Taehun's eyes shut tightly as he endured the strange sensations that came with Roan's communication. His mind had still not become used to receiving throughts directly from a foreign source, and it caused him to feel something almost like...pain. Taehun's throbbing veins would've seemed to show under the skin on his forehead. A small bead of sweat slowly rolled down his face, reaching the tip of his nose, and the pain finally ceased.

Taehun opened his eyes to see a dim light ahead. The void he was in still was cold and dark, but it was no longer the nothingness it had seemed to be before. A path towards the dim light was marked on what seemed to be the floor by blood. Taehun looked down, and saw a long, blackened rod laying at his feet. He picked it up, inadvertantly pressing a button, and nearly decapitated himself as two red humming blades burst from the long rod.

Interesting...very interesting...

Taehun had only read about double-bladed lightsabers in his solitary studies a long time ago. He never had any practice with such an archaic sword, but...it seemed that the knowledge of how to use it already existed in his head. Taehun chuckled to himself. No doubt this was his new master's work.

The faint hint of a smile seemed to form at the corners of Taehun's lips, causing his tattoos to move slightly. Without hesitation, Taehun sprinted down the corridor, following the trail of blood, and into the light.

As soon as Taehun reached the light, his body seemed to rip across time and space. Taehun would've screamed, but the force that pulled and pushed at his flesh was so severe that he could not move. The pain seemed almost unbearable, but it was over in an instant, and Taehun found himself face to face with Freedon Naad.

Taehun ignited both ends of his blade gracefully.

There was only one thing to say.

"The hunt is over, my friend. It ends here."

[ 01-05-2003 12:51 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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With that he lunged foward, thrusting his leg into the crimson lightsaber blade. He cried out, the seering pain shot through his leg, threatening to overwhelm his senses. Naad stumbled foward, wraping his hands around Taehun's neck. He fought back the pain and chanted. Slowly he felt his mind begin to num as his resistance failed, but he had to continue the incantation. His strength began to fail, his hands began to slip but he had finished. The magic passed out of him and Naad's spirit passed into Taehun's body, there was a brief struggle as Naad's spirit jostled Taehun's out of his body but it was over quickly. Naad panted and looked down at his new body. His old form, that of Desolist, lay on the earth. Naad switched off the lightsaber. He did not like these weapons, they were odly shaped and unwieldy. Still he could not allow Taehun to have it. Naad frowned Taehun was even more dangerous now that he was in Desolist's body, too make things worse Naad knew his spell would never again work against Taehun. He could not enter a body more than once. Naad used his sith magicks to put Taehun into a deep sleep, the dark jedi would not wake for several hours now. He surveyed the body of Desolist, the body Taehun now inhabited, the wound in the leg was not particularly severe but it would need to be tended to. Yes, Taehun would not be able to follow him for quite some time. Naad put away the stolen lightsaber and turned to leave.

"The hunt is far from over... my friend," he said as he sauntered off into the distance, leaving the Dark Jedi in a magick slumber. He chuckled to himself, that had been a pretty good line...

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That was when it all became clear. Once again, Freedon Naad had used his magicks to change bodies, leaving Taehun's essence within the body of Desolist. Taehun let out a snarl in frustration, only to add to his anger upon realizing that he no longer possessed his usual, low and guttural voice.

Curse that Sith and his trickery!

Slowly, Taehun began to move around in his new body. He started by simply walking, but progressed to leaping and running. The look on his face was one of grim satisfaction.

Well, it seems at least Desolist is physically fit. Perhaps this won't be so bad after all.

For all of Freedon's powers, he was still unable to touch Taehun's essece, his very soul...and that left Taehun at a lesser disadvantage. He still could wield the dark side, and he still possessed the powers Roan had given him. The tendril link between him and his master was still intact as well. In all actuality, this was only a minor setback, a delay to the sorcerer's inevitable capture.

Taehun casually looked down at Desolist's belt. Placed at his hip was a black rod, at the end of which a small skull had been carved. Taehun smiled grimly. Despite Freedon's efforts, he was still armed with his preferred weapon - the lightsaber.

Taehun closed his eyes, and concentrated momentarily. A thought suddenly came across his mind, as if a beam of light had appeared in a dark room. Again, Taehun knew the path that he had to take. This time, though, the results would very different.

Very different indeed.

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Shayla gracefully piloted her new YT-2000 freighter, which she had christened the Allegiant, from hyperspace into realspace near K'eel Doba. The ship was the typical YT 2000 freighter, 32 meters in length with 2 Quad Laser Cannons, 1 Laser Cannon, and one 1 Medium Ion Cannon. She and Erik had considered getting a 2400, but with the weaponry this particular vessel sported, they simply couldn't pass her up.

Once she established orbit she tapped her fingers on the navboard, considering her next move as she did so. “The last time we were in Prinn’chatka it was rampant with demons,” she thought aloud. “Maybe it would be best to come down away from Prinn’chatka, and take it from there. I’ll be able to sense if Graysith is on planet or not once we reach the surface...”

She paused, frowning and gulping a bit, “...unless of course she is in a chronotic shield.”

Then, another thought crossed her mind, and she turned to Erik. “Could you do a life-form scan? I doubt it will pull up anything, but you never know.”

Erik simply nodded, fiddling with a few controls on the navboard in front of the copilot’s seat and at length turning back to Shayla. “Two lifeforms.”

Shayla frowned again.

Who the heck was on K’eel Doba?

She pursed her lips in thought. “We’re going down near those two life forms,” she decided, beginning to work at the controls once more.

“Shayla, I have a bad feeling about this,” Erik interjected.

“I can’t say that I don’t agree with you,” she replied. “But you do the navigating, I’ll do the piloting. We aren’t going to know anything if we don’t give this a shot. There aren't too many folks out there who know where K'eel Doba is--for all we know this could be a couple of the allies.”

Then, without waiting for another word from her husband, Shayla began to pilot into the atmosphere. As she did so she sensed outward towards to the two lifeforms they were headed for, vaguely recognizing one of the two. Then her breath caught in her throat as something else became very apparent: evil was afoot on this planet.

Had the demons from Prinn’chatka scattered elsewhere, or was something else entirely chewing at the corners of her Force-senses in warning?

She shivered momentarily, unconsciously reaching a hand to her stomach. In the same motion she moved her hand back to the navboard, hoping Erik hadn’t noticed her sudden hesitation, and proceeded with the steps to land their ship, mentally prepping herself for whatever might lie ahead.

[ 11-15-2002 12:26 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Mara1Jade ]

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"Filthy beasts," he growled as he staggered onward, his feet and legs protested but he carried on. He did not have much time.

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She frowned, once again gathering the Force about her mind to shove this unknown out when the Force-signature clicked with something in her memory banks.

It WAS one of the Allies. It was the formerly missing Freedon Naad.

She turned and eyed Erik. "The Sith Sorceror Freedon Naad is on headed right for us. He seems...in some distress."

Her features darkened a bit at that and even as she stood she expanded her sphere of influence to sense further outward, coming upon something dark and ominious headed right for them, somewhat behind Naad but not nearly far enough for Shayla's tastes.

Erik now on her heels, Shayla hit the controls that extended the hatch of the Allegiant and headed out to meet the Sorceror. And even as she did so she realized, much to her despair, that Graysith's familiar and comforting presence was nowhere on planet.

[ 11-15-2002 09:42 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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Flac just looked at galen "err...Land? Ummm... Heh, sorry, no clue, guess you'll have to err, experiment..."

His grin widened a bit and he began to chuckle to himself...

"Ya, i can tell you and DJ are already becoming friends... Jeez, i would have never guessed someone could actauly fly this thing...Well, had i not seen my sister do it...I still dont see how its done, but i guess it doesnt matter"

[ 01-05-2003 01:28 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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"I am sorcerer Freedon Naad, we were both served the Chosen Daughter and the Sorcerer Lord, I know I look different than you probably remember me but I am the same person. We must depart quickly, there is much danger here. I will explain later." he panted as he dragged her back abord the ship.

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

So who's body was he in now exactly, and what had happened to his?

Something about this was riddled with darkness. After all, few knew where K'eel Doba was, and Freedon Naad had been taken from their party on Korriban by...

Shayla reached out and slammed the hatch shut even as Freedon Naad struggled to board the ship. She directed him toward the cabin, headed for her seat at the navboard, and went to work. Erik returned to the copilot's seat, waiting patiently should she need anything. In moments they had hit atmosphere then stars. She established orbit around K'eel Doba, then turned to Freedon Naad.

"What is going on?" she queried, something not-so-pleasant chewing at the corners of her mind even still.

[ 11-15-2002 11:52 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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With that Shayla began to fill in Naad on all those things. Of Recinis's title as the Dark Lord of the Warriors and his and Graysith's marriage. Of Roan's plot to enhance the ages of the children with the All, of his success with ShaRhylla and of Graysith's visit to Kamino which resulted in the return of the older ShaRhylla along with Galen Danner and the wounded Sorben Tarnus. Of the conflict concerning ShaRhylla and the one who now possessed the body of Darth Wicked, and finally of the disbanding of the Allies. All of it.

And she ended with, "And as for my ability to use the All..." she paused, swallowing to cover any emotion associated with what she was about to say, "Lord Aelvedaar removed that from me," she said quietly. "I don't know that anyone is in Prinn'chatka at the moment, not even Lord Aelvedaar. I am currently seeking Lord Recinis and Graysith and thought she might still be here, but now I think that option can be ruled out.

"I can't say that I know where to go from here though," she admitted. "I don't think they'd return to Khar Delba, and unless they are under a shield with Lord Aelvedaar they must be somewhere else, probably somewhere in the unknown regions."

Shayla's look turned vague and a bit despairing as she waited to see what the Sorceror might have to say in reply.

[ 11-16-2002 12:32 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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She paused at that, sorting through any ideas she might have to get them to this world. At length something niggled that might "kill two banthas in one blow," so to speak. Only Shayla didn't know if they should dare. She turned to Freedon Naad.

"Maybe we can contact Aelvedaar and ask him for the Book of Ages," she suggested. "Ankrist Roan is a Sith no longer, so his journey to Kamino would not be in the book. But Lord Recinis's should be. It could be worth the shot, but it'll mean seeking the aid of a Sith Sorceror who might be in the depths of despair..."

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The view suddenly altered to a systems chart: at its center a red dot glowed steadily, while a single orange blip blinked for attention at some distance away from that red dot. I blinked right back; ok, so here we are in the system, I thought to myself, adding the redundantly obvious: and that orange blip has to be K'eel Doba. Khar Delba is still hidden... somewhere around here....

Carefully keeping my arm parallel to the decking, I brought it forward and touched where the orange blip's smaller counterpart was blinking steadily on the navigation board in front of me. Somewhere deep inside my guts something twisted as DJ altered her position within the three axes of normal space and made a bee-line for the planet I just indicated.

I still hadn't a clue how to land.

Well. She had airfoils, so obviously she was meant to land.

Guess this is where piloting by the seat of my pants comes into play, I thought to myself as the image on the viewscreen reverted back to the space about us... space suddenly being occupied by entirely too much crater-pocked planet. I winced to see how rapidly that planetary disk was filling the screen.

Talk about coming in on a wing and a prayer....

The budding thought that I hadn't a clue where in Hell's Seven Circles Phrinnchatka was immediately evaporated before an even more pressing concern: how to get this baby down safely.

Like I said, seat of my pants....

Malf's crescendoing yowl of concern was lost in the whistle of atmosphere that came from nowhere to blast us, atmosphere which took hold of DJ in its invisible fist and shook her like a nek shakes a bone, angrily, as though frustrated that it couldn't crush us as it so easily did the various and sundry meteoric bits of celestial flotsam striking this planet every day. So it settled for trying to fry us instead; I could literally feel Flac's wide-eyed stare punch twin holes in my back as the temperature began to rise... fast.

"I-- I'm getting this, hang a second, we'll make it..."

I think. Ye gods... I hope....

I altered my stance further, raising my chin, keeping my arms outstretched and even to the decking, keeping my eyes glued to the screen which seemed somehow to tilt in front of me. Then I heaved a sigh of relief as the image of pure plantary surface slowly turned, until the curving limb of the planet was grudgingly revealed against a glittering starfield.

"We're gonna make it!" I crowed as, her former suicidal trajectory softened into the correct landing angle, DJ came roaring into K'eel Doba's deeper atmosphere, a small but discernible shock wave leading the way, trailing fire in her wake. In this attitude we completed several planetary loops, with me raising my chin just a hair's breadth as each loop ended, thus keeping the nose of the ship up and letting the air outside now work to our advantage and slow us down.

Which at length it finally succeeded in doing altogether.

In an almost anti-climatic culmination of the physics of flight in action, proving on an entirely too personal basis that landings are really nothing more than controlled falls, DJ slowed enough to where gravity gained the upper hand and finally yanked her the remainder of the way to the surface.

I said I was getting the hang of flying this thing... key word in that statement being was; Malf and Flac would have fallen to the deck yet again if it were not for their restraining harnesses when, with a thump and a shudder I felt in every cell of my body the ship finally plummetted the last few meters, hit dirt, and silenced herself.

I leapt back from the circular deck plate, connectors dripping away from my body like moss from a tree. After eyeing the innocuous-looking lines and rubbing my arms, I turned to face Flac.

"Well, we're here. K'eel Doba," I finished unnecessarily, and keeping to myself for the moment that I really hadn't a clue as to exactly where upon the planet's dreary surface we in fact were.

[ 11-16-2002 03:41 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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What the heck is going on here?

He would remain unable to answer his own questions until he returned to K'eel Dolba's physical surface. He hesitated only a moment before diving headlong off of the trail marked with blood.

Before he hit the ground, Taehun's surroundings suddenly brightened back up. He was back on K'eel Dolba's physical surface. Instinctively, Taehun looked up, to see what seemed to be a star moving very quickly in the darkening sky. It could mean only one thing.

A starship? How did that wretched sorcerer escape to a starship?

Suddenly, Taehun felt another disturbance. Even though Freedon was no longer on K'eel Dolba, there was someone else here. Someone had seemed to have just arrived...but who?

Surely this would be one of Freedon's allies...perhaps...perhaps he could prove useful in finding a way to get to the Sith.

Taehun began to run towards the new force signature's direction.

[ 11-16-2002 04:46 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Taehun ]

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"K'eel doba eh? Well, Not every day a guy visits a planet once inhabbited by an ancient civilization of people... I kinda feel humbled by it all..."

he shruged to himself before unbuckling himself to stand and walked to the door hatch...

Before opening the door he paused, turning to galen "errr... Where should we go?"

Hmmm... You had better not run in there half assed buddy, be prepared...

he nodded to himself and walked off to a small panel, which opened at the touch of a button...

Looking over a strange assortment of items he picked up 5 or so little spherical items, and shoved them in a pouch at his waist.

again his eyes roved over the opened panel, before he reached out again and took a little eye patch from the shelf, placing it over his left eye he nodded to himself as he glanced about the room...

He then removed the patch and stuffed it into a pocket, looking over to galen he smiled "stock up now, or we may find ourselves in need later..."

He nodded and headed to the door, not paying attention to anything that malf or galen might, or might not have gotten...

Pressing the button he opened the door and stepped out, examing the surfice with an appraising eye...

"jeezz... Im kinda disapointed, i mean, Ancient sith, and the planet looks like this?"

he shrugged to himself before turning his eyes upon those behind him.

"soo... Err... Which way should we go..."

he looked around, mumbling quietly to himself as he did so, before he pointed in a direction. "lets go tha-"

His words fell short as some strange looking guy ran over a hill, fire in his eyes...

Flac just looked at the guy as a cow looks at an oncomming train, not a hint of anything crossing his features.

"errmmm... You know this guy galen?"

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Then I froze in my tracks when I saw who was hot-footing it over the desolate surface and coming straight on to us like a runaway star destroyer. I blinked; it couldn't be him, it just couldn't--

Desolist was an old guy, an old and decrepit crony of a black-hearted scumbag, and this dude, whoever in Hell's Seven Circles he was, was running too fast and way too gracefully to be him.

Wasn't he?

I shook my head and gripped the rifle more tightly.

"I-- I don't know, Flac. He looks like that old Darth Desolist who Sorban and I had a run-in with almost two years ago, but it can't be him... I thought he got blown up when Ploatius went."

I shook my head again, red flags and warning bells and whistles erupting everywhere, and took another step closer to Flac until I was snugged tightly against his side. Never letting my eyes leave the rapidly approaching stranger, I whispered out of the side of my mouth,

"Do you think it's too late to leave now?"

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His hand slowly strayed to his hip and paused there...Could he take out a darth? force users were generaly morons, but the dark guy's tended to be a bit err... Strong...

He looked down at galen for a moment his head turning in a little shake.

"We can handle this guy... Dont worry about it..."

flac quietly took out the little eye patch, and pressed it to his eye for a moment, before replacing it in his pocket...

5 minutes... I got time.

Without another word flac entered the ship once more, and a moment letter exited, holding in his hands a small poll, Which he jammed into the ground, flicking a switch the thing started to vibrate, and then suddenly fell silent.

He leaned down to whisper in galens ear. "Stay close..."

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Without reason, Taehun immediately decided that he would not attack the ship outright. He needed a way to find Freedon, and for some strange reason, he felt it wouldn't do to immediately destroy the two life forms he sensed were onboard. Taehun gritted his teeth...even though he was a dark jedi, he was very violent in nature, and preferred an overt conflict over treachery.

In a gesture of peace, Taehun slowly lifted both his hands up, and stopped walking.

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

"I have a bad feeling about this," I breathed through my clenched teeth, not daring to move my lips lest this stranger would read them, if indeed he could.

Which I somehow had a feeling that he could.

I just gripped the blaster more tightly, one finger reaching out smoothly to flip off the safety, and brought its ravening maw down a bit more in line with the stranger's face. Then I merely waited to see what this darkly forboding person had to say for himself.

It just wasn't everyday one ran up against newcomers parading around the desolate surface of K'eel Doba, especially not ones whose entire demeanor was so obviously dark.

The uncomfortable memory of who else was lurking somewhere on this miserable ball of rock rose up insidiously within me at that thought, and the army of geese went into double-time....

[ 11-17-2002 02:11 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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Unfortunately for Taehun, both of them were waiting for him to say the first word, or to make the first move. Taehun was hoping they would do the same. Evidently their previous meeting with Desolist had not gone too well, for the demeanor on their faces looked grim and cautious. Taehun's instinct was to just decapitate them both and be done with it.

Surprisingly, he held back that instinct. Taehun put forth a great effort into brightening his expression, and saying these words:

"Greetings! It's quite a relief that someone has actually come to this planet. I was just recently marooned on this wretched planet, and was about to give up all hope until you came!"

Lying was not one of Taehun's fortes, and he knew it. Hopefully, these people would not notice anything.

Taehun looked at their faces, hoping to see some sort of positive response.

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I gulped, a finger reaching down quietly to curl against the trigger of the blaster, but managed the strength to keep my eyes glued into the golden orbs of who appeared to be a strangely youthful Darth Desolist. Beside me I could feel Flac tense as well.

Sheesh, Force user or no, this guy ought to just emblazon "I AM LYING THROUGH MY TEETH" across his forehead.

I didn't dare move, scarcely dared to think. All I could do was just stand there like a big ol gandy-rak in headlights, stuck in a stalemated stare with this guy. It was almost as if any sort of movement on anyone's part, and blasters and lightsabers would come swinging into play. And Khaandon only knew who would be left for dead.

Well it sure as there's Treasure on Roon ain't gonna be ME!

The sudden thought of my little daughter held in the claws of another dark piece of slime came slamming home once again, and quite suddenly Desolist didn't seem to be quite the threat I feared. Well, comparatively speaking, of course; but that comparison was enough to loosen my tongue.

"So what exactly is it you expect from us?" I growled, my grip tightening a bit more on the old Impy blaster rifle. Then, Khaandon preserve me but I actually took a step forward, forcing myself to scowl and look as formidable as I could, uncomfortably aware of the fact that this guy was probably laughing in his black boots at my effort.

What the hey. I had to at least try.

[ 11-18-2002 01:12 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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Graysith would know where Aelvedaar was, but this wasn't helpful considering Shayla didn't know where SHE was either.

An idea came to Shayla's mind, but she didn't know if it would work. "There used to be a signal coming from Prinn'chatka via which you could send a request to land in the spaceport to Aelvedaar. I don't know if it is there or not now since as I last was aware Prinn'chatka was not covered by a shield.

Either we can seek the signal or we can find another cloning facility.

Or we can proceed to find Graysith."

At that she waited to see what else Naad may say.

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