This guy wasn't denying that Terrin had died. No, he was saying that he'd been ressurrected from the dead.

And the issue was that, based on the tales Aaron had heard from his comrades who had encountered the Sith over the years, he couldn't dismiss what this guy was saying, as Yaoksi suggested. Aaron shot Yaoksi a side-long look, truthfully still dumfounded, unable to determine the best course of action at the moment.

Maybe this Lord Thoran had a point. Maybe they should take a few hours to digest this.

"Well," Aaron began, hesitantly, “I’d love to know the reasons for your sudden…

…dropping in…first.”

Pausing at that, Aaron looked at Thoran measuringly, still struggling to not be too suspicious of him, silently admitting to himself that perhaps Terrin had rubbed off on him in the past more than he was aware. After all, Lord Thoran’s body language was reading total honesty, and Aaron placed great weight on Yaoksi’s observations, but this whole affair seemed strange. What had this guy suddenly dropped in for? And why?

“To be more specific,” Aaron then said, breaking his momentary silence. “I’d like to know the circumstances surrounding your arrival. What exactly brought you here…

…and why now?”

He paused, frowning a bit to himself. “You’ll have to forgive me, it’s not every day someone drops in to inform one that a fallen partner and friend has been brought back to life, and it’s something I will have great difficulty fully believing until I see Terrin myself…

…and I most certainly want to do just that.”

Aaron paused another moment. “You said Galen, Jasyn and Matt were there as well?”

He couldn’t help but be somehow relieved to hear that.

So they were alive and safe…at least according to this fellow they were.

“Is there anyone else?”

Aaron wondered what had happened to Shawn, Dat, and the others. Had something happened to them during their search?

[ 09-10-2006 02:11 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aaron Barnes ]

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“Fair questions,” he said. “To be honest, it was fate that brought me here. The All works in mysterious ways, and I was given the duty of coming to you with this information. You shall be reunited with your lost friends!”

And I’ll get a free ride back home.

“As for others, let’s see…”

Thoran counted on his fingers as he named off the people he traveled with.

“Galen, Terrin, Matt, Erik, Shayla, Jasyn, Graysith, Panthar, Phalomir… Oh, and that Jedi Shawn. Let’s see, there was also the daughter, hmm, Darra? Yeah, that’s right.”

[ 09-11-2006 08:32 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Thoran ]

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Daughter? Darra?

I shook off the unfamiliar name, figuring someone would fill me in on the particulars later if necessary. For now, it was good enough to know that Captain Danner was miraculously alive, hale and hearty and whole, and making me want to go join him in a Sith brandy toast.

Whatever Sith brandy was, that is.

I plopped a comradely arm around Thoran's hulking shoulder -- ok, his upper arm; the guy's tall!! -- and reached out to Aaron with the other. My wiggling fingertips just managed to make contact with the material of his shirt; grasping it firmly I hauled him within hugging distance as well, and repeated the gesture.

"All right!" I said heartily, keeping the tone of my voice jovial as I turned my head to wiggle my brows at Aaron in what I hoped was a meaningful manner.

"Looks like the hunt is over; all we need are the coordinates of wherever they all are, and we can just tootle on by and pick them up! And as for Thoran's, er... well, popping in..."

Flashing the Sith the biggest, brightest smile that I could, I now dropped the arm I had around his shoulder, backed away with a smilingly mouthed "Be right back," turned Aaron's body with me as I did so and headed a few paces away from where Thoran stood. There we stopped, our backs to him.

"Look," I said hurriedly, keeping my voice low.

"We've both seen what these guys can do, how they can just pop in and pop out whenever and however they want; I believe we're both quite aware how this can sometimes lead to no good. I think this Thoran is on the up and up with us, but I just want you to be aware of the fact that he is a Sith... and these guys haven't been anywhere around in the Galaxy in over four thousand years!

"So I wouldn't go pressing him about things if I were you; it might make him mad, and who the hell knows what he'd do then?"

Turning my head, I shot another smile toward Thoran over my shoulder, then turned back to Aaron.

"I suggest we pay attention to the body language this guy's sending out; he's tired and more than likely a little bit drunk. I suggest we let him go sleep off what he needs to, and then find out exactly where everyone is and go after them after we've all had time to rest and, well...

"Think about things."

Giving my head a definite nod, I began turning back to Thoran but stopped.

"Er, maybe you might want to get the coordinates now, while he's still in a talkative mood..."

[ 09-12-2006 01:37 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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He nodded briefly in agreement with Yaoksi's words, saying nothing but his movements now indicating precisely what he intended to do. Clapping Yaoksi on the shoulder, he turned to Thoran, now smiling himself. "Allright," he then said, "The fact that you've come to me with this information means a lot, and I would like to get to them, soon. I have some general coordinates for the Sith worlds from past...

...adventures, but it would be helpful if I had something more specific in the way of planet names or coordinates. Would you want to return to where the party is as well?"

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“Heck yeah I want to return!” he said jovially, smiling an inebriated smile. “Unless the beds here are nice. Oh, wait, you know what? I forgot, Phal said the Empire is there, with some sort of blockade, so you might want to think about that first. But tell you what, I need some sleep, or I might give you the wrong numbers. Which ways is my bed?”

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He paused then. "As for coordinates...I do have coordinates to the two Sith worlds, but more specificity would be helpful once you are able. In the meantime, let's get you back to your quarters," Aaron continued, motioning towards the exit to the conference area, "But could you at least grant me this...which Sith planet is everyone currently on?"

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“And if not, then who knows? Maybe Dagobah,” he thought, unwittingly out loud.

Thoran tried to focus on Aaron, his look quizzical, not realizing he had spoken his last thought.

“What quest?” he asked.

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[i]What would everyone be doing on Degobah? This guy had been drinking way too much.

"And as for our quest, we have been looking for Matt, Jasyn, and Galen for quite some time. Galen went off on her own, and Matt and Jasyn shortly after to look for her. I had contact with them once after they left, then they disappeared from the universe."

He paused, his frowning darkening a bit, but his darkening thoughts were not directed at Thoran. "This is the first I've heard of them since. This concerns me."

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"You're my friend..."

For once those words made me feel needed.

"Thank you Thea... no one has ever said that before."

I took a moment to wipe the tears from my eyes.

"I guess I would be around 14 now... I don't remeber how long I was on Correllia before the smugglers took me to the Run."

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...but we can at least start heading that way. In the meantime, as you suggest...

...you should get some rest."

Pausing at that, Aaron looked at the large Sith, easily ascertaining from his stance and posture that the guy was not going to make it very far without some prompting. "Let's get you back to your quarters."

Saying that, Aaron motioned for Thoran to lead the way, not knowing exactly where the Sith had been roomed. Thoran lead fairly well, much to Aaron's surprise, and after a few turns they'd made it to some guest quarters where Thoran stopped.

Aaron hoped he'd lead them back to the right quarters. "Rest well," he then told Thoran, "And I will send an escort for you in approximately four standard hours."

As Thoran turned and headed into the quarters and the metal doors closed behind him, Aaron turned to Yaoksi, raising a brow. "If we are going to get into Sith space, we're going to have to convince the Empire to let us in. I can be diplomatic, explain the situation to them, and see if they will let us in...

... or I could up the stakes. After all, we do have something which might be valuable to the Empire, especially considering Link was able to crack the code on those files she got. I'm going to take a trip back to the medcenter and see if the technicians have made any progress analyzing the information Link gave them...

...and from there I want to take a good look at what is in some of those files. I'm considering that it may be a very good idea to let the Empire know we are enroute before we arrive...

...and to have our cards out on the table for perusal if necessary. I'd love your input on this...

...what do you think?"

As he finished, Aaron began walking towards the medcenter once more, his stride measured and purposeful.

He would only be certain that Terrin, Galen, Shawn, and the guys were safe and sound when he saw them with his own eyes.

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I shook my head, unable to keep a frown from my face. Honest to the gods, this was beginning to sound like some sort of campy space-opera holovid, if you asked me.

But I wasn't asked. Well, at least I the question wasn't what I thought of everything in its entirety, which was leaning more and more towards the "let's find the guys, sneak in and grab 'em, and skedaddle while the skedaddling is good" variety. However, even I could see the futility of that; how in all the known universe were we going to sneak in past an Imperial blockade?

I thought of the rapidity in which they appeared on Sullust when my friend the explosives expert blew apart my baby; now my frown turned into one featuring a brief flicker of disgust. I pursed my lips a moment.

Well Yaoksi ol' pirate, look on the bright side. At least it got Thea off of that hellhole...

I blinked at my own thought.

Thea...

"Yeah," I finally commented in reply to Aaron's first mention of the Imperials.

"I don't think it's the wisest choice to bring this SSD into their blockade. I mean, they might just start asking questions as to exactly where you appropriated it..."

Eagle Enterprises' assets notwithstanding...

"...and they just might want to appropriate it themselves. I say we take something a touch smaller, more nimble, but with some means of protecting ourselves, so we look less of a threat and more of what we really are:

"Friends looking for friends."

I paused a moment as we continued down the corridor, nodding every so often to passersby and smiling a bit as the occasional mouse droid scuttled up, squeaked nervously, and scampered off about its business.

"And as for those files, not only do I hope that you've got plenty of backup copies by now, but I sure as hell hope there's somethng in them to let us know exactly what happened to Thea. I'm concerned about her; I'm going to check on her when we get to medbay.

"Oh yeah, another thing."

I paused momentarily with a snap of my fingers.

"This little gal Link just may have proved to be far more useful to us than we originally hoped for. Now, I can't say for a certainty yet, as we haven't read the files she hacked, but you gotta admit she's a pretty handy little Ryn to have around."

Which is why I invited her to crew with me, after all...

"I hope you can come up with something, well, lucrative for her, to pay her for her efforts. She didn't have to link in with us, you know," I finished, no pun intended.

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"So Thea if you're one of those jedi wizards how come you trusted that crazy lady so easily. Yaoksi, Aaron, and I could tell something was wrong, but with your jedi magic shouldn't you have been able to tell to."

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I reached into one of pockets and pulled out a small deck of cards.

"For instance sabac is a great way to trick people out of their money. Espicially when you act cute and inocent infront of them while saying things like 'please go easy on me... can you teach me how to play...'"

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"Well, the Force does help with some things. I can talk with other Jedi I'm close to from far away just by thinking what I want to say to them. That's why I was taken to go find Shayla, I was the only one who could get through to her at the time. But its been a while since I've really talked to any of them...

But I would love to learn the game. It will be fun to do something normal. Life has never been normal. I like spending time with you."

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...but I don't know precisely what she would want. I'd be glad to oblige her in whatever her wishes might be, however. After all, her efforts have helped us help Thea."

He paused then, his eyes again defocusing, his mind at work. "But whatever he had been considering saying next was cut abruptly short by the chirp of his wristcomm. Frowning a bit, Aaron pushed the accept switch and listened to the incoming message.

"Sir, we need you to come to the main computer technician room immediately," came a voice across the sequred Eagle Enterprises frequency, "Those files that we were given to analyze...

...we've found something you will want to look at, carefully."

Aaron's frown deepened. "Something to do with whatever Thea was drugged with?" he queried worriedly.

"No, sir, nothing about the drug specifically. But something that might be very serious to any Jedi in the galaxy."

Aaron's frown turned to a look of alarm. "What have you found?"

"We've found coordinates for someplace called the Valley of the Jedi in the computer files...

...and along with that coordinates to another location, on the planet Fierre...

...and finally, a galaxy map that appears to make the rebuilt world the new center of our galaxy."

Aaron glanced at Yaoksi, wondering just what they may have inadvertantly stumbled upon.

He pressed the reply button on his wristcomm. "Get multiple copies of those files...

...and I'm coming to have a look."

"Yes sir. Any other instruction?"

"No...or rather, yes. Look up anything and everything you can about Fierre. I'd love to know just why someone would like to make it the center of our civilization. I'm on my way."

Closing the connection on the commlink, Aaron turned to look at Yaoksi once more as they finally reached the medbay. "I'm going to walk in with you, just to see how Thea is doing...

...and then I want a look at this map. The Empire might indeed be very interested to know that someone, who wants to make Fierre the center of the galaxy. And the Valley of the Jedi?" Aaron paused, frowning again. "Never heard of it. But, considering what happened to Thea, I don't know if I'm going to like it."

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I picked up the deck of cards and showed them to thea.

"In this deck are 72 cards, 4 suites numbered 1-11 and four face cards. Each card has a value to it either positive or negative. The way to win is to get these values to add up to positive or negative 23."

I took one card from the deck the 8 of coins and showed it to thea.

"It might seem easy at first but here is where the fun begins"

Just as I finished say the last bit the card changed into the card known as 'the idiot'.

"Randomly throughout the game some of your cards will change which might help you or hurt you. To prevent these changes however."

I took the card and layed it face up on the table.

"Laying down your hand faceup freezes the cards and prevents further change however your opponets can now see your cards. So any questions."

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The circle stopped, and each woman twirled in perfect unison before him. He held his hands up and two of the women stopped to help him to his feet. He rose effortlessly, taking each in an arm and walking to the circle. The women softly called his name, their voices soothing and sultry.

“Thoran… Thoran… Thoran….”

The soft music of their calls wafted through the air, filling his senses.

“Thoran… Thoran…”

THORAN!

A thundering voice came from behind. Thoran swirled, the women instantly shrinking away in fear. The white sky darkened to a blackish red, and a lone figure stood in the distance. Thoran crouched, ready to fight or flee – well, flee – at a moment’s notice. But there was nowhere to go, no place to hide. Only a vast expanse of nothing.

I hold your chain, still, Thoran. It is I you shall obey.

Thoran bit his lower lip, the pain keeping him focused. Fear nonetheless crept over his skin, bringing on a panic that threatened to work its way in to his soul. He stood, rising slowly to his full height and swallowing hard to inspire courage.

“I am not yours!” he squeaked. He spoke again, trying to place more testosterone into his voice. “I am my own, I answer now to no-one!”

Thunder cracked, and lightning flashed before him. In that instant flash the figure moved from a far distance to suddenly stand directly before Thoran. He stepped back, startled, screaming. He tried to turn and run, but his feet seemed to be glued to the ground. The figure before him began to laugh, low and deep, until it was nearly roaring. Thoran felt the hot breath of the thing descend upon him, and he knew this was the end.

In another instant the dark sky cracked open with a small sliver of white light. The figure stopped laughing, and threw its hooded head back to peer into the white. A voice, calm and smooth, yet commanding, spoke from that light.

“The Stargazer shall be his salvation.”

The figure stepped backwards, nearly stumbling, and shrank backwards into the nothingness. Thoran looked upwards cautiously, shielding his eyes from the white. Within that brightness something strangely familiar began to take shape, and as the pupils of his eyes shrank all he could was scream.

…

The room reverberated with the echo of Thoran’s scream. As consciousness swept over him, he felt suddenly very sober and very awake. His face was beaded with sweat and he shook from head to toe. He eventually rose and went into the bathroom, splashing water on his face.

After a few minutes he went to com on the wall and clicked the button.

“Um,” he began. “This is Lord Thoran. Are we there yet?”

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Dang, but it had been a long, LONG time since I'd been in a good sabaac game, and from the looks of the direction in which life was rapidly trundling me the chances of me getting into another one looked mighty slim.

A somewhat forced smile crossed my features as I came up to where the two were sitting together, heads nearly touching as Link worked to teach Thea the intricacies of Sabaac and she in turn did her best to understand. That smile remained planted on my face, rock-steady, a barrier to the mounting worry that Aaron's words were causing to mount within me. But I couldn't help letting a puff of air escape my lips when my gaze settled on the little Ryn.

Oh my dearie, but what a hornet's nest you have unwittingly uncovered...!

Putting the thought on a back burner I hitched a partial seat on the corner of Thea's bed, and returned my gaze to her.

"How are you feeling, sweetie?" I asked, reaching out with one hand to lightly touch her cheek.

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