He stood a little straighter and drew in a deep breath.

“I did destroy the other clones, when I discovered them with Yaoksi. They are unnatural, and were in a state of suspension. If I have been cloned, then it is possible that the clones have the same powers within them as I do. If this is the case, and if they were controlled by someone with sinister plans… that is a chance I wish not to take. Do you?”

Phalomir then nodded towards the clone, then to the Master.

“They both command the power of Sith lightning. That is a learned skill, and not something that is passed through genetics.”

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

"Learning goes into one's head, right? One's memories? So whose to say that this guy--"

Now I nodded toward the silent Phalomir at our feet.

"--doesn't have that power, too? And you didn't answer my question, buddy," I finished, gripping my blaster more tightly and fumbling one-handed to cycle it back up to kill.

"Your dear ol' dad tried to fry us; we'd be dead now if we'd run instead of dropping and rolling. I've got his lights knocked out for now, but surely even you can see the inherent danger in just up and leaving him.

"Nor can we take him with us; we've already got enough on our plates to have to worry about keeping an extra eyeball pinned on this guy."

I waved my blaster at the silent Master, and grew silent myself at that point.

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

I motioned to the crumpled heap that was The Master, and Phalomir 2.0

"I do know that Phalomir 2.0 and the Phalomir's blast happy dad will eventually wake up, shouldn't we take care of them before then?"

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

As if he was but yet another clone too, similar only in appearance to the others, differing only in his artificially stored memories?

I shook my head slightly, slid my eyes to Aaron, and then turned to Link, forcing a smile to my lips to hide my growing unease.

"I can always depend on you to get right to the heart of matters, kiddo," I said, refraining from reaching out to pat her on the head. Instead, I returned my focus to Aaron, all the while letting my blaster drift innocently toward Phalomir Numero Uno.

"D'ya think we can manage them both together?" I said as I then moved away to where the Master was laying in a fetal position on the stones. Once beside him I bent my knees and lowered myself down, back straight, and with blaster still innocently pointed toward the taciturn Phalomir tried to hoist his unconscious father in my arms.

The guy was not only big, he was solid. Dense. I gasped a little and staggered, the muzzle of my blaster jiggling in tiny circles as I attempted to keep it poised in Phalomir's direction while trying to haul the dead weight of his father off the floor. It wasn't easy; the best I could achieve was to finally grasp him under his arms and raise his upper torso; his hips and legs dragged and scraped against the stones.

I knew it wasn't going to be any cakewalk getting him to the chamber where the two empty storage devices were.

"C'mon, lets get these two babies tucked into bed," I gritted between my clenched teeth as I then began backing down the corridor, halfway hoping Phalomir #1 would try something so I could blast him and thus put to rest any niggling worries about what nastiness he might be capable of springing upon us.

"Link," I called out as I huffed and struggled. "Do you think you can carry Thea?" For fates love a duck there was no way I could transport the still unconscious girl, and assuming Aaron would follow suit with Phalomir Numero Dos, the only other person who was left to assist us was the first Phalomir.

Supposedly our Phalomir.

Who so far hadn't said or done anything extraordinarily useful lately, come to think of it...

[ 06-23-2007 11:44 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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He frowned again, still dragging #2 along. "What would be manipulating our clone boddy here anyway?" he asked, physical strain obvious in his voice. "Other than us, that other guy with your dear Dad, and Stargazer, nobody else should be here...

...right...?"

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

"Yeah," I finally agreed as I stopped to take a breather, letting Phal's dear ol' dad flop back onto the stone floor of the corridor like yesterday's laundry.

"Unless something snuck in from that Dark Place we had to come in from..."

I trailed a moment, not liking where my thoughts were leading me. For every one ended in the same gigantic, single response.

Why?

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

“No one should be here, not even us,” he said. He inhaled deeply and concentrated on his powers, trying to ignore the pain in his side.

“Allow me to help,” he added, closing his eyes. He held out his hands palms up and then closed his left hand into a fist. The body of the unconscious Phalomir began to float, feet first, then lifted a few inches from Aaron’s grasp. The right hand closed, lifting the Master from the floor.

“The Darkness was already within the Master,” he said, opening his eyes. “It may still be there within him, controlling him. He has been very erratic since his entry into this time, and it would explain some things to me if he was under a partial influence.”

Phalomir stepped forward, the bodies moving before him.

“What do you intend to do with them?” he asked. “I do not trust the Master at all, and would as soon destroy him if he did not possibly represent our only way out of this place. As for this clone, as I said before, he should not have the power of lightning, but he does – he attacked me with it, and had it not been for luck he would have killed Thea. Now, what do you wish to do with them?”

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

"Well-- I kinda thought we could put them in one of those storage units where the clones you killed were kept," I said, forcing a dry swallow to go down my throat. I glanced down at our twin Sleeping Beauties.

"Maybe they'd stay out of our hair if we put 'em on ice."

[ 06-24-2007 10:09 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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[ 06-24-2007 10:17 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aaron Barnes ]

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“Empty?” he asked. “Both?”

He seemed to stare into space for a few seconds before blinking again.

“Jharmeen…”

He looked sharply at Aaron, his eyes narrowing.

“This clone may have come from one of those units. But if both are empty then Jharmeen’s clone may be here also.”

“If the units function,” he said, walking again, “I would assume that would suffice as a decent storage facility. I destroyed the contents only, not the machinery. But we should hurry.”

After a few more steps he spoke again.

“I sense your confusion and distrust. I do not blame you. I will admit to you that I am rather uncertain as to what is happening here. If you could, please, imagine finding yourself in a room filled of replicas of yourself, not knowing who made them or why, or even when. Then come face to face with yourself, with a living, breathing replica who seems to have your skills, and more. This one here has the power of Sith lightning, something I never learned. I tried, of course, but my skills with it have not yet progressed. Perhaps with more study, more time, yes, but I--”

Phalomir stopped short again, thinking.

“No, that could not be.”

He shook his head and began walking again. “We must hurry, for if more clones are waking then who knows what will happen. We must find a way out of here and return to K’eel Doba.”

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

The question strained against my lips, but I bit them to keep it back. Obviously now was not the time to pry into whatever affairs this Phalomir was choosing to keep, at least for the moment, private.

Our priority was in icing the Troublesome Two; after this was achieved we'd have plenty of time for a chatty little tete-a-tete.

"Yeah, I guess it's closer to get to the pair in the circular chamber; let's get them there and then..."

And. Then.

"And then we can figure out how the hell we're going to get off of this rock, not to mention out of this weird Elseness we appear to be stuck in..."

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

“The Elseness is our problem, for leaving this ‘rock’ would only serve to put us further out of reality. After we brought Terrin back from the dead, we were confronted by an entity that did not quite appreciate this task. We were allowed to leave only after promising to make sure this could never be done again. So Jharmeen, Galen, myself, and your other friends used an ancient Sith device – a ship, really – to move this whole star system into Elseness. To protect it – or to hide its secrets.”

He shook his head, feeling the pain return but trying hard not to let it break his concentration.

“I do not know why Jharmeen sent us here, or if she knows of these clones. But I do know that unless there is some undiscovered portal out, the only one among us with ability to open a gateway out of the Elseness is the Master. Unless my twin here also has that ability somehow.”

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

...who's to say he won't try again, in the middle of the Darker Realms?"

Aaron tried not to shudder visibly. "We could always count it to our advantage that Phalomir #2 holds you in high esteem," he said then, his words directed Yaoksi's way. "Maybe he would help us out because of that."

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

For some inexplicable reason, I sighed with relief at that.

"Anyway, that's assuming an awful lot," I went on as I began tugging the massive body off in the direction of the stairs.

"We don't know if that Phalomir has the ability to open a-- a door or whatever at all; we know even less if he's willing to assist, and who's to say what might happen when the two Phal's eyeball each other face to face?"

I shot a dark look toward our walking, talking Sith Lord, who come to think of it was a bit on the wobbly side and tended to gasp rather than talk firmly.

"I say we put these guys on ice, and head on back to the Temple. Maybe there will be something there to help us."

[ 06-25-2007 09:47 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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He shook his slightly and looked to Aaron.

“I am concerned about meeting with this clone. I believe the pain I feel is related to my proximity to him, it intensified the closer I came and is nearly unbearable now. I do not know why, perhaps the Master could explain it when he is free of the darkness. But I am hesitant to want to talk with this clone out of fear that-- well, that I find out he is the real me.”

Phalomir inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, calming himself and focusing again on the pain. A small smile crossed his lips and he looked back to the men.

“Tell me more of the esteem this one holds for Yaoksi?” he asked.

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

"The Great Captain Yaoksi, this one did he call," he announced as he took a little step forward.

"Stated that met they had, that enjoined Sith and Empire to join against Vong did he, asserted your clone."

He quieted then and stepped back, his input dutifully delivered.

"If clone he is," he finished flatly.

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

“This other me would not know Yaoksi… and could not know of my plans to ally with the Empire against the Vong. I have a bad feeling about this.”

Phalomir looked away, thinking.

“It is something the Master told me long ago, during my torture in the Darker Realms. He spoke of his own plan to save the Sith, and of a contingency he would not elaborate upon. I admit, I was barely conscious, but he made reference to pulling them away from death’.”

He looked sharply at each of the others, almost afraid to say what he thought. But he did so anyway.

“Could this be the ‘real’ me, but from a future time?”

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

Well. It was enough to make a body head for the biggest, privatest, hottest spring Sullust had to offer, grab the magnum size Whyrene's and disappear for however long it took to make the universe revolve back into reality again. However, thoughts such as these weren't doing much to help our present situation; I sighed and paused, still holding Phal's dear ol' dad by his armpits.

"Look, maybe what you're saying holds some water," I finally agreed. "Maybe we should ice this one Phal; personally I think he's got his banthas all in a wad, 'cuz sure as Fate would have it there's no way in all the damned universe I'm ever gonna show my face anywhere close to the Impies, nope, not after what happened on Sullust."

"Our" Phalomir eyed me with blatant curiosity, to which I simply shook my head.

"Another time, pal, when the circumstances are a tad wee more amenable," I gritted as I hoisted daddykins up a bit.

"Anyway, maybe if we ice this guy, we wouldn't have to worry about him. Then, and only then, if you have enough hoo-doo in you to keep whatever it is inside your papa here at bay, well..."

I let my eyes slide down to the nodding head of the unconscious, elder Sith.

"Maybe he could be enticed to helping us."

For much as I hated to, I had to agree with Phalomir. His father did try to warn us before letting loose with whatever the hell it was he had let loose with, and that had to count at least for something. Besides, if I started down the distrust road we all seemed poised upon, pretty soon I wouldn't have anyone with me to help but K'kihl.

Lordy knows what help he could actually be without his blasted hydrospanner.

[ 06-27-2007 10:42 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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Phalomir once again opened his hands and allowed his magic to focus through them. Soon the two bodies were being lifted by a constant localized wind that carried them down the hallway. Within a few moments they were all outside the room that Yaoksi and Aaron had led to.

Phalomir dropped the magic and the bodies fell to the floor.

“Perhaps I could have been a little gentler with the dismount,” said Phalomir, “but I shall not worry about it. Let us get them onto the platforms.”

Phalomir stepped to help Aaron with the hulking body of the clone. As he reached for an arm, however, the pain within him began to crescendo and he fell backwards clutching his side. As he moved away the pain lessoned, but it was still very sharp.

“I cannot help with him, I am sorry. The pain is becoming too much.”

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

I pulled my blaster and pointed it at him.

"If being in so close a proximity to your clone is hurting so much, why don't you back off to where you can handle it better, and use your magick to get him airborne again. I'm sure Aaron won't have any trouble re-aligning him and getting him into the storage cubicle, or whatever it is. Besides--"

I trailed a moment, just long enough to wave my free hand over my shoulder in a beckoning gesture. I was rewarded by the satisfactory sound of an approaching Cricket.

"K'kihl can help, can't ya pal?"

I then returned my full attention to the still quiet Master, keeping the barrel of my blaster pointed right at his temple, and standing a bit back so if he would volcano into sudden life I would hopefully be able to get one or two shots off before he smeared me all over the stone floor.

[ 06-28-2007 03:08 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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"Ready to assist, am I," he stated then leaned down and grabbed the unmoving Phalomir from the floor. Without even thinking of it, he quite easily hauled the massive body upright -- for Verpine are strong, after all -- although the legs still dragged the floor by the simple fact that the Sith was taller than K'kihl.

"More help, need you?" he queried, and fell silent as he waited for someone to jump in or give him further instructions as to what he should do next.

[ 06-28-2007 03:17 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by K'kihl ]

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Once freed of his burden, Aaron headed looked over the controls, which were marked with strange sigils. Aaron chewed on his lip. "Definitely not Basic," Aaron commented. "There are three different buttons with markings here; maybe if I describe them you can identify them for me?" he queried, cocking a brow Phalomir #1's way before looking back at the controls. "One symbol has a small line below a half-circle pointed with its flat end downward; another has a circle with a cresent enscribed on its right hand side, and the last one has a single open circle with no other markings. Any of those sound familiar?"

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

“The sigils are simple commands,” he said. He turned and held out his hand, and the clone lifted slightly out of the hands of K’khil and Aaron and straightened. Phalomir shifted his hand slightly to the left and the clone moved closer to the center of the device.

“In Sith runes, the open circle represents nothingness,” he said. “In this scope I would venture to guess it refers to the ‘off’ position. But these other symbols, they are not Sith runes. They are not even part of any standard set of Sith symbolism, which implies that these devices are not Sith in origin.”

“I would guess the first button on the other end would activate the device,” Phalomir shook his head. “But as this is not a Sith device, I have no insight into it. Perhaps K’Khil could tell better than I, now that his hands are free.”

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

"Allow me," Link walked up to the control panel and started to examine it. "I think I've seen one of these symbols before. back in the Corporate Sector I was doing a job that involved some really old tech, the client said it dated back to the Great Hyperspace War, the half circle with a line beneath it was used to indicate which button powered up the device. Although in one case it did cause the device to explode but the device was over 20,000 years old so I'll write it off as unstable."

"I have no idea about the third symbol, but I'm 85% sure its not a self destruct."

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