My arms fell limply to my sides as this little bombshell struck home. All I could do was blink in confustion, my head whirling.

Someone or something whom Thoran referred to as the Master was trapped by Aelvedaar somehow, who in turn was in the process of killing my sister. The thing which this Master wanted more than anything, at least to hear Thoran tell of it, was his son, who happened to be the tall red dude who was supposedly fending off Aelvedaar's probably fatal attack on my sister-- unless he was just off in lala-land for whatever reason, who knows, he'd fallen out of our conversation long ago....

I jerked fractionally, yanking my thoughts back on the rail again.

So-oo-ooo, Phalomir was the Master's son, he wanted my sister alive and well, the Master wanted his son alive and well...

And I wanted Terrin alive and well. Period.

Terrin, dear god, Terrin... who was likewise stuck inside the body of Phalomir.

Hmmm.

My eyes went a bit on the vague side then, and I slipped down to sit on the deck and think.

If this Master was everything Thoran said, and he wanted his son safe and well... well, that at least would be keeping Terrin well too, as long as his spirit was stuck inside Phalomir....

My head began to seriously hurt from all these essences of different peeps all hanging around trapped in this thing or that; I looked up again and sighed.

"All I want is Terrin back, and Jharmeen; all I want is to find my daughter; I don't care about the Sith, you guys can just go off and conquer the universe if you want.

"Just keep me and mine out of it... that is, once I have mine back together again."

I looked up to where Thoran was looking at us all through Phalomir's eyes.

"Seems to me that that is the final victory now anyway, don't you guys think? This Master gets his magickal son -- well, what of everyone else? I mean, in the universe?"

My voice dwindled a bit as something hit home, something from very, very far away.

"Weren't these guys the bomb around the universe, back in the day? I mean, that's what every little clue dad had ever found seemed to point toward. They were the Big Dogs, the Head Kahunas, the Godfathers...

"...and peeps like that don't care diddly squat about us little peons.

"Well!!"

I climbed to my feet and approached Phalomir.

"You can just forget it, buddy. We'll fight Aelvey baby on our own terms; I'll find something on Koris'ian that we can use against him, to either make him put everyone back the way they belong or just kill him; there has to be something that these armorer dudes made that can do something to help us out!

"I mean, there's this Shartak thingy you spoke of, there's this Eye thingy that was mentioned earlier; there just has to be something we can use.

"But anyway--"

I paused for a gulp of air.

"Here's the deal, buster. We're going to Koris'ian, everyone's happy. Once we're there...

"FIRST you use your Sithy spells and get my husband put back together again!

"Then we talk turkey about how exactly you think we can help you!"

[ 11-07-2004 06:56 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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

...and to the silence which followed.

So, they now had a possible plan for restoring Phalomir, and they had one to possibly restore Terrin...

...but what good would Phalomir be without Jharmeen? He would be devestated if she was lost to them simply to bring him back...

...and Shayla would be devestated as well, simply for the fact that she knew she wouldn't forgive herself if she didn't do all she could to fight for Jharmeen.

After all, Jharmeen had fought for her in times past, and Shayla refused to give up unless there was absolutely no other alternative.

Resolve taking over her then, Shayla stood from her location at the navboard. "Yeah, you need to restore Terrin...

...and then we'll talk about communicating with the Master. But I'll tell you this right now...

...I don't believe there is any way Phalomir would ever get over his life and magick being restored if it came at the cost of Jharmeen's life. And aside from that, she has fought too much for all of us for us to give up fighting for her unless there is absolutely no way to bring her back as she is. I believe the Master must restore both Phalomir and Jharmeen in order for us to defeat Aelvedaar, and I can't help but think that we are going to need both of them. Why else would Aelvedaar be so intent on destroying Jharmeen now if this were not the case? He's certainly succeeding at taking them both out of the picture right now, after all."

She paused at this, letting those words sink in. Then she turned and looked directly at Thoran. "What do you know of these frozen blocks with Phalomir and Jharmeen in them? What is their purpose, and what were they doing on Kori'sian?"

[ 11-07-2004 09:23 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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

“Well,” said Thoran through Phalomir’s lips, “a frozen Phal and Gray, eh? I wonder if the frozen Gray is less frigid than this one? Well, why don’t we just jaunt over there and find out, hmm? Since everyone is so hot to go sack the temple, who am I to stand in your way? Heck, give me a pickaxe and a mallet and I’ll join in!”

He looked long at Galen, a thousand thoughts seeming to cross behind his eyes.

“Look, I’ll help you. Not because I’m all into group hugs and gumdrops, but because I want my freedom. When we get to the temple, you give me a body and I’ll throw flyboy into it. That one’s for free. But if you want Phal and Gray back, you need to listen to me and trust me. I know that sounds hard, but think about something for me, will you all? Did Phal ever tell you where he came from? More importantly, why he came here?”

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

...but some sort of invasion Force destroyed his home with her and he was somehow sent back here, perhaps by his father, the Master. I'm not certain of that last part, though."

She paused then, her eyes turning vague as she tried to recall if she knew anything futher. And it was then that something about what she just said struck the chord of yet another memory she had--a memory of another who had spoken of an incoming invasion Force, one which was far away...

...and one which would not be arriving in this galaxy for some time. "You know, I recall Aelvedaar speaking of an incoming Yuuzhan Vong invasion, a new one...

...as do I remember Dark Lord Roan taking Graysith--Jharmeen--from us and placing her on a Yuuzhan Vong ship. I acted as a replacement for her on that ship so that Aelvedaar could retrieve her...

...but could this Vong ship be the same one which caused Phalomir to lose his family?"

She paused once more at this, her look darkening further, her eyes never leaving Phalomir. "You think we have no choice but to trust you and the Master, with what may be laying ahead..."

She trailed at that, her eyes still only for Thoran as she then waited for his response.

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

“So sure, let’s sit back and make our way to the temple in the jungle. I’ll show you some surprises there. And I promise, Shayla, I won’t try to kill you this time. Just hurry up and get us there, I feel that Aelvy is somehow distracted with more than just what Phal is throwing at him, and we should take advantage of the time.”

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

Even as she spoke these final words, a sigil lit up on the navboard, grabbing her attention. She turned to and punched it...

...and starlines began to return to stars almost immediately at her touch.

"Kori'sian," she said then simply as her fingers played across the navboard, bringing the ship closer and closer to the planet. "I'm locking in on the Temple of the Armorers--we should be arriving soon..."

She trailed, eyeing Thoran then before turning back to the navboard once again.

...and we'll see if the words you've spoken, Thoran, have any merit at all, she couldn't help but think as she began taking the warship through atmosphere.

[ 11-10-2004 05:26 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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Quite suddenly it was as if a great fit of ague had come from nowhere to strike me down. I began shivering uncontrollably; in an effort to regain control, I quickly hugged myself, and found myself sidling closer to Shayla in the process.

En route I tossed a disgusted glance toward the image of the muscular Sith, who yet cradled my sister so loving in his arms... and from whose mouth such unthinking foulness had erupted.

If I didn't think it would just stir up a hornet's nest, I'd march over there and punch this bozo's lights out. I mean, my sister might have done some awful things in her life... ok, so she killed our father, and more times than I can remember tried to kill me, too... but then, didn't she rescue me from that awful dungeon in that dreary temple? Back in the days of me and Sorben? Back when we were fighting that Darth Wicked guy?

Back before... before I fell in love with Sorben, before I left him, before I met Terrin and then found what love meant... too late, though; this came only after I had proceeded to make such an ass of myself to him.

And then, here, on this world, by a beast from hell... and then, here, in the very temple toward which we were heading...

Somewhere here, he lay. Fully honored by the Sith....

Where's the horns, flyboy?

Oh ye gods, I hope this idiotic Thoran follows through for us.

For if he doesn't, sure as there's Treasure on Roon I'm gonna kill that body in which he's skulking, and let him rot as some kind of weird incorporeal ghost.

I took in a great breath, and found myself standing next to Shayla, watching as her deft finger played a minuet on the control panel--

Yeah, that's right. Hit that one, right there. Now that blinking one, that's right....

--and simply watched as the great, dusty ball that was Koris'ian grew larger and larger in our forward screens, hugging myself tightly all the while.

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

...but judging from the look in Galen's eye, and the one in Jasyn's eye as he took another swig of Sith brandy, he pretty knew that they were headed for the place where Terrin had been laid to rest.

Matt took in the dustball of a planet in the viewscreen for a few moments...

...then turned back to Jasyn, who was still gripping the brandy bottle like a lifeline.

"Hey!!" he finally growled to his commrade, "Will you lay off that stuff already?!?"

Then with one quick motion, he jerked the bottle from Jasyn's slowly lessening grip. Jasyn just scowled at him for a moment...

...and then his brown eyes turned to the still-growing planet. He furrowed his brow a bit. "What an ugly hunk of space-rock," he observed, the look in his eye actually a bit dark as he then fell silent, crossing his arms and waiting.

[ 11-10-2004 05:54 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Matt Stanza ]

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Somewhere, there is a ripple in the warp and weft of time.

Somewhere, a pair of shining and pupilless eyes are lifted to the heavens, seeing in frequencies not for the timid the incoming flash of fire and light and flame, as the very atmosphere of Koris'ian is ripped asunder before the descent of the mighty Sith warship.

A tendriled muzzle lifts to the heavens.

A call is sent out, eerie, moaning, beckoning, remembering...

...and yet it was not an eternity without an end. And even though not a single occupant on the Sith warship could even feel it, she at last made contact with the surface of Kori'sian and simply stopped.

But before Shayla could turn to the others, another sigil lit up on the navboard. Knowing immediately what it meant, she then did turn to the others and speak, the look in her eyes unreadable. "The ship is picking up some sort of life on the surface. I suggest we get moving...

...and fast. Something is alive out there...

...and I'm not too thrilled with the thoughts I have concerning just what it might be."

Even as she said this Shayla turned to the navboard once more and powered down the warship, then turning and standing.

"Let's get going," she reiterated then, falling silent and waiting for the others to show that they were ready to depart from the warship.

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

...and one person in particular.

Even as that little realization slammed home, Terrin saw the obvious feelings Galen was feeling through Phalomir's eyes...

...and that alone was enough to prompt him to struggle forward.

How he hated that she hurt like that...

Shifting the still limp Graysith in Phalomir's arms, Terrin took a step forward...

...and reached out Phalomir's clawed hand to then rest it on Galen's shoulder. "I'm here," he whispered softly to her. "You're not going to face this alone."

He fell silent for a moment at that, simply staying near Galen in silent support. Then, "Allright guys, this is Terrin. If we're going to get safely inside that Temple..."

Here he hesitated a moment, "...we'd better be prepared to make use of any weaponry or skills we have. Shayla...

...can you create a Force shield to protect us all, or something of that nature? And I'm assuming you know where we'll be headed once we get inside...

...since I sure don't."

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

I knew who that was; how could I not?

"Oh gods, Terrin, how I've missed you. I'm so sorry..."

I stopped with that, blinking back tears, yearning to turn and rush into his arms and seek forgiveness from him there. But this was not the time, nor the place, and much as I hated to accept the fact, those weren't his arms, that wasn't his hand on my shoulder.

But I knew that street ran back to him. I placed my hand on top of Phalomir's clawed one, and applied pressure there, squeezing it once before removing it to lay it against my own cheek.

That might not be Terrin's hand against my face, but it sure as hell was his spirit toward which I was sending all the love I could in the only manner that I could think of.

I didn't say anything else, but just stood like that quietly waiting while the guys settled their battle plans, holding onto Terrin for dear life while they hashed out the minor details of our departure for the Temple of the Armorers.

[ 11-11-2004 05:20 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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

...as well as of the ticking time. Granted, she knew Thoran could probably offer them some sort of protection in the form of Sith magick, but she didn't really want to wait for him to state as much.

After all, every time he spoke he seemed to have a knack for making someone--or rather, a bunch of someones--mad. No time for that now.

"Yeah, I can give us a Force shield...and I know where we are going. We're right on top of the Temple, so we don't have far to go. As for other weaponry...

...I'm thinking there may be some aboard the ship, perhaps some swords if nothing else. I think I'll stick to my Force abilities for protection, since I'd prefer a lightsaber...

...but the rest of you might consider taking a quick look to see what might be laying aboard..."

[ 11-11-2004 05:34 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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

I swear they're blue, honest to Khaandon...!

"Sith pilots have uniforms with belts in them, like mine," I said, patting the belt about my waist. "This one has that invisibility field thingy in it; maybe the ones in a warship would be more powerful? And hey, maybe it's mot just a pilot's uniform, but just crewmen's in general; maybe there are more than one and they all have this on them."

I turned around in growing excitement, then stopped.

"But--" I chewed my lip.

"We'd sure have to figure out how to keep in contact with each other, since we couldn't see each other if we all wore one of these devices of our own."

I shook my head, and then continued forward, coming to where Shayla was standing by the control center. Beside her was a cupboard of sorts; I opened it and begen riffling around inside.

"This is where a lot of their logs and such are kept; maybe there's a munitions list or something. I can read Sith... a little."

Flushed with inexplicable embarrassment, I stuck the upper half of my body inside and kept on rooting around to see if I could find anything useful.

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

...and those pilotsuits as well. Let's see just what the gods have provided for us."

He paused then, pursing his lips thoughtfully, "Hey Stargazer, could you use some of your mind-linking ability so we could all communicate if we found some of these suits with the invisibility device on them? Something to think about, anyway..."

Saying nothing further than that, Jasyn turned and began to depart from the cabin of the warship, the Sith brandy he had partaken of making him feel perhaps somewhat indestructable.

That was a nice feeling, considering there might be tuk'ata out there...

[ 11-11-2004 05:53 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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“Hey,” he said, “I can read Sith really well. Let me help out. If there crewman suits exist, they’re probably somewhere else rather than the bridge, don’t you think? Maybe there’s a staging area, like for Sith marines or something?”

Panthar looked around the bridge, and seeing nothing useful, headed for the transport.

“I’ll go look, wanna come?”

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

Now stand I in the temple door. Call I to the wild ones. Hear me they do. Like it they do not, but hurt they shall not. Even now giving way, even now forming ranks. A royal welcome awaits. Like soldiers they are, proud stand the wild ones, escort here the Lord and Lady.

"Can't say I remember what exactly was on this warship, and where," Jasyn observed, not necessarily to anyone in particular as he continued to walk, "But I'd think any weaponry might be nearby the pilotsuits. After all, both relate to methods of fighting, whether offensive or defensive."

He slowed a bit at this then, pursing his lips as he continued to ponder just where they should go to look for the items they were seeking. Then, "Might there be some sort of crew member area, somewhere near that dining area Graysith took us all to before...?" he queried to Matt.

Matt gave him a thoughtful look.

"Oh what the hell," Jasyn said then, shrugging. "This'll give us a start, at least. Unless, of course, Panthar has something further to add..."

Even as he said this, however, Jasyn began to head for the dining area. After all, he'd never been thrilled with sitting and waiting around...

[ 11-14-2004 02:28 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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

The small sith fighter exited hyperspace near Koris'ian and scanned the planet. He detected the Sith warship had landed on the planet already, and began flying towards the ship. He set down outside the ship and sent a message to the crew, hoping that they would believe him.

"Graysith, Phalomir, are you on board?" I ask. "I am one of those assassins sent to kill you, but I am no longer in league with Aelvedaar. Please believe me, he wishes for me to die now, and I have no more allies or people that could assist me. Please allow me to join you. I swear that I have nothing to hide and no other reason to harm you now. I apologize for attempting to kill you. I just hope that you'll allow me to join you" Nothing to do now but wait I think and hope they believe in what I am telling them.

...which came at no surprise to either of them, considering how large the warship truly was. Within these corridors they found a number of what appeared to be sleeping quarters, all of which also appeared to be completely emptied. Jasyn was about ready to turn to his commrade and admit defeat when he noticed the red-headed man had stopped in a doorway, his green eyes wide. Without so much as a word, Matt entered the doorway...

...and Jasyn quickly followed on his heels. Even as he entered his eyes widened in a similiar fashion to his buddy's.

"Whoa, baby," he muttered then as he took in the large room. In the center laid a series of concentric circles, each circle a different shade of red marble. Past these concentric circles, the rest of the flooring was white marble. Along the perimeter of the room were a number of cupboards...

...but alongside one of these cupboards were a set of three hanging swords, each a different length and width, each holstered and gleaming as if waiting for their owners. Beside these swords was a set of four daggers, these too of various lengths and widths.

"Whoa baby," Jasyn reiterated, taking a step foward to investigate these swords and daggers as Matt began to rumage through the cupboards. "A pratice and training room, you think?" he queried then, turning only momentarily to see Matt rumaging through a cupboard. The red-headed man's head nodded up and down for a moment.

"Yeah," he then replied, "Appears to be..."

Even as Matt said this, Jasyn turned back to the swords and, suddenly very curious, removed one of the moderately-sized ones from its holster on the bulkhead. He held it upright then, his brown eyes taking in the beauty of the runes carved on its hilt. The sword gleamed in the lighting of the room, and Jasyn took a few steps back til he was in the center circle of the concentric circle pattern. He moved the sword in a few arcs and spirals. Then he held it upright once more.

"Whoa..." he started, but was cut short by Matt's voice.

"Hey, Jas..." he started out, turning from the cupboard he was now rumaging through holding two cylindrical items, one in each hand. "You think Stargazer or her husband might be able to use one of these...

...that is, if they still work...?"

Jasyn's eyes widened impossibly further. "Whoa baby!" he exclaimed for yet a third time, "How the kriffing hell did those get here...!?"

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

...or perhaps they merely wanted a keepsake from those dark Jedi they had managed to actually defeat."

He paused at this thought, allowing his commrade to consider it. Then, "While we are still here and have had some success finding what we are looking for, however, we might want to finish searching the rest of these cupboards. After all, if this was the training area it appears to be, it would stand to reason there may be some armor here as well...

...and perhaps some of those pilotsuits. Still, if they aren't here, there's one more place I can think of where they may have been kept..."

He trailed a moment at that, craning his neck a bit and listening, thinking he heard some rummaging in another room nearby them. "Hey Panthar," he called then, "You found anything?"

[ 11-14-2004 08:57 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Matt Stanza ]

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“Vpaf ersyjrt ditbobsa hrst, cool. Don’t think we’ll need that here. Hmmm, hey, guys, here we go! Qoapy rmvpimyrt dioyd!”

He opened the cupboard, more like a closet, and peered inside at several encounter suits made of a strange shimmering material.

“I count four of them. What size do you wear?”

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

“Assassin? Phalomir must be doing his job well, if Aelvedaar has to resort to assassins. Is this the chap that tried to have us all fried back near the Valley? If so, I wouldn’t believe a word he says. But then again, you don’t believe a word I say, do you? Oh my, what a quandary.”

He smiled wide at Shayla, eyes glinting.

“Of course, I could speak for Phalomir if you wish. I’m sure I know what he would say.”

[ 11-14-2004 11:51 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Thoran ]

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

"You are not going to speak for Phalomir, Thoran," she stated simply.

Then she turned to look at the others remaining on the bridge of the warship. "As for whether I believe this guy or not...

...he sounds sincere, but I don't know that I buy it. But now that he's followed us here...

...we're going to have to do something about him, especially if he's still after Jharmeen and Phalomir. What do you think?"

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

Even as he said this, Panthar began pulling the suits out of their storage location. Jasyn headed over to the swords and daggers and took a few, then turning to Matt and handing him the remainder. "I say we take a trip back to the bridge, and show everyone what we've found," he suggested then, turning and starting to head back the way he came. Even as he did, he made a query over his shoulder. "How many of those uniforms are there, anyway..?"

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