Space

[Jaina Jade Skywalker]

((Actions posted with permission.))

 

The two girls walked with the dark haired cat-woman, the name Emily-Eris floating vaguely through Raia’s mind as she tried to think of a way to get her and Tirzah back to the real world. Her steps seemed sure enough, though she didn’t have a clue where she was going. Finally, as they reached a clearing, the woman seemed to fade away, leaving the two girls alone in the forest once again.

“Now what?” Tirzah asked.

 

Raia paced for a bit, looking from one tree to another before she leaped up and into the boughs to get any sort of vantage point she could to gauge a direction that might lead them out of where they were. While she was up in the tree, there came matched set of low growls from the underbrush.

 

With a yelp, Tirzah scurried in the direction that Raia had disappeared, grasping at the branches and trying to gain the footholds that the other had achieved with such apparent ease. Two creatures bounded out from the underbrush with a snarl. Both were overlarge, one with stark white fur, the other jet black. Her grasp slipped from a bough as the white one nipped at her heel, and she reached out to grab it again, but missed, and landed on her back in the brush. Covering her face with her hands, expecting a swift and violent end, Tirzah waited.

 

When several moments passed with no sign of aggression, she peeked through her fingers. The snouts of the two beasts instantly appeared, no more than two feet distant from her face. WIth an almighty whuff, they sniffed her in turn, and then, quite unexpectedly, pounced.

 

On each other. Tirzah’s fright and confusion gave way to amusement as the two beasts wrestled each other, nipping at ears and tails. “Um, Raia?” she called quietly to the girl in the tree. “What are these?”

 

Apparently oblivious to the events below her due to the height she was able to gain from years climbing the forests of Dathomir, Raia had begun her descent once she’d spotted another clearing a fair ways off. The familiar noise of the tuk’atas at play caught her attention and she leaped down into a crouch in front of the two beasts and gave a low whistle. “I don’t suppose either of you know the way out of where I’ve landed us, do you?”

 

The two canids played a moment more before turning to the girl’s sharp call. They broke apart, casting a glance at one another before pouncing on Raia. “GET OFF OF ME! We don’t have time to play now. Go back to your Master. See if he’ll play. We’re lost and if you’re not going to help then you can go chase a rancor for all I care!” From the girl’s tone it was apparent she’d been dragged around one too many times by the Force and her patience was thinning.

 

Neither one of the beasts made a move other than staring at her identically, as though expecting something. Raia rolled her eyes, finally guessing what it was they wanted. “Fine. This is Tirzah...You met her Vex. Tirzah these are Masters Emily, the cat lady from before, and Master Quietus’s pets, Vex’aedr and Roe’gall. They’re very dangerous, apparently, or something.” As though to punctuate her less than serious point, the two let out a baying howl as a streak of white zipped past them and down the forest path, giving chase.

 

“That’s the creature I saw earlier!” Tirzah yelled, breaking into a sprint after the animals. “Come on!”

 

Their frenetic pace was almost impossible to follow, even with speed augmented by the Force. The exhilaration of running was still fresh and exciting to Tirzah, and somehow, she felt as if she could run the whole planet over and not grow tired. The baying grew quieter as Vex’aedr and Roe’gall got farther and farther away from them, and the girls stumbled and tripped their way through the underbrush.

 

Finally, they broke out into a clearing, but the blur of white fluff and both large canines were absent from vision. Instead, the clearing was dotted with delicate flowers amongst the grasses, and punctuated by a large, ornate table intricately laid with more place settings than Tirzah could count. Someone was planning to host a banquet, here, in the middle of these dangerous woods?

 

Then she saw them: two men, lightsabers drawn and locked, standing in the center of the table. Each movement, each parry, each thrust of their weapon was punctuated by some loud cry or retort, and while it felt slightly dangerous, Tirzah couldn’t keep a grin off of her face.

 

“Curious,” she murmured. Dropping onto all fours, she crept toward the end of the table, and barely peered over the edge in the hopes of remaining undetected as she strained her ears to hear what the quarrel was.

 

“If you’re going to betray all the inherent principles of the Force, why not at least do it with flair?” yelled the shorter man, a scar running from brow to jawline, his long hair curling in rakish waves.

“Did you come here to flap your jaws or prove your worth?! For I am not impressed!” The taller man, who had straight white hair that contrasted the other’s perfectly, commented back.

 

The two continued to clash their lightsabers back and forth, continuing to circle each other as they danced around the table, occasionally knocking entire place settings flying off the table. Low slashes, high slashes, jabs and parries; the two continued to clash with absolutely no clear advantage on either side. The pair locked together, strength pushing their blades into each other as their faces closed to each other.

“I have a surprise for you old friend…” The taller man said through gritted teeth before kicking the other man away with a deliberate kick, creating separation between them.

 

“NEW LIGHTSABER!” He exclaimed, almost happily as he produced another lightsaber from his belt and renewed the duel in earnest, now clashing with two blades against the dark haired man.

“Well that’s not very sporting!” The dark haired man responded, standing again to block the incoming blows, as the pair continued to dance around the table in their duel, clearly having more perverse fun in combat than either of them rightfully should.

 

A hand clasped over Tirzah’s shoulder, bringing the girl back from the edge of the battle as it moved further down the table. “It’s probably best if you move. Those things are also dangerous.” Raia didn’t mention that it had crossed her mind to help Master Quietus against this other opponent, but she just as quickly decided she’d likely be more of a hindrance than an asset.

 

The movement of Raia pulling Tirzah back from the table caught the taller man’s attention, to which he immediately spun, extending his hands out in welcome as the dark haired man was pushed into a chair in front of one of the place settings.

 

“Goodness me! Look! We have GUESTS!” The man exclaimed before bowing as one does before a ceremonial duel. “Please! Come in, come in! Welcome, welcome. You’re just in time for te-- I mean, for instruction! Say hello to our guests my dear opponent!”

 

The other man stood quickly from the chair, recovering from the sudden and unexpected push, and likewise bowed. “Why look there, I do believe that is --”

“YES! Of course!” the taller man interrupted, practically bowling over more of the dishes and cups as he walked towards Raia and Tirzah, “It’s our mazais! How could we possibly not recognize her! Oh, you are most welcome at our party.”

 

He reached down and before she could argue or protest, hauled Raia up onto the table before him. “What brings you to our table mazais? And who is your new friend?!”

 

“Curiouser and curiouser,” Tirzah whispered to herself as Raia was dragged up among the two duelists.

 

Raia looked up, now recognizing the white-haired man as her minder, Master Quietus, setting her feet firmly on the table while the other lifted Tirzah up in a similar manner. “We got lost...and I think Tirzah is looking for someone. Do you think you can help Master Quietus?”

 

The taller man turned to Tirzah, and for a few seconds simply looked at the young girl, as if appraising her. Then he stepped closer and bent over, his face much closer as a few “Hmmmm” sounds escaped from his mouth. Then all at once, he stood back up to his full height and again threw his arms out, only this time he lost the grip on both of his lightsabers, which went flying off into the underbrush that surrounded them.

 

“Oh my. Oops. NEW LIGHTSABER!” He yelled again as he reached around his back and produced yet another lightsaber, ignited it and began swinging it around, clearly distracted once more until Raia grabbed at his sleeve and yanked hard.

 

“Master Quietus! Do you think you can help her?” she again asked.

 

The tall man stopped and looked at Raia, then to Tirzah, and then back at Raia, and then to Tirzah again before he turned the lightsaber off and stashed it on his belt once more.

 

“Right! Yes yes. Always happy to help! Now uhm… what was it you needed?”

 

Suddenly uncomfortable with the circumstance, and halfway wishing for a reversion to blindness such that she would not have actually witnessed the cavalier fashion in which these two men were tossing about their lightsabers, Tirzah looked back and forth between them. “There was… there was a small creature,” she began.

“You’re a small creature!” yelled the shorter man, who was suddenly standing on his hands, feet in the air, as quickly as Tirzah could blink. “And here you are! Nothing more to look for.”

 

“No,” she added quickly, “a little furry creature, barely bigger than a fieldscurry, that ran off into the wild. I don’t know how, or why, but I know it somehow. I think it’s our key to getting home.”

Tirzah edged closer to Raia, who, while somehow part of this whole charade, still seemed safer than either of the men standing on the table. She reached to her belt, and for the first time, noticed the absence of her recently acquired lightsaber. A sudden idea struck her, and she glanced up at the other two. “You wouldn’t happen to have any of those to spare, would you?”

“Oh, there are always more, you just have to know where to look,” babbled the scarred man, with a wink that told Tirzah that he clearly knew more than he was letting on. He reached a hand toward the head of the table, and a small satchel flew into his waiting hand. As he overturned it, a volley of sabers by the dozens began spilling out onto the table, until he himself was buried in it.

 

“Um, I just needed one,” she muttered. This interaction was quickly going from potentially helpful to utterly frustrating. “Never mind, that. Can you help us find it?”

 

The dark-headed man popped his head out of the mountain of sabers. “Oh, don’t listen to him, he doesn’t know anything about that creature. All you need to know is that she comes when you call.”

 

“But what do you call her?” Quizzically, she cocked her head to the side.

 

“I don’t call her,” the man said with another overplayed wink. “Sounds like a personal problem.”

 

“It is quite rude to call someone you don’t even know, you know.” The white haired man said, flipping the lightsaber in his hand. “But the Queen might know!” he caught the saber, his face lighting up.

 

“Yes yes, the Queen. Doesn’t she want you dead though?” The dark haired man countered.

 

“Bah, I’m sure she’s forgotten all about that. Couldn’t be helped I tell you. Yes. You should go ask the Queen. She knows everyone around here, or knows someone who knows who...knows…” he trailed off, sounding confused.

 

Raia again tugged on the man’s sleeve. “The Queen? Where is she?”

 

“What? The Queen? Why would you want to go see the Queen? No no. She ordered me executed once you know.” The man responded matter of factly, before being pushed aside as the dark haired man elbowed his way past.

 

“The Queen lives farther through the forest.” He said, his eyes seemingly stuck on Tirzah.

 

“Hey! They weren’t asking you!” The taller man said as he stood up and shoved the other man off the table before turning to the two girls.

“Say, do either of you know why a tuk’ata is like a datapad?” He asked.

 

The two girls looked at him confused before turning to each other, both seeing if the other had any idea. Finally Tirzah turned back to him.

“No, we give up,” She answered, sounding more than a little exasperated with the whole situation.

“I haven’t the slightest idea!” The man said before laughing and jumping off the table after the dark haired man, igniting his lightsaber as he did so. “Now onward in our noble quest for this small creature that is not you!”

[Emily]

Jaina’s tone was cold, and her words cut Emily deeply. But she couldn't deny the truth of them. During the silence that hung after Jaina’s reprimand, Emily met her aunt’s eyes. “You're right,” she said finally. “From that perspective it looks fishy. But know this: I have been nothing but honest with you, and I will continue to be so.”

 

She took a deep breath. “Please hear me out. Raynuk is more than just my former master. For several years now, we've been lovers. I've seen how he used to be. And I've also seen how he has changed. He's not the man you knew.

 

“I came to find you partially because he wanted me to find you, but more so because I wanted to. I wanted to get to know you, to reclaim family. And he...I think he wants to apologize. He'd never say that, of course, but I know he regrets your shared past.

 

“When I arrived on Raxus Prime, I saw the attackers fleeing the system with your ship. I didn't know Tirzah was onboard until you told me she was. I figured we would have to scour space for her. But since you overheard the message, you know that Raynuk found her, your ship adrift. The Force gives my apprentice very specific visions, and it was she who lead Raynuk to Tirzah. He recognized your ship, boarded, and found Tirzah. But something happened and now it appears that both Tirzah and my apprentice Raia are trapped in some netherworld of the Force, so he contacted me to come help him save them.”

 

With each word, the punch drove a little deeper into Jaina’s gut. “I… y-you…” She tried to get the words out, before realizing that there simply were no words. Her face glossed into a mask of pain and confusion, and though her eyes stayed fixed on Emily, her sight went elsewhere.

 

Flashes of a battlefield, stepping through puddles of rain and blood. A Wookiee’s jawbone resting on the toe of her boot. Dark eyes, dark hair, dark intent, dark delight. The back of her husband and sister’s heads as they fled. And somewhere, a woman screaming.

 

Forcefully blinking to clear the images, she stared across the room at Emily. Calmly, she had explained all that Jaina had overheard, all that had transpired in the time they had shared the same atmosphere.

 

And now, Jaina desperately wished she hadn’t. Feeling vaguely nauseated, she bent to pick up her chair, for little reason other than to give herself something to do with her hands. Strained silence floated like dust particles through the air. If nothing else, she thought, at least this awkward, terse moment was real. Emily’s avowal of her desire to reclaim their familial bonds held up under the stringent examination of Jaina’s senses. Perhaps she was telling the truth, and here they were, both wounded souls, reaching for another as if in a dark room, floundering about trying to find a hand to hold.

 

But it did not mean that Emily’s beliefs about the content of Raynuk’s character, though sincere, would necessarily hold true. As for the rest--her mind could not even begin to compute the given nature of their relationship.

 

“You’re right about one thing,” she said finally. “Once a Sith gains enough power to get what they want, they don’t want it anymore. That was Raynuk when I knew him. And whether or not he regrets anything, I don’t believe for a minute that he’s changed.”

 

Even as the words left her lips, Jaina knew she herself did not truly believe them, which added irritation to the mixed brew of feelings bubbling beneath the surface. Whether or not Emily was content to leave her statement hanging rhetorically in the air, Jaina could see her mind working. Hushing the pain that screamed from her insides, she added softly, “It seems we have more in common than I could have predicted.”

 

Emily bit her lip as pain rolled off Jaina through the Force. This is precisely what she had tried to avoid. But things rarely worked out the way she planned. She let the silence hang, knowing there was little she could say. Finally, she nodded. “Yes. Ever since Raynuk told me about you two, I've been struck by that myself. It's one of the reasons I was eager to find you.”

 

She paused. “I'm sorry. I just want to make that clear. I'm sorry for what he did to you, I'm sorry that you've been dragged back into the middle of this. I'm sorry that Tirzah was taken from you. You didn't ask for any of this. But…” she paused, calculating her words, “I know this is selfish of me, but I'm glad you're back, despite all of...this.” She waved a hand around generally. “I don't want to lose my chance to know you, Jaina. But I understand if you can't handle this right now. If you don't want to see him, or aren't ready, I understand. I can bring Tirzah to you, and you won't have to talk to him or see him. If you trust me.”

 

She desperately hoped that Jaina would, and that she would be able to sense just how much Emily wanted to be reconciled with her. It had been the only reason Emily hadn't grown angry at some of the hurtful things Jaina had said; she wanted to make this work more than anything. “I want to help you, Aunt Jaina, however I can.” It was almost a plea, and Emily had leaned forward to deliver it, her tone and posture subconsciously like that of a much younger girl.

 

((OOC: cowritten))

[Jaina Jade Skywalker]

The ghost of the six-year-old who danced around Jaina’s memory passed across Emily’s features, made all the more real by her use of Jaina's familial title, and all of her hurt did not amount to enough to stay her desire for reconciliation. Reaching across the table, Jaina made to take Emily’s hands in hers. Her disgruntled sense of justice prodded, but after all that had been said, it became even more apparent that prioritizing the restoration of their familial bond was more important than whatever wounds had been imparted, knowingly or not. “I believe you,” she whispered, not quite able to conjure a smile.

 

Absent the catharsis of the embrace shared in the cockpit, the moment nevertheless served as a landmark in Jaina’s mind: proof that Emily would place her aunt in higher regard than her former master. The thought of Raynuk made her skin crawl and her stomach tighten, and she reconsidered Emily’s offer. To avoid laying eyes on him, to slink away down her hole, to take Tirzah and run--the appeal was obvious. But in the end, if the voice that haunted her was now a traveling companion of one of the two people in the galaxy for whom she cared most, putting off the encounter might do more harm than good.

 

Besides, if what Emily said was true, she had more to learn about this cult that had fettered her soul irrevocably to Raynuk’s.

 

“For Tirzah, and for you, I’m glad to be here again,” she squeezed Emily’s hand gently. Andon's message slid its way into the forefront of her mind, but here and now was not the time to share it. Her niece never need know the depth of the aimlessness that had come over her, even though she did deserve to know her uncle's fate. “And it’s because of Tirzah that I have to face him. I had hoped to go the rest of my life avoiding that confrontation, but if she’s lost somewhere in her own mind, I need to bring her back, and I don’t trust anyone else to do that. No offense,” she added. “I think you’d never knowingly do her harm.”

 

From the cockpit, the navicomputer sounded the hyperspace reversion alarm. Anxiety flooded her, and her pulse quickened. “I guess that’s our cue,” she said, running a finger beneath each eye. WIth a halting glance, she blinked at Emily. “There’s so much more I want to know, you know, about you. About where you’ve been, about who you are. And so many things I have to share with you. As strange as it is… I’m glad you’re not a child,” she said, a meek smile finally appearing, watered down by the tears that formed again in her eyes. “Because more than anything right now, I need a friend in this kriffing galaxy.”

[Emily]

Jaina's courage and trust heartened Emily. She rose as the chime sounded, then squeezed Jaina's shoulder as she walked past. "That is something I can be. Without hesitation." There was still much to be said, and discussed, and worked through, but they had made the first steps and come to the other side together, and that made Emily feel like there was hope for the future. It might be messy, but then, what relationship worth having wasn't?

 

As she slipped into the pilot's seat, she forced herself to turn her mind from their tense discussion and to the present. The timer counted down, and suddenly the starlines receded into points. There in space a few clicks away sat two ships. The Traitor's Hope she recognized from having seen it leave the Raxus system a few hours earlier. The other ship, a chunky, blocky thing connected to it by a docking tube, had to be Raynuk's new ship. She examined it with a critical eye. It wasn't much to look at from the outside, but perhaps the interior layout had an elegant simplicity the outer hull lacked. It was certainly bigger than his old ship. It's transponder showed up on her scanners as the Ravenhammer. She raised an eyebrow. It was certainly a departure from Ogariv. She'd have to ask him why he had chosen to name it such.

 

As they drew near, Emily reached out in the Force. Her presence washed over Raynuk, then focused on the two unconscious teens. They didn't feel in any particular danger, but their presences were...strange, confused. She couldn't help but prod Raynuk's mind in the Force. "I leave you for four days and look what trouble you get into..." Her tone was teasing, and he'd know that she didn't blame him for what had happened. She knew well enough that Raia was fragile when it came to the Force, and that they would need to be careful to keep her under control until she learned to control the Force herself.

 

Her tone grew serious. "We're coming." Then she drew back her senses. He'd know who she meant, and hopefully he'd have time to prepare himself for the reunion that was about to occur. Emily honestly didn't know what to expect. She vacillated between thinking she'd have to physically keep them from tearing each other apart, to thinking she'd have to mediate simple verbal spars, to thinking they'd both simply play the icy professionals. All she knew was that she had a duty to both of them, and she'd try to be the buffer as much as possible. But she also knew they had to come to some kind of resolution. While this really was between the two of them, not her, she was deeply invested in the outcome by nature of her relationship with both of them.

 

The Shadow's Shine came up alongside the secondary docking ring of the Traitor's Hope. She made sure the docking tube was extra secure--after all, secondary docking rings didn't get that much use, and so mechanical issues were more prone to happen, especially on ships as old as the Traitor's Hope clearly was. A beep signaled a successful connection, and Emily rose and headed back to the airlock. Jaina was already there. "Is Master Ardel coming?" Emily asked, keying the airlock sequence.

 

After a moment, the hatch slid open. "Are you ready for this?" Emily asked quietly. They paused a moment, and then Emily lead the way onto the Traitor's Hope.

[Raynuk Montar]

Raynuk spent another hour aboard the Traitor's Hope, cramped in the small confines of the gunwell corridor next to his droid who was equally too tall for the space, working on restoring the ship's capabilities to sustain itself. 2V at least had the luxury of not possessing the ability to feel cramped and complain, but Raynuk forced himself to remain long past his usual patience would have let him, purely as a way to occupy himself. But with a few minor adjustments, Raynuk and 2V were ready to remove the link to the Ravenhammer, and see if the power systems could support itself. While the droid remained in the gunwell corridor, Raynuk made his way out, heading to the cockpit to manually initiate a start up of the power systems and subsystems.

 

Halfway there however, he paused as something to his right caught his eye just before 2V apparently removed the power link to Raynuk's ship, at which point the ship went dark again and the gravity slowly faded. There wasnt enough time for him to really get a good look at whatever it was before the lights went out, and so he turned from his course and headed in that direction, slowly pulling his lightsaber from his belt as he did so. He crept along the corridor that lead back to the airlocks, but heard and saw nothing. But the moment his foot collided with an object, Raynuk reacted and ignited his lightsaber, turning towards the object. And there sitting on the floor, was a dark orb that was sitting at the base of a door; a door that Raynuk was 98% sure he had cut a hole in, but that now was solid and somehow looked stronger.

 

"Guess that thing works after all." He muttered to himself before his wrist mounted commlink beeped, indicating that he had a message come in. He attempted to play the message, only to find t hat the message was text only, requiring him to return to the Ravenhammer in order to view it. So he continued on, yelling back to 2V that he was returning to the ship. He made it a point to detour to the infirmary along the way, double checking on Raia and Tirzah before he made his way at last to the cockpit, plopping into the pilot's seat with a sigh. he pulled up the message and read it quickly.

So Emily already found her, and they both are already on their way here. Well this should be fun... he thought, rubbing a hand over his face with another sigh. He looked out into space for a few moments, mentally chewing on events in the past; both recent and farther off. But he soon jolted back to his feet, having come to the decision that he could at least restore power to the Traitor's Hope before Emily and Jaina arrived. So once again he made his way back to the airlock that connected the two ships, stopping to collect Vex'aedr from the spot he had taken up just outside the infirmary.

 

"I'll be sure to let Raia know how vigilently you watched over her when she wakes up." He said, couching down next to the beast and giving him a hearty scratch behind the ears. "But she and our new 'guest' arent going anywhere, and they'll be safe enough. Come on."

 

Raynuk stood as Vex'aedr whuff-ed and followed the Sith to the Traitor's Hope.

 

========================================================

 

By the time the Shadow's Shine blinked into lightspace, Raynuk was standing in the cockpit of the Traitor's Hope, having managed to restore power to the ship completely. He was, of course, locked out of doing anything else now that the power was back on, including conducting any diagnostics. The best he had been able to do was to connect a datapad to monitor the power output and draw of certain systems. Luckily, none of the other critical systems seemed to have been affected beyond lack of power; life support and environmental controls were both working well within their target windows and the ship was sufficiently illuminated once again. When Emily's ship arrived, he had spotted it out the viewport, and silently watched as it approached. He could feel the presences of both Emily and Jaina the moment they arrived, but waited until Emily reached out to him through the Force to reach out himself.

I leave you for four days and look what trouble you get into... her voice danced through his head, the same teasing tone she always used to poke him gently, before it turned serious once more. We're coming...

 

Raynuk allowed himself a small smile at the jab she had taken, before reaching back to her. I know.

 

As the Shadow's Shine disappeared out of his view from the cockpit, Raynuk turned and retreated into the ship, bringing Vex'aedr with him. When Emily's ship had docked along the secondary docking ring before the airlock opened the way onto the Traitor's Hope, Raynuk was not there to greet them.

 

<

 

The tall, lanky droid form of 2-VSH was standing just inside the airlock, a few feet back from the hatch, holding a datapad in its hands. It waited a moment, its red photoreceptors looking quite blankly at the raven haired woman.

 

<>

 

Movement behind Emily caught the droid's attention, as 2-VSH turned to address Jaina, who was only now risking stepping through the hatch.

 

< The droid asked, waiting for a response before stepping forward, passing Emily as it handed the datapad to Jaina before continuing.

 

<>

 

The droid stepped back again to the spot it had started in, turning to address both Emily and Jaina.

 

<>

 

The droid turned and slowly began walking down the corridor towards the crew lounge of the Traitor's Hope, leading whoever decided to follow just inside the doorway, before stepping to the side. And there they would find Raynuk, at the far end of the room with his back to the doorway. He was standing just in front of the holographic game board, but the board was not turned on.

 

"If you wish me to be gone from your ship, merely say the word," he finally spoke after a moment of silence, but did not continue or elaborate. He could feel the mixture of emotions from Jaina, and did not want to make this forced reunion harder on her for it.

[saberforce]

Tros could do nothing but stare at the ship before him, Traitor's Hope. It seemed lifeless, yet still, ominous as if it would cary with it a great threat if one was to walk onto it without any remorse. The other ships that left Raxus Prime with him all began to move to board the Traitor's Hope. However, the beroya had to pause and watch. There was a strong sense deep within his own mind to make things simple and just target lock on the open airlock hatch and send a few proton torpedoes it's way and naastar the ship. The only thing stopping him was the thought of Xae-Lin, his vod that he had just met after months of searching for. For Tros, he knew that it would end up being very aay'han for him if he acted upon the thoughts running through his mind. It was a rare balac for him, and one that many would claim him to be weak for him not taking it. He held a strong skanah for both jetiise and darjetiise.

 

After a very long moment, Tros set up a link for Orar and his buy'ce. He needed a dajun for going in, and of course, another dajun, because ret'lini. For now, his choice would put tal'din as is priority. He spent too much time seeking her out to simply let her ash'amur because it would be easy for him to kyr'amur the one thing he skanah. So, he piloted his ship towards the airlock hatch that was left open for him to use, and began to prep his besbe'trayce for a akaanir. But Tros was not a utreekov. He made sure that his eyaytir was morut'yc. He would not be in a taap to be taken by surprise.

[Cyrii]

The Shiny Sprocket survived its first flight successfully. The only problem was, they didn't have a pilot.

 

It was an interesting conundrum that, normally, would drive them back to the planet. This problem was rectified fairly easily however, when they found a sleeping Sullustan vagrant in one of the stockrooms. He was shocked to be apprehended by six small aliens, but he capitulated to their assault. He was just trying to find a comfortable place to sleep and he thought the junker wasn't going to fly. When he said junker, the misfits grumbled, but they still looked on him with some level of sympathy. It wasn't long ago that they all needed a home too.

< Cyrii asked, using the Jawa Trade language. The Sullustan looked to him with genuine curiosity, mingled with fatigue.

 

"I... I can fly. Why?" The Sullustan asked warily, suddenly recognizing that he wasn't on Coruscant anymore. "Oh."

 

Cyrii nodded and then echoed his request in the Misfit gesture language. They repeated with eagerness and looked to the Sullustan for his response.

 

The Sullustan felt ambushed, but he could also feel a stirring deep in his stomach. It could have been sympathy. Or it could have been gas from the vermin he ate the night before. He honestly couldn't tell. But something about the group assembled before him was endearing. Something about their persistent kindness to him, even though he had accidentally stowed away on their ship, felt warm and welcome. Soft tears sprang to his big eyes and he smiled, his facial flaps twitching with an old barely used expression. "Yes."

 

The Misfits cheered and scattered around the ship with quick feet. They went back to work assembling the kitchen, the bar, the stage, the instruments, and the droid workshop.

 

Meanwhile, Tomtom the Sullustan, took his post at the helm and smiled again as he watched them work. R4-C1112 rolled up on new wheels to sit beside the Sullustan. It was an old astromech model that had seen better days. It booped with a lower frequency, indicating a problem with its audio projectors, but it functioned pretty well, all things considered. A heavy lifting droid stood off to the side and shifted every once in a while, but was relatively silent otherwise. It was an interesting crew and an even more interesting ship. But it was a new beginning for all of them. It would be the start of a beautiful enterprise. No matter what trouble came their way, the Misfits would persevere!

[Jaina Jade Skywalker]

Emily disappeared toward the cockpit, and Jaina took the moment of solitude to reorient and assess. This whole trip had been one blindsiding confrontation after another, and for once, she wanted to go into the next with her eyes wide open. While she didn't have much time to meditate, centering herself in the Force seemed a necessity, if she planned to endure the climb to the pinnacle of the crescive tension that had been birthed at her reawakening, Raynuk's voice ringing in her ears.

 

Opening herself to the Force, her awareness nearly tripped on him, after a fashion. In whatever way their consciousness had been knit together, she could not deny the obvious fact that she was quickly approaching the man who was the inciting factor behind the circumstances that led to her death. But Emily was right: the bloodlust and nyctophilia she had come to associate with him was curiously absent. Perhaps there had been some change in him through the years of intermittent entombment.

 

But that was a consideration that would have to wait. If Raynuk Montar was no longer Darth Quietus, let him prove it for himself. The first and only order of business that mattered here was Tirzah's safe retrieval. The Force carried no warnings, no trap alerts, no death threats, but neither did she feel any sense of direction.

 

Purging her anxiety into the field of supportive energy that surrounded her and releasing it to the current that carried it from her, she was about to end her meditation when she was swept away into a vision. Before her, a vermilion-skinned Twi'lek and a man with pale blue eyes stood facing one another, hands clasped, faces beaming. Glancing to her side, she caught a glimpse of a curtain of wavy dark tresses, a roguish half-grin peeking out from beneath. With a sudden quickening of her heart, Jaina knew: this was no vision, this was a memory.

 

An unearthly wind picked up, spinning around her, watering her eyes with its blast.

 

Modināt...

 

"No," she muttered aloud, but the tempest persisted.

 

Modināt.

 

PIcking up speed, it whipped around her until the feathery tips of her hair felt almost sharp enough to gash her skin. As the icy gale railed against her body, in the distance she could hear the cracking of stone.

Atgriešanās!

 

The voice that splintered the walls of her tomb on Hapes resounded in a high, cold, and clear whisper.

I will return to seek my revenge on you... none shall be spared. You shall return to the darkness.... and your child shall come to know the darkness as its home...I will reclaim what was taken from me in due time...

 

You can not hide from me, Jaina.

As the vision abated, Jaina found herself clutching the edges of the table, her knuckles white, her palms clammy. She had almost been ready to retrace her steps, to reenter Raynuk's presence with a hopeful desire for reconciliation. But there was more at stake here than her desire to forgive him. The reminder of his parting words to her, the icy wind that had blown away all that she had worked so hard to gain, had also blown away any good will she might have brought with her. He had already proven his willingness and ability to play the long game with her; but she wouldn't fall for it a second time. It got tricky, now, that Emily was caught up in his game, sincerely believing the best of him. Jaina would trust that in due time, as he had promised, she would see his true character and free herself from him. When she did, Jaina would be there to pick up the pieces. But in the meantime, she had to face up to the situation at hand. Almost immediately, she knew what she had to do, prompted not least by what she had said to Emily before the latter's departure.

 

Thumbing on her comlink, she sent a brief message to Tares before she made her way back to the cargo bay. There, she came upon Xae, who was sitting in meditation, trading wary sidelong glances with the hulking figure of the mutant tuk'ata. Reaching out through the Force, she gave the other woman the equivalent of a gentle squeeze of the hand. "Xae," she said quietly, keeping an eye on the movement of the beast. "Emily says that Tirzah's stuck somewhere in her own mind. Will you come with me? I want--" her own insecurity suddenly overwhelmed her, and she felt a newfound gratitude for her friend's trust. "I don't know if I'll be strong enough. I need your help."

 

When she returned to the airlock, where Emily awaited, she gave no indication of what she had seen and felt through the Force. More than anything else, her presence emanated the determination she felt. Emily secured the hatch and began to prime the airlock. "Are you ready for this?" Jaina inclined her head in grave acknowledgement and the airlock hissed open.

 

Of all the things Jaina was expecting when she crawled on board her own ship through the secondary airlock, a greeting party consisting of a tall, strangely opinionated droid was not on the top of the list.

 

"And you must be Jaina, then? I was told a woman by that name would be arriving with Emily. This ship, the Traitor's Hope, is yours, then?"

 

She nodded mutely, accepting the datapad the droid extended to her. As he explained the condition of the ship, and the repairs that had been efforted, she flicked through the detailed account, narrowing her eyes. These cultists, or whoever, had certainly been thorough. Ion explosive to the power core, with Tirzah still aboard? Had the girl found some way of flying the ship after them on her own, or had they abandoned her here? She had more questions than answers, yet again. Yet, a tiny spark of gratitude flickered in the back of her mind. Raynuk had obviously not been content to leave her most prized possession in such utter disrepair, and had taken it upon himself to ensure the stability of her daughter. The repairs effected here had been enough to possibly allow the ship to limp to nearby shipyards. The damage to the core was extensive, if not fatal, and Jaina imagined that the surge would mean replacing many of the more sensitive systems. All in all, the Hope would need a rehabilitative overhaul.

 

As it finished speaking, the droid moved down the corridor toward the crew lounge, as though Jaina had forgotten the way. With a hand on Emily's shoulder, she stopped her niece from immediately following the tall metallic being. "No, wait," she murmured, feeling her face turn to stone. "I need to do this on my own."

 

Preceding the others down the hallway, Jaina stalked after the droid, her movements automatic. Did she wish to be in his presence? Not by a long shot. Primal instinct screamed at her to run, take TIrzah, and go, leaving all of this behind. But her body kept moving. The Force sustained her enough to whisper clarity to the back of her mind.

 

Tread carefully. Shatterpoints such as this cannot be reversed.

 

Rounding the familiar corner into the crew lounge, his silhouetted figure came into view. Jaina paused just inside the doorway. Glinting silvery-white in the overhead lights, his hair was the only thing that looked vastly different than she had remembered. Calm rolled off of him, though there was a measure of uncertainty she thought she could detect. Utterly unsure of how to feel, but determined to steel her nerves through this reunion--and to give him half a chance to redeem his prior actions--Jaina leaned against the doorway with as much nonchalance as she could muster. A murky half-smile played on her features, though it carried something of a fey undertone.

 

"I want my damn whip back, Montar."

[Raynuk Montar]

"I want my damn whip back, Montar."

 

Raynuk's eyes slid closed as Jaina's voice reached him, a voice he had not heard in a very long time; a voice that had at one point in his younger days been enough to calm the raging tempest he had always seemed to be caught in. And it was the departure of that voice and the person it belonged to that had given him no way free of that storm of anger and hatred. And in the end, they had both paid terribly for it. And now here they were, in the same room once more, forging through a reunion they had both dreaded for very different reasons. For a few more heartbeats, Raynuk did not respond as he opened his eyes and drummed his fingers on the game board. When he finally did speak, his tone mirrored hers; an air of nonchalance and passive nature.

 

"Odd that you place the return of your whip above the return of your ship, or your daughter for that matter." He mused, keeping his back to her in the moment. Another pause lingered before he finally turned to fully face her, and instantly noticed how she appeared to have not aged a day since he last was face to face with her; but at the same time he saw the weariness and shadow that lingered on her face, even now as she attempted to put on a brave face.

 

"Well, I suppose I can be accommodating in that regard. Though I do wonder if you merely want it back so you can then turn it on me; revenge and payment for all the anguish I have caused you perhaps." His tone never wavered from the way he always seemed to be calculating and, to a point, cold, as he took a few but deliberate steps towards her, watching for any subtle cracks or wavering that occurred on her part at his approach. But he took no more than five steps before he stopped, speaking again.

 

"But you know me; always willing to take a stupid risk." For the briefest of moments, his tone turned playful and self deprecating as he opened and reached into the large pouch on his waist. His hand emerged holding the neural whip that had belonged to Jaina, found its way into the hands of the Blood Gem Pirates, from who Raynuk liberated it and was buried with it; and now it had served as a conduit to not only link Raynuk and Jaina on a level neither of them fully understood, but had brought the woman back to life in the first place. He gave the whip a passing glance, before his eyes returned to Jaina, and he tossed the whip to her, knowing full well she was as likely to lash out at him as to turn and run.

 

"Thank you 2V, that will be all for now. Return to the ship and secure the airlock. Open it for no one, save me, if you would."

 

The tall droid gave a robotic nod and turned to exit the room, heading back to the Ravenhammer before closing and securing the airlock behind him, ensuring that the ship was only accessible if Raynuk gave the command. As the droid left, Raynuk crossed his arms before sighing, turning his attention back to Jaina.

 

"I dont know how much 2V told you, or what Emily told you... But let me set one thing clear, because even after all these years, I can still read you; I had nothing to do with the near death of your daughter, and I likely would have had no part of rescuing her if Emily's apprentice had not been so adamant and sure of this location."

 

His tone had grown a bit harsher by the end, but what was likely to be mistaken as anger and a commanding tone was born from his mind's utter rejection of the thought that he would be blamed for what had happened; both before he had found Tirzah, and what had occurred after. As if he was trying to throw off the very idea, he spun and paced back towards the game table with a sigh before leaning against it.

 

"Of course, that is precisely what you would expect me to say if I was the cause of this latest bout of trouble for you, isnt it? Just another step to lull you into lowering your guard, all a part of my ultimately evil plan to destroy your life."

 

Whether she would see it or not, there was a flash of pain in his eyes as he spoke, before his normally stoic defenses covered him again as he pushed off from the table once more, clearly feeling more comfortable on the move rather than staying in one place within the room.

 

"I do not blame you for continuing to fear the monster of a man that I once was. Nor do I expect you to forgive or forget what I have done. Those are my mistakes to carry, and I am not afraid to atone for them when the time comes. You could strike me down right here and right now, and the only person you would have to answer to is Emily... and I would absolutely deserve it."

 

Raynuk crossed the room again, only this time it was not towards Jaina, but rather towards the repair bay that was attached to the crew lounge. For it was there that Vex'aedr had decided to lay down, watching over it's Master. Raynuk stood just at the top of the steps down to the repair bay, his back to Jaina as Vex'aedr let out a snuff and stood, padding over to Raynuk who in turn gently stroked the beast's white hair on its neck, all the while the eyes of the beast watched Jaina, as if it was expecting the woman to try and strike Raynuk down.

 

"But I know... You did not come here to be forced into a confrontation with me. You and Emily and... your Jedi friends," He spoke, having recognized the feeling of another Jedi in roughly the same direction he sensed Emily, "You came here in pursuit of Tirzah. You will be happy to know I did not get a chance to even speak to her. Whatever you wish to know, I will tell you."

[Tares Vortex]

A dark, dagger-like silhouette slid out of hyperspace a half a kilometer away from the Traitor’s Hope. The vessel cut through the vacuum of space until it finally came to a rest within visual view of the cluster of docked ships. It remained in darkness for a few moments until the exterior lights finally kicked to life, revealing the lettering ”Ferro Re” painted on each side of the ship.

 

“Atlas, see what’s going on with the power output to the exterior lights. I don’t think they are activating as quickly as they should.” Tares said at the controls of his new vessel.

The Ferro Re was the latest design from Solaris Enterprises to roll off the floor of the Gateway’s production facilities. Somewhat Nubian-inspired in design, it was long and narrow, like a blade. Its profile made it longer than a typical freighter, but smaller in bulk than a standard corvette.

 

Tares had decided to make a detour to meet up with his new ship. The Sogno had served him well over the past few years, but many had complained that his personal vessel should reflect his company’s product line. He had resisted this notion for a long time, but the dangers of recent events had suggested an upgrade might be in order.

 

With the cockpit at the tip of the blade, Tares had an unobstructed view of the various ships docked together. The Ferro was too far away for Tares to visually inspect Jaina’s ship, but his vessel’s advanced sensors revealed signs of an ion discharge. He could only guess at how the hijackers had abandoned the vessel.

 

Through the Force, Tares could feel a variety of familiar and unfamiliar beings. Thankfully, one presence he focused on rather quickly was Tirzah. Her presence suggested that she was relatively unharmed from the whole experience.

 

From his vantage point, it was difficult for Tares to distinguish the others. He could sense Jaina and Xae with relative clarity. Others stood out as powerful Force Users, but he lacked sufficient labels.

 

Tares began to work out a plan to get onboard the Traitor’s Hope. There was hardly any space left to fit his ship, so a quick EVA would most likely be required. Before he could begin the process of donning a suit, however, Atlas’s voice chimed in over the intercom.

 

“Incoming comm from Jaina.” She reported.

 

Tares quickly keyed in a sequence of commands on his personal datapad and began to listen to her message….

[Jaina Jade Skywalker]

Relishing the curling, lethal shape of Tajazidai clutched in her hand, Jaina kept a wary eye on the newcomer to the room. This tuk'ata looked almost identical to Emily's, but shone silky white instead, mirroring the change in Raynuk's hair. Idly, she wondered if there was any connection. But that wasn't relevant now.

 

"Raynuk," she began, then paused, considering her words carefully. "I've never once wished for revenge on anything you might have done to me. In truth, I have a lot to thank you for."

 

She tossed her head in the direction of the airlock, and her long hair rippled with the movement. "For one, being there for Emily. I hope you deserve the high regard in which she holds you."

 

Her tone was matter-of-fact, but the pain she had felt with her niece's admission on board the Shine hadn't faded. He was right, his words would not be sufficient to bridge the gap between their past together, and certainly not enough to lower her guard. But while she would take precautions for her safety and for Tirzah's, that need not come at the cost of honesty. "I haven't forgotten anything that happened between us, and I won't forget this. Whether by your impetus or not, you saved my daughter. You patched up my ship. I think that counts for some settlement of the debts between us," she said quietly, studying him with calculating intent.

 

The corner of her mind that she shared with him was alight with activity. Pretense would do no good here: he was too aware of her, and she of him. His apprehension was startling: in every hypothetical scenario where she had imagined their reunion, he carried the same uncaring stoicism she had remembered, all feelings for her discarded through the wasted years. Through their shared bond, however, his bittersweet regret was nearly overpowering. Could she--dare she--consider for even a moment that he honestly desired reconciliation? Her resolve failed her, and she could feel the flutter in her heart bleed into their bond.

 

Nothing but time could tell. Wringing the whip in her hands, she spoke again. "There are a lot of things I want to know, but first, I want to see her."

[Emily]

Emily smiled at Raynuk's new droid. It seemed to have quite the personality. It would make a good foil for him, and she'd be amused to get it know it in the future. "Good to meet you, 2V," she replied simply. She was about to follow him to where Raynuk was waiting--a good move on his part, she mused--but Jaina held out a hand to stop her, murmuring that she needed to do this on her own. Emily nodded after a moment and let Jaina go.

 

But she wasn't going to let Jaina or Raynuk deal with this on their own. Instead, she followed after a moment, not entering the lounge, but lingering outside around the corner out of sight, pulling her presence small as she did so. Not that she thought they'd even notice. She leaned back against the wall and used the Force to amplify her hearing.

 

"I want my damn whip back, Montar."

 

Her aunt's choice of greeting made Emily smile, even though she knew it simply masked the pain. Raynuk replied, speaking a lot for someone normally so reserved. That alone told Emily how nervous he was. Her heart went out to him, especially as he seemed to feel like he was going to be blamed for what had happened to the two girls. She didn't need to see his face; she could tell from his words and Force presence alone the pain he was feeling. It tore her apart. She wanted to rush in and embrace him and tell him everything would be okay...but she couldn't. She couldn't promise that. There wasn't anything she could do to make this alright again. This pain would have to be worked through, and there was no quick fix, no band-aid she could slap on it to make everything better. She bit her lip.

 

"...you could strike me down right here and now, and the only person you would have to answer to is Emily...and I would absolutely deserve it."

 

Those words suddenly broke a dam of checked emotions inside her, and she felt tears rush down her face. She put her hand over her mouth, and was suddenly alarmed at her own reaction. What is going on? I don't lose control like this, ever! The thought was enough to help her regain control, but inside she still felt weak. She was not a empathetic person, and it wasn't normal for her to feel the emotions of others as her own. She shook her head and wiped away the tears, taking a deep breath. It would not be good to let anyone see this.

 

While she regained control of herself, she didn't miss Jaina's reply. It was enough to threaten tears again, but she held them in check this time. She was glad Jaina was willing to give him the chance. They both deserved it.

 

She took another deep breath, then headed to the other airlock. She needed to focus right now, and she needed to see her apprentice and cousin. By the time she had walked the length of the ship to the other airlock, there was no trace of her earlier tears, and she was refocused and all business. Raynuk's new droid was standing at the entrance to the docking tube. "2V, let me go see my apprentice."

 

"Master Raynuk told me that the Ravenhammer is off-limits to all but him," the droid replied stoically.

 

She raised an eyebrow. "You're refusing to let me onboard?"

 

"Oh good, you learn quickly."

 

She crossed her arms. "You're stopping me from seeing my own apprentice?"

 

"Maybe you don't learn quickly. That is what I said. No one gets onboard."

 

She was tempted to just shove the droid aside with the Force. But she opted simply for glaring at him and leaning against the wall of the Traitor's Hope. She was sure Quietus and Jaina wouldn't be much longer. But she would have words with Quietus if he was going to bar her from his ship.

[saberforce]

Tros stalked very carefully and slowly near the ship that was adrift in space. It seemed like a good place that if it had been here for a long while, scrap hunters would come and pick it clean. But his vod and her friends were lucky. The ship was still intact. Granted, his own buy'ce was picking up no traps on his way towards his lenedat. He took a moment to look out the viewport to the other ship docked. It was a beautiful thing, and one that would be a great upgrade to his own. Using the link setup with the Orar, the Mando asked an inquiry to his A.I. on his ship.

 

"Lily... Send me details on the ship docked before us..."

 

Tros turned his attention back to the mission at hand and continued to stalk towards where he was supposed to be. His buy'ce began to pick up lifeforms on the H.U.D. and immediately began to scout out who was who. Since they would all be jetiise, they would most likely sense him somehow through their Force. He found that with them, boldness versus sneaking around was always the best option to take. But since he was still in his ship and not on a surface with them, sneaking was still his best front. He continued to scout near the other ship when Lily sent him details on the Ravenhammer. In his head, he thought about how nice it would be to have such a ship in his own possession. It was almost in a prime spot for his own blasting. A simple shoot of proton torpedoes near the airlock would send Ravenhammer afloat away from the Traitor's Hope. It wouldn't be ideal, since it would mean stranding his vod without a ship for sure. Plus, his scans were picking up life forms on the Ravenhammer. But still...

 

Tros began to prep his weapon systems and spying out a good target to hit...

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

During the outbound flight, Xae did her best to keep her presence as small as possible, not wanting to invade the beast's space more than she already had or intrude on Jaina's reunion with Emily.

 

Family had always been a tricky thing for Xae-Lin. Her mother had impressed her dark will on her from an early age. Baslan, when he was there, had seemed to encourage whatever spark of denial had existed within Xae-Lin as a child, never even hinting that his interest in her went beyond that of an instructor in the martial arts. At most, he'd been a trusted mentor, from what little she remembered of the man.

 

Her relationship with her apparent half-brother, Auros, could best be described as adversarial at best, sororicidal at worst. There had been little he could have done to her while she remained her mother's heir amongst the Great Canyon Nightsisters, but once she'd decided to turn her back on her clan and run off with the Jedi Kyp Durron, her life was forfeit as far as he'd been concerned. He was a cruel man and doubly dangerous since he could wield the magicks himself, a rarity amongst male offspring. His production of a daughter in Xae's absence had secured his unusual place within the clan hierarchy.

 

She'd taken away all of that when she'd returned at Joreel's behest to face her mother once and for all. Xae had fought the Nightsister Chieftess, but it had ultimately been her mother's rancor mount that Xae'd managed to turn against her own mother, proving that she was the one who held the stronger magicks within her. Taking her niece with her, she'd left the clan, publically swearing off any claims to titles among them including for any of her bloodline. Auros hadn't taken to his loss of power too well and had turned into some sort of evil monster twisted by his own rage. Leveling a curse on her that would nearly claim her life years later.

 

Xae had spent very little time with Ineira, her niece, her duties as a Jedi Knight getting in the way of any sort of bond that might have developed between them. Sure she'd made one excuse after another - there was a war on and she wanted the girl safe, the Jedi were better equipped to help the child than she was, hard lessons about attachment learned from Joreel - the list went on, but even now she didn't know what had become of the girl who would be slightly younger than Tirzah was now.

 

Tirzah. The name caused Xae to pause in her ruminations for a moment. How could I have been so blind to things? What sort of Exorcist am I that I allowed the temple's darkness to could my own connection to the Force? I'd sent her somewhere where I figured she'd be safe just like I did with Ineira. I just hope my short-sightedness hasn't gotten the girl killed or worse.

 

It was then she felt Jaina's presence enter the cargo bay, causing the Jedi Exorcist to open her eyes when the other woman reached out to her within the Force. Xae looked at her new friend for a few moments as the other spoke, filling her in on the situation with Tirzah. "You have my help, Jaina, for as long as you wish it. I promised to see this through with you and I will." She hesitated for a moment, not sure what Tros's presence would mean to that, as she'd promised to at least hear him out, whatever the end.

 

She wasn't sure when or how it happened, but she felt adrift once more and helping Jaina gave her a purpose at least. That would have to suffice for now.

 

Joining the other woman, Emily, she recalled, Xae stopped short at the sight of the two-meter tall droid that made her feel even smaller than she usually did. She was the last to leave the Shine for the Hope and hung back just inside the airlock when Jaina said she wanted to face this Raynuk person alone. Xae could sense the woman's inner turmoil that had been stirred up even before she'd boarded her damaged ship, so she offered her a comforting anchor in the Lightside of the Force if she needed it. Xae was impressed with how far the woman had come in the short time they'd been together.

 

Xae leaned against the far bulkhead and watched Emily and the droid, not saying anything about the other woman eavesdropping. She could hardly fault her since she'd repressed the same impulse but felt it wasn't her place to get in the middle of these reunions unless Jaina asked it of her. This was probably the closest she'd ever been to a Sith while not in combat and she took a moment to consider how much had changed since the end of the war.

 

Then something in Emily's demeanor changed and the auburn-haired Jedi looked back towards her just in time to see her swiping quickly at her eyes. Unsure of the reason for the change in mood, Xae-Lin reached out to the other woman gently within the Force. She was very careful not to do so intrusively or aggressively.

 

Somehow she managed to repress her smile when, a few seconds later, the dark-haired woman had her exchange with the droid about being barred from the other ship.

"That's some beast you've got there," Xae-lin observed quietly, her tone one of genuine reverence and appreciation for the creature. "Are they common among Sith? I hope you'll forgive my curiosity, but this is the closest I've been to one and not been engaged in battle."

 

Through the Force she sensed something from a stubborn presence she'd come to associate with the Mandalorian people in general. Hiding the tingling in the back of her mind with a grin she sent through the Force two messages.

 

So help me Ardell, if you are my brother you will seriously rethink what you're contemplating. She doubted he'd hear it at this distance with his mental training, but it was worth a shot, even though she wasn't really sure what he was up to, just that he was up to something.

 

To Master Tares she reached out hoping she'd have more success. Keep an eye on our Mandalorian friend. Brother or not he has not earned my trust yet. His arrival is still a bit too suspicious. My experience with Mandalorians has been nothing but honorable, but I don't know how he chooses to interpret the terms of his bonds.

 

Am I just being paranoid? She wondered, not for the first time since the turbolift doors had opened and he'd been standing there before them.

 

It was easier to preach to the others to keep the faith in the face of uncertainty and turmoil, but it was wholly different when it was her own life that had now been thrown off kilter. It was on her to live her own advice and she hoped she was up to the challenge.

[Raynuk Montar]

Raynuk nodded, giving Vex'aedr another hearty scratch before he turned and began walking back towards Jaina and the doorway, with the white tuk'ata following.

 

"Of course you do. Tirzah and Raia are both in the infirmary on my ship; come." he said to Jaina as he approached, before turning and continuing straight out the door into the main corridor. Vex'aedr however, stopped a few feet inside the door, and just turned to look at Jaina, waiting for the woman to follow Raynuk, as the beast was not about to let her out of his sight, even though this was her ship. It was a gut reaction on the part of the tuk'ata, feeling Jaina's presence within the Force as being 'light'; after all, Vex'aedr had been bred and train to fight and defend against Jedi. Once Jaina did follow, Vex'aedr likewise trailed her a few feet behind.

 

Raynuk continued on through the ship, feigning ignorance to the little display of dominance on the part of his pet towards Jaina. As he walked, he took the available silence to give a much better visual inspection of the ship itself; not for any weaknesses, or damage, or how it worked, but just the general look and feel of the ship that Jaina had called home for so long. Somehow, through all their turbulent history, he had never seen her ship before. It seemed the time had come for a great many things to be rectified when it came to their history.

 

Turning the last corner from the main corridor to the docking ring, he was only half surprised by what he saw. He had instructed 2V to return to the Ravenhammer and secure it for all but him, but clearly he needed to better tweak the droid's programming. Instead of securing the ship from within as Raynuk had intended, the droid had instead locked the airlock and was guarding it on this side, looking almost comical in its current duty as a door guard.

 

<> 2V said when it spotted Raynuk approaching, indicating to Emily, who was still leaning against the wall. Then it turned and fully addressed Emily, before looking back at Raynuk.

 

<>

 

Raynuk's intended immediate response to his droid was pushed aside as he turned to appraise the 'tiny one' as 2-VSH has called her. It was immediately clear to Raynuk that she too was a Jedi, and that made one too many Jedi in his book. His eyes narrowed at Xae, but he did not speak. He instead turned to Emily, raising his eyebrows in a "Was this you?" look. But he received a simple 'no' from her almost immediately, which left Raynuk with only one answer. So he turned around to face Jaina again.

 

"Who's the runt? New Master?" He asked, his tone filled with only curiosity. "Regardless, Im afraid I dont know her, so I definitely do not trust her. You, me, Emily, thats it."

 

<> 2V added without provocation, indicating again to Xae and the lightsabers that hung from her belt.

 

Raynuk finally turned to the droid and addressed it directly. "Duly noted 2V. Now open the door."

 

<> the droid responded.

 

For the first time since Raynuk had gotten the droid, the Sith's eyebrow raised in one of those 'Oh really?' looks. "I understand the risk 2V. Think of it this way; if anything goes wrong, you get to say 'I told you so' later, and you'll get to see Vex'aedr attempt to eat a Jedi."

The droid seemed to consider the proposition for a moment, its receptors turning up to the ceiling for a moment before they shifted back to look at Raynuk. <>

 

The droid then turned and activated the door to the airlock, inputting the temporary security code that it had set up, which served to jog Raynuk's memory, at which point he turned to Jaina again, speaking in more hushed tones.

 

"That reminds me... when I found Tirzah, she was locked in the captain's quarters. The door was set with a seventeen digit security code, which I didnt even find out until after I restored power. Whoever did this, apparently wanted to make sure there were no witnesses. But luckily I decided to just cut a hole in the door to get her out, before I even investigated the lack of power."

 

When Raynuk turned back, the door to the airlock was sliding open and 2V stepped through towards the Ravenhammer. Raynuk was not far behind his droid as the group transferred to his ship. Once aboard the larger ship, Raynuk sent Vex'aedr off to the quarters he had specifically set up for the tuk'ata and his brother while the rest of his new guests filtered into the ship. Once all were aboard, the Sith turned to 2V.

 

"Go up to the cockpit and stay there. Keep an eye on the sensors, just in case whoever left the Traitor's Hope for junk decide to return. I dont want to be caught unaware; let me know if anything happens."

 

< the droid indicated to the new guests.

 

"If they do anything, I'll let you know." Raynuk replied almost immediately.

<<...I find that answer vague and unconvincing. But you are the captain. Take comfort in the knowledge that I will take very good care of this ship when you are killed.>> The droid answered as it turned and walked away, heading to the cockpit as instructed while Raynuk sealed the airlock again.

 

With a nod to everyone else, Raynuk likewise turned and lead the way through his new ship; through the cargo hold, up the stairs to the upper deck, and to the infirmary, where the two dark haired teenagers still remained, surrounded by the medical equipment; Tirzah on the actual medical bed, with Raia laying on one of the large pillows from the tuk'ata's room that was set on the floor right next to Tirzah. He entered the room, then immediately moved off to the side so that both Emily and Jaina could both comfortably stand within the room as the two women first lay eyes on their respective charges. Raynuk allowed a few precious heartbeats pass before he spoke.

 

"Do not let the medical equipment concern you; they both appear to be in some sort of Force coma. Their bodies are perfectly fine, and their minds are continuously active as if they are dreaming. But from what I can see, they are sharing that dream; their mental activity are direct mirrors of the other it seems. I attempted to dive into the Force to feel for one or both of them and potentially pull them out but..."

 

He sighed visibly, a frustrated look crossing his face.

 

"The Force is flowing stronger around and through them than Raia ever experienced alone. Having Tirzah connected seems to have magnified its effects. I couldnt reach them without risking being swept away by the current myself."

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

"I have a name you know," Xae intoned cooly both to the Sith Master and to his droid. "I am Xae-Lin Ardel, though 'Xae' works just as well. I am only here because of Jaina and Tirzah. I can only assume you're the Master Quietus that Jaina made mention of hunting her." Her turquoise eyes met his dark brown ones levelly for a few moments, then she shrugged and leaned back against the wall. "Still, your ship your rules. If the girls are in the state Jaina says they're in, I'll hang around if and when you decide you need my help."

"Oh, and here," She reached carefully down to where the red bladed lightsaber hung at her left hip, unclipping it and tossing it towards Emily. "If that makes you feel a bit better about me being less armed, then fine. I'm not here to fight. I'm here to help Tirzah and Jaina. I have no reason to be in opposition to you and I'd prefer to keep it that way. The galaxy's Force Users have larger problems, I'd think then starting personal vendettas against one another."

 

Having said her peace she righted one of the cargo containers twice her size with the practiced ease of a Jedi Knight and sat, falling into her own thoughts, where she was content to remain until Tirzah was awake or they decided she was needed to help the girls. She could feel the strong pull of the Force emanating from the other ship almost as though the two girls had become some sort of perpetual feedback circuit. It would take an incredible amount of delicate strength and gentle finesse to bring those two out of it.

[Emily]

Emily didn't have to wait long under the droid's baleful gaze. In the meantime, Xae had approached. Emily gave the Jedi a nod. She hadn't spoken directly to the Jedi Master before, but she figured Raynuk wouldn't be too pleased that Jaina had come with an entourage of Jedi.

 

Her guess was correct when after turning the corner, his eyes went immediately to Xae. He glanced at Emily for a moment with a questioning look, and she shook her head. Then he flat out refused to let Xae on his ship. Xae's rebuttal was dry, and she tossed her lightsaber to Emily. She uncrossed her arms in time to catch it. It was well made and elegant, but didn't quite seem the style of the diminutive Jedi. She raised her eyebrow at Raynuk, wondering if that would be enough for him to let the Jedi on his ship, although she doubted it. Nevetheless, she hooked it to her belt.

 

Raynuk had turned back to 2V, exchanging verbal jabs with him about watching Vex'aedr eat Jedi, and then he turned to Jaina again, explaining more about how he had found Tirzah, then proceeded through the airlock into his ship. A jolt of annoyance shot through Emily. Well 'hello' to you too. Being ignored was one of Emily's top pet peeves, but it wasn't usually Raynuk who ignored her. His attention seemed squarely focused on Jaina, and on trying to convince her that he had done nothing to put Tirzah in this state. For a moment, as she trailed the group to the infirmary, her annoyance warred with insecurity. She wasn't blind to the fact that he had barely looked at her since Jaina had arrived, and she couldn't quite forget that they had cared for each other many years ago. She wondered for a moment if seeing his ex was suddenly making him regret exchanging the aunt for the niece.

 

But she clamped down on the emotion with a vengeance. He has good reason for focusing on her right now. It doesn't mean anything. Cut it out, Em, she told herself firmly. Focus.

 

By this time they were at the infirmary. Emily had gotten a passing glimpse at the interior of the Ravenhammer as they walked, but hadn't taken much of it in until now. She entered and moved directly up to Raia, kneeling down on the floor beside her. Her eyes took in her cousin as well, and she was startled to find that Tirzah looked even younger than Raia. Raynuk gave them a summary of what he had tried, and Emily carefully performed her own inspection through the Force, only to sense that his assessment was correct. As for what they would do, Emily had a few ideas, but instead of voicing them, she turned to Jaina expectantly. This was her show.

[Jaina Jade Skywalker]

The slight Raynuk aimed at Xae didn't go unnoticed, but Jaina was too distracted by this new information to respond to it. So that was what had happened. Somehow, whoever had stolen the Hope had convinced Tirzah to open the door, incapacitated her, locked her in the cabin, and stranded her here with no life support. Twinges of apology that had carried across the stars suddenly made sense: he had cut a hole in her bloody ship. And he had done it before knowing the identity of the girl locked within. Raynuk as she knew him would have easily ignored the plight of the girl, and never would have given a thought to the destruction of her property he wrought. Whoever had done all this had certainly lit a furious fire beneath him to require such swift retribution.

 

Either that, or Emily could be right about him.

 

Resolutely, she pushed the thought away. What the perpetrators stood to gain from such an act was unclear, but it was simply a relief that the girl had come to no harm. Murder was a simpler way to ensure the elimination of witnesses, and she counted herself fortunate that they had not gone that route. Reaching out for her daughter with her senses as she followed Raynuk through the ship's cargo area, Jaina received as greeting a raging river of pure energy that threatened to wash her away. Physically staggering under the sheer power of it, she kept her feet, but the urgency that had disappeared with Raynuk's reassurances of Tirzah's safety reawakened with a vengeance.

 

As she entered the infirmary, she was struck instantly by the appearance of the girl lying prone on a large cushion. Other than the soft curl that was absent in her hair, and slightly more defined features than the younger girl, she could have been Tirzah's older sister. For that matter, the line of her jaw, the curve of her nose--they were familiar to her in a way she could not immediately identify, and the thought sent a pang of some kind of nameless regret through her. Crossing to stand in the small space between the cushion and the medical bed, she crouched to put a hand on each girl's forehead. Rippling waves passed between them, colored by the touch of their distinct presences. Curiosity, hesitation, fear, irritation--she could even taste the emotions they handed back and forth like a baton, but some obstacle buffeted away her attempts to enter into the world they occupied.

 

Feeling the eyes of the others, she turned to glance behind her where Raynuk and Emily stood, obviously waiting for her to act, to know what to do. Immediately she noted the absence of the diminutive Dathomiri. Mounting apprehension seized her, and she slid her hands gently under Tirzah, lifting her in arms bolstered by the strength of the Force.

 

"I'm taking her back to see Xae. She'll know what to do, she has experience in these things," she said irritably. She was masking her fear in annoyance, and the thought embittered her further.

 

She had barely rounded the corner of the infirmary when Tirzah's body nearly tumbled from her hands. At first, she thought it might be some ill-fated attempt by Raynuk to keep the girl on board his ship, but as she tightened her grip, the convulsions amplified. She dropped to her knees in the corridor, cradling Tirzah's head against her shoulder to keep it from lolling back and forth as the spasms wracked her childish frame. Panic seized her as she held the girl. "Xae!" she called, hoping her voice would carry to the Jedi.

 

"No, no, no, no," she droned as she clutched her daughter, panic-stricken eyes looking back over her shoulder toward Raynuk. "Help me," she whispered.

 

((Tirzah's actions posted with permission))

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

((Raia and Xae posts will be combined under this alias for the duration of all the stuff.))

 

The medical machines began to keen loudly as both girl's vitals plummeted and Raia entered a set of convulsions of her own, rolling off of the pillow and onto the floor, looking for all the galaxy like a vinefish pulled up on a river bank.

 

-------

 

As promised the Jedi Knight hung back in the Hope doing what she could from the ship, that is until she heard Jaina cry out. The Force told her that it wasn't an attack, so she didn't draw her remaining lightsaber as she dashed into the cargo hold of the Ravenhammer and past the guard dog. The beast gave a low growl and gave chase, Xae's urgency of intent setting off his guard instincts.

 

Calling the Force to her the petite woman bounded up the steps in a single leap and skidded to a halt just as she saw Jaina cradling her convulsing daughter. A half-second later the growling was behind her again and Xae found herself on the ground with the tuk'ata's teeth inches from her neck. The weight of the beast's paw pinning her face down to the decking made it hard to breathe and she sincerely hoped he wasn't going to break her ribs again. "You can eat me later, beastie," she managed, attempting to ignore the hot smelly breath on the back of her exposed neck. "After we fix the girls. Jaina get her back in there with the other girl!" Another hard-fought breath "Those two are linked. We have to bring them out of it before it's safe to separate them! Look you're hurting her too."

The auburn-haired Jedi locked her gaze past Jaina to where the other dark-haired girl was similarly convulsing. "Damnit Quietus! Call off your pet before you lose them both!"

[saberforce]

Tros felt a sudden tinge within his mind. He knew it was his vod. She must be able to sense him somehow. With a frown behind his buy'ce, he piloted his ship closer to the Ravenhammer and continued to scout out the ship. No matter what his vod thought of the plan, he held his own motivation. He knew that there was still another ship with a jetii on it out there somewhere. He didn't care. He was far more interested in the overarching goal for himself. Make credits. The rescue mission was not his thing. He only cared about finding out more about Xae. The rest, no. Jetiise did not concern him, nor their motivations and quests. This wasn't some hologame where side quests were apart of the plot. Carefully, he began to lock on the airlock of where the Ravenhammer sat resting...

[Delta73]

A text comes in for Jaina Jade Skywalker.

 

 

Hey baby wanna go punch gungans together. Thinking of you XOXOXOX

 

 

Followed by a second text apologizing and inviting her out for a nice lunch.

 

[Raynuk Montar]

Raynuk for once felt a bit useless as Emily and Jaina each took their turns examining and checking on their respective charges within the infirmary. He merely stood back and watched, still trying to figure out a plan forward to ideally pull both girls out of whatever Force-dream they were caught in. But the more he thought about it, the more he began to contemplate the possibility that they might only be able to save one of them. And that was a question he had not been preparing to answer;

 

If he had to choose to save one of them at the cost of the other, who would he choose? He had undoubtedly grown a fondness for Raia, as the two had bonded slightly in the absence of Emily. But he had already damaged so much of Jaina's life, which he felt he needed to atone for -- even if Jaina dismissed it -- that saving Tirzah would go a very long way in his own mind towards that goal. But Tirzah was not his daughter, while Raia continued to remind the Sith on occasion of what could have been his daughter with Jaina.

 

The internal debate was quickly shoved aside as Jaina began to pick Tirzah up and move her. He snapped out of his debate and pushed off the wall to stop her, "No wa--"

 

But in that split second, there was enough of the lingering hyper-awareness of how his actions could be perceived as threatening to give the Sith pause; a delay long enough for Jaina to clear the infirmary door with Tirzah in her arms. And in that moment, all hell broke loose on his new ship as he watched Tirzah begun convulsing and slip from her mother's arms before Jaina dropped to her knees beside the girl. At the same time he saw Raia begin convulsing as well, rolling off the makeshift bed and heard a distant thud-thud-thud from elsewhere in his ship, all while the medical instruments that both girls were hooked up to all began screaming warnings and mad-beeping. For a single heartbeat, the world around Raynuk slowed so that he could take it all in and process it.

 

There was Jaina in the hallway, kneeling beside Tirzah, cradling her daughter and holding on for dear life. Her face was a mess of fear, confusion, and desperation as she practically screamed for the other woman, Xae.

 

There was Raia, flopping on the floor just beside the giant pillow that had served as her bed, the girl's own face contorted in pain as foam began to collect at the corner of her mouth. Emily still at her side, attempting to hold Raia in place, her own face betraying a level of confusion.

 

There were the various screens above the medical bed, flashing and beeping in slow motion, showing the girls' heartbeats spiking, breathing rate dropping, mental activity plummeting, adrenaline levels spiking, blood pressure rising.

 

Out in the lounge area, two sets of movement; a turquoise eyed, red haired, petite woman practically flying across from the stairs that lead downward, her eyes locked on Jaina. And there from the other side of the room, the massive, muscular white form of Vex'aedr tearing across the open area, making a perfect arc of interception to the petite Jedi, its own eyes locked on his new target.

 

"Help me."

 

The whisper from Jaina, who was now looking over her shoulder with nothing but panic in her eyes at Raynuk sent the world around him back into full speed and caught up. Vex'aedr essentially tackled and pinned Xae to the floor with a vicious snarl and a loud crash, and Raynuk closed the distance to Jaina and Tirzah as quickly as he could. He had to practically tear the girl from Jaina's panicked grip, using one swift motion to grab the girl and spin before he jumped back through the doorway and clear over Emily, crashing into the medical bed as he released Tirzah, using his own body -- specifically his ribs -- to cushion the impact against further trauma to the girl. He fell backwards from the impact, his hand shooting to his side where he had collided with the bed, slamming into the wall and the floor with a wince of pain.

 

But just as quickly as it started, the alarms and sounds of two teenagers thrashing about passed, and when Raynuk's eyes opened again both girls had settled once again as if the spasms had never happened. Raynuk was quickly on his feet again, closing to the bed's side as he looked at all the monitors to ensure that everything had gone back to normal, he turned his gaze to Tirzah, visually checking on her. He knew that Emily had been at Raia's side and was likely doing the same to her apprentice. A moment later he looked to Emily, who gave another nod and a faint smile through a face that was strained and worried. He stepped over Raia's legs as his hand found the side of her face once more, gently cradling it, a gesture that was quickly becoming a sign of his affection.

 

But then his eyes turned back to the pile of emotions that was still kneeling on the floor outside the infirmary. He again closed the gap between them, but his face had grown hardened as he grabbed her by the arm and hoisted her back to her feet.

 

"You need to learn how to trust me again Jaina. You didnt even consider asking or thinking about any problems your actions could cause. No, five minutes onboard my ship, and you think you know everything there is to know about this situation, and decide to remove Tirzah without a second thought, reverting back to your old habits of running away, and look... it nearly cost you your daughter and Emily her apprentice. " He was furious in the moment, and his tone was nothing less than scolding a child. There was anger at Jaina for being brash, there was frustration at the situation, and there was anger at himself for his hesitation. But refocusing on her face, and seeing that Jaina was in no way handling any of this well despite the brave face she had put on, Raynuk's own face softened once more. He finally let go of her arm, having not realized he was still holding her, and took a step back.

 

"Separating them was one of the first things I considered... I thought perhaps it would sever the bridge between them and snap them both back to the present, but as you have just proven for yourself, it's not that easy. You can not do this alone Jaina, and I am sorry for that. There is no running from this; not this time. The only way out of this mess, is to go through to the other side. There is no time to let the mistakes of our past trip us up in the present; they need our help."

 

Raynuk finished by pointing back to the infirmary, knowing without looking that Emily had turned her attention to his interaction with Jaina, letting the silence that followed drive his point home.

 

"QUIETUS!" Came another voice from the lounge, one that Raynuk's gaze broke from Jaina to see had come from the petite Jedi that Vex'aedr still had pinned to the floor.

 

"I said call off your pet! Id like to keep my ribcage intact for more than two weeks please!" Xae again spoke with hard-fought breath as Vex continued to growl at the 'intruder'.

 

Raynuk's initial reaction however was to think, Didnt I lock Vex into his room...? He shook the thought free a moment later though, and spoke to his pet.

"Izkāpt! Tas nav pusdienas laiks vēl, nav uzkodas."

 

A moment later, Vex slowly backed up off of Xae, releasing the pressure on her chest, but didnt take it's eyes off her and continued to growl, just a little less aggressively. Raynuk responded by walking over to Vex'aedr and grabbing a handful of the beast's scruff.

"How did you get out anyway!?" He asked forcefully, which was enough for Vex to break his gaze from the Jedi and look at Raynuk, suddenly looking sheepish.

 

=============================

 

2-VSH entered the cockpit of the Ravenhammer, his words to Raynuk about taking good care of the ship when the Sith inevitably died due to poor skills in trust still in the droid's recent memory. Somewhere along it's service life, the droid had developed a small habit of humming to itself in the quiet moments when it was alone, much like it was now as the droid sat down in the co-pilot seat and began running the scanners and proximity scopes to monitor. Almost immediately, the Ravenhammer had detected four ships in close proximity; two more than the droid had been made aware of. One ship, an un-identifiable ship of vaguely Nubian design was farther out, but the second, a Bes'uliik-model starfighter was exceedingly closing towards the trio of docked ships. Just as 2-VSH began to compute the possible intentions of the ship, an alarm that indicated a target lock was being acquired on the ship sounded. 2V's response was quick and deliberate given his innate tactical purpose; one droid arm engaged the ship's shields to maximum in the direction of the starfighter, while the other hand flew over the fire control system, turning both turrets to face and track the ship, which 2-VSH adjusted slightly. With the shields now up, the droid turned and keyed the comm, sending a message to the starfighter right as he triggered two shots from the turrets.

 

<>

 

The two shots from the turret both sailed in front of the starfighter, far enough to miss the ship but close enough to singe the paint on it. 2V kept watching the sensors and scanners as he switched over to the intercomm, just in time to hear Raynuk.

 

"--what the hell was that?!"

 

<

 

=========================================================

 

The sounds of the two turrets on the Ravenhammer being fired was a new sound to Raynuk; this was after all its first trip. The sound came as Raynuk was still processing the new information that, apparently his pet tuk'ata had learned to use the door activation panels, and had thus opened his own door with it's massive paw after a few tries upon feeling the rumble through the Force of both Raia and Tirzah's convulsions. The sound nearly startled Raynuk, so he immediately slammed the intercom on to talk to 2V in the cockpit.

 

"2V, what the hell was that?!"

 

<

 

Raynuk's face went blank for a moment. two more ships? he thought, then turned to Jaina, Emily, and Xae.

 

"Anyone else I need to know about thats lurking around?" He asked, sounding perturbed before he triggered the intercom again.

 

"If it continues to be a threat to us, then yes."

 

<>

 

Raynuk turned to Jaina and Emily, a small frown crossing his face.

 

"Do it 2V," He said, still looking at the two women. "Sorry. Cant chance it. We'll dock again as soon as needed, I swear."

In the roughly fifteen minutes they had all boarded his ship, the situation had effectively gone to hell in a hand basket.

[Emily]

Emily and Raynuk had a sense of foreboding at the exact same time. As Jaina scooped up Tirzah, panicked, and dashed out with her, Emily almost called out. But immediately Raia was thrown into a seizure, flopping off the pillow and onto the hard decking. Emily immediately cradled her apprentice's head and did what she could to prevent the girl from injuring herself. She tried to send calm to her through the Force, but immediately met a maelstorm of whirling confusion that drew her up short. Raynuk was after Jaina in a leap, grabbing Tirzah and bringing her back over to Raia with another Force-assisted leap. Both girls immediately stopped convulsing, and Raynuk landed on the floor with a heavy crash, displaying uncharacteristic clumsiness. He was on his feet again in a moment, but he was clearly still concerned, looking over both girls, and then glancing to Emily for confirmation. Emily nodded, although she couldn't hide the worry she was feeling. This was serious. The fact that the two girls were linked in this was not completely unforseen, but it would make getting them out of this more difficult.

 

Her mind was swirling, thinking of possibilities, remembering what she had studied when she was healing Fett and wondering if any of those skills would help here...but then she felt the touch of Raynuk's hand on her face. She looked up and met his stormy gaze, then turned her head to kiss his palm before he pulled his hand away. It was a gesture, she knew, of affection and solidarity, and it grounded her from being swept away with the concern she felt over the fate of both girls. As he moved away from her and back toward Jaina, Emily more calmly began to gather her thoughts, analyzing each method she had learned and sorting through them calmly.

 

But her attention was distracted by Raynuk practically yelling at Jaina in the hallway. Her instinct was to jump up and get between them, but she checked it, and after a moment, Raynuk backed down on his own. There was silence for a moment, broken by Xae, who was pinned down by Vex'aedr in the hallway. As Raynuk turned to deal with that situation, Emily reached out a hand towards Jaina. "Come here," she said gently. Raia's head was still in Emily's lap, and Tirzah lay with her feet towards Emily. Emily guided her aunt opposite her, so that her cousin's head could be in the lap of her mother. "You know we're going to have to work together to save them," she said, her tone still soft. "All of us."

 

She gave Jaina a determined look. "But we will save them. I promise." Emily had never failed in something she truly put her mind to, not even if it took many months, like healing Fett had. She knew there was a solution out there; they just had to find it.

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

"Appreciate it," Xae said dryly as she rubbed her sore muscles before making her way into the infirmary to get a better look at the two girls. She'd just knelt beside the one Emily had stabilized when the ship fired twice.

 

I'm going to kill that idiot, Xae thought for a moment before she answered Quietus's question. "Just Master Tares and some random Mandalorian that showed up at Raxus as we were leaving. None of us really know him, but he offered to help track the Hope. I can only assume it was before we received your message with the coordinates."

 

The auburn-haired woman knelt to examine the two girls, though she was listening to the Force with the trained ear of an Exorcist and her own experiences with being drawn into and held within the Force's grasp. Jaina hadn't mentioned Tirzah having an older sister, yet visually this seemed to be the case. "We need someone that has a strong bond to each, the stronger the better. They have to be brought out of it together, slowly or you'll lose them both. Luckily we're not dealing with time walking. Trust me that is a headache you don't want. Are there any items the girls have that can anchor them as well? They're in deep and we need all the help we can get. Especially with both sides of the Force at play here."

[Jaina Jade Skywalker]

As they wandered on through the forest, the two duelists continued their banter, springing out at each other from behind trees, slicing through the underbrush with sabers alight, and hollering accusations that made no sense. Far from the hopeful curiosity that had welled up in Tirzah when they had stumbled across the strange banquet, she now quite wished that they would disappear. After a particularly savage swing felled a large tree that came crashing down just before her feet on the path, Tirzah whirled to face the two men.

 

“Look, you’re going to get us killed out here! Why can’t you two stop?”

The dark haired man tilted his head off to one side, frowning.“It’s just how we manage. I once had to duel the Queen, and THIS one over here ruined the whole thing.”

 

Quietus stood straighter. “Did not! She just liked my song better.”

 

Tirzah rolled her eyes. “Who is this Queen you keep talking about? And what in hot spice is this about a song?”

 

Master Quietus’ dark eyes flashed, and he began to mumble a muted tune.

“Twinkle, twinkle, little sun

Help me fly the Kessel run

If you shine your light on me,

The winner I am sure to be

Twinkle, twinkle, little sun

Death and darkness sure are fun!”

 

The song seemed to echo in the great forest, carrying far louder and longer than the tone of his voice should have been able to carry it. It was almost as if it reverberated through her mind, and for a moment, Tirzah had a flash of awareness that came from beyond the forest.

 

Shadowy figures, standing in a too-bright room, concern rolling off of them in waves. She could almost make out the figure in back, before its features sharpened, and all of a sudden Quietus was inches from her face, waving a hand in front of her eyes. “Are you losing track of Time, cave-flitter?”

“I know that song,” she murmured.

“Well of course you do,” the dark-haired man cut in with a theatrical wave of his saber. “That’s the one the Queen liked so much.” The thought evidently brought him no small upset, and he folded his arms in an overplayed pout as he tromped on forward through the forest.

 

Tirzah turned to Raia. “Do you know the Queen they’re talking about? I can’t make an ounce of sense out of any of this.”

Raia shrugged and waved her forward a bit as the two duelists began their antics again. “The only Queen that I know of is not one you want to cross, especially not her consort. I’m actually not so sure we should head there. It’s where the Nightsisters live and they are bad news.”

 

The older girl looked around along the path for an escape route that wouldn’t lead them further into the dark forest. “This way!”

 

No sooner than they had taken a handful of steps down the path that the striped feline reappeared, twenty meters or so ahead of them.

 

“Emily!” Raia yelled, and the feline purred. Her shout stopped the duelists in their tracks.

“Emily?” the dark-haired man said, squinting. “I only see a thritter. Gotta watch out for those. Tricky creatures.”

The feline sprang toward them in a handful of bounds, and took its womanish shape again. “Hello, uncle,” she purred through a predatory smile, before turning her attention to the girls. “To nowhere, again, little ones?”

“Yeah, we’re really looking forward to wandering in here forever,” Tirzah shot back sarcastically, quite frustrated at the next blockage in their path. “Is there anyone in this Force-forsaken jungle who isn’t insane?”

Emily quirked her head to the side, a slow grin spreading across her features. “We’re all mad here,” she winked.

 

Turning on her heel, she disappeared into another puff of smoke. But where she had stood just a moment before, a twisting trail branched off into the woods, and somewhere far in the distance, Tirzah could spy a light. With a halting glance at Raia, she gestured with her head. “Further down and further in?”

 

They walked with spritely steps, Tirzah still mulling over how, exactly, a tuk’ata might resemble a datapad, when a strong, sickly-sweet fragrance began to waft down the path.

“Who are you?” called a quiet voice.

 

Tirzah blinked, straining her eyes against the darkness of the underbelly of the jungle, but could see no one. She glanced at Raia to determine whether or not her ears were playing tricks on her, but the older girl gave no indication that anything had been said. In fact, the girl had returned to her fieldscurry state and was at her shoulder.

“I said who are you?” the voice came again, this time seemingly from above her this time accompanied by a sickly-sweet burst of smoke.

 

A hazy blob slid down from Tirzah’s peripheral vision. Out of focus and lacking color, the sight was soon shrouded in yet another puff of smoke. This time, the smoke seemed more concentrated and up close.

“Don’t know what a name is?” The voice asked as the blob came into focus. Hanging upside down on a single, almost imperceptible line of silk, was a Kashyyyk Treeworm. Dressed in a tattered business suit with half a neck tie hanging from its neck, the Treeworm gently swung back and forth while gazing at Tirzah.

“Let me demonstrate.” The Treeworm said, followed by a great inhale, “I am Tares.” The Treeworm’s name escaped his lips with a forceful stream of smoke once more. More steam gently rose from the array of deathsticks that hung from each one of Tares’s many hands. “Now it’s your turn.”

 

Her nose wrinkled in confusion, and Tirzah had to work very hard to keep the distaste from appearing on her face. “Um, I’m Tirzah. Or at least, I was when I woke up this morning,” she quipped.

“What do you mean by that? Who would you be now? Explain.” Tares demanded.

 

She frowned. For some reason, now even the events of the previous day were hazy. There was nothing, and no one, before this endless jungle. It only magnified the feeling of being lost, trapped, and alone. “I’m ready to get out of here, that’s who I am.” The layers of sarcasm were growing thicker, and somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that it was a subconscious attempt to veil her growing panic.

 

The Treeworm righted his head before grabbing ahold of the string of silk. Now in an upright position, Tares gently swung the string forward to approach the girl. “You seem on edge. Have a deathstick.” He said with an outstretched hand offering a lit cylinder.

 

Tentatively, she reached out to take the object he extended in her direction, when a sharp pinch in her neck saw her jerk her hand back. “Ow! Hey!”

 

The fieldscurry on her shoulder skittered from where it had sunk teeth into the soft skin of her neck into the front pocket of her tunic. Reaching in to seize the small creature, she held it aloft on the flattened palm of her hand.

“What was that for?” she accused, rubbing her neck with her free hand.

 

Raia tumbled out of her hand, resuming her humanoid form, and then the world began to shake.

“See what you did, Tirzah! You shouldn’t take things from strangers! Or let them on ships.” Raia squeaked.

“I didn’t--” she began, but the swaying of the ground beneath her intensified with every moment. The air grew hot and thick, suffocating, even. The large form of the Treeworm was shaken loose from its branch and hit the ground, momentum carrying him forward, rolling out of sight with the pitching of the sod towards the underbrush. In a flash of silver shimmersilk, its form suddenly looked familiar.

“Master Tares...” she whispered, the creature’s introduction suddenly making sense.

 

Then pain split her head in two.

 

Dimly, she was aware of the sensation of being held. Her body was shaking, and she couldn’t stop it. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Raia mirroring her movements, her form rapidly switching between that of the fieldscurry and that of the lithe teenager so fast that it was blurry. Tirzah hit the ground with the rush of exhaled air forced out of her diaphragm.

 

Jagged lines arced across the sky, flashes of light so bright they pierced her thoughts. Through the haze of agony, alarms blared with distant urgency. Voices carried with frantic desperation. A woman with tawny brown hair pressed cold hands into her skin.

 

The white creature skittered past her on the forest floor, whispered, “Help me,” and disappeared into utter darkness.

[Jaina Jade Skywalker]

Mechanically, she moved toward the head of the medical bed where Tirzah once again lay, her arm throbbing where Raynuk's grip had been a moment before. In her mind, she vacillated between self-loathing and blame. I can't believe I-- they never should have-- how dare he-- she could have been-- this never would have happened if-- But none of the thoughts developed fully, and so they stayed, swirling about in her troubled mind. Somewhere, she was aware of the droid's voice coming through the comm, and a loud clunk that was probably significant, but which she could not immediately place. Her comlink twittered, but she made no move to acknowledge it. Blankly, as though nothing significant had happened in the flurry of activity, she stared at Xae as the latter spoke.

 

Utterly grateful for the powers of observation that had served her well--though, not well enough--on Raxus Prime, her hand fell to her belt and she produced the half-length shoto.

 

"Tirzah's been in the care of the Jedi for most of her life. Generally, that means they are allowed nothing of value, no personal attachment," she said as though from far away, her hand resting on the girl's feverish cheek. Why she was explaining this to Xae, a Jedi not-Master, was beyond her. Perhaps for the benefit of the others. More likely to distract herself from her own apprehension. Inwardly, she cringed. "But while I made this, it belongs to her."

 

Through the open doorway of the infirmary, a small book sailed into view and into her niece's waiting hand. Looking down to where Emily mirrored her own posture, Jaina nodded solemnly. Two women, two mothers, after a fashion, both of their lives steeped in the duality of the Force that reflected from Emily's mismatched eyes: they were ready to try.

 

The Force swirled around them, a haze of light and dark energies. Jaina could feel her own presence bolstered by the gift of light energy emanating from Xae, and, from a bit more distance, Tares, whose signature was as silvery-grey as she had come to expect. Carefully, she avoided exposure to Raynuk, a dark mass hovering in her awareness, and reached instead for her niece. The closed-loop arc that connected the two girls had repelled her previous attempt to intrude. Weaving her Force presence with Emily's as though linking arms, she pressed into the current.

 

Glimpses of a distant jungle, a red sky dotted with wispy clouds, and an obsidian banquet table flew past her eyes. Pulsating, the vision swelled and shrank in size, trembling under the strain of invasion. Summoning all the strength she could muster, and intricately aware that Emily was doing the same, Jaina pressed in towards the girls, tethering her consciousness to the small saber she clutched in one hand.

 

But something was wrong.

 

A high-pitched ringing began to grow louder in her mind, and her consciousness trembled under the strain. Much like an immune reaction to a foreign contaminant, she and Emily were being systematically expelled from the bond between their charges. A shuddering wave of Force energy burst out from each of the two girls, and Jaina's eyes snapped open, brought back to her own bodily awareness just in time to prevent herself from tumbling sideways off of the medical bed. Where she had been clutching the shoto, the metal was red-hot, singeing her hand, and it clattered onto the floor on the opposite side of the bed from where the apprentice lay.

 

With a sinking feeling, she glanced back and forth between Raynuk, Emily, and Xae. "I was there, I was with her, just for a moment. Then they forced us out. What went wrong?" she looked for an explanation, her panic mounting. If she couldn't reach her daughter to bring her back, who could?

[Emily]

It wasn't a good idea to keep Raynuk out of the loop on this, but Emily could sense Jaina's wariness. She wanted to try it her way first. Emily wasn't sure it was going to work--something told her it would require them all working together--but she nevertheless reached out to her aunt through the Force. Together, they reached down into the maelstorm.

 

Emily saw snatches of color, and a face floated through her mind that looked an awful lot like her uncle Andon's. Something about rabbits, and tea parties, and twisted reality....

 

The Force tugged on her, but Emily was not going to get swept away. Nevertheless, she was troubled by the strength of it. It reminded her of the Vortex, and she knew from experience how hard it was to escape it's clutches.

 

Suddenly, Jaina was thrown outward, and the same Force wave swept over Emily. She had a split second of warning, though, and absorbed it. It still felt like a punch to the gut, though, and she grunted. "We're all mad here," she whispered. She shook her head as Jaina spoke. "I don't know what is going on, but I suggest we try again." Raia's book was singed a bit at the edges, but not too damaged. "I think it'll be important that they recognize us. If they see that we're searching for them, they can in turn come to us. I think they're going to have to realize what is going on is not real and then take their own steps to come out of it."

 

She paused and looked deliberately at Jaina. "And you can't fight Raynuk's presence. His strength in the Force will help anchor us there longer. I'll be a conduit for you both--I'm used to using both the light and dark sides of the Force. Perhaps the Force as a whole is the only way they will be set free."

[Dizzy]

Kalyani leaned back in the co-pilots seat of the Crazy Mynock and grinned at Mellanie, "I can't believe Aunt Brina let us take the Mynock." The girls had both travelled with their Aunt many, many times over the years and while Kaly was okay at tinkering and could do repairs if she needed to, her sister was the better mechanic. Mel took after their Uncle Kat in that regard even if the girls had never gotten to meet their Uncle.

 

"Any ideas on what to expect when we get there Mel?"

[Raynuk Montar]

((Actions posted with permission))

 

Raynuk was still holding his ribs as he took a few steps back and leaned against the wall. He expected that he would not be of much use when it came to diving into whatever Force storm was enveloping the two teenagers; he would be of better use watching over everyone gathered, and protecting his ship. He saw the blank stare that had taken over Jaina’s face, and felt a twinge of sorrow knowing that was the face that came from harsh truths and loss of control of a situation, but he said nothing, choosing to observe for now.

 

As Jaina pulled the lightsaber from her belt, his own free hand slipped to hovering over his own blade, concerned for a moment that any sense the woman had was now gone and she was going to try to fight her way out of this situation; it wouldn’t be the craziest thing he had seen her do. But instead, she began to speak from behind her blank stare, and his hand slid off his lightsaber.

 

"Tirzah's been in the care of the Jedi for most of her life. Generally, that means they are allowed nothing of value, no personal attachment, but while I made this, it belongs to her."

 

Raynuk’s attention shot to the door as the book flew into the room and directly into Emily’s determined face, causing the Sith’s brow to furrow as he looked out the doorway and quickly wondered how Emily had managed to snag the book from Raia’s room without even knowing where it was. But with the book securely in her hand, Raynuk recognized it as Raia’s journal. With both Emily and Jaina having items of importance to Raia and Tirzah in turn, the two set themselves to save the teenagers while Raynuk watched from across the room. He observed physically, but also stretched out into the Force to observe within as well. He felt both women’s presences grow, bolstered by each other and as the two waded cautiously into the maelstrom that surrounded their young charges.

 

He had felt the power that the Force-dream was commanding when he attempted to wade in himself, and even now merely observing he felt the power through the buffeting that Emily and Jaina were enduring. As the pair pressed on however, the storm began to push back even harder; harder than it had when Raynuk himself had attempted to pull them out solo. Raynuk sensed there was something wrong almost immediately, for the further Jaina and Emily pushed, the harder the Force pushed back.

 

Raynuk watched as the lightsaber Jaina was holding began to glow slightly hot, and then noticed that what appeared to be smoke was rising off of Raia’s journal that Emily was holding, as if both items had been thrust into a fire. He pushed off the wall again, intending to cross the room to the pair to warn them of what was coming, but was once again not quick enough.

 

Twin waves of pure Force-driven power erupted from the teenagers, nearly knocking Jaina off the medical bed, and was enough that Raynuk had to physically brace himself against it, raising his arms in front of him. Even still, his forward movement was halted by the first wave that erupted from Raia, who was closer to him, and he could have sworn he was even pushed back slightly by the second wave that came from Tirzah. It was only when the moment passed, that Raynuk became keenly aware of what had happened when the waves hit him.

 

As the Raia wave hit him, he unmistakably heard ‘viņas’ in a voice that sounded like Raia’s as little more than a whisper. ‘Vinas karavīrs’ was the nickname Raia had given him back on Coruscant after he had challenged her to learn the Sith language to decipher the nickname he had given her in the first place. But he also realized, having opened his eyes with his arms still up in front of him, that his hand was glowing; specifically the hand that had gotten trapped within the tree at Alora’s apartment the last time Raia had fallen into the ‘river’ of the Force. His hand had taken on a wood grain type pattern, and those lines specifically were now glowing with the warm amber light of a camping fire. But that had only been the beginning, for as soon as the wave originating from Tirzah hit him, he was given even more strange occurrences.

 

In the second wave that came from Tirzah, he found himself strangely able to look through the wave, and there he saw Tirzah, standing in a jungle, looking up at him as if she was confused and couldn’t quite see him, but somehow knew he was there. The wave also left a sort of tune, almost like a nursery rhyme, behind in his head; one that he could not seem to shake. It was as if the Force was telling him that it was important.

“Twinkle, twinkle, little sun

Help me fly the Kessel run

If you shine your light on me,

The winner I am sure to be

Twinkle, twinkle, little sun

Death and darkness sure are fun!”

 

Raynuk quietly whispered the words to himself, all the while feeling stunned and equally confused by what the waves of Force from the girls had left him with, his mind still attempting to grasp meaning from it all as he stood now standing in the middle of the room.

 

"I was there, I was with her, just for a moment. Then they forced us out. What went wrong?" Jaina was the first to speak, a note of panic in her voice.

 

"I don't know what is going on, but I suggest we try again." Emily answered her aunt in a confident tone as she looked at the now singed book she was holding. “I think it'll be important that they recognize us. If they see that we're searching for them, they can in turn come to us. I think they're going to have to realize what is going on is not real and then take their own steps to come out of it."

 

He watched Emily turn to Jaina, seeing flashes of raw determination in her eyes; she was pushing to keep her word to her aunt. “And you can't fight Raynuk's presence. His strength in the Force will help anchor us there longer. I'll be a conduit for you both--I'm used to using both the light and dark sides of the Force. Perhaps the Force as a whole is the only way they will be set free."

Raynuk had by this point come to an idea that was steadily growing into more of a feeling, but was surprised to hear the red-headed Jedi speak up before him.

“No.” Xae intoned, opening her eyes and looking between the two women and Raynuk. Her voice had carried with it a preternatural weight that commanded attention.

 

“It isn’t a conduit to weave together the light and the dark that’s needed. Jaina has enough strength within her to do it if it becomes necessary.” The petite Jedi took a deep breath and leveled her gaze at Emily, hesitating as though wondering how best to delicately put the issue. Then she shook her head apparently deciding that time for a tactful explanation was a time expenditure they couldn’t afford at the moment.

 

“Forgive my bluntness, but Raia needs someone with a stronger bond to her. One that is closer to the darkness that brought us to this point, than you.” Her eyes flitted up, meeting Raynuk’s gaze.

 

Raynuk met her gaze calmly and without reaction, and held it for a moment as he processed what the Jedi was saying, against what he himself had seen, heard, and felt. The song was still playing in his head as his gaze finally left Xae, and he held up his hand to examine it once more; the lines were still glowing, but more faintly like the diminishing embers of a fire left unattended. It was likely the first time any of the others had noticed the pattern that had taken over his hand, and he continued to watch it as he spoke.

 

“After you left to search for Jaina Emily, I began training Raia a bit with the lightsaber I had given her...” He began, his own voice sounding a little far off like Jaina’s had after coming out of the vision. “After we sparred for a bit, I wanted to try and help her control and stand firm when she touched the raging river of the Force; I told her to connect to me through it, to use my strong presence as an anchor to guide her and prevent her from being swept away.”

 

He began walking slowly forward towards Raia, still focused on the back of his hand as he continued to tell the story. “I had her connect with the tree again, to feel the Force flowing through it and around the building itself. Only this time, because of my anchoring her, instead of the Force sweeping her away, it flowed through her. The tree strained and grew three times its size in the matter of a second. It was so fast that the tree actually grew around and enveloped my hand where I had been touching it as well. And hence, my hand gained an interesting new pattern… one that in the wake of those Force waves from the girls, is glowing.”

He finally broke his eyes from his hand and turned to Emily. “I heard Raia’s voice when the waves hit me, and it was only then that the lines in my hand began to glow.”

 

He turned then to Jaina, his face almost contemplative, “I saw Tirzah as well Jaina; there standing in a jungle, and she was looking back at me, as if she could somehow see me. And with that came a song… almost a nursery rhyme…” He told her before repeating the words that he continued to hear as a song.

 

“Twinkle twinke, little sun, help me fly the kessel run. If you shine your light on me, the winner I am sure to be… twinkle twinke, little sun…” He paused again, squinting slightly before delivering the last line, “Death and darkness sure are fun.”

 

He took a step back away from both of them, enough so that Xae was also in his field of view, who his gaze briefly reconnected with.

 

“As much as it annoys me to say this; I think the Jedi is right. It has to be me...” He finally said as if it was an admission of guilt, but found that through the subtleties of the Force that it felt right. A heartbeat later, he pointed to the journal that Emily was still holding, his eyes seeming to have regained his normally stoic and assured attitude.

 

“And If that’s the case, I have a better idea than her journal.”

 

He turned and exited the infirmary before any of them could really question him or stop him, but returned a minute later, holding a small barely silverfish object in his hand. He suspected the three woman had had some sort of discussion while he was gone, but did not ask. Instead he proceeded right to Raia’s side, and knelt beside her. Leaning forward, he turned her hand over so her palm was up, depositing the object into her hand.When he had leaned back again, it revealed the object to be a small metal statue of a rancor, which was now standing in Raia’s palm.

 

“I saw it in the market that day when I was purchasing things… I thought it was a silly little thing that might give her a measure of comfort and stability at being whisked all across the galaxy…” He said, quieter than he intended, and to nobody in particular.

 

“Now they both have gifts from the people they’ve bonded with…” He said as little more than a whisper.

 

Another moment passed before he looked up at Jaina, and then extended an outstretched hand towards her.

 

“Like I said, the only way out… is through. I will not fail you, or abandon you; not this time.”

[Mellanie Devanus Vevut]

"Dirt? Farms? Warriors? Crazy family members?" Mellanie laughed. "Honestly, I'm not sure what to expect. Aruetiise like us hardly ever get to go to Mandalore. I just know what Araac has told me. But I'm going to try not to think about it too much, or I'll be so nervous I'll do something absolutely embarrassing in front of his family."

 

They spent the time chatting, grabbing a meal, and waiting. Mellanie found that she had to do some of the breathing techniques her father had taught her once. But above all, she was glad to be going. It was, in a way, about time. She loved Araac, and she wanted to spend her life with him. When she focused on that, her nerves melted away.

 

So by the time they came out of hyperspace, she was ready and excited.