...then scowled as he brought it back down, totally empty. "Hey, I vote for looking for Captain Joao..."

He trailed, scowling a bit more, "...and even the others, before we try to figure out anything else. Hell, the one thing that Googly does seem to be kriffing demanding about is that we," he paused, making quotation marks with his fingers, "Look at the bigger picture. So what if we first deal with those of us in our circle instead of running like rontos with our heads cut off to address the issue of the supposed incoming Vong?"

As he said this, he waived the waiter over, raised a single finger, and raised his eyebrows. "I'm with Galen, we need more brains in on this. I mean, at the most, what is Googly going to do to us if whatever it is really needs us? Keep our powers blocked...

...for those of us that even have any powers? It would be nice to know if this just has happened to all of us...

...or if it has happened to any of our enemies as well. Now that might tell us just who or what the kriffing hell this Googly truly is."

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

“Let’s not get all cocky here,” he continued. “It might be the case that Googly is what Galen says, it has a weird sort of sense to it. But that doesn’t make him any less dangerous. He – it – whatever – has the demonstrated the ability to at least block some of us from our energies. I mean, that’s no small feat.”

He downed half of the glass, then wiped his mouth with the back of his large hand.

“As for the Vong,” he went on. “Well, if you can believe that Phal was remembering correctly when he told us about his past – which would really be the future – then we have a some time before the Vong are strong. I remember this, he was in line to be Dark Lord of the Sorcerers about the time the Vong had engaged the Sith. There was some peace negotiation, but it was trick and the whole Triumvirate was killed. In desperation, since he had blood from all three clans somehow, and I guess the only one capable of taking over, he was made the emergency Dark Lord of all three clans. I guess that wasn’t a popular thing to have happen, but he didn’t go into a lot of detail Anyway, the Sith were losing badly, and the last thing he told me was that he remembered dying, in Jharmeen’s arms. Yeah, that’s a lot to swallow, but he was sure convinced it was true.”

He took another drink, then continued.

“But the point is that he is sure the Vong are coming, as was the Master. The evidence I found in my research suggests that it can’t possibly be the same Vong that were defeated here before, they just could not have rebuilt yet. So, unless the Vong were somehow brought forward in time like the Sith were, then…”

He paused, mug part way to his lips, and peered at Galen.

“Umm,” he began. “That wouldn’t really be a possibility, would it?”

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

"Or," I answered slowly. "It's the same bunch returning... and they've found something they think will make them undefeatable."

I looked around at the others a bit worriedly as this new thought struck home.

"We already know there's powerful stuff out there, right? And who's to say we're the only galaxy privy to it? I mean, there's Googly, who's nothing to sneeze at. The Darker Realms had their own brand of--"

I stopped.

"You don't suppose--" I faltered, then trailed off into silence.

[ 01-30-2008 08:06 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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He trailed, his look darkening further. "Or perhaps responded to the Darkness in her and connected with some Vong warrior or something that talked to her about her and Graysith."

He shook his head. "I'm not sure what to make of all this...

...but I'm afraid what Galen is proposing between the Vong and the Darker Realms could very much be the case."

[ 01-30-2008 08:21 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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

...not to mention planetary make-up...

...they had seen via the Octahedron. After printing out said possiblities, she got to her feet, headed out, and requested some general directions on how to get back to Red Level dining. An officer was kind enough to escort her there, where she found the others in a serious discussion. She quietly cleared her throat, waving her printed finding a little for emphasis. "I've found 3 believable possibilities for Captain Joao's location," she opened with, "A planet called Belkadan, which was rebuilt afer the Vong invasion, a planet called Datooine where the Old Rebel Alliance once built a base...

...and some unnamed planet out in wild space...

...near Vector Prime."

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

"Vector Prime!" I exclaimed, tightening my grip on my glass reflexively. Deep in the corners of my memory something niggled, something other than what I knew outright about that part of space, something I knew i should remember, but it was just not quite making itself known...

"How in Hell's Seven Circles would he have gotten clear out there! That's really out in the boonies; I've not been there myself, but I've seen the location on Dad's starcharts. There was some planet out there he said might have Sith artifacts on it, but we never got that far. We were going to go there next..."

I trailed as the impact of Dad's final days on that dreary, dusty ball hit me, an unknown planet on the way toward said Vector Prime, one holding a find to beat all finds, but one which ultimately killed him and changed my life forever.

I blinked back sudden, surprising tears and went on.

"I don't know much about that part of space, but I do know it's pretty empty of civilization as we know it... except..."

My frown deepened and I closed my eyes, letting my eidetic memory flash a particular star chart in front of me. My eyes popped open, wide.

"Umm... guys, I'm not certain, but aren't the Sith worlds out in that direction too?"

Ok, there was still something niggling, something hollering deep down in some shadowy recess of my mind. Something, something, some connection, something about the Sith? And--

"The Vong?"

I didn't realize I said the word out loud until the weight of everyone's eyes brought me out of my momentary fugue. I blinked again; the Vong and the Sith. Panthar said Phal had said the Sith engaged the Vong at some future date; ok, so never mind the tense battle there. People disappear into unknown places when in turn engaging with the weird power Lord Aelvedaar and Sissypoops use... and now there is a chance that said unknown area is in roughly the same spot the Vong first came through into our Galaxy.

Sith. Weird power. Vong, villips...

That there was a connection between all this was obvious. What it all meant, was not.

"And it all has something to do with the Darker Realms, because of the villip Shayla saw," I whispered aloud in apparent non sequiteur before quickly spilling out everything that had been running amok in my head.

[ 01-30-2008 09:42 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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Panthar leaned forward, the ideas racing in his head. He tried to keep his mouth working as to not lose pace with the thoughts.

“Now, let’s think about Galen’s idea that Googley is a manifestation of someone. He seems to pop up at times when it is most advantageous to him, like he is watching somehow. Now, I’m not pointing fingers, but who has access to something that lets you watch what others are doing? Maybe something crystal… something Sith.”

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

He paused then, trailing. "Hey, remember when we found that logbook on that big ole sith warship? The one that was hidden in some closet or something? Why do I remember that there was something Vong conneced with that thing...

...or am I getting my wires crossed?"

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

“I remember finding the log book,” he said, “but I don’t remember what was in it. It was all in Sith, and it had a lot of coordinates in it. Was that when we nearly jumped into a sun as it went nova? Back when that thing was pretending to be Aelvedaar… whatever that thing was. We never have solved that little mystery, have we?”

Panthar shook his head.

“Well, all we have now is a bunch of disjointed happenings, some weird stuff going on, and whole lot of speculation. What we need is a plan, or at least a chance to get all of the facts laid out in front of people who can help figure this out. Which means we need to get back in touch with the people we know who can help. Now, whether we can really actually trust anyone, who knows? But we have to start somewhere, and the other people that have been there with us through everything are Phal, Aelvedaar, and Jharmeen, and I guess, Yaoksi, too. Now, this ship is captained by Terrin, right, so the call is his. But my suggestion is still that we go to Khar Delba.”

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

"Ummm, yeah," he started with, a bit awkwardly. "And although all of our speculations and thoughts might be helpful later on, we really can't do much with them now. I mean, for all we know the same Thing that was posing as the doppleganger Lord Aelvedaar is linked to our pal Googley. And someone else could be making use of an Octahedron of some sort elsewhere. After all, there is a whole planet in Elseness with such devices...

...and we already know that someone used a a villip to make contact with Shayla through the Elseness regardless."

Terrin paused, sighing. "What we need to deal with at the moment is what we can do now, I think. We've got some potential locations for Captain Joao, and we are enroute to connect with others who may know what is going on. So now that we have..."

He paused, checking is chrono, "Five standard hours left until reversion, we really need to finalize our departure to Khar Delba, or K'eel Doba. We need to decide if there is anything really specific we need to bring along with us...

...weapons, supplies, gear...

...and get them on board the one or more smaller ships we are going to take to the surface of whichever planet...

...and my vote is still for Khar Delba. It's our original point of origin before we were all seperated, and we may experience an unwelcoming hostess on K'eel Doba."

He trailed again then, drinking the remaining bits of drink in his mug before finishing with, "So I guess what I'm trying to say is that maybe we need to save further speculation for when we get planetside with everyone there...

...and leave this time to finish up our departure details and rest a bit longer. I'm afraid it may be the only time we may have in a while."

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

He leaned back and stretched his long form under the table.

“As for supplies,” he continued, “if the Sith worlds have experienced the same loss of magic and All usage that we have seen, then things could be an uproar. People will suddenly not have the use of the things they rely on, and there may be accidents and injuries. I actually don’t know what kind of technology the Sith have, but if it is still following the patterns of what I discovered in my research of there ruins, then it might not be as bad as I fear. But things will still be in chaos, I’m sure. We should make sure to assess the situation and offer help.”

[ 02-17-2008 11:04 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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"Ummm... guys? Captain Joao?" I prompted, waggling my brows before picking up my glass and draining half of it's remaining contents in one large gulp.

"How is going to Khar Delba going to assist in finding him? Blond- er, that is, Shayla seems to have found three likely candidates as to his whereabouts; we have ships, we have maps, and we have pilots.

"Shouldn't we get our group back in order first, and then worry about Khar Delba?"

With that I finished my drink and motioned for the waitress to fetch another. Finally, it seemed, that warm fuzzy feeling was starting to make it's presence known. I thought it prudent to aim a touch higher regarding it, actually, for Khaandon alone knew when we'd have another chance at a roundtable such as this again. Not with the way things seemed to suddenly be shaping up in the Galaxy, sure as there's Treasure on Roon!

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

...and those whom he truly trusted.

"Yeah," he then said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin a bit. "I mean, we need to get to Khar Delba, but at the risk of sounding wishy-washy, I have to go back to my original inclination, which is that I'd trust Captain Joao with my life...

...and the lives of people I care about. We need as many of those sorts of people that we can get. Especially considering we're talking about potential connections between the Sith and the Vong...

...and we're talking about heading right to the Sith."

He paused then, ignoring any potential looks of disapproval, now going with his gut. "Now at least two of the three locations Shayla found are nearby the Sith worlds, possibly all of them. So it's not that far of a stretch to just head out and get to Captain Joao first. And although I don't really think it's a good idea, if some of us would rather just head on to Khar Delba while the rest of us check out these three planets, that's doable too. But with us now having potential locations for him, and with a kid being in the mix....

...didn't someone say he had a kid with him...?

...I think we have just reasons to alter course. Besides," he said then a bit offhandly, "I owe him a ship. And while we're on a ship where we have the final say on what happens...

...where we might not once we get on the Sith worlds...

...we should take care of our own."

[ 02-18-2008 08:08 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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“I don’t blame you for wanting to go after Yaoksi,” he said, still staring at the tiles. “But I do think it is imperative to get to one of the Sith worlds as soon as possible. I’m a fair pilot, but I’m lacking a ship so I can’t volunteer to head out early and meet you later. But getting Yaoksi is a good thing to do, so let’s do it.”

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

"You're in an awful big hurry to get to Khar Delba," I observed slowly as with hand motions I made my desire for just uno mas clear to the pretty young thing who flirted up to the table, replacing the young man who formerly had been taking care of us.

"Any particular reason why?"

Maybe it was the drink, but suddenly it seemed the rising warmth was shoving aside the sloshy good humor that had been accompanying it. I frowned slightly, stuck a handy toothpick in my mouth, crossed my arms and settled back in my seat to wait for whichever came first: a refill or a reply.

[ 02-21-2008 12:29 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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“It’s not that I am desperate to go back there,” he said. “But the last thing that we had all planned before heading off to find you guys was that we would meet up with Aelvedaar, Phal and Gray back on Khar Delba. Our priorities were to see if we could help with Shawn and Erik, then regroup together on Khar Delba to rescue Yaoksi. I forgot who was going where, but I think Gray and Phal went to K’eel Doba to get Thoran and Sorben out of the brig, then try to negotiate a truce.”

Looking around at everyone else around the table, he leaned back and blow out a puff of air that made his lips flap together and make a short huffing sound.

“But with the loss of Sith magic, and the Force, and maybe even the All, I doubt we’ll be meeting them there. Which means Phal and Gray – and I think they took that Rykounagin with them, too, for some reason – anyway, they’re probably on K’eel Doba right now trying to keep things under control. That’s why I think it would be good to go there, too, as well as Khar Delba. Whichever is closer. But since we can’t rely on a portal, I agree that we should get Yaoksi first. But if you didn't need me for that, I could take a ship to Khar Delba, or K'eel Doba, whichever, and see if the others have made it back and tell them what is going on.”

The waitress showed up again, handing a mug to Galen. She made sure to turn her back to Panthar, then turned again to face him and place a glass in front of him. He looked up, lost for the moment in thought, and caught her eyes. He smiled dumbly and stuttered a thank-you. She grinned back and walked away from the table.

“So,” he said, taking his drink in hand. “How long is it to Yaoksi? Can we try to reach him somehow by comm? Assuming he is there… I mean, from what Gray said, those natural portals out of the Elseness can take you through time, too.”

Panther realized the heaviness of the silence that immediately followed his last statement, catching his drink halfway to his lips.

“But that’s just silly,” he said quickly. “Of course he is there, right?” He continued his glass on its hasty trip and took a long, slow, drink.

[ 02-25-2008 07:37 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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...that decision is yours alone. I don't advise you going by yourself though, and I don't don't care for us splitting up at all but--"

Terrin's voice was cut off then as the most horrific screeching noise filled everyne's ears. Terrin knew without even seeing that they had fallen out of hyperspace, for whatever reason.

"Kriffing he---!" he started as his commlink began to beep. Quickly he answered.

"Captain," came the voice of a somewhat nervous sounding crew member. "Our hyperdrive has had an... unexpected malfunction. Technicians are assessing the problem now."

Terrin frowned. "When was it serviced last?" he queried.

A brief hesitation. "A couple of months ago, sir."

Terrin shot Aaron another look, this one decidedly irritated. "Update me as soon as the malfunction is determined."

"Yes sir," came the crisp reply. "Engineering out."

"Well," Terrin then said, eyeing everyone at the table. "I don't know what is going on or how long this may take to repair...

...but maybe this is the time we need to make up our minds and just go. No need to waste time, especially considering we may be going in more than one direction, and especially considering the hyperdrive may take a while to repair..."

He paused a moment, now pratically glowering, "...since it hasn't been serviced in two months."

[ 02-25-2008 09:21 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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Panthar shook his head and walked to the bar, where he placed his empty glass on the countertop. The waitress sidled beside him, took the empty glass, and replaced it with a full one, smiling. Panthar grinned and took the glass, nodding his thanks.

“Are you trying to get me drunk or something?” he asked jokingly. He then lowered his voice in a failed attempt to keep Terrin from hearing. “Well, next time better make it a double, maybe it’ll help stop my head from splitting open when the next mechanical part screams its horrific death call. Does this happen a lot?”

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

For a moment, he trailed in to irritated silence, then the voice of reason pointed out to him that things things do happen even to the best...

...once in a while, at least. He sat back and sighed. "But it's no use crying over spilled milk," he commented. "We might as well take the coordinates Stargazer found, pick a ship, get some supplies and go on. The Hornett's engineers are perfectly capable of repairing whatever is going on....

...or at least, they had better be able to," he commented, unable to completely let go of his disgust, "And then meet us at a rendezvous point." He turned and cocked a brow at Panthar. "So which way have you decided to head...

...or would you rather stay here and make sure all the mechanical parts of our ship are working properly?" he finished, an innocent look falling on his features.

[ 02-25-2008 09:43 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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"Um," he began, a wry smile forming on his lips as he glanced towards Galen. "That ship we'll be taking... Aaron's not in charge of that one, is he?"

[ 02-25-2008 09:52 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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"Nope," I interjected before Terrin could answer Panthar. "Aaron will probably stay back and watch over repairs here; hey, speaking of, don't forget K'kihl."

I turned to the brooding man, who looked all the more pained for the fact that the SSD wasn't up to her normal state of perfection.

"If anyone in the known universe can get this baby back up to par, it's K'kihl. So when we find Captain Joao, we'll just all get our hineys over to Khar Delba, drop Panthar off so he can do his thing, grab my ol' buddy, and high-tail it on back here. Then we can figure out what in Hell's Seven Circles we're gonna do beyond that."

I stood up and stretched, a satisfied smile plastered on my face. The logic sounded solid to me, hang my liquid breakfast anyway, and now that something of a plan had coalesced I was anxious to adhere to it. Tell the truth, all this sitting around in committee was beginning to grate on my nerves.

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

He paused, for the barest of moments. "She's got to be in top working order."

Falling silent for a moment then and exchanging a meaningful look with his business partner, one that could no doubt be read by others as well, Terrin finally shifted to look at everyone else. "But why don't we go ahead and scope out the ships in the main hanger bay? No need deciding on what supplies we need until we have decided what ship we're taking, and as nice as the Eagle II is, she may or may not be the best choice."

Motioning then for everyone to follow, Terrin began leading the way out of Red Level dining and to the hangar bay beyond.

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

"W--wait," Erik suddenly said, causing most in the party to freeze in place. "I can't just keep going not knowing what has happened with my son...

...I just can't."

He paused then, pulling Shayla quietly to the side with a pained look in his eyes. "Can you? At least I'd think you would want to go to Khar Delba and find out what happened to Graysith...

...but I'm decided. Our family has been taking the backseat here far too long."

[ 03-02-2008 04:40 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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

...and I've got to consider the Larger Picture. It's what I've been taught to do by Graysith for the past few years, and it's what is right, powers or no powers."

She paused then, considering. “Graysith and Phalomir are already working on securing the release of Sorben Tarnus, and we really have no indication that anything untoward has happened to them. Still, your destination may be right even if your reasons are wrong.”

Pausing yet again, Shayla turned to then address everyone present. “We have got to unite as a unified Galaxy, as much as possible, if we are going to face the Yuuzhan Vong and have any chance of succeeding. I was on that ship with their leader and then connected to him via the villip on K'eel Doba, and I know he's powerful and linked with powerful forces. If something has happened to Graysith and Phalomir, the responsibility lies on us to free Tarnus and prepare this galaxy,” she said. “We are the only ones, perhaps, who are really aware of what is looming in the future, be it near or for some time yet.”

Trailing, Shayla pursed her lips, making her own personal decision regarding what to do, knowing that Erik was keenly aware she wasn't making it for the reasons that he would like. “I think we need to have a team go to Khar Delba, like Panthar has suggested. But I think going to get Captain Joao is equally as important. If he is in two of the three locations that I have determined, there may be some reason he was placed there. After all, the two locations I am talking about are somehow linked to the Yuuzhan Vong's first occupancy of our galaxy. So you should all continue on there and explore that possibility.”

She trailed a final time, sighing. “Erik and I will go to Khar Delba ahead of all of you and check on Graysith and Phalomir's progress, letting them know what has happened with Captain Joao and the others as well. That is...

...if we can purchase a ship as Erik has already requested.”

[ 03-02-2008 06:38 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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

...and I'm going to leave it at that. Either way, we need to get to the hangar bay, and decide on what ship we are going to take...

...and which one you would like to buy," he finished with, nodding towards Shayla and Erik. Saying nothing further, he again motioned everyone to follow him, and with no furhter adieu lead everyone through the maze of corridors and turbolifts until they had reached the main hangar bay. Surrounded by a large number of ships, they had their pick of a multitude of designs, including the three pristine Lambda-class shuttles that were the Falcon II, Raptor II, and Eagle II.

"The ships that are to be on sale are over there," he said, motioning in a particular direction. Trailing for a moment then, he turned to Galen. "I'm leaving the decision on what ship we take in your capable hands," he then said. "We could take Eagle II, like I said earlier...

...but although she's got good weaponry, she's not really equipped for combat or stealth. We might need those things considering where we are headed."

He paused then, cocking a brow and indicating the entire hangar bay with the sweep of one hand. "So what do you think?"

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