Print Page - Hearts of Stone

Links to the interludes leading up to this story:
Tinker http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=36209.msg662998#msg662998 (http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=36209.msg662998#msg662998)
Tailor http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=36209.msg664927#msg664927 (http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=36209.msg664927#msg664927)
Soldier http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=36209.msg667415#msg667415 (http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=36209.msg667415#msg667415)
Spy http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=36209.msg668371#msg668371 (http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=36209.msg668371#msg668371)

Hearts of Stone

Chapter One: Running...
Peg Shar Spaceport
Halla Sector
Mid-Rim
5 ABY

"Two blocks out..." Alex heard Joanna report on their comm. "Gambler, Blip, get the Hope fired up..."

"Gambler?" Do'Na'Vann asked, his eyebrows rising. "Blip?"

"Droids. You'll understand once you meet them..." Alex replied. His voice trailed off as movement caught the corner of his eye. He focused on the location, but all he saw was a dark cloak pulling back into shadow. "Did you see that?"

"No..." Do'Na'Vann's voice was also distracted, his eyes semi-opaque as if he were looking beyond the narrow street ... or listening to something intently. "C'mon, we need to move!"

The Mak'Tor Knight grabbed Alex' arm and pulled him forward. Alex sensed a spike of apprehension mixed with fear and intense query from the area of the dark figure but the Mak'Tor's action pulled his attention away from what was behind ... and onto what was ahead.

Its a trap! Another trap!

Alex wasn't sure if the thought was his own or part of the sudden warning pulse the Mak'Tor Knight generated. In the end it didn't matter ... but the fact that neither Joanna nor Opal could hear it did. "JOANNA! EYES UP!!!"

Alex had his saber out and ready to ignite as he and Donovan rounded the last corner and plunged head-long into the erupting fire-fight. The air around the Hope was alive with angry red blaster bolts. Alex absorbed the scene even as he followed Donovan into the fray. Joanna was pinned down behind some crates, firing furiously. The Mak'Tor healers were also crouching behind heavy crates, clustered around their cargo, weapons appearing in their hands as well, adding to the blaster bolts criss-crossing the bay. Jameson and Opal were the only ones out in the open, the Mak'Tor Knight's blade flashing furiously, sending bolts back into their attackers while Opal stood, firing as impacts from solid slugs sparkled across her chest.

"Slug thrower!" Donavan yelled. His saber was already flashing through defensive orbits while he ... sang? Alex felt himself grinning at the odd trait. To each his own.... He reached out with the force, grasping the weapon and giving it a savage yank. The mercenary yelped as the weapon flew away from him, arcing through the air and landing next to Joanna, who instinctively slung it over her own shoulder. The merc, apparently a second squad from the band that had hit the Mak'Tor clinic, attempted to draw a back-up weapon, his face a rictus of concentration and fury.

Alex drew the force to himself and his saber ignited as he executed a force-enhanced leap to the mercenary's position. His first cut slashed through the rising weapon, destroying it as well as cutting through the man's hand. The mercenary barely had time to feel it, however, as Alex reversed his stroke and took the man's head off. The stroke avoided the prominent shoulder and torso armor, which Alex suspected was more of the cortosis alloy that had hampered them earlier, and his purple blade hummed as he threw himself into a forward somersault. Alex rolled in behind the mercenary firing line, his blade slicing through knees and thighs as he came back to his feet and swept down the position. As quick as he arrived he was gone again, always moving, moving, moving...

Sabers hummed and blaster bolts flew and scattered, slamming into the bay walls and doing damage all around the bay as Alex and the Mak'Tor knights closed with the remaining attackers and cut them to pieces, supported by fire from Opal and Joanna. Then, with a suddenness that was surprising the firing stopped and the remaining attackers disappeared into the warren of passages surrounding the landing bay.

Alex extended his senses, tracking them as they moved away. They weren't going far. "They're headed to a neighboring bay..."

"Probably have a ship of their own." Jamason said, helping the healers with the crystal chest. The anti-grav skid had taken a hit in the fight and the knight was using the force to carry it for them. "We need to go. Now."

"Agreed." Donavan said, turning toward the ship.

Alex gripped his arm as he passed, stopping him. "What have you gotten us into, exactly?"

"I told you. they're here to hijack these crystals..."

Alex shook his head. "I know, but that's two squads of Mando mercs, with droid support and there's more of them. From what I'm sensing they had two other bays covered as well, probably other freighters known to deal with Wilson." Alex pulled the knight in close. "Now ... what is going on?"

The Knight blinked, then sighed. "I'll tell you all of it ... but not now. We don't have time. We have to move. Quickly. The tempo of the song is increasing dangerously."

Alex felt his eyes narrow. "Song? What song?"

"As I said, I'll explain once we're in flight. Now ... are we going to die here or get away?"

Alex sighed and let go of his arm. "Lets go. I'd rather not die today if I can help it." He turned and headed up the ramp, now clear of healers. He could see Gambler in Engineering, plugged into the main console and finishing the power-up cycles. "Blip!"

The R2 unit appeared, tweeting a greeting. Alex knelt down and looked the astromech in the eye. "Yes, I'm glad to see you, too. Listen carefully: I want you plug into the L4 junction in the port cargo bay. Log into the stabilizer control bus junction and SIT ON THEM. If they so much as twitch, you switch over to the secondary runs. Understood?"

Blip tooted agreement and immediately trundled over to the port bus junction in the port cargo bay. Alex patted the droid on the dome before stepping back to the turret control stations aft of the main ramp. He noted the Healers had locked down their crates in the starboard cargo bay and were strapping into their seats in the lounge area under the watchful eyes of the Mak'Tor knights. "Donavan, a moment."

The Knight stepped closer. "Yes?"

Alex pointed at the turret control stations. "Can you and your fellow knight handle the guns? I ... have a feeling we're going to need them."

Donavan smiled and nodded. "No problem. We've both served on Naval ships, we're familiar with the controls and protocols." He looked at the control station, scanning the tell-tales. "Though this configuration is non-standard..." He pointed at the stick. "Trigger is rapid-fire laser cannon, and the thumb button is the turbo-laser?"

Alex nodded. "Yes. You can fire both if you wish, but sustained turbolaser fire will overheat the mount and shut it down in about twenty seconds, so watch your heat scale. The laser, though ... you can blast away with that all you want."

Donavan grinned. "You got it."

Alex nodded and turned away, headed for the cockpit. Opal stepped out of the port bay as he moved forward. "Friend Alex, I secured the recovered Shard interface in the electronics bay. Orders?"

Alex tossed his head aft. "Help Gambler with the start-up and stand by for any damage control we may need to do ... and keep an eye on our friends back there."

Opal looked aft, then back at Alex. "Understood. I will be ... near engineering." Alex smiled and started forward again, only to be stopped by Opal. "Friend Alex ... thank you. For saving my friend."

Alex felt his smile morph to a grin. "Don't thank me yet. We still need to get off this rock!"

Joanna was already in the cockpit at the pilot's station, rapidly running the pre-flight checklist. As Alex approached she pointed toward the communications station. "Clearance! Now!"

"Aye, ma'am." Alex dropped into the communications shack and activated the comm. "Port Control, this is AX-224748 Hope requesting clearance for immediate departure."

"Hope, control. I have no flight plan on file for you. State your destination, passengers and cargo."

"Understood control..." Alex hesitated. Something told him frankly acknowledging his passengers would be dangerous. "We are outbound for Syvris with ... electronic components, repair technicians and security specialists for our client." Alex decided that classifying the healers as "repair technicians" and the knights as "security specialists" wasn't an outright lie.

There was a pause from Central, though Alex could hear the clacking of a keyboard on the open channel. Was the contoller updating their flight plan? Or summoning the authorities? He'd know in moments...

"Hope, control: you are cleared for departure. Take a heading of 188 azimuth 75 for the Aurek beacon. Take outbound lane Aurek-three. Once you pass the belt you are cleared for hyperspace at your discretion. Squawk channel Osk-Cresh-Senth-two-seven-seven. Control, out."

"Control, Hope: Acknowledged!" Alex cut the connection and patched the communications board to the copilot's seat. He sat down in the cockpit and strapped in as Joanna completed the final pre-flight checks.

"Ramp secured ... moorings cleared ... thrusters are armed. Hang on back there, here we go!" Joanna called. With a few deft control movements she lifted the Hope II straight up, skewed left and aligned with the directed course. A few seconds after lift-off the over-powered freighter was on course and accellerating away from the planet.

"Clearing atmosphere..." Joanna said, her hand pushing the throttles forward. "Coming to full power..."

Alex leaned back, feeling the tension singing through the force. "That was to easy..."

"Three bogies rising behind us!" Jameson called from his gun. "They're well out of range but closing fast. Those have to be fighters..."

Alex pulled up the sensors, focusing on the trio of ships rising from the surface. "I'm not sure what they are, but they look nasty..."

"Kom'rk transports." Opel called from engineering. "They were in use with the Death Watch and several mercenary groups before I went offline. They're fast and capable."

"That would explain how they're overtaking us." Joanna interjected. "We're armed but this is still a freighter. Suggestions?"

"How long before we can jump?" Donavan asked.

Blip responded with a series of hoots and whistles.

"Why so long?!?" Alex fired back.

More beeps and boops, this time from Gambler. "Oh, joy..."

"What did he say?!?!" Joanna asked.

Alex ignored her. "You're sure we can't shave some time off?"

Blip and Gambler responded together, in total agreement for once.

"What was that?" Donavan asked.

"Can anyone translate?" Jamason said, then added "Two minutes to weapons range."

"What about another jump point?"

Boop-beep-bloop-blaaaaap-whisle

"Fine, ok..."

"WHAT DID HE SAY?!?!?!" Joanna, Jameson and Donavan shouted in unison.

"Alright already! The first leg of the jump is long and needs to be precise. We have to hit it at the set vector and within a few thousand clicks of the fixed point, or we'll miss the corridor. There's another possibility, but its just as finicky ... and its across the outer asteroid belt."

Joanna sighed hard. "Well. If we go straight out to Aurek-three we're going to be porg bait..."

"...which leaves only one viable option." Alex finished for her. "Gambler, upload the Besh coordinates and jump calculations to the navicomputer. Blip, stay on that junction! If those controls get sloppy in the field, we're all going to be spare parts!"

Blip and Gambler whistled their affirmative responses while Joanna reefed the freighter over to a new course and Alex shifted to the engineering console, looking for every spare bit of thrust he could find in the engines.

At the gunnery stations Donavan and Jamason shared a look. "Did he sound ... cheerful to you?" Jamason asked.

"Yep. Maker preserve us all." Donavan replied.

But he was smiling...

<<<< >>>>

The trip through the asteroid field proved to be anti-climatic. It was tense at first as Joanna and Alex teamed up to pilot the ship. Alex reached out with the force, probing and occasionally nudging the scattered rocks, helping his wife feel their way through the cluttered field. For their part, the three Kom'rk transports broke off the pursuit, choosing not to take the risk. They split up, two going high and one low, attempting to go around the field. While safer, the longer distance more than negated their speed advantage, and the Hope II broke out of the field and reached the Besh beacon over ten minutes ahead of their pursuers.

With a flash of blue light and streak of psuedomotion the Hope II leaped into hyperspace. Her crew and passengers breathing a sigh of relief.

The chase was on ... and they were off and running.

Chapter Two: Inquisitions
Peg Shar system
Halla Sector
Mid-Rim
5 ABY

Rhul Stourr stood on the bridge of the "Vengence" and watched as the last of five Kom'rk transports settled into his ship's small craft bay. It was bad enough that they'd missed their target on Peg Shar, but losing two whole squads in the process... He shook his head, swallowing pride and suppressing anger. He'd been fully briefed on the target. He'd known the Mak'Tor Knights were trained in the Jedi arts. He's prepared and equipped his units to deal with that threat. They'd identified the middle-man, the mysterious "Wilson", and taken him out. The target should have been alone and isolated when his Aurek strike force hit.

Overwatch had recovered little from the initial site except charred armor. THe two survivors from Aurek had joined Besh at the spaceport and had died in the second engagement, leaving him with no real idea of just what had happened. What he did know was that, despite their efforts, the target had somenhow managed to summon help. And if the preliminary report could be believed, it had come from more Jedi.

Stourr schooled his face to impassiveness as his surviving team leader stepped onto the bridge, his helmet tucked under his arm. His steps were measured and precise as he approached, stopping a respectful distance away and stiffening to a rigid posture of attention. Waiting.

Rhul let him wait. He read through the maintenance reports on the transports, their fuel usage and weapons expenditures. He noted the lack of missing ordinance, ticking off the item with a frown. Finally he handed his data padd to an aid and turned to the rigid squad leader. "Russ'alor Slaad. Report."

"Al'Verde Stourr! We deployed our teams as planned. Strike team Cresh made contact with the intermediary and eliminated him. Strike team Aurek made contact with the primary target and engaged, but were driven off with heavy casualties when the Mak'Tor were reinforced. The survivors of Aurek maintained contact and shadowed the Mak'Tor to their exfilteration site, which Team Besh hit with the remnants of Aurek. Again, they were unsuccessful. Verd'ika Katrar reported the use of a heavily armed and armored securty droid, which rendered their special weapons ... ineffective. When the target managed to board ship and depart we scrambled the Kom'rk's ready to fly in pursuit, but broke off as ordered at the asteroid field. Aurek and Dorn stayed behind to pick up survivors and conduct clean-up operations in the port. They should be returning within the hour."

Rhul said nothing, only nodded. He let the Russ'alor stand rigid a while longer as he accepted and read through another report from maintenance. Finally he looked up again. "I accept your report. Did your team emplace the tracker as ordered?"

"Yes, Al'Verde!" The young soldier barked. He managed to hide any anger at the implication of incompetence the question posed, but there was fire in his eyes. Rhul noted it, nodded and waved a dismissal, turning his back on the Russ'alor as he spun and left the bridge. The young mandalorian mercenary no doubt would take the insult personally ... and it would drive him to do better in the future.

Rhul raised his eyes to the viewports of the Keldabe-class cruiser and stared at the brown and green ball of Peg Shar. He felt the anger rise again ... and squashed it again. This was not a time for anger. Anger only got in the way of good, professional decisions. "Communications, send the report. Target has left the system but has the specificed tracker in place. The Asset should be able to intercept it it's leasure. Then cut orders for teams Cresh, Dorn and Esk to proceed to the secondary intercept point. Specify that Russ'alor Slaad is in charge ... and responsible ... for the mission."

Rhul looked down on the planet where fourteen of his best commandoes had died with hard eyes. Oh yes ... it was personal now ...

The Hope II
Lesser Lantillian Route
Hyperspace, somwhere in the Tharin Sector
Outer Rim
5 ABY

Alex watched his wife's shoulders relax and he forced his own body to mimic her. They were back in hyperspace, on the long leg past Boonta and through the Tharin Sector. After Peg Shar the next logical place to intercept them had been Boonta, where several hyperspace lanes converged. The junction and traffic meant an obligatory drop from hyperspace and some time in real space setting up the next jump. They'd all been tense during that transit, but now that they were back in hyper they were safe.

So why is the force still singing with tension?

Alex snorted at his own internal verbage. "singing" seemed to carry special meaning with their new Mak'Tor friends. More than once, during moments of concentration, he'd overheard them actually humming. At first he'd thought it was a nervous affectation, but he'd dismissed it when he heard Donavan and Jamason humming in harmony ... from different compartments of the ship. He'd barely been able to hear them both, it was unlikely they'd heard each other, and yet they'd been in perfect harmony, as if both were listening to the same song...

"Time for the meeting." Alex said, rising. Joanna nodded and grinned, verifying the autopilot was properly engaged before following him out of the cockpit. They were a little more than a day out of Peg Shar. Time for everyone to rest, eat, clean up and compose themselves. Now ...

Answers ... I hope ...

The Mak'Tor were gathered in the lounge, which was behind the port cargo bay. Opal was also present. Alex entered the space and poured himself a cup of cafe, adding cream before starting. "Thank you for gathering. Our current position is rimward of Boonta on the Lesser Lantillian. We're approaching the Tharin sector, and we have a ways to go before we need to drop back out of hyper. So ... lets talk." Alex held his mug in both hands before him, trying not to adopt a challenging pose. "Donovan, how about you fill us in on just what it is we're carrying, and who's so keen to take it away?"

Donovan sipped his own drink, and shot a sideways glance at the older woman Alex had assumed was the senior healer. She gave the Knight a slight nod, though her face was set in an unhappy mask. Donovan took a deep breath and released a sigh. "Telow'na is gonna kill me..." He set his drink down and sat back in his seat. "How much do you know about the building of the Death Stars?"

Alex blinked. "I know the first Death Star was built by Palpatine as a terror weapon. There have been rumors that it was used to destroy the ancient temple on Jedha as well as Scarif's records repository and the entire planet of Alderaan before being destroyed by the Rebel fleet at Yavin. The second Death Star was under construction around Endor when it was in turn attacked and destroyed last year by a Rebel Alliance force. Again, rumor has it that both attacks were led by a Jedi Knight, Luke Skywalker, and that Skywalker killed Vader and the Emperor aboard the Death Star before it was destroyed at Endor."

Donovan nodded. "All true. Do you know why the Death Star attacked Jedha?"

Alex shook his head. "No. I assume it had a something to do with Saw Gerrera and his Separatist cell. They were rumored to be based in or around Jedha City and its ancient temple."

"Also partially true. Galen Urso, the engineer who designed the nuts and bolts of the Death Star, found a way to harness the energy of Kyber crystals in his lasing system. The "super laser" of the first Death Star was built using massive arrays of Kyber, which was taken from the crystal vaults of the Temple of Jedha. When the vaults were exhausted, the city was destroyed. This was done as a preliminary, low-power test of the laser and to destroy the resistance cell. We think Tarkin was attempting to kill Jynn Urso on the planet before she could unlock a secret left behind by her father about a weakness he'd purposely engineered into the Death Star against the day someone would have to attempt to destroy it."

Alex glanced at Joanna. They'd heard a lot of rumors since Yavin IV and especially since Endor, but this? Kyber? "So the Empire used Kyber to build the super-laser... But if the Jedha Temple was stripped and destroyed where did they get the Kyber for the laser on the second Death Star? Reports from the battle state that the weapon was used on multiple Mon Calamari cruisers before fighters were able to fly into the superstructure and detonate the main reactor..." Alex stopped and looked over at the crates. "By the One... You scavenged Kyber fragments from the explosion, didn't you..."

Donovan raised his hands, his head shaking. "No! No, nothing like that. These crystals are not Kyber."

"Good." Alex relaxed back into his seat. "I don't mind smuggling medical supplies and bacta even when they're on the proscribed lists. But Kyber? One or two light sabers are bad enough, but you start hauling around the key component to making dozens of them... Well, lets just say you're not likely to survive to stand trial."

Donovan nodded, grinning. "Trust me, I understand completely. You were right earlier, after the building of the first Death Star, the ready supplies of Kyber were exhausted. The Empire needed a replacement, and they found one: adegan pontite crystals. These are found in many places, so the supply is ample, but in order to work together the crystals needed to be tuned in the force. Initially this was done by a special cadre of Inquisitors based on Naboo. When this processing center was destroyed by a member of our Order a new supply line was set up. This center was also neutralized, but several Inquisitor survivors scattered, each taking a supply of the tuned crystals with them. Most took their loads to Endor, where they were used to bring the second super-laser online. But some did not. Most of these rouges have formed bands of followers, using them to dominate their own spheres of influence ... and using their personal supplies of crystals to arm them. My order has been working to ... disarm ... these Sith Lord want-to-bes. Which brings me to this load in particular ... and who's probably after us."

"Finally!" Joanna interjected, only half joking. "I was starting to think we were going to end up taking on the Empire itself!"

Instead of laughing, Donovan only looked at her with a blank face. "Well..."

Alex leaned forward now, intent on the Knight. "Well ... what? All five of you just pumped out an emotional spike. Spit it out."

Donovan took a sip of his coffee before continuing. "These crates, as well as four others we've already shipped home, all came from a cache we literally stumbled over. They were all held by Dark Jedi who were loyal to a Dark Jedi Master named Jerec. We don't know that much about Jerec, just that he was a Jedi Master and Archeologist and a close associate of Jocasta Nu, before the fall of the Order. And now, he works for a large and nasty Imperial Remnant forming in the Outer Rim under Grand Moff Kaine."

Joanna sat back. Her face as a mask but Alex could feel the fear radiating off of her. "So ... we ARE being chased by the Empire."

"Not to mention multiple bands of Mandalorian mercenaries." Alex interjected.

"And a Sith warlord with his own ship and following of fanatical dark-siders." Donovan replied. "Lets not forget that."

"Oh, certainly not." Alex slouched into his seat. "I have a bad feeling about this..."

"The song is restless, but it is stable for now. We have some time still before conflict engulfs us." The Master Healer spoke, her voice rough with age. Her blue eyes pierced Alex. "Your song is strong, young one. It rings with the strength of the Krin ... and Cunn's counterpoint."

Alex was taken aback. "How... Did you know Master Cunn?"

"Many years ago, before the Empire, I met a Jedi Shadow named Cunn. He was young. Unhappy. We spoke many times of his path and the Song he chose to sing. In the end he found what he was looking for on Coveway. I thought he was in error, wasting his potential ... but then came the Clone War and the Empire." She regarded Alex. "It would seem I was ... mistaken. His song is inside you. It was not lost after all."

"Song again..." Alex leaned forward. "What song? I have no memory of Master Cunn singing. I doubt he could carry a tune in a bucket, let alone sing..."

THe old woman smiled and waved a hand. "It is hard to explain, and now is not the time. Soon. For now..." Her gaze became intense again. "...you carry his legacy and mission: To return the Hearts of Stone to their dwelling place."

Alex was stunned. "What... Mission? What are the 'hearts of stone' and where do they dwell?" But the old woman was silent, her intense blue eyes her only statement.

Donovan shared a look with the other Mak'Tor. It was not unusual for wise old healers to suddenly make declarations but it was almost always over a close apprentice or family member. But over a stranger? It was nearly unprecedented. "She will not elaborate, Alex. Its ... not our way."

"Ma'am, you are a seer as well as a healer?" Alex asked. "May I at least know your name?"

"I am Elo'Na of Clan Racc, Elder and Healer." she replied. "Now go. It is time for actions, not words. The song quickens."

Alex was about to question her when the sense of impending danger struck him as well. "Joanna ... we need to go. Now."

In a moment everyone was moving, the Mak'Tor strapping in and manning the gunnery stations again while Alex and his wife sprinted for the cockpit. Alex stopped for a moment to speak to Opal as he went. "Opal. Log into the database, find a folder called "Contigencies" and find the file "Rancor Bait". Follow the instructions and stand by."

"Understood, friend Alex." Opal replied, turning to plug into the main data terminal.

"Thank you Opal. Blip ... GET ON THAT STABALIZER!"

"Boo-eeeep!"

Sorry for the delay! The time of year has us all going in circles. :-) But at last....

Chapter 3: Into the Fire
The Hope II
Lesser Lantillian Route
Hyperspace, somwhere in the Tharin Sector
Outer Rim
5 ABY

Alex finished strapping in and scanned his board. "Engineering is optimal. Weapons are hot. Shields at 98% and holding..."

"Hot stick, manuevering engines are on stand-by as are the sub-lights. Alex ... what are we doing? We're in hyperspace, not scheduled for emergence for another fourteen hours."

Alex sighed. "I don't know precisely. I just ... have a very strong feeling that we're in imminent dang..."

The Hope's engines and shields screamed as the ship suddenly lurched and was dragged sideways out of hyperspace. Alex felt bruises forming on his shoulders from the stress of the five-point harness digging into his frame and he slammed a telekinetic shield around himself and Joanna, using the force to dampen the worst of the violent buffeting in the ship. He heard crashing behind him as one or more of the droids broke loose of their anchor points as well as partially muffled cries and one chilling scream that cut off abruptly with a wet thumping sound. Alex felt the shock and confusion crashing through the force and he erected a wall, separating himself from the reverberations of emotion. It was a variation of the technique that allowed him to hide his presence in the force. A wall, rather than a hole; it let him avoid distractions in times of stress.

Like now.

Alex' eyes flew over the engineering panel. Red lights were interspersed with the green, as well as amber, creating what would have been an aesthetically pleasing mixture of colored light under other circumstances. The picture they painted, however, was grim rather than pleasing. "Starboard engine is offline, the hypermatter flow regulator is throwing a fault. Probably shock damage..."

"We're in real-space. Hyper generator is squawking a gravity-well code, but there's nothing on the charts...." Joanna replied. Her voice was rough, her breathing labored. "Whatever happened, it gave us a hell of a twist..."

"The board is showing shear fractures in the starboard stringers, and the flex meters in the keel are reading 214% of recommended load." Alex toggled through the screens, noting structural loading. "The hull is holding up, but we're going to have to do a full survey after our next re-entry to make sure we're not bleeding air or have any failed hull plating."

"Logged." Joanna replied. "Weapons and sensors coming back online..."

Alex turned and called up the companionway. "Donavan, are you up?"

"I ... think so. Mounts are powering up, but it looks like we're disconnected from the primary sensor array."

"Understood." Alex turned back to his board, punching keys. "Gambler! I have a fault in control bus Aurek-four! Nail that down! We need sensors feeding those gun sights or we're defenseless!" Before Gambler could reply Blip squeeled at him. "No! Stay on those stabilizer relays!"

"Boo-eeep Blip bloop bwaaaa."

"Opal will have to look after herself! Stay on those relays or I will weld you permanently to that bulkhead!"

"Boo-eeeep! Blarrpppth"

"I heard that...." Alex shook his head. "Teenagers..."

"You programmed him." Joanna replied. "There's a ... ship out there. Main sensors are still offline. I'm trying to get the optical relay laid on for an attempted ID..."

Alex heard her wince. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just got wrenched pretty hard into the console. Thanks, by the way. That cushion probably saved my ribs."

"You're welcome." Alex replied. He noted a stream of text on his board. "Gambler has the fault isolated, sensors in two minutes."

"Good. We're going to need them." Joanna replied. "Look."

Alex leaned over, looking at the optical sensor screen. "Star destroyer?"

"No, worse. An Interdictor."

<<<< >>>>

Captain Jenorrson stood at the forward viewport of his ship's bridge and tried to suppress his frown as two more blue flashes of energy and cork-screwing streaks of pseudomotion lit space within his view. "Tactical, have you had any luck sorting out that ... mess ... out there?"

The tactical officer, standing down in the pit with his sensor staff, grimaced and braced to attention unconsciously as he reported. "Yes, sir, but we're still behind. We're right in the middle of a major space lane, sir, and we're hauling in multiple targets that fit the profile. It may take some time to..." He broke off as one of his technicians suddenly raised his hand, then pointed at his screen. "Sir! We have a hit! The transponder doesn't match but the engine signature and hull form match the criteria we were given."

Jenorrson nodded, never turning. "About time. Vector two flights of fighters to intercept. Ion-cannons only - we want to disable, not destroy."

"Aye, sir! Vectoring Dorn and Esk flights. Besh and Forn remain in CAP with Aurek and Cresh on plus-five in the bays."

"Very good." Jenorrson scowled at the specks of fleeing freighters. "Lets bag our target quickly. I wish to be back in Alignment space as quickly as possible."

<<<< >>>>

They were running. There was no other word for it. Their only hope of escape was to get far enough away from the Interdictor to be able to enter hyperspace. Just how far that was no one really knew for sure. But since they were still within the zone where ships, mostly small tramp freighters like their own, continued to be ripped out of the busy space lane, they knew it had to be further away than they were now.

The Hope responded, her engines surging as Gambler and Blip repaired or re-routed fuel flows and control busses. "Sensors in thirty seconds!" Alex called to the Mak'Tor on the guns. "Get ready!"

"Too late! Fighters sighted one-eight-zero and low! Engaging..." Jamason called, firing his guns at the incoming fighters.

The ship shook violently as the four TIEs made a coordinated strafing run, raking the ship with ion bolts. "Shields down to 18% ... deflectors offline ..." Alex toggled off a shot with the ship's chin turret as the flight of four passed. A clean miss. "Joanna, prepare for black hole protocol."

"Already done. I hope the relays hold..." Joanna had a live stick now, twisting the Hope through complex evasive manuevers while more ion bolts chased them through space. "More fighters, apparently..."

"Understood. They'll hold." Alex gritted his teeth and hung on for dear life, his stomach threatening to empty itself onto his console as his wife did her best to imitate a grolean weasle on dust. The star field streaked and spun and he lost all directional reference, his entire focus narrowing to keep down his gorge ... and the calm, cool flow of the force. Steady.... steady ....

Two ion bolts crashed into the ship, stripping away their final layers of shielding. Almost immediately thereafter a third bolt hit, sending electrical impulses sparking along and into the hull. The power systems flickered, but held. Alex and Joanna had spent many hours laying redundant power and control runs made from armored, military-grade conduit and junctions. Even two or three full-power ion bolts wouldn't overload their systems like it would a normal civilian ship ... but very few people in the universe knew that was the case, and Alex had no intention of making these Impies part of that very exclusive club. He felt the impulse in the flow of the force, his finger moving almost before he'd made any conscious decision to depress the key Joanna had armed on his panel. "Black hole ... now!"

Before the crackling discharge of the last bolt's impact expended itself on the hull all power on the Hope died. The ship immediately began to tumble, the inertia of their last maneuvers imparting momentum in all three axis. Alex felt a few seconds of queasy zero-g before the emergency battery systems brought the gravity plates and basic environmental systems back online. As the gravity steadied Alex took two deep breaths. "Just about lost it that time..."

"One of these days I'm going to win that bet." Joanna replied. "So ... we're dead in space. Now what?"

Alex grinned. "Now we bait the rancor."

<<<< >>>>

"Target neutralized. Dorn three and four report damage and are BINGO to the landing bay. Dorn one and two will escort the prize. Besh flight is returning to CAP patrol. Tractor beam engaged."

Jenorrson nodded. "Excellent. Stand down singularity generators and recall the fighters. None of this ... rabble ... are interested in anything but getting away. We have what we want, lets take it and go."

"Aye, sir. Singularity generators are powering down. Gravity well is falling below thresholds. Fighters are returning to their bays. Astrogation is calculating course and jumps now, we will be ready to jump once the Prize is secured."

"Very good, carry on." Jenorrson watched as the blue flashes of emergence stopped and the scurrying ships started to disappear back into hyperspace. "Run you maggots. Run while you still can..."

<<<< >>>>

"Look..." Joanna pointed out the cockpit screen. Alex watched as a YT-1300 re-aligned itself and jumped back into hyperspace, ignored by the fighters which streamed past it on their way back to the Interdictor. "I guess they got what they were looking for..."

"Yeah. For the moment." Alex swiveled back toward the rear. "Opal! Are you online?"

"Affirmative, friend Alex!" the droid called back. "I am assisting Blip with repairs to the starboard stabilizer array."

"Understood. Did you finish your preparations?"

"Yes! You may deploy when ready ... though I would appreciate a bit of warning when the time comes, friends Alex and Joanna!"

Alex grinned fiercely at his wife. "You'll get it."

Joanna grinned back. "You know this isn't going to work, right? The timing has to be absolutely perfect."

"It will. Trust the force." Alex replied. He toggled through sub-systems until he found the one he wanted, set the parameters and armed the switch. Laying his hand over it, he closed his eyes and calmed himself. "Feel it flow..."

Alex concentrated and the flow of the force resolved into a familiar visual - streams of energy flowing through the landscape of his mind's eye. They were nearly there, at the critical juncture, and Alex armed the toggle. "Launching ... now."

The ship shuddered as escape pod three launched. It was immediately caught in the tractor beam along with their ship, its small engine unable to break free. Fortunately Alex had no intentions of breaking it free. With a nudge Alex slid the pod directly into the center of the beam and began to push with the force. Imperial tractors had a distinct tubular shape to their force matrix. They were substantially weaker at their core than at the edge. This was due to the harmonics of the system with the containment fields that focused the gravitational forces, and the effect was more pronounced the longer the range. Short-range beams only had a weak core wide enough to contain a stylus. But at the range they were currently held, the core was several meters wide. This allowed Alex to push the escape pod closer to the Interdictor using both the force as well as its own engine.

It took less than a minute for the pod to reach the point where the beam narrowed enough for the stronger carona to catch it. Alex continued to push, gaining a few dozen more meters of separation before finally giving up. "Thats as far as it will go..."

Joanna bounced a ranging laser off the pod. "That's awfully close, Alex. Are you sure this is going to work?"

"It will work. Just be ready with the engines and shields." Alex had his eyes open now, seeing the pod in the force, now over a hundred kilometers away. "Any second now..."

Feel the flow...

<<<< >>>>

"Sir, something else was caught in the beam."

Jenorrson turned toward the tactical officer, unable to completely hide his impatience. "Something?" he snapped, his voice clipped.

"Sir... It's an escape pod. It looks like the crew may have tried to abandon."

Jenorrson nodded. "Panic, perhaps. Not unexpected. Bring the pod in with the ship."

"But sir, the pod, its..."

"Lieutenant, were my orders unclear?" Jenorrson was suddenly standing directly above the tactical officer. "Bring it in with the ship."

The tactical officer swallowed nervously. "Ye.. Yes, sir!"

Jenorrson frowned and stalked back to the front of the bridge. "Captain Yale, have a tactical squad report to the docking bay and prepare to receive prisoners..."

<<<< >>>>

Alex felt the force twitch, felt the flow turn, and his finger stabbed down on the button. "Detonating now!"

The Hope was 114 kilometer away from the Interdictor and almost directly "below" it when Joanna brought their power systems back up to full power and slammed the engines back to full thrust. Ions screamed as the Hope twisted, presenting its narrowest after cross-section to the Interdictor.

The escape pod was much closer, just crossing the threshold of the Interdictor's ventral docking bay, where a double-squad of storm troopers were forming up to meet it. The pod was over-sized, one of three the Hope carried, each big enough to hold six people with air and supplies for three weeks. This pod, however, contained only two things: a high-yield, slightly modified thermal detonator ... and a heavily shielded container of hypermatter. As Alex' command reached the pod the thermal detonator exploded, sending a highly energetic plasma stream down the precise center of the hypermatter storage pod. This in turn detonated the hypermatter catastrophically, resulting in a rapidly expanding shell of plasma and energy several orders higher than any bomb or torpedo warhead could yield.

Two very small portions of the escaping plasma were caught and channelled by the tractor beam. One travelled outward, expanding and weakening before slamming into the hull of the Hope, striking the aft plating between the cooling array and the port secondary engine. The ship was shaken hard and the plating in fact buckled, but sealant quicly filled the voids and the underlying structure of the ship was undamaged. The second small charge went in the opposite direction, following the beam back to its emitter. Unlike the outward wave, this inward wave was compressed and focussed into a powerful, pencil-thin penetrator which wiped out the tractor emitter on the roof of the ventral docking bay. While not deadly to the ship, the explosion did take down the tractor beam holding the Hope, which immediately leaped away at full thrust, chased by the remainder of the expanding shell of energy flowing down and out from the explosion.

The lower half of the expanding explosion quickly dissipated, doing nothign more than rocking the Hope as it passed a second later. The upper half of that sphere was another matter.

Approximately 30% of the energy expanding upward was caught and focused by the wide-open cavity of the Interdictor's ventral docking bay. Two fighters were in the bay, nearly docked but still loose, and were slammed into their docking cradles resulting in heavy damage to the docks and the total destruction of the fighters themselves. Other fighers were torn apart as well as the energy from the explosion ripped apart bulkheads and tossed loose material around like matches in a gale. Secondary explosions blossomed across the bay as fighters, transports and fuel handling systems were detonated. Within seconds the bay was a cratered wreck, lit only by the dying fires of ruptured fuel lines and sparks of severed power couplings. OF the 24 embarked fighters only Dorn one and two, battered and tossed by the same shock wave that washed over the Hope survived.

Before the two fighters could re-orient themselves Joanna had the Hope on course and entering hyperspace. Their quick exit prevented the two pilots from re-engaging them and preventing their escape. It also prevented them from observing the final consequences paid by the Interdictor for swallowing the bait.

As the pilots turned for home one of them noticed what looked like a chain of lightning flickering around the starboard ventral gravity projector dome. The gravity well projectors, still powering down, were well below threshold levels but still contained massive amounts of power in their systems. As a final blow the expanding plasma shockwave damaged several critical power couplers on all four ventral domes. On dome three, the closest to the actual detonation, the power spikes hit critical mass and a building chain reaction of critical failures and power surges raced around the dome.

Fourteen seconds after the Hope entered hyperspace the gravity well generator went critical and exploded, destroying the Interdictor and killing the crew. Only Dorn one and two survived, eventually being picked up by another ship after spending over a week scavenging air and water and looking fruitlessly for survivors among the wreckage.

Chapter 4: No Hiding Place
Syris, Outer Rim
5 ABY

The Hope erupted from hyperspace with a blue flash, the stretching of pseudomotion resolving as the ship's ion drives fired up and took over, pushing the battered light freighter toward the smuggler's moon. In the cockpit Alex and Joanna both breathed a sigh of relief - they'd planned a fuel stop along the way at Nar Shaddah but had turned away and jumped immediately back into hyperspace when a Star Destroyer with the same markings as the Interdictor they'd encountered had been detected. The quick change of plans had likely preserved their freedom but it had been a real risk; their fuel reserves were dangerously low due to the ... irregular ... depletion and they'd been reduced to running in low-power mode and eating e-rats for the last several days.

But they were here, with a few grams of fuel remaining, and fortunately the ion engines used an entirely different fuel source, and the Hope still had plenty of sub-light bunkerage available. Joanna locked in the autopilot and sat back in her seat, relaxing for the first time in days.

"Steady on course 127 Mark 99, tracking on the primary approach beacon."

"Navicomputer is interfaced with local traffic control..." Alex tapped keys, selecting files and placing them in the queue. "Spectre files sent ... and accepted. We are cleared for pad Besh-twelve."

"Autopilot has the beacon. Twenty-seven minutes to re-entry, fourty-two to landing." Joanna grinned at him. "And two hours to Giuseppie's and some real food!"

"Sounds good to me!" Alex returned her grin as he spun out of the chair. "Heads up! We're fourty minutes out, about half that to atmosphere. Strap in, it could be a bumpy..." Alex stumbled as a wave of nausea swept over him. He paused at the entrance to the common area, dry-swallowing as the sensation shifted to a cold chill running down his back. "What the..."

He looked up and saw Donovan shaking his head as well, his face white. "Something..." He cocked his head, as if listening to something specific that only he could hear. "Something is happening. Now...." He swallowed again, shaking his head. "The song..."

"The song is in chaos. The crystals are at risk. We must flee." Elo'Na also looked shaken, and her eyes were clouded with worry. "Now."

Alex shook his head. "We can't, ma'am. We need fuel and provisions. Even if we expedite, we don't have the cash we'd need to get turned around quickly, not without attracting attention. A lot of attention. To stay covert..." Alex shrugged. "Probably twelve, fourteen hours before we can be assured of getting fuel and a food order delivered."

Donovan and Elo'Na shared a glance, the former with a look of vindication; the latter one of fear and dread. The old woman sighed. "Very well. It is necessary, as you said. Let us hope the Maker is gracious and the cost is midigated."

She turned and went back into the cabin the three healers shared, leaving Alex and Donovan in the cargo bay. "The song intensifies. Can you ... feel it?"

Alex nodded. "I feel the tension in the force. We're in for a fight, that's for sure." Alex folded his arms across his chest. "Any other details you can share from this ... song of yours?"

Donovan shook his head. "No. Just ... a fight. Soon."

Alex glanced up at the chronometer. "Ok. Thirty-nine minutes to planet-fall. I'll get the provisioning requests sent in, then we can prepare."

<<<< >>>>

Joanna had the Hope under manual control as they entered the landing pattern. Her hands moved with calm assurance, guiding the ship without effort as her eyes scanned the area. "There... Two O'clock..."

Alex followed her gaze and spotted the pair of upright wings marking the landing site of two Kom'rk transports. "Company." Alex looked back down the passageway. "Donovan! Two O'clock!"

"On it..." Donovan shifted his turret sight, frowning. "Kom'rk transports... Figure at least two strike teams plus an LZ security contingent..."

"More likely three twelve-man squads on the target and one on security." Jamason replied. "At least, that's how I would do it."

"Scanning with FLIR." Alex swung the passive array across the Kom'rk's as they passed by. "I have four heat sources on board each ship and what looks like nine or ten targets around the perimeter. Engines are still hot, they haven't been on the ground very long."

Donovan's head shot up. "How long?"

"A few minutes, half-hour at the most." Alex responded. "It explains why the crews are still aboard, they're probably still finishing the post-flight checks."

Donovan didn't reply. He closed his eyes and Alex heard him hum a tune, deep in his thoat. Alex heard the notes and for a moment he had the impression of a far more intricate song, something only half-remembered, but again he had no time to analyze it. With a flash he was aware of a strong pulse flashing outward in the force, and unlike the music there was no ambiguity here.

DANGER!

Donovan took a deep breath and opened his eyes. "A warning. In case we are in time."

Alex nodded, rewinding the FLIR scan. "Makes sense. Joanna, how close are we going to be to them?"

"Close. They're one aisle over and five bays down. Frankly I wish we were further away."

"Agreed. We need to take their base of operation first, then move against the strike team." Alex scratched his nose, thinking. "They're still consolidating their perimeter, but they really don't expect to get hit from behind. We need to strike hard and fast."

As the ship settled Donovan and Jamason joined them. "We're badly outnumbered. Can we stay covert long enough to achieve surprise?"

Alex nodded. "Leave that to me. I can cover our approach, just don't reach out with the force until we make contact. Opal!" Alex waved the Shard over. "Draw weapons, we're going to need fire support on this one."

"Agreed, friend Alex. May I assume deadly force is authorized?"

Alex nodded. "I would expect nothing less."

<<<< >>>>

The five of them moved quietly. Ahead, thermal scanners told the tail - three targets, two forward and one back. Most likely there were others around the bend that they couldn't see, but who would see anything that happened to their fellows in time to raise an alarm. Alex concentrated, dampening their presences, keeping them hidden from all organic senses. TO defeat the rest, they'd donned thermal blankets, killing their heat signatures at the price of comfort. Sweat soaked his back as they closed on the figures. Due to the blankets, only Opal was able to move freely.

Fortunately she was enough. The closest mercenary moved, his head twitching toward them and his rifle rising. "Conta...URK" Before he could even make his full contact report Opal moved, her droid body responding with lightning precision to the Shard's years of training and experience as a soldier and security officer. THe heavy blaster rifle fired three precise shots, the red bolts screaming down-range as one. Each blast caught it's target precisely in the throat, insuring that no alarm could be raised.

But the cat was out of the bag now. Opal continued to lead the way, rounding the corner and firing two more shots immediately. "Five down..."

"Copy" Alex replied, moving quickly to clear the corner. They had a long corridor to traverse and one more dog-leg turn before entering the merc's landing bay. They broke into a run, Joanna following close behind him while the Mak'Tor moved along the opposite wall. Ahead, Opal crossed the final threshold and entered the bay. "Opal, pull back!"

"Come and get it, squishies!" Opal yelled, pouring fire from both her rifle and a heavy blaster pistol as she moved into the bay. The four humans threw off their thermal coverings and limbered up their own weapons as they followed her into battle. Ahead of them the mad Shard was like a super-nova of energy. Her movements looked awkward and clumsy at first, but Alex realized that the Shard was moving in a very random and hard to predict way. The result looked like someone staggering and struggling not to fall down, but was in fact fully controlled and made her a very hard target indeed. But more importantly, as the four humans emerged behind her, she had drawn the full attention of the entire perimeter force. A force that she continued to reduce even as her friends engaged behind her.

Alex dropped the force cloak as he emerged, igniting his saber and reaching out with the force to grab a Mando mercenary taking careful aim at Opal from a high perch. With a metaphysical pull he dragged the mercenary over the rail, driving him into the ferrocrete landing pad. His saber spun up as he moved and he could feel his wife behind him, covering him as he moved along the perimeter. The Knights split away, each of them charging into one of the grounded transports and dealing with its crew while Alex, Joanna and Opal continued to take out the perimeter team.

It took Alex two minutes to complete his perimeter sweep and his saber hummed in his hand as he let his senses flow over the bay perimeter. "Clear, four down."

"Clear." Joanna called. "Three down."

"Clear, four down." Donavan said, emerging from the first shuttle, his own saber extinguished.

"Clear, four down" Jamason echoed. "I have a live computer here, working to access."

"Clear, four down, one captured." Opal said. She emerged from behind the far transport, dragging a weakly moving form in badly damaged armor into the open. "Perhaps this one may assist us in our inquiries?"

Opal dropped the Mando onto the ground and stepped back. Alex tossed his head toward the near transport. "Jamason has a live computer, see if you can help him out. We'll ... talk to our friend here."

Opal looked down at the still form, back at Alex and simply nodded before turning and loping toward the grounded transport. Alex watched her go, the looked at Joanna. "Perimeter."

Joanna also simply nodded, her eyes veiled as she turned away and began scanning the approaches to the pad. Alex extinguished his saber, clipped it to his belt, and knelt down. He removed the man's helmet, revealing a face of chiseled features marred by years of weathering and battle scars. Alex calmed his mind, focussing his attention on the force, reaching out with his hand, his mind, seeking contact...

A hand on his arm interrupted him. "Alex ... you know what you're doing, right?"

Alex pulled back and sighed. "Yes, Donovan, I know the techniques ... and what they cost."

Donovan met his eyes. "Be quick." His blade ignited and he began his own patrol of the perimeter, leaving Alex to his task.

Alex sighed again and re-focused, reaching out with the force. His hand made contact with the Mandalorian's forehead, intensifying the sensation of connection as Alex followed the pathways highlighted by the force and plunged into the other man's mind. The delve was fast and intense, the mind damaged already by trauma and lack of oxygen. Alex could feel connections breaking as he moved, his clumsy damage enhanced by his haste to find what
he was looking for. Pathways collapsed around him like shattering crystal until he saw it...

Alex jerked back, emerging from the delve as the Mandalorian expired, breathing his last. He shuddered, then stood. "Donovan!"

"Yo!"

"Donovan, contact your medical mission, they're about to be overrun."

<<<< >>>>

Russ'alor Slaad crouched behind a pillar as blaster bolts splattered overhead. "Besh team, move now, Cresh cover. Aurek, hold and prepare to follow Besh."

Around him the twelve members of Besh leaped up and advanced, firing blasters and grenades. The bolts mainly found harmless walls, but three were
deflected back by rapidly moving lightsaber blades, and all of the grenades were stopped in mid-air and thrown back in the faces of the attackers.

They exploded harmlessly, the flash-bangs meant only to be a distraction and the effects were mitigated by the mercenary's armor. Two of them fell, hit by defected bolts before they reached the next group of cover positions.

Now ten, Besh continued firing from cover as Aurek rose up and followed them, also losing a pair of troopers in their rush.

Cresh and the small command group followed in turn, each losing a trooper, bleeding men to gain ground as they advanced deeper into the heavily fortified enclave.

Slaad cursed under his breath as he settled into his new position. Nine down so far... Rhul Stour expected him to take this enclave, and he intended to do it, but the cost was mounting. Two of the half-dozen Knights holding it had also gone down but the rest were fighting hard and had apparently been warned in time to arm themselves and implement defensive measures that were turning his lighting raid into a slugging match. Costly ... but it's a fight we will win, unless something else goes wrong.

Which it immediately did.

Besh had just emerged to repeat their leap-frogging motion when two saber-armed knights hit them from behind, cutting through their ranks like buzz saws. Reaction from Aurek and Cresh was nearly instantaneous, but suprise was total and the three Knights fought like banshees. Worse, as the mercs turned to engage they were instantly attacked by the two remaining knights within the compound as well. In addition accurate blaster fire opened up from across the street, making it impossible for the mercenaries to cover effectively against either force. They still outnumbered the Jedi four-to-one, but against well-trained force users...

Slaad knew they were beaten. He also knew what the penalty for a second failure against these Mak'Tor would be, and there were far better ways to die than at the hands of Rhul Stour making an example of him for others...

And this way I can maybe take one or two with me...

Slaad's communications tech and aid were already engaged with one of the Jedi, the one who had led the reinforcements on Peg Shar. His purple blade was a flashing streak of light as he closed, deflecting blaster bolts and melee weapons with equal skill. His men would last only seconds...

Slaad lifted the rocket launcher, aimed and fired. The Jedi reacted, screaming a name, his careful defense replaced by a furious attack. Slaad had a momentary feeling of satifaction, of knowing he'd at least hurt the bastards, before a purple-white flame severed his head from his body and all thought ended forever...

<<<< >>>>

"Joanna! Incoming!" Alex reached into the force and found a more direct pathway, hammering aside the two Mandalorians who had attempted to flank his

attack as the third raised a rocket launcher and aimed it toward Joanna's position across the street ... and fired.

"JOANNA!!!!" Alex lunged forward, his blade sweeping, but he was to late. The rocket leaped away, flying low across the street and slamming into the

stick stone facade Joanna was sheltered behind. Rock chips flew and Alex had a fleeting view of his wife spinning away from the explosion. Before

the Mandalorian's severed head hit the ground Alex was pounding toward his wife, bounding with force-enhanced leaps to reach her.

<<<< >>>>

Donovan finished off the last Mando mercenary, his blade swinging through an orbit before coming around and clashing with another Knight's blade. "Sif!"

"Don" Koawan Sif'an'Cam grinned at her childhood friend. "Just in time. You never could resist a dramatic entrance, could you?"

"Nope." His eyes softened slightly. "I am glad we were in time to help."

"Me, too. Your warning gave us just enough time to get the auto-turrets online and pull everyone back into the defensive perimeter. Without that..."

"Glad to help." Donovan grinned, then his face changed. "Joanna..."

"Who?" Sif questioned, then turned at the sound of movement behind her.

Framed in fire, Alex shuffled forward, his wife unconscious and bleeding in his arms. "Help me, please?"

Chapter 5: Interlude Part 1
Mak'Tor Enclave
Syvris, Outer Rim
5 ABY

Alex had never felt more powerless. He sat in an anteroom, his wife's blood on his clothing, and stared at the place where more of her blood had stained the floor. Alex knew he was strong in the force, but his training had centered on stealth and manipulation of events. Mind tricks and hiding, and when necessary fighting but not healing. He knew only the most rudimentary healing techniques, and only how to apply them internally. The healing arts of the Mak'Tor were a mystery, their healers an unknown quantity he wasn't really comfortable trusting with his wife's life.

The argument now leaking through the door didn't do anything to help. "What is going on?"

"There's a ... dispute ... between the healers on the best way to proceed." Donovan replied. He was sitting with Alex, offering support. "Apparently some new technique recently came to light and Healer Ann'A'Mack wants to..."

He was cut off by the door opening and the younger of the two healers who were attending Joanna popping out. "Master Krin, I need to speak with you..."

Alex and Donovan stood. "Of course, Healer...?"

"Call me Anna." The young woman was pleasant but had an air of intense urgency about her. "Master Krin, your wife is very badly injured. The explosion..."

"The explosion did great bodily damage, which we all already knew." The Master Healer, introduced to Alex only minutes before as Master Healer Ne'Li'Lus, emerged behind her young subordinate. "I already told you, Anna: Those motifs are to dangerous to use without proper support..."

"But without them she'll die!" Anna replied in exasperation. "We both know it! The song is clear, we need to..."

"Need to? Now you're the Master Healer? One seminar on M'Tzigon with that rouge and you suddenly know more than..."

"Rogue? He's no rogue!?! He's a great man and a great healer! Look what he accomplished on Geonosis! Have you ever seen..."

"Yes! Look what he accomplished! He nearly killed himself! And now you want to replicate his accompishments here, and maybe excede them..."

"SHUT UP!!!"

Everyone froze, suddenly silent, and it took Alex a moment to comprehend that he'd in fact been the one to shout. He took a deep breath. "This is not helping. Now, one at a time..." He looked at the Master Healer. "Master Lus, what is your recommendation?"

The older woman shot a glaring look at her young companion but composed herself to address him. "Your wife is badly hurt. We're administering traditional bacta-based therapies but we're losing ground to quickly. I'd like to try a full immersion with healing therapies and song-assisted healing flows from the healers present..."

Alex saw the young healer, Anna, roll her eyes and he raised a hand in her direction to silence her imminent comment. "I see. And what is your prognosis?"

Master Healer Lus' face fell. "I'm nearly certain your wife will survive, but she will likely have significant loss of motor function to her legs and may require implants or full cybernetic enhancement to return full mobility and use."

"I see." Alex pushed down a rising sense of panic and intense helplessness and despair. He turned to Anna. "Now ... what is your recommendation?"

Anna looked defiantly at her superior, took a deep breath, and met Alex' look with a level gaze. "Your wife's injuries could be addressed with a new healing motif we've recently been made aware of..."

"That's far to energy intensive and you know it!" Lus exploded and Alex gave her an icy stare.

"Healer Lus, you've said your piece. Healer Mack, please continue."

"As I was saying... This new motif is ... volatile ... but it offers full and nearly immediate recovery. But..." She looked at Alex, then Donovan and Koawan Sif'an who had just entered the room, "...I will need your help." She looked at Master Healer Lus. "All of your help."

Ne'Li glared at Anna for a moment before closing her eyes and sighing. She looked at Alex. "Master Krin, she's your wife. I cannot recommend it, but the decision is yours."

Alex looked at the two healers. He opened himself to the force, gently probing their emotions. Both were sincere, truthful and were utterly convinced they were right and the other wrong. Both new their own proposal was not without risk, and both were willing to abide by his decision, whatever that might be.

Alex closed his eyes and turned his thoughts briefly inward. Oh, One who loves me, give me wisdom! Alex took a deep breath, thought about his wife, what she would want...

He looked at Ann'a'Mack. "Healer Mack ... what do you need me to do to help?"

<<<< >>>>

The room felt full. In the center, Joanna lay still, her body broken. She was lying in a bacta bath, the bacta already working on the open lacerations and deep cuts across her side, back and abdomen. She was also hooked up to breathing apparatus to keep her blood oxygenated while electrical feeds kept her heart beating and in rhythm. At her head Healer Mack stood, already humming under her breath while she gripped an oddly glowing gem hanging like an amulet from a chain around her neck. Despite her previous objections Master Healer Lus, at her right, was humming the same tune, and Alex could feel the power and energy pouring out of both of them. Alex stood next to Lus, facing Donovan and his friend Koawan Sif'an'Cam, who were opposite, holding hands and also humming.

For a moment Alex felt like he was participating in some form of twisted, dark magic, but he threw it off. If one of his martial arts classmates had seen him during his midnight workouts he might have thought Alex was just as magical. He could feel the force, the flow of energy, even if he had no idea how the tune all four of the Mak'Tor were now humming in unison tied in. Slowly Alex stilled his mind, concentrating on the flow, and after a moment he was able to match their flow and mimic it in the force. He let the pattern settle, then focused every ounce of energy he could muster into enhancing and supporting that flow...

Music exploded around him. For what seemed like a single, endless, eternal moment it soared ... harmony over harmony, melody interlocking with melody. One melody he instantly recognized - the melody the Mak'Tor were humming! But it was different. Deeper. Reinforced by a deep, rich harmony who's beauty wrapped around him, entracing him. It was like sitting onstage with the universe' most expansive orchestra, surrounded by music. Alex let the rich harmonies roll around him, feeling the flow of the force merging with the music, concentrating power in ways he'd never imagined. He floated, timeless, listening in utter fascination...

A hand squeezed his as he came back to himself. Alex looked down in wonder as his wife's hand gripped his own. Alex could feel himself connected to the others in the force, a lattice of energy that stitched back and forth and over and around Joanna. He watched in wonder as the bacta itself glowed faintly with the energy, mirroring the faint glow of the crystal amulet around Ann'A'Mack's neck. The glow was also faintly highlighting Joanna's wounds - and they were closing. Rapidly.

Alex watched in wonder as his wife's body literally reformed before his eyes. Where there had been gaping, open wounds there were now only faint pink lines. Heart and lungs were now functioning on their own as well, and her neural activity was also returning to normal. Alex felt the song fading away now, the drain of force energy slacking, leaving his legs trembling and his core weak with force-fatigue. He felt utterly drained ... but it was all worth it to see Joanna's eyes flutter open. He lifted her hand and kissed it gently, holding her eyes with his own. "Welcome back, my love."

<<<< >>>>

A hand shook his shoulder and Alex opened his eyes. "Alex! There you are. Wake up!"

Alex came back to himself, his eyes fluttering open as the music faded in his mind. He found himself sitting in a comfortable chair outside the treatment area, in a comfortable anteroom. He shifted, sitting up straighter while he stretched very sore muscles. "Joanna? How is she?"

"She's fine. Sleeping for now." Anna grinned at him. "The song drained us, as Neli said it would. You weren't the only one who crashed!" Anna reached out and laid her hand on his forehead and he could feel her gentle force probe wash over him. "Simple exhaustion, fortunately." She picked up one of the insulated cups Alex noticed were sitting on the table beside them. "Here, drink this."

Alex sniffed, then tood a drink. The liquid was hot and sweet with a strong nutty, bitter flavor reminiscent of cafe but not the same. "Thank you. What is this?"

"Folks back home call it a 'latte', its a concentrated form of cafe mixed with steamed sweet-milk." Anna sipped her own. "Its actually not medicinal, just very good tasting and I'm afraid quite addicting."

Alex nodded, taking another drink. "Well, thank you for introducing me to it." Alex sat back slightly and looked at the healer - girl, really - over the top of the cup. "So, Healer Mack, what exactly happened in there?" He nodded at her amulet. "And what did that crystal have to do with it? I was trained by a Master Jedi and I've continued my training and meditations since leaving him, but I've never encountered anything like you Mak'Tor before."

Anna gripped her amulet self-consciously. "We ... try to keep a low profile. The people we help are generally considered the dregs of society - slaves, servants, the generally down-trodden. We offer hope and light the hopeless and those trapped in darkness. As you can imagine, these people don't have a lot of interest in turning us in."

Alex nodded. "Well, someone turned in the operation on Peg Shar, and if you're capable of what I just saw I'm surprised some Hutt hasn't already scooped you all up as slaves."

"We're all concerned about the attack on Peg Shar. We had a similar attack here not to long ago with some ... horrible results. But it wasn't about the power of the Song, but about the crystals themselves. One of my clansmen has gotten mixed up in some serious power plays over them, and as you saw they can facilitate some amazing things. I can't say I agree with everything he's done but several of the Clan healers met with him just before I came here. While we were there he shared what we call a 'motif', a tune in the Song. Its a modification of a memory motif of all things. The way it was explained was that the force rebuilds the body into the undamaged state it had before the injury was sustained. The crystal helps focus the energy and allows me to tie in other people, otherwise the energy required would be to much for all but the smallest repairs. There is also a time factor, the body only 'remembers' how it was for a few hours. The longer you wait, the less effective the technique will be. After even a few days full healing is impossible and after only a couple of weeks it doesn't work at all."

Alex nodded. "So ... the music I heard was the song?"

Anna set her cup down and leaned forward. "You heard the song? Describe it."

Alex did his best to relay the experience while she listened, nodding. "That's interesting. Usually a novice will hear a simple tune or an ethereal sound like music playing in the distance. But what you're describing sounds like you plunged right into the heart of it. Am I right thinking you couldn't really discern a clear melody?"

"No, just a very deep, rich interweaving of melodies and harmony, all different but all weaving together into a melodious whole." Alex sighed. "I couldn't understand it or fully comprehend it but I can't forget it either. It was just ... beautiful."

"That's the Song. I don't think even Master Karmack understands more than a fraction of it." Anna replied. "Still, I'm glad you could hear it. Most force users can't."

Alex sighed again, slumping in the chair. "Well, whatever it is its gone now." He gestured with his chin. "And the crystal? Did you create it?"

Anna looked down at her amulet, cradling it in her hands. "No, Master Karmack actually tuned it. He presented one to each of us at the conference. They came from a previous cache of crystals he and his wife recovered from the Empire." Anna tucked the crystal back into her robes and stood. "Rest, Master Krin. Your wife will be waking up in a few hours. You should sleep as well, we'll need to be on our way soon after she awakes."

"But I have more questions..." Alex tried to rise only to find his legs wouldn't support him. "What... What is happening?" His vision swam as he sat back and he looked back at the cup she'd given him. "What did you...."

Anna reached over and picked the cup up. "I said the latte wasn't medicinal. I didn't say there wasn't anything medicinal in it. Now go to sleep..."

Alex thought he should be angry at her, but he suddenly didn't have the energy. He slipped back into a deep, healing sleep with the vague notion in his mind that healers were sneaky...

<<<< >>>>

Chapter 5: Interlude Part 2
Mak'Tor Enclave
Syvris, Outer Rim
5 ABY

"So, Opal, what have we got?"

Ja'Mason had remained behind with the Shard in the landing bays while Donavan, Alex and Joanna had charged off to relieve the Mak'Tor mission. Together they'd cracked the security on the merc's computers. The discoveries had been ... disturbing.

First, they'd found a full set of schematics for the Mak'Tor mission facilities on both Peg Shar and Syvris, as well as missions on three other worlds. Ja'Mason had already sent warning messages to those places and received acknowledgements, much to his relief. Next they'd confirmed that the Mak'Tor crystals were the objective, but had been alarmed to find that Donovan, Ja'Mason, Elo'Na'Racc and the other healers had all be given a bounty as well. As had Alex and Joanna. They'd then discovered that Alex had been identified as a "person of interest" in relation to a possible siting of a free Shard with a "terminate with extreme prejudice" order attached for both Alex and the Shard in question. The accompanying description had been a dead ringer for Opal's former droid body. And as a final unpleasant surprise, they'd discovered that the Hope had been tagged with a tracking device.

They'd spent the last two days searching for it....

"I have eliminated 87.424% of the ship and narrowed the search to the hyperdrive system itself as well as several minor sub-systems that tie into both the drive and the comm system. Gambler and Blip did a complete survey of the ship's outer hull with zero results: they are now completing an exhaustive survey of the inner hull with..." Opal cut off in mid-sentence, her head twitching slightly to the left in a gesture Ja'Mason was coming to recognize as surprise and interest. "Update: I think I have it, friend Ja'Mason. Confirming..."

Ja'Mason moved to look over the Shard's shoulder at the computer terminal, only to shake his head. The Shard was not a droid, but she had a droid's operating system and processing speed; the screen was a hashed blur of symbols and numbers that made his head hurt. But based on the graphics and schematics flashing by she was deep in the Hope's navigational computer. The screens flicked by for several seconds and then suddenly froze with a datablock highlighted. "Well well well..."

"Tracker isolated and stored for future analysis ... repairing programming ..." Opal intoned, sounding more like a droid than normal as the screens began flickering again. Unlike the search, repairs only took a few moments and Opal withdrew. "Repairs complete."

Ja'Mason poured a cup of cafe from the machine and sat down at the lounge table. "So, what was it Opal? Not a physical tracker after all?"

"No, Friend Ja'Mason. It appears that the navicomputer itself was compromised. The code is highly advanced and appeares to be based on Imperial technology but it has been highly modified. There were also connections to the emergency transpoder. Every time the computer implemented a course, the emergency transpoder transmitted a burst transmission, updating whoever was listening with our movements."

"How rude." Ja'Mason quipped. "Still, you have to admire it. Using the ship's own systems to track it ... very efficient. Just what I would expect from the Impies."

"But we did not encounter Imperial forces before we were intercepted by the Interdictor." Opal replied, puzzled. "And this could not have been inserted via comm. It would require a direct, hard-line interface."

"Which means whoever those Imperials were, they're behind the muscle chasing us." Ja'Mason replied. "C'mon, Opal. Time for us to report to our bosses."

<<<< >>>>

"Joanna..." Alex breathed the name, his eyes moist as his wife walked shakily into the room. She was unsteady and obviously weak, her healed wounds covered by the soft gray of Mak'Tor acolyte robes though Alex could detect faint pink traces on the back of her left hand and on the left side of her face. Her green eyes were clear, however, and they shone as she stopped and opened her arms to him. Alex folded her in his arms, burying his face in her hair and for a long, perfect moment everything was right with the world. "I love you, Joanna Krin."

"And I love you, Alex Krin." Joanna whispered back. She kissed him and then pulled his head down to whisper in his ear. "One day you need to explain to me how it is I am still alive. I felt the missile, Alex. I felt it go through me..."

"Shhh." Alex pulled back, placing a finger on her lips and capturing her eyes with his own. "I will. For now its enough that you're here. Hold onto that. The One who loves us will fill in the rest for us as we need to understand."

Joanna blinked as tears streamed down her cheeks but she nodded, capturing his hand and kissing it. "OK."

Alex pulled her tight again, looking up to see Ann'a and Ne'Li standing behind her. "Thank you. Thank you both."

"You're welcome." Ne'Li replied, her own eyes shining. "Now, I believe Do'Na'Vann and Ja'Mason and the one called Opal wish to speak with you. Go, we have preparations to make."

Alex nodded, and with his wife tucked protectively under his arm he walked out into the main atrium, ready again to face whatever was about to be revealed to them.

<<<< >>>>

"The Empire? The EMPIRE is after you? And us? Why?!?"

Opal's head dropped. "This is partially my fault, friend Alex. They seek to end me. I know not why, but I suspect it has something to do with the reason I was taken offline in the first place." The Shard's shoulders drooped further. "Though I must admit I do not know what those reasons are."

"They want the crystals, Alex. We're all just collateral to that." Donovan interjected. "The other three sites are being evacuated with some help from the Sons, they'll stage through Actis Minor and back to M'Tzigon. But with the knights, healers and acolytes here we have twenty souls to find transport for."

Alex shook his head. "That's more than the Hope can handle. We'd be crammed in like sardines and run out of air before the end of the first jump."

"What about the Kom'rk transports?" Sif interjected. "If Ja'Mason broke into their systems we should be able to use one of them to evacuate everyone. Are they intact?"

"One is. I'm afraid the cockpit of one was ... mangled ... pretty badly. The other one, though, is intact and flight worthy." Ja'Mason replied. "There'd be plenty of room on board for everyone."

"Not everyone." Joanna spoke up. She looked at Alex. "These people have put a price on our heads. I want some answers."

"As do I." Donovan said. He looked at Sif'an. "Sif, do you have a pilot on your team?"

"I do." Sif replied. "I assume you want me to take your cargo and healers with me?"

"Yes. Get everyone back to M'Tzigon and give Cage Lo a heads-up about this situation." Donovan turned to Alex. "Ja'Mason and I would like to accompany you, if you'll have us? Maybe we can find out exactly what's going on ... and how to deal with it?"

Alex felt the swelling in the force, the sense of peace and reinforcement, and he smiled. "You're most welcome. Just be ready to get your hands dirty."

"We're Gray. A little dirt just adds to the texture." Donovan grinned and extended his hand. "So, where are we headed?"

Alex took it. "The belly of the beast, where everything is for sale: Nar Shadda."

Chapter 6: Smuggler's Moon
Spaceport Docks
Nar Shaddaa
5 ABY

"So ... why Nar Shaddaa again?" Ja'Mason asked from the Navigator's station. His voice was calm and casual, but Alex could feel the tension flowing through him.

Alex glanced at his wife before turning to face the nervous Mak'Tor. "We have ... contacts here."

"Contacts. What kind of contacts?"

"People who can help us with our 'Imperial entanglements'." Alex elaborated, turning back to his console. "People who may or may not be trustworthy. People who owe us ... and may prefer to eliminate the debtor rather than pay off the debt." He glanced back at the gray-robed Knight. "People who really don't like Jedi."

Ja'Mason scowled, then looked down at his robe. "Oh. Right. We brought combat utilities with us. I'll, uh, just go change..."

Joanna waited for Ja'Mason to reach the cargo bay before she spoke. She kept her voice low, though her own intense emotions also burned brightly in the force for Alex to see: Worry, traces of fear, excitement, anger... "I will say it again: Hokk Dnum is a bad play! He's mixed in with Lannik Racto and those freaky 'Reborn'. For all we know he may be the one behind the hit order! The Reborn would certainly love to get his hands on something like these Mak'Tor crystals!"

"True... But Hokk is a straight-up techno-nerd. He slices into Impie systems for fun and even the Hutts buy his security systems to keep their crypto safe. And he owes me. Big time." Alex sighed. "No, he'll play straight with me. I just hope he hasn't gone and traded the cache for death stix or spice." He looked over at his wife again. "Besides, your friend Zimra isn't exactly trustworthy, either. Didn't he threaten to sell you to the Hutts as a pleasure slave the last time you and your Uncle were here?"

"Yes... but that was a long time ago! Besides, he wasn't serious. If he'd really meant it..." Joanna left the thought hanging. Zimra Ceopas was a shrewed and ruthless businessman who had a profound weakness for red-heads. Which wouldn't have stopped him from murdering her Uncle and selling her into slavery ... if the price had been right. But for whatever reason he really like Joanna and she trusted him. Joanna had never told Alex why, he only knew that the relationship stretched back to when she was first apprenticing with her Uncle, before she'd ever met Alex, and that for all its veneer of mystery and danger it was genuine and more akin to a father-daughter relationship than anything else. "I'll take Opal with me. That should help dissuade any 'squishies' from getting any ideas."

"Good." Alex noted an incoming transmission and shunted it to Joanna. "Nar Shaddaa control has assigned us a flight path and landing privileges at pad 227-D. Not to far from the Promenade." Alex laid his hand protectively on Joanna's thigh. "Be careful, and wear some armor, eh? We don't have a Mak'Tor healer with a magic crystal to put anyone back together this time."

"If you say so." Joanna locked the flight corridor into the computer and sat back. She looked at the glistening moon growing in the view port and sighed. "It looks so pretty from space ... why does it have to be so full of evil?"

Alex shook his head. "I don't know. Just remember where we are and that we're marked. Your "Uncle Zimmie" might overlook the bounty, but you can bet there are hundreds or thousands of others who would love to collect it."

"Got it." Joanna replied. "What about the Wonder Twins?"

Alex grimaced slightly. "I'll take them with me. Hopefully they know how to keep a low profile."

<<<< >>>>

Ja'Mason finished strapping on the thigh armor as the Hope settled onto the landing pad. "Is this really necessary?"

Donovan walked over and gripped the edges of his partner's chest plate and gave it a tug. The clam-shell, properly strapped, didn't budge, but the tug unbalanced the Knight just as the ship lurched, tossing him to the floor in a heap. "Hey!"

Donovan grinned down at him. "Secure, and now you know you can move freely in it. To answer your question: Yes, it is. First, we don't know what we're walking into here, but you can be sure that whatever it is will include lots of heavily armed people. Second, we need to be discrete and blend in. The armor will help on both accounts."

Ja'Mason rose gracefully and poked his chest. "Ok... But I feel like a walking toaster."

"I actually find the effect somewhat alluring, friend Ja'Mason." Opal chimed in, emerging from the armory. She had sturdy-looking leather belts festooned with pouches and sporting holstered DL-44 blasters in each hand. "Since you cannot carry your weapons internally as I can, you will need these however."

"Thanks." Donovan took the belt and buckled it on. "What's this long pouch for?"

"Guess." Alex entered the cargo hold, holding his lightsaber in his hand. "Out of sight, out of mind..." he said, brandishing it briefly before ducking into his own quarters.

"Of course!" The Knight un-clipped his own saber from the light belt he'd already fastened around his waist and deposited it into the narrow sheath. "There. Stealth mode."

"You call this stealth?" Ja'Mason put his arms out and twirled, scattering light from the polished armor. "I feel like a S'Kar'Yom decoration!

Alex laughed through the open door. "Ja'Mason, that's exactly right: You're decoration. Showy, obvious body guards for someone with money who has way to high an opinion of their own worth." He re-emerged and the transformation was startling. A quick change of clothing and Alex had gone from free-trader to money-man, his clothing screaming "wealth" to anyone who had eyes to see. He eyed Joanna, emerging from the cockpit and donning flashy armor of her own. "To bad we have to split up. You should see the dress Joanna has to go with this suit."

Both Knights looked involuntarily at Joanna, eyes slightly wide, then as one they both looked away quickly, their cheeks flaming with embarrassment. Joanna gave her husband a stern look. "Alex...."

Alex laughed. "Sorry. Its just, they're so easy...ow!" He recoiled as Joanna punched him in the arm. "Spousal abuse! You all saw it!"

"Friend Alex, perhaps we should focus on the task at hand?" Opal interjected, and the atmosphere in the room seemed to shift.

"Yes, you're right Opal." Alex withdrew a small data rod from his pocket and plugged it into the main holographic display in the crew lounge area. A map of their immediate surroundings sprang to life, with cutaways for the descending levels of the mega-city. A small yellow bead strobed at the top center of the cylinder. "This is Nar Shaddaa, the area known as The Docks. The Promenade is nearby, which is the main tourist area and one of the few areas on the planet that is reasonably safe."

"Reasonable for whom?" Donovan quipped. "This armor and weaponry isn't just for show."

"No, its not." Joanna replied, taking over. "Nar Shaddaa is a dangerous place. Everything - and everyone - is for sale. But the Promenade is the closest thing to a tourist section on the planet and its vigorously patrolled by the Hutt's security details. Its as safe as any urban area in the galaxy, but you still need to watch your back. This is where Opal and I will be going: The Stallion, a public house that caters to tourists looking for a good time. Its owned and operated by Zimra Ceopas, a long-time friend of my family. 'Uncle Zimmie' has extensive connections with the Hutts, the smugglers, and the Empies, and his establishment is considered neutral ground, a free-trade zone where everyone can meet and do business. It would take something huge to compel anyone to break that truce. I should be safe with him, And he can identify which mercenary group has been hired to track us down ... and where they're located."

"As for us," Alex said, picking up the narrative from his wife, "we'll be heading into one of the high-rent areas to visit an information broker..."

"You mean slicer." Ja'Mason interrupted.

"...an information broker with whom I've had dealings in the past. He owes me, more than he could ever repay, but with a little luck he'll be able to help us identify the Imperial remnant tracking us and help us break contact with them."

"Sounds like a risky contact to me." Donovan said. "What if he isn't inclined to pay you back?"

"Well, that's why I'm taking two security guards with me." Alex replied. "Just be on your toes. This is the easy part. Once we find out who's after us, the real work begins. Are you Mak'Tor up for it?"

"You can count on us." Ja'Mason replied.

<<<< >>>>

Joanna moved with confidence through the multi-colored neon of the Promenade, light winking her armor as well as the polished skin of Opal's body. To the many eyes and sensors no doubt focused on them the Shard would appear to be an Imperial security droid. Her presence would mark Joanna as someone with Imperial patronage and protection, which was a good thing in this part of Nar Shaddaa. Her armor would further indicate that she herself was a hired gun: someone dangerous and not to be trifled with.

As they moved along the crowded walkway Joanna's fingers brushed the handle of her DL-44. Not for the first time she wished she could sense the force like her husband. She had a bad feeling about this meeting, but she was pretty sure it was just nerves. She and "Uncle Zimmie" hadn't parted on the best of terms the last time she'd seen him, and he had to know she'd been back several times with Alex and never looked him up. Despite her confident bluster, she wasn't totally convinced he wouldn't try to make good on his parting threat those years ago... "Get a grip, girl..."

"What would you like me to grasp, friend Joanna?" Opal replied smoothly, her voice shockingly loud in her earpiece and making her jump slightly.

"Oh... Nothing, nothing. Just trying to calm my nerves. Uncle Zimmie and I haven't spoken in some time. I'm just a little worried that seeing him again will be awkward."

"Take heart, friend Joanna. You have me at your back." The Shard chuckled softly, a natural sound that a real security droid would never be able to make. "If it gets to awkward we will depart. In peace if possible. Through the squishies if not."

Joanna grinned. "Opal, where did you come up with 'squishies' as a term for organics?"

"Our security trainer taught it to us. He had a hulking body, nearly as large as an adult Rancor. Rumor was that he had come up with it from the sound his enemies made as they squished out between his toes. I remember one story in particular; there was a large force of..."

"Enough. We're here." Joanna couldn't help but smile as she entered the main doorway. "The Stallion" was what is sounded like - a tourist trap that catered to the desires of spacers and tourists looking for substances and experiences that were exotic and generally illegal on more civilized worlds. As Joanna entered the vast establishment she took in the large, centrally located bar, the half-clad figures of several species and multiple genders writhing on various raised platforms to the numbing rhythm that permeated the establishment, and what seemed like hundreds of people clustered around the platforms, gaming tables and bar trying to get their piece of the action. This was "The Stallion" that 99% of those entering knew ... but it was just a front for where the real business was conducted. "Follow me, Opal ... and try not to squish anything..."

With a deep breath Joanna plunged into the crowd, Opal following close behind. Despite her careful navigation more than one individual made contact with - and bounced off of - her armor. The contact was usually accompanied by a half-heard apology but these were interspersed with propositions and offers of death stix, spice, or other substances. Joanna ignored them all, her attention focused on her goal - a small alcove neatly hidden in the back corner and covered by two unobtrusive guards. She slid between two groups of enthralled spacers clustered around dance platforms occupied by lithe Twi'lecks and was trying to decide exactly what to say to the door guards when someone with a little more heft than the average bumped her off course. She stumbled and impacted a man standing with his back to her, a muted clink announcing that like her the individual was wearing armor. In an instant her focus shifted and she stepped back, creating a slight air gap between them in the crush. "My apologies..."

The armored figure turned and Joanna felt her eyes widen in recognition. "Joe? Joe! What are you doing here??"

Joseph Singleton, human, Captain of the free trader "Shoshana" blinked twice while his brain caught up with events. Joanna had just enough time to read a look of shock, surprise and abject terror on his face before he overcame the surprise and re-asserted control. "Red! Its ... so good to see you. You look well." He grasped her hand and clapped his left on her shoulder, a friendly gesture that also confirmed that she was fully armored under her cloak. "Still paranoid, I see.

Tell me, are you still hopping around on that ancient XS Light Freighter with that crusty uncle of yours? Where is old Sam anyway?"

Joanna frowned. "Uncle Sam is dead. He was killed ... some time ago."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. I hope his death wasn't the reason you've been gone so long?" Singleton probed lightly. He was obviously curious but even as he spoke his eyes darted nervously around the room and his hand on her arm started to guide her deeper into the throng.

"No. I ... met someone. Some time ago. We're married." Joanna blurted out, resisting his pull. Her cheeks flamed. Why did you blurt that out, girl? Just because he's an old flame doesn't mean he gets your life's story! Are you going to confess that you're married to a Jedi next?!? "We've been working a regular run in other areas, but a recent job brought us through so I thought I'd stop and say hello to Uncle Zimmie."

"Married! Congratulations! That explains why no hug and kiss then." Joe's eyes twinkled in mirth, but there was still a hard edge to them. "So, just a friendly visit then? Can I at least buy you a drink, for old time's sake?" Again, the hand on her arm, guiding her deeper into the crowd.

"No, thanks, I'm on a schedule..." Joanna replied, again pulling away. This time the hand on her forearm didn't release: it clamped down like iron. "Ow!"

Before she could say more or do anything her former flame had pulled her into the cover he sought. With a jerk he brought her face to his, nose-to-nose. "Listen, Red, you shouldn't be here. It isn't safe. Zimra has a price on your head...UURK"

Opal's fingers closed on the smuggler's neck. "Your behavior is extremely impolite, squishy. Please release Friend Joanna."

Joanna felt his hands release her as his face turned dark red. "Loosen up, Opal. He's not trying to hurt me." Joanna wrung her hand and arm and waited as Joe recovered from the Shard's iron grip. "Better?"

He nodded. "Ye... Yes. Now, you need to go before Zimra's thugs make an identification."

Joanna looked back at the alcove. The two guards were standing closer together now, one was holding a data padd while the other spoke into a communications device. Both had their free hands on their weapons ... and both of them were staring right at them.

At her... Joanna swallowed, forcing panic down. "To late. Joe, thanks for the warning. I hope this doesn't get you into to much trouble?"

"Probably not as much as passing on that bounty is going to cost me with my crew if they ever find out." He replied with a lopsided grin. "Take care of yourself, Red. And tell whatever-his-name-is how lucky he is for me, eh?"

"You bet." Joanna replied, giving the big smuggler a quick hug. "Now, go left."

"Aye..." He said, moving back into the group of spacers still ogling the dancing Twi'Lek.

"Friend Joanna, we must depart. I detect multiple armed men approaching." Opal said, her voice nervous.

"Wait for it..." Joanna replied, staying non-chalant and appearing to resume her movement toward the rear portal. "Any second now..."

"Get your paws off me! I said no!" Joanna whipped around in time to see a scantily-clad woman shove Joe backwards. He careened sideways into another couple, catching their drinks with his elbows in what had to be a deliberate move. The drinks cascaded over the furry back of a Wookie standing at the bar. With a roar the Wookie turned, ignoring the bowcaster slung over his shoulder in favor of physically grasping the man holding the empty glass and hurling him bodily across the room - and into the pair of security guards, just stepping forward in an attempt to quell the outburst before it could begin.

The man was quickly followed by his companion through the air, with additional bodies erupting away from the enraged (and apparently already drunk) Wookie as other patrons and security forces moved to intervene. The fight spread as the bar's patrons stampeded, most simply attempting to get out but as they came into contact new fights broke out, spreading the conflict ... and the chaos.

"Stay close to me, Friend Joanna!" Opal stood like a rock in the ebb and flow of the crowd. Moving steadily, she used minimal but effective force to clear a path to the edge of the room, which allowed them to work their way toward the door. As they reached the portal, Joanna looked back one more time toward the door into the inner sanctum. Standing framed in the open doorway was Zimra Ceopas, flanked by guards and sporting a massive frown.

Their eyes met. Joanna searched, desperate for any sign of compassion or regret. All she saw was hard, hot anger. With a sigh she turned and followed Opal back out into the Promenade and its milling, anonymous crowds. She an Opal moved swiftly and randomly, pausing frequently, always looking for pursuit. They found none, but as Joanna paused to purchase a cup of cafe - and let Opal check again for any pursuit - she felt something scratchy on the inside of her wrist. With a frown she withdrew it from her glove. "Joe..."

The message was short. You need help. Meet me at the usual place. J

"Good news?" Opal asked, continuing her scan.

Joanna sipped her drink. "Maybe. C'mon, lets go. I need to check in, and we have a long ways to go."

Chapter Seven: Black Magic
Near the Spaceport Docks
Nar Shaddaa
5 ABY

"I think we're being followed." Alex said as non-chalantly as possible. "Dark hooded figure, about 40 meters back. They've been with us for the last twenty minutes or so."

Donovan didn't look, instead using a handy glass front as a mirror to examine the throng behind them. "I see them. You're sure they've not just going our way? I'm not picking up anything unusual in the song or the force."

"Me, either. But I've been catching glimpses of them almost since we left the berth, and they stop when we stop." Alex frowned. "There's a cafe shop around the corner. Let's grab a cup and see if our friend joins us."

"Sounds good." Donovan agreed. "Assuming they are following us, what's next?"

"Well then ... we go down the rabbit hole." Alex replied with a grin. "Come on, let me buy you boys a drink. That armor looks heavy."

<<<< >>>>

"Still there..." Ja'Mason said quietly. "I lost him while we were in the cafe shop but I'm catching a glimpse again every now and then."

"Me, too." Alex said. "OK, there's a narrow alleyway coming up. Donovan, turn in there. Ja'Mason, as soon as we turn in find a dark doorway and duck into it."

"You say so..." The Mak'Tor couldn't quite hide the incredulity in his voice. Alex had assured the Knights he could cover their presence while projecting a false image of them ahead. He didn't need their "song" to know that they didn't believe he could pull it off, but he didn't really care if they believed him or not. He knew he could do it. All he needed was for them to follow his lead.

"I do. Donovan and I will take the next convenient place and I'll pull the covers over us until he passes you. When he's between us, we'll spring the trap and find out who he is and what he's after."

"But..." Ja'Mason started, only to be cut off by Donovan's growled response.

"Let's do it. And stay covert if at all possible. Understood?"

"Affirm." Ja'Mason grumped.

"Good." Alex suppressed a sigh. "We need information. Let's get some, eh?"

The Knights fell silent and Alex suppressed another sigh. He'd begun to notice the two Knights chaffing a bit at his leadership. Donovan was a natural leader and very pragmatic, Ja'Mason more dogmatic in his views and a bit more stubborn. Both of them, however, were very firm in their belief in the superiority of their 'song' to the more traditional Jedi teachings. While he'd already seen some amazing things (and heard stories even more fantastic) that their song could do he was growing tired of their unconscious arrogance and sense of superiority. He found that he was actually looking forward to teaching them a thing or two - and showing them that they didn't in fact have a corner on "special abilities".

The tension between them ratcheted up slightly as they turned the corner. Alex immediately squelched it, driving his energy and hormone levels back down to normal. Hopefully their tail wouldn't notice it ... or assume it meant they were nearing their own destination. There was a house of ill repute further down this alley, a place where business of many types was conducted. Before they'd taken more than three steps into the dark, narrow alley all three of them had their bodies back under control. With a nod Ja'Mason broke off and melted back into a dark doorway, disappearing from sight in the darkness. Within seconds Alex found a similar hiding place, with Donovan across from him and a few steps further on. OK, Alex. Time to make good on your boast...

Concentrating, Alex focused on the force, bringing it into focus. He'd been practicing this for years, perfecting his technique, but in all that time he still hadn't found a better way to describe what he did than to find a 'hole' in the flow of the force ... and step into it. Metaphysically, of course. Simply hiding was no longer hard for him, but here more was needed. Deception, as well as stealth... But he was a Jedi Sentinel, a Shadow...

Stealth was his speciality.

Alex found the hole and pulled himself and the two Knights into it, wrapping them in layers of force eddies that refracted and deflected their own force presence. The two Knights were doing their best to minimize their presence as well, and it was a respectable effort, but not enough to hide from another force user walking a few feet away. But in the hole? With Alex' enhanced 'cloak' around them? They were quite suddenly and completely invisible in the force.

The easy part is done. Now for the hard part... Concentrating hard, Alex focused on the auras of his companions and carefully projected a false image. He'd started preparing it when they were in the cafe shop, just adding the final details now that he'd actually seen the alley. To anyone watching them with flesh-and-blood eyes they would have seen three figures suddenly back into shadows and seem to disappear. SOmeone watching in the force, however, would have seen a blur as they rounded the corner, what looked like an attempt to blot out their force signatures ... and then three greatly diminished auras running down the alley in a bid to break contact with their pursuit.

Alex felt sweat trickle down his back as he continued the projection down the alleyway. He couldn't keep it going to long, the alley wasn't long enough. Either their tail would bite and reveal himself by running around the corner to catch up, or he would break off and they'd be out of luck again. The projections were nearing the club Alex had picked as their "target" ... no sign of their tail ...

Alex was burning with the effort of the complicated task and was about to give up when a black-robed figure rounded the corner, moving quickly. Gritting his teeth, Alex dug deeper and held the projection and the stealth until the robed figure was in between the two Knights. "Now! Grab him!"

The three knights sprang. It took Alex a moment to shake off the concentration of the illusion, so he was a step behind the Mak'Tor, who moved as one man to pincer the dark-robed stranger. "Hold, friend, we want to tal..."

With a complicated hand gesture their shadow seemed to mime gathering something into his hands ... then dropped into a crouch, slamming that hand down into the ground. What looked like a rolling wave of fire slammed out, up and down the alley-way, throwing both Knights back and off of their feet.

Due to his hesitation Alex just missed being hit by the blast, which rolled by him. There was no heat, and Alex could sense the power of the Force behind it. He let it flow by, avoiding the after-wash. The black-robed figure repeated the complicated gathering gesture, this time releasing what looked like a fireball directly at him. Alex used a variation of the his 'hidey-hole' technique to bend the force-projection and it's embedded force-push around his body. He was close enough now to see as well as sense the small figure's surprise. Alex grinned at the wide eyes, but the accompanying chuckle died in his throat as the stranger whirled and drew a wicked looking sword. "Wait!"

The diminutive warrior adopted a defensive stance, the black outer robe dropping away to reveal flowing black hair, flashing eyes, and toned feminine curves. "I will NOT yield!"

Alex held his hands out, open and empty. "I'm not asking you to. We just want to talk."

"No one who can hide himself and two apprentices wishes only to talk with one of my Order." The girl shifted stance again, moving subtly away from Alex while clutching an amulet hanging around her neck. "I must fine The One! Let me pass!"

"Not happening, sister." Ja'Mason said, dusting himself off. His saber was in his hand, but remained extinguished. "We don't want any trouble, but if you really want to dance..."

"Ja'Mason..." Alex flicked his eyes at the Mak'Tor's saber. "Discrete."

The Knight rolled his eyes but Alex felt the tension in his body fade slightly. He turned to the jittery girl. "My name is Alex. What's your name?"

The girl's eyes flicked between Alex, Donovan and Ja'Mason. She swallowed and licked her lips before answering. "I am called Shalon, apprentice to Master Nonn Shrall, the last Sorcerer of Tund."

Alex noted the name. He had no idea who the Sorcerers of Tund were, but they obviously harnessed some form of force-based magic. Filing that away for later Alex stood up straighter, lowering his hands but leaving them open and held wide. "Well, Shalon, you said you needed to find The One, but I need to know why you're following me?"

A confused look crossed the girl's eyes. "I am not following you."

"I beg to differ." Alex countered. "I saw you on Peg Shar, just before we engaged the Mandalorians outside the Mak'Tor mission. Or do you deny being there?"

"I was there." Shalon gripped her sword tighter, tensing again. "But I was not following you."

"Then why were you there?" Alex countered.

Shalon gestured toward Donovan with her sword. "I was following them. After our order was destroyed and our home burned, Master Shrall was given a vision:

< The Singers would lead us to the One
The One would take us to a new home
Among the living stones >

Alex shook his head as an image of wide savannah suddenly flooded his mind, with a small outcrop occupied by the girl, a tall dark-robed figure, and what looked to be a pair of droids...

"What was that?" Donovan growled. His own saber remained sheathed but his hand hovered near it as he shook his head clear.

"Force projection." Alex replied. Mentally he raised his evaluation of the girl's abilities and brought stronger mental defenses into place himself. "A strong one."

"Yes. I wanted you to understand." Shalon said, assuming her defensive stance again. "Now ... are we going to do this? Or can you take me to The One?"

Donovan shot Ja'Mason a look, then stepped up next to Alex. "Answer one question: Are you working with anyone else to track us? Or are you on your own?"

Shalon hesitated for a moment, and Alex sensed her shifting emotions as fear and her own distrust of them clashed with her need to accomplish her mission and what felt like a genuine desire to be truthful and honest. The latter drives quickly overwhelmed the former and she sighed. "No one. I am alone."

Donovan continued to stare at her for a moment, his eyes opaque as he listened for the Song. Finally satisfied he blinked and nodded to Alex. "She's telling the truth."

"I know." Alex replied with his own exasperated sigh. "You know, we really need to..." A beep from his belt interrupted him. "Hold that thought." Alex pulled the comm form his belt and activated it to see an incoming message from his wife. He opened it and read the message from his wife. "Well. Joanna wasn't able to make contact with 'Uncle Zimmie' after all. There was trouble and she's in the wind. She wants to meet at one of our old rally points." Alex turned the device off and tucked it back into its pouch. He looked over at Donovan. "So, you're okay with Shalon coming along and meeting The One?"

Donovan looked at Ja'Mason then back to Alex. "Um, yeah, I guess..."

"Good." Alex picked up Shalon's discarded robe and tossed it to her. "Shalon, welcome to the team. I'd put the tremor sword away, they tend to draw a lot of unwanted attention, and you'll probably need the cloak." Alex turned and strode back out the narrow alley, moving quickly now. "It's usually cold in the Igloo."

Chapter 8: Regroup Part One
Near Hutta Town
Nar Shaddaa
5 ABY

Travelling on the Nar Shaddaa mass transit system and on foot, it took Alex and his party several hours to reach what he would only call "The Igloo". Officially "Cryogenic storage sector 23-A-277-D", the vast cold-storage facility on the edge of Hutta-Town was one of several primary "refrigeration" sectors where everything from cryogenic medical supplies to frozen vegetables were stored for distribution. The massive cooling systems were serviced by miles of service corridors and tunnels crammed with machinery, resevoirs and conduits of their own.

Alex shivered as they moved down one of those corridors now. He'd hidden it, but he was more than a little relieved when the service access hatch opened to his palm-print. Security for what was essentially a vast frozen food warehouse might be lax, but it had been years since he'd been here last. Something as simple as a computer system upgrade could have compromised his access, and he was grateful it hadn't happened. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done about the cold until they reached the 'Igloo' itself except to keep moving.

"How ... much .. further?" Shalon asked behind him through chattering teeth.

Alex started to snap back a reply but stopped himself. The small sorceress had her cloak wrapped around herself but was clearly losing ground to the cold faster than her larger companions. Alex bit off his impatient retort and softened his tone. "We're nearly there. We should be challenged at the next bend, then only another minute or two of brisk walking and we'll be there."

"Challenge?" Donovan asked from the rear. "What kind of security arrangements did you make?"

"Well it's not unlike..." Alex paused as he heard rapid footsteps approaching. "...not unlike a guard dog."

The party stopped as the steps rounded the corner to reveal a white-and-black security droid. The droid was short and squat, less than a meter tall with a wide stance, its arms ending in menacing black weapons ports. The legs were also widely spaced with large v-shaped toes and had reversed knee joints optimized for running. The droid settled, a scanner whirring, before it boomed its challenge in deep-voiced basic.

<< ACCESS UNAUTHORIZED! IDENTIFY! >>

Alex stepped forward. "Zuzu? Where's Eddie?"

The droid crouched down, emitting what sounded like a supressed growl before booming again.

<< VOICEPRINT RECOGNIZED. PASSPHRASE NEEDED FOR AUTHORIZED ACCESS. >>

Alex grinned and stepped forward as he rolled its eyes. "C'mon Zuzu, this is Eddie's schtick. What's up? Where's the big guy?"

The droid braced and the arms locked into firing position. The growl was clearly audible now.

<< PASSPHRASE NEEDED FOR AUTHORIZED ACCESS! >>

Alex shook his head and sighed. "Ok, ok.... What a pretty puppy!"

THe effect on the droid was instantaneous. Immediately the growl stopped, and the arms dropped from their threatening position. Somehow the overall demeanor of the droid became chipper and it bounded forward, practically dancing at Alex' feet. Alex knelt down and patted the droid on the head. "There's the Zuzu I know! Good girl! How's my good girl?"

Donovan and Ja'Mason both relaxed the combat stance they'd adopted and shared a look that clearly questioned Alex' sanity. "You ... know that thing?"

"Of course he does. Zuzu is like a pet kit." Shalon stepped up next to Alex and crouched down. "Would you introduce me?"

Alex grinned. "Of course. Zuzu, this is Shalon. Shalon, Zuzu." He watched as the girl extended a tentative hand, which the droid scanned with his sensors before leaning forward so she could touch the top of his torso behind the cluster of sensor domes.

"It's a dog." Donovan said, shaking his head. "A droid guard-dog."

"With some serious teeth." Ja'Mason added. "Those are legit weapons ports."

"Yup. Two heavy blasters, one in each arm. The left arm also has a back-up slug thrower and the right arm has a small grenade launcher." Alex blew on his hands. "But its freezing out here, and I still need to find out what happened to Eddie." Alex turned to the droid. "Zuzu, Joanna will be along shortly. Tap into the sensor net and meet her when she arrives. She should have some guests with her. R O E yellow. Understood?"

"Yessir!" The droid responded with a bounce, every inch the happy puppy now that his security protocol was satisified. The voice had also modulated into mid-alto range and was now definitely feminine. "The heat is on, but it will be fourteen point two-seven minutes before optimal temperature is reached."

"Got it. Zuzu, you never answered my question: Where's Eddie?"

The short droid deflated slighlty. "He's ... in the bay. Something zapped him seven months ago and he's been offline since. I am fearful his motivator or CPU are critically damaged." Zuzu sighed. "I have been worried since he went offline that if we were to be raided my abilities alone would be insufficient to guard the igloo. I am greatly relieved that you have arrived. I hope you can repair him. I ... miss him."

Alex patted the droid on the head again. "Thank you, Zuzu. I'll see what I can do. Now ... go find Joanna."

The droid actually yipped, turned and trotted off. Alex watched it go, then turned to find all three of his companions staring at him. "What? I had a dog as a kid. She was a great guard dog." Alex blew on his hands again and started walking. "C'mon, lets go get warm."

<<<<< >>>>>

Alex was head-and-shoulders into the access port, carefully removing the primary motivator module when he heard a low whistle from behind him. "Wow..."

With a brush from the force Alex moved some cables and pressed gently on another board, creating just enough clearance for the main module to extract without contacting other parts of the main logic bus. His scanner had shown that Eddie's primary and secondary neural nets were fully intact, but that they were being blocked from interfacing with the Motivator, effectively cutting his brain off from his body. It was a saftey measure Omnicorp built into their Enforcement Drones, both as a safety measure against a droid going rogue as well as an effective anti-theft device.

Alex was no thief, but owning such a droid required many permits that Alex had not been able to obtain. Reprogramming Eddie's base personality matrix and loyalties had been time consuming but not overly challenging. Bypassing the motivator lockout ... that had been far trickier, and obviously not as foolproof as he'd hoped.

Finally clear of the delicate electronics inside Eddie's armored core, Alex extracted himself from the outer warhull, drawing the motivator out with him. He looked over to see Donovan standing and staring at the droid, two steaming cups of cafe forgotten in his hands. "Is that for me?"

"What? Oh, yeah." Donovan extended the cup in his left hand, his eyes never leaving the menacing droid. "I've never seen a battle droid like this one. Where did it come from?"

Alex set the motivator down on his electronics bench and took the offered cup. "I'm not surprised you've never seen one. They were designed by a start-up here on Nal Shaddar called OmniCorp. They built several lines of small security droids, culminating in the ED-100-Z. However, the Zees were unpopular, the main complaints being that they were to small and underpowered to fend off serious attacks and no one took them seriously as a threat. So, they upsized. ED-201 through 212 were built, ranging from about twice the size of Zuzu to the biggest. Three meters tall and armed with two heavy blasters and a kinetic railgun in each arm, as well as a stunner and two light blasters in the chin there."

Donovan whistled again, running a hand appreciatively down the bright white armor on Eddie's arm to the menacing, black weapons ports. "That's a lot of firepower. Why didn't they sell?"

"Oh they did. But only in small lots. Unfortunately, at about the same time Bactoid Combat Automata released their OOM-series security droids for sale, followed shortly thereafter by the B1 battle droid. They cornered the market during the Clone Wars and drove OmniCorp right out of business. I found Eddie here in an old storage container, in pretty much the same condition he's in now. I managed to buy the container for scrap dirt-cheap and brought him here. Spent a few days not long after uploading a new personality matrix and logic pattern matrix to his neural nets. But this..." Alex tossed his head toward the motivator sitting on his bench. "This was a far greater challenge. One that i apparently did not solve as well as I had thought."

"Bad motivator? Can't you just replace it?"

Alex sipped his drink before answering, his eyes already going opaque with his thoughts. "If only it were that simple. OmniCorp was very worried about one of these droids turning on their masters. There had been some instances with other security droids going rogue, and apparently a batch of ED-22's bought by one of the local Hutts to guard his slave operations decided they were also slaves and didn't want to be anymore. They slaughtered the Gamorean guard contingent, the Hutt, and several of his retainers in the process of freeing about two hundred slaves. OmniCorp managed to show proof that the droids in question had in fact been infected with a virus uploaded to their tactical subnet by Sons of Kessel slicer, but that didn't keep the Hutts from extracting damages from them. As a result the company included a fail-safe in all future droids. If there is any discrepancies between embedded keys in the main and secondarly neural nets, the primary logic center programming, the primary heuristic programming, the memory core, and the motivator interface quantum signatures the motivator shuts down the interface and isolates the brain from the body. You can jack into the motivator manually, but all you can do from there is walk the droid to a maintenance bay."

Donovan shook his head slightly. "Ok... Can't you just, I don't know, substitute your own keys when you reprogram?"

Alex smiled. "Usually. That's how I got around it on Zuzu, but the Zees didn't have this quantum relay. They used normal interface matrix ports with a logical key behind it, which is difficult to reprogram but not impossible. But these babies? They're literally hard-coded at the molecular level. Which was actually another reason the line failed: If these ports were damaged in any way, the only way to replace them was to completely wipe and reprogram the droid to match the new signature code in the quantum port on the motivator."

"So, no field repairs."

"Exactly. Which is why Eddie here ended up in a storage bin instead of guarding whatever his owners wanted him to guard." Alex set his cup down and turned the motivator module around so Donovan could see the interface ports. "It was a devil to program, but I eventually developed a masking interface that matched my programming keys to the hard-coded molecular key in the port itself, then back to my keys on the flip side. It seemed to work great, but apparently something knocked it off-line..." Using a micro-spanner Alex unlatched the key interface, which fit into the native interface. He held it up for Donovan to see - a complex weave of circuitry embedded in a thin, translucent epoxy matrix. "Let's see if we can figure it out..."

Alex carefully placed the part on the bench and fired up his diagnostic systems, attaching leads to the exposed translation module he'd developed. A magnified visual examination exposed a spider-web of micro-fractures in the matrix, several of which bisected parts of the circuit web inside. Test patterns sent through the web confirmed that one or more of these had resulted in a loss of signal and failure in critical quadrants of the device, which had led to the lock-out. Alex sighed and crossed his arms as a holographic representation of the interface floated in front of him, with several of the breaks highlighted in red. "Well, that explains that at least..."

"But what caused it? Was Eddie attacked?"

"No, I don't think so..." Alex pointed at the breaks. "There's a pattern here. Each of these series of fractures radiates out from a point of contact with the neural network's plug. I designed the matrix that holds the circuitry to be flexible, to cushion the interface to combat this kind of damage, but apparently after a while the epoxy became brittle and poor Eddie lobotomized himself by just walking around."

"Ouch." Donovan took a drink of his own cafe. "So...can you fix it?"

"This? No." Alex shut down the diagnostic and picked up the epoxy cone, crushing it in his hand and tossing the remains into an incinerator. "Fortunately I made spares."

Alex opened a cabinet, revealing stocks of electronics parts and a smaller, locked chest. This he accessed with a thumb print, withdrawing a nearly identical interface translator cone. "One small addition, I think..." Alex laid the cone on his bench then applied a thin layer of conducting silocone spray. "That should cushion it this time, but the fit is going to be tight..."

Alex locked down the new component with the micro-spanner and again wiggled into the maintenance access hatch. Closing his eyes, he used the force to guide the motivator back into place, squeezing it into place with less than a millimeter of tolerance. He had to push a little harder than he liked to get it into place even then, but with the force he was able to push evenly on every surface and thus avoided any collateral damage to the delicate components inside the motivator.

Back outside, he hooked up leads for a full diagnostic and began the program. "It will take an hour or so for the full program to run, then we can fire him up and introduce you all properly."

Donovan looked at the intimidating droid. "I can't wait."

Chapter 8: Regroup Part Two
Near Hutta Town
Nar Shaddaa
5 ABY

They heard the yipping and scampering of an excited Zuzu before anything else. Donovan and Ja'Mason shared a look. "Guard dog..."

The armored portal into the 'Igloo' opened to reveal Joanna, followed by a tall, rakish looking man with sharp eyes wearing the universal 'free trader' uniform - white shirt, dark pants, utility vest, boots, low-slung blaster holster on his right hip. His eyes scanned the room over Joanna's shoulder and immediately settled on Alex.

For his part, Alex was just glad to see his wife. "Joanna! About time!" He enveloped her in a hug, armor and all, and indulged in a long, deep kiss. When they broke apart he grinned at her "I was worried about you. How did it go with Zimra?"

Joanna grimaced. "It didn't. Before I could meet him Joe here warned me off. Seems 'Uncle Zimmie' has a price on our heads. I was able to confirm the contract and how much through other sources, but Joe saw me in the club and managed to warn me off before Zimra's thugs could get ahold of me."

Alex stepped back and looked at Joe directly. "Joe Singleton. I've heard a lot about you, Captain."

Joe smiled and extended his hand. "Alex Krin. I've heard a lot about you as well. You're ... quite popular in these parts."

The two men shook hands. Alex could feel a supressed sense of worry and fear emanating from the free trader but he had them well in-hand. Nor was he overly smitten by Joanna, though his affection for her was clear. Alex decided to clear the air up front. He focused his senses on Joe and asked "Joe, forgive the question, but this is Nar Shaddaa. Why exactly did you pass up on the bounty?"

Joe never blinked, his eyes level and locked with Alex. "Your wife is a friend of mine. A true friend, and one I care about. True friends are rare in this business ... and no bounty is worth losing one."

Alex felt the sincerity behind the words and his face softened. "That's good to know, Joe. I hope we can also become friends."

Joe smiled and his own face relaxed slightly. "So do I."

"Good." Alex stepped back. "So, introductions... Joe Singleton, Captain of the..."

"The Shoshana" Joe filled in. "She's a modified Y-1300. Not as fast as the Millenium Falcon, but also not as famous."

"Right. Joe, these are Koawans Do'Na'Vann and Ja'Mason'Crin of the Mak'Tor, and this," ALex gestured to the dark-cloaked figure in the corner, "is Shalon, Sorceress of Tund." Alex put his arm around Joanna. "Sholan, this is my wife Joanna, and Opal..." Alex looked back at the hatch. "Um, where is Opal?"

"She's coming. She wanted to linger a bit at the last turning, in case we were followed unaware." Joanna replied. "Shalon? That's a pretty name." Joanna said, smiling. She approached the young woman. "So, how did you get mixed up into this?"

"That is ... complicated." Shalon replied shyly. "My master sent me to search for ... The One!"

Joanna took a startled step back as Shalon cried out the title and dropped to one knee. "Shalon?"

"She is here ... The One..."

Joanna turned, following the line of the young woman's eyes back to the door, where Opal had just entered. "Ah, Friend Joanna! Friend Alex! Knights! Greetings. No one follows and Zuzu has established a listening post beyond the bend against future incursion..."

Shalon, still kneeling, grasped her amulet. Muttering words incomprehensible to anyone else she made an intricate and precise pattern with her right hand while holding the amulet in her left. Her incantation climaxed and she seemed to gather a glowing red orb in her hand, which she then flung directly at Opal's chest.

Alex felt the power build-up and managed to pull Joanna back and out of the way of the red orb as it passed. The visual was a simple trick of the light, effective but harmless, but the slug of force-energy was immensely powerful. His first assumption, even as he pulled Joanna back and reached for his saber, was that it was a force push attack aimed at Opal. As his saber lit the thought rocked him: he'd brought an assassin into range of a friend and would now see her die...

Opal's reaction was droid-fast and ... curious. Instead of moving or dodging, she stepped back into a braced stance and raised her left arm in front of her as if it bore a shield. When the red orb hit it, it dissipated, scattering red light and force-energy harmlessly. The Shard straightened and made a clucking sound. "Young lady, was that really necessary?"

Alex froze as what felt like a subtle ripple flashed out from the Shard. He was in a defensive stance, purple blade humming, but he wasn't looking at Shalon. "Opal?"

The Mak'Tor, shoulder-to-shoulder and also with their sabers lit and at the ready, were also entranced with the Shard. "Opal ... your song is ... beautiful."

Alex didn't hear a song, but the 'hum' of the force that he felt from any force user was suddenly present and quite strong from the Shard. Before he could say anything, however, he was bumped from behind and Joanna's breath tickled his ear. "Alex, what's going on?"

Alex looked back at Shalon, still crouched, still clutching the glowing amulet, but otherwise passive, her eyes filled with adoration. He looked back at Opal, now standing relaxed, her force-presence revealed for the first time. He chuckled, deactivated his saber and scratched his nose. "Well, my dear, it seems Shalon has just met her goddess face-to-face ... and its an Iron Knight named Opel."

"Iron Knight? What the frell is an Iron Knight? And where did you get those laser swords?" Joe asked, his own back to the wall and his blaster in his hand. "What the frell is going on here?!?

Joanna turned slowly and stepped over to him, her hands empty again and spread wide. "Joe. Joe. Look at me, Joe." She captured his eyes and held them, letting him focus on her. "That's right. Breathe. Think. You're among friends here."

"Friends..." Joe took a few deep breaths and visibly gathered himself. "You're a friend. Them? Anyone who carries one of those swords is either suicidally stupid, has a death wish, or is far to dangerous to be around. I mean, light that thing up in public and someone might think you're a Jedi or something. Then what? You want that kind of trouble?"

Despite the words, Alex could feel the tension receding in the smuggler as he spoke. He was coming back on balance. Well, might as well see if he's really ok... Alex stepped close to his wife, his hands also spread wide. "Joe ... its worse than you think, my friend."

Joe's eyes shifted to Alex, but they were again level, the shock past. His voice was not tinged with anger. "Worse? How could it be worse?"

Alex smiled again. "We're not stupid or suicidal or have a death wish. But we are ... Jedi."

"Well, sort-of Jedi." Donovan added in from behind. "The Mak'Tor Order hasn't been associated with the Jedi for six hundred years now."

Alex shrugged. "OK. I'M a Jedi. These guys are wanna-be Jedis. Shalon here is a Sorceress of Tund, another type of force-user, and Opal is apparently an Iron Knight, a force-sensitive Shard wearing a droid body and trained in the Jedi arts sometime before the Jedi were purged by the Emperor at the end of the Clone Wars." He looked around the room. "Sound about right?"

A chorus of assent returned to him and Alex perched on the counter. "So, Joe. Are you OK with all of this? Or should I have Zuzu escort you out?"

<<<<< >>>>>

It had taken some time to sort everything out and get everyone calmed down. Opal, no longer hiding her force presence, radiated like a beacon in the force. Shalon was glued to her side, never more than a couple of feet away. She had explained to everyone more about her own origins, her Master's oracle and their belief that Opal would bring them to a new home. For her part, Opal had not rejected the duty, only listened calmly and promised to consider it.

And so they'd eaten and drank, the Mak'Tor had grilled Opal on her stealth technique, and they'd discussed the benefits and drawbacks of lightsabers as melee weapons. Opal, despite her force abilities and admitted training as an Iron Knight, actually preferred not to carry one. She said it simply marked her as unique, pointing out the way Alex and the Mak'Tor had to keep their sabers hidden lest they raise undue attention. For his part, Alex couldn't really say she was wrong ... but he had no intention of giving his sabers up.

Joseph Singlton remained quiet through it all. Listening and observing, speaking only when spoken to. He was on edge, had been since the room erupted in saber blades. As they prepared to get back to business Joanna sat down next to him. "You've been awefully quiet. What's up?"

Joe sighed and set his caf cup down. "You remember the Rimmer's Rest?"

Joanna nodded. "Yeah, it was near the Port. One of the primary watering holes for spacer crews making layover. Did something happen to it?"

"Yeah." Joe sighed and as he spoke and his eyes tracked Alex and the Mak'Tor, who were talking across the room. "The Shoshana was down for repairs, and my XO and second mate were working security one night. A fight broke out ... which became a firefight. They were caught up in it. I don't know what happened, but I do know this - the guy who killed them?" Joe looked back at Joanna and his eyes were suddenly smoldering with hate. "He wasn't shooting a blaster. He was carrying one of those laser swords, and he knew how to use it." He leaned in close. "You shouldn't be mixed up with these people, Joanna! They're killers! All of them."

Joanna felt her face stiffen in reaction and she recoiled slightly from his passion. "Joe, you don't know these people. They're good people..."

"Good? Anyone who carries one of those ... things ... is either lording it over everyone or a mind-bender! They are never just 'good'."

Joanna leaned back in. "I know Alex. I love him. He's the best person I've ever..."

"Love him? Are you sure? Or is he just bending your mind, making you his personal who..."

Joanna slapped him. Hard. The crack stilled the conversation in the room and suddenly all eyes were on them. Joanna practically spat her next words, her voice barely audible but still intensly clear. "He is my husband and the most honorable and good man I have ever met. He never even tried to touch me until after our hand-fasting ceremony. That's more than you can say." She stood suddenly, dumping her chair. Wheeling on the room she growled "What are you all looking at?" before retreating from the room. Alex started to follow her but she brushed him off. "Go ahead and get started, I just need a second..."

Alex watched her retreat, then stepped forward. "Okay... Lets get this show on the road. Captain Singlton, Joanna said you had some information for us?"

The smuggler nodded. "Yes. After some losses recently in my own crew, I did a little investigation into an Imperial Remnant power poking its nose into the workings around here. The fragment is called the Pentastar Alignment. I'm not sure why they're poking around this area, but they've been seen in several places in recent months. For the most part they're working through local hired help, a group using the name Crimson Nova. They use Mando armor, weapons and ships but they're not fully Mandalorian. There are also some shadowy types called Inquestors, but I don't know much more about them except that when they appear, other people tend to disappear." Joe tossed a data stick onto the table. "This is all I have. I was thinking about doing something about them, to get some payback for Hopper and Jules, but I think you people and they deserve each other. That has what I know about where they hang out, who they're working with, and the few images I've gotten of thier members." Joe stood up. "Now, where's that puppy? I think its time for me to leave."

Chapter 9: Going Nova
Hutta Town
Nar Shaddaa
5 ABY

*** Authors Note: Alex uses a saber staff, essentially two Initiate V3s with a custom coupler system/pommels. Donovan's saber is a slighlty

modified Guardian with a blue blade. Ja'Mason's saber is an Apprentice V5 LE with a War Glaive pommel, with an SRD colored blade. ***

Pretenses were gone. They moved together, in tight formation. There had been some debate about bringing Eddie and/or Zuzu with them, but in the end both droids were left behind. They were needed to secure the Igloo against future need, and Alex suspected that Ja'Mason (the main proponent of bringing Eddie with them) simply wanted to see the massive droid in action.

But this wasn't to be a direct assault. It was an infiltration, a recon-in-force to gain as much information from their enemies as possible without being detected.

Shadow work...

It was for this that Alex' training had originally been designed. Jedi Shadows were trained to be invisible, to hide their presence both physically and in the force. They were trained to get in, find what they needed, acquire it, and get out without anyone ever knowing they were there. Master Cunn had once told him that the perfect Jedi Shadow mission was one that no one else ever knew had even happened.

And that was the plan. Armed with Joseph Singleton's information Alex and Donovan had laid out an infiltration path that would allow them to bypass most of the electronic security and allow them to 'data mine' the Crimson Nova's command center. If Joe's observations were right, the unit was smaller than its name-sake had been and there shouldn't be more than a dozen or so commandos on site. No problem at all - if they could breach the outer perimeter undetected.

Which would be ... tricky ... at best.

The urban sprawl of Nar Shaddaa, particularly in Hutta Town, was a three-dimensional maze of passages and allyways. A few main streets cut hundreds of levels deep into the sprawl, carving massive canyons, but most of the 'streets' were really wandering tunnels a few levels high and sometimes no more than four or five meters wide. The Crimson Nova had made their headquarters in an old office complex in the residential area known as "Marlboro". The neighborhood was fairly well-off and high up, with relatively clean air and enough security patrols to make walking the streets a reasonable exercise. The flats were interspersed with shops, food stores, resturants and entertainment venues, all of which gave way to office space and light industrial as you dropped further down.

The offices in question appeared to have been converted from one of those light industrial centers, as it had a direct access airway suitable for bulk hauler cargo delivery - or a Kom'rk transport. Worse, the space only had three entrances: The cargo loading dock, which was only accessible by air short of cutting through a thick duracrete wall in the access corridor, or one of two lobby entrances. From the information they'd been given, both approaches were down long, straight "streets" followed by an equally long, narrow corridor. The streets were covered by cameras and heat sensors. The corridors as well, plus pressure pads and laser tripwires.

They'd spent a good deal of time kicking around breaching options before settling on their current strategy. They were moving spaced out, in pairs. The Mak'Tor were actually on point, moving as a team. Ja'Mason had been blathering about some new 'motif' they'd picked up from Opal for their own stealth efforts. Alex still didn't get the connection. He loved music, but the force was the force! Not some grand song that could be sung or worse, bent like a disco-tech DJ using a distortion bar. Yet whatever they'd done he could feel the difference, and if he hadn't already been tuned in to them he doubted he would have seen them at all, let alone sensed them in the force.

In the slack position he was covering himself and Joanna, wrapping them in his own blanket of protection and holding them in a particularly deep hole he'd discovered years ago. More like a crack, actually, but he could back well into it, to the point where he and anyone he wrapped into his aura were invisible in the force and nearly invisible in the physical world. A security guard staring at a camera feed wouldn't notice them as they walked by. Unfortunately, droids and automated computer systems tended to be impervious to the force effect. Which was why....

Opal, with Shalon, were in the rear. Working together, the two were using a high-powered laser system to blind the optical and IR feeds as they advanced. Automated systems would record the temporary glitches as a maintenance issue, as long as the outage didn't last to long. The biological guards wouldn't notice, again, because of the force effects at work on them.

Which left them with the simple physical task of walking briskly down the thinly-populated walkway and on into the lobby beyond. Had they been on the main level of the Crimson Nova HQ this would have been suicide. Joanna had been the one to suggest coming at them from above or below instead, and they'd chosen a nearly identical warehouse space above them as their penetration point. This had eliminated a lot of the electronics, though the Mando's still had a good amount of systems covering even these approaches.

The small lobby was empty and Ja'Mason already had the internal electronic systems bypassed. Concentrating, Alex reached out in the force, slowly tracking down the people moving in the suite below them. Most of the people were clustered directly below and in adjacent areas, but there were a few of them isolated here and there.

Alex opened his eyes and nodded to Donovan. "You have them?"

"Yes. We'll take the one on the left." Donovan gestured with his head and the two Knights headed into the warehouse, looking for a way down.

Alex turned to Opal. "Opal, you have your target?"

The Shard had her data port plugged into the primary terminal, the interface turning and whirring with activity. "Initial penetration completed, Friend Alex. I have high confidence successful database access will be achieved within the mission perameter."

"Excellent. Carry on." He shifted his gaze to Shalon. "Keep her covered, sorceress."

Shalon only nodded, her hand resting lightly on her sword.

Alex centered his attention on the last target. "OK, lets go." He moved out, Joanna behind him. Together they moved through the empty warehouse until Alex felt they were close but not directly over his target. "OK ... here goes nothing..." Alex activated his saber and plunged it into the flooring, scribing a wide hole through the permacrete and steel decking. Reaching out with the force he did his best to dampen the sound and vibration from the cut, flooding the area with the suggestion that it was just heavy construction equipment moving through the floors above.

Once the cut was complete Alex levitated the plug up and out of the hole, gently setting it down on the floor next to it. The room below was dark ... and the floor was impossible to see.

"How far down is that?" Joanna whispered, peering into the inky blackness.

"According to the plan, warehouses in this block were each designed to be three levels high. So figure ... ten meters or so." Alex grinned at his wife. "No sweat!" he said, stepping off into the blackness.

His saber lit the room as he dropped, and Alex caught himself with a levitation technique as he reached the floor. The purple saber cast its violet light into the corners of the room, which appeared to be an unmanned data center with multiple stacks of fixed computer equipment wrapped around an open core. He looked up at his wife's worried face. "C'mon, jump. I'll catch you."

With a grimace Joanna shrugged and stepped lightly into the air. Alex let her fall about half-way then gently 'caught' her in the force, setting her down gently next to him. "See, that wasn't so bad."

Joanna grinned and hugged him. "Why haven't we done anything like that before? That was awesome!"

Alex smiled down at her. "Hiding my abilities has always been a priority. But maybe going forward..." Impulsively he kissed her. She kissed back, relaxing into his arms for a moment before they mutually broke apart. "Now ... we have work to do."

"Yes we do." Joanna stepped back and drew her weapon. "Lets go get him."

Alex nodded and moved to the door. The portal was locked, but from inside unlocking the door was simply a matter of pushing a button. Alex unlocked the door then paused, extending his senses into the room beyond.

His target was there, alone, concentrating intently on whatever work he was doing. Alex held up is hand and counted off. One ... Two ...

Three

The door burst open and Alex sprang into the room, followed by Joanna. Their target was a man, a typical-looking Mandalorian soldier, his armor in good repair and purposefully blackened to make it non-reflective. Nor were his reflexes diminished by his sedentary post. Before Alex could do anything he was already turning back to this station, fingers clacking on his keyboard...

With a pulling gesture Alex grabbed the Mando with the force and yanked him bodily across the small room, accellerating the helpless Mando's head into his force-reinforced elbow strike. The soldier dropped like a rock, stunned to semi-consciousness by the blow. Alex worked his elbow a bit to work out the impact and knelt down over him. "OK. Keep a close watch. If someone shows up, give me a shove so that I break contact with him. Understand?"

Joanna nodded, moving toward the door. "Got it."

Alex composed himself, found the neural pressure points he needed, and carefully insinuated himself into the other man's consciousness. "Now ... Who are you and why are you hunting us..." Information flowed, flew by in disorganized streams. Alex sorted through it, diverting most away, drawing other streams toward himself, only to divert much again. One stream caught his attention: a need to follow up with a local contact. Something about Ruusan and a massive crystal rumored to contain unlimited power... Alex noted the information, mainly the hyperspace coordinates and some details about the contact, then moved on.

Crystals... He probed deeper. It was about crystals. Crystal mines on Orax... Tracing the last Iron Knight... Worried about the Mak'Tor involvement... Mak'Tor targetted ... and Alex, last of the Krin family, and his wife... Al'Verde Stourr stripped of rank, probably dead... InQuestor Jeric in direct command of overall operation... His apprentice, Gabriel, hatched a plan... Co-opted Zimra Ceopas... Others... Planting contact information with someone she knew ... Joseph Singleton... The Dark Jedi, InQuestor Gabriel, demanding room... Power for strange equipment... All for an elaborate trap...

Alex jerked himself free of the contact. "Its a trap..."

"What?" Joanna turned to him.

Alex jerked himself up onto his feet, shaking off the probe, reaching out with his senses. "Its a trap. At least, this guy thinks it's a trap..." There was nothing. Nothing at all. Just the concentration of Mando's at the front entrance...

Nothing. Not empty. Nothing!

"Oh bantha poodoo..." Alex dropped stealth and sent out a pulse of pure energy in the force. It lit him up like a white-hot strobe to anyone who was force sensitive but it also acted like a sound pulse in an echo-location system. Sure enough, for an instant the blinding pulse 'painted' an array of targets all around their perimeter. Instantly they disappeared again, hidden behind what Alex could only assume to be some kind of force null-field generators or maybe they were using ysalamiri, a tactic some of the Hutts employed to this day to negate force-users from influencing their staff or guards. Alex raised his comm. "Donovan, Opal: Omega. I say again: OMEGA!"

Chapter 9: Going Nova (Part 2)
Hutta Town
Nar Shaddaa
5 ABY

"Waste of time..." Donovan stood, slowly shaking off the deep meditation required for the probe. "Janitor. All he knew about .. or cared about .. was what would take the grime off the floor..."

He blinked as the pulse hit him. "What the..."

"That was Alex." Ja'Mason confirmed the unasked question. "What in the name of the Maker does that amatuer think he's doing?"

"Don't sell him short." Donovan replied, lifting his communicator. "He's not a Mak'Tor but he's no amateur..." He lifted the device but before he could key it Alex' voice burst out. "Donovan, Opal: Omega. I say again: OMEGA!"

Omega was the emergency distress word. Omega meant they were in a trap or facing overwhelming odds and needed to flee immediately. The two Knights dropped into defensive stances. "Where is he?"

"That way." Ja'Mason replied, pointing toward the pulse.

"Let's go." Donovan took off at a sprint, weaving his way through the corridors. Logic dictated they should go back up, replace the plug they'd cut out, and break contact by going further up before heading back toward the igloo. But the song's sudden quickening and frantic melody indicated that it was already to late for that, and the prominent emergence of the melody associated with Alex and his presence made it clear they needed to rejoin him as quickly as possible. Ja'Mason wasn't as clear on the latter but he trusted Donovan and followed, senses primed and scanning for threats.

The Mandalorian patrol they ran into two turns later never stood a chance. The double squad of storm troopers that appeared to reinforce them did better, forcing them to disengage and make a run for it. The remaining troops advanced carefully, eager to pursue but wary of an enemy most of them had thought was a myth that morning...

  <<<<< >>>>>

When the pulse from Alex hit them, Shalon drew her sword. "My Lady, we must depart."

Opal paused her data search. "I sense nothing..."

Shalon drew her tremor sword, and clutching her amulet began chanting an incantation. With a flash the room lit in bright light ... and both Opal and the sorceress were suddenly aware of a dozen troopers closing in. Shalon changed her incantation, and a second burst of light porpegated from her amulet, scattering the thought processes of the closing troopers. Their formation immediately fell apart as the Storm Troopers, utterly confused and debilitated, struggled to recover and remember just what they were supposed to be doing. "My Lady, we should go. Now."

"Illuminating. I am disconnecting. Thank you, Friend Shalon." Opal said. She closed down the connection and withdrew a heavy rapid-fire blaster from her thigh. "I suggest we depart to the left."

"Agreed." Shalon replied. Her black sword hummed quietly, the vibro-blade glowing a bright, energetic orange as she backed out of the room, covering the Shard.

They were blocks away by the time the Storm Troopers recovered enough to enter the room. Finding nothing, they continued their sweep of the upper spaces.

  <<<<< >>>>>

Alex had time to pull out both of his hilts and link them. He'd always favored staff work to single blade fighting, and he'd spent hours working out with Joanna, keeping his forms in shape and practicing blaster fire deflection. Somehow he was pretty sure he was going to need all of that skill now...

"Here they come!" Joanna called, her warning immediately followed by the scream of her DL-44 firing. Joanna fired from cover, aiming carefully, and her shots were telling, but they were in a dead-end room with dozens of armored troops outside the only door.

Time to change the rules... Alex ignited his saber blades. "Hold 'em, I'm making a hole..." Alex started to cut through the wall behind them, but a tremor in the force drew his attention and he diverted, cutting instead into the wall to the left of the door. The wall was made of fairly stout material but the saber slid easily through it and Alex had a portal cut within seconds. "C'mon!"

Joanna fired one last shot and then darted behind Alex and through the wall. Alex stayed for a moment, purple blades flashing as he deflected fire back at the troops, driving them to cover before following her. Once through he slammed the falled plug back in place and made a couple of quick slashes across the cuts to tack it back up. "Won't hold for more than a few seconds ... but every little bit counts."

"Lets go!" Joanna was already in the hallway, covering the space.

She took two steps before Alex turned her with a hand on her shoulder. "This way."

Joanna pulled free. "Why? This is the quickest way out..."

"Alex shook his head. "More troops. I can feel them now, their moving out of the null fields. Donovan and Ja'Mason are this way. We need them with us to get out."

Joanna looked back down the corridor, then took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay then. Let's go." She fell in behind Alex, his blades casting a soft purple hue on the walls as they moved rapidly down the corridor - deeper into the Crimson Sun enclave.

  <<<<< >>>>>

Donovan's blade spun through orbit after orbit, intercepting incoming fire and deflecting most of it back at their pursuit. He felt a grim satisfaction as the bounced bolts found targets, knocking down several troopers and driving the rest back. He and Ja'Mason took the opportunity to turn and jog away, opening up the distance.

"Power cell..." Ja'Mason said, extending one in his hand. "That went quick..."

Donovan checked his saber. "I'm good, 63% and I have two spares. You're dry? How are the compact cells holding up?"

Ja'Mason grimaced. "Not as well as I'd like. You were right, the cell is just too small for extended engagements." Ja'Mason favored a shorter hilt, which had required him to use a smaller, high-density power cell. While the total output was theoretically the same as the standard cell Donovan's hilt used, it seemed to discharge much more quickly. "Guess I need to rework the design."

"How are you fixed?"

"I have seven with me. Should be fine."

"Good." Donovan sensed the shot as they entered a hall crossing. His saber sprang to life and he swept the shot out of the air, deflecting it back into the shooter. The Mandalorian trooper went down hard, the heavy blaster bolt ripping his throat open. The two knights turned left and picked up the pace, hoping the sight of a spreading pool of fresh blood would help deter pursuit.

  <<<<< >>>>>

Alex felt the edged of fatigue burn beginning to seep into his arms and legs from the uninterrupted flow of the force but he ignored it. His saber spun a purple shield before him as he charged around a corner. The space ahead of him was at the very heart of the suite converted by the Crimson Nova, a central nexus connecting the other areas. It was larger than any other room in the suite, which would give Alex more room to maneuver.

Unfortunately, it was crawling with armored troops.

"Cover me!" Alex yelled, throwing himself into the milling crowd of troops. There was confusion among them: The Storm Troopers and surviving Mandalorian mercenaries arguing about who was in charge and how to proceed. Alex landed among them and ended their argument with his lightsaber blades, slicing through the chest of one while simultaneously beheading the other. His swirling attack continued and the troops recoiled, exploding away from him like shattered glass. Here and there troopers turned to face him. These were usually greeted by a blaster bolt or two from Joanna, who found cover and worked to cover Alex as he cut through the troopers.

Shock and surprise were on his side and Alex managed to take down a dozen of the enemy, but slowly they began to recover. There were simply to many of them for the two of them. In desperation Alex drew harder on the force, ignoring the burn as he used the power to hurl pieces of industrial equipment and fallen troopers at any concentrations that seemed to be forming while he worked his way back toward Joanna. "Joe! Get ready to..."

He never finished his sentence as more bodies blew out of another portal across the room from Joanna's position. Blue and Aqua blades flashed as the Mak'Tor Knights broke through the ring and into the room, splitting up to begin rolling up the enemy's positions. "Never mind! Keep picking them off!" With renewed energy Alex joined them, whirling his way around the ring of soldiers, now mainly panicked and desperate to get away. Aimed fire stopped as the Grays scythed through their formations, their panic allowing them to only think of escape.

A few lucky ones made it.

Alex met Donovan and the two clasped hands. "Donovan, am I glad to see you! I thought we were done for."

"No fear, Alex. The Song never wavered." THe Mak'Tor grinned, a grin that soured as his companion swapped out another power cell. "How many?"

Ja'Mason made a face. "Four. Three spare, fresh one in the hilt. There's a drain or mis-alignment somewhere, but I don't have time to find it right now."

Alex shut down his saber. "Power issues? I can probably help you with that..." His attention was drawn outward by the growing sense of determination ... and something else ... "Donovan, do you feel that?"

The Mak'Tor nodded. "Yeah. A strong presence in the force. That's a very dark song..."

"Lots of help, too. We need to go." Ja'Mason said.

"Agreed." Alex walked to the center of the room. "We can't go up or out, so that only leaves..." He ignited his saber, slashing through the floor. The section of flooring fell away, revealing a wide and fast-moving conveyor of some sort of raw material. "...down."

Donovan looked down at the conveyor. "Great. I hope that's not what it looks like..." He secured his saber, shook his head and stepped off.

Ja'Mason just made a face and followed.

"Alex..." Joanna looked down. "That's a long way down...."

"With me." Alex wrapped his arm around his wife's waist and stepped with her off the edge, guiding them down to a semi-soft landing. A puff of dark dust popped up as they hit. "Well, its not bio-waste..."

Joanna tried to brush some of the dark dust off her clothing, with little effect. "No, but its everywhere. We're going to be covered in it until we can find a shower."

Alex nodded. "True, but its far better than the alternative." He pulled out a small tracker, noting their location. "About five minutes and we can hop off. I sending the others a point where we can rendezvous."

Joanna gave up and sat down, replacing her weapon's power cell and making sure fresh cells were at hand. "Great. Where are we going?"

"The Works."

*** edit 3/31 to fix typo. Thanks LSG! ***

Chapter 10: InQuest
Hutta Town
Nar Shaddaa
5ABY

Upon exiting the coal conveyor the four jumped aboard a nearly empty lev-train. The train took them deeper into the industrial heart of Nar Shaddaa, cutting through densely-populated residential areas and a myriad of shopping and living spaces. They switched trains randomly, moving as unpredictably as possible while keeping Opal and Shalon updated. And always, their pursuers were there, distant but in contact, always maneuvering to keep them cut off from both the spaceport and the Igloo.

They traveled for several hours, resting as they could. Joanna was still trying to knock off the black dust when they finally met up with Opal and Shalon. The Shard greeted them enthusiastically while Shalon scanned the area intently. "Friends! It is good to see you!"

"And us you, Opal. Shalon." Alex nodded to Shalon, who gave him a return nod. Her hand was still on her tremmor sword, and her voice was quiet but filled with urgency when she spoke. "They are near..."

"Yes, I can sense them as well. At least they're not hiding behind more suppressor fields." Alex waved them on and the group followed him at a jog. "I just wish I knew how they were tracking us..."

"It is Dark Alchemy, of a type I cannot break." Shalon replied, clutching her amulet. "We must confront them."

Alex shook his head. "Not yet. We're entering a heavy industrial area. Lots of bodies and distractions. Lets keep moving, maybe we can shake them off."

Tired and hungry, they kept moving. The area they were in was similar to what Alex imagined The Works on Coruscant might have been like during their hey-day. Where the Crimson Sun HQ had been in a 'light industrial' area with warehouses, offices and light manufacturing this area was dominated by heavy manufacturing centers churning out everything from computer cores to heavy machinery. The air was close, hot and filled with fumes. While it was safe in the short term, Alex as sure that long-term exposure was very bad for everyone, even the droid body Opal wore. But with the close proximity of so much machinery and so many workers, it was also a good place to dodge pursuit.

And so, for the next two hours they half-walked, half-jogged through, over and under slag pits, manufactuaries, and assembly lines of every type and description. And always, as they moved, the pursuit was there, unshakable and slowly closing in.

Finally Alex called a halt. "OK, this isn't working. Shalon is right, we're going to have to face them."

Donovan nodded. "Agreed. I don't like the odds, but we're never going to break contact, and once we leave this warren and try to return to the ship we'll be caught and overwhelmed anyway. Better to fight here than somewhere up there."

"This ground looks pretty good, actually. Using the term loosely." Ja'mason chimed in. "Lots of obstacles, good cover. Good for us and bad for them."

"Friend Ja'Mason is correct. This is the best place to fight we are likely to find." Opal added. "Friend Joanna and I can take a high over-watch and provide cover fire while you engage at close range among the obstacles."

Alex nodded. "Close to what I had in mind." He turned to Shalon. "Shalon, can you project an illusion that Donovan and I are still with you?"

The girl nodded. "For a time, yes."

"Good." Alex turned to Donovan. "I propose that they continue on, but slowly, as if we're breaking down and having to slow for an injury. I will create a hide for you and I. When the pursuit passes, we will ambush them." He turned to Opal and Joanna. "When we spring the ambush, you will turn and support us."

"That's suicide!" Joanna's voice rose with her emotions. "No! We need to stick together..."

Alex stepped close to her and gripped her face in his hands. "Joanna... Listen. Listen to me..." he kept his voice low, careful to suppress his urge to use any force-assistance. "We will be together. You're just going to be with Opal, so you two can come and rescue us. I'm counting on you."

Tears appeared in Joanna's eyes. "No you're not. You're expecting to buy us time to get away." Her eyes suddenly hardened, still glistening with tears but assuming the glitter of diamonds. "Well, you've got another thing coming, buster! Not only am I going to save your butt, I'm going to save his, too!" She jerked a thumb at Donovan. "So ... stay alive until we get here. You got it?"

Alex nodded. "Yes, ma'am." He looked at Shalon. "You ready?"

"Yes." She gripped her amulet, begining to chant.

Alex grabbed Donovan and they faded back into the shadows. As they dropped into his 'hole' in the force even they were amazed to see themselves, Donovan now limping severely as if from a wound, moving off with their friends. "I have got to get her to teach me how to do that..."

<<<<< >>>>>

"That's odd..." Gabriel paused, rubbing his temple. "Did you feel that, Alen?"

Alen, the youngest full InQuestor on the team, shook his head. "No, Master Gabriel. I still sense them, but they've slowed considerably. It appears one of them was wounded after all."

"Yes. They grow tired, their presence in the force weakens. This one could no longer suppress his wound, and now hinders their escape. We must press on quickly!" InQuestor Jonal sniffed the air, his Bothan features giving him a decidedly felinoid, predatory look.

Gabriel nodded. "Agreed. Commander, bring your men up to double-quick. We will be engaged shortly."

The Storm Trooper commander saluted. "Sir!" He turned and passed on the order, bringing the columns of troopers up from a fast walk to a jog.

Gabriel smiled at his subordinates. "Come! We have Jedi to kill. Grand InQuestor Jerec will be well pleased. Victory will be ours!"

Sabers alight, the Dark Jedi clashed their blades and cried "Victory!" before spreading out to lead their columns of jogging troopers.

<<<<< >>>>>

Donovan, watching from the shadows, noted the appearance of the troops moments later. "Here they come. Three columns, one behind us, one in front, and a third beyond."

Alex sighed. "They split up. Poodoo! I was hoping they'd be more tightly packed." He Sighed. "Well... Stick together? Or split up?"

Donovan closed his eyes for a moment, as if listening to something. "Split, I think. The song is all over the place ... but there are two battle threads..." He opened his eyes and nodded. "Split."

"Ok. I'll take the middle column, you hit the one behind. Ready?"

"Ready. Maker preserve us."

"The One keep you, my friend." Alex gripped Donovan's arm, then stepped back. "One ... two ... three!"

As he counted three Alex dropped his stealth and leaped out, somersaulting over the jogging column of troops and igniting his saber in mid-air. He landed and became a whirling dervish of death, violet blades carving through Storm Trooper armor before the troops could even break stride.

Across the way he caught glimpses of Donovan's blue blade reaping a similarly grim harvest as the two cut through the troopers arrayed around them. Alex launched a mental attack, augmenting the shock of his surprise with a heavy dose of dread and fear laced with confusion and doubt. In response, the storm troopers milled about ineffectively, unable to come to grips with the ambush and unable to respond effectively. Alex worked his way to the end of the column and drove back into the head of it before anyone around him managed to comprehend the attack. His whirling blades didn't stop their deadly work until, with a crack light lightning, his final slice was blocked by a red-hued blade.

<<<<< >>>>>

"C'mon! We need to engage!" Joanna said, on a run. She sprinted, Ja'mason matching her stride for stride, headed for the space where Alex and Donovan had burst from cover. Intent as they were on their goal neither of them saw the third column of troops, shaking out of their march formation and into battle line.

<<<<< >>>>>

"Form up! Form up! Contact left! Skirmish line to the left!" Gabriel called, his saber alight. The red blade was comforting in his hand, even as an odd, sick feeling settled in his gut. He didn't understand that feeling. There were only two of them, after all, and even if they held their own against Alen and Jonal, his own troopers were steady and unshaken, his powers greater than his subordinates combined.

He wasn't sure how they'd managed the ambush, but he would find out. His method of questioning could be very persuasive at need...

But not yet. First he had to support his fellows and kill the Jedi. "Skirmishers! Open fire!"

<<<<< >>>>>

Donovan flew through ever-shifting orbits, his blade flashing as he alternated between deflecting a smattering of blaster fire from the few surviving storm troopers arrayed around him and parrying the blows of the InQuestor actively engaging him. Fortunately the young man, while enthusiastic, was very young and his attacks were simple variations on Shii Cho. His pace pushed Donovan's and threatened to overcome his nimble Niman if he made any grave mistakes, but so far he'd avoided that while slowly reducing the remaining storm troopers in number. Once they were gone he would be able to concentrate on the Dark Jedi and finish him. He just had to survive long enough to do it...

<<<<< >>>>>

Alex ducked under another strong cut from the Bothan facing him and nearly fell when he stepped on an armored leg. He caught himself with the force and found firm footing in time to keep the Bothan from exploiting the wobble, meeting his next cut with his own block and locking blades. Nose to nose, the felinoid's teeth bared and Alex noticed his fur rippling in time to the growl in this throat...

With a yell Alex threw him off, breaking lock and thrusting him backwards with a force push. The Bothan flew back with a howl, falling among the dead troopers in an awkward splay. Alex was about to leap after him when a tingle in the force drew his attention...

Saber staff spinning, he turned toward the sudden flurry of incoming fire, deflecting blaster bolts at crazy angles while desperately looking for a place outside the line of fire while cursing under his breath as the Bothan InQuestor gathered himself, stood, and called his lightsaber to his hand behind him.

<<<<< >>>>>

"Incoming!" Ja'Mason yelled. He surged forward, placing himself between Joanna and the incoming fire. Unlike the troopers around Donovan, which were shaken and scattered, the skirmish line firing was calm and under control. Their fire was precise and heavy. Only one squad appeared to be firing at them - for now - but at a full run it was all Ja'Mason could do to cover himself and Joanna. "Joanna! We need to take cover now!"

Heedless, Joanna sprinted forward to where her husband was deflecting fire with what appeared to be a purple shield, exposed in the open ... and with a Dark Jedi wielding a red blade closing behind him.

"ALEX!!!!"

<<<<< >>>>>

Donovan hammered his opponent with a force push, driving him back. He used the opening to spin outward, deflecting the desperate blaster bolts of the last Storm Trooper as he advanced. The song crescendoed as he made a final turn and his sweeping orbit separated the trooper's head from his shoulders. The armored figured toppled...

The scherzto in the song caught him off guard, and in his fatigue he hesitated for a brief second before reacting to the chaotic flurry of notes in the song. His blade rose in time to intercept the descending stroke, saving his head and his life, but it left him out of position and off-balance. He leaped back ... but not in time. The simple Shii-Cho cut caught his right thigh, searing the muscle and cutting deeply, nearly to the bone. His leap saved his leg ... but he fell none-the-less, the force and the song leaving him, driven from him by the searing agony in his leg.

<<<<< >>>>>

Shalon skidded to a halt as she and Opal rounded a corner and came into view of the third column. Opal immediately went to cover, a heavy blaster in each hand as she opened fire on the troops still several hundred meters away. Shalon, however, chose a different target - the tall human wearing black and wielding a red lightsaber. Muttering spells, she reached into the force and summoned the energies she wanted.

Like a rapid-fire cannon the young sorceress began hurling red balls of force energy at the Dark Jedi, attacks which combined hammering concussive force with demoralizing mental attacks. The combination of blaster fire and force energies slammed into the formation, scattering troopers and drawing a response. Within seconds fire shifted from their friends and toward them. Shalon altered her chanting, putting up a telekinetic shield around herself and Opal while the two continued to hurl fire at the remaining troops and their InQuestor commander.

<<<<< >>>>>

"Thank you, Maker!" Ja'Mason breathed as the fire raining on himself and Joanna suddenly died. The song stabilized and he locked his saber on and hurled it with all his strength. Flying straight and true the saber found its mark.

<<<<< >>>>>

Donovan struggled to draw his saber to his hand, trying to reconnect to the force through the red haze of pain. The hilt twitched but refused to move.

"Lost something, didn't you old man?" The InQuestor raised his red blade high for the killing blow. "Don't worry, I'll take good car of iURK."

Donovan watched as Ja'Mason's blue-green blade sliced neatly through the young man's chest, severing his body cleanly just below the armpits. Blood showered over him as the wound, to large to cauterize, spewed blood as the body collapsed.

Ja'Mason ran up, his saber returned to his hand and at the ready. "Don! Are you OK? Where are you hurt?"

"My leg. The blood's not mine. Help me up..." He extended a hand and Ja'Mason pulled him to his feet. "Hnnngggggg...." He waited a moment, letting his perception settle. The song was slowly returning, a distant chorus now, barely audible and indistinguisable but the sound seemed far more placid all of a sudden. "How are we doing?"

"Well enough. C'mon, lets get to cover..."

"Wait..." Donovan stopped his friend. Reaching down, he picked up the fallen Dark Jedi's saber, as well as a small pouch he'd been carrying. "OK, let's go."

<<<<< >>>>>

Alex could feel the Bothan approaching, but the heavy fire continued. If he turned to fight the InQuestor, he would fall to the blaster fire. If he didn't...

Well. Dead was dead. No matter what he did he was going to die ... but maybe he could take the Felinoid with him. His resolve hardened and he focused his attention on the closing Bothan. He would have to get in close, very quickly. Even if he didn't get in a killing blow, the heavy blaster fire just might do the trick...

"ALEX!!!!"

There was no time to think, no time to respond. Before he could do more than blink his wife was there, shoulder-rolling into the open and coming up into a kneeling position behind his spinning purple shield. "What are you doing?"

"Saving your ass!" She replied, and the weapon in her hand fired, not the high-pitched scream of blaster fire but the long BRRRAAAAAAP of a slug-thrower.

The Bothan, snearing, raised his saber to block the incoming fire ... and his saber died as the cortosis slugs slammed into it. Joanna's second burst was likewise on-target, and the Bothan fell as a dozen slugs tore through his torso.

Alex felt the InQuestor's death in the force and a grim sense of victory infused him. "Nice! Now, lets get under cover..." Moving like a dancer, Alex spun through his deflection orbits as he and Joanna shifted into cover from the fire still pouring in on them.

<<<<< >>>>>

Gabriel cursed as he felt his companions die. He marked the force signature of the one weilding the purple saber staff. "We will meet again, Jedi..." He murmered, his blade busy as he deflected both blaster bolts and force energies. The dark sorceress hurling curses at him was weakening at last, but with the loss of his fellows his flank was no longer secure. "Commander, fall back. We must withdraw."

"Sir!" The Storm Trooper passed on the order and his surviving troops began an orderly withdrawl. He fell back with them, covering them as they moved out of the kill zone and back into the narrow corridors where they could shelter. Once there they turned and jogged away.

The taste of defeat was bitter in his mouth, but he was comforted by the knowledge that there was more going on here than even Master Jeric had known. A dark sorceress in league with a Jedi and the Singers? A weapon that could defeat his best student's defenses in one burst?

There was much to think on. His meditation would be ... intense.

<<<<< >>>>>

It took them several hours to reach the Igloo, during which time they lost track of the remaining Dark Jedi and his troops. Once there and with Zuzu and Eddie on guard, they applied a bacta patch to Donovan's wound and got him into a bunk. Shalon attended him, muttering more of her incantations and directing healing energy into his wound.

Alex and Joanna showered and collapsed, exhausted from the fight. Even Opal dropped into a form of restorative meditation, which served her like sleep.

Awake and energized for some reason, Ja'Mason sat and tried to meditate. After an hour or so he gave up, grabbed a mug of cafe and sat down at the kitchen table, where they'd dumped the pouches and sabers they'd picked up. Opening one he extracted a standard data crystal.

"Okay... If I can't sleep I guess I might as well do some reading...."

Chapter 11: Genocide
Hutta Town, the Igloo
Nar Shaddaa
5 ABY

Alex woke up to the smell of freshly made pancakes, hot butter, and dark roast coffee. He took a moment to inhale the aromas and simply enjoy them, aware of nothing else as he basked in the smells. As his mind slowly, almost casually, spun up from sleep he became aware of other things: the room, dimly lit. The warmth of the bed. His wife, snuggled into his side, snoring ever so quietly, her skin warm and soft under his hand.

It was an amazing moment. A moment to be savored and enjoyed. A moment Alex wished would never end...

Joanna stirred next to him, her eyes cracking open. "g'morning..."

Alex kissed her forehead. "Morning love." Alex hugged her tight. His stomach rumbled, hunger awakening as the smells continued to intensify. "Well..."

Joanna rolled in his arms and pulled herself up partially onto his chest, grinning. "I'm guessing you're hungry."

"Yup." Alex looked over at the doorway into the ensuite. "Dibs on the shower."

"No way!" Joanna laughed. "I'm hungry too, and I'm closer!" She sprang out of the bed, making for the door. Alex, laughing, reached out with the force and gently pulled her back to himself and into his arms. "Hey!"

"Hey yourself." He kissed her, deeply this time. "I love you."

"I love you too." She said, then her eyes twinkled mischievously. "If we shower together, it will take half as long."

"No it won't!" Alex replied, but he didn't resist when she grabbed his hand and headed back into the en-suit.

<<<<< >>>>>

"Glad you two finally showed up!" Ja'Mason called from the galley when Alex and Joanna walked in some time later. "I was about to send Zuzu in to get you."

Alex looked down at the droid, which was looking up at him expectantly. "Good morning Zuzu!" he patted the droid's head, again wondering just where the diminutive 'droid had picked up the habit, and accepted a steaming mug from his wife. "She wouldn't have come in, the droids are programmed to respect private areas."

"Oh? Interesting limitation." Donovan said from the table. There was a throughly demolished stack of some form of bread covered in a sticky syrup on the plate before him, with additional evidence of sausage patties and maybe some unidentified fruit cluttering the left-over mess. "We raided the pantry. I hope you don't mind?"

"Not at all, as long as you made enough to go around?" Joanna said as she refilled Donovan's cafe mug before returning the half-empty urn to the cafe maker. "After the last couple of days we all need a good meal."

Ja'Mason grinned and headed into the kitchen. "Two tall stacks, dirty with friends coming up!"

Alex sipped his coffee and sat, waving it at the kitchen as the clinking sounds of active cooking picked up. "Does he do this a lot?"

Donovan laughed. "Actually, yes. Ja'Mason's family owns a chain of resturants back on M'Tzigon that specialize in breakfast foods. Before he began his training in earnest he apparently spent many hours happily slaving away in the family's test kitchen in Sierra."

"I heard that!" Ja'Mason called from the kitchen. "Joke if you wish, you still love my pancakes!"

"That I do." Donovan called back. "He really is a good cook."

"Yeah, but where did he get the flour for the batter?" Joanna asked. "I remember stocking frozen fruit, sugar, even the frozen sausage patties. But not flour."

"Apparently you did have a goodly supply of hardtack. I was going to just dunk it in my coffee, but Jay found a food processor and decided to be a bit more creative and ..." Donovan waved his hand over the plate. "Much better."

"Thank you." Ja'Mason said, sweeping back into the room with two heaped plates. "And here you go."

"Wow..." Joanna sniffed appreciatively. "It smells amazing!"

Alex didn't say anything, as his mouth was already full, but he smiled and tossed Ja'Mason a thumb's up.

"Glad you like it." Ja'Mason said as he sat.

Joanna swallowed and pointed at Donovan with her fork. "Speaking of good things, its good to see you up and around again. How's the leg?"

"Good." Donovan replied. "Its sore and it will take a while to work the kinks out of the regenerated muscles, but its serviceable and the pain is manageable. I was going to ask you, what was in that bacta patch? It seems to have been almost as effective as a full-blown singer."

Alex and Joanna shared a look. "Nothing different that I know about." Joanna responded (Alex' mouth was still full) finally. She looked back at Alex again. "It must have been Shalon."

"Shalon." Donovan sat back with a thoughtful look. "That would explain it..."

"Explain what?" Alex finally found time between bites to speak. "You think she did ... something?"

"Nothing nefarious." Donovan scratched his chin absentmindedly. "I just noticed an ... echo, I guess you'd call it. An echo in the song that was very unusual. Almost like a minor-key counterpoint to the healing melody Ja'Mason and I use." He rubbed his thigh unconsciously, massaging the healing wound. "It was a totally different motif but very skillfully woven into ours. Highly effective. I wanted to ask her about it, but she's not awake yet."

"She grabbed a quick bite and crashed about three hours ago." Ja'Mason filled in. "I didn't realize it until Donovan stepped out a bit ago, but she must have spent the night chanting her incantations over him."

"Interesting." Alex concentrated, reaching out in the force until he sensed the faint pulse of her presence. "She's nearby ... looks like she's meditating." He took a sip of his cafe and looked over at Ja'Mason. "So, other than culinary pursuits, what were you up to while we slept?"

The smile on Ja'Mason's face faded. "This." He pushed a reader across the table to Alex.

Alex picked it up, scanning the documentation. "Orax? What's Orax?"

"Opal's home planet, apparently." Ja'Mason replied, his voice flat. "Keep reading."

Alex flipped through the pages, his frown deepening as he went. The first several pages were simple shipping tables, dry numbers with little intrinsic value. As he moved past them, however, he started to realize that the documents showed a sizable mining operation going on. One that was moving a lot of crystal off-world ... and which required a lot of labor as the crystals required careful manual labor to harvest.

Further documents showed the source of that labor, and Alex felt his anger hardening as he read details of slave shipments, the frequency of replacements making it clear that the work was neither easy nor safe. There were ancillary mentions of other crystal sources, with emphasis placed on the modified crystals the Mak'Tor had gathered and instructions to make every effort to intercept them. Alex read through the final pages, noting the shipping tables and again cringing inwardly at the sheer number of slaves being imported. He resisted the urge to wipe his hands as he handed the padd to his wife and turned back to the Mak'Tor Knights. "Well, that explains why they're after you ... and us. But how did they know about Opal? Why are they so interested in crystals from her..." Alex stopped talking mid-sentence as it suddenly registered. They aren't just mining crystals! They're capturing and enslaving Shard! "Oh Maker..."

"Exactly." Ja'Mason's eyes were hooded as he looked through the steam from his coffee cup. "The crystals we were moving were recovered from a project being run by the Inquisitorious, who were using Dark Singers to program the crystals for cooperative use in the super-laser of the second Death Star. It allowed them to get more energy through-put using less Kyber, which was important since the supply of Kyber crystals had been diminished in the FIRST Death Star. That's bad enough, but enslaving Shard?"

Ja'Mason paused and Alex caught a hint of his true emotions through the slight crack in his facade. The burning lava of his anger matched his own exactly. Alex picked up the narrative from him, explaining to Donovan and Joanna. "Shard would be able to cooperate, but wouldn't be locked into any particular programming or configuration.

It would add the equivelent of a highly adaptable and huistic AI to the already potent 'tuned' crystaling structure." He turned back to Ja'Mason as comprehension rolled through his wife's mind. "Does Opal know?"

Ja'Mason nodded. "She does. She downloaded the files, then left abruptly. I was more concerned with monitoring Don's condition and making sure Shalon was okay... I didn't think to follow her. Maybe I should have."

"No, you needed to keep an eye on Donovan." Joanna replied. "So the cooking is a coping mechanism?"

Ja'Mason smiled slighlty. "Yes. Everyone in my family cooks. Some of us show it more than others, but the Maker gave me a job that promotes good health." Ja'Mason rose. "With your permission, I think I'll go..."

They looked up as the door whisked open and Opal stepped through. "No need, friend Ja'Mason. I am here." The droid stepped to the table and laid her own padd on it. "Friend Alex, I must ask you for much, much more than I had intended. I must ask you to give me the tools to free my people."

Alex picked up the padd and his eyes widened. "Opal, these droids are unstable..." He stopped, his mind racing. The droids in question were six HK-50's, pieced together from scrounged and fabricated parts. Alex had intended to use the HK's for security in the Igloo as well as taking one or two along on the Hope as security. However, the personality centers had proven impossible to reprogram, the assassin droid personalities capable of hiding and reprogramming themselves back in however he tried to remove or lock them out. So as Sentinels or bodyguards they were useless, psychopathic killers to smart and arrogant to follow orders or do anything they didn't want to do, and what they wanted to do was kill.

But Opal wasn't asking for the droids, so much as for their bodies...

He looked at Joanna and saw her own eyes flicker with understanding ... and approval. "...but you don't need the motivators, just an interface." He stood and drained his cafe mug. "C'mon, lets round up some electronics. We'll have to build appropriate interfaces to replace their personality centers and motivators."

<<<<< >>>>>

Shalon knelt in the dark, letting energy flow through her. She's slept some, allowing her mind to regenerate, but even that she'd augmented with the healing flows her Master had taught her. Few understood how potent the healing flows of the 'dark' side could be. Especially light-siders who tended to shy away from anything they considered tainted by the dark...

She felt something brush over her presence in the force and she recoiled, burying herself deeper. The touch had been light, nearly imperceptible, and for long moments she concentrated on keeping herself silent and still, her own signature hidden while she searched frantically for anything around her. After several minutes she relaxed, her probes showing nothing in contact. Secure in her invisibility she went back to the healing flows, funnelling energy into Donovan even as she brought her own body and mind back to peak performance.

<<<<< >>>>>

Gabriel felt a smile spread across his face as he 'watched' the Dark Sorceress from the shroud of the White Current. Jeric had stressed to his disciples the importance of learning as much about the force as possible. While the concept of The Song still eluded him, Gabriel had become a student of several "gray" and overtly light-side disciplines. He'd learned much, including the fact that one of the best places for a dark-sider to hide from a light-sider was within the light side of the force. It was a technique he'd learned from another sorceress. He's enjoyed that relationship immensely, nearly as much as killing her once he'd learned all he could from her.

This one was younger, but her skill with healing and stealth was impressive. Only her lack of experience allowed him to avoid counter-detection and maintain his surveillence of her even now. She was dedicated to her Master, which would make the seduction process harder but also more rewarding. And once she was his he would learn all of her secrets. She would be capable, a worthy subordinate and replacement for his fallen apprentice. The fact that she was easy on the eyes was simply icing on the cake and would make the physical component of the seduction that much more enjoyable.

As he watched, solidifying his link to his prey, the grin became a wide smile. Yes, little one, continue your meditations. So you will take your place at my side. You will be a worthy apprentice ... perhaps even a permanent companion? Hmm... Gabriel allowed his mind to turn briefly to his own future plans, considering the possibility of the Sorceress at his side as he killed and replaced Jeric as the Grand InQuestor...

Chapter 12: One Small Step for Shard... (part 1)
Hutta Town, Spaceport
Nar Shaddaa
5 ABY

In the end only five of the droid bodies were judged to be usable for the Shard. The HK-51s were ancient, and the electronics had degraded to the point where the interface of the sixth droid simply could not be modified. It was disassembled and the parts were distributed through the other five crates and taken as spares. Moving them was an initial obstacle as there were no anti-grav skids in the Igloo but the Alex, Donovan and Ja'Mason quickly confirmed that they could lift and move the five crates between them without great difficulty. This left Shalon free to cast a stealth spell over them and keep them hidden from casual observation as they moved from the Igloo to the spaceport.

The first part of the journey was simple - getting out of the Igloo and to the spaceport. Since they were in the middle of a distribution warehouse, Alex sliced into the distribution system, selected a cold food delivery being made by an auto-lorry to the spaceport food service hub and added their party to the manifest. The computers never questioned why five people, five crates and a droid were loading themselves into a frozen food cargo hold ... though seven hours later when the delivery truck arrived those people were questioning it!

Alex blew on his hands as he hopped down from the truck, quickly shedding the heavy parka he'd donned for the ride in the heat of the loading dock area. "Move around some, make sure everything is thawed out and working..."

"You ... bet ..." Shalon chattered, keeping her own heavy robes wrapped tightly around her slim body. "Shouldn't ... take ... long ..."

"Not in this heat." Joanna said, dropping her own heavy cloak. Alex kept the frown off of his face, even as he enjoyed the sight. With Alex, Shalon and the Knights busy moving and obscuring the crates from casual view only Joanna and Opal were available for the main obstacle they still faced: The Port Authority Customs Inspector's office. Everything had to go through the Port Authority's inspection points, even frozen food destined for the ship provisioning center. Anything that left Nar Shaddaa on a ship was inspected. Not that the PA cared about smuggling. They didn't care what was shipped - as long as the Hutts got their cut. Even on foodstuff.

There was no way around it. Shalon could keep casual observers from noticing anything, but she couldn't keep them off sensors nor could she fully hide them from an alert customs official. So they had to use ... other measures.

First, Opal would plug into the port systems as they approached the inspection gate. Her job was to override the security cameras, first recording several seconds of nondescript sensor input, then looping it back into the system to create a sensor blind-spot for them. Slicing the system wouldn't be easy, but Alex had long ago broken their keys and he'd given Opal access to his entire arsenal for this attack.

Once Opal was in and gave them the all-clear, Joanna would be on-deck. Her job was to get in close to the inspectors and take them out. The inspectors stayed in an armored ready-room, never emerging as a group and there were always at least two inspectors on-site. There was, however, one scenario that would get her full access, and she was dressed for the part: high-end escort, stiffed by her employer and willing to trade services for fees to get through the port inspection.

Alex pulled Joanna into a tight hug. "You know, when I bought this dress for you I never intended for anyone else to ever actually see it."

Joanna returned the hug before resting her forehead against her husbands. "I know. I'm sorry. I know you like this one. We'll just have to find something even better to replace it with."

Alex stepped back and took in the backless, plunging neckline and hip-high slit skirt before shaking his head. "That may not be possible."

"Be careful, friend Joanna. I will not be close enough to affect immediate extraction should something go awry." Opal added as she stepped up behind Joanna. "I have located an appropriate data port. I will be plugged in within four minutes. Please proceed to the first way point."

"You bet." Alex clapped the Shard on the shoulder. "May the force be with you, Opal."

"Thank you, friend Alex." Opal replied. "And with you."

The droid moved through the doorway from the cold storage dock and into the main flow of traffic. It was well before local dawn but there was always some kind of foot traffic in the port, and the glimps Alex got confirmed his memories of this time of day: droids, drunk crewmen and a few embarrassed folks making their own 'walk of shame' back to their transports. "Anytime, Joanna. Just remember the distress code."

"Will do." She paused and laid her hand on Alex' cheek, turning his eyes down to hers. "Don't worry, love. They'll never know what hit them."

Their lips brushed and Joanna was gone, following Opal into the light flow of traffic. "Maker, walk with her..."

"He does, my friend. The song is calm, we're in good shape." Donovan said. "I do have a question, though: Where does she carry her weapon in that outfit? Its not exactly designed to conceal."

Alex couldn't help but grin. "I'll never tell." he said with a wink. "C'mon, lets get these crates moving. Shalon! Time for that spell!"

Behind him Donovan's cheeks flamed red and he shook his head violently. "Oh, Maker..."

  >>>>> <<<<<

Joanna felt the warm air of the docks on her skin and despite her banter with Alex and the Knights she was far from comfortable in the skimpy outfit. Mentally she carressed the thin stilletto and small chemical dispenser nestled side-by-side against her inner thigh, her only weapons as the dress denied her anything bigger. A soft click in her ear told her that Opal had successfully sliced the computer and would begin her work. Joanna slowed a bit, noticing another young woman dressed nearly as she was who was also moving surrepitously toward the customs gate.

"Bad night?" Joanna asked the woman asked, coming over.

"Well, it started out great." The girl replied, an edge of desperation creeping into her voice. "I met a guy, we danced, shared a drink. I was having fun, but later... He took everything! Threatened to strip me completely and sell me to the hutts as a pleasure slave if I called the Watch, then just vanished. He didn't hurt me, but he didn't leave me anything at all and now I can't even call ship and have someone pick me up. I have no idea how I'll be able to pay the customs fee and get back to my ship."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Joanna bit her lip, feigning worry. "The bastard who picked me up stole my purse and got everything except my clothing. I'm just hoping I can talk the Inspector into accepting ... alternative payment."

The girl's eyes widened. "Is ... is that really necessary?"

Joanna stopped, gripping the girl's arm to halt her as well. "It usually is." Joanna looked up and down the corridor. No one but some delivery droids... "How old are you, honey?"

"I'm an adult." the girl replied, but her voice was wavering now.

"Barely." Joanna replied. "Listen. Hang back and wait for me to talk my way into the office. Once I'm in, count to thirty, and then walk through. No one will stop you."

"Why? What are you going to do?"

"You really don't want to know." Joanna replied. "Now, hang back and get ready to crash the gate."

  >>>>> <<<<<

Alex, shrouded in the force screen Shalon was throwing up, swallowed as Joanna approached the Inspector's cubicle. "Be careful my love..." he whispered, then turned his concentration back to coordinating the movement of the crates.

  >>>>> <<<<<

"Late night, eh?" The Inspector at the window was a human, which was a stroke of luck for Joanna. He was already well distracted, and she hadn't even made her pitch.

Joanna played it for all it was worth, leaning forward suggestively. "Unfortunately. I was robbed in the casino, and now I don't have anything to pay the duty fee with. I don't suppose you could cut me some slack?"

"Well now, you know the rules. I mean, I'd love to help you, but..." his eyes never left her chest.

"I see." Joanna leaned a little further forward, letting the top droop just a bit. "I don't suppose I could persuade you? Maybe offer you something in trade?"

The inspector literally licked his lips. "Well, now, there might be something you'd have that I might want."

Joanna suppressed a shudder as his tone and roving eyes made her skin crawl. Maker, give me strength! She maintained her suggestive pose, pretending she was playing a game with Alex. It wasn't really possible ... but it helped her stay in character. "And what might that be?"

The Inspector's grin was downright predatory now. "Well, why don't you come on in and I'll show you?"

Got him! Joanna wiggled her hips suggestively as she straigtened, arching her back slightly to comlete the pose. "Sure. Just buzz me in?"

  >>>>> <<<<<

Alex watched Joanna flirt with the Inspector, and then move quickly to a side door which opened for her. The Inspector, with only one thing on his mind now, toggled the window to "closed" and pulled down the station shade. "Now we wait..."

"How long?" Donovan asked as they continued to move the crates forward, avoiding the sparse traffic.

"Hopefully not long." Alex replied. "If she gets the chemical delivered effectively, she'll pop back out in a minute or so. Otherwise..." Alex stopped. He didn't want to think about the alternatives.

Donovan just nodded. Together they moved ahead.

<Successful slice. Beginning custom's look in 30 seconds.>

  >>>>> <<<<<

"So, where are your friends?" Joanna asked as the Inspector steered her into a semi-private room behind the main booth. "Aren't there usually at least two of you around?"

"Well, that slimo Dunast called in sick, and NeYougn is a Dactaryian. He has no interest in our kind, and he's on a cargo inspection tour anyway. So its just you and me, baby."

"You don't say..." Joanna leaned back into him as his hands roamed. Before he could untie the laces at her neck she turned, smiling at him as she dropped to her knees. "So, let's not waste time, eh?" She smiled as her left hand ran up his thigh.

The lecherous smile on his face was still growing when the chem spray hit him square in the nose. With a gasp he threw himself backward, trying to reach the panic button, but the chemical was to potent. His eyes rolled back in his head and he hit the ground with a hard thump, unconscious.

Joanna, holding her breath, rolled him over on his stomach. She didn't want him to suffocate or asperate anything from his stomach as the chemicals wore off. She moved quickly, setting the board to auto-pass the next two-hundred folks seeking passage before locking odwn the customs gate again. With the sparse traffic, that would allow most folks to pass with only a short lock-down (hopefully) before the Inspector woke back up.

her work completed, Joanna re-opened the portal and left the Inspector, now snoring, to dream about the encounter he would never actually have.

  >>>>> <<<<<

Alex couldn't help heaving a sigh of relief as the gate went green, followed almost immediately by Joanna emerging from the booth. As she moved forward another young woman appeared, gave her a quick hug, then practically sprinted through the gate.

"I wonder what that was all about?" Ja'Mason said, voicing the question they were all thinking.

"I'm sure we'll find out in a few minutes." Alex replied. "C'mon. The gate is open. Let's get these crates to the Hope and get out of here.

"Roger Roger." Ja'mason quipped back. "Full speed ahead."

They moved through the gate, sliding between other travellers moving quickly to take advantage of the rare largess of the Port Inspector, still avoiding actual contact with anyone while Shalon's force spell kept them hidden and blurred the memory of their passage from the minds of anyone who may have taken any notice. Alex touched his ear, activating his earbud transmitter for the first time since they left the Igloo. "Opal, we are golden. Bugout."

<Affirmative. Seven minutes of loop remaining.>

"Perfect. See you at the Hope.

  >>>>> <<<<<

Chapter 12: One Small Step for Shard... (part 2)
Hutta Town, Spaceport
Nar Shaddaa
5 ABY

Joanna had never been so happy to see the Hope. She practically sprinted up the ramp. "Gambler! Begin the engine start checklist. Blip, make sure we're topped off for fuel and consumables, and lower the cargo ramp."

A series of clicks and whistles answered her as both astromech droids exploded into motion. Gambler's interrogative whistle drew a snort. "Yes, I plan to help! But first I need to change out of this dress!"

>>>>> <<<<<

Alex was helping Opal and Blip tie down the crates in the cargo hold when she emerged a few minutes later. "Hey gorgeous! Ready to blow this mud-ball?"

"You know it!" Joanna walked over and kissed Alex passionately. "Sorry it took me so long. I had to incernate that dress, and I needed a shower."

"Understood." Alex hugged her tight. "Tell me about it later. For now, Donovan is running the start-up checklist in the cockpit, Gambler is calculating our jumps and Ja'Mason is arguing with the portmaster. He wants confirm our customs seal with the local Inspector before we depart and he won't give us clearance."

"Where's Ja'Mason?" Alex waved toward the communications board forward. Joanna sauntered over and leaned into the pickup.

"...we're looking at stiff penalties if we don't get going now! Isn't there anything you can do for us?" Ja'Mason asked, his voice dangerously close to a whine.

Joanna gently moved the Knight out of the way. "Holden! Good to see you! How's your brood-kin? Your nest-mates and cretchlings?"

The being on the screen, clearly not human but mainly humanoid and covered with multi-colored scales that irridesced as he (it?) moved appeared to frown. "Jo-annn-ah! It is goood to see you! This ooother one ... he has noooo huuuumor..."

"He's a new hand, we haven't really had a chance to break him in yet." Joanna smiled back. "Now, my friend, we need to skeedattle, and right quick. Can you give us a priority clearance and a direct vector out toward the main space lane?"

"Jo-annnn-ah, I woooould love to dooo for youoo, but you know I must connnfirmmm with the Innn-spect-ooor before any cleeearance is isssuuued."

Joanna leaned back and sighed dramatically. "Holden, Holden, Holden..." Without warning she turned her head. "Don, how long to engine start-up?"

"Sub-space engines will be online in four minutes. Hyperdrive will be hot and ready to rock by the time we hit the limit."

"Very good." Joanna turned back to the pick-up. "Holden, we're lifting in five minutes. If we do that without clearance, well, the Port Master will send some of those annoying little pop-gun armed customs skimmers after us. And then we'll have to shoot them down, which will force the Port Master to scramble one or two of his revenue cutters. And we'll have to shoot THEM down, too. But in the mean time, we'll have to burn a ton of fuel and fire off ordinance, maybe even take some damage... Do you know how expensive concussion missiles and proton torpedoes are, Holden? They're expensive.

Joanna leaned forward now, her tone shifting from irritated to menacing. "That kind of expense will cut way into my profit margin for this trip, Holden. I'd really hate for that to happen. In fact, if that were to happen, before we were done shooting down Hutt customs agents and blowing up Hutt revenue cutters I'd have to send a small note to my friend in Hutta Town. That would cause my friend to go retrieve a certain package ... and deliver it to another, less friendly person in Hutta Town. A person who might be very upset indeed to see the contents of that package."

The irridescent creature on the screen wilted. "No need, Jo-annn-ah. No neeeeed. Priority clearance is graaaant-edddd. Please take exit vector oohhh-twooo-four and maintain standard intervals on your ascent."

"Thank you Holden. I greatly appreciate your help. Joanna out." She killed the connection and turned to find Ja'Mason standing wide-eyed behind her. "What?"

"What do you have on him?"

Joanna grinned a wicked grin. "Nothing at all." She stood up and bounced toward the cockpit. "But he doesn't know that!"

>>>>> <<<<<

Twenty minutes later they were clear of the atmosphere and headed out-system at full speed. No other ships were pursuing them, not even a shadow by the constant TIE-fighter patrols being mounted by the Pentastar Alliance Star Destroyer still hovering in orbit around the moon. As they headed away Alex half-expected to be hailed by the massive Star Destroyer, or be intercepted by a cloud of TIEs. Neither happened, and as they reached the outer system the hyperdrive kicked in and they leaped into hyperspace for their first jump toward the M'Haeli system. Meanwhile...

Alex found Opal already in the cargo hold, standing over the first of the five HK-51 crates. "Friend Alex..."

"Opal." Alex turned to Donovan and Ja'Mason. "Be mindful. The original programming was unstable, and it should be gone, but just in case..."

"Understood."

Alex stood back himself and opened himself up to the force. He could just sense the intelligence waiting inside the interface module Opal held, ready to emerge. "Go ahead Opal."

The Shard nodded and carefully opened the access panels on the assassin droid. Thanks to the prep work they'd already done the installation process took less than five minutes. Opal mounted the interface module and connected the power leads and data trunks before closing the droid shell up. "Power-up will commence in fourteen seconds..."

Alex felt the tension crackling between the Knights. Donovan gripped his saber tightly while Jamason stroked his, but both were coiled tight and ready to spring. Alex tried to keep himself calm but the energy flowing in the force had him on edge as well, and his fingers were brushing his own hilt as the power systems in the KH-51 chassis completed their start-up cycles and the droid body came online.

The eyes glowed amber, matching the power indicator on the chest, and Alex felt the Shard awaken as its new body's sensors reported in. For long seconds the Shard, Cobolt, laid still, unmoving and unthreatening, but the tension ramped up inexplicably...

The hammer blow that slammed into Alex' chest knocked the wind out of him and drove him backward, into the bulkhead. By instinct he managed to keep his head from taking the brunt of the impact but he lost his grip on his saber as he fell. Alex was peripherally aware of his saber being drawn away, and he made a feeble grab for it in the force, only to be rebuffed ... and tossed sideways into another bulkhead.

Ears ringing, Alex moaned and dragged himself to his feet, forcing congnition and clarity through the pain of what would likely prove to be badly bruised ribs. He could hear Joanna calling his name through the ringing, but it was far away ... and his eyes were fixed on his own purple blade as it swung through a flourish. Donovan and Ja'Mason's blades were also active and the Knights stepped forward to face Cobolt, sabers humming...

"STOP!"

The voice was different than her normal voice, but the origin was Opal. She stepped between the Knights, directly in front of Cobolt. "Stand down!"

Cobolt stood at the ready, saber in high-guard, for long moments. Finally he bowed his head and lowered the weapon, de-activating the blade. "Mistress ... you are not in distress then?"

Opal didn't move but Alex could feel something pass between them, almost like a carrier wave in the force. Cobolt, still in stance, visibly relaxed. He bowed to Opal, "Yes, Mistress, I understand now. Forgive my imputence." He straightened and looked at Alex. "My apologies, Friend. Please, take back your own."

Alex limped forward and retrieved his light saber from Cobolt's open hand. "Thank you. That's quite a whallop you've got there."

"It has served me well over the years, guarding my Mistress." He turned and looked at Opal. "Her visage has changed. Obviously much more time than I cognized has passed, but by the Maker's grace I am once again able to do my duty to Mistress Opal."

"Um, 'Mistress' Opal? Is she the Ambassador then?" Donovan asked.

Cobolt hesitated, turned and looked at Opal, who nodded slighlty. "No. She is not the Ambassador. She is Lady Opal, Mistress of Light, the leader of the Iron Knights."

"My commander and sworn liege lady."

Chapter 13: One Giant Leap for Shard-kind
n'Croth Spaceport
M'haeli system
5 ABY

Alex tensed as the swirl of hyperspace broke down and resolved into the starfield of the M'Haeli system. He and Joanna sat in silence for long seconds, undconciously holding their breath as they scanned the area with eyes and sensors.

Nothing. Just peaceful stars and placid space.

Alex released his held breath in a sigh, then grinned as he heard Joanna's matched release. "Well. That was anti-climatic."

"Thank the Maker." Joanna replied, her hands busy as she brought up the Hope II's drive and began moving in-system. Due mainly to their own long transit and a desire to be as nondescript as possible they'd emerged further out than normal, though they were in the standard shipping lane. Even out here there were fairly regular flashes of blue as ships stretched through the psuedomotion of hyperspace entry and exit, and the flashes got thick enough closer in that even in the vast emptiness of space there was a real concern of a collision. So, like a lot of tramps, they'd chosen to emerge further out and take a more oblique course in-system, though their reasoning was more about having time to observe and avoid any obvious Imperial presence than the more common collision concern.

"Course is plotted and transmitted to system control. This far out it might be an hour or two before they get back to us, though. Assuming they approve our course and don't change our vector we should be landing in ... four hours or so."

"Thanks." Alex stood and stretched. "I'll let the kiddies know ... and see if Opal is awake yet."

Shorty after they'd jumped to hyperspace outbound from Nar Shaddaa, and with little explanation, both Shard had gone into some form of hybernation. Their droid bodies were not dormant - they were in fact using power at rates slightly greater than normal - but the Shard themselves had in essence gone to sleep. Cobalt had awoken only hours before, just before they'd set up for the final series of jumps into M'haeli, and had seemed normal, but the Mak'Tor were keeping a close eye on him while Shalon continued her own vigil over Opal herself.

Alex stuck his head into the lounge area, finding Donovan and Jamason with Cobolt. "We've dropped out of hyperspace and there doesn't appear to be a welcoming committee for once. Joanna says we should be landing in about four hours."

"Good." Donovan replied, standing and stretching. "Jamason and I need to check in with the local mission and get a status report off to our superiors, as well as pick up some ... supplies."

Alex leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms. "Oh? Still having power issues?"

Jamason nodded. "Cycle times are getting shorter and shorter. The modulator you worked up for me on Nar Shaddaa helps, but even with it I'm only getting a few minutes of full-power before I have to swap power cells."

"It has to be the cell design." Alex frowned, his mind running over the specs. "The couplers and power runs in your saber are identical to Donovan's. The only difference is the short, high-density cell."

"Which is why I need to visit our mission here. The Knights running security have a supply of maintenance parts, including a longer grip section and some standard power cells and couplings." Jamason laid his saber on the table. "The longer grip will let me use the same power cells as Don, which will hopefully stop the degrading power cycle issue as well as give me usable endurance."

"Makes sense. I hope it works." Alex grinned. "What about you, Cobolt? Are you going to go with them?"

The Shard shook his head. "Yes and no. I have my own shopping list that needs attention."

Alex felt his eyebrows rise. "Oh? What are you seeking?"

"See for yourself."

Alex took the offered padd and scrolled down the list. "Focus array ... power coupling ... mounting brackets and bracing ... high-density duranium tubing ... power interface ... plasma emitter ..." Alex looked up. "These are all lightsaber components."

The droid nodded. "Indeed."

Alex handed the padd back. "Based on quantities, you're hoping to build more than one."

"Also correct. Two, in fact. Though only one will be mine."

Alex glanced at the cargo bay where Shalon and Opal remained together. "And one for Opal..." He turned back to Cobolt. "You know its still illegal to own a lightsaber, or trade in the materials required to build one."

The Shard was silent for a moment, the eyes of the droid body seeming to flicker with thought. "Do you have a proposed solution, friend Alex?"

Alex let his grin show now. "Well... The plasma emitter and most of the power couplings and interfaces can be manufactured from spare parts in the workshop. If we take those off the list, the rest of those parts are plumbing and bracing materials for the most part. Joanna and I could pick them up easily."

"That would also shield you and Opal from exposure to threats while we are here." Donovan added, leaning back to sip his cafe. "I know hiding isn't fun, but considering the quality of enemies you two apparently have..."

Cobolt nodded. "Agreed. If you will supply the missing parts, I will begin construction immediately." The Shard rose and headed for the workshop in engineering.

Alex held his position, forcing the Shard to stop and face him. "Just one question: what about the crystal? You're going to need a couple to make these work you know."

The Shard made a noise that might charitably be called a chuckle. "I am aware, Friend Alex. Never fear, the crystals will be provided."

<<<<< >>>>>

Shalon felt the ship settle on the landing pad and reluctantly opened her eyes. She laid her hand on the cold droid body and felt Opal beginning to stir. She'd be awake soon. Shalon wanted to stay, but she had her own errand to run. As strong as the pull was for her to stay in her over-watch, the call pulling her from the port was stronger.

Silently Shalon stretched, limbering her body back up and allowing herself time to come fully awake as the Knights and Krins left the ship ahead of her.

<<<<< >>>>>

Alex and Joanna moved through the market area adjacent to the port and for a time they allowed themselves to relax. The day was warm but not overly so, the sun bright but not remarkably so, the wind no more than a pleasant breeze which kept the heat at bay without causing any problems. The couple walked together, holding hands and trying different local street vendor's wares while they browsed for the parts they needed as well as a few other things. It was a pleasant day, spent together, with little of the pressures and dangers of the near past. It was a day they both needed.

When they returned to the Hope they found Opal awake again and helping Cobolt in the electronics workshop. As Joanna put the general supplies and groceries away with the help of the droids Alex took the special parts they had acquired and joined the Shard in fashioning their new weapons.

<<<<< >>>>>

Jamason calmed his nerves as he inserted the standard power pack and gave it a turn to seat it. The pack clicked home with a solid, mechanical sound and the modified saber was again live in his hand. He looked at Donovan and Kowan Jo'Nat'Than with a worried grin. "Well, here goes nothing..."

Jamason pressed the activation switch and relaxed as his familiar cyan blade sprang to life. He gave the saber a few swings, ran through several flourishes and breathed a sigh of relief as the saber responded to his touch with its accustomed liveliness. "Perfect."

"Good. Now maybe you'll admit that the longer hilt is better?" Donovan grinned as his friend responded by sticking out his tongue. "Eloquent, as always."

"Well, that's why you write the reports, eh Don?" Jo was also grinning. "I'm glad we had the parts on hand. I can't imagine being stuck out on the rim somewhere with a faulty hilt...

"It is in fact quite stressful. I feel much better now." Jamason tucked his hilt away under his robes. "I hope you won't have any problems replacing the parts?"

"No problem at all. They'll just slip them in with the next bacta shipment. Getting this out, though..." he picked up the data crystals Donovan had given him. One was a full report, including their best analysis of the data they'd recovered on Nar Shaddaa. The second was a copy of the raw data itself. "...this could be a bit tricky. Local customs don't care all that much about what you bring in and out, but they do have this irritating habit of wanting to at least know what it is. And this ... really can't wait."

"I'm sure you'll manage." Donovan said. "Meanowan Jackson wouldn't have sent you out here if you weren't ... resourceful."

"True." Jo'Nat picked up the crystals and "disappeared" them into a hidden pouch in his robes. "Are you two sure you don't want to walk away from this? You've collected more than enough information on the Krins to clear them of suspicion. There's no doubt at HQ that the interference has originated with Jeric and his InQuestors. And if you come in now, I can get you home in plenty of time for S'Kar'Yom..."

"No, we're committed. Besides, I have a feeling about this one..."

Jamason rolled his eyes as he saw the glint in his partner's eyes. "Oh, no. He's got that "lost puppies rescued" look again..."

Jo'Nat laughed. "That he does. Ok, go rescue your puppy then. If you do get in trouble, though, activate the beacon. The Jokers rotated through here not to long ago and the Black Aces are due in a couple of weeks. It may not be immediate but if you really need help I should be able to scare up something to send your way."

"Thank you, Jo." Donovan gripped the Koawan's hand. "Maker bless you."

"And you."

<<<<< >>>>>

The alley was dark, but darkness was not something she ... or her master ... feared. Shalon had been very careful, tailing the Mak'Tor and Krins as they left the ship before looping back on her own pathway several times. Her stealth incantations were the deepest and most effective ones she knew ... she would always cherish the look on the face of the man who had been staring at her when she suddenly disappeared from his site ... and she had spent hours winding through the maze of side streets and bazaars that made up the fringes of the n'Croth spaceport.

As Shalon advanced at last into the darkness of the designated street she suddenly felt the presence of Master Non Shrall. His essence emerged from the darkness like a light surfacing from deep water - not a brilliant star but a steady, friendly glow. She dropped to one knee and ducked her head. "My Master, I have come."

"Well done, young one. Even I was unable to trace your path until you were quite close. Slipping into the White was quite clever." The old Sith inclined his head to his beaming apprentice in respect.

"Thank you, Master." Shalon rose and spoke with a low voice. "I am honored. What is thy bidding?"

The eyes of the ancient Kissai shone. "It is time. You have won their trust. It is time to take advantage of that. I have foreseen it." He laid his hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently, then waved it in a complex incantation pattern. "I have hidden our approach. Now, take me to her. It is time..."

<<<<< >>>>>

Alex watched, fascinated, as the Shard worked. They'd returned to find both Opal and Cobolt busy in the electronics shop pre-assembling what they could. They'd taken the additional parts and finished the work, then went still. And now, still, they worked all the harder, the force ebbing and flowing with more concentrated power than he'd ever felt before.

"Are they ok?" Joanna handed Alex a steaming mug. "They've been still for a long time."

"Yes, they're fine. I think." Alex replied. "You remember when I built my saber?"

"Yes." Joanna sat next to him. "You were three days at it, as I recall. Half of our honeymoon."

"That was when I made the crystals." Alex replied, his eyes twinkling. "And I made it up to you as I recall."

"Well..." Joanna grinned back. "Okay so isn't that what they're doing now?"

"No." Alex looked back at the still droids. "They've got the components. Right now they're making connections and aligning parts. I'm just curious where their crystals are..."

As if on queue, a small panel on Opal's torso popped open and a amber gemstone floated out. Immediately after a similar gem appeared from Cobolt's side, appropriately a light-blue color. The couple watched as the gems floated to the benches and disappeared into the building sabers. Alex sampled the energies again, following the flows as the Shard assembled their weapons, noting the similarities - and differences - from his own design. The power systems in particular were far heavier, the emitters and power cells designed for faster and heavier cycles and cycling more plasma. Weapons designed not just for saber on saber combat, but to hack through rock, metal ... and crystal.

Power hummed as the droid bodies suddenly came back online, and Alex sensed the final connections seating and circuits completing. Alex stood, waiting, as the Shard drew their hilts to themselves, studying them with both their electronic eyes and the deeper senses of the force. It was a solemn, reverent moment, the air humming with power.

"Are they completed?"

Donovan's voice broke the stillness and Alex started. "I think so." he replied, forcing steadiness into his voice. "Opal?"

The Shard turned her head toward them. "Friends ... let us find out together." She raised her hilt and with a heavy snap and thrumming sound the amber blade sprang to life, nearly half-again as long and wide as the blades Alex and the Knights wielded. Next to her Cobolt activated his as well, bring it around with a flourish and crossing blades with Opal. The clash was tremendous and the two withdrew their blades after a brief lock-up, powering them down again.

"They are complete, and satisfactory." Opal said. "Thank you, friends, for your assistance."

"Glad to help." Alex replied. "Now, we need to discuss..."

A shimmer interrupted Alex and without warning a tall, imposing figure stood before them. "Greetings!"

Without thought Alex had his saber in-hand, the blade ignited. He heard the heavy sounds of the Shard re-igniting their weapons as well as the more refined hum of the Mak'Tor's weapons.

"Hold! We are not hostile!" Shalon emerged from her own stealth incantation, hands empty and spread wide. "I told you this was a bad idea..."

Alex felt Joanna's hand on his arm and he relaxed, lowering his weapon. "Shalon. You should have announced yourself."

Shalon nodded, radiating regret in the force. "Yes, I know. However, my Master..."

"...can speak for himself!" The Kissai Master scowled, his tentacle beard shimmering with movement on his tattooed face. "I am Non Shrall, Master Sorcerer of Tund. And my apprentice is correct, I have a weakness for dramatics. In that I beg your forgiveness." And with a complex arm flourish the Sith bowed.

Alex shut his saber down. "Apology accepted ... Master Shrall. What can we do for you?"

"Actually, I seek an audience with Mistress Opal." Shrall turned and bowed again. "Mistress, I am the last of my kind. I am old and spent, but I have seen a vision - The learning of Tund living on in hearts of stone." The ancient eyes softened and he laid his hand on Shalon's shoulder. "Hearts of stone ... as well as flesh and blood. Sorceress and Sorcerer, flesh and stone, side-by-side. I have foreseen it." He squeezed gently, then waved his hand. "I propose an alliance. I know of your people's plight. The war you contemplate will be long, but we can keep you hidden while you recruit and build your forces. We can teach you ways of striking your enemies and learning their plans that you do not know. We can help you free your people."

Opal cocked her head to the side in a gesture Alex had learned to recognize as her "thinking" pose. "Tempting. What do you seek in return?"

"A home. Nothing more."

Opal looked at Cobolt and again Alex felt the intense passage of force energies between them as they communicated. Then Opal nodded, her hand extended. "Your help for a home. Agreed."

The old Sith took it and fire blazed in his eyes. "Agreed and well done!"

Chapter 14: Convergence
En Route to Orax
Hydian Way
5 ABY

Alex carefully extracted his head and shoulders from the cramped engine compartment of the lander. He wiped sweat from his brow as he drained a half-liter of cold water from an insulated bottle while the mini-comp finished its diagnostics of the energy storage and transfer systems. The device beeped and he picked it up. "That did it."

"Were the numbers satisfactory, friend Alex?" Cobolt asked from his own panel, where navigation calculations streamed by to fast for human comprehension.

"Yes. The redundant circuits were causing the power loss. I inserted the physical bypass and the storage system and engine transfer rates are now in spec. It will require you to manually engage the back-ups if they are needed, however."

"Hence these 'toggle switches' you installed in the nav panel?" Cobolt pointed inerringly into the small cockpit of the lander at the secondary control panel where a series of physical on-off toggles were installed.

"Yes. A simple, binary solution to a complex problem." Alex stood and stretched.

"Simple, certainly. However, I remain convinced a wave-form algorythm capable of cancelling out most of the redundant loss could eventually be found, allowing for a fully automatic fail-over without any manual input."

Alex shook his head as he moved toward the galley. "No doubt you're right, Cobolt, but finding the correct solution will take time and testing. We have less than 3 hours before we arrive at Orax, and while the toggles are no doubt old-fashioned and inefficient it only took me ten minutes to install them and re-route the back-ups. So there you go."

"Indeed." The droid emitted a trilling sound that Alex recognized as his version of a sigh. "Very well. Still, it will leave us more vulnerable than a fully automatic system would."

"Agreed." Alex refilled his bottle, drank half of it, and topped it off again. "That's why you're going over and over those navigation numbers, I'm sure."

"You are correct. It is my job to protect Opal. I will not fail her again." The droid fell silent, immersed in the numbers as they flowed by. While the scroll was far to fast for Alex to follow it was painfully slow for a droid with the processing power Cobolt's body had, and this was the third time he'd gone through them since Joanna had certified the initial output from the "Hope's" navi-computer.

Alex wiped his forehead again and sat, letting his body relax after his own efforts. He'd made light of the bypass installation with Cobolt but the work had been exacting and complex and had required extreme levels of concentration as well as some force assistance to make it happen so quickly. While a spanner and micro-welder were the most common of tools it was so helpful at times like these to be able to use the force to thread cable runs through places that would otherwise require time-consuming disassembly and reassembly. What took Alex ten minutes would have taken a 'normal' techie six to eight hours to complete.

Time they no longer had.

"I'm going to check on our heading. I'll be back in a few minutes with the final navigation numbers for your program."

The Shard nodded. "Thank you, friend Alex."

"You're welcome."

<<<<< >>>>>

"I have a bad feeling about this..."

Ja'Mason looked over at his partner and friend. "I know what you mean. We should be with them, not stooging around in real-space with a Kissai Dark Priest and his priestess-in-training."

Donovan studied the diamond-chipped spleandor of the Orax outer-system and sighed. "No. We're needed here. But I can't shake the feeling..."

"...that something bad is going to happen." Shalon joined them in the cockpit of the "Darkstorm", the ship that Master Shrall had piloted to M'haeli to meet them. "I share your fears, but Master Shrall is adamant that with our intervention the worst will be avoided."

"Perhaps. I just wish we could be more sure of what that meant. The song is ... turbulent, almost discordant. Its almost impossible to pick up its threads. If Non Shrall is wrong..." Donovan sighed. "Well. It will be a bad day for all of us, but especially for them."

Shalon sat in the cockpit jumpseat and laid her hand on the Knight's shoulder. "There is much at stake. My Order's future is at stake. The freedom and perhaps the very existance of the Shard are in the balance. Against this four humans who have no stake have counted their lives as less and thrown their lot in with us. The Maker will honor your willingness to sacrifice."

Donovan's eyebrows rose. "Maker? Are you a believer, Shalon?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not, not in the way you mean. But I have learned much of the force, and now hear your Song, and though I cannot predict it I have learned to trust it. Or at least, the intent of the One who sings it."

Ja'Mason's eyes widened "Trust the Singer, not the song..." he said, his voice reverent. "From the mouth of babes..."

Shalon met his eyes. "Babe? I didn't know you were interested, Jay." She laughed as Ja'Mason stammered and the Knight's cheeks flared red. "Gotcha!"

Donovan joined her in chuckling, and finally Ja'Mason smiled. "Yes, you did. Thank you, I needed to smile." He took a deep breath and looked out again. "We're on course and a black hole in space. Our friends will be here in the next five minutes. I've got this, Don. You two should go join Master Shrall."

<<<<< >>>>>

Alex glanced over at the navicomputer and noted the count-down timer before opening the ship's intercom. "Two minutes to emergence, Opal. Are you ready?"

"We are prepared, friend Alex." there was a pause and Opal's voice was uncharacteristically emotional. "Thank you."

Alex glanced at his wife, who nodded to him. "You're welcome, Opal. Save your people." He glanced at the counter. "Emergence in twenty-four seconds from ... mark."

"Launching in two-seven seconds." Cobolt replied. "See you on the other side."

"Safe journey, friends. May the force be with you."

"And with you." Opal replied. "Iron Knights, out."

<<<<< >>>>>

Space erupted in the blue flash and stretched pseudomotion of emergence as the Hope emerged from hyperspace on the far edge of the Orax system. They were well out on the fringe, beyond orbital control's sensor range, but just inside what would be considered a standard emergence zone for a merchie with either a very poor navicomputer or at the end of a series of quick hops made without making careful adjustments for drift. Indeed, any electronic query of the ship's computer would show just that - a series of jumps made in quick succession from M'haeli along the Hydrian Way in an attempt to deliver the medical supplies they'd picked up on-time after getting a late start due to a hyperspace motivator failure two jumps out of port.

Joanna used a light touch to align her ship with the system. "Final update sent." she said. Five seconds to launch."

"Godspeed, Opal." Alex said as the timer counted down. The ship shuddered as the lander separated, the thrusters on it twitching ever so slightly as Cobolt made a minute adjustment to their heading before the small, stealthy craft went to full power shutdown and became just another small ballistic object traveling through space.

Alex and Joanna watched them go, the dark gray capsule nearly invisible in the dim light of the outer system. They coasted for over a minute, allowing the capsule to drift far enough that their own movements wouldn't affect it before Joanna engaged their own sublight engines and headed in-system. "So far so good..."

Alex sighed. "Yup. Now we just need to survive the next part." He unbuckled and stood. "I'm going to check the escape pod, make sure our new load of rancor bate is ready to go."

"No time. Emergence..." Joanna said. "Two ships, port and starboard." Her hands flew across the board, bringing the engines to full power as well as energizing the shields and gun turrets.

Alex dropped back into the copilot's seat, reaching for the straps as a harsh male voice came over the speakers. "Uknown freighter, this is the Imperial Star Destroyer Alexander. You are ordered to heave to and prepare to be boarded. Any resistance will be met with deadly force. Drop your shields, heave to and prepare to be boarded. Alexander out."

"Well, I guess they recognized us after all." Joanna said. "So much for plan A..."

As the freighter went to full power and started cork-screwing through space Alex brought up the Blackout controls and armed the Rancor Bait pod. "Black-out ready ... hook baited."

"You think that's going to work again?" Joanna threw the ship through a wicked evasion pattern as ion bolts lit space around them. "They know who we are, they have to know what happened."

"Maybe, maybe not. They might be going off of emissions recordings from Nar Shaddaa..." Alex closed his eyes and reached out into the force...

<Jedi ... YOU ARE MINE!>

The force-thorn slammed into Alex' mind, catching him completely off guard. He had no chance to defend, no ability to deflect... White-hot pain exploded through his mind, overwhelming his senses and driving him to the brink of unconsciousness. Even his voice was muted, the scream he wanted emerging as nothing more than a long, hissing sigh.

"Alex?" Joanna glaced at her husband and saw him go limp, his eyes rolling back into his head and a trickle of blood appearing below his nostrils. "Alex!!!"

There was no answer as the Star Destroyer's escort, a Nebulon B frigate, opened fire as well, catching the Hope in a withering cross-fire of heavy ion bolts. Within seconds the ship died and ion-energy bleed-over coursed through the ship, thoroughly deactivating all on-board systems, overloading Blip and Gambler, and tazing Joanna into painful unconsciousness.

<<<<< >>>>>

On the bridge of the Alexander InQuestor Gabriel opened his eyes, revealing a very cold light. "Tractor them into the forward bay. Commander Berns and his Strike Troopers are waiting for them there."

"Yes sir." The ship's Captain, named Yates, turned and issues the appropriate orders as Gabriel continued to study the tumbling ship. "We meet again ... Jedi."

<<<<< >>>>>

Ja'Mason felt the stir in the force and listened to the wavering in the song with gritted teeth. From their position all he could see were a few flashes of light, nearly hidden against the background starfield. He felt the growing song behind him as well, as Donovan joined in the ritual Master Shrall and Shalon were weaving. He'd felt the shock and pain emitted by Alex as the force thorn went home, and the falling of the song into the hammering rhythm of the Dark had forced bile to rise in his gut, but through it all he sat still, humming softly, lending what small support he could without breaking stealth.

"Hang on, my friend. Hang on..."

Chapter 15: Shell Game
Orax System
Orbital Space
5 ABY

The first thing Alex became aware of was pain. The burning, throbbing pain in his body was consistent with heavy ion shock, but it was ultimately secondary to the blinding, migraine-like pain in his head. He groaned, trying to open his eyes, only to be forced back into darkness by the unbearable spike of liquid fire that seemed to pour into this head through his eyeballs.

"Ah, Alex. Good of you to finally join us." The voice was deep, riched and relaxed. Conversational. Alex felt a cool flow enter his mind, soothing the fire and pain residual from the force thorn. Not enough to eliminate the pain, just enough to make it possible for Alex to keep his eyes open and focus on his surroundings. "There. We wouldn't want you to miss out on the main event..."

Alex blinked his eyes, bringing the world into focus, and he immediatelyt tried to rise. "You bastar...auggg..." Electricity coursed through his body, reducing him to uncontrollable twitching as the shock collar and binders flooded his system with low-yield current. Despite this he managed to keep his eyes locked on his wife. She was also dancing to the flow of electrical current, her own collar and binders apparently triggered by Alex' movements as well as his own. Where Alex was locked in a fetal position, however, his wife was stretched out, hanging from her wrists from some sort of rigging. An interrogation droid hovered next to her head, its various implements at the ready. The marks of previous usage as well as the application of less technical tools were clearly visible on her stretched body ... as was blood.

A lot of blood.

"Joanna..." Alex gasped. Hands gripped him as the stunner shocks subsided and brought him to a kneeling position. A hand gripped his chin and drew his head to the side, and Alex recognized the InQuestor from Nar Shaddaa, the one who'd gotten away. "You'll pay for this..."

Gabriel met his eyes and laughed. "Pay? Stupid Jedi. I've already paid for your blood, and hers. You've cost me the Singers, their crystals, and two very promising subordinates. And if I am wrong about why you're here, now, InQuestor Jeric will probably have my head." Gabriel released Alex' jaw, moving his hand to rest on the young Jedi's temple. "Oh yes, my young friend, some of it may be on credit, but I've paid in full. But you..."

Gabriel, squatting on his heels, seemed to search Alex' eyes again before turning to look at Joanna's battered form. "She really is beautiful. I can understand why you fell for her." Alex struggled to stay still and avoid another shock for both of them as the InQuestor casually rose and circled her. "I considered taking her for myself, but her will is very strong. I'm afraid the only way to do that safely would be to reduce her to a gibbering idiot, and what's the fun in that? So instead..." He walked back over to Alex again. "You have two options, Jedi. Option one: Confirm why you came here, and tell me where I can find the Shard known as "Opal" as well as what it's plans are on this planet willingly. If you do this, I will keep the torture to a minimum and once I am done I will give you and your wife a clean death."

"Or?" Alex grated, his eyes again fixed on Joanna.

"Or, my stupid friend, I will rip the information I want from your mind piece by piece, leaving you just enough awareness to feel the pain of failure as I then torture your wife for confirmation of each bit I take. Then, when I am done, I will allow you to live long enough to watch my most loyal troopers begin her conditioning for sale as a pleasure slave. I'm sure the personnel on the planet below will appreciate the chance to acquire such a ... lovely distraction."

Alex felt the rage bubbling in himself and he didn't even try to suppress it. "Bastard..."

"Oh, good, good! I feel your anger and hatred!" Gabriel was suddenly nose-to-nose with Alex. "Let it well up, Jedi! Let the hate flow! Give yourself to the dark, and I will spare both of you. Become my apprentice, take the place of the ones you killed, and you will have life instead of useless, ignoble death and defeat!"

Alex blinked and suddenly it was there, in his mind's eye: a luxury apartment in a modern, high-tech city. Good food. The respect of his colleagues. A rising position of power and authority. Joanna at his side as they...

As you what, Alex? capture and torture people to death? Like him?

He looked at Joanna again, and her eyes met his. Almost imperceptably her head shook side-to-side. No...

Alex looked at the bloody face of his wife "I can't let that happen..."

"No, you cannot." Gabriel said. He seemed almost gleeful as he felt Alex gather and harness the rage within him. "Yes.... Let it flow...."

Alex began a healing flow, suppressing the pain in his body. He hid it below the rising bubble of rage. THAT he rode, letting it build, harnessing its power... "You win, InQuestor. The Shard..."

Gabriel was leaning in, flush with his victory, when Alex suddenly let the bubble burst. He directed the force energy into a focused impact, slamming it into the InQuestor's chest as hard as he could. The strike caught Gabriel completely by surprise. His training and experience told him that no Jedi, no matter how compromised, would ever harness the power of pure rage in the force. The dark energy was to contaminating, to powerful. Only by giving themselves to the dark could they harness that energy. The shock of the unexpected attack was so powerful that he didn't even try to cushion his impact on the bay wall, several hundred meters away, striking hard enough to break several bones and cause a severe concussion.

Alex followed up the first strike with a far more general, circular push. He threw every ounce of energy he had left into it, and had the satisfaction of seeing the Shock Troopers tossed away from them like chaff. With a final burst of hysterical strength he ripped the shock collars and bonds he and his wife wore apart, hurling the shards away with a defiant scream. Free, he tried to rise...

...and fell on his face, spent and unable to move. "No ... Joanna..."

A hand, gentle but strong, touched his cheek. "I'm here. Can you move at all?"

With her help he rolled onto his back, and her face was there, inches away. Her left eye was swollen and dark, an ugly cut above her eyebrow, and the damage to her body was evident through her battered clothing, but she was moving. She was alive.

She was free.

"Yes..." Alex calmed his mind, drawing on the force with dangerous abandon but he was able to push enough energy into his limbs to stand with Joanna's assistance.

As they stood unsteadily, he took a moment to look around, expecting a detention block of some kind. Instead, he found he was standing in one of the secondary bays, probably the forward launch bay, not far from the Hope. A table nearby held a wide assortment of implements, some sinister and slicked with blood, but others...

Energy surged again and he reached out, drawing his saber to himself. It flew unerringly to his hand, and he felt better for holding it. With an effort he sent out a distress pulse in the force, then did his best to cloak himself and his wife in a force "hole". With Alex leaning heavily on Joanna, the couple moved slowly and painfully toward the boarding ramp while the troops in the bay slowly recovered from his unexpected and confusing attack on them.

<<<<< >>>>>

Ja'Mason felt the pulse in the force at the same time he became aware of a new, soaring and hopeful melody emerging in the Song. "They're alive! Dom, now's the time!"

Immersed in the ritual being spun by Master Shrall and supported by himself and Shalon, Donavan didn't answer. Instead he just impressed the urgency of the situation on Master Shrall.

The response was nothing short of stunning.

<<<<< >>>>>

Gabriel suppressed the pain from broken ribs, cradling his left arm against his side as he rose on shaky legs. Damn it! He'd gotten cocky and over-confident, and that cursed Jedi had taken him by surprised! White-hot rage rose in him as he stalked back across the bay. He'd been greedy, hoping to turn him, use his fear and rage to control him and force him down a dark path. No longer. NOw ... now he was going to rip the informaion from him, piece by piece, as painfully as possible, then torture his bitch to death in front of him before tossing both of them into space to die...

"No..."

The word left his mouth before he fully comprehended what he was seeing. Dead and wounded Shock Troopers scattered around the bay ... blood streaks on the deck, mixed with shattered pieces of metal and plastic ... the interrogation droid crumpled like a tin can ... the shock harness where the wife had been restrained empty ...

With a roar Gabriel reached out with the force, drawing the Trooper commander to himself. He caught the hapless soldier by the neck. "WHERE ARE THEY?!?!"

"Grrrkk..."

Gabriel crushed the man's neck, reaching out with his senses. THe room reverberated with force energy from the massive pulses the Jedi had released, powered by his own rage at the abuse Gabriel had heaped on his wife...

The realization of his mistake rocked the InQuestor. "That's how he resisted... Damn it! Master Jeric will NOT be forgiving!" Real fear colored his emotions for the first time, but Gabriel had no time to process it. Before he could re-center his thoughts his communicator beeped. "Gabriel! What?!?"

"Sir, we have an inbound Rebel fleet, two Mon-Cal heavy cruisers escorted by several flights of fighters. We need to launch fighers but the forward bay is currently on lock-down..."

Gabriel squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then exhaled explosively. "Release the lockdown and get the pilots to their planes. I will be on the bridge momentarily. Gabriel Out." He spun and located the nearest trooper still functional. "Sergent! Gather the survivors and search the bay! They cannot have gotten far. I want those two found! When you have them, strip them and lock them in shock-frames in main detention, incentive protocol four."

"Sir!" The trooper began gathering troops, organizing survivors to search the bay as the overhead fighter racks came alive and the bay doors in the floor opened to space, leaving only the atmospheric field in place. Like Gabriel, he was confident they would be found - there was literally no where to go.

Unlike his boss, he was not so sure what would happen when they were found. He gripped his own weapon tighter, trying to ignore the pain of his own injuries even as he began a systematic search. He was looking the opposite direction, oblivious, as a shadow moved slowly and painfully up the Hope's boarding ramp.

<<<<< >>>>>

As they reached the top of the ramp Joanna felt Alex sag, the last of his strength gone. She laid him on the deck and slapped the emergency override, bringing the ramp up and sealing the ship. Gambler and Blip were both still down, standing lifeless in the bay where the Troopers had left them when they'd come aboard. Joanna grabbed a repair kit Alex called his "droid first aid" kit and slapped a module he'd called "emergency boot-strap restart" into Gambler's data port. The droid let out a squeal, dome spinning and arms suddenly springing out everywhere before suddenly coming to life. "Boo-eeeeep doop doop grrrppp."

"Can it, you were out and I need you online now. You can complain later. Get Blip online and get the ship fired up, now!"

"boo-eeeep frppppt bip beep bip"

"Yes, I mean it! We're going to need him, whatever you thing! Alex can't help us." Joanna pulled down a medical kit and slapped a pair of general-use metabolic stabalizers on Alex' neck and chest, hoping the combination of drugs and bacta would keep him alive and start repairing whatever damage he'd done to himself to get them out of bondage. "Hang in there, my love..."

Blip came online with more frenzied electronic screaming, and Joanna rose and hobbled toward the cockpit. Her body hurt from the abuse it had taken, and she knew she'd have nightmare aplenty from it soon enough, but for now she was in full fight or flight mode. By the time she got into the pilot's seat the ship was powering up. "Good job guys! Someone throw a net over Alex, this is going to be rough!"

In the bay fighters were launching, exiting the ship's forward bay through the atmospheric barrier. Alex slammed the main throttle forward, scraping her ship along the deck, bouncing it off obstacles and nearly rupturing the hull as she dove for freedom. The ship shuddered and shook but held together, and as she dove out of the bay her fingers found a particular toggle switch. "Time to kill another rancor..."

<<<<< >>>>>

Gabriel emerged onto the bridge just as the presence of the Jedi he'd captured returned to his notice. The man was barely alive and clearly had expended himself in a failed attempt to keep himself and his wife hidden. "Still in the bay..."

"Sir! We have a disturbance in the forward launch bay!"

Gabriel opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by another report. "Sir! Enemy fleet is closing! We have them on sensors but weapons refuse to lock. Fighters are launching and forming into attack formations."

Gabriel held up a hand, silencing the first man as he considered the tactical situation. "Order the fighters to close and attack. Move the Savage forward where its anti-fighter batteries can screen us and close for heavy bombardment. Have the second wave of fighters..."

A massive explosion shook the ship and Gabriel lurched painfully, nearly falling as the ship seemed to heave then twist slightly before righting itself. "Damage report!"

"Forward bay ... Sir, the forward bay is gone! Some kind of massive explosion. Seven fighters destroyed, the rest were already out. They're forming now, sir."

"Good." Gabriel pushed the pain down and mentally searched the bay. No sign could be found of the Jedi or his bitch wife. Good riddance... "Send them in, Lieutenant, as ordered."

"Aye!"

Gabriel turned back to the sensor technician. "You were saying?"

"Sir, there was a disturbance in the bay. Damage to fuel lines and power conduits registered before the bay went dark."

"Any internal imagery?"

The tech nodded and called up a multi-view panel. "Sir, from immediately before the first alarm."

Gabriel leaned over the tech's shoulder and watched as the figures in the bay started moving. The first group of fighters launched ... and then the freighter, the "Hope Two", suddenly lurched, slamming forward into a fuel conduit before lurching to the side and hammering an exposed power bus conduit. Within seconds fire erupted and the bay cameras went white with the flash-fire explosion as the bay was immolated. "Bastard..."

"Sir?" The tech, a very young rating, couldn't keep his voice from cracking as he asked the question. Gabriel patted him on the shoulder.

"Not you, tech Smythe. That bastard dark-damned Jedi. I under-estimated him again. He may have embraced the darkness, but he still hated me and used the last of his life-force to try to kill us all. At least he failed in that ... and whatever his designs were on Orax are undone as well." Gabriel stood painfully and strode toward the center of the bridge. "Now, lets kill these rebels and be done with it! Commander, status!"

<<<<< >>>>>

Ja'Mason watched in awe as the "rebel fleet" charged forward in full attack formation. He checked the ship's visual sensors, and the ships were there as well, not just appearing in his mind but also on the long-range optics. Only the main sensors were blank, but in the heat of the moment anyone with visual contact on an enemy would assume that his sensors were either jammed or malfunctioning. It looked so real...

TIE fighters appeared, launching from the Star Destroyer. As they formed, a second wave started to launch but the formation was suddenly engulfed by a massive explosion bursting out of the bay. The Star Destroyer leaped upward in reaction but quickly recovered, the tough battle-wagon designed to absorb such punishment and survive. Dead fighters and debris spun away, tumbling wildly into the void. Ja'Mason tracked it for a moment but his eyes returned to the main event as the Nebulon-B moved up and opened fire as the remaining TIE fighters rolled in on the projected Rebel fleet.

Space erupted with laser fire and explosions, and Ja'Mason felt his awe deepen at the power of the Kissai Priest's force projection. Fighters moved independently, diving and rolling, even attacking! Two TIE fighters, chasing their own individual ghosts, destroyed each other in a collision. Others were wiped away by friendly fire that appeared to pass through the Rebel cruiser itself, leaving firey wounds in their wake....

Suddenly one of the Mon-Cal cruisers seemed to shudder and then exploded, scattering the fighters and showering its companion with flaming wreckage. Badly damaged, the second cruiser turned and jumped away, accompanied by its surviving fighter screen.

Wreckage drifted in space, dissipating into the void as the Imperial ships launched search-and-rescue ships to attempt to recover their own people. "Wow..."

"Some show, eh?" Donovan's voice was scratchy, his eyes bleary but his shoulders were square. "Master Shrall can maintain what is necessary by himself now. That was ... intense."

"Are you OK?" Ja'Mason asked. His concern was real, Donovan looked like he'd been run over by a truck after being awake for a week. The Mak'Tor Knight slumped into a chair. "Do you need anything?"

Donovan smiled weakly. "Just sleep." He looked out, at the Star Destroyer. "I'm pretty sure Alex caused that explosion. I hope they got away."

"Me, too." Ja'Mason shook his head. "Won't know until we get to the rendevous, I guess."

"Nope. Wake me up when we get there." Donovan replied. He was asleep before Ja'Mason could respond.

<<<<< >>>>>

Six hours later, after the last Imperial shuttle withdrew from the debris field, Master Shrall finally dropped the last vestiges of the illusion. By then, Ja'Mason had the Darkstorm well out-system. They jumped away shorly thereafter, heading to what they hoped would be a happy reunion and feared would be a long, lonely wait for an emergence that would never come....

Chapter 16: Homecoming
M'Tzigon System
Check Point Alpha / Approaching M'Tzigon Spaceport
5 ABY, two weeks before S'Kar'Yom

Alex sat in the passenger lounge in a loose lotus position, eyes closed as he meditated. Most of his attention was on regulating the healing trickle of the force through his battered body, which was still tender and sensitive after the massive release of energy in the Star Destroyer's forward bay three days ago. He'd struggled to explain how it felt to Joanna the night before, finally settling on the analogy of a sun-burn: Everywhere the flow of the force touched him burned, and the more force-flow there was, the more intense the burning. So, as long as he didn't actually do anything the feeling was a low-grade background sort of pain. But if he actually tried to use the force...

Alex winced again as the burning pain spiked with another instinctive reach. I never realized just how much I actually used the force without even thinking about it... As he sat, Alex tried to calm his mind and damp the impulses, with limited success. The spikes of pain were irritating and resulted in physical winces, which caused their own spikes of pain as abused muscle and tissue added their own version of the burning pain to the mix.

Alex fought down his growing frustration, forcing himself to relax. He was aided in this by a sudden and unexpected cooling flow which soothed the burning sensation and helped blunt the spikes. "Thank you..."

"You're welcome." Donovan replied from his own lotus position. "I heard the discord in your song and decided to try to ... smooth it."

Alex sighed and shook his head. "I wish I could understand what you're hearing, but I just don't quite get it. I imagine its not unlike when I try to explain the force to Joanna..."

"It can be." Donovan grinned. "I asked Shalon to describe how one of her spells worked, and ended up with the same experience."

Alex nodded, enjoying the soothing flow and the pain relief. "Well, whatever it is ... thank you."

Donovan only nodded, doing what he could to sooth the discord he heard in the young Jedi's song. He was no healer, but he'd been around enough (and been on the receiving end enough) of healers at work to understand the basic concept. It was often called "tuning" by lay-people and Knights, and virtually every Mak'Tor from Teidowan up knew how to do it at least at a rudimentary level. By slightly warping the "tones" in a Knight's song - their own or anothers - a Knight could relieve pain and speed healing. Most padawans and teidowans learned very quickly how to use the technique to relieve their own minor aches and pains incurred during training sessions, but like a musical instrument, to much damage made staying in tune hard or even impossible. If the damage was to great then more comprehensive "repairs" were called for.

Those healing "motifs" were incredibly complex, and they all had to be tailored to each individual. Even something as simple as "tuning" required a high degree of individual tailoring and Donovan had to concentrate quite a bit to match his efforts to Alex' unique song. Long association made it easier, and Donovan could and did tune for Ja'Mason (and vice-versa) without any real effort at all, but to do it for someone he hadn't known very long was taxing to sustain and Donovan reluctantly eased off his own efforts, gratified that the returning discord seemed far less than it had been. "You're welcome."

Alex took a deep breath as the low-grade burn returned at far less intensity. "So ... another hour or so and you'll be home."

"Yep. First time in three years I'll be home for S'kar'Yom." A wide smile split the Knights face as memories flowed behind his eyes. "Sh'Li already messaged me with a shopping list of things to pick up for the kids in Sierra before heading home."

"Sakar'Yom?" Alex inquired. "Some kind of holy day?"

Donovan relaxed and his smile grew even larger. "Exactly. Its actually not a Mak'Tor holiday at all, but was established by the original M'Tzigon Republic colonists over two millenia ago. Its a winter festival, a time of thanksgiving and gift-giving when we gather to first give thanks to the Maker for his protection and provision, and then share in the bounty with our friends and families. We decorate with evergreen plants, bright lights and ornaments and spend time with those we love ... and remember those we've lost."

Alex sighed wistfully. "Sounds nice. Growing up as an orphan... Master Cunn did his best, and he was a wonderful father and teacher, but I never had any real family before Joanna." Alex stopped, not trusting his voice further.

Donovan cast a knowing look on the young Jedi. "I understand. I lost my parents young as well, and my own Master died just after I became a Knight. But my wife Sh'Li comes from a HUGE family, engineers and doctors and lawyers all, with only a smattering of healers and Sword of Light members mixed in. Her mom and dad were honestly not happy at all when she brought me home to meet them, but I loved it. There's nothing like a huge family gathering during the holidays."

Alex sighed. "If you say so. Though if its anything like holidays in Master Cunn's household I'm not entirely convinced."

Donovan laughed and his eyes twinkled. "Well... I guess there's only one way to convince you then." The Knight extracted a small communications device and started typing into it. "Sha'Li and I live in Municing, tucked up in the M'H'Ron mountains in an area known as The Copper Walls due to the sheer, towering cliffs overlooking narrow fjords. There's a ton of snow, the skiing is great, and we have plenty of room in the 'lodge'. So, once we're done with our debrief and medical checks, you and Joanna are coming home with me for S'Kar'Yom."

Alex sat up straighter, ignoring the resulting lightning pains. "What? No, we couldn't impose like that. We have..." Alex stammered and stopped as Donovan's eyebrows rose in mock query.

"What? A consignment to deliver? Somewhere to be? A contract?" Donovan chuckled. "Come on. You need a break, Joanna needs a break, and S'Kar'Yom is less than two weeks away."

Alex blinked and glanced toward the cockpit where Joanna sat with Ja'Mason. She was just as battered as he was, and they'd been on their own for so long... Despite the pain Alex reached out and brushed his wife's presence in the force, dark now with its own injury and pain. Around them the force flowed, broad and peaceful ... and still together. Thank the Maker... he breathed silently, then realized what he'd prayed and how much he really wanted and needed both the break and the connection. "If you're sure it won't be a problem..."

Donovan waved his communicator at him. "The only problem would have been if you'd said no. Sha'Li is already chewing me out for not inviting you sooner and has some of the cousins prepping an extra guest suite for you." Donovan entered some more key strokes. "I just uploaded landing coordinates for the Munising traffic control zone and the Copper Head Lodge."

"Copper Head Lodge?" Alex repeated back. "I thought we were going to your home?"

"It is. Sha'Li's family own three different ski lodges in the Copper Walls region, but Copper Head is the family seat. They shut down for S'Kar'Yom each halfly and host the family for the holiday. I've talked her into going up to the Temple with me a time or two, but in all honesty I much prefer the Service of Thanks and Rememberance in the family chapel at Copper Head, and its nice to get away from official business for the holiday."

"If you say so." Alex shook his head and relaxed as Donovan's enthusiastic smile caught hold. "So. Skiing. I'm guessing we should break out some cold weather gear then?"

<<<<< >>>>>

Five hours later the Hope touched down on a well maintained and spacious landing platform cut into a high mountain glen. Around them multi-colored rock peaked through snow and ice and flying snow made a dazzling display in the colorful decorations and bright lights of the civilian strip. A small entourage waited to meet them, led by a slim woman who practically vibrated with anticipation just as obvious as that of the five children arrayed around her.

Donovan barely had time to get down the ramp before the three younger ones broke free. "Da-deee!!!!!" they squeeled in unison, and he knelt so they could throw themselves into his out-stretched arms.

"Oh, goodness! You've grown... Let me look at you..." Donovan stood, lifting all three effortlessly in the force. He gave the trio a joyous spin and then set them down, continuing to maintain contact as his wife approached only slightly more slowly. "Sha..."

The couple embraced and kissed unashamedly, only breaking apart when the three littles wormed between them again. "Daddy Daddy! you should see the hall, its amazing! Mommy let us do the lights this year and it would have been even better except Tommy burned out the control unit on the lasers and the wiring caught some of the garland on fire but we..."

Donovan laughed and kissed his wife again. "Enough! Sha, let me introduce our guests." Alex and Joanna had come down the ramp and approached hand-in-hand as Donovan beckoned them forward. "Sha, this is Alexander and Joanna Krin. They provided us transport and helped us greatly on our last mission." Donovan then turned to Alex and Joanna. "Alex, Joanna, my wife Sha'Li'Vann, Senior Manager of the Copper Walls Resorts as well as senior fellow of Economics at Copper Walls University and board member of Copper Walls Industries."

"Stop it!" Sha'Li playfully smacked her husband's arm. "Alex, Joanna, I am very pleased to meet you." She shook their hands, then leaned forward and looked Joanna dead in the eye. "Thank you for bringing him home to me."

"You're welcome." Joanna replied. "Thank you for having us."

"Its the least we can do." Sha'Li replied. "Now, lets get you all back to the house! Its freezing out here and Mistress Thorn will never forgive me if we let her supper get cold as well."

<<<<< >>>>>

The fire was dying down and the light in the room was low. The lodge had turned out to be of rustic construction, using native stone and rough-hewn wood beams, but under the skin it was as high tech as any dwelling in the Core. The children were in bed, most of the adults were as well, and Alex was pretty sure he'd seen Ja'Mason head off with one of the Donovan's older nieces for an intense conversation a while ago and the thought made him smile. He hugged Joanna closer to him on the couch. "These Mak'Tor are very strange Jedi."

"Yes, they are." Sha'Li replied, giving her husband a hug. "Especially this one."

"Thank you, my love. I will take that as a compliment." Donovan sipped his cafe. "But you're right, compared to most orders of force-users, even the Vhal'Dan, we do tend to be different. Just don't get caught up in the politics of it all and you can do a lot of good for a lot of people."

"No politics. Got it." Alex chuckled. "Anyway, this is nice. Makes me think it would be good to have a home, a family..."

Sha'Li sat up, and her tone was that of the mother - loving, but brooking no objection. "Alex, Joanna - Don's kept me up to speed. After what you all have been through, you ARE home." She sat back in the dim light of the dying fire and colorful strings of decorative lights and hugged her husband again. "Now and always. We owe you that much at least."

Saber Forum

General Chat => Fan Fiction and Art => Topic started by: Karmack on November 21, 2018, 06:04:01 PM