Enough of this nonsense, Shayla Petrolu! she scolded herself.

To everything there is a season...

A time to build up,a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together...

Shayla's season of exploring those Dark feelings within her was far from over. Again she would most certainly return to them, for they were a part of her she now knew she could not reject were she to become truly whole.

But the season to submerge herself in the Darkness alone...that had passed. Now the matter at hand would be to truly learn Balance, to become aware of the Light and the Dark within. And that would only begin when she, Shayla Petrolu, accepted herself for all that she was, all that she could be, including trusting herself to know whom to believe and trust.

With this understanding firmly in place, the Truth became crystal clear.

No longer was it of importance to her whether the Jedi accepted her for what she had now become and for what she now believed. She could only show them and allow their perceptions of her newfound beliefs be what they were, for certainly they would remain as such no matter how she tried to change them.

Force them to understand she could not, and that had been her mistake with Logan. He saw only what he perceived in the only way that he knew to observe.

Perception and reality are often different when one views the Universe from only one angle. Refusing the Dark or the Light within oneself stigmitized one to only seeing from that angle, and only when they accepted both parts of themselves could they truly see at all.

Shayla sat on the bed as one of her signature looks of determination crossed her features.

She would succeed, she COULD do this with the Guidance of her Teachers...

Whether or not the Jedi ever saw what she was becoming in the light of the Truth, or whether they ever understood at all...

...really didn't matter...

[ 10-27-2001 11:48 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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"How is it that you became so wise, my love?" she whispered into the twilight about them.

He said nothing but merely smiled in turn. Then the smile reverted to a deeply intense expression, and he reached up a powerful hand to grasp her behind her head. Pulling her down to his lips in one smoothly unstoppable motion, he once more drew her away from the realm of logic and thought, bringing her to join him in the place where naught but emotions and feelings pirouetted and swayed, and where they were truly the conquerors of all they perceived....

--------------------

Smiling, she remembered the dream--a dream she had shared with him somehow. But dreams were just that: mere perceptions of what reality could be and not necessarily reality as it would be.

Time to face your reality for the day, Shayla Petrolu. "Gazing at the stars" is fine for the night, but for the day you have yourself and that's plenty enough.

Getting to her feet, Shayla picked a simple black jumpsuit from her wardrobe and changed into it, slipping on her usual black boots. After washing her face and pulling her hair back partially, Shayla donned her weapons belt and removed the lightsaber in one of its holsters. She activated the violet blade, gazing at it intently as she had done several times since the weapon had been completed.

Odd, she thought, that people so concerned about striving for peacefulness and control of emotion would also carry a weapon as such. Seems rather hypocritical to spout words of peace and calmness and at the same time wield a weapon to fight and kill another being for what one thinks is right.

Especially when that one has thought about and determined what is right from only ONE angle.

Closing down the blade of the lightsaber, Shayla replaced it on her hip and pulled from the wardrobe the violet cloak that she had been wearing the day before. Wrapping it around herself, she left her room and headed for the Dining Hall.

First food for the body. Later, food for the mind and soul...

[ 10-30-2001 10:27 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

--------------------

Indeed, something was definitely and most assuredly amiss....

Like a gray ghost she slid out from the great bed, and had padded to the viewing crystal before she fully realized what had awakened her.

Aelvedaar was gone.

She inhaled deeply with this realization. He must have departed for Korriban, to continue his magicks there.

As if to verify that very thought, she moved to the viewing crystal with which Darth Wicked, and other Sith Lords, had looked out upon the Galaxy, unseen and unnoticed. She gave it a cursory glance... and then shook her head, blinking. Looked again, harder. Began to actually strain.

The crystal remained stubbornly dark. What mischief was afoot to cause this strange and unlikely occurrence?

Feeling uneasy, she moved back to the bed, and lay down against the pillows there. For a long moment she remained absolutely motionless, her eyes wide, the Glyph blazing as she stared into the darkness around her....

[ 10-31-2001 04:36 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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Shayla had to admit, something didn't seem quite right. She couldn't put her finger on it, didn't have a clue as to what it might be, but something was going on, somewhere...

Frowning, Shayla utilized that link between Adept and Teacher.

What is this disturbance which I sense incoming?

Silent and keenly aware of everything around her, Shayla awaited a response...

[ 10-31-2001 09:36 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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A figure, shuffled along the floor in front of Graysith, covered in the navy blue cloak flowing down the figure. Stopping afront the bed, a shadow covered face turned to Graysith, then looked away and continued walking... into the wall, and dissappearing.

A cloaked figure sat on a large boulder on Tyrene, in the Shykar system. The dark hue of blue flowing like a near black river down his body. His chin resting on clasped hands afront his chest. The hood coating his face in the comforting shadows. His eyes closed, concentrating on the magic arts of the Krath. A brown bag hung diagonally acrossed his chest. "The sacred stone is sought, one after another to claim the power. A pawn in the game, stuck in the middle. Shadows laying claim to the new toy, with the rays of light clutching to reclaim old ground."

Pushing off the rock, the dark figure slowly walked across the barren land. Covered in rocks and debris, with some moss. A supposed ancient burial ground for Dark Jedi. The Krath Prophet kept walking into the distance, a small tornado of dirt and sand kicking up behind him, covering his body... and then he was gone.

He was a Krath Prophet. Master of the Krath Magic, and trained in the Sith arts and ways of fighting. The Dark Side was his security blanket, he had come to it, and it gave him sanctuary and salvation.

--------------------

Throwing the covers aside, she fairly leapt from the bed and descended upon the viewing crystal.

Surprisingly, a landscape hovered within its eerie depths. One of sand and stone and dust and dreary atmosphere. One in which a shadow, and essence of... something ...seemed to hover like the threatening wings of a Bespin velker. She strained, seeking to discern where this was, and who or what was at the foundation of it and of her growing disquiet...

...only to have the scene fade ominously into blackness. Before it flickered into shadows, there was a singular flash of ruby. Then all was dark in the crystal.

She drew back, frowning. What was meant by this new enigma? Who was that shadowy figure... and how and why did he come to her rooms in this Temple? Was he a mere vision... or reality?

There was but one way she knew of to determine the answer to at least some of her questions. Hastily attiring herself in her black one-piece covering and thrimm, she hastened from her rooms and headed to the Dining Hall on the level of her old, and currently Shayla's, quarters. As she approached, the sense of questioning unease and curiosity that she felt from her adept became stronger and stronger.

At length she found herself before the mossy doorway, two stalwart Noghri at firm attention on either side. She nodded to them, reached out, opened the door and entered the room.

Shayla stood before the dining table, her greeny-blue eyes wide with consternation, a fruit held in her frozen hand. Graysith spoke no word in greeting, but merely gave her a nod in passing. But--Patience, my young one, came the reassuring touch in Shayla's mind. I am investigating the discrepency. In but a few short strides she was at the back wall, which slid obediently open at her touch. Within the tight confines of the alcove hidden there, Jinn was lit up like Tatooine on Boonta Eve.

"WELL! It's about time!" the computer cried out in an aggrieved tone of voice. "I've been trying to get your attention for hours! What is it with you; you give me a job to do, which I do most admirably, thank you, and then you never-"

Graysith bit off the computer's diatribe with a wave of her hand and a stern command. "Silence, Jinn." The hot-tempered machine obeyed, but couldn't refrain from a few last grumbling flashes of blinking light, which Graysith ignored. She took a deep breath, then addressed the computer.

"Tell me what you have discovered, please."

The computer seemed taken aback by the polite overtones of that command. It warbled to itself for a moment, then proceeded to spit out information of which the Chosen Daughter was already aware: the approaching ships, the recovering padawan. After listening to perhaps four minutes of such, she broke into Jinn's announcements.

"Jinn," she said in an equally quiet tone. "Access your external monitoring devices in Darth Wicked's private quarters. Specify data received from crystalline device in those quarters, and cross reference. Query: who is this figure, and where is it from which he watches this Temple?"

She waited in silence while the computer burbled to itself. Then came the response:

"Who this is, I really cannot tell you. I believe from his attire that he is a Krath Magician; from his behavior I believe him to be of the more specifically elite ilk known as the Prophets. But as to his actual identity, I cannot say.

"There is a 99.8912% probability that the place he inhabits is the Death Desert region of the planet Tyrene, in the Shykar system, coordinates 1072318W210304N. This is a little known system in the Dark Arm of the galaxy; I really have little data about it, sorry.

"The brief red flash is indicative of a mass focal to his visit. Exactly what this mass is, and why he visited you, I cannot say. I only know prophets reveal the future, and this one was damnably vague about his revelation to you."

Jinn fell into silence with that, waiting. Graysith placed a graceful hand upon its primary moniter, patting gently. "Thank you, Jinn," she murmured, her thoughts lightyears away. "You have not disappointed me."

With that she turned and left the alcove, closing the wall as she left. Before her stood Shayla, her eyes still wide. The fruit in her hand however, had disappeared as quickly as the apparent discomfort of the Chosen Daughter.

Apparent.

She drew in a deep breath, and placed her arm comfortingly about Shayla's shoulders.

"My young friend, I fear I have an enigma to face," she said in a soft voice. The Glyph on her forehead revealed her true emotional state, however: it was spewing forth radiation like a tiny sun embedded there.

Graysith merely kept her composure, and moved to the table. There she picked up a choice haunch of meat, and began to delicately nibble upon it. Chewing thoughtfully, she finally swallowed and spoke up once more.

"Shayla, I need discourse with my Sire," she said at length. "However, I fear that events may take me from the Temple in the very near future. In my stead, I shall place you in charge with Leev as your guard.

"Do you feel worthy of this honor?"

She fell silent, her mind partially full of the myriad questions roiling there concerning her mysterious visitor, and partly filled with flashbacks of what had occurred on the heels of when she had so long ago been placed in the same position as she was placing her Adept. She didn't let a speck of this show on her face or travel through the Link with Shayla, but merely waited to hear her reply.

[ 10-31-2001 03:17 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

--------------------

But it was more than the meaning behind the request, much more than that. Rather it was the trust that had to back the request itself.

Coming back to reality and knowing full well the weight of such responsibility, Shayla nodded.

No one would dare get into this Temple without Shayla's own request; lightsiders and non-Force users would only be able to gawk and stare and wonder how the Sithspit they could get in.

Without the direct command of someone who COULD get in would any of them ever enter.

She could do this.

"I can do this," Shayla said aloud, her greenish-blue eyes meeting the violet ones of her teacher, and her friend. "The temple will be protected should you have to leave."

With that Shayla quieted and waited for further reply from Graysith...

[ 10-31-2001 03:23 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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"If I did not have faith in you, Shayla, I would not have requested this of you. I do know you will not let me down...

...in anything that you might have to do."

With that she tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and concentrated. There was much she had been meaning to further teach her adept, so as to give her a stronger foundation with which to withstand the events soon to transpire in this great Temple of Sith Learning and Knowledge and Succor.

Time seems to have precluded this, she thought to herself as, placing a slim hand upon Shayla's temple, she smoothly entered into the mind of her adept stark imagery which clearly portrayed horrific events occurring on another world, and at another time:

Her big brown eyes glued themselves to the pupilless ones of the tuk'ata, judging his attack. It came, with Star Destroyer force. Then, at just the impossibly right moment, she sprang toward him, leaping into the air and then rolling into a little ball as her body struck the ground. She tumbled directly beneath the leaping beast, and kept rollling....

A gigantic claw... a bestial stench... the horizon tilting at an impossible angle... a slim and cloaked figure standing in quiet shock... a sweep of a passing paw... a gout of blood and a figure hunched... pale hands clenching a midsection from which something moist and hideous trailed... the beast somersaulting... pupilless eyes filled with fury... the figure crumpling as the beast leaps yet again....

With a little shudder, Graysith slid smoothly from the mind of her adept, opened her eyes, and watched as Shayla seemed to shudder in turn. Then the greeny-blue eyes before her opened as well, and stared straight into her own.

Volumes were spoken in the unvoiced moment which passed between them.

Graysith nodded, whether to herself or to Shayla was left somewhat vague. Then she turned in a solitude of her own design, and quietly left the Dining Hall for her quarters.

[ 10-31-2001 03:49 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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She had lost a child...HER child...at the whim of either a horrible accident or a cruelly planned incident...

Shuddering, Shayla opened her eyes and peered directly into the violet ones of Graysith, sensing the other's heartache even though she remained fairly impassive.

At that moment Shayla felt much more than just an Adept to this woman.

She felt a kinship and a strong empathy for what surely must have been an awful occurrence that forever affected the life of her Teacher, her friend.

At last Graysith nodded, seeming to understand the meaning of the thoughts Shayla harbored within. Shayla knew she need not utter a word; Graysith was well aware of her loyalty.

In the quiet stillness of the moment, Graysith turned and left the Dining Hall to another part of the Temple. Heading out of the Hall herself, Shayla padded down the hallway into the corridor towards the doors of the Temple.

She needed to take a walk and sort some things out...

[ 10-31-2001 04:09 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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Revealed in its depths were images of magickal devices and machines. An intimidatingly horned and volcanically imposing figure moved amongst them. The moment the violet eyes of the Chosen Daughter were laid on his form, he stopped his motions, and briefly quested in turn. Then his fiery eyes locked across the unthinkable spacetime which separated them, and he spoke into her mind.

"This is a surprising visit, my lovely..." he began, then cut himself off. A frown slowly began to materialize upon his grim and handsome features. For a moment their eyes remained glued to each other's; then--

"Strange that this one has found you so easily, my dear." The tone in which those words were delivered entirely belied their inherent import.

Graysith merely frowned in turn. "This one must be extremely powerful, my Sire," she responded smoothly. "And thus I find this visit of enough potential threat to warrant further investigation than I can accomplish from here."

Aelvedaar scowled as he considered her words. "Do you wish my company on this investigation?" he queried at length.

Graysith merely shook her head in reply. "Those who are approaching this Temple are of far greater importance to the All than my physical well being," she at last replied, albeit with much reluctance. "Though Chosen Daughter I may be, the Child would also have the ability to hold that which you have implanted into me. Perhaps more so. Nothing must happen to this unborn one; yet this enigma needs immediate attention."

The Sith Sorcerer reached out a clawed hand as though to touch Graysith's face. "I would have no harm come to you, my love," he murmured quietly. "Yet I too am aware of the disconcerting dichotomy of the situation. I shall return to the Temple, and shall..."

Graysith cut him off with a little smile. "...and there shall you watch from the shadows, as you are so wonderfully qualified to do, to see that my Adept handles events correctly, and to lend assistance should she need it?" she finished for him sweetly.

Aelvedaar's frown deepened. Then he let a quirky grin creep across his saturnine features. "As you wish, my dear," he acquiesced. Then with a wave of his hand his form disappeared as the crystal blackened once again.

Graysith drew in a great breath and got back to her feet. Now she reached out into the mind of her great tuk'ata.

M'wonBo'o, attend my Adept, and guard her and the Temple with your life. I must attend to certain matters; they must be of your first priority in my absence.

Cutting the great beast's protests off with a mental jerk, she sent one final link outward.

Nikk, attend me. Meet me at "Chosen One."

Then, satisfied that all was in order and all who resided within the stony halls of the Temple knew exactly what responsibilities lay before them, she quickly strode to the wardrobe. Reaching into its depths, she withdrew the tiny yet powerful form of the Nar Khelba, which she affixed to the base of her Claw of S'slan. Donning her signature cloak, she took one last look about her quarters; then with firm determination she departed. Mere moments passed before she had likewise parted from the Temple itself and had gained the hidden hangar, where she was awaited by an attentive Nikk. She gave him a nodded greeting; then, indicating her greeny-golden little Sith ship with but one smooth motion of her hand, she tilted her head and bade him enter. She followed directly behind him, the hatch closing behind her with a smooth and oily finality of its own.

A few short moments passed yet again... and the little ship arced into the morning skies of Khar Delba. Soon it was lost amidst the splendor of the stars surrounding that planet and it's companions, then became utterly untraceable as it left that beauty for the ravenous wonders of hyperspace.

[ 10-31-2001 05:02 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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[ 10-31-2001 11:16 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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The protection of the Temple lay in her hands. She would not allow its halls to be corrupted by those who would not understand.

The Jedi were coming, on their way even now although the Universe knew their arrival was particularly useless given the circumstances. They would not enter into the Temple. If Shayla faced them at all, it would not be within the walls of that sanctuary.

But there was somehow something else aside from the arrival of the Jedi about to occur. Shayla didn't feel any threat to what might be incoming, but she knew something would happen, soon. She sensed that Graysith knew this as well and was counting on her, Shayla Petrolu, to act on her behalf.

Whatever it was, if it had anything to do with the incident Graysith had shared with her, Shayla was ready. She would do what needed to be done.

With her will and her determination strongly set, Shayla headed back to the Temple.

She would be ready if and when anyone dared disrupt the quiet Balance of the planet...

[ 10-31-2001 05:44 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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Leev?

He immediately heard her call, and Shayla bid him to come to her. He did as instructed and in only a few moments arrived at her side.

She felt a bit odd giving orders, although as the leader of Stargazer Corporation telling people what to do was part of the job description. She'd have to get used to doing it again.

"I want you to stay outside the walls of the Temple and watch for anything...or anyone suspicious. I feel that we soon will have uninvited visitors. If you detect and capture anyone, notify me," she said, putting enough firmness in her voice to sound like she was in charge but maintaining an open demeanor. Shayla knew she didn't have any need to demand anything from Leev; he was obedient and he wouldn't question.

But he might not like my being in the Temple alone. Better to protect the outside of the fortess rather than have us all inside while who knows who wanders about the planet.

Leev grunted and nodded in understanding. Shayla knew if she needed him, he would be at her beck and call. He turned back to the jungle as she entered the corridor of the Great Temple of Khar Delba. Padding through the hallway, something occurred to her that caused her to freeze in place as she thought it through.

If the Jedi sensed that Graysith had left, they might be more apt to just come charging in like the Peace Brigade trying to save her. No matter what they probably would come, but she didn't want them waltzing in like they owned the planet, believing they could just sweet-talk her into changing her mind.

Frowning at the thought, Shayla errected a mental barrier around herself and the Temple.

No one, unless Shayla herself imparted the knowledge to them, would ever know that she was here alone...

[ 10-31-2001 11:09 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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With the barest of thrumms, the Eagle slipped out of hyperspace approximately half a billion klicks from the Khar Delban primary. I let out a breath that I had been unconsciously holding; although my re-entry check had given the green light for all systems, one never could tell what Fate had planned for fools such as we who so casually defied the laws of physics in travelling like this. I had heard many horror stories about ships unable to leave hyperspace, destined to speed onward for all eternity (ok, it was thought, as obviously those hapless ships never came back to let the galaxy know what had happened to them) unless their trajectory took them through the heart of some massive star or into the gravity well of a gas giant. Worse were the tales I'd heard about ships who only made it halfway back into realspace....

I gave my head a little shake, and concentrated on the navigational board. It was lit up like Coruscant.

Yeah, yeah... I know, I thought as I reached out to adjust our course a touch. Primary dead ahead... which is exactly where I wanted it.

Creeping into a stellar's system from behind its sun was an old spacer's trick to avoid being detected until the last possible moment. Approach in this manner not only blinded us to visual early warning systems; riding in upon the solar wind, as it were, also pretty much masked us from any electronic methods designed to track incoming traffic as well.

Not that this would keep us secreted from a Sith. But any little crumb would help at this point.

Taking another deep breath, I skimmed us as close as I could to the dim little dwarf which tried to light the heavens, and immediately found myself with my hands full combating a string of closely orbiting asteroids.

Weird place for an asteroid belt, I thought as I deftly swerved between a gravitationally bound pair. Usually they're farther out at the LaGrange point....

Before I could ponder that cosmological descrepency any further we were out of the thick of it, and on a bee-line course for what looked to be a gigantic cat's eye floating in a cloud of black soup.

A dead cat's eye. I shivered as that analogy popped into my head at the sight of the white planet with its thin green equatorial belt. Then I firmed, gripping the controls of Eagle as I popped her off of autopilot for final entry maneuvers.

Steady girl, steady....

Mere moments passed before we quite suddenly entered the atmosphere of the severely tilted planet. A blazing streak of light was the only thing to herald our entrance as I took us speeding down, refusing to slow until the last possibly moment, seeking a landing as far away as I could plant us while still being within foot-distance from a particular set of coordinates indelibly etched in my brain.

If we were lucky, perhaps we would pass off as a meteorite, I thought as at the very last possibly moment I threw everything Eagle possessed into reverse and brought her to a safe, if rather abrupt (not to mention rough!) landing in the midst of a mass of thick-leaved greenery.

If we weren't lucky... we wouldn't have long to wait to find out. That, I knew, was a given.

Quickly I powered Eagle down and then sat back to the myriad soft hisses and clangs she muttered to herself as she vented the energy she had gained in the landing. Oddly enough, the more she lost in out-gassing, the more potential energy I seemed to gain in turn as I tensed, every muscle coiling tighter and tighter, every sense on high alert. My hand reached stiffly out to the intership comm unit.

"We're down," I uttered in a voice just as stiff. Then I got to my feet...

...and simply waited.

[ 11-06-2001 02:30 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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"If that Nar Khelba is going to be put into any lightsaber at all, it's gonna be in one that I've got control of. And it's gonna be put to good use, believe me."

Terrin smiled grimly to himself, the other two men in sitting across from him seeming lightyears away. Might have to wrestle one out of the hands of a Jedi to do it, sweetheart, but I have no doubt you'd do exactly that if that's what it took.

Jasyn, the more negative of Terrin's two picks for this mission, finally spoke his piece about the whole thing. "Well, this is going to be fun," he muttered darkly. "Some religioso Jedi, a love-struck information smuggler, and us are teaming up to save a would-be padawan who doesn't wanna leave the planet now and find a weapon that could kill them all. It'll be a wonder if our whole team doesn't kill each other before we ever meet the Sith."

Snapping from his thoughts, Terrin looked over at the man and frowned. "Very funny," he growled. "With your optimism we could kill ourselves before we ever reach the surface," he responded sarcastically.

"Hey you two, lighten up," Matt Stanza interjected. "We'll have enough to worry about once we get to the surface anyway. One thing at a time, please," the red-headed man said.

Terrin nodded, standing up. "As per usual, you're right. And speaking of the surface,” he added, feeling the ship shifting from autopilot and starting to descend, “I think we are about to be there. Shall we head to the cabin? "

"Yeah, probably should," Matt agreed. After the other two men got to their feet, the trio made their way into the cabin where Galen was standing. While the other two men gawked out the ship at the Khar Delban landscape, Terrin stopped in front of Galen, laying a hand on her shoulder and hoping that would somehow convey his support and reassure her that the last conversation they'd had in the aft of the ship hadn't freaked him out enough to change his mind about what they were getting ready to do.

Like that was an option anymore anyway, it was too late to turn back. So this whole trip might not be for Shayla anymore...

...somehow Terrin knew the trip wasn't all for Shayla for some time now.

He wasn't even aware that not a word had been uttered since he and the others entered the cabin; his mind was elsewhere, his thoughts focused on one thing....

Her.

Terrin was well aware that in only a short while many more things would be demanding his attention...

“Well,” he said finally, “I guess we should shut down and set up camp...”

--------------------

Something is here that does not belong, she realized.

The Jedi? she wondered, stretching out and sensing further. No, not the Jedi. Something else. Something unknown...yet familiar...

Frowning, Shayla swung her legs over the side of the bed and let them dangle.

Reaching out again, she searched and found the mind of her bodyguard. Leev, I sense intruders. Find them, and let me know when you do.

Not even waiting for the reply, Shayla arose from the bed and put on a clean black jumpsuit. Within moments she was scurrying down the hall of the Temple wrapped in her violet cloak, on her way to the Dining Hall and past it to the control room where Jinn waited, bleeping and blurping non-stop.

Sithspawn, why hadn't she paid more attention to that override code?

Well, at any rate, something or someone was out there. The computer was just too wound up for there not to be.

What the heck, might as well give it a shot.

"Jinn, query, what ships are near Khar Delba?"

The computer let out a clear string of raspberries. "Who the hell are you?" it then blatted.

Ok, that didn't work. Remembering the first time she and Izzy had interacted, Shayla decided she'd go with the flow and apply what she had learned from that situation.

When your droid or computer proves extremely independent and fiesty, pet his or her ego.

"Jinn, I am Shayla Petrolu, Graysith's Adept. Your help is most important to me. I know you keep precise tabs on all traffic in system, and I need to know what ships are in the area."

"Well! You will not get very far!" the computer growled, sniffing as if insulted. "I monitor all activity in all systems in this universe. I calculate all known ships trajectories, I analyze which ones might come in system and track them. And you think I just sit around and monitor the local traffic?!"

Shayla frowned. Izzy had never been quite this difficult. Time for a new tactic. "Well, when Graysith returns, she will be very upset if she finds you've let anyone come near Khar Delba without notifying me. I know you'd hate it if she reprogrammed you..."

"Fine!" Jinn spat. "In order of arrival time, one lambda-class ship approaching Khar Delban primary, lost in the solar wind. Probes sent out to seek and discover. One sizeable fleet, property of Eagle Enterprises has estimated trajectory near K'eel Doba, arrival time one standard hour. Another smaller fleet, property of Stargazer Corporation has the same trajectory as the Eagle Enterprises fleet with arrival time in five standard hours. All trajectory estimations are at 98 percent accuracy," the computer informed Shayla, its tone clearly indicating that it should be respected for the great effort required of it to tell Shayla these things.

"Thank you, Jinn," Shayla said. "Your efforts are most appreciated. Alert me when the lambda-class ship is found. This information is of the greatest importance to protecting the Temple," she added, flattering the computer as much as possible.

"Well, finally, someone appreciates the hard work that I do! I send out probes, track hundreds of..."

As the computer continued to blabber, Shayla simply turned and walked away, heading for the Dining Hall and sitting at the table, her thoughts spinning.

Eagle Enterprises' fleet was meeting Stargazer Corporation's fleet? This was odd.

And the lambda-class ship? The Eagle, Terrin's personal ship, was of that make. But why would he be coming here?

But the "whys" didn't really matter. And for all she knew, this wasn't Terrin Danner anyway.

All WOULD be revealed, in due time...

[ 11-05-2001 09:53 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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At that moment, Matt was checking to make sure everything was in place while Jasyn sat on the ground running inventory on the supplies he had brought for the trip. Terrin didn't know how the few things Jasyn had brought along worked, but he knew at least one of them was used to sense movement in the area while another was designed to detect oncoming air traffic and or land vehicles. He also knew that somehow the stuff was untraceable, and that was a bonus for them. Jasyn had even managed to find some comms with the "untraceable" feature; Terrin guessed they'd caused Eagle Enterprises a pretty credit.

Setting down a sleeping pack on the ground, Terrin plopped down on it and laid back, propping himself up with another sleeping pack so that he could keep an eye on the activity around him. Matt had finished whatever he was doing and sat as well, his head in his hands. He looked as though he was about to fall asleep right then and there. Jasyn still continued busily with his toys, probably making sure everything was working properly. Galen, who hadn't really said much since they had landed, was now sitting somewhere near Terrin; although he hadn't turned to check that out he knew that she was there just the same.

"So," Jasyn said, breaking the silence, "What do you say we rest up a little while we are waiting for Kartan to show? It's been a long day. I'll watch camp first, then Matt, then Terrin, then Galen. Hopefully by then Kartan will be here. If he isn't, I suggest we get on the move anyway. I'm not too thrilled with just sitting around waiting for someone or something to find me." He looked around at the others for confirmation of the plan. Matt nodded.

"Yeah," Terrin finally said, yawning, "sounds fine to me. But what's for dinner?"

Jasyn reached into a sack near him and tossed the other three a ration bar. Terrin frowned. "Ugh," he growled, unpeeling the wrapper of the bar and grimacing at it. "I'd forgotten how much I hate camping out..."

[ 11-06-2001 10:46 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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"Aw, c'mon, Terrin," I cajoled as I munched. "You don't really mean that now, do you? I mean, how can you not love all this?" I waved a hand expansively, taking in the shadowy jungle that chittered and moaned and cawed and growled all around us.

"Ahh, the wonders of nature," I continued, given Terrin a little wink. Then, popping the last bit of ration bar into my mouth, I got to my feet and wandered over to the edge of our campsite. From there I peered into the unseen but very much heard mysteries around us.

A sudden sensation of unease pierced me; I didn't know if it was due to Jasyn undoubtedly shooting a glare at me in response to my light-hearted remarks... or something else entirely. I put my arms around myself with a little shiver, and soon heard the light approach of footsteps. A pair of arms slipped around me to warm me a few degrees from the chill to which my body seemed to have plunged.

I leaned back against Terrin's strong frame. "I wonder what's out there, right now," I said in a low voice. "Or who."

Terrin didn't say anything, but I felt him rest the side of his face against the top of my head. I leaned farther back into the protection his stance was promising to me, but my hand strayed of its own accord to the blaster affixed to my hip. It fiddled with the stock, then gripped it firmly.

All right, sis; I know you know we're here, I thought into the night. Either leave us alone for just this one night... or bring it on. Either way, we're ready...

...at least I fervently hoped so.

One final shiver ran through me and I turned in Terrin's arms. "Let's go back to the campfire," I said in a quiet but firm voice. "Even 15 meters is too great a distance to be apart from each other."

With that I led the way back to the bag we had been perched upon, and regained my seat. I held out a silent hand to Jasyn, who rummaged in the pack for another ration bar for me. He gave it a toss in my direction as Terrin seated himself, then bestowed the others with a steady if somewhat grim look. Matt straightened his shoulders as though suddenly uncomfortable, but remained loose, ready to tackle anything. Jasyn just scowled. In one quick motion he tossed the remnants of his bar into the fire, then rose to his own feet, his blaster rifle at ease in his arms.

I just sat there and ripped thoughtfully into my second ration bar, while all around us the jungle continued to yawp and screech and yowl into the rapidly fading light...

[ 11-06-2001 02:31 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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Here no more.

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Here goes nothing, he thought, mentally crossing his fingers. The calculations were good, that wasn't going to be the problem. Erik just hoped he didn't scare the Sithspit out of Terrin and his crew.

Ah well, they'll get over it.

"Hang tight, we are in for a couple of quick hyperspace jumps," he told Cella.

She merely looked in his direction and quirked an eyebrow at him, probably wondering why in the world they were going hyperspace for this little trip.

She'll figure it out soon enough.

Finally out of the path of the Pride, Erik punched a few switches on his navboard, and then pulled the hyperspace lever, causing the Lioness to gently float into hyperspace.

He'd have to remember to thank whomever had serviced his ship.

But there was no time to think of that now. His first hyperspace jump would end in a little over a minute, bringing him just past the Khar Delban primary. Just as the planet came into focus, the Lioness shifted back into hyperspace, a move that Erik had programmed into the nav computer before he'd left the hangar bay of the Stargazer.

All was quiet in the cabin of the Lioness. Cella was sitting watching the forward view calmly, seeming not to have a slight hesitation about events to come.

Suddenly, as the reversion clock started to tick, Erik was feeling a bit nervous. Raking a hand through his thick dark hair, he locked his deep brown eyes on the navboard.

Now was not the time to question, to worry. Now was the time to act.

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

Realspace emerged once again, this time the Lioness being shielded by the solar wind of the planet. Running a quick scan, Erik locked on to what he believed to be the Eagle, and he brought the ship down through atmosphere to the surface of Khar Delba. The ship floated down to the ground with the careful manuevering of his hand.

In just a minute or so, the YT-1300 was powered down and Erik was ready to go. The Lioness's sensors had not only detected Terrin's ship only a bit away from them, but had also registered what appeared to be a small campsite just a click or so away.

Or at least, Erik HOPED it was a campsite.

Standing up, Erik led Cella on to the hatchway of his frieghter and down the ramp that he had extended to the surface of this jungle-like land. As he closed the hatch of the Lioness, he realized he couldn't sense Shayla at all.

Frowning in the darkness of the night and beginning to head towards the location of the probable campsite, Erik knew without knowing for sure that Shayla was there.

He wondered if she in turn, was as well aware of his presence...

[ 11-06-2001 09:31 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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Run I. Run I.

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With that, the Chosen Daughter reached out yet again, and through the sudden shadowy appearance of a writhing coil of Elseness placed a Force-shield around the mind and soul of one Erik Kartan. No force user would find him, as would no one else.

Not until she chose to let his position be known.

With a little smile, she faded from the minds of her beasts, knowing that the location of this man would remain unknown even to her Adept....

[ 11-06-2001 10:54 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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"Wha--??" he blurted drowsily, shoving the hand off him.

"Terrin, it's me, Matt."

"Huh? Oh..." he muttered, sitting up on his elbows to scrutinize the other man. His movements had inadvertently awoken Galen, who was sleeping quite near to him.

Or at least, she was laying there. Perhaps she hadn't ever been sleeping at all.

Terrin frowned to himself, wondering where exactly that little thought had come from. Now she too sat up, cocking an eyebrow at Matt.

Jasyn, meanwhile, was dead to the Universe on a sleeping bag across from them.

"Terrin, that ship-detector what's it of Jasyn's is glowing red. Something is incoming."

Terrin tensed. Kartan wasn't supposed to be here for another several hours. He couldn't help but notice that Galen had tensed too. "Where's it coming from?"

Just as he asked that question, the whine of a well-tuned ship passed overhead.

"Damn," he growled, finally tossing the sleeping bag off him. "I think we could be in trouble."

With that, Terrin scrambled to his feet and rather ungracefully headed over to where Jasyn was still laying fast asleep. He called his name a few times, trying to wake him up, but the guy muttered a few non-repeatable words in his sleep and turned over. Irritated, Terrin reached out a hand and shook him.

In less than a nanosecond Jasyn sprung to life, sitting up and nearly slugging Terrin in the face. Instead, Terrin managed duck and miss the swing.

"Whattda you want?" Jasyn rasped hoarsely.

Terrin put a finger to his mouth. Jasyn got the hint.

"We might be having company," Terrin whispered to him. Jasyn nodded in understanding and unholstered his blaster. At the same time he unwrapped himself from his covers and got to his feet.

"Everyone lay low," he said softly. "And get a hold of something you can point and shoot," he added.

A few minutes passed in dead silence, each member of the group listening to the sounds of the surrounding jungle.

Nothing.

No, wait. A commotion. A struggle...

Something or someone was out there, and getting hurt...

There were no screams, no cries. But Terrin knew the sound. If every muscle in his body wasn't tense before, they were now.

Terrin remained in place, but Jasyn and Matt, squatting, crept a little closer to the noise as the struggle seemed to subside a bit. In a few more minutes the jungle was eeriely quiet again, and Terrin glanced over at Galen, noticing her eyes were wide.

But the silence continued.

Grabbing a comm, Terrin kept his eyes focused on the spot where his commrades had just disappeared. Then, standing, he motioned Galen to him, and together they wandered in the same direction as the two men before them had, Terrin's blaster still ready to shoot at anyone and anything in the area.

They'd only wandered fifty meters or so when they found Jasyn and Matt, the two of them squatting next to a...

human body?

Inhaling deeply, Terrin approached cautiously, squatting as well.

He glanced at the body. A human female, a bit cut and bloodied and unconcious from some sort of confrontation.

He had a very bad feeling about this.

"Let's get her back to the campsite," he told the others. In one quick motion Jasyn stood, picking up her lean form. In moments they were back to the campsite, and Jasyn laid her down on one of the sleeping packs. Matt hurried about and got some bacta patches and a wet cloth from the first aid kit. Administering the patches to her cuts and the cool cloth to her forehead, Matt seemed to look her over, eyeing her weapons belt. Quite suddenly, he gasped, causing Terrin to jump.

"Terrin!" he sputtered, "Look!" Carefully he removed something from her weapons belt and presented it to Terrin.

A lightsaber. His blood ran cold.

Glancing at Galen and Jasyn nervously, he dared not utter the words that were forming in his brain. If this is our Jedi, then...WHERE IS EVERYBODY ELSE?

But before he could say anything, the injured Jedi before him stirred, her eyelids fluttering.

As she floated back to consciousness, the crew waited around her in silence...

[ 11-06-2001 11:26 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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She just knew it. No one had to tell her, she just knew that he was.

He seemed determined, focused...

Quite suddenly, all that determination and focus shifted to something else.

Fear?

No, not exactly...

Adrenaline.

Yes, that was it.

Shayla's mind was so caught up in what he was doing that she hadn't even noticed the other with him.

Strangely and oddly, in a moment so quick that Shayla couldn't ever, ever determine what had happened...

He was just gone.

His mind, his spirit...

His Force sense...

gone...

Shayla frowned, recalling a time when everyone in the Universe had disappeared for her.

And now he was gone, yet again...

Standing up in her quarters, her hands balled into fists, Shayla did the one thing she could.

She let out a quite quickly developing string of sobs.

Where had he gone? Why had he been taken?

Was this...???

Finally gaining hold of reality again, she firmed, wiping away the tears.

There was a task at hand she, Shayla Petrolu, needed to accomplish. She knew she'd soon be dealing with many things on many different levels, and having Erik with her would be wonderful...

...but quite possibly, the timing was wrong.

Sure, she didn't like it, and she was positive the Creator of this anomaly was either Graysith or her Sire, but that didn't matter. Somehow, Shayla sensed that Graysith knew the meaning of Erik to her, and that she would see to it that he was taken care of until the time when he should be revealed to her.

Even now, though she could not feel him through the Force, she knew he was close....

Back to the old days when the link between the two of them extended beyond the Force, to something else...

How could she have been so blind as to not realize the love for him that was there before?

But trust her Teacher, she must. And trust she would.

First she would attend to the matter of Terrin Danner and the Jedi...

[ 11-06-2001 11:05 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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