Lumbia stretched his legs apart, slamming them into the fenching stance, as his lightsaber rose vertically across his face, with the tip facing his enemy. The following seconds were pigeonholed as a time of silence. Taehun continued with the traditional circular motioning around his antagonist until he came to a horziontal path of the Light Sided beings eyes and rushed forward in a daring overhead slash. Once against hte blades collided together with a in ruthiless hissing sound burning through the the vibration. The green blade and the one of red flung their lights along the area, spreading along the surface, exposing the inner self. Green: the descion light to become a Jedi Knight. A path of incredible dangers, and weilding more then a lightsaber-but many other beings within your actions. Red: the path of a Dark Side Jedi, filled with the hatred, anger, fear and aggression. Dark Jedi Knight fighting only to destroy, and not rebuild societies as the Jedi Knight's had done. Making the life of others painful, and gorged with terrior. This battle was once for DATOR's control, but it now had became a fight to unbalance the balance of society. Darkness vs Light, a battle that wouldn't ever end until everyone that weilded the endless sleep.

Throwing each other back, as they understood the collision of the blades was nothing but a block in their fight, they came back again. In a glut grace whirl of movements, the collision of blades came once again, but in a faster pace. Throwing the lightsaber upward and downward, unbalancing each other's attacks to defensive, then offensive. A game of ping-ball, only going back and forth as they moved each other toward the walls of the ship's interior.

A sudden stop came, with a Force Pull, moving his combatant comptetior forward, and slicing at his shoulder blade frontier. Nearly hitting the bone, blood excerted upon the surface as the Jedi Knight came to a stummble.

"Nice.." The Jedi Knight suprisingly complimented the pain gorging attack,as he rushed forward to continue the fight with both hands on the hilt of the blade. Once again the motion of their bodies are their graceful motions kept twirling in circular motion, and backwarding and forwarding at each other-the battle went on. THe intense heat of the blades could be felt breathing on both their face as it crossed each other's face, and collided. Throwing sparks horridiously along the area, rushing from the scene of the crime-the crime continued on. The countering sided blades gracefully motioned to left, and right with the hand construction and action of the hilt many times performing small slices, and near limb-seperation with the help of their incredible lightsaber performence. Suddenly the exceretion of a Force Push came once more from the Dark Sided adversary. Pushing the being toward the ramp, he rolled along the surface between the Rebel defense, and came to a fall.

"Come in Rebel warriors." He commanded, with the following of their motion up the ramp, intetionally kicking the Dark Jdi Knight, as they headed into the interior, hiding from the unignited blade of the lightsaber, which had been extinguished because of the inability to keep it on with his unwilling roll down the ramp. Major Carlos followed them, weilding his gun that he had picked up earlier in the fight just for defensive manners. The pilot quickly rushed to the frontier of the ship, and began launch, heading off the planet's atomsphere, heading toward the heavens where the blockade resided. Sepearting with the previous commands of allowing the Rebels to exit, they headed out of the ambiance of the planet, and yet again within the enviroment of space.

Lumbia took one glance toward the Major, allowing his lips to curl into a sly, yet concerned smile, before he began the tour to the frontier of the ship where the pilot resided. The Major followed, curtiously wondering what he would command, or clam to the pilot. The Major came to a stop, after the thumping of his feet on the hallow surface, glazing at Lumbia, awaiting his vocal cords to exsert human speech.

"I would like you to direct us toward Endor. Set us down far from the village areas, we will need to reside there and rest so I can tell you about the mischevious plans that-" Lumbia came to an abrupt cease, as his iris sliced along the whiteness of his eye, and glared at Major. Probing his mind, his lips curved back into a confident smirk, and stared back down at the pilot, restarting his speech, "-I have heard the DATOR do. I dont think the Major, or the Republic would want to deal with a team such as this. But now I can not tell you, for I need my own rest." Lumbia came to a sheer stop in his voice, and headed slowly toward the crates that he had prevously fought at. Setting himself slowly downward, he came into a meditation enthroned positioned. Crossing his legs over the other, he slowly hovered over the surface, as his eyes came to a cease, and were hidden behind the lids. Meditating, he heard the sounds of commotion about him, as he began healing his wounds and resting silently in this state.

"It'll take about a full day before we arrive." The pilot said, and that was the last word that Lumbia could ever grasp in the meditation state, before the smile curved along his face, breaking the firm stature of it. Resting in the peaceful zone he sunk into his soul, once again potrolling for the vil to arise, and then attack it before it sunk into him as a virus...

Lumbia awoke from his peaceful slumber, coming to a landing from his hovering over the surface. In his Indain seating position, he came to a stand gradually, opening his shut eyes. Glaring at the sun that shimmered from the heavens, and peaked through the windows, he heart the sound of chirping birds, and the feet of the fleet excorting each other out the ship, conversating to each other.

Motioning forward, Lumbia began his trail down the ramp, as he watched the Fleet wash up the traditional fash in the lake. Smirking at the enjoyment he caused by his mission fight with Taehun, he continued he motion to a stomp, so he could tell of the story he had featured. The one of DATOR's plan, and how he knew.

"And I thought Corellia was beautiful..." he whispered. His eyes still fixed on the beautiful scenery, the rebel followed the Jedi. As he walked, he called to his comrades behind him.

"You may address me as Jedi Knight Lumbia Whitefeild...or you may call me Lumbia. Now get your Rebel Fleet, I must tell them all of this dire situation." Lumbia's eyes drenched along the scene before him, organizing his thoughts of his past expirences on N'hreal. Attempting to create a source of seriousness amoungst the area; as they all crowded around- circling the stomp he sat so comfortablly upon-he calmed his face into a mouth line of grandeur.

"This bane situation that I speak of about DATOR is probably worst then the Imperail. They home a power of Droids which will attempt to overtake all of the galaxy of the control. In the process they will kill you and the Imperail. They will be the only power, and that'd be final."

Lumbia yielded voice came to a cease, as he lingered backward-his lips maturing into a smile that he couldn't hold back. He scanned the quater, inserting all the reacted faces to hsi speech into his mind, for safe keeping before he restarted.

"I offer you my power, in return youhelp me on a goal of my own. I want to bring back order to Yavin, and as you know, is blockaded. I would hope to have you lend yourself in a fight. If we tear through their blockade we will succesfully be able to recruit more Jedi, and build our force to a much higher level. Their Reborn fleet will not have a chance against a fleet of True Jedi. After a month on the rest planet, and recruiting-we will finally be prepared for the fight to conquer the Imperail."

His voice once again came to a cease, shifting his eyes with the twitch of his brain from side-to-side, gazing at the faces that exposed puzzlement, or disagreement. Before they could open their mouths, his voice once again avowed loudly, and sternly.

"You may ask how we could have such power to defeat a blockade or defense of the magnitude of the Imperail. We gain allies of planets. Help them in their mission, and they will to ours. As you all may know, Urika my home planet need a great amount of rice and other foods, which the war with Ruirka is now mostly about. Their army is very feirce in Teskan Art, if we do this, we will gain their trust and help. They could surley help us int his war on ground. If we can import them upon the surface, they could take out enough Reborn's for me to get to the Praxuem Base."

Lumbia's lip curved into a sly smile, as he thought of the Praxuem Base-knowing he didn't have the immeditate directions, but the task to get those wouldn't be hard at all, if he went through the right process. Clutching his fist and slamming it down as the chatter began, becconing their attetion, he once again resumed.

"Along with their army, we can gain trust of the Ewoks here, and attain some of their melee weaponary. We will give these melee weapons to our Teskan Artist of Urika, giving us more of a edge in combat. Giving that I know a bit of Ewok, I think I can talk them into a alligence. Another army which is essentail to tearing through their blockade is the planets that we have helped thorought the time the Republic was strong...So is their any questions?"

After awhile, the rebel laughed. "Alright, I'm in. We still have that freighter's blockade codes in its databanks, and a workable comm system. But...there is something I want from all this."

"I wouldn't suggest underestimate me. We will have an enormous amoung of ships my friend. Dont think the Mind Trick of the Jedi comes in handy, hmmm?"

He stated, crossing the path of the Major's mind, as he only nodded back with his lips curling into a smirk. Quickly the linkage broke, and Lumbia replied

"Of Course, but I suggest we land on their moon before we completely attack. I dont think they have a blockade around that planet, and it'll give us a change to see how their blockade shift is organized."

The young lieutenant came to a stiffly-saluted halt before Admiral Actar, not daring to move or shift his eyes from where they were fixed on a place somewhere off to the left side of his head. Actar gave a brief returning salute, and looked at him with quiet meaning.

"Yes, Lieutenant," was all he said and then became quiet to hear what the young man would say.

The lieutenant straightened further. "Sir!" he said crisply. "We have received an incoming transmission from the old Imperial post on Endor. It would seem..."

In a smooth rush of words he proceeded to inform the Admiral of goings on regarding a planet which was one of the highest concerns of Actar, and coming from, of all places, the least.

Actar frowned when he finished, then dismissed him. He then called up Swatzi on his personal comm, and passed the information along that he had heard, ending with orders succinct and clear.

"Send an additional full garrison of Reborn to Yavin IV, and a full wing of Blackline, but have them lay low. In the meantime, sweep up the Jedi there, and send them to--"

On the other end, Swatzi nodded as the orders came into his ears. At length Actar fell silent, and Swatzi only nodded once again.

Then, "It shall be as you order, Admiral," he replied and closed the commlink.

In moments more, the orders were given.

And in a matter of mere hours, completely carried out... and in the greatest of secrecy.

"Excuse me, but exactly who are you?" Lumbia cogitate, staring at the lady who only stared back with her sly green eyes, crossed with anger.

She fell silent until a quick screech came from her voice, and the sound of feet could be heard sprouting about the fleet. Rushing from side to side, they were all attired in similar fits, and of different sexs. Flooding around like water, they all put up their melee weapons, pointing them toward their adversaries.

"I dont want to be rude, but I may ask again-who are you?" He inquired suprisingly calmer then hte previous once, and in a near whisper.

"Someone that will kill you if you move any closer." She replied, her voice stern-showcasing her strong feminine personality. She digged her foot into the ground, and threw up a spear. Whirling it around in her palm she pointed the end toward the face of the man.

"Dont move..." She simply stated.

The Jedi didn't aprove,and he quickly flinched to show his disagreement, and before she could strike he leaped over, placing his foot on her head, and shifting his momentum into her. Throwing her toward the ground, digging her face through the dirt he slide along the ground.

"Fleet, move into the ship, and attempt to avoid all attacks. I feel a disturbance in the force. It is flowing through my veins like the Force itself. Put the Coordinates to Kashyyyk ." Lumbia commanded, as the Major and its fleet picked up its laid weapons and shot. Aiming past the humanoids, they scattered away-adventuring out of harms way.

Lumbia rushed forward toward the woman who still was left off balance, attempting to regain it. Kicking the spear from her hand, he stepped on it, crunching it under his feet. Interjecting an enormous amount of the Force within the strenght of his feet, he projected himself into the heavens. Falling on the heaven-heading ship, he placed his feet on the ramp as it came into a close. Sliding along the ground, he stared at the others. As the ship headed toward the planet, Lumbia smirked at the window at the girl who screeched out, and went diving into the water, heading back to their orgination.

Rathal leaned back in the co-pilot seat of the vessel, and fixed Aaron with a 'you must be kidding me' look. What the hell did he look like the com number directory. Rathal scowled, but quickly corrected himself, there was money on the line here. Smiling indulgently at Aaron Rathal said, "Why don't you tell me who this Davidov is and why he cant't be readily found. That should be good enough for starters. Then I'll see what I can do in the way of tracking him down, sir." Jonovar allowed a hint of smugness to sneak into his smile.

The guy is right under your nose, remember? If you are gonna use his skills in all this, you are eventually going to have to tell him some things. Then watch him like a hawkbat. That's the only way you'll ever truly know if the guy is a spy or not anyway...

"Davidov is the commander of a Rebel task force," Aaron said simply. "Rebels, if they are smart ones anyway, move around quite alot."

"I got it. I think we could probably find some good links toward Terrin Danner, like the high team of the Enterprise. That way we could somehow ask them where Terrin Danner is, or lead us to 'em. This would do wonders if to come out as planned." The young pale vanilla haired boy abnormally announced to himself in a serious tone, when normally a subject such as that magnatuide would quickly throw him off his feet by his intelligence. Yet this time maturity had truly grasped the situation, from the voice tone to the concealment of his happiness. It also mad him angry, as he thought he would do such a thing, but now he noticed that he didn't know himself fully.

Shaking it off, he began moving his fingers along the Enterprises Board of Directors files, and found someone by the name of Aaron. He seemed to be a good friend of Terrin Danner so it would seem that he could be a nice link to him.

Moving along the stars he began his way on the trail of the Aaron guy, maybe this hunting stuff would lead him to a Bounty Hunter Job.

Hey it could happen... He thought..

It would be hard finding this guy, specially since he probably wasn't in any ship alone, knowing a Bounty was on his head at the same time. Jamel innocently stared at the stars before he headed in hyperspace, heading toward one of the shipyards that'd lead him toward Aaron. As a sudden acking pain came to his head he stopped abruptly, exiting hyperspace, suprisngly far from his destination.

"This is only a trick. That man just wants me to do his dirty work. Forget him, Im going to take this Starfighter and leave myself..." He told himself silently, as an agreeing beep came from his astronmech droid, and they headed toward any planet he could think of for a quick rest

At last, the shuttle's controls came to life, indicating imminent reversion into realspace. Aaron sat up and became fully alert, listening to the count-down, reaching out to play his hands across the controls.

In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

Slowly, starlines faded back into stars, and the Reckless Abandon achieved orbit around the forest moon of Endor. Aaron grimaced as he recalled some of the stories he'd heard from the days of the rebellion concerning this planet; of Ewoks and forests and booby traps...

He just really wasn't looking forward to this.

Strange place for a rebel leader to assemble his troops...

Aaron punched a few more controls, dropping the Abandon out of orbit, and heading towards the atmosphere of Endor.

If they were going to do this, they might as well get it over with...

With one eye open, maybe...

Aaron was beginning to wonder, however, where they would find either on this backwater planet. Aside from Ewoks and Marauders, there really wasn't much civilization on this rock. Ewoks were just too primitive to even deal with, and Marauders, though Aaron had dealt with them before successfully, tended to be more distrustful than even he was.

And gods knew they didn't want to run into any of the mystical Tulgah witches he had heard rumors about...

If this wasn't business, Aaron knew he certainly wouldn't be here.

"Better get some camping equipment from the ship before we go," Aaron observed. "Don't think we'll be finding much in the way of accomadations, unless you wanna try the local Ewok village. And as for dinner...

...as much as I hate to say it, a ration bar or two seem to be a good possibility..."

"There has got to be sombody on this planet that would has a decent meal to give, someone who is over three feet tall and doesnt look like a teddy bear that is." Rathal said to Aaron then he continued on in a joking manner, "Here I always heard you were well connected."

"Well, just maybe there is someone out there. But I can't garantee what kind of company we will be finding ourselves in if I go that route," Aaron said.

Then he grinned. "Someone does owe me a sweet deal on a ship from here however...

...and the Marauders are just the sort of people to have some nice corvettes. And they just might be able to point us in the right direction concerning our Commander friend."

Grinning even wider, he motioned Rathal to put the camping equipment away. "I think I'm going to call in a favor, buddy. Let's get some food and sleep."

The Major had to be wondering what had happened to him by now. Finn was known for hauling off on his own for a joyride in his beat-up but beloved X-Wing, but it wasn't common for him to get lost more than a day.

Marauders weren't much better than pirates, but at least they weren't human pirates. Finn hated human pirates more than he hated the Imperials... if that were possible. Sometimes that ticked the Major off, especially when his boss traded with pirates for weapons and ships. The Major learned pretty quickly to leave Finn in his cockpit and out of the negotiating process.

Why the Marauders were keeping him alive was a mystery. Caglion didn't have anything the Marauders wanted, near as he could tell. But the Major had gained quite a rep recently...

The alien, known by the Marauder clan as King Kerat, wore a long sleeved robe made of heavy brown material. The robe reached all the way to the floor and was held in place by a wide deep brown band around his waist. On his chest he wore a light gold chest plate, and on each forearm he wore gold bands to match. His hair was white and straight, flowing from a receding hairline to his shoulders. His features were that of a humanoid with a wider top lip than a human and a much flatter nose. His cheekbones were angular, and his eyes rested deep in their sockets, blazing brown. They were protected by bushy white eyebrows.

He stood from his throne and came to greet Aaron, extending a hand. Aaron accepted it. "King Kerat, it's been a long time," he said simply.

Kerat replied in a deep yet raspy voice. "But has it been long enough?"

Aaron didn't flinch at the question; it was typical for a Marauder to seem somewhat harsh, so he took it in stride. The King meanwhile turned to eyeball Rathal suspiciously. "What brings you here?"

"This is Jovonar Rathal, an employee of mine," Aaron answered. "We're looking for a rebel Major who may have been in these parts. Didn't know if you might have any connections."

The King seemed to consider. "Perhaps we do, perhaps we don't."

Aaron held back the sigh that he would have loved to let loose at this point.

Damn the Marauders and their suspiciousness! They were worse than any human could ever be!

Then Kerat continued with: "Where's that Danner guy you used to work with? I always liked him..."

Aaron had to work really hard to keep from rolling his eyeballs.

Kerat liked Terrin because Terrin was able to achieve the impossible: Prove that he could be more suspicious than even a Marauder. The first time they'd dealt with these guys, Terrin had just begun to set up camp when he spotted a Marauder guard checking out the Eagle. The ship was his pride and joy at the time, and so he quite logically jumped to the conclusion that the Marauder was planning on stealing his ship. Terrin had the guy pinned down with a blaster trained on him before he realized that the guard was merely their contact.

Aaron always suspected Terrin's suspiciousness was the only reason the Marauders ever agreed to deal with them. Terrin had been able to establish a comradarie with the King based on their shared...suspicion...of everyone else in the Universe.

"Terrin's off working on another tough deal," Aaron answered, skirting the issue more than just a little bit. Kerat cocked his head and arched an eyebrow, opened his mouth to say something, and then thought better of it.

"We shall dine on our finest food and wine and discuss your needs," Kerat said, motioning Aaron and Rathal to follow him as he headed for the corridors.

Aaron shrugged to Rathal and mouthed, "Who knows where this will lead us..."" Then he turned and followed the Marauder King.

Finn was a pilot, and like all Corellian pilots, prided himself on the ability to react faster than his brain could contemplate action. Despite actually being born on a luxury spacecruiser rather than Corellia, he was Corellian by heritage, at least on his mother’s side. What he was on his father’s side was anyone’s guess, presumably human, but sometimes others questioned that presumption based on his appearance. At around 30 standard human years, Finn might be considered handsome by bone structure and build, but other features drew different opinions. His skin was without pigment, appearing ghostly - a freakish pale that displayed a bluish hue in moonlight. His tousled hair, longer on top, buzzed around the neck and ears and slightly spiked, appeared silvery-white, except for a 2 centimeter band of jet black in his bangs. The oddest feature he carried were his shocking eyes, vivid with pigment that changed colors to match his emotions. Against the pale background of his face and hair, his irises glowed like navboard indicators, rendering him unable to hide feelings easily.

At the moment, however, they were a muddy brown to match dulled senses. Senses that once took high sim score in Rogue Squadron tryouts, and shot more than a few enemies into oblivion.

The pilot had to laugh at himself. His path had veered considerably from its originally charted course after flight academy. Despite his skill, a Jedi commander refused his acceptance into Rogue Squadron, all because of a setup. Spice was found in his cockpit during post-drill maintenance, and Finn knew who’d planted it. Both students were expelled from tryouts, and the Jedi commander admitted Finn’s innocence. Still he cut Finn from the elite squad because of his “ability to make a comrade an enemy”, something the commander would not have on his team. Naturally Finn felt cheated… he never prompted his rivals hatred, other than being a better pilot.

Finn proceeded to take his rage over the incident out on the Jedi… by joining Peace Brigade, an organization feigning defense of the New Republic’s interest in the Yuuzhan Vong invasion by rounding up Jedi for the aliens. But his illustrious career as a Peace Brigader was cut short after a mission to chase Jedi escaping into the Unknown Regions landed him a prisoner of his prey. Never believing Caglion was truly bad at heart, the Jedi won him over as part of their group, and temporary consort of the clan’s female leader.

The end of that affair sent him back to the Core after the Vong were pushed back. It was there that jobless Finn met Major Carlos, looking for a few sharp pilots. After such an adventurous life, rotting in a Marauder prison after crash-landing on Endor seemed a ridiculous way to burn out.

That thought made the pilot reach for the slop after all. Before he could scoop a handful into his mouth, a voice spoke to him from the shadows.

"You will excuse me for a moment? Business calls."

The King nodded just once, his look completely inscrutable. Aaron shot a look over to Rathal, who hadn't said a word but seemed to enjoying dinner well enough, then he stood, heading out into the corridor.

He unclipped his commlink from his belt and pushed the "accept" button. "This is Captain Aaron Barnes. This better be good, considering the manner of the company I just had to excuse myself from."

"Captain, this is Taylor Garrison."

Aaron frowned. Now, what the kriffing Hell was his right-hand guy doing sending him a personal comm? This did not sound good. "Go ahead," he replied instead.

"We recieved a request for a holo-transmission with our Senior Maintainance official. The transmission was traced to a ship owned by an assasin by the name of Shidima Alkin. We haven't been able to establish what he's after and have gotten next to no information from our big-mouth, but I thought it was rather suspicious."

"I assume our friend is being detained?"

"Yes sir. And will shortly be permanantly discharged as well."

"Good work. Keep on it and see what this Alkin is after. I don't like the sounds of this though. Keep me informed, ok?"

"You got it Boss. Garrison out."

The sleeve of Finn's flight jacket came up to wipe his mouth after the last swig of water. His eyes regained luster, changing to a warm orange. He stared at his captor, wondering what he would do next, but the alien just stood there.

"So... why the sudden mercy?" Finn asked.

"Because you were not eating," the guard replied simply. "The king does not want you dead. Yet."

Finn wondered why, but figured the guard would not reveal the bulk of their plans just yet.

"The food is from the king's feast," the guard continued. "There are two humans who have joined him." Before Finn could ask, the guard added, "No, they are not from your clan, not your Major."

Again the Marauder's motives puzzled Finn. He wasn't surprised they knew where he came from or that his superior was a major. They undoubtedly ransacked his fighter and hacked through the logs. Finn was always careful not to mention Carlos' name on the comm, but references to 'Major' were occasionally made.

"Why are you telling me this?" Finn inquired, scratching his head with his free hand.

"We need to get right down to it," he said to the King directly, really hoping he wasn't coming off too offensive. "I have some...business problems...which might be needing more of my attention shortly.

The King cocked his head, "Allright then, Barnes," he said at length.

"You said you had a possible link to Davidov?"

The King's look turned devilish. "How much will you pay for what I know? This one'll cost you, my friend."

Aaron had to fight with himself to not roll his eyes. "10,000," he said, cringing at the words.

If Terrin knew about this he'd kill me. Bargaining before knowing the true value of the goods. Yeesh...

"No, no, Barnes, you misunderstand. Credits don't do alot of good in the forest."

"Ah," Aaron said quietly, nodding in understanding. "Top of the line...freighter...sound good?"

"A yacht," the Marauder King insisted.

Aaron cringed inwardly again. Terrin would really kill me...

"Allright, deal is done. So what have you got for me? And this had better be good."

The guard clicked his fingernails together in a nervous habit. "I have traveled," the guard explained. "Before this, before I was injured by a vibroblade in the knee, I was a bodyguard for King Kerat. On his ship came many visitors... traders, pirates, information brokers. One such man spoke of a pale human with changeling eyes who once lived among Jedi. These Jedi explored the Unknown Regions and mapped their discoveries. Maybe you know of this map or some of it's features?"

Caglion was struck by the guard's command of Standard, and caught off guard by his request. Naturally, Finn played stupid. "I don't know what you're talking about," he replied with his best Sabaac face. "I'm a pilot, see? I don't know any Jedi, at least not personally. And I've never been to the UR. It'd be suicide for a human to travel out there."

The guard studied Finn's eyes, which somehow managed to remain a neutral shade of pale yellow. Caglion had been practicing interrogation survival since working with Davidov. He silently hoped to survive this one.

What appeared to be a frown creased the Marauder's brow. A slow breath escaped as the guard turned in disappointment, which Finn could not decipher as real or bluff. "I will not be responsible for what happens to you from this moment on," the guard added over his shoulder as he turned to leave.

Feeling desperate, Finn wondered if he could create enough noise to draw attention from the mystery visitors the guard spoke of. He could yell at the top of his lungs or bang the slop bowl against his chain, but Caglion didn't know how deep in the cave he was or how far the party guests actually were from him.

Mumbled conversation in a foreign tongue was heard in the shadows... two voices, the guard and another Marauder. Both guards appeared from the darkness and stopped in front of the pilot. The new guard slapped a petrified knotwood club with his long, clawed hand, in a threatening manner. Finn instinctively covered his head for protection, suddenly finding the other guard laughing at him and moving to unlock his bonds.

Unshackled, the guard lifted Finn and braced him as the human regained ability to stand on his feet.

"This is your lucky day, human," the guard huffed. "Your presence is requested at the King's feast. Another bargain has been made. But... if you suddenly remember a trip you made to the UR, perhaps Kerat would make it worth your while."

"Endor, a rich world of flora and fauna, inhabited by strange plush creatures that remind me of the dolls I slept with as a child," Kal's voice said over the com, his voice an egsagerated imitation the cliche nararator that is so common in holo documentaries. Kal's voice was sharp and dynamic, he would have made a great comedian were his jokes any good.

"Are you sure this is worth the trip," said another, softer, voice over the comm.

Aldrei smiled at her friend's characteristic cynisism, "Alda, we talked this over before, the Marauders are skilled pilots and if we could recruite some of them to man our ships all the better. You don't seem to realise how short staffed we are. Besides even if we can't get pilots, they have a vast resource of smaller vessels we could err..." she grinned wryly, "apropriat."

"Still, I don't trust them. Nothing they do ever smells right." Aldla bit her lip, realising that she had just given Kal the perfect setup for another stupid joke.

"Well, they dolive in the jungle, so you can't blame them for not showering much." Kal said, not letting her down.

"Did I ever tell you how much I love your sense of humor," Aldrei sighed, her voice driping with sarcasm.

Kal was preparing some witty retort when a navigator broke in, "We have settled in orbit around Endor, what next boss?"

Aldrei frowned, what next indeed... Truth be told she hadn't really thought out a way to contact the Marauder King, she certainly hadn't thought out a way to get the nessesary pilots. She did this a lot, going in to a situation with an intent but no clear way to acomplish it. Still, she had to say somthing, "Alright," she began, keeping her voice level, "Get a lamda ready, I'm going down to the planet's surface."

"Yes boss," came a reply, "just one thing, shouldn't you bring someone with you?"

"Oh, yeah... I said that right?" she said, trying to mask the fact that she had forgotten. She was unused to scouting, her former carrier involved doing very little of that, but this was piracy and it was a whole different ballgame. She ran her mechanical hand through her hair, itching the back of her skull.

"I suppose you did boss," cracked the comm, "So I'll get a lamda ready and find a couple a' guys to go with ya, right?"

Standing before them with the guards and blasters still at his back, Finn waited to be spoken to first. The thought of perhaps being returned to a more hospitable civilization excited him, but he didn't want to get his hopes up prematurely.

Aaron halted at that, eyeing this new guy that the guards had finally brought to them.

Who the heck WAS this guy? This was Kerat's mysterious link to Davidov?

This deal was getting worse all the time...

And he'd given up a YACHT for this guy?! Terrin would SO kill him...

Aaron crossed his arms and ignored whatever look he might be getting from Rathal, eyeing the prisoner once again. "I hear you have some knowledge regarding a Major Carlos Davidov," Aaron started, his brown eyes still clearly reading suspicion. "Being a prisoner on a Marauder base can't be all that pleasant. Tell me where I might find this Major fellow and I might be willing to make it worth your while..."

This guy couldn't be an Imp, Finn decided. And he definitely had a point... the Marauders might give him one more chance to "remember" his travels to the Unknown Regions, but they weren't known for keeping prisoners around long term. Finn would give up the map location before he'd give up the Major, but preferred not to give anything to the Marauders, stinking devils.

Jeez, you hire a guy on, take him on a mission to watch him, and he turns into Mr. "I'm going to take over everything."

If it weren't for the fact Rathal might have just saved this mission, Aaron might have actually been mad. Even suspicious. But no time for that now.

"Allright," Aaron said, finally turning his attention to Rathal and...

...whoever exactly this guy was. "We'll bail you out..."
Aaron REALLY hoped this was worth the price he was going to pay...

"...and will be most interested in getting to know you."

With that he turned, waiting for Rathal to continue the pleasantries with their new cargo while he made final arrangements with King Kerat to deliver the yacht he'd promised in exchange for this guy. In no time at all they had left the unpleasant home of the Marauders and made it back to the Raptor where, as Aaron began prepping the Lambda-class ship for departure, he turned to their new "guest."

He actually cut a smile. "Name's Captain Aaron Barnes, part-owner of Eagle Enterprises. This here is Jovonar Rathal," he continued with pointing a thumb in Rathal's direction. "And you would be...?"

He paused at that as he waited, hand extended, to see what the newcomer might do.

The pilot took Captain Barne's hand and shook firmly. "Finn. Lieutenant Finn Caglion. Please don't ask what I was a Lieutenant of. I'd rather forget, and that information wouldn't buy you a caf on Commenor."

Finn tried very hard to keep his emotions on even keel so his freaky, color-changing eyes would stay a cool greenish-blue. Some people didn't take to his rare mutation very well. He wasn't confident he was succeeding, however.

He brushed a hand through his hair, feeling a bit awkward in his humble position. "I, uh, thank you very much for buying my way out of that Marauder hole. Didn't realize I was worth so much."

Ok, that's odd...

But the guy was obviously nervous; it wasn't too hard to read whether his eyes had a thing to do with it or not.

"I'll be straight with you, Caglion," Aaron started. "I know you are somehow linked with Davidov, and I'm pretty sure how. While there are ways I can confirm that, it'd be best and the most efficient to hear it straight from your mouth." He paused at that, raising both hands. "I know, I know. You probably think I'm after him, connected to the Impys. I promise you it's nothing like that. Far from it, even. If you can tell me where your Major friend is, believe me it will be worth his while as much as yours."

"Well sir, then I guess it's safe to assume you already know what he's been up to." Finn looked directly at the captain. "Sorry for not being straight with you up front, but understand, I didn't know who you worked for, and I owe a lot to the Major. How did I know you weren't gonna just take your info and run, leaving me to rot down there."

Barnes patiently waited for Caglion to continue, Rathal listening in.

"It's a long story, but the short version is, I wound back on Corellia, I needed a job and the Major needed pilots. I took out my X-Wing after we had a little disagreement, just to relax. Next thing I knew, my nav was totally crossed and I woke up above sphere of this rock. More bad luck... when I came out of hyperspace, a short knocked out my thrusters and my comm. I was at the mercy of the moon's gravity at that point. Hunk of junk. I managed to survive several days on my own, until the Marauder's found me."

Finn hoped he'd given them the kind of info on Davidov they were looking for. It still wasn't too late for Barnes to turn back.

"I'm not sure he's on Corellia anymore," Finn added. "Our disagreement had to do with his wanting to go to some place called N'hreal."

Aaron paused as his bit his lip in thought.

He knew he'd heard that name somewhere before...

Then it hit him. Nh'real. A droid uprising. Seems the new "Empire" took some drastic action on Nh'real by the last reports he'd seen too...

"I don't know about him being on Nh'real either."

With that Aaron reached for the console of the Raptor, tapping it there for a moment as he considered which direction they should go. There simply wasn't a wealth of information on this Davidov guy--something that really impressed Aaron in terms of a good ally. But that really didn't help him find the guy a hell of alot.

One damn good rebel. But there had to be some way to use the...resources...he had now.

And perhaps there was at that. Aaron guided the ship upward, again activating the emissions overlay as he departed, making a hasty escape to hyperspace the moment they were clear of Endor's gravity well.

When all else fails, take what you've got and regroup...

(((OCC: Follow Aaron, Rathal, and Finn to Return to Ground Zero in this same forum. Thank you.)))

"Got anything in particular in mind?" Aldrei asked, it had taken her a long time to get an audience with this guy, his underlings having given her the runaround for quite some time. Once she had finally set up a meeting things weren't much better, Marauders were slippery guys and a real pain to deal with, but that didn't change the fact that they were a sigificant potential resource for her. It was even worth the added agrivation, after all her fleet were sorely in need of pilots.

"Certainly," said the king, "Not long ago a group of people belonging to the Eagle Enterprises organisation departed from this base in my debt. I have reason to believe that they might not be... willing to pay our agreed fee and as such we would like you to ensure that they keep thier end of the bargain. Were you to do this I would be more than willing to hire out a few of my pilots to you."

"Sure, seems easy enough" said Aldrei, "How much do they owe ya."

"Three yachts," lied the king