The Sith ships. He knows about the ships...

Well he knew about these secretive, mysterious vessels, for he had appropriated one of them himself from Galen and Sorben. According to those two, no one had any knowledge of these; they were in fact something kept as an ongoing mystery to the Impys.

At least as far as he knew.

But now this jedi was letting him know otherwise, which in turn made him wonder if anyone else in this galaxy had knowledge of them. Possibly the Impys would know there was something weird going on, but to what degree of knowledge they held...

He drew in a breath.

"Thank you, Mr. Kartan," he said, now letting an air approaching that of joviality ooze from his demeanor.

"I believe you. And I also believe you are quite a valuable commodity, to a wider range of people and in more ways than you possibly realize."

He paused a moment to move to a nearby sideboard. Palming open a door, he withdrew a tall bottle of something vibrantly violet, with rich emerald undertones lurking its depths. Setting two chromium colored goblets down, he opened the bottle and filled them both with the heady liquid.

"Let us toast what undoubtedly will be a long and mutually beneficial relationship, Mr. Kartan. And over this wine, perhaps you would be so kind as to go over in extreme detail exactly what you know.

"What are the strengths of these peoples? Where are their governmental heads located? What kind of armies do they have, weaponry?

"I have already gleaned from what you told me that is would appear they wish to run the Galaxy as they see fit. Perhaps you will be able to relate enough information from your past experience that we might act upon to prevent this from happening.

"If not, why then...?"

He smiled, and held up his goblet.

"Then you must travel to each of their planets, and find out more useful information, Mr. Kartan."

He waited until Erik raised his own glass before taking a sip.

There was no way he would condone using something as powerful as the Magroo device without much more information. And even then, the ramifications of doing so could create more trouble than leaving the Sith alone...

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...or standing in Shayla's shadow. Too many times she had not listened to a word he had said, too many times she had rationalized things that the Sith did.

No more. Erik had seen far too much to believe they only meant for the good of all.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Erik's eyes snapped alert and he finally took a sip of the drink, considering Seus's queries, and considering what he knew that might be of immediate use regarding the Sith warriors and weapons.

"Although the Sith have some magickal weapons that I admittedly know only sporadic information about, the Warriors fight primarily with swords and spears. The Sorcerors are the ones who use devices...."

He trailed, thinking. "I know they had this thing called the Nar Khelba, and Graysith had some weapon on her hand that a ship salesman and former info smuggler named Terrin Danner cut off...

...oh, and like I said, they have these amazing ships. They move faster, can accelerate at amazing rates, and all kinds of stuff; I know, I've seen my wife Shayla Stargazer as well as Danner's wife fly the fighters...

...and I've flown one of the warships myself."

[ 12-01-2011 04:15 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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He didn't let the degree of surprise he felt show, however. That was simply not the Way of the Hunter.

"That is good to know, Mr. Kartan," he stated simply as, reaching for his glass he took a sip of its intoxicating contents. He paused a moment as if to savor the drink, then set the glass down.

"Tell me again, Mr. Kartan," he went on. "How many of these Sith worlds are there in the system we are heading toward? And, living among them as you did, which world was it from which you left in such anger?

"How do you think you would be received upon that world, as well as the other?"

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Truth be told, he wouldn't be well received in [b]either[/i of the Sith worlds...

"There are two worlds in the system we are headed to," he answered directly. "One is a Sorcerer world, and one a Warrior world. Although I am pretty sure neither world would receive me very well, I am certain reception on the Sorcerer's world, Khar Delba, would be very poor."

He paused, shaking his head slightly and frowning. "That is the world I recently departed from with my deceased son; I was told then--and once previously--that humans do not belong there and that I shoud not return ever again. Unfortunately one of Terrin Danner's men, along with my brother-in-law, a Jedi Master by the name Shawn Petrolu, remained there after my departure."

Erik paused again, now considering the Warrior world and just how he may be received there. "On the other hand, the warriors are not found of others either, however I did spend much more time overall on this world and am more familiar with its layout. This world, K'eel Doba, is where this Graysith holds the title of Dark Lady."

And it very well may be where Shayla feld to after she left Khar Delba, right Kartan?

Erik chose to ignore this thought, suddenly realizing that he really didn't want to have anything more to do with her...

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"Excellent," he purred, somewhat like the sandcat who had caught the womprat. "Then it is to this Sorcerer World you speak of that we shall go."

Why he chose this destination, so obviously distasteful to the Jedi, he did not state. He merely lifted his glass and drained its contents, waiting to see if his comment would be accosted or not.

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Returning to Khar Delba right now would not be good, he knew it deep down in his gut. And based on what he'd just told Seus, Erik would have thought the Head Hunter would have arrived at the same decision. Still, he had earlier stated that the Sorcerers were the ones who posed more of a threat...

...and that was a fact. So maybe the reasoning was that Seus wanted to collect more info on them since he had stated he had more knowledge about the Warrior's planet?

Or was there something else?

These thoughts passed in but a split second, and Erik did a good job of keeping any initial reaction to Sues's decision from his face. Still, there was something he needed to make clear, up front.

"Before we go to that world, I must restate my status with the Sith on this world is very, very poor. I was told explicitly not to return, and my final parting words implied I would abide by that."

Like hell you actually meant it though, Kartan.

"I do not want my past experiences with these people to pose any additional risk to anyone who might accompany me."

He paused, truly considering the possible added danger anyone in his company might be in on either Sith world, but especially on Khar Delba. But then he considered something else: as far as he knew, Shawn and Jasyn were both still on these worlds. Stranded.

"By the same token, unless something has changed, Danner's man and Shawn Petrolu are both still on that world. They might provide some assistance."

And then again, they might not considering how you stormed off Khar Delba. That is, if they are still there at all.

Or, by the way things looked when you left, even alive...

As Erik fell silent, his first pangs of guilt at leaving the two men behind finally began to gnaw at his conscience...

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"Then I will leave you to hone your skills, Mr. Kartan, in the hours that lay before us. You shall be contacted when we approach our destination, and drop from hyperspace."

With that he drained his goblet, rose to his feet, and with a single gesture waved Erik toward the door. It whooshed open, revealing a weapon-bristling Hunter, who waited to lead the man to a place where he could gather himself and his skills into a single, useful entity.

Exactly how useful still remained to be seen...

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This isn't just about you and whatever happened in the past anymore, Kartan. It simply can't be.

"Thank you, Sir," he then responded to Seus. Then without any further word he turned and headed out the now open door to where the heavily armed man, who was without a doubt a Hunter, waited. Erik stepped out of Seus's office and halted just beside him, momentarily wondering where he would be taken and if the Head Hunter was expecting him to eventually become a mirror of the Hunters he had seen thusfar: heavily weaponed, body well-honed, and altogether a decidely dangerous force to be reckoned with.

A good blaster and steady hand could achieve a great deal. And he had other advantages at his beck and call as well: Father had trained him well. He just needed to get back in touch with it, and in touch with himself outside of being defined by Shayla, who had long ago chosen her own path. Now was the time for him to chose his.

Erik looked then to the awaiting Hunter, nodding once in acknowledgement. Then, letting the Hunter take the lead, he began following as they began to move through the corridors of Seus's ship, perhaps to a training location of some variety or another. But regardless of where he was going, Erik was ready. This was something he very much needed to do. And it was so very long overdue.

[ 01-21-2012 10:06 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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Erik was becoming increasingly aware, with every passing second, that if he had ever moved out of the center circle in his training, he needed to return to it. And that was what he intended to do now. Resting one hand on each knee and taking a deep breath, Erik closed his eyes and stretched out, seeking the one thing that he hadn't in quite some time, not really. Touching the Force, he let it ebb and flow through his inner being as he cleared his mind of all that he had allowed to cloud his thoughts: the loss of the baby, the loss of Shayla, his anger with his Father...

...and the death of his brother. Knowing he had never forgiven the Corellian Jedi Council or his Father for it, Erik suddenly realized that now he simply had to do just that. Likewise he knew he had to, despite his anger, forgive for his son's death as well.

And that he had to let Shayla go.

With a deep breath, Erik sighed, for the first time really admitting to himself how much he missed her. And how much he had loved her. And how much he had allowed that love to cloud his better judgement.

And not necessarily of just the Sith. But of her.

Stretching out even further into the Force, Erik focused in on what he knew at least should have been her Force-signature, one he knew very well despite the fact he hadn't really kept his Force abilities up as he should have, not expecting to sense her at all and not really knowing why he was. As expected, he came up with nothing, figuring she had long since blocked him. Not reacting to this, however, he kept his mind free of any emotional reaction, and stretched out further into the Force, losing himself in it.

And suddenly, in his mind's eye, a vision began to play itself out in startlingly vivid detail.

[ 03-17-2012 12:30 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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Both within the vision and without, Erik frowned, wondering just what he was doing in this time and place. And why he was dressed in his familial green jedi robe. The answer came soon enough.

From seemingly nowhere, the image of a person—a shade—coalesced, his back at first turned to Erik. The figure too wore a green jedi robe, and his hair, like Erik's, was a very dark brown. By contrast to Erik's, however, his hair was cropped close. As the wind blew once more, the figure at last turned. Erik knew before he did exactly who he was.

“Seek not vengeance, but the Truth,” Joshua said as he turned to Erik.

For a long moment, Erik couldn't say a word. His brother looked just as he had that fateful day when he was killed at the hand of an underworld Corellian criminal, one Corsec had been chasing for many years. For this reason, although his brother would have actually been ten years older than him, he appeared much the same age as Erik was now.

Joshua quirked a brow at Erik. With effort, Erik forced himself away from his initial shock at seeing his brother, be it vision or not.

“Seek not vengeance, but Truth,” Joshua repeated. “Your reasons for choosing to do something are just as important as what you do, Erik,” he then clarified.

Erik sighed but then nodded once, looking down for a moment. “I suppose you're going to tell me to not let my emotions influence my decisions and actions now,” he said, looking up and meeting his brother's green eyes with his dark browns.

Joshua shook his head. “Yes and no,” he responded. “Your emotions are your initial reaction to what you see. They give you clues as to what is truly going on. For example, when that Sith demon brought Terrin Danner's arm in to Graysith, how did you feel, really?”

Erik's eyes grew wide. “How...how do you know about that?”

Joshua's green eyes showed the barest hints of what could have very well been amusement. “I'm a shade, Erik. A piece of your mind that is here to guide you and has always been, had you ever let me.”

Erik pursed his lips a bit, then nodded. “I understand,” he then replied. “And the answer was I was horrified. In the end, with Shayla's guidance, I was able to mentally justify it, reasoning that Terrin had done something he shouldn't have.”

“But that really didn't make it right now, did it?” Joshua countered.

Erik's eyes defocused as he thought about this, truthfully already knowing his answer. “No, no it didn't. Terrin had something he knew nothing of, that probably needed to stay in the hands of someone who truly understood its use. But that didn't make the reaction any less extreme...”

Erik trailed a moment. “And wrong.”

And evil, no? came an errant thought.

“There is black and white in this Universe, good and evil, despite what you have been lead to believe as of late. Yes, some of the truths we cling to do depend greatly on our own point of view...

...but there is also the matter of what is natural, reasonable, and what is not. Just because some things are done with the intention of it being for the good of all doesn't mean they really are good.”

Joshua stepped in, his green eyes growing intense. “You are on the right track Erik, and you know what to do and what to seek. Let your emotions guide you, but do not let them color your actions. So now prepare and arm yourself. And I will be with you always, just as I always have.”

Stating this, Joshua's figure wavered, and faded, and Erik was left once more to his own thoughts...and to the energy and guidance of the Force.

[ 03-18-2012 03:50 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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..but his eyes were open, both literally and perhaps metaphorically. His brother wasn't saying there weren't shades of grey in things that happen in the Universe...

The truths we cling to do depend greatly on our own point of view...

...but instead he was saying that there are some things out there which truly are, for lack of any other way to describe them, black and white, good and evil. Erik knew, as an information smuggler as well as with what he was attempting to do now, he would be operating largely within those shades of grey.

And that was perfectly fine with him, given he was able to identify those great extemes and find the Truth.

At last getting to his feet, Erik finally stepped up to one of the many cabinets along the outer walls of the room, pausing there for a moment and pursing his lips before he then reached out to open it. Seeing the contents within, his eyes widened a bit...

...but he realized with a start that he really shouldn't be surprised. Reaching into the cabinet, he took the lightsaber hilt--his training lightsaber that had been appropriated from his ship--and stepped back into the center of the room, leaving the green jedi robe in its place in the cabinet as he did. Igniting the blade, he stared into its blue shimmer for a long moment before moving it about. As he did, Erik realized his father had made a few modifications to make the weapon easier to wield.

Not surprising, really. And at the moment, highly useful too.

After going through a few brief practice routines with the weapon, Erik deactivated the saber, and clipped it to his weapons belt, right next to the blaster he much preferred over the older, more antiquated weapon. Still, the lightsaber was part and parcel of who he was, and Erik saw no reason to deny that any longer.

He had, after all, been denying parts of his past for far too long.

Still, Erik didn't pull the blaster from his weapons belt--at least, not yet. Instead he returned to the cabinets along the walls, finding various tools and weapons...

...and reaizing as he went through them that he had one weapon that he wouldn't find in any of the cabinets. Closing the door to the last cabinet, Erik returned to the center of the room, pursing his lips thoughtfully for a moment and rubbing his chin in thought. Then he relaxed his stance, closing his eyes for a moment to collect his thoughts and focus. Opening his eyes then, he stretched out his right arm, his hand palm outward and fingers extended. As he did, his eyes focused on a training bench across the room from him, on the outer wall of the room. As though the motion of his hand and the look connected he and the bench...

...for perhaps it did...

...the bench raised up in the air, smoothly. Erik let his hand drop, but his eyes didn't leave the bench. It remained hovering where it was for a moment, then floated slowly and evenly across the room til it was directly in front of him before Erik lowered it back to the ground. He looked down, regarding the bench a moment, pursing his lips once more.

He had no true healing capabilities, like Shayla. He never had been one to have many visions of the future, although at times he had. He could sense things in the immediate future, which made him the good pilot that he was. Telekentics hadn't initially been his forte, but with his Father's teaching he had become quite skilled at it over time. What he had always excelled at from the very beginning, however, was using the Force to amplify his own abiities and in turn interact with his environment. He was a good tracker and always had exteme physical acuity when he had been in shape.

And he still had it in him, just as he always had.

Setting himself to the task of getting physically back in shape so that his body would be even more prepared to respond to the guidance of the Force, Erik quite simply began engaging in the excercises his Father had taught him to get is body, as well as his mind, back in the shape he needed them to be in for what lay ahead.

[ 03-20-2012 10:51 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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What he was seeing, however, was buried deep within his soul.

Taking a deep breath, Erik let his hands drop back to the floor behind him, and he settled himself on the floor once more. He took another deep breath, then bit his lower lip. His eyes remained intense, his thoughts elsewhere, in other times and places.

Times and places that he had, until this point, been avoiding.

Erik sighed, closing his eyes, and lifting a hand to push the hair which had fallen into his eyes back. The visions of the past continued to play in his mind's eye, but this time he was viewing them from an entirely new angle. But then again...maybe the angle wasn't all that different; maybe he was finally admitting to himself what he had known all along.

He could remember like it was yesterday, every moment; from going after Shayla after she was taken from the Praxeum, tracking her and at length finding her on Khar Delba, to all which followed. How keenly he remembered trying to get her to trust him, and to let him inside her world. He'd been left out of things time and time again, either being allowed to only partake in part of it--as with the strange ceremony with Roan and with some of the missions where he had served as a pilot--to not at all, when Shayla had gone off with them and left him behind in this Temple or that. How well he remembered Graysith telling Shayla, on at least one occassion, to kill him and others, and for no obvious reason that he could see other than to protect the Sith and whatever hidden agenda they had. While Shayla may not have gone through with it...

...in time, she had left him on Degobah, trapped, to die. And what bothered him more than anything was the way in which he had been left. After all, she could have simply killed him then and there, and put him out of his misery. But instead she trapped him, left him defenseless, there to remain in agony and pass over a great length of time...

...and to know with each passing moment that she had left him there to linger.

Unconsciously, Erik shook his head, but he didn't stray from the darkening path of his thoughts, knowing he had to face this all now.

She never, ever trusted him. Never. Even if she might have thought she had. Maybe if she had, their son would not be dead. And maybe if she had, even if their son was dead, they would have dealt with the loss together, instead of apart.

But love without trust, on both sides, was void.

Erik bit his lower lip, opening his eyes, and suddenly realizing how foolish he had been to allow her back into his Universe over and over again. And likewise, realizing how foolish it had been for him to stick so closely to her side that he now really had no other allies, no other comrades.

You've done all this to yourself, as much as you'd like to blame her, some little voice in his head pointed out as Erik closed his eyes once more in resignation...and utter agreement. So fix it, the voiice persisted. It may take time, but you know you aren't going to be the only one who sees a major problem with a people group finding themselves so important that they have altered time to be here and now. And what of the supposedly incoming Yuuzhan Vong? After all, Roan...

...who shouldn't have even been in this place and time...

...was supposedly in cahoots with them. And even if he wasnn't, someone in their midst had to be. After all, Lord Aelvedaar had been able to find both Graysith and Shayla aboard that Vong ship that wasn't even in this Universe. Sorta odd how he could find such a needle in such a large haystack, regardless of how many powrs he had? It was really rather unreal, all things considered.

So what did the Sith really know? And what if, in bringing themselves into this place in time, the Sith had brought upon events which could be the end of the entire Universe?

Erik's eyes snapped open, the implications of his thought path altogether too logical for his liking. Getting back to his feet, Erik got back to work, the urgency to be ready and prepared for what laid ahead growing in him with each passing moment.

[ 03-21-2012 11:14 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Erik Kartan ]

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After all, maybe there was one thing he had learned in the past few years that he could take at some face value: His troubles were, in the grand scheme of things, very meaningless. Especially considering he had knowledge of things which could very well effect the fate of the Universe.

Erik took a deep breath, recalling how his brother had told him to seek Truth, and not Vengeance. Erik knew he needed to do exactly that. For as a proverb he had once heard from some place or another, the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. And indeed, in this case, the one...

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

But the Jedi remained absent, ostensibly continuing in his self-training per Seus's instruction. All reports provided by staff who subtly watched the man's progress by carefully hidden remote devices proved alleged actions to be factual; Seus smiled when he considered just how much to heart Mr. Kartan was taking this strange alliance he had proposed.

I do believe he is going to prove very useful to us after all, he mused as he clicked off his desk monitor, efficiently snipping off yet another report about the man by yet another crew member.

He doesn't appear to have left off his "work-out" since he began.

No sooner had the one image faded than another one appeared, this one coming in from the Bridge.

"Sir, we are approaching the Unknown Sector, and are due to drop from hyperdrive in approximately ten standard minutes," came the crisply delivered information.

Seus nodded, his thoughts segueing smoothly from one issue to another.

"Very well; please contact Mr. Kartan and inform him of this," he ordered benignly enough. Sitting back in his seat, he let the nerfhide leather creak a moment or two as he let the chair rotate slightly from one side to another, thinking, his legs crossed while he pondered the best course of action to take. Well did he remember what Sorben had reported to him of these worlds, before the man had gone off to work with the Empire.

A momentary frown creased his face. Then he allowed the tiny muscles to smooth out again.

"Drop us in along the Z-axial, mister," he ordered lightly. "And see if you can find a moon or something to hide behind. Keep me informed."

He flipped off the connection, and just sat, swiveling his chair back and forth, back and forth, one ankle propped on the other leg's knee, his eyes unfocused but the thoughts running though his head anything but.

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