"We knew about Tarnus's imprisonment," Terrin began, his eyes defocusing a bit, "And others have been going to release him..."

He trailed for the slightest of moments, Nevermind at the moment that one of those people is Galen's sister,the one who imprisoned him to begin with...

"...but there's something else here as well. Forgive me for being obvious, but we're talking about at least some of the Sith being aligned with the Vong and forces in the Darker Realms which may in turn be the embodiment of all the powers in the Universe..."

He paused for another moment, "...and one of the leaders of the Empire, which may hold at least some strength against what may be incoming, has been imprisoned because he was blockading the Sith worlds?"

Terrin's look only darkened further. "Again, forgive me if I'm being too obvious, but that's a clear act of war. If the Sith, Vong, and Realms are truly aligned with one another and they think they have some sort of new advantage for when the Vong finally get here...

..why would they imprison Tarnus over a Sith world blockade now?"

[ 08-27-2008 09:56 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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"Well," I finally said, "Obviously it's because the right hand is unaware of what the left hand is doing.

"Or the two really aren't connected. Remember, we're just speculating here; maybe the Sith as a race really aren't allied with the Vong at all, but someone is going through a lot of trouble to make it appear that they are. I nodded to Link, agreeing with her earlier suggestion that if there was a connection, it was really against Vong character. At least as we knew them.

I shrugged, and shook my head slightly. Hell's Seven Circles if I had a clue; all I knew was that we could speculate until the dewbacks came home, and it wasn't going to get as anywhere until we got more hard fact under our collective belts.

I shifted my weight. "What facts we do have are these..."

I held up a hand and starting ticking off fingers. "According to Shayla, who is rather 'on again, off again' as far as trustworthiness goes, there is a strong Vong-Sith connection, in the form of a villip. Remember, we've not seen this thing ourselves, we only have her word to go by. Yeah we just tangled with a field of amphistaffs, but the Vong did attack us before, ya know. The planet we just left is out in the galactic boonies; odds are kinda good that they'd have seeded worlds they'd come upon en route to the Core, to make bases and weapons and so on. That field of amphistaffs might just be a natural left-over, unnoticed by everyone due to its remote position in the galaxy."

I drew in a breath, and held up another finger.

"Two, we know Sorben has been imprisoned by the Sith, quite possibly for what they perceive to be an act of war against them, as Terrin said. I mean, I know I'd kinda take a blockade as an act of war; remember the old Trade Federation and Naboo?

"And three: there's something weirder than hell going on in those Sith worlds. One moment they're sweet as pie to us, the next they're out to rip our lungs out our throats. Depending upon which Sith you happen to be with. Along with this, and from a Sith source, I might add, there is the assertation that the Vong are coming to invade us again. What facts do we have to support this rather grandiose statement?"

I paused and gave everyone a hard look.

"It seems the only facts of which we're positive are that my dear sister and her little blonde pal have switched their own behavior toward us so much I've gotten dizzy regarding it, and that Sorben is a prisoner on K'eel Doba. If only for the reason that he's human, I think it's our duty to try to, ahh... extradite him. And who knows; maybe they tossed him in the cooler because he managed to stumble on something that will corroborate some of the things we're bandying about, things which I want to remind you all again are at this moment really nothing other than pure speculation.

"Or maybe he knows something else...

"I think we have to talk to him, and to do that we've got to get back to K'eel Doba and, ummm... effect his release."

[ 08-28-2008 10:32 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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"Secondly, Phalomir and your sister are at least supposedly off releasing Tarnus right now. While I might be inclined to trust Phalomir somewhat, Graysith's sudden rather saintly shift to releasing the one she imprisoned is questionable considering, as pointed out, she seems to be our ally one moment and our foe the next."

Pausing then, Terrin frowned. "So I guess what I'm questioning is just how we are going to approach all this. We're supposed to meet up with everyone on Khar Delba for a big pow-wow, one concerning the incoming Vong. Do we go there as planned and see how things pan out? Or do we go directly to a Sith world where we might not be so welcomed and try to determine if Phalomir and Graysith have actually done what they said they were going to do?"

Terrin's frown turned to a scowl. "You know, as difficult as they could be at times, I miss the days when we weren't having to deal with who we could and couldn't trust. Granted we had the Empire trying to nab you and Darra one one hand," he continued, looking at Galen, "And the Sith on the other doing just the same..."

He trailed, something of his old "Why the kriffing hell should I trust you?" self coming forth, "But we stuck to ourselves and those nearest to us and managed. And we at least didn't have to watch our backs even within our own circle of friends."

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Some choices.

Link knew there was more to the situation then that for the choices to even had been offered, If they had to fight the vong they would need the strength of the empire to help them out. Right now the sith who may or may not be their allies with the vong, and the man who Galen has sway with may or may not be rotting in a sith cell.

Some choices.

It was then she thought of an idea.

"What if..." Link continued. "What if we could contact them, back when Yaoksi and I where on the sith planet we overheard that this Sorben was being held there. Before we left one of their sith warriors took my datapad from me, among many other things it has one of them is a very very illegal holonet tranciever. When we get out of hyperspace I can open a comm link to through it. If they released Sorben then they would have no reason not to tell us, any other response and and we can be almost certain that they have Sorben captive still."

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One way or another.

Link's surprising suggestion came into play. I opened my eyes and turned to her.
For a long moment I just studied her, then wiped my hands on my suit, wishing it was my flightsuit.

"You had a-- wow," I managed before logic reared its red flag once more and began waving.

"Umm, I can drop us out of hyperspace anytime you need, but do you think they'd bother to reply to us?"

My brows bunched into a frown, then lightened.

"Of course we could pretend to be his flagship, what was it called again...?"

I trailed with the sudden realization that I didn't have a clue. I was aware of the flagship overseeing the blockade around Coruscant, but not the K'eel Doba one.

Hell's Seven Circles, I didn't even know what ship Sorben flew personally! When we were together it was in Jester.

I gave Link a studied look.

"We'd probably have to get within closer range, so the signal won't sound so weak," I finally said. "But that shouldn't be too long now.

"Here's a chance to show us how good you are, kiddo."

[ 08-29-2008 11:56 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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"All I need is a little specialize equipment and we can use the holonet to communicate with almost anyone in the galaxy instantly. Your Star Destroyer the Hornett it should have all the equipment I need to tap into the network."

If Link was remembering correctly the Hornett not only was an Eclipse Star Destroyer but a giant mobile market as well with restaurants and shops as well. The kind of shops that carry the specialized equipment she needed.

[ 08-29-2008 05:11 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Cel ]

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"I know the Hornett has a transciever, but it's may not be in working order," he commented, knowing that it had been out of use for some time.

"Back in the day I tangled with an Imperial Moff and acquired it from him so we could communicate back and forth," he then expained. "When it was all said and done, I kept the equipment. But it hasn't been used since."

[ 08-29-2008 07:10 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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I slid my eyes back over to Terrin's blue ones, but didn't say anything else. I just let the look I gave him impress upon him the simple fact that I wasn't about to give up on Sorben; nor was I going to hang about waiting for everyone to discuss it in committee. There are times that speedy in, speedy out, along with a good dollop of subterfuge were in order...

I had a sneaky suspicion that this was one of those times.

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Truth be told while Link couldn't wait to get her new arm, even if the tranciever was in perfect working order there where still some modifications Link would need to make so she could use the holonet undetected by the Imperials. And she didn't trust anyone but herself for those modifications lest the mess up and broadcast their position to the Empire and let them in on how she knew to access their resources. At the same time she was afraid of what the arm would mean, she had failed.

Sure when she was a freelance slicer she was never really happy or satisfied, but she knew she could survive on her own and make at least a little something of herself. But she had counted on her own abilities and look where that got her not only alone, detached, almost dead. It wasn't this life that scared her where she knew her abilities and skills, where she could calculate her odds of success and failure was because of her alone and effected her alone. Now the abilities and skills of others had to be factored into her equations and no longer did the result only effect her. The loss of her arm would pale in comparison if they fail to stop the vong, if she failed them.

Link found herself staring down at the place her arm once occupied almost seeing her original in the vacant space. Shacking her head and casting away the images Link forced herself back into reality staring at the group.

"Once we get out to the Hornett just have your techs look over the tranciever and fix anything to get it back up to factory specs, like how the Moff gave it to you. After I get my... you know... I can make the modifications to the tranciever so it can tap into the back door."

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Then again, you aren't entirely blind in this. You've been there before...

...and the Sith are missing the powers they tend to rely on so frequently. So count that as something in your favor.

He shifted to look at Link. "I'll make sure the techs get the transciever back to factory specifications myself," he responded. Then addressing Yaoksi, "And meanwhile set you up with a ship, something you'll feel comfortable with. There should be something of that variety on the Hornett."

Pausing then, he glanced at his chrono. "Speaking of which," he then asked, "When's our ETA? Seems we should be arriving shortly."

[ 08-31-2008 10:14 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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"Terrin and Galen, this is Jasyn. Shawn and I are still sitting here on Khar Delba, mood unfriendly. No sign of Graysith or Lord Phalomir...

...and Matt and Panthar have gone off to K'eel Doba to assess the situation there and now I'm not getting a reply from him via commlink either. I don't know what is going on here, exactly, but Shawn and I are without a ship, and the overall climate with us and Aeylmaar seems to have suddenly turned sour. Unless you object, and soon, I"m getting the kriffing hell off this rock."

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"Ahh-- Hell's Seven Circles, but we should be reverting to realspace like-- now!"

With no more than a departing nod I fled to the little bridge area, arriving just in time to see the realspace conversion signal blinking an insistent green. Swooshing into my seat, I played with the controls until outside Eagle II the stars resumed their normal colors and shapes. Seeking outward with long-range sensors then, I found papa bear and squirted off a docking request.

"Hornett, this is Eagle II, requesting approach vector to dock."

It didn't take long for a return; moments later I had input the coordinates and had our vessel bee-lining in to bed down in the great belly of the SSD. It was as I was rising to inform the others of this that another message came in, one surprisingly from Jasyn.

I frowned when I heard it.

That didn't sound good; what in Hell's Seven Circles was going on now?

I paused a moment, waffling. Then I drew in a breath and took the responsibility for an immediate answer. I'm sure Terrin would agree with me on this one, just as I was sure Jasyn wouldn't want to hang around waiting until I'd cleared it with him before responding.

I reached for the verbal transmitter, but paused again. Call it another one of my hunches, but something said, keep it quiet. Thus I chose a seldom used text option to reply to him.

((OOC: Replying to Jasyn in Another Shade of All in the "Jedi/Sith" forums, thank you.))

"Jasyn, this is Galen. I am answering in lieu of Terrin, but will clear with him and send further information if there is any.

"Unless your life is under immediate threat, sit tight and play it cool, buddy. If the Sith are suddenly going predatory on ya, running might induce them to chase.

"I'll inform Terrin of your situation as stated; meanwhile, I'm sure he'd appreciate a bit more information than Aeylmaar 'turning sour.' If you possibly can, send a little more detail. Use personal comm-links; we're due to debark on Hornett in a few minutes, and won't be aboard Eagle II to receive your reply.

"Watch your back, and wait for further contact.

"Galen on Eagle II, out."

I sent the message winging along the spaceways with a touch of a finger, sighed, made one final check on our actual docking ETA, and rose from my seat. Looks like we had about twenty more minutes before being snagged by docking tractors; plenty of time to change and inform the others of this latest little possible snafu.

I hastened back to where the others were still sitting, and quickly informed them of what had happened.

"I told him to sit tight, and I sent it text mode in case there were big ears nearby," I finished, smoothing my hands on the front of my tunic to remind myself that, much as I relished the silky feel of its material, it was time to get back into warrior mode. Which meant my flightsuit.

I nodded to Link.

"Looks like we'll have you aboard and in surgery within the hour, kiddo," I took it upon myself to say, waggling my brows at Terrin to remind him that he could get on the horn and make the final preparations.

Me? I had a ship to land.

With that I headed back to our quarters, changed quickly, and returned to the bridge area. There I took my seat, ready and waiting to implement the final docking procedures only living flesh could provide in order to actually, and safely, touch down.

It didn't take long before I felt the solid whump of deck beneath our hull.

Fighting against a sudden constriction in my chest in regard to where we'd all eventually be going from here, I flipped open the inter-ship comm.

"Guys, we're here. Let's get this show on the road!"

With that I shut down Eagle II's systems, rising to my feet for a final time to the tune of whistle snd sizzles, as she vented the excess energy she had built up into the great docking bay where we had finally come to rest. My last command to her before she went to sleep for the duration was to ask her to open her hatch; I did this with a polite stab of a particular button.

Then I went to that hatch, watching while it slid upward, and waited there until the others arrived.

[ 09-02-2008 12:19 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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THIS THREAD CLOSES!!))

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