Glancing over at Aaron momentarily, Terrin realized he felt pretty much the same way, as he returned Terrin's look with a classic I'm sorry, buddy look too.

Matt, on the other hand, just continued listening to and watching Galen as she spoke. Terrin suspected he'd been over there following the argument like some sort of Pod Race, gauging who was ahead with each lap.

Terrin mentally agreed with Galen that the all the weapons and shuttles money could buy probably wouldn't, in the end, do their cause any good. But he knew, as well as she did, that he and Aaron and Matt were used to oponents on a completely different level--ones that could be shut down or blown away with big guns and big ships.

"What you are missing, and keep missing, which is apparent by this discussion of bigger weapons and better ships," Galen commented, "is the fact that Sith she might be...

"...but not the kind of Sith you are aware of."

Terrin swept his gaze from one side of the conference table to the other, noticing that the other two men, like himself, were leaning forward and listening ever-so-intently.

Tears welled up in Galen's eyes as she spoke of Graysith, and Terrin knew memories of her sister and of her transformation into this evil thing she had become were probably gnawing at Galen's thoughts. He reached one hand over to her and placed it atop her clasped hands, which were now placed on the conference table, and leaned in just a bit closer.

"Tell us what we need to know," he said softly, gazing at her with his deep blue eyes, concern radiating from them.

Terrin didn't shift his gaze from her as the other two men in the room echoed his request.

"Yes," Aaron agreed. "What is it about this Graysith is somewhat unique?"

"And, more importantly" Matt added, speaking for what Terrin thought was the first time during the whole meeting, "What do you think we can do to stop her?"

[ 09-26-2001 01:41 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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

"My father was a xeno-archeologist," I began, fighting against the ache which strove to overtake me at his mention. "His life's work was the study of the Sith. Not the Sith, as in Vader and Palpatine and Kun, and all those guys... but the Sith. The Original Item.

"He used to refer to them as the Old Ones."

Once more I paused, taking in a deep shuddery breath as memories continued to pour into me. I closed my eyes now, taking those memories and putting them into words. I could feel Terrin's silent support as he increased the strength of his grip on my hand.

The silence into which those words poured was so great you could hear a worrt-whisper.

"If anyone knew anything about the first Sith, it was Dad. For years and years he would drag me and m- my sister, Jharmeen, from one dusty old site to another, following hints and clues left behind in rock and debris and legend. My earliest memory of him, in fact, is running to his side with a rock in my hand. I was SOOO certain it was something very important..."

I trailed off as that very old image rose shakily to the forefront of my mind, suddenly smiling to see how Dad had accepted that rock and tousled my hair, setting me back upon my eager search with an even more inspired willingness to help.... "In fact," I cut through my own thought. "That's how I got to be a pilot, and a damned good one. Someone had to get Dad hither and yon in his studies, and Khaandon alone knows that some of the worlds we were led to weren't quite... ahhh, amenable to his studies."

Once more I trailed off, my hands unconsciously moving as though dancing upon a navboard, seeing only the beauteous wonder of the stars before me. The room grew even more hushed, if that was possible, waiting for me to continue.

I took a shuddery breath, suddenly aware that all eyes were planted on me. Pursing my lips, I went on.

"Anyway, the Sith you think of when you, or the majority of the sentients in the Galaxy for that matter, hear the term are really the descendents of the Dark Jedi who overwhelmed the Sith empire and took it over, using the Dark Side of the Force to accomplish this.

"Dad had strong evidence to support his theory that the Original Sith were not the tribal community we are now lead to believe. Rather, he hypothesized that they were very, very powerful beings in their own right, that they were beings who utilized the Force in ways the Jedi cannot fathom, beings who were in control of the entire known Universe at the time."

I paused again, and Matt used this silence to interject a question. "If they were so powerful, how come the Dark Jedi overthrew them?" he asked. Aaron leaned in with growing interest at this point; even Terrin's eyes widened quizzically.

I let out a sigh. "I don't know," I whispered. "Dad was heading in the correct direction, trying to solve that mystery. Maybe he found something on that last world we were on. Maybe it's like any highly advanced and powerful civilization... they just recede into natural decadence and decay.

"But whatever they were, it was something from that Empire, from those Old Ones, that reached out and turned my sister into the thing she now is." I gulped a little, hanging onto Terrin's hand now with both of mine, which I found to my dismay to be quite suddenly slicked with sweat.

"Gentlemen, we face at the very least an extremely unconventional enemy. At the most, a somehow resurrected Old Sith... who still has command of those ancient mysteries and powers. We're going to have to fight her on her own level.

"Now, while I know of where even more Old Sith ships are... this is what I will disclose to you, to help save your company..." This last was directed into the direction of a now completely startled Terrin. "...I don't know if just having the actual ship would be useful. I mean, I do know how to fly them..."

Don't even begin to go there, ol girl; and most certainly do NOT look at the expressions you KNOW are on Matt and Aaron's faces right now! Look to Terrin for your support....

"...and they might be useful in getting Shayla back again, I just don't think they'd be able to completely overcome her. She has one too, you know. Trust me when I say they are simply uncanny; I'll go on about their capabilities later.

"But!" I finished, finally winding down. "To get Jh- Graysith, we are going to need Old Sith weaponry. I know of something; it's called the Nar Kelba. A-- man I used to be associated with and I went hunting for it about a year ago; from what I understand, it's a powerful weapon which just might stop her. Full abilities or not which she might have.

"I don't know if it would work, but I do know one thing. Conventional weaponry isn't gonna do diddly against her. If you want Shayla back, we're going to have to go find this thing, and then go after her. And the last I knew, it's on another Sith world... called Khar Delba."

[ 09-26-2001 02:21 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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

He was a bit surprised she'd mentioned she could fly the Old Sith Shuttles, and only then did he momentarily glance over at the other two men, who were looking at each other curiously. They noticed his sudden shift of attention, and quickly straightened out upon his Don't you dare say a word glance. Satisfied that the two of them had returned there attention to Galen, he turned back to her.

Terrin also knew, as she now mentioned the Nar Kelba, that the associate she was most likely referring to was this Sorben fellow. The fact that she'd omitted him from her explanation meant one of two things--either that she wanted to move on from thinking of him or that she just didn't want Aaron or Matt to know about him. Either way, it really wasn't important.

As she wound down her speech, Terrin sat the elbow of his free arm up on the table and placed his chin in his hand, still not taking his eyes from her as he thought.

Momentarily he took his hand from his chin to wave it with his next words as if to emphasize them. "I assume, of course, you know the coordinates to this Khar Delba?" Before she could answer, he added, "And could you divulge us a bit on what it is this Nar Kelba--Sheesh, why did everything rhyme?!--might be able to do?"

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

At last I found the strength to nod, blinking to clear the tears from my eyes. "If there's one thing I could always do, it's remember coordinates of every place I have ever been to," I affirmed. "One never knows when one's flight logs or maps might be... appropriated in the course of one's career. I've only been there once..." Here I couldn't help but break off as once again hideous memories rose in the attempt of overwhelming me:

Flight from the Bounty Hunter's Guild world with K'kihl to hunt for Sorben, back to the Sith world for yet another ship, finding within that ship it's map of all known Sith worlds and coordinates thereof, by an unbelievable stretch of good luck finding our first choice, Khar Delba, to be that very world where he had been taken...

...our stealthy approach... my landing upon the surface, my discovery of the Sith Temple... being discovered in turn by those horrid Noghri... being taken to Her...

Once more tears threatened; once more my universe threatened to dissolve into noisome darkness. I gripped Terrin's hands with all my strength, making him wince, not noticing this, lost in that horrid series of events:

Her treatment of me... tossing me to the Noghri, making me think- no, not just think, but in my very gut and heart and inner essence of all that I am BELIEVE that Sorben was dead, oh dear Khaandon...

...Her coming to me, and my final reaction....

My eyes were filled with fire and dark and hideous moss and shadows. This, I knew, was Khar Delba. A dangerous, dangerous place.

I gradually opened my eyes. "I still have those coordinates," I said in a low voice, and gave them to Terrin. "We have to be careful. I just cannot stress this enough.

"And- I'm not quite certain what this Nar Kelba can do... but it had about four Dark Beings hot on it's trail, a trail well littered with bodies. That's more than enough for me to realize it has some really great power. We have to go get it; I just know this, I can FEEL it. This might be the only thing that could really work against Graysith, and help us get Shayla back.

"When we find them again," I finished.

[ 09-26-2001 02:46 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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

He wasn't sure which hurt him more--the former or the latter. In his heart he knew for certain it was the latter.

He worked his jaw a little, feeling a his mood slowly darkening with the weight of the discussion. He was glad that Aaron came up with the next question--and a very important one at that. He was starting to have some difficulty focusing on anything but Galen.

"In the interest of stealth," Aaron started, "wouldn't it be wiser not to go busting into Khar Delba with a whole fleet? Correct me if I'm wrong, of course--I don't know precisely what it might take to get this weapon if we did find it. Certainly, the fleet would be on high alert if we decide it shouldn't be taken in. Shouldn't we take a smaller shuttle or two in first, find the Nar Kelba then move on, or something else?"

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

"N-now we're back into the realms of conventiality, certainly the most appropriate method to begin with. That, I feel, is your field. Mine... is to fly ships."

And feel things that seem to be coming true more and more and more....

It was all I could do to keep my voice steady. "I- I think the rest of your planning can continue without me. If you'll excuse me, I think I'd like to go rest for a little bit. Forgive me...."

I could say no more. Like a frightened nerf calf, I just bolted from the room, propriety be damned. Tears continued to well up and flood my vision as I let instinct take over and guide me past one person and the next, seeking haven from that which I knew we were going to face.

Oh Khaandon, not again, not again... I don't know if I can stand going there again; I can't shake this feeling, but I just know something terrible is going to happen if we go there... yet something even worse will happen if we don't.

Finally reaching my quarters, I came to a stop before the door, too shaken to open it. I just leaned my head against the cool durasteel, fighting the tears, fighting the terror, seeking the old Galen I knew was still lurking deep within me, she who I knew not only Terrin and Aaron and Matt, but Shayla needed as well.

Time ceased to have meaning, as I remained standing there, ignoring everything around me, and strove to get myself back under control.

Oh Khaandon! The afterthought slammed into me, nearly doubling me over. The baby...!

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

Suddenly, he had the urgent need to be with her, and he really didn't care what else happened here.

"Ok," he managed to start, probably a bit louder than the other two expected, as they seemed to both sit back a little upon his initial statement. "I think we need to...take the Eagle in on this...I'm not sure just yet what crew we might need..."

Well, this wasn't working. Not at all.

"Terrin," Aaron said, leaning forward as if to get his attention. "Go on."

Matt nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Aaron and I can pick through the details and let you know later tonight."

That was all the cuing he needed. "Thanks," he said, quickly standing and hurrying out behind Galen.

When he found her, she was leaning against the door to her quarters, tears streaming down her face. As he approached, she doubled over suddenly, and before she could go too far forward he firmly placed a hand on each shoulder, attempting to make eye contact.

"Galen...is it...???" he started, being quick enough to realize he might not should finish that sentence in the corridor of the shuttle, for just anyone to hear. She'd understand his meaning, he knew.

He waited a moment for her to respond and time, as it had several times since he'd met her, seemed to stand still...

[ 09-26-2001 03:28 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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"No," I whispered back. "It's not...Her. I'm fine, really. I mean, physically."

Now I straightened up, pulling my face from where it had been hidden, turning it, tear-tracks and all, up to focus my eyes on his own. Concern ran rampant over his features; with a trembling hand, I reached up to lightly touch his face.

"I'm going to have to come with you to Khar Delba, you know that." I stated, suddenly quiet. "This is going to be a hunt of... of feeling. Of sensing. Of a convergence of what is in me with what is there."

I paused again, looking into his eyes, seeing mounting fear for my safety flooding into them. He opened his mouth slightly to speak, but my fingers placed on his lips halted the words before they were ever formed.

"I know you'll do your best to keep me safe, Terrin," I stated softly. "I trust you, and in your ability.

"I just hope it's enough."

Then, to hell with the people who still hurried about their business around us--sheesh, doesn't anyone EVER leave this corridor empty? What is this, Grand Docking Central on Coruscant? --I reached up, and with a strength born of sheer desperation pulled Terrin's lips down to meet mine.

[ 09-26-2001 03:49 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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

But the concern stayed there just the same.

A couple of hours later, he emerged from his bedroom leaving Galen to nap a while longer. He knew he needed to contact Aaron and see what they had decided in his absence, so reluctantly, he picked up his comlink, and keyed in Aaron's frequency, all the while wandering over to the kitchen, where he grabbed a cup and poured himself some mineral water.

Aaron answered pretty quickly, so Terrin surmised that he and Matt had finished the planning they'd started.

"It's me, Terrin," he said into the com.

"Everything allright?" Aaron asked, showing some concern.

"Yeah," Terrin replied a little hesitantly. "Wanted to check and see what you and Matt decided."

"Ah. We think once we're out of hyperspace, we'll send the Eagle and one of our other small shuttles out to Khar Delba. We'll move the fleet to a planet somewhat near Khar Delba, if it should be needed. We still need to discuss some tactics on finding the weapon, but I think that's about all the planning we can do for now. So what do you think?"

Terrin nodded, as though Aaron could actually see him. "Sounds good to me. Who will be going, aside from Galen and I?"

Aaron hadn't even told him tbat he and Galen were going...Terrin just assumed it. If they hadn't made plans for he and Galen to go already, he was going to make it clear that was the way he wanted it. "Matt and one more person, probably in tactical," Aaron said.

Terrin was frankly suprised they'd decided Matt was going. He wondered if this was the original plan, or if Matt had insisted. He wouldn't dare ask. "That leaves you in charge of the fleet," he observed instead.

"I know," Aaron responded. "Don't worry about it. Matt's got too good of a tactical eye for you to be without him."

"Thanks," Terrin said, "I know that was a hard decision."

"Not as much as you might think," Aaron replied. "I want you all as safe as possible. Anything else you need to know right now?"

Terrin thought a minute. "No," he finally said. "I'll talk to you tomorrow morning, and we can get a little more of this together. How much longer are we in hyperspace?"

"Matt says 72 hours."

"Okay, then we still have some time. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Sure. Take care."

"I will, you too," Terrin finished, closing the connection. Finishing his water, he sat the cup in the auto-cleaner and shuffled out to the couch, the carpet feeling soft against his bare feet. He sat down, his mind shifting a little into the recent past.

Memories of leaving the Moff, without a clue where he was going or what he was doing. Thinking he could somehow get something out of capturing Shayla and turning her over to him--WHAT had he been thinking?

He remembered a time when Shayla had stayed in one of the Red Level suites, when he and she were designing Stargazer Corporation. That was truly the only time she ever really seemed to need him, and in truth they clashed more often than they got along.

Then, there was the day he'd run into Galen, when suddenly his world had shifted. Suddenly, he wasn't the most important one to himself anymore.

The change was refreshing, and he was starting to like himself alot better that way. Amazing how much one could change, strictly based on meeting that right person.

He was worried about the mission they were fixing to embark upon--he knew there'd be danger, and he didn't much like putting Galen in the middle of it. But that wasn't for him to decide--she'd be in the middle of it no matter what he did, so she might as well come with him.

But he'd do everything in his power to protect her, even if he risked his own life. That was just how it was, and he had no qualms with it being that way.

As his thoughts wandered to some semblance of a close, the bedroom door squeaked open, slowly, and Galen wandered out, stifling a little yawn. He smiled at her, and patted the area of couch next to him. She came over and sat next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

How many more moments like these would they have? a little voice in his head said.

He shoved the thought aside, not wanting to even think that way. "So..." he started, his voice coming out quieter than he'd anticipated, "how about a night of doing absolutely nothing more than what we want to do?"

[ 09-26-2001 04:45 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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

But reality won out. I smiled at my own thoughts, and reached up to brush Terrin's cheek with my lips.

"I'd love nothing more than that, love," I said in a low voice, nestling against him once again. Then I quieted, basking in the warmth which radiated from him like a sun.

[ 09-26-2001 10:59 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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

Maybe he had left it in the outer room? Sithspit, he really didn't care all that much. The thing could be out there beeping to high heavens and he wouldn't care, so long as he wasn't being disturbed by it. He'd had too much of the thing the last day or so, and he wanted some peace.

And some time to be with Galen.

At that thought, Terrin rolled over on his stomach, turning his head towards the other occupant of the bed.

Galen was still dead to the universe. She too was lying on her stomach, her mouth just slightly open.

Terrin grinned. He wondered if she knew she did that.

Finally Terrin raised up on his elbows, leaned over, and kissed her on the cheek. Putting his chin in one hand, he sat back and waited to see if she woke up. Meanwhile, he stole a glance at the chronometer.

1200 hours. This staying up late and getting up late thing was starting to become a habit.

Finally, her eyes began to flutter a little. Suddenly one of her hands came from under the covers, and she grabbed his chin, pulling him in and giving him a good long kiss on the mouth.

When their lips parted, her big brown eyes were fully open, and she was giving him one those mischievous grins he loved.

"Morning, beautiful," he said, grinning back. "Sleep well?"

[ 09-27-2001 12:12 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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

Alert and suddenly, acutely aware of something. I blinked, searching carefully inside myself. Smiled again when my suspicions were confirmed.

Yup, she's back! The thought rose up in my mind like a banner, proudly proclaiming itself. Back to my old self I was indeed. All the terror, all the pain and roller-coastering of emotions I had been going through since...

...since you met Terrin, actually...

...had utterly retreated into the shadows. I felt strong, ready for anything. Firm in the conviction that what we had to do was so terribly dangerous, yet fully prepared to meet those dangers head on. Somehow aware of the fact that more than just the rescue of a Jedi padawan was involved here....

Must be a hormone-thing, I thought to myself wryly.

I turned a smile to Terrin, then leapt out of the bed and lost myself in one final stretch. Then I padded to where I had flung my clothes the night before. I picked up the malachite dress and eyed it speculatively. Fingering its soft folds, I turned once more to face my new love.

"I, uh... I think the time for this has passed for now," I announced with another smile. "Do you have something more appropriate I could wear... like a leather flightsuit or something? I'd kinda like to get dressed and then help figure out just what our strategies are going to entail."

Then I fell quiet and stood there, dressed in nothing more than what Khaandon had bestowed upon me the day I was born, and directed the most sincere look I could at Terrin, daring him to think of anything but the business at hand.

Business which a quiet little part of me was beginning to yammer about most intensely. Something was happening somewhere....

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

“Okay, we know where we’re going and who’s going,” Terrin summed up. “Now we need to figure out where we are going to stash the fleet.”

“There’s a twin planet, K’eel Doba, that I think, if we put the fleet on the far side, will provide sufficient cover,” Matt informed him.

“You sure that’s not a little too obvious?” Terrin asked.

“The system that Khar Delba is in is pretty deserted, particularly the twin planet. I don’t think there will be too much interest in a fleet floating around,” Matt countered.

“What about the Moff?” Aaron interjected. “He might be looking for us and think we are ‘hiding out’ there from him. I don’t think his busting in on us will be helpful during this operation.”

Terrin sighed. If only he could get rid of this damn Moff. “I don’t think the Moff would dare or could dare to try to attack our fleet there, but I’ll contact him anyway. I’ll tell him we believe Shayla is on the planet and are looking for her. Heck, might true considering there is some sort of Sith Temple there.”

“Okay, I’ll let you deal with him then,” Aaron stated.

Terrin nodded. “Don’t worry about it. Krenoff is full of hot air. He shouldn’t be a problem. Oh,” Terrin added, “what other shuttle are we taking in besides the Eagle?”

“Seems Khar Delba is a rather unpleasant place as far as weather, so we had to look for a shuttle with really good atmospheric shields and temperature controls. The Falcon, my lambada-class shuttle, will be taken in,” Matt explained.

“Good,” Terrin said, seemingly pleased with the shuttle choice. Then suddenly something occurred to him. “Unpleasant weather?” he quizzed, arching one eyebrow and frowning.

“Yeah, Khar Delba has a seventy-five degree tilt on its axis. It causes seasonal extremes...the place is basically a block of ice, with a five-degree span of tropics at the equator,” Aaron responded.

Terrin’s frown grew even darker. “I hate the cold.”

“Heh. Get used to it,” Matt joked. “You know if they plan on hiding something on the rock they’ll bury it in the place most people wouldn’t go. I think we’ll be trekking through a lot of snow and ice.”

“I hate snow and ice,” Terrin growled.

“Look at this the positive way,” Aaron commented, a grin pulling at the corners of his mouth, “At least you won’t have to worry about the wildlife.”

Riiiiight, Terrin thought to himself, looking over at Jasyn, the ‘combat specialist’ for this mission. “You have apparently never visited Hoth,” he said instead.

Jasyn nodded in agreement. “Wildlife might be sparse, but I wouldn’t count on it being trivial either,” he added. “Besides, we might be spending a lot of time in the area around the equator, and there will most certainly be tropical-like creatures there.”

“I’ll umm...look some of it up and see what I can find,” Matt muttered.

“You’d best do so and give Jasyn and I copies of what you find so we can make plans for any scenario. I might be a good marksman and Jasyn good at hand-to-hand, but that’s not going to help us one whit if we don’t know what we are up against. I want to make the first shot the best shot, and not tick the hell outta a nasty creature and get my head ripped off,” Terrin commented, grimacing at the thought.

“I’ll get on it right away,” Matt assured him. “Let’s see...we have our mission team, we have the shuttles that are going and are currently prepping them. Is there anything else we need to discuss?”

“How is it, again, we are going to look for this Nar Kelba? What tactics are we using? What trail are we following?” Jasyn asked.

“That, I think, is Galen’s area,” Terrin answered, glancing over at her momentarily then returning his attention to the rest of the group. He smiled, recalling her request for more ‘appropriate’ attire. He’d always liked a woman who wore a leather flightsuit well, and she was definitely one of them.

Suddenly realizing his mind was drifting, Terrin pushed himself back to reality. “She’s got quite a bit of sensitivity to this, and I’m sure she has some idea of where to start. Galen?”

[ 09-29-2001 03:32 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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What trail are we following? Why, why...

I paused with that thought, inspecting it more closely. Exactly what trail were we going to follow at that?

My hand flew to my mouth as I considered this more closely, thinking back through all the adventure and pain and heartache and excitement I had endured since my sister and father had been so ruthlessly ripped from me. I didn't realize that as I began thinking this through, I was speaking the words aloud.

"How do I know what trail to follow? Well, let's see... The Nar Khelba, last I saw it, was with this nasty fiend of a Sith Lord named Wicked, I think it was. Yeah... that's it... that's where I met Sorben, saving him from Wicked..."

For a moment I paused, my eyes closing of their own accord as I continued to turn every iota of brainpower I possessed to the problem at hand, bringing that nearly eidetic memory I was blessed with to bear in repeating every last conscious awareness I had lived through, seeking some small clue as to just how I exactly knew...

"...and lessee now; yeah, we were going after this Nar Khelba. Sorben told me that it was some kind of crystal that, hmmm... that you put in a lightsaber, and when that saber is used to kill a Force-user, it also truly kills the soul."

I took a deep breath now, squinching my eyes closed more tightly, remembering....

"It seems like everyone we ran into was after this thing: us, Wicked, another nasty called Gravin Dark--you DON'T wanna cross paths with THAT guy!-- and m- my sister, too." My head was now tilted to the side, every bit of concentration I had icily focused, sweat beginning to bead my brow as somehow, information came flowing into me from somewhere....

"She was after it because... because HE desired it. Because she loved HIM. They're... they're linked, somehow...

"She- she found it. I can see this. She found it, and took it to him. He took it from her....

And that's not ALL he took from her, is it?

"I found her on Khar Delba. And that's where she met him, where he came from. Where it now is. I know this."

Now my eyes flew open, and I peered about myself momentarily confused. Awareness coalesced to the vision of everyone peering right back at me, heads tilted, eyes wide. I blinked, sweat dripping into my eyes and stinging.

I leaned forward, my voice deadly earnest. "I can't tell you how I know; I just do. But this Nar Khelba I last saw on the robes of Darth Wicked, and I know he is on Khar Delba.

"And," I finished, reaching a hand up to tap one finger against my temple. "The coordinates to Khar Delba are in here."

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

Darth Wicked...well that's the second Sith the guys have heard about...

I wonder if these other fellows--Desolist and Gravin Dark--are also around, still hunting down this thing?

This was going to be a very nasty hunt indeed.

All the facts boiled down to one rather painfully obvious conclusion. If this Darth Wicked still had the crystal on his robe, and was still on Khar Delba...

They had no option but to find Wicked and retreive the Nar Khelba from him.

That could be an all-too-unpleasant venture. However, if they didn't attempt, Shayla would remain where she was, and could potentially--although Terrin couldn't possibly imagine it--become some sort of Dark Force User herself. That was a more disturbing thought than the first.

Terrin had been so busy listening to Galen, watching her, thinking through every last piece of evidence down to the very last detail he could think of, that he hadn't noticed the looks on the other three mens' faces til she finally stopped what she was saying and his mind shifted back into reality.

And there, sitting around him were Aaron, Matt, and Jasyn, faces blank and eyes wide with wonder, clearly startled by the pieces that their own minds were probably putting together.

Terrin drifted back into thought a moment--Matt had been on deck the night before last. He seemed the least surprised of the three, he knew that Galen's sister was a Sith. What he didn't know, however, was that any other Sith were involved. Aaron, he thought, had been told about the relationship between Galen and the Sith as well. Jasyn had been filled in on the details by Matt, although Terrin wasn't sure what he'd been told.

Terrin decided the awe-struck looks weren't the product of the contents of the information Galen was telling them. Most of them knew Sith were involved, and were aware this mission would most certainly have harrowing risks. Terrin decided instead the looks were in direct relation to the sheer detail and accuracy with which the information was related.

Then the piece that was missing from the puzzle slammed into him with the force of a Super Star Destroyer. There was one little detail that he didn't believe any of the guys were quite aware of yet, and one little detail that he knew of.

Galen was Force sensitive.

Maybe they should know this? He didn't dare tell them himself--he knew it, he didn't think there was any major reason for it to be a heavily guarded secret--then again, there was a Sith after Galen, namely, her sister. He didn't know how wise it would be to flag the information around. Then again these guys worked closely with him, if anyone could be trusted with this information, it was them...

Then he decided with sudden assuredity that if she wanted them to know she'd tell them, or let him know that she wanted them to know.

Move the business along, buddy.

Terrin cleared his throat, alerting all the guys to turn their eyes towards him. Then, briefly glancing at Galen and only then noticing the sweat dripping from her forehead, he voiced his one conclusion, based on the facts, no matter how horrifying it sounded. "So, we go to Khar Delba, find this Darth Wicked and his robes, and take this Nar Khelba from him."

With that statement the room went dead silent, and all eyes returned their attention to Galen who was, as she had been for the past few minutes, standing in the middle of the floor.

And Terrin knew, at that moment, she was keenly aware of the scrutiny she was under. Hoping she'd get his message, Terrin arched his eyebrows at her. What do you want me to do?

[ 09-30-2001 09:53 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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"Captain Danner," the messenger said after Terrin had answered the door, "I'm sorry to interrupt you but you had a priority call come through. Someone named Erik Kartan."

Erik Kartan? Terrin thought, shocked. He wondered if everyone else noticed his look, and hoped he'd covered it well enough before anyone could.

"Sorry to leave the meeting like this everyone," he said, turning to the others who were still sitting on the couch. "This can't wait, it's very important. If there's anything else you wish to discuss while I am gone, go ahead. If not, we'll talk later. But for now, I'd best go take care of this."

With that he was out the door, down the corridor, and in his plush Eagle Enterprises office aboard the Hornett.

He dialed in the comm frequency that the messenger had given to him and waited for an answer.

“Captain Erik Kartan speaking.”

Terrin gulped, as quietly as one could, that is. Here goes nothing. “Erik, this is Terrin Danner.”

Suddenly Erik snapped into full alert mode. He was frankly surprised Terrin called him back. Maybe the guy had a shred of decency after all. Then again, maybe he was just calling to make sure Erik knew there was no way he was going to cooperate. “Terrin, I know you have been looking for Shayla,” he started out, trying to pick the best possible wording. “I know you are angry with her, but this is a matter of the utmost urgency. You might as well know that Shayla is being held captive by a Sith and I and two Jedi are looking for her, so this isn’t a game anymore. Izzy has picked up some sort of rumors that you might know something about where Shayla is, and I have to know what you know, at whatever cost you require.”

Terrin unconciously arched an eyebrow. He wasn’t surprised that Erik had called him about this really. He wasn’t even surprised that Erik wanted to know what he did. He was surprised, however, that Erik was willing to pay for the information, and made it clear that cost was not the concern.

Shayla’s got you looped, hasn’t she buddy? he wanted to say. Truth was, Terrin knew exactly how Erik felt. Had Erik called only a few days before, Terrin doubted he would have shown him the courtesy he now, without one milligram of regret, would give him. “I’ll tell you everything I know, on two conditions,” Terrin told Erik.

Here it comes, the little devil on one of Erik’s shoulder told him. The angel on the other shoulder persisted in smiling and saying, See, he is at least willing to talk.

Irritating, those little shoulder-beings were.

“All right,” Erik said instead. “What do you want?”

“First of all, I want you to understand that people change. I’m not the same Terrin Danner I was even a few days ago, and I can’t honestly say that then I would have told you a thing. But even a guy like me can have people who come into his life and forever change it. Secondly, I want you to afford me one small business deal, not as a means of payment, but as a means of setting up truce, in return for the information I give you.”

Okay, Erik thought, This was getting weird. “Just what might this little ‘business deal’ be, Terrin?”

“I’d like for you to buy the squadron of XJ series X-wings from me that I know Shayla has been wanting at manufacturer’s cost. That’s the best deal you’ll get, and it’ll give me some business, which I desperately need.”

NOW Terrin had Erik’s attention. “Let’s hear what you know, then I’ll make the call,” Erik told him.

“Fair enough,” Terrin agreed. “You should know, first, that I was aware of the Sith. I have been for some time. I met a pilot that I gave passage off the last planet I was on, and later I found out that she too was looking for this Sith that Shayla is with. There’s a lot of story I’m leaving out here, but we know that this Sith is very powerful. The only way any of us will ever get Shayla back is if we go to a planet called Khar Delba and search the Sith Temple there for a weapon that can kill Sith permanently. I’m honestly not positive where Shayla is at this moment, but the pilot I met is Force-sensitive, and has specific ties with this Sith. But only when we have the weapon will we go after the Sith and try to save Shayla.”

Who’s we? Erik wanted to ask. “Where is the Khar Delba?”

“I only have the coordinates for it. I know that you want to be here. But there is something very personal about this to me now too, and going after this Sith is very important to my pilot,” Terrin explained, pausing. He is SO going to figure this out. “You see, this Sith that has Shayla...used to be my pilot’s sister. The sister, when she became this Sith, killed their father. So it’s no longer an issue of getting Shayla back anymore for me. It’s a matter of helping someone who is very important to me achieve some justice for something terrible that has happened to her. Do you understand?”

Hmmm. Something terrible that has happened to her. If Erik didn’t know any better, he’d think Terrin Danner had fallen in love. Then again, who ever said a guy like Terrin couldn’t fall in love? Stranger things had happened. And Erik did understand. “Yeah, I read you, loud and clear,” Erik responded. “Just one thing. How do I know, if and when you find Shayla, that you’ll return her to me and not feed her to the Moff?”

There goes that Moff issue again. Stupid Moff. “The Moff’s Eclipses were confiscated. He has to pay damages to the Imperial Remnant for trying to kill Palleon. Even if I produced him Shayla Stargazer and he actually succeeded in getting money out of her, he’d never pay me back. And as I told you in the beginning, people change.”

Maybe they do. “Yeah, I got that. I’m just...well...you know.”

“You don’t know if you can trust me,” Terrin stated.

“Yeah.”

“Well, not to sound rude, but you haven’t a lot of choice. I’ll reach Khar Delba long before you will, and even with the information I’ve given you, you don’t have the immediate resources to find the weapon. I can give you the coordinates to where my fleet will be if you wish to join us. You’d make a valuable source of information if we need it since you are the bon-a-fide owner of an information smuggling agency. So, are you with us?”

Erik wondered if this was a dream. He wasn’t quite sure what had gotten into Terrin Danner, and he wasn’t all too sure about trusting him. But, as Terrin had pointed out, he didn’t have a lot of choice. “All right Terrin,” Erik said at last, “Send me the coordinates to your fleet, and we’ll talk more about the squadron of X-wing fighters later. If you can help me find Shayla like you say you can, you’ll never have need to worry about your company going out of business ever again.”

[ 10-29-2001 11:34 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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After realizing that all plans were as set as they could be for the time being, and feeling that the urgency of the situation required it, Terrin had the fleet revert to realspace some twenty-four hours before they had originally planned.

The four members of the Khar Delba crew were to meet at 2000 hours in the main hanger of the Hornett. After some forethought, the bunch had decided to only take the Eagle down to the surface so as to reduce the number of alarms that might be sounded upon their entry into the atmosphere.

After a good shower and packing a few supplies in his backback, Terrin swung the bag over his shoulder, turned the lights to his quarters off, and headed out to the main hanger bay about 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time.

As he approached the Eagle, he surveyed the care that the tech guys had taken to get her ready for the trip. She had been recently fueled, and the outside looked shiny, as though the exterior had just been cleaned. He paused a moment, gazing at the suttle thoughtfully, scanning the surface.

He noticed a little ding on the rear hull of the shuttle, one that he didn't recall being there previously. He was about to call a tech over and fuss about it, when he remembered.

"Better ding than death," she had said.

Better than death indeed, he agreed, grinning slightly.

As he stood there evaluating the status of the Eagle one final time, a familiar hand wrapped around his waist.

He smiled down at her, snapping back into reality. "I think," he said, "We have a date to keep."

The two of them wandered up the ramp of the open hatchway of the Eagle, and proceeded to the cabin where Matt and Jasyn sat in the passengers' seats, waiting.

"I was wondering when you two lovebirds were going to show," Matt kidded.

Terrin merely arched one eyebrow at him, a flash of amusement surfacing even though he tried his damnedest to keep it in check. "Didn't want to hold up the party too long," he said, leading Galen to sit in the pilot's chair and then sitting himself down in the copilot's chair.

Now, this was vaguely familiar...minus two passengers...

Once situated in his seat, Terrin reached forward, fiddled with a few controls, and opened a comm channel. "Aaron, do you read me?"

"Sure do," the other replied, voice crackling over the channel. "We should have reversion to realspace in ten standard minutes. You guys are ready early."

"Good," Terrin commented. "Keep me updated on the reversion status. I want to take off as soon as we are in realspace."

"Got it," Aaron said. "I'll be back with you shortly."

With that, the comm channel closed.

"Well," Terrin said, suddenly feeling a little strange about the dead silence in the cabin. "While we sit here, we might as well make sure coordinates are locked in correctly and weapons are online," he decided, looking over at Galen who, at these words, went into action...

[ 10-03-2001 03:20 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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Repulsor lifts and stabilizers... check.

Onboard gravitational approximator... check.

Impulse engines, ready to fire... check.

Inertial dampener... check.

Hyperdrive motivator... check.

Atmospheric regeneration system... check.

System after system flared in alert attention, as a wealth of steadily growing green dials glowed one by one into life, proclaiming the forecast of fair winds and smooth sailing ahead.

With a final albeit a tad grim smile, I ran the Eagle's weaponry though its system's check. On par with the rest of the willing little Lambda-class fighter it too proclaimed itself ready and able to take on any conceivable opponent with the utmost efficiency.

Well... almost any....

I pushed that thought abruptly aside as I pushed myself back from the control panel. Taking a deep breath, I turned to Terrin.

"Well, she's as ready as I am, Terrin," I announced evenly. Then, the gesture arising from somewhere deep inside me, the words coming from a place even deeper yet, I reached over and laid my hand upon his strong one.

"May the Force be with us, love," I said softly.

Sheesh... where in the name of all the Treasure on Roon did that come from?

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

He wasn't sure what was coming over him, but a wave of something...oh heck, he knew it was worry...was threatening to surface. Terrin had been on many a mission with the guys, and he trusted their capabilities completely. So the feeling wasn't the result of the danger lying ahead. They'd been in danger more than once as a team, that wasn't something new, even though Terrin knew the enemy they would now face was even more dangerous than all the ones before combined.

But that wasn't it either.

The truth was he was worried about Galen. Worried about the baby. Worried about risking losing her.

But he surely would lose her if they just sat around and waited for the inevitable to happen. That just wasn't an option.

The cabin had gone strangely quiet again, and Terrin knew the guys sensed the concern in the atmosphere as well as Galen did. They remained quiet out of respect and concern, and he appreciated it very much.

"Terrin," Aaron said, the comm crackling to life. "One minute to reversion, have all your systems on standby and we'll have you out of here in just a few minutes."

"Okay, thanks," he said. Then he turned to Galen, giving her a grim smile of his own. "Here goes nothing."

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

Terrin volunteered for the first shift, and didn't have much trouble keeping himself alert. His mind was spinning, calculating what would need to be done once they reached the surface of Khar Delba. Sure, he'd made the statement that they would need to take the Nar Khelba from Darth Wicked in such a simplistic way that it sounded like there would be no problem, but he knew differently. After all, Darth Wicked certainly knew the power of the weapon and would not be an easy foe to face on any level.

As Terrin sat in the pilot's seat quietly, the comm suddenly began to chirp, startling him only momentarily. He reached forward and pressed the comm switch, opening the frequency.

"Eagle this is Aaron, do you read?"

"Yes, Aaron this is Terrin. We are in hyperspace, on our way."

"Good. The fleet is enroute to K'eel Doba as well. And coordinates have now been transmitted to Erik Kartan. He says his fleet will be on its way shortly."

"Good. Make sure to brief him and his associates on everything we know as soon as they arrive. I feel that their help will be greatly needed, although in what capacity I have not yet determined."

"I agree," Aaron replied. "That's all for now. I'll keep you updated of further news."

"Okay, I'll make sure we do the same. Eagle out."

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He stepped into the cabin, taking note of the fact that Galen was back in the pilot's seat and that Matt was sitting in the copilot's chair. The two of them seemed to be making small talk.

Matt noticed Terrin's entrance first. "Morning, Terrin. Want your seat back? We were just checking through all the systems."

"Checking systems again? We aren't paranoid, are we?" Terrin questioned, only slightly joking. They had, after all, every reason under the sky to be paranoid. "Yeah, I'd like to take the copilot position back. I'd like to make sure everyone took good care of my ship while I was trying to sleep."

"Why am I not surprised?" Matt asked rhetorically, getting up from the copilot's chair and sitting in a passenger's seat.

Yawning, Terrin sat in the vacated seat and stretched a bit, eyeing all of the controls. "She looks well-taken-care-of," he said approvingly.

About that time, the cabin door slid open and Jasyn entered, looking still half-asleep.

"Good morning," Matt said to him.

Terrin turned back and looked at the half-concious man, grinning. "Sleep well?"

Jasyn frowned at him, sitting in the other passenger's seat. "As a matter of fact, no. Someone else can sleep in the bunk under Terrin next time. Either you didn't sleep yourself, our you toss alot. Shook the whole damn bunk all night," he grumbled.

"Sorry about that, a lot of things have been on my mind," Terrin explained. "Speaking of," Terrin added, knowing the question was mostly directed at Galen, "how the Hell are we going to approach a Sith Lord and then take the Nar Khelba from him?"

[ 10-09-2001 11:52 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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I crinkled my nose up, sniffing, as I carefully reached out to tweak a control which, to be honest, was just fine sitting there as it had been so innocently doing. Just had to do something with my hands at that point, other than fling them into the air with a colossal shrug. That was my first inclination...

I turned a bit sideways in my seat, trying to address everyone together. I opened my mouth...

... and for the longest moment just let it hang there, looking for all the world like a worrt in mid-strike, pondering the fledgling idea which suddenly began to come to life within me.

Sith Lord... yeesh! I winced, trying to evade the idea. Why ask just me? I mean, there are three other heads sitting here worth brainstorming with; who in Hell's Seven Circles am I, the local Doctoral Candidate in Sithology?

Now my eyes widened further, as that ridiculous remonstration was immediately followed with, Hey, sweet cheeks. Face it. You've tangled with, lessee now... ummm... Darth Wicked, Gravin Dark, Lord Desolist, and your dear, sweet ex-sister. You ARE the resident expert!

The sarcastic defense I had raised fled from me altogether as this thought sunk in. I was. I had been through a hell of a lot at the hands of no less than four Dark Users... not to mention that my father indeed had been considered the galactic authority on the topic of the Old Sith. There simply had to be something stuck away in the ol' noggin which would be of use.

Galen, I shook my finger at myself. You have an eidetic memory. There just has to be something in your head that we can use! Now, THINK, girl!

During the entire time these thoughts had raced through my head I had remained frozen in my position, mouth open. Suddenly realizing the picture I was presenting of myself, I exerted enough conscious effort to close my mouth. Even greater effort pulled the muscles of my face into a grimace meant to be a smile...

...which suddenly transformed into a genuine and actually quite beaming one as inspiration struck.

"There is a way!" I exclaimed excitedly. "There is actually a way!"

Overcome with excitement, I leaped to my feet, narrowly missing striking my head upon the junction of the bulkhead and beam overhead. I quickly ran a hand through my hair, then planted my hands on my hips.

The men raked me with a look that revealed both utter hope and excitement... as well as their suspicions that I had quite suddenly taken leave of my senses.

Well, sheesh, maybe I have at that! I thought to myself. To be honest, this little thought had been worrying the devil out of me ever since I had mentioned the existence of that blasted Nar Khelba. Sheesh, someone, give a girl the room to rebound a little in relief, ok...?

"Yssalamari!" I grinned, my eyes positively sparkling.

The men looked at each other blankly. "Uh-hh... 'Y-sala-WHO?'" Jasyn mumbled with a yawn. "What the hell is she talking about? Terrin?"

My eyes shot into those wonderful blue ones of my love; he merely waved a hand in my direction as if to say, "Give the lady a chance to finish."

Finish I will, boy howdy; here it comes!

"Yssalamari are these sorta, ummm... Force-dampening creatures that live on Khar Delba," I explained with an expansive wave of my hand. "They have this natural ability to, well, to short circuit a Force-users ability to use the Force. I think you have to be somewhat in close range of them for this to work; I mean, they have to be in fairly close proximity to the Force-user to work their little magic.

"But they're native to the place. I remember, because when I..."

I paused a moment, gulping away a flash of sheer misery. Damned eidetic memory anyway....

"...when I went there, and first really tangled with my sis- with Graysith, I mean, I at the time had some artifacts which should have protected me from being spotted by anyone.

"I got yanked up by the first squad of Noghri which came down the pike... said pikes not being at all pleasant."

I struggled a short moment longer with the past before continuing on. Good, it seems to be getting easier and easier to deal with....

"Anyway," I pressed on. "I was rather more than surprised to be captured so easily. The Noghri obligingly told me it was due to the influence of the Yssalamari. Guess I had had the wonderful misfortune of landing in the nearby vicinity of a herd of them.

"But they're there. All we have to do is find one of the lil buggers, and snag it. Carry it along with us. Then when we run into Wicked, at least he won't be able to use the Dark Side against us. We'll be able to use conventional weaponry against him... and we just might have a fighting chance to get the Nar Khelba.

"Trouble is..." I finally wound up with. "I don't know exactly what a Yssalamari looks like. I've never seen one."

Sheesh! I thought to myself as I looked from one set of eyes to the other. I hope someone here has a good set of data-text...

[ 10-10-2001 01:33 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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But what DID the creatures look like? Granted, he'd heard of them, but they were high commodity and hard to get a hold of...how were they going to figure out what the things looked like...???

A moment of pure inspiration flashed, and Terrin knew EXACTLY how they were going to figure out what the ysalamari looked like. Maybe having Erik Kartan onboard would finally start paying off.

"I've got it," Terrin blurted, snapping his right thumb and index finger in the air, not really aware that his sudden outburst had caused the two guys behind him to almost jump.

Galen just looked over at him hopefully, suddenly realizing she was still standing. She sat back down, this time leaning an elbow forward on the arm rest and placing her head in her hand so as to watch him and the other two guys in the cabin.

"Information smugglers use ysalamari alot when they suspect that Jedi might interfere with their missions," Terrin explained. "Most of the small time info smugglers can't get a hold of the creatures because they are rather expensive, but just about every info corporation at least knows about them, or can find out about them. And we now have an information smuggling agency on our mission team," Terrin stated, grinning.

"Erik Kartan," Matt said thoughtfully, nodding in agreement. Even Jasyn, still looking a bit tired, suddenly leaned forward and seemed to wake up a bit more, realizing that this just might be the best and most efficent way to find out what they needed.

"Do we have Kartan's comm freq?" Matt asked.

"Yeah," Terrin replied. "I do. I think I'll contact him now. He'll get the information we need transfered to us as fast as possible, I'm sure. Anything to face Wicked on our playing field, and not his, is a step in the right direction," he finished standing up and heading for the aft. "I'll be back in a few minutes, hopefully with good news. I think we are about to see how beneficial this truce with Erik Kartan and Stargazer Corporation really is..."

[ 10-10-2001 10:42 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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"Well?" Jasyn asked at last.

"He's going to transmit us the information on the ysalamari via the Datanet. Thinks he might have some information right on hand," Terrin answered. "Hopefully it'll be here within the hour, with pictures and physical description at the very least. Knowing Kartan he'll probably come up with even better than just that."

"So now we wait," Matt said thoughtfully. "But just one thing Terrin. If and when we actually manage to find this Nar Khelba, how are we going to make use of it, seeing as we aren't Jedi and none of us knows how to wield a lightsaber to begin with?"

Terrin frowned, searching through the possibilies. There weren't too many he could think of. "Well, either we find us a Jedi who is bold enough to face this Sith with a lightsaber, or we figure out a way to use the gem in a weapon similiar to, but not exactly like, a lightsaber. a weapon that one of us could actually use. Maybe a vibroblade or something similiar to that."

Jasyn nodded in agreement. "That could work. Makes sense that it would anyway, but then again this is some sort of Force-related thing, and we all think in the mindset of Force-dummies, so who knows if our analysis is completely accurate."

"Yeah," Terrin muttered to himself, way off in thought.

All eyes slowly but surely turned to Galen, who seemed to be thinking over the possibilities herself. Terrin was about to ask her what she thought of the idea, when Matt did so for him.

"So Galen, what do you think?" Matt questioned. "Could we make this thing work in a weapon similiar to a lightsaber, or is there no other way around it?"

[ 10-10-2001 05:24 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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"Heck if I know," I replied. Then, a bit embarrassed at the apparant flippancy of my reaction, I leaned forward, trying to be more serious.

"I mean, how do you kill a Sith?" I went on, mulling this over even as I voiced the question. "Do you have to kill him with a lightsaber, or will any other weapon do? I know that way back, that Darth Vader guy killed ol' Palpatine by tossing him down an energy shaft of the old Death Star, or something similar; I haven't heard of him popping back into the swing of things anytime lately."

I smiled a little at my attempt at wit, then sobered before the steady gazes of the men. They certainly looked as if they didn't appreciate it one whit. My smile slowly faded; even Terrin was looking at me a bit askance.

Sheesh, can't these guys lighten up ever? the impish part of me spoke up irritably, poking my sternum with its incorporeal little finger for emphasis.

This is not the time for frivolity! I answered myself sternly, shutting up that particular little shoulder devil. Giving it a final toss into oblivion, I continued musing aloud. I'll admit my tone had sobered somewhat.

"All I really know about this thing is that you physically emplace it into a lightsaber, and that when that weapon is used to kill a Sith... or any Force-user, for that matter... it likewise destroys the- the essence of the being, the soul, if you will. That Force-user ends up truly dead."

I refused to continue onward in the direction which was now so blatantly being spread out before me. No need to concern myself now over such matters as Palpatine's eternal spirit hovering about somewhere, seeking vengeance, seeking to sway, and raising general ruckus somewhere in the Galaxy.

What if he managed to join forces with, say, Desolist, coming back from the dead in that manner?

I shuddered, forcing that thought away from me. It was worrisome enough just keeping tabs on the one we were after right now.

[ 10-10-2001 07:04 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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