I hadn't been in the least surprised coming across these articles. In fact I would have been greatly surprised to have not. Every sane ship should and would be equipped with some means of going EVA, for one never really knew what one would run across in the darker side of the spacelanes, and there might be a darned good reason why one of the crew might have to go out and entertain themselves with a little spacewalk.

Or space dance, as the case might be.

I came to a stop in front of the emergency airlock, pausing only long enough to affix the jetpack into the built-in niche inset on the back of the suit, making sure the straps and connections holding it there were secure. Looking down at my waist, I gave a few yanks on the metallic half-ring I found there, then connected one end of the safety tether I held in my hands.

I presume there are rings similar to this along the hull, I mused, allowing myself a somewhat green-tinged grin to bolster courage which was beginning to bounce and prance like a skittish colt. The strap does have connectors on both ends, after all.

A deeper breath pushed all rising trepidation down.

In for a credit, Galen...

With no further ado I opened the inner hatch. It slid smoothly up into the bulkhead, gliding into place with a barely audible snik. I entered, closed the inner hatch behind me and checked my helmet for the umpteenth time.

It was still securely affixed. As were my gloves, my boots, and the jetpack. Every joint hermatically sealed. Every dial on my chestplate glowed an assuring green.

A green which matched my face, for deep down I didn't believe any of it. But faint heart never won the surprise in the box of cereal, or whatever it was...

Before I could change my mind I hit the button which controlled the airlock, and held my breath as it slowly swung open, revealing me stars in colors and quantities no view screen could ever truly portray.

For a moment I simply held that breath, stricken by nothing more than simple awe. Then I let it out even as one foot stepped through the hatch proper, the magnetic soles seeking the security of the metal of the ship's hull, and finding it. I took a step, and another...

And was outside. If one could call it that.

Again I simply stood quietly, gazing at the starfield all around Cin vehti, but not merely in awe. It was instead an orientation, getting acquainted if you will. And seeing if they moved or remained still in all their splendor. Perhaps I'd be lucky...

But no. The beauty of the surrounding stars blazed all around me, in unguessable reds and blues, whites and golds, dotted with surprising oranges and teals here and there. It was as if the Emperor of the Universe had opened up his Treasure box and dumped every jewel he owned into the Void which stretched around me, there to lay claim to whatever spot they fell into, staying there shining with multi-chromatic light.

Staying there. It just figures.

I'd hoped I'd find that starfield moving about Cin vehti, but no. Why should I be that lucky? For the magnificence of the blazing, unmoving stars only proved that Cin vehti was dead in the proverbial water, completely unmoving.

WHICH of course meant that the focused, lasered distress beam was slowly and steadily pulsing along only one solitary vector in space. I really hadn't any idea how far it extended, but it stood to reason the it should punch out of any mere system, hopefully by-passing the holo-projectors that provided ship-to-ship communication within stellar systems themselves.

I had a sneaky feeling those bandwidths weren't as strong as what that Kyber crystal had ramped up. BUT hopefully incredible strength or not was moot if the signal only pierced one miniscule position in space.

Position nothing, I snorted to myself as with the greatest care I've ever used in my life I took one magnetic step after another along the ship's hull, aiming for his nose. It's more like a point...

I swallowed roughly with the realization that I had come to the nose of Cin vehti, for quite suddenly it seemed as if I only need take one more step, and I would fall into the abyss all around me. Every instinct screamed at me to fling myself upon the hull, to grab it and never let go, and if I waited long enough someone would come along and find me, for that's how things go, right? Happily ever after?

The army of geese marching up and down my spine raised the flesh over my entire body, informing me that THAT was the most idiotic statement I'd ever made, and sure as there's Treasure on Roon it was a good thing Terrin hadn't been here to hear it or I'd never live it down.

Terrin. Master Kyan...

A part of me knew there was a connection. The rest of me knew that if I split off my attention in that manner, focusing on ANYTHING other than the task at hand...

I would die.

SO I mentally shoved the possibility of further communication via Master Kyan into the recesses of my mind, shoved the image of Terrin's dear face in there right along with it, and focused.

There. Near the actual nose tip, perhaps two meters down-hull, was an attachment ring. Treading as if I were wading through dianoga-infested swamp shallows, I inched the remaining distance and hooked the other end of my tether to that ring.

Then, carefully, OH so carefully, I lowered myself, let the magnetic boots skitter out behind, the toes keeping a tenacious hold upon the hull along which my body was lying fully prone. Reaching forward, I grasped the ring as tightly as I could with one hand.

Not looking forward to inertia...

With the other hand I quickly ignited the jetpack, then hung on for dear life. At length I was able to scoot my prone form around the axis of the hull, where I hit the jetpack's ignition again and repeated my death grip on the ring.

I repeated this maneuver, doing my best to manually move the ship along all axes, trying to get him to roll and yaw and pitch, all at the same time. It wasn't very fast, although the resultant inertial jerks made me feel as if we were approaching one quarter lightspeed.

But the bare momentum provided to the ship in four different directions obtained the result I wanted. Cin vehti remained in relatively the same spatial position, perhaps skewing off along one particular vector, but hey, details details, we're talking meters here...

...all the while slowly gyrating along the X, Y and Z axes.

Now the signal was slewing wildly out, slicing through all manner of positions in space.

I could only hope and pray that it reached far enough for someone to pick up on it.

Making certain my death's grip upon the tethering ring was exactly that, I slowly inched my knees upward until I'd managed to get my feet planted beneath me. A final great, fortifying breath and I hauled myself, albeit somewhat shakily, to my feet.

Retracing my steps, I came seemingly years later to the welcoming open hatch. I fell in, slamming the "CLOSE THIS DOOR THE HELL NOW!!" button, and simply lay there as Cin vehti obediently obliged me.

It was some time before I could gather myself enough to enter the ship proper, but even as I lay there like a pile of wet noodles a great rush of pride welled up in my chest.

I yanked off the helmet, let my head roll to one side, and gave myself over to tears.

[ 01-15-2019 06:40 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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

It sounded RIGHT.

"I know boosting receivers is something that we probably can do, but the problem there is whether or not we have anyone in the vicinity of normal relays," I recounted the little gal's words, turning now to face Terrin.

"But what if Link is right? What if those Mandalorians do have their own holo relay network out there? Who knows what they might have... if they have it. But Mandalorian space is awfully close to where we think your wife is stranded; maybe they can lend us a hand in finding her.

"It's certainly worth asking."

I cast a look from Link to Terrin and back again, all the while waggling my eyebrows and giving what I hoped were surreptitious nods in the direction of our Jedi, who for all intents and purposes was just sitting there.

I let out an annoyed chuff of air.

"Kyan?" I finished, my waggling brows ending their little journey at the apex of their crawl, adhering with emphasis to my forehead and remaining there.

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

“You can leave him alone now,” Link said. “The Paladins just gave us the access they had promised. Besides having the guy who can’t read acting as the go between would take forever, one minute.”

Link dug around in her vest and withdrew a few blank data cards and fed them one at a time into her data pad. She wrote the information sent over to her from the Paladins. When that was completed she gave a data card to both Yaoksi and Terrin, keeping one for herself as well.

“These are part of how you access their database,” Link began to explain. “Take the datacard and put in in any comm accessible terminal like so.” Link inserted the card into her datapad. “It will automatically establish a connection, and then prompt you for verification. The database if keyed to your bio-metrics, I have no idea how they got those. I’m using the ships sensors to broadcast those. After that you have access. I’ll start with their communications network, seeing if its picking up anything and how we can use it.”

Before she got to that, Link took a cursory look at the information she had access to.

Tech manuals, ship schematics, areas of influence, intelligence files, I can access those. The specifics of Mandalorian Iron, exact location of military assets, names of organizations infiltrated or under Paladin influence those appear to be off limits with my access. I can still work with this.

Brushing that aside, she pulled up the material on what she assumed was their holonet relay. Her theory about how it all functioned was close enough to reality that Link put her idea to the test. She knew the ID of whatever holonet beacon that Galen was using. She used that to track its location based off known transmissions, and it confirmed what she knew.

“Okay I think I have it,” Link said. “I can confirm the exact holonet beacon Galen used while on Mandalore, in hyperspace, and at Dagobah are the same beacon. Luckily for us the Paladins did use standard hardware to my diagnostic backdoor into the normal holonet relay also work with the Paladins relay. If Galen can turn that beacon on I can trick the network into thinking it needs repairs and have it broadcast its location.”

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

"Are you saying the relay beacon Galen used, or that is to say, her ship's communication system used, on all the occasions you mentioned is one and the same?" I asked, now turning my attention which had been moving between Terrin and Link solely to the latter. She sat there, studying her datapad, but I didn't let her reply.

Not just yet. I had other questions to ask. Like maybe What the hell kind of knowledge did those Mandalorians possess? What technical wizardry did they own that could relay a signal from literally one end of the galaxy to the other using but a single relay beacon?

That, which I was dying to understand but which on the other hand we did not need to know at this moment, while phenomenal wasn't entirely what we needed at this point in time. What we needed was a bit more mundane in nature.

"Look," I went on, now going back to the little bit I'd learned in my younger days as the son of two of the most respected employees of the Jaemus Shipyards. For in the business of shipbuilding, one needed to know not just the mechanical aspects but the technical ones as well. I wasn't well versed in this field, but I did know that ships spoke with each other via the wonder that was the Holonet Relay system, that universal marvel which by the use of beacons grabbed transmissions sent from ships and moved them from source to recipient. As simple as that, instantaneous conversation could be held between ships and systems that were thousands of parsecs apart.

For one such beacon to be able to move a transmission literally from one end of the Galaxy to the other staggered the mind.

And just HOW again was it these peoples were purportedly erased from our history? I couldn't help but briefly wonder.Unless they weren't, but rather simply chose to disappear...

I shook my head, put my weight on the forearm now laying on the table, said forearm's hand clenching my cuppa joe. I leaned forward.

"Look, I'm no expert here, but isn't this how the system works? If so, and if what you're saying is fact, and Galen's transmissions have only been transferred using one relay beacon, well...

"It seems to me the important bit of information we need to know is where the hell is that beacon physically located? I mean, where in the Galaxy is it?"

An image of the holomap I had recently used in changing our course popped into my mind. Indeed, Mandalorian Space was practically a Galaxy's length away from Dagobah.

That was a helluva beacon, but where was it?

"And," I went on, shoving that little bit of speculation off to one side for the moment. "If Galen is somewhere out there, somewhere in the space in the relative vicinity of the Sith Worlds and Yavin, how the hell is she going to activate that beacon to emit it's own little distress call?

"Seems to me we're still at Square One, unless I'm totally misreading what you're saying here. But last I heard was that her ship was crippled, and the only thing we do know is still working is its automatic distress signal.

"We need the location of that relay to find that relay to turn it's error signal on, and we need that error signal in order to find where it's located. Seems we're still a little stymied, unless someone knows something I don't.

"Not to mention this only gives us the location of the beacon itself. Even if she could somehow trigger it into revealing its location, that still won't tell us where she is.

"It really has nothing to do with Galen's location, does it?

"But hey, like I said, this isn't my forte."

I sat back and cup in hand lifted to my lips. The contents were quite cold; with another frown I began rising to my feet to go fetch a refill when the obvious struck.

"Unless by doing this its to just get in contact with her! If her emergency distress signal is working, then at least a part of her communication system is functioning.

"And if that is indeed the case, and we do manage to get a communication link established, maybe together we can figure out a way she can send a map or something of her surroundings, which I could then apply to the one I use to navigate.

"And figure out where she is."

I plopped back into my seat, all thought of fresh java out the proverbial window. Excitement rose briefly within me, only to be squelched.

"But how is she to trigger that relay? Anyone have any ideas?"

[ 01-16-2019 05:53 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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

It appeared everyone was following Link so far so she continued.

“My trick with the transceiver on board the Eagle Enterprises to access the Datapad we left on the Sith world utilized a similar loophole in the system. I found the hardcoded diagnostics mode of the relay, come to think of it maybe it was the Paladin’s who hired me to do that, questions for later. My transmissions appear at navigation update data until it reaches its destination. Since my overall traffic is virtually insignificant against the sheer number of transmissions going on any second nothing gets flagged. Once you start doing it on a scale of a small merchant fleet people would look closer. That’s where a portable beacon comes in, and by portable I mean the size of this table.”

Link pulled up a galactic map and overlaid it with the locations of the beacons within the holonet relay. That she highlighted blue. Then using the database now they had access to she added the beacons that the Paladins had in red. Here and there interspersed within the massive network were smaller more isolated networks though still plentiful.

“The portable beacon connects to the local Mandalorian network which encrypts it hands it off to main network and then to the appropriate far network before another portable beacon receives it. There are advantages to this approach and the reason I don’t do this is my minimal traffic is one, second I can’t carry a table sized unit with a mini generator everywhere. The advantage we have is when these portable beacons power up they need to update the network that a new beacon is active and its own location. If we can power the one on her ship for even two minutes it should tell us where it is. I know that might not be much but what does Galen even have over there, she found something to power her armor maybe there is something else there she can use?”

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

"I haven't the foggiest, kid! She's on a Mandalorian ship, right? As well as being one brand new to her. That ship just might have the portable beacon you're talking about, since apparently this is a bit of Mandalorian tech. BUT be that as it may, that ship is still one we can't contact since apparently the only thing working is the damned distress signal. Or at least that's to the best of our knowledge. Otherwise, if that beacon was working we'd find her, right?

"I mean, if it's there at all. We're assuming an awful lot here."

I let a puff of air escape my lips, sent her a softer look in apology. Damn, but everywhere I looked all I could see was circles and more circles. It just didn't seem like we were getting anywhere.

"For answers to your question, you're going to have to ask him. He's the one who's in contact with her."

I jerked my chin toward the still-silent Jedi, annoyed with him for that silence.

"Meantime, I think we need to come up with a Plan B. I mean, we all know communications travel not only through the HoloNet, but through subspace as well. BUT the best Imperial Star Destroyer subspace tranceivers can only reach out about 100 light years."

Oh, the things a successful smuggler needs to know...!

"I don't think ours reach out quite that far. If she doesn't have that portable beacon aboard, or she does but we can't figure out how to get it going, we're going to have to get somewhere within subspace range from wherever the hell she is, and that's worse than looking for a needle in a haystack."

Then I did finally rise, and went off quickly for that refill.

[ 01-16-2019 06:28 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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

"We do have access to a Holonet transceiver aboard the Hornett, since she's got her own, and she's got the best range of any ship out there to receive signals. Last we knew Galen's ship was sending out some kind of an SOS, and I know from the industry that those things usually have their own power source separate from the ship. I think we have the beginnings of a Plan B."

Saying nothing more than that, he sent off a quick message to Aaron indicating that he wanted the Hornett to head towards where he'd told him they had deduced Galen was. Knowing Aaron would follow through and respond shortly, he turned his attentins back to the group and the conversation at hand.

What Link said made a good bit of sense as well regarding the portable gnerator and Galen's ship, and as Yaoksi said, the missing piece was communicating to her what they had been brainstorming. And as to anything else she might have on the ship that might have power....

"I'd think maybe there might be some additional power lurking on that ship in emergency medical equipment, maybe gear to for any extravehicular activities, or maybe even some potential weaponry that might be stashed somewhere on the ship?"

He paused, considering, then looking to Kyan, whom Yaoksi had just indicated had the contact with Galen that they all needed.

Terrin at first shared the pilot's annoyance that he had been so quiet, but then he frowned, wondering if the reason for his silence was something happening between him and Galen. That particular thought reminded Terrin of something that Kyan had said just before he went so silent. "Hey, he did say that Galen was trying something," he then stated, moving closer to him. "I wonder what's going on..."

He trailed. And what she's up to?

Terrin pushed away any downward sloping thoughts that something might be amiss, at least for the moment. After all, he knew Galen was smart, and wouldn't just sit around like a damsel in distress waiting for rescue. Maybe she'd come up with something...

"Master Kyan?" he asked then, taking another step towards the Mandalorian and carefully putting a hand on his shoulder. "Is everything allright with Galen? You said she was trying something...."

He trailed and waited, hoping for a response, knowing that he was in fact the only means of communication they had with Galen at the moment.

[ 01-16-2019 07:40 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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

Making a call to navigation, for in fact the Hornett was still sitting in realspace anyway, Aaron talked with his navigational techs and they decided upon a location "between" the planets of Ord Candre and Kril'Dor, in a nice pocket of less occupied space, for their destination. In a few minutes more, the course was laid in, and the Super Star Destroyer burst forward into starlines that lead to hyperspace.

Only when Aaron knew they were safely ensconced in the security of hyperspace did he squirt off a response message to Terrin, indicating that the Hornett was in fact on her way and giving him the exact coordinates for where the SSD was headed.

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

I took a quick sip, set the cup down on the table. ALMOST got to my feet to go over and give his shoulder a good shake, but refrained. After all, what did I know of all this Force hoo-doo, other than it did weird things, and that only certain people seemed to have the privilege of using it to implement those weird things.

Give me a good blaster!

For all I knew the strange connection held between this guy and Terrin's wife might evaporate into the ether, and that was something I certainly did NOT want to risk happening by something as mundane as simply trying to shake him out of his state of utter incommunicado.

SO, fighting down the instinct to do just that, I heaved a breath.

"Look," I said. "It's just great that a nice big SSD is going to come help us. Yeah, it's got a com-range that's 100 light years in subspace, and instantaneous in hyperspace.

"Now, Galen is obviously in realspace now, right? The primary issue is how the hell to contact her and have her try to turn on this portable beacon supposedly onboard, since if it was working one of the Mandalorians would have intercepted that distress signal along their HoloNet by now and hopefully would have contacted us.

"Ergo, I think we can presume that as Link suggests, the beacon is NOT turned on, or isn't working correctly. SO what do we have to work with?"

I paused, shot a slow look around the table. Sat there a moment, giving those present a moment to respond if they'd like. When no one did anything other than cast quick glances at each other, and even more pointedly to the seemingly frozen Jedi, I let out the breath I had been holding and went on.

"We know her distress signal is working. It's transmitting. But...

"Maybe just not in hyperspace. Maybe it's functioning but in realspace, hopefully in subspace, but in either scenario we're going to have to literally seek it out. This means not only trying to boost the sensitivity of our own receivers, but getting within range of that of her transmitter's.

"We're going to have to get more than just your SD, Terrin," I said, now turning my attention solely upon him. "We need to cover space, to overlap our reception fields.

"Yeah her signal is probably meant for the HoloNet, but that doesn't mean that's the only place it can travel. Signals are energy, and that exists in realspace. AND can be directed into sub and hyper.

But it is still there in realspace. It has to be. I'm not a holo-tech, but I'm pretty sure that while simple communications travel via the HoloNet alone now, okay and subspace too...

"Distress signals are sent in all space, so there's a greater chance of being picked up. Or to act as a fall-back should something happen to their HoloNet or subspace beacons/tranceiver.

"SO again, we have to cover a large area of space... REALLY large. BUT if we can pick up a signal with three different ships, in three different areas, we can triangulate back to the source. Which of course is her."

"Link's idea is great, and would be by far the easiest. But the problem with that is having to contact Galen to try it, and as long as this guy is out of commission..."

I nudged my chin at Kyan again, went on.

"...we just don't have the means to do that. It can't hurt to not only come up with a Plan B, but to put it in motion. If something happens to change the parameters, then we can drop it and go with something else. But right now, dammitall, this gal is running out of time.

"So what do you think?"

[ 01-18-2019 05:14 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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

Occam's Razor...

"I can get the fleet on it, now, and they are all about the galaxy since that's how we do business, which means some may already be closer to her than we are, what with planets like Dorin and Ord Mantell in that area. There are about 20 capital ships and a myriad of smaller class ships. I can code my request to seek, find, and report back to me via the Eagle Enterprises encrypted owner frequency to all vessels."

He paused, chewing his lip thoughtfully, turning to the others and away from Kyan. "Hopefully in the meantime Kyan will be able to help us out more," he then continued, frowning.

What if whatever was going on with him did have something to do with Galen...

His blue eyes darkened a shade, worry rising...

...and then he forced it aside, knowing what he had to do. Keying in the owner frequency for EE. "This is Captain Terrin Danner, requesting all fleet ships to engage in the immediate search and find of a unique crippled Mandalorian vessel- a class unknown but most likely assualt - emitting an SOS. All should report back immediately with location of any SOS find within the area which is designated to this owner encrypted frequency."

Having finished the message, he tagged it with high importance, giving the scope of the area in which they were seeking the SOS via an attached map-"between" Yavin and the Sith Diamond- and sent it on its way, then looking back to the others.

"I wonder if we should also let the Paladians know about Galen's ship being disabled. Maybe they can help us find her as well. After all they have ships of their own, and they know the ship she is on the best anyway."

[ 01-18-2019 06:02 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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

Jasyn keyed in Terrin's personal comm frequency. "Terrin, I just received the priority message, and I'm guessing this had to do with Galen. We've arrived on K'eel Doba and are en route to the Temple with a Writ of Abeyance from Lord Aelvedaar to hopefully get Matt. I don't know how much I can help from here, especially without ship of my own, but if and when I think I am with someone who could help, I'll let you know. Keep me posted."

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

"Galen left us on a Mandalorian assault vessel, and for reasons I'm not certain of it's been damaged and she's currently stranded with emergency power only, emitting a distress beacon. The map attached to my priority message indicates where we've narrowed down her location to be."

He paused, frowning, knowing how large that area was, in fact.

"I'll keep you posted if we find out anything further, and if we are able to get to her. I know you're not in a good place to help at the moment, but keep me posted should that change. And let me know how all goes in regards to Matt."

Sending off his message, Terrin turned back to the others.

"It's a shot in the dark at this point, but if Jasyn comes in to contact with some of our Sith allies..."

He trailed, knowing how insane that sounded. Sith allies. Yeah, from time to time, there had been a few of those. And on at least one occasion, they had literally helped him save Galen's life.

"....they might be able to help, as unlikely as that may sound. But they have most certainly helped in the past, and I'm going to tap into every option I have, for Galen."

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

That doesn’t preclude me from helping Gal’ika understand it.

Kyan watched and listened as Galen relived her memories as she worked. When she recounted them Kyan seemingly experienced them as well, but not from Galen’s perspective as he would have expected but from that of an outside observer in it all.

This is not memory sharing, I know what that is like. Is she flow walking me, or making me flow walk myself?

Realizing that regardless of the method he was simply along for the ride at this point Kyan brushed his uneasiness aside to focus on what he was being shown. He did see those memories as Galen described them: the excavation site with her father, what her sister had done, the cave with the ship, and the others she shared. Kyan first accepted these as events that happened, but noticed some strange occurrences. Whenever someone who Galen described as a The All user was outside memory Galen’s field of view within the memory their gaze fixed upon Kyan. He would turn away from that view only to find another memory unfolding and again those same people watching him, but resuming their part when called for of when memory Galen returned her attention to them. To say it was unsettling would be an understatement. Paralyzing both physically and mentally would be the sensation Kyan would have used to describe it, if he wasn’t paralyzed physically and mentally.

Get it together Kyan, if this is a flow walk you need to end it before you lose yourself.

Recalling the flow walk with Galen, his first and only one, he remembered how it ended with Galen’s rather abrupt command. He instead took in all of those memories being shared and acknowledged each ones significance and impact on Galen. One by one again he put away his unease and watched them replay again and stood as the silent observer he was called to play this time. Then one by one after each one played out it would fade away eventually leaving him alone in what seemed to be a brick courtyard. This was the one memory he did know, he was their this memory had yet to happen for Galen, or the Galen he knew. There stood someone who resembled Galen, older, but still with that fire and beauty Galen carried. That Galen simply nodded and faded like the rest. With no one watching him Kyan could once again move. Realizing it was over Kyan brought himself back into the correct flow and on the ship. He took a minute to respond for where Galen was before, now was an empty spot, and instead she was near the airlock resting against a bulkhead crying.

To hell with what everyone tells me is possible she needs me, she needs us.

Kyan moved his projection across the room over to her before kneeling down and resting a hand on each of her shoulders. He didn’t care if he wasn’t physically there and there could be no actual contact, he would be here for her and that was all that mattered to him. Kyan radiated warmth through his presences, not only his but what he saw as the connections of the other people who cared for Galen willing it to encompass her.

“Good work Gal’ika,” Kyan said. “And thank you for sharing those events with me.”

"You're welcome, Mas-" I began in reply when it hit me.

What experiences? Was he talking about the memories that had flooded me so heatedly when I tried to get what I knew about that creepy All-power whatever in Hell's Seven Circles it was across to him? Or had he been quietly lurking, observing my little EVA escapade as I did what I thought would best help my friends in finding me?

Probably not the latter, I chided myself as I got to my feet, now heading to the small galley for something to wash the space-induced dryness from my throat. I mean, I'd like to think he'd say something other than, "Gee whiz, what an experience, thanks for sharing! NOW who's next for Show n' Tell!"

More than likely, he wasn't quite aware of what I'd just gone through. Shoving down the responsive shudder now trying to replace the warm fuzzies I was feeling, I took a breath and let my thoughts flow back into his mind.

"I'm sorry, Master Kyan. I dismantled the lightsaber you gave me..."

Insert twinge of guilt here...

"...and used the Kyber crystal to focus the distress signal by re-wiring it into the communication and distress signal motherboard components. It should be stronger now, and travel farther; I wish I could tell you the exact frequency, but Cin vehti is really dead, and I have no idea how to do it.

"But I did manage to... ummm... to, ah, get the ship slewing about, so that signal, now something like a coherent laser beam, is covering as much space I could possibly get it to do. A jet pack doesn't really give all that much momentum to this amount of mass."

I stopped a moment, working now to suppress the involuntary images of what I saw standing practically at the very tip of the little ship's nose: that beautifully awful image of ETERNITY which stretched out and away and all around. Even locked in that horrid mind-box of Actar's didn't produce such innate terror in me, such absolute knowledge of how infinitesimal we all really are in the Grand Scheme of Things as did that mind-numbingly sweeping view.

And we're going to save the Galaxy.

Yeah, right.

I shoved the images and feeling aside as best I could, found and drank an entire glass of water in seemingly one gulp.

"I don't know how far my signal is reaching, or how long it's going to take to find it, Master," I finally found the wherewithal to continue.

"Is there any other source of power on this ship I could use to keep my suit powered, should the need arise?"

I didn't say anything else, just let the implications hang there as I now focused on the ice crystals liberally covering practically every surface of Cin vehti. I hated to think how cold it was inside my trusty little ship.

[ 01-23-2019 05:34 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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What the kriffing Hell was going on in that guy's head? What was going on with Galen? Bloody hell, he hoped she was all right...

...but then, she isn't all right, is she buddy? She's lost, on a crippled ship operating on emergency power only, and time is ticking...

Terrin tried to shake himself from his darkening thoughts, but it wasn't working. Not in the least. And while he knew Jasyn would try his best to get something done, he knew deep down he couldn't rely on that happening in time to prevent the worst, if it worked at all. Unconsciously Terrin sighed, closing his eyes a moment as he tried his damnedest to calculate another way to find Galen, logically, and quickly.

Kyan wasn't able to find her, and now he wasn't even responding. Scratch that idea. The Sith may or may not help, and you have absolutely no way to contact Graysith or Shayla if they even would help either, so move past that one too. JhinDarra is on the Hornett, and has an innate All ability and no doubt has a connection with her mother...but can you put that kind of pressure on her knowing she may not have the training to help and that this has to do with her mother's life? You don't even have contact with Shawn...

Terrin's eyes snapped open with that, his final thought bringing him up short. "So, if we can't get Kyan responding to communicate with Galen that we need her to restart her portable beacon and how...."

He paused, chewing his lip, still collecting his thoughts before continuing, "Maybe we need to start thinking way outside the box. I mean, as fast as we're trying to figure this out and make something happen, we haven't even gotten in the area we need to maybe pick up a signal from the distress signal that Galen indicated is working...

...and it'll still take time if we did pick it up. We don't have a lot of that. But then maybe we have some other ways to get in contact with Galen even if Kyan stays silent. We were able to contact Jedi Shawn Petrolu and Kyan's granddaughter, so maybe there's an avenue there. And there is my daughter aboard the Hornett..."

Terrin trailed, biting his lip once more. "I don't know if she's got the training to talk with her mother via the innate connection I know she and Galen have, and I don't know if I want to put that kind of stress on her....but then again, I don't know if I can keep her out of the loop if she might possibly be able to help us."

Falling silent for a moment, Terrin began to entertain one final idea, one that was just beginning to surface. "Still, Link is an amazing Slicer. If Galen's portable beacon isn't working correctly, so the Paladin network isn't getting her location from it for us to use, she does at least have an SOS that is working, which would at least get us a lot closer to where she might be located. We all know the Empire has their fingers entangled throughout networks all across the Galaxy...

...I wonder if it's even possible to hack into said networks from the planets in the area we have narrowed Galen's location down to and find any receipt of that distress signal.” He paused one final time, knowing that his last idea might include trying to reason with the last person in the Universe he’d think would ever want to speak with him. But this had everything to do with Galen’s safety, and nothing to do with him, so he’d stop at nothing. “Or we could go straight to the source and see if Tarnus would have it in his heart to tap into his large array of resources to help Galen."

[ 01-26-2019 01:25 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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But Imperial forces were everywhere...

I sighed, removed my hand from over my mouth where it had planted itself as I strove to think of something, anything that would work only to come up empty.

"I think you're right," I blurted.

At least I fervently hoped.

"I think we should approach Tarnus, see if he would help us. BUT maybe not physically; how about we try contacting the Impys? I mean, a simple hail? Maybe they'll answer, and we can always keep moving, change our position so they won't have a chance to triangulate back on us.

"Maybe he would be willing to help. I mean, didn't he used to have a thing for Galen or something?

"ANNND..." I went on, waggling a finger as if for emphasis but which really was just me trying to marshall my thoughts. "We DO have a bargaining chip.

"That Mandalorian ship of hers that isn't working. Maybe we could use that as a last resort to entice them into helping us...?"

[ 01-26-2019 02:01 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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Terrin sighed, running a hand across his face and up through his hair, considering what Yaoksi was saying. "Yeah, he had a thing for her..."

Terrin trailed. Hell, he probably still has a thing for her, if the truth was known.

"He is JhinDarra's biological father, after all." Terrin quieted a moment, shaking his head, but mostly to clear his own thoughts, before continuing. "We're gonna have to give it a shot. We do have the frequency on the Challenger from before, when we spoke with Tarnus and Kyan's granddaughter, so we do have a contact point."

Pausing, he pursed his lips, considering. "We could start out with a simple hail, telling him that Galen is off in a crippled ship that is emitting only a simple SOS and that we don't have any other way to reach her to help. At the very least, Shawn Petrolu is there, and I'd trust him with my life...

...and I have trusted him with Galen's before. Maybe if Tarnus is hesitant because it's me, and he doesn't feel about Galen the way I think he still does, Petrolu can at least bridge the gap for us. That is, assuming, that the Jedi and Kyan's granddaughter are still with Tarnus."

[ 01-26-2019 02:30 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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What was it his feisty li'l wife always would say? "In for a credit...?"

I rose to my feet, planted my hands on the tabletop.

"Let's do it."

With that I returned to the control cabin, and waved a hand toward the communications console, by that gesture letting Terrin know that since it was his wife who was in such dire straits, the honor was his.

BUT I wasn't just going to hang around like a gandyrak in headlights. I quickly went to my seat and keyed in an escape vector, just in case the Empire sounded like they would much rather keep us on the line with small talk, talk calculated to be juuuust uninformative enough where they could then triangulate on our own position.

Being a smuggler, playing cat-and-mouse was something of a specialty of mine, after all.

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...and paused for a moment, pursing his lips and drumming fingers on the console of the ship. What the kriffing Hell was he going to say? How was he going to even begin...?

Terrin's eyes defocused a little and he frowned to himself.. Just say what needs to be said, Danner, and let the chips fall where they may. Galen is out there, stranded, and every second counts...

With no further hesitation Terrin reached out and flipped the "record" switch. "This is Captain Terrin Danner, seeking the assistance of the Empire and Lieutenant General Sorben Tarnus. My wife, Galen, is is currently stranded on a disabled ship running on emergency power and emitting only a simple SOS. We have been unable to devise any way to contact her or locate her ship, and time is of essence."

Terrin paused, pursing his lips. "I know with your resources you are my best shot at finding her safely. I'm hoping we can work together to do so."

Deciding that, for the moment that there wasn't anything else he should say, Terrin sent the message on its way.

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“Unfortunately no,” Kyan answered. “This vessel was designed after I took my leave of absence from the Paladins, the power source you are using is standard equipment on most Mandalorian ships. It wouldn’t suprise me if there are another two or three lying around. I’ll get the others to check with the Paladins and see about sending over the specs to the Challenger. Oh and don’t worry about the Lightsaber, it yours to do with as you see fit. It can take more abuse than what you just put it through. I’m still listening in if you need anything else.”

He pulled himself back from connection, it wasn’t until that moment that he realized how deep he was in. During his foray he had lost track of events going on aboard the Challenger. Settling back into the same reality as those physically present, Kyan noticed himself slumping forward in his chair before he caught himself on the tables edge. The sound must have startled every one as well because all eyes were on him. Before they could barrage him with questions he held up a hand pleading for a moment to collect himself before filling them in on what he had been doing.

“Gal’ika is still fine as the situation can be,” Kyan began. “She rigged up a way to use her Lightsabers kyber crystal to focus her distress signal into what she is calling a laser beam, that along with the ships roll is causing that beam to sweep across space. As far as either of us can tell her ship is completely drained of power, the source that feeds her armor is in essence a chemical battery it was likely spared because it doesn’t generate power until the physical barrier that separates the two compounds is breached. I asked her to search for more.”

Kyan could guess from the looks he observed, or more accurately felt, that he was out of contact with them longer than he had perceived he was.

Best leave out the parts of Gal’ika’s unintended flow walk she sent you on for the moment. And the physical strain this is putting on me.

He still felt uneasy in his physical body, this circuitous route of using his Force abilities was unnatural to say the least. But if it helped Galen, no if it helped his family he would bear it.

This is cutting your limited time shorter though… no do what you can.

“Once we are clear of the gravity well take us to lightspeed.” Bes’in ordered. Their was an acknowledgment among the crew as they prepared for the jump. Among the crew as well Bes’in could hear what he know was the beginning of a popular Mandalorian drinking song, Brothers All, being hummed among the crew. He took this as a cue and began rhythmically rapping his hand on his armored chest like the others.

“Kote!
Kandosii sa ka'rta, Vode an.
Manda’yaim a'den mhi, Vode an.
Bal kote, darasuum kote,
Jorso'ran kando a tome.
Sa kyr'am nau tracyn kad, Vode an.
Kandosii sa ka'rta, Vode an.
Manda’yaim a'den mhi, Vode an.
Bal...
Motir ca'tra nau tracinya.
Gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a.
Aruetyc talyc runi'la solus cet o'r.
Motir ca'tra nau tracinya.
Gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a.
Aruetyc talyc runi'la trattok'o.
Sa kyr'am nau tracyn kad, Vode an!

It was good to see them interact like family Bes’in thought. This originally started to give the Clone Troopers and their descendants what the Republic and Empire stole from them, a family. It grew to encompass anyone who wanted a place to belong and the iron will to fight for it.

And now one of those descendants needs us, and as Mandalorians we will respond.

"How may I be of assistance, Terrin?"

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...but with minimal effort, even to his own surprise, Terrin was able to ignore all of them.

"We've been able to narrow down the location of the ship Galen is on to a quadrant of the galaxy, but nothing further. She's on a Mandalorian ship and not on one of our ships, or else I might be able to track her. I don't have near the ships we'd need to possibly pick up on that SOS signal and triangulate her location, either. You’ve obviously got way more access to ships and to even the Holonet grid to pick up that signal and maybe get a lock on her location than I do. Right now she’s wearing Mandalorian armor powered by a backup battery, which only gives us a few days, and even that might be stretching it." Terrin paused a moment, pursing his lips a bit before finishing with, “I can send you a map marked with the area we’ve narrowed down her location to, via the Mandalorian Jedi we’ve got on board. He’s got some contact with her….”

Terrin trailed, sighing. His concern and worry an almost palpable thing. “But right now that’s all I’ve got.”

(((OCC: Terrin’s message goes out to Sorben Tarnus in Back Into the Fire in the Empire and New Rupublic forums.)))

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"Send the map of her general whereabouts; as soon as it's here I can send help. A lot of help, in fact. More than a lot, if she's anywhere close to the Galactic Core worlds."

"Tarnus, over."

[ 02-02-2019 07:49 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Sorben Tarnus ]

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Lots of Imperial ships...

But Terrin pushed those particular thoughts as far in the back of his head as possible.

There was still a sincerity level there that he was reading pretty clearly. And all hesitations aside, Galen being pulled in by an Imperial ship meant her being pulled in alive. That's all that mattered at the moment.

Terrin pulled up a Galaxy Map on the Challenger's computer then, marking where Kyan had positioned her somewhere between Yavin and the Sith Diamond. Then he flipped the 'record" switch on the comm once more.

"Map incoming." He paused. "I'll see if Master Jetiis'ad can communicate with Galen that she's probably going to get picked up by the Empire to lessen the..." He trailed a moment. "...surprise. Until then, I'll keep trying to get some sort of lock on her from our end, with the resources we've got. Please, keep me posted. And--"

Terrin trailed a final moment. "Thank you in advance. Please keep me posted."

Terrin sent the message off, along with the marked map, praying to every god in the universe that this would work.

(((OCC: Message sent to Sorben Tarnus in Back Into the Fire in the Empire and New Republic.)))

[ 01-28-2019 08:27 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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