"TERRIN!" I managed, before slithering back to my pilot's seat and tumbling into it. Staring out the forward window I took a precious few seconds to marshal my thoughts, all the while wondering what in Hell's Seven Circles Kyan meant by "make them count."

With a bit of effort, I calmed myself, still staring forward, hoping my husband, my love and best friend, could glean some kind of useful information from those slewing stars. On one hand I was only too keenly aware that they were thus receiving only bits and pieces of directional information. But with me sitting squarely in the middle of said bits and pieces the possibility existed that they could be assimilated and analyzed by shipboard navigational computers, and these could then hopefully determine if not my exact location, then somewhere close enough to where my "distress laser" could be triangulated.

Maybe the cavalry DOES exist...

"Did you get this, Terrin?" I thought back, now raising a gloved hand toward the forward view for emphasis. "Cin vehti is somewhere in the middle of these stars; I used the Kyber crystal in the lightsaber that Kyan gave me to focus the general distress beacon into something like a laser. I, uh..."

I paused briefly shoving the horrific image of stepping into the Void as deeply into my Gut as I could, and then continued:

"...managed to get the ship pitching and yawing and rolling, so the signal is kind of sweeping around. But I think it should reach farther now than the general distress signal would; Terrin, for some reason this is the only thing working on this ship. This and the power pack which has...

I checked quickly, winced even faster.

"Ummm... maybe another 13 standard hours of power left. I'm in my Mandalorian suit, and it's keeping me powered and warm for the time being. But my sensors are telling me it's getting mighty cold in here; I'm all for the beauty of Nature, but I'm not enjoying the sight of the ice crystals that are growing on everything."

I stopped again; stared at the image, then reached both hands out to virtually cup his dear face.

"Please hurry, Terrin."

[ 02-06-2019 01:40 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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

While Terrin wanted nothing more to swim in Galen's baby browns and reassure her he would do everything in his power to find her, he also knew that this time was precious as far as potentially coming up with anything that could narrow down her location enough so that someone could find her.

"I will," he said simply to her last words, trying his damnedest to keep the rising worry from clouding his eyes, knowing she'd know regardless.

His mind turned back to the image of the slewing stars she'd indicated in in her forward view, trying his best to commit them to memory, knowing that without computer analysis the likely hood of him figuring out her location was next to impossible. After all, if it were that simple, Galen was the best pilot he'd seen and he knew she would have already done it. Typically in an operational ship, said stars would be interpreted by the navcomputer to determine the ship's location. Only Galen's ship had fallen out of hyperspace and gone completely keerflooey....

...leaving her potentially anywhere in the galaxy with only emergency power. At least if her ship had some operating systems...

What the hell had happened to it to cause such widespread malfunction anyway...???

...and her engine was just toast, she would be able to transmit navcomputer information to someone onboard another ship, who could then determine location via their own computer systems.

Too bad he was only a virtual presence here, and couldn’t interact with anything to at least get an image of what was going on in her forward viewport, or something…

"I wonder what caused your ship to malfunction like it did, that nothing at all is operational excepting the SOS," Terrin said then in seeming non sequitur. "Link says you have some kind of portable beacon somewhere on the ship--or at least she is pretty sure of it--that could help us find your location if you rebooted it and let it run for even a couple of minutes. But I know nothing of it and how works or looks other than it's about the size of a small table...

...and you'd need to power it up somehow. Maybe there's some medical equipment or something lurking around here so you can get more power to your Mandalorian suit somehow, if nothing else…"

He trailed, not wanting to linger on the thought of her only having half a day's worth of power left for said suit for too long.

They were running out of time…

“Could there be anything in your Mandalorian suit even that might have extra power? Or communications? Anything to give us a more ways to triangulate where you are…”

He paused again, his blues deepening with something. “I’m going to do everything in my power to get to you….”

No matter how insane said everything ended up being…

”And you don’t give up either.”

Terrin quieted on that, letting his blue eyes rest in her browns, something unspoken swimming in their depths. Memories of how they’d beaten the odds over and over again splayed across his mind’s eye as he reached for her chin, mimicking her own virtual action towards him only moments before. He still believed there was something within Galen that was truly special, some part of whatever had happened when Lord Aelvedaar had stretched to her sister years ago that had impacted her as well. Save any other practical way of finding her, he couldn’t help but pray that whatever was within Galen—something far more than simply the Force--could somehow help them now. Aside from that, all he could hope was that something he’d already set in motion, or something of his ramblings of ideas, would, in fact, help determine her current location.

[ 02-06-2019 05:48 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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

The layout is inefficient as a Heavy Assault Fighter or Troop Transport. Spaces normally reserved for a latter role have been converted or modified to serve at living quarters and uses.

That tidbit nagged at him, if it was different that the production models that followed. The information Link found might be more related to those instead of this iteration. He decided to quickly “scan” these “inefficient spaces” for a quick feel to their configuration so they could formulate a better plan. After seeing what they were Kyan wanted to bash his head into the bulkhead for not thinking to do so sooner.

Two larger than average sleeping quarters, and open space for training, and even miniature forge for armor repair and maintenance. This wasn’t my daughters ship, this was her home. She raised Kan’ika here on this very ship. There is one person who can help.

Kyan moved back next to Terrin, he needed to explain his findings quickly.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I need to cut you off. This is more than my daughters ship, Pr’ika’s ship. This was her home while she was part of the Jedi Order, her daughter Kan’ika was born here, raised here. The crew quarters contain some of their belongings and even a functioning forge for armor repair. I imagine there are spare parts for armor, lightsabers, even training material for Jedi along with personal items. Check those spaces, they should contain more of those power supplies, heck the forge may have its own separate power source that was unaffected by virtue of it being powered off most of the time. The Imperials will be boarding us soon, I am keeping tabs will contact you again when I can. The Force is with you ad’ika.”

Whatever protest either Terrin or Galen would have directed at him for the abrupt end of their reunion didn’t have the opportunity to come to fruition. Kyan pulled mind back into the Challenger, followed by easing off his projected hallucination on Terrin. He released his grip on Terrin and staggered back a step, his hands visibly trembling and at the tips of his fingers appeared to show early signs of cold exposure. Kyan glanced over Terrin and seeing that the worse he was dealing with was shaking off the brief after effect of Kyan’s intrusion on Terrin’s mind. Not wasting any more time than necessary he grabbed Terrin by the shoulder and shook the man back into reality.

“Focus Terrin, we are back on the Challenger. Now quickly if you didn’t tell Tarnus, you need to tell him the name of the ship Gal’ika is on the Cin Vehti and it is where Kani was raised. She knows more about that ship than anyone else.”

He shoved Terrin over toward the cockpit.

“Go.”

Kyan felt a brief coughing spell come on, he covered his mouth with a free hand and when he pulled it away there were flecks of a what he could only interpret as a warm thick liquid, the same one he sensed flowed through his body.

Terrin considered the wisdom in contacting Tarnus once more after unspoken implications of their last communication. As he did so, he went to the navboard and pulled up a mapping program on the Challenger and quickly entered all he could remember from what he’d observed in Galen’s forward view, thankful for his attuned piloting abilities. When he was finished he saved the file, then turned to the comm. while he questioned the wisdom of contacting Tarnus at the moment, he did indeed have a couple of “backdoors” to get the information he had into the hands of those who might be able to do something with it. He keyed in a text only message:

Master Kyan has communicated the inoperable ship Galen is stranded on is his daughter’s, the Cin Vheti. His granddaughter knows the ship and how to help us. Galen has modified her SOS by using a kyber crystal to focus it and getting the ship to slew and yaw to help give the signal more range and detail. Aaron, I’m sending you this message to you so you can use our computers to interpret the star map spec attached and also send the information to the Empire to use. I’ve been in contact with Tarnus but he wants to keep our interactions under wraps for now; while I’m not sure why my gut says it has something to do with Actar, which makes this move wise. I’m also sending this to our Mandalorian contact, Bes’in Skirata. I need you to look at the map as well and transmit the information to Kani, who may or may not be with Tarnus along with Shawn Petrolu. I’m not sure when and if I’ll be able to do anything with the information I have myself or when I’ll be back in contact, so I’m counting on you all.

Finishing up his message, Terrin then sent it off to both Aaron and Skirita, hoping the information he’d gleaned was in fact enough to help someone find Galen.

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

"Yes soldier?" He asked as he cast a fast glance at the datapadd he was signing before handing it over to the even younger ensign who was standing in likewise immobility off to his side. That worthy nodded quickly, click-turned in place and headed off to place said report amidst the myriad Landarian, as Captain of Relentless, was obliged to sign every day.

The lieutenant in front of him finally had is full attention, and snapping to attention informed him simply that the little ship which had popped into realspace practically on top of them had successfully tractored into Number 14 landing bay, and did the Captain have any further orders as to the status of those aboard and what was to be done with them, Sir? After all, said ship had managed to squirt off a message before the immense docking bay doors enclosed them into the the bulk of the huge Super Star Destroyer.... Sir.

Landarian nodded fractionally, settled into his command chair.

"The usual. Determine who captains that craft, and remove them all to separate detention cells until they may be investigated and proper...disposition be allocated.

"AND, of course. Trace that signal... Major?"

This latter was spoken in a louder tone of voice, aimed at the Major who occupied the position of Communications Officer aboard Relentless, who in turn immediately set to work.

Landarian turned back to the lieutenant.

"That is all."

In one smooth and much practiced movement, he then turned to the appearance of yet another ensign who seemed as if by magic to materialize at his left hand, holding out yet another infernal datapadd toward him. Shaking his head to himself in mild amusement, he took the datapadd even as the lieutenant left the bridge to carry out his order.

[ 02-07-2019 12:13 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Captain Landarian ]

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

"Please, Terrin. I- I miss you, there is so much to tell you, to tell everyone! You don't know, I went to Dagobah and then when I was there I--"

It was as if a door slammed shut. Something snipped the fragility of the connection maintained between us. Boom.

Just. Like. That.

"No!"

My cry reverberated in my ears, causing me to wince for how loudly the word had instinctively left my lips. Another heartbeat thumped by, and then yet another... until I finally realized I was indeed once again alone in the tiny cockpit of my wonderful little ship.

Despair fought to overwhelm me. I fought it down. Those impertinent geese started once again to march up and down my back, spready their bumpy flesh down my arms and inside my skin as they headed to roost upon the knot my stomach had coiled itself into.

But something niggled...

I concentrated, let out a chuff of air as a whisper of something Master Kyan had seemed to be telling Terrin managed to emerge from a lower level of my consciousness.

Something about more power packs...

Well, at least it's something to do!

I drew in another fortifying breath and set off to poke about in every single nook and cranny and cabinet and drawer Cin vehti possessed in order to see if there was anything, anywhere I could use to maintain my life while I waited for rescue with the only three things at my disposal. The distress signal, now focused into a tight, far-reaching beam; the ability of others to use what information I had managed to send up until this point; and...

Hope.

[ 02-07-2019 12:55 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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

I turned to Cel, placed my hand on the fur of her tail, which instinctively tightened even as I touched it. Trying my best to comfort her in that manner, I then shot a look to all others present.

"Here we go," was all I could manage before my attention was drawn to a rather demanding light blinking on the communications board. Somehow I managed to reach out and open the connection without my hand revealing the degree of trepidation filling me.

"This is ISS "Relentless,," came a stomach-knotting rasp.

"You will open your hatch for immediate boarding."

I sighed, shot a final glance around, and obeyed, hoping to all the ghods of the Universe that these men would not harm my new baby...

And that by some miracle we'd be able to see her again.

A fairly rough grasp yanked me to my feet and I felt Cel's furry grasp unravel rather brusquely, as with no further ado I was escorted from Challenger and into a shining and extremely impersonal-looking hangar deck. I didn't have much of a chance to really take a good look around, but was hustled here, taken there, a seeming army of gleaming white armor materializing around me which finally deposited me where else but into the detention cell I expected it would.

The door closed with a definite clang, and I was left alone with my roiling thoughts.

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

“This is the ISS Relentless. You will open your hatch for immediate boarding.”

Kyan drew himself up to his full height drawing on the Force for strength, adopting a posture that he kept from showing around the others. That of a cold menacing Mandalorian warrior. The stormtroopers boarded quickly whisking Yaoksi and Link away, it was then one of the troopers noticed the Mandalorian both lightsabers dangling from hit hip. That trooper raised an alarm and leveled his blaster on Kyan, soon more followed and Kyan had a small squad of Stormtroopers pointing weapons at him. None wanted to be the first to draw attention to themselves or move closer to disarm him. The tension was broken when one Stormtrooper jerked his weapon away motioning toward the ramp. Slowly Kyan crossed his arms then nodded, he took one slow step, then another, then started moving in a slow walk as indicated by the lead Stormtrooper.

Outside the ship was phalanx of Stormtroopers who maneuvered themselves around Kyan, none daring to approach what they thought was his range. Slowly that phalanx manuvered him through corridors to a detention block and motioned to a cell that looked as if designed for something much bigger than he was. The mag sealed door slid open as the guards out side began bolting tripods for their heavy repeaters to the deck and leveled them at the door entrance.

These guys don’t want to take any chances.

His musings were interrupted quite abruptly as a signal on his board demanded to be acknowledged. An armored hand reached out, a toggle switched.

"Phr'mm eln'a frzzna, grppl sk'tsschk."

Ahh. Seeker droid 17 had found something...

Quickly he flipped a switch, allowing the droid-garble to be immediately translated into Basic.

"--n Sector 87, coordinates +5216, 32247, 1822. Signal strength 88%, duration .098 standard seconds. Repeat, possible signal located in Sector 87, coordinates +5216, 32247, 1822. Signal strength 88%, duration .098 standard seconds..."

Edgar's smile broadened. This might be it! he thought, sobering as the location hit him square in the face.

Wow, that's off in the hinterlands, too!

Quickly he shot off this message to his command destroyer, that it not only could be relayed on up the line to their flagship but possibly be put to good use if it had been picked up by any other ship or fighter or droid.

Promotion to Major, here I come...! he thought, as he sent a command to the probe to remain absolutely still relative to space, that it would serve as one of the three reception positions needed to triangulate and finally locate the object it was they were seeking.

[ 02-07-2019 01:56 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by The Empire ]

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

Link looked around, the cell could have been 3 meters square. To her it was an uncomfortable one meter and slowly closing in on her. She did not do well in closed spaces she couldn’t escape from, Link curled up in a corner rocking herself back and forth on the verge of sobbing.

“Papa,” she whimpered. “Anybody? Help me please.”

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

"OWWW!" I yelled at no one in particular, the words escaping my lips in yet another instinctive response. A smile something of a cross between wryness and soul-wrenching fear laced liberally with happiness and hope plastered itself upon my face as, quickly scrambling backwards I rose to my feet and took a quick and yet again instinctive gander about myself.

Nothing. Absolutely nada.

A nearby bulkhead chortled quietly at the spectacle I was making of myself. Frowning a bit, I did a quick 360, my eyes everywhere at once. Not seeing anything more inspiring than the little side-cabin I had found, I moved through it's entrance and into the main corridor proper, which I followed as fast as I dared, considering the slickness of the deck, back to the forward command area of Cin vehti.

Nothing but silent systems, whirling stars, encroaching darkness, and ice.

I sighed, plopped into my seat, grouched into the slow whirligig of light outside the little ship...

WHAM! It hit again.

Not only did it hit, but it seemed with at least twice the impact as moments before. Only this time the odd feeling was accompanied by the faintest whisper of an image. I froze, trying to clear my thoughts, trying not to think of a single thing, but simply let whatever it was permission into my mind.

Was Master Kyan's touch with the Force returning? I FINALLY wondered, for throughout our equally weird connection prior to this I had been so damned happy to have it I never really gave the oddity much more than transient thought. Is he connecting with me again?

Slowly a ghostly form materialized in front of my eyes, which was truly a strange sight to see as at the moment I had been staring vaguely forward in the direction of the starfield skewing in front of the ship. Little by little it managed to become more and more substantial, never actually gaining the clarity I'd had with Master Kyan but obtaining form enough to where I could finally recognize apparently floating there amid the stars...

"Cel?!" Who looked beyond forlorn and well into the realm of deepest and darkest despair.

With that the connection vanished, leaving me with the silent laughter of the whirling and twirling stars.

[ 02-07-2019 02:47 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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

Dammit...

Before he knew it Terrin was himself surrounded, a Stormtrooper at each side, and at least a squad behind him. At a t-intersection, Yaoksi was "lead" in one direction, Cel another, and himself another.

These guys seem rather tense. Imperials always seemed so very...stiff, but there was something more here. Something was definitely up...

At length he was finally pushed into a detention cell, its door sliding closed behind him in a certain sort of damning finality. Only then, taking a seat on the metal cot at the other side of the very small cell, did Terrin even dare to stop and analyze all that had just happened, trying for the life of him to not wonder if he'd in fact done enough.

Oh Hell, Galen, I wish we'd had more time...

In his mind's eye he kept seeing those big brown eyes of hers, reading the trust therein...

...and wanting for all the worlds to validate said trust and find her...

...but at the moment, he was at the mercy of the Empire and that of Sorben Tarnus.

Maybe that had been a miscalculation, no matter how sincere Tarnus was. Because, after all, he was still a part of the Empire. And the Empire, quite frankly, didn't give a damn. And now he'd dragged everyone on the Challenger into this...

Terrin sighed, cupping his chin with one hand, his eyes defocusing.

Come on, Aaron, don't let me down...

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

There just wasn't anything else for it. The slamming of my cell door behind the departing interrogator droid only made me feel worse, knowing that I had told it much more than I really really wanted to.

I am Yaoksi Joao, captain of Challenger. My compatriots are Terrin Danner, Kyan Jeti'isad, and my adopted Ryn daughter, Cel...

At least I'd managed to stick to my guns on that one!

We are searching for a disabled Mandalorian ship, to find Terrin's wife Galen Danner, last known to be piloting said ship. I obtained this knowledge from the Jedi who travels with us, who as far as I know has lost his connection to the Force but who seems to be able to connect somehow with Galen.

We had a connection with her...

Thank the ghods my fortitude had all but utterly vanished about then, or I'm sure I would have gone blabbing on about everything I knew concerning Sith and tales of spiders and Darker Realms and other such Boogeymen lurking in the deepest recesses of my memories. The droid had obligingly withdrawn with what I shuddered to think was just the first round of interrogations.

Trying to blink away the sweat that was dripping from my eyes, I tottered in the direction of the metal shelf the Empire laughingly passed off as a cot, but never gained it. I'd only managed two stumbling steps before the sweet, sweet arms of Lethe gathered me up, to then deposit me with a not so gentle thump on the decking of the cell.

[ 02-07-2019 03:49 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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

Before he really analyzed anythig else Terrin had said, Aaron squirted off Terrin's attachment, along with the quadrant map he'd initially sent, to navigation, indicating that he wanted them to run a full analysis on what Terrin had just sent against the quadrant indicated for any similarities and patterns.

Only after this was done did Aaron turn to what else Terrin had said. With what his partner had said about Actar, he pondered the wisdom of ccontacting Tarnus at all, at least for the moment. After all, the wrong person or persons in the Empire might get a hold of that information. And Aaron had the joy of dealing with Actar in the past before, and had seen what that particular worthy had done to Galen.

Hopefully this Mandalorian, Bes'in Skirata could do something to help. Galen was, after all, on one of their ships. f

Still, Aaron did have one other idea, so he turned back to his comm unit, opening a channel and a highly encrypted frequency out to Stargazer Corporation.

"Aaron Barnes here. I've worked with you all in the past, and I'm hoping we can do so again. If Erik Kartan is with you all, please ask him to get in contact with me. In the meantime, I'm sending you a map of a quadrant of the galaxy that a ship, of Mandalorian origin, has fallen inoperable in, along with a star map spec that may help refine its location. My guys are running an analysis on it, but if you could do so as well, I'd appreciate it. The ship that is lost is currently sending off an SOS that has been focused with a kyber crystal. The ship is yawing and slewing, giving that SOS more range. If you have any finds on your analysis, please let me know.

Also, if you can get me in contact with Shawn Petrolu, and forward the information I'm attaching to him somehow, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Aaron Barnes of Eagle Enterprises, over ad out.

[ 02-07-2019 03:52 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aaron Barnes ]

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

Prisoner Report it informed him in simple red on black text. After saluting the ensign about his duties, he settled back to have a read. His eyes grew more and more glacial the further and further he perused.

Captain, Yaoksi Joao. In accompaniment with a...somehow broken Jedi..., an... adopted Ryn... and, WELL now isn't this interesting.

Captain Terrin Danner. Now, where had he heard that name before?

Frowning a bit, he keyed some of the buttons on the arm of his command chair, his eyes hooding further as words popped up to inform him exactly who this man named Terrin Danner was.

"Hmmph," he let the monosyllable escape him softly and returned to the report.

These people were searching for a... Mandalorian ship, said to be disabled somewhere in this quadrant.

Well now, isn't that even more interesting! After all, what were the odds-?

He was just about to key up a personal, scrambled line to Coruscant HQ, General Tarnus Eyes Only, when yet another signal demanded his immediate attention. Pausing a moment, he flipped it's waiting toggle, opening up yet another transmission coming in from the Destroyer, ISD "Rabid", which informed him there was a good possibility Actar's ship had been found.

Over regular channels he sent a personal message back to the effect that the probe droid and its dispensing ship freeze, then turned back to his original communication, which he typed so that none on the bridge of the great ship would overhear.

"Captain Landarian to Coruscant HQ, Eyes of General Tarnus Only. Informing of capture of small ship Challenger Captained by one Yaoksi Joao, in the company of escaped Imperial prisoner Terrin Danner, a Jedi of unknown Force ability, and a female Ryn outfitted with a prosthetic arm, said to be the adopted daughter of Captain Joao. It is the claim of this group that they are seeking one Galen Danner, wife of Captain Danner, whom they claim to be trapped alone aboard a dysfunctional Mandalorian ship.

"Furthermore, info from Star Destroyer Rabid provided by their interceptor, Sly, states a signal emanating from coordinates..." He quickly read them off. "...which may prove useful in triangulating the position of what just may be Admiral Actar and the missing Mandalorian ship."

He paused a moment longer, then typed a final line.

"It is my personal opinion that the likelihood of two Mandalorian ships, both disabled, would be in such close proximity to each other is highly unlikely. Unless there is something afoot in Mandalorian space.

"Forgive the temerity, my friend, but I would think it more than appropriate to send at least some scouts into Mandalorian space, and see if there is anything untoward happening there. Just as a precaution.

"Awaiting further orders. Landarian, out."

A simple press of a button, and the scrambled and coded message was off, winging in impossible seconds via the wonders of the Holonet, and directly into General Tarnus's eyes.

((OOC: Message goes off into Back Into The Fire in the Empire/New Republic forums, thank you.))

[ 02-07-2019 05:04 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Captain Landarian ]

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

Abruptly Link’s cell door flew open and a group of junior officers poured into the opening. She felt one grabbing her prosthetic arm forcing her to stand, when she tried to protest one threw a fist into her gut causing her to double over. Another jammed a stun baton into her throat and activating the controls sent a short but powerful arc across her larynx. She crumpled to the mouth agape as if to scream in pain but not sound could come forth. Link knew of the xenophobia of the Empire, especially among its most junior ranks who had almost no contact with non-humans, and there she was a helpless xeno of a species no one cared about.

There were no questions.

They hoisted her up again using a cutting tool they removed her jacket and sweater, only leaving her baggy pants and halter top. Forcing open a compartment on her arm they ripped out the power cell and at once it went limp. The intruders fashioned bindings from her shredded coat and tied her arms above her head to a grate in the ceiling, leaving her hanging above the floor. All the while laughing they took turns zapping her with the stun baton and lashing at her with a whip they fashioned. It was as if her wordless screams and silent pleads for mercy drove them to continue on with the exercise.

There were no questions.

After some amount of time that Link had lost track of, they grew bored with their sadistic beating seeing that the only response it elicited was her wordless crying. Those wannabee interrogators merely shrugged to one another, picked up their stun baton and straightened out their uniforms as if this all was their lunch time entertainment. They departed slamming the door and not bothering to even cut her down, they left her there hanging from the bindings on her wrists; bruised, burned, and broken. Link had been beaten before, more severely even, it was the suddenness of it along with the sadistic joy they took that brought Link back to that dark place. And all she could do now was silently plead for anyone, anything to make it stop.

They never did ask her any questions.

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

They had been looking for his wife, who had gotten stranded in the area on a Mandalorian ship that was inoperable. The Mandalorian with them was a Jedi who had been helping them try to locate the ship...

...Captain Joao and his adoptive daughter had been helping him as well. They were just good friends trying to help him out...

Then the questions came that Terrin knew would come.

Yes, he'd been placed in prison for some sort of attack on Coruscant that resulted in an earthquake. No, he hadn't been part of it.

The last question, however, Terrin had absolutely no idea how to answer.

How he'd gotten away. And where his cell mate Jasyn Lancaster was at this time.

Graysith secured their release, by simply following her connection with him and opening a portal. How do you explain that????

Terrin knew the answer was going to cause a problem, cause there was no way he couldd tell them about Galen's sister. Or explain what she could do. No way...

But he couldn't explain it.

The Imperial interrogators practically snorted in derision. One of them even said, "Oh, sure you can't!" Then they left the detention cell, leaving him then to his own thoughts and fears.

But not fears for himself; for unless someone intervened, he had a sneaking suspicion he was going right back to an Imperial holding cell on Coruscant. Instead he had fears for Galen, who he hadn't been able to find, fears that he had failed her. Fears for Cel and Yaoksi, who were only hear as friends, to help him out...

Terrin leaned forward where he was sitting, placing his elbows on his knees and putting his head in his hands. He tried his damnedest to hope that Aaron woud be able to make some sense of the information he'd sent, and that Sorben Tarnus would prove true to his word. Trust was not an easy thing for Terrin, not at all.

But at the moment, it's all he had...

Trying to clear the mistrust that tried to eat at him even so, Terrin turned inward, to the mental image of Galen, of her beautiful brown eyes and her dear face, of her warm essence.

You have to believe there is time, and that this will all work out somehow, or you're gonna go mad...

[ 02-08-2019 11:35 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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

At once the Captain, a rather cheery man, began to gush out his awe at Kyan. How as a young man on the outer rim he admired the Jedi and was fascinated by tales of their adventures. He had used Kyan’s Jedi title and even knew his name, which Kyan deduced he was likely the last one to be interviewed. There was a request to demonstrate his Force powers, Kyan politely declined explaining his expertise were more mundane and harder for average people to understand what was going on.

How do you demonstrate that your powers only semi work in relation to a bizarre Force connection to one specific person.

That slightly saddened the Captain but he moved on. If Kyan let him go on he would have talked Kyan’s ear off about the honor it was to meet a Jedi Master and his kids would never believe him otherwise. The man made a request for a holo with Kyan, which he also entertained, if it was some ruse there were simpler ways to go about it. Then the conversation changed gears.

Who were the other members of Kyan’s party? What was their relationship with him, the Mandalorians, the Jedi Order? What were they doing out here? What was this Mandalorian ship they were also looking for?

Kyan briefly answered the questions posed. There was Captain Joao and his young ward Cel, Terrin was the owner of Eagle Enterprises. They were helping in the search for the Mandalorian vessel and as a Mandalorian he did have more experience in the region close to Mandalorian space and was asked to assist.

All of it is true, from a certain point of view.

The Captain nodded along asked a few minor clarifying questions then picked up the recording equipment. A halfhearted apology was made for Kyan’s confinement but counterpointed with how a Mandalorian Jedi Master would catch anyone off guard. There was assurances made that better accommodations would be arranged when possible, something both men knew was a lie. The man bowed slightly asking for understanding in the mean time and indicated Kyan help himself to the contents of the beverage cart and departed with a final call back over his shoulder thanking the “Master Jedi”. The door opened, the man exited, the door closed. Kyan leaned back into the provided chair and cocked his head to one side.

“Well that was odd.” He said to no one in particular.

(((OOC: I think this is slightly better, let me know if it needs something else.)))

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

"Landarian, Tarnus here. I welcome your insight as always, and have just sent orders to Jissel to check out the possibility of something ahh... untoward coming down the pike in Mandalorian space. Depending on what is found there, you may find assisting him to be your next mission.

"Regarding the people found aboard Challenger..." I paused a bit longer now, considering the best course of action for all involved.

"I want them continued to be held in detention... BUT I want no harm to come to them. I know your troops, my friend; they're good soldiers but do tend to be a bit eager in the performance of their duties.

"They are not, I repeat NOT to perpetrate any aggressive actions against these detainees, nor to harm so much as a hair on their heads. Not. One. Hair. Keep them under wraps; we don't want them wandering about your ship of course. And again, keep them separated. I've never trusted the Jedi, and this Danner fellow has escaped from the Imperial detention center here on Coruscant. Be particularly careful with both when seeing to their needs, but see to those needs.

"These people are known to Admiral Actar; I'm sure he would want to deal with them upon his return to HQ, and they aren't much use to him dead.

"Tarnus, out."

[ 02-08-2019 10:39 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Sorben Tarnus ]

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

...and Terrin had asked him to do something, something that was on the surface of it insane, but something that needed to be done if finding Galen on that inoperable Mandalorian ship was gong to be a possibility. And while Terrin might trust his new Mandalorian allies to deliver other information to whomever he'd requested, that didn't mean that Aaron trusted them to do so.

As he continued to think, sitting in his little "home office" within his quarters, some data from navigation came through on his computer monitor. They had crossed the little star map Terrin had created and sent along with the quadrant of space that he'd sent earlier. Results indicated approximately 50 possible locations, give or take.

Aaron pursed his lips. Any other time, he'd have ships of his own to send out to assess the results. But with what Terrin had said about the Empire out looking for Galen's ship too, and not being entirely thrilled with another ship popping up in the same area looking for a ship, well...

Oh Sithspit, to hell with it. He'd been an ally of Admrial Palleaon of the Empire and worked on his very own flagship till he had passed, and he'd even given up all of his "rebel allies," including the aforementioned Admiral, to Admiral Actar in exchange for Galen being removed from some crazy mind cage Actar had created and for a "truce" between him and Eagle Enterprises. Granted, Actar had later turned around and imprisoned Terrin and Jasyn when Terrin had refused to work for the Empire...

...but if you call up the right person, in the right way, maybe...

Aaron shook his head, and raised a hand to his chin, chewing his lower lip once more.

He still had contact with Palleaon's old flagship and its new captain, but contacting them and then asking them to in turn deliver information was adding too many middle men...

Lowering his hand from his chin, Aaron reached out and opened a general frequency to Imperial HQ on Coruscant.

"This is Captain Aaron Barnes of Eagle Enterprises, requesting permission to speak with Lt. General Tarnus regarding some information I've obtained about a ship for him."

He paused then, making a face at his own vagueness. But there was no way he was going to air the information he had to tell Tarnus over a general Imperial comm, even with his own frequency being highly encrypted.
So let's see if the Empire's secretaries push your message through...
(((OCC: Message goes out to Sorben Tarnus in Into the Fire in the Empire and New Republic forum.)))

[ 02-10-2019 04:10 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aaron Barnes ]

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

"Imperial Command to Eagle Enterprises. Advise you to please stand by.

"End transmission."

[ 02-10-2019 02:28 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by The Empire ]

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

Flow-walking with a Jedi disconnected from the Force! I might add!

WHICH I promptly did, tossing that rather major discrepancy onto the steadily growing pile of mysteries I seemed to be collecting. Chewing my lip in thought, I went back to my search, knowing that sitting around pondering wasn't going to do anything but use up the limited power I had, and that was something I couldn't afford. If the chance existed that there were more power packs, or other items aboard my icicle-bound ship useful to my immediate survival, then of course my first priority was to that.

In spite of how awful I was feeling about poor little Cel.

Of whose apparent predicament I was given tantalizing hints exactly how?

Focusing on my search, I allowed a part of my mind to wander to that little mystery.

Just what had happened there? I was clueless, but I couldn't help but bring up those moments in my recent past when something had flashed from me, something I'd never experience ever until after that horrible day when I lost Jharmeen to whatever it was that had taken her. The thing that had lashed out from me wasn't nearly as powerful as what she had... but...

But! Was it the same?

I know I'd entertained this thought before, only to shove it away each time, scoffing. But perhaps in those past cases that knee-jerk reaction on my part wasn't so much the result of me denying the possibility that whatever lurked inside Jharmeen had managed to find shelter in my body too, but was instead an unconscious acceptance of the sheer improbability of it's truth.

Maybe I did have this, this All thing inside me too...

For all the damned good it did me.

Just to make sure, I stopped searching the container I had uncovered, sat back on my hiney right there on the ice-covered deck, and crossed my legs. Closing my eyes, I calmed myself, steadied my self, quieted my thoughts, opened my mind, let nothing enter but the merest whisper of...

Cel. Are you there?

Waiting... waiting... feeling suddenly very foolish, for all that had managed to pass was even yet more time, and time was of the essence and flying by entirely too fast now, even though I was most assuredly not having fun.

I sighed, clambered to my feet, and went on with my search.

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

So Link hung there, hopeful that the door would open and someone would at last cut her down, on the other hand she was filled with terror that it would be much much worse than the situation that brought her here. If Link was in a rational frame of mind that facilitated logical thinking she might have questioned the strange occurrence or her own sanity by responding to it. Neither in her right frame of mind or thinking rationally Link did not question that faint voice she was hearing from somewhere in the room.

Cel… Are… ..ere?

To Link it sounded vaguely like Galen’s voice yet different. She couldn’t identify the source, to her it felt as if it was faintly vibrating into her skull. Link slowly worked her tongue in her mouth shaking off the dryness she felt.

“...ha ...hha… ...ha..llenn...” came from Link in a painful exhale. The exertion brought on another round of painful coughing. After all of that she still couldn’t even say Galen’s name. She silently cursed at herself at pathetic attempt, shutting her eyes tightly to at least eliminate the sight of the room as a constant reminder and she resumed mouthing her silent pleads.

Papa, Galen, anyone? Please help me.

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