Space

[Nahstaa]

Nahstaa's ship travelled through hyperspace, making a set of pre-programmed random hyperspace jumps as it went, bearing Nahstaa and alyssa to korriban.

 

As they travelled, nahstaa looked over at alyssa, who he found looking out into hyperspace, and smiled a little. Reaching over, he returned her earlier gesture, placing his hand gently on her arm, and as she turned he simply leaned over and kissed her, before drawing back a little bit and saying

 

"Thankyou for coming with me"

[Aero]

His lips on hers made her body tingle. A little surprised, she didn't know what to do. Their bond had always been a master/apprentice one, though it had grown stronger as of late. Her feelings had always allowed her to have a great amount of respect for him.... He had been close to her, her protector.

 

Alyssa looked at him, and tilted her head slightly. She smiled and nodded. "It's more like a, 'Thank you letting me come along with you...'"

[Nahstaa]

Shaking his head, he kissed her once again in answer, before drawing back fully.

 

"Once we are finished on korriban, I have some work to do, to remedy some of the damage ive done... We are going to ressurect a planet."

 

Strangely, nahstaa found his head spinning a little. Ever since his first master, tarrian, had come across him, he had felt no intimacy in this way, being far too busy with his training, and then with his efforts for the sith order. He had almost totally eradicated the side of himself that had felt love and compassion, and he believed that he had eradicated any need for intimacy of any kind. Recently, he had even gone so far as to feel sickened by the idea, but a combination of alyssa's constant presence, and his trip through hell had changed him yet again. Perhaps it was a mark of his acceptance of tzeentch as his overlord and deity, but he was enjoying the change so far.

[Aero]

Alyssa felt longing after his second kiss. It shook her foundations. Inside, she didn't want to feel that way. She wouldn't let her emotions over-run like last time. It almost killed her.

 

She listened to him as she looked out. Yes, it was there. Her longing for him to be so much closer burned inside of her. The physical touch between them sent shivers down her spine. His voice and his protective personality made her trust him beyond anything. Maybe that was her flaw.

 

She looked back at him. He had shown only the deepest concern for her and had protected her from quite a bit. He had charm and a certain air about him. When he first had taken her and Barton as apprentices, he had been an interesting character. He had shown them and taught them both so much....

 

Sighing, she couldn't decided what to think. She would have to let things play out... make her decision later.... Only time could tell.

[Nahstaa]

A few minutes later, an alarm went off, before the ship automatically dropped out of hyperspace over korriban, having made a few random jumps along the way.

[Horus Saast]

Horus awoke at what he would assume would be dawn, somewhere. He was still clutching his sabre handle, which he put down gently on the table. He streached, making sure to try and push his boundaries, and then went to find his master, sabre in hand. Master Shardik was still at the controls.

 

"Master, it is finished."

[Kirana Sunrider]

As the Lost Soul passed the other ship on it's way out of the Temple, Kira looked curiously at it... there was something... no someone onboard... that vicious anger... it had to be Reagan, the other familiar presence must be that of Anastasia Faust. Reaching further she felt something else... something that could very well be extremely disturbing towards the Jedi Order...

 

The Lost Soul entered hyperspace, it's destination Mimban locked into the nav computer. Kira stood up, stretched her arms above her head before turning to head into the galley. On her way through she asked Malin if he wanted anything to eat before she began fixing up a nourishing meal. She turned back to face him,

 

"Please... I need to know if Locke said anything about this dark taint... he has totally shut me out. Our force bond is strong, yet I still can't get through to him. He even attacked me at the Temple... placed his whip around my neck before he realised it was me..."

 

Kira winced slightly with the remembered pain of that moment, quickly busying herself preparing the meal...

[Malin Kyrell]

Malin himself can sense something peculiar as the ship takes off- nothing threatening, but a seed of shadow and doubt. The faint, and somewhat familiar pull to it passes on and he dismisses it for now.

 

Later, during dinner, he declines Kirana's offer politely, explaining the problems of eating he's had since a child. Due to the Sith curse that bound his physical body together, "fresh and natural" foods did not fare so well, usually decomposing into their vital nutrients before he even swallowed, and often having a taste that others would describe and "putrid and rotting". Without a sigh of regret, having accepted that fact, he helps himself to a thick liquid protein and vitamin shake that he became acustomed to early on. While bland, the absence of taste was better than the alternative.

 

Almost sheepishly, he removes his mask as he drinks, revealing his very pale face and short curly locks. Though fair looking, signs of visible decay and rot seem to struggle to impose themselves over his face, almost literally phasing in and out visibly. Turning away from Kirana as she cooks lest he ruin her appitite, Malin apologizes again, explaining the sometimes random shift in appearance was a side effect of the Sith magics that were used in his creation. Actually embarrassed, Malin drinks faster, wanting to get back into his concealing face mask.

 

He listens to Kirana's question, answering with certitude in what he knows. "I have not really seen Locke at all since he helped me after my battle with Kakuto. He was fairly business like in the way he patched me and Isolder up with little time for small talk..." He thinks back, suddenly drawing a connection among several things.

 

"He was forcing himself into a calm, but I think underneath something was bothering him. When treating Isolder, he found what appears to have been a dark taint, something that was beginning to devour my fellow Blade Master. It had to have been the same as what you had." Trying hard, he remembered what Locke said, the memory of it echoing out for both Malin and Kirana to experience.

 

It is spreading, this Dark taint. I have felt it in another, and I'm sure it was in the one who gave it to you. This taint, as best as I can tell it draws power from one great central source, an unseen power of emmense proportion. Something that in our wildest dreams we could not begin to face. It's probably... it has to be of the Force, though I think it is not of the force as we know it. It is... Different. A similar thing, but in ways that we are unable to comprehend. This is a Dark thing that will consume you slowly, and I fear that if you do not fight it then your might will be swayed to embrace it, and you will become an agent of whatever cause this.

 

Seeing the distress that this could cause Kirana, Malin turns around. Though his face has wavered into decay some more, his pure blue eyes remain calm and focused.

 

"That was what Locke believed, and I think something that he feared. I believe he is correct in guessing it had a central source. That something, I believe, could cause great calamity for the galaxy if left unabaited. Perhaps that is what you fell victim to along the way." Malin's eyes close in though, and his voice grows softer. "All I can offer for comfort is the truths I told Vegeta. No man stands perfectly in the Light or the Dark, or has a perfect balance between the two. There is always conflict and struggle. One should never despair and give into the the Darkness though. It is a terrible power, and those that wield it walk the edge of a great abyss. Never the less, it should be seen and understood for what it is."

 

Once more Malin's eyes open, taking on a very direct stare. "Should we be unable to remove that taint, I believe you are strong enough in character to resist its call. It will be a burden, but accepting it is the first step towards overcoming it. Your commitment to the Light, the fact you've chosen to do something about it, makes you all the stronger all ready."

 

Turning away and finishing his drink, Malin puts the empty vial back into his utility belt. "I believe Locke would be proud of you right now," he states, emotion creeping into his voice. "I believe he was worried about you and what this taint could do for you, and I don't think that, underneath, his own feelings for you have changed at all."

 

Even if mine may have, but what type of man would I be then if I acted on them?

 

Finishing his speech, Malin once more reaches for his mask and visor.

[Kirana Sunrider]

She continued to make the meal just for herself, just something light but nutritious. She joined him at the table, listening to him speak while she ate.

 

"There's no need to apologise my dear friend. I'll not judge you by what you look like, nor your eating habits. You should know that by now."

 

Kira smiled at him warmly, finishing up with her meal. When he began to share with her what Locke had said, she felt herself wanting to hear, but afraid of what he might have said. Hearing what had happened to Isolder, she felt a squeezing sensation around her heart, some of the words aimed she knew, at her. She had known how shaken up Locke had been when he left her, when he shut her out. The look he had had on his face when he had discovered that it was her and not an enemy as he had first thought, it was one that wouldn't leave her. It was that look that haunted her in her dreams. She found that she had bags under her eyes from not being able to sleep, the nightmares having more than just one effect on her. She listened to Malin, listened to his theory of what she had fallen victim to and listened to him talk of her strengths.

 

Kira looked upon Malin's face, not as something hideous, but as the friend she knew him to be, even as he pulled his mask back in place. She reached over the table, her hand covering his gloved one, squeezing it lightly in appreciation.

 

"I hope you're right about Locke. Thankyou Malin, lets just hope that I won't have to be that strong though."

 

She paused a while before removing her hand, cleaning up her dishes. The fragrant flowers now on the table giving off their gentle scent. She brushed the moisture from her eyes, feeling silly with regards to it as she took her plate back into the galley to clean. Over her shoulder she spoke again,

 

"What do you think we can expect to find at Mimban? Much of it left?"

 

She was expecting to find the wreckage of battle above it, having read the reports she knew that the Alliance had been involved in the battle as well as many Jedi. She didn't remember the details, only what she had read in the report. She wasn't even sure how she had escaped that particular battle and assumed - incorrectly - that Dashel had been with her then.

[Malin Kyrell]

Malin is silent for a time, reflecting on Mimban. As he does so, one hand shies away from his mask, and as if to represent his inner calm, his usually fair features return to their full appearance.

 

"I believe we will find on Mimban what the Sith left there- only death," he states somberly. Malin's voice takes on a deep, hollow quality, his eyes seeing beyond the three dimensions surrounding them. "Death is a natural thing though, a part of the cycle of the Force. The spirits who slip beyond the threshhold may wander for a while behind the viel, but sometimes, they leave an imprint at their parting. Their memories, emotions, and the way they died all resonate against the force, rippling like pebbles thrown into a pond. It's all one and the same. Depending on the will of those above and below that surface, one can reach through the other side even, communicating across the line between what people see as life and death."

 

A faint smile manifests itself on Malin's face. "That is how the Light overcomes the Dark in the end. Because the Dark can destroy and bring death, people fear it. Once they realize that it is an empty threat though, it loses its power." Sobering again, he continues. "I believe that the imprint of what happened there, the deaths and lives lost can be turned to a good purpose. We know very well who did this foul act and he paid for it at the Jedi Temple, so the spirits may be more restive. We can at least reconstruct what happened and when through those imprints. I believe that while your underlying memories may take more work to recover, you can relearn what happened at Mimban and after."

 

"A caution though," Malin states. "It is possible, that given the pain and death there, you may have chosen to reject your memories. It is not unheard of. The Jedi faced great trouble because of the pains of one man at Malachor V, who was unable to fully cope with what he experienced. I believe," he continues slowly, speaking from his feelings, "that what you find will be painful. Very painful. I also believe it will make you stronger in the end if you can embrace it. The choice though, remains yours."

[Kirana Sunrider]

Kira thought on what Malin said having listened carefully to him.

 

"I don't think that I did reject them. I know that I was attacked. One moment I was conducting talks with 'then' Emperor Cineon Yahn, the next moment I was waking up on a hospital bed, the healer over me. He told me I had been there a week, that he had healed me and all that time I had nightmares. That is when he demanded I give my will to him before he would reduce the nightmares, dull them, saying he couldn't completely remove them. I couldn't leave there until my ship was fixed."

 

She strained her memories trying to recall details of before then, only couldn't. Her eyes closed, causing her expression to show pain as nightmare images flashed behind her eyes once more. When she opened them, her eyes were haunted.

 

"I can't rest. Everytime I close my eyes I see horrifying images. It's as if I have to go back to the healer to get them to stop..."

 

Kira had found she couldn't even meditate because of the images invading her conscious mind.

 

"I'm at a loss at what else to do. All I know is I have this urge to return to Vjun... otherwise it will drive me insane..."

[Lora]

Lora kept a close eye on her patient, hoping that he hadn't lost too much blood nor that he was too badly injured. Besides which, she needed him to be conscious when they arrived at Mon Calamari to give his clearance codes. She made him as comfortable as possible before heading into the hold to check on the captured beasts. They were still out to it from being stunned and hadn't lost much blood from where she had de-tailed them.

 

The Firrerreon girl made her way into the cockpit, consulting with B4 to make sure that both the Myddrin and the Shooting Star were on course and what time they would reach their destination. She was informed that they'd soon arrive but other than that, Cal's droid wasn't all that talkative. Not like C4 was. She missed her astromech's company but knew he could handle the piloting of her ship no worries. Half the time she thought that both the ship and the droid communicated with each other, taking on their own personality querks.

 

Lora left the cockpit and headed back to Cal's galley to see what she could find to eat... grabbing up a piece of fruit and taking it back to sit in one of the lounge chairs. She curled her legs underneath her and munched on the friut, wondering what sort of testing she would have to do to join the Alliance...

[Cal Regium]

Cal was in a dark cave feeling his way around with his hands. He made his way deeper and deeper into the cave. He somehow knew that there was something in this cave for him. He went deeper and deeper into the darkness until he thought he heard a munching sound. The kind of sound one hears when someone nearby is crunching through an apple.

 

Cal slowly opened his eyes and found himself in a ship. He was a bit shocked. His dream had been so vivid that he had mistaken his imagined world for reality.

 

He tried to get up. Still a bit of pain in the back, he thought as he moved off of the bed.

 

Cal stumbled out of the med bay and made his way towards the munching sound. He found the young Ferrion girl eating a piece of fruit.

 

"Good morning," he said as he appeared in the doorway. "Where are we headed and when will we be there? The last thing I remember, besides some crazy dreams, is rolling around on the ground with a massive vornsykr and having my back cut open by the darn thing. Which still hurts by the way."

 

Cal grabbed a piece of fruit for himself and found a stool to sit on so he wouldn't have to lean his back agianst anything solid.

[Malin Kyrell]

Cautiously, Malin takes Kirana's hand in his glove one and holds it. "I won't let that happen, Kirana," he promises. "We'll get to the bottom of this." He couldn't quite grasp the images assailing her mind, but something about them created a sense of unease in him.

 

Time passes and eventually the ships sensors give warning that they have arrived over Mimban.

[Talon]

After the brief stop at the gunshop, Talon moved forward with his greater plans. He had some unfinished business that he needed to take care of- beginning with the reunification of himself and his droid. This required a trip off-world, and so Talon wasted no time maneuvering his ship to the outer edges of Coruscant's gravity well. At this particular spot was the hyperspace ring required by the Eta-2s for interstellar travel. The merging of the two components was a relatively quick and easy process, and in no time, the small ship was lost among the stars.

 

As Talon's interceptor traveled the lanes of hyperspace towards Dagobah, the pre-determined rendezvous point, the Jedi warrior was willed (seemingly by the Force itself) into a deep, almost unnatural sleep. It was in this doze that something quite extraordinary happened.

 

Talon was, and always had been, a champion of the Physical Force, and aspects like the Living Force, or even the Unifying Force, were not quite as familiar to him. It was, then, an unusual occurrence for the Jedi Master to receive visions of any sort, but this particular slumber had occurred for a specific reason, and now the Force revealed itself to Talon. After awakening sometime later, the Jedi Master could not quite remember what this dreamlike vision had entailed, but a single name rested on his lips. Esrever A powerful signature in the Force had become realized, and though the Jedi Master was not quite sure what it meant or what it was about, he was quite sure it was of great importance- important enough to devote his time to.

 

At the present, however, Talon had little time to worry about it. The dream, as magnificent as it had been, had taken up most of the trip, and Talon had to refocus his attention on finding his trusty droid.

 

As streaks reverted back to pinpoints, and the ring clicked free of the interceptor body above the green, misty planet, Talon was immediately distracted by the hailing comms of his trusty astromech. Immediately, Talon opened a direct line of communication. It appeared the droid had descended to the surface, and was waiting for his master there”¦

[ObliviousKnight]

The Jolian Tru coasted through hyperspace with a soundless roar.

 

Alas, entire populations of mynocks were caught in the freighter's slipstream and slaughtered in a manner too gruesome to describe on a PG-13 forum.

[Kirana Sunrider]

The Lost Soul headed towards Vjun... Malin still comforting a distraught Kirana. She had stopped sobbing now, content to let him hold her. She murmured against his shoulder,

 

"Thankyou again... you're a good friend."

 

He moved away from her, the dust floating to the ground from what had been strands of her hair.The look on his face was akin to regret as he moved over to the controls.

 

"Do you have any inclination on what we'll encounter on Vjun?" he asked as he looked out at the vastness of space beyond the viewscreen.

 

Kira gave some thought, to that and more as she moved over, seating herself in the co-pilots chair, happy to let him pilot them there.

 

"Not really. You said it was a darkside planet, yet when I was there before I didn't feel the darkside. I don't know if they could have some way of masking it or not. I gather I will have to contact the healer when we arrive."

 

She fell silent as she glanced across at him. She wanted to ask him something but wasn't sure how he would respond. Very softly she phrased her question.

 

"I don't mean to pry with this... but what happened that you need to keep your skin covered?"

 

Her soft tone said more than what she voiced, that she had seen her strands of hair turn to dust... and that it didn't matter to her. She valued his friendship too much for it to...

[Malin Kyrell]

Malin doesn't turn to face her as he answers.

 

"It's how I was created," he reports in a flat voice. Manning the controls, he makes a few minute adjustments.

 

"I'm only half human you could say," he continues, still speaking in that same emotionless tone. "My homeworld was home to a bizzare and fairly sick Sith cult that broke away from the teachings of the true Sith. They were surpreme Nihilists, believing that all life in the universe and the Force itself should be cast into oblivion. They tried various ways in sundering the barriers between the world of the living and the dead. I was their last prototype before they were almost wiped out."

 

Focusing all the more intently on the controls, he continues. "I've only met the spirit of my parents. A schism in the cult killed my father when I was five. My mother was dead well over a dozen or so years before I was born." He gives a twisted smile. "The Sith necromatic arts were the cult's specialty. They animated her enough to give birth to me and impart other sorcerous taints. I'm neither part of the world of the living or the dead, but in a prepetual twilight between the two. I'm as artificial as this ship in some ways, behing a half-undead construct."

 

The memories are painful, but Malin continues. "When I look at you, it takes a great act of will to see you as you really are. You are young and beautiful, but just as if I relax, anything I touch dies, items I taste and see look as if they've been in the grave for a decade or more. Your body has all those minute cells, dying and renewing themselves by the minute. That is what I'm looking at right now," he adds, turning his haunted blue eyes towards her. "And of course, yes my body acts as a vacuum into the ether, sucking life energy in like some hungry maw. If it weren't for the Dark side magics woven into me, I'd fall apart like a rag doll with its seems ripped out."

 

Malin considers speaking further on his past, but opts against it for the time being, instead trying to be as honest as he could about how he used his powers.

 

"This curse has benefited me. I can mark people for death and hunt them out, sense when and how people have died, and my own natural abilities for sensing and interacting with spirits increased manifold since I joined the Blade Masters. It was not always used for this end though," he adds slowly. "I used to, before joining the Jedi, act as a paid assassin. I worked perfectly at the job, steeping myself in death and many actions I seek atonement for. I didn't succumb to the Dark side then, even with my feeble skills, simply because I didn't feel anything at all. I met and later had to kill two people to whom I owed a promise though, to meet the Jedi and learn to control my powers. It's fighting against my natural state to turn them for healing or even in extreme cases, re-animation. It takes more effort than I can bare sometimes."

 

Still continuing, Malin looks at Kirana, feeling especially open and vulnerable as he tells it. Usually, when asked to give an account of his talent or past, he was matter-of-fact about it. This time though, it was different. His face, usually hidden behind a mask, makes it very apparent he's trying to read Kirana and study her reaction.

 

"There's the whole sad story," he says in summation. "I can't do too much about it, but I have to... live with it," he concludes with a dry, humorless laugh.

[Cineon Yahn]

*Shadow Lightning exited hyperspace, far away from Cardia. Barabbas addressed his wounds as best he could, preparing to make his trip to someone who could assist and heal him...*

[Kirana Sunrider]

Kira leant back in her chair, listening to him, feeling how difficult it was for him to answer through his emotionless tone. What she felt as he answered wasn't sympathy, wasn't pity but something else. Having been merged with him several times over, Kira respected him, cared not that he would be considered a monster of sorts in other circles. He was her friend. He was what he was but because of that she felt it sad because he would never be able to have a proper relationship with another... in the more physical sense. He could only touch someone if he was covered first. She realised just how hard his life had been.

 

He had a quality about him, surrounding him that showed inner strength, a quality that made Kira forget he wasn't just like everyone else. She admired him, and felt that seeing his strengths would be an inspiration for her not to give in to the dark forces that were surrounding her, tainting her, wanting to claim her. She would fight the darkness with all her being, not surrendering to it and staying within the light. She felt she could do this, especially because she had the support of her friend.

 

As he finished speaking, Kira reached over, placing her hand on Malin's arm.

 

"What you have to live with makes me feel that my problems are small and insignificant. The way you deal with it shows me strength... inspiration... and shows me the strength not to give in to this dark taint that has been clawing at me..."

[Namiad Ydnah]

Namiad squinted his eyes as he tried pulling the dagger out of his leg."Dammn, man that hurt-AAhg." The blade finaly came out as fresh blood started to pour on his black leather pants. As Namiad bandaged up his wound, he leaned back to look at the stars."I feal quite weary."said Namiad as he closed his dark blue eyes. "E6, piolet the ship, I'm going to take a small nap." The Nimah sped threw space as Namiad dreampt away.

 

 

ONE YEAR EARLIER

 

Namiad was walking down the streets to the last call, hoping his brother would'nt be drunk by the time he got there. "Cire, one of these days....."Namiad had said. Just then, a window broke above him. Namiad reconized that it was the head of a service droid. "No, not again." Namiad had said as he ran into the Last Call. Namiad ran up the extra flight of stairs and threw open the door to find something he would never forget. As Namiad opened the door, the smell of death was already over him. There on the ground was Cire, who was cut into three pieces, above him was the Murderer, ACHZET. "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"Namiad yelled as he took both of his custom blasers and fired at ACHZET repeatidly, but ACHZET leaped out of the window before he got to hit him once. Namiad looked down at his dead brother."Don't worry Cire, I wont let your death be in vain, I'll promise!"

 

-Namiad opens his eyes to find that his ship is headed toward a planet that looked quite familiar. "Guess I'm back where I first started from, E6, lets go to the LAST CALL." said Namiad as they soared to the city planet.

[Malin Kyrell]

On Malin's pallid face, a smile grows. A sense of validation for his current course and his quest for redemption grows in him. If he could at least inspire others...

 

Though it was risky, Malin made a decision and decided to follow through on it. It's not say there wasn't a moment of apprehension first, but he would succeed. Still holding onto Kirana's arms as she held him, Malin leans over, mustering as much of his strength with the force as he could, drawing it around him like a protective shield, drawing out the flow of life from that endless abyss.

 

His lips extend, and for one, brief, fleeting, and blissful second, he gives Kirana a kiss on the lips. His were warm, perhaps a bit dry, but with a sincereity in their purpose- love, graditude, and affection were all there. The moment passed and Malin withdrew, letting down his guard after he was sure he was safely away from her, struggling to avoid the tempation to draw it out further. He would not risk harming her for anything.

 

His last kiss, with a mortally wounded rival assassin and someone he would have loved if he could have, still echoed in the back of his mind. Her laying there, clutching the her torn open torso with her life blood seeping out. Pale and dying, she asked Malin to hold her and he did. Finally, when she was at her last, she asked for a kiss. Reluctantly Malin complied. It was nothing like this one- deeper, wet, passionate, and longer, but in end, she returned to dust, dying satisfied and happy, but still dying at his hands. For a moment the memories current and past vye for dominance. Then perhaps on the part of his active will, some grace of the force, or subconscious desire, the old memory returned back into the deep. The guilt and regret he felt at it was no more. He had finally come to terms with that specter hanging behind him for all those long years. It was liberating and more, making him still feel a little more at home inside his bastardized, half-undead skin.

 

His eyes wet and wide, a smile still on his trembling and now distant lips, Malin whispers her name and two words, which while simple and often used casually, contained a whole world, a whole galaxy of meaning.

 

"Kirana, thank you."

[Kirana Sunrider]

Kira felt him draw in the force before he leant towards her, vivid blue eyes firstly widened in surprise then fluttering closed as his lips met with hers. The kiss was soft, gentle and held much emotion. Time seemed to stand still before he withdrew his lips, then with a swirl of the force his guard was back down, the force shield distinguished. In what seemed a long moment later, her eyes slowly opened. While her surprise was evident, her mind remained open...

 

"Your welcome"

 

Kira found herself smiling shyly, she'd had no idea that Malin felt that way about her. Her voice was very soft, almost a whisper, a pink tinge appearing on her cheeks as she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. Other than Locke, no one had kissed her lips before...

[Malin Kyrell]

Malin meets those eyes, his mind and feelings swirling around. Despite his certainty, the portent of the dying lock of hair haunted him as a sign of what would never be.

 

A dying lock of hair indeed... Or is it a *Locke* I am worried about...

 

"Kirana... I..." where to begin? A raw upsurge of emotion and a follow through action, yet how to rationalize it? How to vocalize it? "I can't lie. I think I do love you," he admits. "It was something I denied myself, or perhaps never really accepted beyond a more general level... Compassion and resolve for others... Yet never really centered on a person before... or since..." He gulps and continues. "Yet, I don't know what to think of it... We've been close before, driven together by necessity. You trusted me, opened up to me, and, let me in... accepting me as a person. It's something I've never quite accepted myself... and a way I was content to endure for all time."

 

He realizes he has stepped past the point of no return and come blindly out into the open. "I don't really know what to think... and what I feel is conflicted. I comfortable around you, at peace, yet I also am aware of how limited I can be as a companion. I said earlier that I thought Locke's feelings for you haven't changed, and I still believe that, but..." he shies away from stating the obvious. "I can't be selfish," he affirms. "I think," he concludes, "it is enough for me to know that I am cared for, and that the person who knows that, knows that I care for them as well, but beyond that..." he swallows. "When this is over, and you have your memories back and this taint removed, I hope for the best between the two of you, but if that ever falters or fails, I'll still keep a candle lit for you. That's all I can offer for now, and all I can say as a friend."

[Kirana Sunrider]

Kira swallowed, her eyes closing as a wash of guilt passed through her. A stolen moment that as soon as it hit her that another man had kissed her... that loved her... her thoughts went to Locke. She loved Locke so badly and had been very hurt when he shut her out. The comfort she felt in Malin's arms and now his gentle kiss...

 

She listened as he spoke, now feeling herself in a predicament. She didn't want to hurt Malin, but she only felt for him as a friend. She loved Locke deeply, shared a lifebond with him, even if he had closed himself off from her. Her voice soft, gently and partly apologetic...

 

"I'm sorry Malin... I... I do care for you... but only as a friend." Her eyes glanced down as she drew in a breath. She didn't want this to ruin their friendship or to hurt him. She valued what they shared. "I think we are best as friends. I... Locke has my heart..." Her eyes rose up to meet his again, unspoken words in her eyes saying Please understand...

[Malin Kyrell]

Despite the wide, open, and exposed level Malin opened himself up to, cutting out deep from the core of his being, Kirana's affirmation did not hurt him. Though a small part of may have wished for a different outcome, he knew and felt that this was as graceful an ending as would benefit both of them in the long run. instead, her affirmation, as friends, seemed to once more qualify and reinvigorate Malin's own sense of purpose and being.

 

His judgment, and his duty to selflessly protect those in need were tested. Selflessness and the willingness to open himself for others... A sore trial for any man, even at their best, yet Malin could feel he succeeded on that score. Though one tear, he now noticed, involuntarily trickled down his cheek during his confession, he brushes it aside, smiling.

 

"Yes," he declares, "I do believe that's for the best." Once more his gloved hands reach out for Kirana, cupping her chin, and steadying her face as she met his eyes. "I think we've both learned something important about ourselves today. You're a stronger and more dedicated person than you give yourself credit for."

 

He withdraws his hand and stands up, heading for the back, his tone business again, but not nearly as dead and flat as it had been before. "I'll make some final checks to our equipment. There's no telling what we'll encounter on Vjun. My premonition still haunts me, so we best be prepared."

[Kirana Sunrider]

Kira also had to wipe a tear from her eye, the moment between them so emotional, it was draining. She leant into his hand as he cupped her face, a sad smile on her face, though it was for the best.

 

"Yes, I think you are right."

 

She watched him stand to head into the back.

 

"I'll radio the Healer, so they know it's me coming. He said I could return so we shall see what happens."

[handofthrawn]

ShadowFett was considering making the jump to the Casino when his sensors picked up an interesting anomaly. The Casino jumped into hyperspace. He immediately secured its vector, but the jump was short and landed them in deep space.

 

The Mandalorian knew this because he could track the ships of his teammates. He still had the location of the Casino, though it was obviously alerted to the presence of his comrades. It made sense, then, that he was needed presently to do his part of the job.

 

And he would make his entrance completely undetectable. It was required to be so.

 

Making the jump into hyperspace, Fett prepared himself for battle.

[Silas]

As the Lucky Me traveled through space, Jacen and his team played a friendly game of Sabbac trying to relax before the real work began.

[Lora]

Lora looked up at Cal as he came in and grabbed another piece of fruit.

 

"Mornin'. Sleep well?", She enquired with a pert smile. "You were out to it for a good while. Your droid's taking us to Mon Calamari, we should be there shortly."

 

She looked over at him, listening as he mentioned his back still hurt.

 

"I'm not surprised your still sore - I'd get the medic's to look at you as soon as we get back. If you'd notice, I had to wrap you up in bandages to keep the wound closed. Hope you haven't torn it open again by moving too much!"

 

A stern tone entered her voice as concern for her 'patient' surfaced.

 

"Git back to bed prettyboy. You can comm the authorities from the bunkroom. Your droid will take us in..."