My mind recoiled from its momentary wandering to the scene surrounding us, refusing to dwell on that former line of thinking. I managed somehow to perk up a little, taking in as much around me as I could. Everything looked fresh and clean in the brightening sunlight; it's amazing the thin sheen of beauty an intense rain can impart to objects. Everything looked vivid and spanking new; I found that not only did my sight appear heightened by this optical effect, but my other senses did as well.

I sidled a little closer to D'Ubus, tilted my head toward his helmeted one, leaned it upon his shoulder, smiling to the sky above for all the world as if I were simply out for a morning stroll, enjoying the simple beauty around me before reality imposed it's usual dusty, boring veneer once again upon Gamma Five. "Hey D'Ubus," I breathed, scarcely daring to move my lips from their frozen smile. "In case you didn't know it, we're being tailed."

The bounty hunter gave me a barely discernible nod. He took my arm in his, patted the back of my hand gently with his armored one. Continued to stroll along, rather nonchalantly now. "YeS, tHiS iS oF mY aWaReNeSs As WeLl," he whispered so low I barely caught the reply. "LoGiC tElLs Us ThAt NaTuRaL sTaTe Is BeSt To Be In." He kept moving steadily along, kept me moving, held against his armored body.

My smile broadened as I threw my head back. I stretched my free arm out, luxuriating in the steadily warming air. My eyes closed to mere slits. "I don't think I am happy with this particular state of affairs," I managed to whisper back, my lips still frozen in their idiot's grin. "And Great Khaandon's Ghost, I have an idea...."

I felt a brief mental niggle as the Mind Traveller gently probed my thoughts to get this new information in as efficient and succinct a manner as possible. His silver-lensed helmet scraped against my cheek as he nodded, ever so slightly. I gave a small, returning nod, doing everything in my power to keep my mind focussed on that beautiful sunlight filtering through the high clouds above us....

At the next intersection, we abruptly parted company. My feet found new energy to impart to a suddenly increasing velocity; receding clomping bootsteps fading in the distance told me D'Ubus could move as quickly as a Night Beast when he saw the need for it. And the need for this seeming unwarranted if unexpected alacrity was most definitely in order.

I shot down the side street like a speeder shoots through Beggar's Canyon on Tatooine. Hit the brakes simultaneously as my eyes found the merest of shadows off to my right: a slightly indented door lurked there, beckoning. I pressed myself into it, mimicking my maneuvering in the subterranean mines of this miserable moon, taking a deep breath, exhaling... then breathing no longer. My mind went absolutely blank as I turned all my attention to listening.

There. There it came, just as I knew it would. The slightest pit-pat, pit-pat of soft-soled spy-boots announced the impending approach of the unknown person who so stealthily was following me. I strained harder; only one coming. Good; as had the my earlier Storm Trooper captives, these unknowns had once again forgotten to err on the side of caution. Apparently it was thought only one being would be enough to keep me in line.

They were soon to learn from that error....

I tensed as the sound increased by the merest of decibels... and leaped from my hiding space as a ghostly body glided athwart me.

Sheesh, is this being stupid or what? Who ever falls for this goofy maneuver? Not much in the way of a warrior's training, that's as certain as there's Treasure on Roon...!

Not thinking anything more than that little non-sequiteur, I quickly reached out, bringing my hand under my would-be assailant's closest hand, the one which happened to be grasping the stock and trigger of a modified blaster rifle. Turning my hand just so, I dug in, my thumb laid along the back of her hand, fingers sliding into the meat of her palm...

Her???

...using my body to turn and twist her arm, her hand now bending awkwardly upward at the wrist and outward, the blaster falling from it as easily as she had fallen for my surprise attack. Before she could think, I kicked the blaster aside, reached down to her utility belt, and removed the small but deadly blade I saw hanging there. A little more pressure applied to her arm, and she found herself unexpectedly down upon the paving stones of this shadowed little street, her face pressed into the coldness beneath her, her own dagger at her throat.

"Say one word, move one little inch, and you're bantha fodder," I hissed between my teeth. I kneeled upon her for emphasis, grinding her shoulders into the pavement, the knife a steady reminder at her throat.

The white-skinned Nagai at my immediate mercy knew better than to disobey. Assassin she might be, warrior she was not. Her strength lay in stealth and surprise; take that away, and she was pretty much helpless. I hissed at her again.

"You have a subdural, do you not? Where is it?"

This inquiry was embellished with a press of the knife; I could feel a trembling begin in her body as she strained to turn her head to one side.

There. Just beneath the skin, I could make out the faintest of dark spots.

"I suggest you remain perfectly still," I announced. "You definitely don't want my aim to slip here, and you've already got my hands shaking enough as it is."

Without thinking any further (Oh Khaandon, what was I doing? I can't do this! I can't! I-- yessss... you can; you've already killed a person, this is no harder, just do it...) I sliced the tip of the dagger into the soft flesh of her throat, turned it slightly, probed it's tip beneath a tiny metallic object laying in wait there, flipped it out in a spray of blood. She gargled, strangling with the attempt to keep from screaming.

Probing her body quickly now, I discovered a set of Imperial issue manacles. Slapped them quickly on her wrists, thus locking her hands behind her back. Rolling her over on her back with one knee, I now used the blade on her own clothing to rip out a makeshift bandage for the wound I had created.

She stared at me, her eyes dark and full of absolute hatred, her face starkly white in contrast as I tied the binding non-too-gently around her pallid throat. It immediately reddened. She continued to glare at me, waiting.

I didn't make her wait long. "I know Dark sent you. I know Dark works for Desolist. They want me for some reason which I cannot possibly fathom.

"Very well. You are now going to take me to them. But under my terms."

I smoothly rose to my feet, taking her utility belt with me as I did so. Affixing it to my own waist, I sheathed the dagger. Moved quickly to appropriate the blaster rifle. Poked the still-supine form at my feet with it's tip.

"I suggest you get to your feet, now," I prompted. "I can just as easily find Desolist without your help. There are others tailing me, you know."

The truth in this statement, as well as the bitter acknowledgment of how I could just as easily overcome her hunting partners, drew her face into a bitter grimace. With as much dignity as she could muster, she rose to her feet.

"I am Sephania, Lord Desolists' most highly esteemed--" she began, still trying to salvage the best she could from this not-so-auspicious occasion.

I shut her up with a kick to her shin. "I don't care if you're the travelling B'ngyth Brush Lady," I growled coldly. "Get moving."

She obeyed, a little deflated. Quickly we moved through the side streets and passages, keeping away from the majority of traffic, heading to the hidden lair of this Sith Lord called Desolist. Toward a meeting with him, and his slimy henchman, Gravin Dark. Toward the only place on this despicable rock I could think of ever meeting again with Sorben.

I wondered how D'Ubus was faring....

Gouyen retreated to her cabin once again to check her appearance. Her jet black hair was drawn back tightly in an asymmetrical braid that started at her right temple and cascaded down from just below her left ear to brush the tops of her soft leather boots. Two small, scarlike tattoos marked each side of her face just below her obsidian eyes, emphasizing her high cheekbones. A standard black,Imperial-issue tunic was covered with a black pectoral which served to emphasize her shoulders, and which held a small, crystline Sith amulet. Black bracers covered her forearms from the elbow to the knuckles, and also bore Sith amulets. A contured, black utility belt with double buckles rested on her hips and supported her lightsaber, a standard, Imperial-issue heavy blaster and a second, longer, double-ended saber. Slim leggings were tucked into soft, cuffed boots with oddly turned-up toes that had been studded with durasteel. A simple square of vinesilk hung as a cape from two clasps fastened to the pectoral. Satisfied, she nodded to her reflection, turned on her heels and re-entered the cockpit.

She opened a channel to the station master. "I am the Dark Lady Gouyen Chee, also known as Vader's Fist. I wish to arrange an audience with Lord Desolist at his earliest possible convienence. You will see to this immediately and personally," and her mind bore down on his, compelling him to her bidding.

"Y-Y-Y-Yes, madam," he stammered, then felt her wrath once again, and corrected himself with a strangled gasp: "Yes, my Lady."

She sat back and waited, letting her mind roam freely. Then she felt a presence -- strong in the dark side -- that could only be Desolist. He knew she was there; he had even expected her. There were no obsticals now -- she knew what she had to do once they touched down.

As the ship went through the automatic docking procedure, she briefed her comrades. "Saleen, you are in charge now. You, Robi and Xanx are to stay on board and are to get out of here at the first sign of trouble. You know the drill." They all nodded. "M'wonBo'o, you will accompany me on my visit to Lord Desolist as the representative for Graysith. You will also be serving as a focus in case she should wish to contact us again. Besides," and her thin lips drew up into a slow smile, "tuk'ata were so closely associated with the ancient Sith that your presence will add credence to my claims. Now," she said with a curt nod as the ship settled down on its landing pods, "Are we ready?" Without waiting for an answer, she made her way down to the gangway.

Graysith smiled to herself as she recognized the configuration of her dark companion. It was Mantis. She opened private hailing frequencies, and soon established a link between herself and her Sithster's ship.

"Where you hiding been have?" came a familiar warbling trill, as an elegant black-feathered face materialized on the communications screen before her. His sharp ruby eyes moved in an apparently random manner as he dealt with system after system, keeping them on standby in case a quick departure was called for. She smiled in recognition.

"Ahh-hhh, my dear Xanx!" she replied, genuinely happy to be speaking to the great Saurapian once again. "So good to be back with you and the Lady Chee once more! I hope I have not been the cause of undue consternation?"

The image of Xanx was abruptly replaced by one of a young female. She eyed the Chosen Daughter a little bit coolly. "It would have been nice had you informed us of your plans," Saleen announced. "We might have been able to accomodate your passage to Khar Delba in, shall I say, a more normal fashion?"

Graysith bowed her head just shy of deferentially, the smile on her face chilling a bit. "It pains me that I have brought pain," she said silkily. "But I see you have managed to continue on with our plans, whether I was present aboard Mantis or not." She blinked smoothly, the Glyph flaring to life upon her forehead.

"Where is my dear blood-hunt companion?" she abruptly changed the dangerous path down which this conversation was beginning to trod. "I would appease his fears, and show him we are indeed soon to be together again."

Saleen scowled. "He has accompanied Lady Chee to the Fortress of Desolist," she replied curtly. Clearly, she was a bit miffed at being left behind while Gouyen went off to face uncertain dangers with someone else's tu'kata. Her gaze dropped to the board in front of her, something upon it suddenly being of the utmost importance to her.

Graysith smiled, a sudden empathy rising within her. She well remembered a time when she had been left behind aboard a ship, in lieu of a mere Noghri. "Do not fret, Saleen," she announced suddenly. "The role each of us plays has its own degree of relevance. Quite often the cloak of the hero is flung upon he who also sits back and waits."

Her demeanor abruptly changed to one of more haughty mein, as Saleen raised her head quickly, her eyes meeting those of the Chosen Daughter through the billions of kilometers that yet separated them, surprise moving within them as some darkly roiling liquid. Graysith continued on as though nothing untoward had happened.

"If you are in verbal contact with the Lady, please inform her that I am en route to the Fortress of Desolist as well. I shall meet her there; together we shall approach the Gates of the Unknown, and arm-in-arm shall walk into the destiny which is laid out before us.

"Before me...."

With no further ado, she cut off the link between the TIE Defender and the Mantis, opened hailing frequencies to Desolist's lackeys on Ploatius, detailing clearly who she was and where she was heading. Bearing down on the little moon, she then turned up her nose at normal landing procedures, by-passing entirely the docks with their various ships, catching a quick glimpse of a particularly elegant bat-winged one as she flashed past. Making her presence obviously known by her hotshot approach, she screamed over the Fortress, circling it like a bird of prey, and came to a precision landing in the gently moving grasses just without the towering main entryway.

Steam venting from exhaust ports, the modified Tie defender hunkered alone upon the yards, defiantly facing down the squadrons of Imperial guards who approached it in double-time, their armor clanking along with the blaster rifles they kept at the ready. With a hiss and a loud clank, the hatch of the little ship popped open, revealing a slim and silent form. The cryptic Claw of S'slan now upon her finger, her cloak of rune-encrypted smoke drawn about her like some dark mystery, the Chosen Daughter slowly lowered herself to the ground and quietly faced the oncoming guards.

"I trust you have been sent in Honor Mode," was all she said. Then she quieted, calmly assessing the scene with a penetrating violet stare, the Glyph now ravening into gloriously incandescent life. Waited... for the approach of the guard, for the approach of Gouyen and M'wonBo'o, and for the approach of the end of one mystery amidst the myriad so recently making up her life.

Desolist....

"Lord Alzerander." the Nagai whispered into his subdural comm system.

"Go ahead ,Preyton." the security chief responded calmly.

"Galen has taken Sephania. Lib and Kanza are still following her. We have lost the old hunter. He simply vanished."

"Vanished?" Alzerander responded casually. "Simply disturbing my dear ,Preyton. You and your men are slipping. I suggest that you find that old man and wipe him out with extreme prejudice. Galen was his only ticket to survival."

Alzerander laughed briefly .

"Worry not about Galen. I will deal with her personally."

"Yes ,Alzerander." I whispered. I quickly looked around the corner of the building . The crowded streets hindered my view.

"Don't pull a Gordoz please. Keep me informed. Alzerander out."

DaRk...

ImAgEs FlOaT BeFoRe Me...

"What are you thinking ,Dark?" Desolist asked as he lifted the solid white chalice to his lips. He sat behind me in silence upon his black throne. He slowly lowered his cup as I turned to face him.

"I am seeing images before me, my master." I said as his pale yellow eyes met mine.

"What do you feel from these images?" he asked as he lazily clasped his hands together, resting his elbows on the arms of his dark chair.

"I feel hate, anger, and sadness my master." I paused as I shifted my eyes into the darkness that surrounded us."The darkness that comes with these emotions is familiar. I saw Tarnus. He was full of more anger than I have ever had for him."

Desolist smiled and a small chuckle followed.He leaned forward in his throne as he continued to listen.

"Varseck was in this darkness. Then there was Graysith and someone else that I had never seen before . He was shrouded in dark robes and his hands were toned green. I sensed something strange about him my master. I am unclear as to what it was."

"Strange that I have not sensed anything as this."Desolist hissed as he reclined back into his throne. "It matters not my young Hunter. Our guest have finally arrived."

I looked at my master without expression . He smiled as he rested his arms on the sides of the throne.

"You will remain silent my friend. I have many things to share with our new guest. In time, you may understand what exactly is in store for the Republic in the days ahead."

I nodded as I turned to face the entrance to the throne room. I remained alert to the images that the force had alerted me to. I knew Varseck and Tarnus were both coming here. The question was, when exactly were they going to arrive? My instincts sharps, my weapons ready.

"SSHHKK*Lord Desolist. Graysith and Lady Gouyen Chee have arrived. We have dispatched your Royal Honor Guard to escort them in.*SSHHKK" the stormtrooper officer alerted over Desolists comm system that was built into his throne.

Their ranks then parted, allowing her entry among them. Holding her cloak about her, she accepted the honor and swept forward between them. Not one word had been spoken by either side. In unison then, the Honor Guard whirled, now facing back in the direction from which they had come. Their movements swift and sure, they bore her forward as if some trophy, and in this manner carried her into the Fortress and to the Great Throne Room of Lord Desolist.

He awaited her arrival, seated on an obsidian throne. Beside him lurked the topaz-eyed Gravin, who merely stared at her with deep intensity. Off to one side, the Lady Gouyen Chee was likewise surrounded with another Honor Guard; as if particles flowing in some darkling stellar wind, the Guard mingled their members until both Lady Chee, Graysith, and a barely restrained M'wonBo'o stood together in one spot.

Graysith's violet eyes never left the watery yellow ones which returned her look with one both interested and predatory. Something deep inside her writhed and coiled in response to that look; the tuk'ata somehow sensed this, and wrapped a tendril protectively about her leg. His lips lifted in a silently threatening snarl, his pupilless eyes roving, then affixing themselves as well to those of Lord Desolist.

For a seeming eternity they remained as some strange tableau, some captured moment preserved in the media of Time, imprinted there to remind all that this was indeed the beginning of the remainder of History. The focal point from which the future was clarified into certain victory for so many who had waited and hoped for so long.

Finally the Chosen Daughter allowed her violet gaze to drop. She followed it with her head, then her body as she fell reverently upon one knee before this powerful dark Lord of the Sith.

"My Lord," were the only words to break the echoing silence. She waited then to hear what he had to say.

I knew she was not dead. Though she made a ripple in the force with the aid of someone unfamiliar to me, it was not powerful enough to fool me. It may, however, have fooled Dark and, with any luck, Desolist. Unfortunately, if they think that she was sucessful in fooling us and therefore turned us around, then she may have rendered herself unnecessary and forfeit her life.
I wish she had more faith in our ability to help her. I think, however, she too is tied up with her feelings for Sorben.

I cannot let him know yet, just as I could not let her know that I had received both of her previous summons. I do wish she would make up her mind though. Does she want us to come or not. Oh well, a woman's prerogatives I guess.

Now as we aproach the mining planet once again, my black freighter tucked away in the bloated belly of the bohemoth HT-2200, I find myself again in deep contemplation. While in hyperspace, my senses have felt the entrance of yet more players in this game of Desolist's. Force users. Dark force users. I can only guess at the meaning of all this. I place all faith in the Force. I know that I have the strength to prevail over these dark puppets. I only hope that Sorben and Galen are up to the task. Sorben has reigned in his grief and replaced it with vengeance. Another dangerous emotion. I do not like to deceive him this way for that very reason. Hopefully, I will not have to do it for long. I can only silently promise Sorben and Galen both that we will soon land and make things right. Meanwhile we watch and wait as the two ships carrying these dark passengers land and go to whatever dark rendezvous they have planned.

The honor guard stepped out at a regular march, Gouyen falling right in with them, quietly taking stock of her position. It had been many years since she had had such an "Imperial" escort, but there were some subtle differences. The loyalty of the troopers lay to another lord, Lord Desolist, but there was very little else she could glean from a passive scan of minds. So she took in her surroundings as the walked, noting the strange carved figures on the wall, figures that looked on the verge of comprehension, but never quite making it. More riddles.

Finally, the throne room, and flashbacks to another place and time when her rule was overshadowed by only two others -- Vader and the Emperor. And here again, in this vast hall that could hold an entire legion of men, sat the Emperor -- but no. There was a different feeling to the darkness that eminated from the obsidian throne on the dias, something more furative, more veiled. This one knows power, but not in the same way Palpatine did. But the semblence was sufficient -- she had a good idea of how to handle this self-proclaimed Dark Lord.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Graysith as the troopers herded them together like they were nerfs in a penning contest. M'wonBo'o was ecstatic to see his mistress again, but a gentle mind touch from the both of them reminded him that he was to be on his best behavior. While Graysith gazed at Desolist, Gouyen allowed her eyes to rove, scanning the throne room for potential danger. A dark figure sat to the right and slightly below Desolist's throne. That would be the hunter Gravin Dark, she reckoned. No honor in that one, she thought, following whoever could hold power over him. Weak, but not to be underestimated. A pale figure flitted from the shadows -- a Nagai assassin. She knew little of them, except that they were nearly as lethal as the Noghri.

A movement drew her attention back to the dias. Her companion had knelt and Gouyen, gauging the expediency of the move, followed suit.

"My Lord," Graysith said, her words echoing in the vast chamber.

Gouyen paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts and contunued. "My Lord, we have a proposition we would like to present to you, if you would hear us." She knelt in silence, head uncharacteristically bowed, waiting patiently for an answer.

LiStEnInG

UnTrUsTiNg?

<carefully watching>

I stood by my masters side as he watched the two key beings that were kneeling before him. A slight smile of satisfaction crept upon his face . I stood still, my dark robes hanging loosely around me. I kept my senses sharp and alert . I had to know if these two were true .

"Rise my friends.You are my guest. I have been expecting both of you for quite some time."he raised his left hand gesturing the two of them to rise.

I watched as the pair stood erect at the base of the stairs leading up to my masters throne. My yellow eyes drawn to Graysith then to this... other.

"A proposition for me?" my master asked as he glanced at the woman called Lady Gouyen Chee. He smiled at that thought. "I my friends have a propostion for you."

The two guest stood still as they listened to my masters words. I held my hands together beneath my cloak. I stood silently still.

"I have a plan that would distrupt the political fiber of this New Republic that looms like a disgrace before us. I have many things already in place. I have many eyes and ears throughout the Core monitoring all that goes on within this new, weak Republic."my master scowled for a moment.

"Lord Desolist!" a sudden, urgent voice said over my masters comm system. My masters face became annoyed at being disturbed.

"What is it commander?" he hissed.

"We've found them Lord Regent! We have the treasures of Magroo!" the excited commander panted. My master smiled yet again. It seemed to be news worthy of the commanders sudden intrussion.

The two beings below stood in silence. I focused distrustfully at Lady Chee. Distrustful she was towards... ME? My master laughed.

"My friends. It seems that your arrival could not have come at a better time. Let us dine this evening and discuss more of your arrival. I am sure that the two of you would be interested in creating an alliance to bring about the power and the glory of a new Sith Empire?" my master slowly rose from his throne.

"Come , Dark." my master began to walk slowly down the stairs. "I am sure you and Lady Chee have many things to discuss."

My master laughed quietly as he continued to make his way down the stairs from his dark throne. What did he mean by that? I followed closely as my yellow eyes met Lady Chee's. I gave a slight nod. She remained unresponsive.

The four of us made our way to the great dining hall with my masters elite guard in tow. Plans would be discussed. New ideas perhaps offered. I was interested in seeing what plans would unfold before me.

"Please now Miss Galen, do us all a favor and come along peacefully."Alzerander said as he held his hand out in her direction. His dark cloak fell to one side of his body revealing his small frame. The squad of stormtroopers stood at ready behind him. The troopers deadly blasters trained on Galens position. Her only defence, was her hostage.

"Never!" Galen yelled as she backed up against the wall of this tunnel. She glanced around looking for a way to escape. She seemed to be trapped.

"Take me to Desolist!" Galen demanded as she held the knife tighter against the Nagai females throat. A slight trickle of dark blood eased out from the nicked white flesh.

"But of course." Alzerander said as he reached one hand beneath his cloak. "But under my terms!"

The Nagai quickly produced three silver knives that flew towards Galen and her prisoner. In a split second, all three knives had found their mark. Alzerander smiled as he walked towards Galen and Sephania. The stormtroopers quickly surrounded the two women.

Galens forearm had been nicked by one of the three blades that stabbed into Sephania's chest. Sephania fell completely limp, her dead weight on Galen.Galen tried desperately to release her lifeless hostage but she could not. The same knife that had nicked her arm had also pinned her sleeve to Sephanias corpse. A sudden flash of heat filled Galens body. She quickly became dizzy. The cave started spinning at speeds unknown to her. Sweat began to bead on her brow within a mere ten seconds.It became difficult to to stand... even think. Galen fell to her knees.

Alzerander stood before the kneeling Galen. The troopers stood slightly behind as the poison began to take it's full toll on the young womans body. Galens mouth was slightly open as if she wanted to say something. Alzerander cocked his head to one side as he leaned closer to Galen. All Galen could muster was a bit of saliva that she spat at the Nagai officer. It dripped from his face as he he scowled at her. She quickly fell into unconsciousness. Her body fell forward with the weight of Sephania still attatched.

"Throw her in the force cage!" Alzerander ordered the stormtroopers as he reached for a small napkin to wipe the spit from his face. The troopers seperated Sephania from Galen . Two troopers quickly disarmed Galen before drapping her arms about their neck so that they could carry her to the cell down below. The other two troopers stood over the corpse of Sephania as they waited for the medical droids to arrive to remove her from the service corridor. Alzerander watched as the two troopers carried the limp Galen down the corridor. Two more troopers followed.

"Lord Desolist, I have Galen. She is poisoned but not fatally. You may tell her sister that she is in your custodity." Alzerander said into his comm guantlet.

He glanced back down at Sephania.

Lord Desolist let forth a small cackle, rubbing his hands together in a gluttonous manner as he led the procession to the feast. There, a quaking protocol droid handed him a brilliantly sheened silvery plate; focusing upon the plenty before him, he picked about it with gnarled and spidery fingers. A few items at length graced the plate he held; bearing this in both hands, he turned round to face the others.

"Come, my friends!" he beckoned with an almost absent wave of his hand. "Refresh yourselves, that we may speak of glorious futures together with sound mind and full stomachs!"

Cackling a bit to himself at his wit, he appeared to dismiss his "guests" altogether, and headed to a mirror polished black wood table upon a raised dias. The table and the single chair that stood at it were powerfully elegant in their almost glistening simplicity. With no further ado, he seated himself and began picking at his food, but consuming none.

This demeanor did not fool Graysith in the least. She was fully aware of the pale yellow eyes which watched the every move of this dark dinner party. She glided to Gouyen's side, ignoring the hovering Dark as she would a persistant jawa trying to sell bad droids, and leaned her copper-haired head close to the Force Mistress's aristocratic one. "My Lady," she began in a respectful manner. "I know my sire has placed me in your hands. I hope I did not cause undo alarm with my absence from the Mantis." She smiled with genuine warmth, casually linking her arm into that of Gouyen Chee's.

Lady Chee bowed her head with a smile of her own, looking down upon the shorter Chosen Daughter. "There was a path before you which called to you," she responded with a nod. "This act on your part was necessary, I believe, before the one path leading to the destiny laid out before us could even be set out upon."

Graysith nodded in agreement, her manner still casual to all outward appearances. The manner in which the Glyph upon her forehead ravened into ultraviolet life betrayed her true feelings however; it brightened in direct proportion to the growing shadows that suddenly began to darken her violet eyes. For a long moment she remained silent, her hold on Gouyen's arm tightening unconsciously as memories pushed forward for recognition. Within, the slavering Beast threw back it's head and yowled; at her side, the great tuk'ata sensed this inner conflict and jerked, his focus temporarily swayed from the heavily-laden table they were coming upon. Stealthily, a face tendril wrapped itself about her leg, clinging not only to protect her, but to assure himself that she was indeed standing beside him once more.

"I fear trouble from that quarter, Lady Chee," she at last whispered with a sigh. Directing a swift smile downward, she gently removed M'wonBo'o's grip from her leg. "I do not believe he will be at all amenable to our cause. We did not exactly part on the best of terms, and would find it strange indeed if he did not view all we are about to do as being a personal threat to him."

By now they had reached the laden table, and helped themselves to platters there. M'wonBo'o lifted his head at the wondrous smells emanating from the tabletop, his tendrils writhing in exploration, pupilless eyes seeking. Graysith plucked a piece of meat from a mountain of carnivorous delights, and passed it to the tuk'ata. Smiling slightly, she wiped the grease from her fingers on a napkin laying nearby. Leaned her head in closer yet to the Force Mistress, until the long strands of her flaming hair mingled with the ebon braid of Gouyen's. "I believe this Lord Desolist has his own agenda as well, my Sithster," she murmured almost below hearing. "We must be wary in how we present ourselves to him."

Pulling back now, platter in hand, she turned to make her way to a table where she could sit and at least pretend she was enjoying this meal. No matter how hard she tried to avoid it, she could not totally eliminate that roiling feeling that curled like some wetly curling worm in the pit of her stomach. My sire! she cried out, silently. How are we to persuade one as powerful as this? One who mentions the rising of a glorious Sith Empire, but who stands alone, and would I fear remain alone, save for One who serves as lackey to him? Her violet gaze focussed back into the reality around her, and directly into the intently golden stare of Gravin Dark.

" My .." she began as Desolist simply raised his hand to silence her.She chose to remain quiet so that her host would not be offended. He sat his plate down on one of the small wooden tables beside him. I stood beside him still alert.

"I am quite aware of your wariness my dear Graysith. It is to be expected. You know so little about me" his smile became a scowl. "Oh so very little about me do you and your mistress Lady Chee know about me."

Desolist walked behind the "U" shaped table still filled with many exotic delights. I followed. He quickly turned back to his guest.

"I am also aware of anothers impending arrival." Desolist began as he stared at Graysith . His yellow eyes focused on hers of violet. "Your former consort Wicked is on his way. "

He laughed to himself briefly as I galnced at him. My master seemed to be ammused at the way the events were beginning unravel.

"This is good." Desolist hissed."Wicked is young and impatient even though he has had many years of experience. He may still be a useful tool for the Sith cause."

My master laughed to himself again as he looked upon one of the fine paintings that hung behind him. An ancient oil painting of a nameless Sith Lord from many thousands of years ago.

"Aren't we all tools in the end?" he laughed to himself again. "We all serve one cause. That cause for us is Sith. We do it for Sith. We all are SITH!" he hissed as he turned towards Graysith and Lady Chee. "I have my plans in place. I have a fleet of ships, a small army of troops, skilled Imperial commanders, and resourses beyond your wildest dreams."

I glanced at Lady Chee again as she listened intently to my masters boastings. All of his words were true. I knew he had some plan but I was still in the dark about it. He kept to himself. I suppose that is a good thing.

"I need the assistance of others. I can help pave the way for a new Sith Empire by striking a critical blow to the New Republics leaders. I can tie them up on one of their key worlds as new leaders are put into place. Leaders that share our goals. Our agendas. The old Sith ways." my master said as he began to slowly move towards the guest and their strange looking friend.

"You Graysith command power that only a few in history have ever pocessed. It would take an ancient to equal you!" he pointed a long pale finger at Graysith as a smile slowly came into being upon his face." You Lady Chee have a respectable history as Vaders Fist. Your abilities alone are a much needed asset."

My master smiled as he turned towards me. He placed one of his cold skeletal hands upon my shoulder.

"I know that you,Lady Chee may have some sort of issues with my dear friend Dark here." my master said somewhat sadly before turning to her." I can assure that the past is the past and if we are to achieve anything, we can not waste our energies at pointing fingers and internal squablings! We must focus all of our combined energies at the New Republic. It was their Skywalker who destroyed the once glorious Empire. It is to Skywalker and his New Republic leaders we owe our vengence. Not one another."

My yellow eyes met hers from beneath my hooded robe. She still remained emotionless except fot a slight sigh of disgust. We both knew Desolist to be correct in his statement.I knew I sensed something from her.

"Oh by the way my dear Chosen Daughter of the Sith." my master began as he turned his attention on the pale skinned woman known as Graysith ." I have your sister in my custody. We can not allow her to be harmed. At least not fatally."

Graysith's glyph flared as she scowled at Desolist. Desolist smiled as he slowly walked back towards the table filled with various foods and drinks. He eyed a pastry for a moment but obviously decided against eating it as he rubbed his full stomach.

"Remember the caves Graysith?" he asked as he turned his attention back to the dark lady. "The caves that you were exposed to when your powers awoke?"

Graysith stood silent.

"Somehow these powers effected all that you came in contact with during their inception. Your powers were raw, unstable, and even random then. They quickly stablized but only after you had been around your father.." Desolist smiled." ..and your sister."

Lady Chee glanced towards Graysith as she waited for Desolist to get to his point. He remained smiling sensing her impatience.

"Your sister is no force user by any means. She is sensitive to the force around her. She has feelings as to what may be coming. Intuitive hunches if you will. "

Graysith didn't seem to alarmed by this news. Why was my master holding such an interest in Galen then?

"You see , your exposure to whatever it was in that cave my friend effected you. You in turn infected your father and sister. Your father now dead leaves one living that you infected. It infected her on a more genetic level." a smile crept upon my master face. "Her child will be quite your rival."

You could here a small ninik drop if there was one to be dropped. Everyone stood silent as Desolist made his next revelation perfectly clear.

"Your sister my dear is carrying the hunter Tarnus's child."

Memories shot through his mind, a lifetime in but a second. Never showing a hint of flaws he kept walking. Black hair falling to his mid back, coated with a cloak around him, the hood swaying ever so slightly around his neck. "I firmly believe that any man's finest hour - his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear..."

He walked slowly to the opposite of Desolist, his dead, empty eyes locking with Desolist's; "...is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious." His gaze went over everyone in the room. "I am no tool Desolist, I am the mechanic. I buy tools, use them, and then rid myself of them. For you see... what ties can a man have, if he has no people?"

Slowly he ran a hand through the blackness of his hair, flicking a strand from afront his face. Closing his eyes slowly... the blackness disappearing, and reopening them, red-slits of blood for eyes now. Fully dressed in the white Imperial greatness of a Grand Admiral's uniform, blue skin, and black short kept hair. "Thrawn... a mastermind. He had great hours... but never one that another could say was his finest hour. I control the entire Imperial Navy Desolist. Tools to my plans. You think you have things under control? You are sorely mistaken..."

"Attack! Kill him! Destroy the pitiful ones around you! None of them deserve to live for their treachery!" The Chiss closed his crimson slits, and reopened them to blackness. Wicked standing before them once more. "You have proven to me, in my time here, that you are not capable of bringing back the greatness of the Sith Empire. You have too many ties to other people. And beleive me, if the Jedi got wind of this... you would be destroyed one way or another. By either the Jedi... or those you hold so dear, the Sith... for your trackable actions. And for your false belief in being a Dark Lord."

Flicking another strand of hair from afront his face, he let out a light sigh as he returned his gaze to Desolist. "You are the failure now my friend. And I believe it is time to rectify this situation. I will not be used as a tool for you, and I am guessing the others around you wont either..." Turning his glance to the weary Gravin, a smirk slowly spread acrossed his lips; "...except maybe your prized tool. Since after all, that is all you see everyone around you as. And so, I leave this open for discussion, how do you think we should rectify this situation?" His voice changed slightly... echoing to only the keenest ears; "Graysith? Lady Gouyen? Gravin? Desolist?" And at that, he was silent, his mind open to everything that is the Force, watching them all with eyes and ears of every Sith to ever live.

The silence was marred with a clang as the platter of G'nubar meat fell to the floor from Graysith's nerveless fingers. A sudden wave of trembling attacked her body as she unconsciously removed all members present from her thoughts, focussing entirely on the powerful and now-silent Sith Lord who stood, halfway sneering, in front of Desolist. M'wonBo'o instantly responded to her silent reaction, pressing close, his six-inch fangs a silent threat to all he perceived as being threatening to her.

Him. He is here. He as followed; why? For me? For his own purposes... but could they yet be turned to ours, to mine?

The Glyph erupted explosively, escalated to the invisible high-frequencies of the spectrum. A sense of powerful energies began to radiate from the Chosen Daughter of the Sith as her conflicting emotions likewise erupted within her. Gouyen sensed this -- indeed, what Force-user there could not?-- and she reached closer to Graysith, placing a slim hand upon her shoulder.

Graysith scarcely felt this, scarcely recognized the supportive presence of her blood-hunt companion. Every atom in her being was directed toward the little drama being played out before her, the words spoken by all tumbling about her head in an uncontrolled avalanche of revelation, her eyes still pinned to what Desolist referred to as her former consort. Former...

He is here. Here. Before us. There, Desolist scowls in--alarm? Gravin as well... my-- My Lord yet so strong; NO! Stop! No more, think not this, eliminate these thoughts, he is your Lord no longer...

Gouyen! Your strength! Squabbling, dark bickerings erupt, no, no, no....

A slim hand found it's way to her temple as Graysith now closed her eyes. The image of Wicked was still a commanding one upon her inner lids; striving to focus, to clear her thoughts, to think, she began to sway lightly. A series of shivers beat through her body like waves upon a shore.

What develops with you, my Sithster, and this Gravin who I know? What is this "Magroo" dropped like a krayth gizzard-stone here amongst us? Gravin, what interest bear you toward my companion; surely I am not mistaken in sensing this...

Galen...my-my sister... The word came into her brain with the greatest of difficulties, pushing insistently through a deeply hidden inner door she had preferred to keep firmly closed, now creaking open like the lid of Pandora's Box ...my sister, pregnant by this bounty hunter; does my Lord-- does Darth Wicked seek him yet?

The questions bore down upon her with the rapid expansion of the universe itself. Her eyes abruptly flew open; while it had seemed that hours had passed, encompassed by her inner turmoil, in fact it had only been seconds. All remained stonily silent, nothing happening save for a growing look of anger on the countenance of Desolist, and a growing one of expectation on that of Wicked's.

"NO!" The word burst from her with a simultaneous burst of energy from the Glyph. Gouyen turned to her in surprise; Graysith had been atypically reverent until this moment. Now something of her former nature was struggling to express itself. A flash came into Gravin's glowing eyes; those of Desolist darkened dangerously. As for the eyes of Wicked...

She shied away from them like a nervous colt, focussing on her own inner strengths now, reaching far, far away for that comforting link with Aelvedaar, who responded through her.

"NO! Cease this foolish bickering!" The words, anticipating where events would most surely lead all those present, came as hammer blows upon the ominously silent atmosphere. "This will help nothing, all these childish squabbles of fleets and weaponry and battle-strengths are insignificant compared to the true strength which is waiting to be commanded by the wise. Which is promised here, by the covenant of the Chosen Daughter.

"The true Power. The True Sith. The Resurrection.

For none but the Glory of a new Empire."

She paused, her heart pounding in cadence to the pulses sent forth from the Glyph, her eyes assessing the situation, not quite completely her own...

Save for that tiny part of them that yet remained riveted upon Wicked, trying to gain the courage to make direct contact with his.

I eased my abused body back into its original inert position, my right arm floating to lay across my eyes. I stared at it as if it were something from another world: the tiny slash in my sleeve, inside which the most minute of nicks clearly showed, belied the strength of the poisons tipping the blade that had been flung in my general direction. My arm was swollen to approximately twice it's normal size.

Another groan escaped my lips, and I forced an eyelid to peep open. I was laying in some dark stone cell of sorts (hmmm... now this looks oh so familiar once again...) but for some reason the walls were wavering and wobbling like the sands of Tatooine in a persistent easterly wind. The swollen arm hurt to much to move; carefully, I reached out with my good one to investigate.

A jolt coursed through my body, setting my arm into near convulsions and causing me to almost chip a tooth, I gritted them that hard. Stars exploded behind my eyes, gradually expanding outward until I could once again see through them to the strangely wavering wall.

Damn. A Force Cage. That bleeping slimeball, that Nagai that took me had placed me in a Force Cage!

My eyes closed heavily as the true meaning of this suddenly crashed into me. It was all I could do to keep from crying, from screaming out in futile anger and despair. A Force Cage would keep any use of the Force from impacting me; in turn, any outward thought I might manage to direct into the mind of a Force-user (if indeed I ever had) would be blocked. My last and only hope at communication with my companions was gone.

And Sorben thought I was dead....

Now tears began leaking full force as I lay there, my swollen arm still across my face, the other hand curled into a fist that pounded the stone beneath me over and over and over. Sorben! Oh dear Khaandon, I'm never going to see my love ever again! I am trapped here, all alone; helpless, at the complete disposal of....

A glimmer of hope wormed its way into my utter wretchedness, lifted its tiny head and waved for attention. I was not disposed of yet; having been placed in a Force cage obviously meant that my earlier efforts at communication had worked. Which meant that the thought I had sent to Sorben with the help of D'Ubus falsifying my own death had worked as well. Which in turn led me to wonder why in Hell's Seven Circles they were bothering to keep me alive. Thank Khaandon they were; but why?

D'Ubus! The thought of that helmeted Mind Traveller popped into my head, aligned itself with my former glimmer of hope, intensifying it. Perhaps there is more to hope for than I realized...

I raised my good arm to my face now, wiped the tears that had accumulated on my cheeks to roll back into my hair and ears. Took a long and shuddery breath.

I was still alive. I believed Sorben and Quee and the others to be. Surely Fate would smile down on me; after all I had gone through, after just finding someone with whom to share the remainder of my life, it just didn't seem right that all would be for naught. If there really was anything to this Force that Quee and Desolist utilized, then it adhered to balance. Surely my personal fate would balance out, and I would be reunited with my love once again.

I only had to trust in that, hang on, and stay alive.

I drew in another breath, trying to calm myself, trying to reduce the rate at which my heart was racing, trying to still the shivers that still racked me. At length this quasi-meditation seemed to take some sort of effect. Around me, the darkness grew even darker as, my only immediate goal now being that of healing myself, I drifted off into a more natural sleep.

"..Galen.." the voice, it was so soft and gentle. It was her name being called.

"Galen?" the voice asked again with a whispered urgency. Darkness was all she saw in her slumber. She knew that if Khaandon would only grant her strength, the simple strength to open her eyes.

"GALEN?" the whisper that caused her soul to retreat from its slumber. Her body suddenly jerked as her eyes opened to peer into the large silver lenses of my helmet.

A look of confussion swept over the young human for a brief moment. Her body ached as she quickly sat up from her recent sleep.She squinted her eyes as she looked up at me. I quickly placed my gloved hand gently on her back giving her support to sit upright. She rubbed her eyes with her dirty hands followed by a quick hand through her hair even though her personal beauty was kind of a pointless effort at this time.

"D'ubus?" she asked as she looked past him to notice that the force cage that once held her was not functioning. It's low electronic hum and the familiar wavey walls that it produced were both abscent.

"ReLaX." I said as I placed my goloved hand upon her shoulders. A warm energy filled her from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Her arm was healed. Her fatigue was gone. She looked at the old wound area on her arm in disbelief. Her flesh was unscathed.

"MuSt Be GoInG . MaNy ThInGs HaPpEn FaSt. SaFe We WiLl Be." I said as I reached out with my talents. There were no more troopers around to hinder our escape. "FlEe We MuSt NoW."

I extended my hand towards Galen as I stood before her. She gazed into the silver eyes of my helmet.

"By Khaandon, don't let me stop you!" she said as she quickly looked about the desolate holding area. Three Nagai were laying dead on the floor beside two white armored stormtroopers. Neither of the foul pawns of Desolist revealed any signs of what killed them. No blast. No cuts. No burns. This of course really did not matter . All that mattered was her freedom .

I handed her one of the stormtroopers blasters before turning to the exit of this cell. She eagerly held it in her hands as she followed me closely. I peered carefully around the corner of this dark hold. The corridor before us was long but most importantly, void of any of Desolists men. We had more than a chance.

"StAy ClOsE. DiStRaCtIoN I WiLl Be UnLeAsHiNg." I said to the young human as she looked trustingly into my silver lenses. She gave a quick nod.

I turned my thoughts inward . I had felt the happenings of the past four hours within my soul. I knew Desolist was entertaining a few dark guest. I knew that they were all standing in his dining hall a great many kilometers away from where Galen and I were. I knew also of the treasures of Magroo being found.

<CoNcEnTrAtInG...>

*** I saw vividly the miner that found it. His soul swollen with excitement and greed. I sought and quickly found one of the treasures. A meter long dark device. It was mechanical in nature and inscribed with the writings of Clan Magroo. I saw clearly now the men that surrounded the device. Many were smiling at finally finding this great artifact of Joruscean lore. Many I felt were wondering what this plain looking device was all about. They did not understand all of the excitement surrounding this strange thing. They would soon be shown.**

<CoNcEnTrAtInG StIlL...>

With a thought there was a huge thundering explosion .The device of Magroo unleashed its raw destructive power. Those in its immediate wake were instantly destroyed in the initial SITH FIRE of the flash. The earth of Ploatius began to disintergrate almost immediately.

"What in Hells Seven Circles was that?" Galen asked as the ground began to violently shake beneath our feet. Small bits of rock and shrapnel began to fall from above.

"A DiStRaCtIoN." I said as I heightened our ability to move about the long corridor.

Alarms were ringing throughout Desolists base as his troops tried to run for cover. Many met their ends under fallen rock and debris. The few that Galen and I passed gave us no mind as we moved to escape this underground nightmare. The next few minutes seemed like a flash before our eyes.Galen and I finally found our way to the surface after meandering luckily through the collapsing tunnels below. The ground of Ploatius continued to shake itself violently apart.

"Some distraction." Galen said as she struggled to keep her balance. She quickly looked about the landscape. She noted the many explosions that were being set off by the shaking earth. Comm towers fell, power poles collapsed, tents blew over from a hot wind that filled the air, all seemed to be in chaos.

"ThErE." I said as I pointed to the CX-1 Gunboat that sat like a swoop begging for someone to dare and take it for a ride.

Galen and I ran towards the unclaimed craft . An Imperial officer was unfortunate enough to peer around the crafts landing ramp from its hull. Galen fired a deadly blaster bolt that fell the officer with ease. I reached out with my talents once again. There were no others to challenge us for the craft.

A white glow began to sweep over the horizon.It was the dark energies of the Magroo device. It was encompassing the entire planet at an alarming pace. It had been only two minutes since the device detonated. It's power had almost reached its destructive climax.

Galen and I made our way up the ramp. I quickly closed the ramp behind us. She instinctively made her way to the pilots compartment where she quickly made herself at home.

"C'mon old girl you know how to fly one of these Imperial space barges." she said to herself as she forced herself to become quickly familiar with the controls. Lights flickered on as she gripped the flight controls tightly. I sat quickly beside her.

The old CX-1's controls came to life as Galen took us above the ground of Ploatius. A few fleeing troops ran beneath us trying to escape the inevitable. The engines hummed loudly as Galen turned the ship around and flew it high above the earth. From above you could see the wave of destruction wash over the barren landscape below.

In a few seconds we were rocketing into space as the planet below became engulfed in a brilliant white light. The mining ships in low orbit hurried to escape their inevidable doom. They were just to slow to escape. We rocketed away easily.

The planet known as Ploatius was no more as it finally succumb to Magroos designs. It violently exploded into the void of space. Over a sixty ships in low orbit were destroyed in the explosions wake.

"EsCaPe We WiLl." I said as I pointed to a small ship barely visible before us. "ThAt Is VaRsEcK."

The dark YT-1300 bolted in our direction without delay.

"SlOw Us." I said to Galen. "We WiLl DoCk."

She turned quickly to me as if she were going to protest. She quickly bit her lower lip .

The YT-1300 slowed as it quickly extended it's connecting tube. In an instant, the two ships were joined. Galen rose from her chair and made her way to the docking hatch. I followed.

Galen pressed the button that opened the hatch above and would allow us passage into Quee's modified YT-1300. Light illuminated our faces .

"SSHHKK*C'mon!*SSHHKK" the man known as 187 yelled as he lowered his arms to help us board. A quarren stood closely behind him gurgling to himself through thew excitement.

"Yeah C'mon!" Boglin exclaimed impatiently as he held the hatch to Quees ship secure. He waved with his other hand for us to hurry.

Galen and I quickly boarded. As my last foot touched down within Quees ship, the hatch rapidly closed behind me.

187 and Boglin escorted Galen and I to the passenger hold of Quees ship. We quickly buckled ourselves in place.

"SSHHKK*Hyperspace here we come.*SSHHKK" 187 said plainly as he picked up a printed tabloid that was sitting beside him. He began to read its meaningless words.

A belated gasp flung from my lips. I looked over to where D'Ubus was quietly looking in my direction. Somehow, I just knew he was smiling beneath that silver-eyed helmet he always wore. I fumbled at my belt, cursing at it's slow response in releasing me from my seat. Now was not the time for this...!

With a tiny, almost protesting click it opened. I was on my feet and fleeing the passenger compartment before my travelling companion had a chance to say one word to me. Not that I thought he really had much to say in the particular matter which engulfed my mind and my entire body as well. Not that I would have listened to him if indeed he had. I had one thought on my mind, and one thought only.

I barrelled out of the passenger hold, down a companionway, up a small flight of stairs, and found myself barging into the flight control room. My breath coming in small anticipatory pants now, I glanced quickly around. All I saw were the faces of Quee and Ooglen and 187 staring at me in growing happiness and satisfaction. Frowning a little, I glanced around again.

A gentle smile came to Quee's face. "He's in his quarters, Galen," he said softly. He--"

"Thanks!" I interrupted, turning and fleeing down the way I had come. Behind me, Quee turned to his companions. "He doesn't know yet," he explained briefly. Then he gave a little shrug, and grinned. "He will soon enough, I'll wager you that!"

187 turned back to his board. SSHK "I'll not wager against you on that one" SSHK he muttered, adjusting a control just to pass the time.

Time was passing way too slowly for my liking. It seemed I would never get to the quarters Quee had assigned us--oh, us, together, so long ago, on this very ship!-- Khaandon, were we really this far into the bowels of this craft? I hurried on, growing excitement and happiness lending wings to my feet, never mind that the clothes I wore probably stank like the Seven Circles of Hell, never mind that I could probably use a bath and the assistance of some toiletries. All I could think of was him, of Sorben, who less than an hour ago I truly thought I would never see again.

At length I skidded to a halt before a door like any of the myriad I had passed, but one so achingly familiar. Paused a moment to run a hand through my hair; then burst inside.

He lay there on his bunk, a look such as I had never before seen on his face, and one I hoped to the heavens that I never would again. Playing there even in his sleep was a desperate admixture of despair and hatred and vengeance and a sadness that bit down into the very soul of my being. I shivered to see that expression, trembling to see the hurt he was obviously in, that he had been going through, that he obviously thought he would carry with him for who knew how long...

...that I had put upon him.

Well, ol girl, you can certainly do something about that now!

Forcing myself to breathe lightly, I tiptoed in, the door whooshing delicately closed behind me. I made my way to his side, stood there a moment just looking down at him as he lay there, relishing the sight of him thus, even in his apparently darkest emotional hour.

I sat down on the edge of the bed beside him.

Gently, I reached out a hand and placed it palm up on his fevered-looking brow, then turned it over and ran my hand to the side of his face where it rested.

Looked directly upon his closed eyelids, upon which surface a sudden ripple of eye movement was displayed. Slowly, so painstakingly slowly, they lifted, revealing once icy-blue eyes, now dulled to the steel grey of a lake in the winter. For a long moment they remained unfocused, staring up at me blankly. My mind, so full of the happy pronouncements I had planned for just this occasion, had gone equally as blank.

For a second that spilled out into eternity, we just looked into each other's eyes, mine glorying in the simple pleasure of being able to do just that; then his rapidly began to fill with a dawning recognition that suddenly exploded into twin fires of disbelief and utter happiness and something else that burned with a fire equally as hot....

All the words I planned fled completely from my blank mind, as I felt his strong arms wrap around me and draw me down. Words could indeed wait until later. Now we definitely had no time for that.

Blinking only once, his grin faded to a smirk, a graceful hand sliding into his cloak and pulling out a small mouth piece. His cloak floating back around him as his hand returned to his side. Tilting his head upward he sighed, then after looking to Desolist. "Too bad I can't stay and make sure you don't live through this... you pitiful failure!" "Quit your bickering and destroy them all! DO IT! In this split second they are not prepared! Transport them all to the darkness of space, and leave them!"

The large explosion brought his mind back to the present. His eyes jerked up to the alarms. "Ah... poor pitiful Desolist... you will never have your finest hour. It's all gone my friend!" His head shot back, his hair snapping like tendrils behind him as the shadowy orbs came to a close, and a cackle of pure anger and hate erupted from his very soul. "Merry partings and blessed be your path Desolist!!" The same cackle shot from the bottom of his stomach out his mouth after making his comment.

The alarms seemed louder now... "Time to take your leave. You have spent the last two minutes bickering... now GO!" His arms lifted up, and shot to his sides, his head snapping back again, his eyes opening. A pure black line shot from his eyeballs, a meter directly above his head... and then... the line expanded, and took Wicked with it. Quietly now... his last words echoed and lingered... "Things are not finished Desolist. We will meet on the battle field, then we will see who's 'army' is a family... an who's a group of tools." And then he was gone.

Silence... complete and utter silence surrounded the darkness covering him... He watched as the two ships locked, docked, and fled. And everything else happen... the others escapes, and the final doom of the planet.... a fiery death of exploding rocks. His head shot back as the planet exploded, his hands extending afront of him slowly, and meeting. Applauding the light show he so graciously recieved.

He took in a deep breath... the mouth piece was filtering his air while in space. He floated standing, his cloak wrapped about him, his arms now crossed afront his chest. All was silent again... but not for too long... "Ignorant... failing FOOL! BAFOON! You couldn't even kill a bunch of off guard weaklings! What kind of Sith are you!? Those who oppose shall die! Not live to see another day... another day of tormenting your very being!"

His hands held his head captive, and squeezed tightly, trying to find a way to shut the voice up. His face beet red, hot uncrontrollable sweat seaping from his body. And finally a deafening scream... a silent deafening scream?! He was in the vacuum of space. Other than his own thoughts... and that Sith forsaken voice, he couldn't hear a thing. He began to scream uncontrollably, and then his mind shot alert... he felt the presence of all of them... in the "Mantis".

At least the voice was good for something... constant information about everyone and everything around him... how... unanswered questions that didn't really matter anyways. A grin flourished over his lips as he tilted his head in the direction of the Mantis.

"Gahhh! What must I do to get your head straight?! Concentrate, and get your body onto their ship! I am guessing all of them are there! Take the cloak, bring it's hood up. It will cloak your mind, and body from Force detection. And then for the love of all that is vengeful, get onto the MANTIS!" His grin faded... then transforming into a smirk as he mummbled unheared things to himself; "I don't enjoy your tone..." followed by yet another unheared cackle.

"... ... ..." He cringed, and buckled over into the fetal position, his eyes shooting shut, his hands clenching his head. And then all was silent... except for that infernal engine noise... engine?! Wicked looked up... smiled and nodded to himself. He was on the Mantis. In some small room. Nodding once, he stood up and contemplated his next move...

She turned her attention to the dark Hunter, Gravin Dark. Contempt -- contempt for one who could never stand for himself, by himself. Misgivings -- of course she had misgivings, but Dark was only as good as the master who guided him, and with Desolist as the master.... She would watch this one carefully.

A ripple and a tearing of the fabric of space-time announced the arrival of Lord Wicked. Her focus shifted to take stock of the newcomer. Imposing -- and somehow familiar. She let her mind range freely over the possibilities and came upon the answer -- Exar Kun. Not only in appearance, but in strength, skill -- and arrogance. Brashness -- the brashness of youth and supreme self-confidence -- a strength, but also a potential weakness.

And Graysith -- her own pledged blood-sister about whom she knew nothing and everything. She could feel the rising tide of emotion in her, the mixture of loyalty and revulsion that she was endevoring to resolve while a bestial Presence raged within her. Gouyen laid her hand on her shoulder, then her burning brow, to attempt to comfort her. This was not a time for tantrums, this was not a time for fights -- it was a time for cooperation, as the strengths of each countered the weaknesses of each. United, they would be invincible, but let that unity of purpose falter and degenerate into pointless bickering -- she thought back to the last incarnation of the Sith, which had perish a little over a thousand years ago, brought to its knees by the very internecine squabbling that was threating to break out here.

She was about to speak, reminding the assembled company of just that fact, when her ever-roving danger sense drove to the fore. Deep within the bowels of the planet, miners had discovered a strange device, a device covered in Sith runes. But as they were marveling over their find, something happened, and the device erupted in a massive explosion of dark energy that kept mushrooming outward to ultimate destruction.

She spoke, but not the phrases that had first come to mind. "Lord Desolist, I belive someone else has found your treasure and used for his own means." She watched with a certain sense of dramatic import as the shock of her words, and the shockwave of the device, reached them. The next emotion was a thinly-veiled panic, which she immediately took control of. Her expression serene, her eyes an unfathomable obsidian, her voice an even tone tinged with menace, she announced: "Come with me if you wish to live."

"Prepare for immediate take-off -- we have guests," she announced to the hidden comlink in her pectoral. Without waiting for a reply, she gathered the assembled company around her and wrapped them in a cocoon of Force energy. Thus protected, she conjured a fold in the fabric of space-time, one that would put them directly in the Mantis. A certain strange stretching and tearing were the only indications that anything had happened, and the group found itself in the messhall/meeting room of the Mantis.

Gouyen took a deep breath, glad to be back amid the familiar confines of her ship. Teleportation was a skill she rarely used, but it was handy to have as an escape route. "Now, if everyone would secure themselves for the jump to hyperspace, as I have other matters to attend to...," and she immediately moved forward to the cockpit.

"What took you so long?" asked Saleen as Gouyen slipped in to the captain's chair.

"Company," was the terse reply as she scanned the controls. They were already clear of the planet's surface and rapidly gaining speed and altitude. The Mantis would easily outrun the blast, she had no doubts of that -- unlike another time, as a fleeting thought of a wild rush aboard a Lambda-class shuttle from a disintegrating Alderaan intruded on her mind. Amazing how history keeps repeating itself, she thought, then keyed the navcomp.

"Where to, Lady?" yipped Robidougge.

"T'lyx -- got a little more sightseeing to do there since our last visit was so short."

"Ship on sensors have," chirruped Xanx. "YT-1300 freghter, 68 degrees heading."

"Lifeforms?"

"Hard to tell is -- some sort of cloaking is."

Gouyen reached out with her mind and penatrated the shield, which in itself gave at least one of the occupants away. There was a Jedi on board, a powerful Jedi master. And there were others, one of them faintly familiar -- something like Graysith. Must be her sister Galen, she though. "Get a tracking dart on that ship," she ordered, then watched as the small projectile launched out to the freighter and latched on, blending into the surface of the vessel.

"Connection achieved -- good, strong signal emitting," confirmed the Saurapian just as the ship in question flickered into hyperspace.

"Just in time too," added Saleen, as the Mantis made its own jump and the forward viewscreens darkened.

Gouyen rose. "Care to meet our guests?" she asked as the others followed suit. The assembled company moved aft to the mess area.

In the meantime, not totally undetected, a certain Sith Lord found himself in a cramped storage compartment aboard the Mantis.

Trembled even more at the immediate absence of another presence, suddenly sensed as being so much darker than before, his essence more like some viral and raging nightmare now than the former steadily darkling power she loved and admired. This realization engulfed her like some overwhelmingly strangling shadow; another shiver ran through her, her arms tightened uncontrollably at the thoughts that now raced through her mind. So unknown, so unrecognizable now... the words raced behind her eyes, haunting her with their import. What has happened to my Dark Heart?--oh Khaandon, I yet regard him as this! Yet he stands in the way of our destiny... of my destiny...

...and yet I would flee to him, Khaandon help me. I would stand beside him; there is a way to ease his illness, I know...

Aelvedaar! My sire! What assistance can you lend? All must unite in a bond of such cohesive strength as to be unbreakable, yet foolish bickerings and ye gods my Lord's--oh, dare you to speak it? To think it?-- my Dear One's insanity raise stumbling blocks, raise futile barriers all are too proud to breach, raise this ache in my heart I cannot abide...!

Her eyes grew unfocused as her feet continued their mindless step, the great tuk'ata affixed to her side with such strength of his own as to be almost a hindrance. From off to the side, the soulless, topaz eyes of the Dark Hunter tracked her movement with a sneering intensity; Desolist however, moved his own hooded head closer to that of Gravin's and whispered something in his ear. Gravin nodded, then pinned his gaze to the still pacing Chosen Daughter.

The atmosphere within the messhall thickened to almost palpable consistency. M'wonBo'o lifted his slender head and snarled a warning to the ominous pair who so silently and and somehow dangerously watched as Graysith continued to pace, the Glyph a fiery torch to light her way. Suddenly she halted in her tracks, her unfocused gaze gripping something unseen at a distant point. Maniacal images gibbered and laughed in mockery of what she had the effrontery to actually still feel toward it. Her eyes now closed in the deepest pain she had ever felt in her entire life.

He was yet here, hidden, aboard "Mantis." Threatening; threatening them, her destiny, that of the Sith Empire... threatening her...? Oh ye gods, no; she could not, still would not believe that.

He was here... and soon he would reveal himself to them.

Aelvedaar, my sire... I cry for your help!

The cry echoed out into the mysteries of time and space, unanswered.

My master laughed at the man standing before him as he gracefully placed his two hands together in a half congradulating manor. I stood behind my master as he slowly moved with grace towards Wicked. My masters hand was placed on Wickeds shoulders.

"Oh it is you who is sorely mistaken my friend. " my master said as he gazed sympatheticly into Wickeds dark eyes. A smile quickly spread across my masters lips as he patted Wicked on his shoulder. My master gave a slight chuckle as he turned his back to Wicked. He shook his head and returned to my side.

"You see my dear friend Wicked. Your arrogance blinds you to the way things can be. You think yourself all powerful but you are not. You say that I am no Dark Lord?" my master laughed again loudly before his silent guest. I could feel Wickeds urges come forth. He was growing tired of my masters comments but yet he still listened.

"A storyteller am I?" my master began with a smile. "At least I my dear Wicked have a story to tell.It is truly a shame that you waste your abilities and energies on boasting and bragging. "

My master then gave a quick glance and a nod to Graysith."Let me not fail to mention your energies spent chasing a WOMAN halfway across the galaxy only to find her here in the T'lyx System before me." my master hissed with a poisonous tongue."Let us face it my dear friend,you have no interest in a new Sith Empire. You are only here because of your insecurities with ..oh, my friend Wicked has a heart.Delightful."

My masters smile turned into a scowl. "How pitiful! You are a failure indeed! Perhaps you should listen to those voices in your head that make you quite unstable and unfit to lead any "tool"! Of course a man with insecurities does so love to boast on how big and powerful his "tool" is. It brings me great sorrow and pain when a grown man does not know how to actually use his "tool" properly because he is to busy running his mouth on how grand it is. I usually find these men to have very small and weak.. dare I say singular?.. minds."

Wickeds temper was about to peek. I could feel his unsteady anger grow yet still. I was actually taken a bit back by my masters words. Yet I was finding his taunting words... enjoyable. My master smiled yet again.

"As for mechanics..." my master began. "I know quite a few bad ones."

"Do not taunt me Desolist!" Wicked snapped as my master raised his hand to silence him. Wicked stopped his protesting as his eyes flared angerly at my master.

"You are not worthy of being Sith. You disgust me !" my master snapped. I stood ready. He quickly calmed again and gave a quick tug upon his dark robes as if he were fixing them as if they had been raveled.

"Oh, I do so apologise to my invited guest for my display. I wanted no bickering.I was so hoping to discuss some sort of mutual alliance to bring the New Republic down to its knees." he nodded towards Graysith and Lady Chee who stood silently before him. "I am not sorry for my words however. I meant every last one of them."

My master stood silent for a minute as he drank from an ebony chalice. He then smiled only after consuming the entire offerings of the large dark cup. He wiped his mouth with his dark sleeve.

"Now Wicked, it is your turn to be the storyteller. Please do not bore us with a tale of romance. Nor do I wish to hear you rant and rave of holier than thou... something of interest and substance please. Something that we as SITH can work towards, TOGETHER."

Wicked crossed his arms as his dark eyes flared still in anger. My master sat down lazily in an ornate chair before his guests. He held his head with one propped arm as a sevant droid rushed to fill his black cup with more wine. My masters eyes lazily met Wickeds. My master nodded to the droid and gave a false smile as the droid finished filling my masters cup. He then shot a glance back to Wicked as a dark grin spread across Wickeds lips.

"Ah....My poor Dark Lord Desolist.." Wicked began. My master yawned slightly as he quickly leaned behind his clinched fist that was one being used as his head prop to try and not offend Wicked.

My master blinked suddenly. His eyes became wide and alert to something elsewhere.

"Nar Khelba?" my master whispered to himself as Wicked continued with his belittling. My master seemed to pick up on Wickeds pocession of it as his eyes quickly focused in on it as it hung from Wickeds robes.

"NO!" my master yelled as he rose quickly from his seat. Graysith and Lady Chee stood more alert than ever as Wicked continued with his rantings.

The ground began to shake violently around us as we all felt a great power being released. I knew instantly that something ancient had been unleashed. Thousands of souls began to cry out in anguish as their bodies were set ablaze with SITH FIRE.

"Too bad I can't and make sure that you don't live through this... you pitiful failure." Wicked hissed as he smiled towards my master.

My master shot me a knowing look. I nodded.

"Ah... poor pitiful Desolist... you will never have your finest hour. It's all gone my friend!" Wicked said." Merry partings..."
was all that I remember hearing before Wicked teleported out of the dining hall with a wicked cackle.

"Lord Desolist, I belive someone else has found your treasure and used for his own means." Lady Chee announced to my surprise."Come with me if you wish to live."

My master smiled as the explosions thundered outside his base. My master was now the guest of his guests. I followed closely behind.

"Lord Desolist!" Alzerander announced over the static of the comm system that my master wore upon his wrist."I am executing operation Omega per your instructions. I will be looking forward to seeing you again soon."

My masters comm grew quiet. Perhaps the explosions were just getting louder. I wasn't sure really. We followed Lady Chee to her ship, the Mantis.

NOW...

My master sat in silence within the cramped ship known as the Mantis. I stood by his side. I was quite wary of the company that we had chosen to keep. I suppose that Lady Chee's ship was the closet for us to escape on. She seemed to be true to my master. To myself? I had yet to see.

"Magroo wrote that one day his treasures would be found." my master said as he stared blankly before him." Magroo said that a Dark Lord would find them."

I gazed upon my master as Graysith paced by us yet again. I was growing quite tired of that ones pacing. My eyes met hers again briefly.My masters yellow eyes looked into mine. His face seemed sad.

"Magroo wrote that only a user of the art known as Sith could detonate his devices. This person would have to be an ancient to know how to accomplish such a task. The Chosen Daughter could have done it."

My eyes fell to Graysith again as she walked by now going the opposite direction. She paid little attention to our discussion.

"I know that she did not." my master said as his face remained stoical. "Wicked is incapable as am I."

"What was it you said my master? You had a vision of the Nar Khelba before everything was destroyed." I said as I leaned close to my master.

"Only the Nar Khelba can shield an ancient my dear , Dark. The Nar Khelba was releasing its power to shield someone. I caught only a brief ripple of its power." Desolist said. "My master many years ago said that I would be bested by the Nar Khelba. That is why I became aware. Aware... to late."

My masters anger was beginning to flow within him. He controled it quickly before cursing himself , before cursing Wicked, before cursing his troops...he smiled.

"We shall go on my dark friend." he said to me as if nothing had happened. He laughed quietly. Graysith had stopped her pacing and she was standing with her arms still crossed looking at us. My master leaned in close to my hooded face. He raised his hand to shield his lips from Graysiths view.

"Nod like I told you something important." Desolist whispered.I could tell he was trying not to laugh as I nodded my head slowly. My yellow eyes met Graysiths. My masters gaze followed as she began pacing yet again. I was wondering if my masters words to her had meant anything. She was the Chosen Daughter of the Sith. I was beginning to slowly accept her as my... better.

"My dear Dark,we should be going." my master rose from his chair. I tilted my head curiously. We were in the middle of space aboard Lady Chees personal transport. How were we going to be leaving?

My master made his way to Graysith. She stopped her venting walks as he moved close to her. He smiled as he placed his hands upon her shoulders. I kept my head slightly bowed in their prescense.

"My dear Graysith." Desolist said. "You are indeed the Chosen Daughter of the Sith. You are going through inner turmoil . Your mind is polluted with thoughts of the so called "Dark Lord" Wicked. These things will make themselves known to you soon enough. Thank you for coming to my summons. It is a shame that you attract such a player that wishes to be on his own team that consist of one. That "one" being himself. He will fail miserably at this pace. You know this. Perhaps you can show him the dark of it all."

My master sighed as he released his grip from Graysiths arms. He glanced down at Graysiths belly. He laughed to himself again.
"Let him keep thinking that it's his."

My master cackled as he parted ways with Graysith. She stood siolent as she placed a free hand upon her belly. I gave the Chosen Daughter a slight nod as I passed to follow my master. I felt Graysith staring at me as my back faced her. I did not care.

"Lady Chee." my master said as he announced his arrival upon the bridge of the Mantis. She turned to face him.

"No need to rise my friend. I am simply here to say my farewells and to express my gratitude for you giving us such simple means of escape." my master said in a tone as if he'd suddenly become a Coruscant politician trying to get elected.

Lady Chee nodded as she gave a slight raised brow in my masters direction. He continued to smile relentlessly.

"Dark and I must be leaving." her brow raised even further at this comment." I do have a small task for you if you are willing to accept it."

I believe my master was suffering from some sort of mental poisoning. He had always held a strange sense of humor and he had always been quite the political leader. However his actions of the past few minutes had been somewhat uncharacteristic. Perhaps it was his way of coping with the sudden loss of his base.

Lady Chee sat silently as she waited to hear what this task was.

"Wicked?" I muttered under my breath as I felt his prescence descending within the ship.

My master looked at me suddenly with disgust. It was as if a hundred Zlebits were swarming annoyingly about him.

"We have no time for this!" Desolist hissed. He placed his hand on Lady Chees shoulder."I shall be in touch."

My master walked towards me as he gave a slight yawn. He stood closely by my side as he gave the ships captain a parting nod.

"Let us teleport ,shall we?" my master commented as he looked in my direction. "We have new stories to tell, Dark. We have so many untold stories."

She stood rock-still, the Glyph on her forehead ravening, the tuk'ata pressed with growing agitation against her side, face-tendrils wrapped about her like climbing vines of offered strength and assistance-- one slim hand still pressed against her belly as Lord Desolist's last words rang in her ears.

There to mix with those anguished words of her own, so recently and so hoplessly sent ringing out into the void.

"And which void is this, oh Chosen Daughter?" Unbidden, new words, taunting words, words that meant to hurt, to blaze, welled forth from a deepspring hidden in some point within her very soul. "Is it into the void of space that you send this helpless cry for assistance? Or rather the void of yourself, of your own dependencies, your own fluctuating promises which ebb and flow as some dark ocean current, which bears no fruit other than you shall follow Him and drown in those nameless depths...?"

"No...." The word escaped her lips in a shaky whisper, her hands now rising to her ears to block out her rampaging thoughts, her feet setting her back to her aimless pacing about the messhall, her violet eyes shutting with a violence intended to likewise shut out the mocking voice inside her. Still shadowed by her blood-hunt companion, she continued on, back and forth, back and forth...

The inner voice continued as well. "'Chosen Daughter;' PAH! Weak you are, weak, weak, WEAK! Desolist is right, he knows; you continue to adhere to a path that leads nowhere; it's purpose finished, complete; this mockery of 'love' you need no longer, the Power exists within you, the Power is all, all the strength you need, your promise...

"...to yourself, face it; to your blood-pledged sister, to your father now: that darkling Sith Lord; to the very future of all that is and ever would be SITH..."

"NO!" Falling to her knees now, ignoring completely the now thoroughly alarmed M'wonBo'o, who took one glance and barrelled out of the messhall seeking assistance, she remained there, her body shaking violently with growing realizations and rememberances. "My Dark Heart, no..." The words escaped her lips in a near whisper.

Within the Beast lifted silent lips, exposing fangs of anticipatory victory. The mocking voice continued.

"He cares not for you, you know that. He came only for strange reasons having nothing to do with you. You saw how he ignored you when you were before Desolist, you heard the futility of the words that left his very lips....

"Weak, weak, weak.... Are you who you say you are? Dare you be loyal to Aelvedaar, to his promise to you and yours to him as well? To Gouyen and the others? To the future in which you will have so powerful a position if you can find the strength within you to choose wisely? To yourself?

"Indeed, oh "Chosen Daughter," who are you? What are you? Have you the strength to indeed prove Aelvedaar was not mistaken in choosing you, to recognize true meanings and import from falsehoods, to be worthy of being called Sith..."

"NO!"

In one powerfully smooth motion, Graysith rose to her feet. Her head flung back, her arms reached out as if to tear the correct answer from the very fabric of space and time. One final cry rang out, "FATHER!", wrenched from her lips in a cementing burst as the Chosen Daughter...

...reached down deep inside...

...finally faced what she saw as the truth, and how she envisioned that truth as being...

...at last made her final choice...

...and gave full rein to The Beast within. It ravened, slavered, yowled in black and vicious joy as it relished the infusing of inner strength which came from that same deepspring within Graysith's dark soul. Saw itself growing in power and ability. Seemed somehow to actually grow into something even yet more coolly bestial, as with one great and final act of closure its razored paw swooped down upon that small bit of warmth it had been forced to protect....

And at last, with a simultaneous and victorious ululation proclaiming the release of a rage pent-up and mounting for far too long a time, its cry lending additional power to the movement, it crushed the tiny kernel into utter nonexistence.

Graysith's violet eyes snapped open. A new-born and haughty coldness lurked in their depths. Within, The Beast at last curled up to sleep, dormant until that time came that its services would again be required by the Chosen Daughter.

The Chosen Daughter who now focused all her attention and strengths upon one fact only: that Wicked lurked aboard the Mantis, that he was a dark and dangerous threat to her companions, to her, to their destiny...

..and to that unborn being who was growing steadily within her, both in size and in strength.

Nothing could be allowed to come close to being a threat to that. Nothing. No one.

Her eyes like hardened amethyst, a growing sneer playing about her lips, she turned and calmly left the messhall, heading toward the small storage chamber where indeed her former consort still hid, biding his time, debating his next move.

"Oh boy." I muttered as a yawn crept up and out of me. I then stretched as I licked the inside of my mouth nor less than twice to get some sort of moisture in there. Waking up after a mere two hours sleep is for the mynoks.

*SWOOSH*

The door to my room opened revealing a twitching, happy, energetic Verpine.

"Morning of good to you, boss." he clicked as he entered my room. The doors closed quickly behind him.

"Good morning, K'Kihl." I said as I remained unmoving from my perch at the foot of my bed.He quickly moved to stand in front of me.
"Galen friend, where is she?"

I closed my eyes hard before reopening them. I gave two quick blinks before I responded.

"D'ubus came in early this morning to talk with her." I sighed as I rubbed my hands together. " I don't know what in Hells Seven Circles for but...I'm sure it was important."

"Yes, boss." KiKihl clicked as looked about my room. K'Kihl I am sure was offended by the clutter on the floor. He paid more detail to neatness than I. Clothes, ammo clips, armor repair kits, climbing gear,.. you name it. It was here. I suppose that I should really make an effort to clean sometime.

"Boss?" K'Kihl chimed in as I studied the messiness of my room."Quee will be talking to Jedi Council today. Finding out he will what they seek of him next."

I nodded my head as I began to wonder what in the universe that we would be doing next. I had not spoken to him since Galens arrival. I was in the dark as far as plans go.

"What happened to Desolists fleet?" I asked with one open eye. I spotted my mouthwash on the floor in front of me. How the ..?? It didn't matter. My morning breath was getting on my nerves.

"Quee says Desolists fleet remains. Lost only ten percent of fleet he has. His ground forces hold the capital still as well as the Bracus complex." I interrupted K'Kihls status report with my gargle. I nodded at him to continue. "Viceroy Flubin sitting as head of power as Desolist has not appeared. Then again, only twelve hours has it been."

"What of the explosion?" I asked only after I was forced to swallow the minty liquid. My face drew up as the aftertaste filled my mouth. I fought from gagging.

"Artifact Desolist had went explosive. Destroyed entire planet it did. Fifty percent of Desolist ground forces gone. Ninty-six percent of innocents killed." K'Kihl hung his head low for a moment. He quickly looked up again with his large insect eyes. " Quee says someone triggered the explosion. He talked to D'ubus about events that happened. D'ubus said he exploded mines so that Galen and he could flee. Incapable of detonating artifact was he. "

I nodded as I slowly stood up with my sheets wrapped around me. I tried to take in all of the news that K'Kihl had shared with me. I walked slowly over to my bathroom door as I turned back to face my watching friend.

"Ummm.." I began "If you could leave me just for a few my friend. I need to get dressed here." I started to shut the door behind me that it suddenly hit me.. we weren't moving anymore. The ship had come to a stop. I stopped the door from closing as K'Kihl was beginning to make his exit. "K'KIHL!" I yelled. The Verpine turned in my direction.

"Yes, boss?" he clicked.

"Where are we?" I asked in a soft confused voice.

K'Kihl nodded as he took a single step in my direction. "Dalius City we are in. "

I nodded before dismissing him again. I wanted to get dressed, find Galen, and speak with Quee who I am sure would be contacting us all as to our next move.

"So what's up D'ubus?" she asked as she glanced into my silver lenses. She laughed to herself. "It sure as Khaandon rises isn't me!"

A weak smile formed on her face.

"I aM SoRrY FoR WaKiNg." I began as I peered into her tired eyes. "I aM LeAvInG. I WaNtEd To JuSt SaY My FaReWeLlS."

"Leaving?" Galen asked curiously. "I am sure we could use your.."

"QuEe iS StRoNg In ThE FoRcE. He Is MoRe ThAn CaPaBlE To HaNdLe ThE EvEnTs ThAt LaY AhEaD." I said as I placed my gloved hands upon her shoulders. She tilted her head as she rubbed her own neck to get the morning kinks out."HaPpY I Am To HaVe BeEn Of AsSiStAnCe. "

She smiled for a brief moment.

"GaLeN,.." I began. " DeSoLiSt WaNtEd YoU FoR A ReAsOn. WhEn We MeLdEd OuR MiNdS To PrOjEcT YoUr DeAtH, ThErE WaS MuCh I lEaRnEd."

"Sol Vareth?" she smiled. She laughed to herself briefly as I released my hands from her shoulders.

"MoRe.." I continued."GaLeN, YoU ArE CaRrYiNg TaRnUs'S cHiLd. YoU aRe CaRrYinG A VeRy SpEcIaL TrEaSuRe InDeEd. A TrEaSuRe GrEaTeR ThAn AnY FoUnD On RoOn."

Galens mouth about fell completely open. She instictively placed her hands upon her still flat stomach.

"Dear Khaandon." she muttered. She quickly looked up into my silver lenses again. "I knew I was craving an awful lot of Chinib lately. I HATE CHINIB!"

Her eyes wide now as she stood still.

"YoU WiLl Be FiNe." I reassured. "SoRbEn Is A StRoNg AnD ReSouRcEfUl MaN. He HaS MaNy FrIeNdS. SeUs Is StIlL WaItInG FoR HiS ReTuRn. He Is UnDeRsTaNdInG AbOuT ThE EvEnTs ThAt UnFoLdEd On JoRuS. He Is WeLcOmE BaCk ThErE If He So ChOoSeS."

"Seus? You know Seus?" she asked.

"YoU CoUlD SaY ThAt." I said as I handed her a credit voucher from the bounty hunter guild that Tarnus and I both belong. She took the voucher with a slight reluctance.

"Twenty thousand?" Galen asked as she looked up to face me. I was already walking away from her. "What is this for?!?!"

I waved my free hand towards her as the other grasp my rifle and rucksack.

"Be WeLl!" I said as I walked down the ramp of Quee's impressive ship. She stood in the hallway holding the voucher in silence.