“First, bullying me will get you nowhere,” he said. “Second, Miss Mitra is not my employer, per se, but a financial backer and comrade in the fight against the Empire, a tyrannical conqueror imposing its way of life upon the galaxy through the guise of bringing forced peace to all. Third, I am at a loss to explain you imprisonment, but I have had no reason to doubt the sincerity and motives of Miss Mitra. There must have been a reason for it, are you absolutely sure you did not try to encroach upon a secured section? As for Thea, again, I have no reason to suspect any foul play, she was tired, she was given a bed. If you would have stayed longer you would have seen this happen.”

Bon sighed.

“I am sure you operate on sort of intuition,” he continued. “Having experienced this strange phenomena first hand myself, I cannot cast doubt upon its validity. However, I cannot take your intuition as hard fact, either. The facts of this mission are simple: I extended an invitation to you to accept a job. Those who wished to stay were given quarters. No contracts have been signed, no currency has changed hands, and all are free to depart. However, since these names apparently do mean something to you, then it would behoove you to accept my proposition and join with me, expanding the scope of this mission to find both my artifacts and your people. If the Empire is also searching for these items, there would be no stopping them if they succeed.”

Bon sighed again.

This was no good, no good at all. What was with this guy's adamancy in disbelieving a Jedi, fer pity's sake, who was standing right under his furry little nose telling him what had happened?

I mean, c'mon here; is it normal SOP to blast a suspect, slam him away in a dark room, without so much as a chance to explain himself? No inquiry? Just -- Poof -- stick him away to rot and go nighty-night?

The hairs on the back of my neck raised up in full force.

"I don't think so. Not without my backup, pal!" I growled. Then before I could stop myself, I yanked my blaster out of its holster and slammed it down on Bun-Bun's fuzzy little noggin. He dropped like a proverbial stone.

"Tie him up, and stash him someplace!" I hissed, keeping my voice low. Then--

"Link, now's your chance."

I nodded toward the place in the wall where the stone looked different.

"I don't think that doorway's broken at all, it sure looks fixed to me, doesn't it guys? Link, get yer sweet lil bod over there and find that control panel, and slice us into that base!

"And Jedi--"

I turned to Jebbua, who was standing a little back, quite unable to keep the I told you so look off of his face.

"Keep sensing, or whatever it is you guys do. You said there's a bubble of blankness in there, or something like that; I'm willing to bet Thea's in the middle of it."

I paused, shot a glance all around, and drew in a breath.

"We slice in, follow Jebbua's nekky-nose, snatch the kid, and skedaddle. If things get rough, well then, so do we."

I waved my blaster for good measure.

"After we get Thea out of there we go find our missing friends. I've got the general position in space; we should be able to figure out where it is. I think our little padawan will change her mind about going willingly with us, when she understands that your missing Jedi, the one she wanted to get back to so badly, is more than likely going to be found with all the other missing peeps."

That drew a couple frowns; I flashed a smile.

"Call it another hunch; now, let's go!

"You're up, Link!"

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I started feeling around the wall looking fo anything to let me gain access. It didn't take long for me to locate the control panal, and even less time for me to find an access point. I took one of my computer access ports and plug it into the control panel.

"Ok I'm in now to open the door."

The computer code started to appear on my visor, for most people its to complex to understand but I had been working with it for years. With the slightest movement of my hands the gloves interpreted these as commands and maniplulated the code until I got the desired effect. After 30 seconds or so of slicing the wall opened and gave us the way in. I took my computer access port out of the control panel and turned to the rest of the group.

"And here is our way in."

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Even in her drugged state, she wasn't used to being so alone.

[ 06-05-2006 02:57 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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[ 06-05-2006 03:01 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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I smiled grimly, adjusted my grip on my blaster, stepped forward into the doorway, peered down the passageway ahead. Well I remembered our earlier entrance; then we hadn't moved too far along it before Thea had taken off into a room close to us, announcing her presence and life's ambition to a complete stranger.

It also hadn't taken long for the hairs to start standing up on my neck then, either.

Which they were doing now.

"C'mon," I whispered, moving as quietly as I could into the dimness ahead of us, for the lighting had been obviously muted for the night.

"Let's see if we can find where Thea is; Jeb, you sense anything anywhere? Or not, as the case might be?"

[ 06-04-2006 05:02 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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...and slitted her eyes at the information it displayed. The front door--the not completely repaired front door--was standing wide open. And the back passageway door had also been opened and was now closed. Smoothly, gracefully, Cardissa slid out of the bed and her feet touched the floor to automatically slide into soft nerfskin slippers. She stood, wrapping a crimson spidersilk nightrobe around herself...

...and pulling a small, elegant blaster from her nightstand. She slipped from her room, closing the greelwood door behind her. Not hearing any blatant motion, she quietly eased her way down the hallways, towards the front door that was gaping open. After all, this most certainly did not fit the status quo.

As she continued to proceed forward, she did hear whispering voices however, in the passageway just beyond, the passageway which lead to the "front door" so to speak.

Cardissa paused where she was, not moving futher, and cocked her head slightly to listen.

It was the voice of the one with the little Jedi girl, she was almost certain of it. Where was Foyagee...?

Cardissa frowned, gripping her blaster more tightly, her eyes turning impossibly darker...

...and then a thought came to mind. Lowering the blaster, she simply waited...

...and kept her ears attuned to anything further that might be said or done.

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I froze, waved frantically at the others, trying to shush them up without saying anything further, straining my ears as hard as I could. For a long moment all remained silent, the strange, oppressive kind of silence only the tiniest hours of the dead night can bring--

And then there it came again.

Every nerve cell rippled, the hairs on my arm stood up. It wasn't much of a sound, the smallest, slightest nuance of a sound, almost the very thought of a sound.

But a sound nevertheless. Soft, silken, a sleek little rustle of noise in an otherwise dearth of it.

And in case I missed it the first time, it was repeated.

Not wanting to say anything aloud, I just stood there, half-crouched, one hand holding my blaster at the ready, the other one holding the others back from speaking.

My heart lodged somewhere between my stomach and my throat.

Dammit, give me a good fast ship and a back door outta here! I grumbled silently to myself. I never did like subterfuge, it just wasn't my forte.

[ 06-04-2006 08:46 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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And maybe it was at that.

Wide-eyed, he looked to where Yaoksi was crouching and everyone else was standing frozen.

Awww, heck, but this wasn't going to work. Sooner or later, if someone was around that corner, they were going to come the rest of the way around the corner.

Where was Thea? Where was everyone else?

Aaron frowned...

...but an idea surfaced. The motion totally silent, he switched his blaster to the other hand, and reached a finger to his wristcomm. Keyed in something very quickly, and sent it squirting off along a very, very secure pathway in hopes for a fairly quick response. Then he switched the blaster back to his dominant hand.

If those symbols of the Blueberry's were charts to any of the distant planets Aaron knew of, he already had their coordinates on hand, back aboard the Hornett...

[ 06-04-2006 11:48 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aaron Barnes ]

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I procced to the corner and with a snap-hiss I had mt lightsaber centimeters from Cardissa Mitra's face.

"Put the blaster down and no one will get hurt." I said to her and then without taking my eyes from her I called out to the others.

"Hey guys, I think i just captured some one we were just talking about." I smiled as they came running over.

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He was out cold, but at least he was safer in here. Nothing was going to come between me and a new ship, dang it! I wasn’t sure what was going on, but Yaoksi sure was mad about something. Could it have been the kid? Did he tell the blue guy to get her, and he refused? If so, why? Ah heck, I didn’t know. I just wanted him alive so I could get my ship, do this job, and be on my way.

Yeah, OK, thoughts of Cardissa jumped into my head about then… wow, I was on first name basis with her? I shook my head to clear it and waited. If there was blaster fire going to happen, I wanted to be away from it.

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Sheesh, how could that guy move so fast--?

I didn't waste any more time in committee wondering about it. Sending Aaron a look, I girded my proverbial loins and took off, soon rounding the corner, blaster first, to find Jebbua standing there, a smug but somehow displeased look on his face, his lightsaber smack in the face of the prettiest woman I've seen in a long time.

I blinked again, feeling my jaw drop. Then I got a grip on myself.

"I'm here for the girl," I said, wincing at how melodramatic that sounded, but the tip of my blaster never wavered from her pretty little pert nose.

Oh well, no more melodramatic than our nontraditional entrance in the wee hours of the morning...

[ 06-05-2006 12:29 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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Cardissa batted her dark eyes, her look reading surprise and shock. She offered her blaster out to whomever would take it, playing the part well.

"I...I was alerted to the doors being open. i thought we had been found..."

She trailed, then continued with, "It's two in the morning...the child sleeps. Would it ease your mind to see her?"

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For a moment I wondered what brought on such a vehement response in me. Then I realized:

She was being too shocked. Too soft and helpless. Too...

Nice.

And nobody is nice when unknown people break into their illegal bases in the wee hours of the morning!

My eyes darkened.

"Yeah, lady, I want to see her. I want to take her with me; she came with me, er us... I mean, there's someone who came here with us who's still here, I mean he's not here now--

"Oh, Hell's Seven Circles, I just need to take Thea home where she belongs!"

Ranting? Me? Bet yer sweet hiney, babe. This day had already been too, too long for my tastes.

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Then realizing I could just do it myself.

I picked her up and placed her on her feet.

"Take us to Thea." I pushed her with my free hand to get her going and then leaned back to wisper to Yaoski.

"Once we get close I won't be able to use all my jedi powers because of the ysalmiri so it willmostly be up to you guys to watch her with your blasters."

I leaned back forhead.

"Let's go now. I nudged her gently with the force.

"So far the plan wasn't going that bad as I thought it would.

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Then, without anything further, Cardissa lead the little group--so full of its own self-righteousness in her opinion--to Thea's room. Keyed in the lock code that opened the door.

"Thea?" she called softly into the room. "Soimeone is here for you, to take you," she said simply. "I know you wanted to stay but it's really best..."

She trailed and waited...

...a dark portion of her really angry that not a soul on her base seemed to be aware of what was going on but her...

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"Keep an eye on her," I hissed, nodding toward Cardissa. Then I simply walked past her and entered the room Thea had been given.

She lay on the bed, looking lost, fragile. Sweat beaded her pale brow, and her eyes flickered beneath their lids in a terrible parody of REM sleep.

It was as if she was having nightmares or something; my heart ached, ached more so as a little ghost traipsed up from somewhere in the deep recesses of my unconscious, gloating and chiding me for what I'd done to her.

She belongs with her family! I yowled back, suddenly enraged. Who I was so angry with, I didn't know.

Or simply didn't want to face.

Later, later--

"Thea, honey--?"

Gently I knelt at the bedside, reached a hand out, one that only ceased its trembling when it laid atop her sweat-slicked brow. She didn't move, didn't budge, didn't make a single sound.

She just slept on, her eyes moving back and forth underneath the lids in a manner that sent chills up and down my spine.

"Thea?"

I shook her a little, then a little harder.

Nothing. No movement. No awakening. Just those rolling eyes.

The chill grew to glacial proportions. Snarling, I yanked back the covers and scooped her slender form up into my arms. One of her own fell limply from her chest to dangle toward the floor, taking with it something she had been clutching to her.

Her bag. And where was her lightsaber, the one she had built and was so proud of?

A glance toward her bag only proved it wasn't there. Neither was it anywhere within casual visual range. Cradling her utterly limp body against me, I patted about the bedclothes, tossing the pillow aside, sweeping the flat of my hand along the sheets. finally pulling the entirety off the bunk, then, grunting, shoving the mattress itself off of the frame.

Nothing.

I scowled futher, laid her on the bared mattress, and ran a quick but thorough search of the room.

She would never be parted from that damned lightsaber, not as much as she considers herself a Jedi. Or one wantint further training.

Everyone knows a Jedi is never parted from his or her lightsaber.

At length I gave up, returned to the slumbering child and hoisted her in my arms again. Exited the room and came to a stop in front of the woman.

"She won't wake up; what have you done?" I hissed, motioning to Aaron and Jebbua that it was time to leave even as the words shot out of my mouth.

[ 06-05-2006 07:21 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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But I had always been a light sleeper. After a few minutes of the sounds, the slight vibration of deep voices attempting to be quiet humming in through the wall, I got up. Who, aside from prettyboy, has a conversation in the middle of the night in the middle of a hall and in the room next to mine? I didn't think anyone was there.

I picked the dissuader up, checked the slide habitually, and moved to the door. On a whim, I did not open it by control, but set it to manual and eased it open just a crack so I could hear what was going on outside.

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Well, perhaps he hadn't gotten to teach him quite well enough...

Just as Aaron was thinking this, his commlink vibrated miniscuely on his wrist so that only he would be aware of something incoming. Never letting go of his blaster, Aaron glanced down at the commlink, moving only slightly to punch the "accept text message" feature.

Upon the comlink's small screen, coordinates for a pair of planets scrolled. Ever the technician that he truly was, Aaron matched them with his fairly good working memory of the symbols Bon had scratched on that sheet of paper.

Suspicion confirmed.

Looking up from where he'd barely been looking to his wristcomm, Aaron muttered quietly to Yaoksi, hoping he'd hear. "Yaoksi...coordinates..."

He trailed, not wanting to say too much in front of this suspicious lady, suddenly becoming even more wary of what was going on. His grip tightened on his blaster even as he began to move carefully at Yaoksi's obvious unspoken suggestion, and he scanned the area hoping the Jedi had the sense to back away from what he may not be able to sense to what he could sense. After all, a ysalamiri bubble only spanned about 10 meters, and Aaron was well aware of their capabilities considering an employee of his still had a little farm of them despite his absence from the Hornett.

[ 06-05-2006 10:39 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aaron Barnes ]

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...and I would have done everything to grant her that. You would take her from what she wants so dearly? If she is the gifted Force-user that she believes, and if you truly believe her as well...

...shouldn't you be giving her the chance?"

Cardissa paused, her black eyes arrowing into Yaoksi's. "She is a child who will grow to be a strong young woman someday. It would be a shame to have the talents of that strong young woman go to waste..."

Quieting with that, Cardissa merely stood motionless, her mind going back years to the day her Father had begun instilling in her a Destiny that her Mother had been denied to even know of. Of a Destiny her Grandmother had also not been allowed to take part in.

Men always beware of the woman, the one who is strong and able. Her Father had been the only one who was truly wise...

...and these men, well, perhaps they were wise in only one thing. They were wary of the possibilities this little girl had, if she were brought up in jut the right manner. In her manner. Nevermind the manipulation that would be behind it all...

Cardissa's black eyes snapped alert, her look only for the smuggler once more. She suspected what he would do, but then, she was never one to assume anything...

[ 06-05-2006 10:58 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Cardissa Mitra ]

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Good luck with that, sister!

Con point one to her.

Here we come along, looped in by Bluebird and his strangely yammering eloquence, and in the doing a totally confused little girl traipses to said lady, spilling her guts about her Jedi dreams... all to a total stranger? And then it's, "oh sure honey, have a seat?" Not, "who's with you, dear," or "where did you come from?" I mean, I hadn't heard anything much other than that as I was backpaddling my way out of here.

Hmmm... con point number two to her, maybe a half to us, just for being there.

Jebbua, for whatever reason, doesn't come back with us, stays here instead, winds up knocked out and imprisoned. A pretty tough accomplishment for a lady, considering he's a Jedi, rogue or not. The way I figure, you gotta be a jedi first in order to go rogue, so--

That earned a full point and a half con to her.

Ok, now we come slicing back into her base -- her illegal base, remember that Yaoksi! -- in the wee hours of the morning. Maybe pro points to us as far as the Impys would view it, but from her angle, ok. Let's go a full point con to us.

And now Thea won't wake up...

It set every hair on my head to standing upright, no matter how pretty this lady was, no matter how gracious she appeared. In fact, that just struck me as too, too weird; again, nobody is gracious under the circumstances she was.

"Don't worry about her education, lady; we'll get it taken care of. We just happen to be associated with jedi ourselves, several of them in fact; see? One came along with us now, remember him?"

I jerked a thumb over my back to Jebbua, who smiled not so sweetly to her.

I shook my head.

"Time's a-wasting here; let's go. And lady, you're coming with us.

"Call it insurance."

I nodded for someone to grab her, all the while keeping my blaster trained on her pretty face, right between the eyes.

[ 06-05-2006 01:00 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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Fortunately for someone, the weapon was still on stun, and Aaron didn't have quite enough of a good area to shoot towards. The blaster shot bounced off the cracked door with a resounding thunk. The movement stopped.

Aaron grabbed Cardissa. "Let's get the hell out of here," he whispered to Yaoksi. "Fast. I think we're being watched."

And with that he was on the move, weapon in hand, woman in hand.

Nevermind she wasn't wearing anything but nightclothes...

[ 06-05-2006 01:13 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aaron Barnes ]

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"Get that damned blaster to her head!" I hissed, and watched while he shifted it.

"Nothing personal, sweetheart; let's just say I'm all on edge from no sleep, too much caf, and a lack of food."

And Rico and Stern are still here, somewhere...

Cardissa safely covered, we began moving swiftly back the way we had come, as quietly as we could.

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...them? You would take me from my home, not even fully clothed...? Tell me you have never suspected this grand Empire with their big guns, their blockades..."

She paused, still forced to keep walking by Barnes. "...and their Reborn?"

[ 06-05-2006 01:26 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Cardissa Mitra ]

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I carried him on my shoulder, light as he was, and closed the door behind me. I really felt bad about leaving, but I had to protect my investment and I didn’t have my blaster with me anyway. I’d come back for Cass, as soon as I put Bluebell somewhere safe.

I was just passing the other door, the fixed one, when I heard blaster fire. I stopped and backed up against the wall next to the open door. I bent down, grimaced, and picked up a piece of wood to use as a club if I had to.

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