I had already explained the reason for this little unexpected visit. I had already asked the questions; no, demanded the answers thereof. And now I was waiting, letting time and the enigma I presented standing there, the shadowy strength of the burgeoning Empire behind me, speak loudly in the gently brilliant light of this room.

The Prime Minister actually fidgeted, and that's something one doesn't see often in a Kaminoan. He raised an impossibly slender and three-fingered hand to his tight lips.

"I- I am afraid that much of that which we do here is of a confidential nature, Sir Lieutenant General," he whispered at length. "I do not really believe I have the moral right to--"

I cut off his words with a wave of my glove. Then I shifted, leaning forward slightly.

"That does not concern me, nor does it the Empire," I growled. "What does is what mischief you have been making here, quietly, and for some length of time," I bluffed.

I straightened up. Crossed my arms again... and stood silent for an indeterminable period until finally ending with,

"You will tell me what I need to know, and you will show me what you have to show. Otherwise this entire sorry planet will be vaporized; there are other cloning facilities available."

The Prime Minister fidgeted a bit more, then sighed.

"As you wish," he finally murmured, nodding to an aide who hurried away, before bursting into a somewhat lengthy soliloquy.

My eyebrow raised behind my helmet as he went on and on about matters I had never heard of before. Something about an Entaris project, followed by an Aurora one. And clone after clone after clone, all at the none too gentle behest of a certain Dark Lord Roan.

It was all I could do to keep my jaw from dropping when the Kaminoan he had nodded to returned with something in his arms.

"We had orders to destroy this when our work was done, but we are not murderers, Lieutenant General," he said, turning to that aide to take the tiny bundle from him and hold it in his arms.

Wide-set blue eyes stared up at him in complete innocence, red hair flaming against the purity of whiteness, puffing from her head in a thick yet wispy halo....

I managed by a dint of hard effort to put my jaw back in place. Then I found myself holding my own arms to the Prime Minister.

"Give her to me," I ordered in a tone that brooked no disrespect... much less disobedience. The Prime Minister turned his head up to me, then stood and crossed the short distance to where I was. The slightest bit of trembling raced through my arms as I took the bundle into them, to cradle her against my armored chest. Gingerly, I touched a gloved finger to her wee nose.

"You've just saved your planet for another day, Minister," I muttered, then turned on my heel. Utterly ignoring the ineffective attempts of the Greeter to offer any apology on behalf of Kamino, I strode quickly from that chamber and soon returned to the entryway through which I had come into this city.

Moments later, I was aboard Ransacker, settling the bundle into a seat, then settling myself. I turned my visor down to her.

"Let's go home, sweetheart," I said to her, then brought my ship into wonderful life, to make it so.

The infant only bubbled her agreement as we roared through thunder and rain, soon to exit and disappear into the beauty of hyperspace. And it wasn't until we had reached that safety that I finally sat back and allowed the emotions I had been holding within me to have full release. I don't know how long it took for the tears to cleanse the grief and anger from me; quite a while, I suspect.

But when I was finally depleted of them, it was as if a tiny sun was alive in my chest.

There must indeed be a god living somewhere, for he had given my daughter back to me.

[ 01-06-2003 01:26 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Sorben Tarnus ]

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...and in that brief flash of a moment found nothing in his heart but overwhelming love and gratitude.

It was the recognition of that which stayed her own hand, which shocked her enough to allow his genteel action to take place. In fact, she was filled with so much shock, that she remained stone-still in that position even as he departed, one hand raised where Roan had taken it up to meet his lips.

She blinked her eyes.

Her jaw worked voicelessly.

Upon her forehead the Glyph flared in sudden suspicion... a deep and terrifying suspicion echoed by the sudden, slavering yowls of the Beast within.

Slowly her eyes turned to the golden image tattooed upon her wrist... then to her husband's. At length she pulled her gaze back, to encompass them all, where they all stood immobile battling sudden shock of their own.

"What has he done?" came the whisper from her lips.

She shuddered, somehow knowing the answer to her very own question.

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She somehow knew Roan was not bluffing. Not in the least.

"We cannot let this stop us," she said at length, determination in the depths of her eyes. "He may indeed have brought the Sith back, but he will still have to fight for control of them, for as it was The Triad was in leadership; this will not give him ultimate control."

Then she looked to Lord Recinis, expanding upon her thoughts. "He denounced his Sith heritage, and in doing so lost his claim as Dark Lord of the Warrior Clan. This title now belongs to you and your Lady...

...and one among the Sith knows this very well."

She paused at that, then looked at all aboard the warship. "I believe we must somehow contact Lord Aelvedaar and confront Ankrist Roan once again. He will seek to gain control over the Sith and may try to destroy the Triad to accomplish this; the only way to stop him from any outright takeover is to challenge his rights to leading the Warrior clan. After all, was it not your family who originally held rightful claim to the Warrior Clan?" she queried, her greeny-blue eyes meeting Recinis's emrald pair, as she let the question fall into silence for a moment.

Then, "And there is another reason we must not let this stop us. For if Roan takes total control of the Sith--

--which he will do however he must--

--he will not stop at that."

[ 01-06-2003 03:05 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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That was no mere joy at having returned the sith... That was love... That was the source of his power... What else could cause him to actauly lower his guard, nothing save utter expectance, even perhaps slight impatiants... But why? he could see his daughter any time... It does not make any sense... Perhaps... Could he hold a loved one that had been lost? perhaps... But that is a question for another time...

recinis finaly nodded to shayla, "yes, we must come in contact with Lord Aelvedaar... If things have gone as we believe, then he will be returning to Khar delba..."

He then walked to the helm, and messaged galen about the recent happenings before puting the craft in motion, only waiting a moment to see if there were any protests.

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he then took another swig of the little liquide and shook once more, walking around quietly, "that guy really bugs me... Anyone mind telling me what it is just happened? cause i sure as hell dont got the slightest idea to go off of... Man, i wish i had decided to just stay home, no, i had to do one job... one more, just for kicks, one little thing, pretend to be a jedi, scare some guys, but NO, i got caught up on this..."

he then trailed off and mumbled to himself "then again, you did meet galen, that was kinda a good thing, nice person to hang out with N all... but then... That guy had to...."

again his body shook as he recalled darra's death, "hey, anyone want to teach me how to kill him? cause im ready, let me at him now, he doesnt deserve one more breath... Whatever the hell it was he's about, no more..."

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Then she stopped in mid-movement. Her eyes widened as another question flooded them, her hand now rising to lightly touch the Glyph.

It was still there. It was still alight. Whether or not her destiny had indeed been fulfilled, and by however circuitous a route, the All had not fled in the fruition of that destiny.

It was still within her. She was still Graysith, the Chosen Daughter of the Sith....

A sigh of breath she didn't know she had been holding escaped her then, and she nodded once in agreement to all. Then she completed her truncated movement, turning now to the navigation board, reaching out and keying in the coordinates to the dim red star which shown in the K'eel Doban and Khar Delban skies. Another light touch of a sigil, and the command was executed.

The warship disappeared into hyperspace, howling toward something they weren't totally certain of, but something which each and every person aboard held in the highest suspicion in his breast.

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Falling silent at that he began to pace, his mind spinning as thoughts of the recent past began to cloud his mind once more, as well as thoughts of what lay ahead. He really didn't know what he was doing here anymore or how he could help, and his frustration was to a level where all he wanted to do was sit and have a good, long drink. But he realized what was at the crux of his troubles.

Terrin was gone, and he was out of place. He was avoiding the reality of Terrin's death as much as he possibly could...and that meant avoiding telling anyone on the outside just what had happened as well. To add to that, he really hated to be the bearer of such devestating news any other way but in person...

He turned to Graysith, who was at the navboard making calculations; even then he could see the disturbing sight of hyperspace leap out before them. "I know this may be a bad time, but I'd like to ask you to drop me off on a planet somewhere on the way to your destination; so long as it's not one of the Sith worlds I can have someone pick me up. I have responsibilities elsewhere and feel I am of little help here. Aside from that Aaron and Matt deserve to know what happened to Terrin, and I'd hate to deliver that information to them in any way other than in person."

He quieted at that, the faintest glimmerings that could be nothing other than despair yet lurking somewhere deeply in his eyes as he waited.

[ 01-07-2003 03:59 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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An ally is an ally... yet to bring an innocent life into possible danger... Captain Danner's men should be told the truth... dare we risk denying this?

Recinis nodded to her, as if saying, The gamepiece is in your quadrant, my Lady....

Graysith nodded slightly in return, then turned round to bring up their trajectory vector onscreen. The pickings were slim, but with merely a slight course adjustment....

"We can take you to Fondor, Mr. Lancaster," she finally said, now raising her eyes to him, waiting to see if this was agreeable with him, or if they should divert even further into the Core.

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Jasyn pursed his lips as he considered for one final moment, then nodded. "That will be fine with me," he commented, nodding once in appreciation.

Then with no further word he returned to the corner he'd be skulking about in, his eyes defocusing as he again thought of what responsibilities laid ahead of him.

He sure hoped Fondor had a good cantina he could visit while he waited...

[ 01-07-2003 04:36 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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[ 01-19-2003 05:11 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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