"Lord Aelvedaar's absence could be something as simple as-- as, well, the portal just disappearing before he could come through, what with all the magicks going haywire and everything."

I winced again, for it sounded improbable even to me. We had been on Dagobah for quite some time before anything untoward had been noticed; I really didn't think he'd take hours to step through a simple Portal...

"Anyway, so ok. We go to the Sith worlds, ummm-- Khar Delba in particular, and... hope everyone else shows up?"

The enormity of how easily we had been taking the Portals for granted slammed home even as I spoke. I could only hope that upon his release from prison Sorben hadn't killed Sissy with his bare hands, causing the Sith to retaliate in righteous anger to murder him in turn.

[ 12-27-2007 05:37 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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Panthar sat back in his seat once again.

“Oh, yeah, I agree with Galen. Googly did his thing long after we got here. My Sith comm-link worked fine for a while here. I’m all for Khar Delba, it was the designated meeting place.”

[ 12-27-2007 05:37 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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...and go from there as needed. This way Hornett will be near enough if we need her, and K'eel Doba will be close by as well. In a pinch, we can get there via realspace...or via some really good hyperspace piloting, which at least a couple of us are more than capable of."

Pausing then, he began to key something in on the nearby computerpad. "Anybody have any objections to this particular plan of action? And furthermore, any one have any ideas how to get in contact with those we are meeting before we get there, cause I sure can't think of any. After all, I sorta doubt any of them have a commlink handy, and any Force or All connections we might have used are null and void."

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"Umm... why don't we just go there, and walk up to the Temple and request to see Aeylvedaar, if he's there? Or Aeylmaar? I mean, we don't have to sneak in or anything, you know."

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[ 12-27-2007 05:59 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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...but at any rate, travelling most of the way there via Hornett is going to be faster. And I don't want to unnessarily alarm any Sith on the surface of one of those two planets with the Hornett if they have any means to see our approach. They are undoubtedly in a state of panic, like Galen already pointed out."

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“Sounds good,” he said. “And hey, if they are in bad shape, then perhaps you might be able to even do some business with them, if you sell anything they might need technology-wise. And if you want me to go to K’eel Doba, I’m more than willing. I guess I’m just really worried now that if Gray managed to leave before the poodoo hit the fan, then ShaRhylla is in charge and maybe having a tough time. I could be wrong, of course, but I dunno. Anyway, it’s up to you.”

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"And to be honest, I think I'd much rather go first to Khar Delba, where we're welcomed, than to K'eel Doba, where we might not be. Who knows what's been said to who, and with Sorben being, well... representative of the non-Sith just by the fact that he's human, and him being slapped in the slammer... well..."

I paused a moment, then continued thinking out loud.

"There might be some kind of standing order against humans in general. And Khaandon alone knows how realistic that little bit of speculation might be, if my darling niece is the one who's running the show now..."

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... mad enough to go running through Kori'san jungle to then be jumped and killed by a wild tuk'ata. But after only the briefest moment of mental wandering, he managed to escape the images. "Sounds like we have at least the beginnings of a plan," Terrin then stated, keying Captain's personal nav data and scrolling til at length he found the coordinates he wanted. He then keyed in orders to reorient the Hornett to these coordinates via hyperspace, using his own personal command signature.

He keyed the visual frequency in for navigation. "This is Captain Danner requesting reorientation of Hornett to the incoming coordinates," he said, waiting for the incoming reply. Which came in only a few moments. A visual response followed on the monitor in front of him. The female managed to keep cool and crisp. "Command signature received and confirmed. Reiorientation and departure scheduled in 5 standard minutes. ETA to destination upon entry into hyperspace approximately 10 standard hours. Navigation out...

...and welcome back, Captain."

As the monitor went black once more, Terrin turned back to the others. "Is there anything else we've forgotten, or need to discuss?"

[ 12-27-2007 06:45 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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"I can't think of anything else," I admitted, even as a wealth of what ifs and didja think about thats popped up in my mind's eye. I squelched them with a snort, albeit a forced one.

"But what we're going to do when we get there, exactly, I'm still curious to know. I think we've got a lot of unfinished business ahead of us, but it's probably best to get everyone together before we go and tackle that."

[ 12-27-2007 06:50 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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...if anyone, for that matter. But speculating on something we don't even know yet might be risky."

He paused then, leaning back. "And we still have those star formations we could look at in the meantime...

...assumng, of course, that someone here remembers what they looked like to begin with."

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Besides, he's a Big Boy. He can take care of himself. Khaandon knows he's done pretty well so far.

Then I sighed, for the realization struck me that we had some time before we came into Sith space, and if by studying star charts in the hopes of deciphering where Yaoksi was would keep Shayla's mind off of the straits her baby was in, then who was I to deny her this. Only--

"I really think we should go to Khar Delba once we come into the system," I piped up a final time.

"Panthar is right: that was our rendezvous place... not to mention that K'eel Doba is full of warriors. If for some reason they blame us for their problems, we're not going to have to worry about magick being used against us even if they had it. We're going to be facing spears, and frankly, the only way to outmaneuver that would be with a blaster.

"There's already the good possibility that a war is brewing between them and the Imps; no need for us to go stir up our own muddy waters, right?"

I ground to a halt as those yet remaining turned in their seats and stared at me. All I could do was offer a shaky smile right back at them.

"Just FYI," I finished, then plunked back into my seat.

[ 12-27-2007 09:17 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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He trailed, as various and sundry looks of warning shot from the surrounding friends and commrades. "Oh, allright," he then said disgustedly. "But another mug of caf and some food would be nice. Assuming we're all done here..."

He paused a moment, quirking a brow in question Terrin's way. He simply nodded. "I'm headed for Red Level dining, if anyone cares to come along. After all, we've got some free time for the moment, and for once, unless something changes, we don't have to worry about any extraordinary strangeness disturbing said free time."

With nothing further than that, Jasyn turned to head out, knowing that someone or other would follow. After all, just because he said he was only going to get another mug of caf didn't mean everyone in the office was actually going to believe him.

[ 12-27-2007 09:30 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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"Hey Jas, wait up," I called as with a wave toward the others I headed after the lanky figure.

"I'm a little on the gnarly side myself, mind if I join you in a cup of-- caf?"

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"Sure, caf," he repeated, allowing Galen to catch up as they headed out of the office. Back behind, he heard Terrin's call. "Hey, save me a seat!"

That only melted his former scowl further as the most Han-Solo-ish sort of grin crept on his features.

Ahhh, how nice this little break was going to be...

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She shook her head no, which quiet honestly didn't surprise Terrin that much.

"Allright, follow me," he said, before gettng up and leading her out of the office and in a direction away from the others. After winding through several corridors and turbolifts, they finally arrived at the main navigational deck. Terrin directed Shayla to a nearby computer, showing her the basics of navigating through the charts, knowing she would quickly catch on due to her proclivity for piloting.

"I'll let Erik know where you are," he said at length, "And you can use the comm unit to get in contact with any of us if you need to in the meantime. I'm assuming you can handle it from here?"

She nodded quietly, getting then to work...

...and Terrin headed out back towards Red level dining.

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"Hey Jas," I said at last, keeping my voice low. "There's something I need to know, ok? I need you to think back about what you experienced on Dagobah. I want to know everything that happened: what went on around you, what feelings did you have, what feelings did anyone else have, what was around you, everything and anything."

I paused but kept moving, to entice him to do the same. The last thing I wanted was for other ears to hear this; I needed information to think about, and didn't want to unnecessarily worry anyone unless I was certain there was good reason for it.

"Not now, there's no time right now," I added quickly, then went on. "But you think about it, and sometime before we get to the Sith worlds I'd sure like to know."

The ensuing silence was obviously filled with the biggest WHY I have ever not heard in my life; letting my lips relax into a smile I offered what I could.

"I've run into this Google-thing before," I said, hoping he'd take the statement at face value.

"I think I know a teensy bit of how it thinks; maybe with what you can tell me I can figure out what it meant by earning back points.

"Now, let's go get some breakfast..."

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...but he figured he'd think about it, anyway. As they entered the dining area, Jasyn headed for the largest table there. "I'll see what I can do," he responded quietly to Galen then, sliding into a chair and waving everyone else over. He was true to his word, and ordered himself a mug of caf and some food. He figured he could get to something stiffer later on...

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Their baby might be dead, and Shayla was still trying to save the world, even without Force abilities, and move on. He didn't know if he could handle it quite so well...

"I know this is supposed to be breakfast, and I'm not much of a drinker...

,,,but I really think I need a drink."

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But-- probable, which ok, so it was a tad wee stronger than possible was on the other hand a far cry from certainty. I reached out a sympathetic hand and laid it on his arm.

"I'll join you in that drink," I said to my own surprise.

"But please, try not to worry. The Sith were a very advanced race, they had technologies that even now we couldn't understand--"

An image of Jester rose before me, in all her eerie, greeny-golden splendor. If that ship operated on magicks, then I was a womprat's auntie.

"I'm sure Aeylmaar is taking every possible care of your baby."

I trailed off into uncomfortable silence, one which was thankfully broken by the appearance of our server. Throwing all caution to the wind, I beckoned to him.

"I'll take a Walkn'Fall on the rocks," I said, suddenly feeling a need for the false security of alcohol.

"On second thought, make it a double."

[ 12-27-2007 10:26 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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"Nice rounds of ahhh.... caf," he observed lightly, scanning the group, his eyes finally falling on the somewhat distant-looking Kartan. "Shayla's in navigation, and I'd be glad to take you there later," he said briefly, turning once again to everyone in general. "And I somehow knew this was going to turn out to be more than breakfast and caf," he admitted as the server approached to take his own order. "This is all long overdue," he then agreed, ordering some food and a Whyrene's Reserve.

Kriffing hell, but there wasn't any time like the present.

[ 12-27-2007 10:51 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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After a moment he looked around at everyone at the table.

“What Galen said back there,” he said, “about a war brewing. She’s right, and if that happens then we are sunk, all of us. When we meet with everyone else, I think that has to be one of the priorities, getting the Impies and Sith to be allies in this.”

Panthar slammed back the remainder of his drink and set it down on the table.

“Somehow,” he added.

“Hey,” he said, looking up to Terrin. “Do you have a historical database here? Something I could do – or anyone else who wants – is research as much as we can about the Vong and what happened during the last invasion. I’m pretty good at research, I just need a library.”

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He wasn't surprised, however, that Petrolu was the only one not drinking.

"And although we can't rely on the Force at the moment, I'm sure Jedi databases still have some fairly reliable records on how the Vong were dealt with before on all fronts. At any rate, you are welcome to use our computers for any research you want to do...

...and we have parties here who could connect you to all those sorts of resources...

...and perhaps others I can't even think of at the moment."

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Panthar took the last bite of his food, then rose. He paused, then looked at Terrin.

“Stargazer Corporation? You mean as in Shayla?”

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