Just keep doing what Galen said to do. Lay low and try to smooth the waters. Mind what Shawn might be thinking and feeling, he is more of a negotiator than you. We may need friends on Khar Delba; stay civil.

[ 09-29-2008 09:39 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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Shawn, this is Terrin. I have a man here named Kyan Jtiis'ad who is a Jedi and was stranded on the same world as Yaoksi when we found him. He is with us now, and would like to speak with you about some matters that are concerning him. I am connecting him with you now to do that."

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

Then he quickly began with a response.

"Unfortunately there are few of us left that I am aware of, although there may be those who remain under cover. At present, I know there once was one man who was going to assist me in recreating a Jedi Temple on Tatooine, which was approved by the Empire, but I have not heard from him in some time and fear the worst. Other than that I know of at least two others who are not full Jedi but force sensitive, those being my brother-in-law Erik Kartan and my sister Shayla Petrolu Kartan. I have encountered an individual here or there who longs to be trained in the Jedi ways but does not remain. Our status, I fear, is grim. And at the moment I, along with all others that I know, have lost our connection with the Force...

...so we are no more able to deal with anything tto come than the next person other perhaps applying our training in ways that does not require Force-usage."

Sending his message off, Shawn continued to wait patiently for whatever was to come next...

...much to the chagrin of his companion. "He will return soon," Shawn said evenly.

"Yeah. Sure," came Jasyn's irritable response. "When banthas fly."

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Shawn, Terrin here. If you have anything further, use text. No need to raise any unwanted alarms if things are as tense there as Jasyn says.

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

That place unknown to all but the Dark Lord and his closest and most trusted servants, to be used only in time of dire circumstance. That place where, eons ago, his adoptive father had cloistered himself to wield the finishing touch on his Grand Plan of bringing the Sith back into glorious and vibrant life.)

His roving eye settled on a peculiarly empty-looking place which nestled between the few magickal devices hidden here. It looked as if someone had removed something... what could that be?

The muffled sounds of voices broke through his puzzlement, and he forced his recalcitrant brain to think further. It took a moment or two more before he recognized the sounds: it was that of the two humans speaking to themselves, the words they spoke indistinct but the general sound of them picked up by the exquisite hearing of the young Heir Apparent. Abruptly, images clicked neatly together.

The humans. Those who should be respectful to him as the son of the Dark Lord of the Sorcerers, but who had come into his house with seemingly almost blatant nonchalance, overstepping their bounds, speaking of their own plans and ignoring him as if he was no more than a bit of dust on the floor.

Or so it had seemed.

Aeylmaar let out a frustrated sigh, and rose carefully to his feet. No matter what his feelings were, as the Heir Apparent and acting Dark Lord he needed to show the humans at least a modicum of polite respect. Perhaps it was simply a matter that these particular two just didn't have knowledge of Sith-human etiquette; the pair that had come before with the premature infant at least had recognized that important quality, and had used it well.

Going to a little niche he pressed a stone lever. Counterweights dropped noiselessly, letting a portion of the wall which separated this hidden room from the Dining Hall oil open with the sound of a single snowflake falling. He knew this chamber was back in the recessess of the Dining Hall, and that to the men he would seem to have simply appeared as if from nowhere.

Entering the Dining Room, he waited until the wall had replaced itself before moving gracefully -- if yet a bit unsteadily -- to where the two were yet seated on the couch. Nodding to a servant who appeared from nowhere he came to a short stop a few paces from the men, then went to a sideboard where fruits, meats, and hot -- and thankfully not potent -- beverages waited to break his fast.

Turning, he watched as the servant returned and came to the pair. That worthy bowed, holding platters of precious metal in his hands, and waited.

"Perhaps you would care to break your fast?" Aeylmaar announced, as if nothing in the world had happened at all between the three of them.

[ 11-12-2008 10:57 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aeylmaar ]

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"Yes, please," he responded quite simply, getting to his feet. Shawn was relieved that for the moment Jasyn bit his tongue and stood with a nod, making his best effort to remain polite (which was no doubt saying a lot for one such as he). Still, Jasyn began to reach for one of the shining plates in the servants hands...

...and Shawn cut a quick warning glance his way, all but marginally shaking his head in disaproval at his eagerness to get to the food without thinking. Then Shawn nodded Aeylmaar's way once more, waiting for him to take the lead before moving further.

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

Kriffing hell, someone has got to make a move or we'll be standing here until the rontos come home!

So Jasyn decided to take the first step, much to Shawn's chagrin. Before the Jedi could stop him, he reached out and took one of the proffered platters, nodding to the servant thankfully. Then he turned to Lord Aeylmaar, who seemed to be watching intently. He didn't have to look at Shawn to feel the look he was getting.

"Ahhh...after you..."

He paused, hesitating, not certain which title of respect to use. "...Your Majesty?" he settled with, unable to not take a glance at the sidebar and notice that the Sith apparently didn't think brandy was an appropriate drink for breakfast.

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

And as Terrin would point out, everyone likes free parts and service.

"Ahhh, I was thinking," Jasyn started awkwardly, drawing looks he tried to not analyze from both Aeylmaar and Shawn, "Maybe I could help you hook up some communications until your magick is restored?" he then ventured. "I might need some parts from Eagle Enterprises to hook you up, but then again you might have something I can use here. This way you'll at least be able to make quicker contact with your people and maybe allay some of the concerns here til things are better."

He paused, hoping that was only surprise he was reading in Aeylmaar's eyes. He didn't dare look at Shawn.

"And it'll allow you to keep in contact with K'khil while he looks for Lord Aelvedaar and the others more easily since all you have at the moment is a single comm unit."

Jasyn quieted, hoping that maybe this offer would help smooth the waters over some as Terrin and Galen had wanted, hoping his lack of negotiating skills wouldn't totally screw things up.

[ 05-30-2009 11:57 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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What do I do? What have I said? These humans are not like those before-- for by now, hangover be damned, enough logic had returned to him to point out quite matter-of-factly that much, much time had passed in the Galaxy since those days when Men called Sith "Master."

I have spoken ill of them, to myself; I have spoken ill to them. Father would be ashamed of me...

Slowly, a rather shaky hand lifted a cup of steaming caf-equivalent to his lips. He took a quick gulp, then after forcing down the onrush of nausea that swallow cost him, set it down and went seeking something a bit fruitier. All the while his thoughts churned, bringing with them a modicum of embarrassment and shame.

What would Dark Lord Aelvedaar do if he ever discovered his secret? Not that he actually hated the humans, as his words and actions of the night before more than likely led them to believe, but that he simply could not handle his brandy.

Nor, the more his Father was away, the less he could keep himself from it.

He sighed a little, reaching out to pour himself some juice but was quickly apprehended by a servant, who rushed apologetically up and performed the little task for him. Handing him the goblet, the servant bowed himself back into the shadows of the overwhelming Dining Hall; Aeylmaar could only stare after him in silence, sipping a bit from the drink.

Sometimes I wish my life was as simple as that-- no. It is an honor and a privilege to be chosen as Heir Apparent! I will not let my Father down!

Carefully setting the goblet upon a sideboard, he turned carefully around and approached the two humans. The Jedi appraised him with a quiet look, while the other wore an expression that was half curiosity, half fear, and half anger.

He looks like a young tuk'ata just before mindlink is achieved, Aeylmaar could not help but think, as with that thought one hand reached out, palm up to the men.

"I- I- You must forgive me; you are guests here in my house and I have behaved abominably."

As I once did when the other came to me, with his woman, seeking help for their child... and I tossed them off-world in yet another brandy-induced rage!

He fought down a momentary tremble; no matter how badly he was feeling, he was Still Sith and Heir Apparent to the sorcerers. It would not do well to show any further weakness in front of these two men.

But accepting assistance is not necessarily a sign of weakness, and can indeed sometimes be one denoting wisdom.

"Tell me more of what you speak," he said simply before clasping his hands in front of himself and falling into silence.

And heeeey, was that brandy in that goblet over there...? asked the little demon on Jasyn's shoulder.

With effort, he ignored the beastie. After all, Aeylmaar seemed to be trying to make ammends, and seemed interested in his suggestion.

Woah. Maybe he was getting better at this public relations bit. Fat chance.

Shaking himself from these thoughts, Jasyn directed his attention to Aeylmaar's query for more information. "Well, it's called a comm unit, and it operates off a subspace radio. ?Although they can be stationary, you typically use a hand-held or wrist-mounted unit with a specific numerical identification to talk back and forth to others. That's the basic gist of it; maybe you have something similiar here that I can rework to operate on the subspace radio? With the Imperials that were in the area and communicating back and forth, I know once a unit is established ere you should be able to tap into a subspace radio station. The signals can be encoded and secured so nobody unwelcomed taps in, too."

[ 06-10-2009 11:18 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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But yet, something of what the man was speaking rang a distant bell.

"I do not know of such things as... radio," he admitted honestly.

"But as subspace is a subcategory of space itself, perhaps the ships we use to traverse the spacetime continuum will have something in them you might use? There are many TIE fighters and other such small ships in the Temple Hangar.

"Could you use something like that?"

[ 06-10-2009 11:24 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aeylmaar ]

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And maybe if you do this for him he'll give you more brandy... Damn shouder demon.

"Yes, the TIEs and so forth should have comm systems onboard. Which makes giving you communications even easier. They should already be programmed to work."

And he can keep you here on planet where he can keep an eye on you too, the demon snorted.

"It will be good to get in contact with some of those who have left here and see what progress they are making."

He paused, frowning, trying to keep his final thoughts quiet. He couldn't. "Everyone has been gone too long."

[ 06-10-2009 11:32 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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We have not heard from anyone! the alarmed thought rang in his head as he fought once more for control of himself.

Father--

Shaking his head to chase the negative thought from himself, he stepped out toward the double door that opened out onto the corridor beyond.

"I will take you there myself!" he said as he beckoned them to follow. Not bothering to look, he simply assumed the men would follow him as with boyish exuberance he flung open the doors and stepped out.

"Come, they are this way."

Onward he led them, chattering all the while about the great mystery of the TIES; how he had "fallen asleep one night..."

Calmly omitting the fact that sleep was the one of death, brought about by the rampaging Dark Jedi who had killed him.

...only to awaken the next day and find that a strange building had been erected in the night. far stranger yet, it was filled with an assortment of strange little ships, ships not nearly as wonderful as his races' own Sith fighters, but worthy little spacecraft nonetheless. On and on he went, explaining here, deducing there, until at length his words and lengthier stride had carried him to the secreted hanger built on Temple grounds by Darth Wicked, before Aeylmaar and the rest of his race had returned.

"In here," he said simply as he opened a small door meant for beings to enter through. Sensors picked up on his body heat, and blue light flooded the half-buried bay.

Aeylmaar waved a hand toward the array of little craft secreted within.

"They are at your disposal; please, let us contact the others as soon as we can. The Temple is missing its Master."

And I, my Father.

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

He trailed, worried about his commrade whose comm signal he'd lost entirely. Again with effort, he shook himself from these thoughts. "Shawn can help you with that while I scavange these ships for comms and their numbers. Should be plenty of units to make you a good system...

...and maybe then we can start talking to people and figure out just what the kriffing hell is going on."

He paused then, frowning. "Damn," he then said, eyeing the TIEs. "If we're going to pull these comms from these ships and find their numbers, I'm going to need something or other to notate which number goes with which comm...

...but then, where there are TIE fighters, there is a computer system and technology to do that," he then said, answering his own question. Waiting for nothing further, Jasyn approached and made entry into the first of the fighters, beginning to work the comm unit free and establishing a method to keep track of each one's number using the onboard computer in that TIE.

It was awfully good to feel useful again, he couldn't help but think to himself, noting with pleasure that his shoulder beastie, at least for the moment, was remarkably quiet.

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

"Oh, I forgot," he said simply, now fishing in his robes until his claws rounded upon the device Jasyn had referred to. He pulled it out into the open and held it in the palm of one hand.

"I remember this, somewhat," he said, a bit embarrassed to have utterly forgotten about it. For a brief moment he rolled the comm-link about his fingers before, after letting his lips curl into a smile meant to hide that embarrassment, he held it out to Shawn.

"Perhaps you can use this to contact K'kihl; I am not very adept in the use of these devices," he said.

[ 06-11-2009 12:25 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aeylmaar ]

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"K'khil, this is Shawn Petrolu. Just checking in to see how things are progressing there on Endor since we've not heard from you in some time. No news to report here either; all is about the same. Please respond ASAP. Petrolu out."

After completing this brief message, Shawn sent it off along the specified channel to the TIE K'khil had been using...

...and waited.

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"Nothing?" he said, the concern apparent in his voice as a dark frown grew on his face. He shook his head then. "You could contact Hornett and see if Terrin, Galen and the gang are still on board. At the very least, Commander Barnes or Garrison should be there to let us know where they were headed next if they aren't there; I do know the secure frequency to get in contact with the ship. And for that matter, I also have the secure frequency for both Terrin and his personal ship the Eagle."

Pausing, Jasyn shrugged. "I'm getting a very bad feeling about all of this. All our commrades are spread right and left across the galaxy, and with some of them missing."

Quieting again, Jasyn turned to face Aeylmaar. "I've got the comm frequencies for these units notated and they are ready for use," he stated, nodding slightly to the load he was still carrying. "Do you have any particular places you want them placed, or anyone in particular you want to try to contact?"

[ 07-16-2009 10:54 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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Matt, Jasyn- heads up to let you know Erik Kartan blasted off the Hornett abruptly with one of our ships, and may be headed in your direction. Keep an eye out. We're headed in your way as well to find out something regarding the whereabout of the Lieutenant General. We'll keep you posted and will hopefully be enroute to pick you up shortly.

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"What the kriffing hell is Kartan thinking? He's obviously off his blasted rocker."

Shaking his head, Jasyn fell silent, not saying anything for a long moment as they all digested what had been said in the message. He would love nothing more than to reestablish connections with Terrin and Galen and everyone else and get off the Sith worlds, and was about to respond as much...

...but something made him pause. Considering all events that had taken place as of late, and especially considering Erik's recent and continuing stupidity, Jasyn knew he had to defer making any decision to someone else whether he really wanted to or not.

Jasyn turned to Aeylmaar, shifting the comm units in his arms. "So what next?" Jasyn said simply. "If Kartan is headed this direction he has something stupid in mind, no doubt, but he'll probably be alone. If you don't have some way to track incoming ships yet, we definitely have the resources to set you up, which would give us an advantage," he continued, indicating the ships in the hangar behind him. "But it's your house, your call."

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

Who was this Erik Kartan, anyway? he wondered further. While he did remember him from the first time that the man and his wife had come to Khar Delba for assistance with their prematurely born infant son, they hadn't then been on-planet long enough for him to learn much about them. He had run them off, not understanding at that time the importance of re-establishing bonds of unity between Sith and Human, but instead had deemed them as being nothing more than minions to his people, and thus worthy of nothing but being ignored. That instinctive reaction Aeylmaar struggled with yet guided his actions in regard to the man when Erik had come again, leaving this second time with the tiny body that had died when their magicks had disappeared.

Had something further happened to it? Was he yet crazed with grief, and coming to seek revenge for his son's death?

And more disturbing... what powers had he that could be utilized against the Sith? Or at least toward Aeylmaar in particular? At the very least he would have blasters and such other energy weapons that could be wielded against him, while he in turn could barely defend himself with a sword. He could call upon the Warriors for assistance, but would any of that elite have time enough to come to their sister world to assist him?

His eyes widened as that train of thought derailed at one distressing conclusion.

He did not have the capability to even call K'eel Doba. In the past the Sorcerer clan relied solely upon their magickal devices to maintain communication between the Diamond. With that power now dead, he couldn't call upon a bird in flight through the air above his own head.

Sighing a bit in frustration, he turned to Jasyn.

"I would be grateful for your aid in this," he said simply. He waved a hand once more toward the little array of ships.

"Use what you need, but keep some of them flight-worthy. We may find ourselves in need of such, after all."

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

"I can make you something with what is available for tracking purposes, but I'm not sure how far we'll be able to sense out with the small sensor arrays in these," he then admitted, indicating the ships in the hangar with the wave of his hand, pausing to chew his lip once more in thought.

"Still, I seem to remember hearing something once about this temple being occupied by others who were not Sith in the past, which is a reasonable assumption since these TIEs are here." He frowned. "Some dark jedi or something, wasn't it?" he queried thoughtfully. "If they were as adamant about protecting what they claimed was theirs as I think they would be, wouldn't they have had some sort of tracking system of their own? Maybe a droid or something that is laying around?"

He shook his head. "Hell, we once had Stargazer's little R2 unit around here...or maybe that was K'eel Doba. There just has to be something else around here that we can use..."

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

"I am sorry," he began, truly frustrated that he couldn't be more helpful. Indeed, it did frustrate him that here he was, the Heir Apparent to the powerful Sorcerer clan of the Sith, and he couldn't even sense if there was so much as a bug crawling about at their feet.

"I do not know of anything else that might be here. All I know of are the devices in my Father's Sanctum Sanctorum, and they have been rendered useless."

He shot an apologetic look to Jasyn.

"I'm afraid I must put my faith entirely you... and this in light of how I must have treated you earlier."

The latter was spoken in the softest of whispers, terrible words for a Sith of his standing to be saying, words now dragging his face downward again in embarrassment and contrition.

"For that I am sorry."

[ 10-26-2009 02:57 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aeylmaar ]

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"You're talking to someone who is notorious for drinking too much and then saying and doing really stupid things," he finally said, his eyes defocusing as memories flooded into him of times that still seemed like yesterday when he'd screwed up so badly all because of this drink or that. "so don't worry about it. What I am worried about is Erik blasting in here and doing something even more stupid than any of us have done all together and then totally ruining any chance of agreement between humans and the Sith."

Jasyn paused, scowling, and then something occurred to him. "ALthough it seems like if he left from the Hornett to come directly here, he'd have already arrived." A slight pause with a frown. "Maybe he has..."

Trailing then, yet another thought occurred to Jasyn. "...or maybe he is off somewhere enlisting someone's help." He then shrugged. "You know, it's not a bad idea, and we do have friends incoming. And maybe we do have some options around here for better tracking than just these little fighters," he observed, indicating the TIEs behind him. "While I'm installing some of these commlinks, maybe someone can take a look around for something of use that doesn't require Sith magick to work?"

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He paused, pursing his lips thoughtfully. "Maybe now is the time to join those Jedi together once more so they can help fight whatever this is, as well as whatever might be incoming. If Erik is out there making friends with the intent to attack here, I'd hate for him to think of those frightened force-sensitives and stir them up against you," Shawn then stated, frowning. "I don't know if he'll think of that, but if he does..."

Quieting once more, Shawn's eyes defocused, darkening slightly before snapping alert and clear once more. "Some education on who the Sith really are needs to happen, before someone bends and twists things regarding your nature."

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