Garrison knew it wouldn't be long until the news was out. And he knew that the crew would be overjoyed. He'd heard the rumors floating around, although he pretended not to.

"You'll find that most of the codes to your personal things have not been changed," he then spoke up in Terrin's direction. "Cap-errr--Commander Barnes tended to remain in his own office, and left yours in place."

Garrison fell silent for a moment at that as they headed to a turbolift and entered. He keyed in the destination, and the door slid closed after everyone got inside.

Frowing to himself as he realized something, Garrison spoke once more.

"Ahhh...you said there was someone aboard your ship with injuries?" he queried rhetorically, keying something in to his wrist comm. Someone from the medical wing answered the call, and he directed them to removed the injured party from the ship on the specified landing platform.

About this time, the turbolift stopped and opened, revealing another, more secluded, corridor. Garrison allowed Danner to take the lead, stepping back a bit. As they approached the Captain's office, Garrison spoke up one final time, still staying somewhat behind. "The entry code is still the same, Captain Danner. Commander Barnes never changed it, and was one of the few even in this office since your...

...and recalled his access code. He punched it in, and the metal door slid obligingly open, revealing things just as he had remembered them from a couple of years before. He couldn't help the nostalgic feeling that swept over him. Turning back to the others, he nodded for them to follow him inside, and headed for the computer console at the desk.

"I'm going to pull up a listing of all the ships that are here," he then stated, beginning to key some things in. "And I'm going to have our sensors map out the planet..."

He trailed a moment, pursing his lips thougutfully. "We need the coordinates for Shawn from the map you made so that the Hornett's sensors will have a guide to make its own map, or else she'll try and map out the entire planet," Terrin said to Galen. "Do you remember the coordinates for his location, or should we ask the medical team that is going for our injured friend to pick that map up while they are there?"

He paused then, chewing his lip thoughtfully. "Anyone think of anything else we should be trying now that we have some more equipment to work with?"

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

His eyes flicked from Garrison to Captain Danner, whom he was still fairly certain ought to be dead. Indeed, he had heard repeated several times rumors to this effect. Rumors which had come from somewhat credible sources. Not hearing any immediate responses, he went on.

"If... ah... we're not able to get exact co-ordinates for Sha-- er... the person in question, then it might be a good idea to divide the planet's surface up into smaller sectors and have it surveyed by several smaller craft. Their sensors can map their individual areas more efficiently than a single large vessel. They can relay the information back here, saving some time and also garaunteeing that there will be someone in close proximity to the er... missing person, when he is located. I believe thats ah.. the standered New Republic Fleet... search and rescue protocol. Er.. Not that this is a Republic vessel... and ah.. provided we have the nessecary vessels..."

Rathal's voice trailed off and he instantly regretted having spoken at all.

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

My Characters: Rathal, Narcolm, Freedon Naad

Provided we have the necessary ships? Who was "we"? Was this guy an employee?

Still, the suggestion was a good one. A very good one in fact. "We should have the ships necessary on board the Hornett," Terrin spoke up, arching one brow a bit. "And we should also have Shawn's coordinates. Still, taking down a smaller ship with more sophisticated sensors than that hunk of junk we came here on down closer to his location should do the trick."

He paused then, pursing his lips, his eyes suddenly lighting up as an idea came to mind. He quirked a brow Galen's way. "Hey, the Eagle had some fairly sophisticated sensors on her, I had them put in myself," he said. "Maybe we could use her to scope out the Degobah surface if she is still around here somewhere."

Another brief pause. Then, returning to his former musings about who this new guy was, he turned his direction. "Oh, and your name was...?"

[ 08-27-2007 08:22 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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

I felt another set of muscles loosen; with a little grunt, I shifted and sat upright.

"Well, sheesh, I thought we pretty much had Shawn's location pinpointed. I mean, I know we're not positively, absolutely certain of his on-the-dot coordinates, but we do have a general location for him.

"The problem isn't so much a matter of finding him, but how in the world are we going to get him out?"

I stopped talking then, if only for the fact that I knew if I opened my mouth again nothing would pop out of it except a yawn.

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

He could have kicked himself for tha last sentence. Had it not been for the irritation of being casually glossed over by everyone in the room he might not have been ruffled enough to say something that rash. Still, he supposed, whats done is done. How bad could it be, anyway?

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

My Characters: Rathal, Narcolm, Freedon Naad

Thus it was that I found myself in an increasingly muzzy state, you know, the kind of state where you're not quite connected with reality, where your subconscious isn't quite released yet not totally squelched, the state of being where everything within you and without simply starts to flow together into one big, overwhelming now...

And that's when this seeming inoffensive employee's words truly struck home.

Jonovar Rathal. Hmmm, it's triggering something, sounds awful familiar... wait... wait...

JONOVAR RATHAL?!?

What in Hell's Seven Circles was that sorry excuse for a bounty hunter doing aboard Hornett, hanging over the shoulder of those who ran her?

THIS WAS THE GUY WHO LET SORBEN TAKE ME... oh yeah, when I fled his sorry hiney way back after he'd taken me to Kashyykk... Ok, so yeah, this Rathal helped me out then. But he sure changed his little ratty mind when Mr. Tarnus chased us down again at Khar Delba, making plans to take down Sorben under the facade of letting him have me?

Yeah right! Whatever had possessed me at that time to believe him? I mean, c'mon Galen, you know Sorben, you used to run with him, you loved him and had his daughter, fer crying out loud--

Whatever gave you the feeble notion that anyone in the galaxy could outfox him? He's even managed to wriggle himself into Actar's good graces, now right up there with the REALLY Big Boys...

I shifted in my seat, suddenly awake, and started to open my mouth when it suddenly struck me that the little slime-o was apparently thinking I didn't recognize him. And that put me in a pretty good position, sure as there's Treasure on Roon!

"Sorry for starting to drop off there," I interjected, now giving forth an entirely false yawn. Then I leaned forward, propped an elbow on the table and cut an easy glance around, one which encompassed everyone present, and most assuredly did not linger any longer on Rathal than it did on anybody else.

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

Had he hired this guy? What the kriffing hell was he doing trailing along with Garrison?

What did he do on the Hornett or for EE?

Terrin never liked trusting just any old Tom or Dick. He was fairly certain he'd never laid eyes on this guy in his life. Certainly not the type he would hire...

If there was anything that he could do to help just let him know?

Had Aaron hired this guy? Where was Aaron?

"Ahhh, yeah," Terrin replied suddenly, furrowing his brow at Rathal. "But I think what we're really going to need is to dispatch some ships down to the surface first to get the mapping so we can determine just how the hell to get to Shawn," he added, beginning to key orders to do just that into the computer. "Orders are going out now to have that done within the next two standard hours. Then we can go from there."

He paused then, considering Rathal further. "And what is it you do aboard the Hornett exactly, Rathal? There are alot of faces, and it's been a while since I've been here. Which leads me to another question," he continued, then looking Garrison's way.

"Where is Aaron?"

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

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

My Characters: Rathal, Narcolm, Freedon Naad

He trailed. A very long time.

He glanced to Galen for a moment, recalling he owed the man a TIE-fighter still, wondering what had happened to link him with Aaron and bring him back to the Hornett. And hoping like hell that the both of them were safe, wherever it was that they were.

"Sounds like, from what you are saying, that they either went to Khar Delba or K'eel Doba. Unfortunately, I don't think they went to Khar Delba unless they arrived after we went to Degobah...

...which means they may have gone to K'eel Doba. And who knows what kind of reception they received there."

He paused then, frowning, and glancing at his chrono. "We should start getting data on the planet from the scouting ships below," he said, keying something else into the computer. "The sooner we can find Shawn, the sooner we can get out of here and find Aaron and Captain Joao."

[ 09-02-2007 08:42 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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

I shuddered a little at that thought. We did have rebreathers aboard somewhere, at least I assumed we did, but I for one certainly did not relish the prospect of running headlong into the waterdragon that had snatched the intrepid jedi in the first place.

Although it certainly would be easier to fight it than it had that thing which ripped off Terrin's arm, for example...

I couldn't help the last thought; the mention of Yaoksi Joao naturally brought it up. After the latent creepy-crawlies had finally crept away, I found myself still frowning, my thoughts suddenly switched to pondering upon the possible fate of said Captain.

We owe him a ship...

Another uncomfortable thought followed that apparent mental non sequiteur: an image of me placing that awful, awful Nar Kelba aboard his little TIE fighter and sending it off into the star that I had.

Oh yeah, we owe him a ship... And more than just another TIE fighter, too.

I nodded slightly to myself, making a note to bring this up to Terrin at some not-too-future time, hopefully when and if we found Captain Joao. Then I sighed, realizing where my thoughts had suddenly taken me.

What are we, the Cosmic Rescue and Aid Society?

I shook off that ridiculous thought, shot another glance at the shrinking Rathal, and then looked to Terrin.

"I mapped out the cave system; what else do you need? Was there something else I could have done, or that you need me to do? Remember we do have a coordinate where we can make live contact with Shawn; do you need me to go back there and skinny down that hole again?"

I couldn't help but shoot another glance back at Rathal at this. While he was no pansy, he wasn't the bulkiest of men; perhaps he could fit down said hole? But then, did I really trust him to do that for us, alone?

I kept these further thoughts to myself, shifting in my seat and reaching for a carafe of caf. Damn, but this little meeting was beginning to drag!

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

He paused then, pursing his lips a bit. Still, Shawn's been down there too long without any food or water. You're right...

...we need to at least take what we do have and get moving."

At this, Terrin turned to Taylor. "We're going to need a mining ship, a ship with the best sensors possible, some rope, some weapons, some explosives, and anything else anyone can think of that might help us get to Shawn."

He stood. "I'd request what we need myself, but that'll open up more than we have time to deal with just yet. We need to get moving. I'm assuming we have what we'll need, at least in some form and fashion?" he queried, cocking a brow at Garrison, who nodded.

Moving away from the desk, Terrin motioned for him to take a seat, knowing the younger man would understand. Garrison quickly did presicely that and began requesting the needed supplies.

"We'll need a team to help out with this, of course," Terrin said. "And a pilot or two," he continued, glancing Galen's way. "We've definitely got those skills covered. Is there anything else anyone can think of that we might need before we get moving with this?"

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

"I don't think you're going to need me as far as my piloting skills go," I piped up, glancing around at the others, none of whom had come forth with what to me was the most obvious requirement we needed.

"But I do have some caving skills; what you need to find Shawn is a good spelunking team."

I paused a moment, giving the others time to consider this.

"We've already got more than most true spelunkers have, too," I pressed on, my thoughts flashing back to the days out hunting for artifacts with Dad, and the myriad caves we'd had to venture into without any guidance other than a sense of "space" around us... sprinkled liberally with the good ol common variety and a super heightened sense of self-preservation.

"We've already got a map of the system. All we have to do is find a means of entering into that system, and then perhaps by laying a line of radio transmitters as we move along we can search for Shawn without losing contact with each other inside the rock--"

I let my words drift a little as I then considered them myself. At length I let my eyes refocus, bringing the others' faces back into my field of view, which was interrupted in a steady rhythmic manner by some kind of obstruction. With a start, I realized I was tapping my fingers upon my cheek and nose; coughing slightly I straightened, and let the offending members drop away.

"That bat managed to find entry," I said at last. "Seems to me that all we have to do is find the hole it used, or perhaps another one. Take a gander at the map I've already traced out; hell, any opening intercepting that scarp face should be showing anyway, 'cuz that's where any corridors leading out to the open simply end by touching the scarp face on the schematic.

"Find the opening closest to where we think Shawn is, or at least the one that is the apparently widest corridor -- those should be presented as darker lines on the map of the system -- and see if we can simply enter there or if we have to blast our way in. Personally, I don't thnik we should continually blast our way along, though. That would be too dangerous; too much risk of destabilizing or weakening the rock, which is already mazed by this system. But hopefully we'll find a natural way in that goes fairly deep; then we might have to blast an opening between one corridor to another -- maybe more than once! -- but these a shorter tunnels shouldn't present the same threat of weakening the system as would our having to continually widen our way all the way along."

I stopped, now receiving somewhat doubting looks here and there. In some cases, I could see figurative fingers being raised; before anyone could interject, I continued.

"Yeah, I know miners widen out tunnels all the time by blasting and whatnot, but that takes forever. They have to shore up as they go along, and all that. Besides, as I said, we have something on our side:

"A map, and the fact that not only did a tiny bat reach Shawn's position but something as huge as a dragonsnake almost did as well. I mean, he had to have gotten where he is by going through corridors large enough to accommodate him, and since he was brought somewhere into that sytem by the dragonsnake, we can deduce the tunnel used by it to be really big."

I stopped again, thinking.

"Maybe that should be our approach: try to find where the dragonsnake entered, see how the corridors there match up with what we've got, and by that means further narrow down where we might most likely find Shawn."

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

"You know, we did have to go hunting for Cella Poliani in the Kessel caves, so we aren't totally inexperienced either. And I was just thinking..."

He trailed, chewing his lip thoughtfully. "We've got a good map, like we did then...

...and we know there have to be multiple entry points. Back on Kessel, I recalibrated our biosensor to read air pressure and temperature to get us all out of the caves. Maybe we could do the same to help guide our downward as based on Shawn's mapped location?"

He paused for another moment. "And if we are talking about entering the way the dragonsnake possibly does, we're talking about going through water. Which means we'll need some supplies for that too."

Quieting at that, he cocked a brow Terrin's way. Terrin nodded in agreement, and turned to look to Garrison, who was already on it.

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

He paused, typing something else in. "If there is anything futher that you need, just say the word. If not, I assume you all will be going on your way and will let me know if you need anything futher once you get to the surface."

He trailed, again cocking a brow at Garrison, who nodded. "Following you in to assist," he said briefly.

"Good. So let's get down to the ship and get to the map Galen generated so we can plot a course to Shawn and get started. This could take us quite a while, and the sooner we get on it...

...the better."

Saying nothing further than that, Terrin began heading for the office doors to the corridors beyond, assuming that anyone who had anything further of immediate pertinence to add would do so before they got to the ship.

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

Terrin turned and motioned the others to follow him inside, taking the lead then and stepping into the well-kept ship. Once inside he spoke to everyone with him. "We should head to the cabin and pull up Galen's map. From there we can decide our approach."

with that he headed for the cabin, the others following closely behind. Taking a seat at the navboard, he keyed in a few commands until the desired maps were displayed on a monitor in the center of the navboard.

Terrin chewed his lower lip thoughtfully. "I don't see any place for a large ship or body of any sort to get to Shawn's indicated location other than this one, "he stated then, pointing to an area on the map. "Looks like there might be alot of water there, however..."

He quieted again, considering the map further. "Shawn did say he heard dripping water, and as we've already noted, he came to his present location via a dragonsnake. But..."

Pausing a moment, Terrin considered the map again, looking at it from a different angle than their initial approach. "We might be able to come at him from above here," he said, pointing elsewhere. "Either way, there is no way we are taking a ship in all the way to reach him, I'm afraid, and I'm not sure an approach from above is safe, with the sounds of dripping water present. Makes it sound like the cave may still be in formation where he is, as Galen has already indicated. So unless someone has any better ideas...

...I guess it's down to picking one of the options, and doing it."

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

I opened my mouth reflexively, then thought again. After all, he hadn't been the one down in that crevasse; that had been yours truly here, along with the intrepid Mr. Dantares-in-Sith-form. And unless Terrin had the kind of map reading skills only experience can bring, of course he might be seeing something utterly different in his mind's eye than what the map of the system actually represented.

"Umm..." I began softly, leaning forward and laying a finger on top of one of the spidery lines. This one appeared to wander hither and yon for some time before intercepting the scarp face itself. I tapped it meaningfully.

"There's no way to get a mining ship into the maze; it would be way too big. Besides, aren't these things built primarily for ore processing?"

I didn't let that question hang too long, not wanting to make anyone unnecessarily uncomfortable. Then I realized it was making me uncomfortable as well, for silly moi, I had overlooked the obvious.

The ship we were going to use couldn't be one of the large ore processing ones; it would be HUGE, possibly even too huge to have aboard Hornett. I mean, those puppies were built to accommodate loads and loads of mined rock, and then process the rough into usable stuff en route to whatever its primary destination was...

"Ok, so maybe it's not a big mining ship; maybe it's a mobile driller. I dunno, haven't seen it yet, actually. But whatever it is, too large or not, we still need it for all the equipment I'm sure it has, equipment we need to dig into rock. Drills, explosives, all that...

"If it's necessary at all, that is."

That time I let things hang a moment, so everyone could assimilate what I was trying to say. I tapped the corridor again.

"I said we were going to need a spelunking team, maybe more than two if we want to make the most efficient use of our time. We have the map, all we need to do is take teams and survival gear, and just start hunting. Shawn's a Jedi, right? And he's got a comm-link on him right?

"Seems he'd be able to sense when anyone might be getting fairly close to him, and could then let us know. Then if we have to drill or blast our way to where he actually is, we do it.

"Otherwise, it's find the opening the dragonsnake when through, go in that way ourselves, and hope it's not a popular hangout with beasts and other critters."

With that I leaned forward, this time to punch a particular button on the console. Immediately the image of the system turned into a contoured and three-dimensional one, and began revolving: first about it's X-axis, then Y-axis, and finally the zed. Each time presented the viewer with several places where the wavery lines touched those straighter ones which represented surface features.

"It looks like there are several possible ways into the system: here, here..." I peered more closely. "Here, here and here." With each utterance I tapped the screen in the correct place, noting from the countour lines that one of the lines seemed to head downward for quite some distance, ending at a straight plane perfectly perpendicular to where it touched. I had no doubt in my mind that was the underwater entrance into the system; grimacing, I looked to the other lines. For truth be told, I'd much rather wriggle and squirm through claustrophobic passageways than run the risk of meeting up with that dragonsnake.

Or worse.

I straightened, placed my hands in the small of my back and cricked it. "Ok, boys, we've got choices. I say we determine teams, try each possibility, and see if we can get to Shawn without having to try and retrace his actual footsteps."

[ 09-24-2007 12:39 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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

"Yeah, footsteps," Jasyn's voice broke into the silence. "Or rather watermarks."

At that statement, Terrin turned and cocked a brow Jasyn's way, frowning. Then he returned his attention to the map. "We need teams of three or more poeple, and everyone outfitted with appropriate gear, obviously," he said, thinking aloud. "We should probably take a ship down for each entrance we attempt to go through as well..."

He paused again, chewing his lip more, wishing this was all as easy as his original reading of the map had made things out to be.

Should have known better, you pirate. You were raised on Coruscant. Not alot of map reading involving complex terrains there. So leave it to the experts.

"Let's see, we have at least four or five possible entry points," he continued. "Which means we'll need at least three other teams. Looks like we could at least split ourselves into two groups here; Galen's got experience with caves, so she should probably head up one. And Jasyn has some survival knowledge, so he'd be good helping in another. Maybe you can help Jasyn out," he said, pointing back to Matt and Rathal, "And Galen and I can try another..."

He paused, frowning. "Sure would be nice if our Sith warrior companion could help out on this too," he said thoughtfully. "Is there anything else I'm forgetting...

...or for that matter, mistating? Not alot of terrain map reading on Coruscant when I was a boy, after all..."

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

"Heh, maybe the Sith is looking for some bran..." Jasyn trailed as all eyes swiveled to him, some in mild irritation, others with little surpise at the direction of his thoughts.

Matt cleared his throat to redirect the attention to his next words. "I don't think the warrior left the ship when we docked here," he pointed out. "He may feel out of place or otherwise."

He stood then, turning and beginning to walk towards the aft of the ship. "I'll go see if he is still aboard."

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

As Shayla stepped through the portal into the live, moving swamplands she immediately stood still, closing her eyes and drawing the Force to herself, remaining motionless as she quite literally became nothing more than a small part of that Force, and of more than even just that, keenly aware that the Force was but a small piece of the All. Through that joining with the life around her she then sought out a signature not much unlike her own, one that shared many of the same building blocks...

...her one sibling, her twin. At first all she could sense was the teeming life of the place as well as the death, but then her senses grew more attuned as she zeroed in on the familiar, quite literally. For some time she stretched and felt through the fabric of life in that place, and at length like found like, and connected in harmony.

Stretching out through that link, Shayla whispered a thought.

You are not alone.

"I've connected with him," she said softly yet audibly.

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

...and shocked him for the very fact it was so familiar. Even at some distance, he knew the source of the touch...

...and he was keenly aware of emotions that ebbed and flowed through the genetic link the two of them shared. What was there was not at all what he believed, at least not by initial appearances.

Shayla?

Opening his eyes, Shawn fidgeted with the wristcomm he still had, uncertain as to whether anyone was present to receive his message. But he sent it out anyway, along a general frequency.

"Terrin, Galen, if anyone is out there...

...I sense Shayla here, on Degobah."

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

Pausing then, Terrin got to his feet. "I'm not sure this would be the greatest ship to head back down in; Jaysn, Matt, and Rathal, why don't you head out in the Falcon? Galen and I and whoever else can go down in the Eagle, that is if she's still around here."

He quieted again, nodding towards the hatch and motioning everyone to follow. "Let's get going."

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

Aaron, along with his fellow Portal travellers, had just stepped through the Portal when, quite suddenly, an eerie schluurpppt sound rang in his ears. And something about the entire thing seemed strangely familiar, for he felt as though he had just been pushed through the Portal by some unseen force. Now completely disturbed by all of this, Aaron all but ignored whatever it was Stargazer was doing and turned to look to the source of the sound, behind him.

The Portal they had all just stepped through was gone entirely. Aaron looked about himself to see if everyone was present and at once realized the obvious.

"What happened to Aelvedaar?" he asked to no one in particular, frowning darkly. "I don't know what just happened...

...but I swear to the gods that it was like something just shoved me through that Portal. Troubling thing about that is I had a very similiar experience on Ko'rrisan and ended up losing K'khil and our two kids, who were right behind me, for quite some time..."

[ 10-11-2007 09:17 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aaron Barnes ]

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