"Boss Sorben, more than you think is he," he stated assertively. "Man of honor was he once, is he still, believe him to be do I.

"And--- Empire, with ships many, has he. To Dagobah alone then?"

He clacked his mandibles once again, somehow sounding a bit put out by Aaron's assumptions.

"Think I not," he finished, sealing his final comment with a decisive nod of his chitinous head.

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

Yeah, buddy! I thought darkly to myself as I approached the group, now relieved to see that Thea and Cel had joined us.

Like he was so honorable when he nearly choked me to death in that alley, when he took off from you and left you high and dry. You'd still be wandering around if I hadn't taken you and Nassy under my wing--

I nipped my thoughts of with that, for they were heading off into a direction that simply hurt too much yet to think about. Instead I came up to my Cricket buddy, and blurted out everything else I had been thinking about Lt. General Sorben Tarnus.

"Who," I stressed meaningfully. "At one time was trying to chase down the little gal we're trying to recover, am I right or am I not?"

I paused, frowning as I tried to recall exactly what everyone had said about who over the years, but more importantly trying to remember exactly what it was she and her hubby had revealed to me during that terrible last trip on Devil that I had taken them upon.

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

I reached into the pockets of my vest pulling out what I had and setting it onto one of the beds.

"Couple of comm links, datacards, blank cred cards, blank key cards, an imperial rank cylinder, my direct interface gloves and visor, a mullti tool, a few remote uplinks, and two small explosive charges. The only things I'm missing is my blaster on the devil, a vibro dagger Thea's carrying, and one datapad and comm link the sith just stole."

Taking a quick look over my gear I started to return it to my person while continuing the conversation.

"All I need to know is what king of lock it is and what it looks like and I can tell you if I can bypass it, so have any of you seen it?"

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

"K'khil has seen it," he responded, pointing towards the Verpine with a thumb, his eyes then turning distant as something Yaoksi had said registered even more deeply...

...and memory surfaced. He turned to the man. "And yes, Tarnus was after Galen at some point in time, not all that long ago, that much I am very aware of. After all, I was the one who managed to get enough information from some guy called Rathal to find her, on Coruscant, totally unconscious. She had been taken to Admiral Actar, by Tarnus...

...and by all appearances left there. Terrin always thought the Empire was after Galen, and her baby Darra."

He paused, hesitating, his eyes growing even more vague, "And EE and the Empire haven't always had the best relations. I'm not sure how this will all end up...

...and I don't think it will be a good idea to entangle the Empire in the search for our friends on Degobah. Still, I know a man who has helped in the search for a woman he once chased after as well..."

Aaron trailed, frowning. "I just don't know."

[ 02-18-2007 06:03 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aaron Barnes ]

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A few moments later he was striding through the hallway towards the guest quarters. He had considered sending a servant to find the servant who was supposed to be fetching the others, but he was too anxious. The night had not provided him much rest.

He stood in the hallway, looking down at the ten doors on either side of the hall. He sighed again, and stepped to the first door and listened. Hearing nothing, he moved to the next. Then the next. Behind the fourth door, he heard a voice. Then another.

He turned his knuckles to the door and tapped against the wood.

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

"Now what?" I wondered aloud as after giving Thea's head a reassuring pat I moved to the door and opened it, expecting to see yet another of the ubiquitious Sith servants standing without.

Imagine my surprise, if you will, when I saw who it was.

I blinked a moment, gathering my wits.

"Ahh-- bored?" I asked before turning a bit sideways, showing with a gesture of one hand that he was free to enter the room if he wished. I smiled at him, hoping like hell everyone within would follow my lead on this and put on their best bib and tucker.

For all we knew, he might have something to do with Tarnus's imprisonment...

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“I thought you would be ready,” he said. “I grew concerned that-”

He blinked, covering his pause. Concerned that what? That everyone here had been visited in the night as he had? That they were all dead?

“That the servant had not come to wake you. The breakfast in the dining hall is very good. You will all need to eat, we may have a long day ahead of us.”

Phalomir took a bite of the sausage and turned his head towards Yaoksi.

“I checked out the ship,” he said. “It is a older one, but it is fast and wiry and should allow us to escape the Imperial blockade. I was delayed by the commander of that fleet once already and have no wish to meet with him again, not yet. Although at some point I am going to need to tell him something I promised I would investigate… But now there is a more pressing matter at hand, which is the retrieval of our mutual friends.”

Phalomir held out the sausage and broke a piece off, proffering it to Yaoksi.

“If you wish, I could escort those who are ready to the dining hall while you finish dressing.”

[ 02-20-2007 11:34 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Phalomir ]

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"Then let prepare ourselves, and depart."

Saying no more she turned from Shayla and headed through a side door into the adjoining private bath. There she indulged herself with a quick but steaming multi-faceted shower, complete with scents of varying ambiance. After drying herself in front of wall-mounted air jets, she returned to the primary chamber, there to come to a halt before an enormous armoire which commanded an entire stone wall. From it's depths she pulled a simple gown of velvety midnight blue, chased with an intricate webbing of spun-silver thread and pale blue Krayt dragon pearls. A small matching headdress and a pair of soft nerfsuede slippers completed her outfit; a dab of Kashyyyk essence of orchid lent a subtle air of wonder about her being.

Smiling, she watched as Shayla moved to dress and adorn herself; nodding her approval at the apparel her adept had chosen she turned away from her.

"Let us waste no further time, but go directly to the Receiving Hall to await our... guests," she purred, something black and oily rising up to flash a silken warning in her eyes.

It subsided as she stepped out into the corridor without, and was masked entirely as she led the way to the appointed place. A mere movement of one hand and the doors leading into the Receiving Hall opened to allow them entry; saying nothing she moved inside and on whispered feet approached and then climbed the dias leading up to the twin thrones perched solemnly at it's apex.

She headed toward the Chair of the Lady... and paused. A deep smile flickered about her lips then as, nodding to Shayla she took a couple steps further, to seat herself in the Throne of the Dark Lord, leaving that meant for the Dark Lady purposely open beside her.

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

They needed a Dark Lord not, after all.

Then, in answer to some unspoken yet somehow shared thoughts that seemed to be rising between the two of them, Shayla nodded to Graysith but once, daintly, and smiled a dark little smile of her own...

...moving then to take the vacant seat of the Dark Lady.

"How long do you think we shall wait for them, my Sister?" she queried then, her greeny blue eyes drifting momentarily to the doors beyond.

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

But how to stall?

Unthinking, Aaron reached up to rub his chin, and a pain shot up his arm from one of the now slowly-healing marks the demon had left on him. Aaron winced in spite of himself...

...and then realized something. He wasn't going to be very much good assisting anyone in his current condition. Which meant...

"Do you think the Healers could do something about these cuts and scratches before we depart, so I can be in the best form possible to help out when we get where we are going?" Aaron piped up then, the request actually fueled with geniune concern...

...but also fueled with clear intent.

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

"As long as it takes," she purred before letting her gaze return front and center, a smile now shading her lips with shadow. She sat in quiet contemplation a bit before raising her voice once again.

"When they arrive, we let them make the first move," she stated, giving her head a slight nod for emphasis. Then she gave Shayla her full attention.

"Have you any other questions at this time?" she asked, in order that all be settled between them before the others finally came before them.

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"Ah-- yeah, yeah," I stated emphatically, holding up a palm against the Sith Lord's proffered bit of food. I shot a look at Aarron for the briefest of moments before turning to the Dark Lord.

"Yeah," I repeated. "Aaron won't be any good as banged up as he is; can you see that he gets healed for good, before we go?"

I then let my eyes stray toward the younger ones, a hand straying of its own accord to my grumbling stomach.

"And yeah... breakfast would be a good thing, too," I finished, wondering if Phalomir would see through what I secretly swore up and down was our complete and utter transparency in this matter.

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"How shall I deal with my... actions towards them yesterday?" she queried, something dark flickering deep in the depths of her greeny blue eyes. "They spoke of harm to you," she whispered softly, darkly, her eyes defocusing slightly. But then they snapped alert once more. "Certainly they will not trust me. Shall I deal with it should it come up, or simply dismiss it, for certainly we have no need to explain any action to anyone..."

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"Throughout history there have been many, ahh-- negative engagements created in the aftermath of one's perception of a particular circumstance. There has already been an attempt on my life; you were acting on my behalf in perhaps trying to prevent another one from occurring."

She shifted in the throne, pinned Shayla with a deep look.

"As I said, throughout history there have been many such... misunderstandings, if indeed what you perceived was just that, which have led to the deaths of innocents--"

Or innocence itself, for that matter.

"I believe it is termed, collateral damage."

She gave Shayla a slow and sugary sweet smile with that.

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“I certainly do not wish to depart without first being fully prepared,” he said. “If you are too injured to travel, we must attend to this at once. I will not sweet-coat it, injuries from the Darker Realms are serious indeed and will require special healing and much time to vanish completely.”

“As for breakfast,” he said, turning back to Yaoksi. “I shall have a servant show you all to the dining hall in five standard minutes. Please be ready, I am most anxious to be on our way to Dagobah, and to see what our friends from the Empire’s blockade are doing these days. I had a precarious encounter with the General up there at one point, and I now believe I may need to turn to him as a friend soon.”

Phalomir turned to the door and opened it. The servant who had come late to wake them was now standing outside the door, looking sheepish. Phalomir frowned and stepped into the hallway.

“Call for an escort to take Aaron Barnes to the healers to continue his treatment. Then return here in five standard minutes to lead the others to the main dining hall.”

Phalomir looked back into the room.

“I shall explore another possible means of travel,” he said. “I shall meet you back in the dining hall.”

Phalomir then turned with a swish of fabric and began walking down the hallway. He was not pleased with the delay, but perhaps what he had in mind would speed things up dramatically. Either that or kill him.

He was not sure exactly where she would be, or if she was even in the temple. But addressing her was suddenly very important to him.

Chambers? No, that would be presumptuous. He would check the most logical place to begin, the receiving hall. Within a few minutes he found himself nearing the doors to the hall, and was caught between relief and trepidation to see them open. He paused, inhaled deeply, and stepped forward. He turned at the doors and faced inward, eyebrow raising at the pair seated at the other end of the grand hall. He exhaled and stepped inside.

“My lady,” he called out. “And Shayla, it is good to see you both.”

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When he had disappeared from our immediate vicinity -- and here I stuck a cautious head out into the corridor to make certain of the fact -- I closed the door quietly and turned back to the others.

"Well." I said with an explosive exhalation of air. "What do you make of that?"

Eyebrows raised in front of me, the kids began shooting uneasy looks at each other, and from where he had been standing quietly waiting in a corner of our room I could hear the distinctive clack of K'kihl's mandibles.

I shook my head, held up a hand.

"Nevermind, I didn't mean it that way," I said by way of explanation, then got down to the nitty-gritty of it all.

"Look, I don't know if he knows what we know, or if he knows what we think he knows we know, ya know--?" For a moment I broke off in confusion; then, the Verpine's obvious clattering clack of disapproval bringing redness to my face I went on, trying to marshall my thoughts.

"What I mean is this. Suddenly he's all palsy walsy with the Empire, and wants to have tea with the very guy K'kihl says is being held prisoner here. I don't know whether he's telling the truth and this is all a big ol' coincidence, or whether he's fabricating this to keep us off our guard. What I do know is this, and that is I feel a touch wee uncomfortable with how he suddenly wants to go to Dagobah so badly."

I paused, staring from one face to the other, taking them all in, inviting comment from anybody before someone came to separate Aaron from the rest of us. Even a suggestion from Thea or Link would be welcomed; suddenly I felt very, very small, alone without my ship and stuck at the mercy of an alien race upon their alien world.

We had to stick together, and that was a universal truth if ever I heard one.

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

"I don't know if I can really trust him. He says he's friends with people I know to be dangerous, if not murderous. But the longer we stay on this planet the more danger we are in. I can sense danger around us, but I don't know where its coming from. Just that this feeling has been getting stronger the longer we've been near Them. I say no matter how we need to do it we get off this planet as quickly as we can - if that means rescuing this Imperial, ok. If it means trusting this Phalomir, well what choice do we really have. This place is huge and we don't know our way around, we are in effect prisoners too."

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

...and we know we can trust each other. Those are about the only things we do know that I'm willing to bank on."

He paused, frowning. "I don't know how we are going to pull all this off. I mean, how are we going to excuse three or more members of our party to go find Tarnus and jailbreak him under Phalomir's watch? And what are we going to do with Tarnus to get him out of here if and when we do get to him? Getting me into the healing chambers buys us time...

...but not alot of explanations. What we need is a convenient excuse for a few of us to get lost while the rest entertain Phalomir. And what we need them is a way to get the hell of this rock and to Degobah...

...somehow."

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"Unobserved by others when beneath their noses, we Verpine always are," he stated, coming now to stand between Aaron and Yaoksi.

"Always overlooked, unseen. Freedom of movement does this give. As does it to the little ones."

He paused, swung his shining, unblinking eyes toward Thea and Link, and continued.

"Truth do not I speak?" he asked, cocking his head to one side and clacking his mandibles together. Before they could reply, he turned back to the men, went on.

"Ship Boss Sorben has, must have, if to get here to begin with he did. In ship will he take us, or who the ship carry can.

"Link--"

Again his black, mirrored lenses pinned the Ryn, eye to eye.

"State you proficiency in lock breaking; old locks are these, ancient of days long past. Have you wares the hinges to remove? For on outside of door are they, for security."

He paused with this, casting a look all about, waiting for someone to acquiesce to his comments so they could get about the task of rescuing Lt. General Sorben Tarnus.

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"Ryn go as unoticed as verpine, even more so in some cases so the both of us can easily sneek about. And Thea is small so it should be easy to take her with us, maybe she can use her jedi magic to help."

I looked over at Thea making sure to get eye contact.

"I'm guessing that you don't like the empire or this plan, even I don't like saving the man who is incharge of the goverment that placed a bounty on my head. But with what we seen the sith do and if what you say you know of them is true, we can't leave the man who is incharge of probably the most powerful military force in the galaxy in the sith's hands."

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"I could tell you if either of the Dark Side users are getting near us. I know their imprint on the Force too well. Maybe hold up the door a little to take the weight off the hinges if that would help."

She was nervous about the plan but if it got them out of there sooner it would be worth it.

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"You wish to speak?" she queried softly then, hoping that little question was not spoken out of turn, for indeed the Dark Lord lurked in the Receiving Hall doors with an anxious sort of aura surrounding his essence.

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