He hoped so.

Then, seeing no reason to push discussion any further and knowing he would need sleep for whatever lay ahead, Aaron settled further into the satin sheets of the bed and devoted his attentions to fallng asleep, albeit somewhat troubled.

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

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

I crept over to the door and slowly opened it. Peering out into the hallway I saw no one coming. I was about to head out to Yaoksi's room when I realized I didn't know where it was. I carefully closed the door and headed over to Thea's bed. Reaching out with my left hand I nudged her shoulder to wake her.

"Thea, wake up."

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

"So what is the plan for today, do you know? How are we supposed to find the men? They are supposed to be nearby, should we just knock on doors until we find them?"

Thea looked to Link for answers. The ryn had much more experience being on her own than Thea did.

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

"First off, morning is a relative term, on Nar Shada it's morning, coronet its afternoon, and here I have no idea because we have been indoors the entire time."

"As for finding the men, knocking on the doors will wake whoever is inside. It might be our friends or it might be the sith. And right now I neither like nor trust the sith. I opt for a stealthier approach."

I pulled out a data pad and a comm link and connected the two. I did a quick passive comm sweep for a rang of frequencies of my choice. Once I found the signal I was looking for I isolated it and used a program to triangulate the signal. To my dismay I was left with 4 different locations, I was about to give up when I thought of an idea.

"What most people don't realize about verpine it that their primary method of communication isn't speech. Verpine utilize a means of communicating across comm frequencies, sort of a bio-comm, while it takes another verpine or in some cases a cyborg to decipher and understand these signals in real time, I can still trace the signal in real time. The only problem is because of the atmosphere, this building, or something; I'm ending up with multiple locations. Here's where you come in, Is it possible for you to use the force to determine if that signal is close to 2 humans and a verpine?"

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

A sudden hiss came from the corner, and Phalomir’s wide eyes barely caught a pitch black formless shape as it shot upwards along the wall and disappeared into a crack in the ceiling.

Phalomir stood and backed away, the light dimming but not extinguishing. After several moments of looking at the walls, he finally moves the large dresser and touched his palm to a decorative figurine. The light transferred from his palm to the object and lit the room in all directions. Phalomir sighed and lay back on the bed.

It took quite some time, but he eventually drifted off. It seemed barely a moment before a servant was knocking on the door to wake him.

After a brief refreshing cleanse, Phalomir dressed in simple black shirt and pants and sent the servant to wake the others and bring them to the main dining hall. He looked around the room, studying the walls, and then turned for the door. He paused again, then left for the dining hall to wait for the others.

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

With effort, Aaron at length managed to force himself into a sitting position. "Coming, coming!" he grumbled towards the door, that insistent rapping continuing as he reached down to pick up his boots and slip them onto his feet.

Had it really been 8 hours already?

He stretched again, this time finally throwing the covers off and getting to his feet. He started towards the Sith equivalent of a 'fresher...

...then paused, frowning as he turned to the other two waking occupants in the room. "Are we going to let anyone else here know we know about Tarnus?" he asked quietly, remaining unmoving for the moment.

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

In retaliation for the blockade? I wondered as, groaning, I scrubbed my face with both hands before letting them run up and through the womprat's nest my hair had become. Another groan, this one louder, propelled me upright in the bed, covers falling in a puddle all about me.

It was then that Aaron's words caught my ears.

"Wha--?" I began, yawning and blinking great hunks of goop from my eyes. They burned like the very fires of hell, no doubt because I hadn't gotten hardly more than an hour's sleep.

Aaron's words rang in my ears again, and after letting another yawn escape me their content managed to finally make sense. Now my eyes popped open.

"Are you kidding?" I garbled through thick lips.

"Not when they're the ones who've imprisoned him to begin with; I think the best thing we can do is just lay low and look for an opportune moment..."

I ground down to a halt at that, frowning.

"Dammit, we're not going to get an opportune moment, not if we're going to be taking off for Dagobah!"

I pursed my lips, sniffed and released yet another stifled yawn. Then I shook my head.

"I'm sorry, pal; I think we've got to come up with some kind of stall or something. K'kihl here can lead me to where they've gotten him stashed; maybe we can break down the door or something..."

I trailed, knowing how naively inane my idea sounded. But dammitall, we couldn't just up and leave when another human being was trapped and undoubtedly left to rot within these dank stone walls.

Even if it was Sorben Tarnus!

Besides, I vowed to myself, letting an unconscious hand drift upward to rub the side of my throat.

The son-of-a-dewback owed me for what he did to me; no way was I gonna let a bunch of Sith remove me from the pleasure I'd get seeing the look on his face when I hauled his sorry hiney back into the light of freedom!

With that I headed off to what some would refer to as a 'fresher, but which I would call pure heaven--

REAL hot running water?!

--leaving Aaron to mull over my words while I tried to drag myself into something that remotely resembled alertness.

[ 02-13-2007 02:07 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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

Thea checked to make sure she had everything with her then headed out into the hall with Link to begin looking for the men. Or at least they would have looked for them if they hadn't run into a servant first. Thea looked to Link to see what they should do.

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

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

We had just left the room, to head towards the closest signal when we ran right into one of the servants. I was about to hide my data pad when I remembered that the last servant we had run into had zero knowledge of modern technology. I took one quick look at my data pad and saw that the closest signal emanated from a room that was adjoining to the one we stayed in. Looking down the hallway there was a sith servant standing in front of that door as well.

Once again I looked back into my data pad making it seem I was oblivious to the world around me and bumped into the servant on purpose.

"Hey, watch where you are going."

I took a moment to make it look like I needed to regain my balance. Then addressed the sith again.

"These hallways are confusing, tell me in which room did the other members of our party stay."

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

And... if you MUST post just to post, then talk to each other. But don't go hurrying time along unless there are NO OTHER POSTS PRECEDING THE ONE YOU'D MAKE which are in the middle of developing something that is time sensitive.))

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

Instinctively he reached out with his inherent magicks... and slowly smiled.

It was that obvious.

"I believe the Dark Lady would be interested in this," he sniffed as, the movement quick and dartlike he reached out and snatched the data pad from Cel. He held it in his hand a moment, turning it front to back as he studied it.

Crude-- he couldn't help thinking to himself before tucking it safely away into a pocket of his robes, then placing his hand inside to keep it safe. He waved at the door he stood before with the other hand.

"They are inside, right next to your rooms, as ordered last night," he sniffed further before he began moving on down the hall. Not far from the door he came upon another pair of servants hastening along on some early morning errand; being of higher rankings within the servant's heirarchy, he commanded one of them to take over his position outside the door of the strangers.

Then he continued on toward the Grand Receiving Hall, where sooner or later he knew he'd find the Dark Lady, to then hand over the device he had snagged from the Ryn.

"Alot of good that will do them."

I aproached the door that the sith pointed out earlier and started knocking.

"Aaron, Yaoksi its Cel and Thea. Can we come in."

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

You are going to bail on everyone. Again. And for a leader of the Empire, no less.

But think about it pal, you have to do it. I mean, someone has the Lieutenant General stuffed away here. Does that sound like peaceful intent to you?

Hell no. Terrin would tell you this is bigger stuff, especially considering there is help on Degobah...

Hearing Cel's call, Aaron sighed, and headed for the door, noting with sudden irritation that he was still feeling the impact of the demon's attack. A thought...

He reached for the door and opened it, wincing a bit at the pain. "We're just getting ready," he opened with, turning back slightly to eye his unmoving Verpine roomate, keenly aware of the sounds of the water in the Sith "fresher" turning off.

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

He rose to his feet, clattered to Aaron's side. There he stood a moment, clacking his mandibles together.

"This one, into things can break she?" he finally asked, the tone of his voice the best impression of a whisper that a Verpine could manage.

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

Aaron trailed, cocking a brow then. "What're you thinking?"

[ 02-14-2007 10:20 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aaron Barnes ]

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

"Boss Sorben," he finally said, his voice low as he leaned forward even closer.

"Imprisoned in this place is he, extricated must he be, if only for the sake of loyalties past must this be," he muttered, rearing back a bit to then direct a glittering gaze to the two adolescents.

"Help need we, help unnoticed NOT unseen by others, if Boss Sorben extricated will be," he finished with a final clack of his mandibles.

The fact that he was taking things into his own personal appendages, without any thought to what Yaoksi might say about it, didn't seem to bother him in the slightest.

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

His eyes slipped to Thea, "...and Force-sensitive. One or both of you has the best bet of getting him out of there, is what I think K'khil is thinking. Are you willing to assist?"

[ 02-14-2007 10:35 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aaron Barnes ]

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

Her lips curled with derision.

"Ahhh... my love..." she purred, her tone silken, her eyes dead, before she turned on the spot to depart the chambers, from there to go to the chambers where her Adept yet lay in sleep.

She did not bother to knock, but entered directly and glided quietly to the bed. There she stood, staring down upon Shayla's light form, watching with her dark eyes, looking deeply in search for that which ever eluded her.

Which might yet be found here, within her Adept and Chosen Sister.

"The time has come," she whispered, not bothering to touch her but allowing her voice alone to act as the catalyst to awaken Shayla.

"We must go... and we have a most dire foe to confront... and it must be done with the greatest finesse.

"Feel you prepared in this regard, my Adept?"

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

Thea registered the hardship Link must feel at the loss of her datapad but technology had never been her strong suit so she wasn't over worried especially with Link statement that it wouldn't help them much. But Aaron's question she couldn't ignore. As much as she was itching to use the little bit of training she had received, she had no weapon and still feared who she might run into in this complex. She thought of a way to stall making a decision on her own.

"K'kihl, what will Dad say about me running off to rescue an imperial. After all they destroyed the Praxeum and he promised Master Petrolu to protect me and bring me back to him. We should ask him first."

Thea hoped referring to Yaoksi as Dad would remind their friend how close they had become over the past few years. She hoped he wouldn't want to get his new boss mad.

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

"I should have enough equipment to break him out, the only problem is what then. Once these sith realize he's gone they will most likely suspect us, and even after I break him out what then. How would we escape?"

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

"Yes, my sister," she responded smoothly, rising and replacing the boots on her feet as she then stood to stand at Graysith's side. "We are the future for this galaxy. Let us do what we must to claim that which is ours, and protect it from all else."

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

...and take him back to the Empire. I can't see how, after breaking him free, that we will ever have any... friendly negotiations here...

...which basically means that, if we go at all, we will be headed to Degobah alone."

He sighed, not seeing any other solution. "And as far as the how, I believe we were thinking of something simpler than the use of equipment. After all, you and Thea are both quite small...

...and K'khil must have something already in mind," he commented, cocking a brow the Cricket's way. "Besides, what equipment do you have for this exactly? After all, we just barely scraped our way through the Darker Realms and had to leave the Devil behind."

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

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