Ankrist Roan could not help the dark and malevolent smile which flashed across his imposing features. Beneath his steady hands the Sith ship he had appropriated from the whelp hummed easily enough through the wonders of hyperdriven space. Behind him, long lost, was the planet K'eel Doba and a very empty Temple of S'slan indeed...

...a temple whose already emplaced magicks had been... augmented.

The only other addition to that 4,000 year old place of mystery and magick was the Kaminoan lab, complete with personnel, which he had long-ago taken from that watery world and ensconced in a large but hidden catacomb deep in the bowels of the temple: a lab now utterly destroyed, the limp bodies of the scientists growing colder and colder with every moment that passed.

Ahead....

His smile deepened, and his grip tightened on the arms of the pilot's seat as a slight rustle came from behind him. Something dark and foreboding and completely evil flashed in the depths of his eyes; then he let that look sink away, and turned around.

Shifting her weight against the bulkhead, JhinDarra sighed a little, then crossed one foot over the other. She drew in a deep breath and blinked her large and expressive sky-blue eyes, and tossed her fiery hair from where it had fallen into her face before finally speaking.

"Where are we going, Uncle Roan?" she finally asked, now jutting out her lower lip as she once more puffed away a recalcitrant strand of flame.

Roan sent her a look displaying the closest thing to gentleness that he could manage.

"It's a surprise, my dear," he purred in a voice of black silk, turning back to the controls. A clawed hand reached forward and adjusted a sigil.

"It's a surprise...."

He looked about, only allowing his eyes to move behind the protection of his helmet.
Where they hell am I? where did everyone go? WHeres galen?! Oh flac, i donno what you did, but you had better figure it out... Sheesh, this bunch dont look to friendly...

As his thoughts rolled through his head, his vision clearified and he realized just who he was in the presence of.
ROAN?! Ok Flac, this is your chance, Figure out where darra is...

But even as he thought it his eyes caught hold of a red headed girl sitting next to roan.

Alright Flac... Its time you put your brain to its limits... its time to hope to god you got more luck now then you did a few...however long ago it was...

Working his neck muscles he opened up a comm frequency to the last place established with galen, hopeing that somehow she'd get it, speaking quietly, even with the knowledge that any sound he spoke woudl not be heard.

"Galen... Im on this strange ship... If... If you can... Please get to dj... Ill activate its tracker, will lead you right to me... Be carefull."

Welp buddy, its time to put your acting skills to the test.

With the thought that any mistake could mean his death, flac moved roughly, faking the early stages of conciouslness, bending his wrist oddly to press upon a small button while the rest of his body curled into a fetal possition...

beneath his helmet he smiled. get to dj galen... Hit the blinking button... Please...

For a moment the very atmosphere remained frozen. Then there came a groan from the man Entaris had let fall from his grasp, caring as much about him as a rancor cares about his victim.

Roan snorted, returning his gaze into those turquoise eyes in front of him.

"So you have a favor you would request of me?" he commented in his deep bass voice. "Speak then, my ally, and tell me what it is I can do for you."

He fell silent then, his gaze never leaving Entaris's, even though he could feel his daughter's eyes crawling upon him...

hand extending slowly from his side to gesture at the being upon the floor, he allowed his words to roll forth from his throat like the flowing sound of thunder upon the horizon.

"This one is a companion of-" he took the next word straight from roans mind with a little snear. "- the whelp..."

Lips releasing a sound which would pass as laughter, his calm turqoize eyes came upon Flac. "I ask simply for him to be taken along with you... The torture she will feel at having lost two beings dear to her in one day... is bound to be wonderful..."

again the dark laughter came forth as his head turned about to give a knowing nod to ShaRhylla of Terrin Danners death, a nod which was accompanied by the mental sentance.
Your thorns grow sharper by the minute, my dark rose... You have pleased me greatly with your hand in his death...

head turning once more to view roan his sneer became a decieving smile once more.
"I must ask though... That you show this one as much hospitality and kindness as you possibly can."

his head moved in a brief nod before he spoke again. "though if you still desire the whelp for your own purposes, he will make a wonderful lure as well..."

The DJ shot off into the skies without so much as a warning; Jasyn didn't even get a chance to brace himself or grab on to a single thing so he instead was thrown willy-nilly into the bulkhead as Malf continued to holler and moan. He popped against the bulkhead, a barrage of stars in turn decorating his personal view of the Universe.

"Damn!!!" he blurted, unable to stop the explicative from escaping his lips as he shook his head to clear the fuzz and took the extra effort to regain his footing.

"What happened?" he queried, finally feeling stable enough to head for the cabin of the unusual ship. He took a seat nearby Galen, looking about the cabin curiously as thoughts whirred through his mind. "I don't guess there's any chance we can regain control...or contact the others?"

At that he fell silent, waiting.

With a rappid wink half of the helmets view became a view screen of dj's cammera, he smiled even wider to see the lines of hyprespace.

With another rappid blink the view returned to what he himself was seeing... and he wished that he wasnt seeing it at all
This cant be good... No no... This cant be good... Ah what are you saying flac? "this cant be good"? Well, duh, this is worse, your a dead man, or worse... Who the hell is this "whelp" and how the heck are you bait for 'em? WAIT A TICK! thats what he called galen when he took...darra...

at his side his fingers curled into a little fist.

"listen, I dont know what your planning, but galen wants her daughter back, and theres nothign you can do to stop her... ive seen the fire in her eyes, she'd take on a rancor head on, bare handed, AND WIN if it meant saving darra!"

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! YOUR GONNA GET KILLED!

You know... Your right... ooppss... Shouldnt have said that...

As the thought came to pass he felt the intense glare of the thing that had brought him there, and felt himself throwned backwards. "do not speak, unless you are so addressed." he only heard a fuzzy semblance of that sentance though do to the ringing in his ears...
Thanks sis... You were deffently right, this armor lives up to your bragging... 100% jeez, id be out cold if not for this stuff... Well, i guess now im far enough away that they wont notice...

The words exploded in my mind as my body did likewise against DJ's cold durasteel deck. I hadn't so much as a clue as to what was happening to us... well, maybe a slight idea that perhaps somehow Flac had managed to contact the ship and send it into sudden life beneath our feet. I mean, it stood to reason that was what the glowing light had been all about: he had somehow managed to enable that to catch our attention, and this was an automatic homing trajectory triggered when my hand had fallen upon that light.

Then again, who knew. For all I knew the maker of the suit Flac's lady friend had worn had made another one, and was likewise sending for the ship; possibly as a double cross to the lady herself, possibly in the discovery -- at last -- that she was dead.

Like I said, who knew. All I knew was that I sure as hell didn't know anything, and I said as much to Jasyn as I scrambled to my feet. Looking down at those members, I quieted, feeling the decking thrumm with that deep timbre uniquely produced upon matter as it traveled through hyperspace.

"I have no idea where we're going, but wherever it is, it's far from where we were," I cautioned at length. "We're in hyperspace; can you feel it?"

I quieted again, thinking. Then Jasyn's other words finally sunk into my startled noggin.

"No, I can't do squat," I pronounced flatly. "Without the pilot's suit and helmet I can't control the ship, I can't sense out, and I can't open any transmissions which might be incoming. All I can do is just sit here like a worrt on a dewback and let the ship carry me wherever it is we're going."

With that I fell silent, hugging myself as I struggled not to let my rising trepidation start winning the insidious battle it was beginning to wage within me.

Each lightyear we traveled meant another lightyear farther and farther from those who would help me find my daughter. Who knew if we'd ever see them again, or for that matter if I would ever hold JhinDarra in my arms as I yearned for so achingly.

Then he paused, pursing his lips a moment as he ran through the best way they could protect themselves from whatever they were heading towards. Something occurred to him that they'd been discussing back on the Sith warship. "You need to activate that belt of yours," he said, pointing. "It'll give us a modicum of stealth at least. And if your friend has anything on board we can point and shoot, that will be helpful as well."

Then, pausing and pursing his lips one final time, he finished with, "Unless we mess with the ship's actual hyperdrive which might only land us out in the middle of nowhere, that might be all we can do til we get wherever the hell this confounded ship is taking us..."

"I don't know," I began a bit doubtfully, chewing on my lip as I considered. "I've never enabled the light-bending device while in hyperspace; I mean, we're already bending light as it is by warping through space. I don't think it could actually 'catch' until there is real light for it to hook on to."

With those words I gave Jasyn a small smile, then moved out of his grasp and headed toward the back of the ship.

"There's a storage compartment here, though, where Flac keeps his weapons," I announced as I came to a halt in front of it. I reached out a hand to the panel control, one of the few devices on this ship which was not routed through that weird flight suit. "I know there's something worthwhile in here we can use."

Yeesh, Galen ol' gal, maybe you'll be able to keep hold of it this time, too, I admonished myself as I hit the control. The hatch slid smoothly into its glove, revealing a small but varied array of weapons hanging on the bulkhead inside and stowed neatly in transparent compartments beneath those. Before Jasyn could get his fingers on it, I made a beeline for the only Imperial blaster rifle that was hanging on the wall, a mirror image to the one I had taken earlier but left behind on the Sith warship. I took a firm grip of it, yanking it from its clip with a distinct snik, to then affix with another affirming snik to my belt.

I turned to Jasyn with an expansive wave of one hand.

But what fun would that be with no one around to tell you that now was NOT a good time to drink...?

As Jasyn sat and leaned against the bulkhead that one thought reminded him of something he had yet to do, something that he'd really rather not do at all.

Contact EE and let them know what had happened.

His look darkened further at that, a bit of pain flitting across his features. You should have stopped him from going Jasyn; he wasn't ready, was still too unrested after all that had happened in the Imperial prison. And you were his friend, the one person around at the time whom he might have listened to...

...and where were you? Drinking. You should have at least gone with him, and maybe things would have panned out differently...

He shook his head, unable to keep his thoughts of guilt to himself any longer. "I should have gone with him..." he stated aloud in seeming non-sequieter then trailed, his eyes darkening once more.

I knew that feeling well.

My shoulders slumped then, and the words slipped from my lips before I could stop them: "And I shouldn't have gone."

He let all his withheld anger and disgust flare out in her direction, but the words he spoke were meant for Entaris's dark ears.

"While all is well with me, it is apparently not as well as it is with you... my friend," he whispered, letting his eyes flame up and down ShaRhylla's supple frame. The young woman merely smiled, hiding her soul beneath her eyes, and draped herself in an even more wanton manner against Entaris's strong body.

Now Roan snorted, and collected himself.

"Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen," he finally announced, then fell silent for a moment. Then, almost as an afterthought he looked from his daughter to where Flac lay in apparent fear for his life on the cold decking of the fighter. His eyes flicked from him to his niece and then settled on Entaris's darkly vampiric visage once again.

"What... amenities do you prefer I extend unto this one, my ally?" he purred at length, now taking a step forward until he towered over Flac like a harbinger of doom. For a long moment he merely let his brilliant and utterly inescapable gaze sweep down upon him, pinning him to the floor like one tacks down a carpet. Then he hauled back a booted foot, and with all his strength kicked him in the side, as though to kick away a clod of dirt which had fallen in front of him, impeding his path.

Drawing back from the man who lay at his feet on the floor, he directed a dire and bloodthirsty look at Entaris.

"Actually," he purred, tapping a long and wickedly sharp claw against one fang for emphasis, "I do have something in mind for him. Something I'm sure you are to enjoy, should you choose to remain with us for the...

"Festivities."

But you certainly can deal in terms of vengeance, can't you Jasyn buddy?

As if on cue to that, Jasyn looked up once more and asked a question that, for all apparent purposes, was intended to change the subject. But he knew very well that he wasn't. "Any chance the suit that controls this ship has a homing device that's linked with it?"

"I really don't know," I said at length. "I mean, logic would make one think it would have something along those lines, but to tell the truth I really wasn't in control of DJ long enough to check out the accessory package she came equipped with."

Recinis nodded at the news, placing a hand upon Jharmeens sholder and smiling slightly. "we will retrieve darra... Im sure of it..."

He pulled her close to him for a moment and gave her a gentle kiss, before turning to gaze outward once again. "i found very little within the temple... it is as Galen told us, empty, yet at the same time, it is filled with much... Memories run through it like wild animals on the hunt, seeking someone to tell their stories to... Memories of better times, of worse times... Things to come, and things that have passed... I fear that the things that have passed in those walls could indeed mean that roan more planned then we could know...the place felt distant... No longer truly sith, changed to serve a master that is no longer sith..."

If only they knew.... His lips curled in disgust as he pulled upon the cloak which camoflagued the majority of his rather imposing features from the simple people who lived here, tugging it closer to his person to avoid sullying it upon the bodies they were now walking amidst.

At his right side, Entaris smirked, one hand lightly pawing the bared back of ShaRhylla, the other casting about every so often to "accidentally" sink its claws into a passing native, just to enjoy the piggish squeal it made. Roan's own features broadened into a smirk just as knowing, if not more so, as he watched the casually bloodthirsty actions of his ally.

He knew what lay ahead of the trail he was taking them upon. He also knew both their hungers would be easily quenched with what he had planned... if not more so.

Ahead of them walked his niece, who supported the half-comatose Flac. That young man had been nearly throttled before Roan took him from the ship he had so cunningly landed, then hidden, in the fiery wilds of this place; following that throttling he had once more beaten the man to nearly an inch of his life. Entaris and Rhylla, laughing, had refrained from joining, stating instead their preference to obtain vicarious pleasures simply by watching.

And when Roan had nearly killed the man... he used the All to keep him upright, apparently whole and unmarked, and walking. There was only the barest hitch in his step to prove how close to death Flac really was as the quintet moved from the brooding wilderness into the tunnels leading deep into the heart of this planet's civilization.

At length he came to a particular cove in the rock, and paused. The evil smirk broadened on his face as he strode up to a rhyolite reception desk, one upon which the prices for rooms both public and private were engraved into the green stone. He reached a clawed hand out and lightly stroked the lissome arm of the young humanoid who was acting as receptionist.

Turquoise eyes peered into hazel... and soon he and his companions were led into a particular room... one which held particular... meaning for the vile and traitorous Sith.

He smiled as the young girl left them there, his eyes darkening as he drank in her features for... future reference. Then he turned to his niece, waving a hand toward the mineral waters of the bubbling spa. The lighting of the rock chamber cast a peculiar greenish hue to his face as he tilted it toward JhinDarra, indicating she take Flac into the fragrant waters just waiting there, begging to heal him.

The girl smiled at her uncle and began to comply, when he suddenly lashed out with one arm, wrenching Flac from her grasp and flinging him into the nearest stone wall. The man struck with a groan and half crumpled, but somehow managed to remain semi-upright. Roan waved a hand, using the All to thrust into his mind and awaken him with a rude mental shaking. And when he was certain Flac was conscious and aware, he whirled upon JhinDarra.

One clawed hand flew upward, creating a barrier about the young woman, preventing her from instinctively lashing out against them with her young strengths. That is... lash out she did, purely by reflex, but that awesome power did little more than rebound about her and finally dissipate entirely.

Roan's lips curled in an evil grin.

"How naive you are, whelp!" he snarled, slitting his eyes and exposing his fangs. "How truly weak and foolish. Just like your mother; to think I had need of the likes of you, a human! How very, very naive!'

Now he began stalking toward her, slowly, step by lingering step. His powerful muscles flexed and rippled, his eyes glinted and his clawed fingers twitched in anticipation. Off to the side he caught an indrawn gasp of sheer delight as ShaRhylla literally purred and molded herself to Entaris's side, her heart quickening, her breathing becoming faster and faster.

Roan smiled more cruelly, and bore onward, delighting himself in the manner in which his niece backed step by wary step, unseeing, clearly terrified, until one foot came to the edge of the pool and slipped. Her slim arms pinwheeled as she fought to maintain her balance, teetering on the edge in front of him.

"I won't kill you... not yet," Roan whispered, still coming closer to where Darra stood, half terrified, half defiant. That momentary surge of defiance fled from her entirely, however, at his next darkly uttered statement.

"First I wish to introduce you to some of the... entertainments of Sullust."

His eyes cut quickly to the side, to ascertain that Flac was indeed awake and very much aware. Off to his other side, Entaris took a slight step forward, his eyes flaming blood....

Then young receptionist thought she heard a rising scream cut abruptly off, but wasn't quite certain of what she had heard. And when she went to investigate, she found the stone door to the private chamber locked firmly.

All was silent as stone from within.

She merely shrugged and returned to her duties. It really was none of her business how her clients chose to relax when they came to the hotsprings of this planet.

At that moment in time roan turned upon Darra and much to his surprise he found he could feel his hands tightening into fists, his blood boiling.
Roan you bastard, you'll pay for this... Dont you lay a finger on her! Galen's little girl... Ill never forget the first time i saw them... I wont let her get hurt!

With all his might he tried to move, he knew the gay would kill him in a second should he do anything, but he didnt care... unfortunatly, he couldnt, he just couldnt, his body ached, his mind was spinning...

He scrambled to his feet, gripping his blaster, somehow knowing minus any Force sensitivity of any type that something was fixing to come down the spacelanes. He turned his head in Galen's direction as he began to feel the ship descend, not speaking a word but simply knowing that she could feel it too. So there he stood, trying to prepare his mind and his body for anything that might be laying ahead of them til at length memory dawned while they continued to descend.

"The Sith belt," he said, stating nothing further.

Then he fell silent, wondering just where the hell they were fixing to end up...

He pulled closer to her, wanted to feel it all as well. He was vaguely aware of his own claws raking her back.

As Flac screamed out in protest he couldnt help but release a dark laugh, turning to him and piercing him with his gaze. "why would he stop? why would he not allow her to feel such a wonderful pain? it is perfect, oh so perfect!"

He turned to ShaRhylla and briefly allowed the utter wonder of all he was experiencing come through him, allowing his fangs to sink into her skin momentarily before he pulled away, licking the blood from his lips he approuched roan with a little smile.

"I must say Roan... I am eager to see what you have in store... Terribly eager..."

His eyes then turned to look upon the somewhat frightoned appearance of the girl, remaining there for a moment before turning once more to regard roan. "when the time comes my friend... please... Give her life to me... Allow me to take her from this world..."

Eventually he realized that Entaris had approached him, fresh blood standing upon his fangs. It glistened in the gentle lighting of the chamber, a terrible oxymoron unto itself.

It didn't bother Roan in the slightest that that blood was his own daughter's.

"Yes-ss..." Roan purred through lips which curled in readiness to strike, as Entaris's words finally sank into his heated brain. "You may indeed have her...

"When I am finished with her."

With that he stepped forward, one hand splaying back toward Flac to pin him against the stone with the All like a moth in a collector's exhibit.

The other reached to JhinDarra, took a firm and cruel grip upon her face, and held her thus as he bore her inexorably into the water, his foul lips descending on hers, his claws reaching to rake the clothing from her body....

I couldn't help the frown which came to my face.

Nobody... and I mean NOBODY orders me around like that!

But in this case, his suggestion was a good one, even though I thought it really might be a touch belated. There was still those few seconds in which our approach could be picked up by every sensor around... seconds which in space can be an eternity.

I just nodded, quickly slapping the belt, and braced myself for the inevitable -- and quite unenviable -- end.

It came with a rush and a roar and a surprisingly gentle bump. Then another... and another, followed by bump after bump. That bumping alternated with a wild rocking, typical of a too-speedy rush though the thermal layers of a planetary atmosphere... which came to a sudden halt as we hit dirt.

I thumped to the floor on the body part which suits that best, and just sat there, my jaw hanging open. Jasyn remained utterly silent as well, as the hatch slid smoothly and silently open to reveal...

The volcanic surface of Sullust.

For the briefest of moments I just sat there on the deck like a startled worrt. Then, filled with the bursting and quite awful surety that something terrible was in progress, I didn't say so much as one word but took off running, leaving the ship and Jasyn in my wake, the blaster held firmly in my hands.

Something terrible inside me kept insisting that blaster wasn't going to be enough....

I ran on through the fires of volcanoes and the black of the basalts, heading toward an entrance which, rather than promising a means by which to enter into light and society instead loomed against the rock like a gateway into Hell itself.

Sullust, of all places...?

His memories of the place being mostly far from fond ones, Jasyn took off at a mad dash after Galen, knowing full well that this Flac guy's Wookie-like buddy would take care of the ship in their absence. His blaster aimed and ready he followed not too far behind Galen, his pace only slowing the slightest as he realized that they were nearing spas.

SPAS? This was like...

He gulped, shoving that thought waaaay back in the corners of his mind. Then, slowing a bit as they entered so as to gain a bit of stealth and likewise not scare the hell out of any spa workers or patrons, Jasyn continued to follow as his heart pounded, whether because of his sudden burst of action or something else entirely he couldn't be certain.

He held her up claws sinking into her flech, lips reaching out to drink up the blood of her torn lips.

He turned to ShaRhylla and smiled. "no my dear dark rose, watch as your cousin leaves this universe forever"

Slowly he reached into Darra's being, taking hold of her diminishing life force, grasping it as though it were a physical thing, as only he could do.

He held on to that, and slowly gave it life, allowing her to come to conciousness, yet holding onto her thoughts to prevent her from lashing out at him.

He could feel her life force both diminishing and growing at the same time, for he could not grant life, but he could grant existance in death, which he did now...

She looked at him with her wide blue eyes, unable to fully grasp conciousness.
His smirk was indeed a dark one as he leaned forward and gave her a decivingly gentle kiss, massaging her with his dark energies, which abbruptly reversed themselves and made her break away in a horrid scream of pain as black lightning covered her body, he felt her pain once more, felt her life falling away from him again.

Slowly they fadded into the shadows, where he through her upon the ground in a nearly lifeless heap.

"Now... As once your cousin, my Dark rose, had faced, you will become mine... Though you shall be broken not for me... No, you will be for her..."

With a flick of his wrist she was brought to him from the ground, he kissed her bloodied lips once more, before whispering seductivly. "you will not servive this... I promise..."

With a slight nod she flew from his grasp and slammed into a wall of shadow, black lightning coming about her once more before again she was dragged to him and brough to conciousness. "Give yourself to the darkness child.... Give yourself..."

Downward his fangs crept untill they found her neck and latched upon it, sucking gently, finding strength in the taste her fresh, sweet blood...

He pulled away, licking her ear before once more whispering. "your blood is no where near as splended as hers was, but your life tastes wonderful none the less."

he set her upon an alter of shadows and came upon her with fury, locking her lips in his, allowing his blood to flow into her being, feeling her choke he would not relent, he merly drew the kiss tighter, untill he felt her stop struggling, feeling her give in to all that was happening as she most likely realized she held no power against him...

Pulling away from her he pushed into her being with his dark powers, corrupting every cell as he had once done to shaRhylla, pain obviously flowing through her, he knew she could not bare it, finaly he reached out and jammed his claw through her heart, pulling it from her chest he coudl feel her life simply leave her.

But now...

"Leave the remains, my friends," he said succinctly as, with a wave of one hand he opened a door in the All. Without so much as a backward look, he stepped through, listening to the booted footsteps coming close on his heels, hearing the slight slurps as Entaris, carrying his Dark Rose in his arms, continued feeding upon her in hideous ecstasy.

Roan grunted, leading the pair to his ship, not bothering to even finish killing off the man he left in the spa.

In moments he opened another portal and, now encompassing the ship in the blanketing protection of a chronotic shield, he popped from the Sullustan existence altogether, to return in stealth and secrecy to pick up his children left behind on K'eel Doba.

((OOC: Follow me, Entaris and ShaRhylla into Darkness Lives in "CSWU" forums... or die.))

He pulled his knees to his chest and sat within the chair looking outward shivering...

What? why do i feel like this?

He shuddered, and took a deep breath to steady himself, looking within in an attempt to find understanding... To no avail.

As far as the boy could see, nothing at all was wrong, nothing, he could still feel the link he shared with his mother, he could still feel the bond with his father...

His heart still beat, and his lungs still took in air... but he felt wrong... He was cold....

Finaly he got a grip on himself, a hand reaching up to wipe a tear from his eye.Why was i crying? what? i dont understand...

As he looked realized a little glyph was blinking in an attempt to catch his attention... reaching down he fliped a sigel causing the ship to exit hyperspace, where he found the warship not far away...

Shuddering once more he put in coordinates to meet up with it.

the coordinates in place he curled up once more and just sat.

Sullust?

A brow shot up in surprise that she wasn't even able to stop. But in the same moment, a tremor in the Force that had been chewing on her nerves for some time got insistent enough that she had to paid heed to it.

Something...something wasn't right here.

Not that Shayla could specifically sense if Roan was here or not; still, she could most certainly sense the tremor of evil. Her concern was only compounded as she felt that tremor of evil simply vanish in but an instant.

Something was definitely wrong here.

She spoke as much, although she knew everyone else most certainly already felt the same, concern radiating from her greeny-blue eyes as she stood near the hatch of the warship and simply waited, quietly and worriedly stating one thing, knowing that it might mean nothing since a chronotic shield could easily block her Force senses. "I cannot sense Him here." Then, finishing with the first possibility she queried, "Has He departed?"

Then she fell silent, that tremor returning yet again.

And dead.

She shuddered, wrapping her arms about herself briefly as she fought against the sensations which were striking her hammer's blows, trying to wear her down, to defeat her as she somehow sensed IT knew with such overwhelming confidence it so easily could.

Why did she interpret the loss of that Link as its death? Why not the automatic assumption that Roan had somehow found them out, and had disappeared once again behind one of his chronotic shields yet again?

"Because the Link would persevere through such a shield," she murmured to herself, almost in unconscious affirmation. Then, her voice grew louder.

"He has murdered his ship... the brain of the fighter," she announced with a sudden and icy cold certainty, one emanating from the depths of her bones for its knowledge. "Somehow, some way...

"His ship is dead... at least the biological part of it. Which means...."

She trailed off with a gasp, and shuddered again.

No holds barred.

Killing the fighter meant that he disdained from using it for normal space travel, or felt he needed it for that purpose no longer. Which meant that he was on the attack, sly and insidious, using the only strength left to him:

The All. He could move the ship wherever he pleased through the All.

And moving the ship instead of merely himself meant that he had... passengers.

But who?

Her eyes widened and refocused from the deductions she had been wrapped up in.

Had the other ship fallen to ill? Had he taken Galen again?

Her hand trembled as she reached out, snapping on the forward viewscreen even as the warship began it's hurtling descent through the blood-red clouds of Sullust. She let her long fingers dance upon the controls, fine tuning, until at length the sensors zoomed in on a particular portion of the planet. There it perched, the ship she had last seen on K'eel Doba.

And two tiny specks running from it.

Two tiny specks... with a third coming to stand a small distance from the ship before returning to the safety of its interior.

A bit of her trepidation escaped with a sudden exhalation as she realized her sister was yet with them. But then she paused anew.

Why did her son cry out so?

Pure anxiety rushed to take her in its icy arms as she now turned from the viewscreen.

"Land this ship," she ordered Shayla abruptly as, without so much as another word she closed her eyes and sent all the strength and love she could out to where Jharu was still crying, all alone in Chosen One.

"I am here with you, Jharu," she whispered lovingly, using all her power to keep her own rising worries and terror at bay. "Fear not, cry not, my son. Take my warmth, and draw strength from it, and follow us to landing on the planet below."

With that she opened her eyes, maintaining the Link, and merely stood before the viewscreen, watching the volcanic surface rush up to greet them. Knowing deep in her heart that the object of the chase had once more eluded them....

Leaving something too horrible to contemplate in his foul wake.

...and nearly flattened me in my tracks with the pummeling I received from the wave of compressed air it pushed along ahead of it.

I stumbled a bit, my eyes widening as that invisible hand reached out to strike me, realizing at once what it simply had to be.

Nothing would act like that other than a cloaked ship travelling at a good clip through a planet's atmosphere.

I slowed just a touch, debating with myself if I should stand and wait to see who it was. The another realization struck, sending icy chills coursing along my spine.

There were only two I knew of who had ships with this capability. If it was her... well, she had her weird powers. She'd easily find me in the maze of tunnels that comprised the underground Sullustan cities.

But if it was... Him....

I shuddered that thought into oblivion, and hurried my pace. Soon I had entered the black entrance, Jasyn pounding on my heels, and gradually came to a halt as I realized I had come at last to the area devoted to the famous spas.

My shudders multiplied, and I crossed my arms around myself. I hadn't a clue why I had come here... it was almost as if I had been drawn by something I couldn't see or hear or feel, only sense on a deep and primal level.

He exited the ship and ran straight to his mothers arms, giving her a hug as if to use her to ward away the cold and save him from the chill he could not completly shake from his spine.

Speaking a few words of comfort to all present he quickly had them on his way, havign a strange feeling that whatever dread his son was feeling, migth be soon found ahead.

Using Graysith's sisterly link with galen, they soon found thier way to where the woman stood, she to was standing outside of an establishment seeming to debate whether or not she should enter.

"Flac's ship took off with us in it and hit hyperspace on its own. Obviously it's destination was here; we aren't sure but we think it's possible the suit which controls the ship has a homing device. Regardless, we were landed here."

He paused at that, clearly not thrilled with the fact they were back at the Sullustan Spas, as clearly remembering things that had happened here seemingly eons ago.

No fooling, we were brought here, obviously by some kind of homing device.

Sheesh.

What did the man think, that we fell off the sail-barge yesterday?

By a great dint of effort I managed to keep my temper chained, and satisfied myself by gripping the blaster I held more tightly.

He thinks he's got a bad feeling.... Well.

He's not lived with the hunches I have for the past three years... and probably doesn't have a clue as to how loudly they're shouting at me right now.

I drew in a breath to make some kind of directive when those words were stopped before they left my lips. Their feet making slight attention-getting noises upon the cool stone, Lord Recinis sent a look my way, his brows lowered. Near him, my sister and nephew mimicked his gesture, although Jharu looked upset about something.

Vividly emerald and brilliantly violet hued eyes stared at me with an eerie admixture of worry, fear and....

Something else.

My blood iced at that something else, refusing to recognize it. For if I did that would only affirm its reality, and the reason behind that reality was something I suddenly did not wish to contemplate.

I have never taken pity from anyone... and I wasn't about to now.

Whatever the reason.

Jharmeen cut her eyes to her husband, leaned in more closely, and murmured something too softly for even my acute hearing to pick up. Then she turned to me again.

She opened her mouth to speak... when the door to the establishment I was standing in front of creaked stonily open, revealing a green-speckled rhyolite reception desk. An authoritative-looking Sullustan was brushing it with a tiny sensor; off to the side a weeping young woman was trying to gulp out something to another uniformed Sullustan, who was writing down notes.

They all paused in surprise, including the one who had opened the door. For there silhouetted against the soft green light coming from behind him and held upright by the strong support of yet two more Sullustan officials was none other than...

"FLAC!" I screamed, rushing forward to wrap my arms around him, ignoring the looks the authorities were now flinging my way, looks containing a strange admixture of surprise and wariness and rising determination to get to the bottom of things.

After giving him a great big hug and impulsively kissing his cheek, I backed away to look at him, hardly believing he was real.

It was Flac all right. A very beaten up, disheveled, weary and somehow...

diminished...

Flac.

I frowned, that hunch of mine that things weren't quite all they could possibly be to make me happy slamming into me like a ronto squishing a worrt. Inexplicable waves of trembling began coursing through me, setting my skin to goose-pimple and my teeth to chatter.

Something dark and lowering descended upon me then when Flac turned his head up to meet me, his eyes dark and empty and incredibly saddened hollows in his face.

I shivered, instinctively backing up, shaking my head from side to side, then craned my head to peer over his shoulder. Another uniformed Sullustan was entering into a particular doorway... one I recognized, recognized only too well, one I wished I could erase from memory forever but knew I never would.

Unthinking, I let out a gasp.

Then I barreled past Flac and the Sullustan authorities, wove past the one dusting the desk, and skidded to a halt just inside that one particular doorway.

That damned green light was still there, and it cast a surrealistic glow down upon a blood-drenched scene straight from Hell.

It took me a moment or two to recognize those quiet remains lying in such a pitiful state as being Darra's....

He just stoped and shook his head, realizing that all the words in the universe wouldnt make her feel better, realizing that he could explain all he wanted but nothing would change, Darra would be dead, galen would be sad, perhaps enraged, and so he just stood there, shaking his head as images of the girls death came through his mind...

Slowly his eyes wandered downward to his feet, looking there he took in a breath and watched as tears began to hit the floor near his boots.

Well, I guess even you are capable of a good cry... The last time you did this was the time when...your sister.

The horror in Darra's eyes flashed through his line of vision suddenly and he was forced to take a step away from the room in shock, the sound of her scream echoed through his ears... He'd never forget, those things would haunt him forever...

About then would be the time he should have clenched his fist and swore that roan would be destroyed for hurting galens daughter, swear roan would die a slow and aggonizing death. Swear to make him wish he had never seen galen or darra ever before... But these things dont go down quite the same as they do in movies, He really was just to stunned to think of anything besides maintaining sanity, whether or not that desire was selfish or perhaps a bit on the uncarring side, it was all he could do, and its all he would do...

With a sigh he fell backwards into a little chair, his head shaking.

Why does this always have to happen? all the nice people get it... While the evil nasty ones get to run away happy... Why? what god died and gave roan the power to just take an innocent girls life?

Death.

She shuddered once then, perhaps with others following her, forced her feet onward towards wherever it was that Galen had headed.

The sight that she beheld once she entered caused her to freeze in her tracks. The chill of death loomed throughout the room as she viewed, from a distance, the still remains of a human body belonging to a young girl, one which she slowly began to recognize...

Shayla gulped as the Force she felt inside her cried in pure agony as some of the life which created it was recognized as being cruelly taken. Shayla didn't know what to say, didn't know what to think; it was only with the greatest of efforts that she recognized the man who had been drug from the spa by the Sullustans as the same one she had encountered back on K'eel Doba.

He was injured...

...that she could assist with.

But for the moment all she could feel and sense were the emotions washing about the room, her heart going out in empathy, wishing for all the world there was something in her power she could do to stop this...

...but then, was there something that they could do?

She turned on her heel to look to Lord Recinis then Graysith, the look in her eyes despairing. Quietly, she spoke via a Force link she opened with Graysith, so as not to startle any of the others. Can we not step back in time and stop this from happening?

Finaly he pulled away and approuched the body, quietly removing his robes, leaving only the simple clothing he wore beneath, and setting it gentle over her body.

Slowly he kneeled, looking down upon her face, frozen in a somewhat broken expression his head shook slowly.

"Im sorry Darra... I have failed to fulfil my vow and return you to your mother..."

He then stood and backed away, not wishing to block the way for any others that might approach.

His head turned slightly, and his eyes fell upon the form of the sitting man whom galen had before rushed to in joy of seeing...

Stunned...He must have seen the deed done... A shame indeed... Roan has cast his venom deeply into the hearts of all... He must be stopped before this poision seeps deeper into the bowls of this universe..

Not any longer.

I don't know how much time passed while I stood on wooden legs, staring down in uncomprehending denial at the bloodied bundle at my feet.

Darra? No, this wasn't her, it couldn't be her. She was a tiny baby, wasn't she? I remember that; her sitting in Terrin's arms on the couch in the home we took in Phrinnchatka... sitting atop the broad and unmoving chest of her biological father, chortling and burbling... sitting in Flac's strong hands, laughing as he swept her up and about to then bring her to a brand new joy in the form of a rattle....

Yet the bond between a mother and her child could not be denied. This was my daughter, my child, my flesh and blood...

Oh dear Khaandon, what hideously torn flesh! What excesses of blood, too much blood....

That universe I inhabited shrank to nothing but the quiet form at my feet. Suddenly I was on my knees, not knowing how I had gotten there, tilting my head in wonder that my child was suddenly no longer that, but a disturbing outline beneath the purity of royal robes of silk. I reached out a trembling hand, wincing to see the dark stain beginning to grow on that silk, a stain joined by myriad others, seeking to join with it as the evil which created this foul death seeks to join with all that is good and wholesome and light in that universe I so suddenly yearned to depart from.

From somewhere deep inside me, a little tremor began to vibrate. I leaned forward, gently scooping the covered body of my daughter into my arms and held her tightly against myself, rocking back and forth, pressing my cheek against the top of her head, my eyes black holes in my face through which no tear would come.

How could they come? They were all dried, dead and sere, evaporated by the fires of Hell which suddenly began to flame within me.

My eyes grew tighter, hotter, feeling like gritty boulders in my face, matching the gritty rock which had quietly slipped in from nowhere to take over my heart. And after I had rocked my child in my arms for the final time, I laid her down, moving the robe from her face that I could look into her wide blue eyes, so empty in death, and then lean down and kiss her torn and icy lips.

I gently replaced the robe, not really knowing that I did so.

I rose to my feet, somehow sensing the presence of others.

I turned, my legs still wooden, my eyes heralding death, and stalked to the One who I knew could do something about this.

My hand whipped to my blaster in a movement more instinctive than thought out, and it suddenly found itself shoved painfully against her underjaw, aiming through the "V" of her soft flesh there, on an unerring trajectory through bone and brain to the back of her skull and beyond. My other hand gripped her by the back of her neck, as if it were cemented there for the rest of eternity.

"You have this power," I hissed through clenched teeth, my eyes black and hot and wild as I pulled her even more painfully down upon the bore of that blaster. It indented into her flesh, gagging her.

"You have this power, and it was given to you.

"GIVE IT TO ME!!

NOW!"

I fell into ominous and oh so serious silence then, still not a single tear trailing any emotional release, knowing only that I would quite simply kill the monster who had so terribly abused my child.

But to do that I needed that power She had.

As much as she hated to do it, Shayla could think of only one thing to do without possibly harming anyone else or Galen. In less than even a second, she stretched out into Galen's mind, which was wild with emotion, and triggered the portion which controls consciousness. In that instant Galen fell limp and Shayla telekenetically pulled the blaster away, making sure the trigger was locked in place. Reaching out her hand she took the blaster then kneeled before the now-unconscious Galen, concern in her eyes. “She’ll be allright...physically,” she said quietly in a voice full of concern, at the same time placing her fingers about one of Galen’s wrists to make certain that she still had a good strong pulse.

There Shayla remained, knowing of nothing else to do at the moment. Still, at length she looked over to Darra's all-too-silent form covered in the Sith robe, and couldn't help but murmering the thought that sprang into her mind: "How can this be for the Greater Good? Can we really sit back and let things end like this..?"

"While i appriciate your concern for the well being of Jharmeen, I feel this will only make Galen more prone to violent actions in the future, this is twice she has been divirted from her course of action, trust is hard to come by, and better it is to reason, then to force."

He then stood and walked to darra's side, kneeling there he spoke softly.
"amd mpw s;ee[ we;; cjo;d. omtp dawm pf ;ogjt gove tp tjee cp,fprt"

And then his aunt simply fell to the floor...

Having waited only untill his father had stepped away from her, jharu rushed to galen, shaking her gently he looked up and around the room...

He had felt something happen, he could feel it... and his father had been looking at Shayla, she must have been the one who did it, he looked up, eyes pleeding. "what? what did you do to her? My aunt!" he looked down again worridly, continueing to shake her roughly.

after a moment of doing so his glance turned to his mother. "mom... what... Why did she fall?!"

His eyes trailed away back to galen, "why did you do it shayla? why? YOU HURT HER!"

She now took a quiet step forward, kneeling down to take the spot her husband had just vacated, one arm going out to wrap about her son's shoulders, the other reaching to lay softly upon his unconscious aunt whom he was now holding in a fierce and anguished embrace, her eyes flying up into Shayla's concerned pair and lingering there in a soft yet iron-laced link to her.

"There has been too much death, too much..." she began in a voice not much above a whisper. "And for what? You, Shayla, my adept; you fear that the Greater Good is not satisfied in this latest move on the part of our adversary. Indeed, it would seem thus. But much has been misread, I fear, and that misreading has cost us the life of this child, and possibly the sanity of my sister."

She quieted, giving her son a tight squeeze, paining for the utterly naivety and confusion she sensed rampaging his youthful frame. He was not long to this world either, and in that short span of time he had been swung from the heights of great love and into the depths of evil and despair and black and senseless death.

No child should have that thrust upon him, no matter the lineage or the heritage he carries.

No child.

She shook her head now, her hair flaming down to hide her face as she strove to withhold an even greater burst of tears which threatened her. For kneeling there upon the cold stone floor of the Sullustan private spring, bathed in the eerie green glow of its light, a sudden epiphany struck her.

Inexplicable fear for her own son's life filled her with screaming terror.

"I-- I believe..." she faltered, trying to put her fears into words, that they might be dissected and analyzed and answer to them found. That Recinis would take her and soothe away the nameless fears rushing through her with his usual, logical, and very much loving approach.

"Th- My Sire was right. There is no 'Greater Good,'; there only is what will happen, and the road to that certainty. That the Sith will return is obvious, for would my love and my all and my husband be here now? No, he would not."

Again she paused, the words too painful to be borne. Finally she just let them come, her gaze flicking away now, staring down upon the bloodied Sith robe which hid her niece's pitiful frame from view.

"P-perhaps it was not these children who inherited that particular destiny. For there is yet another--" she now glanced to Jharu, who was sitting in uncomprehending sorrow, still holding onto the body of his aunt.

"--and while I live, as does my sister, we can bear children who may serve this purpose."

She fell silent at that, dreading the implications of the words she was speaking. For to the cold destiny the All had placed before her from the moment Aelvedaar had reached through space and time to take Jharmeen Jhin'Dar and change her forever, time had no meaning. And it did not matter what road was traveled by the chosen few, nor the length of time which was necessary to appease it.

Darra....

For a brief moment I trembled violently, memory rushing to fill the soothing black void I had been occupying. For an instant longer I teetered on the brink of something... of a mental and emotional giving in...

...but then I shifted my eyes, and once more beheld the sight of my baby.

Saw the darkening stains as the blood began drying on the Sith robes overlaying her slight frame.

Heard the rustle of movement as the Sullustan authorities began to ring us, murmuring their questions and writing their clues in hopes of seeking an answer they would never find.

How could they know of this dark Sith who stalked the universe like all the plagues in creation rolled into one black and oozing miasma?

Roan....

I froze with that thought, as new and insidious suggestions whispered in my mind. At length I stirred more vigorously, seeking to put that thought into words. All I could see running before my eyes was the image of a Kaminoan cloning lab, broken and crushed, strewn with their science and the scientists, hidden away in a temple to a dead god upon a dead world.

I shivered.

"Why?"

The word croaked from my throat like a stone falling into a crevice.

"Why?" I repeated, "is he doing this? You say this is a race to bring back the Sith, that he needs the children... he had my niece, he had my daughter...

"Why? Why advance my- my daughter, why lead us here to Sullust where- where.... Why lead us here, only to- to kill--"

The question trailed off into a whisper; then my eyes grew large and black with sudden knowledge.

He was playing with us. He was toying with us, like a sandpanther toys with a sandrat.

He was that damned sure of himself. But why? How?

My thoughts drifted back to that broken lab, and I shuddered. Insanity hovered close, just at the outfringes of my mind, whispering to me in soft seduction to just let it go, just give in, it would give me surcease, final and cool surcease....

I gritted my teeth.

I would solve this mystery. I would kill the monster.

As he considered this he finaly realized what had happened...

His eyes went wide as the final piece to the puzzle was brought to light in galens words... it had always been there... Why hadnt he seen it before?

He stood slowly addressing the group, "you are indeed correct galen... Why would he kill Darra, why would he do all of this, it seems indeed odd... But look to the past... Look at the reactions we have gotten from Jharmeen, with the mere mention of his name... Roan is one whom hates all but the perfection in himself... So then, why would he settle for another beings child, one that is not even of his race, when he has at least 2 children that are of his own..."

Something.

Somewhere deep within her, a key seemed to turn.

A lock opened.

The Beast, long muzzled, shook his restraints from himself and lifted his muzzle to the heavens, allowed at last to howl out his outrage and fear and shame at the images that came rushing forth to taunt him from the repressions of her mind.

Graysith's violet eyes grew vague, turning inward now, seeing nothing around her but the sudden appearance of a pair of brilliant turquoise eyes, eyes coming close to her own vision, intimately close, forcing her's to remain open and watching and seeing, eyes bearing down upon her in undeniable and completely overpowering strength even as the owner of those eyes did....

She gulped, shuddering as memories poured back into life within, clenching her fists, her brow beading with sweat, her lip bleeding where she bit down upon it in awful reaction to what those images were forcing her to remember, the scenes hot and searing and taking her vividly back to that time when Roan had taken her, removed the All, had taken his prey to his hidden sanctum and.....

Those fire-laden eyes, laughing at her weakness... sudden replacement by huge and limpid eyes of a Kaminoan scientist, hovering close, coming to her to perform certain duties upon her, those eyes not showing a speck of emotion or feeling as their owner went about the purity of his science... then were replaced yet again by those turquoise ones, now accompanied with the sense of hot breath panting against her throat, hands raking her... again the Kaminoan flashing by in solemn logic of the situation, and the scenario repeated yet again... and again, and yet once more.

"What is it?" she queried quietly, reaching out to lay supportive hands on Graysith's arms. Then, as a little niggle began to direct her to something, she continued with one other question which she asked even more softly, a fire growing in her eyes and in her voice just the same. "Is it something about...Him?"

She fell silent at that for a long moment, then turned and looked to Lord Recinis. "If all this was a ploy, there is still something that doesn't fit. Roan wants children with the All that he can control to bring back the Sith himself; I do not believe either of the All-children of his race fit that."

"And..." she paused, only momentarily diverting her gaze from Graysith to glance at the remains covered by the Sith robe. "How are we to know, given that there is Kaminoan technology back in Roan's hideout on K'eel Doba, that he didn't ever clone JhinDarra?"

Has she no wits about her? Must i go through this in greater detail?

"no, think of the words you speak, befor eyou speak them..."

Quietly he lead Jharmeen to a chair, looking up at shayla he sighed "Remember! Roan took Jharmeen from us some time ago, and has not made many movse against us sense then, he has been toying with us for some time as they develop, most likely allowing them to gain strength and take on the personalities of his liking. He took her, think! Many a time have you seen Her react oddly to Roans name, this is not the first! What could he do to her, that is so horrific, she react in such a way? he has used her as a means of creating the children he desires..."

Recinis then turned away, focusing his attention to Jharmeen, he reached within, performing an action that had been interchanged between them, a bond of love which allowed them to transcend the horrific pains of there pasts.

My love, I know it hurts, i can feel your pain, but Be strong, allow me to be your strength... Allow me to take your pain...

Opening himself he pulled close to her, wrapping her in a hug and rocking her gently, offering a passage of freedom though thier link, hoping to remove the painful thoughts that hurt her... but in the end it was truly up to her...

though no matter what happened, he continued to sooth her with his love, simply being there...

She's helped me so much... She's always been there... Whenever i needed her! i have to help her! i have to figure out a way.

She trailed for a moment, unable to finish that statement. Instead she continued with: "If he has the children capable of bringing back the Sith now primed and ready, and is only diverting us with this evil he has done, we must find and destroy the children before he is able to succeed as soon as possible."

She fell silent at that, clearly aware that finding the children could be very difficult. Still, there was one place that Roan had to take the in order to augment their powers enough to rebirth the Sith.

"He HAS to take them to the Enternal Flame..."

She paused for one more moment, then proceeded with her line of reasoning. "We have to stop them from getting there..."

All the terror, the pain, and the shame were ripped asunder before that great wash of love, until at last she could lift her eyes up to meet Recinis's emerald pair. What passed along that connection only strengthened the healing love he was sending to her until she finally ceased sobbing and trembling, and sanity returned.

She became aware of her son's worried look, his anxious words, and his youthful arms gripping her tight.

She felt the concern washing from Shayla... and finally heard the last words the young woman spoke.

She sat bolt upright at that, her eyes growing a shade darker, the Glyph flashing in protest.

"NO!" she cried aloud, bringing strange looks from the nearby Sullustan police, who began to come to them again. They paused in mid-step at the commanding look R ecinis shot them, giving the Lady Q'utaro the time she needed to compose herself.

"No," she said in a more controlled manner. Her eyes cut from Shayla to her husband, then back again.

"There has been too much death," she finally whispered. "Though their birth has been... effected by Roan, if indeed they exist as we suspect them to do, these children are still flesh of my flesh.

"They shall not be destroyed, whatever the cost.

"They shall not be."

Shayla pursed her lips, considering. "Is there some way then that we can be certain Roan does not use your children for his wishes?" she asked. She pursed her lips again, recalling how Aelvedaar had drawn a chronotic shield about Prinn'chatka to keep them hidden safely from all eyes and all evil. "We could place a chronotic shield about the Eternal Flame. For as long as Roan cannot reach it, he can never complete his foul plan. Then perhaps we can journey to take the children from him, for there is nothing more cruel than to use another being simply for your own desires..."

Suddenly the Sullustan authorities were all about them, ringing them carefully, exchanging equally careful looks with one another.

Two of them approached the young adept, one on either side. Their demeanor was professional, their looks, stern.

"Excuse me, Ma'am... but you said something about... destroying children?" he said, shifting his eyes pointedly to the covered form on the ground before returning it to her.

"What exactly do you know about the murder which has taken place here?"

he then returned to the authorities, whom were attempting to block there way as shayla was questioned.

Recinis looked down at him and shook his head, "We have no time to explain, my friends are in dire need of rest, and some are injured... we have others waiting in our ship..."

he then turned to jharu and nodded "Assist your mother."

Then he kneeled down and took hold of Darra's body, standing one of the officials sped towards him, "im sorry sir, but you cant take that!"

Recinis only shook his head "She doesnt belong here, she will be given a proper burial" queitly he looked at shayla and then returned his gaze to the man "She will answer your questions, then i will return for her"

he then sent a quiet nodd shayla's that she should be "helpful" to them and walked away, ignoring those that tried to stop them...

But there was just something about that imposing being who swept away with the child's torn body in his arms....

One detective shrugged at length, nodding to his partner. Then he returned to Shayla, as others came to form a tight ring about them.

Hands hovered near weapons as the detective repeated his former questions, waiting to hear what this young woman would have to say in explanation.

He was particularly interested in her former avowal, for if there was one thing he loved more than life itself, it was innocent children.

"Yes ma'am," the one who had asked the questions commented, scribbling her reply on a padd with a strange looking stylus.

He turned his large and liquid eyes up to her again, otherwise remaining perfectly still.

"And your comment about some children you and your companions, er... needed to destroy, I believe you said earlier? Can you elaborate a bit on that comment, please?

"Not to mention your... er, proximity to the deceased, and so shortly after she was found thus...?"

He fell silent, waiting.

Around her, the circle tightened.

"As for the proximity of all of us to the deceased, we all entered the private spa area after some of your people came from here and we recognized another who had gone missing from our party and was being lead from here, injured."

Shayla then quieted again, something niggling inside her that these guys weren't going to believe a word she said yet not willing to take one more action which might lead to any more death.

And after all, they were only doing their jobs. But perhaps...

"That is all I can tell you, for it is all that I know," she continued honestly. Then she calmly directed her greeny-blue eyes to the Sullustan even more openly and with a brief wave of her hand finished with, "You can release me now, because I know nothing further of this."

He nodded, his simple and honest heart growing heavy.

Such a lovely lady, to be possibly mixed up in this. Murder, however, wears all faces...

...and none of them are ever pretty.

"Yes, Ma'am," he stated, closing his padd with a little snap. He cut his eyes to his men, nodded imperceptibly.

"I'm sorry, but you shall have to come with me. We shall be looking after your companions as well, to question them further, but in all honesty Ma'am, it was not they who said innocent children needed to be destroyed."

And criminals often do return to the scene of the crime, a common ploy to throw the law from their tail.

Nodding, he watched as four officers ringed Shayla, taking her up with them, along with the still-weeping receptionist. Others took off at a steady jog, heading on the trail of Recinis and the others. He then took a last look about himself before moving along in their wake. That mysterious something still tickled in the recesses of his mind, but he soon laid it to rest with the firm conviction that he was doing his duty to the best of his ability.

They had left Shayla, ALONE in there with some Sullustans who were looking anywhere and everywhere for answers.

Finaly reaching the authorities, who looked about themselves as though assessing the odds of withstanding Recinis temper should he unleash it upon them.

His palm came upward slowly as they fidgeted in place, the one who was obviously in charge stepping forward.

Recinis gaze turned upon the mans own glare, which was defiant and obviously stating "im in charge here"

Recinis nodded his head to that look but spoke non the less. "This woman is innocent, she was with my friends at the time of this occurance, and we were traveling to a meeting elsewhere. The girl that was killed, she is my niece, her mother was with us, That is how we arrived here, we recieved a message from the one who had taken her from us. Ask yourself, if your niece had been taken, and you recieve a message that she would be returned, would you not come with all haste? This woman had nothign to do with the murder, if more questions are needed to be answered, release her now, i will be most cooperative."

Odd... that relatives to the slain would appear so quickly, as well as so... conveniently at the scene of the crime, and so close to when that crime had been perpetrated. He had never in his long years of experience on the Sullastan police force found so many possible suspects so obligingly close to a crime scene. Normally, relatives and next of kin would have to be chased down and contacted themselves.

He warred with himself, his large black eyes growing darker.

Something here was not... right. Murder was never right, but there was something about this one, something big... something he sensed somehow had more to do with something other than the mere murder of a young girl by killer or killers unknown.

He was bound by rules and regulations. All he really had was a circumstantial comment from the lady, a wealth of investigative evidence... and a really bad feeling. And the weeping receptionist hadn't pointed any accusatory fingers toward the blonde, after all.

That feeling broadened out to sudden certainty, and he nodded.

"Very well, then, you are free to go," he said, but held his hand up quickly before giving the final order to release the woman. "But I need names, planets of origin, ships' names and identification codes, all the usual, in case we need to contact you again regarding this, you understand...."

He nodded toward the imposing figure, who nodded back, the movement somehow regal. Then his padd flipped open, and he began writing everything down with extreme care, all the while knowing it was being holo-recorded, as had been everyone and everything who had entered the spa since the authorities had arrived on the scene.

Lord Recinis Q'utaro, uncle to the deceased... the Lady Jharmeen Q'utaro, aunt to the deceased... Jharu Q'utaro, cousin... Galen Jhin'Dar Danner, mother... JhinDarra Jhin'Dar, the deceased....

On and on the list went, soon augmented by the numbers of the sith warship and the name "Koris'ian" as planet of origin -- never heard of it! -- as the regal and imposing Dark Lord of the Sith held to his honor and offered the information freely, as asked.

The detective closed his padd at length, and nodded. "You're free to go," he said succinctly, waving to the men holding Shayla and turning away to go back to headquarters.

As he went, however, that uneasy feeling returned with a vengeance.

Cloned children, on Kamino? Needing to be killed...? And here, a body being swept off, a young girl, killed as well?

He frowned and shook his head, then sniffed.

This was certainly all beyond him, that was a fact. Sullust was a simple world, filled with simple people and a place where people came simply to relax in the hot springs. This was not a place where events of such complexity would normally occur, events he suddenly felt had connections to something other in the galaxy, something dark and mysterious and possibly very, very dangerous....

But there was someone who's ability this was not beyond, someone with power, someone who in all the hullabaloo of galactic reform had nicely stayed his hand from Sullust, leaving only a small garrison there to keep a desultory eye on things.

Someone who just might be interested in strange goings on... and someone he really, really wanted to remain on the good side of.

He hurried back to HQ, and there sent forth a speedy transmission to Coruscant, attention Detention Center, and in that transmission attached every lick of information he had recorded in his investigation of the circumstances surrounding the death of one JhinDarra Jhin'Dar, female, age 16.

He sat back in his chair as an affirming transmission told him the information was received and being duly processed, thank you very much. His eyes limpid with disgust for the entire affair, he puffed his cheeks out, letting an exhalation flee him with the knowledge that he had performed his duties to the best of his abilities, and that things quite possibly now rested in other, stronger, and farther-reaching hands.

((OOC: Please leap into The Days Grow Longer in the "Empire/New Republic" forums, and see what happens as a result of this transmission, thank you.))

She'd been so stunned by all that had happened she hadn't even considered that what she was saying might appear incriminating to the officials who had gathered in the room. Indeed, she had barely been aware to their presence, so focused had she been...

She frowned at that, angry with herself for being so stupid. There was no excuse for what she had done even though she had been shocked by everything. She wouldn't allow herself that excuse; she expected more from herself.

Pursing her lips at that, she made it her business to see that everyone's wounds were properly taken care of then at length turned to Lord and Lady Qu'taro, an urgency to move forward quickly in her heart, an idea coming to her mind. "Where shall we depart to?" she queried, "And what of the other ships we brought here with us?"

Then her look turned inward for a moment as she tried to figure out the briefest and simplest way to explain the idea which was niggling in her mind. At length she refocused her gaze on all present once more. "I have been considering something. Perhaps there is no Greater Good, but one thing is certain; one must have Balance in order to use the All unless it is inherent to them. Considering all the evils which Ankrist Roan has committed recently then, one would question how he maintains All usage, for it is not inherent to him. The only thing I can truly come up with in answer to that regards the children he intends to use to bring back the Sith."

She pursed her lips once more, hoping that she was making sense. "We need to find and take your children from him not only to save them from being used as puppets by their father," Shayla continued then, looking to Graysith empathetically, "For there is still hope that they may be taught to see the evil that he is trying to make them a part of, and in that chance perhaps we can take from Roan the one and only thing that allows him to remain balanced and likewise remains one of the primary weapons he holds against us..."

She placed thoughtful eyes upon her adept, then shook her head.

"I do not see your connection, Shayla," she said softly, her eyes still swimming with sorrow for the loss of her niece and the further pain inflicted upon her sister. But behind that sorrow was temporarily banked the fires of righteous fury.

Indeed, the animal would be slaughtered as the man-killer he had become.

"There is only one thing which would create that balance in Roan--" She quickly spat the name from her lips as though it were a gall to them, not wishing them to linger there any longer than necessary.

"--and that would be a great and deep and undying love. Such a love, once established, is impossible to remove, no matter what the circumstances, no matter how deeply hidden within oneself."

So, for the moment at least, he simply kept his mouth shut, only introducing himself, and helped the man out. Then he hunkered in a corner nearby as the armor which controlled the ship was taken from Flac, all the while hanging on to the blaster he'd aquired for dear life.

A deep and undying love...

...in Ankrist Roan? And for whom?

Actually frowned outwardly at that, but in only a moment that frown was replaced by a calm...yet saddened...look. Then, "I shall go to see that our new friend receives the healing attention he needs," she said quietly, nodding once then turning and heading to another part of the warship where Flac had been laid down comfortably to rest. She flicked a blue green gaze at the hunkering Jasyn, whose brown eyes were alert and very concerned. She nodded once to him then stepped in to the now-resting Flac, kneeling next to the couch he'd been placed upon and reaching out two cool hands, placing one on his forehead and the other on an arm. Closing her eyes, she stretched out into the life that was the Force and channeled it into him, remaining quietly beside him even as she knew he would begin to drift into a deep and healing sleep...

He turned slowly to look at shayla as she walked away, sensing the doubt that Roan could ever love... sensing the doubt that Roan could possibly maintain the balance.

He spoke then, allowing his voice to come out clearly, so all would hear the words he had to speak. "it is actauly quite simple... Roan's balance comes from that which he has created... I know with my own son, no matter what could ever happen, the love i feel for him could never die... I believe the same goes for roan, he has created his balance through evil placed upon Jharmeen... He showed already his desire to hold ShaRhylla no matter the cost, he easily accepted being outcast from his sith heritage... That is where it lies... That is why he holds tightly to the strands of evil, and yet at the same time uses the all so freely... And in this, his one true source of good, he gains armor, for he knows to that that same unending love will be present within Jharmeen, and therefor, she too can not strike down his plan, only attempt to divert it."

his head shook slowly and he cast a gentle and loving smile to both Jharmeen and Jharu.

As his eyes continued to look upon them as though both were all that mattered in the universe, he continued speaking, "while i hold little, if any understanding about the power in question, this is the only explanation i find possible."

"You speak insightful words, my love," she whispered, staring off into middle space. She knew from experience that even so loathesome a piece of dirt as Roan had become did indeed have the ability to love within him...

A night flashed into existence in her memory, a magickal night upon the silvery shores of the Corellian sea, when Roan had let something of himself slip and prove that very thing to her, even though at the time she though he was someone else.

...and the mere ability was all it took. And a willingness to act from the standpoint of that love, as well as from the standpoint of evil.

She spoke as much to Recinis, her voice silvery in the quiet of the warship bridge.

"This is something most difficult to achieve, my love," she admitted at length. "It is difficult for the fact that those who consider themselves good cannot cross that barrier into the purity of evil, embracing it with outstretched arms, and willing it to let them act in its stead. In a like manner, those who are evil more than likely cannot act in what would be considered a manner truly pure and selfless; the "good" they would strive for would be the smaller, and deceiving one born of self interest, which is not truly good at all.

"Fo it is that recognition which gives one the ability to remove oneself from the small picture one inhabits, with the realization that there truly is no good, nor is there evil.

"There only... IS. And with this comes mastery of the greatest power known to the Galaxy."

She grew quiet, sighing a bit and kissing Recinis's head again, leaving her lips to lay against his scalp as she considered the original quandary further. Her warm breath tickled him then as, not moving her lips from their position she murmured,

"How is it that Roan is yet maintaining this love? I saw his child with him; I heard the words he spoke in abandonment with my own ears. Who is it he holds that love for, that would let him maintain mastery of the All?

"If we could determine this, perhaps we would be able to achieve a means of somehow gaining the upper hand over him. What say you, my love?"

...a memory of an evening where he had been eating aboard the Relentless with Shayla and Graysith, when Roan had returned with that demonic imp of his, who carried a certain "present" which had been "retrieved" by him.

He remembered the way the Roan and Graysith had interacted. He remembered the words Shayla had told him...

...about the fact that Sith could love too.

He spoke up very quietly and thoughtfully, hoping that his interruption would not be too rude. "Excuse my interruption," he said aloud, "But I can't help but remember how Lord Roan used to interact with you, Graysith, just as you have stated. I think we have spoke of this possibility once before...

...but is it not possible, and very likely, that the one whom Roan holds undying love for is you? For after all, he had you; he cruelly used you for "his purpose"...and yet he did not kill you. Why else would he leave the one of the key players who might defeat him alive unless he holds something deep within him for you that perhaps even he does not realize?"

He halted at that and simply waited to see what words Graysith or Lord Recinis might say in response to this possibility.

He looked over to his mother as she spoke, taking her her words, while quiet, as though they were spoken to him on a loud speaker...

No good or evil? how? A balance, I need to find a balance...

Is this thing that there talking about... The- "All"? is that what keeps happening to me? I have to figure it out...

he let his eyes close, removing the world from the emerald specks letting time play upon itself untill he reached a quiet place within where he could think.

My love, I can think of no other than those possibilities we have discussed: myself, or his children. Or child in particular....

She fell silent then, recalling into crystal clarity all imagery within her being having to do with her brief relationship with Roan, that he might delve within that and possibly retrieve from it any clues she might otherwise have overlooked. Then she whispered another thought into his heart.

How can he hold such a pure love for me, my Lord and my love? For his very time with me was nothing but a lie. During its entirety he led me to believe that he was my one first great love; how can he encompass a true love for me, when that love he purported to give was born of deceit?

No... I feel it is something else. Some... one else.

But who?

She let her thoughts dwindle into calmness then, that Recinis's could meld with them and together they could become more than the sum of their individual parts. Perhaps together they could discern the answer... and in that answer find a means of stopping Ankrist Roan in his tracks.

She couldn't help one last burst of wonder.

Who would he love, truly love, and as a result of that love bring to the source of it no harm?

Looking to shayla he gave her a brief nod and let the words come out as he thought them "thanksa blondy, i appriciate the assist..."

he then walked off to where the others were conversing. Damn jedi, probably gonna hafta give her my soul later or something... Sheesh, never can trust those hand wavers... Damn hand wavers... Well, flac, she DID help you out, and your wounds are pretty much gone after all, i suposed you could cut her a break...

But she's a jedi! bah! you want me to cut a jedi some slack? But, then, you deffenetly have a point, i still feel like i have all my piecies, and i can think, i think... What if she erased my mind? am i really me? OH MAN! WHAT HAPPENED? whats my name? is flac it... Kind of a wierd name if you ask me.... Wait no... ya, im flac... yep, thats it...

WHERES GALEN! wait... Who's galen?

You idiot, dont play dumb, You know damn well who galen is, and where she is for that matter...

Oh, your right, but still, never can trust them jedi...

Calm down, sheesh Flac, your gonna give yourself a heart attack, she's a jedi, not a witch doctor...

Hmmm... Your right, sorry...

he then walked up to the other people, looking once over at shayla who was giving him a curious eye as if she could tell he was feeling a bit uncomfortable, he smiled oddly as if in appology before turning back and looking at Recinis....

he walked forward slowly and examined the guy from a few different angles, finaly reaching out slowly to touch a horn, to which the guy seemed about ready to pounc on him, so he wisly backed away, "ah... errr, sorry, just seein if you were real or not... Err, ya know, before i met galen and got caught up in this stuff, i thought sith were just the darker variaty of jedi... Then course after meeting roan-" he shuddered to himself as he mentioned the name "-i thought i wasnt that far off, but err... You havnt killed me... So, i guess you all cant be that bad... and well, your obviously alive, so i guess the sith arent as dead as most people think...hmmmm... by the way, i just thought id like to make a deal with ya, if you dont kill me, i promise i wont tell anyone about the sith comming back to life...ah...err...it'd be appriciated..."

he then flashed a wide grin and backed away, not wanting to be in proximity to the people that while seeming fairly nice to the naked eye, could possibly be related to roan...

He sat down next to jasyn and looked over.

by the way he clutches his blaster, id say he' might be a good person to know, always ready...and most likely not trusting this people either...

He nodded and spoke up "hey, the names Flac, you look as though you could use a drink to loosen up." he then nodded towards the guy that should have been dead a long time ago and continued "then, i understand why"

Undernormal circomstances, he would have spoken harshly, or perhaps even hit the man for his foolishness, but this one had obviously taken serious damage from roan, and had been in first hand experience with the loss of darra, so he understood that he could be a bit... Off.

And so recinis remained silent, just wondering the answers to the questions presented...

But he could not, all of this seemed so out of place...

Roan held true love in at least one place... the answer seemed so obviously his children, yet even that remained somewhat out of place, as Jharmeen had pointed out, he had quickly abandoned ShaRhylla when she was proven to be to weak to destroy them...

then who? he obviously has more children... Perhaps one of them?

Whom did Ankrist Roan love so very deeply? Whom did he TRULY love...?

She pursed her lips as she pondered, considering the many actions he had taken since he had emerged, all of which were so obviously carefully and meticulously thought out.

He was definitely clever and cunning.

And rather self-assured as well.

Pursing her lips further, an idea niggled in her mind, but she didn't even know if she should say it aloud, for it just might seem foolish to others' ears. But at the moment, it was really the only thing she could think of...

"This may sound strange," Shayla said aloud, reaching her hand out to rub her chin thoughtfully, "But is it possible that the deep and undying love which allows Ankrist Roan to maintain balance is love for himself? After all, everything, absolutely everything he has done thusfar has been in order to accomplish one goal; that being his goal. He has done everything in his power to make certain that he succeeds...

...I know this sounds very odd. But...

...could it be possible?"

Within his sleep he held a little dream, a quiet little place where his mind found comfort...

He stood walking about through the forest in utter awe of all about him, smiling as he heard the birds sing, and the leaves whisper to him, the breeze as there voice...

as he walked along suddenly he was on a stone pathway, which soon met an intersection...

his head turned down one way, where stood a large temple, atop of which was a sphere of darkness, the temple radiated utter evil... the simple coldness of the place forced him to take a step back...

Head turning once more he viewed the other path at the end of which sat a temple which was the oposite, clearly radiating a golden light of warmth...

Instinctivly he turned down the path to the warmth of the golden temple, wanting to find what good and light lived within.

But soon his mother stood in front of him, shaking her head slowly, "one must be willing to act from a standpoint of good, and also completly willing to act in a standpoint of evil, balance is required..."

he looked at her a moment, and as he turned about to look behind him, he found he was again at the little intersection, looking between the temples in wonder if which way he should go...

As he looked on, remembering his mothers words, he felt something churn within him, and quite suddenly he saw another of himself, though this one held glowing red eyes, and wore a devilish grin...

And that half of him, clearly the darkness which all life possessed, ran off towards the dark temple...

as he looked he thought immidiatly that his mothers words meant thus, so he quickly ran towards the light, yet to his confusion merly found himself back at the starting point once more, standing beside his darker side...

He looked at the almost mirror image of himself, which only growled at him and spoke in a hating tone of voice "Leave me alone! i want to go where i belong!" that boy quickly ran off towards the dark temple...

Jharu turned slowly to see that once more his mother was there.
"Jharu...It is difficult to achieve the required balance for the fact that those who consider themselves good cannot cross that barrier into the purity of evil, embracing it with outstretched arms, and willing it to let them act in its stead. In a like manner, those who are evil more than likely cannot act in what would be considered a manner truly pure and selfless"

He then looked away from his mother and to his alter ego, which was once more snarling beside him in anger...

"Going there will not help you... Go there" Jharu spoke to his evil, and pointed to the glowing temple that simbolized the will of good... "i think your suposed to go there..."

While jharu would normaly have a hard time convincing a being of evil to enter this, they were one, simply two sides of one being, and therefor his understanding was the understanding of the dark one beside him...

He watched as the dark version of himself treaded slowly towards the light, growling and pausing constantly, not wishing to enter such a place...

His vision then turned to the dark temple, and he shuddered as he realized he must go...

His steps came slowly, every moment bringing him more fear... closer to the icy feeling, as he approuched he saw images of a slain darra, images of Terrin's torn body...

those images seemed to become one seen, also showing many other deaths, many other negative resaults... And upon that he saw himself, holding a bloodied blade and looking down at the corpses with a smug look...

The sight horrified him and he instantly took rapid steps backwards, not wanting to go to a place that could promise him the possibility of killing... Killing family...

as he had when feeling darra's death, cold wracked him, he came down into a little ball shuddering, wishing that this hadnt been asked of him...

But his mother had spoken of balance... and he DID want to understand what it was that was in him... did he have to enter such a painfilled place? a place where the good of his heart could no longer exist?

"but... I... I dont have to! I dont have to be evil! i dont! i have to be both! i can choose, in some times i must... But... This, i dont have to kill those i love? do i?

"Balance... She said... there is no good or evil? but... if theres no good or evil... Then why am i here? why am i?"

as he finished the world spun and he suddenly found himself on his back... he stood slowly to find that the intersection was gone, and his darker half as well... Though, he didnt quite feel the same...

As his gaze lifted he saw that now there was only one temple, this one seemed niether light nor dark, it simply was...

quietly, making sure he was not once more making a mistake, he took a step forwards... With that step he felt a decision... He felt the both the disire to do good, and the cold of commiting evil acts...

And that is how it continued untill he stood within the temple, his mind whirling about these concepts.

he looked down at his hands each one held a blade... one blade was stained with blood... The other was similar, yet somehow different, as if the blood was a resault of an intirly different motive...

as he blinked he held only one blade, it was the sword he had claimed from the temple of K'eel doba...

That blade seemed filled with infinate possibilities... He could remember, using it only once... And that was to free galen from the darkness... He knew it held potential for good... Yet, his father had told him, that the difference between a warrior, and a killer, was wisdom, and intent, without proper thought of his actions, he was simply a killer... Yet what defined that? Who was to say what he thought of as something for good was not really a painful and horrid mistake?

as he thought suddenly his sister was before him, laughing at all the pain in the universe...

He felt his grip upon the blade tighten, and he rushed in and attacked her, he felt a rush of utter relief enter him as he looked upon the faces of those that had been hurt by her, seeing that they no longer felt pain...

As he turned around his smile vanished, for beside her corpse was his own mother, looking down saddined, he knew that his sister was evil... So did his mom... But he could sense she was sad...

He approuched quickly, dropping his sword and running to his mothers side, that while she did not deny him her love, she did seem different, she was sad... he had killed her daughter, killed his own sister...

he quickly screamed out in protest "IM SORRY MOMMY! I didnt want to hurt you! im sorry..."

he then stood, backing away from his deed quietly. He turned about again and saw a dark figure, he hadnt seen this one before, couldnt see a face, but a name came to mind... it was roan, holdign a sword, wielding great strength, uttering words of wishing to destroy jharu for his lack of heart...

Jharu took a step back once more, this time from the dark one that now wished to destroy him for destroying ShaRhylla, he remembered words of roan loving his childred from his parants, had his actions hurt both this sith, and his mother?

he shook his head and turned to run, running as fast as he could untill he was deep within a room, sword discarded, hiding beneath a little table...

Soon his mother was with him, smiling sadly, and wrapping him in a hug... she was speaking of things... But he couldnt understand... He couldnt...

He understood... It was not hard to hear the words she was speaking... once more he was standing outside, in an open field this time, his mothers arms tightly about him whisperign. "there is no good or evil Jharu, There simply is... You must step back, and view the 'big picture'"

he then was once more along, standing within a small room.

no good or evil... a "big picture" ? Then... What does that mean?

then his father was there beside him, "you know the answer Jharu... Look within yourself, a warrior must always know himself, even before he knows his task... Without knowing yourself completly, you can never fully understand what it is you are doing... "

as his lips opened to ask a question his father was gone...

Jharu awoke with a snap taking a deep breath he sat upright.

"im... I... A dream? but... it was so... No NO NO! it wasnt a dream! dreams are illusions! hopes! this was me... your right father... I must no myself, while this dream has given me chance to learn, a chance to see... Seeing, knowing, having a chance, this things are not enough, i must act on them... I must know myself. I wanted to understand what was happenign to me... but it isnot happenign to me, it is happening FROM me... i must know myself..."

He then sat upon the floor, taking a deep breath and letting his mind clear, considering what he had seen within his "dream"

Every action has a reaction... This "big picture" is this learnign to see what your actions will cause? learning to know what you are doing before you do them? If i were to kill my sister, yes, Many would be happy, but, others sad, would that be the course needed to take?

mother, i think i understand... Am i suposed to think before my actions? if there is no good or evil as you have said, then there is only what people feel, so to have balance.. is it simply realizing that balance is not alternating between good and evil... For, to do so would simply be changing your alignment... But... Instead, is it the realization, that every action, no matter the course, is indeed acting in BOTH good AND evil?

I must know myself father... I understand... so then i ask... What do i desire?

I want to do good, i want to help... You and mommy taught me in that way, that helping others, that, going beyond your own desires is a wonderful thing...

But, how to i do that? I must hurt some to help others?

To save a friend, i must kill a demon... And that demon, whether true to the name, or simply a person that would indanger another... Has pain... Feels pain...

So... To heal one, another must hurt?

And to take an apple for yourself, means another will not have that food when they are hungry and stumble accross the same tree you have...

And somewhere comes a glimmering to beckon faintly to those vast otherings, which waft lowly now to send into slumber the shining mind of a boy....

Hey, one lil drink can't hurt...

In the same motion he lowered the flask and eyed it strangely as the taste of whatever liquor started tickling his taste buds. He grimaced a bit, then licked his lips as if considering even as he returned the flask to its owner.

Hmmm...can't say I ever tasted THIS before...

To give voice to that thought, Jasyn turned once again to look at Flac, saying, "What the Hell is that stuff?"

Then for a moment he fell silent, at last removing a hand from his blaster for but a moment to extend it. "Name's Jasyn Lancaster," he said, shaking Flac's hand. "And if you think you need a drink I'll have to introduce you to Sith brandy sometime soon."

Finally turning his attentions then to the others sitting about discussing, Jasyn stated what he thought about the whole situation plainly and briefly. "I understand there is a need for us to have some sort of plan," he started, a memory flashing in his mind.

Ummm...what are our plans? Strategies? You do know of these things?

He jerked himself from the thought, "...but when it's all said and done there is only one way we are going to stop Roan for good."

Images and memories once again began rising within him. Of a time back aboard the Devil when they'd nearly lost Terrin, and that thing of Roan's had done something to Galen. Of Sullust. And now of the more recent and horrible images of a young girl, whose life had only begun, her body torn and abused. Jasyn clenched his teeth, those images making him angrier by the second.

"He deserves nothing other than death. And really, we can sit and debate for days over what Roan possibly loves, but how is that going to help us? It's not something we can take from him no matter what we do, no matter if we figure it out, especially not if we are talking about someone that he truly loves.

"But what I do think will help us his his strong confidence in himself. He expects what he has done to defeat us, to destroy us; I doubt he expects us to come back strong and soon from this. Therefore, we absolutely must, for this may be the only time when we can strike him offguard."

At that he quieted, waiting to see what anyone might have to say in reply.

he then looked deeply at the man, "you see, Roan is most likely expecting exactly what you suggest, He has done what he has, in order to let rage blind is, and make us charge onward into yet another prededermined situation, where he will again take victory, and again move on, and prepare for another confrontation..."

He then turned his gaze outward towards the viewing space before them, gazing at the stars. "It is difficult, because in order to ever defeat him, we must somehow turn his trap into our own... and unfortunatly, this is what he will be expecting... "

his eyes closed and he sighed, "though you are indeed correct, his death, Mr. Lancaster, is all he deserves... he has done to much to hurt the innocent, and done to much simply to control us...

As for his love, it is simple... Look at yourself, craving his death as though it were your first meal in a year... how has he achieved this? how has he manipulated us all so easily? it is always about love, Jasyn, He kills darra, and could have easily taken her body, and dispoused of it, could have killed her at any time, but he play's upon our love, and play's upon memories of love...

If we can find his love, find this source that gives him usage of a power taking balance of good and evil, then we would be able to understand for what his actions are, and begin to regain our footing..."

His eyes closed as he remembered the feelings radiating from Jharmeen as she relived her memories earlier, there had been 5 distinct accounts, 5 different horrific outbursts from her...
and as he remembered that moment, he reached out to reassure his dear love as he spoke his next words, not wanting her to have to go through those feelings again.

"Roan has created more children then he needs... If all of the scientists efforts were successful, he would have 5 children, aside from ShaRhylla... Why the need for so many? it has been said that 2 children could brign back the sith, he would only need to create one child to go with ShaRhylla. But he has made more."

"This is so," she said at last, letting her fingers fall from her mouth and straightening up. Though pain stabbed yet again at the mention of her ordeal beneath Roan's not-too gentle "embrace," she stood firm, not allowing that pain to show in her stance or tremble in the timbre of her voice.

It only shone out from her violet eyes, for indeed are they the windows upon the soul. And although her love had taken that burden from her heart, a touch yet remained, a touch to give her fortitude and revenging strength, yet a touch to cast the smallest shadow of sorrow into her gaze. Only with the death of roan would that shadow finally depart altogether.

"I can feel it. He is so certain of himself; the love he bears, that love by which he can maintain hold on the last power to him, is for our daughter ShaRhylla.

"But--"

Her voice trailed off and she turned her wide eyes up to let them fall into those of her husband. Her hands moved up his chest, taking the fabric of the simple undergarment he wore, now all he was wearing since offering his Robes of Office as shroud for her niece, and knotted it between her fingers.

"To leap ahead in this foul game we are contrived to play, we must once again take command of my daughter. Only by holding her do we have a modicum of control over Roans movements, I believe. But to do that, we must go to where she dwells... where the Valley of the Dark Lords has likewise been moved, where I know he will be fleeing with the get of our..."

She paused, gulping slightly.

"Union.

"And this is back into the Darker Realms...."