Needed: Antidote to the Mandolorian Temblor toxin. Contact is willing to pay large 40,000 credits for fullfillment of request and may also be willing to negotiate. Response is needed immediately, contact Taylor Garrison at frequency 06071979….

Minna Manth gaped. She had been wandering the spacelanes for some time now, finding life on Tatooine too boring for her liking, yet finding the quiet of space far too frightening to endure alone.

For it was into that quiet that shadows of the past were able to creep… shadows bearing horns and skin of fire, and eyes the colors of the suns, and powers…

Oh, the powers….

Thus she had compromised, keeping her communication grid open to anything incoming from anywhere, if only to provide a soothing white noise to chase those shadows away. But into that background buzz of this transmission and that had suddenly come something surprising.

Something – substantial….

She leaned forward, perking up her ears, and flicked open a comm.-link, dialed it to the frequency listed in that unknown plea for help.

“This is Heaven’s Forbiddance, I receive you, and believe I may be of assistance.”

With that she fell silent as she waited for a reply, the image of all the wonderful upgrades she could put on Forbiddance with that kind of money dancing in front of her eyes.

[ 05-23-2004 11:53 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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"I read you Heaven's Forbiddance, this is Taylor Garrison of Eagle Enterprises. Please elaborate on what you may know or be able to find out concerning the toxin, and what your conditions may be as well..."

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I wonder what that stuff was?

She shook her head, then cocked it to one side.

”Eagle Enterprises, this is Forbiddance; suffice it to say that I prefer to keep my sources… quiet. But, knowing something of the effects of the Mandalorian Temblor toxin, I do know that not many people are able to deal with it; not only that, but those who would even recognize it by name are few and far between as well.

“Suffice it to say that by recognizing this toxin by name, I know enough for your purposes. I also know you have at the most, oh-hh… I’d say about two weeks before the reason behind this plea is no longer among the living.”

She paused again, chewed her lip. Then she leaned forward, speaking directly into her mike.

“Give me coordinates where I can meet with you, or a place of safe harbor of your choosing, and we can speak further. But again, I must remind you, you do not have much time remaining.

“There comes a point in a being’s life when he or she cannot operate on known facts, but on trust alone. You must trust that I know of this toxin, and that I have… sources available to me where I might obtain its antidote.”

She trailed a moment longer, her mouth working in silence as if still considering something else to say. Then she shrugged and sent the message winging through the spacelanes on the tight little frequency that connected her to the unseen and unlocated flagship.

[ 05-24-2004 12:15 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Minna Manth ]

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...however he made certain his frequency was secure before he replied any further.

I am currently aboard the Superstar Destroyer Hornett. Depending upon your location, it may be quicker that you meet me here; currently we are positioned on the outskirts of Endor. I will provide coordinates if this is an acceptable meeting place.

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"Hornett, this is Forbiddance. Your current position provides an acceptable rendezvous; I can be in Endor space in forty-six standard hours."

She raised a hand as if the unseen person on the other end could actually see it.

"Trust me in that I will still have time to procure the antidote for you; I shall depart my position the moment you transmit your coordinates.

"This is Forbiddance, out."

[ 05-24-2004 12:46 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Minna Manth ]

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...but Taylor knew that he must. After all, what choices and options was he left with? And how could he truly judge this person's honesty unless he gave her an instance to show it?

"Our coordinates will follow this final message I send to you. The Hornett's crew will be informed of and awaiting your arrival; feel free to contact me if it becomes necessary that you do so before you arrive. Hornett out.

Before closing the comm connection, Taylor delivered the expected coordinates. Then he simply sat back a moment, praying to whatever gods that would listen that these dealings would indeed bear good fruit.

[ 05-24-2004 03:21 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin's Crew ]

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I hate hyperspace. I always have and always will. Why? because its long and boring. Thankfully it was just a couple more mintues till we were there. Capt. Obviuos was back in the cabins sleeping and Dink was probably in the back working on new device. so I just sat in the cockpit thinking. I closed my eyes and reached out to two minds.
Alexis. Dash. I hope you're all right.

Of course Dash was probably to busy to answer but Alexis might, but before i could get a chance to speak with her alarms went off in the cockpit.

Well looks like we are here. I thought.

I pulled back the hyperspace lever and realspace converted back in front of me.
Wow. Amazing the cordinates were right, who would have thought i could remeber something like that. Of course Dash's ship had helped me some, but still. I slowed the ship and stayed out of Range and waited to see what would happen next.

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Kassa put in the comm frequency, from which he got off the holonet and put it in his datapad and spoke into it.

"Hello, this is Kassa Baute. I saw on the holonet on how you need an anidote. seeing how you need an anditoe that the culprit usually has, you don't have the culprit. I can hunt down the culprit and bring him to you dead or alive with the anidote for 40,000 credits like you have said. so you would get the andiote plus the guy who did whatever he did for you to need this anidote so badly."

I sure hope they don't have the culprit or this could all be a waste. Kassa thought.

"If you're intested, i think it be better to meet in person and continue, never know who's listening in." and with that Kassa sat and waited for a reply.

Perhaps they were just running low on their luck, and on jobs, he mused.

Quickly, he typed in a reply.

Another prospect has made contact with me, he began. However, negotiations are still in progress. I will keep your frequency on file.

Sending off the reply at that, Taylor stood, about to head off to the sickbay when a comm directly from the main bridge registered. "Commander Garrison, there is an unidentified ship in the nearby area."

"Is it approaching?" Taylor queried.

"It has made no moves as of yet."

Taylor nodded at this, pursing his lips once more. It was too soon for his contact...

"Take no action for the moment, this could just be a random traveller who is passing our way," he observed, "Remain on standby however, and keep an eye on them should they hail us."

"We copy that, Commander," came the reply from the bridge, "Bridge out."

Once more, Taylor stood, waiting a moment as if to see if another comm would come his way. Then he left the office altogther, heading for the sickbay as he had originally planned to see if there had been any change with the Captain.

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

"Well, it looks like we'll have to make the first move." I said to myself. I pushed the comm button and spoke into it.

"Hello, Uh, I don't know if you remeber me, but I am Jebbua Dahutt along with some companinans of mine. Speaking of which, I was wondering if you would know where Dash and the others are at? It is vitial That i know where they are and am willing to pay whatever to find out this info. Jebbua Out." I released the comm and waited on a reply.

Maybe they won't remeber me, otherwise... I have bad feeling about this. I thought as i sat and waited.

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

He reached for his comm and spole into again.

"I copy you, I'll be waiting for your call."

These eyes of illuminating power came from a man dressed in the traditional Eagle Enterprise jumpsuit outfit for a human janitor. It was rare, however, to see one in this day and age, seeing as the droids had taken off the seemingly meaningless works, but there were a few and this man seemed, from his ruggid exterior, lucky to have found such a job on the Hornett.

"So," his words came, in a ruggid, roguish tone, brekaing the silence as his brown locks dangled on over his matching eyes. They stare at the blue robed back of the one which seemed, from observation, to be a Jedi.

"Am I goin' to have to clean in here too, or does the great Jedi have that under control too," the man inquired, a sarcarsm covering his voice, aswell as a playfulness.

In the hush after his question, he sat, leaning against the wal with a pack filled with technological cleaning objects that had normally been carried about by droids. A chuckle hung under his voice as he continued to look on, awaiting a response.

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

Suddenly, the portal of which had always delivered him to his eternal hidaway opened, and he stepped through. He was standing on what appeared to be a maitenence walkway, over several large generators that hummed and glowed gently.

His predetorial insticts caused him to drop to the floor as a human walked by, whistling an offkey tune.

He passed the walkway and moved on, carring a box full of what appeared to be burned out energy cells. Nefrai Kesh stalked forward, unheard by the preoccupied human.

The human turned around, his sixth sense tingling, but nothing was there. He kept walking, a tad uneasy, as usual. After all, it was a dark little spot of the ship.

Nefrai Kesh stalked closer.

The human put down the box, reaching into a deep pocket for an access card to a door before him, still whistling, continuously sending glances over his shoulder.

Nefrai Kesh hung over the human, waiting for the opportune moment.

The human glanced over his shoulder again, and Nefrai Kesh dropped down before him, not even noticed.

The human turned, and openned his mouth to scream in fear at the horror before him. But it was to late.

Nefrai Kesh's hand shot forward, gripping the mans entire neck and throat in one hand. He squeezed, feeling blood vessels rupture and bone splinter beneath his clawed fist.

Blood ran over his hand, and he lavished in it's cooling embrase for a moment. However, he could hear movement nearby, and thought it best to continue his hunt elsewhere.

He dropped the corpse to the floor. The corpse smashed into the side of the box the man had been carrying, and knocked it over, spilling energy cells all over the floor, and creating a huge clatter.

Nefrai Kesh reached back, and with a mighty stroke, ripped the Durasteel door into a mangled piece of metal, and proceeded down the narrow and abandoned passage, only casually flicking his hand to the side, smashing the door into the wall to his left, as he disappeared into the shadows of the Hornett.

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"Oh hell!" one of them exclaimed in horror. "Someone better notify the bigwigs...

...this doesn't look good, and I have a bad feeling about this."

"Yeah," the other man replied, his eyes darkening as he too beheld the ghuastly sight, "And is it just me, or has more things of this nature been happening since Captain Danner died? He ran a tighter ship..."

"Don't talk that way," came the biting reply, "At least we all still have a job. Now let's do ours and report this."

Saying that, he pulled a commlink to his lips, "Security, I have a serious incident to report..."

[ 06-26-2004 03:46 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin's Crew ]

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Your Captain. But the Hornett was Terrin's...

His his snapped back alert in an instant, however, and he was about to open his mouth to say something further when the unmistakable tendrils of a force jolt slammed into his senses. He couldn't stop the gasp, so sudden, strong, and unexpected was the sensation.

About this time Taylor Garrison entered the sickbay, and Shawn spoke up before the young Commander could so much as get a word out edgewise. "There's something very wrong here, on this ship," he stated, drawing a raised eyebrow from Garrison. "I sense something dark, sinister...

...something elusive..."

Even as these final words fell from his lips, Garrison's commlink began to beep.

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

But these thoughts were cast aside as he saw yet another human. This one appeared to be security, as he carried a weapon, no two, a blaster and a stun baton.

The cooridor they stood in had no doorways, no hiding places.

The human froze as he saw Nefrai Kesh. He reached for his blaster, and at that moment, Nefrai Kesh leapt forward, his claws raking at the metal behind where the humans head had been moments before, but the human had amazingly been able to dodge.

Nefrai Kesh felt two blaster bolts burn into his side, but blasters had hardly ever effected him. He turned, and let out a hideous grin behind his skull helm and mask.

The human now reached for a stun baton, and jabbed at Nefrai Kesh, yelling over and over for him to "get back".

Nefrai Kesh mentally snorted that this human believed him to be afraid of such a pathetic attempt to harm him.

He raked the mans face with his claws, and was about to procede to kill him, when he heard footsteps nearby.

He knew he should just kill them now, but decided to spare this one to tell the tale. After all, fear worked to his advantage quite well. He grabbed the human and bashed him against the bulkhead once, then dropped him, and fled in the opposite direction of the footsteps.

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"Sir, we have a problem...a serious problem. There's been a major security alert, and we are raising security measures to code yellow..."

A pause. Taylor could almost hear the person on the other side of the communit shudder. "...make that code red. We now have to incidents."

Taylor frowned, not liking the vagueness of the man on the other side of the communit. "Who is this, and where are you? I want more information concerning this security alert than you are giving me..."

"Sir," came the reply, "You need to see this for yourself. Something is horribly wrong..."

The man trailed, and suddenly Taylor was feeling as though he just might be over his head...

...and he sorely wished that Aaron was around to help him out.

"We're in security wing Red 3," the man finally answered.

"Allright," Taylor replied, "I'm on my way."

Taylor bit his lip, nodding once then as Shawn moved to stand and join him. Then with no further ado the young Commander turned and lead the way to a turbolift which in turn carried then to Red Level. In little time they were down they stepped out of the corridor and into the security wing. Immediately the were met by a security officer, who filled both of them in on what the janitors had discovered, including the dead body and the now-unconscious security personnel.

Shawn glanced to Garrison, who inquired as to the security personnel's location.

"Might also help to see the scene of the incident," Shawn then suggested.

The security officer promptly turned as white as a sheet. "I don't know if it's advisable for anyone to go down there just yet..."

Garrison gave the officer a look that caused him to pause mid-sentence. "What is going on...???" Shawn heard him query under his breath, almost rhetorically.

"If you want any clues regarding that, Sir," the security officer then responded, "I believe our unconscious security personnel might have some insight..."

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Long had it been since he has last seen or fought Jedi. The last time had been on that ship, with so many of them. If this jedi was actually strong, it would be much more interesting then that massacare. That must have been two, maybe three millenia ago.....

But time mattered not in Nefrai Kesh's world. All that mattered, was that he fulfilled his purpose in this place.

But to hunt the jedi again would be most fulfilling.

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"Try to relax," he said to the man.

"But I have seen the face of death," the man gasped, "And those claws...hideous claws so strong they even ripped durasteel..."

The man trailed even Shawn reached out into the Force and channeled some healing energies into him. Slowly, the man drifted into a restful hibernation trance. As he did, Shawn ran a his hand along one gash in the injured man's face. The obvious was inescapable.

"These are claw marks," he observed, turning then to Taylor. "Be it man or beast or something else entirely, I have to see the scene where all this happened. If we don't get to the bottom of this...

...I'm afraid it will simply happen again."

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

He paused then, taking his commlink off his belt and tossing it to the Jedi. "Take this with you, for starters. And I'm going to have a security crew right behind you, at your beck and call."

Shawn opened his mouth at this, but Taylor simply continued, knowing what the Jedi was most likely going to say. "I insist. A small crew at least."

He waved to the waiting security officer, who had lead them to the sickbay from Red Level Security. "Go with Jedi Petrolu, and see to it that he is escorted with a crew of six security officers."

"Yes sir," the security officer replied, then turning to Shawn. "Jedi Petrolu?"

Shawn stood at this, nodding as a certain eerie sort of calmness iced in his greeny-blue eyes. Then he stepped next to the security officer, his hand on his hip where his lightsaber hilt rested.

"The Force be with you," Taylor couldn't help saying as the officer and Jedi began to depart. At this Petrolu paused momentarily and turned. "Indeed, the Force be with us all."

Nefrai Kesh could only contemplate.

Jedi blades couldn't kill him, nothing could, that he had descovered long ago. Yet unlike any other weapon, the sabres seemed to repel him. They sent him back to wence he came, though he could return soon, to seek revenge upon them.

He hoped, almost wished that he would be warded, that he would be a difficult prey. But so far, none ever have.

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

It took him moments, long, motionless moments before he could move, even breathe. A gasp escaped his mouth as if he had come to the surface of the endless waters of Spira. A glaze covered his eyes as he stared at the bed that the Captian lay, a blinking of them managing to turn the dreamy occasion to reality. It was then, as he accepted the realization of the moment, that he turned about foot, as he had done when he was once upon a time attired in stormtrooper uniform, and headed down the hall where he had seen the others head.

It wasn't long before he found himself bustling through a few crowds, dancing his way around them like a Twilek slave, heading to where his instincts brought him to believe the Jedi was. The man was intrigued by the Jedi, though in the past he had learned to hate and stare down in disgust at their existence, but he didn't now. He was free of those ideals and could think as though he wanted, and with this freedom he had choosed to go to the hangars.

There was no luck, and when the interest as his only push, he dashed down to the sickbay. Sliding to a stop, nearly dropping his equiptment pack on his back, he fell behind the small crew of men behind what he believed to be the Jedi.

"Luck, 'ey," he whispered to himself, as he fell back behind the small crew and headed with them to wherever they were going. He knew, deep down, this idea was stupid, ignorant, but he had no time to observe his interest as childish, he just acted, moved and did.

Even though what was before him was filled with a darkness, a strong darkness that even with his newfound sensitivty to the Force he didn't detect, or maybe he just didn't want to...

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40,000 credits... that's a lot of upgrades, she couldn't keep a broad grin off her face as a proximity sensor began to bleep, warning her of the approach of something massive and large. Or rather, of the fact that she herself was approaching it.

She sighed a bit, then leaning forward flipped open a communications channel to the looming Hornett, opening up a link along the same frequency as before.

"This is Forbiddance, announcing arrival and requesting docking coordinates."

The tersely polite announcement squirted into the fabric of space and time, carried along the most primitive of waves. She wiggled a bit in her seat, and waited for a reply to her hail.

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"Forbiddance, this is Commander Taylor Garrison. You may proceed to the main hangar and will be directed to dock on a vacant landing platform. I will meet you there."