Through all of the discussion Shayla stood quietly back in observation, her head reeling at all that was being revealed.

Bad Sith? Like there were Good Sith? And who was this Gray Sith?

Shayla frowned, something deep inside her trying its best to raise its head in recognition...

...but completely failing. So she merely continued to stand in silence, still processing all of the things being spoken...

...and trying to remember just how she ever got from the Praxeum and into a ship with these people.

Terrin Danner's men...? What gives...? Maybe she knew this Kelderon guy, he appeared to be a Jedi...

...but he sure didn't seem to know her...

...nor she him.

As words continued to go back and forth between Kelderon and Jasyn and Captain Barnes, Shayla forced herself to pay closer attention, hoping that their words would give her some answers as well. All this talk about Galen's daughter and Coruscant and Kamino sounded really familiar...

...but for a few minutes Shayla still couldn't put her finger on how she had come to be involved with these people.

How did she know of Galen, and of her daughter? Had she been sent by the Jedi to help them...?

At last one tiny puzzle piece fell into place and Shayla spoke up suddenly, much to the surprise of the others. "You met me on Coruscant to ask for help in finding Galen's daughter," she stated, her eyes locked on Jasyn's. "But for some reason I didn't go with you...

...for some reason you left before we went..."

Shayla trailed then, as something else grabbed her attention, something that had been spoken a few minutes before that had only just now wormed its way to the forefront of her mind.

Galen's sister, Graysith?

Sister...

"I want to know more about this Graysith; who she is, her relationship with Galen. Perhaps it can help us..."

And perhaps it can fill in some holes in my mind while we are at it...

...though he sure as hell couldn't remember why. He too remembered her meeting him near Coruscant...

...but he sure didn't know how the kriffing hell she'd ever come to know of Galen's missing daughter. That mystery along with Shayla's somewhat unusual reaction to the name Graysith was the fuel that lit the flame...

Jasyn nodded once to Kelderon, the sent a suspicious look in Shayla's direction. Then he pressed the comm button down to speak to Aaron once more. "Kelderon's right. We can speculate on what happened all we want, but it'll get us nowhere. If this K'eel place is where we thought Galen went, by all means just send us the coordinates and we'll be on our way. But while you are at it, I'd like to know more about this sister of Galen's and what she is capable of."

For a moment then, Jasyn fell utterly silent, his brown eyes only for Shayla Kartan. "And I'd also like to know if you can tell me just how Shayla Stargazer might have come to be with us just now, for indeed she is...

...and how she plays into all of this..."

Aaron shifted worriedly in his desk chair, uncertain how to answer Jasyn's questions. There was one thing he was certain of, however; coordinates to K'eel Doba had been programmed into the Hornett's navcomputer before, and would thus be in the ship's logs. Before answering Jasyn's comm, Aaron sent a brief message to navigation requesting those coordinates to be pulled up and reported to his office. Only then did he begin his reply to Jasyn. "I'm having the coordinates to K'eel Doba pulled from the Hornett's logs as we speak," Aaron started out. "As for Graysith; can't say that I know as much as you should. She's very powerful, and Galen and she have gone from being at odds with one another to somewhat of a truce and back. At some point Terrin even had a blood oath with Graysith in order to provide both Galen and Darra protection."

Aaron paused at that, frowning a bit. "You don't remember any of this?"

Hesitation across the line. Then, "Terrin and a blood oath with the Sith...? Why would he make an oath with a bunch of Darksiders?"

Aaron frowned. "I guess you don't remember that the Sith were... are actually a race of beings with horns, red skin, and multi-colored eyes...

...by Matt's very own description. They aren't darksiders; just merely a race of beings, most of them honorable as I have been lead to believe."

More hesitation across the line. "And Stargazer?"

"She worked closely with the Sith last I knew, though I haven't a clue why she is with you now. Does she suffer from the same condition of apparent amnesia that you do?"

"Seems that way," came a somewhat suspicious reply.

"Are you sure about this trip back to K'eel Doba? This amnesia troubles me; the fact that you all seem to have it implies that perhaps there has been some sort of mind-tampering afoot; I don't see any other explanation for it unless it's due to trauma of some sort, though it'd be strange for that trauma to affect all of you in the same exact manner..."

About this time, the coordinates to K'eel Doba came flashing across Aaron's computer console. "And by the way, I have your coordinates. I'm going to send them to you electronically."

With that, Aaron typed the coordinates into his comm unit and sent them across the frequency to Jasyn. Then, "Got them?"

"Certainly do," came Jasyn's reply.

"Good. Now back to this trip you're planning...

...are you sure this is a good idea...?"

These were questions that I would have to get answers to. And K'eel Doba seemed the place to start. And as an added bonus, Galen was most likely there according to Aaron.

"Jasyn, we need to go to K'eel Doba. If there are a race of Sith in the Universe, we need to see what they are up too. And from what I gather, Galen was headed in that direction."

Yes it was true, I did have alterior motives for going to this so called Sith world... But the main reason was still to find Galen.

Releasing the comm button then, he again looked to the others in the room. "Now, the question is our strategy. For one," he said, pausing to eye Stargazer and her husband, "Are you going with us? Getting an EE ship would be no complicated matter as there are ways to get one, so that is your choice. I'm not going to argue either way, though I'm not so certain of your involvement in all this. And the other issue is how we get there. We can go in a couple of ships, or in one. And judging from our last attempt, I'm not so sure that going in more than one ship is a good idea. I'm certain Matt and I took the Raptor, that Galen lost the Eagle, and that at least one more ship was involved in all of our arrivals. The benefit, however, would be perhaps having more than one means on and off planet."

He paused again, looking to Dash as well as the others. "Thoughts?" he queried, sweeping the room with his brown eyes then leveling them finally with Dash. "And I'm assuming your ahhh...

...apprentice is going with us?" he ended, nodding once in Jebbua's direction, totally oblivious to the fact that the utterly silent young man was indeed the Master, and not the apprentice for the sheer fact of who seemed to be making the decisions and suggestions here...

Where had he been? Agamar! Yes, that was it! What was he doing on Agamar? And where was he now? The port seemed familiar somehow, he was sure he had been here before… Sullust? A swift pain exploded like lightning across his forehead, followed by an overwhelming despair. He grabbed his head violently as he sank to his knees.

Blesphmar! Sweet, beautiful Blesphmar! Who had done this to you? Where are the trees, the flowers, the wonderful cities with spires reaching to the heavens? This cannot be. It is a lie! A lie!

No, not a lie. A mystery. And the path to the answer begins here, the ancient land of the tunnel dwellers. He stood, brushed the dust from his knees, and continued on to the main doorway, face set in grim determination.

“Welcome to Sullust,” he said at last.No, not “Sullust”. You were bound for a world of another name.

Yet these were the correct coordinates, and the surface seemed the same.
Look around you. It is you who have changed.

“You lie!” he cried out loud, startling several passers-by into awkward glances. “I have not changed!”

“I know,” said a woman’s voice from behind the Ghost. “You haven’t moved at all. Please, I really don’t want to push my way past. If you don’t mind?”

The Ghost turned to gaze upon the woman. Her silvery hair dangled over her shoulders, a long black dress covered her ample body. The Ghost’s finger’s slightly trembled as he searched for the words.

A wide smile appeared suddenly on the Ghost’s face. “My asparagus, madam. I am new to this world. I wish to find the Temple of Ages, may I have you show me the way?”

The woman stared blankly for a moment. Then a flicker of amusement twinkled in her eyes as she swerved to the right of the Ghost and brushed past him.

“The tour books didn’t say anything about a temple, especially an agricultural one” she called out as she passed. “Check the directory, or maybe at the lounge.” She strode off through the main doorway and disappeared into the crowd.

The Ghost’s smile sagged into a frown. He turned back to face the main doorway, now aware of more symbols and their meanings. “All crews must report to office,” he read. “All re-breathers must pass inspection for surface travel.” His eyes moved to another sign on the wall. “For a Great Way to Start Your Adventure, Visit the Blue Asteroid.”

Asparagus? That was not correct. What is the word?

Very well. No matter. I will find it. As I will find the Temple.

The Ghost shifted his pack and began walking towards the building under the last sign.

What mattered was that he was going regardless of all other issues.

Suddenly, he got to his feet then before Jebbua or Dash could reply. "Oh kriffing hell," he blurted, "Let's just do it, now that the coordinates to K'eel are in here," he continued, pointing to his head.

Then, "Are you in or are you out?" he queried in Stargazer's direction. For a moment, her eyes defocused a bit in thought...

...then she snapped to total alertness and nodded in affirmation.

"Allright then," Jasyn replied, still not totally certain whether to trust Stargazer in the first place, but seeing her as perhaps his only true link to wherever it was Galen had gone. Pursing his lips for a moment in thought, Jasyn then stepped out from behind the desk where he'd been sitting and headed for the door, stepping outside then with the others and securing it only moments later.

"We can discuss finalities of who is going and on what ship while we're on the way," he stated aloud, beginning to walk at a rather healthy pace. "So if anyone's got something to say you'd better say it now, cause I'm not sticking around here much longer..."

That would be the bartender. Why don’t you ask him for some vegetables? Or ask him to dance, I’m he’d love that.

The Ghost slowly walked to the bar and studied the rows of bottles lining the back shelf. They were all labeled with symbols and artwork, but he was sure they were meaningless to his needs so The Ghost made no attempt at translation. Instead he glanced down at the stool in front of him, carefully judging the height and strength of the item. Satisfied, he sat and stared at the man behind the bar.

The bartender looked up and saw The Ghost. “Welcome to Sullust,” he said. “What can I get you today?”

“Information,” replied The Ghost.

“I’m afraid I don’t deal in that sort of thing. Only fine drinks and entertainment,” the bartender snorted.

“But you don’t understand,” said The Ghost, unblinkingly staring at the bartender. “I am in desperate need of the location of a Temple.”

“Desperate, eh? Then I assume you’d like to make this a business transaction?”

The Ghost paused, eyes flickering briefly upward. He then reached into a pocket and pulled out a small figurine. He held it up to the bartender’s eye level, slowly rotating it so the golden hue caught the lights and jewels sparkled brightly. The bartender set the bottle down on the counter and stared at the object.

“Wha- what do you want to know?” he stammered.

“The Temple of the Ages. How do I find it?” The Ghost’s voice was slow and soothing.

“I don’t know, I’ve never heard of it,” the bartender said as if in a dream.

The Ghost sighed. “It was once a magnificent underground facility, housing the stored knowledge of a thousand worlds.”

The bartender’s eyes flickered for a moment. “There’s a story of an ancient part of the world where the Sullustans uncovered bunches of old stuff. It was in a highly unstable volcanic region. I think the story goes they moved what they could out to Obroa-Skai, then the whole area filled in with magma. But that was, oh, about a hundred years ago. That can't be what you mean?”

The Ghost dropped the figurine onto the counter as the bartender gingerly reached for it. The Ghost placed his elbows on the bar and propped his head in his hands.

“I will need a ship,” The Ghost said to no-one in particular.

He drifted over the bar, seeing the bartender stroking the small figurine. He then turned, drifting around the patrons, catching small snatches of meaningless conversations in alien languages. He felt a pull, something had caught his spirit’s attention and he felt the strain of curiosity welling and forcing him to seek the source. He had felt this before, but where? Something about it felt like… home. Yet, something else warned him of an impending doom and screamed to stay away.

Yet he followed, drifting through corridors and doorways. Sliding through walls and solid rock, drawing ever closer to the source of this feeling. This… thing so close to his own heart. He passed through wall after wall. Voices… yes, voices! One more wall. He slid through the stone, catching brief glimpses of aliens as his spirit wafted silently. There, sharp images now… a woman… dark blonde hair… drawing closer… bluish-green eyes… it is her… what is it? That source, he knew it, felt it, had felt it before, reminded him of… Terror!

The glass shattered on the bar as The Ghost snapped his head up.

The Ghost gathered his wits. “What in all of Blesphmar was that?”

"Yeah," she said, her eyes still somewhat vague as she tried to pinpoint the source that strange chill.

Nothing.

Then, turning to the reality of the situation, Shayla finally spoke up. "Taking one ship locks us in to one means of departure," she said simply. "If Galen is in trouble, or hurt, you might want to reconsider, but then that means we're going to have to acquire another ship...

...although," she continued, looking over to Jasyn, "That shouldn't be a problem."

That woman, he did not know her. Yet she seemed all too familiar, something within her perhaps. Something welcome yet at the same time terrifying. He reached out once more, trying to remember her and how this power had found her before. Searching, feeling, focusing on the woman. There, he had her! He felt a connection, a sense of belonging… He held back at a distance this time, attempting to probe her feelings, her emotions, her thoughts. No, this ability was beyond him. But wait, not entirely. He concentrated and now felt emanating from her a series of pervading sensations… loss? A great hole in this woman’s life, great grief, sorrow… Of what he could not tell, perhaps she did not know herself… Only a need to return, to discover, to see… a planet? A planet… K’eel…

A sudden wave of terror flashed through The Ghost and once again he reeled back. A large bottle exploded behind the bar, shattering glass and flooding its contents over the counter. The Ghost stood and staggered back, nearly stumbling over a small alien. Another bottle shattered. The Ghost grabbed his forehead in pain and staggered towards the door, oblivious to the stares and commotion now alive in the cantina.

I scanned the room looking for a suggestion on what which road to take. "Well, I think we are gonna need some heavy weaponry to get in and out of a..." I made the quotation signal with my hands. "Sith world. Althought I'm not convinced that there could be a whole race of Dark Siders. At least not without me at least sensing them. That much Dark energy could be felt galaxies away."

"I'll go see, come on Dash lets go." I said as I started to walk back to the spaceport. Then reaching out with the force I sent a mental thought to Alexis.

Goodbye for now, and take care.

I turned around to see if anyone was coming.

Hey, nice trick! Reach out... Go on! Once more should do it

Well, a sudden shoulder-devil popped up and snickered, At least this way another EE ship won't get trashed or crashed...

Turning then, she started to walk when she then stopped for a moment more, turning to look directly into Jasyn Lancaster's brown eyes. "And you might want to consider taking an EE ship if you can get your hands on one...

...after all, if the company's living up to the expectations of it's late owner, any ship you'd get would be in prime condition...

...and then some," she commented, falling silent for a moment then finishing with. "Just something to keep in mind. Comm us when you're ready to hit the skies."

With nothing more than that, Shayla then turned and headed towards where the Supernova was berthed, her husband close beside her...

"Ahh, I think I'm gonna go with Jasyn. If we run into trouble he may need my help. We should split the groups so that there is at least one Jedi in each ship. But
I would definatly talk to your friend about coming with us. Maybe the more ships we have going to this K'eel Doba place, the better!?! I'll see you at the rendezvous. Take care."

I proceeded to follow Jasyn, grumbing to myself about how pushy Jebbua was being all of a sudden. "Who does he think he is? I've been keeping him out of danger since he first started training me. I should be the one in control! Maybe..."

I cut myself off in mid sentence. A new realization coming to mind. Where were Jasyn and I gonna find a ship??? I had some money left, but I don't think 50,000 credits would buy much of a ship. I just hope Jasyn had some credits on him. Lots of credits!

She was closer now. It was closer now. The feeing… that sensation… that power…

Hey, flyboy! Reach out again, come on! I dare you!

Back, demon! Bananas and slugs to you and your kin! Be true, my liege! Remember what you’re papa told you!

The Ghost gripped his head tighter. His mind spinning, reeling in a confusion of voices, tangled emotions, and visions of a past he could not be sure was real. White fangs bearing down… a golden dagger slicing the air… a bath of steaming water and petals… a cave… a shimmering staff head… a familiar and loved voice chanting loud and vibrant…

Turning to Dash a moment before beginning to walk once more, Jasyn actually smiled but for a moment, then turning a different sort of knowing grin at Matt. Then, he turned back to Dash. "Ahhhh, this is the joy of being an Eagle Enterprises employee. We don't need to buy no stinkin' ship...

...we're just gonna borrow one. Might take some rigamaroll...

...but I know just the place," he explained. "Follow me."

**********

With no less rigamaroll than Jasyn expected, he, Matt and Dash finally found themselves aboard a classy little black yacht named the Titan. After admiring her surface and all the goodies inside the fully-loaded ship, Jasyn returned to his former completely serious demeanor, turning his attentions to the comm unit in the cabin of the little ship while Matt made sure everything was in prime working order in the weapons department of the ship.

Flicking the comm unit on, Jasyn keyed in Stargazer's comm frequency and spoke into the speaker. "This is Jasyn Lancaster. Kelderon, Matt and I have a ship, and will be departing shortly. What is your status?" he queried then, leaving the channel open for Stargazer to reply then turning to Dash as something else occurred to him.

"You know, we really need a good pilot on this, and my flying skills are fair but nothing to brag about. Matt's somewhat better than me but still...

"What is it?" Erik asked next to her, stopping as well and turning to look in her direction.

Shayla's eyes grew vague. "I...I don't know. But it's something. Almost like...

...like...

...we're being followed."

As she said this, Shayla scanned the crowds of the spaceport, her greeny-blue eyes catching sight of a dark haired man, looking frantically about for something or someone. And when her eyes fell on him...

Shayla shivered again.

There it was, that mysterious chill. And it was coming from...

"Shayla...?" Erik queried again, his voice concerned.

But she didn't hear him. Her senses were now all attuned to the mysterious man still searching the spaceport, looking for someone...

I commed the landing bay control tower.

"This is the Titan, requesting permission... No wait, telling you that we are taking off! Clear the airways, we're coming through!"

I flipped a couple of switches, and pressed a few buttons. I really didn't know what some of them did, but the Force guided my hands as we lifted off the volcanic planet of Sullust. The red sky burned behind us as we made our way throught the atmosphere and eventually into hyperspace.

I mentally sent the COM-frequency to Jebbua. He would just have to catch up to us with his friend Ruhatt.

"Now we make our plans. I think we should go with stealth. One ship at a time, over the course of 3 standard hours. That way we don't appear as a strike force or anything. Just a lone ship, looking for a place to land. We will also need a rendezvous point. So we can confirm our plans before we get on with things."

Even while we discussed our plans for invading K'eel Doba, my mind was elsewhere. Straining to the limit, searching for even a trace of Galen's essence. Just one nanosecond, would be all I needed. Anything to tell me we were headed in the right direction. Still nothing...

There she was! Across the port, the woman! She glanced in his direction, eyes locking briefly. He dashed forward, hands stretching out to deflect the bodies seemingly determined to prevent him from reaching her.

But The Ghost was resolute. He walked more steadily now, each step more sure as neared his goal. The woman turned away, and an icy chill of desperation blasted through The Ghost’s mind.

“Milady… you… powers… familiar, like… my memories. Only death… waiting for you… tyrants…”

He tried to draw in a deeper breath. No use, something had a hold of his body, allowing only short intakes of air.

“I… am in… need of a… a… sausage…”

What kind? Give it up, slimeball!

“Ship! Not Doba… Obroa-Skai… answers are there… please!”

The Ghost’s legs buckled under him, sending him to his knees.

“I… can pay… and tell you… when my memories…return… chosen one... I... What are you doing… to me?”

...confused...

Power? Her? No way! She was just a mere Force-user, not even a Jedi...

Her head was all but literally reeling as whatever power seemed to take hold of this total stranger likewise seemed to grab onto her. She could barely remember to breath, her suprise and utter shock was so great.

Chosen one? Why did that phrase seem so familiar? Why couldn't she remember? Damn it all...

Chosen sister, that phrase she remembered...

...did this Chosen One have something to do with all this Chosen Sister stuff...?

Shayla just couldn't put the pieces together, and for what reason she couldn't, she didn't know.

Shayla blinked then, trying to clear the shock, forcing herself to focus on this stranger's words, and his face.

Danger? Tyrants?

On an instinct, Shayla stretched out to sense the others that they had been with, not too surprised that they were already gone. "There are others, already on the way to K'eel Doba as we speak," she finally managed. "I've given my word to help them; there is someone they seek who might be there. I can't bail out on them, especially not if they are headed for danger."

She paused for a moment, utterly frustrated, knowing in her heart of hearts that the answers she sought just had to be at this K'eel Doba, and not at Obroa-Skai. "Why do you think there are answers at Obroa-Skai?" she ended, still kneeling with this stranger...

“I aspara— I apologize for my rudeness.” The Ghost rasped. “There is a… power… within you, feelings familiar to me. And I feel you were once touched by a power that at one time meant something to me, although only a hole exists there now... I cannot fully explain, there is a demon within me. It hordes my memories… prevents me from knowing. It hides even my name.”

The Ghost’s eyes flashed wide and upward to stare directly into the woman’s own. “But I DO know. And I WILL find the truth. The one memory I could steal back told me the answer was here, but I have since found that what I seek now lies on Obroa-Skai. If you must travel to K’eel Doba, then please take me with you. I know this place, I can sense that much. It is an awful, wicked place of death and treachery, but I feel it is also my past.”

The Ghost's eyes softened. "And I have no other to turn to."

What short sleep he got was plauged with dreams. The dreams now produced 2 words. "Kenobi", and "Starscream". Ken knew Kenobi was a person. He had been so close to discovering the significance of that name.

Nodding once in response, Erik stepped in to help the Ghost to his feet, at the same time regarding him somewhat skeptically. As he did so, Shayla let her eyes meet the Ghost's one final time. "If we make it to this K'eel Doba place and back again in one piece, you have my word we will go to Obroa-Skai."

Saying nothing further, Shayla took the final steps to the ship as Erik helped the newcomer get onboard. Once inside the cabin of the frieghter, Shayla began running a systems check; finding Jasyn Lancaster's message, she hit the reply button. "We're on our way, right behind you...

...and we're bringing someone along who might be able to help us. See you shortly."

Flipping off the comm unit then, Shayla turned her attentions to the business of making final departure arrangements. In but a few minutes, the Supernova cleared Sullustan atmosphere, and in only a few minutes more, stars streaked into starlines announcing an entrance into hyperspace once more...

(((OCC: Follow Shayla, Erik, and PatternGhost to Gaurdians of Eternal Was in the Jedi Praxeum and Sith Temple, thank you.)))

"Hello." I said.

He looked up in surprise and saw me.

"Jebbua, what are you doing here?" He asked.

"Long story, but I guess I'm going to have to tell you everything and borrow your ship."

"Again?" He asked.

"...Just watch her, and let her know that you're a friend." i said as Ruhatt headed down the ramp.

It had tooken a while, but I told him everything i knew and what happened after i left, it was strange though, after we left the Hornett, we somehow eneded up on Sullst. all though we were going after Galen, I'll I rember before we left was going after Jasyn and Aaron, but hopefully when we arrived at the sith planet that Dash and the others had already left to we might find some answers.

"Oh, and Jebbua?" Ruhatt said.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"We're even now, got it?"

"Sure." and with that i closed the ramp and went back to the cockpit and headed for space. Putting in the cordnites that for K'eel Doba and pulled back the hyperspace lever wondering about that blank spot in mind.

(((OOC: Follow Jebbua to Guardians of Eternal Was thread in the Jedi Praxeum & Sith Temple Forum. Thank you.)))

((OCC:Ken goes to "Searching For Facts" in the same forum))

"Hello? anyone here?" He asked as he went around the house. as he opened the Bathroom door he saw Alexis doubled over the toliet.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

she wiped her mouth and slowly rose.

"What are you doing here?" She asked

"I'm a friend of your brothers. I'm sorry about today, now are you ok?"

"No i don't think so. go get a..." She doubled over again and fell to her knees.

"Well i can see that you're up now. How are you feeling?" the docter asked.

I'm a little better, i guess." She said.

"Well you'll be ok nothing to be worried about, but i have some news though."

"What is it?"

"you're going to have a baby."

"What!?! You can't be serious?! I'm mean. I..." she fell silent as she sat and thought about for a minute.

"I need to get in contact of someone, actually 2 people. do You have my brothers comm frequency?" she said.

"Yeah, but its mine comm, do you have a communcations center around here?" Ruhatt asked the docter.

"yes around the next corner to your rioght. you can't miss it." the docter said.

Tzakang who had pursued this man all the way from the other side of town, deactivated his cloaker and revealed himself to the force user.

"Whatt do you wwwant." stammered the man.
"I want you dead, force user." replied Tzakang. With that he swung his amphistaff in a horizontal arc, cleanly seperating the man's head from his body.

This man was Tzakang's third victim on Sullust. He had been a street magician, amazing people with his "magical feats" such as levitating objects. Tzakang knew at once that the "magician" was a force user.

The old man and the child, Tzakang's other 2 victims, were extreamly easy prey. As if hurling pebbles with the force or screaming at the to of their lungs saved them from their fate.

Great Galloping Ghosts, but I didn't think this day was ever going to end!!

I settled back a bit deeper into the comfy cushions of the booth I had taken far in the back of the Blue Asteroid, and took another sip of my ale.

That kid and her questions.... How the heck can any race propagate? Parent's would die tearing their hair out!

I grinned even as the silly thought struck me, thinking back upon the day. Indeed, relaxing more against the cushions, I let my mind drift back to encompass the months which had passed since I had brought Thea here to Sullust.

It was a simple, if demanding, life... the one of a surrogate father, I mean. Thea was really a bright kid, full of observations and questions, always obedient. Her glowing bounciness filled the days with a brightness I wasn't used to... and thus it was that I found myself remaining here, enrolling her in school, letting the poor kid have a modicum of stability in her life, at least for a little while.

And Yaoksi, ol pal, with you at the helm of that particular ship... well. That's really stretching now, isn't it?

I smiled again, and cast a quick glance at the chronometer.

Better be getting home soon, or you'll be paying the sitter time and a half.

I smiled even more at that thought, shaking my head. Then I took another sip of my ale, content to simply relax for a moment or two further.

"Hello Jebbua can you hear me its Ruhatt. I have some one that needs to talk to you."

OK, so maybe that was a touch wee exaggerated... but by comparison....

I let out a contented burp, and sighed.

"Great as usual, kiddo," I commented lazily as she nodded, getting to her feet to begin clearing the dishes. I immediately leapt to my own.

"Here, let me help ya with that," I offerred, now scooping up my plate and utensils in a clattering rush. My glass of pale ale remained behind for future reference; I grinned to see the small look of annoyance crossing Thea's features as she eyed it.

"Hey kid, it's only one. Gotta fuel the ol' hyperdrive now, don't I? C'mon...."

I stopped then, for our usual running joke did not bring its normally returning sparkle to her eyes. Instead, for some odd reason it only seemed to deepen her pensive look. I frowned at that, laying the dishes I was holding back on the table and then rounding it to come over to her. I reached out a hand, ruffled her hair.

"Something eating at ya, kid?" I asked, letting my hand rest on her head. "I can't do anything about it if you don't tell me."

Gently I took the dishes from her hands and put them on the table as well. Then I turned her to face me and just stood there, looking down into those wide eyes of a child I was finding myself growing fonder of with each Sullustan day that passed.

I struggled to restrain those feelings, and turned my head to kiss the top of hers. Loose hairs escaping from her braids tickled my nose; for some strange reason I found myself trying to burrow into the simplicity I found there in her hair. Logic forbade that; I turned my head and rested my cheek against the top of her head while I considered what to tell her. At length I pushed her away a bit, and squatted down to get to eye level with her. The look she gave me was the same one she had given to me months ago aboard the Devil:

You're the big person. Fix things for me.

A bittersweet smile came unbidden to me with the realization that there were simply things in the universe I just couldn't fix, that no one could. I moved my hands to her shoulders, and gave her a little squeeze.

"Honey, things just aren't like they used to be," I began, suddenly faltering for words. How to explain to this child all the dark forces involved in nature's simple operation of life, forces which took life away as easily and with no more forethought than when they bestowed it.

I squeezed her shoulders again.

"I don't think there is a Praxeum any longer, honey," I tried again, then bit my lip. "I know Master Petrolu told me to watch you because he had to go off and do something dangerous; I-- I know you'd rather be with a jedi, hon; yeah, that would probably be the best for you. You've got this force stuff in you, and that shouldn't go to waste.

"But, there is no Praxeum, sweetie. No school to take you to. Master Petrolu is supposed to come back here to take you as his student, I guess... but like I said, he's busy with something really dangerous right now. Which is why I have you here with me."

I paused at that, remembering our little stop before finally taking root here on Sullust.

C'mon Yaoksi, like that wasn't putting the kid into danger, as momentary -- and thank the fates, unexperienced -- as that danger had been....

I jerked my thoughts away from that, and continued.

"I don't know about any other Jedi, hon; all I know is that Master Petrolu gave you into my care until he can come get you. And until that time comes... well, I guess you're kinda like my kid sister. Adoptive daughter, even."

I forced a smile onto my face as I rose to my feet, now reaching out and laying a hand on top of her head.

"I hope you're not too bored here on Sullust, but really I can't take you anywhere else. This is the only connection I have with Master Petrolu; I can't contact him, and if we leave here he won't know where to find us."

Not that I have anywhere pressing to go anyway.... The thought rose into my mind, accompanied by the image of a particular and way-too quiet lady Twi'lek.

Hmmm... maybe a lil vacation?

Kia'ra didn't know how long she'd been staring at the comm frequency her cousin had handed her, uncertain as to just what she should say when she did send the message. All she knew was that she wanted answers...

...and she wanted them now. Her indigo eyes snapped from their vague thoughtfulness to sharpness at that, and in one smooth motion she dialed the frequency into her wristcomm.

"Captain Joao," she started out, "My name is Kia'ra Ro'chella, and I am calling in regards to a cousin of mine named Nais'ralen. I have not been in contact with my cousin in quite some time, and the condition I have found her in upon my arrival here on Rhyloth alarms me...

...I would greatly appreciate it if you could explain to me just what happened to her..."

At that, Kia'ra's voice dropped off, a wave of guilt sweeping over her once more for not keeping better contact with her cousin. She had bee the only friend Kia'ra had ever truly had...

...and now...

...there was no one.

Must be a timing thing, I mused to myself, wondering if this could be Shawn contacting me as to when he planned on picking up the kid. Don't get me wrong, I was beginning to get closer to this bright lil gal than I ever thought I possibly could--

Me? With a kid? Oh great galloping ghosts...!

--but even I could see that her hanging around with someone like me just wasn't in her best interests over the long term. Not to mention my tendency toward itchy feet; maybe that had a little bit to do with my sudden offer to take Thea to Rhyloth.

"Be right back, kiddo," I interrupted that aforementioned hang-time, and headed off into the other room. There I hit the proper switch, and listened to the message the home computer had obligingly saved for me. My brows about flew off the top of my head as that message progressed.

Nassy had a cousin??? Oh well, upon consideration, that's not too amazing; those Twi'leks had huge familial clans after all.

I jerked my wandering mind back to the message, listened to it in its entirety, hit the replay and played it again. It ended with the sender's personal comm frequencies; instinctively I reached out to reply, but paused.

Maybe this was something better handled face to face. Besides, I really wanted to go back and see how Nassy was doing....

Pushing aside the erupting pain at that latter thought, I quickly sent an acknowledgment, ending with our ETA of 48 hours from now. Then I flicked off the sender, sat there in momentary and quiet contemplation, and rose to my feet.

"Kid, we're going to Rhyloth!" I announced as I came back to where Thea was waiting for me, obviously still deciding upon an answer to a question which had so suddenly been decided for her. I found myself looking down into her inquisitive eyes, fighting with sheer joy and sheer agony which tumbled about in my soul.

"No time like the present, kiddo," I whispered, reaching down and roughly tousling her head. "Go get your things."

Then I went off to send a message to her schools, something quickly devised about field trips and life's experiences. Moments later I was on my feet and heading to my own room to toss a few necessities into my pack; then I found myself back in the main living area waiting for Thea to finish.

It didn't take the kid long; how much can a little girl need to haul around with her anyway? Still grinning, I slapped a hand on her small shoulder and turned her towards the door.

"After you, kiddo!" I smiled, and we were on our way to the tunnels leading to the sole spaceport. Not too long thereafter, and we were aboard Devil-May-Care, stowing our things and reacquainting ourselves with the ol' girl.

And there we sat, awaiting our departure clearance.

"It's about time!" I burst out with as I quickly typed them into my navigational computer. I then hunkered back into the pilot's seat, smiling to feel Devil straining beneath my hands, and turned my face over my shoulder to the little girl sitting behind me.

"Ready kiddo?" I asked, then hit the enable switch. Devil-May-Care roared into lustrous life and rose into the scarlet skies on a scarlet burst of her own. From the surface of that benighted planet she probably looked like a lava curtain lifting up a particularly large bit of ejecta; my musings were generally truncated as the fiery Sullustan skies quickly darkened, until we were in the star-splattered beauty of her upper atmosphere.

Moments later and we had escaped even that; I let out a sigh as I felt my own wings beginning to spread out. Another quick manipulation, and those very stars smeared out into hyperdriven lines.

I sat back with another contented sigh, and just let the moment sink in. Gads, but I had been dirtbound too long; I forgot how great it felt to be freed from such mundane things as a planet....

Guilt rose up immediately following that thought. I twisted in my seat, and fixed my eyes on Thea. She merely sat there, obediently strapped in, watching me with those bright eyes of hers.

"Hey kiddo, it's a couple days to Rhyloth," I said, now unstrapping myself and getting to my feet. "What say we get comfortable? Let's go see what K'kihl managed to leave us in the galley, and then you can sit and tell me all about these jedi friends of yours that you miss so much."

I tousled her hair in passing, and then led the way into the aft compartments of my ship which, in the meantime, continued to live up to its name.

More time than people really consider passing did so in those stark streaks stretching past her ports....

I came out of hyperspace and the planet Sullest appeared out in front of me.

"well it looks like we are here." I said.

I landed the shuttle and ckecked on the old man who was knocked out. He would wake up in a couple of minutes or so, but by then i would be gone. I left the shuttle and went striaght to my house. The place was a mess. Everything was broken and everywhere in pieces. I checked under my bed for the safe and found it still there. I unlocked it and found the piecies still there.
Thank you. i thought.

"I say death to the Jedi! Whos with me?! They say they are trying to help us but they aren't, its just a trick to steal something from you. So the first thing we are going to do is burn this house down and watched some jedi Die!!"
the man grabbed someones torch and went to the house and set it on fire. The fire slowly started to burn. Everybody stepped back to watch it burn, except me. I could feel that Alexis and Ruhatt were on the 2nd story. I ran through the group of people and jumped through a window on the 1st story that wasn't burning yet.
"Hey whats that man doing? Stop him.!" their leader shouted.
Blaster bolts started going off everywhere.
I climbed the stairs and burst into every room until i found them both tied up and knocked out.

"Guys, can you hear me. guys wake up!!" I yelled.
Ruhatt slowly opened his eyes.

"Where are we?" he asked.
"No time for that. Grab Alexis and follow me."
He did just that and we head for the stiarcase only to see it burning.

"Out that window!" I yelled and jumped out and safely landed on the ground with the help of the force. I used my mind and lifted Ruhatt and Alexis out the Window and onto the ground. We were about to get away when the people came around the building.
"Stop! you're not going any where with those two!" The man said.
"Oh really?" I grabbed my new lightsaber and ignited it, hopeing it would work. It did. a Green blade came to life.
"You almost killed my family and freinds so..Wait why do you hate Jedi?"
"Because almost 20 years ago some jedi came here and thought they were some good guys and tried to restore the planet to its peaceful self."

20 years ago. Thats about when my mother died. He didn't. No. He couldn't. I thought.

Then I snapped. "NNNNNNOOOOOO!!!!" I Ran toward him and chopped off his head. others started firing their blasters at me but i deflected them all and started killing them one by one. "Murders!!!!!" I screamed.

"I'm I dead?" I said to no one in particular.

"No, but seriously injured. You had a Vibro-dagger in your leg. and you have cuts and bruies all over." The docter said.

I aslo saw Alexis and Ruhatt in the room with me.

"Did i win?" I asked.

"Yes, but you kinda of sacred my Jebbua, its like something in you snapped and i also believe this is yours." Alexis handed me my lightsaber.

"I beielve you should rest, you will have to stay here another noght but aftyer that do not do anything major for a while." the doctor said.

I awoke slowly and climbed out of my bunk. I went to the refresher and decided that i needed to shave my long beard and did so. I then looked into the mirror wondering what the heck I was supposed to do. It had been months since I had gone wondering the galaxy. At first I searched for Galen, but then I gave up and just wondered the galaxy. Stopping occasionally to refuel and repack supplies. I was now running low not only on credits but food and fuel. I went to the cockpit and checked what was the nearest planet. Myrkr. Great a planet full of force blockers and hunters. Just what I need. I thought.

I could always try to head to Obrai-Skai. Which was the nearest planet.
I was just setting a course for Obrai-Skai when a yellow light started blinking on the controls.[i] Sithspit![i] I just ran out of fuel and now I was floating in space. The only thing I could do was send a message hoping someone could tow my ship somewhere where I could refuel. I started working a message when alarms started going off.[i] Not another surprise. Please I can’t take anymore. [i]
I checked to see what it was and terror hit my face like a rancor had just jumped on me. I was caught in Myrkr’s gravity. I quickly sent my message of help and hopped that someone would get it and buckled up as the ship quickly gained speed heading straight for Myrkr.
(((Folow Jebbua to All but alone in this same forum.))))

"Well. I guess he told us hunh OOTEE? I can't wait to get back to Sullust. So many things to see and do."

With that I kicked back inthe captains chair and relaxed.

Soon we were approaching Sullust, or so the Proximity sensor alerted me.

"OOTEE, can you go wake our Jedi friend?"

I pulled back the lever to return to regular space.

"UH OH!!! We got company!" I yelled as Several Imperial Ships came into view. "Get up here quickly!"

I grinned a semi-evil grin.

"Not on my watch you Imperial Scum!!!" I yelled to noone in particular, as I shot down the fleeing ship.

The Scimitar lurched a little as we took several hits on the left rear quarter panel.

The comm went off on her desk. Alexis didn't feel like getting up, so she closed her eyes and tried what her brother had taught her.
She reached out her hand and called for the comm, but nothing happened.
Feel, don't think.

Wait, that wasn't her brothers voice. She tried again and still nothing.
Try not, do or do not.

"Steer us straight for the Assault Gunboat on our port. He poses the most threat. Plus, I don't think letting any of these guys go is a good idea! The Empire will be after us for sure if we are identified!"

The ship steered to port and went full trottle at the waiting gunboat. We traded laser fire.

"Set us up for another pass! OOOTEE, How are those sheilds?"

"OOO-TEE-DEE" was all he said, as he gave me a thumbs up with his little brown hand.

I took several pot-shots at the 3 Tie Interceptors that were scattered around us. One minor hit scored.

The scimitar was ready for another pass. I targeted the Assualt Gunboats weapon systems, in hopes of diableing thier waepons. Perhaps the ship could be commendeered.

The gunboat took 5 hits, and gave only 2 in return, as thier waepons failed to operate after the 5th direct hit.

"Unidtefied ship, bear your present course and those ties will be gone."

I noticed the assult gunship fleeing since their weapon systems weren't working anymore.
I hailed the ship and told Capt. Obvouis to lock on life support of the ship.
"Unidetified ship, this is the Scimitar, you will land on Sullest and wait for futher instructions." The ship headed towards the surface and we were right behind it and landed in an open docking bay.

"Well guys here we are. Sullest." I dropped the ramp and walked out to find my friend, Ruhatt Luthan, waiting for me. I walked up to him and gave him a friendly hug.

"How you doing you ol' buddy?" He said.
"Ok, I guess. Where did you get the ship?"
"Well since I've been shipless for a while a won it from some drunk guy. Its not the best ship, but it will do just fine. Speaking of ships. Where is mine?"
"Well..."
Just then Dink and Capt. Obvouis walked down the ramp.
"Ruhatt I'd like you to meet Capt. Obvouis and Dink the Jawa." Ruhatt shook Capt. Obvouis hand and waved at Dink.
"Nice to meet you guys." Ruhatt said. "Now will someone tell me what's going on."
Capt. Obvouis started to say something, but i beat him to it.
"Pherhaps over something to eat? I'm starving. What do you say?" I looked to Capt. Obvouis and Dink. "Will you be joining us?"

I walked to te ship, "OOOTEE, keep the waepons trained on the ship. If they try anything funny, shoot them."

The landing ramp decended and out walked 3 battle driods.
Wow, the Empire must really be getting desparate for troops. These guys date back to the days of the OLD Republic!

"Drop your weapons."

The driods complied. I walked behind them and deactivated them using th manual switch located just above the servo motor on the neck.
Good thing I studied about the intricate details of the Clone Wars at the Achademy. I thought.

The driods slupmed over.

"OOOTEE, see if you can reprogram them, they could serve as a crew on a larger ship. Or be made to serve as decoys..."

"Jebbua, do you sense any danger on the ship itself?"

A shake of the head informed me that there was nothing.

I had made a conscious decision to go look for Jebbua if he hadn't returned by the second hour. You just never know about life on planets such as Sullust. The place seems to crawl with theives and spies.

The second hour was approaching, when Jebbua came strolling up to the ship.

"I Might,Keyword might, know the name of the planet they were going to, but they might not even be there. I think it was Kar'a something, or something like that. Maybe you could see if you can find more info,while i try and contact Dash, maybe he can also help us." I stood and turned to Capt. Obvuios, who was still sitting down and thinking about what i had just said. Luckily i was a jedi and had patenince, so i stood and waited for his reply.

OOTEE seemed to have a handfull of parts that would almost fully construct a similar hand grip.

I opened my eyes to hear the final words of Capt. Obviuos.
"...he isn't adept with the force or anything is he?"
I turned my head and saw him glancing at Dink would had something in his hands.
"You mean Dink? No, at least not that i know of." I glanced at the parts he was holding in his hands. they looked identical to lightsaber hilts. I got up and walked over to Dink.
"Mind if i see that?" I asked him.
He nodded and handed it over.
"Wow, you're pretty good. now all is missing are the parts inside that only a jedi can put together."
I turned to Capt. Obvious.
"Dash didn't say where he was, just that he is in a sith ship going somewhere, so any luck with the search?" I asked as i sat down in a seat and fiddled with the hilt to see how good Dink made it, while i waited on Capt. Obvious's anwser.

Figures as much. Kassa thought.

Kassa was sitting in the blue ateriod enjoying his drink and just waited. minutes pasted and it wasn't long til gunshots were heard from the street. slowly Kassa payed for her drink and walked out of the cantina. she glance at the ground where a dead body lay. by the looks of it he was a bounty hunter just like Kassa.

hmmm. Rookie. doesn't know when to strike. Kassa thought.

Kassa was refering to the young girl who had a huge bounty on her head and didn't releaize it... untill now that is, since that was the 6th dead bounty hunter this month. Ever since Bounty hunters found the location of the girl the kept coming trying to get her, but like the dead one, they each failed. But Kassa waited. he set up hidden cameras in trees and watched her everyday and waited for the right moment.
Kassa went to the dead bounty hunter and grabbed some of his power cells and placed them in his pocket and then glared at the sunset.

Just you wait. One day. you'll be dead. he thought.

(((OOC: follow Capt. Obvouis, Jebbua, and Dink to "All the Kings Horses" in the Empire and New Republic forum. Thank you.)))

"Vykan Fenn, good to see you again." Kirin said, seating herself in the booth, facing the doorway.'

"Kirin, I didn't think I'd find you on this desolate hell hole." He said, his blue face showing no signs of emotion, his pale irises hooded by his eyes.

"Yes well, the hunt is the hunt isn't it?"

"By all rights I should be shooting you right now. The bounty would pay triple what you pay for my fee." He said, raising one eyelid as he sipped a glass of a liquid similar in color to his skin.

"Yes but you owe me to much to do so." She said, not ordering anything from the disgruntled human waitress.

"I need to know where Alexis DaHutt is." She asked, passing a credit chip with a large sum on it over the table.

"I believe her brother is leaving the system shortly, and I believe she has a place to stay nearby." He said, glancing at the chip before tucking it into his cloak.

"She has a brother? Her file didn't mention... Well it doesn't matter, if he's leaving. Give me her location on a card, don't say it." She said as she spied what appeared to be a bounty hunter standing up at the other end of the room.

"We may have competition." She finished, lowering hand to her pistol.

The Umbaran drew a data pad and copied the data onto a card as the Bounty Hunter began to leave. "Here it is, good to see you, may many suns set upon you, and may the moon raise full." He said as he stood up to leave.

Needed: Antidote to the Mandolorian Temblor toxin. Contact is willing to pay large 40,000 credits for fullfillment of request and may also be willing to negotiate. Response is needed immediately, contact Taylor Garrison at frequency 06071979.

Interesting. He thought. I wonder why they need this anidote, maybe becuase someone was posioned and seeing how they don't have the anidote, it makes sense that they don't have the culprit. Wonder if they would need help in hunting down this culprit. I have time, til its time to strike here, ow just to steal a ship.

Kassa walked into the docking bays and walked up to random ships looking at each of them. Then one just landed and its engines were still on and the ramp was opening.

hehehe. This is too easy. Kassa said getting out his 2 blasters.

Finally, she decided to make her attack in the evening, a few days after she had left The Blue Asteroid.

She approached the building, making sure to check for any guardians or people who may be tailing her.

rejected by another woman. Man! this is not easy. He thought.

He decided to head by the Blue asteriod before going back home so he grabbed a bite to eat and was eating when his comm beeped.

"Hello?" He said.

"Where are you at?" Alexis voice asked.

"The blue asteroid."

"Ha! Another woman rejected you?"

"Very funny." Ruhatt said sarcastically. "I'll be home soon." then he turned off his comm and continued to eat his meal.

Kirin stepped inside, and quickly darted to the side of the room, drawing upon her weapon. She heard a female voice speaking to someone.
Hopefully not a guardian, she thought. If she was lucky, it would be a com transmission.

Hurry, Ruhatt. Hurry.

"I don't wish to hurt you, come out, and I need not cause you pain." Kirin said, holding her weapon (her custom tranquilizer pistol), in front of her, lowered into a possition of a better grip.

Alexis had to do something to stall. anything would do.

Slowly Alexis got up and put her hands in the air.

"What are you going to do with me?" she asked.

She let go of the binders as Alexis took them, still keeping her weapon trained on her, while continously looking at the doorway behind her.

lets get some distance on this planet first. I think i'll just fly realspace for a while and then I'll contact this guy.

Kassa flew his newly owned space craft into space no where paticular and just drifted and then grabbed his comm and Datapad.

"Who is your employer? Or are you not allowed to tell me where i'm going?"

Then she felt something or someone actually. someone right outside her house. Ruhatt must be waiting on them outside. Alexis kept a straight face though not letting it show at all.

"Aside from that, my name is Kirin Korsair." Kirin said, starting to lead Alexis towards the exit.

"...I think you can lead, and I can switch to a more leathal setting."

Ruhatt then knew he had to move positions, but how? then it hit him. Ruhatt stashed his blaster in his holster and went to the side of the house and climbed up the ladder that, Thankfully, was still there. He crouched slowly to the door and grabbed his blaster again and set it too stun.

slowly Alexis walked out of the house in binders and then the bounty hunter walked out behind her with her gun trained on Alexis. Ruhatt tried silently to get in a better postion to shoot, but as he was a rock fell from the roof and landed on the ground. then it was chaos. the bounty hunter looked up and fired, Alexis ran around the corner of the house, and Ruhatt barely missed the shot fired and shot off a stun blot and hit the bounty hunter. Then to make things worse Ruhatt lost his footing and fell of the roof and landed right on the stunned bounty hunter. Alexis came over and crouched near Ruhatt and kicked away the bounty hunters weapon.

"is She dead?" Alexis said.

"No. just stunned. Come on help me up i think i broke something." Ruhatt said.

"ok, what do we do with her then?"

"Leave her and lets get to the medical facitly." Alexis helped Ruhatt up and Ruhatt took the binders off her and she then helped him slowly to the medical facilty.

She struggled to get a firmer grasp upon her weapon as she struggled to remain in control. I can't kill them, it has to be green, Kirin thought. She struggled to press the small pin that would shift the chambers.
Yes! Green! She took a blurred aim at the retreating backs and fired at the them.

Kirin would have to wait until she recovered to pursue them. But as there was evidence of there only being one guardian, and them having no ship, or so she hoped, they could not get far.

That, and with the injuries, the would have to go to a friends or medical facility of some kind to get healing. The upside to this was that Medical Facilities never questioned those who walked around in them. The downside being that there must be a dozen they could retreat too.

Alexis slowly opened her eyes to see she wasn't in the streets of Sullest anymore. Wait she was on a ship.

"Well little sleeping beauty is finally waking up."

Alexis tried to push her hair out of her face but her hands were tied together.

"Shucks, you're all tied up what will i do now? Take you to my employer. Hahaha."

She blew the hair out of her face and saw who it was. Another bounty hunter.

Great just what i need. she thought. Wait where is Ruhatt?

"where is my friend?" she asked.

"Don't worry, he alive. I didn't mess with him, i just got you And as soon as my lackeys get here we are off this planet for good."

Not Again! She thought.

"They could be anywhere in the starstreaked galaxy!" She fumed, entering the main dockingbay, only slightly focusing on her suroundings, only just rembering to retrieve the departure tag for her ship.

Suddenly she found herself walking through a group of people, humans mostly, who were talking amongst themselves, only muttering "excuse me" once they had already passed.

Suddenly, the voice of a man came from behind her that stopped her dead in her tracks.

"So when are we leaving? I heard there's another bounty hunter after her."

"Yeah we have her, all we have to do is get to the hanger, strap up, and go. It's a good payday, she was half unconcious when we found her."

"Hey makes it all the easier."

Kirin stopped and watched the group proceed to a private docking bay to the side, and proceeded to shadow them, keeping to the sides of the docking bay.

The group proceeded into the bay, but left two of their number standing outside the entrance, holding blasters casually.

Kirin crept up to a distance of five meters away and paused in the shadows. I've already spent about 20 grand on ammo, I may as well not waste any more. Kirin thought, putting away her pistol and reaching into her coat.

One of the guards stood, bored as ever. He yawned and looked over at his companion, standing there, serious as usual. "You see now Jobe, you need to lighten up, it's just not healthy to be that serious...." He trailed off, stunned by the sudden appearence of three long metal needles through Jobe's neck.

"What in the name of-" His statement was suddenly cut off as needles lodged themselves in his forehead.

"Its about time." the bounty hunter said.

He headed into the cockpit as the other two men started to head torwards the ramp when suddenly they fell to the floor. Alexis saw Kirin run off the ramp. Alexis was about to say something when, the Bounty hunter came charging out of the cockpit, blasters in each hand. Firing off bolts at Kirin as she raced towards him. She doged them and then kicked him in his stomach, making him drop his blasters, and then threw 2 Zenji needles into his kneecaps. The bounty hunter fell to his knees in pain.

This isn't going to be pretty Alexis thought.

"He's alive!!" The man shouted. More people crowded around Ruhatt and helped him up.

I've been lying here for some time and they just now releazie me. sheesh. Strange people. Ruhatt thought. then remebering Alexis he tried to get through the crowd.
But just then some medical dotcers came with a strecher and put him on and took him to the medical facilty.

She held one of the Zenji Needles like a dagger, and shoved it into the back of his neck, piercing his spine and poking through his throat.

She turned to Alexis. "Whatever you did earlier, I can't have you possibly escaping again." She pulled yet another Zenji Needle from beneath her cloak.

"I'm sorry, but this will hurt."

She shoved a needle through her left kneecap, staping cleanly so that it would cause minimum pain.

Alexis awoke to pain. slowly opening her eyes she glance at her kneecap. The Zenji needle was gone, but her kneecap was still bloody and hurt like hell. She glance around from where she was sitting, it wasn't the excat ship she was in earlier, so she must have been in Kirin's ship.

Jebbua, Dash. Help me please, where are you? Alexis tryed calling to them but got now response. She slowly closed her eyes and darkness to her again.

Kirin reached over, and entered in a com frequency. Without waiting for agknowledgement, she spoke into the com: "28 Hours, current redovous point." She then shut it off.

She opened up a screen on her console, and saw that Alexis had regained conciousness, though she swiftly lost it again. Interesting this one, I can only imagine why they want her of all people.

She entered some final coordinates as they left the atmosphere. Now to deliver life from death. She thought as hyperspace took the ship.(((Korsair and Alexis depart for, In the Fiery Wastes, in the CSWU.)))

I checked on Jebbua and then headed back to the cockpit.

OOTEE was in the co-pilot's seat fiddling with something as ususal.

"Well, our friend, Jebbua, will be ok, I wonder what happened. We should be coming out of hyperspace soon." I said.

I checked the instruments and then reverted back into realspace.

"What is it?" I asked him.

He motioned for me to come as I headed out of the cabin I saw Dink rush down the ramp that was extended. I walked down the ramp and saw Capt. Obvouis already standing there.
Before He could say anything. I closed my eyes and searched for Alexis, only to find someone else. I ran off in the direction i felt them. Capt. Obvouis locked the ship and he and Dink followed me. I stopped at an entrance of a hosiptal.

Oh, no. This isn't good. I thought.

I rushed inside, gave the clerk a description of my sister, and asked if she had seen her.

"What is her name?" She asked.

"Alexis." I replied.

"No...But there was a man being carried in here calling out that name. He's in 32B..." I rushed off in that direction. Capt. Obviuos and Dink who had just got there rushed off again after me.

I stopped at the door and knocked. I opened the door. There in the bed was my friend Ruhatt Luthan.

"Ruhatt, what happened?" I asked. Capt. Obvouis and Dink entered the room and Ruhatt finally looked at me.

"Well, lets see...."

"Sorry about your leg." I said.

"Yeah, well the doctors said it wasn't broken just fractured." Ruhatt replied.

Everyone was quit for a few minutes. I sat and pondered on what to do next. I broke the strange silenince.

"Where do you think she would take Alexis?"

"I don't know, but suposedly the employer."

"Which would be?"

"Who hates her that much?"

Then something hit me like a ton a bricks.

"There were those people that captured her in the past, but i don't think they would do this. but its are only lead, now to start looking somewhere." I turned to Capt. Obvouis and Dink.

"You two look in Cantina's on Sullest. I'll take Dash's ship and look elsewhere, possibly Tatoonie, thats where we found her." Capt. Obvouis just nodded and he and Dink left.

Kassa reverted his ship back to realspace and headed towards the surface. He parked the space craft and locked it up, grabbing all his gear. He leaned against his ship and checked the holonet for any new bounties.

hmm. guy wanted dead after stealing and plundering. police can't get him.

Kassa skipped it and went on. Kassa must have been there for a while for when he stopped he realized two things. One, it was dark. And then two, he was being watched. He slowly turned his head to were he felt like he was being watched from and saw a man staring at him.

Wha's his deal? Kassa thought. He put away the holonet he was looking and looked around, when he stopped looking around he lloked back at the man only to find he was gone.

Wierd. I need a drink. Kassa thought as he headed towards the Blue Asteroid.

Nows. My chance. I thought.

I casually walked in and sat in a booth. The waitress came by and I ordered a drink. The bounty hunter sat at the bar drinking. When he finished a glass, he asked for another. He kept asking for more. After about his 5th glass the bartender refused to give him any more. The bounty hunter stood up and pulled out his blaster aiming at the bartender.

I grabbed by glass and walked up behind the bounty hunter.

"You know thats not very nice." I hit over the head with the glass, it shattered and he fell to the floor.

"You won't be hearing from him in a while." I said to the bartender. I then dragged the man back to Dash's ship, stripped him of all weapons, and tied him up.

Now we just wait til he wakes up.

"Well it looks like the bounty hunter finally decided to wake up. Now maybe you can answer a few of my questions." I said.

"Go to hell!" he replied.

I ignored the comment and continued.
"Who was it that you were hunting here?"

"No one, i just came back to fin something to do."

"You lie! Who were you hunting? If you don't tell me. I will go into your mind and find out for myself."

"Stay out of my head."

"Then tell me."

"Fine, it was a girl named Alexis. She's wanted by some man for something she did in the past."

"And where is she now. I don't know, but i do know something. I know what the person who took her looks like, but you'll never find her. She'll be long gone by now."

Just then, she heard Alexis cry out.

"I'm on Tatoonie." he heard.

"Thats where you're wrong, i know excautly where she is. Now lets go back to your ship and give me the pictures of the person who took her."

So me and the bounty hunter headed to his ship and he gave me the pictures from his cam.

"Now, to make sure you don't follow me." He pointed the bounty hunters gun at the bounty hunter and set it for stun and pulled the trigger. He fell to the floor stunned. I threw down his equipment and raced back to my ship, or Dash's ship i should say.

Wrong isn't the correct word, far from it. Don't get me wrong, I've loved every minute of the past year here on Sullust, watching Thea grow a little bit older and way the hell taller. The kid had turned into quite a little homebody, far outpassing me in the galley, and even learning how to sew and craft things.

Must be that Jedi blood in her, I would muse to myself in mingled pride and astonishment each time she came bouncing up with some newly completed dish or project or another.

Jedi....

That thought never really left me, and a niggling but irrepressible conviction that I was holding her back from reaching her destined potential just continued to grow. As did Thea.

The time had come to finally act upon this. And while I was at it, the occasional "business trip" I managed to obtain here and there certainly went a long way toward fattening my steadily shrinking wallet.

But at last I discovered that the remnants of the Jedi were constructing a new Praxeum -- on Tattooine, of all places. Heh... spies think their arms reach out to the farthest corners of the galaxy; well, they should try those of a smuggler. I had been chewing on the idea of taking Thea there to begin her formal training, when an unexpected bonus struck: an incoming missive from a couple of "old friends" brought news of the location of an uncle of hers, who popped up in all places none other than Hanna City on Chandrila.

Enough money traveled to make my wallet practically nonexistent before we made a reliable enough connection to where her future could be discussed. He was more than happy to take her in as his ward, and I was more than happy to agree to an annual sum to assist in her bringing up.

Thea wasn't a happy camper about leaving me, but living in an underground warren, no matter how beautiful, with a known smuggler just ain't the right kind of life for a kid.

Right?

Then why do I feel like something a rancor just got finished with....

I sighed, lifted my mug and downed the last remains of the pale ale I was consuming. I had just come back into the heart of Piringiisi after seeing Thea off on a transpost, bound for the Core Worlds, but instead of home found my feet taking me into the comfortable surroundings of the Blue Asteroid.

Here I found myself suddenly missing that little girl way too much, finding as well the truth that drinking doesn't really make one forget anything at all.

It just drives the hurt in deeper...

I scowled, slammed my mug on the bar, and waved for another when the vagaries of drink brought up the question of my ol' pal, K'kihl.

I wonder where the ol' scorpion has gotten himself to?

A modicum of nostalgia washed over me, chasing away for the moment the pain of sending Thea off to live with her uncle.

Maybe I should think about looking him up.

I sighed, a bit more light-hearted now, and ordered another pale ale. This one I didn't slam down as fast as the former two, but nursed it slowly, letting one idea after another come into my head, so that eventually all would gel into a plan both practical and achievable.

Been a long time since I've had something good to drink

He walked in and quickly ordered some Corellian ale.

He was busy drinking it, when Captain Obvouis and Dink the Jawa strode in and sat next to him.

"Any luck?" Ruhatt asked them.

"Nothing. Any word on Jebbua?" Captain Obvious asked.

"Nope, I'm starting to worry about him. Perhaps we should get a ride and go help him."

"He's a Jedi. He can take care of himself."

"Obvouisly." Ruhatt answered.

"We should look for one in the spaceports."

"Agian Ob.. Forget it, lets go."

Ruhatt paid for his drink and together we headed to the spaceport.

When we arrived a bunch of men were just done unloading some cargo.

"Excuse me, gentlemen. would you mind to give me and my companions here a lift? We could pay you whatever you wish." Ruhatt asked.

"Really? Where too?" one of the men asked.

"Tatoonie."

"Just so happens we're heading out that way." said another man.

"Allright then, shall we talk aboard your ship?"

The lead man nodded and Capt. OBVIOUS, Dink, Ruhatt and 6 other men headed aboard his ship.

He exited his ship and locked it up and saw the man that was with Alexis with some other person and a jawa.

Hmmm. I wonder if he knows anything about the girls brother.

No..... The word echoed through his mind as the portal closed, and he lay in the ash. No.

He looked into the distance, past the point where the portal had been. "I'm alone again. We're alone, all of us." He continued to look into the distance.

To the nine hells with them all. Revenge is the greatest dish served cold, and in this place, there is no such thing.

Even as he thought, he found himself beginning to sweat perfusely, horribly drenched after the minute that had passed, ash beginning to settle in his hair and over his body already.

He stood up, and looked about, holding his breath upon mere reflex, and judging by what he could see around him, it was a wise move.

He was wondering how long he could last on the surface, when he smiled at what he had been dropped right in front of. A subterrainian-to-surface entrance.

Making haste, he ran towards the doorway, and began pounding upon it's scarred durasteel surface madly, as he did so, a subconcious part of him ran a magick over himself and he knew he had been effectively "garbed" in more local fatigues. To those who looked at him, he would look no more than a common man, wearing a black jumpsuit, and tattered ash-colored travel cloak.

He was beginning to feel his lungs burn, their call for oxygen and the release of the little he had left almost unbearable, then smiled as the gateway rose a fraction, wide enough for him to slide under.

Dropping down, he rolled in, and heard it close behind him, at which point he dragged in a huge breath of air, and gasped at it hungrily. He slowed his breathing quickly then, and turned to look at one of the local short Sullustians who had saved him.

He watched him for a moment, then stood up slowly, and brushed some of the "ash" off of himself. "Thankyou." He murmured, "What city am I in? I got lost out there when my speeder crashed."

His quick bluff seemed reasonable to himself, and he waited for the short man's response. "Piriingisi." The sullustian looked at him as though he must be a complete brain-dead nerf to not already know. "Thanks." Rykounagin muttered, turning to stalk off down the large "hanger" type room their were in, a vehicle airlock of sorts.

When he reached the other side, he turned back to the sullustian, who pressed a code into his control console, and watched as the door raised to reveal the city. "Must be Sullust."

He said to himself, quickly walking into the city to make himself lost in the crowds. His illusion seemed to have convinced most everyone he met, for no one payed him attention, but he did not really care where his tired legs took him as his mind was focused on his father's lesson, and what it truely meant for him.

Fate has a funny way of playing games, it seems. All the time, we see people other than us, in different positions than us, most often worse positions. We feel sorry for these people, but at the same time, most of us feel relieved, glad that it isn't us, happy that we'll never be in THAT situation. Then occasionally Lady Fate, who enjoys a good joke much as the next archaic life-controlling philosophical perception, decides to come along once in a while, take a lucky individual, and say, "But it CAN happen to you! Watch!"

Take me, for instance. I'm one of those "lucky individuals."

I've seen drunks plenty of times, of course. In my profession, who hasn't? I always felt sorry for them, poor people, turning to a bottle for comfort, resorting to beleaguring their senses in an effort to escape the here and now. I pitied them, but, like many others, I was relieved. That'd never happen to me, after all.

Then my dear Lady came along.

Sometimes I ask myself how I came to this. I, the mighty Mathros, one of the most feared mercenaries of my time, languishing in a dreary run-down bar on Sullust, downing glass after glass of some hellish liquid that made me feel like a bloated, groggy Hutt and was draining my considerably large and well-earned credit account. This whole thing would be hilariously ironic. If it wasn't me, of course.

Sighing, Mathros shook his head, attempting to clear away both the pounding ache and the wallowing in self pity. Standing, he thanked the bartender, turned, and walked out of the bar. Almost immediatly upon opening the door, his eyes were assaulted with a piercing needle of pain that caused him to hurriedly slide portal shut again.

Of course. In the dark bar, he'd almost forgotten. There was such a thing as light, outside.

Muttering, he reached a gloved hand into a pocket on his red coat and pulled out an ornate pair of black-lensed glasses, sliding them up the bridge of his nose to securely cover his eyes. Again he opened the door and strode out into the street, grimicing at the discomfort the light was causing him, a discomfortthat he took some satisfaction in knowing would have been quite painful to his kinsfolk. He, however, had trained himself to endure it.

He yawned widely, considered for a minute, then thought sleep definitely seemed like a good idea and made his way back to the small inn where he had bordered.

As he entered the lobby and crossed the room, a womans voice called out to him.

"Excuse me? Mr. Midon? Can I have a word?" it was the receptionist, a young Twi'lek girl who had been pestering him since check-in. Oh, what in the nine bloody circles does she want now? his pounding, extremely-annoyed mind exclaimed as he walked over to her.

"Thank you," she continued. "It's about...your arrangements, you see. That, well, that thing you sleep in."

She meant his coffin. The birthplace of his existence, his sacred refuge, one of his only relics of his past. That thing.

"You see, since you've been staying here, the other customers...well, they say they've felt uncomfortable. They say it comes from your...bed. Gives the whole place a chilling atmosphere. Many people have lodged complaints, and some have gone so far as to leave and go to one of our competitors. Its very bad for business, you see."

He had never really noticed, before, just how grating her voice was, how the pitch of it seemed just the right volume to piece the throbbing pain in his head like a needle.

"So, you see, while we appreciate the large amount of extra credits you have paid for your room, we must ask that you kindly remove that...object. We can, of course, find you another, perfectly suitable bed, but..."

That, he decided, more than fulfilled whatever thirst he had for conversation. It'd be easy enough to find another inn, he supposed, but right now all he wanted to do was sleep. That and seal off the girl's mouth for a good decade, but one couldn't have it all.

Leaning forward, he slid the dark glasses down the bridge of his nose until his crimson eyes met with the girl's brown ones. She fell silent, as though expecting him to say something. Instead, he raised a hand up in front of his face. Extending the pointer and middle fingers and curling the others, he pointed two fingers at his own eyes. Flicking his wrist, he then pointed them straight at the girl's eyes. Immediatly her body went slack, and she slumped in her chair, staring straight ahead, a distant expression on her face.

This was the simplest method of a vampire's hypnosis. Usable only on a weak mind, and it had very limited uses, but Mathros really didn't think this worth the effort.

He spoke to her, slowly, clearly, intoning every word precisely:

"There...is...no...problem."

The girl spoke then, repeating his own words in a flat monotone. Immediatly he brightened his expression, smiling as though releived.

"So, there's really no problem?" he asked cheerfully.

"No problem, sir," the girl repeated, still in that flat monotone, though it was beginning to take on its old, annoying quality. "None at all."

"Thank you, miss," he said, and turned and walked off again, sighing. On impulse, he turned back to the girl and pointed at her eyes again, watching her slump once more.

"Oh, and if anyone comes to you with a complaint about my coffin, tell them they can shove it."

He chuckled as she nodded blankly, then walked off into his room, mood considerably brightened, and ready for a good long rest till the moon rose again.((OOC: No worry bout self-defeat. There's plenty of people other than characters for Mathros to feed on. Heh.))

Kassa waited a fe more minutes and then plotted his own course their. He soon disappeared into hyperspace right behind the others.

No bounty ever escapes me.

(((OOC: Follow Kassa Baute to "In the Fiery Wastes." in this same forum. Thank you.)))

But he could feel it gnawing at him again. The hunger. It called out to him from the darkest corners of his mind.

Sighing, he reached into an inside pocket of his coat, drawing out a small packet filled with a red liquid that was not immediatly distinguishable as blood.

Ah, Mathros, he thought wistfully to himself. How far the mighty have fallen. Stealing preserves from a blood bank? If your kinsmen could see you now. They'd have a good laugh, certainly. Before they tried to kill you, of course.

Shaking his head, he took a sip from the packet, gagged, and spat in disgust. The blood was awful...the heat of this bloody oven of a planet had boiled any taste it may have had out of it. Chucking the packet aside in frustration, he closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep, knowing it wouldn't come. The hunger was too strong.

A walk. That would do him good, clear his head, take his mind off his hunger. He cruised out of the inn, chuckling again as he saw the reciptionist, and out into the city streets.

As he meandered down them, he thoughts again began brooding irritably. What is my problem, anyways? There are all these people around me...I can smell their blood, and by the ninth circle, it smells delicious. How long has it been since my last actual meal? A month? Two?

I mean, there are millions of people in the galaxy. And a lot of them are scum. Why can't I just take one of them once in a while? The galaxy would be better off without some people, anyways.

But no, the body'd be found. And once it is, once people are alerted, its never too hard to find the Midion. Let's face it, we stand out in a crowd. And then they chase me away, banish me, if I'm lucky. Most just try to kill me outright. Just because I wanted to eat, just because I wanted to bloody survive! Is that too much to ask? It certainly shouldn't be.

His wallowing was cut off as, unwatching the crowds, he inadvertently slammed into another person, moving the other way, and caused both of them to stumble.

"I'm sorry," he muttered hastily, "I didn't see..."

He cut off his hasty apology as he studied the figure before him. To all intents and purposes, he looked quite ordinary-a twenty-something man with long, black hair, wearing a long cloak over a black jumpsuit. Not a person one would give a second glance to on Sullust.

But Mathros' senses, finely attuned in his hunger, were telling him differently.

There was something...odd about this man. Something about his scent. There was human, yes, that smell he knew well, but there was something else. Some power that filled this man, saturated him. And this power had caught Mathros' interest.

Extending his hand in a polite gesture, he spoke again. "I'm terribly sorry for running into you like that, good sir. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"My name is Mathros, my friend. What, if I may ask, is yours? And what brings you to Sullust?"

And what, his mind continued thoughtfully, is this strange power you hold?

He could not help but feel strange, this man who had run into him. It was not only his peculiar attire that made him stand out against the others of this place, nor the mere fact he had seen it fit to even go further than an appology.

It was the mere fact that behind the dark lenses that had been shaken loose slightly in the impact, there was some sort of calculating predator, a hunger of sorts in the mans strange eyes.

"My name is unimportant." He finished. "I am sorry, but I must be going, I am in a hurry." He felt his chest, the blood still comming from the wound that particular warrior had given him leaking out behind the illusion, and he inwardly grimaced.

He said his name was unimportant, did he? But then, who says that but a person who's name could be used against them? A person with something to hide?

...Or, perhaps, his more logical side responded in a cynical tone, Merely a person who doesn't freely give their name to every stranger whom they bump into on the street? Your old paranoia is kicking in, Mathros, old boy.

But... again his mind went over the exchange, considering and calculating, there was something else about him, too. Something that stood out. That sense of mysterious power in his scent, to begin.

And, his mind suddenly remembered another scent that had stood out about the man, a smell I know well. There was fresh blood on him, on his chest. His own blood. The wound smelled recent, not three hours old, even. But his clothing showed no sign of the wound, though it had obviously not been treated. An effort to conceal it, perhaps?

Yes, an interesting individual indeed I have stumbled across.

For a moment, he stood still, considering. Then he nodded, spun on his heel, and set off at a brisk pace after the man, following the man's distinct scent, power and blood mixed.

Within a few minutes he had nearly caught up to him, and the crowd was thinning. He slowed his steps and slipped to the side of the street. Momentarily scanning hte street decided it brought too little cover for him. Crouching, he leaped, suddenly and silently as a shadow, alighting on the roof of the building. Again he set of, striding silently along the rooftops after the man.

Memories flooded his mind of his days as a mercenary. I'm at it again. The silent hunter in me has returned.

Konig was walking Nonchalantly down the street when he saw a being with what seemed like force capabilities leap onto a rooftop. The Major ran towards the launch point and leaped, landing silently and bracing his fall with his arm as he decended. He could sense the lingering force from the stranger's leap, he followed it.

Who is that, why is he here?

The Major leaned forward and kept one hand on his sabers and ran, using the force to augument his leg muscles, quickly but silently, chasing, the traveling cloak fluttering behind him. Masking his presence from all sentients in the immediate vicinity...

He quickly accessed the terminal, and looked up the map, printing out a small data sheet with directions. He looked down at the sheet, and began to follow the directions, his body following the directions, his mind once again puzzling upon what he would report.

I failed my duty, I digressed from his command in my own selfishness and then mocked my own name in a foolish attack against one who did not deserve one. He sighed to himself as he looked upon the large underground structure that held his escape.

As he approached the entrance, he felt something strange, a ripple one could call it. He spun quickly, to look up towards the buildings behind him.

He walked to the workbench and lifted the toolkit and the hydrospanner lying on the floor. He spent the rest of the hour working on the latch circuitry, trying to encrypt a new code that wasn't comprised of just 0's...

He got his answer a moment later, however, as a different man leapt down fro mthe rooftops, somewhere behind him, and strode into the tunnel as well.

Who the bloody hell is that? Mathros thought incredulously. Was he following me? And I didn't sense him? he sighed frustratedly at his own failure. I need to get back into shape if I'm going to continue gallavanting like this.

For a moment, he considered turning back, but his curiosity persisted, and so he leapt down from the buliding and quietly strode into the tunnel, following the other two.

Some time later, the tunnel opened up again, almost suddenly, into what looked to be a starport. The place was rather quiet and empty, which wasn't surprising, considering the time of night.

What am i doing here? Mathros wondered to himself. What's the bloody purpose? Boredom? Curiosity? Or an attempt to fight off a hunger for the flesh and blood of those around you?

Yeah, its a bit of all three.

Shrugging, he continued walking forward, not bothering to be stealthy this time. After a few minutes, he passed another man, tinkering with his ship. Curiously, Mathros looked at hi ma little closer. Sure enough, it was the same man he had seen enter the tunnel second, the one who had apparently been following him. A moment passed in which Mathros wanted to say something, then he shrugged and continued onwards.

Now that I think about it, I may as well work on getting off this rock as well. i wonder if people would notice if one of these ships suddenly went missing.

Glancing round, he spotted the man he had been following initially also looking round the starport, and he knew the man could see him as well.

Well, let him wonder. i got plenty of time.

Sticking his hands in his pockets in a nonchalant manner, Mathros began strolling amiably about the hanger, whistling a small tune, and appearing to be scrutinizing the various ships contained within it. In actuality, he was scrutinizing the two other men inside the hanger, learning what he could about them merely fro mtheir movements, the cunning part of his mind noting flaws or weaknesses in their stances that oculd be exploited.

He smiled as he saw a ship that vaguely reminded him of his father's starship, and started towards it. He stood before the docking ramp for a moment, then realize someone was adressing him, and turned to recognize the angry looking rodian who was yelling at him.

"I'm sorry sir, it just reminded me of my old ship. A beauty she is, what is her name?" He asked, looking at the rodian closely and calmly.

"The Gorestar." The rodian sneered. "Da' best ship in da whole friggin galaxy, so get your slimy boots away from my ship!"

Rykounagin smiled. "Such a brutal name for such a ship, perhaps you should lighten up a bit." He took a step towards the rodian, and looked him in the eyes, casting his inthralling hold over him.

"Mayhaps it is unjust you would mar a fine craft with your harsh tonge and foul presense, perhaps you should give it over to those who are more pure of existence?" His suggestion firmly implanted, Rykounagin held out his hand for the code card, and smiled as the Rodian gave it to him.

"You should seek work in charity, your kindness is surpasing one of your mental capability!" He smiled, then waved the rodian away.

The Major spun around, only to see a small throng of constantly moving people, nothing visibly out of the ordinary, but it was that presence...
That dare I say? Taint?

No, not a Taint, a sort of, predator lurking in the port, recently close to here...

The Major quickly loaded the tools in the box again and rapidly tossed them in the ramp, raisng it as well, using the force so the flying box wouldn't spill components and parts all over the deck. He shut the ramp and quietly walked through the throng, searching for that..

Predator...

He was about to turn away when the scent alerted him to the fact that the conversation was taking an interesting turn.

The power around the man-the power that had so interested Mathros in the first place- it was being utilized. He could smell it.

With heightened interest he observed the rest of the conversation, almost chuckling as the stranger manipulated the poor Rodian out of his pride and joy, then wave him away like a door-to-door salesman.
The very thing I was thinking of doing, he laughed to himself. I'll say it again, this is an interesting fellow.

Nodding, Mathros strode across the room to where the stranger stood in front of his new possession.

"Well, I'll admit that was well done." he said quietly, amusement tinging his voice. "Not extremely nice of you, certainly, but definitely superbly executed."

Mathros smiled as the stranger turned round, then continued.

He looked over the man. "You talk of my conversation, as though I was a bar room magician, a card-trick of sorts. I have merely told the man good advice." He smiled.

"Oh, please. I don't know about the bar-room part, but if what you did to that Rodian wasn't magick-or something of the like-then I'm a Hutt."

"Simple good advice? Well, sure, it may have seemed like it to him at a time. But trust me, I know; you were molding that poor lizard's mind like clay. Not too shabby a job of it, either."

"But that's hardly fair, so we couldn't call that trade a fair deal, and thus I came to the conclusion of the fact that that new ship of yours was, indeed, ill-gotten."

Cocking his head, Mateus surveyed the stranger.

"You want to know why I followed you? Simple: you interest me. This...aura, this power you have, it interests me as well. I followed you to find out more about it, if I could."

"Plus, I was bored, and it was kinda fun."

He then sighed slightly and spread his arms.

"Well, I've been honest with you, stranger. I've answered your questions. I seriously doubt it could hurt you to answer a few of mine. Like what you're going to do with that ship, for example."

"And you never did tell me your name..."

ic:
Kitiana stepped from her newly acquired ship and into the docking bay. Her father had brought her to this planet once on business, but that was so long ago she didn't think she would remember where anything would be. This was the first time she had been out alone; and it wasn't by her father's choice. No, her father couldn't help her now, nor could he stop her. He now no longer existed, and it didn't bother her one bit. True she had done it, but she did what she thought best. There was no remorse, only confusion and hatred toward the dead man now. She sighed as she looked around. What she was looking for she wasn't sure since she knew nobody.

She walked along the docking bay, her white cloak draped over her. Kitiana was not gorgeous, but neither was she ugly. She was 5'6 with short jet black hair. The thing that would confuse most were her eyes; they were clear blue with no pupuils, a trait she inherited from her mother's race. Her lightsaber and blaster pistol were kept clipped to her belt, and she found her right hand running its fingers along the familiar cylinder of her saber. She was unsure about everything really. It was her first time alone in the galaxy, and she would have to go against anything and everything on her own. There were other force users about, at least one, but they were not like her. Her clear eyes glanced around cautiously as she continued to walk.

He glanced about as though he was merely bored, and noticed that they were being watched. An informant of some kind? Perhaps a spy, or just a curious fool?

"If we must discuss any further matters, let us speak inside, the sounds and smells of the open place cause me to become nausious." He opened the ship, and gestured for the man to enter.

However, as he did so, looking over his own arm and the mans shoulder, another person caught his eye. One of taint, mixed blood? Are there spies and half-breeds all around?

The Major reached further with the force after they were inside the ship, but another presence appeared, one of force sensitivity...
Oh, good, another force user... one of mixed races, two different halves, interesting...

He kept the force reach away from the mixed one and tried to listen in on what was going to occur inside the ship...

There he was again, the same man who had been following him on the rooftops. Persistent fellow, he chuckled to himself.

He then nodded at the stranger's suggestion.

"Indeed, let us continue inside your new ship."

As they began walking up the ramp, he spoke again.

"I must confess, the sounds and, especially smells of this city disturb me as well."

He dipped his head and continued in a hushed, barely-audible tone, traveling not much farther than the man's ears.

"...Especially when I am being spied on."

He nodded slightly at the stranger's recognition.

Above the planet Sullust...

A YT-1300 freighter emerges out of hyperspace , its hull badly damaged and parts of it seemingly punched through. Instruments of other ships and the spaceport detect the damaged vessel and rescue freighters are sent up to retreive the craft.

There is only one life on board...very faint...dressed in rough worn Jedi robes, laying on the floor near the cockpit and bleeding from the forehead.

And it was just not sensors that went off at the ship's arrival. As the freighter entered the system, the ship's only pilot set off ripples throughout the Force...a disturbance...that all who could sense it felt.

"Pleasure to meet you, Kais," he said warmly. "As I said before, I'm Mathros, of nowhere in particular."

"Why did I follow you, you ask? Well ,as I said before, you interest me. There is a strange aura about you, a strange power I have never encountered. The power you used to hoodwink that poor Rodian out of this ship. I was curious and wished to learn more about it, so I followed you down the tunnel, watched you "negotiate" yourself this ship, and here we are."

He then shrugged.

"Well, there we are. That's my story. Now I'd like to know what you plan to do with this ship."

He paused for a moment, thinking.

"Or, rather, hold that thought. Right now I'd like to go find out who that fellow was who was following us, and spying on us."

Turning, he began to walk towards the hatch to open it, then stopped and turned back.

Rykounagin bowed and began to key the sealing hatch, then he paused. "Mathros, come back inside for a moment, then man outside can wait."

Ordinary spy? I have reason to believe otherwise. But, like good "Kais" says, the spy can wait.

Turning round, he walked back up the ramp and faced "Kais" again.

"Oh? All right, then. What about my interests would you like to discuss, friend, Kais?"

"In sensing my power, do you not admit you possess a strange aura about yourself as well?" He smiled to himself, then reached out with a hand towards him, and put a finger to the mans forehead.

"I would ask," he growled, tone steely, "That you do not ever touch me again, my friend."

You idiot! he yelled at himself mentally. Keep you emotions in check! Stop being paranoid! Those days are over!"

A moment of silence passed, the Mathros replaced the blaster and smiled benignly, as though nothing had happened.

"Sorry bout that. I have my personal space and all, and I'm big on respecting it."

"So...In response to your question, I'm not exactly sure WHAT it is I feel about that aura of yours. It's powerful, but what kind of power it is, I don't know. That's why it interests me so."

"And, something strange about me? Not sure what you mean, friend. I've certainly hidden nothing from you."

"I am not who I appear to be, but you seem to have picked up on that quite well. Tell me, what was your first hint?" He reached towards what he asumed to be a medpack, judging by it's markings, and pulled it towards him, then opened it.

But somehow, my heart just never quite got to the point where it agreed one hundred percent with my mind. The days had passed like an army slogging through swamps: slow and dirty, and with no seeming end in sight. I tried to compensate by calling up a couple of my former clients, seeing if there was any action here or there I could go dip my fingers into; lordy, but I'd played daddy too long, and missed it.

Well, a little.

But yeah, truth be known, I had played daddy for too long... and fact of the matter was that I missed it like blazes.

Which was really strange for a smuggler, right?

I could only take it for so long; I had to go see how Thea was doing. Did she make it to Chandrila ok? Was she getting along with her uncle?

Did she miss me as much as I missed her?

It didn't take long to tend to the small matters I needed to in preparation of leaving. I found someone to lease the building unit I had bought; I found someone to take over the side business I had been mucking about with in the attempt to "go legal."

I had Devil-May-Care given a good going over by the best and the brightest they had on this begotten world... and then I went over her tooth and nail myself.

Now I was ready to go.

I really didn't find it strange that my heart was lightening with every step I took as I hurried toward the spaceport. Armed with my usual blaster, my money pouch a tempting but highly guarded target at my side, I brushed through the bustling crowd which thronged the corridors of Piriingisi, coming at last to a transport slated to travel to the starport.

The last few miles passed as swiftly as my thoughts of Thea; soon I found myself striding along the tarmac, raising a hand in acknowledgment to the techies working here and there. Ahead of me lay my ship in all her blazing glory.

Just waiting for me, like she knew.

En route I passed a few nasty looking canastas: someone with feral white hair, some tall guy in a dark coat. They cut me a glance as I passed; I couldn't help but let my hand drift to my blaster when the tiny hairs on the back of my neck rose up in recognition that there was something a tad wee weird about those two.

Fortunately they dismissed me, and I managed to reach the haven of Devil's sleek hull without any mishap. Once there, I keyed in an entry code; the gangplank obligingly opened and allowed me to enter.

I made my way to the navigation seat, and immediately contacted Control, letting them know where I planned to go and requesting departure coordinates. Without those I could easily slam into the side of an incoming transport or private fighter en route from the Sullustan surface.

I leaned back in my seat, letting my engines warm a bit while I waited for the powers-that-be to decide when and how I could depart from the premises, smiling a little bit to myself as Thea's eager face swarmed into my vision.

Hang in there, honey. I'm coming! I promised her silently while I waited.

I...I made it?

Raye sat up from the bed he was on and wiped a hand across his forehead where a wound should be...

...and found it gone. "Where am I?"

A nearby droid approached him. "The Piriingisi Medical Facility, sir." Raye blinked.

Piriingisi...Sullust...

"You suffered a mild concussion and head injury when our ships rescued you. We have already healed much of the damage, but you will have to rest here for a few days." the droid continued. Raye shook his head.

"No. I need to find another ship and get to--" He stopped and stared at the droid. "My ship..."

"I'm afraid the freighter was beyond repair, sir; it has been dismantled."

"No, no, I wasn't gonna ask about that. Was I followed? Did any ships come out of hyperspace with me?"

The droid paused for a moment. "I don't believe so, sir." Raye let out a sigh of relief.

They didn't track me then... he thought. The Jedi stood up to leave...

"Wait, sir!" The droid called. "The Sullustan authorities wanted to ask you some--"

Raye waved his hand, cutting off the droid in mid-sentence. "You tell them I have things I need to take care of, but I thank them for their help." He headed for the exit.

At any rate, she would need to find a job to earn some credits. It didn't matter what kind of job, obviously she had no trouble killing, but she also had many other talents. Unless she found something, there was no use in anything. Money made the world go 'round. She sighed as she walked into a cantina on the edge of the docking bay. Maybe somebody in there could help her.

"'cuse me sir?" Kitiana walked up to the bar and sat on a stool leaning her elbows on the counter.

"You old enough to be in here girlie?" He eyed her as he wiped down a glass.

"'Course I am. You know where I can find a job around here?"

"If you look hard enough you can find a job anywhere honey. Just gotta talk around."

"Well, the fresh blood from that rather obvious wound there was my first hint. It smelled quite recent, and still flowing, yet your clothing and skin showed no sign of it, no stain from it. Certainly a curious anomaly."

"Though, I'll say, its admirable that you were able to keep yourself as calm and collected as you are with a wound of that sort."

Pausing, he glanced down at the wound; a large slice across the man's chest that he was in the midst of treating.

"Curious..." he said in a musing tone. "That wound looks oddly like one from some sort of blade, as though you were slashed across the chest."

"Might I inquire as to where it came from? You surely don't see many people walking round Piriingisi carrying swords, after all."

"We must greet the others before I depart." He dodged the question bluntly, without carring, feeling some of his strength return. "I am interested to know what such people are up too."

Not hunters...they would have taken me in the medical facility...however, I must stay on guard...

It was then that he sensed one of them from a nearby cantina. The Jedi stopped and pondered what to do next.

Curious...it would be a good idea to move on, but I would like to know more about who I am dealing with. At that, Raye made up his mind, and entered the cantina.

He approached the bar casually, like a regular, only taking a short glance at the female Force-user who sat there. He took a seat two stools away from her.

The bartender approached him. "What'll it be?"

"Small glass of krayt milk, please."

Nodding, he strode down the ramp at Kais' gesture, scanning the crowd and quickly recognizing the one from before, who ahd been following him, listening in on them, for some time.

"Indeed. I am quite curious to find out what's so interesting about us to this stranger."

He strode swiftly through the crowd, coming to a stop behind the man in mere moments. Placing a hand on his shoulder, he spoke in a calm, pleasant tone.

"Good morning, sir. Quite a pleasent day, eh? So far, its been quite good for me."

Leaning in closer, he spoke quietly in the man's ear.

Ahh, my departure coordinates. Time to get this show on the road!

I grinned as I keyed the numbers into the computer, then reached to hit the ignition switch when another light blared a warning red. I immediately froze, then withdrew my hand with a sigh.

Time to wait while the person or persons unknown who had chosen that inappropriate time to walk out onto the tarmac moved their hineys away from the danger of my blast radius. I crossed my arms and pursed my lips at the light, waiting impatiently for it to return to a happier shade of green.

Her right hand went beneath her white cloak and rested on her lightsaber, ready to do something if the need arose. In her left hand was her half empty drink.

"Sir? You said all I had to do was ask around.....do you know anyone in particular?"

"Look girl, I only work here. I ain't no information desk! Get off your butt and find out by yourself!"

The Major stood up and whirled around, clutching his saber in his right hand Blindingly fast... finger on the activation plate...

That proves it then...she would have attacked me by now.

"Actually yes. I'm trying to find a way to make some credits."

"As an associate of mine once commented, lightsabres, how quaint." It amused him to quote Graysith, precisely at a time where his own sabres had been removed. But now with his memories restored, he had realized the sabres had never been his, supplied by his brother to plant false security within him.

"Put your weapons away unless you have reasons to draw, an old code of the jedi I think was: 'do not draw your blade unless you are ready to kill, otherwise, you should keep your blade in it's sheath'." He gestured with his hand towards the sabres for the man to lower the sabre.

This one, it seems, is a bit edgy, he chuckled to himself. Odd temperment for a Jedi, I would think.

Predator, though. I like the ring that has to it...

He chuckle became manifest as Kais approached the man as well, sarcastically quoting a passage from an old Jedi code back in his face.

Grin widening, he now spoke. "Indeed. I didn't think it was a method of you Force afficiandos to start a brawl as soon as someone speaks to you crosswise."

"I wouldn't know, though. I am, after all, not a Jedi nor can I weild the Force in any way. I just have surprisingly strong leg muscles."

He smiled amiably at his own stab at a joke, and continued.

"Now, I must say your answers have brought me more questions. For instance, what do you mean you "know" me as the "Predator?" And what is this "Force-scanning" you speak of?"

"Though, before you answer..." he gave a meaningful nod towards the man's outstretched weapon hand.

"Would you mind putting that away? Talking to someone who's poised to remove any one of my limbs before I could choke out an explanation tends to put me on edge."

Leaning closer, he spoke in a soft voice, grinning maliciously, his glasses sliding down his nose so that his crimson eyes, shining with a feral eagerness, were fully visible to the man.

"And, if you're looking to fight us, this certainly isn't the place."

Raye waited patiently for her reply, but also noticed the bartender shaking his head...

Does he know something I don't?

She thought about this a moment then nodded.

"Alright then. I'll keep you to your word. Once we arrive I expect the credits."

'You don't want to betray me....' She thought. Kitiana didn't have much trust for anyone, but she knew if he did betray her and not give the credits, she would find a way to get them.

"Have you been livin' under a rock, man?!" the bartender shouted. The Jedi frowned at him.

"What do you mean?"

"There ain't no more Jedi on Yavin...the Empire drove 'em out a while ago."

A look of shock came over Raye's face. "What? But...the Empire...?" He shook his head. "No, no...that can't be..."

He looked at the bartender, using the Force to see if what he spoke was the truth or a lie. Only a few seconds passed before the Jedi turned away, a painful and sorrowful look in his eyes.

So much has happened since I was gone...

He looked up at the other force-user, wondering what to do now. If the Jedi Archives are unavailable to me, I may have to pursue elsewhere...

"I'm sorry for these turn of events..."

Her voice was somewhat emotionless. How do you portray feelings when you've never had any except hatred, confusion, and betrayal? Already she was learning quite a bit of things, and wasn't sure what to make of them.

Just the name of the place makes your skin shrivel up, your mind already picturing the steamy mineral baths and long soaks in the tub with a rented lady. Oh yeah, it was good to be back. The past week had been a hoot, I never felt so clean in my life.

I don’t get to run to Sullust too often, most of the time it’s legit hauls between the hub of the Empire and some of the outlying mining worlds. But this time, along with a few tons of wine from some frufu colony or another to make it all legit, I got to deliver some illegal animal parts to Sullust. I’m not quite sure where these things come from, but it looks like the arm of some huge shaggy goat. There’s a gland in there that gets cooked a certain way, powdered, and served to unsuspecting elderly patrons with large wallets when they visit a certain hotel. I guess it’s one hell of an aphrodisiac. This was a new gig for me, and something that was going to be very lucrative in the future.

I got enough credits from this run to wire a big chunk to the bank for a payment on the ship, and have a bunch left over to hit the spas. And let me tell ya, I sure as heck don’t need no powdered animal gland to get me going, if you know what I mean. Oh yeah, it was a good week.

On top of that, I got a legit commission from a company here to deliver parts to the Empire. I got myself a writ of warrant or whatever the heck it is to deliver directly to one of the big boys blockading Coruscant. My ship was getting loaded with the cargo today, and I was outta here by tonight.

Then I got the call.

It came this morning, when I was just thinking about how I was gonna spend the rest of the credits I earned this week. Let me tell ya, that thought process got interrupted in a hurry. Seems that my new gig might not be such a long-term deal after all. My client, the one with the animal parts, got a call from a certain person he used to do a lot of business with. I guess this guy was some big shot smuggler who retired for a while, and now was out shopping for new business. My business. This guy was apparently so good that the client was willing to throw me over for this bozo!

Well, I ain’t no businessman, but I do know that when a good deal starts to get sour, you either let it rot or you add some sugar. And this deal was good enough to break out a big barrel of sweetener. I talked the client into waiting, to let me talk to this hot-shot smuggler and see if we can work something out. That, or maybe he could meet with an accident, either way.

Turns out this guy was living on Sullust. That’s the good news. The client admitted then that he’d already told this guy to meet him, and I was probably too late. Yeah, well, after a quick check of the spaceport schedules for the day (and a good sized payoff to the clerk), I managed to not only find the guy’s ship before he took off, but I got the coordinates he was bound for. Yeah, it was pretty obvious he was on his way to see my client… MY client. Another payoff and the clerk was quick to put a hold on the guy’s departure, for a day or two, heh. Enough time for me to catch him and have a chat.

As the message was being relayed to the poor sap that he couldn’t leave until tomorrow, I was already on my way to his ship to have a word or two. In just a few minutes, I’d be introducing myself to Mr Yaoksi.

"I do not mean to alarm you, I am not used to being snuck up on like this, it is.. unsettling."

"This force-scanning, it is a technique which allows me to decypher the nature of a sentient.. mostly."

"I know you as predator, simply because that is the nature I first experienced as your disposition through the force."

Konig looked at the eyes...

"Ah, a fabled Midion, I like the sound of Midion rather than the simple vampire term, oh, by the way, I am Jedi Knight Major Ulrich Konig, and this saber, is far from useless..."

"Oh, I didn't quite catch your name,"

The Major glanced at the darksider,

"As is his. You try your luck in pressing for things that are unimportant. What is important, is that first, you do not question any more, and that you go about your business. The second most important thing, is that the gentleman in the ship next to us does not turn on his thrusters."

He turned, and jumped at the ship, and began scrambling up the side, gripping the slots along the sides of the engines, using the small ocasional curve or protrusion on the back of the ship to make his way up.

What in the nine bloody hells? his mind screamed out. Where did he learn that name, and How did he recognize me by looking at my eyes?

Before he could realize, before he could stop himself, his hand moved far, faster than any human could even follow...even one so aided by the Force, and his arm was extended, blaster barrel centimeters from the man's forehead.

"Never..." he hissed, voice venemous and feral with rage, "...ever...utter...that...name...around...me."

He noticed that a crowd was gathering, felt a mass of people staring at them, but, in his rage, he didn't care, couldn't care. He was done with that name. Like all other relics of his past, it must be crushed.

Snarling, he continued addressing the Jedi.

"If you value your life, that is."

The droid crackled and started to spew sparks from three of the power ports on the side.

He stopped, turning on the ball of his foot, and drew one of his shorter blades from his side, and set himself. He knew it wouldn't block a lightsabre, but he figured he would be skilled enough to hold his own until Mathros could come and aid him.

What in Blazes--?!

"What in Blazes--!!" I hollered, slapping open a communications link with traffic control. Another series of apologies came scrolling merrily along, but the gist of the matter remained the same:

Apparently I wasn't going nowhere until sometime tomorrow.

I uttered something resembling a curse and slapped the link closed, then got to my feet. Hell if I was going to take this; I'd been on this blighted ball of lava too long, had run too legit of a business, paid the piper, if you will, to just sit back and let some bozo tell me when and where I could depart the premises.

And not even giving me a decent enough excuse for it to boot.

After a moment's thought I removed some credits from my pouch, enough to cover something to eat and more than enough to drink, then tucked the pouch and remainder into a secret compartment, keyed to open to my retinal scan. Grumbling to all the gods of the universe, I opened my hatch and left Devil to go get some dinner and try to get used to the idea that, at least for one more night, I could be counted as one of the poor blokes who went by the title of Sullustans.

As my feet hit the tarmac and the hatch closed in my wake, the sound of argument came into my ears. Well, perhaps not in the truest sense of the word: there was really no yelling or screaming, but there was some sort of ruckus and what the hell--??

Who the hell is this guy climbing up my Devil!?!

"Hey!" I hollered, drawing my blaster even as my peripheral vision caught sight of someone in jedi robes confronting...

The weird dude in the long dark coat. And, would you looky here, it was the other dude with the feral white hair who was perched on my ship like a Toydarian on his cashbox.

I froze, instinctively knowing these two were up to no good, and then sidled a bit closer to the Jedi.

Figures that it would be these guys again, taking up tarmac space so I couldn't leave when I had the chance....

Naw, longer than that.

In fact, it never really did make any sense.

But anyway, I figured that it probably wasn’t the Jedi-looking guy, or the weird looking ones, or the bozo climbing up the side of the ship, so my money was that Yaoksi was the pissed-off guy who was pulling a blaster on the monkey-boy. Yeah, if I caught anyone crawling up my ship, I’d shoot first and ask questions later myself. Score one for the Yaokster.

I let my hand reach down to my own blaster, ready to pull it if I needed to. Nobody was gonna kill this Yaoksi but me, let me tell ya. And I was REALLY curious as to why in the seven blazing circles of hell someone was CLIMBING UP THE SIDE OF A SHIP IN A BUSY SPACEPORT! And since when was the tarmac such a party central?

I stopped just short of the scene, cocked my head, and waited, hand on my blaster.

Scannign the room, he quickly spotted Konig, advancing on Kais with his lightsaber held threateningly. Kais, meanwhile, held a simple metal blade, no real defense against the attacking knight.

For a minute, Mathros considered drawing his blaster and firing at the man, but then decided agaisnt it. Konig would just deflect it, and then it could fly any which-way, and inadvertently hit someone innocent in the crowd. And Mathros didn't want that.

But still, Kais needed his help. And Mathros wouldn't abandon him.

Dashing forward, Mathros flung himself into a flying leap that carried him cross the hanger and landed him atop the ship feet behind Konig. Mathros didn't draw a weapon, but spoke instead.

"I have a hard time believing you to be a Jedi, as you say you are, Konig," he said in a sarcastic, amused tone. "I did not believe it to be the Jedi way to attack men who did not threaten them. Kais merely spoke to you, and his words were no threat, unless your paranoia is vaster that your apparent thirst for violence."

"I had thought, in fact, that assaulting innocnets was more the way of fallen Jedi. Is that, perhaps, your story?"

"I don't believe if you remember the highly dangerous blaster you held to my forehead, and this other man, the darksider is full of malice, that, my friend is not innocent,"

The Major reached out with the force, and yanked the blaster, it flew into the major's open hand and he secured it inside his cloak.

He put his hands across his waist, crossing to have his hands rest on his thighs. Most would see this as some strange form at a replication of female seduction, however, it was made apparent it was not as he drew two more, much smaller blades, little larger than a nerf-knife.

"I have no intent in killing further this day, enough of the blood of warriors falls on my hands. I was born to slay kings, not petty self centered, blindgly following fools." He smiled, then knelt and lay his blades upon the ground, and in the same motion, touched the ground, and exhausted his last supply of magick, raising small dark tendrils to caress the jedi's legs almost lovingly, though in reality their strength and near indestrutable nature would asure his compliance with a withdrawl.

"I have no intention of fighting you at all in fact." He picked up his daggers slowly, almost lazily as the tendrils continued to raise, caressing the mans body. "It's almost pitiful. If I was not bored with death today, I would just slit your throat, or give you to, what was it you called him, the Midion?"

He chuckled, then turned towards the man who pointed a blaster at him, yelling at him. "I'm sorry, you're the owner of this fine vessel? I'm afraid it was a major part of my small plan to thwart a public hazzard. I suggest you have the port authorities remove him from your hulls vent before you take off, to save you the effort of scraping a burned corpse off. Thankyou."

I shook my head. There were still two of 'em up there...

Hell with this noise--!

"HEY!" I hollered, raising my blaster and letting a warning shot fire upward toward the vaulted rock ceiling nearly a kilometer over our heads, even as I kept one eye warily one the white-haired dude.

"I don't know who the hell you guys are or what the hell kind of problems made you have to place yourselves in this kind of jeopardy, but--

"GET THE HELL OFF OF MY SHIP!"

Hell with port authorities. I'll take care of Devil myself, thank you very much....

Jedi, his mind said sarcastically. I'd heard stories about the self-righteous, high and mighty "defenders of justice." Never met one bofore now, but this fellow fits the bill to a T.

"I never implicated that I thought I was innocent, Konig," he chuckled. "You had every right to attack me, I suppose. But Kais did nothing to you. His blade was drawn in self defense from your onslaught."

"And saying "full of malice" seems, to me, a pretty pathetic excuse. The vast majority of people in the galaxy couldn't feasibly contest your "viewings" of him with the Force. As such, what's to stop you from pointing to any old yahoo on the street and shouting, "I must slay him! Full of malice and rage is he!" every time you get a hankerin' for blood? Who could argue, after all? You're a Jedi."

Laughing derisively, he turned towards the rather ticked-off fellow with the blaster who apparently owned this ship. Waving to him, he caleld out "My apologies, good sir! My...compatriots and I merely had some business to discuss, and the hull of your ship seemd as good a place as any. I'll be going now, so I'll bid you a good day, friend, and pass along my sincere hopes we haven't dampered this lovely morning for you."

"And Konig," he said, turning back to the man, "I'd be most curious to find out where you learned that name, if we ever cross paths again. Unfortunately, this fellow seems to wish us off his property. So I'll bid you a good day as well, and ask that you refrain from frightening any more poor people with that fancy knife of yours. Cheerio!"

With a jaunty wave, Mathros leaped off the ship, and landed beside Kais softly.

"Well, interesting start to the day, I'll say," he remarked affably, then his tone turned serious as he turned towards the man.

"Are you all right, Kais? That Seargant McSaberslash fellow didn't hurt you, did he?"

I picked my jaw up from the tarmac and approached the pair, who were still hanging around entirely too close to Devil. I'll admit there was something about the two that set the hairs on the back of my neck arise; gripping my blaster more tightly I approached them and stopped just beyond the limits of their personal space.

From here my blaster easily covered them both.

"May I ask just why my ship was the universe's greatest conference center--

"What in blazes did you think you were doing?! Ya wanna get killed or something??? Didn't you realize I could have taken off--"

I paused, getting myself under control, then spoke more calmly.

"I would appreciate it if you fellas would just find another place for your little tete-a-tete..."

He bowed respectfully, though he barely had moved in the motion. "I do appologise for using your vessel, but I have no more intent to bother your vessel again, or to walk upon this dirtball again. However, I advise you remove that menace from your ships hull for assault charges. Now I bid you adieu."

No one talks to me that way, and I mean no one.

But in counterbalance to that, there was still that undefinable something that hinted in a low and lethal whisper that if I pressed, I just might not find myself able to leave Sullust at all.

Tomorrow or otherwise.

So I kept my cool and nodded as he left.

“What’s the trouble here?” I asked, giving Yaoksi a nod and turning to the other weird looking guy. “This is a place for pilots and crew, and you don’t look like neither.”

Underlined by another blaster.

It was only because in my line of business peeps don't last long if they're overly flighty that my own blaster didn't find a new home underneath this guy's nose. Instead, I acted like this was all part of the act I was choreographing...

Even if it was on the immediate spot.

"Uhh--" I garbled, momentarily at a loss for words. I mean, exactly how does one go about explaining the unexplainable?

"I seem to have inherited a few two-legged mynocks, but of the three one is missing, and--"

I paused, eyeballing the red-eyed dude who had the most supercilious sneer on his face that I'd ever seen on anyone, man or beast.

Somehow, he managed to convey most effectively the image that he was the latter....

"And I'm still waiting to hear what this one has to say for himself."

I waved my blaster toward the long-coated guy, still keeping wary reflexes up toward anyone coming within three parsecs of Devil and or me.

Including my new-found bodyguard.

"Oh, me? I'm just keeping an eye on the saber-happy up there," he said, waving a hand in Konig's general direction. "Y'know, making sure he doesn't try to attack anybody else with the Force or whatnot."

For a minute, he was tempted to point out the newcomer's double negative, but decided that wouldn't win him any points with his new "buddies" here.

"Me? No, I'm no repairman and, unfortunately enough, certainly no pilot. Just a former merc who happened to find hismelf stranded on this rock with no transport off."

He let out a small sigh, then took off hsi hat and ruffled his hand through his hair sheepishly, addressing Yaoksi again.

"Listen, I really am sorry about...gallavanting about on your ship like that. I know I'd be pretty cheesed off, if it was me. I jsut kinda...lost control for a bit there. It happens sometimes. Old habit from my mercing days."

"Anyways, I do hope you'll accept my apologies, and if we broke anythign that needs fixing, just lemme know and I'll pay for the damage."

"In fact," he continued, "If you ever need a favor, or a steady shot with a blaster, as logn as we're both on this planet, don't hesitate to ask Mathros Midon."

He tipped placed his hat back on his head, tipping it in a respectful, greeting manner towards the two.

"Though, I'd assume, from what you were saying to those other two "mynocks" and myself, that we won't be sharing a planet for too much longer."

"I know its none of my business, but might I ask where you're headed, Messers...?"

Raye let out a sigh, and took another sip from his drink. After a while, he finally spoke up.

The Major used the force to amplify his voice.

"Get back here and undo this before I have to do something rash, and possibly lethal to you or your companion."

I cast another glance back toward the tall guy even as I stepped out to confront monkey-boy here.

"I'm not going anywhere, just checking over my systems, gotta run later you see--"

By now I was next to Devil's hull, peering up over the expanse of her trying to locate the exact position of the jedi.

There was nothing for it; with a sigh I headed toward a nearby maintenance ladder and began climbing, my blaster still held in my hand.

"You just carry on with my buddy there," I called over my shoulder, relieved to be relieved of the two of them. Gaining purchase on the matte hull of my ship, I headed toward where the jedi was standing, yelling after the guy with the feral white hair, who was taking no notice whatsoever of his predicament.

I paused before him, a touch perplexed as to why he remained where he was, and more than miffed that he didn't seem to be trying to do anything about it.

I waved my blaster about for emphasis.

The Major explored the spell, he concentrated,
This doesn't really bind me, its the thoughts that hold me to this hull

The gingerly stepped out of the heat vent and looked at the man offering help

"The Majick that man over there used was of an odd nature, the force couldn't really combat it, sorry for having to use the top of your ship as a confrontation, not really my impulse,I had to follow mr Blaster's " Konig gestured to the red trenchcoat man "-companion, because he was fleeing in an odd manner, nice ship by the way, what model is it?"

Obviously, an evasion of some sort, for whatever reason.

A part of me instantly shot back to my brief but heady time with Cella--

Oh yeah, these jedi can be evasive as hell!

It took every bit of concentration I had to bring myself back to the rather uncertainty of the moment.

"It's-- uh, it's a corvette," I finally stammered, realizing that the jedi was still just standing there, waiting for an answer, nevermind the fact that his purported prey was sneering on the ground up at us -- oh yeah, I could feel his eyeballs doing a mariachi dance up and down my spine, no doubt about that! -- while the other guy, the one with the white hair, was still sauntering off into the distance.

A crowd had gathered, to make things worse.

I shook my head, waved my blaster around again.

"Ummm... I take it you were after those fellas for-- er, using, ahh... magick? Yeah, whatever; anyway, fella.

"Aren't you kinda missing the boat there?"

I nodded toward the white haired one, who was bit by bit managing to disappear into the throng. This suddenly annoyed me to no end; I turned away from the jedi and hollered down to the bystanders.

"Good grief, don't you peeps have a home to go to or something? This is a spaceport, and people do want to fly in and out of it, you know!"

I know that was rather silly, but it sure felt good to vent somehow, for the situation I found myself in was becoming stranger and stranger by each second that passed.

"Ah, Ossus is a world that was once a Jedi stronghold, long since abandoned. What I am looking for resides there...however..."

Raye scratched his chin. "There aren't any credits to be made there, but whatever you find, such as a relic or an ancient lightsaber hilt, could be priceless."

Assuming there's anything left to find.

The Major glanced at the midion down below

"I'd be wary about that guy, Mr. Blaster down there, he's got a bloody fast draw, and basically pinpoint aim"

"The white haired one is of no concern anymore, and thank you for not blasting off, you'd have quite the mess on your hull, we should get to ground level before anybody starts asking questions."

He gestured at the ever--growing crowd down below.

And then to top it off, people were starting to gather around. All I could do was stare back at this guy, and I could feel my resolve start to shake just a little. Then Yaoksi shouted something down to the crowd, and that got me out of that funk.

I shook my head and grimaced.

“Hey,” I yelled out to the people. “You heard the man, get the heck outta here! Life’s too short to lose it to trigger happy crazed son-of-a-buck like me!”

Surprisingly, that was enough to get people moving. The people went back to they were doing, and the area around the ship began to clear. I looked back up to the weird guy, square in the eyes. They were sure interesting, but whatever that strange feeling was sure was gone now.

“So,” I said in a pleasant enough voice. “Your name’s Mathros? What were you doin’ here, you some kind of port cop or something?"

I sure hope not, I thought. I don’t need that kinda crap now.

"And what about monkey-boy over there, where’s he going?”

He walked too the controls, and began angrilly thumbing in commands, ignoring repeated calls of protest from the docking command as he began to tap in commands too lift the ship from the deck, already beginning to log in the coordinates of his fathers world.

"At least I have a gift, I will have to make ammends for my error." As the ship began to lift from the docking bay, ignoring the loud yells of warning as the repulsor lifts knocked several beings flat.

He sighed and began requesting permission to leave, giving several good reasons, running along the lines of "not getting blasted", for them to open the bay shields.

Leaving the cockpit, he set the ship on autopilot, already tired, almost ready to collapse as he waited in the que to take off, going to the small captains quarters. He smiled at the decor of skins and hides, crude trophies of innefficient killing of "innocents".

"I think he left; he headed off toward a ship over there, which is now going though take-off procedures."

That reminded me that I should be doing that very thing at this very moment, if not having already done it and gone. I couldn't help but grumble something to this effect; then turned away for the moment from the jedi.

I walked to where the curvature of my hull would put me flat on my hiney and onto the tarmac, or to be more precise, to that point on the hull just in front of that. From that precarious vantage point I peered down at Muscles and Mysterious, the jedi's words a living entity in my head.

Granted, I didn't know my new buddy from Adam, but if he was in jeopardy simply by his proximity to Sourpuss, he should be given something in the way of a warning. Especially since said proximity was entirely too close to Devil; lordy, but if something happened between the two I'd more than likely be stuck here until Doomsday.

I flashed the dark dude my whitest smile.

"Ahh-- it would appear that there has been an, er... misunderstanding--"

I waggled my eyebrows at the guy, holding my blaster down but ready to raise it at the slightest wrong move from the red-coated statue. That worthy merely stood in supercilious silence, unblinking.

The hairs on my neck rose up again; I waggled my blaster a bit harder, and directed my next words toward Muscles.

"Um-- I think our jedi here would like to know what you saw, if anything."

I paused with that as the incongruity of the entire situation slammed me in the face.

What was wrong with this picture? If the jedi was after the red-coated dude, who he said had pulled a lightning blaster on him, then why in all the Universe was he just standing here next to me, complimenting me on my ship?

This is where I get off the boat... but not with this particular crew.

I smiled more broadly, hoping Muscles would get the hint, and be ready to move -- and fast -- if it came to that.

"Well then, I will have to continue to pilot you around until I can receive my credits...If that is the only way that I will eventually get my dues. If that is alright with you...."

"I was serious, I havent seen a corvette in this part of the galaxy for some time, what, like 3 years, maybe even more. How did you come across this ship?"

The Major took a quick look across the ships huge hull, and the large airfoil span.

"You have to know how hard it is to aquire this type of ship, and it's so great to meet another freelancer who owns a capital ship, Mine looks like a shortened dreadnaught, it's actually a heavily modified Corellian action X bulk freighter."

The Major looked to the darkening sky.

I wrangled my head back to the big guy next to me, giving him an eyebrow, then jerked back to Yaoksi.

"As far as I am concerned, this incident is over, in fact, It never even happened"

The Major glared at Mr. Blaster:

"You, get out of here, you've instigated enough turmoil in this particular area."

The Major turned to the spacer:

"Well, I'll leave my transciever number with you, I have to get back to my freighter and then my capital ship in orbit"

The guy with the white hair was gone, vamoosed, history; in fact my skin still tingled from the peripheral blast it received as his ship took off into parts unknown. As was the jedi, who with a damnably calm smile had brushed past me to climb down from the hull, uttering something which I suppose in his estimation passed for his version of an apology.

Muscles wanted to talk to me... alone.

I raised a brow at him, then cut my gaze to Mr. Mysterioso, who was doing his best to impersonate a stone carving. I swear, the guy hadn't moved, hadn't so much as quivered a nostril during the past few moments, but just stood there like life was passing on without him, and he didn't care a whit.

Suddenly that aloof attitude struck a nerve. My brow lowered, and I climbed down from the top of Devil.

"All right, buster, I don't know what the hell you want with me, but I'm not going to leave this little bow untied."

I nodded to the Grim Reaper, who was staring parsecs into the distance. The nerve he was striking screamed more loudly; muttering in anger--

Who in all the known Universe did these bozos think they were, anyway, to come traipsing up from nowhere to do a jig on my hull, then clam up about it as if they were saying, "nyah nyah nyah...."

--I hit the tarmac, then boarded Devil. There I took the white-haired guy's last words strictly to heart; a quick link-up, a few choicely chosen words, and ere I had managed to return to the pair I had left standing together when a small swarm of port authority goons came hulking up, wanting to know what the problem was.

I told them. It was that easy.

Next thing I knew, and they had Mr. Mysterioso by both arms. He didn't so much as flinch when they hauled him away. (I later found out from one of my many friends here in Piriingisi that he had been put into triple solitary; apparently en route to the authority's equivalent of "downtown" he had come alive; it had taken practically an entire squad of heavily armed officers to settle his mettle enough to get him behind bars. I dunno why I called up to inquire about this; I suppose he just struck me wrong, as attitudinal as he was, and that after playing cat and mouse with my ship; I mean, no one does that to me.

No one.)

But at the time, all I did was stand there, arms crossed, feeling mighty pleased with myself as I watched the tall dark stranger's chain get yanked off to the calaboose.

Then I turned to Muscles.

"You were saying?" I asked nonchalantly. But the blaster stayed in my hand and my eyes never left his at all.

Which is more than I can say for Mr. Jedi. He just casually watched the whole thing transpire, smiling the whole time like some hungry vulture watching a womprat die of old age. That guy was creepy in his own right.

But Yoaksi, he’s all right. I got kick out of him. He reminds me a little bit of someone I admire and trust more than anyone else out there – me. Score another one. Even down to the blaster in hand, ready for negotiations.

I rolled my eyes and thumbed towards the jedi, who was still standing there looking like a cat trying to hide the bird feathers in his mouth.

“I was saying,” I responded, “that we got things we need to talk about. Business things. I’d rather do it alone, cuz it don’t concern no-one but you and me for the time being. If your bodyguard here wouldn’t mind if you and I took a walk to the Blue Asteroid for a little stinger, I’d even buy. If he tags along, he buys his own.”

Well, at least this cell is reasonable comfortable. I've been in worse.

He sighed and leaned his head back agaisnt the wall, waiting for sleep. But it wouldn't come.

The hunger. It was too strong inside him now, too strong to ignore, or put off any longer. He needed to feed.

And why not? his mind offered. What have these people...these worms ever done for you? Judged you, avoided you, stuck you in prison. What do you owe them? Nothing.

A small voice, a small feeling in the back of his mind piped up, attempting to raise a protest. His conscience, he believed. Stupid little bugger had talked him out of a good meal more than once. Not this time, though.

Tonight, he would feed.

Standing, he stretched his limbs slowly, and examined the force bars to his cell. The gaps in them were small, certainly. But he would manage.

Closing his eyes, he called out to the dark powers within him. The shadows aroudn him seemed to coat all over his form, and then his form began to melt, shift, shrink, and transform. Within moments, it was not a tall, gangly man who stood in the cell, but a small, winged, mynock-like creature: a bat.

Stretchign his newfound wings, Mathros flapped a few times, and soared into the air, out between the bars of the cage, and into the dark hall beyond. Normally he wuld have kept going, soared out the nearest window, made his silent escape. But tonight was different. He didn't plan on running anywhere.

Dropping to the ground, he assumed his normal form, tall and menacing again. He sniffed, and could smell that there was a guard right down the hall. His first victim.

He strode off down the hall, not bothering to hide the loud click of his bootsteps. Within minutes, the guard came into view. Clearly, he had heard Mathros, for his blaster hand was extended. Just as clearly, he couldn't see very well, for his blaster was aimed about a foot to the right of Mathros' chest.

Mathros grinned. "Evening, sir," he said in a soft whisper.

The guard jumped about a foot. "What the hell? How did you get out of your cell?"

His grin widened. "No cell can hold me for long." He continued striding towards the man.

The guard, in response, leveled his blaster. "Not one more step, or I'll shoot! This is your only warning!"

Another step, and another. The guard shouted again, but he continued walking. Finally, the man pulled the trigger.

It was a reasonable shot. The bolt flashed right through Mathros' shoulder, bringing stinging pain along with it. Glancing down at the wound ,at the blood trickling from it, Mathros' hunger reared up fully in him. Again he turned his wicked grin back on the man.

"Unfortunately for you, sir, I'm hard to kill."

A look of horror crossed the man's face, and he staggered backwards.

"However..." Mathros whispered, "I can make no such claims for you."

There was a clatter as the man dropped his light to the floor, casting ghoulish shadows about the walls.

Mahtros' grin widened further.

The man turned, tried to run. But it was already too late. Mathros lunged.

In a moment, he had caught the man by the back of the neck, pulled him close.

As the man gave a last shout of terror, Mathros whispered into his ear.

"Lady Eternity welcomes you into her embrace."

And with that, he sank his teeth into the man's neck, drank in the sweet sweet taste of his blood. it had been so long...and it tasted so good. For long moments he fed, savoring the taste.

Throwing the lifeless corpse aside, Mathros wiped his lips. Glancing down at his gloved hand, he saw the white fingers were stained with blood.

His grin reappeared, wicked and cold.

His eyes glinted red with a dancing feral light.

Filled with new vigour, he strode out into the street, breathing in the fresh night air.

Turning, he began striding up the street, and woe betide the next bystander wh ocrossed his path.

He had killed again. The predator in him had reawakened.

Thank you.))

Business? I wondered to myself as I quickly mulled over what this guy was hinting at. Then I gave a mental shrug; it wouldn't be the first time that a good job had come flying out of left field to plop smack into my lap.

Although, to tell the truth, this guy didn't look so much like a person who hired peeps like me than he did the kind of peep who got themselves hired....

I shrugged, perhaps too expansively, and loosened my blaster just a touch. Hey, I wasn't going anywhere anyway; maybe it would behoove me to hear what he had to offer.

And heaven forbid I turn down a free drink.

"Lead the way," I said with a short smile, cutting a glance at the jedi before returning it to Rico. Then I stepped out to follow him as he led off in the general direction the goons had taken tall, dark and gruesome.

The Major strode to his ship and boarded, he went through all the regular departing sequences and set a course for his Flower, the ship in orbit. The Navicomputer triangulated a course so that by the time the Jedi Shield broke the atmosphere, it could be caught neatly in the Flowers hangar.

He leaned back in the Pilot chair.

Ilse Vogel walked up behind him and saide:

"So how was your day?"

She plopped down in the copilot's chair and turned towards the Major as he spoke:

"Nothing out of the ordinary, I met another smuggler with a capital ship, sort of like us, and oh, I saw a Midion!"

She responded:

"Thats pretty good, did you get his tranciever number?"

He grined and held up his datapad:

"Sure did!"((OOC: They head into orbit and dock inside the Flower, they enter hyperspace and set a course for the Ajax, They travel to into the fiery wastes in the same forum))

She turned her head to regard him as she spoke, then turned back in the direction of travel. Her ship was not very far, and it didn't take long to arrive.

"This is my ship. Afraid I haven't named it yet...as I said, I just acquired it."

"I hope our journey runs smoothly..."

And that I find what I am looking for...or else the entire galaxy will be at great peril...

Yaoksi and I walked in side by side, both of us gripping our blasters and ready to blow the other one into oblivion at any moment. I took a seat at a table that was just waiting for two good looking guys like us, and Yaoksi sat down across from me. I smiled a big toothy grin and raised my empty hands to show I wasn’t holding a weapon.

“Hey, barkeep!” I called out. “We’d like two of the best whiskeys on the planet. But since we’re here, we’ll take two of yours!”

There was a general roar from the rest of the crowd as the bartender muttered something under his breath and poured the vile liquid into what were hopefully somewhat clean glasses. I turned my head back to Yaoksi as the waitress moved towards the bar to grab our drinks.

“So,” I said. “Thanks for joining me. I was hopin’ to catch you before you blasted off, and was really surprised to find you still on the tarmac. And what was with those crazy lunatics, anyway? That what held you up?”

(( OOC: Please follow Rico and Yaoksi into the thread “Even Smugglers Get The Blues” in this forum. Thank you!))