Phalomir eyed the Master, trying to decipher the meaning behind his words, and the intentions. Why, now that he was here face to face, had the Master changed so suddenly? Just a few hours before, while communicating through the strange red crystal back in the Temple of the Armorers, the Master had shown the side of himself that truly belonged to the Darker Realms.

Yes, he truly did belong to the Darker Realms…

Yet he had mentioned unholy alliances between Aelvedaar and the Darker Realms, apparently beyond the alliance Aelvedaar had shared with the Master. Why would this bother him? Unless Aelvedaar had made allies of the beings that the Master had previous ties with? Beings that for some reason granted the Master great powers in exchange for…

For his son.

Aelvedaar has made the same deal, Phalomir thought. Aelvedaar can deliver to them what my father failed to deliver, and with Roan now gathering power in the Darker Realms, who knows what plans are being laid…

“I trust him,” he said, still staring at the Master. “Enough to not destroy him right now, anyway.”

He turned to Shayla, his face lightening a little.

“Let us investigate this alarm, together.”

He turned to the Master one more time. Then spread his palms in an open gesture, and walked through the door, hoping Shayla would trust him enough to understand for the time being.

“Well, that’s a relief,” I said to no one in particular, relishing how the words echoed off into the blessed sounds of silence. For the first thing I had done upon entrance there was to shut off that blasted alarm; how I knew just which sigil to tweak to do so was more than likely a purely unconscious function of the years I had spent flying hither and yon in one Sith vessel or another than actual recognition on my part.

The second thing I did was to try to determine just what in all the universe had set up all the ruckus to begin with. I began twiddling with various and sundry sigils, until at length the monitor in front of me obliged by producing an image.

I almost wished it hadn’t.

“Hey guys,” I offered with a frown. I pointed to the screen, and then turned round to face everyone who had gone to one spot or another within the bridge’s vast area.

“We’re in Sith space, right? I mean, we were in Koris’ian space, and now we’re en route to K’eel Doba, right?”

No one really said anything much but a series of affirmative nods and muttered replies filled the silence. My frown deepened and I tapped the monitor thoughtfully.

“Well, we’re not alone; there’s some sort of station out there— Phal, did you guys ever build any? I mean, is this something you recognize?”

Another insistent flash of gold caught my eye; I couldn’t help but gasp as I read what that particular sigil was trying to tell me.

“Ummm… guys,” I started in slowly.

“It seems this station is… powered up. There’s something over there….”

"I don't like this," she stated simply, furrowing her brow. Then she stretched out with the Force on instinct, and searched outward...

...and was almost immediately rewarded with the sense of a multitude of life signatures...

...or evidences of sentience, at least.

“There is no station that I am aware of,” he said. Then he added “But again, I am not of this time, so it is difficult to say for sure. However, whatever it is, we appear to be on a collision course for it, and if it is populated then we have more than our own lives to save.”

...and investigate," she suggested, the information smuggler that was still buried deep within her intrigued. "I know it has nothing to do with our current plans...

...but then again, perhaps it does. If it is in fact populated, perhaps we should find out exactly why it's here, and whose aboard. After all, sometimes the best allies are the ones who simply fall into your path."

He paused, eyes flicking from Shayla to Galen and back to Shayla. He sighed.

"Very well. Although not well built, this is still a Sith ship, it can alter its course in hyperspace. I suggest you do it now, or blasting the station will be unnecessary."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute..." I muttered under my breath, letting my fingers dance a tango on the controls until at length the starfield without the ship contracted back down into points of light. I couldn't help but quirk a corner of my mouth at that--

Bless that lil ol' Sithy technology; we had just blasted down from many times lightspeed to a mere crawl, relative to that weird station out there, and not a hint of inertia to mar our beautiful day...

...not to mention converting us into bug-splats against the surrounding bulkheads.

I drew in a breath, and sat back.

"Ok, we're okay now; no more ramming speed. I"ve matched the velocity of this station, which, by the way, seems to be rather strange. I mean--"

I paused a moment and checked a few dials and sigils. Yup, I had read them more than correctly the first time.

"Extrapolating backward from its current trajectory, I can tell you one thing."

I paused again, just for drama.

What the hell.

"This thing was not orbiting anywhere near Koris'ian, plus its trajectory indicates it as not so much coming into a planar orbit around the primary, but actually subtending an arc tangent to the equatorial z-axis..."

I twisted in my seat, only to meet faces full of blank stares.

"It looks to have been coming into this system from elsewhere, coming down from the 'top,' so to speak."

I turned back to the monitor, and tapped it with one finger. Meanwhile the hairs on the back of my neck began an insidious rise, in tandem with the small army of geese now starting to march up and down my back.

"I don't think it belongs to this sector of space at all. I think, if we go to investigate, we should implement; oh, what is it they say?

"Hey, sounds good to me," I agreed, settling in the seat to await the final consensus of the others. Hey, ours was not a mission to boldly go, but to get our hineys back to K'eel Doba as fast as we could, and hopefully--

--if there is a god in all the universe--

Find Darra.

...we haven't got time for anything futher, and I'd like to make it to K'eel Doba in one piece."

“Uhhh…” he oozed.

The room began to swim around him, and his large Sith body rocked slowly back and forth. He struggled to focus, concentrating on his hand, and as the puffy red flesh poking out from the makeshift bandage came into view, all vestige of reality left him.

"Computer, activate distress signal Alpha-9, create preasure leaks in sections B, D, and L. Jetison cargo units from previously stated sections." We knew if galactic law had not changed in our timeline, if this was a vessel we would ever wish to meet, they would respond to our distress signal immediately.

I stared at the sigil, then at a screen which began scrolling Sith characters at me.

My frown deepened, but the tiny hairs on the back of my neck refused to quiet.

"Hey guys," I announced, nodding to the viewscreen. I punched a button; the screen promptly and discomfortingly slewed from the rotating starfield -- ok, so I had matched velocity with the station; I hadn't done anything about our roll yet -- to show said station, which in turn yawed just enough to make my stomach jump until everything quieted down and the station remained...

Well... stationary.

At least at first notice. Now leaning forward, I peered at the screen, feeling as though my blood had suddenly turned to ice.

The damned thing was venting something; bits and pieces of flotsam began a stately dance around it, slowly moving away amidst the glitter of myriad ice crystals.

I turned to the others.

"I think the station is in trouble," I said. "It seems to have sprung a leak, which wouldn't be surprising if this is something that's just drifted here from who knows where and has been here since who knows when.

"But it's sending out a distress signal; I don't know if that's just an automated response to trouble, but do we have the moral fortitude to simply assume so and just go merrily on our way?"

I twisted further in my seat, letting my gaze travel across those behind me; then my eyes settled on the solid form of Panthar.

He then regarded Panthar, passed out on the floor.

"How can you be so cold?" I finally asked, shaking my head. "I mean, yes, we should take care with how we proceed from here and use common sense, not to mention a healthy dose of weaponry as backup to that, but--"

I shook my head again.

"If thy hand offend thee, smite it off...."

I looked to him, my eyes narrowing just a bit.

"You know, buddy, you don't have any too great of a track record with us either. Maybe we should use common sense and blast you into atoms as well, just so as not to run the chance that you'd turn on us somewhere on down the road?"

I levelled a look at him but he didn't budge, just stood there, arms crossed, looking like the sandcat that ate the womprat.

I shook my head again, and now turned to Phal.

"Hey," I said, my tone brightening as an idea struck me.

"Does this ship have anything in the way of spy droids aboard? We could send a couple over to see what's going on in that ship; judging from the amount of debris, there's got to be a hull rupture large enough that one can sneak through and board the ship."

“An excellent idea,” he said. “I would be very agreeable to boarding the station to investigate. If you are so inclined, I would gladly take Phalomir with me. If not, so be it, I shall perform your task regardless.”

“But you, my dear friend,” came a voice in Jasyn’s mind. “You are my special one-- my CHOSEN one. Your concern for my well-being has touched me, and I have given you a gift. Your life is tied to mine, you may draw upon my strength when you are in need. I will nurture you, help you. As you shall help me, for this gift is not entirely without strings. If anything happens to me, if my mind ceases to function, so will yours.”

But his offer to make good on Jasyn's dark suggestion just made the army of geese march all the faster up and down my back.

"No way," I said gruffly, staring at the Master. He suddenly looked entirely too smug for my liking; what did he know that we didn't? I cut a glance to Phalomir, hoping he'd leap in any time now, but no. He just stood there, silent.

I sighed, then glowered.

"Look, this is just too strange of a situation, if you ask me. I mean, yeah, I agree with what you said," I nodded to the Master.

"This station doesn't belong here. Yeah it's leaking, yeah it's sending out a distress signal, and yeah I think we should try to determine if there are any lives in danger here.

"But no, I don't think we should send any of us over there. I don't trust the situation; there's too much of a coincidence that we just find this thing, and then voila, it so suddenly develops a dangerous leak.

"I say we send something automated over; meanwhile, I'll see what I can do about scanning for the lifesigns that Shayla says she's sensing over there...."

With that I turned back to the console and set myself to task. Soon all the dark undercurrents washing about behind my back disappeared as I lost myself in the pursuit of what might just turn out to be yet another ghost.

What has he done? he asked himself.

He probed with his magick, seeking out anything unusual about Jasyn. There was no Sith magick at work, nothing discernable anyway. But there was something, buried deeply, but he could not understand what had happened. There was an energy, definitely, somehow familiar, yet still totally alien. It was almost as if it were something he might have encountered some time ago, when he fought against the forces in…

”The Darker Realms!” he thought. “He has done something to Jasyn using powers from that evil place.”

Phalomir sneered, a low growl escaping his throat. He gathered his magick, the tattoo on his forehead flashing brightly for a split-second. He sent a tendril of energy into Jasyn, seeking out the source of the strange force he felt. Jasyn remained staring at the Master, almost as if entering a trance. Phalomir found the force, but as he tried to envelop it with his magick a strong blast sent his power reeling back to him. His eyes widened, and Jasyn shuddered. Phalomir jerked his head back to the Master, who continued to grin, but this time at Phalomir.

Phalomir pried his eyes away and turned to Galen, the surprise still on his face.

“Automated…” he managed, trying to hide his shock. “Yes, automated. I’m sure there is something. I will, um, look.”

...and the result was Jasyn, wide-eyed, as if in shock.

Now that wasn't typical Jasyn. This was the guy who could fire off a rebuttal faster than the orginal comment was finished. And now he suddenly wasn't saying anything...?

"Ummmm, Jasyn, you're usually good when it comes to technology, maybe you can help Phalomir out in finding something automated to send over to that station," he offered.

No verbal reply.

"Jasyn?" Terrin repeated, waiting for a response...

...and uncertain as to whether or not he would get one as the bad feeling he'd been having quite alot resurfaced.

He stood agape for an indeterminate amount of time, til he finally became aware that someone was actually speaking to him.

"He--he's done something to me, I can hear his voice in my head!!!" Jasyn finally exploded, his brown eyes snapping back to alertness. "You just look here, Master," he growled, "I might be a sarcastic asshole, but when it comes to my friends, I'll be more than happy to die right along with you if it becomes necessary and if it means that they'll be safe. And as far as the powers you offer...

...I don't want or need any of your stinkin' powers..."

The Master’s gaze rested upon Phalomir on the last words and lingered there for a moment, then he continued to scan the room.

“You need me,” he continued. “There are forces at work that shall destroy all you have come to know, all that you would have continue to be. You believe you know the extent of what you face, but believe me, you do not.”

His cold eyes focused on Jasyn.

“I am the darkest of the dark, human, do not mock me nor take light of your foes. I offer you an alliance, having at your disposal powers beyond your dreams. My powers shall level the field in your quest. And yet you scoff and toss them to the wind."

The Master paused, suddenly wishing nothing better than to crush this man, to use him as an example to the rest of how easily they would be defeated without him. He raised his demonic powers, preparing to fry Jasyn in a plume of raging fire.

But then he paused, catching Phalomir's alarmed face from the corner of his eye. No, he needed them to eventually trust him, which meant making steps at earning that trust. Today the human would live.

"I release you, human, to your own fate. But never – never – deride me.”

The strange feeling within Jasyn’s mind faded.

“Now I urge you all once again to leave this station to its own fate, and continue on.”

...but then thought better of it as he saw some of the looks about the bridge.

"Maybe you are right, and maybe this is a diversion, or a trap," he finally acknowleged. "Sure as kriffing hell wouldn't be the first. But then, what if it's not?"

“There is no automated probe on board,” he said flatly. “There would be no purpose for it on this ship. If we choose to explore the station, we must dock with it. Everyone has spoken, and our decision is clear. We either answer the distress call or we leave it and continue on now. I for one do not relish the delay in reaching K’eel Doba, but I also cannot leave knowing there is a call for assistance.”

He leveled a stare at the Master, his eyes growing cold.

But-- damn. That army of geese was still marching up and down my spine; I just didn't like how this thing had popped up right in our path when Fates knew it had all the universe in which to do the same.

Sometimes serendipity works the other way, you know.

I sat back a little, and sighed, then pursed my lips. The station was still leaking like a sieve, and the distress beacon was still sounding away like a bawling bantha calf.

"Guys, someone make a choice -- soon; I can get us either docked or outta here.

"But all this talking isn't doing us much good...

"Cripes! Would you just come to a decision already?!"

He resumed his defiant stare at the Master.

“As for the rest, they should respect the decision as made by the Lord of the Armorers aboard a ship bound from Korris’ian.”

His stare lingered a moment, meeting the Master’s own unflinching gaze head-on. Phalomir scowled and returned his attention to Galen.

“Let us dock, then.”

"You all know my views on this; I still think it's a bad idea..."

But what could we do?

I trailed then as I let my fingers dance over the myriad sigils on the board, directing the aft thrusters to ignite in micro-bursts that would bring us up next to the weird station.

It loomed in the forward screen; pursing my lips, I leaned forward to take a good look at it.

Then I frowned.

Played a tuned on the console, and leaned forward yet again.

On the screen, the image of the station yawed and rolled as we altered our course to navigate around it in a slow circle, its outer wall mere meters "beneath" us. The cloud of debris made a glittery coccoon around it, but one which gradually grew less dense as the materials moved away from it in turn.

That's what caught my eye; suddenly my hand shot out, and the image on the screen zoomed in for a close-up. The construction looked somehow dangerous, alien, as it continued to move slowly past.

I slapped an enabler sigil; the image froze as we came to a halt.

"Umm... guys?"

I turned to speak to those who had not left with Phalomir.

"This is not right; I'm not detecting any damage to this thing, and after tracing a backward trajectory of the rubble all I can deduce is that it seems to have spit out from one particular place on it.

"And that place is perfectly normal in appearance now."

I held my hand out, fully prepared to shoot us back several hundred kilometers if necessary while I waited to see what anyone else had to say about this new anomaly.

"Moral obligations be damned, we now have more than enough reasonable evidence to suspect that this is a trap," Terrin spoke up. "I think we need to stop and come up with another option. And if Phalomir doesn't like it...

...I'll take the heat. Meanwhile I think we should try to send a comm, we haven't done so thusfar. Otherwise...

...we'd better rethink this, and before it's too late."

Jasyn and Matt had finished their stack, and had turned up nothing in the way of medical supplies as well.

Phalomir sighed and ripped open the top crate. It was filled with small vials packed in a foamy material. He smiled and pulled out a vial, studying the green liquid within. His smile quickly faded, however, as he could not find a label. He replaced the vial and pulled another, seeing the same liquid and again no label. He pulled and replaced several more, each with the same result. He estimated over 200 vials were packed in the crate, all sealed with a crude black rubber stopper.

He closed the crate and lowered it gently to the floor. The next crate was filled with the same sort of vials, as was the next. He ripped a strip of cloth from his sleeve, pulled out one vial and wrapped it in the cloth, then placed it carefully in a shirt pocket.

Here he paused, crinkling his nose a bit before he continued. "You?" he queried, looking to Matt, who shook his head.

"Well, goodie. We're gonna dock with this damn injured ship, and we don't have anything to help them. This is just getting better and better...

...and it was never really all that great to begin with. Not that I'm trying to be an ass or anything...

...but I really hate this idea of docking with this thing. Seems rather like a game of Corellian roulette."

...well, apparently towards them.

And at that moment, a red sigil began to flash persistently on the navboard of the Sith ship.

"Oh hell," Terrin growled, his look dark, "I don't know what just came out of that station, but I think it's headed right towards us..."

I scowled at the screen, watching this latest turn of events even as my spine iced. This was getting to be more and more peculiar by the minute...

...and all of a sudden our mission of mercy looked as if it might turn into a suicidal one.

Or not...

I turned up to Terrin, let my gaze fall into his eyes.

"You know... those Sith fighter ships I flew had ionic hullskins; or at least something which approximated that. That's why ion torpedoes and so on couldn't affect me; the blast was totally absorbed.

"I wonder what age of the Sith that particular technology came from? If we have an ionic skin, that thing won't be able to land on us, so we're perfectly safe; it's gonna be in for a helluva jolt when it tries to dock with us.

"But if we don't have an ionic skin... well, I couldn't tell you what's going to happen next."

I turned back to the floating object, frowning a bit as it came closer and closer to us. The screen obligingly zoomed out to accommodate its rapid approach.

The gaggle of geese tried their mightiest, but they couldn't stomp out the ice now coating my backbone.

"I-- I think I'm gonna take things unto myself, and back us a couple thousand klicks from here, and watch and see what this thing does.

"Meanwhile, maybe I can find some kind of sensor that I can use to scan the thing; blast this wacky ship anyway...."

I fell into silence then, only casting an occasional mutter at the navigation console which, although in many ways eerily familiar to me, remained for the most part completely alien, in that strange Sithy way that it had.

At least I found the damned directional thrusters!

The floating object blinked into invisibility against the starfield as we suddenly found ourselves moved, as near as I could discern, about 25,000 klicks from our former position. There I let us sit, zooming back in on the floating thing, all the while wishing like hell that the others would get back here and put in their two credit's worth about what was going on in a part of the universe where, really, nothing major ought to be.

“I do not think you are an ass,” he said. “But you are correct, there are no obvious medical supplies here. The food may be useful, but we shall not know until we assess the situation. Speaking of…”

He closed the crate and walked to the doorway, pausing just inside the hall.

“Let us return and see how events are progressing,” he said, turning towards the bridge.

He entered the main room of the ship and glanced at the viewscreen. Cocking one eyebrow, he turned to Galen.

"It appears," I said a touch darkly, leaning back so Phalomir could see the viewscreen more clearly. I waved a hand at it.

"That something has been sent from that station, and it was making a beeline for us. I'm not sure what it is, some kind of self-enclosed unit, almost looks like a bacta-tank, of all things, but I sent us back about twenty-five klicks before it could get to us.

"Shall we take a closer look?"

With that I turned back to the screen, my hands playing with the controls. The image promptly zoomed in for a closeup.

Sure as Khaandon made lil green worrts, it was a bacta-tank. With transparent sides, as expected.

And some...thing was floating in its depths, something that I couldn't quite make out....

I fiddled with visual; nope. It was incredibly difficult to make out that the thing was indeed a bacta tank, let alone one carrying something. I mean, face it: we were out here essentially in the middle of nowhere, and starlight just didn't have the oomph to illuminate this thing. Inverse square law and all, you know...

I sighed, damning physics. Obviously, to get a better look at the thing, we'd have to get closer to it once again, and use our outside illuminators.

Assuming, of course, that this ship had outside illuminators....

"I'm not sure how close we really want to get to that thing," Terrin spoke up, "But I sure don't like the idea of having it here on this ship til we know what is in it."

He paused at this, frowning. "I'm ready to get the kriffing hell out of here and forget about it, honestly. As has been mentioned, there are far more pressing matters on K'eel Doba...

...and I'd like for us to make it there to deal with them."

“Then it is either a trap or a desperate attempt to catch our attention. Either way, we are intended to find this – pod – and do something with it. The question is whether it means us harm or if it sincerely needs our help.”

He scratched his chin with his long nails.

My mouth worked a bit as I turned back to the board, trying to find anything that looked remotely like a tractor beam control. Truth be known, there were a lot of strange sigils and buttons whose use I hadn't a clue; I had flown tiny Sith fighters, not giant hulks like this thing.

And this thing was ancient...

"I-- I dunno."

I poked around some more: there were aft thruster controls, forward thrusters, port and aft; inertia stabilizer, mag-field generator...

Wait a minute. Magnetic field generator?

I blinked, surprised that I had found something actually written in the Sith language, rather than being represented by some strange little squiggly series of lines. The Sith language I had learned how to read, by trial and error, those years when I flew alone, seeking my sister for murdering our father, when I was out in the middle of nothing with nowhere to go and nowhere to be from, actually--

I shook my head, jerking myself back to the reality of the moment.

"I don't know," I repeated, again.

"But here is a magnetic field generator; you know a magnetic field can induce a current... hmmm.

"Can that be used somehow to tow this thing, do you think? I'm no physicist..."

But Dad was, came the unbidden thought, creeping into conscious awareness after lo these many years....

But that errant thought was squelched as my peripheral vision caught sight of yet another sigil blinking merrily away for attention. Frowning, I went to check it out, then leaned back with a sigh.

It never rains but it pours....

"Umm... guys? This bacta-tank is sending us a request to dock. And it's in Basic."

He trailed, his look darkening. Yeah, a shoulder devil piped up, Like Aelvedaar and Roan...

"Almost makes you wonder whether whatever-this-is merely chose Basic for its communication since its the standard, or if it expects the recepients to actually speak in Basic."

He paused, pursing his lips. Then, "But in reference to the possible use of a mag field...it could work, since a tractor beam is essentially a magnetic field generator to begin with. And, all circumstances considered, dragging that thing behind us sounds like an entirely more desirable solution to this delay than letting the thing dock with us."

Khaandon, but it was good to have him back again, to be able to offer said logic....

"Point taken," I said as I turned back and began fiddling once again. After a bit of trial and error a tiny golden sigil sparked into life, blinked once, and then continued in a steady glow.

"I think I've got it; lemme check."

With that I hit the thrusters just a touch, enough to send us forward a thousand klicks, my eyes glued to the viewscreen where the zoomed in image of the bacta tank loomed. I punched a button, and the image backed down, but didn't get any larger as we headed in it's general direction.

"I think I have it," I finally concluded, mentally patting myself on the back for my efforts. Then I took it upon myself to send a communication to whoever or whatever was in that bacta tank.

Chances are it's just automated, but just in case--

"Unidentified object, this is... ahh, Eternity One--"

I trailed, turning to the others with a shrug before continuing.

"We have received your request to dock; unfortunately we cannot comply with that request at this time. We are, ahh, hauling you to the nearest facilities where your needs may be taken care of.

"This is Eternity One, out."

With that I flicked the link closed, then re-enabled our navigation computer. Moments later, the stars smeared themselves out into threads of colors, and we were once more on our way to the Sith worlds.

Pushing the bacta tank before us.

She paused at this, then adding, "As to any Imperial entanglements we may encounter on our way into the Sith system...

“Yes,” he agreed, “any advantage we may gain will be of great use. This ship must not be taken by the Imperials. There is too much aboard to risk it.”

He felt the inquisitive stares from several of the people on board.

“This is a unique ship,” he explained. “It has the ability to move planets – nay, solar systems. There are wonders of equipment in this very room, and in the store room there are cases upon cases of some strange substance.”

He reached into his pocket and produced the vial. Unwrapping it, he continued.

"Finally," he boomed. "Words of wisdom from my erstwhile son. Indeed, the thought of this ship in the hands of the enemy sends shivers down my spine. However, I suggest a slightly different approach. The belt young Galen somehow came to possess attempts to make us invisible, but it has its limitations. Why draw suspicion, if they can detect our trail then surely they will investigate. With Sith magick, however, we can cast an illusion to fool to all sensors, organic and electronic. To them we could appear merely as a freighter. From my information while -- working -- with Aelvedaar, they have not been stopping ships entering the system.”

A wry smile worked its way across his face.

“Of course,” he said, almost startled at the discovery of a thought. “Sith magick. Great gods, have I been so wrapped in politics to forget even the simplest of my abilities? I shall return shortly.”

Phalomir’s face went blank as he leaned back against the hull. Inside, his spirit was already freeing itself from the confines of his physical form. His Sith magick dissolved the threads that bound the two, and within seconds his spirit was floating freely in the room. He focused on finding the energy beam that anchored the strange pod to the ship, and shot his spirit towards it. He followed it, through the bizarre realm of hyperspace, and into the pod.

Phalomir was taken aback, even in spirit form, by the sight within the pod. He studied it for several seconds, then shot backwards into the ship. With a gasp his body woke, his spirit rejoined.

Wide-eyed, he stood and looked to the others.

“There is something in the pod, something alive… I think. It appears to be humanoid, but almost… combined… with the machinery.”

I stated the obvious, judging by the startled looks plastered upon everyone else's face. My companions stood about with their mouths hanging as stupidly open as mine probably was.

I closed it a moment, frowning as I pondered this latest development.

"Part.. machine?" I asked Phalomir, directing a look into his eyes. Something I saw there made me shiver; trying to ignore this, I pressed on.

"What is it, some kind of bot or high-tech droid or something? And if so, what in Hell's Seven Circles would it want to dock with us for? And--"

Another thought struck me, and I wrapped my arms about myself, pressing closer to Terrin as the incongruity of it carried a sudden warning into my brain.

"Why the cry for help? Robots don't need life support, even one in a bacta tank. They're programmed, for pity's sake;

"I wonder who programmed this one?"

I paused to gather my scattering thoughts in order to apply them to this mystery.

"What would a robot be doing in a bacta tank anyway?"

I looked to all, but let my gaze end upon the Dark Lord. For he most of anyone would have some semblance of an answer; he had, after all, actually seen this thing.

He turned to Shayla, who was still with Panther.

“Is there any way for you or your husband to sense it’s intentions?”

At any rate, I'll give it a try."

Saying nothing more than this, Shayla closed her eyes and stretched outward towards that "sentience" nearby them, certain she was connecting with whatever what nearby them. Again she was flooded with the sense of many lifeforces...

...and she had to take a moment to make sense of all the life-energy she was touching with before she could continue. Then she sent out a silent yet very distinct "Force niggle" as if to say "Who are you, and what is it you want?" without saying it at all. For indeed, that was precisely what she was feeling within herself as she quietly awaited an answer...

...for something. She also sensed no ill-intent.

"I sense nothing that would lead me to believe this thing intends to harm us, and no deception. Rather, I sense a longing or desire for something..."

"I'm sure my dear sister was longing for release just as much, that day on K'eel Doba when we put her into a force cage."

I sent a briefly apologetic smile Phalomir's way, and was beginning to settle back in my seat when the obvious cricket noises ratcheting about the ship captured my attention. I blinked up into the blank looks everyone was giving me.

"She was hell-bent to kill me then, you know."

With that I shut up, letting my hand drift down to my belt, where it toyed unconsciously with the invisibility device I yet possessed.

He trailed, already having noticed Galen's hand on the invisibility device. "...has that been activated?" he asked, motioning towards the device. "I have no problem dropping off whatever is out there to the Imps...

...but I sure as Hell don't want to pay them a visit as well while we're at it. We've already had enough lost time as it is."

Phalomir lowered his head and backed to the wall, taking in deep breaths.

"Allow me a moment to prepare," he added, closing his eyes.

Using the same technique he had within the halls of the Library of the Sith, a time which seemed so very long ago, he again allowed his spirit to leave his body. His massive frame leaned quietly against the wall, his breathing slowed to nearly a stop, his face as pale as the red of his skin would allow. To the observer he might appear to be sleeping, but to anyone who knew him he approached the countenance of a dying man.

His spirit, however, strong and true, floated invisibly in the room above the staring comrades. Phalomir focused his energies and again sailed through the physical bonds that tethered the strange object to the even stranger ship, and found himself hovering in the tight confines of the pod. As in the Library, he diffused his thoughts and entered the very machinery.

It took a moment to comprehend the enormity of what he was trying to accomplish, for in the Library there had been Sith magick to help in the translation. But this was a buzzing of electrons completely foreign to Phalomir. But yet there was something else, something he could comprehend. In fact, he felt many of the something else, as if a mass of individual consciousnesses were swirling together somewhere in the maddening whirl.

He focused once again, and called to them.

“I am Phalomir, hear me, I beg.”

"We are the Onidorei, we hear and speak with you Phalomir. What is it that you wish of us?" We asked, eagerly but tonelessly responding to his speech.

We paused in our speech, then continued. "Who is it that makes companionship with you? We know of two others, one who spoke mechanically to us through the physical means provided, and another did not speak, but seemed to communicate some how. Are there more?"

“Then I shall return, and extend such communication. You are well met, may our further communications be as pleasant.”

Phalomir slid back out of the machinery, glad to be free of the flowing electrons. His spirit flew back along the tethers, reentering his body with a jolt. In an instant, the nearly lifeless giant body rocked to life. His knees extended his torso up the wall until his massive body stood erect, his eyes jerked open, and his voice boomed as if he had been alert all along.

“You speak true, Shayla,” he said. “There are many entities, or the consciousness of such, sharing their existence there. They spoke to me as one, their thoughts running light years at a time. They are hungry for companionship, and will speak with us via the communication channels when we extend the invitation. They call themselves ‘Onidorei’. They seemed sincere, but I have not always been the best judge of character.”

He shot a daggered look to the Master, who smirked in the back of the room, then returned to his friends.

"Is it too much to ask, or even wonder, for that matter, why a bunch of consciousnesses... er, consciousness... ahhh, well... why in Hell's Seven Circles a bunch of what makes sentients sentient happens to be sharing a body, one that is oh-so-hungry for companionship?

"Is it just me, or isn't this striking anybody else as a little bit on the odd side? This yearning for companionship, I mean.

"I mean..."

I stopped and drew in a breath while I tried to harness all the wild hunches that were niggling up and down my back to logical speech.

"Why bother?" I countered, raising my face to stare him straight in the eye.

"I mean, to what purpose? To pass the time? To gain, oh wonders, data about something new and unknown?"

I stopped, letting my words ring out into the hollow silence everyone else was providing.

"We're not scientists," I finished with a definite nod, letting my hands drop more definitely to my sides. I leaned back against the side of my seat at the navigation console.

"Why not just leave the thing here, and report it to whoever we should? Obviously there is no real life support threat; we can easily squirt the coordinates to the powers that be and leave it at that."

"Look!" I began, gritting my teeth with the effort to keep from hollering at the top of my lungs.

"I don't really care, do you understand? Your people don't seem to be dying to me, seems the last time I looked they were bright-eyed and bushy tailed, straight from the Right Hand of the Dead, if I remember what the Universe really had been all about at one time.

"But as far as what you and your people and my misguided sister do, I really don't care! All I want is to get my daughter and take her and my husband and go somewhere that we might have a ghost's chance of living the rest of our lives in some kind of semblance of normalcy.

"Automatically applying some kind of dire necessity-to-our-supposed-needs to every stranger we come across just seems like so much more of a hindrance; Khaandon!

"Let Aelvedaar rule as he will, I don't give a womprat's hiney--

The roar from the back of the room caught everyone off guard, making even Phalomir jump and snap his head to the Master.

“If I had known I had taken in with such a bunch of slug-headed do-nothings, I would have stayed in Aelvedaar’s trap. What a sorry group of whining, sniveling, self-centered egotistical brats you are! I have watched you do wondrous things from my little room, indeed. You have moved solar systems, awoke the dead, tamed the untamed, walked the Darker Realms and fought back the hordes of the Bastard God Roan. And yet you squabble over communicating with a flippin’ stupid lifepod?! Don’t you see, this goes beyond your puny selfish wants, beyond your desires to find your kin. I can tell you everything you want to know, and I have never been asked! I say hold your words, take your actions and let us be on our way!”

With that, the Master waved his hand. He staggered, his eyes closing, but the space before him shimmered and thinned, and a portal opened before him. With lightning speed he pulled forward with his other hand, motioning as if pulling a rope. The life pod swam through the portal and fell to the floor, taking up a good portion of the back of the room. The Master grunted, the portal closed, and he fell to the floor himself, breathing heavily.

“There,” he rasped, propping himself on an elbow. “Aelvedaar thought he could take it all from me, but not all of it… not all.”

Before anyone could respond to this latest stunt I rushed over to Shayla, figuring she would be the first to do something to this weird thing that had just been handed to us on a silver, if tarnished, platter.

"Don't even think it!" I growled, then turned to where the self-imposed Master stood hacking up blood. I raised a hand, by that one action letting the others know just what I felt about coming to his aide.

Not that anyone would, I growled to myself.

At least not any of our people.

I cut another glare to Phalomir.

"Thanks, buddy, oh so much, you've been just wonderful, and did I ever say what a wonderful dad you've got?"

Not waiting to hear any inane reply he might make I turned away, keeping one wary eye on the pod while the other began searching to see if anyone had anything better than a silly Sith sword with which to protect ourselves.

Nada.

I sighed in frustration, then further ignoring Phalomir spoke up to the others.

"I say we space this thing, along with Phal's dear old dad, wouldn't you guys say?"

Really, I don't know what was coming over me of late, but suddenly I wanted nothing more to do with anything that remotely had the slightest semblance of anything to do with the Sith--

--and that included the sudden appearance of a thing one Sith in particular seemed overly determined to befriend.

My eyes cut to the still coughing Master, glared at him, slid then to Phalomir who was standing in stony silence.

I told you so! I screamed with every bit of body language I possessed.

“Galen,” he said, “I do not know why he did this, but the Master ceased to be my father long ago. Please, Galen, I know your desire to find your daughter is immediate, but we must deal with this situation.”

He lowered his voice and crouched, still holding his hand up to channel magick to the shield.

“This entity’s first words were far from what I experienced earlier. Believe me, I too mistrust it. I can shield us from harm, but we must do something else soon. I know you have the ability, can you draw the strength to put this pod back from where it came?”

He looked directly into Galen’s eyes, not quite sure what he was seeing but calling to her nonetheless.

“Galen,” he said calmly. “We are so close to finding her, please help me here. I swear to you, on my life, on my love for your sister, I will do everything I can to help you find your daughter.”

"There has to be another way," Terrin growled. "I don't want Galen, or any of the rest of us for that matter, near that pod."

“I thank you all for releasing me,” he continued. “And ask you one more favor -- deliver a message for me to Aelvedaar. His dream is folly, and the treaty with our realm is over.”

The Master stepped forward and touched the shield Phalomir had thrown. The Master’s eyes flashed and the shield imploded, almost as if it were being sucked into his palm. Phalomir’s eyes grew wide, then he was propelled backwards as if an invisible rancor had swept him aside. He hit the wall with a sickening thud, his eyes remaining wide open as he fell slowly to the floor.

With the shield gone, the Master strolled to where the sleeping Jharmeen lay. He snapped his head to look squarely in the eyes of Jasyn, who had dared to step forward.

“I still own you,” he said, most sinister. He brought his hand up in a flash, making Jasyn flinch, and paused. Cackling loudly, he then spun about and brought his claws down, and in one fluid lightning motion he seemed to rip a hole into the very threads of existence along the floor. He grabbed Jharmeen’s leg in his other hand and jumped into the hole he made, dragging her with him.

“And tell them both, we are waiting in the Dark Hall!”

The Master’s voice trailed as the portal closed, leaving behind a hint of sulfur.

A warning beep sounded on the console, signaling the ship was ready to depart from hyperspace.

((OOC: The Master and Graysith fall into Into The Out Of in this forum, thank you!))

"Excuse us, but we are unfamiliar with the beings and other events that surround you. We realize we are most likely the cause of what has happened, and we appologise and take full responsibility for what has occured."

I'm sure my own features mirrored those of the others, and to tell the truth I didn't really know what was the actual basis for that:

The fact that my sister, no matter how I spat and fought with her remained my sister, after all... the fact that she had been ripped from us with the ease with which one crushes a gleeberfly...

...or the fact that Phalomir's father didn't appear to be quite....

Sith.

I looked back up into Terrin's eyes, gave him a squeeze and left his side. Hurrying over to Shayla, I knelt beside her.

"Just a minute," I murmured in a low tone, and heaved a quick sigh of relief when she turned momentarily from her task to look at me.

"That-- that thing that just took Jharmeen was purportedly his father, and he sure as Khaandon made lil green worrts looked more like something along the lines of some demonic imps of my acquaintence."

I paused a shuddery moment, that thought bringing with it a flood of memories from that horrible time when I was in the Darker Realms, meeting Phalomir for the first time. My first inclination, that of distrusting Phalomir along with his disappearing daddy, suddenly spun a one-eighty in my head, and in my heart.

I reached out and laid a delaying hand on her shoulder.

"You know, there was something Phalomir told me, when we were in this awful dark other-dimension," I went on.

"He told me that his father was scared spitless of something, a threat to the Sith, I think the Vong were involved somehow.

"Anyway, he said that his father made a deal with some kind of dark forces behind some black river or other, that they would protect the Sith when the time came. But something happened: I guess his father tried to turn him over to these dark forces."

I paused for breath, chewing a little nervously on my cheek as I eyed the downed Sith lord.

"He said he'd meet both Aelvedaar and Phalomir in the Dark Hall--

"You don't suppose that this is another ploy to get Phalomir, do you-- or to kill them both in order to take over the Sith?"

My eyes widened as another thought struck me. I shuddered again, removing my hand from Shayla's shoulder move it to my stomach.

"H-He's there, Roan, in the Dark Place, that other dimension... where the Dark Hall is...."

Then my eyes widened further.

"And I know how to get there..." I breathed, shocked with myself to discover the truth in that last, surprising statement. On the heels of that came crashing defeat.

I slumped to the deck with a scowl.

"We can't; Korriban isn't here anymore," I growled, then sighed again and looked around at the others.

"I think Shayla is right; we have to find Aeylmaar. Pronto."

He raised his drink to the sky, made a toast to someone named Phalomeed—or was it Alfafameer? It didn’t matter now, he was back home, and he was happy.

He noticed that his tan had started to burn, and thought now was the time to head back into the bungalow. As he turned away from the sun he saw just how red his arms had become, and thoughts of seeking out the med droid for some burn ointment crept into his mind. He reached up to scratch the sudden itch on his temple and was shocked to find –

“Horns!” yelped Panthar, his eyes fluttering open as he regained consciousness. He sat up, bewildered, trying to find himself in a world somewhere between the beach and the ship. His head slowly stopped spinning, and the pain in his hand brought reality down upon him.

“Ohhhh,” he moaned, “it wasn’t a dream…”

...and she was starting to feel the effects. "Welcome back," she said briefly yet not unkindly. Then she looked to Galen. "Aeylmaar is supposed to be waiting for us here..."

She paused, her look darkening, "...unless something has happened to him. Time for landing procedures, and then we can decide just what we are going to do, and how..."

That did it.

"Wait a minute," Terrin growled, "Number one priority right now is getting to the surface of Kee'l Doba in one piece so we can find Aeylmaar or figure out a way to get to the Darker Realms--or both. And along with that, finding Darra is a top priority."

Here he paused, turning and addressing the thing. "I don't know if we can trust you, and until you've somehow earned that trust, I don't see reasons for us to start explaining what we are talking about to you. After all, we don't know what you are, or who you are...

...and we don't know who left you out here in this region of space, and why..."

"Now, we cannot gain your trust further than words, something we know from long ago that can not be gained so easily. We are imprisoned in this shell, for this shell was the Onidorei's containment while we researched it. It is bound by several cables that restrain it by it's crainium and allowed us to input and take out information. These are the tethers that bond us now."

He notices Phalomir lying on the floor, leaning against the wall. His eyes were wide open, his chest raised and lowered slightly, but he was otherwise still. Shayla was crouched beside him. Jharmeen was… well, hmm, where was Jharmeen? Did her and Phal have another tiff? She she run off and Phal took up with Shayla? Whoa, heavy.

Galen and Terrin were over by the controls, and Matt, Erik, and Jasyn were standing around looking bewildered. Good, he wasn’t the only one who was confused. He shook his head to try to clear it, struggled again for consciousness, then began the long road to standing. He spoke as he did so.

“Allright… so you’re a bunsch of people trapped inshide a— a thing. Whadya want with ush?”

He managed to stand, then stagger, then right himself. He smiled weakly at the pod and took another drink. His head flopped to the side to regard Terrin.

...and no ships.

He frowned. "Did we come out of hyperspace before we reached the system?" he queried, "Or have we managed to somehow get past them? Galen, you're the expert...

...and by the way, if we already covered it, I missed it...

He turned back to Terrin, took a few steps in his direction, and spoke in a loud whisper.

“Don’t tell him, but I don’t like thish.”

"Fine!" I snapped irritably as I stomped over to the space the weird pod was occupying. It lay there in quiet mockery of the good a bacta tank is supposed to portray.

I crossed my arms.

"Seems to me that we are relatively safe from any approach you might make against us then," I commented, not really caring at the moment if this... thing knew I was aware of that little fact or not.

I glared at it, despising it for what it was.

To think, being locked up with other minds in a biomechanical construct for uncounted years....

I replaced a rising shudder with rising anger.

"Look, friends; I'm sorry for you guys and your brush with anomalies and all, but really, it's not high on our list of priorities at the moment."

I shot a look to Terrin, who only flashed me a quick smile before returning to his former, determined front.

"What concerns me is the loss of my sister, the fact that the father of one of our members is really the goony that I thought, and the fact that we've gotten to our destination and now need to make planet--"

I turned abruptly to Terrin, heading back to the controls and taking my seat there even as I spoke to him.

"I have no idea why we have managed to give the blockade an apparent slip; I do know that the field generated by this belt was barely large enough to take in a little Sith fighter. I really doubt it could cloak us effectively; maybe they're not stopping in-coming traffic?"

I touched a sigil-board in a peculiar manner, letting my fingers dance a fugue there. The forward screens flipped to aft, the port and starboard, and finally up and down.

Yup-- there they were, way off in the distance, lurking like the vultures they were...

...and behind us:

Myriad ships, all linked with tractor beams.

Now I couldn't repress the shudder that raised in response to the realization that we had indeed come out of hyperspace between the blockade and our target planet of K'eel Doba.

Now that wasn't something that happened everyday!

So why weren't we being hailed by the blockade? That's what I wanted to know...

"Maybe they're busy with something else," I muttered, not really believing it, but not wanting to hang around until they woke up. The fugue segued into a tarantella as I input a series of commands into the ship's computer. Lights blinked, relays clattered and clicked, and the view on the screen was promptly replaced with one of the planet.

It grew noticeably larger even as I watched.

"We're coming in, guys; better strap in."

The ship seemed to hear me, gave a little bump as it hit a small thermocline within the pausal layer we were passing through, then began to descend in earnest. Control was yanked from me like a rancor yanks it's prey; the ground approached with astounding speed, and I could swear I could hear the howl of the wind against our hull.

Suddenly, below us then, there hove into view the wonderful image of Ch'arlingua.

Sheesh, I never thought I'd be so happy to come back here....

"Brace yourselves, we're coming in hot and heavy!"

But the wonderful technology of the Sith proved to be at levels far beyond other sentients, even more than four millennia in the past. The ship fell to earth like a propelled rock...

...where, inertia and gravity be damned, it settled abruptly with the touch of a feather kissing the earth.

I sat there a moment, a little surprised at this.

"Wow," I murmured, then unhooked myself and powered down the ship. I was about to blithely open the hatch when unseen speakers popped into life.

"State your name and your planet of origin," came the command in Sith.

I frowned, then turned to the others and repeated what had been said.

"Anyone for a reply?" I quipped, pursing my lips then as yet another lizard-monkey wrench appeared to be tossed into our works.

"I don't think that would work," I began, cutting my look to Matt. He snapped to, moved quickly to Panthar and removed the green bottle from his possession.

Panthar's sap-happy grin turned into a grimace of annoyance; he was about to say something, undoubtedly as ridiculous as before, when I looked at his statement from another angle.

"They don't seem to recognize this ship as being Sith," I opened with, chewing on my cheek as I pondered further.

"We do need a Sith to reply if we are going to attempt anything along the lines of Panthar's suggestion, and at the moment he's the only Sith we've got..."

I trailed, then cut a frown toward the shell-shocked Phalomir. That big wuss still stood unmoving, oblivious to us or the predicament we were in.

What a time to lose the Big Guy--

Then I brightened.

"Hey, maybe we can lip-synch something? Or Panthar, do you think you can manage to scrounge up the slighest modicum of seriousness, if it indeed does exist within you?

"I don't think our Sith warrior friends are going to go for a comedy routine."

Panthar worked his jaw up and down several times, then licked his lips.

“Korris’ian,” he said, concentrating. “Yeah, I think I can do it. How’s this?”

He spoke slowly and clearly. “We are a special envoy with the new Dark Lord of Armorers, visiting K’eel Doba at special request of the Dark Lady of Warriors.”

He motioned to his men, who swarmed out onto the tarmac, ringing the strange and ancient ship, weapons quivering and ready.

...and the words from outside the ship came booming in.

"Judging from the sounds of things out there, I don't know if our reply is really going to be of consequence."

Quieting a moment at that, Terrin frowned, lost in deep thought, then continued with, "We probably ought to reply to the hail and cooperate with whomever is outside the ship, for now. But we need to take some precautions as well."

Here he looked to Galen. "The Sith belt may not hide all of us, but it will hide at least one of us, and perhaps a couple?" he queried. "It's an advantage we have, should these Sith be hostile...

...and I'm suggesting we use it til we know just how things are going to be once we set foot outside this ship."

"Yeah," I said, swiveling around and standing up. I walked to where the pod lay and stood looking down upon it.

Then I turned back to the others.

"I don't think this would be in any danger, do you? I mean, what do you think we should do, just leave it here as a Boonta Eve's gift for the warriors?"

Even in the face of approaching doom n' gloom, I couldn't help playing devil's advocate.

Then I tried to sober.

"Umm... who do you think I should hide? If I remember clearly, the invisibility shield reached far enough to cover Sorben and me and K'kihl--"

Gosh wee, I wonder how the ol' cricket is doing?

"--as well as the Sith fighter. If we all stay in a bunch, we could probably all be hidden together.

"Well..." I amended slowly, staring up at Panthar. He let a feeble attempt at a smile cross his face.

"He takes up a lot of room," I said, sticking my thumb out at him.

"But I think I can get the rest of us hidden. Now, these guys are warriors; hopefully their magicks won't discover that there is something here hiding from them."

I paused again, staring at the pod.

"Hey," I said, thinking out loud more than anything.

"What if we leave Panthar, as our surrogate Sith, and this Pod to handle things with the warriors? Maybe they can come up with something... like maybe this thing is a gift to the Dark Lady, or a new prototype sent fresh from Korris'ian or something.

"What do you guys think? We haven't much time to deal with this in a committee, you know!"

...or at least discover it shortly. If Panthar doesn't want to be left out of the mix of those who remain hidden..."

Here she paused, looking to Erik, "...I'd be willing to be the one who stays out if everyone else can remain hidden...

...and I know you'd want to come along. We've at least got the Force to assist us, should there be something afoot. And, perhaps, it's best if we stay visible if for that reason alone. Panthar will have the advantage of being Sith...

...and we'll have the advantage of having the Force."

“Uhhh…. Hey,” he said. “The last time we all left, we were in good graces with the Dark Lady and all, and she left with us. I’m just thinking aloud, but why not tell the truth? Sort of… I mean, OK, how about you guys hide in the back and keep quiet and invisible like, and me, Phal, Shayla, and Erik stay here? But then we can tell them that we are need of assistance, get some medical attention, and ask to speak with the person in charge… who is probably Salaandar-mander… or whatever his name is, he knows what was going on when we left, and I think he’ll be pretty understanding and helpful. I mean, we DO need help now!”

The conversation stopped abruptly as a brief whooshing sound came from the main cabin door, followed by the smooth sound of something sliding.

“Uh…” said Panthar, urgently. “Better decide now because I think the main hatch just opened!”

"We'd better be completely truthful about our arrival here," Shayla said very quietly, her words directed towards both Erik and Panthar. "These warriors are likely to know we left here with the Jharmeen...

But memories are mere ghosts compared with reality, and the reality of the situation was that, judging from the words the Sith had commanded us by, and from the ringing and pounding and other such unwelcomed noises that were so obviously directed against our hull, if we didn't get our collective hineys into hiding asap, we might find ourselves being fed to a tuk'ata or leftover Noghri for dinner.

I sent everyone a quick smile, and was about to hit the device when I paused.

This thing made everyone and everything under its formidable influence invisible to others; taking a glance around, I found that Terrin had brought us to a halt close to a shadowy bulkhead which loomed nearby. Sundry boxes and cases, obviously meant to store items, lurked close by as well; my frown deepened.

"You know, maybe we ought to go to the center of the room..."

I made good on my words by quickly doing just that, and was relieved when the others followed me. There we stood like so many gandy raks in headlights, hunkered in a little knot.

"Here's hoping this works..."

With that I initiated the device. The atmosphere surrounding us gave a weird and disconcerting ripple, but other than that nothing happened. For of course while we were inside the field, we could still see those things not only within our perimeter, but outside of it as well.

Trying to breathe as quietly as a womprat, I smiled around at everybody, and then slowly sank to my butt on the deck.

Much less swarming about a peculiar ship in particular....

Most warriors remained at the ready, their spears and swords drawn and bristling, but a chosen few approached the strange ship in one tightly bound body. At a nod from the highest ranking Sith, they lay their weapons down upon the tarmac, quickly making a mystical symbol upon the cold ground out of their swords and spears, making certain that every point was aimed directly toward what they perceived to be the hatch of the mysterious ship. Then they drew back even further, joined hands and, closing their eyes began to chant.

The eerie sounds of mysticism clashed abruptly with the technologically advanced hull of the ship, but Sith weaponry always blended with its magicks...

Even when there were those who were not even aware that they were dealing with things of Sith nature.

The hatch slid obligingly open; the warriors carefully picked up their weapons, taking care to do so in the direct opposite order in which they had been laid down.

Then they turned to the others and nodded, receiving a nod of affirmation from the captains. Soon about fifty warriors were swarming the ship, gaining entry via their magickally opened hatchway, while the others tightened their positions as well as their grips upon their weapons.

Within the ship, the leading warrior came upon a sight so unexpected it made him pause in mid-march:

There, standing quietly together as if there wasn't a thing wrong in all the universe, stood a blond-haired young woman and a Sith.

A Sith.... and a warrior to boot, judging by the tattooes embellishing his features.

Behind them they could make out a shadowy cylindrical shape, something that was strange in its unfamiliarity.

The warrior tightened his grip on his weapon, and glared at Shayla and Panthar. He had his orders....

"Place your hands where we can see them, and come with me!"

Waiting for a reply, he motioned to the others, who quickly ran past the little party and headed into the bowels of the ship, seeking to find anyone they could, to imprison them per the command of the young Dark Lady pro temp. Their footsteps pounded into the shadows, preceding their arrival, warning anyone who might be hiding that their masters were soon to be there.

They smiled as they ran, dreaming of those who would be so foolish as to try to oppose them....