“Future rule,” said Link. “When Mandalorians start yelling in a language you don't understand... run.”

after a few moments of awkward silence the datapad started buzzing indicating the completion of the task Link had given it. Opening the results of her programed request Link saw a long text message now written in basic. Establishing a connection from the datapad to the holopad and overlay message Kyan received with the now translated text.

“I think I have something,” said Link. “You may want to see this... it might explain what set the jedi wizard off.”

Executing the playback of the holo, Link slumped back into her chair watching to see what could make Kyan so angry.

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

Memories of other times and places, of Shayla having much the same look on her face as she did this or that in the name of the Sith...

...and of Graysith. Truth be told, he could never understand how she could justify fighting alongside someone who had snatched her from the Jedi Praxeum against her will...

His jaw tightened and he closed his eyes a brief moment to hide the rising pain. Then he opened them, the pain being replaced with concern.

"That has to be his granddaughter," Erik observed somewhat unnecessarily, knowing that everyone else was probably figuring out much the same on their own. As he fell into silence once more, Erik suddenly realized that he had been doing much the same as Kyan was now...

...and just how useless it would be in changing things.

"I'm sure he wants his space, but I don't know...

...I think you were on the right track," he then said, looking at Yaoksi. "Someone should go after him. After all, if that is his granddaughter, the Empire has gotten hold on her one way or another and is using her..."

He trailed, his eyes defocusing and darkening a moment before he continued, "...which potentially makes them as much of an enemy to us as the Sith are," he finished, wondering just how aware of these things Sorben Tarnus was, getting to his feet as he did so to head after the angered Jedi.

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

"Hey Erik--" I called out in a warning manner, but the man had already gone beyond the reach of my voice. That is to say, he'd already entwined himself in the background noises of other people lightly chatting, of utensils clinking, of waiters scurrying about with their trays and polite words to other customers. Perhaps my voice was lost in the ambience of the eatery. Or perhaps not, and he was ignoring me.

"Ahh, he'll find out for himself," I said as I plopped back into my seat, reaching out to down the last of my drink. This was speedily followed by an upraised hand, my intention being that I order another. I paused a moment, considering Link.

Won't do much good to get myself drunk, not now, I thought as I let my hand waft toward the table. It lay there a moment, fingers fidgeting upon the shining surface, then flew upward again.

"A caf-- no, two cafs," I ordered from the waiter who materialized almost instantly at the summons. "Er, better yet, make it three."

I sat back a moment, wondering if Erik would make it back from Kyan so he could even enjoy the caf I ordered for him, then shrugged my shoulders slightly. The next few moments would tell the tale; in the meantime, I turned to Link with open curiosity and interest lacing my voice.

"Hey kiddo, how did you manage to come by this info?"

My estimation of the little gal rose exponentially as I peered at the looping vid. I could only shake my head as I watched it replay, remembering the iron arm of Sorben Tarnus as it nearly choked the life from me that long-ago day in a not-forgotten alley. A queasy feeling waggled in my stomach...

Obviously, more and more pans were announcing their presence in the flames of the reality we were discovering ourselves to be inhabiting.

I could only wonder which pan would be the one to partake of, and which to break. Or at least attempt to break, if such breakage was even possible. Or indeed even called for, no matter how drear and suppressive it might at first appear to be.

The enemy of my enemy is my ally, after all... and there was an awful dark, and terribly big pan taking up a helluva lot of room in that fire...

[ 06-08-2009 12:42 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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Not about losing his son, or about losing Shayla even. At least, not exactly. Rather it was all about relating to someone who had lost a loved one to something else, something dark and sinister...

...and something which they at one point would have never stood for.

Finally catching up to within a few feet of Kyan, Erik called out. "Kyan, wait," he said simply, suddenly realizing that he had seen the look in Kyan's granddaughter's face before.On those spooky looking... assistants? ....of Tarnus's on Coruscant.

"I think I know what may have happened to your granddaughter," he then added as Kyan turned and Erik unconsciously braced himself. "Ever heard of the Reborn?"

[ 06-10-2009 10:07 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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Link took one of the cafs that just arrived and started drinking it while staring at the emotionless expression on the twi’lek. Well not quite emotionless, it was a look she had seen before but Link couldn’t quite place it.

“That look is so eerie,” said Link. “I know I’ve seen it before, it’s not like she’s showing no emotion on purpose. It’s almost as if she’s incapable of it just like… just like some of the other slaves. Some of the female slaves my master owned he used to… entertain… some of his guests. They where drugged and beaten and abused so often that they lost almost all hope of living or cut themselves off from reality to cope with it.”

Link set down her glass shut off the video feed.

“Trust me it’s a feeling that I never want to relive again, or would wish on anyone else.”

[ 06-11-2009 07:28 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Cel ]

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"Well, considering Actar's treatment of the Jedi, he has to have some way he's controlling her or else she probably wouldn't be alive at all," he observed, frowning with even more concern, both for Kyan and his granddaughter as well as for the state of the Universe in general if this was truly what was going on. "It's not very reassuring considering what someone might have to do to control a Force-user."

Shaking his head, Terrin's eyes wandered in the direction that first Kyan had departed, followed by Erik. "Maybe as a Force-user Erik can relate to Kyan a bit better and help him."

And then again as someone who lost his wife to a darker force, he could just make things worse, came an internal voice that popped into negative existence. Terrin tried his best to ignore it.

"Why don't we give them time to talk and in the meantime send a message using the recalibrated transciever and see what we might get?"

[ 06-11-2009 04:29 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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“I know of them,” answered Kyan. “But of what importance is this, Master Kyle Katarn annihilated them years ago and the location to the Valley of the Jedi is only known to the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order and the Battle Master.”

Still fuming with anger Kyan almost missed the point of Erik’s question until he spoke about the reborn.

“But how would that be possible?” Kyan asked. “From my daughters letter my granddaughter has no desire or much talent for the Force, and the valley grants Force powers to those who can’t use the Force… Or in the case of Master Katarn it can boost ones Force powers. Besides she is a Mandalorian warrior, no a Mandalorian Protectorate, they have absolute loyalty to Mandalore and never have betrayed him. And if she had Force powers like the reborn she would have used them, believe me when I saw I can tell when someone is using the Force when they fight.”

During the course of their conversation much of Kyan’s rage died and he realized that talking about it rationally was helping him deal with it and was more productive then his anger.

"And the leader of our New Empire, Admiral Actar, apparently knows the location of the Valley of the Jedi," Erik added. "He has been using Reborn as troops on Coruscant, I've been there and seen them for myself."

He paused, his look darkening. "And this Sorben Tarnus that we are going to release, he must at least know of the Reborn's existence even if he is not aware of the location of the Valley of the Jedi or how it affects a Force user or non-Force user. I have seen the Reborn servicing him as well."

Erik paused then, personally waffling between whether or not Tarnus was really aware of what Actar had been up to...

...and realizing that there really wasn't anywhere else to turn to regarding the Sith and a potential Yuuzhan Vong invasion other than the New Empire.

"Unfortunately there really is no where else to turn to regarding other dark forces we feel are running amock in our galaxy...

...and believe me, I've seen the power said forces have.... firsthand." He trailed, his eyes growing vague and distant.

Dammit, Shayla, how could you have gone back to that life, again?

[ 06-12-2009 11:13 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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Then again the same could be said about the rest of us. Smuggler with morals, slave turned slicer… true we all had our own emotional baggage and issues and I’m one to talk, but Kyan made was almost excessive by our definition

“The transceiver should be finished by now,” said Link. “At least hardware wise, I need to write a quick software patch unless you want to be constantly be broadcasting our position to the empire. Just give me 5 minutes to write it up and upload it to you comm. System then it should be good to go.”

Taking the data pad from before Link brought up a terminal for the Eagles comm system and started a new protocol stack on how it would handle the new device connected to its system and how it would handle traffic. The trick was telling it to utilize the device in its testing mode while forcing it to transmit and receive anyways, all other transceivers on the Empire’s military holonet would still send and receive traffic from the modified one that now resides in Terrin’s ship but would be unable to determine its origin or block access from a modified transceiver. Not without taking down the entire network and removing the module from all the transceivers. Once finished Link uploaded the patch then brought the system online.

“Congratulations,” said Link. “Your ship now has untraceable access to the most powerful communications system in the galaxy, you can now make instantaneous transmissions to almost anywhere in the galaxy provided by the Empire. For instance I just gained remote access to my datapad on the sith planet Yaoksi and I had visited and I am using it as a relay to any comm links within range of my datapad can now be contated provided there are any comm links used by the sith. I routed the channel over to Terrin’s comm link so fire away when ready.”

((OOC: Links datapad should reside Tears of the Rancor in the "Jedi/Sith" forums if anyone has forgotten, so it should be able to contact all comm links in that forum.))

[ 06-17-2009 05:58 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Cel ]

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He paused, searching for the right words, "... agressive actions. Still, it might be a good idea to leave a little hint of who is calling should someone pick up on the message that would need to know someone is out there looking."

Saying nothing further about exactly what he was about to do--after all, they had already sat and discussed it on the Eagle II in transit to the Hornett --he raised his wristcomm to his lips.

"This is the Eagle requesting information regarding the whereabouts of Lt. General Sorben Tarnus, whose last known destination is your world, where some believe he may have become captive. Is he being held as speculated?"

Leaving the message at nothing more than that, Terrin sent it off...

...and waited, quite truthtfully not expecting to get a reply.

(((OCC: My apologies for taking so long to respond, I had to go back and reread to remember exactly what we were doing with the message we were sending! I hope the post makes sense and is in acceptable form. Let me know and I will make modifications if necessary.)))

[ 06-21-2009 09:11 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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"Unknown being or beings who go by the name of Eagle: this is Phrinnchatka in reply. Much to our regret, the human you seek was indeed held in inadvertent captivity, for his own protection against those among us who would do him harm.

"Unfortunately, within the past day or so he was mysteriously removed from his, ahh-- cubicle, by a method and person or persons unknown to us. At this moment we believe that he is not within the walls of our Great Temple, where he was, erm-- protected, and may not even be within the city."

There was a slight pause.

"I don't believe it," he said quite simply. "If the Empire had gone in after Tarnus, the Sith would know well about it I think. And there's only a few individuals I know of who would even have the capability to ahhh...

... remove Tarnus from his cell without any other knowing about it," he then said, recalling how Graysith had rescued he and Jasyn from the Imperial prison. "But the powrs they would need to do that is supposedly inaccessible right now, unless of course, not everyone has lost their abilities."

His look darkened further. "That has disturbing implications within itself. I think we need to continue on course here, unless we can gain some proof that Tarnus really has been taken elsewhere. And after all, the Hornett is nearby our old Khar Delba rendezvous coordinates, which places us between eight to twelve standard hours away from K'eel Doba," he observed. "We could potentially spend that much time trying to validate the Sith's claims, and it could be nothing more than a waste."

[ 06-25-2009 01:19 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Mara1Jade ]

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A flash of mental non sequiteur hit me, bringing the memory of me spouting off to Lord Phalomir One -- or was it Two? Damned clone silliness anyway! -- about never, ever wanting to get anywhere close to Impies again as long as I lived.

"Not after Sullust," I believe the actual words had been... But now here I was with a brand spankin' new ship, and an even brand spankin' newer partner, and we were gonna help one of the Top Gun Impies the Galaxy owned.

By going back to the Sith worlds too, oh goody.

I sighed, shaking my head. The Universe sure had a way of messing with a guy. But yet, there was a little retribution for us as well, thanks to Link's magical touch with things too high tech for me to deal with.

"Thanks, kiddo!" I nodded to the little gal before clearing my throat and turning back to Danner.

"Ummm... do you need our services, I mean, as in with us in an extra ship helping out with anything in particular?" I asked. "Or should Link and I just stay aboard Hornett??"

Where Challenger would hopefully be a teenty bit safer!

[ 06-26-2009 03:48 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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Cella Poliani, that Mahoy fellow and his young padawan, Master Rean, Matt, Jasyn, Yaoksi, Link, and that little Twi'lek lady...

...Nas'railen? And the list could go on and on.

All of whom were either missing in action or had something absolutely horrid happen to them at least one time or another. Terrin really didn't want any of the sort to happen to anyone else, not now, not ever. And aside from that, Kartan had already thrown his lot in with them...

For whatever good that will do you in his current state of mind...! a shoulder devil snorted.

...or at least it appeared so.

"You know," Terrin said after what really was only a brief moment, "I think you should stay on the Hornett," he said simply. "You can get your ship finished, and Link could do some digging around to find out if there is any evidence to support the idea that maybe the Empire snatched Tarnus from the Sith. And with the rate people who visit the Sith worlds have been disappearing lately, it would be good to have a back up crew should something happen."

But dear Gods one could only hope not...

[ 07-02-2009 03:03 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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Link leaned foward resting her elbows on the table and interlaced her fingers. Adopting the serious manner she usually kept for times of conducting buisness Link looked carefully at Terrin letting him know that what she was about to say was serious.

"While I am grateful for all you have done for me and Yaoksi," Link started. "Rescueing us and giving me a new arm, you yourself said we where even in that reguards and the modifications to your tranciever I did free of charge, but Yaoksi and I have a buisness to run. With reguards to Tarnus I can check and see if I can find if he actually was taken back by the Empire but I will need 50,000 imperial credits up front to cover expenses non refundable if I don't find anything and an aditional 80,000 if I find something. And by the way this is a bargin I doubt you will find a better deal."

Link leaned back into her chair crossing her arms across her chest waiting for Terrin's response.

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

"That's more than fair," he agreed easily, taking a final drink from the mug in front of him. "And Aaron will be here should you need anything specifically."

He paused then, turning and frowning in the general direction where first Kyan then Erik had wandered off. "And whether or not they are coming, it's time to get moving," he then said, getting to his feet and turning to Galen, who he noted had remained rather quiet. "Eagle II should be serviced and ready to go. Kartan and Kyan can follow in a ship behind us; Kartan said he wanted to buy a ship and may have certain..."

Terrin paused, "...issues of his own to deal with anyway. So, shall we?"

[ 07-06-2009 09:27 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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So you are going to take off on your own? How stupid is that, pal? You've already acknowledged that the Tarnus and his Empire really are the only hopes left.

Maybe.

Erik frowned, his thoughts spiraling even further inward. Something that had been suggested when they were proposing ways to save Zack suddenly began to spark a thought...

...and Erik began to wonder...

Snapping out of his mental fog, Erik finally became aware of his surroundings once more. Beside him, Kyan remained obnoxiously silent. Somewhere back in the dining hall he had left, sat the others waited on one or both of them to return. Erik realized then, with a jolt, that if he was going to pursue the plan now loosely forming in his head, he couldn't go back there.

If only for the simple fact that if he told them what he was planning they were either going to try to stop him or think he was completely insane. And maybe they would be right.

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

So all he could really do was sincerely hope Danner would forgive him for what he was about to do. Someday, at least. He knew most of the freighters for sale would be locked down securely, and that maintenance continually worked keeping EE employee ships up to par. One or more of them had probably seen him leave Eagle II with Danner and the others too. Although he knew it wouldn't take anyone long to figure out what had happened, he also wanted to take advantage of anything he could. So he completely avoided Terrin's ship, noting without surprise that techs were still buzzing about working on her. He even avoided all of the other lamby's of the EE higher-ups, looking for a ship that perhaps wasn't quite as polished...

...and perhaps had just been acquired by EE.

"Can I help you, sir?" a voice said, interrupting Erik's train of thought.

Force or not, Erik managed to smooth any traces of surprise entirely from his face. "Yes, as a matter of fact," he said. "I have been speaking with Captain Danner about purchasing a ship. He will be here shortly--"

You can bet on it, a shoulder being snorted.

"--but in the meantime said I could take a look at some of his ships for sale." Erik paused then, pointing to indicate an unpolished ship near the entrance to the hangar bay. "Is that ship hyperspace capable? And how are her engines?"

The tech hesitated a moment. "A new purchase," he said simply. "Hypercable and runs well, but needs some work." He paused, frowning a bit. Clearly, he was suspicious. "Shall I call the Captain and tell him you are interested? He doesn't allow anyone to look at anything without a senior officer present."

"You go right ahead," Erik said. "In the meantime, I'm going to give her outside a look," he then continued, ignoring the techs protests as he headed towards the ship. He could hear the tech open a comm frequency as he did, and hoped that he was right in his theory that the techs hadn't had time to install the lock codes and such since the ship had just been acquired. He knew from looking at her that she was in descent shape, and she was definitely flyable.

He just hoped the tech was right that the ship was hypercable. As the tech focused on making his call, no doubt to Danner, he knew there was no time like the present. To his mild surprise, the tech hadn't called security yet.

Or at least, it didn't appear that way. Heading around the ship, trying to look for all the universe like he was just analyzing the hull and any damage, Erik finally got to the hatch. He stepped in to test the lock controls, even as he heard the tech yell that he back up. The hatch popped obligingly open, with just a creak as the tech made yet another call.

Security was definitely on their way now, and by the sounds of things, they were close. Erik could hear them enter as he headed aboard ship and slammed the hatch closed. Not having time to warm the ship thoroughly, he did a cold start. He knew if he could open the hatch, so could the security behind them.

"Unidentified person, you will depart the ship at once!" came an incoming message on the ship's comm. Erik ignored it for the moment, quickly acquainted himself with the controls, and began to work them. As the ship began to leave the surface of the hangar bay, Erik paused to squirt off a brief and terse reply to the transmission that was now repeating itself over and over.

"Tell Captain Danner I'll wire him payment when I get to my destination," he said. "Kartan out."

And, further warning messages and the sound of blaster bolts pelting the hull of the ship be damned, Erik blasted out of the hangar bay and into open space, plotting a quick hyperspace vector and punching it in before the Hornett could get a lock on him. The ship exploded into hyperdriven space before anyone in the hangar bay, or anywhere else for that matter, could do a kriffing thing.

[ 08-05-2009 03:50 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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...and apparently how to plot a quick hyperspace jump out of range of a Star Destroyer too. The tech saw his visions of glory days as an EE officer explode into smoke as the ship likewise exploded into hyperspace.

"Ship theft, main docking bay. Security on-scene but ineffective. Request navigation to plot possible hyperspace vectors and send out a search party."

He paused then, taking a deep breath and sending a silent prayer to any gods that might listen before continuing further. "Patch me on an emergency frequency to the Captain's comm. I will inform him of the loss myself."

Clearly nobody upstairs wanted to report this instead, so they obliglingly patched the poor tech through.

"Captain Danner, this is Technician Stratus reporting from the main hangar bay. A new acquisition was just stolen and taken to hyperspace. The thief claimed you had been discussing selling him a ship, began inspecting one, then achieved unauthorized access via the hatch. He took off before anyone could do a thing."

The tech paused, trying to brace himself for inevitable termination. "The man did send a brief response to our calls to depart the ship. Communications will patch it through to you now, sir."

[ 08-05-2009 04:08 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin's Crew ]

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What the kriffing hell was Kartan doing?

"Call off search parties," Terrin growled into the comm to whoever was in control of the comm on the main deck. "I don't think anyone here wants to go anywhere that Kartan may be headed," he added irritably.

"Sir...?" the officer asked tentatively, nervously.

"We're headed out, but get me those potential hyperspace vectors and send the data to Eagle II."

"Yes sir," the officer responded, this time more evenly. "Anything else?"

"Prepare for Eagle II to depart. I want clearance ASAP. And I'd like the hyperspace vectors on that ship before we leave."

A brief pause. "Yes sir," the officer replied once again. "Standing by with a departure vector for Eagle II when you are ready."

"Thank you. For the moment, Danner out."

Terrin scowled blackly at midair as they continued on their way to Eagle II. "I don't know what the kriffing hell Kartan is doing, but I know already I don't like it." He scowl deepened. "Let's just hope the hyperdrive fails or engine breaks down if he's headed into something that will only cause trouble."

Which he most certainly is if he didn't even have the nerve to buy the ship he just blasted out of here with, a shouder devil snorted as they entered the main hangar bay. "Let's just get the hell out of here and hope to all the Fates that he isn't headed the same direction as we are to stir something up before we get there, because if so, he has a head start."

And if he was headed where they were and ran into them, Terrin noted with disgust, He might not have to worry about what the Sith might do to him.

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

"Huh?" I blurted, wincing to myself for how ridiculous that word sounded. But Hell's Seven Circles, what was all this with Kartan? At least I assumed it had to do with him; that's the name that Terrin was grumbling out in a tone of voice used by a rampaging reek. But I hadn't heard what transpired over his comm-link; coming to a skidding halt I gave him another look.

"What do you mean, 'you don't know what the kriffing hell Kartan is up to--?" I asked, although deep within my gut a tiny voice raised itself to be heard.

What you were thinking about him earlier? Comparing him to Kyan and all?

You were right, ol' girl...

[ 08-06-2009 12:11 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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"Not sure where he is headed, and even with calculated hyperspace vectors from his last known coordinates it's a good bet that won't tell us anything. Judging by the tech's description of what happened, he's alone too."

Terrin paused, shaking his head. "I have a really bad feeling he's headed somewhere that will only cause us problems, and soon. If he was as angry back on Khar Delba as Jasyn said he was, and decided to blast off from here on his own without even bothering to take the time to let us know or buy the ship he took..."

Terrin trailed, knowing Galen would follow his line of thought without him saying another word.

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

But what I did know was that Jasyn and Matt were on Khar Delba, the last I knew with an apparently turncoat Aeylmaar. And chances were equally good that if what had put the bee in that young lord's bonnet had indeed been resolved, it probably wouldn't take too much to send it winging there again.

"Oh... hell," I finished aloud, now pursing my lips in disgust. "Nevermind the fact that the guy just stole a ship from us; he's gonna get himself killed if he confronts Aeylmaar, with Jasyn and Matt along with him! I think you'd better warn the guys, while in the meantime..."

While in the meantime, exactly what, rocket scientist?

"While in the meantime you and I take the fastest thing we've got, and go see if we can pick up whatever pieces he might be making on Khar Delba--?"

I trailed, wondering if we'd be safe there ourselves. The only reasonable thing would be to somehow catch Erik, but I didn't see how that could be done. The guy after all was already in hyperspace, and here we still stood around in a corridor of Hornett discussing this unexpected and sorry turn of events in a committee.

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

Sheesh, if that's the case, two more good men are being put at risk! And dammitall, much as I don't like a lick of what mumbo-jumbo there is associated with them, we are gonna be needing the Siths' resources in combination with the Impys -- great galloping ghosts, did I ever really say that?! -- if our suspicions about the Vong turn out to be true...

I sighed, and gave Link's shoulders a squeeze.

"Ummm... my new ship is pretty fast, has a tractor beam and could pick up a decent sized ship. Maybe we can find him and snag him before he actually gets to Khar Dooby, or whatever the place is called..."

A forced grin wrinkled my lips, and I turned quickly to Link, hunkering down to be on her level.

"If this is what we end up doing, I want you to stay here on this ship, where it's safe. You could keep digging up what info you can find regarding General Tarnus; maybe you can hack into some Impy back door and see if they were the ones behind his disappearance from his prison or not."

I turned back to Terrin, drew in a breath, rose upright, and waited.

[ 08-06-2009 12:41 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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