As he sat in the cabin of the frieghter he had appropriated, Erik waited as the navcomputer ticked the seconds down to reversion. Then, as the clock reached zero, he pulled the hyperspace lever down, and the ship creaked back into realspace, in the middle of nowhere. Grimacing at the sound the hyperdrive made upon reentry, Erik got to work. In the time between his abrupt exit from Hornett til now, more of his still-forming plan had popped into existence, for better or worse. For a few moments Erik then sat waffling, trying to decide where he was going to head first, seeing possibilities in both ideas he had...

...and deciding that both may in fact be useful. Or not, depending on who might actually come out to play, if anyone at all. The truth was, he was so tired of choosing sides, particularly when neither side seemed to be playing straight. Likewise, Erik was also really tired of feeling useless and, piloting skills or not, he was first and foremost an information smuggler.

And he did have information. Now all he needed was some proof to verify it before attempting to use it for his benefit. Turning to the comm unit on the navboard, Erik opened a highly encrypted frequency to the Stargazer.

"Katrina, this is Erik," he opened with. "I need you to pull up two sets of coordinates from our databases," he said, then telling her the two planets he had in mind. Although it was highly unlikely the two locations would be stored in this ship's navcomputer, Erik knew it was also as likely that Stargazer Corp had smuggled them from one source or another. Perhaps they'd even gained them honestly. Either way, it really didn't matter.

In only a few minutes, Katrina responded to his request by sending the requested coordinates along the same highly encrypted frequency he'd used earlier. "Anything else you need?" she asked, a bit worriedly.

"No," he responded. "Just keep your eyes and ears open for any good information. I'm working an angle or two here myself, and I'm hoping I'm going to end up with something useful for us. Stargazer Corp has been on the backburner far too long, and far too much is going on in the galaxy for us to sit idly by."

Or trust anyone with clear-cut agendas and sides, came an errant thought.

"Allright," Katrina replied. "Keep in touch, and stay safe."

As the connection on her end snapped closed, Erik turned to the navcomputer, pursing his lips and pondering his chosen destinatin a final time. Then, without any further hesitation, he keyed the coordinates in, waited for the navcomputer to interpret them, then pulled the lever that would in turn activate the hyperdrive. As stars stretched out into starlines, he hoped his gamble would pay off.

After all, he'd heard Kamino wasn't exactly the most pleasant of worlds to visit otherwise.

I loved the feel of space beneath my wings... figuratively speaking of course. But there was no doubt about it; Dad didn't teach me to fly the family ship because Sissy-poops was such a, well... poop about it. He knew when he looked into my eyes that the reflection there was pure starlight.

My eyes were filled with stars even now as I arrowed away from Hornett, letting Eagle II spread her own wings in flight from the hulking destroyer as we proceeded dead ahead for about, oh, a few hundred thousand klicks or so. For the briefest of moments shadows of my past superimposed themselves against the starfield--

Coming to the rescue of another YT-2500, who was fleeing a super star destroyer of it's own...

Zooming away from imprisonment, a newly-met Terrin Danner turning green at my side as we barrel-rolled our way through this danger and that in our wild career from Ambria...

Fleeing Kamino, my stomach an uncomfortable little peach-pit of a knot as the eyes of my clone bore inquisitively into my back...

Others flickered here and there, beckoning.

Come. Remember that freedom? It's still out here...

I only smiled back at them.

"Not this time, my friends."

Even as the words had left my lips I was turning my little lamby around, now arrowing back practically smack on top of my prior trajectory, this time reaching out with sensors and seeking contact with a ship brand spankin' new to the glories of what awaited it in the Night.

"I'm here, guys," I commed Challenger; then sat back as the thunk of a tractor beam gripping hold of my craft assured me a swift and safe berth aboard her.

It wasn't long before that very event was enacted, and I found Eagle II yawning and stretching, and otherwise settling into the peaceful slumber of systems cooling and generally powering down.

I exited her with alacrity, whistling to myself as in the journey from the docking berth to the main cockpit area I found this wonder and that.

Wow. NICE ship!

A brief, and uncharacteristic stab of jealousy hit me; man I wished I'd gotten to get my hands on this baby! But the feeling soon disappeared; Captain Joao deserved it, considering all he'd been through for us, all he'd endured.

Soon I joined up with the others and found a seat. There I settled comfortably against the cushions and watched as the stars in the main viewport stretched themselves out into the smears that was hyperspace.

We were on our way.

It fit and yet it did not, logically it all made sense but on the other hand it did not it feels like the Force is telling me to trust its plan for me and not chase my Granddaughter using the information Erik gave me, as if some greater plan requires his attention.

Kyan was so occupied with his thoughts he almost missed Terrin and the others rushing toward the hanger bay, Kyan almost dismissed them if it were not for him overhearing that Erik took off to parts unknown.

What is Erik thinking as he is right now and with his potential it would be easy to corrupt him. The last thing the galaxy needed right now was another dark Jedi.

Running after them Kyan boarded the Challenger and remained in the rear of the cockpit leaning against a corner. Surly they noticed his presence who wouldn’t notice Mandalorian armor, and whatever they were planning it would certainly help to have a Jedi handy. Soon they were off into space and Kyan felt the dull thump of the Eagle II docking and Galen joining them in the cockpit of the ship, Kyan nodded acknowledging her presence as she took her seat.

“If you need me I’ll be in the cargo bay,” said Kyan.

I blinked, now gawping round at the others, who looked somewhat surprised themselves.

"Well... I'm glad he's here." Thoughts finally managed to resolve into words, words spoken in a tone of voice which was innocent enough in itself, but which carried upon its back an obvious comparison with Erik Kartan.

How could two, so much alike, be yet so different?

I shook my head slightly, hoping the latter man -- if not apprehended by us first -- wouldn't show up one day to create a universe of hurt for us. Then I sighed, and brightened.

"I think you're doing great with that arm, Kid!" I piped to Link, who was engaged in picking tiny threads from the joints of her prosthesis. "I don't know about Captain Danner, but it sure doesn't take an artificial limb to snag on clothing!"

I held up my adventure-worn hands, scarred and dry from all they had been through, and flipped them from palm-forward to back.

Great Fates! I couldn't help thinking in non-sequiteur.

I could use a manicure!

I grinned and dropped my hands, reddening as shuffles and the slight sound of muffled laughter came into my ears. It died, though, beneath the words I next spoke.

"Well, it's a couple days until we reach the Sith worlds, so we have a little time on our hands. Has anyone come up with a good battle plan as how exactly we're going to deal with Erik, assuming we find him that is -- or extricate General Tarnus, should we happen to discover he's really on one of the planets after all?"

...or anywhere in the Outer Rim territories. While I'd like to hope he isn't headed to the Sith worlds, I don't know why he would go anywhere in the Outer Rim."

Terrin paused, shaking his head. "It's a shame he took a recntly acquired ship; the EE tracking device hadn't been installed in it yet, and I somehow think he might have known that. He obviously doesn't want us to know where he went...

...but then I can't figure out why, if he is headed to the Sith Worlds, that would really even matter. And we could probably speculate on this all day. If we knew he was enroute to the Sith Worlds, the only thing I can think of is somehow using his arrival as a distraction while we try to figure out of Tarnus is there and find him if need be. If he's headed elsewhere..."

Terrin shrugged. "I don't know."

“Greatings almighty Greppa,” Link said in Huttese. “The lowly Ryn Link has needs of your services, for a meager service well within you great power I am willing to pay the normal rate with an additional 20,000 for you exalted services. If it would please you almighty Greppa I require the access codes to the Imperial comm logs with the access of an Imperial Intelligence officer. If you agree to these lowly terms for such a lowly creature send the codes back along the same frequency.”

As Link finished the recoding she shuddered inwardly at the message then sent it out onto parts unknown. Now Link knew she had some explaining to do to the group. Looking over the back of her chair everyone was staring in her general direction because Link assumed none of them knew any Huttese and were waiting for an explanation, at least she hoped they didn’t know Huttese.

“I think I found a way to find more information on Tarnus,” Said Link. “I got in touch with an old client, it may get us brief access to the Imperial comm logs, so Terrin I need 40,000 credits ready to transfer to this account in case it found anything.”

Link found a piece of flimsiplast and scribbled down an account number handing it to Terrin, and then settled back into her chair.

"I haven't the slightest idea," I finally said, not too happy with myself for the profound statement I had just made. Great Khaandon, but it sounded like everyone was all in a toot to go get the guy; but just exactly how to do that hadn't quite been thought through.

I shook my head, and flung one leg over the arm of my seat.

"Hell's Seven Circles, we don't even know if he's popped out of hyperspace and altered his course!" I shook my head again.

"Seems like the only thing we can do is to continue on with our original idea of determining where Sor- that is, General Tarnus is, and see if we can help him. In the meantime..."

I swung my attention to Link, who was sitting there pretty as you please, nevermind the fact that she had just contacted the Hutts.

Khaandon, what other surprises does this gal have up her furry little sleeve?

"We do have the specs of the ship he took off in. Maybe your, ahh-- contact has enough reach to be keeping an eye out for it, should it appear around any known world, whether incoming, outgoing, or up for sale. That will at least give us something of an idea of where the hell Erik is heading.

"At least I hope so."

I thought a little bit further.

"And just in case he really is heading to the Sith worlds, maybe I'd better text the guys there with Aeylmaar. You know, give 'em a general kind of head's up. Wouldn't hurt to let 'em know what we're up to, either.

"Maybe we could swing by and extricate them, too, while we're at it.

"And, oh yeah, Terrin," I finished with a slight jerk of my head toward Link.

"Give her the credits."

Terrin paused, keying in a couple of comm frequencies that were very familiar to him, "Going by and picking them up might be a good idea, if for nothing more than giving us strength in numbers. Besides, we haven't heard anything much from our commrades and aquantainces since we left Khar Delba. Soemthing doesn't seem right about that. But you're right; giving Matt and Jasyn a heads up now," he ended, beginning to key in his message which would travel along a highly secured and encrypted frequency once sent.
Matt, Jasyn- heads up to let you know Erik Kartan blasted off the Hornett abruptly with one of our ships, and may be headed in your direction. Keep an eye out. We're headed in your way as well to find out something regarding the whereabout of the Lieutenant General. We'll keep you posted and will hopefully be enroute to pick you up shortly.

Finishing the message, Terrin sent it on its way.
(((OCC: Editted. Sorry for the goof, wasn't intentional; just wrote that right around my bedtime. Long week.)))

“Ohh no,” said Link. “I am not calling that thing back, it’s bad enough I actually have to speak in huttese to that thing, but I am not groveling before it more than once a year. Besides the Hutt doesn’t have the resources to help in that regard, unless you want to put out a wanted poster with the Empire.”

Wait wanted poster, perhaps there was an easier way to track Erik after all.

Out of habit Link’s tail somehow ended up in her lap which she started stroking while contemplating her plan.

I pondered some more. I had some history with the Guild through my days with Sorben; maybe they'd remember me and cut me a deal or something. Maybe I could get Seus himself to take on the job. This led to thoughts of Sorben, and how the Guild was more than likely viewing him at this point in time, and I winced.

They probably weren't too happy with their erstwhile Top Gun Hunter; would that displeasure dribble out to include me as well?

Memories fingered outward, and I now found myself suddenly remembering the time I had sneaked in and used Quee's secreted lair to bait out Sorben when Actar had placed a bounty on my head and Darra's, instructing him to come and, well... do his thing.

Which he most certainly had.

Clones are a wonderful thing at times...

Another thought struck me then.
Surely Quee had determined that somebody had appropriated his home for a period of time, and I knew Quee. Jedi though he might be, that probably hadn't made him the happiest of campers; who better to track down the culprit -- in this case, yours truly -- than the Guild? By now he had to know it was me, and certainly by now had determined what had happened.

And I was still hale and whole, wasn't I? So the Guild couldn't be too angry with Sorben, right? Or at least not with me.

The logic, or at least what I figured to be the logic, of that train of thought satisfied me, and I nodded to Link.

"Good idea, kiddo," I replied. "I have, ummm... some connections of my own. Why don't you do your thing, and rustle up the requisite information, and I'll get this particular ball rolling. This should at least free us up a little more, not having to worry about splitting our interests, if you all know what I mean."

Seus would help us, I just knew he would. Especially when I nudged his memory a bit in the "weird little ship" department. I knew he was dying to find out more about that Sith fighter; a few choice hints as to where we thought Erik might be heading, and I'm sure he'd jump at the chance to take the job.

Even if it meant revealing the location of the Sith worlds to the Bounty Hunter Guild. That was a risk we'd just have to take.

“I finished with the background for Erik,” Said Link. “All you have to do is hit the transmit button if you plan on going with the bounty hunter idea, or if you just want to see what happens if Erik ever gets arrested and tries to explain to cops how its impossible to be arrested for illegal gambling on Corellia because no one on Corellia cares about the odds.”

Link rose from her chair donned her duster then proceded to the rear of the cockpit.

"That's a good idea, kiddo," I agreed with a nod, and watched while Link headed toward companionway peeping beyond the command center.

"And hey, Link!" I called, now propelling myself into motion and coming to her side. I took her gently by the arm, and spoke into her ear.

"I don't know to what extent you might have sensed out before we went into hyperspace, but why don't you go take a look at the whatever data you might have collected. See if you can find any transmissions at all coming from Imperial space or anywhere that might have anything to do with Tarnus. Something just isn't right; someone of his caliber can't have just up and gone invisible without somebody somewhere knowing something about it, and who would have the capability of digging up that something but the Impys?"

I smiled down into her big brown eyes.

"You're good, Kid; if anyone can find anything, it will be you."

I sent her on to her multi-tasks, then joined the others who were still hovering near my empty pilot's seat.

"I know we seem to do this a lot, but I think we function best over food. During my tour through Challenger I found one heckuva galley aboard her; maybe we should go grab a bite and come up with a real step-by-step plan of action to follow once we hit Sith space."

I paused fractionally.

"General ideas are a great place to begin, but I'd like to know just who is going to do what and where that what is gonna be, once we get where we're going. I don't imagine it's gonna be easy getting ourselves into a Sith prison, after all, not to mention getting ourselves out.

"Unless someone here is really good with diplomacy... and assuming that Sith guy we spoke to was really lying to us, that is."

I gave my head an emphatic nod and headed in toward another connecting companionway.

"We can pop out of hyperspace after a bit to send the transmission to the bounty hunters, if we decide to follow through with that idea at all. Personally, I kinda like it; let someone else do our work for us so we can concentrate on the major issue at hand. C'mon guys, the galley is way; the ship will be all right on her own for a bit."

"You know, about that diplomatic avenue..."

He trailed a moment, still thinking. "It's probably a bad idea, but we just might have something to offer the Sith warriors that we didn't before. I mean, they have been relying on magickal powers that are now all gone, from their communications systmes to goodness knows what else. I wonder if we could somehow come in on two fronts...

...approach them directly about maybe making a deal to give them technical resources while others go in behind while they are distracted and investigate the truth of whether or not Tarnus is still imprisoned there or not."

Terrin paused shrugging. "Of course, I don't like the idea of splitting up at all, or revealing ourselves the least little bit if stealth is going to serve our purposes best."

He quieted again, another idea coming to his mind. "You know, Tarnus wears Mandalorian armor. Granted, the Sith might have taken it from him when they imprisoned him so it might not help us in the least, but if something of it is still on the Sith worlds...

...some of our technology should be able to sense his unless it has been deactivated...":

He fell silent a final time, frowning as his look darkened. "...or destroyed."

(((OCC It's late and I think I'm rambling. Hope this post makes sense!)))

I nodded enthusiastically at Terrin's latter suggestion.

"I didn't think of that!" I exclaimed, a little embarrassed to have overlooked something so obvious it was practically smacking me in the face. "But you're right; if not a way to determine if Sorben himself is still on K'eel Doba, at least it will prove if he left there under good circumstances. I imagine it would take something short of all-out war to prevent him from regaining that armor of his if the prospect was before him of getting it back himself."

I brightened as that thought extended itself into another fairly obvious one.

"And hey," I continued as we rounded upon the hatchway to the Mess. "If something did happen to Sorben, maybe if we present evidence that we know his armor is there will, ummm, well... persuade the Sith into giving it to us. Or maybe we can find it ourselves, although I think that's kinda doubtful. I mean, sure we will more than likely be able to pinpoint its location, but actually getting to it is another matter."

By this time we had found a table roomy enough to accommodate us all, and had taken a seat. A young man materialized, took drink orders, and vanished. I scooted my chair back a bit and cocked it at an angle, propping an ankle on my opposing knee and stretching a bit before finishing my prior statement.

"If we can get our hands at least on his armor, that's going to go a long way toward persuading Sorben into listening to us whenever that opportunity presents itself. I know Sorben; he loves that armor. We could use it as a bargaining chip, but honestly I'd be happier if we just returned it to him gratis and let him take it from there."

I paused as the young man returned to take our orders, then went on.

"You know, I kinda hope we find him hiding out somewhere on K'eel Doba, or wherever. I mean, I think we'd have a better chance of gaining his trust and support if we could just talk to him alone, and not with the entire Empire holding him in place, if you know what I mean."

The image of us approaching him in his official position, his armor in hand, could most certainly result in disaster. Who's to say how the hell mad he might be at us, if not me in particular, and might use that as an excuse to send us all to the brig?

But if we could find him alone, somehow, talk to the man and not the establishment...

"Well, we can cross that bridge when we come to it. Just another thought."

I quieted and took a sip of my drink. It was very good; I savored the heady warmth of it as it rushed into my head before spreading out and downward through my entire body, relaxing me enough that I slumped down even more in my seat.

"As for the bounty hunter thing, I'm all for it!" I finished, taking another and a bit longer sip.

Except back to oneself. And after all, wasn't that exactly what an information smuggler should do? Seek out information, place it in the hands of those who might be willing to pay large sums for it...

...not trusting them to use anything you've got for one side or another as long as it pays.

The only trouble with that particular approach was, however, that you still had to make some judgement calls. Which made having an angle of your own particularly helpful.

And that he most certainly did have.

As Erik took the final sip of a mug of caf he had been nursing, his proximity indicators began blaring, announcing imment reversion to realspace. After placing the mug on the copilot's seat, Erik leaned forwared and busied himself with tending to the navboard...

...and wondered if the Kaminoans would be willing to trade off with him for the information he had concerning those who had no doubt forced them into servitude not so long ago.

(((OCC: Follow Erik to [i]When it Rains, It Pours in this same forum, thank you.)))

Link had just finished opening an access panel in the overhead when from the desk Link’s datapad began to beep.

Stupid datapad it must have failed to find anything with those filters, I knew I should have made them looser.

Dropping what she was doing Link checked on her datapad which to her surprise had a few results. Quickly looking over the data Link had no idea how but she did it. Abandoning her rewiring she rushed down the corridor to looking for the others, not finding them in the cockpit where she left them Link ran through the ship looking for them.

Engine room… nope, med bay… nope, crew quarters… nope, cargo bay… crazy Mandalorian so nope.

After running around the entire ship Link arrived at the galley where she found everyone who is not a crazy Mandalorian, eating and having conversation.

I couldn't help but raise a brow at the obvious disbelief that tinged his voice.

"That's great, kid!" I burst out, smiling even while I shot Terrin a somewhat annoyed look. I mean, look at what the kid had already managed to do; now he's suddenly Mr. Doubtful?

I shook down my annoyance and concentrated on Link, who to tell the truth appeared to be taken somewhat aback by my husband's response. I hastened to smooth any fur that might start to get ruffled.

"How did you do it? Where did you find the data? And--"

I paused for effect, still trying to squelch any rising trepidation Link might be experiencing. The kid had been through enough; Khaandon knows I didn't want her to withdraw away from us when she was starting to fit in so well as a team member.

"What did you find? Where is he?"

Link took a step back and thought about what she was going to say. What she found made sense to her but she didn't know how to phrase it so the others would understand.

"Well, you've narrowed down the field to three planets, which is what really counts," "Terrin responded. "I can't figure out why he would be on Rhyloth or Tatooine, there's not much in either place other than the Hutts."

Terrin paused, frowning. "But something about the Rishi system sounds familiar..."

Might as well give it a shot...

"True," I began slowly, shifting my weight a bit more comfortably in my seat as I now let my pilot's mind flash into navigational access mode.

"Kamino is out near Rishi, and Tatoo I and II are not far from Ryloth. At least if we decide to check out all these worlds it's fairly easy; they're all in the Outer Rim but fairly close to each other. But--"

I paused a moment, thinking hard.

"There's a sub-system of the Ryloth system that has a planet somewhat close to Tatooine. That planet is Ambria, from what I can recollect... and the Impys seemed to like it there."

Memories of my genteel imprisonment at the hands of Actar, of begging Swatzi to free me, and of meeting Terrin swarmed into my head, demanding further attention. I pushed them back en masse; I didn't need them in any great detail. At least not yet.

"I think they have some kind of major base there. It's close to Tatooine; do any of you think there might be a connection? I mean, of the three worlds, none really have any obvious answers; all are pretty much quiet and nondescript. All have their pros and cons."

A hand shot up, and I began to tick off points on my fingers. On afterthought, I really didn't need that many fingers, either.

"Kamino: water, must get past Greeters of each stilt-city to gain entry. But-- the Kaminoans have assisted the Old Empire in the past, and will assist anyone with deep enough pockets."

Indeed they will, won't they Galen? Seems you and Sorben have traipsed there before, haven't you? As have other, stranger beings...

"Ryloth," I went on quickly, "has strategic placement near the Rishi Maze. Now, why Sorben would need to be near the Rishi Maze is something I can't get a handle on; there's not too much known about that system. Unless the Impys have created a new base there that we don't know about, I say nix trying there. Which brings us to Tatooine."

I puffed out my cheeks, exhaling as I tried to think of some connection there which would interest the Impys.

"It's the back-end of the Galaxy, a den of thieves and vagabonds and all that. Fairly low in population, deadly in the wild areas, and wasn't there supposed to be a new Jedi Praxeum being built there?"

I raised my brows, shooting Terrin a questioning look before continuing.

"I dunno; why would he go there? Why would anyone go there? Again, all I can think of is that if Sorben ended up in any of these three places it would be as a stepping stone to returning to Coruscant. You know, like he managed to get a ship and get himself off of K'eel Doba. Or was taken there by the Sith en route to being hauled off somewhere else, which makes absolutely no sense at all.

"Nope, somehow he managed to get himself out of that Temple, into a ship, and off-planet. If anyone can do it, he can; believe me. I just can't figure out why in Khaandon's name he'd sky clear across the Galaxy instead of simply going straight to Coruscant or... wait!"

I sat up quickly, snapping my fingers.

"Does anyone know if there were any blockades around any of those worlds? I mean, then it would make perfect sense for him to go to one of those three. Maybe he went there to try to link up with the Imperial Navy before heading back to Coruscant... or even on to Ambria. Again, all three are fairly close to Ambria, but Tatooine is the closest.

"Well, the last time we were on Tatooine we didn't exactly travel there and back in the most normal fashion...we ported in and out," he said, thinking aloutd. "So I guess my unhelpful answer is that, at the moment, I can't think of anything."

He paused, considering further. "But maybe there is a way for us to find out if there are any blockades around Tatooine fairly quickly. If Link can't nose around and find out how trade has been flowing in and out of Tatooine in more ahhh... unofficial channels--which I'm certain she can-- he quickly added, "Then I could just take a look at any sells we've had with clients on Tatooine. One thing is for certain, if the Empire has a blockade going there, then there most certainly is some undercover trades going in and out of the system too. That could give us a clue, if not an outright answer."

What am I going to do Kan'ika, what can I do.

Extinguishing his lightsaber Kyan donned his armor along with his helmet. As it stood right now he didn't want anyone to see his face as it was right now for he could barely contain his anger, and his grief. With everything in place he headed back to the cockpit only to see it was devoid of all passengers. With a small ship like this it only took a few moments to find the rest of the crew all gathered in the galley. At his entrance all conversation ground to a halt as they all stared in his direction until he sat at the table where the others had gathered. It was a response he was use to even during his time among the Jedi, most people felt uncomfortable around someone in Mandalorian armor. And while he couldn't blame them he felt as if Galen was extremely unsettled with his armor. With an exagerated motion he swung his T visor in Galen's direction so they would know he was addressing her.

Just as smoothly as the manner in which he so suddenly joined us here! Hell's Seven Circles, he's as good as Sorben is about that kind of thing!

Now my mouth closed on a swallow, as that final mental exclamation opened the door to other memories, which then came swarming into my mind in one great, overpowering rush. Memories of Sorben, of the day I met him, clad head to toe in that armor of his which we had just been discussing, of the first day I had ever seen him sans said armor.

Oh, those blue eyes of his! Those wonderful baby blues, just like Darra's...

And Terrin's.

I shook my head slightly, now getting somewhat annoyed with myself. You'd think that after all this time I would be able to put behind me all that Sorben and I once were, what we had. Especially since for the most part we were now enemies to each other, genteel or no.

But strangely enough, that latter conviction seemed to be a mighty weak one.

Ok, dammit. I still felt for him. Face it Galen; the loss of first loves are the hardest to recover from, aren't they?

I swallowed again, searching for words. Not really finding any, but feeling that maybe I really ought to say something, if only for Terrin's sake, I set my lips in a tiny, faintly sad sort of smile.

"No, you're not," I said, the words bouncing off the tabletop toward which they had been directed. Then I raised my head and stared Kyan straight into that enigmatic T-visor which obscured his features.

"Why do you wish to know?"

...let alone at the emotions in response to his query.

Kriffing hell, why did the guy feel like he needed to parade around the ship in full armor anyway? Unless of course, he is just so used to being in full armor that he feels vulnerable without it, came a rather obvious conclusion.

Terrin shifted his gaze to regard Galen as she responded to Kyan's question, pushing his thoughts regarding Kyan's need to appear in full armor to the side to focus his attention on her once more. That shoulder devil tried to work its way to the forefront of his mind again...

...but surprisingly did not succeed. Something else gained his attention instead, something he read deeply in Galen's eyes whether either he or she were aware of it or not.

Hey idiot, she's aware of how you are responding to Kyan's question, and especially of your response to her response to it. Do something. This has to be making her feel uncomfortable.

Quietly, smoothly, Terrin reached out a hand and wrapped it gently around one of hers in silent support.

All bygone days left behind, all past and present feelings aside, he wanted Galen to know he was there for her...

I wasn't expecting she would have been guilted by my question. With her strength of spirit I would see why she might have been attracted to a Mandalorian or the life we lead.

"It's just something we Mando's keep a lookout for," Kyan answered. "Among the aruetiise we keep on eye out for orphans of war or even adults that have a certain ge'verd someone who is a warrior in spirit but doesn't know it yet. Often times we adopt them and teach them what it means to be Mando'a, thats how I met my first child Prud'ika."

Kyan noted how the others where still unsettled perhaps even more so by his explanation, but what could he do they where aruetiise and he was Mando'a. They didn't know about his way of life so he could hardly blame them, maybe all they needed to see was Mandalorians still feel pain like any of them.

Kyan released the pressure seals on his helmet then removed it placing it on the table.

Remember how you felt when Sorben first removed his helmet--?

An involuntary shiver rippled through me as once again my attention was drawn inward. Then Terrin's grip on my hand brought me round; I shoved back the memories of Sorben as best I could and looked straight into the crystal clarity of Kyan's eyes.

"He-- he wasn't Mandalorian," I began a bit slowly, wondering just how much I should reveal to our new comrade. I mean, was it really and truly necessary that he know of everything that had transpired between Sorben and me?

But then I thought about it. Here Kyan had come, spankin' brand new to us, and had thrown in his lot with the uncertainty of our collective future. The man deserved to know everything...

...if only for the fact that for some odd reason I didn't want him to think I felt badly about any of his people.

"He was human, and the best Bounty Hunter the Hunter's Guild ever turned out. He also happened to be my first love. In fact, we were briefly married; our daughter Jhin'Darra is back aboard Hornett."

I paused again, and shot Terrin a trembling glance. He seemed to nod, to give me support to continue.

Oh what the hell. In for a credit...

I straightened in my seat.

"His name was -- er, I mean is, Sorben Tarnus."

There is now possible way that Mandalore Tor'lus would have adopted another child, true he left 40 years ago to be a merc again after he decided he hated being Mandalore. Then again stranger things do happen.

Kyan sat for a few moments in silence like everyone else as awkward silence fell upon the room. But Mandalorians had a tendency to do that provided they where the only Mandalorian in the room. He tried to think of a way to break the ice, but little came to him for from what he knew about them he had little in common. They where buisness people or adventures, he was a warrior and a Jedi. Galen might have a heart of a warrior but he sensed little of that from the others. But one thing he did know they had in common was family even if he had little of it left.

I gripped Terrin's hand with vice-like strength in gut-reaction to the innocence of Kyan's question.

Fighting side-by-side, the importance of family. Ye gods, how many times did I save Sorben from this bad guy or that? How often did he come swooping in like the veritable cavalry, returning the favor? Sorben... Darra's biological father.

Darra... dear sweet Darra, who didn't have the pleasure of growing up, of a childhood, of knowing a father until so abruptly being introduced to Terrin. Oh ye gods, where to begin?

By getting yourself under control, Galen, that's what...

I drew in another breath, concentrating as another thought struck. I mean, this guy must have been out in some serious boondocks if he didn't know who Sorben Tarnus was. Perhaps he wasn't quite aware yet of our battle plans; perhaps we needed to be filling him in on this. But in the meantime...

"Darra is, umm, ahh... sixteen years old now," I fumbled, wincing inwardly at how obviously it appeared that I did not know my own daughter. But what to tell this man? Would he believe the fantastic description of her young life? How she was born to be... something, something special, someone maybe possessing that awesome power held by Sissypoops and which occasionally burst from me? How ever since she first hit life this baddie or that was hot on her trail, eager to possess her...

How she was taken by a Sith to Kamino to be advanced in age?

Unknowing, I shook my head. It all sounded, well... crazy, to tell the truth. I looked up into Kyan's eyes; they were clear, honest, expecting equal honesty from me.

So Hell's Seven Circles, I told him everything. Everything; from when Sissy first entered into that cave only to emerge as this Graysith, to kill our archeologist father and leave me for dead. On to how I found the Sith ship in that little cavern, how I figured out how to fly her, how I took off hot on her heels, determined to bring her to justice. How I met Sorben and K'kihl even as they were being pursued by Darth Wicked, how I snatched them from the very jaws of death. Our various adventures, Sorben's and mine.

How our love budded, grew into something fine and wonderful and good. How I found out I was carrying Darra. All the times this baddie or that chased me, hunted me, trapped and imprisoned me: Gravin Dark, Desolist, Wicked and Actar. How I left Sorben for fear his life would be compromised by me, for everyone in the universe seemed to want me and my child. How I met Terrin. The horrible acts perpetrated on me by the even more horrible Ankrist Roan, in which Darra was taken from my body to...

To I knew not where. But how we hunted and hunted for her, finding her; how Sorben suddenly went from Top Gun Bounty Hunter to third in command of the Empire. How he appeared on Sol Varek to assassinate me and Darra. Roan taking her from me, taking her to Kamino.

Then she just... disappeared. Until we found her again, now an adolescent, having lived as royalty with a race of beings the Galaxy hadn't a clue existed.

And so on.

It took quite awhile, but I finally wound down. Only then did I realize Terrin's fingers were turning white; I gasped and shot him a rueful grin, loosening my grip on his hand to then start massaging life back into it.

"I love my daughter very much, even though I really haven't had a chance to get to know her much," I ended, and finally fell into the silence of a person totally spent.

My own aruetii'vod brother turned dark Jedi kills my wife and youngest daughter, I killed him, then he stripped me of the Force. What Gal'ya said is the truth.

After Galen had finished Kyan didn't know what to say... or what to do.

Gal'ya has led a very difficult life and to come through it and remain so sane and not corrupted is a miracle in its self, maybe the Force put us all here for a reason. Truth be told I can't rebuild the Jedi, it is not my path, but Gal'ya. She has the spirit, charisma, and since her sister has such affinity that means she must as well.

"I don't know how to follow that," said Kyan. "Other then to say... thank you for sharing that with me. And to offer this, if you ever need anything of me or ever want to know about my life or about the Mandalorians you have but to ask. Aside from that I also offer you this but let me explain first."

Kyan tried to arrange his thoughts but could find no correct order to do so to explain what he was thinking so he decided to accept that Galen was smart enough to derive the meaning in what he could only assume would come out as speculation and rambling.

"Gal'ya," Kyan began. "I know that right now all of us are cut off from the Force and even when it is restored, which I believe it will, I will still be unable to use it. There are very few Jedi left and that make Force sensitives Like Erik, your daughter, and even you targets because someone like a dark Jedi could use your powers. I don't know much about the Sith beyond what fragmented Jedi history I happen to have read, and only the Force knows if the vongese are on their way. That said I know the Living Force wanted our paths to cross for some reason that I can't explain, so my offer is this. If you want it I can train you to use the Force, and become a Jedi so you can protect your family and if you want I can teach your daughter as well. You do not have to answer me right now just think about it and decide if this is what the Living Force wants for you and will you listen to it if it is."

He did make sense... really. I mean, yeah, while on the one hand I never once in my life thought myself anything remotely close to being Force sensitive, there was the little fact of my hunches. Those weird feelings I've always gotten, visceral suggestions to jog left when I had been planning on going right, the little niggles telling me when to jump, and in what direction, and how high. Or when to hunker low.

Maybe that's because whatever the jedi call "the Force," it's in me, a little. Maybe that's why that when that whatever it was that changed Jharmeen, it might have done a little something to me, too.

That there was something more than I thought going on in the more metaphysical aspects of my being simply could not be denied, its possibility only being even more justified as memories of my assistance in placing an entire damned planet in that weirdness Sissy called The Elseness popped into my head.

There must be something in me, there has to be. And sheesh, maybe Darra, too. I mean, she was there too, wasn't she--?

I shook my head, not in negation against Kyan's suggestion, but more in defeat against the tiny mental defenses I had unconsciously raised.

If anything else, perhaps learning some of that Jedi mumbo-jumbo might help me be more able to control that, that-- whatever in Hell's Seven Circles it is that got Sissy and touched me.

Sure as there's Treasure on Roon!

I let out a little sigh, smiled a bit.

"Why-- umm, yeah, that would be great. If everyone's powers come back, I could use a little training in maybe controlling some of the weirdness that has had a tendency to pop up in me over time."

I left it at that. If and when the Universe was restored to normalcy and Kyan harbored any questions concerning that somewhat oblique statement, then he could ask about it then. If the current status quo remained thus, well...

Well, then it really didn't matter then, did it?

I smiled more broadly, then leaned toward him, emboldened by a kind offerring he had just made me.

"Tell me, please," I began, changing the subject on the table to one a little less personal. "Tell me about Mandalore, and your culture. I've not heard diddly squat about it, other than your armor is the best there is in the entire galaxy! How did you develop it?"

And how could a human being come by a set of it? came the unvoiced query on the heels of that question.

At least Gal'ya is willing to listen to the Force, who knows what power she will be able to wield in th e future.

"It's not as if we try to hid our culture," replied Kyan. "We just don't keep much written records of it because we change very little. As a culture we have been around for the last 7000 or so years, our language, way of life has remained almost unchanged through out that time. What we adhere to most is Resol'Nare."

"Ba'jur, beskar'gam,
Ara'nov, aliit,
Mando'a bal Mand'alor—
An vencuyan mhi."

"In basic it translates to this.
Education and armor,
Self-defense, our tribe,
Our language, our leader—
All help us survive."

"Ba'jur Education, we teach our children how to be Mandalorians. beskar'gam Armor, the body is but a shell, our soul is forever tied to the armor we all wear. Are'nov Self-defense, we teach our children how to fight. aliit our tribe, we look out for not only the needs of our own family but our own community. Mando'a our language, we teach our children [i]mando'a the language of our people. Bal Mand'alore Our leader, When Mandalore calls us to fight all his children gather to him. An vencuyan mhi All help us survive, we all fight we all raise the children we all help each other; we have no need for one person to take on everything for themselves that is why our language has no work for hero, because anyone who does anything less then what you call a hero is not a Mandalorian."

Kyan noticed only then how he was leaning over the table and how he could hear the echo though out the ship of how he spoke with such pride about his people. Toning it down a notch he settled back into his chair.

I turned my head, stared off into a place hanging in the air just behind his left shoulder, and brooded.

Sorben always had that Mandalorian armor. He took such... such pride in it; I remember it was all I could do to get him to remove that helmet, even after we had come to be what others might term as an "item." So, how in Hell's Seven Circles had he come by it? I knew he was a damned good Hunter, but for him to kill other than in self-defense...?

I couldn't see it. But it made even less sense for him to have come by it in a manner more culturally natural in the Mandalorian society. A society whose mores, I might add, I was beginning to highly approve of.

Good! He knew she had something deeply within her and was glad that she wanted to take the opportunity and hone in on it. Not to mention getting Darra some training for skills that she really hadn't had an opportunity to use was a good thing.

--to Kyan's description of the Mandalore and their culture. Now he nodded in agreement with Galen's final statement.

"Yes, we are going to need you very much," Terrin reiterated, if only to assure everyone that he was still listening. Considering his undeniable character and integrity, Terrin wondered how anyone could strip him of the Force so permenatly as Kyan seemed to be implying had been done to him.

But then, Someone or Something had apparently done the same to everyone else with any sort of powers as well, came a mental addendum.

Leaving that thought behind for the moment, Terrin's attentions focused more on all that he knew of Kyan thusfar, even more so since he'd seen him speak of his people with such pride.

Not to mention how he'd spoken of their devotion to family ties.

"If there is anything you need in return, please let us know," he then said, his words completely sincere.

I have no leads on where I can find Kan'ika, and right now with a complete lack of Force abilities and the threat of invasion by the vongese what the galaxy needs more then a Jedi Master is a Mandalorian super commando. For that I will need my old kit.

Kyan returned his helmet to its rightful place double checking the pressure seals and all systems on the armor, his little ritual. Maybe now that Galen and the others knew that the mask was his true face they would be less disturbed by his constant wearing of his armor, his soul.

“There is one thing you could do for me Gal'ya,” said Kyan. “It doesn't have to be right now but whenever the opportunity arises.”

Kyan withdrew his holopad from his armor and pulled up a map of a system he was fairly sure they had never visited before. He zoomed in on one of the planets to a forest 100km out from one of its smaller cities.

“After I was stripped of the Force I left some of my old kit behind and hiddern in case I ever came back from trying to recover my abilities.” Kyan continued. “This is Concord Dawn, and it lies in the Mandalorian sector in the outer rim near the Hydian Way trade route. Hidden in the forest I left a cargo container with whatever equipment I didn't leave with my daughter Prud'ika. Under normal circumstances one does not need landing permits to go to Concord Dawn to retrieve the container and bring it back, however I left Ven'ika as a guard and it will kill anyone on sight who tries to approach the container except from myself and Prud'ika if she was still alive. So anytime we are near Concord Dawn I would like to swing by to retrieve the container and Ven'ika if it's still alive.

"Of course we'll do this for you," I replied, nevermind the little fact that at the moment we were in Captain Yaoksi's ship, not one owned by either Terrin, me, or our company. I stared earnestly into Kyan's eyes.

"Should we divert to retrieve this kit before we get to the our destination?" I questioned further. "I mean, is this something you think you may be needing for-- for, well...

"To use against whatever it is we might find ourselves up against?"

I screwed my nose up at the blatant uncertainty that flooded that statement. But then, it was also simple truth. We, as a matter of fact, really had no idea of what lay along the path we were treading...

We don't know when the Force will be restored so the kit might be essential sooner then we think, but if the Force is restored there's Erik to worry about. True he can't do much now, but he is in a situation he could easily be corrupted. As it stands I don't know of any Jedi that could stop a dark Jedi if one turned up. No the kit can wait until later, we can't divert when we have possible leads to Erik's whereabouts.

I pulled away a bit from the bulkhead against which I was leaning as everyone seemed to take momentary pause in planning our strategy. After that pause stretched out a tad bit too long for comfort, I approached the table, coming in beside Kyan and placing a palm upon it. Leaning in, I addressed the group.

"Does anyone know of a hunter we can contact, to get the ball rolling on Erik?" I asked, giving my fingers a little one-two-three drum upon the surface beneath them. "I mean, it looks as though we're going to be concentrating all our efforts on Sorben; that does still leave Erik as a loose cannon which most definitely needs battening down. And--"

I cast another look around the table.

"Where exactly did we leave things, as far as our final destination? I am still on course to the Sith worlds. Where exactly do you want me to head off to now; Tatooine, umm... this Ambria, which although being a fairly unhealthy spot to end up in might be another logical place where Tarnus might head...

"Or do you have something else in mind?"

...and I do know the coordinates."

Terrin paused, his eyes defocusing slightly as memories briefly flashed in his minds eye. Then he shook his head slightly, refocusing on the topic at hand. "Of course, somewhere along the way we discussed maybe getting Sorben's armor back before heading towards where he might be or at least towards any Imperial destination so that we had some sort of proof should we need it."

Terrin paused, chwwing his lip thoughtfully. "It's not a bad idea, but it'll take time that we may not have. I'd think of all those places, Tarnus would have the most success getting back to the Imperials via Ambria."

"I spent most of my time running from bounty hunters not hiring them," said Link. "And I never said that Tarnus was at those locations only that a message with a high level of encryption was sent from a holonet relay near Khar Delba; and another relay that could put the message from Tatooine, Rishi, or Ryloth. I don't know where Ambria is so it might be a possible location."

Link paused for a moment while she stared down at her left hand curling it into a fist and uncurling it.

I don't think I'll ever get use to this thing. One moment I can feel its metallic cold weight where it connects to my shoulder, the next it feels as natural as my own arm.

My brow furrowed as I thought of the implications in Link's suggestion. I mean, yeah, it might give us a lead as to exactly where Tarnus was... assuming, of course, that the Sith hadn't been lying to us to begin with. If he had been lying, then the General was still held captive; getting him sprung, whether by hook or by crook, would go a long way toward endearing him to our cause. Or toward maybe getting him to at least listen to us.

But... Ahh yes, there's always a "but." But, if on the other hand the Sith hadn't been lying, that would mean that Tarnus had escaped, and had possibly contacted his own. And if we popped up out of nowhere asking questions as to his whereabouts, there was no real guarantee they would give us an honest answer. If he was with them, chances are this had already been made known, and would lead to too many nosy questions as to why we were asking such a thing. If he wasn't, then just by asking of his whereabouts would more than likely make them button up like an over-fed Sarlacc.

All it would gain us was a possibility of some sort of answer we could really use, and a very low possibility to boot. And it just might put them on guard, knowing there was someone out there asking questions that they should already know the answer to. Unless, of course, they had kept their mouthes shut about his capture; fates know they can't look weak in front of the plebes.

And truth be known, I didn't trust the Impys to play fair with their own, let alone anyone else.

I spoke up, laying my thoughts out for all to read. They fell out of my mouth like a mass of worms, all wriggly and convoluted and enough to make my head spin.

"Aw, hell; maybe just continuing on to the Sith world and either springing Tarnus, if he's there, or seeing if his armor is still there and then, ahh... appropriating it, would be more useful? I mean, Galen, how much pull do you still have with this guy?

"Do you think we should try this, or head off to where we think he might be, or try Link's plan?"

We're tired, that's what. We're tired and hungry, and just plain fed up with this major thing happening to us, and that major thing coming right on its heels; sure as there's Treasure on Roon, all I want is a quiet little life in a quiet corner somewhere with my family, to live out the rest of that life in a quiet little way...

That brought to mind another place and time where very similar thoughts had run through my mind. Sol Varcek, Quee's little paradise. Where Sorben and I had first "found" each other, and where I had fled with tiny Darra, and where Sorben had--

Enough.

I sighed, ran a hand across my face, and let that thought segue into another.

Seus.

"Look," I finally blurted. "What are we going to gain by running off here on a guess, there on a whim? Just use up a helluva lot of fuel, and possibly get ourselves in a world of hurt. I mean, assuming we go to Ambria, one of the places where we think Sorben might have headed... well, just what exactly are we going to do then? Pop up and ask the same questions we might in utilizing Link's plan? That just might get us a fast, one-way trip to the brig, especially if Tarnus hasn't popped up yet. No offense, kid."

This latter was sent as a quick aside to the little gal; after sending her a smile for pitching in, I went on.

"First of all, I think we need to get something going regarding our renegade compatriot. So after we're finished chewing our jaws here, I'll go send a message off to the Guild."

And hope to Khaandon Seus doesn't believe in the old adage about "sins of the fathers." Or rather, in this case, sins of the lovers's. But in the few short times I had actually met the man, he had struck me as being a fair person. In fact, I thought he seemed to like me.

I just hoped he remembered me after all these years.

I shook off the negative direction in which that thought had been heading, and went on.

"Then-- I think we should keep on course to K'eel Doba, and stick to Plan A. Thoughts, anyone?"

Terrin paused, biting is lower lip a bit in thought. "It's a good bet that, being imprisoned by the Sith, Tarnus and his armor were seperated and he may or may not have recovered the armor if he did escape. As much as I hate going back to the Sith Worlds--particularly K'eel Doba--I think this is the best place to start. Like Yaoksi said, the Sith could very well be lying to us, and there is really no way for us to verify the encryption that Link picked up was Tarnus and not some other Impy other than doing what she has suggested. I think it's something to keep in our back pockets, however...

...particularly if Sorben did manage to get away and his armor is still on K'eel Doba."

Provided you are actually successful in finding said armor.

Terrin didn't bother to state that particular mental addendum aloud.

"Any ideas on how we could utilize the armor technology to find it, and potentially Tarnus?" he asked then, knowing both Galen and Kyan were much more likely to come up with something in this regard. "Not to mention we also need to decide exactly how we are going to approach the Sith and determine if he is still imprisoned there whether we find his Mandolorian armor or not."

(((OCC: I think this post is sorta rambling. Hope it makes sense!)))

“Beskar'gam doesn't have any technology that would make it any easier to find.” Said Kyan. “We wear and fight in that armor every day, so if there was anyway that made it easy to detect for we worked it out of the design long ago. Even the beskar for all its rare properties makes it even harder to detect then if it was made from durasteel.

Short of a room by room search there really isn't another way that we can find it short of them giving it to us.

Silent.

Surprising.

And thus lethal.

I shook my head ruefully. "Nope," I returned, not even trying to rack my brain to see if anything along the lines of Kyan's suggestion might suddenly pop out of it. "I can't say that he ever did put anything like that on himself. If you wanted to find him, you didn't.

"You let him find you."

I rose to my feet, stretching.

"Ok, so if no one minds then, I think I'll go pop off that message to the Guild. Hopefully he'll help us, and at least we won't have Erik to worry about. Then maybe we can come up with something practical regarding our purpose on K'eel Doba. Who knows, they might even want to help us."

I shrugged, then looked at Captain Joao. He merely got to his feet and nodded toward me, indicating that I follow him to communications.

Which I did.

I wobbled somewhere between a grin and a scowl.

What was this, a test?

But in spite of the niggles my gut instincts were sending me I didn't feel anything other than straight-forward permission washing through the air at my back, so with no further ado I lent my full attention to the task at hand.

Wow. When Terrin managed to procure a good ship, he really meant it. This was a good ship!

The console looked like Boonta Eve on Tattooine, sparkling with lights and sleekly inset buttons and screens. Rows of instrumentation sat in silent announcement of the equally impressive telemetry this ship possessed; I couldn't help but let my jaw drop a little.

A slight shuffle sounded behind me, and my jaw snapped closed.

So THAT'S it, eh?

Grinning now I reached out and just let my hands do their own thing. They didn't fail me either, but reacted to the wonderfully overwhelming board as if they had been part and parcel of it their entire life. My fingers fairly flew, finally slowing a bit before coming to a halt. The grin on my face even broader now, I leaned a bit to the side so Captain Joao could read the message I was about to pop off.

Seus, this is Galen. Long time no speak. I trust you remember me through a particular individual of our mutual acquaintance. I feel this person might be into something a touch wee over even his helmeted head, and am requiring your assistance in the matter.

Please respond to this frequency; I have set up an automatic scrambler to squelch your reply. Point of origin cannot be traced except by someone having that frequency to begin with. This is a two-way electronic street, as you know.

I hope to hear from you, and if I might be so bold to add it, asap.

Galen out.

It was all I could do to refrain from going "neener neener" when I read the blatant emotion slipping across Captain Joao's face in reaction to that message. Then his obvious surprise sequed into a great beam of delight.

Hmmm. I might find myself stepping in as Communications Officer aboard this ship!

The thought passed through my head as, in response to a nod of the man's head, I returned to the board, punched a button, and sent the message winging silently -- and untraceably -- along the spaceways.

((OOC: Above message sent into the thread When It Rains, It Pours in the "CSWU" forums, thank you.))

"Galen my dear, what a surprise. How... wonderful to find you well; you must come here some time so we can catch up on old times.

"What assistance can I render, my dear?"

But they only know what I told them, and I haven't even told them the worst of it. True I was a slave, and a criminal and did my things to survive but those are vague details. Can they really accept me after we start doing work together or if we get a job from manages to connect the dots and figure out what I really did, not just indirectly because of my slicing but what I am really guilty of first hand.

The though of what would happen to her if they found out about her kept bothering Link less then what would they do, what would Yaoksi do if he found out or more likely when. Better yet what would happen to Yaoksi if someone came after her. It kept eating at her, if Yaoksi and her on being partners then odd are he would find out eventually and for all he had done for her the very least he deserved was to hear the truth from her not from some thug with a blaster.

She got up and left the galley not even excusing herself and headed to the cockpit. She walked in and saw Galen sitting in front of the comm station with Yaoksi standing by. She crept behind Galen to where Yaoksi stood.

“Yaoksi,” Whispered Link. “Can I talk to you when I get the chance, alone? It's kind of important so whenever you have time I'll be in my quarters.”

It was answered fairly quickly, too, which impressed me even more.

So I just kept my big yap shut, giving Galen's shoulder a "go-ahead" kind of squeeze, and was just hanging there waiting to see how she decided to respond to this Seus person, when Link's soft voice whispered behind me.

I jumped a little then turned around, but she was already heading away.

"You can take it from here, Mrs. Danner," I said formally, nodding to Galen when she swiveled in her seat to look up at me. "I think you've gotten things pretty much under control; just keep me in the loop, ok?"

With another nod and a final pat on her shoulder I departed, following after Link as she padded quickly off into the depths of the ship. I caught the tip of her tail as she disappeared into a room, the door whooshing shut in her wake.

What else to do, but knock politely.

"Link?" I called out, keeping my voice neutral even though my heart was suddenly beginning to thump. There was a certain quality to that whispered little voice of hers that set my gut to churning; what was wrong now?

Then I squashed them, and busied myself with a reply.

"It is good to find you well too," I typed quickly, wishing the man had given me more in the way of something to fix upon in my reply. But that was Seus: always the cautious one, the slick one, the one to find out things without letting anything run loose from his lips in turn.

I pondered a moment longer, wondering if we ought to adhere to the decorum my request obviously demanded, and request permission to come personally to the Guild World. But that would only delay us in what we needed to do, in getting to where we needed to go; shrugging my shoulders, I continued.

"Regarding said individual mentioned earlier; I am currently engaged in -- " I paused, now wondering just how much to reveal. Chances were probably something like two hundred percent Seus already had a handle on Sorben's career change; holding back from him now wouldn't do anything but foster distrust between us.

"--hunting for him. He has been missing for some time now. My companions and I are trying to determine what has happened to him; meanwhile, we have a jedi who has gone rogue on us, one who is most likely planning on doing everything in his power to stop us, or at least use diversion tactics to delay us in our progress.""

That was more than likely true enough.

"As a personal favor, and for old time's sake, would you set a Hunter out after this guy? We don't want him hit, just... detained. His name is Erik Kartan, and his last known location was--"

I followed up with a string of coordinates.

"We're not certain where he has gone off too, exactly, but it shouldn't be too difficult for your men to find him. Here's the ship he was in, the last we knew...."

Now I followed up with a list of detailed specs regarding Erik's purloined vessel.

"Seus, this would go a long way toward helping us locate our mutual acquaintance. I would seriously owe you one--"

Nevermind that we already did; well, at least Sorben did, in my eyes.

"--and we can pay you--"

A pause. Followed by a gulp.

"Anything you want.

"Over."

My fingers flew over the communications console as I scrambled the message, then punched send and let it go winging on its way.

((OOC: Message is sent into When It Rains, It Pours in the "CSWU" forums, thank you.))

"My dear, consider it done. And as for payment..."

A small hesitation.

"I will send a bill when you are duly satisfied with our performance in this matter. I trust I can send a return message to this same frequency?

"Good. You can expect to hear from us sometime in the near future.

"Good-by, my dear. I look forward to our future chat.

That was quick of him.

She sat there for a minute thinking what she was going to say, maybe she should back out of it. No that would have make Yaoksi push it out of her later. Or she could lie about it, no Yaoksi was the one person Link could never lie to, not after what they went through. Zoning out the second knock on her door awakened her from her own internal argument. Quickly she got up and opened the door.

“Come on in,” Link said. She hurried back over to her bunk and sat on the edge and Yaoksi sat beside her. For yet another minute she sat in silence staring at the floor until she looked up into his face and saw his concern.

“I told you about my past earlier,” continued Link. “Well some of it I left out a lot of details but most of those aren't important except for one. At first I thought I could hide it and never deal with it again, but you would find out eventually and I would rather you hate me now then for you to find out later on and hate me then.”

“When I was a slave I had 3 different masters, this happened under the last one about 3 years ago. It was a bothan family who were minor politicians in the corporate sector. Him, his wife, and his 4 year old daughter. He bought me as an 'exotic pet' for his daughter. It by far was my worse experience as a slave, living in a small cage, eating from a bowl of food on the ground, preforming tricks for the amusement of their little girl. It was a hell that would have destroyed me if I stayed there and almost did.”

Links fist where clenched and shaking, she was angry at bringing up those particular memories, but she calmed herself down so she could continue.

“I almost gave up hope when I saw by chance the access code for the security system entered by the wife one day. I knew if I where to escape it would have to be that night. Later when the girl was asleep I used a data terminal in her room using the access code to clear a path out and was about to leave when she woke up. She started crying and I knew I would have to silence her or else I would never escape. So I grabbed her pillow and held her to the bed with it so she would stop.”

Link looked away from Yaoksi back to the floor.

“And in a few minutes she stopped, I just wanted her to be quiet I didn't mean to stop her from breathing, so I had a choice. I could either escape and leave her to die or wake her parents and have them save her, You can guess which choice I made, I found out later in the first of my many bounties that she did die and there was a bounty for me dead.”

“I know that because of things I've done while slicing that people have died, but it was always someone else doing it or the people where corrupt any ways so they deserved it. She was 4 and didn't know any better and I did, I killed her because it would have made my life better I killed a child I am a monster.”

Link buried her face into her mechanical hand screaming.

Truth was, I needed time to think, time to look at this from all angles, time to really address every iota of what Link was blurting out to me, both in word and raw emotion and body language. But slamming home right on top of that thought was the realization that I didn't have that time, Link needed me now. I knew she wasn't stupid; any attempt to hide my feelings on the matter would be quickly pounced upon.

I didn't want to hurt her; Fate's knew she'd been hurt too often in her tragic little life.

Slowly I stood up, walked away a bit to come to a halt in front of a small picture hanging on the bulkhead of her rather spartan quarters. It was an image of the Kht'arran Nebula, in all it's magenta and ultraviolet glory. I stared at it, letting my mind just go free, and suddenly -- albeit with some effort -- I managed to look at everything with relatively new eyes.

Everything.

"Link," I began carefully, still facing the image. "There are times in our lives when circumstances move so far beyond our control that there is simply nothing we can do but follow along in the flow of them. Then at times what can be considered life-changing events happen in a way that we can react in different ways; these are the events by which we are measured, which truly define us, where our true hearts and souls are revealed."

I paused a moment, trying to figure out how to speak the feelings that were now running through me, feelings that I was having great difficulty translating into words. It seemed that anything I could manage would sound dated, or stupid, or shallow, or at worst, mundane. But for Link's sake, I had to try.

I turned around, came up to her and knelt down on the floor. From that position I was on eye-to-eye level with her; now I reached out and placed both hands on her shoulders.

"The first circumstances I mentioned are-- are-- well, almost the vagaries of Fate. No matter what we try, nothing can stop the way things are happening. The path you had to take was set before you the moment those beings defined you as less than intelligent, as less than a peer simply because of the way your species is physically put together. They did not bother to see that which you are, only that which they deemed you to be.

"This is the sort of thing that history presents to us, unfortunately too many times, as a major reason for war. And every war has its... collateral damages."

I stopped, searching deeply into her eyes.

"Link," I said softly. "I really think that had you chosen to awaken the parents, it was already too late to save their child. Otherwise she would have still been breathing when you -- stopped your actions. You had to do what you had to do, for the sake of your own sanity and self-preservation. I don't believe what you said to me; I don't think you'd do this again. If that were true, this wouldn't be bothering you now as badly as it is.

"You're not a monster, Link. I'll never think of you in that way, ever."

I started to get up, then noticed something dark and shadowy lurking in the depths of her eyes. Settling back on my knees, I made a final addendum.

"I know you saw my initial reaction to what you said. Please don't misread it. Yes I am horrified by this. But, what is horrifying is that you had to live your way through it. No one deserves to be placed in the position you were; this was not of your choice."

Not knowing what else to say, I just gathered her up into the biggest bear hug that I could. Suddenly my own vision was blurred; closing my eyes, I tried to quietly sniff away the sudden tears that had formed in them, doing my best to be as quiet about it as I could so as not to distress the little gal any further.

“I don't know what to do,” whimpered Link. “All I ever have done to ease the pain is run. Whenever I try to confront my past or try to stop and do something to make my life better it makes it worse. Thats why I'm scarred. I'm scarred to death Yaoksi.”

Link worked herself out of Yaoksi's grasp and stood with her back to him facing the locker next to her rack. Rearing back she punched the door of the locker with as much force as she could muster in her state with her mechanical arm. She felt nothing of the blow except at her shoulder where flesh met metal. Her legs buckled and she sank to her knees resting her head against the dented door.

“I want to run Yaoksi, from this situation, this place, and even you because I'm scarred if I try to work it out things will only get worse. But I'm more afraid of what would happen to me without you, I don't know if I can survive without you.”

Link rolled over resting her back against the door facing Yaoksi with her legs sprawled out in front of her.

“What do you do when a given to choices that are both painful, only one hurts more then the other? Or when no matter what outcome to a choice is, those who everyone would view as good would condemn you for it? I wish I could start over as some one else and not be the orphan, the slave, the slicer. But do something that other people would look at and say look at what she did, I wish I could be like her.”

I paused to collect my thoughts, eyeing the hole she had just punched into the bulkhead. An obstinate grin tried involuntarily to creep across my face; damn, but the lil' gal had something here that at some point in the future might actually prove useful.

My eyes returned to her, and I went on.

"Your past is your past, it has already happened and there are only two things you can do about it now. You can either run from it, or stand up to it in acceptance and learn from it."

I ran a hand down my face, drawing in a deep breath while considering how to continue from here. Damn, but all I had managed to say at this point sounded like the mouthings of some smug jedi or something; I knew she needed more. And suddenly it came to me what I think she needed to hear.

"Link," I said earnestly, reaching to to take up her mechanical hand in my own. "You have just got to quit seeing yourself as how you think other people see you. You just gotta quit that, Kid; there is too much of who you are and what you know to waste time in something as self-defeating as that. And who are you, you might ask?

"You are a beautiful person, with skills many others would envy. You are highly adaptable, creative, intelligent, clever, pretty, and compassionate to others. I don't know many other peeps in the galaxy who have quite the set of innate characteristics that you do; that's one of the reasons I asked you to partner up with me. I wish you could have met some of the peeps in my past; I don't partner up easily. Only had one other partner, K'kihl; usually I'm a loner myself.

"Anyway, stop building up this image of what you think others think. What matters is how you truly view yourself. Think of all you've been through; most peeps would have just given up in defeat over and over again, but not you. You kept on; you're strong, Link. Stronger than you think. Strong enough, I really believe, to find it within you to search deep within yourself and discover just who you are. You're not a mirror, Link; you're an individual. And now you do have a choice. You can choose to continue on looking at yourself through the eyes of everybody else, or you can be yourself, let me help you find yourself, and keep a steady course with me."

I saw something rising up in her eyes, something trying to "but, but..." me; raising a hand I then reached out and placed a light finger against her lips, squelching whatever words she had been thinking of saying.

"About that child..." Her eyes clouded with pain at the mention of this; I gave her a determined look and went on. "Yes, the action was a horrible one. But it is one you have already faced, Link, and because of what you are saying right now is obviously one you have accepted responsibility for. That is a mature step forward, sweetie, believe me, a hard, hard thing to do. And what are we going to do about it?"

I sat back on my heels, now placing my hands on my thighs.

"We're going to continue on, but be on the lookout for hunters being sent in your direction. Maybe Galen can talk to Seus, explain the situation, have the hunter pull back a bit for the time being. The right thing to do would be to go to the authorities about this, but personally I wouldn't trust the local judicial system of a planet that would see you as simply a pet. Seems to me they're just sending that hunter out after you like we would hotfoot after a rogue nek or something; they don't want to bring you to trial, but kill you like an animal. Which you most certainly are not.

"So, until the galaxy is finally settled down and we can get you to justice that truly stands for justice and equality for all, we follow the road we're on and do the best we can."

It suddenly struck me that this indeed was what we were striving for, no matter what kind of wrapping the situation was hidden behind. Justice and equality for all.

It wasn't going to be easy.

"I won't be easy," I spoke the thought aloud, looking her straight in the eye. "And I sure as hell need you, the real you, to help me get through it."

I began to get to my feet, but once again paused as a final thought struck me.

"Link, your past is a short one, relatively speaking. You have an entire future ahead of you, a future where a helluva lot can happen to change your life. If we're right about what is going on, about what we have to do--" I waved a hand in general explanation of the situation our little party was in "--and if we're successful, well...

"You're going to have the entire damned Galaxy looking at you saying, "Look what she did. I wish I could be like her."

Link could see Yaoksi about to jump in with a retort and silenced him with a little move he just pulled a moment before by lightly placing a finger on his lips.

“But then I was alone before and now you are here. Perhaps that will be all the difference, I'm willing to give it a try if you help me through it.”

Link leaned back against the locker and drew her blaster, twirling it around her trigger finger. Lightly she tossed it in the air and caught it back on her trigger finger. Quickly Link reversed the direction of the spin and brought the pistol back into its holster.

“So what now, I wasn't an idiot when it came to the bounty hunters. Every one thinks the ryn who killed the girl is dead anyways and no one besides you, Terrin, Galen, and the Jedi know I was a slave. I just knew that eventually different information would come out and I know you would have pieced it together, I wanted it to come from me. And my past isn't as short as you think, I maybe 14 almost 15 I think, but thats about the equivalent of 17 for a human.”

Link snaked her tail abound Yaoksi's hand holding it tight. She noticed that for once Yaoksi didn't jump at her action which bought a little grin to her face.

"You got it, Kid."

It did wonders to my heart to hear the last words she spoke; images of how she was when she first came into my life, all defensive and full of distrust, flashed through my head. Then by sticking with us she was thrust into situations that would horrify anybody, and suffered terrible injury to herself in the process.

Yet here she finally seemed to be letting her guard down, really letting it down. At last.

As I said, it did my heart good; I hope the smile I was giving her wasn't too sappy.

"Let's go see what Mrs. Danner has come up with," I said, cutting into the warmth of the moment. Neither Link nor I, after all, were really the "warm fuzzy" type; what needed to be expressed had neatly been done so, and now we could continue on with our even more tightly joined lives.

Being careful not to loosen her grasp, I got to my feet, letting my arm hang down so her tail wouldn't have to stretch uncomfortably.

"C'mon, Kiddo," I reiterated, and headed out, Link trotting along at my side. Entering the command center of my lovely new ship, we made a beeline to where we had left Galen. She turned from the boards, a quirking brow indicating mild curiosity at our entrance.

Nothing of what Link and I had shared was to be said, of course. I merely gestured with my free hand.

"Anything?" I asked succinctly.

Figuring whatever had happened between them was really none of my business, I leaned back in the seat, cocking one ankle across my knee and wiggling my booted foot.

"I've reached Seus. He's sending a Hunter out after Kartan, with the promise that the job isn't a lethal one. I hope he can find the man; there's too much we need to get done to have to waste time worrying about what he's doing out there.

"He'll let us know when he's gotten him pinned. In the meantime, we're still on our original course, and all systems are nominal. Unless you think I should stay here and babysit, I think we should go back to the others and see what new developments they might have come up with.

"At least finish eating; I'm still a bit on the peckish side!"

The man merely nodded, replied a general agreement with the suggestion, so after making one final check of the systems I rose from the chair and headed out, Captain Joao and Link keeping steady pace with me. It wasn't long until we had returned to where we left the others, and rejoined tham at the table where we had been sitting.

"What's up?" I asked of no one in particular, gesturing toward the half-full bottle of Antarian carmenere that in our absence had manifested itself upon the table. But there I paused in mid-reach as multiple sets of inquisitive eyes flicked in my direction. I realized that I was expected to fill the silence those eyes dragged with them with something useful; smoothly I put the hand that was reaching for the wine on the table and cast a look about.

"Yes, I've reached the Gulid World, and yes, they're sending a Hunter out after Erik. I've been assured that he will merely be detained when he is found; knowing their capabilities the way I do I think we won't have to worry about Mr. Kartan any longer. But, we're going to owe Seus... er, something."

This last was directed at Terrin. Not opting to elaborate any more than that, I again reached out to the carmenere, poured myself a glass and finally sat down to enjoy its rich, ruby fragrance.

... if you ever get finished with all this, the shoulder devil snorted... either."

Quieting for a moment, Terrin took a sip of his own glass of the carmenere, his eyes defocusing in thought. "You know, we really haven't discussed how we are going to get into the Temple on K'eel Doba undetected, especially since our old standby of using your Sith-flightsuit won't work...or at least, I'm assuming that it won't."

Terrin paused, looking at Galen and arching an eyebrow in question. He chewed his lower lip a bit in consideration. Looking away from her, his next words were clearly addressed to everyone present. "You know, we might have somewhat of an advantage because Sith technology and magick isn't working...

...because we have access to technology that might be able to replicate the cloaking capabilities of the Sith flightsuit so we can traipse about the Temple to look for Tarnus and his armor."

Just... camouflaged.

The wheels in my head began spinning and I settled back with a faraway look on my puss, my half-finished carmanere hanging loosely in my hand.

Lessee... hmmm. Maybe cameras, something with nano-cams or something, something the wearer can have on him, like some kind of cloth made up of tiny screens or something, bits small enough to move with him or her... then maybe a comped camera unit that took pics of the wearer's surroundings, and played them accordingly on the tiny screens. Now, that might work. The wearer wouldn't be really invisible, but if the screens were tiny enough, and if the distortion of movement could somehow be compensated for, dampened or something, well...

It was the next best thing to it.

I shook my head, snapping myself from my reverie and slugged the rest of my wine.

"I wonder if there's another way into that Temple?" I asked of no one in particular. "Seems to me there ought to be, if only a secreted little tunnel or something. I mean, what if there was war or something? Wouldn't the Head Honchos need some means of sneaking out so their governing body would be preserved?"

But wait. Didn't that already happen, according to what Dad had found? Had any Sith managed to escape? Hell if I knew.

I shook my head, and reached for the bottle again. Back to Square One, as far as I was concerned, so going with my original little brainstorm I spoke it aloud, outlining what had popped into my fevered brain.

"What do you think, Link?" I asked of her as I came to the end of my explanation. "You're the computer guru... well, in the hacking department at least. But in that arena you've certainly had to have learned more about what's out there than the rest of us combined.

"Can this work?"

Making ourselves invisible, no that would never work. Even the smallest of the Empires cloak field generators would have to be powered by something like the main reactor on the Challenger. Camouflage or disguise perhaps, no none of us know enough about their customs to infiltrate the place for long. And don’t they have their Jedi sorcery, and ships, and weapons, no wait… they don’t. If they can’t use sorcery and we have technology then maybe, no that won’t work the y have numbers.

Link was drawing blanks on coming up with ideas, and as she looked around the room it looked like so was everyone else. Except for Kyan, who was staring at a holo of a younger version of him with who appeared to be his daughter. It was weird because from Link’s point of view the face on the holo perfectly lined up with Kyan’s own and made him look like his younger self. Then out of nowhere it hit Link.

“The Idiot’s Array,” Said Link. “In sabbac there are 3 different hands that are considered the best. One that adds up to 23 but your opponent thinks it doesn’t one that doesn’t but he thinks it does, and the Idiot’s array. A 2 card a 3 card and the idiot which is worth 0, so put them together you have 023 the idiot’s version of a perfect sabbac. It’s almost suicide to go for it and to your opponent it looks like you have nothing so they always fall for it. We need to have a reverse idiot’s array, a hand that looks like the idiot’s array, but is impossible, and to bet against it would be tantamount to suicide in case they are wrong.”

“According to everything you said about the Sith, they use their sorcery much like the Vong use biotech, and we use technology. Except they don’t have their sorcery in addition to not having technology, or the skill to understand how it work. We take a couple of repulsors, maybe rig a flame thrower or two, and attach it to Kyan’s armor. Then we use a holo shroud to make him look like any other Jedi wizard, just picture this. They are all powerless cut off from their magik even their leaders, then here comes Kyan the all powerful Grand Jedi Wizard who’s immense power overcame that which stripped away their power and by levitating a few objects, maybe summoning some fire out of thin air, they begin to fear what else he can possible do and give us what we want then we leave as fast as we can.”

It might work.

It just frakkin' might work, sure as there's Treasure on Roon!

"I-- I--" I began, stumbling over a reply as I scrambled to switch gears from the intense thought my brain was focused upon and into simple acknowledgment of an idea so clever and uncomplicated it was genius. It took me a few seconds of this mental tap-dancing, seconds that I filled casting furtive looks about at the others. They looked as surprised as I felt. Finally I secured mental footing, and turned back to Link with a smile.

"That's a super idea, Link!" I said, giving her an enthusiastic nod. "It sure beats any mumbo-jumbo wizardry I was trying to come up with; Occam's Razor, don'tcha know.

A heartbeat passed.

"The simplest solution is usually the best one," I explained for the benefit of the others, "Not to mention that I'm positive we have whatever equipment we'd need to do this. I mean, if Kyan is willing to assist us in this manner, that is--?"

“We’ll call that one plan B,” said Kyan. “No point in taking it to that extreme when we can ask first and see what happens. In any case rig up a second set of repulsers and another holo shroud if possible for Gal’ya here.”

Kyan saw Galen’s puzzled look on her face, leaning forward he interlocked his fingers and rested them on the table.

“One Jedi Grand Master is one thing,” continued Kyan. “But remember, thevongese could come at any time and the one thing we need that we don’t have is numbers. It’s hard for me to swallow that there is an entire Sith Empire waiting out there. At least the way the Jedi have described the Sith to be heartless darksiders, so I’m willing to concede that if they where heartless darksiders they would have collapsed long ago die to infighting and maybe all we have ever know at large are the extreme of their people. For now without their Forced based technology who knows what happening to their general populace. Instead of threatening them we could try to offer them basic things they would need right now; food synthesizers, power generators, medical supplies. Terrin right now you have a potential to create the greatest trading partners ever since no one knows about their home worlds Eagle Enterprises could benefit greatly from future trade with the Sith.”

Kyan focused back on his holo projector and the image of him with his daughter Prudii.

I’m sorry Prudi’ka that I left and you went off on your own, ever since I found you on that ship when you where a child and took you as my daughter you have always been a stronger and better Mandalorian then me. I know if your daughter is anything like you that she will be fine until I can find her, don’t worry I’ll find Kani’ka and make the Imperial who did this to her find out why Mando’a has 14 different words for stab.

Gently Kyan thumbed the power button on his holo pad and the image flickered away.

Had to be something...

But... wasn't the Force in absentia for the moment? How could I be trained as an apprentice when all things mystical and magickal seemed to be kaput? And then it struck me...

The man's Mandalorian... or at least trained by such. That's not your everyday martial arts, Galen ol' gal!

A fleeting image of just how good my own martial training had served me on the terrible day that Roan attacked me washed through my mind. The Sith were big, and that monster was...

Well, a monster. But maybe, just maybe, the Mandalorians might have something that might stand up to them if necessary. Khaandon alone knew the Sith's capabilites were more than halved by the disappearance of all things magickal.

And maybe this way, too, by presenting ourselves as a united front we might by body language alone be suggesting to the Sith that unity is the way to go in this man's galaxy.

I brought myself out of my thoughts to the discovery that my head was nodding, and had been for some time.

"Sounds good to me," I said simply as I reached out to pour myself some more of the wine. Taking another sip, I settled back into my seat.

"When do we start? We still have some time before we hit Sith space, right Cap'n?"

This latter was directed toward Captain Joao, who merely smiled and nodded. What else could he do; he knew just as much as I did, since I had been given the privilege of setting our course.

“I do not make this offer lightly Gal’ya,” said Kyan. “I cannot simply give a leason here or there on the ways of the Force, how to be a Jedi, or how to fight. All are interwoven within my life balancing each other out as well as complimenting each other. The balance of Force, The 6 Mandalorian Laws, The emotions I carry, the Jedi’s responsibility to control them, the Love of my family, the call of the Living Force. Each must be taught at the same time or without a good base it is very possible to fall to the darkside.”

Kyan let his words hang in the air allowing Galen to process that while he was serious about training her and would not accept and halfhearted attempts.

“I only know one way to properly train you in such things Gal’ya,” said Kyan. “As a Mandalorian teaches their children, so did I teach my daughters Prud’ika and Ale’ika, and my other apprentices as well. So I’ll ask you one last time just to be sure.”

Kyan rose from his seat standing fully in his armor, lightsabers clanging at his waist.

“I Jedi Master Kot’racyn Jetiis’ad, acknowledge your potential and abilities and more importantly the call of the Living Force. Gal’ya no, Galen Danner I offer my this as my vow to train you in the ways of the Living Force to become a Jedi Knight that you may use your powers for the good of the Galaxy and to help its people. What do you say?”

No sooner had that thought crossed my mind when all its attendant implications reared their selective heads. Those being ones based on generalities I had heard here and there in my jaunts about our fair galaxy, generalities on how jedi choose and train their padawans. Of course the details eluded not only yours truly but the majority of the entities inhabiting said galaxy: the Jedi kept quietly to their own. But enough was publically known about what it took to become a Jedi Knight, in particular the level of committment that it took.

Latent abilities be damned...

He couldn't mean that I-- that, I mean me-- that...

Or could he?

Slowly I set down my glass, snapped into instant sobriety by the intensity of the look he was giving me. For some strange reason serendipity chose to interject at that moment in the form of mutual breath-taking by the others: everyone was suddenly silent.

I suddenly felt that I was the center of everyone's focus.

I looked at Terrin. I thought of Darra. I also thought of Jharmeen, of the events that were possibly going on in the galaxy at this very moment, of what we were trying to do in regards to said events.

I wondered just where I could possibly make the greatest impact.

Hell's Seven Circles, but I thought this kind of thing only happened to younglings!

“That is not something I can answer for you Gal’ya,” replied Kyan. “You must decide that for yourself, I cannot tell you what I do not know myself. But I will let you know that you will have to make sacrifices as a Jedi, many times you will wonder if it is all worth it. Even now I’m not sure I can truly say that if I did not become a Jedi if my wife and child would still be alive, but I can tell if I wasn’t a Jedi I never would have met Prudi’ka my daughter.”

That day over 40 years ago I met Prud’ika, a young abandoned girl about to be killed for sport. I didn’t know at the time of her Force sensitivity or how none of the other Jedi didn’t feel her call out and I did. It seems like yesterday how she thought all men were out to kill her but she accepted me. The scars of her past left her unable to communicate properly except through the Force, and without the Force I never would have found her or been able to help heal her.

“We are not the Jedi of old nor can we afford to be,” continued Kyan. “The Jedi of the past told us to become selfless, detached from the world, but there are those of us that believe as I do that we must stay part of this world to embrace our emotions drawing strength from our love of our friends and family. Though the Force the loss of each of them felt more real and still is painful as if it happened moments ago, but through the Force I grew closer to them all then I ever could without it. You have a gift a very rare one indeed and it is for you to decide how best you can use it, just remember the Force lives in all if us and if you listen to it you will never be alone or know if what you are doing is the right thing. Trust in the Force, live in the moment, and the Force is living like you or me listen to what it has to say.”

Kyan released his hand and headed out in to the corridor but stopped at the hatchway.

“Gal’ya, remember what is truly important to you,” said Kyan. “Your heart will tell you what to do and your heart draws strength from those around you, decide how to best use your gift to help the ones you love. When you have your answer, meet me in the cargo bay.”

The one planted on Terrin's face seemed to carry something more with it. But surprisingly enough, he too was maintaining his silence.

You could hear a veritable pin drop.

I placed my hands on my face, rubbed them up and down, thinking. I wasn't certain of the level of committment... no wait, of that I certainly could hazard a good guess. If I agreed, it would be with 100 percent certainty, 200 percent if that was a possibility. That knowledge contronted, I set it aside and thought of many things.

I might be sequestered from Terrin, from Darra for some time. Then again I might not; Kyan alluded that this new type of training incorporated the love of one's family as a basis for focus, or something. But that love didn't exactly mean physical proximity; for all I knew such contact with my husband or daughter might be something that might unravel the weave of what Kyan would be trying to teach me.

At least in the beginning...?

I lowered my hands with a brief sigh. No use in speculating on this, I would only know the facts when I actually came face-to-face with them.

But did I truly want to?

I thought back some more of the incredible events that had dominated my life since that horrible day on that hideous, deserted planet. What I had endured, and worse, what those around me, who loved and cared for me, had endured simply because this nasty canasta or that one was out for blood and decided that hey, double whammy sort of thing, dont'cha know. How would things have differed then, had I a connection to this Force? How could I have helped in certain situations when many innocents had died due to something I was involved in, like the destruction of Ploatius?

I shook my head slightly. This wasn't really anything I could choose, not when I thought about it. Refusing this offer to make myself more than I ever thought I could be, to learn strategies and connections that could be used in the battle I knew in my gut lay ahead of us... well, that would be the height of callous, cold-hearted selfishness.

I cast another look about the table, ending with a long, lingering one I let sink into Terrin's beautiful baby blues.

"I have to," I whispered, hoping he understood. I turned then to Captain Joao.

"Maybe he'll let me out now and again to navigate for you, heh."

Knowing how pitiable that last statement sounded, I rose quickly to my feet, smiled a little, then let it chase me from the galley and to the cargo bay where Kyan, and for all I knew an entirely new future, awaited me.
I found him kneeling there silently, but somehow I could sense him smiling.

I paused in the door.

"I'm ready," I said simply, surprising myself with the sudden realization that indeed, I meant every tiny bit of that little two-word statement.

There is no such thing as coincidence, just the Living Force acting in its own way.

“I can see you are ready,” Said Kyan. “That is clear from your eyes, but in them I also see fear. Fear ran unchecked can lead you down a very dark path as a Jedi. As a Jedi you cannot let your emotions control you, yet you must not deny yourself from emotions as well. Fear can be beneficial as well it keeps us from making overly reckless decisions, keeps us cautious, and keeps us from risking the lives of others. So in a way all emotions are useful when applied correctly that is one of the basic tenants of the Living Force, in Jedi those of us who believe in the Living Force see the Force as a Living entity one who lends us its strength and will tell us the right thing to do if we listen, and we listen if we listen to our hearts, but enough on the philosophy of the Force for now. Galen bow your head.”
Kyan waited until Galen lowered her head before he stood and placed both of his hand on her head.

“ Ni kar'tayl gai sa'ad Galen,” said Kyan. “I know your name Galen, as my apprentice.”

And daughter… I can only teach in the Mando fashion as one teaches his children. Hopefully one day she will realize the importance of this vow and what she now means not only to the Jedi, but to me as well.

Kyan removed his hands from Galen’s head and offered them to Galen to help her stand.

...and all the while her strong character and strength turning his once shallow self inside out. She was special, of that Terrin was certain. How clearly he remembered the day that they were trapped by Graysith in the Temple, seemingly doomed, when something burst forth from Galen to knock her sister head over hiney. Galen attributed this to Darra, whom she was carrying at the time...

...but to this day he believed it was something more, something from within Galen herself.

Pursing his lips, his blue eyes deepening, Terrin mentally cursed himself for not having said so much as a word to Galen as she left to meet with Kyan to accept his offer. He was keenly aware of the implications of training as a Jedi carried...

...seperation for potentially long lengths of time, the dangers she might face....

...but he also believed in his heart that Galen truly needed this, for herself. And with her strength and potential, Terrin knew what potential Kyan saw shining within.

And at the moment, nothing seemed more important than letting Galen know he was going to support her completely. So, quietly excusing himself from the table, uncertain of the procedures and hoping not to intrude or do something against Kyan's training protocol, Terrin followed Galen's steps towards the cargo bay...

...and halted just beyond the doors, yet stil in sight, as he heard Kyan welcoming Galen to the Jedi order, not wanting to intrude...

...but wanting Galen to know that aside from supporting her in this, that he firmly believed in her and how very truly special he felt she was.

Dad.

Sorben.

Darra.

Loban, if ever so briefly.

Terrin, the men he employed who so willingly stuck their necks out for something that at the moment we could only take on suspicion... and faith.

K'kihl, without whom I might not even be where I was at this time in my life.

And yes... even Sissy.

Sissy... with her strange power and the even stranger way that over the past several years she had so suddenly changed in personality, in her worldview. I couldn't help but wonder again just what exactly it was that she had command of; well, when things were working right in the universe, that is. I wondered if it had anything to do with this "Living Force" or not, whether it was an offshoot of it, or if it was the other way around.

But sure as there's Treasure on Roon I was going to find out.

I raised my head, stared Kyan straight in the face. Then off to the side a slight movement caught my eye:

Terrin.

I swallowed, suddenly feeling that I was tottering on the apex of some Huge Nexus, a position that if right now I stepped this way I could run back to him, hold him tight, and know everything was going to be all right. Or dismissing all the sunshine and lollipops, at least hope things were going to be all right.

Or I could stay the course, and drawing upon the love I felt for him, and for Darra, and all the others, and using this as Kyan indicated maybe actually do something real.

I stared him straight in the baby blues, knowing the cut had to be made here. I knew Kyan didn't want me to withdraw from love... but still I was positive there were certain sacrifices I would have to make. And so, deliberately turning my focus away from Terrin and fully back to Kyan, I rose slowly to my feet. Unwilling or unable to avert my gaze, I stared him straight in the face too.

"Um-- thank you, my Master," I rejoined, stumbling over words which at their very heart were so atypical of me, all the while using every bit of strength I possessed to not let my gaze fall back into Terrin's again.

As I said, the cut had to be made here.

She does not yet understand my words, and she never shall. I can only show her the Force and how to listen the rest is up to her to determine how to best listen to its wisdom and how to live her life.

Kyan started to remove his armor setting it neatly in a pile along one of the bulkheads of the wall.

“Very well then,” stated Kyan. “I may be A Jedi Master, but I am also Mando’a. I care little for titles, ceremonies, and traditions Gal’ika. As such I ask that you do not call me master, Kyan will do fine, Kyan’buir is a close Mando’a translation. I will teach you what I know of the Force, but ultimately it is the Force itself that is your teacher. Right now I am limited in what I can teach with both of us cut off from directly accessing the Force, but even as we are there is much I can teach you.”

Removing his armored boots as well Kyan placed them next to his armor along with his lightsabers. Grasping the hem of his Jedi robes he tore a loose a 3 inch wide strip of cloth. Returning to the center of the room Kyan grasped the strip of cloth in his hand staring back at Galen.

“Combat,” said Kyan. “While as a Jedi you must strive to avoid it whenever possible you must also know whenever it is nessecary and be ever ready for it Gal’ika.”

Taking the strip of cloth in both of his hands, Kyan draped it across his eyes and tied the tails behind his head blindfolding himself. Slowly using a very fluid motion Kyan took half a step forward with his left foot, keeping his knees slightly bent and feet about a shoulder length apart. His left hand reached across his body as is to draw a nonexistent saber, his right hand hanging loosely as his side.

"I'm sorry, Kyan," I mumbled, feeling like I'd failed before I'd even gotten the chance to begin. But durnitall, this just went against every grain of every cell in my body. Yeah, a jedi must be ready at any time for combat, so Kyan said, but that didn't mean he had to instigate it.

I'd never done that in my life, although Khaandon knows I've seen enough hand-to-hand in my life.

"I-- I don't attack. I-- I can't."

“You did nothing wrong Gal’ika,” said Kyan. “As a Jedi it is a good for one not to seek conflict and avoid the violent path whenever possible. Sometimes ad’ika, there needs to be the Jedi who initiates the attack and only the Force can tell you when it is required. Given time you will be able to determine the will of the Force for yourself, and if we both had our powers you may have been able to sense my intent with this lesson.”

Kyan gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze then released his hand and sat on the deck of the cargo bay then he motioned for Galen to join him on the deck.

Assuming I had the Right Stuff, as they say.

I gave him a little smile. "That sounds good to me, Kyan," I replied, settling myself more comfortably on my haunches and resting back on my heels. That smile wavered a bit, however, when a slight noise caught my attention and led my eyes astray from Kyan's pair:

Terrin had gone.

I sighed again, then straightened my shoulders.

So be it. This is the path I'm following now: for myself, for Darra, for Terrin, for everybody I want to help.

My gaze cut back to meet Kyan's.

And yes, him too, came the final addendum before such thoughts were pushed to the back of my mind by a budding question.

"Kyan--?" I asked, a bit hesitantly. Then remembering Dad's standard, "The only stupid question is the one unasked," I went on.

...but then he stopped in his tracks a few steps later.

Stop worrying about the stupid ettiquitte. Just tell her what you want her to know.

So, turning on his heel, he headed back the way he had come, this time quietly slipping into the cargo bay area even as Galen asked Kyan how he was going to teach her if he couldn't even connect with the Force. He paused one final time then, just in case Kyan's response was immediate...

...but then he squatted behind her, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"You can do this, I know that you can, and I want you to know that," he said softly in her ear. "When you're ready and able and anytime you need me, I'll be here...

...and in the meantime I'll make sure Darra is taken care of. You're special, Galen, and I think you've got a power deep within that you need to explore and learn to use. Take the time that you need..."

He quieted a moment, squeezing her shoulder one last time. "I'll be here," he reiterated.

With that he looked to Kyan, who was waiting patiently, and nodded in thanks for the moment to speak. Then, without a further word, he got to his feet and quietly exited the cargo bay...

“I can Gal’ika because I am not you teacher,” answered Kyan. He let his answer hang in the air just long enough for Galen to develop a look of puzzlement. “The Force is your teacher, I am merely the one to who shows you the path how far you go is up to you and the Force. Ad’ika you will become a Jedi, believe in me, believe in Terrin, believe in yourself.”

Kyan closed his eyes and taking a deep breath, holding it, then slowly releasing it he calmed his mind emptying it from all thoughts except those about Galen. He couldn’t say it was a distinct message from the Force but he was certain that his instincts that Galen was going to play an important part in the events to come and she one day would become a greater Jedi then him, no, as great as Grand Master Skywalker was.

“Close your eyes,” whispered Kyan.

“Jedi are the guardians of peace in the galaxy.
Jedi use their powers to defend and protect.
Jedi respect all life, in any form.
Jedi serve others rather than rule over them, for the good of the galaxy.
Jedi seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training.”

Yeah, I was all about that. I understood what the jedi were all about; had been introduced to the parameters which guided their lives during the sporadic moments in my own where I had crossed paths with this jedi or that. I thought back to those I had run to when I was still pregnant with Darra, thought of how I had been greeted, assisted; let my thoughts drift back to those particular jedi who had risen above the rest for one reason or another regarding me personally. Remembered running from Darth Wicked, the encounters with Desolist and his little lackey, the hideous attack on me by Roan and then to those who had come racing to help in the aftermath, how that help was given...

Yeah, I was all about their creed, not only because it just ran akin to what I believed in my heart and soul, but because I had been "rescued" too many times by jedi.

I settled more deeply into the kneeling position now, let the small clinks and rustles and thrums of a ship in operation fade away from my world, concentrating on memory, on the past, letting the here and now slip away.

Funny how easy it was to do that...

Images in my mind began to segue into soft muzziness, little bits and pieces of what in all actuality had been nothing more that what eventually came to make me me: who I was, not what I was. I accepted that muzziness, let it come over all of me, let it leach into evey bit of awareness, be it conscious or unconscious; let it carry me off and away into...

Into what...?

There was nothing. No, nothing was something; this was different, this was something recognized on a level beyond anything physical, beyond metaphysical. This simply...

Was.

Time stopped, for that was something as well. Unknowing, I let myself go completely, let that bit of self-awareness inherent in all living things no matter how intelligent, how sentient, just let it travel further, flowing... until that flow seemed to focus upon not-something, zeroed in upon not-it, picked up momentum, started hastening toward it like a river seeking the sea, like someone running to seek the arms of his beloved.

There was no recognition of anything, for that was something. There was no voice, for that too was of the world of the corporeal. There...was.

My mouth opened of its own accord; I had no idea of this happening. Somewhere in my brain neurons fired, translating strange, unrecognizable input into words yet more strange, words which seemed so unnecessary, so meaningless if only for the fact that they were needed to communicate. It was as if the mitochondria within a body cell needed to make a conscious effort to transform the materials it used into energy, needed to make a conscious effort to send it out to the rest of the body that it might be healthy and live. That was a natural part of what made life life; communicating to another being via words seemed unnatural, as if there really was a better and much simpler means, just like the connection between the mitochondria and the cell, between the cell and the tissue, between the tissue and the body as a whole. The higher up the progressional "ladder," the more difficult became what was actually quite simple and pure.

Words were meaningless, yet recognized as necessary. This recognition itself was ridiculous, for it flowed of its own between parts. Then the muzziness seemed to ripple, and reached out with its peculiar non-ness, and wrapped me in a welcoming blankness of one-ness.

One-ness coalesced into words so strangely unnecessary yet so needed for response, flowed from somewhere deep within that wonderful, soft blanket and out into the everything that the mote which was me occupied. I didn't even hear them, for I wasn't aware of anything any longer.

"The Picture is grander than you think.

"Now let us think..."

This is not the Jedi temple, it was destroyed by the Imperials and these Jedi standing before me I do not know them, but this is the Jedi temple I am sure of it somehow.

Kyan saw many children in the court yard all garbed in the robes of a Jedi, all crowded around one central figure all listening intently to the lesson it was giving. As Kyan drew closer to this figure he started to realize he knew who it was, but from where he could not identify. She stood over the vast group of children, the wind softly blowing at her fiery hair streaked with gray. Over her body she wore the outer cloak of a Jedi, but the armor of a Mandalorian as well. Her brown eyes displayed such passion when she spoke about the very nature of the Force and with words Kyan had to admit mirrored his own.

“The Force is much more than a tool that a Jedi can utilize,” said the woman. ”My Master would say it was a Living thing and we Jedi are the ones who answer its call. Our emotions, instincts, hunches are all part of its voice; but in order to hear it we must quiet the voices coming from outside of ourselves, and the ones created from our own mind to hear the whisper of the Force.”

Kyan slowly approached the woman walking through the crowd, none of them took notice to his presence. When he arrived to where she was standing among the children Kyan reached out a hand placing it softly on her shoulder.

“Ad’ika,” Kyan whispered.

The woman’s lesson suddenly stopped and she first looked over at her shoulder then straight into Kyan’s eyes. All of the children started looking around trying to locate the source of the interruption but could not see him. Waving her hands to calm the children the woman smiled then gave Kyan a slight nod.

“Ner buir’ika,” whispered the woman. “Ad’ika draar digur, ni kar’tayl gai sa’ad Kyan’buir’ika.”

Then the vision was gone.

Was that the future, no always in motion the future is, but even so it felt so real. Maybe it is a possible future, but why I never much believed in destiny or fate or prophecies only in what the Force tells me is the right things at that moment.

looking across the room Kyan saw Galen it was as if she was glowing. Not in a metaphorical sense but light was emanating from her, slowly it began to fade leaving room as it once was. Something had changed, something big; Kyan tried to reach out with the Force but as he thought he felt nothing. But there was something fear and doubt along with determination and strength. Deeper Kyan dug for this feeling and realized they were not his own. Looking straight ahead he realized the truth.

There where Galen’s, it was the bond between Master and Apprentice Kyan had no doubt about it he could feel Galen’s presence and her emotions. Reaching out further Kyan tried to feel the others on the ship but failed; he tried to levitate his lightsaber and similarly failed as well. But Galen he could sense her concern and Kyan wondered if she could feel his own.

“Gal’ika what just happened?” asked Kyan. “That was the Force wasn’t it Gal’ika, what did it tell you.”

Then into that delightful coccoon there came something sharp, something piercing. It was something that somewhere deep within myself I recognized as words:

"Gal'ika, what just happened? That was the Force, wasn't it Gal'ika? What did it tell you...?"

The softly comforting blanket evaporated in a flash; no, rather it gathered into itself, seeming to form a tunnel directly ahead of me. At the very end of that tunnel there was a dot of brightness, something that grew bigger and bigger, larger and larger, faster and faster when awareness dawned that I was rushing toward it. Yet somewhere deep within, words managed to whisper through the stark terror now washing through me as I tore pell-mell directly toward that light.

My eyes opened, and I burst into the reality of the cargo bay as a baby being newly thrust out into the world, the words I now realized Kyan was speaking entangling themselves with those that had left the barest echo of a whisper so strangely within me.

I realized my mouth was open, most lkely had been for some time. I began to close it, to swallow, to push back the terror of whatever it was that had happened to me when a final flash of comprehension came flooding over me from...

Somewhere.

I looked to Kyan in bewilderment, managed to untangle his question from what I knew was the answer he was seeking. I had no idea what it was, or what it meant, but I sure as there's Treasure on Roon was certain of one thing:

It wasn't the Force. Not... exactly.

"It said, the picture is grander than you think. Feel," I finished, stumbling a little over the words with the effort of stating them absolutely correctly, and putting the exact emphasis on the final word, just as it had been stated to me... even though I truly didn't remember when it was actually told to me.

I just knew it had happened, and it was real words, and something real had spoken them... and it wasn't the Force.

“The picture is grander than you think. Feel.”

Those words hammered through his skull as if it was not Galen conveying them, but as how it was delivered to Galen. It defiantly was not the Force speaking Kyan was certain of that, he knew the Force well its voice was a whisper among the sea of voices, but this was as if all life silenced it voice for the briefest of moments to let it speak.

A power that is greater than the Force, or is the Force but one aspect of it. Who knows which is true or if both are true. One thing is certain it is a Living entity much like the Force and it commands great power.

Kyan would have to sort out later whether this power was good or ill. He was more concerned with this bond that he was sensing all this through Galen. Even the bond he once shared with his children, his twin brother ever could convey this much clarity of what the other was thinking.

“Gal’ika,” said Kyan. “What you are thinking is true that was not the Force.”

Kyan let the statement hang in the air giving him time to think about what to say next. Was is possible Galen had been chosen to command some power greater than the Force, and if so could he teach her to wield it responsibly. His mind flashed back to the vision the woman who guided all those children, teaching them all the nature of the Force, was this his purpose. 25 years ago his brother could have easily killed him with his last breath, but merely stripped him of his Force abilities. Was this why he was spared?

“There is something more,” continued Kyan. “There is a connection between us, I don’t know exactly how to explain it. It happens frequently between Jedi especially between Jedi sibling, mates, Master and Apprentice. Only this is unlike I have ever experienced, it may be one sided so I want to try something.”

Kyan thought of Galen and sent one simple message.

“Ad’ika.”

It wasn’t just the word he tried to convey but the meaning of the word. Mando’a bring his native language he could help but think in it as well. Ad’ika was but the word he associated with the meaning of an idea which was the root of his message.

Feel.

I drew in a breath, once again forcing away conscious thought, words, and just let the simple moment expand itself about me. Once again reality seemed to fall away, although this time not to the extent it had before. I was still aware that I was kneeling before Kyan in a cargo bay aboard Captain Joao's new ship Challenger, but that awareness just fell back into second place before what now was beginning to insinuate itself into my being.

Feel... who am I, feeling? Galen Jhin'dar Danner... no, Gal'ika... Galika...

Gal'ika. He kept calling me by what obviously was a diminutive of my name. But then another word crept into my mind, a word I was not familiar with, but a word with the same diminutive suffix as that which Kyan had tacked onto my name.

I didn't speak Mandalorian, or to be correct I guess it was "Mando'a," something like that. But although I didn't recognize the word, I certainly did the feeling that accompanied it. To be more accurate, it was delineated by a void in my feelings, a stark and empty hole not even my love for Terrin nor his for me could fill, one the solution to which had remained utterly elusive ever since that Life's-Nexus that both began and ended with the rise and fall of a hand-held rock on a dusty planet in a nondescript sector of the Galaxy.

But this-- this flowed into that hole as naturally as a breath of life, and slowly began to fill it.

I blinked, cherishing the feeling yet not certain if I was reacting as Kyan thought I should. But then I realized I should just react, period. Go with my own feelings.

That was, after all, the Message I had been given, wasn't it?

I reached out, took Kyan's hands into my own, stared intently into his eyes. Worked my jaw a moment while I tried to determine exactly how to put that feeling into words.

Then it came to me.

"You make me feel safe," I said, hoping he would interpret those simple words correctly and in them read the depth of meaning they truly held.

In my heart I considered her my child when she decided to be my apprentice. Eventually I would have told her about my adoption vow and let her decide if she truly wished to become my daughter once she understood the meaning of family to a Mando’ad.

Pushing back his surprise lest he worry Galen, Kyan let his amazement at Galen’s raw potential flow freely across their bond. He had his original doubts when Galen initially claimed the power her sister possessed as an overestimation by an untrained eye. But after feeling Galen’s spirit and seeing what she could become he was led to believe that she under estimated her sister and also her own possibilities. Grasping Galen’s hands between his own Kyan looked into her eyes and saw the fire of the woman from his vision and knew the good things she would use not only the Force but this other power to accomplish.

“Ad’ika, my daughter,” said Kyan. He specifily said it aloud in basic for Galen’s benefit, spoken words can often times give concrete meaning. “You have no idea what those words mean to a Mandalorian and to me. You have shown a remarkable talent for the Force, for today I think your lessons are complete. Listening to the Force such as you can often time takes months or even years, when you have time I want you to practice finding that voice like you did before and listen to what it is saying. In time you will even learn to ask it for answers.”

Kyan didn’t hid his feelings of pride in how naturally Galen took to the Force, now that her powers where restored. But was it just her abilities or did it affect all other Force users as well, Kyan could only sense Galen and otherwise remained just as Force blind as before.

“Gal’ika, I truly do not want to disrupt this moment but besides this bond we share I am still as Force blind as before. I don’t know if it is just you who has had their Force abilities restored of if all have, most importantly this changes our ideas of negotiating with the Sith. For now it might be best to contact any of our Force sensitive allies to see if they have had their abilities restored for encountered any events like we just had.”

Or rather, to be more correct, what had chosen to touch me.

--even though I had all but stated to him my opinion of what I thought it really was.

Or had I?

Maybe it was all in my head; Khaandon knows everything was still somewhat muddled as far as I was concerned. Everything but one thing:

Ad'ika. My child. So he is calling me his daughter...

A rush of warmth flooded me at the thought, followed immediately by an almost completely overwhelming sense of guilt.

Dad...

I bowed my head, succumbing totally to the emotions that came from nowhere, letting them fill me, recognizing the deep sense of loss I still felt for what had happened to my father, letting a momentary and down-to-my-soul hatred toward Jharmeen take absolute control of me.

Guilt ran yapping at the heels of the above: guilt for feeling such hatred toward my own sister, guilt for being unable to even try to understand the tiniest, most insignificant reason why... and guilt that whatever bond it was that was beginning to form between Kyan and me was doing so in lieu of that I had with my own father...

Dad...

I raised my head, looked boldly into Kyan's somehow weary eyes, and in those eyes saw something that in a nutshell, very quietly but very succinctly spoke out to me:

Come home...

The guilty feeling that I was somehow abandoning Dad fled before a fresh flood of logic. I cast my gaze downward, suddenly realizing I was still clasping Kyan's hands; taking in a breath I gave them a squeeze then loosened my grip but did not let completely go. I wasn't quite sure of what was happening to me, but all of a sudden in looking back into Kyan's face I saw superimposed there the image of Dad.

It seemed as if he was trying to say something...

Catching my lip between my teeth, I leaned unconsciously forward. Was it a trick of the light? Was it something born of the guilt, of the conflicting feelings that yet raged within me? Suddenly stubborn, I peered more closely, more deeply...

"Believe in us..."

The words came from nowhere, but were quite real. I couldn't help but gasp, letting go of Kyan's hands before shooting to my feet. My suddenly thundering heart tried it's best to mask my surroundings, but only succeeded in that all I could concentrate upon were Kyan's eyes.

The eyes of my father, of Dad, of...

I forced my own eyes deckward, then let them slowly rise.

"Y-yes," I said at length, stumbling only a bit over the words as with their utterance I tried to make it seem as if nothing untoward had just occurred. But I knew... dammit, I knew--! that this wasn't the Force, that there was more, much much more, something that in these last fleeting moments had given me assurance of that fact if only by the evidence it had just presented to me.

I knew it was as real as the deck upon which I was now standing.

I drew in another breath, trying to steady myself, to calm down. Jedi seemed always ready and able to do such; if this was part and parcel of being one I knew I had a long row to hoe. But if all was as I felt it was, that there was more, much much more...

I suddenly didn't want to think about it. It frightened me to my very soul. All I knew was that I had to find Terrin, that I needed to talk to Terrin--

And Darra? came a sly little whisper from... somewhere, from something Other...

"I-- I think you're right, Kyan," I finally managed, forcing my lips to smile, forcing my hands to remain still.

"Perhaps you should go find Captain Joao, and see if you can send out a communication or something, see if anything has happened elsewhere."

I paused, realizing how transparant the above statement probably was.

"I-- I feel I need to talk with my husband," I ended, giving his hands a final squeeze before turning and heading for the door. Once I passed beyond it's frame I lit out as if the hounds of hell were on my heels, knowing that indeed I needed Terrin.

Maybe he can help me understand!

I sure as hell hoped Kyan did.

Uncharacteristically, words failed me miserably. I could only bury my face against his chest, seeking pressure of human contact, hoping that pressure would force into a more normal mode the thunderous beating of my heart.

"Hold me," was all I could muster before bursting into tears, utterly embarrassed by this sudden weakness, knowing it wasn't me...

Yet feeling in my gut the fact that instead it somehow completely defined me.

...but he knew he'd seen that look before, if only once, and seemingly so very long ago. He rememembered it still as though it were yesterday, however-when they were on the Hornett, and she had just recovered memory that she had seemingly lost. She told him that she feared whatever was in her sister was in her as well...

"You felt something?" he asked softly, knowing that the question really didn't convey what he was thinking...

Gal’ika I’m sorry if this has caused you pain my child. I am not here to replace your father, just to be one when you need it.

Wondering what to do from here was another ordeal in itself. He knew from what he experienced from Galen that the power she felt was greater than the Force, a hard concept for Kyan to believe possible. His belief had been all life was created by the Force and therefore connected through it, something greater than the Force scarcely seemed possible. He tried to look at it differently, that there was the possibility that life was part of some grander system so the Force could just be one aspect of what Galen had felt. An entirely other matter was what to do with this knowledge and more importantly was it just Galen or the other s as well.

Quickly Kyan slipped back into his armor, as he was right now he wanted the solace of his armor and what he considered his true face. Heading out of the cargo bay Kyan stopped at the cockpit noting its absence he went to the galley. Link and Yaoksi chatted about something while Link was working on some piece of machinery.

No doubt something intended for our plan to fool the Sith, it may not be necessary depending on what we discover next.

He didn’t want to intrude on their conversation because it was the first time he had seen the ryn actually happy and not some act. But he knew the importance of what had happened with Galen and needed to know if the others were affected as well.

I don't want to change! I want things to be like they were! I couldn't help the childish thought even as I recognized the futility of it. Indeed, saw the obvious dangers inherent in it as well.

Change is good... things grow... but Kyan changed, and the feelings toward my own father-- had they changed too? No, that could never, EVER be, it just couldn't!

Yet he was there, in Kyan somehow, or something was, something big, something Other.

I shook my head, burying it further into Terrin's chest, hating myself for the depth of the complete and utter terror that was pouring into me like an unstoppable geyser. For the longest of moments -- I couldn't tell exactly how long, for time appeared to stop -- I just remained like that, trying to dig a safe haven inside Terrin where I could insert myself and curl up into a little ball.

But then, slowly, something seemed to flicker into life within me. It was something I was scarcely conscious of, actually, yet something which stood up against the irrational terror and holding up a virtual hand made the influx come to a halt.

Then it gradually began to reverse, until I finally found the strength and the wits to pull away from Terrin a bit and look up into his face.

"There's... there's Something, Terrin, Something... I don't know what, but it came to me, and I think it's in me; it spoke to me, real words, and it was wearing Dad's face over Kyan's...

"And Kyan called me his child, his daughter, and oh Terrin, it-- it felt right!"

Guilt threatened to push through the wall that was gradually strengthening inside me; with great effort instead of trying to push it away or run from it I simply took a moment's mental pause to directly confront it.

Dad always tried to do what was best for Jharmeen and I, came the softest of whispers in my mind. Maybe this is what's right for me--?

I didn't know. All I knew was that there was Something out there, something whose terrifying disembodied eyes we had crossed paths with, that same Something being what I knew in my heart had something to do with the weird powers Sissy had with her, and which was for whatever reason now reaching out for me.

And using Dad to assure me? Or beguile me?

"It said, Believe in us..." I finished with a little hiccup before falling into a vast and all-encompassing well of silence.

My brows crawling up my forehead as my eyes widened in surprise, whatever words I was speaking to Link abruptly truncating, I let my complete focus envelop Kyan as his seemingly innocent statement grabbed it and held it in a grip of iron.

When the hell did that lil gal suddenly jump from hunches n' niggles, jedi padawan or whatever they're called, to Force user?! That certainly was news to me!

"Galen actually can use The Force?!?" I stammered as I finally found the wits to pick my jaw up from the deck and speak them. I blinked, cut a look to the Ryn, questions running rampant in my eyes.

"I didn't know this; I mean, I know she's had hunches and stuff, and you were going to train her and everything, but she uses The Force?!" I couldn't help emphasizing the latter; then with a quickly indrawn breath I pushed astonishment aside to think about the rest of what the Mandalorian-armored man was really saying.

So... powers might be back! THAT certainly held ramifications for our budding plans of saving the Universe now, didn't it? I wiped my hand down my face, chasing away surprise and replacing it with common sense.

"Ahh-- sure," I said finally, wondering just what in blazes was really going on. Was the deck still stacked against us, or did we now have a sudden ace in the hole? Or were we playing with a full deck at all...

Probably not! I couldn't help thinking before looking up to Kyan again.

"Yeah, contacting Petrolu, that's a good idea. Anyone know his communication frequency?"

...or whatever you would call It...

...that referred to Itself in plural form.

Believe in US...

Terrin gazed into Galen's brown eyes, reading a wealth of emotions within them. Truthfully he was initially a bit alarmed that whatever had contacted Galen was taking on the form of her father's face...

...but then again, there was another interpretation. He was pretty sure he knew exactly What was talking to Galen, and that It could take on mutliple forms. Perhaps the form that Galen saw It as was connected to something personal for her, and would present Itself as something else for each individual person who could touch It.

Believe in us.

Somehow Terrin didn't think Galen was being asked to believe in the existence of Something Other out there, but rather to believe in it. After all, they had both been there the day The Eyes had spoken to them and had seen.

And now that he thought of it, when had Ole' Googly--as they were wont to call It--ever done anything to truly harm them? After all, if they were all part of That Which Is as Graysith had told them once, why would It seek to harm Itself?

"Sounds like That Which Is,” he then said simply. “And it sounds like It wants you to believe on more than just a surface level.”

Terrin paused, pretty sure that Galen already knew this. “Remember how we were told that we were not just individuals in the grand scheme of the Galaxy and all that occurs, but also part and parcel of it? What if this That Which Is is merely a manifestation of the collective? Maybe it's trying to deceive you by portraying Itself as your father...but then again, what purpose would that serve?”

He quieted again, trying to word exactly what he was thinking. “You're special Galen, and something deep within you allows you to touch It and potentially act upon It.” He paused again. “Your gut and instincts have never failed you before...and I don't think that they will now. I don't recall a time It has ever attempted tio harm us, now that I think of it. If this is truly a Collective that we are all intricate parts of, then I don't think it would seek to harm Itself anyway. Unless your instincts tell you otherwise...maybe you can believe in It.”

He pursed his lips, considering the other thing that Galen had told him about Kyan calling her his child, and how it felt right to her. “And although I unfortunately didn't know your father, I think he would want you to continue working with Kyan to learn to use what's inside you. You aren't ever going to forget your Father or replace him, but internally maybe you need the Father-Daughter type of relationship you are developing with Kyan...

That wasn't me, had never been me. Well, there was one time in my life that something similar had happened, a horrible time... and Time, as it marched along, had finally taught me that to rid myself of such irrational terrors and boojums I needed to just stop and simply face them. I tried now to do the same, just let my eyes close, let the warmth of Terrin's closeness wash over me, let it help push back the emotions, back into the sea of irrationality from which they had sprung, back far enough so I might look more closely upon the shore they had lapped over, and could inspect what was left there in its wake.

And damn if Terrin wasn't smack dab on target!

I didn't just know it, but felt it too. Just as deeply as those boojums had buried themselves in me. But in their departure gaping holes were left, holes filling up more and more with rationality, calmness, logic, curiosity, and...

Acceptance.

I squeezed Terrin, drew in a huge breath, and let it out. Tossing sweat-dampened hair from my face I looked up into his own.

"You're right," I said simply as sudden understanding leapt into the emotional group above. "I-- I know it, somehow."

I paused a bit, considering, letting warmth flood me further as images of Dad began to fill my mind's eye. They no longer brought guilt or hatred or anger or overwhelming unhappiness along with them. Those feelings, I now realized, quite suddenly had a place to go, a means of eradication:

Kyan, and his teachings.

I could look at my brand-new Teacher in the light of Dad, and accept. I could look at everything around me with suddenly new eyes; strange how quickly that had happened! But even more importantly, I could look at me, and see...

Well... something more than I had been since Sissy killed Dad.

Funny. I thought "killed," and not "murdered..."

Assigning a portion of my curiosity to examine this sudden thought I then let it flee into my subconscious, and returned the rest of my focus fully on Terrin. Locks impaired my vision; I reached up with one hand to plaster them behind one ear.

"Eh, I'm sure you are probably right in style, at least as much as the rest of us," he quipped back, his smile turning a bit more lopsided as he then leaned in and kissed her softly. For a brief moment, he basked in her warmth and the connection with her, then pulled back.

“I think we will need Link’s help with this Captain,” Kyan chimed in. “If it is just Gal’ika then we want to limit the amount of people who know about her abilities, or that they have been restored.”

Kyan watched as Link nodded in agreement and joined them, when they arrived at the communication station Link went to work with her technical wizardry only pausing to ask Kyan for the frequency. He gave her the one he saw Galen use on the Eagle when he first talked to Petrolu. After another moment or to Link got up and motioned for Kyan to make his call and mentioned something along the lines of untraceable, encrypted, burst transmission… The technical aspects escaped Kyan but he put his trust in the ryn’s abilities.

“Thank you Lin’ya,” said Kyan. “Jedi Petrolu, this is Jedi Master Jetiis’ad. Not long ago my apprentice felt something is the Force. Due to circumstances that would take too long to explain over such a means of communication I need to know if you have felt anything through the Force as well.”

Hitting the transmit Kyan slumped back into the chair he was sitting in. He had no idea how tired he really was, the vision he had back in the cargo bay took a lot out of him. With the current state of affairs Kyan had no idea how such a future could ever take place, but he put his trust in the Force and just smiled knowing that one day what he saw might come true.

"The Sith worlds are pretty far out there," I announced as I pulled back. The little monitor presented its information for another moment or two before blinking off.

Games at a time like this… perhaps times like this call for a little relaxation.

As it stood they had no way o knowing whether all had their abilities restored or just Galen. If it was just Galen then they would proceed as planned, but if it was everyone then Kyan would have to deal with it as the situation dictates. Even without the ability to use the Force he still his Mandalorian training to fall back on.

And then there is our trump card Gal’ika.

Kyan had seen what Galen could become and that alone filled him with confidence that the Force was on their side. He saw the wisdom in Yaoksi’s words, there was little to be gained in fretting over things they had no control, besides they all could stand to relax a little.

I gave the navboard a quick once-over then waved Kyan out of his seat. Challenger would handle herself well enough alone for the next few hours or so; besides, I had every faith that Galen would be back on her own, checking things out. If there was one thing I've noticed about that li'l gal, it was her dedication to tasks given her, especially any involving flying.

Grinning a little to myself I headed back toward the galley, making a side-detour to my quarters to pick up a set of cards I had stashed there. While we did also have a holo-game on board, there was just something satisfying about the feel of cards in your hand. I never went anywhere without my raggedy set.

Entering the galley I led Kyan to a small table tucked in the back.

"Here we go." I flashed him a crooked smile and sat down.

"You want anything to drink or anything while we play?" I asked and began shuffling, wondering what the hell ne'tra gal was and if we had anything remotely similar on board.

Kyan was happy to notice that Link had followed them into the galley as if to join in, but when she went back to whatever tinkering she had been doing before he had interrupted her with his need to use the comm. He was disappointed that she still kept to herself and opened up to no one, except Yaoksi it seemed.

“My name is Link Jedi,” said Link. “I am not some pet that you can give a cute little name to, do it again and I will shove my shiny metal arm down your throat. Anyways I’m working on that repulsor gauntlet you wanted to fake your Jedi magic, but seeing as how you don’t need one anymore I’ll keep it who knows it might come in handy.”

Link got up and poured herself a mug of caf before returning to the table, then resumed her work. While continuing to work on her project she looked up across the table at Kyan.

"Hey, that's great!" I beamed as I started dealing the deck. As each card landed, the impact of their faces upon the table where we sat triggered tiny, if a bit ancient, sensors. Each one emitted a tiny click, followed by a little hum. I wondered what mine had been when they hit the table, what they had just turned into.

And what they'd be when I picked them up. Damn, but I had to upgrade one of these days; most peeps didn't like playing with me cuz my cards were a bit on the "loose cannon" side. Well, that's what happens when you play with an old deck...

I jerked my wandering thoughts back on track and quickly dealt out the remainder of the first round. Grabbing up mine, I fanned them out, then peered over the top of them at Kyan.

"I mean, now we won't have to go through all the subterfuge we were going to try, right? I mean, maybe we won't have to even bother now, do ya think?"

I shot my cards a sideways look, then set my gaze upon Link. Bless that lil gal's heart, her expression had gone utterly dead-pan.

What a sabaac player. We were in trouble now!

Kyan knew the basics of Sabaac, to get a hand of either positive or negative 23 without going over while the cards had a chance to randomly change on the player. But basic knowledge was a far cry from knowing any strategy. He looked across the table at Link still tinkering away at her project when she stopped only to look at her cards for a few seconds and tapping the corner on 3 of her cards which Kyan assumed was how one locked the value in place. Then she set them back face down on the table resuming her work.

For all her boasting she looks like she can back it.

"Master Jetiis'ad, this is Jedi Shawn Petrolu. I have been attempting to reconnect with any lingering Jedi and reestablish connections with others, and have in the process come in contact with a young lady by the name of Kar’uni Jetiis’ad. She says she is your granddaughter...

“Kan’ika,” exclaimed Kyan. “He found my Kan’ika. Captian Joao, Link I need to use your communications system, for a conversation in real time.”

He waited only a minute before Link nodded and he rushed off to the bridge. Kyan knew enough about most standard radio’s to transfer the call from Link’s data pad to the comm unit built into his helmet and patch into the ships communication system for a real-time conversation.

“Ba’buir...”

This was all Kyan needed to hear to confirm it was indeed his granddaughter on the other end of the comm. The identity of their true clan also was a signal that this was an urgent matter but only one that could be discussed in person. The second part of the message was an old Mandalorian proverb meaning Family is more than bloodline, it was the pass-phrase he needed to respond correctly back to in order to confirm his own identity.

“ Gar taldin ni jaonyc; gar sa buir, ori'wadaas'la,” answered Kyan.

Kyan knew someone on the other end was listening into their conversation most likely the Imperials according to his family back on Mandalore. But even so there were things he had so say to his granddaughter, he switched from Mandalorian to Concordian . A dialect of Mandalorian rarely heard outside of Concord Dawn or Concordia.

“Kan’ika, there is much that cannot be said right now but know that I love you. I will find a way for us to find each other, but for now be ready. Now there is a threat that is coming and I’ve instructed our clan to prepare but for this we may also need the empire’s help for that put whoever is there on the comm.”

Kyan began to wonder if he heard that right, the man who they were attempting to rescue from the Sith was the one who had his granddaughter. He needed confirmation first the man was who he said he was, and there was one quick way to find out. He rushed out of the bridge looking for Galen finding her and Terrin just outside the galley.

How did I miss them on the way to the bridge… I must have been in a hurry because of Kan’ika.

Sorben--??

!!!

It took me another real-time second or two to pick it up and put it firmly back in place.

"Uhh-- yeah," I stammered, still derailed, as I shot Terrin an incredulous look before returning my gaze to Kyan. He stood there as all a-quiver as I imagined he ever could allow himself to be, and for a guy who ran around in the same armor Sorben did, who managed to escape dangerous solitude on a planet from hell, who was in fact of the Mandalore themselves, that was saying quite a lot. He fairly shook with pent-up excitement and relief, or so it seemed to me.

But then I remembered how I felt when I had finally found Darra, and let my lips quirk into a smile.

"Yeah, of course!" I exclaimed a bit more brightly then found myself moving at quite a clip in order to keep up with him, so quickly had he turned and taken off in the direction of the bridge. As we trotted the short distance there, I shot Terrin another look.

"Sorben-?" I mouthed quietly, brows raised, then gave my head the tiniest of shakes. For if ever there was a single man in the entire known universe who could have said universe all up in a toot to hunt for him, only to show up on his own like the proverbial prodigal son all smug and smiling...

It was him. I had absolutely no doubts in the matter whatsoever; just knew it was him. What he was doing with Kyan's granddaughter, well...

And possibly trained by Mandalore himself.

Now in possession of Kyan’s granddaughter. Sorban must have very little knowledge if he was keeping Kani close to him, for whatever it took to break a Mandalorian Protector must have left some permanent scars on her mind.

“General Tarnus,” Kyan began. “Jedi Master Jetiis’ad, for simplicity just call me Kyan. Forgive my heavy accent as basic is my third language. I have information that might be useful to you and your empire, also if this current lead pans out something personal for you as well. Seeing as how you can speak for your government and I can put you in touch with those on Mandalore who can do the same I suggest we meet.”

Kyan left the message as vague as possible, he was certain of Link’s technical abilities that this message could not be traced so he didn’t want to leave any clues to where they were headed or their objective until it was advantageous to himself.

...and Terrin trusted him completely.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Terrin returned Galen's increduluous expression look for look, shaking his own head.

"Shawn?" he then mouthed back at her, shrugging slightly in surprise...

...after all, wasn't the Jedi supposed to be back on Khar Delba with the boys, or at the very least with Jasyn?

So then where the kriffing hell were they? And as he thought this, Terrin knew Galen could read between the lines as to where his thoughts were headed in regards to Shawn's sudden appearance with Tarnus. But even with these final questions in mind, Terrin had to wonder if Kyan didn't have a very good point with what he was saying to Tarnus. With the way things were panning out and people were all-the-sudden reappearing and popping up together...

...were they currently headed to the wrong destination? After all, their sole purpose for heading there had been to free the Lt. General...

...and otherwise the planet wasn't exactly the most welcoming of strangers...

"I think we need to change our course," he then mouthed quietly to Galen, again knowing she would understand...

"Your words intrique me, Master Jedi Jetii-- that is, Kyan.

"Perhaps you might wish to divulge just a tad bit of what this information you hold actually is, Kyan. A mere announcement of such, as stated, is vague at the very least, and is certainly not enough in and of itself to have me running to your beck and call.

"Even if your -- "Boor--?? is here, not to mention being a full lieutenant in our Imperial troops. Undoubtedly the two of you wish heartily to be reunited.

"That's him!" I mouthed, unscrambling myself from the momentary ludicrous picture I presented and hastening back to Terrin, who fortunately had managed to stop upon entering.

I took up a rueful stance at his side, then firmed as another feeling suddenly flew in on the wings of mynoks to completely flood me with...

Anger. Yuppers, friends, that was it, pure and simple. Leave it to the man; I mean, just leave it to him! All the worry, preparations, fear, danger; everything we had undertaken, both in reality and in the imagining of future events, all this and for what?

Nothing. Here he pops up, so simple, so... so full of himself, as usual! I could read it between every word coming in over the comm, could feel it in the very vibrations of the molecules in the air.

Damn that guy, anyway!

I drew in a deep breath, then spoke up, loudly enough so he would hear me.

"Yeah, that's him!" I said, then amended this little confirmation with,

"Yes, I recognize your voice. I assumed you would be there with, let's see, it's Terrin, isn't it?

"How wonderful; perhaps we can all get together for a little joint family reunion; however, now is not the time.

...but he knew damn well the look in Galen's eye; he'd seen it before. But he knew at the moment the best thing to do was let her say what she needed to say...

"Terrin, heads up on some things Lord Aeylmaar and I have found out via the Octahedron. It seems Panthar left Matt imprisoned on K'eel Doba and took off with ShaRhylla and Shayla...

...only to somehow end up on some other ship with Phalomir, Sharylla...

"I'll be right back," he whispered quietly in Galen's ear, giving her shoulder a squeeze before backing out just into the corridor beyond and hitting the accept button.

Jasyn's message played out. Terrin chewed his lip in thought. They had already been headed to K'eel Doba to retrieve an imprisoned Tarnus...

...but now that he was clearly not imprisoned and Matt was, with things going awry on K'eel Doba and elsewhere, Terrin wasn't sure what should come next. He didn't know if busting into K'eel Doba with no Dark Lady-or maybe ShaRhylla...in charge, would bode very well for them, or for Matt. And what the kriffing hell was Shayla doing with ShaRhylla? And Panthar, what was he doing?!?

Terrin hit the response button of his wristcomm.

"Jasyn, you are safe sticking with the plan to head out after Jharmeen," he responded. "Keep in contact and I'll let you knwo what we are going to proceed with next as well as there have been developments here. The Lt. General is not imprisoned on K'eel Doba as we suspected, at least not anymore."

He paused. "I need to let Galen and the oithers know what is going on, then I'll update you on our status."

Sending the message off, Terrin stepped back into the cockpit, returning to Galen's side and leaning in a bit, concern evident in his eyes. "We need to talk," he mouthed in her direction.

All of us, came a final mental addendum.

“I doubt very much you have my buir,” answered Kyan. “Buir is a parent, ba’buir is a grandparent, Kan’ika is my ad’ika. Mando’a lessons set aside for another time or you can just ask Kan’ika for one later, The personal item I mentioned is your beskar’gam, Mandalorian armor, I’m told you lost yours I can retrieve it or even provide you with a new set if that is preferable. Kan’ika can attest to the quality of the armor of my clan. I also have information that your empire might have use for as well, in addition I can arrange a meeting with most of the chieftains on Manda’yaim.”

Kyan transmitted the message off to Sorban. Kyan didn’t want to reveal his entire hand already, such as Galen’s presence with him. At least no one outside of the ship know of Galen’s apprenticeship to him or more importantly her abilities.

(((OCC: Message Cross-posted in Round and Round and Round She Goes...in this same forum.)))

"Your offer is most generous, Kyan. However, at this time I'm afraid my staff and I are involved in other issues, and cannot be side-tracked by your hints of information the Empire might find use for.

"While I appreciate your offer of mediating between us and your clans, I will not take it on your word alone at this time. For although my young lieutenant here appears to know you, I myself do not.

"Please feel free to approach my office on the Galactic Home World of Coruscant; I will personally vouch for you and allow you and your... associates entry there.

"General Tarnus, out."

"Oh yeah, that's him all right!" I muttered before we departed altogether from the bridge. Terrin strode along for a few tens of meters or so, before coming to a halt. Not that I knew for a fact, of course, but by his tense attitude and behavior it sure seemed that he wanted no bystanders present, at least for the moment, who could potentially eavesdrop upon is.

I frowned a little, feeling a familiar army of little geese beginning their icy march up and down my spine.

Aruetiise, before I could have convinced the chieftains to actually meet with the empire or recovered Kan’ika at the same time from their clutches. But any Mando’ad worth his stuff would realize the tactical disadvantage we would face if all the clan leaders were captured or killed on Coruscant.

Kyan was venting his anger it helped him think, he then felt something through his Force link, concern and possibly anger as well coming from Galen. Immediately Kyan quelled his feelings of anger and frustration.

Not yet not now, I may by able to properly deal with and harness my anger but Gal’ika is still young in the Force I must not let her feel my own and help her to deal with her’s, but not yet I can sense she wants be alone for the moment.

Kyan utilized a few Jedi calming techniques and helped center his thoughts, he needed to meditate on what he learned and about this man Sorban. But before he did he reached out to Galen with the Force.

Ad’ika, I can sense you are busy, when you are done come get me I’ll be meditating on the bridge.

"Wha--?" I gasped, trying to orient myself. I straightened, turned my head to look here and there; of course there was nobody around but Terrin and myself, so where--?

But of course.

"It's Kyan," I breathed, stunned by this connection. "And he's pissed off about something.

"More than likely Sorben," I amended as I turned to go back to the bridge. "I mean, he wasn't very amenable back there, was he?

"But then, deep down, he was always the suspicious type. He had to be; he was a Hunter."

I entered the bridge, Terrin in tow, and approached Kyan. Off to the side Capt. Joao sat in utter silence, appearing to be somewhat shocked by something.

Or someone...? Was this my Teacher? Wow, I didn't think Jedi got so mad.

I kept that little discomfiting thought to myself, though, and came up to Kyan.

Kyan wasn’t shocked in the least from the surprise Galen felt at his anger. Not many Jedi wore their emotions so close to the surface and very few considered them the subtle nudging of the Force. Many times fellow Jedi would try to lecture him on the importance of maintaining control over oneself so they in turn could master the Force, but to Kyan Jedi didn’t master the Force they allowed the Force to manifest its self through them.

“I don’t know if he even wants our help,” Kyan sighed. “Even he has to realize that I can’t convince the clan chieftains to meet him on Coruscant. He of all people should realize we Mandalorians would not walk into such a disadvantageous situation with little reward. As it stands Gal’ika I can only speak for our clan at the moment.”

Look at me I already count Gal’ika as part of the clan, was it right to adopt her like I did or to tell her how I feel. No what happened was the will of the Force, something will happen because of this. If all she learns from me are just the ways of the Force I would still be proud to include her in my family.

“Now how do we proceed,” continued Kyan. “All main reason for traveling to K’eel Doba is gone, we still don’t know where Erik has gone, and even with what we have learned about the Vong and the return of our abilities will the Empire even be willing to hear us out.”

Kyan could almost sense the darkness looming in their future and the uncertainty of what was about to come, but at the same time he was reminded of the vision of the woman and the chance of a peaceful future. He smiled in his helmet and wanted to share his vision with Galen, but kept it to himself he wanted Galen’s future shaped by her own hands with her own strength.

Now, that was the silliest thing I'd heard in a long time. For if there was anything I knew, down to the bottom of my heart, down to the very midi-whatever-they-were that supposedly I had inside me...

It was Sorben.

But then a niggle raised a tentative hand for attention: why did you swoop out of nowhere to rescue him from the clutches of Darth Wicked? Whatever compelled you to welcome him aboard, this hunter and his insectile companion, to join forces with him in the first place?

Maybe it was the Force all along...

I shook my head to clear it, then replied, hoping to raise my new Teacher's spirits.

"You can trust him implicitly," I said with a definitive nod of my head, "and I don't care one whit that he's such a Big Baddie in the Empire now.

"Ya know, guys," I said as I raised an interruptive forefinger. "Maybe you misunderstood Tarnus. I mean, I might be wrong about it, but to me it sounded like we, that is us have an invitatiion to go discuss things with him at the Imperial home base on Coruscant."

I shot Kyan a look, ignoring the little thrill of discomfort that rippled along the back of my neck when he turned that damned Mandalorian mask in my direction.
This guy certainly wasn't one I wanted to get on the bad side of...!

"I mean," I went on. "Maybe he didn't mean that you and the clan leaders go; maybe he meant just us. I mean, he does know us, that's for certain; and after all he did say something about you mediating, didn't he?

"Maybe he wants you to come to him, to hear what there might be to be heard, and then take that to your clan leaders, rather than drag the whole bunch to Coruscant.

Gal’ika believes Tarnus to be a good man one whom we can trust, more so the Force is telling her to trust Tarnus which was more than enough for me. But even if I can trust Tarnus to be an honorable man I cannot trust the empire he represents, not while it has taken one of my children and has another under its sway.

“We trust Tarnus then,” came Kyan’s reply. “But remain cautious of the Empire, the chieftains and the Empire must realize the threat the vongese represent. Our people have had more experience fighting them and winning besides the Jedi, we could be beneficial allies if the vongese are indeed coming. First my people need to do something about that puppet Mandalore the Empire help install after they had Kan’ika, killed the last one.”

Kyan took out the holopad but did not activate it, he had burned all the images into his memory. The simple act of holding it reminded him of the family he once lost and the family he still had. He made a note to add Galen’s holo to his pad later so he could carry her with him always.

...and adding iformation of my own to that. Not too many civilian ships had the coordinates to the Mandalorian sector, after all; I wasn't surprised to find it wasn't in Challenger's lengthy list. But I'd been a smuggler, known a few peeps, been around a few places, heard and seen stuff and so on, some of it not too pleasant...

"Ah, here we go," I derailed my accelerating train of thoughts and sat back to review the results I'd come up with. Unless I had made some sort of humongous error, we were closer than I realized at first.

“Manda’yaim,” pointed out Kyan. “Capital, or the closest thing we have, to my people. I have some contacts among the other clans that will support us and the Jedi if the vongese come, but not the empire. While Mandalore Fett may have had good terms with them most Mandalorians will only take mercenary jobs with them. The last time we united as one people fight was against the vongese the first time they came.”

One Jedi Master, one Knight, one apprentice, and a few loyal Mandalorian clans. While our skills can be formidable the vongese have proven themselves in combat as well. We simply need more numbers and the full force of the Mandalorians, and with that we can bring a sufficient force to enter as equals with the empire to combat this threat.

I sat back, letting my thoughts climb back aboard the train they had been shoved off of, and take off once again.

"You know, we are acting on speculation here," I finally said, my brows waggling. "I mean, yeah, it's speculation based on some fairly good logic, but we don't have so much as an echo of an outline of an incoming Vong ship to back up our suppositions.

"Now, I'm all for erring on the side of caution, but how do you think your boys are gonna take things if we're wrong?"

I paused a moment to let Kyan have the time he needed to ponder upon what I said. Then his last words hit me.

"Ummm... you said something about beefing up Challenger's armor? Hey, that would be super!"

Who was I to look a gift ronto in the mouth, after all?

"If anything, maybe you can talk to the clan leaders and get them to listen to the Empire, er... that is, if the Empire had anything they wanted to say to them, which it doesn't sound like, right? So probably your guys won't want anything to do with any of this unless the threat is a real one; oh dammitall, I just don't know what to think.

"But we're on our way to Mandalore, unless anybody can come up with a reason why we should not. At the very least we can get you home, Kyan."

...and even more so considering that Panthar had knowingly left him there to galavant off with ShaRhylla and Shayla.

Dammitall, Shayla did have a knack for entangling herself with the nasties. Not exactly the innocent flip of a thing she once was, that was for sure.

Terrin frowned to himself, his blue eyes darkening. Everyone else needed to know about all this, and now.

"Not to change the subject," Terrin started with, winciong to himself as he realized just how long he'd been quiet while chewing on these newest few bits of distasteful information, "But my employee Jasyn Lancaster who is back on one of the Sith worlds just commed me with some more troubling information. It would seem another of my crew--Matt Stanza--has been left imprisoned on a Sith world, knowingly left behind by a guy named Panthar Dantares."

Terrin frowned, his look growing even darker. Some in their new group wouldn't know the names he was about to drop, but Terrin had a sneaking suspicion they might all too soon. "Seems Panthar has made his way to being on a ship with Phalomir...

...but not before he spent some time with ShaRhylla and Shayla Stargazer Kartan."

He paused again, his eyes shifting to Galen. "Whatever those two are up to has upset your sister to the point of being in pain, and Jasyn and Lord Aeylmaar have somehow determined that she is on Bespin. JKasyn is going after your sister...

...but for the moment, nobody seems to know what Rhylla and Shayla are up to and Matt is left imprisoned."

Quieting for a moment then, Terrin sighed, hating where his thoughts were taking him. "I want to go back after Matt...

...I don't know how long he's been in this predicament. But at the same time, I've got a very bad feeling about all of this. ShaRhylla and Stargazer are very bad combination, and Galen's sister's apparent condition is troubling."

He shook his head. "We might need to alert the Mandalorians to more than the potential approach of the Yuuzhan Vong. Something is up...

...and it's not good."

"What in Hell's Seven Circles is going on around here?!"

The words burst from my mouth almost like an epithet. Suddenly discomfited by the fact that my thoughts about all that was transpiring were whirling about like Tatooine dust devils (but not getting anywhere) I let myself slump against the nearest bulkhead, and blew a stray tendril of hair from my face.

"The Sith first seem to imprison Sorben, then he's free as the proverbial bird; then we find Matt has taken his place -- so to speak -- while on top of it we think the Vong are headed this way.

"And Sissy-poops is hurting."

I cut my words off with that, letting my gaze turn from one to another, waiting for someone to pick up on the implications those last words of mine carried.

Nada; peeps just turned interested eyeballs in my direction, so on I went.

"Guys, you know the Force users were momentarily deprived of their abilities, and now, going by this news, it would seem Sis had that weird power of hers snatched away as well. I mean, I know her; she's come to be something of a tough bird, and wouldn't allow herself to be in any kind of position even remotely similar to pain or anguish or anything like that if she wasn't able to do something about it.

"Terrin's right, this is troubling. That power of hers was something else; Kyan, my Teacher, you have to see it in action to understand it. It's not just the Force, it's more than the Force. I'm not certain what in Hell's Seven Circles it actually is, but I think the Force is kinda like a subset of it."

I wracked my brain a moment.

"She called it the All."

Still nada; peeps just kept their interested peepers peeping my way; I puffed on the recalcitrant tendril of hair and tried again.

"Look, I've seen this in action. It-- it, well it can do lots of things the Force can't. Like make things materialize from thin air, and heals terrible injuries in the blink of an eye, and other impossibilities. It's powerful... and something took it away from her as easy as taking candy from a baby.

"Or so I think."

Another pause; now everyone's look was becoming just a bit more perturbed. Even Captain Joao's. I went on.

"Guys, I know the supposed Vong advance is pretty dire, but we did kick their collective butts once, didn't we? And anyway, now we have the advantage that their element of surprise is gone, even if we're just assuming that they're coming. Yes Sorben should be told of this, but I don't think that's the main problem we're all dealing with here."

I paused again, now closing my eyes and letting my innards go limp. From my very toes there came a wash of warmth; it began to smoothly flow up my legs, gaining my torso where it joined the gaggle of geese still marching up and down my spine. They began to veritably stomp; the feeling continued, now adding tremors to the wealth of physical reactions my body was suddenly going through.

The flaring heat continued its course, finally ending in my brain where it poked around, digging as if looking for something. Only to find it; it seemed to rear back, waving its discovery like yet another Red Flag.

Yup, another hunch. Same as the first, only stronger this time. Better go with it, Galen ol' gal...

I opened my eyes; maybe something like a second or two had actually passed, real-time.

"There's SOMEthing or SOMEone able to take away the All from Sissy. We've already had a run-in out of nowhere with ol Googly, it's a purty tough ahh-- well, thing. Suddenly now, all the poo-doo is hitting the fan: a race we know to have been a super power in the past, thought dead, is back. Another powerful enemy is probably en route to try to kill us again. Our friends are captured by the aforementioned powerhouse, first Sorben -- who happens to represent the Empire now, doesn't he? -- and now Matt. Meanwhile, other friends now suddenly seem to have turned tail into enemies.

"Things that are just to weird, totally out of character, are suddenly happening and happening fast. Almost like coming from clear out of the blue. I-- I dunno guys, but... does anyone here besides me suddenly feel like he's being...

"Manipulated? And if you do, then who is the real enemy we're facing?

“I understand this The All you speak of in theory Gal’ika,” came Kyan’s rebuttal. “But understanding and witnessing are two very different things. What we Jedi call the Force is merely one way to tap a greater power in the universe, others have developed such a means as well and that is why there is such a wide variety of abilities. The Jedi order is just the most well known among the galaxy. I suspect this The All is a way to tap the source directly.”

But is such a way compatible with the Force, or the Living Force.

“I can’t explain the differences between the Force and the All. I only know what you have told me and what I can feel through the Force link between us. What I understand is that those who have used this power do not do so with the right intentions, or for the benefit of others. I can only teach you the ways of the Force and how to be a Jedi, maybe with the right moral anchor you can use this ability for the good of others.”

Kyan relayed his faith in Galen through their link and confidence in her abilities to do what was right when the time came.

For hadn't she used it to heal me? No, not heal, but rather to restore me to my original physical state of well being, that day back in Darth Wicked's dungeon?

And knew as well that somehow, in some way that I just couldn't grasp, the words Kyan had spoken were at their heart somehow...

Hollow.

As if the arrow had flown straight and true, only to miss the mark by a hair's-breadth.

I couldn't put my finger on it. In fact, I didn't even know if I should try. Maybe he was right; maybe, as Captain Joao just said, I shouldn't look a gift ronto in the mouth. Maybe I should just accept the thing within me, the thing I knew sure as there's Treasure on Roon, that didn't exist in me until after that fateful day when Sissy went into that mysterious cave after Dad only to return...

Different.

There was something in that cave, something that did something to her, and by proximity to me as well. Enough, at least, that she wasn't able to kill me as easily as she did Dad; I was able to elude her...

I shook my head, snapped myself to figurative attention, straightened my shoulders. Then reached inside myself hunting for the Elusive Solution I hoped would obligingly present itself.

It, of course, wasn't there. Not one peep of it.

I sighed, now trying to think why I thought Kyan's words seemed to fall short. What was missing? Hell, why did I even feel they were somehow lacking something?

And did it really matter?

The answer to that came flying out of the blue so impetuously that it staggered me.

Hell yes, it mattered!

I knew part of the answer now, knew it to my very soul. There was a power out there, a power some beings called one thing, while other named it something else. And this power was used from whatever moral angle they so chose, according to what they themselves believed in. Didn't Kyan just mention those using it for the good of everyone? Didn't he speak of morality and the power?

But what did that mean? How can a mere being, a culture, a civilization, hell, an entire species take it upon themselves to decide who or what were good, and who or what were bad? Wasn't it a matter of viewpoint?

Like you changing vision of your own flesh-and-blood sister, Galen ol' gal...

Where was the objective by-stander who would negotiate matters, and thus allow the user to touch upon the totality of it?

The... All of it...

The merest hint of correctness, the tiniest feeling of this is right snickered through me only to be avalanched beneath the debris of I haven't an idea of what I'm talking about; this is too big, too overwhelming...

All I could do was go round robin back to my original feeling, the sense that things were somehow being set up, that we were being played one against the other. To what purpose, I hadn't a clue. But it was clear that we were intended to follow certain paths to address certain issues; that much was obvious.

Of course we rally the troops to defend the Galaxy, right?

"Nope."

The apparent non sequiteur floated from my lips to drop like a stone to the deck.

The path less traveled. The unexpected course.

The setting of the stage...

"We go back on course to K'eel Doba, and rescue Matt from imprisonment. That's what I feel is the best course of action that we take."

“Well done my apprentice,” answered Kyan. “Captain Joao, sorry to make such demands but return us to our original course.”

Her confidence in her abilities is growing, Gal’ika is learning that what she thought was impossible or incapable of can be accomplished through the Force. For someone of her age to show such proficiency and aptitude to learning the ways of the Force is astounding. Soon we will need to start more with controlling the Force.

There goes my armor, I couldn't help thinking as I dropped Challenger from hyperspace once more to tweak her course for the second time. Then I realized I was being selfish, putting the thought of armor ahead of a fellow man's life.

The armor would wait. I never had much of it on Devil-may-Care, after all; I got to where I was solely on my own prowess. Which had gotten me where--?

Shaking that discomfiting thought away I focused on the navboard, and soon had us safely ensconced in hyperspace again, back on our original course.

"About three days, guys," I said as with a flip of the autopilot I stood up to take a stretch.

"I think I'm gonna go grab a bite, and then maybe take a little breather. Fates alone know what we're going to be running into once we hit the Sith worlds, and I want to be ready for anything.

"Holler if you need me for anything; Galen, you have the comm, should any changes need to happen. I mean, you don't have to sit on top of it, just check 'er out every now and again, but if anything needs to be done before you can get me to do it, well, you know."

With that I nodded to them all and made my way from the bridge. Damn, but I wished K'kihl was here; I had the sneakiest of suspicions that we could use him.

...and even more so by the very magnitude in which they seemed to be changing. He honestly wasn't sure what he found more disturbing...

...Panthar bailing out on Matt, that ShaRhylla and Shayla were galavanting around doing gods knew what...

...or that Jasyn was reporting Graysith was in some great and overwhelming pain.

Was this because of something she knew, or something she believed was going to happen? Could it have something to do with Shayla and ShaRhylla?

Or was it all a mere ploy somehow? Why was she on Bespin anyway? How did she get there?

Terrin frowned to himself once more.

And you just sent Jasyn on his merry way after her.

Terrin didn't know if his suspicious nature was just kicking in, or if he should comm back and tell Jasyn heading off after Jharmeen alone might be a very dangerous idea. But then, if Jasyn had promised Aeylmaar he would do this...

Terrin shook his head at his own thoughts...

...then decided he really needed more input on the matter.

"I'm wondering about what Jasyn just told me," he then said aloud. "And something about your sister's apparent condition is really bothering me," he continued, looking to Galen once more. "I mean, what is really hurting her so? Is it the ability of Something to remove her powers, or something related to the apparent situation with her daughter and Shayla...

...or somethng else entirely? Why in the worlds is she on Bespin anyway?"

He trailed. "I'm wondering if Jasyn should head off after her without back-up like he plans. Of course, Aeylmaar is expecting him to do this now, so backing out is not a good idea either, especially not when we probably want to keep friendly lines of communication open with the Sorcerors."

Terrin fell silent then, taken aback by his own wording. The Sorceror Clan of the Sith had always been the one they had been allied with. Never the Warriors.

Who appeared to be holding Matt, and who supposedly had Tarnus imprisoned once as well...

...and who were lead by none other than Graysith, Dark Lady of the Warriors, whose daughter was half-sith and the Heir...

If a situation comes up where Yaoksi is hurt or can’t fly the ship all I could do is enter a course and put the thing on auto pilot, I really need to learn to fly.

She was reading over the control setup on the Challenger when Yaoksi came back into the galley.

"I don't know what's important anymore, kiddo," I said with exaggerated exasperation as I handed her a cup. "It seems Tarnus was a prisoner of the Sith, er, at least we think; now, oooh whatta miracle, he's free and on his way to Coruscant. We have a pretty little invite to go there, by the way, to make all nicey nicey with him and his Imps. And tell him what we think is going on."

I snorted at that, taking a quick sip of the steaming liquid I held before continuing.

"So, we were changing course, to go to Kya- Kyamer-- ahh, the Myakaneroo-- erm, the Mandalorian system, so our intrepid Mandalorian can hobnob with his clan leaders and get their approval to come help us save the galaxy.

"Which I supposed was the first Rule of Order, but--!"

I trailed again, taking another sip, letting the fire of the caf blaze its way down my throat, awakening my taste buds as well as the tissues lining my innards to the fact that maybe something stronger might actually be in order here...

I snorted again, this time at myself.

"But," I continued, now raising my cup aloft to wave it about, ignoring the caf that came sloshing out onto the table and my wrist, "Now because Cap'n Danner's wife has gone all hoo-doo on us, and has visions or whatever, it's been decided that instead of going to those with the power to maybe do something about what's maybe happening here, we're back on our original course to the Sith worlds. I guess some guy she and her husband knows is imprisoned there too; sheesh, seems like a popular place. Maybe they should open up a spa or something."

A third snort escaped me and I sat back with a scowl. Suddenly I felt like nothing more than a taxi driver, and one who was maybe going from the frying pan into the fire. Not that I really had wanted to go to Kyan's home to begin with; those Mandalorians were nasty, at least that's what I believed from the little bit I'd managed to read about them.

But now, here was suddenly another human guy, some ordinary Joe, in prison on a Sith world. Risking life and limb for the Boss Man of the Galaxy, that I could see. But for this--?

"I think I might have met him before, but I couldn't say for certain," I finished with a little frown as with a rather weak attempt I tried to push down those selfish feeling that were trying to rise within me again. I mean, armor was one thing to lose out on over some guy's life.

“Well I’m glad that we aren’t going to Coruscant at least,” replied Link. Opening her datapad she brought up a list of bounties posted by the Empire and filtered the results by her most commonly used aliases.

“Let’s see the Empire wants me for terrorism and treason,” her response full of cheer and sarcasm. “I see I’m moving up on their crime list, now they will just shoot me on sight there.” Seeing her playful banter did little to help Yaoksi, Link think of a better way to help Yaoksi get his answer.

Relatively speaking, of course.

The major thing would be that someone else would have our collective backs; someone else would be there to intervene should things go wrong.

We wouldn't be all alone...

"You're right, Link!" I replied as I set my caf down on the table.

"I'd feel worlds better with Big Brother there at our back; lemme go find Danner and see if he'd cooperate with us on this.

"Here, keep this warm for me; I won't be long."

"I don't know, hon," I said with a little frown. "Who knows what makes Sissy upset; maybe she lost someone or something dear to her, something we don't know about. Maybe she is all bent our of shape that her power was taken away, if, that is, our conjecture about that is correct.

"She might have been hurt, or is sick, or-- or--"

I stopped, shrugging.

"It's silly to speculate; suffice it to say that there's something going on around here, something that personally I believe doesn't have to do with the Vong. Well, they might be a part of it, but I don't think they're the entire picture."

I shook my head, oblivious to how close I had just come to parroting one of Sissy's basic tenets. How could I know? I didn't; the words came out of my mouth as natural as can be, in response to the hollering and flag-waving my innards were putting up inside me.

"But it's just scary about how Big Re-- that is, Panthar seems to have gone off the deep end. Assuming Jasyn's speculations about him and Shayla and all are indeed correct. Who knows, this is all hearsay, albeit from a reliable source.

"But maybe that is the issue. I know Sissy hung close with that Shayla; maybe there's something going on there that hurt her deeply. But we won't know anything until we get to a place wehre maybe we can find a little factual evidence. And I think that's on K'eel Doba; don't they have some kind of Oracle or something, you know, that Library thingy we heard about when we were there? Maybe we can get some answers there; or at least we can skip on over to Khar Delba and hobnob with Aeylmaar. He's magickal; you'd think he'd be able to get to the bottom of things for us now, wouldn't you?"

I paused a moment, trying to think of how to continue when a noise behind me announced the arrival of Captain Joao.

"Link and I were talking over some java, and she has come up with a wonderful suggestion!" I said brightly to the group before singling out Terrin.

"Captain Danner, what would be the chance of having your nice SSD come along with us to K'eel Doba? You know, play guard nek, watch our backs? Someone there to do something should things go terribly wrong in our attempt to free your guy?"

The more I thought about it, the better sense this plan made. I mean, it was his man after all now, wasn't it? Why not ask for some firepower back-up to assist us in springing the guy from jail?

"Yeah, it isn't just a good idea, it's a kriffing good idea," Terrin agreed with Yaoksi, nodding. "And it's been done before," he continued, recalling back to when the fleet had lurked behind the shadow of K'eel Doba while they had been on Khar Delba after the Nar Khelba.

Of course, back then neither planet had been populated.

"I can contact my partner and have the ship revert just outside of the system so if we can sneak in and spring Matt the presence of an SSD won't stir things up onplanet."

He quieted then, beginning to key Aaron's frequency in on his wristcomm. Then he paused for a moment, looking over at Yaoksi once more. "And hey, we can swing by the Hornett and get you the computer system upgrades I promised once we get Matt back."

Like it's gonna be that easy, a little shoulder devil snorted.

With a mental shake of the head, Terrin couldn't help but think, Oh kriffing hell, it's YOU again.

Terrin keyed in the rest of Aaron's secure, highly encrypted frequency. "Hey Aaron, Terrin here. I need you have the coordinates to K'eel Doba pulled from the Hornett's memory. It's a long story that I'll fill you in on later, but one of our friends has been imprisoned in the system, and I want some back up when we go in should it be needed. I need you to have a course plotted near the system and then head that way ASAP. Please respond and let me know when this is done."

Leaving his request at that, Terrin pressed the send button on his commlink. Then he turned his attention back to the others.

"You know, maybe we can have a drink or two while we wait for Aaron's reply."

Terrin could practically hear his inner demon snickering. You're starting to sound like one of your employees now...

"And please, you can just call me Terrin. Gods know after all we've been through between now and times past we should be on a first-name basis."

"Hey, that's great, Cap- er, I mean, Terrin," I replied in an even brighter tone of voice. "Ane you can call me Yaoksi," I finished and stuck out my hand. Once the obligatory -- if somewhat silly by now, considering -- niceties were over, I turned on my heel.

"C'mon; Link's holding us a table!"

This was a joke, of course, but even as I took a step forward it hit me that perhaps Terrin might not be into my peculiar brand of humor.

"That's a joke," I said in clarification, then kept going, this time tossing parting instructions over my shoulder.

"Again, you've got the comm, Galen, but seriously, I don't think it's necessary. This ol' girl can take care of herself; I mean, what's gonna happen to us in hyperspace?

Terrin chose to push these thoughts to the furtherest corner of his mind.

Sure as Khaandon made lil green worrts, all seemed shipshape and proper. Barring anything of the untoward happening to us, like running through a supernova or barreling amidst a gamma ray burster which, even though being in hyperspace, would certainly do us no good, there didn't seem anything much I could do but sit and watch the ship's lights twinkle to themselves as it indeed ran itself.

Yeah, call on us humans for the gamma ray burster...

I snorted in amusement, and turned to go. Chances of anything bad happening were few and far between; it suddenly seemed like the best of ideas to join the others in a little smackeral of something, especially since my new teacher was...

Well, was...

What was he doing now?

I cast a glance at him, only to find that enigmatic T-shaped visor staring off into apparent otherness. He'd been mighty mum since the latest had come down the pike; maybe he wasn't too keen on us going back on our original course after all?

But he'd thrown that ball into my court!

I shook myself, frowning as I firmed.

He thought I was good enough to ask to be his student, or padawan, or apprentice, or whatever they term was they were going by these days. SO. He'd just have to trust me, just as I--

Just as I...

Just as I had to trust in him, and not read things that maybe weren't there.

"Coming," I called to Terrin, with a final look at the board. The words, however, were meant to jog Master Kyan from whatever reverie that was taking over his senses.

As my attempt in capturing his attention seemed to come to a dead end, at least for this particular moment, I just shrugged. Then making good on my word, I simply followed Terrin out into the corridor beyond the bridge.

She has learned to sense the Force around her and soon it will become like breathing to her. Next she will learn to control the Force within her then manipulate the Force around her.

What astonished Kyan the most about Galen’s growth was not only the potential he saw in her, but the rate of her growth was almost unheard of. In the history of the Jedi Order there had only been one Jedi to ever advance as Galen had, Grand Master Skywalker. Kyan couldn’t help but notice the similarities between the two; Skywalker had rebuilt the Jedi order after its destruction, now it would seem that Galen was to walk the same path.

So what does that make me, am I Gal’ika’s Master Kenobi and Master Yoda.

The thought of being in such a position as two of the most important figures made Kyan question, why him? What was the Force thinking to pick a Jedi such as him to fulfill such a task? Kyan sighed inwardly accepting the duty given to him hoping he could measure up to the standard that Master Kenobi had set for Master Skywalker. With that he turned away from the communication station.

No sense in contacting the Chieftains, they know what is required of them and will be prepared when the time comes. And with my prior warning about the Vongese they will no doubt handle our little Imperial puppet of a Mandalore. Whoever they choose as his successors would have the support of my clan as well.

"Hell, I almost forgot to give Jasyn an update on what we are going to do," he then said aloud to no one in particular. Then he raised his wristcomm to his lips.

"Jasyn, Terrin here. We are staying on course and heading after Matt. Keep me posted on your progress; I'll do the same. If you need anything, let us know. Danner out."

Pushing the send button, Terrin then squirted the message off to Jasyn and began heading towards the galley once more.

Why does he still creep me out, is it because he’s a Jedi; or because if he found out what I really did to that girl he would turn me in because to most people it was the right thing to do. I know Yaoksi’s agreed to keep silent on the issue but I could never trust anyone else, not even Galen because she’s becoming a Jedi as well.

Link shook her head willing away such thoughts lest Galen could read her mind like they say a Jedi could.

"But I think they're going to play back-up. That was a great idea you had; now if you could come up with some way for us to spring this guy we're going to get, that would be even better.

"I'm kinda at a loss, myself. You know me, a lover not a fighter; always have been, always will."

I sent Link an overly bright smile and then hid it behind my raised cup. I didn't want her to see it waver; damn, but had anyone come up with any real, employable strategies on what we were going to do once we reached our destination?

Link did have ample experience in her past with make an escape or entrance to a secure facility, but this situation was different. Ideally she slice her way in to the system as a worker then from there assess the situation on how best to fool the computer into letting her do what she wanted. And any sentient could be fooled as well, thankfully for her Ryns made up a large percentage of the cheap labor force. But not here this was a Sith world, probably the only place she stood out more than anyone else, better yet no technology no slicing.

“I may be good, but even I can slice magik.”

If need be Link was a good shot with a blaster, might be able to pick pocket from one of the Sith. Other than that when they arrived she was out of her skill set.

Some partner I am…

I raised a brow at Link, and set my cup down on the table. I hadn't thought of that; sheesh, what good would I be in the upcoming situation? I mean, I wasn't the best fighter, although I could use a blaster, and Fates alone knew how well I could strategize.

About as well as I could come up with ideas... which wasn't saying much.

I reached over and gave Link's arm a quick squeeze.

"That's a super thought; see? That's why I want you for my partner, kiddo. You think of things I miss."

I sat back and picked up my cup again.

He paused, pursing his lips. "Matt went with Panthar to K'eel Doba to offer assistance when all the powers and magicks had gone away. When they got there, at least according to what Jasyn and Aeylmaar found out, they ended up meeting with ShaRhylla-Graysith's daughter-and Shayla Stargazer. Something happened and Panthar ended up galavanting off with the two females while Matt was sent off to rot in prison."

Terrin sighed. "To make a long story short, it sorta appears that maybe they were up to something that they didn't want Matt to go back and talk about; who knows, maybe they just decided he knew too much in general from being around the Sith so much. But even at that, I would have thought they'd kill him first rather than imprisoning him."

Quieting a moment, Terrin considered what Link had just suggested. "And Link has a point, maybe the best strategy would be to go directly to the source and tell them we are looking for Matt, have heard rumors he has been imprisoned there, and see what happens. The direct approach has worked in the past..."

"Yeah, nothing like the direct approach, I'll agree with you there. Beats sneaking around; even if you're completely honest in you intentions, sneaking just doesn't make it look that way.

"Besides, we'll have a SSD at our backs, right Terrin? Can't get any more direct than that."

“I don’t like the fact we are entering into this fray blindly,” interjected Kyan. “I mean it is all well and good to have a SSD as backup but does very little if you aren’t willing to use it. Are you prepared to do that?”

Kyan paused to let them think hard on that thought.

“From what Gal’ika has told me and the knowledge I gained as a Jedi these Sith don’t strike me as people who will respond to empty threats let alone ones from a sales man, no offense Terrin. Now during the Jedi Sith war over 3000 years ago Exar Kun hired my people to help the Sith in their fight against the Jedi. Perhaps they remember and respect the Mandalorians.

I wish we had more time to teach Gal’ika about the Force. Her growth is extraordinary and her ability to read the Force comes natural to her.

He turned to Kyan. "Threatening the Sith myself, or with my SSD, was not what I had in mind," he said, being straight to the point. "And for that matter, I know from past experience the Sith won't respond to threats of any kind, from any of us."

He paused, letting those words sink in. "We aren't going into this quite as blindly as perhaps you think; Galen and I have been on these Sith worlds before, to recover our daughter, to face enemies, and to eventually make some allies. She and I as well as Yaoksi have also seen very well what they are capable of...

...and when they are angry, it really isn't pretty to say the very least."

Quieting, his eyes defocused a little as his own memories of such played through his mind's eye: of friends and past allies who had been wounded or killed and of Galen's own tortures at the hand of Dark Lord Roan.

It hit me like a ton of durasteel then, sending my memories winging back to life with Dad, to his obsession with the Sith, with something as shadowy as a hunting dianoga, as evoking of terror as a rampaging rancor...

And something, or rather a bunch of someones, who as it turned out were much, much more than anyone dreamed they were.

I couldn't help but cast an incredulous look Terrin's way, then slid that same look toward Kyan.

"Ummm..." I interjected softly but firmly. "I think we're all kinda at odds here, and before we go any further we'd all better be reading the same page. The Sith are not who and what you think they are, Ky- er, that is, Master Jetiis'ad."

I paused fractionally as two images swam into my mind's eye: one of that ol Big n Baddie, Darth Wicked, he of the "original" Sith bent, he the Dark Force user ala the likes of Darths Vader and Sidious and others who had terrorized the innocent throughout the galaxy's vast history. And the other--?

I closed my eyes for a moment as the image of blazing turquoise eyes came within a hair's-breadth of my own, as hot breath seemed to fan my face, as clawed red fingers reached out to--

My eyes popped open beneath a frown, as now I struggled to remember what history I'd learned in those seemingly forever-ago classes I'd taken before going off with Dad and Jharmeen on our hunt to prove the Sith really were. Not too much had been known about the Sith, who they were or anything; just the general stuff that Kyan was alluding to: that they were a people, who were attacked, and who now apparently had sought assistance from the Mandalorians. I didn't know that; what I did know was that it still seemed Kyan didn't have all the information he needed. But then, how could he? No one knew who these people really were; they all thought Dad was a fruitcake going on with his alternate theories, thought him even crazier when he took off with Jharmeen and me in order to prove how much had been lost to over four centuries of time.

Or purposely hidden.

"The Sith aren't like Exar Kun and Darth Vader and those guys," I said stressing the present tense of the verb. "Most people think that those were guys who just fostered a belief, albeit a very dark one. They followed a dark way of living, and eventually there were only two of 'em allowed to be around at the same time. But the real Sith..."

I paused fractionally, weighing erroneous historical "fact" against that which I knew from experience to be true.

"They're a whole race of people. A whole civilization. They're humanoid, although very different from us. And they don't use the Force, Kyan; they have these... these, well, it's sounds goofy when I say it but they have these magickal powers, and all kinds of strange machines and stuff; they make the greatest fighter ships..."

Again I paused, thinking of Jester II now tucked safely away from prying eyes...

"And some of 'em can use that weird power my sister can, the one she calls the All. Kyan, I watched her easily defeat another, well, for lack of anything better I'll call him a "dark Sith" cuz all he was about was being nasty and evil like Vader of old. Anyway, she handled him and his, what do you call it? 'Dark side of the Force' as easily as shooting worrts."

I shook my head a little then; hadn't I told Kyan about this? How easy it was to stick this knowledge to the back of ones' minds, so easy to continue then along old preconceived notions, to overlook some of the cold hard facts that we were going to be flying smack-straight into. And he sure seemed to be stuck in a "the-Force-is-It" mindset, further shown by his reference to someone from the dregs of history, this Exar Kun guy, and not applying what I'd said earlier toward the reality of what we were doing, and where we were going.

But then, maybe I dreamt about revealing who the Sith really were. Or maybe I hadn't made myself clear enough. Or maybe Kyan, fresh from being found on that mystery planet upon which was growing those Vong thingys, hadn't properly assimilated what I had been trying to say. Well, now was the time to say it again.

Sometimes the student can enlighten the teacher, after all.

I took a deep breath and crossed my arms. "These guys can dissassemble solid matter with a thought," I finished. "So yeah, while having a SSD at our backs would under normal circumstance be super helpful, to them it might be nothing more than an eagle made of glass.

"I say we have to tread very carefully, and with the utmost diplomacy. Well, with as much diplomacy we can muster, that is."

"The Hornett is enroute to a location just outside of the Sith worlds, Terrin."

He paused briefly, frowning to himself. "Please fill me in on what is going on soon; I'd like to know what we're facing here."

We always believed that the Sith had to be inherently of the dark side, the possibility that the Sith were innocent until the dark Jedi found them is one the Jedi never considered.

“Very well then,” said Kyan. “I can tell you do have an plan and a sound one at that. I leave this to you Terrin and Gal’ika as it is your man.”

Was this what the Force wanted, I know there are powers beyond the Force but all must come from a common source. The ones of other traditions could not sense me, but this the All Gal’ika speaks of might be different. I thought it was the Force that allows her to sense me, could it be something else.

“There is much I have to think on, much I assumed was true but appears otherwise. I will acknowledge the role the Force has assigned me to train Gal’ika as a Jedi. I will not override what plans outside of her training you make and as such will abide by your decisions on how to proceed when you require my or when Gal’ika wishes to continue with her training I’ll be in the cargo bay meditating.”

Sure as there's Treasure on Roon.

"Umm, 'scuse me a minute," I said to no one in particular then made a beeline to the galley hatch. I stepped out into the corridor beyond just in time to catch the merest hint of a shadow flicking to the left; without even pausing to consider I followed, somehow knowing that catching up with him in the corridor to talk to him would not be the best of ideas. I followed that merest hint, that suggestion, until I came upon him kneeling in a shadowy niche of the cargo bay, his helmeted head tilted, his hands quiet in front of him.

I took a step inside, sensing immediately his awareness of my presence, even though he hadn't moved so much as one muscle. For a moment I dithered just inside the doorway; then drawing in a deep breath I went over to a position in front of him, lowered myself to my knees, and tilted my face downward to the deck.

"Don't feel bad, Master; there's not many people in the Galaxy who know about this," I said in a soft voice. He remained silent, rock-still; drawing in another little breath I went on.

"How could anyone know, when there really wasn't all that much handed down over time? I mean, history is revealed to the present by written or pictorial documentation at the very best, and mouth-to-mouth stories at the least. My Dad knew this, and knew that sometimes one had to ignore the obvious, listen to the ghosts, and seek the truth between the lines."

Somehow that statement sounded all poetic and flowery; grunting a little, I shifted my position and forced myself to continue. Kyan still remained silent as a stone.

"Look, what everyone knows, or thinks they know, about the Sith is based on not much more than a whisper. It tooks the shenanigans of those early Darths to give that whisper a louder voice, and that's what everyone came to understand as being true. My dad was an xeno-archeologist, and he listened to the words that weren't whispered, wondering instead who had initiated that whisper... and why they had done it. He thought there was something else, another truth, and actually succeeded in finding it... although I can count the number of people who know about this on the fingers of one hand. Or both hands."

I paused again; still nada. Now I wriggled; damn, how did they sit like this to meditate? I considered myself to be fit n' trim, and knew a bit of the martial arts, but already I could feel a cramp starting to crawl into the arch of my left foot. I grunted again, pushing away the tenderness, and went on.

"I've seen these people, I've been to their world. So has Sorben, and not only with the Empire in his fist. Something weird and wonderful happened to them, Ky- that is, Master. They were not here at all, not even considered to be a part of the universal puzzle. Then there were a couple showing up, to what purpose I didn't at the time have a clue. Of the few who popped up out of nowhere, one hundred percent used that weird power. I know this from first hand experience.

"And then... and then, they were suddenly just here. Where they came from, I don't know. But I saw one of their worlds go from cold and deserted, to bustling with life."

Now I had the temerity to reach out and take Kyan's gloved hands into my own, although I kept my face aimed to the deck.

"Master, they were gone, now they are back. From wherever, and however it was done. It's almost as if they have come back to take their rightful place in the grand scheme of things, or something; hell, I don't know. But I have my suspicions.

"Kyan, I've seen what the All can do, again from first hand experience. But I don't think this is something they've always had, or always used. I dunno, call it a hunch--"

Oh yeah, like you've not had enough of those in your life, sheesh!

"--but really, if everyone of their race had this, they wouldn't be here, right? I mean, it's so powerful, and if used against others, nothing short of total annihilation would result, right? I mean, they don't have the objectivity to use it correctly, at least not all of those I know who use it."

The image of turquoise eyes began to rise up in front of me; with a small bit of effort I shoved them away, and went on.

"But they do have this wonderful magick, all these way cool and efficient machines. Kyan, it's like they are all stong in one thing, and maybe a select few are stong in the power Sissy has, this 'All' thing."

I paused yet again, catching my breath even as I caught my lip between my teeth. Dammitall, I was rambling; where was Sorben when I needed him, to get me back on track? I sighed, and tried again.

"Ok, I'll lay it out on the line. Call it a hunch, but I don't think they all can use that power Sissy does. I do know they're tougher n' nails otherwise, and have super magickal powers. Maybe those powers weren't enough against the jedi you were talking about; maybe those jedi did something to them, snuffed 'em out in an act of genocide too horrible to think of. How they got here and how those few suddenly came to use the All, I don't know. But they're here, and some do.

"They're stong, Kyan, and powerful. I said we should tread with the utmost diplomacy, but I really think we need to take a further step. I think we need to approach them with our hand out in friendship, and see if they would be willing to join us against the Vong, should the Vong indeed be coming."

Or help us against whatever else it is that's lurking in the background, blinking it's big ol' Googly eyes...

“It’s a shame that you affinity for the Force wasn’t discovered sooner,” lamented Kyan. “If you had the chance to be trained by a traditional Jedi I wonder if the Order might have survived.”

Kyan had no regret in taking Galen as his apprentice or the will of the Force in this area.

It’s just the Force tells me that Gal’ika is important to not just the future of the Jedi but to the future of the galaxy itself.

“Because of the Jedi Purge much was lost. When Grand Master Skywalker rebuilt the order he had to come up with new ways of training Jedi. We didn’t have the knowledge of the Jedi in the Old Republic and much was lost especially in the area of the Sith.”

Kyan gave her hand a light squeeze.

“That is why I am leaving this task to you Gal’ika, your not bound by the assumptions that Jedi of my generation are. And more importantly you are the future of the Jedi order.”

Kyan saw Galen’s rising confusion at his words but it was something he could not explain now, not yet at least.

That vision was meant for me, it would only confuse Gal’ika or turn her away from the Force.

The word slipped from my lips before I even thought I was going to say it, so instinctive a reaction it was from which it sprang. Just as instinctive as my next one: I jumped to my feet, and began pacing a bit in front of the kneeling Kyan.

"No. I mean, ahh..."

I shook my head as I paced, trying to find what it was that sent me to my feet, that urged my mouth into defying this jedi who would make me one of their own, who might even be a nexus in the re-building of the entire order itself.

No. That wasn't me... not alone. No.

"Not by myself, Master."

I let my pacing drag itself to a halt and stood in quiet confusion, trying to think. Then it hit me, as clear and obvious as a Mynock's determination for energy couplers.

I whirled to face him.

"Master, I-- I am not all you think I am. I don't know how I know that, I just do. I mean, yeah, I have these hunches that guide me, but don't you see?

"They are responsive. They only happen after a situation arises that I'm stuck in; they tell me what to do. They don't happen as a-- a presight of what is to come, of where to turn now to affect that which will happen later. I have to be in the later, to then feel what to do at that now. Sorta. If that makes sense.

"I need you to provide me with that later, so my now can kick in."

I stopped with that, utterly surprised with myself. I had no idea where those words had come from, certainly not from my conscious being. But materialized they had, and sure as there's treasure on Roon, I instinctively knew them for the truth they were.

"You can't just meditate. You have to-- to, well, to act. So I then will know what to do.

"Master," I ended, lowering myself to my kneeds in front of him again and aiming my face to the deck.

As he pressed the accept button, Aaron's message played. Unconsciously Terrin nodded to himself, unsurprised at how quickly Aaron had made his request a reality and likewise unsurprised by his partner's final request.

"Aaron, the Sith have Matt captured in dungeons, and we aren't sure why; we've just received word of it via Jasyn, who is enroute to Bespin to retrieve Galen's sister, who appears to be in some dire straits herself. I'll keep you posted as soon as I have any more specifics."

Kyan removed his helmet setting it aside, then took Galen’s hands and held them within his own.

“Gal’ika look at me,” He pleaded. Kyan waited to continue until Galen look up from the floor at him.

Here he goes again with the Force thing, as if that's the end-all of everything, and doesn't really seem to give anything I'm trying to tell him any real credence. It's almost as if...

I cut myself off then, as somewhere within me a paradigm suddenly shifted. Now the look I gave him leaned more toward being one of an incredulous nature.

He's not hearing me, because he simply doesn't know what I'm trying to say. He's got no reference, nothing to measure this power by other than the Force; that's all he knows. We'll never really be on common ground until I can get him to understand, to feel... to see what I've seen with my own eyes...

And how is that gonna happen, Galen ol' squid? Why, you're gonna have to teach him!

I blinked, inwardly rearing back in protest... and then looked more deeply into those eyes he was pinning me with. No, not pinning; that denotes one seeking dominance, power over someone, control. His eyes were...

Reaching outward, as if trying to delve into my very soul.

I drew in a breath, suddenly knowing what I had to do.

If we were going to be a successful combination, Master and padawan or whatever it went by nowadays, we had to be operating on the same page. He could easily teach me about the Force, but he in turn had to learn something of the power Sissypoops dealt with, that some of the Sith dealt with, and that which apparently was somehow, deep down, stuck inside me too. At least a little bit of it.

To do that, I had to have more of a handle on it myself.

Oh brother.

"You're right, Master," I said as I lowered my face again in respect. After a bit, he finally let go my hands, and I quietly clasped them in my lap. "I need to look inward, to find what there is inside me, to learn to touch it when I want to, and not rely on circumstances to bring it out.

"I need to control this, in that regard, and yeah, I suppose I need to get my mind off of it in order to do so. But Master--"

I looked up into his care-worn face, chewed my lip a little, opened my mouth to speak, then stopped.

I was going to say I've never been afraid of anything in my life, but that's a damned lie.

"I'll do my best."

He seemed to smile at me, and I waited until he moved away to continue with what he had come into this cargo bay to do in the first place. Then, as there did seem to be room for two, I moved to an area away from him, giving him some space, and began working on some basic martial forms.

Nothing like a good workout to clear the cobwebs from one's mind, and allow whatever tiny little bug that had been hiding a quietly open door through which to return...

“Why is it as soon as I met you everything got stranger?” commented Link. “Not that it’s all been bad, I got a shiny new arm.”

Link worked the fingers of her hand, she was finally getting use to manipulating the arm is if she was born with it.

What actions do I need to take to ensure the future I saw? Why can’t I fulfill this future’s destiny?

Destiny, it was a word Kyan had hardly ever used. As a believer in the living Force he didn’t believe in fulfilling some overarching plan. If he saw a problem no matter how small and what the ramifications of it might have been he would intervene. Often times to the critism of the Jedi Counsel who argued his sole dedication to the Force had left him unpopular with many Jedi and untrusted by the New Republic. Ever since he lost his connection to the Force what had he done? He left his family and a broken Jedi order behind to recover his own powers. He had become so reliant on the Force to give him answers he forgotten one important fact.

He was still part of the Force.

The very thing he told Galen about how the Force can influence the living he himself had ignored. So what right now was the right thing to do.

The Jedi are disorganized and unprepared for the threats that this galaxy faces. If we are to survive we need a leader to control the actions of the Jedi and can speak on their behalf. I never wanted to be on the council and the council never wanted me, but I cannot deny that I am the only remaining master. What the Force tells me is we need a new type of Jedi Order.

It's been way too long since you've kept up on this kind of thing, Galen. Sure as there's Treasure on Roon!

--I turned to face Master Jetiis'ad.

"Well," I began a bit doubtfully, a frown beginning to creep along my features. "I'm not certain. I mean, it's all been so, well...

"So weird with them. I mean, there's a couple I wouldn't trust as far as a dewback can waddle, but then there are others I most certainly would entrust with my very life."

The image of Big Red and his lordly companion flew into my mind; this was quickly supplanted by that of dear ol' Sissypoops.

"My own sister is heavily involved with them, but she seems to change her mind on the vagaries of the wind. However, she also seems to have some kind of political influence with them... as do both the trustworthy and untrustworthy Sith that I know of. Not to mention that those last ones both seem to have some kind of political influence as well. So--"

I paused a bit, chewing my lip.

Back to Square One, weren't we?

Shaking my head I lifted my caf to my lips, grimaced to find it suddenly tasteless. I let the cup settle upon the table with a determined clunk.

"I don't know, Kiddo. I guess that's what all the Force-stuff has been about. I guess that's why we're heading to these Sith to retrieve Terrin's employee. I think what we're all about is getting all our eggs into one basket, so they're all nice and handy when the time comes to throw 'em at the Vong."

And I sure as hell hope it works...

I let a puff of air escape my lips then, and rose to freshen my cup. Sitting back down again, I leaned back and lifted the cup.

"So we go to the Sith, play nicey-nicey, see what options we have there in the attempt to get Matt outta their brig. During this, we have a big ol' SSD with us, just for quiet muscle; I hope we don't have to use her. But to tell the truth, guys, I'm not at all certain that diplomacy alone will be enough to find out what we need, and to get our man back on board.

"I think Link is right. I think we need to explore back-up options, just in case. And so, what would we have to possibly offer in trade to a race who seems to be as powerful as these guys are, but who for whatever reasons still want to keep themselves removed from the rest of the Galaxy as a whole?"

"I have no idea in hell," he admitted aloud, sighing to himself. "The only other advantage we potentially have over these Sith that I can think of is that not all of them are our enemies. The ones on K'eel Doba seem to have a proclivity for staying to themselves more than some others, like those on Khar Delba where we all were last before we split up."

Terrin paused, his eyes defocusing a bit as he thought further. "In the past, I've had alliances with these guys...

...but never with the Warrior clan. And as for the reasons the Sith agreed to an alliance with me at the time...

...well, that was in relation to protecting Galen and Darra from the big and baddies who might attempt to..."

He trailed, his look darkening at his words, "... use them for their own dark plans."

He quieted a moment, shaking his head. "If it hadn't been to ensure their absolute safety, I never would have allied myself with the Sith at all."

In that moment, a dark menacing thought popped up in Terrin's head regarding something he'd almost forgotten about, something that suddenly made him almost sick to his stomach.

Roan had been after Galen and Darra, and they had all supposed at the time it was merely to bring the Sith back into this time in the manner that he had wanted. But they were also fairly certain that Roan had aligned himself with the Vong, at some point. Which meant the Vong might have been aware of Galen and Darra and their potential importance...

That guy, if he was Sith, just had to be one of the bad ones!

Other than that, the only contact I had with these people was that brief time spent on their Warrior World, with Thea and Link and K'kihl and Phalomir, where we ended up being sent through a Portal into yet another crazy adventure by none other than Graysith herself, who had the blond at her side come to think of it...

Welll... outside of just prior to the above a particularly nasty little jaunt through the interdimensional realms purportedly home to said baddies of 'em, or at least linking to them somehow...?

I shook myself back into focus, and turned to address him directly.

"So what you are saying is that maybe instead of going back to the Warrior place, which one was it, K'eel Doba? Anyway, maybe we should approach the, ummm... friendlier of the Sith on this other world of theirs, Khar Delba?"

I paused a moment to look at Capt. Danner in a fresh, new light.

"What happened with you there, bud?"

“I can't remember if you were with us still at the time—hell, it seems like its been eons ago—but when Galen gave birth, the baby she had was not our Darra, but instead was Graysith's daughter ShaRhylla, which was obvious by the mere fact she had horns like her father, Dark Lord Roan.”

Terrin paused, anger still welling up in him at the thought of what had been done to Galen. “In time we found Darra on Khar Delba, with the Lord of the Sorcerors, who infoirmed us all of Lord Roan's intent to use both Darra and her cousin to bring the Sith back and use them for his own dark plans...as well as Galen.”

Again Terrin trailed, his eyes growing vague once more. “An alliance with Graysith and with the Sorceror Lord was the only way to ensure that Galen and Darra would remain safe...and together. But in time, things unravaled, Galen blasted outta there like she had every kriffing right to when the Sith were haughty enough to put Darra in the middle of a dangerous plot...

...and I was an idiot and stayed behind, thinking that was somehow the right thing to do. In the end we all ended going on our seperate ways, and by the time we reunited on K'eel Doba Rhylla's age had been advanced and Darra had been taken by Roan. Even more went amiss and we ended up in the Darker Realms where ShaRhylla did something or other to my head...

...and things just got worse from there.”

Terrin didn't dare try to explain to them that he had died that day, only to be brought back alive 2 years later. “A couple of years later when Galen and I got back together and allied ourselves with her sister and the Sorcerers once more, it was to find that Darra's age had been advanced. She and Galen have been reunited...

...and for now, Darra is safe. The warriors, who were lead by Dark Lord Roan are now, in the absence of Graysith, being lead by his daughter and hers, ShaRhylla, who we hold absolutely no alliance with. Someone must have thought that, without her powers, ShaRhyilla might be willing to entertain such, but apparently not as Matt has been imprisoned there.”

Terrin shook his head. "Maybe we are approaching this all the wrong way, and should seek the help of the Sorcerors in springing Matt. After all, with the potential of Vong incoming and the powers that the Sith have, we may need an alliance with them regardless."

Terrin's look darkened once more. "Particularly since we are fairly certain, based on past events, that Dark Lord Roan had alliances with the incoming Vong."

He frowned. "Thank the Fates he is dead, cause there's no telling what sort of sordid and evil plans he would be making with them now."

Trailing, Terrin's mind strayed once more to thoughts that were of an entirely unpleasant and all-too-disturbing nature.

“Why do you doubt yourself Gal’ika?” came Kyan’s question. “Is it because you truly do not know or because you are afraid of a wrong answer?”

Kyan let Galen think for a few moments on what was the cause of her doubts before continuing.

“When you were learning to pilot a ship did you not at first believe that what you saw others do you would never be able to replicate. Then overtime did you not come to the realization that one day I could pilot a ship just like them and possibly even better? What changed then was you saw your own true potential and then the real learning and improvement began.”

Once again Kyan let Galen absorb his words before he continued on.

“Like I have told you before doubt and fear will feed the dark side of the Force Gal’ika. What I have taught you so far only scratches the surface of what a Jedi can actually do when they realize their full potential and work with the Force as their ally. Maybe once you also realize you the potential with The All and no longer fear the power you let it have over you, it can be wielded as easily as piloting comes to you. But until you come to see the Force and your potential as I do teaching you anymore of it will be both a danger to you and those you care about.”

Kyan rose from the deck and placed a hand on her shoulder.

What was it they say, after all, about the student teaching the teacher?

I heaved a sigh.

"Master Jetiis'ad," I began, trying to sound confident this time. Apparently they teach the jedi how to home in on peeps body language as revealed by the tone of their voice; didn't they ever learn that there could be more than one monster lurking behing every hypothetical tree? Yeesh.

I shook myself briefly, then pressed on.

"I'm truly sorry if I sounded hesitant or anything, but I am really not at odds with what I'm trying to tell you." I paused a moement, seemingly for effect but actually far from it.

"I do not doubt myself at all, Hell's Seven Circles no! I know what I've seen, what I've been through, what these Sith are... at least I think I know a little about what they might really be..." This last was an out and out admission to my own suppositions. Khaandon alone truly knew what I knew, or at least thought I did, and what I thought I supposed...

Ummm... yeah.

I pressed on, wincing a little again, and then wincing more. Dang if my Master didn't misread what that wince was all about!

I reached out a hand to him.

"I think that you keep misunderstanding me," I began carefully. "I think that you think I am unsure of myself, when in reality my resolve has never been stronger, my assurance never more complete. I know what we are going up against; I know what might prove to be our greatest aid...

"And you keep rambling on about the Force."

I paused again, wincing.

Dammit, Galen, when ya gonna stop that?

At any rate, I knew what I was going to say either was not going to be recognized, or was not going to be accepted.

"Master, why do you adhere to this small thing, the Force? What we are going to need to kick the Vong is what my Sissy has, this All thing, and it is so much more."

I paused a moment, searching deeply into his hidden eyes.

"Please listen to me, and believe me, my Master. You must, if we are to truly succeed in what we are trying to do."

Or if I am to remain your student, came the unbidden afterthought. This is not only becoming boring, but could actually become dangerous if allowed to be dismissed for too much longer...

“Gal’ika I was wrong about you,” answered Kyan. “I thought that you did not see the possibilities you held, but it seems that sometimes the Master must become the apprentice as well. You are right when you referred to the Force as a small thing, for it is but one aspect that can be accessed by many with almost an infinite number of disciplines. Whether the All is a facet of the same power as the Force, the source of it, or something else entirely I’m not sure anyone can accurately say either way.”

Kyan drew on the little connection he had with the Force for calm, quieting the shouting voices in his head.

“I think you need to know why I place the Force in high regard,” Kyan began. “But to do so I must tell you of two things; how on the worse day of my life I lost my wife, my youngest daughter, many Jedi, and was forced to kill my own brother. On that day I also saw the Force for what it truly was and lost it at the same time. The second is of your own future or a possible future. As a believer in the living Force I chose to ignore most visions and fulfilling destiny, but when one does not actively seek vision of the future and the living Force allows one a glimpse of things that may come then it is permitted to pursue that future. “

Kyan was hesitant to share not only his past with Galen but what he saw in her possible future. He knew the danger to knowing one’s own future and destiny.

I know of this, of a happening linking to a distant past... and Kyan wishes to reveal to me my future...

Somehow, deep in my gut, I just knew the two were inextricably linked together. With no further ado, I hunkered down, sitting back against my heels and placing my hands quietly in my lap.

Kyan motioned for Galen to sit he knew that this might take a while to explain.

“I’ve told you before that I killed the last Dark Jedi,” began Kyan. “On that day I lost my wife and youngest daughter. The Jedi lost many of our own as well, and in order to stop that Dark Jedi I killed my brother. Ja’ya and I were twins and both of us became Jedi Masters, but he abandoned our Mandalorian heritage. And like wise we both adhered to different Jedi traditions, I came to treat the Force as a living being and letting it guide my actions even when that ran contrary to the agenda of the New Republic, or the Jedi council. He believed in the Force as a tool, a means to an end and that end he kept to himself.”
Now we come to the Darkest Day.

“My brother eventually ended up on the Jedi council, in his time he was arguably one of the most powerful of our order and respected by many. He also led a faction of the Jedi that believed in using Jedi to better the Galaxy even if that meant the sacrifice of certain liberties. None of the Jedi believed they were a problem just some minor issues with the Force, but he was loved by the New Republic. No one expected that he would try to take control of the Jedi, he and his faction. The Jedi were so unprepared for his rebellion, they didn’t want to believe. He took many of our youngest as hostages and had the council surrender authority to him.”

“They were prepared to negotiate, to buy time, but I knew they had nothing. I gathered those I could, Knights I trained, fellow Mandalorian Warriors, my wife and children. We assaulted the Jedi temple and met fierce resistance; many were killed on both sides and many innocents as well. My wife, youngest daughter and I found my brother. We tried to engage him but he was prepared, he used his mastery of the Force and the power of the darkside he killed my wife and daughter in front of me. I could do nothing before his onslaught I thought I faced death along with the rest of the Jedi so I surrendered my will completely over to the Force in hopes of stopping him. In that act of surrender I gained a new insight of the Force, no I had become the Force itself. I had the power to stop my brother, I could see the consequences of my every action and the effect they would have on the Galaxy. I knew what I had to do. I used the Force to remove its connection from my brother and all his followers, and then was going to become one with the Force.”

“My brother in a final act of vengeance decided that if he was going to lose so was I. He used his darkside powers and his own life to strip me of the Force. He died knowing that even with his death he would deny me the chance to see my youngest daughter ever again. The Jedi council was not pleased, many Jedi died because of what I had done to stop my brother; because it all happened at the academy they hid all knowledge of the event from the Republic lest they look weak. I lost the Force, and all my family on that day except for oldest daughter Pryc’ika which I could never communicate to again through the Force.”

It was hard for Kyan to face that day again, but he forced his sadness back so Galen could hopefully learn from it.

“When I became the Force itself I had in that moment the greatest understanding of everything that was and could be. I knew how the Force had no limits but the ones we place on ourselves, how it is our own indecisiveness that holds us back from obtaining our true potential. It was my own that let my brother strip me of the Force when I had the chance to stop him. But I saw what the Force was and whether this was crossing over into what you call the All, I don’t think anyone can answer. I do know it was my devotion to the Force that lead me to that point and when I gained the power to stop my brother or if I wanted to rule it with an iron fist. And it was the Force again that gave me the morality to wield that power correctly. I may not be able to understand the All completely, and how much mastery of the Force will translate into mastery of the All. I can only say that in my life the foundations of the Force helped shape me so when the time came to use such a power I was ready.”

Shaking my own, I rose and went to a little cabinet tucked against one bulkhead, and traded my caf for a bottle of something far, far stronger. Opening this with a flip of my thumb, I turned back to Terrin and plopped back down at the table again. The fingers of my empty hand started drumming a bit nervously upon it, an admittedly irritating staccato but something I found I simply couldn't help.

It helps me gather my thoughts, and fates alone knew there was enough of them whirling around in my head at the moment! Suddenly, a Beskalisk's extra set of hands seemed awfully attractive...

I forced my fingers to quit their tap-dancing long enough to take a steadying draught from the self-icing bottle, then slammed it down on the table.

"So... this daughter of Roan is in charge now, well at least on the world of the warriors, right? And it was there that you had an alliance... although now chances are more than fair to middlin' that said alliance is a moot point of long standing by now. And Graysith is or is not our friend -- and where the hell is she, anyway? -- and we THINK the world of, what, sorcerers? -- will be more, ummm... amenable to at least listening to us. But meanwhile these Sith are an entire frakking race of beings that have suddenly popped into the Galaxy from who the hell knows where! Has anyone bothered to really think about the implications in that?"

I paused in surprise as the words exploded from me. I honestly had no idea I was heading in the direction that I was; it was as if somewhere deep in my head everything suddenly clicked together.

Thank you, oh drummy-fingers...

I looked about the table.

"Ummm... does anyone think it a little bit serendipitous that while on one hand we seem to have some sort of really good idea that the Vong are coming back into our lives...

"...even as now these Sith have likewise popped up from the hinterlands? Whether it was due to Roan or whoever, to hear everyone talk, and going by what little I've observed, I'm more than a little bit nervous about this whole affair. I say we sneak in, get Matt, and run for the hills. I think we need a little breathing room, to really discover who our friends really are."

I paused a moment, drained the remnants of the bottle, and rose to my feet to go get another.

"Terrin, you've been on both worlds, right? Do you honestly think they're there to help us? Do you really think they'd give a womprat's hiney about what might or might not happen to us? What about their connection to that damned weird dark "other" place, what did we say they were? You know, where my ship got junked by those-- those--"

I shuddered to a momentary halt as once more I rummaged in the depths of the cabinet. This time I withdrew two bottles; returning to the table I offerred one to Terrin before reseating myself and flipping mine open. Taking another, slower, drink, I set the bottle carefully down.

"What about our Jedi whoosis back there, and your wife?" I asked. "You think they might actually have any chance at helping with whatever it is we're getting outselves into? I mean, these Sith must have some kind of hold or power or something; the only way I can think to have anyone's age advanced would be at the hands of the Kaminoans, and they don't just up and do that for a song, you know. There's something they had, or did, or threatened them with, something like that weird power Galen's sister is said to have maybe, and if that's the case then what the hell can we actually do at all? All the damned ships in the entire Galaxy wouldn't have enough power against the two combined!

"If they're in cahoots with the Vong, I'd say our goose is cooked."

"Yeah, the idea of the Vong and the Sith together in one galaxy is..."

He paused, frowning. "...well, there really isn't a word to describe what it is. On top of that, the Sith also have connections with the Darker Realms--where your ship was left in scrap. As for whether or not any of the Sith are going to listen to us or care about what happens to us one way or another..."

Pausing again, Terrin sighed and shrugged. "Unfortunatley I think it really depends on what good it'll do them to help out. The only one that I can state for fact has been consistently on our side is Phalomir...

...and that could simply be because he just hasn't had any reason to do otherwise yet. Graysith, well, she is on Bespin and Jasyn is trying to find her and get her back to K'eel Doba, so here's hoping she is on our side for at least the moment."

Taking another drink, Terrin's eyes defocused a bit. "As much as I'd like to run off and find a hidey-hole to stay away from all these Sith, they've managed to find us time and time again when we thought we were in the safest of places when they've wanted to. There's just no running away. And I know from experience all the big ships in the Universe won't protect us from whatever the Vong, the Realms, and the Sith could cook up together, but I also know that Galen has..."

"Well then, I suggest you contact your ship. Seems you've got a pretty good reason to make certain nothing happens to it, right?"

Partial.

Like it was half of a whole something or other, maybe more, possibly less. But what was to him the end-all of his own life's experience...

I couldn't help but gasp.

That was it.

It was all about one's life's experience, wasn't it? All the power, all the worry, all what was right and what was wrong; everything he had told me...

Even his self-admitted removal from the Force, no matter how it happened...

Based from his own life's experience. His own viewpoint. And somehow, I felt that the major difference between his Force and this thing called the All was that while his adhered to his viewpoint, followed whichever way he chose to act or behave, whether good or bad...

Whatever THAT meant! I couldn't help but surprise myself with the thought.

... this All thing WAS the very life from which all experiences flowed.

I opened my mouth, tried to say all of this without sounding utterly stupid. Found to my chagrin that I couldn't.

I would sound like an idiot, for with this train of thought I'm saying the Force is exactly opposite of what he and all the Jedi throughout history have considered it.

Life.

And it's only a small part of it, a personal part...

I gulped, bowed my head, sat back on my heels.

"Pleae, my Master. Continue," was all I could muster up the words to say.

“Let me guess you’re going to have the Eagle camp out one system over from the Sith?” asked Link. “I can tell you already that is a big mistake. I’ve been on more wanted list and had more bounties on my head to know how to sneak into and out of planets.”

Link took her cup of caf from the table and took a quick swig before continuing.

“Remember that the Sith not too long ago repelled a blockade by the Empire,” Link stated. “If they didn’t improve relations with the Empire where do you think the Empire will stick a fleet to retake the system or at the very least a scout ship. I’d wager the next closest system, and what will you think they do if a SSD appears out on nowhere.”

“Another thing to consider is if we need the Eagle and the Sith find out we summoned it, where do you think they will deploy their own ships?” Link asked. “Wouldn’t they do so along hyperspace routes from the nearby star systems and the own route we took.”

Link turned on the console behind her and pulled up the system map for their destination.

“If you want the Eagle to be a surprise when it shows up then have it jump to either here or here.”

Link indicated to points in space each about one light-week above or below the orbital plane of the system.

“Gal’ika I’ve said before how the future is always in motion,” said Kyan. “Even when the Force is used to peer into the future what one sees might never come to pass. So for me to tell you what your future holds is about the same as saying your daughter will grow up to become a sarlac.”

Kyan could see the puzzlement coming from Galen as is he could not deliver on his own promise.

Big time.

Do I want to know? The words popped into my head without the slightest bit of hesitation, all in a rush. I let them mill around for a moment or two, wondering why I was waffling when in reality it was truer to my nature to jump in directly with both feet. Then I remembered something dad had told Jharmeen and I when we were but younglings:

Do not seek great power, girls. For with it comes the even greater burden of ownership responsibility. Great power is like dealing with a wild beast: it can become easily manhandled when trying to tame it. And once leashed, you can never let go the end.

My surroundings grew soft and fuzzy as I considered further, even though somewhere deep inside me I had my doubts that I was destined to be the recipient of said powers. But if Kyan was right about this--

Do I really want to know?

It's scary, being presented with the option to face what could be one's inner demons as they come looming out of your psyche, for who in Hell's Seven Circles actually knew how I'd react if indeed I turned into some big whiz-bang Jedi Master or whatever. And combine that with the power Sissypoops carried, which I had a sneaky feeling was lurking somewhere deep inside me as well, waiting to be uncaged...

And the possibilities were even worse if I didn't turn all big and bad and dark and power-crazy.

Do I want to know?

What did Kyan say, that the future is fluid, always in motion, not set in stone? Fine n' dandy then; so after I would be given this great insight, what do I do? Spend the rest of my life second-guessing myself? Wondering if I should turn right here instead of left, if I should do this or refrain from that? Which of the myriad, flowing, intertwining roads leading to the future would I have to travel in order to ascertain that I remained true to myself?

At least to the "myself" that I was at the current time.

My eyes widened as another thought hit home: who was to say which of my "second-guess based future actions" would or would not be those leading to that which at this moment I knew I would detest? Who knew what would be going through my head, my gut, as time flowed on and this power or whatever grew in strength, and I more facile in it's deployment?

It was enough to give me the shivers. But--

Damn you, Kyan. I DO want to know!

I re-focused on his quiet form, drawing strength from his seeming aplomb. Kneeling back on my heels, I laced my hands in my lap.

"Yes, Master. Please," I mustered in the smallest of whispers.

He keyed Aaron's frequency into his wristcomm, cringing as he realized this meant that he was yet again requesting his partner to relocate not only his ship but one of their primary bases of operation. Nevertheless, he reminded himself the Hornett was his ship, and EE would continue business in a wealth of locations regardless of the ship's location.

And Terrin had a feeling Aaron was going to like the Hornett's new destination.

In only a few more mintues, after a brief yet positive discussion with Aaron, the ship's destination was easily rerouted to Bakura, a planet far enough in the Outer Rim that help wouldn't be long coming yet far enough away from the Sith worlds that Darra wouldn't be in the direct line of danger.

And all that aside, Bakura was noted for production and export of repulsorlift coils and strategic metals, both of which had significant value to EE.

Satisfied with knowing the Hornett was rerouted, Terrin headed back to the galley where Yaoksi and Link still sat, the former still partaking of drink.

"Done," Terrin said simply, regaining his seat and pouring himself another drink from the bottle that awaited him on the table. He took a sip, savoring it a bit, then quirked a brow, suddenly curious about something. "When exactly is our ETA anyway?"

(((OCC: I really didn't see any point in actually "writing out" the conversation between Terrin and Aaron since they are both of my characters. If the mods think otherwise, I'll gladly edit. Otherwise, I'll copy and post a portion of this post to the EE thread so there is no confusion as to the Hornett's location.)))

"About another day, give or take," I replied, and took another, smaller sip from the bottle I yet held. Before setting it back on the table I held it to the light, peering into it's amber depths, marveling at the play of light off of the golden liquid inside.

"So Terrin," I went on. "Where did you send your ship? Link had some good advice; did you take advantage of it?"

I paused a moment then let my chair slam back down on four legs again.

"Speaking of good advice, I believe we're going to have to rely on your expertise, Link." I gave her a quick wink. "It sounds as if you've had experience sneaking in and out of places; what recommendations do you have about getting into the city, through it, and finding wherever in all the universe it is that they're holding Matt?"

A breath of air puffed my cheeks; our little mission was beginning to sound more and more like a fool's errand to me.

"However, I think we can scan the planet and look for human lifesigns, so at least we can locate where he's actually being held. Or a good approximation; there can't be any other humans there, could there be?"

“When I flow walk us it is important that you stay beside me at all times regardless of what happens,” Kyan warned. “If we are separated or I lose control you might be stuck or lost in the flow, and since I’m using your powers to do so even I can’t predict what might happen. Remember that while the future is fluid flow walking reveals the most likely outcome and no matter what we see there may be no way to change it.”

Kyan removed his gloves and set them aside and held his open hands out to Galen.

“Sneaking a ship into the system is the easy part,” said Link. “To rescue Terrin’s man I can only see two approaches and they aren’t good ones. Either we confront them with the knowledge that they are holding him and negotiate or barter his freedom. The other is have the Eagle jump in all guns blazing and use a show of force to make them give Matt back.”

Link leaned back and took another sip of her caf.

“I’ve actually given this some thought,” continued Link. “And if I were to approach this as one of my hired jobs I could get into the system and maybe landed on the planet itself, but from there I would have nowhere to go. I don’t know where Matt is, and since the Sith don’t use technology like we do there is nothing to slice. I can’t con the information I need since the Sith are to different from our civilization and their values are different. Sneaking around won’t do as well, without knowledge of how Sith civilization operate I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a prison, or a hospital, or the local Sith Magik Emporium. And being a planet entirely of Sith humans tend to stand out, and a white fluffy Ryn even more so.”

Link set her mug on the table and leaned forward resting her elbows on the table and chin in her hands.

And before they had managed to somehow come out on top. At least, they usually did. But at what cost? Terrin frowned unconsciously to himself, then with effort, refocused on the questions that had been pointed in his direction.

"I sent the Hornett to Bakura, a system relatively close by but further away than the nearest sytem; approximately 5 or 6 standard days of travel away. Bakura also makes some sense for a destination for an EE ship due to the planet's major exports: repulsorlifts and specialized metals. both of these have some relation to EE business."

Terrin paused then, his focus going back to the other items up for discussion. "And I have to agree with Link; this whole rescue operation is risky and potentially insane...

...and I don't know that I should be asking you all to risk your own lives for the sake of a singular employee of mine."

I nodded in agreement with Terrin, for fates alone knew how little I really wanted to get embroiled in these magick-makers. Nothing could scramble up a person's hold on reality more so than magick and force and all that kind of hocus-pocus, and if anyone knew that any better than I did from what little I've been exposed to it, I'd like to know who. Images of Sullust, and of the Darker Realms rose unbidden in my mind; with a bit of effort I shook them off, shook off any other encroaching heebie-jeebies, and folded my arms.

"I don't mean your SSD, Terrin; I mean people. Like maybe the Mandalorians... didn't our friend say he could take us to his leader, or something like that?

"Maybe we should take him up on his offer, and consider his plan of us going to Mandalore."

I drained the bottle I had up until now been toying with, and set it down upon the table. Then, noting a look of apparent consternation coming from Link, I rose and got myself a cuppa caf, and some kind of fruity bun-thing to munch on. I regained my seat, chomping away, and once more crossed my legs and pressed back, balancing on the back two legs of my chair.

...right. After all, here was an opportunity to open an alliance with others, to begin informing them of what may be happening both within an without the Universe that could pose a danger and to come up with strategies to fight it that didn't rely soley on powers held by those who had waffled between friends and foes.

Shaking himself from his thoughts once more, Terrin nodded in agreement with Yaoksi. "Yes, I agree," he said, looking then to Link. "Thanks for pointing out the insanity of all of this and making me really think. Others out there in the Universe have a right to know exactly what is going on, and what is incoming, and we may be the only ones who would even bother to tell them...

...and that's going to be kinda difficult for us to do if we're all Huttsplat in the Sith worlds."

Terrin paused, pursing his lips, hoping that perhaps Jasyn could pursue Matt after returning to Khar Delba with Graysith. That was, if he was still in good graces with her and the Sith after that. Terrin unconsciously cringed at the thought; diplomacy wasn't exactly Jasyn's strong suite, to say the very least.

"I'm going to confer with Kyan regarding our potential change in plans," Terrin then said, knowing that they needed the Jedi in order to approach the planet. "I'll be right back," he finished with, getting up, leaving the galley, and heading towards the rear of the ship where he had found Galen and Kyan the last time he'd gone looking for them. Terrin felt badly about the probability that he would be interrupting them yet again...

...but he also felt that the time for this decision was already long past, no matter how difficult it was to leave behind his loyal employee...

...and far more than that, his very good friend.

He hesitated, waffling a bit as to what to do next. He didn't feel comfortable interrupting a probable training session between the Jedi and Galen despite the fact that he felt changing their destination to Mandalore was the best thing for them to do. But then, standing here waiting for something or other to happen would do little good, despite the fact that either Kyan or Galen might be able to sense his presence.

They could go ahead and alter the destination then discuss with Kyan and Galen when they were available again.

"Well," I opened, handing Link her cup. "That was fast. What did he say?"

I took a sip, itching to yank us out of hyperspace and onto a new course. The farther away we could take ourselves from the mysterious Outer Rim, where these even more mysterious Sith worlds were, well...

He paused for a moment but, sensing a rising aura of frustration and perhaps something else, "I think since it has already been suggested by Kyan as a good idea, we can just go ahead and divert to Mandalore and discuss in group when they are Kyan and Galen are back. I'm honestly not sure if it is on standard navcomputer maps, as I haven't been there, but if it isn't I'm maybe Link can pull up the coordinates and get us headed away from the Sith Worlds," he ended, quirking a brow in question at Link.

“Found it Gal’ika,” whispered Kyan. “I traced the outline of your power now this will feel different so hold on.”

Kyan didn’t give her any further warning; he grabbed hold of all of her Force ability and pulled it along the threads back into himself. The feeling of her Force powers almost over whelmed him; he knew a Jedi was not meant to wield the Force in this manner. Powered by the Force he expanded the threads of his and Galen’s life out into a time line he saw how they became intertwined when they first meet back on that Vong planet. He could follow it into the future when suddenly his own line stopped, not separated but stopped.

No time to explore what that meant.

He moved on further down Galen’s own line searching for a clue to indicate what he was looking for when he saw it. Down in her time line he saw a moment when his own line somehow reappeared and briefly intertwined with Galen’s before disappearing again. He was now satisfied what he saw before when the powers were restored to the universe Galen was a flow walk and not a vision. Grabbing hold of that moment he took a hold of that and using Galen’s raw power looped it back into itself pulling both him and Galen to that time. He could feel the physical strain on himself trying to control powers not his own as he and Galen were pulled along, almost burning out his own body in the process. He held on until he felt and explosion of light and what felt like a decompression of an airlock, then everything returned to normal. Opening his eyes he saw he was no longer on the ship and area filled with a deep mist that blocked his vision.

“Gal’ika,” said Kyan. “Open your eyes, we are here.”

“The coordinates are still in the computer remember,” replied Link. “We dropped out briefly and changed course to the Mandalore system before changing our minds and headed back to the Sith worlds.”

Link shoved aside her caf and reached for her data pad.

I drained my caf in one long gulp, and rose to my feet.

"I'll use the coordinates Link referred to, but I'll bring us out of hyperspace a few hours away. Maybe by then our Jedi will be finished with your wife--"

Here I nodded to Terrin.

"--and we can let him in on the change of plans. That way we'll still have time to maybe slip away unnoticed, should it be decided this wasn't such a good idea after all."

I turned to go, and made a few steps to the door when I stopped. Turning, I eyed the others, hands on my hips.

"And if this plan falls into a black hole, I say we just go somewhere and consider our resources, who we can actually turn to and who not. We actually might be welcomed on Coruscant, you know."

With that I left, and went on to the little command "center" where it took but a moment to put the course change into action. As Challenger slid from one direction of hyperspace into another, I leaned back in my seat, placing a hand over my mouth, and just watched the starsmears flicking past like daggers of light.

Terrin unconsciously frowned to himself.

Yeah, they were probably wondering what happened to two of their prisoners. And that damned Admiral Actar, he probably was still itching to get his hands on Galen and Darra.

But the strange thing was that Terrin hadn't heard one thing about the Admiral in what seemed to be several years. He certainly hadn't been making any pursuit like he used to. And something about that was unsettling. After all, when people in high authority disappear like that, there is a reason. And it's usually not a good one.

Of course, if they went to Coruscant, they wouldn't be seeking the audience of Actar anyway. Terrin could only hope that Tarnus could look past...

...well, the past...and take the imminent threat of the Sith, the Darker Realms, and the Vong seriously. And not dismiss them all as fools.

And that in the process Galen wouldn't be hurt all over again.

Terrin's eyes defocused for a moment. But then they snapped alert and he looked Link's way.

"Supposing that Kyan disagrees and we don't go to Mandalore, and we instead try to make contact with Coruscant and Tarnus and whoever else and they don't take us seriously..."

“Sometimes I don’t think you realize who I am or what I do,” Link answered. “I am not just any slicer, the average slicer deals in what many in the underworld consider small time scams. Things like fake IDent cards, snooping on a cheating spouse, maybe disrupting a planets communications system. I specialize in high risk slicing, corporate espionage, military infiltrations, sabotage. Because of this my clientele and contacts widely differs from other slicers. My clients include many of the largest corporations known across the galaxy in all fields have paid for my services, it would not surprise me in the least if at one point your own corporation hired me or I was hired to disrupted your business or that of one of your competitors. I’ve been hired by the empire to infiltrate a terrorist cell and the same time that same cell hired me to steal information from the empire.

Link took a sip of her caf setting her feet up on the table.

“To sum it up I have multiple personas’ to deal with different situations and different clients,” continued Link. “Of the top ten slicers that can be hired I am number five, seven, and one on most people’s list. Directly because of my slicing corporations have been run out of business, rebellions have been quelled, and terrorists have been able to attack governments. My contacts operate on a similar concept I know people who can give me a good or service I need if the credits are right or in some cases blackmail.”

Link sat forward in her chair not entirely sure if Terrin understood the complexities of her trade, but she knew him to be a business man and a smart one at that. She had little doubts that after that cryptic revelation about her past the claims of what she had accomplished that Terrin might research what she had done in the past and might be shocked by what many people considered atrocities committed because Link gave the people who desired such actions the tools to do so. Even so Link was not worried after Yaoksi’s acceptance of her after she shared the one crime she truly regretted.

And that little-known fact was probably the explanation for the thoughts now forming in his mind. At least partially.

"I'm afraid we may have to accept the possibility that we may be the only ones who believe there is a true potential threat out there," he then suggested. "Or at least, that we may be the only ones who will be willing to put aside differences and work together to face the threat," he ammended. "I don't doubt the Empire may know something, but they may think they are strong enough and know enough to keep it all under control without any input or assistance."

“Maybe a Rebellion is just what we need,” suggested Link. “Not in the civil war overthrow the Empire definition. More like a shadow alliance of planets and people.”

Link could see the crazy looks she was getting, but felt she was onto something she just needed to explain it better.

“Look Terrin’s right,” stated Link. “Even if the Empire believes us there is no guarantee that they don’t already know about the Vong or even if they will accept our help. Most likely they know already about the Vong after all for everything the Empire is stupid isn’t one of them. Most likely they will prepare to deal with the Vong whether they will be strong enough is another matter.”

...and less than governmental military at that," he added, recalling how he assisted the Moff. "I may have some other interesting channels that we could tap into as well, being a ship salesman and former smugggler."

“Yaoksi's probably on a little break or something,” said Link. “Hold on I think I can pull up a star map and check.”

From her previous efforts to get the Challenger ready for all the upgrades she ordered Link had started to tie as many systems into her equipment that she could. Link opened up a console on her datapad and checked their position on a star chart.

“It looks like when Yaoksi changed course we were about equidistant from the Sith world as the coordinates that Kyan gave us,” Link continued. “So I'm guessing we will arrive at the same time we would have on the Sith planet. Putting that aside and going back to the secret government idea for a moment. Yaoksi, Galen, and even Kyan; those are obvious people to bring in on this. You know if we do this we will be putting the biggest targets on our backs from not only the Vong, but likely the Sith and the Empire as well.”

We should probably run this by the others before we decide if this is even a venture to pursue.

Link left the table in the galley and called back to Terrin as she passed the bulkhead into the corridor beyond.

“I'll get Yaoksi if you want to check on how the Galen and the Jedi are doing.”

Upon entering the cockpit of the Challenger Link found Yaoksi slumped back in his pilots chair. She took her place in her copilots chair right next to him and kicked her feet up onto a nearby console.

"You have no idea, kiddo," I finally replied, my smile dipping a little as I returned my gaze to the viewscreen. I sat in quiet companionship with the spunky lil gal then, watching the streaks as space was rent before us and spit out behind, shoving us along like surfers on a curl.

"Whatever happened to real life?" I suddenly blurted. I didn't know if she knew what I was talking about, or even cared. But suddenly I found myself yearning with every atom of my body for the good days, the quiet days, when I was on Sullust playing daddy with little Thea, taking life easy, and oh so happily taking it for granted. If only for a little bit...

I drew in a breath, shook my head at myself.

"Nah, nevermind, kid. I must be more tired than I thought."

I turned to her, gazed into her luminous eyes for a moment.

"Real life is over rated," Link answered. "Little danger makes it interesting, in my case I just have the problem of too much danger."

Take this arm for instance, I'm getting use to it but I still don't have the same finesse that my natural arm possessed. Does have more strength though.

"Terrin and I were plotting or scheming while you were gone, I forget the difference some time. So apparently the newest crazy theory I turned into semi workable plan is we are going to start our own Rebel Alliance."

Before Yaoksi could make some whitty retort Link threw up her arms in mock defeat.

...I couldn't even see Kyan; there was nothing but the sight of the room we had been training in, which in turn began to coalesce from nothing into something...

I sat up quickly, my breath caught between my lips, and promptly groaned. My head whirled at a rate outpaced only by my churning stomach; between the two it was all I could do to keep from up-chucking right then and there.

And to make matters worse, I couldn't remember a thing about whatever it was I had just experienced. Not one image, not so much as a whisper.

Well... there was something about misty gray... and white light, a light of such brilliance, such magnitude that it seemed somehow to put stars to shame...

I lurched to my hands and knees then, and without any further ado did in fact proceed to lose what small contents my stomach had been entertaining within itself.

"Star-gazing is highly over-rated, too," I smiled, giving her shoulder a little squeeze.

"C'mon, kiddo. Let's go tell the others when we're going to hit Mandalorian space. Hopefully our resident Mandalorian is done with Mrs. Danner before we revert to realspace; we're going to look mighty suspicious to them otherwise, even if I did plot our reversion several light-hours from their planet.

"And you can tell me a bit more about this Rebel Alliance scheme you've cooked up."

The smile on my face started to grow, but suddenly straightened as my lips pursed in thoughtfulness.

Maybe the kid had an idea at that...

Sheb... this won't be pretty.

Kyan was right on with that thought while Galen's return was "gentle" Kyan's was anything but. He wasn't so much placed back into the proper timeline as violently thrown into it and the bulkhead of the cargo hold. There probably would have been more physical damage but luckily for him he was in full Mandalorian armor, so it was the equivalent of falling down a flight of stairs. A really long set of stairs.

"Gal'ika are you there," called out Kyan.

His only response he heard back from his now crumpled position on the floor was labored breathing and the sound of Galen throwing up onto the deck.

I waved a hand somewhat ineffectually, hacking and coughing and gagging all the while. At length I managed to spit, and draw in a great, shuddery breath.

"N-no, tha's al- alright," I choked out, using the other hand to push upon the floor until I was sitting on my heels. My stomach lurched, but after great, jaw-clenching effort on my part settled down into a milder form of roiling. At length I ventured to call out; my vision was still dark, and I couldn't see very much.

"Oh Khaandon, I think I need to find the head," was all I could gasp, followed by a somewhat saner, "...and no. Don't stop. I learned... I learned... dammit, there was something, something important..."

I threw back my head, squinted upward toward the ceiling that vaulted over my head, a ceiling that I could not as yet make out. Then with a little whimper, I did something I've never done in my entire life.

Terrin; change in plans here. We need to talk. Headed for Nkllon here and trying to get back in contact with you ASAP. Are you still enroute to K'eel Doba?

Leaving his message at that, knowing Terrin would respond soon, Jasyn sent it on its way across the secured channel and refocused his attention on following K'kihl to where Graysith and the Master were talking about Fates knew what.

A text and not a voice message? How odd...

Figuring he coud spare the brief moment, Terrin accepted the message and read through its brief content. As he did, he frowned.

Nkllon? What the kriffing hell was Jasyn doing heading towards Nkllon? And what was so important he wanted to talk, but then didn't elaborate?

Terrin figured he could get to the bottom of all this later, for the moment settling on at least updating Jasyn as to where the were headed. And it was most certainly not K'eel Doba.

Not headed towards K'eel Doba any longer; headed for Mandalore, to hopefully make alliances with others.

Terrin paused. Yeah, others who were not Sith, for once.

Thinking we might need to start spreading our wings, and relying on the Sith a little less. I'll keep you posted. Have you found Graysith?

Finishing the typed messasge, Terrin pressed the send button, knowing his thoughts would be transmitted along a secured frequency. Then he headed for the cargo hold, where the door remained closed. For a moment, he hesitated to interrupt...

...but something told him that just maybe he should.

"Galen? Kyan?" he called. No response...

...or at least, no verbal response. Terrin thought he could hear some creaking noises on the other side of the door, but they were distant and indiscernable.

"Galen?" he repeated, waiting again.

Nothing. And that did it. Without thinking any further, Terrin reached out to the controls that opened and closed the cargo bay door, and released them. The door slid obligingly open, revealing Kyan, half-laying, half-sitting on the ground, seemingly struggling to get his bearings and get back upright. On the other side of the hold was Galen, crumpled on the floor and motionless, her eyes closed and her face pale. As the Jedi began to sit up, Terrin rushed to her side, concern flooding into him.

"What happened?" he asked, quickly assessing that Galen was in fact breathing, and that her heartbeat was steady. Somewhat relieved by that--but not that much--Terrin turned to regard the Jedi who was yet struggling, but beginning to manage, to sit up.

(((OCC: Message sent off to Jasyn in Event Horizon in this same forum.)))

"Short version it's a more accurate method of viewing future events."

Kyan could tell that did little to comfort Terrin, so he made his way over to Galen and knelt down beside her. Taking his hands he rested them on either side of her face then closing his eyes he began to determine Galen's condition through their Force bond. He could feel Galen's life was still very strong and not in danger through the Force, she was extremely exhausted from over use of her Force powers.

"From what I can tell Gal'ika should be fine in a couple of hours maybe a day or two. She's not use to channeling that much power through the Force yet."

Satisfied that Galen should be fine Kyan then allowed his attention to focus on his own state. He found himself to be burnt out as if he had aged 5 years from using Galen's powers. Removing his helmet he stared into the T visor at his reflection and found that he looked like he aged 5 years, whether the effect was temporary or permanent he did not know yet. More importantly he felt through the Force the damage from using Galen's powers.

Wait through the Force.

...A couple of hours or a day or so? Which one was it going to be?

On the heels of that thought came another, one stated by an obnoxious shoulder-angel.

Get a grip, pal. She's gonna be just fine. You don't know a hell of alot about it, but you do know that traiining to use Force powers has to take a major toll on a person.

And damn, what Galen had was far more than just Force powers...

Terrin laid a hand alongside Galen's face, in a motion that was nothing short of protective. Likewise, it served to reassure him that she was hale and whole...

...and just completely tuckered out. Then he looked up to Kyan, who was still gazing into the t-visor of his helmet, the look in eyes a bit distant and somehow...

...surprised. "Hey, looks like you might need to take a break and get some rest yourself, pal," he said then, gathering Galen up in his arms and getting to his feet. "I'm gonna get her somewhere more comfortable to rest," Terrin said, nodding to indicate Galen as he turned and headed towards the cargo bay entrance. Then he paused, turning back to the Jedi and quirking a brow. "You look like you could use a drink," Terrin then ventured. "How about it...?"

Link got up from her chair and started walking back to the galley with Yaoksi explaining more on the way.

“If the Empire and the Sith slug it out with the Vong we have no guarantee of who will be the victor.” continued Link. “Or who we are better off under if we win. There are plenty of people that hate all three powers so while they fight it out we build a coalition of systems of sort in secret that will be ready to pounce when necessary. All we need if one powerful group to join us and others would likely follow.”

As they approached the cargo bay Link could hear yelling coming from inside. When they arrived at the door Link looked through and saw Terrin holding Galen in his arms and a burnt out Kyan. She rushed over to see what was wrong with them

Kyan clipped his helmet onto his belt and stood at the entrance of the Cargo hold. He noticed beyond feeling older his hair and his beard felt longer than before.

I should get that trimmed back like a proper Mando.

"Well, we've madea little course change," he responded, moving along through the corridors of the Challenger. "We're thinking that it would be a good idea to connect with others who are not Sith or Imperial, so we can prep ourselves should neither of them be able to handle the incoming Vong. So unless you have any objections, we're now headed to Mandalore."

He paused then, both verbally and physically, and turned to Yaoksi, who had made his way back to the cargo bay along with Link. He knew the ship like the back of his hand, having only recently acquired her...

"Yeah, there's a small medical facility aft," I said, nodding my head in that general direction.

"You want me to carry her--" I held out my arms, but the look shot my way prompted that move to segue smoothly into a completion of the arc. My hands met over my head, fingers laced, and I stretched.

"All righty then, it's this way. Link, you want to take Kyan to the mess hall? See what you can find that he likes; we'll be along as soon as we get Mrs. Danner all tucked in. It will just be a moment."

"Looks like she is going to be out for a few," he then said, standing, still wondering about the "flow walk" thing Kyan was talking about. "I'm with you; we should get back with the others and talk over our visit to Mandolore as well as other ideas. Not to mention I just heard back from Jasyn, who says that he's headed to Nkllon, but didn't say whether or not he found Graysith. Quite frankly, I have no clue in Hell why he would be making a stop at Nkllon."

"I couldn't agree more, Terrin," I said as I turned back to him. "I must say I've got a bad feeling about this..."

After making one final, sweeping check of things I headed to the hatchway.

"No sense getting lost in speculation more than once; let's stow it until we're back with the others, and we can all put in our two-credit's worth."

...and about it's potential implications.

"So Link and I were thinking maybe we should leave the Sith and the Empire alone for the moment, and make a little sect of our own. It's just the beginning of an idea, but if you think of it, maybe if we get the right allies with good weaponry and good connections, maybe we can come in unexpectedly, and with a potential advantage then, if we keep things close to the vest."

Got Graysith, but are having some ship difficulties, he keyed in. Also have the Master with us.

"I explained the broad overview to Yaoksi already," said Link. She slid each of them their glasses across the table into their waiting hands.

"But here is what I'm really thinking. The Vong are coming so we stand back and let the Empire along with the Sith duke it out with them. While that is going on and theu are to busy to pay attention we track down every system, corporation, and rebellion that hates the Empire and the Sith then we form our own Coalition of systems for when one side emerges victorious. Because whoever is left is going to ravage whatever is left of the Galaxy. We have some issues to take care of first."

"We need at least one major power to join us as the official haven for our Coalition to operate from, that one reason we want to go to Mandalore. From there we can build more in secret, the second thing..."

Link quickly drew her blaster and threw it onto the table.

"We four plus Galen, are the leadership of the Coalition. No one I mean no one outside of us five is to know we are in charge. When we are not in this group we are proxies of the leadership."

Both are a possible future they shared, Kan'ika and Gal'ika. So how is it Kan'ika killed me in hers yet I'm present in Gal'ika's. I'm sure Kan'ika's came first so if they are from the same possible future how did they both make sense.

A realization came to Kyan as he replayed the vision of his battle with Kani. He never actually saw himself die, sure stabbed through the chest with a lightsaber but that was Kani's perspective in his vision before she blacked out. Grand Master Skywalker had lived through much worse so why couldn't he survive as well. This realization brought him little solace because it still meant he would have to fight Kani and events might play much differently than what he saw. Snapping back into reality Kyan saw a glass of some spirits in front him. Not questioning how that seemed to materialized before him Kyan proceeded to down its contents before listening intently to Link.

To much of what Link is suggesting parallels what Gal'ika and I saw a new Jedi Temple on Mandalore, and what looked like an alliance between Mandalore, the Jedi, and others from the equipment I saw off of the courtyard.

It didn't take Kyan long to consider what she was proposing in this Coalition as Link put it and realize it may be what lead to what he and Galen saw. Unclipping both his lightsabers from his belt he likewise tossed them into the center of the table alongside Link's blaster.

I was in some sort of medical center. A highly advanced med-droid hovered nearby, only to come clinking to my side when it's sensors registered the pertinent fact that I was awake. Licking dry lips with an even drier tongue, I raised a shaky hand to motion it away.

Then I just lay there, my eyes on the ceiling but my vision encompassing scarcely that...

I remembered. Clear and stark, it was in my head. I had seen my new Master struggling with his own battles... but with a start realized how small, how miniscule those struggles really were.

I remembered as if I had actually been there, a ship of yorik coral, a heinous being, masqueur-cloaked, brilliant of eye and cold of mein, a creature who at first glance would appear to be the bane of all that existed in our Galaxy, for wasn't he coming here with his Vong minions to commandeer it?

But then... but then, again...

There was Something.

Something Else.

I swallowed thickly, staring now up at the ceiling, the apparent visions that had flooded through my heart and soul now taking second place to one final and quite omnipotent image.

One that was just beyond the reach of memory... damningly enough.

Groaning now with effort, I closed my eyes, willing myself to remember everything, one hand now reaching up to clench my forehead in a death grip. There, imprinted on my inner eyelids, was the picture I remembered: Sissy, Lord Aelvedaar, Big Red--

Oh dear Khaandon, what does this mean?

--and the blonde woman, the one -- what was her name? Oh yeah. -- I think that was Shayla, wasn't it? She was special to Sissy, my dear Sissypoops who dammitall had killed in cold blood, had murdered our father, had gone off to the side of the Sith, of all races... had left her humanity...

Left it for me to find in the eyes of something that flashed chrome and silver...

Shuddering, I strained upright, and managed to sit up. The med-droid rushed condescendingly to my side; with a weak wave of one hand I sent it off to find, someone, anyone, who could help me decipher the persistent, nagging images that raged in my head.

It was almost as if I knew...

Heaving a great sigh, I let my body flop back against the pillows, grunting now with the effort of finding that which seemed to be just beyond my reach. Pursing my lips, I hoped someone would come along now, to tell me just what in Hell's Seven Circles had just happened.

Gal'ika

He marveled at how he could clearly feel Galen through the Force it was as if the Force bond they shared caused his powers to resurface to some degree, but there was no time to dwell on it. Kyan left the table in the galley but stopped at the bulk head of the corridor to call back to Terrin.

“Terrin come with me,” called our Kyan. “Gal'ika is awake.”

Kyan did not wait to see if Terrin followed him, instead he stopped at the bulkhead outside of the med bay.

Terrin needs to see her first, Gal'ika can sense my presence out here and will call for me when she is ready.

Then he headed on inside the pristine medbay, much to the surprise of the meddroid, who appeared to be headed to alert them of Galen's status. Before the droid could say a word Terrin headed past it, heading to Galen's side and squatting beside her. The look in her eyes was distant, as if she was trying to sort through something...

...and altogether too troubled for his liking. He placed a hand alongside her face, directing her eyes gently to his.

"Oh, oh Terrin!" I managed to choke out before wrapping my arms about his neck in something just shy of a death's grip. "It's all... not right! It's all... so, so... terrible, somehow, something is out there, Terrin! Something unimaginable awful! I'm frightened, Terrin; I don't know--"

I pulled him fiercely to me, burying my face in the warm crook of his neck, digging my fingers into his back with the simple effort of remembering.

It wasn't working.

Shuddering now, I pushed him back, struggled to sit more upright, fought to gain control of my emotions, reaching out for the logic I normally had within which for some strange reason had fled somewhere into the Void. I swallowed thickly, tried again.

"I don't understand. I saw it, Terrin; saw it as plain as I'm seeing you now. I saw Ma- I mean, Kyan, fighting with someone... but as awful as it was, even though I think he died, it didn't mean anything. It was-- it was--

"It was tiny, Terrin! And I saw--"

I closed my eyes, the shudders which were racing through me now seeming to travel at lightspeed, so ferociously did my body begin to tremble.

"I saw Sissy, and Lord Aelvedaar, and Big Red, and Shayla; they were all standing around, just standing... and there was the Vong Terrin; they had this guy with them, this awful man who was all thorns and darkness and had the whitest of hair...

"... but somehow, he was tiny too."

One hand relinquished its grip about Terrin, to quickly swipe at my nose. I sniffed, cleared my throat, and tried again.

"There was something else there, something around them, something I couldn't quite see... All I got was an impression of color, of silver, or chrome, and blue... or indigo, or something. And the shadows weren't surrounding it, but were with it somehow; Terrin--

"They were laughing. I couldn't see them, but I could still sense them; I don't know what it means, but Khaandon Terrin, I know it means something...

"Something real."

...but Terrin didn't allow the rising feeling of doom to take hold. Instead he wrapped an arm about Galen, at first not saying a word, seeking to somehow assuage her rising fears...

...but then pulled back, just enough to look her in the eyes once more. He took another moment to analyze just what she had been saying. And that was when he realized with a start that something about all of this was somehow...

...familiar.

Unconsciously he frowned, his eyes defocusing a bit. Silver, chrome and indigo...

...and laughter. And the appearance, or rather, the feeling or understanding perhaps, that everything and everyone was so very small...

Yes, this was familiar. Terrin's eyes snapped alert, resting once more on Galen's baby browns.

"Silver, chrome, and indigo?" Terrin said, repeating his thoughts and what she had already stated aloud. He paused, pursing his lips. "That Which Is?" he then continued, or rather, asked. "Remember, back on Kori'san, all that about the Natural Order and the 'Game'?"

Only.

"... it's not the same."

The words came out strangely, as though to finish a statement left unspoken. But strange as they may have sounded, they carried upon their backs what seemed, at least to me, to be the weight of the entire Universe, all wrapped up in something dark and unutterably...

Cold.

I threw my arms about myself and shivered, while a veritable flotilla of geese began their march across my skin, raising the flesh as though it too was seeking escape from something unknown and terrible. I squeezed myself harder, trembling, the image of Terrin and Master now fading, bowing down, giving way beneath that something unknown, almost as if the stealthy infusion of that dark and cold were managing to manifest itself.

Perhaps it was...

I bit my lower lip so hard it brought blood. For some reason I felt that if I wasn't careful, that weird awfulness would burst in upon us, and it was only by my effort alone that it was being kept at bay. My brow furrowed with the effort of... of... of doing exactly what, I had no clue.

Just... pushing back.

The weird feeling suddenly vanished. My eyes flew open then, and bit by bit reality reasserted itself. I gradually became aware of light, and people, and the fact that something warm was dribbling down my chin. Shuddering, I raised a weak hand, and wiped the blood away... only to transplant it upon the sheet as I let my arm go limp beside me.

"It's different, Terrin," I began again, trying to return to where I had left off as if by doing so all would be right with the world, as if that weird moment had never even happened. "The colors are the same, but I didn't see any giant eyes. But... but the feel was wrong."

I drew in another breath, looked from one to the other. Sat up quickly, groaning as the effort combined with what I'd been going through for the past hour or so and produced the wickedest headache I've ever had in my life.

"It was evil, Terrin, Master. No; it was more. Somehow, it was a deeper shade of what we'd call evil. It was like... like..."

My eyes opened, blinking now for in the wake of that pounding headache the room suddenly appeared to be entirely too bright.

"Like evil was a mere child of it, some kind of offspring. This was worse; there was no emotion involved that I could really feel. If evil could be apathetic, that's coming close. It was like something expected, somehow.

Overwhelming dread and hate, disgust… there is no words to describe what was revealed to them by the Gal’ika yet to come.

Kyan cautiously approached the bed that upon Galen was laying and projected as much calm and peacefulness he could muster across to Galen. He gently laid a hand on her shoulder and tried to use the Force to strengthen her spirit.

“Gal’ika,” said Kyan. “I only wanted to show you the potential I saw in you. I did not realize that your future self would have taken charge of the flow walk to show us our futures. And for that Ad’ika I am sorry it was not my intention to create further fear and doubt about your abilities or the future. But in a way what she did was a good thing if you change your perspective of the issue.”

Kyan removed his hand and pulled up a chair to sit next to Galen’s bed.

“You could take everything at face value,” suggested Kyan. “What you saw is exactly what will unfold, I will be killed by my granddaughter and a great evil will be unleashed upon the galaxy. The other perspective is that by my death at the hands of my granddaughter was able to save her, or for all we know I didn’t actually die. And the great evil we felt was something from future Gal’ika’s past we are now shown a reference to when that event takes place. Flow walking can only reveal a possible future, if we are to change that future or overcome it you first must believe that it can be changed. I know at this moment you don’t feel like it is a possibility, but your future self did I could sense that. Believe that one day you can get to that point and I will help you get there ad’ika.

Kyan had said all he could on the matter it was up to Galen to decide for herself if she wanted to continue. He was feeling the last of his strength wavering while Galen only was exhausted from the use of her Force powers Kyan felt the physical effects of channeling those abilities. Getting up he took his leave heading to one of the guest quarters but briefly stopped at the entrance of the med bay.

“Let me know when we arrive in the Mandalore system,” Kyan said. “I will make arrangements we need with my people then. Gal’ika I know this may seem like an impossible request of you but our Force bond has a greater effect than you think it does. Whether you realize it or not I suspect you are learning on an unconscious level to do everything I have done. Try to access that knowledge to meditate on what you have seen and on what I have said. If you need to talk feel free to wake me.”

And that what she was trying to relate to he and Kyan was way more kriffing serious than the Force, maybe even the All, and most certainly even their least favorite nemesis That Which Is.

After all, she had stated there was far more to all of what she had seen than Kyan's death, her sister, Shayla, and all the Sith.

And Kyan was going to say a few parting words and then walk off and leave Galen in said state, with such significant concerns...? Seriously?

Keeping his final thoughts to himself, Terrin shook his head a bit, then turned back to Galen, whose eyes were clouded with worry and concern and something entirely terrible that literally hurt him to even see there. Reaching out, he placed a hand gently under her chin and directed her eyes to his although he wasn't certain she was really seeing him. Instead he had a feeling she was seeing whatever horrible thing she had sensed during the flow walk, still trying to find the words to describe it and the strength to not give in to the fear and alarm it obviously was creating in her soul. Terrin searched for any words he might have to calm her fears and to let her know that while he couldn't quite understand what had just happened that he believed her...

...and that he wanted to help her bear the weight of her fears. He understood that she was talking about something even greater and Darker than the Force, the All, or even That Which Is.

Something dark and altogether Apathetic? No wonder she was terrified.

"This is about more than just Kyan's death and your potential future, isn't it?" Terrin queried simply, realizing that what he was asking sounded a bit stupid considering she had said as much. But he wanted her to understand that he understood what she was trying to get across. "Another Player of the Game?" he said, still trying to put words to what she was trying to tell him. Then his eyes darkened. "Or a Master of All that Is, the Creator of the so-called Game...?"

...And perhaps of All That Is...? came an unspoken, and highly disturbing, mental addendum.

How could he not see that this was way beyond that Force to which he clung. It may even be greater than the weirdness Sissy wielded...

It hit me full in the face then.

"He- he just doesn't know," was all I could say, whispering the words more as a reassurance to myself than anything else. Another bout of shivering wracked my frame, and I threw my hands around myself, hugging myself fiercely, trying to gain strength from the Ol' Galen of Yore before finally yielding to the moment and burying myself against Terrin's warmth.

"It's not that, it's not something I can do, there's not anything anybody can do, oh it's horrible, but the thing that is most horrible is that I don't think we're supposed to know, and now I do, or at least I've been shown something, and, oh Terrin, I don't know what to do!"

I dug deeper, flattening my nose against his chest, snuffling a little as the words rambled from my lips willy-nilly. On and on I blathered; that was the most terrible thing, because even as I tried and tried to explain, I couldn't help but feel that the explanation I was trying to give simply pulled farther and farther away from the truth. A truth I couldn't get across to save my life.

A truth I had seen. But sure as there's Treasure on Roon didn't understand.

"Why did I see this, why?" I garbled, snuffling against Terrin's shirt yet again, my fingers digging into the cloth. Then I stopped, blinking, and pushed away so I could look up into Terrin's dear, blue eyes.

"Am I crazy, Terrin?" I whispered, hoping to Khaandon that yes indeedy Galen ol gal, what with all the experiences you've had since that day you snatched Sorben out from under the nose of Darth Wicked, you have most assuredly gone right round the bend.

For the other option open to me, and more than likely to us all, was something I didn't know if I could live with... if I even had a choice in the matter at all.

You aren't a Force-user, or someone who is capable of controlling the All. You're just a pilot turned salesman. Galen's Master shoud be here helping her through this.

But Terrin only gave the shoulder-being a moment's thought. Mentally shaking is head, he slapped the thing back into nonexistence.

Now is not the time for such things!

Focusing entirely on Galen, Terrin reached out and placed one hand around each of her shoulders, his grasp gentle yet firm. He looked even more deeply into her eyes, seeking to say something to bring out the strong individual he knew so very well.

"No, I believe you," he said said simply, then following it with, "and we are going to figure this out...

... somehow." He paused then, hoping that Galen would not interpret this as him taking lightly what she was saying, for he was doing far from that. "You said you knew but didn't think you were supposed to know..."

He trailed, pursing his lips a bit, the pieces of a thought not quite put together in the back of his mind as he finished with, "...How...?"

I focused on that one, little word as if it held the answer to the mystery of what I had seen. Of course it didn't in the least; all it did was distract me from trying to get myself together, lending itself as yet another question mark in a growing sea of them.

Or was it?

Funny how the mind works. One moment you're in a state of panic. Of total terror. Or deep anger. Rage. Whatever; something strong, an emotion that doesn't merely take you by the nose and lead you along but blasts against you like the emissions from a volcano, hot and fiery. The next...

One. Simple. Word. An interjection, if you will, that knocks you from the rail you're on and segues you off into quite clearly a different direction. One word...

"What."

I pulled away again, the tears blurring my vision suddenly drying, leaving me with stuffed nose and red-rimmed eyes. But in the wake of that strange segue came the ability to think, to question in my own right, to act and not merely bow down in blind, terrified reaction.

"Not how, Terrin. What! What are the Vong doing with someone who reminds me of Darth Wicked? What were Sissy and Aelvedaar and those other Sith all doing together? What did that mean?"

I flung myself upright, still sniffling and snuffling a bit but at least I was gradually becoming more and more my old self. The Beast had been faced, and while I knew it could elicit nothing but sheer, raw, and animalistic fear from me, I was heartened in that I could rebound.

And think.

Take that, Old Googly! I thought with a snort, although somehow I didn't think what I had felt was That-Which-Is at all. Something Greater, as Terrin said. But for now, there was a closer step to take, an event demanding we take a closer look. Whatever the Monster in the background was... it could wait.

For the moment.

"There's something, some connection between them," I started in again, now pacing about the little med bay. "A- a commonality. That's why I saw only certain Sith... and then there was me, Terrin. I saw me, an older me, a future me? Anyway, the me I saw smiled, as if I knew something, I mean, well, she knew something that we just can't see right now..."

Terrin was pretty sure he really wasn't helping Galen figure this all out, even though he really wanted to do so. "As for what all those particular Sith and the Wicked-like character and Vong have in common..."

He trailed, recalling somesthing. "There is the fact that both your sister and Shayla have been aboard a Vong ship, and that Aelvedaar managed to first pull your sister and then Shayla from said ship which was galaxies away from us."

He shook his head again. "I've never quite reconciled with the fact he was able to do that, no matter how extraordinary his powers were. The Sith have stated for quite some time that the Vong are coming...

...and we had pretty good reason to believe that Roan might have been allied with them. Remember, he is the one who sent your sister to the ship to begin with."

Terrin shrugged, still processing. "Maybe what you saw is indicating there is some sort of Alliance there."

Standing, cocked his head a bit in Galen's direction, an eerie realization suddenly slamming home. Galen's statement regarding a commonality between all the characters she had seen was suddenly coloring things in a different light.

"Come to think of it, those ships of the Vong are alive..."

I paused in mid-step, turned, and gave Terrin an incredulous look, while a gaggle of geese started marching up and down my spine, accompanied with the sudden recurrence of the chill I had just managed to force from my bones.

How could I have missed that connection? Me, the one who had absconded with not one but two of the uncanny Sith ships -- oh how I missed my Jesters! I had been so impressed with their capabilities I never stopped to consider exactly how such capabilities had come into being to begin with.

Then another thought struck me. My eyes widened.

"That's a two-way street, Terrin," I said in a low voice as the possibility of a Vong-Sith connection grew into something approaching a probability.

I bit my lip.

"It- it's sure looking like the Sith have had some connections with the Vong, and for quite some time, doesn't it?" I went on. Part of me sat up and chastised me for leaping to conclusions in the light of what really could only be thought of as circumstantial evidence...

...but my guts were screaming I was right. And that the Sith were more than likely Masters of the Vong.

And something even more terrifying had its sticky little fingers in the worm-ridden pot as well.

I jerked, brought mounting terror back under iron-fisted control. Drawing a deep breath, I crossed my arms and let my chin jut defiantly into the air.

"Well then, if this is the case, we've got to find a way of proving that our speculations are true. Then we've got to take what we know to the Impys; they're running the show -- well, so far -- and if we could only convince them of all this we could start putting ourselves on Red Alert or something.

"Or maybe I could get Sissy to help us. Get her to come back to her humanity or something."

I couldn't help shaking my head at this, for she seemed to have turned herself completely into what might be the biggest threat our Galaxy, if not our universe, had ever faced.

Despite Ol' Googly and whatever implications he/she/it entailed.

I shook my head again, cognizant of the vision of Kyan and his daughter... and my appearance with them on what I could only assume to be Mandalore. Now I doubted if we should even be going to them at all. Would they agree to help us, and if so, would it be enough? Could it be that with their presence in our corner we could at least hold the forces of the Empire at bay long enough so that I could get to Sorben and get him to listen to me?

Or was the vision telling me that in this attempt the Mandalorians would be seen as a threat to the Empire, and I would myself be bringing about Kyan's death, in the process setting in motion new dissidence, minor at best when relatively speaking, a time-waster that would keep us squabbling like flies on a dung heap while the real threat loomed quietly closer, unseen and unnoticed until it was too late?

I exhaled my frustrations, and told Terrin of my thoughts, wondering in Khaandon's name just what would be the best course of action to take. But we had to do something; we held too much knowledge between too few people, and the right people needed to know this before something else unexpected cropped up, to set us off on another wild goose chase.

Or worse.

But they simply had to do just that.

"I'm not sure what the answer is," he admitted then honestly. "What I do know, however, is that up until this point we've collectively been talking about keeping all of this under wraps and laying low, with a potential alliance with Mandalore, while the incoming Vong show up and the Empire battles it out with them...

...only waiting to show up when both have worn each other down, or at least until the Empire was worn enough that they may listen to what we have to say."

He paused, frowning, and shrugging his shoulders. "That seems to make alot of sense...

...excepting I don't know if I can really live with myself if I sit back and watch others get slaughtered when I knew full well what was coming."

He paused then, pursing his lips, processing his thoughts some more in light of what Galen was revealing to him regarding her vision. "And I have to agree with you...

...do we really have enough oomph, even with Mandolorian allies, to do anything about what is incoming? Or is that just it...

...and what Kyan is really trying to get across to you? I know damn well you've got way more than just the Force in you, and I would hope Kyan is realizing that too. You are capable of way more than you think."

He paused then, looking at her earnestly. "And in regards to letting the Empire know what we know, just maybe we do have an advantage there. Tarnus has been to the Sith worlds, and has experienced things firsthand there. I don't believe for one second he doesn't see the Sith as a potential threat. Of course, proving to him that there are Vong incoming and entangled with the Sith may be more difficult."

If you ask me, the whole damned Galaxy should be banded together, if we're going to win this time! The irrational thought didn't do much in the way of making me feel any better, other than giving a bit of the frustration I felt a means to leak out of me.

A huge proportion was left; now my hand reached up and combed unruly locks from my face. I sighed.

"Terrin, I- I- I don't know what to do."

Now that, coming from me, was a scary thing. I had always had some kind of answer, some sort of goal or idea to aim toward when the going got rough. Incongruously, my mind flew back to the day I'd met Terrin, when I escaped from the 25-story prison Actar had placed me not by attempting the climb down, but rather up.

There always is another side to every coin, sure as there's Treasure on Roon. But for the life of me, no matter how I flipped it and flipped it, this particular coin kept coming up showing the same face.

"I'm ok now, Terrin," I finally said, going to him and reaching up to plant a reassuring kiss on his lips. While his stance softened a little, the concern in his eyes didn't waver one iota. I sighed.

It'd sure be nice if Kyan would come around and help her out with this, a shoulder devil popped up and snorted derisively. Kinda reminiscent of those Jedi back on K'eel Doba...that Mahoy whosis and his lady Jedi friend...who were more concerned about getting to Shayla than helping Galen...

With effort, Terrin shoved such darkening thoughtws to the side, not mentioning them, at least not now. Upon entering the Mess, they found Link and Yaoksi seated at the table, drinks in hand, talking. Terrin looked to Galen, quirking a brow, hoping like hell he could offer her something to ease her nerves just a little. Even if it was a drink.

"How about a drink?" he asked simply enough, squeezing her hand a bit to once more convey support...

No pain, no fatigue, not even that from all my years..

Quickly Kyan looked back at the bunk and saw himself or more like a shell of himself. Stretching forth his hand to touch the body lying on the bed he saw his own arm consisted of millions of luminous fibers. He had no idea of what exactly to make of what he was seeing or more importantly why he was seeing it. Slowly the walls began to fade revealing to him Link and Yaoksi chatting in the galley both composed of similar luminous threads Link's lacking an arm and both much dimmer than his own. Similarly Terrin and Galen now came into view, Terrin also missing an arm and dim like the others, but Galen shinning brightly like himself.

Is it the Force that I'm seeing, but why I already know Gal'ika is strong in the Force.

Kyan wanted to yell out to them to try and understand what it was he was seeing, but it was as if something prevented him from doing so. That same feeling made him focus on Galen something he was suppose to see but remained hidden from him. He could sense the effects of a power stirring within her but not the power itself it reminded him of when he drew power from Galen's abilities and the hidden one behind the scenes that bleed over that both poisoned him and gave restored a portion of his force connection at the same time. The walls, the stars everything but the people seemed to fade from view as they were all swept away to another place.

It came off in the distance at first, then grew larger as it came closer until before them sat a large fountain next to a pool filled with steeping stones. The others appeared oblivious to the sudden change of scenery as if they were still on the ship. He had little time to ponder what all this was suppose to mean when the starless sky began to take a new shape as well. Where there once was darkness the sky was now filled with what he could only describe as large stone figures conversing with each other oblivious to what was happening below. Finally released from the mysterious force that was holding him back he tried to call out to the imposing figures.

“What is this,” asked Kyan. “I don't understand what is all this suppose to symbolize.”

I don't know about the other two, but to me it sounded, well... Sound.

A bit more time passed. Link found something to eat, I switched from caf to ale and back again until at last I thought far too much time had passed in waiting for the return of the others. Shooting a measured look Link's way, it suddenly struck me that the little gal seemed to have grown a lot, not only in age but in stature. Almost as rapidly as the idea developed in me. Of course this hadn't really happened at all, but her grasp on the difficulties which lay ahead, not to mention her neat suggestion as how best we might handle it, elevated her enormously in my eyes.

I let the corner of my mouth quirk upward, leaned back to as to reach my own blaster more comfortably, and threw it on the table next to her own.

"I'm in," I said succinctly, crossing one leg on the other and leaning back just as Galen and Terrin entered. Terrin looked all kinds of worried, while his spitfire of a wife looked like she could use a drink.

It's always about timing...

"Glad to see you're back!" I welcomed them, then rose to get us all a shot of liquid fire. I even plopped a short one down in front of Link; I figured not only had the lil gal earned one, but had done so more than once throughout the whirligig of time she had been with us.

I spread my arms expansively to either side.

"Welcome to the Coalition, Galen!"

I then shot a quite obvious look which shot past them and into the corridor beyond.

Kyan? my quirked brow questioned, as simultaneously I raised my shot glass into the air.

"Kyan is doing some meditation," he said evenly enough. "I'm sure he will join us later."

And then maybe he'll finally help Galen sort through what she experienced, a sarcastic-like demon popped up on his shoulder and snorted. He was a persistent little beastie, and getting increasingly more difficult to ignore.

Stating that, he made sure Galen got seated comfortably at the mess table before taking a seat himself, and picking up the shot glass Yaoksi had poured and raising it in a similiar manner.

"To the Coalition indeed," he said then simply, but most certainly not flippantly. They needed to band together now, and not just from within but with others on the outside. Because if they didn't...

Gal'ika and the others remain oblivious to this... it probably means i'm the only one who is actually seeing this. The fountain and the lake I know them or is it of them but from where?

He stepped closer to the fountain first peering into its depths. The waters that ran in it was dark almost black, but not clouded only black. It moved slowly almost beckoning him to come forward and drink from its waters. For a moment he reached out to the water to take a drink only to quickly withdraw his hand.

This isn't right, the water is not what it appears to be. It is dark, sinister.

Slowly he turned away from the fountain a little piece of him still longed to drink from its waters. His gaze followed the water from the fountain where it overflowed into the lake filled with stepping stones. Cautiously he approached the lake and looked into its depths. From its edge it dropped into what looked like a bottomless pit and what once appeared to be stepping stones revealed themselves to be stone pillars whose tops barely broke the surface and whose bases faded into the depths of the lake. Kyan sat at the edge of the waters of the lake staring into the calm, but he dared not to touch them. As he sat the darkness cleared from the lake as what he could only describe as scenes from his life replayed off of the reflection of the lake. In them he saw many things his marriage to his wife, finding his oldest daughter on that wrecked freighter, the birth of his youngest daughter.

I hove no idea how this is possible, but these memories I had long forgotten so many of them. So many little details of what had transpired and all the good things I have been fortunate to have.

"Umm, yeah..." I said, and threw it all back. The contents shot down my throat, rebounded from my stomach, and seemed to erupt back into my sinus cavities, where they proceeded to light a fireworks display to rival that of Boonta Eve.

Maybe that flow walk Force wizardry Kyan was going on about, or maybe Terrin hadn't explained it to her yet.

"The Coalition," Link cheered. "At least it is until some one comes up with a better name for it."

She leveled her gaze with Galen's while gently setting her mug back on the table.

"I don't know what Terrin and the others have said," injected Link. "But the Coalition is our answer to the vong. The theory is the Empire and the Sith both have enemies that will refuse to help them out even with the threat of the vong upon the galaxy. So in secret while the Empire and the vong start beating each other to death we find those disgruntled people and build a force that can take on the vong or whatever is thrown against it."

Link stopped focusing her sole attention on Galen to let her process what she had said and returned to addressing the room in general.

"Look, this is all new to me, and it sounds just wonderful at first consideration. But there's something I think you've forgotten that really needs to be taken into account."

I let my head drop, while I gathered my thoughts. Still looking at the gleaming surface, I continued.

"The Sith aren't who the Average Joe thinks they are. They're way different, magickal, way more powerful, and..."

My head shot up, and I fixed Link with a measured look.

"Invisible. Not there. Non-existent, outta the game, dead and gone... look, kid, as far as most people know, the Sith are history! Not only that, but when you mention the word 'Sith' to anyone, all they can think of is this Darth or that, and the duology by which they lived. To many it's just some kind of weird religion, for Khaandon's sake! Myth, dark, forgotten, lost in the corners of the past... The only ones who know not only that they're around, but who they really are, are us, the Vong...

"...and a certain few in the Empire."

She opened her mouth to interject; I raised a hand, bullying onward.

"Divide and conquer, right? Wrong! Here's why."

I curled the raised hand into a fist, shot out a finger, began ticking 'em off as I spoke.

"One, if the Empire and the Vong waste time duking it out, the Empire will be utterly smashed. Trust me, I know it will.

"Two, we believe there to be a strong Sith-Vong connection. If this is indeed the case, all the Sith would have to do is hang back further, pull out, set their sights on who else might try to annoy them, and let the Vong finish the job. Without the aid of the Sith, the Empire will be toast.

"So after the Vong summarily smash the Empire, here comes the new nasty alliance -- perhaps -- to smear the leftovers into goo. Point to the Bad Guys... and where do they go from there?

"I don't think it matters... because there's something else sticking its fingers into the works."

I pursed my lips, chewing on them a bit and shot Terrin yet another somewhat anxious look. He reached out with a reassuring hand; thus encouraged, I plunged ahead.

"I saw... Something in the Flow Walk I had with Kyan. No, maybe it's better to say I sensed it's presence. I don't know who or what it is; we've had some short experience with this-- this-- entity we lovingly refer to as 'Ol Googly;' what I sensed reminded me of it. Or him. Or her. Whatever.

"But whatever he/she/it really is, we don't know. We just know he/she/it does exist, shows itself only upon brief occasion, and disappears. I'm not sure exactly what happens, but the sense I'm left with is that it is something on a galactic; no, universal scale.

"We're nothing but motes, less than motes. I don't know what we are, but to him/her/it I can't help but feel it's nothing.

"And what I felt in the Flow Walk was the presence of Something Else, something perhaps even worse."

I shut my trap with the sudden realization that not only did my words seem far-fetched at the very least... but if they were indeed true there was probably not a whole helluva lot we could do about anything.

I wondered about the Vong, their alleged connection with the Sith, the way the Empire was hanging back off from the Sith when they more than likely fully well knew about them...

And there's Ol' Googly.

Wasn't something mentioned about a Game, or did I dream that somewhere? Was that idea something we'd all come up with, or was there anything remotely resembling factual evidence to prove something deeply sinister was in fact going on? More sinister than another simple Vong invasion...

Wherever my thoughts had been heading, they abruptly vanished. My hand rose to my forehead, and I slumped into a chair. Someone placed another shot glass before me; I grabbed it and tossed it down.

It tasted like ashes in my mouth.

"Maybe we need to do the totally, utterly unexpected," I muttered, wondering just where that had come from, and what in fact those words really meant.

“First off let me say that I have witnessed what the Sith can do,” Link replied. “I have also seen the power of what you like to call the All as well. That and I have experienced first hand what the Vong are capable of as well.”

To emphasize her point Link slowly open and closed her fist letting the dull sound of machinery in her hand fill the silent room.

“But I also have another experience that unfortunately you all may yet experience.” Link continued. “I have been powerless before others, dominated, abused, counted as a piece of machinery and denied basic rights. From what you yourself described about this evil behind the evil we would be lucky to be counted as slaves, more likely to be considered nerfs if this power seizes hold. So I ask what are we to do?”

Link's question was mostly rhetorical in nature but she didn't give Galen a chance to answer using it to set up her next train of thought.

“I wasn't as fortunate as you Galen,” said Link. “I was born as a ryn, had no family to love me, I don't have the mystic powers you do. Maybe if I had any of those things I wouldn't have become a slave and not have had to do so many horrible things to survive, but I wasn't. I blamed the Jedi for what happened to me, if they had so much power how could it be so hard to stop the conditions that led to my life.”

Link had to stop to gather herself, she came to the point that she never wanted to admit because then all her blame would be for naught, but she had to move on as well.

The signs were all there but no one could see it, not even me.

The memories played out until it arrived at the scene of their duel. Kyan stopped tracking the individual moves of the fight focusing on the luminous thread of the Force that formed both contestants. They both appeared evenly matched that was until his brother unleashed a barrage of lightning well wide of Kyan. In that moment Kyan remembered how time froze for him as the lightning was not meant for him but how it punched through his youngest daughter leaving a smoking hole in her armor. He remembered how he didn't need to verify his daughter was dead, he felt her death through the Force. His brother smiled at the death of Kyan's daughter, but not for long.

If his brothers plan was to turn him to the dark side he was solely mistaken about the effects of his daughters death. Instead of giving into his rage and hatred Kyan watched as a wave of calm washed over his old self and the threads of luminous light exploded into a pillar of light then condensed itself into his body. Kyan demonstrated one of the rarest of Force abilities ever to manifest, it wasn't becoming one with the Force but becoming the embodiment of the Force itself. He remembered how it felt that in that moment he could have commanded stars to go nova or a black hole to reverse its flow and the sight on his brothers face as he knew it was over. In a last ditch effort to inflict more pain his brother readied a second barrage for Kyan's oldest daughter, he didn't get the chance as Kyan crossed a large distance in what many later recounted was an instant and drove his lightsaber through his brother heart.

Even after all that he still managed one more trick.

As if his thoughts were a prophecy of was what to come his brother reached out grabbing him on both sides of his head and gave him the most evilest of grins. Kyan watched as his older self was stripped of the Force, but now he could see with new eyes what had happened.

This feeling, the threads of light. Its not through the Force he did this to me, its like Galen's abilities he used the All.

Kyan was shocked by this revelation, it wasn't natural like how Galen's felt. It was incomplete, or a fragment that he had acquired. Now it made sense to him why Galen's powers reacted in the flow walk to him. Through his new vision that he currently saw the world he could see how the Force even as the powerful living entity it was still in the grand scheme of things was a system that had to follow set rules. But the All he could only describe as the universe itself bending itself to the will of the user. It was both frighting and awe inspiring the concept of such a power in the universe.

Is this how Gal'ika sees it, how am I suppose to teach her to use this. Something I am powerless to stand before, all my family dead how can I be qualified to rebuild the Jedi or teach Gal'ika.

Kyan looked up and saw the fountain, and once again it beckoned him to drink from its waters and it would grant him the power to do all he wished. Drawing near Kyan cupped his hands below the surface of the fountain then raised up a small amount in his hands to drink. As it was about to touch his lips Kyan heard a voice resonate in his head.

Buir STOP.

Startled Kyan spilled the water onto the ground and turned to see another figure standing with the others on the ship. This one was different from the others instead of being illuminated with threads of the Force she glowed a subtle blue.

“Ad'ika?” Kyan asked. In response the new figure said nothing but bowed her head in acknowledgement.

...and so very, very wrong...

I don't know how I knew that, but I did. It wasn't as if that was a bit of knowledge I'd come up with myself, based on one of my usual hunches. Nor was it based on anything in particular anybody had said. It wasn't even as if someone had planted the notion in my head.

I just... knew.

I sighed a little, reached out, took up the empty shot glass and started toying with it.

"Fighting, it's always fighting..."

With an exhalation of breath I slammed the little glass down on the table with such force that it shattered. The incident drew me away from where my thoughts were beginning to stray; now I frowned and lifted the glass in front of my face. It had retained its integrity, but was covered now with a webbing of fractures. I peered at Link through the remainder of the glass, seeing multiple images of her staring back at me.

She knows she's right, too... and she's basing her idea on fact. What do you have to base yours on, Galen? I mean, c'mon; it's not even as if you even have anything solid to go by, much less offer!

It came to me then, what to do.

I set the shattered glass back on the table, gently. Clasped my hands, and leaned in a bit to look Link even harder smack in her eyes.

"I don't know what the hell is in me. I don't know exactly how it got there; I sure as there's treasure on Roon hadn't been born like this, like Jedi are born being Force sensitive. I'm pretty positive that somehow that day that--"

I halted a little; pursing my lips briefly against the hurt that would never go away.

"--that my Sister changed from being Jharmeen to whatever the hell she is now, well, something slopped over into me. So yeah, I believe I really do have that inside me now. Not the Force, like Kyan thinks, but something more. Something I might be able to connect with to help, if only I knew how."

I straightened again, rubbed a weary hand across my face.

"Look, for some reason I don't think fighting is the way out of whatever the hell predicament it is that's coming our way. I know that sounds weird, stupid... but it's niggling in me. Call it a hunch. But--"

I raised a hand now, seeing Link's impending protests.

"Getting prepared for it, should push come to shove, is a good idea, I think. So yeah, go ahead with this Coalition. Combine forces. Meanwhile..."

I trailed off, turned, and gave Terrin the most serious look I'd ever given him in the wild career that has been our life together.

“Buir'ika,” Pria's voice echoed in his head. “It was my doing that brought you here. Galen's powers have restored enough of your connection with the Force to allow me to call you here.”

He stood by not understanding exactly how she had done this but accepted it nonetheless.

The All is more than you can imagine or understand, it cannot be explained to those not chosen it has to be experienced. Those who wield it are not born with it like the Force but are chosen, at first it manifests in other abilities that can resemble the Force or Sith magik. It will eventually develop into greater abilities and often times has altered the mind of its user to serve its purpose. At least this is what us Jedi who now inhabit this plane have come to believe.

Kyan now understood where he was and why this place was so familiar. It was the lake of apparition, a place where Jedi could see the ghosts of other Jedi beneath the surface of the lake. Pria must have brought his mind here because its physical location was thousands of lightyears away and only know to very few because of the dangers it holds.

I'm sorry I had to show you those memories of what happened but now you understand what was done to you, only the All can restore your abilities. You needed to see for yourself and understand how little you understood of the All. Galen is important to the future you were right about that, but your path and hers are very different. That is why you must let her find it in her own way, but there will be a time when you will help her once again and for that time is why I leave you with this. To help Galen and to also save my daughter Kani.

Pria took a step forward and grasped Kyan's hands in her own. Kyan watched as she closed her eyes and her light in the Force grew in intensity then began to flow over himself. Realizing what she was doing he tried to stop her but was too late, as the light began to recede back into Pria she began to fade into nothingness. Kyan snapped up from the bunk on the ship, he looked around but saw nothing.

What was that, was it real, a vision.

Thinking the room was too dark the began to notice how everything began to glow with a dull blue light. Slowly it grew until he could make out the room but then he noticed how he could not read any of the various screen, or the details of a piece of flimsisteel. Kyan now understood what Pria had done she had given him the ability to see the Force but at the cost of his own sight. Then he could feel something else she had done but it was not the time to use it. To do all this he knew that it the cost to Pria much more in turn. Kyan then began to shed tears for he knew that he would never again in this life or the next see his daughter ever again.

“Pry'ika,” Kyan shouted out. “Why did you do this?”

The response came as the same voice of Pria echoed through his head one last time.

...but he knew damn well he trusted her and believed in the abilities that were inside her. Likewise he knew damn well that whatever it was she was thinking and possibly beginning to plan that there was no way in hell she was going at it alone.

Not this time. Never again.

He didn't say as much, not aloud. Even so, Terrin was certain she could read it in his eyes.

He cocked a brow, the return look he gave her equally as serious. "What do you have in mind?"

"Oh," I finally managed. "I don't need much of a ship; just a little one, about so big-"

I held out my hands about a meter apart to illustrate.

"--with a little hyperdrive in her and maybe a defensive something-or-other. You see..."

I trailed off again, now yanking my eyes from his for I knew if I watched the look that undoubtedly was going to parade through them I'd start thinking again about what I was thinking. It was already hard enough.

"I- I- there's something I have to do, and... and... and I don't want you to come with me."

In fact, I really think Kyan should, I kept back as my ace-in-the-hole against the protestations I knew were forthcoming.

Sure as there's Treasure on Roon.

What possible use it it to see the world like this, its like I'm hearing color, or tasting smells.

Kyan almost swore as he ran into bulkhead after bulkhead, he had to focus in order to make out simple objects such as buttons, knobs, latches, and also bulkheads. He found it easier just to dismiss what he was seeing for now and rely on the mental map he created earlier. Stumbling into the galley he could see the bewilderment of the others as he tripped over chairs and bumped into tables. Fishing around for a chair he sat himself down at the table. Sensing a glass bottle on the table he reached for it and missed, again he reached and missed, then on the third try his hand connected grasping it firmly. Removing its glass stopper he tipped his head back drinking down half of its contents. Burning as it went down it did little to distract Kyan from the images of Pria still on his mind.

“That wasn't as distracting as I thought,” quipped Kyan. He could see the growing look of concern from the others and more importantly sense how Galen could feel something had happened to him.

"What's wrong, Kyan?" I asked, totally worried by the way it had taken him several attempts to find that bottle and finally raise it to his lips. It unnerved me even more to see his white-knuckled grip on it; even though he had replaced it on the table, he wasn't moving his hand.

As if he doesn't know if he'd find it again...

Worry and concern multiplied to the size of a rancor. Not knowing what else to do, I reached out a hand and placed it lightly atop the one still holding the bottle in such a death's grip. He seemed to jump a little, as if...

As if he hadn't seen that coming.

My little personal armada of geese flew in from nowhere and began their march up and down my back, their little red flags waving in cadence as the stomp of their persistent feet promptly turned my skin cold.

Oh hell.

When Kyan looked at Galen what he saw was different from the others. He could still see the soft blue light radiating off of her, but he also saw another light radiating from her in a color he could not describe in either basic or mando'a. He had no means to describe it other than the toxic feeling he felt when he had shared Galen's powers during the flow walk. Realizing how he was staring blankly off into space he could feel the growing desperation from Galen, at his own silence.

“I don't know how to describe it,” answered Kyan. “I'm not sure if there are even words that could describe it entirely, but I will try.”

He began to recount how after he left Terrin and Galen in the cargo hold and went into his healing trance. Kyan told them of his out of body experience then the fountain and lake he saw, the memories played back for him, the ghost of Pria that came to him. Then he went into how his sight was taken from him by Pria and replaced with his new vision and tried to explain what it was he saw. He could tell that most of this was going over the tops of their heads, but it was something that almost had to be experienced first hand in order to understand it.

He's seeing in blue, radiating outlines. Me, it's purple and indigo and chrome.

What the Hell was with the colors? What was the connection? There just had to be some kind of connection; our separate experiences were, although unique, too... similar to be utterly disparate.