I nodded, feeling a deep-seated exhaustion begining to set in. But with a last brief glance at my father, I hefted my love in my arms, and strode through the portal and into my home.

As we stepped from the cold ruins and into the warmth of the temple, I felt my knees almost give away. I had forgotten the very slight difference in gravity, as the plane of darkness seemed to be relatively lighter.

However, father seemed to have compensated for this, as I had found myself holding my love in her old chambers, where I had first encountered her with the master.

I laid her gently upon the furs of the bed, then turned and sat next to her. She was still unconcious. She seemed not to have suffered a great deal of physical trauma, but my father had a good piece of thought to give before I parted.

"What harms you...?" I wondered, thinking back to how we had arrived in the darker realms in the first place.

Her hair had flown through the air, our blood hot in veins, closeness almost tender save for the sadistic embrace she held me in; that I had accepted in my thoughtless state. But then, with a flick of her hand she took me to a place that she seemed to think sublime. But why?

I looked down at her again, stroking her flaming red hair from her face gently. "What secrets do you have? What wasn't I told my love? What are you hiding...?"

The last sentance was a whisper, and even later, I would not be sure if I had even said it aloud.

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

I sighed and sat back against the pillows. I had done my best an hour ago to tend to her injuries. She did not have anything remarkably damaged that I could see, aside from developing bruises, scrapes and cuts. It was remarkable that nothing had been broken when the tower had collapsed.

It had almost killed him to see that she had been trapped under the rubble, and now in hindsight, he wondered how he had been able to lift such a large thing; especially in his weakened state.

Had it been his love for her?

But at the same time, his father seemed to think that love was a weakness. An exploitable weakness that was not something to have, but to avoid. Yet he himself had put them together as a couple. But did he expect them not to love each other.

Then suddenly, a thought occured to him, one that surprised him.

Did he even love her?

By automatic response, his thoughts scolded him for thinking that he could not. But had it been only a year ago that she had branded him "Betrayer"? Had it not been a year ago that she herself had declared him dead in her sight if he was ever to fall into it again? Yet here he sat now, the length of her beaten body unconcious before him, cared for by him.

Yet she loved him, or so it seemed. Perhaps it was only out of blind obedience to her father that she loved him? But no, the night previous in which she had... well... it was a night he thought few sith in the bar would forget in a hurry. It was seldom seen, he would think, that in a public place a dark lady would throw herself upon her lord in a manner unbeffiting her station.

Even still...

He loved her. That was final, and for the cause or reason of which he did not no, he did not equally care.

If it came to be that he really did not love her, did not care for her? Well it would be enough in his mind that he had served his father well, and to his people, had served just as equally.

They deserve to see a Lord before them as a lady should stand at his side.

He nodded to himself, and focused upon her again. As his hand (bare now that he had removed his gloves) ran over her right temple gently, stroking the hair there with whorls natural and tattooed, that he saw her eyelids twitch just slightly in time as she shifted in the embrace of the furs about her.

Did she wake, or was it merely just another gentle shift amongst the many she had gone through before that moment?

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

And why she had been acting in the manner in which she had.

Her eyes jerked back and forth beneath her closed lids, and beads of sweat condensed upon her brow, wetting her hair, clinging to Rykounagin's fingers as he sought to soothe her night terrors. A low moan issued from her lips, almost a whisper, but one that was deep and low and long, borne out from her very soul and carried upon the black wings of despair.

For a moment the carefully compartmentalized emotions threatened to engulf her once more, sending her back into the black realms of insanity...

...but a distant, cool touch pushed them away. Kept them at bay.

Something other slowly rose up within her. Something different. Something she had professed to feel during her time in the Darker Realms...

Something then a lie. And now a truth.

A flood of warmth bubbled up, brushed past the cloying fingers of the terrors, reached out metaphorically to grasp the fingers with which her husband stroked her brow, her temple. Clung to that, fiercely.

"No," she said to the blackness which yet struggled within.

"I will not yield to you again. There is more here, more that I wish for... I am daughter of Roan, and as my father once found joy in this thing, so shall I.

"Begone, foul thing of the Night; you shall have me no more!"

Something within let forth an eerie, mournful howl of defeat...

...and flickered away into oblivion.

ShaRhylla's lids moved, jostled, opened to reveal her eerily bi-coloured eyes. The blinked blearily against the remnants of the terror, a terror which gradually faded away to be supplanted by a familiar and suddenly very dear face. A face now difficult to see for the tears now flooding her eyes.

No matter. Sight was not necessary at this moment.

"R-Rykounagin," she whispered, her lips dry and cracked. Her tongue snaked out, trying to wet them.

"I am so sorry--"

Truly, an uncharacteristic thing for the halfling to utter. But a statement coming from the heart, a heart she so suddenly was discovering that she had.

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

"It's alright my heart... you are alright now... do not fret... everything is alright, and you have no reason to be sorry." I gave her scarlet locks a last gentle stroke before turning to the small night stand, where I had placed a small basin of water should it be needed in haste.

I took a small goblet that had been left upon the table as well from some previous night of in-bed drinking, and gently dipped the side into the water to let the bottom fill with it before withdrawing it. Though it dripped slightly, I brought it to her lips gently so that she might drink and relieve her parched throat.

"It's alright..." I cooed quietly, letting her take a weak but firm grasp on the goblet so that she might drink for herself. "There you go..." I took it away gently after a moment.

"Just rest... there is no need to strain yourself for now... I am glad to know you are alright. Stay here and I shall call for servants to fetch you new clothing and bathe you so that you might be washed of the filth that the darker places bring upon those who visit them."

I held her hand gently, before rising slowly, hesitating lest there be something she needed to say before I departed.

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

In the suddenly overwhelming and quite incongruous fright that Rykounagin somehow knew, and because of that he would leave her, ShaRhylla bolted upright. Her eyes were wide and dark, the pale hand she held out to stop him trembled.

"Please, do not leave me; you do not know--"

Gulping to a momentary halt she tried to compose herself.

"It was not me," she began in a low voice.

"I am not like that; I am stronger, I am honorable, like my father, whose daughter I am--! But I am not evil, I am not that horrid blasphemy, oh Rykounagin, don't you see?

"I am not what or who you think I am! I am Roan's daughter, I am Sith, I am Dark Lady now... but I am not the madness I once led you to think I am.

"You are no betrayer..."

She fumbled to a halt, lowering her eyes to her hands which know found themselves folded in her lap. Sitting there in the tangle of bedclothes the young halfling found herself feeling more and more the daughter of her father, yet more and more that of her human mother as well.

Yet intermixed in the incongruous mix of emotions now rampaging through her was the very basic fear that all was a sham, and if the truth were really to be told she didn't know who or what she was in the least.

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

This was new. This was different.

For better or worse though? Even I could not divine. It was a definate change, for until now, she had always kept the imperious manner that even I felt rebuked upon when my gaze even met hers.

But now?

This was more honest perhaps, but totally different from how I had known her. This was not the woman I had begun to fall in love with, that I had become intoxicated with, though we had our greater differences. This was almost...

Childish; Infantile.

But I had loved her. For all her faults, even as she sat there, in shock at herself and what she had been, I had loved her. This was not the thing I had come to love, but in time perhaps... For now, I had a duty.

"It's alright my love... it's alright... rest now... I will stay..." I sat next to her, and gently pulled her into my lap, her back against my chest, letting her relax against me. "You have nothing to fear... you were manipulated and wronged... but it is no fault of yours..."

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

Images that were for the most part darker than the Night, filled with fires hotter than those issuing from Hell itself. Images that she wanted to shy away from with all of her being, but which she forced herself to watch. For there within those images of what had happened to her, were images of how she had responded to the affect.

Content to remain silent, she simply lay there, replaying back her entire life as much as she could remember it, trying to divine from the images exactly what and who she truly was.

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

Without the thing that had connected us.

Finally, after (to my best guess) an hour had passed, I gently shifted, just enough to remind her of my presence from her inner thoughts.

"I hope not to... disturb you to greatly, but even I find my own odor offensive... the stink of the place we recently inhabited is most vile, and sticks to the flesh as blood to the recently dead. Perhaps it would make you feel better to wash yourself of what remains?"

This suggestion was punctuated by anoter slight shift, adjusting her form in my arms, my gaze lifting slightly to the entrance to the fresher.

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

She had been taken, violated, violated back, gleeful with relish, the blood fresh and dark in her mouth, the flesh binding her to something beyond death--

But it was not her response. It had not been of her volition, she had not allowed this.

She was Daughter of Roan...

Somehow, the halfling found her way to the fresher, implemented it, stood lost and unfeeling beneath the rush of hot water which flooded down to remove the greasy remnants of the Darker Realms from her skin.

I am the daughter of Roan, and I allowed it to take me!

Her eyes closed at this, and she tilted her head back, letting the water rush against her face, sluice through her long and flowing locks.

I let it enter me, I was not strong--

A pause. Another, closer look.

A new memory: the blackness roiling up within Aelomir, boiling out from him in admiration as he seemed to yearn for her...

No. As he yearned for that which had taken her, which was in her but not of her.

A sudden fury engulfed her. Her eyes flew open, a great snarl tore through her lips as one hand slammed against the stones of the fresher, her pearly claws renting gashes into it.

"I am the Daughter of Roan, and will have none of this!"

All else paled. Fury, hot and righteous, rose within her heart, jostling aside the budding warmth she inherited therein from her mother.

"I shall find this Darkness and shall destroy it, for the effrontery by which it dared to mock me..."

Unknowing if she had spoken the words aloud, or if Rykounagin even heard them or knew of her thoughts, indeed, not knowing what he knew at the moment, she simply stood there in the fresher, hotness rising up in her heart, as she vowed her revenge on that which dared once accost the Dark Lady of the Warriors.

[ 05-30-2006 09:41 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by ShaRhylla ]

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

I returned with the on my arm, and laid them out on the bed. Not feeling any particular modesty at the moment, I removed the robes I had worn for nearly a day straight now, and entered the fresher behind my love.

She was beautiful, in this the way I had never seen her before. But that was not my immediate attention, for noting the fresh marks upon the wall, and the way she now held herself, it seemed some of that which was familiar to me had returned to her.

"I see you are feeling better love?" I asked, letting the water wash over me as well, shifting so that it could clean both of our flesh efficiently of the filth and grime of the darkness we had left behind.

In flesh, and in spirit.

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

Her bi-colored eyes roved up and down his frame, once, taking him in, approving.

"I am who I am, the daughter of Roan and the Dark Lady of the Warriors!" she announced with a fiery strength somewhat surprising for the depths she had momentarily sunk to during her self-scrutiny. She blinked again, suddenly reaching out to Rykounagin, taking him in a grasp that was not only fierce but was meant to confirm her relationship to him in as straightforward and spiritually clear a manner that she could convey.

"I will find this Dark Thing, and will destroy it!" she snarled before drawing him suddenly to her and bestowing upon him a kiss of a Dark Lady to her Warrior Lord.

Then she quickly released him, turned back to the rushing water, and continued to cleanse herself of the filth of the Darker Realms, both real and remembered.

[ 05-30-2006 10:10 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by ShaRhylla ]

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

Call me naive, young, or merely immature, but even I can appriciate the appearance of a female backside when presented to me. I took up one of the linen towels as she did and dabbed myself dry, taking another moment to appriciate and curse the markings upon my flesh.

Markings that I would soon erase from the universe, save for my own. I walked past her into the bedchamber connected to the fresher, and picked up the robes that had been laid out for me. I donned them, and found them to large, but soon managed to pinch the folds and knot them slightly so that it fit a bit more appropriately.

After this long period of silence, I turned to face my love and spoke again. "Tomorrow, I suppose, I shall set out on the task you assigned me before we went to darker places. Is that still what you wish? Or do you want me to stay for a time?"

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

"I believe that desire was... an erroneous one," she said smoothly.

"I believe there are going to be certain.. trials ahead that we must face; a wise General does not cut off those who might be of assistance to him at some later date now, does he?"

She smiled prettily, chewing on her lip awhile before continuing.

"Did my Father ever state what it is he wished for you, for us, to do, now that we are wed?" she asked, running a finger up and down the hilt of her sword.

"We are alive and back from the Darker Realms, and I will destroy the black thing which tried to take us, which deceived me as if I am nothing but a simple bumpkin! But it will not do to rush into things without having every bit of information at our disposal, as much as I would like to return there this minute to kill it.

"Your suggestion in this matter, my Lord?"

She smiled a beautifully vicious smile, yet caressing the hilt, and waited for his reply.

[ 06-03-2006 01:46 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by ShaRhylla ]

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

"He told us that we should make the sith strong again, and, as your current goal goes in line with, to destroy all those things that dare threaten us."

I chuckled and traced a tattoo line that ran across my jaw gently. "Perhaps a good way to get into this, would be to make sure the hunt in three days, goes well according to plan?"

I had not forgotten that the blood hunt of S'sslan was approaching, and if we did not pay proper attention to it, then we would be facing a most angry grouping of sith followers.

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

She was, after all, the daughter of Roan. She would always be as she was born: wild, fierce, a warrioress, proud of her father and her heritage and herself, proud now of her mate she had taken--

The major difference now was that she had the ability to think, a cold, calculating process which had up until recently been overwhelmed by the dark evil that had been planted within her.

"Yes, the Blood-Hunt," she mused, running a finger along one sharp and pearly fang. Moving quickly and gracefully then, she went over to the draperies behind which the entrance to their great stone balcony was hidden. Opening them with a strong movement, she went out onto the balcony, stood there a moment, the breezes riffling her hair, the soft lights of the city below reflecting in her eerie, bi-colored eyes.

"From whence shall spring many new and strong warriors," she said, then turned round to face Rykounagin, who yet stood back within the chamber. She leaned back against the stone balustrade, laying her hands upon it, now raising her face to the freshening breeze.

"My father once mentioned something to me, mentioned only once. It was briefly said, and long ago, back when I was-- when I--"

She stumbled a bit on the words before finally, with a snarl, she managed to spit them out.

"When I first became."

That was the only way she could describe her unique background, the only means by which she could try to gain Rykounagin's understanding. For odd it was indeed to be able to reach back into one's own mind, clearly and in great detail, only to run up against--

Nothing.

She shook her head, shook off the accompanying feeling of strangeness, and continued.

"He said something about Unity, of No Clan, and that the Sith would rise up as One. That is all I remember of it."

Now she turned round about, resting her elbows along the stone rail as she leaned out to contemplate the city below.

"I think that is what he wished us to do, Rykounagin. I think he desires us to continue along his path, to decimate the Three Clans as being needed no longer as separate entities, but to unite all Sith under one banner.

"And from then to rise up to the glory of what we once were. And will be again."

Whether or not Rykounagin ever knew of her awareness of Sith history, it's death and rebirth, she didn't know. To her it was common knowledge, explained to her in careful detail by her beloved father, and thus more than likely now known by all Sith.

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

I smirked just slightly, but paused. In the tiny space of time between my words, came the realization that if this dream came true, then no longer would the boundaries exist.

What would remain? A great sith empire yes, but who at the head? To think that myself and my love could control such an awesome entity, to have it at our fingertips?

A shudder slipped down my spine.

"...an army. To unite all the sith once and for all, and to solidify their great hold over the universe. It shall be a magnificent sight to see."

I turned to my love, and knealt slowly before her, looking up into the pools of her eyes, which reflected all that we already held.

"And it shall be a sight, that I shall be glad to give to you."

I bowed my head, and kissed her fingertips in the most gentle of ways as the night breeze washed over us gently, signaling not only a change in the atmosphere of the world, but in a very small way as well.

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

The word slid out against the night, a sibilant hiss to join with that of the cooling breeze as the halfling let herself simply relish the moment, the pathway ahead now so suddenly clear, the touch of Rykounagin's lips against her fingertips so suddenly soft. She stared down upon him, then reached out to lightly run one finger along his cheek.

"Yes," she repeated, this time the word uttered in a far softer voice, one a touch more gentle.

Then, the motion quick and light, she leapt back along the rail, up onto it, landing firmly, with not so much as a waver. Her knees bent as she half-crouched, the practice sword in her hand, her hair tossing in the light wind coming up from the quieting city below.

Her eyes glittered in the dimming light.

And slowly, across her features, there spread a beckoning smile.

"The day is late, and we have been through much, but I suddenly do not find myself tired, Rykounagin--"

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

Walking out onto the balcony, I smiled. "Well then, shall we?" With "honor", good graces, or even stupidity, I decided to allow her the first move, and moved into a half-crouch, assuming one of the positions I had long ago been taught for such an encounter.

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

She kissed the dense, deeply shining wood, her eyes never once leaving Rykounagin's.

"Cry havoc--!" she said in a low growl, and whipped the blade into a position up and over her head, point out, ready to either attack or defend as the case may be.

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

I was pleased to see that she easily knocked them away when they came close, or did not react if they were obvious ploys (as they all were). After a few seconds of this, I took a step back and then jumped up onto the rail. It was thin, but wide enough for good footing.

She pressed her advantage of already having been there quickly, and forced me to focus on my footwork, moving me back along the rail until my foot hit one of the small artistic supports that jutted up half a foot or so.

It was enough that I had to give pause, and spent the next twenty or so seconds fending off quick slashes and stabs from my love, who was using the advantage of my being pinned quite well.

I sought to push her back, but her stance was firm, but my mind soon found an alternative method. With her next slash, I hit hard enough to hold it, but not enough to push it back or glance it away. As I predicted and hoped, the blades with their dull edges both caught a small chip in each others sides.

The blades locked for a moment, and seizing the moment, I jumped down onto the balcony and pulled my sword back. The motion was enough to unbalance her and bring her down onto the balcony as well.

I tipped my sword slightly, then began to the dance. This time however, we circled and pressed back and forth, the blades continuing to create their dull clang until it seemed that this could become a match of endurance rather than any skill.

How do I beat someone with a sword who is so very good at defense?

I darted in and left myself open for an attack I hoped she couldn't resist. But she saw it for what it was, and instead took the moment to whirl back and riposte.

"Very nice..." I muttered, comming into my own low stance again, watching her warily. Though in all image this was merely a training match, I felt this was developing into something more. Not just a simple test of skills betwixt us, but almost like an unspoken battle for dominance, which had us at ends, our ways lit only by the lights of our people below, the warmth that in our hearts in the night air about us, which stirred with a frenzy equal to our own.

We paused for that moment, and that moment only to take a last heavy breath, before we both lunged. It seemed however, that we had both switched tacts, as our off hand left the blades and instead came out to try and strike at each other, to distract or at least throw the other off balance.

But they met in midair, and suddenly both hands and blades were locked.

"Not bad, not bad at all!" I grunted, trying to force the blade in her direction to no avail. She did not respond however, but it was there in the firey depths of her eyes. We held again, and I felt her begin to push away.

No no, not like that! It's over now!

I began to spin in towards her as she jumped back, and ducked down as she made a broad swing at head-height that likely would have put a scar across my right temple, and would have left me unconcious for a day. But even I was quicker than that.

As I came down under, I grabbed at her ankle and found that she had been about to lift it anyway, a fortune for me as I jerked it up, throwing her off balance.

My sword arm came down and met her blade, forcing it downwards to the ground, where with a triumphant inner cry, I brought my own foot down on its center, snapping the blade.

Then in the hot and sudden flurry, there we were. With my love on her back, one hand pressed firmly against her collarbone next to her throat to pin, the tip of the dull blade at her heart, my own legs kneeling beside her.

We stared at each other for a long moment, almost thoughtless but at the same time a maelstrom of it raging within. Suddenly my hand slid from her collarbone behind her head, the other moving the blade to toss it across the balcony as I lifted her head to force her lips to meet mine in a savage kiss.

As I broke it, I smiled. "There. I think you shall find your lord satisfied."

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

Then she laughed, wiggled free one hand, laced the fingers about the back of Rykounagin's head and pulled his lips down to hers once more. For oddly enough, to be beaten by one so strong, who in turn had come to her, made her feel stonger than ever in turn.

The weak adhere to the weak, and the warrior to the warrior!

Her fingers coiled in his hair then, pulling his head back; a smile played about her lips.

"Well done, my Lord," she said, still panting from their little altercation, something feral swelling within her. Her smile broadened, revealed her fangs for a moment, then unexpectedly softened.

"But the night waxes; it is time for even the owners of the galaxy to rest.

"Tomorrow is another day."

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

I arose slowly as not to disturb the beauty from its rest, and walked out to the balcony. The sun was rising on the horizon, sending a streak of light out over the city and awaking many of its occupants. Whom I rule over, and whom shall soon not be the only ones.

The echo of a word seemed to whisper into my ear as the thought sent a shudder through my body. "A union..." I let out a quiet whisper of the word, almost looking into the sun before turning back to our chambers. Again, I took a moment to survey that which was before me.

The lavish furs and rugs that lay about upon the warm stone gave a strong impression of that which I had already begun to know, begun to come fond of. However, a thing more interesting to me was the figure of my love who still lay beneath the covers, sleeping as I percieved it, quite soundly.

I crossed back to the bed, and sat down upon the covers, bending slightly to rest upon my palms. I looked over her bronzed flesh, scarlet hair contrasting strongly upon it, playing over her face almost delicately as I pulled it back gently with a fingertip.

I smiled and kissed her cheek softly. "Time to awake my love... another day of ruling the sith has come to you..." I murmured, smiling still faintly as I watched her stir at my voice, awaking slowly.

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

Then, the movement equally catlike, she was instantly wide awake and sitting upright, refraining from her usual leap from bed by the presence of Rykounagin. She blinked at him, sharply aware of myriad small aches hither and yon across her body from their little swordplay of the night before. Not that the discomfort of the tiny wounds angered or dismayed her; no, far be it from that.

They were instead considered somewhat along the lines of being badges of honor, won fairly upon the field of battle, even if that field was nothing more than shadow feint.

"Good morning to you as well, my Lord," she replied sweetly enough, although her tone of voice belied the simplicity of the words. Saying nothing further, she merely tossed her head to one side, flipping her tousled locks from about her face as she remained upright in her bed, pinning Rykounagin with a look so steady as to border upon the insolent.

[ 06-20-2006 11:45 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by ShaRhylla ]

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

Grimacing as another combat stim enters his bloodstream, Dat takes a few more steps before stopping to return the used stimpack to the medical kit. Last one, he thinks as he stows the kit in its place among his voluminous robes. He resumes his trek through the dense jungle, shrugging his carbine's strap back onto his shoulder and tightening his grip on his force pike, moving as quietly and unobtrusively as he can toward the ships. After two days of sustained hiking, however, even his combat-hardened physique is showing signs of strain. As is his mind, his focus wandering away from the present...

Dat wakes to full awareness without knowing why, instinctively reaching for his blaster carbine. His grip tightens, then relaxes as he realizes that there's no immediate direct threat. A faint sound reaches his ears, but it's hard to tell exactly what it is. Still, his nerves are on edge, nagging distress lingering at the back of his mind. Working his way into his armor, he ponders his next move...

The miles bleed together into one long, painful stride, leaning on his force pike for support as he makes his way up a gentle rise toward what appears to be a break in the trees. A noise off to his right brings him to a sudden stop, dropping the force pike and bringing the blaster carbine to bear. Nothing.. he decides after a few moments of waiting, expectant. An animal... His awareness has been dulled a bit by the constant stress of being alone in potentially hostile territory, exhausted to the edge of his endurance. Yet he continues onward, his mind drifting away again...

Helmet in place, robes falling around him, Dat makes his way down the corridor, trying to project an air of nonchalant purpose. First stop, the room where Shawn was quartered. Empty, but it hasn't been for long. And he left hurriedly as well. More and more unnerved, Dat searches the area, trying to find any sign of the other members of the party. He is ultimately unsuccessful. That nagging unease blossoming into concern, he heads toward the main entrance of the Temple, then outside...

The trees part at the top of the hill and relief fills Dat's mind, the dull metal of the ships gleaming dimly. Ignoring the fighter for now, he boards the freighter. The first thing he notices, of course, is the lack of illumination or any of the usual noises or indicators that were normal on a modern space vessel. He tugs a glow rod from his belt, activating it and surveying the ship. Essential components are missing; power conduits and auxiliary generators in particular. And not just auxiliary generators, either. The main power generation equipment for the ship has been removed rather crudely, sliced cables and sheared bolts in clear evidence. After an exhaustive examination he finds that no power sources are left aboard. The unease grows even stronger in his mind as he slumps into the pilot's seat, setting the glow rod on the console...

Dat hikes in a relatively-straight line for a few miles, not making any particular effort to evade pursuit, then makes a sharp change in course, exercising all of his training to minimize any sign of his passage, all the while knowing that he's at a tremendous disadvantage. Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, he takes his bearings and then begins a meandering, seemingly random walk toward the ships... or where he hopes the ships are...

The glow rod burns dimly on the console, its power cell nearly exhausted. Dat rummages in his pack for a replacement power cell, stopping in mid-motion, holding the fresh cell in his hands. Dropping it to the deck, he dashes to the communications console, removing the maintenance cover and tracing the main power lines. He carefully cuts the cables, then reaches behind him for his force pike. After a moment's work, the enhanced power cells fall into his hand. A faint hope beats back the foreboding in his mind as he patches the high-capacity cells into the system. The panel's indicators begin to glow dimly as Dat clambers up, toggling switches and controls. Not enough power for a normal transmission, but... He touches a few more controls, smiling to himself as he completes the sequence of commands. He is rewarded for his efforts by a barely-audible tone from the console, and one amber indicator in the upper-right corner...

EMERGENCY LOCATOR ACTIVE

He settles back into the pilot's chair again, toggling the glow rod off and sitting in the darkness, staring at the bulkhead...

[ 06-25-2006 07:53 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Dat Cyprios ]

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

"Officer on Deck!" he called out, letting his hands then play about his controls as the origin of the bleeps was actively sought out. He didn't hear the Deck Officer come up behind him so much as he felt him; nodding toward his console he opened without preamble.

"I have received an unexpected transmission from the sunward planet of this system, Sir," he announced, nodding toward the board yet again. The DO merely grunted, placed a gloved hand on the steely black surface of Bho'Zhrr's station and leaned upon it as he studied the blips.

He too nodded then, rising effortlessly and silently.

"So I see, Lieutenant," he commented softly. "Have you traced the source?"

"Yessir."

The Lieutenant whirled in his seat, taking a moment to recheck his figures before plunging confidently into his report.

"It's coming from a YT-2400, Sir; how it came to be lost in this misbegotten sector--"

"That will be enough, Lieutenant," his ranking officer interrupted smoothly. Then--

"Send an encrypted acknowledgment, tight beam and scrambled. If the sender is who I believe it to be... or one of several, he should have the wherewithal to decode it. If not--"

He straightened, tugged at his uniform and adjusted his cover.

"General Tarnus will decide what is the most appropriate course of action in that case."

He paused a moment longer.

"Send any reply to the General's ready room," he ordered before he whirled on his heel and swiftly departed the bridge of the massive Super Star Destroyer.

[ 06-25-2006 09:33 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by The Empire ]

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