was for that reason that he placed that tidbit of knowledge away in a place of subconcious will... For while he desired to simply forget that it had ever happened, to do so was to learn nothing, so rather, he allowed it to fade from his being, so it might not disrupt his actions, and never bring to here the strange feelings that such knowledge could bring...

He simply contented himself by approuching her with their son and giving them both a loving hug.

he looked down at his son with a nod "Now my son... It is time that you resume your quest... before we take leave, is there anything else you would require of us?"

He looked down at jharu, noting that the boy seemed momentarily bewildered, as if something had happend, something he should remember... Yet it read clearly in his eyes that he did not...

Good... This is one pain he need not bare... one memory which is best overlapped with one more pleasant... A warrior must learn to grow from lose... But This? No... This would shatter his existance...

His son looked at him for a moment before coming forth with his question. "Where should i look for her?"

Recinis looked down at him and shook his head. "im afraid i can not disclose that information to you... Your mother, and myself may only act when something is directly concerning you... But perhaps lord Aelvedaar would be as kind to assist you in that mannor..."

he then turned to Jharmeen and smiled "shall we return home my love?"

Expectancy.

She shook her head slightly, then pulled lightly from Lord Recinis's embrace at his mention of Shayla. Without saying a word she went to where she had been pushed aside by her husband -- albeit gently -- and came to a halt in front of her. Her eyes narrowed the tiniest bit, and she cocked her head, wondering as to the tears still standing in her adept's eyes, wondering at that young woman's struggle to keep yet more tears from erupting, tears of... tears of...

Relief? Great joy?

Her frown turned to a look matching the one on her son's face, and she reached gently out herself to now take Shayla by the shoulders. She peered deeply into those greeny-blue eyes, seeking solution, trying to determine the reason underlying the untoward reaction her adept was displaying, knowing that she herself had broken their Link, the knowledge bringing sudden shame and regret.

Wondering if shared regret was enough to account for Shayla's reaction...

...and somehow knowing, deep within her, that it was NOT.

She shuddered, letting her glance flick back to Jharu, who was rapidly taking on his usual demeanor; turned it upon her husband, who waited quietly with a small smile on his face; cut it into Aelvedaar's molten eyes, which remained absolutely inscrutable. And suddenly something on the deepest unconscious level of all shied back like prey eluding the grasping claws of a predator; she shuddered again, and turned back to Shayla.

For a long moment she just stood there, her hands on her Adept's shoulders. Then that strange something urged her on... impulsively, she gathered Shayla to her in a warm and loving embrace. Her mouth worked for a moment before she could find words to give foundation to her own somewhat strange actions.

"I-- I rejoice with you in your marriage to Erik Kartan, as well as for the knowledge that you are to join me in motherhood as well, Shayla," she finally said softly, letting all her earlier hurt and anger flee from her as something too insubstantial to be bothered with anymore.

Letting her Adept know that although she may have seemed removed from her, she had been "keeping tabs" on her all along.

She gave Shayla a little kiss on her cheek, then pulled back and returned to the comfort of her husband's arms. She laid her head against his chest with a small sigh.

"Ummm..." he started, clearing his throat to gain everyone's attention. "There might be one tiny thing Jharu might need before continuing his quest," he stated, drawing a few cocked brows. "A ship."

Terrin paused a moment to let those words sink in then continued with, "And as for Galen, she went that way," he indicated, pointing skyward a la Flac and letting everyone else draw the obvious conclusion he already had.

His gaze once more shifted to terrin. "Indeed, thank you for bringing this to attention..."

He raised a finger. "There is someone out in the spaceport; a bounty hunter that apparently came here with Galen. He somehow seems to think that I'm here working for Ankrist Roan," Terrin continued, his look darkening.

Like THAT would happen. When Hell froze over. When the ice on Hoth melted...

...out of place. What exactly WAS going on here?

She glanced over to Terrin Danner even as his, Graysith's, and Recinis's words began to register in her brain.

So when had Terrin gotten back with the Sith? Hadn't he left with his crew members and Galen with Sorben Tarnus? And why would Galen have come back here, to Prinn'chatka? Was the hunter with her NOT Sorben?

And exactly WHAT quest was Jharu on? Sounded like he was looking for...

Shayla's greeny-blue eyes scanned the faces in the room, as if trying to seek the answers in them. She read a good amount of concern from Terrin, but everyone else was fairly inscrutable, which wasn't all that suprising. Still, Shayla felt a sense of concern niggling at the corners of her own psyche. She frowned, then turned to let her eyes fall directly into the violet ones of Graysith, stating her commitment to remain devoted as well as asking the obvious question that might answer all those she had.

"I would like very much to return to Korris'sian with you," Shayla stated then continued with, "Your sister you chose me as, and your sister I will remain no matter what befalls us. The life I had to go back to after we departed from here..."

She trailed as if seeking the words to describe it then proceeded with "...is in the past and has no meaning any longer. I will assist you in any way you need, wherever you need me to."

...reluctantly?

This was no good; hadn't anyone heard what he was telling them? Didn't they care that every second they waited was one second more that Darra was with Roan, and out of Galen's arms?

Something not totally unexpected wormed its way into Terrin's brain and replied. Of course they don't care. Their child wasn’t at risk here; all they cared about was...

Terrin simply refused to think that thought for the moment. But he for one wasn't twiddling his thumbs any longer while everyone waited for someone else to take charge; enough of the tip-toeing around. As this thought surfaced, a shoulder-being, whether angel or demon one couldn't be sure, simply nodded its little head in quiet approval.

Yes sir, folks. He's back.

“Ankrist Roan has kidnapped Darra from Galen,” Terrin said, answering Shayla’s question simply. “And although I don’t know for a fact, I’m pretty sure she has taken the Sith ship Jharu and I came here in and headed off to find Darra herself.”

With that Terrin fell silent a moment, pursing his lips in thought. She had gone off after Darra, alone. Sound familiar, Mr. Danner?

“I’ll just bet she hasn’t gone far from here,” Terrin continued with. “After all she knows, at least by what we all last knew, that Roan’s hideout was somewhere on this very planet.”

His blue eyes defocused for another moment as images that had been haunting him began to scroll in his mind once more, urging him to do something, now.

Images. Of the child who he and Galen had only found out later wasn’t theirs being taken by that demonic imp of Roan’s just after birth. Of the look in Galen’s eyes when ShaRhylla had taken Darra on a day not long enough ago...

And now...

Terrin’s eyes jerked back into focus. “Look, unless someone here can get me to Galen faster so that I can help her find Darra, I’m going back to that spaceport to do whatever it will take for me to find her myself.”

For a moment he simply waited, wondering if anyone was going to offer him any help, determined to do something regardless. Then he started to turn and leave with his blaster at ready, his mind and heart set on the pathway ahead of him while his ears were peeled for any final suggestions or objections anyone behind him might make.

His gaze turned again to Terrin, before it snapped to his mother and father. "Thank you for helping me... I'll be careful from now on... And ill find Aunt Galen..."

with no further explaination he ran off, terrin in his wake...

Sometime later

Jharu and terrin entered the spaceport, and jharu's gaze instantly came upon the sight of a strange looking ship...

That had to be it...

Jharu ran forward then, comming up to the still open doorway, there was a man inside putting on some armor, when he noticed took a step back, but when he saw terrin, he shook his head muttering a few random words "ok... Kid... Guy... me....why?"

Remind me to ask galen how she survived through this for... However long she'd been doing it... This is confusing...

He sighed and gave his nogin a quick shake "listen, I aint got time for talking, chattin, and standin around... if you wanna come along, hop in, But ive already wasted two many sylliables on you two..."

With that he spun, hearing only the clanking of at least one of them getting on... Maybe both, he shruged to himself and got plugged in, after doning the helmet upon his head...

With a suddin drawing of breath, the ship was in the air, zooming off into orbit, after a few moments of toying around, and getting the hang of it...

Jeez... galen may not have made it look "easy"... But WHOA, she's deffenetly a better pilot then ill ever be...

Soon he had the ship in an orbit, and he spoke, letting the helmats transmitters work out and send a local comm message to any ships that might be near.

Galen... You appeared outa thin air before with that ship, please tell me you can do it again... Make it easy on me brown eyes.

"Galen... This is flac... If your anywhere in this area, send a message... I wanna help with whatever you got planned...Come on brown eyes, You there?"

Kriffing Hell! Where did this guy get his pilotinng license?! The local Blue Asteriod???!!!

Thankful that no one had really been around to pay attention to his momentary lose of balance, Terrin got back to his feet as the ship stabalized somewhat and headed for the front to find Flac, in his armor and seemingly attached to the ship as he stood on a cylinder and apparently controlled everything.

Really, REALLY weird ship... Terrin thought, cocking his brow slightly as he got to a seat, thankful that his usual response to "sudden takeoffs" hadn't gotten the better of him.

That hadn't happened since...

His blue eyes snapped alert on Flac as he put the ship into orbit and then just stood on the cylinder, doing...

...something.

He was reminded of something Jasyn might ask about now, and decided it was far more than just appropriate. "Ummm...what were your plans? Strategies? You do know of these things?" he asked towards Flac, not even sure if he would be heard.

Then he fell silent and waited, for the moment.

His gaze turned to aelvedaar. "My brother, we will be staying upon the planet Kori'sian, If you wish to join us there... We would be most honered by your company, but it is understandable if you wish to remain here..."

Now he took a deep breath, in doing so rising himself once more above the simple statis of warrior, allowing his stature to be as it should, letting his pressence reflect the strength of the dark lord of warriors.

He then took Lord Aelvedaars wrist, holding tightly about the marking of the dark lord of sorcerer's, which the sorcerer returned upon his own wrist, as was traditional clasp between dark lords, as there arms locked in that manor, Recinis smiled and diped his head slightly before the clasp was released.

Turning he cast his gaze stickingly upon Shayla and Erik, letting matters fall through his mind, sifting through possibilities.

"You are once more among the ranks of sith... I welcome you again... Hopefuly you will find your stay upon Kori'sian less numbing, as we found the stay beneath the shield had become... Be warned though, it is a simplier life you will go to, in comparison to the one you found within these walls...

His form shifted, his arms wrapping about the waist of his lady, nodding but once to her, to which she returned the nod, she smiled briefly as she opened the portal which would return them home, and then they both stepped back, allowing Shayla and Erik to be first to step through, before they too dissapeared into the ethereal depths which floated before them...

Soon they were within the walls of the temple upon the other planet, Recinis cast his gaze out a window, before he turned and smiled at the sight before him, Shayla and her husband were sitting comfortably upon a couch, and jharmeen was conversing with them both, catching up on things which had happened...

He frowned for but a moment as he stepped forth the interupt there conversation. "Take now some time to rest, and be revitalized, take a bit longer to renew your friendships completly, and send away the time which has passed in eachothers absence... But soon we must put our minds to a more productive use... Whether Lord Aelvedaar will join us later in time, or not, we must make plans... we must find something to do, which will further our quest..."

he then sat down beside his lady, and placed an arm about her, giving her a breif kiss upon the cheek. "Soon Jharmeen... Our son will return, ready as a warrior... Are do you believe he will be ready then to take upon him the knowledge that you may teach him? For my lessons have gone as far as they will, and his destiny will indeed require more then a sword..."

He smiled and gave her another little kiss before continuing "Enjoy your free time with your sister... I go now to find the... Other member to this party.."

So, Flac figured out how to get her configured for a guy, ey? I grinned, now reaching to the communications section and letting my fingers dance upon the glyphs and sigils there. Moments later and I had a channel open; the grin on my face spread out into a big ol smile, teeth gleaming, as I imagined the shock which was probably coursing through Flac right about now.

These Sith ships, ya gotta love 'em, I couldn't help but gloat a bit. For although to Flac I was nowhere to be found, in all actuality he all but careened into my direct line of orbit when he popped off the planet's surface. That's just how insidious these little fighters were, how well those light-bending devices worked. And how, after all, did any form of probe or sensor known to man operate than by sensing electromagnetically? The visible spectrum wasn't the only form of "light" which existed....

"Hey there, Flac!" I smiled. "Glad to see you got DJ up and running fully! I'm right above you... actually, here...."

With that I reached to my belt and disengaged the strange light-bending device. To Flac, and indeed anyone else who might be in the vicinity and sensing, I would have quite suddenly and from simply nowhere popped into "view."

"There," I finished a bit smugly, nodding with satisfaction before continuing.

"Hey, good news... I think. There's some sort of Temple to some... some thing called a 'S'slan,' whatever the hell that is. Seems there is such a temple built to this S'slan on every planet holding a Great Temple; I've orbited and run a sensor sweep at the coordinates this log is showing me, and guess what I found there, buddy? You got it... a big fat ol nothing, and I do mean that literally.

Standing up and rushing over to the little area where flac stood piloting, jharu looked at him and spoke up imidiatly. "terrin said you came to the planet with my aunt... Do you know where she is? Can you help me find her?"

WOOOOWWWW! this kids her nephiew? eerrrr... umm... NO NO NO... Waaaaa...eerrr... Didnt she say her sister was married to one of thos sith guy's? err... So... Red hair... Horns... Works for me...

Flac worked his jaw slightly, switching from comm mode to his normal speaker "sorry kid, dont have much info... unless of course your 'aunt' is that giant hairball back there... then you can talk to 'her' all you want..."

he then switched back to comm. "err galen... I got a kid in here that say's he's your errm... Nepiew... Ah... Oh... And i have your husband to... Dont worry, they dont know where you are if you wanna stay detached... But this kid is looking for you... Seems kinda urgent to... I donno... Here take a look..."

With a slight twitch of his neck he sent a video image to galen of everything his visor was picking up, casting his gaze at the kid for a second, he turned it off...

"You mind telling me what is going on?" he asked in Flac's direction, actually standing up and stepping closer to him. "Are you trying to find her?" he continued worriedly. "She knows that Roan's hideout is somewhere on that miserable rock down there; she probably hasn't gone far away. The only other probable place Roan might have gone with Darra is Kamino, which Galen also would be able to surmise."

Terrin flicked a very concerned blue-eyed gaze over into Flac's visor. "Have you tried a general comm frequency?" he asked, then waited.

He blinked rappidly for a moment, allowing the sensers in the helmet to pick it up, and zoom the visors line of sight upon the little ship, smiling to himself as he did so.

if only they knew she was right there... Hah... But whether their her friends or not, she wanted stealth, and she's gonna get it untill i hear otherwise...

Anything of importance...

...Hmmm.

He wasn't particularly thrilled with putting his trust in this guy after only just meeting him, excepting the fact that Galen had already done just that herself based on the things Flac did seem to know. And this was concerning getting Darra back to safely to Galen, which was Terrin's only interest at the moment. He'd simply have to take the risk then, if it meant accomplishing what he wanted to so very much.

He thought back to what had happened after Galen had left from Prinn'chatka, and picked up from there, figuring that this was the most logical place to start with possibly vital information. "Well, for starters the Sith and anyone who might have been assisting them disbanded shortly after Galen left the city down there. Everyone chose their seperate ways, so I headed for Coruscant because I was worried that Galen and Darra were headed right for Admiral Actar. The last time Galen was with the Admiral he nearly killed her," Terrin explained, pausing at that as a flash of something moved somewhere in the depths of his eyes.

"I actually went to Actar to find out what was going on. Unfortunately that wasn't one of my better decisions; landed me and the crewmember who accompanied me in Imperial prison. I tried bargaining my way out because at this point the Admiral had told me that Galen had fled Coruscant, but to no avail. Eventually..."

Terrin paused again, pulling something from somewhere in the folds of the Sith robe he was wearing. "Actar lead me to believe both Galen and Darra..." He hesitated for a moment, his eyes growing somewhat vague. Then he forced the rest of the sentence out. "...lead me to believe that they...were dead." He then presented the locket to Flac, opening it to reveal the image of he, Galen and Darra with an X across the latter two. "This...is Galen's locket," he stated quietly.

For a long moment then Terrin fell silent, his blue eyes again defocusing and clouding over with something akin to pain. Then once again he focused his eyes right back into Flac's visor, closing the locket and putting it back where he'd pulled it from. "The only reason I'm standing here now and know that Galen isn't dead and that Darra was taken by Roan is because Graysith discovered my predicament and came to my assistance. She took my crewmen and I to a Sith planet called Korris'sian where some of the members of our alliance are now residing, supposedly gearing up to take Darra from Roan and give her back to Galen. I requested to go to Galen and help her myself, but they'd already decided to send Graysith's kid," Terrin explained, jerking a thumb back to indicate Jharu. "I requested to come along, and he decided our first stop would be Prinn'chatka to go to see a Sith Sorceror for advice...

...one thing lead to another, and so now we are here."

With that Terrin fell silent and waited to see what Flac might reply to his narrative, then added, "That's about everything, I think..."

I had a nephew? WITH HORNS???

Now... what was extremely wrong with this picture?

I shook my head, even though Flac couldn't see it.

"Umm... Flac ol pal, I've never seen that kid before in my life. You go off without me and pick up another stray?"

I paused a moment, a rueful little smile flickering about my lips before I continued in a more solemn tone of voice, "Thanks for the discretion, Flac."

Then I quieted to think some. I hadn't missed the fact that Terrin was hovering there in the background --

Yeesh, "small universe" just doesn't cut it here!

--and for a moment was completely clueless as to how I wanted to respond to the situation. Then the fact I was clueless slammed home, and I frowned, pursing my lips a little. I sniffed, and reached up a hand to rub my temple, trying to compose a reply when something happened that resolved the issue entirely.

A little green sigil began to blink on my control panel, quietly seeking my attention. Grateful for this distraction I punched it, turning to the monitor which began scrolling information in rapid Sith glyphs. And once I had deciphered those glyphs, I read them again. Just to make certain.

And yet again.

My mouth dropped. I blinked, working my jaw before finally hitting the comm-link I had with Flac.

"Ahh-- Flac," I began, gulping a little. "Something's happened. That shield is dropped, and..."

I paused to turn back to the controls panel, flipping my fingers across sigils and controls, ordering the little ship to do my bidding. She responded with alacrity and overwhelming ability; it wasn't long before I was passing onto Flac what I had just learned.

"Like I said, the shield is down. There's a weird temple-thing down there, at the coordinates I sent you...

"...only I'm not picking up any life signs there. Flac, if Roan and Darra were there, they're not any longer.

Lessy... What can we do? terrin's got a good point.... Ya...

"Yo galen, you think maybe roan took her to kamino? It's worth a shot anyway..."

He sighed and took a deep breath.

Flac was doing...something...

But then, that something could be anything. He could be trying to find the Sith ship...

...good luck there buddy if THAT is what you are doing!

...or trying to find coordinates to Kamino, which was the only other logical place Galen might have gone. But then, maybe she was out there, somewhere...

Terrin cleared his throat as if to direct Flac's attention. "I've asked it once and I'll ask it again. Do you mind giving me at least a clue what is going on here? We don't have time for this distrusting thing, getting Darra back to Galen supercedes it considering she has put a modicum of trust in both of us..."

...or at least, she DID trust you at some point, Mr. Danner. Time for you to earn that trust, buddy...

"...and I hate to say it, but whether Roan is down there or on Kamino, he'll be under a shield. He knows we'll come looking for Darra, and I'm fairly certain he knows we know what he might be up to. I'd love to go rip him limb from limb at the moment, but so long as there is a shield there, the only way we are getting in is if he lowers it, which could be anytime, or getting in contact with someone who can lower that shield. The only person I'm sure can do that is Graysith, she's done it before."

He paused at that, pursing his lips a bit as he thought then ended with, "I know it will be hard to trust them, but I promise that I can be trusted if anything. And I want something that I'm certain is going to get Darra back as safely and as quickly as possible. Asking the Sith for help is that something. Unless someone else has a better idea, I suggest we go to Korris'sian before we waste any more time trying to figure this out on our own. My daughter's welfare is at stake here, as well as Galen's. This is the best and most viable solution."

"There's no real reason to assume that, buddy," I replied thoughtfully. "In fact, I kinda doubt this guy is the type to repeat ANYTHING he's done once."

Ye gods, let's hope so....

I straightened in my seat.

"I'm going down to have a look-see. You can do what you want; I've got some protection against his weird powers, so I think I'll be all right even if he is skulking around down there.

"Galen out."

With that I closed the connection, and made a careful and uneventful planetfall just outside the temple my sensors had picked up. I closed 'er systems down, stood up, adjusted my accoutrements with care, took a deep breath...

Slowly he turned his helmet on terrin, smiling beneath its tinted visor.

If only this guy had a clue... Thank god for built in view screens...

he took a deep breath before snapping his head forward again. "listen man, If you wanna go back to k..ko...err... that place you were talking about... Go ahead, escape pod in the back brother... Aint got hyperdrive, but its fast..."

His helmet then turned to his other side, looking at the kid who claimed to be galens nephiew... the kid was staring at him with the strangest looking eyes flac had ever seen... If the action wouldnt have caused DJ to plummet into a downward spiril of death, he would have shuddered about then...
his head then turned forward once more, alowing his visor to return to the viewscreen mode so he wasnt blind to the world.

Yeesh... That kid is strange... feels like he's staring straight through me... Then, with what galen has said about sith... The kid probably knows everything im thinking... No... Not that much... But he knows something thats for sure... Yeesh, i gotta be careful.

With another deep breath flac spoke to terrin again "listen, im going down, if you want to go on the pod go ahead..."

He then spred his feet slightly, bringing hishands to his hips balled in fists, turning them so should he open them, the palms would be upward... He then opened his hands, and the ship descended with rapid speed, in a few moments even managed to gain on the fast little sith fighter... before the ship could hit the ground his hands balled once more, and the fists shot forward causing the ship to level off and with a slight twist land right ahead of galen's ship.

He got unplugged and headed out, not paying heed to terrin, not even knowing if terrin had taken the pod or not... All the while though he could feel that kids eyes behind him...

They just dont make armor thick enough do they...

He then opened up for another comm message, hopefuly she'd get it...

"listen, i dont know about terrin, but that kid is following me... He seems nice enough...err, a bit odd though... Maybe you should talk to him and see what he wants... Then maybe he'll stop staring at me... Yeesh"

Sheesh. It'd sure be nice if he did have a clue as to what was going on. And granted, he had a tendency to distrust people himself...

...but good gods, was he THIS BAD?

Frowning at that, Terrin simply took the E-11 blaster he had and jogged out of the ship, briefly eyeing Jharu. Maybe it was the kid that was causing him to be distrusted so. After all, Jharu WAS a little weird, and hey, if it were him, Terrin had to admit he'd be standoffish too considering the situation.

Pushing that little thought into the back of his mind Terrin pressed onward til he caught up with Flac. As he did so, a small temple, definitely of the Sith variety, could be seen in the distance, as well as the speck of a somewhat familiar form...

"You know, sooner or later you are going to have to tell me what is going on if we are headed there," Terrin said, nodding towards the Temple as he jogged on. He eyed the temple again, something in the air nearly making his hair stand on end.

This place gave him the creeps...

He pulled terrin even more close to speak his next words. "You gotta understand me now... Or we are not going to get far...and by we i mean YOU... I didnt make you come, i didnt ask you to come, i told you that if you wanted to you could leave, i showed you the door, i gave you a key, you CHOSE to follow me, I dont have you tell you ANYTHING, you are officialy on a need to know basis, and all you need to know, is that you dont need to know anything. Understand?"

with that flac released the man, smiling to himself as he walked away.

Sheesh... Now i know why those bounty hunter types were such cool armor with such dark visors... It comes in handy sometimes...

Flac stopped again and looked at terrin. "listen, theres no reason for you go come, Galen aint here..."

He then turned his head and let his visor zoom upon the form of galen entering the temple he nodded to himself and let the visor return to normal.

You wanted to help flac? you goofed, better off if you had left her alone, now this bozzo is after her... Jeez, the way he rambles on about her and darra, its no wonder she freaken left him... The dudes obsessed... Does he have his own personality?

Again he stopped and turned to terrin "listen buddy, I cant stop you, but i gotta give you some advice... What we are gonna find in there aint pretty... It ant nice... And its none of your concern... Your best bet would be to stay here and keep a look out for galen... I wont lie to you, i was talking to her in the ship... She told me to check this temple out, while she looked around the area..."

He stood tall and continued on, speaking calmly to terrin. "he's lieing..."

With a few more steps jharu stoped, examining the temple... He had seen a similar temple before... One of those books...

It was a temple to the sith god, S'slan... Dipicted as a mighty warrior, barring the strength to lead the sith from any peril...

his eyes narrowed slowly... The temples devoted to S'slan were suposed to be sacred grounds... none but sith were to enter that place...

He reached out slowly to place his hand on terrins arm, shaking his head "You should not enter that temple... It is not your place... i read... That any non sith that enter the temple... Will be attacked by the magicks set forth by those who guard the honor of S'slan, those magicks could seriously injure, perhaps not deadly, but anyone who goes in will be dealt with... Any save those invited by whatever sith rules over it... I fear that not even that man... Or galen for that matter, will make it far... I will go and retrieve them, I know how much you care about aunt galen... So if you want to come, i understand... But, it could be dangerious.."

With that he sprinted off... the warning had been given, what terrin did with his life was of no concern to jharu... the goal was so close!

Except the sight of a tall red-haired kid with horns rapidly approaching me from the distant gloom.

Aunt Galen??? Something still wasn't right about this picture.

My jaw dropped, and for just the briefest of moments I thought of answering him back. But then caution brought me to a halt, as I considered.

This kid -- I think he's a kid, he LOOKS like a kid! -- was Sith. Not too many of those around. Now, just WHAT Sith in particular that you know of hangs around in this temple, ey Galen ol' girl?

That did it. No way.

Something not pretty...

...had Roan been in that Temple? Was he STILL in there, and was Darra...?

...what was Galen headed for?

Terrin couldn't see past the concern in his heart to see to any of the possible logic that might have been in Jharu's words. And as for what Flac had said to him...

...

Kriffing hell. What did it matter what Flac thought of him? There were only a couple of things...a couple of somebodies...that mattered at the moment, and at least one of them was heading into that Temple.

He wasn't gonna stand idly by this time...

...not again.

Without so much as another thought, Terrin headed onward towards the Temple to whatever might lie ahead.

He wanted to run off, but he was his mothers child after all... And a quick learner, no, he was smarter then that...

He reached down to his own belt, and fliped on the light bending device it held.

Thanks alont mommy...

He whispered to himself as he stalked onward. "Two can play at this game..."

Now to find her

He kept his distance from Flac, wondering if the guy could help him find her...

The man looked at the ground for a little while before stalking off, only looking backwards once to see if jharu was still there...

He smiled to himself Thanks again mom

after a while flac had stopped and was staring down at a little corner...

Jharu looked at the ground... It was to dark for him to see anything... What had that guy been following? Jharu stood still... Making sure that no one knew he was there... He had maintained his distance... His dad had always said that stealth was a frame of mind as much as anything else... And jharu had always been pretty good at thinking...

He smiled to himself... He had still had to strain to hear it...

The mans reply came out smoothly, almost as if he were preparign. "and who exactly is your mother and father?"

How in Hell's Seven Circles could that be? This kid was the son of Jharmeen? Only one Jharmeen I knew of, and damned if she didn't have red hair like this kid....

I pursed my lips tightly then, tears springing unexpectedly into my eyes as in one fell swoop I suddenly accepted this seeming improbability.

She sent her own son... and nevermind for the moment how the hell she has an adolescent son... but she sent him for me. Terrin is out there, coming after me, and he's not alone in that.

Flac is there too.

Galen... there suddenly seems to be some people here who care about you. But then, you knew that. Now, however... maybe it's time to stop running... at least for a little bit. Explain to them why following you might not be quite in their best interests.

I sniffled a little, then swallowed as in one smooth motion I disengaged the device on my belt. But looking around, all I could see was Flac.

"Ok, I know you're here, kid," I called out suddenly. "You found me. But now I think you'd better leave before something happens to you; I have a kid of my own to find, and I'll be damned if I'm going to risk anyone else doing it."

I paused a moment to reflect, then finished with, "You can go on back and tell my sister that... that I'll join her later if she wants, but only after I find my daughter."

He took hold of her shoulders and looked up at flac and said "im not joking, your both in trouble!"

flac shooks his head and muttered something about wierd kids with horns then leaned down and lifted her into the air "listen brown eyes, I dont know what this kid is babbling on about, but this could be more dangerious then you thought, we need a well thought of plan, or your just gonna end up killed before you can get darra..."

Jharu nodded as flac ushered the woman onward, and he continued to urge them "please, RUN!" but flac just looked and said "i cant kid, not untill she decides to listen..."

Honest to credits, I'm a big girl, I've seen and been through plenty in these past few years... years into which I think I've somehow managed to cram a couple two, three lifetimes. I really think I can handle myself when the going gets tough, always have, there was only that one time and he--

And HE....

I suddenly stopped struggling, and sighed in defeat.

"All right, I'll go with you. But I'm telling you, we have to check this place out. This was where that weird shield was, and I know its because he was here.

...disappear.

Well, damn. This was going to be fun.

He had no option but to wander about aimlessly for a bit til at length he actually heard voices.

Thank the gods. This place was really starting to give him the willies...

As he approached, the owner of the voice as well as the words themselves registered in his brain, rolling around in there a bit. He stepped onward down the corridor as all the while his simple reply to those words formed in his mind. Jharu's sudden insistent reaction, however, put a momentary cork in any response he might have been planning to give...

...but, even as he heard Galen's reply to Jharu's last statement, he couldn't help but wonder...

"If she's in here, we're gonna find her now," Terrin said, stepping completely into the room. "I've got a bad feeling about this place though..."

He halted at that, his deep blues falling on Galen in the dim light, concern radiating from them. He had to work to keep from rushing out to take her in his arms, wanting for all the Universe to simply be there in support for her, to simply know that she was truly there, in front of him.

After all there had been a time, not so long ago, that he thought he'd never see her again...

Then he continued with, "We should be careful and quick; if the kid says we should get out of here then we should. However, there is no way are we leaving Darra in here if she is here." With those words, he looked to Flac. "Any chance you can get a life form reading in here with that equipment of yours?"

Images rose instinctively in my head, fighting with each other... I worked my mouth a little bit, and just sent The Look briefly flashing toward Terrin before fisting my hand and knocking it against Flac's shoulder.

"You can put me down now, " I reminded him, letting a small grunt escape from my lips as he complied and now set me down on the stone floor of this temple. For a moment the four of us merely eyed each other. Then I broke into the impending conversation.

"I already checked. There are no life forms registering here. But I'm still going to check things out."

Now I turned back to this young and stalwart... halfling??? and let my gaze rake up and down his lithe and sturdy frame. I chewed my lip a little in consideration before going on.

"OK kid, whatever your name is, like I said, you found me. I don't know what it is exactly you had in mind to do with me in that event, but all I can say is this."

I rose up on tiptoe, fisting a hand and raising it up into his face. My index finger shot upright, and I shook it at him.

"Sith Temples be damned! Don't you even THINK of slowing me down."

With that I nodded, turned, and before anyone could say or do more headed on back in the direction I had begun taking earlier, my blaster held firmly in my grasp, my eyes everywhere. My footsteps echoed hollowly and somehow... evilly off the stones from which this place was made, sounding somehow malevolent there in the gloom. With each step I took, stopping to peer into this room or that, the hairs on my neck coiled tighter and tighter until the felt as though they would tear themselves from my skin altogether. My gut felt as if there was a massive stone centered smack in the middle of it, one which grew larger and larger as I tiptoed along, ignoring completely whether or not anyone else was following me. My heart was hanging somewhere in the vicinity of my epiglottis, beating as though to drown out the sound of my aforementioned footsteps....

I came to a peculiar door and stopped. Unlike the others I had passed, this one was not massive and encrypted with runes and heiroglyphs. Instead it was fairly simple, being constructed of wood which glistened darkly from age, it's surface banded by two metal strips and covered with rounded studs.

Something niggled at me to open that door.

You'd really think I'd learn, wouldn't ya....

I poked the tip of my blaster against the wood, and the door creaked surprisingly open. Cautiously I followed my blaster into the entrance, sticking my head in to take a quick look around...

Within the horrendously red-lit interior: smashed glassware and crumpled metal and broken cybernetics and ravished bodies...

...and boiling up from that awful sight, something big and black and indescribable and cold...

...oh so very cold as it came up from nowhere and wrapped around me and yanked me somehow from where I was and took me somewhere...

...then came along by itself for the ride, leaving only my blaster to clatter to the floor, unimpeded.

((OOC: Follow me into The Darker Side of Midnight in this forum, thank you.

The look in her eye...

Something in him was at the point of simply cracking. He whirled, his blaster ready, and took off after her in much the same manner that he had in Prinn'chatka, something dark and odious seeming to creep up and down his spine as he did so.

They needed to get out of here...

...something was just...

...wrong...

He followed Galen's ringing footsteps, trying his damnedest to catch up with her, inexplicably horrified that she was heading into some sort of trouble...

...and at length heard the creak of a door. His footsteps only lengthened and sped up, and the feeling of his hair standing on end started to again take hold...

Boldy he stepped in, and made it there just in time to see Galen's blaster clatter to the floor.

"Galen!" he couldn't help but yell, no matter whether it would help or not, a lump of something that was akin to nothing other than complete fear and horror rising up in him. "GALEN!!!!" he cried again, something in him literally beginning to shake and crack...

Quite suddenly Flac's head began to spin...
Dagnabbit.... Youve been here as long as her... Whatever got her... wants you now dont it buddy? Well... You did say you'd help get darra back, even if it killed you

Taking a deep breath he strode forward into the den of this beast, which he challanged with unmatchable defiance, strolling boldly into the center of the room... With all the gusto, and false confedience, it ended up not mattering as he felt his loungs litteraly compressed beneath the painfull touch of... something

Had he any oxygen left, he at that moment would have screamed for all his worth, but he couldnt, he simple gasped as a darkness he'd never seen before wrapped about him, actauly slamming him against a wall to end what little struggling he managed, before dragging him away into the depths of something

A tingle of something shot up and down his spine and throughout his body. He couldn't get to her, he didn't know where she'd gone...

In the midst of his whirling thoughts, a lightbulb clicked.

Where, where was that kid?

Forcing his feet to move, he turned on his heel and didn't have to go very far before he ran smack into Jharu. Nevermind the kid might not have even figured out what the hell had happened yet; Terrin grabbed a fistful of his flightsuit and shook him a bit. "She's gone, GONE! Just up and disappeared..." he said loudly then trailed, fear for her safety as well as something else flashing in his eyes. "Do something, now, or find someone who can!" he insisted, the look in his eye leaving no room for argument.

Then he paused, taking a moment to catch his breath. "I'm not leaving here without her..."

He sighed and looked into terrins eyes, a slight bit of softness rising in his eyes. "im sorry uncle terrin... Im really sorry... I... I dont know what to do..."

Jharu took one more deep breath and closed his eyes... Allowing his feelings to guide him... He could feel it... The magick... It wanted to rid itself of the intruders... he felt the magick swirl about him for a moment and then disregard him... He could also feel it flowing about...terrin.

His eyes snapped open "UNCLE TERRIN! its going to get you next!"

He looked around quickly, suddenly realizing exactly where he was... The death... It was all over...

He shivered slightly...

Why do i feel this way? i feel cold... Death... NO! NO MORE DEATH! Aunt galen? where are you?!

he closed his eyes, he had to do something! he had to help them... he had...

He shuddered suddenly, falling to his knees... his lounges expanded suddenly as he found it encrediably difficult to find air... something within him wished to help him... It was as if it took hold of the magicks and forced them to take hold of him, forced them to deny his sith heritage, and grant him his desire, to go to the aid of his aunt... his last thought before he felt that strange force die out within him was a message... to the one person he loved more then life itself...
Mother... Aunt galen is in trouble... Im going...

It was then that he vanished from that realm, and with another great inhalation his eye snapped open to view two people, taking delight in something, it was strange, he felt somewhat akin to the woman...

His head turned slowly, his eyes widening as he saw his aunt galen and that man shuddering beneath something unseen...

His eyes snapped back to the two beings who seemed to take pleasure in this, strangly enough, they had not noticed him yet, to caught up were they in the pain he saw...

...and it had them. It had them all. Except it didn't have him.

At least, not yet.

Balling his one free fist til it quite nearly shook while the other simply tightened about his blaster, anger and rage and something else entirely welled up inside Terrin and demanded that he do something, anything to stop this. He yelled out into the evil dimness surrounding him.

"You don't even have the NERVE to take us all!" he seethed, clenching his fist only tighter, flashes of memories--of Galen and Darra being ripped away from him, time after time, by something totally unseen--playing across his mind's eye. "TAKE ME, DAMMIT, AND LEAVE THEM THE HELL ALONE!"

At that he quieted, a fire in eyes born of nothing other than love and righteous anger. Terrin literally shook under the weight of it...

...and waited. All the while the evil in the air seemed to creep about him, his skin beginning to chill to the temperature of ice...

...and then that ice seemed to simply freeze about him, taking him in a deadly and unseen grasp...

(((OCC: Follow Terrin to The Darker Side of Midnight. Thank you.)))