Shayla almost literally held her breath for a few moments even though she knew the capabilities of the Sith ship she was now flying. She knew they had they had the ability to jump into lightspeed even when still in a planet's gravitational pull, and she knew this should help them get past the Imperial blockade...

...but she couldn't help the moment's concern. But then a moment turned into another, and another and another. And with each of those moments she became even more certain that they were safely on their way to her plotted hyperspace vector, which was on the outskirts the outer rim, near Endor. Finally she became certain enough of their success that she turned back to the others, continuing her thoughts on just what they should do now that they were away from the Sith worlds.

"Ok, for now we are headed towards Endor, but that can be changed. As I was saying before," she continued then, turning towards Galen, "I don't know what your plans from here are exactly. I've gotta check out this ship's log and find coordinates to Korriban so I can get back to Jasyn Lancaster and Matt Stanza as well as get to Phalomir who last I knew was still in the Darker Realms...

...but you may prefer getting yourself to some safe point first, especially considering all you've had to endure. Gods know you've had more than your fair share, so it's your call."

Quieting at that then, Shayla waited for whatever response she might receive.

[ 07-06-2004 03:29 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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

"Korriban?!" I stammered after managing to find my voice. I swallowed then took a breath, letting it out between my teeth.

"What in Hell's Seven Circles are Matt and Jasyn doing there?"

Not to mention that big Sith dude, who I thought was dead and in that place beyond hell where we had so briefly met....

I said as much to Shayla, and turned a distant gaze to the starstreaks without the ship.

[ 07-06-2004 04:54 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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

...so we all headed off to that location...that is myself, your sister, Jasyn, and Matt. But then, things began to go strangely wrong. We were jerked out of hyperspace on top of a star going supernova, then we found a bomb aboard our ship. Things got even more complicated from there, we thought we'd lost Phalomir while he was trying to disable the bomb, and the Eye spoke to me and told me to take it from his body. In the end Stanza, Lancaster and I found ourselves on Korriban, and the Eye lead us to the rift which led to the Darker Realms. At that rift I established a Force link with the two men and then went in, hoping to find both you and Phalomir. But then all hell broke lose, so to speak...

...and as far as I know the two men are still stranded on Korriban, and with little food or supplies."

Even as she said these final words, Shayla fished in a cubby hole under the navboard to find the starchart. Even as she did this though, she couldn't help but frown. "I hope I can find Korriban in this thing, though. Though I've been there several times, I've never plotted a course there myself. Finding the coordinates could take some time, I'm afraid..."

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

"Here, I- I can read Sith... a little," I offered, not wanting to go into much more detail than that. With no further preamble I opened the log and began riffling through the weirdly metallicky-paper pages within it.

I frowned, squinting at the unfamiliar characters, and riffled some more. The pages seemed almost to chirp as I leafed through them.

At length I paused, and took a closer look. This looked about right...

"Here," I said, then rattled off the coordinates. I glanced up, watching Shayla move her fingers dexterously across the nav-board, keying in the numbers I was rattling off.

She paused, looked at me. I looked at her, then to Panthar, and then to Erik.

"Well... I'm pretty sure it said Korriban," I said, shuddering again even as the word left my lips. For even though I had not visited the planet of my own recourse, I was suddenly sure deep down in my bones that the lethally desert world Rhua Ki and I had found ourselves on had been that very one. And if my hunch was correct about this, as my hunches often were--

"We'd better hustle," I finished, closing the book with a crystalline ruffle.

"I don't think there's water on that planet, and if they don't find the roots that Rhua did, well..."

I trailed off and just looked at the others, pursing my lips in concern for the men stranded on that sere and ancient world of the Sith.

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

...but at any rate, we're going to get there ASAP. After all, Korriban's climate won't be the only thing working against them." Quieting a moment at this, Shayla's look turned vague, as though she was seeing something that no one else was.

But then she snapped alert once more, turning to the navboard. Touching one simple sigil, Shayla knew the fighter was responding immediately by changing their course even within hyperspace. It was definitely an asset to have this little Sith ship. Stating as much aloud, Shayla turned once more to Panthar and Galen.

"Our ETA is approximately 3 standard hours, give or take a few minutes. I should also be able to ascertain we are in the right place once we revert to realspace. I made a Force-link with both men before I entered the Darker Realms, and although I can't sense them through it this far away, I should be able to get a vague sense of them once we arrive..."

Shayla trailed, her look darkening once more as an unpleasant thought wormed its way into her head as an addendum to her spoken words, one which she had already had and alluded to only a few moments before.

That is, if they haven't already had a brush with any of the local Korriban wildlife...

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

But wasn't.

My lips pursed a bit grimly, and I approached her. Reaching past her, I laid a hand on the navigation board of the little ship.

"I know what you mean," I said slowly, caressing the sigils and eyeing the odd ignition devices as images of my two Jesters popped into my head. For a moment I let them float there, carrying upon their difficult-to-look-upon hulls the imagery of the adventures I had had with them, all the way from Sorben and Wicked to Atma to Terrin to--

Something seemed to catch in my eye, and I blinked, then raised a hand to swipe furtively at it.

"I'd better go do what I can to be ready for... for... well, for whatever," I finished lamely. Then nodding once more to the group I sequestered myself in a tiny nook, crammed between the seats and bulkhead, and after some maneuvering for just the right position found I could move about there with some degree of freedom. There I began running through a series of slow motion martial arts exercises and kicks, groaning to myself that it had been far too lengthy a time since I had last done such a thing. The trembling foot at the end of an uplifted leg bore laughing testimony to just that fact.

And you only have three hours, Galen ol' girl....

From the blue, an image of my little Darra jumped into my thoughts, there aligning with the mental one of her adoptive father. I gritted my teeth and pressed on, and time passed as it always does during such times.

Altogether too slowly....

[ 07-29-2004 08:31 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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

“Three hours?” he muttered to himself. “Maybe I should’ve stayed with the little freaky things back on the planet. Oh, ouch! It hurts just to watch you do that, L’il Red. Good think you’re little.”

His attention drifted across the cabin. Strange symbols lined control boards, presumably the Sith language everyone kept saying they read. He wished he did, he felt pretty much useless -- except as the big strong hired muscle. And even that prestige would be gone once they found Phalomir. Nope, he was just along for the ride.

He nonchalantly picked up the book Galen had been looking through. Page after page of strange symbols, numbers, and lines. Most of it made no sense, but as he leafed through the pages he began to recognize some of the diagrams as star systems he had studied. The alignment on one was a little strange, as if it had been diagramed thousands of years ago, but at this point that would not surprise him.

He reached the page that Galen had been reading coordinates from. He recognized it from the sweaty smudge her thumb had left in the top corner. He tried to focus on the strange symbols, tried to gather meaning in them.

Sith must be a difficult language, he thought. No wonder they’re always in a bad mood.

He looked away from the book and stared out the viewport. Hyperspace was a strange sensation to him, he didn’t like to travel really, he much preferred the destination over the transport. But even that would be very limited now, being stuck inside of a body whose race died out thousands of years ago… sort of. And the Sith themselves seemed to know somehow that he wasn’t really one of them. Panthar sighed and returned to the book.

Korriban, he read. The location of the Valley of the Dark Lords. This made him wonder, as his imagination brought forth images of a huge valley filled with pissed off Sith lords. He chuckled to himself.

Then looked up quickly, startled.

His eyes slowly moved back to the book. Yes, the strange symbols were there, but they made sense. He looked over to Galen, who was still wiggling her foot. He looked to Shayla, who was intent on the controls. Then he looked to the bright glow pulsing through the shadows of Shayla’s pocket.

“The Eye,” he said quietly. “It likes me.”

He then smiled broadly.

“Cool,” he whispered, returning to the book.

[ 07-29-2004 08:12 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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

Beads of sweat congregated on my brow as I fought to hold my protesting leg parallel to the deck, foot rotated and toes pointed. But the weirdness of what Big Red had just said was enough to yank me from my concentration.

"What the heck is that, this 'Eye' thingy?"

Grunting, I lowered the uplifted leg, and much to its complete dismay, placed the other one in the same painfully compromising position.

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

“The Eye of R’lows… or R’lous… or something. It’s a big marble that Phal had with him. It has some pretty cool powers, it’s helped us out of some jams. I think it has something to do with the power that Graysith has, either to control it or counter it… or make toast.”

Panthar looked at Galen’s leg.

“That looks painful,” he said, returning his attention to the book.

“Oh, anyway,” he said, not looking up. “I think the Eye just gave me the ability to read Sith. Hey, did you know that Korriban is the home of the Valley of the Dark Lords? Cool, eh?”

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

I shuddered, and let my leg lower to the deck. Images of a canyon I had been yanked into shot into my head, a huge canyon, one whose myriad layers and tributarial side-canyons quietly spoke of millions of years of history, and one which held something in its deepest bowels that might change the course of history to come.

I blinked, and swallowed.

"I-- I'm not positive, but I think I've been to that Valley," I said as I turned to him. He looked up casually from his nonchalant perusal through the crackling pages of the navigation log.

"That is, if my hunch is correct, and the place I escaped to with Rhua really was Korriban. If so--"

I trailed then as a suddenly invading army of goose feet began its inexorable march up and down my spine. That canyon had to be the selfsame one Panthar had so blithely mentioned.

My arms flew to each other, and I hugged myself without realizing it.

"If so, there's an opening in its bottom, one that opens up to Hell...

"And to Roan."

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

“Hey,” he said. “I saw that Roan guy die. Phal… or the Eye… blasted him into smitherines. And even if this guy is in Hell, how can he hurt you?”

The faraway look in her eyes grew even more distant. Panthar sighed and squeezed her leg gently.

“OK, yeah, there are pretty nasty bad guys out there. But look who is on your side now. I mean, Phal is pretty handy with that Sith magical stuff, the Eye is really powerful, Shayla and Erick are good pilots and force users, I’m strong and good looking, and you can really kick ass. So cheer up, I’ll protect you… or you can protect me, whichever.”

He sighed again.

"We just need to find people. And then see if Gray is still looney..."

[ 07-30-2004 04:32 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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

If Roan was truly dead as Big Red claimed, killed by Phalomir, and if that horridly unworldly otherness truly was Hell, or something close to it, then obviously Roan had come to his deserved resting place within it for the remainder of eternity.

All I had to do was simply stay away from it, and I'd be safe from him and his evil.

A shaky smile finally materialized on my face.

"Yeah," I said reflexively, then let one hand drop from the opposing arm to land on the big red one on my knee. I squeezed back in turn.

"You're right, pal. We're all in this together, and have each other at our backs. I just hope when all is said and done we can go find my little Darra; that's all I really want now."

My voice failed for another quick moment, then I firmed. Visions of the old Galen Jhin'Dar, the one who stood firmly against some of the nastiest dudes in the galaxy came into my eyes; I recalled those days with Sorben and Wicked and Desolist and Gravin Dark.

We stood up against them, and won. Panthar is right; alone one might be blown into atoms, but together we're strong.

And more importantly, Roan is dead.

His final words suddenly waved for attention. I turned to him with a rueful smile.

"My sister 'still looney?'" Something dark and unyielding flickered in the depths of my eyes.

"She hasn't been herself for years..."

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

“Yeah,” he smirked, “she is a little strange. I still don’t know what Phal sees in her, beyond her obvious physical hotness.”

But she’s got nothin’ on you, lady, he thought.

His eyes moved to the hand upon his, lingering there nervously for a moment. He turned his palm over and gently squeezed Galen’s hand, then shakily moved himself away, his eyes probably betraying the thought that ran through his mind.

“Anyway,” he said quickly. “Damn straight we’re in this together. You’re stuck with me now.”

He picked up the log book again but paused before opening it.

“Now, tell me again who exactly is Darra? I think you started to tell me once, but we got sidetracked.”

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

I sighed, and fisted the hand that had so recently squeezed Panthar's.

"Darra is my baby daughter," I said, not bothering to mention that her biological father was the current head honcho in the Empire, and who in all likelihood would do his best to stop us from doing what we wished to do, if only on general principles.

"She's got red hair, and the biggest blue eyes, and she's probably about..."

I paused with a gulp, my eyes widening as sudden guilt filled them.

"I-- I don't really know how old she is now. She's only a baby--"

I clamped my lips together to keep them from trembling as the knowledge slammed into me that I hadn't made that statement unthinkingly. So much had happened to me since she had disappeared, not an insignificant period being that when I was held captive in the bowels of that buried Kaminoan lab.

I really didn't know how old Darra was now; maybe a year?

The mere question of it was enough to cause pain, and my eyes grew vague as I strove to recall her dear features.

Dear Khaandon, but that was difficult! I knew she had red hair and blue eyes, but I couldn't bring her face into focus.

Oh Darra! Mommy is so sorry, so sorry. I'm coming to you as quickly as I can--

I sighed again, and let my gaze drift off into middle space, where a comfortable grayness served as a balm against the stabbing hurt roiling in my heart.

[ 07-30-2004 08:05 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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

But he felt drawn, and once again put the log book down. He slid back to Galen and took up her hand in both of his. He tried to draw up some comforting words, nothing that would get him committed into something, of course, just something to help ease the moment.

“Hey,” he said quietly. “I’ve got nothin’ else going for me now. If you don’t mind a big, dumb, red guy tagging along, then I’ll do everything I can to help you find your little girl. I, uh, I know what it’s like to lose someone.”

Oh yeah, nothing committing there...

[ 07-30-2004 08:25 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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

Not to mention those fearsomely razor-sharp tips they bore.

Images of me fleeing Sorben, fleeing Terrin, fleeing the haven of -- improbable as it sounded -- my own somewhat substantial corporation danced up to laugh at me. A suddenly stark realization struck home, like a hot blade plunging into butter.

His words did make sense. After all, look at my track record. What had happened to those I had fled from, purportedly to somehow save them from something too terrible to bear?

Well... something terrible had happened anyway. Sorben had turned tables on his own principles and beliefs, and Terrin...

The last I had seen him, he was in the clutches of Roan, after somehow managing to get himself lost in the abovementioned Hell we had been discussing. Just a touch wee on the far side of being protected by my fleeing from him, ey?

Galen, admit it. You are not that which the universe revolves about after all, are you? The fate of others does not rest in your hands... but in their own, and in hands too innumerable to count.

And the only way to defend oneself against said myriad hands is to arm oneself with as many of them as you can.

Right?

"Right--" I whispered, not realizing I had said the word aloud. Then my eyes focused on reality once again, air rushed into my lungs and clarity into my mind.

I gave Panthar a genuine smile.

"Thanks, pal. Something tells me I'm going to need all the help I can get to find Darra. But I think you'd better practice controlling your own, er, body."

I paused at the incongruity of that statement. He stared at me, nonplussed.

"You have a lot of brawn and a couple natural weapons; I think it's time you learned to use them."

A corner of my mouth quirked up in a wry grin then, as immediately upon the heels of that statement there followed the question as to where exactly he was going to find the room aboard this little fighter to practice what I was so blithely preaching.

So I armed him with the only thing I could. Hunkering down as if to tell a story, I proceeded to enlighten him with the entirety of my background, complete from Day One when Jharmeen disappeared into that dismal hole in the rock, only to reappear and kill our father before my stricken eyes...

...clear up until the present.

I didn't omit a thing.

Time seemed to pass a bit more quickly....

[ 08-01-2004 05:51 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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

Panthar reached out the best he could in the cramped space and managed to drape his hand over one of her shoulders, and gently squeezed.

“I thought I had it bad, but you win the prize. Seriously, I will help you however I can. Sometime I’ll tell you my story, if you’re in need of a sleep aid.”

A thought then struck him.

“Um, hey, you talked about Sorben. Um, if he’s the same one, then we met with him, Phal and I and Shayla, back aboard one of those huge ships around K’eel Doba. Phal was trying to get us freed from those guys, and did something to make them think we were friendly. This Sorben guy, he, uh, asked Phal to help him find his baby daughter, who he thought was on a Sith world.”

[ 07-30-2004 09:12 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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

I sat up quickly, suddnely shaking, and it was only with my best effort that I kept from reaching out to grasp Big Red by his rather bull-necked throat.

"Sorben?" I repeated, at first with a touch of wonder, then with growing excitement. "You guys met Sorben, and he wanted you to find Darra?!"

The words finally hit home then, and chills cascaded up and down my spine.

He thought Darra was on a Sith world... what had happened to her on Coruscant? How on earth could anyone have taken her away from the heart and soul of the Empire, unless--

Unless it was someone with serious power.

Like the Sith.

Like that flame-eyed horror my sister used to hang with, and oilily smooth and friendly as he had appeared to be.

Or perhaps--

"You don't suppose that my sister has her after all, back on K'eel Doba, do you?"

My fingers flew to my mouth and played about with my lips. Then horror descended like an icy sea as another thought struck me.

Sorben thought Darra was on one of the Sith worlds. Let's count 'em up, Galen ol girl. Umm, lessee... there's K'eel Doba, of course, and Khar Delba of Wicked fame (insert shudder here)...

And then there's Korriban, where we were headed... where a roiling black gateway yawned into Hell... a Hell which harbored the one being in the entire universe capable of reducing me to an animalistic puddle of mindless fear:

Roan.

Who always had it out for Darra throughout this entire improbable affair.

And who had the power at his command to quite easily snatch her from the heavily guarded Imperial world of Coruscant.

And maybe, just maybe, as improbable as it might seem, Terrin had somehow followed, hot on the trail of our tiny and innocent daughter??

Oh dear gods, if she was on Korriban... or worse yet, if she was in that horrid place with Roan...

I whirled and poured my soul into Panthar's eyes. Quickly I divulged my suppositions, once more finding myself battling against rising panic that was beginning to overwhelm me.

[ 08-01-2004 05:53 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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

“Hey,” he said. “I’m sure she’s not with Roan. If your sister somehow has her, then I’m sure she is safe. And if Sorben has reason to believe Darra is on a Sith world, he seems the kind of guy who is right more often than wrong.”

Panthar searched his memories of his time in K'eel Doba.

“Now, I don't remember seeing any babies around when we were there. But, then again, if Gray has her then she'd probably have her hidden. In fact, the only non-Sith people I saw were, hmmm.... There was that half-Sith boy who I think was Gray's son. She really gets around, doesn’t she? I hope Phal knows what he’s doing. Oh, and there was a cute red-haired young lady there for a little bit. I can't remember if she was ever introduced, but I remember her freaking out when Phal had some kind of weirdness happen to him. But no, except for them and us, everyone else has been red-skinned.”

He patted her shoulder once more.

“And once we find the rest of the Shayla’s gang, let’s boogie back and see if we can find your daughter on K’eel Doba. It’s probably the best lead we have right now. If we don’t find her there, then we keep looking. I’ve got a pretty significant stash in the Federation Bank, and I got nothing else to use it on. Assuming I can get to it…”

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

"Wait a minute," Shayla said suddenly, turning her attentions from the navboard to the others, "Graysith knew Darra was on Courscant with Tarnus at some point...I know because I told her so myself. This was back when we were attempting to find her so we could return her into your care, Galen," Shayla explained, looking to the red-headed woman, "So it is highly possible that Graysith went to Coruscant and took Darra."

Shayla paused, pursing her lips thoughtfully. Then she refocused her gaze on Galen. "We will go back and find JhinDarra. I'm not sure how we'll get back into the Temple, since that is where she is probably being kept if she is there, but I'm fairly certain I can at least isolate a human Force-signature from the Sith. We'll find her," Shayla repeated, her look turning a bit vague as she continued on with, "I just wish I could find a way to get my baby Zach off Khar Delba. He should have been about 6 months old now, I think..."

She trailed for a moment, her eyes remaining vague. The warm touch of her husband's hand squeezing tightly around hers jarred her back into reality, however. She glanced momentarily to the navboard, blinking tears from her eyes before returning her gaze towards Galen and Panthar. "We've still got two hours, so now would be a good time to continue and devise a plan to get into the Temple on K'eel Doba and get to Darra if she is there. Getting past Sith guards will be difficult, but we also have to consider that Graysith could, in all likelyhood, be there as well. I truly believe something terrible happened to cause her to drop Lancaster, Stanza, and I off as she did...

...and I fear it will cause us further problems in getting to your daughter. And there is one other thing I am curious about. Panthar, you mentioned a young, red-headed human female...

...are you certain she was entirely human, and was I there when you saw her? The person you describe almost fits the description of ShaRhylla, Graysith's daughter..."

[ 07-31-2004 03:09 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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

“Well, the parts I saw were definitely human,” Panthar said. “Unmistakable, with that flaming hair, bright blue eyes, beaut--- um, yeah, she was very human as far as I could tell.”

He looked back to Galen and smiled.

“Sort of reminds of you, actually,” he mused. “Except for the eyes, of course. I’ve always been partial to brown, myself. But this lady was definitely no baby, she had to have been maybe mid-twenties.”

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

A soft sussuration escaped me as I let out the breath of air I didn't even know I had been holding, and leaned forward. For a sudden hunch was coming along for the ride, striding side by side with that rising hope...

And my hunches seldom proved themselves wrong.

"Do you suppose," I breathed slowly, feeling my heartbeat begin to accelerate even as the words left my lips.

"Do you suppose that young lady you saw there is Darra? We know the Sith have close affinities with the Kaminoans--"

Boy howdy do I know that!

"--and we know the abilities the Kaminoans have regarding genetic manipulation. Maybe that young woman really is Darra, and she's gotten aged for some reason..."

I crashed abruptly into silence as the improbability of that statement hit home. For of what possible use would Darra, age "mid-twenties," be to the Sith? Why would they have gone through the expenditure I know it must have cost them, just to age a young human baby past adolescence?

It just didn't make any sense. But then, not much of this whole affair really did.

I sat back with a little sigh and scowled, trying to think rationally even in the face of another insidious little voice which breathed distractingly in my head:

I wonder what she looks like now....

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

He sat back in his seat and looked curiously to Galen.

“Now, what reason would she have to do this, if it was Jharleen? To get to you somehow? But in order for that to work, you’d need to know about it, which you haven’t. Maybe something to do with Sorben? Hmmm….”

Panthar stroked his chin, as if attempting to entice memories to return.

“That time in the big dining hall, when we first got to the temple, Phal let me take control of body…yeah, nice of him. But anyway, he went off to do something and just came popping back all of a sudden. That knocked me to the background, like I said before, and knocked him out, and then Thoran made his presence known and started babbling. Anyway, when Phal came back, he was in a world of hurt. I mean, his spirit was in pain, I could feel it. The woman seemed to maybe also feel it, she yelled out and started crying and…”

Panthar’s eyes widened as a clear memory came back to him about that strange incident.

“She called her mother… Jharleen, I mean. The woman said something like ‘Mother, make it stop’ or ‘Mother, it hurts’ or something. But she said it right to Gray. Does she have any daughters?”

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

...or care that she herself was even hurting. And besides, Rhylla is part-Sith, has horns, and has very distinctive violet and turquoise eyes. If it was her that you saw...

...you'd probably recognize that description. But in regards to whether or not Jharmeen may have advanced Darra's age for some purpose of her own..."

Shayla trailed, her look turning vague yet dark, "...I can't argue that it isn't possible."

Falling silent once more, Shayla let a moment of heavy silence pass by before turning to look at Panthar. "The young woman you describe at the Temple almost has to be Darra or Rhylla, unless perhaps she is instead an advanced clone of one of them. After all, it's highly unusual to find any humans on a Sith world. You're certain the young woman you saw had blue eyes?"

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

He looked puzzled for a moment.

“What is it with all this cloning and advanced age stuff, anyway? Why the heck would someone do that?”

He turned his attention back to Galen.

“I don’t what kind of reception we’ll get when we go there. From the way it sounds from Shayla it seems Jarleen— I mean, JharMEEN went off the deep end and is probably crazy or possessed or something just as nasty. Even without that, it doesn’t sound like she would throw out the welcome mat for you anyway. We might be able to count on Phal for some help, if we can find him and get the Eye back to him. I hope he’s not still in that hell hole you described. Hey, would that belt-thing you have be able to sneak us into K’eel Doba?”

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