The Verpine's jaw would have hit the floor at that, but being a Verpine precluded this, anatomically speaking. So once again he could only relieve his growing startlement and concern by chattering his mandibles; they sounded like the castanets carried by the old Jabba the Hutt's dancing slave girls.

Gamely, though, he didn't run. Drawing in a breath once more, he opened his mandibles to try again when the Verpine equivalent of a light bulb flashed over his head.

Clones. Someone had spoken of clones. Here was Phalomir who was not Phalomir, who was as naked as a new morning, who spoke of a Graysith he had never met and whom he doubted truly existed.

He thought further, scraping his memory for anything he had heard whispered during his brief sojourn on K'eel Doba; the confusion of his friends regarding those they thought were of a personality, dear friends, only to prove themselves as being something...

Other.

Thought of the fact that they were now in a place removed from space and time... and if this place could be so removed, so could the occupants of space and time, or perhaps time itself could be twisted, or diverged, or--

He quieted, drew himself up and bravely faced someone he suddenly knew deep in his heart was most assuredly not the Phalomir he and the others had accompanied here.

"Of clones has someone here spoken," he said in sudden non sequiteur.

"Since knowing not that which I have seen with my own eyes are you... than the Phalomir who with us here is not you. Perhaps clone are you, perhaps clone is he.

"Which is which, how to prove, but find our friends we must. Danger here is there, danger more out there, in the reality that out of are we. Ladies in high royalty did we leave behind, one coming with us.

"But, Dark Lord if you are, believe me you must. No enemy yours am I or mine; friends seeking help most dire are we. With you here had we come, you to assist us, we to assist you. To come to bottom of this new quandary, find others must we."

He paused, waved a pincer about himself.

"Somewhere in this place are they, know not I where. Separated from them have I become."

[ 05-27-2007 11:26 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by K'kihl ]

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“Clone?” he asked. “You think I am a clone? I can assure you, a clone I am not. But if you know me, that is, you know Phalomir, then I would have to say to you that you have known a clone of me. But time is a strange thing, my friend, and there are other possibilities that should not be ruled out. But for now, I shall believe you that you are no enemy of mine. But if you are lying to me, know that the full power of the Single Triumvirate boils within me, and in wars such as this I never give a second chance. If for one minute think you are in league with them…”

Phalomir’s eyes flashed a brilliant red, and a spark flew from his fingers.

“Let us find your friends,” he continued. “And be away with these mysteries. If you have become separated, then the answer is to be reunited. Have you no communication devices?”

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

"Engineer am I, hydrospanner have-- had I."

He trailed mournfully for a moment, then forced himself to brighten. After considering for a few moments the scorched mark on the stone wall impacted by the red flash this Phalomir had produced, another virtual lightbulb flash went off over his head.

"Magick apparently have you," he observed calmly, as if he was describing the color of the Sith Lord's eyes.

"Use this perhaps can you, to find that which apparently is you as well? For where you are, so are my companions."

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

She paused then, nodding back towards the globe to the image of Rykounagin before falling into an eerie silence.

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“I may be able to,” he said. “There are many ways to search an area, and many ways to find that which is lost.”

Phalomir spread his fingers and held his hands out before him. Sparks gathered between his fingers as he closed his eyes. He let his mind reach out, releasing his spirit from his body. Floating now, he looked down to see the insect still staring intently at Phalomir’s own body. He then moved along, through walls and stone, and searched.

After a moment, his eyes snapped open and a look of distressed wonder came upon him.

“I found them,” he said. “There are many—the Great Captain Yaoski himself, another human male, two children – one human and one furry – and… me. They are this way.”

Phalomir began walking, quickly, assuming the insectoid would follow.

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

...but this is how K'khil, the kids and I ended up on the path to where we were when he got lost."

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"Coming am I," he said, then hastened after the swiftly striding Lord as fast as his multi-jointed legs could carry him. Phalomir set a fast pace, but his legs were long and he was fairly untiring. Quickly they moved through the winding corridors of the immense building they were in; even more quickly did his thoughts flick from one question to the next this new Phalomir had raised within him.

At length he could keep his curiosity under check no longer. Daring to reach out a manipulatory appendage, he tapped Phalomir lightly on the shoulder.

"Of this Great Captain Yaoksi did you twice speak," he observed, shaking his head inwardly at what to him was the utter incongruity of the title.

"Explain to me, please, what feats this Captain did? For friend of mine is he; work with him and for some time have I."

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

“In the years before the great war,” he said, “Captain Yaoksi was a diplomatic tie between the Sith and the human races. He was key in striking the great treaty with the Empire, which in turn led the way to the unification of the Galaxy. When the war came, although an unwilling victim of circumstance, he became one of the great heroes of the Galaxy.”

Phalomir turned to glance at K’kihl as he continued to walk

“It shall be an honor to meet him,” he said. “But I think perhaps I should wait for that occasion. They lie down the next corridor, and you should join them without me. Try to explain the situation, and I will listen, but my sudden appearance may be too strange and illogical.”

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"Agreed," he said simply, storing the impossible statements Phalomir had made of Boss Yaoksi under the file Impossible, to retrieve and study at a later date. Now the important thing was to rejoin his mates, and let them know of the strangeness he had encountered in his solitary wanderings.

"But of your presence will I divulge," he stated, somewhat naively. Speaking no more he turned from the Sith Lord and struck out toward the bisecting corridor ahead. Once there he paused, cast a final look at Phalomir, nodded once, then left.

Moments later his keen vision picked out the forms of the others; hastening now, he made his way toward them, his mandible chattering, his pincers waving in greeting.

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

He turned his head to look Shayla in the eyes.

“He can take care of himself, I am sure. But I wonder about you, my dear. Why did you bring me here? Surely it is not to call me a liar and be done with it? You must know I cannot trust you, after twice attacking me. What is it you want? Or, should I ask, what does the darkness within you want of me?”

He smiled slightly, and then continued.

"K'khil, is that really you?" he called out as the insectoid began heading their way. As the Cricket finally got close enough for his identity to be perfectly clear, Aaron's face showed signs of evident relief.

"Oh thank the gods you are alright," he then commented. Then he paused, cocking his head a bit. "What the heck happened back there when we lost you, do you know?"

[ 05-28-2007 12:44 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aaron Barnes ]

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"Know not I," he replied, then continued a touch hurriedly for him.

"But met with Phalomir did I; and overheard someone speaking of clones, as well."

Turning from Aaron then as if what he had just stated was yesterday's news, he hastened to make certain the children were well. From there he moved to stand in front of Yaoksi.

His shining eyes moved up and down the lanky form of the green-eyed man.

"Impossible," he muttered to himself, shaking his head and then letting his mandibles chatter a few times before turning then to Phalomir.

"You down that way are," he said, now pointing a pincer back in the direction from which he had just come.

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

“What do you mean?” he asked. “You encountered my clone down the hallway? Where? If the clone is awake and aware, then whoever is responsible for them may be here with us now. I should go dispatch this clone, and perhaps learn something of the its master.”

Phalomir turned and began walking down the hallway.

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

He moved to stand beside Aaron and Yaoksi again, let his mandible clatter.

"Distress this causes," he said suddenly.

"The Phalomir I met, harm toward any other did he not state. Of power was his bearing, but knowing not I nor you nor the younglings was he."

He paused to contemplate the figure whose lengthy strides were carrying him fast away.

"Of harm to others, killing clones of suspect is this one." He nodded toward Phalomir, paused a moment once again, trying to think.

"Why?"

Again he paused, struggling to express himself.

"In strange otherness this place is, removed from reality is it. Urgent to return to reality, more it is. Here are we all, now." He spread his manipulatory appendages to either side of him, pincers lightly brushing against the two men. "But the task this Phalomir now attends...

"Of what priority it is, ask you now I?"

He fell silent, now stepping out and turning to face them and proceeded to just stand there, passing concerned glances to one and the other, his mandibles chewing thoughtfully.

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

...and what do you plan to do to get it?"

Crossing her arms at that, Shayla simply waited for the Master's reply coolly.

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

He folded his arms and half-smiled at Shayla.

“I made bargains already with the powers of the Darker Realms,” he continued. “But those deals were not kept by the darkness. Something other interfered, keeping me from inheriting the power I needed to succeed in my quest. Now you have that power, and your sister has that power… or rather, that power has you. And I ask that power now to listen to me, to reason. Changes to the Sith triumvirate will come, yes, and of that I have no concern. But aid me in my quest, and prevent a tragedy for two planes of existence.”

The Master then held out his hands to her, opened.

I looked back, and knew that the hole likely wouldn't stand up to any more trips. "Well, I guess it's time to go around." I looked down the passage, and began to trod along the path.

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... and do not lose him this time...

and then perhaps I will know that your words are more than just that, and we can continue working on our bargain."

[ 05-30-2007 10:16 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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“It seems our bargain was dissolved some time ago,” he said. “You broke your promises to me, even when I had delivered him to you. Even when I had prepared him as you had instructed. I tortured him, had my demons perform atrocities upon him, all because you deemed it necessary. Do not speak to me of words that cannot be trusted. If you wish him still, then speak to me with respect or collect him yourself.”

He closed his hands into fists.

Knowing full well of the Vong, Shayla let absolutely no evidence of her knowledge of this seep forward. "You, as the Father, have the most opportunity to retrieve your son. If you do so for me, your bargain with will be honored, fully. It was the fallacy of Dark Lord Roan which lead to the end of your son's initial conversion...

...and such error will not occur again."

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“Roan did take me by complete surprise, the way he showed up at the Tower all vibrant and full of power, and him just a shade even, and then just sort of razed it all. Ironically, a short while ago I used an old device of mine to locate Roan, to see what he was up to. It took a while to find him, which in itself was rather interesting, but what it showed me surprised even more than seeing Roan at the Tower. It showed me Roan… the REAL Roan, I believe, imprisoned and looking more like a sack of rotten yag roots than a vibrant Dark Lord of the Dead. Rather mysterious, wouldn’t you say?”

She paused then, arching an eyebrow at the Master slightly. "You do realize the longer you play this out the more time the Vong yor fear have to infiltrate our worlds?"

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

But not even a mild case of curiosity about this. Shayla offered only a dismissal and then baited him about the Vong.

But wasn’t his own memory full of holes? Didn’t he arrive in this time, this place as merely a shade stuck inside the head of a human? And just where did he find the body he now occupied, and how did he know where to find it and how to restore it? What if his consciousness was destined for one of these cloned bodies…?

The blast came quickly, without warning, as if the shadows themselves fired the energy. Even as Phalomir turned to see where the searing lightning originated, it had already begun to short-circuit his nerves and he crumpled to the floor silently.

In a minute’s time, the outer robe Phalomir had worn was removed and wrapped around another Phalomir, who began walking towards the group that the insectoid had joined.

“Greetings,” he said upon his approach. “I am Phalomir of the Houses of the Sith. It is a pleasure to meet you all, and a great honor to meet you again, Captain Yaoksi.”

Phalomir stared at Yaoksi with a mused look of adulation, and held out his hand to him.

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Er, he looked like Phalomir... and he sounded like Phalomir... but the context of his words sure as there's podracing on Tatooine didn't jive with what our Phalomir would say.

I took a shaky step backwards, avoiding the hand which loomed in my direction; only then did the accompanying words he spoke hit me.

I couldn't help it.

"HUH?!?" The word blurted from my lips before I could think to stop it. I shot another look toward the others, only then realizing that I still had a blaster in my hand. It raised instinctively, wavered, then lowered it a tad from where it had bull's-eyed Phalomir's chest to the region of his navel.

There it froze, as did I.

[ 05-31-2007 11:51 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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